Respawn

Trixie let out a gasp as her eyes shot open. Quickly sitting up, she looked around, noticing she was somewhere else than where she... died? Checking her fingers and toes, she saw that they were all there. She’d have thought it a dream if she wasn’t still in her skimpy clothes from before. Also, surprisingly, she didn’t feel tired or hurt. In fact, she felt great.

Getting to her feet, she took another glance at her surroundings. She seemed to be in a dense forest with barely any light. “U-Uh...” She stammered. “Hello?!”

“Oh, hello,” came Iris’ voice again. “I see you’re awake.”

Trucks growled softly. “You bitch! You could’ve warned me!”

“It wouldn’t have helped you,” the voice chuckled. “But, now I think it’s time to get you up to speed on how things work around here.”

“Yes, Trixie would like that very much,” the unicorn spat as she crossed her arms.

Iris chuckled again. “Feisty. Good. You’ll need that. First things first, to open your Crafting menu, just think about it. If you do it right, it should appear in front of you.”

“My what?” Trixie asked, before letting out a sigh. “Just think it?”

“Mm-hmm,” Iris said cheerfully. “It’s easy.”

“Can’t you tell me this face to face?” Trixie asked as she concentrated. She didn’t have to think hard at all before the Crafting window appeared in front of “O-Oh, I did it! Trixie did it!”

Iris sighed happily. “You are a delight. I’ll be there in a bit. Just... start exploring the menu to learn what you can craft.”

Trixie spent the next half hour looking at the menu in front of her face. Reading it, she learned how to make a variety of tools and clothing. After about the first five minutes, Trixie had found a nearby tree to lean against. Suddenly, the black griffon appeared in a burst of green pixels a couple feet away.

"Here I am!" She said with a wave of her left hand.

Trixie scoffed and made her Crafting menu disappear. "I've been waiting for 30 minutes. What took you so long?"

Iris slowly walked up to her with a smirk. "Whatever do you mean, my dear?" She cooed deviously. "I only took just over a minute."

Trixie raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I beg to differ."

Iris put an arm around the unicorn. "Time here works differently," the griffon explained. "Ever notice how in every open-world survival game, the days last about a half hour?"

Trixie shook her head. "I don't play games."

This made the bird faceplam with a loud slap. "Ugh..." she groaned, sliding her hand away. "Well... in games, a day doesn't last a real day in real time. Otherwise players would make practically no progress. So, the developers make days last a few minutes. Here, in Primordia, a single day lasts an hour in the real world. Thirty minutes for day and night. But... for us, here... it'll still feel like a full 24 hours. Why is that? Because your hunger, thirst, and stamina will drain accordingly." She noticed the mare just staring at her with a blank look. Iris then sighed. "Don't think about it too hard. Just know that after 24 hours here, one hour has passed in the real world."

"One hour back home is a day here?" Trixie asked. She then went wide-eyed and gasped. "B-But, my friends have been gone a week! I-If one day is one hour..."

"You'll find them," Iris chuckled. "They aren't far. In fact, if I didn't know any better... I'd say they're about to find you. They'll teach you everything you need to know about survival. Though, I will fill you in on your current Stats."

"My... Stats?" The inexperienced gamer asked.

"Yes!" Iris sang cheerfully as she backed up a step from the unicorn. "For a unicorn in this world, you begin with 4 Attack, 2 Defense, 4 Intelligence, 2 Agility, 1 Stamina, 1 Charm, 100 Health, 50 Max Magic Points, 25 Magic Attack, and 50 Magic Defense." As she listed these off, the Stats appeared as text in front of Trixie in a nice organized chart.

"Oh, that's... good, I guess," Trixie said, not really knowing whether or not her stats were good or not. "Um... Right?"

"Yes, that's a good start," Iris said, before frowning. "However, you also have the Showpony trait," she added. "You get plus one to your Charm--"

"Well, Trixie is quite the charmer," the unicorn giggled.

"but," Iris continued. "minus 1 intelligence, minus 10 Max Magic Points, minus 10 Magic Attack, and minus 10 Magic Defense." Again, as she listed these off, the Showpony trait appeared under Trixie's stats and the numbers changed accordingly.

"Wh-What?!" Trixie squeaked. "I'm dumber than a normal unicorn?"

Iris shrugged. "But, fret not, dear Trixie. You also gain the Spark ability with your Showpony trait. It costs 5 Magic Points to use and it creates a brief flash that blinds anyone nearby. You can use this to escape a fight you don't wish to partake in."

"O-Okay..." Trixie whimpered, holding her head. "Oh, I'm so screwed."

Iris smiled and walked up to her. "You'll do fine. Now, I must leave you. Practice crafting, and, uh... Have fun."

"I-I don't..." Trixie stammered, before Iris poofed away in a cloud of pixels. "Uh... Shit..." she said, looking around her surroundings. She noticed that, wherever she looked, there was a small map of the area in the bottom-left area of her vision. "Huh... That's helpful," she muttered as she began walking. "Alright... I should probably make a tool so I can... make some clothes..."

Picking up a few sticks and rocks, she opened her Crafting menu and chose Axe. Then, to her surprise and glee, the materials merged together to form a normal-looking axe. She looked it over, trying to figure out how a bunch of sticks and rocks could make such a perfect-looking axe. Shrugging, she moved over to a tree and started hitting it. Every time she chopped at it, she saw text in the center of her vision that read +1 Wood (1), +1 Wood (2), +1 Wood (3), the number in parentheses going up to show how much she had. She didn't even bother trying to figure out where it was going, as she had no backpack of any kind.

She had 30 pieces of wood before she heard twigs snapping nearby. Letting out a gasp, she ducked down. Even though Iris said her friends were close, it still could've been Chrysalis, and she had no intention of bumping into her again. Taking cover in a bush, she waited until she saw a familiar figure step into view. It was Rainbow Dash! Only one of her wings was metal, her hair was a little shorter, and she had a scar over her eye. The scar seemed to only be on her eyelid as her eye, itself, seemed fine. She was wearing a black full-body suit that had metal armor padding on her shoulders, elbows, and knees. In her hands, she held an assault rifle.

Finally seeing a friendly face, Trixie gasped happily and rushed from the bush. "Rainbow Dash!" She yelled.

The pegasus gasped and quickly turned, pulling the trigger. Trixie went wide-eyed as she felt the bullet hit her in the side, causing her to drop to her knees. Rainbow went wide-eyed and rushed over to her, quickly dropping to her knees to lend aid. "Red blood," she said, placing her hand over the unicorn's wound. "Shit," she muttered as bandages appeared in her right hand. As she began to wrap the mare up, she looked Trixie in the eyes. "Trixie? Is that really you?"

The unicorn grunted as the pegasus tightened the bandages. "Mmm... Y-Yeah... I-Is that really going to help?"

"Video game logic," Dash answered with a light chuckle. "Now, come on," she said, helping the mare to her feet. "Let's get you back to the others."

Trixie smiled as she put an arm around the pegasus for support. "Wait!" She gasped. "Ch-Chrysalis mentioned something about Starlight. Do you know what she was talking about?"

Dash gave her an uneasy look. "I should let Twilight explain that to you. She's the only one to make it as far as Chrysalis' Tower."

Nodding, Trixie kept walking. "I-I hope she's okay..."

Rainbow Dash kept silent, not wanting to be the one to deliver the bad news.