//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Tutorial // Story: Open World: Level Up // by BioQuillFiction //------------------------------// I couldn't take it anymore. The insults, the rejection, the loneliness… My hooves hit the ground hard and fast. My vision was blurred as I let out my cries and sorrows to the moon. I'm Button Mash, and I'm a loser. Fourteen and no cutie mark, the filly of my dreams, or at least my crush since I was nine, rejected me for that dragon Spike. To make it all worse… it finally dawned on me that, aside from I had no friends. The others at school were more or less just talking to me because of school work. Those who talk to me after or before school just laugh at my lack of a cutie mark and push me around. I finally just stopped somewhere and let it fall out. Holding all this sadness in has been hard, and I don't want to worry mom with all my problems, she has enough to worry about. I wasn't sure how much time passed before I calmed down enough to give a sigh and think things over. "Stupid Tiara and her… ugh. Stupid Spike…. Damn it." I huffed.  Diamond Tiara was my bully for a long time growing up. She's nice and changed but still, the hurt is there from the past, but I can't hate her now. And I can't hate Spike just because Sweetie Belle fell for him. I've never even talked to him before but I've heard he's nice and considerate, so at least I know Sweetie will be cared for. I took a long deep breath and sighed. I needed this, to just vent out privately. I rubbed the red out of my eyes and looked around. Huh, where am… Growling echoed around me. My eyes went wide and pupils shrunk as soon several glowing green pairs of eyes were watching me from some nearby bushes. Timber wolves… crap, I ran into the Everfree! I jumped up, the wooden wolves slowly walking out, ready to chase me down as they matched my movements… I gulped, chuckled, and bolted. The living sticks barking as they chased me and trying to bite at my legs. How did I not realize I was running right into the Everfree?! I just had to run off to cry and vent, I couldn't just bottle it all up and let it fester til it turned into brain cancer and killed me like a normal pony. What? I developed a morbid sense of humor and way of looking at things as I got older, don't judge.  I yipped as one nearly bit my hind right leg. I responded with a still running buck to its chin and thankfully didn't fall down and kept moving. I made a rapid turn into the denser trees to lose them… and found myself falling down a small cliffside hill into the mud… well, at least I didn't break anything. I sat up and wiped the mud off my face and looked up at where I fell from. That's pretty steep. At least two stories. Well, it looks like the Timber wolves Don't wanna try their luck.  "And screw off you walking firewood." I huffed at them… why did that rock move? I got up and began walking backwards as one, two, five, nine… snakes? Nope, not snakes, heads. Heads with long necks! Oh fuck that's a baby Hydra… that would be kinda cool if it wasn't looking at me like a midnight snack… It roared at me and I was running again. Next time I get the idea to vent and cry, I'll just do it in my pillow like a filly who got her heart broken. I rushed myself through more trees and bushes, hopling the thicker foliage would hold them back. It at least seemed to slow them down. I, in my complete lack of perception, fell down another hillside cliff. Ouch… what the?  I blinked, swearing I just saw… numbers? In the dirt, a few spots where green numbers flashed along the ground. Just one and zero though, in rapid fast movements they ran along the dirt… then were gone? Ugh, I think I hit my head on this fall. I began my prior work of running for my life when the baby Hydra made itself known on the cliff above me and worked its way down. Thankfully, nearby was a whole thick and near maze of trees I ran into. Even for a baby Hydra it's still too big to squeeze through all these trees. I didn't stop till I ran into a much taller cliff wall largely made of rocks. I ran along the side of it for what felt like an hour til Finally finding a cave of sorts. The entrance was too small for that thing also. I entered the pitch black darkness, worried of anything in here… this is a dumb idea… "Hello?! Anything here wanna eat me?!" I yelled in… echo… dying echo… silence… more silence… and yay, nothing is in here. I sighed, finally sitting my flank down and letting my legs rest. Fuck they are sore. Earth Pony endurance my ass. Then again I've rarely ever been physical so, odds are it's still my own fault for being a weak earth pony. As I let myself rest I could hear this… faint echo, like running water. Is there a river in this cave? Shit I wish I could see cause I am so thirsty. Do I risk it? … well, if I'm gonna bunker down for a while at least having water would be nice. Slowly I began moving into the caves deeper areas. I felt around feeling only dirt and small rocks around my hooves before stepping. Each step was a mystery, even with my eyes a bit more adjusted to the dark it was too dark to properly see anything unless it was right in front of me. As I turned a corner into another area that water echo started to sound clearer and kinda… high pitched?  Must be moving fast or something? I shrugged and kept going, careful as I felt around another turn and blinked. I spotted a glow in the back of this chamber. A glowing almost dark neon green. Maybe some of those glowing plants they talked about in school, mushrooms or moss. Doubt I can eat it but light is light. The closer I got the louder that noise got. It began sounding a bit more like static from a TV than water. Finally I arrived as the source of the noise and saw… numbers. A glowing bunch of numbers running up and down along itself in a circle giving off that glow and noise. "Damn it." I cursed, hoping for water and got… whatever this is. Is this wild magic or something?  I sat down next to it, wondering what the heck to make of it other than a convenient light source. It has to be magic, or something like that. I sighed. Well, at least I can sorta see the cave better. Rocks, rocks, ground and ceiling rock spikes I can never remember the names of. Those are made from dripping water… right? I got up and thanked Celestia, a small pool of water formed between three close together ones and I drank the small bowel empty. Better, but still what is that… weird… magic. I backed up a bit, the small pool of strange green number magic got very big all of a sudden and kept growing. "Shit!" I yelled, trying to get around it but it already blocked the way I came from. It began covering the walls and such and I tried to stay out of it, the floor beneath me getting covered in that magic that showed nothing but one and zero. To my horror the ground began sinking, and then I fell into that magic, screaming. "Ugh… fuck…" I groaned from under my sheets, what a nightmare. Was so damn vivid. I got up, blinking as The sunlight hit my eyes. I swear Princess Celestia does that on purpose to ponies. Shaking my head as I got up I rubbed the tired out of my eyes and… "What?!" I yelled. I was in a fairly empty room. The only thing in it was the bed I'm on, a table with a vase and a small bunch of flowers in it, and a picture of some… weird looking… like a smaller minotaur, female, wearing a dress made of large leaves and… I think she's pregnant? Where the hell am I? I saw the door and got up to open it, peeking outside I saw a hallway where walking out from one room was… a dragon?!  She was dressed in a nun's attire, but pink and blue over black and white. She turned to look at me and… She has large yellow stilted eyes, orange/red scales, and something that looked like leathery hair along her forehead. "Wow, two in one day." She said, looking surprised as she closed the door. I gulped. "Uh… Hi." I said nervously. "Hello there." She said, sounding so nice and gave me a warm smile that calmed my nerves down. She walked over and kneeled down to me. Wow she was tall, a little over twice my height. "Did you just wake up here too?" "Yes. Yes! Wait, too? There are others?"  "Let's talk inside the room real quick." She said. The two of us went back inside the room and both took a seat on the bed. "So, what is your name?" "I'm Button Mash. And you are?" "I am Carla. Button, what is the last thing you remember before waking up here?" "I was… running. I had some monsters chasing me and took shelter in a cave. I thought I heard running water and left to find it and found this… glowing weird magic filled with ones and zeros. I turned around for a second and it suddenly became huge and… and I fell into it… am I… not in Equestria anymore? Did I get teleported to the Dragon Lands or something?" Carla looked at me, giving me a sad smile and held my hoof. "Button, this isn't even your world." "My… what?" "This is the church of The Mother. One of many, and people like you sometimes show up here from other worlds, other realities entirely. We call them Displaced, or Izikai." "Another… reality? Like a parallel universe or something?" This can't be real… that's… that's science fiction… then again Princess Twilight does have that mirror… "How do I get back home?" "I'm afraid there is no known way. Since this reality was made people like you have been showing up and not a single one has ever found their way back to their original reality, most settle in on this reality's version of their home." "This world's version?" "That is a long story. Do you want to hear it now or after you've had time to process this information?" "I… I think I wanna hear it now." "Well, this reality was once a massive co existing mix of parallel realities called Reflections or Realms. One day a great threat came to destroy it all. A family of the most powerful people in the realms combated this evil. United they matched this evil, but then they became one. One all powerful being called, The Mother." She motioned to the picture of that lady creature on the wall. "She defeated the evil and saved all realities, and then remade all the realms into what they are now. Infinite, ever expanding, ever exploring. Dangerous and safe, beautiful and terrifying. Perfectly in Harmony between good and evil." "That's… wow… and, where am I? Location wise?" "We are some miles outside the town of Coal Vien. It's a mining town." "Lemme guess, coal?" "Heh. Yes. Some iron and whatever else spawns in and-" "I'm sorry, Spawn? Like… in video games?" "Heh, that is a good comparison. You see, what makes this reality infinite isn't just the ever growing size, it's also the worlds themselves. Once a year on the first day of the new year things like mines, dungeon bosses and such all regain all the ores, items and such they had mined out over the year." "So… this reality is more or less a giant video game?" "Pretty close, yes." "Huh…" I said, thinking hard about that. "So… what happens to me now?" "Well, most Izikai after processing this information try to do something. Most go off to explore and adventure and others try and regain some sense of normalcy." "So do I have to go back to school?" "School? You were in school?" "Yeah. I'm fourteen." "Ah, I thought you looked a bit small. Well, in that case there is a place you can go to, finish school up and learn about this world and choose what you want to do." "What is it?" "The Caretakers Guild." "The… what?" "They're like a boarding school for Isikaied children like yourself. They train and teach you about all this world has to offer and when you graduate whether you want to adventure, travel or just love normally you'll be ready for it." "So… this school… guild thing has others like me? Other izikai kids? Well, guess I'll at least fit in then…" "I know it might not sound the best but they are the best option given your age. I promise they will take care of you, and you will have fun." "Yeah… okay then." I was surprised when it was another pony who picked me up for the Caretakers Guild. He was a Pegasus, all white with purple eyes and yellow mane. "Button Mash." He asked, looking me over. I nodded. "I am Echo Dash. Are you feeling well?" "I guess." I said. Honestly I felt… empty. Hollow actually. Same thing I guess. "Before I take you to the Caretakers Guild I am going to equip you with an Assistant." He said, his wife pulling out a white slip of paper with some symbol on it. "An… Assistant?" "It's a techno magical device everyone in this reality has. It makes life easier in every aspect. Do you primarily use your right or left hoof?" "Right." I said. I held up my left leg and he placed the paper along it, just above the joint to my hoof and I watched with wide eyes as it melted into my skin, leaving that mark on me almost like how a cutie mark would appear. "So what happens- woah!" New Registered User. Name: Button Mash. Race: Equestrian - Earth Pony Age: 14 Cutie Mark: N/A Those worlds appeared for a bit then we're replaced by a small line of hearts in the bottom left of my vision and a small map of where I was in the right bottom corner. Woah… "What is this thing? Why are their hearts and a map in my vision?" "Those hearts tell how healthy you are. Get sick or get hurt and they go down. They go all the way down and you'll either pass out or die. The map helps you navigate places. You can customize them or just remove them if you want." "Huh. I'll keep them for now. So… if I get hurt I'll know how close to dying I get to… good to know… I think?" "Yeah, dying sucks." "... Have you died before?" "Mostly when I was exploring and it wasn't fun. Never is." "... I'm sorry, what?" "Oh, she didn't tell you?" Echo Dash asked, looking over at Carla by the door way who shook her head. "Ah. Well, you see Button, there are only three things in all of this wide and vast reality that can actually kill us and keep us dead. Anything else we'll just wake back up in our beds, and if for some reason our beds aren't around then we wake up in a church like this one." "... So we respawn after dying?" "Yes." "... Cool." I said, genuinely surprised that I'm… pretty much immortal now. "That goes for me too right?" "Yes. All Izikai also gain our realities ability to respawn after dying and our longer lifespans." "Longer life spans?" "Yes. We can effectively live, well, forever. Once we stop growing physically we don't actually age or grow older unless we want to look older. Basically we can do whatever we please here Button." "...how old are you?" "2,083 years old." "... And are you also Izikai?" "Yes." "... Wow…" "Heh, and compared to some I am still basically a child." Echo Dash said with a laugh. "Well, come in then. The Caretakers Guild already has a room in one of the dorms for you." "R-right." I said, getting off the bed and walking over to Echo Dash. He did something on his Assistant and- "What the?!" I yelped and jumped. There was a flash of white and we were now in a hallway that looked… almost like Canterlot. "Did we… teleport?" "Yes." Echo said with a nod. "But… you're a Pegasus…" "I told you Button, we can do as we please here. Magic, is just the tip of the iceberg." "... Cool." I said in awe. "Come along." Echo said as I followed him down the hall. "We are in the Caretakers Guild, Equestria section. The familiar environment should help you adjust to life here and keep you comfortable. Your classes begin tomorrow and your roommate is waiting for you." "Huh. So, how often will I see you around?" "I'll check in with you two daily. I oversee the dorm you both are living in so fairly often. I am your appointed guardian while you live here." "Ah. And how many classes do I have? What kinds?" "Typically in a day you'll have three to five, ranging from the basics in mathematics, science, history, and of course magic, combat, and other optional classes." "Combat? I get magic but why combat?" "You'll learn soon enough. Your roommate will inform you on more, also here is your key." They held out a small chrome key with their wing that I took in my hoof. "So, what's my roommate like?" "Smart, talented, same as us, walks on four hooves and has been Izikai for about three years now." "Wow." "Yeah she's a trooper." "Wait, she?" "Yes." "I'm sharing a dorm with a girl?!" "You'll both have private rooms that are only sharing the livingroom and kitchen/dinning room. The doors to your bedrooms are enchanted so only you can enter yours and only she can enter her's and the shared rooms have cameras so we'll know if you two get up to some funny business." "Uh… that works, I guess."  There was a bit of science til we arrived at a room that shared a number with my key. Room 400. "I'll see you in the morning before classes start, alright?" "Uh, sure." "Your room has a few things you'll be needing, a weekly allowance, bags, books, cloths, ect." "Thank you." "Think nothing of it." With that said Echo teleported away. So neat. With a sigh I opened the door and walked inside… holy crap it's huge! The living room had a large fluffy looking couch, nice carpet rug, neat white wall paint and a massive tv with a flat screen! Is it plastic? How did they do that? "Hi?" I tensed up… that… that voice… I turned around, seeing a pink filly with a purple and white striped mane… Diamond Tiara?! She's my roommate?! No, no, calm down Button. This can't be the same Tiara. Carla said this reality was made up of multiverses… so that should mean she’s a doppelganger… no, that sounds like she’s a fake…  She’s a… something. “Hello?” She said, poking me with the feather of… Wait… I blinked. She has wings?! “Are you broken?” I shook my head. “Sorry, sorry, you just… Your name isn’t Diamond Tiara, is it?” She nodded. “Yeah. I guess you knew a version of me from your world too then huh? Lots of the others here all say the me from their worlds was mean or a bitch or… worse. Same for you I take it?” “She was, but she changed. She’s nice, just, still would freeze up when she was around is all.” “Yeesh… She hurt you bad then huh?” “Heh, only emotionally.” “Oh… Well… So, any questions?” “Well, have you… died and respawned before?” “Once. Combat class got a little too intense and I woke up in my bad an hour later.” “Oh. Is there like a penalty for dying?” “No, just an hour or two missing and the old body to clean up.” “Old… body?” “Well they don’t just up and vanish. If you wanna get rid of it you just tap the spot where your Assistant was and poof, gone.” “And it has to be… who previously owned it?” “Yup.” “Gross.” “Yup.” “Can you use magic?” She raised a hoof, a small ball of fire appearing in it I just stared at. “Fire, Ice, Terra and Electronium.” “So cool… How do I do that?” “Various ways, easiest is to absorb Elemental gems like I did and most everyone does. Instant means of learning basic spells and such. You can read books and such and practice them. There are a lot of ways.” She said, the fire poofing out.  “What will my classes be like?” “Fairly basic. For this reality at least. Math and all that is so much more advanced, most Izikai like us are all only studying what we can understand and only a few try and learn the more advanced stuff.” “Ah. So, where is my room?” “Oh, left hall on the right.” “Cool. So we cook our own meals then?” “Heh. Come one.” Diamond Tiara said. Confused I walked over with her to the stove in the kitchen. Wow this place is neat. She gave me a smile as she tapped this… screen? Yeah, a screen on the stove and clicked an image of what looked like a Haybruger and frise… And I watched as potatoes, hay, pots, pans and oil all began floating about and- “The kitchen cooks by itself?!” “Yup. I still sometimes watch it cook with no one there. So cool.” “I’ll say.”  “Now then, anything else?” “How… did you move on.” I finally said, looking at the floor now. “When you…” “I didn’t.” She said, putting a hoof to my chest and I looked up at her. She had a smile on, but tears fell from her eyes. “I miss them all the time. I was going to be a big sister… and now I’ll never know if I had a little brother or little sister. I’ll never see mom and dad get older, never get to work in dad’s store… It hurts to think about it, to remember but all in all, I keep hope. Someday, maybe something will happen and I can see them again, and if that day comes be it going back or them arriving here, I wanna be someone, somepony they can really see did something amazing with their life and have so many stories to tell them.” I did something in that moment I have never done before. I hugged Diamond Tiara. She returned it. She isn’t like the Tiara I know. Nothing at all, the one I knew became better through understanding and a second chance. She’s been through hardships I’m experiencing and working to live with it. After a bit we broke the hug, she cleaned off tears with her eyes with her wings. “Heh, good thing I don’t believe in make up.” And it’s official, this is SO not the Tiara I know. “So, I guess you’ll wanna check your room. I’ll be here watching TV.” “Heh, sure. I’ll be out in a bit with more questions.” I said with a nod and headed towards where my room was. I felt… better. Everypony, wait… everyone? Yeah, Everyone here knows what I’m going through, they all have been there. They understand. The door on the right. Here it is, my room. Hope it’s as good as the rest of this place has been so far. I opened the door and… HOLY FUCK! This room is the size of my house! Two stories? Couch, tv, bathroom, study table, bed… wow. I looked over the small amount of things on my bed on the second floor. Saddle bags, brand new textbooks, pencils, notebooks, a dagger, a… what? “Why the fuck is there a dagger here?!” I asked/yelled while picking it up. It was built to be gripped in the teeth but it also stuck to my hoof pretty well while holding it… Combat classes… Okay, now I’m worried. I put the dagger aside and put all the school supplies into my saddle bags and noticed a fair sized pouch. Opening it showed hundreds of small… pebbles? They were weird and all had strange marks on them. “Okay, that’s two questions for Tiara then.” I said, putting the saddle bags at the foot of the bed and put the pouch on my back and headed back out. In the living room I saw Tiara setting up plates with the hayburgers and fries.  “Back already?” She asked. “Yeah, uh, question, why was there a dagger with my school supplies?” “Combat class. It’s the basic weapon they give for it but you can get your own. Just as long as you don’t go starting fights the guild lets you carry them on you.” “I figured. And this bag of pebbles?” I asked, shaking the bag on my back a bit. “Oh, that’s Rem. It’s the money in this reality. Basically think of it like this, one Rem is equivalent to one bit back on Equestria. So, we get a weekly allowance of five hundred rem a week.” “Five hundred a week? Is that a lot here, cause back home that is a lot.” “It’s less than minimum wage here but it’s more than enough for personal expenses and such.” “Oh. Cool. So put this in my saddle bags then?” “Or in your Assistant, that’s safer.” I looked at the small imprint on my leg. “How?” “Tap it.” Confused, I sat down, using one hoof to tap the imprint and Woah! A gowing… display thing popped out in front of me. Little square bubbles were here and there. “Woah… what is this?” “You’re menu. Heh, here, this will take a bit but it’s easy once you know what is what.” Tiara spent the next few hours teaching me about the Assistant. How to customize my hud, store rem inside it for safekeeping, how buying things work, how to work the tv. Almost everything is done with this thing imprinted on my leg. The best part was when she told me I can buy and play games on it. “So cool…” “I know right, I still don’t think I’ve learned everything it can do.” Tiara said with a nod as we finished off our dinner. “Oh, and the most important feature.” She tapped a few things on my display, downloading an app that was a red squarish oval with a sideways triangle on it. “Youtube.” “What’s a Youtube?” I asked. “It’s like TV but anyone can upload their own videos and make their own movies and shows and such.” “Oh. Neat!” “Trust me, especially in studying, this is a life saver. I owe so many B’s and C’s for tests I forgot to study for thanks to the videos on that app.” “Cool. So, what will my classes be?” “Odds are same as mine. That’s typically how the guild likes to run things. Dorm mates also take the same classes unless they are older or younger than one another but typically they are good at keeping them all in the same age range.” “Oh, so you’re fourteen too?” “Yup! So that means for the mornings we’ll have history, followed by math, science, Study Hall, Magic and Combat class at the end of the day.” “How bad is Combat class?” “Depends on who you are paired with to spar. You’re new so most likely you’ll be fighting some low level monster.” “They have us fight each other and monsters?” “Yup.” “Wow… this place is nuts.” “Trust me, it only gets worse the longer you live here.” Tiara said, giving a laugh to my sigh. “You get used to it but at the same time, you don’t.” “That’s gonna be a headache.” I sighed. The little clock I now had in my hud told me it was already 10:34. “What time do classes start tomorrow?” “Ten. Oh, I see.” She said, likely seeing the time in her own hud also. Heh, that’s just neat. “Guess we better get to bed.” “Yeah. Thanks for telling me how to set an alarm.” “Heh, just remember to tap your assistant to turn it off otherwise that nose won’t stop.” With that she took the plates and placed them in the sink, pushing a button on the faucet and… magic dishwashing! “I know.” “So chores are basically non existent here. Not too bad.” I said with a laugh as I got up. “Night then Tiara.” “Night Button.” Tiara said as we both headed to bed. Once inside my room I went up to my bed and climbed up onto it… so much happened in so little time. It’s been just a day and already it feels like it should have been longer… I sighed, tapping my Assistant and bringing up Youtube. Might as well see- Holy shit a whole section of nothing but video games?! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! My brain! I jumped, falling out of bed with an oof and a thud and finishing that off with a groan as I tapped my assistant. Note to self, ask Tiara how to lower the damn volume on this thing… Ugh, so tired. So many games, not enough time to watch them all, so many subscriptions to those funny people. I got up, turning my neck as it popped and the short jolt of pain then relief woke me up a bit. I went to the bathroom, thankfully there are towles here and I was able to take a quick shower. Guess I’ll have to buy my own soap soon since the bottles they give are pretty small. Once out I began drying off. Yay, free toothbrush and toothpaste too. I cleaned off the fog from the mirror and began to brush my teeth… then dropped my toothbrush as I saw my teeth. My teeth are different?! The front ones were a lot thinner, I had four smaller sharp ones like a dog’s and the rest behind the sharp ones looked normal. What the? “Why are my teeth like this?” I poked a sharp looking one with a hoof, they were sharp. Nothing that can draw blood by touch but with a hard bite… After brushing my apparent new teeth I headed out with my bags, packed with my supplies and the dagger and saw Tiara at the dining table, eating some waffles. “Morning.” “Morning… So why do I have new teeth?” “I was wondering if you’d notice that.” She said, swallowing her food then giving me a tooth filled smile. Woah! Her too! “It’s part of the changes. On top of being able to respawn, aging til an adult then basically staying the same physical age forever or until we change it, we also get omnivore teeth.” “So… we can eat meat?” “Don’t have to but we can now and it won’t bother us.” “Huh… maybe not soon…” “It’s not bad, once you get over the initial fear the taste is pretty good.” “...huh…” I thought for a while after that, eating breakfast and finishing it of my licking the syrup on the plate. “So, when should we leave for class?” “They start at ten. We’ll be auto teleported there til then.” I looked at my clock. 9:04. “So, anything else you wanna know about?” “Yeah. I was up late watching Youtube,” “Everyone’s addiction.” “And there was this one guy who kept talking about in game abilities being nothing like the real world ones? So what are abilities exactly?” “Abilities, perhaps some of the most important things to know about whether you explore and adventure or not. Abilities do everything from give you powers you can use to boosting things about yourself, like your speed, strength, ect.” “Huh. How many are there?” “Nobody knows. The Family makes new ones and variations of existing ones all the time and that just makes things more interesting and confusing at times.” “Cool, do you have any?” “Two. Scan, it’s one of the first abilities you can get once you gain your first skill points, and Projectile feathers.” She then flapped her wings and I looked at the floor and some of her pink feathers were in the ground.  “That is amazing.” “There’s all kinds and what you can unlock first all depends on how you use your skill points to improve yourself, or completely change yourself. All up to you.” “Neat. And Skill points unlock them? How do I get them?” “Damn near any way possible. You can fight and earth them in dungeons, complete challenges ranging from easy for a few to super complicated and specific for a bunch, join a guild and complete their guild affiliated goals and they give you some as rewards among other stuff. The Caretakers guild here even gives them out for things like good team work, good behaviour, good grades, ect.” “Cool. You can’t buy them then huh?” “You can but they are two trillion rem each.” “Excuse me what?” “While yes you can earn a lot doing the work for them to sell one for all that labor, even just one is like just handing someone over a free pass for less work. So they sell for a ton of money.” “You ever sold one?” “Heck no! I’m working towards unlocking a new ability that takes three skill points and I only have one.” “Oh. So what ability are you working towards?” “Minor Self Healing. Basically little bits of damage I get will heal itself over a few minutes. Bigger wounds will take hours. Self healing abilities are a good investment.” “Well, guess when I get some Skill Points I should invest in Abilities like that.” “Go with Scan first, it tells you how much health your opponent has. It’s a mandatory first ability.” “Okay then. So, any super epic abilities that everyone wants?” “Tons. Generation, Copy Cat, Amplify, Transfer, Foresight, Loop, Analyze. That’s just a few of the Legendary class abilities.” “Huh. What do they do?” “Well, Generation lets you create and generate power of the different energies you can acquire. Magic, Void, Nothingness, Balance, Fire, Water, ect. It lets you generate as much as your body can hold and the stronger you get, the more of the energies you can hold. Copy Cat is the one that if you have it, you just win at life. All you need to do is see someone use their ability and you have that ability for yourself.” “That’s pretty overpowered.” “Hence why it’s a Legendary ability. Amplify makes the energy you have naturally more potent. Boosting its power and potential as if you had more in the tanks to pour in. Transfer actually les you take abilities from one person and keep or give them to other people. You just need to touch them to make it work. Foresight is really cool. While in combat if you use it, you can catch glimpses of your opponents moves before they act, giving you an edge in combat. Loop is a lot like Generation. So long as you have one other person to use it with, Loop will cycle all your energies together and between you two, boosting their power and amount by nearly double or more each loop. Hence the name. Analyze lets you look at anything, machines mostly, and instantly understand everything about it from how it works to how to build and take them apart.” “So if I had that I could just immediately know everything the books have in them?” Tiara laughed. “Yeah, but that’s not the best use for a legendary ability.” “No way, it’s the best way to use it!” I declared jokingly.   “And IF you ever get it you can use it that way. But that’s a big IF. Legendary abilities aren’t unlocked like the rest, they are received either as level five dungeon prizes or as a prize in the Grandmaster’s Arena, or just appear to you randomly sometimes.” “They can appear randomly? Why?” “No one knows. Some think it’s the Family, watching us and helping us when they think we need it. Others think it’s some unknown requirement to receive it. It’s all just guess work.” “Huh. What about The Family? You mentioned them before?” “Remember the Family of heros that merged to create The Mother?” I nodded. “That family.” “Oh. That makes sense. So they rule this reality then?” “Not sure if Rule is the right word, more like oversee it. The guilds were all founded to help manage various things here and there from big to small so, yeah. No real kings or queens. Some people worship The Mother and The Family like gods, they are way more than that, but you know, it’s up to if you want to.” “Huh. So are we allowed… off campus?” “We are, so long as it’s after the school hours and if it gets to ten at night we are auto teleported back. Safety measures and all that.” “Teleporting is useful huh.” “So useful.” She said with a nod. “Still have about forty minutes to kill. Wanna watch TV?” “What’s on?” “Better question is what isn’t on.” Tiara said as she flew up and onto the couch. I quickly made my way over and sat down. She held up her Assistant to the TV, a beam shooting out from it to the TV as a remote made of light appeared, floating under her hoof.  “Woah…” “Yeah.” She said, the TV turning on as she flipped through channels. She stopped on what looked like a cartoon from home… no, not a cartoon… Comic. “Is that Power Ponies?” I asked, surprised. “Yeah. They were a comic that got a TV show back on my world.” “Wow. Back home it was still just a Comic. TV’s were still fairly new, mostly just showed news and a few cartoons. Nothing like Power Ponies. Even so I mostly stayed at home playing or at the arcade.” “Neat, what did you play?” “Mr and Mrs Packmare, Space Invaders, Diskus Hunt and Dance Dance.” “Dance Dance, seriously?” “Hey, that game gave me some of the best reaction times and hoof eye coordination ever. I am eighty percent sure that game is how I got a perfect score on Diskus Hunt’s pro shooter mode.” “Heh, I’ve only ever played Frogger. But arriving here I played a few others over the years. Mostly just time killer games like Temple Run and Fallout Stable/Shelter.” “Stable/Shelter?” “They’re the same game but, ya know, multiverses all merged into one reality so.” “Ah, Right. So, think maybe you can show me around after school?” “Sure. Around town then I take it?” “Yeah… Decorate my room and such.” “You can buy some from the Assistant, but yeah.” “You’ll have to show me how.” I said with a laugh.  We watched the show til I blinked and we were in class. The room was pretty normal looking I suppose. “Dang it. Always at the good part.” Tiara sighed as she took out her books. I looked around. This did look like a history class. Tiara and I were in a row with about three other empty desks. Behind and in front of us were other rows of desks filled with others. Some ponies, some other races, some races I didn’t know the names to. Looking over I saw the teacher. He was a pony… I think. He stood on two legs and looked kinga like how the minotaur look, but not at buff at all.  I just shrugged and too my books and notebooks out as well as a pen. "Now class," The teacher started. "We have a new commer to the Guild, Button Mash. So to help them catch up will will be doing a quick review of the semesters lessons. Those of you who want to listen to refresh your memory and notes can follow along, if you don't then please try not to make any noise." He stated simply. "My name is Reference Point, but you can call me Me. Point." With that Mr. Point began the review.  Majority of this stuff I already knew, but there was more details to it now. Names like Cript, King, Eclipsa, Max, John, The Foretellers and other major members of the family and what they did in the war. After that it was mostly talk about all the different worlds colonized across the stars, which is so damn awesome, and the places of significance between them. Huh, so I was on a different world when I arrived and when Echo Dash picked me up we teleported all the way to the first world of this reality. Homeworld. The largest and most populated. Which makes sense. Next up was Math and thankfully it was stuff I knew from back home so it wasn't that difficult at all.  Science was neat. Rather than just writing out formulas for chemical equations we got to watch the teacher bring a dead frog back to life using various chemicals. Study hall was calm, just all of us in a room reviewing notes. Those who weren't reviewing notes got an early start on homework or were killing time doing whatever. Finally, this is a class I have been waiting for, Magic. I sat eagerly but turned to Tiara when she gave my side a poke. "So, before she gets here you know who Twilight Sparkle is right?" "Yeah. She became Princess of Equestria back home. Wait, is she our teacher?!" "Yes but it's a reflection of her." I raised a brow. "It's what we call parallel version of others." I nodded. So that's the term. "This Twilight Sparkle is actually part of The Family." My eyes shot up. "Yeah. Married to Cript himself and sister to Eclipsa of Grey. She's insanely powerful." "Then why is she teaching magic here and not at some advanced school?" "Cause she wants to. Just letting you know beforehand." "Hand?" "Hoof, hand, eh. Same meaning." She shrugged. A short time later the teacher entered. She was definitely Twilight Sparkle. Not the princess from back home, more like the librarian turned Alicorn back when I was a foal. Bit taller I think. "Good evening class. I understand we have a new student here." She then looked at me. "Button. Welcome to the class and to our world." "Uh, thanks." I said sheepishly. "Now then, since you are new you'll need some spells to get started." Her horn lit up and on my desk suddenly appeared two things. A scroll and a glowing light blue gem. "That's a Mana gem, it will let give you a starting amount of Mana to use for spells, more than what you can grow on your own and the scroll holds a basic telekinesis spell. It will come in very useful. Tiara, as his roommate please help Button learn to utilize the spell. Everyone else please turn to page 56 of your textbooks and study the matrix diagrams." Everyone did as told and Tiara turned to face me. "So, ready?" She asked. "Yeah." I said with a smile and a nod, looking the gem over. "So, how does it work?" "Take it in your fetlock and squeeze it. Once you have you'll see some text in your hud asking if you wanna absorb it. Select yes." I did that, Squeezing the gem and blinking as the text appeared. New Elemental Gem Detected. Mana Gem. Absorb into DNA for use? Yes? No? "How do I select yes?" I asked. "Just focus on it for a bit." I did just that and after a bit the yes button glowed and the gem melted in my grip and flowed inside my coat and skin. That felt weird. Mana Gem Absorbed. Current Mana usage: 50MP. Recharge time when used is 2 hours. "It self recharges my Mana?"  "Yup. Now for the scroll. Just open it if you'd please." Inside just that and once I did the scroll lifted itself out of my hooves and proofed in a puff of smoke and was gone. New Spell Learned: Telekinesis "That… that's it? Thought I had to read it." "I don't really get it either but that's how it is. Now then, Telekinesis hardly used any mana to use. Maybe one MP a minute at most. So, basically you just gotta focus on an object and imagine holding it with your hoof or even fetlock and moving it that way. Try with your pencil." I nodded, looking at my pencil and trying to imagine holding it in my teeth or in my fetlock and hey it worked! I blinked and smiled as it flew around, writing my name on the paper like how I'd write with it in my teeth. "This is easier than I expected. How come there's no aura around it though?" "You're not a unicorn. Ones magic manifests on objects and in spells differently." "Heh, well guess I don't have to deal with chewed up, spit covered pencils anymore." "It was a blessing when I realized that too. So, typically you can only lift what you can physically hold, so don't go trying to lift up boulders and houses." The rest of class I learned about spell Matrixes and the basics of that. Ways if keeping an object enchanted or to use the matrix to boost a spell I cast with ambient mama in the air or soil. Finally, it was Combat class. It felt a lot more like Gym class. I had my dagger on my back and Tiara had… "The fuck is that?" I asked her. Tiara looked back at her weapon, it was a long metal thing strapped to a weird looking saddle she wore that linked a little lever it has to a bite grip the saddle placed just in front of her mouth. "An M1918 Browning automatic rifle. It's a machine gun. Do they not have guns on your Equestria?" I shook my head. "Hmm. Cannons?" I nodded. "It's a more compact cannon that shoots more than once and way faster." "Woah…" "Attention!" The teacher said, making everyone stand up straight. I followed suit. The teacher here wasn't a pony. In fact I am pretty sure he's… what did Tiara say he was… Anthro? No, Human… yes, yeah that was it, Human. He had a light caramel skin color with black sunglasses over his eyes and a very short amount of hair on his head. "I was told we have a new student. Up front newbie!" I jumped, stepping forward. "Name?" "Button Mash." "Alright Mash, I'm MR. Collins. You ever been in a fight?" "No." "Ever take self defense classes?" "No." "Ever get bullied by the older kids and fight back?" "Just emotionally and no." "Jesus Christ kid you sound sad. Well today that all changes! Into the arena!" He noticed I was looking at him confused while everyone else was taking steps back behind some lines in the floor. "Just stand there and wait alright?" I nodded as he left to the outside line to and over to a wall screen he taped his Assistant to. The floor I was on immediately began going down a ways til it was about thirty feet below with the rest of this floor. "Alright then, I'm gonna summon in a basic Shadow Creature for you to fight." Mr. Collins said from above. "Shadow what?" I questioned as in a puff of dark mist appeared a small dark purple creature with bug like antenna atop it's head. It had no visible mouth and body looked like a bad child's drawing with thin legs and arms ending in some claws. It looked at me with bright glowing white eyes. "The fuck…?" "This is a basic Shadow Creature. A very common monster to appear outside the safe zones. They can also appear inside the safe zones but only under certain events. One alone isn't much of a threat, they aren't too smart either. Your assignment for class here is to kill it." "Uh, alright?" I gulped, using telekinesis to place the dagger's grip in my mouth as I walked up to the twitching thing. I tried kicking it with a leg and it dodged- "Ouch!" I winced, the thing swiped it's arm, cutting me. It wasn't deep but was deep enough to bleed. Now I was a bit pissed as I swung with the dagger, the thing jumped on my head and I moved frantically to shake it off, feeling it slice at my head. "Fucking get off!" "Use your magic Button!" I heard Tiara yell out. Magic? All I know is… oh! I cast Telekinesis on the small monster, getting it off my head and just to be safe I spun it around and then swung with the dagger. The small thing was cut in half, splashing silver liquid all around the floor that quickly evaporated. About seven rem fell from where its body melted. I pocketed that. The floor came back up, Mr. Collins was clapping. "Good job. Better than most their first fight with a shadow. Tiara, take him to the nurses office for a quick fix." Tiara flew up next to me and walked me down the halls. "Not bad. Better than mine." "How so?" I asked with a smile. The cuts stung but, oddly, I felt great. "I just flew above it, trying to drop the dagger in it." She said with a laugh. "That was bad." I laughed too. "That does sound bad. This ever get easier?" "Only if you work hard." Tiara said with a sigh. "Helps if you have a goal." "Huh… what's your goal?" "Hmm… been here three years and never really had a goal in mind." "Really?" "Yeah. Sight see maybe but all in all I never had a goal in mind." "Huh…" I said. I wonder, what could my goal be? Back home I only ever wanted the high scores on all the arcade games. Had most of them. "Hey Tiara, is there like a leader board thing?" "Hm? Well, sorta yeah. A list of the strongest people in all the guilds and such. Strongest right now in reality is Jericho the Undead. Why?" I looked at the floor, smiling a bit. Why not. "I'm gonna beat his high score." "You… want to be number one strongest in reality?" "Sure. Even if it's just for a little while." "Huh… you know, with Injuries you got from one Shadow Creature, you'll need a medic to heal you up." "You… wanna be my medic?" "The path to unlocking self healing abilities also branches into other healing spells and the likes. Might as well. Not like I have any plans for myself." She laughed. "Sounds like it could be fun." "Thanks, Tiara." And like that, I had a goal. A goal, and a friend.