PAO: Pony Art Online

Floor thirty-five was not another glorious grassland dimension like the floor before it. The towns and cities, even the central one, were vast settlements in the trees that stretched out like a spider's web to the edges of the floor's map. As a detailed and expanded version of the Everfree Forest, nearly every part of the floor was shrouded in shadows, save the building built into the canopy itself.

Down below, the beasts became even deadlier. While players still struggled with the sloshing mud and soggy undergrowth, countless snakes, birds, and massive reptiles were programmed to run seamlessly through the environment.

Applejack held her breath. Basilisks were the deadliest creatures on floor thirty-five. Their senses were unusually high for their level, and their poison and paralysis attacks would pretty much spelled her death if they bit. They were hunting the creatures for a quest Scootaloo needed help with. Apparently, it rewarded a dragon-tier item that boosted the blacksmith and armorer skill by one hundred points. Needless to say, they were very eager to help Scootaloo make better weapons.

Rainbow Dash, if you take any longer I'll have to drag you to my grave. Applejack stared down the basilisk, raising her shield to deflect another two strikes from its claws. Her stamina dropped down to sixty percent. She bashed her shield on the basilisk's head, stunning it briefly. She rammed her spear through the monster's heart, yet another brief victory.

But the basilisk would not go down so easy. It returned its own flurry of attacks, further draining Applejack's stamina as she was driven back by the force.

She interrupted its next attack, penetrating its claw with a jab as fast as lighting. The basilisk was quick to recover, however, and delivered another blow to her side. Applejack's shield was too slow to deflect the hit.

She would have flown several meters, had the branches and vines not caught her mid air. But though they had saved her, Applejack was still very much stuck in the thick plants. She looked turned her head up to look down at the forest floor. At least the basilisk could not reach her, though she was sure Rainbow Dash would have a lot to say once she caught up.

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Back at the central city, everyone was celebrating Scootaloo's brand new anvil, the quest reward for turning in a hundred basilisk scales. Though the floor was still new to them, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had already established a guild hall in the center of the forest dimension.

The guild masters' room was small compared to the great stone fort they purchased on the last floor, but the tree fort, furnished with everything from a barkeep NPC to a sauna, was still the greatest accommodations available.

Applebloom was sat by her sister, still picking out pieces of vines from her mane. Rainbow Dash sat with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, sharing their experience with hunting basilisks.

"And by the time I got to Applejack, she was already stuck in the trees, upside down, hanging over a basilisk!" At Applejack's expense, the others laughed at Rainbow's stories.

"Still talking about that one RD?" Applejack goaded Rainbow Dash. "Gonna skip over the time you crawled into a basilisk nest and came screaming out with a family of five after your tail?"

Rainbow pointed her hoof at AJ accusingly, speaking in a sarcastically slurred voice. "That, right there, is nothing but lies and slander spread by my enemies! Do not believe a word of it! I was so, very, very awesome in killing that nest."

Applebloom looked at RD pointedly. "Don't act drunk Rainbow, the game won't let you get wasted."

Rainbow Dash nodded, swallowing another shot of alcohol. "Exactly why we need to get back to the real world ASAP."

"And you're doing such a fine job of it," Scootaloo said to Rainbow Dash. She raised her glass high for all to see. "To another victory for the Crusaders, and their invaluable friends."

"Yay," Fluttershy cheered, raising her cup tea.

Rainbow did the same, as did the others. "To friends! To victory! To the 100th Floor!" they cried out. Every little thing felt like a step in the right direction, like defiance against the system that trapped them. Every step was worth fighting for, and every fight was worth drinking to.

"Too bad Sunset couldn't be here," Rainbow Dash said, stretching out on one of the cushioned couches, "I bet she'd love a place like this after spending so much time out in the field."

"Yeah, Sweetie Belle messaged me this morning, said she ran into Sunset while a party was out looking for a PK guild." Applebloom opened her inbox in her menu and showed everyone the message. "Can't believe a PK guild got a hold of fragment's of the game's magic data. I'd hate to say it, but they've got a lot of influence over the vulnerable players."

"Not for long," Applejack smirked, testing the point of her spear. "They're killers, but they're not the Clearing Group. If we put our minds to it, every murderer, and every murderer guild, would be brought to justice."

Rainbow Dash grabbed her sword, the Celestial Blade, and flipped off the couch. "Well, we're not making any arrests sitting around here. Wanna upgrade my sword on your new anvil Scoots? We can get some good leveling afterwards."

Scootaloo beamed and hopped out of her seat. "You should have asked sooner RD, I've been dying to try it."

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Though some weapons found on floor thirty-five were of a higher level than the Celestial Blade, its attributes as a unique tier weapon, not to mention the fragment of magic it carried in its data, made it far superior to any weapon that could be found so far. Still, improvement was available, and the enhanced weapon wielded even greater power once it had left the heat of Scootaloo's forge.

Basilisks fell easily to Rainbow Dash with her sharpened blade. It ignored their resilient scales and cleaved through their health, creating enough damage per second to clear a path through the forest dimension, from the central city to boss dungeon. Most floors had its final dungeon close to the central city, if not below it.

But this floor's dungeon had its entrance at the far left edge of the map, surrounded by a thick, dangerous swamp. What was planned to be days of work and grinding became hours as the Clearing Group all had their weapons enhanced by Scootaloo. And, it didn't hurt that the charge for a weapon enhancement quickly filled the CMC guild bank.

They surrounded the dungeon entrance. Pinkie Pie spotted her friends in the crowd of players, moving over to them. "Hey girls, think it's time to head back to central?"

Fluttershy nodded, gasping as she caught her breath. "Rainbow's pretty hard to keep up with, but I think she's beat too."

"What're you talking about?" Rainbow asked Fluttershy, wiping the sweat from her brow. "I've got... plenty of steam left. Besides, there's nothing to do back at central."

"There's a bed," Pinkie Pie bluntly said, dropping down onto the warm, moist soil. "A nice warm bed, with fluffy pillows and comfy blankets."The other players didn't need to hear it twice. Anyone not sorting through their inventory had already used a scroll to return to an inn or their homes. Even the CMC said their farewells and retired to their guild hall.

"Fine," Rainbow submitted, opening her inventory to equip a teleportation scroll. But as she looked through her menu, she saw a missed message notification on the side of her screen. It was from Sunset.

"Hey check it out," Rainbow Dash said to her friends, "Sunset messaged me while we were fighting."

Applejack hefted her shield and spear onto her back before walking over to Rainbow. "What'd she say?" Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy trotted over to read it as well.

Everything's gone a bit FUBAR on 14, plz come. Don't worry about it, just come soon. Don't tell anyone, not emergency, just hurry. Do not freak out.

"Haven't seen her this worried since her computer science finals," Rainbow mused at her frantic message. "We should go." The rest gave a silent agreement, taking out their scrolls to teleport to the floor's central city, and then using the city's portal to send themselves down to floor fourteen.

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Floor fourteen, home to the most populated central city, the Grand Bazaar. Despite the desert conditions of dimension, not to mention the difficult terrain of its mesas, it was the preferred location for any player to buy materials, partly because of its massive selection of NPC merchants, and partly because everything was ten percent off.

Rainbow Dash opened her world map. Three blips appeared next to her on the Grand Bazaar's portal, signaling the location of the players on her friends list: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Which left the blip to the Northwest, where Sunset had to be.

"That's where she is," Rainbow said, pointing to her map. "C'mon, let's go see what the deal is."

They all galloped for the western exit, taking multiple detours through the alleyways to avoid the heavy traffic of the marketplace. They left the city quickly, but there was still about twenty kilometers of rough, uneven desert and mesas to traverse. But they didn't stop. Their high stamina let them gallop through the map at a breakneck pace. Dust swept behind them, and any monsters that caught wind of them were cut down in an instant, with barely a moment of thought.

"Remember when this used to be hard?" Applejack shouted over their galloping hooves.

Pinkie laughed back. "Sure do! I thought we'd never make it past this place."

"The rocks are still as though as ever though," Fluttershy added. "I didn't think I'd miss trudging through the mud."

Rainbow Dash just smirked at her friends. "I'd fly over to Sunset, but then I'd outmatch you all in a second." She stretched out her wings, showing off their feathers.

"Reckon my strength and stamina gives enough speed to match," Applejack remarked. "I'd like to take you up on that challenge some time."

Pinkie Pie bounced forward in front of everybody. "I'll be the referee!" she exclaimed.

"Maybe later, after we see what the problem is," Rainbow said to Pinkie.

They quickly saw what it was. In the distance, in the middle of a long passageway through the desert plateau, a battle raged out of control. Pegasi leaped down from the top of the plateau, diving into combat and using their shockwave to disorient their opponents. They were fighting Sunset.

"You girls catch up," Rainbow Dash yelled just before she unfolded her wings and sped ahead of the group. It was a strain on her stamina, but she covered the last stretch of land with a shocking Sonic Rainboom, bursting into the fray with full force.

She was on one of the attackers in an instant, knocking him out as they both crashed into the side of the crevice. She gave the players no time to surround her. Spinning, she ripped through their armor and health until they were wise enough to back away. Sunset took the chance to advance her own attack, swinging her Landsknecht Zweihander unconventionally with one hoof.

It took no less than a minute for the others to reach them, but by then the ambush was over, and the attacking players were wise enough to back away.

"What in tarnation is going on?" Applejack asked Sunset once she caught up.

"They have Roseluck," Sunset said grimly. Applejack didn't know who Sunset was talking about, but anyone held hostage by a group of bandits deserved a chance to be rescued. She drew her spear and shield and took her stance by Rainbow Dash.

"Whatever you need, I've got you covered Sunset," she said, looking over the edge of her shield.

Sunset nodded and turned to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. "Pinkie, help them hold back the raiders while Fluttershy and I look for their camp."

Fluttershy stepped back, unprepared. "Hold on Sunset, shouldn't I play Support with Applejack and-"

"They can handle themselves," Sunset put bluntly, "but Roseluck's not as high level, they could kill her if your pets aren't there to heal."

Her fear did not go so far as to let her risk another player's life. Fluttershy agreed to go.

"Don't let her get away!" cried one of the bandits. The command was straightforward, and the enemy players rallied around their simple sense of purpose. They rushed forward, testing their weapons against Applejack's shield.

"We have to go," Sunset said to Fluttershy. "I know you're not the best flier but you gotta fly me up to the plateau."

Fluttershy opened her wings and soared up to the plateau, with Sunset dangling behind her. It wasn't the fastest take off, but her level was more than enough to let her outmaneuver the players throwing spears up at them.

Above the plateau, the sun was setting, offering plenty of shadows for cover. On the horizon, Fluttershy and Sunset spotted a small camp. Aside from a few patches of cactus, the camp was fairly open to the elements, and the only danger were the players guarding the tents and cabins.

Fluttershy glided forward first, moving parallel to the ground but staying low enough hide in the cover of the rocks. Sunset followed behind once Fluttershy signaled that everything was clear.

"They're holding prisoners hostage," Sunset whispered to Fluttershy, "and making their friends or guild pay for their return. Roseluck has to be in one of those guarded cabins." She pointed to two large wooden constructs, player made log cabins meant for player housing, that were heavily guarded by two Tanks and two Damages.

"Can't we just rescue them and run for it?" Fluttershy asked, nervously looking around the camp. Though she was at least twenty levels higher than the players in the camp, she didn't intend to fight. She could kill them on accident.

Sunset shook her head. "They targeted weak players, players that they could kill easily. If we're seen, we'll be putting the hostages at risk."

Fluttershy gulped down her anxiety. She could worry later, right now she needed to help Sunset's new friend, and whoever else was taken. Another idea came to her.

"Is there something stopping them from using teleport scrolls?" she asked.

"The bandits took their whole inventory, even equipped armor and weapons," Sunset answered, slipping back behind a rock as one of the  guards patrolled by. Fluttershy caught a glimpse of the guard as he passed, and just as she expected, he was a red player. They really would be willing to kill the hostages.

Once the guard was a safe distance away, Fluttershy opened her inventory and showed it to Sunset. "I like to keep a healthy stock of teleport scrolls ready," she said with a sly smile. It was a perfect stack of a hundred scrolls, costing no less than a small fortune.

Sunset realized the plan Fluttershy was cooking. "With just a short distraction, we could teleport the hostages back to the central city, and we wouldn't have to worry about the bandits attacking them."

Fluttershy nodded, moving the scrolls to a secondary equipment slot, keeping it ready to be used. "Just give the signal."

"I've got your back," Sunset replied to Fluttershy and drew her sword, with magic this time. "As soon as I draw away the guards, it's all on you to get the hostages out of there. Make sure Roseluck gets out, please."

Fluttershy gave a nod of agreement, and Sunset sprung into action almost immediately. With just two steps out of sync in their formation, the guards lined themselves up to be knocked out by the initial charge. Three were down before Susnet even turned to the four guarding the cabins.

Fluttershy waited for the guards to charge Sunset before gliding around the camp. Most of the tents were empty, so she rushed quickly behind them and made for the cabins. The doors on the cabins were locked, and the key was probably in the leader's inventory. Fluttershy checked behind her, seeing that Sunset was still toying with the guards.

Fluttershy selected the door, taking her time to read its attributes. The builder's player name was Emer, and though it seemed he was a significantly higher level than the rest of the raiders, Fluttershy was still part of the Clearing Group, and the building's level paled in comparison to her's.

She drew her mace, a shinning titanium weapon Scootaloo had made for her with her new anvil, and smashed in the door. It cracked, and a moment later shattered into fragments of light as it despawned.

One of the guards turned around and saw Fluttershy. "They're freeing the hostages!" he shouted. He raised his spear to launch it at Fluttershy, but Sunset crippled his limbs with a single cleave of her sword.

"Teleport them now!" Sunset shouted, positioning herself between the guards and the cabins. One tried to flank her, but got knocked back by the flat side of Sunset's blade. The other two came up and attacked her, only to find themselves parried by the massive zweihander.

Fluttershy activated her scrolls, handing one to each hostage and sending them back to the central city. "Roseluck? Is any of you Roseluck?" she asked, making sure she didn't miss Sunset's friend.

"She's in the other cabin," a young stallion said. "Please, save her."

Everyone else had teleported away. Fluttershy handed the stallion a teleportation scroll and rushed out the door to open the second cabin. She wondered why Roseluck was such an important player. Maybe he was just another friend who came to rescue her, like Sunset, but got captured in the process.

Fluttershy swung her wing in a wide arc, bashing down the second cabin's door. But as she readied her scrolls to distribute them, a shield forced her down to the side. Some of the raiders were retreating from the fight down in the crevice, returning to their camp, which meant reinforcements for the guards.

The Tank raised a spear one hoof, aiming for Fluttershy's head. She swung her mace at him, striking with a hit strong enough to force back even a heavily armored tank, but he deflected the strike with a shield ability. Fluttershy cursed the game's physics.

But before he could strike, a chain wrapped around the Tank's hoof, dragging him back. It was the young stallion from the first cabin, staying to join the fight. His rope dart weapon wasn't spectacularly strong, but its ability to stun an enemy made up for its lack of damage.

"Get Roseluck and the others out of here!" he shouted.

Fluttershy was already off the ground, handing a scroll to each of the hostages. "Is anyone here named Roseluck?" she asked.

A young mare stood up. Her red mane and rose cutie mark was an obvious sign. "Sunset said she'd be here with her friends," she said to Fluttershy, taking the scroll. "Glad to have the Clearing Group looking out for the underdogs. Tell her I made back to central safely." Moments after her last word, she vanished into a column of light. The other hostage did the same and fled back to the central city.

Outside, the others had rounded up the entire camp of raiders, and Rainbow Dash was sending a message to Scootaloo asking her to send some Crusaders down to escort the players to the central city. They weren't worth so many teleportation scrolls.

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"To another victory!"

The guild keep was packed. So many Crusaders showed up to celebrate they had to move the party down to floor thirty four, where they had built the largest guild hall PAO had ever seen. Partially into the mountain that loomed over the dimension's central city, players had begun to call it "New Canterlot," after the central city on floor three.

They were celebrating another capture of a player killing guild, the Red Knights. Scootaloo was careful not to mention Sunset's involvement.

"Still not warming up to you, are they?" Roseluck asked Sunset. They sat together in the corner of the room while Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie toasted with the Crusaders. No one had to ask where Fluttershy went to, she always spent time tending to the animals in the garden. Most of them, after all, were tamed by her anyways.

Sunset shrugged. "I don't know. Most of these players are from the Clearing Group. They're hardcore gamers, and would probably love to have a chance to fight the maker of the game, if only to boast about it."

"As if they had a chance," Roseluck chuckled. She pointed to Sunset's sword. "You still haven't told anyone else about that, have you?"

Sunset shook her head. "My friends could probably guess why."

Just as she suspected. "Well everyone in here would think twice about fighting you if they knew."

Scootaloo raised her glass, giving a speech to her guild about the importance of beating the player killers, and thanking the honorary Crusaders who helped out. She also left a no-so-subtle offer for Rainbow, AJ, or Pinkie to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders for real.

"I'll tell them when the time is right," Sunset replied, taking a sip of fruit punch. It tasted cool, with the mix of tropical fruits and berries in it. Again, she couldn't help but marvel at the Digisphere's ability to reconstruct the senses. Similarly, she was thankful it was limited on its reconstruction of pain.

"Well, I can't wait for the party to be over," Roseluck said. "I've been eager to meet your friends for so long. I kind of feel out of place in all of this."

Sunset patted her on the back. "Don't fret Rose. You're leveling up faster than they ever have, so I'm sure you'll be part of the Clearing Group in no time."

"It's not that," Roseluck sighed, "at least, not entirely. I started playing PAO to hang out with my real world friends, but only me and Greg were able to get online. Besides, I still can't believe we all went to Canterlot High and have barely talked."

Sunset raised her brow. It wasn't the first time Roseluck had used her "gamer friend's" real name. "Why do you call him Greg?" she asked.

Roseluck wasn't sure if Sunset was serious or not. She looked at her with a face of confusion. "Why would anyone, let alone me, want to call him 'Taco Coffin'?"

Sunset smirked. She had honestly forgotten about his ridiculous player name. "I've seen worse," she said, pointing at one of the Crusaders. "Saw him in the raid on floor twenty-five's boss. His player name's 'xXTooHotFoYouSonXx.'"

Roseluck laughed. "Each to their own I guess." She got up from her chair and beckoned Sunset to follow.

"Come on, I don't feel like waiting," she said to Sunset, "but I did hear that Fluttershy's out in the gardens right now. I'd love to meet her."

Sunset followed happily, moving around the crowd toward the guild keep's portcullis. "I'm sure she'd be glad to meet you too."

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The worst part about floor thirty-five's boss room was the atmosphere. It was a terrible mix of humidity and heat, and made it harder to fight with its uncomfortable swamp terrain.

Below the surface, the boss dungeon was like an entirely different jungle, full of strange mushrooms and insects. It had the perfect resource nodes for Roseluck's alchemy skill.

Ever since she teamed up with Sunset and her friends, they had helped her level up so quickly she had surpassed even some of the Clearing Group members by the time the dungeon raid began. She and Sunset hung back, cleaning up the monsters the boss summoned from the swamp. In the front, the heavy hitting Damages and Tanks wrestled with the kraken-like boss, pinning down its tentacles and slashing them off.

It was a messy fight, in the end Sunset had to join in on and tangle with the boss as well, but they were able to end it without a single death, and that was what mattered most.

"Good fight everyone," Sweetie Belle announced. "And that's not just to the Crusaders. Every guild that took part, from our own rivals, the Knights of Yore, to the small groups of friends, fought valiantly." It was a happy sentiment, considering everyone, however it impacted only a few underdogs. Most of the players were from the massive guilds, who were synonymous with the Clearing Group.

Regardless, Sweetie Belle continued. "We've not only opened the gates to a whole new floor, but we've secured the hope that one day we'll all leave PAO and have a real celebration in the real world." The applause was surprisingly enthusiastic, considering how exhausted everyone was after the fight, but Sweetie Belle's talented voice excelled at motivating players to get back on their hooves and work harder toward the next goal.

Applebloom came up next to her, presenting the loot drop of the kraken to the crowd. Its bloody head, though rendered with gruesome detail, brought another round of applause. They'd mount it on a pike next to the floor's portal and open the way to the following floors.

Rainbow Dash came up behind Sunset, patting her on the back. "Good to have you back with us. It hasn't been the same without you."

Sunset smiled and nodded back to RD. It really was good to be back with her friends.