Slowly, slowly opening his eyes. No, too bright. He closes them, then slowly squints, everything seeming blurry for a little while until he remembered where he was and what had happened. His body was itchy, as though there were bug bites all over his skin.
Jordan didn't know where he was, but remembered someone coming between him and the lord of doom the night before. He started to sit up and grunted, every movement making his body feel like it was on fire. He groaned, a hurried clip clopping coming down the stairs.
A lavender unicorn with a pink stripe through her dark-blue mane came down the stairs smiling. "Oh! You're awake! Everyone will be so happy." She clopped her hooves together happily and was about to run up the stairs. Jordan figured this must've been one of Applejack's other friends.
"Wait..." He groaned out. Even speaking felt hard at the moment. "Where am I?"
"You're in my library. Well, actually, you're in the basement of my library. I had to move all of my equipment so you could have your own bed - you're a pretty big creature by the way, did you know that?" She hurried up the stairs, Jordan eying his surroundings and taking in the mechanical equipment. Maybe these ponies weren't as backwater as he thought, even though to him the technology looked out of date.
He tried to summon his life powers but was having a difficult time of it. Whatever had hit him had also put a lock hold on his own aspect. He'd have to learn to do something like that, if it were possible for him. Jordan didn't even try to stand up, not wanting to make his body hurt anymore than it already did. Considering what he ran into, and what the lord of doom had said to the thief, he felt that things were going okay so far, so there was no rush. Hopefully. Some doubts entered his mind, bringing his index finger up to his lips in thought, looking worried with furrowed brows before he shook his head and tried to get it out of his mind. No way would worrying help him now, except put extra stress on him and make him feel worse, especially emotionally.
As Applejack and Twilight Sparkle came down the stairs, he looked relieved and determined at the same time to fix what had happened.
"Ahm so glad yur awake sugarcube. Ah was worried there for a second."
"After all Applejack's told us, we were worried too. By the way, you had a bunch of little holes in your clothing, but my friend Rarity fixed them for you!"
"Thanks." Jordan looked down and gave a sigh of relief while the others smiled.
"It looks lahk yur skin also cleared up nicely. Yoo had so many bruises we were worried yoo might have gotten poisoned."
"I think it was poisoned..." Jordan mumbled before hopping out of bed, falling to his hands and knees from the pain.
"Whoa whoa, not so fast! We have an idea of what's going on, and we'll help you get better soon. Don't push yourself too hard."
"How can you know what's going on...?" Applejack helped him back into a sitting position on the bed.
"Your friend Typo told us. It seemed really hard for him, but when he came back from the forest and we found him, we pretty much brought him here too; although he was much less injured than you."
"I don't even know the guy."
"He said as much, but he seems pretty interested in you considering what you just went through. He's seen others die quickly from some of the stuff this... Lord of Doom character used. We don't deal with death much here, but we'll help you however we can."
Jordan came up the steps, and Typo glared at them as Rarity stood in a corner. Twilight was slack jaw and the first to speak.
"What did you do to Rarity?"
"She was drooling over my diamonds and wanted them, what was I supposed to do?"
Jordan was the first to speak. "That's really not nice you know."
"Like you'd know what it's like." Typo glared at him. "Besides, I only stole her muse temporarily so she leaves me alone."
"You stole her... Muse?" Twilight asked, skeptically.
"I lahk the change. She's much more quiet now." Applejack teased. Twilight glared daggers at her and Applejack backed down.
"I stole her muse. Or, rather, something that doesn't make me sound like an asshole, I temporarily stole her fawning over beautiful gems. I have enough will power that I can control it." Typo put his arms over his chest, harumphing at the 'idiots.' "Again, she'll get it back later. She's weak-minded when it comes to gems."
"She's the most generous pony you'll ever meet, why'd you have to take that from her!?" Twilight yelled.
"AGAIN. It's ONLY TEMPORARY," Typo emphasized. "Anyways, Life hero, we need to talk."
"I have a name, you know."
Applejack pouted her lips and said, "yeah! His name is Jordan!"
Jordan smiled at Applejack, appreciative that she had remembered his name. Sometimes people forgot, which made the people who remembered all the more special.
"You're a real dick you know that?"
"Whatever, let's get my plan on the road," Typo said, taking off his blue glasses and showing his flickering eyes.
"What the hell's wrong with your eyes, dude?"
"I'm blind, but I have the ability to sense other players. My eyes flicker because before I entered my session I saw a cloud that showed, what I now know as, a scratch. The power of the vision made the cloud explode and damaged my eyes. My home was near a cavern with a bunch of bats. When I entered the session, a dead bat was prototyped and he taught me a new way to see in conjuction with the power of the game. I've pretty much become Daredevil.
Jordan looked at him with sympathy and a little bit of awe. He knew the games were powerful but this was something else entirely.
"Oh, it also helped that my sprite had the power to change things. What's your story anyway," Typo asked.
"Jordan was a little taken aback that he had asked, and a little nervous because his story wasn't as interesting, but he complied. "To be honest, it's nothing as exciting as what you've apparently been through, but my session was a successful one; although the world we made was dying quickly. During its life though my friends grew more distant and we all took control over a piece of land. However, soon someone ganged up with the others and staged a coup against the others. My friend, a hero of doom, died helping me get away. I don't know where the others are now."
Typo grinned. "Bah, you're right, that wasn't as interesting as my story." Jordan just glared at him and pretended to force choke him.
"You do know that doesn'-hcck!" Jordan wasn't aware he had been using his life powers, and was also a little confused. Looking at his hand though he noticed there was a glowing light as well as a creeping darkness surrounding it. Apparently the doom powers of the sword had mingled with his life powers. "Oh shit sorry about that!" He released Typo who fell to the ground in a heap.
Typo would have called Jordan an asshole, but he had pretty much been asking for it. "Huff, huff. If you keep using that sword's power we won't win against this enemy."
"I know, I figured that out!" Jordan snapped.
"Anyways, he's here..." Typo seemed to be deep in thought. "Damnit, just a Seer of Rage player." Jordan looked at him crossly, obviously irritated at someone being looked down on. Typo brought a little enthusiasm anyway, "that's okay though, I think we can make this work! I just wish I had Twilight's intelligence right now," Typo sighed.
Jordan was first to speak up, "hello there! You're a player right? We're looking for a little help."
"Hmph." The figure started and began to walk in the other direction, probably looking to ditch them.
"We need another player, right!? Let's go after him!" Jordan pulled on Typo and started to give chase. Typo momentarily felt like he was back with his old friends.
When Typo and Jordan had caught up with the Seer of Rage, they were in an alleyway, devoid of all pony life, which was interesting because Ponyville was pretty packed. The Seer of Rage ducked into a door and Jordan shot after him.
"Wait! We just need to talk! We need help!"
The seer of rage spared a glance before disappearing into darkness.
"We have to follow him!"
"In that dark place? Forget it," Typo said.
Jordan responded, "well I'm going in anyway!"
When he entered the lights immediately flickered to life and he felt himself pulled back and into a strangle hold with a dagger next to his neck. Just because you're immortal doesn't mean dying doesn't hurt - especially when it takes awhile to come back to life.
"Ghhrk!"
Typo, standing outside, opened his eyes in realization when he felt another presence and ran inside to see Jordan being held hostage.
"Leave us alone!" The seer of rage shouted, both him and the rogue of blood at the back of the room.
"How did you evade my sense and Jordan's life sense!?" Typo hated not being in control of the situation.
The rogue of blood spoke quietly, very calm, cool, and collected. "I'm a rogue of blood, I have the ability to steal, make, and break bonds. I can even hide my own bonds from sight. You really shouldn't have chased after my friend here. Now leave before I kill him."
Jordan risked talking and spoke quietly and slowly. "I'm sorry to have scared you. We're just looking for allies. There's a dark force on this planet and we need all the help we can get to defeat him. We have a plan - or, rather, Typo has a plan, but it doesn't help to have some more people on hand."
"So you just think of us as pawns that you can play with however you want, huh?" The rogue of blood asked.
"No! Not at all! I wouldn't ask anything of anyone that I wouldn't do myself," Jordan said. Typo snorted, not quite understanding Jordan's position on the matter.
"Your friend over there seems to think differently," the rogue of blood stated matter-of-factly.
"That's because he's an asshole!" Jordan shouted, unaware that his future would put his beliefs on the line.
"I've dealt with assholes before, and I would never keep in the same company as them. So you must be on his side," the rogue of blood stated. The seer of rage seemed quiet and reserved, or just didn't want to get involved. He trusted his friend.
"But that doesn't mean... Ugh, look. Let's just calm down here." The room they were in would make it difficult to use his life powers, so Jordan wasn't in his element, pun intended.
Typo seemed to take charge rather quickly, his naturally loud voice dominating the room. "Look, just tell us your names. I'm Typo, and he's Jordan."
The rogue of blood hesitated for awhile before responding. I'm Phynicxs and my friend over there is Smeareyes. He's a descendant of the great ones."
Typo seemed stunned for a moment - completely taken aback; eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "Really? THEM?"
Phynicxs nodded. "Yes. He was created by a troll and human with ectobiology. Our session was an exception to the rules - we aren't paradox clones."'
Jordan was extremely confused. Phynicxs weakned his hold on him and let him move away. "How is that possible?"
"I really don't know. We had a knight of space at one point, and he was extremely smart - he always seemed to know what was coming before it happened, which is weird because he wasn't associated with time. The only thing that ever really surprised him was that we never created ecto clones of ourselves. It stumped him pretty hard and he had trouble with it for a little while before finally accepting it. After our null session we split ways and all found a way out of the session before our tumor went off. The knight of space was pretty much our session's leader. Or, well, he would have been had he not taken the role a seer normally takes, which, again, was weird because he was a knight. Our session was full of inconsistencies that are too long to prattle on about, but as I said he seemed to have everything down to a science. Which is weird because he was into science. Goddamnit these puns are making themselves!"
Typo had lost interest halfway through, but Jordan had listened to it all. Smeareyes came forward and shook Jordan's hand. "Hello, nice to meet you Jordan."
The rogue of blood spoke again. "Smeareyes is my best friend. He's very nice, but has a tendency to overthink things sometimes, which-" Phynicxs glared at both Jordan and Typo "-is the reason he doesn't like being chased. It doesn't help that our big bad went after him the most. Smeareyes, in our session, took the role of keeping everyone together. Rage players tend to break bonds and bring out the worst, or sometimes, best in everyone, but Smeareyes here always brought out the best in everyone, even if that best sometimes involved negative emotions. He kept our bonds strong enough to withstand anything. We went together but everyone else got split up."
Typo yawned, motioning with his hands that Phynicxs wouldn't stop prattling on and on. "Jeeze, shut up already. We don't need a whole history lesson here." Typo rolled his eyes, and so did Phynicxs but for different reasons.
"Anyways," Phynicxs continued, "who's the one threatening this planet?" Smeareyes had just finished introductions with Typo, who looked bored and uneasy at the same time, arms over his chest. Smeareyes backed away a bit, taking it a little too personally despite knowing that Typo appeared to be an ass to everyone.
"The threat is another player. A lord of doom. I have a personal history with this guy that I'd like to keep to myself."
Smeareyes nodded, "we won't force the information from you."
Typo gave a sarcastic thank you and continued. "He has a long history of going from planet to planet and absorbing all the life and everything else good and replacing it with doom and gloom. When he finishes the planet has so little left that it just sort of breaks apart and starts to destroy itself. He's a plague; a poison to anything and everything."
Jordan was the first to ask. "How do we stand a chance against something like that?"
"That's why I have a plan," Typo nodded. The others leaned in interestedly before Typo's eyes lit up. "Something's coming."
A pony slammed the door open and screamed before dashing out, the meeting of players scaring her off. One strange creature in Ponyville was enough and interesting and harmless, but seeing them all grouped together was terrifying. She ran off to tell Twilight who had been talking earlier that way about two new guests.
"Damnit. We tried so hard to remain hidden," Phynicxs stated. "Is that who you sensed?"
Typo shook his head. "No way. It's something else."
The group moved out of the house, Typo immediately looking up into the sky (probably out of habit that never left.) A green and black fireball descended down from the heavens burning brightly and going fast. As it approached it appeared to slow down until it hit the earth with a loud boom. The group hurried over to where it hit - close to the whitetail woods - and when they got there they found a person in knight attire. Except he was space. He seemed a tad wonked out. Phynicxs and Smeareyes were extremely surprised at who it was and rushed over to them. Typo and Jordan looked behind them when they heard a voice.
"Twilight was right! She expected you to rush to it when you saw it and you did! Are you guys really heroes!?" She hovered in the air and pointed at Typo, "cool glasses kid, I should get some myself." Typo smirked, enjoying the attention. "Want to try them on?" Rainbow Dash was about to squeal and hurriedly put them on, and when she saw Typo's distorted, flickering eyes she eyed him curiously. "What are you, a TV?"
Jordan asked who she was but Rainbow Dash just put a hoof up to stop him as Typo responded. "Actually my eyes were taken from me by a powerful explosion. Rainbow Dash gasped.
"Oh man oh man oh man that is SO COOL! 20% cooler than those hasbeens!" She said, pointing to the others. Typo smirked more, while Jordan crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.
Jordan spoke next, "again, who ARE you?" Rainbow Dash finally looked to him, as if finally acknowledging him for the first time.
"I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria, and just as cool!" Typo smirked wider and Jordan just blew air out his mouth at her obnoxiousness. Rainbow and Typo fit well together, but he wondered who would win in a competition of coolness between them. Rainbow Dash looked over to Jordan, "what, don't believe me? Watch!" Rainbow Dash immediately flew higher into the air and started performing daring stunts. Jordan whistled and Typo just blew it off.
"Sorry Rainbow Dash, but I've done cooler things than a few aerobatics." Rainbow Dash was wide-eyed and mouth gaping, before humphing and taking off back to Ponyville. Typo watched her go with his glasses in tow but didn't make a big deal about it. After all, he mostly cared about his diamonds.
Jordan looked to Typo as Twilight galloped up to them, "I can't believe you did that."
Typo responded with, "hey, if she can't handle it she should get out of the air."
Twilight was panting but spoke regardless. "Huff, huff. I'm so happy I found you! The town is under attack!"
Jordan was the first to speak, "WHAT!?" And he started running off. Typo sighed and called to the others behind him to follow. Twilight ran after Jordan.
The knight of space was the first to get to the new battleground, pulling out a large sword-like eraser that, when moving, created dark-blue squares around it, making it look as though it were erasing space/data or, even, everything in front of it. The knight of space used his speed to his advantage, taking on some of the most fearsome enemies; although his weapon appeared to be doing very little to his enemies. Phynicxs was almost as fast as the knight of space, using his daggers to slash bits off of creatures (their wounds seeping doom power) and using what little blood came out as skates to flow across space quickly, much like thinned blood. Smeareyes was quick to battle as well, severing the bonds between the creatures as well as trying to take them down, which seemed to make the mess more chaotic, as though someone were allowing them all to think on the same wavelength and see through each others' eyes; although there appeared to be no one in the area capable of that.
Jordan got there next, having resorted to teleporting between big flowers through the earth with his life element. The thief stole poisonous chimera scorpion-tails and other things, temporarily using them to do massive damage to the creatures around him. Twilight Sparkle helped from the sidelines by throwing enemies that tried to get out back into the field. The timberwolves seemed to have the biggest bond, which even Smeareyes was having a difficult time with. They just seemed to have a natural bond as well as the enhanced mental binding, ganging up on hero by hero, starting with Smeareyes due to his ability to use rage to cut the connections between the animals.
Jordan hurried into the forest, using his life powers to manipulate any plants that hadn't yet been fully infected and attempting to stop anymore animals from escaping from the Everfree Forest. That was, until he saw HER.