At Game's End

by xMistyStarx

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Original Character, Mystery, Comedy, Other
Length: 1801

The Saddle Club gather for another extended gaming session. Yep. Couldn't be worse.

The Saddle Club gather yet again, challenged to a totally free, graphic-poor, Mutiplayer RPG game. Of course, Draco taking the lead, things eventually steer off the totally-fine path in no time.

Now all that's left is to crash and die.

Published 2018-12-18 03:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-12-18 03:00:01 UTC

This is an RPG not a Murder Mystery

-“CheckPoint!” has been temporarily paralyzed.

…

-“HoliBOT Beep-Boop” has retrieved ‘Medicine’ from opposing side.

“I’m coming Don, just hang on!” Holibot muttered between her teeth, blood running cold with this adrenaline coursing though her circuits.

“Please, do? I’m down to 76 Health Points,” Donnie slunk back in her bean-bag chair, eyes risen from the computer screen to the decorative ceiling.

“Oh, what the-” Draco sneered, closing the space between the screen and his snout. “Cupcake! Did you just loot from me?”

“Well, sorry!” She rolled her eyes, “I was nearly killed by a Mermacorn, and you did assign me to Ocean watch, did you not?”

Draco sighed, glancing across the room towards Skull and Scarfi, who were also playing along on their consoles.

“I’m unassigning you then, I think this is more of Zeus’ league.”

-“MagmanFyre” had just sent a raft to Ocean Duty.

Zeus pumped a hoof. “Nice. I’ll be heading your way in a minute, Cupinator,”

-“StormLord” has boarded Raft.

-“Cupinator (Half-Baked)” has sent Signal Flare

Donnie furrowed her brows as her eyes scanned the chat-log. “Hey, uh, Cupcake, you sent a Signal Flare?”

Nodding furiously, Donnie groaned.

“And how much you got left?”

…

“Uh, I dunno, like four?”

“FOUR?”

Donnie nearly choked on a popcorn kernel. “Dude, how long have– what level are you at, anyway?”

“I’m only at level 17. I’ve just found a lot of useful resources on this island and–”

*B-DENG~

-“SKULLCANDI63” has been abducted.

“Sweet Luna, Skull! The fifth time?” Draco shrieked, as Zeus shielded his ears from the sudden outburst from his dragon-hybrid friend.

Skull shrugged defeatedly, eyes still glued to the cut-scene of her avatar helplessly being levitated into the ship. “Yeah, well, you did assign me to Head Warrior, after all. I wouldn’t pass the buck if I were you, Drac.”

She glared daggers before returning her gaze to the screen, which was now a clear view of the Hostage Room. It wasn’t long until her HP began to drop at concerning levels in a matter of seconds.

-“Checkpoint!” had regained mobility.

“Donnie, get back into the game-zone, dude!” Holi tapped the dazed mare on the shoulder, before she jolted back to life, much like her avatar.

-The Alpha Ships are retreating!

“No, wait! Can one of you guys please hurry over here?” Skull panicked, scrolling through her inventory for a solution to the problem.

Cupcake muttered something under her breath, before lifting her gaze to the game. “Uhh…” she tapped her hoof impatiently. “Dracky, can you assign me to Rescuer? I think I have the supplies…”

She trailed off as the pale-green notification popped up at the bottom of her screen.

-“Cupinator (Half-Baked)” has been assigned to “Rescuer” Rank.

“Go get ‘em, tiger. And Donnie?” The mare glanced up briefly.

“I’m permitting you to retreat to Home-Base; your HP is low enough. Just give me a moment,” He let out a breath, leaning his face on his other hoof.

-“Checkpoint!” has been admitted to Home-Base.

Gratefully accepting the offer, Checkpoint leapt into the small rip that lead directly to Home-Base. Observing the foresty area surrounding her avatar, she eventually limped inside the house, and barred the door down with any nearby furniture, just out of paranoia.

"We'll… also have to send first aid, if you'd like. Health restoration might take a tad too long at your state," Draco advised. He stared off into the distance of the game yet again, before Scarfi took action.

"I'll aid; you already gifted me with the rank. I'm heading over,"

-"SkrdaddleDee" has been temporarily paralyzed.

The sound of collective groans drowned out every other sound in the room.

Scarfi lowered her head. "Sorry, eh…"

"No, no, it's fine," Draco breathed, waving a hoof nonchalantly. "I'll just-"

-"SKULLCANDI63" has been released

Cupcake puffed out her chest in victory.

Donnie smirked. "Nice one. Think you can head over here?"

"Oh, course! Drac?"

-"Cupinator (Half-Baked)" has been assigned to "Aid"

Without a moment of hesitation, the earthpony's avatar produced a miniature shuttle. Climbing inside with urgency, the door shut behind her, and took off towards the East side of the map.

Donnie gawked at this new knowledge.
"A freaking shuttle? Wh- where in Equestria are you getting all these items?"

Without a reply, Cupinator's shuttle landed gracefully besides the home base as she crawled out, a baton in hand.
"Forget that. Just hold on tight; I'm heading inside."

Zeus began tapping at his controls wildly, the other actions and destructive sounds around him were drowned out.

Stormlord emptied his supplies into the dust. Sifting through his pile of items, he could see, at the corner of his vision…
"A…Mermacorn?" He asked himself with a hint of doubt.

Changing his view from the ground to behind him, he was met with the familiar glowing golden pupils of, in deed, the deadly Mermacorn.
"Dang it."

-"StormLord" has borded Spare Raft

And.. he left his inventory behind.

Holibot hummed as she collected the immobile body of the Cerberus she'd defeated just recently. And it'd downed her HP by a longshot.

And it's massive weight was slowly lowering her energy points.

But finally, after hauling the beast back to the home-base, she stopped to stare up with her jaw dropped.
"A shuttle?" She blinked a few times before reality hit. "Who's…"

Checking the ownership tag, she chuckled under her breath.
*Cupinator (Half-Baked)'s Shuttle

"Of course." Returning to her business, she opened the door, shoving the creature's body through the front door as it refused to go in.
And the poor game graphics added to the whole mess as the limp Cerberus body twisted in unbelievable directions, as it was pulled over the 'Unwelcomed' mat.

-"Nob0dy" has joined the server.

Gritting through her frustration, the unicorn glanced up in confusion.
"Draco… did you accept another player into the server?"

But at her friend's computer was nothing but an empty pile of pillows.
Strange.

"Huh. I guess not." Not bothering to pause the game, Holibot left her open laptop, and dashed into the kitchen.
"Drac? You here?"

Slithering behind the counter, she noticed an empty bag of Potato chips. Other than that, there was no sign of their game host.

The fridgerator was wide open, as well as the kitchen cabinet. A chill went down Holi's spine.

"Draco, this isn't funny!" She called, her quivvery voice a bit louder. "Who's on your server?"

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from the mop closet. The door swung open, with a furious looking Draco storming out.
"What?"

"Someone joined the game?" Holi questioned, now utterly concerned. "I'm guessing it wasn't a prank, then."

Draco groaned, shutting the closet door, although the mop handle stuck out, creating a gap preventing the door from actually closing.
"Uh, no? Why would I-- who joined? Wh-what was their username?"

"Hhm… I think it was… "Nobody", but with a zero…"

There was a long silence.

Then he began pacing around the hallway.
"Well… obviously, it's none of us. Either someone hacked into our server or…"

He looked over at Holi knowingly. Clueless, she tilted her head.
"…or…?"

"OR someone who has our server IP got in?" He offered, as the unicorn mare nodded with realization.

"It does make logical sense. Unless someone here duplicated their account? Although I--"

"No, wait!" Draco waved his hooves wildly. "That makes perfect sense!"

"But it was only a--"

Before she was able to get another word out, he had already dashed past her with a firey anticipation.
"It was only a suggestion!"

"Alright, which one of you low-lives was it?"

Donnie was the first to raise her head from the game.
"Ah, what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Don. For all I know, you could be the culprit!"

"Am I missing something here?"

"Remember that time you hacked the online survey at school?"

Donnie scoffed. "Oh, come on, Drac; we all did that at some point." The rest of the group nodded in honest agreement.

Skullduggeri shifted her position on the rug. "Should I remind you that you did too, Draco? After all, you did set us up on hacking the entire school once."

Scarfi glared up at the hybrid. "And what even is all this about, anyway?"

Holi slipped out into the bedroom, past the fuming dragon-pony. She narrowed her eyes, "Draco believes that one of us has hacked our own server by creating a second account."
"… and as I'd advised him to not denunciate everyone else before checking his own house first!"

Zeus shook his head. "Aw, c'mon man, that's low. Your own friends? Besides," motioning to the computer on the floor, "We're all in the middle of a game? Why would anyone with, oh, I dunno, some common sense step away from such an…"

Searching for the right words, Cupcake raised a brow.
"Nevermind. What he's trying to say is--"

×Server has been temporarily closed. Please-

"WHAT? Draco?!" Cupcake shrieked, as the refreshing symbol appeared on each and every screen in the room.

Draco fell to his pillow pile in disappointment.
"Ah, shoot. So… I guess it wasn't one of us hacking the system?"

Before anyone could lay a final glare, the lights flickered out-- all but the devices, scattered about the room.
"Typical." Donnie huffed as Cupcake scurried to her side. "What next? A thunderstorm?"

The all-too recognisable sound of thunder crackled from outside.

"I-it could have just been an earthquake?" Cupcake's offer was denied by nature as a bolt of lightning struck, flickering bright, white light through the curtains.

"A… really big f-flashlight?"

"Oh relax, Cupcake. As soon as the storm's over, the game'll resume." Scarfi assured, placing herself comfortably on the bed.

Everyone seemed to agree, all except Draco, who seemed to be thinking deeply, his eyes narrowed on the bright screens.

Holibot layed an eye on him, curious. "What's the trouble this time, Draco? You appear to be in deep thought."

He opened his mouth to reply, but instead replaced it with a brisk shake of the head.
"No, no… it's dumb. Just… let me think…"

Curiosity replaced with concern, she stepped closer, lifting his head to her eye level.
"I'm concerned, Draco. Would you like to talk about it?"

"This isn't about my 'Feelings', Holi, it's something else..."

"Is it… love?"

"No!" Draco took a few steps back, a look of disgust evident on his face. "I-it's about… it's about the whole server thing…"

Holi sat down, as an indication to continue.

"Look, I know it's silly, but if the server went out because of the storm…" he bit his lip, and began pacing yet again.

"The storm didn't start until the game went out… which meant that someone did hack our game!" The bright realization appeared on his face, as he dashed into the kitchen.