//------------------------------// // January 22: The games begin // Story: Equestrian Legends Online: Tale of the Misfits // by bluemoon1996 //------------------------------// I laid my head down on my pillow; the Nervegear was surprisingly light for something as advanced as a virtual reality helmet. But that was just a trivial matter, it was less than a minute till the ELO servers opened! I kept an eager eye on the clock in the corner of the screen, waiting for it to hit twelve noon. I still couldn't believe that Hasbro of all companies allowed an Fantasy MMO to be made out of one of their biggest cash cows, complete with fangs, magic, the whole nine yards. When my amigos heard about me wanting this game, they thought I had finally gone off the deep end; well, more than before. They said a twenty-three year old shouldn't like pastel colored horses, that it was just a passing fad I should have left behind after high school. But this was going to show them and shove it in their faces! But I wouldn't be alone in this virtual adventure; one of my closest friends and fellow brony had bought the game too. The two of us would kick some virtual flank together! As the clock finally stuck noon, I grinned, "Link Start!" The inside of the helmet began to light up as it's systems booted up and five bars of text appeared. Sight: Okay Hearing:Okay Smell: Okay Taste: Okay Touch: Okay The lines of text disappeared just in time for another text box to blink into existence: Language: English Username: Cassius01 Password: ********* The box disappeared as the console signed into my account. Suddenly, my vision went black displaying the most generic Welcome to... screen ever. Once that was gone, I found myself standing in a dark place with only a beam of light shining down in front of me. More text appeared: Now choose your avatar. Select what pony race you'd like to be: A small box appeared: -Earth Pony - Pegasus - Unicorn Huh, no minor races like zebras, changelings, or griffins; I know one guy who's gonna be rather irked about this. I tapped pegasi; might as well go with best pony race. What would you like your avatar to be? -Ponified Self -OC Ponified Self? What the heck does that mean? I tapped that option, making the box disappear. It was soon replaced by: Please hold still. Suddenly, a large beam of blue light shown down on me, reminding me of the transporters from Star Trek. After a few seconds, said light withdrew and like wisps of smoke, it weaved itself into the spot in front of me. The light began to wrap itself up, taking the form of a translucent pony. After it took shape, the light subsided revealing a dark brown pegasi with an equally dark green mane. Huh, I always expected horse me to be a unicorn. Please create cutie mark A new window that looked like photoshop opened. I was utterly garbage at art, so it took a bit; but eventually, a golden victory wreath took shape on the screen. Once I hit the okay button in the window, the cutie mark flew up and stuck itself on the flanks of pony me. I looked at my character,inspecting my handiwork. It didn't look too shabby and the mark was the one I always had on my Ponysona so it made sense for it to be on horse me. The window in front of me changed once again: Is this design acceptable? I tapped the okay button and the window blinked out of existence. A bright light suddenly swept through the darkness, blinding me. Before I entered the game, I swore I heard a voice say, "Try not to die," before laughing madly. Wait, this game is rated T; there's no way in hell that would have gotten by the ESRB. When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in Ponyville square as other players blinked into existence as they logged in around me. I let out a low whistle as I looked about; the Devs sure went out of their way to make this place as show accurate as possible. Which is pretty damn impressive considering it's a cartoon. I could see Sugarcube Corner on the far square and a few other buildings that rang a bell. It was then that I noticed that I was standing on all fours. Looking down at myself, I let out a fangirlish squee that caused my man card to grow a uterus. I was a pony; from the feathers on my wings to the unshaven fetlocks. I took a step forward and promptly fell flat on my face. Spitting the dirt from my mouth, which tasted like actual dirt I might add, I attempted to get back on my hooves but collapsed again. I really hope Wic- "And here's the wild brony in his natural habitat," I heard a familiar voice say behind me, in a oh so familiar mock British accent, "let us observe as he attempts to walk like a newborn foal. It's really quite fascinating." Great, I hate when I speak too soon. "Oh piss off," I said dryly as a dirty white unicorn stallion with a flame on his flanks and a blue mop of a mane trotted up beside me, a shit eating grin on his face. The player tag about his head read: Wicked_Phenoix. "And it appears the brony has noticed our presence," he continued, "perhaps we should make contact?" I shakily got back to my hooves, and gave him the most bemused expression I could muster as he just gave me a smile the Joker would be proud of, "drop the accent or I'll headbut-" *boop* I fell back onto my haunches as my face derped from the surprise, "I... What... Why?" "Because I always wanted to boop a pony," he said with the most blank of faces. Well, at least he finally dropped that stupid accent. We both looked at each other in utter silence for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. And I don't mean a chuckle; no, I mean full blown you're blue in the face laughter. Once finished, I got to my hooves, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Its great to see you face to face man," I gave him a quick hug, "even if we are candy colored horses." "And what's with your name? You didn't go with your usual one." "Some asshat already took it," I said in annoyance. Ahh yes, the bane of every online gamer had struck me: someone stole the name I use for everything. Screw hackers, having to keep up with fifteen separate passwords and usernames is more of a pain in the hindquarters than someone who doesn't fight fair. "The struggle is real mate," Phoenix gave an understanding nod, "Well, let's go get some equipment." I nodded in agreement, "yep, and after that, we can go kill us some monsters." As soon as I said this, a mad grin grew across Phoenix's face, "Blood for the Blood God!" Now there's the crazy bastard I became friends with! "Skulls for the skull throne!" I took one step and promptly fell on my face, "Damn these pony legs." It took awhile, mostly due to me constantly falling on my face, but we eventually found the marketplace and more importantly, the weapons vendor. "Good morning," the NPC shopkeep said, as we both trotted up to him. "Good mornin' to you too," I returned his greeting with a polite smile, "we'd like to purchase some weapons." "We'll you've come to the right place then," the AI beamed, "we have everything you'd ever want." And he wasn't joking, the stall was stocked with everything from maces and greatswords to mage staffs and daggers. With that, a window opened up before me displaying what wares he had for sale. "Okay, what do I want?" I asked myself as I began to shift through his inventory. Mage equipment is out of the question so I scratch robes and staffs off the list. Greatswords and warhammers were a no go as well; if I wanted to be a tank, I would have picked an earth pony. That just leaves ranged and one handed weapons. I looked over at Phoenix, who was also looking for equipment. "Hey, what are you getting? Don't wanna have two ranged or two up and close fighters." "'Melee," he replied simply. Okay, ranged it is then. As I started looking through that category, I spotted something that actually surprised me: a flintlock musket complete with a bayonet. Well, I know what I'm getting; who would expect a rifleman in fantasy game, I know I wouldn't. I tapped the weapon and a new box appeared: Cavalry Carbine Cost: 125 Bits Would you like to purchase? -Yes -No I tapped the yes and felt as something materialize on me; glancing back, I saw said musket and a cartridge pack now strapped to my back. Okay, I got seventy five bits left; might as well get myself some armor and a backup weapon too. Eventually, I found myself a set of leather armor and a steel dagger. Once my two purchases were done, I turned to Phoenix as a war axe and some form of iron armor appeared on him. "Well look at you Mr. Viking," I said sarcastically, "out to pillage some villages I see?" He just rolled his eyes, laughing sarcastically, "oh hardy har har; let's just go kill some monsters." Phoenix burst through the bushes in front of me, panting heavily, "I got one and he is not a happy camper!" "Just keep out of the way," I said as pulled the hammer back all way, "Don't wanna shoot you by accident... again." Our plan was rather simple: Phoenix would go and attack a monster, whitle it's health down a bit, and then come running back to me; then I'd shoot the baddie in the face. And if that didn't work, I always had my dagger. As if on cue, a large timberwolf came barreling out of the bushes where Phoenix had been seconds earlier. The monster's health bar was already in the red zone showing that my friend had held up to his end of the plan. *kablam* The ball hit the timberwolf square in the snout as it's remaining health disappeared. The wooden canine let out a pained howl as it disintegrated into blue code. "Woo!" I cheered, hopping out from behind my cover, "another successful kill!" "No thanks to me," Phoenix panted as he came trotting up next to me, "I did all the work." Oh look, who invited Buzz Killington. Suddenly, a box appeared in front of me: Level Up! Lv. 2 -> Lv. 3 "Woo, Level three!" I cheered, flaring my wings as I hoof-pumped. "Look at you Mr. I got extra XP 'cause I killed the monsters," Phoenix said sarcastically, "be in awe of his amazing shooting prowess." I rolled my eyes as I reloaded my gun, "look, next fight, you can finish them off ok-" "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Wow, that was utterly convenient. "Well, now is your time to shine Mr. Viking," I smirked, "let's go be heros!" And with that, I charged toward the screams for help. When the two of us arrived finally found the voice's owner, I had to hold fight back a facehoof. A pegasi stallion who was currently screaming his head off was clinging to the branches of a tree like a cat, while a pair of timberwolves were currently trying their damndest to get another bite out of him. And from the look of his health bar, one more bit and he'd be toast. But the fact that a pegasi was currently stuck in a tree wasn't the only reason that I wanted to facehoof. The idiot had no weapon; I couldn't see hide nor hair of a scabbard of a quiver! Seriously, did this idiot plan on punching these wolves to death! "OI BARKBREATH!" Both the wolves turned to the two of us as Phoenix got their attention. There was utter silence as he stared dow- "WAAAGH!" Phoenix screamed at the top of his lungs as he charged towards the wolves. So much for coming up with a plan. Taking to the skies, I took aim at one of the wolves and fired. My shot hit it in the leg, earning a yelp of pain and bringing its health down by a sixth. The wolf looked up at me and snarled before it lept into the air, trying to take me down. The wolf was quite easy to dodge but it still managed to graze my flank; causing a drop that landed my health at about seventy five percent. "Bastard nicked me," I growled as I frantically reloaded while trying to avoid the constantly leaping wolf. A quick glance over to Phoenix revealed that he was holding his ground quite well against his wolf; leaping out of the way and burning it with fire spells. The wolf was already down to half health and Phoenix hadn't even taken a h- The timberwolf sank its teeth into my hind leg. I let out a scream of pain as my health bar hit the yellow zone, dropping it past the halfway point. "I am not a goddamn chew toy," I screamed and started beating the wolf's snout with the butt of my gun. It took several hits but the wolf eventually let me go and fell to earth with a wooden crack, causing it's health to drop into down to half, leaving it stunned. Seeing an opportunity, I dove straight at the wolf, stabbing it in the chest several times, each wound causing red code to appear. When it was down to its final bit of health, I shot it in the chest. As the wolf turned to blue code, I looked over to see Phoenix finishing his off with an axe blow to the top of the skull. A window appeared in front of him and an ecstatic grin on his face, "Woo! Level three!" Ignoring him, I turned my attention to the pony we just saved; who was still currently still clinging to the tree for dear life, eyes clamped shut. "You can come down now, the wolves are gone now," I said, trying to sound calming instead of annoyed. Seriously, this idiot walks into the Everfree Forest unarmed! That's about as retarded as going to Harlem wearing a bedsheet on your head! "O-okay," the pegasi stuttered, and began to shimmy his way down the tree. I had to facehoof at that; the nitwit is a pegasus, all he had to do was open his wings and glide down. Once he reached the ground, I finally for a good look at the guy. He had a bluish gray coat and his mane was two toned with orange and some sort of reddish orange. His cutie mark was a sheet of paper and a quill caught in a swirl of wind. The name above him read: MystRyder. "Thank you guys for rescuing me," he looked like he was about to collapse. "First off, no problem man," I gave him a polite smile which was followed by a frown, "secondly, what were bloody thinking coming to the everfree unarmed!" "I-I am armed, I-I have a sword; it just didn't come out for the fight," Myst stammered, quite thoroughly embarrassed. "It didn't come out?" Phoenix repeated his words, an unamused expression on his face, "Do you have it equipped?" Myst opened his inventory and a few seconds later, a sword appeared on his side. The resulting facehoof from me and Phoenix was heard 'round the world. "You are idi-" Phoenix didn't get the chance to finish his sentence, because at that moment, the three of us were enveloped by a bright blue light. I couldn't see anything, not the forest, not Myst or Phoenix, not even my own hoof in front of my face. When the light finally subsided, we were all standing in Ponyville Square. What the heck is going on? Why the hell were we teleported?! I looked about to see myself surrounded by other players who were equally confused. Almost the entire square was filled with bronies, and pinpricks of blue light contined to fill the square as more players were teleported in. "What the hell is going on?" I muttered, as the flashes of light finally subsided. "Gamers and Players, May we have your attention please!" My head snapped up to the sky to see four alicorns flying in the air above us. The biggest of the alicorn cleared his throat and addressed the crowd, "Everyone, we are the administrators of Equestria Legends Online. We are in cha~" Oh great, admins; who rubbed someone off the wrong way. "~right now we are experiencing several technical difficulties in the system. One of which, as some of you might have noticed, was the absence of the log out button in your player menu~" Almost immediately, I opened up the menu and my eyes widened. True to their word, the button was most definitely missing. "~since there is no other way for anyone to leave the game. We do not know the cause for this malfunction, but please bear with us as we try to fix this problem. While we try to find what's causing this, for your own safety, please remain in the Ponyville square for the time being." The entire crowd burst into conversation. The tone around us was panicked and confused. A pegasi flew up, yelling what everyone was thinking, "What do you mean you don't know what the problem is?!" The lead alicorn shook his head, "This problem isn't from a lack in the system, so we don't know where the problem might have originated." Suddenly, the entire square was plunged into darkness and everyone went nuts.But during the chaos of the darkness, another voice chuckled evilly, "Oh, I think that I might know what the problem is." No, it can't be... My eyes, and I'm sure everybody else's there widened too. I knew that voice; how could any brony not know that voice. Suddenly, lighting struck through the darkness, partially lighting it. The voice swept through the crowd again, "That would be me." Another crack of lighting sounded, lighting the square completely for everyone to see the source of the voice. Flying high above the crowd was the only and only draconequus, Discord. Discord laughed evilly at all us below, "Hello, my little bronies." He turned his head towards the admin alicorns who were flying in the air on the other side of the square, "And hello to you, my good administrators." The lead alicorn glared at Discord, "How can you be the cause of the problem? You are a program in the system that we designed ourselves. You may have partial control of Equestria, but you don't have the power to change the layout of the system completely." Discord snapped his fingers, making himself vanish. But then he reappeared behind the lead alicorn, "Oh, but you already know the answer to that. You designed me to be exactly like the 'me' in your television show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." He then reappeared in front of some unicorn in the crowd, causing him to jump back a good distance, "That really is a terrible name for a show, don't you think?" Discord snapped his fingers and reappeared riding on one of the admin's backs, "You see, you gave me control over reality in Equestria. But with this power, I hacked into the rest of the system, giving me power over the entire program." My jaw hit the floor; who's bright idea was that! "Oh, and to make sure that I stay in power, " He snapped his fingers and in a flash, the admin alicorns' horns and wings disappeared, making them plummet into the crowd below, while Discord still floated in the air. "Now the admins are just plain earth ponies, and I've also taken power over their admin codes. They won't be able to do a thing to change my world. As for all of you, I will let you keep your wings and horns while you play in a game of mine." The whole crowd burst into shouting. "You son of a bit-th mpth mir." My eyes grew to the size of saucers as my mouth was literally zipped closed.I looked over to see Phoenix and Myst with zippers for mouths and equally terrified eyes. "My, I haven't even told you what the game is, and you're already anxious to get started. The game that I have in mind is a bit of a scavenger hunt. I have taken the Elements of Harmony and placed them all in secret hiding places, inside and outside of Equestria. Your job is to find the Elements and use them to reach me. There, we will have a fight to the death. If you manage to retrieve the elements and defeat me, then I will allow everyone to log out." He lowered his head just over the crowd, "But it won't be as easy as you think, you see I've added a few features to the game. In the original system, if you died in the game, you would instantly re-spawn in thelast town you were in. But that's too boring for me, so I re-wrote the system so when anyone died, their avatar would be lost, and their Nervegear Helmet in the real world will fry their brains. In shorter words, if you die in the game, you will die in the real world." A collective gasp echoed through the crowd. I looked over to see Pheonix practially turn bioluminecent. Discord laughed as he drew a line across his neck, making his head slide off of his neck and into his hand. The dismembered head laughed as it looked down at the terrified crowd, "No need to lose your head over it." He began to laugh even more, "And also, if there is any tampering with the helmet in the outside world, the helmet will kill the player instantly. Actually, quite a few of players have already died this way." As if to accentuate the point, a unicorn in front of me disintergrated into blue code. Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch! My family is gonna unintentionally vegitibalize me! Discord continued, "Now, in this game, there are a few rules. First, you cannot receive help from the outside world, that is, if you can even manage that. If I catch anypony communicating to the outside world, all of you will die. Second, any tampering with the system from inside the game, the rule-breaker will die instantly." Discord chuckled, "And just so you know, I have a couple of monster friends who want to go out of their designated areas, so I'm letting them roam a bit. Maybe you'll meet them when you go out of town, but they won't follow you into a city or town. They hate crowded places." "But a few of you might have thought, 'There's only six elements, so this will be easy.' Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble," Discord suddenly, belched out a bubble that was bigger that the length of his body. In all honesty, I would have laughed if I wasn't crapping my pants in terror. "But I thought that only six elements would be boring. So I added four new elements." He poked the oversized bubble with a claw, causing it to burst and reform into ten smaller bubbles. "They will be hidden all over Equestria, but they will be guarded by my favorite kinds of monsters, just like a boss of each element. If you find the element, and defeat its guardian in a boss battle, then you may walk away with it in hoof. But I must warn you, my guardians are no push-overs." Lighting struck again behind Discord, "Well, there you have it. So just remember, your lives are on the line, not mine." He laughed loudly, making lighting strike behind him again, "So, my little bronies, let the games begin!" The sky suddenly was filled with thunder and lightning, blinding everyone as Discord cackled maniacally. When the lightning subsided, Discord was gone, only his laughter echoed through the streets of Ponyville. The entire square was silent. After a few seconds, Phoenix turned to me, "I.... What... Just what!?"