//------------------------------// // The do over // Story: Moondance Game // by BattleCat311 //------------------------------// “Urgh, why does everything feel Wrong?” Moon Dancer groaned as she woke up from her ordeal. Her head pounding and her whole body experiencing sourness. It had not been pleasant and after the first minute, she had hated taking such a life-altering decision so hastily. What was she thinking? Absorbing a piece of the primordial essence of the cosmos like that? She was lucky she was even alive, game body or no. With her luck, she would have turned into an alicorn and go into hiding. Or worse. She could have exploded. In the back of her mind, she vowed never to do something so stupid again. Seeing that she was still faced down on the ground with her eyes facing a particularly muddy patch of dirt she lifted herself off with her hands to et off the cold ground. Strangely it was a lot easier than normal to lift herself. There was a new sense of lightness and grace to her movements that made moving feel a lot more relaxing. “Well, I suppose that absorbing the magic of a foultale icon like that would make me stronger in some ways.” She stretched out her arms and body feeling a satisfactory pop as her bones aligned back into place. She looked down at herself with wide eyes and an open mouth as she realized her whole body was different. Other than the colors her whole body was unrecognizable. But oh, sweet Celestia was she different now. She stood at least a foot taller off the ground. Her biceps were like canons and her forearms might as well be rope. Her belly once toned but nothing special was now a solid pack of muscles that moved and wriggled as she twisted. Not only were her abs standing out but the muscles around her were also feeling and looking powerful. A glance down at her legs showed off more high-powered muscles that looked like they would have been at home on any racehorse from the human world. Her cloaths were at the very edge of bursting as they stretched to accommodate her new growth. The body spoke of power. Looking around frantically Moon Dancer searches for a mirror. Even with torn clothing and an uneven gate, she smashed herself back towards Celestia's personal quarters. Holding along the walls as she went in order not to fall over with her new proportions. Knowing there had to be a mirror in the room. Even an old dusty one would help now. Because this transformation was Bizarre! She had seen princess Celestia before and princess Cadance to a lesser extent. While both were eerily beautiful and womanly, they did not have the hard-packed muscles that she now sported. Moon dancer would have noticed if either princess was packing heat like her. Not to mention how much her own bust had grown considerably. “What in tarnation is going on?” she said just as she reached the bed champers. Flinging the doors open without care as she ran to the nearest mirror and tore the covering off it. She stared wide-eyed and agape and gasped at what she saw. Periphery she acknowledged that she was now beautiful in that powerful amazon way. With hard-packed muscles that any gym rat would lust over and a pair of tits that were now big enough that she was glad for the extra back muscles to help compensate. This she acknowledged but that didn’t shock her. What shocked her was that she Didn’t have a pair of wings growing in on her back like she had feared and secretly hoped for. What astounded her perhaps even more than that was the Second Horn now attached to her head. She stood there and looked in wonderment at her new body. Not understanding what had happened and why she was like this. She could feel she was powerful now. The well of magic inside of her was now more akin to a lake rather than a tiny well in comparison to what it was before. “What happened? I thought I was ascending. I thought that meant alicorn? I mean I’m not knocking it because dame these muscles are fine but WHAT AM I?” She yelled into the mirror as she tried to deal with this confusing influx of emotions. A window popped up and Moon Dancer hungrily read through the notification. He inquisitive min zeroing in on what she needed to know. [Assention route activated as a fail-safe for user consuming power too much for being to handle.] [You have chosen the Bicorn Assentation route] Bicorn Bio. [Bicorns as a mixture of a unicorn’s magical prowess and an Earth ponies Durability. Their magical and physical potential is unmatched by any other species. All Bicorns have an inbuilt resistance to damage, disease, and can adapt to almost any environment. A bicorn is noted to have two horns on its head that multiply its magical reserves and potency. A Bicorn is a lot denser than either the alicorn or steel wing Branches. As those branches have hollow bones while the Bicorn have thick and sturdy bones that made it a poor flier and rather slow. Most Bicorns choose to counteract this weakness with their amazing magical talent. Bicorns are also known for their sexual prowess and pleasure abilities. Able to Satisfy even a whole herd of mares in one go. Bicorn's main magical strengths are ground magic, Magical resistance, and body enhancement.] [+100% endurance] [+100 % magical growth rate] [+80% to learning Complex magics.] [+100% to sexual Magics.] [+50% Magical Resistance] [+75% Physical resistance] [+80 base Str] [+100 Base Vit] [+10 Base DEX] [+100 base INT] [+50 Base WIS] Error… [All Race levels and abilities have now defaulted back down to level 1.] [Alert – Assertion route energy and containment circuits insufficient for proper assertion. Eroro.>. Eoroere….. [Targets Level is too low to survive Magical assertion. Eroroer….%@%] [Re-routing Energy matrix, constructing new algorithms, Stripping Energy Combulation} [Re calculating for Player Stupidity.] [Route A quired – New Perk Created – [Assention – Bicorn – Level One] [Assention – Player transforms into their more powerful ascended form for 1 hour every month. Skill multiplies users' states and provides full Bicorn Bonuses. At the Present Level user is only able to use 1% of Bicorn Bonuses.] [This system would like to remind the player that While [Gamers Mind] will protect the user from external attacks it is unable to protect the user from self-inflicted emotional turmoil and reckless stupidity. This System would like to recommend the Player rest and relax before making any more potentially life-threatening and suicidality stupid decisions.] Moon Dancer didn’t know where to even begin. But the new more active parts of herself zeroed in on the particular portion that said she could satisfy mares. Was the system glitched? Because last time she checked she was a mare herself. How could she please any mare fully? She could admit to herself that she wasn’t as straight as an arrow, but romance had been the last thing on her mind. She only owned one romance novel and it was gathering dust under her bed for Celestia's sakes. Looking down at herself and feeling a light tingle Moon dancer looked down and realized there was a heavy bulge now in her pants. She was so floored that when she pocked it and it twitched, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted from the shock of the situation. Her new Bicorn physiology making the impact on the hard-stone floor painless and harmless. Sometime later. When Moon Dancer woke up later she really didn’t feel like getting off the ground. She didn’t know just how many more shocks to her system she could take. But get up she eventually did. But she couldn’t spend all day laying on her back watching the faded paint on the ceiling chip away. She would love to bury her head and not deal with this at all but the ground was getting uncomfortably cold so she decided to sit back up and look back in the mirror. To her relief and slight disappointment when she peeked back into the mirror she was back to her old normal pony self. Her hair was a rat’s nest and her coat needed a long bath to get all the dirt out but she was clearly back into her own body. “Oh, thank Sweet Celestia, My body. My Horn, MY HORN.” Shivering in relief Moon Dancer cried tears of relief as she hugged her body tightly. Now more than ever appreciating it. She was ever so grateful that the system had turned all that energy and body into just a skill that she could activate, even if only once a month. Going around in that new body would have been embarrassing and humiliating. “I Almost Died. I…I.. What in Tartarus was I thinking? Absorbing a massive amount of strange and esoteric Magical energy like that? I’m not Terek the Devourer. Stupid, Stupid Moon Dancer. You might as well have pelted yourself with gamma rays while you're at it. Or let every spider from here to Neighpony bite you. That was reckless and stupid and I never want to do something like that again.” There were only so many things she could handle in one day and even her lesser version of Gamers' mind could only do so much before she overloaded herself. As her little fainting spell had shown. She may have become too arrogant and ambitious as a new Gamer. Some of that Human adventurism bleeding over or her natural Pony curiosity taking over. She had come so close to the edge of death again. And for what? A Chance to Beet Sparkle Butt? A Chance to show up somepony who probably didn’t even remember she existed? It wasn’t worth it. She needed to sit down and really think things through. Draw out some diagrams and create an emotional flow chart while sipping some fresh tea. She needed to figure out if chasing Twilights tail was even worth the hassle or if her New state of Gamerdom had somehow focused her anger and resentment. Expanding what was just Schoolyard Drama into this deadly game. It was a good thing this castle had such crazy vibes going off it otherwise some creature would have come in to investigate all the clattering and loud noises she had been making over the last few hours. “Wait, what are these vibes?” Looking around she could now tell that there were swirling energy patterns around the area. It wasn’t seeing exactly, it was more of a sixth sense that she never knew she had was now amplified a dozen times over. It was fascinating to feel all the old spells in this castle and how they interacted with each other and the outside world. This alone would enhance her magical prowess considerably. After a few calming breaths where Moon Dancer tried to get control over herself, Moony got up off the floor and onto shaking legs. With a yelp, she was forced to hold onto the side of a drawer to steady herself as her legs gave out on her. She was feeling considerably weaker than before and even her brain felt a little sluggish. But she still needed to get out of her. If I fashion some of those Banister Rods into a walking stick and use some of those drapes for the rope I might be able to use them to temporarily fix the bridge and get out of here. I’ll need to test their tensile strength, their elasticity and then knot them together to…. [For Deep and logical thinking you gain +1 INT.] Almost forgetting about the system entirely Moon dancer opened up her status screen to see if she could find any more information. Perhaps a screen to show if she was under any status effects. “What the Tartarus, Everything is down to level 1? Even my stats and skills? OH, Celestia, I’m as week as a newborn Foal now.” Because of the drastic actions, the system has needed to take to save her life a full reset was needed on her body. That Required that all Stats, skills, and proficiencies all reset back to level 1. Her STR was 1 her DEX was 1 and even her CHR was 1. The only one that wasn’t 1 was INT witch was now a 2. Scrolling through the system and reading every line Moon dancer discovered to her dread that even her skills were back down to level 1. She supposed she should be thankful that the system didn’t delete them outright but that didn’t really help her when she was stuck in the middle of a dangerous forest. The only silver lining was that all of her skills and Stats would level faster thanks to the small bouns she got from the Assertion perk. She could at least feel a little relief that she wouldn’t have to run through whole several years of Academic educations just to get back at her old skill level. However, now that she was a little calmer she was getting more curious about why the system had chosen Bicorn. She had never even heard of a Bicorn before and assumed that Alicorn was the epitome of pony assertion. “Hmm, System what other assentation were possible? What would their effects have been and what are the requirements for assertion? And why choose Bicorn?” [Assentation route window open.] [Alicorn- A perfect three-part mix of the standard three Base pony tribes. Typically have both a Horn and set of wings with a hearty constitution. Alicorns are often the leaders and diplomats among the pony communities. They are typically averse to violence and gain power when their subjects are content and happy. Abilities include- harmonic resonance, Flight, increased magical reserves, increased strength, and Dexterity. Nature Domain resonance.] [Bicorn- A mixture of unicorn and Earth pony. Grows a second horn and additional muscle mass. Bicorns are typically depicted as the darker creatures due to their aversion to virgins. Massively increased strength, vitality, and magical reserves. Natural internal resonance, magical sense, Increased magical potential.] [Souring Wing – A mixture of a unicorn and Pegasus. Increase in strength and dexterity. Loss of horn in exchange for magically charged wings. Access to speed force, Weather manipulation on a global scale, and increased durability.] [Metal Wing – a mixture of Pegasus and Earth pony. Grows a pair of Light Metal wings with full flight capability. Built for long distances and endurance. Massive increase in Strength and Dexterity but Low magical potential. Abilities include Lightning affinity and Slipstream. Access to the Speed force and punch dimension.] [System did not choose a route for the player. The input was required to follow the route. While Player Moon Dancer was under the statute effect Deleiour Player moon Dancer chose Bicorn.] Moon Dancer didn’t know how to feel about that yet. She was thankful she wasn’t an alicorn because the attention and problems That kind of transformation could cause would send her right back to being an anti-social hermit. Tho a small part of her was a bit resentful. All little fillies at some point in their lives want to be a princess. And she was no exception. To have come so close yet be so far was a little disappointing. Thankfully she felt that it was only a small part of her that was feeling this. Moon dancer did not want to have to go through growing a pair of wings. Hiding an extra horn was hard but doable. Spontaneously becoming a Pegasus. Nope. That was not going to fly. And the loss of her horn would have been devastating to her. It would have been akin to losing a hand to grow an extra set of feet. In a way, she was thankful that the system had turned it into a skill rather than proceed with the changes. She certainly wasn’t powerful. But now she could earn that power herself. Moon Dancer closed the system and went about the laborious process of gathering all the materials she would need to get over the chasm of the castle and back out into the wild. [Due to strenuous activity STR and DEX has risen by 1] As Moondancer acknowledged the notification she was relieved when the burden on her shoulders became a lot easier to manage. She supposed that her status was just so low now that even this small bit of work would level her up. Tho it was embarrassing that she was only able to lift a few small pounds now. She could just imagine what the girls would say when they saw her in this state. Oh the girls, I can’t believe I almost got myself killed just as we were starting to become friends. Well, me being a better friend at least. When I get back I’m spending more time with them! I can’t just keep lowing them off. Or I’ll lose them. [New Quest – During the night the rope bridge connecting the castle to the forest broke. Find a way to fix it and get across.] [Reward- all states increase by 1] Moon Dancer accepted the quest. Wondering for a moment if this was a pity quest since she got re-set. Then figuring it didn’t’ matter and she would take the pitty anyway. Moony walked out of the castle and came across the rope bridge again. There was just one slight problem. While the Teleport skill was still there it was back to level one with all her other skills and levels. This could pose a serious problem if she accidentally teleported over the canyon instead of the other side to safe earth. If the spell even fired at all. Taking a quick look over her spell she grits her teeth in annoyance that she didn’t even have enough mana to cast the spell at all. Making that option null and void until she leveled up a few times. Gritting her new teeth Moon dancer Dropped the few things she had brought with her from inside the castle. Figuring it was better safe than sorry. Before starting she plopped herself down in exhaustion for a moment. Taking a moment to steady her panting breath and racing heart. If only she had a way to move all this easily. Moon dancers ears twitched back as her hoof met her face in a hard face palm. [Due to continuous strenuous activity Physical resistance has gone up by 1 %] Ignoring the prompt Moon dancer’s other hoof met her face as she realized that she had an inventory that could have held all this stuff for her. “Oh NO! My Inventory, The BOOKS! No, No, No, No.” Moon Dancer yelled as she quickly tried to pull up the inventory. If her negligence and carelessness resulted in her destroying all those old precious tomes she might as well hand back her nerd card and throw herself off the canyon cliff side. The inventory screen popped up and Moon Dancer quickly fumbled through it. Scrolling through all the items and then sighing in Relife as she spotted all the tomes and scrolls still in her inventory. Those were old and valuable tomes that deserved to be in a museum archive. After she perused them first, for the authenticity of course. Satisfied with her find Moon dancer went back to trying to fix the bridge. Taking a beep breath she cast levitation, Struggling to pick up the first bord and rope. Even as she continued to make her makeshift rope bridge Moon dancer suppressed a blush of embarrassment. A foal should have been able to do this with less effort than what she was exerting now. Her pride as a Unicorn was now damaged. But she made it past the canyon at least with some old-fashioned hard work. She let out a sigh of relief that it had worked…. Somewhat. It wasn’t the best-looking bridge in the world but it should hold… at least for a day. Leaving her with a small sense of accomplishment. She could feel her control improving as she worked to assemble the little bridge. Taking her first tentative step forward she placed her hoof on the first board and began to slowly began to move forward. Inch by inch she dragged herself over the tightrope thin bridge. Just as she managed to get to the halfway point her worst fears came to life as a fast gust of wind raced through from the canyon below, shaking and rolling the bridge as she clung for dear life. Once it subsided and the bridge stopped shaking Moony sprinted across the bridge. The force from her stomps reached the bridge as she passed. The bridge quivered and fell just as she leaped over the last foot to safety. Moon Dancer sprawled out onto the grass, tumbling her way away from the canyon. [Quest Complete -Make it Across the Canyon] [All stats increase by 1] [Level up] Moon dancer didn’t want to stick around any longer than she needed to. Picking herself up she shook herself of the dust caused by the landing. Then sneezed loudly as the dust ticketed her nose. Hoping that nothing heard that she turned around then promptly froze. “Oh yeah, The Ever Free forest. The forest full of dangerous poisonous plants, pony-eating animals, and random Magical phenomenon. And I’m back at level 1. Well, 2 now, Not that it makes that big a difference. Stealth skill, here I come. For the next hour Moon Dancer stalker her way through the Everfree forest. Her heart hammering in her chest at every small sound she heard in the forest. Every snapped twig, flutter of wings, and aren’t groan nearly sent her into a panic that would have alerted everything to her whereabouts. Numerous times she hid behind a tree of bush as the sound of something grumbling past her. The fact her new stealth skill was leveling faster than ever was not reassuring. As she was hiding Moondancer discovered a new and helpful skill that her assertion granted her. If she wasn’t surrounded by bloodthirsty monsters she would be drooling at the academic applications of this skill. [Magic Sense] was beyond helpful. There were any number of magical plants, herbs,, and even gems that she would have stepped on or fallen into if She hadn’t felt the magic in them. Moon dancer was sure that there was no harm in most of the plants. She recognized at least three magical herbs that she picked up that were great for enchanting or balms. But there were a few that she didn’t know about and didn’t want to take the chance. A Grove of bright blue flowers was making her nervous enough to backtrack since the feeling of laughter kept coming off them. It was while she was musing about creative ways to test her powers that Moon dancer stumbled across a wooden cottage out in the middle of the forest. It was blending in so well with the surrounding foliage that she had nearly walked past it before realizing that it was there. She could smell that something inside was cooking. Her nose twitched as a hearty spicy smell filled the air. “Hmm, if memory serves me right then this is supposed to be the home of Zecora the zebra.” Unlike the denizens of Ponyville Moon dancer had seen and met with multiple zebras in her time as a doc assistant at the Canterlot ports. So she was used to some of their peculiarities. Moon Dancer was going to leave and let the zebra be but before she could the window of the building opened, and a soft voice wafted out from inside. “OH, A guest. I apologize for the start, I was not expecting a guest. Please come inside and rest.” Moon dancer only got a glimpse of black and white hair before Zecora turned back into the house. She stared at the door for a minute, contemplating if she wanted to get involved with the Zebra. But her hooves were aching from the long trek through the forest and her belly was rumbling at the smell of the Soup. Her hooves moved at their own volition as she walked into the house. It’s a surprisingly nice house for it being in the middle of the woods. Everything from the bed, tables, and sofa looked like it was homemade with an ax and chisel. The rugs looked like some of the wilder and more aggressive creatures in the area. And all around them, there were dozens of plants growing in pots with vielles of liquids scattered all around the room. In the next room was the classic big cauldron with a bubbling mixture surrounded by a fireplace. It seemed like the fire was contained by a stone bowl to keep it away from the rest of the tree. All of this Moon dancer noticed paraphyly as she watched the Striped mare walk around her hut gathering bowls and utensils. [ LVL 45 Zecora] [The Exiled Shamen] Her fur was the traditional black and white of her tribe, a few golden rings on her figure accentuated her hourglass curves. Her mane was styled into a sweeping mohawk that covered half of her head stylishly. Add her wonderfully full brests were only being contained by the leather brasier. And with her turned around she could clearly see the round and bouncy ass on the mare. Moon Dancer blushed as her heartbeat like a drum in her chest. She struggled to understand what had overcome her. She hadn’t ever felt like this before. At least not this strongly. With her zebra to Pony filter, she got from many years at the dock’s she was able to understand Zecor as she spoke. “Greetings traveler. I am Zecora. It is not often I see another pony in the Everfree. Even less in such a troubled state.” She handed Moon dancer a bowl of green spicy-smelling soup and a spoon. Both looked hand-carved and well worn. Moon dancer had a flash of insight when she realized that the Zebra could not have bought anything in his house when every pony in Ponyville was so scared of her. “Thank you Zecora. I appreciate the soup. But I must ask, how did you know I was out there? I was trying to be stealthy. I sipped at the soup and smiled at the warming feeling as it filled my belly. Zecora pulled a glowing blue flask from between her breast and shook it. “Is that Ground indigo? Its magical absorption properties would make It a decent early warning system. Smart.” Zecora nodded and sat next to Moony as she fished out her own food implements. From what she could tell Zecora seemed just a touch nervous at having a guest. She was still sensual but just a touch more energetic than she suspected the Zebra normally would be. But then again she might not have had a guest in years. Of course, she was going to want to make a good impression. “Indigo Powder works for my purposes. I don’t get many visitors around here, being in the middle of the forest. Most of them hide when they see my striped Coat. But you seem unafraid.” Moon Dancer nodded in sympathy “I live in Canterlot and for the last few years, before I got my small enchanting business off the ground, I worked at the docs to pay my way through school. The orphan stipend is nice but I never liked being dependent on the state. I’d usually get sent to work on the Zafrica Shipments.”I took another delighted sip and began to explain my last job with Zecora listening intently. Her posture relaxing after a while. “There are three to four Zabrican Merchant ships that land at port every three months or so. I oversaw inventory since I was small and smart. So I got to talk with a lot of different ponies. None of them could stay for long but the chance to learn about other cultures was too good to pass up.” We began to talk about her homeland and how things differed from Equestria. While Zebraic was a dangerous place full of dangerous beasts that would give any Everfree critter a run for their money it was still a beautiful place. The number of Zabrican warriors over the years has instilled a sense of respect into all the beasts so that most of them won't attack ponies on site. Zecora told tales of her time as a foul in the grasslands of Zabrica in the Spring Hoof tribe. A very funny story revolving around how she was very proud of her black and white coat but then getting dosed with poison joke. It had Moon dancer laughing into stitches. Honestly, Moon dancer could not even begin to wonder why Ponyville would at all be scared of this woman. She was kind, strong, and funny. She may dress strangely but that was no excuse. At least a couple stallions should have approached her at some point. If only because hormones usually overpowered survival instinct. Zecora bit her lip before asking with some hesitation. “I mean no offense but what is a young mare like yourself doing out here in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night?” Moon dancer smiled and waved her hand to indicate no offense was taken. She figured it would come up since walking around in the forest was strange by any metric. It didn’t help that she must look like something the cat dragged in then ate before hairballing out. “Geeze I must look like a mess, And the answer to that is, complicated,” Moony said as she downed the last of her soup. It had been a very nice soup derived from the magical plants. The magic in them feeding her own depleted reserves. [+5 Magic Regen for 1 hr] Zecora nodded in understanding as she said, “As are most things worth knowing.” “Heh, alright I guess It’s only polite. I think. I never paid that much attention to etiquette class.” This got a small chuckle from the mare as they moved their discussion to Zecoras Couch. Zecora moved over a small simmering pot of tea, pouring each of them a small cup of soothing tea. “I’ll tell you what I can, but um, please don’t ask for too many details. Some things are rather… private.” Zecora smiled in an understanding before motioning her to continue. “I guess it all started when I had a certain revelation. A Moment in my life when I was slapped in the muzzle with my inadequacies. I found out that I was…average. Or at least heading to mediocrity. And that point was driven home when I found out that an old…fre… acquaintance of mine from school was certainly above average. So far above average, she breaks the scale. Compared to her I’m nothing. Done nothing.” Stalin for a moment moon dancer took a shaky sip of her tea. Taking a few moments to calm down and not let her emotions get the best of her again. Zecora seemed happy enough to let her new friend take all the time she needed. “Anyway, I got frustrated. Frustrated at my own abilities. So I sought power. And knowledge. Ok, maybe the knowledge a bit more than the power but there was defiantly a lust for both. So I journeyed into the Ever free forest looking for power inside the castle of the two sisters. Well, I found power all right. At a cost.” “Power often does come with a price. I hope the power you sought was not more you can pay.” She shook her head in the negative. “No, nothing like that. I have gained power, just in a different way. I guess the best way to explain it is that I've been reset. My whole body and mind are as week and fragile as that of a foal. In exchange, my growth rate is far faster. So if I work hard I can surpass anyone. Tho I didn’t expect I would have to go back through the forest like this.” “In retrospect, I was being stupid.” Zecora shook her head and laid down her empty cup of tea. “No Moon, you were acting with your heart. And in my book that is never a bad thing. Even this new power of yours’s, if it does as you say, if it does as you say, sounds like an honest power. For nothing in this world is truly free.” The pony and zebra soon devolved into less important topics both seeking to learn a bit more about the other. A double yawn from both pony and zebra made them pause and notice the time. Zecora peered out into the night and noticed just how long they had spent talking. “It is late. Would you prefer to stay over the night? The forest is treacherous at this time of night and you seem like you could use a good night's sleep.” Moon Dancer didn’t have the strength to disagree as she laid out on the couch with a blanket to keep her warm. {Mature section of this story has been cut and will be placed in a separate story folder.} Name: Moon Dancer/ Da#$# Teir 2 Level 1 Age:18 Race: Unicorn/Bicorn Occupation: The Gamer Title: Stupid Genius. STR: 3 VIT: 2 DEX: 2 INT: 3 WIS: 2 LUK:2