PAO: Pony Art Online

It didn't take long for Fluttershy to discover her role as a beast tamer. She loved her pets, even if they were all just rabbits. But not all were the same. PAO's animals carried various traits, from fire attributes that enhance damage to healing and supporting animals. But while there were countless creatures to befriend, the total levels of the pet, or pets, could not exceed the player's.

"I don't know if I can do it," Fluttershy whimpered, holding her pet rabbit, Mr. Fluffy, in her wings. It was the first pet she had ever tamed.

Rainbow Dash reached out for the rabbit. "It's just a level one bunny." She tried to take the rabbit away to make Fluttershy forget about the thing, but Fluttershy pulled away at the last moment.

"What if something happens and they're not in the stables when I come back?" she asked. "The NPC could be broken like the game, the stable hand might lose Mr.Fluffy. She'd be lost forever!"

Rainbow Dash looked at the rabbit with tiredness. If only it wasn't so damn cute. "If you want to tame a stronger pet you'll need to store Mr.Fluffy in the stables. There aren't any level six animals that can pair with Mr. Fluffy's one level, so just make room for a level seven."

"Maybe there's a way to level up pets-"

"No." Rainbow Dash interrupted, nudging Fluttershy over to the stable hand NPC. "This is how it's got to be."

Fluttershy finally relented, letting out a sigh as she let go of Mr.Fluffy. The skinny hazel colored NPC took the rabbit and placed it into an empty stable. First the tip of its head began to dissolve, followed by the rest of its body, into small fragments of light. A menu popped up in front of Fluttershy.

Mr.Fluffy has been stored. Available pet levels: 7

"Thank goodness he's safe," Futtershy sighed with relief. "I guess I was worried for nothing."

Rainbow Dashed slumped her head into her hoof. "Yep. Absolutely nothing."

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Silence flowed through the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. The rabbit, glowing blue with radiant healing magic, swiftly darted through the shrubbery. Rainbow Dash flew above the trees, spooking any animals toward the others. Applejack hung back with Pinkie Pie, watching the deeper parts of the forest carefully, in case any Timber Wolves decided to attack.

"You have to be quiet with these animals," Fluttershy whispered to her friends. She blew on a taming whistle made to coax animals toward her.

"Reckon I can't get any quieter than this," Applejack replied. "Maybe you're not using the skill right?"

"I'm using it right," she replied, squinting her eyes as the magical rabbit darted randomly around on the leaves. She blew the whistle harder, keeping sound sustained for five seconds, just as the item description said.

The rabbit's ears stood up and it froze. Turning, it hopped gently over to Fluttershy. Applejack and Pinkie Pie stepped back and gave her a little more space to tame the florescent creature.

Fluttershy held out her wings with the piece of bait once the rabbit got within ten meters. The rabbit sniffed the air and creeped toward her, eventually nibbling the bait. Fluttershy was frozen stiff as a small bar materialized above the rabbit. As it ate, the bar filled up with blue and small hearts bubbled out of the rabbit.

The rabbit flashed away the instant the bar was filled, replaced by a simple message screen in front of Fluttershy.

Animal Tamed- Recovering Rabbit: Level 4

"Yay!" Fluttershy cheered, immediately checking her inventory for the rabbit.

"Did you get it?" Rainbow Dash cheered from above the trees.

Fluttershy called back up. "Yes, but it's only a level four. If I level up I could get another one though. I think I'll name them Angel and Bunny."

Rainbow Dash came back down to the ground, groaning her heart out. "Another one? But rabbits are so boring."

"Don't mind her," Pinkie Pie jumped in, "she'll some around once we level up from a dungeon or too."

Rainbow Dashes face lit up and she drew her sword. "Now we're talking! Forget level eight, we'll hit level ten and jump strait to getting you one of those vicious Timber Wolves!"

"Oh, I don't think I would like a Timber Wolf growling at me," Fluttershy quivered, "I think I'll stick to getting more rabbits. These make great healers."

Just like that, the excitement drained from Rainbow Dash.

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"Another."

Rainbow Dash let the mug of cider drop on the ground and despawn as the NPC bartender placed a fresh cup right beside her. The recent reports from everyone was being compiled by the bookworms, and the recent death count had just climbed over one thousand.

Players were calling for the heads of the beta players, demanding they do something to progress the game. As if an army of low leveled gamers could shatter Equestrad into a million pieces and free every player, or fix a complex merging of magic and technology, or perform a miracle and poof everyone out of their Digispheres.

"Another."

Cider tasted good, and while the game didn't fully recreate the effects of being truly wasted, at least the taste could take Rainbow Dash's mind off some things.

"That bad?" a player asked. Rainbow Dash didn't react until she was tapped on the shoulder.

She stumbled off her stool a little and turned to see who was talking to her. A brunette with a green coat stared back at her. "Jeez," she said, "didn't think you had that many to drink Rainbow."

"Do I know you?" Rainbow Dash asked back.

"Oh come on, we didn't talk much when we were in high school, but you still remember me, right?" She waited, but Rainbow Dash couldn't find a response. "Really? Captain of the Acting and Improv Club, volunteered at the school garden a lot... we did a chemistry lab together sophomore year."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Outside of my friends, I only remember the members of Canterlot High's sports teams, sorry."

"Well, time for a reunion!" she stuck out a hoof and shook Rainbow Dash's very hard. "My name's Sophisticata, but you can me Sophi, and I was just wondering if you'd like to hang out with my friends. I know you like to perform -I saw you during the Battle of the Bands all those years ago- and just thought you'd like to role play as a lute player."

"Sorry, I'm not really into role playing. I just like to play the game."

Sophisticata still insisted dragging Rainbow Dash away from the inn. "Come on, there's more to you than that, you just need to give it a shot!"

Rainbow Dash tried yanking her hoof away, but Sophisticata was much stronger than she expected. "Well, I guess if I'm playing a lute it won't be all that bad."

"That's the spirit!" Sophisticata cheered. "You'll love it, we're going to roleplay a story one of our members wrote. It's a twist on the classic "knight in shining armor" story. Oh, you're going to love it."

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"The King of Beggars! He's choking!" a peasant shouted, pointing at a large stallion collapsed in the middle of the street.

Rainbow Dash rushed over to him, dressed in a jongleur's outfit, and listened to his breath. "He's been poisoned!" she declared, looking around for the culprit.

It was none other than the wicked warlock Starbeard. He stepped out from the crowd, scepter held with levitation, and tore off his peasant clothes, revealing his true form. "Indeed, it was I all along! And with him out of the way, the nothing will stop the noble court from rightfully buying out these streets. And it will be all thanks to me. Oh I can hear the coin they will spend for my favor already!"

"Not while I stand," Rainbow Dash growled, walking toward the warlock. "Give him the antidote or I'll rip it from your han-" She caught herself at the end of her line, glancing around to see if anyone noticed. "Hooves," she finished. If they did, then no one seemed to show it, and the scene continued normally.

"The court musician? Will you play me a sad song when your filthy king lies dead?" The warlock laughed. "I have magic, you're nothing but a string plucker!"

Rainbow Dash gave a roguish look and put her lute back into her secondary equipment slot. She drew her sword, reflecting light off its blade into the warlock's eyes.

"Ah, that burns!" he shouted. "How could you have a silver sword to negate my spells?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged, letting her smirk come naturally. "Every good undercover witch-hunter knows to bring a silver sword." She lunged at the warlock, ramming in the blade until the hilt touched his chest. Even in town, a PVP safe zone where no player could hurt another, Rainbow Dash knew the sword didn't feel good.

The player made a good effort to ignore the discomfort. "Ahg!" he choked, "You scoundrel, you cretin, you've slain me!"

"That I have, warlock. You'll not bring a plague of pompous asses to the good people of these streets. Impoverished as they may be, they are still better than the undeserving nobles."

The player slid slowly off the sword as the audience clapped, his chest a red patch of blood pixels.

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Rainbow Dash and Sophi leaned rested on the slope of a hill, gazing up at the stars under the willow tree. The air was fresh and clean from the Everfree Forest behind them.

"Wow, I didn't think that'd be so much fun," Rainbow Dash admitted to Sophi. "I didn't feel like I was acting once we hit the second act."

"Yeah, you were really into it," Sophi replied. "I was surprised, most people do so well when they're out of their comfort zone for the first time."

Rainbow Dash took the compliment and smiled. "I've been told I'm pretty adventurous. I love to try new things, especially when they're a challenge."

"Really?" Sophi asked curiously.

"What, you got something in mind?" Rainbow Dash sat up and looked at her.

"I've had a few things on my bucket list, but I don't think you'd be up for them," she said, glancing mischievously at Rainbow Dash's determined look.

"Just try me, I'm up for anything."

"Okay, but close your eyes," Sophi chuckled. "I want it to be a surprise." Rainbow Dash obliged, closing her eyes for her. There was a moment of waiting, and then Sophi pulled Rainbow Dash down to her and planted a deep kiss on her mouth. It barely lasted a second before Rainbow Dash jumped back, shocked.

Sophi laughed. "Your face looks as if that was a bad kiss Rainbow."

"Um, uh, no, not at all. It was just... er.. weird." Rainbow Dash stammered. "I mean, it wasn't the bad kind of weird, but interesting. I- um..."

"Well, I'll let you figure it out on your own," Sophi giggled, getting off the hill and walking up into the Everfree Forest. "I'll just go and see what else I can cross off my bucket list." She leered at Rainbow Dash. "You can join, if you're up for the challenge."

Rainbow Dash gulped. She felt conflicted, curious, but mostly conflicted. Still, a strange sensation washed over her, and she couldn't help but wonder what Sophi really planned to do. She eventually gave in to the thoughts in her head, and followed her into the forest.

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Blueberries, rose petals, and a frog's eye. Roseluck mixed the ingredients together in the public apothecary. Her friend stood behind her and watched.

"You sure you can make that?" Greg asked. "You haven't exactly been leveling up, and frog eyes only drop once or twice from dungeons."

"What're you saying Greg?" Roseluck asked.

"I just think you should save the frog eyes for when you're a higher level," he replied, "so you don't waste the ingredients."

"Crafting and leveling don't go together like that Greg," Roseluck told her friend, though most of her attention was on making sure she pressed the buttons on time. Crafting came with mini-games, and while the potions brewed Roseluck had to tap the green buttons on the brewing screen before they ruined her potion.

"Maybe, but I've played a lot of games," Greg continued, "and a lot of MMO's use levels to manage progression."

"Done." Roseluck equipped the potions from her inventory and looked at it. "Three bottles of Diluted Antidote. Don't waste them."

Greg opened his menu and accepted Roseluck's trade request, putting the items into his inventory. "Okay fine, but I still say you should come with us for a dungeon raid. It'll do you good to collect some stuff for yourself for once."

"Or, you could level up," Roseluck said, "and I'll stay safe making my potions."

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"I now call the first official meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Sweetie Belle announced.

The amphitheater was sparsely populated by an assortment of ragtag players, all clapping with half-enthusiasm. Spirit were dropping everyday, and both guilds and individuals were feeling the depression. Some players left their guilds, abandoning what they thought was a hopeless project. Others couldn't stand to watch another friend get their head lopped off by a Diamond Dog, or eaten by a Timber Wolf.

In turn, guilds couldn't fund themselves and pay to protect their members. When the game began, tens of thousands of guilds formed between friends to protect each other. Now there were barely fifty guilds to accommodate nearly a hundred thousand players.

"Our first order of business is to establish a new solution to clearing the boss dungeon," Sweetie Belle told the audience. "Together, me and the other co-founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders have decided to provide relief to our players, recover the community with philanthropic works, and reform the top players, beta-testers and new players alike, into a designated 'Clearing Group,' dedicated to defeating this game."

It all sounded good, and some hopeful players even sat up to actually listen, but the majority still wasn't impressed with words.

Sweetie Belle decided to show her guild what she meant. She swiped her hoof and opened her menu, tapping the "guild bank" icon on her screen.

"If you all look at what I'm pointing to, you'll notice the withdraw limit for all members have been increased." Sweetie Belle maximized her screen, doubling its size, to show the few player still to lazy to care. "Given current income rates from the smaller dungeons, all members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders are entitled to five thousand gold from the bank."

Everyone was listening now. Five thousand gold was more than a week's worth of dungeon grinding for most players. Rare and legendary items on the auction house didn't even sell for more than two thousand gold.

"With the added funds, we hope players can equip themselves with the best gear for their play style. But," Sweetie Belle paused to present Applebloom and her sister Applejack, "if anyone ever finds themselves having trouble with equipment, my colleagues here would be happy to help."

She sidestepped, allowing the two sisters to speak their piece.

"Now I know y'all are pretty excited right now, but we've only scratched the surface," Applebloom told them. "The past few days have been hard for everyone, I know, but we can't let that stop us now. It might be easy to run from the fight, but I 'reckon folks in the real world don't feel the same. They're doing their best to keep us safe in hospital beds, and it's our duty to do the same here."

Applejack took her turn. "That's why my sister and her friends are counting on each of you to lend a hand in the upcoming scouting raids for the main dungeon." Players started whispering, growing anxious at the CMC's boldness. The last group that tried to figure out how to get to the boss room was a guild called the Red League. Their entire guild was wiped out, and not even a messenger could escape to tell the bad news.

But Applejack insisted that things were going to be different. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders aren't here for the glory of finding the room and beating the boss, and we're not the only ones."

"We are in agreement with the guild called The Slumbering Giants of Korandale," shimmed in Applebloom again, "and we plan to mount a cooperative assault on the central dungeon, along with any other player or guild that would like to join us."

Somehow, that level of cooperation between guilds was a new concept to most of the players. They liked it. It seemed like a sound plan, and the murmurs between the guild members told Applebloom that it was giving them hope.

The sisters stepped back and let Sweetie Belle take hold of the speech again.

"And that's not all of it. Coordination shouldn't just be between a few guilds if we want to survive in this death game. Anyone, whether in a guild, party, or a solo player, with the fortune and skills to be able to thrive in this world, has a duty to themselves and to the community to fight for freedom. It's this duty that should bind the best of us into something other players can strive for, something more than ourselves."

She opened her messages and showed a list of names. They were the players who had agreed to follow the terms of the Clearing Group, and there were dozens of names already. It was overwhelming. Players tended to group up with their friends and work to get through each day, leveling up however they could, hoarding precious rare resources. A coalition of players who would look out for someone other than themselves was exactly what the players of PAO needed, even if they didn't realize it.

One by one, players started clapping and cheering, some even whistling, as the celebrated their leadership. They were convinced that the depression would be over, that there would be a new hope for everyone to one day return home.

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Fifty-six died in the first week. They were too eager to join the Clearing Group, eager to prove that their gear was worth the five thousand gold spent. Not even a third of the players were at a high enough level to properly raid the dungeon. Level sixes, level eights, they were hopeful but few. Level ten and eleven players, they hurried in droves, overconfident of their double-digit qualification. Most of them simply finished the starting quest line, and some couldn't even tell the difference between the role of a Damage or a Tank.

It was painfully clear that the best was not good enough. They couldn't just combine the top players and expect the to run through the dungeon like it was nothing. PAO may have been made like other MMOs, but virtual reality rewrote all the rules, even for the experienced players. Everything was in the player's face, not behind a screen.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were the first to reach the meeting point after the ceremony for the fallen players. Though everyone left at the same time, the two pegasi made use of their wings and left the sad scene as quickly as they could. Rainbow Dash insisted that she was still calm and collected, that the deaths hadn't shaken her. Fluttershy didn't hide any of it, weeping even for those she never spoke to.

Now all Fluttershy could do was sit in the field outside Ponyville and pluck the flowers from the grass, tossing them aside to despawn, only so that they could respawn in the grass. Lost in thought, she kept pulling the flowers, like a machine without an off switch.

Rainbow Dash napped under the meager shade of Ponyville's walls. Sunset had once told her that the developers she hired took som creative liberties with the detail of Equestria. She wondered why the developers didn't give Ponyville a better wall to rest under and wallow in.

The developers, now there was a thought. Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth. It could have been one of the developers fucking with the game that trapped and killed so many players so far. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was at the mercy of a psychopath with a computer. She hated it.

"Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash finally called out when she couldn't handle her own thoughts anymore.

"Yeah Rainbow?" she replied. Her voice was soft, but different. Fluttershy was always a quiet speaker, but now her voice wasn't filled with timidness. In fact, Rainbow Dash didn't hear anything in Fluttershy's voice. It was just a void.

"I don't really want to do this practice run," Rainbow told her, her eyes still napping in the shade. "How about you?"

Fluttershy fluttered over and rested by Rainbow Dash. "I told want to see any more death. I know it's true, what the figure said on that first day. I know that we die in real life when we die here."

"I never considered that it could've been a lie," Rainbow Dash mumbled. "What's got you so convinced?"

"The last look in someone's eyes when their health bar hits zero," she explained, "the panic they feel, the kind of final struggle you only see when there's nothing to cling onto, that's the look of death."

Fluttershy looked over at Rainbow Dash, reaching over and wiping the single tear off her face. "What about you?"

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes gingerly and stared at Fluttershy. She blinked, clearing the watery image. "I was next to the player that died in yesterday's raid. His was the last ceremony we had today."

Fluttershy nodded, patiently waiting for Rainbow Dash give up more. Rainbow Dash swallowed her feelings again. "I was next to him when he turned to me. I tried to give him a potion but he already began to despawn. He whispered his last words to me. Me, a total stranger."

"What did he say?"

Rainbow Dash was trying to keep herself together, but the Digisphere could read her deepest emotions, giving her character tears whether she wanted them or not.

"He told me," Rainbow Dash said, pausing only for a moment, "to help him tell his family once we beat the game. His exact words to me were, 'Tell my wife and daughter that,'" Rainbow Dash stopped abruptly.

"That what?" Fluttershy asked. She seemed to be partially out of her void as Rainbow Dash fell into hers.

"Nothing. He was just lost data by then." Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy and hugged her closely. "He didn't even get to... to finish his last words. He thought of the ones he loved but he couldn't say what he felt."

Fluttershy squeezed Rainbow Dash back. She felt her friend's pain, and appreciated it more because it was coming from Rainbow Dash. She didn't even mind how Rainbow Dash was shouting in her ear.

"The damn game stole that right from under his nose!" she hollered into Fluttershy's shoulder. "I could have saved him if I just paid attention!"

Fluttershy knew how to help. Together, they laid under the growing shadow of the city's wall, venting each other's emotions onto the other, until there was nothing left to cry about. Their friends left them to it, training in some dungeon or drinking in some tavern. So there the two lay, even in the night, until every ounce of sorrow poured out.

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"Are you sure this is the name you choose? Once it's written, it is hard to lose."

A menu box appeared in front of the zebra.

Are you sure you want to change your name to Phoenix? Of course she was sure. There was no reason to keep her real name as her character name. It drew too much attention, unlike the hut hidden in the Everfree Forest. The NPC Zecora was never seen, she blended well with the shade of the canopy, disappearing before players saw her wandering around her hut.

Sunset wished she could become that invisible. Just vanish into the forest and forget. But she still had a responsibility, one she couldn't accomplish without dissolving her old life first. Like the Phoenix, she needed to burn away her old life and start anew. She tapped the menu, confirming her decision.

"Ah, now that the potion has used its magic, getting your name back would be so tragic."

Phoenix breathed a breath of the Everfree's fresh forest air. It felt like her first breath.