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// chapter 2: Level One 
// Story: Magic and Games. 
// by Nailah 
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Wild Ace was a young colt, a bit younger then the Cutie Mark Crusaders and more than excited then ever that he'd finally found a way to live out his fantasy. He was actually in the game! Whew! He still wasn't sure how to get back but at this point he didn't care. He was a light teal pony with green and white mane and tail. He stood just a bit taller than Applebloom, he would be big when he grew up but right now he wasn't concerned about any of that. He had found a way into the game, with a huge smirk on his face he dashed off into the first cave he found. His deep green hues scanned the area ahead of him.

The first thing he noticed was the foul odor that he began to smell as soon as he entered the cave. He could also see and hear running water all around him. Suddenly he began to realize where he was, this was a sewer! This really was just like one of his games and the best part was no one could tell him it was just a waste of time. He did appreciate that the Cutie Marked Crusaders wanted to help him but as far as he was concerned if his talent wasn't with gaming in some way then he didn't care. He just wanted to be able to have a good time and truly enjoy himself. He wasn't wearing much armor because he had decided a long time ago he wanted to be a ninja. After all you could be anything in a game, he had heavily debated on taking the path of a warrior but that was just so typical! He couldn't do the ordinary thing, he truly wanted to stand out. He had daggers on him and even a shuriken in his belt. His face was partly covered by a mask he wore to help him blend into the shadows.

“This place really stinks! It's as bad or if not worse than my dad's socks when he takes them off after work. Few, I've got to find my way to the next level.” he spoke to himself. He almost wished he would've had a team but then again he didn't think this was even possible until now. He was beyond thrilled. He couldn't help but notice tents around him and there was a huge circular platform where he was now standing on. He put his first hooves forward and began to make his way towards the stairs that led up to two large double doors. There was a spinning blue crystal right next to the door, and having experience from many games he knew it was a save crystal. Of course he tapped it and saved his progress, though having to contain from jumping up and down in sheer joy that he was in his game! Oh my gosh this is SO awesome.

Though he couldn't help but take a moment to pause and think of his parents, especially his mother. She was probably worried sick over him. He suddenly wished he had left them a note before coming here and now that he was here he wasn't sure how he'd get back when he wanted to go if he ever did want to go back. Why should he go back? Every pony laughed at him, calling him a nerd and thinking he was stupid for believing in these sorts of things. He did love his mother and father but he thought perhaps it might be best for the both of them if he just stayed here in his fantasy, where no pony could hurt him...a single tear ran down his cheeks as he went through the two double doors to enter Level One. He had no clue what was through this door but he knew one thing, he'd have three lives and ways of earning more if he made enough of the bonus challenges. It was just like a game, the only difference was this was real, this wasn't just a game. He could really die here but that just made him all the more excited for a brand new adventure.

He began to look around, immediately taking notice of a treasure chest locked up on a platform surrounded by the horrible smelling sewer water. Great...seemed like there was no getting away from it. He was on a square platform, and he glanced around the room. It wasn't that much bigger than the previous room. Though the main difference was this room was pretty much flooded with sewer water. There were square platforms spread a good distance apart that even a Pegasi might not be able to make the jump without actually flying to get over to the next one. He looked up and there was a rope hanging down from the ceiling and there was a rope for each square that led to another double set of doors. He couldn't help but wonder how to get to the treasure chest though. There was no rope to get out to it, but he had a feeling that the key to the doors was in that chest. He would have to think carefully before making any sudden movements. Then he saw a shadow in the water. His eyes widened at the size of the shadow. That had to be a very very large fish...or worse.

He was an Earth Pony so well flying over there was out of the option and he couldn't really use magic either. His greatest strength was his mind, he was rather resourceful despite what pony's thought of him. He had to run, it was the only way to make it to that platform and even at a running jump he might still end up in the water but he didn't have any other choice he would have to risk it if he wanted to proceed to the next level. He wasn't about to give up now, not at Level one. How pathetic would that be if he allowed Level one to defeat him?

He steadied himself and took a deep gulp of breath as he lowered his head, like a ram would as his hooves ran as fast as they could as he leaped up into the air and reached for the ledge and as he jumped, the monster in the lake jumped up as well, attempting to grab him in mid air, he was lucky that it's sharp teeth just missed his tail as he caught onto the ledge and stumbled up to where the treasure chest was, a huge grin spread on his face as he turned around to stick his tongue out towards the monster in a childish manner. He then turned his attention back to the prize at hand. He opened it and just as he thought, the key was in there and not just that but bits as well. They seemed to really sparkle as he would pack them into his bag that he had on his hips. He would have to find a place to store stuff, perhaps the game had an inventory as well and he knew he'd be able to carry a certain amount before having to find a merchant to sell it off to and gain even more bits for his efforts. He then made his way back across it was a lot easier back then it was getting there the first time. Now he just had to literally be like a monkey and swing from rope to rope. He grabbed the first rope in his hooves and swung across and even time he swung across the monster would attempt to grab him, which was why he knew if he missed the rope when he jumped to grab it, the fish monster would swallow him whole and he would have to start all over. There was no way, this was way too simple for it to beat him. He had studied years of many different games, he'd been playing games ever since his little hooves could get to the controller and he cared more about his games then just about anything and there was no way Level one was even a glimpse of a challenge in his eyes. Though he was quite excited to see what else this little cave had to offer, as he could easily tell this just wasn't a cave, it was almost like a tower just from the way it was constructed with every new level leading upstairs to the next and so on and so forth. With a grin on his face and a heart full of courage he went onto Level two, ready for whatever challenges this game would bring forth and he would solve all of them no matter how simple or how complex. After all that's what his real talent was. Without even being aware of it in the moment he gained his cutie mark, it looked like a dice with twenty sides with two percentage dice beside it, when he glanced to see what it was, he couldn't help but jump in the air and shout.

“Woo!!! I knew it! I knew this was my destiny.” he smiled towards himself, he couldn't wait to tell the CMC about this.