Chapter 04: Going Nowhere but Forward [Revised]
Chaotic Production presents...
The Beginning Arc(a pre-arc)
Chapter 4
Theme Song: "Crossing Field" Sword Art Online (AmaLee)
Twilight finally finished sorting out the books. This time it was fairly quick to accomplish, because she promised Spike that she would let him play along with her in Equestrian Earth. Her little assistant practically worked overtime with the friendship letters and magical scrolls for it. With his extra effort, they managed to reorganize the library, clean from corner to corner of the house, and squeezed in enough time for host the spot for the field trip of Cheerilee’s class. Nopony ever said that being a librarian was easy.
Twilight stretched her neck as she placed the last book into its cozy home before she let loosed a huge yawn. Today was starting to bite back into her vitality. Time to get some relaxation. She made her way to the bathroom to freshen up before going to bed. As she brushed her teeth with Colgate-brand toothpaste, her mind wandered off to the melodramatic moments of yesterday.
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“What do you mean we’ve been challenged?” Twilight demanded hastily, slamming her hoof on the counter. A couple glasses on it did a little jig before settling. “I’ve only played for about a few hours! We’re not ready for this! I’m not ready for this!”
“Calm down Twi,” Applejack said calmly, like a mother would to a heated child. Twilight didn’t feel relaxed. “Our matches aren’t until tomorrow night, and we’ll have plenty of time to train for the battle.”
“How can we get up to par with them in time? I died getting to Level 8! Died!”
“And ya respawned,” Applejack chuckled. She then tapped a hoof to her chin, gazing up at the ceiling. “Well actually Twi… if we had killed another Trunt, you would have been around Level 12, or even 14 if we fought the exploding shrooms. Of course, if it wasn’t for the fact that Rainbow Dash rushed in.”
Rainbow Dash shifted in her seat, crossing her forelegs with a small frown on her lips. “Hey, I wasn't the only one that went in. Besides, I don't care about the lower level mobs. Those are for the slow eggheads.”
Applejack scoffed a little at Dash’s remark. “The point Ah’m making, Twi, is that yesterday’s grinding spot was mistaken. With our team of six, we should have been taking down monsters at Level 5. Of course, now we can handle tougher ones. We should go for the ones at Level 12 or 13. Maybe Level 14 mobs if we need to level up faster.”
“Wait why?” Twilight tilted her head confusedly.
“Ah think experience gets distributed evenly among teammates. We can easily over power any mobs if they're only a few levels above us and don't aggro too many.”
“Well that was a useful piece of information I could have known early,” Twilight said with a deep frown, grudgingly crossing her forelegs.
“Hey, I’m sorry alright!” Rainbow Dash protested. “I didn’t really think Twilight would die from it.”
Twilight lazily waved her hoof in the air. “No, no it’s not your fault, Rainbow Dash. Everypony makes mistakes. At least we don’t lose anything at death.”
She raised her eyebrow as Rainbow chuckled with an awkward smile. “Well actually, we sort of lose ten percent of our in-game bits at death.”
Time felt slow at the counter. Everypony else around the mares were just happily drinking the night away while tension was brewing around Twilight. A little jump in their hearts happened when Twilight suddenly attacked the counter with her forehead.
“Like Ah said, what Rainbow did was really risky,” Applejack muttered, trying to break the ice.
“Well you should have peeled those Trunts off Twilight in the first place. You’re the Paladin of our group, aren’t you?” Rainbow accused.
“Ah’m still a Cadet, Rainbow. I’m not that tanky yet! Those Trunts coulda smashed me flatter than a pancake!”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that dear. I’m sure you’ll stack up your health much higher than it is now,” Rarity said. “We have until tomorrow night to work on raising our levels. That’s more than enough time to grind.”
Pinkie Pie stretched her back until it cracked softly. She let out a deep, relieved sigh. “Well I don’t know about you guys, but I can feel it’s almost morning. The Cakes want me to get started on the first batch of cupcakes, and the frosting needs to be blue ‘cause I’m expecting rain today! See you all later.” Pinkie opened up her menu and logged out of the game in a pink beam of light that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. When the beam vanished, so did she.
“I should wake up as well. I have a big order to fill from Canterlot. Fleur needs twenty dresses for an upcoming play she’s directing,” Rarity said, logging off after Pinkie in a purple beam.
Twilight opened up her holographic menu. “I should get up as well. See you girls later.” She pressed on the option to log off, ending her nightly session.
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The sun was just starting to settle on the horizon, painting it orange. It wasn’t completely dark yet. The girls had agreed to log on a bit early to spend as much time as possible to get ready for the match. This includes numerous nighttime hours of grinding and questing, not to mention hundreds of Pinkie's potions used to heal everypony.
'In fact, she should be in Equestrian Earth now, brewing them,' Twilight thought. Pinkie had dropped by the library to return a book, and told her about “hitting the hay” a couple hours early in order to gather enough ingredients to make the potions.
Twilight climbed onto her bed with the visor already on her pillow, ready to be worn. She was thankful that the technology allowed her to not only play the game as realistically as possible, but also allowed her to get some rest at the same time. It was a strange process that involved mana crystals inside a special compartment of the visor, filled with relaxing energy. As a user played the game with the visor while sleeping, the crystals pour their energy into their body, sustaining it while the brain can focus on the game. The latest model of the visor was able to do this thanks to Luna’s knowledge of dreams and sleep, her friend being a bit of a tech wiz, and Twilight’s expertise in the nervous system. With the nerve simulators giving the player a realistic feel of the virtual world, and the magicka crystals powering the device, it became a beautiful mixture of magic and science working together harmoniously. The soft purr of the visor is one of the many proofs of that as Twilight switched it on.
As she dug herself underneath the blanket, Twilight activated the wireless settings on the visor, staring at its antenna as it glowed purple. As Spike crawled into his bed basket, she levitated a green and purple custom-made visor, specifically designed to be a snug fit onto his small head. She propped the Visor over her eyes, watching the numbers starting to fly across her vision like flocks of birds.
“I’m really glad you’ve made me an account, Twilight. Saved me quite a bit of time from making it myself,” Spike said before slipping his visors on.
“No problem. You can properly thank me later by getting to Level 15 though,” she replied.
A great laugh erupted from Spike’s mouth, only to dim a few seconds later. “Wait… by tonight? You can’t be serious, Twi. Twi?”
It was already too late for the drake to ask her any more questions as Twilight had succumb the Visor’s pull. The numbers of the visor suddenly swirled into to a blue vortex, inducing Twilight into a deep sleep state, yet she stayed conscious. To her, sleep used to be something to do at night when she needed rest, and Twilight could never tell when she would actually fall asleep. But thanks to the Visor, she now understood a bit of it. Falling into sleep was a weightless feeling, and yet she felt her body darting at high speeds as if she was flying. There was also the feeling that she was being carried by a river that was gentle, yet fast too. It was difficult to describe in perfect words, but in a general gist, the process of entering a virtual game world was very fluid. And it only took a few seconds. Twilight can see a bright light at the end her bright tunnel, and soon digitized into the world, several hundred feet in the air.
She looked down and let out a huge yell, but it did very little to stop her fall. Luckily, a friendly face entered her view and Twilight calmed down, but her savior didn’t seem too concerned. In fact… she looked very relaxed.
“Yo Twilight, what’s up?” Rainbow asked as she fell free next to Twilight in a reclined posture. She was sporting those anime sunglasses again, and didn’t seem to be paying attention to
“Oh hey, Rainbow Dash. I’m just falling to my death here. Nothing too important.”
“That’s cool.”
“Just save me already.”
“Hmm… I don’t know.” Rainbow took one glance at Twilight and hollered in laughter as she saw her bulldogged face. “Okay, okay! I’ll save you, Twi. You know I didn’t mean it!” Rainbow swept Twilight from the air into her hooves and glided her down.
“Very funny, Rainbow,” Twilight angrily huffed.
“Oh don’t be such a nark,” she snickered.
As soon as Rainbow made contact with the ground, Twilight got off and rubbed the length of her foreleg. It was shivering. “Sweet Celestia, I have no idea how you can actually handle flying high in the air, Rainbow. I really hope that doesn’t happen to me again.”
“I never did take you for the kind of type to be scared of heights.”
Twilight rolled her eyes “I’m not. It was just that I was falling! No offense Rainbow, but I hope I never get wings.”
“Can’t you use magic to get them?”
“Yeah, but they’re made of gossamer and morning dew, remember? It’ll burn up if I go too high, and they won’t last forever anyway. Besides, I get the feeling that I won’t use them much anyway.”
“Oh Ah wouldn’t worry about it too much.” Twilight turned around to see Applejack and the others walked to them. “As long as you’re you, Ah don’t care if ya got wings or not.” Applejack gave Twilight a brief, strong embrace. “Anyway, glad you can make it, Twi!”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Twilight said with a smile. “By the way, I hope you girls don’t mind me bring Spike along for the ride.”
“Of course we won’t!” Rarity said. “My wittle Spikey-Wikey is the most helpful dragon I’ve ever known. He’ll be a great accessory to our team.”
“Accessory?” Twilight asked.
“You know. Every outfit needs a good accessory to go with. Without accessories, it will feel incomplete.”
“Nice analogy there, Rarity,” Applejack said. She then surveyed the area. “Say… where is the little feller anyway?”
Twilight opened her mouth to try to answer, but a scream from high above interrupted her flow. Twilight looked up to see a purple dot breaking a hole through the clouds, hurtling towards them. The screaming got louder.
“Oh no,” Twilight whispered, recognizing who it was. Twilight quickly willed a list of Skills to emerge out of thin air in front of her and scanned through it. “Hold on Spike! I got you!”
By a golden chance, Twilight had Telekinesis among her magical abilities. Wasting no time, Twilight focused on Spike and her horn lit ablaze in purple energy like wildfire. Spike calmed down as he no longer felt like he was falling. He opened his eyes to see he was encased in a familiar glow and looked down to see Twilight sweeping the sweat from her forehead.
“Nice job there, Twi.”
“Thanks, Applejack.”
Twilight gently lowered Spike to the ground, who then started kissing the ground as soon as she released him. “Oh sweet merciful Celestia, I hope that never happens again!”
Before he could regain his composure, Rarity ran up to him with a tight squeeze. “Ooh my poor Spikey-Wikey! Are you okay? Oh I hope you didn’t hurt your scales!”
Spike’s purple cheeks turned red. “I– I’m fine, Rarity! Don’t worry about me.”
While Spike was distracted by Rarity’s coos, Rainbow leaned into Twilight’s ear. “Should we tell him?”
Twilight was slightly confused at Rainbow statement until she waved her hoof around towards the city. “No!” Twilight snapped back in a hushed voice. “He just had a terrifying experience! I don’t want to tell him that we’re high above the actual ground!”
“What was that?”
Twilight swerved her head around at Spike and shook her head with a nervous smile. “N– nothing! Say, what took you so long anyway?”
Spike rubbed his head, his eyes still having a dazed shine to them. “I don’t know. I think I was in this white void of some sort, and there was this… Alicorn? I think it was an Alicorn at least.”
“That would be the Goddess, Spike,” Applejack said. “Mysterious, but she’s friendly enough to greet all the newcomers from what Ah gathered. Apparently, she runs almost everything in the game Ah think.”
“Really?” Twilight asked. “I thought it were the developers and programmers of the game that run this world.”
“Yes and no. The Goddess works in conjunction with them Ah believe.”
“Huh, that’s pretty interesting.” Twilight rubbed her chin. “I wonder just how much she is capable of processing. It must be quite a lot for her to handle all this data. It’s not like this game is one megabyte.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Look I know this Goddess seems important and all, but can’t we get a move on already? The tournament happens in about four hours.”
Twilight nodded. “Then let’s get started. But first, let me assess our resources.” Everypony groaned, but didn’t question further as Twilight brought up a checklist. “Okay, Pinkie you have the potions ready?”
Pinkie held up what seemed to be ten, jingly sacks in each of her forehooves. “Absolutely, positively ready!”
“Okay. Equipment check. Rarity?”
“I’ve checked everypony’s equipment except yours and Spike’s. Do you mind?”
“Of course not. Here you go,” Twilight said, sending info of her equipment to Rarity by sliding a floating, holographic window of it towards her. “You’ll find everything is in tiptop shape.”
“How do I do that?” Spike asked.
“Just think about wanting to see your equipment and a window of it should pop up in front of you.” Twilight leaned her neck towards Spike, narrowing her eyes. “Although, it doesn’t seem like you have any armor on at the moment.”
“Am I supposed to have something on?”
“Well yes I think so. I’ve checked my inventory yesterday night and found I had a Cloth Robe that I never used because Rarity gave me something better.”
Spike hummed in thought. “Okay, give me a second. I think I might have something.” The tip of his tongue stuck out as he searched through his inventory, poking at its many tabs until he landed one for Equipments. “Ah! Here we go!” Spike selected something and suddenly a white outline shined on his body, manifesting into a light brown tunic with a leather belt.
Rarity had Spike completely underneath her gaze, judging the poor excuse for defense. “Hmm… well it’s not the best, but it’ll have to do for now. I’ll think of something better for you to wear once we get back to Aeroslida.”
“Sweet! Thanks, Rarity!” Spike smiled. He then looked at the city all around him. “So this place is called Aeroslida?”
“Here it comes,” Rainbow mumbled to Twilight with a snicker.
“Why yes it is!” Rarity answered. “It is the most beautiful sky city that I’ve ever set hoof upon, and I’ve seen Cloudsdale. No offense, Rainbow Dash, but I find architecture that has more than the color white and blue to be much more interesting.”
Rainbow shrugged. “None taken.”
However, Spike was slightly more alarmed. “S– sky city???”
Rarity looked back at Spike with slightly raised eyebrows. “Hmm? Yes that’s right. Is there something wrong?”
Spike’s eyes darted back and forth, up to the sky, then down to his purple, clawed feet. Although to Twilight, it seemed like he was looking past them. “U– uh nothing, Rarity! Everything is cool!”
Rarity tilted her head, regarding Spike with gentler eyes. “Oh Spikey, are you still shaken from that horrendous fall? I assure you that nothing bad like that will ever happen to you.”
Spike made several noises, most of them being Aah and Uhh before he heaved a sigh. “Okay… you promise?”
“Cross my heart, and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
”For-Eevver!”
“Pinkie,” Twilight scolded softly.
“Sorry! Couldn’t help it!” she giggled.
Twilight chuckled slightly. “Alright then. We should go now right away. We can’t afford to waste time with an upcoming battle on the horizon.”
“Right!” they all shouted in unison.
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The Sky Tram: an impressive hub for chariots of varying sizes, each with a giant hawk at the reigns, ready to take any player anywhere at a moment’s notice. As Twilight and her friends walked up to it, she couldn’t help see it as a tree with a lot of bird nests upon its stone branches. Usually, this place would have a flood of players, but as Twilight neared the ticket booth, she couldn’t help but notice a huge crowd forming around the station’s plaza and the raised platform in the center. On top was a light blue pegasus with the Night Guards helping her. Twilight could help but see the mare as familiar, but she didn’t make the connection until Rarity pointed it out.
“Wait a second... is that Princess Luna?” Rarity asked.
Indeed it was Princess Luna, but she didn’t have a dark coat and starry mane! Her appearance was the same as the first day Twilight saw her after Nightmare Moon’s defeat, with her pale-blue, short mane and small stature. She and her Night Guards were standing upon the platform, passing out what appeared to be fliers to the growing crowd.
In an attempt to catch their attention, Twilight waved her hoof high in the air and called out, “Princess Luna!”
It was successful. Luna looked up from the crowd and searched for who yelled her name. When she spotted Twilight and waved over with a smile. “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. It is good to see you, for today is a glorious day!”
They trotted up the platform, the crowd parting to make room for them. “Really? Why’s that?” Twilight asked.
“Today I’m forming a guild, Twilight! I was worried that nobody would notice me as I don’t have my horn anymore as you can see.” Twilight looked and her pupils widened. Truth was there as Luna’s pillar of magic was really gone as if Discord had plucked the thing. “But it seems the programmers are working something that could change that! Sooner or later, my sister and I can play as alicorns again!”
“That’s really great for you,” Twilight said. “Wait… Princess Celestia is playing this too?!”
“Hmm? Of course, Twilight. She is a unicorn right now.” Luna flipped her mane. “But just because we are not in our ascended form right now, doesn’t mean we are not strong. We have both trained long and hard on the first day, currently in a friendly race to see who can reach the top. Right now, I am in the lead at Level 41 while she is but only 2 Levels behind me! As of right now, we are the top two players in Equestrian Earth!”
The crowd gasped and applauded in awe as Luna’s character profile appeared above her head. It designated her as a Level 41 Magicka Archer, with her Magic Attack, Speed, and Precision stats valued well over the hundreds. As the crowds cheered, Twilight could hear her friends chattering behind her, impressed with Luna’s progress. A light chuckle then pierced through the crowd’s chants, catching the attention of everypony around the platform.
“Gee Luna, I know you’re a showoff, but you shouldn’t parade around like that.” A few of the Night Gaurds parted, revealing an orange unicorn with a stack of fliers held in his magical grip. He adjusted the blue glasses upon his muzzle. “After all, you might gain a few certain rivals, and we don’t want that.”
“Well that’s what makes video games fun, isn’t it? To have somepony to boil your blood, to give you that rush, the feeling of a brutal race?” Luna smirked.
“Colorful words, and yes of course that is what makes playing games fun, but really this is just a tad bit of warning I wanted to give to anypony who wants to challenge your majesty. I know how heated you can get in a competition.”
“And as one of its programmers and my scribe, you wouldn’t dare try to usurp me, would you?” She asked sweetly, batting her sleek eyelashes at him.
The stallion coughed into his forehoof. “Of course not, your highness.”
Luna chuckled, her chest puffing out slightly. “Either way, I’m not about to let my sister pass me, even though she may have gotten a head start!”
“She tricked you into thinking that somepony was eating the last of your moonpies. Of course she would get a head start,” he said, passing out more of the fliers.
“But she hasn’t bested me yet! She had all that time and I’m still two level above her! No pony denies Luna first dibs and gets away with it!”
The crowds cheered at her small victory speech. Luna got caught up in the moment and pushed on, to get the crowd to chant her name louder. While Luna was distracted by the crowd’s adoration, the stallion jumped down and squeezed through them towards Twilight. He grunted as he found it slightly difficult, but managed to push on through. His finish was poorly done, however, as he tripped over as he exited the sea of players.
“Sentinel ‘Noteworthy’ Quill. It’s good to see you.” Twilight said with a small grin.
“Hello sweetie,” he said, managing a cheeky grin. “Missed me?”
Twilight raised her eyebrow. “What?”
“Oh sorry,” he chuckled, despite almost breaking the only things that allowed him to see. As he got up, he adjusted his glasses and massaged the back of his neck. “It was this Saturday’s Doctor Whooves episode. River Song was featured in it and I can’t her infamous catchphrase out of my head.”
“Oh, I’ve seen that!” Pinkie said with a big smile. “Temporal Smith was really amazing this week!”
“I know! Although I feel that Time Turner would have executed it better! He’s the best Doctor!”
“Nope, Smith is ten times the actor that Turner is!” Pinkie said, taking a step towards Sentinel with a confident smirk traced across her muzzle.
Noteworthy mirrored her actions. “Nope! Turner can do better.”
Pinkie shoved the end of her nose against his. “Smith!”
“Okay, okay, we all get it. You both love Doctor Whooves!” Twilight said with an indifferent tone, trying to defuse the situation that was turning into a staring contest. “So, what are you doing here?”
Noteworthy blinked and broke his eyes away from Pinkie’s line of sight. She still kept her eyes on him. “Oh, I was just helping out Luna with – I guess you can say – a little project.”
“What would that be?”
“Oh nothing too huge. Just a bet between Celestia and Luna on who could form the biggest guild by the end of this year. This gathered quite a bit of attention over Haydit. And by the end of the year, the game's makers will be holding a special event where we will reenact the final battle between Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia!”
“Oh, a battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmar– ” Twilight shook her head. “Wait, Princess Luna is going to become Nightmare Moon?!”
“Nightmare Moon?!” Fluttershy squeaked, hiding behind Applejack.
Applejack gently patted Fluttershy on the head. “Don’t worry, sugar cube. Ain’t no Nightmare Moon gonna hurt ya. Isn’t that right, Sentinel?”
“Of course not! It’s just going to be Luna in costume, and will strictly be in the game. I don’t think she is going to be transforming into Nightmare in real life, and Luna would never dare to hurt the innocent. Besides, Nightmare Moon in real life is scary enough.” He then held back his tongue momentarily as he thought about it a little more. “Although… I would like to see her all of her radiance again. Luna looked pretty nice in black.”
“Sen, don’t kid that sort of thing around me,” she grumbled, close to a growl.
He laughed. “Why not?” He then raised his forehooves high in the air as Twilight’s horn sparkled menacingly with magic. “Okay okay I promise no Nightmare Moon in reality! Or rather, I’ll ask Luna not to go overboard… again.”
“Okay then.” Twilight grimaced at the thought of Luna raging. It was never pretty. “Anyway, I should go. The girls and I are going to grind.”
“Alright then.”
Twilight smiled. “Take care.”
“Okay then. You too.” Twilight nodded as she and the others trotted towards the chariots. Suddenly, a loud BEEEEP was heard, and Twilight felt her shoulder being tugged back gently. “Excuse me for a second, Twi, but there seems to be something strange in your Inventory.”
Twilight was taken aback. “Strange? I’m pretty sure I just have normal stuff in there.”
“Sorry Twilight. Just a precaution.” Sentinel opened up a holographic window and Twilight gasped a little. How did he open her inventory? He didn’t bat an eye however as scanned the selection, inspecting at a fast pace. His eyes then landed upon the Violet Robes of Armament and quickly pulled it out directly from the Inventory’s slots. The square icon glowed momentarily before expanding into the flowing robe it signified. “Twilight, this item… while I was a programmer on the team, I’ve never seen a Leveling Item with such a low level requirement. Usually, Leveling Items start appearing around at Level 30 or so. And should I mention that there have been some shady players going around, selling materials that shouldn’t really exist?” Sentinel regarded Twilight with raised eyebrows. “So, where did you get this robe?”
Twilight glanced around the corner of her eye and saw Rarity tapping her hooves the tiled, stone ground in a nervous manner. She could see her eyes darting back and forth and all around as if she was looking for a means of escape. “Um… I purchased it at a random shop!”
Sentinel slightly glowered. “Really now? Because this says it was crafted by somepony.”
“Oh, really? It does?” Twilight giggled nervously, sweating bullets.
Rainbow narrowed her eyes and got up into his face. “Hey look dude, Twilight’s stuff is none of your business! What makes you think you can just search her stuff without permission?” she growled before suddenly finding herself being pulled back by Twilight.
“Well I am a programmer of the game, therefore it is my job to find any abnormal anomalies that could potentially ruin the game. Sorry Rainbow, but it’s sort of my job. Although I suppose I should have asked nicely before searching recklessly.”
“It’s alright,” Twilight assured. “I understand you’re just doing what you need to do. But is my item really that bad.”
“Well I don’t know yet. That’s what I want to find out,” Sentinel said as he patted the robe.
A holographic window drew out from the item, listing the item’s name and all of its attributes. Sentinel pointed at a small icon of a threaded needed and spool next to the item’s name. “Yes, and this kind of craftscoltship, or should I say craftmareship, is very well done. Almost as if it was hoof-stitched, instead by machine, by whom I consider to be the finest fashionista in all of Equestria.” He glanced towards Rarity. “Have anything to say, Rarity?”
Rarity didn’t meet his gaze and kept her eyes on Twilight’s robe. She took a few steps back. “I, errr, think it’s really lovely. Twilight, you have to show me where you bought it. I could use a dress like that myself.” Sweat started to bead down her forehead, which she quickly took care of with a handkerchief. “Is it me, or is it suddenly getting hot around here? Sentinel, you and the programmers certainly know how to make everything feel so realistic. Truly you are an expert!”
Sentinel raised one of his eyebrows as he got on his hind legs, falling backwards onto a chair materializing behind him in what appeared to be blue data numbers. He crossed his hindlegs together as well as his forelegs, waiting for an answer. Rarity continued to look back and forth between him and her friends, looking trapped like a cornered animal. The town’s clock tower seemed to tick on and on. Rarity squeezed her eyes shut and let out an exasperated groan, her lips quivering.
“Okay! I admit it! I may have purchased something suspicious off some hoodlum in a dark alleyway, but I did it for the sake of art! It wasn’t like I knew I was doing anything wrong! Couldn’t a friend try to do something nice?!”
Sentinel’s lips curved into a faint frown and he sighed as Rarity continued to make a fuss. He looked back at the Armament robes, at Twilight – who was shrugging at him – and then back at Rarity. Then to everypony’s surprise, he folded the robe neatly. He then hung his hoof over it and blue numbers started to shower from his sole, seeping into the fabric. The robe was then secured into Twilight’s bag.
“Sorry to cause you trouble, Twilight. It seems like I was mistaken that you were in possession of a hacked item.”
“Huh?”
Sentinel coughed softly. “And certainly your friend, Rarity, was not soliciting with those punks. And I wouldn’t worry about any other of my coworkers to search that item because it is a legitimate item.”
Twilight had a muddled expression for a moment, but then made a small O with her lips. “Riiight, and we were certainly doing nothing wrong. Isn’t that right, guys?” The mares and Spike looked at each other before nodding without question. “Okay then. We’re free to go take our chariot ride now… are we?”
Sentinel nodded. “Yes you are. Again, sorry to waste your time.” He winked.
Twilight rolled her eyes once more. “It’s alright. No harm done.
Twilight wondered how in Equestria could Luna deal with him on a daily basis. He could be an absolute sweetheart sometimes, but his wackiness is somewhat impossible to deal with. Then again, she was friends with Pinkie Pie. She and her friends boarded a chariot big enough to accommodate all of them with enough room to spare. There were even benches molded in there for sitting. The door swung close as Twilight – the last one – stepped into the chariot. Checking a clock counter next to their ride, she could see they wouldn’t leave for another five minutes. As Twilight began to don her violet mage robe, Sentinel came over to the chariot.
“By the way, are you guys competing in the Aeroslida tournament? I’ve seen the list of teams competing, and your names were on it.”
“Yeah. How did you know?” Rainbow asked.
“Luna and I are going to be the play-by-play announcers for the battles. We’d need to know the name of the players so we don’t mess up on pronunciation and all that stuff.” Sentinel pulled away from the chariot as timer dinged. As the eagles began to flap their wings, he quickly said, “Just a heads up! Your opponents have some Rogues, a Spell Warrior, a Paladin, a Bard, and a Rune Specialist. You might wanna pack in some firepower! They’re quite the powerhouse combination!”
“Noted!” she yelled back as the chariot flew away from the Sky Tram, watching it get swallowed by the clouds along with Aeroslida.
At this point, she began to feel the wind biting at her body, leaving cold marks behind. She attempted to defend against it by hugging herself, but it did very little. Spending so much time in Aeroslida, where it magically felt sunny and warm, she forgot how unforgiving Mother Nature could truly be. Her teeth chattering and the winds tearing at her mane was proof of that. Twilight then felt somepony wrapped their hooves around her, and soon the embrace grew into a group hug.
“These winds can be beasts, Twi. They really gotta give these chariots some protection,” Applejack commented.
“I should tell Sen that next time,” Twilight agreed, her teeth still chattering. “I mean it’s great that they even got temperature to feel real, but I think it’s a little unnecessary here. They should give these chariots some roofing and walls or something.”
“Oh! Maybe replace these chariots with carriages? I’ve always adored carriages,” Rarity said.
“I don’t really care as long as we get something. Even these winds feel rough for me, and I don’t do group hugs that much,” Rainbow commented.
“That’s a lie. I think you do more group hugs here than everypony else. Even me!” Pinkie giggled, tugging a couple more from everypony else except for Rainbow.
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As always, Sherpwoods was still standing tall and unwavering, just like how Twilight left it. When she got crushed of course. This time, however, she was determined to leave this forest in one piece. Crazy walking trees weren’t going to be in the equation this time, so she was sure of her survival chance being about 87.99 percent positive.
This time, the party was taking a different path, one that was much lighter with the glowing flowers and did not give a sickening twist to their hearts. Although that didn’t mean that they weren’t keen on their hooves. The faint crunching sounds of critters prowling around were still present.
“So what are we grinding on this time?” Twilight asked as they trucked through the tall grass, keeping an eye out for monsters.
“Well this time, we’re just gonna take on some timberwolves,” Applejack said in a low voice, although everyone in the group could hear her as they stayed quiet. “They provide a good amount of experience for our levels, and are ¬¬– in mah opinion – easier to handle than dem big ole tree walkers.”
“Still on about that, Applejack?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, I already kinda admitted that was my bad.”
“Nah. Not really. Ah was just providing an example to compare the timberwolves to.”
“Well they sounds like a great place to start at if any,” Twilight said.
“Ssshhhh!” Everybody stopped in their tracks and stared at Pinkie. “I’m getting a twitchy tail, shivering hooves, and blinky eyes!”
“W– what does that mean?” Spike asked nervously.
“Monsters are nearby!”
Twilight nodded. “Then let’s tread with caution.”
It didn’t take too long for the crew to find their target. Like last night, they decided to approach the monster area with stealth, hiding in some large undergrowth. Rarity silently pointed at the ones with flowers, and Twilight understood the message. Timberwolves had a very good sense of smell, and the sweet scent should cover their musk. Hopefully. Twilight prayed to Celestia that the sweet scent would disguise them long enough, and for the time being it looked like they were going to get away with it. The cornucopia of their eyes was a small knoll in the middle of wide clearing. In the side of the hill was an opening to a den filled with timberwolves. Some were mildly resting, occasionally scratching their bodies with their hind legs. The pups were predictably energetic and were playfully fighting each other in mock combat while their guardians watched over.
Twilight couldn’t help but softly smile. The calm scenery was the opposite of what Twilight expected from timberwolves. She expected for there to be vicious wooden mutts with snarling, mossy fangs to be patrolling the area, looking for unwary prey and travelers to feast upon. She didn’t think that it would be in a timberwolf’s nature to be passive. Twilight thought about suggesting to her friends to move on, but she then reminded herself that this was a game and that the timberwolves ahead of her were monsters with precious experience points to gain from.
Setting her mind on the goal, she carefully scoped out the area. It wasn’t dark, but the lighting wasn’t particularly bright either. She couldn’t see into the depths of the den, but judging by the size of the hill, she estimated that it could hold up to at least twenty fully grown timberwolves. It’d be quite a fight if there were actually that many in there. There were quite a lot of pups outside of the den. Twilight could see about twelve of them. There were also four adult timberwolves outside with them as well. If her assumptions were correct and each pup had different parents, then the most probable amount of timberwolves she guessed was thirty six – including the pups.
“Looks like we’re in for quite a long battle,” Twilight quietly announced.
“Yeah. Ah see it too. Must be thirty or so wolves here,” Applejack said.
“How do you know?” Twilight asked.
“If you live on the edge of the Everfree, you would know,” Applejack said with a humph. “I’ve learned to track down timberwolves back to their homes after they harassed the cows on mah farm so much. Ya learn to know how many could fit in a cave after seeing so many.”
Twilight nodded. “Any ideas on how to combat against them then?”
“Well for starters, we shouldn’t let the battle stretch like rubber. Remember how dem timberwolves transformed into that giant one? The battle could get pretty nasty if we let that happen.”
“But the timberwolves will just do it anyway. Their wood pieces seem to be sentient, even after death.”
“Which is why I propose this.” Applejack turned to Twilight with a smirk deadly enough to stop a cockatrice. “Fire.”
“Fire… as in fire spells?”
“Naw Ah’m just thinking of getting a lighter, tape it to the end of a stick, and charge ‘em.” Applejack kept a serious composure until she couldn’t handle Twilight’s incredulous gaze. “Hehe, sorry Twi. Yes Ah was talking about spells. Ya got some, do ya?”
Twilight looked through her Ability List. “Ummm… yeah I do! Incinerate. It says here that it unleashes fire from whatever magical conductor I use.”
“Perfect, although right now, ya don’t have a magic dohicky to shoot spells from.”
Twilight gulped, and then immediately coughed as Rainbow smacked her on the back. Luckily, this didn’t seem to draw any unwanted attention from the wolves. “You got this, Twi! We’ll cover you and make sure that no harm comes in your way.”
Twilight managed a smile. “I – *cough* – I appreciate that. Although you didn’t have to hit me on the back so hard.”
“Sorry. Thought it would help with the pep talk.” Rainbow drew her sword of many colors. “Let’s do this!”
“Rainbow wait!” Too late. Rainbow Dash had already thrown herself into the clearing, lunging with her sword held high. Twilight said with a heavy sigh, “Figures. Okay everypony here’s the plan. We pair up. Spike, you stay close to Rarity. I need you to protect her while she helps me thin out the pack. Fluttershy, you are to be with Applejack. Your job is to buff her with spells while she keeps them at bay. Pinkie, support Rainbow Dash in picking off stragglers. Got it?”
“Got it!” They shouted in unison.
The fight kick started like a snowball rolling down a snowy hill. Rainbow, being the first one in, had the first chance to strike. One of the patrolling timberwolves near her looked up from its path and looked like it was caught with its paw in the cookie jar. It didn’t take long for turn into a pile of wood as Rainbow raised her rainbow sword high and swung down. Its severed head rolled on the grass first before the body dissembled. A number in the hundreds floated high from the in a yellow spikey bubble, indicating that she had dealt a critical strike.
It didn’t take long for the other timberwolves to gather their senses and lean their bodies as if they were going to lunge. The pups whimpered and ran into the safety of the den. One of the larger timberwolves, one with bushels of red, fuzzy leaves around its neck, glared at the group before lifting its chin high and bellowed a loud howl.
“Careful, Twi! That one is callin’ its friends!” Applejack warned, pounding the ground hard as she charged into the fray.
“I see it!” Twilight shouted back as she held herself back.
She stood up on her hind legs and focused her magic, imagining a burning ball of purely red fire in the sole of her hoof. Her horn flared up with magic, but with her usual purple hue, there was a reddish tint. In what seemed like ten seconds flat, she felt heat pressing on her hoof. Twilight pulled her hoof as far back as possible, her eyes on the howling monster.
“Take this! Incinerate!”
She pitched the ball high into the air, watching the fireball curve with a trail of orange particles before it starting going down. The spell cracked straight down onto the Red Brush Timberwolf’s mouth and immediately, the howling stopped. The flames consumed its body before bursting in a large explosion. Waves of orange flames rippled through the air, going through and damaging four timberwolves near it. They ran around in panicked circles before starting to roll on the ground in an attempt to stop the flames. The fire didn’t care and kept burning. One by one, the timberwolves died quickly due to their weaknesses to the fiery element, their bodies crumbling into dark ashes. Twilight could see her Experience Bar stacking up well.
“Nice job, Twi! Keep ‘em comin’!”
“You got it, AJ!”
While Twilight kept on throwing tossing out fireballs, she looked at her other teammates to see how they were doing. Within a few leaps to her left, Spike and Rarity were taking care of softening another part of the pack. Rarity kept harassing the wolves with her gem spells, whittling their health down little by little as Spike kept them away with the swings of his sword.
One dared to get a little close, prompting Spike to growl and warned it away with the pokes of his short bronze sword. He looked towards Rarity momentarily to say something, only to find himself almost disarmed. The timberwolf took advantage of his distraction and clamped its jaws on his blade, viciously pulling on it. The weapon didn’t stay trapped for much longer as a crystal the size of Spike erupted from the ground underneath the monster monster and punched it hard in the belly, sending it flying.
A short distance in front of Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy were keeping the timberwolves away. Applejack was happily batting away the timberwolves one by one as the shy pegasus kept on bolstering her with support spells in the form of songs. Once in a while, Twilight would see blurs of blue soaring high in the air before crashing back down towards the wolves. Every time Rainbow dived, a storm of twigs would fly in the air, only to rain back down in devastated pieces
Like Rainbow, Pinkie was a blur as well, causing the wolves to be weaker as she spammed her skills on the battlefield like an avalanche. Every once in a while, Pinkie would toss out potions for the team to use, healing their health and mana.
’Seems like we’re making some great progress,’ Twilight thought as she kept barraging the mobs with fireballs. It did seem like they were going to be able to clear the den without trouble, but quickly her assumptions were swept away as the air began to vibrate with howls from a distance.
“Looks like we got another wave of wolves incoming!” Rarity commented.
“Bring them on, then!” Rainbow shouted as she sliced at another timberwolf. It had rolled away in a dodge and tried to bite back for a counter attack, but the sky athlete was too fast for it as she slashed it away. “Down!”
Inside her mind, Twilight grimaced. They were going to be here for a while.
+Ω‡‡¥‡‡Ω+
1AmTh3Party(PP) has Leveled Up to Lv 16! (From Lv 8)
Tier 4 Class: Junior Ninja
>> 80 Attribute Points are gained; 8 Skill Points are gained <<
Attribute Points Allocation:
>> Auto Distribution Selected <<
~ DEX Increased: 53 ⇒ 85
~ MOB Increased: 77 ⇒ 125
Skill Point Allocation:
[Needle Pricks] Lv 0 ⇒ 5 Maxed!
Active ~ Multiple – Up to 5 targets. Throw out an array of thin needles at the chosen target(s). Needles are dipped in poison that reduces the afflicted stats by 5%.
Physical Damage – Level 5:
15/40/55/70/95 (+ 60% DEX)
[Candy Shroud] Lv 0 ⇒ 3
Active ~ AOE. Throw down a bomb that creates a cloud of pink smoke in a 10 feet radius area for 8 seconds. While within the cloud, the player is stealthed and gains bonus armor and magic resistance. Attacking or using any abilities reveals her for 0.55 seconds. Enemies inside the smoke are slowed. (Sleep potions can be used to enhance the ability. Cleansing Items used to counter Sleep Status are recommended for the player.)
Armor and Magic Resist – Level 3:
10/20/30/40/50
Slow – Level 3:
14/18/22/26/30%
That really smells good. Can I rest here?
RainStreak (RD) has Leveled Up to Lv 18! (From Lv 9)
Tier 4 Class: Swordsmare
>> 90 Attribute Points are gained; 9 Skill Points are gained <<
Attribute Points Allocation:
>> Auto Distribution Selected <<
~ STR Increased: 70 ⇒ 115
~ DEX Increased: 36 ⇒ 54
~ MOB Increased: 49 ⇒ 76
Skill Point Allocation:
[Dash It!] Lv 0 ⇒ 5 Maxed!
Active ~ Multiple – Locks onto 3 total targets. Become untargetable momentarily and weave your way through your enemies at lightning speed, cutting at their limbs/appendages to reduce their movement speed. Can proc other abilities on the enemy targets (such as a Burn Enhancement).
Physical Damage – Level 5:
35/55/75/100/135 (+ 100% STR)
[Eagle Eyes] Lv 0 ⇒ 4 Maxed!
Buff ~ Targets self. Focuses your mind and you’re able to see weak points on the enemies. Striking those spots would deal extra damage. Lasts for 10 seconds.
Extra Damage – Level 4:
15/30/60/100 (+ 150% DEX)
LassoLass (AJ) has Leveled Up to Lv 16! (From Lv 9)
Tier 4 Class: Paladin Cadet
>> 70 Attribute Points are gained; 7 Skill Points are gained <<
Attribute Points Allocation:
>> Auto Distribution Selected <<
~ STR Increased: 44 ⇒ 65
~ END Increased: 62 ⇒ 90
~ SPR Increased: 44 ⇒ 65
Skill Point Allocation:
[Celestia’s Blessing] Lv 0 ⇒ 5 Maxed!
Active/Buff ~ AOE. Your weapon acquires a large glow around them in the shape of a large hammer, giving it a powerful attack damage bonus and longer range. It lasts for 10 seconds, or you can choose to cancel it early by pounding the ground to deliver the Sun Slam, causing powerful shockwave of light to erupt from impact in a 20 feet radius area. The Sun Slam deals magic damage.
Physical Damage Bonus – Level 5:
30/50/70/100/150 (+ 50% STR)
Shockwave Slam – Level 5:
100/110/120/135/160 (+ 110% SPR)
Feel the fury of Celestia’s tantrum.
[Shrug Off] Lv 0 ⇒ 2
Passive ~ You passively gain bonus armor and magic resist. At Lv 5, you gain a 250 HP shield when you enter combat and it resets after not taking damage for 16 seconds. After exiting combat, the shield disappears in 3 seconds.
Bonus Armor and Magic Resist – Level 2:
25/50/65/75/95
Glimmering Riches (Ry) has Leveled Up to Lv 15! (From Lv 8)
Tier 4 Class: Apprentice Mage – Earth Aspect
>> 70 Attribute Points are gained; 7 Skill Points are gained <<
Attribute Points Allocation:
>> Auto Distribution Selected <<
~ INT Increased: 72 ⇒ 114
~ SPR Increased: 58 ⇒ 86
Skill Point Allocation:
[Explosive Gems] Lv 0 ⇒ 5 Maxed!
Active ~ Magically pull out an army of sharp and volatile gems from the ground and launch in any direction you choose to fire at. Max amount of gems that can be pulled out upon each activation is 5.
Magical Damage (from each gem) – Level 5:
15/20/25/30/40 (+ 25% INT)
[Healing Pillar] Lv 0 ⇒ 2 Maxed!
Active ~ Summon a crystal pillar that radiates properties of healing to you and your teammates. The bonus health regen buff heals at a percentage per second. The pillar requires a 30 second summoning time before activation. The summoning can be delayed by enemy attacks by 5 seconds. The properties of the pillar can extend around in a 10 meter radius.
Healing Percentage – Level 2:
1/2% per second
Bunny (FS) has Leveled Up to Lv 12! (From Lv 8)
Tier 4 Class: Songtress
>> 40 Attribute Points are gained; 4 Skill Points are gained <<
Attribute Points Allocation:
>> Auto Distribution Selected <<
~ INT Increased: 46 ⇒ 58
~ SPR Increased: 84 ⇒ 112
Skill Point Allocation:
[Stampede of the Amphibians] Lv 0 ⇒ 4
Active ~ Beckon an pack of dog-sized salamanders to command. They are at your disposal. Upon Lv 5, you gain an extra alley in the form of a Flame Salamander, a monster with a ranged fire attack that deals 60 magic damage.
Attack Damage of Minions – Level 4:
25/30/35/40/50 (+ 10% INT)
Game over, mare! Game over!
Scaling Hotness (Spk) has Leveled Up to Lv 13! (From Lv 1)
Tier 4 Class: Young Adventurer [Default]
>> 120 Attribute Points are gained; 12 Skill Points are gained <<
Attribute Points Allocation:
>> Auto Distribution Selected <<
~ STR Increased: 30 ⇒ 90
~ END Increased: 30 ⇒ 90
Skill Point Allocation:
[Dragon’s Breath] Lv 0 ⇒ 5 Maxed!
This skill is reserved to those who picked the Dragon race.
Active ~ AOE. Lick the area in front of you with a bout of green, draconic fire. Reaches up to 5 feet, and can prolong the attack for 5 seconds. Leaves targets with a Burn Effect that lasts 20 seconds and deals 5 magic damage per second. Burn Effect can be doused by water or wind. A special ability of this skill is that it’s able to put out fires that are colored red.
Magical Damage per second – Level 5:
10/15/20/25/30
Whoa! Stronger than ghost peppers!
>>Scaling Hotness has 7 Skill Points left over<<
MagiAdept (TS) has Leveled Up to Lv 17! (From Lv 8)
Tier 4 Class: Apprentice Mage
>> 90 Attribute Points are gained; 9 Skill Points are gained <<
Attribute Points Allocation:
>> Manual Distribution Selected <<
~ INT Increased: 65 ⇒ 110
~ SPR Increased: 65 ⇒ 110
Skill Point Allocation:
[Magical Intervention] Lv 0 ⇒ 5 Maxed!
Active Buff ~ Boost your allies with a buff that increases their attack and magic damage by 5%.
Time Duration – Level 5:
30/50/70/90/120 seconds
Can it compete with Divine Intervention?
[Incinerate] Lv 1 ⇒ 5 Maxed!
Active ~ Manifest and bring forth a great ball of fire to throw at your foes. Explodes upon contact and leaves a Burn Effect on any enemy target that comes within contact of its flames.
Magic Damage – Level 5:
40/65/90/115/145 (+ 100% INT)
Not as good as a Pyroblast, but it’ll do.
+Ω‡‡¥‡‡Ω+
“Wow Twilight,” Applejack said, scratching the back of her colorful mane. “Think ya went a little too far?”
Twilight bit her bottom lip as she surveyed the clearing around her. She tried not to breathe too much of the noxious air that flowed from the grass. “Well it’s not like didn’t mean to. I mean, the fire spell was the only thing that was keeping them from reforming into a Timberwolf King.”
“It’s perfectly alright, dear,” Rarity assured. “This is the kind of firepower – no pun intended – that we all need to win. We’ll blow the competition straight out of the water!”
“Yeah! You’d have to admit that you pretty much wiped the floor with them,” Rainbow laughed.
Twilight looked down slightly, feeling slightly pink. She jotted down a mental note to not go overboard with fire spells in a forest, where everything can burn easily. She hadn’t realized until it was too late, but Incinerate kept true to its nature and spread far and wide. It was only due to Spike and his innate magical fire that was able to combat and douse the flames before it could spread any further. Although by the end of it all, it was already too late and the grassy area resembled the remnants of a bad barbeque that had turned for the worse.
“Well we shouldn’t stay here any longer. That tournament is ‘bout to start in a few, and Ah don’t wanna miss it,” Applejack spoke.
Twilight nodded as she turned away from the blackened hill. “Then let’s not waste time any further.”
As they began to make their journey back to the Aeroslida, Twilight couldn’t help but allow herself a wide grin. The grinding session went off without a hitch! Twilight had anticipated for it to take longer, but they managed to finish much faster thanks to everypony’s coordination. To her, nothing felt more amazing than dancing on the clock with ease. Being on time is just one of life’s many treats. She felt like nothing could rain on this train.
“Whoa Twilight!” She felt her eyes popped out as Applejack pulled her back by the cape. She gagged a little and coughed for air. Applejack immediately let go. “Oops! Sorry ‘bout that.”
“What was that for?”Twilight inquired as she rubbed the apple of her throat.
“Look in front of ya.”
Twilight turned around and stepped back slightly. A large chasm was split across wide just baby steps away. On the other side, Twilight could see the trees thinning out, revealing the brighter light of the outside. As she peered over the edge, she could see the split cleaved deep into the ground. The black reminded her of nothingness. She gulped deeply.
“W– wow. That’s a pretty b– big drop,” Fluttershy stuttered, staying behind Applejack.
“Yeah no kidding. How are we supposed to get across?” Spike asked.
“Guys look!” Rainbow pointed towards the right.
There was long bridge of wood, spanning across the gap like stretched, chewed gum. However, what was more interesting was the guy guarding it.
“Is that a… troll?”
Rainbow couldn’t be more right. Five feet tall, green leather skin, covered in warts, hefty mouth tusks like a warthog and reek of swamp littered with rotten bananas, this guy could make a skunk gag. That alone didn’t make him interesting though. Twilight expected this from trolls outside of the game. What made him interesting, however, were the orange vest and jean shorts that gripped around his body. It had torn holes in it, yet was still hanging on like a stubborn wrestler. All in all, the guy looked slightly scary, and at the same time, absurd.
“Let’s go say hi to him!” Pinkie chimed as she started bouncing towards the troll.
“Wait, Pinkie! We have to think this through!” Twilight insisted.
It was already too late though as she was already there.
Rainbow shrugged. “Should we just go with the flow?”
“I see no other choice, Twilight,” Spike added.
Fluttershy’s legs were trembling. “D– do we have to? H– he looks r– really unfriendly.”
Twilight hung her head and slowly shook her head. “I kinda hope I could tell you otherwise, Fluttershy. Let’s go meet ourselves a troll.”
As they walked up to the troll, preparing for what could come, the troll stomped on the ground. “Hold it right there,” the troll sternly spoke, his voice gruff and rough like two trees scraping against each other.
“O– oh my,” Fluttershy whimpered. She looked at a nearby bush, contemplating whether she should hide in it or not.
“Hold it, buddy.” Rainbow Dash said with a heated tone. She flew up in front of his face. “What do you mean we should stop? We’re kind of in a rush here.”
“You’ve heard me clearly! Nobody crosses my bridge unless they pass the test!”
Rainbow pounded the soles of her forehooves together, squinting her eyes. “I have a test too. It’s called Don’t Test the Dash.”
Rainbow was defused quickly as she was pulled down to the ground by Twilight’s magic. “Whoa there, Rainbow. I wouldn’t want to mess with this guy. We’ve just gotten out of a grinding session remember? We’re not in any condition to fight.”
Rainbow Dash flew back up, although respecting Twilight’s request and kept her distance from the troll. “Come on! He’s blocking us from the tournament, the one we trained all night for! As if I’m gonna let that slide!”
“Calm down, he said we just have to pass a test,” Twilight spoke, lightly leering at the troll. “Isn’t that right?”
“Why yes it is very simple. You pass the test, or I eat you.”
The words hung in the air before showing the party with the chills, except for Pinkie Pie who had a silly smile.
“Eat us! Why conssarnit, Twilight! You sure you want to do this?” Applejack asked, adjusting her hat.
“I’m sure I can pass it,” Twilight said with confidence. Although she didn’t really believe in that. She hoped with that she would be able to pass the test.
The troll belched. “Are you ready?”
“Y– yes I am.”
“Okay then, here’s the question.” A silent, tense moment passed, with the forest air breathing wind before the troll asked, “What is my name?”
“Well buck! We’re screwed,” Rainbow Dash said, throwing her hooves up in the air before letting them fall down to her hips. “I’m going to just kick this guy in the face.”
Before she could start any sort of fight though, Twilight held her down again with telekinesis. Although like Rainbow Dash, she looked pretty upset. Twilight glared at the troll. “Okay. That's completely unfair.”
“Everything is fair in this part of the woods! The Forest Mother has assigned me the task of guarding this bridge every Friday, and I do it with pride. Now, answer the question!”
“I don’t know who this Forest Mother is, but she is going to have to deal with us when I’m through with you!”
He chuckled menacingly, “I doubt it.”
Twilight snorted angrily through her nostrils, feeling her face flushed as Rainbow Dash. Twilight considered the temptation of pounding his face with a Magic Missile until Rarity tapped her on the shoulders.
“What is it?!”
“Twilight, before you get us all killed would you please take a look at his name tag.”
“His name... tag?”
She looked at the troll’s vest for a name tag. Right there, in plain sight, was a name so very simple, his grandmother could have named him. Marty.
“Um, is your name Marty?” Twilight asked.
“Are you sure that’s your answer?” the troll replied, not betraying any emotions.
“Umm,” this time Pinkie tapped her shoulder. “We’re not sure if this guy’s name is Marty. He could have killed the last guy, and took his vest!”
“That’s true,” Applejack agreed.
“Oh come on, you seriously believe a player about his size of him came up to him, with a vest that says Marty on it?” Twilight asked petulantly.
“Twilight, look!” Spike pointed off to the troll's right side, where a sign read Marty guards this bridge.
“I really think your name is Marty.” Twilight insisted.
The troll supposedly called as Marty crossed his arms, “Oh really now? Perhaps I’m just another troll filling in for a guy on his lunch break, and maybe he lent me his vest. Are you sure that is your answer?”
“That could also be true,” Pinkie added.
“Pinkie!”
“Sorry Twilight.”
It was Applejack's turn to poke Twilight. “Err, Twilight? There’s an employee of the month plaque. Like right there.”
Applejack pointed at a wooden plaque that had a picture of the troll's and his name underneath it. Twilight looked at the picture, then back at the troll in front of them. They matched.
Twilight glared once more. “Okay, your name is definitely Marty. You had your fun. Now let us through!”
The troll bared his teeth in a smile, “Oh ho ho, really now? Most of us really do look alike, you know. I really hope that’s your answer.”
“Oh my Celestia, you are impossible!” Twilight screamed in frustration.
“Hey! Hey! Yo, Marty!”
The mares and Spike turned their heads around to see another troll, except this one was in a denim jacket, and his skin color was orange.
“Yo Marty! Joe’s party is coming up tonight! You’re bringing the mead, right?”
“Yeah, I’m bringing the mead, John! I’ll see you at the party!” Marty shouted after him.
“Cool! Later bro!” Jonn said before stumbling off into the woods.
The entire group looked back at "Marty," their glares sharp enough to pop balloons and maybe give a troll or two a couple bloody wounds.
“That friend of yours called you Marty,” Rarity said through her clenched teeth.
“I’ve never seen that guy before in my life.”
“He said that you were bringin’ the mead,” Applejack added.
“I’m bringing no mead to no place. You can’t prove that.”
“That guy literally just said you were bringing the mead,” Dash shot back.
“And he called you Marty,” Pinkie added with a happy smile, oblivious to the heated atmosphere growing around her friends.
Anger that was directed at the hulking, troublesome troll.
“Okay! That’s it, your name is Marty! Can we please just go through?!” Twilight bellowed at the top of her lungs.
“Oh are you sure now? I hope that’s your final answer because I’m really hungry,” he grinned, his sharp rows of teeth glimmering a little in his drool.
“Yes, your name is Marty.”
Marty leaned his body towards the mares, looking quite intimidating. “Well then, you know what I think? You know what I think?!” He then stepped off to the side with a wide smile. A sudden change of pace. “You are correct. My name is Marty. You must be the most intelligent pony I’ve met, or heck, of the entire world! People everywhere will sing of your genius mind! The clouds will boom at your steps! The gods shall– ”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever. Come on girls. We’re going,” Twilight groaned.
They walked across the bridge, not once looking back. Marty the troll kept listing off the various compliments, oblivious to the absence of the players.
Rainbow had something to say that everypony in the party whole-hardheartedly agreed with. “That guy is a fucking idiot. What kind of moron had the genius idea of putting him there?”
+Ω‡‡¥‡‡Ω+
“Achoo!!"
“Bless you. Are you coming down with a cold, Sen?” Luna asked, covering her mic.
Sentinel rubbed his nose. “I dunno, but I felt like somepony had talked about me a while ago.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Beats me,” he spoke before turning on his microphone. “And now, ladies and gentlecolts, the moment you've all been waiting for! It’s time to see some action!”
The gathered crowds cheered as they screamed for battles and blood to be shed. Somewhere, in a waiting room of the arena, Twilight’s team was checking on their equipment. Fluttershy practiced her songs while Applejack secured her armor. Rarity and Spike were just talking to each other while Rainbow and Pinkie were off testing their weapons in the dummy doll room. Meanwhile, their smart and courageous leader was twisting her mane in a bunch, running various back up plans for back up plans for battle plans of defense strategies in her mind. She bit her lower lips, and her hooves were shaking. Noticing this, Rarity placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
“Come now, dear. You’re getting the battle jitters.”
“What if we lose? This is our first official battle in the game,” Twilight gulped.
“Relax dear, you’re the leader of Team Awesome. You’ve lead us through many firefights of Haylo and Call of Cutie, guided us in the land of Minecraft, and directed an entire army through the battlefields of Planetside. This game shouldn't feel as different as those, and you’re more than capable than you think.”
“Yeah! Don’t think about the prospect of failure, Twilight. We’ll definitely win this,” Spike with a poised thumbs up.
Twilight sighed, breathing more calmly. “Thank you, Rarity, Spike.”
A light caught her eyes as a pair of large gate doors leading to an arena opened up. Twilight could feel her heart pounding again as she slid off the bench, onto her hooves. The others have rejoined with Twilight, Rarity, and Spike, standing by their side.
Rainbow adjusted her sunglasses. “Here we go.”
Luna’s voice echoed. “And now, for our first pair of contestants! Team Awesome versus Team Packers!”
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MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
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While I'm glad to see the rewrite in making things better, I found some things that might be inconsistent;
"Fluer needs twenty dresses", it's "Fleur",
"lead at Level 41" and "Level 31 Magicka Archer", is Luna Level 41 or 31?,
"still one level above her" and "at Level 41 while she is but only 2 Levels behind me", is the difference between Celestia and Luna one Level or two?.
4030901
Fixed. My prereader found all of that except for Fleur.
There are various minor mistakes that need to be swept up, but there is a large glaring mistake brought over from the old version.
Robe incident, and then...
"They are made of gossamer, the morning dew!"
Am I the only one who though
"He’s been seen there many mornings, crying tears that add drops to the morning dew and making a cloudy day cloudier with his sighs. But as soon as the sun rises in the east, my sad son comes home to escape the light".
4032924 Lovely. Where is that from?
4034101 the original Romeo and Juliet script
Marty the Troll...boy, sometimes game designers come up with the strangest things, both in fiction and real life. And, I got to love the fact that he is another kind of troll to boot. Heh heh.
Well, I hope you don't mind, but I might see two more possible errors as well. The first one is with the [Eagle Eyes] ability, where it saying that it is maxed at Lv. 4, though it look like it is pose to be Lv. 5. The second is [Incinerate], which seems like it is maxed out, but it never said that it was, and that the Magic Damage is at Lv. 4, when it is pose to be at Lv. 5.
Anyways, can't wait to read more, once they come out.
Good chapter, I especially liked the Doraleous and Associates reference with Marty the Troll.
Ah, Marty the troll. I hoped he would make a return.
Ahh, League skills.
Candy Shroud -> Twilight Shroud (Akali)
Dash it!-> Alpha Strike (Master Yi)
Um, Twi? Wrong stats.
Above comments brought to you by Notepad.
It's quite a doozy of an update, though, I'll tell you that. Not totally sure what's different, aside from the change in what they were grinding, but that's probably just my god-awful long-term memory. Actually, I'm certain it is. Also, I feel obligated to do this:
Then they got rekt. The end.
Wow, that troll is a such a troll.
My name for this game, would be NightmareNyx (assuming no spaces, or underscores) and if I couldn't use the name, ;-;
Hmm...Sen isn't saying Princess when saying Luna's name...mythinks they are an item...or friendly workers instead of being all formal.
Fucking hackers. I hate them to the very core.
.............
my sides?!?!?!??!!?!? They hurt?!?!?!!?!??!?!!?
Times up chumps let's do this LEEROOOOOOYYYYYY JENNNNNMKKIIINNNNNSSSSSS!
Sorry Twilight, but Hasbro says otherwise.
4230477
Yo. Just reading this chapter for the nostalgia, and... wow. I can't believe I never caught that error for all this time. Thanks, man.