Equestrian Saga Online

by Lunar Raven

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Adventure, Tragedy, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe
Length: 6184

One year ago, a game of life or death began. Tens of thousands were trapped, and only one way to escape: Live and win. With the players seemingly stuck on Floor 50, it will take a newcomer to rekindle the fire of progress, and help everyone get home.

Proof-reading/editing, encouragement, and simply some back-and-forth chatting that aided with this, was provided by B4ssxCello.

One year has come and gone since tens of thousands of ponies were trapped within the highly-anticipated Equestrian Saga Online. To some, it has passed by quickly, but to others, it as been a slow and painful progression of time. While many hold out hope on the eventual return of the players, with the slow news from the official reports stating that the players have been stuck on Floor 50 for a month or longer, many are losing that very hope.

Because of this turn for the worst, a group managed to acquire a copy of the game to use with the VPON-3, the hardware to run ESO. This is to be brought up at the one year anniversary meeting, where one volunteer shall enter into this game, to try to rekindle the dying flame of progress, to save the one he loves, and all others trapped inside the death game.

Will he succeed, or shall his efforts simply be in vain? What problems lay ahead for him and the other players? Only time shall tell, however long or short of such is left.

Published 2018-01-14 03:30:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-02-07 01:01:50 UTC

Chapter 1: The Meeting

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!

Chapter 2: Into The Game

Once the two words had left Raven’s mouth, his reality soon became a rush of various colors indicating the loading up of the console, until a login screen appears to Raven, which gets auto-filled by the account details present on the VPON-3. Once completed, big letters read out the name of the death game: EQUESTRIAN SAGA ONLINE.

It is at this point that a creation screen comes into play, and a dialogue begins between the program and Raven.

“Greetings, Raven,” The program says.

“How do you know my name? I have not inputted it yet,” Raven asks.

“It is a part of the data sent by your brain, including your age, looks, etc. that were not part of the calibration. Do not worry though, your username is used in the game,” It replies. “Speaking of usernames, what actually is your username? I cannot find a match,” It continues, a bit distorted.

“Karasu..how do you not know that?” Raven asks.

“Now, please choose what role you would like: Warrior, Medic, or Rogue?” It continues normally.

“What? But..I guess a rogue,” Raven responds, knowing that it probably matches him the best, personality-wise, looks-wise, and skillset-wise.

“Very well,” It starts, being distorted once more. “You will start off with a short bla-,” The program continues, before completing bugging out, making random noises, and then going completely silent, the void being the only thing to accompany Raven.

“Error, protocol for new player disabled! Error Code: 703:NTS538-B: Character Create malfunction.”

“What the hell?” Raven asks before being forced to the ground, though not being able to turn around nor move, save for falling to the non-existent floor.

“Hmm, this isn’t right. You shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t be allowed here more like,” The voice says.

“You..did not..have to..do that,” Raven manages to say, in some pain due to the fall.

“Toughen up, the tolerance level is not lowered that much,” It continues.

“Who are you?” Raven states.

“Were we not just talking before? I am obviously the tutorial agent. Enough of the small talk though, why and how are you here?” It asks.

“None..of your..” Raven begins., before getting hit again, groaning and grunting.

“It is entirely my business, now speak. There are plenty of things I can do to those who do not mind,” It threatens, the void fading away to reveal floor one, them floating in the sky a fair bit above the ground.

“..a mare,” Raven replies, deciding to play it safe, not finding falling a preferable alternative.

“A..mare? My my, sounds like every stereotypical knight in shining armor love story ever. Though I suppose it is a better lovestory than Twilight..” The voice states, musing aloud. “Oh, my bad, I got distracted. How about I do you a favor?” It continues.

“Yeah..right,” Raven says.

“Come now, you act as though I have thrown you around or somet-..oh wait, I did do that. Regardless, I want to help, so let me! Who is the mare you are after?” It asks. “No, I am not going to kill her. You have my word. After all, lying is beyond my purposes,” It continues. At this, Raven thinks it over a bit, to consider whether or not it is smart to provide the name. Opting to trust its word, he chooses to provide it.

“Holly Leaf,” Raven states. When the words leave his mouth, he hears sounds of navigation, like a menu.

“Hm..marefriend?” It asks with a hum of thought.

“Y..yes?” Raven replies, a bit confused by the question.

“Interesting,” It replies with a chuckle.

“What?” Raven asks.

“Oh, nothing. She is quite the pony though, eh? Leading the support team and all of that,” It replies.

“Her? A..leader? I..doubt that,” Raven states.

“For your sake, I hope this is the same mare, as she is the only one of the name left in this game,” It replies, before making some kind of noise. “It appears we are out of time, but this was a marvelous little chat of ours. We should do it again sometime, if you survive where I place you. You see, I am not too thrilled with a foreigner here, but if you manage to survive this, I will let you live. Having another rat would be fun, especially one with such an interesting situation,” It continues.

“What do..you mean?” Raven inquires.

“Sorry, no more time to chat. As the program tried to tell you, all you will start off with is a short blade. However, I also gave you another special item, just for you. Be sure to check that out later. Enjoy, my little pony,” It replies, going to warp Raven out of the tutorial from the menu.

“Wha-,” Raven begins to say, before being interrupted by the error voice again.

“Error, error! Script error on line 103, tutorialroom01.room not present. Reverting raven.pony to standard state!” The error voice exclaims, Raven suddenly feeling a particular force acting upon his body.

“Buck!” Raven exclaims, falling towards the ground.

“Whelp, that was..unexpected. Should probably make sure he does not die on landing..” The conversation voice mutters, modifying some particular parameters for the fall, before going silent.

“What’s the plan, bossman? Hey, that rhymed!” An ecstatic mare with an all-too-creative coat of pale brown and a mane/tail of darker brown asks as her and her companion traverse one of the many paths on Floor one.

“Talk any louder, and you will attract monsters,” The stallion with her, an aging fellow with a white coat and light grey mane/tail replies.

“Wah, you are a meanie, oldie!” The mare says with a huff and a pout.

“Why did we not k-,” The stallion replies, before seeing a falling pony from the sky. “What the hell?” He continues in inquiry, pointing to the pony, the mare with him looking and gasping, looking back at him with pleading eyes. “Hell no, we are not-”

“Bossman~, please?!” The mare asks.

“You are lucky that our supervisor likes you, Hawk. I suppose it is smart though, cannot have a potential follower or otherwise on our trail,” The stallion replies, identifying the mare.

“Yay!” The mare exclaims, before realizing how long they have been talking, and noticing the stallion very close to the ground.

“Methinks the lady doth talk too much. Come on, let us check and see whether or not that poor sap is going to breathing by the time we get there,” The stallion says, before beginning to gallop in that direction, Hawk close behind him.

Why does this crap always happen to me? Raven laments to himself, as he now lays on what feels like grass, a headache accompanying him and a ringing in his ears due to the fall, and being low on health. After a minute in such a position, despite both, he attempts to stand, and is immediately acquainted with the joys of pain.

“Of..bloody..course,” Raven says aloud with a grunt, returning to the ground. He opens his eyes and looks around despite this, seeing the same view from before, but from ground-level: his current grassy field, a clear sky overhead, some mountains nearby, and a large approaching creature.

Wait, what?! Raven thinks to himself, as the creature gets nearer. Oh buck.. He continues, noticing the creature begin to swing, and managing to roll out of the way before being struck, him realizing his ability to hear again after hearing the creature, which appears to be some kind of ogre with a club, hit a rock that was originally behind him. This did not go so well for his headache, however, making him put his hoof to it in pain, not being able to do anything as the creature comes back towards him. Right before the ogre gets a hit in, however...

“Take that!” A voice exclaims, a fiery arrow traveling and hitting the ogre, causing the ogre to turn around to spot the duo that came to investigate.

“Hawk, you know what to do!” The stallion says.

“Roger!” The mare exclaims, taking the skies and flying towards the ogre. When it swings, she does an aileron roll to dodge it, striking him with her blade as she passes, the stallion firing more arrows at the ogre.

“Do not sit there like an idiot, move it!” The stallion commands Raven, who fails once more to get up. “Dang it! Of course you cannot move. Hawk, keep that mini-boss off of us!” He yells, heading over to Raven. Once there, he picks Raven up, grunting. “Be happy I used to be part of the guard, sonny,” He continues, looking at Hawk continuing to do fly-by hits. Eventually, however, the ogre tricks Hawk with a fake strike, and hits her with his club, sending her crashing to the ground where they had entered.

“Ack!” Hawk exclaims as she lands.

“Buck me Hawk, this is why we do not do this stuff..” The stallion says, working double-time to get over to Hawk, depositing Raven onto the ground, and using a health crystal on Hawk.

“The boss..is getting low on health, bossman,” Hawk says as she is healed. “Team strike?” She asks.

“That is our best option, I would imagine. Cannot afford to risk more time nor resources,” The stallion agrees. At this juncture, the two nod, and face the boss once more, which has been heading back to them. The stallion charges up a triple ice arrow shot, and Hawk charges the boss once more, the boss attempting a strike but getting shot by the charged arrows, Hawk striking the center entry point, as to deal additional damage. With that, the boss disappears in scattered pixels floating upwards.

“Not bad my dear, not bad at all. We are certainly a bit out of practice though,” The stallion states.

“Hmph. Well, it is not like we actually DO anything other than our-” Hawk begins retorting, before remembering Raven’s existence. “Oh yeah, what are we doing with him?” She continues.

“I am going to use a health crystal at your expense, since you wanted to come after him,” The stallion replies, using a crystal on Raven, curing him of his headache and ear trouble, and allowing him to more easily gaze upon his two heroes.

“Gee..thanks for the care of one falling to his death,” Raven says with some sarcasm.

“Ha. I like your sarcasm, kid. My username is WhiteSun, and this is SpringFlight, which is all you need to know for right now. However, since I healed you, I think you owe us an answer at the very least: Why was a stay-one like you falling from the sky, without any kind of pegasi or anything around who could have dropped you?” WhiteSun asks, having noticed Raven’s level.

“The tutorial program did not like me,” Raven responds.

“The..tutorial program? Did you just enter this hell?” WhiteSun asks, a bit surprised.

“Indeed,” Raven simply replies.

“Perhaps there is more value to you than we thought there lad, if you have the guts to do something that stupid. I am presuming there is a good reason?” WhiteSun asks.

“I am..trying to find a mare,” Raven replies, a bit flustered telling this to actual ponies this time around.

“Your marefriend? Aw, how sweet!” Hawk exclaims presumptuously but accurately with a grin. “What is her name?” She inquires, still smiling.

“Holly Leaf,” Raven responds, instantly generating a look of confusion on the faces of the two other ponies.

“Is that her username or real name?” Whitesun asks.

“Oh, my bad. Her username is..I actually do not know. She is the leader of the support team though, apparently,” Raven replies, to both of their faces adopting a mixture of realization and shock. “I take it you know of her,” He continues.

“Indeed..and lad, there is something you probably need to know about the queen bee,” Whitesun states.

“What thing?” Raven asks, confused.

“Bossman, now is really not the best tim-” Hawk starts.

“Please, tell me,” Raven pleas.

“You promise not to flip out on us or anything?” WhiteSun asks.

“Sure, now what is it?” Raven asks, a bit impatient.

“Sonny..Holly is..married to somepony in here.” WhiteSun replies, to Raven just looking at him in shock, eyes wide, in silence.

“Are you..” Hawk starts, before Raven’s eyes roll back in his head due to losing consciousness, and begins falling. She swiftly moves to catch him, lest he hurts himself worse.

“Buck. So much for that promise,” WhiteSun laments.

“What did you expect bossman? Also, he technically~ did not break the promise,” Hawk replies.

“He also ‘technically,’ did not follow through on it. Now we have a sack of potatoes to carry with us,” WhiteSun says, humming in thought.

“We could cal-,” Hawk starts to suggesting, WhiteSun being way ahead of her, getting the menu up, and calling for a pickup.

“Yeah, we have a down potential recruit. Take him to the base, do not harm him, and if he wakes up before we return, do not tell him any more than you have to,” WhiteSun says. “Mhm, yep, alright,” He continues, hanging up. “They will meet us a bit down the path, so that we can keep moving,” He says to Hawk, picking up Raven and chuckling.

“Alrighty. By the way..what are you laughing for, bossman?” Hawk asks.

“Oh nothing, I simply find the situation humorous,” WhiteSun says, looking to Raven, and continuing his laughter, as they progress down the path, as some clouds begin to form in the sky.

Author's Note

So my original author note became invalid with a modification I might have(read: definitely did) forget to make to this chapter. Hopefully none of you guys saw the original, though you probably did.

In any case, thank you for sticking with me thus far, and wow! Four upvotes, some favorites, and nothing negative so far! I am grateful for your time, and hopefully you continue to enjoy this tale of mine and my co-author.

Have a blessed one!

Chapter 3: Post-entry(renamed)

Author's Note

Hopefully my proofreader does not kill me for going ahead and pushing this chapter through, but I wanted to go ahead and do so, primarily for this reason: According to the website, Chapter 2 got published on the same day as Chapter 1, thus bringing in no new viewers. Recognizing this, I figured it would be practical to, knowing such, publish the next chapter, to hopefully get more readers, since I am pretty sure I figured out the problem.

This is good and bad for you guys: The good news is that you get a chapter much earlier than what it would be. The bad news is that the next one is possibly going to take longer. Hopefully not, but it is possible.

Also, if you notice a distinctive shift in writing style from poor to good, that is because this is a heavily modified version of this chapter, made by the amazing proofreader I have. Thus, all credit for this chapter looking and sounding good goes to him.

So..yeah. Please enjoy, and have a blessed one. Now to not get shot by the proofreader.

Chapter 3: Post-entry(renamed)

Once Raven had been sent inside of the game, the only thing the ponies heard was the beeping of the EKG attached to their friend, and the humming of other machines. After the final check, Yuki looks back to everyone present and says with apprehension: “Now, we wait. Celestia willing, he can return to us, the same with the mare he’s after.”

“Agreed,” Nexus states calmly. “Thanks for all the help, Yuki.”

Yuki looks at him, trying to hide her growing anxiety. “Not a problem at all, though I’m unsure if you should be thanking me yet or not.” She chuckles softly.

Rose walks over to them and sits down beside them. “You know, even if all this blows up in our faces, it's not like you would’ve done it intentionally. If anything, the fact you were even willing to work with us on the chance this would work is enough to thank you for,” she says with a mix of happiness and fear in her voice.

Yuki smiles softly back, some of her fears alleviated by her friends. “You guys are trying to give me too much-“

“Now that we’ve got him in the game, I just realized something,” Scroll states, interrupting Yuki, as he comes back from the cafeteria with another cup of coffee. After taking a drink and burning his tongue.

Yuki turns to Scroll and gives him a death glare. “As I was saying,” She continues, “you two are giving me far more credit than what’s due. All I’ve done is plugged everything in and made sure the connections were done properly. However I am glad to be of assistance to you all. Now Scroll, what was this epiphany of yours?”

“Well, I realized that we never actually were able to locate this Holly that Raven was always going on about.” He says between drafts of his coffee.

Laughing at the situation, Silver directs his attention to Scroll, “Still attempting to drink your coffee I see.”

He looks flatly back at her. “Yes, I quite enjoy my poison, and eventually I will finish my own cup of it,” He says, keeping his eyes on Silver while tilting his head and the cup back, taking one long, loud slurping draft of the coffee.

“You two really should go get couples counseling,” Nexus says, drawing both of their attention off of each other and onto him.

Scroll chokes on his coffee as Rose and Yuki start laughing, and Silver simply looks at Nexus with the intent to kill.

“Oh, buck you pretty-boy,” Scroll says, wiping his mouth off with his hoof. “With everything going on, we now have the time again; I think we should start trying to reach out and find Holly for Raven. Perhaps even relocate her to here.” He states with a sigh as he finishes his coffee. “We all know that if anything happened to her out here while Raven was stuck in there, he would kill us.”

“Are you really suggesting we try that again?” The last time we attempted this and inquired about her whereabouts, The Crown got suspicious. What makes you think they would be any less so this time around?” Rose asks.

“I never said that they’d make it easy,” Scroll replies. “However, this time around we have Yuki with us, and she may have connections in other hospitals that can help out.”

“We are NOT going to drag her down into trouble with-“ Rose begins to respond.

“It’s honestly not that big of a deal,” Yuki replies thoughtfully. “The thing is, I need to head back to the hospital tomorrow morning anyways, so it really wouldn’t be out of my way. Besides, since I’ve got the clearance to tend to the ESO players, I have special access to the Database. It wouldn’t be overly strange that I would be trying to locate this mare, especially since one of my patients wanted me to find her.”

“You gotta be kidding me. Yuki you don’t-” Nexus says as he lays his head down and covers his eyes and ears as he gets interrupted.

“Something you all need to realize about this situation: I’m not here for money or the appreciation. This is my Jo-, no, my Duty, and I plan on helping the best way that I can. You all want to find Holly? Fine, then that’s my mission as well. So to put it bluntly: Stop trying to keep me safe, I’m already as deep as you all are in this for helping you. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do, and I will try to accomplish your, no, our, goals. Alright?” Yuki snaps off in response.

Nexus looks to her, shock written on his face, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you Yuki, as long as you’re sure about this, then alright.”

“Sorry for the outburst, but it is getting late. I need to check on Raven at least once in the morning before heading into the hospital. You all know how to contact me if there is an emergency. In any case, unless that happens, I bid you all Adieu,” Yuki states as she trots out before anyone can respond.

“Wow, congratulations boss, now we’ve seen her pissed off as well,” Scroll says while clapping his hooves sarcastically, debating on if he should get a refill of his coffee or not.

“Buck. Off.” Nexus retorts, walking a bit down the hall.

“Wow, you can copy others too, because I recall using that sentiment earlier,” Scroll replies, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Mares, Mares, please! We all know I’m the prettiest one here, so really there is no reason to continue being like this. Besides, you’re both uglier than sin anyways,” Rose says passing them both by, patting each of their cheeks. “Anyways, since the day is over, and there really isn’t much else we can do, let’s head out and reconvene tomorrow morning to discuss a better plan of action alright? Hey Rock, are you good to keep watch for a little while longer?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine Rose.” he replies stoically.

“Whoa, Rock, I think that’s the longest sentence I’ve heard out of you yet. That the longest one ever for ya right?” Scroll inquires.

“No, second longest,” he replies.

“Well what’s the longest one then?” Scroll inquires.

“One longer than I cared for,” Rock says with monotony.

“Maybe you should start taking notes there Scroll,” Silver says jokingly, “Maybe you could actually learn something from him.”

“Yeah, yeah, like you’re really one to talk there,” he quips back.

“Well at least I’m not willing to word-spar with the commander,” Silver replies.

“Touché, but alas your input matters not and is considered invalid,” Scroll responds dryly.

“While you ladies here are having your time gabbing it up, I’m gonna go get some food. See you all later” Rose says, and adds under her breath as she walks away, “If you don’t kill each other first, that is.”

“I oughta head out as well, both of you should probably do so soon as well, least we disturb sleeping beauty over there,” Nexus states while looking at Raven, as he begins walking away.

“Don’t. Say. A. Thing, I’m going,” Scroll says to silver, holding is hoof up before his comrade could speak. “I’m going and getting a refill of my coffee now,” and with that, he trots away, back to the cafeteria for more of his vice.

“Heading out too?” Rock inquires.

“Yep, yell if you need me.” Silver replies in kind, walking away.

Chuckling quietly to himself after his friends have left, “Now, things should start getting interesting, the stage is set, the actors in place.” He laughs a little harder, before settling down in place to perform his task.

Chapter 4: Waking Up

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