//------------------------------// // To PvP or not to… on second thought, come at me Bro! // Story: Equestrian Earth: The Changeling War // by Draconis187 //------------------------------// Equestrian Earth: The Changeling War To PvP or not to… on second thought, come at me Bro! Author: Draconis187 Best read in Dark Mode. Several bright text colours are used. The morning sun shone brightly into Seeker’s room, rousing the Changeling from his slumber. As he opened his eyes he noticed his I.P.V. laid on the floor next to him. He had also seemed to have fallen off the cloud he had laid on, resulting in a rather uncomfortable sleeping position that gifted him a sore carapace and sleepy wing. He got up and placed the device away near the computer tower. The cloud was placed in its hiding spot which consisted of being under the floorboards in the kitchen. If the landlady had maintained the apartment like she should have been, he would have never been able to hide it in the first place. The rest of his morning routine consisted of him having a shower and having breakfast before changing his form to suit the masses. As the door opened up, any pony looking his way would only see any every day Pegasus on his way like any other pony. The observatory was quiet as it usually was during the morning. All Seeker had to do at this time was calibrate the telescope. Celestia only knew how the hunk of metal and glass lenses kept getting out of focus. ‘I blame over-inquisitive fillies and colts with long hooves,’ Seeker thought as he played about with the various knobs and looking through the eyepiece. The rest of the observatory staff had their hooves full doing other menial, monotonous work. While many ponies wouldn’t often care for being an astronomer, Seeker enjoyed the low-profile environment. It made the odds of him being discovered very low. By the time lunch came Seeker found he needed to replace two rather large lenses as one had become cracked while one had simply vanished. How it was possible to get it out without breaking the telescope and what a pony could want with such a large lens was an annoyingly pressing question on his mind. Seeker walked over to the usual coffee shop, where Joystick was waiting for him. The ‘Pegasus’ sat down opposite his friend and ordered camelmile tea. “So, any thoughts?” Joystick asked Seeker with a raised eyebrow as the requested tea arrived. Joystick had opted to go with lemonade. “Concerning what exactly?” Seeker responded. Joystick tilted his head to the side and gave Seeker a rather odd look, “About that little ‘best of three’ that the Griffon spoke of yesterday in Old Ponyville.” Seeker merely shrugged and took a sip of his tea, “I don’t know what to think. Solace is already going to be competing in the drinking contest so that leaves the PvP match and the race to deal with.” “There is one small problem though, Seeker,” Joystick said before ordering a chocolate chip muffin. “What is it?” Seeker inquired as he ordered a lemon and poppy seed muffin. “Their party consists of five members,” Joystick replied, “We have only four so I was thinking-” “That I try and convince Illusion to help out?” Seeker interrupted, eying Joystick intently. Joystick smiled, “Yup! What do you think?” Seeker looked into his near empty cup pensively. He wondered if she even would come to help them out and if she did, could he convince the only true Changeling he had met since he was ordered to participate in the Royal Wedding Fiasco – by which he had obviously refused – to stick around a little longer? “Uh, hello? Equestria to Seeker, come in Seeker,” Joystick said, wafting the poppy seed muffin his friend had ordered under his nose with his magic and a grin on his face. Seeker jolted a little as he looked at the muffin and then to Joystick who merely smiled at him. Seeker grabbed the muffin in his hooves and took a small bite. “I’ll try,” Seeker managed to say before fully digging into the savoury treat that stood 30cm tall. The coffee shop had a penchant for making obscenely large savoury treats. Their flapjacks were the size of dinner plates and were 1,5cm thick. Then there was the fact that they came in batches of four. To eat them all in a single sitting was a battle in and of itself. “Thanks,” Joystick said as he levitated his muffin and took a bite, “So have you thought about specializing?” Sadly to Seeker the latter sentence came out a garbled mess like a radio with horrific reception, “You do realise you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full. You are out in public after all.” Joystick merely brushed the statement off and swallowed what he had in his mouth, “I said: ‘have you thought about specializing?’” “What do you mean?” Seeker asked. “Every class has a subclass or two,” Joystick explained, “A Paladin is Warrior class but can specialize as a Soldier or a Blademaster as well as a few others. “Solace’s subclass is Hunter as you already know and that is a subclass of the Ranger class. Mixer is a Mage while his subclass makes him focus on a certain aspect of magic. In this case it is crystal magic,” Joystick explained, earning a raised eyebrow from Seeker, “Specializing is a must as you can’t be a jack of all trades. Causes balancing issues game-wise. So when we get back online I would ask you take a look at them and find a specialization that suits you.” Seeker only nodded in response as his mouth was preoccupied with his muffin. The better part of their respective lunch breaks consisted of random, friendly chatter until they paid up and left the shop. With the telescope needing to wait for the replacement parts, Seeker effectively had the night off. He went about his gaming preparation routine and triple checked the bolts on his door as well as the windows. With his curtains drawn and everything bolted down he walked over to his gaming station. Seeker placed the I.P.V. upon his head and got comfortable on his cloud once more. The usual whirs from his platform of choice placed a smile on his face as the virtual world of Equestrian Earth took over his senses. Seeker awoke on a bed inside the Drunken Mare. The top floor acted like a spawn point for adventurers. There were several more spawn points littered around Old Ponyville but the party had been in the bar when they logged off and it effectively became the focal point of their return. Seeker looked around and found he was alone in the top floor, not counting the NPC maid that was dusting in the corner and completely ignoring him. The Changeling got off the bed and rummaged through his inventory as he buzzed down the steps. He found the Chat Scroll that Mixer had used to contact Joystick and Seeker with. As he unfurled it, it shone in a pale yellow glow in anticipation for a command. “Uh… how do you use this thing?” Seeker muttered. The Scroll heard his request and the glow faded as maroon lettering began to appear as if it was being written by an invisible source right before his eyes. It gave a detailed description of what the Scroll did and how it was able to send its messages. Due to not everypony having magic or opposable appendages, the Scroll could be dictated to in order to create a message. If the message was private in nature, nopony would be able to listen in on the pony’s dictation and would also see a pixelated mouth, making it impossible to lip-read the conversation. “Receiver… Illusion,” Seeker said. The Scroll went blank and wrote the words ‘Send to: Illusion’ on the top. “Subject: Assistance required,” Seeker dictated to the ‘magic’ Scroll, “I am in a slight bind as my party has been challenged into a series of three contests in Old Ponyville. Our opponents are five in total while we are only four, hence my reason for contacting you. If you can lend your assistance it would be most appreciated. Send.” The scroll glowed and rolled itself up before its contents vanished. The scroll reopened and showed a blank sheet, ready for another message. Seeker rolled the Chat Scroll back up before putting it inside his inventory and pulled out his stats scroll and began looking at the one labelled ‘Specialization’. It offered four specializations: Saboteur, Mechanic, Turret Defender and Pyrotechnics Expert. Each one was uniquely different with its own set of abilities and bonuses. “I’ll pick… this one,” Seeker mumbled to himself as he pressed a hoof against the Saboteur profile. In an instant the other three profiles greyed out and vanished from the scroll, leaving only the Saboteur’s skills behind. The icons began to connect to each other, forming a web or a ‘Skill Tree’ as it was more colloquially known as. Specialization Gained!! Saboteur! For those who like things that go BOOM!! Seeker just blinked as his HUD showed new but greyed out skills after his Pot Shot ability. There was only a single ability ready for Seeker: ‘Grenade Pack.’ “Uh, this is going to be interesting,” Seeker mumbled as he left the inn and walked out into the streets. “Seeker!” The Changeling looked around and found his other party members waiting for him just a short distance away. The source of the shout was none other than Joystick. As he walked over to the group, he felt the familiar sensation of the Chat Scroll in his inventory. He pulled it out with a bit of magic and unfurled it. I am on my way. Seeker smiled meekly as he gave a customary thank you in response but failed to notice where he was going and bumped into Joystick’s chestplate. The group laughed at the Changeling’s absent-mindedness, Seeker even joined in half-heartedly as he got back onto his hooves. “How is everypony?” Seeker asked. “I am fine,” Mixer deadpanned. “Looking forward to getting drunk,” Solace said with a grin. “You look forward to anything regarding alcohol,” Mixer retorted, rolling his eyes. “I have actually been meaning to ask,” Seeker said, “How can you get drunk in a virtual world?” Joystick laughed, “The I.P.V. is a device that simulates the real world to an almost perfect degree thanks to some fancy bit of technology, magic and science. Not too mention the mind is a powerful thing when it’s told something that it can’t refute. “The I.P.V. sends electrical signals directed at the parts controlling the various senses in the brain. This in turn is interpreted by the brain and you ‘feel’ whatever you interact with in the game. It’s how you can feel your weapon in your hooves, the pain from an attack, your sense of taste even and also… it allows you to get drunk by tricking the brain into thinking the body is actually consuming the beverage!” Joystick laughed. “Not to mention your own alcohol tolerance is taken into account as well,” Solace grinned, “If they think a Minotaur can out drink me they have another thing coming.” “So then that leaves the PvP match and the race,” Mixer noted. Joystick nodded, “Yeah, any word from Illusion, Seeker?” Seeker smirked, “She’s coming. She was quite fast when I had first met her so I think she’d be best off doing the race while we do the PvP match.” The group exchanged smiles as a familiar buzzing came from overhead, making Seeker’s ears perk up and look for the source. It was Illusion, coming in fast and landing on the ground in front of them. She looked at Seeker with a small smile but it faded quickly as her gaze shifted to the ponies. “A river is like time,” She said, looking at the group. The group just looked at her with confused expressions, causing her to sigh. “It never loops, forever going forward,” Seeker replied, making Illusion smile slightly again, “This is Illusion, everypony. Illusion, how are you at racing?” “I will go as fast as I need,” She replied curtly. ‘I like her attitude,’ Mixer thought as the sides of his mouth curled up in a barely noticeable grin. ‘A real mascot of joy and goodwill isn’t she?’ Solace thought. “Okay then, I believe we are all set for those matches then,” Joystick said as he pulled out the Chat Scroll. In a few minutes the party of Fate’s Fortune met up with Divine Retribution just on the outskirts of town, near Whitetail Woods. Blackheart was giving Seeker a viscous look and made the customary ‘I am going to kill you’ gesture as he slowly ran his claw past his neck with his thumb sticking out. Rufus looked happy to see everypony, like a long lost friend had returned, “Have you all decided on who is doing what then? I have Blackheart, Terence over there and Carlos for the PvP match.” “I said a thousand times before, my name is Calamity!” ‘Carlos’ the Hippogriff whined. Turned out it was a lady’s voice. Terence was the red Minotaur and gave the group a smile as his name was mentioned. Seeker’s eyes wouldn’t leave the pony sized sword he had on his back, it terrified him despite he was in no true danger in a game. “Sure, Calamity,” Rufus replied with a grin, “I just like rustling your jimmies a little. Oh and I am going to be racing against you. Your turn to tell us your line-up.” Before Joystick could respond, Illusion walked up to Rufus and eyed him intently with a stoic expression, “You will lose the race against me.” “Doesn’t lack for confidence, does she?” Mixer whispered to Solace who merely shrugged. Rufus laughed, “You got spunk! I like that. I’ll see you at the starting line then Miss…?” “My name is of little importance to you,” She responded callously. Seeker’s ears drooped as he watched her stare down Rufus as if he were dirt. She was like their Blackheart and that could be very dangerous. “Okay, I win then you tell me your name. Sound good, lass?” Rufus asked. Illusion didn’t respond and walked back to the group, “Wow, you got a live one there. So I guess it’s the two Unicorns and the Changeling going against my guys in the arena then?” “The Skydome in Aeroslida?” Joystick asked, feeling a little annoyed that he would have to travel so far from his friends. Rufus shook his head, “There have been a few more additional arenas built over the past few game updates to keep up with the popularity of PvP matches. Old Ponyville has one just outside the village. Kills the authenticity of the village but it already died the moment they put the Zeppelin Depot in.” “Yeah, it does tend to kill the historical aspect of Ponyville,” Solace commented before looking at Tauros, “You ready to lose?” “When you face arrogance,” He began to respond, “Make them soil their pants!” “You have a strange speech pattern,” Seeker commented. “He only does it to practice for his seminars,” Terence explained, “He finds the rhyming helps his self-confidence messages stick.” “Waitwaitwait. You’re Iron Will?” Joystick asked with a shocked expression on his face. Tauros puffed out his chest proudly, “Iron Will’s the name. Training ponies is my game!” Mixer rolled his eyes, “He’s Iron Will alright.” “Well then now that introductions are done, shall we get cracking chaps?” Rufus inquired, clapping his paws together once to grab everypony’s attention. “Let’s do this thing!” Joystick cried out happily. <----> ---- ---- <----> The Old Ponyville PvP Arena was a large, circular coliseum made from varying types of timber to make it look less bland, the differing shades of brown complimenting each other instead of clashing. The stands were divided in rows and columns of benches with varnished, oaken finishes. The more ‘private’ stands were made of mahogany and the benches had velvet cushioning. In the centre of the Arena was a large open field of grass, kept at four millimetres in height. This made it soft on the hooves, despite the fact that it would just get torn to shreds during a match. Its only real purpose was to add to the Arena’s aesthetics. The Arena had four rooms for the players: two were to get whatever gear they had stored in player chests which could be found all over Equestrian Earth’s hub cities. Several players can access the same chest but they would only find their loot and spare gear inside. The other two were planning rooms, complete with whiteboards and an assortment of markers. Erasers were also supplied and nothing other than the players’ own gear were allowed to leave. “You ready, Seeker?” Joystick asked as Seeker examined his Bow Gun. “W-well… not really,” Seeker replied nervously, “I mean this is the first PvP I’ve ever done.” “Just keep a level head and shoot straight,” Mixer deadpanned as he pulled out a long sabre with a ruby blade and a tower shield comprised of topaz with emerald insets, “They won’t show you any mercy, so don’t give them any.” “Uh, Mixer?” Seeker asked. “Yes, what is it?” Mixer replied, raising one of his eyebrows. “Why aren’t you using your staff?” Seeker responded, pointing to the Unicorn’s new weapon loadout. “Joystick isn’t the only one who can tank,” Mixer replied with a small grin. “So then Seeker, did you find a specialization?” Joystick asked, “If not then you may have a harder time in the match and further down the line. We can help you find one if you want us to.” Seeker looked to his skills and activated Grenade Pack. In an instant his Bow Gun vanished as two khaki saddlebags appeared on his sides. The bags felt as if they weighed nothing at all and his wings still had free range of motion so he could still fly. Joystick whistled, “We got ourselves a bomber here folks.’ <----> ---- ---- <----> As players sat in their seats in the Arena, a loud and very excited voice rang out through the Arena, scaring birds from trees and shattering glasses. If the Arena was in the real Equestria and bound by its laws of physics, everypony’s eardrums would have burst into flames and melted out of their ears. “Hala hala hala!!!” It shouted, “Your host with the most… DJ-PON3 is in the hoooooouuuse!!!” A second, slightly annoyed voice came out after the DJ’s, “And I am Neon Lights. I am running colour commentary for the matches today… and trying to keep my co-host from getting too excited.” “Awww, don’t be such a stiff, Neon!” DJ-PON3 replied, “I just wanted to make an entrance.” “What you did, Vinyl… was almost render everypony here deaf,” Neon rebuked, “Please, just keep the volume a tad down ok?” Vinyl sighed, “Fine, I’ll tone it down a little. Now then everypony we have ourselves a number of matches today. We have Oblivion Knights versus The Reapers of Fate in a whole eight on eight Guild Match! But before we get to them we have a small treat for you. “We have a three on three PvP match coming up but that’s nothing special am I right? Wrong!” She shouted, loud enough to make Neon cringe and remove his earphones, “Whoops sorry there, Neon. As I was saying: this match is rather unique because it’s one of three different simultaneous matches happening in Old Ponyville! “We have Divine Retribution’s Everlasting Solace versus Tauros of Fate’s Fortune in a no holds barred drinking contest in the Drunken Mare. Then we have Illusion of Retribution going up against the leader of Fortune in a race through Whitetail Woods. Be careful you two, I hear parasprites are there this time of year. “Finally we have our little match here and get this folks. It’s a Changeling and two Unicorns from Retribution versus a Hippogriff, a Griffon and a Minotaur. I’m a Unicorn as well but come on, they’ll tear Retribution a new one. What do you think Neon?” Vinyl concluded, looking to her agitated co-host who donned his headgear again. Neon thought for a moment before responding, “Well this is Divine Retribution’s first ever PvP match to be honest and most of their members are still quite new.” Vinyl scoffed, “Noobs.” “Quite, Vinyl. As I was saying: Divine Retribution - although new - has a Crystal Mage, a Paladin and a Saboteur in the match line-up today. Fate’s Fortune on the other hoof has been in a variety of PvP matches so they know what to expect but they have a weak link in their group. Second in command Blackheart is known for getting himself into a lot of trouble as his temper is quite volatile.” “Like my first Bass Cannon,” Vinyl joked. Neon rolled his eyes, “Anyway. Calamity the Hippogriff is an Animal Caller. She can overwhelm Retribution with sheer numbers if given the chance to use any of her abilities. Blackheart is a Blademaster so he is deadly with any form of melee weapon. Terence is a Soldier, simple but deadly with swords and deals major damage against a single target. “Now on Retribution’s side is their leader, the Paladin called Joystick. I’ve heard he is relatively easy going… remind you of anypony, Vinyl?” Neon asked, giving Vinyl a look as she looked away and whistled a little tune in response, “I rest my case but I digress. Paladins can heal and take a lot of punishment so he is a valuable member of the group but also a high value target. “Next is the Crystal Mage known as Mixer. Not much to say about him other than he keeps to himself when not around his guild members. Crystal Mages are nasty DPS players and can take more damage than a conventional mage specializing in any other element. “Lastly we have Star Seeker the Changeling and Saboteur. This subclass is deadly to clusters of enemies as explosives are their forte. They don’t take damage too well but make up for it as they pound targets from range. All in all, Retribution has a more rounded group than Fortune’s one trick ponies. Pardon the pun.” “Well then, there you have it folks!” Vinyl shouted, a little less harshly as the players came out, “Now then everypony shake hooves, claws, or whatever you have and let’s get this party started!” Blackheart looked to Seeker with a demonic looking grin, “I am going to enjoy this.” Mixer stepped forward, “You’ll have to go through us first, featherbrain.” Blackheart growled as the players stepped back and Vinyl took out a subwoofer that stood as tall as she did, “Alright then everypony… Fight!!” A massive ear-splitting blast and beam of blue energy came from Vinyl’s almighty Bass Cannon, making everypony cringe and get down as it blasted their eardrums. <----> ---- ---- <----> The Drunken Mare was packed with spectators as they watched Solace and Tauros take their seats, both grinning confidently. The first round of virtual alcohol came in large mugs, holding a maximum of two pints of golden goodness. Tauros looked at Solace, “You can still quit. I doubt you can handle it.” Solace raised an eyebrow and chuckled, “Iron Will… meet my Iron Constitution!” The players heard Vinyl’s Bass Cannon echoing through Old Ponyville to signal the start of the three matches. Solace and Tauros grabbed their respective mugs and looked at each other. “May the best drinker win,” Solace said as he began downing the mug with a look of pure bliss on his face. <----> ---- ---- <----> Illusion looked down the trail of the track she and Rufus were going to be using. She barely responded to Rufus’ questions regarding her or her motives in being with Divine Retribution. She knew mind games and he was a complete amateur if he was actually trying to make her change guilds or trip her up. The track had a calm, serene look to it as it awaited the players to hear the starting signal so that they may begin. “Okay before we start my dear the race has two simple rules,” Rufus said to Illusion with a twisted looking smile, “The first rule is to not directly attack the other player. The second is no flying so no using your wings in any way.” Illusion merely nodded to confirm she understood which made Rufus raise an eyebrow at her, “You don’t talk all that much do you?” “Only when there is something worth saying,” She curtly replied as she stared down the track like a hunter stalking prey. “We-” Rufus was cut off as Vinyl’s Bass Cannon reverberated through the area, shaking birds from the trees, “Here we go!” The pair ran off into the forest, kicking up dust from their hooves as the race began. <----> ---- ---- <----> Blackheart brought his hammer down on Mixer who parried it with his tower shield and sent Blackheart almost faceplanting to the floor as the hammer slid across the surface of the shield. Mixer brought his sabre down to Blackheart’s neck but neglected to notice Terence’s blade coming for him. As the huge blade came down at him, Joystick intervened by ramming into him with his Shining Beacon ability active to negate most of the damage he received from his assault. Seeker fired off Pot Shot at Calamity’s horde of crows as they tried to attack the group. The crowd cheered on for whoever they supported in the bout as none gave the other any quarter. “This is really a hot battle!” Vinyl cried out cheerfully, “What ability is the Paladin using, Neon?” “Shining Beacon is an ability that increases damage resistance and in the world makes the user a target making it a perfect tactic for tank players,” Neon responded, “That doesn’t work here in a PvP match though but it is still useful in combat.” Blackheart changed targets as Seeker was busy with Calamity and bought down his hammer, using his Hammer of Thor ability. “Seeker!” Joystick called out, trying to warn his teammate. Seeker turned around and rolled to the side to avoid the incoming hit. The hammer almost grazed his armour as it collided with the ground, creating a shockwave of lightning to burst forth and send him flying into the air. The Changeling collided with the nearby wall with a sickening crunch. Mixer ran up to Seeker and stood fast as Blackheart came down again with the same move. But Mixer had another idea. Mixer shoved his sabre’s blade into the ground, calling on his Fortress ability. Blackheart had too much momentum and his face collided with the wall of topaz, stooping him from finishing his attack. He seemed to hang there for a second before his face slid off and hit the ground. “Th-thanks,” Seeker said as he got up and readied his gun. “Like I said: ‘they won’t show you mercy, so don’t show them any.’” Seeker nodded and used his Grenade Pack ability. As his weapon switched to a pair of saddlebags, his skill list changed completely. His list showed a total of five skills: Cluster Grenades, Incendiary Grenade, Blind Grenade, Smoke Grenade and lastly Freeze Grenade. “Oh ho! Looks like the Changeling is going for something with a bit more ‘umph!’” Vinyl shouted in glee as Seeker flew upwards, “Neon, tell the crowd what party favours the Changeling is bringing to the table.” “As I said earlier, Saboteurs excel with explosives and what he has there are two saddlebags packed with them,” Neon replied, “That pack makes the Saboteur both versatile and deadly.” Seeker reached into the pack and activated Incendiary Grenade. The grenade that came out of the saddlebags was oval in shape and clear as glass. Inside of the glass was a raging fire, just waiting to give grief to whomsoever crossed the thrower. Seeker aimed at Calamity as she sent a stampede of bears at Joystick who was dodging them as best he could. Joystick couldn’t dodge the angry bears for too long as sweat dripped from his forehead. He knew that the next bear that came at him would more than likely take him out. He dodged again but tripped and mentally prepared himself as a bear barrelled towards him, death written in its eyes. As it got up to maul the Paladin, it burst into flame. In fact it was on the edge of an area encased in a roaring inferno of orange, yellow and blue hues. Calamity flew up and out of it, her fur and feathers ablaze. Before the Hippogriff could recover, a hailstorm of rubies came down on her, sending her to the ground. She collided on the ground with a thump. She gathered her wits and got back up, only to have Joystick’s armoured head get acquainted with her face. He had enough mana to activate Shining Beacon once more before he rammed into her. She flew backwards and into the wall, her body lighting up brightly before it shattered like glass, sending fragments all over the Arena floor. Terence got back onto his hooves, still groggy from when Mixer smashed his face in with his shield before helping Seeker with Blackheart. “Aaaaand down goes Calamity!” Vinyl shouted, “Looks like Divine Retribution knows how to work together. Are you taking notes here, Blackheart?” Blackheart growled at Vinyl’s comment and flew up to Seeker, planning on making him hurt. Blackheart failed to realise that Griffons – although tougher than a Changeling, regardless of class – were not as fast as Changelings in the air or on the ground. With the added weight of his equipped hammer, his wild charge was similar to watching a tortoise running after an eagle as it flew over a cliff. Seeker banked left and avoided Blackheart’s rage filled attack. Seeker twisted his body to turn himself upside down and reached into his Grenade pack for his Cluster Grenades. As he threw his ‘weapon’ instead of a single grenade, it was three that collided with Blackheart’s body, detonating in a shower of fragments and heat. Seeker fell onto the ground as he was too low to the ground to land properly but the combined force from his grenades launched Blackheart further up into the air. Seeker rolled to the side as a large blade came into view with force. His dodge saved him from a critical blow but the force of Terence’s Fissure ability put him in the middle of a crack in the ground as fire burst from it. Seeker got burned as his body became encased in fire. He cried out in agony as the I.P.V. simulated the pain in order to make the game as real as possible. Joystick used his Divinity’s Light ability to heal Seeker as best he could. The flames died out eventually as Terence brought his blade down on Seeker’s shield. The force alone was able to crack the Crystal Mage’s shield down the middle but it held firm in defiance. The attack’s damage went though the shield and hurt Mixer regardless as Perfect Offense was an armour piercing ability. Blackheart fell to the ground with a crash but he was still in the game. As he got up he saw Seeker’s Smoke Grenade collide with Terence. As the Minotaur got out of the smoke cloud, he got jumped by Mixer’s shield as it bashed him across the jaw and right into Joystick’s shortsword as it connected with his throat. Terence burst in a shower of light just like Calamity as he reappeared in the equipment room they were using. “You’re dead!” Blackheart shouted as he charged at them with his hammer but he tripped and fell down before reaching his target, “What in hell?” He looked down at this legs to find them encased in crystal by Mixer’s Hinder ability, whose secondary function is his Encase ability. Before Blackheart could recover, a wall of crystals erupted from the ground, surrounding him. “The stage is set everypony!” Mixer shouted as his sabre was hilt deep in the ground. Joystick used the last of his mana to use Divinity’s Light on the crystals. Blackheart shouted in pain as he was blinded by the bright light. Seeker used his Grenade Pack ability to switch back to his Bow Gun. He pulled down on the bolt to load the next round and fired off Pot Shot at the wall, shattering it into thousands of pieces as they pierced Blackheart’s armour. Blackheart gave one last shout as he vanished from the battlefield. “Aaaaaaaaand we have ourselves some winners!!” Vinyl shouted in joy, “Looks like it doesn’t take experience to win a match. It takes teamwork!” <----> ---- ---- <----> Solace and Tauros were drinking for everything they were worth. Empty mugs piled on the floor below, each respective pile could be used to make a tower taller than Tauros but they showed very little sign of slowing down as the drinks kept coming. “How can a pony like you keep up with me?” Tauros asked, “I thought Pegasi were lightweights because they weigh so little.” Solace chuckled as he downed another two pints, “When we finish here, I’ll tell you. Sound fair?” Tauros chuckled as yet another round came to the table, “Deal.” The pair kept on drinking and baiting each other into giving up but none of them seemed like they were going to any time soon. The inn was almost deafeningly loud as spectators chanted and cheered for them as more mugs came to sate their nigh unquenchable thirsts. It wasn’t till the twenty-first mug came that Tauros was looking a bit groggier than Solace who was finding it a little harder to hold his mug to his lips without getting a minor case of the shakes. “You ready to give up, Solace?” Tauros asked as his eyes were beginning to look a little glazed over. “Nah, I can… keep going,” Solace replied as he finally downed the drink. “Good… cause I’m not either,” Tauros said as he lifted another full mug. As the wood and metal-clad container reached the Minotaur’s lips, he faltered slightly but he inhaled deeply and began to drink. As he took a large gulp of the beverage, he placed it back down on the table with a smug look on his face. “I’ll never… quit,” He said as he finally keeled over and crashed onto the floor, completely knocked out and snoring loudly. Sadly his mug was still in his grip and it came down with him, covering his face in liquor. Solace scoffed a little as he looked at Tauros and took another swig of liquor to finish it off, “Lightweight my flank.” <----> ---- ---- <----> Players watched from zeppelins of varying design above as the two racers charged through the Whitetail Woods. They jumped over fallen trees, muddy puddles in the ground and the like but they kept pace with each other. “Miss… you are… the best… competition I’ve had in ages…” Rufus complimented through pained breaths as he and Illusion were neck and neck. Illusion didn’t respond as she kept her eyes focused on the track as it bent to the left and into a few more broken trees. This was a deliberate move as the programmers designed it to make it a little bit more interesting than a simple straight track with nothing to make it somewhat more difficult. Then there were the next bout of interference: Parasprites. They were nasty little creatures with a penchant for consuming every bit of food within spitting distance. Unfortunately the developers decided to change their behaviour to have them attack players and eat their health instead. The worst part about them was that they came in groups of a minimum of five a piece. Illusion rolled to the side as a bunch of parasprites flew towards her, trying to drain her health. “They’re… annoying… aren’t they?” Rufus commented as he slid under them, avoiding them by the skin of his teeth. Illusion still didn’t respond to the Diamond Dog as she slid down an embankment and leapt over a ditch, Rufus not far behind. The Diamond Dog was still managing to keep up but Illusion’s lighter frame meant she gained more ground as she leapt over obstacles. ‘I can’t lose,’ He thought through clenched teeth, ‘I won’t lose.’ As Illusion gained a little more ground on Rufus, her vision began to blur slightly and a case of light-headedness assaulted her. Before she could figure out why, she collided with a tree. She heard laughter as Rufus ran past… a long wooden, gnarled staff in his teeth. “Why that no good…” Illusion muttered as her vision corrected itself, “Damned Illusionist. You said no attacking!” Rufus laughed, his voice beginning to fade, “I said no attacking but you ran into that tree on your own accord!” She got up and began to try and catch up to Rufus but she was quickly running out of track. Five bends and one wide, deep trench separated them from the finish line. She saw Rufus as a small dot in the distance but a snide grin formed on her lips. She activated her Mirror Image ability and kept on running. Rufus knew Illusion had no hope of catching up as he ran around one of the bends. His enormous grin instantly fell as he saw Illusion charge straight past him. His jaw then decided to acquaint itself with the floor as Illusion went out his vision as she went around one of the bends. “H-How?” He panted as he tried to run faster, coming up to the trench. From behind Rufus, Illusion came up towards him at breakneck speed, her Terminal Velocity ability active. Rufus leapt as he attempted to clear the trench. Illusion leapt up after him, landing on his back and kicking him down. “Y-” Rufus’ outburst was cut off as his body impacted with the trench wall, his muzzle almost buried in the dirt. “Never cheat a Changeling,” Illusion warned as she carried on to the finish line, a satisfied smile on her face. <----> ---- ---- <----> “We won!” Joystick shouted in glee, hugging Mixer and Seeker. “We know, we were there,” Mixer deadpanned, “Now can you let us go?” “Sorry…” Joystick replied sheepishly as he released his grip on his guild members. “I’m glad to see you’re all happy,” A voice came from behind them as the trio left the Arena. Solace had a grin that was a mile wide, plastered to his face. “Judging by that expression on your face, you were successful, Solace?” Mixer inquired. “Yup! Never challenge a pony from Stalliongrad to a drinking contest if you plan on walking home!” He replied proudly. “What about Illusion?” Seeker asked. “Haven’t se- there she is,” Solace noticed Illusion walking up to them, a small grin on her face as well, “Looks like you were victorious.” “Indeed, the dog thought he could cheat me to win so I showed him what happens when you pull tricks on me,” She replied curtly. “Yo players!” Vinyl’s voice shouted, gathering everypony’s attention, a small chest in her magic grip as she walked up to them, “Your prize.” Joystick opened the chest to reveal a clear key with ruby insets on the bow of the key. The bit consisted of three arrow tips and it had no shoulder to stop it from going too far into a Crystal Lock. “So they gave you the key to give to us?” Mixer asked, “How strange.” “Whatever dude,” Vinyl said as she shrugged her shoulders, “I was told to give this to you once you all finished, regardless of the outcome.” “Wait a minute. They wanted you to give it to us even if we lost?” Joystick asked, shocked. “You need to turn up the speech volume in your settings,” Vinyl retorted, “Yes that is what I’m saying.” “Well should we see Fate’s Fortune again we should thank them,” Solace said with a smile. “This seems awfully suspicious to me,” Illusion commented, “A Crystal Key is meant to be untradeable. They can’t give it away even with the wager system in place for PvP matches. Crystal Keys aren’t included.” “Is it a fake then?” Seeker asked, looking at the ornate key. “No that’s the real deal. I’ve seen a few but haven’t been able to obtain one,” Illusion continued, “I say we go to whatever you wanted to unlock with it to make sure. If I’m wrong we can track them down and fix the issue. If I’m right though… it opens a whole can of worms.” Vinyl shook her head, “It’s real, chick. I check every item put into the wager system here and this is as legit as they come. But there is something else on my mind that’s narly in all the wrong ways. “I check the guilds and players with Neon before every match. So we know who’s going against who, ya know?” Vinyl said with a frown on her face, “Fate’s Fortune is new… made two days ago. What I didn’t understand is that their records are far too good for mere noobs and they’re IP addresses aren’t in the system. “That’s not the strange part. Anypony can be good and get strong quickly if they pick the game up quickly enough and have an affinity for it,” Vinyl continued, her expression growing morbid as she removed her glasses to reveal her red eyes, “Fate’s Fortune disbanded five minutes ago… the players? Gone… there’s no trace of them, not even an account for their subscription fees. Whoever they were, I think you five were the target…”