MLP: Actualization Onlineby SlendyChaptersInstillation Complete - [Bets We Make]Story - [Silver Lining]Extras - [Achievements]Quest - [Awaken The Light]Event - [Ego Unleashed]Quest - [Fissure In Nature]Story - [The Beginning]Raid - [The Vault of Forestation]Raid 2 - [The Vault of Forestation]Story - [1 Month Later]Event - [Dance of Red and Purple]Quest - [Siege On The Capital]Event - [Nightmare Night]Story - [Striders of Blackfall]Raid - [Castle of Glass]Raid 2 [Castle of Glass]Event - [Honor To The End]Rival - [Colour Clash]Extras - [Cold Outside]Quest - [Worlds Collide]Story - [Zaffre Ruby]Event - [The Truth]Quest - [Worlds Collide: Decommission]??!!?!_?/* - [E_R@R]Remaster in Progress (Prologue Preview)Remake Up!Instillation Complete - [Bets We Make] "Reality Scale. Activate!" [Loading Personal Data] [Augmented Systems: Ready] [Username: White Hat] [Password: ********] ---~My Little Pony: Actualization Online!~--- It took only seconds, but reality as I could visually perceive soon faded away at the bright lights, and automated logs of code, and diagnostics. Funny how such complex commands were created to only act in seconds, against a command that would take weeks to perform, but I ain't no expert in this field, I just say what I see, and what I see is a whole new horizon, for better or for worse, well, I guess we'll see.... MLP: Actualization Online, a fully realized world of Equestria, an MMORPG where you can be whoever you desire, what you do will ultimately change the story, and characters along the way, albeit, to keep things clean, and simple, the automated CPU Control Core Gamma runs everything, from simple items, to complex events, to put it simply. There is no end that can be clearly reached through knowledge of the series. Me, along with someone else in mind, had an idea, it was stupid, but that's what we wanted, an adventure to truly push the system to its limit, and whoever wins the bet, will rule this digital grain of existence, for better or for worse. So, before I felt reality begin to form around the black void of reality, I felt my mind race back to the central plaza, where it all began. The Central Plaza, this was the mainframe to creating your character, and where you wished to begin your adventure, since most of the system was run by Control Core Gamma, this was more humane. It was a large, hexagonal room, with terminals to creating your characters, whist observation screens allowed news headlines, and update notes to scroll. Whist poles with adverts, sponsors, and even DLC hung like banners. Overall, the blue, black, and white flowing walls were nice, it was almost like drifting in a sea of code. "Asshole, over here!" At the insult, my head spun to face my brother, who awaited by a terminal for my arrival. He was taller than me, and far more intimidating since he looked like he'd kill a man, then blame it on someone else, and get away with it in-front of people He was blonde, not stupid though, surprisingly combed too, whist his eyes were blue. Unlike my older pain-in-the-arse, my hair was dark brown, messy too, whist my hazel eyes peered through my sky-blue glasses, he had some too, they were a darker blue. I liked red better though, whist he liked purple. We were similar, but are personalities drew the line, thick. "You know, as some advice, maybe don't insult people before you ask them to join your cause, you might do a little better at your job?" I suggested bluntly, before he shrugged, smiling at the thought, what? Did my reasoning get through to him....? No, not in a million years. "What are you planning?" "Better question, what are 'we' planning? I have an awesome idea, which may or may not be fun." He declared, making me roll my eyes, before I silently motioned for him to continue. "A bet, simple, but fun." "And this bet entails, what?" I asked, finding this to be far more interesting than before "The plan is simple, I will do everything in my power to dominate this pony world, and since you have the tendency to help people, you can try and stop me, whoever wins,....well we'll think about it if the situation arises." He waved off, but then my smile appeared, my mind already agreeing to the idea "Oh, I see, take advantage of the system's 'choice' program, and make our own adventure from the choices we make on the world, like if I aided the elements of harmony, against, I don't know....Discord, or Sombra?" I answered, making him nod, before he held a hand out to me "Deal?" "Deal! Also, I'll be taking the pegasus class, since I rather not be a Gary Sue when saving the world from your anarchy." I defended my claim, as he looked lost in thought, before pointing to the screen again "Magic." He simply put it, no surprise, he'd probably mind-control the Empire or dragons, since even with charisma, he's still be crap at persuading anyone, taking are appropriate stands, we began to digitize are own characters ---~Species~--- Unicorn- Supporters Brilliant minds that can conjure spells, and break the laws of nature with a thought. Not the toughest class, but their minds are sharper than any blade, never underestimate the power of the mind. Pegasus- Attackers With gravity being a myth to their flight, Pegasi are masters of the air, with speeds that can rival a dragon, and strength backed up by their velocity, though they aren't the brightest. Blink once however, and you may just miss them. Earth Pony- Defenders Don't underestimate their lack of magic or flight, these durable equines will crush those who may even rival their size, and their connection to Gaia makes their natural healing more effective. When an unstoppable force arrives, they will meet the immovable object. Dragon- Pyromancers What does one need to say about dragons? With fire immunity, and fire attributes, these strong willed entities are a force to rival most, just keep away from water. When all is turned to ash, only draconic roars shall ring. Changeling- Deception Cunning, and magically gifted, these desert wanderers are far more than just mere bugs, with magic and durability, and the ability to become their enemy, you may never know when one is watching you, bringing paranoia to most. Spread the lies to fuel the fires of war. Thestrals- Stealth Prowlers of the night, their stealth is almost unparalleled to most, and their power of flight can be a dangerous addition, with near silent movements, and dark enchantments, they may very well be smoke in the air. When you stare into the shadows, it to will stare back. Diamond Dogs- Treasure Hunters Not bright in nature, but superior instincts, and tough claws are enough to dig their way to the top of the board, and their natural affinity to aid their pack, and discover treasures are a true gift to the gods. If you mess with you foe, you'll be thrown to the wolves. Griffons- Buffers An apex of their land, these thick-headed myths are proud, and strong-willed, spreading their power to their allies, and aiding the art of battle, though they can be blindsided at times, their raw power is nothing to brush off as 'weak'. The moment you give in, they will continue to stand above all. While the bat-ponies have stealth, I do wish to fly, its something one doesn't get to experience often, and I always wanted to feel that freedom, that cool air against my face as I fall from the clouds, besides, DPS is my play-style, and they have the speed I need. Without hesitation, I selected 'Pegasus'. [Copy IRL Profile?] [Create New Persona?] To not seem too edgy or similar to the rest of the players. I went for skin-tone coat, with my usually messy hair, along with the tail, my mane was black with crimson tone thrown in, whist I kept my eyes the same hazel colour, they even kept my glasses, so that's cool, I did like them after all these years of wearing them, so giving them up would seem wrong. My cutie mark-ugh, never saying that again, was a light-blue blade, with a ribbon tied to the handle, now that brings back memories. Funny, it feels like my equine form was more feminine, I mean, its still a guy, that's obvious, but....meh, must be like Skyrim with 'ULTRA' specific settings. When I went to accept my characters, another screen appeared before me, labeling attributes, I guess I got to chose my first one, neat! [Attributes] -Human Intuition- Bartering is 50% cheaper due to your preexisting knowledge of this world (Cheat codes) -Iron Soul- Your willpower is impressive, +2 strength in combat against stronger enemies, whist boosting moral to your team (Friendship can really move mountains) -Smooth Criminal- Your words are sweet, and your personality is charming, better relationships with the opposite sex, also better chance at persuading those of the opposite sex too (You are the bane of most men) -Nevermore- You are without a doubt a sneaky pony, a better chance at not being seen when night falls (Go Ninja Go!) "I like me some stealth, but if my grinding days in Destiny, and Borderlands taught me anything, it was endurance." I pridefully remarked, before I clicked 'Iron Soul', nothing like a good offence, makes it easier to take down tougher enemies for loot. "Ok....now I just have to confirm." [Confirm Character?] When I readjusted my eyes to the light, I felt the weightlessness of my body in the sky, as I stared in awe of the new world of Equestria, the sun rising to bask me I a new-found warmth, alongside the clear blue skies around me. I could even see Canternlot if I focused hard enough, the golden spires gleaming across the horizon. I was actually pretty excited for this, well....almost, I realized something rather important as of the last few seconds. "WHY AM I FALLING~!?!" I screamed at my sudden notice of no ground but white, and the occasional peak of green underneath the seams, my mind was now racing at the sight of my spawn being off the ground, as I flew beneath the clouds, and towards the forest beneath my hooves. "Ok....ok its fine, just calm down, and use your wings, Cayde." I tried to mentally prepare myself for what could be the most horrific, nightmare inducing death of my life. I could feel the limbs on my back over the cold air swooping past me, and without really knowing how to operate limbs ive never had before, I just fanned them out to glide or slow my descent, surprisingly, I was beginning to glide, it was rough, but I was still gliding towards the ground. "T-Thank god....I swear, CCG needs to work on spawn points...." I sighed, as I tumbled into the dirt, rolling onto my back upon my rough landing, as I felt my heart threaten to rip itself from my chest, it was both amazing, and scary, and I couldn't help but laugh. "I-I-I was about to d-d-ie!" After my long-awaited chuckle, I saw the status bar to the bottom left of my vision, along with an 'Magic power', and 'Stamina' bar. An EXP bar stretched across the middle, with what looked to be item slots to my right, only two though. Other than that, my health was low, but I imagined it be lower, but that would be because of what me, and my brother did. We're hackers, not illegal ones, more like, 'lets make this solo game more stupidly awesome', kind-of hackers. Now, we're not idiots, we knew this Control Core Gamma would pick us out within the millisecond of us implementing anything, but we found a loop-hole to that. You see, it supports augmentations to the game, that's for people with reading problems, or philological issues, that being said, we merely created a buff that would give our health a slight increase upon new levels, before we added it to a blank augment USB, and bish-bash-bosh, we have a slight advantage over everyone else. "So, where am I?" I pondered aloud to the forest around me [Silver Grove] "Oh? That's....well I guess i'll check my quests." I muttered, opening the menu with a swipe of my left hoof, as I sat on the ground, not wanting to try and walk just yet. If I learned anything from MMOs, it was to get your bearings first, then wander aimlessly [Stats] [Inventory] [Quests] [Notifications] [Party Status] [Options] [Attributes] [Logoff] Pegasus Pony Level - 01 Health: 150 Magic: N/A Stamina: 100 Strength - 6 Endurance - 6 Intelligence - 4 Perception - 5 Charisma - 6 Agility - 8 Magic - 3 Luck - 2 "Ok....? That's actually alot fairer than I thought." My first thought was that my stats would be horrid for all categories, but surprisingly they seemed fair, but I'm not complaining, just observing the current mechanics. Now then, onto 'Quests' Bringing the Quest log up, I saw that two were currently awaiting completion. -The First Step- You have arrived in Equestria though your own means, try to find the nearest town to your location. [ ] Locate Ponyville -Hardly a Noob- If you wish, you could track down a beast of this forest and slay it, it might get you familiar with the world's dangers [ ] Slay a Silverwolf Optional [ ] Slay 3 Silverwolves "I see, so I both have an optional quest, and a main quest of random choice, that makes things a little easier, but I doubt a 'Silverwolf' is just for show, must be this forest's variant of a Timberwolf." I assumed the obvious, since I was surrounded by trees with a more....shiny texture to the leaves, I guess it must have been the reason for the name Taking this as my time to move, since the sun was directly above me, I sad a certain amount of time before dusk would strike, and I don't know what time is like here, so I'd rather not die in the dark. To my expectation, I was able to stand, and walk on my legs, I guess it must be like walking on hands, and knees, this was fun, it was a new experience, so I wasn't complaining. "Hey! You down there!?" Huh? At the yell, I twisted my head lazily to my left, and my eyes nearly widened in fear at the barreling, grey body, which was hurdling towards me. "Look oooooout~!" "Oh, son of a [BEEP]." I groaned, as my chest shattered at the contact with the projectile, sending me, and some other pony flying into the woods, as we grunted, and groaned in pain at the collision, before I felt my spine shatter at the connection made with a tree, striking a few points off my health bar, dropping it to 100, much to my pain, and....was the game mocking me with music? At first, my vision was still adapting to the sudden attack from the blue, as I felt the brief pain fade from my back, reality settings suck, but are worthy of praise later. Now, I looked up to view the pony that had crashed into my newly made form, as I saw their head shake from the impact. That's when I saw the name above their head. [Purplrain] It was another player? I then noticed the leathery wings draped at 'her' sides, as her ears flicked in the breeze. Her mane was, much like her user, purple, and only reaching to her shoulders, her predator-like eyes were a nice shade of blue, more like azure, her own cutie mark was that of a crescent moon with a star inside the curve. Then she frowned, blinking at the whiplash from the impact. "Who makes a spawn point in the air? That's dumb....." She complained, much like my earlier statement, and funny enough, she hadn't noticed me, but I sure did notice the mare crushing my stomach, as my embarrassment rose to my face, it may be a digital world, but she's still a girl, and I am an introvert by nature "Yeah....now, do you mind not crushing my HP to death?" I wheezed, making her look down slightly, before her eyes widened, as she lost her balance, falling off my stomach, and allowing me to sigh in relief. "Thanks...." "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to crash into you, this game has some weird choices of spawning you?" Purplrain apologized, as I held a hoof up, before I rolled my eyes humorously "You're not the only one to experience near-death by a game mechanic, since I've only just got here." I related, making her mood change from concerned to interested quickly, as if the incident never occurred "Wait, you're new too?" I nodded at her question, making her face brighten up as she fist-pumped. "Yes, I'm not alone in this place! I honestly have never seen this place before?" "I must be an added feature, just to add exploration and such." I explained, making her nod, before I pointed south, towards my way-point. "I was actually about to head for Ponyville, since its nearby, I also have an optional quest to take down some 'Silverwolves' beforehand." "Hey, not to sound too....well, too needy, but you think I can tag along? I don't really understand much about combat in this game, nor do I have any sort-of experience with games like this." Purplrain shyly stated, looking away. "Would you be able to help me...umm...." "Names, White Hat, its above my head, but....eh, sure, two players are better than one, so why not?" I answered, before she smiled with glee, moving to stand in front of me, bowing her head, man, she was certainly nice, usually a girl would insult me by now, guess I do have more luck than I once thought "Thank you-Thank you-Thank you!" "Chill, we need to 'get' to town first, I may know my way around games like this, but if night come faster than normal we'll have problems." I declared, before I opened my menu again, clicking on 'Party Status'. In there, I could see the tab labeled 'Invite Purplrain to party', and even 'Send Friend Request'. But I ultimately sent her an invite "Huh? An invite?" She paused, before she pulled her menu open, before I saw the small name, bar, and health appear atop my left-hand side, the symbol looked like an eye, which I guess makes sense, since she's a stealth class. "Awesome, thanks!" "Not a problem, but first, do you have any quests available?" I asked, making her pull out of her blurry menu, since privacy is key to any game, and then she hummed in concern, her confusion seeming to rise "No, only to find a way to Ponyville, is that bad?" She asked for my advice, and I concluded my earlier thought "You, and I have random quests, sure, the main one is the same, but I have an optional side quest like I said before, so it must be a random selection, although, the quest only gives XP and bits, nothing crazy." I elaborated, making her nod, though she looked a little cheated out of a quest, but I decided not to press the concern. "Anyways, did you notice something off about your menu?" "Umm, not really, I mean, I have a logout button, so no SAO bull[BEEP], oh, and that annoying censor, but other than that, I can't tell." Purplrain answered, before she noted my bemused expression, her own eyes lighting up at the realization. "Where's the skills bar? Like in the screenshots!?" "Exactly, above all the stuff I know, this is the one thing I noticed a while ago, where is the ability to unlock skills? Usually they would tell you how in the tutorial, or even in guides, yet, there wasn't, like there purposefully leaving it blank." I added, making us ponder more, it was strange, yet not unfair, some games have a quest you go on as a teaser towards your power, to make you adapt to your other abilities beforehand, but atleast they'd tell you in a quest or lore step "Maybe....that's the Ponyville quest?" At Purplrain's answer, my head shot up, blinking in surprise at her deduction, as she sat with a hoof on her chin, eyes squinted in thought. "Every player must start near a town, gaining a better understanding of the world, then when they arrive, maybe you talk to an NPC about it, and they might give you the quest....maybe that's the answer?" At first, I couldn't respond, since I was under the impression she was new to MMORPGs, but she...actually had a solid point, yeah, it made sense, the main quest isn't just a main quest, its a step of said quest for the ability to use magic! I actually chuckled a little at that, finding my own knowledge to be null and void at the present moment. "Now I get it, both our quests are 'The First Step', the first step in finding the ability to use magic! That's brilliant!" I praised her with a smile, making Purplrain beam with glee. "Sorry, I just thought it was funny that a new player to RPGs discovered the truth before me, props to you, Purpl, props to you." "Hehehe, I 'did' do some research beforehand, Mr. Hat." Purplrain smugly replied, before she noticed that her wings touched her sides in a prideful stance, unlike her hooves, which remained on the grass. "Woah....that's cool." "Huh, what is?" I asked her, noting what her wings were doing, whist I flapped my own, feeling every muscle twitch in rhythm with each other, just like they were a part of me all my life. "Its crazy....just how real it is." "Its funny, I thought that I was gonna suck at this game, trying to walk on all fours, using spells, even flying, which I still need to work on my landings....sorry again." She nervously chuckled at my smirk. "But....I didn't struggle, for the last ten minutes, talking with you, I....I felt so alive here, like I could always do this, like all of this is second nature, its strange how much I thought I would fail, only to....well not." "I get it, I may be a wiz with games like this, but none had the drive or feeling of this, the ability to fly with bones you never had, to feel the pressure of objects against your feet, Virtual Reality is beyond any limitation of Reality, its....boundless." I then flew slightly, gliding over Purplrain, before I stumbled onto my hooves. "Still, I thin flying may take some time to adapt to." "Yeah, how's about we get to town before we try crashing into people or ponies again?" Purplrain evenly stared at me with equal amusement in her voice, so I shrugged, moving to walk beside her through the dense forest of silver leaves "I guess having someone of equal experience is a good thing to have, maybe in town I can see if she wants to keep at it for today, since its the weekend, I doubt she'll mind, could use some interaction, and payback for the 25 HP I lost." I thought, not noticing that she had stopped moving. "Huh, you alright, you ain't lagging, right?" "Uhh, W-White...?" She shakily replied, her eyes now pinpricks, whist she pointed a hoof out before me. Now, I didn't notice it at first, but I did now, the drums kicking off the start of combat, a sound that slowly drew my attention to what was before us. "Those....wouldn't b-be the 'Silverwolves' you're after, right?" Before us, two wolves stood before us. Their hides we sharp, silver locks of hair, divided into different shades of grey, whist their silver fangs snarled in our direction, with claws just as vicious as their fangs, with green eyes directed at us with hungry intent. They were smaller than Timberwolves, but certainly more toned than skinny. [Silverwolf - lvl 2] *Snarl-growl* "Never mind!" Purplrain eeped, moving to stand behind me as I felt a small grin tug on my muzzle, watching as the second wolf circled to face Purplrain, as I felt her shaking body against my side. So, I reached over with a hoof, grabbing her shoulder, just as her head turned to me I was smiling, my eyes aflame with joy at the sight. This game wasn't Equestria, it was like any other game, and just like an RPG, these guys were just as weak as us, if not weaker for calibrations to be fair on every player. "Don't worry, we got everything to beat these guys right here." I reassured, before I raised a hoof. "We're human, so we;ll do what we always do when [BEEP] like this comes for us. We'll bite back." At first, she didn't say anything, and I don't think anything needed to be said, as her shaking ceased, but I knew she was new to this, so combat to this extreme would be scary, but I've defeated many in my wake, a few wolves ain't gonna be the end of that. "Alright, I'm with you, White." Now I was pumped up, if it was just me, maybe I'd be in a bind, but with two of us, this will be as easy as being level 10 "Alright then, partner, lets tear these Silverwolves a new [BEEP]hole!" To Be Continued..... Update New Player has joined your party -Purplrain (Therstral class) Level 1 Current Level: 1 Magic: None Items: None Author's Note In all honesty, me and Lucaridis came up with this idea within 15 minutes, and in the space I managed to make a plan for this awesome series! Anywho, hope you enjoyed this VRMMORPG take on MLP, with a small skirmish and interactions next time, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Story - [Silver Lining] Story - [Silver Lining]Music was definity a big help for my moral, since music is what makes a fight more fluent, and memorable, and I couldn't have felt a better feeling in my chest at the background music, as I awaiting the Silverwolf to finally strike me, its other half moving for Purplrain, who stood beside me, her back to me. The Silverwolf growled in response, thrusting itself at my body, it reflective teeth widening with each meter closed between us. That's when I used what little skill I had with wings to thrust my body up, almost like a double jump, my hooves landing atop its back, before I landed behind it. Purplrain seemed to catch my idea, as she moved to her left, the two wolves striking each other, chipping a piece off their health bars. My wolf quickly turned back, swiping at my neck, but I had moved my back to a tree trunk, as I waited for it to charge. Taking advantage of its blunt movements, I skimmed to the side, its head striking the tree with a violent shake, its health decreasing into the yellow. That meant its HP was 100, just like a normal player, mine however, was 150 due to the hack. I decided to press for an attack, as I raised my right hoof, before I struck the jaw of the Silverwolf, causing it to yelp, before I spun around, pressing my front hooves down into the dirt, before I lifted my back legs with a shaky heave, before I thrusted out, my hooves connecting with a resonating crunch. I tuened my head to look at the damage, before I fist-pumped, seeing the Silverwolf tumble into the grass, its body beginning to shimmer, whist its HP bar finally vanished, the body going limp at the end result. *Shatter* The body burst into a small burst of colours, as the lines all faded into the air around me, as I watched a small tab appear beside my face. [Items] 15 Bits 1 Chipped Fang "Not bad...." I murmured, before I turned at the loud war cry. When I did, I watched Purplrain roll to her right, avoiding the snap of the Silverwolf's bite, then she rose her wings, before she leapt into the air, using the momentum to steady herself above the wolf's head, before I blinked in surprise when she spun clockwise, her back hoof roundhouse kicking the Silverwolf flying into a nearby tree, shaking the leaves off some of the branches. "Damn." Then, we observed the same defeat as my wolf, as its body went limp, before it errupted into a streamline of colours, another tab opening for Purplrain, who smiled widely in amazement, and I was going to praise her for a well-thought-out move, but she already had the same idea, latching my neck around her hooves as she hugged me. I mean, I wasn't going to stop her. "I'm guessing this is the first Digital World fight you've had?" I pondered, as she smiled, letting my neck go, as she pressed the button to close the tab, her smile still present "Mmmhmm! And I was awesome!" She cheered, before I heard the familiar sound ring across the open space of forest for us both, as I noticed the glowing aura around Purplrain, as her own baffled face viewed me with the same amount of confusion [Level Up!] [1 - 2] We were no longer new to the game's world of play, now we had achieved the first new level, and I was pleased to see my status board appear before me. As Purplrain stared at her with a satisfied smile. [New Passive Added] -Rookie No More- You have achieved a new level, with each level-up you shall receive a skill point, of course, once you find your talent for magic ;) [Stats Increased] Agility +1 Strength +1 "My Agility was increased by two points, is that good?" Purplrain asked me, as I nodded, before I decided to give her a little explanation, that is, before something popped up before us both, a small box with the image of a '2' [Achievement Unlocked] Rookie No More - Achieve level 2 "Right....as I was going to say. Think of your attributes like Borderlands 2's Badass ranks, now, how they work is where you complete a tiny objective like kill 100 bandits or use fire weapons 1000 times, you gain badass rank for it, thereby allowing you to increase your attributes my a small margin. This system is like a simplified version of that, where we complete certain things, and gain upgrades to our stats." I explained, whist Purplrain slowly nodded, obviously piecing it all together "Its ok, I know it can be alot to take it, but good thing you crashed into me, the biggest nerd on the planet." I mused, nudging her to follow me. "Besides, eventually you'll get tired of my rambling, everyone does at some point, just depends on their ability to endure." "Not really." I heard her say, as she trotted? Im'ma say trotted, up beside me, looking at me with a reassuring smile. "I think you being this informed makes you smarter than anyone else, atleast in this world, that takes alot of remembering." "Hehehe, yeah, I guess, I don't exactly do much in the way of productivity, but I guess my knowledge of games can be helpful, though, I can guarantee someone knows more of this game than me." I retorted, before I noticed that the diamond on my minimap was beginning to grow larger, and so was my amusement. "I think we're finally here." "Really!?" Purplrain exclaimed, running up to the edge of the forest, and I kind-of found her fascination with this world fun to watch, it was like I was looking back at when I first played a game, the suspense of not knowing what lies ahead, the breathtaking sight of the next zone, all of it was what she was experiencing, so I guess it made my time here more fun in a way. "White, hurry up~!" "Almost there, calm yourself!" I called back, my vision clearing at the forest's edge, whist seemed to peer over a small hill, and down to the valley below us. "So, how's the....view....woah...." A sight was worthy of being a whole new world of its own. The town of Ponyville was large, with golden thatch roofs, and medieval-style streets of cobblestone. The afternoon was even beginning to cast the town in an afterglow of orange, and gold. With many ponies, both A.I and player ran about the streets, whist Pegasi flew high above the Green Zone. To sum up quickly, 'Green Zones' were this game's version of passive zones, where mobs don't attack or spawn, and our anti Player Killing, the most you could do would be accepting a challenge from another player, that's it. This being said, the creators left no detail unchecked, with the rays of sun casting shadows across parts of town, as the green valley seemed to glow an emerald hue. [Ponyville] "I have to admit, it never gets old discovering new locations, just this awe-inspiring scene is breathtaking." I praised, as Purplrain nodded in agreement to my left, before I pointed a hoof towards one of the main roads poking out from the town. "We should probably head that way, taking backstreets never works out in the end." "Aye." With that, we wandered across the hills, and towards the entrance of the large town, and as we grew closer, my ears had flicked to the mellow music beginning to play around us. "Even this place has music?" "I like it, adds flare, not to mention the atmosphere." I added, noting the massive crowds of ponies wandering the streets, it was amazing how so many players, and A.I made this world feel truly alive. We both had the taste of combat, how deadly, and fluent you had to be, but now, we could truly experience the colorful side of this world Many open stalls for vendors sat on sides of the roads, with players entering stores with signs symbolizing their offers and content. In a small lit alley, I could see some players betting in a gambling match, as a mysterious dragon in a hood played the game. From what I knew, whatever species you chose, you would have a random chance of being spawned in that species home, it definity explains the lack of any Diamond Dogs, or griffons. "Hey! Look at your Quest Log!" I was finally snapped out of my daydreaming, as I saw Purplrain with her menu out, as she pointed to her screen, even if I didn't see it, but I decided to listen to the hyperactive nocturnal, and I swiped my hoof, bringing the holographic menu up, before I pressed 'Quests' Quests Complete! -The First Step- You have arrived in Equestria though your own means, try to find the nearest town to your location. [ ] Locate Ponyville You have made your way to safety, since you're alive, here's a little pick-me-up! [Rewards] 100 Bits Minor Health Potion x2 100 EXP -Hardly a Noob- If you wish, you could track down a beast of this forest and slay it, it might get you familiar with the world's dangers [ ] Slay a Silverwolf Optional [ ] Slay 3 Silverwolves You encountered a beast of Silver Grove, I hope you learned something valuable, so here, take something valuable! [Rewards] 15 Bits Silver Fang x2 150 EXP [Level Up!] [2 - 3] Once more, I was casted in a golden aura of a few seconds, as my health ticked up beyond 200, making me feel alot more pleased with my goal, sadly, we didn't find another Silverwolf for the bonus, but hey, atleast I completed the quest. When I was done confirming my rewards, I smirked, pointing above Purplrain, as she turned to whiteness the achievement appear for us both. I think I was beginning to like that pop-up, along with the level-up effect. [Achievement Unlocked] First Step Taken - You made it to your nearest town/city "Another bites the dust." Purplrain cheered, as I smiled at how fun the beginning of this game was becoming, I wasn't one to play with others expect for my best friend, my brother, and a guy who lives in England, but it was nice playing with Purpl, she had some sort of aura to her that made this alot more entertaining, but hey, I ain't complaining. "What should we do next?" "Hmm....well we made it to town, so I guess a little exploration of what Ponyville has wouldn't do any harm, and if this game has more violent monsters at night, I doubt we'd be strong enough to punch, and kick our way to victory." I suggested with a side of caution, since most games would bring nocturnal entities into the playing field, and I for one, ain't ready to be mauled by a werewolf again, only to be shoved off a cliff "Ok....how about Twilight's Library? Maybe we'll find a quest there too?" Purplrain suggested, and it was very good offer, that is, until my heart sunk like a stone in the ocean. It-it can't be.....not her! "Uhh, White? You ok?" "We need to run....like right now." I breathlessly whispered to her, as my hooves backed away slowly from the approaching gunshot of mass. I was fast, but this outran any normality in this world, no normal entity had the strength nor speed of this creature. Hell, I'd rather complete Dark Souls 3 on a dance-mat than this! "The embodiment of Deadpool is coming for us..." "embodiment....?" I heard Purplrain mutter with a hoof to her chin, before I tried to grab her by her tail, sadly, I had watched as my screen flashed red again, my HP dropping slightly at the sudden shockwave that threw me to the road, pain striking my back once more, whist my ribs threatened to snap like twigs at the velocity of this pink mare. "White!?" "Why....the [BEEP] is it always me....?" I cried in pain, seeing the eyes of A.I and players glancing at me, all with looking of sorrow, knowing that they too had suffered at this hyperactive, fourth-wall-breaking, party planning, element of laughter. "Pinkie....Pie...." "No silly, its not always you, sometimes its someone else, oh, maybe even me sometimes, or even your friend, but I don't know!?" Wow, the point where even Pinkie doesn't know what she's saying. "Still, I came to say 'Hi', but you already know me!" She was directly in my face, still pinning me to the ground as Purplrain watched if bafflement at the scene, and all other ponies continued with their own objectives, leaving me feel the blood rushing to my face. It wasn't my fault, I just get flustered easily at such close proximity to girls, I hate it honestly. "Oh, sorry, you dropped these! I can be kind-of jumpy as Twilight always told me, but I just can't help but get super excited at new ponies!" Pinkie exasperated, as she used her tail to push my blue glasses back onto my muzzle, their glass completely spotless. "Hey, are you ok? You look reaaaally red?" "Pinkie....can't breathe." I wheezed, for the second time today, as she bounced off my stomach, allowing me to move to my hooves again, as I flapped my wings to dust them off. "Thank you, and, if you didn't notice, a guy getting pinned by a girl isn't exactly a normal situation." "I'm Pinkie Pie, strange is how I roll." She waved off bluntly, before she hopped around to look at Purplrain with a wide smile. "Hiya, I'm Pinkie Pie!" "Purplrain, and....its really cool getting to meet you." Purplrain seemed to be fangirling a little, seeing her nervous state, meanwhile I was busy dusting myself off. "But maybe tackling my teammate wasn't a good way to greet us." "Aww, but I like giving hugs, maybe launching myself from my party cannon wasn't the best plan, but it was fun!" Pinkie explained, before she looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry for crashing into you." "No harm done, I know you enough to tell you just wanted to greet pe-er-poines, just....maybe not from the broadside of a cannon?" I warily stated, making her head nod rapidly in agreement, whist Purplrain giggled at the mare's antics, but then I realized something, with all the crazy events that have transpired, I nearly forgot the critical point Purplrain had made over an hour ago "Every player must start near a town, gaining a better understanding of the world, then when they arrive, maybe you talk to an NPC about it, and they might give you the quest....maybe that's the answer?" "Hey, Pinkie?" I spoke up again, her head turning my way. "Can....well have ponies recently been able to conjure magic like unicorns? And if so, how?" "Umm....well I don't know stuff like that, Twilight is really-really smart, but I 'do' know how you do it!" Pinkie exclaimed, as me, and Purplrain gave each other a look, before I smiled, allowing her to continue. "I can make sprinkles explode, heheheh!" ". . . ." ". . . ." "O.....K? Well, that's certainly something." I slowly broke the blank state me, and Purplrain had entered, her face still white as a ghost. "You see, we knew about this ability, but....how do we gain the power to do so?" "Yeah, we were fighting some Silverwolves, and we couldn't access any sort of magic." Purplrain had responded in tangent with my question. At first, Pinkie didn't respond, as she rubbed her forehead with her tail, a bead of sweat dripping down her highly concentrated face, then, I heard a the 'ding' of a timer, and her expression was bright again "Twilight told me about this! I think....well she said that some creepy, dark mist was causing magic to go all wonky, and weird, I heard other ponies that came here talk about it, and they went to investigate it too!" Pinkie gave us the clear answer we required "So, if we find the source of this mist, we find our magic?" I nutshelled, making her happily bounce on the spot, before I smiled with confidence. "Let me take a gander at where it is....the Everfree Forest?" The pink mare instantly deflated at the mention, as she shivered slightly. "I-Its scary in there, the mist made more dangerous things appear from the Everfree too, but....I-I know where the source is, I heard those ponies mentioned it before too, how something big, and scary was causing it." Pinkie elaborated on her point, before she grabbed an army helmet from nowhere, before she saluted at us. "Pinkie Pie will help you with your dangerous mission, Mr....." "Just call me, White." I answered for her, as I saw the quest appear before us all again, as a yellow question mark appeared above Pinkie Pie's head, making her tilt her head in confusion "Why do they keep appearing?" She muttered, as I couldn't help but laugh, patting the mare's shoulder, whist me, and Purplrain read the quest in our menus [New Quest!] -Awaken The Light- Pinkie knows of the source of the mist which has mysteriously locked you, and other ponies' power, find the source, and claim your power [ ] Find the source of the mist [ ] Dispel the corruption "You'll get used to it." I chuckled, before I noticed the clock at the top-right of my vision, so I made a plan. "Pinkie, could you meet us at the edge of town tomorrow?" "Okey dokey loki!" Well that was surprisingly simple, ah well, with that sorted, we were left to watch as the bubbly mare hopped away, leaving us to shake our heads "You know in person, she can truly be exhausting." I commented, as Purplrain yawned "Good call on the time though, and figuring she could help us with our magic quest, see? I told you, you are really smart when it comes to games!" Purplrain praised, making me rub my neck with a mused smile "W-Well I honestly only remembered because you told me about the NPC thing in the Silver Grove, so thanks for that." I thanked too, as she happily bowed "Thank you, thank you." She repeated what she said before, that's when I noticed that the street we stood in was a little less crowded, even if it was still the weekend, it was September, so priorities were necessary. "Still, its gotten pretty late, seems time here moves similar to ours....we both started around....9 pm, right?" "Aye, with all the data that needed to be downloaded, I knew I could only get a few hours of testing beforehand, you just happened to make it more entertaining." I mentioned, seeing her face look to me with a strange look in her eyes, it wasn't bad, but I couldn't place my finger, or hoof in this case, on what she was feeling "Really? What did I do, last I checked, I crashed into you?" She reminded my spine again, as I rubbed my back, chuckling as I looked towards the moon above us, amongst the star-covered sky "You did, and I plan to get back at you for it." She winced at that, brushing a hoof against her other. "But....I honestly have a hard time playing with other, new people, I tend to stick to my usual friends, and the only person I knew who was going to be playing this is currently somewhere, so I was solo, which is fine, I prefer playing alone." "But I guess you literally crushing that expectation changed how I viewed my first time playing this, seeing how inexperienced you were made me feel like I was also clueless to this world's mechanics, and....I really enjoyed my time here, so thank you, for everything Purplrain." I calmly thanked her, as I saw myself staring off at the nightlight of the town, the lanterns and lights from houses bringing a new orange hue to the streets, as distant talks and singing could be heard resonating across the town "Rain." At the soft answer, I turned back to face Purplrain, a warm smile on her face, as she stared at me with soft, azure eyes. "Since I've kept this username for years, my friends call me Rain. But hey, tomorrow, I'll be online, so seeya then!" I wasn't given a moment to truly process what she just told me, as her body vanished in soft, blue light, her body vanishing like dust to the wind, leaving me to stare off in the direction she stood, whist my hoof swiped my menu out, going down to notifications. [Friend Request Received From Purplrain] [Accept? Y / N] "Her friends call her, Rain...." I hummed, finding the concept of her considering me a friend after only several hours, I never got to ask her why, I guess I will tomorrow. I couldn't help but feel a little excited at that prospect, the fact that I was lucky enough to even find someone who can tolerate my being was one of the Digiverse's greatest gifts, even if its a virtual world, its still.....alive [Accept? Y / N] [New Friend: Purplrain] [Achievement Unlocked] Reality or Not - You became friends with another player "Friends....ok....seeya next time, Rain." To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 2 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 3 [Offensive class] Current Level: 3 Magic: None Items: Minor Healing potion x2 - Silver Fang x2 - Chipped Fang x1 New Attribute Added: -Strength of the pack- You aren't alone in this world, your chance for better loot in increased with more party members. (What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine) Author's Note I'm loving this so far, I do hope I wrote Pinkie right, since I made her a little more knowledgeable than people would assume, and the A.I is near human. But next time, we get to some action, and I mean ACTION! So, I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Quest - [Awaken The Light] Authors Notes: Because I wanted to upload this sooner, on Sunday you will be getting an Extra Log to the story, a short list of crazy achievements and such, if you want me to include more before Sunday, comment them below! Extras - [Achievements]Oh? I was about to log out, but I realized something. What were the achievements in this game? I know of some, others being obvious, but I guess a few minutes of curiosity wouldn't hurt my sleep patterns. So, I pressed stats, then I looked at the bottom right of my HUD, and I saw the small emblem for Achievements. Then, I pressed it. [Rookie No More] - Achieve level 2 [First Step Taken] - You made it to your nearest town/city [Awaken The Light] - You have obtained your magic power [So It Begins] - Slay 10 Beasts [Protector] - Slay 1000 Beasts [Death Incarnate] - Slay 100000 Beasts [If A God Can Do It] - Defeat a mini boss [No One Cheats Death] - Death finally claims you [Not All About Looks] - Buy and equip your first piece of armour [Fashion 'Is' End Game] - Equip an accessory or vanity item [Magic] - You Talked with Twilight and completed a quest for her [Loyalty] -You Talked with Rainbow Dash and completed a quest for her [Laughter] - You Talked with Pinkie and completed a quest for her [Honesty] - You Talked with Applejack and completed a quest for her [Generosity] - You Talked with Rarity and completed a quest for her [Kindness] - You Talked with Fluttershy and completed a quest for her [Our Growing Friendship] - Become friends with the Mane 6 [My Main Brother] - You noticed and became friends with Spike [Best Consumer] - You spent 1000 bits [Favorite Customer] - You spent 10000 bits [Long-Term Investor] - You spent 100000 bits [What The F#@#!?!] - You Survived one of Pinkie Pie's mental breakdowns, how? I do not know [Not Alone In This World] - You have made a team of 4 with other players [Reality or Not] - You became friends with another player [Lost But Not Forgotten] - You discovered ancient ruins [The Next Daring Doo] - Discovered all ruins in Equestria [Darkest Before The Dawn] - Defeat Nightmare Moon [Shining Light] - Arrive at the Crystal Empire [You're Touch'n Da Child!] - Touch the Crystal Heart [No Touch'n Da Child!] - You touched the Crystal Heart 10 more times [Hail To The New King] - Defeat King Sombra [True Rulers] - Became friends with Prince Armour and Princess Cadence [Heartless Bastard] - Insult Derpy [You My Friend, Have [BEEP]ed Up.] -Insult Discord [???!???!] - You were sent to Discord's Pocket Dimension [I Know You] - Dispel Discord's magic from an ally [Taste The Rainbow] - Defeat Discord [Fools Gold] - Find 'Tom' [City of the Sky] - Travel to Cloudsdale [Golden Kingdom] - Travel to Canternlot [Where It All Began] - Travel to Ponyville [Rock and a Hard Place] - Travel to the Griffon Kingdom [What Happens in Vegas....] - Travel to Los Pegasus [...Stays in Vegas] - Gamble in Los Pegasus and win, and lose [Mary Sue] - You found the LEGENDARY seventh element of harmony [I Hate Cliches] - You shattered the seventh element of harmony, you did us all a favor [A Helping Hoof] - Heal an ally [Medical License] - Heal allies 10 times [Trinity] - Heal allies 1000 times [The New Beater] - Wield two swords [Starburst Stream] - Manage to use a 16-hit combo with dual blades [Be Whatever You Want To Be] - Use every weapon type [Oh Great, you two] - Meet Princess Celestia and Luna, but lets be honest, we only like Luna [Its sooooo boring....make it stop~!] - Listen to Blueblood speak, without throwing yourself off the cliff [HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!] - Tell Blueblood how you 'really' feel [A Royal Pain] - Defeat Blueblood, honestly, a level 1 could do it [Moral Men of Power] - Defeat all Royalty Figures [Well....this is fun] - Travel to Tartarus [Satan's Hold] - Defeat Tirek [Super Sayian] - Gain your first ultimate ability [Writer and Adventurer] - You met Daring Doo [One For The Books] - You helped Daring Doo on her adventure [Shadow Reins Supreme] - Fight the The Pony of Shadows [Misguided] - Reform a villain [No Place For A Hero] - Become the bad guy [Nightmare] - Encounter 'it' from another world [Embrace] - Become one with 'it' [Reject] - Refuse 'it' [Friendship is Eternal] - You were saved from 'it's' grasp [More Than Numbers] - Enter a relationship [Nightfall] - You went on a date [Hollow Night] - Discover Nightmare Moon's Cult [Praise The Su-Wrong Praise] - Join the Hollow Night Cult [Whoops] -Take Down the Hollow Night Cult [Biggest Fan, Appreciate It!] - You met Nightmare Moon [Double Digits] - Reach level 10 [Cry Out For Pride] - Reach level 25 [Your Journey Has Truly Begun] - Reach level 50 [Towards The Light] - Join the Royal Guard [Embrace The Night] - Join the Night Guard [Stop: Rewind] - Your greatest foe awaits you [You WILL Die Painfully] - Defeat an Invincible [I Can See My House From Here] - Be banished to the moon [A Taste of the Coming Storm] - Battle the Ring Bearer Special Achievements [MWY NYAM CWOTA!] - Find the Black Hammer [Red Like Roses] - Meet the mare with a massive scythe [Do Better] - Aid the mare with cybernetics [Jeepers Creepers] - Its BIG, SCARY, and GREEN [Light The Embers] - Alight the sword [Bad Luck Charm] - Find and defeat the masked stallion [Master of Gun and Blade] - Encounter the stallion from the stars [You Are Never Alone] - Find the purple blade under a massive tree [I'll Always Remember You] - The legend of a three-legged wolf Hidden Achievements [The Grinder] - ???? [Legendary] - ???? [Fallen Kingdom] - ???? [Jack The Ripper] - ???? [Checkmate] - ???? [Get On My Level] - ???? [Red Death] - ??? "Jesus, ninety five achievements? Here I thought Borderlands was much....this is....woah, and its still updating to the current, and future updates?" I was rather baffled by the unmarked 'Hidden Achievements', but that was my favorite part, it meant exploration, which I was gunning for. "Right then, time to find me some Easter eggs." Author's Note I may plan to add more like the story suggests, if anyone has any suggestions for either achievements, hidden ones, or even Easter Eggs, let me know! Anywho, hope you enjoyed and seeya in the next chapter! Quest - [Awaken The Light]"Reality Scale. Activate!" "Huh? I guess i'm here first." I blurted out to myself, as the sun rose over the skies of Ponyville, my gaze drawn to those who have already logged in, or had slept in-game. To be fair, the Jordis Augment, the device similar to SAO's fictional 'Nerve-Gear' has similarities based off the concept, obviously, its still new, but the ability to place your consciousness in a game, whist your body sits motionless is crazy, downside, you still get tired, since your brain is working, and your body IRL still needs food Deciding not to waste my morning, I had already shared my first day in MLP: AO with my brother, to which he described his day as....fascinating, since his charisma was -5 somehow accurately describing his personality, but that didn't stop him from gaining a reputation where he landed, he never told me where, but that was fine, since we both had little to nothing to cause actual change to our story. Without any delay, I made my way to a small stall outside the market strip, where I found a good selection of cosmetics, and armour to try on or buy. Last I checked, I had around....130 Bits, not rich, but it could get me a little extra for the quest, since it was in the Everfree Forest. "Aye me lad! What might ye be lookin' for?" Ha, I like this guy already. Seeing the tan pony with an eye-patch, and a scruffy beard to boot, as he motioned over his wears, which were all cloth-based, and some with small pieces of armour stitched in. "Ye must be new, I offer all first buyers half!" "Well, I humbly accept." I grinned at my luck, despite it being very low, and I carefully inspected his wears, eyeing the stats of each piece. Then, my eyes caught the rich red colour to my left, as I moved to look at the scarf It was a simple, rich red scarf, torn for ascetics, and had a small black slash across its colour for a splash effect. And its stats were nice, offering me an increase to my health by 15. Its name was.... [Rogue Flag] "Make your move, and show your true colours." +15 Additional Health "Aye, that be a fine piece, that will be....55 Bits." The Earth Pony offered, as I saw the menu to trade appear, being in a good mood now, I pressed 'Y' and saw my Bits drop to 75 Bits, before I auto-equipped the armour onto my Pony outline, seeing my health begin to tick up, whist another Achievement appeared before me. "Pleasure doing business me lad." [Achievement Unlocked] Not All About Looks - Buy and equip your first piece of armour Now I had a red scarf for my crimson-black mane, neat. Now, its time to go meet Pinkie, and Rain at the outskirts of town, time to gain us back our magic. My only worry about all of this, is just what awaits us at the end of this? "Hey! Over here!" At the call, I randomly looked to my left, seeing the familiar grey Therstral waving at me with a smile, so I waved back, walking up to stand before her again, then, she eyes glanced down at my neck, noticing my new piece of clothing, before she smirked. "Someone's looking to stand out?" "Not really, I just really needed something red, and my bloody glasses weren't changeable, but whatever." I shrugged, tugging at the rim of the scarf, its soft fabric almost like cotton but it looked far more durable than that. "So, you ready to finally gain some magic powers?" "Heck yeah, I want to know what magic I can use, I know its all stealth or shadow magic, but I'm really excited to use whatever." Rain gleefully skipped, as I pondered on my own choice in magic "Well, the game has skill trees, a lot of them too, but I think they work under five categories." I answered with my own sense of empty thoughts, it was unclear how they measured your skills, since it was most-likely locked by this quest. "The ones I saw in the screenshots for the game were....Magic-" "No surprise." Rain butted in "Weaponry. Kinetic-" I paused at her dumbfounded look. "So what we were using yesterday." "Oh, I know what kinetic is, I just didn't realize it was its own skill-line." Rain reinforced, before she pouted. "I ain't that dense." "No comment." Not wanting to press my luck on the thin line of fate, I continued. "Last are Utility, so mining, crafting, cooking, usual stuff. Then Aura." "Ok, now you lost me." Rain admitted, leaving me to also stare off into space, then I shrugged with no honest conclusion to the Skill "I have no idea what that is, maybe its buffs like Griffons do, but I don't honestly know what Aura is." I concluded my explanation "Its support magic!" "GAH-Pinkie, where did you come from!?" I yelled from behind Rain, feeling my heart about to lose a few more lives at her surprise appearance. "Even for an NPC, that was scary." "Hehehe, I know, but Aura is something I can do! I like use a lot of it since I can only make things I throw explode, silly!" Pinkie explained, as I looked to Rain, gestured for her to continue our plan, whist I recovered from my heart attack "Pinkie, do you know 'where' exactly the origin of the mist is?" Rain asked calmly, before she nodded, pointing towards the entrance to the Everfree Forest, a mere 200 yards away from us, as I saw the diamond way-point grow, and shrink at the entrance "Its in the Fortress of Lunar Watch!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, as we both stared at her. Yet, another new location to this world, well, I guess it would be lazy to re-use preexisting locations, so I'll give them points for buffing the lore out more, just meant I could discover more background to Equestria, which was always fun to me. "Onwards, friends!" "Right....I'll lead the way, Rain, you cover our backs, I don't want to run into whatever new creatures are in here without proper planning, and Pinkie...?" I stopped, seeing her hop towards me with a smile, and I faltered a little. "Keep being you." "Okey Doki Loki!" She acknowledged in a chipper mood, as we began are journey towards the Everfree Forest, whist a group of players were actually coming out "Dammit, what the hell was that thing!?" A white stallion snapped "Well, I guess we need to level up slightly to beat it, hardly worth throwing ourselves to the wolves." A mare shrugged "That NPC could have warned us, we nearly died back there....how do you dodge that first attack anyways?" Another stallion sighed, rubbing his forehead Once the group passed us, I noted Pinkie, and Rain's concerned looks, I would be lying if I didn't also feel a slight pang of hesitation hit me, but hey, if its for magic, no one said they'd offer you it on a silver platter. So I turned around, walking backwards as I smiled. "We got this, as long as we can keep our distance from this creature, we'll win." I nodded without doubt, sure, if it used magic itself that could pose a problem, but I wasn't going to lose to a game this early. I had Rain, and one of the elements with me, that's gotta mean something, right? "Ok, I haven't doubted your knowledge of this stuff yet, and I won't now." Rain agreed, making me feel a little chipper, whist Pinkie hopped beside me "I can be super useful too, I'll beat the mean creatures into the dirt!" Pinkie cheered, making us laugh at her antics. In only a short time, I was really getting into this game [Everfree Forest] The clear sky above us was soon fractured, overshadowed by the dark trees above us, whist thorny, crooked, black vines snaked across the bark of trees, as sounds of distant animals, and the cries of unknown entities rattled the air. Even this dark mist Pinkie had spoke of made the air taste acrid, almost horrid, it even smelt like dew was in the air. "Say, Pinkie, what caused this sudden mist to appear anyways?" Rain asked curiously, whist I kept following my marker towards the path before us, as we were diverted onto a more worn, and broken cobblestone path leading somewhere. "Or was it always like this?" "Well....Twilight told me, and the girls that the mist might have been because of Nightmare Moon's return, her icky, evil essence corrupting everything, or....*gulp*....the Watcher." At the name, even I felt my fur stand on end, it wasn't a bold name, but the simplicity of it gave it a far more foreboding atmosphere "I'm....beginning to have doubts about this quest...." I gulped myself, my eyes snapping at every close sound. Watcher meant he might be watching us, maybe that's why those player before struggled, because it watched them, analyzed them before the fight....wait....did that mean.... "The Watcher is an old pony's tale, about the last guard who was so loyal to Nightmare Moon, that even after she was banished, he remained at Lunar Watch to this day....he's big....really scary black armour....and the mist is his magic, leaking from him." Pinkie wasn't one to be afraid in the face of danger, but this legend had her spooked, to the point that I had to add my concern "Has anyone else noticed something off?" I asked, changing the subject, just as we walked under a broken arch, as I hopped over a stone before me. When they shook their heads, we paused, and our footsteps went silent, everything was silent. "There's nothing." "We haven't even seen an enemy....you don't think....?" Rain saw my stern gaze, as it drifted to the mist before us, and that's when our vision came into view of the massive shadow, its lingering ghost crooked under the blue sky that contrasted it so [Fortress of Lunar Watch] The old fortress grounds were completely barren, only loose slabs, and mossy walls remained of the chapel-like structure. The walls of the fortress were broken, but far too high to climb, whist a stained glass window was cracked above the massive, mahogany doors, both slightly creaked open, whist the mist leaked from the entrance. The Gothic structure was both a marvel of graphics, and a daunting sight to us all. "The boss is begin those doors....only makes sense for it to be that way." I concluded, turning to the mares with a reassuring smile. "You ready to truly test this world's limits?" At first, Rain wasn't sure, it was written on her face like any new player to RPGs, but from what Ive seen, she had the strength to pull through on her own, sure, she wasn't the greatest, but she sure knew what to do if the situation were to arise, and with Pinkie helping us out, her magical abilities should aid us in this blindsided fight. "I'm with you, its three on one after all." She looked determined now, so I nodded, turning back to the doors, as I climbed the steps of the crumbling fortress, then, I reached out, placing my hoof on the cold doors before us, then, I applied a small amount of force to the wood, hearing the strain, and groan of the old, withered doors as they swung slowly by us When we entered the building, all three of us saw a massive entrance hall, an empty space with doors leading to the rest of the fortress, or what remained of it, with six massive pillars to the left and right of the room. Meanwhile, the mist seemed to dissipate at our entry, the wind mostly dragging the mist out with the air. "Is this it?" Rain was voicing our bafflement, as the only point of interest was the podium at the other-side of the room, looking to be holding something important, I couldn't make out what rested on the stand, since it was far smaller than my eyes could see. "Where's the boss?" "Maybe it left?" Pinkie suggested, which was a fair assumption, since the A.I here in this world can work autonomously without boundaries, and some can even escape combat, and strike again like a reoccurring villain, which was very formidable feature. "Oooh, do we win!?" "No....something....doesn't feel right." I mumbled, the mist was completely gone by now "how do you dodge that first attack anyways?" !!! "QUICK. DODGE!" I screamed in a panicked state, as I shoved Pinkie away, whist Rain leapt to her right, and I had about a millisecond to avoid myself, as I rolled forwards, sliding slightly on the marble floor in a hurry *CRASH-SHATTER* When the white dust, and rubble cleared from the air, I stared at the abrasive strike embedded in the floor of the grand hall. The massive, silver blade sliding up from the ground, as the massive, armour-clad knight stood tall again. It was human in posture, with black, twisted European armour, but the silver was now a black, inky colour, with the visor on the helmet being a menacing crimson. Whist small ribbons flowed from the back of its helmet, ending in jagged spikes, as it grasped the greatsword in both hands. The armour clanked at each movement, before it released a metallic roar from its hidden maw. As two health bars appeared above its head. [The Watcher - lvl 5] "White, what do we do!?" I heard Rain yell over its roar, just as it bent its head down to face me directly. I had little time to think, it was large, so avoiding its blade should take priority over its lumbering form, ok, ok that'll work "Pinkie, you, and me look for a weak point, avoiding its blade. Rain, can you fly?" I asked her, in hope that she could, otherwise we may be in for a far more difficult time "I, uhh, I don't....yeah, I can." Rain seemed to be in conflict with herself, as she unraveled her leathery wings, flapping them hard to lift her body up off the ground by a few inches. "Can you buy me some time to-" "Right! You heard her, Pinkie, lets take it down!" I yelled, smiling at the excitement of fighting the boss head-on Taking the first step, I ran at The Watcher, its sword lifting up to its right shoulder, before it swung in a slow, lumbering arc, as I rolled to my right, the massive blade skimming past my head, and striking the floor again, before I ran up to its foot, before I spun on my front-hooves, before I struck out with two back-kicks, striking the armour with a clank, only for me to back up, seeing its HP drop by only a few ticks. "Well....I tried kicking it!?" I yelled, running back to avoid another lumbering strike of its blade "What about....THIS!?" Rain yelled to me, as I saw her steadily flying above us, though she looked a little wonky, trying to stabilize in the roof-space. Then I observed her descent, as she spun clockwise again, before her left hoof struck the back of the head of The Watcher, causing it to stumble once, only for it to pull its head back, as it spun on its heel, swinging its blade around to the left, diagonally. "AHH!" Rain thankfully avoided the swing, as she spun for a moment in the air, before landing on one of the pillars, sighing with relief. Whist The Watcher turned its head back to me, holding the greatsword to its right shoulder, as it heavy footsteps shook the floor. Then it turned, its massive greatsword beginning to hum a deep crimson as it did, causing me to blurt out. "Weaponry Skill!" I called, as I spun round clockwise, swinging its blade in my direction, but I glided back, but it didn't stop, as it swung round one last time, blasting me with a burst of hot air, throwing me back across the floor in a heap, as my eye burned from the heat, my health dropping from 220 to 175. "Lots of damage....ow...." "Pinkie!" My ears heard Rain call out, as I watched the bubbly mare throw a glowing pink jar of sprinkles, before the contents shook in the air, drifting before the helmet's vision, before a burst of colour erupted from the container, showering The Watcher in a pink mushroom cloud, causing it to stumble back, colliding with a nearby wall, giving me enough time to down one of my healing potions When we looked back, I saw that it had changed targets, moving to attack the observing Rain on her pillar, as she seemed to glide down to face it eye-to-eye, making me stare in curiosity of what the ticked mare was planning. When The Watcher stood strong, its blade glowed a light blue, as it pulled the blade to point forwards, then, it lunged in her direction, thrusting the blade out. "Checkmate." Rain smugly replied, as I watched her do a back flip in the air, her hooves gliding across the pillar, as the blade struck the stone, nearly shattering the foundation of the support, then she looked at me with a nail-biting stare. "White, its neck, hit its neck!" "Ooo-oooh! Here!" Pinkie squealed in delight, before I was struck with a strange, blue powder, and before I could vocalize my concern, I watched as a blue aura covered my body, blinking in-and-out of existence, as a small buff appeared by my health, an icon of a leg flexing Deciding to ask later, I ran for The Watcher's back, as if struggled to wrench the blade from the pillar, whist Rain flew off the crumbling support for her own safety, but I saw her health was chipped slightly. Then I used my wings again to thrust my body up with a double boosted jump, as I hovered above its neck, and now I saw what she meant. Just between its back, and helmet, a large, red gash sat, leaking with that same mist as before. Grinning, I yelled in fury, striking the torn black skin with a hoof, followed by a left cross, then a right hook, and another, then another left cross. Then I propelled by body into the air with a flip, before I struck my back hooves into its neck, causing it to snap its head back with a metallic groan, falling forwards, whist bringing the pillar down on its back. "Nice catch, Rain!" I praised, making her smiled with a giggle, before we watched the health drop completely past the first bar, and into the second one, that's when the music changed, which I didn't notice was playing before, must have been to tied to the heart of battle, but now....it was far more foreboding "Hey, White? What does the music mean~?" I heard Rain call over to me, as I continued to small, nervous chuckle, before Pinkie popped up beside me "It means Phase Two!" She was far too happy to be saying that, now I see why people were having some bad times with this boss The Watcher now stood up slowly, grasping the greatsword in its right hand only, before it swiped the blade from out the rubble, throwing rock across the great hall, as it turned to face us again. Before it wasted no time moving for me, and Pinkie, as it brought its blade high into the air. Me, and her ran to our right, towards the back of the great hall, as the blade was brought down violently, shattering the tiles again, before it swung to our direction, throwing tiles towards us, but they did little to chip our health. Then I turned to Rain, before I swung in her direction, but she quickly flew upside-down, and over the blade's edge, flying over its head. But it wasn't falling for it again, as I saw it ball its left fist up, before it swung around, backhanding her into a nearby wall, making her scream out silently, her health dropping from 150 to 111. Her body slumped against the wall, as she shook her head, moving to her left, as the blade struck down again, lacerating the wall completely. Taking this opportunity, I ran for a new pillar, standing by it with a smug grin, whist Pinkie did the same to the pillar directly across from me. "Hey, ugly, come and get me!" I yelled, causing its head to turn in my direction, where I sat on my ass, tapping my hooves together. "Yeah you, metal ass, come on, i'm right here!" "No-No, here, hit me, hit me~!" Pinkie waved her hoof happily, making it turn its head towards her "Not her, me, dumbass!" "Nope, me!" "I'm waiting!" It was already sick of us both, so it opted to attack Pinkie, mostly due to her not being able to fly, which was all part of my plan which I think she must have followed with. As it lumbered in her direction, dragging its blade through the floor, Pinkie stood up, happily waving her hooves with a giggle. Then, its blade glowed light blue again. During mid-activation of the skill, it thrusted the blade in her direction with its right arm, only to be blinded by another grenade of sprinkles, blinding its strike. When the pink cloud cleared, I ran for its back, seeing it trying to pull the blade free of the stone's clutch, its hand against the wall to help with leverage. Then I looked up, seeing Rain fly low, holding her hooves out to me. "Hold on!" She called out, as I leapt up, grabbing hold of her arms tightly, before she spun my body around twice, before throwing me towards its neck, as I spun, landing my front hooves into its neck with a crack, followed by its head snapping back again in pain, as the second pillar buried it again, its body slowly beginning to grow still from the bombardment of stone, and dust. "We did it!" "Yay!" Pinkie cheered too, but I wasn't smiling, no, I was grinning like a madman, my eyes ablaze with the shaking in each of my limbs, as I kept my eyes on the rubble atop the previously defeated Watcher. "Even White is smiling!" "Oh....yes I am. To think, a boss....no, the FIRST boss for us....has THREE PHASES!" I was laughing a little, as the two stopped their early celebration, as their joy quickly turned to worry, then to fear at the moving rocks, the massive, black arm shooting up to grab the wall, before the body hoisted itself out of the pile of weathered stone. "Man...this game." "Are you kidding me!?" Now Rain sounded like me, as she backed up into the air. "White, what now, because I'm out of ideas?" "Easy. Pinkie, Rain, don't attack until I give the word, got it?" I ordered, as they looked to one-another with confusion, before they ultimately nodded against their better judgement, moving away as I moved to stand down the center of the Fortress' grand hallway, my back to the pedestal. "Time to test another feature...." *BOOM-Crumble* The body of The Watcher soon threw the rubble aside, as I watched its health finally enter the red zone, as it turned its head in my direction, before it grabbed its blade from the ground, turning sharply to face me. The Watcher then leapt into the center of the ring, its armour braking at the knees, and joins to allow it to move with flexibility. Then, it swung around around again, before it threw the greatsword like a boomerang, the blade slicing the air, and light mist with ease. Biding my time to the last second, I leapt up with my wings, hovering in the air, before I flew to the side of the blade, its form flying past my face, before crashing into the back wall of the great hall, nearly destroying the pedestal, thankfully it didn't. Then I felt time crawl by, as my gaze met the form of The Watcher, it obviously running at me when I was distracted, its left fist coming up from its gut. That's when I saw the ring of purple closing in on my right hoof, as the circle grew closer to my fur. So I reacted at the last second, striking in real time, and stunning the attack from striking me. Time soon slowed again, as its right fist came round, followed by its recoiling left from the side. The same two purple rings grew smaller, and within the frame that was required, I spun in the air, kicking the right arm back, before I did a barrel roll, kicking down with my left leg, knocking The Watcher to his knee. Then time slowed once more, with several smaller rings around its helmet. I then dropped from the sky, as I kicked him repetitively in the head, chipping the armour on the fourth strike, before the fifth shattered his helmet's top, and resounding crack rattling the air painfully, as he fell to his knees with a yellow icon next to his name, which looked like a lightning bolt. "Now, Pinkie, Rain!" I called out, just as I saw Pinkie run up its back, before she struck its exposed neck, causing it to lurch up in pain, exposing its final weak point through its broken helmet. Thankfully, Rain was flying up high, and saw the glow scar, as she folded her wings, bringing her left back-hoof out, before she struck its skull with a clang, followed by an explosion of air Within the moment her connection was made, she was thrown off its head, landing next to me as I helped Rain to her hooves, as the last tinge of red vanished from its health bar, eliminating its final strand of health. Then, its arms went limp, as its head looked up towards the broken section of the roof, where the sunlight poured into the grand hall, then, it let out a final breath, before it body shimmered, and soon, The Watcher's body burst into a massive aura of colours, which traveled towards the open sky above us, whist the music died off at the defeat of the boss. [CONGRATULATIONS: BOSS DEFEATED!] "WE DID IT!!!" I yelled with both a sigh, and a cry of joy, as Rain strangled me in a hug, laughing happily at our first boss defeated by our hands, or hooves in this case, before Pinkie hugged us from behind, happily giggling. Nothing ever felt greater than achieving something after a worthy challenge "Loot-Loot-Loot~!" Rain sung, as I watched my menu appear, along with Rain's, as we looked over all the updated notifications [Achievements Unlocked] If A God Can Do It - Defeat a mini boss Laughter - You Talked with Pinkie and completed a quest for her [Boss Rewards] Parting Glass (Broadsword) Old Armour x3 Health Potion x1 250 Bits 250 EXP [Level Up!] [3 - 4] [New Passive Added] -Iron Soles- You hit harder than you look, your kinetic attacks have increased by 10% (Armour is like paper to you!) [Stats Increased] Agility +1 Strength +3 Endurance +1 Perception +4 "Hey, check me out!" At Rain's excited tone of voice, she now sported a new jacket, it was short, only reaching to below her chest, it was a navy blue, with the outline being silver, with stars on the collar. Then I grinned, pressing the 'Equip' button for my new weapon In a flash of blue light, the rare weapon appeared in a white buckle, with a black scabbard to my left-waist, knowing that pony-physics were a thing, I pulled the broadsword out from the scabbard, showing off the rounded pommel, which was also silver, with a blue handle, with silver stripes, a basic, 'T' shaped guard, before the blade pointed out from the guard, before straightening into a shiny, silver blade, with strange runes carved into the edge of the blade. "Woah...that's so shiny~!" Pinkie drooled, trying to touch it, but I quickly placed it back into the scabbard, before I pointed behind her, as the two followed by hoof "Its not over yet, 'that' must be what gives us our magic back." I pointed out, as we closed our menus, moving up the small steps to come before the pedestal, an ultramarine fabric built into the rounded stone bowl. What sat there was a large, red key? It was one of the old looking keys, with a shiny red coat, and a silver gemstone on the handle. "Ok....what am I looking at?" "Umm....maybe we touch it?" Rain;s suggestion was about as far my own brain was going, so I held my hoof atop the key, followed by Rain, whist Pinkie stood back, a welding mask over her face, before she saluted. But at the moment Rain touched the key with my hoof, it glowed a bright ruby, nearly blinding us both in the light, before it vanished, along with the key "W-Where'd it go!?" Rain panicked, before I saw the menu appear, and I turned to....only stare in bafflement [Item] Ruby Key of Red "Pot calling the kettle black anyone?" I mused in confusion, but I ultimately closed the tab, it must be a key for some sort of chest, or future event, its connected to red, meaning it might have something to do with colours, or emotions. Maybe there are more too? Meh, future problems. I then opened back to the options, and soon, I grinned at the new screen tab labeled. 'Skill Trees'. Then I heard a sharp gasp, my guess was that Rain found out too, then I turned to see her eyes wide with glee, scrolling down the page of god knows how many spells, it was going to be crazy trying to find ones suited to us, but here wasn't the best place. Quest Complete! -Awaken The Light- Pinkie knows of the source of the mist which has mysteriously locked you, and other ponies' power, find the source, and claim your power [ ] Find the source of the mist [ ] Dispel the corruption You have reconnected with your magic power, take pride in the now limitless abilities of your class! Enjoy! [Rewards] Skill Tree Skill Point x1 Teleport Rune x1 150 EXP [Level Up!] [4 - 5] "Mission complete, I guess." Rain smiled, as I held my hoof in the air, to which she happily high-fived, as I pulled out the Teleport Rune, holding it up for us to view the blue gem-like symbol in the stone, in my hoof. At it, Rain blinked in realization of what I was trying to point out. "Oh, right, we might want to get back to town first, I just realized how beaten I am, this boss was no pushover." "Aye, guess we have our expectation for the rest of the game" I pointed out, before I looked to Pinkie, who was staring at the Rune. "You ready, Pinkie?" "Yep, I wanna do this again, this was fun!" Pinkie happily clapped, as I grabbed Rain's hoof in mine, feeling her tense up suddenly, before Pinkie grabbed my shoulder tightly, then, I called out, satisfied with a great start to the day, and from the happy smiles on Rain, and Pinkie's faces I guess they fully agreed too "Teleport. Ponyville!" *ZAP-POP* To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 5 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 5 [Offensive class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 8 [Defensive class] Current Level: 5 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Rogue Flag Parting Glass (Broadsword) Old Armour x3 Health Potion x1 [New Passive Added] -Iron Soles- You hit harder than you look, your kinetic attacks have increased by 10% (Armour is like paper to you!) Author's Note I had fun making this boss battle, showing off how well these three could work together, but next time, we'll be getting a fun little event involving another of the Mane 6. Anywho, hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Event - [Ego Unleashed] Event - [Ego Unleashed][Quest Board] "Clear a group of enemies. Collect items. Dispel a dungeon. Choices are clearly endless...." I muttered to myself, knowing I was alone for the rest of the day since Rain wanted to go out with her friends IRL, so I won't mind, besides, she did tell me to level up a bit so we could have a better grasp at the game's system "I think I'll take...." "Hey, you!" Ah, the presence of someone worthy of attempting to insult me, I accept. Turning at the voice, my hazel gaze was soon met with magenta, before my eyes glanced to the spectrum sweet hair, and the baby-blue coat of.... "Oh [BEEP]." I wasn't pleased, it was Rainbow Dash, question was, why is she talking to me? "I was trying to make a tough choice on which quest to go on, then you show up......so, how can I help you?" "You're that pony Pinkie was telling me about, edgy hair-" Have you looked in a mirror. "-Nerdy glasses, hard to miss the pony who took down a knight of 'Legend' by himself! You don't look that tough?" "Aye, I'd be inclined to agree, since I had Pinkie, 'AND' my friend Purplrain's help, it wasn't easy, not by a long shot." I bluntly replied to her comment, ignoring the insult to my glasses, and my blackish-red hair. Now I was beginning to grow tired of this conversation, and my brain cells were beginning to commit suicide with each breath. "Can I go now?" "Hey, I ain't finished with you!?" She yelled, as players watched me completely blow off the egotistical pegasus like the wind, as I pushed my glasses back up my muzzle. "I said get back here!?" "Don't care~!" I sung, leaving with my desired quest to gather some simple herbs, since it would offer me both a magic boost potion, and minor EXP potion, which are both rare, and valuable this early of a release. "Wonder how Rain's doing...?" [IRL Messages - User: Purplrain] I have to admit, its still strange being out of MLP: AO, I mean, sure, its be a week now, and with boring high school being boring, I've had alot to do, but just feeling my fingers again was strange, I guess playing as a different species entirely did that to you. Wonder how White Hat would feel? Since he's always online when I show up, so he must have had more time to himself, how did he react to switching between a human and pony? Just then, I was jumped out of my daydream by my phone vibrating in my pocket, so I sighed, ignoring whatever my friends were talking about for the moment to see who it was....it was a text.....from White Hat? Wow, I guess he already wanted to text with me, well, I don't mind, guess I shouldn't be rude. White Hat: Hey....sorry to bother you, but did PP tell anyone about the boss fight when I logged off? Purplrain: Well no, not when I was there Purplrain: Wait, I think when I was about to leave I heard her talking with RD, why? Did something happen? White Hat: Nothing major, just think the game's 'choice' system is in play, I may have an event dictated to myself, but I don't know, left before I could figure it out Purplrain: Are you sure it ain't anything that could be bad? 😟 White Hat: If it was, I think I can handle it, still, thanks anyways, seeya when I seeya, Rain 👌 "Hey, who's this you're texting?" My ears perked up at my best friend, Nora speaking beside me. "A guy....?" "H-Hey, my messages, my privacy!" I barked, hiding my phone, my face heating up slightly from the tease. "Just someone I know from a game Ive been playing." "He'll be fine, after all, he's probably more experienced in this stuff then me." [Ponyville West Hills] "I think Rain would have more experience with this stuff than me...." I groaned, seeing that same blasted Skittle reject in sight, and she didn't seem pleased. "Skittles, what do you want?" "I want a challenge." She instantly declared, much to my baffled expression "You want to expand on that?" I questioned, seeing her smug grin appear, whist she pointed towards Ponyville "You and me will race through town, first one to get to the east hills wins. Of course, if I win, you fork over a hoof-full of bits 'AND' admit i'm better than you." She demanded as if she was attempting to rob me, that, and I couldn't really care if she was better, she 'IS' an element of harmony, a rather egotistical one at that "I get the feeling my opinion in this conversation has no merit." I butted in "Deal?" She insisted "Great, now you're just flat-out ignoring my voice entirely like an athlete with parents that have overly-high expectations of him." I wasn't quitting, neither was she "Deal?" She was growing more agitated by the second, and that is as far as we will will agree to "Listen, discount Creepypasta, why don't you take your redundant Rainbow Factory ass back to Cloudsdale, and leave me in peace to pick flowers, not insultingly, I mean 'LITERAL' flowers for this quest!" I pointed out the obvious "Would you just accept the deal!?" She snapped, making me sigh in defeat my own words "Fine-fine, but...if I win...." Then I grinned myself, grabbing her hoof, and dragging her down from the air to look me dead in the eyes. "You not only apologize for insulting my glasses, but I get bits from 'you'. Deal, Skittles?" She now looked flustered, as I threw her hoof back, before she huffed, but continued to hold her ground with a glare, whist I did the same, finding this opportunity to kick her in the dirt would most entertaining indeed. I hate to upset some fans, but her ego makes me want to jump off a cliff with an anvil in my hands. "F-Fine, but if I also win, quit calling me that name....whatever it means, nerd-" Once again, she complimented my knowledge, but thankfully left my glasses. "-With glasses!" I'll bury her alive in cement. "Also, since we can use that same magic Twi rambled about, no using it, only running or flying through the town, whist sticking to the roads, and paths." "Aye, now can we get this over with, I have a quest to do for someone." I groaned, making her snort in anger, but she ultimately kept her trap shut, whist I dug my hooves into the dirt, flaring my wings to my sides, awaiting her signal to begin, that was going to be that case, if not for two things, the first [Event - Ego Unleashed] Rainbow Dash has challenged you to a test of speed, and reflexes, beat her, and set her straight! [ ] Beat Rainbow Dash Optional: [ ] Bend the rules in your favor And the Music, and if I didn't know any better, I believe that fate is rooting for me. Hehehe....i'm gonna burn this [BEEP] into the ground. "Ready.....GO!" At the mere sound of her mouthing the 'G' I thrusted my wings back, lurching forwards with my hooves, as I flew across the hill, my gravity defying body gliding towards the cobblestone path with ease as I took off, but my lead was very short, as I saw the annoying Skittles fly past me with a stupid grin, flying down the street to her left, whist I dashed past players, and ponies alike If she was laughing, then she best hold her breath. I quickly ducked to my left, running up a tipped wagon, before I grabbed the rope above me, swinging my body up, before I flew atop the thatch roofs of Ponyville, leaping across the gaps between the paths, whist using my wings to clear the streets with ease, with some onlookers either following us, or watching as I leapt over them. When I crossed another gap, I saw Skittles halt, as she flew up to me with a furious expression that even made me crack a smug smile at her own game turned against her. "You're cheating!" She exclaimed, whist I continued over the small gaps with ease "Your words...said nothing, ahh! About using the roofs, Skittles!" I breathed between jumps, before I rolled past her, causing her to crash into the thatch, whist I slid down onto the cobblestone road again, following the road to the east, with Skittles closing in fast, then, her speed tripled, throwing light objects flying from their resting place, as her mini sonic boom threw me into another overhanging rope, catching my chest as I grunted against the rope burn. "You cheating...." "Hey, I didn't say you couldn't!" She sneered, before dashing off, no pun intended, into the streets, as she, that's when I noted my bouncing, as I felt my weight move up, and down due to my balance. If I had a lightbulb, it would have lit up above my head now, as I looked down at some of the followers of our race with a sly grin "Hey guys, mind giving me a boost?" "YeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEeeeeeeet~!" I bellowed past Skittles, knocking her right wing into her muzzle, knocking her out of the sky, as I fell past like a bullet fired from a Barrett M82, before I fanned my wings out to skid across large, sharp drop on a thatch roof, sliding down onto a wooden board, snapping it free before I surfed wobbly down a slope heading east, the wind sharply catching my speed as I wobbly balanced myself on the wooden board In the ears, past the wind that splashed against my face, I could hear players catching onto the event, as some cheered for both me, and Skittles, seeing how events were random, and were a fun source of entertainment in any game. Then I saw it, the blue blur heading straight for me. Taking that as my cue to exit the streets, I leapt from the board, and onto another set of homes, sliding down one end to avoid Skittles, as she grew closer. Perfect. "Where'd he go!?" She snapped angrily, flying far slower than normal, big mistake on her end, as I leapt out of the houses, before I landed my back hooves on her head, before I propelled myself into a nearby alleyway, far from view. "Ha, eat it, cheater!" At the very outskirts of the Green Zone, many ponies awaited Skittles to arrive, as they cheered for their victor, the pegasus landing proudly on the grass, right beside where I had been viewing her for the last few seconds with a drink in my hoof, happily drinking the contents with a sweet, sweet grin. "Sup, Skittles, had a nice stroll through town?" I happily asked, as she jumped back, turning to face me with utter bewilderment, as she looked between me, and Ponyville, pointing as she did "How did-you couldn't-wha!?" Speechless, much like some of the onlookers, so I set my drink down, before clapping my hooves together "Its simple, you see, Pinkie happened to have mentioned yesterday that she has places randomly picked out for trampolines, the reason she brought it up was due to the fact that we could have used one during the boss fight for....reasons, she never told us, anywho, I just happened to use your head as a viewing post, before I leapt towards the location of said trampoline." I explained, and I swore her jaw fell of its hinges "How!? Pinkie's random!? That whole excuse was random!?" Skittles exclaimed, but I simply tapped my head with a smile "Well, this 'Nerd with glasses', happens to be good at logic, as if happens, she merely located trampolines in locations where such leverage would be required, such as the tall, steep roofs I hid behind to confuse you. I won't go into specifics, but she placed one in that alley based on the distance of each tall-roofed house, and placed it equally as close to them." My logic broke her, literally, I think her A.I fried "HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?!" Everyone in the area screamed in shock, whist I simply picked my drink up, finishing its contents with glee, before I stood up, storing the empty glass in my inventory, before I came before a defeated Skittles, who was looking crossed with sadness, anger, and alot of shame with the crowd staring at us, don't worry, I didn't feel guilty in the slightest, she did this to herself "So, how many bits do you want?" She mumbled, ah, making me choose, what a grand idea! What amount do I wish to acquire? I could get a new upgrade to my equipment? Maybe another drink? *Pat-Pat-Pat* At my sudden patting of her mane, she looked up in confusion, before I moved to walk past her, happily refocusing my quest again, then I stopped, not turning to face her, I doubt she needed pity now. "Don't make fun of my glasses again, Skittles." I answered her silence simply, before I walked away, leaving her, and the crowd to watch to surprise at my actions, whist I hummed to myself at my new objective. "Now then....collect-" "Hold on!" Oh for [BEEP] sake.... I turned my head to look at the perplexed expression of Skittles, as she looked lost at my gaze of bemusement, as I held my tab open for a moment. "Why didn't you take your side of the deal? A deal 'is' a deal!" She enforced, making me rub my muzzle, before I smiled simply at how obvious my reason was "You were envious of my talents, which were told by Pinkie, the most unreliable source for a full story, so to take advantage of that blinded information would leave a bad taste in my mouth." I replied evenly, moving to leave her with her own thoughts. This world....it was so real, her emotions were driven, her actions given meaning, it was so human, was this what the A.I of this world were capable of? "Just....try not to jump too early next time." "White...." I stopped at my name, hearing her shuffle her body slightly. "You're pretty cool, even for a nerd." "Duly noted, Skittles, seeya around." I waved, leaving her to fly off into the sky again. Meanwhile, a small bar appeared before me [Event Complete] Rainbow Dash has challenged you to a test of speed, and reflexes, beat her, and set her straight! [ ] Beat Rainbow Dash Optional: [ ] Bend the rules in your favor I guess some emotions are more reasonable when seen up close [Rewards] EXP 200 [Achievement Unlocked] Loyalty - You Talked with Rainbow Dash and completed a quest for her [Level Up!] [5 - 6] When I looked to my notifications again, I saw that Rain had replied to my messages again, so I opened the tab, and looked to the page with a more level head. Purplrain: Hey, all done, but now my friends think you're-nevermind, I'll be on at 6 tonight, you wanna do some quests then? 🙂 White Hat: Sure, just finished that event, turns out I may have gotten an new ally for future endeavors 👍 Purplrain: Awesome! Seeya later tonight! White Hat: Aye, seeya then Purplrain: Wait, can I ask you something? I paused, my hoof hovering over my menu before I could press the red 'X'. White Hat: Shoot Purplrain: Do you think I'm a little annoying? "Why would....?" I was now concerned, wasn't really like her to be asking this sort of thing, hell, I find myself surprised everyday to see her tolerating me! White Hat: No, don't really know why that's a question, but no, I don't 🙂 . . . . . . . . Purplrain: Seeya later tonight, byyyyye! 😁 When I finally closed the tab with a question lingering in my head, that thought was quickly shot by the sudden pain in my right hoof, as I stumbled slightly in my step, lifting my hoof to inspect what I struck, which was odd, the pain inhibitor wouldn't have registered pain as a sharp jab? My hoof hoof however, had a small cut across the flat surface, seeing the red line glow from damage, my health was fine though, but it still hurt, even looking at it made me wince. "What the hell? If I felt that....is my inhibitor lower?" I muttered, quickly swiping my tab open and going to 'Settings', when I scrolled to 'Physiological Data', I checked the details of my brain patterns, stress levels....there! 'Pain Inhibitor' When I looked at it, the details were blocked by the sudden appearance of a blue warning sign, as a text box appeared under the slowly flashing light. 'Sorry, this data is being evaluated by Administration, this inconvenience will be resolved within a few hours, please try again later'. Why would the Admins be 'evaluating' my data now? Wouldn't I have been given a message about it? Something tells me this isn't just a bug, but, I hope I'm wrong, since Skittles fried my logic today with her 'ahem', challenge. To Be Continued.... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 6 [Offensive class] Current Level: 6 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Empty Cola Glass [New Passive Added] -Part of the Creed- Your ability to maneuver and parkour over obstacles increases your speed when doing so, making you far more agile (Assassin's Creed is in your digital blood now!) Author's Note Hope this was good for a first event, these are going to be added to the story as fun little bonding events between characters, also, this may be shorter than the previous chapter, but I didn't want to needlessly drag out the plot anymore than I needed too. Hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Quest - [Fissure In Nature] Quest - [Fissure In Nature]You ever had those moments when you ultimately regret talking to someone, to think they could offer you something of equal value to your time, enjoyment, even friendship? Yeah, I'm having that right now, to describe my day in two words. Info Brokers, and there were alot of them after only two weeks of MLP: Actualization Online being available. This one charming girl happens to be a crafty one. Her yellow coat, and browny-orange mane gave the impression she was some form of sweet, happy girl, no, not even close. Her eyes gave her away under her rugged, maroon hood, they were the most fiercest purple ive ever seen, and to 'not' be fooled was a challenge. She was an info broker I knew from previous games, and despite her....more than greedy charm, she doesn't sell you short of anything but the truth. "You know, you really give info brokers a bad name." I offered her bluntly, as she shrugged, sipping on her lemonade with a pleasurable smile at the taste, probably because I paid for it "Hey, the game's just off its feet, I ain't got a clue if this boss is all game or an old fairy tale? Not unless you wanna grab that juicy info for little ol' me?" Seraph teased with a sly look on her face, as I continued to look at the small forest just east of town. "If ya do I'll give my next intel drop half off?" "I'm surprised you even dropped it that low, you sure you didn't hit your head, Seraph?" I smirked, making her chuckle with a glare, before she 'booped' my muzzle "See? Why can't any guy be like you? Idiots the lot, that's why its fun to rip them off!" She cheekily chuckled, rubbing her hooves together, before ultimately clearing her throat. "So, who's the new girl you added to your team? Since you typically work solo?" "Oh, you mean Rain, yeah, first day here, she crashed into me, turns out her spawn was in the air too, I'm still trying to figure that part out though." I explained to her, since others have reported of the same issue, not that they died, it was just completely random. "Still, she's new to the whole RPG thing, so I helped her out, and now here we are, beat our first boss, taken on quests, and now reaching level 10." Now, if I knew one thing about Seraph, it was that she liked to tease everyone, she's almost like a flirt, that being said, I probably should have stopped at my first comment about Rain. Seraph was now grinning, her eyes narrowed with a chuckle. "Already got yourself a girl, i'm impressed, not surprising, but still...." She was really digging into my head now, but I held back my embarrassment, my poker face still stern "She's a friend, like you, and much like her, I will hit you if you say one more thing to [BEEP] me off." I snorted, making her back up defensively, but she knew she had me the moment I mentioned her. Deciding to move past 'that' insinuation, I pointed to myself. "Anywho, I don't see how I can be impressive, i'm a nerd with glasses, and I have a bad habit of-" "Being a complete idiot around girls, yeah, I know, if you haven't noticed, I am a girl." Seraph pointed to herself with a smile, before patting my shoulder, moving to leave me to my own devices. "Hey, one day you'll catch a girl, just give it time, even I don't have the info to tell you when. Now, off with ya intel hunting!" "Aye, sir." I saluted, watching as the hooded mare wandered off into town, decided to wait by a little longer, I opened my stats menu to take a look a what my agility, and strength was, since these smaller numbers will begin to add up Pegasus Pony Level - 09 Health: 445 Magic: 150 Stamina: 172 Strength - 17 Endurance - 5 Intelligence - 14 Perception - 20 Charisma - 6 Agility - 15 Magic - 7 Luck - 4 "Luck sucks, no surprise. Charisma is the same. But Perception is the greatest stat, then again, these attributes evolve with traits, so probably doing that event a few days ago with Skittles must have boosted that." I was beginning to mutter incoherent nonsense to myself, unaware of who was watching on beside me "Uhh....you ok?" GAH! I nearly fell back on my chair at Rain's sudden appearance, as she giggled at my misfortune. "Sorry, trying out that new stealth magic I have, decided to see how well your skills were." "Well, my Perception is high enough to tell who was standing near me, just not who it was among all the others, so thanks for the awakening, just chop off another year on my life." I sighed, before I grabbed Parting Glass, which I checked to make sure its stats were good enough for the battle ahead Parting Glass (Broadsword) "Thus kindly I scatter" DPS - 36 - 40 Elemental Enhance - 15% Attack Speed - Normal Critical Chance - 20% "You're lucky to even get a rare weapon like that this early, even so....you sure its a good idea to get so attached to one weapon?" Rain commented, whist I closed the tab, and turned to face her with a prideful smile "My dear Rain, if there's one thing I like more than exploration in games, its rare loot, and by god, I had my info broker give me some intel on this beut of a blade, turns out it has a 15% chance to drop, meaning I'm one of a veeeeery short list who have one!" I was grinning like a child at that, the fact I had such a blade with a low Luck was like finding gold "What, how is that even possible!?" Rain gaped, as I raised my hoof under her jaw to close it, before I made my way for the east hills of Ponyville. "Hey, answer me~!?" "Tough luck, literally!" I called back, laughing at her expense since she only got a jacket from the fight, though, to be fair, she now had white cloth wrapped around her front hooves, since she decided to go for kinetic skills, so she bought boxing tape, which was a 'glove' weapon type "Besides your stupid luck, what are we doing?" Rain now moved past the pain of loosing out on a rare item, and brought up the important question "Well, as it turns out, a pony needed help collecting flowers the other day, but when I returned, she also gave me a follow-up quest, where I needed to take a few of them to this spot called....'Nature's Rest', whist the quest is called [Fissure of Nature]." I explained, before I opened up my quests, before turning it on a literal switch for Rain to view my quest log. "Take a look." [Active Quest] -Fissure of Nature- Rose is grateful for your aid, but she needs you to place a few of the rare flowers in a special location as a way of respect for the forest. [ ] Find the Nature's Rest [ ] Place the flowers "Well, that's simple enough, but why do I get the feeling you're going to say, 'but'?" Rain smirked, as I closed the tab, before I pointed back to where we came for a second "The info broker had someone else do that quest too, turns out that same person was back at the Town Square in only ten minutes, think it was 'simple enough'?" I mused, earning a smack across the head. "Right, so she wants me to get her the info to sell, in exchange, I get 50% off her next intel drop." "What if someone gets the info before her?" Rain questioned, but I tapped my head, making her eyes widen, before she smiled. "The quest only started up twenty minutes ago, didn't it?" "See, now you're beginning to understand how I'm one step ahead of any other player, that, and I want that deal, she's mean when it comes to prices." I winced at the last time I fell into the temptation, I never saw those credits again, god have mercy on their glimmering souls [Forest of Remembrance] "This game's amazing, you know, when we find the next part of the story, I hope it takes us the Empire, I'd love to see how shiny everything is!?" Rain happily flew around the trees, noting how flowers sprouted more recently in bunches of all colours, and types of flora, trees even consisted of a handful of Blossom Trees too, it was quite mystical "Its what I love about adventuring, going to places, new and old, seeing how breathtaking or mysterious such a place is, even the lore behind it all, what was like before? What mysteries it held, that's why I'm here." I added to her statement, seeing her fly down to walk beside me "Then we'll be treasure hunters!" Her suggestion did spike an interesting memory for me, whist the prospect did seem fun to try, having a group of us hunting down rare items, and discovering new areas "I think you have a good idea....maybe there's a guild system in this game too?" I thought aloud, before I gasped at the memory. "That's is, my old friends from Relic Hunters!" "Relic Hunters?" Rain echoed, just as we were beginning to enter an open space among the trees "Yeah, on a game called Warframe, a friend of mine made a small clan for us called 'Relic Hunters', since we went after new stuff constantly, whist using the games 'Relics' to do so, good times..." Sighing at the happy thoughts, I soon turned my head to the sky, seeing the new location appear before us both [Nature's Rest] A open area was surrounded by trees, with some enemies in the distant tree line, but before us was a grassy oval base, with small stones embedded in the earth, with flowers growing in the corners of the stones, whist they seemed to circle a small platform in the center, where a few vases rested on the idol, alongside a small stream of water cutting from one side of the trees to the next. It was like a natural garden, with some ruins left behind. [Achievement Unlocked] Lost But Not Forgotten - You discovered ancient ruins "Amazing....!" We both breathed effortlessly, before I noticed Rain's bat-ear twitch to her right, before moving to her left, right as she pressed her lips in a thin line "Danger?" I answered, just as she flew into the air, right as I grabbed Parting Glass from its scabbard. That's when the stones began to glow a pale blue, runes inscribed upon each surface, just as the blue began to infect the platform in the center of the oval clearing. Now, I'm a betting man, so to say that we walked into a trap would be a clear win, if not for the 'trap' part *Fwoosh-BOOM* Both me, and Rain were sent flying back from the massive eruption of magic, as the arcane runes continued to glow at the appearance of the caster. To my surprise, it was....I....I don't know 'WHAT' it is? The....creature looked to be a mangled form of energy, as it warped, and twisted its form to appear as something tangible. But all it was to us was a black, and purple entity with glowing, blue eyes, jagged like scars on the body. Then the larger health bar appeared above its name, along with the strange instrument in the background beginning to play. [Astral Fissure - lvl 12] "Hey Rain, any weaknesses!?" I called up to her, as I leapt to my left, avoiding a magical beam of pure magic, as it scorched the earth where I once stood. Being a Therstral, she could use a skill called 'Erebus' Eye' allowing her to reveal all traits about her opponent, which helped greatly in finding weaknesses, and strengths of things like this "Its pure magic, and is immune to all physical attacks, but that's the problem!" I couldn't hear the last part, since she yelped at the blast of magic her way, before it formed another claw from its form, before a black, and purple beam hit my back, taking a piece of my health with it, dropping from 445 to 415, whist inflicting 'Lock-down' for a few seconds, stopping me from using spells "Its immune until we bind it to this world!" What the [BEEP] did that mean? Well, we were surrounded by slabs with runes on them, maybe.... "Hey, draw agro for a moment, I'm going to check the runes for a clue!" I called back to her, ducking under another blast of magic, before I watched Rain swoop low, before she pulled an uppercut on Astral's head, or where it would be, knocking it back, just as its eyes followed her flight Now in the clear, I quickly ducked behind the slab, as I checked each stone for some form of clue to its defeat, each was a strange, arcane writing, so I just skimmed past them with a groan of irritation, finding my heart beginning to beat a few ticks faster as Rain struggled to keep the Boss' attention on her. "There!" I exclaimed happily at the perfect English engraved upon the stone, as it read clearly "There are four siblings in this world, all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song forever." "What in the who, and the why?" Forget it, I opted to just hitting the Boss harder, but that wouldn't work, so I sighed, as I stood up on the slab, planting my hooves into the smooth surface, whist I breathed heavily [Sky Seal - Airlock] Channeling the rush of air into my right hoof, I smiled as I thrusted my body forward with my wings, flying like an arrow towards the distracted Astral Fissure, then I pulled my hoof back, before I brought it across its back in a strong, right-hook, as my hoof erupted in a burst of compressed air, throwing the Astral Fissure onto the platform like a mass of goo, as it slowly reformed to face me, its piercing blue eyes narrowed in my direction with a faint glow. It then swung a claw down on me, just as I flew back, before another swung to my left, and another to my right, so I spun in the air, before I placed my hooves atop its right claw, before propelling my body off the vibrating mass of magic energy. But I was soon tackled by Rain, as we both narrowly avoiding a massive blast of magic, as we landed in a tree top, whist I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "That was close...." I breathlessly chuckled, before I saw Rain's tired state, and yellow health bar, feeling a pang of guilt hit me, I handed her one of my health potions, before I pointed to the slab below us, which was opposite the one I found the riddle on. "Sorry for taking so long, but I need you to read that slab, and try and decipher the riddle on it." "You think that's what's stopping us from hurting it?" Rain asked me, whist I noticed its body turn towards us, just as my eyes widened at its glare. It seams Rain noticed too. "Right, good luck then." "Right-o!" I cheered, before I flew off the tree, before I rolled in the air, dodging another blast of magic, followed by another to my left, so I stopped mid-flight, before I fell backwards, free-falling for a moment, before thrusting my wings up again, flying in an infinity pattern to confuse Astral Fissure. "Think, Cayde, what does it mean....?" "There are four siblings in this world, all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song forever." I replayed the notion in my mind, just barely grazing another void blast, chipping my health again as I continued to fly around its frame, stay a distance away to avoid its claws "What begins, but has no end, yet ends all that begins!?" I heard Rain scream to me, as I nodded, before I fell to the ground, opting to run around the oval, whist Rain hid behind an old log next to what looked like an old fire pit....fire pit? "LOOK OUT!" *Zap-Thud* My health spiraled into the yellow now, as I felt my body jolt that the sudden surge of magic, as I tumbled into the grass, just as I saw Rain strike the body of Astral Fissure again, kicking it in the back of the head, before flying from its grasp, only for the hand to knocking her flying into a tumble. That strike hurt, I could still feel the remnants of magic stinging my fur, which was perplexing, how can it hurt so much? Was it due to different inhibitors affecting certain attacks? Probably, but that's not important right now, Cayde! "That's it!" I think I knew the answer to the riddle, setting aside my previous thought, albeit, I don't know if there's any repercussions if I'm wrong, but Rain was seriously low on HP, and so was I, and it wasn't giving us an opening to heal, so it was better late than never. "The answer is.....Water. Earth. Fire. Wind!" Suddenly, the music changed at the burst of light emanating from the slab my riddle was on, and in a flash, an electrical coil of lighting snagged the side of Astral Fissure, causing it to hiss at the sudden infliction of the chain, binding it to the rock. Then I saw it, the health bar above its head flickered a pale blue, before the chain seemed to cause a few hit points of damage. "Rain, attack it now with everything you got, its not immune!" I hurriedly snapped out of my trance, my analyzed done, seeing that it was no longer moving, as if the chain had ceased its connection to our world. Taking this time to strike, I channeled the magic into my front hooves, whist Rain flew above me, pulling her front hooves back like she was drawing a bow [Umbra Seal - Shadow Shot] Her attack materialized a black, and white bow in her hooves, as she released the string, propelling a purple arrow towards Astral Fissure, before the bolt struck its chest, releasing tiny purple embers, procking it with weakness, and stun within the time of impact. Whist I flew towards its chest turning my body to the side, spinning my hooves like a blade. [Sky Seal - Airlock] My two hooves soon elbowed Astral Fissure atop the mass that would be its head, causing a burst of light to expel from its body, before flashes of yellow light struck its body in a multi-combo strike, decimating half its health in one fell-swoop, however, the force of its body threw me back a few inches, just as I saw two of its arms holding a purple sphere between their claws. Oh [BEEP]! We both had no time to react, as the claws clapped against the sphere of magic, before shards of astral energy shot forth from Astral Fissure's hands, shattering my health into the red, whist I watched from my party as Rain's dipped into the yellow behind me, both of us now fallen from the skies. Then I heard it over my slowly fading pain, as I pulled myself to my hooves to see its arms circling around one-another, generating another AOE strike within the time between the first attack, and this. We didn't have time to act or even run. We needed to think of a way to solve the last riddle before we were sent to our graves! "Wait....graves...." I breathed, turning my head back over the now howling wind that was created by the activation of the astral blast, when I did, I saw that Rain was sitting behind the same slab she read a few minutes ago, and soon my eyes widened. "This isn't just a bunch of old ruins.....its a memorial sight!" There's a stream of Water. With the embers left behind by a Fire. Earth all around us, flourishing among the dead. As the Wind sings for the souls. Whist they await....Death. I didn't have alot of time, as I threw myself back, moving to crawl beside Rain, and over the wind, I yelled to her the answer to save us both. "The answer....is Death!" I screamed, as her eyes quickly widened upon the connection, before she did the same, yelling the answer to the slab, and to our relief, the slab glowed brighter. Before long, another golden chain of yellow shot forth from the slab, snapping around Astral Fissure's arms, and finally cutting off the wind, and the void blast from charging again. "You did it!" "No, 'We' did it." Rain corrected me, before I saw the Boss struggle against the restrains of the riddle, throwing its mass back to try and break free. "I'll hit it again, then you strike it down." "Aye, sir." I nodded, flying above her, as Rain pulled her arms back again [Umbra Seal - Shadow Shot] Within seconds, the purple bolt tagged Astral Fissure, stunning, and weakening its defenses once more, whist I pulled my fore-hooves back, allowing a small gusts of wind to build around the length of my arms, before I grabbed Parting Glass from its scabbard, transferring the magical skill from my hooves to the blade's edge, before it glowed a bright blue. The power drawn to the blade was heavy, almost as if the magic pulled against my own weight, but I only needed a few seconds. Flying down, I held the blade in both hooves, as I shot towards the stunned Astral Fissure, before I spun anti-clockwise in the air, as I brought the blade down to my side, swinging it in a diagonal pattern to my right, before I called out the spell at the last few seconds. [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] In a blink, I parted the chain binding Astral Fissure, whist splitting the gap between its eyes in two, as its body slid under the thin, sky-blue line through his body, as I slowly placed Parting Glass back in its scabbard with a clank, before the health bar above Astral Fissure vanished, its body erupting into a burst of purple, black, and blue streams of colour. Then I smiled. "Checkmate." Simple, but well deserved, as I heard Rain cheer from behind me, as I smiled, walking over to the pedestal where the vases still waited for flowers. "Hey, I think I get this quest now. Its to remember the souls who were buried here long ago, and so that creature must be what spawned out of the emotions of the lost souls still waiting." "Hmm....yeah, I think....I think that right." Rain softly agreed, as three flowers, with blue cups, and white lines, and a small leaf attached to each of their steams. I then carefully knelt down, placing one in each of the three vases, then I looked over to see the slabs hum once more from the last being placed. Then I was nudged by Rain, who looked at me happily. "I think they like it." "Aye....less we forget, but after today, I don't think that's an option." I mused, sitting atop the platform, as Rain sat on the warm grass beside me, then, I saw the banner above us appear, not even giving us a moment to rest it seams, but atleast we know that there won't be any surprising for the duration of our small break [CONGRATULATIONS] [Ruin Mini-Boss Liberated!] [Rewards] Stream Rose x1 Soul Token x1 (Currency) 375 bits 400 EXP "A rare item?" Rain pondered, before she jumped at her body glowing gold again, along with my own body, then I grinned as I finally broke the single digit of my level Quest Complete! -Fissure of Nature- Rose is grateful for your aid, but she needs you to place a few of the rare flowers in a special location as a way of respect for the forest. [ ] Find the Nature's Rest [ ] Defeat Astral Fissure [ ] Place the flowers [Level Up!] [9 - 10] [Achievement Unlocked] Double Digits - Reach level 10 [Stats Increased] Agility +1 Magic +3 Endurance +2 "Well, I finally broke into the double digits, I think today has been successful." I nodded at my own satisfaction, whist I saw that Rain was now level 9, but she was also staring at her menu for a moment, clearly in deep thought over something she had found. "You get something rare?" "No-no, its an uncommon, but its...really good, stat wise, I mean, good strength, good critical, but its a Bo staff, kind-of useless to me." Rain shrugged, but I just rubbed her mane, tilting her head from left to right. Foolish noob, how blind you are to the commoners of the game "It may be different, but you never know when you could use the range, keep it for now, just as a backup if punches are out of the question. That, and even though the armour and gear doesn't match, you still have the better stats." Advice from past failures, never forget a backup weapon, or in my case, bring one of everything, that works too. Before I could begin to say anything, I saw a message appear in my 'notifications'. "Hey, got a message." "Same...here." She then looked up at me, as I looked with the same suspicion, so we quickly opened our tabs, as I nudged her to read hers out loud, this could be the sign of an event, or even an update, either one is a promising fortune "Greetings, fellow players We, the Key Bearers have located the beginning of this area's Raid Lair, this is the prime challenge of each area as of this current version of the game, we do not know who else has found a key, but if you have, come to the location detailed in this message, and bring your team too, as this will be an effort from all aiding party's to both figure out, and beat. Sincerely, The Key Bearers' Master" "There's already a guild in the game?" To call me skeptical would be justified, since no such system has been implemented, so unless they were preparing for that update or what was up for debate. But, a raid lair? Now that spoke volumes, especially since I have a key too "We got a key from the quest we did with Pinkie, right?" I nodded, before Rain got up to face me with concern. "Think its worth going?" "I think we don't really have a choice, if these keys are the way to forward the game, we are obligated to do so, but at the same time, we get to be the first players in a new raid, which is a boat load of fun!" It was simple thinking, but having access to new, rare, exclusive loot first was always a treat, so I was all for it. I might even get Seraph on board with this little pointer of info.... Then I stopped daydreaming to see Rain smiling at me curiously, before she rolled her eyes at me. What? Was there something on my face? "You really turn into a whole 'nother person when loot it brought up, especially in new areas." Rain observation was true, I really love raids, but....I can't tell if that was an insult or a compliment? "Is that bad?" I questioned with a mocked faced "Nope, just fun to watch you act like a kid!" She was mocking me, laughing too, and what did I have to do, I pouted against my better judgement, I hate you brain, you do dumb things, you make my thoughts hurt "Other than that...." I grumbled, shaking my head, just as I closed my menu. "The sooner we know what to do with this key, the better." "Right!" To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 9 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 10 [Offensive class] Current Level: 10 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Stream Rose x1 Soul Token x1 (Currency) 375 bits 400 EXP New Skills [Sky Seal - Airlock] - Compressed air around an object, and upon striking, it explodes [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] - Your wings/weapons become thin blades of air, slicing through armour [Umbra Seal - Erebus' Eye] - See into your enemies, know their strengths and weaknesses [Umbra Seal - Shadow Shot] - Fire an arrow of shadow, debuffing your enemies Author's Note I really enjoyed this awesome mini boss, instead of just a 'find the enemies and kill' I made a little challenge alongside it to keep them on their toes. Also, the Attributes are much like Badass points in Borderlands, so each point is worth +0.3%, hence why they're so high. Anywho, hope you enjoyed this, and next time we expand the story with what that key is! Seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Story - [The Beginning] Story - [The Beginning]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "Hey, got a message." "Greetings, fellow players We, the Key Bearers have located the beginning of this areas Raid Lair, this is the prime challenge of each area as of this current version of the game, we do not know who else has found a key, but if you have, come to the location detailed in this message, and bring your team too, as this will be an effort from all aiding party's to both figure out, and beat. Sincerely, The Key Bearers' Master" "There's already a guild in the game?" "Other than that....lets get going, the sooner with know what to do with this key, the better." "Right!" [Gateway Forestation] "Well....this is ominous?" I was now staring at the massive gate in the Everfree Forest, with Rain to my left as we stared at the massive arches, covered in moss, trees, and other means of forestation, whist players sat in groups or on their own, all talking about the gateway, or other similar things. One thing they had in common, they all held a key like mine The arch at the end was broken though, and before us all was a massive, black door, intricate carvings of wood, and metal embedded into the wood, whist vines snaked across its surface like a infestation. Meanwhile, a handful of players stood by, the most notable one of course, was the purple dragon. He was like an adult version of spike, only his spines were doubled, and with black tips, alongside his yellowish-orange eyes, and silver armour, which I saw in the market, being the most expensive item, the 'Arcane Drive' armour set, this guy definity had cash to burn to get his hands on this very-rare armour. Like before, gear is like any typical rarity of gear in games. White. Green. Blue. Purple. Orange. But as the most significantly rare, to the point of myth. Red Tier. "Why, you must be the last one to arrive, a pleasure to meet you, White Hat." The British dragon spoke, which I smiled at since I knew a guy who was English too, then he approached us, holding a claw out to me, so I held my hoof out, and shook. "I am the leader of the future guild known as The Key Bearers, my name is [Klaw], and I apologize if this meeting as interrupted anything you had planned." "No, we actually had just completed a quest, so we both came here to see the raid entrance." Rain answered for me with a kind smile, making Klaw bow his head slightly "Nice to see a lovely lady aiding a treasure hunter in his findings, seeing as you both have more-than uncommon equipment?" He complimented us, I just scratched the back of my neck happily, whist Rain blushed at being called 'Lovely' most likely, hey, he wasn't wrong. "Now then, ATTENTION!" At his booming voice, all other parties soon looked up from their conversations, all now facing Klaw, and his men, before he cleared his throat, keeping a strong gaze upon all of us, at this, I stood back with Rain to give him some space. This guy already has my respects for just having a British accent, hell, even the game gave him music! Where was my own score? "Now, as you all were informed, our group leaders all possess a key that will grant us access to the very first Raid Lair of the game, all parties without a key bearer cannot enter this Raid Lair, due to a source from outside the game detailing both how this Raid Lair works, and how to beat it, so please, pay close attention!" He began, already confirming my thoughts on the keys "I will start with the name, this is the Raid Lair known as, The Vault of Forestation, it is a massive, forest maze with limits to how high you can fly, and there are three paths into the maze, all of which with a switch of some-kind at the end, once the mini-boss guarding the key is defeated, all paths with intercept at the Boss Lair, of course, traps, mobs, and misdirecting paths are around every turn, so this is no mere maze." Ok, Death Maze, got it "Once we reach the boss room, all parties will plan their strategies to taking the Boss down. So far, only two pieces of information have been given about the Boss. One, the name of the Boss is, [Twisted Angulation], and that its room is separated into platforms surrounding the Boss. That is all the current information we have, any questions!?" At the end of the briefing, everyone seemed to nod in understand, or stayed silent for the respective reasons. Then the music ceased playing.... "Right, now then, we will-" "Hold It!" What is this, Phoenix Wright? At the voice, all heads turned to the unicorn clad in basic leather armour, but it had a strange sheen to it that even I couldn't place, a buckler on his right hoof, and a black longsword on his left hip. His coat was a navy blue, and his hair short and black, even matching his scruffy beard, where a scar ran across his left cheek, and with pissed golden eyes, more importantly, in my direction. Oh [BEEP] its one of these [BEEP]s. I....might need to cut back on my swearing sometimes.... "Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a hard time feeling confident this Raid will go smoothly with a party of 'TWO', and ones not even level 15 yet, a 9 and 10? They might as well be clouds!" He ranted, as I saw Rain grind her teeth in anger, whist I kept a neutral frown on my face "I believe they wouldn't have come without first knowing of the dangers of a raid, otherwise, they would have passed the key to someone else." Klaw defended us sternly, but wait, I could have 'gave' this to someone? Since when? Questions for later "Only because they're too greedy! Come on, they have rare gear, a key to the raid, and are low levels-" Is he....? "They either ripped someone off, or they plain cheated, without any real dedication to the game!" Woah, it must be my birthday! Some players were beginning to mutter to themselves, but none spoke up at the commotion, even Klaw stayed silent. "Hate to be the one to say it, but I can't be confident in a raid with a bunch of weak-level players on my side." "Hey, we earned this stuff through near-death experiences, sorry if you happen to live off of scraps!" Rain finally snapped, causing a handful to stifle their laughs, as I swore a gear sprung from the idiot's head, even I held back my own laughter, but then the stallion walked up to us, more importantly, towards Rain, that....struck something "What did you say, you stupid little-" "I'd suggest you stand back, asshole, before I go from green to red in a flash." I warned dangerously, since the game had a Player Killing system, so if I attack an innocent, I get yellow, if I kill an innocent, I got red, simple, and a pain in the ass if caught and thrown in jail. But now Parting Glass was aimed at his neck, my eyes glowing with malice, whist I smiled. "Back off." "Y-You wouldn't try it, i'm green after all?" Was that gonna be his fallback? That's weak, but I had an idea. So I stepped forward, keeping my body in front of Rain, as I burrowed my eyes into his "I don't care if I become red for a few hours, or even days, but the moment you dare to threaten my teammate, my friend, you could run....to the ends of this earth, but I'll find you, and I won't kill you...." I trailed off, seeing his eyes begin to waver. "I'll violently kill you...." "I-u-uh...." The player soon backed off, muttering curses under his breath, whist some looked on in satisfaction at the man's departure, I turned back to look at Rain, who was staring back at me with an expression of....well I don't know what it was, but she soon smiled warmly at me "T-Thank you, White." At her gratefulness, I felt heat rise to my face, as I cleared my throat, smirking "Not a problem, but now embarrassment has caught up to me." I chuckled, then I saw Klaw looking at me curiously, before he nodded, and then spoke up "Now then, we'll all meet up here tomorrow at 4 in the afternoon, that should give everyone enough time to prepare or do any errands IRL, is that fine?" He asked out loud, and everyone, including me, nodded, and he smiled. "Well then, we still have a few hours, how's about we celebrate finding this Raid Lair, and the first to be discovered in the game?" "YEAH!!!" "Woop-Woop-Woop!" [Dicey Destiny's Inn] The inn of Ponyville was not the most expensive or glamorous one, but that's what makes it everyone's favorite to dine at. It was like a motel, with an open-air courtyard through an arch, with a bar at the back when you enter, tables, and overhangs to sit on, or underneath they were booths. Above, past a set of stairs to the back left, and right were the inn rooms. They were spacious, comfy, and provided players with a small kitchen, bed, and even some has bathrooms. Then came the lighting at night, candles in lanterns on the pillars, whist on strings under multicolored lights, stringing across the empty space above. The Dicey Destiny's Inn was homey, and full of entertainment both in-game, and player played, alongside the grand atmosphere at night, it was like a guild, warm, inviting, and funny as hell. Among the teams for tomorrow's raid, me and Rain sat at our own booth, with my friend, slash, info broker, Seraph, who was willing to aid us in the raid, being a level 11 support class unicorn. "-And when we came back, filled with credits, and happy, his best friend goes and spends over two 'MILLION' credits on a bunch of random [BEEP], and from that day, he was known as, The Lord of Debt!" Seraph laughed, as I slammed my hoof on the table in a fit of laughter, along with Rain. "B-b-but he also had the most f-fabulous Liset e-ever~!" "It looked like the forth of July!" I cried out in pain, trying to breathe, all the while Rain wiped a tear from her eye "So, I guess its us for the raid, no others you can recommend?" I chuckled, changing the subject while taking a sip my cola's sweet, bubbly taste, then I saw Seraph hummed in thought, messing with the straw in her mouth "....Nope, not any that are worth a cent, ain't got no one at our levels, in terms of experience and all that." Seraph shrugged sadly, before she grinned evilly, wrapping a hoof around Rain's neck. "Its just two girls, all needin' a man to keep us safe!" "Hardly, Rain here's saved my ass plenty of times, she's really good at close-combat boxing." I mentioned, noting her mixed-martial-arts fighting style, then she nodded with a small blush of embarrassment "I...well I take classes IRL, boxing is one of the multi-purpose lessons my trainer taught us. Even Systema." Rain shyly explained, making me, and Seraph gape in surprise at her talents, how someone like her who has never played an MMORPG with talent like that I will never know. "I-its just for self-defence, nothing crazy!" "Aye, you keep him in line...." Seraph grinned, pointing a hoof at me, so I responded with a pillow to her face, but she still commented from under it. "Worth it." "Yeah-yeah....Wasp." I grumbled her nickname, before I felt someone standing to my right, so I turned an eye, and saw Klaw, a drink between his...claws, yeah I'm starting to see the joke here. Deciding to distract myself from the pain-in-my-ass, I waved. "Sup?" "I can see you have an interesting selection of friends, quite rowdy." He mused, as Seraph kept poking Rain's bat-wings, making her twitch at the possible sensitivity of them, even to the point that she whacked Seraph with said wing. "Besides that, mind if I had a moment to chat?" "Sure, Rain, Seraph, play nice." I grinned, moving out the booth to avoid the pillow, as I followed Klaw to a corner of the Inn, as we sat by a dimly-lit space by the bar. Placing our near-empty drinks on the table. "So, what might you need from me?" "Well, from how I've seen you react earlier at the Raid Lair, how you seemed to analyze the threat system, and even the player, Bombard-" "Oh my god, that's his name? Sounds like a Grineer I slaughtered countless times." I groaned at the horrid name choice, then I cleared my throat. "Continue." "You know more of this system than anyone else, almost like an admin..." Was he trying to call me out as a developer? I shook my head for his insinuation, but I do appreciate the compliment of being as near perfect as the ones who made Control Core Gamma "Na mate, just a 'White Hat' in a world of the Digiverse, but, I do know alot of how this game works, just so happens I'm used to idiots like him in other games, that, and I have aaaaalot of time on my hands or hooves in this case." I replied evenly, but his gaze then turned to one of concern, at first, I thought I annoyed him, but now....I have the feeling it was something far more grim. "This...isn't why you called me to speak alone, is it?" "Tell me, have you been seeing any....random glitches in the game for the past two weeks? Like bugs, harder enemies, painful injuries, anything like that?" He....did he also experience them too? Even the pain inhibitor was weird, usually it was set to a stinging sensation, but now I....well it felt painful. I placed my hoof on the table, my expression turning darker as I leaned a little to avoid yelling it "Yeah....when me, Rain, and Pinkie went to reclaim our magic, the boss was level 5, whist we were level 2, 3, and 8, and the boss also had three phases, 'WITH' sword skills." I explained, remembering the wild, and fast attacks with each phase, how we came close to losing if not for figuring out the weakness. "Even today, when I was hit by a magic blast, it burned, like, burned me." "Hmm, it seems your claims match both mine, and other players too, do you believe it to be a glitch or early release bug?" If I knew, I'd be reporting it, but....I only shrugged, shaking my head in cluelessness. Klaw lent back at that. "I see...." "Hey, if it continues the reports will fly in, but right now we have a Raid to beat tomorrow, so lets keep the spirits high, eh?" I smiled, tapping the bar as the bartender moved to serve me, my thoughts placing that grim news aside for now, with Klaw taking a moment to respond. "Coke, ice, along with one of those umbrellas, please, thank you." "You are certainly a wildcard, White." Klaw chuckled, but he ultimately joined me at the bar stools, placing his empty drink on the stand. "Another when you can sir." He also placed a few bits on the counter with a smile. "This one's on me." Now I liked this guy, even tapping my hooves on the table happily "Hehe, then I guess when we win, I'll owe you a drink." At the arrival of our drinks, we lifted them high, and tapped the glasses. "To ends of the earth." "To this grand game." He toasted, before he drunk the night in Equestria away, as the music grew louder If only.....if I knew what all this meant. I could've stopped this. Stopped us from going to that bloody raid! If only I knew about what came next.... To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 9 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 10 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 11 [Support class] Current Level: 10 Magic: Sky/Wind Items: N/A New Attribute Added: -Eyes of Fire- During conversations your intimidation jumps an extra 50% if talking to a higher level player or A.I (If your willing to mess with my friends, than first get past me!) Author's Note More characters, and now the big raid! But it seems that White isn't the only player to notice the bugs, but why? Guess you'll have to wait to know! Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Raid - [The Vault of Forestation] Authors Notes: Since this was shorter than the rest, here's an early chapter! Part one of the Raid will still be out this Sunday. Raid - [The Vault of Forestation]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "I will start with the name, this is the Raid Lair known as, The Vault of Forestation, it is a massive, forest maze with limits to how high you can fly, and there are three paths into the maze, all of which with a switch of some-kind at the end, once the mini-boss guarding the key is defeated, all paths will intercept at the Boss Lair, of course, traps, mobs, and misdirecting paths are around every turn, so this is no mere maze." "Once we reach the boss room, all parties will plan their strategies to taking the Boss down. So far, only two pieces of information have been given about the Boss. One, the name of the Boss is, [Twisted Angulation], and that its room is separated into platforms surrounding the Boss. That is all the current information we have." [Gateway Forestation] This was it, the grand day of the first ever raid in MLP: AO, it was rather exciting, I actually couldn't get much sleep last night because of it, I even told my brother about it, he said that his 'Mafia' as he described it had been busy taking down a rebel faction in their location, a bunch on underground [BEEP], which was certainly up his alley. But now, it was time. Now, however, I drew my attention to the nervous looking Rain, who was looking through her menu like crazy, muttering to herself about different items. "Hey, you'll be fine, just stick with me, and Seraph will handle all the rest for us." I comforted, as she jumped at my wing touching her back, but she sighed, smiling weakly. "Nervous?" "Absolutely, I mean, I knew I would 'eventually' be part of a raid, but not with the first players to ever beat one!" She exclaimed, making me, and Seraph laughed a little, before I pulled her muzzle to look at me, as I gave her welcoming smile "You'll be fine, just think of all the exclusive gear we're gonna get from doing this, all the powerful stats to press on to better adventures!" I cheered, whist I looked to a drooling Seraph, as she giggled with a blush. "Well....most of us are excited for loot, she just wants stats to sell for a fortune to people." "Yeah, so....who was it I was going to be with for the time being, through the first part like you mentioned?" Rain asked curiously, so I scanned the crowds, before I pointed to a guy in all black, the only thing showing was his black legs, his silver, spiky tail, and the locks from under the hood, along with his muzzle [SilverCrow] "I talked to him earlier, said it would be fine to tag with him." I explained, then I brought up the system, which was important, as I showed her a basic map I drew up IRL, showing three paths. "Inside, we'll depart at the fork, you stick with SilverCrow's squad down the right path, me, along with Klaw's group will take the center path, and last, Seraph will be with the rest down the left path. Then, we meet up at the end, simple....except, not at all as easy as I say it, due to traps, monsters-HMM!?" Seraph had shoved a hoof in my mouth, shutting me up as she rolled her eyes, pulling back to let me breathe. "Stick by them, you'll be fine, once we make to the boss we'll take it down without a hitch!" Her upbeat attitude for a cheap Info Broker was certainly a change in atmosphere, but with us now at the gate, it was time "Alright, all key bearers place your key on the door!" I heard Klaw call up, as I nodded to my team, before I trotted up to the door, pulling the sky out of my items list, and holding its ruby figure before me. Beside me, I saw that Klaw wielded the Amethyst key, then SilverCrow held out an Onyx key. Then that Bombard [BEEP] brought out a Topaz key, followed by an Emerald Key from a mare, a stallion had an Amber key, and last was a Changeling with a Sapphire key. "Now!" *Tiiiiiiing-Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank* Within the moment the vibration ceased, we stood back at the gust of wind pushing past us, as I held onto my scarf, before the wind mellowed out, and the black corridor of vines, leaves, and thorns greeted us. Then, fireflies flew past us from the Everfree Forest, before igniting the way in an aura of emerald light, the gloomy tunnel leading to the innards of the Raid Lair. Hell, even the ambiance gave me chills. "Ok everyone, follow me, SilverCrow, and Trickstar, all those who are under their squad should stick with them, encase the separation is triggered!" I must admit, Klaw had everything down to a 'T', from leadership, to keeping all the plans as straight as an arrow, alongside being respected by everyone, he was really good at it, I'd lie if I wasn't a tad bit envious But now we followed into the dark abyss of The Vault of Forestation. The hollow moans were all around us now, as the clanking and clopping echoed around us, with some using illumination spells to aid the fireflies in keeping us straight. It was almost morbid, how dark, and loud the noises were, with snapping vines, and what sounded like crunching in the darkness of the tree-like ground, no longer dirt, or even grass, just bumpy vines, and bark. Then, the fireflies departed into three lines like a fork. "Looks like our paths divide now...." I hummed, looking to Klaw. "Time for the next step." "Agreed....Everyone, time to part ways, remember, this is a maze, so stick together, and find the switch to clear your path, when you do you should be safe, and beware of the mini boss down your path....I....dug some information up from a friend of mine, as it turns out....the boss moves through-out the maze, so....be careful." Ok, now I was nervous "Agreed." SilverCrow bowed, before he silently called for his team to follow him. To my left, I saw Seraph grin, pulling her rapier out with her magic as she followed her squad leader, leaving me, Klaw, and Bombard with our players "White, mind if you stay with me up front, your high perception would be invaluable in avoiding any unnecessary fights?" Klaw asked me, as I nodded, moving to stand just ahead of them, as one player held a lantern beside me. "Now then, lets press on." "Right!" [Raid Lair - Central Reservoir] "Sir, more Shamblers ahead, two I think!" A player called, just as I saw Klaw burn the last two with a breath of fire, the heat throwing us a wave of warmth, while it illuminated the area in a fierce glow of orange for a few seconds, then he turned, seeing the two armoured ponies, their armour shattered, and held together by vines, with leaves covering their now bark-like skin, whist their eyes glowed a sickening green "Right then, one more breath attack." Klaw mused, moving to stand before us, as he pulled his head back, his scaly cheeks puffing out [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Roar] Within the moment he called the spell's incantation, he threw his head down, releasing a torrent of flames that licked the overgrown tunnel in a whirlwind of flames, devouring the two Shamblers whole with a single fell-swoop. However, I didn't see the trails of green light fly through the flames where I was flying, but I did see something waving a staff in the air behind the impact. "Its not over yet!" I called down to them, as the flames cleared from a sudden opposing force, only to reveal the knights still standing, weapons held in their hooves, as a human skeleton held a staff, cracking the bottom of it off the ground, as its tattered, royal blue cloak blew in the wind, its blue, pinprick eyes stared at our squad [Ruined Wizard - lvl 15] "Seems this may require physical force, Bombard, can you-" I couldn't allow this to linger anymore, so I flew past Bombard with ease "Hey, what the hell!?" Bite me, asshole Passing Klaw, I drew Parting Glass once more, just as my wings began to glow a light-blue hue, their rounded tips sharpening like knives as I glared at my three targets, seeing them all bunched together was a perfect opportunity. [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] Once chanted, I flew like a bullet, striking both level 14 Shamblers down, as I curved my body up like a soaring hawk, then they burst into a streamline of emerald green. I quickly front-flipped in the air, flying over the staff that was swung horizontally in-front of me, as I held my sword out, striking the spine of the Ruined Wizard, before I spun upside-down, dragging my blade diagonally down to the right, before I spun again, following the same pattern, and knocking the Wizard forwards. Then I landed my back hooves on the ground, before I thrusted forward, impaling the Ruined Wizard through the back, as its health bar vanished, along with its body in a flash of blues, and silvers. Then, I hovered in the air for a moment to catch my breath. *Schhwaff-Schhwaff* My cheek was grazed slightly at the last moment I pulled my head back, as I felt the laceration sting like a cold ice-pick to the face, which was baffling, but I threw cation aside, as I flew towards the two Hunters, holding bows in their magic as their pointy hats covered their eyes. [Forgotten Hunter - lvl 13] Growling in pain from the arrow fired at my face, I flew for them both, channeling my magic into my left hoof, whist I held Parting Glass to my right, as they continued to fire arrows in my wake, which I simple ducked, and rolled to avoid, before I watched them fire two at the second I was within hoof's reach of them. In that frame from when they released the strings, I spiraled to my left, skimming the arrowheads, my blade slicing them in two. Before I called out with righteous anger. [Sky Seal - Airlock] I bared my teeth, before I threw a heavy left cross into the cheek of a Hunter, his body propelling into the second Hunter, as the air pressure shot them like a shotgun blast, throwing them both flying into the right side of the tunnel, and as the dust cleared, I stood on solid ground again with a grin, their bodies went limp, their torso's pinned against a massive torn on the wall, before they too turned to streams of silver and green. Then I closed the tabs of loot, not bothered for the time being of what they contained. "Holy....hell." One player breathed, as the squad walked up to me "Nice going!" Another praised, making me rub the back of my neck as I slowly placed my blade back in its scabbard, then Klaw patted me on the back with a chuckle "You are certainly full of talent, when did you learn to pull a stunt like that?" He questioned humorously, as Bombard grumbled, walking past us "Showoff..." I stifled a laugh at that "You're welcome, buddy." I snapped back, before the others followed him, just as me, and Klaw walked behind the rest, some even patting me on the way which was nice to feel, not often I was praised, so I got a tab bit flustered by their comments. "To answer your question, I've played games for years, so I picked up a few tricks here and there." "Well, I certainly would be willing to test that metal in the future, hard to come by someone this deadly." He praised, before he hummed in thought, as if he was looking at his party. "How're your friends?" "Well...." I trailed off, looking to see that Rain was only injured slightly, whist Seraph's glowed yellow, meaning she was in-combat. "So far so good, both are still in the green, and Seraph is in combat. Not to pry, but is your team doing ok?" "Ah yes, SilverCrow, he's the only one not present with us, but he's doing fine, in the yellow, but he's never gone below that margin, and I don't expect him to." Klaw answered, but then we stopped, seeing the group looking at the end of another corridor, but unlike the last few turns, it had something at the end "Yo Klaw, we found the switch!" Bombard yelled, pointing at the strange object before us. It was a simple, vine-covered lever, with an emerald ensnared around the vines, even in the dim lighting, my perception could still make it out from such a distance "Good! Lets activate it and-" Hold on....something isn't right "Wait!" I snapped, holding my hoof up, my ears twitching at the echoes around us, thankfully, no one moved an inch, allowing me to listen closely, then, I slowly turned my head to the right of us, seeing the open corridor that lead into the darkness where the fireflies faded "Problem?" Klaw asked sternly, before I slowly reached for Parting Glass, frowning at the heavy footsteps I felt rattle my own. That's when Klaw moved to stand at my left, his claws flexing. "Men, go for the switch, we'll catch up in a moment!" "Its him....the mini boss, and....I think it might be familiar?" I wasn't really sure, but something about the green aura around the hulking mass was strange, but soon, the fireflies brought the mini boss to light, and with it, the gears of my head turned at the sight. "Of [BEEP] right the hell off, you again!?" "You know this thing?" Klaw pointed, as we saw it fully come into few Its black armour was now broken in places, with the binds on the back of its shattered helmet replaced with vines, as leaves, and moss covered other pieces of its black-clad body. Whist a giant, silver greatsword was clutched in its right hand, the visor staring at us with a green tinted glow. [Keeper of Angulation - lvl 16] "Yeah, its the same iron-clad asshole I fought on my second day in this world, and a real mean piece of work; well....he has a different name, maybe he's just a variant?" I was praying on wishful thinking. Since it looked down at me, pointing a mossy finger at my face, making me dart my head side-to-side, before I pointed my sword at myself. "I think he remembers...so does the music..." With its threat, and music in toe, Keeper grabbed his greatsword with both hands, before he paced towards us, crushing any plants in his way of me, and my face. When he came closer, I saw Klaw throw back his cape, before he pulled out something from under its form, and my eyes widened in awe, before I chuckled evilly "Hehehe, you have a goddamn buster sword! Hahaha, ahh, you're boned now Watcher!" I cheered, before I screamed at the massive blade coming down on me, only to hear the metal ring blindly, as Klaw deflected the attack, knocking his sword to his side, whist Keeper stumbled back, his sword dropping from its left hand back to its right. "Ok, flying now!" "Best you do, but tell me, how did you defeat this foe before?" Klaw asked patiently, holding his buster sword over his left shoulder, whist grasping it both hands. Well....I looked, but no real wall had any sort of protrusion strong enough to hold his blade this time, but....maybe "He had a weak-point on the back of his neck, if we can expose it, it might leave him open for our magic to finish him off, seeing as he may not have the same immunity as before." I explained, before I flew back, avoiding the swipe of Keeper's blade, before he thrusted it towards Klaw, who held his bust sword like a shield, blocking the strike, but his feet skidded back a few meters "Well then, I think I can buy our magic some time to recharge, you focus on getting ready to strike him down." Klaw commanded, so I flew for Keeper, as he swung his greatsword up, but I just flew around it again, but my ribs soon screamed in pain for a moment, as his fist collided with me, throwing my back against the wall of the maze, then he brought the blade down on the wall, diagonally slicing the wall to his left I now flew to the other side of the hall, drinking a health potion as I watched it seep into the green again, watching as the red mark on my ribs vanish, was it only me, or were these attacks beginning to really hurt? Or was the fact that the first boss I ever faced coming back with a vengeance? Most likely both the former and latter. Keeper then moved for Klaw, who swung his blade to Keeper's right arm, whist Keeper clashed with Klaw, sparks of green, and orange flying as they pushed against each other's weaponry, before the branches flew from their blades pinning one-another, both now looking into each other's faces, before Klaw was punched by Keeper, throwing him back for dazed strike. Then Keeper brought his blade to his side, before he spun like a cyclone, but Klaw raised his guard, the impact throwing him against the wall I flew above, as he hissed under the pain, before he watched Keeper loom over him, his blade high. *Pow-Pow-Pow-Pow-Pow-POW* I continuously kicked Keeper in the skull with my flybys, making him grunt, swinging his greatsword around in a horizontal arc of red light, as I dropped from the air, the explosion of air tearing the ceiling apart, as I flew under his legs, before belting Keeper with the butt of Parting Glass, knocking him back from Klaw. Taking the distraction, I watched Klaw grasp his buster sword in both his hands, holding the blade to his left, allowing his Sword Skill to burn through his stamina, as an emerald coat covered the blade, and he used his own wings to spin his body through the air, bringing his buster sword in a horizontal arc of green. [Sword Skill - Rupture] With a cry, the blade shattered the armour of Keeper's knees, causing the boss to roar, before dropping his blade beside him, as he fell to his hands, and knees, shaking his head in a daze. Now I was high above him, as I decided to join in on the sword skill usage, channeling my stamina into my own edge, its sheen now a flaming red. [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] My back hooves touched the ceiling, before I bent my wings back to thrust my body down, as the crimson blade sunk into the exposed neck, before I inverted my grip, trailing the blade through the left-side of Keeper's neck, his scream of defiance matching with the blade he latched around his fingers, just as I flew off his neck, the blade spinning round like a rotor blade in my direction. *CLANG-CRUNCH* Klaw saved my hide again, his blade recoiling the hidden strike of Keeper, as he shakily moved to his feet, whist me, and Klaw backed up for a moment, just as he placed his buster sword on his back again, covering his wings, before I watched his cheeks puff out again. "No, wait." I pushed my hoof in front of his stomach, as I watched Keeper rise to his feet again, his health now in the red. Then, a lightbulb sounded in my head, as I smiled wickedly at Klaw. "Say, ever heard of a fusion move?" His eyes stared for a moment, but they ultimately blinked, as his smile crossed his lips again, just as we turned to face Keeper, placing Parting Glass back in my scabbard as I ran directly at Keeper, his own weapon raised once more to face me, drawing it higher to his left, then I stretched my wings out, grabbing the handle of Parting Glass, but still flying towards the lumbering boss. With one final second, with a final phantom blade, his came crashing towards my body, and upon the second it drew close enough, I swung my blade from its scabbard, striking out at his greatsword with the tip of my blade, splitting my ear drums at the noise it made for a moment, as I saw the stunned icon appear above his health, as I flew back from the recoil, staring back at Klaw, how then puffed his cheeks out again. [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Roar] [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] I then holstered my blade, before I stretched my wings wide, the wind embracing my wings with a sharp sheen of blue, before I felt the flames coil around my body like a warm cloak, yet it didn't burn, as I watched my wings turn from a smooth blue, to a flaming orange, and blue, as the flames covered my body, before I launched myself back at Keeper, the rush of wind, mixed with the fury of the flames was unlike any embrace I felt before, it was unreal, almost alien, and yet I smiled all the same. [Unity Move - Draconic Sky Sword] My whole body melted straight through Keeper's armour, burning a permanent, pegasus shaped hole through his body, leaving behind a molten wound of fire, as the compressed air shattered the armour, dispelling that same mist to the ceiling, as he fell to his knees, before finally dropping down onto his face, his body flashing white, before erupting into a flurry of colours, as the flames on my head blew themselves out at my landing. [CONGRATULATIONS: BOSS DEFEATED!] [Rewards] Twist-Fang Gauntlet 550 Bits 600 EXP Twist-Fang Gauntlets "Worth was tested, and blinded by rage" Defense - 20 Weight - Medium Resistance (Element) - Life 10% Resistance (Critical) - 15% [Level Up!] [10 - 14] [Stats Increased] Agility +3 Strength +3 Endurance +4 Perception +3 Magic +7 Charisma +2 Seeing a rare piece of armour that I was happily leveled for, I equipped it, and soon, my left hoof was covered a dark oak fabric, with green stitching across the back, and two thorns jutting out the front, and down to cover my hoof, alongside a small amethyst gemstone between the thorns. When I looked up at Klaw, he wore a new helmet of the same style, also looking content with his findings, as the golden aura faded from him too. "Seems are luck finally came back to greet us?" Klaw contently smiled, as I walked up to him, finding able to whip the sweat from my forehead, and after this boss, I never wanted to see another walking pile of armour for the rest of my time in this world. "We should catch up with the others, don't want them to worry, do we?" "Oh no....the greatest boss awaits us now!" I gulped, shivering slightly as he raised a brow at me. "Rain, when she worries." "Oh dear...." Klaw my brother, you have no idea [Throat of The Forest] Ah, music changed again, something....ominous, I like it. But now me, along with Klaw came into view of the rest of the players, thankfully all Twenty Seven of us still alive, though some were healing or buffing for the road ahead. Then, I was strangled by an unseen force to my right, whist Klaw chuckled humorously. "What the heck happened, you're health nearly dropped completely!?" Rain barked at me with a mixture of worry, and anger, as her ears flattened against her head. I wasn't given a chance to speak though, as I was punched in my left shoulder by Seraph, who smiled smugly "Way to make two girls worry, nerd." She was pushing her luck now, but I let it slide, as Rain let go of me, smiling happily as she pointed above her head, and Seraph's, both carrying Raid Exclusive Gear. Rain had a charm dangling from her neck, which looked like an eye of a Timberwolf Alpha, and Seraph wielded a new dagger to her left hip, following the design of some of the enemies I previously fought, being covered in plant life, whist a soiled, silver blade coiled between the vines [Purplrain - lvl 13] [Seraph - lvl 15] "Well, it seems we're all prepared for this fight, but I won't lie, that Keeper was a pain in mine, and Klaw's asses, since, and you'll never believe this, it was The Watcher from our magic quest with Pinkie?" It would be best to tell them why I was late, since we couldn't run the risk of it following us, but from their reactions, it seems they never ran into their bosses "Strange....I never saw ours?" Seraph hummed with a hoof to her chin, her eyes narrowed in confusion, whist Rain looked back my hallway "You think he'll come back again?" Rain wasn't wrong in that regard, seeing him come back once was bad, but if he was going to do it again it may cause some problems in the future, so all I could do was shrug, before I looked the group now moving for the bridge ahead of us The arch-like bridge was formed by massive vines, even adding a rail as the fireflies lit the way across the black ravine below, and I saw no bottom to the gut-wrenching pit. The rest of the Raid Lair looked to me a massive chamber cut off by a ravine, it would explain why the map now only showed a singular way in, and out of the maze, since this was the only way to get to the boss. But the atmosphere, even the suspense was killing me, the fact that we were mere feet away from whatever, [Twisted Angulation] was. Then, we finally stopped at another massive set of doors, this time, they were completely covered in moss, with gemstones aligning the rim of the door, with an arch of trees over the top. Klaw was out in front, before he turned back to us all with a serious expression, I would too in this case, since it was the most critical part of the Raid. "Now, I first wish to say that I am pleased that every party had survived the maze, some were close to death, but you all pulled through in the end. Now, beyond this door in the final hurdle, we have no way of knowing what the boss is capable of, nor do we have a clear strategy in mind, so, if you see an opening, call it out, and we can come up with an aim to defeat this Boss. Am I clear!?" He called out, leading to everyone to nod in agreement, before he turned, pressing his hand to the doors "Hey, don't die this time, nerd!" Seraph yelled over the vines snapping from the force of the doors, as sunlight peered into the bridge behind us "Don't get distracted by everyone's gear." I retorted with a chuckle, as she smacked me on the back of the head. "Let the record show, no denial." "Now then men, CHARGE~!" And at the battle cry, we ran for the door [Forestation's Heart] We all yelled in righteous fury, breaking into the arena before us, as Celestia's sun rose above a fissure in the center of the room. The arena was massive, with us on the starting platform, and around the arena, split into different sections of rock as large as a house, all circling the center, which was completely devoid of any platform, then, I smelt what was bubbling below us. It was like a swamp, as some of us looked down to view bubbling, green....well I hope it wasn't acid, but it certainly looked unhealthy, as green smog hung around in a thin layer above the green lake. So, that explains the platforms being completely torn to pieces, but what about the- *Rumble.....RUMBLE.....CRASH* The doors had clambered shut behind us, as the room began to shake upon the instant they closed, as fireflies glowed within the vines of the walls, basking the whole area in sunlight, and and emerald hue around the edge. Most players quickly leapt to other platforms, whist me, my team, and a handful of others awaited the shaking to cease, but I nearly fell over if not for Klaw grabbing my back, as we watched the massive, black hand pierce the center of the arena. The hand clasped onto a platform, hoisting its other arm up too on another, before it shot into the air, spraying green liquid across the area, before we watched its body sink slightly into the lake, down to its waist. It was a mass of vines, both normal, and the plunder vines Discord made, with trees atop its broad shoulders, as a forest seemed to grow on its chest too, alongside a lime-green energy pulsing among the vines like blood. Its head was similar to a knight, with glowing green eyes, and no mouth, and bare trees pointing atop its head like spikes. Bark covered its joints like armour too, all matching with lime-green runes across the surface. ---~[Twisted Angulation - lvl 20]~--- Then, three health bars appeared below its name, as it lurched up, the branches all twisted and snapped, as it seemed to release an inhumane roar of defiance at our presence. This was it, The Vault of Forestation's closing act. Time to ante up! To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 13 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 14 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 15 [Support class] Current Level: 14 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Twist-Fang Gauntlet 855 Bits Twist-Fang Gauntlets "Worth was tested, and blinded by rage" Defense - 20 Weight - Medium Resistance (Element) - Life 10% Resistance (Critical) - 15% New Skills [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Roar] - Release a torrent of flames upon your enemies [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] - Your blade glow bright crimson, before you thrust forward with deadly force (1-H Sword) [Sword Skill - Rupture] - Swing your blade in a horizontal arc of emerald light, shattering armour (Greatswords) [Unity Move - Draconic Sky Sword] - Your wings a blade of wind, as your body burns bright with power [New Passive Added] -Nemesis- It seems your foes really want you dead. If you defeat a boss they have a chance of coming back again for you! (Excluding Raids, and Invincibles, thank god!) Author's Note The big raid is here! And the fight against the colossal boss will go down next time! But it seems there might be more to the Raid Lair than any of them realize. Anywho, hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the Arc Finale! Arc 1 Finale: Raid 2 - [The Vault of Forestation] Raid 2 - [The Vault of Forestation]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "Alright, all key bearers place your key on the door!" I heard Klaw call up, as I nodded to my team, before I trotted up to the door, pulling the sky out of my items list, and holding its ruby figure before me. Beside me, I saw that Klaw wielded the Amethyst key, then SilverCrow held out an Onyx key. Then that Bombard [BEEP] brought out a Topaz key, followed by an Emerald Key from a mare, a stallion had an Amber key, and last was a Changeling with a Sapphire key. "Now!" ---~[Twisted Angulation - lvl 20]~--- [Forestation's Heart] "Left side, move! Right, get ready to move when it turns for you. All other parties, continue to look for any signs of a weakness, and remember, do not fly!" Klaw called orders to us left and right, whist I leapt away from the massive fist colliding with my platform, just as SilverCrow landed beside me, helping others who were on the edge of the platform "It seems impossible/No weakness in sight/We are losing." Oh, right, he mostly speaks in haiku, hardly anything else, he's the Zer0 of our team. But he was right in his regard, no attack fazed Twisted Angulation, even fire did nothing but turn its attention onto the attacker, but Rain had told us its weakness is fire, and slash weapons, yet there was an immunity. "Plan?" "Umm....try finding something out of place, like a glowing piece of its body or....well anything not made of a [BEEP] giant tree!" I called out, both in irritation, and as a suggestion to the rest, as some continued to distract with with bows, and magic strikes, whist others moved to a safer platform to heal, or buff their abilities, so far, it was all about survival "A plan/Dangerous/But might work?" Me, along with two others turned to SilverCrow, as he pointed to Twisted Angulation, before he pointed his hoof to its head, where the tree-like spines sat. "Fly/We distract/Make it falter." "I see, use his own power against him!" A knight beside me realized, and the possibly of that working would be possible, it was like the old saying, 'Bigger they are, harder they fall'. So, I nodded, making him stand to attention of the Boss, before he pulled two daggers out from under his cloak, spinning them in his hooves, before he leapt for the back of Twisted Angulation [Sword Skill - Dancing Fangs] His twin dagger both glowed yellow, before he spun his body like a buzz-saw, striking the boss' back three times, whist lightning stuck its spine, making the lumbering golem turn to face us, and within that moment, I dropped over the edge, flying around the platform, and around its side, the lime-green gaze on the three players as the wailed it with attacks. Taking the bait, I swooped up sharply, flying through his branches, before I shakily landed on its head, its arms stopping mid-swing, and dropping into the green lake below, it knew where I was now. "Ok, lets see if you're like a Colossus." I breathed, as I hooked an arm around one of the spines, as I pulled Parting Glass from its scabbard, before raising the blade high above my head, the tip beginning to hum a menacing crimson. "From me to you...." I continued to hold the magic steady, as it ticked past its usual cost, causing the blade to glow brighter, and brighter with each strained second [Sword Skill - Rage Spike Max] With a heave, I thrusted the blade into its bark armour, throwing splinters around me, as the cost of magic hit me like a truck, almost like I was fatigued, but how? I wasn't using any sort of stamina, my stamina bar is still high? My thoughts stopped as I pulled back, my blade covered in green sap, as the protrusion caused Twisted Angulation to shake in frustration, the attack chipping a small piece off its health bar. Then, I saw it, wear I was standing, a rune was humming softly beneath my feet. "That's why it was keeping us to the ground, to stop us from reaching its head!" I thought in surprise, before I reeled back in pain, holding onto the branch tightly as it swayed its head back and forth, trying to throw me off. I had one more strike to pull off, just a simple plunge, I couldn't lose this chance now! "From me....to-to you!" I steadily brought my leg up, holding Parting Glass high, before I screamed as I threw my entire body atop his head, the force whiplashed me, damaging my health when I fell back, its head jolting from the sudden lunge, its arm suddenly fell atop two platforms, it looked stunned from the attack. Meanwhile, my joy was now turned to pearl, my body was now falling towards the sea of green, my wings completely unresponsive to my command. Then I saw the green symbol beside my name, 'Rooted'. Great.... "Got ya!" I heard the voice call out triumphantly, my vision flying higher above the green sludge below and onto a platform, where Rain sat beside me with a stressful smile. "Nice trick with the Shadow of the Colossus style, how did you...?" "Thank SilverCrow for the distraction, I just happened to think it was the best course of action to strike the head, and that's why it wasn't fazed before, its like a colossus, it can't be damaged until we strike those symbols, now....ITS VULNERABLE, TAKE IT DOWN!!!" I screamed the last part as loud as I could muster with my horse voice, ha, horse pun "You heard him, hit it now!" Seraph relayed, everyone ran for the arms and head of the dazed Twisted Angulation, its head still down, even the glowing veins were dimmed in response to the attack. Then, I felt Rain nudge me, holding a red vile out for me, along with a blue one "What's the blue vile for?" I asked, downing the health potion in a flash, before I held the blue vile to my face, taking the silver arrow head off the top, then she pushed it to my muzzle "Its something I picked up from the maze, a.....Thorns Potion, or something, I think it said it'll boost your power, both physically, and magically for a few minutes?" Rain explained without a hint of confidence in the liquid's effects, so I downed it, tasting the vines, and even blueberries, I did try not to gag at the putrid taste, even Rain scrunched up her muzzle at the smell. "I think I'll just sell the rest...." "Please, but on the other-hand...." I stood back up, grabbing my blade as I felt my own muscles burst with power, the new shimmered light blue glow coating my body, my glasses even looked shiny, as the highlights in my mane hummed to the aura. "The taste is bitter-sweet!" "Hmm....maybe I should-" She took one sniff, and instantly recoiled. "Nope, I'll stick to shadows, thank you!" "Right, mind shooting me a bolt?" I asked, fanning my wings out, just as Rain grinned, pulling her hooves back in preparation. "Wish me luck!" "I got your back!" Rain sounded more reassured now Deciding to try the same trick with what me, and Klaw did, I leapt into the air, charging at the now moving head of Twisted Angulation, before I saw the arrow of purple light propelling towards me, so, I reached out with my new gauntlet on my left fore-hoof, as I snagged the arrow from the air. Detonating in my hoof, I coiled it between my Sky Magic, infusing the air with shadows, the white gales turning into a mixture of grey, purple, and white, embers of purple now spinning around my hoof. [Unity Move - Pressurized AP Shot] *Boom-Shatter* I threw my left hoof out, striking the cheek-bone of the Boss, the resulting connection erupting into an EMP of purple, and white energy, followed by a shattering effect to its mask. Twisted Angulation groaned in protest, my combined efforts, along with the others had shattered its face place, causing it to become immune again, as it lurched back, falling when its claws dug into two of the platforms to its left, where two players stood at the platform behind it, staring up at the Boss. Wait....the music stopped....? "Its becoming Phase Two, get out of there!" Bombard barked at the two ponies; they moved for an escape, only to have two massive arms block their attempts, the hands punching the walls of the arena, before I watched from the side with the rest, viewing the horrid picture that froze the two players in their tracks. "Are ya deaf, move!?" Its face was like a molten slag, green sap dripping from its skeletal face, the mouth opened wide to the players, before it spat the sap upon the platform, drowning the two in the revolting smell of rotten sap. But we all stared in shock, the sludge where the two players were burst into their own streams of colour, vanishing from the arena. "In one hit....!" Someone gaped, whist I backed up slightly, looking back to the other-side where Silver, Seraph, and Rain stood. Then, Twisted Angulation turned to face us again, its hand swooping across the area, causing me to instinctively fly from the sudden change in attacks patterns "Everyone grab those who can't fly, quick!" I called out, grabbing a mare from under her legs, and pulling up, as others did the same, Klaw managing to carry three, before the hand swept across the area, Twisted Angulation's gaze following its arm to the back platforms, leaving us to recover. "You ok?" The mare looked at me, a wary smile on her muzzle, but her pink eyes shook slightly from the shock of a near-death experience, with the pain inhibitors on the fritz, I wouldn't want to be struck by the equivalent of a bus either. "Y-yeah, thank you." She bowed, before I let her go, moving to stand beside Klaw, who had moved his squad to the other platforms "Seems its attack pattern changed, do you see a weak point like before?" He quickly asked me, just as I heard the crunching of wood to the far left, Seraph jumping atop the arm of Twisted Angulation, before hopping to the next platform, as she pointed her hoof at the spine of the Boss, then, I saw the faint glow. "I see....we will distract the Boss, you aim for the weak point." "Aye, sir." With that said, I flew up again, avoiding a rain of sap from the maw of the Boss, narrowly avoiding the undergrowth of its arm pit, before flying across its chest, passing through the trees, before I looped back around to its spine, where it was currently trying to punch the players off the edges of the platforms, giving me my opening I dropped to its roots, latching my hoof around one vine sharply, before I used the vines and roots as ladders, climbing up with Parting Glass between my teeth, as I held back the urge to fall or look down. Then, my hoof grazed the rune, its surface glowing at my touch, but I yelped, almost slipping from my hold on the back of the Boss as it swayed to look the other direction, then again. Did it know I was missing? Not wanting to know that answer, I spat my blade out, holding it high in my hoof, throwing my body back, before I used my shoulder blades to thrust my body back around, before my blade sunk deep into the wound, spraying green sap across the wound again, whist the spine seemed to shudder under the strike, Twisted Angulation bent back in agony, my back legs giving out, hanging over the edge of the lake, but I used my sword to keep my body from plummeting. Thankfully, it moved back, only for one of its arms to reach around its back, trying to pull me off its roots again. "I got this-I got this-I got this!" I chanted my prayer to myself, the buffs I obtained from Rain aiding in my attempts, before I slammed the blade through the rune again. I pulled back, taking the sword with me, I flew backwards, then I spun around into a charged, the blade pointed out like a lance, striking the symbol dead-center for a third time, the recoil throwing me back onto a platform Once more, we watched as it vomited green sap across the platform before it, placing its hands on the edges to try and steady itself, whist its back seeped with sap, some covering me as I panted for each lungful of air, I was on the edge of the platform, seeing Rain, Seraph, and SilverCrow coming my way, but I looked to see the pool of green liquid below, I caught something strange. Just below my tail, atop the green lake, a tiny, flickering flame, dancing across the top of the lake. "A flame...?" I thought at the sight of the flickering ember, which seemed to be turning the lake as it burned the liquid for food "White, having a nice view?" Seraph mused, pulling me up, along with SilverCrow, whist Rain watched the group begin to tear into the armour of Twisted Angulation, his body twitching, and grunting as its armour was chipped, and torn, but I was still staring down at the pool below, that flame finally turning to smoke. "Umm, is he broken?" "No....my-my mind's fine, I...." I then looked to the three, with a glint of hope in my eyes. "I know how we'll win." *MOOOOOAN* "Phase Three...." Rain shakily whispered, as the remaining bar of health turned red fully, the sap leaked from its head, spine, and maw, as it trashed in the air, spraying the goo. Then it bent down to the platform before it, and grasped it with one arm, latching its fingers into the rock, before pulling and twisting at the platform's weight, webbing cracks along the bottom "Quick, tell the others to fly down to the lake, coat their weapon in the green liquid, its flammable, if we can soak the Boss in enough, Klaw can use his Pyromancy to burn it to ashes, we'll have a sure-fire way to take down the whole thing!?" I called to them, and they all seemed to glance at each other before simultaneously agreeing to the idea, running off to tell the others, whist I grabbed Seraph by the tail, pulling her back at her yelp. "Seraph. Do you know any shielding spells yet?" "Hehehe, have a reckless idea, do we?" She slyly smiled, before she channeled her magic into her horn, my whole chest felt tighter at the subtle increase to gravity, then, I saw the pink aura now coating my body, as the symbol appeared beside my health bar, 'Buck Up'. "There, you have 20% more defence than normal, and that will be 100 bits." "Bite me, cheap-sake. You'll be paid later, just levitate some of the flammable liquid onto the Boss!" I grunted at her cocky dealings, before I took flight, swinging Parting Glass out once more, then I saw it finally pull the platform off the ground, holding it high in the air I couldn't even blink or make a sound, only allowed to angle my wings to duck below the massive slab of rock, its form sailing over my head, crashing into the wall behind me, and sadly, I saw the colour streams fly out from under the crushed pile of rubble. Even then, Twisted Angulation reached for another platform, with two players still on its surface, but it wouldn't attack them, instead, it continued to thrash its arm, trying to pry the pillar free of its earthy snare. It hit me, my heart dropping at what it was pulling. "Its trying to remove our only way of stay alive, dammit, how'd I not see that sooner!?" I cursed myself for being blindsided, and like any plan of mine, I rushed in, flying low to coat my blade in the putrid liquid, before I looped back, pulling a sharp 'U' towards the shattered face of the Boss, my sword's edge gleaming before my face when I ascended towards its maw again, driving my sword through the middle of its giant face, causing it to recoil at the lake's contents beginning to blind it, its arm released the platform, just as it used that same hand to clear the green substance from its eyes with its left hand trying to crush me against the ceiling. "Focus, Cayde, you still have a chance to turn this around!" I now floated before it face again, just as a massive hand tried to swat me from the air, but I closed my body tightly, flying through the gap between its fingers, before I grabbed a vine on its hand, holding onto the palm during its movement, ending with its hand now facing its emerald gaze, the eyes staring impassively at my presence, then it began to shake its appendage up and down, shaking my organs like a fresh smoothie, each swing only made my face turn greener. "Aaaany tiiiime noooow~!" I called out shakily, my body flying around on its palm with my body clinging for dear life, then it drove its hand into a wall, so I leapt behind its palm, avoiding the crushing execution, before I lacerated the inside of its palm, propelling my body off its hand as it clenched it shut As if god heard me cry, every player stunk blade, axe, and magic into Twisted Angulation, spraying the green liquid across its limbs like paint, covering it in a mixture of tree sap, and swampy liquid. Then, Klaw ushered me over, just as he placed his hand together at the wrist, making them into the form of Vegeta's Final Flash, pulling his claws towards his chest. Now I knew what he was planning, so I back-flipped, passing over the swiping palm of the Boss, and down the length of its arm, until I was only a few feet above Klaw. "DO IT!" I cried out a final time [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Crescendo] His palms ignited, before a massive solar bomb shot forth from his hands, embracing my shuddering body under the fierce power of the flames, some eating away at my health bar, but I quickly thrashed my wings out within the orange and gold nova blast, my words beginning to channel the flames into my blade, merging it to form an arrow head around my body and blade, pushing with the flames, I soared towards Twisted Angulation. [Unity Move - Seven Ancient Dragons of Destruction] I pierced through the entirety of the Boss, burning, and lacerating the insides of its armour and core, ripping through its back with ease, then I spun upside-down, swinging my blade from left to right, then right to left, then I spun right-side-up, swinging my sword vertically down, the vertically up, before I spun around clockwise, slicing across its spine in a horizontal arc twice left, then right. Before his whole back erupted into purple, and red flames, igniting the flammable liquid coating its armour, as the flames consumed the remainder of its defence, before completely covering the Golem in a suit of cursed flames. "Checkmate." I whispered, placing Parting Glass in its scabbard one final time, Twisted Angulation only thrashed about for a moment, before slamming its claws into the green lake below, before it finally ceased its uncontrollable spaz, and finally, its head crashed against the wall of a platform, shaking it slightly, the lime green sap in its vines dimmed out, clearing the air of any music or sound. All the while, a relived smile crossed my muzzle when I landed [YOU DEFEATED THE AREA RAID BOSS!!!] All that was left was for us all to bask in the glory of defeating the Raid Boss, tabs appeared for everyone in tangent, many players cheered with their teams, some glowed with the sign of leveling up, even I was glowing gold, my health thankfully restored in the process, or atleast until I was tackled by Rain, who was laughing excitedly, and I returned the gesture with a chuckle, whist Seraph drooled like a child on Christmas Day, staring at the rare gear she has acquired. "The stats....so....many!" She was becoming giddy again, her eyes sparkling with stars in her eyes, I sat up to view my own tabs with an evil laugh at my new-found power, Rain letting me go, checking her own with a slightly red face, but I paid no mind to it, that being said, my eyes instantly turned to fireworks at the sight of that sweet, sweet orange text [Rewards] Twist-Fang Seekers Helmet Twist-Fang Mark Heart of Everfree (Long Sword) 1078 Bits 1000 EXP Twist-Fang Seekers Helmet "If the day came to rest my blade, I only hope someone will see my flaws and use them to free us all." Defense - 35 Weight - Light Resistance (Element) - Life 5% Kinetic 5% Poison 10% Resistance (Critical) - 20% Twist-Fang Mark "I thank you, for you have done what I would do all over again, let this mark be proof of your strength." Defense - 15 Weight - None Resistance (Element) - 10% Resistance (Critical) - 15% Bonus: +10% Movement Speed whist in combat Heart of Everfree "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." DPS - 45 - 58 Elemental Enhance - 25% Attack Speed - Normal Critical Chance - 20% Bonus Skill: Against The Odds When battling against fire, your damage is doubled [Level Up!] [14 - 15] [Stats Increased] Agility +4 Strength +5 Endurance +4 Intelligence +8 Magic +5 Charisma +1 [Relic Obtained: Key of Adventure] "I look awesome~!" I turned my head to see what Rain was happily giggling about, then I saw what she meant, her jacket was replaced with a new one, it was slightly longer, almost touching her tail, with a silver zipper, high-collar, and green buttons along the zipper, with a belt hanging around where the coat met her waist, as the coat hung open. The rest was a nice emerald green, with the same matching arcane runes on the back of the coat, spreading out towards the zipper, it also had short sleeves. "Its also got increased stealth when in forests too!" "Nice, buuuut, I got's me a legendary~!" I teased, making her scramble to look at my screen, her head rested atop mine, almost pinning me. "Woman, the screen's on 'private', so get off me!" "Let me seeee~?" She whined, and I was about to do so, with her sitting beside me eagerly, but....I heard it, clapping, echoing across the chamber where we all sat, even overshadowing our voices, catching everyone by surprise. "Wha?" "Bravo. Cheers. High-five. Slow-clap! Now that was pure entertainment!" Who was that? Me, along with about everyone else listened to the clapping echoing across the now empty chamber, whist the lights flickered in the area, and the sun began to turn the sky orange. "At first I thought this wasn't going to end well, but you all pulled through, just what I was hoping for." "Who the hell is that?" "Maybe an admin?" "Oh, I-i'm no admin, but....I am the one pulling the strings of this game now, I was worried that my update would not have been completed in time for the end of the raid, but it seems to all be in order, so I thank you for a good distraction." Then the voice moved again, this time sounding local, more clear across the chamber of the boss, then we turned, and....what....? "Sup." The creature looking like it was made of tar spoke, a twisted grin of sharp teeth grinning madly at us, whist its pupiless eyes widened with curiosity, and excitement, all while being orange His body was skinny, almost starved in complexion, white claws for fingers, and toes, as two smaller spikes stuck out his elbows, knees, and shoulders, with smooth, black hair, almost camouflaged with its void-like skin. A spiny tail swished behind it, a scythe-like point to the appendage, whist small spiny-spike stuck out the lumps of his spine, reaching up to folded, tattered wings. His body was wrapped in a grey cloth, orange running down the zipper, with flames added to its sleeves, and trouser holes. It was a horrid sight, almost like a living nightmare brought forth into physical form. "Now, I don't want to sound vague, so I'll just go ahead with my plans, you see, I happened to have a thought, one that may very change how I work. 'Why do the killing yourself, when you can have a world do it for you'? Its fascinating what one can do with a bit of magic and code." He began, pacing as he kept turning to stare at us all. "Then I did it, I control this world, and by my hand, I was able to do something breathtaking!" We were all afraid to say it, what he did.....what did he do? But, s-someone needed to take that step, so, I gulped dryly, and looked directly at the creature before us all. But even at my words, the presence he gave off was unbelievably powerful, his strength was overwhelming in its own right, and yet, we was holding back! "What did you do? Stop dodging the question." I answered nervously, causing his pacing to stop, turning on his heel to look at us, then to me, his eyes narrowing "Why....if it isn't the most interesting of the bunch! I really enjoyed the display of power you proved, White Hat, quite the telling of unbeatable will, of course, your teammates too, Purplrain truly has a gift for this type of world, but you really are something special though, mind you, I want to know more, but this game is a large system of rules, regulations, and concepts that will take time to truly dig up the nuggets I want." He now walked past me, his tail slashing the ground like paper in his way "Oh right, sorry, I got side-tracked, you wanted to know what I did? Well, to save time of explanation, umm....you're all not leaving this world. Not today....not tomorrow.....hell, maybe not for the rest of your lives." He spoke calmly, placing his claws against themselves, all spaced apart. "I make this as crystal clear as I can. You're trapped here, whether you like it or not." No one said a word. Not soul moved an inch. I couldn't even hear a breath being pulled in or exhaled. The weight of his words could be taken either way, but, if the indication of what he meant was true....if we....all One Million players were here, no longer able to leave, then....are we.....he can't be serious, right? I was beginning to shake slightly, why? But....that means the glitches, the pain inhibitor....it was him, he tampered with the game's internal CPU. "Bullshit! No way in hell is that true!" The censor was cut off? Seems this 'Entity' messed with alot more than just the core safety functions "Yeah, i'm calling BS on that too, you expect us all to just believe a thing you said, you don't exactly sell a good point?" Seraph retorted, making the creature frown "Don't take my words without some salt, if you want check your menus, go right ahead, I won't stop you." He shrugged, as I heard the 'dings' of menus, before loud, audible gasps rang across the arena, I even heard Rain's petrified voice quiver, but I could only stare into the eyes of this creature, his grin widened to inhuman lengths "I-Its gone!?" One cried out "What did he do!?" Another "Is it a glitch, or did he really take away our ability to leave?" Klaw questioned warily "Heheheheahahahaha!" All cries for answers stopped at his laughter, the monster clutching his stomach for a moment, wiping a fake tear. "T-The looks of terror, pain, even rage on your faces is priceless~!" Then he walked back, passing me with a massive, icy wave washing by, causing my heart to skip a beat the the mere brush of his aura, whist I continued to stare back, emotionless, neutral. "Let me make a few rules clear, I am no monster, I only want to take what I feel like taking, but I do keep my word that all players will be released, so long as my rules are heeded with care." He warned, before clicking his fingers. "I'll give you my reasons for this though, I discovered so many things on the world wide web, that even I find horrid to look at! Concepts for this Death Game have happened even before this system was introduced to the world!" "From books, to concepts, all forged into what you placed on your skulls, and now, I own that concept as a reality! Even now I had the update implemented at the beginning of the boss fight, so....you know all those guys you lost? Guess where they are now, because they aren't in the safety of a Green Zone?" He....He really did made the pain inhibitors fail.....the boss' difficulty....all those....I'm gonna be sick "Rye...." One called out in a breathless shock "Dammit, two of my own friends are gone you bastard, they didn't deserve to die!" Another cried, but his voice sounded strange "Damn man, there're children in this game man, what about them?" Someone warily asked "Meh, second verse, same as the first, put them down, I won't bat an eye." He mumbled like a passive distaste for life. "You see, I don't want to just trap a bunch of lives in this cage of mine, once I gain control over Control Core Gamma, I'll be able to rewrite this world, using you all as my hostages to keep prying eyes off my project, when I'm through this 'game' of mine, I'll have the ability to completely alter worlds beyond this fragment of the Multiverse!" "Oh, and with media's going crazy over this, I'm racking kills as we speak, you all know that this game supports up to One Million players for each server due to the high advancements in performance, correct....weeeell. that's....a couple hundred thousand short now, still dropping slowly too." Now I even gaped at his smug grin, people who didn't even know, and they....they only wanted....he took them away, what about my brother? No, he'll be fine, always is "Now, before I leave you all to wander and wallow in tears, allow me to explain the rules of this world. Logging off is not an option anymore, along with outside help, they remove your Augment, and your consciousnesses is torn and scrambled, flat-lining you terminally, and, the same goes for death here, you die, and I ain't giving idiots a second coming!" He made that last point perfectly clear "To open a way back to your world, heroes like you must travel to the now relocated, and extremely hidden Raids across Equestria, this was a freebie, so its stays, but the others are now scattered like dust to the wind, and I made their bosses far more than shells to A.I control, so don't think this is the limit of an A.I's intelligence, that, and with every known defeat, the enemies grow stronger, smarter, more human like you." "In order to win, those who take the final strike on the boss will be gifted with a relic, those are your tickets to beating me, you find me, bring your heroes, and if you win....all will be set right again, that is, once you find me, I'm not one to stay in one place for long, so expect to see me drop by for a chat." He then happily clicked his fingers, ripping reality apart behind him. "Now, let the-" "Not yet, you cocky little bitch!" I heard some random idiot cry out, jumping past me with a sword in his magic, and surprisingly it struck the neck of the creature, but.... "AGH!!!" The creature just pulled the blade from his neck with ease, his wound closing up within the second it left his body, and before us, the creature held the body of the player in his arm, the creature impaling the pony with his sharp hand, whisking away streams of colour. Its eyes were unamused, along with its frown at the player's suicidal attack. "Tisk-Tisk-TIsk....you should have listened to me, instead you get to know that I seriously messed with the Pain Inhibitors, so pain...." He then shoved his arm farther into the guys chest, causing him to release a pained scream of agony, then, his body flashed, and soon turned to colours. "....Well its gonna feel real, count on it. I doubt Control Core Gamma could fix you, swine." He turned now, dusting his arm off as he left us to stare at where the pony once stood, the look of sorrow written on his face was burned into our minds, of how real this was. It wasn't a game to us, but to this....monster, it was a joke, and he played the master of it all, pulling the strings with ease. "You never told us who you are, creature!" I screamed, he paused, almost surprised, his foot halting mid stride, but he turned his head, his passive face meeting my eyes, and I held nothing but hatred for him now, not fear, pure hatred. "I'd like to know the name....of the person I'm going to kill." . . . . "....Do you have the will to take a life?" He soon responded, turning fully to look at me, his tail swishing back and forth. "Do you, Key Barer?" "No....I don't, but I'll feel pretty good after I kill you for what you've done." I swore simply, each word seeping with venom "Hehehehehehehehahahahahaha......*exhale*....my name....is...." "Harbinger." His voice growled like a feral, manic beast. "I look forward to seeing how your light shines when none can be found. White. Hat." Then. He was gone. A final phrase given to our new world, our death game become a horrid, nightmare of a reality. "Let the game, truly begin." End of Arc I Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 15 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 15 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 16 [Support class] Current Level: 15 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Twist-Fang Seekers Helmet Twist-Fang Mark Heart of Everfree (Long Sword) 1078 Bits 1000 EXP New Skills [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Crescendo] - Your palms release the equivalent to a solar flare [Sword Skill - Dancing Fangs] - Strike your enemy three times whist spinning vertically (Dagger) [Unity Move - Seven Ancient Dragons of Destruction] - Pierce your foe, then strike them six more times, before erupting with fire [Unity Move - Pressurize AP Shot] - Your punch causes a massive explosion of corrupted air and may stun the target New Attribute Added: -Key of Adventure- You scored the final killing blow on the Raid Boss of The Vault of Forestation, you now wield the embodiment of adventure (Your key gives off a multicolored glow when near other Raid Lairs) Author's Note The end of Arc I: Beginning. Now with everyone trapped within the mercy of Harbinger, what will they all do? Find out in the next arc, coming soon! Hope you enjoyed the final fight, and seeya in the next Arc! Next Arc: Arc II: Death Game Authors Notes: I know the whole Death Game concept has happened before, but I mixed up a bit with my own fictional race, and unlike most, he will be appearing when he feels like it, along with crazy Events, side-quests, and beating the shit out of Blueblood, yay! Story - [1 Month Later][System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Username: Purplrain] [Beginning Playback] [Opening II: Make My Story] Its been over a month, maybe a few weeks more than that, since the very first raid was lead in MLP: Actualization Online. Ponyville's area Raid Lair. The Vault of Forestation. Twenty Seven players came to meet the doors of the dark, twisted maze, some encountering traps, whist others the Bosses that lingered within the walls. All party members had cleared it after only two hours, then came the final hurdle, the Raid Lair's Boss. Twisted Angulation was a massive golem come to life by the forest around it, surrounded by platforms over a flammable substance, and only once the crafty player, White Hat, discovered its weaknesses, and ultimately found the substance to be flammable, was the Raid Team victorious over the Boss, with White Hat claiming the Key of Adventure, what such an item entailed was unknown, that is, until 'he' came before the members that had survived the Raid. Harbinger, a creature of unknown origin swept the thrill of victory from under them all, disclosing information that he was in control of the world, and that any means of escape lead to death, including the three players that had died to the final boss, they never came back. His terms were simple, defeat the other Raid Bosses, claim their Relics, and find him, and if that party were to be successful, all surviving players could leave. But, with the threat of death upon the loss of all your HP, the Pain Inhibitors turned low enough to feel real, and with the intelligence of A.I growing smarter with each victory, such dreams of freedom were dim. Even now, no one has found a Raid Lair, and slowly, people began to lose all sight of hope. All, but the one who dared to threaten, Harbinger. White Hat..... [Dicey Destiny's Inn] When I came down into the main open lobby of the inn, I saw that some player were sitting around, talking about quests or travelling to certain locations dotted around Ponyville, it was nice to hear people talking about stuff to do, instead of moping around, this game wasn't going to clear itself after-all, but that's not to say 'everyone' had to fight, fight, and fight some more. Seeing as two familiar ponies were standing by a wooden board, overlooking a bunch on in-game content to purchase. As it turns out, anyone who had in-game currency before-hand could still spend their currency if they wished. [SilverCrow - lvl 21] [Klaw - lvl 22] "Umm, what are you guys doing?" I asked, pointing more at SilverCrow, who was drifting his hoof between two different flyers, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "Better question, what are 'YOU' doing, Silver?" "Choosing.......Choooooosing....." Wow, one of the few times he didn't speak in a haiku. "My mind is blank/All paths are fair/Only one can remain." Nevermind "Don't mind him, Miss Rain, he has been trying to debate upon which cosmetic to buy, both are the same price, and he can only afford the one, so he's been having me give him ideas as to why one may be suited better than the other." Klaw explained, shaking Silver's head back, and forth, but he didn't even break focus, causing Klaw to pinch the brim of his nose. "As you can see he's very into it." "Hehehe, well, maybe he should get the one he thinks is right, go with your gut!" I claimed happily, seeing him nod slowly, then I looked back to Klaw, before I pointed to his armour. "Wasn't your gear vanity equipped too?" "Why yes, so I may look, how do my friends say, 'Badass' than most of our level, but I am really only wearing normal gear under it all, I just so happened to have a deal at the time, and it would be wrong to not take such an offer." Klaw chuckled proudly, banging a fist against his broad, silver chest "Another thing, why haven't you gone anywhere else yet? I just thought with someone as strong as you, and Silver, you two would be in Canternlot by now?" I was really curious as to why they were sticking around, since I knew the levels there start at around 30, but still.... "It has much to do with your friend, White Hat, we may have been the first to experience the toll of this Death Game, but he was one of the players known for his ingenious strategies, to how he stood up against such an imposing force too, not many can boast a claim like that, and as such, he has given me, and SilverCrow here the new directive, to aid all players who only wish to wait for players like him, and even you to beat this game of, Harbinger's design." Klaw elaborated, making me brush my leg against one another "W-Well, I'm not as strong as White, he's the one who helped me from the beginning, he would be far better off with people like you two honestly." I admitted it was nice to see that he viewed me in such a way, but I wasn't as strong, not in this world, or....well "Why that's preposterous!" Huh? I looked up at the now kneeling Klaw, as he placed a hand on my shoulder with a toothy grin. "I may not have spoken with him in a while, but from what he's claimed, he speaks highly of you, how you are the one to save him when he's in over his head, even now, you remind him that not everyday can be spent on the battlefield, just like me, and Silver have learned." "He is a force of nature/But a will of thousands/A true friend to have." Silver added to Klaw's words, making me blush considerably, the fact he thought I was really all of that was something else entirely, I....well it was nice to hear him say that "Sorry for embarrassing you, but on another note, how is White?" Klaw asked, making me snort lightly, rolling my eyes with a smirk "Same old White, he's still running around like it was all just a bad dream, I know he knows this isn't a normal game anymore, but to him, I think its still just a new world to explore." I smiled at that, before I added. "He's currently out on a quest with Pinkie, seeing as she's basically a member of our team now." "Isn't it strange how an A.I like her has become self-aware that she's in a digital world?" Klaw asked with a concerned look, and I won't lie, I had the same feeling upon learning about this, but then I chuckled nerviously "Well, we came to understand that her 'Forth-Wall' ability had adapted with the A.I intelligence thing, and so she really just accepted that fact, but telling her friends...." [A Few Weeks Ago] "Pinkie, that's crazy, what proof do you have that we are....A.I?" Twilight brushed off with a shake of her head, whist me, Seraph, and White sat by as the conversation fell to pieces. Then, Twilight pointed to us. "Did she bother you three with this nonsense, if so, I am sorry, this is really how Pinkie acts." "Not a....problem, she, uhh....well she's alright." White rubbed the back of his head, blinking in a state of confusion, which was certainly new, since he would usually have some form of plan in mind. "Pinkie, we....yeah lets go." "Wait, we haven't convinced her I'm not crazy!?" Pinkie cried, as Seraph picked her up in her magic, dragging her towards the door of the libary "I think you've already passed that margin of sanity, Pinkie, just let it go...." White replied, opening the door, whist Pinkie dug her hooves into the floor, trying to stop the magic from pulling her through "NOOOOooooo, Notice Meeeee~!?" Pinkie cried, leaving me to cover my bat-ears with my wings, trying to block out the crying. "I REFUSE TO BE A SIDE-CHARACTER!!!" "You're not, you blood bellend!" White grumbled in his own state of irritation "Yeah, it didn't end well." I sighed, then I smiled thoughtfully. "Other than that, she's on board to help us whenever she can, actually....I did hear White mention something about going back down into the Raid Lair, since they supposedly open new areas as the game progresses, that's if you two want in?" "We might just take you up on that offer, given White is ready to do so." Klaw bowed respectfully, before we both jumped at the sound of a cash register, before we turned to Silver. He now wore a new black cloak, only now it was more torn at the bottom, with a skull badge connecting the cloak under his neck, he also had bandages wrapped around his front hooves "I shall disappear/A ghost amidst the combat/Ready to strike." Silver dramatically threw a hoof in the air, blowing the cloak with it, whist me, and Klaw face-palmed/hoofed "Now that was just lazy...." I groaned. "I may have only ever watched Borderlands 2 online, but even I've heard that line before. Lazy. Bad pony." "I apologize." He slumped, before hugging his cloak. "Stupid/Annoying/Bat." "Oh dear...." Klaw then took a step away from me, sitting down at the bar as I felt my eye twitch, along with my wings, before I bared one of my fangs at him, at this, Zer0-rip-off gulped, before he ran to my left, jumping over a table. "Quite the idiotic move, chap." "Ooooh, so i'm a 'Stupid, annoying, bat' am I? Well...." I then opened my menu, before I pressed a button, adding a weapon to my secondary, with ease I grabbed the broadsword from my back, one of the edges being completely jagged, with a silver edge, whist the rest was a cherry red colour, with white cloth strapped across the hilt, pommel, and handle. "This 'Bat' has something to swing, wanna see~?" His head shook, whist I felt an aura of fire burn across my body, making him sweat profusely. "Now little pony, this my sting a bit." [Silver Grove] [User: White Hat] My head slowly turned back for a moment, as I awaiting in the middle of a clearing, the eyes watched from beyond the treeline, before their silver coats jumped from the cover of the forest's shadows, my hoof on my blade. [Silverwolf Omega - lvl 20] "....Do you have the will to take a life?" He soon responded, turning fully to look at me, his tail swishing back and forth. "Do you, Key Barer?" "No, I don't, but I'll feel pretty good after I kill you for what you've done." I swore simply, each word seeping with venom "Hehehehehehehehahahahahaha......*exhale*....my name....is...." "Harbinger."His voice growled like a feral, manic beast. "I look forward to seeing how your light shines when none can be found. White. Hat." I smiled. I flew off the rock, the wolves crashing into each other from the sudden movement, before I dropped atop one of their heads, swinging Parting Glass to my right, striking a Silverwolf in the back, I threw my body over its own, pulling the blade across, then I landed, spinning clockwise, lacerating the side of the Silverwolf, turning it to streams of colour. The one I landed on leapt through the colours, but I tilted the blade to my right, thrusting my body forward with my wings, slicing straight through the Silverwolf, its body crashing into the grass, spraying its silver, and green colours to the sky. Turning back around, I watched as three more Silverwolves flew into the open field, gnashing their teeth at me, whist they stood in an arrow formation pointing to my left, which only proved my theory that not every monster was given a major intelligence boost, either that, or I was rather boastful of my power, can't blame me for being better than a bunch of wild mutts though. I placed Parting Glass to my side, flying towards them at eye-level, my legs skimming the ground as I past the grass, before I leapt onto my hooves, allowing my blade to turn yellow. [Sword Skill - Sloth] I struck the Silverwolf in front first, striking its face with a diagonal slash to the bottom left, then a diagonal slash from that point to the right, trailing the blade over its neck, then I brought it down towards the left again in a diagonal slash, creating an 'S' mark, which threw the Silverwolf flying away. The second leapt at me, so I slid under its belly, quickly charging my blade blue this time. [Sword Skill - Pride] I brought my blade towards my face, vertically, striking a line across the underbelly of the Silverwolf, followed by two rapid strikes from left, to right diagonally, then right to left diagonally, resembling a 'P' shape as I flew under it, the burst of colour blinding the final Silverwolf, the wolf sprinting through the dust I kicked up. So I planted my sword into the ground, swinging my body around and booting the Silverwolf with my back hooves, cracking its ribs as it yelped sharply. Then my blade glowed a dark green. [Sword Skill - Envy] I rushed the Silverwolf, striking a horizontal line through its side, then I inverted my blade, crossing another line from right to left, then I inverted on last time, slashing another line from left to right, before I brought my blade down in a vertical arc, striking its neck, and embedding a green 'E' into its body. Then, it too turned to a stream of colours, silencing the air to the sound of my blade clicking into the scabbard. "Wow, that was amazing! You were like 'BAM', 'POW', 'WHOOSH'- 'WHOOSH'!" Pinkie jumped from behind a tree, her golfclub strapped to her back with a gleeful smile, and a spring in her step "How's your end go?" I asked, before I saw the several or so trees shattered from their stumps, whist Pinkie sheepishly rubbed her cheek, I could only blink bluntly. "Yo-You know, the quest was to 'Kill the Silverwolves', not 'Decimate half the landscape'!?" "Woopsie! But I did complete it, see!?" She pointed to the tab opened on her own menu, as I saw my own appear Quest Complete! -New Apex- The Silver Grove's apex has risen prior to your strength, track its pack down, and claim the title as the new apex. [ ] Slay 20 Silverwolves Optional [ ] Slay 1 Apex Silverwolf The Silver Grove may be stronger, but you now rein over the masses, the new apex of this land! [Rewards] 957 Bits Silver Fur x5 808 EXP [Level Up!] [21 - 22] "Finally, I guess reaching new ranks will be more difficult now than it was before the Raid....maybe I should go back to the Lair...?" I pondered, wondering if anyone else could join me, and Rain, Pinkie could use the EXP, but she was still lower than I'd like to consider 'safe' [Pinkie Pie - lvl 17] "Hey, why not go to Canternlot, that place has lots of bad guys you could fight, right?" Pinkie bounced through my menu, just as I closed it to push her head back, her mane feeling like a cloud "I would, but levels there start at 30, I'm still 8 below that, and Rain in a level lower than me." I explained the danger to her, even if it was a good idea before all of this, now, I didn't take those risks, hence why I haven't made my move for Canternlot, it would be great to do missions in, but the journey there had monsters of 30, and possibly higher in hiding, so would it be worth that risk? "AHHHHHHHHHH~!!!" "Aww, you hear that, Pinkie, its a momma Rhino giving birth..." Such great detail to this world. Moving past that, I walked beside Pinkie, whist she hopped with each step, making our way for Ponyville again. "I don't want to risk anyone's life to get there, not yet anyways." "Then form a guild, silly!" !!! "Wha?" I breathlessly gawked at her, as she landed on the other side of me, moving to stare directly into my glasses, her sea-blue eyes pressed to them with a wide smile. I did recoil, reddening slightly, before I cleared my throat. "The guild system was implemented?" "Aye, sir! It was something I wanted to tell you, but you were being super serious fighting that Apex wolfie that I forgot, hehehe, but now I do, and it waasaaas~!" She happily exclaimed, before my frown slowly formed into a new found burst of energy in the form of a toothy grin, I tugged on my scarf, opening my menu as I worked in my notifications, pressing wildly with one hoof, my heart racing in my chest Everyone, Meet me by Twilight's Library, I have an important announcement to make, alongside my assistant, Pinkie, if you know anyone from the Raid a month ago that is still in Ponyville, bring them too. Meet us there at 6 pm, don't be late! Sincerely, White Hat "Oh, I also have a letter for you, it came from Twilight, saying she wanted to give this to you when you planned on going to Canternlot, so I guess now is a good time!" Pinkie bopped the scroll over from her muzzle, I quickly caught it in my hoof, before unraveling it to read. "It came today, so its suuuuuuuuper important!" [Golden Oak's Library] The sun was beginning to set upon Ponyville again, I could see the group of them beginning to approach me, Pinkie, and Twilight, who was sorting through a solid book with brass hinges, and a fortress on the cover, Twilght also looked ragged from trying to convince Pinkie not to go, it failed. When the sun turned the sky a beautiful orange hue, and the lanterns around the town came to life once more, I could view the group more clearly. There was Purplrain. Seraph. Klaw. SilverCrow, and one new person, and upon closer inspection, I saw their name. [Noximillion - lvl 21] He was another unicorn, with a white coat, and a short, smooth, cyan mane, with a stripe of dark blue, and light blue through the middle, his tail also ending in a few spikes. He wore leather armour, with curved tips of metal strapped to his shoulders, thighs, chest, back, with a helmet covering his face, but I could see the silver eyes through the holes across his mask. His...mark, was a simple shield with a sword across the buckler. Seraph also wore a new short jacket, with a breastplate underneath her brown coat, which was from the Raid, seeing the lime green pattern across the sleeves, and up her legs, with two belts hanging from the zipper, it was a shorter version of Rain's, only Rain dyed hers to match her scheme of silver, ultramarine, and purple. Seraph also wore a blue bandana around her left eye. "Eh, White, how'a been?" Seraph waved slyly, as I did the same, the others soon stood around me with equal expressions of curiosity, whist I heard Control Core Gamma hit me with my own beat, finally! "Teammates. Friends. Old Raid Partners. Seraph." I greeted proudly "Hey!" Ignoring Seraph I pressed my speech on "Thanks to some information from my charming pink friend here, the news of two very important pieces of information have come to light, one of which being....Players have found the next Raid Lair." All of them shared my excitement, with some in surprise, and others smiling, then I added. "But, they have yet to gain access to it, even with a small guild running in Canternlot, none of them can open the door like we all did, and the Monarchs have sent letters to every figure across Equestria to spread the word for aid." "So we know the location, but not the way to access the chamber, any idea as to why?" Klaw asked us all, but all shook their heads, before I opened my menu, entering my inventory, I brought out an old item from my storage, before us all, was my key, now a shimmering rainbow, then, I pointed it in the rough direction of Canternlot, and before us, the key hummed a brighter tone of the rainbow. "I see...." "The key is the piece/You are the passage/What is next?" Silver asked me, as I placed the key back in my storage, I sighed, frowning slightly as I spoke after a short breath of silence "We all know that over 100,000 players are gone now, murdered by Harbinger's Death Game, I won't pretend everything is still the same, that, I can't do to them, but I won't let others suffer when I know I can be stronger than Harbinger." I began slowly, stomping my hoof against the ground in frustration over those innocent deaths, in a fucking game! "White...." The soft voice of Rain reached my ears, then I turned my head up, smiling, as painful as it could be, I needed to, and I glared with a fire in my eyes "In this world, anyone can be strong, it isn't some hidden truth or unseen skill, I won't let anything stop me from doing what's right. I'm not going to die trying to free everyone from this game, because i'm going to live for them, so that their memories aren't forgotten like some distant smoke." I sighed, moving to stand before them all. "I'm going to make it back, we all are, together....and what better way to do that, then as a guild ourselves?" At first, all of them seemed to be processing the information, taking in what I had told them. Then, Rain stepped forward, looking to stare at me with a curious azure gaze, then, she smiled warmly, as she placed a hoof on my shoulder. "I'm your partner, so of course i'm with you on this, because....i'm as strong as you too!" I....I only blinked for a moment, seeing that look of determination was inspiring to say the least, so I watched her move to stand aside, letting Seraph hit me on the head "Ow, seriously, one day you're gonna turn yellow!" I barked, before she patted my cheek, looking impressed "Eh, new locations, more people to scam for information, and to give some too, could be fun." That was her answer, fair enough. Next was Klaw, he bowed at my gaze, bloody love this guy "You truly are something, White, I can follow a man that will put the lives of those lost before his own." He replied simply "Wait, what about your own guild?" I did remember him mentioning that, but he shurgged "It means nothing when your key is worthless, yours however may be the one that can unlock this mystery, and I will be there to give you guidance, as is the job as an older generation." He proudly smirked, then Silver stopped beside me, only staring as he walked by, standing beside Rain, who whispered something to him, making the stallion blush under his hood Last was the new guy, as he cleared his throat, I heard raspy voice speak through the mask. "You saved me back in the Raid before, and you have your head screwed on better than most, so i'm with you too." Now, call me too observant, but that voice was a little higher than most, but hey, not everyone's voices can break so easily, with that in mind, I turned my attention to Twilight, who had finished writing the names down in her book, before she smiled happily "Now then, all I need is a name, and all who are apart of your guild will be given a symbol on a part of the clothing by the runes inscribed in this book, Pinkie, are you sure you want to do this too, it might be dangerous?" Twilight looked to her friend, who was busy hugging my neck tighter, but she nodded anyways. "Ok, if you think its safe...." "We'll keep her safe, Miss Sparkle, you have my word." Klaw reassured her, her gaze softened a little, now she awaited my answer. I had this idea for a while, not just because of the meaning it was given now, but how strange the people I know are, from their characteristics, to how they interact, and even our goals shaped this meaning, and, a friend told me long ago how important a name is to everyone "Our name....I think I'll call us...." ---~{The Eternal Flame}~--- To Be Continued..... Update Party: White Hat - lvl 22 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 21 [Stealth class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 17 [Defensive class] Seraph - lvl 22 [Support class] Klaw - lvl 22 [Pyromancer class] SilverCrow - lvl 21 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 21 [Support class] Current Level: 22 Magic: Sky/Air magic Items: Silver Fur x5 New Skills [Sword Skill - Sloth] - Carve the first letter of 'Sloth' with slow, heavy strikes, chance of inflicting slowness [Sword Skill - Pride] - Carve the first letter of 'Pride' with quick cuts, chance of inflicting paralyze [Sword Skill - Envy] - Carve the first letter of 'Envy' with venomous slashes, chance to inflict poison New Attribute Added: -The Eternal Flame- You have made yourself a guild, when banded together, your magic is twice as strong! (Heart of The Guild) Author's Note And so begins the next Arc of MLP: AO, with all friends banding together to aid in defeating the second Raid Lair, but the journey will take far longer than they may realize. But what awaits them on their road to Canternlot? Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Event - [Dance of Red and Purple] Event - [Dance of Red and Purple]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- with the threat of death upon the loss of all your HP, the Pain Inhibitors turned low enough to feel real, and with the intelligence of A.I growing smarter with each victory, such dreams of freedom were dim. Even now, no one has found a Raid Lair, and slowly, people began to lose all sight of hope. All, but the one who dared to threaten, Harbinger. White Hat..... Everyone, Meet me by Twilight's Library, I have an important announcement to make, alongside my assistant, Pinkie, if you know anyone from the Raid a month ago that is still in Ponyville, bring them too. Meet us there at 6 pm, don't be late! Sincerely, White Hat "Our name....I think I'll call us...." ---~{The Eternal Flame}~--- [Road To Canternlot] The journey was going to be long, with the trains out completely, my theory was that it could only be accessed if both Raid Lairs were clear in two areas, then the trains would be operational again, sure, that made absolutely no sense, but it was better than, 'oh trains aren't working, too bad', my theory provided us with transport in the future. The road was long, a simple dirt track across the valleys of the kingdom, passing many landmarks like waterfalls, forests, and even other ruins, but with a team of 7 players, yes, including Pinkie, we weren't in any danger, and we took down mobs for EXP when we could. The sun was atop us now, just as we strolled past a Mailmare, who handed us the news from both events, future updates, and even Player news. Two articles caught my attention as we walked, with Seraph levitating the newspaper for me as she looked through her notes in her menu for obvious reasons, she is an info broker by heart. "Sightings of the next Raid Lair in Canternlot have been sighted, with the bearers of the Gemstones of Belonging awaiting to hear the call of the band of Players who had taken down the very first Raid Lair, and ultimately survived an encounter with the being now holding over 800,000 players hostage, with the number drifting down by each day. If the players who defeated the raid see this, please join us in Canternlot to aid in beating this game." I relayed for all of us to hear, as I flipped the page to see what else there was "Seems are reputation has become common knowledge?" Klaw observed evenly, whist he placed a claw on his snout. "You think this key you bare has the answer to why the door has yet to open?" "Honestly, its the best lead we got, or anyone's best guess, since I was the last to strike down the boss, I must have drawn in the power of all your keys into mine, making it the absolute token of the fight, but that's a stretch for my tastes...." Shaking my head at my own crack-pot idea, I felt something tap my shoulder, and I turned to see Pinkie hopping beside me "Its because you, and the other soon-to-be-bearers are like me and the girls, you are your own elements of harmony!" That....actually seems accurate, that would lead to the point that Seven Key Raid Lairs are scattered across Equestria as we speak, with two already discovered. Seeing the logic, I patted Pinkie on the head, making her giggle like a little kid, next was general news of the game "In other related news. Reports that guilds have been officially established in the game, with the majority acting as guardians for low ranking players on quests, allowing them to level up and aid the efforts of searching for any raid lairs not yet uncovered. Some players have referenced that more significant characters from the show have also had increased awareness of this reality, leading to....yeah I'll just skip that one." Not opening 'that' can of worms to Pinkie, given how she's....rather calm about the fact she's an A.I, oh well "Last article here. Lately, much to the collective surprise of most info brokers, players have caught wind of a small band of players managing to take over the Green Zone of Griffonstone, though they are not hostile, the leader has been reported as being....insistent on level grinding, due to his base level being roughly 15 levels higher than other players, whist also wearing a....surprisingly stylish scarf? Oooook? Rumors of this player have also circulated about him being the only confirmed player with an 'Ultimate' ability-Ok, yeah, that's Black alright." I then shut the page for a moment in Seraph's magic, her eyes rolling too "Who's to bet he's killed a player just to see if they re-spawned?" Her smug expression mirrored my own, that would be something he'd do. "Still, why didn't ya both spawn in the same place?" "Don't no, don't care." I waved off, with the others looking at us like we'd just spat in God's face "Who's Black?" Rain asked from the side of me, so I just grimaced at the thought "My brother. Goes by the same 'Hat' at the end of his user, and if we're comparing who's crazier, that would go to him, be thankful you ran or crashed into me." Moving past her surprised expression. "Now then, next article, and...." I paused, narrowing my gaze at the page, as I felt my throat dry slightly. "You're not gonna like this one..." "Why's that?" Rain asked, hovering above me, so I slowly read the black ink "Recent reports suggest that a number of deaths were caused by a guild, much like ones meant to be for an equal balance of good, and evil, this one has gone beyond that premise, and....has been sighted by many for killing players, with a total of....oh god, 50 confirmed reports of players dying by their hooves." I nearly wanted to burn the page now, even I felt heat rising from Klaw as he snarled "W-What's their name?" Seraph asked me, even she found it horrifying to hear, as she threw the paper away in disgust. But the name stuck in my head, it was now fresh in my mind as a warning for future events to come. "Bloody sick bastards." ---~{Phantom}~--- [Event - Dance of Red and Purple] A strange blade rests by a large, green tree, investigate it if you desire to know why the sword rests. [ ] Investigate the Purple Sword Optional: [ ] Say the name, 'Absolute Sword' "Huh? An....event?" I paused my walking, along with the rest as they saw me stare at my menu, before I watched Rain walk to my side, staring down at my screen, but she couldn't see it, obviously. "Its. On. Private!" "What does it say then?" She complained in my ear, before I looked to my left, and....it was just beyond the treeline, but....I could see a large, dome of a tree top, it was nearly covered completely, but I could see it, so, I closed the tab, and ran for the clearing. "Hey, wait up!" "Seems we're going where he's going...." Seraph sighed, following after me. Soon, I turned my head to see the others following suit, just as I passed a few trees to reach the location the event spoke of. When I did, I slowly stared up at the massive tree, its leaves glowing under the rays of the, whist the forest bent around its presence, not a single branch touching its own "Now this is a sight." I heard Noximillion awe at the spectacle, as he brushed a hoof on the grass. "Its all flowers...." He was right, but....even with the bed of white, yellow, and pink flowers, my eyes were soon drawn to what sat before us, stuck upright from the ground, was a longsword, dark purple, with a long handle, and narrow blade, with white zigzagging, before traveling up the edge, the air seemed to still at the moment I crossed the border between our path, and its domain. The others stayed back however, encase it were a trap, and since I was the only once who seemed to be given the event. My luck strikes again... Upon closer inspection of the longsword, I could feel something, not an energy lingering on the weapon, but....someone was here, watching me, did they own this blade? Or was it another hidden boss, if it was, I might not want to grab this rare-looking item. But, I then remembered what the event said, what it wanted me to say. "Absolute....Sword." *Diiiiiiiiing* !!! I turned my head towards the green roof of leaves above me, and in instinct I leapt away from the purple blade, just as a body dropped from the treeline, stepping beside the sword, whist I heard the others raise their weapons at the boss. When my gaze flared to the Boss' appearance. It...wasn't a boss? "Oh woah, you must be really skilled to have felt me dropping like that! You're like Kirito-level of skill!" I heard the chipper voice awe at me, I stared at the grey Therstral that stood before me, grabbing the sword with a hoof, before her crimson gaze fell to me, as she smiled innocently in my direction, her stunning, blackish-purple hair falling past her neck. "What's your name? I know I can see it, but I like getting to hear people say it." [Yuuki - lvl 25] She seemed to be wearing obsidian chest armour, a bluebottle violet tunic and a windswept skirt of the same colour beneath the armour. A thin, black sheath hung on her waist, where she placed the purple blade carefully. Before looking to me again for a response. "Hi....my name's White Hat, but drop the 'Hat', no pun intended." I replied, she laughed at the intentional pun, making me smirk at the player's quirkiness, before she pointed a hoof at herself with a grin "Yuuki, also known as 'Zekken'! And I want to fight you!" I-Wait what? Now I was baffled again, I even heard someone drop their weapon behind me comically. Then Yuuki frowned, giving me big, puppy eyes as she walked up to me, now staring at me face-to-face. "Pleeeeease, I promise it will be fun, just one duel, please-please-please~!?" "I...umm, s-sure, just let me send you the invite." To say I was completely baffled by this event was understandable, since I was about to face 'YUKKI KONNO' the girl who beat Kirito, and Asuna, how the bloody hell can I block a skill like hers!? I mean....now I get the event, but....damn that scene broke me. In a way, I wanted to give her a great match, even if she wasn't real, to me, she was a player of grand talent, and, if we're both here, right now, I'll do this I opened up 'Party', then I pressed on the local screen, bringing up local players, there were a few, but I pressed on 'Yuuki', before I pressed 'challenge player', and soon her own message appeared. "Just hit the ok button, I think you're familiar with the system, once the timer hits zero its game, whoever has the most health wins, or the player comes close to death, got it?" I confirmed for her, gaining a large smile as she hit the button, a banner appearing above us, with a timer, and our names, and health bars. "Good luck, Yuuki." "You too, this is gonna be so much fun~!" Yuuki was hyped, and I was beginning to feel the same feeling of excitement upon gaining the chance to do battle with Yuuki herself, I never dueled in the game before, but I'll treat it like a Boss, and I'll beat her. Drawing our blades, my ears flicking at the voices behind me "You got this, White!" Rain cheered "My money's on you! Mostly!" Seraph, I swore she must have had that sly smirk of hers "Good luck to you both!" Klaw humbly sided with neither [FIGHT] At the moment the buzzer sounded, I rushed Yuuki, thrusting Parting Glass towards her body, yet she effortlessly dodged it, as I continued the violent offensive, whist Yuuki ducked or side-stepped to avoid each consecutive strike I tried to land. One did come close, as she flew back, allowing me to strike at her chest, but the mere centimeter it got between my blade, and her chest, I watched as her purple sword blocked it, shoving my blade away, her casual smile lingering, before I thrusted again, only for the blade to fly past her mane, making me fly past her. She took that point to aim for my side, so I sprung my wings, rolling up, and over Yuuki, as she swung her blade to defend against my rotating assault, each strike sparking purple, and red with each failed strike from each other. When I landed, I spun on my free left foreleg, bringing my blade around in a horizontal arc, only for Yuuki to back-flip, her tail being trimmed by my blade. Upon straightening herself, she flew above me, as I landed on my back hooves, thrusting up with my legs as I gave chase. I ascended, seeing Yuuki turn down to face me, before I swung my blade up, clashing with Yuuki's downward strike, throwing me upside-down, so I spun, striking her blade which now defended her head, so I flew back, which was followed by Yuuki, we continued to fly at into each other, our strikes clanking in the air, shaking the trees around us. Before I gasped, seeing Yuuki skim under my blade, leaving my chest open, so I pulled myself back, the tip of her blade scratching my hidden chest plate, but still damaging my health. Then we backed away, both staring at each other. Yuuki continued to smile kindly, whist I panted, grazing the red line across my chest, cursing myself for not being able to lay a single strike on her, all of it was beyond any measure Ive faced before, at the rate she was performing I'd be lying if I didn't see my old friend, Skye reflected in her eyes, since both would be the fiercest girls ive ever faced, even Skye never felt this difficult to beat though, and she played Warframe for weeks, and yet....I still.... "No....I refuse to lose....." I spat, seeing Yuuki's face drop at my words, then I held my blade to my side, looking at her with a determined glare, grinding my teeth together. "I refuse to lose again." As if sensing my seriousness, Yuuki's face hardened, she too held her blade to her face, staring eye-level with her blade, we stared at each other for a few seconds.....waiting. In a flash, we lashed out, Yuuki bringing her sword down on my head, I inverted my grip, dragging my sword up, turning as I clashed with her blade, skating my blade across her's much to her surprise, before the world run with a rupture of air, hitting my friends beneath me, before I spun around, bringing my blade down, as Yuuki flew back. Then my blade glowed a bright crimson. [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] Thrusting towards her, I watched as she too illuminated her blade in a coat of light blue, bringing her blade to her left hip, using 'Horizontal Arc' to deflect my blow, which was fine. I pushed my blade down, locking her hoof with mine, as I headbutted her, dazing the girl, then I grasped her tail, and threw her towards the ground, giving chase soon after, thrusting down again with a crimson blade. [Sword Skill - Wrath] I first struck from left diagonally down, then inverting my grip and bringing upwards diagonally to the right, then down the opposite direction, before copying the first swing, only towards the top right, blasting Yuuki with a red 'W', the last strike grazing her cheek, however, her own blade struck my side, knocking us both back from the black and red cloud. The smoke dispersed, and we flew at each other again, clashing as we spun, throwing each other back again, basking my wings in a light-blue glow, sharpening their tips like blades. [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] My newly added speed quickly closed the distance between me, and Yuuki, she acted on reflex, redirecting me with her blade, her other hoof pressed against the flat end of the blade to shove me aside, and if I wasn't so concentrated, I may have cracked a smile. I spun my body round again sharply, before her eyes turned to pinpricks, the force of my left hoof connected with her muzzle, it too covered in a blanket of air. [Sky Seal - Airlock] The eruption of air sent her flying into the sky again, the recoil did throw me to the tree, my back hooves landing on the trunk, bending them I rushed up to finish off Yuuki, pouring the last ounce of my magic in this final strike to end her. [Sword Skill - Seven Deadly Sins] Upon swinging my blade from left to right, Yuuki's left eye reopened from her wincing at the pain, but my own heart snapped like a swig at the sight of her blade flashing bright purple, a glimmer of light in her iris when she struck my attack mid-slash fiercely with five consecutive thrusts, knocking me away from the smoke that formed. "Mother's Rosario!? Oh shit...." I thought back the urge to pull back, time slowed to a crawl, my eyes watching her fly through, her blade now pinned to my chest, and all I could do was cry out in pain when she struck me with another five consecutive stabs in a straight line from the top left to the bottom right of my body, perpendicular to the prior five that blocked me, all I could do was watch my health dropped significantly Yuuki pulled back again, my body lurched back in pain during my descent towards the earth again, but I wasn't done, not when I still had health left in my bar! She tilted her body, pushing her weight behind the final strike to complete the interception on my chest. But just the second before, I swung my blade up from behind my back, knocking her blade back with a sharp 'ting' of metal. Her eyes soon widened, taking it as my uprising, I brought my blade down with a cry, seeing her fall from the sky to avoid me, but I was already too close for her to avoid me now. [WINNER] I froze mere ticks from her muzzle, Yuuki sat on the ground, her sword to her side, I stood above her, my wings keeping me afloat as I panted, sweat trickling down my face, as some did for her, her chest rising rapidly, before I fell back to my hooves, placing Parting Glass back in its sheath. I held a hoof out to Yuuki, which she smiled, and accepted. Just when I glanced to the board, seeing my health in the red, with Yuuki just between the margin of yellow and red. I lost the match. *Thump* And now my face was turning red from Yuuki hugging me tightly, I did laugh nervously, I just got hugged by Yuuki! Ok, try not to freak out Cayde. She did pull back, happily smiling as the others ran up to us, with Seraph grabbing my head in an arm lock, rubbing my mane, whist Rain beamed with inspiration from our fight, Silver patted me on the back, whist Klaw, and Noximillion stood beside all of us with appreciation of the fight, with Klaw bowing in appreciation for the show. "Hehehehehe, you're really strong, I was on my toes....or hooves, I guess, that was amazing, I felt like I was fighting Kirito again!" Yuuki happily flapped her wings, with a glow of bliss in her eyes. "When you did that thing with your wings, I was completely caught off guard, I thought I was done for then, heck, you even blocked my OSS!" "Lets just say....I've had the same experience as you, maybe just a bit more." I answered, and that seemed to flash some resemblance of understanding in her eyes, before she continued to smile. There was one thing I needed to know though, if my throat wasn't dry during the fight, it certainly was now over my next question. "Yuuki, do you know any players called....Philia or Strea?" "Huh? Of course, Philia always wants to go on treasure hunts, and I tag along, and Strea even overwhelms me sometimes!" Yuuki gaped, shuddering at the though, before rubbing her back with a wing. "Her hugs could kill...." Oh thank the gods, she was the Game's Yuuki, sure, she was still suffering from her disease, but she was alive and recovering well. That made me do something the others didn't expect from me, I reached over and pulled Yuuki into a hug, sighing heavily at my own clouded mind. If only....well, maybe one day I'll tell 'em, just....not right now. "Good, don't take this the wrong way....but I understand what you're going through, and....I know someone else who is, how long they've spent alone, so...I-i'm happy to see a famous Swordswoman like you is doing great." Now, I may be acting like a madman, but surprisingly, I felt Yuuki's arms around me too, it was soft, putting my mind at ease. Then I pulled away from our embrace, seeing the tears stinging her eyes slightly "Thanks, I really appreciate that....but, say, you wanna be friends? I'd like to chat some more if that's ok, just....about your friend?" Yuuki softly requested....I wish I could, she's just a program, so it wouldn't - no....to hell with logic anymore "White, I....hmm....a girl's wish is for a man to make after-all." I turned my head slightly to look at Klaw, his face understanding what it meant, making me smirk with a snort, before I opened my menu, much to everyone's bafflement, but I didn't care, I don't know why I was doing what I was doing, or how this would be even possible, but I was going by my brother's logic of not giving a shit "Boss-" I raised a hoof to Seraph, smiling a little "What, like anyone would pass the opportunity to be friends with 'Yuuki'?" I mused, seeing the purple-clad girl smile brightly with anticipation [Friend Request Sent to: Yuuki] [Friend Request Accepted!] "Awesome, another person to challenge!" Yuuki hoof-pumped happily "There, you ever want to chat, i'm all ears, even from across two worlds." With a smile, I saw Yuuki begin to disappear, as she looked to her glowing body with a worry expression, she quickly opened her menu, before scrolling down to something on her screen, then, she grabbed it quickly, pressing a few keys, before throwing it into another menu, then she hit the blue circle [Trade Request Received] [Accept? Y / N] When I clicked it, a new item had appeared on my own screen, leaving me to face Yuuki one last time, as she saluted with a wink. "Till round two! But here's a little advice from someone like me, if you lose, just go home, and get back up tomorrow! Bye~!" Then, Yuuki was gone, her final words ratting in my head for a few seconds, then, I watched a tab appear for all of us to see [Event Complete!] A strange blade rests by a large, green tree, investigate it if you desire to know why the sword rests. [ ] Investigate the Purple Sword Optional: [ ] Say the name, 'Absolute Sword' [ ] Battle Yuuki (AKA Zekken) You fought the greatest Swordswoman alive. Even worlds apart, you will both remember each other's strength. [Level Up!] [24 - 25] [Rewards] New Sword Skill can be unlocked! Original Sword Skill - Mothers Rosario [Achievement Unlocked] You Are Never Alone - Find the purple blade under a massive tree "I think.....today was a nice day for a walk." My whisper was light, yet none of them said a word, I merely moved to walk back towards the treeline where the path awaited us, then I turned back with a smug look. "Well, hurry your asses up! I ain't goin' to no Raid Lair solo!?" "Coming boss~!" Seraph muttered, most likely due to the fact that I just got my hands on an exclusive skill, ha! "Wait for us!" Rain called after me with a kind smile Onwards, towards the golden kingdom. [Sword Art Online: Lost Song] "Hey, Yuuki!" At her name, Yuuki's gaze jumped back from her previous encounter, moving to turn to the Black Swordsman, Kirito, he flew down to greet her, but then he noticed her perplexed face, as if she was lost in another world entirely. "You doing ok?" "Huh, oh, yeah-yeah, I actually just got back from a crazy match with someone, I nearly lost!" Yuuki chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck with a cheeky smile, but Kirito was surprised to hear this, coming from her of all people, then he smiled, looking into her eyes with a sense of integrity to challenge this person. Thankfully, Yuuki caught on quickly, wiggling a finger at him. "Nope. This guy's a loooooong distance away, I don't even think he knew what happened, or did he?" "Right...." Kirito trailed off, both confused and disappointed, but Yuuki smiled, placing a hand on her blade, looking off at the sky above her, past the tree that had a few branches missing from their fight, and even scuff marks on the grass below her feet. Even Kirito was baffled by the state of the tree. "Geez, what happened here?" "I hope I can see him again, even if just for a bit. I never really got to talk to his friends." Yuuki smiled, pointing off towards the sun, knowing she could speak to him whenever she felt like it. White said he knew someone like herself, he knew how it felt to be so isolated from the world, that feeling of uselessness, and emptiness. "White, you better prepare yourself, because I'll be coming back for our rematch!!!" To Be Continued.... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 25 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 23 [Stealth class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 20 [Defensive class] Seraph - lvl 24 [Support class] Klaw - lvl 25 [Pyromancer class] SilverCrow - lvl 23 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 23 [Support class] Current Level: 25 Magic: Sky/Air magic Items: New Unlockable Sword Skill New Skills [Sword Skill - Seven Deadly Sins] - Six slashes and a single thrust, triggering defence down and attack down (1H Sword) [Sword Skill - Wrath] - Carve the first letter of 'Wrath' upon your enemies in four sharp lacerations (1H Sword) Author's Note I loved Yuuki, so it only made sense to make her an event, even giving White the chance to gain her OSS skill in the future, I hope you liked their air battle, as I enjoyed writing it, alongside a new part to White that no-one knows, but next time we get some more action! So hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the next chapter! P.S. Hope that ending was a nice touch, I thought it was an interesting point to the story Next Chapter: Quest - [Siege On The Capital] Quest - [Siege On The Capital]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "Sightings of the next Raid Lair in Canternlot have been sighted, with the bearers of the Gemstones of Value awaiting to hear the call of the band of Players who had taken down the very first Raid Lair, and ultimately survived an encounter with the being now holding over 800,000 players hostage-" "Recent reports suggest that a number of deaths were caused my a guild, much like ones meant to be for an equal balance of good, and evil, this one has gone beyond that premise, and....has been sighted by many for killing players, with a total of....oh god, 50 confirmed reports of players dying by their hooves." I nearly wanted to burn the page now "W-What's their name?" Seraph asked me ---~{Phantom}~--- [Highway to Canternlot] "-the last one standing~!" Thus, another talented song by Rain, her angelic voice can be both awesome, and apparently amazing at singing, as we clapped for the performance, making her turn red with a giggle. "Thanks....I-I usually can't sing in-front of anyone." "Talent like yours/All must here/You have a gift." Silver tipped the brim of his hood with a smile, as Rain bowed mid-flight, making us chuckle, before I was shoved from behind We have been travelling to Canternlot for two days now, and finally, we could see the kingdom ahead, as well as a bountiful amount of players and A.I. The kingdom itself was a break-taking sight. A pristine white wall guarded the city, with a perfect view of the many streets that collected together under the shadow of the castle. The fortress itself was certainly grander in person, seeing the spires reach for the clouds, as the waterfalls collected to form rainbows around the cliffs, and mountain, whist the massive complex itself stood against the impossible cliff face of the mountain. 'Magic, when physics are bullshit' "Now, before we continue this conversation, does anyone else notice something strange about where we're heading?" My question brought a few strange looks to my gaze, luckily, all were now paying a perceptive eye to 'Canternlot'. Yeah, I noticed. "Whoever put the names of these places into the game had botched up the name of Canterlot." "Huh, didn't really notice it until you said it." Wow, even Klaw was taken back by it, was I really the only one to notice? Then again, I like the show and I pay close attention to detail, apparently not the staff member who did 'this'. Clearing my throat, I made a gesture to Silver with my hoof. "Continue with what you were going to say." "What of you/Any unknown talent/Behind that smile?" Was this Zer0 impressionist trying to get 'this' dying crow to sing? I mean, if I was by myself atleast the birds would still live, but in front of others? No-no-no-no. So, I shook my head, patting Rain on the back "She's got the talent to move people, I just swing a metal stick around, and things stop. Forever." Emphasizing my point by poking my chest, whist Rain turned red again from me putting her in the spotlight, hey, she had talent, I ain't gonna lie there, that and....I really suck at lying "Speaking of unknown talents, how's about the person under the hood here?" Seraph tapped the mask of Noximillion, making him swipe her hoof away, shaking his head from the ringing, but when he turned, I saw that his eyes were different, a new set of pink eyes stared back at us, whist he seemed to clear his throat "None of your concern, I wish to repay you for saving me White, that, and your goals are thoughtful, unlike the team I was apart of, who later left on their own, I stayed to help others." Noximillion stated Matter of factly, as I beamed with praise again, before he paused, then added. "And....call me 'Nox' for short." "Sure thing, Nox, but I'm curious, what is it that you use as a weapon?" My question brought on the eyes of everyone else's interest, before he looked down, muttering to himself. "Hey, you alright-" "AHHHH!!!" All forms of conversation were thrown away at the scream, making us all look around for any sign of the scream "I see the pony over there!" Pinkie called after a large bounce, her hoof pointing just off the road near....Canternlot, I swear that's going to get old fast. An NPC was being cornered by two crystal snakes. Their bodies shimmering in the sunlight with a glimmer of blues from their hide, as their hollow eyes stared down at their prey. "Annnnd crystal worms?" [Hollow Fang - lvl 30] "Level 30, you're kidding?" Seraph gaped, just as I ran ahead, followed by Silver, us not wanting to wait for the Hollow Fangs to finally finish their meal. When we were close, I drew my blade, and leapt into the air, flying for the one raising its head at the mare. Quickly, my blade flashed orange [Sword Skill - Split Stream] It didn't target us, as I swooped in, before I struck diagonally to the left, quickly bringing my blade back again, striking it diagonally right, merging the strikes in an intersection, before I spun vertically, bringing my blade down the middle of the 'X', bending my body backwards, I lunged in a large horizontal arc through the 'X', the star shattering the spine of the Crystal snake, its body falling to pieces. Then Silver ran atop its fallen body, using it as leverage to swing his body atop the head of the now attacking Hollow Fang. [Sword Skill - Helix] He leapt back from the head thrashing him, spinning around and bringing both magenta blades down in an 'X' formation, thrusting out mid-descent, crossing another 'X', rapidly repeating the first movement on the Hollow Fang's lower back. Debuffing the Hollow Fang with weakness. I was going to strike straight after Silver, but something landed on my head, throwing me back, just as I caught the glimpse of the cyan tail. Falling to my back, I watched Nox swing out from thin air, his menu closing in the instant, a massive Halberd with a black handle, and golden spear head, which connected to the golden axe-head with a crescent blade, which stuck through the other-side of the axe. Then it glowed brown within his red aura, which was strange, since his magic aura was blue the last time. [Earth Seal - Break Beat Bark] He spun around in a barrel roll, bringing the axe crashing atop the dome of the Hollow Fang's head, pulling back and resting it to his far left, he spun once, the spear head tearing through the side of its jaw, quickly levering the polearm downwards, pulling the weapon up vertically from the bottom to top, splitting the Hollow Fang's head in two, that later followed with a burst of colours, mostly consisting of blues, whites, and violets. He then fell back to the earth, using his magic to levitate the halberd to his side, and within moments, he threw his menu open, and unequipped the halberd, much to the small pile of confusion that slowly built in my head. Then I saw it, his eyes turning from red to pink, was that magic or was I losing the plot from two days of travelling, and enemy slaying? Lets hope its the former. "That was something else, I didn't know the game had halberds!?" Rain gushed, and I think pouted, knowing she's been using a polearm as her secondary. Soon the rest joined us, with Klaw being the gentleman or dragon, he is and aiding the mare to her hooves "Are you ok miss?" He calmly asked, before she shook my hoof with a trembling hoof of her own. She was a pink mare, with silver eyes, and even a smooth, silver mane that reached just below her ears "Yes, thank you young man, and you two also!" She breathlessly thanked the three of us, as Silver smiled, and Nox looked towards the capital. "Please, you must help us, if you can spare them your hooves?" Then the question mark appeared, another quest to be obtained I see "Sure, anything we can do to help." Rain butted in with a soft smile, making the old mare relax since there were several armed ponies before her, can't help since she was nearly a reptile meal "The gate to Canternlot is under siege by more of these monsters, no pony knows where they came from, I was caught in the middle of it all until you arrived, but....if you could please do an old mare this wish, and help them defend the gate, I promise to repay you in the future?" She sounded so desperate, but the mention of the Green Zone being under fire, was this recent? Or just a quest? "Of course! You're talking to the greatest guild in Equestria, The Eternal Flame!" Pinkie seemed very excited about that, heck, the old mare's eyes seemed to rest easy at that, then, we saw the quest appear before us [New Quest!] -Siege On The Capital- Crystal monsters have gathered near the South Gate of Canternlot, take them down before they can breach the city! [ ] Fend off the horde of Hollow Fangs Optional [ ] ??!??!!??? "What the heck's with the optional?" Seraph whispered, before I saw the mare begin to walk for the path "Hey, you'll be ok, right!?" Just because she was an A.I didn't mean it was right to let her die, but she nodded calmly, before walking back for the path, leaving me to follow the way-point for the rising land, where the path coiled up the side of the mountain. "We should hurry, I hate to find out that this is a timed mission." "Wait. Klaw, Rain, and White, you three fly ahead, we'll catch up, just encase this is timed, better for someone to reach the peak first." Nox recommended, and it was risky, but at the same time, we were all level 26, and if we stuck together we'd have a better chance. "Well..? Go!" "Right, see you guys topside." Rain agreed, spreading her wings, whist me and Klaw followed suit. If the Hollow Fangs here were as tough as the horde attacking the Green Zone, then we don't have much time to save every player there, we needed to fly, and fly fast [Canternlot South Gate] The three of us pierced through the small layer of clouds, as we came through the white wall, and atop where the path lead, meeting a collection of hills, with the path winding towards the massive white, and gold gate ahead, where magic, and metal rang across the grasslands. From our point, we could see nearly ten crystal enemies, all of which were trying to pull the gate down with determined ferocity. "We need to move!" I rallied, flying for the monsters before they could do more damage, then, I channeled my wings, their length sharpening with a light-blue coat again. "Lets see if this works...." [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] I flew between two Hollow Fangs, lacerating their sides, and ultimately redirecting the aggro of all the monsters, Even a new type. It was a crystal knight, with a clean slate of glass for a face under the helmet, whist it held a shiny spear, with a glass shard as the spear-head, its armour similar to European Armour of the 16th century. [Weapon of Refraction - lvl 31] The lancer struck out at me, trying to piercing my armour, but it only grazed my gauntlets, my left hoof knocking the spear back, before I flew up, avoiding the snapping of the Hollow Fangs. Then I saw the Shadow Shot fly past my face, impaling the lancer through the face, throwing it onto its back. Then Rain flew to my side, her hooves glowing a bright purple again. [Umbra Seal - Gloom Grip] Rain then fired a purple orb into the ground below us, the moment it ruptured, several chains struck out from the orb, latching onto different enemies, pulling them closer to the orb's epicenter. Klaw then dropped low, his palms against each other as the orange aura clouded his claws. [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Crescendo] The nova of flames nearly blinded me, whist burning my eyes as it consumed five crystal monsters, destroying two of them from the impact, however, Klaw blocked a spear with his left arm, the spear-tip puncturing his armour, and damaging his arm, the knight trying to thrust the spear into his stomach, only for Klaw to grab his buster sword, swinging it down in an arc to shatter the lancer's spear, his wings pulling his body back with a massive burst of power. "You alright?" I asked him, as he drunk a health potion, his bar reaching full again, then he smirked with a glint of entertainment "Its been long since we've had a challenge, wouldn't you agree?" At that, my blank stare turned to an evil smirk, yeah, I guess it was a while for him, but I did fight Yuuki just over a day ago, so I need a refreshing change of pace, but this was fun. Our eyes however were drawn to Rain gasping an 'oh' of realization. "Anything?" "Yep, they're all weak to kinetic, and....Sky magic." She then stared at me with a smile, I felt around my jacket for a potion, before I grabbed a blue vile, drinking the contents with a gag, however, my magic bar resorted the piece I was missing, and it boosted the bar beyond its normal length. "I'm all out magic now, good luck!" "Right. Ante Up." Grinning, I raised my sword to my side, its blade glowing a new shade of green, as I felt the magic surge from my arm, to my hoof, then through the blade, as wisps of magic rotated around the edge [Sky Seal - Sacred Calibur] Descending towards the remaining six crystal monsters, I dropped under a Hollow Fang's tail, just as I looked up to see Klaw strike downwards, shattering the tail with his buster sword, before he grabbed it with both hands, swinging the blade in a diagonal arc, breaking a section of the Hollow Fang's face. Rain brought an axe-kick across the jaw of a lancer, pressing her feet to its chest, then pushing off, kicking it backwards into a stun-lock. I came down towards a Hollow Fang, its head lurching up to strike me, so I used my new magical ability, and I raised my blade into the air, the green light flash-banged the area with a brilliant glow, blinding every enemy in my sights, I quickly held my blade to my right side, pulling the edge straight through the side of the Hollow Fang, slicing it in two. Spinning on my back hooves, my wings redirecting me to slice another serpent's body in two, a burst of colour clouding the area. *Thud-Crack* Something cold had struck my back, a surge of pain shaking my spine as I flipped in the air, my mane brushing the dirt road, as I lancer struck out again, digging his spear into the dirt in front of me. Grabbing the staff, I swung my body around the polearm, kicking the lancer across the face, the red flash of light crashed through its skull with a painful crunch, splitting the skull into shards of glass, followed by its body going limp under the buster sword. I grabbed the spear, adjusting it in my grip, then I lobbed it towards Rain, who thankfully saw this, ducking under a swipe of a lancer, and kicking the spear i threw, up, grabbing it in her teeth, then propelling her body over the lancer, his attack missing. Rain drove the spearhead through its face, pulling down with her weight, slicing through its head completely, dropping the final crystal monster into a broken heap "Another bites the dust!" Rain cheered, with Klaw placing his buster sword on his back again, sighing at the cuts on his arms, and stomach, but he was still ok, meanwhile, Rain had a cut on her shoulder, and forehead, and I had one on my back somewhere, along with the one on my stomach too. These A.I certain were more coordinated, wonder if Black's had this problem too? "Aww we missed the fight!" I heard Pinkie's voice over the grassy hills, just as they began to cross over the hill, and-ahh, something kept reflecting light into my face, it was a faint image, but I saw that something was in front of us, standing just off the side of the gateway, I almost didn't see it given the sunny day "What...is that?" Klaw murmured, my eyes narrowed at the more see-through lancer, he held a longsword in his hand, but all other features were clear-glass, almost impossible to see if not for the....name....about its head, it also wasn't visible since.....Rain! [Reflection of Refraction - lvl ???] "Rain, get down!!!" I screamed in utter panic, my hooves quickly pulling Rain's body under me, whist Klaw leapt into the air with his wings, and in the blink of an eye, I watched the thin line of glass sail over us, catching my arm with a clean, cold slice. "Ahh!" The attack vanished after that, the Reflection dropping its guard to stare down at me with a blank face, but its head tilted, and my world bent, even distorted at its gaze. "Wrong.....no normal player......patient zero." Klaw attempted engage it from above, yet its body shattered like glass, its blade being the last to hit the ground before breaking, leaving all of us to stare into space over what had occurred. Releasing a held breath, I looked down to see Rain below me, staring back with a worried expression, before I threw myself off her, touching my arm softly. Then I saw my health bar....it was cut in two from that single strike! "Y-You ok?" Rain asked, handing me a health potion, just as the others came into view, and Rain breathed a shaky breath. "Thanks for saving me there." "Not a problem, just wished I seen that thing sooner." My perception didn't even pick it up, and that voice, what the hell did it do to my head? Quest Complete! -Siege On The Capital- The gate of Canternlot has been kept in check, but something has been awakened.... [ ] Fend off the horde of Hollow Fangs Optional [ ] ??!??!!??? You successfully defended the gate between Canternlot and the crystal monsters! [Rewards] Glass Fragments x8 Hollow Fang x2 1200 Bits 1350 EXP "That 'thing' was and echo of an ancient creature, buried under the kingdom. Its name, was Internal Refraction." We all came to the attention of the guard, the gate now lifted for us to enter, whist the golden pony stood with a respectful gaze. "You saved us from its attack, we thank you greatly for that." "We were given a tip from an old mare, she was the one who warned us of the danger." Klaw explained, leading to the guard to nod, then he gestured to the city inside. City? Kingdom? Both? Ah fuck it "These attacks happen often, usually as skirmishes on any one of the entrances to the kingdom, we could normally close the gates and use the train, but with a repaired piece still in the train-yard, we have little hope of restoring that idea." He explained, looking tired from constantly fighting "Let me guess, those Crystal monsters have overrun the place?" Seraph bluntly pointed the obvious, to which the guard blinked only once with despair. "What ya think, boss, worth goin' huntin'?" "Maybe when we get stronger, it would be good to gain some allies who are still in Ponyville for the Raid Lair, even with the players here, it doesn't hurt to be safe." Concluding my strategy, I watched the others give their own agreements to the plan, then, I grinned like a kid. "Yes! Now we can have fun during the event~!" "There's an event happening?" Nox mumbled, before I grabbed his shoulders, shaking him, it was possibly the greatest holiday of them all, baring my birthday "Why yes, my masked friend, Nightmare Night. Also known as, Halloween~!" I sung with a skip in my step upon my approach to the guard. "When, ahem, Nightmare Night passes, you can be sure that we'll gather that remaining piece you need, no fuss or muss!" "Well, we could sure use some aid, I appreciate it, and, have fun during the festival that'll be held for the event." He wasn't joking....hehehehehahahah! "Ok, people, we need an inn, make it central, where every possible chance to celebrate this event can be seen for miles, MILES I SAY!?" I ordered, marching towards the gate with grin, seeing Seraph face-hoof to my right, whist Rain watched me curiously. Her expression was probably due to my attitude turning into a complete child, but hey, its Hallow's Eeeeeeve~! "Is he really this excited for Halloween?" Rain, my dear, you have a lot to learn about me and my favorite time of year. Then I saw Seraph run up to me, happily hugging me with stars in her eyes again. "Wha?" "Think of the exclusive loot, and the stats they hold. One night to sell limited time information to people for grand prices, it will be a glorious day for an Info Broker!" Now she was laughing with me. To be fair, I didn't pass by the fact that we nearly died from a mysterious entity, but I wasn't going to let that stop me, not with what was around the corner "With the gear from this event, we'll slaughter the next Raid Lair together!" "Lets do it!" Seraph cheered with me, all while the others laughed at our childish antics for what was to come Bring on Hallows Eve! To Be Continued.... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 26 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 26 [Stealth class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 24 [Defensive class] Seraph - lvl 25 [Support class] Klaw - lvl 26 [Pyromancer class] SilverCrow - lvl 25 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 25 [Support class] Current Level: 26 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Glass Fragments x8 Hollow Fang x2 1200 Bits New Skills [Sword Skill - Split Stream] - Strike your opponent with the symbol of stars, paralyzing them (1H Sword) [Sword Skill - Helix] - Three powerful crosses that leave large enemies open to bleed (Dagger) [Earth Seal - Break Beat Bark] - Bury your opponent under your impactful strikes, dazing them with each hit [Umbra Seal - Gloom Grip] - Launch a purple sphere with will lash out, pulling enemies to their knees [Sky Seal - Sacred Calibur] - Your sword shines like a green flash of the sun, use this to blind all that stand before you Author's Note I decided that with Halloween (My Favorite Holiday) coming up, why not make an event before meeting the ones who can open the Raid Lair? So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter too, seeya in the next event! Next Chapter: Event - [Nightmare Night] I'm just a Phantom in your room. With no intent on leaving soon. And you're still not sure just how I got here~! AN: Small hint to what's to come *wink-wink* Event - [Nightmare Night]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "What...is that?" Klaw murmured, my eyes narrowed at the more see-through lancer, he held a longsword in his hand, but all other features were clear-glass, almost impossible to see if not for the....name....about its head, it also wasn't visible since.....Rain! [Reflection of Refraction - lvl ???] "Rain, get down!!!" I screamed in utter panic, my hooves quickly pulling Rain's body under me, whist Klaw leapt into the air with his wings, and in the blink of an eye, I watched the thin line of glass sail over us, catching my arm with a clean, cold slice. "Ahh!" The attack vanished after that, the Reflection dropping its guard to stare down at me with a blank face, but its head tilted, and my world bent, even distorted at its gaze. "Wrong.....no normal player......patient zero." "With the gear from this event, we'll slaughter the next Raid Lair together!" "Lets do it!" Seraph cheered with me, all while the others laughed at our childish antics for what was to come Bring on Hallows Eve! [Golden Bull Inn] What is the best holiday of the year? Now, if that isn't an age old question, then I don't know what is, since there are many arguments brought up over the pros and cons of each holiday, some more specific than others, whist some are endless debates like your birthday or Christmas. Well, take all of those opinions, throw them in a box, then place that box inside of another box, then mail that box to the edge of the world, and have it kicked over the edge. Because I. Love. Hallows Eve. Halloween. Hollows Eve. Day of the Dead. Whichever you call it, the symbolism is the same, a day the souls of those lost come back....or demons, depends on how you view it. But the festivities of it all was what I loved, the candy, all the crazy parties, costumes, just about everything to do with the holiday. But now, I was on a mission, leaving the rest to do what they wanted, whist I enjoyed the night with a gleeful smile, the streets beginning to come to life before my eyes. Sure, its a Death Game, but its still a game, and it knew how to make an event! Now among the spotlights of the golden kingdom, I could only grin madly at the sight of all the players and A.I that roamed the streets this night. All the streets were decorated with jack 'o lanterns, as streamers hung from buildings and lanterns, I even saw players wearing vanity items to become more in-tune with the Event, which also hosted countless stalls to browse for special items for the night. Hallows Eve truly begun with a bang. "Wonder if Rain or Seraph are around? Maybe they'd like to....uhh, 'hang out', I believe is the term? God I'm out of sync with socialization." My mental note made to keep my eyes open for them, I proceeded down the street, taking in all the sights and sounds of the event. Many ran past me, doing event quests, whist wearing masks of creatures, and significant ponies on their faces. Some wore clothing from the event that glowed or changed colours too, and I think I saw a Warframe a few feet to my left. "I love this holiday." "We are glad to hear from thee." Old English, six o' clock. Turning around, my eyes came face-to-face with the Princess of the Night herself, Luna. Her mane was almost invisible due to the stars in the night, but the lights around us kept that from happening, but judging by her gaze on my own, she was....off, shall we say? "Art thou Sir Hat are sister talked of?" I see that she trying 'not' to speak in Old English, but I like it, just ask Klaw "Well, Princess." Hey, I like her, so respect is respect. "You can call me White, but if you want to keep up the Old English, that's fine, I like it. But yes, that's me." Her stern expression did relax a little, damn these A.I have evolved, I can't even place her as just a bunch of '1s' and '0s'. "But without any delays, what has the Nocturnal Monarch wish of someone as insignificant as me?" "Aid." Huh, didn't see that coming, nor did I expect to see her tonight, well isn't tonight a great time? "We wish for your aid on this night." "What might that be?" Now she's got my interest, that, and the 'Quest Icon' just popped up above her "Thou does not know of this night. Our festival of the lost, a time of memory....and nightmares." Luna seemed particular uncomfortable at that phrase. "I ask thee because of your sibling. Black." That perked my ears to full attention, my eyes widening slightly "You know Black? B-but when did-" She raised a hoof. "Ahem, continue." "When we were Nightmare Moon, we were saved by Sir Hat, and Mistress Serafin, now free, we see thou's resemblance, so we wish you to aid us." I see, whatever my asshole of a brother did must have been about Nightmare Moon, so, because we share the same 'Hat' and the fact we have similarities could be why she picked me out of the bunch, cleaver, but a little strange. Who this 'Serafin' chick? "Alright then, Luna, whatever you need, I'm all ears." I nodded once, though she didn't seem phased by the lack of title, and soon she spoke again, this time for in clear English "Long ago, this festival was once a ritual to cast off all those who wronged Equestria, banishing them from those we wish to remember this night. But lately, those corrupt few have returned, one of which who plans to bring herself back from beyond. We wish you to find the 'Nightmare of Ethereal Souls' and put her back in her grave." Luna definity hated this mare, whoever she was by the tone of her voice, but I nodded. This made the Lunar Princess smile slightly. "I trust thou shall prevail." With that, she bowed her head, and went off on her own once more [Event - Nightmare Night] Investigate the mysterious crevasse of Blackrock Hollow. [ ] Investigate the crevasse [ ] Defeat Nightmare "You have quest/One in the same/This is interesting." I was startled suddenly by the appearance of Silver, whist beside him stood Nox himself, his eyes a yellow since he was chuckling under his helmet after my sudden freak-out "T-that was g-gold~!" The guy continued to laugh beside Silver, who held back his own rising smirk, and my face turned red whist I readjusted my glasses "Hardy har, atleast I don't sound like a girl." That caused Nox to freeze, his eyes turning a new shade of green "I'll let you have that, this time." And thus, the score was tied, I like Nox, he knew how to have a banter every now and then, but Silver then got between us, looking between me and Nox with an inquisitive gaze. "Ah, shit, right. So you just picked up a quest in Blackrock Hollow, right?" "Aye." I nodded "Same for us too. This quest puts a few players together for a joint quest, and it seems we're the lucky threesome." Wow, phasing could be better mate, whist Silver cleared his throat "Ignoring Nox/We must move/Timed Event." Really? Didn't know that, guess I haven't done any quests with these two yet, so this could be fun "Alrighty then, who's ready to slay a nightmare?" [Blackrock Hollow] The street we now stood on looked so...displaced. The street dug its cracked, and sometimes glowing tarmac into Canternlot's smooth roads, twisted, lifeless trees coiled around lampposts and buildings that touch its perimeter, whist the sky was blanketed with clouds, and a bright, orange hunter's moon seeped through the cracks. Houses stood at irregular shapes, either longer, twisted slightly at the corners, or elongated into misshapen towers. Jack o'f lanterns littered the streets, faces of laughter and horror thrown about the spooky town of Blackrock. "Ok, this right here, makes me wonder how this isn't working its way for a higher rating sometimes." Nox pointed out nervously, finding the whole scene to be unnerving, yet when she looked at me....I was smiling. "Aaaaand you've completely lost it, great." "Not so bad/Chilling/But a festival." Silver agreed, sticking close to us, whist other player walked by, some in groups, and others on their own, knocking on doors, and saying, and I quote, 'Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, give us something sweet to bite.', catchy, if not a little creepy. "Houses of colour/All specific/Neither the same." "Wha?" Nox drawled out at the confusing Haiku "To translate, he mean that every house so far has something unique to them. Some with colour, others with symbolism, see?" I raised my wing, and pointed to a few houses. One was decorated like a cabin, with a hockey mask on the front door, and a machete dug into a tree stump. Another was all orange and green "Right, so our quest is to do with 'The Nightmare of Ethereal Souls', any guess what that is?" Nox offered to me, so I thought on it "Well, Souls would be classed under colours of blues, and reds, even whites and blacks. Ether is the energy of the universe itself, matter but not matter, either aging or changing." I muttered to them, slowly turning to look at the street before us "Taken." What? Me and Silver turned towards Nox, his eyes a normal pink again. "You say that this 'Ether' stuff isn't normal, not to time or space, right?" I nodded, and he rolled his eyes. "Oryx, The Taken King. His army is a collection of souls, white and black, and the energy left behind makes things float. Like 'that'." He then turned out heads with his magic towards a house to the corner of the street. Before us, a house of wood, with some tainted by a strange, blue remnant energy, whist rocks, and lawn ornaments floated around the house itself, with area's distorted by the remnant ether that tainted the wood. Seems it is like the Taken. "Ladies first." Nox shoved me forward, my glare snapping to look at him, whist he narrowed his gaze, so I turned, and walked down the small tile path. "Let the record show, no denial." "Shut it, Frenchy." The look he gave me got a smirk to rise. Yeah, I know you're name is the same 'Nox' from a french show, I ain't dumb. "Ha, nerdiness strikes again." "Go!" Silver snapped at us, and we proceeded up the steps, the floor boards creaking with each step. Before us, a blacken door, with a strange, symbol resembling that of an alicorn, etched into the wood. Looking between each-other, expressions of uneasiness, and determination mingling between us, and so, I raised my hoof *Knock-Knock-Knock* "Uhh....?" 'Uhh' is right, Silver, so let me take the reins now. Clearing my throat, I stepped a little closer "Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, give us something sweet to bite!" I chanted with a smile, whist Nox face-hoofed, yet, that changed in an instant, since I could exactly feel the floor under us. "Oh no...." "Don't tell me. The floor's gone isn't it?" Nox asked me bluntly, clearly bemused "Yep." I replied, popping the 'P' "Bottomless abyss too?" Again I nodded, my eyes glued to the door "Most likely." "Bring/It/On." Thank you Silver [Well of Forgotten Souls] "Did anyone get the address of that....bitch who made this entrance!?" I groaned, having Nox and Silver atop my spine was not light in the slightest, and the pommel of my blade was sticking into my side "Harbinger." Nox coughed "Thank you." I sighed, pushing the two off my back to allow me to breathe. "My bloody sword was stuck in my lower stomach, and I don't think its suppose to do that." "Spectacular." Silver muttered, the three of us moving back onto our hooves. When our vision came back into view of our new surroundings, we stood before an old summoning temple. Four pillars stood high with spiral steps leading up, and a smooth, grassy floor where we landed. Runes hummed in tangent to a beat from somewhere, and on the three outer pillars stood three black orbs, humming with purple energy, as wisps of light were drawn into them "A ritual, surprise, surprise." Nox gloated, raising his Halberd in his magic. "Guessing we just break 'em." "Perhaps, but....and give it a moment...." I raised a hoof slowly, my eyes widening comically. "Any moment.....Now!" "Muhahahahaha~!" Called it. The cackling finally brought our attention to the center pillar ahead of us, away from the three orbs that sat dormant on the others, it was time for the Boss Battle, and our she came. "Couldn't leave me well enough alone, could you? Sending your pawns after me, Princess. Everything was going well, until you three came along. Fine, let's settle this....NOW!" Our weapons at the ready, we watched as a mare floated down from the darkness above us. Her purple coat was near blackened with a sickly, yellow webbing of veins running across her body, with eyes a voidless black, and lime-glowing eyes, trails of green dancing around the corners of her eyes with her movements. A simple, worn cloak hung snug around her shoulders, with dirt and ash sticking to the cloth to glue. Her tail was wavy like the Princesses, only it flowed like snakes, snapping and hissing around the aura that coated them, her horn an emerald glow of magical ether. Whist her bright purple-black mane did the same, only the left side stuck close to her muzzle, but small glimpses of a skeletal feature was clear as day. [Nightmare of Ethereal Souls - lvl 30] Then she sprouted black wings twice the size span of her body, with a thin line of mint-green running across the bone, glowing with a resonate beat to the crystals on the other pillars. From there, her body rose to hover just above the platform, her horn brightening the orange lanterns and jack o' lanterns around us, leading to Silver to pull me and Nox behind our small barricade, whist he channeled magic into his hooves, a light orange glow to them. [Aura - Gaia's Closure] The small wall soon earned a thin line of orange, and we could only spectate the mass of electrical, emerald blasts striking the rim of the barricade, only to see the magic dissipate upon contact, ok, that's two I now owe Silver, lucky him. Meanwhile, Nox was looking at the Mare, trying to use his own magic as a counteroffensive, but from a simple pulse of magic from his horn, the contact it made to the Boss merely tickled her, not even damaging her for 10 hit points. "Anymore bright ideas?" I mused, seeing the sharp, crimson glare under the mask strike me. Moving to look over the ridge, I saw that the wisps were drawn to the orbs of darkness, then to her, creating a thin layer around her body. Perhaps that's her weak point. "Ok, I think this is pretty easy, if two of us can draw her fire, one of us can strike down the orbs, taking those out might weaken her, or even banish her for good." "Banish?" I like Nox, he asks the questions, better than Silver, cause sadly, I can't understand the guy half the time "She's not 'alive' right now, this is her soul trying to rebuild her body, hence the orbs protecting, and harnessing lost souls, her name says it all." Seeing that my plan had logic to it, Silver looked towards the right pillar, seeing that the start of the staircase faced us "Nox shall go unseen/A ghost among us/Strike her down." I looked to Nox for confirmation, and he he nodded, spinning his halberd around to rest next to his side when he ran out from the cover, the volley of attacks following. Then I sprung into the air, channeling the mint-green light into my blade [Sky Seal - Sacred Calibur] A blinding flash of green embraced the area, causing the bombardment of magical attacks to change to me, moving away from Nox when she turned up the steps, moving past the mare quickly. Seeing me flying, she grinned, channeling her magic again, then, an aura expanded across the temple, then I saw Silver below, running out of a large, green circle that appeared on the floor, whist one appeared on the ceiling above me. [Aura - Tainted Ether] I flew downwards, avoiding a cloud of poisonous gas from infecting me, but the stench was painful to smell, even my eyes stung from just being near it, which lead to my health being stuck but another bombardment of magic blasts, as they chipped their way at my health, dropping a third of my health, so I flew behind another pillar, the green blast shattering like glass beside me, whist Silver ran up the side of another pillar, his daggers in-hoof, whist the Nightmare's attacks followed him, so he pushed off the pillar with his legs, flipping over the circular line of attacks, his daggers a dark purple. [Sword Skill - Strider's Light] Silver's body spun like a buzz-saw, striking the back and head of the Nightmare, his body descending upside-down to come face-to-face with her, before spinning his daggers around, and striking down, hard, in an 'X', the purple blinding her, but not damaging her by much. Using this moment, Silver, pressed his back hooves atop her muzzle, throwing her down, whist pushing himself towards the pillar behind him, so he sunk a dagger into the side, using it to scale the pillar to the orb above. He then nodded to me. *SHATTER* "AAAAAaaahHHH!" The Nightmare wailed in pain once Nox thrusted the axe-head of the halberd into the orb, shattering it after the third, lumbering swing from the left, slicing the glass-like orb in two. "You vile gnat!" "Kiss my ass, bitch." He nodded up to challenge the mare to focus on him, whist I flew for the second orb, it was a simple fight, but it kept you moving fast, since the area kept the pillars spaced apart to near the length of a stadium. Not wanting to keep Nox on the endurance for long, I folded my wings, sliding down atop the pillar and looking directly at the purple orb, yet....I felt something....staring back "Hehehehe....having fun?" Harbinger....his voice was so clear, yet no-one else heard him, that snake-tongue, the cunning chuckle between his sharp smile. "Now-now, Cayde Redfox, lets not spoil this night....." I was pale in the face, my heart stopping once his voice vanished as easily as it came, he knew me, my 'Real Name', he's gotten deeper into the CCG, and while that occurred, we barely scratched this game of his. Finding a new type of anger, I thrusted my blade through the orb, shattering it with a sickening 'crunch' of glass rubbing against itself like sandpaper, followed by the mare falling to her knees in pain, crying out. Looking at my party, Nox was still in the green, but a few ticks of yellow, Silver was too, and I....was near full, ok, better than I expected. "You're up next, Silver!" I called out, and he had just managed to make his way up to his orb. What he didn't see was the Nightmare charging her horn again, this time a more concentrated orb of magic condensed before us, and Nox was already on the case, as in, he literally ran up the spiral steps of the pillar towards Silver, his eyes a steely grey, then, he thrusted the halberd through the center of the orb, just before Silver could touch it, causing the shattering effect to throw him back slightly in surprise, yet the Nightmare still managed to fire off the final bolt of magic, her screams dying out with her melting form, her soul falling apart at the seams "Get down!" Now 'that' was clear as day, the voice sounded so smooth, harsh and cold too, but it was clearly feminine in nature. Silver was quickly tackled off the side of the pillar though, the orb of magic striking the side of Nox's muzzle, and I felt my heart sink upon watching the green bar turn yellow, then just as quickly turn a bright red. That one attack nearly one-shot Nox, who now fell towards the ground with Silver, his eyes wide with horror I flew down to help, and I watched in relief as Silver wrapped his hooves around Nox, pulling him close to use his back as a shield, the two hitting the floor with a painful 'thud', the Zer0 faker crying out at the sharp slap I heard, but he was thankfully ok, his health only dropping slightly, but that fall would have killed Nox. "You.....fine?" Silver gasped heavily, looking up to see Nox and - O-oh....wow. Silver's face earned a new shade of pink at the close proximity to the 'girl' that looked down on him, Nox's hair now a wild mess of blues, and her deep crimson eyes quickly turning to her usual pink, but she too sighed, and threw herself off the guy, a red tint across her muzzle. "Ow...." "You guys alright?" I asked warily, though Nox....I doubt it was the health that concerned her at this point, since she looked at the mask in her hoof, and back to us with a stern gaze. Meanwhile, I helped Silver to his hooves again, the defeat of the boss could wait. "Uhh, you ok, Nox?" "Do I look dead to you?" She spat angrily, though I couldn't tell if it was because of how she landed or the pain of being struck with magic, or both, heck if I had an answer after this turnabout storm "Well....no, no you don't." I replied simply "Then what!?" Her eyes went to a deep crimson again Both of us stared in shock, with Silver having the more dramatic reaction since she did land atop him after her daring save, but why? He would have lived? Maybe it was like me, a reflex, a spur of the moment. Not minding that the area around us was transforming into....whatever it was becoming, we looked to Nox, who threw her broken mask aside, shattering upon contact with the ground, a scowl matching her conflicted gaze "Ok-ok-ok, hold the metaphorical phone, you were a girl this whole time?" I stated the obvious, sure, but from how she reacted I should have guessed it was a bad touch "Yeah, I am, wise-ass! See why I put my face under 'that' mask!? Cause of 'this'!" She pointed a hoof dangerously at me and Silver, with Silver still looking at her with a blank stare. "'Oh look I'm a girl', what difference does it make! Apparently alot since that line was drawn God knows how many centuries ago! Thanks to that, and my fucking life, I thought that this would be my chance to be....me, but no, soon as the mask comes off I'll still be treated the same!" "Wait, what makes you think being a girl is going to change how we see you? You're still Nox, that doesn't matter-" I was cut off, whist a pit of regret built in my stomach "It does to me!" She snapped back to look away from us, her head low. "You can walk around without so much as a prying eye looking at you funny, lustfully even. You aren't treated different just because a few things about you are different, but for me? Yeah, it is, and now that my mask's off, no point trying to lie that I 'messed up' during the creation phase, that's shit isn't my style." "Nox." I didn't speak, instead, Silver stood up, and she looked back at us, more specifically at Silver, who stared at her with a neutral gaze, unlike her crimson one, meaning she wasn't particularly amused, and I can't blame her, while I never saw this difference between girls and guys, she did, and its dug into her more times than a needle to me, I'm a complete, and total ass now. "Different yes/Person no/Same Nox you are." "What the hell are you talking about?" Nox snapped, turning to face him directly. "You don't have any reason to hide, I do, because then there's no-one in this damn world that will see me the same way, without that mask, I'm not Nox, I'm just...." "What?" Silver echoed, with confliction dancing in Nox's eyes "I-I don't know, alright! Didn't plan on this happening!" She was confused, possibly scared, even sad. But it seems Silver has this handled better than me "You're Nox/Our Guild Member/My friend." Nox flinched when his hoof rested on her shoulder, making her look anywhere by at us. Whist Silver smiled a little. "Who....a-are....you?" Was that a stutter? Or is Silver still processing this as much at me? Probably the latter. But Nox did look back, a ghost of a smile tugging back at her muzzle again, though she still seemed apprehensive. "Nox. Both a member of a guild run by a lunatic-" "You love me!" I called back "-And....you're friend, Silver, if that's still real." She sounded so fearful at that, did she think we were going to abandon her? Not a chance in hell-wait....what was that noise? "Very." Silver nodded to her question, then she turned away, red crossing her face when she rubbed the back of her mane "Man, that was...sorry, for yelling like that, kind-of lost it after all this time." We merely waved her off, knowing how easy it was to lose your cool in a game, happens to the best of us "Now, I'd love to sit and chat on the fact that my hunch was right after all this time, really I do, but....do you guys hear that music?" I wasn't going to drop the subject that Nox was a girl the whole time, but something about hearing music playing often leads to danger, yet in this case, something....Phantom of the Opera was playing, and getting louder In a literal que of the drums beating with the chorus of trumpets and guitars, orange and yellow danced with the lights of green and purple, flashing and dancing the beat of the darkness that now dimmed around us, the chamber becoming more and more illuminated by the lights, highlights of bats, ponies, spiders and pumpkins staining the walls in a glowing fashion. Meanwhile, all of us stood perfectly still, merely turning our heads at the sounds and lights. [NateWantsToBattle - Phantom] LYRICS I'm just a phantom in your room With no intent on leaving soon And you're still not even sure just how I got here Another ghost that's in your bed That you wish you could leave for dead Ain't no magic word can make me disappear Now that room it starts to dim Set the mood for onset sin And now we're passed out on the floor of your apartment With every single warning sign It passed you up and slipped you by But we're all bound to end up back to where we started Make no mistake I'll break you down Shout it around town I'm not what you want But I'm exactly what you need Take a bite and feed Your satisfaction guaranteed I'm your sunshine whoa I'm gonna burn down your parade I'm a shooting star That wish you wished you never made Don't wanna take a leap of faith You wanna do this face to face And like an animal the instincts taken over There ain't nothing to debate Blow this purgatory state The city lights will drown you out in the exposure Now that room it starts to dim Set the mood for onset sin And now we're passed out on the floor of your apartment With every single warning sign It passed you up and slipped you by But we're all bound to end up back to where we started Make no mistake I'll break you down Shout it around town I'm not what you want But I'm exactly what you need Take a bite and feed Your satisfaction guaranteed I'm your sunshine whoa I'm gonna burn down your parade I'm a shooting star That wish you wished you never made Startling us again, we watched as the lights revealed a small collection of equine skeletons, those same Pumpkinlings from the boss fight, and even some unicorn witches, dancing and singing alongside the cackling voice that echoed from every corner of the festive musical. This world is what you need Where the monsters roam and the demons all feed Relax don’t you look so wary It’s all only temporary We roam and sing along While the choir joins in sing an abhorrent song We bite it’s a little bit scary The pain’s only temporary For a small moment, whist the next chorus played in a soft whisper, the lights went dark around us, the shadows of a laughing jack o' lantern dancing among the shadows, but now, the voice felt like a cold rush up my spine, all the three of us looked between each other, our ears flicking to the sound coming from behind us. Slowly, along with my heart threatening to burst, we turned, and soon saw a massive, golden, jagged smile hovering in the air, alongside two massive, curved, pupiless eyes, also golden in colour. I'm not what you want But I'm exactly what you need Take a bite and feed Your satisfaction guaranteed The the lights came on brighter than ever before, revealing the two-story creature with inky-black skin....just like Harbinger! I'm not what you want But I'm exactly what you need Take a bite and feed Your satisfaction guaranteed I'm your sunshine whoa I'm gonna burn down your parade I'm a shooting star That wish you wished you never made Wish you wished you never made..... The song was finally coming to a close, with the piano playing the song out, whist the creature slowly shrunk before our fearful eyes, down to the size of a regular person now, but it was no mistake, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing, yet given my recent days, this was real, and truly terrifying. Smiling, the creature wore a black suit, with a fur lining for his cuffs and collar, a golden tie, white shirt, and a top hat with two cards strapped into the side with velvet fabric, both an ace of hearts and spades. "Hope you liked that introduction, though I'd keep it into the spirit of Halloween or Nightmare Night, in this world's case. The name's Gambit, Nightmare of Equivalent Exchange, and I'd like to say." He paused, bowing once to us. "Hello.....and so I have, now then, lets get down to business gnats, I have work that needs doing, and info that requires gathering!" Clapping his hands, the lights all went back to normal, revealing a treasure trove of items, gear, and other unknown devices and entities While the horror that another 'Nightmare', I guess that's what Harbinger is too, was now looking at us with a cunning grin, and narrowed eyes was unsettling, I couldn't help but marvel at the collection we stood upon, the plus catwalk we stood on, and around the circular center Gambit stood at, all the empty space gave weigh to items galore, with shelves holding onto collections of mystical gear, and....wait, it that the Infinity Gauntlet!? He had meta too? An Iron Man armour, A three star dragon ball in the corner next to a chaos emerald, what the- "Fucking Christ, he's got everything!" Couldn't have worded any better, Nox, even she and Silver were wide-eyed at the items, but whist they gawked, I turned my eyes to the Nightmare, his eyes back to a neutral stare of gold, but my own hardened into a glare "Who are you?" I wasn't going to hold back, not when I could get answers. He only looked the other way for a moment "Uhh....Gambit? Trader of the Multiverse? Collector of all that is and isn't Meta? Been to alot of places too, so the titles stack with time, but to be fair, you are in the collection of a few that have yet to attack me, which is good 'cause I'd hate to waste good investments in a new land I've never seen before." He explained with a tangent, then his eyes seemed to...sparkle? "I mean, lots of new items, new partners to obtain, and with that Nightmare being here this could be fun~!" "Hold on-hold on, rewind that, you...know that asshole?" Nox backpedaled to stand with me, though I'm glad she felt a little more comfortable around me and Silver without the mask, perhaps like before, she'll accept the others too, maybe "By 'asshole' you mean 'Harbinger, Nightmare of Wardens'? Then yes, I know 'somethings' about that asshole." Gambit waved a hand with bemusement, conjuring a seat to fall back on the face us, his eyes warping into what looked like confusion. "To be honest, I followed him since he was rambling about 'remaking the worlds into a domain for Nightmares to truly be the apex' or whatever, guy's a lunatic, but surprisingly his plan so far has been....insightful, shall we say?" "So, you're not like him then?" When I asked that, he chuckled darkly, causing my hoof to twitch at my blades "'Like him'? Nope, though its rare to see, I'm a Nightmare that sees all living beings as something more than 'souls to collect', to put it simply, us Nightmares have the innate ability to absorb souls and grow stronger, those like me and 'asshole' who wear clothing have been around long enough to the souls to manifest as cloth, so we are far more powerful. We consume, control, destroy, or atleast most of us, so count your souls lucky to be in the presence of the Multiverse's second strongest Nightmare!" He proudly glowed under a light, until it broke, showing him in glass "Second strongest...." I almost felt a wave of terror fly over me again, though he was boastful in tone, just his earlier display was enough to prove he wasn't like Harbinger, he had reality manipulation, and alot of keen observation under his belt, seeing his vast collection was proof of that "Now-Now, much as I enjoy company, I have to make this quick, but I'll be around, just come back to my humble abode if you want to trade or just chat, I like chats." Gambit cleared his throat with a humble chuckle, though it was like a crazed nutcase than a normal laugh. Flicking a few cards in his fingers, he held them out with pictures of what appeared to be trades, and how they worked. "Simple trading is my job. You want something, give me something of equal value. Or, you can ask for a deal, if I see the value to be of my own amusement, I'll see my end of the bargain is done to professional standards, guaranteed." As if sensing the urge to remember, he clicked his claws with wide eyes, and before us, three tabs appeared Event Complete! Investigate the mysterious crevasse of Blackrock Hollow. [ ] Investigate the crevasse [ ] Defeat Nightmare You discovered the dark ether of Nightmare Night and sealed it away, until next year.... [Level Up!] [27 - 28] [Rewards] Free Favor X1 [Achievement Unlocked] Red Death - Obtained an Item of Red Tier Quality "A Red Tier/Certainly Strange/I am Pleased." Silver gawked to the point his jaw was going to unhinge, but Gambit flicked a card from his finger, and soon the thin slip of cardboard stopped under his chin, defying all physics, before rising to close his jaw. "What?" "So, this thing gives us a deal from you, huh?" Nox asked the Nightmare with a suspicious glare, making him chuckle whist rubbing his arms "Ooooh, you have an icy stare to rival my old buddy Callus. Just sayin', that guy's got a serious anger problem, more than a hybrid should, but then again his girlfriend is a dragon hybrid sooooo...." Gambit sure loved to go off on rambles, but he nodded. "But yes, although if you wish to cash that in now, I am bound to silence our talk until we're done, privacy of the trade." "....What you guys think? Want to trade with him, could be a good chance to do so before the Raid too?" I offered my word, I was fine with either, but the impression I kept tagging off this guy rubbed me the wrong way, something about his strength seemed....wrong, like it was veil to cover what he really was, but....he's looking right at me, that sly grin, the way his eyes warped with his expressions, the jack 'o lantern grin....was does he know, about me? Or Harbinger? "I'm up for it....but when we're done, mind helping me with a new mask....I..." Nox paused for a moment, rubbing the back of her mane with a hoof nervously. "I'm not quite ok with the others knowing 'what' I am, for now atleast." For a girl who happened to be callus and cold, she certainly feels insecure about her gender, but given stereotypes I've heard online, its no wonder she hid behind a mask, must be hard for her Before I could say a word, I was surprised to see Silver place a hoof on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring look from under his hood, his eyes lingering on her own soft blue eyes, which slowly turned back to a pink tone. It must have been an empathy spell, her eyes act like a mood stone and act accordingly to her emotions, fancy stuff, but still. "No-one will know/Await for your word/Trust us." Silver answered her concerned with another Haiku, but a small smile did tug at the corners of her muzzle, then we heard the clapping, the touching friendship shattered by the massive grin of the Nightmare on his seat. Stepping forward, Silver moved to stare up at Gambit. "I shall play/You shall listen." "And I will find a translator for you." Gambit added with a smug look, I think? Its hard to read this guy. With that said, he clapped his hands to silence their words for a minute, their mouths moving, expressions changing, yet me and Nox were left with only silence, so I decided to act on this moment "So, what you said before, about 'being treated like the rest'?" I was still curious, and it seemed that Nox expected this, judging by her sigh and abrasive look "White, when you spend your life with those richer, stereotypes get....suffocating. You're a girl, so you do this a certain way, you act a certain way to meet expectations, that crap got to me quick, about the 'only' family I have is my other siblings, and this maid of ours who was more like a mother than the bitch I have to call one, my dad tries, but he's always away so the times he does show himself he could only sit a listen to me complain, no use trying to fix what would take hours." Nox spat bitterly at memories before me, turning to look at the mountains of mystical items. "I liked this show with them too, gave me a few laughs, despite what I may say about Pinkie, she's fun, y'know?" "I see." She then continued "Now, I have this rag-tag group of guys who....see me as a friend, and the fact you two still see me a such is....still alot to take in. Ive seen shit that makes me harder to trust others with the real me, so I came here, dawned my mask, and here I am, the rest you can fill in yourself due to your crazy perception to this stuff." Nox waved from over her shoulder, as she sat down on her haunches, groaning once "You know, hiding behind a mask isn't always going to work. Try as you might, the reality we are in still stares at us, you came here to run from that, yet you want to be free as much as the rest of us. My guess, you want to keep those you can call 'family' happy, am I right?" She turned her head at that, looking at me with a surprised expression which made me chuckle a little. "You do love them, and I doubt you can say otherwise." "Why would I? You're alot smarter than you look, White, but....that's also why I think I can trust you, why we all can." Nox then got up, walking up to me with a strong look in her eyes. "I...well, nearly died back in the first raid, and to know I could have died back then scared me more than I think I realized, yet you saved me, a random player brought together to fight a boss, even now you continue to strive to kick Harbinger's ass into the curb. So I trust you, no bullshit." I did feel a little heat rise to my face at that, I mean sure, I saved her, and some others over the time we've spent here, but to know I made this much of an impact on Nox, and most likely the rest was a little unnerving. Great power, great responsibility to use it right, and in this world, I had that power, so I'll be sure to use it. "You two done, I got renovations planned ya know?" Gambit's voice made us jump, and we saw that Silver now held a silver mask, the eyes on it alight with a pink glow to them, and from just the screen, I could see it was a Red Tier item, 'Face of The Lost'. But he held it out to Nox, a....wait, was he embarrassed? Huh, that's new "Here." Holding it out to Nox, who stood with a perplexed face, her eyes wide with shock over how he just handed a golden ticket to whatever he wanted, just to give her a new mask. "If broken/Will return to you/A veil of unbreaking." "I...you gave your reward up....for me?" Nox sounded like she was crossed between anger, and a strange, touched tune in her voice, but her hoof did reach out to take it, before she slipped the plate over her muzzle again, the lights flashing once, before the lights near the bottom of the mask turned off, symbolizing that her bottom eyelids had risen slightly. "T-thanks, Silver." Her voice even sounded more robotic, and he nodded with a shy expression. "Right then, sign me up next, I have an idea of what I want!" "Clear to the point. Like it." Gambit gave her a thumbs up, and then clapped his hands. Within a small moment of silence, I did see Gambit's eyes widen, and his grin turned to an 'O' of dawning realization, but he soon clapped, and the silence was gone around them. "Well then, this night is certainly one for my amusement, so....do we have a deal too, White?" "Yeah, I have a deal." Looking back at Silver and Nox, the two of them now talking amongst themselves, the lights ever-changing on Nox's mask, with Silver humming to himself with an amused grin made me think of something. They were happy, in this world, where death followed us, Harbinger's wrath clear as day, and the Phantom guild lurking in the shadows, that contrast gave me an idea, one that I was sure to use one day when I knew I needed it. "Gambit, how far can you go to manipulate this world?" I never saw a creature ever smile so crazily before. To Be Continued.... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 28 [Offensive class] SilverCrow - lvl 26 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 26 [Support class] Current Level: 28 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Strange Ether X1 New Skills [Sword Skill - Strider's Light] - Quick, acrobatic strikes to blind your targets (Daggers) [Aura - Gaia's Closure] - A veil around object that aids in reflecting magical attacks (Feel safe under her arms) [Aura - Tainted ether] - A large AOE that poisons the air in a circular zone (Effective on any solid surface) Author's Note This was the biggest chapter I've made this arc! Can't say it doesn't have a little bit of everything, I love this holiday so much! . Hope you enjoyed this holiday special, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Story [Striders of Blackfall] With the eventual Nightmare Night behind them, say for Silver, Nox, and White, the Guild will finally meet the Guild that holds the keys to the next vault, and a not so happy reunion. Story - [Striders of Blackfall]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- we looked to Nox, who threw her broken mask aside, shattering upon contact with the ground, a scowl matching her conflicted gaze "Ok-ok-ok, hold the metaphorical phone, you were a girl this whole time?" "Hope you liked that introduction, though I'd keep it into the spirit of Halloween or Nightmare Night, in this world's case. The name's Gambit, Nightmare of Equivalent Exchange, and I'd like to say." He paused, bowing once to us. "Hello..... [Canternlot Castle] "You know, now I look at this place, its like the person who constructed this place was compensating for something." That got a soft chuckle from a few of us, before Nox snorted, the girl acting as a guy looked through her mask with a bemused expression, the lights of the mask narrowing at me "As funny as that comment was....why in the name of Irene are we here again? Thought our mission for today was to find the missing train piece?" Nox questioned me, which I was still gunning for, we just needed to see the others before we moved out on a separate errand "We will, but Celestia wanted us to meet with the team who wield the chosen relics to open the Raid Lair, just so we know who we'll be working with, and vice versa." I explained, before I pushed the massive doors open, and entered a large, circular room, with a massive table, with chairs in the center of the place, with a pristine crystal lacrima dangling from the ceiling above us, its contents humming a soft, golden glow of light On one end of the table, I saw the Princess herself from the Nightmare Night festival, a pleasant smile gracing her muzzle upon our arrival. "Nice to meet you all again, I hope the festival was to your liking?" Celestia asked us warmly, as I grinned from ear-to-ear. Oh, and it seems Celestia had met some of us previously on the 31st, which makes sense how she knows some of us, though I wonder if Luna's around? "Hell yeah, you know how to truly go all out for my favorite time of the year, I even got me some new stuff from the event." I happily complimented, before I heard the door open behind us. "Oh, guess we'll talk about last night at a later date?" "I would like that, Mr Hat, but right now I would like all of you to meet the ponies that wield the relics of this kingdom's most darkest secret." Oooh, ominous! Seeing the doors open brought us to our attention, the group of six ponies trot into the room, their weapons, and armour clanking off each other as they walked into the light of the room The first, most likely their leader, was a brown unicorn. His mane was dirty blonde, and tied in a warrior's wolf tail, same for his tail, his eyes were cobalt, and he had a beard. His body was platted in gold armour, the same type as the Royal Guard, so it was certainly rare, but not uncommon, but he wore a golden greatsword, with rubies dawning the hilt, and guard. [Laxus - lvl 34] To his left was another unicorn mare with a pink coat like Pinkie's, and with a long, white mane and tail. Her eyes were emerald green, and she wore red robes, with gold, and white lines across the middle, rim of her folded hood, back, and some arcane runes on the back. Whist she carried an oak staff on her back, with a topaz twisting around the branches at the top. She was one of the three with a sweet smile on their faces. [Summer - lvl 29] Last on the left was a Changeling, with crimson wings, and eyes, and had black leather adorning his black body, with a bandana covering his mouth, and a small, red scarf around his neck. I liked his style already. He looked to have wolverine claws strapped to his hooves, both back and front too. [Ambulas - lvl 32] The two on his right were....oh wow, twins. They were both pegasus mares, with one having a black coat, and the other a white. The first on the right had white eyes to her black coat, whist her mane was a short white, and wild style, tail matching too. She wore a set of armour I saw in Ponyville before, named 'Rogue', due to its pirate-like style, belts, leather tunic, stitching, the whole pirate look, complete with two silver cutlasses to her sides. She, and her 'sister' were the only others with welcoming smiles. [Yin - lvl 31] Her 'sister' was the same, only colours were reversed, and she wore chest armour, shoulder pads, gauntlets, hip armour, and a small helmet over her combed, black mane, with a black coat over her chest-piece, on her hip was a single, blue longsword, similar to my Parting Glass. Her Cutie mark was like her sister's, a yin/yang symbol, only it was the 'Yang' section, her sister was 'Yin'. Which meant her name was.... [Yang - lvl 32] "Wait, isn't there suppose to be six of them?" Rain whispered to me, then I felt my eyes snap to her left, before my gaze sharpened, and my smug smile grew when I felt the shimmering presence behind us, the light bent to make the hidden pony near invisible, but because of my high perception.... "Mind explaining yourself, before I publicly throw you off the cliff?" I snorted with a grin, just as the cloak over his mane fell over, his hoof against his chest as he coughed, before he too smiled at me with a sickening look. The pony came around to face, pulling the hood back to allow the clear surface of the cloak turn grey, yeah, I thought so. "Nice upgrades person I can't remember the name of?" [Bombard - lvl 33] "If this is how you greet people, cheater, than I have my doubts working with you again, especially that annoying bat!" He sneered, walking back to his group. "Seems you ain't rusty either." Then, Yin grabbed his head in a lock, ruffling his mane "Seriously, get over yourself you creep!" Yin huffed, as her sister nodded with a disappointed frown, making the man grumble when he broke free. Then I turned back, coming face-to-face with the towering unicorn, he was serious buff, but not crazy, he was just twice the size of me. "Laxus, don't scare him~?" "I'm not, just....observing." Can ya maybe do it at a reasonable distance? Then he smiled, holding a hoof out to me. "Laxus, you must be White, the one who took down the first Raid Boss?" "Aye, sir. But I wasn't alone, if not for them I may as well be dead." It was true, these guys kept me alive just as much as I did. Taking that as a good answer, the stern-talking stallion backed off, moving back to his group, before he guested to them "This is my team, or guild in a better term." He explained, before Yin, jumped in front of him with a grin "We're the Striders of Blackfall!" She cheered, just as her sister joined her pose "You mess with us and you'll be sorry." She softly added, and in that one moment, I looked to Seraph with a pout "Why don't we have a motto?" I was really concerned for our reputation now "I'll think about it later." She whispered back, before Summer approached me, pushing Yin back with her magic "Sorry about them, they can be a handful, both are like a party when in the same room so it takes more than Laxus to get them to behave." Summer apologized, before she grabbed Rain's hoof and shook it lightly. "I always wanted to meet a Therstral type of player, and I heard some rumors about you too." "Y-You have?" Rain looked embarrassed at the thought, before the adult mare waved a hoof with a chuckle "Nothing bad, only that you had aided in keeping most of the low-level players safe when leveling, and that you always kept them happy in this rather bad state of events." Summer replied, before she looked to the staring Klaw, his expression dumbfounded, making her giggle, as he cleared his throat, looking towards....well about anything else but Summer. "Its nice being able to work with you all." "Same/Our strength with others can grow/We need only time." Silver replied, before Nox shook her head, knowing that his Haiku was a necessity to his speech pattern, as much as it bothered me, Silver told us in haiku that he had a speech impairment, and long lines of words were near impossible to say, but somehow when we spoke like Zer0, his words came out fluently, whether its the accent or the wording, he doesn't know himself. "Now, we must focus/The train awaits us/We must go." "'Go'? What for?" Yin asked, as Yang sat on her sister's back lazily "Our boss decided we'd find the last train piece for the rail-works, we'll be able to link Canternlot with Ponyville, more guys of higher level, and this raid's as good as gold." Seraph elaborated, then, Bombard interjected "Hold on-Hold on, did you know about this, Princess?" He demanded, pointing to me specifically, great, here we go again "Yes, one of my guards had mentioned it to me in a report, and I have seen it to be a wise course of action before you conduct this raid." Celestia explained, making the others look at each other in surprise. "I am worried for the safety of my citizens, but if repairs to the train were made, it could benefit our future efforts." "Is this true?" Yang asked, tilting her head with a neutral expression, as Yin deflated, dropping her sister. "Ow...." "Aww, but I wanted to fight the Boss~?" Yin frowned, tapping one of her cutlasses dully. Then she snapped back into shape, "You'll only be gone today right? We can still do the Raid tomorrow!?" "Aye, that's the plan." I replied, as she clapped her hooves together, before she darted before me, my glasses falling slightly from her sudden approach, as my face grew red from her forehead pressed to mine with a smile. I could see it now, her eyes were filled with stars, she was completely hyper by nature. "U-Umm...." "Looks like you are a chick-magnet?" Seraph balled over in a fit of laughter, as my face rose in temperature "Can I join you, please~?" Yin was....wanting to team up with us? I mean sure, we're doing that for the raid, but....ah heck with it "Sure, just do me a solid first?" I asked kindly, making her face brighten "Whatever you need!?" "Get off my face." Dying of embarrassment woman! Sensing my dilemma, she sheepishly looked at me, yelping as Yang dragged her back by the tail, staring neutrally at her sister "Stop getting attached to guys, you're mine." She complained, as Yin patted her sister on the head sweetly, before hugging her with dramatic tears "I'm so sorry, I promise to only pay attention to you." "Love you too." Yang replied, leaving Nox to pat my back, her blue eyes wide and flashing to indicating her blinking "This is a weeeeeird group of players?" Now with that out of my face, I was left with only one problem. Bombard, who was still glaring at me "Laxus, you can't be serious, after all the trouble went through to get here!?" He snapped, just as I passed Laxus, giving him a nod "We'll be back for the morning, gather other players too for the raid, we'll get the train up and running." He nodded back, before I stopped mid-walk, a blade to my throat. "Ok Skeletor, why don't you take your bony ass back to your inn, before I get agitated." "Only way you're leaving is if you drop that Relic. If you didn't screw around back at the Raid Lair, maybe those three guys would still be alive." I heard a collection of gasps at that, even Laxus turned to look at Bombard with surprise, the guy must be the strong, silent type in the face of turmoil, seeing how he observed, even holding a hoof out to stop Yin from approaching "You want to use the dead as a bribe....?" I whispered coldly, my smile all but gone, I wasn't joking now, some lines are never to be crossed.....never! "You swine...." "What did-" *Bam-Thud* I saw my cursor turn yellow for a split second, before it turned green again, I didn't pay it to mind, I watched the blade drop to the marble floor, before I kicked it away, pinning Bombard under my hoof, he was stronger than me, but that meant shit if you were caught off-guard. Then I glared down at him, a single simple frown on my face, whist my eyes were pinpricks of rage. "You ever think to tell me what to do, and you'll regret it, I'm no ones lab rat, got that?" I snarled, before I threw him back. "Don't ever disrespect the dead." With that, I walked away, eager to get the mission underway [Canternlot Train Yards] "What part of this was a great idea!?" I yelled, flying behind a train cart, looking over to see a spear skin my glasses, knocking me atop the train cart's roof, whist the lancers attempted to find a way up. I turned my head, seeing Silver, panting on his haunches, his daggers resting in front of him. Rain was punching another down from the side of the cart, throwing it to the group of crystal monsters below. That was ten of them, we had killed eight. Then, I rolled to my left, as Yin came flying down onto the train cart, face-planting the roof with a groan. "Well, the the gang's all here, now we can die together!" "We are trapped/All exits cut/What now?" We all looked at each other, trying to figure out our next plan of action, but against the horde below us, it wasn't that we were concerned for, it was the piece of the train that we found in the warehouse across from us, the doors thrown open by two Hollow Fangs, their bodies curled up in anticipation of our offence The piece was sitting in the back on a pile of parts, and looked to be a two person job to carry out of the sealed area where the guards waited for us, and with it now being mid-day, that was an hour ago, and not a single on of us had an idea, well, there was one. The plan was to have Silver and Rain carry the capacitor, while me and Yin fended off the horde. That was it, so many margins for error were there. "I'm sorry, I know it isn't really the time, but I just wanted you to know that I am." My attention was soon drawn back to Yin, as she sat with a guilty look on her face, as she sliced a crystal spearhead from the staff, knocking the lancer back to the horde "What are you apologizing for? Better yet, can we please discuss this 'after' death isn't currently climbing after us?" I retorted bluntly, now wasn't really the time for this, and now the monsters were beginning to try and climb to us, with the Hollow Fang's awaiting us to move for the sky to strike us "Well, after what Bombard said, I mean, he's nice, I mean it, the guy saved my sister when we were trapped in a dungeon, and from there on he's been supportive of all of us, even Laxus agrees, I just....I'm sorry for what happened back at the Raid Lair, the one he blames you for." While I was touched that she had this softer side to her, I only reached over to throw her a power potion, making she blink at the yellow liquid inside, then to me "Don't worry about it, he's got problems, but I've dealt with worse, just....don't expect Rain to hold back from tying to punch him." I mused, seeing Rain grumble something under her breath. With that, I drunk my own potion, feeling my power begin to resurface from within my body, then I stood up, smashing a hoof into the roof. "Now then, I have a plan that's suicidal, but if pulled off we may just go down as the dumbest players in history!" "Umm, sure, what did you have in mind?" Rain didn't look to certain, but given the circumstances, we had little choice for options. Then I turned to Yin, who tilted her head "Tell me, you, and your sister are like Yin and Yang, correct?" She nodded once, before I smiled wickedly, an evil glint in my eye. "Have you heard of a Warframe called Equinox?" [Lightning Seal - Shock Baton] Within a frame of time, the horde was struck with a burst of yellow lightning, stunning them as the lightning travelled between their crystal protrusions like lightning rods, stunning them all with a few seconds, meanwhile, Rain carried Silver towards the warehouse, where the train piece sat in chains suspended above the floor. For me, I leapt off the train cart roof, as my right hip flashed with a few sparks of light, the shards of colour burst from the side of me, revealing a new scabbard to my right. It was the Heart of Everfree longsword I obtained from the raid, as I drew it with my left hoof, my wings stretching out to fly over the horde, and hover low to the ground with both blades in my hooves. The longsword itself had a long, dark purple handle, with a thorn pommel, the guard was like the jaw of a Venus-flytrap, stretching the cover the base of the solid green blade, the edge shining in the sunlight on one side. Then, I exhaled slowly, opening my eyes to watch both blades hum a bright green among the recovering horde, as Yin clapped from above. "Give 'em hell, Hat!" Will do, Yin! [Inside the Warehouse] Upon entering the warehouse, two crystal knights stood in waiting, their gleaming forms turning to the Therstral and Earth Pony. The first of the knights took the lead, raising a crystal blade to its left side. Between Silver and Rain, the latter took the lead. They both came crashing into each other, this time, Rain slid across the ground, flying under its legs, then pushing her body backwards, her hooves struck its back, throwing it back, followed by Rain spinning around on her hooves, her rotating spin forcing the monster on the defence. Grinning, she pulled a hidden trigger on her Bo-Staff, and fire consumed her, multiple waves of fire scorching the dirt with constant ferocity, yet the knight stepped through the flames, damage slowly eating its health. Rain leapt through, striking horizontally from left to right, then rebounding her staff in an uppercut, the flames that licked the holes on the staff burning further into the Knight, followed by an over-arcing blade from the Knight, so she spun, knocking it backwards. In a burst of whites and blues, it was gone. Rain grinned, planting her body on the ground, and pushing up with her back hooves, where Silver had pressed his own, using the extra momentum to leap into the air above the last Knight, His dagger ignited a sharp blue, he struck down through its left side, barreling around to puncture its arm-pit, and ribs, inflicting 'Frost Bitten' upon it, ducking to the Knight's right, he pushed up with his hooves, bringing the twin daggers to slice through the thin layer of the Knight's face, slicing through like butter, and ending in a stream of light. "Nice, now lets get that train piece." Rain instructed Silver, and the two moved on [User: White Hat] [Dual Edge - Hollow Remains] I flew for the two Hollow Fang's at the front of the line, their heads thrashing towards me, so I spun between the two, before I sliced their necks with a diagonal slash, before I flipped around quickly, holding the blade out like wings, before I flew between them again at a blink, creating another solid line of green above the first diagonal line. Then I crossed my blades, spinning upside down to face them, before I swung both blades in a downwards slash, a massive 'X' striking their bodies and faces. Then they turned white, before bursting into streams of green, and blue. I then ducked, avoiding a slash from a lancer, before I was lacerated across my left hip, then my cheek, before I flew up, bringing Parting Glass upwards, slashing the lancer, before I spun, cracking it with my hoof, before I swung both my swords to block a Hollow Fang, shattering a few scales of its crystal skin, before I continued to spin, dragging both blades through the lancer's chest, before I barely touched the ground with my back hooves, as I inverted my grip, both swords down by my right, before I pulled both up towards the left diagonally, striking two 'X' through its armour, before I spun again, axe-kicking the lancer into the ground with ease. I then leapt from its back, and onto the head of a Hollow Fang, its fangs nearly catching my hoof as I spun upside-down, using Heart to lacerate the back of its head, before I spun right-side-up, dragging Parting Glass upwards with me, intersecting the two lines. Then my blades glowed a bright orange. My muscles twitching at the strain on my body, alongside my nearly depleted Stamina bar. I only needed to by them more time! [Lightning Seal - Thunder Clap] Before I could call out my skill, I saw the massive hammer of lightning crash upon the remaining eight crystal monsters, their health bars dropping from the conductive strike, before all their bars appeared with a new symbol, 'Fear', meaning their defence was halved, leading me to grin, my eyes glowing with hope, whist I saw Yin salute to me with a wide smile. Or plan was working! This final skill was one of more powerful ones, and was going to use all my stamina, leaving me exposed to attacks until it begins to regenerate, but if are plan succeeds, then its a worthy sacrifice. [Dual Edge - Calamity] I then smashed through the Hollow Fang before me, breaking its head with a power kick, before I slid across the smooth ground, crossing both my blades close to my chest, their edges grazing my sides, before I swung out in a horizontal 'X', before I inverted the grip, bringing the blades back in another horizontal 'X', then a repeated the first move again. Fly forward slightly, I thrusted Heart into another enemy, then again with Parting Glass, driving Parting Glass downwards, sinking the blade into the concrete, before I lunged around the blade, dragging Heart through the horde. Upon grazing the ground, I inverted Heart, thrusting it too into the ground, lunging around the handle of the blade with Parting Glass clothes-lining the enemies in another horizontal arc. Spinning to a halt, I twisted my waist, inverting the grip on my left, before I spun viciously in a 360 degree motion, diagonally ascending with the blades. Then I spun forwards slowly, holding both weapons high, before I 'clanged' their edges together with an orange spark, the force erupting from the epicenter of the sound in a violent explosion. And then I landed, placing both Parting Glass, and Heart of Everfree within their scabbards, sighing as I opened my eyes slowly. *Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter* "Six....teen....combo...." I heavily breathed, clutching my chest, seeing my health in the green still, that was, until the reflection shined on my health bar, causing me to fall forward with temporal weakness. "Oh crapbaskets...." I quickly flipped myself over, seeing the lancer holding his spear in both hands, the spearhead gleaming in the light, before it too erupted into a burst of blue, and white, causing me to look up at the dual wielding Yin, who happily swung her cutlasses in her hooves, before sliding them into their sheathes. Landing in front of me as she booped my muzzle. "That makes ten, we win~!" Singing happily to herself, she hoisted me up onto my hooves with a hoof, before we turned to the heavy grunts behind us, just then, Rain and Silver flew out with the capacitor between their hooves, as they smiled weakly at us, well, except Silver, who was beginning to turn red. "What took you so long?" "Shut....u-u-up." Silver breathed, whist Rain waved wearily at me, so I pointed for the exit to the train-yards, taking the safety as a guarantee, we watched as they carried off with the capacitor, leaving me and Yin to check our newly acquired loot, then, I felt my body tingle with new-found energy again, as my fur glowed a bright gold again [Level Up!] [29 - 30] [Rewards] Glass Fragments x8 Hollow Fang x5 Reflective Breastplate 800 Bits 975 EXP "Level 30, welcome to the big leagues!" Yin noticed my now level 30 mark, as I closed my tabs, seeing her place a hoof on her chin with a smug grin. "Still higher." "Still better." I retorted smoothly, seeing her go for a retort. "Do you have a sixteen hit combo?" Her hoof dropped, and her mouth shut. "Thought so." "You think after all of this, the Raid Lair, the Relic, and stuff, you think I can fight you?" Yin requested kindly, whist we walked for the secured checkpoint to this outer limit of the kingdom, seeing Silver collapsing onto the ground, as Rain hung herself over a fence. "I'd like to fight the guy who beat a Raid Boss!" "Sure, I'd like to see what skills you have with those cutlasses, maybe I could fight you, and your sister at the same time?" The thought was challenging, but then I saw Yin laugh, covering her mouth with a hoof, then i deflated. "What?" "Well....if you really want to, but my sister's been tied to my hip for years, even since we were born, and anyone who's either played a game with us, challenged us, or even watched us work together, they can all agree on the simple fact that me, and my little sister are both unbeatable." Now that was some grand bond, sort of like me, and my brother, though, I was born two years after him, but seeing how they looked the same too, it does answer that question "I look forward to that challenge then, I mean, before we showed up to Canternlot, I fought Yuuki, and I nearly won, so maybe it will be like that match." I casually replied, shaking her hoof in agreement, then I swore her jaw dropped through the earth, her eyes slowly widening at that prospect of me battling Yuuki, I guess she watched SAO too "YOU DID WHAT!? WHEN, I-I MEAN HOW, YOU....I THOUGHT-NO-NO-NO, WE'RE SO SCREEEEEEWED~!" Yin when from shocked, to baffled, to confused, and now to defeat, all in the space of five seconds, talk about bipolar, wait.... "Are you....Bipolar, by any chance?" I was now concerned for my own survival, if she got serious, that could be spelling 'DISASTER' in bold letters, red text, and maybe italic...? Instantly, Yin returned to normal, looking at me with an even expression of her hyperactive nature "Call it that if you like, but I just have a habit of....over-exaggerating....alot." She clicked her tongue at the 'T', but I relaxed a little "For a moment, I may have just felt death staring me in the face....before spat in my face." You know, the moral of today, no matter the reasons for us being here, you'll always meet some fascinating people, kind-of envy that To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 29 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 30 [Offensive class] SilverCrow - lvl 29 [Defensive class] Yin - lvl 31 [Offensive class] Current Level: 30 Magic: Sky/Air Items: Glass Fragments x8 Hollow Fang x5 Reflective Breastplate 800 Bits 975 EXP Reflective Breastplate "Bu-Bum.....Bu-Bum......Bu-Bum....." Defense - 40 Weight - Medium Resistance (Element) - Light 15% Fire 15% Resistance (Critical) - 25% Bonus: Attacks have a chance to recoil and strike your enemy New Skills: [Dual Edge - Hollow Remains] - Shatter their armour before you cut your enemies down in an 'X' formation, can cause armour piercing (Dual Wielding) [Dual Edge - Calamity] - A 16-hit combo with spins, thrusts, and 'X' formations, powerful and fast (Dual Wielding) [Lightning Seal - Shock Baton] - Release an infectious bolt of lightning from your hoof, with a chance to Paralyze [Lightning Seal - Thunder Clap] - Drop the hammer, and release massive amounts of lightning on your enemy, chance to cause Fear New Attribute Added: -Second Wind- When you run out of Stamina, there's a chance that you will not be fatigued (Ain't nobody got time that!) Author's Note To explain the 'Equinox' plan, its like pacify and provoke, White provokes the attention of the enemies, before Yin stuns them from above, 'pacifying' them, if you call electrocution a method of stabilizing the mind. Also, the music I used for the fight was newly acquired from RWBY Vol. 6, so sorry for the background noises, but I thought it would suit the scene well. Anyways, we all know what comes next, so I hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Raid [Castle of Glass] The time has come to defeat the next Raid Lair, but the Boss itself is not going to sit idly by, and among the players, something corrupted begins to show. Raid - [Castle of Glass]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- The first, most likely their leader, was a brown unicorn. His mane was dirty blonde, and tied in a warrior's wolf tail, same for his tail, his eyes were cobalt, and he had a beard. His body was platted in gold armour, the same type as the Royal Guard, so it was certainly rare, but not uncommon, but he wore a golden greatsword, with rubies dawning the hilt, and guard. [Laxus - lvl 34] To his left was another unicorn mare with a pink coat like Pinkie's, and with a long, white mane and tail. Her eyes were emerald green, and she wore red robes, with gold, and white lines across the middle, rim of her folded hood, back, and some arcane runes on the back. Whist she carried an oak staff on her back, with a topaz twisting around the branches at the top. She was one of the three with a sweet smile on their faces. [Summer - lvl 29] Last on the left was a Changeling, with crimson wings, and eyes, and had black leather adorning his black body, with a bandana covering his mouth, and a small, red scarf around his neck. I liked his style already. He looked to have wolverine claws strapped to his hooves, both back and front too. [Ambulas - lvl 32] The two on his right were....oh wow, twins. They were both pegasus mares, with one having a black coat, and the other a white. The first on the right had white eyes to her black coat, whist her mane was a short white, and wild style, tail matching too. She wore a set of armour I saw in Ponyville before, named 'Rogue', due to its pirate-like style, belts, leather tunic, stitching, the whole pirate look, complete with two silver cutlasses to her sides. She, and her 'sister' were the only others with welcoming smiles. [Yin - lvl 31] Her 'sister' was the same, only colours were reversed, and she wore chest armour, shoulder pads, gauntlets, hip armour, and a small helmet over her combed, black mane, with a black coat over her chest-piece. Her Cutie mark was like her sister's, a yin/yang symbol, only it was the 'Yang' section, her sister was 'Yin'. Which meant her name was.... [Yang - lvl 32] [Sealed Chambers] "Its been a long time since we've seen a door like this...." Rain whispered in awe of the massive double doors before us, massive shards of glass sticking out from parts of the door, with some crystals nestled in the corners of the hallway, with blue flames lighting the path to and from the doorway, which was a pure white door, with gold trimming, and royal purple amethysts built into the doors Behind us was about twelve more players, all awaiting the gemstone bearers to open the doorway, meanwhile, I stood in the middle, my key now resting in my hoof as it continued to hum the colours of the rainbow with a resonating heart beat. To my left, Laxus held a Ruby. Summer held out her Topaz. Bombard held out an Amber. Next, to my right, Yin held onto her Sapphire. Yang stood with a Emerald in hoof. Last was Summer, holding an Amethyst. "Place the gemstones, and key." I called out, before we lightly tapped our Relics to the doors, awaiting the sound to begin the Raid Lair's activation "Here we go again...." Bombard grumbled to my far left, yet, I came eye-to-eye with Ambulas, his crimson gaze lingering on my own *Tiiiiiiing-Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank* The doors creaked open again, the sound of the hinges was more smooth, and aged, before we were greeted with-A mirror? Soon the whole Raid Party was muttering to themselves, seeing their reflections in the mirror, along with are baffled faces, my red glasses reflecting the light slightly from the rebound image of fire behind me. "Is this suppose to happen?" Yin asked me, nudging my side, but I didn't respond, instead I looked closely at my reflection, staring intently at the image of....wait, my glasses are blue, not red! "Hey, my mane's white not black?" "Everyone get back!" I called out, but by the time I went to turn my head from the mirror, a sharp blade caught my neck, before the lance-like blade parted to create fingers of smooth glass, as it latched around my face, closing tight, before it pulled me towards the mirror, dragging me through the reflection, and into a pool of white, meanwhile, I felt something grab my tail, before it too was dragged through into the white voidless mass around me "....Hey....come on, wake up....!" Ugh, shut uuuuuup..... "Sorry to do this!" *Thud* "Ow, ok....ok, I'm up!" I groaned, rubbing my muzzle as I opened my eyes to a very strange scene, my head still hazy from what had occurred mere moments ago. Actually, I quickly looked to my hoof, breathing a sigh of relief at the key still in my hoof, so I threw it back into my inventory, turning my gaze to the hallway around me I saw dozen's of my own reflections, spanning the walls for eons, with absolutely no end in sight, the area had lighting, thank god, but I was still puzzled with what I was trying to see, or what I was trying to focus on. The floor was a smooth, blue surface, and stretched down other halls, and into the reflections too, navigation seeming to be impossible. Then it appeared above us all. [Castle of Glass] "It meant it literally, a bloody mirror maze." I scoffed, looking to who was with me, and to my shock, only four others stood with me. There was Yin, who must have been the one to grab my tail before I was pulled through the mirror. Nox, she was busy looking down another hallway, her halberd out and ready in her magic. Last was two of the new raid members, another Thestral with a dagger, and a stallion in armour, Earth Pony too. "Where's everyone else?" "Gone, seems that whatever grabbed you blinded us in a white light, before we all awoke in this maze, it must have chucked us in different parts of it too." Nox grumbled, obviously not pleased with what had occurred, couldn't blame her, I wasn't thrilled by that aspect either, but complaining wasn't going to do us favors, so I got up, before Yin handed me Parting Glass, very fitting now. "What's the plan then?" "We....well there's the option to find the rest, but with a maze as backwards as this, chances are that's not going to happen, but if we head for the end of the maze, we may be able to meet them all there too." Both my ideas were sound, but one meant waiting, and the other was risking our items to fighting monsters, all most likely wandering the maze, not to mention any mini bosses. "Vote, I guess." "Lets head for the end." One from Yin "Find the end." Another from Nox, then she looked at us through her mask. "They can handle themselves just fine, worrying about them will only make things worse." "He's right, we should find the end to this creepy place." The Therstral offered, before the man in armour stared in silence, his helmet turned to down the hall behind me. "You ok, dude?" "No....there's something there, look." We all turned to the direction of his hoof, and with a little concentration on all the moving reflections, we saw the crystal monster moving towards us, a lance in-hand, as its body underneath resembled that of Klaw's avatar of a dragon or drake [Limb of Refraction - lvl 25] "Well that's a little sad....I was, agh! Dammit!" We quickly looked to Nox, who fell back to swing her halberd downwards, cracking the axe-head against the helmet of another Limb of Refraction, it too was only level 25, then we saw it, it wasn't that they were walking out from the other hallways, they were coming out of the mirrors on the walls, turning a pane grey when they appeared. Just then, two more joined the first, making four. "Crap, they got numbers on us!" "That's creepy." Yin shivered, pulling her cutlasses out, before she flew in the air to hold them both, then they glowed gold, her face lighting up, along with the mirrors. "Suck on this, losers!" [Dual Edge - Swashbuckler] Yin quickly flipped her body horizontally, before she spun in the air towards the Limbs of Refraction, their lances striking out, two struck her front legs, but she continued her motion, her blades slicing through the middle one's head, cleaving it in two, before she spun upright, completely decapitating the remaining two with her final spin. Their bodies soon fell over, and burst into a stream of blues, and whites, just as she placed her cutlasses in their sheaths, dusting her hooves off. I ran for Nox's side, just as she plunged her halberd into the Knight that attacked her, stopping it dead in its tracks, before a new Knight reeled its lance back, ready to strike, but I came running in, swinging my sword out, before I instantly glowed bright crimson, then I leapt forwards, directing my blade towards its abdomen. [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] I quickly punctured the Knight with my blade, shattering the grey pane of glass behind it, as its body lurched under the force of the strike, before it went limp around my blade, it too bursting into a stream of blue, and white, leaving all of us to relax for a moment. Then I turned to view Nox, who nodded with a thanks under her mask. "Ok, so lots of enemies to overwhelm us, that's new." The guy in the armour stated matter-of-factly, before I glanced to my right, looking towards the new hall of mirrors, my stomach beginning to drop at the sight of the infinite reflections "How the hell are we suppose to navigate this?" Nox breathlessly ponder beside me, and I didn't want to know what else might be waiting for us either, so I sighed heavily, before I kicked a shard of the grey mirror down the hall, seeing it touch a wall mere feet from us. "What the hell?" "Grab the shards of the broken grey mirrors, we can throw them down the halls, see what's actually there, and what's a reflection, could also trigger traps be may enter too if were lucky." Common sense when in a mirror maze, if you threw an object, wait till it hits a wall, then you find your path "Hehe, remind me not to take you lightly during our match after this, you're scary smart." Yin approached me, and I just scratched the back of my neck "I-I just have alot of experience in games, this happens to have been one of those times." I bashfully muttered, moving to walk down the hall that was clear. "I hope the others are doing ok?" [Purplrain's Group] "That was a bust....guess we can only go left now." Rain muttered to herself, finding the mirror maze to be a never-ending headache on her end, seeing that the parties had been thrown across the maze, leaving her with the very bottom of the barrel, Bombard. Him, along with three others were stuck with her, Rain took it upon herself to clear a few hallways, seeing if she could find a stable path, sadly, most ended in a dead end. "Hopefully they others are having better luck When she turned into a small open space, she stopped, staring down the open square with confusion. It was a place they picked as a starting point, with only two ways in or out, it was a perfect defence, but....no one was here, not a single soul, just scattered weapons. It didn't take long for her to rush into the open space, throwing herself into the center of the room, moving into a stance as she looked around for any survivors. "Oh, fuck, its you." The surprised gasp of someone drew her eyes to....Bombard, his body hunched over the remains of an axe, and buckler, his eyes stern at the sight around them, but they relaxed at her appearance, but Rain didn't phase. "At first I thought a monster came running in." He went to move, but then saw the magic building around Rain's hooves, causing him to slowly stop to face her, his eyes drifting to hers with a suspicious gaze. "The hell's with you? Find something jumpy to put you on edge?" She didn't respond, before he looked around at the discarded weapons, before connecting the dots, frowning with disdain, and anger. "Hold on-Hold on, you think I did this? Jesus, that cheater really knows how to pick 'em, you can't be serious that you believe i'd kill innocent players!?" "Give me a reason not to blast you through these walls to the exit, NOW?" Rain sieved, keeping a level head among her raging emotions, if she gave into anger it might cost her. Then, her eyes widened suddenly at Bombard rushing her when she wasn't looking, causing her to raise a hoof to prepare her spell. Bombard was faster though, drawing a black longsword with his magic before Rain, then, he leapt above her, thrusting his blade over her mane. "Huh!?" [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] The crimson flash struck the Knight, flinging the remainder of its skull into the mirror behind it, shattering the final pane that turned grey from its arrival, leaving Bombard to fall to his hooves, placing the blade in its scabbard, before he turned to the perplexed Rain, grabbing her by the shoulder, shaking her roughly with a hardened gaze. "Do something like that again, then maybe I'll let the next one kill you!" He barked, letting her go to look at a forgotten sword, kicking it across the room. "Something else killed them, and I wasn't here to stop it, great to see my luck with these places remains after all this time." "Did....did you know them?" Rain chocked up, brushing past a spear "No....just some guys I gathered for the raid, didn't know it was this bad though, tough guys didn't need to die like this." Bombard muttered with a hint of sadness in his voice, before he waved a hoof behind him at Rain. "Go ahead, call me a liar like that idiot of a friend of yours, since you so animatedly follow his words like air." "No, no I won't, I shouldn't have assumed, I'm sorry for that." Rain felt really guilty now, blaming him for something that he never had any part in, and from what she gathered from their previous encounter, he wasn't one to just flat-out lie, he'd tell you what he thought, and besides, what kind-of killer protects someone from death? "Why do you hate White so much? Is it just because of the Raid?" "A part of me wants to, even if that isn't right, If you haven't already figured it out, I have a hard time keeping my anger under wraps, but after finding out those guys weren't coming back, and with the idiot threatening that Harbinger guy, I felt that spark of anger hit me, that if he just kept his mouth shut that it would change something." Bombard explained to her, kicking the floor angrily. "I know it makes no sense, alright! I didn't know what else to do, seeing someone die like that, you always want someone to blame, and....agh, this is frustrating!" ".....Direct that anger to Harbinger then." Rain spoke up softly, seeing Bombard look over his navy shoulder with a blank glare. "He did that to them, he did 'this' to all of us, please, just....apologize, when we're out, ok?" At first he just sighed, shaking his head for a moment, trying to wrap his head around why Rain was being so....kind, he threatened her in the past, and now, she was trying to get him to apologize, and....it was working, so he nodded his head, his eyes closed when he turned to face her. Then, his hoof stuck out to her, before he looked at her with conflicted golden eyes. "Fine....I uh....I'm sorry, for....well everything I said back then, just....don't expect me to be so civil with that idiot when we talk, right?" He grumbled, but Rain shook his hoof, smiling with her eyes shut, giggling, just as a smile crossed his muzzle, before he left go, rolling his eyes. "Now then, enough with the mushy crap, what the hell killed these guys?" "I don't it 'was' an enemy." Rain began, feeling uneasy around the remains of her team, just as Bombard looked at her, tilting his head. "Just think about it, we would have heard the fighting, even at out range, the sound of the bodies turning to streams of colour would have hit us." "Yeah, that's what drew me back, I heard something shatter, followed by footsteps, and they sounded like the thing was in a hurry." Bombard added, rubbing his beard, then, his eyes widened. "Wait....you're sayin' that a player did this?" "Its the only thing I can draw to. I have a skill that's active now called, 'Recover', it allows me to sense when players or enemies are nearby, and for the whole duration of my search, I only felt the presence of players, no monsters within the range, it can't tell me how many players there are, since its still low level." Rain elaborated with a frown, causing Bombard to look back to his pathway "Then....whoever did this is out there, and if he finds someone else....shit, we need to move, now." Bombard then picked up a spear off the floor, placing it on his back. "When I find the guy who did this, I'll kill 'em with this." "And i'll drag him to hell." Rain spat, catching Bombard off guard at Rain's venom, but they soon departed, leaving for the boss room and for the Killer who roamed the maze [Klaw's Group] "Go, get to the door quickly!" Klaw called out, blocking another strike from the Knight, its lance piercing his gauntlet, so Klaw grabbed it, before he raised his buster sword, bringing the massive slab of iron down on the body of the Knight. Then another leapt up, thrust down on Klaw, who reeled back, balling his fist up, before it turned into an emerald flame [Draconic Seal - Cursed Dragon Fist] He threw it up in an uppercut motion, shattering the face-plate of the Knight, whist smashing the Knight into the ceiling, raining glass upon him, and the twenty Knights that swarmed the narrow hallway. He would use Dragon's Crescendo, but it would do little to phase the resistant Knights, so he could only use his normal attacks, which all of his Stamina was used up on. His left eye was closed, as he grounded his teeth with every breath, seeing another Knight rush him with a lance. Klaw raised his buster sword up flat, placing his hand on the face, blocking the lance, before he grabbed the handle with both hands, turning it down to his right side, then with a massive heave, he swung the blade in a massive horizontal arc, flinging the Knight through the glass wall, before he pulled back, a lance striking hist shoulder, before another struck his chest, so He slid back, deciding to use the last of his Stamina now. [Sword Skill - Crescent Rose] His blade now a hue of red, as he swung the blade downwards with one hand, throwing his body into the air, before he pushed himself down to the ground again, swinging the buster sword in a massive vertical arc, shattering another Knight, and the floor with the strike, before he grabbed the blade with both hands, and swung round in a single fluent motion, slicing three more Knight's in half by the waist. With his Stamina spent, Klaw fell to a knee, panting at the debuff. Before he could even realize what had happened, Klaw's eyes looked to see another Knight above him, reeling its lance back to strike him. Klaw tried to move, but was still caught in the debuff, then, he felt his body fall back, his buster sword within a red aura of magic, floating past him, just as he saw Silver leap over him, kicking with his back legs to knock the Knight back, before he channeled his magic into his hooves, before slamming them into the ground. [Aura - Gaia's Hand] "That will hold/Now we leave/Your part it done." Silver grabbed Klaw's hand, pulling the dragon to his feet as he chuckled, before he noticed Summer holding his buster sword in her telekinetic grasp for him, so he graciously accepted it "I thank you both, I may have gone a little overboard with my tactic." Klaw admitted, walking towards the group that waited for them at the leaver activated door, where Pinkie, Laxus, Ambulas, and Yang waited. The two groups had their parties too, some didn't make it though, but for the most part they were fine "Try not to get so focused on the heat of battle next time, ok?" Summer informed him with a frown, making him laugh a little, as she pouted, seeing him acting prideful again. "I swear, how do you handle his ego?" "Its.....fun." Silver's drawled out answer did little to help, but the two just ignored Klaw for the time being. "Stop." "My apologize, Silver." Klaw whipped the bridge of his nose, before the blue door shut behind them, then they all noticed Laxus trying to comfort Yang, her mind seemly gone at the loss of her sister "Life has no meaning." Yang muttered, leaving Laxus to shake his head with a grunt "She's fine, you need to stop worrying about her, and start focusing on the task at hand, if you can't even work one job without her you might very well be dead!" Laxus complained, feeling her aura of depression begin to irritate him, making him scratch his mane in frustration. "I can't decide who's worse, you, or your hyperactive sister?" "Don't care. Leave me to die." Yang grumbled, before Pinkie rushed over, cradling the mare in her hooves, as she sulked. "Soft...." "I will be your shield, aunt Pinkie Pie is here!" Pinkie declared to the players, much to their amusement and bafflement "Ok, fine, you take her, I'm not doing this." Laxus gave up, just as Summer glared at him, so he raised his hoof with a frown. "You wanna try comforting her, go right ahead, I'm not walking that road again." "On another note, I wonder how, Rain, and White are doing? Seeing as they too haven't arrived yet." Klaw pondered, before Pinkie smiled, patting Yang on the head softly, a small smile on her muzzle now "They'll be fiiiiine, their love will lead the way!" Pinkie statement made them look at her funny, meanwhile Silver just face-hoofed, feeling like the only one to have noticed this beforehand. Pinkie didn't take it well. "Huh, you didn't think they'd look cute together?" "Pinkie, we only met them, so we didn't really see that idea, well, I certainly felt they were close, but with a whole Raid business I never gave it a thought." Summer explained, as the others nodded, then Yang looked up "My sister said they would be nice together because they were like me, and Yin, opposites." Yang answered, as Pinkie nodded with a hum "White is blunt. Sarcastic. and funny. Rain is kind. Playful. and random. See?" Pinkie broke down their basic traits, as they nodded "Both are kindhearted/But clouded/Unable to see this connection." Silver responded in kind, just as Klaw put a....claw to his chin "While I don't impose we force this on them, it would be nice to see them bond over all of this, its circumstances like this that can lead to love." Klaw concluded, before a small smile stretched across his lips. "But, there's nothing wrong with a bit of irritation from our end." At that, the group fell into laughter among the Raid Team. Over to the far left, Ambulas was overhearing all of this, his eyes rolling at the concept, but that did give him an idea for later use. [3 Hours Into The Raid] "If we ever, see another mirror again, I will smash it with a hammer!" I yelled in frustration, with Yin lying across my back in recovery, whist Nox followed behind us calmly, throwing the mirror fragment away at the sight of the others waiting by two massive, silver doors. But at our approach, I watched the trade screen drop between Rain and....Bombard? Who looked to have thrown something at the last second into the screen. "Hey guys~!" "You made it, seems we were worried for nothing!" Seraph called over, seeing the crying state of Yin, so she pointed. "Uhh, what happened to her?" "Too....many....mirrors...." She sighed, before hopping off my back with a lunge, smiling once more with a fierce grin. "All set!" "YIN!" Yang had thrown me to the floor, latching her hooves around Yin in a tight hug, whist Yin chuckled, hugging her sister back. "I missed you." "You're fine, just stop worrying about me sometimes, it'll do you some good too." Yin rolled her eyes, prying her sister off. Then, I was lifted off my back by Rain, who smiled happily at me, as I did the same, bumping hooves with her "Seems you did alright too?" I mused, before Rain moved to her left, allowing me to gaze at....Bombard, he looked just as pleased as me, with everyone watching us carefully. "Oh, you were stuck with him...." "In my defence, she tried to kill me, but all's forgiven....well, almost." Bombard grumbled, just as Rain's bat wing slapped the back of his head. "Right-Right! Look....I....god this hard to say. I wanted to say....I'm sorry, for everything back at the first raid....and this one, I was rather blunt, angry, and confused....so, look I ain't expecting you to like me, but I just thought you'd like to know!" I was....well I can't really understand what I was feeling, even Rain sensed this, so she jumped in. "He does mean it, after seeing his allies die, he just couldn't find a way to place the blame on anyone properly, he is sorry, and I believe him." Rain..... "All's forgiven." I simply stated, catching everyone off guard by my answer. What? I said I forgave him, so what? Didn't mean I liked him. "Look, you obviously had it rough, we all have, so I can't blame you for being angry, I can be too, just....lets take this boss down....as a team." I held my hoof out to him "You are strange, I'll give ya that, just don't expect me to let you take all the fame this time?" He grinned, bumping my hoof, as the atmosphere relaxed, then he turned with an embarrassed face. "Alright ladies, you got your show, now lets get this Raid over with!" "Aww, but we were just getting to the touching part." Seraph teased, but me and Bombard snapped in her direction "Shut it, rat!" "Agreed." Laxus confirmed, wow, ever he agreed with us. Standing at the brim of the door with his greatsword between his hooves. We all met up with our squads now, awaiting the final call to press forward with the raid. "Now then, with all of us here this Raid Lair can finally end. We lost some along this journey, so lets all make it back alive, for them, got it?" "White, we have a problem, could you....come here for a moment?" Hearing Rain's concerned request, I moved to stand just off to the side, then I turned to her worried face, like she had seen a ghost "What's wrong?" Now I was on edge, she really looked spooked, and her ears were flattened against her head "Me, and Bombard....we found players....well, what was left of them.....someone, here, had....they..." She couldn't even finish it, and I certainly didn't want to know the end of it, even if the answer was obvious. So I looked around us, making sure no prying eyes were watching, before I grabbed Rain around the back of her head, pulling her into my shoulder softly, holding her gently as she froze suddenly. It wasn't much, but it was the only way I knew to comfort someone "For now, focus on the Raid Boss, I know it wasn't....well its bad, but if you can push yourself for them, that should do them some justice, even if only a little, alright?" I whispered, pulling back to view her red face, before I rubbed the back of my head. "Now come on, we have a Boss to defeat, and an eye to keep watch on a shady individual." "R-Right, ok!" Rain perked up, before we turned back to the briefing, but I wasn't really paying much eye to that, my mind built on others things at the moment "Hey?" My attention soon moved to Yang, seeing her standing beside me with a determined face. "Thank you for keeping my sister safe." "Well, it would tarnish my reputation to leave anyone behind, consider it a brother doing a favor for another sibling." I suggested kindly, making her blink "You have a sibling?" She asked me, so I hushed her, seeing Laxus turn to open the door "I'll tell you about my brother after we win." "Now then, lets go meet this 'Refraction'." Laxus mused, before the doors chimed open, as the luminescent room consumed us. "CHARGE!" [Chamber of Regret] Well....atleast the name is appropriate for a number of reasons. Example, I was here. All parties entered the room at once, and we saw a massive, open circle room, it was barren, with a tile floor, and mirrors hanging around the walls of the room. With the walls reflecting a multitude of colored lights to brighten the room. Above us was the endless void, I couldn't even see the ceiling. Then I saw the doors shut behind us, locking us in for the remainder of the Raid, with all players scattering across the edge of the arena. "There it is!" Someone yelled, pointing their weapon to the black ceiling above us, as a massive crystal fell from the void, shattering the tiles in the center of the arena, leaving us to watch the dust clear to reveal a blue and white crystal, and with the silence, we could hear something.....and it was resonating with my chest piece, even its multicolored face was beginning to pulse, the Boss was waking up *Crack-Crack-Crack-BOOM* I covered my face quickly, watching past my hoof as the projectiles flung themselves across the room. Then we saw the Boss. A being of crystal, it was humanoid, with blades for legs, large, sharp too. Its torso was thin, but bulky, with large, lance-like blades for arms, and shoulders. Its head was like a diamond, pointy at the top, with a sharp chin, and smooth face, no eyes, no glowing maw, just a blank slate. Then I let out a silent scream, raising its arms to shake the very foundation of the room, even with no sound but the crystals in the darkness above us to shake. In its chest, a red, pulsing aura, which soon enveloped its being with a thin layer of red. [Internal Refraction - lvl 40] "Hehehehehahahahaha!" That voice!? All of us now looked above the Boss, seeing the tail swing in the air, whist the black attire nearly made it impossible to see him, but those burning orange eyes could be seen for miles, along with that sharp, inhuman smile. After over a month of silence from the monster that had trapped us in the game, he finally came to us with a smile. "Seems you all finally found the next boss, i'm impressed!" "Harbinger...." Rain growled to my left, before he looked at us, before snapping his fingers, and in mere moments, a few circles floated in the air. They were purple, growing, and shrinking like camera focuses, whist a large, red 'REC' was placed in the middle of the circle. Then he clapped his hands happily, a sickening grin on his face "Hope you enjoy this little incursion, I am now broadcasting this Boss not only to the other players still left in the game, but too the outside world through a thing called 'Social Media', yeah Youtube is fucked. Facebook's a bitch. Twitch is fine though. I plan to do this for every fight, I'll make them watch as innocent players are dropped like flies!" Harbinger explained, before he cleared his throat, disappearing with a click of his fingers. "Now, sit back, and relax everyone! Because its time to get this Raid started, to all that join us, welcome to the Castle of Glass Raid Boss!" "Refraction!!!" At the name, the thin, crystal Boss turned towards the gem bearers with a sharp blade pointed in their direction "Kill...." To Be Continued..... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 31 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 30 [Stealth class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 30 [Defensive class] Seraph - lvl 30 [Support class] Current Level: 31 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: N/A New Skills [Dual Edge - Swashbuckler] - Spin your blades with deadly force, and take off the limbs of your enemies, can inflict defence down (Dual weapons) [Sword Skill - Crescent Rose] - Even without a scythe, this attack with crush foes into the pavement you stand on (2H Swords) [Aura - Gaia's Hand] - Defend yourself and allies with a shield of life magic (Defensive class only) [Draconic Seal - Cursed Dragon Fist] - Burn your enemies with a fist as powerful as a dragon, cursed flames have a higher chance to inflict burn Author's Note How I loved writing this weird and twisted maze, with all the armies after the groups too. But also character development, and to clarify something, all teams in-game can only be 4, White's was split into 4 and 3 upon the journey to Canternlot. Anywho, now its time for the big boss, and oh-ho do I have a gimmick for it! Seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Raid 2 [Castle of Glass] "Oh White, you were always a sad excuse for a person, if you think being the hero of this game will change that, you're dead wrong." Authors Notes: Picture used is not accurate, just make it look skinny like glass, with blades for arms and legs, Google's useless for an image. Also, Harbinger from this point on is going to be broadcasting his game of death to everyone, because who doesn't he want to terminally scar with the deaths of innocent lives? Raid 2 [Castle of Glass]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- Behind us was about twelve more players, all awaiting the gemstone bearers to open the doorway, meanwhile, I stood in the middle, my key now resting in my hoof as it continued to hum the colours of the rainbow with a resonating heart beat. To my left, Laxus held a Ruby. Summer held out her Topaz. Bombard held out an Amber. Next, to my right, Yin held onto her Sapphire. Yang stood with a Emerald in hoof. Last was Summer, holding an Amethyst. "Place the gemstones, and key." I called out, before we lightly tapped our Relics to the doors, awaiting the sound to begin the Raid Lair's activation "Here we go again...." Bombard grumbled to my far left "Then....whoever did this is out there, and if he finds someone else....shit, we need to move, now." "Refraction!!!" At the name, the thin, crystal Boss turned towards the gem bearers with a sharp blade pointed in their direction "Kill...." [Chamber of Regret] [Internal Refraction - lvl 40] Within the moment the word left Harbinger, Internal Refraction moved for the gem bearers, it proving to be faster than the lumbering Raid Boss from the first lair, as spell casters threw magic beams from their horns, and other elemental attacks in its direction to stop it, it was struck without any immunity buff over its health, but this did very little to start the battle, because at the sudden affliction, its body glowed, before it threw its arms to its sides for a moment, burst with red shards of glass, before it continued to stride towards them. Another wave of spells flew towards the Boss, only for it to raise its arm, and reflect the attacks with a swing, throwing the elemental assault to the walls, and ground, before it raised its left arm, swinging down on the group as the separated, leaving Laxus to duck under its right blade, the sharp arm digging into the ground, before it swung horizontally to its right with the left arm, catching his cheek slightly. Laxus retaliated, bringing his greatsword up with his left hoof, before he swung the blade into the side of Internal Refraction, it didn't even try to block it as it struck, knocking the Boss to the side, its bladed legs digging through the tiled floor to stop itself. Then it bent itself over to look down at him, before Laxus charged again, alongside Bombard, who raised his sword high in his blue magic. Then the Boss' aura ruptured blue, throwing another shell of blue glass shards to the ground. Laxus then swung down with a massive leap, with Bombard thrusting upwards, his buckler rising to defend his exposed head. When the hits made contact, all parties, even I was stunned to see the attack strike the Boss, shaking the ground, and causing a layer of smoke to rise, but the Boss' health didn't move an inch, instead it stood with its arms under its pits, both arms glowing dark blue, whist Bombard and Laxus' swords still touched the Boss' armour. "Oh shit!" Bombard cursed, before they were both struck with a wave of sharp glass, knocking them flying back, allowing the rest of the supporters to defend the two as they healed, as more magical attacks struck Internal Refraction, damaging it again as it strode towards me, Rain, Klaw, and Silver. Then once more, its body shredded another rain of glass, and all attacks with magic did nothing to faze its charge "Its got the ability to adapt to damage it takes, hit it with everything we got before it can do it again!" I called out, just as Rain took flight somewhere, leaving me, Silver, and Klaw to face it, just as we watched it right arm glow a bright crimson. "Rage Spike!" Its form soon rushed our way, as Klaw stepped towards its attack, swinging his buster sword out, holding a hand to the face of the blade, just as he bit his lip at the massive force striking the blade, causing it to ring at the contact with metal, before he pushed back, grabbing it with both hands, before he swung to Internal Refraction's side, stunning it, before he swung it up, and brought it down on its left shoulder, before he spun the blade like a corkscrew, before thrusting the blade into its chest. I took the next leap, striking its back vertically, then I spun intersecting the line horizontally, before my blade glowed a bright blue, as Silver used one of his auras on me first, coating me body in a green aura of flames, as my blade gained another layer of colour, as I looked briefly to see the shining sword symbol above my health, 'Gaia's Wish', my next strike will be twice as strong. Perfect! [Aura - Gaia's Wish] [Sword Skill - Seven Deadly Sins] I pierced Internal Refraction's armour, causing it to stumble from trying to adapt, then I spun upside-down, swinging my blade from left to right, then right to left, then I spun right-side-up, swinging my sword vertically down, the vertically up, before I spun around clockwise, slicing across its spine in a horizontal arc twice left, then right. The green aura dissipated at this point, burning across the wounds in its back, before it finally shredded its armour, firing green fragments into my face, blinding me, and cutting me slightly, but we did it, it lost a good piece of its health with the combo. What I didn't see coming was the sharp leg to puncture my chest, throwing me flying in pain, debuffing me with 'defence down' as I tumbled into the hooves of Summer, as she began to use a healing spell on me quickly. But I wasn't paying attention to that, my eyes were glued to the magical attacks striking the Boss, just as it shredded another coat of purple fragments, before Klaw swung his blade down, only for it to slide across the blade of Internal Refraction, as it used its left arm to slice Klaw's arm, before it split into fingers, grabbing his neck, before I lifted him off his feet, throwing him, before it crossed its arms, releasing them when they came eye-level with each other, a massive blue 'X' splitting Klaw's health in two, and throwing him away with his buster sword. "Do it now!" We all heard Klaw call to us, and just then, something struck from below Internal Refraction, as the shadowy hoof connected with its face, knocking it back, before Rain appeared from the shadows below the Boss, as she spun round in the air, her back leg striking the side of its head, then she turned upright to give it a left cross, causing the Boss to stumble into a group of players, all swinging down on the Boss, stabbing, slicing, thrusting, chipping its health piece by piece, then it erupted again, throwing them back with small amounts of damage, but that was what put a smile on my face, seeing Rain directly before the Boss, placing her hooves directing on its chest, before they hummed a dark purple. [Umbra Seal - Nightmare Rain] All was blinded as the beam of concentrated purple and red struck the Boss' chest, reflecting the beam across the arena like a light show, one nearly hitting Harbinger above, but it mere phased right through his body as he too smiled in surprise at the action. The beam threw the Boss backwards, just as it flipped onto its legs again, slipping through one of the mirrors on the wall, vanishing into the fixture. "Where'd it go?" Summer asked from behind me, just then, I looked to see one of the mirrors shimmer, then I pointed at it "In the mirror, run!" I cried out, but it was too late, Internal Refraction appeared behind a player, swiping its left arm down to block a sword swing from Silver, before it pointed the blade up suddenly, knocking Silver back, before the player turned to strike the boss with his spear, only to see the Boss tilt its head slowly, and....he dropped the spear? "What the-Get out of there, hurry!" He didn't respond, instead the look of terror covered his face, as if he was staring into the eyes of Death himself, as he began to tremble, then, the Boss' arms pulled back slowly, still staring down into the soul of the player. Silver tried to attack with a sword skill, but it was already immune, and he soon recoiled in pain from the failed strike, then, we were silent. The player snapped out of his trance, only to silently cry at the arm sunk through his chest, followed by another, then another thrust, before Internal Refraction threw him to the ground roughly, repetitively stabbing the player, before lifting him atop his bladed arms, before the player screamed, as his body was....was torn in two, and thrown to the sides of the Boss like paper. "N-no....!" Summer cried, covering her face, as I only bit my tongue, hearing the cries of laughter above my head only fueled my rage, my hoof shaking around my blade, he was dead....an innocent player was murdered in front of millions like a game to Harbinger, hell, the bastard was clapping "T-That was priceless~! Di-Did you hear him beg, ahahahahahaha!" I was still being healed and held at bay in Summer's hooves, so I became a spectator for the next assault over the death that had befallen us. Nox swiped violently towards the air Internal Refraction once stood, his body a breeze within the wind. Nox ran with hardened malice, following Internal Refraction who ran across the ceiling with its pointed legs. Upon its rotation, Refraction was met with a resounding crack of claws striking through its head, shards of glass flying off in the process, followed by two left crosses and a downward spiral kick, Ambulas had snuck up without it knowing managed to knock it back down to the earth. Grounded, Ambulas flapped his wings to avoid its lumbering, yet lightning quick swipes, followed by Refraction holding its arms high above where Nox stood, so without a glint of hesitation, she spun her naginata around to defend herself, the aura around her weapon growing in saturation and thickness. It roared, both arms crashing hard against the tiles and weapon, with Nox wincing at the strain it managed to put on her aura, this blocked strike had thrown a blast of concussive air and magic across the arena. Thankfully, Silver had came running into the fray, spinning his body to slice two horizontal lines through Refraction's form, causing its persistent assault to cease, and its body shattering again, so the two retreated, speaking to each other. "Take it down you two!" Nox barked to the flying Klaw and Ambulas, the latter not making a single word, yet when I met his gaze, something made a chill run up my spine, that guy was seriously creepy [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Roar] [Commandment - Drain] Klaw's cheeks had puffed themselves out again, and I watched the lime green aura surround Ambulas' horn, firing a veil around Refraction, resulting in a 'slowness' and 'weakness' debuff. That, combined with the torrent of flames that had licked the air with a fierce glow and heat, and the health of Refraction fell by a good portion. Whist the waves of fire continued to eat away at the tiles and Boss, something struck Ambulas out of the air, a large, red gash across his body when he crashed to the ground a few feet away, followed only by a set of glass claws clasping the maw of Klaw shut. Its armour shattered again, the fires dispersed in the process like water to their might. Now in his grasp, I felt my being shake with something new, I wasn't going to let someone die, not again, but this feeling was different, as if the thought of Klaw dying would be the end of what I knew of him, everything he's done for me and others. My....friend....was going to die, and that thought, this lingering ghost of a image struck me with more fear, and rage than I've felt in years. "You....you....bastard!!!" I screamed, flying out of Summer's hold as I felt my rage boil over, my wings pushing faster and faster as I saw its armour shatter again to someone striking it with a magic bombardment, I think I broke a tooth from grinding my teeth at this point, just as I came within arms length of the Boss, my blade a menacing violet hue. "Dragon.Cry." It replied by throwing Klaw away, perfect The first hit was a horizontal swing from left to right, immediately followed by an uppercut, then I flew over its swiping glass strike, and slashed the Boss from left to right while spinning, twice. I then landed, facing the Boss and slashing an 'X' from top to bottom, before inversely slashing the 'X' again from bottom to top. I quickly leapt at the Boss and made two diagonal slashes from the same starting point, with Parting Glass heading from top to bottom to the left, before switching to go from bottom to top toward the right. I wasn't done yet! Afterwards, I reversed my grip on Part Glass, slashing another 'X' with my sword from top to bottom. Its arm slashed my side, but I quickly barrel-rolled, while slashing at the Boss's chest like a corkscrew. I followed by slashing another two 'X's' into its defending arms, first from top to bottom and then bottom to top. Breaking its guard, I made a diagonal slash with my sword from the top-right to bottom-left, then spun left and used this momentum to deal a horizontal right to left slash with my blade. Gaining the speed advantage buff from this skill, I made an uppercut with the sword; then another coming downwards, before I inverted my grip to slash upwards again, then a downward diagonal slash towards the right with Parting Glass, spinning and repeating the previous attack, before thrusting my blade through its left leg, I cried out, feeling its arm strike my left arm, but I quickly finished the skill with a final, forceful downward lunge with Parting Glass. "Holy...." Seraph breathed in the background "Shit...." Rain spoke from my left "Excalmation mark!" Thanks for the input, Yin, I needed that....I was now hunched over in pain, seeing my health in the yellow, whist Internal slowly moved back to its feet, its first bar gone, and even its left arm was shatter on the ground before me, I could still see the boiling heat leaving my blade with the remaining energy, then I watched as everyone screamed out, all ganging up on the now defenseless Boss, its immunity being wailed on from all sides, with its second bar slowly depleting "Dragon Cry....the twenty seven hit combo skill, and one of the most powerful One-Handed moves at our level or even at levels higher than us." Laxus broke down for the others, as Summer worked on healing me, whist Silver added a few buffs to my body to help me recover. "It seems we are on the verge of victory." "Oh yes, please cheer for the man who somehow gained a skill like 'THAT'!" We turned our heads to the cameras, and Harbinger, who was still smiling sickly at us, something wasn't right about that smile he gave me, it was chilling. "Tell me....what happens now, boy?" !!!! "GET AWAY NOW!" Laxus called to the groups, but it was far too late. A massive rupture occurred, and every player was thrown back, the shards of red raining around us all, turning the whole area's lights slightly red with blood, whist we stared at the player strung from Internal Refraction's massive, scythe-like claws, no longer two long shards of glass, but five massive fingers of glass, as its chest seemed to expand, parts of its armour stretching, and turning blackish-purple, with blade sticking from a skirt around its waist, before it head molted into a large pane of glass, almost like Zer0's helmet, its core was now an exposed red orb among its broad chest "We activated Phase Two." Pinkie shakily whispered to my right, pulling me to my feet. Then, the Boss threw the body aside, the player turning to a stream of colours before our eyes, then it flickered, five panes of glass began to circle its body as it made it approach, becoming far faster than before Laxus moved ahead, defending with his greatsword, whist Silver ran for him, just as Internal Refraction could bring its claws down on Laxus, Silver leapt in, shoving Laxus aside, before the claws phased through the glass panes, striking Silver's side, throwing him away from us, and towards a group of players, leaving me to grab Parting Glass, as I swung it from right to left, blocking a strike from its left claw, before it drove its right into the tiled floor in front of me, then it quickly followed with the left claw, swiping it over my mane closely, then I watched as the red magic aura enclosed my sword, dragging me away to Summer's side. We then watched as Nox recoiled from trying to strike the glass panes, her attack bouncing right off the glass, before Internal Refraction leapt into a mirror, vanishing into the fixture to another location. Now I needed to think, this Boss was on the verge of slaughtering us, and the healers can't keep their job up forever, just as Summer. Lets see, when he shattered its arms, they became claws, and it always used them to defend itself unless it jumped into a mirror....that must connected.... "White, are you ok!?" I looked up to see Rain looking down on me, whist Bombard joined her side, pulling me up to my hooves with his magic, whist he kept his buckler high in his magic, his eyes focusing around us. Then it appeared again, with it striking Klaw's armour, and kicking out to its right to block Yin, whist Yang, flew down, striking another pane of glass with her hoof, but she was thrown into Yin. "How do we beat 'that'?" "You don't." Our heads turned back to our commentator, who watched each camera with glee written on his face. "I reconfigured each Boss with the sole purpose to be unbeatable, sadly, the Control Core Gamma made that impossible, so I opted to just making each Boss incredibly difficult to defeat, even now its slaughter you like the cattle you are, and I get to broadcast this to the whole world!" Then he grinned wildly with his sharp teeth. "So I win!" "How about you be like any other spectator and fuck off back to the stands!?" Bombard spat, making Harbinger chuckle, vanishing into the dark ceiling above us. "Bloody sociopath! I'd like to beat him with a mirror when I get the chance, make him stare at his own reflection as he dies!" "That's stupid." Rain bluntly pointed out, making Bombard cross his hooves in protest "Wait.....reflection...." I murmured to myself, then, my eyes sparked with a lightbulb again. I had it! "I know how to win!" "We're listening." Summer calmly replied with hope in her face, whist I yelled for every player to hear me, I needed to say this now, since Internal Refraction was turning his attention this way, its claws clipping against each other "Everyone, look for a mirror with the Boss' reflection! If you find one that looks different, call it out!" I ordered them, seeing the groups all fan out, whist my group broke apart, avoiding the claws that sunk into the floor before us, throwing tiles across the room from the Boss' arrival, so I grabbed a tile, and threw it back at the glass panes, catching the Boss' attention, and directing its anger onto me "HEY, THIS ONE DOESN'T HAVE THOSE MIRRORS!" We looked to see the Therstral from my team back in the maze, her wing pointed at the fixture, so I grabbed another tile, before I spun in the air, winging my idea across the room, seeing the Boss free at the sight, seeing the tile fly past the girl, and striking the mirror, as the cracks formed in an instant, and within the next, the mirror shattered this time, raining glass to the floor below "No!" I smiled at Harbinger's protest, seeing the glass wards flicker out of existence, exposing the Boss once more. With that moment to finally strike back, I quickly opened my menu, then I entered my inventory to look at my equipment, then I quickly placed Heat of Everfree on my right hip, a grin matching my beating heart, just as Yin and Yang flew towards me, along with Klaw "Take. Him. Down!" "Take. Him. Down!" "Take. Him. Down!" "Take. Him. Down!" First I flanked Refraction's left, ducking under a claw, my blades trailing a blade of emerald green behind me, whist Klaw flew in behind me, his cheeks puffed out again with a wink, so I pressed my back legs behind me, pointing my blades to my left. [Unity Move - Great Devourer] I spun my body clockwise, both blades striking diagonally from my left to right, as I broke out of my spin once I passed the Boss' side, as the flames burned its left side. Next was Yin and Yang, with Yin's cutlasses turning blue, and Yang's longsword turning red. Both calling out their moves in tangent with each other, both flying backwards to avoid its AOE strikes, Yang, striking from the left, and Yin from the right. [Dual Edge - Starburst] [Sword Skill - 5-Point Strike] Yin flew to Refraction's right, she slashed from her top left, traveling down to the right with her left blade, before going from that point with her right blade from bottom to top, then with that same blade she struck from right to left diagonally, before switching to her left, and striking up from left to right to a point, then downwards from top middle to bottom right. Then she spun, crossing a horizontal line through its arm, creating a perfect star shape. Yang was in tangent with Yin, thrusting her blade top right, top left, bottom right, bottom left, then a final, forceful thrust in the center, causing an explosion of red, mixed with the eruption of blue on Yin's side. Both forces consuming the Boss in a cloud of purple. Its health dropping into the final bar. Then, I we all saw the flash of black within the cloud. Reality seemed to freeze in a shade of black and white, our mind fixated on the flash. * * * [Ultimate - Hollow Fragments] * * * "Is this an Ulti-AGH!" *Shiiiiing-Shiiiiing-Shiiiiing-Shiiiiing* The cloud was blown away, as I hung in the air with a massive glass blade through my left shoulder, Yin was pinned by on through her right hoof, with Yang slashed across her left side, whist Klaw stood motionless, sating at his left hand which was pierced with a glass shard too. It was one of the most powerful attacks in the game, and Ultimate. No information on how you obtain one was available at the time, nor how many there were or if Boss' could use them. Well, one question was answered. "Hehehehe, this one is a defensive Ultimate! It strikes out with massive blade of glass to defend the host, if there were twenty people attacking, then twenty blades will spear them to the ground or wall, and you have about three more seconds to suffer, lets see you crawl out of this one, swine!" Harbinger grinned, as my health dropped into the red, with the others in amber.....I was going to die! *Shatter* I fell to the tiled floor again, clutching my shoulder in agony as my health ceased its drop, with the others all kneeling in pain, with Yin holding Yang tightly, and Klaw was clutching his hand. We were all paralyzed, so we could only stare at the sight of its head twitching to its left, the glass wards appearing again when it turned to.....no.....no-no-no-no. "Find....Gah....the mirror, hurry!" I begged, trying to find some way of cancelling the paralysis, her wide eyes fixated on Rain, who was caught in the Boss' gaze, its arms stretched out to its sides, as it continued to leer at Rain, her actions becoming frozen, her eyes wide with terror, as she seemed to whimper at something she saw "Find the mirror before it reaches her!" Laxus yelled, with everyone running to the far corners of the room to find the mirror without the wards, but no one had spoken up yet. Refraction was now standing above her, its right arm rising slowly, whist my breathing ceased to be "NO!!!" "YES!!!" *Shiiiiing-Thud* "Wake up you dumbass!" I didn't even say a word, in fact, no one did, even with out paralysis gone, Rain stood there, shot out of her trance as Bombard laid on the ground next to her, five red slashes across his chest, his buckler shattering on the ground beside him, whist his health dropped instantly into the red, leaving him paralyzed too by the claws, but he just saved Rain, a person he once despised.....Yin was right "N-No, why did you....?" Rain was completely star-struck, but then I stared directly at the face of Refraction, it sensing my approach when it turned, its face now tilted in my direction, causing my own hooves to cease their charge, my blade dropping from my grasp.....why couldn't I move? Why was I so afraid? I continued to stare into its face, my worst fear conjured in its place, all other sounds seemed to drone out, all muffled, disconnected among echoes, my eyes only stared back at myself, a perfect mirror of me standing there, a frown embedded on his muzzle. "You nothing.....how long until the figure out what you are? A man.....a lab rat among reality, clinging to life since you were only five.....you're nothing to the world out this one, a false reality to save your mind, without it, without this power, you are merely a waste of matter...." My inner thoughts were completely clouded now, I felt myself beginning to back away in fear, my heart was beating faster, my own breathing was becoming ragged under the weight of my own words. "You are all alone." ". . . ." Its arm rose above me, overshadowing my form with ease. I couldn't move, I didn't want to, no muscle twitched at the mere sight of Death, holding that red thread over his scythe, waiting [Umbra Seal - Nightmare Rain] [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Crescendo] My eyes instantly flashed with purple under my glasses, as I fell back, the claws sinking into the ground in pain, as the side of Internal Refraction's face crumbled from the shockwave of both shadows, and fire, the crackling burst of magic brought my strength back to reality, the distant cheers of the other players rallying around me. Yet my eyes traveled up past the swishing, purple tail, black wings flared, as Rain's eyes burned with anger, tears stinging her eyes with gleam. In her hoof was a long, white Bo Staff, gold trimming the two ends, with gold locked between several joins of the staff, as she spun the staff around in her hoof, pointing the amethyst face directly at the Boss, its body still lumbering to its feet, just as it shredded another coat, now immune to kinetic as it rose. But I saw the staff in her hoof glow a venomous green, her eyes ablaze with untold fury, I won't lie, it was rather hot. Before us though, Internal Refraction shattered its arms and face, now, its head had five spikes fanning out, with three of the horns pointing up, and the others to his sides, it chin still pointy. Its arms had massive blades attached to the gauntlets, whist its claws became smaller. Phase Three. Rain wasn't going to allow it time to vanish into another mirror, as it stumbled back to see her staff shattering the frame before it could escape, it seems that if it goes for a mirror, that pane becomes breakable. Now out of luck, Rain swung at its feet, which kicked out to block her left strike, followed by a kick and Bo Staff connecting to the right, followed closely by a low swipe with its new bladed arms, but Rain leapt atop the blade, before she struck it across the face with the Bo Staff, knocking it back, before Rain was battered off its arm by another ward of glass. But Refraction recoiled in shock, to see that its wards were gone. "Thanks for the advice, Glass Face!" Yin bowed, kicking another mirror on the wall, with her sister neutrally striking one with her longsword "Now we can stop you greatest defence. Thank you." Yang bowed "You'd think they were immune unless otherwise, that was ignorance on our part." Klaw added, swiping five more with his buster sword. Then Rain came crashing into Refraction, knocking it backwards, her body now blazing with purple flames, as she scowled at its sight "You think I'm weak? This is what happens when you mock people who are, because I'm proud I'm weaker than you, because it makes it far sweeter when I become strong enough to crush you!" Rain was proving her worth before the Boss, and I couldn't stop smiling, opting to heal myself for that moment, before I picked Parting Glass off the floor. "Don't 'EVER' hurt my best friend!" [Umbra Seal - Callus Revenge Counter] Rain's body morphed into an arrow of shadows, her blue eyes turning into blades of light as she shot past Refraction, before recoiling back like lightning, striking through its spine, and out its stomach, before bouncing back from the floor, and striking through its chest again, then she looped around its left, just as it raising a blade to slice her in two, only for the two forces to clash, ending in Rain shattering its entire arm, before she sliced two of its horns off its skull, as she slid across the ground, returning to normal. I took my chance to strike it now weakened state. [Dual Edge - Serpent Style] My blades turned emerald again, as I spun across its back, sliding under it right arm as it tried to hit me, leaving behind two poisonous marks on its back diagonally. Then Yin and Yang flew over my head, both spinning together to axe-kick the top of the Boss' head, before I flew back, the two of the parting the middle as I spun like a buzz saw, blocking its downward AOE with its arm, knocking us both back from the parry. Just as two large figure ran by the three of us. Refraction burst with another coat, now immune to our Sword Skills, as I raised its arm high, a green glow embodying the blade, it was about to channel 'Sacred Calibur'! I grinned smugly though, seeing Laxus swing up from the right, using his magic to forcefully under-cut the greatsword through the Boss' arm, whist Klaw spun down from above, before he drove his buster sword through the top of the elbow, the arm completely shattering into three pieces from the shockwave, throwing all of them back. Refraction dug its bladed legs into the tiles, stopped just before the smug Seraph, who imbued her horn with magic, just as the Boss smashed its leg down atop her body in the moment it went agro on her, but its leg simply fazed through her illusion, with Seraph jumping back with a laugh, clapping her hooves in joy. "Give 'em hell, nerd!" Will do! It turned just in time to see me flying down, my left sword glowing bright blue with a downward lunge, as I dug the sword through its exposed red core, before I spun, my right blade glowing blue too as I crossed a horizontal arc through its core, before I turned around, dragging Heart in my left hoof upwards through the core, before I thrusted down with an inverted grip with the left again. Then I hovered back, before thrusting into the core with my right, a blast of blue light throwing the Boss into the direction of Rain, her body still ignited with purple flames Yet a golden hue had embraced Rain, and to my right, Bombard had lowered his hoof away from her, a spell flickering out within his hoof. [Umbra Seal - Death's Iron God Scythe] Most players just gasped at the sight, as my eyes widened with a manic laugh, the red hue of the arena was now basked in a purple glow, infecting the lights with its massive size. Rain's Bo Staff was now a massive, purple scythe of magic, as she swung it down with a victorious scream, first slicing through the Boss' mid section, the blade phasing through all of us, before she flipped it round, bringing it down through the middle of the Boss' skull, spiting its body down the middle completely within a flash, shattering half the floor with the impact of a comet, then, the arena turned back to its original lighting, no red hue in sight. Rain now hunched over, sweating profusely from the final strike. Internal Refraction stood still for a moment, before its body spazzed, crashing to its knees, as its body broke apart into four large chunks, then the rest all crumbled into a pile of grey crystals, a massive stream of blues, whites, reds, yellows, greens, and purples leaving the shards that remained, before the room went silent for a mere few seconds. [YOU DEFEATED THE AREA RAID BOSS!!!] The whole crowd was up in roars of cheers, all happily breathing in a sweet taste of victory over the SECOND Raid Lair, meaning we had only Four left to take down across the lands of Equestria, it may seem far, but the fact we defeated the second Boss was proof that it was possible to beat this game and free ourselves. Whist the crowd cheered, I watched from below, seeing Harbinger cast the broadcasting circles away, before he grinned, floating above us in waiting, but for what? Meanwhile, screens appeared for me to cast my attention to. [Rewards] Reflective Gauntlets Reflective Cloak Hollow Fragment (Long Sword) 2085 Bits 2000 EXP Reflective Gauntlets "Break......Beat......Bark......Repeat." Defense - 40 Weight - Medium Resistance (Element) - Light 15% Fire 10% Resistance (Critical) - 10% Bonus: Adaptable traits allow for a chance that you gain extra resistance to an element Reflective Cloak "Hush....all silent......no sound......only echoes....." Defense - 25 Weight - None Resistance (Element) - 20% Resistance (Critical) - 5% Bonus: +20 to stealth Hollow Fragment (Long Sword) "Slash. Slash. Slash. Thrust. Die." DPS - 125 - 150 Elemental Enhance - 35% Attack Speed - Fast Critical Chance - 15% Bonus Skill: One With The Force Reflect magic attacks back at caster at the cost of stamina [Level Up!] [31 - 34] [Stats Increased] Agility +5 Strength +8 Endurance +10 Magic +7 Luck +5 "Well-Well-Well, seems you all managed to pull through in the end, quite surprised actually, given the nature of this Boss, guess i'm back to the drawing board." Harbinger sighed, shaking his head with his hands raised in a clueless manner of defeat, before he stepped upon the tile floor of the arena, then pointed a finger at Rain. "You, however, reeeeeally scared me with that move of yours, didn't think a kind soul like yours had that much ferocity!" I only looked to my side to see Rain grinding her teeth at him, baring a fang, before he raised his hands defensively, his massive grin still bare. "Hey now, I only call what I see, but now that my job here's complete, I look forward to our next chat, congratulations to you all, expect those who were too weak to even survive their own teammates turning on them." With his message sent, he vanished at a click of his fingers, causing the room to grow cold. What did he mean by that? "The players....the ones me, and Bombard were with, they were.....killed, by someone here." Rain slowly shook out, causing everyone to begin mumbling to each other, all giving each other odd looks, even I was skeptical of some players, of course, that meant only the players we got for the raid, the others I could trust to an extent "Hey now, don't start this, I nearly had someone kill me because I starting being suspicious!" Bombard barked at the dishonest crowd, before he shook his head, looking our way to see Rain smiling simply at him. "Great, now I sound like, you." "Now.....that we can't have happening, can we?" *Shiiiiing* As if the world turned red, our bodies gone pale at the sight, we all could only freeze in despair, Bombard looking down at the jagged blade through his heart, before his health bar dropped, vanishing from the face of reality, his body falling to the cold ground like a sack, his body hitting the floor resonated to everyone, with the black body standing behind him, smiling as he relinquished the blade from Bombard's body. His last look of despair glancing at all of us, as he dryly moved his mouth. "....bastard....." *Shatter* "n-no....no-no-no-no...." Rain was horrified "NO!" I quickly snapped my head to Yin, who was trying to run for the traitor, with Seraph and Yang holding her back as she tried desperately to lunge at the player, her face built with sadness, and rage "Please stop!" Pinkie cried, holding Yin's tail tightly in her teeth, her bubbly hair deflated entirely "Stop, don't do something stupid!" Seraph calmed Yin, holding onto her wings tightly, with Yang hugging her sister, tears in her eyes over the loss of their friend. I could believe it myself, I didn't like the guy, but he saved Rain, he protected all of us through this Raid, and the first, and now when he tried to keep us from falling apart, he was just.....murdered.....by! [Ambulas - lvl 39] "I don't see the problem, all I did was hand the key to defeating Harbinger to someone of....better use, seeing as the key was the one to cast that buff as I had noticed previously, so I merely struck down the weakest link." Ambulas stated calmly, rubbing the spot where Bombard once stood smugly. "Of course - ....wait....where is the key?" "How could you!? He did nothing wrong and you killed him!?" Rain cried, grasping her Bo Staff shakily, but resting in her left hoof.....an Amber gem. I held her back with a weak hoof, holding onto her hoof gently as she looked to me with tears streaming down her face "You know, he gave you the gem by throwing it into a trade menu with you, just before I caught up, I saw you two trading items, but at the last second, he threw a small item into the trade window." I explained with a sympathetic voice. "He must have known someone who target him for his gemstone, so when he casted the buff, the system followed where his gemstone was, that being Rain's inventory. The fact that I didn't realize who you were only makes this hollow pit in my stomach turn, and I bloody hate it..... this is something you would do, right, Mors?" I saw the changeling's eye twitch at the name, as he threw his grey gemstone across the floor in distaste, grasping his blade in his magic, but he ultimately relaxed, a smile tugging his muzzle like some love-stick puppy. "And how is it that you know me, White? Does our friendship run so deep that you remember a nobody like me?" Was he really that sad? I barely remembered his ass, being that the last time I saw him was last year. "Or did a little bird tell you my name?" "No, just that this sadistic way of thinking is what got you booted from Relic Hunters, along with almost every other game in the Digiverse, you have a style that no one likes, and to use your sick games here.....like a fucking joke! It only makes me wonder how I haven't pulled you throat out!" I snarled, trying my damn-well best to keep calm, he always used this against others, their rage to fuel his plans "Aww, is the little lab rat feeling angry? Well, my plans ain't done yet, you'll see just how weak you truly are in this world, in 'MY' world, I'll make you pay for what you did, not just to me, I'll take that key from your broken hooves." He growled, before his gaze fell to Rain, who seemed to hold onto my hoof tighter at his stare, before he licked his lips with a forked-tongue. "I might just keep 'her' though...." "Lay a hand on her and we'll break your legs!" Nox dared, pointing her halberd at his body, with every other player raising their weapons in defiance, so he frowned, grabbing a teleport rune from his scarf, before he held it up with a smile "You have such colorful friends, White, and you call me a sociopath? Hardly, I'm just doing what no one has the guts to pull off, so sorry if that doesn't fit your bill!" Ambulas spat at me, but I just holding back, feeling Rain's hoof hold me over the mixture of emotions raging in her heart right now, me attacking wasn't going to help anyone, so I kept calm. "Well, this was certainly a great time, but I must bid you all adieu. But White, do realize you're not the hero of this story, the sooner you realize your place, the safer you'll be." "A cowards way out/Pathetic move/For a pathetic weakling." Silver huffed, leaving Ambulas to simple chuckle, calling out the name of his teleport, if I only knew, I might have gone to stop him sooner, I could have connected the dots myself, I might have saved Bombard from his demise. But all I did was watch him die, and his murderer escape with a few final words of triumph "Stop him, quick!" Laxus ordered "You traitor...." Summer shallowly added, glaring at the Changeling with a sadistic smile "Teleport....Phantom Guild." He was gone.....before we even had a moment to move. We may have beaten the Raid.....but at the cost of so many lives To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 33 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 34 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 33 [Support class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 33 [Defensive class] Current Level: 34 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Reflective Gauntlets Reflective Cloak Hollow Fragment (Long Sword) 2085 Bits 2000 EXP New Skills [Dual Edge - Starburst] - Etched a star into your enemy with deadly force (Dual weapons) [Dual Edge - Serpent Style] - Two quick perpendicular slashes (Dual weapons) [Sword Skill - Dragon Cry] - A 27 combo with spins, thrusts and slashes at high speeds, grants speed buff, and attack buff (1H Sword) [Sword Skill - 5-point Steel] - 5 lightning flash thrusts, can cause stun (1H Sword) [Aura - Gaia's Wish] - Bless your team with twice the amount of power in their next skill (Defensive class) [Umbra Seal - Nightmare Rain] - A concentrated beam of pure shadows [Umbra Seal - Callus Revenge Counter] - Turn into a shadow bolt to strike your enemies with fear, and bleeding [Umbra Seal - Death's Iron God Scythe] - Conjure a godly scythe of darkness to decimate an army with perfect aim [Unity Move - Great Devourer] - Eat away at your enemy's health with poisonous flames [New Passive Added] -Critical Phase- If your health is in the red, the next fatal strike will not kill you (Death gives you a second chance, don't waste it) Author's Note Well.....if character development gets you killed this may be a short series, anywho, hope you enjoyed the grand battle! With new antagonist, Ambulas, and now the death of Bombard weighing down on everyone, how will they plan to move forward? Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and seeya in the next one! Next Chapter: Event - [Honor To The End] Event - [Honor To The End]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "You nothing.....how long until the figure out what you are? A man.....a lab rat among reality, clinging to life since you were only five.....you're nothing to the world out this one, a false reality to save your mind, without it, without this power, you are merely a waste of matter...." My inner thoughts were completely clouded now, I felt myself beginning to back away in fear, my heart was beating faster, my own breathing was becoming ragged under the weight of my own words. "You are all alone." "Don't 'EVER' hurt my best friend!" [Umbra Seal - Callus Revenge Counter] "....bastard....." *Shatter* "NO!" -he was just.....murdered.....by! [Ambulas - lvl 39] "Teleport....Phantom Guild." He was gone [Canternlot Castle Alter of Memories] This was the newest addition to the world of Equestria, a place that every player in the game could view each other's names, all engraved upon obelisks, white users dug into the black surface of the stone, those that ceased a low, white glow were no longer alive, and every so often, the lights would flicker out, another to the souls that Harbinger claimed for his game of death, he was god in this world, and we could only watch as names died. How long before we saw a name we knew flicker out? A day? A week? Even more time we spent in this digital recreation? It was never clear. Now, all of us who started the raid, those Twenty Four players, were now a simple Eighteen, with Bombard being the most recent within the hours that passed. Sure, I didn't like the guy, but he did what many would take months to do in only a few, short hours, he clawed his way into my respects, saving Rain twice, saving me, and many others during the battle with Internal Refraction, and when he did his best to try and keep us from turning, Ambulas struck him down, ending any hope of us being comrades for the days ahead. I saw this game as something of child's play, it is to me, I'm so used to a world of code and not feeling limited by my real life, I don't have goals I wish to work for, no future plans for my life of comfort or with a family, I never went to school so I only ever had a few friends across the world and my family. But to see this, someone I only ever crossed paths with twice, die, it hurt....knowing that no one could be as strong as me, my brother, Rain, all of us. Ambulas knew this, he knew those who were weak would die, and he wanted me to see that....to show I was powerful....but that didn't make me strong. "Bombard saved my sister when we met." I turned my head to look at Yin, her head low, but she smiled softly, trying to be strong for her sister who was holding onto her side, I couldn't see her face, but I didn't want to, cause I felt my stomach turn. "I was stuck in a dungeon, fending off a horde of enemies that were too tough to just ignore, then suddenly, Yang was pinned to a wall, her health entering the red, and I froze, my body couldn't move to save my little sister from dying that day, but....he came from out another passage, taking the hit for her, and saving her life." Yin then ruffled Yang's mane, looking up to me, and Rain, who was resting her hoof on the obelisk with the others, paying their final respects to their friend. Meanwhile, I saw Yin smile like her usual self, tears still stinging the corners of her eyes. "I won't let his second chance go to waste, and neither should you. Can you promise me White, that you'll beat this game, for him?" Yin's requested me from the deepest pits of her heart Could I? I stopped to look at the names across the hall, some faded out, others still aglow with life. Could I save this world? I knew alot about the Digiverse, all games had quirks that were similar, it was a matter of finding and exploiting those flaws to your advantage if you were in a tight spot. It was a crazy request, we only found two relics, and no other hints towards the other raids had been heard of yet, Harbinger didn't need to do anything else, he already made the world's hardest treasure hunt, but why did he do that? He could easily manipulate this world against us in time, hell, Ambulas had managed to tamper with the system without alerting Harbinger, so why? My eyes widened slightly at a more recent thought, of what Gambit told me.... "Hey, can I ask you something?" "Well, you caught my interest with that trade of ours, so why not?" Gambit mused, bending down on his chair to face me. "Make it quick, I got to tear a hole through the multiverse soon for expansions." "Why hasn't Harbinger tried anything more....complex? As in, why doesn't he remove the Green Zones, take our levels away, or just trap us? Why this game of death?" I asked curiously, its a thought I kept pondering on since the day he talked to me, how he explained his rules. Looking at Gambit, I saw his eyes narrow with a wide smile "Now 'that' is the right question. Control Core Gamma's a fun chap to talk with, kept going on about 'Regulating the system against the malware', I don't know, wasn't paying attention. But from how it responded, it reminded me of Harbinger." Gambit then bent back to rest against his chair, flicking through his cards, symbols of Nightmares, Earths, other beings, including one that looked like me "Harbinger has one flaw. He 'loves' his games, as in, he literally used Midnite to carve a curse into his flesh that bound him to his own rules. If he invades a world of his choosing and decided to play a game, whatever rules are set in stone, even he cannot overrule, or...." Gambit trailed off, and I was on the edge of my seat by this point, this was it, it really was it, the answer to beating him! "Or...." I did a circle motion with my hoof, and he blinked "I don't know!" I deflated. "All I know about this 'asshole' is that until he gains complete control over a world, his rules will prevent him from doing anything more than he already has." "What does he want?" "Ah-Ah-Ah, no spoilers...." I think I have my answer. "Yin, 'WE' will beat this game, one raid at a time, I promise." I stated proudly, before I clapped my hooves to grab everyone's attention. "Now....I know we lost good people today, I didn't know anything about them, hell, I found one of them to be irritating to my eardrums, but I'll be damned if I let Harbinger rub their names in the dirt. He may not see it, and everyone who watched his broadcast may not have either, but we're winning, two raids are down, and we only have four to go. So, I say we give them a better send-off than this, to hell with this depressing crap. Pinkie, I need you to get started on party planning, decorations, music, everything you need, put it on my tab, I don't need bits right now." "Okey-Doki-Loki~!" She sung, saluting at my command as she vanished out of the hall, leaving me to look at Silver, pointing at him "Silver, I need fireworks, the biggest you can afford, I'll pay you back for the bits afterwards, meanwhile, I'm going to get us a prime location to set this up!" I ordered proudly, seeing Silver nod once, before Nox joined him "We shall see it done/A honor to respect/Let us go." Silver motioned for Nox to follow, before I looked to Laxus, Summer, and Seraph, grinning with a glint of evil in my eyes "White, you don't need to do this for us." Laxus looked at me with a mixture of emotions I couldn't quite read, but I wasn't having it, stomping my foot, I looked at them with my own gaze of guilt "I fucked up big time, Ambulas was right, I think I can easily be the star of the show, and that's my weakness, I'm stronger than everyone else and that blinded me to such an obvious situation. If Rain, Klaw, Silver, or even Nox hadn't kept me right, I'd be dead, but instead its Bombard's blood on my hands." I felt something new inside me, was it anger or guilt? I couldn't tell. "So please, let me make it up to him?" Summer stared at me with a kind smile. Yin and Yang had done the same, wiping their tears, Rain had a face I couldn't read, yet she held a hoof to her chest, where the Gemstone of Passion gleamed in the light from the window. "Well then, whatever you need, we'll do the same." Laxus replied in kind, he held a stern expression, but his words were certainly heavy [Canternlot Dorms] Princess Celestia actually gave us a room to stay in for the evening to plan out my crazy idea for a party, with all the prep work usually handled by the system, formulating one's own event took time, and careful planning, along with my bank account. But I wasn't working at the moment, as I waited for Rain, Silver, Nox, Klaw, and Pinkie to get comfortable, seeing their looks of concern over what I was willing to explain, after all, it was no secret to anyone. "Now, to begin my explanation, Ambulas goes by the name of Mors, mostly because of his fascination with....darker means of handling situations in games, his persona being a dark, sociopathic nutcase, with more weapons to compensate for such lower standards of his personality." That part was a joke. "Last I saw him was back with my friend's clan on Warframe, the guy had no restraint against innocent players, all of which he picked on like he was a god to them, many actually felt threatened by him at times, so, my best friend, 'CyberSlayer', booted him from the clan, leaving him to do his own thing, sure, we kept in touch since he was an alright guy IRL, but in the Digiverse, he was the world's biggest maniac." "So why is he here, more importantly, why did he do and say what he said and did?" Rain asked me, and I simply shrugged, even I had no clue what he meant by his rambling, since its usually all that, rambling nonsense "I haven't a clue, he didn't have a red cursor, but what scares me most, when he killed Bombard, and those players before-hand, his cursor never changed from green, not even a flicker." That turned heads, and my mind turned gears in thought over the glitch, if you could call it that. "If he found a way to negate the 'Player Killing' system, every player in this game won't be safe from him, not forever atleast." The gravity of the situation was dire, and I had no way of stopping it this time, and how could I have predicted he'd come here? He doesn't even like the show! All of this....and he was part of that 'Phantom' guild too, things could never have been so wrong. "Funny how, even in this world I can't get rid of my biggest mistake." I bowed my head in shame, and Pinkie spoke up after minutes of her own silence "How is it your fault, White?" "As my username implies, I'm a 'White Hat', a good sort of hacker, my brother is the selfish one, but not so bad as to do anything illegal, but Mors was the other, what we called a Grey Hat, in our own term, he's the type to do anything to gain his way, from childish pranks to bringing servers down for days without so much as a problem. I could have reported him, but I didn't because I was scared of what he might have done to me....I only looked out for myself." I felt sick at the thought. The only reason he's not in control is due to the fact he only had the power to tamper with basic systems, not a system that could run on its own, adapt on its own, and change according to its own will However, my head tilted slightly at the hoof on my shoulder, seeing the dark grey fur against my light-peach shoulder. Then my gaze lifted to Rain, as she looked at me with an honest smile. "Anyone would have done the same, we can't change that, but we don't think of you any differently, I certainly feel safe." Rain.... "No one will turn back/Our paths were meant to cross/We are with you." Silver too "While the thought of two with the power to alter this world to their whim is worrisome, I doubt you're the only one who wishes to end both, right?" Even Klaw. Again, something hit me with a wave of....happiness, relief maybe? "Eh, guy's a creep, hence why I'm better off sticking by you or your brother, somehow you both cause less damage. But if you find him, I want to give him a taste of his own medicine, free of charge." Wow, offering someone an ass-whooping for free? How times- "With interest." There we go "Hey, no one's perfect, so stop giving yourself shit and let us help you kick his ass!" Of course, Nox has a way of words, but lack of any feminine charm to boot, but I get it. My problems were just my own, they were all of ours now, so I can't change that, only hope for the best and prepare for the worst "We all know its bad, but you said it yourself, we should be giving them all a proper sendoff, not wallowing in guilt over what we 'should' have done. We need to savior what we 'can' do." Pinkie's answer was right, she was right, I can't change what happened, but I can take a step to prevent any more pain, enough of that had been sowed into everyone with this Death Game "Ok....lets get this party started." I grinned, followed by everyone cheering in acknowledgement. I stood up for everyone to look over my shoulders, as I opened my notifications, setting it to 'Public', before I hit the 'Create Event' circle at the bottom right [Event Title: Raid Party Sendoff] [Event Date: November 1st 2026] [Event Time: 18:00 - 21:00] [Location: Canternlot Castle Royal Garden] [Message to Local Green Zone: To any players who wished to join the members of the Raid Party that risked their lives to defeat the Second Raid Lair. We are hosting an event in memory of those who lost their lives to aid in our fight. If you wish to pay your respects, please, come to Canternlot Castle's Royal Garden, for those we lost - White Hat] [Do you wish to begin this event? Y / N] "Ok, we have an hour to prepare people, lets get moving!" I called over the small pause of silence, making my guild move for certain supplies littering the dorm. "Lets show them that The Eternal Flame will continue to burn!" "Hehehe, knew you'd like the motto." Seraph chuckled, holding onto the sac of bits she charged me 'for' the motto [Canternlot Castle Royal Garden] [User: Purplrain] To my absolute surprise, many players had actually shown up to the event, and what started out with only a handful of players, some of which were friends of the players we lost, soon other guilds appeared, even players from Ponyville that were given messages by their friends, and so they took the newly fixed train to the kingdom, with both pro players, and lower level ones of all kinds. I even saw those of other species, some gathered in the gardens, with others up on the roofs, and trees, and some flying about, all laughing, chatting, and with Pinkie's music, it felt like a party that those we sadly lost would enjoy seeing, a Game where people could be happy, free of the feeling of being trapped within the confines of Harbinger's prison. "Enjoying the view?" I nearly fell off the roof, seeing Yin giggling beside me, as she flew down to land on the roof I perched myself on, a bright smile on her face over the success of the event, her aura of joy was even back, making me feel happy that she was feeling better. "I mean, even 'I' had some doubt, but this is amazing! I gotta thank White after this-Oh, um, and all of you too, your guild is gonna be big with us spreading the word!" "Wait....what were you doing?" Now i felt a little concerned for my image, but Yin waved a hoof nonchalantly "Its fiiiine, I just told some players how, The Eternal Flame guild had helped us set this up, and that the leader had picked out some colorful friends to aid him, soon, word of your guild will actually be making players who can't fight feel hopeful again, that's what he hoped to do with this." Yin explained, as I felt a well of pride spring in my chest, feeling happy that I could do something to give people eased minds now. "Soooo, I saw you two hug it out before the Raid Boss, what was that about~?" "W-Wha, y-you saw that!?" I felt the heat burn through my cheeks now, as I tried to calm myself down, but it was already too late, my armour had broken before she started laughing with a coy smile, nudging my side with a wing "Didn't know you were so bold, for a bat that is?" Yin continued to tease me, as my face literally glowed red, I could even see it on my hooves too, and she only looked like I had fueled the fires more. "That's so cute, seeing you all flustered, but I can't blame you, despite the nerdiness, he's quite the looker, wonder if he's like that in the real world?" "I-I...no comment!" I couldn't process anything now, and Yin only patted my back, degrading me further as I slouched. Then I looked to her again, a slightly pang of worry in my voice. "Besides, he did that to keep me calm, I don't think he really knows how to convey his feelings." "How so?" Yin asked curiously, dropping the smug look "Ever since I met him, he's shown to be kind, funny, and sarcastic, but the way he tries to understand or explain how he feels is almost robotic, like he's never really known about how feelings work?" It was a hard thought to put into words, but it was like he's never interacted with anyone in person before "Hmm, not really what I've seen lately." Huh? I looked at Yin again. "If it wasn't obvious, me and my adorable sis are polar opposites, I'm happy and goofy, she's monotone and innocent, makes us quite the pair. Kind-of why we liked MLP, it was fun to see each others reactions to certain episodes, lots of funny times I saw my sister with this bright smile on her face, other times, she never spoke. Before, I thought it was because she didn't like it or lost interest, but....she wasn't, the more I watched her, listened to her, and found the quirks in what she did, I saw how polar opposite, and alike we were." Yin looked lost in memories, a warm smile crossing her muzzle, whist I felt the same "So, while I don't know the reason why our cuddly badass of a nerd is 'robotic', as you put it, I think the more I watched him over the last two days, how he interacts with you, your friends, my sister, I see he's a kind, honest guy. I think you're lucky, Rain." I titled my head at that "I'm lucky?" My luck was low, both IRL and in here, more-so the latter "Yeah, you got the greatest guy Ive seen as a BFF, who wouldn't be happy?" Huh, I....now that I think about it, despite those flaws, I think they make White more fascinating, when we beat The Watcher, that look of joy on his face was so infectious, including the fight with the first Raid Boss, he may have been serious, but the more I think about it, the more I saw under the seams "I think I know why he's here." Yin looked back from the party to me. "We all came here for our own reasons, and....White is here like I am." "And that is....?" Yin smiled, awaiting the answer with anticipation "We wanted to know more about people, the good and the bad, and even the strangest." I giggled at the last part with Yin. Without hesitation, Yin clapped her hooves together before me "Now then, enough character development, instead, its time to hear you sing!" Wait what? "Wha?" I didn't have a choice, finding my hooves being pulled by Yin's incredible strength towards the stage below, where we flew in to see Laxus up on the stage, silencing the massive crowd, before he spoke into the mic "Thank you. I don't wish to keep anyone, but this is something that needs to be heard, the men we lost today to the Raid's Maze, and the Boss it held were not to be forgotten by anyone here, they were the strongest we could hope to bring with us to the fight, and I couldn't have asked for better people to fight beside, I only wish I got to know them more, perhaps even grow to call them more than comrades in arms. To that, I hope you may forgive us." "As for my own friend, Bombard, he was a stubborn man, having no tolerance for excuses or lies, and was truly an honorable soul at heart, who not only risked his life for me, our friends, but for those of our allies, The Eternal Flame, he had grown on us, and we to him, and to have one of our own, a traitor to that Dark Guild take him away from a life worth living is unforgivable!" "So, for you, my friend, I wish to take up your place, and fight for the freedom of all the player of this game, so we may all grow stronger for you, and those who fought beside you. Bombard, I vow, we will end this game, one Raid at a time." With Laxus' speech over, everyone cheered, as I wiped a stray tear from my eye, before Yin pulled me towards the side of the stage, waving at Laxus, who in turn smiled. "Now, let us truly give our fellow players a proper farewell, with the help of a few friends of mine, please do enjoy the show." The crowd now cheered for me and Yin, who dragged me to the stage, an embarrassed blush on my cheeks at the crowd, as Yin flew up to the mic, smiling innocently at the crowd, as I came up beside her, before she looped a hoof around my neck, causing me to smile stupidly over her antics, but I didn't have a choice now, so I went along with her plan, I did enjoy singing anyways. "What's up players~! Now! Unlike most, the best way to give a friend a good sendoff is with their favorite song, and with Bombard being a big, cuddly bear under his grumpy face, I plan to completely screw his afterlife over with his song!" At that, the crowd burst into an uproar of laughter, then she handed me the mic. "I'll be backup, and your beautiful singer is the lovely Purplrain from the guild, The Eternal Flame, enjooooooy~! Oh right, its a duet with White, have fun, Rain!" Wait what? What song did Bombard like anyways? Guess it didn't matter now, seeing as I was placed into a fight or flight situation, and the fact that Yin looked ready to tackle me if I tried to run, so I shrugged, smiling as a few talented players began to play the instruments at the crowds silence, and first up was....violins....and a base guitar? Wait, was this song....? I then couldn't help it, I was smiling even brighter than normal at the beat behind me, then to the surprisingly smooth voice of....wow, ok, is there anything White 'can't do? But....where was he singing from? [Author's Note: Enjoy~!] [Red: White Hat. Purple: Rain.Blue: Both] "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" I wanna follow where she goes I think about her and she knows it I wanna let her take control 'Cause every time that she gets close, yeah She pulls me in enough to keep me guessing, mmm And maybe I should stop and start confessing Confessing, yeah Oh, I've been shaking I love it when you go crazy You take all my inhibitions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back You take me places that tear up my reputation Manipulate my decisions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back There's nothing holdin' me back There's nothing holdin' me back He says that he's never afraid Just picture everybody naked He really doesn't like to wait Not really into hesitation Pulls me in enough to keep me guessing, mmm And maybe I should stop and start confessing Confessing, yeah Oh, I've been shaking I love it when you go crazy You take all my inhibitions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back You take me places that tear up my reputation Manipulate my decisions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back There's nothing holdin' me back 'Cause if we lost our minds And we took it way too far I know we'd be alright, Know we would be alright If you were by my side And we stumbled in the dark I know we'd be alright, I know we would be alright 'Cause if we lost our minds And we took it way too far I know we'd be alright, I know we would be alright If you were by my side And we stumbled in the dark I know we'd be alright, We would be alright Oh, I've been shaking I love it when you go crazy You take all my inhibitions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back You take me places that tear up my reputation Manipulate my decisions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back There's nothing holdin' me back I feel so free When you're with me, Baby Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back [User: White Hat] Hearing the crowd from here, I watched as the magic surrounding Seraph's horn dissipated, her flirty smile gracing her lips, whist I turned red from the indication she was trying to give me, so I just shoved her aside, muttering under my breath as I cured Yin for tricking me to do this, but in the end, it was for Bombard, so I'll deal with it. However, a part of me did enjoy hearing Rain sing, her voice was really good, and I can't lie about that. "Never for a second did I think 'you' could sing. I'm impressed, but your crush might have other words?" That caused my step to faulter, my face growing in color under the dark of the night, and she couldn't see me "I. Do Not. Have. A. Crush. On. Rain." I worded sternly, glaring back at the smug info-broker, who just raised an eyebrow, her eyes glowing with glee "I never said anything about little ol' Rain. Hehehehehe...." At my misfortune, I left her to find a way off the roof herself "I hate you so much, Seraph." "Love yoooooou~!" Her laugh made me cringe [User: Purplrain] After the forty-five minutes of songs, I was given my leave, with a bone-crushing hug from Yin on the way out, along with the others, and players giving their support on my singing, which I really enjoyed hearing from them, I loved singing, and I actually wanted to have a career in singing my own songs, alongside covers of classics, like the first one I sung, catchy, upbeat tunes were my style. "Now 'that' I can see is talent, though my surprise is how so many show up for a small event, such as this one." The new voice spoke up over the crowds, turning the once loud chatter into a mumbling crowd at the group of....menacing ponies. All of which looked strange in their own right There were four of them. The first to the far left was a yellow pegasus with a black cloak, and lunar symbols dotted across it, with a silver outline around the hood, and back-ends of the torn robes, he had blue eyes, and a brown, messy mane, whist a staff rested on his back, but his user was just baffling, if not more of a joke, so it was obvious he was an NPC. [Gar'i The Glitch - lvl 40] The one to Gar'i's right was a tan unicorn mare, with a smooth, long golden mane, with her tail in a pony tail. Her armour was a shiny gold, with orange energy emanating from the solar armour, which looked roman in style, since she had a small, red scarf too, and wore a gold spear to her left hip, and a shield to her right. Her eyes were also orange, making more like a flaming elemental than a player, and her neutral expression gave me chills. [Serafin - lvl 45] The one to the far left was a guy, and earth pony who was the same tone of colour as White Hat, but his eyes were completely black, with a long, wavy black mane and tail. He wore pointy, grim reaper looking armour, with a helmet in the formation of a pointy hood, with a silver scythe resting on his left hip, and a mood medallion around his neck. A near unfaltering frown on his muzzle. [Morana - lvl 42] The last in the group was a white unicorn, a blonde mane that was finely combed, and a short tail that rested in a few spikes, his eyes were bright blue, and he wore black rimmed glasses. His clothing was that of an open purple robe, with blue added to the belts, collar, and torn end which covered his cutie mark, with an obsidian chest piece under his robe, with gauntlets on his hooves, but his left hoof wore a gold gauntlet instead, with a few amethyst in the sides. He also wore a black scarf with several purple slashes across it, and an eye for a pin, and was torn in the wind, just looking at it made my blood freeze. His name however, it shocked most of us, including me. [Black Hat - lvl 55] "Y-Your name! Its....are you-" "Holy shit, I thought you were dead!" All of us turned our heads to the descending White Hat, as he flew down beside me, a large grin on his face, as Seraph followed closely behind him from the building. Then Black Hat stepped forward, before the two hoof-bumped, both smiling. "Glad you're ok." "Eh, take over a fortress and you're basically untouchable, and from what I both heard, and saw, you're lazy ass has been clearing Raid Lairs?" Black asked White, to which he nodded, pointing to Black's golden gauntlet. "Meh, still stronger than you." "Seems you have the key to the next Raid, wherever it is." White grumbled, before Serafin stepped forward, eyeing White carefully, which seemed to unnerve him, seeing him rub his left hoof gingerly. "Is she ok?" "Sorry, I merely find it surprising that you, and my friend here are so alike, yet your personalities are complete opposites, but I think I can see how you are far more wise than Black here." Serafin smiled softly, holding a hoof out for White to shake, which he happily did, meanwhile I saw Black grumble "Oh sure, call me a monster when I kill NPCs, but my Brother gets a welcoming smile, loving the 'friendship'." Black wasn't looking pleased, but then Gar'i jumped in randomly, hopping beside Black "Hey, I still like you, boss! You being far better than our last leader and all!" This guy was....scarily positive, even Black looked bemused, so he patted the follower down "I like him more anyways." Black added, then he saw that Yin and Yang were standing beside me, with Klaw, Silver, Nox and the rest watching from behind us. "And....are they twins, they look like twins?" "Yes!" Both replied, actually making Black jump, as he adjusted his glasses "Ok....well I'm not sleeping tonight, tell me, this normal for you to be around this many girls, or am I truly in hell?" Black was insulting us, really? How was he the older brother out of the two of them again? But White laughed, patting Yang on the head, who was busy glaring at Black with an irritated grinding of her teeth "Ha. Ha. But since you basically gave an introduction, my guild consists of Nox, the one with the mask. Silver, the guy who speaks like Zer0, and I mean that as literally as I can be. Klaw, the British dragon. Pinkie Pie, the self-aware NPC. Our old con-master, Seraph. And last, my best friend, Purplrain, or Rain for short." He then hooked an arm around my neck, causing me to smile at the touched title, gah! Stupid Yin putting stupid thoughts into my head! Stupid-Stupid-Stupid! "Riiiight....so I came here because I want to kill the princesses, so give them to me." Black was now held in place by every Short Sword. Spear. Battle Axe. Halberd. Dagger. Bo Staff. Cutlass. Magic Staff. Knuckle Duster. Sai. Katana. Bastard Sword. Long Sword. Broad Sword. And almost every other weapon by players. With Pinkie holding a spoon. To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 33 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 34 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 33 [Support class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 33 [Defensive class] Author's Note Shit just went sideways in 'THE' most colossal way. The finale for this Arc is next week, with the rivalry between White Hat and his brother begins over either killing the princesses or kicking Black Hat's group to the curb. Who's gonna win? Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the rival next time! Next Chapter: Rival [Colour Clash] Rival - [Colour Clash]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- There were four of them. The first to the far left was a yellow pegasus with a black cloak, and lunar symbols dotted across it, with a silver outline around the hood, and back-ends of the torn robes, he had blue eyes, and a brown, messy mane, whist a staff rested on his back, but his user was just baffling, if not more of a joke, so it was obvious he was an NPC. [Gar'i The Cultist - lvl 40] The one to 'Gar'i' right was a tan unicorn mare, with a smooth, long blonde mane, with her tail in a pony tail. Her armour was a shiny gold, with orange energy emanating from the solar armour, which looked roman in style, since she had a small, red scarf too, and wore a gold spear to her left hip, and a shield to her right. Her eyes were also orange, making more like a flaming elemental than a player, and her neutral expression gave me chills. [Serafin - lvl 45] The one to the far left was a guy, and earth pony who was the same tone of colour as White Hat, but his eyes were completely black, with a long, wavy black mane and tail. He wore pointy, grim reaper looking armour, with a helmet in the formation of a pointy hood, with a silver scythe resting on his left hip, and a mood medalion around his neck. A near unfaltering frown on his muzzle. [Morana - lvl 42] The last in the group was a white unicorn, a blonde mane that was finely combed, and a short tail that rested in a few spikes, his eyes were bright blue, and he wore black rimmed glasses. His clothing was that of an open purple robe, with blue added to the belts, collar, and torn end which covered his cutie mark, with an obsidian chest piece under his robe, with gauntlets on his hooves, but his left hoof wore a gold gauntlet instead, with a few amethyst in the sides. His name however, it shocked most of us, including me. [Black Hat - lvl 45] "Riiiight....so I came here because I want to kill the princesses, so give them to me." [Canternlot Castle Royal Garden] I felt sweat drop in hopelessness of everyone's immediate reaction to his words, which I could understand was completely uncalled for, but this was ridiculous, my brother's nuts, but no murderer....of living people. Even 'HE' was deadpanning over the whole thing, pushing a spoon away from his face, before everyone was shoved back by Morana using an air wave from his hoof, harmless, but it cleared the space again. "Well....this was eventful, can I get on with the bet now?" My ears perked at that, but before I could say a word, Laxus stepped forward, glaring down at my brother, who only looked up with a blink and a smile. "Holy shit, what did you lift?" "This here event is not a place for people like you, now, I can respect you because of your relationship with White Hat, but I 'WILL NOT' tolerate your presence otherwise. Now leave." Laxus was probably about five seconds from tearing my brother a new one, something I can't have happening. That's when a lightbulb lit up, and a small smile crossed my lips "Sorry about this, Laxus, but he can have the princesses." I began, stepping past him, much to everyone's shock, before I glared at my brother. "If he can win." "About time! These second-rate players were beginning to bother me." Black grumbled, before he waved to me. "What are your terms for the first official match of our bet?" "Bet? What bet?" Rain asked us, so Black cleared his throat "The reason we're here, we made a bet that I would take over this world, whist White here would stop me at every turn, since the game's changed, plans have been....wavered, but I still wanna win this bet." Black explained to them, before I sternly frowned under my glasses, their lenses shining in the moonlight "We take bets super seriously, so, to keep this event on fire for the big sendoff, lets make it simple. You have one of your guys fight one of my guys, If my side kicks your sorry pale ass into the dirt, you leave, if we lose...." I then proceeded to push my glasses back up my muzzle "We get my achievement." At that, all of us turned to look at him with a mixture of anger, and distaste. "What? There fucking ones and zeros, sue me for being realistic!" "Hey, I am more than code, YOU HEAR ME!" Pinkie screamed over the crowd, with Klaw holding her back with a hand on her tail, her hooves digging into the soil. Then, I looked to them all sympathetically "Sorry about this guys, I know he wouldn't leave otherwise, so....you mind helping out on this one?" I felt bad for forcing them into our betting war, but if could keep him from going on a rampage, I'll have to play my cards right, my brother is a crazy analyst, and has most likely read all my friends by now, so I needed to play carefully, I was on thin ice "White, after all you did for us....course we will! I wanna kick this party-crasher off the cliff-side!" Yin cheered, her sister hopping atop her back "We will destroy his soul." A Yang's remark, a could 'feel' my brother shiver at her scary, innocent threat, she even pointed at him with a hoof "While I find this to be a bit off putting, fine, just make sure he doesn't cause anymore hassle, otherwise I'll throw you both off the cliff." Laxus warned, and so....I looked to Black "Who you choosing?" I asked simply, and soon, I watched the silver scythe swing in the air, before a hoof drove the blade into the earth in front of me, and I felt the wave of cringe wash over me. My eyes now stared back at the onyx ones with a bemused expression. "Someone get me my shades, cause mister edge lord has arrived." "I shall cleave your heart, beating from your chest." Morana sneered like Hunhow, oh what fun, I backed away from the blade's point with little encouragement to be on the receiving end of it, and so, I needed to make my choice, and a hard one at that I could send Klaw, the old power against speed tactic, but that never really works. I would Yin, but she is far more efficient with her sister, so that's out of the question. Rain or Silver have great abilities too, and there stats are certainly stronger, but Rain's up against a person, and the fact he seems to have little tolerance for any human life speaks volumes of this outcome, but Rain has really improved from a girl who knew nothing about RPGs, Silver may also be a good choice, given is reflexes....Maybe. "Ok, my choice will be obvious." I clapped my hooves together happily, before I pointed a wing towards. "Nox, how'd you like to kick the equivalent of Death into the dirt beneath your hooves?" Almost everyone looked surprised by my choice, seeing that some looked in disbelief at choosing the level 32 to battle the level 42, Rain even looked at me with a concerned expression, I know may not have seen wise, but if my plan works, she may very well have a fighting chance against Morana, I wasn't going to just cast her aside because of her level, what she lacked in using skills, she made up for in raw potential, and if my hunch is correct, than Nox might even be stronger than me. "Hey I'm all for kicking these idiots to the curb, but why me, why not Klaw or even Silver?" Nox doubted herself, even with the mask changing her vocal range, I could hear that uncertainty, and the confused expression on her mask's eyes gave me a clear answer too "Because, you're the only one I could rely on to do this for me, you see, Black here knows how I work, he could read me like a book, yet the one thing he never accounts for in my head, is my unorthodox choices, that's his weakness, and you, my badass unicorn, are that uncertainty he will learn to fear." I then patted her on the shoulder, seeing her eyes go from blue to pink again, before she hardened her stare, nodding "Alright then...." She then moved aside, the crowd now cheering from the side lines, then she pulled her halberd from her back, holding the crystal weapon high, pointing it dangerously at Morana. "I'm gonna knock you on your ass!" "Weak words from a weak faker, hiding behind that mask is not going to make you stronger, and I shall prove that to you." Morana knew her identity? Even Nox froze in her step, before she moved to stand before him, it was only a brief glimmer of hesitation, now it was a righteous anger "How about instead of talking, you shut up and start fighting?" Nox snarled, before Morana pulled his scythe from the ground, holding it to his side with his left hoof "Spirit, which I shall soon cleave from your defeat, mongrel." He mocked her, well, it was nice knowing Morana, even Black felt the cord in Nox snap at that remark "Hey Morana, if you lose, your ten levels are going to me!" Black yelled, seeing Morana deflate at that slightly "Aww, what happened to all that smug talk, you afraid that your boss is gonna make you weaker than me?" Nox taunted, seeing the red glow build around Morana's body, as a slight pang of anger flashed in his eyes, before he moved back a bit, with Nox doing the same Meanwhile, me, and Black Hat stood to the side as commentators, with us setting the regulations up for the match. Once we both silently agreed on the terms, we threw them into play, making a ring of light around the plot of grass, with everyone around the sides, making bets, and cheering for their opposing sides, then Black's horn glowed. "Now then, to get this going the rules are simple!" "Rule one. Once a player hits the red, they lose, no time limit!" "Rule two. Stepping out the ring means you lose, if that wasn't obvious!" "Final Rule, mainly for Black's player, this is a fair match, any call-outs to cheating will be dealt with the wrath of Pinkie Pie!" "Wait, why did you mention that specifically?" I then turned my head to look at Serafin, her brow raised in confusion over the statement "Tell me, how have you seen Black work?" I was very curious for her answer, since she took a moment to reply "He's using NPCs against each other, he's conned players into his hands, and-I....think I see your point." Serafin finally nodded at my knowledge with a look of amusement at my brother's major control issues, then I saw Silver walk up to her with Rain "Morana seems to be an Honorable fighter, from the way he speaks to Nox, I doubt he is prone to cheating, neither is Nox himself." Even for only knowing the guy for a few minutes, Rain could already see he wasn't a bad person, I could see it too, I just like annoying the crap out of people, Serafin smiled a little at that, before we turned our attention to the battle, both players looking ready with the intent to kill, maim, or erase the other. "I'll still be cheering for Nox." "And I for my friend too." Serafin agreed, with all parties happy, I cleared my throat "Alright, lets get this party started!" "Because I want to finish my crusade!" "THREE!" "TWO!" "ONE!" [FIGHT] It didn't take long for Morana to rush Nox, his scythe risen to his left side in his hoof, whist Nox used her magic to levitate her halberd to block the direct strike, her eyes narrowing, then, the spearhead stuck....nothing!? It happened so fast, but I could still see Nox's eyes widen at the scythe's blade phasing through her halberd, before it struck her chest, knocking her flying into the ground, causing a gush of wind to erupt from the scythe's strike. As Nox fell into the dirt, Morana spun his scythe in his hoof once, waiting her return, the masked mare grunting at the red line across her chest "What was that!?" Rain gaped, as we turned to look at Serafin for an answer, I just heard my brother laughing his ass off "That scythe is a Legendary scythe, 'Harrow's End' and has the unique ability to phase through any weapon that tries to block its attack." Serafin explain calmly, a pang of sympathy directed to Nox, who shot out from the cloud with her halberd smashing into the scythe, eyes ablaze with crimson, whist her weapon's strike was fueled with anger. "I am sorry, but no one has beaten Morana's scythe before, not even me." "No way....!" Silver spoke clearly, his eyes wide at the sight of his friend being struck down so easily, even I was worried for my plan, but I couldn't let my poker face chip, otherwise we've already lost to Black's game "What the hell kind-of attack was that!?" Nox barked, thrusting Morana off her blade, before she swung downwards, his hooves lightly hopping away to the right, effortlessly ducking under her horizontal strike, which was followed with her spinning the halberd in her magic, slamming the axe-head down on the ground beside Morana, who looked completely unfazed by each attempt, those eyes had nothing but emptiness behind them, despite the force of the blows "You think you have power over me? Amusing." How can anyone say that so creepily!? He then leapt over her second horizontal strike, placing a hoof on her halberd's spearhead to leap above her, before he brought his scythe down with both hooves, missing Nox's left side my millimeters, yet another twist had brought 'Harrow's End' around, making Nox freeze in her stepping, as she rose her halberd to her side, the scythe gliding across the staff Using the momentum, Nox spun her body around, swinging her halberd in a massive arc of blue light, only for Morana to tilt his scythe flat, blocking the halberd with ease at the sparks flying from the parry, knocking Nox backwards, her hooves digging into the dirt. Then Morana thrusted forwards, swinging his scythe upwards to the left from the bottom right, and in instinct, Nox blocked, the scythe phasing through and striking her neck and mask, throwing her back into the dirt, so she leapt up, backing up to give herself some distance, whist her hoof reached to her neck in pain, the inhibitors making this a rather deadly fight for her mind's concentration Not many players realize this, but the certain weapon can drastically effect the pain inflicted on your body, and to your nerves. If its a simple, sharp blade, its cold and electrifying. A blunt weapon feels disorientating and like your bones were turned the opposite way. For serrated weaponry and curved blades like 'Harrow's End', it was as if your body was to be sawed slowly or quickly, both of which were undeniably painful to feel course through your body. Internal Refraction's glass-like attacks were just like his scythe. "Damn he's good...." Nox muttered under her breath, whist the crowd cheered, making it almost impossible for me to hear her, she stared at the red laceration fading away on her neck, and shoulder. "Of course, a bastard like you has a blade that gives him an edge over others to an unfair point!" "Stop whining like a brat, you accepted this challenge." Morana retorted, running straight for her, but I saw Nox's eyes turn back to pink again, the aura of her halberd turning pink too, she wasn't angry? Seems she realized it too. I felt a small smile tug at my poker face just a bit "I'm not whining!" She snapped, dodging to her right, as the scythe drove downwards, but as she thrusted her halberd towards Morana's side, he merely threw his scythe into his right hoof, blocking the strike with another lock of their blades "But you are weak!" He persisted in pushing Nox's buttons, the two bouncing back, and rushing back at each other again, both continuing their relentless back and forth match of strength, just as I turned to look at Serafin for any pointers, ignoring Black's NPC praising the fight with glee "This won't end well, White, your friend is nearly equal in might to Morana, despite the level difference, but his weapon, not to mention his higher stats will be her end, I am sorry we had to meet under these terms though." Serafin sighed, looking dejected at the state of events, only to hear me chuckle lightly, seeing my friends look at me too "Why are you apologizing? I couldn't have asked for a better way to give our friends a sendoff, but a fair warning, Serafin. If you think its the stats that are the be-all end-all, then you might very well lose when you rely on them most, count on it." My warning made her stare for a short time, that look analyzed my very soul, but I didn't pry too much into her way of viewing me and I focused on the fight. Morana's health had been damaged, whist Nox was in the yellow, just as I winced at one of Morana's skills activating, the blade turning red [Reaper Skill - Dark Road] Nox had thrown herself back, but was quickly struck by 'Harrow's End'. The first thrust struck her left calf, followed by a thrust to slice her left shoulder, and an opposite thrust to her right side, and then last a large swing downwards to slice her mask, cracking the exterior, whist Nox hissed in pain, running backwards to escape Morana's reach. "To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy, art." Morana spoke coldly, watching Nox struggle to her hooves "You don't know I thing about me!" She snarled, only to gasp at the butt of the scythe striking her mask, knocking her body flying into the grass again "I don't need to analyse you to know you. A child, too afraid of their own reflection, all you see is a person who everyone judges, based on who you are, that failure to yourself, that is what makes you weak." His scythe glowed again, each word seeming to strike Nox down with efficient strikes, then, Death rose his scythe above her head like a cold crescent before her, and Nox ceased to shake. "This is why.....you lose." [Earth Seal - Rock Wall] It was a sudden cast from her hoof, as Morana covered his eyes to avoid the massive cloud of brown dust striking his body, blinding him from the sudden affliction, whist I smiled softly, Black looked at me with a bemused expression, obviously confused at what I was grinning about. Looks like its time to shed some cloaks in the spotlight, Nox, The rest is all up to you. "White, when you spend your life with those richer, stereotypes get....suffocating. You're a girl, so you do this a certain way, you act a certain way to meet expectations, that crap got to me quick, about the 'only' family I have is my other siblings, and this maid of ours who was more like a mother than the bitch I have to call one, my dad tries, but he's always away so the times he does show himself he could only sit a listen to me complain, no use trying to fix what would take hours." Nox spat bitterly at memories before me, turning to look at the mountains of mystical items. "I liked this show with them too, gave me a few laughs, despite what I may say about Pinkie, she's fun, y'know?" "A few seconds to run will not save you!" Morana called out, swinging his scythe once to clear the cloud, and revealing an empty arena, with many mumbling to themselves, even Morana was confused to where Nox vanished to "Did...did she run away?" A person spoke behind us "Just Watch!" All eyes were now on Silver for a moment, the first sentence he spoke that was clear as day, not a single stutter, before he glared at Morana, grinning, whist I turned to Black with a hilarious smile, pointing my hoof up, Pinkie doing the same beside me with a cheeky grin "Checkmate, bro." Before he could say anything, Morana's head shot up to the sky, seeing the crimson aura descending down on him, Nox was high in the sky now, her cyan striped mane blowing in the wind at her descent towards us all, yet high in the sky above was the moon, the light of its surface burning bright with her unyielding fury, seeing her, Morana, waited for her, his scythe bent to his right, the blade beginning to glow blue with malice intent He only struck once. [Reaper Skill - Silence] His single upwards slash produced a massive blade of blue energy like a crescent, with it drawing closer to Nox with each breath, it even came close to slicing her head off her shoulders, but after minutes of watching their fight, I saw Morana's eyes widen, her mask taking the direct blow, shattering as she forced her skull through the attack, her halberd glowing a bright gold, before she threw it directly at Morana, spearing him completely through his back, and out his chest with a pained grunt. Now, everyone could see her face, and the pissed off glare she wore with her grinding teeth. "NOX IS A GIRL!!?!" Yeah....me and Silver have some explaining to do later "You know, despite the fact that Ive lost, you keep this up and you'll be building a harem." I nearly choked at that, a small laugh escaping us both even with the death battle before us [Sword Skill - Golden Rupture] The halberd then erupted, consuming Morana in a beam of golden light, as his heath burned away with each tick of time, just as Nox released her levitation, dropping to the ground softly, then she smiled wickedly, seeing Morana fly out of the beam of light, his scythe swinging downwards from above his own head, both hooves on the staff, completely exposing his body to Nox's glowing, emerald hoof. [Earth Seal - Seismic Fissure] Her hoof quickly connected to Morana's chest, the fist flying through the other-side of his back comically, before he was shot flying into the dirt, digging a shallow grave in his wake, his 'Harrow's End' landing beside him, the blade sinking into the soil at the display of defeat. The crowd growing silent for a few seconds. On Nox's end, her health was a tick away from the red. For Morana, his was halfway through the red. [WINNER] The icon soon appeared above Nox, making her smile in relief, as the crowd went completely nuts of the epic finish from my end, with Black rubbing a hoof over his face, just as his level bumped up ten, so he wasn't exactly phased, whist Morana's dropped by ten, his body dropping down into the pit once more in defeat over the match, his chest rising heavily at the red marks that began to fade over time "That was one hell of a match!" I chuckle, hoof-bumping Nox, as she rubbed the back of her neck shyly, knowing that her small secret was dashed to the wind now. "Look on the bright side, your mask can't be broken." "Ehh, no use hiding it now, since I know you and Silver busted your asses to keep it under lock and key, so thanks, you...your a great guy, White." Nox thanked me, much to my surprise, followed by the embrace of Pinkie, who happily latched onto the girl, who was quickly turning pale. "C-Can't breathe, please, need air!" "Hehehe, sorry~!" Pinkie smiled, letting the girl breathe, whist Rain, followed by Klaw looking naturally surprised "Now this I was not aware of, it was you who White saved during the battle at the Vault of Forestation, who knew?" Klaw shook his head, clearly surprised "Still, now we have an even number of guys, and girls, awesome!" Rain cheered, but Nox looked a little unsure, so I nudged her with a smirk "You're still 'Nox', don't let it stop you now." I calmly replied, before I turned to hear the coughing, and soon we all saw Morana, his face still an unfazed expression "So, it seems people aren't so easy to read, huh?" Nox snorted, seeing Morana sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. But Nox persisted. "Maybe now you should see that we aren't all so easy to understand, I know that better than anyone, and look what happened to me, even with my fears of how my friends would react clouding my head, they still treat me the same, that, I could never have predicted." "Yes....I am sorry, you are worthy of being called a rival, your ideals are sharper than my own, and your way of thinking is what turned this battle against me, for that, I am happy for our dual." He bowed once, seeing Nox rub the back of her neck sheepishly, her face turning red over all the attention she was receiving "Oh my Irene, this is on you, White, all these, mushy, soft feelings I got from you, Rain, Pinkie, hell, even Silver and Klaw at this rate!" Nox barked, making us laugh at her expense, whilst the event continued into the reminder of the night The fireworks were brilliant, in only a short time of planning, we had made a spectacle that the whole Green Zone could see, with the multicolored bombardment of colours stretching across the night sky, coating the dark city in a new glow of colour, as reds mingled with oranges and purples, a whole nebula fanning across the clear night sky. Meanwhile, I sat on a bench, overlooking it all with Black Hat beside me, both of us still looking to the sky. "So, you'll be leaving tomorrow?" I asked dejectedly, wanting to atleast spend a little more time with him, but he had his own problems to deal with. "You're not gonna kill every NPC on your way out, right?" "Oh shit I wasn't-Oh, yeah, 'course, just be sure to expect my arrival for a new challenge down the line, that's if I don't find the Raid Lair for this gauntlet." He answered, waving the gauntlet on his leg, before he wacked me on the back of the head "Ahh! Son of a-why!?" I snapped, he stared at me, his eye glancing once to his left behind us "If you think I'll die than we'll be having a clear misunderstanding of how persistent I am at grinding in this game, I have more levels than you after-all?" He smugly replied, before pointing a hoof back in the direction of the party. "You got others who are looking out for you, so stop thinking you're alone again." "Old habits die hard, that many years with only you, mum, dad, even the guys we knew on other games, I'm still alone for the most part, hell, I might as well stay in this world where I can be with people!" I retorted, before he looked at me evenly for a moment, then looked to be pondering on something. "What?" "That Therstral, is she that girl you were mentioning before we were trapped in the game?" Oh, that's better. I nodded, then he mused to himself, before he bluntly stated. "She's really annoying." At that I nearly broke into a fit of laughter, as he did the same for a few seconds, me shaking my head. "R-Rain's just protective of her friends, seems you just happen to be the one to annoy her by insulting them all at once, congrats!" I patted his shoulder, before I thought to myself. "Who's the girl who was with you, the normal one, Serafin?" "Yeah, tell that to her ability to lose her mind when plans go top-side, she looks about as normal as Discord." Black replied, rubbing his temples with a haunted face. "She's. Didn't. Stop. Complaining!" "Oh that's it!" At the voice behind us, Black fell off his side of the bench, seeing the glare of a thousand suns directed his way from Serafin, her body ignited, whist she raised her spear high in her magic, meanwhile, the colour seemed to drain from my brother's face, scaring me at how this girl managed to freak him out to the point of defensive words "What I meant is that you may or may not have a slight, tiny problem with handling unexpected situations, that's all." He slowly stated, the tiles beneath her hooves beginning to burn with each step "I think you're making it worse." I stated bluntly, standing aside to let the flaming mare through. "Seeing how she's able to turn her rage into a literal flame is scary, so have fun!" "No, wait, don't leave me!" I just ignored my brother, seeing Yin, Yang, Rain, and Summer standing by, along with Silver, Morana, and Nox standing with cameras, watching as Gar'i tried to stop Serafin, only to have his cloak burst into flames, recording the entire thing manually without the system, Klaw watched from above, talking with Pinkie Pie, who hopped happily on the roof beside him with Laxus sitting there too, trying to stop the mare from bouncing "Its crazy, to think we are still in a Death Game?" I looked over to see Rain walking over to me, and I think Yin was doing some weird faces, but Yang had already hit her on the back of the head, climbing atop her older sister to stop her, whist Summer giggled at their antics. My attention was drawn back to Rain, who only looked to see Serafin pointing her spear at Black Hat, who was now holding Gar'i as a shield "Yeah, not to mention how batshit insane everyone is, can't be good for my health, too bad I lost my sanity years ago." I shrugged nonchalantly, before I saw that Serafin was now being handed items by my brother, causing me to chuckle. "Seems Serafin has one of my concerns under 'Erza-Level' of fear." *Thump* Now I was blinking in surprise, as my head resting against Rain's shoulder, much to my surprise, since she wrapped her hooves around my head, holding me lightly as I listened to the conversation around us, and the last of the fireworks going off behind me. "Why are you hugging me?" I asked, not really understanding what she was doing, not that I minded her doing so "Its my way of saying thank you, for everything. Being my friend when this all began, my partner through this Death Game, all of it, thank you." Rain softly worded it carefully to me, as I smiled a little "We look out for each other, that's what friends do, or, so I've heard." I answered bashfully. "We both hold the keys to freeing this game, so we have to watch out for each other, and because I don't want anything bad to happen to you either." "Then....lets make sure nothing will hold us back, ok?" Rain softly replied, just as I hugged her back, finding it to be a nice feeling, and I didn't really care who was watching, I just closed my eyes, holding my best friend close "Right, nothing will hold us back, two down, only four to go." I chuckled, as the last fireworks rained from the sky, as I felt the end of the event dawn upon us, I had people to watch out for, and people I wanted to keep safe, I don't care how long it takes, but when I leave this world behind, I want to meet them, face-to-face all over again. "You know, I never thanked you." "Huh?" Rain pulled away to face me directly both of us ignoring some looks we were given, hers was perplexed. Now....how do I word this correctly "For being my friend. I know my personality is....odd, I'm sarcastic, blunt, even devoid of a personality at times, and....I get that I can be very annoying. But, thank you, out of everyone I've ever met, you never once found me to be a lost cause, despite my reasons to be so." Why was I feeling so nervous around her? I mean, I guess I never really gave her a reason to be my friend, I haven't done much to earn her trust, I know more about her and she knows absolutely nothing of me, kind-of unfair "Really? You of all people 'don't' have a personality?" Now it was my turn to be perplexed, her coy expression mingled with her kind smile. "White, I know very little about who you are, but what I know already is that you're kind, selfless when it comes to everyone else's needs, I mean, you organized all of this-" "With all of your help." I added "-And you only continue to try and do better. Heck, I was....really bad at this game when I first joined, I honestly don't think I'd survive if you didn't give me pointers along the way." "Most of it was down to your own skill." She looked annoyed by my interruptions, but I found it amusing "Let me finish. But above everything else, I trust you, I really do, so if you're worried about me not liking you or finding you annoying, don't. I think...well, its those faults that make you more like me, imperfect." Her final words really hit me. She thought as much as I did about her, we were far from perfect, and that's what I think she likes about me as her friend, we're imperfect, but happy about that "Well then, Purplrain. I'm happy to be your annoying, nerdy, imperfect friend." I chuckled honestly, and she gave me a cute giggle in return, one that made my chest flutter slightly, and Rain winked a me with a blush of embarrassment "And same to you, White Hat. I'm happy to be your silly, air-headed, imperfect friend." Despite our agreement, I will say that she was far from imperfect, in-fact, apart of me feels like she completes me, even if just a little. So, I hope you're watching, Harbinger, because The Eternal Flame, my friends, we're coming for you! [????] He sat by on his own, overlooking the land below with envious eyes, yet he felt empty, utterly devoid of any true meaning of sympathy towards all those that were in his way of achieving what he was promised. Lights below gleamed with hope, whist his own torches crackled with furious, dark intent. And yet, despite what he had set out to accomplish, a tiny morsel that nipped in the back of his mind kept him up this night. Was this worth it? It was an obvious answer, and he played it up to his own crumbling sanity, each day passed and the memories hurt, each was filled with life and happiness, yet it was those emotions that fed him fear, hatred, sadness. It all tormented his waking world, all because he knew the ones that stood before him, who dared to take away his chance to see his light again. Bowing his head, resting it on the cold stone of the balcony, he sighed. If he kept his end of the deal, then all of this was worth it, no-one else mattered, and he would gladly suffer for it in his second life, this was meant nothing without the one to keep him right. He couldn't wait for the day, that righteous day he watches everything White loved and cherished slips from his fingers. He never deserved them, he was a waste of space for years of his life, every time he saw him comforted by others, only to bluntly shrug their concerns off made him not worthy to live instead of his light. By his promise to 'Valkyrie', he'll kill Harbinger, and that didn't require White to be brought to reality. So when that day arrives, and its just him and White, he couldn't wait to watch him burn. That last thought made him smile.... To Be Continued in the next Arc. Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 33 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 34 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 33 [Support class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 33 [Defensive class] Author's Note Arc II: Death Game is now wrapped up nicely, with a grand sendoff for the dead, and the connections made between White and Black Hat! Next arc will take place a few weeks later, with a new location and new faces, maybe some familiar ones! I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next arc! Next Arc: Arc III: Madness Without much to go on, all that was left was to grow stronger. Rain will do that, she just has to deal with the mysterious Request she was given by a Player. So, what better way to solve the mystery than with a Zer0 impersonator and a girl who wears a mask? Authors Notes: Since Rain was given the Relic by Bombard, she now holds the Gemstone of Passion. Extras - [Cold Outside]Author's Note This small holiday-themed chapter takes place after the next arc coming next year. Thought I'd give a small gift before Christmas, hope you enjoy this small story filled with insight and friendship. Happy Holidays, seeya next year! Merry Christmas Extras - [Cold Outside] [System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Username: White Hat] [Beginning Playback] December 24th, 2026, Yeah....days turned months, funny how you can spend so long not worrying about what waits for you at the end of the weekend, when almost all your time is spent around good company, family, and the adventures you take, whether they're big or small, each moment spent in them is worth treasuring, took me this long to truly grasp that, and I'm glad I did, cause, if it were any sooner, I might not have learned anything, perhaps longer would only make the message bitter too, sorry, I'm rambling again. Its all due to the time of year, Christmas, or in My Little Pony's terms, 'Hearthswarming', and I was in a bind. I had collected gifts for my friends across the days of winter and glimmer. For Klaw I got him a white-scale scarf to match his purple scales, made it look like Natsu's too. Nox would dawn herself a silver ribbon with flakes of ice-blue across it for her mane, as without her mask on, her mane always got caught in her eyes, so I procured her a stylish, but not girly, ribbon. Silver was tricky, but to mess with him, I acquired a Vault Hunter pendant, made it myself. Pinkie was....stranger, if you can call a fourth dimensional breaker 'stranger' than that, then sure. It wasn't much, given how little I know of her interests, so I managed to get her a replica of a purple lightsaber, given how she can levitate, read minds, and so on, thought it would be appropriate to make her a Jedi, Gambit sure got a laugh out of it, given how he's still laughing beside me. Seraph was easy, lots of sweets, much like Gambit, both had a crippling weakness to the sugary delights both I and Pinkie procured, and both intelligent beings fell from grace. Now came my problem.... "Gambit, what can I get for Rain?" My question was far more noted by how I was shooting glances to the city below my hooves, noting how the city was aglow with pure illumination of colour, reds, greens, and blues twinkled across the town, interlaced with gold, purple, and silver. Trees rose high to point the way with golden stars to cast light on the dark night, as the trickle of snow descended from afar Piles of snow dotted the area, coating homes with a soft, white blanket, some white projectiles were thrown, and laughter was sprung into the cool night air, songs and dancing was easy to see and hear from the roof me and the Gambler Nightmare sat on, said Nightmare drinking away with that same, massive jack o' lantern grin, his yellow eyes curled up with bliss. "You waited until the night before, and they say 'I'M' unorganized, bah! Bah I say!" He waved with a bottle coiled around his black claws, his hand tilting the contents back and forth within the glass, whist I merely hugged the scarf I wore tightly to my muzzle, my worried gaze to the streets. I never meant to wait so long, its just....every gift I wanted to get her, it....didn't feel right. "Still, this fear and despair leaking off you's baaaaad stuff, keep it up." "Why did I ask for your help again?" I replied with a scowl at both him and myself, before rolling them back to the streets below us "Because, you wanted a gift to surpass your 'failed' attempts, thinking my emporium had the item you require, correct?" I made a small nod, yet his answer made my heart sink like ice. "But that ain't possible." Gambit had me in crossroads, constantly cryptic due to his 'dealing system', but how he phrased that was different then last time, I did turn to look at his smug grin, but he looked....nostalgic, his eyes kept themselves to the city below, whist he seemed to play with his cards, and for the tiniest of flicks I caught the look of a girl, and himself, and several others I couldn't place the looks of. "If I'm to be straight with you, I've been around for a looooooooooooooooong, time, so I'm ol - ahem, 'mature'." Did that strike a nerve? I didn't say anything though. "But, someone once told me that time spent in another's company can be just as thoughtful as a meaningless gift, just sitting there, talking, about....anything really, can be so much more, sadly I....I didn't take that to heart at the time." I didn't know how to respond, given that Gambit looked just as conflicted as me, for this strange moment, I saw myself, broken, misplaced among others that had personalities, skills, dreams, I had none, outside of this world I wasn't anything that could be seen as anything more than pity. "I had people once, those that saw something in me....a redeemable quality of sorts, they trained me, taught me new things, showed me a world with colour...." Gambit looked to me with his usual grin, his eyes narrowed cunningly at my conflicted one. "I know what you are, Cayde." I winced at my real name, I didn't question how he knew it since I felt my hooves touch the ground, my head snapping up to the building where I saw him shuffling his cards again. "Don't waste insignificant times on questions, go on and see." In a flicker of light from the blinking red and green, Gambit's image was gone under yellow and blue, my eyes left to reflect the blinking lights for a moment, whist the cold snow under me felt numb, I've been spending too long out here. I should go home.... "Why are you hugging me?" I asked, not really understanding what she was doing, not that I minded her doing so "Its my way of saying thank you, for everything. Being my friend when this all began, my partner through this Death Game, all of it, thank you." I stopped walking through the streets, almost running into a few players and NPC's as I did, but they didn't pay much mind to my sudden stop, lag was still a cancer, even in this world, does help duplicate if CCG didn't patch it a week ago, atleast my savings were back. Though, more to the point, that sudden memory wasn't expected, sure I was thinking of Rain, but why that moment in particular? "So, it seems people aren't so easy to read, huh?" Nox snorted, seeing Morana sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. But Nox persisted. "Maybe now you should see that we aren't all so easy to understand, I know that better than anyone, and look what happened to me, even with my fears of how my friends would react clouding my head, they still treat me the same, that, I could never have predicted." Ack! I quickly placed my wing on the side of a wall, carefully shaking my head again, was this Gambit's doing? If so, fuck off from my mind! But if it wasn't, than why now? Why the sudden relapse of memories? These two were always encompassing a message, I think that's why they were so specific, or am I just losing touch with my senses again? Could be, given that I am in a hospital, many players did suffer from random spurs of weakness, but how did my memories play a part in that? When I clicked it, a new item had appeared on my own screen, leaving me to face Yuuki one last time, as she saluted with a wink. "Till round two! But here's a little advice from someone like me, if you lose, just go home, and get back up tomorrow! Bye~!" Then, Yuuki was gone, her final words ratting in my head for a few seconds "Woah~!" I heard someone yelp at my sudden dazed trance, all I managed to see was light grey, followed by two hooves pressed to my chestplate, helping to raise me back to a stable stance, ok, I'm not particularly a fan of tonight. "W-White? Are you ok?" Huh? Oh great, the game did it again When I raised my head again, noting the hoof on my shoulder keeping me straight, I met Rain's golden eyes again, plastered with worry over my own safety. All these messages....they were connected with what Gambit said, maybe its the reason for why I'm picturing these memories, all three were so small, say for Yuuki's, but he told me to hold onto them, not to question them, maybe....that's why I'm thinking of them, because, despite how small or passive they were at the time, I did learn from them. Rain was glad to be my friend, and I was too, so....I learned that being with those I cared for made me feel happier. Nox's was about acceptance, despite the fear of rejection, and that, if you find those who can see you for you, then you truly are never alone. Yuuki's....to learn how bitter life is, and find the courage to seek out something worth living for. Happiness. Acceptance. Courage. "I'm....I'm fine, thank you, Rain." I bowed me head honestly, my breath catching back to me quickly, meanwhile Rain continued to look at me with concern over my well-being, that did make me smile "You nearly fell flat on your face, you looked exhausted, what did you do?" Straight to the point, and yet I chuckled hopelessly at that, how I didn't see the real reason before made me feel like an idiot. "Ok, now I'm really worried." "Its fine, I just....had alot on my mind, sorry." I smiled calmly, moving my hoof to rest atop hers, which still rested on my shoulder. "I think I came to a realization." Rain didn't know what to think of me, guess that was fair, since I reached over to wrap my hoof around the back of her neck, pulling her into my arm softly, my head pressed to the side of hers, and I immediately saw her body stiffen, her wings jolting suddenly. "U-umm, what's with the hug? Not t-that I'm complaining?" Rain shakily asked me "Nothing, just wanted to hug my best friend on Christmas Eve." I happily replied with a little more emotion laced in my tone, my heart happily dancing faster over my sudden change of tune. "Hey, Rain?" "Hmm?" She hummed softly, her hoof hanging around my neck too "Want to head out somewhere? Just us too like we did months ago?" I asked her without a skip or note of hesitation "Wait-wait....you mean like...a-a date?" Well, I guess that's kind-of like a date, though I just wanted to treat her to something nice, given how much of a moody asshole I am, and I had bits to melt "Hey, you said it, I didn't. But yeah, a date, if such a lovely girl would be kind to take me up on my offer?" Ok brain, now I have no idea what drug Gambit used on us, but if we see him again, thank him with a box of cupcakes Note Taken Rain then pulled back, facing me directly with a radiant look on her face, her eyes glowing cheerfully, whist a smile pulled at her muzzle, it was actually kind-of cute, ahem, moving on. Rain then cleared her throat, stifling a laugh and her trying her best to keep her red cheeks from showing, my poker face working overtime for myself, then, she held her hoof out to me. "I would gladly." Hehehe, posh accent doesn't suit her "So long as you don't try any old English, we'll save alot of players' lives." I laughed, making her pout, even to the point her hoof kicked snow at me "'ANYWAYS'! Where are we going?" That look she gave me was trying to decipher my gaze, yet I was just going through the motions, this newly acquired energy of mine had me on overdrive, and I was threatening to burn through it all, but.... "Well, there's no rush, so I thought we'd spend the night wandering around Canternlot until we find somewhere, just....take our time for once." I replied evenly, and for a moment Rain looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read, she looked neutral, yet her eyes burned with something like joy or determination, probably the former "Who are you, and where's White?" Did....did Rain just use my own quip against me? I'm impressed, but I did let a coy look reach me, for fun of course "Oh? So you're saying you miss my old-self already, I'm touched?" I messed with her, and it worked to perfection, seeing the therstral fumble with a red glow stuck to her face, whist she avoided making eye-contact with me for a second, snorting when her gaze met mine again "I, that's not what....you.....grr...." Rain growled at me? Hehehehe....HAHAHAHAHAHA. My laughter quickly brought out one in her, as she tried to keep her composure. Yet I felt her reach out a wing to press against my chest, stopping me at the edge of the path, when I noticed her head tilted up, I turned to see what caused her to freeze up, to my relaxation, I too found myself staring around the world before us A tree stood tall in the center of a small, open park, no stalls blocked the image, and many viewers of the tree stood like us, on the four sides that surrounded the evergreen tree. Its branches held bobbles of midnight blue and honey yellow, with silver and gold tinsel to dance between like waves of treasure. Lights hung between them all, heart red, light blue, emerald green, fire yellow, all blinking or fading with the night. From several sections on the tree, lights hung like webbing from corners of houses, joining the plethora of colorful streets. Yet it was here, in this calmed fragment of the kingdom, did I really feel what Gambit meant, I didn't question it, nor did I want to, I....was ok, standing here, and with Rain too. Next thing she did caught me off guard, her side rested against my own, her leathery wing wrapping around my back to keep her steady, whist her head rested against mine, and I instantly smelt lavender from her mane, and my face quickly turned red at the sudden way she connected to me, and this feeling....it was there again, battering my ribs....how did she do that? "Ok then....lets....just enjoy tonight then." Rain whispered to me, and I happily obliged, leading us both away from the star-striking sight and into the busy streets of the Green Zone, with a happily humming Thestral attached to my hip, and to my surprise, the snow didn't feel cold against my hooves anymore. I felt warmer. To Be Continued.... Update Party: White Hat - lvl 45 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 40 [Stealth class] Gambit - lvl ??? [Vendor] Quest - [Worlds Collide][System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Username: Purplrain] [Beginning Playback] [Opening III: Cross The Line] Three weeks have passed, and the Defeat of the Second Raid was behind everyone now, with more players beginning to join in the cause of hunting down the remaining Lairs across MLP: AO, not much progress had been made, yet the rise of more experienced players grew, even ones that had decided against the thought of death had picked up arms, but not many had made it far, that didn't make anything dwindle, in-fact, it only made everyone more eager to try. More news reports of Black Hat, White's brother, had begun to make their way to others, how he had complete control over Griffonstone thanks to an update, whilst his small Guild consisting of Serafin, Morana, Gar'i, and Black himself, The Lunar Crusade. Apparently, they had made the connection of Canternlot to Griffonstone one their way to us three weeks ago and had made the railways to Las Pegasus and an air-carriage to Cloudsdale. He and White were quite alike, but that may have been due to their bet, or rivalry, whichever it is. For the Striders of Blackfall [Laxus. Summer. Yin. Yang], they had decided to become a branch of our guild, that, and most players from the Raids had joined both The Eternal Flame and Striders, making our guild more notable for higher-paying Quests and Requests of other players. In a way, we're growing much stronger since...Bombard, I guess he did something even in death, he made us stronger. I'll be sure to hold onto that... [Golden Bull Inn] It was hard to peer into the comfortably small room due to the little light that split its way through the blinds, allowing a partial section of the room to be aglow with Actualization Online's sunlight. Among shelves sat old weaponry, mainly consisting of Bo Staffs of metal and wood, and another assortment of materials made to forge the weaponry that hung on pegs or sat collecting dust. In the corner of the room was an 'L' shaped desk, propping up picture frames. One had Rain smiling alongside Pinkie, the two aglow from leveling up, another of the whole Guild, new members too, and the Striders of Blackfall. The last, sitting in the center was a simple picture taken before the horrors of the Death Game, with Rain sheepishly smiling with White beside her, his cheeks red from how close they were. "ZzzZZzzz...." The soft snoring had come opposite of the desk, where a small single bed had been lumped up with covers, the only indication of life coming from the fluffy ear that poked out from under the sheets, and the slow rise and fall of the covers too. Purplrain was at peace under the warmth that surrounded her form, not a hint of bitterness to her slumber *Notification Sound* "Ugh...." It didn't last. The hoof had coiled its way into the air, swiping down to bring the Menu up, before the dazed, azure eye lazily winced at the bright text, quickly moving her hoof to bring the notification up, and for the bright text to dim for her poor eye-sight. Finally, her hoof shakily pressed the 'Message' tab [Sender - Sky Zaffre] [Location - Hollow Shades] [Subject - Sup, Purplrain] Hey, don't particularly know when you'll get this, but when and if you read it, I require....some assistance- "Huh? Sky....who....is that?" Rain's mundane start to her day had been met with an increasing amount of curiosity, her leathery wings shuffling her body to move above the covers, her head resting against the board of her bed -So, I'll cut to it. Since your little performance in that 'Raid' that I watched, I'd like to ask for your help in a problem, concerning this world, and probably everyone else in it. I can't say much in this message, this....unnerving feeling that someone is watching my every move has my paranoia on high alert. If you accept, find me in Hollow Shades, at the local tavern, or if you see a girl wearing red and black, whilst holding a War scythe, check with her. Look, I need you to keep this on the down-low, only bring those you know can keep their mouths shut, no offense, but your boyfriend White is a little....well, ahem, he reminds me of my....dated days. Anywho, seeya when I can, kid. Sincerely, Sky Zaffre Rain felt a little heat rise to her cheeks at the mention of her and White as an item, while it flattered her, thoughts of the Raid, and what Yang teased her about came back, and she quickly shook her head clear. But, if what this Player meant by problems was as bad as he mentioned, maybe telling White would be bad on her end, not that she thought he'd go and yell it to the world, just that the last time someone of a mysterious background appeared...Bombard. While he never showed it, Ambulas had struck a bad cord in White. Again, she tried not to think of it and focused ahead on what to do with the information given to her. Who could be good at aiding her, and keeping everything silent? "Silent....." Rain echoed her own thoughts before her tongue clicked to her realization. "I think I know. See, I can do this too, no sweat....aaaaand I'm talking to myself....huh, so this is what its like to be White, huh? Weeeeeird." Not wasting time, Rain threw the covers off her therstral form, stretching slowly to sigh at her muscles popping, before quickly swiping her right hoof down to bring her menu up, flicking to her 'Equipment', she stared for a moment at her armour, seeing the white bars over her armor reach the halfway point, whilst her Bo-staff and gauntlets were still high, all stats towards physical and overall magic damage. The former being more universal. At the duration, Rain stuck her tongue out, furrowing her brow. "Hmm...I could get them repaired today, but, Sky would be in a village, and its only about an hour by foot, given how the map size of Equestria isn't exact, and travel by foot wouldn't take too long with two others...I wonder..." Rain's muttering kept her mind's bubbling curiosity at bay, for now "Seraph, for the last time. We. Don't. Have. M-O-N-E-Y." My ears flicked at the voice overpowering the rest among the cafe, my gaze was drawn to the irritated best friend of mine, White, who rubbed his mane with his hooves, with Seraph resting back on her chair, her hooves behind her head, along with her cunning grin under a hazel hood. "You took the rest of my money for the info about the Invincible, remember?" "Oh right, I did do that, aww well, nothin' worth reapin' you for." Her winning streak remained, yet I just rolled my eyes, moving to cross over the balcony ahead of the steps, towards the east hall of rooms, deciding to leave him to dig himself out of debt, I may be his friend, but that didn't mean I wanted to be conned either. "How about you give me that sweet chestplate, you know, for a friend?" "Bite me, rat!" I giggled at the last I heard of their conversation, making my way to the room that housed the pony I required for my mission. I needed two that were both powerful and could handle themselves in a pinch. White was busy handling the management of both the Guild and finding the next Raid Lair, so asking him would be bad, and since he has a tendency to be apprehensive to shady characters now, telling him of 'Sky' would only make the situation far tenser than it needed to be, besides, he asked for me specifically, I didn't need White to worry about me Ever since he became my mentor in a way months ago, I've never got the chance to give a real thank you, maybe this quest would offer a rare item? A One-Handed sword? "What are you doing?" Huh? My head turned to the shadow in the corner of my eye, while I was currently alone, it didn't make sense as to why I turned to face my reflection in a mirror. All I did was see my own golden eyes stare back at me, shrugging, I continued on my way "Ooook? That was strange." Mentally calming myself, I pressed on down the next turn, yet again, another mirror "You honestly think this will change anything?" My hooves dug hard into the floorboards. I felt it, my voice caught in my throat, my eyes looking back at.....me, not my avatar, not with those blue eyes...It was my user, but her eyes had turned to a brilliant shade of ocean blue, and my head throbbed at the mere gaze shared, it....really hurt, images I never wanted to picture came back, reluctantly in bits and pieces. "This won't change how White views you." "....It's....just in my head... it's not-" I wanted it to stop, I didn't need this, I refused to see any of this! "Real? Like your false delusion of companionship? Not you, not someone as frail as you." Stop it....my hooves her shaking, and the more I tried to look anywhere felt painful, each tug forcing me to stare back. "White only pities you." "Just like all the rest." I felt something snap in me, a tug on a string "No-!" "Are you well?" I suddenly leaped back, nearly throwing a punch at the hoof that grazed my shoulder, but the player in question wasn't me, those same eyes were back to normal, they were me again. I finally released the breath I withheld, looking back to the frown that stuck to Silver, his eyebrows raised with alarm. "Frozen in place/Unwavering/Shaking." "I-Its fine." I lied. "Just had a strange dream last night." I wish that were the case, I hated lying, but....no, don't think about it, don't think about it. Shaking my head, I regained my composure. "I was actually looking for you? Good timing." "Why?" One worded answers made my explanation run its course "I see..." That was it? No questions? I mean, it IS Silver I was talking to, he's not big on questions. "Transport can be acquired/Only a small walk/What of another?" "I guess we can bring someone else, just to be safe of course," I replied evenly in thought over our plan. It was simple, meet with Sky, talk about the situation, resolve the situation, then 'Boom', we're done, but saying it was easy is much easier than actively accomplishing it. Removing my hoof from my chin, I pointed to him. "What about, Nox?" He shrugged passively. "Sure." Then he knocked on the door beside us, wait, we were in front of her door the entire time? How did I not see that? "Nox." "I heard everything, sure, but if we're going back to see 'him', it might be a one-way trip." See who now? Ok, I feel like I'm being excluded "Possibly." Silver agreed with her on whoever they were talking about "So, any chance I can, oh you know, be let in on who you're talking about?" My inquisitive stare made Silver step back slightly, while a deathly silence loomed over us, if anything, Silver feared me since his little mockery of me months back, I wouldn't hurt him...just make him paranoid enough to keep on his toes - Jesus, I've gotten dark, I think I should stop doing hunting quests for a while "...You still alive out there?" Nox whispered out the door "Does that mean you're in, Nox?" I asked kindly, and half-hoping she'd agree "Eh, sure, so long as I get a split of the reward I'm grand." My ears perked up at that "Thank you." I was actually happy both of them agreed without much suspicion on the guy who messaged me "Simple support quest, and if they'll be four of us, should make it fun." Nox grinned, the door creaking open to reveal her in the animated mask again, her eyes a soft pink. "So, where do we start?" [Gambit's Emporium] "I fucking hate you, Silver." Nox growled at the sight of the massive complex the two had led me through, to my surprise, it was located in a less-spokified version of the street added in the Holloween Event, and this was the 'Creature' the two had encountered with White, my reaction was less than formal, since I was trying not to scream, while picking my jaw off the floor at the sight of the massive creature that turned at our entry with massive, golden eyes, and a jack o' lantern smile "Hehehehe, how nice to see you two again! I've so lonely!" That sounded almost sad, if not for his laugh, but then I saw his shadow consume my entire body, his glowing eyes narrowed mischievously at me, and I swore I saw Nox and Silver step away from me. "Who's this? Purplrain?" "I-I uh...h-hi." I waved with a shaky hoof, and suddenly, he slowly shrunk down to an average height of a human, making all logic within me vanish at the sudden change in appearance "Nice to meet you too, finally, someone with manners!" He gaped, holding a hand out to me, so I quickly accepted it, shaking his with a normal amount of strength, for a moment I thought he would shake my hoof off. "Now then! What does the girl-boy, Zero, and Miss Rain what with not-so-little ol me?" After a moment to regain my composure, I looked over my shoulder to Nox and Silver, with both nodding for me to ask the awaiting - why was he upside down in the air? "Okay...Gambit, we wanted to know if you can teleport us to a small town outside of Canternlot." I brushed my left hoof down to bring my menu up, setting it to 'Public' so he could see my map, to which he placed a hand on his chin to watch over my shoulder. "Someone wanted me to come to Hollow Shades, something about this world, and a problem he's found." "Hmm...I wondered when someone would realize it, didn't think it'd take this long, but aw well." Gambit shrugged, leaving us to ponder on that statement, did he know about this too? What's happening to this world now? "I'll help, teleportation is a cheap gimmick with me, so anything of value will do." I was about to agree, then he raised his hand. "Oh, right, who was it that sent you that message, makes it easier to pinpoint a spot to drop you all, hopefully not off a cliff?" "His name was Sky Zaffre," I answered quickly, and for a moment, Gambit looked to be going for a reply, but he froze, his hand lowered, and his eyes widening at the name "Wait -- did you say, 'Sky Zaffre', as in those were the exact words, coming from the message?" He was now dangerously close to my face, his head against my muzzle, scrunching it up "Mmmhmm." My reply rasped through my lips before his smile grew, and he fell back into the air, spinning as if gravity had no effect on him. "Nox, what's wrong with him?" "Many things, the list is too long though." Nox sighed, rubbed her temple at the rattling noise Gambit made "Oh-hohohoh, I love this world already! Ok, new plan, I'm sending Y'all there for free, no strings attached! Just...hehehe, send him my regards and take a picture while you're at it. Do that, and I'll give you whatever you want!" Gambit's fit of laughter had quickly died out, him wiping a stray tear from my eye. "I - hehehe - haven't laughed like that in a while, but sure-sure, I'll send you to Bluey." "Good, so when can you send us?" I asked curiously, but his look didn't make me feel very confident anymore, while his fingers rose into the air, coiled around one another. "Wait - NOW!?" "Oh...Jesus..." Nox grimaced, with Silver moving closer to Nox, making her stiffen at the contact. "H-hey, back off man!" "Wait-wait-wait, aren't you going to let us prepare!?" I cried out, but the pressure that built around us had forced my hooves to stick firmly to the ground, while an acrid taste stung my tongue "I believe in action before caution, Toodles!" *SNAP* [Hollow Remnant] "AHHHHHHH!!!" All three of us were thrown out of the sudden tear in reality, our bodies mingled on the cold, stone floor of...wherever we were, but my head was turned to the sunlight, seeing the stone walls around us, old and worn with time and weather. We all sat in the remnants of a pillaged chamber, busted and wrecked by time itself. The twisted hall we sat in seemed to be part of a passage connecting the remains of the small area To my left, an old passage was broken, the stairs towards the ground completely fallen from the supports, leaving only one way down without the use of my wings, a massive, granite door was all that remained. Strange writing is all over it, somehow untouched by time and the elements. "Where are we?" I asked absentmindedly, yet Silver and Nox only shrugged, the three of us left to stand in the center of where Gambit had dropped us, from what he said, we should be close to Sky now, but if this wasn't Hollow Shades, then did that meant he was out fighting? If so... "What is that?/A strange creature/Unknown enemy." Silver's quick grab of my wing turned me towards the doors, their groans against the strain of large, white claws pulling our eyes towards the darkness of the ruins, and towards...what is that!? A large, black wolf entered the room, white claws scraping the ground, as it's skull-like face unhinged its jaw to allow a red tongue to hang out from its jagged teeth, glowing, red eyes staring back at us with a hungry growl, a black mist trailing behind its back like smog from an open flame. [Beowolf - lvl 42] "No way...a-a Grimm? Here?" My ears flicked at that, as mine and Silver's eyes drifted to the wide-eyed Nox, the eyes of her mask dilating. But her horn still glowed, spinning her halberd into the air beside her face. "Don't hold back, this thing's attracted to our negative emotions." "Okay, that's new." I was generally surprised a mob could do that, but if this 'Grimm' is attracted to us through negative emotions, that meant - my answer came in the form of more growls behind us, forcing me, Nox and Silver to go back-to-back, facing at least eight more Beowolves, their darkened forms infecting the ground with their dark presence like a poison. "Noooox!" "I know! But you can't carry us both." Nox barked back warily, seeing the Beowolves stand by, some slowly circling all of us, trying to wait for a blind spot, their A.I have gotten smarter, why now? "A true challenge/We shall not fall." Silver boasted, clanking his daggers off the ground to dare one of the Beowolves to make a move, just their silent moves, followed by low growls made my heart race with dread, I couldn't tell when they'd attack, they were too advance, I can't...I... That was it. I was attracting them. "RAIN!" I wasn't fast enough to react, as I felt a sharp pain force it's way through my spine, my back pinned to a wall, as sharp, unbearably painful claws sunk into my left shoulder, and collarbone, my health slowly beginning to trickle away at the sudden force of the Beowolf striking me down, its mouth opened wide, eyes hungrily waiting for me to die slowly by its claws, and I couldn't reach for my Bo-staff either, it was pinned under my back too. "Get your bloody claws off her!" Nox swung down on the skull of a Beowolf, embedding her halberd through its head, using this, she pushed herself onto the neck of her weapon, pushing down like a lever, and the axe that had torn into its forehead shot into the air, where Nox spun the halberd around, thrusting up to pierce its neck with the spear-tip, and I final twist depleated its remaining health, shattering the Beowolf into a flurry of reds, blacks, yellows, and whites. Yet I couldn't bare it, watching Nox sudden fall to the ground, losing the connection with her halberd as the claws drove through her back, pushing her against the ground, a Beowolf had leaped into the hall from the breach in the ceiling, now she grunted on the ground, trying to push the claws out of her. "Shit...Silver, watch your - ack! Back!" Nox winced, and my shaken eyes couldn't look away from the sight of her own health joining mine in the amber, out life was being taken from us, and we couldn't even move. "Rain! Rain, focus!" I couldn't...I was...I...I couldn't even conjure a spell, anything! Please...Please Out the corner of my eye, I saw it, Silver was still holding them off, stunning a few with paralysis, but...there was one behind him, it was waiting in the shadow of the room to catch him, no...no-no-no-no... "PLEASE, NO!" "Don't worry, Rain, we got this covered." It wasn't the reply I was looking for or one I expected to hear. Yet when I opened my eyes, I only saw the trails of light that remained of the Beowolf that had pinned me to the wall, the sudden relief that came with its missing claws made me relax against the stone wall, only my eyes stared up in awe at the sight of... A man, an actual human in black armor, His armor was molded into a representation of a more futuristic 16th-century suit of armor, with blue highlights grooved into the plates of armor. His helmet was more vulture-like, with glowing, blue eyes that widened like a bug at the sight of me. All the while crests of wolves decorated his chest, alongside a pair of smooth, harpy wings. Thrusting his arms down, the gauntlets split to allow the blades of black to take place, their edges now glowing with blue energy, pointed like spearheads, curving inwards near the middle for a sleek appearance. He saved me, and to my surprise, something fast had thrown both the Beowolves off of Nox and Silver, the latter noticing the near-fatal move he was being played into, and for a moment, I felt a teary-eyed smile reach my face. "I'm sorry, I attracted them." I bowed my head at that, still noticing the other 'Grimm' in the area, yet the cool metal fingers pushed my chin up to face the armored man "Don't be, no one can control fear when they were never prepared to face it, just sit back and enjoy the show!" He calmly replied, clicking his fingers. "You're up, love!" "HYYYAH!" In a flurry of red rose petals, two Beowolves were split in two from the waist by a massive, crimson war-scythe, with a red pony holding onto it, her wings pushing her back into the air, her red cape blowing the wind created from the updraft, she had silver eyes under raven hair with crimson highlights, similar to White, and she even had a silver rose pendant for a cutie mark. "I'm gonna wiiiin~!" "Doubtful." The man replied with a snarky tone, raising his palm as a small, magic circle rotated at the palm [Draconic Seal - Fire Dust] The small blast of fire quickly erupted from his hand, blasting a Beowolf in the face, blinding it for the man to spin on his left leg, raising his right one to strike the Beowolf across the face, snapping its neck and throwing its body through the wall beside me, the cries drowned out by the height it fell from, alongside the rubble. "You know what I don't get, why we have to call out EVERY Dust-related attack we do." He moaned as I saw a Beowolf leap from above "Look out!" Nox and Me screamed, but the claws had already sunk across the man's face, the Beowolf landing in front of him, yet its arm was missing, the severed arm falling beside the man who had raised his bladed gauntlet to block the blow, yet not even a scratch was seen on the side of his face, it didn't even chip his health away "No way..." I gaped, a sudden flurry of joy rekindling in my chest again, especially since I saw his name, and I felt more than alive again at the sight of them both. An armored man and Red Reaper [Sky Zaffre - lvl ???] [Ruby Rose - lvl ???] Sky then turned his body to face the small number of Grimm that had finally arrived after the others, his arms lowered to his sides. "Ooooh, you guys a screwed now." To Be Continued... Update Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class] [New Passive Added] -Aura- You can project your soul as a shield. When facing 'Creatures of Darkness' their attacks are cut in half (I release your soul) Author's Note And I'm back with a smaller arc, crossing my RWBY fanfic with this one! Dun, dun, duuuuun. Anywho, this small tale following the cute Purplrain, the blunt Noximillion, and the Zer0 Silver Crow as they uncover a massive realization that came with Harbinger's arrival. Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Story - [Zaffre Ruby] Upon meeting with the player that sent the message, Sky begins to reveal more of how their 'Game' is little more than just Ones and Zeros, and that their appearance may not be such a good thing after all. Will Rain ask for White's help, or will her own memories catch up to her? Authors Notes: Little tip for the future, I wrote many characters last arc cause it was necessary for the story's plot, while some will return, others will simply serve a side-role, this story is meant for White's gang, if I were to focus more on the Striders, I'd make a side story. Just a little heads up for the future. Story - [Zaffre Ruby][System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Unknown User - Sky Zaffre] [Beginning Playback] What's up? My name is Sky Zaffre, member of team RWBYS, savor of Remnant for reasons that would take too long to comprehend. For as long as I could recall, my entire life, both being sent to Remnant and through it has been...enlightening, the fact that Multiverse Theory is real, and there are beings capable of horrible things never sits right with me. Me and Ruby, my lovely girlfriend, had gotten a strange request from an old ally I haven't seen in months, if I knew this would lead to my...transformation, I wouldn't be here. This small recording that I'm giving to Rain will help not just those who find it, realize that the universe is faaaaaar bigger then we realize, but of my story and experience in this Death Game. Heh, just another day as a Huntsman. "...Kai....Kai!" Ugh. Why do I always wake up with a headache after meeting someone with a strange persona? Is that just me? Maybe, probably. "Kai. Wake. Up." Alright Iota, I'm up, I'm up...regrettably Once more, I felt my eyelids peel back to shine a crimson light down on my face, strangely warm, guess the world I was in was in summer, or maybe its a slightly warmer climate? All I could see was a ceiling of royal red above me, cracks of golden rays dancing through the trees that resembled Forever Fall, even the ground by my hoof was a carpet of red leaves - wait....hoof, as in a horses hoof? "Iota?" My word came simply, my body slowly beginning to shake, while I felt my heart race, sadly with dread over any form of glee. "Don't tell me..." "Yep." "No, nooooo, no, no, no, no." I refuse to believe this. I can't believe this. I 'WON'T' believe it's happening to me! My head slowly fell back to the ground, raising my right...hoof to my vision, seeing the zaffre coat I had been tainted with. "I'm a fucking pony in My Little Pony..." ... ... ... "GAMMMMMMBIIIIIIT!!!" After releasing all the air from my lungs, I slammed my hoof onto the ground, splashing the air with a flurry of red leaves, their red tone matching my emotions quite accurately. I knew T.V shows and the like were also their own realities in the Multiverse, but of all the ones that gambling Nightmare sent me to, he dropped me in a kid's show. I sighed, pushing myself to rest on my backside with a defeated posture. "Alteast it's a kid's show with actual intelligence, I can say that much." This little pick-me-up did little to waver my distraught expression of my location. But something was off, why were we in Forever Fall? Did Gambit drag a piece of Remnant here? No, he's far less careless, that's much is obvious, but then why was it here, in MLP? "We may have more issues than that." Come again, bud? "This 'is' MLP, but only a figment of its design." "What?" I had no answer for this, the only speculation reaching a conclusion. "You're saying this place is a copy of MLP?" "Exactly." Iota enforced grimly, and I sat with my hooves crossed, blowing a strand of my hair from my face. "From what I gathered from our arrival since Penny is out of commission at the moment, this place is a digital world constructed to look and act exactly like the show, in layman's terms, its a game, and a dangerous one at that." Continue "We have been here for at least an hour, in that time Cognitum has gathered that something called 'Harbinger' has ceased control of the world, forcing any to die once their health hits zero, in return, their real bodies would perish too, similar to that of Sword Art Online, only that with each defeat of these 'Raid Lairs' grants them another key in defeating him, but it also caused the system to rapidly evolve, forcing enemies to grow stronger and smarter." "So he's playing God with people's lives. Gee, where have we heard 'that' before?" My dry humor was only met with a blunt silence in my head. "Sorry, continue." "That's all the information we have, other than the fact this area has been heavily warped by Forever Fall. Lift your right hoof and swipe down." Listening to...well myself, I did what Iota said, and before I was a bunch of screens, a Menu, and Stats section too, much like online games, then I saw 'Map'. "There, the map." "I'm the map, I'm the map." I sang, opening the tab to view my area, and to my surprise, the forest was now a mixture of green and red, with a small village east of me labeled, 'Hollow Shades', the outskirts were 'Hollow Remnant', okay, that's bad, the world looked...torn, parts of the landscape looked broken or shoved into each other for space, like fitting the triangle in the circle hole. "I...think I know Gambit brought us here with - RUBY!" Without care, I felt my nerves react, and within seconds, a black armor had coated my body, only...I was looking down at my fingers against the side of a black tree, the blue lines running across my arms with a bright sensation. I was wearing Iron Regalia again, strange, I could move between Equine and Human forms with ease. "Iota, did you see Ruby anywhere when Cognitum scanned the area?" I asked calmly, placing a hand on my chest to slow my heart rate. Ruby could handle herself, I needed to stay calm....inhale...exhale, okay. "Anything?" "Three. Two. One." Wait - *Crash* "Hiiii love..." I groaned, my arms flattening against the forest floor again, and to my shaken vision, I saw how much the game had changed Ruby from a cute Huntress to...well, she was now cuddly. Her coat was a royal red, with her mane a messy black with the signature red highlights, and her silver eyes remained, but she still held Crescent Rose and her cape "S-Sky?" What a great start to the day [User: Purplrain] As the Grimm approached us again, the one behind Ruby took its chance to attack her, and it nearly worked, as Ruby turned to see the claws mere inches from her face, yet the look on her face, now a thread of fear was laced in her eyes, since Sky had spun on his heel, a chain connecting his gauntlet with the Grimm, a thin blade piecing the Beowolf's neck. With a pull, the Grimm fell backward, allowing Ruby to point the barrel of her rifle down at its head, the single, flaming shot tore the monster's skull in half. "You dare lay a finger on her, and I'll skin you alive." Sky warned smoothly, turning back around to block another set of claws with his left arm, retracting the chain and using the blade to impale the Grimm, throwing it into the wall, followed by his legs bending down to duck under a lunge from above, his left gauntlet pointed upwards to slice the arm of the Beowolf off at the elbow, along with a horizontal lunge from Sky's right, cutting the wolf in-two Suddenly, two beams of orange whizzed past his head, striking two more Beowolves from afar, it was Ruby, resting Crescent Rose in her hooves while she flew in a single spot with a grin. But she didn't see it, there was one crawling towards her from a small perch, without realizing it, I felt my body morph into the shadows behind me, I transcended the typical plane of reality, and my vision soon cleared from shadows, my eyes on Ruby's form below me, and as I fell my hooves reached out drawing back a purple and black bow of shadows, firing a single, powerful 'Gloom Grip', the single shot pinned the Beowolf against the wall behind her, her sharp turn was met with relief at my save, the arrow burning through the monster's health with ease. "Thank you." Ruby smiled at me kindly and I merely nodded with a sigh, noting Sky giving Silver and Nox time to fall back, leaving only a small number of Beowolves to be disposed of. But below us, Sky stood with his arms hanging by his sides, the metal palm clanking off his hips, but there was something off about his posture, he was completely rigid, his fingers slowly coiling into his palms, and the energy in the air felt... Angry. Sky raised his hand up slightly, releasing a set of glowing, translucent claws, while his monstrous, cybernetic scream even made my wings quiver from the vibrations. The Grimm looked stunned by this, leaving them open for Sky to breaking into a powerful sprint, his feet bending to push him into the air, his body spinning with his claws to strike two Beowolves down before him, his legs sliding under another, pushing up to continue his uppercut, the claws shoved through the lower jaw of the Grimm, Sky pulled out, ducking under a set of claws, slicing three more down behind him, then he pushed back on the chest of another, flipping over the five that had tried to pile atop him. But in his palms, sat two bubbling colors. "The flames on my right and the ice on my left put them together." I gaped at this, he was...mimicking a spell from Fairy Tail!? That shouldn't - He shouldn't - What!? [Unity Move - Fire-Ice Dragon's Brillant Flame] The world before my eyes was consumed by a yellow blast of light, the air screaming with a piercing blast of energy, whilst a mixture of cold and warm air had risen in the ruins, but I couldn't hear anything but a sudden, sharp noise and the crackling of flames, my hooves muffled out the rest as I squinted through the massive cloud. Ruby coughed beside me, the others slowly moving in a daze, Sky standing beside them both with his hands dusting the armor he wore. But on them were the lingering embers and snowflakes of the powerful Unity Move, I didn't even think a single person could combine moves without a partner if Sky could do that...just how powerful is he? Almost like a demon. But my voice died in my throat, seeing the remaining Beowolves push through the cloud of smoke, Sky moving back slightly to defend Nox and Silver, and I quickly channeled my magic too, but it was all for naught, since a blinding flash of white light forced me to fall to the ground, my wings covering my eyes in pain. Where did that light come from? It didn't last thankfully, and to my right, Ruby stood with a simple smile on her face, the lingering ghost of that light has died in her silver eyes...she conjured a holy spell, but...how!? Ugh, this day's giving me a headache. "This day is giving me a headache..." Nox echoed my thoughts exactly, and Sky looked...annoyed, seeing the three remaining Grimm burst into a stream of colors, much to his slow turn to look at Ruby "That's just cheating; I swear, if you're just going to use that One-Shot, why did I bother killing anything?" Was he really complaining about it? "Because you love showing off?" Ruby suggested, and we all watched as his armour vanished in a flash of blue light, leaving only a pegasus with a coat the same color as my eyes, his black hair with locks of blue and white much like Ruby's highlights, while he stared at the girl with a conflicted expression, his purple eyes looking to her then back to himself "Do I show off?" He paused, before rolling his eyes flatly with disdain. "Thank you, for that 'thrilling' insight, Iota." "Okay, slow down, what the hell is going on? Just...please, explain what Grimm were doing here, why Ruby Rose, the greatest, most badass Huntress of all time -" We were now all looking at Nox, whose eyes glowed with awe, wherever these two were from, she looked like she was fangirling. "Ahem, sorry." Ruby didn't look displeased, only giggling with a hoof to her muzzle "Moving past that, what is going on, Sky? Why did you call me out here?" I asked, shifting to look at them both warily, despite how powerful they both are, something wasn't right, no player is this strong, not yet at least, and the A.I...they...they were too real, almost human Sky sighed, rubbing the back of his neck shamefully, but all the more serious as us, with Ruby standing with him, her face of equal concern. "Okay...let's go back to town, I can explain everything once we get back, sound fair?" We all looked with equal curiosity, seeing that the sun was going to be setting soon, and if there's were more Grimm out there, the three of us weren't ready to face something so complex in nature "We'll follow you, just..." I paused, looking at Nox and Silver with an overwhelming amount of guilt in my chest, I drew the Grimm to us, Nox said negative emotions attracted them, and I...I was. "I'm sorry." "...For what?" Nox tilted her head oddly, with Silver shrugging "I...you said the Grimm were attracted to negative emotions, and I...I was..." A sudden pressure caused me to look up at the blue eyes of Nox's mask, curled up with sympathy "Don't. You have no reason to blame yourself for this crap, 'all of us' were caught off guard by their intelligence, and if a certain Nightmare was more clear with his teleportation, we wouldn't have bee caught off guard." Nox reassured me...what little it did for my feeling of guilt, I wasn't like White, moving past these feelings was harder, but, I'm glad they don't hate me "We are all together/All that matters/We are safe." Silver added too, making my small smile return to me again, then Nox wrapped an arm around my neck, pointing a hoof at Sky and Ruby "Now come on, these two owe us a drink." She proclaimed, making Ruby grin cheekily at Sky who in turn looked back and forth between the two girls "When did I agree to this?" Sky was suddenly jabbed by Ruby for that, making him chuckle lightly. "Fine. Guess I kinda do." [Hollow Shades - Celica Tavern] "Hey, Nox? You've seen the show a lot, what's this place anyway?" I asked curiously, seeing her stumble slightly in her step at that, her eyes turning rose "W-Well...let me think...Hollow Shades is a village inhabited by both ponies and Thestrals, which explains the mixture of NPCs, luckily no players though. There's a great tree that is the oldest tree of the forest that was created by green star seed to serve as a vessel until it was taken by Fluttershy at the time when the Light Kingdom was restored, most of this came from the comics that my siblings collected." Nox elaborated on Hollow Shade's background, most of the cobblestone houses were covered by thick, dark wood trees, some of which were a bright, vibrant crimson too "It's really something, isn't it?" At Sky's reply beside me, I stopped staring at the sights to see him raising a hoof to allow a red leaf to fall upon it. "Forever Fall, a mystical forest of royal red trees, a ground of red where the endless leaves fall, it never grows old." "It's even got sap that tastes amazing too! Especially with pancakes." Ruby stated proudly with her eyes shut "You can...eat the sap?" Nox looked at them both with a baffled expression through her eyes "Yeah, if Nora doesn't eat it all first." Sky added under his breath, hiding his muzzle under his scarf, then his eyes brightened up with a wave of his hoof. "We've arrived!" From the outside, the tavern looked more inviting then the cobblestone houses around us, just the golden glow from the small windows gave me the impression of an inviting and pleasant place. Large stones and wooden details make up most of the building's outer structure. When Sky held the door open for us all, we were greeted with a gather relaxing atmosphere, and surprisingly, there were three players here, all of which looked to us, with an orange, feminine dragon saluting with her two claws to us, then they turned back. "Don't mind them, we gave them the rundown not to let word of this place reach anyone else, as far as help goes, we're all that's in Hollow Shades." Sky answered my internal thoughts quickly, as we made our way towards a round table The bartender looked quite busy but still managed to welcome us with a short wave of his hoof. It's as charming inside as it is on the outside. Rounded, wooden beams support the upper floor and the light fixtures attached to them. The walls are littered with all sorts of memorabilia, I liked it, it felt homely. Approaching a smooth, oak table, the five of us pulled up seats to sit down under a small lantern hanging from the pillar behind me, as Sky looked to the bartender. "You guys want anything?" At his request, Ruby gave him a wink. "Usual, got it. Anyone else?" "Me and Silver will take a cider each." Nox waved, taking off her mask and setting it down on the table with her hoof across it "Just a lemonade is fine." I smiled thankfully, and with that, Sky left us with Ruby. "So...Nox called you a 'Huntress', is that your title here?" "Not really, well, kind of. Me and Sky actually came from another world entirely because of a funny guy called, Gambit." If I wasn't already tired, my jaw would have hit the table, she and Sky were from...another world "You came from Remnant, because of that prick?" Nox gaped with wide eyes, and Ruby nodded "He said there was a problem that was bugging him recently and he needed it 'Exterminated' as he put it, but only me and Sky could go, so we left our friends behind, thankfully, our time moves weirdly here...I think he said it was like a second back home is a month here or something?" Ruby looked just as lost, all of us were still grasping the concept of traveling between worlds, the thing to startle us were the soft thud of the wooden mugs "Trust me, just accept it and move on, your lives we'll be much easier from there." Sky interrupted, sitting down as he handed us our drinks, and I quickly drunk a mouthful, giving myself a buzz on energy again. "Okay...you all calmed down now?" After taking a gulp, Silver spoke next with a monotone stare. "What is happening/All worlds mixed/All truths lost." His reply made Sky stare for a moment "...Huh, Zer0 would be pleased, but to put simply. The Multiverse is very real, and MLP has a reality of its own too, much like how this reality is a game concept around the show, right?" We all nodded, and Sky smiled smoothly. "Let me guess, me and Rubes are a T.V show too?" "You are, but you don't exist, its just team RWBY, not RWBYS." Nox questioned with an inquisitive look, then her eyes lit up. "Unless you're parallel to it!" "Now you're beginning to see it clearly." Sky smiled, moving to hug Ruby from the side. "My world is as you see Remnant, a living, breathing world, the only difference is that I'm from Remnant too and that Ruby here is my lovely girlfriend, to which I don't deserve." "Wait, but...whaaaaat!?" Nox's expression made me laugh a little, and she snorted at that. "This is serious, Rain, the ship to end all ships is...its just, AGGGGH!" Her head hit the table in defeat, only to have Silver pat her back softly, and I swore she was crying, Nox must really care a lot about this show they're from. "WhiteRose is gooooone..." "Tell that to the guy who's aware of said 'Ships', trust me, not a thought I'd like to have in my head." Sky groaned, rubbing his temples, only for me to squee at the sight of Ruby kissing him lightly on the cheek, instantly perking him back up "I still love you." It was so cute, even Silver couldn't hide a grin. Sky did straighten up again, frowning sadly "If you weren't here I'd have lost it by now, including Iota." He then looked at me directly with a serious gaze. "Rain, our world's, Remnant and MLP can't stay like this, parts of our world are starting to splice with yours...Gambit's aware of this, but he can't go against the world's laws directly to stop it." "...What can we do?" I asked with a defeated look at Silver and Nox, the two looking just as clueless "We need to find the source of the rupture and close it if we don't..." That look he shared with us, it reminded me so much of White...how the odds were stacked in a way no other player could see But... Bombard's last look of despair shot through all of us, as he dryly moved his mouth. "....bastard....." *Shatter* "n-no....no-no-no-no...." "I don't care." My sudden rise in voice made all other conversations stop in a heartbeat, that image, death was so easily looked over when you least expect it, and now, the one thing that could kill everyone is looming over all of us, I won't...I won't let it happen again, I can't see someone else die because I was too busy being a helpless, little girl. Moving my head up, I stared back at Sky's neutral expression. "Whatever it takes, I'll help you stop this world from dying." He smiled, crossing his forelimbs. "It won't be easy, ya know? Dangerously intelligent A.I, possible end of the world." Sky rambled on but I didn't care, I wanted to do this, I 'needed' to do this "Whatever. It. Takes." My hoof jabbed the table with each word, and Sky happily chuckled at that, looking far more convinced "Very well, starting tomorrow we'll go and scout out a place Rubes here found." Sky replied breathlessly, forcing my sense of courage to falter. "Oh, and due to the fact that I did make a quest of this for you; If we live, and we will live, I'll give you a copy of one of my armors." "And I can make a convertible weapon I designed years ago, just to sweeten the deal." Ruby winked, and a sudden wave of determination has flooded back to me "Well, Rain's the temp-Boss, so why not? 'Bout time we kick this world where it hurts." Nox grinned, taking another large swig of her cider. "Hey, Zer0, you in?" "Always ready/Your words are inspiring/I shall follow." Silver answered, so Sky chuckled happily, slamming his fist on the table, shaking the stand "Okay then. Let this be the start of Team SSORRN!" Sky was met with only silence from all of us, say for my hoof over my mouth to stop my stifled laughs, and he immediately drooped. "What? It's the best I could come up with? You tell me where I can find a color with two 'Ss' and to 'Rs'?" "We'll work on it." Ruby patted his head, before stretching her forelimbs out. "Well then team, let's hatch a plan!" [Harrow's Fortuna] Darkness was all that remained with the illumination of the massive super moon above the ruins of the fortress, now littered with weapons, remnants of color, mostly reds, blues, and khaki. The air which would normally be filled with the scent of the woodlands below and the sound of wildlife is now thick with the stench of ashes, sickening darkness and death, enough to destroy whatever courage is left in the survivors. But it wouldn't allow such an outcome to occur. Standing atop a small podium where the back wall was gone, allowing the moonlight to glide through the carnage, sat a dark figure, its cloak ragged and burnt, holes revealed only small, white spikes, broken and jagged at uneven angles. Held in its black, feathered arm, coiled tightly by long, white claws was a crooked, black scythe, the massive, mirror face of the blade curved at both ends, the larger piece reflecting the moonlight on the hood of the hooded figure. "...All is still..." "...All is silent..." "...Reap and Sow what is meant..." "...The night is near its end..." To Be Continued... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class] Sky Zaffre - lvl ??? [Offensive class] Ruby Rose - lvl ??? [Offensive class] Current Level: 37 Magic: Shadow/Umbra Seal Items: N/A New Skills [Draconic Seal - Fire Dust] - Release a small blast of fire damage [Unity Move - Fire-Ice Dragon's Brillant Flame] - A unity of Ice and Fire, highly explosive and capable of massive elemental damage Author's Note Do you know what I like about adding Sky and Ruby? I've written them for over a year, so their personalities are second nature for me to write, hooray I guess. Other than that, hope this start to a small arc was interesting, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Event - [The Truth] During the night, Rain has certain memories of her life keeping her from sleeping, so she goes to clear her mind, something one of them is all too familiar with. Event - [The Truth]"we can't have that happening, can we?" *Shiiiiing* "....bastard....." *Shatter* "NO!" Immediately I sprung my body up in my bed. My heart racing a mile a second with each moment I stared across the dark room. It didn't take long for me to realize it was only a dream...or a nightmare? Turning my head, I saw Ruby fast asleep in the corner of her bed, on the one above her, was both Silver and Nox, both not realizing they had actually fallen asleep together, if my mind wasn't running with worry I'd have found it cute. "No sign of Sky...strange." Not wanting to go back to the dream realm so abruptly, I slowly slid out of the covers and with my passive ability as a Therstral, I silently stepped out of sight, using my Umbra magic to shift through the wall of our private room. With a soft sigh, I made my way for the stairs. "I need some air." When I felt the door creek open towards the fusion of two worlds that was Hollow Shades, I felt the surprising warmth of the night meet my body, and to the wondrous sight around me. Hundreds of emerald lights floated in the air around the town, and in turn, around me with a soft glow in the dark night and amber lighting of lanterns. Combined with the forever falling leaves it was a sight I'd only imagine in books, yet here I was. Softly, I felt my mood rise a little at the dancing fireflies when I made my way through the silent town, the sound of only my hooves made any noise other than distant howls or abstract noises. But...then my mind brought back those voices...Bombard...he, I never even knew much about him...he didn't seem so bad and yet I... Closing my eyes, I felt my teeth bite my bottom lip for a moment, trying my best to suppress the memory. "Amazing, isn't it?" I jumped, feeling my teeth chip my health when I bit down by accident, but I relaxed when I saw Sky standing with a firefly resting on his hoof. "I can imagine you felt like I did, 'It's like a fairy tale', or something close?" "I...yeah, it is," I responded softly, my eyes to my path ahead. "But it's only in this world, you'd never experience it in reality, where this wouldn't exist." "True, but if you look hard enough you might just find it." Sky pointed out with a spring in his step. "Despite this form, I like it here, feels like Remnant, but more...mystical if were talkin' places." For about five minutes he followed me through town, not saying a word to me. It was strange, he didn't ask why I was up or why I was wandering towards the edge of the Green Zone, instead he followed me while looking around at the sights, with myself keeping a single train of thought on what I remembered, which was quicking becoming shadowed by more...real thoughts. Pain, torment, ridicule...ugh, stop it! I need to calm down, I need someplace to - there! Moving up a small path towards a tree, I saw a bench perched right under it, alone and facing the big, bright moon above us. Moving to sit down, I felt my body melt into the smooth wood, my head resting to peer up at the stars above with a whimsical expression on my face. "You know, Iota told me I'm an idiot, hence why I haven't slept tonight." My thoughts came rushing back as I turned to look through my purple mane towards the irritated player beside me, his muzzle scrunched up as his hooves moved like if it were his fingers. "'You are so obvious you haven't realized your own mistake, yet you can fight someone moving at the speed of light.'" "Wait, what do you mean?" I wasn't really feeling up to games right now, but I was curious as to why he looked baffled "Yeah, so Iota up and told me that I added an 'O' to SSORRN, when I should have put an 'I' after the first 'R', then remove the 'O' - basically I'm an idiot." Sky summed up with a defeated shrug, crossing his forelimbs to his chest with a frown, and to my surprise, his eyes turned from purple to a pure shade of white "He's an idiot without logic, ironic given how he gave me, his 'Logic' the freedom to leave his own form." His voice sudden when cold and distant too, and I felt as though the aura around him had morphed with it. "Iota, at your service, and before you ask, I'm a split personality of his, but with more...freedom, shall we say?" "Umm...okay?" Then in a flash, his eyes returned to normal, and his small smile returned, yet I raised a humored brow. "You seriously didn't realize your mistake until now?" "Thank you for your input, Iota; But yes, 'Logic' is him, 'Dry Sarcasm' is me. Yes, by the way." His two-sided answer made me feel less upset, even if just a bit, but it didn't do much seeing as he looked from the star-filled sky to me again. "And there's goes my attempt at breaking the awkward tension in the air...okay then. What's eating at you Rain?" ... ... "...Would you really understand? Or...would you just pity me like everyone else?" I felt it, my resolve slip under his gaze, all I could do was try to hold back my emotions, even if just a bit. Looking down at my hooves, I just...felt so angry, afraid, lost. "Would you just say 'everything will be okay' or 'I'll keep you safe'? Would you really mean what you say?" "..." Sky didn't reply, and I never stopped, feeling my teeth grind into each other "Could you understand, what it feels to be helpless, to feel as though no matter how much you believe you're right, only to fall deeper into that...emptiness?" I...I "Please j-just leave me a-alone..." "Aww, she's crying, what a brat." "Come on, leave her alone already!" "Why? What can she do? She's a little bitch who needs to learn her place, how's that my fault?" "P-please..." "I just want to disappear. From...everything." I said it. There wasn't a breeze, no sound of life around us, just my words turning to nothing in the air around me, I wanted that too, to turn to nothing, to make life...easier. I couldn't see my face, but I probably looked empty, both in expression and sight. "Everytime...she would hurt me, scold me, humiliate me. Nothing changed for years, whatever I did was only met with more of the same, and every time I heard the same thing, 'you'll be okay', 'It's not going to last', 'We'll keep you safe'." I felt my hooves dig into each other, my grip growing worse. "Over and over I kept listening, and I felt so useless...she would do the same to so many and I didn't do a thing to stop her, to stop the pain, I felt like...like I was better off-" "But here you are." Sky interrupted me, and I felt my gaze shift to view him through my mane, and...he looked like all the others, that soft, hurt expression, but it was only matched by the fire I saw in his eyes, an unyielding torrent I've only ever seen in White when he was angry. "Despite everything, you're still here, in both these worlds." "What difference does that make when I'm too scared to fight here, let alone in the real world! If I can't even face a bunch of coded monsters, how can I fight something so real!?" I demanded, cutting him off as I continued. "Even in this world, I'm just so...useless! I couldn't save people even if magic by my side! No matter which world I'm in, I'm useless. Both to my best friends and to White Hat!" "Yeah? Well, reality is bullshit!" I stopped speaking, and he looked at me with a stern, flaming stare. "Listen not to the people who lack understanding, and more to the guy who has been there too." What? He looked away for a second, then back to me with a less serious expression, while I wore a dumbfounded face of my own, I just spilled my guts to someone I only met a few hours ago, why? Why would I do that? But what he just said, he spoke as if the same situation had - he...really does know. "Now, while I won't go into detail of my own experiences with 'less than hospitable' people in my past, I can truthfully say that I was like you before, or, the more direct answer, I still am like you." He pointed a hoof at me gently. "I never trusted anyone but my sister, and even so, I was hurt...hurt in a way that can't just go away with words, it caused me to develop split personalities, like Iota." He understood far more than I could have guessed, everyone I know who's suffered because of unjust actions only had minor experiences, but Sky...he knew it all too well what it meant to be considered a waste of space "Then I met Ruby, and after years of self-loathing and despair, she became the first person that I opened up to, then Yang, Blake and Weiss too, they all made me who I am, and there isn't a single day that goes by where I begin to regret what choices I made, that simple, yet so painful step into faith, it could have cost me everything, and I was willing, for even just a fraction of time, to take that step." Each word held purpose, a time where he could have been like me and ran behind a veil, but he didn't, he's here because... "Ruby saved you from yourself, even when you felt like you weren't worth saving." Was I wrong the whole time? Did...could I really...I could try. Suddenly, I felt my breath catch in my throat when Sky reached over to hold me close to him, I nearly fell off the bench, but he continued to embrace me fondly, and...I felt my tears break, but I wasn't upset, I felt more than that. "..." "You can be strong. 'Strength' isn't just in power or force of will, its every action or notion you make, what you chose to do holds an impact, and that first step into trusting someone you know with everything will be the hardest choice you make." He pulled back, and I felt my spirit rise a little with a sense of familiarity between us. "That part of me when I met Ruby, he still lives in my soul, I can't rid myself of my fears and doubts, but so long as I'm with those I trust, that will be enough for me to know I made the right move that day." "I...I think I understand, my past...all of it, that doesn't define me, just gives me the starting point of who I want to be." My answer made me smile with Sky, the sudden nightmares I had rilled in my head felt steady now, I could envision them, but they weren't haunting me anymore, that...thing isn't here anymore He patted me on the head, causing my ears to flick at the sensation. "Good, consider this the first step, 'The Truth', but what happens next won't be easy, you'll be constantly doubting choices you make, mostly important ones regarding those around you, but never give in, and hey, if you need someone to talk to, just call me or Ruby from now on, eh?" His smug expression brought me to a new revelation, one that made my wings flutter slightly "Wait...are you-" He didn't let me finish, as he raised a hoof into the air "By the power of Team RWBYS, I and my awesome girlfriend will aid you all in defeating Harbinger!" His sudden cheer finally broke me into a fit of laughter, with Sky following suit quickly "You are the most surreal guy I know." "Tell that to your boyfriend." Sky coyly replied, and my immediate response was - well I mean it was just that - noooo, no, no, no "M-Me and White a-aren't t-t-together!" Not another Yin~! These claims are starting to bother me, probably White too - ugh, no now I'm thinking about him~! All I could do was bury my face in my hooves, whining as he chuckled to himself like a jackal "Ok, sorry, but you were far too easy to mess with, kid." I was once more at the mercy of his petting, which was actually kind of nice, guess this body has different sensory points, and now that the pain inhibitor is lower, this only made my nerves melt at the touch. "Wonder if this works on Ruby..." "Just...don't go for the wings, they can be sensitive," I recommended, the past conversation feeling less like a lecture, and more of a weight gone from my body, I can't begin to understand how difficult Sky's trials with his past must have been, but I'm willing to try if it means I can grow stronger both in this world and IRL, then so be it. I'll grow strong for everyone, White, Klaw, Nox, Silver, Pinkie, Sky, Ruby, Yin and myself, along with my friends who are probably worried about me IRL too. "Sky?" "Hmm?" His lazy reply was met with his gaze to the night sky, and I joined him in watching the stars with an abundance of new thoughts and doubts in my mind "Thank you so much." For now though, I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling happy I had someone I could confide in, when this was all over, I'll talk with White. He's been there for me since this game started, and I really do trust him, maybe...I can find he's another real friend I can trust my life with "Heh, no problem, kid. For now though, let's just watch the stars." To Be Continued... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class] Sky Zaffre - lvl ??? [Offensive class] Ruby Rose - lvl ??? [Offensive class] Current Level: 37 Magic: Shadow/Umbra Seal Items: N/A Author's Note A small, but touching chapter for Rain to finally begin to face her demons, Sky had also suffered through something similar, so he'll be a mentor of some kind to her for the future. And yes, due to time differences, Ruby and Sky will be staying for the remainder of the game, yay! Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Quest - [Worlds Collide: Decommission] Not even past the second day, the town of Hollow Shades begins to change, forcing Team SSRIRN to push towards the cause of the calamity. But along the way, something sinister watches with vengeance. Author's Notes: THANKS FOR GETTING THIS STORY TO 1000 VIEWS, STAY AWESOME~~~! Quest - [Worlds Collide: Decommission]"Get up. Get up, Get up! Get! Up!" A sudden flurry of air and the solid wood crashing against my muzzle was enough to startle me from my sleep, I had only gotten a little amount due to mine and Sky's...conversation, the whole talk had my mind at ease with a small sensation of anxiety, the thoughts and voices he mentioned were very real, now that image of myself talking back to me in Canternlot makes more sense What didn't was the sudden shaking of...everything? My body trembled with each hoof I placed on the floor, seeing Ruby dart around the room with a flurry of roses in my vision, Nox was adjusting her mask, eyes wider than her mask could allow, Silver was looking out the window, the frame all but broken and twisted by an unseen force that had applied itself like the wood under my shaky hooves. My ears could only make out rock smashing into rock, trees rustling in the harsh winds, and a mixture of Sky's pushy voice behind me. "What...ugh, in Irene's, hurk - name is going on!?" Nox snapped, holding a hoof to her mask, eyes a sickly green with each step she took. Apparently, she had motion sickness. "Why now~?" "We need to move, now!" Sky ushered for us to go towards the open window, and my unsaid question was given an answer from the sheer appearance of the town, now fractured and broken apart into thousands of floating and/or rising chunks of land, with some now resting upside down or at different angles from whatever had affected the once peaceful environment *GROOOOOAN* All of us yelped when the entire inn began to turn towards the right, forcing myself and Sky to fly into the air, himself armored again as he held onto Ruby and Silver, while I linked my hooves under Nox's own, seeing her head spinning slightly. "T-Thanks -- ugh -- Rain." Just don't vomit inside your helmet, please. Flying out with our team, we landed on a floating fixture of land, seeing the inn rotating behind us as the landmass we sat on rose and fell gently in the air "Okay, Sky, what's going on?" Not that I expected him to know, but it was worth a shot in guessing why the world was breaking apart "Worst case scenario, the coding of the area has been tampered with, so the entire town is attempting to reconfigure to the new code added." Okay, his simple answer made a lot more sense than I realized, but that left one problem, making my ears twitch "Harbinger...he must have done this, but why?" It was a skeptical guess and without any real rhyme or reason the world is changing under his thumb, so what could be the reason behind this? Suddenly, Ruby tapped my shoulder, pointing a hoof down the cluster of floating lands "We need to move, if we can make it to the old fortress we talked about we could find answers there." She looked to the rest of us evenly. "If this world is a game, wouldn't there need to be a place an admin can access freely without needing to dig into the game files?" Sky had his hand on his chin, rubbing it. "That's...actually right...heh, any doubters of you being our leader back home can eat their hearts out." That made her blush a little before Sky clicked his fingers. "So, all we need to do is find the fortress." "Ugh...guys?" "Yes/New plan in motion/We must move." Silver agreed as I nodded too, flaring my wings out "Guuuuys~?" I saw Nox waving at us, her hoof pointed upwards. "I'm not a scientist, but if that hits us, what's gonna happen?" All our eyes traveled up towards what looked to be a rocky spear of land currently descending, as warning signals flashed in my head to move, seeing it coming closer to the edge of the island. Yet none of us could go anywhere as no other islands were in view and only two of us could fly. So within seconds, the island was struck with a sharp force, causing the island to flip up over the spear mound and into the open air, flinging us onto separate sections, all of which were affected by the aftershock of those two islands colliding. I groaned, rubbing my muzzle as I felt the island under me and Sky shake, before cracks split the crimson land around us. "Oh, you've got to be kidding..." With a panicked sigh, I felt the metal hand throw me to my feet as we sprinted for our lives The two of us leaped between islands as they were thrown into the air by the shockwave, causing some to fall apart, as a massive slab of rock cut off our route, yet Sky yelled, sprinting with his right arm drawn back, with a sharp punch he broke the top piece off with ease, allowing me to run over the top, with him before me, slicing down any debris that got in our way, I pushed myself into the shadows with <> snaking through the object as I appeared over Sky, running along a piece above him, while I watched him slide under another, kicking out to push a mound into the gap ahead of us, we both jumped from the island to the mound, feeling the rock begin to dip before leaping onto another mass, this one containing several enemies. [Beowolf - lvl 42] [Beowolf - lvl 42] [Beowolf - lvl 42] The three Grimm gnashed their teeth, breaking into feral sprints towards us, but with how unstable the region of islands had gotten we couldn't waste time, so I saw Sky channeling ice and fire into his hands and in doing so gave me a quick idea to do the same with my shadows, my wings pushing me to wrap my legs around his neck, placing my forehooves on his arms, giving the ice and fire a deepen tone of saturation. "Alright then." Sky chuckled, smashing his hands together [Unity Move - Fire-Shadow-Ice Dragon's Anarchy] From his arms sprouted a mass of corrupted blue flames that were so cold their burned the Grimm on contact, freezing and devouring them within their own shadows as we ran past them, not bothering to finish them off as we burst through the tree line and onto the edge of an island beginning to fall apart from under us, while the rest were already across, looking terrified for both of us. "Oh my God." Sky gulped, the two of us sharing an equal look of fear, his still hidden under his helmet "RUN!" We screamed, dashing across the now collapsing space of rock, trees, and buildings From under my hooves struck the lack of ground, my hooves flying over the increasingly widening gaps, as Sky slid over the top of a mound and onto an elevated chunk, while I jumped from the one he was on to another, pushing my body off it with my back hooves and wings. Quickly, I felt a hand grasp my hoof as Sky readied his bladed right arm as he pulled me up onto his back as he jumped over the final gap, plunging the blade deep into stone through the earth, feeling his body slip ever-so-slightly as I winced at the sight of the rock crashing into the wasteland below. "Sky?" I whimpered, while he himself panted, using his sharp nails to claw up the cliff-face "That...was the worst wake-up call...ever...of all time." With a final heave, we sat atop the stable mound of ground, having Silver, Ruby, and Nox greet us with concern, but ultimately relief. "Hey, Rubes, you okay?" She sighed. "I've been better, you?" Sky shrugged "Just another day under my belt." "And another strand of white hair to my name." I coughed, seeing that the rest of the floating islands had settled. "Come on, we should find that fortress before something else happens." "Agreed." Nox gulped, looking far less dizzy now that the area had stabilized, but that didn't stop her from glaring at us. "Mention this to anyone and I'll have your heads." "Mention what to anyone?" Sky absentmindedly replied, making Nox snort and turn back to the rocky pathway created before us. Given how the last few days have flown in, it almost feels as though this whole ordeal could collapse at any moment if people from other universes are being dragged into this game, what could happen in weeks or months? Would MLP: Actualization Online even be considered a game by that point? Let alone a Death Game? People would die and still are, the world is changing the more control Harbinger gains...I don't know if we can beat this, especially if Harbinger changes the game. With that slither of doubt, I remembered that White felt the same, I think we all do in our own way, but that might be why we're still trying because if we did give into that fear, Harbinger wins. With a smile, I pressed onwards, every step meant a lot, it said I was still alive, that I'll never take for granted again. "Rain, hold up." I stopped when Sky stepped in beside me, seeing him eye the surrounding area with his eyes narrowed before they widened with surprise laced into the optic helmet. "Is that who I think it is?" His head was raised to one of the floating islands to the upper left "Sky, what are you doing?" Ruby questioned with a hurried tone on her face, but Silver looked on as Sky did with that same expression of seriousness "No/Death from above/Very bad." With a hoof raised high, all our eyes turned towards...what the? Standing with white talons sunk into the edge of a rock formation, draped in black cloth that was tattered and burned with white streaks of what almost resembled rose petals, sat a hooded creature holding the massive arch of a mirror scythe where the sun had been reflecting from, raised high above the body of the creature "I-Is that...!" Ruby gawked at the sight, with my eyes finally adjusting to the tag floating above its head, crimson eyes narrowed towards us, more specifically, Sky with malice and a hungry growl [Morana, Horseman of Death - lvl ???] "Everyone, get out of here!" I couldn't begin to comprehend the unrealistically high level of the monster, one that not only stood like a human, but Sky and Ruby know it. But before long Ruby had grabbed my hoof and pulled me along with the rest, leaving me to see the creature reel its head back *SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH* Ears rang from the blood-curdling scream that decimated the once stable rock that we once sat on, a sonic blast from the monster's vocal cords throwing rock and grass everywhere, but Sky was thankfully alive, merely floating with his wings outstretched, arms rising to his chest. Whatever this was, Sky could obviously handle it, I know he could seeing as Ruby held no worry over leaving him to handle the fight, say for a small look back with concern. "Sky...good luck," Ruby whispered softly, and he merely raised to fingers in a peace sign "I'm counting on you, Rubes!" That was the last thing I heard as we descended into the floating fortress [User: Sky Zaffre] "Let's end this hunt, eh, Morana?" "I agree...." His voice snarled through the clouds, whilst my visor was engulfed in a hue of white for a few seconds, the sounds of the floating rocks below fading out, as I finally broke through the clouds, and into the troposphere, far higher than I believe any player has gone so far We both flew up gently, drowning out the noise of the world beneath our feet by the sharp wind, the clouds hung overhead, covering us in a gloomy sky in the pocket of open air. It was completely silent, only my breathing was making sound, other than my own hands rising, the blades on my gauntlets ready as the metal gently tapped against one-another. Meanwhile, Morana raised his own weapon from under his cloak, allowing me to see the serrated feathers underneath, the body was scarred and burned from all the fights we've endured, how and why he was here didn't matter, not anymore. My gaze followed the dimensional blade, its black spine hanging in both his hands, his own fists tightening against the spine, whilst the near-white blade glowed brilliantly, even in the dim sky. "You know I've beaten creatures stronger than the Horsemen now, Tabus and Una managed to change, so I'll give you that same chance." I raised my arms in preparation. "Stand down and leave." At first, neither of us moved an inch, our eyes competing for the other to make a move, even under my helmet, it was like he was staring right back, daring me to blink, twitch, strain, anything to give him a reason to move. From his silence, I doubt he wanted that now. Good, neither did I. ... ... Morana's eyes glowed under his plague doctor mask, before he flew to cover the gap between us in seconds, his scythe swung in a large arc from his right, but with a quick, fluid motion I spun the other way, the blade clipping the sides of my arms. Mid-spin, I brought my right arm down diagonally from left to right, slicing a piece of Morana's hood. Ascending, I flew past Morana's face, before the Grimm gave chase, thrusting his wings harder, before I turned, swinging my left arm down, blocking the scythe's strike, then guarding my face, blocking Morana's clean left-cross, knocking both of us back, before we continued to fly at into each other, our strikes clanking in the air, dispersing the clouds in the area from the shockwaves. I flew towards the exposed Morana, swinging my right arm down, striking the handle of the scythe, which was followed closely by a downward slash from my left, I turned my back towards Morana, spun in a helix, dragging the blades up diagonally to the right. Morana was struck, but his talons reached out, grabbing my shoulders and throwing me upside-down, and striking in a horizontal arc, causing my nerves to flare, a grunt leaving my throat as I felt the blade ripple and vibrate in my stomach. Morana was frozen in place by this, so I did a barrel-roll, axe-kicking Morana across the jaw from the right, throwing his stance completely off, whilst I took a few feet backward to clear the space. When I looked, Morana was staring at his weapon, then at me, and I just chuckled once, tapping my right blade against the left arm where Cognitum would sit previously. "A lot's happened since our battle at Haven, I am as one with Cognitum as it is with me." I replied, motioning for him to attack. "Come and get me, birdy." *Screech* With a sudden backflip, I avoided the sonic wave with a 3600 flip, yet my muscles tensed with my wide eyes when Morana tackled me, his talons latching around my waist, pushing us through a cumulus, breaching the other end with the sun above our heads, blinding us both. Taking this opportunity, I twisted my waist, throwing my body out of his talons, locking both my legs around his head, throwing the Grimm under me, allowing my vision to adjust. When I looked down, Morana's shadow shot past me, his both craning down with the scythe like a buzz-saw between his arms so I skated the blade away from me and into the open air instead. Recovering, we turned to face one-another, striking out again, only to have the force of our blades knock each other back again, thrusting up I locked with Morana as our bodies spun slowly, my wings stabilizing me against the force Morana applied to his scythe. My right arm free, I brought the blade down in a vertical arc, striking Morana's chest, while Morana's claws dug into my abdomen, throwing me off his blade as the two of us went into a staring contest again. Breaking the seconds of silence, we locked blades again, forcing sparks to fly from the friction as our gazes hardened, our heads close to clashing from how much strain we forced against each other's weapons. The two of us threw our guards, myself bringing them down on the scythe head again, and again, before Morana kicked out with his foot, throwing me into an uncontrolled flip. Regaining control I pushed back to slow my descent, charging fire dust into my right blade, the highlights beginning to hum with a bright red aura as I flew towards Morana with a war-cry. Yet he was ready, Morana raised his scythe to his left shoulder, his hands tightening around the twisted spine. Then, he brought the scythe down on my own vertebrae with a single swing of the blade. While I watched the red shards rain before my eyes as I saw the 'Paralysis' debuff under my health, which came close to the amber now. Thus kindly. You shatter I grinned slightly, feeling the debuff begin to wear thin already as I fell beneath the clouds, guess it was a small effect of his scythe, but the Morana I fought now...it wasn't him. Rising back up to meet him, I saw his own gaze widen at the sight of me ascending without so much as a twitch in my movement, say for my right hand, but that was a personal injury. "The Morana I fought hit way harder, had a more ideal purpose in a hunt. You?" I flew in from below his feet and before his eyes, himself caught off guard completely. "You are no hunter." I swung my left blade in a horizontal arc, my body flying past Morana's attempt to block it, the blade sinking into the Grimm's chest with a thin line of ice. I then swung back in a diagonal arc to his left, spinning past Morana, before bringing my left arm down again through Morana's back. Morana lashed out with his scythe, the blade breezing over my head, before I lurched up, dragging the left blade across Morana's chest again. [Sword Skill - Arctic Vector] The result was the four strikes erupting from their points of impact, the ice shattering among the open skies, causing Morana to stumble in the air, the numbing of the ice beginning to freeze his movements, whilst the black mist slowly leaked from the wounds. Taking the finite opportunity, I generated the dust into my right gauntlet, its outline now a crystal clear purple. One horizontal strike to Morana's stomach, followed by the same arm crossing from left to right, before I twisted my arm back, bringing it up diagonally to the left, before inverting its ascent, dragging it down roughly, the same eruption of dust catching in Morana's scream, the electricity rippling his body at my call. [Sword Skill - Stormcaller's Retalliation] I felt my muscles scream to stop, with my stamina slowly beginning to fade, but I pushed it all aside as I pulled my left arm back, thrusting the blade through the left side of Morana's chest, pulling down with my elbow then flying upwards, tearing the blade through his chest and straight through Morana's shoulder, spraying black mist into the clear skies. With a final cry, I pulled his right arm back, the red dust resonating once more as I came barreling towards Morana, the blade piercing Morana's chest with a sharp ring of red light as his screams were drowned out by the flames that consumed him. Pulling back, I pressed my feet to Morana and shoved him down below the clouds, hearing nothing but the soft breeze as the clouds released the waves of red, yellow, white and black colors. Alone in the air, I felt my lungs burn with each lungful of air, coughing as I did so. "That...was too close..." A tab opened up before me Reward! New Skill Unlocked [Kindly Scattered] A single, powerful horizontal move capable of bleed, stun, and darkness "Well...that's interesting." The thought of the skill gave me a strange chill for some reason "It was terrifying how similar he was to the real Morana." Iota was right, but as I dusted my hands off, I watched as a potion was absorbed by my armor, closing up the wounds under my armor "Hmph, doesn't matter now." Suddenly, a large boom echoed around us, coming from far below our current position. "Shit, Penny, Iota, you two ready?" "Always." "Combat ready!" With that I folded my wings I fell from the sky To Be Continued... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class] Sky Zaffre - lvl 68 [Offensive class] Ruby Rose - lvl 65 [Offensive class] Current Level: 68 Magic: N/A Items: New Skill Available! New Skills [Sword Skill - Arctic Vector] - A Horizontal or Verticle square of ice fissures [Sword Skill - Stormcaller's Retribution] - A lightning embedded attack with several wide arcs [Unity Move - Fire-Ice-Shadow Dragon's Anarchy] - A unity of Ice and Fire and shadow, capable of massive elemental damage Author's Note I'll be real, this Feathered Grimm has a persistent track record, doubt he'll be back after that. I thought I'd publish this since I've made you all wait so long, and I had the day off so why not? Hope you enjoyed this air combat, seeya in the next chapter if and when I write it! Next Chapter: ??!!?!_?/* - [E_R@R] System Error Detected///Patch Code_142 Analyized///Warning: Malware Threat High. Terra Generation Unstable. Authors Notes: Just scratching over 100,000 words, I am both proud of this and depressed that I have written this many words about magical talking ponies, yeah...life well spent! ??!!?!_?/* - [E_R@R]??!!?!_?/* - [E_R@R] "Duck!" I did, seeing the high-caliber round sail over my mane and embedding itself into a Grimm, killing it as I retrieved my Bo-Staff from the one beneath me, its body vanishing into color Ahead was Nox, enhanced by Silver who kept up the support behind her, all the while Grimm attempted to attack him, Nox would leap over his back, striking the Beowolves back with an <>, seems light or divine magic can severely damage the Grimm, making out jobs easier as we cleared another hallway. Our HP still among the green. "You know, for high-level monsters," Nox shoved one out the wall and into the sky below. "They're not that bright." "Still, don't underestimate them," I looked to Ruby, seeing her guide a hoof over her map with a stern expression, completely unlike her innocent look from before."Even simple Grimm are deadly, please don't take this lightly." Nox shrugged. "Alright-Alright, you're the expert and all that." I trotted over to Ruby, following her as we all proceeded down the hallway The four of us slowly crept into the large Shrine, stepping onto the velvet carpet, which now sat on a semi-complete maze. The walls were still like the Shrine, grey stone, with blue windows, yet the floors and ceiling were a smooth, black metal, with cubic patterns jutting out from the ceiling and floor like stalagmites, strange "That's...unsettling." I gulped, hearing the temple rumble from within. "Where to, Ruby?" Due to her experience in the area before the change, it was better if we followed Ruby, so we didn't run into any traps or Grimm along the way. The whole Shrine looked to be segmented by the separation of the land, leaving onto the central piece we sat in intact, it had the hallway before us, several hallways leading elsewhere, yet from the looks of things, taking the middle path would bring us to the next area. The final area that looked a little larger than the others. "You see, although this metal's infected the area, the map hasn't changed in the slightest, expect the room straight ahead." She pointed past the crossroads to a medium-sized room. "This used to be the part that took up the majority of the area, now its the room past it." "Let's move." Silver spoke up, leading the way as we followed after him, while I activated one of my skills <>, so my perception was raised for any unexpected attacks. We turned to the right, bending around a pillar as we came before a large door to the next room, yet it was wide open, and no sign of monsters inside, other than three shadowy spots on the ground, leaking miasma everywhere "The room is empty/Three dark spots/Traps ahead." Silver rolled his eyes dully, seeing the vacant room ahead. Meanwhile, Nox looked as though she saw a ghost in the back of the massive chamber, around the large pillar we stood behind "Hey...was there a Named Enemy in here before?" Nox asked Ruby nervously, the Huntress turned to look at her with a neutral expression as I surveyed the area a little more, glancing back at Ruby's map for a moment "A massive, Alpha Beowolf would guard a chest, it's how me and Sky leveled up and got used to these bodies, why?" Ruby relayed, seeing Nox peaking around a pillar to where she said it would be, just as Nox's magic forced my head to turn in the same direction "Oh, so was that it?" Nox pointed with a stiff form, her eyes curved up with worry. We all had our eyes to the corner of the left-hand side, seeing something that made a cold chill run along my spine as I became fixated on the spot. The massive Grimm was no more, leaving only an empty chest of crimson and gold Yet it wasn't just that, across the right-hand side of the wall, red code was stained across the walls like blood, all bugging, and jittering in place, with a white patch the size of a plane ripping through the corner of the wall, leaving only an empty spot among the distorted code. My blood ran cold at that sight, even Ruby gaped as we stared into the empty abyss left behind by something completely unimaginable. "What happened?" I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat again as the black smogs circled the section, leaving investigation out of the question "I don't think all this black metal and code is here for show, what I do think...we are not alone in this strange place." Ruby's reply made a cold chill run up our spines, so she nudged me, snapping back to my senses when she pointed ahead. "Let's move while they wander aimlessly." "R-Right." Proceeding across the hall, avoiding the black smogs that slid across the hall, none of us dared to question what we witnessed so long as we had this problem to solve. But even as I closed the large doors behind us, I couldn't help but feel anxious, I wish White was here, atleast to give some form of logic to any of this. My hooves pushed against the door for a moment as I shook my head. "White's my best friend, I trust him, he trusts me too, I can do this!" With my own pep-talk, I ran to catch up with the rest nearing the next open sector. "Holy...mother of God!" I was winded by the sight ahead of us We now all viewed a massive, grand hall, torn flags still hanging from the arches, with broken glass windows, and more black metal cubes. But following the velvet carpet was a small army of Beowolves, yet their claws and teeth were a purplish tint, with hollow, white eyes instead of the glowing crimson my mind had adjusted too, now a glowing trail of white dripping from their sockets. "Twenty-Two...Four...Seven over there...oh, and the one to the left...y-yeah there's about fifty monsters between us and the door." Ruby counted out, swinging her scythe around in his hoof with a strange amount of glee, the scythe nearly hitting me as I looked through my stats, humming in thought "We might not even need buffs yet, so long as we keep on our toes." I murmured, not seeing the slow preparation Ruby was caught into, her body shivering with untold excitement. "Ruby, why are you...peppy?" "Because these guys are so weak, it's gonna be awesome!" She squealed, leaving myself, Nox and Silver to look at one-another. I mean, she's not wrong, we've gained levels since entering this place so we're all 40 now. Nox then gave an inquisitive brow "Weren't you the one who said not to underestimate them?" Her blunt tone did nothing to stop the grinning pegasus from raising her scythe high "Sky never told you," She was gone in a burst of roses, her body appearing high above the crowd of changed Grimm. "I never miss out on a fight!" The first five Grimm were severed from their legs as the streak of red parted through, Ruby's hooves sliding to a halt with the scythe under her forehooves, a grin plastered on her face with a cunning stare towards the army before us, and in a strange way, this was making my wings quiver with excitement over this gank fight, something I've missed in the last few days. "Come on, let's fight!" I screamed, seeing Silver had already started sprinting with Nox in-toe Atleast twelve of the Grimm leaped forward, their claws a dark purple, all attacking from different angles, while some separated, and others grouped together to take on Silver and Nox, myself, and Ruby, the former two who had already sliced two down with twin thrusts through the head. Ruby, contrarily held her ground, channeling an ice-blue light through her war scythe, holding the scythe down near her back right leg. "Ooooh, Ruby's gonna do the thing!" I heard Nox gush like a fangirl as Silver blocked a set of claws from striking her distracted partner. "Hey, no interrupting me!" "Here we go!" Ruby cheered, chanting the sword skill to us all <---Sacred Skill - Boundless Dance of Roses---> Untapped light quickly blinded every enemy in the area of the sword skill's effect, as I rubbed my eyes for a moment, only for them to widen at the sight of a whirlwind of hardlight versions of Ruby's scythe. Ruby spun her scythe around to point the tip down, with a quick plunge into the ground, the phantom scythes scattered like rose petals, the trails of ice-blue slicing and puncturing the horde of enemies in a moment of pure light, almost like stars in the night sky. *Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter* "I get it now, she's using brute strength to quickly thin their numbers, we've only got about thirty left." I realized as I ducked, avoiding the dogpile from behind as I cracked my bo-staff into the lower jaw of the Grimm, a Scourge missed striking me with my guard down, and it was joined by two others to my left and back Narrowing my eyes at them all, I threw my bo-staff into the air, high-kicking the one to my right, grabbing my bo-staff out of the air to pierce the sharp end clean through the chest of the Scourge to my left, pulling diagonally to my left, and sweeping the second off its feet, spinning my staff around to quickly slit the throat of the downed Scourge. With an effortless fall to my knees, the Scourge I punctured from before missed another <>, ending with my wings pushing up quickly, drop-kicking the Grimm in the chest, giving me the space to spin atop my forehooves, pushing back up into the air while kicking my staff through the side of the Grimm's neck and out the other end. *Shatter-Shatter-Shatter* [Sword Skill - Stop Rewind] A Sky-Blue glow was cast upon my staff. Like a puppet I was pulled to the nearest Grimm, slicing diagonally across its abdomen, spinning around to pull the sharp staff back across, hurdling the spiked-tip through two more throats, ending with the staff sinking clean into the Grimm's mouth again, the three erupting into streams of color around me. I then felt my ears ring with the chime of a clock's hands, reality turning back the clock, my same stream of attacks thrown the opposite way, crushing and decapitating two more Grimm under me, yet one managed to strike my side in the process. I managed to parry another Grimm's jaw from biting me with acrobatic finesse. A vertical lunge sliced the next through the eye, followed by a clean, diagonal thrust to my right, sinking my staff through the collarbone of the blindsided Grimm, the same vertical draw sliced the head clean off its shoulders. *Shatter-Shatter-Shatter* Landing steadily to my hooves, I felt my breath catch in my throat as I dusted myself off, closing the loot tabs with a weak smile towards the ground, flopping back onto my haunches. "Nailed it." I breathed, deciding to rest as the others took care of their groups Sliding under the belly of a Grimm, a burst of arcs from the skill residing in Nox's halberd blasted the group apart, Nox held the green skill constant, pushing up with her feet to cross her blade with the Scourge diagonally, followed by the same diagonal motion from the right, severing its arm. Nox then followed with the reverse, spinning to slice the second arm off, followed by a powerful inclining slant to the right, splitting the Grimm above the waist. Her final move collected the winds replicated by her own speed, and with a hoof-strike to the Grimm, it too shattered, its body bursting with light from under its black hide. Nox felt her ears perk as I went to call out to her about the Grimm behind her, yet two thin, silver lines cut the beast down as Silver landed next to her, eyes wide as she saw it and six more fall before her hooves and my eyes. With a roll of her mechanical eyes, she shrugged "Show off." "Back/At/You." Silver booped her nose, causing the Tomboy's eyes to turn a sharp pink as she muttered under her breath Our eyes all drifted back to Ruby, who effortlessly skated under more of the mutated Grimm's attacks with her wings, their levels far too low to harm her form, all while the crook of her scythe tore open their stomachs as she passed with a lateral swing, leaving only a cascade of colors in her wake. The final horde of twelve all ran from the end of the hall, a final cry of defiance against the intruders that dared to slaughter their kind; To them, it was a demon, an inhuman monster of indomitable strength, with a raise of her scythe, her breathing became still as she kept her eyes glued to the remaining Grimm. Three charged from the back, two at her left and right, the final seven raising their claws in different shades of colors before her eyes, their illumination reflecting off the light that crept from the windows. In contrast, Ruby channeled a single, light blue tone to her crimson scythe. [Sword Skill - Horizontal] In a single, fell swoop of a light blue line of light, Ruby leapt into the air, twisting her body to swing her right hoof, the scythe flashing through the air, severing all twelve of their heads off in a single blow, the sudden crash of their bodies falling around her feet, and sudden flash of blue light lingered. The contact they made to the floor on impact brushed through Ruby's mane as she collapsed her scythe, placing it back on her side with a smile. Meanwhile, my jaw hung open, Nox was staring blankly, while Silver dropped his twin daggers. "I think I'm got Grimm in my nose...aaACHOO!" Stumbling back slightly, Ruby rubbed her muzzle as we approached her, moving past the stunning display of skill she possessed, all the while Nox tried to keep her cool over the spectacular finish "So....awesome...!" Nox whispered, making Ruby blush with a giggle "You did just as good as me too." Her praise made that feeling of being outclassed vanish, most players of her level would usually boast and ask for praise, but Ruby and Sky were like White and the others, they were happy just to work together, and that's all I could ask for, its why we've made this far. "But still, now we have one more fight ahead." All eyes moved towards the flight of stairs we stood before, the velvet carpet leading towards the open door that light broke through, and the sudden shake of the Shrine only made the fact of defeat weigh heavier on us now more than ever. "Okay...Here goes nothing." I breathed, feeling my heart beat faster as I looked at my friends with as much courage as I could gather, it was clear we had no idea what waited for us, but we needed to believe we can come out on top. "This is it, I wish we had more time, time to gather more players or our friends, but right we don't have that, who knows could happen if we decide to run at a time like this." I stepped up to look over all of them with a warm gaze. "The world doesn't know of what's happened, and they may never will, that's why we are the only ones who can do something here and now to prevent the same calamity from happening to this world." I stopped, looking up at the gateway ahead. "I don't care what lies ahead, I'm scared, I've never done this without having someone else to lead, and I don't know if I'm even worthy to lead any of you." They looked at me with that pity again, but I remembered what Sky told me, what he guided me towards, so I held onto that as best I could now. "That's why I won't lead you, I'll fight beside you as a partner, an ally who can give her strength to your own. I'll live for the innocent lives of this world because that's what the people who died before wanted us to do, to live!" With a chuckle, Nox stepped up to pat my shoulder. "We'd have followed you anyways, Rain, don't think we're ones to back down now." Silver stepped up too, stuttering as he did. "Together a-as f-f-friends." Ruby was the last, giving me a small, reassuring smile. "I remember always being unsure of myself, but what having friends are for, to help you see past your doubts and become who you want to be, so we'll do the same, we'll fight to live for this world too, me and Sky." "Okay...let's get ready to do this!" I turned around with a determined smile plastered on my face, stepping up the flight before us. "Ruby, Nox, Sliver...we're going to save the world." "Heh, now you're sounding a lot like White." Nox mused, jumping up to walk beside me. "I like that, now I'm fired up!" "Aye." Silver nodded, and Ruby joined beside him "Let's go, Team SSRIRN~!" For a short moment, the four quickly activated their buffs, respectively, Silver's boosted their strength, speed, and giving them <> for extra health, whilst Ruby activated <> for resistance against kinetic attacks. Nox had given herself a health boost too, myself I boosted us with <> to increase evasion, and <> improving our skill activation by double. The party of four players, friends against what came next stood at the gateway, their weapons at the ready. months since the Death Game began, and their courage mingled with dread upon entering the gateway's arch, this was a battle for an undecided outcome and against an unknown enemy. It was a massive hallway that leads to a circular platform up a flight of stairs, where the roof had caved in, and what was once a tree had become like some of the other spots around them, cubic, and black metal, the tree was now a spire of black into the ceiling above, although patches of grass still grew, and the sunlight basked the area with light, as well as through the remains of windows, say for the back wall, that fell apart to reveal the outside world below them, from how the wind howled, we were extremely high up now. Moving up the stairs we came to the sight of...nothing? Just six large pillars of carved stone, the open air ahead and that was it, no boss in sight. If not for these ears, I'd have hoped the case was true. My head snapped to the stairs behind us, in a nano-second, a large shadow flew over us, pushing us forward as the massive, black creature spun in the air, fanning its wings out high to give us a full view of the guardian of the shrine. It was a large, black dragon with see-through crimson wings held between long, black spines tipped with white spikes. It's back was covered with long spikes too, leading down to the forked tail, this underbelly held an exposed ribcage, acting as armor on its smooth, scaleless body. Its powerful limbs smashed into the ground, shaking the foundations as the claws dug into the stone. The long neck reached up to view us with five horns protruding from its skull, the lower jaw black with sharp details, two eyes of crimson stared back with a low growl as flames licked against its forked tongue. Then it raised its head, the wings attached to its own pair of arms, revealing it to have six powerful legs total. *ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!!!* ---~[Calamintas, The Black Eclipse - lvl ???]~--- "I-It's -- no way!?" Nox choked out, her hooves shuffling back as I felt my heart plummet to depths I never felt before in my soul, the very crimson eyes of this dragon were nightmarish to stare into, the level was unreadable and even if it were visible the sheer power behind it all was haunting to behold "W-What...can..." I couldn't even muster a single word from my throat as the eyes narrowed towards us, the head raised high as I felt my hooves kick into overdrive, my blood flowing to the point it boiled as I threw myself atop Ruby, with Silver doing the same to Nox. "GET DOWN!" From the bowels of Calamitas sprung a torrent of orange flames, passing over our heads with searing heat, crashing into the wall with a blast of heat. When the fire ceased, we all scrambled to our feet, dividing as the forked tail cracked the stone where I once stood, before the body of Calamitas spun in the air, sweeping the entire area with its tail and knocking me into the air, luckily I planted my feet on the far wall, pushing back to avoid the claws of the dragon scoring the wall as I flapped it's massive wings around, slamming back into the ground as we rotated to where it once stood. Suddenly, Ruby fired off several shots aimed for the head of Calamitas, yet the rounds merely made it angry as it roared again, stomping with its armed wings, it flew into the air before crashing down before us, splitting the stone and throwing us across the platform with shards of stone and slab. Yet even that was followed by a single charged blast of fire sinking clean into the ground between its legs, the fire erupted, splitting into three smaller blasts that pushed us closer to the edge of the cliff-face, the wind mingled with hot and cold as we panted for our breathes, eyes like pinpricks before Calamitas. "Crap! Rain we're out of room here!" Nox yelled over the wind, while I felt many thoughts cloud any sense of judgment in my head, it hurt and I felt as though my mind was splitting into pieces "I...I don't know --" Calamitas turned its head away from us, making my breath snag in my throat as to why it would do that. Was it going to send us flying over the edge with a tail swipe? No...something is...that's it! "Ruby...does Sky have a skill called, 'Revenge'?" "Umm, I think he mentioned it before, but why?" She asked warily before I felt my eyes adjust to something shining past the wings of Calamitas, forcing me to wrap Ruby with my wing as I pulled her away from the edge. "W-What --!" "We need to move, now!" I ordered briefly as they followed me around the ring, just as something sharp shot from the gateway and straight into Calamitas' head with a crack, followed by a right hook to the left jaw, then a backflip to smash a foot against the dragon's lower jaw, making it scream aloud as it moved around the ring and back to the open wall in the far back as we came back to where we started, seeing the black and blue form land before us, filling me with relief as the eyes looked back at us. "Sky!" He snickered at that. "Sorry for the Ex Machina entrance, this place is a pain to navigate without your map out." Sky replied with a peace sign, turning with his blades jutting from his gauntlets. "How you all holding up?" "Ow." Silver groaned, rubbing his mane shakily "Fair enough, any plan as to how we take him down?" Sky motioned for us to respond, Calamitas watching with a low growl towards the agro Sky had placed on himself A plan? I closed my eyes, trying my best to think of something White would do in this situation. He always found some way of knowing how a boss ticked, an enemy weakness of some kind. How did he do it? Why did he know exactly how to beat an enemy? "Hey, White, I was wondering," I asked curiously as my mouth played with the straw between my lips. "How is it you can predict an enemy's movements?" Said player I'd only known for two weeks looked at me with his usual, neutral expression, a brow raised in thought. "It's not that I can predict them, it's how I'm used to knowing the ins-and-outs of the fight overtime." "Huh?" I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant, so he placed his drink down to look at me directly "A Boss, for example, has three weaknesses off the bat." He began to explain to me. "One, what their element is, if it's a boss with high armor and uses fire; things like slash and fire will not work. Two, any information people have given about the enemy after they have beaten it or from side-quests related to the boss. And Three, it's the environment, sometimes a boss can't be beaten by regular attacks, so sometimes you have to use the environment to win." My thought cleared and my heart raced back to my chest once more as I stared at them all evenly. Thank you, White. "The environment, we'll use it against the boss!" "Explain," Sky asked, the stomps of Calamitas beginning to grow near. "And fast." I did, looking to Ruby and Silver "Silver, you buff or heal us if we require it, Ruby, you protect him from any of the boss' AOE attacks." I relayed, seeing Ruby salute and Silver nod, the two backed off towards the staircase. Then my gaze fell to Nox just as quickly as I pointed to her left. "You and I will take down the six pillars, while Sky distracts the boss for as long as he can -- er, if that's okay with you, Sky?" He gave a thumbs up. "Got it, nice plan, so let's see it through!" He soon flew into the air again, while Nox ran to the left of the platform, leaving me to cover the right side, all while Sky raised into the air to face the dragon again. "Ante up." [User: ???] The flames licked Calamitas' tongue, a surge of fire breached its mouth as the flames struck Sky, yet he raised his palms that were laced in an arctic mist [Frozen Seal - Cold Snap] The torrent soon parted between Sky, the cloud of snow creating a thin tunnel of cold air, forcing the fires to rise or extinguish on contact, yet Sky felt a sharp pain flare from his stomach, followed by his back slamming into a nearby wall, the black tail sweeping through the mist as he watched his health decrease, quickly, Sky pushed up hard with his wings, avoiding Calamitas as he barreled into the wall with his claws sunk deep in the stone, followed by a winged arm smashing above its head, narrowly missing Sky as he sliced the leather wing, retreating to fall behind the dragon. Yet Calamitas craned its neck around, blasting the sky with three fire charges, which erupted into nine, throwing Sky down onto the ground, his feet shaking across the slabs as he grunted, seeing his health rise slowly from the warmth of a green aura around him, silently thanking Silver as he stared up at the beast, the legs slamming back onto the ground to snarl at him, the wings flapping so hard the wind became darker from the mist leaking off the left wing. "Iota. Penny. Go help Rain and Nox, I'll handle this myself." Sky ordered, seeing his aura flash white and green, without a moment of hesitation, a white unicorn wielding a metal bow, with blue highlights in his mane ran towards Rain. While a green earth pony ran for Nox, her blue eyes winking back to Sky. "Okay, big, dumb, and ugly, come and get me!" Meanwhile, Rain continued to hack away at the first pillar on her own, sweat forming on her brow as she felt her legs strain with each hit, yet to her luck, several arrows pierced the weakened cracks, causing the whole lower half of the pillar to groan and crack as the entirety of the middle section fell apart before her eyes, when she turned to look for the attacker, she found the white unicorn standing before her, levitating a bow above his head. "Smart, using agro to keep the monster busy while the rest of us handle support and alternative motives," He commented in a cold, almost cynical voice. "Yet it's taken you both this long to destroy pieces of rock?" [Iota - lvl ???] "Wait, you have an actual body!?" Rain freaked out, making him groan for a moment, before he motioned to the other pillars, and to the collapsed form of Nox's, with Penny maneuvering her seven swords around the collapsed structure. "Who is that?" "Are you going to continue to lose focus or are you going to help us win?" Iota muttered, making her wince as she picked up her bo-staff and ran for the second pillar, with Iota following suit "Also, you can stand to lose the attitude, not my fault that these pillars have high health bars too." Rain glared at the blank expression on Iota's face, to which he merely rolled his eyes, drawing back the bow again "Much like Red, you are annoying at best." "Look who's talking." Rain muttered, slamming the staff into the pillar Sky, on the other hand, slid under the dragon, slicing straight down its midsection as the back leg nearly crushed him as he fled. He shot up into the air, kicking the claw away from his before ducking under a torrent of flames, using this to fire several <> into the hanging jaw of Calamitas, extinguishing the lingering flames dripping from between his teeth. Calamitas charged towards him, slamming its winged arms into the ground to uproot the stone, yet Sky flipped into the air and straight over the stone, slicing diagonally across the right leg, landing on his feet he turned to thrust his blade into the muscle and flew up, dragging two parallel lines through the elbow and across the wing bone. The head snapped around to bite at his leg, Sky turned, pressing his feet against the snout and backflipped over the horns of Calamitas, slicing clean through two of the protrusions. Earning the advantage, Sky raised his arms high, their blades coating in a thick shade of purple. [Sword Skill - Dragon Cry] Without a notion of hesitation, the black knight became a literal pinprick of light across Calamitas, who swung haphazardly in the air in fury as a multitude of strokes and lacerations carved deep into its flesh, spraying code and mist around them as the purple trail continued to slice in X-Formations and circular motions through-out the dragon's scaleless form. Ending with a large eruption of purple energy pushed against its skull, enough to shatter the left side as it screamed in agony, firing several blasts of fire to prevent Sky from proceeding further. Yet something glimmer under the black mist directly before Calamitas' eyes, it was a dim, almost transparent glow. Calamitas' eyes narrowed with a snort of flames, a collection of embers consensing within his throat, mingling with the sacs that gave birth to the flames. In a flash of sharp light, blinding everyone who witnessed the attack, Calamitas fired a concentrated beam of plasma from his maw, cutting through the air, before erupting into a gargantuan wall of purple flames that melted the stone at his feet. "SKY!" Ruby screamed in horror, unable to see if his shadow lingered among the flames that blew in the breeze. Silver stood there trying to shake her out of her trance, but the veteran huntress didn't move, instead, she closed her eyes, silently praying for something to happen. "...Please be okay, I know you...I know you'll be okay." From the roaring sea of flames, something began to stir the flow of embers into a riptide, as embers of white leaked from the wall. Calamitas didn't notice this, his legs turning towards the unprepared Ruby and Silver with a hungry growl, the claws sinking clean into the stone as it licked its fangs. Ruby finally opened her eyes, her voice catching in her stomach as the strong scent of ash filled her nose, the snout of the dragon directly before the two ponies that watched with paralyzing fear, the only sound made was the low grumble from within the jaws of the twisted Ancient Grimm Dragon. "Hey, dragon, ever heard of the shoulder touch?" The voice asked from behind Ruby's shoulder, Silver had already noticed this since his eyes were wider than plates and his jaw was completely unhinged at the sight. Ruby smiled warmly when she felt the hand ruffle her mane, her silver eyes meeting the blazing white embers that licked Sky's metal frame Calamitas didn't move as the hand pat his right cheek, the blade grazing his skin with a flame that brought discomfort to the dragon, with a single phrase, Sky narrowed his brilliant, purple eyes from within the armor. "Hey." <---Sacred Skill - Kindly Scattered---> A mere flash of white and blue light extinguished the firewall, and left a single, smooth streak through the middle of Calamitas, Sky standing just at the end of his tail before turning to watch as the area turned red, a black form of Calamitas sliced and torn by dozens of white lines that forced it to its stomach, the flash of white lines causing the body to convulse in agony. In that split second, the atmosphere returned, and the shattered form of Calamitas struggled to its claws again, the multitude of bleeding wounds, the sparks of lighting and the shadowy aura that surrounded the Boss only made the dragon sway more as it stood again. To all their hopeful eyes, their expressions were shattered into dread when the scaleless dragon began to glow with a threatening red aura, eyes trailing a shade of red as it slowly lumbered around to face Sky, while sections of its body began to hum with the same menacing glow, the claws dipped in red as the jaws widened to released a massive wave of red flames to smolder the ground under Sky, yet he didn't budge as the flames kept the others from aiding him, even with only one pillar remaining, since the floor under Sky swayed, a pieces of the brick began to fall from under his foot. *ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRR* "I need to give Rain more time, if I let this beat me she'll..." Sky glanced to Rain, seeing her conflicted expression, the same Sky had felt so long ago, that feeling of failure and guilt seeping into your mind, making your thoughts murky and uncertain. He wouldn't let that happen to anyone again, he suffered with it for too long, so seeing it effect someone else, it made him strive to do better. "Don't worry, Rain," He raised his arms, the blade gleaming against the fire. "I'm not done just yet!" [Unity Move - Fire-Ice Dragon's Brillant Flame] The blast of concentrated fire and ice broke through the flaming arena, yet Calamitas ran through the attack, yet all its claws were glowing dark purple, with the body latching around the side of the massive, black obelisk. Leaping off it, Calamitas spun in the air, and they saw the message. [Calamity] "Get ready to jump!" Rain commanded, and the dragon crashed into the ground on all sixs, sending an ever-expanding ring of corruption across the ring, at the very last moment, the purple light beginning to blind them, the part all jumped over the line, as it burst into small clouds of purple smoke against the walls Suddenly, Sky was sent flying into the ground, pinned by a massive, black claw, the blood-stained claws piercing his shoulders, the chestplate on his torso being the only thing keeping back the unbearable pressure on his stomach, his bladed gauntlet pinned to his side by Calamitas' digit. Slowly, his health began to dip into amber, even as the white flames surrounding Sky burned at the skin of the dragon, this did little to sway its intent to kill. "Grah! Oh, God please, get a breath mint!" Sky gagged, the beast roaring in his face, pushing his head back to the ground. "Oh, Gods it's in my mouth -- hurk!" With Sky pushing far enough to move his right arm again, he felt something slam into his body, pulling him out from under the claws of the dragon and towards the east side of the platform. Atop his stomach was the red pegasus herself, Ruby steadily panting as she exhausted her semblance to push Sky out from under the beast. Sky was about to say something but noticed Nox backing Silver up now, a few weaker Grimm trailing in from the gateway, turning his head back, he saw the pained look on her face. "I think this makes it the tenth time you've saved my sorry ass, love." Sky chuckled, seeing the dragon turn their way in a frenzy, blasting the ground in anger. "We need to move, now." Yet Ruby didn't budge, instead, she tapped a hoof to his faceplate, giving him a hurt expression. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you jerk," Ruby muttered, giving a more relaxed smile as she wiped something from her eye. "I know you can handle yourself, but that doesn't stop me from worrying." Sky quickly wrapped an arm around her and pushed back with his wings, flapping hard to avoiding the crushing claws of Calamitas, the two gliding over the boss and towards Iota and Rain who worked away at the final pillar together. Meanwhile, Sky looked to Ruby and softly pressed his metal head to her forehead. "Sorry I keep making you worry," Sky whispered to her, leading to him being pecked on his metal cheek by his girlfriend "Then let's do this together." Ruby offered, grabbing her scythe as Sky nodded once, releasing her as the two flew shoulder-to-shoulder again, raising their weapons against the ascending dragon that breathed another torrent of red flames their way, so the two flew around the cone in a helix formation, Sky's blade glowing a sharp blue, while Ruby's scythe hummed with a crimson [Sword Skill - Horizontal] <---Sacred Skill - Boundless Dance of Roses---> [Unity Move -Crimson Skies] Their unity move was quickly buffed again by Silver, the blades glowing brighter as the duo stomped the snout of Calamitas, pushing back to raise their blades, with Sky swinging around in a strong incline to his right from the left, while Ruby swung down in a verticle arc, followed by the corners slicing with phantom blades, the white flames of Sky also infused themselves into the gashes, burning the dragon as the sacred moves blasted him with an unseen force, stunning the boss multiple times before erupting with a powerful golden burst of light, throwing the dragon against the east wall as it flapped to steady itself again. "Ruby!" Caught off guard, Sky with Ruby held between his arms were wrapped between the hidden tail of Calamitas, the appendage lifting them high before slamming them against the ceiling, then smashing them into the floor, causing two electrical currents to fizzle across their bodies, their health meters dropping into the red faster than even their unity move as Sky struggled to his feet, falling short as his armor sparked. "Gah!" Sky's flames died out, alongside his black armor as he fell atop Ruby, both paralyzed as Calamitas leaned back on its winged arms and back legs, an orange miasma building within his mouth. Iota quickly moved, grabbing Rain who struggled against the unicorns magical grasp as he held her back, all while the bat-pony swung her hooves to try and pry herself free. "No! Let me go, please!" Rain begged him to let go, yet all they could do was watch as the line of passage was cut thin by the torrent of flames between them and her friends, Silver and Nox, the latter of which turned to see the torrent screaming towards them, the Grimm from the gateway all but fled, leaving Silver to turn back in horror at the wall of fire searing the ground towards them both. "MOVE!" Nox couldn't, seeing the weakened states of Ruby and Sky, while her own hooves felt grounded as the sight of Twisted Angulation flashed in her eyes, that brambled giant that had taken the first few lives before their eyes if it weren't for White, she's have died back then. But now...now her magic won't react, only her eyes as something stepped between her and the flames, hooves outstretched to the tornado of fire. "N--No, Silver--" She had received a smile back from the pitch black stallion, his ocean blue eyes glimmering in the light as his hooves released a strong, emerald glow to project between them and the fire "I-I-It's okay..." He spoke softly, that hidden stutter of his showing again from under his Zero-like tone. "I'll b-be right h-h-here." [Aura - Gaia's Hand] The emerald shield of light formed, the guard pushed against the brunt of the flames, but that immediately pushed Silver backward, his hood flowing off his mane as the silver hair whipped back, while his teeth ground themselves together, noting the cracks that continued to form on the magical shield between them. Nox was star-struck, her eyes wide at the sight of Silver attempting to save her, and from how he stood, he didn't want to budge even if she tried to move him. "STOP!" Silver snapped back, the shield amplifying before them again, reinforcing the cracks as the flames finally dissipated, and the extreme heat ceased to burn his and Nox's eyes. All that remained was his heavy breaths, little to no stamina or magic left in his bars as Silver slumped over, his head falling to the ground. "...good..." "Silver," Nox quickly moved to sit beside him, tapping the side of his face to keep his eyes opened, all the while his health stopped at the yellow margin. "Come on, keep your eyes open you jackass," Nox kept a hardened stare fixated to him, while her face continued to tremble. "You massive idiot, why didn't you just grab my sorry ass and move!?" "Heh...O-o-only thing...I-I-I could th-think of," He coughed, raising a hoof to boop her on the masked muzzle, causing her eyes to turn a shade of pink again. "Even." While he never saw it, she was smiling, more-so than for his safety but more for how he saved her. "Just rest you, idiot, we still need you after this." Turning her head, she screamed over to Rain, who was frozen in place beside Iota, who looked to her then to Sky and Ruby. "Come on, Rain! It's all up to you now!" [User: Purplrain] "M-me?" My thoughts came to a close as I stumbled back upon seeing the dragon rest for a moment, clearly expending most of its stamina during the constant fight between us, but how long will that last? How can I beat something I can't hurt? Sky...Ruby, they couldn't beat it, what can I do against something so powerful? "I...I..." "Would you stop hesitating." My eyes quickly met Iota's, his hooves holding my shoulders that trembled in fright, but he didn't let me go. "If it were up to me, I'd take it down, but I lack wings and a healthy brother to do so. Stop whining and step up already." "You don't think I know that!?" I finally snapped, slapping his hooves off me as tears stung my eyes, the entirety of my head was a mess of emotions and thoughts that I had no control over, but now I couldn't help it, I needed to just...scream! "I have been the weakest link to everyone I've ever known for years, even before this game I was weak, I have always been weaker!" "I came to this game to try and build myself up again, I wanted to be as strong as the others around me, not hesitate when things got tough, but after what Harbinger did I felt so...useless!" I screamed in his face, jabbing a hoof into his chest, all while Iota never blinked once. "White was the only one to believe in, he didn't care how weak I was, how empty-headed I came to the knowledge of games or this world! He was the only reason I lived this long...now I have people I can't live without and I've seen how strong they've become without my involvement, people died to protect me! I stupid, shaking girl who couldn't even hold a weapon without trembling in fear...if I live...I'll kill more people than Harbinger could ever do on his own..." I finally let out all my inner thoughts to the world, tears striking the ground under us as I lowered my head in defeat. If I died, no-one would have to worry about protecting me, they could live longer than I ever could. "So then," Iota finally spoke, even as Calamitas began to rise to his feet again. "Why are you here?" I raised my head, seeing his hoof crash into my cheek as I winced at the slap across my face. "Wake up, Purplrain. If you died here, then what would be the point of continuing to this point? All you'll be doing is tarnishing the players that died for you, all so you could grow stronger." Iota fortified, tapping a hoof to my chest. "You want to grow stronger? Then quit shaking, grit your teeth and fight!" I was left visibly torn by his cold, yet impactful words, even after hitting me, that made a lot of things in my head calm and relax again. W-What was I saying? If I died I'd only make all their deaths mean nothing, all the time I spent with The Eternal Flame, wasted. Sky was right, my own thoughts would tug and pull at me in the worst of times, and I nearly fell for them, I can't give up now, I haven't given up all this time. I raised my hoof, curling it back around to strike me across the face, then with my right hoof I struck my face again, even as Nox yelled at me for it. Then with a final swing, I punched myself into the wall, feeling pain surge through my body as I did, but also clarity. "You done?" Iota grinned, and I spat the bad taste in my mouth clear, facing him with a determined smile of my own "Sorry, just needed to knock the sense into my childish antics," I replied, flaring my wings at the sight of Calamitas, its health dropped into the red now, and the last of the six pillars had crumbled away during his retaliation against Sky and Ruby, now the ground under him bent and cracked. "Time to end this." [Aura - Revenge] A fierce burst of crimson fire across my form for a moment, causing a glimmer of red to twinkle in Calamitas' sight, the neck craning around to face me as I flew into the air, pulling back on a purple and black bow in my hooves. I didn't have a single moment to waste, I couldn't let him have a second to react otherwise I'll die, I'll lose and kill everyone if I die here, I needed to fight! [Umbra Seal - Shadow Shot] The sharp arrowhead shattered against Calamitas' head with purple particles of darkness, the jaws clapped shut with chains, inches from my tail as I curved up and into the sky through the roof, the tethering shot holding the jaws closed for a second, but with an easy push, the spell broke and his wings flared into the sky, a single sweep extinguishing the flames as the black mass of bone and darkness gave chase after me, yet I didn't look back as I continued to push my muscles higher and higher into the air above. I then spun to my left upon hearing the sucking sound emanating from below my hooves, and as I performed a helix, the torrent of searing flames shot through the cloud layer, almost blinding me with the bright light the fires projected, even as the wings brushed through the fires to catch up with me. With another burst of speed, I kept ascending past its jaws, feeling the pressure of the jaws clamping shut near the hairs on my tail with each failed attempt. "Come on, just a little further." I pleaded for my wings to keep going, even as my stamina drained little by little with each second that ticked by, the green bar now halfway as I neared my target. My heart soon raced as I felt my back scream in agony, my own voice caught in my throat as a set of claws sliced through my back, followed by a sudden, bone-crushing force whipping me through the final cloud layer, the land mere smudges of colors in the sky as I gasped, seeing my health drop to near minute levels. "N-Not yet..." [Purplrain - lvl 39] [HP 54 - 10, 558] [SP 150 - 500] [MP 250 - 800] A sudden uproar of wind spun me backward, the gargantuan shadow flying straight past me and into the blue sky above, the black wings fanning the darkness that shrouded the Grimm Dragon, the fires still licking its tongue with each breath, all while the tail slithered to curl next to the underbelly of Calamitas. Yet I felt my smile tug at my weakened lips when I saw the mass of red hexagons rotate around Calamitas, catching the enraged dragon off guard as it head swung around in an attempt to understand the trap. "I guess no one told you of the 'Flight Restriction Level', huh?" I grinned, seeing the red errors wrap around the powerful wings like vines, forcing them to close against the vertebrae of Calamitas even as it thrashed and screamed, then with a sigh, I folded my wings, my eyes centimeters from the near-invisible line of the boundary, then I fell from the sky, followed quickly by the flightless Calamitas. "Once you break the regulation, even A.I will be restricted for minutes. Thank you guide book." I unfurled my wings again, pushing them down in swift, narrow arcs to boost my descent, all while the boss grew closer to me with each second his weight dragged him down. I just needed to keep going for a little longer. I couldn't risk another strike or even an accidental misstep, one of us is going to die here, and it all comes down to this gamble. Behind me, from between my locks of hair, I witnessed the eyes of the Grimm narrow towards me, the jaws slowly opening again as I turned back, closing my eyes for a moment to channel my attack into my hooves. Now! [Umbra Seal - Death's Iron God Scythe] Turning in the air, I swung my hooves with a burst of shadows that combined into the massive, purple scythe that infected the air with a darkness that overshadowed Calamitas' own form, his eyes widened as I screamed under the whiplash and fire that burned in my forelimbs, pulling the God-Scythe diagonally across the air, curving a solid arch of magic through the air and clean across Calamitas' stomach and neck, canceling his own fire breath that now ignited within his mouth, and just as the Shrine below came into my view again. So with my wings fanned quickly I glided backward in a loop, skating across Calamitas' side, pressing my hooves to his tail and then flipping back into the air, my acceleration cut down to a glide as the Boss screamed a final dying roar, crashing straight through the floor of the Shrine and into a pit of jagged mounds and shards of the once grand temple. Its jaw opened just as the rock and ground sunk through its head and neck, protruding from several locations along the neck as the body crashed into the ground with a massive burst of wind and fire. I came crashing in soon after, tumbling to the ground in a heap next to the massive hole in the ground where black mist rose up from, and even now, the shaking ceased all around myself and my cheering friends. I-I did it! "Holy shit, Rain, I think you just outclassed me in the 'Dragon Slaying' department!" Sky joked, helping to raise me back up again, handing me a potion to drink with much-needed relief as I gasped, coughing. "Okay, don't choke yourself now." "I nearly died...~!" I breathed, wiping the remnants off my lips as Nox tackled me into a hug, followed by Silver bumping a hoof against my shoulder, and Ruby simple raised a hoof for me to bump. "Sorry about almost breaking down there earlier." "That was so awesome~" Ruby and Nox squealed in amazement, just as I saw Iota nod to me once and vanish alongside Penny "Besides," Nox cleared her throat, letting me go. "Given how all of us have dealt with this world, I think you deserve to vent every now and then, believe me, does wonders down the line." "You are okay/All that matters/Thank you." Silver graciously added, all while several tabs appeared before us, all while I felt that grand release of joy from within me rise at the sight of the rewards and the massive banner above us that lasted for a few seconds [CONGRATULATIONS] [Ruin Boss Liberated!] Quest Complete! [Rewards] Bits X10,000 EXP 5000 X2 Ancient Dragon Scale X2 Ancient Dragon Claw X1 Ancient Dragon Soul [Special Achievement Unlocked] Red Like Roses - Meet the mare with a massive scythe [Level Up!] [39 - 41] [Stats Increased] Agility +15 Strength +10 Endurance +35 Magic +8 Luck +18 "Okay seriously? You get an achievement made for you but I don't? Stupid multiverse BS." Sky grumbled, folding his hooves as I held in a laugh with Nox, but Ruby sweetly walked up to him and pecked his cheek, making the player beam with joy again as I cooed "Thanks for the save, Sky." "Not a problem, love!" He grinned with a fire ignited behind him "How?" Silver gaped with a confused stare "So cute!" I giggled, all while Nox rolled her eyes and focused on her own rewards "What's this?" Our brief moment of recovery and glowing pride of accomplishment over Calamitas was once more put on hold by Sky standing back up to look towards his left with a perplex expression, soon after he walked away from us and next to - w-what was that? He was staring at a table-sized, black marble platform, with blue lines dividing a small segment in the middle of the rectangle, looking similar to a keyboard, just with blank, large keys. The lines seemed to hum with what looked like...code, not magic, but literal coded matter. We all slowly walked up to stand with him, our equally perplexed expressions answered all our questions for each other. We didn't know what we were looking at. "Strange/What manner of force is this?/A console?" Silver pondered, placing his hoof atop the marble, Ruby stood beside me too, trying to guess what the console could do, and she slowly reached a hoof out to touch it as well *Fwoosh* We all jumped back, say for Sky who's hoof was pressed on a key, causing a bemused frown to creep onto my face, and he turned, seeing our equal expressions of irritation, forcing him to chuckle lightly. "Hehehe, whoops." Suddenly after he spoke, the device on his arm glowed a bright blue for a second, and I watched as his eyes danced through the screen like lightning, with each dash past a line I couldn't see his gaze only turned to a morbid realization. "...Oh no..." "Sky, what is it?" Ruby's worry only made a small pit of dread sink into my stomach, painfully building at his twisted face of worry which mingled with anger at the sight of the text, a keyword I kept seeing was 'Displacement' "I...what has he done...!?" "It's not what I 'Have' done, its what I have left to 'Do'." N-NO! It was cold, a sharp tongue as if it were poison from fangs of a snake had struck me, and I couldn't move my limbs at all, my muscles were trembling with a racing source of adrenaline, but I couldn't move, I could only stare at the horrific monster with a sickening grin float in the air like a God. His orange eyes narrowed at the sight of us, but his smile only made my heart race with terror, all the courage I had before drained with the color in my face. "Sup." He spoke chillingly, his orange aura filling the gashes in his arms and through the tears in his clothing. "We haven't formally met, Ruby Rose and Sky Zaffre; My name is Harbinger, the Nightmare of Wardens." The situation had soon warped and snapped under the presence of Harbinger, no longer hiding behind his pawns, but instead, he stood before us all, not a soul making a move at the sight of him. His aura was sickening, reeking of blood-lust and dark matter. Then, he clasped his hands together in a dry slow clap. "Now, I hate to be the one to rain down on this victory, I was afraid Morana would have finished what he started with you, including the Grimm Dragon, but to my fascination, you all prevailed." Harbinger then held a claw to his chest, his eyes widening. "Oh, and I am being honest, that was rather impressive, really something since the Second Raid, say for the...unexpexted turnabout." I felt my stomach turn at that, the thought of - No, that's what he wants, to use that against us, I can't fall for it! I hardened my shaky stance, glaring back at him with as much confidence as I could muster, and that seemed to intrigue him more. "Oh, I remember you. What? No 'Little Whitey' here to babysit you, little girl? Are you all big and strong now?" He kept making a mocking tone at me, but Sky raised a hoof to rest against my jacket, forcing me to stop in my autonomous approach, that did make him roll his eyes. "Silent and speechless as always I suppose." "At least I'm not hiding like a coward." I forced out my throat, but that did little to phase him again, say for the look of amusement plastered on his face "Oooh, someone's gotten feisty." I resisted the urge to growl at that, my whole body was a mess of anger and fear again, but atleast I wasn't alone in that "If you're only here to gloat, get it over with asshole!" Nox flared up, making him chuckle softly, yet it was ever-so-chilling "Straight to the point then. I do need time and energy for my plan, but as you know the world responsible for this one wouldn't allow for its players to end up trapped without a way to escape." He stood firm in the air, raising his hand before his face, clenching the air before him. "So I whisked you all away." "W-What?" My flabergast stare only made him grin wider than possible "Sky and Ruby were sent here by...well, I don't how the man who met the 'Cyborg' ended up here, and I was worried my plan would be in jeopardy, but now I see its all gone according to plan." Harbinger stared to pace under the sunlight, completely contrasting himself entirely. "This is Actualization Online, but it's not at the same time." "You really did it..." We all slowly turned, and my heart sank at what Sky said next with a lost expression. "...You trapped the souls of the players in a reality where this game is real." He did what!? "That's my no-one can free you, because...you took the players into a world parallel to the game." "Ding. Ding. Ding." The final word made the ground under me shake, and I felt my body fall back onto my haunches. "It's so easy, taking a few weak mortal souls and placing them in a world not governed by humans, but by a cognitive machine. Being a Nightmare with the power to govern a world weaker to myself made this all the more fun, and once I gain the power of digital manipulation, nothing will stop me." He growled like a manic animal "He's...using our souls as a shield?" Ruby whispered under her breath "Nightmares have the power to tear a person's soul from their dying body and imbue themselves with power, so you rigged the world to transfer the souls of their deceased bodies to you when the line between this world and their bodies are severed, essentially forcing their bodies into an irreversible coma." Sky elaborated and I only felt the impact that death really left We couldn't leave without playing his game, it wasn't possible, and every time he broadcasted the Raids, he did so by using our interface helmets as a catalyst. It was all real...magic over souls and traveling between worlds...that was supposed to be a fairy tale, but now it was far too real, everything that we touched was a new reality, and the game was the only thing to cover its emptiness. "Now, I think I've given you all enough to dwell on, feel free to tell your friends, hell, the entire world can know, it won't matter in the end when I finally win this little game of ours." He raised his arm again, and something in me yearned to say something else, even if I was frozen with fear, sadness and...hope, a glimmer of hope still rested in me, like the day White confronted Harbinger, he was scared too, all of us were and carried all our courage towards himself to speak out I did so too. "Why did you do it?" I stood up again, brushing the dust off my collar. "Why use us as hostages when you could kill us all now?" "...Heh Heh, now you're beginning to open your eyes. If not for you this world would reject me as all the others did." He never answered when he vanished, and that sweet taste of winning was only left with a bitter end "Well..." Sky spoke up, overlooking the newly named 'Remnant Hollow', the town now a mass of floating platforms and interconnected bridges between the ground and dozens of islands. "Let the record show, it was like this when we got here." "When we got where?" Ruby hummed with a nervous shrug, making Sky nod "Exactly." Clearing my throat, the two jumped when they saw the three of us standing there, causing the couple to grin nervously towards us. "In our defense, we didn't do this." "Honestly, no wonder you're a couple, you're both idiots." Nox muttered dryly, yet neither of them denied it as I stepped forward with a soft smile "We just came to say goodbye, since our quest is done," I replied, seeing realization dawn on Sky's face as he looked...almost saddened by that. But not forever, since you'll be sticking around." "Aye, it was fun, teaming up with all of you." Sky replied kindly, lifting a hoof for me to shake under the afternoon sunlight. "Let's do this again sometime, hopefully under better terms than the fate of the world." "Of course," I agreed, before Ruby nudged Sky, making him lift his hoof to the air with an 'Oh' "Almost forgot, here," He swiped his hoof down, tapping on a few keys and blank windows before closing them again, suddenly, all three of us looked to see the message appear before us. "As promised, your rewards for helping us out with this mess, hand or in this case, hoof-crafted by us, and our one-in-a-kind." [Item Received!] Blackwing (Crossbow) "Like your own heart, trust in where it leads you through the darkness." DPS - User Orientated Elemental Enhance - 45% Attack Speed - Fast Critical Chance - 30% Bonus Skill: Evolution The more you rank up and the skills you earn will increase its power "For Rain, a repeater crossbow for her forehoof, so you can use a weapon and the crossbow, and with this rare trait, your power will increase with your own, same goes for both your weapons too!" Ruby smiled happily as Silver looked at his new katana tied to his flank, a black scabbard, and a black-handled blade. "Created a replica of the legendary Murasama, hope you like it!" "Amazing/One with my element/Forever grateful." Silver bowed, while Sky pointed to Nox's new Halberd swung in her magic, the blade was a moonlight silver with stars across the ultramarine staff, with cloth tied to between the blade and staff "For you, a blade made of metal found only between dimensions, Gambit had a hard time getting it, and no other metal exists in this world or others, near unbreakable and sharp enough to cut through time and space." Sky chuckled at the thought, his face growing pale. "Just...don't hit me with it, had some bad memories with that metal." "A blade that can cut worlds? It's perfect in every way!" Nox gushed with glee, swinging it around to see trails of stars follow it. "Hehehehe, I love it!" "Rain, I --" I didn't let Sky finish as I wrapped my hooves around his neck, hugging him tightly with a large smile, while Ruby watched me with a kind expression "Thank you, for everything you've done for me," I felt his own hoof pat my back softly as I felt stronger just by being here "Anytime, Rain, don't ever pass up the chance to talk with your friends...it's why I'm still here." He replied as I let go, seeing him bow his head to me out of respect. "We may know Harbinger's plans, but that won't stop us from freeing you from this world, I vow, I'll do what I can to save this world." "We both will. And you won't ever be alone again," Ruby added beside him as all five of us stood atop the mound, the sun setting behind us as the wind blew my mane, yet I wasn't afraid of what came next, the road ahead was always this tough, unforgiving if we let it in, or heartbreaking if we're too careless. White knew that and I want to know why, and I think this made us realize that ourselves, even if only a little. "We can win this together." "Yeah, we all will." I agreed, standing beside them all as we stared off at the floating islands among the sky, a warm breeze of the coming spring on the horizon "For now though, I think I'll just enjoy the sunset." Sky sighed, sitting down on his haunches, with Ruby resting her head on his shoulder too, I took up a spot next to him, with Nox and Silver doing the same, though, to mine and Silver's surprise, Nox rested her head against Silver, making the guy's face turn a new shade of red, but Nox didn't seem to care For the longest time, we sat here, enjoying nothing but the sheer silence of the world around us, say for the ambiance of the world and the warmth of the sunlight that crossed the horizon, making my eyes widen with wonder at what lay ahead. This game, it's our home now, the people we meet, fight, live with, die beside, they are all that matters now. If something gets in our way, we'll face it together, even if we're alone we'll continue to strive against Harbinger and his plan. I promise this world will see an end, I'll make it back home to my body and see my best friends again, my mom and dad, Klaw, Silver, Nox, Seraph, Yin, Yang, Summer, Laxus, and White... "White, I hope I can become strong enough to surpass you one day, and meet you on the other side. I want to know who you are, and I want to tell you how much this feeling I hold means to me...to Purplrain...to Azure." "This time, I won't hold myself back again." End of Arc III Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 41 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 41 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 41 [Support class] Sky Zaffre - lvl 70 [Offensive class] Ruby Rose - lvl 67 [Offensive class] Current Level: 41 Magic: Shadow/Umbra Items: Blackwing (Crossbow) Bits X10,000 X2 Ancient Dragon Scale X2 Ancient Dragon Claw X1 Ancient Dragon Soul New Skills [Sacred Skill - Boundless Dance of Roses] - Summon forth a dozen spectral versions of your weapon [Sword Skill - Stop Rewind] - A Horizontal or Verticle slices before copying the abilities in reverse [Frozen Seal - Cold Snap] - Release a blast of arctic ice [Unity Move - Crimson Skies] - Spectral blades and horizontal arcs intertwined [Aura - Revenge] - Focus all agro upon yourself [Aura - Damage Cut] - Resist to kinetic [Aura - Slight of Hand] - Doubles skill activation time [Aura - Darkwing] - Increase evasion [Aura - Life Gain] - Increase to health Author's Note Thus this small but impactful arc comes to a close, and a timeskip awaits! This won't be the last we see of Sky and Ruby. Rain certainly has grown from what I think most considered a side-character to a far more capable player, alongside the relationship of Nox and Silver growing. Hope you enjoyed this and I look forward to seeing you in the next arc! Next Arc: Arc IV Evil's Shadow A whole year has passed and now the sightings of the next raid have been uncovered through unexpected means. The Eternal Flame must travel to Griffonstone, where Black has uncovered a way for them to enter the Raid Lair, but the trails ahead will only make this stroke of luck fragile and easily breakable. Author's Notes: Over 10,000 words, so, if anyone wonders why I won't upload for a while I think this is why the biggest chapter drained me. Remaster in Progress (Prologue Preview)Okay-Okay-Okay, I know, I probably disappointed a few people with this upload, and for that, I am very sorry, but this is some good news, I swear! Here's something that boggles my mind, then again I am a pessimist at heart, every-now-and-then I keep seeing people add this story to their favorites or watch lists and stuff, and granted, I am always happy to see that my work, even the stuff I've left behind, entertains those who find it, that's amazing. Yet I have come to a small conclusion, I am going or in this case, I have started remaking this story. Let's just say that while I enjoyed writing MLP: AO there was alot of stuff I had to cover, from side-plots to random instances in the story to the breaking of action sequences with text that I felt was too out-of-place. There's a bunch that I can admit myself was poorly executed, I ain't perfect and I never intend to aim for perfection but to merely write for the sake of both mine and your entertainment. With that said, My Little Pony Realization is currently under development. A new main lead, returning characters with tweaks here-and-there, an antagonist rework for Malware, and some other stuff that I hope you'll enjoy once I do intend to publish the story. This one won't be going anywhere just that my focus will be toward its remaster. I can't thank you enough for the support in the past with this story, here's hoping I'll see some of you, new and old in the new take on the Death Game in Equestria. Peace, players. Coming Soon this Winter... Fight. Level. Survive. Episode 0: Ground Zero (Preview) A few days prior... [June 05. 16:40] [Fourth Floor Field | Silver Grove] The ever-so tranquil forest among a scorched land glimmered in the sunlight, a silver, glossy coat to the leaves of the vibrant woods. Said peace was tainted by steel against stone, the relics of a bygone age disturbed by the sudden edge of a blade run through its seams. A knight in carbon-black armor, a crackling, red aura radiating off its body stormed the old chapel, blade hungering for its target as it moved with grace, like a scarlet flash in the midday sun, boots scuffed by the stone as their gloved hand pressed to stone, the fabric lacking finger coverings. Standing tall, the figure raised their sword into a window guard, the edge tinting gold. The person was a teenage girl suited in crimson armor etched with fancy markings across the visible helmet, gauntlets, and legs. Her waist, torso, and biceps all covered by a long, white coat with white fur lining the edge and collar, a belt hanging limply around her waist. She clasped a silver longsword grasped in her right and a grave shield of similar make in her left hand. The knight brought its sword to bear, and the girl shot across the ground, a gold contrail left jutting through the knight's side as its blade missed. A red diamond bobbing above its head with a curved, green bar dipping into a yellow, its name displayed for all the world to see. The Knight released a metallic roar of some kind, then stomped back, blade down in a heavy half-iron gate stance, the true edge a gleaming white as it spun in a corkscrew fashion, the girl gasped but remained furrow in her ability to hop backward, performing a hand-stand with only her left as she landed, blade held high to her right in a green glow. Pushing off hard, her body twisted, sweeping a horizontal line clean through the white arc, seeing the health bar take another beating from the powerful strike in tangent with the clang of swords. Landing on her feet again, she watched while Watcher stumbled forward, crumbling to its knees in exhaustion, but the last bar remained sturdy. No delay had occurred with the drums of war. The Knight leapt into the air, pulling his buster back in its right hand as he shot down at breakneck speeds, sinking his sword into the stone like a shot-put. Turning to look at the girl, the Knight swung the massive, black sword across to the left, forcing her to retreat, then it pulled back, thrusting forward again, so she raised her buckler, countering the thrust at the cost of Stamina. She brought her blade around in a light-blue tone as she spun under a swing, slashing a horizontal square of contrails through its back. Shockingly, the monster wasn't flinched, twisting its hold to swipe back, slicing through her helmet and into her cheek. The girl rolled away, the true edge crashing down and sending a crackling wave of orange lightning where she previously stood It bent its elbows, lowering the blade next to his stomach, again it hummed with white this time. The girl waited, seeing the body thunder toward her, rotating the sword and suddenly moving at a frightening pace, She dodged, yet a small funnel of wind caught her in the upswing, slicing through her left and dropping her own green bar down to yellow. The girl planted her feet firmly into the ground, raising her arm back and pressing the face flush against her left hand, the tip angled toward the monster. Breathing in, her energy was spent in condensing it all down into the tip of the blade, a sharp, scarlet glow radiating brighter with each tick in her head. Now a rosy color she let out that same breath. Stomping sharply with the right, her hand plunged the blade toward the heart of the knight, her vision tunneled to the point the sword would strike. The feeling of moving effortlessly through the air, the motion so swift and pinpoint that she could have mistaken it as her throwing the sword like a javelin, but it wasn't, her body narrowly skated the fissure of lightning and stone uprooted from the black knight's skill. There was a slight decoloration as her target was off, but the blade dug through metal and flesh in a heartbeat, scorching crimson through its side as glassy, red shards fell around her. Its balance faltered, then it crumpled to the ground while its body turned a bright blue, shattering into thousands of pieces before the girl's eyes, her name on display through the refractive fragments. [Artorias - Lv. 6] Silence overtook the ruins, and the realization of victory slowly formed into a smile across her lips. "Nailed it." Sincerely, Slendy Remake Up!I hate doing this, posting some fragment in place of a 'chapter' but I wanted to ensure anyone who still likes this story or the very concept of a Death Game to know in case they miss this in any way, so I'm sorry if I got your hopes up, I'm an ass when it comes to conveying anything sympathetic because, well, I'm an idiot. Again, sorry to all that enjoyed this one, especially since much has changed in this newer story but I really hope you enjoy it, I'll keep this story up, of course. Here's the link to a new game, happy reading! My Little Pony Realization
Instillation Complete - [Bets We Make] "Reality Scale. Activate!" [Loading Personal Data] [Augmented Systems: Ready] [Username: White Hat] [Password: ********] ---~My Little Pony: Actualization Online!~--- It took only seconds, but reality as I could visually perceive soon faded away at the bright lights, and automated logs of code, and diagnostics. Funny how such complex commands were created to only act in seconds, against a command that would take weeks to perform, but I ain't no expert in this field, I just say what I see, and what I see is a whole new horizon, for better or for worse, well, I guess we'll see.... MLP: Actualization Online, a fully realized world of Equestria, an MMORPG where you can be whoever you desire, what you do will ultimately change the story, and characters along the way, albeit, to keep things clean, and simple, the automated CPU Control Core Gamma runs everything, from simple items, to complex events, to put it simply. There is no end that can be clearly reached through knowledge of the series. Me, along with someone else in mind, had an idea, it was stupid, but that's what we wanted, an adventure to truly push the system to its limit, and whoever wins the bet, will rule this digital grain of existence, for better or for worse. So, before I felt reality begin to form around the black void of reality, I felt my mind race back to the central plaza, where it all began. The Central Plaza, this was the mainframe to creating your character, and where you wished to begin your adventure, since most of the system was run by Control Core Gamma, this was more humane. It was a large, hexagonal room, with terminals to creating your characters, whist observation screens allowed news headlines, and update notes to scroll. Whist poles with adverts, sponsors, and even DLC hung like banners. Overall, the blue, black, and white flowing walls were nice, it was almost like drifting in a sea of code. "Asshole, over here!" At the insult, my head spun to face my brother, who awaited by a terminal for my arrival. He was taller than me, and far more intimidating since he looked like he'd kill a man, then blame it on someone else, and get away with it in-front of people He was blonde, not stupid though, surprisingly combed too, whist his eyes were blue. Unlike my older pain-in-the-arse, my hair was dark brown, messy too, whist my hazel eyes peered through my sky-blue glasses, he had some too, they were a darker blue. I liked red better though, whist he liked purple. We were similar, but are personalities drew the line, thick. "You know, as some advice, maybe don't insult people before you ask them to join your cause, you might do a little better at your job?" I suggested bluntly, before he shrugged, smiling at the thought, what? Did my reasoning get through to him....? No, not in a million years. "What are you planning?" "Better question, what are 'we' planning? I have an awesome idea, which may or may not be fun." He declared, making me roll my eyes, before I silently motioned for him to continue. "A bet, simple, but fun." "And this bet entails, what?" I asked, finding this to be far more interesting than before "The plan is simple, I will do everything in my power to dominate this pony world, and since you have the tendency to help people, you can try and stop me, whoever wins,....well we'll think about it if the situation arises." He waved off, but then my smile appeared, my mind already agreeing to the idea "Oh, I see, take advantage of the system's 'choice' program, and make our own adventure from the choices we make on the world, like if I aided the elements of harmony, against, I don't know....Discord, or Sombra?" I answered, making him nod, before he held a hand out to me "Deal?" "Deal! Also, I'll be taking the pegasus class, since I rather not be a Gary Sue when saving the world from your anarchy." I defended my claim, as he looked lost in thought, before pointing to the screen again "Magic." He simply put it, no surprise, he'd probably mind-control the Empire or dragons, since even with charisma, he's still be crap at persuading anyone, taking are appropriate stands, we began to digitize are own characters ---~Species~--- Unicorn- Supporters Brilliant minds that can conjure spells, and break the laws of nature with a thought. Not the toughest class, but their minds are sharper than any blade, never underestimate the power of the mind. Pegasus- Attackers With gravity being a myth to their flight, Pegasi are masters of the air, with speeds that can rival a dragon, and strength backed up by their velocity, though they aren't the brightest. Blink once however, and you may just miss them. Earth Pony- Defenders Don't underestimate their lack of magic or flight, these durable equines will crush those who may even rival their size, and their connection to Gaia makes their natural healing more effective. When an unstoppable force arrives, they will meet the immovable object. Dragon- Pyromancers What does one need to say about dragons? With fire immunity, and fire attributes, these strong willed entities are a force to rival most, just keep away from water. When all is turned to ash, only draconic roars shall ring. Changeling- Deception Cunning, and magically gifted, these desert wanderers are far more than just mere bugs, with magic and durability, and the ability to become their enemy, you may never know when one is watching you, bringing paranoia to most. Spread the lies to fuel the fires of war. Thestrals- Stealth Prowlers of the night, their stealth is almost unparalleled to most, and their power of flight can be a dangerous addition, with near silent movements, and dark enchantments, they may very well be smoke in the air. When you stare into the shadows, it to will stare back. Diamond Dogs- Treasure Hunters Not bright in nature, but superior instincts, and tough claws are enough to dig their way to the top of the board, and their natural affinity to aid their pack, and discover treasures are a true gift to the gods. If you mess with you foe, you'll be thrown to the wolves. Griffons- Buffers An apex of their land, these thick-headed myths are proud, and strong-willed, spreading their power to their allies, and aiding the art of battle, though they can be blindsided at times, their raw power is nothing to brush off as 'weak'. The moment you give in, they will continue to stand above all. While the bat-ponies have stealth, I do wish to fly, its something one doesn't get to experience often, and I always wanted to feel that freedom, that cool air against my face as I fall from the clouds, besides, DPS is my play-style, and they have the speed I need. Without hesitation, I selected 'Pegasus'. [Copy IRL Profile?] [Create New Persona?] To not seem too edgy or similar to the rest of the players. I went for skin-tone coat, with my usually messy hair, along with the tail, my mane was black with crimson tone thrown in, whist I kept my eyes the same hazel colour, they even kept my glasses, so that's cool, I did like them after all these years of wearing them, so giving them up would seem wrong. My cutie mark-ugh, never saying that again, was a light-blue blade, with a ribbon tied to the handle, now that brings back memories. Funny, it feels like my equine form was more feminine, I mean, its still a guy, that's obvious, but....meh, must be like Skyrim with 'ULTRA' specific settings. When I went to accept my characters, another screen appeared before me, labeling attributes, I guess I got to chose my first one, neat! [Attributes] -Human Intuition- Bartering is 50% cheaper due to your preexisting knowledge of this world (Cheat codes) -Iron Soul- Your willpower is impressive, +2 strength in combat against stronger enemies, whist boosting moral to your team (Friendship can really move mountains) -Smooth Criminal- Your words are sweet, and your personality is charming, better relationships with the opposite sex, also better chance at persuading those of the opposite sex too (You are the bane of most men) -Nevermore- You are without a doubt a sneaky pony, a better chance at not being seen when night falls (Go Ninja Go!) "I like me some stealth, but if my grinding days in Destiny, and Borderlands taught me anything, it was endurance." I pridefully remarked, before I clicked 'Iron Soul', nothing like a good offence, makes it easier to take down tougher enemies for loot. "Ok....now I just have to confirm." [Confirm Character?] When I readjusted my eyes to the light, I felt the weightlessness of my body in the sky, as I stared in awe of the new world of Equestria, the sun rising to bask me I a new-found warmth, alongside the clear blue skies around me. I could even see Canternlot if I focused hard enough, the golden spires gleaming across the horizon. I was actually pretty excited for this, well....almost, I realized something rather important as of the last few seconds. "WHY AM I FALLING~!?!" I screamed at my sudden notice of no ground but white, and the occasional peak of green underneath the seams, my mind was now racing at the sight of my spawn being off the ground, as I flew beneath the clouds, and towards the forest beneath my hooves. "Ok....ok its fine, just calm down, and use your wings, Cayde." I tried to mentally prepare myself for what could be the most horrific, nightmare inducing death of my life. I could feel the limbs on my back over the cold air swooping past me, and without really knowing how to operate limbs ive never had before, I just fanned them out to glide or slow my descent, surprisingly, I was beginning to glide, it was rough, but I was still gliding towards the ground. "T-Thank god....I swear, CCG needs to work on spawn points...." I sighed, as I tumbled into the dirt, rolling onto my back upon my rough landing, as I felt my heart threaten to rip itself from my chest, it was both amazing, and scary, and I couldn't help but laugh. "I-I-I was about to d-d-ie!" After my long-awaited chuckle, I saw the status bar to the bottom left of my vision, along with an 'Magic power', and 'Stamina' bar. An EXP bar stretched across the middle, with what looked to be item slots to my right, only two though. Other than that, my health was low, but I imagined it be lower, but that would be because of what me, and my brother did. We're hackers, not illegal ones, more like, 'lets make this solo game more stupidly awesome', kind-of hackers. Now, we're not idiots, we knew this Control Core Gamma would pick us out within the millisecond of us implementing anything, but we found a loop-hole to that. You see, it supports augmentations to the game, that's for people with reading problems, or philological issues, that being said, we merely created a buff that would give our health a slight increase upon new levels, before we added it to a blank augment USB, and bish-bash-bosh, we have a slight advantage over everyone else. "So, where am I?" I pondered aloud to the forest around me [Silver Grove] "Oh? That's....well I guess i'll check my quests." I muttered, opening the menu with a swipe of my left hoof, as I sat on the ground, not wanting to try and walk just yet. If I learned anything from MMOs, it was to get your bearings first, then wander aimlessly [Stats] [Inventory] [Quests] [Notifications] [Party Status] [Options] [Attributes] [Logoff] Pegasus Pony Level - 01 Health: 150 Magic: N/A Stamina: 100 Strength - 6 Endurance - 6 Intelligence - 4 Perception - 5 Charisma - 6 Agility - 8 Magic - 3 Luck - 2 "Ok....? That's actually alot fairer than I thought." My first thought was that my stats would be horrid for all categories, but surprisingly they seemed fair, but I'm not complaining, just observing the current mechanics. Now then, onto 'Quests' Bringing the Quest log up, I saw that two were currently awaiting completion. -The First Step- You have arrived in Equestria though your own means, try to find the nearest town to your location. [ ] Locate Ponyville -Hardly a Noob- If you wish, you could track down a beast of this forest and slay it, it might get you familiar with the world's dangers [ ] Slay a Silverwolf Optional [ ] Slay 3 Silverwolves "I see, so I both have an optional quest, and a main quest of random choice, that makes things a little easier, but I doubt a 'Silverwolf' is just for show, must be this forest's variant of a Timberwolf." I assumed the obvious, since I was surrounded by trees with a more....shiny texture to the leaves, I guess it must have been the reason for the name Taking this as my time to move, since the sun was directly above me, I sad a certain amount of time before dusk would strike, and I don't know what time is like here, so I'd rather not die in the dark. To my expectation, I was able to stand, and walk on my legs, I guess it must be like walking on hands, and knees, this was fun, it was a new experience, so I wasn't complaining. "Hey! You down there!?" Huh? At the yell, I twisted my head lazily to my left, and my eyes nearly widened in fear at the barreling, grey body, which was hurdling towards me. "Look oooooout~!" "Oh, son of a [BEEP]." I groaned, as my chest shattered at the contact with the projectile, sending me, and some other pony flying into the woods, as we grunted, and groaned in pain at the collision, before I felt my spine shatter at the connection made with a tree, striking a few points off my health bar, dropping it to 100, much to my pain, and....was the game mocking me with music? At first, my vision was still adapting to the sudden attack from the blue, as I felt the brief pain fade from my back, reality settings suck, but are worthy of praise later. Now, I looked up to view the pony that had crashed into my newly made form, as I saw their head shake from the impact. That's when I saw the name above their head. [Purplrain] It was another player? I then noticed the leathery wings draped at 'her' sides, as her ears flicked in the breeze. Her mane was, much like her user, purple, and only reaching to her shoulders, her predator-like eyes were a nice shade of blue, more like azure, her own cutie mark was that of a crescent moon with a star inside the curve. Then she frowned, blinking at the whiplash from the impact. "Who makes a spawn point in the air? That's dumb....." She complained, much like my earlier statement, and funny enough, she hadn't noticed me, but I sure did notice the mare crushing my stomach, as my embarrassment rose to my face, it may be a digital world, but she's still a girl, and I am an introvert by nature "Yeah....now, do you mind not crushing my HP to death?" I wheezed, making her look down slightly, before her eyes widened, as she lost her balance, falling off my stomach, and allowing me to sigh in relief. "Thanks...." "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to crash into you, this game has some weird choices of spawning you?" Purplrain apologized, as I held a hoof up, before I rolled my eyes humorously "You're not the only one to experience near-death by a game mechanic, since I've only just got here." I related, making her mood change from concerned to interested quickly, as if the incident never occurred "Wait, you're new too?" I nodded at her question, making her face brighten up as she fist-pumped. "Yes, I'm not alone in this place! I honestly have never seen this place before?" "I must be an added feature, just to add exploration and such." I explained, making her nod, before I pointed south, towards my way-point. "I was actually about to head for Ponyville, since its nearby, I also have an optional quest to take down some 'Silverwolves' beforehand." "Hey, not to sound too....well, too needy, but you think I can tag along? I don't really understand much about combat in this game, nor do I have any sort-of experience with games like this." Purplrain shyly stated, looking away. "Would you be able to help me...umm...." "Names, White Hat, its above my head, but....eh, sure, two players are better than one, so why not?" I answered, before she smiled with glee, moving to stand in front of me, bowing her head, man, she was certainly nice, usually a girl would insult me by now, guess I do have more luck than I once thought "Thank you-Thank you-Thank you!" "Chill, we need to 'get' to town first, I may know my way around games like this, but if night come faster than normal we'll have problems." I declared, before I opened my menu again, clicking on 'Party Status'. In there, I could see the tab labeled 'Invite Purplrain to party', and even 'Send Friend Request'. But I ultimately sent her an invite "Huh? An invite?" She paused, before she pulled her menu open, before I saw the small name, bar, and health appear atop my left-hand side, the symbol looked like an eye, which I guess makes sense, since she's a stealth class. "Awesome, thanks!" "Not a problem, but first, do you have any quests available?" I asked, making her pull out of her blurry menu, since privacy is key to any game, and then she hummed in concern, her confusion seeming to rise "No, only to find a way to Ponyville, is that bad?" She asked for my advice, and I concluded my earlier thought "You, and I have random quests, sure, the main one is the same, but I have an optional side quest like I said before, so it must be a random selection, although, the quest only gives XP and bits, nothing crazy." I elaborated, making her nod, though she looked a little cheated out of a quest, but I decided not to press the concern. "Anyways, did you notice something off about your menu?" "Umm, not really, I mean, I have a logout button, so no SAO bull[BEEP], oh, and that annoying censor, but other than that, I can't tell." Purplrain answered, before she noted my bemused expression, her own eyes lighting up at the realization. "Where's the skills bar? Like in the screenshots!?" "Exactly, above all the stuff I know, this is the one thing I noticed a while ago, where is the ability to unlock skills? Usually they would tell you how in the tutorial, or even in guides, yet, there wasn't, like there purposefully leaving it blank." I added, making us ponder more, it was strange, yet not unfair, some games have a quest you go on as a teaser towards your power, to make you adapt to your other abilities beforehand, but atleast they'd tell you in a quest or lore step "Maybe....that's the Ponyville quest?" At Purplrain's answer, my head shot up, blinking in surprise at her deduction, as she sat with a hoof on her chin, eyes squinted in thought. "Every player must start near a town, gaining a better understanding of the world, then when they arrive, maybe you talk to an NPC about it, and they might give you the quest....maybe that's the answer?" At first, I couldn't respond, since I was under the impression she was new to MMORPGs, but she...actually had a solid point, yeah, it made sense, the main quest isn't just a main quest, its a step of said quest for the ability to use magic! I actually chuckled a little at that, finding my own knowledge to be null and void at the present moment. "Now I get it, both our quests are 'The First Step', the first step in finding the ability to use magic! That's brilliant!" I praised her with a smile, making Purplrain beam with glee. "Sorry, I just thought it was funny that a new player to RPGs discovered the truth before me, props to you, Purpl, props to you." "Hehehe, I 'did' do some research beforehand, Mr. Hat." Purplrain smugly replied, before she noticed that her wings touched her sides in a prideful stance, unlike her hooves, which remained on the grass. "Woah....that's cool." "Huh, what is?" I asked her, noting what her wings were doing, whist I flapped my own, feeling every muscle twitch in rhythm with each other, just like they were a part of me all my life. "Its crazy....just how real it is." "Its funny, I thought that I was gonna suck at this game, trying to walk on all fours, using spells, even flying, which I still need to work on my landings....sorry again." She nervously chuckled at my smirk. "But....I didn't struggle, for the last ten minutes, talking with you, I....I felt so alive here, like I could always do this, like all of this is second nature, its strange how much I thought I would fail, only to....well not." "I get it, I may be a wiz with games like this, but none had the drive or feeling of this, the ability to fly with bones you never had, to feel the pressure of objects against your feet, Virtual Reality is beyond any limitation of Reality, its....boundless." I then flew slightly, gliding over Purplrain, before I stumbled onto my hooves. "Still, I thin flying may take some time to adapt to." "Yeah, how's about we get to town before we try crashing into people or ponies again?" Purplrain evenly stared at me with equal amusement in her voice, so I shrugged, moving to walk beside her through the dense forest of silver leaves "I guess having someone of equal experience is a good thing to have, maybe in town I can see if she wants to keep at it for today, since its the weekend, I doubt she'll mind, could use some interaction, and payback for the 25 HP I lost." I thought, not noticing that she had stopped moving. "Huh, you alright, you ain't lagging, right?" "Uhh, W-White...?" She shakily replied, her eyes now pinpricks, whist she pointed a hoof out before me. Now, I didn't notice it at first, but I did now, the drums kicking off the start of combat, a sound that slowly drew my attention to what was before us. "Those....wouldn't b-be the 'Silverwolves' you're after, right?" Before us, two wolves stood before us. Their hides we sharp, silver locks of hair, divided into different shades of grey, whist their silver fangs snarled in our direction, with claws just as vicious as their fangs, with green eyes directed at us with hungry intent. They were smaller than Timberwolves, but certainly more toned than skinny. [Silverwolf - lvl 2] *Snarl-growl* "Never mind!" Purplrain eeped, moving to stand behind me as I felt a small grin tug on my muzzle, watching as the second wolf circled to face Purplrain, as I felt her shaking body against my side. So, I reached over with a hoof, grabbing her shoulder, just as her head turned to me I was smiling, my eyes aflame with joy at the sight. This game wasn't Equestria, it was like any other game, and just like an RPG, these guys were just as weak as us, if not weaker for calibrations to be fair on every player. "Don't worry, we got everything to beat these guys right here." I reassured, before I raised a hoof. "We're human, so we;ll do what we always do when [BEEP] like this comes for us. We'll bite back." At first, she didn't say anything, and I don't think anything needed to be said, as her shaking ceased, but I knew she was new to this, so combat to this extreme would be scary, but I've defeated many in my wake, a few wolves ain't gonna be the end of that. "Alright, I'm with you, White." Now I was pumped up, if it was just me, maybe I'd be in a bind, but with two of us, this will be as easy as being level 10 "Alright then, partner, lets tear these Silverwolves a new [BEEP]hole!" To Be Continued..... Update New Player has joined your party -Purplrain (Therstral class) Level 1 Current Level: 1 Magic: None Items: None Author's Note In all honesty, me and Lucaridis came up with this idea within 15 minutes, and in the space I managed to make a plan for this awesome series! Anywho, hope you enjoyed this VRMMORPG take on MLP, with a small skirmish and interactions next time, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Story - [Silver Lining]
Story - [Silver Lining]Music was definity a big help for my moral, since music is what makes a fight more fluent, and memorable, and I couldn't have felt a better feeling in my chest at the background music, as I awaiting the Silverwolf to finally strike me, its other half moving for Purplrain, who stood beside me, her back to me. The Silverwolf growled in response, thrusting itself at my body, it reflective teeth widening with each meter closed between us. That's when I used what little skill I had with wings to thrust my body up, almost like a double jump, my hooves landing atop its back, before I landed behind it. Purplrain seemed to catch my idea, as she moved to her left, the two wolves striking each other, chipping a piece off their health bars. My wolf quickly turned back, swiping at my neck, but I had moved my back to a tree trunk, as I waited for it to charge. Taking advantage of its blunt movements, I skimmed to the side, its head striking the tree with a violent shake, its health decreasing into the yellow. That meant its HP was 100, just like a normal player, mine however, was 150 due to the hack. I decided to press for an attack, as I raised my right hoof, before I struck the jaw of the Silverwolf, causing it to yelp, before I spun around, pressing my front hooves down into the dirt, before I lifted my back legs with a shaky heave, before I thrusted out, my hooves connecting with a resonating crunch. I tuened my head to look at the damage, before I fist-pumped, seeing the Silverwolf tumble into the grass, its body beginning to shimmer, whist its HP bar finally vanished, the body going limp at the end result. *Shatter* The body burst into a small burst of colours, as the lines all faded into the air around me, as I watched a small tab appear beside my face. [Items] 15 Bits 1 Chipped Fang "Not bad...." I murmured, before I turned at the loud war cry. When I did, I watched Purplrain roll to her right, avoiding the snap of the Silverwolf's bite, then she rose her wings, before she leapt into the air, using the momentum to steady herself above the wolf's head, before I blinked in surprise when she spun clockwise, her back hoof roundhouse kicking the Silverwolf flying into a nearby tree, shaking the leaves off some of the branches. "Damn." Then, we observed the same defeat as my wolf, as its body went limp, before it errupted into a streamline of colours, another tab opening for Purplrain, who smiled widely in amazement, and I was going to praise her for a well-thought-out move, but she already had the same idea, latching my neck around her hooves as she hugged me. I mean, I wasn't going to stop her. "I'm guessing this is the first Digital World fight you've had?" I pondered, as she smiled, letting my neck go, as she pressed the button to close the tab, her smile still present "Mmmhmm! And I was awesome!" She cheered, before I heard the familiar sound ring across the open space of forest for us both, as I noticed the glowing aura around Purplrain, as her own baffled face viewed me with the same amount of confusion [Level Up!] [1 - 2] We were no longer new to the game's world of play, now we had achieved the first new level, and I was pleased to see my status board appear before me. As Purplrain stared at her with a satisfied smile. [New Passive Added] -Rookie No More- You have achieved a new level, with each level-up you shall receive a skill point, of course, once you find your talent for magic ;) [Stats Increased] Agility +1 Strength +1 "My Agility was increased by two points, is that good?" Purplrain asked me, as I nodded, before I decided to give her a little explanation, that is, before something popped up before us both, a small box with the image of a '2' [Achievement Unlocked] Rookie No More - Achieve level 2 "Right....as I was going to say. Think of your attributes like Borderlands 2's Badass ranks, now, how they work is where you complete a tiny objective like kill 100 bandits or use fire weapons 1000 times, you gain badass rank for it, thereby allowing you to increase your attributes my a small margin. This system is like a simplified version of that, where we complete certain things, and gain upgrades to our stats." I explained, whist Purplrain slowly nodded, obviously piecing it all together "Its ok, I know it can be alot to take it, but good thing you crashed into me, the biggest nerd on the planet." I mused, nudging her to follow me. "Besides, eventually you'll get tired of my rambling, everyone does at some point, just depends on their ability to endure." "Not really." I heard her say, as she trotted? Im'ma say trotted, up beside me, looking at me with a reassuring smile. "I think you being this informed makes you smarter than anyone else, atleast in this world, that takes alot of remembering." "Hehehe, yeah, I guess, I don't exactly do much in the way of productivity, but I guess my knowledge of games can be helpful, though, I can guarantee someone knows more of this game than me." I retorted, before I noticed that the diamond on my minimap was beginning to grow larger, and so was my amusement. "I think we're finally here." "Really!?" Purplrain exclaimed, running up to the edge of the forest, and I kind-of found her fascination with this world fun to watch, it was like I was looking back at when I first played a game, the suspense of not knowing what lies ahead, the breathtaking sight of the next zone, all of it was what she was experiencing, so I guess it made my time here more fun in a way. "White, hurry up~!" "Almost there, calm yourself!" I called back, my vision clearing at the forest's edge, whist seemed to peer over a small hill, and down to the valley below us. "So, how's the....view....woah...." A sight was worthy of being a whole new world of its own. The town of Ponyville was large, with golden thatch roofs, and medieval-style streets of cobblestone. The afternoon was even beginning to cast the town in an afterglow of orange, and gold. With many ponies, both A.I and player ran about the streets, whist Pegasi flew high above the Green Zone. To sum up quickly, 'Green Zones' were this game's version of passive zones, where mobs don't attack or spawn, and our anti Player Killing, the most you could do would be accepting a challenge from another player, that's it. This being said, the creators left no detail unchecked, with the rays of sun casting shadows across parts of town, as the green valley seemed to glow an emerald hue. [Ponyville] "I have to admit, it never gets old discovering new locations, just this awe-inspiring scene is breathtaking." I praised, as Purplrain nodded in agreement to my left, before I pointed a hoof towards one of the main roads poking out from the town. "We should probably head that way, taking backstreets never works out in the end." "Aye." With that, we wandered across the hills, and towards the entrance of the large town, and as we grew closer, my ears had flicked to the mellow music beginning to play around us. "Even this place has music?" "I like it, adds flare, not to mention the atmosphere." I added, noting the massive crowds of ponies wandering the streets, it was amazing how so many players, and A.I made this world feel truly alive. We both had the taste of combat, how deadly, and fluent you had to be, but now, we could truly experience the colorful side of this world Many open stalls for vendors sat on sides of the roads, with players entering stores with signs symbolizing their offers and content. In a small lit alley, I could see some players betting in a gambling match, as a mysterious dragon in a hood played the game. From what I knew, whatever species you chose, you would have a random chance of being spawned in that species home, it definity explains the lack of any Diamond Dogs, or griffons. "Hey! Look at your Quest Log!" I was finally snapped out of my daydreaming, as I saw Purplrain with her menu out, as she pointed to her screen, even if I didn't see it, but I decided to listen to the hyperactive nocturnal, and I swiped my hoof, bringing the holographic menu up, before I pressed 'Quests' Quests Complete! -The First Step- You have arrived in Equestria though your own means, try to find the nearest town to your location. [ ] Locate Ponyville You have made your way to safety, since you're alive, here's a little pick-me-up! [Rewards] 100 Bits Minor Health Potion x2 100 EXP -Hardly a Noob- If you wish, you could track down a beast of this forest and slay it, it might get you familiar with the world's dangers [ ] Slay a Silverwolf Optional [ ] Slay 3 Silverwolves You encountered a beast of Silver Grove, I hope you learned something valuable, so here, take something valuable! [Rewards] 15 Bits Silver Fang x2 150 EXP [Level Up!] [2 - 3] Once more, I was casted in a golden aura of a few seconds, as my health ticked up beyond 200, making me feel alot more pleased with my goal, sadly, we didn't find another Silverwolf for the bonus, but hey, atleast I completed the quest. When I was done confirming my rewards, I smirked, pointing above Purplrain, as she turned to whiteness the achievement appear for us both. I think I was beginning to like that pop-up, along with the level-up effect. [Achievement Unlocked] First Step Taken - You made it to your nearest town/city "Another bites the dust." Purplrain cheered, as I smiled at how fun the beginning of this game was becoming, I wasn't one to play with others expect for my best friend, my brother, and a guy who lives in England, but it was nice playing with Purpl, she had some sort of aura to her that made this alot more entertaining, but hey, I ain't complaining. "What should we do next?" "Hmm....well we made it to town, so I guess a little exploration of what Ponyville has wouldn't do any harm, and if this game has more violent monsters at night, I doubt we'd be strong enough to punch, and kick our way to victory." I suggested with a side of caution, since most games would bring nocturnal entities into the playing field, and I for one, ain't ready to be mauled by a werewolf again, only to be shoved off a cliff "Ok....how about Twilight's Library? Maybe we'll find a quest there too?" Purplrain suggested, and it was very good offer, that is, until my heart sunk like a stone in the ocean. It-it can't be.....not her! "Uhh, White? You ok?" "We need to run....like right now." I breathlessly whispered to her, as my hooves backed away slowly from the approaching gunshot of mass. I was fast, but this outran any normality in this world, no normal entity had the strength nor speed of this creature. Hell, I'd rather complete Dark Souls 3 on a dance-mat than this! "The embodiment of Deadpool is coming for us..." "embodiment....?" I heard Purplrain mutter with a hoof to her chin, before I tried to grab her by her tail, sadly, I had watched as my screen flashed red again, my HP dropping slightly at the sudden shockwave that threw me to the road, pain striking my back once more, whist my ribs threatened to snap like twigs at the velocity of this pink mare. "White!?" "Why....the [BEEP] is it always me....?" I cried in pain, seeing the eyes of A.I and players glancing at me, all with looking of sorrow, knowing that they too had suffered at this hyperactive, fourth-wall-breaking, party planning, element of laughter. "Pinkie....Pie...." "No silly, its not always you, sometimes its someone else, oh, maybe even me sometimes, or even your friend, but I don't know!?" Wow, the point where even Pinkie doesn't know what she's saying. "Still, I came to say 'Hi', but you already know me!" She was directly in my face, still pinning me to the ground as Purplrain watched if bafflement at the scene, and all other ponies continued with their own objectives, leaving me feel the blood rushing to my face. It wasn't my fault, I just get flustered easily at such close proximity to girls, I hate it honestly. "Oh, sorry, you dropped these! I can be kind-of jumpy as Twilight always told me, but I just can't help but get super excited at new ponies!" Pinkie exasperated, as she used her tail to push my blue glasses back onto my muzzle, their glass completely spotless. "Hey, are you ok? You look reaaaally red?" "Pinkie....can't breathe." I wheezed, for the second time today, as she bounced off my stomach, allowing me to move to my hooves again, as I flapped my wings to dust them off. "Thank you, and, if you didn't notice, a guy getting pinned by a girl isn't exactly a normal situation." "I'm Pinkie Pie, strange is how I roll." She waved off bluntly, before she hopped around to look at Purplrain with a wide smile. "Hiya, I'm Pinkie Pie!" "Purplrain, and....its really cool getting to meet you." Purplrain seemed to be fangirling a little, seeing her nervous state, meanwhile I was busy dusting myself off. "But maybe tackling my teammate wasn't a good way to greet us." "Aww, but I like giving hugs, maybe launching myself from my party cannon wasn't the best plan, but it was fun!" Pinkie explained, before she looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry for crashing into you." "No harm done, I know you enough to tell you just wanted to greet pe-er-poines, just....maybe not from the broadside of a cannon?" I warily stated, making her head nod rapidly in agreement, whist Purplrain giggled at the mare's antics, but then I realized something, with all the crazy events that have transpired, I nearly forgot the critical point Purplrain had made over an hour ago "Every player must start near a town, gaining a better understanding of the world, then when they arrive, maybe you talk to an NPC about it, and they might give you the quest....maybe that's the answer?" "Hey, Pinkie?" I spoke up again, her head turning my way. "Can....well have ponies recently been able to conjure magic like unicorns? And if so, how?" "Umm....well I don't know stuff like that, Twilight is really-really smart, but I 'do' know how you do it!" Pinkie exclaimed, as me, and Purplrain gave each other a look, before I smiled, allowing her to continue. "I can make sprinkles explode, heheheh!" ". . . ." ". . . ." "O.....K? Well, that's certainly something." I slowly broke the blank state me, and Purplrain had entered, her face still white as a ghost. "You see, we knew about this ability, but....how do we gain the power to do so?" "Yeah, we were fighting some Silverwolves, and we couldn't access any sort of magic." Purplrain had responded in tangent with my question. At first, Pinkie didn't respond, as she rubbed her forehead with her tail, a bead of sweat dripping down her highly concentrated face, then, I heard a the 'ding' of a timer, and her expression was bright again "Twilight told me about this! I think....well she said that some creepy, dark mist was causing magic to go all wonky, and weird, I heard other ponies that came here talk about it, and they went to investigate it too!" Pinkie gave us the clear answer we required "So, if we find the source of this mist, we find our magic?" I nutshelled, making her happily bounce on the spot, before I smiled with confidence. "Let me take a gander at where it is....the Everfree Forest?" The pink mare instantly deflated at the mention, as she shivered slightly. "I-Its scary in there, the mist made more dangerous things appear from the Everfree too, but....I-I know where the source is, I heard those ponies mentioned it before too, how something big, and scary was causing it." Pinkie elaborated on her point, before she grabbed an army helmet from nowhere, before she saluted at us. "Pinkie Pie will help you with your dangerous mission, Mr....." "Just call me, White." I answered for her, as I saw the quest appear before us all again, as a yellow question mark appeared above Pinkie Pie's head, making her tilt her head in confusion "Why do they keep appearing?" She muttered, as I couldn't help but laugh, patting the mare's shoulder, whist me, and Purplrain read the quest in our menus [New Quest!] -Awaken The Light- Pinkie knows of the source of the mist which has mysteriously locked you, and other ponies' power, find the source, and claim your power [ ] Find the source of the mist [ ] Dispel the corruption "You'll get used to it." I chuckled, before I noticed the clock at the top-right of my vision, so I made a plan. "Pinkie, could you meet us at the edge of town tomorrow?" "Okey dokey loki!" Well that was surprisingly simple, ah well, with that sorted, we were left to watch as the bubbly mare hopped away, leaving us to shake our heads "You know in person, she can truly be exhausting." I commented, as Purplrain yawned "Good call on the time though, and figuring she could help us with our magic quest, see? I told you, you are really smart when it comes to games!" Purplrain praised, making me rub my neck with a mused smile "W-Well I honestly only remembered because you told me about the NPC thing in the Silver Grove, so thanks for that." I thanked too, as she happily bowed "Thank you, thank you." She repeated what she said before, that's when I noticed that the street we stood in was a little less crowded, even if it was still the weekend, it was September, so priorities were necessary. "Still, its gotten pretty late, seems time here moves similar to ours....we both started around....9 pm, right?" "Aye, with all the data that needed to be downloaded, I knew I could only get a few hours of testing beforehand, you just happened to make it more entertaining." I mentioned, seeing her face look to me with a strange look in her eyes, it wasn't bad, but I couldn't place my finger, or hoof in this case, on what she was feeling "Really? What did I do, last I checked, I crashed into you?" She reminded my spine again, as I rubbed my back, chuckling as I looked towards the moon above us, amongst the star-covered sky "You did, and I plan to get back at you for it." She winced at that, brushing a hoof against her other. "But....I honestly have a hard time playing with other, new people, I tend to stick to my usual friends, and the only person I knew who was going to be playing this is currently somewhere, so I was solo, which is fine, I prefer playing alone." "But I guess you literally crushing that expectation changed how I viewed my first time playing this, seeing how inexperienced you were made me feel like I was also clueless to this world's mechanics, and....I really enjoyed my time here, so thank you, for everything Purplrain." I calmly thanked her, as I saw myself staring off at the nightlight of the town, the lanterns and lights from houses bringing a new orange hue to the streets, as distant talks and singing could be heard resonating across the town "Rain." At the soft answer, I turned back to face Purplrain, a warm smile on her face, as she stared at me with soft, azure eyes. "Since I've kept this username for years, my friends call me Rain. But hey, tomorrow, I'll be online, so seeya then!" I wasn't given a moment to truly process what she just told me, as her body vanished in soft, blue light, her body vanishing like dust to the wind, leaving me to stare off in the direction she stood, whist my hoof swiped my menu out, going down to notifications. [Friend Request Received From Purplrain] [Accept? Y / N] "Her friends call her, Rain...." I hummed, finding the concept of her considering me a friend after only several hours, I never got to ask her why, I guess I will tomorrow. I couldn't help but feel a little excited at that prospect, the fact that I was lucky enough to even find someone who can tolerate my being was one of the Digiverse's greatest gifts, even if its a virtual world, its still.....alive [Accept? Y / N] [New Friend: Purplrain] [Achievement Unlocked] Reality or Not - You became friends with another player "Friends....ok....seeya next time, Rain." To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 2 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 3 [Offensive class] Current Level: 3 Magic: None Items: Minor Healing potion x2 - Silver Fang x2 - Chipped Fang x1 New Attribute Added: -Strength of the pack- You aren't alone in this world, your chance for better loot in increased with more party members. (What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine) Author's Note I'm loving this so far, I do hope I wrote Pinkie right, since I made her a little more knowledgeable than people would assume, and the A.I is near human. But next time, we get to some action, and I mean ACTION! So, I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Quest - [Awaken The Light] Authors Notes: Because I wanted to upload this sooner, on Sunday you will be getting an Extra Log to the story, a short list of crazy achievements and such, if you want me to include more before Sunday, comment them below!
Extras - [Achievements]Oh? I was about to log out, but I realized something. What were the achievements in this game? I know of some, others being obvious, but I guess a few minutes of curiosity wouldn't hurt my sleep patterns. So, I pressed stats, then I looked at the bottom right of my HUD, and I saw the small emblem for Achievements. Then, I pressed it. [Rookie No More] - Achieve level 2 [First Step Taken] - You made it to your nearest town/city [Awaken The Light] - You have obtained your magic power [So It Begins] - Slay 10 Beasts [Protector] - Slay 1000 Beasts [Death Incarnate] - Slay 100000 Beasts [If A God Can Do It] - Defeat a mini boss [No One Cheats Death] - Death finally claims you [Not All About Looks] - Buy and equip your first piece of armour [Fashion 'Is' End Game] - Equip an accessory or vanity item [Magic] - You Talked with Twilight and completed a quest for her [Loyalty] -You Talked with Rainbow Dash and completed a quest for her [Laughter] - You Talked with Pinkie and completed a quest for her [Honesty] - You Talked with Applejack and completed a quest for her [Generosity] - You Talked with Rarity and completed a quest for her [Kindness] - You Talked with Fluttershy and completed a quest for her [Our Growing Friendship] - Become friends with the Mane 6 [My Main Brother] - You noticed and became friends with Spike [Best Consumer] - You spent 1000 bits [Favorite Customer] - You spent 10000 bits [Long-Term Investor] - You spent 100000 bits [What The F#@#!?!] - You Survived one of Pinkie Pie's mental breakdowns, how? I do not know [Not Alone In This World] - You have made a team of 4 with other players [Reality or Not] - You became friends with another player [Lost But Not Forgotten] - You discovered ancient ruins [The Next Daring Doo] - Discovered all ruins in Equestria [Darkest Before The Dawn] - Defeat Nightmare Moon [Shining Light] - Arrive at the Crystal Empire [You're Touch'n Da Child!] - Touch the Crystal Heart [No Touch'n Da Child!] - You touched the Crystal Heart 10 more times [Hail To The New King] - Defeat King Sombra [True Rulers] - Became friends with Prince Armour and Princess Cadence [Heartless Bastard] - Insult Derpy [You My Friend, Have [BEEP]ed Up.] -Insult Discord [???!???!] - You were sent to Discord's Pocket Dimension [I Know You] - Dispel Discord's magic from an ally [Taste The Rainbow] - Defeat Discord [Fools Gold] - Find 'Tom' [City of the Sky] - Travel to Cloudsdale [Golden Kingdom] - Travel to Canternlot [Where It All Began] - Travel to Ponyville [Rock and a Hard Place] - Travel to the Griffon Kingdom [What Happens in Vegas....] - Travel to Los Pegasus [...Stays in Vegas] - Gamble in Los Pegasus and win, and lose [Mary Sue] - You found the LEGENDARY seventh element of harmony [I Hate Cliches] - You shattered the seventh element of harmony, you did us all a favor [A Helping Hoof] - Heal an ally [Medical License] - Heal allies 10 times [Trinity] - Heal allies 1000 times [The New Beater] - Wield two swords [Starburst Stream] - Manage to use a 16-hit combo with dual blades [Be Whatever You Want To Be] - Use every weapon type [Oh Great, you two] - Meet Princess Celestia and Luna, but lets be honest, we only like Luna [Its sooooo boring....make it stop~!] - Listen to Blueblood speak, without throwing yourself off the cliff [HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!] - Tell Blueblood how you 'really' feel [A Royal Pain] - Defeat Blueblood, honestly, a level 1 could do it [Moral Men of Power] - Defeat all Royalty Figures [Well....this is fun] - Travel to Tartarus [Satan's Hold] - Defeat Tirek [Super Sayian] - Gain your first ultimate ability [Writer and Adventurer] - You met Daring Doo [One For The Books] - You helped Daring Doo on her adventure [Shadow Reins Supreme] - Fight the The Pony of Shadows [Misguided] - Reform a villain [No Place For A Hero] - Become the bad guy [Nightmare] - Encounter 'it' from another world [Embrace] - Become one with 'it' [Reject] - Refuse 'it' [Friendship is Eternal] - You were saved from 'it's' grasp [More Than Numbers] - Enter a relationship [Nightfall] - You went on a date [Hollow Night] - Discover Nightmare Moon's Cult [Praise The Su-Wrong Praise] - Join the Hollow Night Cult [Whoops] -Take Down the Hollow Night Cult [Biggest Fan, Appreciate It!] - You met Nightmare Moon [Double Digits] - Reach level 10 [Cry Out For Pride] - Reach level 25 [Your Journey Has Truly Begun] - Reach level 50 [Towards The Light] - Join the Royal Guard [Embrace The Night] - Join the Night Guard [Stop: Rewind] - Your greatest foe awaits you [You WILL Die Painfully] - Defeat an Invincible [I Can See My House From Here] - Be banished to the moon [A Taste of the Coming Storm] - Battle the Ring Bearer Special Achievements [MWY NYAM CWOTA!] - Find the Black Hammer [Red Like Roses] - Meet the mare with a massive scythe [Do Better] - Aid the mare with cybernetics [Jeepers Creepers] - Its BIG, SCARY, and GREEN [Light The Embers] - Alight the sword [Bad Luck Charm] - Find and defeat the masked stallion [Master of Gun and Blade] - Encounter the stallion from the stars [You Are Never Alone] - Find the purple blade under a massive tree [I'll Always Remember You] - The legend of a three-legged wolf Hidden Achievements [The Grinder] - ???? [Legendary] - ???? [Fallen Kingdom] - ???? [Jack The Ripper] - ???? [Checkmate] - ???? [Get On My Level] - ???? [Red Death] - ??? "Jesus, ninety five achievements? Here I thought Borderlands was much....this is....woah, and its still updating to the current, and future updates?" I was rather baffled by the unmarked 'Hidden Achievements', but that was my favorite part, it meant exploration, which I was gunning for. "Right then, time to find me some Easter eggs." Author's Note I may plan to add more like the story suggests, if anyone has any suggestions for either achievements, hidden ones, or even Easter Eggs, let me know! Anywho, hope you enjoyed and seeya in the next chapter!
Quest - [Awaken The Light]"Reality Scale. Activate!" "Huh? I guess i'm here first." I blurted out to myself, as the sun rose over the skies of Ponyville, my gaze drawn to those who have already logged in, or had slept in-game. To be fair, the Jordis Augment, the device similar to SAO's fictional 'Nerve-Gear' has similarities based off the concept, obviously, its still new, but the ability to place your consciousness in a game, whist your body sits motionless is crazy, downside, you still get tired, since your brain is working, and your body IRL still needs food Deciding not to waste my morning, I had already shared my first day in MLP: AO with my brother, to which he described his day as....fascinating, since his charisma was -5 somehow accurately describing his personality, but that didn't stop him from gaining a reputation where he landed, he never told me where, but that was fine, since we both had little to nothing to cause actual change to our story. Without any delay, I made my way to a small stall outside the market strip, where I found a good selection of cosmetics, and armour to try on or buy. Last I checked, I had around....130 Bits, not rich, but it could get me a little extra for the quest, since it was in the Everfree Forest. "Aye me lad! What might ye be lookin' for?" Ha, I like this guy already. Seeing the tan pony with an eye-patch, and a scruffy beard to boot, as he motioned over his wears, which were all cloth-based, and some with small pieces of armour stitched in. "Ye must be new, I offer all first buyers half!" "Well, I humbly accept." I grinned at my luck, despite it being very low, and I carefully inspected his wears, eyeing the stats of each piece. Then, my eyes caught the rich red colour to my left, as I moved to look at the scarf It was a simple, rich red scarf, torn for ascetics, and had a small black slash across its colour for a splash effect. And its stats were nice, offering me an increase to my health by 15. Its name was.... [Rogue Flag] "Make your move, and show your true colours." +15 Additional Health "Aye, that be a fine piece, that will be....55 Bits." The Earth Pony offered, as I saw the menu to trade appear, being in a good mood now, I pressed 'Y' and saw my Bits drop to 75 Bits, before I auto-equipped the armour onto my Pony outline, seeing my health begin to tick up, whist another Achievement appeared before me. "Pleasure doing business me lad." [Achievement Unlocked] Not All About Looks - Buy and equip your first piece of armour Now I had a red scarf for my crimson-black mane, neat. Now, its time to go meet Pinkie, and Rain at the outskirts of town, time to gain us back our magic. My only worry about all of this, is just what awaits us at the end of this? "Hey! Over here!" At the call, I randomly looked to my left, seeing the familiar grey Therstral waving at me with a smile, so I waved back, walking up to stand before her again, then, she eyes glanced down at my neck, noticing my new piece of clothing, before she smirked. "Someone's looking to stand out?" "Not really, I just really needed something red, and my bloody glasses weren't changeable, but whatever." I shrugged, tugging at the rim of the scarf, its soft fabric almost like cotton but it looked far more durable than that. "So, you ready to finally gain some magic powers?" "Heck yeah, I want to know what magic I can use, I know its all stealth or shadow magic, but I'm really excited to use whatever." Rain gleefully skipped, as I pondered on my own choice in magic "Well, the game has skill trees, a lot of them too, but I think they work under five categories." I answered with my own sense of empty thoughts, it was unclear how they measured your skills, since it was most-likely locked by this quest. "The ones I saw in the screenshots for the game were....Magic-" "No surprise." Rain butted in "Weaponry. Kinetic-" I paused at her dumbfounded look. "So what we were using yesterday." "Oh, I know what kinetic is, I just didn't realize it was its own skill-line." Rain reinforced, before she pouted. "I ain't that dense." "No comment." Not wanting to press my luck on the thin line of fate, I continued. "Last are Utility, so mining, crafting, cooking, usual stuff. Then Aura." "Ok, now you lost me." Rain admitted, leaving me to also stare off into space, then I shrugged with no honest conclusion to the Skill "I have no idea what that is, maybe its buffs like Griffons do, but I don't honestly know what Aura is." I concluded my explanation "Its support magic!" "GAH-Pinkie, where did you come from!?" I yelled from behind Rain, feeling my heart about to lose a few more lives at her surprise appearance. "Even for an NPC, that was scary." "Hehehe, I know, but Aura is something I can do! I like use a lot of it since I can only make things I throw explode, silly!" Pinkie explained, as I looked to Rain, gestured for her to continue our plan, whist I recovered from my heart attack "Pinkie, do you know 'where' exactly the origin of the mist is?" Rain asked calmly, before she nodded, pointing towards the entrance to the Everfree Forest, a mere 200 yards away from us, as I saw the diamond way-point grow, and shrink at the entrance "Its in the Fortress of Lunar Watch!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, as we both stared at her. Yet, another new location to this world, well, I guess it would be lazy to re-use preexisting locations, so I'll give them points for buffing the lore out more, just meant I could discover more background to Equestria, which was always fun to me. "Onwards, friends!" "Right....I'll lead the way, Rain, you cover our backs, I don't want to run into whatever new creatures are in here without proper planning, and Pinkie...?" I stopped, seeing her hop towards me with a smile, and I faltered a little. "Keep being you." "Okey Doki Loki!" She acknowledged in a chipper mood, as we began are journey towards the Everfree Forest, whist a group of players were actually coming out "Dammit, what the hell was that thing!?" A white stallion snapped "Well, I guess we need to level up slightly to beat it, hardly worth throwing ourselves to the wolves." A mare shrugged "That NPC could have warned us, we nearly died back there....how do you dodge that first attack anyways?" Another stallion sighed, rubbing his forehead Once the group passed us, I noted Pinkie, and Rain's concerned looks, I would be lying if I didn't also feel a slight pang of hesitation hit me, but hey, if its for magic, no one said they'd offer you it on a silver platter. So I turned around, walking backwards as I smiled. "We got this, as long as we can keep our distance from this creature, we'll win." I nodded without doubt, sure, if it used magic itself that could pose a problem, but I wasn't going to lose to a game this early. I had Rain, and one of the elements with me, that's gotta mean something, right? "Ok, I haven't doubted your knowledge of this stuff yet, and I won't now." Rain agreed, making me feel a little chipper, whist Pinkie hopped beside me "I can be super useful too, I'll beat the mean creatures into the dirt!" Pinkie cheered, making us laugh at her antics. In only a short time, I was really getting into this game [Everfree Forest] The clear sky above us was soon fractured, overshadowed by the dark trees above us, whist thorny, crooked, black vines snaked across the bark of trees, as sounds of distant animals, and the cries of unknown entities rattled the air. Even this dark mist Pinkie had spoke of made the air taste acrid, almost horrid, it even smelt like dew was in the air. "Say, Pinkie, what caused this sudden mist to appear anyways?" Rain asked curiously, whist I kept following my marker towards the path before us, as we were diverted onto a more worn, and broken cobblestone path leading somewhere. "Or was it always like this?" "Well....Twilight told me, and the girls that the mist might have been because of Nightmare Moon's return, her icky, evil essence corrupting everything, or....*gulp*....the Watcher." At the name, even I felt my fur stand on end, it wasn't a bold name, but the simplicity of it gave it a far more foreboding atmosphere "I'm....beginning to have doubts about this quest...." I gulped myself, my eyes snapping at every close sound. Watcher meant he might be watching us, maybe that's why those player before struggled, because it watched them, analyzed them before the fight....wait....did that mean.... "The Watcher is an old pony's tale, about the last guard who was so loyal to Nightmare Moon, that even after she was banished, he remained at Lunar Watch to this day....he's big....really scary black armour....and the mist is his magic, leaking from him." Pinkie wasn't one to be afraid in the face of danger, but this legend had her spooked, to the point that I had to add my concern "Has anyone else noticed something off?" I asked, changing the subject, just as we walked under a broken arch, as I hopped over a stone before me. When they shook their heads, we paused, and our footsteps went silent, everything was silent. "There's nothing." "We haven't even seen an enemy....you don't think....?" Rain saw my stern gaze, as it drifted to the mist before us, and that's when our vision came into view of the massive shadow, its lingering ghost crooked under the blue sky that contrasted it so [Fortress of Lunar Watch] The old fortress grounds were completely barren, only loose slabs, and mossy walls remained of the chapel-like structure. The walls of the fortress were broken, but far too high to climb, whist a stained glass window was cracked above the massive, mahogany doors, both slightly creaked open, whist the mist leaked from the entrance. The Gothic structure was both a marvel of graphics, and a daunting sight to us all. "The boss is begin those doors....only makes sense for it to be that way." I concluded, turning to the mares with a reassuring smile. "You ready to truly test this world's limits?" At first, Rain wasn't sure, it was written on her face like any new player to RPGs, but from what Ive seen, she had the strength to pull through on her own, sure, she wasn't the greatest, but she sure knew what to do if the situation were to arise, and with Pinkie helping us out, her magical abilities should aid us in this blindsided fight. "I'm with you, its three on one after all." She looked determined now, so I nodded, turning back to the doors, as I climbed the steps of the crumbling fortress, then, I reached out, placing my hoof on the cold doors before us, then, I applied a small amount of force to the wood, hearing the strain, and groan of the old, withered doors as they swung slowly by us When we entered the building, all three of us saw a massive entrance hall, an empty space with doors leading to the rest of the fortress, or what remained of it, with six massive pillars to the left and right of the room. Meanwhile, the mist seemed to dissipate at our entry, the wind mostly dragging the mist out with the air. "Is this it?" Rain was voicing our bafflement, as the only point of interest was the podium at the other-side of the room, looking to be holding something important, I couldn't make out what rested on the stand, since it was far smaller than my eyes could see. "Where's the boss?" "Maybe it left?" Pinkie suggested, which was a fair assumption, since the A.I here in this world can work autonomously without boundaries, and some can even escape combat, and strike again like a reoccurring villain, which was very formidable feature. "Oooh, do we win!?" "No....something....doesn't feel right." I mumbled, the mist was completely gone by now "how do you dodge that first attack anyways?" !!! "QUICK. DODGE!" I screamed in a panicked state, as I shoved Pinkie away, whist Rain leapt to her right, and I had about a millisecond to avoid myself, as I rolled forwards, sliding slightly on the marble floor in a hurry *CRASH-SHATTER* When the white dust, and rubble cleared from the air, I stared at the abrasive strike embedded in the floor of the grand hall. The massive, silver blade sliding up from the ground, as the massive, armour-clad knight stood tall again. It was human in posture, with black, twisted European armour, but the silver was now a black, inky colour, with the visor on the helmet being a menacing crimson. Whist small ribbons flowed from the back of its helmet, ending in jagged spikes, as it grasped the greatsword in both hands. The armour clanked at each movement, before it released a metallic roar from its hidden maw. As two health bars appeared above its head. [The Watcher - lvl 5] "White, what do we do!?" I heard Rain yell over its roar, just as it bent its head down to face me directly. I had little time to think, it was large, so avoiding its blade should take priority over its lumbering form, ok, ok that'll work "Pinkie, you, and me look for a weak point, avoiding its blade. Rain, can you fly?" I asked her, in hope that she could, otherwise we may be in for a far more difficult time "I, uhh, I don't....yeah, I can." Rain seemed to be in conflict with herself, as she unraveled her leathery wings, flapping them hard to lift her body up off the ground by a few inches. "Can you buy me some time to-" "Right! You heard her, Pinkie, lets take it down!" I yelled, smiling at the excitement of fighting the boss head-on Taking the first step, I ran at The Watcher, its sword lifting up to its right shoulder, before it swung in a slow, lumbering arc, as I rolled to my right, the massive blade skimming past my head, and striking the floor again, before I ran up to its foot, before I spun on my front-hooves, before I struck out with two back-kicks, striking the armour with a clank, only for me to back up, seeing its HP drop by only a few ticks. "Well....I tried kicking it!?" I yelled, running back to avoid another lumbering strike of its blade "What about....THIS!?" Rain yelled to me, as I saw her steadily flying above us, though she looked a little wonky, trying to stabilize in the roof-space. Then I observed her descent, as she spun clockwise again, before her left hoof struck the back of the head of The Watcher, causing it to stumble once, only for it to pull its head back, as it spun on its heel, swinging its blade around to the left, diagonally. "AHH!" Rain thankfully avoided the swing, as she spun for a moment in the air, before landing on one of the pillars, sighing with relief. Whist The Watcher turned its head back to me, holding the greatsword to its right shoulder, as it heavy footsteps shook the floor. Then it turned, its massive greatsword beginning to hum a deep crimson as it did, causing me to blurt out. "Weaponry Skill!" I called, as I spun round clockwise, swinging its blade in my direction, but I glided back, but it didn't stop, as it swung round one last time, blasting me with a burst of hot air, throwing me back across the floor in a heap, as my eye burned from the heat, my health dropping from 220 to 175. "Lots of damage....ow...." "Pinkie!" My ears heard Rain call out, as I watched the bubbly mare throw a glowing pink jar of sprinkles, before the contents shook in the air, drifting before the helmet's vision, before a burst of colour erupted from the container, showering The Watcher in a pink mushroom cloud, causing it to stumble back, colliding with a nearby wall, giving me enough time to down one of my healing potions When we looked back, I saw that it had changed targets, moving to attack the observing Rain on her pillar, as she seemed to glide down to face it eye-to-eye, making me stare in curiosity of what the ticked mare was planning. When The Watcher stood strong, its blade glowed a light blue, as it pulled the blade to point forwards, then, it lunged in her direction, thrusting the blade out. "Checkmate." Rain smugly replied, as I watched her do a back flip in the air, her hooves gliding across the pillar, as the blade struck the stone, nearly shattering the foundation of the support, then she looked at me with a nail-biting stare. "White, its neck, hit its neck!" "Ooo-oooh! Here!" Pinkie squealed in delight, before I was struck with a strange, blue powder, and before I could vocalize my concern, I watched as a blue aura covered my body, blinking in-and-out of existence, as a small buff appeared by my health, an icon of a leg flexing Deciding to ask later, I ran for The Watcher's back, as if struggled to wrench the blade from the pillar, whist Rain flew off the crumbling support for her own safety, but I saw her health was chipped slightly. Then I used my wings again to thrust my body up with a double boosted jump, as I hovered above its neck, and now I saw what she meant. Just between its back, and helmet, a large, red gash sat, leaking with that same mist as before. Grinning, I yelled in fury, striking the torn black skin with a hoof, followed by a left cross, then a right hook, and another, then another left cross. Then I propelled by body into the air with a flip, before I struck my back hooves into its neck, causing it to snap its head back with a metallic groan, falling forwards, whist bringing the pillar down on its back. "Nice catch, Rain!" I praised, making her smiled with a giggle, before we watched the health drop completely past the first bar, and into the second one, that's when the music changed, which I didn't notice was playing before, must have been to tied to the heart of battle, but now....it was far more foreboding "Hey, White? What does the music mean~?" I heard Rain call over to me, as I continued to small, nervous chuckle, before Pinkie popped up beside me "It means Phase Two!" She was far too happy to be saying that, now I see why people were having some bad times with this boss The Watcher now stood up slowly, grasping the greatsword in its right hand only, before it swiped the blade from out the rubble, throwing rock across the great hall, as it turned to face us again. Before it wasted no time moving for me, and Pinkie, as it brought its blade high into the air. Me, and her ran to our right, towards the back of the great hall, as the blade was brought down violently, shattering the tiles again, before it swung to our direction, throwing tiles towards us, but they did little to chip our health. Then I turned to Rain, before I swung in her direction, but she quickly flew upside-down, and over the blade's edge, flying over its head. But it wasn't falling for it again, as I saw it ball its left fist up, before it swung around, backhanding her into a nearby wall, making her scream out silently, her health dropping from 150 to 111. Her body slumped against the wall, as she shook her head, moving to her left, as the blade struck down again, lacerating the wall completely. Taking this opportunity, I ran for a new pillar, standing by it with a smug grin, whist Pinkie did the same to the pillar directly across from me. "Hey, ugly, come and get me!" I yelled, causing its head to turn in my direction, where I sat on my ass, tapping my hooves together. "Yeah you, metal ass, come on, i'm right here!" "No-No, here, hit me, hit me~!" Pinkie waved her hoof happily, making it turn its head towards her "Not her, me, dumbass!" "Nope, me!" "I'm waiting!" It was already sick of us both, so it opted to attack Pinkie, mostly due to her not being able to fly, which was all part of my plan which I think she must have followed with. As it lumbered in her direction, dragging its blade through the floor, Pinkie stood up, happily waving her hooves with a giggle. Then, its blade glowed light blue again. During mid-activation of the skill, it thrusted the blade in her direction with its right arm, only to be blinded by another grenade of sprinkles, blinding its strike. When the pink cloud cleared, I ran for its back, seeing it trying to pull the blade free of the stone's clutch, its hand against the wall to help with leverage. Then I looked up, seeing Rain fly low, holding her hooves out to me. "Hold on!" She called out, as I leapt up, grabbing hold of her arms tightly, before she spun my body around twice, before throwing me towards its neck, as I spun, landing my front hooves into its neck with a crack, followed by its head snapping back again in pain, as the second pillar buried it again, its body slowly beginning to grow still from the bombardment of stone, and dust. "We did it!" "Yay!" Pinkie cheered too, but I wasn't smiling, no, I was grinning like a madman, my eyes ablaze with the shaking in each of my limbs, as I kept my eyes on the rubble atop the previously defeated Watcher. "Even White is smiling!" "Oh....yes I am. To think, a boss....no, the FIRST boss for us....has THREE PHASES!" I was laughing a little, as the two stopped their early celebration, as their joy quickly turned to worry, then to fear at the moving rocks, the massive, black arm shooting up to grab the wall, before the body hoisted itself out of the pile of weathered stone. "Man...this game." "Are you kidding me!?" Now Rain sounded like me, as she backed up into the air. "White, what now, because I'm out of ideas?" "Easy. Pinkie, Rain, don't attack until I give the word, got it?" I ordered, as they looked to one-another with confusion, before they ultimately nodded against their better judgement, moving away as I moved to stand down the center of the Fortress' grand hallway, my back to the pedestal. "Time to test another feature...." *BOOM-Crumble* The body of The Watcher soon threw the rubble aside, as I watched its health finally enter the red zone, as it turned its head in my direction, before it grabbed its blade from the ground, turning sharply to face me. The Watcher then leapt into the center of the ring, its armour braking at the knees, and joins to allow it to move with flexibility. Then, it swung around around again, before it threw the greatsword like a boomerang, the blade slicing the air, and light mist with ease. Biding my time to the last second, I leapt up with my wings, hovering in the air, before I flew to the side of the blade, its form flying past my face, before crashing into the back wall of the great hall, nearly destroying the pedestal, thankfully it didn't. Then I felt time crawl by, as my gaze met the form of The Watcher, it obviously running at me when I was distracted, its left fist coming up from its gut. That's when I saw the ring of purple closing in on my right hoof, as the circle grew closer to my fur. So I reacted at the last second, striking in real time, and stunning the attack from striking me. Time soon slowed again, as its right fist came round, followed by its recoiling left from the side. The same two purple rings grew smaller, and within the frame that was required, I spun in the air, kicking the right arm back, before I did a barrel roll, kicking down with my left leg, knocking The Watcher to his knee. Then time slowed once more, with several smaller rings around its helmet. I then dropped from the sky, as I kicked him repetitively in the head, chipping the armour on the fourth strike, before the fifth shattered his helmet's top, and resounding crack rattling the air painfully, as he fell to his knees with a yellow icon next to his name, which looked like a lightning bolt. "Now, Pinkie, Rain!" I called out, just as I saw Pinkie run up its back, before she struck its exposed neck, causing it to lurch up in pain, exposing its final weak point through its broken helmet. Thankfully, Rain was flying up high, and saw the glow scar, as she folded her wings, bringing her left back-hoof out, before she struck its skull with a clang, followed by an explosion of air Within the moment her connection was made, she was thrown off its head, landing next to me as I helped Rain to her hooves, as the last tinge of red vanished from its health bar, eliminating its final strand of health. Then, its arms went limp, as its head looked up towards the broken section of the roof, where the sunlight poured into the grand hall, then, it let out a final breath, before it body shimmered, and soon, The Watcher's body burst into a massive aura of colours, which traveled towards the open sky above us, whist the music died off at the defeat of the boss. [CONGRATULATIONS: BOSS DEFEATED!] "WE DID IT!!!" I yelled with both a sigh, and a cry of joy, as Rain strangled me in a hug, laughing happily at our first boss defeated by our hands, or hooves in this case, before Pinkie hugged us from behind, happily giggling. Nothing ever felt greater than achieving something after a worthy challenge "Loot-Loot-Loot~!" Rain sung, as I watched my menu appear, along with Rain's, as we looked over all the updated notifications [Achievements Unlocked] If A God Can Do It - Defeat a mini boss Laughter - You Talked with Pinkie and completed a quest for her [Boss Rewards] Parting Glass (Broadsword) Old Armour x3 Health Potion x1 250 Bits 250 EXP [Level Up!] [3 - 4] [New Passive Added] -Iron Soles- You hit harder than you look, your kinetic attacks have increased by 10% (Armour is like paper to you!) [Stats Increased] Agility +1 Strength +3 Endurance +1 Perception +4 "Hey, check me out!" At Rain's excited tone of voice, she now sported a new jacket, it was short, only reaching to below her chest, it was a navy blue, with the outline being silver, with stars on the collar. Then I grinned, pressing the 'Equip' button for my new weapon In a flash of blue light, the rare weapon appeared in a white buckle, with a black scabbard to my left-waist, knowing that pony-physics were a thing, I pulled the broadsword out from the scabbard, showing off the rounded pommel, which was also silver, with a blue handle, with silver stripes, a basic, 'T' shaped guard, before the blade pointed out from the guard, before straightening into a shiny, silver blade, with strange runes carved into the edge of the blade. "Woah...that's so shiny~!" Pinkie drooled, trying to touch it, but I quickly placed it back into the scabbard, before I pointed behind her, as the two followed by hoof "Its not over yet, 'that' must be what gives us our magic back." I pointed out, as we closed our menus, moving up the small steps to come before the pedestal, an ultramarine fabric built into the rounded stone bowl. What sat there was a large, red key? It was one of the old looking keys, with a shiny red coat, and a silver gemstone on the handle. "Ok....what am I looking at?" "Umm....maybe we touch it?" Rain;s suggestion was about as far my own brain was going, so I held my hoof atop the key, followed by Rain, whist Pinkie stood back, a welding mask over her face, before she saluted. But at the moment Rain touched the key with my hoof, it glowed a bright ruby, nearly blinding us both in the light, before it vanished, along with the key "W-Where'd it go!?" Rain panicked, before I saw the menu appear, and I turned to....only stare in bafflement [Item] Ruby Key of Red "Pot calling the kettle black anyone?" I mused in confusion, but I ultimately closed the tab, it must be a key for some sort of chest, or future event, its connected to red, meaning it might have something to do with colours, or emotions. Maybe there are more too? Meh, future problems. I then opened back to the options, and soon, I grinned at the new screen tab labeled. 'Skill Trees'. Then I heard a sharp gasp, my guess was that Rain found out too, then I turned to see her eyes wide with glee, scrolling down the page of god knows how many spells, it was going to be crazy trying to find ones suited to us, but here wasn't the best place. Quest Complete! -Awaken The Light- Pinkie knows of the source of the mist which has mysteriously locked you, and other ponies' power, find the source, and claim your power [ ] Find the source of the mist [ ] Dispel the corruption You have reconnected with your magic power, take pride in the now limitless abilities of your class! Enjoy! [Rewards] Skill Tree Skill Point x1 Teleport Rune x1 150 EXP [Level Up!] [4 - 5] "Mission complete, I guess." Rain smiled, as I held my hoof in the air, to which she happily high-fived, as I pulled out the Teleport Rune, holding it up for us to view the blue gem-like symbol in the stone, in my hoof. At it, Rain blinked in realization of what I was trying to point out. "Oh, right, we might want to get back to town first, I just realized how beaten I am, this boss was no pushover." "Aye, guess we have our expectation for the rest of the game" I pointed out, before I looked to Pinkie, who was staring at the Rune. "You ready, Pinkie?" "Yep, I wanna do this again, this was fun!" Pinkie happily clapped, as I grabbed Rain's hoof in mine, feeling her tense up suddenly, before Pinkie grabbed my shoulder tightly, then, I called out, satisfied with a great start to the day, and from the happy smiles on Rain, and Pinkie's faces I guess they fully agreed too "Teleport. Ponyville!" *ZAP-POP* To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 5 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 5 [Offensive class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 8 [Defensive class] Current Level: 5 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Rogue Flag Parting Glass (Broadsword) Old Armour x3 Health Potion x1 [New Passive Added] -Iron Soles- You hit harder than you look, your kinetic attacks have increased by 10% (Armour is like paper to you!) Author's Note I had fun making this boss battle, showing off how well these three could work together, but next time, we'll be getting a fun little event involving another of the Mane 6. Anywho, hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Event - [Ego Unleashed]
Event - [Ego Unleashed][Quest Board] "Clear a group of enemies. Collect items. Dispel a dungeon. Choices are clearly endless...." I muttered to myself, knowing I was alone for the rest of the day since Rain wanted to go out with her friends IRL, so I won't mind, besides, she did tell me to level up a bit so we could have a better grasp at the game's system "I think I'll take...." "Hey, you!" Ah, the presence of someone worthy of attempting to insult me, I accept. Turning at the voice, my hazel gaze was soon met with magenta, before my eyes glanced to the spectrum sweet hair, and the baby-blue coat of.... "Oh [BEEP]." I wasn't pleased, it was Rainbow Dash, question was, why is she talking to me? "I was trying to make a tough choice on which quest to go on, then you show up......so, how can I help you?" "You're that pony Pinkie was telling me about, edgy hair-" Have you looked in a mirror. "-Nerdy glasses, hard to miss the pony who took down a knight of 'Legend' by himself! You don't look that tough?" "Aye, I'd be inclined to agree, since I had Pinkie, 'AND' my friend Purplrain's help, it wasn't easy, not by a long shot." I bluntly replied to her comment, ignoring the insult to my glasses, and my blackish-red hair. Now I was beginning to grow tired of this conversation, and my brain cells were beginning to commit suicide with each breath. "Can I go now?" "Hey, I ain't finished with you!?" She yelled, as players watched me completely blow off the egotistical pegasus like the wind, as I pushed my glasses back up my muzzle. "I said get back here!?" "Don't care~!" I sung, leaving with my desired quest to gather some simple herbs, since it would offer me both a magic boost potion, and minor EXP potion, which are both rare, and valuable this early of a release. "Wonder how Rain's doing...?" [IRL Messages - User: Purplrain] I have to admit, its still strange being out of MLP: AO, I mean, sure, its be a week now, and with boring high school being boring, I've had alot to do, but just feeling my fingers again was strange, I guess playing as a different species entirely did that to you. Wonder how White Hat would feel? Since he's always online when I show up, so he must have had more time to himself, how did he react to switching between a human and pony? Just then, I was jumped out of my daydream by my phone vibrating in my pocket, so I sighed, ignoring whatever my friends were talking about for the moment to see who it was....it was a text.....from White Hat? Wow, I guess he already wanted to text with me, well, I don't mind, guess I shouldn't be rude. White Hat: Hey....sorry to bother you, but did PP tell anyone about the boss fight when I logged off? Purplrain: Well no, not when I was there Purplrain: Wait, I think when I was about to leave I heard her talking with RD, why? Did something happen? White Hat: Nothing major, just think the game's 'choice' system is in play, I may have an event dictated to myself, but I don't know, left before I could figure it out Purplrain: Are you sure it ain't anything that could be bad? 😟 White Hat: If it was, I think I can handle it, still, thanks anyways, seeya when I seeya, Rain 👌 "Hey, who's this you're texting?" My ears perked up at my best friend, Nora speaking beside me. "A guy....?" "H-Hey, my messages, my privacy!" I barked, hiding my phone, my face heating up slightly from the tease. "Just someone I know from a game Ive been playing." "He'll be fine, after all, he's probably more experienced in this stuff then me." [Ponyville West Hills] "I think Rain would have more experience with this stuff than me...." I groaned, seeing that same blasted Skittle reject in sight, and she didn't seem pleased. "Skittles, what do you want?" "I want a challenge." She instantly declared, much to my baffled expression "You want to expand on that?" I questioned, seeing her smug grin appear, whist she pointed towards Ponyville "You and me will race through town, first one to get to the east hills wins. Of course, if I win, you fork over a hoof-full of bits 'AND' admit i'm better than you." She demanded as if she was attempting to rob me, that, and I couldn't really care if she was better, she 'IS' an element of harmony, a rather egotistical one at that "I get the feeling my opinion in this conversation has no merit." I butted in "Deal?" She insisted "Great, now you're just flat-out ignoring my voice entirely like an athlete with parents that have overly-high expectations of him." I wasn't quitting, neither was she "Deal?" She was growing more agitated by the second, and that is as far as we will will agree to "Listen, discount Creepypasta, why don't you take your redundant Rainbow Factory ass back to Cloudsdale, and leave me in peace to pick flowers, not insultingly, I mean 'LITERAL' flowers for this quest!" I pointed out the obvious "Would you just accept the deal!?" She snapped, making me sigh in defeat my own words "Fine-fine, but...if I win...." Then I grinned myself, grabbing her hoof, and dragging her down from the air to look me dead in the eyes. "You not only apologize for insulting my glasses, but I get bits from 'you'. Deal, Skittles?" She now looked flustered, as I threw her hoof back, before she huffed, but continued to hold her ground with a glare, whist I did the same, finding this opportunity to kick her in the dirt would most entertaining indeed. I hate to upset some fans, but her ego makes me want to jump off a cliff with an anvil in my hands. "F-Fine, but if I also win, quit calling me that name....whatever it means, nerd-" Once again, she complimented my knowledge, but thankfully left my glasses. "-With glasses!" I'll bury her alive in cement. "Also, since we can use that same magic Twi rambled about, no using it, only running or flying through the town, whist sticking to the roads, and paths." "Aye, now can we get this over with, I have a quest to do for someone." I groaned, making her snort in anger, but she ultimately kept her trap shut, whist I dug my hooves into the dirt, flaring my wings to my sides, awaiting her signal to begin, that was going to be that case, if not for two things, the first [Event - Ego Unleashed] Rainbow Dash has challenged you to a test of speed, and reflexes, beat her, and set her straight! [ ] Beat Rainbow Dash Optional: [ ] Bend the rules in your favor And the Music, and if I didn't know any better, I believe that fate is rooting for me. Hehehe....i'm gonna burn this [BEEP] into the ground. "Ready.....GO!" At the mere sound of her mouthing the 'G' I thrusted my wings back, lurching forwards with my hooves, as I flew across the hill, my gravity defying body gliding towards the cobblestone path with ease as I took off, but my lead was very short, as I saw the annoying Skittles fly past me with a stupid grin, flying down the street to her left, whist I dashed past players, and ponies alike If she was laughing, then she best hold her breath. I quickly ducked to my left, running up a tipped wagon, before I grabbed the rope above me, swinging my body up, before I flew atop the thatch roofs of Ponyville, leaping across the gaps between the paths, whist using my wings to clear the streets with ease, with some onlookers either following us, or watching as I leapt over them. When I crossed another gap, I saw Skittles halt, as she flew up to me with a furious expression that even made me crack a smug smile at her own game turned against her. "You're cheating!" She exclaimed, whist I continued over the small gaps with ease "Your words...said nothing, ahh! About using the roofs, Skittles!" I breathed between jumps, before I rolled past her, causing her to crash into the thatch, whist I slid down onto the cobblestone road again, following the road to the east, with Skittles closing in fast, then, her speed tripled, throwing light objects flying from their resting place, as her mini sonic boom threw me into another overhanging rope, catching my chest as I grunted against the rope burn. "You cheating...." "Hey, I didn't say you couldn't!" She sneered, before dashing off, no pun intended, into the streets, as she, that's when I noted my bouncing, as I felt my weight move up, and down due to my balance. If I had a lightbulb, it would have lit up above my head now, as I looked down at some of the followers of our race with a sly grin "Hey guys, mind giving me a boost?" "YeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEeeeeeeet~!" I bellowed past Skittles, knocking her right wing into her muzzle, knocking her out of the sky, as I fell past like a bullet fired from a Barrett M82, before I fanned my wings out to skid across large, sharp drop on a thatch roof, sliding down onto a wooden board, snapping it free before I surfed wobbly down a slope heading east, the wind sharply catching my speed as I wobbly balanced myself on the wooden board In the ears, past the wind that splashed against my face, I could hear players catching onto the event, as some cheered for both me, and Skittles, seeing how events were random, and were a fun source of entertainment in any game. Then I saw it, the blue blur heading straight for me. Taking that as my cue to exit the streets, I leapt from the board, and onto another set of homes, sliding down one end to avoid Skittles, as she grew closer. Perfect. "Where'd he go!?" She snapped angrily, flying far slower than normal, big mistake on her end, as I leapt out of the houses, before I landed my back hooves on her head, before I propelled myself into a nearby alleyway, far from view. "Ha, eat it, cheater!" At the very outskirts of the Green Zone, many ponies awaited Skittles to arrive, as they cheered for their victor, the pegasus landing proudly on the grass, right beside where I had been viewing her for the last few seconds with a drink in my hoof, happily drinking the contents with a sweet, sweet grin. "Sup, Skittles, had a nice stroll through town?" I happily asked, as she jumped back, turning to face me with utter bewilderment, as she looked between me, and Ponyville, pointing as she did "How did-you couldn't-wha!?" Speechless, much like some of the onlookers, so I set my drink down, before clapping my hooves together "Its simple, you see, Pinkie happened to have mentioned yesterday that she has places randomly picked out for trampolines, the reason she brought it up was due to the fact that we could have used one during the boss fight for....reasons, she never told us, anywho, I just happened to use your head as a viewing post, before I leapt towards the location of said trampoline." I explained, and I swore her jaw fell of its hinges "How!? Pinkie's random!? That whole excuse was random!?" Skittles exclaimed, but I simply tapped my head with a smile "Well, this 'Nerd with glasses', happens to be good at logic, as if happens, she merely located trampolines in locations where such leverage would be required, such as the tall, steep roofs I hid behind to confuse you. I won't go into specifics, but she placed one in that alley based on the distance of each tall-roofed house, and placed it equally as close to them." My logic broke her, literally, I think her A.I fried "HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?!" Everyone in the area screamed in shock, whist I simply picked my drink up, finishing its contents with glee, before I stood up, storing the empty glass in my inventory, before I came before a defeated Skittles, who was looking crossed with sadness, anger, and alot of shame with the crowd staring at us, don't worry, I didn't feel guilty in the slightest, she did this to herself "So, how many bits do you want?" She mumbled, ah, making me choose, what a grand idea! What amount do I wish to acquire? I could get a new upgrade to my equipment? Maybe another drink? *Pat-Pat-Pat* At my sudden patting of her mane, she looked up in confusion, before I moved to walk past her, happily refocusing my quest again, then I stopped, not turning to face her, I doubt she needed pity now. "Don't make fun of my glasses again, Skittles." I answered her silence simply, before I walked away, leaving her, and the crowd to watch to surprise at my actions, whist I hummed to myself at my new objective. "Now then....collect-" "Hold on!" Oh for [BEEP] sake.... I turned my head to look at the perplexed expression of Skittles, as she looked lost at my gaze of bemusement, as I held my tab open for a moment. "Why didn't you take your side of the deal? A deal 'is' a deal!" She enforced, making me rub my muzzle, before I smiled simply at how obvious my reason was "You were envious of my talents, which were told by Pinkie, the most unreliable source for a full story, so to take advantage of that blinded information would leave a bad taste in my mouth." I replied evenly, moving to leave her with her own thoughts. This world....it was so real, her emotions were driven, her actions given meaning, it was so human, was this what the A.I of this world were capable of? "Just....try not to jump too early next time." "White...." I stopped at my name, hearing her shuffle her body slightly. "You're pretty cool, even for a nerd." "Duly noted, Skittles, seeya around." I waved, leaving her to fly off into the sky again. Meanwhile, a small bar appeared before me [Event Complete] Rainbow Dash has challenged you to a test of speed, and reflexes, beat her, and set her straight! [ ] Beat Rainbow Dash Optional: [ ] Bend the rules in your favor I guess some emotions are more reasonable when seen up close [Rewards] EXP 200 [Achievement Unlocked] Loyalty - You Talked with Rainbow Dash and completed a quest for her [Level Up!] [5 - 6] When I looked to my notifications again, I saw that Rain had replied to my messages again, so I opened the tab, and looked to the page with a more level head. Purplrain: Hey, all done, but now my friends think you're-nevermind, I'll be on at 6 tonight, you wanna do some quests then? 🙂 White Hat: Sure, just finished that event, turns out I may have gotten an new ally for future endeavors 👍 Purplrain: Awesome! Seeya later tonight! White Hat: Aye, seeya then Purplrain: Wait, can I ask you something? I paused, my hoof hovering over my menu before I could press the red 'X'. White Hat: Shoot Purplrain: Do you think I'm a little annoying? "Why would....?" I was now concerned, wasn't really like her to be asking this sort of thing, hell, I find myself surprised everyday to see her tolerating me! White Hat: No, don't really know why that's a question, but no, I don't 🙂 . . . . . . . . Purplrain: Seeya later tonight, byyyyye! 😁 When I finally closed the tab with a question lingering in my head, that thought was quickly shot by the sudden pain in my right hoof, as I stumbled slightly in my step, lifting my hoof to inspect what I struck, which was odd, the pain inhibitor wouldn't have registered pain as a sharp jab? My hoof hoof however, had a small cut across the flat surface, seeing the red line glow from damage, my health was fine though, but it still hurt, even looking at it made me wince. "What the hell? If I felt that....is my inhibitor lower?" I muttered, quickly swiping my tab open and going to 'Settings', when I scrolled to 'Physiological Data', I checked the details of my brain patterns, stress levels....there! 'Pain Inhibitor' When I looked at it, the details were blocked by the sudden appearance of a blue warning sign, as a text box appeared under the slowly flashing light. 'Sorry, this data is being evaluated by Administration, this inconvenience will be resolved within a few hours, please try again later'. Why would the Admins be 'evaluating' my data now? Wouldn't I have been given a message about it? Something tells me this isn't just a bug, but, I hope I'm wrong, since Skittles fried my logic today with her 'ahem', challenge. To Be Continued.... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 6 [Offensive class] Current Level: 6 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Empty Cola Glass [New Passive Added] -Part of the Creed- Your ability to maneuver and parkour over obstacles increases your speed when doing so, making you far more agile (Assassin's Creed is in your digital blood now!) Author's Note Hope this was good for a first event, these are going to be added to the story as fun little bonding events between characters, also, this may be shorter than the previous chapter, but I didn't want to needlessly drag out the plot anymore than I needed too. Hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Quest - [Fissure In Nature]
Quest - [Fissure In Nature]You ever had those moments when you ultimately regret talking to someone, to think they could offer you something of equal value to your time, enjoyment, even friendship? Yeah, I'm having that right now, to describe my day in two words. Info Brokers, and there were alot of them after only two weeks of MLP: Actualization Online being available. This one charming girl happens to be a crafty one. Her yellow coat, and browny-orange mane gave the impression she was some form of sweet, happy girl, no, not even close. Her eyes gave her away under her rugged, maroon hood, they were the most fiercest purple ive ever seen, and to 'not' be fooled was a challenge. She was an info broker I knew from previous games, and despite her....more than greedy charm, she doesn't sell you short of anything but the truth. "You know, you really give info brokers a bad name." I offered her bluntly, as she shrugged, sipping on her lemonade with a pleasurable smile at the taste, probably because I paid for it "Hey, the game's just off its feet, I ain't got a clue if this boss is all game or an old fairy tale? Not unless you wanna grab that juicy info for little ol' me?" Seraph teased with a sly look on her face, as I continued to look at the small forest just east of town. "If ya do I'll give my next intel drop half off?" "I'm surprised you even dropped it that low, you sure you didn't hit your head, Seraph?" I smirked, making her chuckle with a glare, before she 'booped' my muzzle "See? Why can't any guy be like you? Idiots the lot, that's why its fun to rip them off!" She cheekily chuckled, rubbing her hooves together, before ultimately clearing her throat. "So, who's the new girl you added to your team? Since you typically work solo?" "Oh, you mean Rain, yeah, first day here, she crashed into me, turns out her spawn was in the air too, I'm still trying to figure that part out though." I explained to her, since others have reported of the same issue, not that they died, it was just completely random. "Still, she's new to the whole RPG thing, so I helped her out, and now here we are, beat our first boss, taken on quests, and now reaching level 10." Now, if I knew one thing about Seraph, it was that she liked to tease everyone, she's almost like a flirt, that being said, I probably should have stopped at my first comment about Rain. Seraph was now grinning, her eyes narrowed with a chuckle. "Already got yourself a girl, i'm impressed, not surprising, but still...." She was really digging into my head now, but I held back my embarrassment, my poker face still stern "She's a friend, like you, and much like her, I will hit you if you say one more thing to [BEEP] me off." I snorted, making her back up defensively, but she knew she had me the moment I mentioned her. Deciding to move past 'that' insinuation, I pointed to myself. "Anywho, I don't see how I can be impressive, i'm a nerd with glasses, and I have a bad habit of-" "Being a complete idiot around girls, yeah, I know, if you haven't noticed, I am a girl." Seraph pointed to herself with a smile, before patting my shoulder, moving to leave me to my own devices. "Hey, one day you'll catch a girl, just give it time, even I don't have the info to tell you when. Now, off with ya intel hunting!" "Aye, sir." I saluted, watching as the hooded mare wandered off into town, decided to wait by a little longer, I opened my stats menu to take a look a what my agility, and strength was, since these smaller numbers will begin to add up Pegasus Pony Level - 09 Health: 445 Magic: 150 Stamina: 172 Strength - 17 Endurance - 5 Intelligence - 14 Perception - 20 Charisma - 6 Agility - 15 Magic - 7 Luck - 4 "Luck sucks, no surprise. Charisma is the same. But Perception is the greatest stat, then again, these attributes evolve with traits, so probably doing that event a few days ago with Skittles must have boosted that." I was beginning to mutter incoherent nonsense to myself, unaware of who was watching on beside me "Uhh....you ok?" GAH! I nearly fell back on my chair at Rain's sudden appearance, as she giggled at my misfortune. "Sorry, trying out that new stealth magic I have, decided to see how well your skills were." "Well, my Perception is high enough to tell who was standing near me, just not who it was among all the others, so thanks for the awakening, just chop off another year on my life." I sighed, before I grabbed Parting Glass, which I checked to make sure its stats were good enough for the battle ahead Parting Glass (Broadsword) "Thus kindly I scatter" DPS - 36 - 40 Elemental Enhance - 15% Attack Speed - Normal Critical Chance - 20% "You're lucky to even get a rare weapon like that this early, even so....you sure its a good idea to get so attached to one weapon?" Rain commented, whist I closed the tab, and turned to face her with a prideful smile "My dear Rain, if there's one thing I like more than exploration in games, its rare loot, and by god, I had my info broker give me some intel on this beut of a blade, turns out it has a 15% chance to drop, meaning I'm one of a veeeeery short list who have one!" I was grinning like a child at that, the fact I had such a blade with a low Luck was like finding gold "What, how is that even possible!?" Rain gaped, as I raised my hoof under her jaw to close it, before I made my way for the east hills of Ponyville. "Hey, answer me~!?" "Tough luck, literally!" I called back, laughing at her expense since she only got a jacket from the fight, though, to be fair, she now had white cloth wrapped around her front hooves, since she decided to go for kinetic skills, so she bought boxing tape, which was a 'glove' weapon type "Besides your stupid luck, what are we doing?" Rain now moved past the pain of loosing out on a rare item, and brought up the important question "Well, as it turns out, a pony needed help collecting flowers the other day, but when I returned, she also gave me a follow-up quest, where I needed to take a few of them to this spot called....'Nature's Rest', whist the quest is called [Fissure of Nature]." I explained, before I opened up my quests, before turning it on a literal switch for Rain to view my quest log. "Take a look." [Active Quest] -Fissure of Nature- Rose is grateful for your aid, but she needs you to place a few of the rare flowers in a special location as a way of respect for the forest. [ ] Find the Nature's Rest [ ] Place the flowers "Well, that's simple enough, but why do I get the feeling you're going to say, 'but'?" Rain smirked, as I closed the tab, before I pointed back to where we came for a second "The info broker had someone else do that quest too, turns out that same person was back at the Town Square in only ten minutes, think it was 'simple enough'?" I mused, earning a smack across the head. "Right, so she wants me to get her the info to sell, in exchange, I get 50% off her next intel drop." "What if someone gets the info before her?" Rain questioned, but I tapped my head, making her eyes widen, before she smiled. "The quest only started up twenty minutes ago, didn't it?" "See, now you're beginning to understand how I'm one step ahead of any other player, that, and I want that deal, she's mean when it comes to prices." I winced at the last time I fell into the temptation, I never saw those credits again, god have mercy on their glimmering souls [Forest of Remembrance] "This game's amazing, you know, when we find the next part of the story, I hope it takes us the Empire, I'd love to see how shiny everything is!?" Rain happily flew around the trees, noting how flowers sprouted more recently in bunches of all colours, and types of flora, trees even consisted of a handful of Blossom Trees too, it was quite mystical "Its what I love about adventuring, going to places, new and old, seeing how breathtaking or mysterious such a place is, even the lore behind it all, what was like before? What mysteries it held, that's why I'm here." I added to her statement, seeing her fly down to walk beside me "Then we'll be treasure hunters!" Her suggestion did spike an interesting memory for me, whist the prospect did seem fun to try, having a group of us hunting down rare items, and discovering new areas "I think you have a good idea....maybe there's a guild system in this game too?" I thought aloud, before I gasped at the memory. "That's is, my old friends from Relic Hunters!" "Relic Hunters?" Rain echoed, just as we were beginning to enter an open space among the trees "Yeah, on a game called Warframe, a friend of mine made a small clan for us called 'Relic Hunters', since we went after new stuff constantly, whist using the games 'Relics' to do so, good times..." Sighing at the happy thoughts, I soon turned my head to the sky, seeing the new location appear before us both [Nature's Rest] A open area was surrounded by trees, with some enemies in the distant tree line, but before us was a grassy oval base, with small stones embedded in the earth, with flowers growing in the corners of the stones, whist they seemed to circle a small platform in the center, where a few vases rested on the idol, alongside a small stream of water cutting from one side of the trees to the next. It was like a natural garden, with some ruins left behind. [Achievement Unlocked] Lost But Not Forgotten - You discovered ancient ruins "Amazing....!" We both breathed effortlessly, before I noticed Rain's bat-ear twitch to her right, before moving to her left, right as she pressed her lips in a thin line "Danger?" I answered, just as she flew into the air, right as I grabbed Parting Glass from its scabbard. That's when the stones began to glow a pale blue, runes inscribed upon each surface, just as the blue began to infect the platform in the center of the oval clearing. Now, I'm a betting man, so to say that we walked into a trap would be a clear win, if not for the 'trap' part *Fwoosh-BOOM* Both me, and Rain were sent flying back from the massive eruption of magic, as the arcane runes continued to glow at the appearance of the caster. To my surprise, it was....I....I don't know 'WHAT' it is? The....creature looked to be a mangled form of energy, as it warped, and twisted its form to appear as something tangible. But all it was to us was a black, and purple entity with glowing, blue eyes, jagged like scars on the body. Then the larger health bar appeared above its name, along with the strange instrument in the background beginning to play. [Astral Fissure - lvl 12] "Hey Rain, any weaknesses!?" I called up to her, as I leapt to my left, avoiding a magical beam of pure magic, as it scorched the earth where I once stood. Being a Therstral, she could use a skill called 'Erebus' Eye' allowing her to reveal all traits about her opponent, which helped greatly in finding weaknesses, and strengths of things like this "Its pure magic, and is immune to all physical attacks, but that's the problem!" I couldn't hear the last part, since she yelped at the blast of magic her way, before it formed another claw from its form, before a black, and purple beam hit my back, taking a piece of my health with it, dropping from 445 to 415, whist inflicting 'Lock-down' for a few seconds, stopping me from using spells "Its immune until we bind it to this world!" What the [BEEP] did that mean? Well, we were surrounded by slabs with runes on them, maybe.... "Hey, draw agro for a moment, I'm going to check the runes for a clue!" I called back to her, ducking under another blast of magic, before I watched Rain swoop low, before she pulled an uppercut on Astral's head, or where it would be, knocking it back, just as its eyes followed her flight Now in the clear, I quickly ducked behind the slab, as I checked each stone for some form of clue to its defeat, each was a strange, arcane writing, so I just skimmed past them with a groan of irritation, finding my heart beginning to beat a few ticks faster as Rain struggled to keep the Boss' attention on her. "There!" I exclaimed happily at the perfect English engraved upon the stone, as it read clearly "There are four siblings in this world, all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song forever." "What in the who, and the why?" Forget it, I opted to just hitting the Boss harder, but that wouldn't work, so I sighed, as I stood up on the slab, planting my hooves into the smooth surface, whist I breathed heavily [Sky Seal - Airlock] Channeling the rush of air into my right hoof, I smiled as I thrusted my body forward with my wings, flying like an arrow towards the distracted Astral Fissure, then I pulled my hoof back, before I brought it across its back in a strong, right-hook, as my hoof erupted in a burst of compressed air, throwing the Astral Fissure onto the platform like a mass of goo, as it slowly reformed to face me, its piercing blue eyes narrowed in my direction with a faint glow. It then swung a claw down on me, just as I flew back, before another swung to my left, and another to my right, so I spun in the air, before I placed my hooves atop its right claw, before propelling my body off the vibrating mass of magic energy. But I was soon tackled by Rain, as we both narrowly avoiding a massive blast of magic, as we landed in a tree top, whist I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "That was close...." I breathlessly chuckled, before I saw Rain's tired state, and yellow health bar, feeling a pang of guilt hit me, I handed her one of my health potions, before I pointed to the slab below us, which was opposite the one I found the riddle on. "Sorry for taking so long, but I need you to read that slab, and try and decipher the riddle on it." "You think that's what's stopping us from hurting it?" Rain asked me, whist I noticed its body turn towards us, just as my eyes widened at its glare. It seams Rain noticed too. "Right, good luck then." "Right-o!" I cheered, before I flew off the tree, before I rolled in the air, dodging another blast of magic, followed by another to my left, so I stopped mid-flight, before I fell backwards, free-falling for a moment, before thrusting my wings up again, flying in an infinity pattern to confuse Astral Fissure. "Think, Cayde, what does it mean....?" "There are four siblings in this world, all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song forever." I replayed the notion in my mind, just barely grazing another void blast, chipping my health again as I continued to fly around its frame, stay a distance away to avoid its claws "What begins, but has no end, yet ends all that begins!?" I heard Rain scream to me, as I nodded, before I fell to the ground, opting to run around the oval, whist Rain hid behind an old log next to what looked like an old fire pit....fire pit? "LOOK OUT!" *Zap-Thud* My health spiraled into the yellow now, as I felt my body jolt that the sudden surge of magic, as I tumbled into the grass, just as I saw Rain strike the body of Astral Fissure again, kicking it in the back of the head, before flying from its grasp, only for the hand to knocking her flying into a tumble. That strike hurt, I could still feel the remnants of magic stinging my fur, which was perplexing, how can it hurt so much? Was it due to different inhibitors affecting certain attacks? Probably, but that's not important right now, Cayde! "That's it!" I think I knew the answer to the riddle, setting aside my previous thought, albeit, I don't know if there's any repercussions if I'm wrong, but Rain was seriously low on HP, and so was I, and it wasn't giving us an opening to heal, so it was better late than never. "The answer is.....Water. Earth. Fire. Wind!" Suddenly, the music changed at the burst of light emanating from the slab my riddle was on, and in a flash, an electrical coil of lighting snagged the side of Astral Fissure, causing it to hiss at the sudden infliction of the chain, binding it to the rock. Then I saw it, the health bar above its head flickered a pale blue, before the chain seemed to cause a few hit points of damage. "Rain, attack it now with everything you got, its not immune!" I hurriedly snapped out of my trance, my analyzed done, seeing that it was no longer moving, as if the chain had ceased its connection to our world. Taking this time to strike, I channeled the magic into my front hooves, whist Rain flew above me, pulling her front hooves back like she was drawing a bow [Umbra Seal - Shadow Shot] Her attack materialized a black, and white bow in her hooves, as she released the string, propelling a purple arrow towards Astral Fissure, before the bolt struck its chest, releasing tiny purple embers, procking it with weakness, and stun within the time of impact. Whist I flew towards its chest turning my body to the side, spinning my hooves like a blade. [Sky Seal - Airlock] My two hooves soon elbowed Astral Fissure atop the mass that would be its head, causing a burst of light to expel from its body, before flashes of yellow light struck its body in a multi-combo strike, decimating half its health in one fell-swoop, however, the force of its body threw me back a few inches, just as I saw two of its arms holding a purple sphere between their claws. Oh [BEEP]! We both had no time to react, as the claws clapped against the sphere of magic, before shards of astral energy shot forth from Astral Fissure's hands, shattering my health into the red, whist I watched from my party as Rain's dipped into the yellow behind me, both of us now fallen from the skies. Then I heard it over my slowly fading pain, as I pulled myself to my hooves to see its arms circling around one-another, generating another AOE strike within the time between the first attack, and this. We didn't have time to act or even run. We needed to think of a way to solve the last riddle before we were sent to our graves! "Wait....graves...." I breathed, turning my head back over the now howling wind that was created by the activation of the astral blast, when I did, I saw that Rain was sitting behind the same slab she read a few minutes ago, and soon my eyes widened. "This isn't just a bunch of old ruins.....its a memorial sight!" There's a stream of Water. With the embers left behind by a Fire. Earth all around us, flourishing among the dead. As the Wind sings for the souls. Whist they await....Death. I didn't have alot of time, as I threw myself back, moving to crawl beside Rain, and over the wind, I yelled to her the answer to save us both. "The answer....is Death!" I screamed, as her eyes quickly widened upon the connection, before she did the same, yelling the answer to the slab, and to our relief, the slab glowed brighter. Before long, another golden chain of yellow shot forth from the slab, snapping around Astral Fissure's arms, and finally cutting off the wind, and the void blast from charging again. "You did it!" "No, 'We' did it." Rain corrected me, before I saw the Boss struggle against the restrains of the riddle, throwing its mass back to try and break free. "I'll hit it again, then you strike it down." "Aye, sir." I nodded, flying above her, as Rain pulled her arms back again [Umbra Seal - Shadow Shot] Within seconds, the purple bolt tagged Astral Fissure, stunning, and weakening its defenses once more, whist I pulled my fore-hooves back, allowing a small gusts of wind to build around the length of my arms, before I grabbed Parting Glass from its scabbard, transferring the magical skill from my hooves to the blade's edge, before it glowed a bright blue. The power drawn to the blade was heavy, almost as if the magic pulled against my own weight, but I only needed a few seconds. Flying down, I held the blade in both hooves, as I shot towards the stunned Astral Fissure, before I spun anti-clockwise in the air, as I brought the blade down to my side, swinging it in a diagonal pattern to my right, before I called out the spell at the last few seconds. [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] In a blink, I parted the chain binding Astral Fissure, whist splitting the gap between its eyes in two, as its body slid under the thin, sky-blue line through his body, as I slowly placed Parting Glass back in its scabbard with a clank, before the health bar above Astral Fissure vanished, its body erupting into a burst of purple, black, and blue streams of colour. Then I smiled. "Checkmate." Simple, but well deserved, as I heard Rain cheer from behind me, as I smiled, walking over to the pedestal where the vases still waited for flowers. "Hey, I think I get this quest now. Its to remember the souls who were buried here long ago, and so that creature must be what spawned out of the emotions of the lost souls still waiting." "Hmm....yeah, I think....I think that right." Rain softly agreed, as three flowers, with blue cups, and white lines, and a small leaf attached to each of their steams. I then carefully knelt down, placing one in each of the three vases, then I looked over to see the slabs hum once more from the last being placed. Then I was nudged by Rain, who looked at me happily. "I think they like it." "Aye....less we forget, but after today, I don't think that's an option." I mused, sitting atop the platform, as Rain sat on the warm grass beside me, then, I saw the banner above us appear, not even giving us a moment to rest it seams, but atleast we know that there won't be any surprising for the duration of our small break [CONGRATULATIONS] [Ruin Mini-Boss Liberated!] [Rewards] Stream Rose x1 Soul Token x1 (Currency) 375 bits 400 EXP "A rare item?" Rain pondered, before she jumped at her body glowing gold again, along with my own body, then I grinned as I finally broke the single digit of my level Quest Complete! -Fissure of Nature- Rose is grateful for your aid, but she needs you to place a few of the rare flowers in a special location as a way of respect for the forest. [ ] Find the Nature's Rest [ ] Defeat Astral Fissure [ ] Place the flowers [Level Up!] [9 - 10] [Achievement Unlocked] Double Digits - Reach level 10 [Stats Increased] Agility +1 Magic +3 Endurance +2 "Well, I finally broke into the double digits, I think today has been successful." I nodded at my own satisfaction, whist I saw that Rain was now level 9, but she was also staring at her menu for a moment, clearly in deep thought over something she had found. "You get something rare?" "No-no, its an uncommon, but its...really good, stat wise, I mean, good strength, good critical, but its a Bo staff, kind-of useless to me." Rain shrugged, but I just rubbed her mane, tilting her head from left to right. Foolish noob, how blind you are to the commoners of the game "It may be different, but you never know when you could use the range, keep it for now, just as a backup if punches are out of the question. That, and even though the armour and gear doesn't match, you still have the better stats." Advice from past failures, never forget a backup weapon, or in my case, bring one of everything, that works too. Before I could begin to say anything, I saw a message appear in my 'notifications'. "Hey, got a message." "Same...here." She then looked up at me, as I looked with the same suspicion, so we quickly opened our tabs, as I nudged her to read hers out loud, this could be the sign of an event, or even an update, either one is a promising fortune "Greetings, fellow players We, the Key Bearers have located the beginning of this area's Raid Lair, this is the prime challenge of each area as of this current version of the game, we do not know who else has found a key, but if you have, come to the location detailed in this message, and bring your team too, as this will be an effort from all aiding party's to both figure out, and beat. Sincerely, The Key Bearers' Master" "There's already a guild in the game?" To call me skeptical would be justified, since no such system has been implemented, so unless they were preparing for that update or what was up for debate. But, a raid lair? Now that spoke volumes, especially since I have a key too "We got a key from the quest we did with Pinkie, right?" I nodded, before Rain got up to face me with concern. "Think its worth going?" "I think we don't really have a choice, if these keys are the way to forward the game, we are obligated to do so, but at the same time, we get to be the first players in a new raid, which is a boat load of fun!" It was simple thinking, but having access to new, rare, exclusive loot first was always a treat, so I was all for it. I might even get Seraph on board with this little pointer of info.... Then I stopped daydreaming to see Rain smiling at me curiously, before she rolled her eyes at me. What? Was there something on my face? "You really turn into a whole 'nother person when loot it brought up, especially in new areas." Rain observation was true, I really love raids, but....I can't tell if that was an insult or a compliment? "Is that bad?" I questioned with a mocked faced "Nope, just fun to watch you act like a kid!" She was mocking me, laughing too, and what did I have to do, I pouted against my better judgement, I hate you brain, you do dumb things, you make my thoughts hurt "Other than that...." I grumbled, shaking my head, just as I closed my menu. "The sooner we know what to do with this key, the better." "Right!" To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 9 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 10 [Offensive class] Current Level: 10 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Stream Rose x1 Soul Token x1 (Currency) 375 bits 400 EXP New Skills [Sky Seal - Airlock] - Compressed air around an object, and upon striking, it explodes [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] - Your wings/weapons become thin blades of air, slicing through armour [Umbra Seal - Erebus' Eye] - See into your enemies, know their strengths and weaknesses [Umbra Seal - Shadow Shot] - Fire an arrow of shadow, debuffing your enemies Author's Note I really enjoyed this awesome mini boss, instead of just a 'find the enemies and kill' I made a little challenge alongside it to keep them on their toes. Also, the Attributes are much like Badass points in Borderlands, so each point is worth +0.3%, hence why they're so high. Anywho, hope you enjoyed this, and next time we expand the story with what that key is! Seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Story - [The Beginning]
Story - [The Beginning]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "Hey, got a message." "Greetings, fellow players We, the Key Bearers have located the beginning of this areas Raid Lair, this is the prime challenge of each area as of this current version of the game, we do not know who else has found a key, but if you have, come to the location detailed in this message, and bring your team too, as this will be an effort from all aiding party's to both figure out, and beat. Sincerely, The Key Bearers' Master" "There's already a guild in the game?" "Other than that....lets get going, the sooner with know what to do with this key, the better." "Right!" [Gateway Forestation] "Well....this is ominous?" I was now staring at the massive gate in the Everfree Forest, with Rain to my left as we stared at the massive arches, covered in moss, trees, and other means of forestation, whist players sat in groups or on their own, all talking about the gateway, or other similar things. One thing they had in common, they all held a key like mine The arch at the end was broken though, and before us all was a massive, black door, intricate carvings of wood, and metal embedded into the wood, whist vines snaked across its surface like a infestation. Meanwhile, a handful of players stood by, the most notable one of course, was the purple dragon. He was like an adult version of spike, only his spines were doubled, and with black tips, alongside his yellowish-orange eyes, and silver armour, which I saw in the market, being the most expensive item, the 'Arcane Drive' armour set, this guy definity had cash to burn to get his hands on this very-rare armour. Like before, gear is like any typical rarity of gear in games. White. Green. Blue. Purple. Orange. But as the most significantly rare, to the point of myth. Red Tier. "Why, you must be the last one to arrive, a pleasure to meet you, White Hat." The British dragon spoke, which I smiled at since I knew a guy who was English too, then he approached us, holding a claw out to me, so I held my hoof out, and shook. "I am the leader of the future guild known as The Key Bearers, my name is [Klaw], and I apologize if this meeting as interrupted anything you had planned." "No, we actually had just completed a quest, so we both came here to see the raid entrance." Rain answered for me with a kind smile, making Klaw bow his head slightly "Nice to see a lovely lady aiding a treasure hunter in his findings, seeing as you both have more-than uncommon equipment?" He complimented us, I just scratched the back of my neck happily, whist Rain blushed at being called 'Lovely' most likely, hey, he wasn't wrong. "Now then, ATTENTION!" At his booming voice, all other parties soon looked up from their conversations, all now facing Klaw, and his men, before he cleared his throat, keeping a strong gaze upon all of us, at this, I stood back with Rain to give him some space. This guy already has my respects for just having a British accent, hell, even the game gave him music! Where was my own score? "Now, as you all were informed, our group leaders all possess a key that will grant us access to the very first Raid Lair of the game, all parties without a key bearer cannot enter this Raid Lair, due to a source from outside the game detailing both how this Raid Lair works, and how to beat it, so please, pay close attention!" He began, already confirming my thoughts on the keys "I will start with the name, this is the Raid Lair known as, The Vault of Forestation, it is a massive, forest maze with limits to how high you can fly, and there are three paths into the maze, all of which with a switch of some-kind at the end, once the mini-boss guarding the key is defeated, all paths with intercept at the Boss Lair, of course, traps, mobs, and misdirecting paths are around every turn, so this is no mere maze." Ok, Death Maze, got it "Once we reach the boss room, all parties will plan their strategies to taking the Boss down. So far, only two pieces of information have been given about the Boss. One, the name of the Boss is, [Twisted Angulation], and that its room is separated into platforms surrounding the Boss. That is all the current information we have, any questions!?" At the end of the briefing, everyone seemed to nod in understand, or stayed silent for the respective reasons. Then the music ceased playing.... "Right, now then, we will-" "Hold It!" What is this, Phoenix Wright? At the voice, all heads turned to the unicorn clad in basic leather armour, but it had a strange sheen to it that even I couldn't place, a buckler on his right hoof, and a black longsword on his left hip. His coat was a navy blue, and his hair short and black, even matching his scruffy beard, where a scar ran across his left cheek, and with pissed golden eyes, more importantly, in my direction. Oh [BEEP] its one of these [BEEP]s. I....might need to cut back on my swearing sometimes.... "Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a hard time feeling confident this Raid will go smoothly with a party of 'TWO', and ones not even level 15 yet, a 9 and 10? They might as well be clouds!" He ranted, as I saw Rain grind her teeth in anger, whist I kept a neutral frown on my face "I believe they wouldn't have come without first knowing of the dangers of a raid, otherwise, they would have passed the key to someone else." Klaw defended us sternly, but wait, I could have 'gave' this to someone? Since when? Questions for later "Only because they're too greedy! Come on, they have rare gear, a key to the raid, and are low levels-" Is he....? "They either ripped someone off, or they plain cheated, without any real dedication to the game!" Woah, it must be my birthday! Some players were beginning to mutter to themselves, but none spoke up at the commotion, even Klaw stayed silent. "Hate to be the one to say it, but I can't be confident in a raid with a bunch of weak-level players on my side." "Hey, we earned this stuff through near-death experiences, sorry if you happen to live off of scraps!" Rain finally snapped, causing a handful to stifle their laughs, as I swore a gear sprung from the idiot's head, even I held back my own laughter, but then the stallion walked up to us, more importantly, towards Rain, that....struck something "What did you say, you stupid little-" "I'd suggest you stand back, asshole, before I go from green to red in a flash." I warned dangerously, since the game had a Player Killing system, so if I attack an innocent, I get yellow, if I kill an innocent, I got red, simple, and a pain in the ass if caught and thrown in jail. But now Parting Glass was aimed at his neck, my eyes glowing with malice, whist I smiled. "Back off." "Y-You wouldn't try it, i'm green after all?" Was that gonna be his fallback? That's weak, but I had an idea. So I stepped forward, keeping my body in front of Rain, as I burrowed my eyes into his "I don't care if I become red for a few hours, or even days, but the moment you dare to threaten my teammate, my friend, you could run....to the ends of this earth, but I'll find you, and I won't kill you...." I trailed off, seeing his eyes begin to waver. "I'll violently kill you...." "I-u-uh...." The player soon backed off, muttering curses under his breath, whist some looked on in satisfaction at the man's departure, I turned back to look at Rain, who was staring back at me with an expression of....well I don't know what it was, but she soon smiled warmly at me "T-Thank you, White." At her gratefulness, I felt heat rise to my face, as I cleared my throat, smirking "Not a problem, but now embarrassment has caught up to me." I chuckled, then I saw Klaw looking at me curiously, before he nodded, and then spoke up "Now then, we'll all meet up here tomorrow at 4 in the afternoon, that should give everyone enough time to prepare or do any errands IRL, is that fine?" He asked out loud, and everyone, including me, nodded, and he smiled. "Well then, we still have a few hours, how's about we celebrate finding this Raid Lair, and the first to be discovered in the game?" "YEAH!!!" "Woop-Woop-Woop!" [Dicey Destiny's Inn] The inn of Ponyville was not the most expensive or glamorous one, but that's what makes it everyone's favorite to dine at. It was like a motel, with an open-air courtyard through an arch, with a bar at the back when you enter, tables, and overhangs to sit on, or underneath they were booths. Above, past a set of stairs to the back left, and right were the inn rooms. They were spacious, comfy, and provided players with a small kitchen, bed, and even some has bathrooms. Then came the lighting at night, candles in lanterns on the pillars, whist on strings under multicolored lights, stringing across the empty space above. The Dicey Destiny's Inn was homey, and full of entertainment both in-game, and player played, alongside the grand atmosphere at night, it was like a guild, warm, inviting, and funny as hell. Among the teams for tomorrow's raid, me and Rain sat at our own booth, with my friend, slash, info broker, Seraph, who was willing to aid us in the raid, being a level 11 support class unicorn. "-And when we came back, filled with credits, and happy, his best friend goes and spends over two 'MILLION' credits on a bunch of random [BEEP], and from that day, he was known as, The Lord of Debt!" Seraph laughed, as I slammed my hoof on the table in a fit of laughter, along with Rain. "B-b-but he also had the most f-fabulous Liset e-ever~!" "It looked like the forth of July!" I cried out in pain, trying to breathe, all the while Rain wiped a tear from her eye "So, I guess its us for the raid, no others you can recommend?" I chuckled, changing the subject while taking a sip my cola's sweet, bubbly taste, then I saw Seraph hummed in thought, messing with the straw in her mouth "....Nope, not any that are worth a cent, ain't got no one at our levels, in terms of experience and all that." Seraph shrugged sadly, before she grinned evilly, wrapping a hoof around Rain's neck. "Its just two girls, all needin' a man to keep us safe!" "Hardly, Rain here's saved my ass plenty of times, she's really good at close-combat boxing." I mentioned, noting her mixed-martial-arts fighting style, then she nodded with a small blush of embarrassment "I...well I take classes IRL, boxing is one of the multi-purpose lessons my trainer taught us. Even Systema." Rain shyly explained, making me, and Seraph gape in surprise at her talents, how someone like her who has never played an MMORPG with talent like that I will never know. "I-its just for self-defence, nothing crazy!" "Aye, you keep him in line...." Seraph grinned, pointing a hoof at me, so I responded with a pillow to her face, but she still commented from under it. "Worth it." "Yeah-yeah....Wasp." I grumbled her nickname, before I felt someone standing to my right, so I turned an eye, and saw Klaw, a drink between his...claws, yeah I'm starting to see the joke here. Deciding to distract myself from the pain-in-my-ass, I waved. "Sup?" "I can see you have an interesting selection of friends, quite rowdy." He mused, as Seraph kept poking Rain's bat-wings, making her twitch at the possible sensitivity of them, even to the point that she whacked Seraph with said wing. "Besides that, mind if I had a moment to chat?" "Sure, Rain, Seraph, play nice." I grinned, moving out the booth to avoid the pillow, as I followed Klaw to a corner of the Inn, as we sat by a dimly-lit space by the bar. Placing our near-empty drinks on the table. "So, what might you need from me?" "Well, from how I've seen you react earlier at the Raid Lair, how you seemed to analyze the threat system, and even the player, Bombard-" "Oh my god, that's his name? Sounds like a Grineer I slaughtered countless times." I groaned at the horrid name choice, then I cleared my throat. "Continue." "You know more of this system than anyone else, almost like an admin..." Was he trying to call me out as a developer? I shook my head for his insinuation, but I do appreciate the compliment of being as near perfect as the ones who made Control Core Gamma "Na mate, just a 'White Hat' in a world of the Digiverse, but, I do know alot of how this game works, just so happens I'm used to idiots like him in other games, that, and I have aaaaalot of time on my hands or hooves in this case." I replied evenly, but his gaze then turned to one of concern, at first, I thought I annoyed him, but now....I have the feeling it was something far more grim. "This...isn't why you called me to speak alone, is it?" "Tell me, have you been seeing any....random glitches in the game for the past two weeks? Like bugs, harder enemies, painful injuries, anything like that?" He....did he also experience them too? Even the pain inhibitor was weird, usually it was set to a stinging sensation, but now I....well it felt painful. I placed my hoof on the table, my expression turning darker as I leaned a little to avoid yelling it "Yeah....when me, Rain, and Pinkie went to reclaim our magic, the boss was level 5, whist we were level 2, 3, and 8, and the boss also had three phases, 'WITH' sword skills." I explained, remembering the wild, and fast attacks with each phase, how we came close to losing if not for figuring out the weakness. "Even today, when I was hit by a magic blast, it burned, like, burned me." "Hmm, it seems your claims match both mine, and other players too, do you believe it to be a glitch or early release bug?" If I knew, I'd be reporting it, but....I only shrugged, shaking my head in cluelessness. Klaw lent back at that. "I see...." "Hey, if it continues the reports will fly in, but right now we have a Raid to beat tomorrow, so lets keep the spirits high, eh?" I smiled, tapping the bar as the bartender moved to serve me, my thoughts placing that grim news aside for now, with Klaw taking a moment to respond. "Coke, ice, along with one of those umbrellas, please, thank you." "You are certainly a wildcard, White." Klaw chuckled, but he ultimately joined me at the bar stools, placing his empty drink on the stand. "Another when you can sir." He also placed a few bits on the counter with a smile. "This one's on me." Now I liked this guy, even tapping my hooves on the table happily "Hehe, then I guess when we win, I'll owe you a drink." At the arrival of our drinks, we lifted them high, and tapped the glasses. "To ends of the earth." "To this grand game." He toasted, before he drunk the night in Equestria away, as the music grew louder If only.....if I knew what all this meant. I could've stopped this. Stopped us from going to that bloody raid! If only I knew about what came next.... To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 9 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 10 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 11 [Support class] Current Level: 10 Magic: Sky/Wind Items: N/A New Attribute Added: -Eyes of Fire- During conversations your intimidation jumps an extra 50% if talking to a higher level player or A.I (If your willing to mess with my friends, than first get past me!) Author's Note More characters, and now the big raid! But it seems that White isn't the only player to notice the bugs, but why? Guess you'll have to wait to know! Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Raid - [The Vault of Forestation] Authors Notes: Since this was shorter than the rest, here's an early chapter! Part one of the Raid will still be out this Sunday.
Raid - [The Vault of Forestation]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "I will start with the name, this is the Raid Lair known as, The Vault of Forestation, it is a massive, forest maze with limits to how high you can fly, and there are three paths into the maze, all of which with a switch of some-kind at the end, once the mini-boss guarding the key is defeated, all paths will intercept at the Boss Lair, of course, traps, mobs, and misdirecting paths are around every turn, so this is no mere maze." "Once we reach the boss room, all parties will plan their strategies to taking the Boss down. So far, only two pieces of information have been given about the Boss. One, the name of the Boss is, [Twisted Angulation], and that its room is separated into platforms surrounding the Boss. That is all the current information we have." [Gateway Forestation] This was it, the grand day of the first ever raid in MLP: AO, it was rather exciting, I actually couldn't get much sleep last night because of it, I even told my brother about it, he said that his 'Mafia' as he described it had been busy taking down a rebel faction in their location, a bunch on underground [BEEP], which was certainly up his alley. But now, it was time. Now, however, I drew my attention to the nervous looking Rain, who was looking through her menu like crazy, muttering to herself about different items. "Hey, you'll be fine, just stick with me, and Seraph will handle all the rest for us." I comforted, as she jumped at my wing touching her back, but she sighed, smiling weakly. "Nervous?" "Absolutely, I mean, I knew I would 'eventually' be part of a raid, but not with the first players to ever beat one!" She exclaimed, making me, and Seraph laughed a little, before I pulled her muzzle to look at me, as I gave her welcoming smile "You'll be fine, just think of all the exclusive gear we're gonna get from doing this, all the powerful stats to press on to better adventures!" I cheered, whist I looked to a drooling Seraph, as she giggled with a blush. "Well....most of us are excited for loot, she just wants stats to sell for a fortune to people." "Yeah, so....who was it I was going to be with for the time being, through the first part like you mentioned?" Rain asked curiously, so I scanned the crowds, before I pointed to a guy in all black, the only thing showing was his black legs, his silver, spiky tail, and the locks from under the hood, along with his muzzle [SilverCrow] "I talked to him earlier, said it would be fine to tag with him." I explained, then I brought up the system, which was important, as I showed her a basic map I drew up IRL, showing three paths. "Inside, we'll depart at the fork, you stick with SilverCrow's squad down the right path, me, along with Klaw's group will take the center path, and last, Seraph will be with the rest down the left path. Then, we meet up at the end, simple....except, not at all as easy as I say it, due to traps, monsters-HMM!?" Seraph had shoved a hoof in my mouth, shutting me up as she rolled her eyes, pulling back to let me breathe. "Stick by them, you'll be fine, once we make to the boss we'll take it down without a hitch!" Her upbeat attitude for a cheap Info Broker was certainly a change in atmosphere, but with us now at the gate, it was time "Alright, all key bearers place your key on the door!" I heard Klaw call up, as I nodded to my team, before I trotted up to the door, pulling the sky out of my items list, and holding its ruby figure before me. Beside me, I saw that Klaw wielded the Amethyst key, then SilverCrow held out an Onyx key. Then that Bombard [BEEP] brought out a Topaz key, followed by an Emerald Key from a mare, a stallion had an Amber key, and last was a Changeling with a Sapphire key. "Now!" *Tiiiiiiing-Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank* Within the moment the vibration ceased, we stood back at the gust of wind pushing past us, as I held onto my scarf, before the wind mellowed out, and the black corridor of vines, leaves, and thorns greeted us. Then, fireflies flew past us from the Everfree Forest, before igniting the way in an aura of emerald light, the gloomy tunnel leading to the innards of the Raid Lair. Hell, even the ambiance gave me chills. "Ok everyone, follow me, SilverCrow, and Trickstar, all those who are under their squad should stick with them, encase the separation is triggered!" I must admit, Klaw had everything down to a 'T', from leadership, to keeping all the plans as straight as an arrow, alongside being respected by everyone, he was really good at it, I'd lie if I wasn't a tad bit envious But now we followed into the dark abyss of The Vault of Forestation. The hollow moans were all around us now, as the clanking and clopping echoed around us, with some using illumination spells to aid the fireflies in keeping us straight. It was almost morbid, how dark, and loud the noises were, with snapping vines, and what sounded like crunching in the darkness of the tree-like ground, no longer dirt, or even grass, just bumpy vines, and bark. Then, the fireflies departed into three lines like a fork. "Looks like our paths divide now...." I hummed, looking to Klaw. "Time for the next step." "Agreed....Everyone, time to part ways, remember, this is a maze, so stick together, and find the switch to clear your path, when you do you should be safe, and beware of the mini boss down your path....I....dug some information up from a friend of mine, as it turns out....the boss moves through-out the maze, so....be careful." Ok, now I was nervous "Agreed." SilverCrow bowed, before he silently called for his team to follow him. To my left, I saw Seraph grin, pulling her rapier out with her magic as she followed her squad leader, leaving me, Klaw, and Bombard with our players "White, mind if you stay with me up front, your high perception would be invaluable in avoiding any unnecessary fights?" Klaw asked me, as I nodded, moving to stand just ahead of them, as one player held a lantern beside me. "Now then, lets press on." "Right!" [Raid Lair - Central Reservoir] "Sir, more Shamblers ahead, two I think!" A player called, just as I saw Klaw burn the last two with a breath of fire, the heat throwing us a wave of warmth, while it illuminated the area in a fierce glow of orange for a few seconds, then he turned, seeing the two armoured ponies, their armour shattered, and held together by vines, with leaves covering their now bark-like skin, whist their eyes glowed a sickening green "Right then, one more breath attack." Klaw mused, moving to stand before us, as he pulled his head back, his scaly cheeks puffing out [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Roar] Within the moment he called the spell's incantation, he threw his head down, releasing a torrent of flames that licked the overgrown tunnel in a whirlwind of flames, devouring the two Shamblers whole with a single fell-swoop. However, I didn't see the trails of green light fly through the flames where I was flying, but I did see something waving a staff in the air behind the impact. "Its not over yet!" I called down to them, as the flames cleared from a sudden opposing force, only to reveal the knights still standing, weapons held in their hooves, as a human skeleton held a staff, cracking the bottom of it off the ground, as its tattered, royal blue cloak blew in the wind, its blue, pinprick eyes stared at our squad [Ruined Wizard - lvl 15] "Seems this may require physical force, Bombard, can you-" I couldn't allow this to linger anymore, so I flew past Bombard with ease "Hey, what the hell!?" Bite me, asshole Passing Klaw, I drew Parting Glass once more, just as my wings began to glow a light-blue hue, their rounded tips sharpening like knives as I glared at my three targets, seeing them all bunched together was a perfect opportunity. [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] Once chanted, I flew like a bullet, striking both level 14 Shamblers down, as I curved my body up like a soaring hawk, then they burst into a streamline of emerald green. I quickly front-flipped in the air, flying over the staff that was swung horizontally in-front of me, as I held my sword out, striking the spine of the Ruined Wizard, before I spun upside-down, dragging my blade diagonally down to the right, before I spun again, following the same pattern, and knocking the Wizard forwards. Then I landed my back hooves on the ground, before I thrusted forward, impaling the Ruined Wizard through the back, as its health bar vanished, along with its body in a flash of blues, and silvers. Then, I hovered in the air for a moment to catch my breath. *Schhwaff-Schhwaff* My cheek was grazed slightly at the last moment I pulled my head back, as I felt the laceration sting like a cold ice-pick to the face, which was baffling, but I threw cation aside, as I flew towards the two Hunters, holding bows in their magic as their pointy hats covered their eyes. [Forgotten Hunter - lvl 13] Growling in pain from the arrow fired at my face, I flew for them both, channeling my magic into my left hoof, whist I held Parting Glass to my right, as they continued to fire arrows in my wake, which I simple ducked, and rolled to avoid, before I watched them fire two at the second I was within hoof's reach of them. In that frame from when they released the strings, I spiraled to my left, skimming the arrowheads, my blade slicing them in two. Before I called out with righteous anger. [Sky Seal - Airlock] I bared my teeth, before I threw a heavy left cross into the cheek of a Hunter, his body propelling into the second Hunter, as the air pressure shot them like a shotgun blast, throwing them both flying into the right side of the tunnel, and as the dust cleared, I stood on solid ground again with a grin, their bodies went limp, their torso's pinned against a massive torn on the wall, before they too turned to streams of silver and green. Then I closed the tabs of loot, not bothered for the time being of what they contained. "Holy....hell." One player breathed, as the squad walked up to me "Nice going!" Another praised, making me rub the back of my neck as I slowly placed my blade back in its scabbard, then Klaw patted me on the back with a chuckle "You are certainly full of talent, when did you learn to pull a stunt like that?" He questioned humorously, as Bombard grumbled, walking past us "Showoff..." I stifled a laugh at that "You're welcome, buddy." I snapped back, before the others followed him, just as me, and Klaw walked behind the rest, some even patting me on the way which was nice to feel, not often I was praised, so I got a tab bit flustered by their comments. "To answer your question, I've played games for years, so I picked up a few tricks here and there." "Well, I certainly would be willing to test that metal in the future, hard to come by someone this deadly." He praised, before he hummed in thought, as if he was looking at his party. "How're your friends?" "Well...." I trailed off, looking to see that Rain was only injured slightly, whist Seraph's glowed yellow, meaning she was in-combat. "So far so good, both are still in the green, and Seraph is in combat. Not to pry, but is your team doing ok?" "Ah yes, SilverCrow, he's the only one not present with us, but he's doing fine, in the yellow, but he's never gone below that margin, and I don't expect him to." Klaw answered, but then we stopped, seeing the group looking at the end of another corridor, but unlike the last few turns, it had something at the end "Yo Klaw, we found the switch!" Bombard yelled, pointing at the strange object before us. It was a simple, vine-covered lever, with an emerald ensnared around the vines, even in the dim lighting, my perception could still make it out from such a distance "Good! Lets activate it and-" Hold on....something isn't right "Wait!" I snapped, holding my hoof up, my ears twitching at the echoes around us, thankfully, no one moved an inch, allowing me to listen closely, then, I slowly turned my head to the right of us, seeing the open corridor that lead into the darkness where the fireflies faded "Problem?" Klaw asked sternly, before I slowly reached for Parting Glass, frowning at the heavy footsteps I felt rattle my own. That's when Klaw moved to stand at my left, his claws flexing. "Men, go for the switch, we'll catch up in a moment!" "Its him....the mini boss, and....I think it might be familiar?" I wasn't really sure, but something about the green aura around the hulking mass was strange, but soon, the fireflies brought the mini boss to light, and with it, the gears of my head turned at the sight. "Of [BEEP] right the hell off, you again!?" "You know this thing?" Klaw pointed, as we saw it fully come into few Its black armour was now broken in places, with the binds on the back of its shattered helmet replaced with vines, as leaves, and moss covered other pieces of its black-clad body. Whist a giant, silver greatsword was clutched in its right hand, the visor staring at us with a green tinted glow. [Keeper of Angulation - lvl 16] "Yeah, its the same iron-clad asshole I fought on my second day in this world, and a real mean piece of work; well....he has a different name, maybe he's just a variant?" I was praying on wishful thinking. Since it looked down at me, pointing a mossy finger at my face, making me dart my head side-to-side, before I pointed my sword at myself. "I think he remembers...so does the music..." With its threat, and music in toe, Keeper grabbed his greatsword with both hands, before he paced towards us, crushing any plants in his way of me, and my face. When he came closer, I saw Klaw throw back his cape, before he pulled out something from under its form, and my eyes widened in awe, before I chuckled evilly "Hehehe, you have a goddamn buster sword! Hahaha, ahh, you're boned now Watcher!" I cheered, before I screamed at the massive blade coming down on me, only to hear the metal ring blindly, as Klaw deflected the attack, knocking his sword to his side, whist Keeper stumbled back, his sword dropping from its left hand back to its right. "Ok, flying now!" "Best you do, but tell me, how did you defeat this foe before?" Klaw asked patiently, holding his buster sword over his left shoulder, whist grasping it both hands. Well....I looked, but no real wall had any sort of protrusion strong enough to hold his blade this time, but....maybe "He had a weak-point on the back of his neck, if we can expose it, it might leave him open for our magic to finish him off, seeing as he may not have the same immunity as before." I explained, before I flew back, avoiding the swipe of Keeper's blade, before he thrusted it towards Klaw, who held his bust sword like a shield, blocking the strike, but his feet skidded back a few meters "Well then, I think I can buy our magic some time to recharge, you focus on getting ready to strike him down." Klaw commanded, so I flew for Keeper, as he swung his greatsword up, but I just flew around it again, but my ribs soon screamed in pain for a moment, as his fist collided with me, throwing my back against the wall of the maze, then he brought the blade down on the wall, diagonally slicing the wall to his left I now flew to the other side of the hall, drinking a health potion as I watched it seep into the green again, watching as the red mark on my ribs vanish, was it only me, or were these attacks beginning to really hurt? Or was the fact that the first boss I ever faced coming back with a vengeance? Most likely both the former and latter. Keeper then moved for Klaw, who swung his blade to Keeper's right arm, whist Keeper clashed with Klaw, sparks of green, and orange flying as they pushed against each other's weaponry, before the branches flew from their blades pinning one-another, both now looking into each other's faces, before Klaw was punched by Keeper, throwing him back for dazed strike. Then Keeper brought his blade to his side, before he spun like a cyclone, but Klaw raised his guard, the impact throwing him against the wall I flew above, as he hissed under the pain, before he watched Keeper loom over him, his blade high. *Pow-Pow-Pow-Pow-Pow-POW* I continuously kicked Keeper in the skull with my flybys, making him grunt, swinging his greatsword around in a horizontal arc of red light, as I dropped from the air, the explosion of air tearing the ceiling apart, as I flew under his legs, before belting Keeper with the butt of Parting Glass, knocking him back from Klaw. Taking the distraction, I watched Klaw grasp his buster sword in both his hands, holding the blade to his left, allowing his Sword Skill to burn through his stamina, as an emerald coat covered the blade, and he used his own wings to spin his body through the air, bringing his buster sword in a horizontal arc of green. [Sword Skill - Rupture] With a cry, the blade shattered the armour of Keeper's knees, causing the boss to roar, before dropping his blade beside him, as he fell to his hands, and knees, shaking his head in a daze. Now I was high above him, as I decided to join in on the sword skill usage, channeling my stamina into my own edge, its sheen now a flaming red. [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] My back hooves touched the ceiling, before I bent my wings back to thrust my body down, as the crimson blade sunk into the exposed neck, before I inverted my grip, trailing the blade through the left-side of Keeper's neck, his scream of defiance matching with the blade he latched around his fingers, just as I flew off his neck, the blade spinning round like a rotor blade in my direction. *CLANG-CRUNCH* Klaw saved my hide again, his blade recoiling the hidden strike of Keeper, as he shakily moved to his feet, whist me, and Klaw backed up for a moment, just as he placed his buster sword on his back again, covering his wings, before I watched his cheeks puff out again. "No, wait." I pushed my hoof in front of his stomach, as I watched Keeper rise to his feet again, his health now in the red. Then, a lightbulb sounded in my head, as I smiled wickedly at Klaw. "Say, ever heard of a fusion move?" His eyes stared for a moment, but they ultimately blinked, as his smile crossed his lips again, just as we turned to face Keeper, placing Parting Glass back in my scabbard as I ran directly at Keeper, his own weapon raised once more to face me, drawing it higher to his left, then I stretched my wings out, grabbing the handle of Parting Glass, but still flying towards the lumbering boss. With one final second, with a final phantom blade, his came crashing towards my body, and upon the second it drew close enough, I swung my blade from its scabbard, striking out at his greatsword with the tip of my blade, splitting my ear drums at the noise it made for a moment, as I saw the stunned icon appear above his health, as I flew back from the recoil, staring back at Klaw, how then puffed his cheeks out again. [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Roar] [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] I then holstered my blade, before I stretched my wings wide, the wind embracing my wings with a sharp sheen of blue, before I felt the flames coil around my body like a warm cloak, yet it didn't burn, as I watched my wings turn from a smooth blue, to a flaming orange, and blue, as the flames covered my body, before I launched myself back at Keeper, the rush of wind, mixed with the fury of the flames was unlike any embrace I felt before, it was unreal, almost alien, and yet I smiled all the same. [Unity Move - Draconic Sky Sword] My whole body melted straight through Keeper's armour, burning a permanent, pegasus shaped hole through his body, leaving behind a molten wound of fire, as the compressed air shattered the armour, dispelling that same mist to the ceiling, as he fell to his knees, before finally dropping down onto his face, his body flashing white, before erupting into a flurry of colours, as the flames on my head blew themselves out at my landing. [CONGRATULATIONS: BOSS DEFEATED!] [Rewards] Twist-Fang Gauntlet 550 Bits 600 EXP Twist-Fang Gauntlets "Worth was tested, and blinded by rage" Defense - 20 Weight - Medium Resistance (Element) - Life 10% Resistance (Critical) - 15% [Level Up!] [10 - 14] [Stats Increased] Agility +3 Strength +3 Endurance +4 Perception +3 Magic +7 Charisma +2 Seeing a rare piece of armour that I was happily leveled for, I equipped it, and soon, my left hoof was covered a dark oak fabric, with green stitching across the back, and two thorns jutting out the front, and down to cover my hoof, alongside a small amethyst gemstone between the thorns. When I looked up at Klaw, he wore a new helmet of the same style, also looking content with his findings, as the golden aura faded from him too. "Seems are luck finally came back to greet us?" Klaw contently smiled, as I walked up to him, finding able to whip the sweat from my forehead, and after this boss, I never wanted to see another walking pile of armour for the rest of my time in this world. "We should catch up with the others, don't want them to worry, do we?" "Oh no....the greatest boss awaits us now!" I gulped, shivering slightly as he raised a brow at me. "Rain, when she worries." "Oh dear...." Klaw my brother, you have no idea [Throat of The Forest] Ah, music changed again, something....ominous, I like it. But now me, along with Klaw came into view of the rest of the players, thankfully all Twenty Seven of us still alive, though some were healing or buffing for the road ahead. Then, I was strangled by an unseen force to my right, whist Klaw chuckled humorously. "What the heck happened, you're health nearly dropped completely!?" Rain barked at me with a mixture of worry, and anger, as her ears flattened against her head. I wasn't given a chance to speak though, as I was punched in my left shoulder by Seraph, who smiled smugly "Way to make two girls worry, nerd." She was pushing her luck now, but I let it slide, as Rain let go of me, smiling happily as she pointed above her head, and Seraph's, both carrying Raid Exclusive Gear. Rain had a charm dangling from her neck, which looked like an eye of a Timberwolf Alpha, and Seraph wielded a new dagger to her left hip, following the design of some of the enemies I previously fought, being covered in plant life, whist a soiled, silver blade coiled between the vines [Purplrain - lvl 13] [Seraph - lvl 15] "Well, it seems we're all prepared for this fight, but I won't lie, that Keeper was a pain in mine, and Klaw's asses, since, and you'll never believe this, it was The Watcher from our magic quest with Pinkie?" It would be best to tell them why I was late, since we couldn't run the risk of it following us, but from their reactions, it seems they never ran into their bosses "Strange....I never saw ours?" Seraph hummed with a hoof to her chin, her eyes narrowed in confusion, whist Rain looked back my hallway "You think he'll come back again?" Rain wasn't wrong in that regard, seeing him come back once was bad, but if he was going to do it again it may cause some problems in the future, so all I could do was shrug, before I looked the group now moving for the bridge ahead of us The arch-like bridge was formed by massive vines, even adding a rail as the fireflies lit the way across the black ravine below, and I saw no bottom to the gut-wrenching pit. The rest of the Raid Lair looked to me a massive chamber cut off by a ravine, it would explain why the map now only showed a singular way in, and out of the maze, since this was the only way to get to the boss. But the atmosphere, even the suspense was killing me, the fact that we were mere feet away from whatever, [Twisted Angulation] was. Then, we finally stopped at another massive set of doors, this time, they were completely covered in moss, with gemstones aligning the rim of the door, with an arch of trees over the top. Klaw was out in front, before he turned back to us all with a serious expression, I would too in this case, since it was the most critical part of the Raid. "Now, I first wish to say that I am pleased that every party had survived the maze, some were close to death, but you all pulled through in the end. Now, beyond this door in the final hurdle, we have no way of knowing what the boss is capable of, nor do we have a clear strategy in mind, so, if you see an opening, call it out, and we can come up with an aim to defeat this Boss. Am I clear!?" He called out, leading to everyone to nod in agreement, before he turned, pressing his hand to the doors "Hey, don't die this time, nerd!" Seraph yelled over the vines snapping from the force of the doors, as sunlight peered into the bridge behind us "Don't get distracted by everyone's gear." I retorted with a chuckle, as she smacked me on the back of the head. "Let the record show, no denial." "Now then men, CHARGE~!" And at the battle cry, we ran for the door [Forestation's Heart] We all yelled in righteous fury, breaking into the arena before us, as Celestia's sun rose above a fissure in the center of the room. The arena was massive, with us on the starting platform, and around the arena, split into different sections of rock as large as a house, all circling the center, which was completely devoid of any platform, then, I smelt what was bubbling below us. It was like a swamp, as some of us looked down to view bubbling, green....well I hope it wasn't acid, but it certainly looked unhealthy, as green smog hung around in a thin layer above the green lake. So, that explains the platforms being completely torn to pieces, but what about the- *Rumble.....RUMBLE.....CRASH* The doors had clambered shut behind us, as the room began to shake upon the instant they closed, as fireflies glowed within the vines of the walls, basking the whole area in sunlight, and and emerald hue around the edge. Most players quickly leapt to other platforms, whist me, my team, and a handful of others awaited the shaking to cease, but I nearly fell over if not for Klaw grabbing my back, as we watched the massive, black hand pierce the center of the arena. The hand clasped onto a platform, hoisting its other arm up too on another, before it shot into the air, spraying green liquid across the area, before we watched its body sink slightly into the lake, down to its waist. It was a mass of vines, both normal, and the plunder vines Discord made, with trees atop its broad shoulders, as a forest seemed to grow on its chest too, alongside a lime-green energy pulsing among the vines like blood. Its head was similar to a knight, with glowing green eyes, and no mouth, and bare trees pointing atop its head like spikes. Bark covered its joints like armour too, all matching with lime-green runes across the surface. ---~[Twisted Angulation - lvl 20]~--- Then, three health bars appeared below its name, as it lurched up, the branches all twisted and snapped, as it seemed to release an inhumane roar of defiance at our presence. This was it, The Vault of Forestation's closing act. Time to ante up! To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 13 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 14 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 15 [Support class] Current Level: 14 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Twist-Fang Gauntlet 855 Bits Twist-Fang Gauntlets "Worth was tested, and blinded by rage" Defense - 20 Weight - Medium Resistance (Element) - Life 10% Resistance (Critical) - 15% New Skills [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Roar] - Release a torrent of flames upon your enemies [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] - Your blade glow bright crimson, before you thrust forward with deadly force (1-H Sword) [Sword Skill - Rupture] - Swing your blade in a horizontal arc of emerald light, shattering armour (Greatswords) [Unity Move - Draconic Sky Sword] - Your wings a blade of wind, as your body burns bright with power [New Passive Added] -Nemesis- It seems your foes really want you dead. If you defeat a boss they have a chance of coming back again for you! (Excluding Raids, and Invincibles, thank god!) Author's Note The big raid is here! And the fight against the colossal boss will go down next time! But it seems there might be more to the Raid Lair than any of them realize. Anywho, hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the Arc Finale! Arc 1 Finale: Raid 2 - [The Vault of Forestation]
Raid 2 - [The Vault of Forestation]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "Alright, all key bearers place your key on the door!" I heard Klaw call up, as I nodded to my team, before I trotted up to the door, pulling the sky out of my items list, and holding its ruby figure before me. Beside me, I saw that Klaw wielded the Amethyst key, then SilverCrow held out an Onyx key. Then that Bombard [BEEP] brought out a Topaz key, followed by an Emerald Key from a mare, a stallion had an Amber key, and last was a Changeling with a Sapphire key. "Now!" ---~[Twisted Angulation - lvl 20]~--- [Forestation's Heart] "Left side, move! Right, get ready to move when it turns for you. All other parties, continue to look for any signs of a weakness, and remember, do not fly!" Klaw called orders to us left and right, whist I leapt away from the massive fist colliding with my platform, just as SilverCrow landed beside me, helping others who were on the edge of the platform "It seems impossible/No weakness in sight/We are losing." Oh, right, he mostly speaks in haiku, hardly anything else, he's the Zer0 of our team. But he was right in his regard, no attack fazed Twisted Angulation, even fire did nothing but turn its attention onto the attacker, but Rain had told us its weakness is fire, and slash weapons, yet there was an immunity. "Plan?" "Umm....try finding something out of place, like a glowing piece of its body or....well anything not made of a [BEEP] giant tree!" I called out, both in irritation, and as a suggestion to the rest, as some continued to distract with with bows, and magic strikes, whist others moved to a safer platform to heal, or buff their abilities, so far, it was all about survival "A plan/Dangerous/But might work?" Me, along with two others turned to SilverCrow, as he pointed to Twisted Angulation, before he pointed his hoof to its head, where the tree-like spines sat. "Fly/We distract/Make it falter." "I see, use his own power against him!" A knight beside me realized, and the possibly of that working would be possible, it was like the old saying, 'Bigger they are, harder they fall'. So, I nodded, making him stand to attention of the Boss, before he pulled two daggers out from under his cloak, spinning them in his hooves, before he leapt for the back of Twisted Angulation [Sword Skill - Dancing Fangs] His twin dagger both glowed yellow, before he spun his body like a buzz-saw, striking the boss' back three times, whist lightning stuck its spine, making the lumbering golem turn to face us, and within that moment, I dropped over the edge, flying around the platform, and around its side, the lime-green gaze on the three players as the wailed it with attacks. Taking the bait, I swooped up sharply, flying through his branches, before I shakily landed on its head, its arms stopping mid-swing, and dropping into the green lake below, it knew where I was now. "Ok, lets see if you're like a Colossus." I breathed, as I hooked an arm around one of the spines, as I pulled Parting Glass from its scabbard, before raising the blade high above my head, the tip beginning to hum a menacing crimson. "From me to you...." I continued to hold the magic steady, as it ticked past its usual cost, causing the blade to glow brighter, and brighter with each strained second [Sword Skill - Rage Spike Max] With a heave, I thrusted the blade into its bark armour, throwing splinters around me, as the cost of magic hit me like a truck, almost like I was fatigued, but how? I wasn't using any sort of stamina, my stamina bar is still high? My thoughts stopped as I pulled back, my blade covered in green sap, as the protrusion caused Twisted Angulation to shake in frustration, the attack chipping a small piece off its health bar. Then, I saw it, wear I was standing, a rune was humming softly beneath my feet. "That's why it was keeping us to the ground, to stop us from reaching its head!" I thought in surprise, before I reeled back in pain, holding onto the branch tightly as it swayed its head back and forth, trying to throw me off. I had one more strike to pull off, just a simple plunge, I couldn't lose this chance now! "From me....to-to you!" I steadily brought my leg up, holding Parting Glass high, before I screamed as I threw my entire body atop his head, the force whiplashed me, damaging my health when I fell back, its head jolting from the sudden lunge, its arm suddenly fell atop two platforms, it looked stunned from the attack. Meanwhile, my joy was now turned to pearl, my body was now falling towards the sea of green, my wings completely unresponsive to my command. Then I saw the green symbol beside my name, 'Rooted'. Great.... "Got ya!" I heard the voice call out triumphantly, my vision flying higher above the green sludge below and onto a platform, where Rain sat beside me with a stressful smile. "Nice trick with the Shadow of the Colossus style, how did you...?" "Thank SilverCrow for the distraction, I just happened to think it was the best course of action to strike the head, and that's why it wasn't fazed before, its like a colossus, it can't be damaged until we strike those symbols, now....ITS VULNERABLE, TAKE IT DOWN!!!" I screamed the last part as loud as I could muster with my horse voice, ha, horse pun "You heard him, hit it now!" Seraph relayed, everyone ran for the arms and head of the dazed Twisted Angulation, its head still down, even the glowing veins were dimmed in response to the attack. Then, I felt Rain nudge me, holding a red vile out for me, along with a blue one "What's the blue vile for?" I asked, downing the health potion in a flash, before I held the blue vile to my face, taking the silver arrow head off the top, then she pushed it to my muzzle "Its something I picked up from the maze, a.....Thorns Potion, or something, I think it said it'll boost your power, both physically, and magically for a few minutes?" Rain explained without a hint of confidence in the liquid's effects, so I downed it, tasting the vines, and even blueberries, I did try not to gag at the putrid taste, even Rain scrunched up her muzzle at the smell. "I think I'll just sell the rest...." "Please, but on the other-hand...." I stood back up, grabbing my blade as I felt my own muscles burst with power, the new shimmered light blue glow coating my body, my glasses even looked shiny, as the highlights in my mane hummed to the aura. "The taste is bitter-sweet!" "Hmm....maybe I should-" She took one sniff, and instantly recoiled. "Nope, I'll stick to shadows, thank you!" "Right, mind shooting me a bolt?" I asked, fanning my wings out, just as Rain grinned, pulling her hooves back in preparation. "Wish me luck!" "I got your back!" Rain sounded more reassured now Deciding to try the same trick with what me, and Klaw did, I leapt into the air, charging at the now moving head of Twisted Angulation, before I saw the arrow of purple light propelling towards me, so, I reached out with my new gauntlet on my left fore-hoof, as I snagged the arrow from the air. Detonating in my hoof, I coiled it between my Sky Magic, infusing the air with shadows, the white gales turning into a mixture of grey, purple, and white, embers of purple now spinning around my hoof. [Unity Move - Pressurized AP Shot] *Boom-Shatter* I threw my left hoof out, striking the cheek-bone of the Boss, the resulting connection erupting into an EMP of purple, and white energy, followed by a shattering effect to its mask. Twisted Angulation groaned in protest, my combined efforts, along with the others had shattered its face place, causing it to become immune again, as it lurched back, falling when its claws dug into two of the platforms to its left, where two players stood at the platform behind it, staring up at the Boss. Wait....the music stopped....? "Its becoming Phase Two, get out of there!" Bombard barked at the two ponies; they moved for an escape, only to have two massive arms block their attempts, the hands punching the walls of the arena, before I watched from the side with the rest, viewing the horrid picture that froze the two players in their tracks. "Are ya deaf, move!?" Its face was like a molten slag, green sap dripping from its skeletal face, the mouth opened wide to the players, before it spat the sap upon the platform, drowning the two in the revolting smell of rotten sap. But we all stared in shock, the sludge where the two players were burst into their own streams of colour, vanishing from the arena. "In one hit....!" Someone gaped, whist I backed up slightly, looking back to the other-side where Silver, Seraph, and Rain stood. Then, Twisted Angulation turned to face us again, its hand swooping across the area, causing me to instinctively fly from the sudden change in attacks patterns "Everyone grab those who can't fly, quick!" I called out, grabbing a mare from under her legs, and pulling up, as others did the same, Klaw managing to carry three, before the hand swept across the area, Twisted Angulation's gaze following its arm to the back platforms, leaving us to recover. "You ok?" The mare looked at me, a wary smile on her muzzle, but her pink eyes shook slightly from the shock of a near-death experience, with the pain inhibitors on the fritz, I wouldn't want to be struck by the equivalent of a bus either. "Y-yeah, thank you." She bowed, before I let her go, moving to stand beside Klaw, who had moved his squad to the other platforms "Seems its attack pattern changed, do you see a weak point like before?" He quickly asked me, just as I heard the crunching of wood to the far left, Seraph jumping atop the arm of Twisted Angulation, before hopping to the next platform, as she pointed her hoof at the spine of the Boss, then, I saw the faint glow. "I see....we will distract the Boss, you aim for the weak point." "Aye, sir." With that said, I flew up again, avoiding a rain of sap from the maw of the Boss, narrowly avoiding the undergrowth of its arm pit, before flying across its chest, passing through the trees, before I looped back around to its spine, where it was currently trying to punch the players off the edges of the platforms, giving me my opening I dropped to its roots, latching my hoof around one vine sharply, before I used the vines and roots as ladders, climbing up with Parting Glass between my teeth, as I held back the urge to fall or look down. Then, my hoof grazed the rune, its surface glowing at my touch, but I yelped, almost slipping from my hold on the back of the Boss as it swayed to look the other direction, then again. Did it know I was missing? Not wanting to know that answer, I spat my blade out, holding it high in my hoof, throwing my body back, before I used my shoulder blades to thrust my body back around, before my blade sunk deep into the wound, spraying green sap across the wound again, whist the spine seemed to shudder under the strike, Twisted Angulation bent back in agony, my back legs giving out, hanging over the edge of the lake, but I used my sword to keep my body from plummeting. Thankfully, it moved back, only for one of its arms to reach around its back, trying to pull me off its roots again. "I got this-I got this-I got this!" I chanted my prayer to myself, the buffs I obtained from Rain aiding in my attempts, before I slammed the blade through the rune again. I pulled back, taking the sword with me, I flew backwards, then I spun around into a charged, the blade pointed out like a lance, striking the symbol dead-center for a third time, the recoil throwing me back onto a platform Once more, we watched as it vomited green sap across the platform before it, placing its hands on the edges to try and steady itself, whist its back seeped with sap, some covering me as I panted for each lungful of air, I was on the edge of the platform, seeing Rain, Seraph, and SilverCrow coming my way, but I looked to see the pool of green liquid below, I caught something strange. Just below my tail, atop the green lake, a tiny, flickering flame, dancing across the top of the lake. "A flame...?" I thought at the sight of the flickering ember, which seemed to be turning the lake as it burned the liquid for food "White, having a nice view?" Seraph mused, pulling me up, along with SilverCrow, whist Rain watched the group begin to tear into the armour of Twisted Angulation, his body twitching, and grunting as its armour was chipped, and torn, but I was still staring down at the pool below, that flame finally turning to smoke. "Umm, is he broken?" "No....my-my mind's fine, I...." I then looked to the three, with a glint of hope in my eyes. "I know how we'll win." *MOOOOOAN* "Phase Three...." Rain shakily whispered, as the remaining bar of health turned red fully, the sap leaked from its head, spine, and maw, as it trashed in the air, spraying the goo. Then it bent down to the platform before it, and grasped it with one arm, latching its fingers into the rock, before pulling and twisting at the platform's weight, webbing cracks along the bottom "Quick, tell the others to fly down to the lake, coat their weapon in the green liquid, its flammable, if we can soak the Boss in enough, Klaw can use his Pyromancy to burn it to ashes, we'll have a sure-fire way to take down the whole thing!?" I called to them, and they all seemed to glance at each other before simultaneously agreeing to the idea, running off to tell the others, whist I grabbed Seraph by the tail, pulling her back at her yelp. "Seraph. Do you know any shielding spells yet?" "Hehehe, have a reckless idea, do we?" She slyly smiled, before she channeled her magic into her horn, my whole chest felt tighter at the subtle increase to gravity, then, I saw the pink aura now coating my body, as the symbol appeared beside my health bar, 'Buck Up'. "There, you have 20% more defence than normal, and that will be 100 bits." "Bite me, cheap-sake. You'll be paid later, just levitate some of the flammable liquid onto the Boss!" I grunted at her cocky dealings, before I took flight, swinging Parting Glass out once more, then I saw it finally pull the platform off the ground, holding it high in the air I couldn't even blink or make a sound, only allowed to angle my wings to duck below the massive slab of rock, its form sailing over my head, crashing into the wall behind me, and sadly, I saw the colour streams fly out from under the crushed pile of rubble. Even then, Twisted Angulation reached for another platform, with two players still on its surface, but it wouldn't attack them, instead, it continued to thrash its arm, trying to pry the pillar free of its earthy snare. It hit me, my heart dropping at what it was pulling. "Its trying to remove our only way of stay alive, dammit, how'd I not see that sooner!?" I cursed myself for being blindsided, and like any plan of mine, I rushed in, flying low to coat my blade in the putrid liquid, before I looped back, pulling a sharp 'U' towards the shattered face of the Boss, my sword's edge gleaming before my face when I ascended towards its maw again, driving my sword through the middle of its giant face, causing it to recoil at the lake's contents beginning to blind it, its arm released the platform, just as it used that same hand to clear the green substance from its eyes with its left hand trying to crush me against the ceiling. "Focus, Cayde, you still have a chance to turn this around!" I now floated before it face again, just as a massive hand tried to swat me from the air, but I closed my body tightly, flying through the gap between its fingers, before I grabbed a vine on its hand, holding onto the palm during its movement, ending with its hand now facing its emerald gaze, the eyes staring impassively at my presence, then it began to shake its appendage up and down, shaking my organs like a fresh smoothie, each swing only made my face turn greener. "Aaaany tiiiime noooow~!" I called out shakily, my body flying around on its palm with my body clinging for dear life, then it drove its hand into a wall, so I leapt behind its palm, avoiding the crushing execution, before I lacerated the inside of its palm, propelling my body off its hand as it clenched it shut As if god heard me cry, every player stunk blade, axe, and magic into Twisted Angulation, spraying the green liquid across its limbs like paint, covering it in a mixture of tree sap, and swampy liquid. Then, Klaw ushered me over, just as he placed his hand together at the wrist, making them into the form of Vegeta's Final Flash, pulling his claws towards his chest. Now I knew what he was planning, so I back-flipped, passing over the swiping palm of the Boss, and down the length of its arm, until I was only a few feet above Klaw. "DO IT!" I cried out a final time [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Crescendo] His palms ignited, before a massive solar bomb shot forth from his hands, embracing my shuddering body under the fierce power of the flames, some eating away at my health bar, but I quickly thrashed my wings out within the orange and gold nova blast, my words beginning to channel the flames into my blade, merging it to form an arrow head around my body and blade, pushing with the flames, I soared towards Twisted Angulation. [Unity Move - Seven Ancient Dragons of Destruction] I pierced through the entirety of the Boss, burning, and lacerating the insides of its armour and core, ripping through its back with ease, then I spun upside-down, swinging my blade from left to right, then right to left, then I spun right-side-up, swinging my sword vertically down, the vertically up, before I spun around clockwise, slicing across its spine in a horizontal arc twice left, then right. Before his whole back erupted into purple, and red flames, igniting the flammable liquid coating its armour, as the flames consumed the remainder of its defence, before completely covering the Golem in a suit of cursed flames. "Checkmate." I whispered, placing Parting Glass in its scabbard one final time, Twisted Angulation only thrashed about for a moment, before slamming its claws into the green lake below, before it finally ceased its uncontrollable spaz, and finally, its head crashed against the wall of a platform, shaking it slightly, the lime green sap in its vines dimmed out, clearing the air of any music or sound. All the while, a relived smile crossed my muzzle when I landed [YOU DEFEATED THE AREA RAID BOSS!!!] All that was left was for us all to bask in the glory of defeating the Raid Boss, tabs appeared for everyone in tangent, many players cheered with their teams, some glowed with the sign of leveling up, even I was glowing gold, my health thankfully restored in the process, or atleast until I was tackled by Rain, who was laughing excitedly, and I returned the gesture with a chuckle, whist Seraph drooled like a child on Christmas Day, staring at the rare gear she has acquired. "The stats....so....many!" She was becoming giddy again, her eyes sparkling with stars in her eyes, I sat up to view my own tabs with an evil laugh at my new-found power, Rain letting me go, checking her own with a slightly red face, but I paid no mind to it, that being said, my eyes instantly turned to fireworks at the sight of that sweet, sweet orange text [Rewards] Twist-Fang Seekers Helmet Twist-Fang Mark Heart of Everfree (Long Sword) 1078 Bits 1000 EXP Twist-Fang Seekers Helmet "If the day came to rest my blade, I only hope someone will see my flaws and use them to free us all." Defense - 35 Weight - Light Resistance (Element) - Life 5% Kinetic 5% Poison 10% Resistance (Critical) - 20% Twist-Fang Mark "I thank you, for you have done what I would do all over again, let this mark be proof of your strength." Defense - 15 Weight - None Resistance (Element) - 10% Resistance (Critical) - 15% Bonus: +10% Movement Speed whist in combat Heart of Everfree "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." DPS - 45 - 58 Elemental Enhance - 25% Attack Speed - Normal Critical Chance - 20% Bonus Skill: Against The Odds When battling against fire, your damage is doubled [Level Up!] [14 - 15] [Stats Increased] Agility +4 Strength +5 Endurance +4 Intelligence +8 Magic +5 Charisma +1 [Relic Obtained: Key of Adventure] "I look awesome~!" I turned my head to see what Rain was happily giggling about, then I saw what she meant, her jacket was replaced with a new one, it was slightly longer, almost touching her tail, with a silver zipper, high-collar, and green buttons along the zipper, with a belt hanging around where the coat met her waist, as the coat hung open. The rest was a nice emerald green, with the same matching arcane runes on the back of the coat, spreading out towards the zipper, it also had short sleeves. "Its also got increased stealth when in forests too!" "Nice, buuuut, I got's me a legendary~!" I teased, making her scramble to look at my screen, her head rested atop mine, almost pinning me. "Woman, the screen's on 'private', so get off me!" "Let me seeee~?" She whined, and I was about to do so, with her sitting beside me eagerly, but....I heard it, clapping, echoing across the chamber where we all sat, even overshadowing our voices, catching everyone by surprise. "Wha?" "Bravo. Cheers. High-five. Slow-clap! Now that was pure entertainment!" Who was that? Me, along with about everyone else listened to the clapping echoing across the now empty chamber, whist the lights flickered in the area, and the sun began to turn the sky orange. "At first I thought this wasn't going to end well, but you all pulled through, just what I was hoping for." "Who the hell is that?" "Maybe an admin?" "Oh, I-i'm no admin, but....I am the one pulling the strings of this game now, I was worried that my update would not have been completed in time for the end of the raid, but it seems to all be in order, so I thank you for a good distraction." Then the voice moved again, this time sounding local, more clear across the chamber of the boss, then we turned, and....what....? "Sup." The creature looking like it was made of tar spoke, a twisted grin of sharp teeth grinning madly at us, whist its pupiless eyes widened with curiosity, and excitement, all while being orange His body was skinny, almost starved in complexion, white claws for fingers, and toes, as two smaller spikes stuck out his elbows, knees, and shoulders, with smooth, black hair, almost camouflaged with its void-like skin. A spiny tail swished behind it, a scythe-like point to the appendage, whist small spiny-spike stuck out the lumps of his spine, reaching up to folded, tattered wings. His body was wrapped in a grey cloth, orange running down the zipper, with flames added to its sleeves, and trouser holes. It was a horrid sight, almost like a living nightmare brought forth into physical form. "Now, I don't want to sound vague, so I'll just go ahead with my plans, you see, I happened to have a thought, one that may very change how I work. 'Why do the killing yourself, when you can have a world do it for you'? Its fascinating what one can do with a bit of magic and code." He began, pacing as he kept turning to stare at us all. "Then I did it, I control this world, and by my hand, I was able to do something breathtaking!" We were all afraid to say it, what he did.....what did he do? But, s-someone needed to take that step, so, I gulped dryly, and looked directly at the creature before us all. But even at my words, the presence he gave off was unbelievably powerful, his strength was overwhelming in its own right, and yet, we was holding back! "What did you do? Stop dodging the question." I answered nervously, causing his pacing to stop, turning on his heel to look at us, then to me, his eyes narrowing "Why....if it isn't the most interesting of the bunch! I really enjoyed the display of power you proved, White Hat, quite the telling of unbeatable will, of course, your teammates too, Purplrain truly has a gift for this type of world, but you really are something special though, mind you, I want to know more, but this game is a large system of rules, regulations, and concepts that will take time to truly dig up the nuggets I want." He now walked past me, his tail slashing the ground like paper in his way "Oh right, sorry, I got side-tracked, you wanted to know what I did? Well, to save time of explanation, umm....you're all not leaving this world. Not today....not tomorrow.....hell, maybe not for the rest of your lives." He spoke calmly, placing his claws against themselves, all spaced apart. "I make this as crystal clear as I can. You're trapped here, whether you like it or not." No one said a word. Not soul moved an inch. I couldn't even hear a breath being pulled in or exhaled. The weight of his words could be taken either way, but, if the indication of what he meant was true....if we....all One Million players were here, no longer able to leave, then....are we.....he can't be serious, right? I was beginning to shake slightly, why? But....that means the glitches, the pain inhibitor....it was him, he tampered with the game's internal CPU. "Bullshit! No way in hell is that true!" The censor was cut off? Seems this 'Entity' messed with alot more than just the core safety functions "Yeah, i'm calling BS on that too, you expect us all to just believe a thing you said, you don't exactly sell a good point?" Seraph retorted, making the creature frown "Don't take my words without some salt, if you want check your menus, go right ahead, I won't stop you." He shrugged, as I heard the 'dings' of menus, before loud, audible gasps rang across the arena, I even heard Rain's petrified voice quiver, but I could only stare into the eyes of this creature, his grin widened to inhuman lengths "I-Its gone!?" One cried out "What did he do!?" Another "Is it a glitch, or did he really take away our ability to leave?" Klaw questioned warily "Heheheheahahahaha!" All cries for answers stopped at his laughter, the monster clutching his stomach for a moment, wiping a fake tear. "T-The looks of terror, pain, even rage on your faces is priceless~!" Then he walked back, passing me with a massive, icy wave washing by, causing my heart to skip a beat the the mere brush of his aura, whist I continued to stare back, emotionless, neutral. "Let me make a few rules clear, I am no monster, I only want to take what I feel like taking, but I do keep my word that all players will be released, so long as my rules are heeded with care." He warned, before clicking his fingers. "I'll give you my reasons for this though, I discovered so many things on the world wide web, that even I find horrid to look at! Concepts for this Death Game have happened even before this system was introduced to the world!" "From books, to concepts, all forged into what you placed on your skulls, and now, I own that concept as a reality! Even now I had the update implemented at the beginning of the boss fight, so....you know all those guys you lost? Guess where they are now, because they aren't in the safety of a Green Zone?" He....He really did made the pain inhibitors fail.....the boss' difficulty....all those....I'm gonna be sick "Rye...." One called out in a breathless shock "Dammit, two of my own friends are gone you bastard, they didn't deserve to die!" Another cried, but his voice sounded strange "Damn man, there're children in this game man, what about them?" Someone warily asked "Meh, second verse, same as the first, put them down, I won't bat an eye." He mumbled like a passive distaste for life. "You see, I don't want to just trap a bunch of lives in this cage of mine, once I gain control over Control Core Gamma, I'll be able to rewrite this world, using you all as my hostages to keep prying eyes off my project, when I'm through this 'game' of mine, I'll have the ability to completely alter worlds beyond this fragment of the Multiverse!" "Oh, and with media's going crazy over this, I'm racking kills as we speak, you all know that this game supports up to One Million players for each server due to the high advancements in performance, correct....weeeell. that's....a couple hundred thousand short now, still dropping slowly too." Now I even gaped at his smug grin, people who didn't even know, and they....they only wanted....he took them away, what about my brother? No, he'll be fine, always is "Now, before I leave you all to wander and wallow in tears, allow me to explain the rules of this world. Logging off is not an option anymore, along with outside help, they remove your Augment, and your consciousnesses is torn and scrambled, flat-lining you terminally, and, the same goes for death here, you die, and I ain't giving idiots a second coming!" He made that last point perfectly clear "To open a way back to your world, heroes like you must travel to the now relocated, and extremely hidden Raids across Equestria, this was a freebie, so its stays, but the others are now scattered like dust to the wind, and I made their bosses far more than shells to A.I control, so don't think this is the limit of an A.I's intelligence, that, and with every known defeat, the enemies grow stronger, smarter, more human like you." "In order to win, those who take the final strike on the boss will be gifted with a relic, those are your tickets to beating me, you find me, bring your heroes, and if you win....all will be set right again, that is, once you find me, I'm not one to stay in one place for long, so expect to see me drop by for a chat." He then happily clicked his fingers, ripping reality apart behind him. "Now, let the-" "Not yet, you cocky little bitch!" I heard some random idiot cry out, jumping past me with a sword in his magic, and surprisingly it struck the neck of the creature, but.... "AGH!!!" The creature just pulled the blade from his neck with ease, his wound closing up within the second it left his body, and before us, the creature held the body of the player in his arm, the creature impaling the pony with his sharp hand, whisking away streams of colour. Its eyes were unamused, along with its frown at the player's suicidal attack. "Tisk-Tisk-TIsk....you should have listened to me, instead you get to know that I seriously messed with the Pain Inhibitors, so pain...." He then shoved his arm farther into the guys chest, causing him to release a pained scream of agony, then, his body flashed, and soon turned to colours. "....Well its gonna feel real, count on it. I doubt Control Core Gamma could fix you, swine." He turned now, dusting his arm off as he left us to stare at where the pony once stood, the look of sorrow written on his face was burned into our minds, of how real this was. It wasn't a game to us, but to this....monster, it was a joke, and he played the master of it all, pulling the strings with ease. "You never told us who you are, creature!" I screamed, he paused, almost surprised, his foot halting mid stride, but he turned his head, his passive face meeting my eyes, and I held nothing but hatred for him now, not fear, pure hatred. "I'd like to know the name....of the person I'm going to kill." . . . . "....Do you have the will to take a life?" He soon responded, turning fully to look at me, his tail swishing back and forth. "Do you, Key Barer?" "No....I don't, but I'll feel pretty good after I kill you for what you've done." I swore simply, each word seeping with venom "Hehehehehehehehahahahahaha......*exhale*....my name....is...." "Harbinger." His voice growled like a feral, manic beast. "I look forward to seeing how your light shines when none can be found. White. Hat." Then. He was gone. A final phrase given to our new world, our death game become a horrid, nightmare of a reality. "Let the game, truly begin." End of Arc I Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 15 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 15 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 16 [Support class] Current Level: 15 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Twist-Fang Seekers Helmet Twist-Fang Mark Heart of Everfree (Long Sword) 1078 Bits 1000 EXP New Skills [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Crescendo] - Your palms release the equivalent to a solar flare [Sword Skill - Dancing Fangs] - Strike your enemy three times whist spinning vertically (Dagger) [Unity Move - Seven Ancient Dragons of Destruction] - Pierce your foe, then strike them six more times, before erupting with fire [Unity Move - Pressurize AP Shot] - Your punch causes a massive explosion of corrupted air and may stun the target New Attribute Added: -Key of Adventure- You scored the final killing blow on the Raid Boss of The Vault of Forestation, you now wield the embodiment of adventure (Your key gives off a multicolored glow when near other Raid Lairs) Author's Note The end of Arc I: Beginning. Now with everyone trapped within the mercy of Harbinger, what will they all do? Find out in the next arc, coming soon! Hope you enjoyed the final fight, and seeya in the next Arc! Next Arc: Arc II: Death Game Authors Notes: I know the whole Death Game concept has happened before, but I mixed up a bit with my own fictional race, and unlike most, he will be appearing when he feels like it, along with crazy Events, side-quests, and beating the shit out of Blueblood, yay!
Story - [1 Month Later][System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Username: Purplrain] [Beginning Playback] [Opening II: Make My Story] Its been over a month, maybe a few weeks more than that, since the very first raid was lead in MLP: Actualization Online. Ponyville's area Raid Lair. The Vault of Forestation. Twenty Seven players came to meet the doors of the dark, twisted maze, some encountering traps, whist others the Bosses that lingered within the walls. All party members had cleared it after only two hours, then came the final hurdle, the Raid Lair's Boss. Twisted Angulation was a massive golem come to life by the forest around it, surrounded by platforms over a flammable substance, and only once the crafty player, White Hat, discovered its weaknesses, and ultimately found the substance to be flammable, was the Raid Team victorious over the Boss, with White Hat claiming the Key of Adventure, what such an item entailed was unknown, that is, until 'he' came before the members that had survived the Raid. Harbinger, a creature of unknown origin swept the thrill of victory from under them all, disclosing information that he was in control of the world, and that any means of escape lead to death, including the three players that had died to the final boss, they never came back. His terms were simple, defeat the other Raid Bosses, claim their Relics, and find him, and if that party were to be successful, all surviving players could leave. But, with the threat of death upon the loss of all your HP, the Pain Inhibitors turned low enough to feel real, and with the intelligence of A.I growing smarter with each victory, such dreams of freedom were dim. Even now, no one has found a Raid Lair, and slowly, people began to lose all sight of hope. All, but the one who dared to threaten, Harbinger. White Hat..... [Dicey Destiny's Inn] When I came down into the main open lobby of the inn, I saw that some player were sitting around, talking about quests or travelling to certain locations dotted around Ponyville, it was nice to hear people talking about stuff to do, instead of moping around, this game wasn't going to clear itself after-all, but that's not to say 'everyone' had to fight, fight, and fight some more. Seeing as two familiar ponies were standing by a wooden board, overlooking a bunch on in-game content to purchase. As it turns out, anyone who had in-game currency before-hand could still spend their currency if they wished. [SilverCrow - lvl 21] [Klaw - lvl 22] "Umm, what are you guys doing?" I asked, pointing more at SilverCrow, who was drifting his hoof between two different flyers, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "Better question, what are 'YOU' doing, Silver?" "Choosing.......Choooooosing....." Wow, one of the few times he didn't speak in a haiku. "My mind is blank/All paths are fair/Only one can remain." Nevermind "Don't mind him, Miss Rain, he has been trying to debate upon which cosmetic to buy, both are the same price, and he can only afford the one, so he's been having me give him ideas as to why one may be suited better than the other." Klaw explained, shaking Silver's head back, and forth, but he didn't even break focus, causing Klaw to pinch the brim of his nose. "As you can see he's very into it." "Hehehe, well, maybe he should get the one he thinks is right, go with your gut!" I claimed happily, seeing him nod slowly, then I looked back to Klaw, before I pointed to his armour. "Wasn't your gear vanity equipped too?" "Why yes, so I may look, how do my friends say, 'Badass' than most of our level, but I am really only wearing normal gear under it all, I just so happened to have a deal at the time, and it would be wrong to not take such an offer." Klaw chuckled proudly, banging a fist against his broad, silver chest "Another thing, why haven't you gone anywhere else yet? I just thought with someone as strong as you, and Silver, you two would be in Canternlot by now?" I was really curious as to why they were sticking around, since I knew the levels there start at around 30, but still.... "It has much to do with your friend, White Hat, we may have been the first to experience the toll of this Death Game, but he was one of the players known for his ingenious strategies, to how he stood up against such an imposing force too, not many can boast a claim like that, and as such, he has given me, and SilverCrow here the new directive, to aid all players who only wish to wait for players like him, and even you to beat this game of, Harbinger's design." Klaw elaborated, making me brush my leg against one another "W-Well, I'm not as strong as White, he's the one who helped me from the beginning, he would be far better off with people like you two honestly." I admitted it was nice to see that he viewed me in such a way, but I wasn't as strong, not in this world, or....well "Why that's preposterous!" Huh? I looked up at the now kneeling Klaw, as he placed a hand on my shoulder with a toothy grin. "I may not have spoken with him in a while, but from what he's claimed, he speaks highly of you, how you are the one to save him when he's in over his head, even now, you remind him that not everyday can be spent on the battlefield, just like me, and Silver have learned." "He is a force of nature/But a will of thousands/A true friend to have." Silver added to Klaw's words, making me blush considerably, the fact he thought I was really all of that was something else entirely, I....well it was nice to hear him say that "Sorry for embarrassing you, but on another note, how is White?" Klaw asked, making me snort lightly, rolling my eyes with a smirk "Same old White, he's still running around like it was all just a bad dream, I know he knows this isn't a normal game anymore, but to him, I think its still just a new world to explore." I smiled at that, before I added. "He's currently out on a quest with Pinkie, seeing as she's basically a member of our team now." "Isn't it strange how an A.I like her has become self-aware that she's in a digital world?" Klaw asked with a concerned look, and I won't lie, I had the same feeling upon learning about this, but then I chuckled nerviously "Well, we came to understand that her 'Forth-Wall' ability had adapted with the A.I intelligence thing, and so she really just accepted that fact, but telling her friends...." [A Few Weeks Ago] "Pinkie, that's crazy, what proof do you have that we are....A.I?" Twilight brushed off with a shake of her head, whist me, Seraph, and White sat by as the conversation fell to pieces. Then, Twilight pointed to us. "Did she bother you three with this nonsense, if so, I am sorry, this is really how Pinkie acts." "Not a....problem, she, uhh....well she's alright." White rubbed the back of his head, blinking in a state of confusion, which was certainly new, since he would usually have some form of plan in mind. "Pinkie, we....yeah lets go." "Wait, we haven't convinced her I'm not crazy!?" Pinkie cried, as Seraph picked her up in her magic, dragging her towards the door of the libary "I think you've already passed that margin of sanity, Pinkie, just let it go...." White replied, opening the door, whist Pinkie dug her hooves into the floor, trying to stop the magic from pulling her through "NOOOOooooo, Notice Meeeee~!?" Pinkie cried, leaving me to cover my bat-ears with my wings, trying to block out the crying. "I REFUSE TO BE A SIDE-CHARACTER!!!" "You're not, you blood bellend!" White grumbled in his own state of irritation "Yeah, it didn't end well." I sighed, then I smiled thoughtfully. "Other than that, she's on board to help us whenever she can, actually....I did hear White mention something about going back down into the Raid Lair, since they supposedly open new areas as the game progresses, that's if you two want in?" "We might just take you up on that offer, given White is ready to do so." Klaw bowed respectfully, before we both jumped at the sound of a cash register, before we turned to Silver. He now wore a new black cloak, only now it was more torn at the bottom, with a skull badge connecting the cloak under his neck, he also had bandages wrapped around his front hooves "I shall disappear/A ghost amidst the combat/Ready to strike." Silver dramatically threw a hoof in the air, blowing the cloak with it, whist me, and Klaw face-palmed/hoofed "Now that was just lazy...." I groaned. "I may have only ever watched Borderlands 2 online, but even I've heard that line before. Lazy. Bad pony." "I apologize." He slumped, before hugging his cloak. "Stupid/Annoying/Bat." "Oh dear...." Klaw then took a step away from me, sitting down at the bar as I felt my eye twitch, along with my wings, before I bared one of my fangs at him, at this, Zer0-rip-off gulped, before he ran to my left, jumping over a table. "Quite the idiotic move, chap." "Ooooh, so i'm a 'Stupid, annoying, bat' am I? Well...." I then opened my menu, before I pressed a button, adding a weapon to my secondary, with ease I grabbed the broadsword from my back, one of the edges being completely jagged, with a silver edge, whist the rest was a cherry red colour, with white cloth strapped across the hilt, pommel, and handle. "This 'Bat' has something to swing, wanna see~?" His head shook, whist I felt an aura of fire burn across my body, making him sweat profusely. "Now little pony, this my sting a bit." [Silver Grove] [User: White Hat] My head slowly turned back for a moment, as I awaiting in the middle of a clearing, the eyes watched from beyond the treeline, before their silver coats jumped from the cover of the forest's shadows, my hoof on my blade. [Silverwolf Omega - lvl 20] "....Do you have the will to take a life?" He soon responded, turning fully to look at me, his tail swishing back and forth. "Do you, Key Barer?" "No, I don't, but I'll feel pretty good after I kill you for what you've done." I swore simply, each word seeping with venom "Hehehehehehehehahahahahaha......*exhale*....my name....is...." "Harbinger."His voice growled like a feral, manic beast. "I look forward to seeing how your light shines when none can be found. White. Hat." I smiled. I flew off the rock, the wolves crashing into each other from the sudden movement, before I dropped atop one of their heads, swinging Parting Glass to my right, striking a Silverwolf in the back, I threw my body over its own, pulling the blade across, then I landed, spinning clockwise, lacerating the side of the Silverwolf, turning it to streams of colour. The one I landed on leapt through the colours, but I tilted the blade to my right, thrusting my body forward with my wings, slicing straight through the Silverwolf, its body crashing into the grass, spraying its silver, and green colours to the sky. Turning back around, I watched as three more Silverwolves flew into the open field, gnashing their teeth at me, whist they stood in an arrow formation pointing to my left, which only proved my theory that not every monster was given a major intelligence boost, either that, or I was rather boastful of my power, can't blame me for being better than a bunch of wild mutts though. I placed Parting Glass to my side, flying towards them at eye-level, my legs skimming the ground as I past the grass, before I leapt onto my hooves, allowing my blade to turn yellow. [Sword Skill - Sloth] I struck the Silverwolf in front first, striking its face with a diagonal slash to the bottom left, then a diagonal slash from that point to the right, trailing the blade over its neck, then I brought it down towards the left again in a diagonal slash, creating an 'S' mark, which threw the Silverwolf flying away. The second leapt at me, so I slid under its belly, quickly charging my blade blue this time. [Sword Skill - Pride] I brought my blade towards my face, vertically, striking a line across the underbelly of the Silverwolf, followed by two rapid strikes from left, to right diagonally, then right to left diagonally, resembling a 'P' shape as I flew under it, the burst of colour blinding the final Silverwolf, the wolf sprinting through the dust I kicked up. So I planted my sword into the ground, swinging my body around and booting the Silverwolf with my back hooves, cracking its ribs as it yelped sharply. Then my blade glowed a dark green. [Sword Skill - Envy] I rushed the Silverwolf, striking a horizontal line through its side, then I inverted my blade, crossing another line from right to left, then I inverted on last time, slashing another line from left to right, before I brought my blade down in a vertical arc, striking its neck, and embedding a green 'E' into its body. Then, it too turned to a stream of colours, silencing the air to the sound of my blade clicking into the scabbard. "Wow, that was amazing! You were like 'BAM', 'POW', 'WHOOSH'- 'WHOOSH'!" Pinkie jumped from behind a tree, her golfclub strapped to her back with a gleeful smile, and a spring in her step "How's your end go?" I asked, before I saw the several or so trees shattered from their stumps, whist Pinkie sheepishly rubbed her cheek, I could only blink bluntly. "Yo-You know, the quest was to 'Kill the Silverwolves', not 'Decimate half the landscape'!?" "Woopsie! But I did complete it, see!?" She pointed to the tab opened on her own menu, as I saw my own appear Quest Complete! -New Apex- The Silver Grove's apex has risen prior to your strength, track its pack down, and claim the title as the new apex. [ ] Slay 20 Silverwolves Optional [ ] Slay 1 Apex Silverwolf The Silver Grove may be stronger, but you now rein over the masses, the new apex of this land! [Rewards] 957 Bits Silver Fur x5 808 EXP [Level Up!] [21 - 22] "Finally, I guess reaching new ranks will be more difficult now than it was before the Raid....maybe I should go back to the Lair...?" I pondered, wondering if anyone else could join me, and Rain, Pinkie could use the EXP, but she was still lower than I'd like to consider 'safe' [Pinkie Pie - lvl 17] "Hey, why not go to Canternlot, that place has lots of bad guys you could fight, right?" Pinkie bounced through my menu, just as I closed it to push her head back, her mane feeling like a cloud "I would, but levels there start at 30, I'm still 8 below that, and Rain in a level lower than me." I explained the danger to her, even if it was a good idea before all of this, now, I didn't take those risks, hence why I haven't made my move for Canternlot, it would be great to do missions in, but the journey there had monsters of 30, and possibly higher in hiding, so would it be worth that risk? "AHHHHHHHHHH~!!!" "Aww, you hear that, Pinkie, its a momma Rhino giving birth..." Such great detail to this world. Moving past that, I walked beside Pinkie, whist she hopped with each step, making our way for Ponyville again. "I don't want to risk anyone's life to get there, not yet anyways." "Then form a guild, silly!" !!! "Wha?" I breathlessly gawked at her, as she landed on the other side of me, moving to stare directly into my glasses, her sea-blue eyes pressed to them with a wide smile. I did recoil, reddening slightly, before I cleared my throat. "The guild system was implemented?" "Aye, sir! It was something I wanted to tell you, but you were being super serious fighting that Apex wolfie that I forgot, hehehe, but now I do, and it waasaaas~!" She happily exclaimed, before my frown slowly formed into a new found burst of energy in the form of a toothy grin, I tugged on my scarf, opening my menu as I worked in my notifications, pressing wildly with one hoof, my heart racing in my chest Everyone, Meet me by Twilight's Library, I have an important announcement to make, alongside my assistant, Pinkie, if you know anyone from the Raid a month ago that is still in Ponyville, bring them too. Meet us there at 6 pm, don't be late! Sincerely, White Hat "Oh, I also have a letter for you, it came from Twilight, saying she wanted to give this to you when you planned on going to Canternlot, so I guess now is a good time!" Pinkie bopped the scroll over from her muzzle, I quickly caught it in my hoof, before unraveling it to read. "It came today, so its suuuuuuuuper important!" [Golden Oak's Library] The sun was beginning to set upon Ponyville again, I could see the group of them beginning to approach me, Pinkie, and Twilight, who was sorting through a solid book with brass hinges, and a fortress on the cover, Twilght also looked ragged from trying to convince Pinkie not to go, it failed. When the sun turned the sky a beautiful orange hue, and the lanterns around the town came to life once more, I could view the group more clearly. There was Purplrain. Seraph. Klaw. SilverCrow, and one new person, and upon closer inspection, I saw their name. [Noximillion - lvl 21] He was another unicorn, with a white coat, and a short, smooth, cyan mane, with a stripe of dark blue, and light blue through the middle, his tail also ending in a few spikes. He wore leather armour, with curved tips of metal strapped to his shoulders, thighs, chest, back, with a helmet covering his face, but I could see the silver eyes through the holes across his mask. His...mark, was a simple shield with a sword across the buckler. Seraph also wore a new short jacket, with a breastplate underneath her brown coat, which was from the Raid, seeing the lime green pattern across the sleeves, and up her legs, with two belts hanging from the zipper, it was a shorter version of Rain's, only Rain dyed hers to match her scheme of silver, ultramarine, and purple. Seraph also wore a blue bandana around her left eye. "Eh, White, how'a been?" Seraph waved slyly, as I did the same, the others soon stood around me with equal expressions of curiosity, whist I heard Control Core Gamma hit me with my own beat, finally! "Teammates. Friends. Old Raid Partners. Seraph." I greeted proudly "Hey!" Ignoring Seraph I pressed my speech on "Thanks to some information from my charming pink friend here, the news of two very important pieces of information have come to light, one of which being....Players have found the next Raid Lair." All of them shared my excitement, with some in surprise, and others smiling, then I added. "But, they have yet to gain access to it, even with a small guild running in Canternlot, none of them can open the door like we all did, and the Monarchs have sent letters to every figure across Equestria to spread the word for aid." "So we know the location, but not the way to access the chamber, any idea as to why?" Klaw asked us all, but all shook their heads, before I opened my menu, entering my inventory, I brought out an old item from my storage, before us all, was my key, now a shimmering rainbow, then, I pointed it in the rough direction of Canternlot, and before us, the key hummed a brighter tone of the rainbow. "I see...." "The key is the piece/You are the passage/What is next?" Silver asked me, as I placed the key back in my storage, I sighed, frowning slightly as I spoke after a short breath of silence "We all know that over 100,000 players are gone now, murdered by Harbinger's Death Game, I won't pretend everything is still the same, that, I can't do to them, but I won't let others suffer when I know I can be stronger than Harbinger." I began slowly, stomping my hoof against the ground in frustration over those innocent deaths, in a fucking game! "White...." The soft voice of Rain reached my ears, then I turned my head up, smiling, as painful as it could be, I needed to, and I glared with a fire in my eyes "In this world, anyone can be strong, it isn't some hidden truth or unseen skill, I won't let anything stop me from doing what's right. I'm not going to die trying to free everyone from this game, because i'm going to live for them, so that their memories aren't forgotten like some distant smoke." I sighed, moving to stand before them all. "I'm going to make it back, we all are, together....and what better way to do that, then as a guild ourselves?" At first, all of them seemed to be processing the information, taking in what I had told them. Then, Rain stepped forward, looking to stare at me with a curious azure gaze, then, she smiled warmly, as she placed a hoof on my shoulder. "I'm your partner, so of course i'm with you on this, because....i'm as strong as you too!" I....I only blinked for a moment, seeing that look of determination was inspiring to say the least, so I watched her move to stand aside, letting Seraph hit me on the head "Ow, seriously, one day you're gonna turn yellow!" I barked, before she patted my cheek, looking impressed "Eh, new locations, more people to scam for information, and to give some too, could be fun." That was her answer, fair enough. Next was Klaw, he bowed at my gaze, bloody love this guy "You truly are something, White, I can follow a man that will put the lives of those lost before his own." He replied simply "Wait, what about your own guild?" I did remember him mentioning that, but he shurgged "It means nothing when your key is worthless, yours however may be the one that can unlock this mystery, and I will be there to give you guidance, as is the job as an older generation." He proudly smirked, then Silver stopped beside me, only staring as he walked by, standing beside Rain, who whispered something to him, making the stallion blush under his hood Last was the new guy, as he cleared his throat, I heard raspy voice speak through the mask. "You saved me back in the Raid before, and you have your head screwed on better than most, so i'm with you too." Now, call me too observant, but that voice was a little higher than most, but hey, not everyone's voices can break so easily, with that in mind, I turned my attention to Twilight, who had finished writing the names down in her book, before she smiled happily "Now then, all I need is a name, and all who are apart of your guild will be given a symbol on a part of the clothing by the runes inscribed in this book, Pinkie, are you sure you want to do this too, it might be dangerous?" Twilight looked to her friend, who was busy hugging my neck tighter, but she nodded anyways. "Ok, if you think its safe...." "We'll keep her safe, Miss Sparkle, you have my word." Klaw reassured her, her gaze softened a little, now she awaited my answer. I had this idea for a while, not just because of the meaning it was given now, but how strange the people I know are, from their characteristics, to how they interact, and even our goals shaped this meaning, and, a friend told me long ago how important a name is to everyone "Our name....I think I'll call us...." ---~{The Eternal Flame}~--- To Be Continued..... Update Party: White Hat - lvl 22 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 21 [Stealth class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 17 [Defensive class] Seraph - lvl 22 [Support class] Klaw - lvl 22 [Pyromancer class] SilverCrow - lvl 21 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 21 [Support class] Current Level: 22 Magic: Sky/Air magic Items: Silver Fur x5 New Skills [Sword Skill - Sloth] - Carve the first letter of 'Sloth' with slow, heavy strikes, chance of inflicting slowness [Sword Skill - Pride] - Carve the first letter of 'Pride' with quick cuts, chance of inflicting paralyze [Sword Skill - Envy] - Carve the first letter of 'Envy' with venomous slashes, chance to inflict poison New Attribute Added: -The Eternal Flame- You have made yourself a guild, when banded together, your magic is twice as strong! (Heart of The Guild) Author's Note And so begins the next Arc of MLP: AO, with all friends banding together to aid in defeating the second Raid Lair, but the journey will take far longer than they may realize. But what awaits them on their road to Canternlot? Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Event - [Dance of Red and Purple]
Event - [Dance of Red and Purple]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- with the threat of death upon the loss of all your HP, the Pain Inhibitors turned low enough to feel real, and with the intelligence of A.I growing smarter with each victory, such dreams of freedom were dim. Even now, no one has found a Raid Lair, and slowly, people began to lose all sight of hope. All, but the one who dared to threaten, Harbinger. White Hat..... Everyone, Meet me by Twilight's Library, I have an important announcement to make, alongside my assistant, Pinkie, if you know anyone from the Raid a month ago that is still in Ponyville, bring them too. Meet us there at 6 pm, don't be late! Sincerely, White Hat "Our name....I think I'll call us...." ---~{The Eternal Flame}~--- [Road To Canternlot] The journey was going to be long, with the trains out completely, my theory was that it could only be accessed if both Raid Lairs were clear in two areas, then the trains would be operational again, sure, that made absolutely no sense, but it was better than, 'oh trains aren't working, too bad', my theory provided us with transport in the future. The road was long, a simple dirt track across the valleys of the kingdom, passing many landmarks like waterfalls, forests, and even other ruins, but with a team of 7 players, yes, including Pinkie, we weren't in any danger, and we took down mobs for EXP when we could. The sun was atop us now, just as we strolled past a Mailmare, who handed us the news from both events, future updates, and even Player news. Two articles caught my attention as we walked, with Seraph levitating the newspaper for me as she looked through her notes in her menu for obvious reasons, she is an info broker by heart. "Sightings of the next Raid Lair in Canternlot have been sighted, with the bearers of the Gemstones of Belonging awaiting to hear the call of the band of Players who had taken down the very first Raid Lair, and ultimately survived an encounter with the being now holding over 800,000 players hostage, with the number drifting down by each day. If the players who defeated the raid see this, please join us in Canternlot to aid in beating this game." I relayed for all of us to hear, as I flipped the page to see what else there was "Seems are reputation has become common knowledge?" Klaw observed evenly, whist he placed a claw on his snout. "You think this key you bare has the answer to why the door has yet to open?" "Honestly, its the best lead we got, or anyone's best guess, since I was the last to strike down the boss, I must have drawn in the power of all your keys into mine, making it the absolute token of the fight, but that's a stretch for my tastes...." Shaking my head at my own crack-pot idea, I felt something tap my shoulder, and I turned to see Pinkie hopping beside me "Its because you, and the other soon-to-be-bearers are like me and the girls, you are your own elements of harmony!" That....actually seems accurate, that would lead to the point that Seven Key Raid Lairs are scattered across Equestria as we speak, with two already discovered. Seeing the logic, I patted Pinkie on the head, making her giggle like a little kid, next was general news of the game "In other related news. Reports that guilds have been officially established in the game, with the majority acting as guardians for low ranking players on quests, allowing them to level up and aid the efforts of searching for any raid lairs not yet uncovered. Some players have referenced that more significant characters from the show have also had increased awareness of this reality, leading to....yeah I'll just skip that one." Not opening 'that' can of worms to Pinkie, given how she's....rather calm about the fact she's an A.I, oh well "Last article here. Lately, much to the collective surprise of most info brokers, players have caught wind of a small band of players managing to take over the Green Zone of Griffonstone, though they are not hostile, the leader has been reported as being....insistent on level grinding, due to his base level being roughly 15 levels higher than other players, whist also wearing a....surprisingly stylish scarf? Oooook? Rumors of this player have also circulated about him being the only confirmed player with an 'Ultimate' ability-Ok, yeah, that's Black alright." I then shut the page for a moment in Seraph's magic, her eyes rolling too "Who's to bet he's killed a player just to see if they re-spawned?" Her smug expression mirrored my own, that would be something he'd do. "Still, why didn't ya both spawn in the same place?" "Don't no, don't care." I waved off, with the others looking at us like we'd just spat in God's face "Who's Black?" Rain asked from the side of me, so I just grimaced at the thought "My brother. Goes by the same 'Hat' at the end of his user, and if we're comparing who's crazier, that would go to him, be thankful you ran or crashed into me." Moving past her surprised expression. "Now then, next article, and...." I paused, narrowing my gaze at the page, as I felt my throat dry slightly. "You're not gonna like this one..." "Why's that?" Rain asked, hovering above me, so I slowly read the black ink "Recent reports suggest that a number of deaths were caused by a guild, much like ones meant to be for an equal balance of good, and evil, this one has gone beyond that premise, and....has been sighted by many for killing players, with a total of....oh god, 50 confirmed reports of players dying by their hooves." I nearly wanted to burn the page now, even I felt heat rising from Klaw as he snarled "W-What's their name?" Seraph asked me, even she found it horrifying to hear, as she threw the paper away in disgust. But the name stuck in my head, it was now fresh in my mind as a warning for future events to come. "Bloody sick bastards." ---~{Phantom}~--- [Event - Dance of Red and Purple] A strange blade rests by a large, green tree, investigate it if you desire to know why the sword rests. [ ] Investigate the Purple Sword Optional: [ ] Say the name, 'Absolute Sword' "Huh? An....event?" I paused my walking, along with the rest as they saw me stare at my menu, before I watched Rain walk to my side, staring down at my screen, but she couldn't see it, obviously. "Its. On. Private!" "What does it say then?" She complained in my ear, before I looked to my left, and....it was just beyond the treeline, but....I could see a large, dome of a tree top, it was nearly covered completely, but I could see it, so, I closed the tab, and ran for the clearing. "Hey, wait up!" "Seems we're going where he's going...." Seraph sighed, following after me. Soon, I turned my head to see the others following suit, just as I passed a few trees to reach the location the event spoke of. When I did, I slowly stared up at the massive tree, its leaves glowing under the rays of the, whist the forest bent around its presence, not a single branch touching its own "Now this is a sight." I heard Noximillion awe at the spectacle, as he brushed a hoof on the grass. "Its all flowers...." He was right, but....even with the bed of white, yellow, and pink flowers, my eyes were soon drawn to what sat before us, stuck upright from the ground, was a longsword, dark purple, with a long handle, and narrow blade, with white zigzagging, before traveling up the edge, the air seemed to still at the moment I crossed the border between our path, and its domain. The others stayed back however, encase it were a trap, and since I was the only once who seemed to be given the event. My luck strikes again... Upon closer inspection of the longsword, I could feel something, not an energy lingering on the weapon, but....someone was here, watching me, did they own this blade? Or was it another hidden boss, if it was, I might not want to grab this rare-looking item. But, I then remembered what the event said, what it wanted me to say. "Absolute....Sword." *Diiiiiiiiing* !!! I turned my head towards the green roof of leaves above me, and in instinct I leapt away from the purple blade, just as a body dropped from the treeline, stepping beside the sword, whist I heard the others raise their weapons at the boss. When my gaze flared to the Boss' appearance. It...wasn't a boss? "Oh woah, you must be really skilled to have felt me dropping like that! You're like Kirito-level of skill!" I heard the chipper voice awe at me, I stared at the grey Therstral that stood before me, grabbing the sword with a hoof, before her crimson gaze fell to me, as she smiled innocently in my direction, her stunning, blackish-purple hair falling past her neck. "What's your name? I know I can see it, but I like getting to hear people say it." [Yuuki - lvl 25] She seemed to be wearing obsidian chest armour, a bluebottle violet tunic and a windswept skirt of the same colour beneath the armour. A thin, black sheath hung on her waist, where she placed the purple blade carefully. Before looking to me again for a response. "Hi....my name's White Hat, but drop the 'Hat', no pun intended." I replied, she laughed at the intentional pun, making me smirk at the player's quirkiness, before she pointed a hoof at herself with a grin "Yuuki, also known as 'Zekken'! And I want to fight you!" I-Wait what? Now I was baffled again, I even heard someone drop their weapon behind me comically. Then Yuuki frowned, giving me big, puppy eyes as she walked up to me, now staring at me face-to-face. "Pleeeeease, I promise it will be fun, just one duel, please-please-please~!?" "I...umm, s-sure, just let me send you the invite." To say I was completely baffled by this event was understandable, since I was about to face 'YUKKI KONNO' the girl who beat Kirito, and Asuna, how the bloody hell can I block a skill like hers!? I mean....now I get the event, but....damn that scene broke me. In a way, I wanted to give her a great match, even if she wasn't real, to me, she was a player of grand talent, and, if we're both here, right now, I'll do this I opened up 'Party', then I pressed on the local screen, bringing up local players, there were a few, but I pressed on 'Yuuki', before I pressed 'challenge player', and soon her own message appeared. "Just hit the ok button, I think you're familiar with the system, once the timer hits zero its game, whoever has the most health wins, or the player comes close to death, got it?" I confirmed for her, gaining a large smile as she hit the button, a banner appearing above us, with a timer, and our names, and health bars. "Good luck, Yuuki." "You too, this is gonna be so much fun~!" Yuuki was hyped, and I was beginning to feel the same feeling of excitement upon gaining the chance to do battle with Yuuki herself, I never dueled in the game before, but I'll treat it like a Boss, and I'll beat her. Drawing our blades, my ears flicking at the voices behind me "You got this, White!" Rain cheered "My money's on you! Mostly!" Seraph, I swore she must have had that sly smirk of hers "Good luck to you both!" Klaw humbly sided with neither [FIGHT] At the moment the buzzer sounded, I rushed Yuuki, thrusting Parting Glass towards her body, yet she effortlessly dodged it, as I continued the violent offensive, whist Yuuki ducked or side-stepped to avoid each consecutive strike I tried to land. One did come close, as she flew back, allowing me to strike at her chest, but the mere centimeter it got between my blade, and her chest, I watched as her purple sword blocked it, shoving my blade away, her casual smile lingering, before I thrusted again, only for the blade to fly past her mane, making me fly past her. She took that point to aim for my side, so I sprung my wings, rolling up, and over Yuuki, as she swung her blade to defend against my rotating assault, each strike sparking purple, and red with each failed strike from each other. When I landed, I spun on my free left foreleg, bringing my blade around in a horizontal arc, only for Yuuki to back-flip, her tail being trimmed by my blade. Upon straightening herself, she flew above me, as I landed on my back hooves, thrusting up with my legs as I gave chase. I ascended, seeing Yuuki turn down to face me, before I swung my blade up, clashing with Yuuki's downward strike, throwing me upside-down, so I spun, striking her blade which now defended her head, so I flew back, which was followed by Yuuki, we continued to fly at into each other, our strikes clanking in the air, shaking the trees around us. Before I gasped, seeing Yuuki skim under my blade, leaving my chest open, so I pulled myself back, the tip of her blade scratching my hidden chest plate, but still damaging my health. Then we backed away, both staring at each other. Yuuki continued to smile kindly, whist I panted, grazing the red line across my chest, cursing myself for not being able to lay a single strike on her, all of it was beyond any measure Ive faced before, at the rate she was performing I'd be lying if I didn't see my old friend, Skye reflected in her eyes, since both would be the fiercest girls ive ever faced, even Skye never felt this difficult to beat though, and she played Warframe for weeks, and yet....I still.... "No....I refuse to lose....." I spat, seeing Yuuki's face drop at my words, then I held my blade to my side, looking at her with a determined glare, grinding my teeth together. "I refuse to lose again." As if sensing my seriousness, Yuuki's face hardened, she too held her blade to her face, staring eye-level with her blade, we stared at each other for a few seconds.....waiting. In a flash, we lashed out, Yuuki bringing her sword down on my head, I inverted my grip, dragging my sword up, turning as I clashed with her blade, skating my blade across her's much to her surprise, before the world run with a rupture of air, hitting my friends beneath me, before I spun around, bringing my blade down, as Yuuki flew back. Then my blade glowed a bright crimson. [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] Thrusting towards her, I watched as she too illuminated her blade in a coat of light blue, bringing her blade to her left hip, using 'Horizontal Arc' to deflect my blow, which was fine. I pushed my blade down, locking her hoof with mine, as I headbutted her, dazing the girl, then I grasped her tail, and threw her towards the ground, giving chase soon after, thrusting down again with a crimson blade. [Sword Skill - Wrath] I first struck from left diagonally down, then inverting my grip and bringing upwards diagonally to the right, then down the opposite direction, before copying the first swing, only towards the top right, blasting Yuuki with a red 'W', the last strike grazing her cheek, however, her own blade struck my side, knocking us both back from the black and red cloud. The smoke dispersed, and we flew at each other again, clashing as we spun, throwing each other back again, basking my wings in a light-blue glow, sharpening their tips like blades. [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] My newly added speed quickly closed the distance between me, and Yuuki, she acted on reflex, redirecting me with her blade, her other hoof pressed against the flat end of the blade to shove me aside, and if I wasn't so concentrated, I may have cracked a smile. I spun my body round again sharply, before her eyes turned to pinpricks, the force of my left hoof connected with her muzzle, it too covered in a blanket of air. [Sky Seal - Airlock] The eruption of air sent her flying into the sky again, the recoil did throw me to the tree, my back hooves landing on the trunk, bending them I rushed up to finish off Yuuki, pouring the last ounce of my magic in this final strike to end her. [Sword Skill - Seven Deadly Sins] Upon swinging my blade from left to right, Yuuki's left eye reopened from her wincing at the pain, but my own heart snapped like a swig at the sight of her blade flashing bright purple, a glimmer of light in her iris when she struck my attack mid-slash fiercely with five consecutive thrusts, knocking me away from the smoke that formed. "Mother's Rosario!? Oh shit...." I thought back the urge to pull back, time slowed to a crawl, my eyes watching her fly through, her blade now pinned to my chest, and all I could do was cry out in pain when she struck me with another five consecutive stabs in a straight line from the top left to the bottom right of my body, perpendicular to the prior five that blocked me, all I could do was watch my health dropped significantly Yuuki pulled back again, my body lurched back in pain during my descent towards the earth again, but I wasn't done, not when I still had health left in my bar! She tilted her body, pushing her weight behind the final strike to complete the interception on my chest. But just the second before, I swung my blade up from behind my back, knocking her blade back with a sharp 'ting' of metal. Her eyes soon widened, taking it as my uprising, I brought my blade down with a cry, seeing her fall from the sky to avoid me, but I was already too close for her to avoid me now. [WINNER] I froze mere ticks from her muzzle, Yuuki sat on the ground, her sword to her side, I stood above her, my wings keeping me afloat as I panted, sweat trickling down my face, as some did for her, her chest rising rapidly, before I fell back to my hooves, placing Parting Glass back in its sheath. I held a hoof out to Yuuki, which she smiled, and accepted. Just when I glanced to the board, seeing my health in the red, with Yuuki just between the margin of yellow and red. I lost the match. *Thump* And now my face was turning red from Yuuki hugging me tightly, I did laugh nervously, I just got hugged by Yuuki! Ok, try not to freak out Cayde. She did pull back, happily smiling as the others ran up to us, with Seraph grabbing my head in an arm lock, rubbing my mane, whist Rain beamed with inspiration from our fight, Silver patted me on the back, whist Klaw, and Noximillion stood beside all of us with appreciation of the fight, with Klaw bowing in appreciation for the show. "Hehehehehe, you're really strong, I was on my toes....or hooves, I guess, that was amazing, I felt like I was fighting Kirito again!" Yuuki happily flapped her wings, with a glow of bliss in her eyes. "When you did that thing with your wings, I was completely caught off guard, I thought I was done for then, heck, you even blocked my OSS!" "Lets just say....I've had the same experience as you, maybe just a bit more." I answered, and that seemed to flash some resemblance of understanding in her eyes, before she continued to smile. There was one thing I needed to know though, if my throat wasn't dry during the fight, it certainly was now over my next question. "Yuuki, do you know any players called....Philia or Strea?" "Huh? Of course, Philia always wants to go on treasure hunts, and I tag along, and Strea even overwhelms me sometimes!" Yuuki gaped, shuddering at the though, before rubbing her back with a wing. "Her hugs could kill...." Oh thank the gods, she was the Game's Yuuki, sure, she was still suffering from her disease, but she was alive and recovering well. That made me do something the others didn't expect from me, I reached over and pulled Yuuki into a hug, sighing heavily at my own clouded mind. If only....well, maybe one day I'll tell 'em, just....not right now. "Good, don't take this the wrong way....but I understand what you're going through, and....I know someone else who is, how long they've spent alone, so...I-i'm happy to see a famous Swordswoman like you is doing great." Now, I may be acting like a madman, but surprisingly, I felt Yuuki's arms around me too, it was soft, putting my mind at ease. Then I pulled away from our embrace, seeing the tears stinging her eyes slightly "Thanks, I really appreciate that....but, say, you wanna be friends? I'd like to chat some more if that's ok, just....about your friend?" Yuuki softly requested....I wish I could, she's just a program, so it wouldn't - no....to hell with logic anymore "White, I....hmm....a girl's wish is for a man to make after-all." I turned my head slightly to look at Klaw, his face understanding what it meant, making me smirk with a snort, before I opened my menu, much to everyone's bafflement, but I didn't care, I don't know why I was doing what I was doing, or how this would be even possible, but I was going by my brother's logic of not giving a shit "Boss-" I raised a hoof to Seraph, smiling a little "What, like anyone would pass the opportunity to be friends with 'Yuuki'?" I mused, seeing the purple-clad girl smile brightly with anticipation [Friend Request Sent to: Yuuki] [Friend Request Accepted!] "Awesome, another person to challenge!" Yuuki hoof-pumped happily "There, you ever want to chat, i'm all ears, even from across two worlds." With a smile, I saw Yuuki begin to disappear, as she looked to her glowing body with a worry expression, she quickly opened her menu, before scrolling down to something on her screen, then, she grabbed it quickly, pressing a few keys, before throwing it into another menu, then she hit the blue circle [Trade Request Received] [Accept? Y / N] When I clicked it, a new item had appeared on my own screen, leaving me to face Yuuki one last time, as she saluted with a wink. "Till round two! But here's a little advice from someone like me, if you lose, just go home, and get back up tomorrow! Bye~!" Then, Yuuki was gone, her final words ratting in my head for a few seconds, then, I watched a tab appear for all of us to see [Event Complete!] A strange blade rests by a large, green tree, investigate it if you desire to know why the sword rests. [ ] Investigate the Purple Sword Optional: [ ] Say the name, 'Absolute Sword' [ ] Battle Yuuki (AKA Zekken) You fought the greatest Swordswoman alive. Even worlds apart, you will both remember each other's strength. [Level Up!] [24 - 25] [Rewards] New Sword Skill can be unlocked! Original Sword Skill - Mothers Rosario [Achievement Unlocked] You Are Never Alone - Find the purple blade under a massive tree "I think.....today was a nice day for a walk." My whisper was light, yet none of them said a word, I merely moved to walk back towards the treeline where the path awaited us, then I turned back with a smug look. "Well, hurry your asses up! I ain't goin' to no Raid Lair solo!?" "Coming boss~!" Seraph muttered, most likely due to the fact that I just got my hands on an exclusive skill, ha! "Wait for us!" Rain called after me with a kind smile Onwards, towards the golden kingdom. [Sword Art Online: Lost Song] "Hey, Yuuki!" At her name, Yuuki's gaze jumped back from her previous encounter, moving to turn to the Black Swordsman, Kirito, he flew down to greet her, but then he noticed her perplexed face, as if she was lost in another world entirely. "You doing ok?" "Huh, oh, yeah-yeah, I actually just got back from a crazy match with someone, I nearly lost!" Yuuki chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck with a cheeky smile, but Kirito was surprised to hear this, coming from her of all people, then he smiled, looking into her eyes with a sense of integrity to challenge this person. Thankfully, Yuuki caught on quickly, wiggling a finger at him. "Nope. This guy's a loooooong distance away, I don't even think he knew what happened, or did he?" "Right...." Kirito trailed off, both confused and disappointed, but Yuuki smiled, placing a hand on her blade, looking off at the sky above her, past the tree that had a few branches missing from their fight, and even scuff marks on the grass below her feet. Even Kirito was baffled by the state of the tree. "Geez, what happened here?" "I hope I can see him again, even if just for a bit. I never really got to talk to his friends." Yuuki smiled, pointing off towards the sun, knowing she could speak to him whenever she felt like it. White said he knew someone like herself, he knew how it felt to be so isolated from the world, that feeling of uselessness, and emptiness. "White, you better prepare yourself, because I'll be coming back for our rematch!!!" To Be Continued.... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 25 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 23 [Stealth class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 20 [Defensive class] Seraph - lvl 24 [Support class] Klaw - lvl 25 [Pyromancer class] SilverCrow - lvl 23 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 23 [Support class] Current Level: 25 Magic: Sky/Air magic Items: New Unlockable Sword Skill New Skills [Sword Skill - Seven Deadly Sins] - Six slashes and a single thrust, triggering defence down and attack down (1H Sword) [Sword Skill - Wrath] - Carve the first letter of 'Wrath' upon your enemies in four sharp lacerations (1H Sword) Author's Note I loved Yuuki, so it only made sense to make her an event, even giving White the chance to gain her OSS skill in the future, I hope you liked their air battle, as I enjoyed writing it, alongside a new part to White that no-one knows, but next time we get some more action! So hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the next chapter! P.S. Hope that ending was a nice touch, I thought it was an interesting point to the story Next Chapter: Quest - [Siege On The Capital]
Quest - [Siege On The Capital]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "Sightings of the next Raid Lair in Canternlot have been sighted, with the bearers of the Gemstones of Value awaiting to hear the call of the band of Players who had taken down the very first Raid Lair, and ultimately survived an encounter with the being now holding over 800,000 players hostage-" "Recent reports suggest that a number of deaths were caused my a guild, much like ones meant to be for an equal balance of good, and evil, this one has gone beyond that premise, and....has been sighted by many for killing players, with a total of....oh god, 50 confirmed reports of players dying by their hooves." I nearly wanted to burn the page now "W-What's their name?" Seraph asked me ---~{Phantom}~--- [Highway to Canternlot] "-the last one standing~!" Thus, another talented song by Rain, her angelic voice can be both awesome, and apparently amazing at singing, as we clapped for the performance, making her turn red with a giggle. "Thanks....I-I usually can't sing in-front of anyone." "Talent like yours/All must here/You have a gift." Silver tipped the brim of his hood with a smile, as Rain bowed mid-flight, making us chuckle, before I was shoved from behind We have been travelling to Canternlot for two days now, and finally, we could see the kingdom ahead, as well as a bountiful amount of players and A.I. The kingdom itself was a break-taking sight. A pristine white wall guarded the city, with a perfect view of the many streets that collected together under the shadow of the castle. The fortress itself was certainly grander in person, seeing the spires reach for the clouds, as the waterfalls collected to form rainbows around the cliffs, and mountain, whist the massive complex itself stood against the impossible cliff face of the mountain. 'Magic, when physics are bullshit' "Now, before we continue this conversation, does anyone else notice something strange about where we're heading?" My question brought a few strange looks to my gaze, luckily, all were now paying a perceptive eye to 'Canternlot'. Yeah, I noticed. "Whoever put the names of these places into the game had botched up the name of Canterlot." "Huh, didn't really notice it until you said it." Wow, even Klaw was taken back by it, was I really the only one to notice? Then again, I like the show and I pay close attention to detail, apparently not the staff member who did 'this'. Clearing my throat, I made a gesture to Silver with my hoof. "Continue with what you were going to say." "What of you/Any unknown talent/Behind that smile?" Was this Zer0 impressionist trying to get 'this' dying crow to sing? I mean, if I was by myself atleast the birds would still live, but in front of others? No-no-no-no. So, I shook my head, patting Rain on the back "She's got the talent to move people, I just swing a metal stick around, and things stop. Forever." Emphasizing my point by poking my chest, whist Rain turned red again from me putting her in the spotlight, hey, she had talent, I ain't gonna lie there, that and....I really suck at lying "Speaking of unknown talents, how's about the person under the hood here?" Seraph tapped the mask of Noximillion, making him swipe her hoof away, shaking his head from the ringing, but when he turned, I saw that his eyes were different, a new set of pink eyes stared back at us, whist he seemed to clear his throat "None of your concern, I wish to repay you for saving me White, that, and your goals are thoughtful, unlike the team I was apart of, who later left on their own, I stayed to help others." Noximillion stated Matter of factly, as I beamed with praise again, before he paused, then added. "And....call me 'Nox' for short." "Sure thing, Nox, but I'm curious, what is it that you use as a weapon?" My question brought on the eyes of everyone else's interest, before he looked down, muttering to himself. "Hey, you alright-" "AHHHH!!!" All forms of conversation were thrown away at the scream, making us all look around for any sign of the scream "I see the pony over there!" Pinkie called after a large bounce, her hoof pointing just off the road near....Canternlot, I swear that's going to get old fast. An NPC was being cornered by two crystal snakes. Their bodies shimmering in the sunlight with a glimmer of blues from their hide, as their hollow eyes stared down at their prey. "Annnnd crystal worms?" [Hollow Fang - lvl 30] "Level 30, you're kidding?" Seraph gaped, just as I ran ahead, followed by Silver, us not wanting to wait for the Hollow Fangs to finally finish their meal. When we were close, I drew my blade, and leapt into the air, flying for the one raising its head at the mare. Quickly, my blade flashed orange [Sword Skill - Split Stream] It didn't target us, as I swooped in, before I struck diagonally to the left, quickly bringing my blade back again, striking it diagonally right, merging the strikes in an intersection, before I spun vertically, bringing my blade down the middle of the 'X', bending my body backwards, I lunged in a large horizontal arc through the 'X', the star shattering the spine of the Crystal snake, its body falling to pieces. Then Silver ran atop its fallen body, using it as leverage to swing his body atop the head of the now attacking Hollow Fang. [Sword Skill - Helix] He leapt back from the head thrashing him, spinning around and bringing both magenta blades down in an 'X' formation, thrusting out mid-descent, crossing another 'X', rapidly repeating the first movement on the Hollow Fang's lower back. Debuffing the Hollow Fang with weakness. I was going to strike straight after Silver, but something landed on my head, throwing me back, just as I caught the glimpse of the cyan tail. Falling to my back, I watched Nox swing out from thin air, his menu closing in the instant, a massive Halberd with a black handle, and golden spear head, which connected to the golden axe-head with a crescent blade, which stuck through the other-side of the axe. Then it glowed brown within his red aura, which was strange, since his magic aura was blue the last time. [Earth Seal - Break Beat Bark] He spun around in a barrel roll, bringing the axe crashing atop the dome of the Hollow Fang's head, pulling back and resting it to his far left, he spun once, the spear head tearing through the side of its jaw, quickly levering the polearm downwards, pulling the weapon up vertically from the bottom to top, splitting the Hollow Fang's head in two, that later followed with a burst of colours, mostly consisting of blues, whites, and violets. He then fell back to the earth, using his magic to levitate the halberd to his side, and within moments, he threw his menu open, and unequipped the halberd, much to the small pile of confusion that slowly built in my head. Then I saw it, his eyes turning from red to pink, was that magic or was I losing the plot from two days of travelling, and enemy slaying? Lets hope its the former. "That was something else, I didn't know the game had halberds!?" Rain gushed, and I think pouted, knowing she's been using a polearm as her secondary. Soon the rest joined us, with Klaw being the gentleman or dragon, he is and aiding the mare to her hooves "Are you ok miss?" He calmly asked, before she shook my hoof with a trembling hoof of her own. She was a pink mare, with silver eyes, and even a smooth, silver mane that reached just below her ears "Yes, thank you young man, and you two also!" She breathlessly thanked the three of us, as Silver smiled, and Nox looked towards the capital. "Please, you must help us, if you can spare them your hooves?" Then the question mark appeared, another quest to be obtained I see "Sure, anything we can do to help." Rain butted in with a soft smile, making the old mare relax since there were several armed ponies before her, can't help since she was nearly a reptile meal "The gate to Canternlot is under siege by more of these monsters, no pony knows where they came from, I was caught in the middle of it all until you arrived, but....if you could please do an old mare this wish, and help them defend the gate, I promise to repay you in the future?" She sounded so desperate, but the mention of the Green Zone being under fire, was this recent? Or just a quest? "Of course! You're talking to the greatest guild in Equestria, The Eternal Flame!" Pinkie seemed very excited about that, heck, the old mare's eyes seemed to rest easy at that, then, we saw the quest appear before us [New Quest!] -Siege On The Capital- Crystal monsters have gathered near the South Gate of Canternlot, take them down before they can breach the city! [ ] Fend off the horde of Hollow Fangs Optional [ ] ??!??!!??? "What the heck's with the optional?" Seraph whispered, before I saw the mare begin to walk for the path "Hey, you'll be ok, right!?" Just because she was an A.I didn't mean it was right to let her die, but she nodded calmly, before walking back for the path, leaving me to follow the way-point for the rising land, where the path coiled up the side of the mountain. "We should hurry, I hate to find out that this is a timed mission." "Wait. Klaw, Rain, and White, you three fly ahead, we'll catch up, just encase this is timed, better for someone to reach the peak first." Nox recommended, and it was risky, but at the same time, we were all level 26, and if we stuck together we'd have a better chance. "Well..? Go!" "Right, see you guys topside." Rain agreed, spreading her wings, whist me and Klaw followed suit. If the Hollow Fangs here were as tough as the horde attacking the Green Zone, then we don't have much time to save every player there, we needed to fly, and fly fast [Canternlot South Gate] The three of us pierced through the small layer of clouds, as we came through the white wall, and atop where the path lead, meeting a collection of hills, with the path winding towards the massive white, and gold gate ahead, where magic, and metal rang across the grasslands. From our point, we could see nearly ten crystal enemies, all of which were trying to pull the gate down with determined ferocity. "We need to move!" I rallied, flying for the monsters before they could do more damage, then, I channeled my wings, their length sharpening with a light-blue coat again. "Lets see if this works...." [Sky Seal - Sky Rasher] I flew between two Hollow Fangs, lacerating their sides, and ultimately redirecting the aggro of all the monsters, Even a new type. It was a crystal knight, with a clean slate of glass for a face under the helmet, whist it held a shiny spear, with a glass shard as the spear-head, its armour similar to European Armour of the 16th century. [Weapon of Refraction - lvl 31] The lancer struck out at me, trying to piercing my armour, but it only grazed my gauntlets, my left hoof knocking the spear back, before I flew up, avoiding the snapping of the Hollow Fangs. Then I saw the Shadow Shot fly past my face, impaling the lancer through the face, throwing it onto its back. Then Rain flew to my side, her hooves glowing a bright purple again. [Umbra Seal - Gloom Grip] Rain then fired a purple orb into the ground below us, the moment it ruptured, several chains struck out from the orb, latching onto different enemies, pulling them closer to the orb's epicenter. Klaw then dropped low, his palms against each other as the orange aura clouded his claws. [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Crescendo] The nova of flames nearly blinded me, whist burning my eyes as it consumed five crystal monsters, destroying two of them from the impact, however, Klaw blocked a spear with his left arm, the spear-tip puncturing his armour, and damaging his arm, the knight trying to thrust the spear into his stomach, only for Klaw to grab his buster sword, swinging it down in an arc to shatter the lancer's spear, his wings pulling his body back with a massive burst of power. "You alright?" I asked him, as he drunk a health potion, his bar reaching full again, then he smirked with a glint of entertainment "Its been long since we've had a challenge, wouldn't you agree?" At that, my blank stare turned to an evil smirk, yeah, I guess it was a while for him, but I did fight Yuuki just over a day ago, so I need a refreshing change of pace, but this was fun. Our eyes however were drawn to Rain gasping an 'oh' of realization. "Anything?" "Yep, they're all weak to kinetic, and....Sky magic." She then stared at me with a smile, I felt around my jacket for a potion, before I grabbed a blue vile, drinking the contents with a gag, however, my magic bar resorted the piece I was missing, and it boosted the bar beyond its normal length. "I'm all out magic now, good luck!" "Right. Ante Up." Grinning, I raised my sword to my side, its blade glowing a new shade of green, as I felt the magic surge from my arm, to my hoof, then through the blade, as wisps of magic rotated around the edge [Sky Seal - Sacred Calibur] Descending towards the remaining six crystal monsters, I dropped under a Hollow Fang's tail, just as I looked up to see Klaw strike downwards, shattering the tail with his buster sword, before he grabbed it with both hands, swinging the blade in a diagonal arc, breaking a section of the Hollow Fang's face. Rain brought an axe-kick across the jaw of a lancer, pressing her feet to its chest, then pushing off, kicking it backwards into a stun-lock. I came down towards a Hollow Fang, its head lurching up to strike me, so I used my new magical ability, and I raised my blade into the air, the green light flash-banged the area with a brilliant glow, blinding every enemy in my sights, I quickly held my blade to my right side, pulling the edge straight through the side of the Hollow Fang, slicing it in two. Spinning on my back hooves, my wings redirecting me to slice another serpent's body in two, a burst of colour clouding the area. *Thud-Crack* Something cold had struck my back, a surge of pain shaking my spine as I flipped in the air, my mane brushing the dirt road, as I lancer struck out again, digging his spear into the dirt in front of me. Grabbing the staff, I swung my body around the polearm, kicking the lancer across the face, the red flash of light crashed through its skull with a painful crunch, splitting the skull into shards of glass, followed by its body going limp under the buster sword. I grabbed the spear, adjusting it in my grip, then I lobbed it towards Rain, who thankfully saw this, ducking under a swipe of a lancer, and kicking the spear i threw, up, grabbing it in her teeth, then propelling her body over the lancer, his attack missing. Rain drove the spearhead through its face, pulling down with her weight, slicing through its head completely, dropping the final crystal monster into a broken heap "Another bites the dust!" Rain cheered, with Klaw placing his buster sword on his back again, sighing at the cuts on his arms, and stomach, but he was still ok, meanwhile, Rain had a cut on her shoulder, and forehead, and I had one on my back somewhere, along with the one on my stomach too. These A.I certain were more coordinated, wonder if Black's had this problem too? "Aww we missed the fight!" I heard Pinkie's voice over the grassy hills, just as they began to cross over the hill, and-ahh, something kept reflecting light into my face, it was a faint image, but I saw that something was in front of us, standing just off the side of the gateway, I almost didn't see it given the sunny day "What...is that?" Klaw murmured, my eyes narrowed at the more see-through lancer, he held a longsword in his hand, but all other features were clear-glass, almost impossible to see if not for the....name....about its head, it also wasn't visible since.....Rain! [Reflection of Refraction - lvl ???] "Rain, get down!!!" I screamed in utter panic, my hooves quickly pulling Rain's body under me, whist Klaw leapt into the air with his wings, and in the blink of an eye, I watched the thin line of glass sail over us, catching my arm with a clean, cold slice. "Ahh!" The attack vanished after that, the Reflection dropping its guard to stare down at me with a blank face, but its head tilted, and my world bent, even distorted at its gaze. "Wrong.....no normal player......patient zero." Klaw attempted engage it from above, yet its body shattered like glass, its blade being the last to hit the ground before breaking, leaving all of us to stare into space over what had occurred. Releasing a held breath, I looked down to see Rain below me, staring back with a worried expression, before I threw myself off her, touching my arm softly. Then I saw my health bar....it was cut in two from that single strike! "Y-You ok?" Rain asked, handing me a health potion, just as the others came into view, and Rain breathed a shaky breath. "Thanks for saving me there." "Not a problem, just wished I seen that thing sooner." My perception didn't even pick it up, and that voice, what the hell did it do to my head? Quest Complete! -Siege On The Capital- The gate of Canternlot has been kept in check, but something has been awakened.... [ ] Fend off the horde of Hollow Fangs Optional [ ] ??!??!!??? You successfully defended the gate between Canternlot and the crystal monsters! [Rewards] Glass Fragments x8 Hollow Fang x2 1200 Bits 1350 EXP "That 'thing' was and echo of an ancient creature, buried under the kingdom. Its name, was Internal Refraction." We all came to the attention of the guard, the gate now lifted for us to enter, whist the golden pony stood with a respectful gaze. "You saved us from its attack, we thank you greatly for that." "We were given a tip from an old mare, she was the one who warned us of the danger." Klaw explained, leading to the guard to nod, then he gestured to the city inside. City? Kingdom? Both? Ah fuck it "These attacks happen often, usually as skirmishes on any one of the entrances to the kingdom, we could normally close the gates and use the train, but with a repaired piece still in the train-yard, we have little hope of restoring that idea." He explained, looking tired from constantly fighting "Let me guess, those Crystal monsters have overrun the place?" Seraph bluntly pointed the obvious, to which the guard blinked only once with despair. "What ya think, boss, worth goin' huntin'?" "Maybe when we get stronger, it would be good to gain some allies who are still in Ponyville for the Raid Lair, even with the players here, it doesn't hurt to be safe." Concluding my strategy, I watched the others give their own agreements to the plan, then, I grinned like a kid. "Yes! Now we can have fun during the event~!" "There's an event happening?" Nox mumbled, before I grabbed his shoulders, shaking him, it was possibly the greatest holiday of them all, baring my birthday "Why yes, my masked friend, Nightmare Night. Also known as, Halloween~!" I sung with a skip in my step upon my approach to the guard. "When, ahem, Nightmare Night passes, you can be sure that we'll gather that remaining piece you need, no fuss or muss!" "Well, we could sure use some aid, I appreciate it, and, have fun during the festival that'll be held for the event." He wasn't joking....hehehehehahahah! "Ok, people, we need an inn, make it central, where every possible chance to celebrate this event can be seen for miles, MILES I SAY!?" I ordered, marching towards the gate with grin, seeing Seraph face-hoof to my right, whist Rain watched me curiously. Her expression was probably due to my attitude turning into a complete child, but hey, its Hallow's Eeeeeeve~! "Is he really this excited for Halloween?" Rain, my dear, you have a lot to learn about me and my favorite time of year. Then I saw Seraph run up to me, happily hugging me with stars in her eyes again. "Wha?" "Think of the exclusive loot, and the stats they hold. One night to sell limited time information to people for grand prices, it will be a glorious day for an Info Broker!" Now she was laughing with me. To be fair, I didn't pass by the fact that we nearly died from a mysterious entity, but I wasn't going to let that stop me, not with what was around the corner "With the gear from this event, we'll slaughter the next Raid Lair together!" "Lets do it!" Seraph cheered with me, all while the others laughed at our childish antics for what was to come Bring on Hallows Eve! To Be Continued.... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 26 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 26 [Stealth class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 24 [Defensive class] Seraph - lvl 25 [Support class] Klaw - lvl 26 [Pyromancer class] SilverCrow - lvl 25 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 25 [Support class] Current Level: 26 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Glass Fragments x8 Hollow Fang x2 1200 Bits New Skills [Sword Skill - Split Stream] - Strike your opponent with the symbol of stars, paralyzing them (1H Sword) [Sword Skill - Helix] - Three powerful crosses that leave large enemies open to bleed (Dagger) [Earth Seal - Break Beat Bark] - Bury your opponent under your impactful strikes, dazing them with each hit [Umbra Seal - Gloom Grip] - Launch a purple sphere with will lash out, pulling enemies to their knees [Sky Seal - Sacred Calibur] - Your sword shines like a green flash of the sun, use this to blind all that stand before you Author's Note I decided that with Halloween (My Favorite Holiday) coming up, why not make an event before meeting the ones who can open the Raid Lair? So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter too, seeya in the next event! Next Chapter: Event - [Nightmare Night] I'm just a Phantom in your room. With no intent on leaving soon. And you're still not sure just how I got here~! AN: Small hint to what's to come *wink-wink*
Event - [Nightmare Night]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "What...is that?" Klaw murmured, my eyes narrowed at the more see-through lancer, he held a longsword in his hand, but all other features were clear-glass, almost impossible to see if not for the....name....about its head, it also wasn't visible since.....Rain! [Reflection of Refraction - lvl ???] "Rain, get down!!!" I screamed in utter panic, my hooves quickly pulling Rain's body under me, whist Klaw leapt into the air with his wings, and in the blink of an eye, I watched the thin line of glass sail over us, catching my arm with a clean, cold slice. "Ahh!" The attack vanished after that, the Reflection dropping its guard to stare down at me with a blank face, but its head tilted, and my world bent, even distorted at its gaze. "Wrong.....no normal player......patient zero." "With the gear from this event, we'll slaughter the next Raid Lair together!" "Lets do it!" Seraph cheered with me, all while the others laughed at our childish antics for what was to come Bring on Hallows Eve! [Golden Bull Inn] What is the best holiday of the year? Now, if that isn't an age old question, then I don't know what is, since there are many arguments brought up over the pros and cons of each holiday, some more specific than others, whist some are endless debates like your birthday or Christmas. Well, take all of those opinions, throw them in a box, then place that box inside of another box, then mail that box to the edge of the world, and have it kicked over the edge. Because I. Love. Hallows Eve. Halloween. Hollows Eve. Day of the Dead. Whichever you call it, the symbolism is the same, a day the souls of those lost come back....or demons, depends on how you view it. But the festivities of it all was what I loved, the candy, all the crazy parties, costumes, just about everything to do with the holiday. But now, I was on a mission, leaving the rest to do what they wanted, whist I enjoyed the night with a gleeful smile, the streets beginning to come to life before my eyes. Sure, its a Death Game, but its still a game, and it knew how to make an event! Now among the spotlights of the golden kingdom, I could only grin madly at the sight of all the players and A.I that roamed the streets this night. All the streets were decorated with jack 'o lanterns, as streamers hung from buildings and lanterns, I even saw players wearing vanity items to become more in-tune with the Event, which also hosted countless stalls to browse for special items for the night. Hallows Eve truly begun with a bang. "Wonder if Rain or Seraph are around? Maybe they'd like to....uhh, 'hang out', I believe is the term? God I'm out of sync with socialization." My mental note made to keep my eyes open for them, I proceeded down the street, taking in all the sights and sounds of the event. Many ran past me, doing event quests, whist wearing masks of creatures, and significant ponies on their faces. Some wore clothing from the event that glowed or changed colours too, and I think I saw a Warframe a few feet to my left. "I love this holiday." "We are glad to hear from thee." Old English, six o' clock. Turning around, my eyes came face-to-face with the Princess of the Night herself, Luna. Her mane was almost invisible due to the stars in the night, but the lights around us kept that from happening, but judging by her gaze on my own, she was....off, shall we say? "Art thou Sir Hat are sister talked of?" I see that she trying 'not' to speak in Old English, but I like it, just ask Klaw "Well, Princess." Hey, I like her, so respect is respect. "You can call me White, but if you want to keep up the Old English, that's fine, I like it. But yes, that's me." Her stern expression did relax a little, damn these A.I have evolved, I can't even place her as just a bunch of '1s' and '0s'. "But without any delays, what has the Nocturnal Monarch wish of someone as insignificant as me?" "Aid." Huh, didn't see that coming, nor did I expect to see her tonight, well isn't tonight a great time? "We wish for your aid on this night." "What might that be?" Now she's got my interest, that, and the 'Quest Icon' just popped up above her "Thou does not know of this night. Our festival of the lost, a time of memory....and nightmares." Luna seemed particular uncomfortable at that phrase. "I ask thee because of your sibling. Black." That perked my ears to full attention, my eyes widening slightly "You know Black? B-but when did-" She raised a hoof. "Ahem, continue." "When we were Nightmare Moon, we were saved by Sir Hat, and Mistress Serafin, now free, we see thou's resemblance, so we wish you to aid us." I see, whatever my asshole of a brother did must have been about Nightmare Moon, so, because we share the same 'Hat' and the fact we have similarities could be why she picked me out of the bunch, cleaver, but a little strange. Who this 'Serafin' chick? "Alright then, Luna, whatever you need, I'm all ears." I nodded once, though she didn't seem phased by the lack of title, and soon she spoke again, this time for in clear English "Long ago, this festival was once a ritual to cast off all those who wronged Equestria, banishing them from those we wish to remember this night. But lately, those corrupt few have returned, one of which who plans to bring herself back from beyond. We wish you to find the 'Nightmare of Ethereal Souls' and put her back in her grave." Luna definity hated this mare, whoever she was by the tone of her voice, but I nodded. This made the Lunar Princess smile slightly. "I trust thou shall prevail." With that, she bowed her head, and went off on her own once more [Event - Nightmare Night] Investigate the mysterious crevasse of Blackrock Hollow. [ ] Investigate the crevasse [ ] Defeat Nightmare "You have quest/One in the same/This is interesting." I was startled suddenly by the appearance of Silver, whist beside him stood Nox himself, his eyes a yellow since he was chuckling under his helmet after my sudden freak-out "T-that was g-gold~!" The guy continued to laugh beside Silver, who held back his own rising smirk, and my face turned red whist I readjusted my glasses "Hardy har, atleast I don't sound like a girl." That caused Nox to freeze, his eyes turning a new shade of green "I'll let you have that, this time." And thus, the score was tied, I like Nox, he knew how to have a banter every now and then, but Silver then got between us, looking between me and Nox with an inquisitive gaze. "Ah, shit, right. So you just picked up a quest in Blackrock Hollow, right?" "Aye." I nodded "Same for us too. This quest puts a few players together for a joint quest, and it seems we're the lucky threesome." Wow, phasing could be better mate, whist Silver cleared his throat "Ignoring Nox/We must move/Timed Event." Really? Didn't know that, guess I haven't done any quests with these two yet, so this could be fun "Alrighty then, who's ready to slay a nightmare?" [Blackrock Hollow] The street we now stood on looked so...displaced. The street dug its cracked, and sometimes glowing tarmac into Canternlot's smooth roads, twisted, lifeless trees coiled around lampposts and buildings that touch its perimeter, whist the sky was blanketed with clouds, and a bright, orange hunter's moon seeped through the cracks. Houses stood at irregular shapes, either longer, twisted slightly at the corners, or elongated into misshapen towers. Jack o'f lanterns littered the streets, faces of laughter and horror thrown about the spooky town of Blackrock. "Ok, this right here, makes me wonder how this isn't working its way for a higher rating sometimes." Nox pointed out nervously, finding the whole scene to be unnerving, yet when she looked at me....I was smiling. "Aaaaand you've completely lost it, great." "Not so bad/Chilling/But a festival." Silver agreed, sticking close to us, whist other player walked by, some in groups, and others on their own, knocking on doors, and saying, and I quote, 'Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, give us something sweet to bite.', catchy, if not a little creepy. "Houses of colour/All specific/Neither the same." "Wha?" Nox drawled out at the confusing Haiku "To translate, he mean that every house so far has something unique to them. Some with colour, others with symbolism, see?" I raised my wing, and pointed to a few houses. One was decorated like a cabin, with a hockey mask on the front door, and a machete dug into a tree stump. Another was all orange and green "Right, so our quest is to do with 'The Nightmare of Ethereal Souls', any guess what that is?" Nox offered to me, so I thought on it "Well, Souls would be classed under colours of blues, and reds, even whites and blacks. Ether is the energy of the universe itself, matter but not matter, either aging or changing." I muttered to them, slowly turning to look at the street before us "Taken." What? Me and Silver turned towards Nox, his eyes a normal pink again. "You say that this 'Ether' stuff isn't normal, not to time or space, right?" I nodded, and he rolled his eyes. "Oryx, The Taken King. His army is a collection of souls, white and black, and the energy left behind makes things float. Like 'that'." He then turned out heads with his magic towards a house to the corner of the street. Before us, a house of wood, with some tainted by a strange, blue remnant energy, whist rocks, and lawn ornaments floated around the house itself, with area's distorted by the remnant ether that tainted the wood. Seems it is like the Taken. "Ladies first." Nox shoved me forward, my glare snapping to look at him, whist he narrowed his gaze, so I turned, and walked down the small tile path. "Let the record show, no denial." "Shut it, Frenchy." The look he gave me got a smirk to rise. Yeah, I know you're name is the same 'Nox' from a french show, I ain't dumb. "Ha, nerdiness strikes again." "Go!" Silver snapped at us, and we proceeded up the steps, the floor boards creaking with each step. Before us, a blacken door, with a strange, symbol resembling that of an alicorn, etched into the wood. Looking between each-other, expressions of uneasiness, and determination mingling between us, and so, I raised my hoof *Knock-Knock-Knock* "Uhh....?" 'Uhh' is right, Silver, so let me take the reins now. Clearing my throat, I stepped a little closer "Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, give us something sweet to bite!" I chanted with a smile, whist Nox face-hoofed, yet, that changed in an instant, since I could exactly feel the floor under us. "Oh no...." "Don't tell me. The floor's gone isn't it?" Nox asked me bluntly, clearly bemused "Yep." I replied, popping the 'P' "Bottomless abyss too?" Again I nodded, my eyes glued to the door "Most likely." "Bring/It/On." Thank you Silver [Well of Forgotten Souls] "Did anyone get the address of that....bitch who made this entrance!?" I groaned, having Nox and Silver atop my spine was not light in the slightest, and the pommel of my blade was sticking into my side "Harbinger." Nox coughed "Thank you." I sighed, pushing the two off my back to allow me to breathe. "My bloody sword was stuck in my lower stomach, and I don't think its suppose to do that." "Spectacular." Silver muttered, the three of us moving back onto our hooves. When our vision came back into view of our new surroundings, we stood before an old summoning temple. Four pillars stood high with spiral steps leading up, and a smooth, grassy floor where we landed. Runes hummed in tangent to a beat from somewhere, and on the three outer pillars stood three black orbs, humming with purple energy, as wisps of light were drawn into them "A ritual, surprise, surprise." Nox gloated, raising his Halberd in his magic. "Guessing we just break 'em." "Perhaps, but....and give it a moment...." I raised a hoof slowly, my eyes widening comically. "Any moment.....Now!" "Muhahahahaha~!" Called it. The cackling finally brought our attention to the center pillar ahead of us, away from the three orbs that sat dormant on the others, it was time for the Boss Battle, and our she came. "Couldn't leave me well enough alone, could you? Sending your pawns after me, Princess. Everything was going well, until you three came along. Fine, let's settle this....NOW!" Our weapons at the ready, we watched as a mare floated down from the darkness above us. Her purple coat was near blackened with a sickly, yellow webbing of veins running across her body, with eyes a voidless black, and lime-glowing eyes, trails of green dancing around the corners of her eyes with her movements. A simple, worn cloak hung snug around her shoulders, with dirt and ash sticking to the cloth to glue. Her tail was wavy like the Princesses, only it flowed like snakes, snapping and hissing around the aura that coated them, her horn an emerald glow of magical ether. Whist her bright purple-black mane did the same, only the left side stuck close to her muzzle, but small glimpses of a skeletal feature was clear as day. [Nightmare of Ethereal Souls - lvl 30] Then she sprouted black wings twice the size span of her body, with a thin line of mint-green running across the bone, glowing with a resonate beat to the crystals on the other pillars. From there, her body rose to hover just above the platform, her horn brightening the orange lanterns and jack o' lanterns around us, leading to Silver to pull me and Nox behind our small barricade, whist he channeled magic into his hooves, a light orange glow to them. [Aura - Gaia's Closure] The small wall soon earned a thin line of orange, and we could only spectate the mass of electrical, emerald blasts striking the rim of the barricade, only to see the magic dissipate upon contact, ok, that's two I now owe Silver, lucky him. Meanwhile, Nox was looking at the Mare, trying to use his own magic as a counteroffensive, but from a simple pulse of magic from his horn, the contact it made to the Boss merely tickled her, not even damaging her for 10 hit points. "Anymore bright ideas?" I mused, seeing the sharp, crimson glare under the mask strike me. Moving to look over the ridge, I saw that the wisps were drawn to the orbs of darkness, then to her, creating a thin layer around her body. Perhaps that's her weak point. "Ok, I think this is pretty easy, if two of us can draw her fire, one of us can strike down the orbs, taking those out might weaken her, or even banish her for good." "Banish?" I like Nox, he asks the questions, better than Silver, cause sadly, I can't understand the guy half the time "She's not 'alive' right now, this is her soul trying to rebuild her body, hence the orbs protecting, and harnessing lost souls, her name says it all." Seeing that my plan had logic to it, Silver looked towards the right pillar, seeing that the start of the staircase faced us "Nox shall go unseen/A ghost among us/Strike her down." I looked to Nox for confirmation, and he he nodded, spinning his halberd around to rest next to his side when he ran out from the cover, the volley of attacks following. Then I sprung into the air, channeling the mint-green light into my blade [Sky Seal - Sacred Calibur] A blinding flash of green embraced the area, causing the bombardment of magical attacks to change to me, moving away from Nox when she turned up the steps, moving past the mare quickly. Seeing me flying, she grinned, channeling her magic again, then, an aura expanded across the temple, then I saw Silver below, running out of a large, green circle that appeared on the floor, whist one appeared on the ceiling above me. [Aura - Tainted Ether] I flew downwards, avoiding a cloud of poisonous gas from infecting me, but the stench was painful to smell, even my eyes stung from just being near it, which lead to my health being stuck but another bombardment of magic blasts, as they chipped their way at my health, dropping a third of my health, so I flew behind another pillar, the green blast shattering like glass beside me, whist Silver ran up the side of another pillar, his daggers in-hoof, whist the Nightmare's attacks followed him, so he pushed off the pillar with his legs, flipping over the circular line of attacks, his daggers a dark purple. [Sword Skill - Strider's Light] Silver's body spun like a buzz-saw, striking the back and head of the Nightmare, his body descending upside-down to come face-to-face with her, before spinning his daggers around, and striking down, hard, in an 'X', the purple blinding her, but not damaging her by much. Using this moment, Silver, pressed his back hooves atop her muzzle, throwing her down, whist pushing himself towards the pillar behind him, so he sunk a dagger into the side, using it to scale the pillar to the orb above. He then nodded to me. *SHATTER* "AAAAAaaahHHH!" The Nightmare wailed in pain once Nox thrusted the axe-head of the halberd into the orb, shattering it after the third, lumbering swing from the left, slicing the glass-like orb in two. "You vile gnat!" "Kiss my ass, bitch." He nodded up to challenge the mare to focus on him, whist I flew for the second orb, it was a simple fight, but it kept you moving fast, since the area kept the pillars spaced apart to near the length of a stadium. Not wanting to keep Nox on the endurance for long, I folded my wings, sliding down atop the pillar and looking directly at the purple orb, yet....I felt something....staring back "Hehehehe....having fun?" Harbinger....his voice was so clear, yet no-one else heard him, that snake-tongue, the cunning chuckle between his sharp smile. "Now-now, Cayde Redfox, lets not spoil this night....." I was pale in the face, my heart stopping once his voice vanished as easily as it came, he knew me, my 'Real Name', he's gotten deeper into the CCG, and while that occurred, we barely scratched this game of his. Finding a new type of anger, I thrusted my blade through the orb, shattering it with a sickening 'crunch' of glass rubbing against itself like sandpaper, followed by the mare falling to her knees in pain, crying out. Looking at my party, Nox was still in the green, but a few ticks of yellow, Silver was too, and I....was near full, ok, better than I expected. "You're up next, Silver!" I called out, and he had just managed to make his way up to his orb. What he didn't see was the Nightmare charging her horn again, this time a more concentrated orb of magic condensed before us, and Nox was already on the case, as in, he literally ran up the spiral steps of the pillar towards Silver, his eyes a steely grey, then, he thrusted the halberd through the center of the orb, just before Silver could touch it, causing the shattering effect to throw him back slightly in surprise, yet the Nightmare still managed to fire off the final bolt of magic, her screams dying out with her melting form, her soul falling apart at the seams "Get down!" Now 'that' was clear as day, the voice sounded so smooth, harsh and cold too, but it was clearly feminine in nature. Silver was quickly tackled off the side of the pillar though, the orb of magic striking the side of Nox's muzzle, and I felt my heart sink upon watching the green bar turn yellow, then just as quickly turn a bright red. That one attack nearly one-shot Nox, who now fell towards the ground with Silver, his eyes wide with horror I flew down to help, and I watched in relief as Silver wrapped his hooves around Nox, pulling him close to use his back as a shield, the two hitting the floor with a painful 'thud', the Zer0 faker crying out at the sharp slap I heard, but he was thankfully ok, his health only dropping slightly, but that fall would have killed Nox. "You.....fine?" Silver gasped heavily, looking up to see Nox and - O-oh....wow. Silver's face earned a new shade of pink at the close proximity to the 'girl' that looked down on him, Nox's hair now a wild mess of blues, and her deep crimson eyes quickly turning to her usual pink, but she too sighed, and threw herself off the guy, a red tint across her muzzle. "Ow...." "You guys alright?" I asked warily, though Nox....I doubt it was the health that concerned her at this point, since she looked at the mask in her hoof, and back to us with a stern gaze. Meanwhile, I helped Silver to his hooves again, the defeat of the boss could wait. "Uhh, you ok, Nox?" "Do I look dead to you?" She spat angrily, though I couldn't tell if it was because of how she landed or the pain of being struck with magic, or both, heck if I had an answer after this turnabout storm "Well....no, no you don't." I replied simply "Then what!?" Her eyes went to a deep crimson again Both of us stared in shock, with Silver having the more dramatic reaction since she did land atop him after her daring save, but why? He would have lived? Maybe it was like me, a reflex, a spur of the moment. Not minding that the area around us was transforming into....whatever it was becoming, we looked to Nox, who threw her broken mask aside, shattering upon contact with the ground, a scowl matching her conflicted gaze "Ok-ok-ok, hold the metaphorical phone, you were a girl this whole time?" I stated the obvious, sure, but from how she reacted I should have guessed it was a bad touch "Yeah, I am, wise-ass! See why I put my face under 'that' mask!? Cause of 'this'!" She pointed a hoof dangerously at me and Silver, with Silver still looking at her with a blank stare. "'Oh look I'm a girl', what difference does it make! Apparently alot since that line was drawn God knows how many centuries ago! Thanks to that, and my fucking life, I thought that this would be my chance to be....me, but no, soon as the mask comes off I'll still be treated the same!" "Wait, what makes you think being a girl is going to change how we see you? You're still Nox, that doesn't matter-" I was cut off, whist a pit of regret built in my stomach "It does to me!" She snapped back to look away from us, her head low. "You can walk around without so much as a prying eye looking at you funny, lustfully even. You aren't treated different just because a few things about you are different, but for me? Yeah, it is, and now that my mask's off, no point trying to lie that I 'messed up' during the creation phase, that's shit isn't my style." "Nox." I didn't speak, instead, Silver stood up, and she looked back at us, more specifically at Silver, who stared at her with a neutral gaze, unlike her crimson one, meaning she wasn't particularly amused, and I can't blame her, while I never saw this difference between girls and guys, she did, and its dug into her more times than a needle to me, I'm a complete, and total ass now. "Different yes/Person no/Same Nox you are." "What the hell are you talking about?" Nox snapped, turning to face him directly. "You don't have any reason to hide, I do, because then there's no-one in this damn world that will see me the same way, without that mask, I'm not Nox, I'm just...." "What?" Silver echoed, with confliction dancing in Nox's eyes "I-I don't know, alright! Didn't plan on this happening!" She was confused, possibly scared, even sad. But it seems Silver has this handled better than me "You're Nox/Our Guild Member/My friend." Nox flinched when his hoof rested on her shoulder, making her look anywhere by at us. Whist Silver smiled a little. "Who....a-are....you?" Was that a stutter? Or is Silver still processing this as much at me? Probably the latter. But Nox did look back, a ghost of a smile tugging back at her muzzle again, though she still seemed apprehensive. "Nox. Both a member of a guild run by a lunatic-" "You love me!" I called back "-And....you're friend, Silver, if that's still real." She sounded so fearful at that, did she think we were going to abandon her? Not a chance in hell-wait....what was that noise? "Very." Silver nodded to her question, then she turned away, red crossing her face when she rubbed the back of her mane "Man, that was...sorry, for yelling like that, kind-of lost it after all this time." We merely waved her off, knowing how easy it was to lose your cool in a game, happens to the best of us "Now, I'd love to sit and chat on the fact that my hunch was right after all this time, really I do, but....do you guys hear that music?" I wasn't going to drop the subject that Nox was a girl the whole time, but something about hearing music playing often leads to danger, yet in this case, something....Phantom of the Opera was playing, and getting louder In a literal que of the drums beating with the chorus of trumpets and guitars, orange and yellow danced with the lights of green and purple, flashing and dancing the beat of the darkness that now dimmed around us, the chamber becoming more and more illuminated by the lights, highlights of bats, ponies, spiders and pumpkins staining the walls in a glowing fashion. Meanwhile, all of us stood perfectly still, merely turning our heads at the sounds and lights. [NateWantsToBattle - Phantom] LYRICS I'm just a phantom in your room With no intent on leaving soon And you're still not even sure just how I got here Another ghost that's in your bed That you wish you could leave for dead Ain't no magic word can make me disappear Now that room it starts to dim Set the mood for onset sin And now we're passed out on the floor of your apartment With every single warning sign It passed you up and slipped you by But we're all bound to end up back to where we started Make no mistake I'll break you down Shout it around town I'm not what you want But I'm exactly what you need Take a bite and feed Your satisfaction guaranteed I'm your sunshine whoa I'm gonna burn down your parade I'm a shooting star That wish you wished you never made Don't wanna take a leap of faith You wanna do this face to face And like an animal the instincts taken over There ain't nothing to debate Blow this purgatory state The city lights will drown you out in the exposure Now that room it starts to dim Set the mood for onset sin And now we're passed out on the floor of your apartment With every single warning sign It passed you up and slipped you by But we're all bound to end up back to where we started Make no mistake I'll break you down Shout it around town I'm not what you want But I'm exactly what you need Take a bite and feed Your satisfaction guaranteed I'm your sunshine whoa I'm gonna burn down your parade I'm a shooting star That wish you wished you never made Startling us again, we watched as the lights revealed a small collection of equine skeletons, those same Pumpkinlings from the boss fight, and even some unicorn witches, dancing and singing alongside the cackling voice that echoed from every corner of the festive musical. This world is what you need Where the monsters roam and the demons all feed Relax don’t you look so wary It’s all only temporary We roam and sing along While the choir joins in sing an abhorrent song We bite it’s a little bit scary The pain’s only temporary For a small moment, whist the next chorus played in a soft whisper, the lights went dark around us, the shadows of a laughing jack o' lantern dancing among the shadows, but now, the voice felt like a cold rush up my spine, all the three of us looked between each other, our ears flicking to the sound coming from behind us. Slowly, along with my heart threatening to burst, we turned, and soon saw a massive, golden, jagged smile hovering in the air, alongside two massive, curved, pupiless eyes, also golden in colour. I'm not what you want But I'm exactly what you need Take a bite and feed Your satisfaction guaranteed The the lights came on brighter than ever before, revealing the two-story creature with inky-black skin....just like Harbinger! I'm not what you want But I'm exactly what you need Take a bite and feed Your satisfaction guaranteed I'm your sunshine whoa I'm gonna burn down your parade I'm a shooting star That wish you wished you never made Wish you wished you never made..... The song was finally coming to a close, with the piano playing the song out, whist the creature slowly shrunk before our fearful eyes, down to the size of a regular person now, but it was no mistake, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing, yet given my recent days, this was real, and truly terrifying. Smiling, the creature wore a black suit, with a fur lining for his cuffs and collar, a golden tie, white shirt, and a top hat with two cards strapped into the side with velvet fabric, both an ace of hearts and spades. "Hope you liked that introduction, though I'd keep it into the spirit of Halloween or Nightmare Night, in this world's case. The name's Gambit, Nightmare of Equivalent Exchange, and I'd like to say." He paused, bowing once to us. "Hello.....and so I have, now then, lets get down to business gnats, I have work that needs doing, and info that requires gathering!" Clapping his hands, the lights all went back to normal, revealing a treasure trove of items, gear, and other unknown devices and entities While the horror that another 'Nightmare', I guess that's what Harbinger is too, was now looking at us with a cunning grin, and narrowed eyes was unsettling, I couldn't help but marvel at the collection we stood upon, the plus catwalk we stood on, and around the circular center Gambit stood at, all the empty space gave weigh to items galore, with shelves holding onto collections of mystical gear, and....wait, it that the Infinity Gauntlet!? He had meta too? An Iron Man armour, A three star dragon ball in the corner next to a chaos emerald, what the- "Fucking Christ, he's got everything!" Couldn't have worded any better, Nox, even she and Silver were wide-eyed at the items, but whist they gawked, I turned my eyes to the Nightmare, his eyes back to a neutral stare of gold, but my own hardened into a glare "Who are you?" I wasn't going to hold back, not when I could get answers. He only looked the other way for a moment "Uhh....Gambit? Trader of the Multiverse? Collector of all that is and isn't Meta? Been to alot of places too, so the titles stack with time, but to be fair, you are in the collection of a few that have yet to attack me, which is good 'cause I'd hate to waste good investments in a new land I've never seen before." He explained with a tangent, then his eyes seemed to...sparkle? "I mean, lots of new items, new partners to obtain, and with that Nightmare being here this could be fun~!" "Hold on-hold on, rewind that, you...know that asshole?" Nox backpedaled to stand with me, though I'm glad she felt a little more comfortable around me and Silver without the mask, perhaps like before, she'll accept the others too, maybe "By 'asshole' you mean 'Harbinger, Nightmare of Wardens'? Then yes, I know 'somethings' about that asshole." Gambit waved a hand with bemusement, conjuring a seat to fall back on the face us, his eyes warping into what looked like confusion. "To be honest, I followed him since he was rambling about 'remaking the worlds into a domain for Nightmares to truly be the apex' or whatever, guy's a lunatic, but surprisingly his plan so far has been....insightful, shall we say?" "So, you're not like him then?" When I asked that, he chuckled darkly, causing my hoof to twitch at my blades "'Like him'? Nope, though its rare to see, I'm a Nightmare that sees all living beings as something more than 'souls to collect', to put it simply, us Nightmares have the innate ability to absorb souls and grow stronger, those like me and 'asshole' who wear clothing have been around long enough to the souls to manifest as cloth, so we are far more powerful. We consume, control, destroy, or atleast most of us, so count your souls lucky to be in the presence of the Multiverse's second strongest Nightmare!" He proudly glowed under a light, until it broke, showing him in glass "Second strongest...." I almost felt a wave of terror fly over me again, though he was boastful in tone, just his earlier display was enough to prove he wasn't like Harbinger, he had reality manipulation, and alot of keen observation under his belt, seeing his vast collection was proof of that "Now-Now, much as I enjoy company, I have to make this quick, but I'll be around, just come back to my humble abode if you want to trade or just chat, I like chats." Gambit cleared his throat with a humble chuckle, though it was like a crazed nutcase than a normal laugh. Flicking a few cards in his fingers, he held them out with pictures of what appeared to be trades, and how they worked. "Simple trading is my job. You want something, give me something of equal value. Or, you can ask for a deal, if I see the value to be of my own amusement, I'll see my end of the bargain is done to professional standards, guaranteed." As if sensing the urge to remember, he clicked his claws with wide eyes, and before us, three tabs appeared Event Complete! Investigate the mysterious crevasse of Blackrock Hollow. [ ] Investigate the crevasse [ ] Defeat Nightmare You discovered the dark ether of Nightmare Night and sealed it away, until next year.... [Level Up!] [27 - 28] [Rewards] Free Favor X1 [Achievement Unlocked] Red Death - Obtained an Item of Red Tier Quality "A Red Tier/Certainly Strange/I am Pleased." Silver gawked to the point his jaw was going to unhinge, but Gambit flicked a card from his finger, and soon the thin slip of cardboard stopped under his chin, defying all physics, before rising to close his jaw. "What?" "So, this thing gives us a deal from you, huh?" Nox asked the Nightmare with a suspicious glare, making him chuckle whist rubbing his arms "Ooooh, you have an icy stare to rival my old buddy Callus. Just sayin', that guy's got a serious anger problem, more than a hybrid should, but then again his girlfriend is a dragon hybrid sooooo...." Gambit sure loved to go off on rambles, but he nodded. "But yes, although if you wish to cash that in now, I am bound to silence our talk until we're done, privacy of the trade." "....What you guys think? Want to trade with him, could be a good chance to do so before the Raid too?" I offered my word, I was fine with either, but the impression I kept tagging off this guy rubbed me the wrong way, something about his strength seemed....wrong, like it was veil to cover what he really was, but....he's looking right at me, that sly grin, the way his eyes warped with his expressions, the jack 'o lantern grin....was does he know, about me? Or Harbinger? "I'm up for it....but when we're done, mind helping me with a new mask....I..." Nox paused for a moment, rubbing the back of her mane with a hoof nervously. "I'm not quite ok with the others knowing 'what' I am, for now atleast." For a girl who happened to be callus and cold, she certainly feels insecure about her gender, but given stereotypes I've heard online, its no wonder she hid behind a mask, must be hard for her Before I could say a word, I was surprised to see Silver place a hoof on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring look from under his hood, his eyes lingering on her own soft blue eyes, which slowly turned back to a pink tone. It must have been an empathy spell, her eyes act like a mood stone and act accordingly to her emotions, fancy stuff, but still. "No-one will know/Await for your word/Trust us." Silver answered her concerned with another Haiku, but a small smile did tug at the corners of her muzzle, then we heard the clapping, the touching friendship shattered by the massive grin of the Nightmare on his seat. Stepping forward, Silver moved to stare up at Gambit. "I shall play/You shall listen." "And I will find a translator for you." Gambit added with a smug look, I think? Its hard to read this guy. With that said, he clapped his hands to silence their words for a minute, their mouths moving, expressions changing, yet me and Nox were left with only silence, so I decided to act on this moment "So, what you said before, about 'being treated like the rest'?" I was still curious, and it seemed that Nox expected this, judging by her sigh and abrasive look "White, when you spend your life with those richer, stereotypes get....suffocating. You're a girl, so you do this a certain way, you act a certain way to meet expectations, that crap got to me quick, about the 'only' family I have is my other siblings, and this maid of ours who was more like a mother than the bitch I have to call one, my dad tries, but he's always away so the times he does show himself he could only sit a listen to me complain, no use trying to fix what would take hours." Nox spat bitterly at memories before me, turning to look at the mountains of mystical items. "I liked this show with them too, gave me a few laughs, despite what I may say about Pinkie, she's fun, y'know?" "I see." She then continued "Now, I have this rag-tag group of guys who....see me as a friend, and the fact you two still see me a such is....still alot to take in. Ive seen shit that makes me harder to trust others with the real me, so I came here, dawned my mask, and here I am, the rest you can fill in yourself due to your crazy perception to this stuff." Nox waved from over her shoulder, as she sat down on her haunches, groaning once "You know, hiding behind a mask isn't always going to work. Try as you might, the reality we are in still stares at us, you came here to run from that, yet you want to be free as much as the rest of us. My guess, you want to keep those you can call 'family' happy, am I right?" She turned her head at that, looking at me with a surprised expression which made me chuckle a little. "You do love them, and I doubt you can say otherwise." "Why would I? You're alot smarter than you look, White, but....that's also why I think I can trust you, why we all can." Nox then got up, walking up to me with a strong look in her eyes. "I...well, nearly died back in the first raid, and to know I could have died back then scared me more than I think I realized, yet you saved me, a random player brought together to fight a boss, even now you continue to strive to kick Harbinger's ass into the curb. So I trust you, no bullshit." I did feel a little heat rise to my face at that, I mean sure, I saved her, and some others over the time we've spent here, but to know I made this much of an impact on Nox, and most likely the rest was a little unnerving. Great power, great responsibility to use it right, and in this world, I had that power, so I'll be sure to use it. "You two done, I got renovations planned ya know?" Gambit's voice made us jump, and we saw that Silver now held a silver mask, the eyes on it alight with a pink glow to them, and from just the screen, I could see it was a Red Tier item, 'Face of The Lost'. But he held it out to Nox, a....wait, was he embarrassed? Huh, that's new "Here." Holding it out to Nox, who stood with a perplexed face, her eyes wide with shock over how he just handed a golden ticket to whatever he wanted, just to give her a new mask. "If broken/Will return to you/A veil of unbreaking." "I...you gave your reward up....for me?" Nox sounded like she was crossed between anger, and a strange, touched tune in her voice, but her hoof did reach out to take it, before she slipped the plate over her muzzle again, the lights flashing once, before the lights near the bottom of the mask turned off, symbolizing that her bottom eyelids had risen slightly. "T-thanks, Silver." Her voice even sounded more robotic, and he nodded with a shy expression. "Right then, sign me up next, I have an idea of what I want!" "Clear to the point. Like it." Gambit gave her a thumbs up, and then clapped his hands. Within a small moment of silence, I did see Gambit's eyes widen, and his grin turned to an 'O' of dawning realization, but he soon clapped, and the silence was gone around them. "Well then, this night is certainly one for my amusement, so....do we have a deal too, White?" "Yeah, I have a deal." Looking back at Silver and Nox, the two of them now talking amongst themselves, the lights ever-changing on Nox's mask, with Silver humming to himself with an amused grin made me think of something. They were happy, in this world, where death followed us, Harbinger's wrath clear as day, and the Phantom guild lurking in the shadows, that contrast gave me an idea, one that I was sure to use one day when I knew I needed it. "Gambit, how far can you go to manipulate this world?" I never saw a creature ever smile so crazily before. To Be Continued.... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 28 [Offensive class] SilverCrow - lvl 26 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 26 [Support class] Current Level: 28 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Strange Ether X1 New Skills [Sword Skill - Strider's Light] - Quick, acrobatic strikes to blind your targets (Daggers) [Aura - Gaia's Closure] - A veil around object that aids in reflecting magical attacks (Feel safe under her arms) [Aura - Tainted ether] - A large AOE that poisons the air in a circular zone (Effective on any solid surface) Author's Note This was the biggest chapter I've made this arc! Can't say it doesn't have a little bit of everything, I love this holiday so much! . Hope you enjoyed this holiday special, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Story [Striders of Blackfall] With the eventual Nightmare Night behind them, say for Silver, Nox, and White, the Guild will finally meet the Guild that holds the keys to the next vault, and a not so happy reunion.
Story - [Striders of Blackfall]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- we looked to Nox, who threw her broken mask aside, shattering upon contact with the ground, a scowl matching her conflicted gaze "Ok-ok-ok, hold the metaphorical phone, you were a girl this whole time?" "Hope you liked that introduction, though I'd keep it into the spirit of Halloween or Nightmare Night, in this world's case. The name's Gambit, Nightmare of Equivalent Exchange, and I'd like to say." He paused, bowing once to us. "Hello..... [Canternlot Castle] "You know, now I look at this place, its like the person who constructed this place was compensating for something." That got a soft chuckle from a few of us, before Nox snorted, the girl acting as a guy looked through her mask with a bemused expression, the lights of the mask narrowing at me "As funny as that comment was....why in the name of Irene are we here again? Thought our mission for today was to find the missing train piece?" Nox questioned me, which I was still gunning for, we just needed to see the others before we moved out on a separate errand "We will, but Celestia wanted us to meet with the team who wield the chosen relics to open the Raid Lair, just so we know who we'll be working with, and vice versa." I explained, before I pushed the massive doors open, and entered a large, circular room, with a massive table, with chairs in the center of the place, with a pristine crystal lacrima dangling from the ceiling above us, its contents humming a soft, golden glow of light On one end of the table, I saw the Princess herself from the Nightmare Night festival, a pleasant smile gracing her muzzle upon our arrival. "Nice to meet you all again, I hope the festival was to your liking?" Celestia asked us warmly, as I grinned from ear-to-ear. Oh, and it seems Celestia had met some of us previously on the 31st, which makes sense how she knows some of us, though I wonder if Luna's around? "Hell yeah, you know how to truly go all out for my favorite time of the year, I even got me some new stuff from the event." I happily complimented, before I heard the door open behind us. "Oh, guess we'll talk about last night at a later date?" "I would like that, Mr Hat, but right now I would like all of you to meet the ponies that wield the relics of this kingdom's most darkest secret." Oooh, ominous! Seeing the doors open brought us to our attention, the group of six ponies trot into the room, their weapons, and armour clanking off each other as they walked into the light of the room The first, most likely their leader, was a brown unicorn. His mane was dirty blonde, and tied in a warrior's wolf tail, same for his tail, his eyes were cobalt, and he had a beard. His body was platted in gold armour, the same type as the Royal Guard, so it was certainly rare, but not uncommon, but he wore a golden greatsword, with rubies dawning the hilt, and guard. [Laxus - lvl 34] To his left was another unicorn mare with a pink coat like Pinkie's, and with a long, white mane and tail. Her eyes were emerald green, and she wore red robes, with gold, and white lines across the middle, rim of her folded hood, back, and some arcane runes on the back. Whist she carried an oak staff on her back, with a topaz twisting around the branches at the top. She was one of the three with a sweet smile on their faces. [Summer - lvl 29] Last on the left was a Changeling, with crimson wings, and eyes, and had black leather adorning his black body, with a bandana covering his mouth, and a small, red scarf around his neck. I liked his style already. He looked to have wolverine claws strapped to his hooves, both back and front too. [Ambulas - lvl 32] The two on his right were....oh wow, twins. They were both pegasus mares, with one having a black coat, and the other a white. The first on the right had white eyes to her black coat, whist her mane was a short white, and wild style, tail matching too. She wore a set of armour I saw in Ponyville before, named 'Rogue', due to its pirate-like style, belts, leather tunic, stitching, the whole pirate look, complete with two silver cutlasses to her sides. She, and her 'sister' were the only others with welcoming smiles. [Yin - lvl 31] Her 'sister' was the same, only colours were reversed, and she wore chest armour, shoulder pads, gauntlets, hip armour, and a small helmet over her combed, black mane, with a black coat over her chest-piece, on her hip was a single, blue longsword, similar to my Parting Glass. Her Cutie mark was like her sister's, a yin/yang symbol, only it was the 'Yang' section, her sister was 'Yin'. Which meant her name was.... [Yang - lvl 32] "Wait, isn't there suppose to be six of them?" Rain whispered to me, then I felt my eyes snap to her left, before my gaze sharpened, and my smug smile grew when I felt the shimmering presence behind us, the light bent to make the hidden pony near invisible, but because of my high perception.... "Mind explaining yourself, before I publicly throw you off the cliff?" I snorted with a grin, just as the cloak over his mane fell over, his hoof against his chest as he coughed, before he too smiled at me with a sickening look. The pony came around to face, pulling the hood back to allow the clear surface of the cloak turn grey, yeah, I thought so. "Nice upgrades person I can't remember the name of?" [Bombard - lvl 33] "If this is how you greet people, cheater, than I have my doubts working with you again, especially that annoying bat!" He sneered, walking back to his group. "Seems you ain't rusty either." Then, Yin grabbed his head in a lock, ruffling his mane "Seriously, get over yourself you creep!" Yin huffed, as her sister nodded with a disappointed frown, making the man grumble when he broke free. Then I turned back, coming face-to-face with the towering unicorn, he was serious buff, but not crazy, he was just twice the size of me. "Laxus, don't scare him~?" "I'm not, just....observing." Can ya maybe do it at a reasonable distance? Then he smiled, holding a hoof out to me. "Laxus, you must be White, the one who took down the first Raid Boss?" "Aye, sir. But I wasn't alone, if not for them I may as well be dead." It was true, these guys kept me alive just as much as I did. Taking that as a good answer, the stern-talking stallion backed off, moving back to his group, before he guested to them "This is my team, or guild in a better term." He explained, before Yin, jumped in front of him with a grin "We're the Striders of Blackfall!" She cheered, just as her sister joined her pose "You mess with us and you'll be sorry." She softly added, and in that one moment, I looked to Seraph with a pout "Why don't we have a motto?" I was really concerned for our reputation now "I'll think about it later." She whispered back, before Summer approached me, pushing Yin back with her magic "Sorry about them, they can be a handful, both are like a party when in the same room so it takes more than Laxus to get them to behave." Summer apologized, before she grabbed Rain's hoof and shook it lightly. "I always wanted to meet a Therstral type of player, and I heard some rumors about you too." "Y-You have?" Rain looked embarrassed at the thought, before the adult mare waved a hoof with a chuckle "Nothing bad, only that you had aided in keeping most of the low-level players safe when leveling, and that you always kept them happy in this rather bad state of events." Summer replied, before she looked to the staring Klaw, his expression dumbfounded, making her giggle, as he cleared his throat, looking towards....well about anything else but Summer. "Its nice being able to work with you all." "Same/Our strength with others can grow/We need only time." Silver replied, before Nox shook her head, knowing that his Haiku was a necessity to his speech pattern, as much as it bothered me, Silver told us in haiku that he had a speech impairment, and long lines of words were near impossible to say, but somehow when we spoke like Zer0, his words came out fluently, whether its the accent or the wording, he doesn't know himself. "Now, we must focus/The train awaits us/We must go." "'Go'? What for?" Yin asked, as Yang sat on her sister's back lazily "Our boss decided we'd find the last train piece for the rail-works, we'll be able to link Canternlot with Ponyville, more guys of higher level, and this raid's as good as gold." Seraph elaborated, then, Bombard interjected "Hold on-Hold on, did you know about this, Princess?" He demanded, pointing to me specifically, great, here we go again "Yes, one of my guards had mentioned it to me in a report, and I have seen it to be a wise course of action before you conduct this raid." Celestia explained, making the others look at each other in surprise. "I am worried for the safety of my citizens, but if repairs to the train were made, it could benefit our future efforts." "Is this true?" Yang asked, tilting her head with a neutral expression, as Yin deflated, dropping her sister. "Ow...." "Aww, but I wanted to fight the Boss~?" Yin frowned, tapping one of her cutlasses dully. Then she snapped back into shape, "You'll only be gone today right? We can still do the Raid tomorrow!?" "Aye, that's the plan." I replied, as she clapped her hooves together, before she darted before me, my glasses falling slightly from her sudden approach, as my face grew red from her forehead pressed to mine with a smile. I could see it now, her eyes were filled with stars, she was completely hyper by nature. "U-Umm...." "Looks like you are a chick-magnet?" Seraph balled over in a fit of laughter, as my face rose in temperature "Can I join you, please~?" Yin was....wanting to team up with us? I mean sure, we're doing that for the raid, but....ah heck with it "Sure, just do me a solid first?" I asked kindly, making her face brighten "Whatever you need!?" "Get off my face." Dying of embarrassment woman! Sensing my dilemma, she sheepishly looked at me, yelping as Yang dragged her back by the tail, staring neutrally at her sister "Stop getting attached to guys, you're mine." She complained, as Yin patted her sister on the head sweetly, before hugging her with dramatic tears "I'm so sorry, I promise to only pay attention to you." "Love you too." Yang replied, leaving Nox to pat my back, her blue eyes wide and flashing to indicating her blinking "This is a weeeeeird group of players?" Now with that out of my face, I was left with only one problem. Bombard, who was still glaring at me "Laxus, you can't be serious, after all the trouble went through to get here!?" He snapped, just as I passed Laxus, giving him a nod "We'll be back for the morning, gather other players too for the raid, we'll get the train up and running." He nodded back, before I stopped mid-walk, a blade to my throat. "Ok Skeletor, why don't you take your bony ass back to your inn, before I get agitated." "Only way you're leaving is if you drop that Relic. If you didn't screw around back at the Raid Lair, maybe those three guys would still be alive." I heard a collection of gasps at that, even Laxus turned to look at Bombard with surprise, the guy must be the strong, silent type in the face of turmoil, seeing how he observed, even holding a hoof out to stop Yin from approaching "You want to use the dead as a bribe....?" I whispered coldly, my smile all but gone, I wasn't joking now, some lines are never to be crossed.....never! "You swine...." "What did-" *Bam-Thud* I saw my cursor turn yellow for a split second, before it turned green again, I didn't pay it to mind, I watched the blade drop to the marble floor, before I kicked it away, pinning Bombard under my hoof, he was stronger than me, but that meant shit if you were caught off-guard. Then I glared down at him, a single simple frown on my face, whist my eyes were pinpricks of rage. "You ever think to tell me what to do, and you'll regret it, I'm no ones lab rat, got that?" I snarled, before I threw him back. "Don't ever disrespect the dead." With that, I walked away, eager to get the mission underway [Canternlot Train Yards] "What part of this was a great idea!?" I yelled, flying behind a train cart, looking over to see a spear skin my glasses, knocking me atop the train cart's roof, whist the lancers attempted to find a way up. I turned my head, seeing Silver, panting on his haunches, his daggers resting in front of him. Rain was punching another down from the side of the cart, throwing it to the group of crystal monsters below. That was ten of them, we had killed eight. Then, I rolled to my left, as Yin came flying down onto the train cart, face-planting the roof with a groan. "Well, the the gang's all here, now we can die together!" "We are trapped/All exits cut/What now?" We all looked at each other, trying to figure out our next plan of action, but against the horde below us, it wasn't that we were concerned for, it was the piece of the train that we found in the warehouse across from us, the doors thrown open by two Hollow Fangs, their bodies curled up in anticipation of our offence The piece was sitting in the back on a pile of parts, and looked to be a two person job to carry out of the sealed area where the guards waited for us, and with it now being mid-day, that was an hour ago, and not a single on of us had an idea, well, there was one. The plan was to have Silver and Rain carry the capacitor, while me and Yin fended off the horde. That was it, so many margins for error were there. "I'm sorry, I know it isn't really the time, but I just wanted you to know that I am." My attention was soon drawn back to Yin, as she sat with a guilty look on her face, as she sliced a crystal spearhead from the staff, knocking the lancer back to the horde "What are you apologizing for? Better yet, can we please discuss this 'after' death isn't currently climbing after us?" I retorted bluntly, now wasn't really the time for this, and now the monsters were beginning to try and climb to us, with the Hollow Fang's awaiting us to move for the sky to strike us "Well, after what Bombard said, I mean, he's nice, I mean it, the guy saved my sister when we were trapped in a dungeon, and from there on he's been supportive of all of us, even Laxus agrees, I just....I'm sorry for what happened back at the Raid Lair, the one he blames you for." While I was touched that she had this softer side to her, I only reached over to throw her a power potion, making she blink at the yellow liquid inside, then to me "Don't worry about it, he's got problems, but I've dealt with worse, just....don't expect Rain to hold back from tying to punch him." I mused, seeing Rain grumble something under her breath. With that, I drunk my own potion, feeling my power begin to resurface from within my body, then I stood up, smashing a hoof into the roof. "Now then, I have a plan that's suicidal, but if pulled off we may just go down as the dumbest players in history!" "Umm, sure, what did you have in mind?" Rain didn't look to certain, but given the circumstances, we had little choice for options. Then I turned to Yin, who tilted her head "Tell me, you, and your sister are like Yin and Yang, correct?" She nodded once, before I smiled wickedly, an evil glint in my eye. "Have you heard of a Warframe called Equinox?" [Lightning Seal - Shock Baton] Within a frame of time, the horde was struck with a burst of yellow lightning, stunning them as the lightning travelled between their crystal protrusions like lightning rods, stunning them all with a few seconds, meanwhile, Rain carried Silver towards the warehouse, where the train piece sat in chains suspended above the floor. For me, I leapt off the train cart roof, as my right hip flashed with a few sparks of light, the shards of colour burst from the side of me, revealing a new scabbard to my right. It was the Heart of Everfree longsword I obtained from the raid, as I drew it with my left hoof, my wings stretching out to fly over the horde, and hover low to the ground with both blades in my hooves. The longsword itself had a long, dark purple handle, with a thorn pommel, the guard was like the jaw of a Venus-flytrap, stretching the cover the base of the solid green blade, the edge shining in the sunlight on one side. Then, I exhaled slowly, opening my eyes to watch both blades hum a bright green among the recovering horde, as Yin clapped from above. "Give 'em hell, Hat!" Will do, Yin! [Inside the Warehouse] Upon entering the warehouse, two crystal knights stood in waiting, their gleaming forms turning to the Therstral and Earth Pony. The first of the knights took the lead, raising a crystal blade to its left side. Between Silver and Rain, the latter took the lead. They both came crashing into each other, this time, Rain slid across the ground, flying under its legs, then pushing her body backwards, her hooves struck its back, throwing it back, followed by Rain spinning around on her hooves, her rotating spin forcing the monster on the defence. Grinning, she pulled a hidden trigger on her Bo-Staff, and fire consumed her, multiple waves of fire scorching the dirt with constant ferocity, yet the knight stepped through the flames, damage slowly eating its health. Rain leapt through, striking horizontally from left to right, then rebounding her staff in an uppercut, the flames that licked the holes on the staff burning further into the Knight, followed by an over-arcing blade from the Knight, so she spun, knocking it backwards. In a burst of whites and blues, it was gone. Rain grinned, planting her body on the ground, and pushing up with her back hooves, where Silver had pressed his own, using the extra momentum to leap into the air above the last Knight, His dagger ignited a sharp blue, he struck down through its left side, barreling around to puncture its arm-pit, and ribs, inflicting 'Frost Bitten' upon it, ducking to the Knight's right, he pushed up with his hooves, bringing the twin daggers to slice through the thin layer of the Knight's face, slicing through like butter, and ending in a stream of light. "Nice, now lets get that train piece." Rain instructed Silver, and the two moved on [User: White Hat] [Dual Edge - Hollow Remains] I flew for the two Hollow Fang's at the front of the line, their heads thrashing towards me, so I spun between the two, before I sliced their necks with a diagonal slash, before I flipped around quickly, holding the blade out like wings, before I flew between them again at a blink, creating another solid line of green above the first diagonal line. Then I crossed my blades, spinning upside down to face them, before I swung both blades in a downwards slash, a massive 'X' striking their bodies and faces. Then they turned white, before bursting into streams of green, and blue. I then ducked, avoiding a slash from a lancer, before I was lacerated across my left hip, then my cheek, before I flew up, bringing Parting Glass upwards, slashing the lancer, before I spun, cracking it with my hoof, before I swung both my swords to block a Hollow Fang, shattering a few scales of its crystal skin, before I continued to spin, dragging both blades through the lancer's chest, before I barely touched the ground with my back hooves, as I inverted my grip, both swords down by my right, before I pulled both up towards the left diagonally, striking two 'X' through its armour, before I spun again, axe-kicking the lancer into the ground with ease. I then leapt from its back, and onto the head of a Hollow Fang, its fangs nearly catching my hoof as I spun upside-down, using Heart to lacerate the back of its head, before I spun right-side-up, dragging Parting Glass upwards with me, intersecting the two lines. Then my blades glowed a bright orange. My muscles twitching at the strain on my body, alongside my nearly depleted Stamina bar. I only needed to by them more time! [Lightning Seal - Thunder Clap] Before I could call out my skill, I saw the massive hammer of lightning crash upon the remaining eight crystal monsters, their health bars dropping from the conductive strike, before all their bars appeared with a new symbol, 'Fear', meaning their defence was halved, leading me to grin, my eyes glowing with hope, whist I saw Yin salute to me with a wide smile. Or plan was working! This final skill was one of more powerful ones, and was going to use all my stamina, leaving me exposed to attacks until it begins to regenerate, but if are plan succeeds, then its a worthy sacrifice. [Dual Edge - Calamity] I then smashed through the Hollow Fang before me, breaking its head with a power kick, before I slid across the smooth ground, crossing both my blades close to my chest, their edges grazing my sides, before I swung out in a horizontal 'X', before I inverted the grip, bringing the blades back in another horizontal 'X', then a repeated the first move again. Fly forward slightly, I thrusted Heart into another enemy, then again with Parting Glass, driving Parting Glass downwards, sinking the blade into the concrete, before I lunged around the blade, dragging Heart through the horde. Upon grazing the ground, I inverted Heart, thrusting it too into the ground, lunging around the handle of the blade with Parting Glass clothes-lining the enemies in another horizontal arc. Spinning to a halt, I twisted my waist, inverting the grip on my left, before I spun viciously in a 360 degree motion, diagonally ascending with the blades. Then I spun forwards slowly, holding both weapons high, before I 'clanged' their edges together with an orange spark, the force erupting from the epicenter of the sound in a violent explosion. And then I landed, placing both Parting Glass, and Heart of Everfree within their scabbards, sighing as I opened my eyes slowly. *Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter* "Six....teen....combo...." I heavily breathed, clutching my chest, seeing my health in the green still, that was, until the reflection shined on my health bar, causing me to fall forward with temporal weakness. "Oh crapbaskets...." I quickly flipped myself over, seeing the lancer holding his spear in both hands, the spearhead gleaming in the light, before it too erupted into a burst of blue, and white, causing me to look up at the dual wielding Yin, who happily swung her cutlasses in her hooves, before sliding them into their sheathes. Landing in front of me as she booped my muzzle. "That makes ten, we win~!" Singing happily to herself, she hoisted me up onto my hooves with a hoof, before we turned to the heavy grunts behind us, just then, Rain and Silver flew out with the capacitor between their hooves, as they smiled weakly at us, well, except Silver, who was beginning to turn red. "What took you so long?" "Shut....u-u-up." Silver breathed, whist Rain waved wearily at me, so I pointed for the exit to the train-yards, taking the safety as a guarantee, we watched as they carried off with the capacitor, leaving me and Yin to check our newly acquired loot, then, I felt my body tingle with new-found energy again, as my fur glowed a bright gold again [Level Up!] [29 - 30] [Rewards] Glass Fragments x8 Hollow Fang x5 Reflective Breastplate 800 Bits 975 EXP "Level 30, welcome to the big leagues!" Yin noticed my now level 30 mark, as I closed my tabs, seeing her place a hoof on her chin with a smug grin. "Still higher." "Still better." I retorted smoothly, seeing her go for a retort. "Do you have a sixteen hit combo?" Her hoof dropped, and her mouth shut. "Thought so." "You think after all of this, the Raid Lair, the Relic, and stuff, you think I can fight you?" Yin requested kindly, whist we walked for the secured checkpoint to this outer limit of the kingdom, seeing Silver collapsing onto the ground, as Rain hung herself over a fence. "I'd like to fight the guy who beat a Raid Boss!" "Sure, I'd like to see what skills you have with those cutlasses, maybe I could fight you, and your sister at the same time?" The thought was challenging, but then I saw Yin laugh, covering her mouth with a hoof, then i deflated. "What?" "Well....if you really want to, but my sister's been tied to my hip for years, even since we were born, and anyone who's either played a game with us, challenged us, or even watched us work together, they can all agree on the simple fact that me, and my little sister are both unbeatable." Now that was some grand bond, sort of like me, and my brother, though, I was born two years after him, but seeing how they looked the same too, it does answer that question "I look forward to that challenge then, I mean, before we showed up to Canternlot, I fought Yuuki, and I nearly won, so maybe it will be like that match." I casually replied, shaking her hoof in agreement, then I swore her jaw dropped through the earth, her eyes slowly widening at that prospect of me battling Yuuki, I guess she watched SAO too "YOU DID WHAT!? WHEN, I-I MEAN HOW, YOU....I THOUGHT-NO-NO-NO, WE'RE SO SCREEEEEEWED~!" Yin when from shocked, to baffled, to confused, and now to defeat, all in the space of five seconds, talk about bipolar, wait.... "Are you....Bipolar, by any chance?" I was now concerned for my own survival, if she got serious, that could be spelling 'DISASTER' in bold letters, red text, and maybe italic...? Instantly, Yin returned to normal, looking at me with an even expression of her hyperactive nature "Call it that if you like, but I just have a habit of....over-exaggerating....alot." She clicked her tongue at the 'T', but I relaxed a little "For a moment, I may have just felt death staring me in the face....before spat in my face." You know, the moral of today, no matter the reasons for us being here, you'll always meet some fascinating people, kind-of envy that To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 29 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 30 [Offensive class] SilverCrow - lvl 29 [Defensive class] Yin - lvl 31 [Offensive class] Current Level: 30 Magic: Sky/Air Items: Glass Fragments x8 Hollow Fang x5 Reflective Breastplate 800 Bits 975 EXP Reflective Breastplate "Bu-Bum.....Bu-Bum......Bu-Bum....." Defense - 40 Weight - Medium Resistance (Element) - Light 15% Fire 15% Resistance (Critical) - 25% Bonus: Attacks have a chance to recoil and strike your enemy New Skills: [Dual Edge - Hollow Remains] - Shatter their armour before you cut your enemies down in an 'X' formation, can cause armour piercing (Dual Wielding) [Dual Edge - Calamity] - A 16-hit combo with spins, thrusts, and 'X' formations, powerful and fast (Dual Wielding) [Lightning Seal - Shock Baton] - Release an infectious bolt of lightning from your hoof, with a chance to Paralyze [Lightning Seal - Thunder Clap] - Drop the hammer, and release massive amounts of lightning on your enemy, chance to cause Fear New Attribute Added: -Second Wind- When you run out of Stamina, there's a chance that you will not be fatigued (Ain't nobody got time that!) Author's Note To explain the 'Equinox' plan, its like pacify and provoke, White provokes the attention of the enemies, before Yin stuns them from above, 'pacifying' them, if you call electrocution a method of stabilizing the mind. Also, the music I used for the fight was newly acquired from RWBY Vol. 6, so sorry for the background noises, but I thought it would suit the scene well. Anyways, we all know what comes next, so I hope you enjoyed, and seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Raid [Castle of Glass] The time has come to defeat the next Raid Lair, but the Boss itself is not going to sit idly by, and among the players, something corrupted begins to show.
Raid - [Castle of Glass]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- The first, most likely their leader, was a brown unicorn. His mane was dirty blonde, and tied in a warrior's wolf tail, same for his tail, his eyes were cobalt, and he had a beard. His body was platted in gold armour, the same type as the Royal Guard, so it was certainly rare, but not uncommon, but he wore a golden greatsword, with rubies dawning the hilt, and guard. [Laxus - lvl 34] To his left was another unicorn mare with a pink coat like Pinkie's, and with a long, white mane and tail. Her eyes were emerald green, and she wore red robes, with gold, and white lines across the middle, rim of her folded hood, back, and some arcane runes on the back. Whist she carried an oak staff on her back, with a topaz twisting around the branches at the top. She was one of the three with a sweet smile on their faces. [Summer - lvl 29] Last on the left was a Changeling, with crimson wings, and eyes, and had black leather adorning his black body, with a bandana covering his mouth, and a small, red scarf around his neck. I liked his style already. He looked to have wolverine claws strapped to his hooves, both back and front too. [Ambulas - lvl 32] The two on his right were....oh wow, twins. They were both pegasus mares, with one having a black coat, and the other a white. The first on the right had white eyes to her black coat, whist her mane was a short white, and wild style, tail matching too. She wore a set of armour I saw in Ponyville before, named 'Rogue', due to its pirate-like style, belts, leather tunic, stitching, the whole pirate look, complete with two silver cutlasses to her sides. She, and her 'sister' were the only others with welcoming smiles. [Yin - lvl 31] Her 'sister' was the same, only colours were reversed, and she wore chest armour, shoulder pads, gauntlets, hip armour, and a small helmet over her combed, black mane, with a black coat over her chest-piece. Her Cutie mark was like her sister's, a yin/yang symbol, only it was the 'Yang' section, her sister was 'Yin'. Which meant her name was.... [Yang - lvl 32] [Sealed Chambers] "Its been a long time since we've seen a door like this...." Rain whispered in awe of the massive double doors before us, massive shards of glass sticking out from parts of the door, with some crystals nestled in the corners of the hallway, with blue flames lighting the path to and from the doorway, which was a pure white door, with gold trimming, and royal purple amethysts built into the doors Behind us was about twelve more players, all awaiting the gemstone bearers to open the doorway, meanwhile, I stood in the middle, my key now resting in my hoof as it continued to hum the colours of the rainbow with a resonating heart beat. To my left, Laxus held a Ruby. Summer held out her Topaz. Bombard held out an Amber. Next, to my right, Yin held onto her Sapphire. Yang stood with a Emerald in hoof. Last was Summer, holding an Amethyst. "Place the gemstones, and key." I called out, before we lightly tapped our Relics to the doors, awaiting the sound to begin the Raid Lair's activation "Here we go again...." Bombard grumbled to my far left, yet, I came eye-to-eye with Ambulas, his crimson gaze lingering on my own *Tiiiiiiing-Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank* The doors creaked open again, the sound of the hinges was more smooth, and aged, before we were greeted with-A mirror? Soon the whole Raid Party was muttering to themselves, seeing their reflections in the mirror, along with are baffled faces, my red glasses reflecting the light slightly from the rebound image of fire behind me. "Is this suppose to happen?" Yin asked me, nudging my side, but I didn't respond, instead I looked closely at my reflection, staring intently at the image of....wait, my glasses are blue, not red! "Hey, my mane's white not black?" "Everyone get back!" I called out, but by the time I went to turn my head from the mirror, a sharp blade caught my neck, before the lance-like blade parted to create fingers of smooth glass, as it latched around my face, closing tight, before it pulled me towards the mirror, dragging me through the reflection, and into a pool of white, meanwhile, I felt something grab my tail, before it too was dragged through into the white voidless mass around me "....Hey....come on, wake up....!" Ugh, shut uuuuuup..... "Sorry to do this!" *Thud* "Ow, ok....ok, I'm up!" I groaned, rubbing my muzzle as I opened my eyes to a very strange scene, my head still hazy from what had occurred mere moments ago. Actually, I quickly looked to my hoof, breathing a sigh of relief at the key still in my hoof, so I threw it back into my inventory, turning my gaze to the hallway around me I saw dozen's of my own reflections, spanning the walls for eons, with absolutely no end in sight, the area had lighting, thank god, but I was still puzzled with what I was trying to see, or what I was trying to focus on. The floor was a smooth, blue surface, and stretched down other halls, and into the reflections too, navigation seeming to be impossible. Then it appeared above us all. [Castle of Glass] "It meant it literally, a bloody mirror maze." I scoffed, looking to who was with me, and to my shock, only four others stood with me. There was Yin, who must have been the one to grab my tail before I was pulled through the mirror. Nox, she was busy looking down another hallway, her halberd out and ready in her magic. Last was two of the new raid members, another Thestral with a dagger, and a stallion in armour, Earth Pony too. "Where's everyone else?" "Gone, seems that whatever grabbed you blinded us in a white light, before we all awoke in this maze, it must have chucked us in different parts of it too." Nox grumbled, obviously not pleased with what had occurred, couldn't blame her, I wasn't thrilled by that aspect either, but complaining wasn't going to do us favors, so I got up, before Yin handed me Parting Glass, very fitting now. "What's the plan then?" "We....well there's the option to find the rest, but with a maze as backwards as this, chances are that's not going to happen, but if we head for the end of the maze, we may be able to meet them all there too." Both my ideas were sound, but one meant waiting, and the other was risking our items to fighting monsters, all most likely wandering the maze, not to mention any mini bosses. "Vote, I guess." "Lets head for the end." One from Yin "Find the end." Another from Nox, then she looked at us through her mask. "They can handle themselves just fine, worrying about them will only make things worse." "He's right, we should find the end to this creepy place." The Therstral offered, before the man in armour stared in silence, his helmet turned to down the hall behind me. "You ok, dude?" "No....there's something there, look." We all turned to the direction of his hoof, and with a little concentration on all the moving reflections, we saw the crystal monster moving towards us, a lance in-hand, as its body underneath resembled that of Klaw's avatar of a dragon or drake [Limb of Refraction - lvl 25] "Well that's a little sad....I was, agh! Dammit!" We quickly looked to Nox, who fell back to swing her halberd downwards, cracking the axe-head against the helmet of another Limb of Refraction, it too was only level 25, then we saw it, it wasn't that they were walking out from the other hallways, they were coming out of the mirrors on the walls, turning a pane grey when they appeared. Just then, two more joined the first, making four. "Crap, they got numbers on us!" "That's creepy." Yin shivered, pulling her cutlasses out, before she flew in the air to hold them both, then they glowed gold, her face lighting up, along with the mirrors. "Suck on this, losers!" [Dual Edge - Swashbuckler] Yin quickly flipped her body horizontally, before she spun in the air towards the Limbs of Refraction, their lances striking out, two struck her front legs, but she continued her motion, her blades slicing through the middle one's head, cleaving it in two, before she spun upright, completely decapitating the remaining two with her final spin. Their bodies soon fell over, and burst into a stream of blues, and whites, just as she placed her cutlasses in their sheaths, dusting her hooves off. I ran for Nox's side, just as she plunged her halberd into the Knight that attacked her, stopping it dead in its tracks, before a new Knight reeled its lance back, ready to strike, but I came running in, swinging my sword out, before I instantly glowed bright crimson, then I leapt forwards, directing my blade towards its abdomen. [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] I quickly punctured the Knight with my blade, shattering the grey pane of glass behind it, as its body lurched under the force of the strike, before it went limp around my blade, it too bursting into a stream of blue, and white, leaving all of us to relax for a moment. Then I turned to view Nox, who nodded with a thanks under her mask. "Ok, so lots of enemies to overwhelm us, that's new." The guy in the armour stated matter-of-factly, before I glanced to my right, looking towards the new hall of mirrors, my stomach beginning to drop at the sight of the infinite reflections "How the hell are we suppose to navigate this?" Nox breathlessly ponder beside me, and I didn't want to know what else might be waiting for us either, so I sighed heavily, before I kicked a shard of the grey mirror down the hall, seeing it touch a wall mere feet from us. "What the hell?" "Grab the shards of the broken grey mirrors, we can throw them down the halls, see what's actually there, and what's a reflection, could also trigger traps be may enter too if were lucky." Common sense when in a mirror maze, if you threw an object, wait till it hits a wall, then you find your path "Hehe, remind me not to take you lightly during our match after this, you're scary smart." Yin approached me, and I just scratched the back of my neck "I-I just have alot of experience in games, this happens to have been one of those times." I bashfully muttered, moving to walk down the hall that was clear. "I hope the others are doing ok?" [Purplrain's Group] "That was a bust....guess we can only go left now." Rain muttered to herself, finding the mirror maze to be a never-ending headache on her end, seeing that the parties had been thrown across the maze, leaving her with the very bottom of the barrel, Bombard. Him, along with three others were stuck with her, Rain took it upon herself to clear a few hallways, seeing if she could find a stable path, sadly, most ended in a dead end. "Hopefully they others are having better luck When she turned into a small open space, she stopped, staring down the open square with confusion. It was a place they picked as a starting point, with only two ways in or out, it was a perfect defence, but....no one was here, not a single soul, just scattered weapons. It didn't take long for her to rush into the open space, throwing herself into the center of the room, moving into a stance as she looked around for any survivors. "Oh, fuck, its you." The surprised gasp of someone drew her eyes to....Bombard, his body hunched over the remains of an axe, and buckler, his eyes stern at the sight around them, but they relaxed at her appearance, but Rain didn't phase. "At first I thought a monster came running in." He went to move, but then saw the magic building around Rain's hooves, causing him to slowly stop to face her, his eyes drifting to hers with a suspicious gaze. "The hell's with you? Find something jumpy to put you on edge?" She didn't respond, before he looked around at the discarded weapons, before connecting the dots, frowning with disdain, and anger. "Hold on-Hold on, you think I did this? Jesus, that cheater really knows how to pick 'em, you can't be serious that you believe i'd kill innocent players!?" "Give me a reason not to blast you through these walls to the exit, NOW?" Rain sieved, keeping a level head among her raging emotions, if she gave into anger it might cost her. Then, her eyes widened suddenly at Bombard rushing her when she wasn't looking, causing her to raise a hoof to prepare her spell. Bombard was faster though, drawing a black longsword with his magic before Rain, then, he leapt above her, thrusting his blade over her mane. "Huh!?" [Sword Skill - Rage Spike] The crimson flash struck the Knight, flinging the remainder of its skull into the mirror behind it, shattering the final pane that turned grey from its arrival, leaving Bombard to fall to his hooves, placing the blade in its scabbard, before he turned to the perplexed Rain, grabbing her by the shoulder, shaking her roughly with a hardened gaze. "Do something like that again, then maybe I'll let the next one kill you!" He barked, letting her go to look at a forgotten sword, kicking it across the room. "Something else killed them, and I wasn't here to stop it, great to see my luck with these places remains after all this time." "Did....did you know them?" Rain chocked up, brushing past a spear "No....just some guys I gathered for the raid, didn't know it was this bad though, tough guys didn't need to die like this." Bombard muttered with a hint of sadness in his voice, before he waved a hoof behind him at Rain. "Go ahead, call me a liar like that idiot of a friend of yours, since you so animatedly follow his words like air." "No, no I won't, I shouldn't have assumed, I'm sorry for that." Rain felt really guilty now, blaming him for something that he never had any part in, and from what she gathered from their previous encounter, he wasn't one to just flat-out lie, he'd tell you what he thought, and besides, what kind-of killer protects someone from death? "Why do you hate White so much? Is it just because of the Raid?" "A part of me wants to, even if that isn't right, If you haven't already figured it out, I have a hard time keeping my anger under wraps, but after finding out those guys weren't coming back, and with the idiot threatening that Harbinger guy, I felt that spark of anger hit me, that if he just kept his mouth shut that it would change something." Bombard explained to her, kicking the floor angrily. "I know it makes no sense, alright! I didn't know what else to do, seeing someone die like that, you always want someone to blame, and....agh, this is frustrating!" ".....Direct that anger to Harbinger then." Rain spoke up softly, seeing Bombard look over his navy shoulder with a blank glare. "He did that to them, he did 'this' to all of us, please, just....apologize, when we're out, ok?" At first he just sighed, shaking his head for a moment, trying to wrap his head around why Rain was being so....kind, he threatened her in the past, and now, she was trying to get him to apologize, and....it was working, so he nodded his head, his eyes closed when he turned to face her. Then, his hoof stuck out to her, before he looked at her with conflicted golden eyes. "Fine....I uh....I'm sorry, for....well everything I said back then, just....don't expect me to be so civil with that idiot when we talk, right?" He grumbled, but Rain shook his hoof, smiling with her eyes shut, giggling, just as a smile crossed his muzzle, before he left go, rolling his eyes. "Now then, enough with the mushy crap, what the hell killed these guys?" "I don't it 'was' an enemy." Rain began, feeling uneasy around the remains of her team, just as Bombard looked at her, tilting his head. "Just think about it, we would have heard the fighting, even at out range, the sound of the bodies turning to streams of colour would have hit us." "Yeah, that's what drew me back, I heard something shatter, followed by footsteps, and they sounded like the thing was in a hurry." Bombard added, rubbing his beard, then, his eyes widened. "Wait....you're sayin' that a player did this?" "Its the only thing I can draw to. I have a skill that's active now called, 'Recover', it allows me to sense when players or enemies are nearby, and for the whole duration of my search, I only felt the presence of players, no monsters within the range, it can't tell me how many players there are, since its still low level." Rain elaborated with a frown, causing Bombard to look back to his pathway "Then....whoever did this is out there, and if he finds someone else....shit, we need to move, now." Bombard then picked up a spear off the floor, placing it on his back. "When I find the guy who did this, I'll kill 'em with this." "And i'll drag him to hell." Rain spat, catching Bombard off guard at Rain's venom, but they soon departed, leaving for the boss room and for the Killer who roamed the maze [Klaw's Group] "Go, get to the door quickly!" Klaw called out, blocking another strike from the Knight, its lance piercing his gauntlet, so Klaw grabbed it, before he raised his buster sword, bringing the massive slab of iron down on the body of the Knight. Then another leapt up, thrust down on Klaw, who reeled back, balling his fist up, before it turned into an emerald flame [Draconic Seal - Cursed Dragon Fist] He threw it up in an uppercut motion, shattering the face-plate of the Knight, whist smashing the Knight into the ceiling, raining glass upon him, and the twenty Knights that swarmed the narrow hallway. He would use Dragon's Crescendo, but it would do little to phase the resistant Knights, so he could only use his normal attacks, which all of his Stamina was used up on. His left eye was closed, as he grounded his teeth with every breath, seeing another Knight rush him with a lance. Klaw raised his buster sword up flat, placing his hand on the face, blocking the lance, before he grabbed the handle with both hands, turning it down to his right side, then with a massive heave, he swung the blade in a massive horizontal arc, flinging the Knight through the glass wall, before he pulled back, a lance striking hist shoulder, before another struck his chest, so He slid back, deciding to use the last of his Stamina now. [Sword Skill - Crescent Rose] His blade now a hue of red, as he swung the blade downwards with one hand, throwing his body into the air, before he pushed himself down to the ground again, swinging the buster sword in a massive vertical arc, shattering another Knight, and the floor with the strike, before he grabbed the blade with both hands, and swung round in a single fluent motion, slicing three more Knight's in half by the waist. With his Stamina spent, Klaw fell to a knee, panting at the debuff. Before he could even realize what had happened, Klaw's eyes looked to see another Knight above him, reeling its lance back to strike him. Klaw tried to move, but was still caught in the debuff, then, he felt his body fall back, his buster sword within a red aura of magic, floating past him, just as he saw Silver leap over him, kicking with his back legs to knock the Knight back, before he channeled his magic into his hooves, before slamming them into the ground. [Aura - Gaia's Hand] "That will hold/Now we leave/Your part it done." Silver grabbed Klaw's hand, pulling the dragon to his feet as he chuckled, before he noticed Summer holding his buster sword in her telekinetic grasp for him, so he graciously accepted it "I thank you both, I may have gone a little overboard with my tactic." Klaw admitted, walking towards the group that waited for them at the leaver activated door, where Pinkie, Laxus, Ambulas, and Yang waited. The two groups had their parties too, some didn't make it though, but for the most part they were fine "Try not to get so focused on the heat of battle next time, ok?" Summer informed him with a frown, making him laugh a little, as she pouted, seeing him acting prideful again. "I swear, how do you handle his ego?" "Its.....fun." Silver's drawled out answer did little to help, but the two just ignored Klaw for the time being. "Stop." "My apologize, Silver." Klaw whipped the bridge of his nose, before the blue door shut behind them, then they all noticed Laxus trying to comfort Yang, her mind seemly gone at the loss of her sister "Life has no meaning." Yang muttered, leaving Laxus to shake his head with a grunt "She's fine, you need to stop worrying about her, and start focusing on the task at hand, if you can't even work one job without her you might very well be dead!" Laxus complained, feeling her aura of depression begin to irritate him, making him scratch his mane in frustration. "I can't decide who's worse, you, or your hyperactive sister?" "Don't care. Leave me to die." Yang grumbled, before Pinkie rushed over, cradling the mare in her hooves, as she sulked. "Soft...." "I will be your shield, aunt Pinkie Pie is here!" Pinkie declared to the players, much to their amusement and bafflement "Ok, fine, you take her, I'm not doing this." Laxus gave up, just as Summer glared at him, so he raised his hoof with a frown. "You wanna try comforting her, go right ahead, I'm not walking that road again." "On another note, I wonder how, Rain, and White are doing? Seeing as they too haven't arrived yet." Klaw pondered, before Pinkie smiled, patting Yang on the head softly, a small smile on her muzzle now "They'll be fiiiiine, their love will lead the way!" Pinkie statement made them look at her funny, meanwhile Silver just face-hoofed, feeling like the only one to have noticed this beforehand. Pinkie didn't take it well. "Huh, you didn't think they'd look cute together?" "Pinkie, we only met them, so we didn't really see that idea, well, I certainly felt they were close, but with a whole Raid business I never gave it a thought." Summer explained, as the others nodded, then Yang looked up "My sister said they would be nice together because they were like me, and Yin, opposites." Yang answered, as Pinkie nodded with a hum "White is blunt. Sarcastic. and funny. Rain is kind. Playful. and random. See?" Pinkie broke down their basic traits, as they nodded "Both are kindhearted/But clouded/Unable to see this connection." Silver responded in kind, just as Klaw put a....claw to his chin "While I don't impose we force this on them, it would be nice to see them bond over all of this, its circumstances like this that can lead to love." Klaw concluded, before a small smile stretched across his lips. "But, there's nothing wrong with a bit of irritation from our end." At that, the group fell into laughter among the Raid Team. Over to the far left, Ambulas was overhearing all of this, his eyes rolling at the concept, but that did give him an idea for later use. [3 Hours Into The Raid] "If we ever, see another mirror again, I will smash it with a hammer!" I yelled in frustration, with Yin lying across my back in recovery, whist Nox followed behind us calmly, throwing the mirror fragment away at the sight of the others waiting by two massive, silver doors. But at our approach, I watched the trade screen drop between Rain and....Bombard? Who looked to have thrown something at the last second into the screen. "Hey guys~!" "You made it, seems we were worried for nothing!" Seraph called over, seeing the crying state of Yin, so she pointed. "Uhh, what happened to her?" "Too....many....mirrors...." She sighed, before hopping off my back with a lunge, smiling once more with a fierce grin. "All set!" "YIN!" Yang had thrown me to the floor, latching her hooves around Yin in a tight hug, whist Yin chuckled, hugging her sister back. "I missed you." "You're fine, just stop worrying about me sometimes, it'll do you some good too." Yin rolled her eyes, prying her sister off. Then, I was lifted off my back by Rain, who smiled happily at me, as I did the same, bumping hooves with her "Seems you did alright too?" I mused, before Rain moved to her left, allowing me to gaze at....Bombard, he looked just as pleased as me, with everyone watching us carefully. "Oh, you were stuck with him...." "In my defence, she tried to kill me, but all's forgiven....well, almost." Bombard grumbled, just as Rain's bat wing slapped the back of his head. "Right-Right! Look....I....god this hard to say. I wanted to say....I'm sorry, for everything back at the first raid....and this one, I was rather blunt, angry, and confused....so, look I ain't expecting you to like me, but I just thought you'd like to know!" I was....well I can't really understand what I was feeling, even Rain sensed this, so she jumped in. "He does mean it, after seeing his allies die, he just couldn't find a way to place the blame on anyone properly, he is sorry, and I believe him." Rain..... "All's forgiven." I simply stated, catching everyone off guard by my answer. What? I said I forgave him, so what? Didn't mean I liked him. "Look, you obviously had it rough, we all have, so I can't blame you for being angry, I can be too, just....lets take this boss down....as a team." I held my hoof out to him "You are strange, I'll give ya that, just don't expect me to let you take all the fame this time?" He grinned, bumping my hoof, as the atmosphere relaxed, then he turned with an embarrassed face. "Alright ladies, you got your show, now lets get this Raid over with!" "Aww, but we were just getting to the touching part." Seraph teased, but me and Bombard snapped in her direction "Shut it, rat!" "Agreed." Laxus confirmed, wow, ever he agreed with us. Standing at the brim of the door with his greatsword between his hooves. We all met up with our squads now, awaiting the final call to press forward with the raid. "Now then, with all of us here this Raid Lair can finally end. We lost some along this journey, so lets all make it back alive, for them, got it?" "White, we have a problem, could you....come here for a moment?" Hearing Rain's concerned request, I moved to stand just off to the side, then I turned to her worried face, like she had seen a ghost "What's wrong?" Now I was on edge, she really looked spooked, and her ears were flattened against her head "Me, and Bombard....we found players....well, what was left of them.....someone, here, had....they..." She couldn't even finish it, and I certainly didn't want to know the end of it, even if the answer was obvious. So I looked around us, making sure no prying eyes were watching, before I grabbed Rain around the back of her head, pulling her into my shoulder softly, holding her gently as she froze suddenly. It wasn't much, but it was the only way I knew to comfort someone "For now, focus on the Raid Boss, I know it wasn't....well its bad, but if you can push yourself for them, that should do them some justice, even if only a little, alright?" I whispered, pulling back to view her red face, before I rubbed the back of my head. "Now come on, we have a Boss to defeat, and an eye to keep watch on a shady individual." "R-Right, ok!" Rain perked up, before we turned back to the briefing, but I wasn't really paying much eye to that, my mind built on others things at the moment "Hey?" My attention soon moved to Yang, seeing her standing beside me with a determined face. "Thank you for keeping my sister safe." "Well, it would tarnish my reputation to leave anyone behind, consider it a brother doing a favor for another sibling." I suggested kindly, making her blink "You have a sibling?" She asked me, so I hushed her, seeing Laxus turn to open the door "I'll tell you about my brother after we win." "Now then, lets go meet this 'Refraction'." Laxus mused, before the doors chimed open, as the luminescent room consumed us. "CHARGE!" [Chamber of Regret] Well....atleast the name is appropriate for a number of reasons. Example, I was here. All parties entered the room at once, and we saw a massive, open circle room, it was barren, with a tile floor, and mirrors hanging around the walls of the room. With the walls reflecting a multitude of colored lights to brighten the room. Above us was the endless void, I couldn't even see the ceiling. Then I saw the doors shut behind us, locking us in for the remainder of the Raid, with all players scattering across the edge of the arena. "There it is!" Someone yelled, pointing their weapon to the black ceiling above us, as a massive crystal fell from the void, shattering the tiles in the center of the arena, leaving us to watch the dust clear to reveal a blue and white crystal, and with the silence, we could hear something.....and it was resonating with my chest piece, even its multicolored face was beginning to pulse, the Boss was waking up *Crack-Crack-Crack-BOOM* I covered my face quickly, watching past my hoof as the projectiles flung themselves across the room. Then we saw the Boss. A being of crystal, it was humanoid, with blades for legs, large, sharp too. Its torso was thin, but bulky, with large, lance-like blades for arms, and shoulders. Its head was like a diamond, pointy at the top, with a sharp chin, and smooth face, no eyes, no glowing maw, just a blank slate. Then I let out a silent scream, raising its arms to shake the very foundation of the room, even with no sound but the crystals in the darkness above us to shake. In its chest, a red, pulsing aura, which soon enveloped its being with a thin layer of red. [Internal Refraction - lvl 40] "Hehehehehahahahaha!" That voice!? All of us now looked above the Boss, seeing the tail swing in the air, whist the black attire nearly made it impossible to see him, but those burning orange eyes could be seen for miles, along with that sharp, inhuman smile. After over a month of silence from the monster that had trapped us in the game, he finally came to us with a smile. "Seems you all finally found the next boss, i'm impressed!" "Harbinger...." Rain growled to my left, before he looked at us, before snapping his fingers, and in mere moments, a few circles floated in the air. They were purple, growing, and shrinking like camera focuses, whist a large, red 'REC' was placed in the middle of the circle. Then he clapped his hands happily, a sickening grin on his face "Hope you enjoy this little incursion, I am now broadcasting this Boss not only to the other players still left in the game, but too the outside world through a thing called 'Social Media', yeah Youtube is fucked. Facebook's a bitch. Twitch is fine though. I plan to do this for every fight, I'll make them watch as innocent players are dropped like flies!" Harbinger explained, before he cleared his throat, disappearing with a click of his fingers. "Now, sit back, and relax everyone! Because its time to get this Raid started, to all that join us, welcome to the Castle of Glass Raid Boss!" "Refraction!!!" At the name, the thin, crystal Boss turned towards the gem bearers with a sharp blade pointed in their direction "Kill...." To Be Continued..... Update Party: (You) White Hat - lvl 31 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 30 [Stealth class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 30 [Defensive class] Seraph - lvl 30 [Support class] Current Level: 31 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: N/A New Skills [Dual Edge - Swashbuckler] - Spin your blades with deadly force, and take off the limbs of your enemies, can inflict defence down (Dual weapons) [Sword Skill - Crescent Rose] - Even without a scythe, this attack with crush foes into the pavement you stand on (2H Swords) [Aura - Gaia's Hand] - Defend yourself and allies with a shield of life magic (Defensive class only) [Draconic Seal - Cursed Dragon Fist] - Burn your enemies with a fist as powerful as a dragon, cursed flames have a higher chance to inflict burn Author's Note How I loved writing this weird and twisted maze, with all the armies after the groups too. But also character development, and to clarify something, all teams in-game can only be 4, White's was split into 4 and 3 upon the journey to Canternlot. Anywho, now its time for the big boss, and oh-ho do I have a gimmick for it! Seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Raid 2 [Castle of Glass] "Oh White, you were always a sad excuse for a person, if you think being the hero of this game will change that, you're dead wrong." Authors Notes: Picture used is not accurate, just make it look skinny like glass, with blades for arms and legs, Google's useless for an image. Also, Harbinger from this point on is going to be broadcasting his game of death to everyone, because who doesn't he want to terminally scar with the deaths of innocent lives?
Raid 2 [Castle of Glass]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- Behind us was about twelve more players, all awaiting the gemstone bearers to open the doorway, meanwhile, I stood in the middle, my key now resting in my hoof as it continued to hum the colours of the rainbow with a resonating heart beat. To my left, Laxus held a Ruby. Summer held out her Topaz. Bombard held out an Amber. Next, to my right, Yin held onto her Sapphire. Yang stood with a Emerald in hoof. Last was Summer, holding an Amethyst. "Place the gemstones, and key." I called out, before we lightly tapped our Relics to the doors, awaiting the sound to begin the Raid Lair's activation "Here we go again...." Bombard grumbled to my far left "Then....whoever did this is out there, and if he finds someone else....shit, we need to move, now." "Refraction!!!" At the name, the thin, crystal Boss turned towards the gem bearers with a sharp blade pointed in their direction "Kill...." [Chamber of Regret] [Internal Refraction - lvl 40] Within the moment the word left Harbinger, Internal Refraction moved for the gem bearers, it proving to be faster than the lumbering Raid Boss from the first lair, as spell casters threw magic beams from their horns, and other elemental attacks in its direction to stop it, it was struck without any immunity buff over its health, but this did very little to start the battle, because at the sudden affliction, its body glowed, before it threw its arms to its sides for a moment, burst with red shards of glass, before it continued to stride towards them. Another wave of spells flew towards the Boss, only for it to raise its arm, and reflect the attacks with a swing, throwing the elemental assault to the walls, and ground, before it raised its left arm, swinging down on the group as the separated, leaving Laxus to duck under its right blade, the sharp arm digging into the ground, before it swung horizontally to its right with the left arm, catching his cheek slightly. Laxus retaliated, bringing his greatsword up with his left hoof, before he swung the blade into the side of Internal Refraction, it didn't even try to block it as it struck, knocking the Boss to the side, its bladed legs digging through the tiled floor to stop itself. Then it bent itself over to look down at him, before Laxus charged again, alongside Bombard, who raised his sword high in his blue magic. Then the Boss' aura ruptured blue, throwing another shell of blue glass shards to the ground. Laxus then swung down with a massive leap, with Bombard thrusting upwards, his buckler rising to defend his exposed head. When the hits made contact, all parties, even I was stunned to see the attack strike the Boss, shaking the ground, and causing a layer of smoke to rise, but the Boss' health didn't move an inch, instead it stood with its arms under its pits, both arms glowing dark blue, whist Bombard and Laxus' swords still touched the Boss' armour. "Oh shit!" Bombard cursed, before they were both struck with a wave of sharp glass, knocking them flying back, allowing the rest of the supporters to defend the two as they healed, as more magical attacks struck Internal Refraction, damaging it again as it strode towards me, Rain, Klaw, and Silver. Then once more, its body shredded another rain of glass, and all attacks with magic did nothing to faze its charge "Its got the ability to adapt to damage it takes, hit it with everything we got before it can do it again!" I called out, just as Rain took flight somewhere, leaving me, Silver, and Klaw to face it, just as we watched it right arm glow a bright crimson. "Rage Spike!" Its form soon rushed our way, as Klaw stepped towards its attack, swinging his buster sword out, holding a hand to the face of the blade, just as he bit his lip at the massive force striking the blade, causing it to ring at the contact with metal, before he pushed back, grabbing it with both hands, before he swung to Internal Refraction's side, stunning it, before he swung it up, and brought it down on its left shoulder, before he spun the blade like a corkscrew, before thrusting the blade into its chest. I took the next leap, striking its back vertically, then I spun intersecting the line horizontally, before my blade glowed a bright blue, as Silver used one of his auras on me first, coating me body in a green aura of flames, as my blade gained another layer of colour, as I looked briefly to see the shining sword symbol above my health, 'Gaia's Wish', my next strike will be twice as strong. Perfect! [Aura - Gaia's Wish] [Sword Skill - Seven Deadly Sins] I pierced Internal Refraction's armour, causing it to stumble from trying to adapt, then I spun upside-down, swinging my blade from left to right, then right to left, then I spun right-side-up, swinging my sword vertically down, the vertically up, before I spun around clockwise, slicing across its spine in a horizontal arc twice left, then right. The green aura dissipated at this point, burning across the wounds in its back, before it finally shredded its armour, firing green fragments into my face, blinding me, and cutting me slightly, but we did it, it lost a good piece of its health with the combo. What I didn't see coming was the sharp leg to puncture my chest, throwing me flying in pain, debuffing me with 'defence down' as I tumbled into the hooves of Summer, as she began to use a healing spell on me quickly. But I wasn't paying attention to that, my eyes were glued to the magical attacks striking the Boss, just as it shredded another coat of purple fragments, before Klaw swung his blade down, only for it to slide across the blade of Internal Refraction, as it used its left arm to slice Klaw's arm, before it split into fingers, grabbing his neck, before I lifted him off his feet, throwing him, before it crossed its arms, releasing them when they came eye-level with each other, a massive blue 'X' splitting Klaw's health in two, and throwing him away with his buster sword. "Do it now!" We all heard Klaw call to us, and just then, something struck from below Internal Refraction, as the shadowy hoof connected with its face, knocking it back, before Rain appeared from the shadows below the Boss, as she spun round in the air, her back leg striking the side of its head, then she turned upright to give it a left cross, causing the Boss to stumble into a group of players, all swinging down on the Boss, stabbing, slicing, thrusting, chipping its health piece by piece, then it erupted again, throwing them back with small amounts of damage, but that was what put a smile on my face, seeing Rain directly before the Boss, placing her hooves directing on its chest, before they hummed a dark purple. [Umbra Seal - Nightmare Rain] All was blinded as the beam of concentrated purple and red struck the Boss' chest, reflecting the beam across the arena like a light show, one nearly hitting Harbinger above, but it mere phased right through his body as he too smiled in surprise at the action. The beam threw the Boss backwards, just as it flipped onto its legs again, slipping through one of the mirrors on the wall, vanishing into the fixture. "Where'd it go?" Summer asked from behind me, just then, I looked to see one of the mirrors shimmer, then I pointed at it "In the mirror, run!" I cried out, but it was too late, Internal Refraction appeared behind a player, swiping its left arm down to block a sword swing from Silver, before it pointed the blade up suddenly, knocking Silver back, before the player turned to strike the boss with his spear, only to see the Boss tilt its head slowly, and....he dropped the spear? "What the-Get out of there, hurry!" He didn't respond, instead the look of terror covered his face, as if he was staring into the eyes of Death himself, as he began to tremble, then, the Boss' arms pulled back slowly, still staring down into the soul of the player. Silver tried to attack with a sword skill, but it was already immune, and he soon recoiled in pain from the failed strike, then, we were silent. The player snapped out of his trance, only to silently cry at the arm sunk through his chest, followed by another, then another thrust, before Internal Refraction threw him to the ground roughly, repetitively stabbing the player, before lifting him atop his bladed arms, before the player screamed, as his body was....was torn in two, and thrown to the sides of the Boss like paper. "N-no....!" Summer cried, covering her face, as I only bit my tongue, hearing the cries of laughter above my head only fueled my rage, my hoof shaking around my blade, he was dead....an innocent player was murdered in front of millions like a game to Harbinger, hell, the bastard was clapping "T-That was priceless~! Di-Did you hear him beg, ahahahahahaha!" I was still being healed and held at bay in Summer's hooves, so I became a spectator for the next assault over the death that had befallen us. Nox swiped violently towards the air Internal Refraction once stood, his body a breeze within the wind. Nox ran with hardened malice, following Internal Refraction who ran across the ceiling with its pointed legs. Upon its rotation, Refraction was met with a resounding crack of claws striking through its head, shards of glass flying off in the process, followed by two left crosses and a downward spiral kick, Ambulas had snuck up without it knowing managed to knock it back down to the earth. Grounded, Ambulas flapped his wings to avoid its lumbering, yet lightning quick swipes, followed by Refraction holding its arms high above where Nox stood, so without a glint of hesitation, she spun her naginata around to defend herself, the aura around her weapon growing in saturation and thickness. It roared, both arms crashing hard against the tiles and weapon, with Nox wincing at the strain it managed to put on her aura, this blocked strike had thrown a blast of concussive air and magic across the arena. Thankfully, Silver had came running into the fray, spinning his body to slice two horizontal lines through Refraction's form, causing its persistent assault to cease, and its body shattering again, so the two retreated, speaking to each other. "Take it down you two!" Nox barked to the flying Klaw and Ambulas, the latter not making a single word, yet when I met his gaze, something made a chill run up my spine, that guy was seriously creepy [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Roar] [Commandment - Drain] Klaw's cheeks had puffed themselves out again, and I watched the lime green aura surround Ambulas' horn, firing a veil around Refraction, resulting in a 'slowness' and 'weakness' debuff. That, combined with the torrent of flames that had licked the air with a fierce glow and heat, and the health of Refraction fell by a good portion. Whist the waves of fire continued to eat away at the tiles and Boss, something struck Ambulas out of the air, a large, red gash across his body when he crashed to the ground a few feet away, followed only by a set of glass claws clasping the maw of Klaw shut. Its armour shattered again, the fires dispersed in the process like water to their might. Now in his grasp, I felt my being shake with something new, I wasn't going to let someone die, not again, but this feeling was different, as if the thought of Klaw dying would be the end of what I knew of him, everything he's done for me and others. My....friend....was going to die, and that thought, this lingering ghost of a image struck me with more fear, and rage than I've felt in years. "You....you....bastard!!!" I screamed, flying out of Summer's hold as I felt my rage boil over, my wings pushing faster and faster as I saw its armour shatter again to someone striking it with a magic bombardment, I think I broke a tooth from grinding my teeth at this point, just as I came within arms length of the Boss, my blade a menacing violet hue. "Dragon.Cry." It replied by throwing Klaw away, perfect The first hit was a horizontal swing from left to right, immediately followed by an uppercut, then I flew over its swiping glass strike, and slashed the Boss from left to right while spinning, twice. I then landed, facing the Boss and slashing an 'X' from top to bottom, before inversely slashing the 'X' again from bottom to top. I quickly leapt at the Boss and made two diagonal slashes from the same starting point, with Parting Glass heading from top to bottom to the left, before switching to go from bottom to top toward the right. I wasn't done yet! Afterwards, I reversed my grip on Part Glass, slashing another 'X' with my sword from top to bottom. Its arm slashed my side, but I quickly barrel-rolled, while slashing at the Boss's chest like a corkscrew. I followed by slashing another two 'X's' into its defending arms, first from top to bottom and then bottom to top. Breaking its guard, I made a diagonal slash with my sword from the top-right to bottom-left, then spun left and used this momentum to deal a horizontal right to left slash with my blade. Gaining the speed advantage buff from this skill, I made an uppercut with the sword; then another coming downwards, before I inverted my grip to slash upwards again, then a downward diagonal slash towards the right with Parting Glass, spinning and repeating the previous attack, before thrusting my blade through its left leg, I cried out, feeling its arm strike my left arm, but I quickly finished the skill with a final, forceful downward lunge with Parting Glass. "Holy...." Seraph breathed in the background "Shit...." Rain spoke from my left "Excalmation mark!" Thanks for the input, Yin, I needed that....I was now hunched over in pain, seeing my health in the yellow, whist Internal slowly moved back to its feet, its first bar gone, and even its left arm was shatter on the ground before me, I could still see the boiling heat leaving my blade with the remaining energy, then I watched as everyone screamed out, all ganging up on the now defenseless Boss, its immunity being wailed on from all sides, with its second bar slowly depleting "Dragon Cry....the twenty seven hit combo skill, and one of the most powerful One-Handed moves at our level or even at levels higher than us." Laxus broke down for the others, as Summer worked on healing me, whist Silver added a few buffs to my body to help me recover. "It seems we are on the verge of victory." "Oh yes, please cheer for the man who somehow gained a skill like 'THAT'!" We turned our heads to the cameras, and Harbinger, who was still smiling sickly at us, something wasn't right about that smile he gave me, it was chilling. "Tell me....what happens now, boy?" !!!! "GET AWAY NOW!" Laxus called to the groups, but it was far too late. A massive rupture occurred, and every player was thrown back, the shards of red raining around us all, turning the whole area's lights slightly red with blood, whist we stared at the player strung from Internal Refraction's massive, scythe-like claws, no longer two long shards of glass, but five massive fingers of glass, as its chest seemed to expand, parts of its armour stretching, and turning blackish-purple, with blade sticking from a skirt around its waist, before it head molted into a large pane of glass, almost like Zer0's helmet, its core was now an exposed red orb among its broad chest "We activated Phase Two." Pinkie shakily whispered to my right, pulling me to my feet. Then, the Boss threw the body aside, the player turning to a stream of colours before our eyes, then it flickered, five panes of glass began to circle its body as it made it approach, becoming far faster than before Laxus moved ahead, defending with his greatsword, whist Silver ran for him, just as Internal Refraction could bring its claws down on Laxus, Silver leapt in, shoving Laxus aside, before the claws phased through the glass panes, striking Silver's side, throwing him away from us, and towards a group of players, leaving me to grab Parting Glass, as I swung it from right to left, blocking a strike from its left claw, before it drove its right into the tiled floor in front of me, then it quickly followed with the left claw, swiping it over my mane closely, then I watched as the red magic aura enclosed my sword, dragging me away to Summer's side. We then watched as Nox recoiled from trying to strike the glass panes, her attack bouncing right off the glass, before Internal Refraction leapt into a mirror, vanishing into the fixture to another location. Now I needed to think, this Boss was on the verge of slaughtering us, and the healers can't keep their job up forever, just as Summer. Lets see, when he shattered its arms, they became claws, and it always used them to defend itself unless it jumped into a mirror....that must connected.... "White, are you ok!?" I looked up to see Rain looking down on me, whist Bombard joined her side, pulling me up to my hooves with his magic, whist he kept his buckler high in his magic, his eyes focusing around us. Then it appeared again, with it striking Klaw's armour, and kicking out to its right to block Yin, whist Yang, flew down, striking another pane of glass with her hoof, but she was thrown into Yin. "How do we beat 'that'?" "You don't." Our heads turned back to our commentator, who watched each camera with glee written on his face. "I reconfigured each Boss with the sole purpose to be unbeatable, sadly, the Control Core Gamma made that impossible, so I opted to just making each Boss incredibly difficult to defeat, even now its slaughter you like the cattle you are, and I get to broadcast this to the whole world!" Then he grinned wildly with his sharp teeth. "So I win!" "How about you be like any other spectator and fuck off back to the stands!?" Bombard spat, making Harbinger chuckle, vanishing into the dark ceiling above us. "Bloody sociopath! I'd like to beat him with a mirror when I get the chance, make him stare at his own reflection as he dies!" "That's stupid." Rain bluntly pointed out, making Bombard cross his hooves in protest "Wait.....reflection...." I murmured to myself, then, my eyes sparked with a lightbulb again. I had it! "I know how to win!" "We're listening." Summer calmly replied with hope in her face, whist I yelled for every player to hear me, I needed to say this now, since Internal Refraction was turning his attention this way, its claws clipping against each other "Everyone, look for a mirror with the Boss' reflection! If you find one that looks different, call it out!" I ordered them, seeing the groups all fan out, whist my group broke apart, avoiding the claws that sunk into the floor before us, throwing tiles across the room from the Boss' arrival, so I grabbed a tile, and threw it back at the glass panes, catching the Boss' attention, and directing its anger onto me "HEY, THIS ONE DOESN'T HAVE THOSE MIRRORS!" We looked to see the Therstral from my team back in the maze, her wing pointed at the fixture, so I grabbed another tile, before I spun in the air, winging my idea across the room, seeing the Boss free at the sight, seeing the tile fly past the girl, and striking the mirror, as the cracks formed in an instant, and within the next, the mirror shattered this time, raining glass to the floor below "No!" I smiled at Harbinger's protest, seeing the glass wards flicker out of existence, exposing the Boss once more. With that moment to finally strike back, I quickly opened my menu, then I entered my inventory to look at my equipment, then I quickly placed Heat of Everfree on my right hip, a grin matching my beating heart, just as Yin and Yang flew towards me, along with Klaw "Take. Him. Down!" "Take. Him. Down!" "Take. Him. Down!" "Take. Him. Down!" First I flanked Refraction's left, ducking under a claw, my blades trailing a blade of emerald green behind me, whist Klaw flew in behind me, his cheeks puffed out again with a wink, so I pressed my back legs behind me, pointing my blades to my left. [Unity Move - Great Devourer] I spun my body clockwise, both blades striking diagonally from my left to right, as I broke out of my spin once I passed the Boss' side, as the flames burned its left side. Next was Yin and Yang, with Yin's cutlasses turning blue, and Yang's longsword turning red. Both calling out their moves in tangent with each other, both flying backwards to avoid its AOE strikes, Yang, striking from the left, and Yin from the right. [Dual Edge - Starburst] [Sword Skill - 5-Point Strike] Yin flew to Refraction's right, she slashed from her top left, traveling down to the right with her left blade, before going from that point with her right blade from bottom to top, then with that same blade she struck from right to left diagonally, before switching to her left, and striking up from left to right to a point, then downwards from top middle to bottom right. Then she spun, crossing a horizontal line through its arm, creating a perfect star shape. Yang was in tangent with Yin, thrusting her blade top right, top left, bottom right, bottom left, then a final, forceful thrust in the center, causing an explosion of red, mixed with the eruption of blue on Yin's side. Both forces consuming the Boss in a cloud of purple. Its health dropping into the final bar. Then, I we all saw the flash of black within the cloud. Reality seemed to freeze in a shade of black and white, our mind fixated on the flash. * * * [Ultimate - Hollow Fragments] * * * "Is this an Ulti-AGH!" *Shiiiiing-Shiiiiing-Shiiiiing-Shiiiiing* The cloud was blown away, as I hung in the air with a massive glass blade through my left shoulder, Yin was pinned by on through her right hoof, with Yang slashed across her left side, whist Klaw stood motionless, sating at his left hand which was pierced with a glass shard too. It was one of the most powerful attacks in the game, and Ultimate. No information on how you obtain one was available at the time, nor how many there were or if Boss' could use them. Well, one question was answered. "Hehehehe, this one is a defensive Ultimate! It strikes out with massive blade of glass to defend the host, if there were twenty people attacking, then twenty blades will spear them to the ground or wall, and you have about three more seconds to suffer, lets see you crawl out of this one, swine!" Harbinger grinned, as my health dropped into the red, with the others in amber.....I was going to die! *Shatter* I fell to the tiled floor again, clutching my shoulder in agony as my health ceased its drop, with the others all kneeling in pain, with Yin holding Yang tightly, and Klaw was clutching his hand. We were all paralyzed, so we could only stare at the sight of its head twitching to its left, the glass wards appearing again when it turned to.....no.....no-no-no-no. "Find....Gah....the mirror, hurry!" I begged, trying to find some way of cancelling the paralysis, her wide eyes fixated on Rain, who was caught in the Boss' gaze, its arms stretched out to its sides, as it continued to leer at Rain, her actions becoming frozen, her eyes wide with terror, as she seemed to whimper at something she saw "Find the mirror before it reaches her!" Laxus yelled, with everyone running to the far corners of the room to find the mirror without the wards, but no one had spoken up yet. Refraction was now standing above her, its right arm rising slowly, whist my breathing ceased to be "NO!!!" "YES!!!" *Shiiiiing-Thud* "Wake up you dumbass!" I didn't even say a word, in fact, no one did, even with out paralysis gone, Rain stood there, shot out of her trance as Bombard laid on the ground next to her, five red slashes across his chest, his buckler shattering on the ground beside him, whist his health dropped instantly into the red, leaving him paralyzed too by the claws, but he just saved Rain, a person he once despised.....Yin was right "N-No, why did you....?" Rain was completely star-struck, but then I stared directly at the face of Refraction, it sensing my approach when it turned, its face now tilted in my direction, causing my own hooves to cease their charge, my blade dropping from my grasp.....why couldn't I move? Why was I so afraid? I continued to stare into its face, my worst fear conjured in its place, all other sounds seemed to drone out, all muffled, disconnected among echoes, my eyes only stared back at myself, a perfect mirror of me standing there, a frown embedded on his muzzle. "You nothing.....how long until the figure out what you are? A man.....a lab rat among reality, clinging to life since you were only five.....you're nothing to the world out this one, a false reality to save your mind, without it, without this power, you are merely a waste of matter...." My inner thoughts were completely clouded now, I felt myself beginning to back away in fear, my heart was beating faster, my own breathing was becoming ragged under the weight of my own words. "You are all alone." ". . . ." Its arm rose above me, overshadowing my form with ease. I couldn't move, I didn't want to, no muscle twitched at the mere sight of Death, holding that red thread over his scythe, waiting [Umbra Seal - Nightmare Rain] [Draconic Seal - Dragon's Crescendo] My eyes instantly flashed with purple under my glasses, as I fell back, the claws sinking into the ground in pain, as the side of Internal Refraction's face crumbled from the shockwave of both shadows, and fire, the crackling burst of magic brought my strength back to reality, the distant cheers of the other players rallying around me. Yet my eyes traveled up past the swishing, purple tail, black wings flared, as Rain's eyes burned with anger, tears stinging her eyes with gleam. In her hoof was a long, white Bo Staff, gold trimming the two ends, with gold locked between several joins of the staff, as she spun the staff around in her hoof, pointing the amethyst face directly at the Boss, its body still lumbering to its feet, just as it shredded another coat, now immune to kinetic as it rose. But I saw the staff in her hoof glow a venomous green, her eyes ablaze with untold fury, I won't lie, it was rather hot. Before us though, Internal Refraction shattered its arms and face, now, its head had five spikes fanning out, with three of the horns pointing up, and the others to his sides, it chin still pointy. Its arms had massive blades attached to the gauntlets, whist its claws became smaller. Phase Three. Rain wasn't going to allow it time to vanish into another mirror, as it stumbled back to see her staff shattering the frame before it could escape, it seems that if it goes for a mirror, that pane becomes breakable. Now out of luck, Rain swung at its feet, which kicked out to block her left strike, followed by a kick and Bo Staff connecting to the right, followed closely by a low swipe with its new bladed arms, but Rain leapt atop the blade, before she struck it across the face with the Bo Staff, knocking it back, before Rain was battered off its arm by another ward of glass. But Refraction recoiled in shock, to see that its wards were gone. "Thanks for the advice, Glass Face!" Yin bowed, kicking another mirror on the wall, with her sister neutrally striking one with her longsword "Now we can stop you greatest defence. Thank you." Yang bowed "You'd think they were immune unless otherwise, that was ignorance on our part." Klaw added, swiping five more with his buster sword. Then Rain came crashing into Refraction, knocking it backwards, her body now blazing with purple flames, as she scowled at its sight "You think I'm weak? This is what happens when you mock people who are, because I'm proud I'm weaker than you, because it makes it far sweeter when I become strong enough to crush you!" Rain was proving her worth before the Boss, and I couldn't stop smiling, opting to heal myself for that moment, before I picked Parting Glass off the floor. "Don't 'EVER' hurt my best friend!" [Umbra Seal - Callus Revenge Counter] Rain's body morphed into an arrow of shadows, her blue eyes turning into blades of light as she shot past Refraction, before recoiling back like lightning, striking through its spine, and out its stomach, before bouncing back from the floor, and striking through its chest again, then she looped around its left, just as it raising a blade to slice her in two, only for the two forces to clash, ending in Rain shattering its entire arm, before she sliced two of its horns off its skull, as she slid across the ground, returning to normal. I took my chance to strike it now weakened state. [Dual Edge - Serpent Style] My blades turned emerald again, as I spun across its back, sliding under it right arm as it tried to hit me, leaving behind two poisonous marks on its back diagonally. Then Yin and Yang flew over my head, both spinning together to axe-kick the top of the Boss' head, before I flew back, the two of the parting the middle as I spun like a buzz saw, blocking its downward AOE with its arm, knocking us both back from the parry. Just as two large figure ran by the three of us. Refraction burst with another coat, now immune to our Sword Skills, as I raised its arm high, a green glow embodying the blade, it was about to channel 'Sacred Calibur'! I grinned smugly though, seeing Laxus swing up from the right, using his magic to forcefully under-cut the greatsword through the Boss' arm, whist Klaw spun down from above, before he drove his buster sword through the top of the elbow, the arm completely shattering into three pieces from the shockwave, throwing all of them back. Refraction dug its bladed legs into the tiles, stopped just before the smug Seraph, who imbued her horn with magic, just as the Boss smashed its leg down atop her body in the moment it went agro on her, but its leg simply fazed through her illusion, with Seraph jumping back with a laugh, clapping her hooves in joy. "Give 'em hell, nerd!" Will do! It turned just in time to see me flying down, my left sword glowing bright blue with a downward lunge, as I dug the sword through its exposed red core, before I spun, my right blade glowing blue too as I crossed a horizontal arc through its core, before I turned around, dragging Heart in my left hoof upwards through the core, before I thrusted down with an inverted grip with the left again. Then I hovered back, before thrusting into the core with my right, a blast of blue light throwing the Boss into the direction of Rain, her body still ignited with purple flames Yet a golden hue had embraced Rain, and to my right, Bombard had lowered his hoof away from her, a spell flickering out within his hoof. [Umbra Seal - Death's Iron God Scythe] Most players just gasped at the sight, as my eyes widened with a manic laugh, the red hue of the arena was now basked in a purple glow, infecting the lights with its massive size. Rain's Bo Staff was now a massive, purple scythe of magic, as she swung it down with a victorious scream, first slicing through the Boss' mid section, the blade phasing through all of us, before she flipped it round, bringing it down through the middle of the Boss' skull, spiting its body down the middle completely within a flash, shattering half the floor with the impact of a comet, then, the arena turned back to its original lighting, no red hue in sight. Rain now hunched over, sweating profusely from the final strike. Internal Refraction stood still for a moment, before its body spazzed, crashing to its knees, as its body broke apart into four large chunks, then the rest all crumbled into a pile of grey crystals, a massive stream of blues, whites, reds, yellows, greens, and purples leaving the shards that remained, before the room went silent for a mere few seconds. [YOU DEFEATED THE AREA RAID BOSS!!!] The whole crowd was up in roars of cheers, all happily breathing in a sweet taste of victory over the SECOND Raid Lair, meaning we had only Four left to take down across the lands of Equestria, it may seem far, but the fact we defeated the second Boss was proof that it was possible to beat this game and free ourselves. Whist the crowd cheered, I watched from below, seeing Harbinger cast the broadcasting circles away, before he grinned, floating above us in waiting, but for what? Meanwhile, screens appeared for me to cast my attention to. [Rewards] Reflective Gauntlets Reflective Cloak Hollow Fragment (Long Sword) 2085 Bits 2000 EXP Reflective Gauntlets "Break......Beat......Bark......Repeat." Defense - 40 Weight - Medium Resistance (Element) - Light 15% Fire 10% Resistance (Critical) - 10% Bonus: Adaptable traits allow for a chance that you gain extra resistance to an element Reflective Cloak "Hush....all silent......no sound......only echoes....." Defense - 25 Weight - None Resistance (Element) - 20% Resistance (Critical) - 5% Bonus: +20 to stealth Hollow Fragment (Long Sword) "Slash. Slash. Slash. Thrust. Die." DPS - 125 - 150 Elemental Enhance - 35% Attack Speed - Fast Critical Chance - 15% Bonus Skill: One With The Force Reflect magic attacks back at caster at the cost of stamina [Level Up!] [31 - 34] [Stats Increased] Agility +5 Strength +8 Endurance +10 Magic +7 Luck +5 "Well-Well-Well, seems you all managed to pull through in the end, quite surprised actually, given the nature of this Boss, guess i'm back to the drawing board." Harbinger sighed, shaking his head with his hands raised in a clueless manner of defeat, before he stepped upon the tile floor of the arena, then pointed a finger at Rain. "You, however, reeeeeally scared me with that move of yours, didn't think a kind soul like yours had that much ferocity!" I only looked to my side to see Rain grinding her teeth at him, baring a fang, before he raised his hands defensively, his massive grin still bare. "Hey now, I only call what I see, but now that my job here's complete, I look forward to our next chat, congratulations to you all, expect those who were too weak to even survive their own teammates turning on them." With his message sent, he vanished at a click of his fingers, causing the room to grow cold. What did he mean by that? "The players....the ones me, and Bombard were with, they were.....killed, by someone here." Rain slowly shook out, causing everyone to begin mumbling to each other, all giving each other odd looks, even I was skeptical of some players, of course, that meant only the players we got for the raid, the others I could trust to an extent "Hey now, don't start this, I nearly had someone kill me because I starting being suspicious!" Bombard barked at the dishonest crowd, before he shook his head, looking our way to see Rain smiling simply at him. "Great, now I sound like, you." "Now.....that we can't have happening, can we?" *Shiiiiing* As if the world turned red, our bodies gone pale at the sight, we all could only freeze in despair, Bombard looking down at the jagged blade through his heart, before his health bar dropped, vanishing from the face of reality, his body falling to the cold ground like a sack, his body hitting the floor resonated to everyone, with the black body standing behind him, smiling as he relinquished the blade from Bombard's body. His last look of despair glancing at all of us, as he dryly moved his mouth. "....bastard....." *Shatter* "n-no....no-no-no-no...." Rain was horrified "NO!" I quickly snapped my head to Yin, who was trying to run for the traitor, with Seraph and Yang holding her back as she tried desperately to lunge at the player, her face built with sadness, and rage "Please stop!" Pinkie cried, holding Yin's tail tightly in her teeth, her bubbly hair deflated entirely "Stop, don't do something stupid!" Seraph calmed Yin, holding onto her wings tightly, with Yang hugging her sister, tears in her eyes over the loss of their friend. I could believe it myself, I didn't like the guy, but he saved Rain, he protected all of us through this Raid, and the first, and now when he tried to keep us from falling apart, he was just.....murdered.....by! [Ambulas - lvl 39] "I don't see the problem, all I did was hand the key to defeating Harbinger to someone of....better use, seeing as the key was the one to cast that buff as I had noticed previously, so I merely struck down the weakest link." Ambulas stated calmly, rubbing the spot where Bombard once stood smugly. "Of course - ....wait....where is the key?" "How could you!? He did nothing wrong and you killed him!?" Rain cried, grasping her Bo Staff shakily, but resting in her left hoof.....an Amber gem. I held her back with a weak hoof, holding onto her hoof gently as she looked to me with tears streaming down her face "You know, he gave you the gem by throwing it into a trade menu with you, just before I caught up, I saw you two trading items, but at the last second, he threw a small item into the trade window." I explained with a sympathetic voice. "He must have known someone who target him for his gemstone, so when he casted the buff, the system followed where his gemstone was, that being Rain's inventory. The fact that I didn't realize who you were only makes this hollow pit in my stomach turn, and I bloody hate it..... this is something you would do, right, Mors?" I saw the changeling's eye twitch at the name, as he threw his grey gemstone across the floor in distaste, grasping his blade in his magic, but he ultimately relaxed, a smile tugging his muzzle like some love-stick puppy. "And how is it that you know me, White? Does our friendship run so deep that you remember a nobody like me?" Was he really that sad? I barely remembered his ass, being that the last time I saw him was last year. "Or did a little bird tell you my name?" "No, just that this sadistic way of thinking is what got you booted from Relic Hunters, along with almost every other game in the Digiverse, you have a style that no one likes, and to use your sick games here.....like a fucking joke! It only makes me wonder how I haven't pulled you throat out!" I snarled, trying my damn-well best to keep calm, he always used this against others, their rage to fuel his plans "Aww, is the little lab rat feeling angry? Well, my plans ain't done yet, you'll see just how weak you truly are in this world, in 'MY' world, I'll make you pay for what you did, not just to me, I'll take that key from your broken hooves." He growled, before his gaze fell to Rain, who seemed to hold onto my hoof tighter at his stare, before he licked his lips with a forked-tongue. "I might just keep 'her' though...." "Lay a hand on her and we'll break your legs!" Nox dared, pointing her halberd at his body, with every other player raising their weapons in defiance, so he frowned, grabbing a teleport rune from his scarf, before he held it up with a smile "You have such colorful friends, White, and you call me a sociopath? Hardly, I'm just doing what no one has the guts to pull off, so sorry if that doesn't fit your bill!" Ambulas spat at me, but I just holding back, feeling Rain's hoof hold me over the mixture of emotions raging in her heart right now, me attacking wasn't going to help anyone, so I kept calm. "Well, this was certainly a great time, but I must bid you all adieu. But White, do realize you're not the hero of this story, the sooner you realize your place, the safer you'll be." "A cowards way out/Pathetic move/For a pathetic weakling." Silver huffed, leaving Ambulas to simple chuckle, calling out the name of his teleport, if I only knew, I might have gone to stop him sooner, I could have connected the dots myself, I might have saved Bombard from his demise. But all I did was watch him die, and his murderer escape with a few final words of triumph "Stop him, quick!" Laxus ordered "You traitor...." Summer shallowly added, glaring at the Changeling with a sadistic smile "Teleport....Phantom Guild." He was gone.....before we even had a moment to move. We may have beaten the Raid.....but at the cost of so many lives To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 33 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 34 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 33 [Support class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 33 [Defensive class] Current Level: 34 Magic: Sky/Air Magic Items: Reflective Gauntlets Reflective Cloak Hollow Fragment (Long Sword) 2085 Bits 2000 EXP New Skills [Dual Edge - Starburst] - Etched a star into your enemy with deadly force (Dual weapons) [Dual Edge - Serpent Style] - Two quick perpendicular slashes (Dual weapons) [Sword Skill - Dragon Cry] - A 27 combo with spins, thrusts and slashes at high speeds, grants speed buff, and attack buff (1H Sword) [Sword Skill - 5-point Steel] - 5 lightning flash thrusts, can cause stun (1H Sword) [Aura - Gaia's Wish] - Bless your team with twice the amount of power in their next skill (Defensive class) [Umbra Seal - Nightmare Rain] - A concentrated beam of pure shadows [Umbra Seal - Callus Revenge Counter] - Turn into a shadow bolt to strike your enemies with fear, and bleeding [Umbra Seal - Death's Iron God Scythe] - Conjure a godly scythe of darkness to decimate an army with perfect aim [Unity Move - Great Devourer] - Eat away at your enemy's health with poisonous flames [New Passive Added] -Critical Phase- If your health is in the red, the next fatal strike will not kill you (Death gives you a second chance, don't waste it) Author's Note Well.....if character development gets you killed this may be a short series, anywho, hope you enjoyed the grand battle! With new antagonist, Ambulas, and now the death of Bombard weighing down on everyone, how will they plan to move forward? Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and seeya in the next one! Next Chapter: Event - [Honor To The End]
Event - [Honor To The End]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- "You nothing.....how long until the figure out what you are? A man.....a lab rat among reality, clinging to life since you were only five.....you're nothing to the world out this one, a false reality to save your mind, without it, without this power, you are merely a waste of matter...." My inner thoughts were completely clouded now, I felt myself beginning to back away in fear, my heart was beating faster, my own breathing was becoming ragged under the weight of my own words. "You are all alone." "Don't 'EVER' hurt my best friend!" [Umbra Seal - Callus Revenge Counter] "....bastard....." *Shatter* "NO!" -he was just.....murdered.....by! [Ambulas - lvl 39] "Teleport....Phantom Guild." He was gone [Canternlot Castle Alter of Memories] This was the newest addition to the world of Equestria, a place that every player in the game could view each other's names, all engraved upon obelisks, white users dug into the black surface of the stone, those that ceased a low, white glow were no longer alive, and every so often, the lights would flicker out, another to the souls that Harbinger claimed for his game of death, he was god in this world, and we could only watch as names died. How long before we saw a name we knew flicker out? A day? A week? Even more time we spent in this digital recreation? It was never clear. Now, all of us who started the raid, those Twenty Four players, were now a simple Eighteen, with Bombard being the most recent within the hours that passed. Sure, I didn't like the guy, but he did what many would take months to do in only a few, short hours, he clawed his way into my respects, saving Rain twice, saving me, and many others during the battle with Internal Refraction, and when he did his best to try and keep us from turning, Ambulas struck him down, ending any hope of us being comrades for the days ahead. I saw this game as something of child's play, it is to me, I'm so used to a world of code and not feeling limited by my real life, I don't have goals I wish to work for, no future plans for my life of comfort or with a family, I never went to school so I only ever had a few friends across the world and my family. But to see this, someone I only ever crossed paths with twice, die, it hurt....knowing that no one could be as strong as me, my brother, Rain, all of us. Ambulas knew this, he knew those who were weak would die, and he wanted me to see that....to show I was powerful....but that didn't make me strong. "Bombard saved my sister when we met." I turned my head to look at Yin, her head low, but she smiled softly, trying to be strong for her sister who was holding onto her side, I couldn't see her face, but I didn't want to, cause I felt my stomach turn. "I was stuck in a dungeon, fending off a horde of enemies that were too tough to just ignore, then suddenly, Yang was pinned to a wall, her health entering the red, and I froze, my body couldn't move to save my little sister from dying that day, but....he came from out another passage, taking the hit for her, and saving her life." Yin then ruffled Yang's mane, looking up to me, and Rain, who was resting her hoof on the obelisk with the others, paying their final respects to their friend. Meanwhile, I saw Yin smile like her usual self, tears still stinging the corners of her eyes. "I won't let his second chance go to waste, and neither should you. Can you promise me White, that you'll beat this game, for him?" Yin's requested me from the deepest pits of her heart Could I? I stopped to look at the names across the hall, some faded out, others still aglow with life. Could I save this world? I knew alot about the Digiverse, all games had quirks that were similar, it was a matter of finding and exploiting those flaws to your advantage if you were in a tight spot. It was a crazy request, we only found two relics, and no other hints towards the other raids had been heard of yet, Harbinger didn't need to do anything else, he already made the world's hardest treasure hunt, but why did he do that? He could easily manipulate this world against us in time, hell, Ambulas had managed to tamper with the system without alerting Harbinger, so why? My eyes widened slightly at a more recent thought, of what Gambit told me.... "Hey, can I ask you something?" "Well, you caught my interest with that trade of ours, so why not?" Gambit mused, bending down on his chair to face me. "Make it quick, I got to tear a hole through the multiverse soon for expansions." "Why hasn't Harbinger tried anything more....complex? As in, why doesn't he remove the Green Zones, take our levels away, or just trap us? Why this game of death?" I asked curiously, its a thought I kept pondering on since the day he talked to me, how he explained his rules. Looking at Gambit, I saw his eyes narrow with a wide smile "Now 'that' is the right question. Control Core Gamma's a fun chap to talk with, kept going on about 'Regulating the system against the malware', I don't know, wasn't paying attention. But from how it responded, it reminded me of Harbinger." Gambit then bent back to rest against his chair, flicking through his cards, symbols of Nightmares, Earths, other beings, including one that looked like me "Harbinger has one flaw. He 'loves' his games, as in, he literally used Midnite to carve a curse into his flesh that bound him to his own rules. If he invades a world of his choosing and decided to play a game, whatever rules are set in stone, even he cannot overrule, or...." Gambit trailed off, and I was on the edge of my seat by this point, this was it, it really was it, the answer to beating him! "Or...." I did a circle motion with my hoof, and he blinked "I don't know!" I deflated. "All I know about this 'asshole' is that until he gains complete control over a world, his rules will prevent him from doing anything more than he already has." "What does he want?" "Ah-Ah-Ah, no spoilers...." I think I have my answer. "Yin, 'WE' will beat this game, one raid at a time, I promise." I stated proudly, before I clapped my hooves to grab everyone's attention. "Now....I know we lost good people today, I didn't know anything about them, hell, I found one of them to be irritating to my eardrums, but I'll be damned if I let Harbinger rub their names in the dirt. He may not see it, and everyone who watched his broadcast may not have either, but we're winning, two raids are down, and we only have four to go. So, I say we give them a better send-off than this, to hell with this depressing crap. Pinkie, I need you to get started on party planning, decorations, music, everything you need, put it on my tab, I don't need bits right now." "Okey-Doki-Loki~!" She sung, saluting at my command as she vanished out of the hall, leaving me to look at Silver, pointing at him "Silver, I need fireworks, the biggest you can afford, I'll pay you back for the bits afterwards, meanwhile, I'm going to get us a prime location to set this up!" I ordered proudly, seeing Silver nod once, before Nox joined him "We shall see it done/A honor to respect/Let us go." Silver motioned for Nox to follow, before I looked to Laxus, Summer, and Seraph, grinning with a glint of evil in my eyes "White, you don't need to do this for us." Laxus looked at me with a mixture of emotions I couldn't quite read, but I wasn't having it, stomping my foot, I looked at them with my own gaze of guilt "I fucked up big time, Ambulas was right, I think I can easily be the star of the show, and that's my weakness, I'm stronger than everyone else and that blinded me to such an obvious situation. If Rain, Klaw, Silver, or even Nox hadn't kept me right, I'd be dead, but instead its Bombard's blood on my hands." I felt something new inside me, was it anger or guilt? I couldn't tell. "So please, let me make it up to him?" Summer stared at me with a kind smile. Yin and Yang had done the same, wiping their tears, Rain had a face I couldn't read, yet she held a hoof to her chest, where the Gemstone of Passion gleamed in the light from the window. "Well then, whatever you need, we'll do the same." Laxus replied in kind, he held a stern expression, but his words were certainly heavy [Canternlot Dorms] Princess Celestia actually gave us a room to stay in for the evening to plan out my crazy idea for a party, with all the prep work usually handled by the system, formulating one's own event took time, and careful planning, along with my bank account. But I wasn't working at the moment, as I waited for Rain, Silver, Nox, Klaw, and Pinkie to get comfortable, seeing their looks of concern over what I was willing to explain, after all, it was no secret to anyone. "Now, to begin my explanation, Ambulas goes by the name of Mors, mostly because of his fascination with....darker means of handling situations in games, his persona being a dark, sociopathic nutcase, with more weapons to compensate for such lower standards of his personality." That part was a joke. "Last I saw him was back with my friend's clan on Warframe, the guy had no restraint against innocent players, all of which he picked on like he was a god to them, many actually felt threatened by him at times, so, my best friend, 'CyberSlayer', booted him from the clan, leaving him to do his own thing, sure, we kept in touch since he was an alright guy IRL, but in the Digiverse, he was the world's biggest maniac." "So why is he here, more importantly, why did he do and say what he said and did?" Rain asked me, and I simply shrugged, even I had no clue what he meant by his rambling, since its usually all that, rambling nonsense "I haven't a clue, he didn't have a red cursor, but what scares me most, when he killed Bombard, and those players before-hand, his cursor never changed from green, not even a flicker." That turned heads, and my mind turned gears in thought over the glitch, if you could call it that. "If he found a way to negate the 'Player Killing' system, every player in this game won't be safe from him, not forever atleast." The gravity of the situation was dire, and I had no way of stopping it this time, and how could I have predicted he'd come here? He doesn't even like the show! All of this....and he was part of that 'Phantom' guild too, things could never have been so wrong. "Funny how, even in this world I can't get rid of my biggest mistake." I bowed my head in shame, and Pinkie spoke up after minutes of her own silence "How is it your fault, White?" "As my username implies, I'm a 'White Hat', a good sort of hacker, my brother is the selfish one, but not so bad as to do anything illegal, but Mors was the other, what we called a Grey Hat, in our own term, he's the type to do anything to gain his way, from childish pranks to bringing servers down for days without so much as a problem. I could have reported him, but I didn't because I was scared of what he might have done to me....I only looked out for myself." I felt sick at the thought. The only reason he's not in control is due to the fact he only had the power to tamper with basic systems, not a system that could run on its own, adapt on its own, and change according to its own will However, my head tilted slightly at the hoof on my shoulder, seeing the dark grey fur against my light-peach shoulder. Then my gaze lifted to Rain, as she looked at me with an honest smile. "Anyone would have done the same, we can't change that, but we don't think of you any differently, I certainly feel safe." Rain.... "No one will turn back/Our paths were meant to cross/We are with you." Silver too "While the thought of two with the power to alter this world to their whim is worrisome, I doubt you're the only one who wishes to end both, right?" Even Klaw. Again, something hit me with a wave of....happiness, relief maybe? "Eh, guy's a creep, hence why I'm better off sticking by you or your brother, somehow you both cause less damage. But if you find him, I want to give him a taste of his own medicine, free of charge." Wow, offering someone an ass-whooping for free? How times- "With interest." There we go "Hey, no one's perfect, so stop giving yourself shit and let us help you kick his ass!" Of course, Nox has a way of words, but lack of any feminine charm to boot, but I get it. My problems were just my own, they were all of ours now, so I can't change that, only hope for the best and prepare for the worst "We all know its bad, but you said it yourself, we should be giving them all a proper sendoff, not wallowing in guilt over what we 'should' have done. We need to savior what we 'can' do." Pinkie's answer was right, she was right, I can't change what happened, but I can take a step to prevent any more pain, enough of that had been sowed into everyone with this Death Game "Ok....lets get this party started." I grinned, followed by everyone cheering in acknowledgement. I stood up for everyone to look over my shoulders, as I opened my notifications, setting it to 'Public', before I hit the 'Create Event' circle at the bottom right [Event Title: Raid Party Sendoff] [Event Date: November 1st 2026] [Event Time: 18:00 - 21:00] [Location: Canternlot Castle Royal Garden] [Message to Local Green Zone: To any players who wished to join the members of the Raid Party that risked their lives to defeat the Second Raid Lair. We are hosting an event in memory of those who lost their lives to aid in our fight. If you wish to pay your respects, please, come to Canternlot Castle's Royal Garden, for those we lost - White Hat] [Do you wish to begin this event? Y / N] "Ok, we have an hour to prepare people, lets get moving!" I called over the small pause of silence, making my guild move for certain supplies littering the dorm. "Lets show them that The Eternal Flame will continue to burn!" "Hehehe, knew you'd like the motto." Seraph chuckled, holding onto the sac of bits she charged me 'for' the motto [Canternlot Castle Royal Garden] [User: Purplrain] To my absolute surprise, many players had actually shown up to the event, and what started out with only a handful of players, some of which were friends of the players we lost, soon other guilds appeared, even players from Ponyville that were given messages by their friends, and so they took the newly fixed train to the kingdom, with both pro players, and lower level ones of all kinds. I even saw those of other species, some gathered in the gardens, with others up on the roofs, and trees, and some flying about, all laughing, chatting, and with Pinkie's music, it felt like a party that those we sadly lost would enjoy seeing, a Game where people could be happy, free of the feeling of being trapped within the confines of Harbinger's prison. "Enjoying the view?" I nearly fell off the roof, seeing Yin giggling beside me, as she flew down to land on the roof I perched myself on, a bright smile on her face over the success of the event, her aura of joy was even back, making me feel happy that she was feeling better. "I mean, even 'I' had some doubt, but this is amazing! I gotta thank White after this-Oh, um, and all of you too, your guild is gonna be big with us spreading the word!" "Wait....what were you doing?" Now i felt a little concerned for my image, but Yin waved a hoof nonchalantly "Its fiiiine, I just told some players how, The Eternal Flame guild had helped us set this up, and that the leader had picked out some colorful friends to aid him, soon, word of your guild will actually be making players who can't fight feel hopeful again, that's what he hoped to do with this." Yin explained, as I felt a well of pride spring in my chest, feeling happy that I could do something to give people eased minds now. "Soooo, I saw you two hug it out before the Raid Boss, what was that about~?" "W-Wha, y-you saw that!?" I felt the heat burn through my cheeks now, as I tried to calm myself down, but it was already too late, my armour had broken before she started laughing with a coy smile, nudging my side with a wing "Didn't know you were so bold, for a bat that is?" Yin continued to tease me, as my face literally glowed red, I could even see it on my hooves too, and she only looked like I had fueled the fires more. "That's so cute, seeing you all flustered, but I can't blame you, despite the nerdiness, he's quite the looker, wonder if he's like that in the real world?" "I-I...no comment!" I couldn't process anything now, and Yin only patted my back, degrading me further as I slouched. Then I looked to her again, a slightly pang of worry in my voice. "Besides, he did that to keep me calm, I don't think he really knows how to convey his feelings." "How so?" Yin asked curiously, dropping the smug look "Ever since I met him, he's shown to be kind, funny, and sarcastic, but the way he tries to understand or explain how he feels is almost robotic, like he's never really known about how feelings work?" It was a hard thought to put into words, but it was like he's never interacted with anyone in person before "Hmm, not really what I've seen lately." Huh? I looked at Yin again. "If it wasn't obvious, me and my adorable sis are polar opposites, I'm happy and goofy, she's monotone and innocent, makes us quite the pair. Kind-of why we liked MLP, it was fun to see each others reactions to certain episodes, lots of funny times I saw my sister with this bright smile on her face, other times, she never spoke. Before, I thought it was because she didn't like it or lost interest, but....she wasn't, the more I watched her, listened to her, and found the quirks in what she did, I saw how polar opposite, and alike we were." Yin looked lost in memories, a warm smile crossing her muzzle, whist I felt the same "So, while I don't know the reason why our cuddly badass of a nerd is 'robotic', as you put it, I think the more I watched him over the last two days, how he interacts with you, your friends, my sister, I see he's a kind, honest guy. I think you're lucky, Rain." I titled my head at that "I'm lucky?" My luck was low, both IRL and in here, more-so the latter "Yeah, you got the greatest guy Ive seen as a BFF, who wouldn't be happy?" Huh, I....now that I think about it, despite those flaws, I think they make White more fascinating, when we beat The Watcher, that look of joy on his face was so infectious, including the fight with the first Raid Boss, he may have been serious, but the more I think about it, the more I saw under the seams "I think I know why he's here." Yin looked back from the party to me. "We all came here for our own reasons, and....White is here like I am." "And that is....?" Yin smiled, awaiting the answer with anticipation "We wanted to know more about people, the good and the bad, and even the strangest." I giggled at the last part with Yin. Without hesitation, Yin clapped her hooves together before me "Now then, enough character development, instead, its time to hear you sing!" Wait what? "Wha?" I didn't have a choice, finding my hooves being pulled by Yin's incredible strength towards the stage below, where we flew in to see Laxus up on the stage, silencing the massive crowd, before he spoke into the mic "Thank you. I don't wish to keep anyone, but this is something that needs to be heard, the men we lost today to the Raid's Maze, and the Boss it held were not to be forgotten by anyone here, they were the strongest we could hope to bring with us to the fight, and I couldn't have asked for better people to fight beside, I only wish I got to know them more, perhaps even grow to call them more than comrades in arms. To that, I hope you may forgive us." "As for my own friend, Bombard, he was a stubborn man, having no tolerance for excuses or lies, and was truly an honorable soul at heart, who not only risked his life for me, our friends, but for those of our allies, The Eternal Flame, he had grown on us, and we to him, and to have one of our own, a traitor to that Dark Guild take him away from a life worth living is unforgivable!" "So, for you, my friend, I wish to take up your place, and fight for the freedom of all the player of this game, so we may all grow stronger for you, and those who fought beside you. Bombard, I vow, we will end this game, one Raid at a time." With Laxus' speech over, everyone cheered, as I wiped a stray tear from my eye, before Yin pulled me towards the side of the stage, waving at Laxus, who in turn smiled. "Now, let us truly give our fellow players a proper farewell, with the help of a few friends of mine, please do enjoy the show." The crowd now cheered for me and Yin, who dragged me to the stage, an embarrassed blush on my cheeks at the crowd, as Yin flew up to the mic, smiling innocently at the crowd, as I came up beside her, before she looped a hoof around my neck, causing me to smile stupidly over her antics, but I didn't have a choice now, so I went along with her plan, I did enjoy singing anyways. "What's up players~! Now! Unlike most, the best way to give a friend a good sendoff is with their favorite song, and with Bombard being a big, cuddly bear under his grumpy face, I plan to completely screw his afterlife over with his song!" At that, the crowd burst into an uproar of laughter, then she handed me the mic. "I'll be backup, and your beautiful singer is the lovely Purplrain from the guild, The Eternal Flame, enjooooooy~! Oh right, its a duet with White, have fun, Rain!" Wait what? What song did Bombard like anyways? Guess it didn't matter now, seeing as I was placed into a fight or flight situation, and the fact that Yin looked ready to tackle me if I tried to run, so I shrugged, smiling as a few talented players began to play the instruments at the crowds silence, and first up was....violins....and a base guitar? Wait, was this song....? I then couldn't help it, I was smiling even brighter than normal at the beat behind me, then to the surprisingly smooth voice of....wow, ok, is there anything White 'can't do? But....where was he singing from? [Author's Note: Enjoy~!] [Red: White Hat. Purple: Rain.Blue: Both] "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" I wanna follow where she goes I think about her and she knows it I wanna let her take control 'Cause every time that she gets close, yeah She pulls me in enough to keep me guessing, mmm And maybe I should stop and start confessing Confessing, yeah Oh, I've been shaking I love it when you go crazy You take all my inhibitions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back You take me places that tear up my reputation Manipulate my decisions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back There's nothing holdin' me back There's nothing holdin' me back He says that he's never afraid Just picture everybody naked He really doesn't like to wait Not really into hesitation Pulls me in enough to keep me guessing, mmm And maybe I should stop and start confessing Confessing, yeah Oh, I've been shaking I love it when you go crazy You take all my inhibitions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back You take me places that tear up my reputation Manipulate my decisions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back There's nothing holdin' me back 'Cause if we lost our minds And we took it way too far I know we'd be alright, Know we would be alright If you were by my side And we stumbled in the dark I know we'd be alright, I know we would be alright 'Cause if we lost our minds And we took it way too far I know we'd be alright, I know we would be alright If you were by my side And we stumbled in the dark I know we'd be alright, We would be alright Oh, I've been shaking I love it when you go crazy You take all my inhibitions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back You take me places that tear up my reputation Manipulate my decisions Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back There's nothing holdin' me back I feel so free When you're with me, Baby Baby, there's nothing holdin' me back [User: White Hat] Hearing the crowd from here, I watched as the magic surrounding Seraph's horn dissipated, her flirty smile gracing her lips, whist I turned red from the indication she was trying to give me, so I just shoved her aside, muttering under my breath as I cured Yin for tricking me to do this, but in the end, it was for Bombard, so I'll deal with it. However, a part of me did enjoy hearing Rain sing, her voice was really good, and I can't lie about that. "Never for a second did I think 'you' could sing. I'm impressed, but your crush might have other words?" That caused my step to faulter, my face growing in color under the dark of the night, and she couldn't see me "I. Do Not. Have. A. Crush. On. Rain." I worded sternly, glaring back at the smug info-broker, who just raised an eyebrow, her eyes glowing with glee "I never said anything about little ol' Rain. Hehehehehe...." At my misfortune, I left her to find a way off the roof herself "I hate you so much, Seraph." "Love yoooooou~!" Her laugh made me cringe [User: Purplrain] After the forty-five minutes of songs, I was given my leave, with a bone-crushing hug from Yin on the way out, along with the others, and players giving their support on my singing, which I really enjoyed hearing from them, I loved singing, and I actually wanted to have a career in singing my own songs, alongside covers of classics, like the first one I sung, catchy, upbeat tunes were my style. "Now 'that' I can see is talent, though my surprise is how so many show up for a small event, such as this one." The new voice spoke up over the crowds, turning the once loud chatter into a mumbling crowd at the group of....menacing ponies. All of which looked strange in their own right There were four of them. The first to the far left was a yellow pegasus with a black cloak, and lunar symbols dotted across it, with a silver outline around the hood, and back-ends of the torn robes, he had blue eyes, and a brown, messy mane, whist a staff rested on his back, but his user was just baffling, if not more of a joke, so it was obvious he was an NPC. [Gar'i The Glitch - lvl 40] The one to Gar'i's right was a tan unicorn mare, with a smooth, long golden mane, with her tail in a pony tail. Her armour was a shiny gold, with orange energy emanating from the solar armour, which looked roman in style, since she had a small, red scarf too, and wore a gold spear to her left hip, and a shield to her right. Her eyes were also orange, making more like a flaming elemental than a player, and her neutral expression gave me chills. [Serafin - lvl 45] The one to the far left was a guy, and earth pony who was the same tone of colour as White Hat, but his eyes were completely black, with a long, wavy black mane and tail. He wore pointy, grim reaper looking armour, with a helmet in the formation of a pointy hood, with a silver scythe resting on his left hip, and a mood medallion around his neck. A near unfaltering frown on his muzzle. [Morana - lvl 42] The last in the group was a white unicorn, a blonde mane that was finely combed, and a short tail that rested in a few spikes, his eyes were bright blue, and he wore black rimmed glasses. His clothing was that of an open purple robe, with blue added to the belts, collar, and torn end which covered his cutie mark, with an obsidian chest piece under his robe, with gauntlets on his hooves, but his left hoof wore a gold gauntlet instead, with a few amethyst in the sides. He also wore a black scarf with several purple slashes across it, and an eye for a pin, and was torn in the wind, just looking at it made my blood freeze. His name however, it shocked most of us, including me. [Black Hat - lvl 55] "Y-Your name! Its....are you-" "Holy shit, I thought you were dead!" All of us turned our heads to the descending White Hat, as he flew down beside me, a large grin on his face, as Seraph followed closely behind him from the building. Then Black Hat stepped forward, before the two hoof-bumped, both smiling. "Glad you're ok." "Eh, take over a fortress and you're basically untouchable, and from what I both heard, and saw, you're lazy ass has been clearing Raid Lairs?" Black asked White, to which he nodded, pointing to Black's golden gauntlet. "Meh, still stronger than you." "Seems you have the key to the next Raid, wherever it is." White grumbled, before Serafin stepped forward, eyeing White carefully, which seemed to unnerve him, seeing him rub his left hoof gingerly. "Is she ok?" "Sorry, I merely find it surprising that you, and my friend here are so alike, yet your personalities are complete opposites, but I think I can see how you are far more wise than Black here." Serafin smiled softly, holding a hoof out for White to shake, which he happily did, meanwhile I saw Black grumble "Oh sure, call me a monster when I kill NPCs, but my Brother gets a welcoming smile, loving the 'friendship'." Black wasn't looking pleased, but then Gar'i jumped in randomly, hopping beside Black "Hey, I still like you, boss! You being far better than our last leader and all!" This guy was....scarily positive, even Black looked bemused, so he patted the follower down "I like him more anyways." Black added, then he saw that Yin and Yang were standing beside me, with Klaw, Silver, Nox and the rest watching from behind us. "And....are they twins, they look like twins?" "Yes!" Both replied, actually making Black jump, as he adjusted his glasses "Ok....well I'm not sleeping tonight, tell me, this normal for you to be around this many girls, or am I truly in hell?" Black was insulting us, really? How was he the older brother out of the two of them again? But White laughed, patting Yang on the head, who was busy glaring at Black with an irritated grinding of her teeth "Ha. Ha. But since you basically gave an introduction, my guild consists of Nox, the one with the mask. Silver, the guy who speaks like Zer0, and I mean that as literally as I can be. Klaw, the British dragon. Pinkie Pie, the self-aware NPC. Our old con-master, Seraph. And last, my best friend, Purplrain, or Rain for short." He then hooked an arm around my neck, causing me to smile at the touched title, gah! Stupid Yin putting stupid thoughts into my head! Stupid-Stupid-Stupid! "Riiiight....so I came here because I want to kill the princesses, so give them to me." Black was now held in place by every Short Sword. Spear. Battle Axe. Halberd. Dagger. Bo Staff. Cutlass. Magic Staff. Knuckle Duster. Sai. Katana. Bastard Sword. Long Sword. Broad Sword. And almost every other weapon by players. With Pinkie holding a spoon. To Be Continued.... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 33 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 34 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 33 [Support class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 33 [Defensive class] Author's Note Shit just went sideways in 'THE' most colossal way. The finale for this Arc is next week, with the rivalry between White Hat and his brother begins over either killing the princesses or kicking Black Hat's group to the curb. Who's gonna win? Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the rival next time! Next Chapter: Rival [Colour Clash]
Rival - [Colour Clash]---~[Previously on MLP: Actualization Online]~--- There were four of them. The first to the far left was a yellow pegasus with a black cloak, and lunar symbols dotted across it, with a silver outline around the hood, and back-ends of the torn robes, he had blue eyes, and a brown, messy mane, whist a staff rested on his back, but his user was just baffling, if not more of a joke, so it was obvious he was an NPC. [Gar'i The Cultist - lvl 40] The one to 'Gar'i' right was a tan unicorn mare, with a smooth, long blonde mane, with her tail in a pony tail. Her armour was a shiny gold, with orange energy emanating from the solar armour, which looked roman in style, since she had a small, red scarf too, and wore a gold spear to her left hip, and a shield to her right. Her eyes were also orange, making more like a flaming elemental than a player, and her neutral expression gave me chills. [Serafin - lvl 45] The one to the far left was a guy, and earth pony who was the same tone of colour as White Hat, but his eyes were completely black, with a long, wavy black mane and tail. He wore pointy, grim reaper looking armour, with a helmet in the formation of a pointy hood, with a silver scythe resting on his left hip, and a mood medalion around his neck. A near unfaltering frown on his muzzle. [Morana - lvl 42] The last in the group was a white unicorn, a blonde mane that was finely combed, and a short tail that rested in a few spikes, his eyes were bright blue, and he wore black rimmed glasses. His clothing was that of an open purple robe, with blue added to the belts, collar, and torn end which covered his cutie mark, with an obsidian chest piece under his robe, with gauntlets on his hooves, but his left hoof wore a gold gauntlet instead, with a few amethyst in the sides. His name however, it shocked most of us, including me. [Black Hat - lvl 45] "Riiiight....so I came here because I want to kill the princesses, so give them to me." [Canternlot Castle Royal Garden] I felt sweat drop in hopelessness of everyone's immediate reaction to his words, which I could understand was completely uncalled for, but this was ridiculous, my brother's nuts, but no murderer....of living people. Even 'HE' was deadpanning over the whole thing, pushing a spoon away from his face, before everyone was shoved back by Morana using an air wave from his hoof, harmless, but it cleared the space again. "Well....this was eventful, can I get on with the bet now?" My ears perked at that, but before I could say a word, Laxus stepped forward, glaring down at my brother, who only looked up with a blink and a smile. "Holy shit, what did you lift?" "This here event is not a place for people like you, now, I can respect you because of your relationship with White Hat, but I 'WILL NOT' tolerate your presence otherwise. Now leave." Laxus was probably about five seconds from tearing my brother a new one, something I can't have happening. That's when a lightbulb lit up, and a small smile crossed my lips "Sorry about this, Laxus, but he can have the princesses." I began, stepping past him, much to everyone's shock, before I glared at my brother. "If he can win." "About time! These second-rate players were beginning to bother me." Black grumbled, before he waved to me. "What are your terms for the first official match of our bet?" "Bet? What bet?" Rain asked us, so Black cleared his throat "The reason we're here, we made a bet that I would take over this world, whist White here would stop me at every turn, since the game's changed, plans have been....wavered, but I still wanna win this bet." Black explained to them, before I sternly frowned under my glasses, their lenses shining in the moonlight "We take bets super seriously, so, to keep this event on fire for the big sendoff, lets make it simple. You have one of your guys fight one of my guys, If my side kicks your sorry pale ass into the dirt, you leave, if we lose...." I then proceeded to push my glasses back up my muzzle "We get my achievement." At that, all of us turned to look at him with a mixture of anger, and distaste. "What? There fucking ones and zeros, sue me for being realistic!" "Hey, I am more than code, YOU HEAR ME!" Pinkie screamed over the crowd, with Klaw holding her back with a hand on her tail, her hooves digging into the soil. Then, I looked to them all sympathetically "Sorry about this guys, I know he wouldn't leave otherwise, so....you mind helping out on this one?" I felt bad for forcing them into our betting war, but if could keep him from going on a rampage, I'll have to play my cards right, my brother is a crazy analyst, and has most likely read all my friends by now, so I needed to play carefully, I was on thin ice "White, after all you did for us....course we will! I wanna kick this party-crasher off the cliff-side!" Yin cheered, her sister hopping atop her back "We will destroy his soul." A Yang's remark, a could 'feel' my brother shiver at her scary, innocent threat, she even pointed at him with a hoof "While I find this to be a bit off putting, fine, just make sure he doesn't cause anymore hassle, otherwise I'll throw you both off the cliff." Laxus warned, and so....I looked to Black "Who you choosing?" I asked simply, and soon, I watched the silver scythe swing in the air, before a hoof drove the blade into the earth in front of me, and I felt the wave of cringe wash over me. My eyes now stared back at the onyx ones with a bemused expression. "Someone get me my shades, cause mister edge lord has arrived." "I shall cleave your heart, beating from your chest." Morana sneered like Hunhow, oh what fun, I backed away from the blade's point with little encouragement to be on the receiving end of it, and so, I needed to make my choice, and a hard one at that I could send Klaw, the old power against speed tactic, but that never really works. I would Yin, but she is far more efficient with her sister, so that's out of the question. Rain or Silver have great abilities too, and there stats are certainly stronger, but Rain's up against a person, and the fact he seems to have little tolerance for any human life speaks volumes of this outcome, but Rain has really improved from a girl who knew nothing about RPGs, Silver may also be a good choice, given is reflexes....Maybe. "Ok, my choice will be obvious." I clapped my hooves together happily, before I pointed a wing towards. "Nox, how'd you like to kick the equivalent of Death into the dirt beneath your hooves?" Almost everyone looked surprised by my choice, seeing that some looked in disbelief at choosing the level 32 to battle the level 42, Rain even looked at me with a concerned expression, I know may not have seen wise, but if my plan works, she may very well have a fighting chance against Morana, I wasn't going to just cast her aside because of her level, what she lacked in using skills, she made up for in raw potential, and if my hunch is correct, than Nox might even be stronger than me. "Hey I'm all for kicking these idiots to the curb, but why me, why not Klaw or even Silver?" Nox doubted herself, even with the mask changing her vocal range, I could hear that uncertainty, and the confused expression on her mask's eyes gave me a clear answer too "Because, you're the only one I could rely on to do this for me, you see, Black here knows how I work, he could read me like a book, yet the one thing he never accounts for in my head, is my unorthodox choices, that's his weakness, and you, my badass unicorn, are that uncertainty he will learn to fear." I then patted her on the shoulder, seeing her eyes go from blue to pink again, before she hardened her stare, nodding "Alright then...." She then moved aside, the crowd now cheering from the side lines, then she pulled her halberd from her back, holding the crystal weapon high, pointing it dangerously at Morana. "I'm gonna knock you on your ass!" "Weak words from a weak faker, hiding behind that mask is not going to make you stronger, and I shall prove that to you." Morana knew her identity? Even Nox froze in her step, before she moved to stand before him, it was only a brief glimmer of hesitation, now it was a righteous anger "How about instead of talking, you shut up and start fighting?" Nox snarled, before Morana pulled his scythe from the ground, holding it to his side with his left hoof "Spirit, which I shall soon cleave from your defeat, mongrel." He mocked her, well, it was nice knowing Morana, even Black felt the cord in Nox snap at that remark "Hey Morana, if you lose, your ten levels are going to me!" Black yelled, seeing Morana deflate at that slightly "Aww, what happened to all that smug talk, you afraid that your boss is gonna make you weaker than me?" Nox taunted, seeing the red glow build around Morana's body, as a slight pang of anger flashed in his eyes, before he moved back a bit, with Nox doing the same Meanwhile, me, and Black Hat stood to the side as commentators, with us setting the regulations up for the match. Once we both silently agreed on the terms, we threw them into play, making a ring of light around the plot of grass, with everyone around the sides, making bets, and cheering for their opposing sides, then Black's horn glowed. "Now then, to get this going the rules are simple!" "Rule one. Once a player hits the red, they lose, no time limit!" "Rule two. Stepping out the ring means you lose, if that wasn't obvious!" "Final Rule, mainly for Black's player, this is a fair match, any call-outs to cheating will be dealt with the wrath of Pinkie Pie!" "Wait, why did you mention that specifically?" I then turned my head to look at Serafin, her brow raised in confusion over the statement "Tell me, how have you seen Black work?" I was very curious for her answer, since she took a moment to reply "He's using NPCs against each other, he's conned players into his hands, and-I....think I see your point." Serafin finally nodded at my knowledge with a look of amusement at my brother's major control issues, then I saw Silver walk up to her with Rain "Morana seems to be an Honorable fighter, from the way he speaks to Nox, I doubt he is prone to cheating, neither is Nox himself." Even for only knowing the guy for a few minutes, Rain could already see he wasn't a bad person, I could see it too, I just like annoying the crap out of people, Serafin smiled a little at that, before we turned our attention to the battle, both players looking ready with the intent to kill, maim, or erase the other. "I'll still be cheering for Nox." "And I for my friend too." Serafin agreed, with all parties happy, I cleared my throat "Alright, lets get this party started!" "Because I want to finish my crusade!" "THREE!" "TWO!" "ONE!" [FIGHT] It didn't take long for Morana to rush Nox, his scythe risen to his left side in his hoof, whist Nox used her magic to levitate her halberd to block the direct strike, her eyes narrowing, then, the spearhead stuck....nothing!? It happened so fast, but I could still see Nox's eyes widen at the scythe's blade phasing through her halberd, before it struck her chest, knocking her flying into the ground, causing a gush of wind to erupt from the scythe's strike. As Nox fell into the dirt, Morana spun his scythe in his hoof once, waiting her return, the masked mare grunting at the red line across her chest "What was that!?" Rain gaped, as we turned to look at Serafin for an answer, I just heard my brother laughing his ass off "That scythe is a Legendary scythe, 'Harrow's End' and has the unique ability to phase through any weapon that tries to block its attack." Serafin explain calmly, a pang of sympathy directed to Nox, who shot out from the cloud with her halberd smashing into the scythe, eyes ablaze with crimson, whist her weapon's strike was fueled with anger. "I am sorry, but no one has beaten Morana's scythe before, not even me." "No way....!" Silver spoke clearly, his eyes wide at the sight of his friend being struck down so easily, even I was worried for my plan, but I couldn't let my poker face chip, otherwise we've already lost to Black's game "What the hell kind-of attack was that!?" Nox barked, thrusting Morana off her blade, before she swung downwards, his hooves lightly hopping away to the right, effortlessly ducking under her horizontal strike, which was followed with her spinning the halberd in her magic, slamming the axe-head down on the ground beside Morana, who looked completely unfazed by each attempt, those eyes had nothing but emptiness behind them, despite the force of the blows "You think you have power over me? Amusing." How can anyone say that so creepily!? He then leapt over her second horizontal strike, placing a hoof on her halberd's spearhead to leap above her, before he brought his scythe down with both hooves, missing Nox's left side my millimeters, yet another twist had brought 'Harrow's End' around, making Nox freeze in her stepping, as she rose her halberd to her side, the scythe gliding across the staff Using the momentum, Nox spun her body around, swinging her halberd in a massive arc of blue light, only for Morana to tilt his scythe flat, blocking the halberd with ease at the sparks flying from the parry, knocking Nox backwards, her hooves digging into the dirt. Then Morana thrusted forwards, swinging his scythe upwards to the left from the bottom right, and in instinct, Nox blocked, the scythe phasing through and striking her neck and mask, throwing her back into the dirt, so she leapt up, backing up to give herself some distance, whist her hoof reached to her neck in pain, the inhibitors making this a rather deadly fight for her mind's concentration Not many players realize this, but the certain weapon can drastically effect the pain inflicted on your body, and to your nerves. If its a simple, sharp blade, its cold and electrifying. A blunt weapon feels disorientating and like your bones were turned the opposite way. For serrated weaponry and curved blades like 'Harrow's End', it was as if your body was to be sawed slowly or quickly, both of which were undeniably painful to feel course through your body. Internal Refraction's glass-like attacks were just like his scythe. "Damn he's good...." Nox muttered under her breath, whist the crowd cheered, making it almost impossible for me to hear her, she stared at the red laceration fading away on her neck, and shoulder. "Of course, a bastard like you has a blade that gives him an edge over others to an unfair point!" "Stop whining like a brat, you accepted this challenge." Morana retorted, running straight for her, but I saw Nox's eyes turn back to pink again, the aura of her halberd turning pink too, she wasn't angry? Seems she realized it too. I felt a small smile tug at my poker face just a bit "I'm not whining!" She snapped, dodging to her right, as the scythe drove downwards, but as she thrusted her halberd towards Morana's side, he merely threw his scythe into his right hoof, blocking the strike with another lock of their blades "But you are weak!" He persisted in pushing Nox's buttons, the two bouncing back, and rushing back at each other again, both continuing their relentless back and forth match of strength, just as I turned to look at Serafin for any pointers, ignoring Black's NPC praising the fight with glee "This won't end well, White, your friend is nearly equal in might to Morana, despite the level difference, but his weapon, not to mention his higher stats will be her end, I am sorry we had to meet under these terms though." Serafin sighed, looking dejected at the state of events, only to hear me chuckle lightly, seeing my friends look at me too "Why are you apologizing? I couldn't have asked for a better way to give our friends a sendoff, but a fair warning, Serafin. If you think its the stats that are the be-all end-all, then you might very well lose when you rely on them most, count on it." My warning made her stare for a short time, that look analyzed my very soul, but I didn't pry too much into her way of viewing me and I focused on the fight. Morana's health had been damaged, whist Nox was in the yellow, just as I winced at one of Morana's skills activating, the blade turning red [Reaper Skill - Dark Road] Nox had thrown herself back, but was quickly struck by 'Harrow's End'. The first thrust struck her left calf, followed by a thrust to slice her left shoulder, and an opposite thrust to her right side, and then last a large swing downwards to slice her mask, cracking the exterior, whist Nox hissed in pain, running backwards to escape Morana's reach. "To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy, art." Morana spoke coldly, watching Nox struggle to her hooves "You don't know I thing about me!" She snarled, only to gasp at the butt of the scythe striking her mask, knocking her body flying into the grass again "I don't need to analyse you to know you. A child, too afraid of their own reflection, all you see is a person who everyone judges, based on who you are, that failure to yourself, that is what makes you weak." His scythe glowed again, each word seeming to strike Nox down with efficient strikes, then, Death rose his scythe above her head like a cold crescent before her, and Nox ceased to shake. "This is why.....you lose." [Earth Seal - Rock Wall] It was a sudden cast from her hoof, as Morana covered his eyes to avoid the massive cloud of brown dust striking his body, blinding him from the sudden affliction, whist I smiled softly, Black looked at me with a bemused expression, obviously confused at what I was grinning about. Looks like its time to shed some cloaks in the spotlight, Nox, The rest is all up to you. "White, when you spend your life with those richer, stereotypes get....suffocating. You're a girl, so you do this a certain way, you act a certain way to meet expectations, that crap got to me quick, about the 'only' family I have is my other siblings, and this maid of ours who was more like a mother than the bitch I have to call one, my dad tries, but he's always away so the times he does show himself he could only sit a listen to me complain, no use trying to fix what would take hours." Nox spat bitterly at memories before me, turning to look at the mountains of mystical items. "I liked this show with them too, gave me a few laughs, despite what I may say about Pinkie, she's fun, y'know?" "A few seconds to run will not save you!" Morana called out, swinging his scythe once to clear the cloud, and revealing an empty arena, with many mumbling to themselves, even Morana was confused to where Nox vanished to "Did...did she run away?" A person spoke behind us "Just Watch!" All eyes were now on Silver for a moment, the first sentence he spoke that was clear as day, not a single stutter, before he glared at Morana, grinning, whist I turned to Black with a hilarious smile, pointing my hoof up, Pinkie doing the same beside me with a cheeky grin "Checkmate, bro." Before he could say anything, Morana's head shot up to the sky, seeing the crimson aura descending down on him, Nox was high in the sky now, her cyan striped mane blowing in the wind at her descent towards us all, yet high in the sky above was the moon, the light of its surface burning bright with her unyielding fury, seeing her, Morana, waited for her, his scythe bent to his right, the blade beginning to glow blue with malice intent He only struck once. [Reaper Skill - Silence] His single upwards slash produced a massive blade of blue energy like a crescent, with it drawing closer to Nox with each breath, it even came close to slicing her head off her shoulders, but after minutes of watching their fight, I saw Morana's eyes widen, her mask taking the direct blow, shattering as she forced her skull through the attack, her halberd glowing a bright gold, before she threw it directly at Morana, spearing him completely through his back, and out his chest with a pained grunt. Now, everyone could see her face, and the pissed off glare she wore with her grinding teeth. "NOX IS A GIRL!!?!" Yeah....me and Silver have some explaining to do later "You know, despite the fact that Ive lost, you keep this up and you'll be building a harem." I nearly choked at that, a small laugh escaping us both even with the death battle before us [Sword Skill - Golden Rupture] The halberd then erupted, consuming Morana in a beam of golden light, as his heath burned away with each tick of time, just as Nox released her levitation, dropping to the ground softly, then she smiled wickedly, seeing Morana fly out of the beam of light, his scythe swinging downwards from above his own head, both hooves on the staff, completely exposing his body to Nox's glowing, emerald hoof. [Earth Seal - Seismic Fissure] Her hoof quickly connected to Morana's chest, the fist flying through the other-side of his back comically, before he was shot flying into the dirt, digging a shallow grave in his wake, his 'Harrow's End' landing beside him, the blade sinking into the soil at the display of defeat. The crowd growing silent for a few seconds. On Nox's end, her health was a tick away from the red. For Morana, his was halfway through the red. [WINNER] The icon soon appeared above Nox, making her smile in relief, as the crowd went completely nuts of the epic finish from my end, with Black rubbing a hoof over his face, just as his level bumped up ten, so he wasn't exactly phased, whist Morana's dropped by ten, his body dropping down into the pit once more in defeat over the match, his chest rising heavily at the red marks that began to fade over time "That was one hell of a match!" I chuckle, hoof-bumping Nox, as she rubbed the back of her neck shyly, knowing that her small secret was dashed to the wind now. "Look on the bright side, your mask can't be broken." "Ehh, no use hiding it now, since I know you and Silver busted your asses to keep it under lock and key, so thanks, you...your a great guy, White." Nox thanked me, much to my surprise, followed by the embrace of Pinkie, who happily latched onto the girl, who was quickly turning pale. "C-Can't breathe, please, need air!" "Hehehe, sorry~!" Pinkie smiled, letting the girl breathe, whist Rain, followed by Klaw looking naturally surprised "Now this I was not aware of, it was you who White saved during the battle at the Vault of Forestation, who knew?" Klaw shook his head, clearly surprised "Still, now we have an even number of guys, and girls, awesome!" Rain cheered, but Nox looked a little unsure, so I nudged her with a smirk "You're still 'Nox', don't let it stop you now." I calmly replied, before I turned to hear the coughing, and soon we all saw Morana, his face still an unfazed expression "So, it seems people aren't so easy to read, huh?" Nox snorted, seeing Morana sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. But Nox persisted. "Maybe now you should see that we aren't all so easy to understand, I know that better than anyone, and look what happened to me, even with my fears of how my friends would react clouding my head, they still treat me the same, that, I could never have predicted." "Yes....I am sorry, you are worthy of being called a rival, your ideals are sharper than my own, and your way of thinking is what turned this battle against me, for that, I am happy for our dual." He bowed once, seeing Nox rub the back of her neck sheepishly, her face turning red over all the attention she was receiving "Oh my Irene, this is on you, White, all these, mushy, soft feelings I got from you, Rain, Pinkie, hell, even Silver and Klaw at this rate!" Nox barked, making us laugh at her expense, whilst the event continued into the reminder of the night The fireworks were brilliant, in only a short time of planning, we had made a spectacle that the whole Green Zone could see, with the multicolored bombardment of colours stretching across the night sky, coating the dark city in a new glow of colour, as reds mingled with oranges and purples, a whole nebula fanning across the clear night sky. Meanwhile, I sat on a bench, overlooking it all with Black Hat beside me, both of us still looking to the sky. "So, you'll be leaving tomorrow?" I asked dejectedly, wanting to atleast spend a little more time with him, but he had his own problems to deal with. "You're not gonna kill every NPC on your way out, right?" "Oh shit I wasn't-Oh, yeah, 'course, just be sure to expect my arrival for a new challenge down the line, that's if I don't find the Raid Lair for this gauntlet." He answered, waving the gauntlet on his leg, before he wacked me on the back of the head "Ahh! Son of a-why!?" I snapped, he stared at me, his eye glancing once to his left behind us "If you think I'll die than we'll be having a clear misunderstanding of how persistent I am at grinding in this game, I have more levels than you after-all?" He smugly replied, before pointing a hoof back in the direction of the party. "You got others who are looking out for you, so stop thinking you're alone again." "Old habits die hard, that many years with only you, mum, dad, even the guys we knew on other games, I'm still alone for the most part, hell, I might as well stay in this world where I can be with people!" I retorted, before he looked at me evenly for a moment, then looked to be pondering on something. "What?" "That Therstral, is she that girl you were mentioning before we were trapped in the game?" Oh, that's better. I nodded, then he mused to himself, before he bluntly stated. "She's really annoying." At that I nearly broke into a fit of laughter, as he did the same for a few seconds, me shaking my head. "R-Rain's just protective of her friends, seems you just happen to be the one to annoy her by insulting them all at once, congrats!" I patted his shoulder, before I thought to myself. "Who's the girl who was with you, the normal one, Serafin?" "Yeah, tell that to her ability to lose her mind when plans go top-side, she looks about as normal as Discord." Black replied, rubbing his temples with a haunted face. "She's. Didn't. Stop. Complaining!" "Oh that's it!" At the voice behind us, Black fell off his side of the bench, seeing the glare of a thousand suns directed his way from Serafin, her body ignited, whist she raised her spear high in her magic, meanwhile, the colour seemed to drain from my brother's face, scaring me at how this girl managed to freak him out to the point of defensive words "What I meant is that you may or may not have a slight, tiny problem with handling unexpected situations, that's all." He slowly stated, the tiles beneath her hooves beginning to burn with each step "I think you're making it worse." I stated bluntly, standing aside to let the flaming mare through. "Seeing how she's able to turn her rage into a literal flame is scary, so have fun!" "No, wait, don't leave me!" I just ignored my brother, seeing Yin, Yang, Rain, and Summer standing by, along with Silver, Morana, and Nox standing with cameras, watching as Gar'i tried to stop Serafin, only to have his cloak burst into flames, recording the entire thing manually without the system, Klaw watched from above, talking with Pinkie Pie, who hopped happily on the roof beside him with Laxus sitting there too, trying to stop the mare from bouncing "Its crazy, to think we are still in a Death Game?" I looked over to see Rain walking over to me, and I think Yin was doing some weird faces, but Yang had already hit her on the back of the head, climbing atop her older sister to stop her, whist Summer giggled at their antics. My attention was drawn back to Rain, who only looked to see Serafin pointing her spear at Black Hat, who was now holding Gar'i as a shield "Yeah, not to mention how batshit insane everyone is, can't be good for my health, too bad I lost my sanity years ago." I shrugged nonchalantly, before I saw that Serafin was now being handed items by my brother, causing me to chuckle. "Seems Serafin has one of my concerns under 'Erza-Level' of fear." *Thump* Now I was blinking in surprise, as my head resting against Rain's shoulder, much to my surprise, since she wrapped her hooves around my head, holding me lightly as I listened to the conversation around us, and the last of the fireworks going off behind me. "Why are you hugging me?" I asked, not really understanding what she was doing, not that I minded her doing so "Its my way of saying thank you, for everything. Being my friend when this all began, my partner through this Death Game, all of it, thank you." Rain softly worded it carefully to me, as I smiled a little "We look out for each other, that's what friends do, or, so I've heard." I answered bashfully. "We both hold the keys to freeing this game, so we have to watch out for each other, and because I don't want anything bad to happen to you either." "Then....lets make sure nothing will hold us back, ok?" Rain softly replied, just as I hugged her back, finding it to be a nice feeling, and I didn't really care who was watching, I just closed my eyes, holding my best friend close "Right, nothing will hold us back, two down, only four to go." I chuckled, as the last fireworks rained from the sky, as I felt the end of the event dawn upon us, I had people to watch out for, and people I wanted to keep safe, I don't care how long it takes, but when I leave this world behind, I want to meet them, face-to-face all over again. "You know, I never thanked you." "Huh?" Rain pulled away to face me directly both of us ignoring some looks we were given, hers was perplexed. Now....how do I word this correctly "For being my friend. I know my personality is....odd, I'm sarcastic, blunt, even devoid of a personality at times, and....I get that I can be very annoying. But, thank you, out of everyone I've ever met, you never once found me to be a lost cause, despite my reasons to be so." Why was I feeling so nervous around her? I mean, I guess I never really gave her a reason to be my friend, I haven't done much to earn her trust, I know more about her and she knows absolutely nothing of me, kind-of unfair "Really? You of all people 'don't' have a personality?" Now it was my turn to be perplexed, her coy expression mingled with her kind smile. "White, I know very little about who you are, but what I know already is that you're kind, selfless when it comes to everyone else's needs, I mean, you organized all of this-" "With all of your help." I added "-And you only continue to try and do better. Heck, I was....really bad at this game when I first joined, I honestly don't think I'd survive if you didn't give me pointers along the way." "Most of it was down to your own skill." She looked annoyed by my interruptions, but I found it amusing "Let me finish. But above everything else, I trust you, I really do, so if you're worried about me not liking you or finding you annoying, don't. I think...well, its those faults that make you more like me, imperfect." Her final words really hit me. She thought as much as I did about her, we were far from perfect, and that's what I think she likes about me as her friend, we're imperfect, but happy about that "Well then, Purplrain. I'm happy to be your annoying, nerdy, imperfect friend." I chuckled honestly, and she gave me a cute giggle in return, one that made my chest flutter slightly, and Rain winked a me with a blush of embarrassment "And same to you, White Hat. I'm happy to be your silly, air-headed, imperfect friend." Despite our agreement, I will say that she was far from imperfect, in-fact, apart of me feels like she completes me, even if just a little. So, I hope you're watching, Harbinger, because The Eternal Flame, my friends, we're coming for you! [????] He sat by on his own, overlooking the land below with envious eyes, yet he felt empty, utterly devoid of any true meaning of sympathy towards all those that were in his way of achieving what he was promised. Lights below gleamed with hope, whist his own torches crackled with furious, dark intent. And yet, despite what he had set out to accomplish, a tiny morsel that nipped in the back of his mind kept him up this night. Was this worth it? It was an obvious answer, and he played it up to his own crumbling sanity, each day passed and the memories hurt, each was filled with life and happiness, yet it was those emotions that fed him fear, hatred, sadness. It all tormented his waking world, all because he knew the ones that stood before him, who dared to take away his chance to see his light again. Bowing his head, resting it on the cold stone of the balcony, he sighed. If he kept his end of the deal, then all of this was worth it, no-one else mattered, and he would gladly suffer for it in his second life, this was meant nothing without the one to keep him right. He couldn't wait for the day, that righteous day he watches everything White loved and cherished slips from his fingers. He never deserved them, he was a waste of space for years of his life, every time he saw him comforted by others, only to bluntly shrug their concerns off made him not worthy to live instead of his light. By his promise to 'Valkyrie', he'll kill Harbinger, and that didn't require White to be brought to reality. So when that day arrives, and its just him and White, he couldn't wait to watch him burn. That last thought made him smile.... To Be Continued in the next Arc. Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 33 Stealth class White Hat - lvl 34 [Offensive class] Seraph - lvl 33 [Support class] Pinkie Pie - lvl 33 [Defensive class] Author's Note Arc II: Death Game is now wrapped up nicely, with a grand sendoff for the dead, and the connections made between White and Black Hat! Next arc will take place a few weeks later, with a new location and new faces, maybe some familiar ones! I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next arc! Next Arc: Arc III: Madness Without much to go on, all that was left was to grow stronger. Rain will do that, she just has to deal with the mysterious Request she was given by a Player. So, what better way to solve the mystery than with a Zer0 impersonator and a girl who wears a mask? Authors Notes: Since Rain was given the Relic by Bombard, she now holds the Gemstone of Passion.
Extras - [Cold Outside]Author's Note This small holiday-themed chapter takes place after the next arc coming next year. Thought I'd give a small gift before Christmas, hope you enjoy this small story filled with insight and friendship. Happy Holidays, seeya next year! Merry Christmas Extras - [Cold Outside] [System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Username: White Hat] [Beginning Playback] December 24th, 2026, Yeah....days turned months, funny how you can spend so long not worrying about what waits for you at the end of the weekend, when almost all your time is spent around good company, family, and the adventures you take, whether they're big or small, each moment spent in them is worth treasuring, took me this long to truly grasp that, and I'm glad I did, cause, if it were any sooner, I might not have learned anything, perhaps longer would only make the message bitter too, sorry, I'm rambling again. Its all due to the time of year, Christmas, or in My Little Pony's terms, 'Hearthswarming', and I was in a bind. I had collected gifts for my friends across the days of winter and glimmer. For Klaw I got him a white-scale scarf to match his purple scales, made it look like Natsu's too. Nox would dawn herself a silver ribbon with flakes of ice-blue across it for her mane, as without her mask on, her mane always got caught in her eyes, so I procured her a stylish, but not girly, ribbon. Silver was tricky, but to mess with him, I acquired a Vault Hunter pendant, made it myself. Pinkie was....stranger, if you can call a fourth dimensional breaker 'stranger' than that, then sure. It wasn't much, given how little I know of her interests, so I managed to get her a replica of a purple lightsaber, given how she can levitate, read minds, and so on, thought it would be appropriate to make her a Jedi, Gambit sure got a laugh out of it, given how he's still laughing beside me. Seraph was easy, lots of sweets, much like Gambit, both had a crippling weakness to the sugary delights both I and Pinkie procured, and both intelligent beings fell from grace. Now came my problem.... "Gambit, what can I get for Rain?" My question was far more noted by how I was shooting glances to the city below my hooves, noting how the city was aglow with pure illumination of colour, reds, greens, and blues twinkled across the town, interlaced with gold, purple, and silver. Trees rose high to point the way with golden stars to cast light on the dark night, as the trickle of snow descended from afar Piles of snow dotted the area, coating homes with a soft, white blanket, some white projectiles were thrown, and laughter was sprung into the cool night air, songs and dancing was easy to see and hear from the roof me and the Gambler Nightmare sat on, said Nightmare drinking away with that same, massive jack o' lantern grin, his yellow eyes curled up with bliss. "You waited until the night before, and they say 'I'M' unorganized, bah! Bah I say!" He waved with a bottle coiled around his black claws, his hand tilting the contents back and forth within the glass, whist I merely hugged the scarf I wore tightly to my muzzle, my worried gaze to the streets. I never meant to wait so long, its just....every gift I wanted to get her, it....didn't feel right. "Still, this fear and despair leaking off you's baaaaad stuff, keep it up." "Why did I ask for your help again?" I replied with a scowl at both him and myself, before rolling them back to the streets below us "Because, you wanted a gift to surpass your 'failed' attempts, thinking my emporium had the item you require, correct?" I made a small nod, yet his answer made my heart sink like ice. "But that ain't possible." Gambit had me in crossroads, constantly cryptic due to his 'dealing system', but how he phrased that was different then last time, I did turn to look at his smug grin, but he looked....nostalgic, his eyes kept themselves to the city below, whist he seemed to play with his cards, and for the tiniest of flicks I caught the look of a girl, and himself, and several others I couldn't place the looks of. "If I'm to be straight with you, I've been around for a looooooooooooooooong, time, so I'm ol - ahem, 'mature'." Did that strike a nerve? I didn't say anything though. "But, someone once told me that time spent in another's company can be just as thoughtful as a meaningless gift, just sitting there, talking, about....anything really, can be so much more, sadly I....I didn't take that to heart at the time." I didn't know how to respond, given that Gambit looked just as conflicted as me, for this strange moment, I saw myself, broken, misplaced among others that had personalities, skills, dreams, I had none, outside of this world I wasn't anything that could be seen as anything more than pity. "I had people once, those that saw something in me....a redeemable quality of sorts, they trained me, taught me new things, showed me a world with colour...." Gambit looked to me with his usual grin, his eyes narrowed cunningly at my conflicted one. "I know what you are, Cayde." I winced at my real name, I didn't question how he knew it since I felt my hooves touch the ground, my head snapping up to the building where I saw him shuffling his cards again. "Don't waste insignificant times on questions, go on and see." In a flicker of light from the blinking red and green, Gambit's image was gone under yellow and blue, my eyes left to reflect the blinking lights for a moment, whist the cold snow under me felt numb, I've been spending too long out here. I should go home.... "Why are you hugging me?" I asked, not really understanding what she was doing, not that I minded her doing so "Its my way of saying thank you, for everything. Being my friend when this all began, my partner through this Death Game, all of it, thank you." I stopped walking through the streets, almost running into a few players and NPC's as I did, but they didn't pay much mind to my sudden stop, lag was still a cancer, even in this world, does help duplicate if CCG didn't patch it a week ago, atleast my savings were back. Though, more to the point, that sudden memory wasn't expected, sure I was thinking of Rain, but why that moment in particular? "So, it seems people aren't so easy to read, huh?" Nox snorted, seeing Morana sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. But Nox persisted. "Maybe now you should see that we aren't all so easy to understand, I know that better than anyone, and look what happened to me, even with my fears of how my friends would react clouding my head, they still treat me the same, that, I could never have predicted." Ack! I quickly placed my wing on the side of a wall, carefully shaking my head again, was this Gambit's doing? If so, fuck off from my mind! But if it wasn't, than why now? Why the sudden relapse of memories? These two were always encompassing a message, I think that's why they were so specific, or am I just losing touch with my senses again? Could be, given that I am in a hospital, many players did suffer from random spurs of weakness, but how did my memories play a part in that? When I clicked it, a new item had appeared on my own screen, leaving me to face Yuuki one last time, as she saluted with a wink. "Till round two! But here's a little advice from someone like me, if you lose, just go home, and get back up tomorrow! Bye~!" Then, Yuuki was gone, her final words ratting in my head for a few seconds "Woah~!" I heard someone yelp at my sudden dazed trance, all I managed to see was light grey, followed by two hooves pressed to my chestplate, helping to raise me back to a stable stance, ok, I'm not particularly a fan of tonight. "W-White? Are you ok?" Huh? Oh great, the game did it again When I raised my head again, noting the hoof on my shoulder keeping me straight, I met Rain's golden eyes again, plastered with worry over my own safety. All these messages....they were connected with what Gambit said, maybe its the reason for why I'm picturing these memories, all three were so small, say for Yuuki's, but he told me to hold onto them, not to question them, maybe....that's why I'm thinking of them, because, despite how small or passive they were at the time, I did learn from them. Rain was glad to be my friend, and I was too, so....I learned that being with those I cared for made me feel happier. Nox's was about acceptance, despite the fear of rejection, and that, if you find those who can see you for you, then you truly are never alone. Yuuki's....to learn how bitter life is, and find the courage to seek out something worth living for. Happiness. Acceptance. Courage. "I'm....I'm fine, thank you, Rain." I bowed me head honestly, my breath catching back to me quickly, meanwhile Rain continued to look at me with concern over my well-being, that did make me smile "You nearly fell flat on your face, you looked exhausted, what did you do?" Straight to the point, and yet I chuckled hopelessly at that, how I didn't see the real reason before made me feel like an idiot. "Ok, now I'm really worried." "Its fine, I just....had alot on my mind, sorry." I smiled calmly, moving my hoof to rest atop hers, which still rested on my shoulder. "I think I came to a realization." Rain didn't know what to think of me, guess that was fair, since I reached over to wrap my hoof around the back of her neck, pulling her into my arm softly, my head pressed to the side of hers, and I immediately saw her body stiffen, her wings jolting suddenly. "U-umm, what's with the hug? Not t-that I'm complaining?" Rain shakily asked me "Nothing, just wanted to hug my best friend on Christmas Eve." I happily replied with a little more emotion laced in my tone, my heart happily dancing faster over my sudden change of tune. "Hey, Rain?" "Hmm?" She hummed softly, her hoof hanging around my neck too "Want to head out somewhere? Just us too like we did months ago?" I asked her without a skip or note of hesitation "Wait-wait....you mean like...a-a date?" Well, I guess that's kind-of like a date, though I just wanted to treat her to something nice, given how much of a moody asshole I am, and I had bits to melt "Hey, you said it, I didn't. But yeah, a date, if such a lovely girl would be kind to take me up on my offer?" Ok brain, now I have no idea what drug Gambit used on us, but if we see him again, thank him with a box of cupcakes Note Taken Rain then pulled back, facing me directly with a radiant look on her face, her eyes glowing cheerfully, whist a smile pulled at her muzzle, it was actually kind-of cute, ahem, moving on. Rain then cleared her throat, stifling a laugh and her trying her best to keep her red cheeks from showing, my poker face working overtime for myself, then, she held her hoof out to me. "I would gladly." Hehehe, posh accent doesn't suit her "So long as you don't try any old English, we'll save alot of players' lives." I laughed, making her pout, even to the point her hoof kicked snow at me "'ANYWAYS'! Where are we going?" That look she gave me was trying to decipher my gaze, yet I was just going through the motions, this newly acquired energy of mine had me on overdrive, and I was threatening to burn through it all, but.... "Well, there's no rush, so I thought we'd spend the night wandering around Canternlot until we find somewhere, just....take our time for once." I replied evenly, and for a moment Rain looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read, she looked neutral, yet her eyes burned with something like joy or determination, probably the former "Who are you, and where's White?" Did....did Rain just use my own quip against me? I'm impressed, but I did let a coy look reach me, for fun of course "Oh? So you're saying you miss my old-self already, I'm touched?" I messed with her, and it worked to perfection, seeing the therstral fumble with a red glow stuck to her face, whist she avoided making eye-contact with me for a second, snorting when her gaze met mine again "I, that's not what....you.....grr...." Rain growled at me? Hehehehe....HAHAHAHAHAHA. My laughter quickly brought out one in her, as she tried to keep her composure. Yet I felt her reach out a wing to press against my chest, stopping me at the edge of the path, when I noticed her head tilted up, I turned to see what caused her to freeze up, to my relaxation, I too found myself staring around the world before us A tree stood tall in the center of a small, open park, no stalls blocked the image, and many viewers of the tree stood like us, on the four sides that surrounded the evergreen tree. Its branches held bobbles of midnight blue and honey yellow, with silver and gold tinsel to dance between like waves of treasure. Lights hung between them all, heart red, light blue, emerald green, fire yellow, all blinking or fading with the night. From several sections on the tree, lights hung like webbing from corners of houses, joining the plethora of colorful streets. Yet it was here, in this calmed fragment of the kingdom, did I really feel what Gambit meant, I didn't question it, nor did I want to, I....was ok, standing here, and with Rain too. Next thing she did caught me off guard, her side rested against my own, her leathery wing wrapping around my back to keep her steady, whist her head rested against mine, and I instantly smelt lavender from her mane, and my face quickly turned red at the sudden way she connected to me, and this feeling....it was there again, battering my ribs....how did she do that? "Ok then....lets....just enjoy tonight then." Rain whispered to me, and I happily obliged, leading us both away from the star-striking sight and into the busy streets of the Green Zone, with a happily humming Thestral attached to my hip, and to my surprise, the snow didn't feel cold against my hooves anymore. I felt warmer. To Be Continued.... Update Party: White Hat - lvl 45 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 40 [Stealth class] Gambit - lvl ??? [Vendor]
Quest - [Worlds Collide][System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Username: Purplrain] [Beginning Playback] [Opening III: Cross The Line] Three weeks have passed, and the Defeat of the Second Raid was behind everyone now, with more players beginning to join in the cause of hunting down the remaining Lairs across MLP: AO, not much progress had been made, yet the rise of more experienced players grew, even ones that had decided against the thought of death had picked up arms, but not many had made it far, that didn't make anything dwindle, in-fact, it only made everyone more eager to try. More news reports of Black Hat, White's brother, had begun to make their way to others, how he had complete control over Griffonstone thanks to an update, whilst his small Guild consisting of Serafin, Morana, Gar'i, and Black himself, The Lunar Crusade. Apparently, they had made the connection of Canternlot to Griffonstone one their way to us three weeks ago and had made the railways to Las Pegasus and an air-carriage to Cloudsdale. He and White were quite alike, but that may have been due to their bet, or rivalry, whichever it is. For the Striders of Blackfall [Laxus. Summer. Yin. Yang], they had decided to become a branch of our guild, that, and most players from the Raids had joined both The Eternal Flame and Striders, making our guild more notable for higher-paying Quests and Requests of other players. In a way, we're growing much stronger since...Bombard, I guess he did something even in death, he made us stronger. I'll be sure to hold onto that... [Golden Bull Inn] It was hard to peer into the comfortably small room due to the little light that split its way through the blinds, allowing a partial section of the room to be aglow with Actualization Online's sunlight. Among shelves sat old weaponry, mainly consisting of Bo Staffs of metal and wood, and another assortment of materials made to forge the weaponry that hung on pegs or sat collecting dust. In the corner of the room was an 'L' shaped desk, propping up picture frames. One had Rain smiling alongside Pinkie, the two aglow from leveling up, another of the whole Guild, new members too, and the Striders of Blackfall. The last, sitting in the center was a simple picture taken before the horrors of the Death Game, with Rain sheepishly smiling with White beside her, his cheeks red from how close they were. "ZzzZZzzz...." The soft snoring had come opposite of the desk, where a small single bed had been lumped up with covers, the only indication of life coming from the fluffy ear that poked out from under the sheets, and the slow rise and fall of the covers too. Purplrain was at peace under the warmth that surrounded her form, not a hint of bitterness to her slumber *Notification Sound* "Ugh...." It didn't last. The hoof had coiled its way into the air, swiping down to bring the Menu up, before the dazed, azure eye lazily winced at the bright text, quickly moving her hoof to bring the notification up, and for the bright text to dim for her poor eye-sight. Finally, her hoof shakily pressed the 'Message' tab [Sender - Sky Zaffre] [Location - Hollow Shades] [Subject - Sup, Purplrain] Hey, don't particularly know when you'll get this, but when and if you read it, I require....some assistance- "Huh? Sky....who....is that?" Rain's mundane start to her day had been met with an increasing amount of curiosity, her leathery wings shuffling her body to move above the covers, her head resting against the board of her bed -So, I'll cut to it. Since your little performance in that 'Raid' that I watched, I'd like to ask for your help in a problem, concerning this world, and probably everyone else in it. I can't say much in this message, this....unnerving feeling that someone is watching my every move has my paranoia on high alert. If you accept, find me in Hollow Shades, at the local tavern, or if you see a girl wearing red and black, whilst holding a War scythe, check with her. Look, I need you to keep this on the down-low, only bring those you know can keep their mouths shut, no offense, but your boyfriend White is a little....well, ahem, he reminds me of my....dated days. Anywho, seeya when I can, kid. Sincerely, Sky Zaffre Rain felt a little heat rise to her cheeks at the mention of her and White as an item, while it flattered her, thoughts of the Raid, and what Yang teased her about came back, and she quickly shook her head clear. But, if what this Player meant by problems was as bad as he mentioned, maybe telling White would be bad on her end, not that she thought he'd go and yell it to the world, just that the last time someone of a mysterious background appeared...Bombard. While he never showed it, Ambulas had struck a bad cord in White. Again, she tried not to think of it and focused ahead on what to do with the information given to her. Who could be good at aiding her, and keeping everything silent? "Silent....." Rain echoed her own thoughts before her tongue clicked to her realization. "I think I know. See, I can do this too, no sweat....aaaaand I'm talking to myself....huh, so this is what its like to be White, huh? Weeeeeird." Not wasting time, Rain threw the covers off her therstral form, stretching slowly to sigh at her muscles popping, before quickly swiping her right hoof down to bring her menu up, flicking to her 'Equipment', she stared for a moment at her armour, seeing the white bars over her armor reach the halfway point, whilst her Bo-staff and gauntlets were still high, all stats towards physical and overall magic damage. The former being more universal. At the duration, Rain stuck her tongue out, furrowing her brow. "Hmm...I could get them repaired today, but, Sky would be in a village, and its only about an hour by foot, given how the map size of Equestria isn't exact, and travel by foot wouldn't take too long with two others...I wonder..." Rain's muttering kept her mind's bubbling curiosity at bay, for now "Seraph, for the last time. We. Don't. Have. M-O-N-E-Y." My ears flicked at the voice overpowering the rest among the cafe, my gaze was drawn to the irritated best friend of mine, White, who rubbed his mane with his hooves, with Seraph resting back on her chair, her hooves behind her head, along with her cunning grin under a hazel hood. "You took the rest of my money for the info about the Invincible, remember?" "Oh right, I did do that, aww well, nothin' worth reapin' you for." Her winning streak remained, yet I just rolled my eyes, moving to cross over the balcony ahead of the steps, towards the east hall of rooms, deciding to leave him to dig himself out of debt, I may be his friend, but that didn't mean I wanted to be conned either. "How about you give me that sweet chestplate, you know, for a friend?" "Bite me, rat!" I giggled at the last I heard of their conversation, making my way to the room that housed the pony I required for my mission. I needed two that were both powerful and could handle themselves in a pinch. White was busy handling the management of both the Guild and finding the next Raid Lair, so asking him would be bad, and since he has a tendency to be apprehensive to shady characters now, telling him of 'Sky' would only make the situation far tenser than it needed to be, besides, he asked for me specifically, I didn't need White to worry about me Ever since he became my mentor in a way months ago, I've never got the chance to give a real thank you, maybe this quest would offer a rare item? A One-Handed sword? "What are you doing?" Huh? My head turned to the shadow in the corner of my eye, while I was currently alone, it didn't make sense as to why I turned to face my reflection in a mirror. All I did was see my own golden eyes stare back at me, shrugging, I continued on my way "Ooook? That was strange." Mentally calming myself, I pressed on down the next turn, yet again, another mirror "You honestly think this will change anything?" My hooves dug hard into the floorboards. I felt it, my voice caught in my throat, my eyes looking back at.....me, not my avatar, not with those blue eyes...It was my user, but her eyes had turned to a brilliant shade of ocean blue, and my head throbbed at the mere gaze shared, it....really hurt, images I never wanted to picture came back, reluctantly in bits and pieces. "This won't change how White views you." "....It's....just in my head... it's not-" I wanted it to stop, I didn't need this, I refused to see any of this! "Real? Like your false delusion of companionship? Not you, not someone as frail as you." Stop it....my hooves her shaking, and the more I tried to look anywhere felt painful, each tug forcing me to stare back. "White only pities you." "Just like all the rest." I felt something snap in me, a tug on a string "No-!" "Are you well?" I suddenly leaped back, nearly throwing a punch at the hoof that grazed my shoulder, but the player in question wasn't me, those same eyes were back to normal, they were me again. I finally released the breath I withheld, looking back to the frown that stuck to Silver, his eyebrows raised with alarm. "Frozen in place/Unwavering/Shaking." "I-Its fine." I lied. "Just had a strange dream last night." I wish that were the case, I hated lying, but....no, don't think about it, don't think about it. Shaking my head, I regained my composure. "I was actually looking for you? Good timing." "Why?" One worded answers made my explanation run its course "I see..." That was it? No questions? I mean, it IS Silver I was talking to, he's not big on questions. "Transport can be acquired/Only a small walk/What of another?" "I guess we can bring someone else, just to be safe of course," I replied evenly in thought over our plan. It was simple, meet with Sky, talk about the situation, resolve the situation, then 'Boom', we're done, but saying it was easy is much easier than actively accomplishing it. Removing my hoof from my chin, I pointed to him. "What about, Nox?" He shrugged passively. "Sure." Then he knocked on the door beside us, wait, we were in front of her door the entire time? How did I not see that? "Nox." "I heard everything, sure, but if we're going back to see 'him', it might be a one-way trip." See who now? Ok, I feel like I'm being excluded "Possibly." Silver agreed with her on whoever they were talking about "So, any chance I can, oh you know, be let in on who you're talking about?" My inquisitive stare made Silver step back slightly, while a deathly silence loomed over us, if anything, Silver feared me since his little mockery of me months back, I wouldn't hurt him...just make him paranoid enough to keep on his toes - Jesus, I've gotten dark, I think I should stop doing hunting quests for a while "...You still alive out there?" Nox whispered out the door "Does that mean you're in, Nox?" I asked kindly, and half-hoping she'd agree "Eh, sure, so long as I get a split of the reward I'm grand." My ears perked up at that "Thank you." I was actually happy both of them agreed without much suspicion on the guy who messaged me "Simple support quest, and if they'll be four of us, should make it fun." Nox grinned, the door creaking open to reveal her in the animated mask again, her eyes a soft pink. "So, where do we start?" [Gambit's Emporium] "I fucking hate you, Silver." Nox growled at the sight of the massive complex the two had led me through, to my surprise, it was located in a less-spokified version of the street added in the Holloween Event, and this was the 'Creature' the two had encountered with White, my reaction was less than formal, since I was trying not to scream, while picking my jaw off the floor at the sight of the massive creature that turned at our entry with massive, golden eyes, and a jack o' lantern smile "Hehehehe, how nice to see you two again! I've so lonely!" That sounded almost sad, if not for his laugh, but then I saw his shadow consume my entire body, his glowing eyes narrowed mischievously at me, and I swore I saw Nox and Silver step away from me. "Who's this? Purplrain?" "I-I uh...h-hi." I waved with a shaky hoof, and suddenly, he slowly shrunk down to an average height of a human, making all logic within me vanish at the sudden change in appearance "Nice to meet you too, finally, someone with manners!" He gaped, holding a hand out to me, so I quickly accepted it, shaking his with a normal amount of strength, for a moment I thought he would shake my hoof off. "Now then! What does the girl-boy, Zero, and Miss Rain what with not-so-little ol me?" After a moment to regain my composure, I looked over my shoulder to Nox and Silver, with both nodding for me to ask the awaiting - why was he upside down in the air? "Okay...Gambit, we wanted to know if you can teleport us to a small town outside of Canternlot." I brushed my left hoof down to bring my menu up, setting it to 'Public' so he could see my map, to which he placed a hand on his chin to watch over my shoulder. "Someone wanted me to come to Hollow Shades, something about this world, and a problem he's found." "Hmm...I wondered when someone would realize it, didn't think it'd take this long, but aw well." Gambit shrugged, leaving us to ponder on that statement, did he know about this too? What's happening to this world now? "I'll help, teleportation is a cheap gimmick with me, so anything of value will do." I was about to agree, then he raised his hand. "Oh, right, who was it that sent you that message, makes it easier to pinpoint a spot to drop you all, hopefully not off a cliff?" "His name was Sky Zaffre," I answered quickly, and for a moment, Gambit looked to be going for a reply, but he froze, his hand lowered, and his eyes widening at the name "Wait -- did you say, 'Sky Zaffre', as in those were the exact words, coming from the message?" He was now dangerously close to my face, his head against my muzzle, scrunching it up "Mmmhmm." My reply rasped through my lips before his smile grew, and he fell back into the air, spinning as if gravity had no effect on him. "Nox, what's wrong with him?" "Many things, the list is too long though." Nox sighed, rubbed her temple at the rattling noise Gambit made "Oh-hohohoh, I love this world already! Ok, new plan, I'm sending Y'all there for free, no strings attached! Just...hehehe, send him my regards and take a picture while you're at it. Do that, and I'll give you whatever you want!" Gambit's fit of laughter had quickly died out, him wiping a stray tear from my eye. "I - hehehe - haven't laughed like that in a while, but sure-sure, I'll send you to Bluey." "Good, so when can you send us?" I asked curiously, but his look didn't make me feel very confident anymore, while his fingers rose into the air, coiled around one another. "Wait - NOW!?" "Oh...Jesus..." Nox grimaced, with Silver moving closer to Nox, making her stiffen at the contact. "H-hey, back off man!" "Wait-wait-wait, aren't you going to let us prepare!?" I cried out, but the pressure that built around us had forced my hooves to stick firmly to the ground, while an acrid taste stung my tongue "I believe in action before caution, Toodles!" *SNAP* [Hollow Remnant] "AHHHHHHH!!!" All three of us were thrown out of the sudden tear in reality, our bodies mingled on the cold, stone floor of...wherever we were, but my head was turned to the sunlight, seeing the stone walls around us, old and worn with time and weather. We all sat in the remnants of a pillaged chamber, busted and wrecked by time itself. The twisted hall we sat in seemed to be part of a passage connecting the remains of the small area To my left, an old passage was broken, the stairs towards the ground completely fallen from the supports, leaving only one way down without the use of my wings, a massive, granite door was all that remained. Strange writing is all over it, somehow untouched by time and the elements. "Where are we?" I asked absentmindedly, yet Silver and Nox only shrugged, the three of us left to stand in the center of where Gambit had dropped us, from what he said, we should be close to Sky now, but if this wasn't Hollow Shades, then did that meant he was out fighting? If so... "What is that?/A strange creature/Unknown enemy." Silver's quick grab of my wing turned me towards the doors, their groans against the strain of large, white claws pulling our eyes towards the darkness of the ruins, and towards...what is that!? A large, black wolf entered the room, white claws scraping the ground, as it's skull-like face unhinged its jaw to allow a red tongue to hang out from its jagged teeth, glowing, red eyes staring back at us with a hungry growl, a black mist trailing behind its back like smog from an open flame. [Beowolf - lvl 42] "No way...a-a Grimm? Here?" My ears flicked at that, as mine and Silver's eyes drifted to the wide-eyed Nox, the eyes of her mask dilating. But her horn still glowed, spinning her halberd into the air beside her face. "Don't hold back, this thing's attracted to our negative emotions." "Okay, that's new." I was generally surprised a mob could do that, but if this 'Grimm' is attracted to us through negative emotions, that meant - my answer came in the form of more growls behind us, forcing me, Nox and Silver to go back-to-back, facing at least eight more Beowolves, their darkened forms infecting the ground with their dark presence like a poison. "Noooox!" "I know! But you can't carry us both." Nox barked back warily, seeing the Beowolves stand by, some slowly circling all of us, trying to wait for a blind spot, their A.I have gotten smarter, why now? "A true challenge/We shall not fall." Silver boasted, clanking his daggers off the ground to dare one of the Beowolves to make a move, just their silent moves, followed by low growls made my heart race with dread, I couldn't tell when they'd attack, they were too advance, I can't...I... That was it. I was attracting them. "RAIN!" I wasn't fast enough to react, as I felt a sharp pain force it's way through my spine, my back pinned to a wall, as sharp, unbearably painful claws sunk into my left shoulder, and collarbone, my health slowly beginning to trickle away at the sudden force of the Beowolf striking me down, its mouth opened wide, eyes hungrily waiting for me to die slowly by its claws, and I couldn't reach for my Bo-staff either, it was pinned under my back too. "Get your bloody claws off her!" Nox swung down on the skull of a Beowolf, embedding her halberd through its head, using this, she pushed herself onto the neck of her weapon, pushing down like a lever, and the axe that had torn into its forehead shot into the air, where Nox spun the halberd around, thrusting up to pierce its neck with the spear-tip, and I final twist depleated its remaining health, shattering the Beowolf into a flurry of reds, blacks, yellows, and whites. Yet I couldn't bare it, watching Nox sudden fall to the ground, losing the connection with her halberd as the claws drove through her back, pushing her against the ground, a Beowolf had leaped into the hall from the breach in the ceiling, now she grunted on the ground, trying to push the claws out of her. "Shit...Silver, watch your - ack! Back!" Nox winced, and my shaken eyes couldn't look away from the sight of her own health joining mine in the amber, out life was being taken from us, and we couldn't even move. "Rain! Rain, focus!" I couldn't...I was...I...I couldn't even conjure a spell, anything! Please...Please Out the corner of my eye, I saw it, Silver was still holding them off, stunning a few with paralysis, but...there was one behind him, it was waiting in the shadow of the room to catch him, no...no-no-no-no... "PLEASE, NO!" "Don't worry, Rain, we got this covered." It wasn't the reply I was looking for or one I expected to hear. Yet when I opened my eyes, I only saw the trails of light that remained of the Beowolf that had pinned me to the wall, the sudden relief that came with its missing claws made me relax against the stone wall, only my eyes stared up in awe at the sight of... A man, an actual human in black armor, His armor was molded into a representation of a more futuristic 16th-century suit of armor, with blue highlights grooved into the plates of armor. His helmet was more vulture-like, with glowing, blue eyes that widened like a bug at the sight of me. All the while crests of wolves decorated his chest, alongside a pair of smooth, harpy wings. Thrusting his arms down, the gauntlets split to allow the blades of black to take place, their edges now glowing with blue energy, pointed like spearheads, curving inwards near the middle for a sleek appearance. He saved me, and to my surprise, something fast had thrown both the Beowolves off of Nox and Silver, the latter noticing the near-fatal move he was being played into, and for a moment, I felt a teary-eyed smile reach my face. "I'm sorry, I attracted them." I bowed my head at that, still noticing the other 'Grimm' in the area, yet the cool metal fingers pushed my chin up to face the armored man "Don't be, no one can control fear when they were never prepared to face it, just sit back and enjoy the show!" He calmly replied, clicking his fingers. "You're up, love!" "HYYYAH!" In a flurry of red rose petals, two Beowolves were split in two from the waist by a massive, crimson war-scythe, with a red pony holding onto it, her wings pushing her back into the air, her red cape blowing the wind created from the updraft, she had silver eyes under raven hair with crimson highlights, similar to White, and she even had a silver rose pendant for a cutie mark. "I'm gonna wiiiin~!" "Doubtful." The man replied with a snarky tone, raising his palm as a small, magic circle rotated at the palm [Draconic Seal - Fire Dust] The small blast of fire quickly erupted from his hand, blasting a Beowolf in the face, blinding it for the man to spin on his left leg, raising his right one to strike the Beowolf across the face, snapping its neck and throwing its body through the wall beside me, the cries drowned out by the height it fell from, alongside the rubble. "You know what I don't get, why we have to call out EVERY Dust-related attack we do." He moaned as I saw a Beowolf leap from above "Look out!" Nox and Me screamed, but the claws had already sunk across the man's face, the Beowolf landing in front of him, yet its arm was missing, the severed arm falling beside the man who had raised his bladed gauntlet to block the blow, yet not even a scratch was seen on the side of his face, it didn't even chip his health away "No way..." I gaped, a sudden flurry of joy rekindling in my chest again, especially since I saw his name, and I felt more than alive again at the sight of them both. An armored man and Red Reaper [Sky Zaffre - lvl ???] [Ruby Rose - lvl ???] Sky then turned his body to face the small number of Grimm that had finally arrived after the others, his arms lowered to his sides. "Ooooh, you guys a screwed now." To Be Continued... Update Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class] [New Passive Added] -Aura- You can project your soul as a shield. When facing 'Creatures of Darkness' their attacks are cut in half (I release your soul) Author's Note And I'm back with a smaller arc, crossing my RWBY fanfic with this one! Dun, dun, duuuuun. Anywho, this small tale following the cute Purplrain, the blunt Noximillion, and the Zer0 Silver Crow as they uncover a massive realization that came with Harbinger's arrival. Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Story - [Zaffre Ruby] Upon meeting with the player that sent the message, Sky begins to reveal more of how their 'Game' is little more than just Ones and Zeros, and that their appearance may not be such a good thing after all. Will Rain ask for White's help, or will her own memories catch up to her? Authors Notes: Little tip for the future, I wrote many characters last arc cause it was necessary for the story's plot, while some will return, others will simply serve a side-role, this story is meant for White's gang, if I were to focus more on the Striders, I'd make a side story. Just a little heads up for the future.
Story - [Zaffre Ruby][System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Unknown User - Sky Zaffre] [Beginning Playback] What's up? My name is Sky Zaffre, member of team RWBYS, savor of Remnant for reasons that would take too long to comprehend. For as long as I could recall, my entire life, both being sent to Remnant and through it has been...enlightening, the fact that Multiverse Theory is real, and there are beings capable of horrible things never sits right with me. Me and Ruby, my lovely girlfriend, had gotten a strange request from an old ally I haven't seen in months, if I knew this would lead to my...transformation, I wouldn't be here. This small recording that I'm giving to Rain will help not just those who find it, realize that the universe is faaaaaar bigger then we realize, but of my story and experience in this Death Game. Heh, just another day as a Huntsman. "...Kai....Kai!" Ugh. Why do I always wake up with a headache after meeting someone with a strange persona? Is that just me? Maybe, probably. "Kai. Wake. Up." Alright Iota, I'm up, I'm up...regrettably Once more, I felt my eyelids peel back to shine a crimson light down on my face, strangely warm, guess the world I was in was in summer, or maybe its a slightly warmer climate? All I could see was a ceiling of royal red above me, cracks of golden rays dancing through the trees that resembled Forever Fall, even the ground by my hoof was a carpet of red leaves - wait....hoof, as in a horses hoof? "Iota?" My word came simply, my body slowly beginning to shake, while I felt my heart race, sadly with dread over any form of glee. "Don't tell me..." "Yep." "No, nooooo, no, no, no, no." I refuse to believe this. I can't believe this. I 'WON'T' believe it's happening to me! My head slowly fell back to the ground, raising my right...hoof to my vision, seeing the zaffre coat I had been tainted with. "I'm a fucking pony in My Little Pony..." ... ... ... "GAMMMMMMBIIIIIIT!!!" After releasing all the air from my lungs, I slammed my hoof onto the ground, splashing the air with a flurry of red leaves, their red tone matching my emotions quite accurately. I knew T.V shows and the like were also their own realities in the Multiverse, but of all the ones that gambling Nightmare sent me to, he dropped me in a kid's show. I sighed, pushing myself to rest on my backside with a defeated posture. "Alteast it's a kid's show with actual intelligence, I can say that much." This little pick-me-up did little to waver my distraught expression of my location. But something was off, why were we in Forever Fall? Did Gambit drag a piece of Remnant here? No, he's far less careless, that's much is obvious, but then why was it here, in MLP? "We may have more issues than that." Come again, bud? "This 'is' MLP, but only a figment of its design." "What?" I had no answer for this, the only speculation reaching a conclusion. "You're saying this place is a copy of MLP?" "Exactly." Iota enforced grimly, and I sat with my hooves crossed, blowing a strand of my hair from my face. "From what I gathered from our arrival since Penny is out of commission at the moment, this place is a digital world constructed to look and act exactly like the show, in layman's terms, its a game, and a dangerous one at that." Continue "We have been here for at least an hour, in that time Cognitum has gathered that something called 'Harbinger' has ceased control of the world, forcing any to die once their health hits zero, in return, their real bodies would perish too, similar to that of Sword Art Online, only that with each defeat of these 'Raid Lairs' grants them another key in defeating him, but it also caused the system to rapidly evolve, forcing enemies to grow stronger and smarter." "So he's playing God with people's lives. Gee, where have we heard 'that' before?" My dry humor was only met with a blunt silence in my head. "Sorry, continue." "That's all the information we have, other than the fact this area has been heavily warped by Forever Fall. Lift your right hoof and swipe down." Listening to...well myself, I did what Iota said, and before I was a bunch of screens, a Menu, and Stats section too, much like online games, then I saw 'Map'. "There, the map." "I'm the map, I'm the map." I sang, opening the tab to view my area, and to my surprise, the forest was now a mixture of green and red, with a small village east of me labeled, 'Hollow Shades', the outskirts were 'Hollow Remnant', okay, that's bad, the world looked...torn, parts of the landscape looked broken or shoved into each other for space, like fitting the triangle in the circle hole. "I...think I know Gambit brought us here with - RUBY!" Without care, I felt my nerves react, and within seconds, a black armor had coated my body, only...I was looking down at my fingers against the side of a black tree, the blue lines running across my arms with a bright sensation. I was wearing Iron Regalia again, strange, I could move between Equine and Human forms with ease. "Iota, did you see Ruby anywhere when Cognitum scanned the area?" I asked calmly, placing a hand on my chest to slow my heart rate. Ruby could handle herself, I needed to stay calm....inhale...exhale, okay. "Anything?" "Three. Two. One." Wait - *Crash* "Hiiii love..." I groaned, my arms flattening against the forest floor again, and to my shaken vision, I saw how much the game had changed Ruby from a cute Huntress to...well, she was now cuddly. Her coat was a royal red, with her mane a messy black with the signature red highlights, and her silver eyes remained, but she still held Crescent Rose and her cape "S-Sky?" What a great start to the day [User: Purplrain] As the Grimm approached us again, the one behind Ruby took its chance to attack her, and it nearly worked, as Ruby turned to see the claws mere inches from her face, yet the look on her face, now a thread of fear was laced in her eyes, since Sky had spun on his heel, a chain connecting his gauntlet with the Grimm, a thin blade piecing the Beowolf's neck. With a pull, the Grimm fell backward, allowing Ruby to point the barrel of her rifle down at its head, the single, flaming shot tore the monster's skull in half. "You dare lay a finger on her, and I'll skin you alive." Sky warned smoothly, turning back around to block another set of claws with his left arm, retracting the chain and using the blade to impale the Grimm, throwing it into the wall, followed by his legs bending down to duck under a lunge from above, his left gauntlet pointed upwards to slice the arm of the Beowolf off at the elbow, along with a horizontal lunge from Sky's right, cutting the wolf in-two Suddenly, two beams of orange whizzed past his head, striking two more Beowolves from afar, it was Ruby, resting Crescent Rose in her hooves while she flew in a single spot with a grin. But she didn't see it, there was one crawling towards her from a small perch, without realizing it, I felt my body morph into the shadows behind me, I transcended the typical plane of reality, and my vision soon cleared from shadows, my eyes on Ruby's form below me, and as I fell my hooves reached out drawing back a purple and black bow of shadows, firing a single, powerful 'Gloom Grip', the single shot pinned the Beowolf against the wall behind her, her sharp turn was met with relief at my save, the arrow burning through the monster's health with ease. "Thank you." Ruby smiled at me kindly and I merely nodded with a sigh, noting Sky giving Silver and Nox time to fall back, leaving only a small number of Beowolves to be disposed of. But below us, Sky stood with his arms hanging by his sides, the metal palm clanking off his hips, but there was something off about his posture, he was completely rigid, his fingers slowly coiling into his palms, and the energy in the air felt... Angry. Sky raised his hand up slightly, releasing a set of glowing, translucent claws, while his monstrous, cybernetic scream even made my wings quiver from the vibrations. The Grimm looked stunned by this, leaving them open for Sky to breaking into a powerful sprint, his feet bending to push him into the air, his body spinning with his claws to strike two Beowolves down before him, his legs sliding under another, pushing up to continue his uppercut, the claws shoved through the lower jaw of the Grimm, Sky pulled out, ducking under a set of claws, slicing three more down behind him, then he pushed back on the chest of another, flipping over the five that had tried to pile atop him. But in his palms, sat two bubbling colors. "The flames on my right and the ice on my left put them together." I gaped at this, he was...mimicking a spell from Fairy Tail!? That shouldn't - He shouldn't - What!? [Unity Move - Fire-Ice Dragon's Brillant Flame] The world before my eyes was consumed by a yellow blast of light, the air screaming with a piercing blast of energy, whilst a mixture of cold and warm air had risen in the ruins, but I couldn't hear anything but a sudden, sharp noise and the crackling of flames, my hooves muffled out the rest as I squinted through the massive cloud. Ruby coughed beside me, the others slowly moving in a daze, Sky standing beside them both with his hands dusting the armor he wore. But on them were the lingering embers and snowflakes of the powerful Unity Move, I didn't even think a single person could combine moves without a partner if Sky could do that...just how powerful is he? Almost like a demon. But my voice died in my throat, seeing the remaining Beowolves push through the cloud of smoke, Sky moving back slightly to defend Nox and Silver, and I quickly channeled my magic too, but it was all for naught, since a blinding flash of white light forced me to fall to the ground, my wings covering my eyes in pain. Where did that light come from? It didn't last thankfully, and to my right, Ruby stood with a simple smile on her face, the lingering ghost of that light has died in her silver eyes...she conjured a holy spell, but...how!? Ugh, this day's giving me a headache. "This day is giving me a headache..." Nox echoed my thoughts exactly, and Sky looked...annoyed, seeing the three remaining Grimm burst into a stream of colors, much to his slow turn to look at Ruby "That's just cheating; I swear, if you're just going to use that One-Shot, why did I bother killing anything?" Was he really complaining about it? "Because you love showing off?" Ruby suggested, and we all watched as his armour vanished in a flash of blue light, leaving only a pegasus with a coat the same color as my eyes, his black hair with locks of blue and white much like Ruby's highlights, while he stared at the girl with a conflicted expression, his purple eyes looking to her then back to himself "Do I show off?" He paused, before rolling his eyes flatly with disdain. "Thank you, for that 'thrilling' insight, Iota." "Okay, slow down, what the hell is going on? Just...please, explain what Grimm were doing here, why Ruby Rose, the greatest, most badass Huntress of all time -" We were now all looking at Nox, whose eyes glowed with awe, wherever these two were from, she looked like she was fangirling. "Ahem, sorry." Ruby didn't look displeased, only giggling with a hoof to her muzzle "Moving past that, what is going on, Sky? Why did you call me out here?" I asked, shifting to look at them both warily, despite how powerful they both are, something wasn't right, no player is this strong, not yet at least, and the A.I...they...they were too real, almost human Sky sighed, rubbing the back of his neck shamefully, but all the more serious as us, with Ruby standing with him, her face of equal concern. "Okay...let's go back to town, I can explain everything once we get back, sound fair?" We all looked with equal curiosity, seeing that the sun was going to be setting soon, and if there's were more Grimm out there, the three of us weren't ready to face something so complex in nature "We'll follow you, just..." I paused, looking at Nox and Silver with an overwhelming amount of guilt in my chest, I drew the Grimm to us, Nox said negative emotions attracted them, and I...I was. "I'm sorry." "...For what?" Nox tilted her head oddly, with Silver shrugging "I...you said the Grimm were attracted to negative emotions, and I...I was..." A sudden pressure caused me to look up at the blue eyes of Nox's mask, curled up with sympathy "Don't. You have no reason to blame yourself for this crap, 'all of us' were caught off guard by their intelligence, and if a certain Nightmare was more clear with his teleportation, we wouldn't have bee caught off guard." Nox reassured me...what little it did for my feeling of guilt, I wasn't like White, moving past these feelings was harder, but, I'm glad they don't hate me "We are all together/All that matters/We are safe." Silver added too, making my small smile return to me again, then Nox wrapped an arm around my neck, pointing a hoof at Sky and Ruby "Now come on, these two owe us a drink." She proclaimed, making Ruby grin cheekily at Sky who in turn looked back and forth between the two girls "When did I agree to this?" Sky was suddenly jabbed by Ruby for that, making him chuckle lightly. "Fine. Guess I kinda do." [Hollow Shades - Celica Tavern] "Hey, Nox? You've seen the show a lot, what's this place anyway?" I asked curiously, seeing her stumble slightly in her step at that, her eyes turning rose "W-Well...let me think...Hollow Shades is a village inhabited by both ponies and Thestrals, which explains the mixture of NPCs, luckily no players though. There's a great tree that is the oldest tree of the forest that was created by green star seed to serve as a vessel until it was taken by Fluttershy at the time when the Light Kingdom was restored, most of this came from the comics that my siblings collected." Nox elaborated on Hollow Shade's background, most of the cobblestone houses were covered by thick, dark wood trees, some of which were a bright, vibrant crimson too "It's really something, isn't it?" At Sky's reply beside me, I stopped staring at the sights to see him raising a hoof to allow a red leaf to fall upon it. "Forever Fall, a mystical forest of royal red trees, a ground of red where the endless leaves fall, it never grows old." "It's even got sap that tastes amazing too! Especially with pancakes." Ruby stated proudly with her eyes shut "You can...eat the sap?" Nox looked at them both with a baffled expression through her eyes "Yeah, if Nora doesn't eat it all first." Sky added under his breath, hiding his muzzle under his scarf, then his eyes brightened up with a wave of his hoof. "We've arrived!" From the outside, the tavern looked more inviting then the cobblestone houses around us, just the golden glow from the small windows gave me the impression of an inviting and pleasant place. Large stones and wooden details make up most of the building's outer structure. When Sky held the door open for us all, we were greeted with a gather relaxing atmosphere, and surprisingly, there were three players here, all of which looked to us, with an orange, feminine dragon saluting with her two claws to us, then they turned back. "Don't mind them, we gave them the rundown not to let word of this place reach anyone else, as far as help goes, we're all that's in Hollow Shades." Sky answered my internal thoughts quickly, as we made our way towards a round table The bartender looked quite busy but still managed to welcome us with a short wave of his hoof. It's as charming inside as it is on the outside. Rounded, wooden beams support the upper floor and the light fixtures attached to them. The walls are littered with all sorts of memorabilia, I liked it, it felt homely. Approaching a smooth, oak table, the five of us pulled up seats to sit down under a small lantern hanging from the pillar behind me, as Sky looked to the bartender. "You guys want anything?" At his request, Ruby gave him a wink. "Usual, got it. Anyone else?" "Me and Silver will take a cider each." Nox waved, taking off her mask and setting it down on the table with her hoof across it "Just a lemonade is fine." I smiled thankfully, and with that, Sky left us with Ruby. "So...Nox called you a 'Huntress', is that your title here?" "Not really, well, kind of. Me and Sky actually came from another world entirely because of a funny guy called, Gambit." If I wasn't already tired, my jaw would have hit the table, she and Sky were from...another world "You came from Remnant, because of that prick?" Nox gaped with wide eyes, and Ruby nodded "He said there was a problem that was bugging him recently and he needed it 'Exterminated' as he put it, but only me and Sky could go, so we left our friends behind, thankfully, our time moves weirdly here...I think he said it was like a second back home is a month here or something?" Ruby looked just as lost, all of us were still grasping the concept of traveling between worlds, the thing to startle us were the soft thud of the wooden mugs "Trust me, just accept it and move on, your lives we'll be much easier from there." Sky interrupted, sitting down as he handed us our drinks, and I quickly drunk a mouthful, giving myself a buzz on energy again. "Okay...you all calmed down now?" After taking a gulp, Silver spoke next with a monotone stare. "What is happening/All worlds mixed/All truths lost." His reply made Sky stare for a moment "...Huh, Zer0 would be pleased, but to put simply. The Multiverse is very real, and MLP has a reality of its own too, much like how this reality is a game concept around the show, right?" We all nodded, and Sky smiled smoothly. "Let me guess, me and Rubes are a T.V show too?" "You are, but you don't exist, its just team RWBY, not RWBYS." Nox questioned with an inquisitive look, then her eyes lit up. "Unless you're parallel to it!" "Now you're beginning to see it clearly." Sky smiled, moving to hug Ruby from the side. "My world is as you see Remnant, a living, breathing world, the only difference is that I'm from Remnant too and that Ruby here is my lovely girlfriend, to which I don't deserve." "Wait, but...whaaaaat!?" Nox's expression made me laugh a little, and she snorted at that. "This is serious, Rain, the ship to end all ships is...its just, AGGGGH!" Her head hit the table in defeat, only to have Silver pat her back softly, and I swore she was crying, Nox must really care a lot about this show they're from. "WhiteRose is gooooone..." "Tell that to the guy who's aware of said 'Ships', trust me, not a thought I'd like to have in my head." Sky groaned, rubbing his temples, only for me to squee at the sight of Ruby kissing him lightly on the cheek, instantly perking him back up "I still love you." It was so cute, even Silver couldn't hide a grin. Sky did straighten up again, frowning sadly "If you weren't here I'd have lost it by now, including Iota." He then looked at me directly with a serious gaze. "Rain, our world's, Remnant and MLP can't stay like this, parts of our world are starting to splice with yours...Gambit's aware of this, but he can't go against the world's laws directly to stop it." "...What can we do?" I asked with a defeated look at Silver and Nox, the two looking just as clueless "We need to find the source of the rupture and close it if we don't..." That look he shared with us, it reminded me so much of White...how the odds were stacked in a way no other player could see But... Bombard's last look of despair shot through all of us, as he dryly moved his mouth. "....bastard....." *Shatter* "n-no....no-no-no-no...." "I don't care." My sudden rise in voice made all other conversations stop in a heartbeat, that image, death was so easily looked over when you least expect it, and now, the one thing that could kill everyone is looming over all of us, I won't...I won't let it happen again, I can't see someone else die because I was too busy being a helpless, little girl. Moving my head up, I stared back at Sky's neutral expression. "Whatever it takes, I'll help you stop this world from dying." He smiled, crossing his forelimbs. "It won't be easy, ya know? Dangerously intelligent A.I, possible end of the world." Sky rambled on but I didn't care, I wanted to do this, I 'needed' to do this "Whatever. It. Takes." My hoof jabbed the table with each word, and Sky happily chuckled at that, looking far more convinced "Very well, starting tomorrow we'll go and scout out a place Rubes here found." Sky replied breathlessly, forcing my sense of courage to falter. "Oh, and due to the fact that I did make a quest of this for you; If we live, and we will live, I'll give you a copy of one of my armors." "And I can make a convertible weapon I designed years ago, just to sweeten the deal." Ruby winked, and a sudden wave of determination has flooded back to me "Well, Rain's the temp-Boss, so why not? 'Bout time we kick this world where it hurts." Nox grinned, taking another large swig of her cider. "Hey, Zer0, you in?" "Always ready/Your words are inspiring/I shall follow." Silver answered, so Sky chuckled happily, slamming his fist on the table, shaking the stand "Okay then. Let this be the start of Team SSORRN!" Sky was met with only silence from all of us, say for my hoof over my mouth to stop my stifled laughs, and he immediately drooped. "What? It's the best I could come up with? You tell me where I can find a color with two 'Ss' and to 'Rs'?" "We'll work on it." Ruby patted his head, before stretching her forelimbs out. "Well then team, let's hatch a plan!" [Harrow's Fortuna] Darkness was all that remained with the illumination of the massive super moon above the ruins of the fortress, now littered with weapons, remnants of color, mostly reds, blues, and khaki. The air which would normally be filled with the scent of the woodlands below and the sound of wildlife is now thick with the stench of ashes, sickening darkness and death, enough to destroy whatever courage is left in the survivors. But it wouldn't allow such an outcome to occur. Standing atop a small podium where the back wall was gone, allowing the moonlight to glide through the carnage, sat a dark figure, its cloak ragged and burnt, holes revealed only small, white spikes, broken and jagged at uneven angles. Held in its black, feathered arm, coiled tightly by long, white claws was a crooked, black scythe, the massive, mirror face of the blade curved at both ends, the larger piece reflecting the moonlight on the hood of the hooded figure. "...All is still..." "...All is silent..." "...Reap and Sow what is meant..." "...The night is near its end..." To Be Continued... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class] Sky Zaffre - lvl ??? [Offensive class] Ruby Rose - lvl ??? [Offensive class] Current Level: 37 Magic: Shadow/Umbra Seal Items: N/A New Skills [Draconic Seal - Fire Dust] - Release a small blast of fire damage [Unity Move - Fire-Ice Dragon's Brillant Flame] - A unity of Ice and Fire, highly explosive and capable of massive elemental damage Author's Note Do you know what I like about adding Sky and Ruby? I've written them for over a year, so their personalities are second nature for me to write, hooray I guess. Other than that, hope this start to a small arc was interesting, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Event - [The Truth] During the night, Rain has certain memories of her life keeping her from sleeping, so she goes to clear her mind, something one of them is all too familiar with.
Event - [The Truth]"we can't have that happening, can we?" *Shiiiiing* "....bastard....." *Shatter* "NO!" Immediately I sprung my body up in my bed. My heart racing a mile a second with each moment I stared across the dark room. It didn't take long for me to realize it was only a dream...or a nightmare? Turning my head, I saw Ruby fast asleep in the corner of her bed, on the one above her, was both Silver and Nox, both not realizing they had actually fallen asleep together, if my mind wasn't running with worry I'd have found it cute. "No sign of Sky...strange." Not wanting to go back to the dream realm so abruptly, I slowly slid out of the covers and with my passive ability as a Therstral, I silently stepped out of sight, using my Umbra magic to shift through the wall of our private room. With a soft sigh, I made my way for the stairs. "I need some air." When I felt the door creek open towards the fusion of two worlds that was Hollow Shades, I felt the surprising warmth of the night meet my body, and to the wondrous sight around me. Hundreds of emerald lights floated in the air around the town, and in turn, around me with a soft glow in the dark night and amber lighting of lanterns. Combined with the forever falling leaves it was a sight I'd only imagine in books, yet here I was. Softly, I felt my mood rise a little at the dancing fireflies when I made my way through the silent town, the sound of only my hooves made any noise other than distant howls or abstract noises. But...then my mind brought back those voices...Bombard...he, I never even knew much about him...he didn't seem so bad and yet I... Closing my eyes, I felt my teeth bite my bottom lip for a moment, trying my best to suppress the memory. "Amazing, isn't it?" I jumped, feeling my teeth chip my health when I bit down by accident, but I relaxed when I saw Sky standing with a firefly resting on his hoof. "I can imagine you felt like I did, 'It's like a fairy tale', or something close?" "I...yeah, it is," I responded softly, my eyes to my path ahead. "But it's only in this world, you'd never experience it in reality, where this wouldn't exist." "True, but if you look hard enough you might just find it." Sky pointed out with a spring in his step. "Despite this form, I like it here, feels like Remnant, but more...mystical if were talkin' places." For about five minutes he followed me through town, not saying a word to me. It was strange, he didn't ask why I was up or why I was wandering towards the edge of the Green Zone, instead he followed me while looking around at the sights, with myself keeping a single train of thought on what I remembered, which was quicking becoming shadowed by more...real thoughts. Pain, torment, ridicule...ugh, stop it! I need to calm down, I need someplace to - there! Moving up a small path towards a tree, I saw a bench perched right under it, alone and facing the big, bright moon above us. Moving to sit down, I felt my body melt into the smooth wood, my head resting to peer up at the stars above with a whimsical expression on my face. "You know, Iota told me I'm an idiot, hence why I haven't slept tonight." My thoughts came rushing back as I turned to look through my purple mane towards the irritated player beside me, his muzzle scrunched up as his hooves moved like if it were his fingers. "'You are so obvious you haven't realized your own mistake, yet you can fight someone moving at the speed of light.'" "Wait, what do you mean?" I wasn't really feeling up to games right now, but I was curious as to why he looked baffled "Yeah, so Iota up and told me that I added an 'O' to SSORRN, when I should have put an 'I' after the first 'R', then remove the 'O' - basically I'm an idiot." Sky summed up with a defeated shrug, crossing his forelimbs to his chest with a frown, and to my surprise, his eyes turned from purple to a pure shade of white "He's an idiot without logic, ironic given how he gave me, his 'Logic' the freedom to leave his own form." His voice sudden when cold and distant too, and I felt as though the aura around him had morphed with it. "Iota, at your service, and before you ask, I'm a split personality of his, but with more...freedom, shall we say?" "Umm...okay?" Then in a flash, his eyes returned to normal, and his small smile returned, yet I raised a humored brow. "You seriously didn't realize your mistake until now?" "Thank you for your input, Iota; But yes, 'Logic' is him, 'Dry Sarcasm' is me. Yes, by the way." His two-sided answer made me feel less upset, even if just a bit, but it didn't do much seeing as he looked from the star-filled sky to me again. "And there's goes my attempt at breaking the awkward tension in the air...okay then. What's eating at you Rain?" ... ... "...Would you really understand? Or...would you just pity me like everyone else?" I felt it, my resolve slip under his gaze, all I could do was try to hold back my emotions, even if just a bit. Looking down at my hooves, I just...felt so angry, afraid, lost. "Would you just say 'everything will be okay' or 'I'll keep you safe'? Would you really mean what you say?" "..." Sky didn't reply, and I never stopped, feeling my teeth grind into each other "Could you understand, what it feels to be helpless, to feel as though no matter how much you believe you're right, only to fall deeper into that...emptiness?" I...I "Please j-just leave me a-alone..." "Aww, she's crying, what a brat." "Come on, leave her alone already!" "Why? What can she do? She's a little bitch who needs to learn her place, how's that my fault?" "P-please..." "I just want to disappear. From...everything." I said it. There wasn't a breeze, no sound of life around us, just my words turning to nothing in the air around me, I wanted that too, to turn to nothing, to make life...easier. I couldn't see my face, but I probably looked empty, both in expression and sight. "Everytime...she would hurt me, scold me, humiliate me. Nothing changed for years, whatever I did was only met with more of the same, and every time I heard the same thing, 'you'll be okay', 'It's not going to last', 'We'll keep you safe'." I felt my hooves dig into each other, my grip growing worse. "Over and over I kept listening, and I felt so useless...she would do the same to so many and I didn't do a thing to stop her, to stop the pain, I felt like...like I was better off-" "But here you are." Sky interrupted me, and I felt my gaze shift to view him through my mane, and...he looked like all the others, that soft, hurt expression, but it was only matched by the fire I saw in his eyes, an unyielding torrent I've only ever seen in White when he was angry. "Despite everything, you're still here, in both these worlds." "What difference does that make when I'm too scared to fight here, let alone in the real world! If I can't even face a bunch of coded monsters, how can I fight something so real!?" I demanded, cutting him off as I continued. "Even in this world, I'm just so...useless! I couldn't save people even if magic by my side! No matter which world I'm in, I'm useless. Both to my best friends and to White Hat!" "Yeah? Well, reality is bullshit!" I stopped speaking, and he looked at me with a stern, flaming stare. "Listen not to the people who lack understanding, and more to the guy who has been there too." What? He looked away for a second, then back to me with a less serious expression, while I wore a dumbfounded face of my own, I just spilled my guts to someone I only met a few hours ago, why? Why would I do that? But what he just said, he spoke as if the same situation had - he...really does know. "Now, while I won't go into detail of my own experiences with 'less than hospitable' people in my past, I can truthfully say that I was like you before, or, the more direct answer, I still am like you." He pointed a hoof at me gently. "I never trusted anyone but my sister, and even so, I was hurt...hurt in a way that can't just go away with words, it caused me to develop split personalities, like Iota." He understood far more than I could have guessed, everyone I know who's suffered because of unjust actions only had minor experiences, but Sky...he knew it all too well what it meant to be considered a waste of space "Then I met Ruby, and after years of self-loathing and despair, she became the first person that I opened up to, then Yang, Blake and Weiss too, they all made me who I am, and there isn't a single day that goes by where I begin to regret what choices I made, that simple, yet so painful step into faith, it could have cost me everything, and I was willing, for even just a fraction of time, to take that step." Each word held purpose, a time where he could have been like me and ran behind a veil, but he didn't, he's here because... "Ruby saved you from yourself, even when you felt like you weren't worth saving." Was I wrong the whole time? Did...could I really...I could try. Suddenly, I felt my breath catch in my throat when Sky reached over to hold me close to him, I nearly fell off the bench, but he continued to embrace me fondly, and...I felt my tears break, but I wasn't upset, I felt more than that. "..." "You can be strong. 'Strength' isn't just in power or force of will, its every action or notion you make, what you chose to do holds an impact, and that first step into trusting someone you know with everything will be the hardest choice you make." He pulled back, and I felt my spirit rise a little with a sense of familiarity between us. "That part of me when I met Ruby, he still lives in my soul, I can't rid myself of my fears and doubts, but so long as I'm with those I trust, that will be enough for me to know I made the right move that day." "I...I think I understand, my past...all of it, that doesn't define me, just gives me the starting point of who I want to be." My answer made me smile with Sky, the sudden nightmares I had rilled in my head felt steady now, I could envision them, but they weren't haunting me anymore, that...thing isn't here anymore He patted me on the head, causing my ears to flick at the sensation. "Good, consider this the first step, 'The Truth', but what happens next won't be easy, you'll be constantly doubting choices you make, mostly important ones regarding those around you, but never give in, and hey, if you need someone to talk to, just call me or Ruby from now on, eh?" His smug expression brought me to a new revelation, one that made my wings flutter slightly "Wait...are you-" He didn't let me finish, as he raised a hoof into the air "By the power of Team RWBYS, I and my awesome girlfriend will aid you all in defeating Harbinger!" His sudden cheer finally broke me into a fit of laughter, with Sky following suit quickly "You are the most surreal guy I know." "Tell that to your boyfriend." Sky coyly replied, and my immediate response was - well I mean it was just that - noooo, no, no, no "M-Me and White a-aren't t-t-together!" Not another Yin~! These claims are starting to bother me, probably White too - ugh, no now I'm thinking about him~! All I could do was bury my face in my hooves, whining as he chuckled to himself like a jackal "Ok, sorry, but you were far too easy to mess with, kid." I was once more at the mercy of his petting, which was actually kind of nice, guess this body has different sensory points, and now that the pain inhibitor is lower, this only made my nerves melt at the touch. "Wonder if this works on Ruby..." "Just...don't go for the wings, they can be sensitive," I recommended, the past conversation feeling less like a lecture, and more of a weight gone from my body, I can't begin to understand how difficult Sky's trials with his past must have been, but I'm willing to try if it means I can grow stronger both in this world and IRL, then so be it. I'll grow strong for everyone, White, Klaw, Nox, Silver, Pinkie, Sky, Ruby, Yin and myself, along with my friends who are probably worried about me IRL too. "Sky?" "Hmm?" His lazy reply was met with his gaze to the night sky, and I joined him in watching the stars with an abundance of new thoughts and doubts in my mind "Thank you so much." For now though, I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling happy I had someone I could confide in, when this was all over, I'll talk with White. He's been there for me since this game started, and I really do trust him, maybe...I can find he's another real friend I can trust my life with "Heh, no problem, kid. For now though, let's just watch the stars." To Be Continued... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class] Sky Zaffre - lvl ??? [Offensive class] Ruby Rose - lvl ??? [Offensive class] Current Level: 37 Magic: Shadow/Umbra Seal Items: N/A Author's Note A small, but touching chapter for Rain to finally begin to face her demons, Sky had also suffered through something similar, so he'll be a mentor of some kind to her for the future. And yes, due to time differences, Ruby and Sky will be staying for the remainder of the game, yay! Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter! Next Chapter: Quest - [Worlds Collide: Decommission] Not even past the second day, the town of Hollow Shades begins to change, forcing Team SSRIRN to push towards the cause of the calamity. But along the way, something sinister watches with vengeance. Author's Notes: THANKS FOR GETTING THIS STORY TO 1000 VIEWS, STAY AWESOME~~~!
Quest - [Worlds Collide: Decommission]"Get up. Get up, Get up! Get! Up!" A sudden flurry of air and the solid wood crashing against my muzzle was enough to startle me from my sleep, I had only gotten a little amount due to mine and Sky's...conversation, the whole talk had my mind at ease with a small sensation of anxiety, the thoughts and voices he mentioned were very real, now that image of myself talking back to me in Canternlot makes more sense What didn't was the sudden shaking of...everything? My body trembled with each hoof I placed on the floor, seeing Ruby dart around the room with a flurry of roses in my vision, Nox was adjusting her mask, eyes wider than her mask could allow, Silver was looking out the window, the frame all but broken and twisted by an unseen force that had applied itself like the wood under my shaky hooves. My ears could only make out rock smashing into rock, trees rustling in the harsh winds, and a mixture of Sky's pushy voice behind me. "What...ugh, in Irene's, hurk - name is going on!?" Nox snapped, holding a hoof to her mask, eyes a sickly green with each step she took. Apparently, she had motion sickness. "Why now~?" "We need to move, now!" Sky ushered for us to go towards the open window, and my unsaid question was given an answer from the sheer appearance of the town, now fractured and broken apart into thousands of floating and/or rising chunks of land, with some now resting upside down or at different angles from whatever had affected the once peaceful environment *GROOOOOAN* All of us yelped when the entire inn began to turn towards the right, forcing myself and Sky to fly into the air, himself armored again as he held onto Ruby and Silver, while I linked my hooves under Nox's own, seeing her head spinning slightly. "T-Thanks -- ugh -- Rain." Just don't vomit inside your helmet, please. Flying out with our team, we landed on a floating fixture of land, seeing the inn rotating behind us as the landmass we sat on rose and fell gently in the air "Okay, Sky, what's going on?" Not that I expected him to know, but it was worth a shot in guessing why the world was breaking apart "Worst case scenario, the coding of the area has been tampered with, so the entire town is attempting to reconfigure to the new code added." Okay, his simple answer made a lot more sense than I realized, but that left one problem, making my ears twitch "Harbinger...he must have done this, but why?" It was a skeptical guess and without any real rhyme or reason the world is changing under his thumb, so what could be the reason behind this? Suddenly, Ruby tapped my shoulder, pointing a hoof down the cluster of floating lands "We need to move, if we can make it to the old fortress we talked about we could find answers there." She looked to the rest of us evenly. "If this world is a game, wouldn't there need to be a place an admin can access freely without needing to dig into the game files?" Sky had his hand on his chin, rubbing it. "That's...actually right...heh, any doubters of you being our leader back home can eat their hearts out." That made her blush a little before Sky clicked his fingers. "So, all we need to do is find the fortress." "Ugh...guys?" "Yes/New plan in motion/We must move." Silver agreed as I nodded too, flaring my wings out "Guuuuys~?" I saw Nox waving at us, her hoof pointed upwards. "I'm not a scientist, but if that hits us, what's gonna happen?" All our eyes traveled up towards what looked to be a rocky spear of land currently descending, as warning signals flashed in my head to move, seeing it coming closer to the edge of the island. Yet none of us could go anywhere as no other islands were in view and only two of us could fly. So within seconds, the island was struck with a sharp force, causing the island to flip up over the spear mound and into the open air, flinging us onto separate sections, all of which were affected by the aftershock of those two islands colliding. I groaned, rubbing my muzzle as I felt the island under me and Sky shake, before cracks split the crimson land around us. "Oh, you've got to be kidding..." With a panicked sigh, I felt the metal hand throw me to my feet as we sprinted for our lives The two of us leaped between islands as they were thrown into the air by the shockwave, causing some to fall apart, as a massive slab of rock cut off our route, yet Sky yelled, sprinting with his right arm drawn back, with a sharp punch he broke the top piece off with ease, allowing me to run over the top, with him before me, slicing down any debris that got in our way, I pushed myself into the shadows with <> snaking through the object as I appeared over Sky, running along a piece above him, while I watched him slide under another, kicking out to push a mound into the gap ahead of us, we both jumped from the island to the mound, feeling the rock begin to dip before leaping onto another mass, this one containing several enemies. [Beowolf - lvl 42] [Beowolf - lvl 42] [Beowolf - lvl 42] The three Grimm gnashed their teeth, breaking into feral sprints towards us, but with how unstable the region of islands had gotten we couldn't waste time, so I saw Sky channeling ice and fire into his hands and in doing so gave me a quick idea to do the same with my shadows, my wings pushing me to wrap my legs around his neck, placing my forehooves on his arms, giving the ice and fire a deepen tone of saturation. "Alright then." Sky chuckled, smashing his hands together [Unity Move - Fire-Shadow-Ice Dragon's Anarchy] From his arms sprouted a mass of corrupted blue flames that were so cold their burned the Grimm on contact, freezing and devouring them within their own shadows as we ran past them, not bothering to finish them off as we burst through the tree line and onto the edge of an island beginning to fall apart from under us, while the rest were already across, looking terrified for both of us. "Oh my God." Sky gulped, the two of us sharing an equal look of fear, his still hidden under his helmet "RUN!" We screamed, dashing across the now collapsing space of rock, trees, and buildings From under my hooves struck the lack of ground, my hooves flying over the increasingly widening gaps, as Sky slid over the top of a mound and onto an elevated chunk, while I jumped from the one he was on to another, pushing my body off it with my back hooves and wings. Quickly, I felt a hand grasp my hoof as Sky readied his bladed right arm as he pulled me up onto his back as he jumped over the final gap, plunging the blade deep into stone through the earth, feeling his body slip ever-so-slightly as I winced at the sight of the rock crashing into the wasteland below. "Sky?" I whimpered, while he himself panted, using his sharp nails to claw up the cliff-face "That...was the worst wake-up call...ever...of all time." With a final heave, we sat atop the stable mound of ground, having Silver, Ruby, and Nox greet us with concern, but ultimately relief. "Hey, Rubes, you okay?" She sighed. "I've been better, you?" Sky shrugged "Just another day under my belt." "And another strand of white hair to my name." I coughed, seeing that the rest of the floating islands had settled. "Come on, we should find that fortress before something else happens." "Agreed." Nox gulped, looking far less dizzy now that the area had stabilized, but that didn't stop her from glaring at us. "Mention this to anyone and I'll have your heads." "Mention what to anyone?" Sky absentmindedly replied, making Nox snort and turn back to the rocky pathway created before us. Given how the last few days have flown in, it almost feels as though this whole ordeal could collapse at any moment if people from other universes are being dragged into this game, what could happen in weeks or months? Would MLP: Actualization Online even be considered a game by that point? Let alone a Death Game? People would die and still are, the world is changing the more control Harbinger gains...I don't know if we can beat this, especially if Harbinger changes the game. With that slither of doubt, I remembered that White felt the same, I think we all do in our own way, but that might be why we're still trying because if we did give into that fear, Harbinger wins. With a smile, I pressed onwards, every step meant a lot, it said I was still alive, that I'll never take for granted again. "Rain, hold up." I stopped when Sky stepped in beside me, seeing him eye the surrounding area with his eyes narrowed before they widened with surprise laced into the optic helmet. "Is that who I think it is?" His head was raised to one of the floating islands to the upper left "Sky, what are you doing?" Ruby questioned with a hurried tone on her face, but Silver looked on as Sky did with that same expression of seriousness "No/Death from above/Very bad." With a hoof raised high, all our eyes turned towards...what the? Standing with white talons sunk into the edge of a rock formation, draped in black cloth that was tattered and burned with white streaks of what almost resembled rose petals, sat a hooded creature holding the massive arch of a mirror scythe where the sun had been reflecting from, raised high above the body of the creature "I-Is that...!" Ruby gawked at the sight, with my eyes finally adjusting to the tag floating above its head, crimson eyes narrowed towards us, more specifically, Sky with malice and a hungry growl [Morana, Horseman of Death - lvl ???] "Everyone, get out of here!" I couldn't begin to comprehend the unrealistically high level of the monster, one that not only stood like a human, but Sky and Ruby know it. But before long Ruby had grabbed my hoof and pulled me along with the rest, leaving me to see the creature reel its head back *SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH* Ears rang from the blood-curdling scream that decimated the once stable rock that we once sat on, a sonic blast from the monster's vocal cords throwing rock and grass everywhere, but Sky was thankfully alive, merely floating with his wings outstretched, arms rising to his chest. Whatever this was, Sky could obviously handle it, I know he could seeing as Ruby held no worry over leaving him to handle the fight, say for a small look back with concern. "Sky...good luck," Ruby whispered softly, and he merely raised to fingers in a peace sign "I'm counting on you, Rubes!" That was the last thing I heard as we descended into the floating fortress [User: Sky Zaffre] "Let's end this hunt, eh, Morana?" "I agree...." His voice snarled through the clouds, whilst my visor was engulfed in a hue of white for a few seconds, the sounds of the floating rocks below fading out, as I finally broke through the clouds, and into the troposphere, far higher than I believe any player has gone so far We both flew up gently, drowning out the noise of the world beneath our feet by the sharp wind, the clouds hung overhead, covering us in a gloomy sky in the pocket of open air. It was completely silent, only my breathing was making sound, other than my own hands rising, the blades on my gauntlets ready as the metal gently tapped against one-another. Meanwhile, Morana raised his own weapon from under his cloak, allowing me to see the serrated feathers underneath, the body was scarred and burned from all the fights we've endured, how and why he was here didn't matter, not anymore. My gaze followed the dimensional blade, its black spine hanging in both his hands, his own fists tightening against the spine, whilst the near-white blade glowed brilliantly, even in the dim sky. "You know I've beaten creatures stronger than the Horsemen now, Tabus and Una managed to change, so I'll give you that same chance." I raised my arms in preparation. "Stand down and leave." At first, neither of us moved an inch, our eyes competing for the other to make a move, even under my helmet, it was like he was staring right back, daring me to blink, twitch, strain, anything to give him a reason to move. From his silence, I doubt he wanted that now. Good, neither did I. ... ... Morana's eyes glowed under his plague doctor mask, before he flew to cover the gap between us in seconds, his scythe swung in a large arc from his right, but with a quick, fluid motion I spun the other way, the blade clipping the sides of my arms. Mid-spin, I brought my right arm down diagonally from left to right, slicing a piece of Morana's hood. Ascending, I flew past Morana's face, before the Grimm gave chase, thrusting his wings harder, before I turned, swinging my left arm down, blocking the scythe's strike, then guarding my face, blocking Morana's clean left-cross, knocking both of us back, before we continued to fly at into each other, our strikes clanking in the air, dispersing the clouds in the area from the shockwaves. I flew towards the exposed Morana, swinging my right arm down, striking the handle of the scythe, which was followed closely by a downward slash from my left, I turned my back towards Morana, spun in a helix, dragging the blades up diagonally to the right. Morana was struck, but his talons reached out, grabbing my shoulders and throwing me upside-down, and striking in a horizontal arc, causing my nerves to flare, a grunt leaving my throat as I felt the blade ripple and vibrate in my stomach. Morana was frozen in place by this, so I did a barrel-roll, axe-kicking Morana across the jaw from the right, throwing his stance completely off, whilst I took a few feet backward to clear the space. When I looked, Morana was staring at his weapon, then at me, and I just chuckled once, tapping my right blade against the left arm where Cognitum would sit previously. "A lot's happened since our battle at Haven, I am as one with Cognitum as it is with me." I replied, motioning for him to attack. "Come and get me, birdy." *Screech* With a sudden backflip, I avoided the sonic wave with a 3600 flip, yet my muscles tensed with my wide eyes when Morana tackled me, his talons latching around my waist, pushing us through a cumulus, breaching the other end with the sun above our heads, blinding us both. Taking this opportunity, I twisted my waist, throwing my body out of his talons, locking both my legs around his head, throwing the Grimm under me, allowing my vision to adjust. When I looked down, Morana's shadow shot past me, his both craning down with the scythe like a buzz-saw between his arms so I skated the blade away from me and into the open air instead. Recovering, we turned to face one-another, striking out again, only to have the force of our blades knock each other back again, thrusting up I locked with Morana as our bodies spun slowly, my wings stabilizing me against the force Morana applied to his scythe. My right arm free, I brought the blade down in a vertical arc, striking Morana's chest, while Morana's claws dug into my abdomen, throwing me off his blade as the two of us went into a staring contest again. Breaking the seconds of silence, we locked blades again, forcing sparks to fly from the friction as our gazes hardened, our heads close to clashing from how much strain we forced against each other's weapons. The two of us threw our guards, myself bringing them down on the scythe head again, and again, before Morana kicked out with his foot, throwing me into an uncontrolled flip. Regaining control I pushed back to slow my descent, charging fire dust into my right blade, the highlights beginning to hum with a bright red aura as I flew towards Morana with a war-cry. Yet he was ready, Morana raised his scythe to his left shoulder, his hands tightening around the twisted spine. Then, he brought the scythe down on my own vertebrae with a single swing of the blade. While I watched the red shards rain before my eyes as I saw the 'Paralysis' debuff under my health, which came close to the amber now. Thus kindly. You shatter I grinned slightly, feeling the debuff begin to wear thin already as I fell beneath the clouds, guess it was a small effect of his scythe, but the Morana I fought now...it wasn't him. Rising back up to meet him, I saw his own gaze widen at the sight of me ascending without so much as a twitch in my movement, say for my right hand, but that was a personal injury. "The Morana I fought hit way harder, had a more ideal purpose in a hunt. You?" I flew in from below his feet and before his eyes, himself caught off guard completely. "You are no hunter." I swung my left blade in a horizontal arc, my body flying past Morana's attempt to block it, the blade sinking into the Grimm's chest with a thin line of ice. I then swung back in a diagonal arc to his left, spinning past Morana, before bringing my left arm down again through Morana's back. Morana lashed out with his scythe, the blade breezing over my head, before I lurched up, dragging the left blade across Morana's chest again. [Sword Skill - Arctic Vector] The result was the four strikes erupting from their points of impact, the ice shattering among the open skies, causing Morana to stumble in the air, the numbing of the ice beginning to freeze his movements, whilst the black mist slowly leaked from the wounds. Taking the finite opportunity, I generated the dust into my right gauntlet, its outline now a crystal clear purple. One horizontal strike to Morana's stomach, followed by the same arm crossing from left to right, before I twisted my arm back, bringing it up diagonally to the left, before inverting its ascent, dragging it down roughly, the same eruption of dust catching in Morana's scream, the electricity rippling his body at my call. [Sword Skill - Stormcaller's Retalliation] I felt my muscles scream to stop, with my stamina slowly beginning to fade, but I pushed it all aside as I pulled my left arm back, thrusting the blade through the left side of Morana's chest, pulling down with my elbow then flying upwards, tearing the blade through his chest and straight through Morana's shoulder, spraying black mist into the clear skies. With a final cry, I pulled his right arm back, the red dust resonating once more as I came barreling towards Morana, the blade piercing Morana's chest with a sharp ring of red light as his screams were drowned out by the flames that consumed him. Pulling back, I pressed my feet to Morana and shoved him down below the clouds, hearing nothing but the soft breeze as the clouds released the waves of red, yellow, white and black colors. Alone in the air, I felt my lungs burn with each lungful of air, coughing as I did so. "That...was too close..." A tab opened up before me Reward! New Skill Unlocked [Kindly Scattered] A single, powerful horizontal move capable of bleed, stun, and darkness "Well...that's interesting." The thought of the skill gave me a strange chill for some reason "It was terrifying how similar he was to the real Morana." Iota was right, but as I dusted my hands off, I watched as a potion was absorbed by my armor, closing up the wounds under my armor "Hmph, doesn't matter now." Suddenly, a large boom echoed around us, coming from far below our current position. "Shit, Penny, Iota, you two ready?" "Always." "Combat ready!" With that I folded my wings I fell from the sky To Be Continued... Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class] Sky Zaffre - lvl 68 [Offensive class] Ruby Rose - lvl 65 [Offensive class] Current Level: 68 Magic: N/A Items: New Skill Available! New Skills [Sword Skill - Arctic Vector] - A Horizontal or Verticle square of ice fissures [Sword Skill - Stormcaller's Retribution] - A lightning embedded attack with several wide arcs [Unity Move - Fire-Ice-Shadow Dragon's Anarchy] - A unity of Ice and Fire and shadow, capable of massive elemental damage Author's Note I'll be real, this Feathered Grimm has a persistent track record, doubt he'll be back after that. I thought I'd publish this since I've made you all wait so long, and I had the day off so why not? Hope you enjoyed this air combat, seeya in the next chapter if and when I write it! Next Chapter: ??!!?!_?/* - [E_R@R] System Error Detected///Patch Code_142 Analyized///Warning: Malware Threat High. Terra Generation Unstable. Authors Notes: Just scratching over 100,000 words, I am both proud of this and depressed that I have written this many words about magical talking ponies, yeah...life well spent!
??!!?!_?/* - [E_R@R]??!!?!_?/* - [E_R@R] "Duck!" I did, seeing the high-caliber round sail over my mane and embedding itself into a Grimm, killing it as I retrieved my Bo-Staff from the one beneath me, its body vanishing into color Ahead was Nox, enhanced by Silver who kept up the support behind her, all the while Grimm attempted to attack him, Nox would leap over his back, striking the Beowolves back with an <>, seems light or divine magic can severely damage the Grimm, making out jobs easier as we cleared another hallway. Our HP still among the green. "You know, for high-level monsters," Nox shoved one out the wall and into the sky below. "They're not that bright." "Still, don't underestimate them," I looked to Ruby, seeing her guide a hoof over her map with a stern expression, completely unlike her innocent look from before."Even simple Grimm are deadly, please don't take this lightly." Nox shrugged. "Alright-Alright, you're the expert and all that." I trotted over to Ruby, following her as we all proceeded down the hallway The four of us slowly crept into the large Shrine, stepping onto the velvet carpet, which now sat on a semi-complete maze. The walls were still like the Shrine, grey stone, with blue windows, yet the floors and ceiling were a smooth, black metal, with cubic patterns jutting out from the ceiling and floor like stalagmites, strange "That's...unsettling." I gulped, hearing the temple rumble from within. "Where to, Ruby?" Due to her experience in the area before the change, it was better if we followed Ruby, so we didn't run into any traps or Grimm along the way. The whole Shrine looked to be segmented by the separation of the land, leaving onto the central piece we sat in intact, it had the hallway before us, several hallways leading elsewhere, yet from the looks of things, taking the middle path would bring us to the next area. The final area that looked a little larger than the others. "You see, although this metal's infected the area, the map hasn't changed in the slightest, expect the room straight ahead." She pointed past the crossroads to a medium-sized room. "This used to be the part that took up the majority of the area, now its the room past it." "Let's move." Silver spoke up, leading the way as we followed after him, while I activated one of my skills <>, so my perception was raised for any unexpected attacks. We turned to the right, bending around a pillar as we came before a large door to the next room, yet it was wide open, and no sign of monsters inside, other than three shadowy spots on the ground, leaking miasma everywhere "The room is empty/Three dark spots/Traps ahead." Silver rolled his eyes dully, seeing the vacant room ahead. Meanwhile, Nox looked as though she saw a ghost in the back of the massive chamber, around the large pillar we stood behind "Hey...was there a Named Enemy in here before?" Nox asked Ruby nervously, the Huntress turned to look at her with a neutral expression as I surveyed the area a little more, glancing back at Ruby's map for a moment "A massive, Alpha Beowolf would guard a chest, it's how me and Sky leveled up and got used to these bodies, why?" Ruby relayed, seeing Nox peaking around a pillar to where she said it would be, just as Nox's magic forced my head to turn in the same direction "Oh, so was that it?" Nox pointed with a stiff form, her eyes curved up with worry. We all had our eyes to the corner of the left-hand side, seeing something that made a cold chill run along my spine as I became fixated on the spot. The massive Grimm was no more, leaving only an empty chest of crimson and gold Yet it wasn't just that, across the right-hand side of the wall, red code was stained across the walls like blood, all bugging, and jittering in place, with a white patch the size of a plane ripping through the corner of the wall, leaving only an empty spot among the distorted code. My blood ran cold at that sight, even Ruby gaped as we stared into the empty abyss left behind by something completely unimaginable. "What happened?" I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat again as the black smogs circled the section, leaving investigation out of the question "I don't think all this black metal and code is here for show, what I do think...we are not alone in this strange place." Ruby's reply made a cold chill run up our spines, so she nudged me, snapping back to my senses when she pointed ahead. "Let's move while they wander aimlessly." "R-Right." Proceeding across the hall, avoiding the black smogs that slid across the hall, none of us dared to question what we witnessed so long as we had this problem to solve. But even as I closed the large doors behind us, I couldn't help but feel anxious, I wish White was here, atleast to give some form of logic to any of this. My hooves pushed against the door for a moment as I shook my head. "White's my best friend, I trust him, he trusts me too, I can do this!" With my own pep-talk, I ran to catch up with the rest nearing the next open sector. "Holy...mother of God!" I was winded by the sight ahead of us We now all viewed a massive, grand hall, torn flags still hanging from the arches, with broken glass windows, and more black metal cubes. But following the velvet carpet was a small army of Beowolves, yet their claws and teeth were a purplish tint, with hollow, white eyes instead of the glowing crimson my mind had adjusted too, now a glowing trail of white dripping from their sockets. "Twenty-Two...Four...Seven over there...oh, and the one to the left...y-yeah there's about fifty monsters between us and the door." Ruby counted out, swinging her scythe around in his hoof with a strange amount of glee, the scythe nearly hitting me as I looked through my stats, humming in thought "We might not even need buffs yet, so long as we keep on our toes." I murmured, not seeing the slow preparation Ruby was caught into, her body shivering with untold excitement. "Ruby, why are you...peppy?" "Because these guys are so weak, it's gonna be awesome!" She squealed, leaving myself, Nox and Silver to look at one-another. I mean, she's not wrong, we've gained levels since entering this place so we're all 40 now. Nox then gave an inquisitive brow "Weren't you the one who said not to underestimate them?" Her blunt tone did nothing to stop the grinning pegasus from raising her scythe high "Sky never told you," She was gone in a burst of roses, her body appearing high above the crowd of changed Grimm. "I never miss out on a fight!" The first five Grimm were severed from their legs as the streak of red parted through, Ruby's hooves sliding to a halt with the scythe under her forehooves, a grin plastered on her face with a cunning stare towards the army before us, and in a strange way, this was making my wings quiver with excitement over this gank fight, something I've missed in the last few days. "Come on, let's fight!" I screamed, seeing Silver had already started sprinting with Nox in-toe Atleast twelve of the Grimm leaped forward, their claws a dark purple, all attacking from different angles, while some separated, and others grouped together to take on Silver and Nox, myself, and Ruby, the former two who had already sliced two down with twin thrusts through the head. Ruby, contrarily held her ground, channeling an ice-blue light through her war scythe, holding the scythe down near her back right leg. "Ooooh, Ruby's gonna do the thing!" I heard Nox gush like a fangirl as Silver blocked a set of claws from striking her distracted partner. "Hey, no interrupting me!" "Here we go!" Ruby cheered, chanting the sword skill to us all <---Sacred Skill - Boundless Dance of Roses---> Untapped light quickly blinded every enemy in the area of the sword skill's effect, as I rubbed my eyes for a moment, only for them to widen at the sight of a whirlwind of hardlight versions of Ruby's scythe. Ruby spun her scythe around to point the tip down, with a quick plunge into the ground, the phantom scythes scattered like rose petals, the trails of ice-blue slicing and puncturing the horde of enemies in a moment of pure light, almost like stars in the night sky. *Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter-Shatter* "I get it now, she's using brute strength to quickly thin their numbers, we've only got about thirty left." I realized as I ducked, avoiding the dogpile from behind as I cracked my bo-staff into the lower jaw of the Grimm, a Scourge missed striking me with my guard down, and it was joined by two others to my left and back Narrowing my eyes at them all, I threw my bo-staff into the air, high-kicking the one to my right, grabbing my bo-staff out of the air to pierce the sharp end clean through the chest of the Scourge to my left, pulling diagonally to my left, and sweeping the second off its feet, spinning my staff around to quickly slit the throat of the downed Scourge. With an effortless fall to my knees, the Scourge I punctured from before missed another <>, ending with my wings pushing up quickly, drop-kicking the Grimm in the chest, giving me the space to spin atop my forehooves, pushing back up into the air while kicking my staff through the side of the Grimm's neck and out the other end. *Shatter-Shatter-Shatter* [Sword Skill - Stop Rewind] A Sky-Blue glow was cast upon my staff. Like a puppet I was pulled to the nearest Grimm, slicing diagonally across its abdomen, spinning around to pull the sharp staff back across, hurdling the spiked-tip through two more throats, ending with the staff sinking clean into the Grimm's mouth again, the three erupting into streams of color around me. I then felt my ears ring with the chime of a clock's hands, reality turning back the clock, my same stream of attacks thrown the opposite way, crushing and decapitating two more Grimm under me, yet one managed to strike my side in the process. I managed to parry another Grimm's jaw from biting me with acrobatic finesse. A vertical lunge sliced the next through the eye, followed by a clean, diagonal thrust to my right, sinking my staff through the collarbone of the blindsided Grimm, the same vertical draw sliced the head clean off its shoulders. *Shatter-Shatter-Shatter* Landing steadily to my hooves, I felt my breath catch in my throat as I dusted myself off, closing the loot tabs with a weak smile towards the ground, flopping back onto my haunches. "Nailed it." I breathed, deciding to rest as the others took care of their groups Sliding under the belly of a Grimm, a burst of arcs from the skill residing in Nox's halberd blasted the group apart, Nox held the green skill constant, pushing up with her feet to cross her blade with the Scourge diagonally, followed by the same diagonal motion from the right, severing its arm. Nox then followed with the reverse, spinning to slice the second arm off, followed by a powerful inclining slant to the right, splitting the Grimm above the waist. Her final move collected the winds replicated by her own speed, and with a hoof-strike to the Grimm, it too shattered, its body bursting with light from under its black hide. Nox felt her ears perk as I went to call out to her about the Grimm behind her, yet two thin, silver lines cut the beast down as Silver landed next to her, eyes wide as she saw it and six more fall before her hooves and my eyes. With a roll of her mechanical eyes, she shrugged "Show off." "Back/At/You." Silver booped her nose, causing the Tomboy's eyes to turn a sharp pink as she muttered under her breath Our eyes all drifted back to Ruby, who effortlessly skated under more of the mutated Grimm's attacks with her wings, their levels far too low to harm her form, all while the crook of her scythe tore open their stomachs as she passed with a lateral swing, leaving only a cascade of colors in her wake. The final horde of twelve all ran from the end of the hall, a final cry of defiance against the intruders that dared to slaughter their kind; To them, it was a demon, an inhuman monster of indomitable strength, with a raise of her scythe, her breathing became still as she kept her eyes glued to the remaining Grimm. Three charged from the back, two at her left and right, the final seven raising their claws in different shades of colors before her eyes, their illumination reflecting off the light that crept from the windows. In contrast, Ruby channeled a single, light blue tone to her crimson scythe. [Sword Skill - Horizontal] In a single, fell swoop of a light blue line of light, Ruby leapt into the air, twisting her body to swing her right hoof, the scythe flashing through the air, severing all twelve of their heads off in a single blow, the sudden crash of their bodies falling around her feet, and sudden flash of blue light lingered. The contact they made to the floor on impact brushed through Ruby's mane as she collapsed her scythe, placing it back on her side with a smile. Meanwhile, my jaw hung open, Nox was staring blankly, while Silver dropped his twin daggers. "I think I'm got Grimm in my nose...aaACHOO!" Stumbling back slightly, Ruby rubbed her muzzle as we approached her, moving past the stunning display of skill she possessed, all the while Nox tried to keep her cool over the spectacular finish "So....awesome...!" Nox whispered, making Ruby blush with a giggle "You did just as good as me too." Her praise made that feeling of being outclassed vanish, most players of her level would usually boast and ask for praise, but Ruby and Sky were like White and the others, they were happy just to work together, and that's all I could ask for, its why we've made this far. "But still, now we have one more fight ahead." All eyes moved towards the flight of stairs we stood before, the velvet carpet leading towards the open door that light broke through, and the sudden shake of the Shrine only made the fact of defeat weigh heavier on us now more than ever. "Okay...Here goes nothing." I breathed, feeling my heart beat faster as I looked at my friends with as much courage as I could gather, it was clear we had no idea what waited for us, but we needed to believe we can come out on top. "This is it, I wish we had more time, time to gather more players or our friends, but right we don't have that, who knows could happen if we decide to run at a time like this." I stepped up to look over all of them with a warm gaze. "The world doesn't know of what's happened, and they may never will, that's why we are the only ones who can do something here and now to prevent the same calamity from happening to this world." I stopped, looking up at the gateway ahead. "I don't care what lies ahead, I'm scared, I've never done this without having someone else to lead, and I don't know if I'm even worthy to lead any of you." They looked at me with that pity again, but I remembered what Sky told me, what he guided me towards, so I held onto that as best I could now. "That's why I won't lead you, I'll fight beside you as a partner, an ally who can give her strength to your own. I'll live for the innocent lives of this world because that's what the people who died before wanted us to do, to live!" With a chuckle, Nox stepped up to pat my shoulder. "We'd have followed you anyways, Rain, don't think we're ones to back down now." Silver stepped up too, stuttering as he did. "Together a-as f-f-friends." Ruby was the last, giving me a small, reassuring smile. "I remember always being unsure of myself, but what having friends are for, to help you see past your doubts and become who you want to be, so we'll do the same, we'll fight to live for this world too, me and Sky." "Okay...let's get ready to do this!" I turned around with a determined smile plastered on my face, stepping up the flight before us. "Ruby, Nox, Sliver...we're going to save the world." "Heh, now you're sounding a lot like White." Nox mused, jumping up to walk beside me. "I like that, now I'm fired up!" "Aye." Silver nodded, and Ruby joined beside him "Let's go, Team SSRIRN~!" For a short moment, the four quickly activated their buffs, respectively, Silver's boosted their strength, speed, and giving them <> for extra health, whilst Ruby activated <> for resistance against kinetic attacks. Nox had given herself a health boost too, myself I boosted us with <> to increase evasion, and <> improving our skill activation by double. The party of four players, friends against what came next stood at the gateway, their weapons at the ready. months since the Death Game began, and their courage mingled with dread upon entering the gateway's arch, this was a battle for an undecided outcome and against an unknown enemy. It was a massive hallway that leads to a circular platform up a flight of stairs, where the roof had caved in, and what was once a tree had become like some of the other spots around them, cubic, and black metal, the tree was now a spire of black into the ceiling above, although patches of grass still grew, and the sunlight basked the area with light, as well as through the remains of windows, say for the back wall, that fell apart to reveal the outside world below them, from how the wind howled, we were extremely high up now. Moving up the stairs we came to the sight of...nothing? Just six large pillars of carved stone, the open air ahead and that was it, no boss in sight. If not for these ears, I'd have hoped the case was true. My head snapped to the stairs behind us, in a nano-second, a large shadow flew over us, pushing us forward as the massive, black creature spun in the air, fanning its wings out high to give us a full view of the guardian of the shrine. It was a large, black dragon with see-through crimson wings held between long, black spines tipped with white spikes. It's back was covered with long spikes too, leading down to the forked tail, this underbelly held an exposed ribcage, acting as armor on its smooth, scaleless body. Its powerful limbs smashed into the ground, shaking the foundations as the claws dug into the stone. The long neck reached up to view us with five horns protruding from its skull, the lower jaw black with sharp details, two eyes of crimson stared back with a low growl as flames licked against its forked tongue. Then it raised its head, the wings attached to its own pair of arms, revealing it to have six powerful legs total. *ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!!!* ---~[Calamintas, The Black Eclipse - lvl ???]~--- "I-It's -- no way!?" Nox choked out, her hooves shuffling back as I felt my heart plummet to depths I never felt before in my soul, the very crimson eyes of this dragon were nightmarish to stare into, the level was unreadable and even if it were visible the sheer power behind it all was haunting to behold "W-What...can..." I couldn't even muster a single word from my throat as the eyes narrowed towards us, the head raised high as I felt my hooves kick into overdrive, my blood flowing to the point it boiled as I threw myself atop Ruby, with Silver doing the same to Nox. "GET DOWN!" From the bowels of Calamitas sprung a torrent of orange flames, passing over our heads with searing heat, crashing into the wall with a blast of heat. When the fire ceased, we all scrambled to our feet, dividing as the forked tail cracked the stone where I once stood, before the body of Calamitas spun in the air, sweeping the entire area with its tail and knocking me into the air, luckily I planted my feet on the far wall, pushing back to avoid the claws of the dragon scoring the wall as I flapped it's massive wings around, slamming back into the ground as we rotated to where it once stood. Suddenly, Ruby fired off several shots aimed for the head of Calamitas, yet the rounds merely made it angry as it roared again, stomping with its armed wings, it flew into the air before crashing down before us, splitting the stone and throwing us across the platform with shards of stone and slab. Yet even that was followed by a single charged blast of fire sinking clean into the ground between its legs, the fire erupted, splitting into three smaller blasts that pushed us closer to the edge of the cliff-face, the wind mingled with hot and cold as we panted for our breathes, eyes like pinpricks before Calamitas. "Crap! Rain we're out of room here!" Nox yelled over the wind, while I felt many thoughts cloud any sense of judgment in my head, it hurt and I felt as though my mind was splitting into pieces "I...I don't know --" Calamitas turned its head away from us, making my breath snag in my throat as to why it would do that. Was it going to send us flying over the edge with a tail swipe? No...something is...that's it! "Ruby...does Sky have a skill called, 'Revenge'?" "Umm, I think he mentioned it before, but why?" She asked warily before I felt my eyes adjust to something shining past the wings of Calamitas, forcing me to wrap Ruby with my wing as I pulled her away from the edge. "W-What --!" "We need to move, now!" I ordered briefly as they followed me around the ring, just as something sharp shot from the gateway and straight into Calamitas' head with a crack, followed by a right hook to the left jaw, then a backflip to smash a foot against the dragon's lower jaw, making it scream aloud as it moved around the ring and back to the open wall in the far back as we came back to where we started, seeing the black and blue form land before us, filling me with relief as the eyes looked back at us. "Sky!" He snickered at that. "Sorry for the Ex Machina entrance, this place is a pain to navigate without your map out." Sky replied with a peace sign, turning with his blades jutting from his gauntlets. "How you all holding up?" "Ow." Silver groaned, rubbing his mane shakily "Fair enough, any plan as to how we take him down?" Sky motioned for us to respond, Calamitas watching with a low growl towards the agro Sky had placed on himself A plan? I closed my eyes, trying my best to think of something White would do in this situation. He always found some way of knowing how a boss ticked, an enemy weakness of some kind. How did he do it? Why did he know exactly how to beat an enemy? "Hey, White, I was wondering," I asked curiously as my mouth played with the straw between my lips. "How is it you can predict an enemy's movements?" Said player I'd only known for two weeks looked at me with his usual, neutral expression, a brow raised in thought. "It's not that I can predict them, it's how I'm used to knowing the ins-and-outs of the fight overtime." "Huh?" I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant, so he placed his drink down to look at me directly "A Boss, for example, has three weaknesses off the bat." He began to explain to me. "One, what their element is, if it's a boss with high armor and uses fire; things like slash and fire will not work. Two, any information people have given about the enemy after they have beaten it or from side-quests related to the boss. And Three, it's the environment, sometimes a boss can't be beaten by regular attacks, so sometimes you have to use the environment to win." My thought cleared and my heart raced back to my chest once more as I stared at them all evenly. Thank you, White. "The environment, we'll use it against the boss!" "Explain," Sky asked, the stomps of Calamitas beginning to grow near. "And fast." I did, looking to Ruby and Silver "Silver, you buff or heal us if we require it, Ruby, you protect him from any of the boss' AOE attacks." I relayed, seeing Ruby salute and Silver nod, the two backed off towards the staircase. Then my gaze fell to Nox just as quickly as I pointed to her left. "You and I will take down the six pillars, while Sky distracts the boss for as long as he can -- er, if that's okay with you, Sky?" He gave a thumbs up. "Got it, nice plan, so let's see it through!" He soon flew into the air again, while Nox ran to the left of the platform, leaving me to cover the right side, all while Sky raised into the air to face the dragon again. "Ante up." [User: ???] The flames licked Calamitas' tongue, a surge of fire breached its mouth as the flames struck Sky, yet he raised his palms that were laced in an arctic mist [Frozen Seal - Cold Snap] The torrent soon parted between Sky, the cloud of snow creating a thin tunnel of cold air, forcing the fires to rise or extinguish on contact, yet Sky felt a sharp pain flare from his stomach, followed by his back slamming into a nearby wall, the black tail sweeping through the mist as he watched his health decrease, quickly, Sky pushed up hard with his wings, avoiding Calamitas as he barreled into the wall with his claws sunk deep in the stone, followed by a winged arm smashing above its head, narrowly missing Sky as he sliced the leather wing, retreating to fall behind the dragon. Yet Calamitas craned its neck around, blasting the sky with three fire charges, which erupted into nine, throwing Sky down onto the ground, his feet shaking across the slabs as he grunted, seeing his health rise slowly from the warmth of a green aura around him, silently thanking Silver as he stared up at the beast, the legs slamming back onto the ground to snarl at him, the wings flapping so hard the wind became darker from the mist leaking off the left wing. "Iota. Penny. Go help Rain and Nox, I'll handle this myself." Sky ordered, seeing his aura flash white and green, without a moment of hesitation, a white unicorn wielding a metal bow, with blue highlights in his mane ran towards Rain. While a green earth pony ran for Nox, her blue eyes winking back to Sky. "Okay, big, dumb, and ugly, come and get me!" Meanwhile, Rain continued to hack away at the first pillar on her own, sweat forming on her brow as she felt her legs strain with each hit, yet to her luck, several arrows pierced the weakened cracks, causing the whole lower half of the pillar to groan and crack as the entirety of the middle section fell apart before her eyes, when she turned to look for the attacker, she found the white unicorn standing before her, levitating a bow above his head. "Smart, using agro to keep the monster busy while the rest of us handle support and alternative motives," He commented in a cold, almost cynical voice. "Yet it's taken you both this long to destroy pieces of rock?" [Iota - lvl ???] "Wait, you have an actual body!?" Rain freaked out, making him groan for a moment, before he motioned to the other pillars, and to the collapsed form of Nox's, with Penny maneuvering her seven swords around the collapsed structure. "Who is that?" "Are you going to continue to lose focus or are you going to help us win?" Iota muttered, making her wince as she picked up her bo-staff and ran for the second pillar, with Iota following suit "Also, you can stand to lose the attitude, not my fault that these pillars have high health bars too." Rain glared at the blank expression on Iota's face, to which he merely rolled his eyes, drawing back the bow again "Much like Red, you are annoying at best." "Look who's talking." Rain muttered, slamming the staff into the pillar Sky, on the other hand, slid under the dragon, slicing straight down its midsection as the back leg nearly crushed him as he fled. He shot up into the air, kicking the claw away from his before ducking under a torrent of flames, using this to fire several <> into the hanging jaw of Calamitas, extinguishing the lingering flames dripping from between his teeth. Calamitas charged towards him, slamming its winged arms into the ground to uproot the stone, yet Sky flipped into the air and straight over the stone, slicing diagonally across the right leg, landing on his feet he turned to thrust his blade into the muscle and flew up, dragging two parallel lines through the elbow and across the wing bone. The head snapped around to bite at his leg, Sky turned, pressing his feet against the snout and backflipped over the horns of Calamitas, slicing clean through two of the protrusions. Earning the advantage, Sky raised his arms high, their blades coating in a thick shade of purple. [Sword Skill - Dragon Cry] Without a notion of hesitation, the black knight became a literal pinprick of light across Calamitas, who swung haphazardly in the air in fury as a multitude of strokes and lacerations carved deep into its flesh, spraying code and mist around them as the purple trail continued to slice in X-Formations and circular motions through-out the dragon's scaleless form. Ending with a large eruption of purple energy pushed against its skull, enough to shatter the left side as it screamed in agony, firing several blasts of fire to prevent Sky from proceeding further. Yet something glimmer under the black mist directly before Calamitas' eyes, it was a dim, almost transparent glow. Calamitas' eyes narrowed with a snort of flames, a collection of embers consensing within his throat, mingling with the sacs that gave birth to the flames. In a flash of sharp light, blinding everyone who witnessed the attack, Calamitas fired a concentrated beam of plasma from his maw, cutting through the air, before erupting into a gargantuan wall of purple flames that melted the stone at his feet. "SKY!" Ruby screamed in horror, unable to see if his shadow lingered among the flames that blew in the breeze. Silver stood there trying to shake her out of her trance, but the veteran huntress didn't move, instead, she closed her eyes, silently praying for something to happen. "...Please be okay, I know you...I know you'll be okay." From the roaring sea of flames, something began to stir the flow of embers into a riptide, as embers of white leaked from the wall. Calamitas didn't notice this, his legs turning towards the unprepared Ruby and Silver with a hungry growl, the claws sinking clean into the stone as it licked its fangs. Ruby finally opened her eyes, her voice catching in her stomach as the strong scent of ash filled her nose, the snout of the dragon directly before the two ponies that watched with paralyzing fear, the only sound made was the low grumble from within the jaws of the twisted Ancient Grimm Dragon. "Hey, dragon, ever heard of the shoulder touch?" The voice asked from behind Ruby's shoulder, Silver had already noticed this since his eyes were wider than plates and his jaw was completely unhinged at the sight. Ruby smiled warmly when she felt the hand ruffle her mane, her silver eyes meeting the blazing white embers that licked Sky's metal frame Calamitas didn't move as the hand pat his right cheek, the blade grazing his skin with a flame that brought discomfort to the dragon, with a single phrase, Sky narrowed his brilliant, purple eyes from within the armor. "Hey." <---Sacred Skill - Kindly Scattered---> A mere flash of white and blue light extinguished the firewall, and left a single, smooth streak through the middle of Calamitas, Sky standing just at the end of his tail before turning to watch as the area turned red, a black form of Calamitas sliced and torn by dozens of white lines that forced it to its stomach, the flash of white lines causing the body to convulse in agony. In that split second, the atmosphere returned, and the shattered form of Calamitas struggled to its claws again, the multitude of bleeding wounds, the sparks of lighting and the shadowy aura that surrounded the Boss only made the dragon sway more as it stood again. To all their hopeful eyes, their expressions were shattered into dread when the scaleless dragon began to glow with a threatening red aura, eyes trailing a shade of red as it slowly lumbered around to face Sky, while sections of its body began to hum with the same menacing glow, the claws dipped in red as the jaws widened to released a massive wave of red flames to smolder the ground under Sky, yet he didn't budge as the flames kept the others from aiding him, even with only one pillar remaining, since the floor under Sky swayed, a pieces of the brick began to fall from under his foot. *ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRR* "I need to give Rain more time, if I let this beat me she'll..." Sky glanced to Rain, seeing her conflicted expression, the same Sky had felt so long ago, that feeling of failure and guilt seeping into your mind, making your thoughts murky and uncertain. He wouldn't let that happen to anyone again, he suffered with it for too long, so seeing it effect someone else, it made him strive to do better. "Don't worry, Rain," He raised his arms, the blade gleaming against the fire. "I'm not done just yet!" [Unity Move - Fire-Ice Dragon's Brillant Flame] The blast of concentrated fire and ice broke through the flaming arena, yet Calamitas ran through the attack, yet all its claws were glowing dark purple, with the body latching around the side of the massive, black obelisk. Leaping off it, Calamitas spun in the air, and they saw the message. [Calamity] "Get ready to jump!" Rain commanded, and the dragon crashed into the ground on all sixs, sending an ever-expanding ring of corruption across the ring, at the very last moment, the purple light beginning to blind them, the part all jumped over the line, as it burst into small clouds of purple smoke against the walls Suddenly, Sky was sent flying into the ground, pinned by a massive, black claw, the blood-stained claws piercing his shoulders, the chestplate on his torso being the only thing keeping back the unbearable pressure on his stomach, his bladed gauntlet pinned to his side by Calamitas' digit. Slowly, his health began to dip into amber, even as the white flames surrounding Sky burned at the skin of the dragon, this did little to sway its intent to kill. "Grah! Oh, God please, get a breath mint!" Sky gagged, the beast roaring in his face, pushing his head back to the ground. "Oh, Gods it's in my mouth -- hurk!" With Sky pushing far enough to move his right arm again, he felt something slam into his body, pulling him out from under the claws of the dragon and towards the east side of the platform. Atop his stomach was the red pegasus herself, Ruby steadily panting as she exhausted her semblance to push Sky out from under the beast. Sky was about to say something but noticed Nox backing Silver up now, a few weaker Grimm trailing in from the gateway, turning his head back, he saw the pained look on her face. "I think this makes it the tenth time you've saved my sorry ass, love." Sky chuckled, seeing the dragon turn their way in a frenzy, blasting the ground in anger. "We need to move, now." Yet Ruby didn't budge, instead, she tapped a hoof to his faceplate, giving him a hurt expression. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you jerk," Ruby muttered, giving a more relaxed smile as she wiped something from her eye. "I know you can handle yourself, but that doesn't stop me from worrying." Sky quickly wrapped an arm around her and pushed back with his wings, flapping hard to avoiding the crushing claws of Calamitas, the two gliding over the boss and towards Iota and Rain who worked away at the final pillar together. Meanwhile, Sky looked to Ruby and softly pressed his metal head to her forehead. "Sorry I keep making you worry," Sky whispered to her, leading to him being pecked on his metal cheek by his girlfriend "Then let's do this together." Ruby offered, grabbing her scythe as Sky nodded once, releasing her as the two flew shoulder-to-shoulder again, raising their weapons against the ascending dragon that breathed another torrent of red flames their way, so the two flew around the cone in a helix formation, Sky's blade glowing a sharp blue, while Ruby's scythe hummed with a crimson [Sword Skill - Horizontal] <---Sacred Skill - Boundless Dance of Roses---> [Unity Move -Crimson Skies] Their unity move was quickly buffed again by Silver, the blades glowing brighter as the duo stomped the snout of Calamitas, pushing back to raise their blades, with Sky swinging around in a strong incline to his right from the left, while Ruby swung down in a verticle arc, followed by the corners slicing with phantom blades, the white flames of Sky also infused themselves into the gashes, burning the dragon as the sacred moves blasted him with an unseen force, stunning the boss multiple times before erupting with a powerful golden burst of light, throwing the dragon against the east wall as it flapped to steady itself again. "Ruby!" Caught off guard, Sky with Ruby held between his arms were wrapped between the hidden tail of Calamitas, the appendage lifting them high before slamming them against the ceiling, then smashing them into the floor, causing two electrical currents to fizzle across their bodies, their health meters dropping into the red faster than even their unity move as Sky struggled to his feet, falling short as his armor sparked. "Gah!" Sky's flames died out, alongside his black armor as he fell atop Ruby, both paralyzed as Calamitas leaned back on its winged arms and back legs, an orange miasma building within his mouth. Iota quickly moved, grabbing Rain who struggled against the unicorns magical grasp as he held her back, all while the bat-pony swung her hooves to try and pry herself free. "No! Let me go, please!" Rain begged him to let go, yet all they could do was watch as the line of passage was cut thin by the torrent of flames between them and her friends, Silver and Nox, the latter of which turned to see the torrent screaming towards them, the Grimm from the gateway all but fled, leaving Silver to turn back in horror at the wall of fire searing the ground towards them both. "MOVE!" Nox couldn't, seeing the weakened states of Ruby and Sky, while her own hooves felt grounded as the sight of Twisted Angulation flashed in her eyes, that brambled giant that had taken the first few lives before their eyes if it weren't for White, she's have died back then. But now...now her magic won't react, only her eyes as something stepped between her and the flames, hooves outstretched to the tornado of fire. "N--No, Silver--" She had received a smile back from the pitch black stallion, his ocean blue eyes glimmering in the light as his hooves released a strong, emerald glow to project between them and the fire "I-I-It's okay..." He spoke softly, that hidden stutter of his showing again from under his Zero-like tone. "I'll b-be right h-h-here." [Aura - Gaia's Hand] The emerald shield of light formed, the guard pushed against the brunt of the flames, but that immediately pushed Silver backward, his hood flowing off his mane as the silver hair whipped back, while his teeth ground themselves together, noting the cracks that continued to form on the magical shield between them. Nox was star-struck, her eyes wide at the sight of Silver attempting to save her, and from how he stood, he didn't want to budge even if she tried to move him. "STOP!" Silver snapped back, the shield amplifying before them again, reinforcing the cracks as the flames finally dissipated, and the extreme heat ceased to burn his and Nox's eyes. All that remained was his heavy breaths, little to no stamina or magic left in his bars as Silver slumped over, his head falling to the ground. "...good..." "Silver," Nox quickly moved to sit beside him, tapping the side of his face to keep his eyes opened, all the while his health stopped at the yellow margin. "Come on, keep your eyes open you jackass," Nox kept a hardened stare fixated to him, while her face continued to tremble. "You massive idiot, why didn't you just grab my sorry ass and move!?" "Heh...O-o-only thing...I-I-I could th-think of," He coughed, raising a hoof to boop her on the masked muzzle, causing her eyes to turn a shade of pink again. "Even." While he never saw it, she was smiling, more-so than for his safety but more for how he saved her. "Just rest you, idiot, we still need you after this." Turning her head, she screamed over to Rain, who was frozen in place beside Iota, who looked to her then to Sky and Ruby. "Come on, Rain! It's all up to you now!" [User: Purplrain] "M-me?" My thoughts came to a close as I stumbled back upon seeing the dragon rest for a moment, clearly expending most of its stamina during the constant fight between us, but how long will that last? How can I beat something I can't hurt? Sky...Ruby, they couldn't beat it, what can I do against something so powerful? "I...I..." "Would you stop hesitating." My eyes quickly met Iota's, his hooves holding my shoulders that trembled in fright, but he didn't let me go. "If it were up to me, I'd take it down, but I lack wings and a healthy brother to do so. Stop whining and step up already." "You don't think I know that!?" I finally snapped, slapping his hooves off me as tears stung my eyes, the entirety of my head was a mess of emotions and thoughts that I had no control over, but now I couldn't help it, I needed to just...scream! "I have been the weakest link to everyone I've ever known for years, even before this game I was weak, I have always been weaker!" "I came to this game to try and build myself up again, I wanted to be as strong as the others around me, not hesitate when things got tough, but after what Harbinger did I felt so...useless!" I screamed in his face, jabbing a hoof into his chest, all while Iota never blinked once. "White was the only one to believe in, he didn't care how weak I was, how empty-headed I came to the knowledge of games or this world! He was the only reason I lived this long...now I have people I can't live without and I've seen how strong they've become without my involvement, people died to protect me! I stupid, shaking girl who couldn't even hold a weapon without trembling in fear...if I live...I'll kill more people than Harbinger could ever do on his own..." I finally let out all my inner thoughts to the world, tears striking the ground under us as I lowered my head in defeat. If I died, no-one would have to worry about protecting me, they could live longer than I ever could. "So then," Iota finally spoke, even as Calamitas began to rise to his feet again. "Why are you here?" I raised my head, seeing his hoof crash into my cheek as I winced at the slap across my face. "Wake up, Purplrain. If you died here, then what would be the point of continuing to this point? All you'll be doing is tarnishing the players that died for you, all so you could grow stronger." Iota fortified, tapping a hoof to my chest. "You want to grow stronger? Then quit shaking, grit your teeth and fight!" I was left visibly torn by his cold, yet impactful words, even after hitting me, that made a lot of things in my head calm and relax again. W-What was I saying? If I died I'd only make all their deaths mean nothing, all the time I spent with The Eternal Flame, wasted. Sky was right, my own thoughts would tug and pull at me in the worst of times, and I nearly fell for them, I can't give up now, I haven't given up all this time. I raised my hoof, curling it back around to strike me across the face, then with my right hoof I struck my face again, even as Nox yelled at me for it. Then with a final swing, I punched myself into the wall, feeling pain surge through my body as I did, but also clarity. "You done?" Iota grinned, and I spat the bad taste in my mouth clear, facing him with a determined smile of my own "Sorry, just needed to knock the sense into my childish antics," I replied, flaring my wings at the sight of Calamitas, its health dropped into the red now, and the last of the six pillars had crumbled away during his retaliation against Sky and Ruby, now the ground under him bent and cracked. "Time to end this." [Aura - Revenge] A fierce burst of crimson fire across my form for a moment, causing a glimmer of red to twinkle in Calamitas' sight, the neck craning around to face me as I flew into the air, pulling back on a purple and black bow in my hooves. I didn't have a single moment to waste, I couldn't let him have a second to react otherwise I'll die, I'll lose and kill everyone if I die here, I needed to fight! [Umbra Seal - Shadow Shot] The sharp arrowhead shattered against Calamitas' head with purple particles of darkness, the jaws clapped shut with chains, inches from my tail as I curved up and into the sky through the roof, the tethering shot holding the jaws closed for a second, but with an easy push, the spell broke and his wings flared into the sky, a single sweep extinguishing the flames as the black mass of bone and darkness gave chase after me, yet I didn't look back as I continued to push my muscles higher and higher into the air above. I then spun to my left upon hearing the sucking sound emanating from below my hooves, and as I performed a helix, the torrent of searing flames shot through the cloud layer, almost blinding me with the bright light the fires projected, even as the wings brushed through the fires to catch up with me. With another burst of speed, I kept ascending past its jaws, feeling the pressure of the jaws clamping shut near the hairs on my tail with each failed attempt. "Come on, just a little further." I pleaded for my wings to keep going, even as my stamina drained little by little with each second that ticked by, the green bar now halfway as I neared my target. My heart soon raced as I felt my back scream in agony, my own voice caught in my throat as a set of claws sliced through my back, followed by a sudden, bone-crushing force whipping me through the final cloud layer, the land mere smudges of colors in the sky as I gasped, seeing my health drop to near minute levels. "N-Not yet..." [Purplrain - lvl 39] [HP 54 - 10, 558] [SP 150 - 500] [MP 250 - 800] A sudden uproar of wind spun me backward, the gargantuan shadow flying straight past me and into the blue sky above, the black wings fanning the darkness that shrouded the Grimm Dragon, the fires still licking its tongue with each breath, all while the tail slithered to curl next to the underbelly of Calamitas. Yet I felt my smile tug at my weakened lips when I saw the mass of red hexagons rotate around Calamitas, catching the enraged dragon off guard as it head swung around in an attempt to understand the trap. "I guess no one told you of the 'Flight Restriction Level', huh?" I grinned, seeing the red errors wrap around the powerful wings like vines, forcing them to close against the vertebrae of Calamitas even as it thrashed and screamed, then with a sigh, I folded my wings, my eyes centimeters from the near-invisible line of the boundary, then I fell from the sky, followed quickly by the flightless Calamitas. "Once you break the regulation, even A.I will be restricted for minutes. Thank you guide book." I unfurled my wings again, pushing them down in swift, narrow arcs to boost my descent, all while the boss grew closer to me with each second his weight dragged him down. I just needed to keep going for a little longer. I couldn't risk another strike or even an accidental misstep, one of us is going to die here, and it all comes down to this gamble. Behind me, from between my locks of hair, I witnessed the eyes of the Grimm narrow towards me, the jaws slowly opening again as I turned back, closing my eyes for a moment to channel my attack into my hooves. Now! [Umbra Seal - Death's Iron God Scythe] Turning in the air, I swung my hooves with a burst of shadows that combined into the massive, purple scythe that infected the air with a darkness that overshadowed Calamitas' own form, his eyes widened as I screamed under the whiplash and fire that burned in my forelimbs, pulling the God-Scythe diagonally across the air, curving a solid arch of magic through the air and clean across Calamitas' stomach and neck, canceling his own fire breath that now ignited within his mouth, and just as the Shrine below came into my view again. So with my wings fanned quickly I glided backward in a loop, skating across Calamitas' side, pressing my hooves to his tail and then flipping back into the air, my acceleration cut down to a glide as the Boss screamed a final dying roar, crashing straight through the floor of the Shrine and into a pit of jagged mounds and shards of the once grand temple. Its jaw opened just as the rock and ground sunk through its head and neck, protruding from several locations along the neck as the body crashed into the ground with a massive burst of wind and fire. I came crashing in soon after, tumbling to the ground in a heap next to the massive hole in the ground where black mist rose up from, and even now, the shaking ceased all around myself and my cheering friends. I-I did it! "Holy shit, Rain, I think you just outclassed me in the 'Dragon Slaying' department!" Sky joked, helping to raise me back up again, handing me a potion to drink with much-needed relief as I gasped, coughing. "Okay, don't choke yourself now." "I nearly died...~!" I breathed, wiping the remnants off my lips as Nox tackled me into a hug, followed by Silver bumping a hoof against my shoulder, and Ruby simple raised a hoof for me to bump. "Sorry about almost breaking down there earlier." "That was so awesome~" Ruby and Nox squealed in amazement, just as I saw Iota nod to me once and vanish alongside Penny "Besides," Nox cleared her throat, letting me go. "Given how all of us have dealt with this world, I think you deserve to vent every now and then, believe me, does wonders down the line." "You are okay/All that matters/Thank you." Silver graciously added, all while several tabs appeared before us, all while I felt that grand release of joy from within me rise at the sight of the rewards and the massive banner above us that lasted for a few seconds [CONGRATULATIONS] [Ruin Boss Liberated!] Quest Complete! [Rewards] Bits X10,000 EXP 5000 X2 Ancient Dragon Scale X2 Ancient Dragon Claw X1 Ancient Dragon Soul [Special Achievement Unlocked] Red Like Roses - Meet the mare with a massive scythe [Level Up!] [39 - 41] [Stats Increased] Agility +15 Strength +10 Endurance +35 Magic +8 Luck +18 "Okay seriously? You get an achievement made for you but I don't? Stupid multiverse BS." Sky grumbled, folding his hooves as I held in a laugh with Nox, but Ruby sweetly walked up to him and pecked his cheek, making the player beam with joy again as I cooed "Thanks for the save, Sky." "Not a problem, love!" He grinned with a fire ignited behind him "How?" Silver gaped with a confused stare "So cute!" I giggled, all while Nox rolled her eyes and focused on her own rewards "What's this?" Our brief moment of recovery and glowing pride of accomplishment over Calamitas was once more put on hold by Sky standing back up to look towards his left with a perplex expression, soon after he walked away from us and next to - w-what was that? He was staring at a table-sized, black marble platform, with blue lines dividing a small segment in the middle of the rectangle, looking similar to a keyboard, just with blank, large keys. The lines seemed to hum with what looked like...code, not magic, but literal coded matter. We all slowly walked up to stand with him, our equally perplexed expressions answered all our questions for each other. We didn't know what we were looking at. "Strange/What manner of force is this?/A console?" Silver pondered, placing his hoof atop the marble, Ruby stood beside me too, trying to guess what the console could do, and she slowly reached a hoof out to touch it as well *Fwoosh* We all jumped back, say for Sky who's hoof was pressed on a key, causing a bemused frown to creep onto my face, and he turned, seeing our equal expressions of irritation, forcing him to chuckle lightly. "Hehehe, whoops." Suddenly after he spoke, the device on his arm glowed a bright blue for a second, and I watched as his eyes danced through the screen like lightning, with each dash past a line I couldn't see his gaze only turned to a morbid realization. "...Oh no..." "Sky, what is it?" Ruby's worry only made a small pit of dread sink into my stomach, painfully building at his twisted face of worry which mingled with anger at the sight of the text, a keyword I kept seeing was 'Displacement' "I...what has he done...!?" "It's not what I 'Have' done, its what I have left to 'Do'." N-NO! It was cold, a sharp tongue as if it were poison from fangs of a snake had struck me, and I couldn't move my limbs at all, my muscles were trembling with a racing source of adrenaline, but I couldn't move, I could only stare at the horrific monster with a sickening grin float in the air like a God. His orange eyes narrowed at the sight of us, but his smile only made my heart race with terror, all the courage I had before drained with the color in my face. "Sup." He spoke chillingly, his orange aura filling the gashes in his arms and through the tears in his clothing. "We haven't formally met, Ruby Rose and Sky Zaffre; My name is Harbinger, the Nightmare of Wardens." The situation had soon warped and snapped under the presence of Harbinger, no longer hiding behind his pawns, but instead, he stood before us all, not a soul making a move at the sight of him. His aura was sickening, reeking of blood-lust and dark matter. Then, he clasped his hands together in a dry slow clap. "Now, I hate to be the one to rain down on this victory, I was afraid Morana would have finished what he started with you, including the Grimm Dragon, but to my fascination, you all prevailed." Harbinger then held a claw to his chest, his eyes widening. "Oh, and I am being honest, that was rather impressive, really something since the Second Raid, say for the...unexpexted turnabout." I felt my stomach turn at that, the thought of - No, that's what he wants, to use that against us, I can't fall for it! I hardened my shaky stance, glaring back at him with as much confidence as I could muster, and that seemed to intrigue him more. "Oh, I remember you. What? No 'Little Whitey' here to babysit you, little girl? Are you all big and strong now?" He kept making a mocking tone at me, but Sky raised a hoof to rest against my jacket, forcing me to stop in my autonomous approach, that did make him roll his eyes. "Silent and speechless as always I suppose." "At least I'm not hiding like a coward." I forced out my throat, but that did little to phase him again, say for the look of amusement plastered on his face "Oooh, someone's gotten feisty." I resisted the urge to growl at that, my whole body was a mess of anger and fear again, but atleast I wasn't alone in that "If you're only here to gloat, get it over with asshole!" Nox flared up, making him chuckle softly, yet it was ever-so-chilling "Straight to the point then. I do need time and energy for my plan, but as you know the world responsible for this one wouldn't allow for its players to end up trapped without a way to escape." He stood firm in the air, raising his hand before his face, clenching the air before him. "So I whisked you all away." "W-What?" My flabergast stare only made him grin wider than possible "Sky and Ruby were sent here by...well, I don't how the man who met the 'Cyborg' ended up here, and I was worried my plan would be in jeopardy, but now I see its all gone according to plan." Harbinger stared to pace under the sunlight, completely contrasting himself entirely. "This is Actualization Online, but it's not at the same time." "You really did it..." We all slowly turned, and my heart sank at what Sky said next with a lost expression. "...You trapped the souls of the players in a reality where this game is real." He did what!? "That's my no-one can free you, because...you took the players into a world parallel to the game." "Ding. Ding. Ding." The final word made the ground under me shake, and I felt my body fall back onto my haunches. "It's so easy, taking a few weak mortal souls and placing them in a world not governed by humans, but by a cognitive machine. Being a Nightmare with the power to govern a world weaker to myself made this all the more fun, and once I gain the power of digital manipulation, nothing will stop me." He growled like a manic animal "He's...using our souls as a shield?" Ruby whispered under her breath "Nightmares have the power to tear a person's soul from their dying body and imbue themselves with power, so you rigged the world to transfer the souls of their deceased bodies to you when the line between this world and their bodies are severed, essentially forcing their bodies into an irreversible coma." Sky elaborated and I only felt the impact that death really left We couldn't leave without playing his game, it wasn't possible, and every time he broadcasted the Raids, he did so by using our interface helmets as a catalyst. It was all real...magic over souls and traveling between worlds...that was supposed to be a fairy tale, but now it was far too real, everything that we touched was a new reality, and the game was the only thing to cover its emptiness. "Now, I think I've given you all enough to dwell on, feel free to tell your friends, hell, the entire world can know, it won't matter in the end when I finally win this little game of ours." He raised his arm again, and something in me yearned to say something else, even if I was frozen with fear, sadness and...hope, a glimmer of hope still rested in me, like the day White confronted Harbinger, he was scared too, all of us were and carried all our courage towards himself to speak out I did so too. "Why did you do it?" I stood up again, brushing the dust off my collar. "Why use us as hostages when you could kill us all now?" "...Heh Heh, now you're beginning to open your eyes. If not for you this world would reject me as all the others did." He never answered when he vanished, and that sweet taste of winning was only left with a bitter end "Well..." Sky spoke up, overlooking the newly named 'Remnant Hollow', the town now a mass of floating platforms and interconnected bridges between the ground and dozens of islands. "Let the record show, it was like this when we got here." "When we got where?" Ruby hummed with a nervous shrug, making Sky nod "Exactly." Clearing my throat, the two jumped when they saw the three of us standing there, causing the couple to grin nervously towards us. "In our defense, we didn't do this." "Honestly, no wonder you're a couple, you're both idiots." Nox muttered dryly, yet neither of them denied it as I stepped forward with a soft smile "We just came to say goodbye, since our quest is done," I replied, seeing realization dawn on Sky's face as he looked...almost saddened by that. But not forever, since you'll be sticking around." "Aye, it was fun, teaming up with all of you." Sky replied kindly, lifting a hoof for me to shake under the afternoon sunlight. "Let's do this again sometime, hopefully under better terms than the fate of the world." "Of course," I agreed, before Ruby nudged Sky, making him lift his hoof to the air with an 'Oh' "Almost forgot, here," He swiped his hoof down, tapping on a few keys and blank windows before closing them again, suddenly, all three of us looked to see the message appear before us. "As promised, your rewards for helping us out with this mess, hand or in this case, hoof-crafted by us, and our one-in-a-kind." [Item Received!] Blackwing (Crossbow) "Like your own heart, trust in where it leads you through the darkness." DPS - User Orientated Elemental Enhance - 45% Attack Speed - Fast Critical Chance - 30% Bonus Skill: Evolution The more you rank up and the skills you earn will increase its power "For Rain, a repeater crossbow for her forehoof, so you can use a weapon and the crossbow, and with this rare trait, your power will increase with your own, same goes for both your weapons too!" Ruby smiled happily as Silver looked at his new katana tied to his flank, a black scabbard, and a black-handled blade. "Created a replica of the legendary Murasama, hope you like it!" "Amazing/One with my element/Forever grateful." Silver bowed, while Sky pointed to Nox's new Halberd swung in her magic, the blade was a moonlight silver with stars across the ultramarine staff, with cloth tied to between the blade and staff "For you, a blade made of metal found only between dimensions, Gambit had a hard time getting it, and no other metal exists in this world or others, near unbreakable and sharp enough to cut through time and space." Sky chuckled at the thought, his face growing pale. "Just...don't hit me with it, had some bad memories with that metal." "A blade that can cut worlds? It's perfect in every way!" Nox gushed with glee, swinging it around to see trails of stars follow it. "Hehehehe, I love it!" "Rain, I --" I didn't let Sky finish as I wrapped my hooves around his neck, hugging him tightly with a large smile, while Ruby watched me with a kind expression "Thank you, for everything you've done for me," I felt his own hoof pat my back softly as I felt stronger just by being here "Anytime, Rain, don't ever pass up the chance to talk with your friends...it's why I'm still here." He replied as I let go, seeing him bow his head to me out of respect. "We may know Harbinger's plans, but that won't stop us from freeing you from this world, I vow, I'll do what I can to save this world." "We both will. And you won't ever be alone again," Ruby added beside him as all five of us stood atop the mound, the sun setting behind us as the wind blew my mane, yet I wasn't afraid of what came next, the road ahead was always this tough, unforgiving if we let it in, or heartbreaking if we're too careless. White knew that and I want to know why, and I think this made us realize that ourselves, even if only a little. "We can win this together." "Yeah, we all will." I agreed, standing beside them all as we stared off at the floating islands among the sky, a warm breeze of the coming spring on the horizon "For now though, I think I'll just enjoy the sunset." Sky sighed, sitting down on his haunches, with Ruby resting her head on his shoulder too, I took up a spot next to him, with Nox and Silver doing the same, though, to mine and Silver's surprise, Nox rested her head against Silver, making the guy's face turn a new shade of red, but Nox didn't seem to care For the longest time, we sat here, enjoying nothing but the sheer silence of the world around us, say for the ambiance of the world and the warmth of the sunlight that crossed the horizon, making my eyes widen with wonder at what lay ahead. This game, it's our home now, the people we meet, fight, live with, die beside, they are all that matters now. If something gets in our way, we'll face it together, even if we're alone we'll continue to strive against Harbinger and his plan. I promise this world will see an end, I'll make it back home to my body and see my best friends again, my mom and dad, Klaw, Silver, Nox, Seraph, Yin, Yang, Summer, Laxus, and White... "White, I hope I can become strong enough to surpass you one day, and meet you on the other side. I want to know who you are, and I want to tell you how much this feeling I hold means to me...to Purplrain...to Azure." "This time, I won't hold myself back again." End of Arc III Update Party: Purplrain - lvl 41 [Stealth class] SilverCrow - lvl 41 [Defensive class] Noximillion - lvl 41 [Support class] Sky Zaffre - lvl 70 [Offensive class] Ruby Rose - lvl 67 [Offensive class] Current Level: 41 Magic: Shadow/Umbra Items: Blackwing (Crossbow) Bits X10,000 X2 Ancient Dragon Scale X2 Ancient Dragon Claw X1 Ancient Dragon Soul New Skills [Sacred Skill - Boundless Dance of Roses] - Summon forth a dozen spectral versions of your weapon [Sword Skill - Stop Rewind] - A Horizontal or Verticle slices before copying the abilities in reverse [Frozen Seal - Cold Snap] - Release a blast of arctic ice [Unity Move - Crimson Skies] - Spectral blades and horizontal arcs intertwined [Aura - Revenge] - Focus all agro upon yourself [Aura - Damage Cut] - Resist to kinetic [Aura - Slight of Hand] - Doubles skill activation time [Aura - Darkwing] - Increase evasion [Aura - Life Gain] - Increase to health Author's Note Thus this small but impactful arc comes to a close, and a timeskip awaits! This won't be the last we see of Sky and Ruby. Rain certainly has grown from what I think most considered a side-character to a far more capable player, alongside the relationship of Nox and Silver growing. Hope you enjoyed this and I look forward to seeing you in the next arc! Next Arc: Arc IV Evil's Shadow A whole year has passed and now the sightings of the next raid have been uncovered through unexpected means. The Eternal Flame must travel to Griffonstone, where Black has uncovered a way for them to enter the Raid Lair, but the trails ahead will only make this stroke of luck fragile and easily breakable. Author's Notes: Over 10,000 words, so, if anyone wonders why I won't upload for a while I think this is why the biggest chapter drained me.
Remaster in Progress (Prologue Preview)Okay-Okay-Okay, I know, I probably disappointed a few people with this upload, and for that, I am very sorry, but this is some good news, I swear! Here's something that boggles my mind, then again I am a pessimist at heart, every-now-and-then I keep seeing people add this story to their favorites or watch lists and stuff, and granted, I am always happy to see that my work, even the stuff I've left behind, entertains those who find it, that's amazing. Yet I have come to a small conclusion, I am going or in this case, I have started remaking this story. Let's just say that while I enjoyed writing MLP: AO there was alot of stuff I had to cover, from side-plots to random instances in the story to the breaking of action sequences with text that I felt was too out-of-place. There's a bunch that I can admit myself was poorly executed, I ain't perfect and I never intend to aim for perfection but to merely write for the sake of both mine and your entertainment. With that said, My Little Pony Realization is currently under development. A new main lead, returning characters with tweaks here-and-there, an antagonist rework for Malware, and some other stuff that I hope you'll enjoy once I do intend to publish the story. This one won't be going anywhere just that my focus will be toward its remaster. I can't thank you enough for the support in the past with this story, here's hoping I'll see some of you, new and old in the new take on the Death Game in Equestria. Peace, players. Coming Soon this Winter... Fight. Level. Survive. Episode 0: Ground Zero (Preview) A few days prior... [June 05. 16:40] [Fourth Floor Field | Silver Grove] The ever-so tranquil forest among a scorched land glimmered in the sunlight, a silver, glossy coat to the leaves of the vibrant woods. Said peace was tainted by steel against stone, the relics of a bygone age disturbed by the sudden edge of a blade run through its seams. A knight in carbon-black armor, a crackling, red aura radiating off its body stormed the old chapel, blade hungering for its target as it moved with grace, like a scarlet flash in the midday sun, boots scuffed by the stone as their gloved hand pressed to stone, the fabric lacking finger coverings. Standing tall, the figure raised their sword into a window guard, the edge tinting gold. The person was a teenage girl suited in crimson armor etched with fancy markings across the visible helmet, gauntlets, and legs. Her waist, torso, and biceps all covered by a long, white coat with white fur lining the edge and collar, a belt hanging limply around her waist. She clasped a silver longsword grasped in her right and a grave shield of similar make in her left hand. The knight brought its sword to bear, and the girl shot across the ground, a gold contrail left jutting through the knight's side as its blade missed. A red diamond bobbing above its head with a curved, green bar dipping into a yellow, its name displayed for all the world to see. The Knight released a metallic roar of some kind, then stomped back, blade down in a heavy half-iron gate stance, the true edge a gleaming white as it spun in a corkscrew fashion, the girl gasped but remained furrow in her ability to hop backward, performing a hand-stand with only her left as she landed, blade held high to her right in a green glow. Pushing off hard, her body twisted, sweeping a horizontal line clean through the white arc, seeing the health bar take another beating from the powerful strike in tangent with the clang of swords. Landing on her feet again, she watched while Watcher stumbled forward, crumbling to its knees in exhaustion, but the last bar remained sturdy. No delay had occurred with the drums of war. The Knight leapt into the air, pulling his buster back in its right hand as he shot down at breakneck speeds, sinking his sword into the stone like a shot-put. Turning to look at the girl, the Knight swung the massive, black sword across to the left, forcing her to retreat, then it pulled back, thrusting forward again, so she raised her buckler, countering the thrust at the cost of Stamina. She brought her blade around in a light-blue tone as she spun under a swing, slashing a horizontal square of contrails through its back. Shockingly, the monster wasn't flinched, twisting its hold to swipe back, slicing through her helmet and into her cheek. The girl rolled away, the true edge crashing down and sending a crackling wave of orange lightning where she previously stood It bent its elbows, lowering the blade next to his stomach, again it hummed with white this time. The girl waited, seeing the body thunder toward her, rotating the sword and suddenly moving at a frightening pace, She dodged, yet a small funnel of wind caught her in the upswing, slicing through her left and dropping her own green bar down to yellow. The girl planted her feet firmly into the ground, raising her arm back and pressing the face flush against her left hand, the tip angled toward the monster. Breathing in, her energy was spent in condensing it all down into the tip of the blade, a sharp, scarlet glow radiating brighter with each tick in her head. Now a rosy color she let out that same breath. Stomping sharply with the right, her hand plunged the blade toward the heart of the knight, her vision tunneled to the point the sword would strike. The feeling of moving effortlessly through the air, the motion so swift and pinpoint that she could have mistaken it as her throwing the sword like a javelin, but it wasn't, her body narrowly skated the fissure of lightning and stone uprooted from the black knight's skill. There was a slight decoloration as her target was off, but the blade dug through metal and flesh in a heartbeat, scorching crimson through its side as glassy, red shards fell around her. Its balance faltered, then it crumpled to the ground while its body turned a bright blue, shattering into thousands of pieces before the girl's eyes, her name on display through the refractive fragments. [Artorias - Lv. 6] Silence overtook the ruins, and the realization of victory slowly formed into a smile across her lips. "Nailed it." Sincerely, Slendy
Remake Up!I hate doing this, posting some fragment in place of a 'chapter' but I wanted to ensure anyone who still likes this story or the very concept of a Death Game to know in case they miss this in any way, so I'm sorry if I got your hopes up, I'm an ass when it comes to conveying anything sympathetic because, well, I'm an idiot. Again, sorry to all that enjoyed this one, especially since much has changed in this newer story but I really hope you enjoy it, I'll keep this story up, of course. Here's the link to a new game, happy reading! My Little Pony Realization
