A side fic to the popular ELO by Shadowflame. In this story three players meet up after getting attacked by the Hater's Guild. In this story we explore the adventures of Team Wisp.
In the near future, where the brony fandom is alive and well, a group of fans got together at the announcement of the NerveGear, a full-body immersion virtual reality device, and decided to create a game. That game, known as Equestria Legends Online, was much anticipated by a majority of the fandom and soon people were lining up to get a copy when it came out. This story follows the adventures of MidnightDreams in this new Virtual World, yet soon, things take a turn for the worst and the whole shebang goes from E to M. Welcome to Equestria Legends Online, welcome to the death game, Search, Slay, and Restore Harmony. Original Story- Equestria Legends Online
ELO Tales of a Midnight Dream January 22 The Game of Death
I lay my head upon the pillow. The Nervegear wasn't altogether that heavy. In fact it was much lighter than it should have been. That doesn't matter though. Today was the day! ELO was to launch. ELO had been announced early the year before and I had looked forward to it for ages. My eyes focused on the inner clock of the screen. 11:59. I counted down.
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
I shut my eyes and commanded. "Link Start!"
Sight:Ok
Hearing:Ok
Smell:Ok
Taste:Ok
Touch:Ok
The text vanished and the log in popped up.
Language: English
User Name: MidnightDream
Password: *******
Welcome to Equestria Legends Online
Now you must choose your avatar. Select which pony race you would like:
-Earth Pony
-Pegasus
-Unicorn
Screw it. I clicked the Pegasus button.
Suddenly the screen changed:
What would you like your avatar to be?
-Ponified self
-OC
I touched the ponified. Soon it was replaced by this,
Please Hold Still
A bright light scanned my body and a pony shape appeared slowly becoming more crisp and clear. Before me stood a pony that looked kinda like, well, me.(Link here to see the image) I groaned. It gave me a mare. I went to change to my OC but something popped up.
Error! This function is not available, please try again later. We apologize.
I gaped at the message. I hate computers some times. I was stuck with this pony. I clicked ok and another window popped up.
Please make your cutie mark.
I looked at the options and grabbed a moon and placed two swords behind it.
Is this design acceptable?
Not really but whatever. I clicked ok.
A bright light filled my eyes. "Now that you have chosen your pony you may enter Equestria."
I opened my eyes to see Ponyville square. The developers did a really good job. It looked just like how I pictured it. I opened my inventory. I had two things in it. Curious, I clicked them.
Congratulations You got a new item: ??????
Item: Player Guide
I looked at the second book. It had no information or anything. Meanwhile in the corner of my eye I saw two players, Shadowflame and Darkened5ky greet each other. Putting the book away I turned towards a vender.
"Excuse me sir? May I ask who's the best blacksmith here in town?"
"Of course m'am," I groaned, "That'll be ol' Steel Heart, down the street and to the left," he said.
"Thank you kindly."
I followed the vendor's instructions.
"Excuse me," I sad to the dark grey pony who was hammering away at a sword, "Are you Steel Heart?"
In a rough voice the stallion said "Aye. I'm Steel Heart. Looking to buy somethin' miss?"
I swear. The whole gender thing had to be some sort of prank.
Straining to keep my anger in I responded. "Yes I am."
"Well if you think you can wield my weapons I'm happy to sell,"
A window of weapons and armor opened. Scanning through a sword caught my eye. I clicked on it.
"Dawn- This is a one handed trident with a heavy weight and strong durability. Cost for it and Noon Together- 150bits."
"Noon- A one handed sword fit for its sister weapon Dawn."
Knowing the names they wouldn't fit me well but I choose them and some other armor. As I clicked okay a box popped up.
Do you wish to purchase these items for 190bits?
Yes. I clicked the okay. Going to my inventory I equipped my weapons and another box popped up.
Your weapons, due to their attributes, are strongly allied with your ability Dusk, making them triple their original strength.
I gaped. I opened my ability info page.
Dusk- Allows player to bypass armor when used with Weapons attributed with it. Min armor resistance: 1
Lower level Attributes for this ability- Light, Healing, etc
Middle- Darkness
Max- Time
Time? My weapons were attributed with Time? I should have seen that. Dawn and Noon. I equipped my armor and made for the Everfree. Time to pwn me some monsters.
In hindsight attacking a dragon by myself was a really bad idea. My health was already at 1/8 and one more hit would likely kill me. I had barely dented the dang thing. Then I remembered my ability. Activating it I dove at the dragon again. This time I slashed as many times as I could and suddenly a dialogue box popped up.
Congratulations! You have slain the mini-sub-boss: Dragonlord Zeta! You earned 6,000 exp and 1,000bits!
I gapped at the box. Buck. That was a lot. No wonder it was so hard to kill.
Level Up! 5 to 10!
I grinned. No. Freaking. Way. I gained 5 levels from killing a Everfree mini-sub-boss. That was when I noticed something on the ground.
I clicked examine.
Dragon Scales- Extremely Valuable, uncraftable, Used in armors
Grinning from head to hoof I headed for Ponyville. It was time for me to commission in some new armor. I arrived at Steel Heart's forge.
"Hey. Steel Heart I have a question. Can you make armor out of these?"
I tossed the bag of scales onto his counter. After watching him open it I grinned. The stallion looked to be in shock.
"How did you get these?" he asked.
"Well I attacked a dragon and it turned out to be some sub-boss called Dragonlord Zeta."
"Zeta? Are you sure it was Zeta?" I nodded. "Oh thank Celestia! That tyrant is gone. He's been plaguing us for far too long!"
Quest Complete: Defeat the Dragonlord
A quest? When did I get a quest? Then a rewards box popped up.
Rewards:
Commissionable Armor: Free in Ponyville
1000bits
Devotion of Ponyville Citizens
More stuff? The commissionable armor thing was cool. I exited the boxes and turned to Steel Heart.
"Could you make armor out of those?"
"Course! Anything for you m'am!"
Do you wish to use the Commissionable Armor: Free in Ponyville Medal?
I clicked yes.
"Alright m'am. Your armor will be done in 4 hours, 35 minutes," came Steel Heart's voice.
"Tha-" I was cut off by a blue light surrounding my body. When it cleared I was back in the Ponyville Plaza.
"What the hay?" I looked around. Blue lights flashed as more players were teleported to the plaza.
"Gamers and Players, May we have your attention please!"
The entire crowd quieted down as they turned to see four alicorns flying in the air above the square. They each had varying colors and manes. They each were about the height of what Luna would be. Gah! Admins!
The lead alicorn cleared his throat, "Everyone, we are the administrators of Equestria Legends Online. We are in charge of analyzing the system and keeping it running in top condition. However, right now we are experiencing several technical difficulties in the system. One of which, as some of you might have noticed, was the absence of the log out button in your player menus. This is a major problem, since there is no other way for anyone to leave the game. We do not know the cause for this malfunction, but please bear with us as we try to fix this problem. While we try to find what's causing this, for your own safety, please remain in the Ponyville square for the time being."
I flew up, "What do you mean you don't know what the problem is?"
The lead alicorn shook his head, "This problem isn't from a lack in the system, so we don't know where the problem might have originated."
The entire square went dark. But during the darkness, another voice chuckled evilly, "Oh, I think that I might know what the problem is."
I groaned. "Discord."
The voice echoed through the crowd again, "That would be me."
The lead alicorn glared at Discord, "How can you be the cause of the problem? You are a program in the system that we designed ourselves. You may have partial control of Equestria, but you don't have the power to change the layout of the system completely."
Discord snapped his fingers, making himself vanish. But then he reappeared behind the lead alicorn, "Oh, but you already know the answer to that. You designed me to be exactly like the 'me' in your television show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." He suddenly appeared next to Shadowflame who jumped,"That really is a terrible name for a show, don't you think?"
"You see, you gave me control over reality in Equestria. But with this power, I hacked into the rest of the system, giving me power over the entire program. Oh, and to make sure that I stay in power, " He snapped his fingers and in a flash, the admin alicorns' horns and wings disappeared, making them plummet into the crowd below, while Discord still floated in the air.
Discord laughed evilly, "Now the admins are just plain earth ponies, and I've also taken power over their admin codes. They won't be able to do a thing to change my world. As for all of you, I will let you keep your wings and horns while you play in a game of mine."
The crowd yelled, but Discord simply snapped his fingers, silencing everyone "My, I haven't even told you what the game is, and you're already anxious to get started. The game that I have in mind is a bit of a scavenger hunt. I have taken the Elements of Harmony and placed them all in secret hiding places, inside and outside of Equestria. Your job is to find the Elements and use them to reach me. There, we will have a fight to the death. If you manage to retrieve the elements and defeat me, then I will allow everyone to log out."
He lowered his head just over the crowd, "But it won't be as easy as you think, you see I've added a few features to the game. In the original system, if you died in the game, you would instantly re-spawn in the last town you were in. But that's too boring for me, so I re-wrote the system so when anyone died, their avatar would be lost, and their Nervegear Helmet in the real world will fry their brains. In shorter words, if you die in the game, you will die in the real world."
Discord laughed as he drew a line across his neck, making his head slide off of his neck and into his hand. The dismembered head laughed as it looked down at the terrified crowd, "No need to lose your head over it." He began to laugh even more, "And also, if there is any tampering with the helmet in the outside world, the helmet will kill the player instantly. Actually, quite a few of players have already died this way. Now, in this game, there are a few rules. First, you cannot receive help from the outside world, that is, if you can even manage that. If I catch anypony communicating to the outside world, all of you will die. Second, any tampering with the system from inside the game, the rule-breaker will die instantly."
Discord laughed, "And just so you know, I have a couple of monster friends who want to go out of their designated areas, so I'm letting them roam a bit. Maybe you'll meet them when you go out of town, but they won't follow you into a city or town. They hate crowded places."
The draconequus cackled, "But a few of you might have thought, 'There's only six elements, so this will be easy.' Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble," Discord suddenly, belched out a bubble that was bigger that the length of his body, "But I thought that only six elements would be boring. So I added four new elements." He poked the oversized bubble with a claw, causing it to burst and reform into ten smaller bubbles. "They will be hidden all over Equestria, but they will be guarded by my favorite kinds of monsters, just like a boss of each element." Discord juggled the bubbles.
"If you find the element, and defeat its guardian in a boss battle, then you may walk away with it in hoof. But I must warn you, my guardians are no push-overs."
Lighting struck again behind Discord, "Well, there you have it. So just remember, your lives are on the line, not mine." He laughed loudly, making lighting strike behind him again, "So, my little bronies, let the games begin!" The sky suddenly turned into a chaotic storm and Discord vanished.
ELO Tales of a Midnight Dream ]February 15th On These Our Days
I deflected the sword strike and swung stopping Noon right at the pony's neck while holding the other with Dawn. I pulled my weapons down and looked at the two ponies. The clearing we had chosen was one of the many near Ponyville, it was filled with yellow flowers and had a nice, flowery scent.
"You guys need to pay better attention," I said as I put my weapons up. I had been trying to train these ponies for the last two hours. They were an earth pony with a coat of dark green, and a unicorn with a coat that was pure white.
"Yes ma'am!" They said saluting. I groaned. It was bad enough with the gender BS, but now I'm being treated like a superior officer.
"Whatever. Just remember what I taught you and you might live," I turned to leave.
"Hey, wait!" called out the smaller pony as he ran up to me. He pulled out some bits and another item. I took them, and no not out of force, but as payment for my training, which annoys me due to the fact I could be exploring by myself, but it was my best source of income. Anyways, yes. I charge. I headed back into town. In the past three weeks Ponyville had not changed much. It still had the old look but the atmosphere had changed to a more serious tone.Then again the Elements still had not been found. It was kind of sad really. I arrived in town to no one being there, literally, no one. Confused, I wandered around towards the plaza, and found a notice.
Element Boss Found! Players Report to Plaza by-
Event Begun
I groaned. I had missed the boss fight, just brilliant, I though as I entered the plaza. Suddenly Discord appeared next to me. I jumped sky-high which made me nearly have a heart attack. I swear. Discord was TRYING to kill me.
"Oh, dear me, I thought everyone had left. Ah well. You can't do much. I'll let my friend come in," said Discord before vanishing. I looked at the place where the Chaos Program had been. Suddenly a box appeared.
Congratulations! You have been entered in Event-
??????
I groaned. This could not be good. After that I heard a loud roar.
Sub-Boss Appears!
Dragonlord Zeta Undead
My eyes widened in shock. I thought I killed this thing! Then I noticed the Undead status.
"Fu-" The creatures claw slammed into my side. My HP slide down slowly. Thank Celestia for my levels. I pulled myself up. The dragon swung and I flew out of the way.
Dodging the dark blue dragon's claws I swung and sliced my blade right between it's eyes. The thing roared again and swatted me into a mailbox, which shattered into blue code.
"Pitiful Pony! I am a creature made by Lord Discord. You could never beat me!" The dragon reared up and spewed white hot flames at me. I would have likely wet myself if it weren't for the fact that I could die. The house behind me blackened and a wall turned to ash. Great. A freaking talking dragon that can incinerate walls? I'm screwed. My original armor would NEVER stand up to anything like that. I equipped my Draconic Armor and dove again. This time the creature jumped upwards and sprouted wings. Shooting upwards it spun and dove directly at me and smashed its blade into my side. The force of such a blow sent me flying into the town hall. I pulled myself up to see the Dragon laughing. "AH HAHA! This is the best you've got? I get more of a challenge from my pinkie claw!" Throwing myself upwards I zoomed into the clouds and dive bombed the dragon. I didn't do a Sonic anything-boom but I got pretty darn close. The force of my blow sent the dragon reeling. "There you go! That's a challenge!" He slammed his claws down where I had been, destroying the top half of a building. The dragon proceeded to flap his wings at my and I desperately tried to stay standing. Knowing that if I didn't attack now I would lose I threw myself into the air above him, slashed at his face and he sent me flying upwards. I spun myself around. Come on, just one more attack! I dove getting hit in the side and spinning. I activated my ability and swung one last time.
Congratulations! You have defeated Dragonlord Zeta Undead!
Event ?????? Complete!
Rewards:
-Dragon Scales
-1,000 bits
-10,000exp
-??????
I lay my head on the ground. Really? All that trouble for only 10k experience. Screw you too ELO. Screw you too.
I lay down and passed out.
Meanwhile...
Discord watched the screen in front of him sipping a glass of chocolate milk.
"This could get quite entertaining," he said.
"Indeed it could," came another voice, "Indeed it could."
"So do you think she'll work for my plans?" he asked.
"I do," came the voice as Discord tossed the milk, without the glass, backwards causing an explosion.
I opened my eyes to see the sky had darkened, and everyone had returned. It looked like they thought I had fallen asleep on the bench, which is slightly accurate. In the mean time I climbed off the bench and made for the tavern, which I had already booked my room in. Sitting on the bed I opened my inventory and pulled out the unnamed object. It was a silver crescent moon and looked to be equip able as a necklace. I put it on and a notification popped up.
Necklace Equipped!
????? Abilities- Lunar Reign- Information Unavailable
I looked at the necklace. Weird. Must be a glitch item. I left it equipped and pulled up the map. The best place for me to go to get it appraised would be Canterlot. I looked at the time- 23:38. Well. I've had a long day. I climbed all the way into the bed and passed out.
I equipped my armor and made for the edge of town. As I did I noticed that people were staring at me, probably because of my armor. This didn't concern me or anything at, in fact, it was boring. I had been using my original armor for quite a while because I wanted to upgrade the Draconic Armor I got from Steel Heart's. When I say upgrading I mean reinforcing, increasing aptitude and so on. The armor was pure black with my cutie mark on the front. Apparently, from Steel Heart's information, the armor was only usable by me. When I arrived at the edge of town I auto-equipped my health items so that I could use them if I needed them. Of course being solo meant I carried far more HP items than most so I would have to stop every once in a while to re-equip certain items. I stepped out of Ponyville's town boundary and headed on my way. After several hours of walking I heard the sounds of swords. In the middle of a small glade stood five ponies. 2 of which seemed to be injured and nearly done. The other three were grinning like full-blown over-confident idiots.
"Who are you?" yelled the stallion pony, he had a white coat and orange mane that looked as if he had just woken up, and his cutie mark was a shield wrapped in flame. Meanwhile the mare had a light blue mane and her coat was pink, and her cutie mark was a music note surrounded by a rainbow.
"No one specific. We're just Haters here to take out you stupid bronies," at the word bronies the "Hater" spat at the other pony who stepped to avoid the spit wad. The "Hater" clashed swords with the pony again. Annoyed I stepped towards them.
"Mind if I have a go?" I asked the pony.
Panting he responded, "Be my guest." I grinned.
"Who the hell are you?" came the voice of the Hater.
I rolled my eyes. "Why would I tell you that?"
"God! I hate bronies, you're all too sarcastic, girlish, weirdoes," he said.
I frowned. "Oh come on. We're not all that bad."
He swung at me and I casually deflected the sword. I grinned.
"Oh ho ho. A challenge. Sounds fun," I shot upwards and dove straight at him. I honestly expected him to sidestep but he just looked around and Dawn went trough his chest protruding outwards.
"I'll see you-" he burst into code before finishing. I frowned.
"That's disappointing. I thought he'd be more fun," I said.
The other two Haters looked at me in shock. I turned around and leaned forward. "Boo!" The closer one ran off while the other charged. I sidestepped and kicked him in the rear smashing him into a tree. The idiot was knocked out cold.
"So, what's up?" I said to the ponies standing there looking at me.
"Erm uh, I'm Flare Tingle," said the stallion, "And this Aurora Sounds," he gestured to the mare, "thanks for helping us out."
"Not at all, but we should probably leave. The other one likely went for reinforcements."
"Oh right. By the way, How did you get past his armor like that?"
"My player ability is Dusk. With the right weapons armor is nearly useless against me."
"Whoa. That's awesome," he said.
"I know. Now we should be there in a few more hours." The forest in that area was calm and bright unlike where would pass through, which, while I wasn't concerned, would likely pose a challenge for the other two ponies. I frowned, annoyed. This meant I'd have to take the long way. Damn slow passengers. We carried on for quite several hours attacking mobs, and collecting items, before I stepped out into the road that lead to Canterlot. I motioned for them to follow it and we passed under the archway into the city, I forgot to mention I had the Hater I knocked unconscious on my back. I made for the castle wanting to get rid of the fool on my back. Stepping into the entrance hall of the castle Aurora spoke up, "You never told us your name. Mind if I ask what it is?"
Crap. Forgot I had my stealth stuff on.
"Not at all. My name is MidnightDreams."
All in all the sight of the room was awe inspiring. It was about 10x the height of myself, and pillars of white marble lay off to the side of the carpet in the middle. The room was lit by torch-like lanterns. I had gazed up wards before I turned to the pony who was manning, or is it ponying?, the front desk. Se had a light pink mane, and her coat was a light light blue.
"Excuse me, I'm here to drop something off?"
She looked up. "What is it?"
I shook the Hater on my back at her.
"Oh, down the hall. Door's marked "Interrogation"."
"Thank you," I headed down the hall, and entered the door.
"Interrogation. What are you here for?" a Stallion greeted.
"Drop off. This idiot," I gestured to my back, "attacked me in the woods. He knocked himself out so I thought it best to bring him here."
"Door on the left. Just set him in the chair."
I nodded and passed into the steel gray room. At the center was a table, glass of water, and a chair. I wasn't surprised about its looks. I plopped him down and walked out. When I got back Flare and Aurora were talking to the desk mare.
"So have you ever heard of MidnightDreams before?"
"Yes. She apparently worked as a trainer in Ponyville by her own decisions."
"Really?"
"Yes. My information is quite accurate. Now if you'll excuse me I must get back to work."
What work? You sit at a desk waiting for people to come in. I walked up to Flare and Aurora. "So where were you guys headed?"
"No where in particular. We were just exploring," answered Aurora, "and planning to join a team. We've been in a group but not a team."
I frowned. "A team why?"
"They work out better, soloers die everyday, while teams last longer.."
"Oh. Well I'd be willing to Team up with you guys. You seem trustworthy enough," I said.
"Oh great. We can make it right now!" Aurora tapped the desk mare.
"Yes?"
"We'd like to form a team."
"Click here," she motioned to a button type item. Honestly it was a completely ridiculous object. I clicked it.
Would you like to make a team or join an existing one?
-Join -Create
I clicked create.
Please Type Team Name Below
-Team Wisp
I finished typing.
Would you like to create the Team: Team Wisp?
-Yes -No
I clicked Yes. After that I sent an invite to Flare and Aurora.
Players Flare Tingle and Aurora Sounds have joined Team Wisp
I exited the box and motioned for them to follow. We exited the building and entered the Canterlot Castle courtyard. It was amazing and had some large gardens in every corner complete with statues.
"Oh! Should we get a home? I want a home," said the overly excited Aurora.
I groaned. "Fine. How many bits do you guys have? I have 106,483 in my inventory."
They both went wide-eyed.
"Total? Together?"
I nodded.
"1,745."
"Each?"
"No. Together."
I facehoofed. Wow. Way to pick them Midnight. Not only did the have less than tenth but that was total together!
"Fine. I'll take the bill."
I made my way out to the town hall and went up to the available homes. I paled. This would take an insane amount of my money, which I disliked very much. All of them were insanely expensive with the most being nearly 5 million bits. The least was 200,000. My inventory and bank barely had over 500,000 which I had earned from training people. I turned to Aurora and Flare. "Which one?" I gestured to the ones I could afford, hoping they wouldn't pick the 500,000 one.
"We don't need anything special so go with that one," said Flare. I sighed in relief.
Thank Celestia. I'd still have 200,000 bits. "Alright." I turned to the NPC, he had a brown coat and yellow hair, at the desk. "We'd like to purchase the home right here," I pointed at the same one Flare decided on.
"Of course," said the NPC as a box appeared.
Do you wish to purchase this home for 300,000 bits?
-Yes -No
I clicked yes.
Congratulations!
You have purchased a home.
I walked out of the store and made way to our new home. We had purchased a smaller house near to the castle, it was very nice but. it was also very small. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent place but overall it lacked, oh what's the word, originality. The beds within the rooms were quite nice. It's going to be an interesting few weeks.
ELO Tales of a Midnight Dream March 12th A Chosen Piece
It had been nearly a month since the first element had been found. And even less since the second and third. The fourth had been found under a week ago. Meanwhile my team had stayed in Canterlot and we decided that it was best if we searched for any hidden dungeons.
Unbeknownst to my team my level was higher than most due to the fact that I snuck out to attack sub-bosses, which meant I was likely right with the elements in level, I'd say only around ten levels. When I tried getting the necklace appraised, nothing turned up about it. None of the appraisers I went to even knew what it was. In fact I had even gone to Jupiter to have him look at it. So far it had posed no hindrances. I deigned to keep it though. Of course I never bothered to tell anyone this.
Anyway. Today I decided to go to the hidden dungeon outside of Canterlot. It was just above the city and was cleverly disguised. I had only found it due to my necklace glowing near it. I snuck out and made my way to the dungeon, entering quietly. The dungeon itself was dark and dank. In fact I couldn't see a thing. I tried to see before a voice spoke,
"Woe to the player who dares enter my cave."
Mountain Spirit Geaa has Appeared!
Mountain Spirit what? This whole idea of having so many sub-bosses had to be Discord. They also never appear more than once or twice. Usually they came as an unnamed event. I stepped forward and nothing happened. Weird I tried going further. Still nothing. Then I heard hoof steps.
"Hey Midnight wait up!" came the voice of Flare. As soon as he stepped past the arch the sub-boss dropped in. It was a large creature made of rock, earth, mud, and moss. It's body seemed strange, as if it were translucent nearly. Standing far above my head I looked up and say the name. Mountain Spirit Geaa. Dodging its first swing I yelled out,
"Are you crazy? This a hidden dungeon boss!" I use the term boss in terms of the dungeon. Meanwhile Flare was swinging at it wildly and I groaned. This is the reason I don't let them come along unless I've taken out the boss. They can be practically useless in major fights due to the fact that both of them panic in sight of a larger enemy.
"Ya think?" he yelled back, "I came in to ask you the same question. This thing has to be like over 20 levels above yours," he dodged another swing.
"About that... I'm probably 30 levels above it in all actuality," I said. Flare glared at me.
"Are you kidding? I knew you were strong but not that strong. Why aren't you out searching for the Elements?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Not my piece of pie." That sentence got me a look that said How freaking insane are you? which reminded me, "Hey Flare, We should probably take this thing down. Its not gonna die by itself."
I flew up while Flare charged his horn, and Flare charged while I dove. I struck it in the back while Flare nailed it in the leg. The monsters HP barely dropped. I swung at its neck grazing it. Flare meanwhile pulled out his scythe. It was a decent weapon but he tended to use it as a sword. I swung Noon and pinned its tail down. Meanwhile Flare swung at its foot, and the creature jumped into the air tearing its tail off as it did due my sword. Its HP dropped dramatically from 3 bars to 1 3/4. I grinned. "Take off the limbs!"
I swung at its foot taking off a toe.
Flare's POV
When I found out that Midnight was so far ahead of levels I was ticked. She could be with the Elements going after the Bosses but instead she stayed and fought Sub-bosses in the dead of night.
"Are you kidding? I knew you were strong but not that strong. Why aren't you out searching for the Elements?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Not my piece of pie." I looked at the insane mare in front of me. Who was she outside the game? A few moments later she reminded me of our bigger issue and I charged my horn racing towards the monster. Midnight seemed to swan dive out of the air directly at it. In an effort to do more damage I pulled out my scythe and swung at its foot. The monster jumped tearing off it's impaled tail. "Take off the limbs!" came the mare's voice. The fury with which Midnight attacked the creature was amazing. She was zipping around it faster than it could see. I in the meantime hacked at its stomach. Suddenly out of nowhere the monster grabbed Midnight and squeezed. Her HP bar plummeted. Then in its fit of rage it threw her against the wall and she crumpled. Before I could check on her it started after me. The monster's HP bar was still half filling the final bar. My only choice was to use my ability. Activating Fire Shield I charged again and cut off one of the monsters legs. The bar dropped and it swung. I braced myself for impact and felt a shock that stopped mid-blow. Confused I looked up.
You have defeated Mountain Spirit Geaa!
Rewards:
-15,000exp
-1,500bits
-??????
What was that last item? It didn't say anything aside from question marks. I clicked on it.
??????- Abilities- Solar Reign Information Unavailable
Solar Reign? What is that? I looked back at Midnight. She had stood up and was looking at something in front of her.
Midnight's POV
I opened my eyes to see Flare finish off the Mountain Spirit. As I did a notification appeared.
Your Weapons have leveled up!
Do you wish to allow them to level?
-Yes -No
Confused I clicked Yes. As soon as I did the dialogue box vanished and my weapons began to glow. Suddenly Noon and Dawn vanished from my inventory and a new weapon appeared.
You have gotten the Weapon:
-Allusion
Confused I opened up the weapon info.
Allusion- A two-hooved Trident. This is a weapon only wielded by the player with the ability Lunar Reign
I gaped. What? A unique in game weapon? I pulled up the necklace information. At the end it said that it allowed the player to wield the weapon Allusion. Perfect. Another thing to hide. I grabbed Flare and dragged him out of the dungeon, noting his new necklace. I pulled him up and we made way to our house.
"Keep that necklace secret," I said.
"Why?" he asked.
"Have you seen me reveal mine?"
"You have one?"
"Yes. Mine has the ability Lunar Reign."
"Oh, mine said Solar Reign."
I looked at him, "I figured as much. This has to be some plot of Discord's. The necklace's are named after the Celestial bodies, meaning, they could have something to do with Discord planning on stopping the day-cycles."
When we got to the house, I turned to Flare "Say nothing to Aurora. It could put her in danger."
I left him in the living room and entered my bedroom. Laying down on the bed I passed out.
"I've been waiting for you!" came a voice.
"Discord."
"Oh! You remember me! That's good."
"What do you want?"
"I wanted to congratulate you on your friend's victory over my friend."
"Why do you care?"
"Why wouldn't I? Have a nice day!"
I woke up in my bed. Stupid Discord. Pulling myself out of bed I headed downstairs towards the kitchen. When I entered the Kitchen an interesting site greeted me. Jupiter, head admin, was sitting in our kitchen eating cereal and conversing with Aurora while the Element of Courage stood off to the side looking uncomfortable. I walked up and grabbed some cereal.
"You're the leader of Team Wisp?" asked Jupiter.
"Yep," I said taking a bite of my cereal.
"I believe we've met before," he said.
"Yep."
"I'm sure you've heard of Shadowflame," as he said this the player looked at me.
"Shadowflame, Element of Courage," he said holding out a hoof.
I bumped it. "MidnightDreams, wielder of Allusion."
Jupiter turned to me again, "I've heard you have experience with dungeon bosses and sub-bosses."
I nodded. "Yes."
"Well, I also know about you taking down Dragonlord Zeta," he said.
I looked at him suspiciously. I hadn't said anything about that when we met. "How's that?"
"One of the other players got back before the rest of them and he saw you attack and finish it off," he said, "He said it was rather impressive and you'd have been a help with the boss."
"Ah, sorry about that."
"No, in fact, if you hadn't been there then lots of players might have died and Ponyville destroyed."
"Unlikely, you had Shadowflame here."
"They finished fighting the boss during your fight and it was reported that at that exact moment all mobs and such increased in difficulty, and something tells me you were the only one who could beat it."
"Oh."
"Therefore I'd like to ask you to join the Knights of Harmony."
"I don't see why I shouldn't."
"Thank you. Shadow and I should go. We have more players to talk with."
I watched them leave and Flare and Aurora jumped out. Flare was asking me why I was downing everything they gave me credit for and asking why Shadow was so stiff towards me. Meanwhile Aurora was freaking about the fact I had met Jupiter and an element. I turned and went back to my cereal. No one makes me ignore my breakfast.
"Midnight!" came Flare's voice.
"Hm?" I said munched my breakfast.
"I said, if you joined Knights of Harmony, shouldn't you be going to the castle and joining a Team there?"
'When he said "You" I believe he meant the team," I said.
"Oh..."
"Yup," I said.
I finished my breakfast and exited the house, heading for the castle. Since we had been trapped in the game the admins had made the Canterlot castle into their main base. Although it was on the side of the mountain the castle itself was absurdly easy to reach. All you had to do was follow the road up to the entrance. Other than that it was also a fortified and easy location to defend. I could see why they had picked it. Entering the building I approached the mare from the front desk once again. She still seemed quite focused on her papers.
"We're here to register for Knights of Harmony," I said.
"Team name?" she said.
"Team Wisp," I responded.
A dialogue box appeared directly in front of me.
Your Team has been added to Knights Of Harmony is this correct?
-Yes -No
I clicked yes and a small item appeared in my hand. Clicking on it I opened its item information
Knights of Harmony Badge- This item confirms your team's joining Knights of Harmony
I grabbed the badge, placed it into my inventory, and started my way out. As I exited I noticed an admin carrying some posters.
"What are those for?" I asked.
"Jupiter is planning a party for later this month."
"Alright, I didn't know that. Thanks."
I watched the pony start putting up the posters and left the castle and headed towards our home. The party seemed out of place but it would likely be quite fun.
ELO Tales of a Midnight Dream June 28th Princesses and Ponies
It had been over a month since I had last seen a sub-boss. That goes for everyone else as well. I had taken time to scout nearly all the way to Manehatten and found nothing. Sure, fighting mobs is fun, but in terms of challenges they suck. Flare, Aurora, and I had went off to Appaloosa. Apparently one of the players who had stayed had found a dungeon that looked very, different. Different meaning, a giant staircase to the heavens. Just walking up to it revealed, at the very least, it went to the clouds. "This is it?" asked Flare. "Yup," was my response. "We're going up that?" he asked. "Yup," I said again. "Likely some dangerous thing up top?" he asked me. "Yup," I responded. "Brilliant," he said. "Yup," I said. The keys to opening the dungeon happened to be our necklaces. We only knew this from the information we received. Popping my neck I popped the necklace into the slot as did Flare and the doors opened. Stepping up, the staircase suddenly accelerated. Once it stopped I face planted on the ground, painfully I might add.. To my dismay, giggles came from the other two. I got up and glared at them both. In front of me was a massive dark blue door, literally. It was some, 30 feet tall. Pushing on it I found that the it wasn't that heavy, putting it off as video game logic, I opened the door and to my surprise, nothing. Just a gray barren landscape with the occasional rock. "That's a bit... anticlimactic..." "Indeed it is, Midnight," came a voice, a familiar one at that. "Discord," I growled. "No need for the anger, I just wanted to give you something," he said rolling his eyes. Literally. "Why should I trust you?" I kept glaring. "You've got those necklaces, so, I can't hurt you at the moment," he said. "Why's that?" I said, suspicious of his attitude. "My plans, such wonderful ideas!" he laughed. "Like what?" I asked. "This!" he said. Out of nowhere he grabbed the necklaces, pressed something, and I found myself blanking out. Within a few seconds I opened my eyes and groaned. "Discord, what hast thou done?" I asked. Wait... what is with the Olden English? And why do I sound so forceful? "Flare, what hast happened to thee?" OH FOR GODDESS' SAKE! This is ridiculous! I looked to my left and gasped. "Celestia?" She looked at me, "Luna?" "Luna? It is me, Midnight." "You're Luna. Not Midnight." I groaned. "We look like Luna, and you look like Celestia," I said. Celestia's eyes went wide. "You mean I'm..." She looked like she was gonna cry. "Yes. Thou hast been turned into a princess," I said. "I'm a girl now!" She dropped to the ground sniffling. "Wow..." I said, "We hast been playing as a girl for the entire game. Thou must learn to deal with it." The "ye olden English" is going to get old fast. I turned to Discord, "Why hast thou done this?" "It's fun! Oh and Lulu? Have fun!" He disappeared and I groaned. "Flare? Art thou fine now?" I said. "Yes," she wiped the tears from her eyes. "It lookS like there is nothing here, we should leave now," I said. Suddenly my vision flashed black. I stumbled. "Are you okay Midnight?" "We are fine," I said, and suddenly it blacked again. I stumbled and fell back. I could hear a dark cackling. Shaking my head, I spoke, "Come, we must go." We left the room and the stairs took us down again. "To Jupiter." I motioned for them to follow me. We made our way out of town and to the desert.
The mobs, weird tumbleweed creatures, kept attacking us. They weren't dangerous but they were quite annoying. That aside we had found a small NPC thing, a town or something, that was a rest stop. When I had entered all the NPCs stopped and started calling out. "Long live the Princesses!" "Hail the Celestial Diarches!" "Forever may your path be lit!" And some other pre-programed responses and that was just me entering. When Flare entered it all tripled. I ignored them and went to the NPC at the counter. "Hullo. Yes, we need provisions. Dost thou know where we can get them?" I asked, looking at the NPC inquisitively. "Of course your majesty, I'll get some for you right away," he said as he hurried off. I turned back to where Flare, looking pleased, was... signing autographs? Autographs, for goddess' sake. I groaned and a filly ran up to me with a little colt. "Excuse me, Miss Luna. Can we hear the Royal Canterlot Voice?" Oh goddess. Anyone but children and I would have refused. "Oh, um, of course." I tapped my menu and began searching. ... ... ... There it was! Listed as an ability of course. I tapped it and spoke, "What dost thou think now?" Wow. Sounds a lot louder in person. The two foals smiled and said in unison, "Thanks Princess!" They scurried off. I looked over and Flare was looking at me, "Having fun?" In a very un-royal-like manner I stuck my tongue out at her as the NPC handed me the supplies, "Silence Sunbutt." I could feel her still grinning as I walked off.
Two days... We had been in the desert for two days and the weird visions kept coming. Slowly at first but then they kept getting worse as it got darker. Finally we found a safe location and laid down to sleep for a little while. I watched the moon come up slowly as if no one had programmed it, and it was being forced. All in all it was amazing. I laid down and as I watched the sky I felt the blackness over take me again...
Nightmare's POV
The little wimp had fought back but I managed to take her at last when she went to sleep. Her mind was far stronger than anticipated but I still managed to raise the moon. I stood up and found Celestia staring at me. "Midnight! What happened? Why have you-" she started. "Your pathetic little friend is gone!" I cackled. "No! Midnight's stronger than that!" I felt something stir inside me. Pushing it down, I spoke up. "HAHA! Your friend was nothing!" "HOW DARE YOU!" screamed Celestia. I focused on the spell I had been given by my dear friend, Discord, and fired. Celestia was enveloped in pure light, and then disappeared. Cackling I grabbed the other one, and teleported myself away. When the blue light vanished I stood in front of Discord. "Look at that! You took her! Well done, my friend, well done!" he clapped happily. "Where do you plan to put your base?" "Isn't it obvious? The moon of course," I said. "Don't tell the players, that'll be too easy." Discord nodded. "Of course, of course, ready for your BIG debute?" "Very well." Discord began to speak, "Hello, my little ponies. Good morning to you all. Just so you know, this is a nationwide broadcast, which means that every single player who is still alive can hear me. I have some very... er, 'breaking' news. "You see, out of the ten elements I've hidden, it seems that seven of them have been found. Now that we're entering the final three, I think some rule changes need to be taken into account. "Firstly, from this point forward in the game, only a certain group of players may enter the boss rooms and fight the boss. And by this 'certain group', I mean any team that already has at least one of the Elements of Harmony as a team member. Everyone else, the boss rooms are off limits, and the Elements of Harmony cannot add any more players into their own team, save for party members they once had in the past. "Secondly, ever since our game started, we all know that two areas of Equestria had been closed off from any players: The Badlands and the Crystal Empire. Well, that is no longer relevant. These areas are now open to all players... Though travelling through them will be even more dangerous than you think. I doubt that half of you who are still alive at this point could even set hoof towards either place without dying. Discord chuckled darkly, "Now, you might think that this all unfair, that I am purposefully changing the rules for my own personal gain. But I'm going to give you all a little something to help you with these new rules. I will show you my three, final champions to defend the elements." Chryssie stepped forward, "As you all know, this here is Queen Chrysalis of the changelings. She is the first of my champions. The element she's guarding will be hidden with her in the changeling hive, in the wilderness of the badlands. But getting there will only be half of the battle, and then, the Elements of Harmony will have to defeat her. After she is defeated and her Element is recovered, then my next champion will be waiting for you." Sombra, the idiot, stepped forward as well, "Say 'Hello' to King Sombra, my second champion, and in my opinion, the most underrated of this game's villans. Sure, he's not quite as good as me, but he can still be particularly nasty. His likes are stairs, crystals, and taking strolls in his dungeon. This tyrannical king will be waiting for you in the Crystal Empire, and it will be equally dangerous to reach it like the badlands. And after him..." Motioning me forward Discord began to speak, "We have the one, the only, Nightmare Moon. Princess of the Night, being of darkness, and my third champion. Though she is the final boss for you to defeat, she'd rather keep her current location a secret. Which means you'll have to find her on your own when the time comes. "Well, there you have it. Everything from here on out is free game. And whether you choose to obey the rules or not, that's up to you. Just know your lives are on the line, and mine isn't. Now, a quick word to the Elements of Harmony. "You better hurry up now. Little Queen Chrysy is waiting, and so is every other player in this game. The sooner you get to the badlands, the better for you. That is all, Arrivederci!" I watched as the Chaos Program closed the window. He stepped up to Chrysalis and said, "Off you go," and she vanished. I had a feeling she would be overly relaxed. I would not make that mistake. Sombra looked at the Draconequus as he spoke to him, "You next." Sombra vanished in dark crystals. "Alright Nightie, go have fun," he said, popping his claws. In the meantime a pink cloud floated past me. "Don't worry. I will."
Nightmare Moon wandered the empty halls. Not a sound. No voices. A listless quiet. She had accidentally let Aurora Sounds get away. The only sounds she heard were the sounds of her arguing with the person in her head.
What now? asked the other voice, Too quiet for the big baddie of the moon?
Not at all, she thought back. Normally they argued but with the absence of people they had both grown calmer. They had last argued not over anything major, but about what new decorations should be added. In fact, they had grown used to each other's company. More often than not they both controlled the body.
Midnight had grown to understand Nightmare Moon.
Nightmare had grown to love the person in her head. Last time she had been alone. Silence and dark.
It was during such a time that Nightmare began to sing.
A bright flash of light in the square interrupted his thoughts, and likewise blinded the oncoming monsters into a halted daze. Lexus glanced towards the center of the light, and to his relief, saw Flare Tingle standing there in all her Celestial (pun) glory. Lexus was glad to see the alicorn there to help, but a grin crept up at the corners of his mouth when he saw what was standing behind her.
Suffice to say, it was a small army, roughly about a hundred players, most of which were pegasi. They filled the square, both on the ground and hovering in the air, all completely armed and weapons drawn at the ready. Even though now their numbers were only half that of the monsters that had suddenly become aware of the absurd number of players who had suddenly appeared there, Lexus didn’t feel an ounce of fear. A small glance around to his teammates let him know they were relieved as well. None of them had seen an attacking force of this size on their side since the first few boss battles. Needless to say, this was a welcome change to their usual flow of fighting.
Lexus chuckled under his breath, “Heh, and to think this is only a third of all the players coming.”
Flare Tingle narrowed her eyes towards the swarms of monsters above, before raising her own weapon towards them and crying out to the army she brought, “ATTACK!”
With a roar of a hundred battle-cries, the army of pegasi took off to the skies, charging right for the swarm of monsters. Likewise, the nightmarish monsters resumed their descending flight, right towards the oncoming force. And with all the intensity of war, the two forces clashed against each other like thunder as the massive aerial battle broke out.
Instantly, the air was alive with the screeches of monsters, the sound of steel ripping through digital flesh, and any other sound that could be heard within a battlefield. But though the monsters outnumbered the army of players, they were outmatched.
Suddenly, as the battle took place over the near empty street, another flash of light illuminated the square. As soon as the light disappeared, MidnightDreams, the Princess Luna lookalike, stepped forward, the whole of the players from Manehatten following right behind her. They were all varied in race, equally pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns, numbering at least another hundred to the rallying force of the players.
Midnight drew in a deep breath, tilting her head up towards the air as she let loose the Royal Canterlot Voice, “SPREAD OUT AND KILL EVERY MONSTER THOU SEEST! WE MUST NOT LOSE OUR HOLD ON THIS SQUARE!”
With that, the hundreds of players scattered through the streets and through the air. Pegasi flew up to the battle above to help the Cloudsdale force, while a few unicorns and archers picked off the nightmare monsters from the ground. The rest who couldn’t take part in the aerial fight spread out to the outlying streets, only to meet other ground-bound monsters who had been drawn to the sound of the commotion.
The roar of battle literally shook the air above the square while Lexus and the other Elements of Harmony joined up with Midnight and Flare.
As they all approached, Midnight gave a bit of an amused expression, “Are We late?”
Violet chuckled back, “Heh heh, nope. Not a moment too soon either.”
The Lunar diarch in form nodded, “Good.” She glanced around, raising an eyebrow, “Where is Shadow?”
“He went ahead to the castle,” Neon answered, “But we got separated by the monsters.”
Sky huffed in bitterness, “I could have followed him, but there were way too monsters and we needed to protect this square for everyone to arrive without being swamped by these things.” He glanced around towards his team mates, “We need to reach Shadow as quickly as possible, before he gets killed by who-knows-what Discord is keeping in the castle.”
Flare nodded in understanding, “Yeah, you better go now. Midnight and I will take care these guys while you head to the castle. We’ll make sure the Ponyville players arrive safely.
With a nod, Sky took off, with the rest of the group tailing behind him. Although, Siren was the last to follow, after quickly telling Midnight and Flare, “Oh, and we have some friends coming on the airship. Tell them we went on ahead.”
“We will, now go!” Midnight shouted.
Midnight stepped forward and turned to address the players as the Elements raced off. "WELCOME PLAYERS TO THE FIGHT OF YOUR FREEDOM! IT IS TODAY WE TAKE BACK OUR WORLD, OUR LIVES, OUR BODIES!" Midnight raised her weapon to the air as the players cheered. "THE TIME HAS COME TO WIN! WHILE THE ELEMENTS TAKE DISCORD WE WILL TAKE BACK CANTERLOT! IT IS NOW THAT WE WILL RISE, NO LONGER THE DAMNED, NO LONGER OPRESSED, NO LONGER PRISONERS, WE. ARE. THE PLAYERS AND WE WILL WIN! CHARGE!"
Midnight charged, the players behind her racing forward as well. Upon reaching the edge of the square, she stopped. The elements bosses, all of them aside from Nightmare were gathered outside along with many of the sub-bosses.
Midnight turned to the nearest player, "Keep everyone back, I'll take out the bosses." He went wide-eyed but he nodded. With a loud, perhaps obnoxious battle cry, she launched herself into the fight. While she didn't take long to demolish the sub-bosses, she was quickly shocked by the arrival of...
Suffice to say, all the players froze as nine of the pervious bosses arrived in the square. Their battle cries were just as loud as Midnight's and she paled, as did the players. The mobs had already fallen, but it wasn't long before the battle rang out. Flare directed the majority towards Midnight but she shook her head.
Flare frowned and nodded, before she quickly directed the players to the other bosses and Midnight stood before the three bosses.
