//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Game On // by Golden Flare //------------------------------// As Hit Point awakened, he noticed that he was in the school clinic laying on one of the beds. Good evening! Your HP and MP have been fully restored! With a sigh, he lies back down and says, "Status Window." Hit Point «The Gamer» Title: N/A LV 10 HP: 690/690 MP: 350/350 (MP Regen: 1%) STR: 13 DEX: 14 INT: 13 VIT: 13 WIS: 13 LUK: 13 STAT POINTS: 35 EXP: 20500 NEXT LV: 7500 CASH: $300.00 Hit decided to add some of his newly acquired stat points to some of his stats, and this was the result. Hit Point «The Gamer» Title: N/A LV 10 HP: 900/900 MP: 500/500 (MP Regen: 1%) STR: 20 DEX: 14 INT: 18 VIT: 20 WIS: 14 LUK: 18 STAT POINTS: 10 EXP: 20500 NEXT LV: 7500 CASH: $300.00 He also decided not to add the new title he got, he didn't want to insult Sunset after everything she went through tonight. "Wait...what time is it?" Not long after he said that, the nurse walked in to check on him and noticed he was awake, "Oh! You're up." "Yeah, I guess I am." The nurse stepped outside, but Hit could hear her say, "He's awake girls, come on in." The girls, minus Twilight, walked in and stared at Hit with glares and their arms crossed. Hit knew why they looked so angry, Oh boy. I knew this was coming. Applejack was the one who spoke first, "Explain. Now." Hit sighed, "Alright, but keep in mind, this is new to me too." Hit explained everything that he knew about what was going on with him, which, truthfully, wasn't very much, he even explained that he was meeting someone in the morning who knows more than him, "...And that's all I know." The girls seemed to be in deep thought, until Rainbow spoke up, "Well...compared to what we've seen earlier tonight, it isn't entirely hard to believe." So it's still nighttime then. Hit thought, then spoke, "By the way, where's Twilight?" They all looked at each other, then back to Hit when Rarity spoke next, "Twilight...left." "Left? Left where?" "Back to Equestria." Fluttershy answered. "Oh..." Hit looked down, "I see..." "But she wanted us to tell you she said 'good-bye'." Pinkie tried to cheer him up. Hit allowed a ghost of a smile, despite [Gamer's Mind], "Well, at least she thought of me." he then realized something, "But what about the Fall Formal? And Sunset Shimmer?" "Over." Pinkie said, sad that another party has ended. "And she's busy repairing the damage she made to the school." Applejack added. "Ouch." Hit said. "Twilight told us to look out for Sunset while she's gone." Fluttershy said. "...Good." "Why so worried about her all of a sudden?" Rainbow questioned, "You hated her, just like everyone else, why the change in attitude?" Hit sighed once again, "I guess you could say that I'm a bleeding heart and a firm believer in second chances." They all smiled, "Glad you think so, darling." Rarity said. Hit smiled back, then got up off the bed, "Well, I guess I'd better head home, school's tomorrow, after all." Hit proceeded to head out the side entrance, since the front entrance was closed off due to repairs, and head on home, but not before sending a pitying glance at Sunset as she was helping the dunderhead duo fix the damage they caused, he felt bad for what happened, but knew it had to be done. As Hit finally made it back home and laid in his own bed, he wondered what became of his darker half... A Few Hours Earlier... A girl with puffy orange, yellow streaked hair ran out of the fast food joint to see the flash of light that appeared from a distance with two others slowly joining her; one with a ponytail and one with long pigtails. After she had seen it, a shimmer came from the ruby on her necklace, making her gasp. "Did you feel that?" she then bared a malicious smirk, "Do you know what that is?" The other two thought and muttered, "I don't know", making the supposed leader deadpan and grip the pigtailed girl. "It's Equestrian magic!" she said. "But this world doesn't HAVE Equestrian magic." the pigtailed girl replied in a bored manner. "It does now," the leader turned back to where the light came from, "and we're going to use to make everyone in this pathetic little world adore us!" The other two joined her side with devious smiles, anxious to gain more power. "Really? Is that all you care about?" They jumped and turned to their right to see a dark boy with pitch black wings land before them. "Who are you?!" the leader demanded to know. "I am Dark Point." "Dark...Point?" the ponytailed girl asked, confused. The boy scowled, "I'll explain later. I can take you to where that magic is coming from." The ponytailed girl gasped loudly, "For realizes?!" The leader stepped in, "What's the catch?" The boy smirked, "Straight to the point, I like that." he then got serious again, "All I ask is that you bide your time, prepare yourselves for what's to come, and approach the situation carefully." The pigtailed girl spoke up, "Okay, but what do YOU want out of this?" "Let's just say that...I and somebody else have a score to settle." "That's it?" the leader asked. "That's it." She smiled again, "Fine by me." Dark Point grinned internally, knowing that he'll have the honor of snuffing out Hit Point once and for all, and becoming the original. But first things first, he had to prepare, and wait, and plan his next move... Several Weeks Later... Things have gotten better at CHS since the Fall Formal: people are beginning to trust each other a little more, new friendships are forged, and, begrudgingly, every student in the school openly despises Sunset Shimmer for everything she's done, if it wasn't for the girls and Hit Point, she would've most likely been attacked in retaliation for what happened. Right after the Fall Formal, the principals called Hit into their office and presented him with a book that was found in the crater made by the harmony tornado, and when he grabbed it, a screen appeared. You have acquired the skill book, [Fire Magic Mastery]. Learn this skill now? [Accept] [Decline] He didn't waste any time and pressed [Accept]. The book disintegrated and the knowledge within deposited itself in Hit's mind. Once the process was done, another screen appeared. [Fire Magic Mastery (Active) LV 1 EXP 0.00%] Allows The Gamer to use fire magic through certain spells. The power of the spell depends on this skill's level and The Gamer's INT. Spells learned: Fire Orb Not long after that, Sweetie Drops, alias Bon-Bon, explained everything she could about the laws of Gaia and the world of the Abyss. It was scary nonetheless, but Hit's [Gamer's Mind] skill prevented him from properly freaking out. Now, everyone in the school were prepping for the Musical Showcase event coming up to help raise money for the school, even Hit, who normally stays out of stuff like this. Meanwhile, Sunset was trying, and failing, to assist some people with their band posters, but they flat out refused her help, not letting her prove that she's truly changed. After her epic fails, she was called over by Pinkie and walked over to the girls and Hit, all while the students were openly whispering cruel things about her. "I didn't think the entire school would be here." Sunset said, gloomy. Hit placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't let get them to you," he then openly called out through the entire gym, "EVERYBODY HERE ARE JUST ACTING LIKE A BUNCH OF SORE LOSERS!" Some had the gall to look undignified by Hit's choice of words. "YEAH! YOU BETTER HAVE THAT LOOK! MAKES YOU ALL LOOK EVEN LAMER!" Just after that, the principals walked and some of the students tried to tell them what Hit said to them all, but he pretended to have a halo over his head and the Rainbooms simply said, "we didn't hear a thing". The principals then began their announcements, then ended them with mention of the Fall Formal, making the whole school glare at Sunset and her curling in on herself. When the principals weren't looking, Hit flipped them all off and pretended to scratch his crotch in front of them with a scowl on his face, but when they tried to tell the principals, Hit just stopped and looked like he was helping the Rainbooms, angering Principal Celestia. "One more outburst, and you'll all be banned from the showcase!" The students looked scared as Celestia turned away with Hit holding up a sign that said, "SCORE ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS!" making the students growl at him. Later... "Ugh, I am never gonna live that down!" Sunset moaned. Hit just ignored the rest of their conversation, he didn't feel like he had a part to play in it anyway, "Inventory." As the screen came up, he immediately noticed the lack of a certain weapon he had that was now sitting in there as a Material Item. I gotta get another weapon to replace my last one, and I seriously doubt another baseball bat is gonna help me in the future...hmm...what about a sword? It sounds like a good idea in theory, but where would I get one? "Sunset Shimmer, please report to the Main Foyer." Vice Principal Luna's voice boomed over the loudspeaker. Sunset began to leave, mentioning something about being a tour guide for some new students and to help them get to know the new her. Hit sighed and closed out his window, knowing he had to play bodyguard again, and followed her. "Hi! Are you the new girls I'm supposed to show around?" Sunset asked. Three girls stepped out of the shadows and Hit had to admit, while their entrance was creepy, they were quite attractive, "We are." the girl with the abnormally large hair answered. Hit took this time to go over their overhead names. «Self-proclaimed Leader of the Sirens» LV 32 Adagio Dazzle «Selfish Brute» LV 29 Aria Blaze «Almost Harmless Ditz» LV 25 Sonata Dusk Hit immediately became suspicious of these girls, it's clear that was more to them than meets the eye, and not just because of their levels. "Canterlot High is such a great place, I'm sure you'll like it here." Sunset said as she began to lead them. "Oh yes, we do sense there's something, magical about this place." Adagio said, cryptically. Hit briefly turned his head to glance at them, "Hmm..." "Hey," Sonata whispered to her leader, "doesn't he look just like--OOF!" she was elbowed in the gut by Aria before she could finish her sentence. Sunset started listing off the classes the school had as they walked past them, all while Hit kept his suspicions to himself. I don't know who exactly these girls are, but I just can't help but get the feeling that something isn't right here... "A musical showcase?" Adagio's voice roused Hit from his thoughts. Sunset said something in response to that, but Hit was focused on how the new girls would react. "We have been known to sing from time to time." Aria said, smugly. "Hello! We sing, like, all the time! It's how we get people to do what we want!" Sonata corrected. Wait, what did she just say?! Hit thought. Adagio made a cutting motion across her neck, telling her cohort to cut it out. "Wh-What did I say?" Sonata asked, clearly not realizing what she had just said. "What you MEANT to say is that a musical showcase is a great way to get to know the students better." Adagio said, trying to dodge any suspicion. A little late for that now, you've got suspicious written all over you, ladies. Hit thought. "Oh, yeah," Sonata began, "what she said is what I meant to say, that's what I meant...to say." she concluded with a big smile. "Oi..." Hit pinched the bridge of his nose. Geez, and I thought the students we already had were circus freaks! Aria and Sonata looked like they were arguing about something, but Adagio interrupted, "You'll have to excuse them, they're idiots." Sunset just stared at them weirdly, until she noticed their ruby choker necklaces, "Those are pretty." she reached out towards Adagio's, "Where did you--" But Adagio herself wasn't having it, and gripped her wrist before she could even lay a finger on the gem, making Hit tense up, ready for a fight, she realized what she did and let go, laughing nervously, "Sorry! As you can see, these pendants are important to us, we'd hate for anything to happen to them." The new girls walked off, except Sonata, who was grabbed and pulled away, leaving Sunset to her thoughts. "Figure it out yet?" Hit asked her. "Huh?" Sunset uttered, confused. He sighed, "Guess not. They can't hide their true intentions from me, remember?" "Wait...you mean..." "Yeah. They're DEFINITELY NOT ordinary. If I see them again, I'll use my [Observe] skill and figure the rest out later. Right now, let's head to lunch, we gotta let the others know what's going on, and I'm hungry." With that, Sunset nodded and the two continued on to the cafeteria to inform the girls of this latest development, not noticing the suspicious trio peeking out from behind the corner, obviously spying on them.