Equestria Legends Online

by Shadowflame

Special: January 24th (Cross' View Part 2)

[A/N]: Alright, so I've heard that a few of my readers completely skipped reading the first part of this Special. It was because of the fact that the first part started out like the beginning of this story, and you all thought it was going to be a repeat of the first chapter from Cross' view. Even though the first half of the first part was the beginning from his view, there was a whole other part of new information that you skipped out on. So before you read this part, I'd recommend that everyone re-read Part 1 of this Special Chapter.

Early in the morning, Cloud and I departed from the inn and exited the gates of Canterlot.

"Alright, Fillydelphia is east, right?" Cloud asked as he checked the map in his player menu.

I had my map open as well. I took a quick look at the path indicated between Canterlot and Fillydelphia to find that a small forest lay between the two cities.

"Yeah," I replied, "which means that we'll have to cross through this forest here."

"What's it called?"

I tapped a hoof on the map, and a small name tag appeared on the forest, "The Redtail Forest?"

Cloud frowned, "Wait, isn't that forest the dungeon for Fillydelphia? We actually have to travel through the city's dungeon to get there?"

I shrugged, "I guess so." Closing out of my player menu, I started moving out eastward, "Come on, let's get going."

I didn't get very far before Cloud suddenly flew past me at top speed, "Race you to the forest!"

Laughing a bit, my trot changed to a gallop as I raced after him.

It didn't take long to reach the edge of the forest, since it was just at the base of the mountain. But as I approached the forest, from where I ran on the mountain face, I could see that the forest extended out for what seemed forever. It looked like it made up the whole distance between Canterlot and Fillydelphia.

When I reached the forest, Cloud was already there, waiting for me. He shot me a smug grin as I trotted towards him, "I win."

I only laughed, "Well, we both know that's only because you can fly, and because of the fact that pegasi naturally get more speed stats than unicorns or earth ponies."

Cloud rolled his eyes, blowing off the comment nonchalantly, "Whatever. That's only a technicality." He glanced towards the forest behind him, "So, this is the right place? The Redtail Forest?"

I nodded, "Yeah." I looked up at the trees before us to notice that they seemed to be larger than the tree's I've seen so far, "Come to think of it, I think this forest is bigger than the Everfree. Not only does it extend for quite a while, but the trees are bigger themselves."

"Hm..." Cloud started into the forest, flashing a smile back, "Well, come on! We want to get to Fillydelphia before night comes."

I ran after Cloud and pulled up beside him, walking side by side. As we walked, both of us glanced around at our surroundings, gazing up at the trees around us. The trees dwarfed us in size, but unlike the Everfree, the forest floor wasn't covered in so much wild vegetation. It almost seemed like a regular forest from the real world.

"So, any idea why this place is called the Redtail Forest?" Cloud asked, "It doesn't look like this place has any red in it."

I frowned as I paused to think, "Hm, I'm not entirely sure... But I think I heard a rumor before I came into the game. It said that this place was named the Redtail Forest because of a giant tree that stood 3 times taller than the rest of the forest. Its leaves are supposed to be red all season long, with a white stripe in the middle of each of them to make them look like tails."

Cloud nodded in understanding, "I guess that makes sense..." A frown grew on his face, furrowing his brow in deep thought.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Hm... Well, if this is the Fillydelphia dungeon, then wouldn't that mean that this would be where one of the bosses is hidden?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I guess so. It seems like that'd make sense."

"And you're sure that this Redtail tree is real?"

I nodded, a bit more warily, "Um, yeah. Why?"

Cloud blinked as if he realized something, "If the Redtail tree and the boss are in this forest, then wouldn't it make sense that they'd be in the same place?" He shot me a sideways glance, "If we found the Redtail tree, then we'd find the boss." He grinned, "And if we find the boss, then we can beat it and get the first element of the game."

"Right, sure. We could totally take on a boss by ourselves." I said sarcastically. I gave a small laugh, "Heck, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were serious about searching for the boss right now."

Cloud only grinned wider to tell me otherwise.

My eyes widened, "Wait, you're not serious!"

Cloud laughed, "Of course I'm serious. Can you imagine how awesome it'll be if we defeat the first boss of the game with just the two of us? Wouldn't it be sweet if one of us became an element bearer?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Well... I admit it'd be cool. But we can't even consider taking it on by ourselves. Remember how Discord said his guardians weren't pushovers? We'd need help from other players if we want to defeat it. That is, if we even find it."

Cloud flapped his wings and floated in the air in front of me, flying backwards as I continued to walk, "Come on, Cross! We could totally take the boss on! You remember how we demolished that team back at the Canterlot stadium, right?"

I just stared blankly at Cloud and his wide grinned face. It didn't look like there'd be any chance for me to talk him out of it. I sighed, "Alright, we'll go looking for the Redtail tree while we travel to Fillydelphia. But if we do find it, and if we find the boss there as well, we're hauling butt out of there. Okay?"

Cloud literally squeed as he took off forward through the forest, "Alright, let's go!"

I laughed at my friend and ran after him for the 2nd time that day.

I shot Cloud a glance as we ran for our lives, "You had to fly straight into a pack of...." I glanced behind at the monsters pursuing us, "Heck, I don't even know what to call those things."

It was some strange kind of wolf/dragon hybrid. It had the same body structure as a wolf, but it stood just as tall as a timberwolf. Three of these monsters were chasing after us, and each of them was covered by a thick coat of brown scales. They all snapped at mine and Cloud's heels as we ran or flew away.

Cloud muttered under his breath as he carried his giant sword in his hooves, "I think they're called drakes. And again, I told you that it wasn't my fault that I ran into one. It practically pounced on me!"

I rolled my eyes as I flung my hammer back with my magic, nailing one of the drakes in the face as it came too close to me, "Whatever. Any ideas on how to get rid of them?"

"Yeah, I got one. Just keep running when I do it."

I was about to ask him what he was doing, but my question was answered as Cloud flapped his wings hard upwards and then another beat backwards. With the sudden stop from Cloud, the drakes raced past him. The sudden move startled two of the beasts and they turned around to attack the pegasus, leaving one to still chase after me.

I smirked to myself, "Ha, didn't see that one coming. At least this makes things easier." I looked back ahead and kept running. But then, I spotted a tree with thick roots: The perfect vaulting point.

I ran to the tree root, and then by placing my front hoof onto it as a pivot point. With my front hoof planted, I leaned all of my weight onto the tree root and spun around my whole body on one leg. My spin was stopped as my back hooves connected with the tree's trunk, and with a solid kick from my back legs, I launched myself forward with my hammer out, aiming right for the drake.

I felt a small sense of hilarity as I saw the drake's eyes widen. But there was nothing it could do as my hammer collided with its skull. Almost instantly, the drake's health depleted and it burst into blue code. Without missing a beat, I rolled as I landed on the ground, only for me to roll back out into a gallop towards Cloud.

Up ahead, Cloud had already disposed of one of the drakes, and I reached him just as he split the last remaining monster in half with a strike with his sword, killing it on the spot.

Now having dealt with out pursuers, both Cloud and I decided to take a small breather. I smiled as Cloud as I put away my weapons, "Nice move. I didn't expect that coming."

Cloud nodded, "Yeah, that was the idea."

"But how did you know those drakes wouldn't instantly pounce on you when you did that?"

"...." Cloud gave a sheepish smile.

I deadpanned, "You didn't know?!"

He only laughed, "What? It's more fun to take risks." Suddenly, his eyes darted behind me and into the trees, "Wait, what's that?"

He started moving farther into the forest, away from the direction that we had been travelling before. I followed behind him for a while before we both entered a large grove of the forest.

Our mouths and eyes went wide as we looked at the massive plant in the middle of the grove. It stood nearly thirty feet tall, with giant, oak branches that twisted all around its trunk. All of its leaves were a vivid red color, each with a single stripe in the middle of them. We had found the Redtail tree.

"Whoa..." Cloud breathed in awe, "I didn't expect us to find it this fast."

I frowned, "Well, not really... This tree is huge. Kind of makes me wonder how we didn't see it from Canterlot's mountain. Oh well, I blame video game physics."

Cloud began inspecting the grove, "Hm, that's strange. I don't see a boss anywhere." He chuckled, "Well, except for me of course."

I rolled my eyes. It was only a matter of time before he made the 'Like a Baws' joke. Shrugging it off, I looked around the grove too, "Hm... It doesn't look like anything's here."

"Hey, what's that?"

I glanced towards Cloud to see him pointing a hoof at the Redtail tree's roots. I looked at the roots to see a stone slab embedded between the tree and the ground. Cloud and I moved closer to the stone to inspect it closer, but then we saw that the stone had multiple engravings on it. All of the engravings were different in their own right, ranging from shapes like swords, skulls, and even candy. and there were random letters and symbols all over it as well, like 'A', 11, and even pi.

I blinked in confusion as looked at the engraved stone, "What the heck is this?"

"That's what I just asked." Cloud deadpanned. He looked closer at the engravings, "Well each of these might have some meaning. But..." He flinched as an idea struck him, "Hey, look at this one." He pointed his hoof towards a small engraving of the letter 'X'.

"An 'X'? What's so special about it?"

"It looks like your cutie mark, duh!"

Realization dawned on me. Glancing between my cutie mark and the engraving, it was true that they looked almost the same. "That's weird. I only made my cutie mark about two days ago. How could it be here?"

Cloud frowned in thought, but then he pointed at another engraving shaped like a rain cloud, "Hey, my cutie mark's here too. Maybe all of these symbols on this are everyone's cutie marks in the game."

"I don't think everybody's is here. It only looks like there's a little under a hundred marks. But that means when we first logged in and created our marks, they were all put here... What do you think it means?"

Cloud didn't reply as he tapped the engraving of his cutie mark with a hoof. As soon as he touched it, the engraving suddenly began to glow in full color.

We both jumped in surprise, "What the..."

Cloud jerked back his hoof in surprise, just in time as the slab slid into the ground, revealing a long, underground tunnel that led beneath the Redtail tree.

My eyes widened, "Oh, I get it. The slab was a door." My mind wandered back to what I had read in the library in Canterlot: There are hidden caves all across Equestria that can be found by a few players. Most of them are hidden with spells and enchantments that need to be eliminated by a player with the power to do so. Finding these caves may vary in results, for some may hide rare treasures while some house hordes of monsters. But often times, the caves will hold both.

Before I knew it, Cloud had his sword drawn again and he barreled down into the tunnel as fast as he could gallop, "Let's go! The boss has to be down here!"

"Wait! Cloud!" I called after him, "You can't run in there!" I tried to run in after him, but then the stone door suddenly slammed back into place, cutting me off from my teammate. I gasped as I tried banging my hooves against the door, but it wouldn't open, "Oh, no. Cloud doesn't know that hordes of monsters are in there. He's dead if he doesn't come back out. Cloud!"

I cursed to myself, "Crap, crap, crap, crap! I gotta contact him somehow." Suddenly, I realized, "Messaging. I'll send him a message." Without another moment lost, I opened up my player menu and started typing a message to Cloud.

Cloud galloped through the dark tunnel at full speed, ecstatic to see what lay at the end of it. He would've flown down to make it a shorter trip, but the narrow space he was in wasn't large enough for him to fly properly.

The gallop through the tunnel wasn't very long, and pretty soon Cloud entered what waited for him at the end. He stopped to find himself standing in a large room, made entirely from stone blocks.

Cloud looked around at the empty room, "Whoa... Is this the boss room?" He grinned, "Alright, it's time to take on the boss." Glancing behind him towards the tunnel, "Hey, Cross! Get your flank down here!"

Silence...

Cloud blinked in confusion, "Cross? You there?"

Suddenly, a message banner appeared in his vision:

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise, "Uh oh, did something hold Cross up?" He opened up his player menu and read the message,

Cloud frowned as he read the message, "Monsters in here? I thought the only thing in here would be a boss, yet nothing's here."

Suddenly, a deep voice echoed through the empty air, "Oh, you must be talking about those monsters that used to be here before I decided to redesign this place. Sorry to disappoint you, but they're not here anymore." Cloud turned around to find himself staring at an all too familiar Draconequus, who spoke with an evil grin, "You could say they were evicted from the premise."

Cloud glared the being of chaos, his sword clutched in a hoof, "Discord. You wanna fight? Because I'm ready to end you and get the hell out of this game." He lunged for Discord with his blade, but the Draconequus merely swooped out of the way.

Chuckling to himself, Discord wagged a talon at the pegasus, "Now, now, now. I didn't come here to fight. I came because you activated a fun little trap of mine."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Discord feigned a gasp mockingly, "This place used to be a special little cavern, full of monsters and treasures, which could be only entered by one player. Everything down here would be different for each player that entered, which I thought was perfectly fine, but it still lacked a bit of..." He twiddled his fingers as if he were looking for the right word to use, "Chaos."

He let out another evil laugh, "So, I took it upon myself to redesign this place. A few touches here, a few tweaks there, and now, this place will only set a curse on any player that enters. And you, my little brony, will be my first test subject."

Before Cloud could react, Discord snapped his fingers, instantly knocking Cloud unconscious. With the pegasus incapacitated, the curse of the cave began to work its magic. Discord, satisfied with his work, floated laughing as Cloud's form began to change.

I waited outside for that whole time. It took twenty minutes, but to me, it seemed longer. All the while I spent worrying about Cloud. He hadn't replied to my message, but his health meter in my team menu hadn't gone down a bit. What could he be doing down there?

But then, the door to the cave creaked open beneath the Redtail tree roots. I quickly turned towards the entrance, excited to see if Cloud had returned. But what I saw come out of the cave wasn't what I expected.

He was a short, light brown dragon with orange spines. He wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, and he waddled up out of the cave, almost like Spike did from the MLP:FIM show. Above his head, his player ID read: Cloud Burst

I gasped, "C-Cloud? Is that you?"

The dragon said nothing, though glaring, serpentine eyes flared beneath his glasses. He gave a small nod.

I didn't know how to react, "Wh-what happened to you?"

Cloud growled, a small flicker of flame leaped out of his mouth in fury, "Discord happened. And now, he'll have to pay in full."