In the dead of the stormy night, a small apartment room is lit up. The occupants of the room were a dark coated and maned earth pony stallion, and a slightly older unicorn mare with a silver mane.

The stallion puts his hoof to the window overlooking the city, and simply lets out a sigh.

“Another sleepless night?” the mare asks worriedly.

“Indeed, my dear. Indeed,” the stallion replies. A moment of silence occurs with this response, which the mare eventually seeks to break.

“Raven, there was nothing you could have done,” she states, gently turning his head to face her.

“You have said this many times Silver, but it shall never ring true. I should have been the one that went in there, not her,” Raven responds, looking downward.

“Even if you think that, the reality is that you were not the one who went in there. For some reason or another, she was the sole one out of both of you who got the game and was able to get in there. You cannot continue to blame yourself for this though, nor keep staying up as late as you have been, or else you will not be able to help her at all,” Silver says, lifting his head and looking him in his eyes. At this juncture, he scoffs and pushes her hoof away, though still looks her in the eyes.

“Oh yeah, because we are helping her and the others so much in our cozy little headquarter arrangement, while the death toll counts up slowly but surely as the days pass by!” He sarcastically exclaims, looking back at the window banging on the glass out of anger, but keeping it controlled enough not to break it.

“Well now, you are energetic for a half-dead zombie,” A new earth pony stallion says in entry, a coffee in his hoof.

“Bite me Scroll,” Raven growls, to Scroll sipping his coffee.

“You see though, this coffee tastes better than your flesh, and your flesh would not satisfy my energy craving. Care for a sip?” Scroll states, offering the coffee to the hostile Raven. After a minute of Raven blinking and mulling it over, he accepts it, and downs the whole thing swiftly.

“Tastes awful,” Raven says.

“..you just..drank all of it,” Scroll says a bit dumbfounded, looking into the now-empty cup with a frown.

“Have more?” Raven inquires.

“..I will..go get..more,” Scroll replies, still looking into the cup as he trots off.

“Feel better after ingesting the poison?” Silver asks, trying to lighten the mood.

“If only it was poison,” Raven states with another sigh, keeping the mood grey.

“You really miss her, don’t you?” Silver inquires, knowing all too well the answer to such given Raven’s ceaseless worrying, but wanting to ask all the same out of concern.

“I want her back, or me to be free from this hell of a waiting game, twiddling our hooves and supposedly making progress when we have not a single bloody clue what the hell we can possibly do to free those players. The ground, poison, a stab, whatever, has been a very tantalizing alternative to this waiting and uncertainty,” he responds.

“Do you really think she would want you thinking like that though?” she asks.

“I do not know, but that does not really matter in the grand scheme of things, for my inner demons will not cease to torment me,” he replies, as Scroll returns.

“Here is a cup of the same stuff from before. Please do not take mine after downing this one,” Scroll states, hoofing it to Raven.

“Thank you,” Raven says, moving to drink some more of the poison.

“No problem. Also, I could not help but overhear you talking about Holly. It has been a minute since you last brought her up with such..enthusiasm. Why now, if you do not mind? Scroll asks with a sip of his own from his cup.

“Is it because of it being a year since the death game began?” Silver offers.

“Oh right, that is why we scheduled this meeting, was it not?” Scroll states, never keeping track of dates or much of anything unless directly related to his work.

“Indeed to both. One year since all of this happened, and nothing worthwhile has come to pass,” Raven responds with yet another sigh. At the same moment of this statement, the entrance opens, revealing two newcomers.

“Well now, I think you are a bit inaccurate on that front,” A new pegasus mare says, walking in with a unicorn stallion.

“Greetings there Rose and Nexus. Will Rock be joining us this meeting? Usually he is here by now,” Scroll says upon their entry.

“He is actually on guard duty,” Nexus replies.

“Guard duty? What for?” Silver inquires.

“All of you take your seats, and I will explain. Mind if I have some of that coffee there Scroll?” Nexus asks, trotting towards Scroll.

“Sure sir, it is not like I have not been able to get any for myself this evening or anything,” Scroll says sarcastically, hoofing it over.

“You know we love you Scroll.” Nexus says with a particular type of grin on his face.

“Yeah, yeah.” Scroll responds, waving his hoof as he moves to his seat.

As the rest take their own respective seats, Nexus adopts a more serious expression.

“We managed to acquire one,” He simply says.

“One of what? A new coffee maker?” Scroll replies.

“A copy of Equestrian Saga Online not fried,” He replies, shocking the present ponies, even Scroll. “Apparently some of the stores had overflows or failed to realize extra copies lying around. The Crown had most of these extras destroyed, but we managed to get a copy from someone that one of our contacts know after a lot of pleading, money, and otherwise,” He explains.

“So the thing that Rock is guarding..” Raven begins.

“Yes, it is the extra VPON-3 with the game of Equestrian Saga Online loaded up into it,” Rose replies.

“Why did you acquire the game in the first place? Do we not already have access to the appropriate data and everything that we have been parsing through?” Scroll asks.

“Right you are, but you know how Raven said that “nothing worthwhile,” had come to pass in a year? Well, that was not entirely untrue. We have not gotten a single bit closer to unraveling the why of the whole thing, nor how to get them out of the game. The only information we have to the latter is the completion of the game, which, if the official game reports are to be believed, the players have stayed at floor 50 for quite a while now, making no further progress as far as we can tell. At this rate, things may either go completely to a halt, or remain deathly slow,” Nexus explains.

“Great pep talk commander,” Raven states.

“Anyway,” Nexus continues. “I went ahead and got a copy of the game as to propose a new part of our little operation: Sending one of you into the game to help bring more power into the frontlines from those not already there, and help things to progress forward once more, while we who remain on the outside ensure that you stay alive on the outside, and continue to try to crack through the walls of ESO and bring our fellow ponies home,” He concludes.

“I think only one of us is crazy enough to volunteer for such a thing...” Silver laments, looking to Raven, who has had his eyes closed and forelegs crossed for a couple of minutes or so at this point.

“Do not be rash here Raven,” Scroll warns. “You know that once you-”

“Shut up,” Raven simply says, before taking a deep breath and opening his eyes. “Here is the reality: If I stay out here, all that will happen is more regret and anger at myself due to having the ability to help her out, while opting instead to twiddle my hooves in waiting. Going in is the only way to save myself, and more importantly, hopefully ensure the safety of Holly. Thus, I do volunteer, and I would like to go ahead and begin, if possible,” Raven says, standing up at the end of his talking.

“If you are sure Raven, then we will not stop you. We are just concerned tha-” Rose begins.

“Please..just bring me to the VPON-3,” Raven states. Nexus and Rose look at each other for a moment, and when the former nods, Rose turns back to Raven.

“Come on, then,” Rose says, trotting towards the door. “Follow me,” she continues. At this, all the crew trot after him, Raven right behind Rose.

“That was quick,” Rock says as they approach the locked room.

“Did you expect any less when I broke the news?” Nexus asks, as Rock unlocks the door alongside Nexus, since it requires both of their keys if completely locked down.

“Good point,” Rock replies as the door unlocks, the crew entering the room afterwards, to be surprised at all the medical equipment set up around where Raven would be for an indefinite period of time.

“You really went all-out with this, huh commander?” Scroll asks, looking around.

“Indeed he did. We also found a nurse who has volunteered to ensure that Raven does not end up dying on this side of reality, and so he will be in a bit of a better position upon his return,” Rose explains.

“I am sorry for my tardiness,” A unicorn mare says from behind with a bowing of her head, having just rushed to get to the room.

“Speaking of, everyone introduce yourselves to Yuki, the nurse,” Nexus states.

“Hello there, my name is Scroll, I deal mostly with the public matters of our little operation here, while doubling as the one to help look through and acquiring information,”

“Silver here. I am strictly an analysis filly, looking at the information we collect, and from there, trying to find anything notable/worthwhile to our cause.”

“I am Rock. I am the one that guards things of importance. I usually switch out with our commander here, but it really depends on who is busy doing what at what time.”

“I am happy to meet you all..and to hopefully be of help,” Yuki says with a smile. “I am just a nurse by trade, nothing more and nothing less,” She continues with a soft blush coming on.

“Nonsense. You are highly regarded by those we have communicated with, and all of them recommended you wholeheartedly to ask. That counts for much,” Nexus states, to Yuki’s blush worsening..

“I-I am flattered, really..but I really do not know why that is,” Yuki responds.

“Heh. In any case, we are glad you are here. The only one who did not introduce himself is Raven here. He is going to be the one you are going to be taking care of,” Rose says with a giggle.

“I appreciate you doing this, especially since you are not even accepting payment. After everything is done, I would not mi-” Raven starts to say.

“Nonsense! Really, it is fine! I do not care for the money, I have seen too many of these players die from natural causes or by those blasted headsets..I want to at least prevent the former for as long as I am able to,” Yuki interrupts with a small smile, though it falters a bit due to the memories.

“B..alright. Thank you, Yuki,” Raven states, returning the smile.

“Shall we begin then?” Rose asks, standing by the seat.

“Everything is prepared, I just have to put it all on him and then we will be good to go,” Yuki replies. “Are you sure about this, Raven?” She continues in inquiry.

“More than you could know,” He replies, looking over everything with a vengeance in his glare.

“Alrighty then. Go ahead and put on the headset, calibrate it, then I will direct you to the seat. Then, simply relax, and I will proceed to do my work,” She says. After he had done so, she put the appropriate monitoring equipment on him, IVs to keep him nourished, etc.. After the work in doing so and making sure the equipment was working properly, she gave the all-clear.

“I guess this is the last time for a while, huh chief?” Scroll asks.

“Indeed. I am glad I got to drink your coffee beforehand,” Raven responds back with a grin.

“Good to know that you are a prick even in leaving. Do not die in there, alright?” Scroll replies, giving him a friendly hit.

“Make sure to find your mare there Raven, and hopefully you can be the one to help free them all,” Silver says as well.

“Not much more to say without being redundant, but know that we will continue our efforts on this side. Do not forget that. You are never alone, we are simply in a different room for a time. We will await your return,” Nexus says, extending his hoof that Raven shakes. After some more words and goodbyes, Nexus tells him to say “link start,” when ready to transfer in.

“May this death game end sooner rather than later,” Raven says.

“May your efforts aid us all in that dream,” Nexus replies.

After a few more seconds, Raven sighs, closes his eyes, and says the two words that marks the next chapter in his, and ESO’s, story:

“Link, start!”

Author's Note

Author’s note:

And there is my newest attempt at a story, a revival and drastic rework of my old tale of ESO, the mess with no real plan nor ability to be anything other than a dumpster fire. This is also one with no plan that may become such, but hey, perhaps this will be a breakthrough in my ability to do creative writings(nope).

In any case, I hope you enjoyed this little tale of mine, and if you have any suggestions, comments, and/or concerns, want to say anything positive, or want to tell me how badly I suck at writing, feel free to do as you see fit.

Have a blessed one all of you!