Gallus spoke,“So tell me again what this is Ocellus.”

All of them were standing in a large white room; around them floated numerous items. Spears, swords, axes, bows, shields, hammers,staffs, magic wands, there were even some strange looking guns. Each item had a name and a small description underneath.

Ocellus looked at Gallus and answered, “It's the character creation of Sabied.” She smiled happily, “Oh, I wonder what I should be.” She kept looking back between guardian and magician.

Sandbar was looking at a set of two short swords. He looked at the name below and read it out-loud, “Mercenary, type shadow warrior, specialty: dual-wielding short swords and hired warrior. Player is able to dual-wield any short sword and once a day can be hired for a player set price by any nation. Number of mercenaries in game........Whoa! Five thousand and two!” He was surprised by the number of players.

Ocellus explained, “Yeah, there are a lot of players here in Equestria and in the Equestria Princess Twilight visited some time ago,” She paused a moment as she stared at the magician wand, “Okay, I am going with magician.” She tapped her hoof on the image and her body started to glow.

Smolder commented, “I'm still surprised all of us were selected to be part of the first thousand players to receive the game and the equipment needed to play for free,” The dragoness focused her gaze on the sword, “Hmm, guess I'll be a sword master.”

Yona spoke, “Yona still surprised,” She looked at the image of a giant shield, “Yona will be guardian.”

Gallus was deciding either to be a mage or an archer. He figured since Ocellus was going to a magician; and the others were picking characters that could only do close combat. He nodded and spoke, “I'm going with Bowslinger.”

Silverstream laughed a little before she spoke, “This is so exciting,” She looked at the image of the spear and continued, “I'm going to be a spear master.”

The character selection screen then vanished and in front of them a huge map screen was displayed. The saw various images displayed on the map. Sandbar asked, “What's this?”

Ocellus had just reading the description and answered, “It looks like each of us can join one of the six ruling clans.”

Smolder asked, “Ruling clans?”

Ocellus answered, “The thunderhammers rule the mountain zone, the spell callers rule the grasslands, the mad swords of madness and the monster breakers seem to be waring over the ocean and volcanic zones. The city seems to be ruled by three clans. The spear rangers, the break knuckles, and the mighty shields. The swamp appears to be in control of the maniacs.......wow that is a lot of clans.”

As they looked over the map; Yona noticed a huge gray area in the middle of the map. She asked, “What's that area?”

Ocellus looked at the part and read the description, “Neutral area. A place for solo player or players who cannot decide on a clan to join,” She tapped her hoof on it and a second screen appear, “Huh, get this guys there's only one player there.”

Down in the neutral area three large sheep grazed in the grass area of the neutral zone. A loud explosion echoed from the forest around them. The looked up and then started running away from the sound. From the woods a cloaked figure sprinted out; it was followed by a huge fiery explosion. Soon after a group of four spell callers appeared.

One of them shouted, “Again!”

The aimed their wands and and staffs at the player and launched a series of fire volley attacks at them. Yet, again another huge explosion erupted; but when the smoke cleared there was no player there.

The leader of the hunting part shouted, “Where did he go!?”

It was then the player they were hunting appeared directly behind him. By the time he noticed it was already too late. A series of screams then echoed throughout the area. The player is shown closing an inventory window.

He commented with a laugh, “Yet, another failed hunting mission for the Spell callers,” He looked up at the sky smiling, “And now I've got another.” It was then the sky above turned a solid white; it was followed by six beams rushing down, “New players,” He smiled wickedly, “Kickin.” He began running to the spawn point.

When the light dimmed Ocellus opened her eyes. All of them were in the middle of a huge and very beautiful forest. She looked at her character; she chose a changeling base for her avatar. It was dressed in robes that were worn by young magicians in training. She then looked at the others.

Each of them chose avatars that mirrored their species. Yonas' avatar had on a basic tunic and carried a large wood shield. Gallus's avatar was equipped with a recurve bow and outfitted with a tunic as well. Sandbar's had chosen mercenary; his avatar was equipped with heavy robes and a bandana. Smolder's wore light chain-mail armor and was equipped with a standard sword. Silverstream's avatar was also dressed in chain-mail but her weapon was a standard spear.

They looked at one another and commented on how the other looked. They were unaware of another player aiming his arrow at their mercenary. The player slowly pulled back on the string. When the player had the arrow drawn back to just past his ear. Something struck them hard in their chest; causing them to fall out of the tree and land hard on the ground. The character vanished a few seconds later.

The other player was revealed to be the one who took out the spell callers. He shook his head as he commented, “Your clan has now resorted to new player killing,” He sighed as he collected the items that were dropped, “That is low even for a clan half full of slashers.”

He looked up at the tree limb where the other player was and jumped up. He could see a group of six new players. He commented, “Equestrians, interesting. You hardly see any of them in this game.” he watched as they were suddenly attacked by three large forest snakes. He laughed a little, “Already attacked by the games poison monsters,” He broke a smaller limb off and began to use his sharpen skill, “Might as well give them a hand.”

Gallus was thrown back hard by the snake. It hissed loudly at him; spraying his character with a small amount of poison. The gryphon looked at his health bar it dropped from half; to the critical. He brought up his bow. But, one of the other snakes had used its tail to smack it out of his talons.

Smolder noticed her friend in danger and shouted, “Gallus, get out of there!”

The snake hissed loudly and lunged at him. All he could do was bring up his two front talons in a weak defense against the attack. Just before the snakes attack hit; it was suddenly struck by a small dart. It hissed in pain as it disappeared in a series of colorful cubes.

A voice spoke, “Backup's here!” They looked and saw a human character running towards them. It was a male with the name “Tog” floating just above his head. The player stopped beside Gallus and touched his characters shoulder. He then said, “Full health!”

Gallus watched as his health was suddenly fully restored. Before he could thank him; the player suddenly picked up his bow and fired an arrow at one of the other snakes. When the arrow struck the snake it reeled back and hissed loudly. The player dropped the bow and sprinted towards the snake. What the group saw next completely stopped them in awe. The player jumped grabbed one of the large fangs in the snakes mouth and broke it off. He then used it as a knife and landed three hard slashes on the snakes underbelly.

Tog then turned and looked at the other snake; he brought his arm back and shouted, “Eat it!” He threw the fang and it struck the third snake directly in the head. Both snakes hissed before disappearing. When the snakes were gone; everyone except for Tog had an alert pop up.

Sandbar commented, “Hey, I'm level three!”

Silverstream spoke, “Hey, same here!”

Yona added, “Yak, also level three!”

Tog spoke, “All of you are now level three,” They looked and he continued, “Nice to meet y'all. The names Tog. Tog the moron.”

Each of them laughed at his name as Ocellus asked, “Tog the moron? Why would you call yourself a moron?”

He answered, “Cause I can.”

The bluntness of the answer stopped their train of thoughts for a moment. He named his character “Tog the moron” just because he could. They heard him speak again, “So, A earth pony, dragon, hypogriff, gryphon, yak, and a changeling. Interesting; rarely see any of you in this game.”

They then watched as he brought up a window; he tapped a few buttons. Seconds later all of them had an alert appear in front of them. He had sent them all a friend request. They smiled and accepted the request; before they each sent one of their own to him and each other.

He smiled and said, “Also, here's something from me to all of you.”

Once more another alert message appeared in front of them. When they opened it; they saw that he had sent each of them thirty health potions and a map of the entire zone. He managed to stun them again.

Silverstream asked, “You're letting us have these?”

Tog answered, “Yeah I am. I don't need them.”

Smolder asked, “Hey, you can see our levels but I can't see yours. Why is that?”

He answered, “Oh, dumb game mechanic the developers put in. You can't see another players level if they are higher than you. But, high level players can see your numbers.”

Ocellus began to think. They were level three and he was a higher level. That meant they had to raise their level. She looked at the map he had given them; she saw areas that had various images around them. But, there was one area that really caught her attention. It appeared to be a dungeon; but it had a red skull and crossbones over it.

She asked him, “Why is this image over that dungeon?”

He answered, “Oh that. That's the dungeon of the shocker. A giant eel,” He chuckled a little, “If you're thinking on taking that on. All of you are out of luck. The developers put a level requirement on all their dungeons. For that one you need to be level thirty.” He heard each of them groan in annoyance. He quickly added, “But, there is a way all of you can get into the dungeon.”

Yona asked, “How?”

He explained, “There is a way to bypass the requirement mechanic. If we form a party; I can accept the quest. It will keep you all out of the dungeon as I enter,” He then opened his inventory and brought out a scroll, “But, if you use the rally party command. I can warp all of you into the dungeon with me.”

Gallus smiled and turned in the direction of the dungeon, “Well what are we waiting for. Let's go!”

Before he could step one more step; his tail was suddenly grabbed and he was pulled back. Tog spoke, “Hold on there bird boy. Like all good things it's got a huge drawback.”

Gallus asked, “And what would that be?”

Tog answered, “When I do use rally the party to get you all inside' it will glitch the game for a few seconds,” He heard each of them groan and sigh, “But, thankfully it does not last long. Plus I can make it end instantly.”

Ocellus asked, “How?”

Tog answered, “I'll tell you all when we get there.”

They nodded before they started to head towards the dungeon. They walked through the forest; admiring the attention to detail. The flowers that grew at the bases of the trees; the sun making the dew on some of the leaves shimmer like gems. They even saw a couple of cute monsters. Although they helped them gain new skills; Ocellus had a hard time taking down a two tailed kitten. She really wanted to cuddle the cute thing. But, when it tried to claw her eyes out. It really left her with no other option.

As the group walked Gallus asked, “Tog?”

Tog responded, “What's up.”

Gallus asked, “Why are you helping us?” It caused to others to look at him before he continued, “I'm not saying that I'm not thankful for your help. I mean all of us are happy to know you're helping us. But, why are you help us? Why are you helping a bunch of new players?”

He answered, “I'm a RPG OG.”

Smolder asked, “A what?”

He explained, “I'm a player that would rather help others out so that they can enjoy the game more,” He began to climb over some downed trees. He looked down inside the trunk of one, “Hey that's a big one,” He reached down and pulled out a large grub worm. It was about the size of puppy, “Alright, into the inventory you go,” He placed the bug in his inventory before helping the others up. He then continued where he left off, “There are two many slashers in here and before you ask; slashers are players that just kill other players for fun.”

They grimaced at the thought. How could players have fun just simply killing other players. As the party continued on; they eventually reached the entrance of the dungeon. It was a large cave covered with a red skull and crossbones. But, for Tog it looked just like a normal cave.

Sandbar asked, “So how are you going to get us in?”

Tog turned just as an alert flashed in front of all of them. It was a form party invite; which they accepted. He nodded before saying, “Okay, this next part is gonna get a little weird. For a moment you will all be logged out. But, you will not be able to move. Don't panic when you're out there it will be over before you know it.”

They nodded and he turned and entered the dungeon. They watched as he disappeared into the darkness of the cave. Then in a flash; all of them were back inside of The tree house of harmony. Ocellus tried to speak but what Tog said was true; she couldn't move. None of them could move. She grew anxious; her heart rate went up. Then in an instant they were all back in the game and inside the cave. Each of them were breathing heavily.

Tog apologized, “Sorry bout that,” They looked at him, “Told y'all it would be a second; turned out to last a little longer than that. All of you okay?”

They each nodded before they slowly stood up. He then lead them into the dungeon. The cave was filled with many dangers. High level cave monsters; that attacked them at random. Hazards such as stalactites that would drop from the ceiling. Random pitfall traps opening up beneath their feet. No wonder this dungeon was off limits to low level players. They eventually reached two large double doors.

Tog brought up his hand and the group stopped. He turned and looked at them and spoke, “Alright through here is the boss. If any of you fight this boss; it will instant kill you. But, that's why I'm here.” He smiled as he opened his inventory and took out three huge golden orbs. He handed one to Ocellus and the other to Smolder.

Ocellus asked, “What are these?”

Tog answered, “A surprise,” He held the third one before he continued, “When I give the word; I want you both to crush them. At the same time I will crush this one and I will use this,” He brought out a strange looking knife. Before they could ask he said, “Alright, lets get funky.”

He laughed as he kicked open the door. The group slowly entered when they were about halfway in; the doors slammed shut. It was then the room began to fill with water. A loud roar echoed through the room. And, from the water a giant eel appeared. It roared loudly as electricity pulsed through its body. The group-except for Tog- took a defensive stance. Tog only smiled as he waited for the eel to rush him. He did not need to wait long. The boss attack it's fangs barred and sparking with an electrical attack.

Tog then spoke, “You're done.” He lifted up the knife and the moment the creature made contact with the weapon. It stopped and disappeared in a series of colorful lights. To say the others were stunned was an understatement. He then turned and yelled, “Crush the orbs now!”

Both Smolder and Ocellus did as instructed. Quickly crushing the orbs causing golden dust to surround the party. Tog crushed his only to bring up his weapon; The golden dust was absorbed by the weapon. The knife started to glow a golden hue; he then turned and threw the knife at them. It absorbed the dust just before it suddenly exploded. The group screamed in fear as a bright light surrounded all of them. When the light dimmed all of them were back outside. They looked around clearly confused.

Tog spoke, “Well, what do all of you think?”

Yona turned to answer him. Only this time she saw the number “9999” next to his name. She commented, “Hey, I can see your level.” The others looked and were shocked to learn that they could also see it.

Tog couldn't help but smile as he motioned for each of them to look at each other. They did only to yell out in surprise; all of them also had the number beside their name. They were at a complete lose for words. Awhile ago they were only in the single digit levels. Now they were in the four digit's.

Ocellus asked, “How is?”

Tog answered before she could finish, “All three of those orbs were Odama EXP orbs,” They looked at him and he continued, “When you crush them you get a huge experience boost. I also used the power knife. It take any exp earned and triples it. But, since I didn't gain any experience I sent all of it into the blade.”

Silverstream spoke, “So when you threw it at us.”

He nodded and continued, “All of you received the Experience that I would have gotten. But, since I'm already at Max level.”

He stopped as all of them continued to stare at him. He wanted to see their reactions; he then brought up his hands and covered his ears. Just as ll of them shouted, “WHAT!” He started laughing as the news sunk in.

All of them started looking through their characters skills and stats. They were all amazed; not only had their characters gone up to the max level. But, so did their stats and their abilities. Ocellus asked, “How did I learn all these spells.”

Tog answered, “I used an Odama skill, weapon, armor, magic, and ability orb to boost all of your stats. Some words of advice don't use the auto skill point assign feature. Do it yourself; That way you can bring out the best in your character.”

They nodded and started to do just that. It took all of them a little over an hour to assign their stat points. When they were done all of them smiled happily as they closed their stat menus and finalized their level. They looked at each other and smiled happily.

Tog waved at them before saying, “Hey follow me real quick.” He started running to the northern section of the zone.

They followed through the woods all the way to what appeared to be an abandon factory. It looked old and really worn down from the outside. But, inside everything was shiny and new. All of them looked around amazed at how the building looked.

Tog spoke, “Welcome to home,” He turned and looked at them, “Feel free to make yourselves at home.”

They looked at each other and smiled before spreading out throughout the building. Tog could hear them all talking; amazed at how his home looked. He smiled while shaking his head before taking a seat on one of the many couches. He sighed as he got comfortable.

Ocellus appeared next to him and asked, “How did you find this place?”

He answered, “Found it the first time I logged in,” He had a small flashback as he remembered it, “Found it completely by accident to be precise,” He pointed towards one of the windows on the ceiling, “Fell right through that one right there.” He laughed a little more. It was then all of them started to hear music play from one of the upper levels.

When the group reached the area; They saw both Silverstream and Yona trying to shut off the box the music was coming from. Tog couldn't help but laugh as he walked over and tapped the side. The music stopped instantly.

Yona apologized, “We are so sorry. We didn't mean.”

Tog brought up his hand and waved it off, “It's okay,” He laughed a little before he continued, “You actually played my favorite song.”

Silverstream asked, “What kind of song was that?”

Before he could answer a voice from the outside called out, “Tog!” All of them stood still as the voice continued, “Tog the moron we've come for you!”

Before any of them could do or say anything he motioned for them to wait here. They watched as he made his way to the entrance. The group made their way to one of the upper level and looked out. They saw Tog standing in front of a group of five. They all appeared to be from the same clan; given by the armor they wore. They also saw their levels; two of them were level thirty. One was level forty and another was level fifty. The leader of the group was level sixty. They could see them talking.

Gallus spoke, “I wish we could hear what they are saying.”

Ocellus gasped as she suddenly remembered a spell she recently learned. She brought out her wand and said, “Won meht reah su tel!”

They heard Tog's voice, “And, again I told your clan leader I'm not interested in joining any clans.”

They heard a female voice reply, “But, think about this offer. Slammer is willing to give you full freedom to do whatever you want with the clan. She's even willing to give you full access to the clans treasure. On top of that you'll get.”

He interrupted her, “Still I stand where I stand,” There was a temporary pause, “Really surrounding me. Didn't all of you learn the last time.”

It showed Tog now surrounded by the hunting team. He looked at them completely unimpressed. He heard The leader speak again, “Sorry, Tog. This time we are to bring you back with or without your cooperation,” She readied her war hammer. “So, I ask out of respect.”

Suddenly multiple explosions went off around them, The two lower level players were taken out in the blasts. While the others were pushed back. The leader stared at Tog in anger; she wondered how in the world he managed to pull off that surprise attack. She got her answer when six other characters appeared beside him. She looked at their levels and her eyes widened in horror. She couldn't see their levels.

“No way.”

They were then taken out by a huge fireball; their character all but vaporized instantly. The only thing that remained were their weapons, items and armor. Tog chuckled as he looked at Ocellus and complemented her, “Nice blitz fireball spell.”

Ocellus replied, “Thanks.”

After collecting the loot they returned to the inside of the base. And rested inside the main room. As they rested Tog asked, “Hey, y'all.” They looked at him and he continued, “I know a lot has happened for y'all's first day in the game. But, if you all are willing to hear me out; I got an idea,” He watched as they focused on him. He then continued, “For awhile I've been all of the clans Top Prize. I've been hunted, bribed, ambushed, you name it. It's all happened. But, now this is a rather unique situation.”

Sandbar asked, “How do you mean?”

tog explained, “Well for a long time I was the only player who not only lived in the neutral zone. But, I was also the only max level. Now with all of you and my home being the only building here,” He paused a moment before he finished, “I'd like to start a clan with all of you.”

They looked at him and then at each other. Only to reply all at once, “We're in.”

He smiled and replied, “Happy to hear it.” He then asked, “Well then,” He sent an invitation to start a clan to all of them, “What shall we call ourselves?”

They looked at one another again; it didn't take them long to decide on a name. Sandbar asked him, “Hey, Tog we have a story for you. You wanna hear it?”

He replied, “Sure.”

It showed the outside of the base; the in game sun was starting to set and it's moon was starting to rise. It was then a small image appeared just above the base. The image was a flag; that had a large crystal tree in the middle of it. Above the flag there were words that showed the clans name

“The Harmony Guild”

Author's Note

Chapter 1 hope anyone who reads this enjoys. before it's asked. yes, I did get some inspiration from I don't want to get hurt so I'll max out my defense. the song used in the story belongs to soul coughing. let me know what yall think in the reviews and don't forget to hit the like button