Equestrian Earth: The tale of Talonby TalenChapterschapter 1: Lets dive inChapter 2: Grand TourChapter 3: Collateral Damagechapter 1: Lets dive in Today marked a new beginning in entertainment a new type of massive multiplayer game called Equestrian Earth or E.E for short has just been released. Gamers of all kinds were flocking to this new game. Not just because it was new but because it made use of the I.P.V that links up with your brain's functions so that it can literally put you inside the game. So far it is shaping up to be the best gaming experience out there, and now that you have finally gotten off work you just can't wait to get your hooves on this game as well. So lets see how this ones story unfolds. Letting myself in through the front door of the post office the bitter cold of the night blows and catches my wings throwing me on my face in the entryway. With a sigh I drag myself along the floor, not bothering to get up, over to the counter where I sling my saddle bag from the nights deliveries onto the counter. From behind the counter I hear.“Star since you have been working so hard recently and covering for Postal since he got sick I think it would be good for you to have a few days off. How does that sound?” “Thanks Boxer, I was going to ask you for a few off anyway since I have been feeling a little under the weather lately.” I say with a small cough and grin. Climbing up from behind the counter Boxer’s greying brown mane pops up followed by the rest of his tan coated head. “Now don’t be lying to me boy. I know you are just looking for an excuse to get on home and try out that new fangled game....what was it called again?...E.A?” Lifting my hooves up I latched onto the top of the counter and hauled myself up until I was eye level with Boxer and gave him a small little grin while I brought a hoof up to my forehead. “Oh you know me so well. If I didn't know you I might just think you are stalking me. Are you? I mean I would feel flattered but you are just not my type.” Doing a little spin I face the door and begin a hasty retreat as I hear Boxer chuckling and call over my shoulder, “And for the record the game is called Equestrian Earth, and thanks for letting me have some time off.” As I leave the post office the cold night wind picks up and I could feel it filtering between each individual feather in my wings. The sudden need to fly was always hard to resist but now that I have some time off why not indulge? So with nothing else to do for the night I slowly extend my wings and give them an experimental flap before propelling myself into the sky. The wind rushing through your mane left it flapping around behind you and it occasionally slapped my neck. But I don't really care nothing could distract me from the beauty of the night, well almost nothing right now all that was on my mind was to fly home as fast as possible so I could try out E.E. With a mighty flap of my wings I put on a final burst of speed and head off to my home on the outskirts of Trottingham. Flying high above the city the lights dazzled my eyes as I fantasized as to what the game would be like. Hopefully I wouldn’t be disappointed. Banking to the left I descend until my hooves are just above the ground and snap my wings to my side and canter the rest of the way up to my door. Picking up the key from under the hoof mat at my door I put it in the keyhole and unlock the door and let myself in. Quickly making my way over to my computer where I had left the game earlier before heading off to work. Popping the disk into the Disk drive I begin booting up the game. While it is going through the usual thanks to the creators and the ponies that contributed to its creation I bend over to grab my I.P.V and plug it into my comp, and pop it down on my head and my eyes are assaulted with a blindingly bright light. But within the light I could barely make out the silhouette of some sort of creature standing with wings spread. “Hello there little one. It is a pleasure to meet you, and just as good that I send you upon your journey. But first I require that you create your character.” The figure...I assumed said since I could see what looked like a jaw move. With that said an array of floating folder like objects faded into existence before me. Each had what looked like the name of classes written on the covers. After flipping through a number of options only a few had caught my eye, first was the mage class but that was quickly stomped out as it was exclusive to unicorns since they wanted to keep the game sort of life like. But he second option was that of a rogue since they required speed and considering I had wings what could be better? Well I found out that it could be better as I came upon the Necromancer class. Surprisingly this class could be used by all considering that it was controlled mainly by chants to raise the dead and potions as a secondary option to cause status effects such as slow or poisons. So with the winner clearly being the Necromancer class I got to choose to alter my appearance in game. But I decided against it to keep my deep blue coat and main with a neon green running through my main and splotched in the center of my wings. Plus I thought I looked cool with all of that on top of my silver eyes and scars doting my body but mainly on my legs. After filling out the final forum in the folder I signed the name I chose to use in the world, and with that done the folder floated out of my grasp and towards the figure that had been patiently waiting this whole time. “Now that this is taken care of it is time for your journey to begin, and I wish you luck and hope that you make many good friends along the way Talon.” As the final words left its mouth the light behind it grew to such an intensity that I had to squint my eyes closed lest I be blinded and a song began to play. But as the light continued to intensify I could feel the sensation of falling. Not wanting to hit the ground and experience what death is like so soon I spread my wings and prepare to fly. Only to have the light rapidly fade and find myself poised with my wings spread wide for flight and a deep black robe billowing around me in the middle of a group a chattering ponies each with various types of clothing on. However upon my sudden arrival the chatter of the group died down only to be replaced by the laughter of a few. Which was quickly followed by the remaining ponies to laugh as well, but I could tell this was not a mocking laugh but one of mirth which was quickly confirmed by another Pegasus as he threw his hoof over my shoulder. “Well hello there friend my name is Strong Arm,”he said as he rocked back and forth still chuckling. “ and this must be your first time here considering your fancy arrival, but I can't say you are the first to make an interesting arrival. I mean just a little while ago we had a unicorn mage alchemist arrive splayed out on their backs laying in a ditch over yonder”, Strong says while pointing over the the ditch in the west. Taking the time to look over Strong Arm while he was rocking me back and forth and telling me about the many entertaining arrivals he had seen I could see that he was just slightly taller than me as well as much more muscly. His coat was a deep crimson and that his mane/tail were varying shades of blue that is actually looked as if it was flowing from his head and off his flank. His clothing that I could now tell was armor was a grey metal breastplate covering a white tunic. But what really caught my eye was the humongous blade that was a good one and a half lengths of his body. While I was taking in his appearance I was pulled out of my observing as he asked me a question.“So what's your name friend? I mean you have got a name and it would be rude of me to call you my friend if you aren't.” “Oh that is alright. The name I chose for this is Talon, and yes I know it is sort of weird considering what my class is but hey, I like it. Plus I don't mind you calling me friend as long as I can call you mine.” I reply with a shake of my head and a friendly punch to the shoulder. Letting out a deep belly filling laugh Strong leads me over to a nearby wall and introduces me to an amazing sight of a forest of thickly packed trees with mountains looming above them with the moon shining brightly down upon the land bathing all below in a pale silver light giving it all an eerie beauty. “Now this my friend is the world of Equestrian Earth.” Strong says with a sweep of his foreleg. “And it is all ours to explore.” Chapter 2: Grand TourThe sights were just too much. I could only just stand there and stare with my eyes slowly growing wider by the second while looking at the majesty of the land. Well that is until Strong wrapped his foreleg around my neck and began hauling me backwards. With the sudden change resulted in my legs flying out from underneath me and flailing uselessly in the air drawing strange looks from those chatting around us. Without breaking stride Strong calls back to me,“Ok now that you have seen the more majestic scenery I want to show you where we the players can get some rest and relaxation after a hard days of adventuring.” Unfortunately for me the place that he wanted to show me appeared to be down what I learned to be stairs from my rump and spine making jarring impacts against the steps and knocking the breath out of me each time. Between the the impacts I was able to communicate my discomfort,“Strong could you stop. OW! Dragging me. Mother bucker! Down these stairs!” Screaming that last part led me to be dumped on my back and an eerie silence to settle in the air. Shifting my head from side to side I am met with stares from well dressed and from my guess high leveled players, and all I could do was give them a sheepish smile before I was once again grabbed by Strong and drug off of the main road. “Sorry about that Tal. Are you ok with me calling you Tal? Oh why wouldn't you be?” Looking over at me he sort of cringes back and gives me a sort of embarrassed grin, “ But I tend to get a little excited when I meet new ponies and I really wanted to show you the main starting town.” while collecting what thoughts still remained inside my now bruised and battered body I only caught Strong’s new nickname for me and his apology smile and excuse. “Don't worry about it Strong, and I don't see why I would care about you calling me Tal either so go right ahead.” Looking back at me it was hard to miss the smile plastered on his face after my acceptance and my ok to the nickname, “Really? Well if its ok with you...Just hang on a second,” Reaching inside of a small pouch on his side Strong pulled out a piece of parchment and scribbled something on it, “There, now you are part of my friends list which means that I will be able to see your location and send you private messages, or pm’s for short.” Slowly nodding my head along with what he was saying I made my way back towards the main street, “Well ain't that fancy. Guess since you did it for me I should return the favor,” reaching into a pocket on the front of my robe I reach around until I find a piece of parchment with friends list on the top of it and write Strong’s name on it. His name lights up briefly with a small shimmer then fades to black. But to the right of his name under a column labeled location was Aeroslida. Seeing this I let out an impressed whistle before putting the parchment back in my pocket, “That really is fancy.” Making his way over to me Strong canters along beside me in silence as we make our way down the main street. The many voices of ponies all fighting for the attention of any who come within range to sell them their wares. From the small little wooden stand that has a sign saying that they sell a potion that will fix all of your ailments to the the more sturdy oak stands selling elaborately designed armor swearing that they are rare boss drops. “Sir, Are you in need of any health potions!? If so look no further!” “He doesn't want any of your filth, what he wants is my top of the line potions!” “Oh look at that robe, it is dreadful! Why not come over here and peruse my wares?” Only partially listening to the voices of the many vendors around us I take in the sights of the many magnificent buildings reaching into the heavens. It almost looked like the sky itself was bowing down to the city itself, in fact it actually looked like the clouds were a little too close... Walking a little closer to Strong I ask him about my observation, “Hey Strong, doesn't it look like the clouds are a little too close. I mean if I didn't know better I would swear that this city is actually floating through the sky. But that is physically impossible for something of this size and material to actually do that.” After a few moments of silence I turn to look directly at Strong's face only to be greeted by a smile that went from ear to ear, “Well actually Tal the city doesn't actually float it is actually pulled through the sky by two great serpentine dragons. But good guess....wait?” Squinting Strong looks directly into my eyes, “You didn’t notice that we were actually in the sky when I showed you the land or that we were moving?” Lifting hoof up behind my head I could only respond with a slight chuckle before my embarrassment made the blush that was building since the revelation about the city to finally show in full force upon my face. Upon seeing my blush I could tell Strong was trying to be a good friend and hold in his laughter, but he was doing a crappy job of it. “Oh ha ha ha Strong, its not my fault that the sights were a little too much for me. I mean how was I supposed to know that this game would look that amazing, So don't you dare laugh just because I didn't notice the little fact that the city we are in is flying.” “I swear to you that I will try my hardest to not laugh at you should you ever make an error such as this ever again, even though missing that the city you are currently standing in is floating is a rather hard thing to miss.” Strong says while crossing his breast plate in an X shape. Rolling my eyes at his attempted jab at my remaining dignity I put a little extra spring in my step as we continue our way through town and I could finally feel what I was missing before. That being the gently up and down and back and forth motion of the city as it was hauled through the sky by the dragons. The gentle motions were enough to actually lull me into an almost tranquil state, well that is until a tremendous crunching and crashing noise assaulted my ears. The sudden noise had halted all activity in the street and all of the players I could see were looking in the same direction, up. So following example I craned my neck back and looked up to be greeted with the sight of a towering structure leaning towards me and falling to what I could only assume was my untimely demise, and all I got for it was a distant voice yelling what sounded like, “Oops! My bad!” Standing there dumbstruck I could only stare as the building loomed closer and closer, and when it was only a few yards above me and everyone else in the street we all had the same thing going through our heads and we let it be known as one, “Well Crap.” Then the building flattened everything on the street. Chapter 3: Collateral DamageYou want to know something? I have learned that being crushed by anything is painful to some degree, and it would seem that the creators of this game had learned the same thing because the initial impact of the building was excruciatingly painful. The building initially crashing into my face pulverizing my snout and then flattening my neck like an accordion only it was not going to be filling with air again. The pain that it was causing me may have been so soul crushingly horrible, but thankfully it would appear that the creators of the game had thought of this inevitability and built a fail safe into the programming so that when you feel enough pain it would instantly shut down your pain receptors. Well that or the pain was too much and my entire body had gone numb, but either way I am grateful. While the remaining bones in my body were crushed to a fine dust I couldn’t help but notice the fact that I appeared to be glowing. However before I could actually start on the thoughts that were bubbling up within my mind on what that could mean I felt myself being.....what's the right word for it? Transported...no....I think the only thing that could really describe it in some form is being unmade. Taken apart at the molecular level and transported to another location and thankfully this process didn’t come with any added pains. Just an annoying message saying that I have died and that I will be respawning soon and complete darkness. After what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few seconds the world once again greeted my eyes, although in a more blurry and blobby form. Shaking my head to clear my vision I notice that the respawn is not actually back at the main spawn area but would appear to be inside some sort of house. Now with my eyes fully functioning again I can see that Strong is already waiting for me at the door to the respawn while all of the other ponies unfortunate enough to be crushed along with us filed out. Cantering my way over I can see Strong is shifting from hoof to hoof nervously and shifting his eyes from me back to the floor, “Hey Strong, are you ok?” Looking back up at me he just stares at me for a few seconds before looking back at the floor, “Strong if you're worried that I will blame you for a building falling on me you really don't need to. I do not blame you, I mean it might have not been expected or really welcome after only playing for about twenty minutes and then having a building falling on me.” Finally closing the distance between us I put a forehoof over his shoulder. “But hey, now I have an interesting story to tell anyone that asks how my first time in the game went. I mean how many people can say they just started a game to have a building crush them into a fine powder?” Glancing back over at Strong I can see that he was no longer shifting back and forth anymore and was now looking at me with a smile instead of looking away. Shaking my head I lift my hoof off of him and canter my way through the door to see just where I was now. Not expecting the sudden change in lighting to actually blind me I had to wait a couple seconds before I could take in my surroundings, and boy was it something. Lets just say I was not expecting this respawn to be so close to the reason that I died. The entire street was littered with the remains of the once grand structure and the broken and battered remains of stalls once filled with items of wonder. Now all along the street were ponies and griffins wearing hard hats and reflective jackets, all of them shifting through the rubble looking for anything that was salvageable or that looking interesting. Along with what I assume construction workers were the stall owners gathering what they could, and in the case of one stall owner I saw crying over what looked like....Cabbages? Still taking in the sheer amount of damage that was caused I was unable to notice a hard hatted griffin making its way over to me until she was right next to me, “Well hello there. I know this might be an inconvenience to you and anyone else but we have to clear out all of this rubble and help repair the shops and residents that are currently damaged. So please be patient.....and would you please close your mouth you might start catching flies.” With a blush now spreading across my face I slowly close my mouth taking great care not to bite my tongue and turn to face her with a slight chuckle, “Oh its alright. I was just here for the view. But it would seem that it came here for me.” Still surveying the damage I start off down the street with the griffin walking beside me and Strong lagging behind. “Wait, you were here when it came down?” The griffin asked questioningly “hehe I guess you could say that, but its more along the line of the building came down and crushed me and every single other player on the street.” I respond rubbing the back of my neck. Looking at my surroundings I can't help but notice that the griffin along side me is a light shade of grey, almost dare I say a silver. Well except for the tips of her wings, those were a blood red. You know what? For a griffin she didn’t look half bad. Nodding to myself I am pulled out of my musing by a drawn out whistle from the griffin, “So what you're saying is that you were one of the ones actually crushed by the building? Dang, I'm sorry about that that must have been extremely painful....wait a minute..,” with a sigh she slaps herself in the face with her left claw, “Sorry I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Featherona and I am part of E.E’s damage control, and you are?” “It is nice to meet you Featherona, and my name is Talon the luckiest stallion that you will ever know.” With a twirling of my right foreleg I give her a sweeping bow and after I heard her chuckle I stand back up. “I mean how many others then the ones that were here when the tower fell can say that a building has fallen down on them?” A tapping on my rump draws my attention behind me to see Strong giving me a look, “Oh, and this here” I turn around and gesture at Strong, “Is my friend Strong Arm.” With himself introduced Strong sheepishly waves at Featherona earning him a strange look. Walking over she grabs his hoof and shakes it, “What’s with the waving? Friends shake each others claws, or in this case hooves. They don't give each other wimpy waves.” With a determined look in his eye Strong grips her claw and gives her a vigorous hoof/claw shake. “Now that's more like it! I can tell we are going to be good friends.” Turning back to me she gives me an inquisitive look, “I got to ask but why is your name Talon? That doesn’t sound like a pony name to me, if anything it sounds more like a griffin name.” “Well where I am from we don’t see many griffins but we do get some that visit, and griffins have always fascinated me. So while on one of my trips into town I ran into a griffin named Talon that was making a stop in town for the night and after some chatting and.....some less than legal activities,” At this admission I give them both pleading look to not try and dig about that and continued, “We became good friends. Sadly as I mentioned he was only staying for the night and needed to be on his way the next day. So I guess I wanted to use this name because it had a meaning to me.” Looking over to see what she thinks about my tale I can tell that she was still thinking about what I could have possibly done that night to have become friends that fast. Letting my gaze drift over to Strong I can see that he is thinking the same thing as Featherona, but behind him I could see that one of the ponies with a hard hat and reflective vests was impatiently tapping his hoof and glaring, unbeknown to Featherona, right at her. So being the kind soul I am and not wanting her to get in any more trouble than she was already in I tap her on her shoulder and point out what I saw. After giving a guilty grin to the hard hatted pony she turns back to the two of us. “Sorry guys but I got to head back and help with the clean up. But first,” Pulling out what I assumed to be her friends list she scribbles on it for a second before putting it away, “There now I will know where to find you, so see ya guys later.” With that she gives us a quick wave and walks over to the hard hatted pony. After Strong and I had added Featherona to our own friends lists we began walking down the street with no clear destination in mind. We may of had to pick our way through the remaining rubble but there was little of it remaining, the damage control crew worked fast. When we had finally cleared the remaining and walked past the various other players that had lingered around we found ourselves standing near the edge of the city. Glancing over the edge I could see nothing but mountain peaks peeking above the sea of clouds below. But this struck me as odd. If we are in a city within the sky how are players that are unable to fly going to get to and from the city? “Hey Strong seeing as we are in a city flying high above the clouds how do the ones that are unable to fly get down below? Do they have some sort of chariot system to transport them or some sort of spell?” Glancing over at Strong I am met with a somewhat disturbingly mischievous grin. “Strong?” Still with that strange grin on his face he slowly canters his way over to me. “Well my friend there are many different ways to get down from this city there is the way of the pegasi were they just leap from the city and fly down and back, then we have the ways of the grounders. They can take chariots like you said drawn by their pegasi friends that want to make some money or they can ask a unicorn for a teleport down. But me, I like to take the more exciting way down.” Now with Strong almost right in my face I am starting to feel extremely nervous about asking what he meant but I just couldn't let it rest. “O-Oh and what do you mean by that?” which he replies to with his grin increasing in size before he closes the distance between our muzzles until he is centimeters away. Excitedly bouncing from hoof to hoof he responds,“Oh my way is the best and now that you are here I can actually do it.” With that said Strong quickly brings his forehooves up and shoves me backwards over the edge of the city. As I tipped over the edge and the city quickly began to decrease in size I could see Strong still grinning back away from the edge. Why would he push me off the edge if I can just quickly right myself and fly around? Hitting the clouds I begin to pass through, but before the clouds reform to fill in the hole I had made within them I could see a figure leap from the edge of the city. However this figure did not have any wings and it seemed to be familiar....very familiar. As in it was Strong hurtling towards me screaming excitedly at the top of his lungs.
chapter 1: Lets dive in Today marked a new beginning in entertainment a new type of massive multiplayer game called Equestrian Earth or E.E for short has just been released. Gamers of all kinds were flocking to this new game. Not just because it was new but because it made use of the I.P.V that links up with your brain's functions so that it can literally put you inside the game. So far it is shaping up to be the best gaming experience out there, and now that you have finally gotten off work you just can't wait to get your hooves on this game as well. So lets see how this ones story unfolds. Letting myself in through the front door of the post office the bitter cold of the night blows and catches my wings throwing me on my face in the entryway. With a sigh I drag myself along the floor, not bothering to get up, over to the counter where I sling my saddle bag from the nights deliveries onto the counter. From behind the counter I hear.“Star since you have been working so hard recently and covering for Postal since he got sick I think it would be good for you to have a few days off. How does that sound?” “Thanks Boxer, I was going to ask you for a few off anyway since I have been feeling a little under the weather lately.” I say with a small cough and grin. Climbing up from behind the counter Boxer’s greying brown mane pops up followed by the rest of his tan coated head. “Now don’t be lying to me boy. I know you are just looking for an excuse to get on home and try out that new fangled game....what was it called again?...E.A?” Lifting my hooves up I latched onto the top of the counter and hauled myself up until I was eye level with Boxer and gave him a small little grin while I brought a hoof up to my forehead. “Oh you know me so well. If I didn't know you I might just think you are stalking me. Are you? I mean I would feel flattered but you are just not my type.” Doing a little spin I face the door and begin a hasty retreat as I hear Boxer chuckling and call over my shoulder, “And for the record the game is called Equestrian Earth, and thanks for letting me have some time off.” As I leave the post office the cold night wind picks up and I could feel it filtering between each individual feather in my wings. The sudden need to fly was always hard to resist but now that I have some time off why not indulge? So with nothing else to do for the night I slowly extend my wings and give them an experimental flap before propelling myself into the sky. The wind rushing through your mane left it flapping around behind you and it occasionally slapped my neck. But I don't really care nothing could distract me from the beauty of the night, well almost nothing right now all that was on my mind was to fly home as fast as possible so I could try out E.E. With a mighty flap of my wings I put on a final burst of speed and head off to my home on the outskirts of Trottingham. Flying high above the city the lights dazzled my eyes as I fantasized as to what the game would be like. Hopefully I wouldn’t be disappointed. Banking to the left I descend until my hooves are just above the ground and snap my wings to my side and canter the rest of the way up to my door. Picking up the key from under the hoof mat at my door I put it in the keyhole and unlock the door and let myself in. Quickly making my way over to my computer where I had left the game earlier before heading off to work. Popping the disk into the Disk drive I begin booting up the game. While it is going through the usual thanks to the creators and the ponies that contributed to its creation I bend over to grab my I.P.V and plug it into my comp, and pop it down on my head and my eyes are assaulted with a blindingly bright light. But within the light I could barely make out the silhouette of some sort of creature standing with wings spread. “Hello there little one. It is a pleasure to meet you, and just as good that I send you upon your journey. But first I require that you create your character.” The figure...I assumed said since I could see what looked like a jaw move. With that said an array of floating folder like objects faded into existence before me. Each had what looked like the name of classes written on the covers. After flipping through a number of options only a few had caught my eye, first was the mage class but that was quickly stomped out as it was exclusive to unicorns since they wanted to keep the game sort of life like. But he second option was that of a rogue since they required speed and considering I had wings what could be better? Well I found out that it could be better as I came upon the Necromancer class. Surprisingly this class could be used by all considering that it was controlled mainly by chants to raise the dead and potions as a secondary option to cause status effects such as slow or poisons. So with the winner clearly being the Necromancer class I got to choose to alter my appearance in game. But I decided against it to keep my deep blue coat and main with a neon green running through my main and splotched in the center of my wings. Plus I thought I looked cool with all of that on top of my silver eyes and scars doting my body but mainly on my legs. After filling out the final forum in the folder I signed the name I chose to use in the world, and with that done the folder floated out of my grasp and towards the figure that had been patiently waiting this whole time. “Now that this is taken care of it is time for your journey to begin, and I wish you luck and hope that you make many good friends along the way Talon.” As the final words left its mouth the light behind it grew to such an intensity that I had to squint my eyes closed lest I be blinded and a song began to play. But as the light continued to intensify I could feel the sensation of falling. Not wanting to hit the ground and experience what death is like so soon I spread my wings and prepare to fly. Only to have the light rapidly fade and find myself poised with my wings spread wide for flight and a deep black robe billowing around me in the middle of a group a chattering ponies each with various types of clothing on. However upon my sudden arrival the chatter of the group died down only to be replaced by the laughter of a few. Which was quickly followed by the remaining ponies to laugh as well, but I could tell this was not a mocking laugh but one of mirth which was quickly confirmed by another Pegasus as he threw his hoof over my shoulder. “Well hello there friend my name is Strong Arm,”he said as he rocked back and forth still chuckling. “ and this must be your first time here considering your fancy arrival, but I can't say you are the first to make an interesting arrival. I mean just a little while ago we had a unicorn mage alchemist arrive splayed out on their backs laying in a ditch over yonder”, Strong says while pointing over the the ditch in the west. Taking the time to look over Strong Arm while he was rocking me back and forth and telling me about the many entertaining arrivals he had seen I could see that he was just slightly taller than me as well as much more muscly. His coat was a deep crimson and that his mane/tail were varying shades of blue that is actually looked as if it was flowing from his head and off his flank. His clothing that I could now tell was armor was a grey metal breastplate covering a white tunic. But what really caught my eye was the humongous blade that was a good one and a half lengths of his body. While I was taking in his appearance I was pulled out of my observing as he asked me a question.“So what's your name friend? I mean you have got a name and it would be rude of me to call you my friend if you aren't.” “Oh that is alright. The name I chose for this is Talon, and yes I know it is sort of weird considering what my class is but hey, I like it. Plus I don't mind you calling me friend as long as I can call you mine.” I reply with a shake of my head and a friendly punch to the shoulder. Letting out a deep belly filling laugh Strong leads me over to a nearby wall and introduces me to an amazing sight of a forest of thickly packed trees with mountains looming above them with the moon shining brightly down upon the land bathing all below in a pale silver light giving it all an eerie beauty. “Now this my friend is the world of Equestrian Earth.” Strong says with a sweep of his foreleg. “And it is all ours to explore.”
Chapter 2: Grand TourThe sights were just too much. I could only just stand there and stare with my eyes slowly growing wider by the second while looking at the majesty of the land. Well that is until Strong wrapped his foreleg around my neck and began hauling me backwards. With the sudden change resulted in my legs flying out from underneath me and flailing uselessly in the air drawing strange looks from those chatting around us. Without breaking stride Strong calls back to me,“Ok now that you have seen the more majestic scenery I want to show you where we the players can get some rest and relaxation after a hard days of adventuring.” Unfortunately for me the place that he wanted to show me appeared to be down what I learned to be stairs from my rump and spine making jarring impacts against the steps and knocking the breath out of me each time. Between the the impacts I was able to communicate my discomfort,“Strong could you stop. OW! Dragging me. Mother bucker! Down these stairs!” Screaming that last part led me to be dumped on my back and an eerie silence to settle in the air. Shifting my head from side to side I am met with stares from well dressed and from my guess high leveled players, and all I could do was give them a sheepish smile before I was once again grabbed by Strong and drug off of the main road. “Sorry about that Tal. Are you ok with me calling you Tal? Oh why wouldn't you be?” Looking over at me he sort of cringes back and gives me a sort of embarrassed grin, “ But I tend to get a little excited when I meet new ponies and I really wanted to show you the main starting town.” while collecting what thoughts still remained inside my now bruised and battered body I only caught Strong’s new nickname for me and his apology smile and excuse. “Don't worry about it Strong, and I don't see why I would care about you calling me Tal either so go right ahead.” Looking back at me it was hard to miss the smile plastered on his face after my acceptance and my ok to the nickname, “Really? Well if its ok with you...Just hang on a second,” Reaching inside of a small pouch on his side Strong pulled out a piece of parchment and scribbled something on it, “There, now you are part of my friends list which means that I will be able to see your location and send you private messages, or pm’s for short.” Slowly nodding my head along with what he was saying I made my way back towards the main street, “Well ain't that fancy. Guess since you did it for me I should return the favor,” reaching into a pocket on the front of my robe I reach around until I find a piece of parchment with friends list on the top of it and write Strong’s name on it. His name lights up briefly with a small shimmer then fades to black. But to the right of his name under a column labeled location was Aeroslida. Seeing this I let out an impressed whistle before putting the parchment back in my pocket, “That really is fancy.” Making his way over to me Strong canters along beside me in silence as we make our way down the main street. The many voices of ponies all fighting for the attention of any who come within range to sell them their wares. From the small little wooden stand that has a sign saying that they sell a potion that will fix all of your ailments to the the more sturdy oak stands selling elaborately designed armor swearing that they are rare boss drops. “Sir, Are you in need of any health potions!? If so look no further!” “He doesn't want any of your filth, what he wants is my top of the line potions!” “Oh look at that robe, it is dreadful! Why not come over here and peruse my wares?” Only partially listening to the voices of the many vendors around us I take in the sights of the many magnificent buildings reaching into the heavens. It almost looked like the sky itself was bowing down to the city itself, in fact it actually looked like the clouds were a little too close... Walking a little closer to Strong I ask him about my observation, “Hey Strong, doesn't it look like the clouds are a little too close. I mean if I didn't know better I would swear that this city is actually floating through the sky. But that is physically impossible for something of this size and material to actually do that.” After a few moments of silence I turn to look directly at Strong's face only to be greeted by a smile that went from ear to ear, “Well actually Tal the city doesn't actually float it is actually pulled through the sky by two great serpentine dragons. But good guess....wait?” Squinting Strong looks directly into my eyes, “You didn’t notice that we were actually in the sky when I showed you the land or that we were moving?” Lifting hoof up behind my head I could only respond with a slight chuckle before my embarrassment made the blush that was building since the revelation about the city to finally show in full force upon my face. Upon seeing my blush I could tell Strong was trying to be a good friend and hold in his laughter, but he was doing a crappy job of it. “Oh ha ha ha Strong, its not my fault that the sights were a little too much for me. I mean how was I supposed to know that this game would look that amazing, So don't you dare laugh just because I didn't notice the little fact that the city we are in is flying.” “I swear to you that I will try my hardest to not laugh at you should you ever make an error such as this ever again, even though missing that the city you are currently standing in is floating is a rather hard thing to miss.” Strong says while crossing his breast plate in an X shape. Rolling my eyes at his attempted jab at my remaining dignity I put a little extra spring in my step as we continue our way through town and I could finally feel what I was missing before. That being the gently up and down and back and forth motion of the city as it was hauled through the sky by the dragons. The gentle motions were enough to actually lull me into an almost tranquil state, well that is until a tremendous crunching and crashing noise assaulted my ears. The sudden noise had halted all activity in the street and all of the players I could see were looking in the same direction, up. So following example I craned my neck back and looked up to be greeted with the sight of a towering structure leaning towards me and falling to what I could only assume was my untimely demise, and all I got for it was a distant voice yelling what sounded like, “Oops! My bad!” Standing there dumbstruck I could only stare as the building loomed closer and closer, and when it was only a few yards above me and everyone else in the street we all had the same thing going through our heads and we let it be known as one, “Well Crap.” Then the building flattened everything on the street.
Chapter 3: Collateral DamageYou want to know something? I have learned that being crushed by anything is painful to some degree, and it would seem that the creators of this game had learned the same thing because the initial impact of the building was excruciatingly painful. The building initially crashing into my face pulverizing my snout and then flattening my neck like an accordion only it was not going to be filling with air again. The pain that it was causing me may have been so soul crushingly horrible, but thankfully it would appear that the creators of the game had thought of this inevitability and built a fail safe into the programming so that when you feel enough pain it would instantly shut down your pain receptors. Well that or the pain was too much and my entire body had gone numb, but either way I am grateful. While the remaining bones in my body were crushed to a fine dust I couldn’t help but notice the fact that I appeared to be glowing. However before I could actually start on the thoughts that were bubbling up within my mind on what that could mean I felt myself being.....what's the right word for it? Transported...no....I think the only thing that could really describe it in some form is being unmade. Taken apart at the molecular level and transported to another location and thankfully this process didn’t come with any added pains. Just an annoying message saying that I have died and that I will be respawning soon and complete darkness. After what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few seconds the world once again greeted my eyes, although in a more blurry and blobby form. Shaking my head to clear my vision I notice that the respawn is not actually back at the main spawn area but would appear to be inside some sort of house. Now with my eyes fully functioning again I can see that Strong is already waiting for me at the door to the respawn while all of the other ponies unfortunate enough to be crushed along with us filed out. Cantering my way over I can see Strong is shifting from hoof to hoof nervously and shifting his eyes from me back to the floor, “Hey Strong, are you ok?” Looking back up at me he just stares at me for a few seconds before looking back at the floor, “Strong if you're worried that I will blame you for a building falling on me you really don't need to. I do not blame you, I mean it might have not been expected or really welcome after only playing for about twenty minutes and then having a building falling on me.” Finally closing the distance between us I put a forehoof over his shoulder. “But hey, now I have an interesting story to tell anyone that asks how my first time in the game went. I mean how many people can say they just started a game to have a building crush them into a fine powder?” Glancing back over at Strong I can see that he was no longer shifting back and forth anymore and was now looking at me with a smile instead of looking away. Shaking my head I lift my hoof off of him and canter my way through the door to see just where I was now. Not expecting the sudden change in lighting to actually blind me I had to wait a couple seconds before I could take in my surroundings, and boy was it something. Lets just say I was not expecting this respawn to be so close to the reason that I died. The entire street was littered with the remains of the once grand structure and the broken and battered remains of stalls once filled with items of wonder. Now all along the street were ponies and griffins wearing hard hats and reflective jackets, all of them shifting through the rubble looking for anything that was salvageable or that looking interesting. Along with what I assume construction workers were the stall owners gathering what they could, and in the case of one stall owner I saw crying over what looked like....Cabbages? Still taking in the sheer amount of damage that was caused I was unable to notice a hard hatted griffin making its way over to me until she was right next to me, “Well hello there. I know this might be an inconvenience to you and anyone else but we have to clear out all of this rubble and help repair the shops and residents that are currently damaged. So please be patient.....and would you please close your mouth you might start catching flies.” With a blush now spreading across my face I slowly close my mouth taking great care not to bite my tongue and turn to face her with a slight chuckle, “Oh its alright. I was just here for the view. But it would seem that it came here for me.” Still surveying the damage I start off down the street with the griffin walking beside me and Strong lagging behind. “Wait, you were here when it came down?” The griffin asked questioningly “hehe I guess you could say that, but its more along the line of the building came down and crushed me and every single other player on the street.” I respond rubbing the back of my neck. Looking at my surroundings I can't help but notice that the griffin along side me is a light shade of grey, almost dare I say a silver. Well except for the tips of her wings, those were a blood red. You know what? For a griffin she didn’t look half bad. Nodding to myself I am pulled out of my musing by a drawn out whistle from the griffin, “So what you're saying is that you were one of the ones actually crushed by the building? Dang, I'm sorry about that that must have been extremely painful....wait a minute..,” with a sigh she slaps herself in the face with her left claw, “Sorry I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Featherona and I am part of E.E’s damage control, and you are?” “It is nice to meet you Featherona, and my name is Talon the luckiest stallion that you will ever know.” With a twirling of my right foreleg I give her a sweeping bow and after I heard her chuckle I stand back up. “I mean how many others then the ones that were here when the tower fell can say that a building has fallen down on them?” A tapping on my rump draws my attention behind me to see Strong giving me a look, “Oh, and this here” I turn around and gesture at Strong, “Is my friend Strong Arm.” With himself introduced Strong sheepishly waves at Featherona earning him a strange look. Walking over she grabs his hoof and shakes it, “What’s with the waving? Friends shake each others claws, or in this case hooves. They don't give each other wimpy waves.” With a determined look in his eye Strong grips her claw and gives her a vigorous hoof/claw shake. “Now that's more like it! I can tell we are going to be good friends.” Turning back to me she gives me an inquisitive look, “I got to ask but why is your name Talon? That doesn’t sound like a pony name to me, if anything it sounds more like a griffin name.” “Well where I am from we don’t see many griffins but we do get some that visit, and griffins have always fascinated me. So while on one of my trips into town I ran into a griffin named Talon that was making a stop in town for the night and after some chatting and.....some less than legal activities,” At this admission I give them both pleading look to not try and dig about that and continued, “We became good friends. Sadly as I mentioned he was only staying for the night and needed to be on his way the next day. So I guess I wanted to use this name because it had a meaning to me.” Looking over to see what she thinks about my tale I can tell that she was still thinking about what I could have possibly done that night to have become friends that fast. Letting my gaze drift over to Strong I can see that he is thinking the same thing as Featherona, but behind him I could see that one of the ponies with a hard hat and reflective vests was impatiently tapping his hoof and glaring, unbeknown to Featherona, right at her. So being the kind soul I am and not wanting her to get in any more trouble than she was already in I tap her on her shoulder and point out what I saw. After giving a guilty grin to the hard hatted pony she turns back to the two of us. “Sorry guys but I got to head back and help with the clean up. But first,” Pulling out what I assumed to be her friends list she scribbles on it for a second before putting it away, “There now I will know where to find you, so see ya guys later.” With that she gives us a quick wave and walks over to the hard hatted pony. After Strong and I had added Featherona to our own friends lists we began walking down the street with no clear destination in mind. We may of had to pick our way through the remaining rubble but there was little of it remaining, the damage control crew worked fast. When we had finally cleared the remaining and walked past the various other players that had lingered around we found ourselves standing near the edge of the city. Glancing over the edge I could see nothing but mountain peaks peeking above the sea of clouds below. But this struck me as odd. If we are in a city within the sky how are players that are unable to fly going to get to and from the city? “Hey Strong seeing as we are in a city flying high above the clouds how do the ones that are unable to fly get down below? Do they have some sort of chariot system to transport them or some sort of spell?” Glancing over at Strong I am met with a somewhat disturbingly mischievous grin. “Strong?” Still with that strange grin on his face he slowly canters his way over to me. “Well my friend there are many different ways to get down from this city there is the way of the pegasi were they just leap from the city and fly down and back, then we have the ways of the grounders. They can take chariots like you said drawn by their pegasi friends that want to make some money or they can ask a unicorn for a teleport down. But me, I like to take the more exciting way down.” Now with Strong almost right in my face I am starting to feel extremely nervous about asking what he meant but I just couldn't let it rest. “O-Oh and what do you mean by that?” which he replies to with his grin increasing in size before he closes the distance between our muzzles until he is centimeters away. Excitedly bouncing from hoof to hoof he responds,“Oh my way is the best and now that you are here I can actually do it.” With that said Strong quickly brings his forehooves up and shoves me backwards over the edge of the city. As I tipped over the edge and the city quickly began to decrease in size I could see Strong still grinning back away from the edge. Why would he push me off the edge if I can just quickly right myself and fly around? Hitting the clouds I begin to pass through, but before the clouds reform to fill in the hole I had made within them I could see a figure leap from the edge of the city. However this figure did not have any wings and it seemed to be familiar....very familiar. As in it was Strong hurtling towards me screaming excitedly at the top of his lungs.
