Level Zero
Pinkie wasted no time in bouncing off to enjoy her new playground. It was clear to just about everypony that she had a profound advantage in this game. As everyone already knows, jumping ability is a large requirement in any Mareo game. Of course, Rainbow Dash thought otherwise.
“Whatever,” she said, shrugging Pinkie’s lead off, “Princess Luna said we could use cheat codes, and I’ve got one right here.” Flapping her wings she took off. Invisible barriers kept her from moving side to side, causing her shoot straight forward down the path. Vinyl and Lyra began trash talking each other and both took off in a race soon after.
Twilight, Octavia and Sweetie Belle didn't move, and instead looked at the sky. “Princess?”
Said lunar princess reappeared with a sly smirk. This time her entire body appeared as a hologram.
“You said that this is a tutorial challenge… are there any further rules that we need to know? In fact, can only one pony win this challenge?”
“To answer your second question, no. This challenge can be won by anypony that makes it to the end. Thank you for asking, Twilight. Secondly, yes. There are other rules that you should be wary of. Raise your heads toward Rainbow Dash in the distance.”
Rainbow looked below her realizing that she had just passed Pinkie Pie. “Aww, yeah. I got this one in the… wait what’s going on. Woooooaahhh!” Rainbow Dash’s wings suddenly began to feel numb. Eventually, like a plane out of gas, she had no strength to keep flapping her wings and nose-dived towards the ground, falling face-first into a pit.
“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled. She began to run after her untill the Princesses voice sounded out once again.
The holo-princess gestured towards the hole that Dash had fallen into. “It is as you see. Now, look directly above you.”
Everyone did so; above each of them sat a small bar. Twilight’s was purple, Octavia’s was gray, and Sweetie’s was white. Luna continued. “That is your stamina bar. It will slowly regenerate over time. For unicorns, it represents how much magic you can use. For pegasi it represents time allotted to fly. For earth ponies, how long you can run at top speed and lift heavy objects. In this world, in exchange for all of your natural abilities being amplified, you have a set amount or time that you can use it. Do you all understand?”
Twilight raised her hoof. Luna anticipated her question and answered it preemptively. “Your magic and flight both share the same bar, but in exchange, is slightly longer than the others. So be careful what you do with it.”
Twilight nodded. “Good. Now as I have said before, the object of this challenge is not a race, but to simply make it to the end and slide down the flagpole. If you die, you lose, just as Rainbow Dash has. If there are no more questions, you may begin.” Luna disappeared and Octavia took off running.
~~~
Vinyl shoved Lyra to the side as she ran down the narrow pathway. “Give it up, Lyra, you can’t beat this!”
Lyra took the blow and returned it with an even more forceful shove. “Shut your disk hole, jockey. You might catch a fly in it,” Lyra retorted.
Both unicorns raced each other down the stretch of path. Since it wasn't very wide, and neither could be pushed off, they ran shoving each other shoulder to shoulder. Surprisingly, they also jumped in sync when they had to jump over pits. Once or twice they would try to push each other down a hole, but the other would use her magic to save herself.
Neither one of them cared about killing enemies nor hitting the blocks above them. Both of them just ran straightforward, speedrunning the entire stage. Eventually, they both made it to the long staircase at the end… only there was one problem. The staircase was only one block wide, so only one pony could go up. Sharing a glance at one another, Vinyl immediately bucked Lyra back and began running up until she was grabbed by magic and hurled backward.
Lyra jumped the first few steps, but before she could hop another two she was yanked back by her tail. Turning around she saw a smirking Vinyl with her tail in her mouth. Her horn fizzled out when she tried to use her magic so she simply resorted to flinging her legs at the white unicorn. Unfortunately her tail was longer than her legs and couldn't reach Vinyl’s face. Vinyl slowly dragged her down the stairs, causing Lyra’s chin to slam against each one. Suddenly, Vinyl jumped forward onto Lyra’s back and sped up the stairs. Lyra instantly tried to copy Vinyl’s move but fell short when she realized that Vinyl’s tail was far shorter than her own, and was already out of reach.
Vinyl reached the top of the tower and hopped as far as she could. Landing on the side of the pole she slid down in a circle to the bottom and began dancing. “Uhuh~ Who’s got it? Who’s the winner? That’s me! All right!”
“Hey ,Vinyl! Wasn't this just the funnest thing ever?!” Vinyl stopped her cheering and looked up at the castle in front of her. On top of it sat none other than the living spring herself. Pinkie Pie waved at her energetically.
Vinyl had to remove her shades to fully understand what she was seeing. “Woah, Pinks... how’d you get up there?” Lyra slid down the pole and stood next to her, also gaping at the sight.
Pinkie put a hoof to her muzzle and thought, “I don’t know. I was at the staircase thingie and I remembered that you had to jump really high to get all the points. So, I jumped. Only I ended up over here.”
Vinyl smiled and shook her head playfully. “Well then get down. I’m pretty sure being up there isn't part of the game.”
Pinkie looked around nervously, “I can’t… I’m stuck.”
Lyra raised her eyebrow in confusion. “What? Are you like, afraid of heights or something?”
Pinkie raised a hoof to how mouth and giggled. “No, silly…. I think I glitched, because I can’t move from this spot,” she tried to move, only to faze out of sync and blur until she returned to her previous position. “My back legs are stuck in the roof. It actually kind of tickles.”
Vinyl trotted closer towards the tower. After tapping it with her hoof, and recieving a metal gong noice in return, she shrugged and smiled up at her sympathetically. “Well sorry, dude. You’re gonna have to chill there for a while until we get our magic back.”
Lyra looked disgusted, “What? I’m not touching her with my magic. What if we get glitched too?”
Vinyl opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she saw the reasoning in Lyra’s words. Looking up at Pinkie, she just shrugged.
~~~
After Octavia took off Twilight simply walked forward at her own pace with Sweetie right behind her.
Sweetie looked up at the alicorn curiously. “Hey, Twilight, why are you going so slow?”
Twilight glanced back at her in surprise, and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Would you like to pass me?”
Sweetie Belle shook her head, and said. “No, I’m just curious.”
Twilight smiled down at the small filly. “Alright. Well since this isn't a race, we can take our time. No reason to rush forward blindly. In fact, if I could be honest. I’ve never played any of the Mario games.” As she trotted, Twilight took the opportunity to observe her surroundings and analyze the recreated feeling of '2D' by not being able to move side to side.
“Really?” Sweetie squeaked. “But you can’t be called a gamer if you haven't heard of Super Mareo Brothers. It’s legendary. Button had me beat the entire first world as an initiation to gaming. It was really hard.”
“Mario. Plus, I didn't say that I've never heard of it," Twilight assured. "Everypony’s heard of it. I've just never played this one before. I don’t play platformers very often, unless it’s something like Fez.” Twilight, rather than jumping on top of the mushroom, jumped over it, “But I think I can see why it’s so fun.”
Sweetie tried to jump over the goomba but jumped to high and hit her head on one of the blocks above. “Owwwww,” she groaned. When she opened her eyes she noticed a small orange mushroom lying on the ground in front of her. Instantly recognizing it, she grabbed it and felt a weird, tingly sensation on her flanks.
Twilight stopped walking and turned around. Looking at Sweetie, she gasped lightly. “Sweetie Belle?”
Sweetie belle raised her hoof and cheered. “I got the growing mushroom! I’m tall now…. Wait, my voice sounds weird. Twilight, what happened?” Looking at Twilight she realized that she was now the same height as her.
“Um… well you've sorta… become an adult.” Twilight examined Sweetie Belle’s new body. Everything about her was… curvier, to say the least. Her mane had more curves, her body had developed nicely, and she had a smooth, more melodic voice, almost as if everything she said was part of a song. Twilight’s eyes wandered down to her flank before she giggled slightly.
“What? What’s wrong? Twilight?” she whined. Twilight merely pointed at her behind.
Sweetie Belle gasped loudly. “Did I get my cutie mark! I told Apple Bloom mushrooms were the--” Sweetie Belle stopped short when she looked behind her and saw that her cutie mark was the mushroom that she had just taken.
Sweetie Belle deadpanned and trotted forward in silence. Her strides were longer now that she had mare’s legs. Twilight giggled as she trotted along after her.
~Sometime later~
Luna appeared on screen once Twilight reached the bottom of the pole. Pinkie instantly began waving at her. “Hi, Twilight!” she said. Looking around her smile faltered. “Where’s Sweetie Belle at?”
Twilight looked around nervously before blushing slightly, “She fell into one of the pits by accident.”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Luna commanded. “do not lie. Thou clearly pushed her.”
Everypony looked back at Twilight with a mixture of surprise and slight admiration. “I’m sorry. It was an accident. She stopped so suddenly. I didn't know there was a pit when I bumped into her.”
“Why didn't you use your magic? You have a full bar,” asked Octavia.
Twilight lowered her head slightly and shuffled her hooves in embarrassment."I was being conservative! I reached out to her instead, thinking I could lift her up.”
Pinkie shook her head. “For shame, Twi. For shame!”
Luna shook her head sadly, trying to hide her growing smile. She was quickly coming to realize how much fun this was going to be. “Nevertheless, we have our winners of today’s tutorial challenge. Unfortunately, no points will be awarded. Now, let us to return to the Velvet Room.”
Another flash and seven ponies and one halo screen appeared back in the same ceiling-less room from before. Pinkie was already moving around and enjoying her mobility again. She hopped over and grabbed Rainbow into a tight hug. “Dashie, you’re not dead!”
Twilight ran up to her and examined her for injuries. “Rainbow, are you alright? Where did you go after you fell into the pit?” Twilight asked. She decided not to ask the filly, whom she could swear was glaring at her.
“I didn't go anywhere,” she replied, prying Pinkie off of her, “I fell, there was darkness for a few seconds, now I’m here,” Rainbow grumbled.
“Whoever loses shall be placed in stasis until the match is over,” Luna announced from behind the group.
"Cool,” said Vinyl.
“By the way,” Rainbow said, facing Luna, “what they hay happened to my wings back there!”
Octavia stepped forward, “If you had stayed to listen, you would have heard the rules. Just like any well balanced game, each of us has a set amount of time that we can use our natural abilities. You simply used up your flight time halfway through. Please listen next time.” Rainbow glared at Octavia but remained silent.
Luna cleared her throat, “Indeed. Now, we shall discuss sleeping arrangements.”
Octavia glanced at the rather drab environment. She wasent a stranger to muted colors, but the lack of beds was beginning to concern her. "Wait, we’re not going to sleep in this dreadful place, are we?”
Luna smiled, proud that somepony finally asked. “Fear not, Octavia Philharmonica. I have a solution. This will be simple. I will ask one of you to choose a setting from any video game that you would like to slumber in.”
Pinkie leaned in close, “Anywhere?”
Luna nodded. “Anywhere that has a bed and is not too dangerous to sleep,” Luna acknowledged.
Octavia put a hoof to her chin and lowered her gaze in thought. “Interesting. Who will you pick?”
“I--Agh!” Discord quickly shoved Luna aside and took the screen space for himself. “I’m thinking of a number between one and fish. Guess it!” he said quickly.
“42!” Pinkie screamed before anypony else could respond.
“Correct. Sweetie Belle, you get to pick. Congratulations!” Discord began laughing and Luna could be heard screaming in the background. The screen disappeared, leaving a large percentage of the ponies present seriously confused. Pinkie was the only one cheering.
“What?” Vinyl asked.
“Hold on, what just happened?” Lyra muttered, her head spinning from the rapid question answer set.
“I’m… not entirely sure,” Octavia responded.
Twilight quickly pulled herself together with a few calming hoof motions. She simply decided to leave it and move on, “I.. I guess Sweetie gets to pick then.”
“Hold on a second!” Lyra fumed. Her head finally caught up to speed. “That’s not fair. For one thing--”
Vinyl sat a hoof on Lyra’s shoulder and shook her head, “Not worth it.”
Lyra visibly deflated. “I wanted to sleep in a Sims’ house,” she sulked.
Twilight rolled her eyes and looked back at Sweetie Belle, who was still thinking. Eventually her eyes lit up and she raised a hoof, “I got it! Let’s all sleep in Minecraft beds!”
“Minecraft beds?” Twilight asked, shocked. She had heard of the game, but never had much of an interest in it.
Sweetie Belled hopped in excitement. She went around to each pony and explained her idea. “Yeah, if we all sleep, we can completely bypass the night and get right to the next challenge. Plus, it’s safe.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Octavia muttered. Vinyl, on the other hoof had a problem.
“Hold on a sec," she interjected. "I’ve played Minecraft, everything’s flat as a disk and made of blocks. Won’t that be really uncomfortable?”
Sweetie deflated slightly, not having a good answer. Twilight stepped up for her, “I’m sure they won’t let something like that get in the way of having a good night’s rest. Luna and whoever else is with her would want us in top shape, right?”
Pinkie jumped in the middle of the group, “It’ll be like a sleepover! Twilight didn't invite me and Dashie to the first one she had, but now she can. Plus, we have all of you guys, too!”
Dash landed on the ground and trotted over to pinkie. “I don’t mind a sleepover as long as we don’t do anything to fru-fru-y. Like makeovers and junk.”
Vinyl threw a hoof over Dash’s shoulder, “I’m sure nopony here is in the mood for makeovers.”
Octavia frowned disappointedly, “I would. I like makeovers,” she muttered.
Lyra trotted over and put a hoof around Dash’s other shoulder. All three of them sent a smirk Octavia’s way, “Well, sucks to be you. I wanna play truth or dare.”
Octavia fumed slightly but stopped when Pinkie tossed a hoof around her shoulder. “It’s alright, Octy. Me, you, Twilight, and Sweetie Belle can have a makeover by ourselves.”
Octavia gained a small smile and returned the gesture. “Thank you, Pinkie Pie.”
Twilight decided not to be a killjoy by asking about the location of the supposed beauty supplies. Instead, she turned her head up to the sky and shouted. “Alright! We’ve decided to go with Sweetie’s idea about Minecraft houses. Just please make the beds comfortable! Please!”
There was a muffled, slightly strained snapping sound. Suddenly, the blank ‘velvet room’ was replaced with a large generic wooden home with seven identical beds spread around. There was also a bookshelf, a television, and a few other pieces of furniture.
Vinyl went over and examined her bed, “See, flat as Tavi’s sense of humor. There’s no way I can get comfortable on this.”
Pinkie hopped over her and onto the bed. She instantly sprang to the ceiling and accidentally busted a block with her head. However, she continued bouncing as if she didn't feel anything. “Seems… springy… enough… to me!” she said, bouncing with each word.
Vinyl ran over to the next bed and hopped into it. She sank into and moaned comfortably. “Oh yeah… scratch what I said before. This stuff is the shiznit!” she said, her face already deep into her pillow.
“I’m not going to forget that jab at me, Vinyl,” Octavia gingerly laid back in her own bed, “Mmm, this is comfortable. Sorry... Pinkie,” she said, yawning, “we might have to reschedule our slumber party makeover session. I’m feeling a bit tired from today’s events.”
Twilight curiously ran her magic over her own bed. “There seems to be an enchantment on the beds that causes instant drowsiness to whomever lays in it. I suggest that--” Twilight was cut off by the sounds of other ponies snoring. Looking back, she noticed that everypony else except Rainbow Dash, had already fallen asleep.
“Boring ponies to sleep again, Twilight?” she snarked.
“Oh, ha-ha. I just told you. These beds cause instant sleep for at least until sunrise. Are you going to sleep?”
Rainbow flexed her wings. “Nah, I’m a cloud pegasus. Can’t get a good nights rest unless I’ve got a nice puffy cumulous under me.” Rainbow made for the door, but found herself surprised when she couldn't open it. “What’s going on?!”
Twilight went over and examined the door. “I’m guessing that we’re still in the same room. It just changed appearance. This door is the same as the wall.”
“Ugh! Fine. I’ll try out these stupid beds,” she said, trotting over to a bed in the corner of the room. “It can’t be that--*snore*” Dash was out like a light the second she flopped into bed.
Twilight smiled and playfully rolled her eyes. She glanced at the bookshelf for a few seconds but soon thought better of it. Climbing into bed herself she felt the spell’s effects lulling her own body to sleep. Soon, only the sound of snores and light breathing could be heard from the room’s occupants.
~~~
Luna’s screen closed on the sleeping ponies. Climbing off Discord’s mangled head, she trotted to the center of a dark room. Four ponies’ silhouettes surrounded her. “So,” she began, “how’s everypony doing so far? Enjoying my little game?” she said, smiling.”
An excited mare’s voice sounded first, “Can we see the fight between Vinyl and Lyra again! That was definitely my favorite part,” she gushed cheerfully.
"Oops, hold on,” Luna said. “I forgot to disguise your voices.” her horn glowed momentarily. “There we go.”
“Why do we need our voices disguised?” the pony’s voices now all sounded exactly like her own, making it seem like she were talking with copies of herself.
Luna turned to the second voice. “So the viewers don’t get any hints on your identities.”
“I kinda like it. Makes me sound like you. ‘By thee and thou! Post with thy squire and anon!’” the pony began laughing uproariously.
Luna deadpanned, “I don’t talk like that anymore. And even when I did, I still didn't talk like that!”
Another voice, “We have viewers? Oh my goodness, how’s my mane? I wasn't ready for this.”
“Of course. This is being broadcasted all over Equestria. It was stated in the invite. Also, you’re shrouded. Nopony can see your mane.”
“Oh… that’s right.”
The other pony finally stopped laughing, “Hold on! I wanna try the royal canterlot voice!”
Everypony else ignored them, “Anyway, I’m liking how this is turning out. I can’t wait to see them do my challenge.”
"Oh yeah. Who is going next anyway?”
Luna smiled, happy to see her companions excited, “Well, I do have plans, but this game does offer viewer suggestion. So if somepony sends in an idea, I won’t hesitate to use it.”
“I like it. That’s good for variety. Plus, unexpected challenges could be fun to see.”
Luna nodded, “Indeed. A very skilled gamer I may be, even I haven't played everything.” Princess Luna turned to the screen and addressed the viewers and readers.
“That’s right, everypony. If you have any ideas or suggestions for a challenge, please leave them with my secretary, either in a PM or comment. His name is Spirit Shift and he’ll be more than happy to send them to me so I can use them.
“Your ideas for challenges can consist of anything from any game. So be creative and clever,” she continued. “If we use your idea, you’ll get a shoutout during the game. If it’s a really good idea you may even get a brief cameo as a NPC. So if you want to see this motley crew of ponies take on your challenge, simply send those ideas in.”
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missing comma after began, extra quote at end of line
Also, might as well have something Minecraft, since it's already the first sleeping arrangements. Maybe... first to make both a potion of healing and a potion of regeneration? I think that would be enough challenge, as one requires a ghast tear and the other a melon slice and gold. (Edit: Though healing may be too easy, as melons now spawn in jungle biomes. Fire resistance [magma cream] maybe?) Also, assigned teams of 2 might make it more interesting.
Edit edit: Also, it might be worth giving a brief tutorial on how things work, for those ponies/readers who don't know Minecraft.
okay 1st do you want us to suggest games like you had luna said, 2ed i think i know who 2 of the game masters are and last i really like this story hope to read more soon
5093839 Sure throw those suggestions at me. I want you guys to suggest challenges. Everything Luna said was aimed at you readers.
Feel free to guess who the gamemasters are. Though I will not confirm nor will I deny your guess.
5093583 Thanks again! I've fixed them.
So many ideas of games to use... so many choices :)
5093923 for game ides so far all i can think of are cooking mama just to make the other freak out Sweetie Belle, boogie since its a dancing and sing game which you do 3 round of dancing or singing and can be done solo or be a as a two man or in this case 2 pony teams and it can be a mix of it all baroque which it is a game where you keep doing the game over and over again till you get all the alternative endings science papa just for twilight pokemon battle revolution this one you can use pokemon by copying the pokemon from you ds game only one of them or you can get a pre cared where they give you 6 pokemon and you battle with them theres bakugan battle brawlers game then spectrobes and naruto for a fighting part of the story the last one is nights journey of dreams i thought tis one might be a good one since it is about 2 kids taped in there dreams fighting nightmare by merging with nights a nightmare that is good kinda reminds me of luna.
then my guess of 2 of the game masters are rarity because of you putting in your story “We have viewers? Oh my goodness, how’s my mane? I wasn't ready for this.” and the other one is zecora for you posting “I like it. That’s good for variety. Plus, unexpected challenges could be fun to see.” 
hope to read more soon
Mario Kart but with ponies in it?
Always glad to help!
5100680 No. No Game No Life is and absolutely epic piece of anime that I've cleverly based this story off of. I strongly suggest you go watch it.
5104263
Don't be a killjoy now, Saber. Let it happen.
5104255 1) Yes. Wouldn't be a good group if we didn't have sompony like that lol.
2) Oh Yes! I have plans for a special chapter for that. It'll take some planning though.
3) What are you talking about? Those mysterious ponies could very well contain those two.
You just HAVE to have them play Guitar Hero! Vinyl would rock that shit!
In short she became Rape-able
Make a Far Cry Challenge!
Sure would be entertaining to have them clear a Legend of Zelda dungeon, that would be a bit of Twi and possibly Sweetie's speed. *heh* Temple Run for Pinkie and Rainbow. For Vinyl, Project Diva and you could split them into teams. Mortal Kombat for Octavia and possibly Lyra. And we can't forget Smash Bros
Read this while listening to trance!
Have them play World of Tanks. This also could be milked for several chapters, as they learn how to play the game, upgrade their assorted tanks, and progress down the assorted "tech tree" branches.
They could start with tier 1's playing on Malinovka, Komarin, Himmelsdorf, Mines, and Province. Dash: probably would be one of those idiots who just charges across the middle of the map and usually gets killed within 2 minutes (at least in the start); primary tank class would be lights. Pinkie: unknown playstyle; primary tank class unknown. Twilight: strategist, and would think everything over before doing it (this would probably get her knocked out several times, when she starts thinking and doesn't notice being spotted until she is dead), possibly a camper; primary tank class would be one or two of each class. Vinyl: would probably prefer high alpha damage for trolling; primary tank class would be the ISU-152 (the BL-10, aka the troll cannon) Russian tank destroyer line and/or the Russian heavies. Octavia: unknown play style; unknown primary tank class. Lyra: unknown play style, but enjoys angering others; likely primary tank class would be SPG's. World of Tanks wiki: Here
5130400 hmm thanks for the idea. I've never played world of tanks before so this should be fun.
HARDCORE MINECRAFT SURVIVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Halo 4 mission 1 on Legendary
How many game masters spoke in this charter?
Have them play a Cooking Mama rip-off, specifically on baking cakes.
Celestia will cry when she sees how Sweetie Belle ruins cakes
Who knows? Being in a 'game', Sweetie Belle might even actually get 'better' at cooking
I've got a few ideas:
DKC2 102%. I expect Rainbow to fail, considering certain unusual circumstances regarding how completion is calculated in that game.
Mario Odyssey without jumping. Highest moon total before first legal jump is the score (Gamechamp on a YT vid explains what that entails, as well as some strategies.)
Hat in Time without jumping. Speedrun, not including Death Wish. Just having a race to beat all Death Wishes works too.