Yes! Finally! After years of developing, the ponies of Equestria would finally bear witness upon the greatest magical product ever created! Well, at least in my opinion. The other ponies in town don’t seem to think that it’ll make that big of a difference, but forget them! This has to be the biggest thing since the first arcade was founded!
Oh right, where are my manners? My name is Questline, the pony without a purpose! Until now, that is.
You see, this invention I’ve been rambling on about is the first of its kind. It was created by a pony named Gear Turner using sensory manipulation magic. It basically makes you feel as if you’re actually inside the game, even going so far as to add small details like grass brushing against your coat. Gear created an entire world by himself that was traversable by other ponies.
The tricky part was creating the inhabitants for the land he named Arc. So much magic cannot be controlled by just one pony, so he enlisted the help of talented magicians and wizards and formed his own company.
Arc was only intended for entertainment, of course, so its development wasn’t top priority. A community actually formed quite recently that gave it the needed funds to finish up. It was the talk of the town! Hay, I’d say all of Equestria!
And here I am! Waiting for the release right outside the newly opened store with my friends! Friend, I mean. Singular. I don’t actually have a lot of friends here in Ponyville, but I won’t need them once I get my hooves on this beauty!
“We’ll now be opening!” the shopkeeper announced as the doors slung open. Ponies of all ages flooded into the store quickly and I grabbed my friend’s hoof and followed after.
“Whoa!” she yelped as I barged through the wall of eager customers.
“Hey! What’s the big idea?! No cutting!” The shopkeeper gave me a glare, and then his eyes lit up. “Oh! Quest it’s you!”
I let out a triumphant grin. “Yup! Do you have my order?”
The owner rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. But why you would pay so much for two reservations is beyond me. Here you are.” He handed me two bundled boxes.
“Yes! Sweet!” I could feel the jealousy from the bystanders jabbing into my sides like poison darts. And it felt good. “Come on let’s get out of here.” I hauled my pal right back out as quickly as I had gone in.
We walked in silence. Not the awkward silence, but the kind that you were just too speechless for any conversation silence. We had been waiting for this moment for way too long. We flung open the door to my home and hurried into the main room. I handed the second box to her and we tore the packaging right off.
Inside was a blue colored, crystal-like prism. I turned the object around and found the button that seemed to activate it. Magic began coursing throughout the shape and it floated upward. A screen of some kind appeared out of thin air and hung there for awhile. Oh boy! This was it! The moment I’ve waited all my life for! Then some lettering popped up abruptly.
Updating.
“Oh horseradish!”
[ *] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
I helped my buddy with her Arc and we sat there for about an hour. “Only 38%...”
We let out a discouraged sigh.
I got up and walked to the kitchen. “Can I get you anything Derpy?”
“No it’s okay! I already ate!” was her reply.
I made myself a quick salad and walked back into the room with the grey mare. She was laying on her back staring at the ceiling. Seeing her all quiet like kind of made me sad. It was like when I first met her, to be honest.
It had been another day at school for me. The rest of my classmates flew about the course while I sat on the bleachers. I had never been a good flyer so I tended to stick to what I was good at; sitting. The coach had given up on me long ago.
I was relaxing my head on the row behind me when I noticed something in the corner of my eye. It was the most depressed filly I had ever seen. Her mane was the same color as mine, but I had a much brighter coat. She seemed kind of lonely.
I remembered hearing about a grey Pegasus causing a major accident a few days back and had to be suspended from excessive flying for awhile. I could only assume this was the same one. When I looked at her, I saw myself in a way. Somepony that the other ponies would never accept. I got up and approached her. She gave me a quick look and I immediately noticed that she had this weird eye thing going on. They were going in all different directions!
I stopped and gawked for awhile like some kinda moron.
“That’s…”
She turned away, expecting to get ridiculed or laughed at, it seemed.
“amazing!”
Her eyes widened, and she glanced back up at me in shock.
“That’s the coolest thing ever! I’ve never seen anything like it! My name’s Questline. Hey, I got an idea. Why don’t we be friends? I’ve never had a friend before, but I think we’d be alright! Whaddya say, pal?!” I threw out my hoof after finishing up my slur of words.
I still don’t know why to this very day, but she started crying. I thought I offended her at first, but then she accepted my hoof and agreed. It was the weirdest thing…
That was years ago.
Since then we’ve been like two peas in a pod, or however that saying goes. We didn’t need anypony else. So when we heard about the Arc project, we got super excited and I placed two reservations without giving it another thought.
I never liked seeing her silent though. It was just a bother.
“Quest?”
“Huh?” I snapped out of my flashbacks. “What’s up?”
“The update is finished!”
My head snapped back up to the white screen.
Launch.
This was truly it! This was going to be the best moment of my life! “Here we go!” I placed my hoof on the screen and Derpy did as well. A few seconds went by without anything happening.
“I guess it’s not-” Derpy was cut off by a sudden burst of light.
“Yeehaw!” I shouted as I was encased in the expanding aura. Let the games begin.
[ *] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
I looked around and realized I wasn’t in my home anymore. It was a white room with a box of words that stayed in front of me wherever I looked. “Whoa.” I figured it was the startup menu and tried to ignore it.
I observed my surrounding a bit more closely and realized Derpy wasn’t there with me. Does that mean we couldn’t play together? A wave of disappointment took hold of my body. I turned back to the menu and read off the words. Starting from top to bottom was Adventure, Settings, Friends, and Exit.
Friends? So you could play with others. I gave a sigh of relief. I reached for the Adventure option and another surge of light shot out.
Instead of being in another white room, however, it was pitch black this time. Some white lettering appeared.
Welcome to the land of Arc! Here you will face many challenges that will put your wit and strength to the test. Do not worry though, you are not alone! Befriend the ponies you meet and form strong alliances in order to overcome your obstacles! And remember; have fun!
I couldn’t stop smiling as I read through the text. This was getting better and better!
Another textbox came up entitled Character Name. So I get to choose my name? Cool! Decisions, decisions… Ooh, I know! “WHIRLWIND THE WORLD DESTROYER!”
Well that would have been an awesome name, but apparently there’s a limit to how many letters I can use, so I just went with Whirlwind. Beggars can’t be choosers I guess.
After that I was ready to begin, but suddenly third message came up. This one was called Congratulations! What? Did I win something?
Congratulations on purchasing one of the first one hundred Arc models! You will be awarded the opportunity to create a Guild, as well as the ability to level up 100% faster in order to celebrate your support for our project. So get out there and explore!
Another bit of words appeared.
Guild Name.
I was ecstatic! So there could only be one hundred guilds within the game? I figured I may as well make one since it was such an opportunity. But what should I call it?
I debated the choices for awhile, not sure what to pick. Suddenly, an old memory that had been locked away resurfaced.
I used to have a group of friends when I was just a little colt and we used to go on all sorts of adventures. It was so long ago, and I don’t remember the other members, but I do remember the name. We had ‘earned’ it when we snuck into the weather factory and took off with a few rain clouds.
“Storm Bandits,” I said with a slight beam of confidence.
Confirmed.
Whoo-hoo! This is going to be so awesome!
With one final light, I was whisked away through some kind of tunnel. The sheer force of it made me shield my eyes from the resistance in the air.
[ *] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
A few moments had passed and it was still dark. I couldn’t manage to open my eyes, but I could hear faint sounds of what seemed to be clashing steel.
“Soldier, get up! Now!”
A voice? It sounded like a stallion… Was he talking to me?
“Hey, are you dead or just sleeping on the job?!”
The tirade continued and I could feel my senses coming to. I could feel the grass on my coat, just like Gear had said. It felt so realistic! Then I felt hooves grab hold of me and shake me violently.
“Huh? What?!” I shouted as I opened my eyes, prepared to defend myself. A stallion outfitted in heavy armor loomed over me. All around us were other ponies equip with similar gear, locked in combat.
“You don’t look to good. Tell me son, are you a Pegasus, Earth Pony, or a Unicorn?”
Was he blind or something? Then I remembered reading somewhere that the Arc allowed you to alter what kind of pony you were.
So I can be anything I want, huh? “I’m an Earth Pony.”
…
What? I never liked being a Pegasus anyways.
“An Earth Pony, huh? Strong warriors capable of wielding heavy weapons and shielding their comrades; are you sure that’s what you are?
I nodded my head.
“Alright then, and your profession?”
A list appeared with multiple names of classes, which I assumed were similar to those of Dungeons and Dragons.
There were so many! I scanned through them all and read each of the descriptions. I realized most of them were the same, but with different kinds of abilities. For example, the Berserker looked a lot like the Gladiator in terms of stamina and defense, but the Gladiator specialized in crippling their opponents while the Berserker was able to increase his damage for a short while.
It took me awhile to pick, but I finally went with the Blood Knight for his ability to steal life while only sacrificing a small bit of physical defense, which sounded insanely cool! I mean come on… a knight that can steal health from his enemies and bolster his own? It also had a cool symbol next to it of dual swords crossed beneath a crimson shield.
“A Blood Knight, huh? You sure that’s what you are?”
I nodded for a second time.
“Well get up and grab your sword. We got some work to do here.”
I felt some kind of material brushing up against my fur and I noticed that I had leather harness on. I guess it was the starting equipment for newbies. I located the blade on the ground and picked it up, sheathing it on my belt. I turned back to the guard for further instructions. I wanted to hurry up and get out of this place and meet up with Derpy.
“What did you say your name was again?” he asked gruffly.
I almost said Questline, but I remembered this wasn’t reality. “Whirlwind, sir!”
He looked me up and down. “Well Whirlwind, as you can see we’re kind of surrounded at the moment. Get out there and see if you can’t thin out their numbers.” Then he handed me a dusty old journal. “Oh and take this. It’ll update depending on what your current objective is as well as nearly everything else. Now get out there and bust some heads!”
It was a little weird to go off and kill other ponies, but I remembered it wasn’t real for a second time. I turned around and charged towards the frontlines. “I AM WHIRLWIND, THE WORLD DESTROYER!” I rushed a nearby enemy and swung at him with all my might and… missed.
The raider turned and lashed out at me with a metallic mace. I clenched my jaw and winced, bracing myself for the impact. He sent me sprawling, but the pain wasn’t really all that noticeable. I got back up on all fours and readied my sword. “Let’s try this again…” I said heatedly.
I dashed forward as quickly as I could. “Rrrahh!” I arched my sword downwards, meeting his mace. I pushed harder and harder until, finally, my strength overwhelmed him and he staggered. He recovered swiftly and retaliated by putting all of his force into his weapon, letting out another blow. I lifted my blade back up and parried the blow like it was nothing.
I spun around and dug the sword into his right shoulder. He grunted in pain and pushed the sharp edge back out. Gross. I let loose a flurry of strikes and finally managed to slay him. Phew, this was tough stuff for only level one. I sheathed my blade and caught my breath. How many more did I have to kill anyways?
I pulled out my journal and opened it up. Instead of pages, a visual menu opened up. On the top right it showed my health and level. Next to that was my guild name and some other things, such as my inventory, objectives, abilities, and the logout option.
I tapped the objectives icon and a new screen opened up. It read “Raiders slain: 1 out of 3.”
Well, I better get to it... I spotted another enemy headed my way and readied my stance. “Bring it on!”
[ *] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
When I completed the mission, my journal updated saying to turn the quest in to Commander Rock Core, who I figured was the guy who woke me up. I went back and talked to him. He gave me some bits (which I wished had been real) and some experience points.
Right after that I heard a faint humming noise. I glanced at the journal holstered on my side. It had a golden glow to it and seemed to be pulsating. I opened it up and some text popped up in my face, scarring the hay out of me.
Level 2!
+3 Stamina
+5 Strength
+2 Endurance
Learned Leech Blade!
Leech Blade? I moved to my abilities tab and read the description of the new skill aloud. “Drain health from your opponent equal to 50% weapon damage. Has a five second cooldown.”
That’s great but how do I use it?
As if reading my mind, a second screen appeared. “To perform most abilities all you need to do is imagine it in your head. Skills with special usage requirements will be listed in the description.”
Seems fair enough.
I closed the journal and Rock Core gestured towards me. “Hey, I have another task for you.” He seemed so lifelike. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was an actual player. “You listenin’?”
“Err, yeah. What do you need?”
He cleared his throat and continued. “We obviously can’t hold out much longer. I need you to head over to Cerrus, the town over. Once you get there, find the mayor and ask him to send some troops back here.”
“Where is that?”
He rubbed his eyes irritably. “Look, just take the path up that hill and you’ll be there in no time.” He pulled out a map and quill, making some markings on it. “Here, take this. That’s where town hall is,” he said, motioning to the black ‘x’ he scribbled out. “Now get movin’!”
I took the map and darted off towards the direction he pointed out.
It was midday and I could feel the warmth from the sun’s rays. Now that I had a chance to take in the scenery, it was really beautiful! A lush green forest hugged the road on both sides, birds singing from the trees.
I came to a bridge that went over an enormous pond. Huge colorful fish swam through the clear waters. Once I was halfway across I could make out stone buildings on the other side. That must be Cerrus. I quickened my pace and made my way into the town square.
It was about the size of Ponyville, but its structures looked like they belonged in Canterlot. In the middle of the plaza was a gorgeous fountain with smaller fish than those from the pond swimming about.
Where was I, again?
I pulled out my map and looked at it quizzically. “Where is this guy at?!”
I accidentally bumped into somepony in my frustration. “Whoops, sorry,” I said looking up at whoever I bumped into. She had a grey coat with a blonde mane and… wait a minute!
“Derpy?!”
The mare took a quick glance at me and gasped. “There you are! I thought we couldn’t play together!” she exclaimed, throwing her hooves out and giving me a friendly hug.
“That’s what I thought too!” It was about time I had found her. I hadn’t seen any other players though, so I guess we were the first out of the tutorial.
Then my heart stopped.
“Derpy?” I asked in a shocked tone.
“Yeah?”
“You’re eyes…” I said, looking around for a mirror.
She frowned. “What about them?”
Not able to find one, I grabbed her and took her to the edge of the fountain. “Look!”
She obeyed and looked down at her reflection still frowning. The water rippled for a bit then came into focus. Her jaw dropped. “They’re normal! Quest, my eyes are normal!” She started jumping up and down in the same manner that one pink pony in Ponyville does. I think her name was Pinkie Pie… I really need to get out more. Oh whatever.
“That’s awesome!” I shared her happiness equally. The only explanation was that when the magic was transferring her avatar into the game, her eyes weren’t able to carry over. I also noticed she was still a Pegasus and she had a twin daggered cutie mark instead of her signature bubbles. Puzzled, I asked her what that was about. “Hey, what’s up with your cutie mark?”
She gave a quick turn and posed heroically. “Like it?”
“Yeah it’s cool! But how did you do that?”
“It’s whatever your class picture is, silly!” She pointed towards my flank. “See?”
It was true. Instead of my original cutie mark, the Blood Knight symbol took its place. To be honest, I liked it a lot more than the joystick one I had in real life. I guess this was a way to tell the class of another player without asking? It made sense, I suppose.
“So what are you, anyway?” I asked Derpy, who was still admiring her reflection.
“Huh? Oh! I’m a Shadow!”
“A… Shadow?” I asked. “What’s that?”
She gave me a mischievous grin. “Watch this…” She did a quick sidestep, and then just like that, she disappeared.
It took a bit of me to register what had just happened. “You can turn invisible?! That’s so sick!” I kept looking around trying to spot her hiding somewhere in a bush or something.
Just as suddenly as she vanished, she reappeared right back in front of me, giving me about as much of a scare as when I leveled up. “AH!” I shouted, falling backwards into the water.
She giggled and helped me up. “My bad,” she apologized.
I shook my coat vigorously, splashing water onto her too. We both shared a lighthearted laugh.
“What about you?” she asked. “What’s your class?”
“Oh! I’m a Blood Knight!” I was going to show off how awesome I was, but you can’t top invisibility. I mean seriously. How was I supposed to compete with that?
“A Blood Knight? What do they do?”
I shrugged. “They steal health from their enemies… but nothing special like invisibility.”
She noticed the tiny bit of jealousy in my voice. “Don’t worry; I can’t be invisible while fighting. It’s really only good for avoiding baddies.”
Well that sucks. I mean, it was still pretty awesome in hindsight. I guess it would have made the game a bit unbalanced if they didn’t have that restriction.
Wait a second, hold up. If I reserved both of the Arc’s at the same time...
“Did you make a Guild?”
She raised an eyebrow. “A Guild?” she repeated, letting the word roll of the tip of her tongue. “Oh yeah! I remember now! Bet you can’t guess what I named it!”
“Well knowing you, I’d probably say the Muffin Guild.” Hahaha! Oh man that’s rich! I don’t think she’d ever actually name it-
“Wow! You know me really well!” Derpy exclaimed, giving off a smug smile.
Oh dear sweet Celestia, why?
“That’s uh…” I stumbled on my words trying to find a good way to describe it, “really nice?” Why did I say it like a question?!
She didn’t seem to notice though. “So do you wanna join or what?” she asked.
I sighed in relief. “Oh, um sorry. I already made one.” At least I had a valid excuse…
She frowned. “Oh okay…”
Uh-oh.
“That’s an awesome name though!” I lied, trying to climb out of this hole I made.
Before she could say anything else, the ground began to vibrate. It was subtle at first, but built up fast. “An earthquake?” Derpy asked.
“No…” I said, fear gripping hold of me. “They’re here.” I pointed towards the forest where the bridge connected.
“Who’s they?”
“Everypony else.” And like a giant flood, the mass of new players poured into the town, filling up the plaza. The deafening shouts of them all drummed against my ears.
It was chaos.