//------------------------------//
// What It's Like to Feel Loved (Part 1) 
// Story: ERPG 
// by MellowSoul 
//------------------------------//

After catching up on sleep, Twilight began development of a new project. Unlike her previous foray, this one was unique. It was, for all intents and purposes, completely original.

"This one's based on a novel I never finished," she revealed, "I started writing it back in 2001, but I never got around to completing it. It was titled Conspiracy of the Angels, named after the song by Sevin."

"Oh, yeah! I remember that one," Rainbow acknowledged, "That was one of the songs I found on your playlist back in high school!"

Twilight strolled toward her computer, continuing her explanation.

"The concept was a love story between a mortal earth pony and an angel created by God. The earth pony was named Harmonic as a reference to musical harmonies. The first couple chapters followed his development from colt to stallion while alluding to his connection with Atmospheric."

"Atmospheric's the angel I assume?"

"Yeah. I remember I was obsessed with Blood: The Last Vampire and Phantom of Inferno. My main goal was to write something compelling without all the angst and tragedy. Sometimes less is more, ya know? You can write something impactful without being melodramatic about it. The main focus was always the romance. Everything else was just for the sake of building an interesting world."

"You ain't goin' boy band power of love bullshit on me, are ya?"

"Back to the Future did it without boy bands, didn't it?"

"True."

"The whiniest it gets is a passing mention of alienation by Harmonic, not knowing where he fit in or what his purpose in life was. That's something I think speaks to all types of people, not just hormonal teens."

"Fair enough. Why don't ya fire it up so we can see what it's all about?"

"Roger."

"Polly."

Twilight grinned.

"Smartass."

"Better than bein' a dumbass."

"Depends on who ya ask."

Twilight opened the file containing the game. The title screen art showed an angel with with white fur stroking a black stallion's mane by a campfire.

"Damn! They're both smokin' hot!"

"As you can see, there's the usual three menu options. Just like last time, you can set the sound effects and music volumes individually. Custom controls are available again, too. I didn't include custom title art like last time, but i did put in a gallery you can unlock after beating the game."

"Did you program a difficulty selection like last time?"

"Of course. Appealing to all skill levels is part of what makes a game marketable."

"Wait...Are you actually gonna release this one!?"

"I'm considering it, but there's something I'll have to remove before I can."

Rainbow's face twisted in confusion.

"What?"

"You'll see."

Twilight selected New Game.

"The difficulties are named after stuff in the game again. Easy is Mortal, Normal is Spirit, Hard is Insidious, and Ultra Hard is Seraph. In religious texts, seraphs belong to the highest class of angel. Obviously, Atmospheric is a pop culture interpretation of what angels in general look like, but you get the idea."

"I'm guessing you have to beat Insidious to unlock Seraph mode?"

"Yeah, but there's not much incentive to beat Seraph mode other than challenge. Unlike 37,000, there's only one final boss and ending you can get. I thought about adding multiple endings and even separate stories, but I figured a singular experience would be enough for a story like this."

"I'm kinda disappointed. I was hoping there'd be more replay value."

"Technically, there is, but that's what I'll have to remove if I decide to release it for other players. Our versions will be a bit...Special."

"Still not sure what you're getting at, but I'll roll with it 'til we find out."

"Trust me. It'll be one hell of a surprise."

"If you say so."

Twilight began the game. Just like the others the group had played so far, a custom name input screen appeared.