Resonation level: a new player(victim)
“DUCK!”
Under normal conditions, the shout was so loud that most people would have heard it for miles around.
Unfortunately, being in the middle of a Warfield, with bombs dropping left and right, guns blazing and grenades exploding, it was hardly considered normal conditions. As such, the resounding blast left 5 soldiers dead mere feet away from the shouter.
“God damn it, how long until we freaking get to the Cube?” The shouter, a well-aged man in black camo and wielding what could only be considered the oddest looking gun in existence, asked to nobody in particular. It had three barrels, twice as many triggers and no clear place to grip aside said triggers.
The night raid had been planned to the point of perfection. Nothing had been left out, no variables unaccounted for, no flaws. But of course, in war, no plan ever goes according to plan.
“We’ve lost contact with all the retrieving squads. At least two are eliminated and most of the others are injured or down a member. Team 2-B-2 was closest last time we had contact.” The informant was a small Pegasus, adept at maneuvering super close to the ground yet still being in the air. He never lost his footing because he never touched the ground, and he never flew high enough to be a target.
It wasn’t for nothing that he had linked with the shouter.
“Do we have a location on the Reaper?” The man asked as he peered out of his hiding spot for a split second before pulling back in. Instantly, a hail of bullets flew where his face had been.
“Yes, we still have over 15 minutes before he gets here.”
“So we’re down to seconds…” The man replied, reaching around his belt to feel for some sort of grenade. He still had one left, but he couldn’t throw it blindly. “Stay down and pray, Shuttlebug. If team 2-B-2 doesn’t have that that cube secured soon, we’re done for.”
Suddenly, his ear-comm blared to life. “We got it; it’s on its way out.” That was the leader of team 2-B-2. “All soldiers fall back. Get to the nearest portal and get out of Algoba.”
“What’s your ETA on escape Yellow5?” The man shouted back into his headset.
He heard a chuckle on the other end of the line. “Don’t be stupid, Bruno. You know it’s over for us. Say goodbye to my daughter for me.” Bruno heard an explosion in the background. “Long time no see, Reaper. You’re too late, it’s gone.” A feral snarl could be heard from the other end, followed by ripping and gushing sounds. A few seconds later, the line went dead, as did all the sounds of battle.
Shuttlewing was crying softly next to Bruno. “No time for mourning yet son, we need to get out before we go down too; the mission must carry on.” Shuttlewing nodded and began to fly, and together the pair ran from the giant fortress that was now nothing more than a graveyard.
Maverick awoke drenched in sweat. He’d been having weird dreams for a while now, but this one was particularly vivid. He turned to his alarm clock and groaned. It was 4 in the morning. He flipped over and shut his eyes, the fields of gore and blood still hot in his memory, but fading quickly. He would fall back asleep in less than a minute, and when his alarm woke him at 6:30 the next day, his dream would be nothing more than a fuzzy memory.
*****
“Please rise for the national anthem.”
Maverick yawned and stood like all the other students. He had been woken by his alarm at the same time as it did every morning; he had eaten breakfast like he did every day, and now he was at school, just like he would normally be. The day was like any other day, the snow covered windows were closed, the PA system was ear-splittingly loud, the students around him were struggling to keep on their feet. A normal, boring day.
Maverick was sick of his life.
He didn’t have any real friends, just people he knew a little better then every other person in the world. He didn’t want friends either, they were nothing but a handful, and he wasn’t good at making friends anyway. Maybe if he gave it a shot, it would change his life?
No, it was simply too much of a hassle.
Maybe he should stay out late, just to spite his parents. But they wouldn’t care. They hadn’t cared for him since his little brother had died 4 years ago. They kept him fed, they made sure he was doing well in school, they gave him the talk when the time had come, but there was no love behind any of it. They were just going through the motions, waiting for him to move out so they could mourn his brother even harder.
His little brother had always been their favorite. He was a model student, he had tons of friends, he was super popular. If he hadn’t been hit by that van and it had been Maverick instead, there was no doubt that Maverick’s parents would have moved on.
Maverick sighed, too lightly for the teacher to hear. He wasn’t paying attention, again, but he knew that it was fine. Mr. P, which was the name of his teacher, had this thing for Maverick. Maverick was his favorite student, and Maverick knew it. They would meet up every lunch at Mr. P’s car and drive out to some restaurant where they would eat together and Mr. P would go over the lesson again in a 1 on 1 session. Mr. P always insisted on paying the bill, seeing as he was the one who instead Maverick accompany him.
Was Mr. P a friend? Could you be a friend with your teacher? For the purpose of keeping his friend level at 0, Maverick considered Mr. P more of an uncle.
The lesson dragged by. It wasn’t that Maverick didn’t like science; in fact, he found it exhilarating most of the time. He just wasn’t in the mood to pretend to pay attention when he would just go over all the same stuff in more detail and in a smaller amount of time right after class was over.
Maybe if he had a girlfriend?
Naw, girlfriends were even more trouble than regular friends. They were so high maintenance that the thought alone of having one was giving him a headache. What with the dating and the kissing and the social cues that he didn’t get.
But if it wasn’t any of that, what did Maverick want?
Excitement sounded good. What if he went to play some paintball? But that wasn’t fun when you knew all the good hiding spots and angles. Maybe some skydiving? But he didn’t do well with heights. How about-
The bell rung, cutting off his train of thought. With a sigh, he grabbed his books and stuffed them in his locker, which was practically right outside the door. He then set off at a leisurely pace towards the parking lot. Even though he had left at the bell and walked straight to his teacher’s car, he knew that somehow Mr. P, who had to wait a few extra minutes to answer some questions, then he had to go to his office halfway around the school to drop off his books and then had to run back around the school to get to his car, would get there first.
He wasn’t disappointed. As he opened the back door of the school, he saw Mr. P leaning against his Honda, smiling as he got up and slid into the driver’s seat, waiting patiently for Maverick to hop into the passenger’s side. Maverick hurried across the parking lot since it was super cold out and jumped in.
“Hey Mr. P-”
“Maverick, we’ve been over this a thousand times. When we’re alone, call me Bruno.” Bruno said as he made his way out of the parking lot.
“Yes Bruno. As I was saying, what’s up?” Maverick said. He loved his teacher; not in a love-love way, but more like a deep-mutual-respect-love way. Mr. P had been his teacher in 8th grade, as well as his general science teacher in 9th and 10th grade and he was now his chemistry teacher in 11th grade. He was the only teacher, no, the only person Maverick felt comfortable talking to about anything. Maverick knew he could go to Bruno with any of his problems and expect good advice. Maverick still wasn’t sure what Bruno got out of their relationship, but he didn’t really care.
“Not much, but something’s up with you, right?” Bruno asked. He knew Maverick very well, and Maverick was in his I’m-depressed-because-I’m-feeling-unloved-again mode. Bruno cared about Maverick as if he was his own son. He wasn’t sure why, but he had this innate desire to protect the boy. He had never had children of his own, nor was he married, but this problem child was special. He didn’t used to have anybody who he could count on and he was always avoided and scorned because he was very glum. Bruno had been the first person who was friendly towards the boy in a long time, and slowly he managed to gain his trust. He even managed to get Maverick into a small group of people who didn’t shudder at the very sight of him.
Now they were on their way to lunch, like they were every day, when Bruno sensed it. The next round was starting up. It was far too soon! He only had a few hours at most before he would be pulled into the next horrible dimension.
“So what’s wrong?” He asked, only barely managing to keep the trembling out of his voice.
“I don’t know. I was trying to figure it out in class, but I couldn’t think of anything.” Maverick sighed. “I think I just want something exciting to happen. Something to change my life from the boring rut I’ve fallen into.”
Well, be careful what you wish for.
Bruno pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant called the Dragon. It was a Chinese food open buffet. The pair walked inside and were greeted by the owner, who led them immediately to a secluded table in the back of the restaurant. Bruno didn’t like being interrupted while he re-teaching his number one student.
The lesson went well. It was about equalising chemical equations, a rather simple process if one is good at math. However, both parties were only sort of paying attention. Maverick was wrapped up in his desire for change and Bruno was worrying about the amount of time he had before he would just disappear. As such, neither one of them noticed the other’s odd behavior.
Once they finished eating and Bruno was sure Maverick had understood the day’s lesson, they left the restaurant and got back in the car.
They were about halfway back to the school when Bruno felt the first tug. The dimensional cord was tightening around his waist and he felt the pulsating grow stronger. He pulled over to the side of the road, earning a confused glance from Maverick.
He was about to jump out and try to get in a secluded area when he felt it. Maverick’s aura was pulsating along with that of the cross-dimensional rift. Bruno realised that his task of protecting the poor boy had just become a lot harder…
“Maverick, are you feeling something weird?” Bruno asked, unsure about how to explain the sensation. He felt the second tug, much more powerful than the first, and his vision flashed black for a moment.
“Yeah, I feel like I’m going to throw up.” Maverick winced as he felt a spike of pressure hit his abdomen. “Was there something in the food?”
Bruno was doubled over, trying to hold himself together. Resisting the tugs was not a pleasant process. “Maverick, listen. We’re about to change worlds, but no matter what happens, try to stay in the same place once we get there. I’ll come find you.”
Maverick looked up at his teacher with confusion and fear battling in his eyes. “What?”
Bruno was about to respond when he was finally wrenched away, into the other dimension. Maverick was left staring at the driver-side car door. His fear grew more powerful by the second, but he couldn’t move due to the pain building in his lower stomach. Maverick gasped as it suddenly jumped a notch. He felt like his body was being torn in two at his waistline. He doubled over, trying to hold himself together as the pain flared again, then again, and finally it hit him so hard that he passed out.
…
“Wake up.”
…
“Wake up!”
Maverick heard the voice, but he couldn’t bring himself to follow the instructions.
“I said WAKE UP!” A sharp bolt of pain shot through his whole body, making him jerk around until it subsided.
“Now get up before I electrocute you again, harder.” The voice commanded.
Maverick tried to get his feet underneath him. It took a few tries, but he managed to get on his knees.
“Good enough. Look up, human.”
Maverick tilted his head upwards and opened his eyes.
At first all he could see was a sea of blackness. It was like he was swimming through a black hole. He glanced around, seeing that it extended in all directions around him, and he began to wonder if he had died.
“Up here.” The voice commanded.
Maverick tilted his head until he was looking straight up. Above him was an eye. It was rather large, but then again, Maverick had nothing to judge it against in the ocean of blackness he was floating in.
“Do you know where you are?” The voice asked.
Maverick shook his head, his eye’s still somewhat lidded. He felt like he had just gotten out bed, minus the electrocution.
“Do you know why you’re here?” It asked.
Maverick shook his head again.
“What’s your name?”
Maverick had to think for a while about that one. “m…m-Ma…Maverick?” It was more of a question then a statement.
A needle appeared out from behind the eye. It was so small compared to the eye that Maverick stared at it in wonder, trying to comprehend just how big the eye was. The needle approached his arm and pricked into it. Maverick felt nothing as it slowly emptied its content into his body before withdrawing.
Then his body was on fire, or so he thought. He wasn’t hot, nor was he in pain, but it felt like every cell in his body was now super charged with energy.
Maverick didn’t like it.
“HEY, what did you do to me?!” He asked.
“Try to remember now. Do you know why you’re here, where you are, or what happened before you got here?” The eye questioned, ignoring Maverick’s question completely.
“I was going back to school with my teacher when we began feeling pain. I thought it was something in the food we ate, but Mr. P said something about changing worlds and staying still. Then he disappeared and the pain got worse and worse and I blacked out. Now I’m here.” Maverick explained rather unceremoniously. “Where is here?”
“You are currently in the lobby. This lobby is the zone between your dimension and the danger dimension.” The voice replied. “You are about to be sent through into the other dimension so you can fight for your life against project E45-B626, code name “Reaper”. Your goal is to enter the new world, find the experiment T1-001, code name “The Cube” and get out alive.”
“Whoa, slow down. I don’t remember signing up for any cross dimensional mission.” Maverick said. “What if I don’t wanna do this?”
“You don’t have a choice. Your body has resonated with at least one of the inhabitants from your dimension’s perpendicular dimension. You have to play, case closed.” The voice said, the slightest hint of smugness present in its tone. “You will soon be sent through a random portal into the other dimension. With any luck, and experienced player will come to your aid once they sense your presence.”
“You say player and play.” Maverick said. “It’s like this is some sort of video game.”
“You could call it that, yes. This is a video game in real life. There are no revives in this game either, no restarts, no cheat codes, nothing. Once you’re dead, its game over.” The voice said. “You are actually quite accurate in calling it a video game. Once you are sent through, you may or may not be given some equipment by the dimensional host. You will then be sent into the game. The more experienced players will already have had some time to get their bearings and they will probably come find you.”
“What did you say earlier about my body resonating with something?” Maverick asked. This voice was answering his questions by making more questions pop into his head.
“Your dimension crosses another dimension at a perfect 90 degree angle. Because of this, some of the inhabitants of both dimensions have the ability to resonate with each other. This is what allows new players to enter the game.” The voice said. It was about to continue when the eye began to fade. “Oh, time to go. Good luck human, I hope you resonate with a nice pony.”
“Wait, I’m not done!” Maverick shouted as he felt himself fall. He kept at it for a while as the darkness slowly began to transform into a red background. After a few more minutes of falling, Maverick felt himself slow down, then stop. He whirled around, trying to find what had stopped him, and saw a… thing.
Thing was probably the best word to describe it. The thing in front of him had a very vague resemblance to a gorilla. It had big arms and a wide chest. But that’s where the resemblances ended. The thing was dark brown, almost grey, with lines of yellow spiralling through its body. It had a flower-like head with red petals and a face like a humans, except it was blue. It was quite a sight, and Maverick was starting to feel like maybe his situation wasn’t so bad.
Until he saw the razor sharp blades curving out of its arms. They looped back around its elbows and followed the arm all the way to its shoulders where the blades curved back into the body.
The thing stared at him for a few moments before a backpack appeared out of nowhere. It slung itself across Maverick’s back, and then he saw a shimmer beneath him. It was a portal.
The last thing he remembered was screaming as he free fell down towards the portal and his fate.
*****
Applejack sighed inwardly as she sat next to Fluttershy, who was wailing her head off. She’d been at it for the past hour, showing no sign of stopping anytime soon. Applejack felt bad immediately; Fluttershy had just lost a family member. Applejack knew that she wouldn’t move an inch until the shy yellow pony had calmed down, but it was starting to get a little annoying. No matter how patient she was, another hour of this would drive her insane. She drew her hoof down Fluttershy’s back in an effort to calm her, with no visible results.
On Fluttershy’s other side, Rarity was trying her best to comfort the pony as well. She knew just how devastating it could be, to lose a pony to that dreadful game. She had lost her first boyfriend, on his very first round. Rarity had been inconsolable. That game was truly the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING. that had even happened to Equestria.
A short ways away from the three mares, Rainbow Dash was consoling Twilight Sparkle, who had lost a distant uncle to the game. She was already pretty much over it, but it still hurt a bit.
“Thanks Rainbow.” She said. “But I’m fine. I think Fluttershy needs the help more than I do. She did lose her father after all.”
The message had arrived by the usual means. The royal army had appeared at both houses and told both of the ponies at the crack of dawn. Twilight’s uncle, Spectro, and Fluttershy’s father, Galewind, along with the majority of the other ponies that were forced into the game hadn’t returned. Of the 55 ponies that had gone, only 9 had returned. Normally they almost all made it back, and nopony had anticipated the death toll to spike so high.
“The whole game was a battlefield.” Shuttlebug had reported upon his return. “Ponies and humans were falling left and right. Even the natives of the dimension that were on our side gave up once they saw how dangerous it was. If Galewind hadn’t gotten to the cube when he did, the Reaper would have won.”
The other three ponies, the ones who hadn’t been visited by the royal guard, had all flinched at the mention of the Reaper. It was well known that every time the Reaper won, terrible things happened in Equestria and the in the humans world. The last time had been 73 years ago, when winter had refused to leave for a whole extra month. Ponies everywhere had died of starvation and cold.
And now the fighting force had been reduced to 7 ponies and 7 humans. Even though nine ponies had made it back alive, two of them had lost their human counterparts. Without them, they could no longer participate in the game.
“We’re going to lose again soon, aren’t we Twi?” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t know Rainbow, but I really hope not.” She answered.
Unlike in the human world, everypony in Equestria knew about the game. They had been participating in it for many years longer than the humans had, having aligned with a different dimension before. That dimension had been destroyed when the Reaper had won, and then the ponies had aligned with the humans sometime around 500 years ago. Anypony who was dragged into the game became a hero. They were given money by Celestia herself so that they could focus all their time in Equestria on either getting ready for the next mission or having fun and relaxing in the small amount of time they had between rounds.
And now that the fighting force was all but gone, it appeared that the ponies would soon experience another world-changing natural disaster.
Twilight stared over at Fluttershy, thinking about how many more ponies would soon be sobbing as the news about recent losses reached them, and then about how many more would follow suit if they lost a round. She drew Rainbow into a hug, Rainbow taking it without her usual protests.
“I wish there was something we could do.” Rainbow said as the pair embraced.
Well, be careful what you wish for.
The pair of mares walked over to the other 3, drawing them into a big group hug, which helped Fluttershy finally calm down.
“HEY GIRLS!”
The five broke apart to find their 6th member staring at them, her signature smile ever-present. “I heard that every pony was sad because a lot of ponies died in the mission so I thought it would be a good idea to get a let’s-celebrate-their-amazing-sacrifice-party going.” Pinky Pie said all that without a pause for breath, and then continued un-interrupted. “I got the shop all ready with streamers and balloons and cupcakes with the faces of all the heroes on them so we can remember them forever and ever and I made a statue of them too it looks so nice you all just have to come see it!” She would probably have kept going, but Applejack stuffed both hooves in her mouth, just to make sure she couldn’t.
“Pinky, Ah don’t really think now is a good time for a party.” She said, glancing back at Fluttershy who was still sniffling. “Ah recon it would be best if we just kept mighty quite ‘bout that right now.”
Pinky sighed and nodded, pulling her mouth off Applejack’s hooves. An uncomfortable silence stretched out between the six.
“What do you thinks going to happen?” Rarity asked.
“I hope it won’t be another long winter. Supposedly it killed off over a quarter of the population.” Applejack said.
“We would be better prepared for it this time, though.” Twilight said. “Besides, it’s not even winter.”
“Maybe it will destroy all the food in Equestria.” Fluttershy squeaked out, and then hid her teary eyes in her mane.
“Maybe it’ll release Discord again.” Pinky Pie said, not sounding overly displeased at the suggestion of chocolate rain.
“Maybe it will kill the princesses.” Rainbow Dash suggested darkly. The other 5 flinched.
“Well, sitting around worrying won’t help.” Twilight stated. “I’m going to do as much research on the game as possible.” With that she stood.
And the other 6 followed suit. “We’ll help you Twi.” Applejack said.
“Yes, we might not quite as intellectually gifted as you are, but I’m sure you can find a use for us.” Rarity added.
Twilight just nodded; now wasn’t the time to argue on how smart anypony was, now was the time to focus and do some research.
Twilight bean pulling books off the shelves: history books, books that explicitly mentioned the game in their titles, books about commonly known facts. She even brought out books that were full of myths and supposition, things that were unproved and had no facts supporting their existence. She needed to consider every possible angle and since only a very tiny amount of information was known about the game, they would need to dive into the unknown and unproven.
She quickly divided the books, playing everypony to their strengths as best she could. She gave the fiction books to Dash, since they were the only one’s she would tolerate to read. She gave the books with long winded stories that surrounded the game and how it was played to Fluttershy and Rarity since they were able to take in the big picture more easily than the rest of them. She gave the books about hard facts to Applejack and Pinky, just because the other categories were already taken. She then took a second copy of every single book for herself and prioritised them based on the possibility of success. With over a hundred books, double that since Twilight was reading all of them a second time over, they were sure to compile a healthy amount of information. Twilight handed out quills and papers to each pony, instructing them to take down notes on anything that was even remotely related to the game, no matter how far you had to stretch the imagination to make the link.
Twilight had varying levels of expectations from her friends. She expected Pinky Pie to come up with the most links, even if almost all of them wouldn’t make sense to the rest of the group. She expected Applejack to catch on to the most logical links but skip over some of the more far-fetched ones. She expected Fluttershy to be in between the two, but that she would also take a lot longer since she would debate the relevancy of each link, not wanting to waste Twilight’s time.
She didn’t expect much of the other two. Dash would either be bored with the story in seconds or love it so much that she would forget to take notes. Same thing with Rarity, although she would probably remember every one and a while about their goal and then jot down anything she remembered.
Then Twilight remembered. Spike! He was sure to be the most helpful of all those present since she had taught him everything he knew about reading and note-gathering. While her friends began their study session, she rushed through the library, searching for her assistant. She found him dusting the top shelves of the bookcases in a room adjacent to the one her friends were studying in. After a very brief explanation of the situation he joined her in their cram session.
An hour passed with the only noise being the flipping of pages, the scratching of quills and the occasional grunt as a pony shifted their position. A few gasps came out of Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash as they read their respective stories. Dash’s papers had a lot more notes then Twilight had expected from her, as did Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s. In fact, everypony was doing much better then Twilight could possibly have hoped for, herself and Spike included.
As they began to whittle away the second hour, a loud grumbled was heard. Everypony jumped at the sound, some more than others. Fluttershy was on top of a bookcase, cowering in fear, whereas Pinky Pie barely even reacted. The grumble came again, the source being Twilight’s stomach, and was quickly mirrored by the stomachs of all the others, save Pinky Pie who had eaten before she came by.
“I suppose a lunch break is called for.” Twilight said, smiling sheepishly.
Twilight got up to go get some hayfries when there was a knock on the door. Her house being a library, ponies didn’t need to knock before coming in, but she answered it anyway.
“Hello Twilight, may I come in?” Shuttlebug asked.
Twilight realised this was the perfect opportunity to learn about the game. If they got insight from an actual player, they could come to much more logical conclusions.
“Sure, I was just about to make some lunch, care to join us?” She asked.
“If it’s not a bother.” He said as he stepped inside.
The other ponies set their books aside as Twilight levitated out some hayfries and punch for 8. As they ate, Twilight tried to think of the best way to approach the subject of the game. However, before she could manage it, Shuttlebug revealed the reason for his visit.
“I was hoping you could lend me hand with understanding something, Twilight.” Shuttlebug said between bites. “I want to know more about the game and its mechanics, that way I can fight even harder against the Reaper.”
‘Well, that takes care of that.’ She thought. “We were just studying up on it now. With you here to answer some questions, we should be able to puzzle out some of the more complicated parts.” Twilight floated the notes over. “Let’s start with resonation. All ponies are taught to resonate the day they get their cutie mark, because only a pony with a cutie mark can resonate with a human. Once a pair with a natural resonation are linked across our dimensions, they are dragged into the game and become new players, alias “noobs” or “first-timers”. Ponies and humans are known to have had multiple link partners, so far the maximum being 2 simultaneous but 3 over the course of a lifetime. Returning to resonation, anypony can resonate with another, and anypony can resonate with anybody. As such, it is unknown why certain ponies and humans resonation makes them a pair. You can’t enlighten us on this, can you?” She asked Shuttlebug, who shook his head.
“Then let’s press on. When in the game, the pair of noobs that have resonated don’t have to find each other, but it is recommended. The sooner they find each other, the sooner they can deepen their resonation and “unlock” certain powers. It is said that a resonating pair can share their advantages and negate their disadvantages. This was proven when a human resonated his eyes with a Pegasus to sharpen his vision, or when a unicorn with a deaf ear resonated with his human and regained his hearing. These resonations are temporary and can only remain active while the pair are concentrated on resonating.”
“Oh, Bruno and I resonate all the time. We use it to find each other once we enter the world, and then we use it to scan the area for threats, increase our stamina, share our vision… The uses are only really limited by imagination and the depth of understanding between the team. If you trust your human with your life, you can even resonate to close wounds that could be potentially fatal.” Shuttlebug offered.
“Yes, I read about a human that was on the verge of death who had his body absorbed by his earth pony partner. He lived on in his partner until his body was healed and then they separated again. The earth pony described it by saying that it was like she was carrying a child and had to eat and drink for both of them. The human said it was like he could feel both bodies but had no control of either.” Applejack said.
“Right. It also said that as the pair deepen their understanding of one-other, it becomes possible to transform one or both of the pair into objects. The more complicated the object, the more difficult it is to maintain the resonation.” Twilight continued.
“Another thing.” Shuttlebug began. “Resonating is like running. You can run fast or you can run slowly; you can resonate powerfully or you can make only a small resonation. But eventually, no matter how fast you’re running, you’ll get tired. It’s the same idea with resonation. The longer you maintain it, the more difficult it becomes to maintain. All it takes is the slightest slip in concentration to end. And just like running, while you’re not resonating, you’ll slowly recover from the last time and eventually you’ll be able to resonate again.”
Twilight was writing down everything they said. She was intent on keeping track of every single fact they knew, and even the things that weren’t facts. She’d write a book with every single possibility in it if that’s what it took to help out her race with the game.
She was about to continue when Shuttlebug suddenly hunched over and groaned in pain.
“Are you okay, Shuttlebug?” She asked.
“It’s too soon.” He gasped. “The next round is starting already!” He barely finished his sentence before he disappeared.
Twilight gasped in shock before quickly jotting down a note about how the players appeared to feel pain before they disappeared as the next round started. Before she could ask what had happened, however, Rarity keeled over, clutching at her belly and gasping in pain. Next to her, Rainbow, who had sprung into the air, fell back down with a loud thud and whimpered.
“Girls, what’s w-” Twilight began, only to cut off mid word as she felt a stab of pain shoot through her whole body. She too felt the invisible rope bind her and attempt to pull her backwards.
Three more grunts and groans of pain alerted her to the fact that the rest of her friends were also feeling the abnormal sensation. She had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen, which was confirmed as Rarity winked out of existence, shortly followed by Pinky Pie and Applejack.
“Spike.” She gasped out as Rainbow Dash disappeared. “Tell the princess.” She barely managed to squeak out the last syllable as she too disappeared, along with Fluttershy.
…
“Wakey-wakey”
Rainbow Dash didn’t need to be told twice. She remembered exactly what had happened, and whatever had dragged her through was about to get a piece of her mind.
She opened her eyes, seeing the see of blackness, and then quickly looked around, searching for “the all-seeing one” her book had mentioned. She saw the eye above her and had a pretty good guess at why her book had used that description.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t scared of anything. Nothing. But even she had to admit, that eye was just a bit intimidating.
“Hey, welcome to the lobby.” It said. “I bet you already know happening.”
“Yeah I do, and I also know that I get to ask as many questions as I can before my time is up.” She said. “Which human am I resonating with?” She asked.
But the eye had already begun to fade. “Too bad, looks like you’re out of time.” It giggled.
“GET BACK HERE!” She shouted as she felt herself fall, unable to slow the unnatural effect since there was no air for her to flap in, even though she could still breathe.
*****
Fluttershy whimpered as she stared up at the giant eye looking down at her.
“Welcome pony, to the lobby.” It said. “You know, it’s truly unfortunate that you had to resonate; you’re simply not a pony who’s made for fighting and killing. I feel truly sorry for you.”
Fluttershy just whimpered again, trying to hide herself in her mane. It had very poor results.
“I will give you a free titbit of information, though. The world you’re about to enter is full of vicious wild animals, and I’ve seen just how well you can corral animals like these. I’m sure that you, of all those who’ll be going through, will be the safest.”
Fluttershy finally uncovered her face a little. “R-really?”
The eye looked like it would have smiled if it was a mouth. “Yes. Also, don’t worry about your friends; I’m sure they know how to handle themselves in dangerous situations. I’ve seen you conquer Discord and Nightmare Moon. It is very difficult, and pointless, to train for these games until you’re certain that you’ll be going. The only real training you can do is to practice your resonation. Once you find your human, I suggest you try and make him your friend as soon as you can.”
Fluttershy gasped. “So it’s a boy?”
The eye smiled as it began to disappear. “There are only boy noobs on the human side this time.” With that, Fluttershy felt herself fall backwards, and she screamed for the whole trip.
*****
“So what you’re saying is that there are many different dimensions, and it’s just dumb luck that it was ours that crossed another at the 90th angular degree?” Rarity asked.
“That is correct.” Her eye replied. It was being strangely cooperative.
“You’re also saying that there are millions of other dimensions out there, all vastly different from each other, and it’s in these dimensions that we are sent to play the game?” She pressed on, determined to learn as much as she could before she got to her world.
“Precisely.”
“And this time, there are many more noob ponies then noob humans, meaning that at least one human will need to have a minimum of three ponies linked to him?” She asked again.
“Exactly so.”
“Can you tell me which human I am linked to?” She asked.
“No.”
Rarity nodded. She had been expecting that, but it never hurt to ask. “Is there anything else you can tell me? Particularities of the world we’re visiting? The location of the cube? A way to destroy the reaper?” She almost begged the eye.
“Do not try and befriend the natives; neither the animals not the sentient beings will comply. The cube is situated near one of the spawn points. I can only tell you that the last option is possible, but so close to impossible that it isn’t worth trying.”
Rarity opened her mouth to ask more, but the eye began to disappear. “Thank you!” She shouted as she felt the weightlessness grip her.
The eye came as close to a nod as something that has no head could manage before it disappeared.
*****
Applejack stared up at her eye, which stared back at her.
“So what yall are saying is that one of the noob humans and noob ponies ain’t gone make it back alive?” She demanded.
“Yep.” The eye said, a bored tone floating around its voice.
“And yall won’t tell me how to stop it?”
“You can’t.” The eye replied, still bored.
“And ya won’t tell me which pony it is either?”
“Nope.”
“Some help you are.” She huffed as it began to disappear. The eye just rolled itself before winking out of existence, letting a slightly pissed Applejack fall away.
*****
“But, but why… how? That doesn’t even make sense!” Twilight exclaimed.
She was glaring at her eye. What it said couldn’t be true. “Why would us playing the game challenge our friendship? Surely it could only push us further together! We’re going to fight for our lives, as well as for the whole entirety of Equestria! What could possibly drive a wrench in our friendship?”
The eye gazed down at her with something close to pity reflected in it. “I’m sorry dear; I cannot tell you that. I can only tell you the future. But be warned; you must guard your heart. Hard times are ahead, and they will either destroy your friendship or strengthen it. This even I cannot predict.” It blinked sadly.
“Can you tell me how to stop it, or at least help it along?” She asked.
The eye just shook itself. “You must discover this for yourself. Good luck, my little pony.” As it said this, the eye began to fade.
“No, PLEASE TELL ME!” Twilight shouted, trying to magic herself back into place, but the invisible force pulling her downward was far too strong. She gave up once the eye had vanished, dark thoughts of the times ahead looming in her mind.
*****
“Oh my…”
Pinky Pie was bouncing around in her pool of eternal darkness, completely at ease. Her eye was gazing at her in wonder; no creature could break the magic that held them in place, and yet this random pony was clearly not standing still.
“So now we get to help out in the game oh this will be so fun and now Twilight will be able to do some firsthand research and make her book and help all of Equestria and we won’t have to lose and let the meanie mean Reaper do some meanie mean thing to Equestria!” This tirade carried on until the eye began to fade, with Pinky Pie not pausing for a single breath throughout.
“BYE!” She shouted as the magic pulled her downwards. For some reason she was now stuck in its grasp again.
“Good luck…” The eye murmured as it disappeared.
*****
“Don’t. Like. Heights!” Maverick huffed as he stood. He had fallen into the portal, which had felt like it was ripping him to pieces, pulling left and right and up and down and back and forth for an uncountable amount of eternities, or maybe it had just been a minute. He then popped back into reality, lying on his back and staring up at the
WAVE OF BLOOD!
Now that he was on his feet, his gaze shot back up to the sky, which was the bloodiest red he had ever seen. A pale blue sun lit the sky, and then he saw a second, this one dark green. They were both much smaller then the sun back on earth, but combined they seemed to cast about the same amount of light.
The light! He realised, as he looked down at his tattered school uniform and pale beige skin, that he was no longer the same colour! His shirt was now a slightly darker green then it had been before, although his navy blue pants looked exactly the same. His skin, on the other hand, was a sickly shade of pale beige. He was even paler than usual, and that was saying something.
Then he saw the ocean he was standing on. Or so it seemed. The grass in this world was blue, not green! He lifted his gaze and stared at the jungle-like foliage that surrounded him, most of leaves pale gold, the tree trunks a bright purple. Flowers of every colour peeked out here and there, and he was almost certain he could detect an overpowering scent of perfume in the air. No wait, that WAS the air!
Maverick’s legs gave out and he fell back down to the ground. The shock of his situation had finally caught up to him, and his mind was whirring so hard that he had to begin a reboot. Unfortunately, the first organ to reboot was his stomach.
As he spat out the last bit of bile, Maverick glanced around again. He was clearly in a different world, and that meant…
Well, nothing really. All he had to do was get to the cube, right? He might not know where it was, but Mr. P would! And what had Mr. P told him to do? Just stay put! H could do that, easy peasy.
Until the tiger came out of the underbrush.
Well, tiger wasn’t quite right. For one, it had no stripes, for two, it wasn’t orange, and for three, tigers only had one tail.
No, this thing was teal, teal with a dark blue patch on both sides and a white streak spiraling around its whole body. It also had three tails. But scariest of all, it looked hungry.
The tiger-thing took a step towards Maverick, seeing an easy piece of prey and intent on devouring him before he could get his wits together. Maverick was getting there, but before he could feel his legs, the tiger-thing stopped, gazing over his shoulder with fear.
Maverick whipped his head around to see a black blur shoot out of the forest to his back. It jumped right over him and landed on the tiger, grabbing it in its claws and quite literally ripping it in two. Even Maverick had to flinch at that one.
The newcomer was completely and utterly black. Its huge body was black, its tail, which seemed to break halfway and arch back over itself, was black. Its claws were black, despite being stained with blood. It was like a giant lion and it was eating the tiger, half the body gone in seconds.
Maverick finally found his legs, and he didn’t hesitate to use them.
“STAY STILL MY ASS!” He shouted as he took off in the other direction.
