//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Let the Search Begin! // Story: Ready Player One (Multiverse Crossover) // by PlasmaBolt305 //------------------------------// Third POV Equestria has finally been restored to order!!! Just as an evil darkness threatened to erode Equestria in eternal darkness, a light emerges! Six mares have discovered The Elements of Harmony and vanquished Nightmare Moon. These six heroes are Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash also go by the name of The Mane Six. Nightmare Moon has been destroyed which allowed Princess Luna to be restored back to her original form therefore letting her become co-ruler alongside her sister Princess Celestia. These young heroes now wield these powerful artifacts and will not let anything happen to our beloved world. The front cover of Canterlot Times said. This was being read by Jonas, a pegasus who had a dark blue coat and a sky blue mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a horizontal blue fireball. “Whenever I am busy, I always miss something cool.” Jonas said sadly as he stared at the picture of the six girls standing alongside Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Looking at a picture like that brings back bad memories but Jonas pushed them aside and focused on getting back home to his Aunt, Frosty Mane. Jonas looked around to make sure nopony was around before taking a deep breathe and got into a racing position. Jonas’s cutie mark glowed an impressive blue and energy surged through his body and made his wings glow with energy and then took off at high speeds which made him leave a trail of sparkling blue. Jonas reached the sky in less than a second and started zooming to a valley not far from Ponyville at speeds faster than the Wonderbolts! Jonas quickly came down near his Aunt’s house and made sure nopony saw him then entered the house. Jonas appeared before his Aunt who was the only family he had left, his Aunt was the nicest pony in the world! Frosty Mane is a unicorn and has a silver mane and tail that glimmered and sparkled in the sun and coat of smooth cherry red along with emerald eyes. Frosty Mane greeted her nephew with a big smile, “Hi sweetie! How are you?” she said happily Jonas responded with a smile, “I’m fine.” but felt a little bad about lying to her. Turns out that was a bad idea because his aunt’s face got more serious when she realised her nephew just lied. “What’s wrong?” She asked concerned and Jonas let out a sigh and decided to come clean. “I just… I never asked to have these powers and now I have to keep them hidden from everypony because a pegasus is not supposed to have magic.” Jonas said sadly and sat down on his flank. Frosty Mane walked over to her nephew, sat down next to him and gave him a hug which he returned with a smile on his face, she released the hug and looked into Jonas’s eyes. “If you are the first pegasus to have magical abilities, then you are destined to accomplish something beautiful and will never be forgotten by anypony so don’t let your powers hold you back.” His Aunt said to Jonas who nodded in response.  Jonas went to his room and lay down on his bed staring through his window and wondering what he will accomplish in the future. Outside Planet Equestria Maternal’s essence came upon the planet he was looking for and it expanded and widened until it was big enough to cover the entire planet in which that was what he intended. The colorful essence wrapped Equestria in a wonderful assortment of colors before returning back to normal. Another wisp of essence split into an arrangement of portals that led to various parts of the universe that will help lead them to the keys and eventually the egg. Maternal’s consciousness still had enough power to leave his spirit with them to help guide them along also he provided them access to his memories. Maternal knows Princess Celestia as much as she knows him so she will know what to do when he appears. Maternal summoned a spirit messenger to display his challenge in the sky where everyone can see and he hopes that one of them will come out on top. Back to Equestria The next day, Jonas and his Aunt went to Ponyville to do some shopping because they were low on supplies. Everypony was happy and cheerful also very nice to them when they asked for directions plus they managed to get to Sugarcube Corner where once they entered, they are greeted by Mrs Cake. “Hi Frosty Mane! How long has it been?” Mrs Cake asks happily “Oh CupCake, it’s been a while!” Jonas’s Aunt responded cheerfully and then turned to Jonas, “Would you mind getting the fruits for me, dear?” “Of course.” Jonas responded with a smile which her Aunt returned before turning to talk to Mrs Cake while Jonas turned towards the door. Jonas headed outside and after some asking around for directions, he finally stumbled into the pony who sold the fruits he was looking for. “Can I have five carrots and seven grapes please?” Jonas ordered politely “Of course, that will be ten bits.” The mare replied with a smile Jonas paid her and received the groceries and headed to Sugarcube Corner but not before something caught his eye to his right. Jonas saw six mares walking and talking to each other then realised he was looking at the Mane Six, The Mane Six that vanquished Nightmare Moon and the reason Jonas recognized them was because of their picture with The Princesses. Jonas snapped out of his daze and continued to Sugarcube Corner and would have made it if it wasn’t for a pony’s scream. Jonas looked at a mare pointing at the sky which he followed her gaze and gasped. In the sky was what looked to be a spirit made out of the wind but it had a very peaceful aura to it, the air around it rippled into its form solidifying it and keep its physical form. Everypony gathered near the spirit but were still cautious so they kept their distance from it and the Mane Six appeared in front of the crowd. “Wow, a living spirit! This is amazing!” Twilight exclaimed “Now is not the time to get all sappy about this thing, we don’t know why its here.” Applejack reminded her “It looks harmless.” Fluttershy said “I have to agree with Fluttershy, it looks anything but dangerous.” Rarity agreed with her “OH I CAN THROW A PARTY FOR IT!!!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while jumping up and down. “Now wait just a minute, it could be a spy of some sort.” Rainbow Dash said and eyed the spirit “I can assure you, I am no threat.” The spirit said calmly in a male voice Everypony jumped at the sound of his voice but mainly surprised that he can talk and stared at him in wonder and awe thinking who is he exactly? A flash appeared in front of the crowd and beside the Mane Six and after the glow died down, it revealed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as they stood beside the Mane Six and stared at the wind spirit. “WHO ARE YOU?!” Princess Luna shouted in her royalty tone which made the spirit flinch a little but Princess Celestia looked more closely at the spirit then her eyes widened with realisation and gasped out loud, this caused everypony to look at her confused. “What is it, sister?” Princess Luna asked her Princess Celestia didn’t respond but instead took a couple steps forward and looked at the spirit before asking, “He sent you, didn’t he?”  The spirit nodded in confirmation her suspicions and replied, “Yes, Maternal sent me to inform of something very heartbreaking.” Princess Celestia widened her eyes at this but gestured the spirit to continue. The spirit looked over the crowd and announced, “Maternal, the creator of all worlds and beings, the ruler of the universe, is fading and he hasn’t chosen a successor to take his place as ruler.” Everypony mumbled a little to each other in disbelief before Twilight asked, “So what is he going to do?” The spirit looked at her and replied, “Maternal looked over all his planets but the beings on them are power-hungry and greedy, but when Nightmare Moon was defeated here, it caught his attention and he believes that this planet contains a successor that will take his place as ruler of the universe.” Everypony was silent in shock at this statement especially the Princesses who were stunned at Maternal’s judgement but Rainbow Dash flew up to the spirit and asked, “So who is the chosen one, huh?” The spirit looked at her and shook his head, “Maternal has not chosen a successor because the successor will be determined through the challenges he has created.” “Well what are the challenges?!” Rainbow Dash yelled “Rainbow!!!” Twilight scolded angrily but the spirit held up his hand indicating that he understands why she is frustrated right now. “Maternal sent me a message to share with all of you but beware, this message will appear to all living beings on this world no matter how good or how evil they are so beware and be cautious around those you go against.” The spirit warned them with caution in his tone Princess Celestia got worried about this because she had some powerful enemies that she and her sister had defeated in the past and this message was going to drive them insane with greed, especially since the throne of the universe was up for grabs. Everypony nodded at the warning and the spirit opened his hand and solidified into Maternal sitting on his throne facing them directly but since this was just a message, it still looks very real. Everypony gasped at the sight of the creator, THE CREATOR, himself standing or rather sitting before them. “Hello, if you’re watching this, I am dead.” Maternal started out calmly “I have scoured all of the universes I have created but none had the potential of playing my game but Equestria has.” “Wow, this is an honor!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly while the other girls nodded in agreement. “I need a successor but since I couldn’t choose one, I will wait for a successor. I have hidden somewhere in the universe, an easter egg. First being to find the egg will inherit my powers and become the Ruler of The Universe themselves.” Maternal said “Unbelievable.” Princess Luna said in awe while her sister nodded then both paid attention to Maternal’s message. “In order to find the egg, I have placed three keys somewhere out there and have hidden them very well. These keys are not going to be under a rock somewhere, they can only be acquired through three challenges, one for each key. It is up to you to figure out what those challenges are and how to beat them. To do that, I have created an Archive that holds all of my memories of my entire life, the clues will be in that place if you can find it.” Maternal continued Everypony was excited at this but The Creator wasn’t done yet. “I have casted an enchantment on your planet, you will all feel stronger and faster than ever before but the good thing is you cannot die. If you die, you will return in less than ten minutes and the reason I give you this was because my challenges are not easy, they guarantee death to anything that participates so do not worry about losing your lives but this only happens when you enter the challenges. Last but not least, the challenges are not on your planet, they are on other worlds but you can access them from here if you find the clues within my memories, you must find the keys within a specific order. First, The Copper Key, then The Jade Key and finally The Crystal Key. All will be difficult to acquire but with teamwork, you will succeed, good luck Equestria.” Maternal finished and both the message and the spirit disappeared into thin air. Immediately, a building appeared just outside of Ponyville and it marked MATERNAL ARCHIVES in front of it. Everypony started shouting all at once and Princess Celestia had to calm them down and address them, “My little ponies calm down! The spirit was not lying, Equestria’s worst enemies will rise from the depths and threatens to take the throne so we must remain vigilant and as for the challenge, we will start tomorrow and I will allow you to choose your own groups and scout the Archives to see what you can find. If you find anything, report to us and we will all take it from there and be careful!” Princess Celestia announced worriedly Everypony split off and began talking about what they were gonna do and who they were going to pick for their group. Jonas was in shock the entire time but went to go find his Aunt nonetheless and found her next to the Cakes. She sees Jonas coming towards her and rushes to meet him and crushes him in a hug. “Are you alright! Your not hurt are you!” His Aunt fussed over him while Jonas was trying to breathe. “Yes! Yes! I’m fine.” Jonas replied and escapes his Aunt’s tight embrace and looks at the Archives to see The Mane Six and The Princesses entering the building. Frosty Mane followed his gaze and replied, “Well you can go in there tomorrow, so for now let’s go get some sleep honey, its getting late.” Jonas looked at the sun which was setting on the horizon and might as well call it a day, “Ya sure, I can use some sleep.” He walked home with his Aunt right beside him. In The Archives The Mane Six and The Princesses entered the building and were taken aback by the architecture of this marvelous structure. A massive lobby was opened up before them made of glass and metal, a beautiful spiral staircase led up to more floors and a counter was set in the front of the lobby and standing there was another one of Maternal’s creations. “This place is amazing!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she flew around the place “Indeed it is, the work is simply beautiful!” Rarity exclaimed as she marvelled at the quality of the material used to make this building. “I never thought that our planet is actually the most qualified for this challenge much out of the entire universe.” Princess Luna said in disbelief “Well, I’m glad he saw us as a capable race.” Princess Celestia said while her sister nodded and they turned back to the Archive. “Where do we go?” Fluttershy asked and immediately got a reply. “Why you follow me, of course.” a voice replied behind her which frightened her and made her hide behind the Princesses. The voice belonged to a robot of some sort that stood on two legs and had a stretchy stance to him, his skin was silver and had a proper suit, tie and pants to match his attire. “Sorry that I scared you.” The robot apologised to Fluttershy who came out of hiding and nodded. Applejack trotted up to the robot, “Who are you?” “I am The Curator, Maternal assigned me here to monitor and show beings around the Archives so I am here to show you around.” The Curator introduced himself to ponies. Twilight was eager to get the challenge started, “Well then let’s go!” and The Curator led them to where they have to go. They passed screens that displayed some of Maternal’s memories like when he created a planet and when he first came into existence. “So, how long has Maternal been alive for exactly?” Twilight asked curiously “Since the beginning of time but in years that will be 150,000 years.” The robot responded and left the Princess’s student speechless. Rainbow Dash asked the next question, “How hard are the challenges?” “All I can say is that they are not easy to do much less to figure out.” The robot replied “Does the creator like parties?!” Pinkie Pie asked excitingly “Yes but rarely experiences one.” The Curator replied and stopped and faced a screen before snapping his fingers. Immediately the screen became three-dimensional and one word appeared, READY.