//------------------------------// // Extras - [Cold Outside] // Story: MLP: Actualization Online // by Slendy //------------------------------// [System Reboot....] [Data Restored] [Username: White Hat] [Beginning Playback] December 24th, 2026, Yeah....days turned months, funny how you can spend so long not worrying about what waits for you at the end of the weekend, when almost all your time is spent around good company, family, and the adventures you take, whether they're big or small, each moment spent in them is worth treasuring, took me this long to truly grasp that, and I'm glad I did, cause, if it were any sooner, I might not have learned anything, perhaps longer would only make the message bitter too, sorry, I'm rambling again. Its all due to the time of year, Christmas, or in My Little Pony's terms, 'Hearthswarming', and I was in a bind. I had collected gifts for my friends across the days of winter and glimmer. For Klaw I got him a white-scale scarf to match his purple scales, made it look like Natsu's too. Nox would dawn herself a silver ribbon with flakes of ice-blue across it for her mane, as without her mask on, her mane always got caught in her eyes, so I procured her a stylish, but not girly, ribbon. Silver was tricky, but to mess with him, I acquired a Vault Hunter pendant, made it myself. Pinkie was....stranger, if you can call a fourth dimensional breaker 'stranger' than that, then sure. It wasn't much, given how little I know of her interests, so I managed to get her a replica of a purple lightsaber, given how she can levitate, read minds, and so on, thought it would be appropriate to make her a Jedi, Gambit sure got a laugh out of it, given how he's still laughing beside me. Seraph was easy, lots of sweets, much like Gambit, both had a crippling weakness to the sugary delights both I and Pinkie procured, and both intelligent beings fell from grace. Now came my problem.... "Gambit, what can I get for Rain?" My question was far more noted by how I was shooting glances to the city below my hooves, noting how the city was aglow with pure illumination of colour, reds, greens, and blues twinkled across the town, interlaced with gold, purple, and silver. Trees rose high to point the way with golden stars to cast light on the dark night, as the trickle of snow descended from afar Piles of snow dotted the area, coating homes with a soft, white blanket, some white projectiles were thrown, and laughter was sprung into the cool night air, songs and dancing was easy to see and hear from the roof me and the Gambler Nightmare sat on, said Nightmare drinking away with that same, massive jack o' lantern grin, his yellow eyes curled up with bliss. "You waited until the night before, and they say 'I'M' unorganized, bah! Bah I say!" He waved with a bottle coiled around his black claws, his hand tilting the contents back and forth within the glass, whist I merely hugged the scarf I wore tightly to my muzzle, my worried gaze to the streets. I never meant to wait so long, its just....every gift I wanted to get her, it....didn't feel right. "Still, this fear and despair leaking off you's baaaaad stuff, keep it up." "Why did I ask for your help again?" I replied with a scowl at both him and myself, before rolling them back to the streets below us "Because, you wanted a gift to surpass your 'failed' attempts, thinking my emporium had the item you require, correct?" I made a small nod, yet his answer made my heart sink like ice. "But that ain't possible." Gambit had me in crossroads, constantly cryptic due to his 'dealing system', but how he phrased that was different then last time, I did turn to look at his smug grin, but he looked....nostalgic, his eyes kept themselves to the city below, whist he seemed to play with his cards, and for the tiniest of flicks I caught the look of a girl, and himself, and several others I couldn't place the looks of. "If I'm to be straight with you, I've been around for a looooooooooooooooong, time, so I'm ol - ahem, 'mature'." Did that strike a nerve? I didn't say anything though. "But, someone once told me that time spent in another's company can be just as thoughtful as a meaningless gift, just sitting there, talking, about....anything really, can be so much more, sadly I....I didn't take that to heart at the time." I didn't know how to respond, given that Gambit looked just as conflicted as me, for this strange moment, I saw myself, broken, misplaced among others that had personalities, skills, dreams, I had none, outside of this world I wasn't anything that could be seen as anything more than pity. "I had people once, those that saw something in me....a redeemable quality of sorts, they trained me, taught me new things, showed me a world with colour...." Gambit looked to me with his usual grin, his eyes narrowed cunningly at my conflicted one. "I know what you are, Cayde." I winced at my real name, I didn't question how he knew it since I felt my hooves touch the ground, my head snapping up to the building where I saw him shuffling his cards again. "Don't waste insignificant times on questions, go on and see." In a flicker of light from the blinking red and green, Gambit's image was gone under yellow and blue, my eyes left to reflect the blinking lights for a moment, whist the cold snow under me felt numb, I've been spending too long out here. I should go home.... "Why are you hugging me?" I asked, not really understanding what she was doing, not that I minded her doing so "Its my way of saying thank you, for everything. Being my friend when this all began, my partner through this Death Game, all of it, thank you." I stopped walking through the streets, almost running into a few players and NPC's as I did, but they didn't pay much mind to my sudden stop, lag was still a cancer, even in this world, does help duplicate if CCG didn't patch it a week ago, atleast my savings were back. Though, more to the point, that sudden memory wasn't expected, sure I was thinking of Rain, but why that moment in particular? "So, it seems people aren't so easy to read, huh?" Nox snorted, seeing Morana sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. But Nox persisted. "Maybe now you should see that we aren't all so easy to understand, I know that better than anyone, and look what happened to me, even with my fears of how my friends would react clouding my head, they still treat me the same, that, I could never have predicted." Ack! I quickly placed my wing on the side of a wall, carefully shaking my head again, was this Gambit's doing? If so, fuck off from my mind! But if it wasn't, than why now? Why the sudden relapse of memories? These two were always encompassing a message, I think that's why they were so specific, or am I just losing touch with my senses again? Could be, given that I am in a hospital, many players did suffer from random spurs of weakness, but how did my memories play a part in that? When I clicked it, a new item had appeared on my own screen, leaving me to face Yuuki one last time, as she saluted with a wink. "Till round two! But here's a little advice from someone like me, if you lose, just go home, and get back up tomorrow! Bye~!" Then, Yuuki was gone, her final words ratting in my head for a few seconds "Woah~!" I heard someone yelp at my sudden dazed trance, all I managed to see was light grey, followed by two hooves pressed to my chestplate, helping to raise me back to a stable stance, ok, I'm not particularly a fan of tonight. "W-White? Are you ok?" Huh? Oh great, the game did it again When I raised my head again, noting the hoof on my shoulder keeping me straight, I met Rain's golden eyes again, plastered with worry over my own safety. All these messages....they were connected with what Gambit said, maybe its the reason for why I'm picturing these memories, all three were so small, say for Yuuki's, but he told me to hold onto them, not to question them, maybe....that's why I'm thinking of them, because, despite how small or passive they were at the time, I did learn from them. Rain was glad to be my friend, and I was too, so....I learned that being with those I cared for made me feel happier. Nox's was about acceptance, despite the fear of rejection, and that, if you find those who can see you for you, then you truly are never alone. Yuuki's....to learn how bitter life is, and find the courage to seek out something worth living for. Happiness. Acceptance. Courage. "I'm....I'm fine, thank you, Rain." I bowed me head honestly, my breath catching back to me quickly, meanwhile Rain continued to look at me with concern over my well-being, that did make me smile "You nearly fell flat on your face, you looked exhausted, what did you do?" Straight to the point, and yet I chuckled hopelessly at that, how I didn't see the real reason before made me feel like an idiot. "Ok, now I'm really worried." "Its fine, I just....had alot on my mind, sorry." I smiled calmly, moving my hoof to rest atop hers, which still rested on my shoulder. "I think I came to a realization." Rain didn't know what to think of me, guess that was fair, since I reached over to wrap my hoof around the back of her neck, pulling her into my arm softly, my head pressed to the side of hers, and I immediately saw her body stiffen, her wings jolting suddenly. "U-umm, what's with the hug? Not t-that I'm complaining?" Rain shakily asked me "Nothing, just wanted to hug my best friend on Christmas Eve." I happily replied with a little more emotion laced in my tone, my heart happily dancing faster over my sudden change of tune. "Hey, Rain?" "Hmm?" She hummed softly, her hoof hanging around my neck too "Want to head out somewhere? Just us too like we did months ago?" I asked her without a skip or note of hesitation "Wait-wait....you mean like...a-a date?" Well, I guess that's kind-of like a date, though I just wanted to treat her to something nice, given how much of a moody asshole I am, and I had bits to melt "Hey, you said it, I didn't. But yeah, a date, if such a lovely girl would be kind to take me up on my offer?" Ok brain, now I have no idea what drug Gambit used on us, but if we see him again, thank him with a box of cupcakes Note Taken Rain then pulled back, facing me directly with a radiant look on her face, her eyes glowing cheerfully, whist a smile pulled at her muzzle, it was actually kind-of cute, ahem, moving on. Rain then cleared her throat, stifling a laugh and her trying her best to keep her red cheeks from showing, my poker face working overtime for myself, then, she held her hoof out to me. "I would gladly." Hehehe, posh accent doesn't suit her "So long as you don't try any old English, we'll save alot of players' lives." I laughed, making her pout, even to the point her hoof kicked snow at me "'ANYWAYS'! Where are we going?" That look she gave me was trying to decipher my gaze, yet I was just going through the motions, this newly acquired energy of mine had me on overdrive, and I was threatening to burn through it all, but.... "Well, there's no rush, so I thought we'd spend the night wandering around Canternlot until we find somewhere, just....take our time for once." I replied evenly, and for a moment Rain looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read, she looked neutral, yet her eyes burned with something like joy or determination, probably the former "Who are you, and where's White?" Did....did Rain just use my own quip against me? I'm impressed, but I did let a coy look reach me, for fun of course "Oh? So you're saying you miss my old-self already, I'm touched?" I messed with her, and it worked to perfection, seeing the therstral fumble with a red glow stuck to her face, whist she avoided making eye-contact with me for a second, snorting when her gaze met mine again "I, that's not what....you.....grr...." Rain growled at me? Hehehehe....HAHAHAHAHAHA. My laughter quickly brought out one in her, as she tried to keep her composure. Yet I felt her reach out a wing to press against my chest, stopping me at the edge of the path, when I noticed her head tilted up, I turned to see what caused her to freeze up, to my relaxation, I too found myself staring around the world before us A tree stood tall in the center of a small, open park, no stalls blocked the image, and many viewers of the tree stood like us, on the four sides that surrounded the evergreen tree. Its branches held bobbles of midnight blue and honey yellow, with silver and gold tinsel to dance between like waves of treasure. Lights hung between them all, heart red, light blue, emerald green, fire yellow, all blinking or fading with the night. From several sections on the tree, lights hung like webbing from corners of houses, joining the plethora of colorful streets. Yet it was here, in this calmed fragment of the kingdom, did I really feel what Gambit meant, I didn't question it, nor did I want to, I....was ok, standing here, and with Rain too. Next thing she did caught me off guard, her side rested against my own, her leathery wing wrapping around my back to keep her steady, whist her head rested against mine, and I instantly smelt lavender from her mane, and my face quickly turned red at the sudden way she connected to me, and this feeling....it was there again, battering my ribs....how did she do that? "Ok then....lets....just enjoy tonight then." Rain whispered to me, and I happily obliged, leading us both away from the star-striking sight and into the busy streets of the Green Zone, with a happily humming Thestral attached to my hip, and to my surprise, the snow didn't feel cold against my hooves anymore. I felt warmer. To Be Continued.... Update Party: White Hat - lvl 45 [Offensive class] Purplrain - lvl 40 [Stealth class] Gambit - lvl ??? [Vendor]