Equestrian Saga Online

by Lunar Raven

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Sad, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance
Length: 8682

A game of life or death, 10,000 ponies trapped therein, the only way out being to survive and beat the game. Will they make it out, or will they remain until death comes to their physical bodies? Time will tell.

-This story is based off of the anime that everyone loves to hate, Sword Art Online, and the show that most of us on the site love, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. All rights belong to their respective owners, and any parallels beyond the obvious are not intentional.-

It is April 17, 2035, the Launch Day for the highly-anticipated Equestrian Saga Online on the VPon-3, a device that has been very underwhelming due to nopony finding a good usage for the full-dive technology it offers. After months of beta testing and hyping up, the game is set to break records across the board, and go down in history.

However, certain groups have been suspicious of the company behind it, “Starlit Eclipse,” and have been investigating the device and the game itself, out of fear of to what extent full-dive technology could go if put in the wrong hooves. Though not finding anything specific, they are not as hopeful for the launch as seemingly countless amounts of ponies are, with lines out of every game store that was able to stock it.

Suffice to say, the future is a mystery, and nopony knows what may come out of this new technology. May the games begin.

Published 2017-04-19 01:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-04-24 16:34:03 UTC

Launch Day

Author's Note

Ever heard of "Author wants to try new idea, he spends all day doing it, and he publishes it knowing that nobody will want to read it because it sucks?" Well, here you go!

This is an unedited, non proof-read experiment to gauge interest in me trying to do a story like this once more. Let us see how it goes!

Also, story is non-formatted because the Google Docs Import tool is severely broken. Hopefully you do not mind too much.

Launch Day

Beep! Beep! Beep!

An alarm sounds three times before an excited smack hits the poor inanimate object, almost knocking it off its home on the top of a dresser, next to a lamp and a Bible. The Earth Pony responsible for this injustice is Raven Star, and his reason is simple: Launch Day.

This Launch Day was unlike others he had awaited for previously, as it was the Launch Day of the first MMO to utilize the VPon-3, and though he was unable to join the Beta, he managed to get a pre-order in for the game, and picked it up a day early, even though the servers would not open until today.

But, to him, none of that mattered, for today was the day he was waiting for, and he was not going to complain about that too much. However, as he did not think about when he set the alarm, the servers would not open until 8:00PM, so that most ponies around the area would be off of work. How kind.

As he realizes his mistake about the time, he simply shrugs, for going back to sleep was hardly going to be possible nor probable. Instead, he boots up his computer, and notices that his friend Holly was online. Apparently, she notices the same, as soon thereafter, a Chat Window opens:

Holly: Hey Raven!
Raven: Good morning to you. Same mistake as me?
Holly: What, waking up so early? Nah, I like to wake up early. Gives me more hours in the day.
Raven: Fair point. Want to hang out some prior to 8:00PM? I have nothing planned, as my family is going to be out and about.
Holly: Sounds fun! Hopefully we can avoid the protestors.
Raven: Doubt it. Our best chance is probably the park though. If nothing else, we can at least enjoy some of God’s creation for a time.
Holly: Good idea, it is usually quiet. It is a date then! See you in 20 minutes or so?
Raven: That would be fine. See you then.

-Chat Window Closes-

With that written, Raven heads into the eating area, where he found his cousin eating breakfast.

“As ravenous as always,” Raven comments, to a response of a suggestive gesture when Raven’s aunt(the other Earth Pony’s mother) was not looking. “That was kind,” Raven continues sarcastically.

“Shut up. What does ravenous even mean?” He responds to Raven.

“I have told you this countless times, Grumpy, it means extremely hungry, and I say tha-,” Raven tries to say before an immature fit comes from Grumpy comes in terms of noise and motions.

“I get it, I get it! Shut up already!” Grumpy replies, returning to his food.

“Wavy was spot on with your name, you know,” Raven says in response, getting some food of his own, thanking the aforementioned mare.

“I thought I said shut up,” Grumpy responds.

“I never knew I was supposed to care.”

“You are a dick.”

“Pot calling the kettle black.”

“BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!” Wavy exclaims after they start getting into a war of words, wanting to avoid the inevitable conflict. “Both of you need to get out of the house some, find a friend or whatever to hang out with,” She continues, before trotting off. The two young stallions look back at each other.

“I already have plans with Holly, if you want to join us,” Raven offers to Grumpy.

“Hanging out with your marefriend? Is she not the other nerd that is going to play whatever game you keep talking about?” Grumpy says, Raven turning partially red.

“Yes, she is, and yes we are hanging out, but she is not my marefriend. Simply a friend,” Raven replies, to a knowing look from Grumpy.

“I may be a dick, and not as smart as you, but I can at least see emotions. Makes me great at my job of being a dick,” Grumpy responds, laughing.

“Whatever. Do you want to come along or not?” Raven asks.

“I would rather stab myself in the eye with a pencil then listen to both of you, so I will pass,” Grumpy says, taking another bite of his food.

“Dick.”

“As you say: ‘That I am,’” Grumpy says with a sarcastic tone.

“Anyway, I will be back around 6-7:00PM, probably. Call me before you try anything idiotic, so I can tell you why you are stupid,” Raven replies with a chuckle, Grumpy laughing a bit as well.

“Have fun with your marefriend!”

“Have fun with the blank walls!”

“Better than being around you!

“Right back to you!”

“SHUT UP!” Wavy exclaims again, having left the room she went into with her husband, Crimson Streak, talking on the phone next to her, telling her to shush before leaving and talking, Wavy following suit.

“Do I even need to say it?” Grumpy asks.

“Nope, I know exactly what you think about her. See you later,” Raven says.

“Do not die.”

“Do not blow anything up.”

“I will try,” Grumpy finishes, before Raven leaves the house to meet up with Holly.

The time is 10:00AM.

In a laboratory on the other side of Ponyville..

“Nightlight..there is..something..you may want..to see!” A unicorn exclaims, gallop to the aforementioned Nightlight all the way across the way, causing him to pant pathetically from the short gallop. He is holding a clipboard in his magic that Nightlight takes.

“I know you are not an Earth Pony, but come on now Jay. There is no way you are that tired from such a short journey,” Nightlight comments, looking over the material on the clipboard.

“Not all of us..go to..the gym,” Jay responds, regaining his composure slowly but surely.

“Explain what you are showing me, Jay,” Nightlight says after a bit, giving an inquisitive look at Jay.

“It is the latest results from the ESO Analysis group. There was a change in the server data from the closing of the Beta to the preparation period for the Launch. Not just any change, but a rather troubling one,” Jay replies.

“What is so troubling? Do MMOs not typically have modifications, even during such a short period before Launch?” Nightlight asks.

“Indeed, but there is one change that is relatively minor, but important, and one encrypted script of concern. Page 3 and 5 contain basic summaries of the information currently acquired,” Jay elaborates.

“I see. I will look these over then. Continue business as usual,” Nightlight replies.

“Yes ma’am,” Jay says in response, turning around and trotting away.

What are these changes? Nightlight ponders, flipping to Page 3 as she trots, reading over what she can.

Report #214
Department: ESO Analysis
Date of report: 4-17-35

As the game ESO nears its finalized state for its Launch Day, a troubling alteration has led to a reprioritization in these final hours, to determine if our suspicions have been warranted all along.

The change in question is to the logging off mechanism provided with the VPon-3 SDK. Part of the SDK included a specific log-off script necessary for voluntary logging out of a game. If it was to be altered or removed, we do not know what effects it could have for a player.

It is unclear to us why this is, but the script has been tampered with, but to what extent we are presently unaware of. We do know, however, that the original Logout method is not longer in the script, replaced instead by a link to an encrypted script that our current encryption key cannot decrypt. More information is in Report #214-B.

Until we know more, all we can do is theorize as to what the new Logout method is, and what it means for the inevitable players. We submit this report to show we are aware of this change, and are working towards figuring out why it was done.

Signed,

Yuki Tori

Report #214-B
Department: ESO Analysis
Date of report: 4-17-35

This report functions as an appendix to the prior report, specifically talking about the encrypted script that, unfortunately, is beyond our ability to decrypt at the time of this writing.

The script is titled “Full Immersion.escript,” not encrypted with the standard code that we have been using prior to now. Why this change was done so soon is rather odd to ponder, but it could simply be a beefing up of server security. We simply do not have that information.

Until we gain more information, we will be working to try to decrypt this, and figure out the connection to the Logout script. Once we know more, another report shall be filed.

Having made it back to her office by this point, Nightlight looks over the documents again, and thinks about them.

What are you up to..? She thinks to herself, before getting back to her own, unrelated work.

The time is now 10:20AM.

At the Ponyville Park area..

“We demand transparency!” “Open the code, show us your goal!”

“Can you believe these ponies?” Holly inquires, looking over at the ESO protesters.

“I cannot really fault them for caring so much. Starlit Eclipse has been rather secretive with all their assets, and their ambition is a big worry to many,” Raven replies.

“But you are not worried. Why is that?” Holly asks, curious.

“If there was something big enough to worry about, I would assume that the princesses would have gotten involved by this point. Considering the lack of news to that effect, or of anything shady beyond encrypting assets, I am chalking it up to a company not wanting their assets stolen so soon into a new market,” Raven explains.

“Makes sense. Still, these protests are not going to reflect well on the company, and probably hurt their sales. You would think they would try to do something to appease them,” Holly states.

“Due to the interest level being over the amount of stock that they were able to reasonably put out, I doubt sales will be much of a problem,” Raven responds.

“Fair point. What do you want to do for the remaining amount of time? There is not exactly much to do around here, and those chants are annoying me,” Holly complains.

“We have been here for only a few minutes and you are already bored? Typical Holly,” Raven replies, sticking his tongue out at her, causing her to flush red.

“It is not my fault it is boring around here! You know I prefer gaming to most other social activities,” Holly says in response.

“I love to game myself, but you really need to get out more,” Raven says back.

“One to talk.”

“More so than you.”

“Not by much.”

“Every little bit counts.”

“I hate you.”

“I love you too,” Raven finishes the exchange, smiling, Holly doing so as well soon after.

“Tell you what: How about we get on our PCs, and get some practice playing Pony Scrolls Online or something to that effect before the launch?” Raven asks, to an ecstatic Holly.

“Deal! Do not be too long!” She exclaims, flying off.

“Silly Holly..” He says to himself, watching the white and green pegasus as she flies away. Being so deep in thought, he does not notice the pony approaching behind him.

“Want to support transparency in the gaming industry?” The mysterious pony asks, knocking Raven out of his dreamy state.

“If you really think your efforts right now is going to cause any change on Launch Day, or anytime soon, you are severely naive. I support your mission, but I am going to be playing the game later today, so I cannot join you,” Raven responds.

“Be careful, friend,” The pony replies, before trotting off.

“Weird souls..” Raven says aloud, before trotting off to grab his system, to enjoy some time with Holly over the Internet.

After many eventful, wasteful hours of game playing later..

“You know, after ESO and related games end up launching, these games are likely going to go downhill quickly. Who would want to have their hooves cramp up as opposed to controlling things with your mind?” Holly rhetorically asks, clicking violently to swing her sword at an encountered dragon.

“I would be willing to bet that there will be enough loyalists to keep them alive and well,” Raven responds, dealing the final blow to the dragon, ending their battle prior to their imminent death.

“That was a hard fight. I wonder how the battle system will work in ESO,” Holly ponders aloud, resting back in her chair.

“Probably similar to combat in real life, albeit easier and guided a bit, like Call of Duty,” Raven replies, Holly being disgusted.

“Compare ESO to COD again and I will not join you tonight,” She states.

“You would not miss Launch Day for the world, and you know it,” He replies.

“..you are not wrong,” Holly concedes, clicking out of the game to look at the time.

“Guess what time it is?” She asks.

“What? Raven says in response.

“7:55. The press release said to be prepared to enter as to not miss the opening ceremony and everything, so we should probably log off and get ready,” Holly replies.

“Good point. See in in-game!” Raven says.

“See you in-game,” Holly responds, before logging out. At that point, Grumpy comes into the room.

“Done with your marefriend?” He asks.

“Not going over that one again. We are about to log into ESO, if you are wondering,” Raven replies.

“Have a good trip,” Grumpy says.

“See you next fall,” Raven replies.

“It better not take that long. You have to help me with dishes in an hour,” Grumpy responds.

“Duly noted. If I am not awake by that point, go ahead and do them, and I will do them alone tomorrow. Deal?” Raven states.

“Deal. Have fun,” Grumpy replies, sarcastically closing the door ever-so-slowly.

“Never a dull moment.”

“You know you love me.”

“That is gay.”

“Nighty night.” Grumpy says finally, before shutting the door.

Looking at the time again, Raven notices that it is 7:58PM. Moving rather quickly, he puts on the VPon-3, and waits for the time to click to 8:00PM.

His wish was finally granted in the latter part of 7:59PM, as he counts down in his head.

5..4..3..2..1..

The time is now 8:00PM, and the eyes of many thousands close their eyes right at that moment, a shared phrase coming out of them.

“Link start!”

Back at the laboratory, in Meeting Room Alpha..

“The Launch has begun,” Nightlight says to the gathered ponies, an expression of eerie calm upon her.

“Yes ma’am. We found nothing that could have warranted government intervention. We have a small crew still working at the decryption as we speak, but all we can do is hope for the best, regardless of the outcome,” Jay replies.

“If anypony gets harmed, it is going to be on our heads, you know,” Nightlight states.

“I am aware of this ma’am, and rest assured that we are working as fast as we-,” Jay starts, before the door slams open.

“We have a problem,” A pony from the decryption crew says. “A big one.”

In the Welcome Plaza..

“My word..”

“It is beautiful..”

“LAUNCH DAY!”

A variety of statements littered the plaza as the thousands of users log onto the game, making the plaza rather crowded rather quickly. Raven looks around, trying to find Holly, before being tapped by the aforementioned mare. Looking behind him stood the exact same mare, appearance and all, as he knew and loved.

“We are in the game..” Holly says with a smile wider than even when Pony Scrolls Online launched.

“That we are..” Raven agrees, looking around in sheer awe. “We probably should move out of the Welcome Plaza though, the ceremony does not begin for another half hour,” He continues, to a nod by Holly.

“Right. A Beta Tester blog I followed mentioned some relatively easy enemies in a field nearby, we should probably try some combat training. I presume you chose sword as your specialty as well?” Holly asks, as Raven pulls out his sword.

“Do you even need to ask?” Raven responds, smiling at the mare as she pulls out a sword of her own.

“Guess not. Come now, let us get going,” Holly says, beginning to trot in the general direction she remembered, Raven following after.

In the Hog Plains..
After 15 minutes of wondering..
Because Holly kept looking at the sights..

“Gah!” Holly exclaims, being hit again by a “Normal Hog,” her health bar in the medium.

“Halfway gone, not a single blow landed on the same hog you have been fighting for five minutes now,” Raven deadpans.

“If you think it is so easy, switch with me,” Holly challenges.

“Fine then, jump back and I will jump in,” Raven says, Holly doing so and Raven becoming the new target for the hog. The Hog then charges at Raven, and he tries to swing..

And gets hit, and thrown backwards.

“Not so easy now that you are the one fighting it, huh?” Holly teases, Raven flushing red.

“Alright, you got me there. There has to be some secret to it though,” Raven responds, blocking an incoming attack with his sword.

“Try believing in the heart of the sword, hone your focus into stabbing the enemy, and you shall most surely succeed!” Holly sarcastically replies, Raven decided to try anyway, pushing the enemy away to begin.

Watching the hog come forth, Raven does as Holly suggested, keeping his focus on the hog in front of him, and the action of moving the sword. When he perceived the hog coming close enough, he lunges forth, killing the enemy with one blow.

“Are you kidding me?! That was a joke!” Holly complains, Raven chuckling.

“I think I win,” Raven says.

“Do not get cocky. Now that I have an idea on how to work this system, I will be fine,” She retorts, going towards another hog.

“Do you not think you should heal first? You are at half health..” Raven states.

“What are you so worried about? It is not like I actually die. I would just meet you back at the Welcome Plaza when I respawn,” Holly says, focusing on the battle.

A few hits later, she is at red, as she still is not able to land a strike on the hog.

“Focus, Holly!” Raven exclaims.

“I am trying! You made it out to be a lot easier than it actually is!” Holly says, blocking an incoming attack again.

“Push the hog back, and focus on its movements, and how you want to move the sword. The system will guide your sword to come in contact if you focus properly,” Raven explains, Holly listening once more and seeking to do as she is told.

Pushing the hog away, she did the same as Raven, killing the hog, and winning the battle.

“I did it! I did it!” Holly says with joy, a smile appearing on her face.

“Indeed. I wonder when the welcoming ceremony is, it has to be close to half an hour by now since the launch, due to your incessant wandering around,” Raven states.

“Well excuuuuse me, princess, I like the scenery of this game, it is absolutely incredible!” Holly exclaims with indignation.

“Alright, alright. Anyway, hopefully it will not be too-,” He begins, before they are both suddenly teleported, landing within the Welcome Plaza with the other players following suit. Once all were gathered, a pony appears on a giant white cloud, his color scheme blending in as though he was an angel.

“Greetings players, I am Torn Soul, the CEO of Starlit Eclipse, and I welcome you to Equestrian Saga Online! Are all of you having a most joyous time thus far?” The pony of white inquires, to an overwhelming cheer from the players.

“Wonderful! This game was a work of passion from my and the rest of Starlit Eclipse, and despite the protests, I am happy you decided to come in and enjoy the fruits of our labor! As a reward for your dedication, I would like to let you all in on a little secret,” He continues, his color scheme and cloud growing darker as he continues forth.

“Some of you have noticed the absence of the “Logout,” button, that would normally be present in the Gesture UI. Rest assured, you are still able to Logout, but we wanted you to have a bit of enjoyment before you did. You can find a purchase in the shop for 50 bits that you can get to be logged out instantly, whenever you so choose. I have put 50 frozen bits in your account for that purpose, so you can always have it. We would update the game, but that would require some down time that we cannot afford to have, so that will have to do. We apologize for the inconvenience,” He continues, Raven starting to find this a bit odd. Soon after, a pony, one that Raven assumed to be one of the reporters due to his urgency, found the purchase that was spoken of, and swiftly purchases it. Right when he does so, however, Torn looks over and smiles, becoming darker.

“It appears that some ponies are wanting to adjourn this meeting early. How sad. Look to the pony right there as an example of that purchase in action,” He says, pointing to the confused pony, wondering why he was not yet logged out. All of a sudden, he clutches where his heart would be, and collapses to the ground, spasming.

“Oh right, did I forget to mention that “Logging out,” from this game translates to literal, fascinating death of your body in the real world? Silly me, I forgot,” Torn continues, a crooked smile dawning on his face as he turns as black as the night, yellow eyes piercing a black fog that spread throughout the plaza as a result of the pony’s death.

“It is time you little ponies learned a bit more about me, Torn Soul. I will spare you all the intricate details, and tell you a basic summary: I created this game in order to have a universe under my control, constantly under my whim. I wanted to be a god of a universe which players were trapped in for as long as I saw fit to keep them. You ponies were the volunteers I needed in order to fulfill my wish, so congratulations,” He explains.

“Hold up! How do we get out of here then?! I do not want to die in here!” A pony shouts from the crowd up at Torn Soul, the pony laughing at the question.

“Relax, there is a way, and not a hard one either. Simply make it to the top of all 100 floors in this game, defeat the final boss, and all shall be freed from the game. That is, of course, if you truly want to leave. I would love to have you all here until you wither away in the real world, if that is your choice,” Torn Soul answers.

“In any case, I have spoken for long enough. You know your mission, and you know your choices. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy your new home, Equestrian Saga Online!” He finishes, laughing as lightning strikes and he floats away, the fog soon clearing to reveal a clear night sky, a silent clearing being left in its wake.

Raven receives a message from Holly soon after, simply reading “Meet outside the East Gate,” and he hoofs it there, before the meltdown began. He finds Holly standing still, silent, and deflated.

“Holly? Are you..alright?” Raven asks, despite knowing the gist of what she was feeling.

“I appreciate the concern..but I really do not have a good answer to that question. I need some rest,” She simply says, her voice devoid of most of her emotion, a sign Raven knew all too well.

“I think there was a player-run Inn nearby. I would be willing to bet that they would not be gone for too long, given the circumstances,” Raven says, Holly simply nodding and following after, not saying a word.

At the Inn..

As the duo open the door to the wooden Inn, a fresh fire greets them, alongside a blue coated mare with a white mane.

“You set up fast,” Raven comments.

“No reason to stand there and yell at somepony who could not care less,” The mare replies.

“True that. Do you have a room that could house both of us?” Raven asks.

“We only have single bed rooms here, enough to fit two ponies on if they so chose. You can rent it if you want,” The mare responds. Before Raven could say anything else, Holly pipes in.

“We will take it,” She says, her voice the same as before. After paying with the bits acquired from the earlier Hog battles, the two ponies silently enter their room, 25-B.

“I can sleep on the floor if you want, so you can get the bed to yourself. I am assuming you do not want to sleep together,” Raven says.

“I never said that. Do what you want,” Holly simply says, climbing onto one side of the bed and facing the wall, leaving room enough for Raven to join, which he reluctantly decides to.

“Are you..”

“Just..do not ask anything tonight, Raven. Just let me sleep.”

“Alright..have a blessed night, Holly.”

“..you as well.”

With the short dialogue complete, they both rest,healing their characters and providing them a temporary reprieve from the horrors that may await them come the morrow.

EQ: Chaos

Author's Note

Welcome to Chapter 2 of unformatted experimentation! I am grateful to the readers thus far who have enjoyed my new attempt at story writing, and hope that you will continue to enjoy it.

This Chapter starts a separation I want to try, where EQ chapters would feature the events transpiring in Equestria, whether it be broad like this chapter or personal, such as Raven's family, while ESO Chapters would be, of course, inside of ESO, and the main story. Please provide your input on that format, and this chapter, so I know whether I should continue doing it like this, and/or what I need to change regarding my writing and/or formatting.

Forewarning, this story, as this chapter shows, can get fairly dark, but the dark elements will not be so heavily explored as to warrant anything more than a Teen Rating(also, chapters this dark and seemingly out of place are not going to be commonplace, it is more of an initial bang to what has been going on, and to introduce side conflicts). There is a reason I am being vague, and the scene that I am specifically mentioning is likely not to be taken the way mature-oriented readers would take it. Just keep my note in mind.

Lastly, I will provide profiles for the characters eventually, so you know what they look like. I am honestly just not that good at incorporating the descriptions in writing.

Have a blessed one!

EQ: Chaos

Anchor: The time is now 9:57AM, and we have just received word from our field reporter that the conference we mentioned earlier is soon to be underway. Hello Lori, can you give a recap for those who have not been tracking the story thus far?

Lori: Surething, Silver, good to talk with you again. A number of deaths have mysteriously occurred throughout the night, all of which, according to police, were apparently users of the popular VPon-3, and were playing the game Equestrian Saga Online when they were found dead. Current numbers stand at around 200 ponies, all of them either children or young adults. We are presently awaiting a morning conference by a spokespony for the company behind it, Starlit Eclipse, that was rapidly put together as reports came in. Speaking of, the spokespony is arriving on stage as I speak, so let us listen in.

“Greetings to all of you this morning, and I appreciate your time. It is my solemn duty to report that indeed, the reports you have been hearing are correct. The players were indeed reported dead playing the game ESO, and a data analysis has shown that their times of death correlated to the time that they were no longer present in the game. We are still unsure what could be causing this, but are working to figure it out, and why present users are still in full-dive. Until we know more, I can only say not to attempt to remove the VPon-3, as attempts to do so have ended in otherwise-healthy players to meet a tragic demise as well. We will cooperate with Law Enforcement the best we can, and get these players out of the game as soon as we feasibly can. I am open to answer any questions that I am authorized to speak to,” He says, many reporters wanting to ask some, him choosing one at random.

“Hello, I am from Pox News. I was wanting to know, why have the servers not simply been cut off at this point, and why has nopony tried simply cutting the power to the VPon-3’s?” He asks.

“Let me make this plain and clear: If you want those players to be alive, do not attempt to remove or cut power or connection to the machine or the server. Until we know the cause of their deaths, the 10,000 players could all fall to the same fate if we attempt anything rash. Rest assured, we are not taking this news lightly, and will report when we know more,” The spokespony replies, choosing another reported.

“Good day. I am from PNN. Will there be any compensation to the affected by death or caring for the unconscious ponies around the land?” The mare asks.

“I am not authorized to speak to the specifics of such at this time. However, we are committed to take charge of mistakes on our part, and I can guarantee that something will eventually be done for the affected,” The spokespony responds, pointing to yet another.

“Greetings to you, Mr. Solo Trick. I am from the Transparency Project, and one of the organizers for the Launch Day protests. You assured us that everything was safe, and are claiming to be looking into this matter. Why is Starlit Eclipse then keeping all of their assets encrypted, instead of showing to us, at the very least, the scripts, for outside analysis? Anonymous tips from apparent cryptographers have even alleged changes to the logging out mechanism commonplace for the VPon-3, including a “Full Immersion.escript,” tied to that change, that is..not..” The pony vocally charges, before he suddenly falls over, a dagger in his back, a commotion starting that led to guards protecting the spokespony.

“I will answer to his claims and more tomorrow, as I learn more. Conference adjourned!” The spokespony says, before being escorted away, the pony being tended to as the feed cuts out.

In the Laboratory Meeting Area..

“...” A silence comes from the head mare, Nightlight, as she simply looks out the window, causing a discomfort among those within the room, all of them having just watched the broadcast.

“Who,” Nightlight finally says, so deadpan as to remove any sense of inquiry to it, but more so disappointment.

“Is it not possible another group could have found the same information we did?” Jay suggests.

“Possible, yes. Likely? Doubt it. Also, due to these changes in circumstances, we are now in Lockdown Level T-5 until further notice. Any and all phones are to be confiscated, any calls filtered through our secure line, and nopony being allowed to leave, until we figure out who raised the alarm so early, putting our operation in potential jeopardy,” Nightlight orders, pointing Jay out to do so with those in the room, before pressing the button to call the front desk.

“Frost, do not allow entry nor exit of the laboratory until further notice. Lethal force authorized for anyone trying something rash,” Nightlight says.

“Y-yes ma’am. May I ask-”

“You will know in a minute, just get back to-”

“Good morning gentlestallions, I will have to ask you to leave, as we are not currently accepting visitors,” Frost says to a trio that had just showed up.

“We must be hard of reading then, as the sign clearly said open to visitors,” The presumed leader stallion said, drawing a handgun at the mare.

“We need to have a little..chat, with your boss. Kindly get her to come to us, or your blood will be spilled right here, right now,” The stallion says.

“I am coming down, hold them off,” Nightlight says.

“Yes ma’am,” Frost says, before looking back at the trio.

“May I ask your names, at least? A date with three gentlestallions is no fun if we are not on a name-to-name basis,” Frost sarcastically said as she walked.

“Call us the ESO QA Squad,” The leader simply says.

“As creative as a newborn foal, I see. Our main mare is coming down now, so feel free to take a seat,” Frost suggests.

“We are not that stupid, whoever you are. We know the likelihood of an alarm button and a weapon behind your counter. Speaking of, come out from behind there, slowly,” The leader demands.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Frost responds, doing as said, having her mane grabbed and a gun pointed to her throat as Nightlight arrives.

“So you are the henchmen Torn Soul sent to ensure that we do not get the information out that was going to be revealed at the conference,” Nightlight states to the leader.

“Smart mare. You guys got close with that tip of yours, too bad that the one who sent us does not quite want such transparency. After all, what fun would that be?” He sneers.

“It takes a monster to want to kill so many innocent ponies wanting to enjoy a game,” Nightlight comments.

“Oh come now, you and I both know that ponies are far from innocent, no matter who they are,” He says.

“Innocent enough not to warrant death by microwaves from the VPon-3 due solely to dying in the game,” Nightlight retorts.

“Guilty enough not to be worried about by our master. Also, you act as though all of the deaths were by the game itself. Let me assure you: Many of the initial players died by their choice of “logging out,” committing suicide through a given method, rather than fight to escape,” He states.

“You act as though it is any different.”

“You act as though it is the same.”

“Your master trapped them.”

“They chose to enter the game.”

“To play.”

“Correction: To be immersed. To be immersed means accepting the risk of death. They were never lied to. There was never any mention of respawning.”

“You lot are insane.”

“You lot are naive.”

“Burn in Hell.”

“Not today. You are coming with us, and if you try anything rash, I will take great pleasure in ending the life of this mare right here,” He says, putting more pressure on the mares throat with the gun.

“Get that gun off the mare before she chokes, you insolent pest. Take me if you want, does not bother me. Catching up with Torn Soul would be a ‘pleasure’,” Nightlight replies. At this, the henchmen not holding Frost effective hostage cuff Nightlight to avoid her escape, and the leader releases Frost, still keeping a gun trained on her just in case.

“Now then, let us make this message clear to, blue pony,” He starts, referring to the front desk mare.

“Tell your crew that if they want to live, they need to end any and all research into ESO, and not attempt to reverse the course that the one who sent us-”

“Torn Soul,” Nightlight repeats.

“-we know little regarding the pony of that name- has put into motion. Do not attempt to call the police either, as we will know, and personally see to it that you and your families do not survive. Do I make myself clear?” The leader finishes, eying the mare.

“Loud and clear,” Frost replies, glaring at him.

“Glad we are on the same page. To the van,” He says to the trio following him, including Nightlight. They proceed to leave and drive off, leaving Frost alone. After ensuring they are gone, she locks the door, and swiftly heads upstairs to the remaining group.

“What happened?” Jay inquires.

“They took Nightlight. They demand the ceasing of attempts to reverse their boss’ course through our research into ESO, or they will kill us and our families as a response,” Frost explains.

“I am assuming the police is out of the question?” He rhetorically asks.

“Yes,” She replies.

“Did they mention a name regarding who sent them?” He inquires.

“They did not, but they denied when Nightlight claimed it was a stallion named “Torn Soul.” My turn for a question: What the hell is going on?” She asks.

“It is a bit of a long story, but I suppose you have the right to know now. We need your phone as-per command by Nightlight, and as the main contact to Nightlight, I am the effective leader until she returns, unless anypony has objections,” He states, to dead silence.

“That is fine,” Frost says, hoofing him her phone.

“Now then, here is what has been going on..”

Two hours later, in an office at a secluded location on the outskirts of Ponyville(because of course it is)..

“Ah, Nightlight, what a pleasant surprise. Let us get you out of those cuffs,” The pony in front of a sat down Nightlight says, motioning for one of the henchmen to uncuff her, getting smack right thereafter, about to get hit in kind before the desk pony says “Enough. You are dismissed, Crescent,” the mentioned stallion leaving the room.

“As feisty as always,” The pony continues.

“As ambitious as always, Torn Soul,” Nightlight replies.

“You remember my name, how sweet.”

“Hard to forget the name of my tormenter.”

“You act as though you opposed being my test subject.”

“You act as though you gave me the choice.”

“Who said I did not? I always give a choice, ponies just typically choose the one they hate the least out of the options in front of them.”

“Death is not typically a choice one chooses if given another option.”

“Yet you acknowledge the choice you had.”

“Reminds me of the Rainbow Factory.”

“I never got caught though.”

“Not yet.”

“Nor will I,” He finishes, before standing up placing his hoof below her chin. “And you will help me make sure of that,” He continues. She goes to smack him, but her hoof is grabbed swiftly.

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

“If I refuse?”

“There is plenty of water calling you name, but I will assume you would rather not make that mistake again, now would you, Agent Nightlight?” He sneers, caressing her mane.

“If it means you finally pay the price for your actions, do what you will with me,” Nightlight weakly says.

“You do not truly mean that, do not fight your urge to be safe and sound once more,” He smoothly says.

“I..will not follow you again!” She yells, trying to bring her other hoof to him, but him slamming both her hooves onto the table.

“How sad, the outside world broke you again. We will fix that soon enough. Take her back to the Waterfall Room,” He demands, Nightlight being cuffed once more and led away, to the chuckling of Torn Soul.

“You only ever listened to negative reinforcement. Perhaps that is what the players will need, soon enough,” He says aloud, to himself, before returning to watching the game monitors, and the player count every now and again falling, eliciting a cruel smile upon his face.

“May the odds be ever in your favors,” He quotes from the Pony Games, laughing, before he gets up and trots out, to head back to his main office.

“Time to be ‘the aghast CEO of Starlit Eclipse, determined to bring an end to these disastrous circumstances’, it appears,” He continues, as he opens the front door, and trots along a lonely path back into the city proper.

ESO: A New Day(Part 1)

Author's Note

You may be wondering: "Why are you separating what could easily be one chapter into two chapters?"
My response to that would be: "I really do not care, as this is my story."
"You may then reply: "You must have some sort of reason!"
My reply then would be: "I do indeed: Get the story some more attention, and bring a level of separation between two different parts of the same chapter. Any more questions?"
Then, I would hope that there were no more questions, but feel free to ask them in the comment section.

Also, I know I promised profiles, but I must confess: I have not thought too much about how they all look beyond Raven, Holly, and Moonlit. As a consequence, those are the only ones I presently have for you guys, as to not further delay this chapter while I write out Part 2.
Raven Star - Profile picture.
Holly Leaf - White-coated, green-maned pegasus. Mane usually done in a double ponytail bound with red. Her Talent Mark is a bushel of Holly.
Moonlit Sonata - Midnight blue-coated, white-maned unicorn. Her talent mark is a Treble Cleft.

As always, commentary is welcome, as I try to figure out how this story is ever going to be completely written out. I am extremely tempted to try a smaller story and put this one on a hiatus similar to that of Turnabout Silver Lining.

But, until then, enjoy my new chapter! God bless!

ESO: A New Day(Part 1)

A new day comes upon the land of ESO, basking the virtual world with the light from the sun script in place, providing a small semblance of the real life that the players had involuntarily left behind as a consequence of deciding to come onto the game.

Many of the land have locked themselves away, fearing the death that may come to pass should they leave the safe confines of the hotel in which they decided to stay.

Others, however, have begun training, to train themselves up, as to perhaps have a chance of escaping the nightmare that has become their reality.

For the two partners, however, they are presently sitting in the breakfast area of the Inn, eating a meal and talking.

“Are you better this morning?” Raven asks.

“As good as a prisoner could be,” Holly responds.

“Better than nothing,” Raven offers, making Holly smile a bit.

“I suppose. You are taking this surprisingly well, considering the fact that unlike me, you have a family outside of this world that cares for you,” Holly says.

“My mentality is simple: There is no use in becoming depressed, as we will never be able to get out of here if we are. It sucks, and likely will suck worse as time progresses, but we must never lose hope. Deuteronomy 31:6, ‘“Be strong, and of a good courage, feare not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doeth goe with thee, he will not faile thee, nor forsake thee.’” Raven replies.

“Fair point,” Holly concedes. “What is the plan for today, anyway?” She inquires.

“I would say training and questing. I doubt our Innkeeper mare will let us stay here much longer simply with the small bits we have collected, and we need to get accustomed to this combat system, and gain levels,” Raven explains.

“Agreed. Where would we go though? Due to the strict NDA’s they had out, the testers were not exactly allowed to speak of the quests and such, and there are probably none who we could ask for directions to quests or good areas for EXP,” She states.

“What gives you that idea?” Says the mare from last night, overhearing the conversation and heading over. “I happen to be a prior tester myself, such being another reason why I was able to set up shop so quickly,” She continues. “I am Moonlit Sonata, by the way, a former Cellist. Based upon the owner panel, I would make the presumption you two are Raven and Holly?” She introduces herself and asks, pointing both of them out accurately as she said their names.

“You are correct, Ms. Sonata. Are you willing to help us with what we were talking about?” Raven inquires.

“One better, actually. You are not the only partnership in this game, and my partner and I were thinking about starting a Guild, so that we could help other players with the knowledge we gained, and have more ponypower for both quests and the inevitable boss fighting. I wanted to know if perhaps you both would be interested,” She explains.

“What is the catch?” Holly asks.

“The only real catch is that we would all equally distribute our earnings and resources, so that we are all at our best should something happen, and obviously our experience would be shared during team excursions. Otherwise, there is none. Personally, I think that is a small price to pay for a team behind oneself,” Moonlit responds.

“Where is that partner of yours? I think it would be best for all of us to talk before such a decision is made,” Raven asks.

“Presently out and about doing a Kill Quest for EXP and quick bits, he should not be too awfully long. I will send him a message and tell him to meet here, so we can talk some more, and make the decision on whether or not we want to form it, as it requires at least three ponies,” Moonlit says.

“Very well. We shall await his arrival then,” Raven replies.

“Excellent,” Moonlit states with a smile, trotting away as she starts to message her friend.

“..bloody socialists,” Raven mutters.

“I agree with your sentiment, but unlike real life, it actually makes logical sense here. A universal currency, universal needs, no real point in holding mass quantities of money due to the infinite amount, and more than enough for everyone anyway,” Holly says.

“You are not wrong my dear..you are definitely not wrong,” Raven concedes. “She seems nice enough, I wonder how her friend is?” He continues in inquiry.

“Perhaps similar, I could not imagine a Cellist befriending someone too awfully different,” Holly states, hopefully.

“He is on his way,” Moonlit says to us. “Just be wary, he can be a bit..odd,” She continues, making Holly swiftly retract her prior statement.

“So these are the two pieces of fresh meat you happened to lure in,” The mysterious pony says, being slapped by Moonlit due to that comment.

“How rude! Apologize and introduce yourself properly, you drunkard,” Moonlit bites back.

“Okay, okay, calm yourself,” He says with an unconcerned chuckle. “My name is Dusk, my role in here is to help guide a guild of imbeciles to being decent enough not to die at the hands of our captor Torn Soul and his minions in this game. Are you in or out?” He continues, taking out some hard cider from his inventory.

“We had a few questions..” Raven begins, before a spear is put near his throat.

“No time for questions. This is war. You are either on our side, or you are thrown to the Timberwolves. All you need to know is this: You join us, you stay with us. Leave us, and we will find you. Stay with us, you have a chance at survival. We find you? Well,” He chuckles. “How about we not entertain the thought?” He finishes, drinking more of his cider.

“What the hell are you on?!” Holly exclaims, being the next victim of a close-proximity spear before Raven tackles him, Moonlit pulling them apart about as quickly.

“I am on the drug of wanting to survive in this death game. The only way to do that is to have a guild that will not split when times get rough. The only way to do that, is to ensure nobody would want to leave,” Dusk explains.

“Let me try to explain this a bit..nicer,” Moonlit hops into the conversation, still holding the two away from each other. “If you want to join, join with the intent to stay. We do not want ponies who will simply leave us behind after they get what they want. We have dealt with too many who have done so, to take much mercy upon them,” She tries to rephrase.

“Ultimately then, we join, we stay, we leave afterwards, we die?” Raven asks.

“If I can keep this drunkard from not sending the whole of Tartarus after you both, then you likely would not die by his hooves or whoever he knows, but good luck with the rest of the game,” She replies.

“I have a feeling we have little choice at this point anyway,” Holly laments, Dusk chuckling.

“Smart mare. We are not as big of pricks as you may observe, we are simply very into the virtue of Loyalty. Because we have told you about us, and invited you in, we expect a mirror effect here, with your subsequent joining of us,” Dusk says, drinking another large quantity of cider.

“In other words, I may have set a trap for you under orders from Dusk. I apologize,” Moonlit says, her ears drooping.

“Now now, you did quite well, good Moonlit. They seem very strong and capable, fine specimens for our purposes,” Dusk states.

“You are a prick, you know that?” Raven asks.

“Glad to be one,” Dusk retorts.

“Well,” Raven begins, before standing a bit more upright. “While you may see it differently, me and Holly both volunteer to join the Guild you seek to create, for mutual benefit. It is my hope that by us joining together, we may see the light at the end of this tunnel,” He continues, extending his hoof to the drunken stallion.

“You are wise, Raven. I am glad to have you,” Dusk says, with all sincerity that a drunkard could have after as much cider as he apparently consumes. “The same to you, Holly,” He continues, offering his hoof to her reluctant reciprocation.

“I shall create the guild and meet you three in the Waterfall Dungeon for our first guild mission in 10 minutes. Meeting adjourned,” Dusk says, before trotting out of the Inn. Moonlit turns to the two other remaining with the same look as before.

“Worry not, Moonlit. Even though you did trap us, this arrangement should work out for all of us, so I can hardly complain,” Raven assures her.

“You..are not mad?” She asks, hopeful.

“He may not be, but I am,” Holly retorts, storming out of the Inn.

“You will have to excuse Holly, she is..an odd soul, and these circumstances..you know,” Raven tries to word.

“It is fine..I do not really deserve as you have given me, but thank you,” Moonlit replies, a small smile appearing on her face.

“We should probably go after Holly, since I have no clue where we are going, and she does not either, and you probably do,” Raven states.

“Indeed. Let us go, then,” Lunar responds, both of them swiftly going after Holly, and heading to the dungeon in question, all trotting in relative silence as they all think the same general thought:

“What will happen now?”

ESO: A New Day(Part 2)

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