Wild Ace was beyond excited that he had finally got his cutie mark, he couldn't help but to admire his flank. It suited him perfectly and he knew he was meant to be a gamer and nothing was going to get him down now. He ran right up through the double doors into the next level.
It still smelled like dirty old socks and well fish. Not a good fish smell either, it was very ominous that this was still the sewer he had just come through. He still wondered about the camp he had seen on his way in. Maybe it was his rest area, did that mean he could teleport back to it, whenever he wanted? Ah...where was the challenge? He knew he was only one level two but he was hoping to really challenge himself and he had to know just how many levels this tower had. He was hoping for one hundred, these kinds of things always had one hundred levels. He couldn't wait to explore them all. He looked around his surroundings. The area looked almost idcentical to the first, with square platforms that went around the room seperated by the ropes that dangled from the ceiling but the difference was they were further apart and there was no center island with a treasure chest, instead he saw a shadowy figure within the water. Probably that giant fish again. Pfft... He could so handle that. It wasn't even that scary. Besides who would be scared of a fish?
Suddenly the serpent reached it's head above the waters, starring down at the young colt, who's back went against the wall as it dove back under into the water again. He felt his heart racing a mile a second. He was glad no pony was here to see him panick. He swallowed a gulp of air, as a sweatdrop ran down his pores. Phew! That was a close call, that thing could have just grabbed him and pulled him into the water, but yet it just looked at him, and went back into the murky waters once more. He knew it was watching him, waiting for the perfect moment to eat him. Just the thought of being swallowed whole by a giant sea serpent was beyond frightening....it was terrifying but somehow he managed to gain his composure. He was Wild Ace, there was no way he was going to let a game scare him! Besides it was only level two, as long as he timed his jumps correctly, he'd breeze through this one just like he had the last. There was nothing to fear but fear itself. He couldn't remember which pony had said that, but he remembered it. He braced himself as he took a deep gulp, steadying his hooves atop the solid platform. He looked towards the second platform, judging with his eyesight how far of a distance it was from one to the other. It was a more complicated jump and it would be harder to use the ropes as a safety net, but easy enough for any gamer to do without even a second's thought. The only thing he was worried about was the most obvious problem. The fish had been a lot easier to avoid, because well it was a fish. It could only come so far out of the water, but this serpent was almost like a snake. It could reach out it's long neck, grab him by his tail and drag him down under and he didn't yet have a weapon to try fighting it with. He would have to look into that if he could find a shop in this crazy place. He couldn't afford to doubt himself now. He just had to get through this level and reach the save point near the end. It wasn't like this was complicated math....Though that might be easier than this.
Wild Ace took off running, aiming to grab the rope with his forehooves as he hit the end of the platform, pushing off the base as he leaped into the air. He could feel he had a good momentum going, as he felt his hoof wrap around the rope, as he held on tightly as it swung towards the other side, without even looking he knew the sea serpent would try to come up from underneath him, in an attempt to grab him mid jump. He was prepared for it though, as soon as he heard the water shift in motion, he knew he had to let go of the rope and jump for the other side of the platform. It was like life or death. Anything could happen, and if he failed here than what kind of gamer pony was he? He grabbed for the edge of the platform, holding onto it with his forehooves as he pulled himself up and over onto the next platform. With a sigh of relief he wiped the sweat from his mane. Phew! Man to think he was going to have to keep doing this until he got to the doors. The doors felt like they were worlds apart from where he was but he wasn't about to call it quits now.
He knew he had to take his time with each platform, not too long or else the serpent would catch him. Slowly he made his way towards the next platform. He used the same method as before, because it had worked. He was still cautious though. One by one he made his way across the level. He was building confidence and each time the serpent was right on his heels, but he was too smart to let himself get eaten. He had a lot to prove and he was going to show just what he was made of.
He got a bit cocky on the last jump though. All the other jumps had gone so well, he figured he'd try one without using the room. Sure it was a long jump about the length of four adult ponies but if he needed the rope he could always grab it midair. He wanted to see if he could pull off the jump without the handicap that the rope gave to him. He ran as fast as his little hooves would carry him as he leaped into the air, aiming for the last platform, which was a bigger than all of the previous platforms, he managed to grab the ledge by his forehooves but he was dangling off of the ledge. He quickly tried to climb up as he was struggling to brace himself against the wall. The sea serpent came up from the water and went to bite into his tail. It had only gotten a few strands and jolted him a bit but he managed to climb onto the platform as he fell onto his back exhausted. He took deep breaths...and laid on his back for a few minutes, before getting up to look at his tail. Oh that didn't look that bad but he knew he should've been more careful.
He could've lost more than just a few strands, he could've lost his tail or worse got caught by the sinister serpent of the water. He hurried over towards the save crystal to once again save his game. This wasn't so bad, though he knew it wasn't about to get easier. He walked through the double doors making his way into Level Three. He climbed up a huge flight of steps that felt like they were going on forever, though what surprised him was that he was finally out of the sewer. Phew. That place really stunk so it was nice to have a change of pace, but now he found himself on what appeared to be a giant checkerboard. He was on one of the white squares, and on each white square was a skeleton wielding a sword and shield. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he stepped on a black square. Nervously, he took a dice from his knapsack. He learned never to go any place without them, and put one onto the black square, and just like he had guessed it went right through it. The black squares couldn't be stepped on, and each white square had a skeleton on it, and here he was, with no weapon. He hadn't been expecting Level three to throw him such a curveball but he wasn't about to let it get to him either. He could do this, heck he had gotten his cutie mark in the thing he knew he had always been destined to do, play games. He just had to figure out a way to get the skeletons to move to the black squares. That would make this all the easier and they were skeletons so they weren't nearly as scary nor intimating as the sea serpent and being out of the sewers was definetly a nice change of pace. He couldn't help but wonder where the Cutie Marked Crusaders were right now and what they were up to.
He assumed they were looking for him, but this was quite the massive game world, he could be to Level 25 by the time they found him. Not that he cared really, it gave him more of a chance to test out his skills and limitations. Though he was hoping maybe he could impress Sweetie Belle, he knew she had this thing with another gamer...what was his name? Oh that's right Button Mash. But...well ever since he had first laid eyes on her, he had this huge crush, but he'd never tell her that. Never...he wasn't that kind of pony, but if he had a shot to be with her, he'd take it anyday...even if it meant he would have to give up his passion of gaming, he truly wanted her to see he had a soft side too. Wild Ace couldn't help it. He imagined Sweetie Belle on the other side of the skeletons and that a boss skeleton was holding her hostage, and suddenly it was like he had gained a new fire between his hooves. There was no way they were going to keep him at Level three now. With a huge smirk he began headbutting his way through one skeleton after the other, until he reached the other side, and pressed his hoof on the same crystal. Now he was ready for level four, and nothing could stop him now.
He heard a loud roar from far away and a bright smile pursed on his lips. “A dragon? Oh....” he had never actually seen a real dragon outside of well Spike...but he wasn't really a real dragon. Not like the ones in his games so he wondered if that might be his final boss. He definitely was going to need some weapons for that, and some protection but first he had to make it to the dragon before he could fight it. He wasn't sure what awaited him in Chapter five but he was ready to find out.
Wild Ace was sure that his parents were worried, and he understood why, but he wished they would understand him. It was like trying to tell Pinkie Pie not to throw parties, gaming was in his blood and nothing and he meant nothing was going to keep him from it. Wild Ace would return, it wasn't like this game would go on forever and besides this was all just a game, none of it was actually real. That was well...crazy right? Though he couldn't help but look at his tail as he reached Level Five. The strands of his tail that the sea serpent had taken, were still missing. A horrified look on his face, as he realized the save crystals weren't healing him....what had he gotten himself into now?
“Help me!!!!!!!” he shouted. Then remembering he was alone and suddenly wishing he would have never started this. He sat down on his flank, tears in his eyes. The game was real...that was supposed to be cool right? Then why did he feel so horrible?