This is somewhat how it looked.
Hey, guys. Shadowflame here.
So, here it is. A first ever, completely fan-written chapter of ELO. Now, you can thank Violet Runner for this unexpected chapter. Seriously, I had no idea that he was even working on this until he PM'd me this whole chapter. It did surprise me a lot, and it seemed like a good way to hold you guys back from ripping out my throat before I finish the next chapter. So, without a further ado, let's travel back in time and see what Team Calvary did before they arrived in Canterlot.
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Violet Runner
It has been exactly one month since Discord trapped us in this game. Well, just like every other player, I spent the first few days power-leveling up with a few of my friends from the real world, who also became part of my team. Unfortunately, we lost a few members in the weeks that followed after being trapped by Discord.
Although, inside this game, I'm actually pretty skillful, and not just when it comes to fighting. According to the player's guide, my ability is called Bolt, which allows me to use Electricity type magic and it also gives me an edge in crafting items. I also find that it takes up less of my magic power to channel it through a hammer, rather than through a sword. So, I use one as my primary weapon, which is cool because I’ve always preferred playing as a paladin whenever I played other MMORPGs.
But concerning my abilities, I have also found that if I charge my body with electricity, I can create a sort of electromagnet around myself for other types of magic, which I can then unleash in one big burst of magic. However, it takes a lot of magic to do this, so I only use it as a last resort.
Anyways, our team’s name is Team Calvary, because on more than one occasion in the past month we have ended up saving a few low level players. Our team consists of: Me, Soul_Cards; a gray unicorn stallion with a black mane, streaked with red and a cutie mark resembling an ace of hearts playing card. Neon Fire; a gray unicorn mare with neon green colored mane, tail and eyes. Her cutie mark was a neon green fireball. And Dyl0nkour, the youngest member of our group; a short, maroon, earth pony colt, his mane and tail were a dark, olive green color and his cutie mark was the silhouette of a guy in midair, doing a back flip.
A few weeks ago, my team and I received orders from Canterlot to head for Manehattan and to start looking for a boss chamber there. I found it a bit ironic that I was stuck as my OC and we were positioned to his home town.
Anyways, unlike Ponyville, Manehattan was split into four different districts: The first of these were the Residential District, which was filled with empty buildings that players could use as their team bases, and the Business District, where all the shops were located. These first two districts were “safe zones”, which meant that they were free of monsters. However, the other two districts, the Port and Industrial Districts, were full of them.
The Port District had giant dock spiders, as well as these giant squid looking things that resembled Bloopers from an old game my dad once showed me called “Super Mario Sunshine”. It also had tons of warehouses and ships that you could explore. There were also chests and crates, with items and weapons hidden inside them, but they were guarded by high level monsters. So, it was best to level up before attempting to go there.
The Industrial District had steam and clockwork powered golems and robots. These monsters were pretty tough, as they were made of machinery, but they could be taken down easily if you knew their weak spots. The Industrial District also had tons of warehouses, filled with items and such. But, it also had a few forges and materials for crafting weapons and other items, if you knew where to look.
Ever since the player named Shadowflame beat the first boss and received the Element of Courage, we now had a basic idea of what the door to the boss room would look like. However, ever since the first element was found, the monsters in the area had gotten a lot stronger and there have been a lot more deaths.
A few days ago, the groups in charge of The Port District finished their search for the door to the boss room and turned up with nothing. Everypony's focus was now on The Industrial District, where my team was. So far, we’ve managed to search through most of the buildings, so there weren’t a lot of places left to look. It wasn’t too long before a scouting team managed to find the boss door leading into one of the district's warehouses. And now, with the boss room found, it was time to rally together and fight this boss.
I got out of bed, equipped my gear and walked to the kitchen to get some breakfast. I wanted to at least get something to eat before heading to The Business District, to stock up on supplies for fighting the boss. I also intended for my team to get some training done, before it was time to meet up with the other groups for the boss battle. When I got into the kitchen I saw that my team was already waiting for me.
“Morning guys,” I greeted them.
“Morning,” some of them greeted back.
“So, you guys ready to fight the boss today?” I asked, grabbing a slice of toast off a plate in the middle of the table.
Dylan glanced towards me warily. “To be honest, I’m kind of nervous about it. I mean, only the player who’s supposed to be the Element Bearer can finish off the boss. But what if no one in the battle is the Element Bearer? Or what if he gets killed before he can deliver the final blow?”
“Don’t worry. With so many players going in, someone is bound to be the Element Bearer,” I reassured him, trying to raise his spirit. “Now, we still have about two hours to kill before we have to meet up for the boss battle. So, who’s up for a trip to the Port District for some training?” They all cheered as they finished their breakfast and prepared to leave. And soon, we all departed for the Port District.
For the next hour or so, we trained in the Port District, fighting against squids and dock spiders. Luckily, nothing too extreme happened while we were training.
An hour and a half later, we walked into The Business District to start preparing for the boss battle. So, we began to start browsing through all the items up for sale. We split up to get everything we thought we would need for the upcoming battle. None of us had ever been in a full dive, virtual reality boss battle, so none of us knew what to expect.
As I browsed through the healing potions and some other items, I noticed a weird, mustard yellow potion in a small bottle in the shape of a fairy.
“What’s this?” I asked the NPC Shop keeper.
“It’s a spirit potion. It raises the spirits of your party members and temporarily increases their attack and defense, as well as decreasing the amount of mana used for spells. It is very rare.” The NPC explained as I selected the item.
The Potion cost 700 bits, which was almost out of my price range. I had more than enough bits, but I always put a budget on how much I spent in a day. I contemplated whether or not I should buy it, but I decided to go ahead and get it. I handed over the bits and put the potion into my inventory. It was almost time for the pre-boss meeting, so I went to go find my team mates.
“Hey, Violet!” Soul Cards called, waving a hoof towards me.
He and the rest of my team were hanging around a statue in the middle of the District. They had all traded in their weapons for better weapons that fit their new levels from the training we did earlier. Soul had two new swords strapped to his back, Neon had a new long spear and a metal shield, and Dylan had a long, wooden Bo staff.
“So, everyone ready for the Boss battle?” I asked, as I saw people starting to head towards The Industrial District.
“Yep,” Neon Flame nodded, checking that she had everything.
“Alright then, let’s go!” I said excitedly, leading the way. When we got to the meeting place just outside of the Industrial District, a crowd had already formed. The Admin of Manehatten, an earth pony named Dan_The_Man, began his pre-battle speech.
“Okay, in a few moments we are going to begin our assault on the Boss room,” he began. “We’ve already sent a few teams ahead to sweep the area for any monsters, so the short trip to the boss room should be relatively easy. As for what we can expect to find in there; from what we’ve heard from Ponyvile, we can expect the boss to resemble the monsters found in the area." He then turned towards me, "Violet Runner?”
“Yes sir.” I said, stepping forward.
“As I understand it, you and your team have been using this area for your training, and thus, you have the most experience dealing with the enemies in this district.” Dan said.
“Yes, that’s correct,” I replied, nodding my head.
“In that case, I would like you and the rest of Team Calvary to lead the attack.” He waved a hoof towards the Industrial District, calling us forward. “Alright, if no one has any questions, let’s go,” he ordered, leading the way to the Boss Room.
After a short, ten minute walk, we arrived in front of a previously unexplored warehouse with giant double doors, which were covered with markings and designs similar to the first boss room door. Dan stopped us all just in front of the double doors and then glanced towards me as everyone gathered around.
“Okay, before we go in, do you have any advice for everyone?”
“Yeah." I turned around towards everyone else.
"Okay, the enemies we are most likely going to encounter are Steam powered Golems and Clockwork Robots. Now, the Golems are slow in speed, but they have a strong defense. They attack with blades that come out of their hoofs and they also have thick armor that’s resistant to most magic. Their main weak points are the gaps between their joints and on their neck. But every once and a while, they open up to release steam. At that point, you want to attack their exposed control crystal.”
I cleared my throat. “The Robots on the other hand, though they have a weaker defense, they have speed and agility on their side. They attack with saws attached to their left hands and can shoot small projectiles out of the right. Their main weak points are their joints and their exposed clockwork.”
“Ok, everyone ready?” The Admin asked, turning to face the door as everyone cheered. “Then let’s do this!” He said, opening the door.
When everyone was inside the doors closed and a bunch of lights turned on. Positioned in the middle of the room was giant steam powered robot, entirely in shambles on the ground. The frame work of the robot looked as if it had been torn apart, and its outside hull was rusting as well.
“What a piece of junk!” I said shaking my head at the pitiful excuse for a machine.
Suddenly, an evil laugh filled the room.
“A ‘piece of junk', you say?” A familiar voice asked. “Well let’s see how you like this.”
All of the sudden, the Robot sprung to life with a hiss of steam and the grinding of gears as a bunch of smaller robots and golems started to fuse with it, making it look more menacing. It had two saw arms and two arms, with hands that I assumed it could use to pick up players and chuck them across the warehouse. That is, if it didn't crush them first. Above its head was its heath bar and its name: The Clockwork Giant.
This is somewhat how it looked.
As the Clockwork Giant pulled itself together, other golems and robots started to form ranks in front of it. It was clear that in order for us to reach the giant, we would have to fight our way through them.
“Alright, everyone. Attack!” Dan yelled, charging forward and cutting a path through the swarm mechanical monsters.
Several players, including my team, started following his lead, charging in and attacking the monsters head on. The rest of our attacking force stayed behind and began to fire projectiles, both arrows and offensive spells, at the Clockwork Giant and the mechanical monsters.
After clearing through about three dozen golems and robots, which seemed to appear just as fast as we knocked them down, Neon, Dan, and I managed to get within attacking range of the Clockwork Giant. Behind us, all of the other players were preoccupied by the other golems and robots that instantly spawned in before them. That left Dan, Neon and I to fight the giant ourselves.
The boss instantly swung one of its saw hands knocking Dan away, sending him, as well as some of the nearby golems and robots, into the far wall. The Clockwork Giant then reached down with one of its hands in an attempt to crush us, but Neon and I managed to just dodge it. At that moment, Soul and Dylan broke through the line of golems and robots barring the path to the boss. Dan managed to recover and joined us as we dodged a couple of projectiles that came our way.
“Ok, what do you guys make of this giant?” Dan asked, taking out a robot as it spawned next to him.
“Well, it seems to be a combination of both the golems and the robots- DUCK!” Soul shouted as The Clockwork Giant swung one of its saw arms again, narrowly missing all of us.
“It has two saw arms and two arms with hands that can shoot projectiles out of the holes in its palms.” Neon said, jumping out of the way of an incoming fist.
“Anything we don’t know?” Dan asked sarcastically, grunting right as a golem spawned in front of him.
“Yeah,” I said, as Neon shot out a stream of green fire taking out a couple of projectiles. “Even though Discord made this thing really OP, it seems to be extremely slow and attacks at regular intervals and in the same pattern; First saws, then hands, then projectiles.”
Dylan interjected. “Its armor is probably designed to withstand both magic and physical attacks, but I noticed when it swings its saw arms, a shoulder part is exposed. Plus, there’s a few seconds delay when it opens its palms to fire projectiles.” He quickly ducked as two saw blades swept over his head.
“If we could find a way to take out at least two of the arms, we should be able to take it down,” Dan said, jumping back at the two hands clapped together. “Got any ideas?”
“Maybe. Soul?” I called to my friend, after I just barely dodged a golem.
“Yeah?” He called back.
“You have any bombs left from training? -Agh!” I winced as a golem nicked my front leg.
“Yeah, I’ve got about ten left. Why?”
“When I give the signal, I want you to throw some of them into the Boss’s palms.”
“Right, I think I know what you’ve got in mind.” Soul said taking out the control crystal of a golem.
“Okay, ready?" Soul nodded as he pulled a few bombs out of his inventory with his magic. Immediately, the Clockwork Giant raised its hand and the holes opened.
"NOW!”
Soul, flaring his magical grip on the bombs, threw the projectiles right at the openings in the giant's hand. When the bombs entered the holes, they closed up and a few seconds later the bombs exploded in a raging fire. The Boss let out a metallic shriek as his heath bar dropped dramatically.
“Yeah, that got him!” Neon cheered.
Soul Card grunted as the giant quickly recovered, jumping out of the way of an incoming saw arm. “Yeah, but now I only have one bomb left.”
“And it looks like he’s gotten faster,” Dan commented, as a hand took a swipe at him.
“It looks like he’s out of projectiles, though,” Dylan said, jumping out of the way of a saw.
Neon quickly downed a heath potion, returning her health bar to full. “We should still take the hands out just to be safe.”
“Any ideas?” Soul asked.
“Yeah, cover me,” Neon said, as she suddenly jumped onto the back of one of the giant's hands after it slammed hard into the ground.
Neon proceeded to run up the length of the arm, cutting at the giant's internal wires, which dissolved into blue code as Neon destroyed them. Suddenly, as she neared the elbow of the arm, one of the saw arms lashed out in an effort to sweep her off. Neon didn't hesitate as she quickly launched a stream of green flames, heating up the metal on the giant's joints. At the last moment, the unicorn shouted a war cry as she did a back flip off of the giant and the saw blade cut right through its arm.
The Clockwork Giant let out another metallic scream as his heath bar dropped into the yellow zone. The disembodied arm fell to the ground with a loud BANG before dissolving into blue code.
“We got him on the ropes! Come on, we can do this!” I shouted excitedly.
Just then, a huge wave of Golems and Robots spawned and started to attack. Their sudden appearance managed to push us back.
“God damn it,” I shouted, sending blast after blast of electricity at the mob of enemies.
Suddenly, a nearby player shouted “Help! I’m being overrun!”
“Neon, Soul.” I gestured for them to go help the other player.
“Right,” They replied, quickly charging through the mob to aid the endangered player.
Dylan cringed as he took out a couple of robots. “Gosh dang it, don’t these guys ever take a break?"
“Apparently not,” Dan replied, taking out a couple of golems that had opened up their armor. Just then, Neon and Soul ran back to join us.
I glanced towards Soul as he ran up beside me. “Hey Soul, doesn’t this remind you of something?”
“You mean that time when we played W.o.W.? And you thought it would be a good idea to just Rambo our way through Gnomeregan at level 15?” He asked, looking around.
“Eeyup. You remember how we got out?” I asked, with a smile on my face.
“Oh, yeah! Boom and Doom Time!” Soul said, pulling out his last remaining bomb. “Remember, we only get one shot at this.”
I nodded. “If we time it right, we should be able to clear out most of the enemies and we just might deal some damage to the boss in the process.” I looked around at the vast number of golems. I waited for only a moment before a few of the golems' armor opened up to release steam. As soon as their armor opened, I shouted “NOW!”
Soul threw his bomb into the air as I electrified my hammer. I quickly swung my magically powered weapon at the bomb, sending it flying into the nearest golem. But in the moment that my hammer had connected with the bomb, the electricity in my weapon had transferred into the bomb, enhancing its blast power.
“EVERYBODY GET DOWN!” I shouted, as the golem's armor closed around the electrified bomb.
A few seconds later, the bomb exploded inside the golem, destroying it and the other golems and robots nearby. It started a chain reaction as electrified robot parts flew through the air, destroying anything they came into contact with.
Luckily, everyone had ducked and managed to survive the blast. As we got back up, we saw that the wave of robots and golems was back down to a manageable number. I then noticed that one of the boss' saw arms was missing, apparently blown off by the electrifying blast. I also noticed that the boss' health bar was in the red. However, most of the players in our attacking force had the same problem. There were only about two dozen players who's health bars weren't in the red.
“The Boss is weak! Attack!” Dan shouted as he charged forward.
Just as everyone began to charge, the Boss switched tactics and began to charge forwards as well, knocking dozens of players out of its way.
Dylan cringed as he jumped out of the rampaging giant's path. “Agh! What do we do now?”
But then, I noticed a crystal planted on the Boss's back, “Look there!” I said, pointing a hoof towards it. “That must be its control crystal. If we can destroy it, it should finish it off!”
“There might be a couple of problems with that,” Neon said.
“What?” I asked, turning to face her.
Neon explained. “Well, all of the pegasi are down for the count, the archers are out of arrows, and we are seriously low on mana!”
“Damn it,” Dan cursed in frustration.
“What are we going to do now?” Soul asked. “There is no way we will be able to survive long enough for our mana to recharge.”
“Wait a minute, I've got an Idea!” I grinned. Immediately, I opened up my player's menu and pulled out the Spirit Potion that I had bought earlier.
“Wait, is that a Spirit Potion?!” Dan asked.
“Yeah, I bought it in The Business District before the battle,” I replied.
Dan grinned widely, “Awesome. That just might be what we need to turn this fight around.”
Dylan glanced at the potion curiously. “Why? What does it do?”
I answered, repeating what the NPC told me when I bought the potion. “It raises the spirits of our party members and temporarily increases our attack and defense, as well as decreasing the amount of mana used for spells. They are supposed to be very rare.”
“Rare? That’s an understatement.” Dan said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Only one appears every month, and if no one buys, finds or uses it by the end of the month, it disappears.”
“Wow! Good thing I bought it when I did,” I said looking at the small yellow bottle. “So how does it work? Do I drink it like a regular potion or…”
“Yes,” Dan explained. “You drink it, and its power should spread from you to friendly players around you.”
“Okay." I raised the potion in the air in a small 'toast'. "To surviving this game.” I then began to drink the potion.
Almost instantly after finishing the potion, I started to feel its effects. First, I felt like I could go ten rounds with Chuck Norris. Second, most of the pain from the battle had disappeared. Third, my body started to glow a faint yellow, as did my teammates, Dan, and a couple of players fighting nearby.
“Dude, this is awesome,” Dylan said, swinging his Bo staff quicker than he could before.
I grinned. “Let’s do this!”
Soul, Neon, and I started firing magic bolts at the crystal. Dylan pole vaulted into the air with his Bo staff, and he and Dan both threw throwing knives at it. The Clockwork Giant screamed as the combined attacks hit its crystal, almost depleting his heath bar completely.
Dan glanced at the giant's health bar. “One more attack should do it! But only the element bearer can kill this thing, and the potions effects won’t last much longer.”
“Then everyone in the room will have to quickly take turns attacking the crystal until it dies.” Soul said.
“OK EVERYONE, AIM FOR THE CRYSTAL!” Dan shouted at the remaining players.
Everyone in the room quickly circled around the boss and, one by one, sent their own attacks at the crystal. But,none of the attacks damaged the giant whatsoever.
“Damn it, it’s not working,” Dan cursed angrily.
“Okay, my turn.” I said, stepping forward as electricity began flowing around me. “Soul, distract the boss. Neon, hit me with all of the mana you have left!”
“Are you insane? The potion’s about to wear off, and you pick now to commit suicide?” Dan asked, a little confused and angry.
“Trust me,” I replied. I could already feel the distinct electrical field surrounding me. “Neon?”
“Right,” she nodded, firing a stream of green fire at me.
The stream of green fire began to swirl around me until I was completely covered. I then concentrated, and the lightning and fire withdrew from my body, condensing at the tip of my horn.
“Discord,” I said with a small smile on my face, just as the Clockwork Giant turned around so the crystal was facing towards me. “Prepare to kiss your bot goodbye. ELECTRIC NEON FLAME!” I shouted, firing the combination of fire and lightning at the crystal.
The combined attack hit the crystal, causing it to shatter. The Clockwork Giant’s health reached zero, and it burst into a bunch of blue code.
“YES!” I shouted, before falling to the ground, exhausted.
Just then, a large computer window opened up in the air where the boss had been standing.
Congratulations! You have defeated The Clockwork Giant!
“Alright, who’s not dead? Everybody gather around!” Dan called out, just as the last of the golems and robots fell dead.
Everyone began to gather around as Soul helped me up. A small window of text appeared in front of me.
You've gained the last-hit bonus. You receive a rare item.
-Electric Sledgehammer
I tapped the item name with a hoof, and instantly, my hammer was replaced with the new one.
“Awesome,” I grinned, as I opened my inventory to check its stats.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the center of the boss room, and everybody's cheers quieted. I shielded my eyes from the blinding light. When it dimmed, I glanced at the light to see a small object inside it; the next Element of Harmony.
The element floated down, and stopped just in front of my face. The element was in the form of a necklace, like the one depicted in the news, but this one had a gear-shaped gem in its center. I reached out and took it with a hoof. I tapped a hoof on it, and a small window appeared above it.
Element of Spirit (Inactive)
Object Type: Item
“Element of Spirit?” Soul asked, confused.
I shrugged. “I guess it’s one of the new elements Discord made.”
“Well, two down, eight to go,” Dan said, happily.
Suddenly, a loud, evil chuckling echoed through the boss room, startling everyone. We all turned to see Discord standing in front of the door.
"Discord!" Dan glared at the Draconequus angrily.
“Congratulations on defeating the Clockwork Giant,” Discord chuckled, taking a mock bow. “Of course, we both know it was only possible because of that potion. Isn't that right, Violet Runner?” He suddenly appeared next to me. I turned to hit him, but he had already vanished, reappearing in the rafters of the boss room. “Which is why in addition to making all the monsters in the game stronger, I’ve decided to make the Spirit Potion even rarer by making it only appear once every 2 months,” He said with a laugh.
“Well I guess that’s all for now. Bye!” he said, before disappearing. As soon as the Draconequus was gone, the doors of the boss room re-opened.
I frowned as I glanced towards the open doors. "Come on, let’s go."
I then began to lead everyone out of the boss room and through the Industrial District. Even though most of the players managed to survive the boss battle, a few people died on the way back when we were ambushed by a bunch of golems that had decided to take advantage of Discord's power boost. Luckily, most of the players managed to level up enough during the boss battle, so those who were strong enough made it back to the Residential District.
But after the ambushes on our way back, I glanced around at all of the players to see many of them weeping or mourning for their dead friends. Even just by watching them, I felt a pang of sorrow and sympathy towards the ones who had lost their comrades. Before my team came to Manehatten, several of my friends had died.
I cringed as I glanced down at the Element of Spirit, which I now wore around my neck. All because of this game, so many of us had to die. But why would anyone be so cruel as to slaughter the defenseless, like the monsters that ambushed the weakened players after the boss battle? Why..?
I clutched my element in a hoof, whispering to myself, "Discord, I hope I fight you in the end. Because when I do, I'll be fighting for my friends that you murdered. And I swear, I will not hold back."
After everyone returned to the Residential District, they retired to their own bases, exhausted from the battle against the Clockwork Giant. In fact, nobody did any more training for the rest of that day. We all took the time to recollect ourselves, and to mourn for the ones that we had lost. It was break that we all desperately needed.
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Two days later, there was a knock on the door of our base. When I opened it, Dan was standing on our doorstep.
“Hey Dan,” I greeted. “What brings you here?”
“I just got a message from our Head Admin, Jupiter,” Dan explained. "He wants you and your team to head to Canterlot, where your element will be locked away for safekeeping.”
I nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell my team and we’ll be on our way ASAP.”
“Good. I’ll meet you at the city gates in an hour,” he nodded, before turning to leave.
I closed the door, and went to inform the rest of my team. When I got into the main room, I saw Soul reading a message in his player's menu.
He glanced up from the message, “Hey, Violet.”
“Hey, I just spoke with Dan." I explained. "He delivered a message to us from Canterlot. We’re to pack up and head there, so my element will be kept safe.”
“We can’t."
I raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"
"Well, not yet anyway. I just got a message from my cousin in Fillydelphia,” Soul explained, closing the message. “She’s asking for our help with the boss battle there. Apparently they’ve already sent two groups into the boss room, and no one’s been able to defeat it.”
I cringed at the predicament, rubbing the back of my neck. “I don’t know. I really don’t want to make Jupiter mad. What if went to help your cousin and something happens? What if I lose my element? Jupiter would be pissed at me.”
“Why? Do you know him outside the game?" Soul asked.
“Sort of, but I’d rather not talk about it,” I replied, trying to avoid the subject.
“Okay, but I can’t just leave my cousin hanging,” Soul said, almost pleading.
I paused for a moment as I tried to figure out what to do. Finally, I came to a conclusion. “Alright, gather the rest of the team.” I began walking towards the door. “Once we leave for Canterlot, we'll take a detour into Fillydelphia. But we can't let anyone else know, or else we'll have loads of trouble on our hands.”