Summer weather such as this was impossible in the winter. People embraced the rays that hit the skin, the warm they haven’t felt for months, and wanted to dart for it immediately. However, they couldn't move. Not until the game started. Not for 30 more seconds. When midnight hits, it will officially become Christmas Day. People were ready to explore the virtual world.
It will be known as the largest online match in history with over a million players waiting for the same gates to open using the same ungodly internet bandwidth in which every individual had implanted in their brains. The virtual bloodbath will stretch for hours on end, as Scouts, Heavies, Soldiers, Medics, Snipers, Demomen, Pyros, and Spies are waiting to reveal their voices, as their speakers were disabled. Noticing the 30 seconds left before the game, I saved the video file I was editing within my head and closed. I couldn't make words, but one thing I could do is stare at one of the scouts on my team. As the crosshairs matched with him, his eyes crossed mine, and his username popped up as my friends, Ablaze. I nodded at him. The mod worked. We spawned near each other.
10 seconds.
I was psyched for the biggest online match in reality. How all of the fanbases could collide and make such technology is revolutionary.
5 seconds.
If Valve never supported this, we would never be able to experience the hellish heaven we’re about to witness.
The announcer didn’t sound the same, it shouted louder than it ever had, in a different tone, and with much more emotion, almost as if it had a life of its own. “BEGIN!”
It sounded like a war. Battle cries and “LEROY JENKINS” of all kinds soared through the air. Gabe Newell and Notch, was leading the red team was the most psyched, almost as if they landed on the moon pulling this off.
Gabe Newell exclaimed “We made history starting this battle! LET’S MAKE HISTORY AND END THIS!” You can make out what they said thanks to the priority box they set up in our head.
Updates from the server admins and favorited friends are amplified and appear in a chatbox, one that didn't require typing. We ran. We ran like hell. The blue team was so much further now, making this bigger than all of the war grounds combined in real life. A voice started coming clear to us. We never expected the richest man in America to appear in our chat.
“Spartans! Tonight, we dine, in hell!” It was the biggest irony, because Bill Gates, in a specially modded Spartan model, lead his army of game designers and testers. The entire red team cheered at his appearance, although some mac fans swore.
Ablaze and I smiled, and I crank my head continuing the dart, still knowing he’s a long way away. “Where do you wanna go after the grand opening match?” Ruben shot a confused look at me. I looked back. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So what pony do you want to meet?”
Ablaze stops in his tracks, looking back at the opposing team smiling. “I’m going to go for the big one; Princess Luna,” Ablaze looks back “The fans are going to be all over her. “
I smile, but then look back. “Ruben,”
Ruben corrects “Call me Ablaze.”
“Ablaze, listen. The population is going to spike in Equestria by the millions. I’m not sure if we’ll be welcome.”
“Well why the hell not?”
“I just feel… Nervous. Ponyville’s not going to be a village anymore; more likely a bustling city after the bronies are done with it. And… Humans… There’s some pretty damn stupid ones down there, I’m just being defensive. Did you hear the Team Fortress announcer? It was so realistic! I fear that this isn’t just a computer chip in our mind, we’ve created another universe.”
Ablaze nods and looks back. “I’ve thought of that too but, my blood is just running so damn fast right now, I don’t think I can contain my excitement!” Soldiers started shooting their rockets and snipers started blaring. “I’m ready for anything this universe throws at me!” He charges, and I follow behind him.
An anonymous voice blares. “It’s about time you fuckers did something!” We ignored it. “Fucking pussies, watching ponies and shit. I’m ready for the biggest Call of Duty fight ever after this! Like a MAN!!” A rocket blares over us during his rambling, and he’s blown to bits.
“Holy fff-” I shouted under my breath. We ducked in a building; the other team was closer than we thought. I open a window, and cover my hand to signify I’m going long distance. “Where the hell are you?!”
My friend Christian picked up. He’s not a brony but rather, a real life friend. “Of course I get sent behind our entire team!”
Ablaze picked up. “Hah!”
“Really Eric, you brought that ponyfag here?”
“Call me Ric man, you’re ruining the moment,” I say. “And can’t we just have fun for a little while?”
“God, how long does this battlefield go for?”
“I don’t know, but I’m near the battlefield right now! I’m ducked behind a wall.”
“Get out in the game, man!”
“I’m a sniper man, I’m not even supposed to be ‘in the game.’”
“Quickscope!”
“You can’t fucking quickscope in Team Fortress!” A minigun spams us, as we duck as tightly as possible below the windowsill.
Ruben panicked. “Dude, that’s a fucking Heavy!”
The Heavy was charging and the bullets were getting steeper and steeper. “Dude, get the fuck up from there, you’re ruining my streak!” The sound of bloodsplatter spaws as the Heavy is blown to bits. A soldier cheers. I check my crosshairs to see the usernames. I didn’t know the one that was killed, but I knew the one that shot him. As he runs away, I turn back to Ablaze.
“Dude, that was fucking PewDiePie.”
“PewdiePie? Hell no, a million players, and pewdiepie saves us?”
“Dude, I recognize that username, it’s not a fake.” I motion back Ablaze. “Comon man, we’ve got to boost our score. You charge out there and capture that base, I’ll keep you safe.” Ablaze nodded and ran. I set my sniper and look frantically for pursuers. Surprisingly, the bass seemed empty either than a blue medic camper jumping around singing “Gagnam Style.” He got a bullet in the head by me.
“Thanks for getting that guy,” Ablaze updated.
I saw a shadow loom over me, and I turned instinctively. It was another red scout. “Ric?”
“Hey!” I recognized your username. “Frost right?”
“Yeah.”
“We never talk man! What’s goin on?”
“Oh nothing, just going around killing people, you?”
“Same.” I focused back on my sniping.
“Well, back to work. Added you to my friends list.” The shadow shifted, which I wasn’t aware of. I turn.
“Thanks man, I…” I start stuttering, fear has robbed me of words.
Ablaze started getting paranoid. “What is it?”
“That’s a fuckin…” I pause for the word. “Spy.”
A bloodsplatter. It’s Ablaze’s turn now.
Chapter 1½ - Winner Takes All
Ablaze captures the base and steps off. He aims his scattergun but finds the spy dead. I find myself overviewing the fight. I know what the spy did.
“He changed classes. He’s a pyro now.”
Ablaze slops. “Dammit, not a pyro!”
“Turn left and aim.”
“Alright,” he says, doing so. He sees how underpowered he is as a scout fighting a pyro. He switches to his bat and baseball. Frost comes, nailing a shotgun at his head. Only one shot made contact. Ablaze hits his baseball right in Frost’s head. His life is halved. They orbit each other like a pack of wolves, shooting shotguns and scatterguns. Frost switches to his flame thrower and charges Ablaze. Ablaze dodges.
“Dude, stay still! You’re obviously not taking this serious!”
I responded. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the higher place you get in this tournament, the higher the chances that you’ll meet someone you want to! I can tell you right now, the mane 6 are going to be really popular right now, the most we’ll get out of them if anything is an autograph if we don’t win this!”
Ablaze gasped. “You’re shitting me!” I have to meet Luna. I have to!
“Of course it’s just a rumor,” Frost continued. “It’s a risk I ain’t willing to take, however.” Frost charges, and Ablaze instinctively scattershots. Frost dodges and sets him on fire.
I shout. “Ablaze!”
Frost frowns. “I had to do it guys. Please forgive me.” He runs away. Now me and Ablaze are in a waiting room of some sort.
“What are we going to do now?” Ablaze grunts. He collapses on the chair waiting for him.
“Dude, I’m sorry.”
“What are you guys on about?” He was quite a ways, and we couldn’t see him.
“Is it true that the more kills you get, the higher the chance of you getting to meet a protagonist in a game or series?” I ask him.
“Tell your friend to calm down, they would never separate such dedicated fans in a simple match.” We sigh with relief. The player reveals himself, a dead Notch. We become speechless at his presence. “It’s a tight fit though. Millions of fans looking for the same person, they’re gonna become celebrities, you know.”
“It’s not fair. How are we going to compete with a million people? It’s like rescuing a princess,” Ablaze said.
“Listen though, I’ll see if you can fit.”
I blush, and smile down at the thought of it. I expected a good reaction from Ablaze, but shocked that their isn’t one.
“If they’re gonna be treated like celebrities, then how? How are we going to ‘truly’ meet them? I don’t want to be treated like a fan, I want to be treated like a friend.”
I noticed that this tied in very well with my nervousness. I hang my head as well. “I guess I feel the same way.”
Notch sits beside us. “Well don’t. The brony community is a hard one, because everybody, or, should I say ‘pony’ wants to befriend a member of the mane 6 rather than just “see” them. But…” He looks over “Equestria seems to think they have it covered.”
Ablaze looks up. “Seriously?”
Notch is now the one looking down. “Don’t ask me how.” Beeping, and everyone looks up at the screen in front of them. Bill Gates collapses. Only a few people are left. The battle rages on, and Red team takes the win. Notch stands up and claps us. “We did it, guys!”
We’re cheering at this point. I’m smiling and Ablaze is smiling. Our bad moods have been cured. Ablaze turns around and looks at Notch. “You see? Getting someone’s autograph just doesn’t seem enough. People should stop treating others like “things.”
Notch pats Ablaze on the back. “I completely agree.” He wraps his arm around us. “Well, are you ready?”
I flinch. “For what?”
“Equestria, of course!” Windows fly through his eyes, and he locks on. “What, did you forget that I might wanna go there too?”
“Going to Equestria with the dutch creator of Minecraft…” I repeat. “What’s next, doughnuts will start flying out of the sky?”
“What,” Ablaze flinches.
“I’m telling you that unicorns exist without sarcasm! I’m sure there’s a universe for the doughnut thing too.” He looks up.
“God, I wanna visit that universe. We stare, awkwardly, before I turn back to Ablaze. “Will we be accepted when we go there, man?”
Ablaze hesitates. “Hell, I would be glad if they took me as a slave!”
We laugh. 10 seconds before the server switch.
Ablaze’s eyes stare into a different realm of thought. “That would be very kinky, wouldn’t it?”
Another awkward stare. 5 more seconds.
I speak to Ablaze. “Ablaze, when we go, cover your eyes. I want the first look to be the best.” I tremble as the last second ticks off the timer. Suddenly, we’re gone.
New Friends, New Foes, New World
A figure flies across the surface of an Earth, it’s aura following it. The figure falls along with his aura, looking across a mountain. Her brow bends down, her body shifts, and she jumps again, out of sight.
A hand picks up an orange ball, turning it and revealing 5 stars. Pan smiles and shouts. “It’s the 5 star ball!” She jumps in the air, proud of her discovery. She charges her aura, and releases herself in the air. Now we can make Piccolo immortal. Then the dragonballs can be with us forever! And then we can wish Grandpa immortal!
The same girl from before approached Pan and she was flying. Pan gasped and stopped. “Who are you?”
The girl smiled, and smacked Pan all the way into the ground. She catches the 5 star ball and lands. Her eyes roll and select an option “random server.” The girl smiled slyly and teleported. Pan rubs her head and sits up. “No… She took it… She took it!” She looks up at the lost dragonball.
Darkness. Despite our eyes being covered, we could still sense everything else. We heard the sound of the train, felt its bumps. Even the smell was drastically different. The most noticeable change however was that we no longer felt human. Our entire anatomy felt rearranged, body weight pushed onto our legs was suddenly abnormal, where standing up added to the trembling we already felt. I was afraid to open my eyes, for this sense will be the hardest to believe, yet the most mind blowing. We already knew we’ve changed, but none of us wanted to see our new bodies, we weren’t braced for this yet.
“You want to open your eyes first?” I offered.
A pause, and Ablaze confesses. “You do it first. I don’t think I can handle myself like this.”
I paused, and then dropped what were no longer my hands. They clopped on the ground upon release. My entire body fell with them. With nothing no longer covering my eyes, I sighed, and opened them. On the other side of the car leaned Ablaze as a pony.
A Pegasus, minty green in which covered his body, and an off blue to cover his mane. Upon seeing him, my lungs froze. What I was seeing was virtually real. What I felt was virtually real too. I, myself, will be the biggest surprise yet. I trot to the window of my room, eyes closed once again. I open my eyes. My eyes were speechless at the combo of my reflection with the mountainous landscape rolling past. Black fur color advertised my glowing green eyes while creatively expressed through a yellow and blue mane. My mane colors were core, making the eyes more appealing to them than ever. My own face was painted by landscapes rolling a thousand feet below and above the level of the train I ridden in.
It was better than perfect.
I giggled like a fan girl and told Ablaze to open his eyes. Upon doing so, he stared in my eyes, piercing them in a very creepy fashion. Ablaze sensed this and got creeped himself and comprehended my presence, blinking twice. “Dude, you look slick!”
“Thanks man, you look pretty awesome yourself.” He walked over to me and lifted his hoof. I looked at it, and back at him.
“We’re actually going to do it!” He laughs, and we bump hooves. “That’s too awesome! We literally, fucking, brohoof’d.” He seemed to blush, and I wouldn’t blame him. Such a big change is too awesome for humans to really comprehend, because we aren’t human anymore. Not metaphorically, anyways.
Hooves seemed to clop down the hallway. We looked at each other. “Are the ponies on this train ponies or bronies?” I asked. “Maybe both?”
Ablaze started laughing. “We’re gonna be slaves, aren’t we? I knew it! We’re going to be so screwed, quite literally!”
The hooves grew louder, and I started to back up Ablaze. “I think it’s gonna see us, brace yourself.”
The door was opened by a conductor, male, that let himself into the train. “Enjoying your ride?”
Ablaze and I paused for a second to gasp, and to break the silence, I shrugged. “It’s only the best day of my life, nothing special.” A blush followed.
The conductor nodded. “Good, we’re on our way to Canterlot.” He winked.
I gasped. “Does this mean we’ll be meeting…?”
The conductor nodded. “The rulers of Equestria! Princess Celestia and Luna!”
We were speechless at this news. Ablaze shook and started laughing. He laughed, thank collapsed fainted. I blushed, and pulled him back on the chair. I smacked him in attempt to awake him and seeing it did nothing, tried to forget it.
“It’ll be busy, wouldn’t it…? Princess Celestia will have more on her hooves than she should, shouldn’t he?” I mentioned.
“I bet. But she promised to make it work, somehow. Don’t know how she’s going to go through with this, but I guess it ain’t my problem. She bit off more than she could, this time.” He started to shift his attention. “Now I have to go. Safe your questions for when we get to Canterlot… I have a train to secure.” He smiles, and walks away, calling “Some of you bronies are real creepy!”
I kneeled back down, and looked out the window. I jumped, and looked back out. The train was heading up a steep incline bordering a cliff. Upon the cliff was the place nobody has ever thought they’d ever visit. They were traveling up the road to Canterlot, and to the left of this road laid the entire land of Equestria. Everything, from the cities, to great metropolises lay numerously throughout the kingdom. The capitol of Canterlot looked over it all, the tower room at the top perhaps being the highest place on this Earth. Looking up upon it made me feel powerless, yet looking upon the rest of Equestria made me feel invigorated.
Ablaze got up, and I called him over. We stared at the approaching castle and polis that lay beneath it like a Greek city-state.
“I can’t believe it…” he said. “A year ago, and a dream like this was made fun of through the internet,” he laughs. “Well who’s laughing now!”
I laugh as well. “I feel like I’ve been born again!” The train continued to climb up the slope at its own pace.
A blue ball appears in the everfree forest, and a mare pops out, landing on all fours. Her color scheme resembled that of the person in the Dragon Ball Z universe. When she appeared though, the only thing able to have been made out was her bangs and her facial details. She lunges on the ground, and leaps again, her wings boosting her through the air.
Snoring is heard from the top of the Canterlot Capitol, up in the clouds. Guarding over the castle was one of the many celebrities to reveal themselves today, also playing the role as security and weather control. Rainbow Dash paid no attention to the anxiety her 3 responsibilities have behold on her and fell asleep on the clouds once again. A sound, then the whistling of white wings sound through the air. Upon landing on another cloud apposing Rainbow Dash was the princess of Equestria, Celestia herself.
“Rainbow Dash!”
She startled awake, She rubbed her eyes at the sight of Celestia. “What’s up?”
“The sky still hasn’t been cleared yet,” she said. “That’s what’s up.’”
Rainbow Dash shrugged and laid back down. “I kept this single cloud so I can sleep on it, I cleared all the other clouds already.” She stares up at the stratus clouds hanging over the cumulous cloud she rested on. The clouds almost hypnotized her to sleep, but she came to a realization and jerked awake. “Whoa, the sky!” She jumps up and flies looking around. “Your majesty, I don’t understand! I cleared the clouds like just a few minutes ago, I swear!”
Celestia looked around. “You could’ve been asleep for much longer than that, when did you clear these clouds, time wise?”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “15 minutes prior to the welcoming, it was seriously like 5 minutes ago. You can tell because the guests are arriving just now.” She pointed down at the train. Celestia gasped, and looked back at the clouds.
“Clouds don’t travel that fast on their own… She looks at the sky. “The clouds are moving much faster than the windspeed, which means they’re locked on to some other pony.” She looks back out towards everfree forest. “That power… It’s making a beeline straight towards that power…!”
Chapter 2½ - The Missing Bloodline
We trotted on the ground looking at the colorful faces at the welcoming. Some ponies had usernames, and others didn’t, hencing they’re apart of this server. I’m the first to break the memorization. “Man… There’s so many of them!”
“I know…! I can’t possibly meet them all! If I was able too, I could spend my entire life here!”
Three ponies stared at an unaware us while picnicking by a tree. Their silhouette hues were Green, Tan, and Grey. The green one, the only one standing up on two feet with the help of the tree for support, looked back over. “There’s so many bronies, Bon-Bon, I just don’t know which one to pick!”
Bon-Bon shrugged. “You know more about them than I do, Lyra. Personally, I think they’re just gonna be a million more muzzles to feed.”
Lyra landed on her hooves. “They’ll contribute to our work force, Bon-Bon! And I think something along the lines of immigration is just what Equestria needed to get it out of its depression.” Lyra looks at the polar opposing eyes of the grey pony and asks, “What do you think, Derpy? Who should I interview?”
Derpy looked around Canterlot, at red ponies, blue ponies, green ponies, and her eye rests on the black pony with blue and yellow hair. Her wings unfold in excitement and she charges over.
I’m chatting with Ablaze, still. “You would think he’d be proud of the movie I made, something only college kids seem to know how to do, but then he just rants! Rants on my “imaginary friends” like you and that I need to be out in the real worl-” rapid clopping interrupted me. I turn, and see the charging pony heading straight for me. Ablaze’s wings pop out in shock, and he flies to avaid the tackle I received from Derpy. She hugged me so fast that I ended up hitting a brick wall.
Ablaze ran over. “Ric! Are you okay?” He gasps at Derpy’s surprise appearance.
“Sorry about that!”
We look over, including Derpy. Lyra and Bon-Bon walk over blushing. “We can’t understand her thought process sometimes. I wanted her to pick a random human for me and… We’ll, she darted for you… Without hesitation!”
Ablaze cocks his head. “Why would you want to pick a random human?”
Lyra comes up and shakes Ablaze’s hoof. “Lyra Heartstrings, freshman Anthropologist at University of Canterlot Province, pleasure to meet you!”
Ablaze blushes at the longer than usual handshake. “You can let go of my hoof now.”
Lyra shocks herself and recoils back. “Sorry about that! I get overzealous sometimes, especially with my studies.”
Bon-Bon helps me up, though Derpy will not let go of me. “What’s up with her? She’s rubbing me worse than a cat!”
Bon-Bon tapped Derpy. “Derpy, what’s gotten into you?”
Derpy’s eyes closed into upper curves and she smiled. “Bolty!”
Bon-Bon gasped, and looked back at me.
Lyra heard also, and dropped her attention from Ablaze and stared back.
“Bolty?” I repeat.
Everyone stared at me, except for Ablaze, who had no idea what was going on. Bon-Bon comforted Derpy and got her off of me. “She’s right… You have a strong resemblance to him…”
I repeat again. “To who?”
Bon-Bon tried to keep Derpy from hugging me again. “Her brother, Bolty. You’re an almost exact match to him, the only difference is your green eyes, where Bolty’s was yellow and blue opposing the colors where his hair parted.”
I look at Lyra. “Why didn’t you guys recognize me at first?”
Lyra started backing and didn’t seem too enthusiastic about eye contact anymore. “Bolty was the one that powered Derpy’s electricity all throughout her life. Eventually though, in their preteen
years, there was an accident. He couldn’t control the lightning.” There was a flash of Derpy’s brother’s blue and yellow lightning transforming red. Bolty strained to control it, but it contracted deeper and deeper into him, until the electricity hit his body. The electricity consumed him, and he collapsed. “Bolty…” She started to break down. “Bolty is dead. She thinks you’re him.”
I gasped at this. Derpy didn’t seem to know the difference between me and him. Is there a difference? Was this coincidence meant for something? Perhaps it’s true I have lightning powers, but I have to learn how to control them, or I’ll end up like… The thought made me shutter.
Castle guards started telling people to break up their conversations, the festival has begun. “We better go,” I said, pondering what Lyra said.
We gathered by the castle courtyard where the speaker was supposed to speak. Talking and laughing went on for a few minutes, but then the happy sounds faded. Sounds of confusion replaced them, too much time has passed. I even overheard a rumor that the Wonderbolts were supposed to have the opening act, and they were heading towards the Everfree forest.
I start to retreat downwards. “When is this going to start? I’m starting to get worried.”
Ablaze looks at me. “The princess could be in trouble.”
Suddenly, shushes. Dark violet hooves reveal themselves from the darkness of the stadium, revealing the sparkly shoes of a royal princess. Luna appeared, one hoof over her eyes.
Lyra looked at us. “This is bad. Luna can’t be out in the daylight.”
Ablaze looks back. “Oh no…”
Luna looks down. “Loyal citizens, from all the provinces and corners of our kingdom, old and new, thy festival has been stalled for quite a bit, thus shall be back in a few minutes!” She walks back. “You, the Wonderbolts, and the Princess are perfectly fine!” She backs into the dark. The crowd started to arise with fear. The ponies started to leave the courtyard, including us.
“Something’s seriously wrong,” Lyra said.
I looked up. I’ve seen something in the distance, which resembled a pack of flying objects, one which was greater than the others, and the other, which was further than the rest. I point up, when suddenly the pony blasts the figures with some kind of a blast. The figures survive the blast, but crash into the forest. The remaining figure soars. Soars all the way back to above where we stood. We saw the figure of black and green; a pattern nobody has seen around ponyville before. We chase him back, and the pony lands at the courtyard, his head up in superiority.
A pause, as we try to comprehend what just happened. The mare, head held high, asks “Any other challengers?”
People recoil in fear, but my operating system happens to pick up one in general, a grey and red patterned one. I realized that I turned my best friend’s list off, so I flip it back on. Christian was in this universe. I almost laughed at the irony, but was interrupted by a revolt by a user in which I didn’t recognize. It was a pegasus, brown and had black hair, and he seemed cockier than even Rainbow Dash. “That’s it… I’ve waited too long for something like this, and I’m not letting you ruin it!” He takes off in the air, loops into a charge position at the pony, but gasps at the revealed horn on her head. “An alicorn…!”
The pony’s tail was yanked with telekinesis. His body was kept up with a different bubble of telekinesis as his head was forced to look at the villian’s. The villian now had the spotlight, but didn’t say anything, and didn’t even smile. The bubbles started separating, and the pony started shouting louder and louder. I noticed that Christian ran away and guessed that it was too much for him to handle. The pony’s shrieks grew louder until ripping sounds were heard. The colt shouted a swear at the mare doing this. “Fuck you!”
Yank. His entire tail dropped individually into the audience in the courtyard. A splatter of blood replaced where the tail was supposed to be, and the colt was breathing hard. “I can’t leave the server! I can’t leave the fucking server! It won’t let me!” Eventually, the bubble that held his body up divided into four parts and surrounded all four of his limbs. The colt looked both ways and noticed the telekinesis active. He started to stretch gradually. “We get shown heaven for the first time in our lives… And you give us hell!” He leans up, his breathing intense. “We never were fighters, we just wanted a heaven! And this is how you torture us, as if we belong in hell; you’re heartless!” A jerk, and the colt screams. His limbs were still attached, but skin broke in patterns. He vomited blood, and stared down the mare doing this. “You’re insane. If only I could see that damned blurred out username!”
The mare lowered her horn toward the colt. “My real name is Lithium.”
The colt cursed her one last time before he was forced out of the server dead. “Lithium… In all things holy…”
“I am holy.” She interrupted. “I am a god.”
The colt’s limbs fell useless to the courtyard, in front of my own legs.
