Equestrian Rivals: Online

by DuskShadowBrony

Rating: mature
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Other, Original Character, Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Sad, Main 6, Princess Luna, Gore
Length: 3284

Inspired by Sword Art: Online. Bronies and Pegasisters, all around the world, get their hands on a new Virtual Reality game, called Equestrian Rivals: Online. However, all is not what it seems. Can they beat the game before it's Game Over?

Equestrian Rivals: Online
Inspired by Sword Art: Online

On hiatus for this reason: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/374545/story-focus

Bronies and Pegasisters, all around the world, get their hands on a new game, called Equestrian Rivals: Online. Utilizing the latest technological advances in Virtual Reality, the game is meant to bring a whole new experience to the players. They get to play as their Pony Avatars, and feel like a pony when they do it. However, is it what it seems? The game of dreams rapidly turns into a nightmare, with only two ways out: Defeat the Final Boss, and win the game, or get a Game Over... in both the game and life.

Alert: This story has my OC: DuskShadow in it. Please be warned, before you complain, that I did not make him an 'effortless Alicorn OC'. I spent over a year developing and editing his bio, basing it very largely off my own life. Why is his bio dark? Because my past is dark, too. I'm not whining. I'm stating a fact. I didn't make him 'dark' to be 'cool'. I simply made him off my personality. Please read his FULL Bio (can be found on my profile page) before judging. And if you wish, you can check out my personal bio... But I doubt you want to hear another yet person talk about a dark life.

Further Details regarding above: DuskShadow has my human mind, not his normal pony one, in this story.

Published 2014-02-18 04:20:07 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-04 05:28:41 UTC

Prologue- Game Start!

Prologue: Game Start!

It was a game that was rumored for ages, before finally being confirmed. A virtual reality game, created especially for Bronies and Pegasisters. Equestrian Rivals: Online. Nobody really knew why Hasbro didn’t shut them down, but the game creators, under the alias of Team One had sold out- around five thousand copies. Of course, there were still the lucky ten or so Beta Testers. The game utilized the VR-A2000 (Virtual Reality Alpha 2000) system, bringing a whole new experience to players, as they played as, and felt like, their Ponysonas. It came naturally, and the Beta testers raved about the game, only fueling the excitement.
It was set in an Alternate Equestria, where not everypony was friendly. There were some rough Bandits, Mercenaries, but still familiar locations like Ponyville, Canterlot, as well as characters such like the Mane Six.

Finally, the servers were up again for the release date….

***

“Can’t believe you got into the Beta program.” My friend muttered, as he adjusted the VR-A2000. “You lucky dog, you. I nearly died in the crowd to get the game today.”

I chuckled. “It pays to have connections, that’s all I’ll say. I had finished putting on my Virtual Reality suit, and donned the helmet, plugging it into the machine.

“You’ll help me out, right?” He slid the helmet onto his head, pushing the wires and connections into his own machine.

“Of course.” I said, making final checks on my system. “The game discs are in. You ready?”

“Ready when you are. Let’s do this!” He smiled as he closed his eyes.

“We’ll meet up at Town Hall.” I flicked the switch, indicating for my friend to do the same. “Let’s do this. Game Start!”

***

I materialized, looking around at the bright colors of Ponyville. I sat down to wait, as the game profiled my friend, and allowed him to make his Ponysona. It only took about a minute, before he formed next to me, as a Blue unicorn. I looked up at his player bar.

[Steel Hooves | Unicorn | Classless | Level 1]

“Whoaaaa!” He said. “It feels so… natural! They weren’t lying about that!” The blue Unicorn turned to face me. “What the- you’re an Alicorn?”

“Beta testers were given that race… as a bit of a thanks.” I said, tapping my horn and stretching my wings.

“Your left wing…” He indicated the stump where it was torn roughly in half. “What on-?”

“This?” I looked at it. “An injury I got during the Beta.” I sigh. “Not only did they nerf my levels and take all my items, but they also decided to add insult to injury… well… injury to insult.”

My friend chuckled at my joke, stretching his pony body. He looked at my player bar while I checked it up myself.

[DuskShadow | Alicorn (Beta) |Dark-Mage | Level 5]

“I need to pick out a class.” Steel Hooves murmured. “Damn, you get to start at level 5. Beta tester benefit?”

“Of course.” I answered. “Now come on, let’s get you started. What class were you thinking about?”

“Paladin.” He smiled. “Paladin, all the way.”

I gave a sigh. “You can’t start at Paladin.” Shaking my head, I showed him the Class Guide. “You have to start with Warrior, and work your way up to there. Level 5 is the minimum level required to switch from Mage to Dark-Mage.”

“Well, Warrior then.” He rubbed his head with a hoof. “So I just talk to the Class Guide and I’m set up?”

“Right.” I showed him in, and he started talking with the Guide, while I checked my gear.

He came over shortly after, with plate armor and a large sword strapped to his back.

“Looking good.” I smiled at him. “You should have some basic Swordsplay knowledge from that Class Training. Of course, to gain more knowledge and skill, you’ll need to train.”

“Where do we train?” He brought his sword out, giving it a short swing before sheathing it again.

“For a newbie like you, we’ll try the Woodlands.” I say. “There’s some Minor Monsters there.”

“Hold on a minute or two.” I checked my watch. “I promised to meet someone for a roleplay session.”

“Aw, come on. We just started!”

“I know, I know, let’s both just log out. We have the games, that’s what matters. The servers won’t fill up, it’s judged to accommodate twice the amount of the game copies made.” I accessed my player menu, reaching the Account section.

“Ugh. Fine. But we’re logging back in after.” He accessed his own menu. “Uh… Dusk? Where’s the logout button?”

“It’s right below the…” I stopped. “They must have moved it.” I said, navigating through the menu. We looked for several minutes, but found nothing.

“Great bug.” Steel said sarcastically. “We can’t log out, that means that we can’t disconnect from the machine, right?”

“Yeah.” I bit my lower lip. “I’m sure they’ll reboot the servers with a patch. At any rate, once they reboot, we’ll be ejected from the game, anyway. For now, let’s just have our fun. We’ll train up your combat skills some, so you don’t get beaten up by some random event.”

Our Transponders started beeping. It allowed communication over distances with players, as well as the Server to the players. “Ah.” I said, taking the magical glass panel. “See? System Announcement. Told you that they would find the problem.”

But it was not what we expected at all.

‘System Announcement:
Welcome, all Players to Equestrian Rivals: Online! An innovative Virtual Reality game that takes place in none other than Equestria! We’ll keep this as short as possible! Some of you may have noticed by now that we removed the logout option! Isn’t that great? You can stay here forever! Aw, what’s that? Some of you don’t want to? That’s fine, too! If you find and defeat all the bosses, the servers will be shut down, freeing everypony from the game! Be warned! If you die in the game, that is to say, your Life Points reaches 0, you will die in real life, too! Isn’t that AMAZING? No point in trying to escape, the Virtual Reality mechanism you are using will kill you in an instant if you are disconnected in the middle of a session. We love to keep things interesting, so wait on our future updates! <3 ~Admins’

We stared at our screens, along with many other players around us.

“Son of a…” Steel muttered. “This… this is a joke right? It has to be a joke!”

But I knew, from deep inside... that it was not.

Author's Note

This is my first PUBLISHED fanfiction, although I have been working on/editing others.

Have fun criticizing it, I love constructive criticism.

Chapter I- Random Event: Minor Encounter

Chapter I- Random Event: Minor Encounter

We sat wordlessly at a table, mugs of cider in front of us. It had been a few hours since the announcement. Some ponies had panicked, others were in shock, or some were even excited. There was such a mix of reactions, it was hard to track them all.

I drained my cup and slapped some money on the table, getting up. “Let’s go.” I said to Steel.

“What?” He looked up from his mug.

“If we’re to beat the game, we need to train. There’s no way we can face any of the bosses at our level.” I checked my bags, tightening the straps.

“We’re honestly playing?” My friend threw down the remaining dregs in his glass, wiping his mouth and scattering his bits onto the table. “For real? We’re going to do this crazy game?”

“Do we have a choice?” I asked. “We have to find a way out, and currently, the only way out is the way the Admins stated. Play to win.”

We walked out the door onto a Random Event. A NPC Merchant was standing over his wrecked wares, while three tough-looking Earth Pony NPCs smirked in front of him. Narrowing my eyes, I quickly identified the enemies.

[Troublemaker L1. Minor Random Encounter]

The same red text bar hovered above their heads. All three had full health bars, a deep green.

They noticed me staring, and walked over, their hooves making solid clops on the pavement. “Oh, look what the little Unicorn’s face is like right now.” One mocked.

I looked at my cloak, which covered my wings, then back at the Troublemakers. Steel walked up behind me, unsheathing his sword halfway. I conjured up a Thunder spell on my horn.

“Oh? You want to fight?” another one of them scowled. “Get them, boys!” They leapt at us as one. Easily dodging the charge, I blasted one with my spell, sending him crashing into a wall. I watched his health bar drop to the yellow. The pony slid to the ground, knocked out. Steel handled himself surprisingly well for his level, broadsiding one of them to unbalance him, then slashing his sword at the other. The blade cut in deep, drawing a spray of blood, careening his life points to the red, slowly draining as he bled out.
“If you want your friend to live, leave now!” I shouted, holding up a Status Healer potion. “I can stop his bleeding, but you’re to leave and never come back!”

The one remaining conscious Troublemaker swore loudly. “Fine.” He growled, after he thought it over.
I held the potion to the bleeding Troublemaker, and the draining Life Bar stopped, the potion vanishing. I shoved the pony over his friend. He shook the two unconscious ponies awake, and they ran off, cursing us as they galloped away.

“Th-Thank you!” the merchant pony bowed. “How can I repay you? Here, maybe this will do.” He nodded and passed over a sack of bits. “Please, take it!”

A dialogue box flashed up in front of me, as well as Steel.

-----
Mini-Quest Complete!
Save a Merchant.
Skill Level: Newbie
Reward: 50/2=25 bits
100/2 = 50 XP
------

“If players work together, the gold and experience is split.” I explained to Steel as I dismissed the notification.

“Damn.” Steel swung his sword again. “I didn’t think I had it in me.”

“I already told you, the game system will give you a base level of combat power and skill based on your class.”

“Hey…” Steel sheathed his sword. “What happens when you die- well, I mean, what would normally happen?”

“Before all this? You would be forcibly logged out, and banned from the game servers for a day. Then you would be able to Respawn, but you would take a heavy penalty to your stats.” I brushed dust off my horn.

“That’s a lot better than dying in real life.” He muttered dryly. “What should we do now?”

“Well, it’s getting late. Why don’t you come to my Player-Owned-House, I’ll get you some food and a bed to sleep in. Back in Beta, I had it built to accommodate three ponies easily. According to my POH menu, it’s untouched from the Beta.” I opened my Skills tab. “It seems my skills weren’t reset, but they were severely nerfed.” Going into my bag, I passed a gem over to him. “This is called a Home Teleport Gem. I’ve set it to my home. You’ll be able to get in because I’ve opened it up to anypony on my Friends list. Just use it by stating clearly ‘Teleport!’”

“Hmmm…” He turned the crystal over. “Teleport?” The crystal remained inactive.

“Say it with more force.” I took out a crystal of my own. “Teleport!” I commanded, and in a flash of light, I found myself back at my home. In a few seconds, my friend appeared next to me.

“Wild…” he muttered as I headed to the kitchen.

“Best thing of virtual worlds…” I opened the food crates. “Food never goes bad.” I quickly selected some items for a simple vegetable soup, about the best I could do with my current Cooking skill.

“So our taste buds, pain, and that kind of stuff… we’ll feel it like the real world?” Steel trotted up behind me as I tossed the ingredients into a pot and began cooking.

“You weren’t supposed to feel pain in the game.” I answered quietly. “But it seems that has changed.”

“That smells good.” Steel commented on my cooking.

When it was finished, I scooped it into two bowls, downing mine in one large gulp. I watched my stamina rise a bit, and health restore. “Get some sleep, the red door bedroom is yours.” I pulled my cloak’s hood over my head again. “I’m going to see what I can find out.”

“Don’t you need sleep?” Steel asked, as he took a gulp of his soup.

“I have enough Stamina Points to last a night or two without sleep.” I headed to the door. “Stay safe. You’re only Level One, after all.”

Author's Note

Decent initial reception.... thanks guys.

Tell me what you think about me utilizing colors for the fanfiction.

Chapter 2- NPC Quest: Save the Damsel! Part 1

Chapter 2- NPC Quest: Save the Damsel! Part 1

I leapt from rooftop to rooftop, my Agility skill aiding me in my movements. The moon was huge, shining light down, but I stuck to the shadows. A breeze whispered through the air, as I landed on a roof near a group of players.

“So the Equestrian Rivals… they’re bosses?” a Pegasus Ranger spoke to an Alicorn- a beta tester. I wasn’t sure what class she was, as she had a Cloak of Masking on, covering up her status. He was Level 2, but still only had the starter gear. Not too surprising.

“Yeah. There are a total of seven located throughout the map. Nopony knows where they are.” She answered. “Then the final one is called the Equestrian Warlord. We never reached him in the beta. We only found two Equestrian Rivals, and I’m sure the Sys Admins aren’t dumb enough to place them in the same area as before.”

I dropped down from the roof, causing the Pegasus to whip out his bow. A light barrier appeared around me. We were in one of the Safetowns, where PvP was disabled. Not that anypony would be crazy enough to kill another, especially given the situation. Now that he drew his weapon, his status was highlighted.

[Nimbus Burst | P | Ranger | L2]

“Easy.” I said. “I’m just joining in on the conversation.”

“Oh, another beta tester.” The female Alicorn lowered her hood, and now I could recognize her, as Nimbus put his bow away.

[Solaris Ray | A(B) | Healer | L6]

Solaris. She had been one of the players I reluctantly let tag along when I explored a new area. I was always a solo player, but at the same time, I would allow others to come with me, provided they didn’t get in the way or slow me down.

“Solaris.” I blinked. “Long time, no see.”

“Oh, Dusk, the grumpy-cat solo player.” She smiled, glancing at my status. “Hold up.” She murmured a few words, and I felt energy revitalize me, my Stamina rising to three quarters of the maximum bar. “There you go.”

“Thanks.” I nodded, before getting down to business. “Something’s been nagging me since the start. There’s seven Equestrian Rivals, right?”

“Yeah. So?” Nimbus spoke this time.

“The development team of the game was eight people. Seven staff members, then the creator.”

“You don’t think….” Solaris looked over at me.

“I think… the admins are the Equestrian Rivals.”

We were interrupted by a shouting voice.

“Help me, please!”

Random Quest flashed up in front of us, as a brown, Earth Pony stallion galloped up.

[Stronghoof | Civilian]

“Please! My daughter! She’s been kidnapped! I saw the monsters that took her, they went into Twisted Dungeon! You have to save her! I’m begging you! I’ll pay anything! Just get her back!”

Accept Quest?
Suggested Level: 3
Rewards: 1 Skill Point, 500 Bits, 400 XP, ?

I sighed. Quests were never my thing, I had always battled for my experience and loot. I moved my hoof to the decline button.

“What are you doing?” Solaris spoke up.

“I’m declining the quest.” I answered, as the NPC stood there, paused as our dialogs stayed open.

“You’re leaving a little filly to die?”

“She’s not real. This is a game. It’s a NPC.” I felt a twinge of annoyance. Why did some people take the game so seriously?

“This isn’t a game anymore. We can’t treat it like one.” Solaris glared at me, before pressing to accept the Quest, as did Nimbus.

“Fine. Whatever.” I tapped the Accept button, and the NPC unpaused.

“Thank you! The path to the Twisted Dungeon is to the North of the town!” he pointed down a path. “Please, get her back safely!”

I followed behind the group, as they headed to the Dungeon. Why was I wasting my time with pointless Quests? We had to find and defeat the Equestrian Rivals if we ever were to get out of here. I still could drop out of the party and abandon the quest.

As I thought this over, Solaris fell back to match my speed. “Hey.” She said. “Sorry for snapping at you back there. It’s just…. Hard not to take the game like it’s life. After that announcement…” she shuddered. “Can they really kill us?”

“You’re in an electronic suit. What do you think?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “The machines we’re hooked up to could provide more than enough of a charge to fry us.”

System Announcement flashed up on our intercoms. I pulled mine open.

Hello Players!
How are you all? Just thought you’d like to know that some naughty outsiders tried to disconnect players from the VR console. As you well know, there are battery systems built into the VR consoles. Each one can send out a charge strong enough to cook a cow. It certainly was a SHOCKER to those who tried to interfere with the game! Too bad that the player was caught up in it, too. We’ve lost 127 players already… However, being the kind people we are, we’re allowing a one-hour grace period for your bodies to be moved to hospitals to keep you alive in real life while you try to keep alive here! Anybody… well, anypony not back by then will have their Ponysona… and themselves deleted from the world of the living. Enjoy yourselves!
~Admins

The carefree and casual tone of the message almost made me sick. Was this really just a game to the Admins? Was it even real? I checked the global death feed and saw a flood of names.

Blue Moon- Disconnected
Icon- Disconnected
Lance- Disconnected
Ruby Red- Disconnected

The list went on and on. 127 deaths due to disconnection. My eyes flicked to the total death counter. 152. Did that mean 25 players already died? Had they woken up in the real world, realized it all was a joke, and were now laughing at us? No…. my instinct was usually right, and it was screaming at me that none of this was a lie. We were truly trapped.

“Let’s go.” I said, taking the lead. “Maybe we can find clues about the first Equestrian Rival during the quest.”

“Why the change in heart? I thought you hated quests.” Solaris and Nimbus hurried to catch up with me.

“Because we have to escape.” I answered, keeping my eyes forward.

Author's Note

My microsoft office trial ran out, so I wrote this on the text editor Sublime 3. It felt so weird.