MLP: Actualization Online

by Slendy

Story - [1 Month Later]

Its been over a month, maybe a few weeks more than that, since the very first raid was lead in MLP: Actualization Online. Ponyville's area Raid Lair. The Vault of Forestation. Twenty Seven players came to meet the doors of the dark, twisted maze, some encountering traps, whist others the Bosses that lingered within the walls. All party members had cleared it after only two hours, then came the final hurdle, the Raid Lair's Boss.

Twisted Angulation was a massive golem come to life by the forest around it, surrounded by platforms over a flammable substance, and only once the crafty player, White Hat, discovered its weaknesses, and ultimately found the substance to be flammable, was the Raid Team victorious over the Boss, with White Hat claiming the Key of Adventure, what such an item entailed was unknown, that is, until 'he' came before the members that had survived the Raid.

Harbinger, a creature of unknown origin swept the thrill of victory from under them all, disclosing information that he was in control of the world, and that any means of escape lead to death, including the three players that had died to the final boss, they never came back. His terms were simple, defeat the other Raid Bosses, claim their Relics, and find him, and if that party were to be successful, all surviving players could leave.

But, with the threat of death upon the loss of all your HP, the Pain Inhibitors turned low enough to feel real, and with the intelligence of A.I growing smarter with each victory, such dreams of freedom were dim. Even now, no one has found a Raid Lair, and slowly, people began to lose all sight of hope.

All, but the one who dared to threaten, Harbinger. White Hat.....

When I came down into the main open lobby of the inn, I saw that some player were sitting around, talking about quests or travelling to certain locations dotted around Ponyville, it was nice to hear people talking about stuff to do, instead of moping around, this game wasn't going to clear itself after-all, but that's not to say 'everyone' had to fight, fight, and fight some more. Seeing as two familiar ponies were standing by a wooden board, overlooking a bunch on in-game content to purchase. As it turns out, anyone who had in-game currency before-hand could still spend their currency if they wished.

"Umm, what are you guys doing?" I asked, pointing more at SilverCrow, who was drifting his hoof between two different flyers, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "Better question, what are 'YOU' doing, Silver?"

"Choosing.......Choooooosing....." Wow, one of the few times he didn't speak in a haiku. "My mind is blank/All paths are fair/Only one can remain." Nevermind

"Don't mind him, Miss Rain, he has been trying to debate upon which cosmetic to buy, both are the same price, and he can only afford the one, so he's been having me give him ideas as to why one may be suited better than the other." Klaw explained, shaking Silver's head back, and forth, but he didn't even break focus, causing Klaw to pinch the brim of his nose. "As you can see he's very into it."

"Hehehe, well, maybe he should get the one he thinks is right, go with your gut!" I claimed happily, seeing him nod slowly, then I looked back to Klaw, before I pointed to his armour. "Wasn't your gear vanity equipped too?"

"Why yes, so I may look, how do my friends say, 'Badass' than most of our level, but I am really only wearing normal gear under it all, I just so happened to have a deal at the time, and it would be wrong to not take such an offer." Klaw chuckled proudly, banging a fist against his broad, silver chest

"Another thing, why haven't you gone anywhere else yet? I just thought with someone as strong as you, and Silver, you two would be in Canternlot by now?" I was really curious as to why they were sticking around, since I knew the levels there start at around 30, but still....

"It has much to do with your friend, White Hat, we may have been the first to experience the toll of this Death Game, but he was one of the players known for his ingenious strategies, to how he stood up against such an imposing force too, not many can boast a claim like that, and as such, he has given me, and SilverCrow here the new directive, to aid all players who only wish to wait for players like him, and even you to beat this game of, Harbinger's design." Klaw elaborated, making me brush my leg against one another

"W-Well, I'm not as strong as White, he's the one who helped me from the beginning, he would be far better off with people like you two honestly." I admitted it was nice to see that he viewed me in such a way, but I wasn't as strong, not in this world, or....well

"Why that's preposterous!" Huh? I looked up at the now kneeling Klaw, as he placed a hand on my shoulder with a toothy grin. "I may not have spoken with him in a while, but from what he's claimed, he speaks highly of you, how you are the one to save him when he's in over his head, even now, you remind him that not everyday can be spent on the battlefield, just like me, and Silver have learned."

"He is a force of nature/But a will of thousands/A true friend to have." Silver added to Klaw's words, making me blush considerably, the fact he thought I was really all of that was something else entirely, I....well it was nice to hear him say that

"Sorry for embarrassing you, but on another note, how is White?" Klaw asked, making me snort lightly, rolling my eyes with a smirk

"Same old White, he's still running around like it was all just a bad dream, I know he knows this isn't a normal game anymore, but to him, I think its still just a new world to explore." I smiled at that, before I added. "He's currently out on a quest with Pinkie, seeing as she's basically a member of our team now."

"Isn't it strange how an A.I like her has become self-aware that she's in a digital world?" Klaw asked with a concerned look, and I won't lie, I had the same feeling upon learning about this, but then I chuckled nerviously

"Well, we came to understand that her 'Forth-Wall' ability had adapted with the A.I intelligence thing, and so she really just accepted that fact, but telling her friends...."

"Pinkie, that's crazy, what proof do you have that we are....A.I?" Twilight brushed off with a shake of her head, whist me, Seraph, and White sat by as the conversation fell to pieces. Then, Twilight pointed to us. "Did she bother you three with this nonsense, if so, I am sorry, this is really how Pinkie acts."

"Not a....problem, she, uhh....well she's alright." White rubbed the back of his head, blinking in a state of confusion, which was certainly new, since he would usually have some form of plan in mind. "Pinkie, we....yeah lets go."

"Wait, we haven't convinced her I'm not crazy!?" Pinkie cried, as Seraph picked her up in her magic, dragging her towards the door of the libary

"I think you've already passed that margin of sanity, Pinkie, just let it go...." White replied, opening the door, whist Pinkie dug her hooves into the floor, trying to stop the magic from pulling her through

"NOOOOooooo, Notice Meeeee~!?" Pinkie cried, leaving me to cover my bat-ears with my wings, trying to block out the crying. "I REFUSE TO BE A SIDE-CHARACTER!!!"

"You're not, you blood bellend!" White grumbled in his own state of irritation

"Yeah, it didn't end well." I sighed, then I smiled thoughtfully. "Other than that, she's on board to help us whenever she can, actually....I did hear White mention something about going back down into the Raid Lair, since they supposedly open new areas as the game progresses, that's if you two want in?"

"We might just take you up on that offer, given White is ready to do so." Klaw bowed respectfully, before we both jumped at the sound of a cash register, before we turned to Silver. He now wore a new black cloak, only now it was more torn at the bottom, with a skull badge connecting the cloak under his neck, he also had bandages wrapped around his front hooves

"I shall disappear/A ghost amidst the combat/Ready to strike." Silver dramatically threw a hoof in the air, blowing the cloak with it, whist me, and Klaw face-palmed/hoofed

"Now that was just lazy...." I groaned. "I may have only ever watched Borderlands 2 online, but even I've heard that line before. Lazy. Bad pony."

"I apologize." He slumped, before hugging his cloak. "Stupid/Annoying/Bat."

"Oh dear...." Klaw then took a step away from me, sitting down at the bar as I felt my eye twitch, along with my wings, before I bared one of my fangs at him, at this, Zer0-rip-off gulped, before he ran to my left, jumping over a table. "Quite the idiotic move, chap."

"Ooooh, so i'm a 'Stupid, annoying, bat' am I? Well...." I then opened my menu, before I pressed a button, adding a weapon to my secondary, with ease I grabbed the broadsword from my back, one of the edges being completely jagged, with a silver edge, whist the rest was a cherry red colour, with white cloth strapped across the hilt, pommel, and handle. "This 'Bat' has something to swing, wanna see~?"

His head shook, whist I felt an aura of fire burn across my body, making him sweat profusely.

"Now little pony, this my sting a bit."

My head slowly turned back for a moment, as I awaiting in the middle of a clearing, the eyes watched from beyond the treeline, before their silver coats jumped from the cover of the forest's shadows, my hoof on my blade.

"....Do you have the will to take a life?" He soon responded, turning fully to look at me, his tail swishing back and forth. "Do you, Key Barer?"

"No, I don't, but I'll feel pretty good after I kill you for what you've done." I swore simply, each word seeping with venom

"Hehehehehehehehahahahahaha......*exhale*....my name....is...."

"Harbinger." His voice growled like a feral, manic beast. "I look forward to seeing how your light shines when none can be found. White. Hat."

I smiled.

I flew off the rock, the wolves crashing into each other from the sudden movement, before I dropped atop one of their heads, swinging Parting Glass to my right, striking a Silverwolf in the back, I threw my body over its own, pulling the blade across, then I landed, spinning clockwise, lacerating the side of the Silverwolf, turning it to streams of colour. The one I landed on leapt through the colours, but I tilted the blade to my right, thrusting my body forward with my wings, slicing straight through the Silverwolf, its body crashing into the grass, spraying its silver, and green colours to the sky.

Turning back around, I watched as three more Silverwolves flew into the open field, gnashing their teeth at me, whist they stood in an arrow formation pointing to my left, which only proved my theory that not every monster was given a major intelligence boost, either that, or I was rather boastful of my power, can't blame me for being better than a bunch of wild mutts though.

I placed Parting Glass to my side, flying towards them at eye-level, my legs skimming the ground as I past the grass, before I leapt onto my hooves, allowing my blade to turn yellow.

I struck the Silverwolf in front first, striking its face with a diagonal slash to the bottom left, then a diagonal slash from that point to the right, trailing the blade over its neck, then I brought it down towards the left again in a diagonal slash, creating an 'S' mark, which threw the Silverwolf flying away. The second leapt at me, so I slid under its belly, quickly charging my blade blue this time.

I brought my blade towards my face, vertically, striking a line across the underbelly of the Silverwolf, followed by two rapid strikes from left, to right diagonally, then right to left diagonally, resembling a 'P' shape as I flew under it, the burst of colour blinding the final Silverwolf, the wolf sprinting through the dust I kicked up. So I planted my sword into the ground, swinging my body around and booting the Silverwolf with my back hooves, cracking its ribs as it yelped sharply. Then my blade glowed a dark green.

I rushed the Silverwolf, striking a horizontal line through its side, then I inverted my blade, crossing another line from right to left, then I inverted on last time, slashing another line from left to right, before I brought my blade down in a vertical arc, striking its neck, and embedding a green 'E' into its body. Then, it too turned to a stream of colours, silencing the air to the sound of my blade clicking into the scabbard.

"Wow, that was amazing! You were like 'BAM', 'POW', 'WHOOSH'- 'WHOOSH'!" Pinkie jumped from behind a tree, her golfclub strapped to her back with a gleeful smile, and a spring in her step

"How's your end go?" I asked, before I saw the several or so trees shattered from their stumps, whist Pinkie sheepishly rubbed her cheek, I could only blink bluntly. "Yo-You know, the quest was to 'Kill the Silverwolves', not 'Decimate half the landscape'!?"

"Woopsie! But I did complete it, see!?" She pointed to the tab opened on her own menu, as I saw my own appear

Quest Complete!

-New Apex-
The Silver Grove's apex has risen prior to your strength, track its pack down, and claim the title as the new apex.
[ ] Slay 20 Silverwolves
Optional [ ] Slay 1 Apex Silverwolf

The Silver Grove may be stronger, but you now rein over the masses, the new apex of this land!

"Finally, I guess reaching new ranks will be more difficult now than it was before the Raid....maybe I should go back to the Lair...?" I pondered, wondering if anyone else could join me, and Rain, Pinkie could use the EXP, but she was still lower than I'd like to consider 'safe'

"Hey, why not go to Canternlot, that place has lots of bad guys you could fight, right?" Pinkie bounced through my menu, just as I closed it to push her head back, her mane feeling like a cloud

"I would, but levels there start at 30, I'm still 8 below that, and Rain in a level lower than me." I explained the danger to her, even if it was a good idea before all of this, now, I didn't take those risks, hence why I haven't made my move for Canternlot, it would be great to do missions in, but the journey there had monsters of 30, and possibly higher in hiding, so would it be worth that risk?

"AHHHHHHHHHH~!!!"

"Aww, you hear that, Pinkie, its a momma Rhino giving birth..." Such great detail to this world. Moving past that, I walked beside Pinkie, whist she hopped with each step, making our way for Ponyville again. "I don't want to risk anyone's life to get there, not yet anyways."

"Then form a guild, silly!" !!!

"Wha?" I breathlessly gawked at her, as she landed on the other side of me, moving to stare directly into my glasses, her sea-blue eyes pressed to them with a wide smile. I did recoil, reddening slightly, before I cleared my throat. "The guild system was implemented?"

"Aye, sir! It was something I wanted to tell you, but you were being super serious fighting that Apex wolfie that I forgot, hehehe, but now I do, and it waasaaas~!" She happily exclaimed, before my frown slowly formed into a new found burst of energy in the form of a toothy grin, I tugged on my scarf, opening my menu as I worked in my notifications, pressing wildly with one hoof, my heart racing in my chest

"Oh, I also have a letter for you, it came from Twilight, saying she wanted to give this to you when you planned on going to Canternlot, so I guess now is a good time!" Pinkie bopped the scroll over from her muzzle, I quickly caught it in my hoof, before unraveling it to read. "It came today, so its suuuuuuuuper important!"

The sun was beginning to set upon Ponyville again, I could see the group of them beginning to approach me, Pinkie, and Twilight, who was sorting through a solid book with brass hinges, and a fortress on the cover, Twilght also looked ragged from trying to convince Pinkie not to go, it failed. When the sun turned the sky a beautiful orange hue, and the lanterns around the town came to life once more, I could view the group more clearly. There was Purplrain. Seraph. Klaw. SilverCrow, and one new person, and upon closer inspection, I saw their name.

He was another unicorn, with a white coat, and a short, smooth, cyan mane, with a stripe of dark blue, and light blue through the middle, his tail also ending in a few spikes. He wore leather armour, with curved tips of metal strapped to his shoulders, thighs, chest, back, with a helmet covering his face, but I could see the silver eyes through the holes across his mask. His...mark, was a simple shield with a sword across the buckler.

Seraph also wore a new short jacket, with a breastplate underneath her brown coat, which was from the Raid, seeing the lime green pattern across the sleeves, and up her legs, with two belts hanging from the zipper, it was a shorter version of Rain's, only Rain dyed hers to match her scheme of silver, ultramarine, and purple. Seraph also wore a blue bandana around her left eye.

"Eh, White, how'a been?" Seraph waved slyly, as I did the same, the others soon stood around me with equal expressions of curiosity, whist I heard Control Core Gamma hit me with my own beat, finally!

"Teammates. Friends. Old Raid Partners. Seraph." I greeted proudly

"Hey!" Ignoring Seraph I pressed my speech on

"Thanks to some information from my charming pink friend here, the news of two very important pieces of information have come to light, one of which being....Players have found the next Raid Lair." All of them shared my excitement, with some in surprise, and others smiling, then I added. "But, they have yet to gain access to it, even with a small guild running in Canternlot, none of them can open the door like we all did, and the Monarchs have sent letters to every figure across Equestria to spread the word for aid."

"So we know the location, but not the way to access the chamber, any idea as to why?" Klaw asked us all, but all shook their heads, before I opened my menu, entering my inventory, I brought out an old item from my storage, before us all, was my key, now a shimmering rainbow, then, I pointed it in the rough direction of Canternlot, and before us, the key hummed a brighter tone of the rainbow. "I see...."

"The key is the piece/You are the passage/What is next?" Silver asked me, as I placed the key back in my storage, I sighed, frowning slightly as I spoke after a short breath of silence

"We all know that over 100,000 players are gone now, murdered by Harbinger's Death Game, I won't pretend everything is still the same, that, I can't do to them, but I won't let others suffer when I know I can be stronger than Harbinger." I began slowly, stomping my hoof against the ground in frustration over those innocent deaths, in a fucking game!

"White...." The soft voice of Rain reached my ears, then I turned my head up, smiling, as painful as it could be, I needed to, and I glared with a fire in my eyes

"In this world, anyone can be strong, it isn't some hidden truth or unseen skill, I won't let anything stop me from doing what's right. I'm not going to die trying to free everyone from this game, because i'm going to live for them, so that their memories aren't forgotten like some distant smoke." I sighed, moving to stand before them all. "I'm going to make it back, we all are, together....and what better way to do that, then as a guild ourselves?"

At first, all of them seemed to be processing the information, taking in what I had told them. Then, Rain stepped forward, looking to stare at me with a curious azure gaze, then, she smiled warmly, as she placed a hoof on my shoulder.

"I'm your partner, so of course i'm with you on this, because....i'm as strong as you too!" I....I only blinked for a moment, seeing that look of determination was inspiring to say the least, so I watched her move to stand aside, letting Seraph hit me on the head

"Ow, seriously, one day you're gonna turn yellow!" I barked, before she patted my cheek, looking impressed

"Eh, new locations, more people to scam for information, and to give some too, could be fun." That was her answer, fair enough. Next was Klaw, he bowed at my gaze, bloody love this guy

"You truly are something, White, I can follow a man that will put the lives of those lost before his own." He replied simply

"Wait, what about your own guild?" I did remember him mentioning that, but he shurgged

"It means nothing when your key is worthless, yours however may be the one that can unlock this mystery, and I will be there to give you guidance, as is the job as an older generation." He proudly smirked, then Silver stopped beside me, only staring as he walked by, standing beside Rain, who whispered something to him, making the stallion blush under his hood

Last was the new guy, as he cleared his throat, I heard raspy voice speak through the mask.

"You saved me back in the Raid before, and you have your head screwed on better than most, so i'm with you too." Now, call me too observant, but that voice was a little higher than most, but hey, not everyone's voices can break so easily, with that in mind, I turned my attention to Twilight, who had finished writing the names down in her book, before she smiled happily

"Now then, all I need is a name, and all who are apart of your guild will be given a symbol on a part of the clothing by the runes inscribed in this book, Pinkie, are you sure you want to do this too, it might be dangerous?" Twilight looked to her friend, who was busy hugging my neck tighter, but she nodded anyways. "Ok, if you think its safe...."

"We'll keep her safe, Miss Sparkle, you have my word." Klaw reassured her, her gaze softened a little, now she awaited my answer. I had this idea for a while, not just because of the meaning it was given now, but how strange the people I know are, from their characteristics, to how they interact, and even our goals shaped this meaning, and, a friend told me long ago how important a name is to everyone

"Our name....I think I'll call us...."

To Be Continued.....

Update

Party:
White Hat - lvl 22 [Offensive class]
Purplrain - lvl 21 [Stealth class]
Pinkie Pie - lvl 17 [Defensive class]
Seraph - lvl 22 [Support class]
Klaw - lvl 22 [Pyromancer class]
SilverCrow - lvl 21 [Defensive class]
Noximillion - lvl 21 [Support class]

Current Level: 22
Magic: Sky/Air magic
Items: Silver Fur x5

New Skills
[Sword Skill - Sloth] - Carve the first letter of 'Sloth' with slow, heavy strikes, chance of inflicting slowness
[Sword Skill - Pride] - Carve the first letter of 'Pride' with quick cuts, chance of inflicting paralyze
[Sword Skill - Envy] - Carve the first letter of 'Envy' with venomous slashes, chance to inflict poison

New Attribute Added:

-The Eternal Flame-
You have made yourself a guild, when banded together, your magic is twice as strong! (Heart of The Guild)