Equestrian Earth the MMORPG

by Chaotic Note

*Chapter 10: Gaming with Trixie [Revised]

A Chaotic Production presents...

Second Arc's Theme Song - Code Geass - Opening 1 (HQ)

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Last Morning
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Rainbow Dash kept on waving as the train carried itself away, towards the shining castle known as Canterlot. She kept the smiling poker face she wore up, until the train turned around the bend of trees, completely out of sight. She dropped the faux grin, and gave Applejack a demanding look. Applejack, despite being an honest mare, had a sly shine in her eyes.

“We’re going to be tagging along, aren’t we?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Applejack simply nodded, putting an end to her suspicions. “Of course we’re gonna. I am a might too curious of what Trixie has been up to lately. We haven’t seen her in a while,” she then looked at Pinkie Pie expectantly. “Got everything we need?”

The party pony nodded immediately, absolutely bursting with excitement. It was as if her body was fueled by three certain blank-flanks on the verge of acquiring a cutie mark. “Yepperoni! I got everything we could possibly need for this adventure.”

She pulled out five pairs of saddlebags from out of nowhere. It earned her a couple of perplexed looks, but her friends simply chalked it up to Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. She handed them all their supplies, everything they could need for the trip.

Rainbow Dash opened up hers to see a bunch of high tech-looking equipment. The bag was full of gadgets, with some of them had blinking lights and wizzy looking levers. Others looked like they may have come straight out of a Con Mane movie. Wondering about the gadgets, she raised her eyebrows at Pinkie. “Where the heck did you get these?”

Pinkie Pie had a sly smile on her face as she spoke, “I had some spare time to make these swell babies. Twilight helped me earlier with some blueprints.” She pulled out a couple of blue scrolls out of her bag. The party mare’s oval eyes brightened up like stars, “I asked Twilight if I could borrow them. I knew that they would be helpful for our vacation to the Crystal Empire! Where did you think I got that suit?”

“For the last time Pinkie,” Applejack chided. “It wasn’t a vacation.”

“Oh I don’t know about that Applejack,” Rarity gracefully nodded, agreeing with Pinkie Pie. “The Empire was absolutely gorgeous, and the crystal ponies were absolutely divine!”

Rainbow Dash went through the bags, and pulled out a black, latex suit. Similar to the one Pinkie Pie wore during their adventures at the Crystal Empire. It was meant for the most stealthy and devilishly slim of all ponies. In other words, it looked to be a very tight fit, “Seriously Pinkie? This is wa-a-ay too tight to for us. There’s no way we could fit in these!”

“Oh, don’t worry your prismatic mane, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity assured her friend. “I’ve made these fabulous suits to fit for all sizes.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and roughly stowed the suit back in her bag before she asked, “So how exactly are we gonna get to Canterlot? The train just left.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Applejack added, with utmost confidence in her voice. “Ah’ve already got that covered.”

She lead the group of mares around the alleyways, weaving her way between a few buildings. They soon arrived at a green hill with a large, familiar, hot-air balloon standing on top of its crown. It had a pair of thick reins strapped to it, ready to be worn by a pair of escorting ponies. The farmer gave Rainbow Dash an apologetic smile.

“Sorry Rainbow, but you and Fluttershy are going to be playing chauffeur for us.”

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Present
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“And that’s how we got here,” Rainbow summed up her story. She sized up Twilight, and cautiously sniffed her. “Are you sure you two didn’t do anything last night?”

Twilight felt her eye twitched a little at the vibrant mare’s question. This was the fifth time she’d been asked today. “For the last time, Rainbow Dash, I didn’t commit any adultery!”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Rainbow Dash didn’t sound very convinced. “A lot could have happened at night.” The blue pegasus adopted a smirk upon her lips before adding, “You did always seem to strike me as the crazy one.”

Twilight groaned in aggravation, “It was only that one time. I really did believe I was going to be sent to Magic Kindergarten!”

Rainbow trotted over to Trixie’s limp body, and started harassing it with pokes. The only rewarding reaction she got out of her was a couple of light snores. Twilight thought it was a bit cute. She wanted to lean forward to get a closer look, but she snapped out of the trance as quickly as it came. She remembered she had a job to do.

Trixie’s unconscious form glowed purple, as the librarian levitated the tired mare over her back. She gently lowered her, adjusting the body so that it was a snug fit. Twilight looked around for Trixie’s friends, and found them passed out at a nearby booth. They’ll probably be fine. She thought about how Rainbow Dash might tell the others about this little incident. Not wanting to make the others worry, Twilight gave her a pleading look.

“Look Rainbow, you have to promise me that you won’t tell the others,” Twilight begged. “I can’t imagine how they would react.”

Rainbow grinned. “Ah don’t worry about it. My lips are sealed.” She then poked Twilight in the ribs with her elbow. “Although, I guess this means I have leverage, don’t I?”

“Oh shut up, Rainbow,” Twilight deadpanned. She walked past her chuckling friend.

“Relax Twilight,” Rainbow jokingly saluted her. “You have my word. I won’t tell anypony.”

Twilight felt her fear fading quickly, and her disapproving glare was quickly replaced with a friendly grin. “Alright, I trust you.”

The rainbow mare nodded, “We should get Trixie to Princess Luna, shouldn’t we?”

“Yup,” Twilight confirmed, nodding herself. “We should find the others though. Where are they anyway?”

Rainbow Dash answered her question by letting the bookworm follow her through the city. Within a few trots around the city’s blocks, the two mares (and one passed out magician) found themselves reunited with their friends. They shared a brief group hug, happy to see each other okay. Twilight then shortly explained her situation at Canterlot, twisting a few words here and there around the part where she was being cuddled by a drunken Trixie. Rainbow nodded at each one, backing Twilight’s words up. She felt a bit guilty about lying to her friends, but it was a white lie. She didn’t want them to get any suspecting thoughts of what possibly could have happened at the bar.

“Well, at least you and Trixie made up,” Applejack summed up her thoughts simply.

“Yes,” Twilight agreed. She turned around and made her way for the castle, “We should go soon. I suspect that Princess Luna is waiting for Trixie.”

It had been an hour since Twilight and her friends met up with the night princess, and they were all around a table in Luna’s bedroom, having a cup of tea near them. Celestia was also nearby at hoof, quietly listening to Twilight’s nightly adventure and her friends’ tagalong. She was sipping a cup of jasmine tea, enjoying the soothing, warm taste of the liquid. Luna seemed to be at rest as well. She was pretty calm, despite the fact that her student got a little tipsy. Speaking of the mare, Trixie was soundly asleep on Luna’s plush mattress.

“Is that all?” Luna asked, not sounding a bit worried.

“That’s all?” Twilight asked. It was unheard of that mentor, such a Luna, wouldn’t be concerned about her student’s misconduct. Drinking counted as misconduct, right?

“Well, I must admit that this wasn’t the first time Trixie has tried to drown her sorrows with the bottle,” Luna explained solemnly. “This has happened a couple of times before. I reminded her more than a hooful of times, to halt this troublesome habit of hers, but I ultimately can’t interfere with my student’s own personal life,” She rose up, and looked at Applejack. “In all cases that I had my guards pick her up, they told me that most drinks she had were apple cider of your family’s brand. Tell me, are they addicting?”

“No, your highness,” the farmer assured her. “Apple Family Apple Cider is now always non-addictive. We’ve recently found a way to rid the alcoholic side-effects. The only thing in that bottle that makes ponies come back to it is its sparkling taste.”

“How’s that possible?” Twilight asked, her head tilting to the side slightly.

Applejack tipped her hat to the lavender mare with a sly wink, “That’s a blood-family secret you’re asking there, Twilight.”

Celestia finished her cup, and started to get up from her kneeling and spoke softly, “Well, that was a nice story you’ve shared with us. It must have been a nice adventure you’ve all had, but as much as I would love to stick around, I have duties to attend to.” She gave each of the mares a sincere smile before walking out the chambers.

Luna chuckled as she got up, ”Well I don’t have any today.” She gave them a playful look, “Say, it has been a while since I’ve played Equestrian Earth. I’m sure by now that somepony must have passed my level, and I’m not about to let that slide past me.”

“Wait a second. You’re asking us for help?” Rainbow Dash quickly asked.

“Well, it’s not every day that I get to travel with some companions, in-game.”

Luna lowered her horn next to Trixie’s. Her horn began to glow a soft blue, causing Trixie’s eyes to wake up. Luna retracted her head, having her magic continue on. A storm of I.P.Vs flew out from underneath Luna’s bed, each of them floating next to Twilight, her friends, Trixie, and Luna. Trixie groaned as she rubbed the side of her temple.

“What time is it?” Trixie asked drearily, shifting her hooves to rub her eyes.

“Adventure time,” Luna replied, a huge smile stretched across her face.

Twilight went through the familiar flow of data as she entered the game. The usual, female, digital welcome she received sounded in her ears again, just like so many times as she went into the world of Equestrian Earth. She looked around the green area of Aeroslida’s park to find her team mates waiting at the central fountain. Twilight trotted up to each of them, taking care to remind herself of their current levels.

Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all a bit behind her and Rainbow. They should probably catch up soon. The prismatic mare herself was still at the same level of 22. She flew a little bit above the others, flapping her wings as she went along. Twilight turned to Luna, and had her ears perk up in surprise. Luna was at a whopping level of 55. Way too high and elite, compared to Twilight and her friends. They turned towards Luna, noticing her level as well.

“Wow princess,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “You’re like- a giant! How did you get to that level so fast?”

The night princess simply shrugged, but she had a clever smile painted on her face, “I get around.” She sat down on her haunches, and brought her forehooves together. She spread them out, forming a blue, holographic screen in front of her. She appeared to be peering down a list as she spoke to herself, “Hmm, let see. Who’s above me?” She muttered a few names rapidly before grimly pausing at the one above her name, “Oh. No way. Sentinel?” She viciously grabbed the screen, and drew it right up to her, giving it a mean look. As if she couldn’t believe the truth in front of her. “I knew that colt was avoiding me the past days for a reason! How could he betray me like this?!”

“Um,” Trixie nervously started. “Maybe he was just simply doing his job? You once told me he was a Code Warrior righ- Mmmhmm!“ the rest of her sentence were placed on hold by the power of a navy blue hoof in her mouth.

“Shush!” Luna cried out. “Nopony was supposed to know that! Not even I was supposed to tell you that!”

“Um, princess?” Twilight asked. “He told us a while ago.”

“Told you what, dear?” Rarity asked, with curious eyebrows curling up.

“That he’s a ga- !” Pinkie tried to chirp. She also had a hoof shoved up her mouth, courtesy of a panicking Luna.

“What has you on edge?” Applejack asked Luna warily. “She was about to tell us something.”

“Ooh nothing,” Luna covered up her anxiety with a mask of a smile.

Luna whispered something in Pinkie’s ear in a quick manner. Pinkie nodded the best she can, with her head in Luna’s tight grip. It was released when Luna came up to Twilight. “Say um, can I possibly take a quick moment of your time?”

“Su-u-u-ure?” Twilight replied, certainly unsure if she wanted to have a private chat with Luna.

Her exit was closed however as Luna dragged her away to a few meters away from the others, not only earning her a couple strange looks from Twilight’s friends, but also from the surrounding players.

“Twilight, be honest with me. How many others know about G.M.s?” Luna asked.

“Um, so far only Spike, me, and Rainbow I believe.” Twilight gave her a curious look. “What’s so important about keeping Sentinel’s identity a secret?”

Luna was looking very serious. “N- nothing really. Code Warriors are actually supposed to be kept a secret because of the nature of their job.”

“What’s their job again? I kinda forgot,” Spike said.

“To keep an eye out for hackers,” Luna drew a large circle in the ground. “This circle represents the world of Equestrian Earth.” She drew a couple of other, smaller shapes in the bigger circle. “These smaller circles are the hackers. You know, the quirky cheaters who try to find tiny nicks in the system of the world. The producers are afraid that they might be able to try to find a way to abuse the system, like make cash out of it for nothing. Some parts of the game economy revolves around real money. If one were to, say, duplicate a very rare item, he could get very rich. Very quickly.” Luna then drew a bunch of crude squares. “This is where the Code Warriors comes to play. Their job is to rid a hacker’s account as quick as possible. They keep their identities hidden by playing the identity as a player of the world. They’re fast, efficient, and sometimes ruthless. However, they’re not immune to being removed from the game as well. Not too long ago, a ‘banning’ program utilizing stolen code was being used by a few hackers to permanently sever a player’s connection to the visor, thus preventing them from using that inflicted visor again. A few unfortunate ponies who experienced this claimed that the sensation was quite… shocking.”

This was all disturbing news to Twilight. She was now worried for her friend’s safety, and Luna’s as well. “But princess, wouldn’t you be an important target as well?”

“Ah, don’t worry about me Twilight,” Luna smirked slyly. “The banning code that was leaked was locked in a beta stage. So far, any hackers with it can only remove a player by PKing them with a melee attack.” Luna then chuckled softly, “My only concern is the one who had made such a thing.”

“Do you know who it is?”

“Unfortunately, I do not. Sentinel has worked with a professional team of agents to track the IP address, locating the area where the hacker had published it to the web. The foalish hacker didn’t think through his plan quite well when he posted it on a forum, boasting that he had found a way to get rid of ‘nasty’ players and Code Warriors. The bad part was that the IP address led them and the guards to an abandoned shack in the middle of the forest. Any traces of anypony living there was already long gone. We still don’t know who had made it.”

Twilight nodded in understanding, “So, I should keep my friends close, right?”

“And improve on your skills. Remember, hackers are players too. You can PK them,” Luna winked. “Which means you and I will have to get stronger.”

Twilight smile quickly widened, “I’ll gladly take you up on that challenge.” She changed her smile to a serious frown, “But that means that we’ll have to tell my friends as well. They could be in danger of being banned as well.”

Luna adopted a disapproving look, and then calmed down to a serene one. “Alright Twilight, if you believe they’ll keep Sentinel’s identity a secret. I would hate to see him get banned by some swindler.”

Twilight gave Luna her word. The both returned to the group, and told them of about everything she and the night princess had just talked about. After a long explanation, Pinkie Pie raised her hoof.

“Yes, Pinkie?” Twilight asked. She wondered what kind of question the party mare had.

“Twilight, couldn’t the developers just send out a widespread news bulletin about this mess?” Pinkie questioned innocently.

Everypony except Luna gave her a curious look. It was surprising that the overly excited mare would have such an intriguing question in her mind. Twilight looked towards Luna. Luna only looked exhausted, as if she had this conversation a hundred times.

“Sentinel told me that his superiors didn’t approve of the idea,” she groaned in exasperation. “They’re worried about their image. They believe a message like that will have players doubting the safety of the game, and will soon quit playing. It will be disastrous step-back on their plans.”

“That’s just crazy talk,” Applejack objected. “Everypony should know about it.”

“I know it is,” Luna agreed. “But they’re not willing to take a step further in this matter. Our only hope is that the G.M.s will locate the hacker, and destroy the code, as soon as possible,” she looked at each of them in the eye. “Just promise me that wouldn’t go spreading this around. I worried that somepony might panic and spread word of this. It will cause mass hysteria.”

They all gave her their honest word, in the form of a Pinkie Promise. Luna sighed in relief as if she got a huge boulder off her chest.

“So where are we off to this time, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.

She carefully considered her options. Aeroslida was a great place, but she could have a fresh change of scenery. They could all use a new spot of training for the others to grind in. Three certain mares in the group would surely appreciate a higher rate of experience.

“Luna, you’re a level 55. Do you know a good spot for us to train in?” Twilight asked.

“Well, when I was at your level, I was around Trottingham at the time,” Luna pointed at the general direction the sky-tram station’s location. “We should easily arrive there by chariots.”

The ride to Trottingham was a tad bit long, but Twilight didn’t mind. The weather was very fair to her traveling team today as the warm rays of the digital sun hugged their forms. The chariot space was large enough to fit all eight mares into it, with walking space to spare. Twilight noticed how Luna’s nametag above her was different. It read Moon Shimmer.

“Princess?”

“Hmm?”

“How come the name tag above you isn’t your name?” Twilight knew for certain that their name tags were the same as their real world name. At least until now.

“Oh. This?” Luna poked the name tag. “It’s just the nickname option I’ve set before. You can change what you want your name to be in the settings.”

“Oh.” Twilight went back to staring at the clouds.

It wasn’t long for the blue scenery to decide to change to a greener setting. Twilight looked around her to see a small but bustling town, filled with players and npcs alike. Trottingham wasn’t as impressive as the sky island metropolis, but it was just as lively. A number of players were going around, chatting with the npcs in a lively manner. It appears that the npc’s dialogue system has drastically improved, seeing how some players were having very extended conversations with them. Twilight couldn’t tell if she was still playing the game, or if it was real. The only digital mark that reminded her that Equestrian Earth was a game were the nametags, HUD, and various holographic screens that popped up every once and a while.

“So princess, where to?” Applejack asked, anxious to get better.

Luna courteously gestured towards a stack of luscious green hills near the town, letting the group know where they were heading next. The grass seemed to be brighter than any other. Twilight didn’t know why she thought that, it just came to mind. That wasn’t the most impressive thing about the hills though. What caught her attention were the towering waterfalls that seemed to be falling from the sky. No, not seemed. The waterfalls were falling from the sky. To make it even more mind boggling, they were all in the colors of the rainbow. Even from a distance, Twilight could hear the thunder of the torrent pounding the hills with what seemed to be an infinite amount of water. Gallons upon gallons of rainbow juice were being watered down on the bright hills. To make it even more beautiful, the light of the sun bounced off the sheets of water, causing a multitude of rainbows to dance among them. She couldn’t help but remember seeing this before.

“Isn’t that Winsome Falls?” Applejack asked. “I remember camping there once before in real life. Mah little sister sure enjoyed it.”

“That is correct Applejack,” Luna confirmed. She turned to regard the falls sagely, “Truly, a beautiful sight to behold. The hills shine bright due to the expansive supply of water being poured down from Cloudsdale.”

Twilight looked up towards the sky, where the waterfalls were being poured from. Sure enough, she could make out a group of cumulonimbus clouds stacked together, supporting a huge city in the sky.

“Cloudsdale huh?” Twilight wondered. “Is it possible to go up there?”

“Yes,” Luna replied. “But right now, we should be concerned with our training,” Luna started to go off in a different direction. “Right now, we should focus on gathering potions needed for the journey. Anypony want to come with?”

Pinkie Pie was the first one to raise her hoof. “Oh! I’ll go! I need to look around for more ingredients.”

Rarity was next. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. I certainly do have an eye for these things.”

“Wait a second,” Rainbow Dash interrupted the conversation. “What are we supposed to do then?”

“Well Dash,” Applejack replied. “We could always take a look around town. There’s bound to be some side-quests we can take in Winsome Falls.”

The mares agreed, and said their temporary good-byes before heading off to their objectives. Despite the game’s version of Trottingham being based upon a old version of the town, it was still pretty spacious. It left Twilight’s group running around left and right, asking around for any side-quests they could do. Some were easy, while others sounded downright difficult. An npc merchant even demanded for his Zap Apple to be dipped in a certain, golden pond, for the sake of making the apple and its seeds to be more valuable.

“You better be careful though,” the npc warned her. “I’ve heard rumors of a powerful monster guarding the pool. You best be on your guard.”

Twilight paused to breath for a moment, wheezing with each one. “W- will do.”

“Alright then, you take care now! Oh, and make sure you- hey! Where are you going??”

Twilight didn’t even want to wait to hear what else he had to say. She just tiredly waved good bye to the stallion, and walked off to the planned meeting spot. Her friends dragged along with her. Out of all the ponies, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the only that seemed active. The cyan mare was doing occasional back flips in mid-air as they all shuffled forward in the dirt.

“Come on you slow pokes,” she complained. “We’ve only went around a couple of blocks.”

“I counted fifteen, Dash,” Twilight moaned. “Why am I so tired? Don’t we usually all have the same running stamina in games?”

“I think this game actually bases your running stamina from real life,” Fluttershy whispered. “It’s just multiplied a few times.”

“Th- that’s just a bit too realistic.” The purple mare almost tripped as she continued, “Why can’t we just have unlimited sprint?”

Rainbow Dash laughed a little at Twilight’s gloom. For some reason though, that happiness ended shortly. The usually confident athlete suddenly tensed, her eyes shot daggers towards a general direction. Twilight lifted her head to see three pegasi coming their way, all them were stallions carrying short swords in their scabbards. They had all donned various types of leather armor.

“Hey hey hey!” the brown one in the middle exclaimed. “If it isn’t Rainbow Crash. How’s it going? Bumped into a few clouds these days?”

“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash muttered loudly with venom. “What are you guys doing here?”

This time, the darker brown stallion spoke. “Hey now, we’re just playing the game like everypony else. There’s no harm in that, right Rainbow Crash?”

Twilight could feel Rainbow’s resentment growing by the minute. She was almost literally radiating waves of rage.

“How about you guys just leave?” Dash angrily suggested.

“Right now? But we were having such a lovely chat,” the grey stallion rebutted, sarcasm marking his voice.

“Yeah! What Score said!” the light brown one added. “Why don’t we catch up for old time’s sake, Rainbow Crash?”

Rainbow couldn’t take it any longer. With a shout of rage, she swept in for a deadly strike, but not before Applejack grabbed her by the tail, keeping a tight hold on the multi-colored tail by the teeth.

“Naw hol ih righ har Ash,” Applejack demanded through her teeth before pulling the riled-up mare down. “There’s no need to waste your energy on these jerks,” she shot an angry glare at the trio. “Now what was that all about?”

“Yeah, why are you picking on my friend?” Twilight asked, demanding to know what’s going on.

“Oh no reason,” the light brown stallion innocently replied. His floating name tag indicated him as Hoops. “We just wanted to say hi to our good pal.”

“Yup,” the darker one confirmed with a sly, dishonest smile.

His name was Dumb Bell. 'It seems appropriate for him,' Twilight thought.

“Well, as much as I would love to stay and chat, we should be going,” Score added. “The Treasure of Winsome Falls is waiting for us to take it.”

Score was then immediately punched by Dumb Bell. “You idiot! They weren’t supposed to know that!”

“Oops,” Score tried to apologize. “Sorry DB.”

“And what treasure might you be talking about?” Applejack inquired quickly.

“Th- that’s none of your business!” Dumb Bell stammered. “Look lady, we gotta go. Smell ya later!”

With that goodbye, the trio quickly left, flying towards Winsome Falls. Twilight could see them snickering all the way, and Rainbow Dash was left simmering with fury. She angrily looked towards Applejack.

“What the hay, Applejack?!” Dash yelled. “I could've taken on those dorks!”

“Sorry Dash, but I didn’t want to see any fighting. We best be saving up our strength for the grinding, remember?”

“Oh please, I could of taken them out in ten seconds flat, and that’s not an exaggeration!”

Twilight watched the two mares bicker: Applejack concerned about Dash's wellbeing, and Dash worried about her pride. After a few minutes of arguing, Twilight spotted Luna and the others coming towards them. She quickly clapped her hooves to garner everypony’s attention.

“Look girls,” Twilight said. “We can’t afford to start fighting amongst each other. We should get moving as soon as possible. Besides, the others are here.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash shot a glare at each other before submitting to Twilight’s orders.

“Alright then,” Applejack nodded.

“Pft,” Rainbow responded.

This is going to be a long day, Twilight thought.

The journey towards Winsome Falls was a bit long, but rewarding. Luna was right when she said this place was good for them. From all the monsters they’ve killed on the way, Twilight and her friends had reached level 30 in what seemed to be an instant. They’ve even managed to complete some of the side-quests along the way.

However, the pace of monsters changed quickly as soon as they’ve reached Winsome Falls. The beautiful landscape was untouched by monsters. There wasn’t a single lizard pony, hydra snake, slime ball, or even a wolf. This bothered Twilight a lot. Usually, the wilderness would have monsters, right? But there wasn’t a hide, hair, feather, scale, or skin to be found of one. The more Twilight’s group delved into Winsome Falls, the more she realized that there wasn’t any sort of animals at all. Not even a single bird in the air. After a few minutes delving into the area, the bookworm could tell that something wasn’t right.

“Luna?” she whispered, not wanting to alert the others yet.

“Yes, Twilight?”

“Are you noticing this?”

Luna made a quick surveillance around her. “Yes, I am.”

“This shouldn’t be, why haven’t we seen any monsters yet? This is statistically impossible!”

“Hmm,” Luna pondered. “Unless some other outside force is causing the situation at hoof.”

Twilight felt a creeping chill crawl up her spine. “Are you saying… hackers?”

Luna grimly nodded. “Perhaps the pony is using some sort of hack to draw all the monsters towards him in quick succession. That way, he or she could quickly grind without taking another step. Or perhaps it’s a monster removal program. Either way, this upsets me.”

At this point, the others were starting to get restless as well. Rarity nervously fidgeted with a new staff she received from a random monster drop. An ornate, wooden staff with three blue crystals at the end of it.

“Girls? Is it me, or does this place seem a bit… empty?”

“It ain’t just you Rares,” Applejack added. “This place smells of deceit.”

“Maybe the monsters are playing hide and seek!” Pinkie Pie innocently suggested, oblivious to the possible danger around them. “We should go look for them!”

“That’s what we’re trying to do Pinkie,” Dash replied, obviously irritated. “Where the heck are they? We should be swimming in monsters right now.”

“Ah don’t worry about it Dash,” Applejack smirked slyly. “You’ve probably scared them off with your new tiara.”

The other girls (except for Rarity and Luna) giggled a little at Applejack’s comment. Rainbow Dash embarrassingly adjusted her new head gear.

“For the last time, it’s a circlet,” Rainbow Dash insisted. She used to have a rainbow-hued bandana over her head, but she replaced the cloth with the shiny, golden crown. Blushing lightly she admitted, “Plus, it gave me a bigger speed boost than the other one.”

“Oh, come on now, darlings,” Rarity spoke up. “I, for one, think Rainbow Dash looking absolutely marvelous!”

Rainbow Dash still fumed about Applejack’s sly statement about her circlet. She felt that it was cool looking. Twilight, however, was more concerned about their surroundings.

“Come on now girls, we may have a serious situation on our hooves. Keep alert for anything.”

“But Twilight, dear. What’s to worry about?” Rarity asked, quirking an eyebrow at the mare.

“Don’t you see that there aren’t any monsters around?” Twilight waved a hoof to show her point.

“Well yes,” Rarity added. “Anypony could see that this place is as empty as a blank canvas!” she started to become distracted by the Winsome Falls’ beautiful scenery, again. “Oh my, this place just breathes inspiration to me. Applejack, when are we going to go camping again?”

Before Applejack could make a move to answer her question, a desperate cry for help could be heard from over the next hill. Everypony tensed up, taking their battle positions, waiting for whatever danger may lie in wake for them. Instead of a receiving fearsome monster, they came face to face with fellow player. He was very pale, and his entire body was shivering violently. Twilight recognized him as Dumb Bell from the town earlier.

“Please! You need to help me!” he cried. “My friends are in trouble!”

“Hold it right there,” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, keeping a steady place in the air. “Why the hay should we help you? I thought all stallions like you were tough,” her sarcastic tone couldn’t have been any more blunt.

“L- look, if it’s about that Rainbow “Crash” comment we’ve made, than I’m sorry! You just have to help- ”

Dumb Bell couldn’t finish what he was saying. A black blur came out of nowhere and had carried him off, dragging him to whatever doom awaited the poor pegasus. Everypony stood in shock, transfixed by what they’ve just witnessed. Luna shook her head and ran after the stallion and the black creature. She shot everypony a stern glare.

“Well?” she demanded. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

Nopony argued with her logic. They’ve tailed alongside the night princess to chase after the black menace that had just captured Dumb Bell. Whatever was waiting for them is anything but good, Twilight thought. Without a doubt, this black blur has to be connected to the mysterious lack of monsters in the area. After a few leaps and bounds across the landscape, they’ve arrived at the top of the tallest hill. The HUD indicated this place to be Winsome’s Golden Reservoir as the huge words appeared at the top area of her vision. The place did not look like anything that was home to a golden water pool.

The place was screaming darkness to her. The area was heavily swarmed by patrolling shadow monsters, each of them in constant shifting forms. The only place that indicated the spot of their heads were the glowing pair of red orbs that suggested to be their eyes. They were gathering around a huge black archway that held the space of an ominous, purple portal. The same kind of portal Twilight saw underneath the Cloud Library. She looked around for the mysterious, robed stallion that caught her eyes that night. He didn’t seem to be around this time.

She turned back towards the gateway to see Dumb Bell get thrown into a group of tied up players. It seemed that they were being held captive by the shadow creatures, but for what? Her questions were put on hold for now; they have innocent bystanders to save. She didn’t even have to wait to give a command; Rainbow Dash was already starting the assault. The cyan mare seemed to know that they were on a tight clock, and the others seemed to catch her drift.

Twilight unleashed her Magic Missile upon a nearby group of shadow monsters. The impact had detonated the area, causing a tempest of pebbles and dirt to fly everywhere. She fired a couple more barrages into the cloud of dust, followed by a flare of lightning she called upon from the sky. She didn’t stop there though. She dove into the smoky cloud and called upon her magic. A gust of wind started to flow through her robes, which blew the surrounding dust away from her eyes. She was greeted by a bunch of angry shadow creatures as soon as the dust cleared.

They all leapt at her one at a time with the intent to kill, but they were met by a punch of wind in their face. Twilight repeated for each creature, knocking them all to the ground. She stood her ground, and looked towards the sky. Her eyes started to glow as the storm clouds started to gather again, this time over her head. The lightning pierced the heavens, and struck her horn. With a bit of effort, she pointed her horn at each creature, redirecting the lightning to their still, gassy form. The plasma bolts seemed to do the trick as each of their bodies were dissipated by the powerful spell.

She turned back towards the others to see how they were doing. Everypony was seemed to be doing fine on their own, but none of them were as graceful and effective as Luna and Trixie were. The duo seemed to have fought together for centuries. Both of them anticipated each other’s moves, and supported them with an attack of their own. Trixie had conjured up a ball of fire over Luna. The night princess then promptly fired a gust of arrows into it, causing them to catch fire. Twilight realized that Trixie and Luna had combined their skills to create a storm of flaming rain. The arrows seemed to be tracking each shadow monster, following them and putting an end to their grotesque lives.

The fight seemed to be over in an instant, which was good for Twilight. It meant that her skills had vastly improved. She turned back towards the gate, and let out a gasp of surprise. That pale yellow coat, that messy black mane, his brilliant red eye, and the one that was scarred. There’s no doubt in Twilight’s mind, it was the mysterious stallion again. He wasn’t donning his black robe time, so she could see what he was wearing underneath. He had a simple, black jacket over his body. It apparently had two holes on the side of it, because it was leaving out a pair of raggedy wings to breathe in the open, revealing him as a pegasus.

“Who are you?” Luna demanded, her voice carrying over the tone of the infamous Royal Canterlot voice. Twilight had to plug her ears to avoid being damned to a deaf life. “Why are you here? Are you the pony responsible for the capture of these players? Speak, or we shall call the local enforcement!”

The pony quietly stared at them, but not before setting something on the rim of the archway. He then quickly jumped off the black archway, and turned around for a glide through the portal.

“Wait!” Twilight shouted, but it was too late.

The object he placed suddenly exploded, causing the archway to collapse on itself. Twilight viciously stomped on the ground with her right hoof. She let him escape her without answering her questions… again. As she cursed herself for letting him go, she felt a hoof on one of her shoulders. She looked up to see Luna staring at her sympathetically.

“We shall look further into this case, but for now we have ponies to attend to,” Luna reassured her solemnly.

Twilight Sparkle has reached Lv 30!
She has gained the following skills.

Magic Missile - Rank 5: Charge up a single blast for 250% Dmg, or release a barrage of 3 smaller blasts for 50% each. Cooldown for Full Charge is 10 seconds. Cooldown for Barrage is 3 seconds.

Lightning Strike - Rank 3: Strike your opponent for 150% Dmg, or release a steady stream of plasma bolts for 100% Dmg for 5 seconds. Cooldown for single strike is 5 seconds. Cooldown for stream is 30 seconds.
Next Rank: +10% Dmg

Wind Blast: Throw off opponents for 5 Dmg. Knock back effect. Doesn't work on 'giant' creatures.