//------------------------------// // Chapter 7, The Rise of Dark Mask // Story: Friendship is Optimal but Sanity is Optional // by BlazingSaddles69 //------------------------------// “Hey, Daniel,” Earl said as he walked up to my cubicle. “I see that you got your PonyPad.” “Hi, Earl. And yeah, it arrived last night. It’s pretty fun so far.” I said, tearing my gaze away from the screen long enough to hand him the printed-out papers filled with random numbers. “Playing it at work?” He asked while flipping through the pages briefly. “That’s a great idea! I think I’ll bring mine in tomorrow. It should be a fantastic way to pass the time.” Did I mention that Earl was my manager? I have the best boss ever! “You got your Pad?” Howard asked, peering over the cubicle wall. “Where are you in the game right now?” “I’m still hanging out in Canterlot. I only recently got my pony name and booty mark.” I was going to turn the phrase ‘booty mark’ into a trend if it was the last thing I do. Earl leaned against my desk, glancing at the screen as my pony exited the alleyway behind Donut Joe’s. “Any luck playing it as a stealth game?” “Yes, actually,” I said after repositioning my hands on the controller to a more comfortable position. “Some stallion in the sewers just taught me how to steal things. I’m about to test it out. Want to watch?” Earl and Howard both nodded. Howard walked around the cubicle wall and joined Earl in looking over my shoulder. The sun had set over Canterlot while my character was underground, filling the streets with numerous shadows that were perfect for hiding in. The crowds of ponies on the streets had thinned out, but there were still plenty around. They all looked happy, naive, and unsuspecting. I couldn’t wait to pilfer their bits. Look out Canterlot, the legend of Dark Mask begins now! It took me several minutes to find an isolated target, but I finally managed to locate one. The target in question was a unicorn mare sitting on a park bench near a side street. She had her nose stuck in a book that she was reading with the light cast by one of those magical streetlights. It must have been a good book, because she was completely oblivious to the world around her. Her coat was a faint yellowish beige color and her mane was red with purple highlights. The most distinguishing features about her were the thick glasses and the ugly sweater that she was wearing. Her whole appearance just screamed, Nerd with a capital N. And I was about to steal her lunch money. Well, it was night time in Canterlot, so I guess it would be her dinner money. Moving slowly, I snuck up behind her, putting my new muffled horseshoes to good use. When I got close enough, a button prompt appeared. Pressing the indicated button, a minigame appeared on the screen. I had to keep a reticle centered over an icon as it slowly floated around the screen. Not helping matters, was the fact that the controller was vibrating, making it more difficult to keep the reticle on target. As the minigame progressed, I slowly reached my hoof into her saddlebag and rooted around in it. After about roughly nine seconds, I pulled my hoof out of her bag, a bunch of coins clutched in the frog of my hoof. A notification told me that I had successfully stolen twenty bits from her inventory. The game then asked me if I wanted to put one of my criminal calling cards into her bag. I clicked the Yes button. My stallion reached into his own bag, pulled out one of the cards and then slid it into her bag. Badge Unlocked: Sticky Hooves Unlocked By: Pickpocket something from a pony. Reward: I’m not sure if I should reward this, but here’s 100 bits “She should have known better than to carry shiny things with her in this neighborhood,” I quipped. “Doesn’t she realize that this is the bad part of town? Or it will be soon if I have anything to say about it.” “I can’t believe that you just stole from Moondancer!” Earl laughed. “Getting robbed certainly won’t help her social issues. You’re such an awful pony!” “Who is she?” Howard asked, mirroring my own thoughts. While they talked, I led my pony away from the scene of the crime. The victim was none the wiser and still had her nose buried in her book. “Her name is Moondancer,” Earl repeated. “she’s a minor character from the TV show. The game world contains a mix of both canon and non-canon ponies in it.” “What else can you tell us about her?” I asked. “She’s a scholar. The episode that focused on Moondancer was all about reconnecting with old friends and not letting them drift apart. But in hindsight, the Aesop fell apart.” “How do you figure that?” “Because, Twilight Sparkle, the main character of the show, never has another conversation with Moondancer after that episode. In fact, Moondancer never even has another line of dialogue for the rest of the series. She shows up in the background of some scenes, but that’s it. The Aesop fails, because in the long run, they still drifted apart anyway. Although, to be fair, that may just be poor planning on the part of the show writers.” “You’re a brony?” Howard asked Earl. Earl smiled, crossing his bulky arms across his chest. “A casual one. I don’t go and collect the merchandise, but I did watch all the episodes of the show and I have read a few fanfictions. Some of the shards even mimic the alternate universes from the fanfictions.” “What’s a shard?” I asked while looking around for more ponies to steal from. “You know how MMORPGs have multiple servers? They use them to divide up the players into different copies of the same world so they can keep the latency and lag from getting out of control,” Howard said. “Well, a shard is this game’s equivalent to a server. I’m not sure why they call them shards instead of just calling them servers though.” “Oh,” I remarked. As my friend talked, I nudged my character over to another oblivious pony and in seconds I was the proud owner of thirteen more stolen bits. I slipped another calling card into this new victim’s bag. The legend grows! Soon all ponies with money will tremble in fear at the name of Dark Mask! “Equestria Online has a unique take on it however. I’ve visited several different shards already,” Howard continued to explain while listened. “I’ve noticed that each shard has a different theme. Some of them are subtly different while others are extremely different. Word to the wise, I would avoid any shard that is labeled as clop heavy.” Earl burst out laughing. I had a sneaking suspicion that I didn’t want to know what the term ‘clop’ was referring to. “I visited one without knowing what the term meant!” Howard defended himself as a furious blush spread across his face. “It is not a mistake that I ever want to make again.” “How do you move from one shard to another?” I changed the subject. On screen, I found another pony to victimize and snuck up behind him. This time it was a pegasus stallion with a curly mane and tail. “That’s easy,” Howard said, “just visit any of the train stations. Not only can they take you to other cities, but they can take you to other shards. Ask the ticket seller and they’ll show you a list of them.” “Stop, thief! Somepony help me!” A pony shrieked. I jerked my attention back to the screen. What just happened? Damn, I got distracted and failed the pickpocketing minigame. My would-be victim was now screaming his head off. The stallion had quite the loud set of lungs on him. I saw two ponies clad in gold armor, one unicorn and one earth pony, at the end of the street. They looked at me, with my hoof still jammed into my victim’s saddlebag. Then they charge in my direction. Shoving the screaming stallion away, I took off down the nearest alleyway. Jumping over a trashcan and then knocking it over to slow down the guards, I kept running. The other end of the alley connected with a busy main street filled with moving wagons and trotting ponies. Small groups of mingling ponies stopped to gawk at me as I dodged past them. I risked a quick glance backwards. The guards were shoving ponies out of the way as they struggled to keep up. I saw the horn of the unicorn guard charging up with an aura of light. An orb of blue light launched from his horn. Desperate, I dashed across the center of the street and right into traffic. An earth pony mare pulling a wagon filled with red barrels, reared up in surprise, almost running me over when I dodged in front of her. The bolt of magic slammed into one of the barrels. *KA-BOOOM!* The red barrels in the wagon exploded, adding an awesome level of drama to the chase. The wave of fire went up and outwards, tossing bits of wood and a wagon wheel into the air. The mare pulling the wagon was enveloped by the fireball. She vanished, forced to respawn at the hospital when her health hit zero. Other ponies were knocked off their hooves by the blast wave. The lone wagon wheel slammed back into the ground and went rolling off down the street. The ponies on the street did the sensible thing and panicked, distracting my pursuers. Nearby pegasi leapt into the air like a flock of startled pigeons, leaving behind a mess of feathers drifting in the breeze. A unicorn mare gasped, her eyes and horn lit up causing several bystanders to transform into potted plants. In seconds, the street was filled with a stampede of riled up ponies that were running in circles. Still watching over my shoulder, Howard and Earl laughed. Diving into another alley on the opposite side of the street, I managed to break line of sight with the two ponies chasing me. The guards were now preoccupied with the panic-stricken mob. I panned the camera around rapidly, searching for a place to hide. Spotting something, I darted into the rear entrance of a store. The inside was rather spartan, but I found a place to hide in the form of a pool of shadows beneath the staircase to the second floor. My pony was panting and out of breath. His mane and tail looked messed up and lightly singed from his proximity to the explosion. I noticed that I was also missing a small chunk of health from my health bar. The minutes passed by slowly as I stayed in the shadows. My pony relaxed some after he caught his breath. It was taking a long time for the screaming outside to stop. Ponies must panic very easily and take a very long time to calm down. The legend of Dark Mask was off to an explosive start. Earl glanced at the wall clock, “It’s getting late. It’s time for everybody to go home.” A quick look at the clock confirmed that he was right. Logging out of the game, I took apart the PonyPad stand and put the entire thing into my laptop bag. I had to make a trip to the grocery store on the way home, but after that I was going to jump straight back into the game. “I think I’ll do some research into that TV show,” Howard stated as he went back to his desk to grab his bag. “Knowing more about the world could pay off.” Howard made a good point. I could probably benefit from some more knowledge of the source material. If only so I could recognize the ponies that I was robbing. Maybe I should set a long-term goal to try to steal at least one thing from all the famous ponies from the show? It could be fun.