A sun was high in the sky over a lush green forest. Birds tweeted their peaceful melody; as a cool afternoon breeze blew through the woods. The forest was the embodiment of nature at its finest and at its most frailest. For the peace of the woods was shattered; as a wall of fire suddenly engulfed a few trees. The fires heat was so intense the trees were burned to ash piles. Now in the middle of the woods was a barren waste land; void of any signs of life. Ash piles and charred corpses littered the once beautiful landscape. Where mighty trees once stood only ash remained. Where beautiful flowers once grew; only lay burnt bones and other various creatures of the forest. Yes, this single area in the middle of a place that was full of life. Had now become an area where death and destruction ruled. But, somehow in the center of the now destroyed part of the forest. Life still remained. For standing with shield up front in defense; was an armored changeling. The warrior wore a helmet that completely shielded its face form the world. The helmet design was strange; almost foreign. The helmet was in the exact same shape of its head. It even had a piece that protected its horn atop its forehead. The mouth-guard was slitted; allowing the changeling to breath through its mask. But, it was the eyes that really stood out. Yes, they eyes looked as if they were made out of a metallic glass. Which shined as blue as the ocean itself.
Slowly, the changeling stood up from its crouched position. The shield disappeared in a bright golden light. But, the light did not have any traces of a magical element. The rest of the changelings armor was a mixture of golden and silver metals. Forged in the fires of a professional blacksmith. The chest guard had ridges that extended up past the changelings head. Its torso was protected by silver; which made its tail look like a deadly dagger. The warriors legs were protected by golden greaves; which mimicked the look of dragon scales. The warrior's gaze was cast on something in front of it. It was revealed to be a large gryphon. That was made out of nothing but fire. Where it stood the earth below it was scorched and burned black. It wings had small ember flying off of them. And, every time it would growl small jets of fire would shoot from its nose. Its hellish gaze locked onto the warrior in front of it. And, with a loud roar it released a large torrent of flames.
The changeling watched as the fire shot towards it; slowly it brought its right hoof over its left shoulder. Then in a single motion it brought out a blue cloak. The cloak turned into a massive wall of water. Which extinguished the fire the moment the two elements collided. Leaving only a massive cloud of steam behind. The warrior quickly brought up a sword in defense; the metal made contact with two sharp claws. That were just inches away from the changelings helmet. During the attack the gryphon had tried to use the steam as cover for a surprise attack. But, the changeling had seen the attack and was able to block it. It then released a war cry of its own and pushed the gryphon back. Allowing it to land a hard slash on it chest. It roared in pain as it glared at its opponent; it flames began to burn brighter with each passing second. The area around them getting hotter and hotter by the second.
“Ocellus!” The voice of Smolder called out.
Ocellus jumped and screamed in surprise as she turned around to face her friend. The young dragoness couldn't help but chuckle a little. Ocellus shook her head and sighed heavily; she herself laughing a little at her own reaction.
“Hello, Smolder.” She greeted her as she looked up at her, “What's?”
A roar interrupted her causing her to gasp and turn around. Before her was a large holographic board map. Its landscape was a large mass of mountain ranges, forests, deserts, dark aged to modern cities and towns, oceans, and grass plains. Right now in the center of a forest two holographic beings were doing battle. One was a holographic changeling. The other a holographic fire gryphon. In front of Ocellus was a strange box that was connected to the board. At the top of it was a card that had the image of the changeling on the board. The card was growing red.
“Oh, no! Beetle just took heavy damage!” She said as a look of confusion appeared on Smolder's face.
“Who?” She asked.
“One minute Smolder!” Ocellus replied in a hurry before using her magic to levitate a card in front of her. Like the card atop the box; it too had an image on it. It hat the image of a health potion. The cards bottom looked strange; it was lined with black and white lines.
Smolder could only watch as Ocellus placed the odd card at one end of the box. Only to slide it from one side to the other. The box then made a magical chime noise; before the card on top began to glow blue. Her attention then focused on the battle; she watched as a bar above the changelings head went from red, to yellow, and then to blue. It stance becoming better with each color change.
“Alright,” Ocellus said to herself as she pulled another card, “Time to end this.” She finished as she slid the card.
The gryphon roared loudly at Beetle; who now had a magical sword appear before him. The sword was made of blue crystal; it's hilt looked like that of a coral reef. While the blade seemed to have a raging ocean inside of it. Grabbing hold of the sword he quickly brought it back behind his head. The gryphon roared again and unleashed another jet of flames. But, like before they were extinguished by a wall of water. This time Beetle used the steam to his advantage and charged the beast. Once he was close enough he delivered a five hit combination attack. He struck the gryphon's neck and chest with two quick slashes. Before he delivered a hard stab to its left side and then to its right. The final stab was through the bottom of the creatures head. He kicked the creature off of his blade and watched as it fell to the ground. Only for it to disappear in a cloud of embers.
Ocellus sighed in relief as she gazed at her card. She watched as a white light appeared around the card. It glowed solid white for a few short seconds; before trumpets of victory began to echo from the box. The image on the card shifted showing Beetle standing proudly on top of a large mountain ridge that over looked a peaceful meadow. Ocellus smiled in glee.
“Yes, I leveled up!” She spoke in a voice filled with happiness.
Smolder looked at her in confusion as she sat down next to her, “Ocellus what's going on?” She asked.
Ocellus looked at her with a sheepish smile, “Sorry, Smolder I was in the middle of a quest.” She apologized.
“Quest?” Smolder asked as Ocellus nodded, “Are you playing a game?” She asked and received another nod from her, “What's it called?” She asked.
“It's called Ages: A Game Of Centuries United.” Ocellus answered just as the box in front of them whirled loudly. Ocellus looked at it I excitement; while Smolder once again grew confused. A few seconds later five cards had come out of the box. One was solid blue with a blue potion vial. Another was green with a piece of body armor on it. The third one was silver and it had a large pouch of silver bits. The fourth one was purple in color and it had another piece of armor but it was a helmet. The final one was a golden card; it had a large vial on it. In the center of the vial was a crest that had the letters “XP” written on it.
“Yes,” Ocellus smiled happily as she used her magic to pick up the gold card, “I got another experience booster.” She said before she brought up a large box
As she put away the cards Smolder continued to stare down at the game board. She watched as the changeling Beetle slowly made his way back to a small town. To say she was a little interested in the game was an understatement. After all it had everything she somewhat liked. Monsters, battles, and by the looks of it treasures. When Ocellus had finally finished putting away her new cards; she looked at the board and turned it off. Before removing the card that was on top of the box.
“So, what's the game called again?” Smolder asked.
Ocellus looked at her and smiled, “Ages,” She answered, “Its a MMMRPBG.” She finished.
“A MM-What?” Smolder asked.
“Massive, Multiplayer, Magical, Role Play, Board, Game.” Ocellus answered.
“Multiplayer?” Smolder asked until she went wide eyed, “You can play with others on that?!” She asked and received a nod from Ocellus, “How much did you pay for it?” She asked wondering how many bits she would have to save.
Ocellus shook her head, “Not a bit. I won it in a contest I entered.” She answer which surprised Smolder, “Do you wanna play? I have five more avatar holders.” She offered.
Smolder quickly nodded and Ocellus walked over to her desk. She then pulled out a still wrapped avatar holder. She handed it to her and watched as Smolder fumbled a little with the plastic wrapping. It made her laugh a little; once Smolder had managed to unwrap the holder. She placed it down beside Ocellus's.
Smolder looked at her friend, “Okay what now?” She asked.
Ocellus nodded, “Now, you have to turn it on and link it to the board,” She answered before showing her how to turn it on and how to link it. The holder whirled to life as a white light glowed on the top of it, “Now, you just need a blank Avatar card.” Ocellus spoke before she used her magic to levitate said card over to Smolder.
Smolder took hold of the card and looked at it. It was nothing but a plain old gray card. It didn't have a golden edge like Ocellus's beetle did. She then looked at the avatar holder and then back at the card. She sighed and inserted the card into the top of the holder; she then heard a small clicking sound. And then the board in front of them glowed brightly.
“Welcome new player!” A voice from the board spoke surprising Smolder, “I am Alpha. Game-master of Ages. I am happy to welcome you to the world of Pangaea. A world not like anything you have ever seen.” The voice continued before it showed holographic images of various creatures, “In this magical land you can be any creature, from any place, and from any time that you want. You could be a dragon from the future; armed with the latest in your times technology. Or you can be a human that lives among ponies. You can even be a gryphon that lives in the ocean from the times of ancient.” The voice informed showing images with each explanation; which made Smolders eyes go wide in excitement, “Before we begin, lets know more about you,” The avatar holder glowed blue and the front of her card had the image of a small blue line appear on it, “Please speak into the card. Your name, age, and current location are need. Also as a reminder; please do not share any of your personal information with those you meet in this game.” The voice finished.
Smolder nodded and spoke clearly into the card. She told it her name, age, where she lived, and watched as it built a small profile for her inside of the card. Her eyes lit up in excitement as she looked at Ocellus. She saw her friend smiling also; her card then glowed white.
“Welcome, Smolder,” The voice greeted, “Now that we have been acquainted. Let us build you a warrior,” It continued before the board glowed white as well; her card then glowed blue again, “Would you like a character designed by me based on your data? Or, would you like to create your own?” It asked.
Smolder thought for a minute before she spoke, “I would like to create my own.” She answered The board chimed and various holographic creatures appeared over the board.
“Please, select the species your character shall be.” The voice instructed.
“Dragon.” Smolder answered causing the board to only show the holographic image of a dragon.
“Please, choose the gender of your character.” The voice instructed.
“Female.” Smolder replied.
“Please choose class specification. Will your character be a knight, bandit, scholar, soldier, wizard?” The voice informed her.
Smolder thought for a minute, “What is the difference between knight and soldier?” She asked.
“Knight class: this class specializes in sword mastery and armored combat. Soldier class: This class specializes in firearm and small dagger combat. Both receive special stamina boosts as you level up.” The voice answered.
Smolder had to think for a moment; about a minute later she answered, “Soldier class.” She said.
“What time will your character be from?”
“Future.” Smolder quickly answered wondering what weapons her character would be able to use.
“Please, select faction your character is apart of.” The voice instructed.
Smolder had to think for a minute before she finally answered, “Human.” She had grown interested form the tales Spike had told her.
“Almost done, but your character needs a back-story,” The holographic images changed showing various locations, “Is your character a super-weapon created by a human group using illegal technology, science, and possible dark magic? Or is your character a legendary protector; called by the humans as a deity. Or, was your character raised by a group of humans. Who they had to watch die at the hands of another faction?” The voice asked.
Now this was the tricky part for Smolder. All of them sounded like good choices; but, there was only one that really caught her attention, “Super-weapon.” She answered.
“Acknowledged, creating prologue.”
The board began to glow brightly as Ocellus and Smolder watched in excitement. Ocellus had only seen what a changeling knight had. Never had she seen a dragon soldiers prologue. As the board glowed and came to life with a story. They were soon met with the image of a high tech lab.
A scientist slowly walked forward to a large tube. Inside the tube was a dragoness which was surround by nutrient filled water. Multiple tubes were also connected to here body; while a oxygen mask was connected to her muzzle. As the scientist walked up to the tube; it was revealed to be a female human. She sighed heavily before lifting up a small pad; it showed the dragon's vitals. Which seemed completely normal.
“Are you worried about the damned beast, doctor?” A rather rough male voice asked.
The woman wore a deadpanned look as she turned around; coming face to face with a monster. The monster was as red as a ruby and had a strange ooze seeping from its many wounds. The creature looked female in body shape. But the voice didn't match it at all. Slowly it walked up to the tube. Dragging its wretched hand slowly over the glass. Smearing the black liquid all over it; before it smiled wickedly at the dragon inside. Its teeth were razor sharp and stained with what appeared to be blood.
“Are you worried that this vessel shall not survive as well?” It laughed wickedly as it suddenly appeared just inches away from the her, “Because if you fail me again. You know what I get.” Another evil laugh came from the creature; before it slowly rubbed its hand against the scientist cheek. Smearing some of its black ooze all over her skin. But, she showed no signs of discomfort; in fact a smile over her own stretched across her face, “Something humorous?” It asked.
“Yes,” She answered as she pressed a single icon on her pad, “I find it funny that you think I'm going to allow you to posses my daughter.” With another quick press of a button; water rained down from the ceiling.
The monster began to scream loudly as steam rose off from its body. Apparently the water was burning it. The scientist quickly made her way to the tubes computer screen; she began to quickly input command codes. As she entered the last code; her eyes went wide in pain. Before she coughed up a large amount of blood. She looked down to her chest; only to see her still beating hard in the hands of the monster. Which had somehow manged to get behind her. It then pulled its hand back; ripping her heart from her body. Before she gave into the massive lose of blood. She gazed up and smiled before turning to look at the monster.
“Go back to hell.” She whispered.
The monster was then grabbed by the neck and violently thrown through the air. It slammed hard into a wall. It had only a moment to look back up; before the claw of a dragon slammed into its face. Sending a large amount of the black ooze flying through the air. It tried to put up a worthless defense; but its arms were ripped from its body. Before it was engulfed in a large torrent of flames. When the flames stopped the only thing left of the monster was a large back puddle. Its head floated in the center gazing up at its killer.
“Your soul will be mine.” It croaked out before the dragon roared loudly and crushed its head with a hard stomp.
The dragon breathed heavily before it turned and looked at the scientist; it released a whimper as it gazed at the dead body. Only to roar and hiss in anger as a bullet hit its scales. It looked in the direction of the weak attack. Only to see a group of five humans; fully armored and aiming high powered rifles at her. The dragon stood up and flared it's wings. It roared once more before everything went black and silent. For a moment nothing happened until the sounds of birds tweeting and the light of the sun shined. A door is shown slowly opening as the dragoness stepped out from the underground bunker. It had to use one of its claws to shield its eyes from the bright sun. it looked around; seeing that it was in the middle of a large forest. It unfolded its wings and took to the sky; only to disappear behind the clouds. Just before the words, “Ages: Centuries Untied” appeared on the holographic screen before them.
Smolder watched in awe as her character flew through the sky. She looked almost as fierce as dragon lord ember. But, Smolder had given her the same scale color as hers. She was excited to start playing the game with her character.
“Before we continue what is the name of your character?” Alpha asked.
Smolder smirked, “My characters name is Smo-MPH!” She was stopped abruptly by Ocellus using her magic to clamp her mouth shut.
“No, Smolder. You can't use your real name.” She said as she released her friends maw.
“Why?” Smolder asked.
“If you do it can make it easier for others in the game to find you outside of it,” She said in worry as she remembered the rules, “You need to come up with a different name.” She finished.
Smolder sighed and thought for a moment; she eventually snapped her claws, “Obsidian.” She spoke and her card glowed. At the top of the card she saw the name she had given it appear.
Her holder then whirled to life and from the front of it five cards came. She held up each one and looked at them. One had a strange looking mask on it. The second one had what appeared to be body armor. The third one was armor for her characters legs. While the fourth one was for its arms. The fifth had the image of two strange looking weapons on it.
“What are these?” Smolder asked.
“Your characters starting gear,” Ocellus answered, “Once your character lands in the village of hero's. Scan the cards and equip them.” She instructed.
Smolder nodded and watched as her character landed in the center of a large town. She was amazed at how many other characters were in the town already. Various names floated over the characters heads. Some of them were walking, others were running, some were jumping up and down, and others were dancing. It made her laugh; until she remembered what she had to do. One by one she slid each card through the avatar holder. Watching as the gear appeared on her character. The face mask was black and its shield was solid glass. The body armor looked like simple clothing; just skin tight. Which made her wonder if it was even armor. The same material was used on the legs and arms. When she slid the weapon card. Two weapons appeared on her character. One on her left and one on her right. Her character then pulled the weapons out of their holsters. It aimed both of them off to the sides; before aiming them at the front. She then twirled them around on her claws before putting them back.
“Awesome!” Smolder said in glee which caused Ocellus to smile.
“If you want; I can help you with your first mission,” She offered causing Smolder to look at her, “Here.” Ocellus then used her magic to levitate two cards to her. One of them was a card that had two warriors shaking hands. The other was a golden “XP” card.
“What are these?” Smolder asked.
Her friend smiled, “That one is a form party card,” She said while pointing to the one with the two warriors, “The other is a XP booster card. And, it's an epic version,” She explained only to cause smolder to look more confused, “It will give you a massive XP boost after you complete your first mission. Which should start.” The moment before she could finish an alert appeared before Smolder's character.
Smolder looked at it and saw a brief description of the mission. At a nearby farm a group of bandits had taken a husband and wife hostage. They were demanding ransom for their lives; Smolder grew furious and quickly accepted the quest. Before her character flew off the words, “Scan cards now!” appeared. She nodded and scanned the two cards.
Obsidian landed just outside of the farm house; she scanned the area and saw there was no sign of any hostiles. Slowly she approached the barn; hearing movement inside she drew both of her pistols. Turning the safety's off she looked around the corner. Seeing a heavily armored changeling with a large sword on its back. It was crouched down over a dead animals body. Slowly, she stepped out from around the corner. Making sure to step quietly she walked up behind the warrior; only to press one of her guns against the back of its head.
“One move,” She threatened him as she pressed the gun further against his head, “One move is all I need to pull this trigger.” She added to her threat.
The changeling kept quiet for a moment, “I am here to help.” He spoke in a clam voice.
Obsidian growled, “I am supposed to believe a shape shifter with a large sword,” She pulled the hammer back on the pistol pressed against the back of his head, “How do I know you're not one of these bandits I heard about?” She spoke keeping her weapon on him.
“You don't,” He replied, “But, if I was why haven't I attacked you? And, why do I not have the smell of blood on me?” He asked.
She thought for a moment and sniffed the air; to her surprise he was right. The smell of blood would have been heavy on him. And, he was right if he was a bandit why didn't he attack her. She sighed and holstered her guns; allowing him to stand and face her.
“My name is Beetle,” He introduced himself, “What is yours?” He asked.
“Obsidian.” She answered before the sound of clapping echoed through the air.
The two looked in front of them only to see a human wearing a dark hood. They heard a laugh before ten armed men appeared beside him. Each of them were holding small knives. But, only two of them held what looked to be worn out shields. The two immediately figured these were the bandits; they looked at each other and nodded. Before they both pulled their weapons. The bandits yelled and charged them.
“Scan an attack card!” Ocellus yelled.
Smolder nodded and scanned one of the new cards that had come from the holder. Obsidian roared and fired two shots at two of the bandits. One of them was killed instantly while the other was wounded. Beetle had his sword out and without much effort. He manged to successfully kill two of the bandits.
Obsidian fired three more shots; one of them was used to kill the wound one. While the other two were fired at two more; that tried to sneak up behind Beetle. He gaze focused on their leader; who tried to sneak away. She fire five more shots; only to have him use one of his men as a human shield. Both of her guns then clicked and the clips fell from them. She growled in threw them up into the air; before reaching behind her and throwing two clips up. She then entered into hand to hand combat with a bandit. He struck her but her armor had taken the hit; she then grabbed his head and twisted it violently. A loud crack echoed through the air; before she picked up his weapon-a deadly sickle- and threw it at another bandit. Hitting him square in the head.
Beetle had easily defeated five of them on his own. While Obsidian was just finishing off her last two. They thought they had her since she did not have her weapons. But, that changed when she caught both of her pistols and turned them upside down. Allowing the clips she had thrown to fall perfectly into them. She smiled wickedly before pulling both triggers and killing the final two. Both of them breathed heavily as they looked at one another and nodded. A scream came from outside and they ran out. Only to see the leader holding the farmers wife in front of him. A small dagger was held firmly against her neck.
“Any closer and I slice her open!” He yelled causing the two to stop in their tracks.
“Please, help me!” The wife cried out only to be smacked hard by him.
Beetle and Obsidian looked at one another and nodded. He drew his sword and threw it into the air. Obsidian then flew up behind the sword; she waited till the handle faced her and delivered a hard kick. The sword fell back down so fast that the bandit had little time to react. The wife screamed in fear as blood splattered onto the right side of her face. She cried a little bit as the arm that held her went limp. Dropping the bald from her neck. Slowly she turned around and looked at her assailant. Only to see his beheaded corpse lying on the ground behind her. She turned back around just as her husband and the two hero's approached her. Both of them thanked them before the husband pulled out two small pouches he handed one to Obsidian and the other two Beetle. They both thanked them before they walked away from the farm house. Just as the husband and wife hugged each other out of pure happiness.
Smolder breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the two walk back to the town. Her card then glowed a solid white; before it shined a golden hue. Trumpets of victory played; which startled her. As she watched her character curiously.
“Congratulations on your first successful mission. And, first successful party mission,” The voice of Alpha congratulated, “Bonus XP card detected. Adding XP, confirmed, Congratulations Smolder. Obsidian is now level seventy.” The voice finished.
Smolder was shocked; here character was just made and level one. Now it was level seventy; she smiled happily as she looked at her friend. She raised a balled claw up; while her friend lifted a hoof. They then clawed and hoof bumped.
“That was fun,” Smolder said, “Do you think we can play this again tomorrow after class?” She asked.
Ocellus nodded, “Yeah, there are so many different levels and Quests I want to show you,” She said happily, “Just meet me here tomorrow and we'll play.” She finished.
Smolder nodded and stretched her limbs out; she also yawned before she got up and walked out. Ocellus smiled as she logged them out of the game and put it away. She also yawned before she walked to her bed and layed down. She almost immediately fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
Author's Note
I hope who ever reads this enjoys the first chapter. as said in the long description this was based off an idea me and some friends IRL had. so, yeah, hope ya like the crazy idea all five of us had while watching Godzilla (Best monster ever) and also getting a rush on a friends homemade shine. LOL.