//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Lost In Equestria // by Lord Midnight //------------------------------// The map is challenging and has 30 side quests alongside the 300 outcome main questline. We picked this scenario because of the sheer edge it can give you if you can manage to beat it. There’s even a rumor that there’s a hidden side quest inside the everfree forest. Basically it goes like this, Emeris, the inventor of VD&D, was secretly obsessed with a television show and made a lot of hidden references to it. What the show is or even if it’s true is a mystery, however this map was his personal brainchild and possibly the proof. There are a lot of things you find in the map that seem to be a reference something. We are in the middle of a side quest and find a cave, outside is a sign written in runes. ‘All the cake you can carry awaits those who can complete all the tasks.’ We smile at the thought. Cake has an immensely high selling value, however it lacks a crafting option and has no known way to acquire it. If we can fill our inventories with cake and make it back to the town to sell and store it, we’ll be rich. However, it might sidetrack us for too long to get all the side quests done before it’s time to go to the prelims. All the players get a bonus ability based on the virtue they represent. Mine is lie detection. I can detect any lie when it’s active for example. Donovan gets major bonuses to all things magic that scales based on party member proximity. If we are all in the same room and in connected squares he has double all traits, however when he is alone he gets debuffs. We turn to Johnny, as the element of laughter he has a random, nonsensical form of esp. He activates his ability and turns to me. “This cave makes me feel all tingly, like the feeling I get when I try walking on a carpet, but it turns out to really be made of spiders. I think The Element of Honesty should be asked.” Why didn’t I think of that? I look at the sign and activate my ability. The text reader glitches for a moment and I see ‘The cake’s a lie’ written in blood on a strange white wall. Then it goes back to normal and with its normal text states. “The lies leave a bad taste in my mouth.” We continue walking happy we avoided a potential death trap, with me slightly disturbed. That had to be a reference to something. It looked like a clip of something. This game is going to have me thinking about this again. I’m not going to be able to sleep for a few days… We continue on our epic questing and manage to get some epic loot. A necklace that can only be equipped by the element of Kindness, but locks that person into that element forever. Shady smiles softly and equips it, she really is the only one who never fails hidden kindness checks. It has some serious stat boosts for her and we feel victory becoming a lot less of a hope and much more of a possibility. After a few more side quests we find a necklace that has the same deal for Honesty. I equip it without hesitation. We slowly collect them all, one for each of us, and finish all the side quests. We are running short on time and we all know that the final boss on this game is nearly unbeatable and takes a long time to even attempt it. We have to decide to find out if the rumors of the hidden everfree quest is true, or go on into the final dungeon of the main quest. “The rumors do have some feeling of truth to em. Honestly, it feels like this scenario is just loaded with references that this game is too old for us to get.” “Could you imagine if we were the ones that actually found it? That’s absolutely bragging rights there.” “They both sound fun!” “I’m fine with whatever everyone else wants to do.” “But if we can’t beat it in time then we won’t get the loot from this scenario until we come back and finish it.” “Lets go check the locals again, ask about something strange in the Everfree.” We check and turn up nothing. However our house to house search yields a library and we all groan as Donovan whoops in victory. He begins attacking the library using his autoloot spell to grab every single book from every single bookshelf. “Ohh I found some awesome books on magic. I got new spells! I can turn lesser enemies into oranges! Ohh there a book called the Elements of Harmony and this map just had a bunch of stuff aimed at the element abilities that rewarded us with element locking epic equips, not suspicious at all. Woah it’s a reading book!.” We actually turn to him in surprise at this, reading books are books that you keep in your inv and instead of taking time to absorb the info and giving you the result of your reading, you actually read them. They are good because they are rare and always have a secret in them. Telling you a boss’s secret ult and secret weakness for example, or telling you to jump in place on a certain spot to prompt a dig for treasure action that gets epic loot. “Your careful study of the book yields information. The Elements of harmony hold the key to wielding the immense power of friendship and virtues. There last know location was the ancient abandoned castle in the Everfree forest.” “Holy shit. The rumor is true, so why hasn’t anyone beaten it yet?” I remark to my friends. We all look at each other worriedly and start pulling out out best gear and making sure our ults are usable. Within a moment we are standing at the edge of the Everfree. It has no quests that take you there and is spoken about in fear and warnings. Literally at several points in the main questline the phrase ‘at least it’s not the Everfree’ was said in encouragement. We step inside and the map loads. As we travel with reach a cliff and begin trying to figure out how to get past it. I receive a notification, if you jump off the cliff everything will be fine. Smiling I tell everyone about the notification and we head back to the edge of the cliff. This time there is strange being there. They insist that I am lying and will receive 500,000 gold if I convince them to jump. I receive another notification. ‘You receive a telepathic message. - Tell them it was a lie and I will grant everyone in your party 100,000 gold and tell them that this part of the game is unfinished.’ Annoyed at this I attack the stranger. “They want me to lie and agree with them in order to get rid of us, I say we smash him.” They teleport away as I get in range for my attack. With that we leap off the cliff as one, only for it to turn out to be about a foot down. I get a notification for honesty check passed. We continue down the path, Shady convinces us to not attack a Nightmare Manticore boss and manages to use her kindness ability to convince it to leave. Next is actually strange, a massive amount of Nightmare Trees. I unleash my ult, one thousand daggers of light. It hits them all for one out of there 5k hp. Johnny just smiles and laughs. “It could be worse, at least they aren't Nightmare rocks. It’s perfectly acceptable to be beaten by a tree, but beaten by a rock? None of us even have scissors!” I laugh, despite the situation I can’t help it. “Sometimes I wonder if all your trains of thought can teleport.” He just beams at me. “Actually I don’t have trains of thought, I use bumper cars! Way more fun than taking the train.” We all laugh and I trail off when I hear Shady’s soft giggle. Such a beautiful sound, some day I’m going to tell her exactly how I feel about her. I notice all the trees taking massive damage randomly. “Who just did what? All the trees just took a third of their hp in damage.” I look around questioningly. “Maybe there just allergic to laughter, I remember Lord Emeris used to say giggle at the ghosties a lot, maybe this is a reference to that.” Johnny just beams at us. “Leave it to me then! What’s the square root of infinity?” We look at him confused, but he whips a potato out of his pocket. “Triangle!” With a soft bemused chuckle I ask him “so why did you pull out a potato?” “I have no idea! Should I have pulled out a tomato? I have one of them too!” He whips out a sock puppet. Slowly we break out into laughter at the infectious insanity that is Johnny and the trees crumble to dust before the hilarity. Still laughing we continue on. We come across a wide river and unfortunately we only have one boat, only one of us can continue on from here. There’s an old man by the river. He tells us that if he doesn’t get this medicine across the river and treat his family, they will all die. Much to our chagrin Suzanna immediately hands over our only boat. The man thanks her and when he places the boat in the water it transforms into a bridge. Soon we reach a chasm and Bolt uses his druid’s bird form to fly across and activate the bridge. Right before he fixes the bridge he smirks at us. “These idiots think I’m just going to abandon you for a 50 level boost applied to my character directly.” After we cross the bridge we quickly reach the castle. Inside we find a boss. It’s a powerful necromancer named Nightmare Moon, the strange part is what is it doing here? It should be at the end of the dungeon for the main questline. It fires off a spell and all our element abilities are blanked out. “You’d do better to just walk away while you can. The elements of harmony are shattered. Can you even begin to claim the Element of Magic when you're insignificant before my power?” “Battle formation, it doesn’t matter if we don’t get boosts for it any more. We are stronger together! Trust me guys, the Elements are more than just some minor abilities we get. They are the building blocks of friendship. We wouldn’t have even made it here to this fight without them. We can win. Magic.” Donovan always was a great party leader, when all seems lost he holds us together. I move next to him and smile. “That’s the truth, Honesty.” “I’ve always got my friends back, Loyalty.” “I’ll keep everyone alive, even if you um… die. Kindness.” She is so cute. “Keep smiling everyone! Laughter!” “I’ll take tank position, Generosity.” With all of us in formation something interesting happens. The necklaces we found earlier all change into a different one and we all receive notifications. “Send power to the Element of magic? I’ll click yes.” I receive a 100% damage resistance as all my mana and half my hp disappears. Donovan smiles as he receives the massive boosts. “Lights out, Moon.” He fires a spell that slices the necromancer a new one, rending it into dust. We smile at each other. We won! We found and beat the hidden quest line. “So wheres the loot?” I ask. “What, these beautiful artifacts don’t count? We have a whole new epic ability and massive stat boosts. These are beyond legendary gear, Cat. I think that’s pretty good loot for a side quest.” Suzanna scolds me and I feel a moment of chagrin. We are about to leave when the mayor’s NPC appears in here and the exit gets deleted. Right we just beat the main boss, things will glitch out if we head back into town. We turn in the quests and the scenario ends. We are so gonna win this tournament in… Five Minutes! “We need to get going now! We are going to be late!” They take off running and I know Shady can’t keep up, she never runs and says she can’t. I turn and smile at her. “Ever wanted to see the world through my eyes?” She looks at me questioningly and squeaks when I scoop her up in my arms. She looks at me with wide eyes and shrieks, clinging to me for dear life when I Step. The world comes into crystal clarity as I streak to the staging area. Still holding onto Shady with her clinging to me with a surprising amount of strength I smirk as the others get there. “So slow, I had time to skip out for some coffee if I could detach Shady, or particularly wanted to.” “Cat?” She unburies her face from my chest and looks at me with an uncertain smile. I smile at her. “Would you two lovebirds do this later? We have to get to the arena, were up first.” Donovan reminds us. I gently set Shady down. “He’s right we should do this later, like over dinner?” She freezes and a blush spills over her face. “Like a date?” I just nod and grin at her expression as I nod and she seems to go a little limp. “Do I need to carry you again, beautiful?” She starts walking towards the arena. I have to guide her a few times because she’s about to crash into things. Her face stays blushed the entire time and she is definitely distracted. Finally as were about to sit down she smiles at me. “I would love to. Kindness!” I swear, that’s the loudest I’ve ever heard her talk and it makes me feel tingly all over. The happy feeling I get obliterating our competition is nothing next to the thrill of her saying yes. We spend time together hanging out as a group in between matchups. They issue beepers that tell us when it is almost our turn. Shady keeps close to me and doesn’t lose her blush. At one point it’s time for me to meet up with my dealers. “Guys, I got some traders to meet up with. Nothing underground, but they aren't exactly nice people. You guys might want to meet up with me later, but you can come if you want. It shouldn’t be anything dangerous, I’m just buying flowers.” “I’ll come, if you don’t mind.” She shoots me a happy smile and the others follow me as I go to make the deal. It goes smoothly, mostly. One of the younger traders makes a snide comment about Shady and gets knocked out by his boss before I even have a chance to be offended. To apologise the head trader who acquired all this for me gives me a discount, with a grin and a remark about coming out of the idiot’s wages. We walk back to the arena with me so happy I could almost sing. This has been the best night ever! We manage to win the tournament, all the loot, all the glory all the power is ours. We are the champions of the decade and everyone cheers for us as we stand and take our medals. The rest of the con goes smoothly and it is three in the morning by the time it wraps up. As we walk out the door I run at a wall and run up it kicking off and landing with a whoop. “Best Night Ever!” “Now is that only because Shade agreed to go out with you or does the victory factor in? Not sure if I approve of this courtship, but I’m willing to take pride in your victory. After all, being the best at anything is worthy of praise.” A shiver of fear passes through me. Elder is behind me and I slowly turn and take a defensive stance upon seeing his mask fully in place with the deadened look in his eyes that shows he’s killed his emotions. “Greetings Elder. I’m happy because of everything! The bulbs, the victory, the chance to see into Grandmaster Emeris’ mind.” “Oh, and what about the date you have planned with that delicate flower behind you?” Shady clings to my arm. Her voice is barely above a whisper. “Who is this, I feel afraid, there’s something wrong with his eyes.” He Steps right in front of her staring into her eyes with his dead blue ones. One finger digging into my chest freezes my entire body in place and I can only stand there. “I’m what Katdestro will some day become. You only see a tiny fragment of him. Tell me, are you truly prepared to court him? Can you accept all the lives he’s ended? Can you truly embrace all of him? He is more than just Cat the gamer. He is also Katdestro, Death incarnate. A warrior who could kill you accidently.” “He’s not that bad.” I feel a coldness clenching my heart. I thought she accepted me for what I was? “He’s different from you, he doesn’t enjoy it. I know who and what he is, but I accept it. I accept him. He isn’t like the rest of the nobles who kill anyone who challenges them for fun.” He releases me and Steps back. “Oh really? Tell my, my little Kitty. Were you prepared to kill in order to go have fun tonight? Even if they were your own brother?” I look down sadly. “Yes.” A sliver of ice enter my heart as Shade recoils from me. “If I gave you an absolute order, would you kill her parents?” My rage burns at the question. I lock eyes with Elder feeling my doa burning through my body. My friends all stumble backwards as I look back at them. “If this goes badly, do not interfere. Just run and pray he doesn’t bother with you.” “Ah there he is. Tell me have you ever seen anything so magnificent? This is the real Katdestro, surging with lethal power and prepared to kill his own grandfather over a hypothetical question.” Shady steps forwards and takes the Reaver stance next to me. I look at her in surprise and I see something in her eyes that I’ve never seen before. She has an immense amount of power hidden in her lithe frame that I never knew about. How have I never sensed this massive doa ki? She’s as powerful in doa as I am in sai and doa together in my default state. “Ah and there's exactly what I wanted to show you. Katdestro Ironheart, meet Hillshade Firefist. The funny thing is Cat, you already met her parents.” I step back in shock. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” She looks away. “Because I don’t want to be Hillshade. I want to be Shady. I’m sorry I lied to you, please don’t hate me.” I smile and and pull her into a hug. “Shady I could never hate you. This doesn’t change anything. Well, actually it changes a lot, but in a good way. Like I can take you out on our date without spending the entire thing paranoid something horrible is going to happen. Now I suppose I should walk you home like a proper gentleman.” I turn to Elder. “Thanks, I think?” “Oh you're not dismissed yet. See theres a reason I did this. You're taking this step into a relationship, yet neither of you is fully honest with the other.” “And here I thought the point of dating was to get to know them better? There’s all kinds of time in the world, and I’m certain she would have told me eventually. Is this it? Just a lecture about my personal life, or is there something else?” I’m still enraged by the parents question and don’t feel like taking his shit right now. Not to mention I’m worried he’s going to talk about him. He stares at us impassively for a moment, his expression remains unchanged and there is still no light in his eyes. A small smile that I hate curls his lips. “I think I’ll just watch this one play out. Have fun you two.” He vanishes. Sometimes I wonder if there is a teleportation technique that masters learn. He was there and just gone, no trails, no blur, no sound. He’s just gone. I turn back to my friends Donovan looks like he’s about ready to puke and the others aren't much better off. “Cat, have I ever told you that you Altered are terrifying? No offense meant Cat… or Shady I suppose. That’s still hard to process, I mean theres a difference between knowing that somebody has a side of them like that, actually seeing it…” Donovan is looking at me and Shady with fresh eyes and I feel worried. Citizens aren’t good at handling a look at how the world really works. I hope they can treat me the same, and I really hope Shady and I don’t lose our friends. “It’s ok, just because Shady and Kitty are from a different culture doesn’t mean they're not still our Shady and Kitty. We all have our dark sides. Donny you're an junior master level hacker, I’m an inventor who... who created the first citizen class projectile weapon in 200 years. Who we are when we're apart isn’t who we are when we're together. We really are stronger together, better together.” Johnny has a smile on his face, not quite his ever present beaming, but at least he’s still smiling. Everyone looks a little taken aback by this reminder of who we really are. “He’s right, when we're together, we are gamers. Who we are outside doesn’t matter. My name is Cat, for the love of little green apples don’t call me Kitty.” “How about Kitten?” Johnny is grinning at me and smiles are returning to the group. I sigh melodramatically. “Just no.” Shady looks at me sideways with a nervous smile. “Can I call you Kitty?” I beam at her. “I wouldn’t mind that at all, actually.” “Are you gonna go all sappy on us now?” Bolt looks exasperated. I smirk. “Only on days of the week with a y in it. Guys, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s about time for us to be headed home.” I pause calculating the route through the city. “Let’s start with Johnny.” Escorts home after events that wear into the dangerous parts of the night are common for us. The city can be a dangerous place and nothing says ‘lets mug the next guys and hide from these’ like an escort by an Altered. The trip goes mostly uneventful as we drop everyone off one by one. I realise that where Shady has me drop her off is likely not where she actually lives and ask her where she really lives. “Well um, I live at the main estate for the Firefist clan, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for you to go there. My Elder is already in a bad mood because I’m out gaming.” “But your Elder likes me, if you tell him we’re dating he’d probably lighten up a bit.” “Okay, if you really don’t mind going to the edge of the city. I don’t mind walking alone.” I smile and pull her close walking with my arm around her. “Shady, of course I don’t mind walking with you. I love spending time with you.” She blushes and hesitantly snakes an arm around me. Here with her under the moon is a wonderful feeling. We talk as we walk and we tell each other about our stats. Turns out Shady is a doa type who has little to no skill in weapons but is a master level in unarmed combat. She specialises in Gentle fist styles but is skilled in most basic forms. We soon see the walls of her clan’s estate. The guards do not look happy upon seeing us together. “Your home late, my little Shade.” A deep voice from behind us. The Firefist Elder is a tall skinny man known for his having reached the highest level of Reaver, able to kill by using doa strikes to vital points at a range. I give him a bow. “Greetings again, Elder of the Firefist. I apologise for the delay, however we had a small problem with my Elder. How is your clan doing?” He smiles, unlike my Elder he’s actually an overall nice guy, only ever serious when the situation requires him to be. He doesn’t bother with a mask of impassiveness, he allows his expression to be honest. He has a little anger, happiness and curiosity etched on his expressive face. “We are doing wonderful, son of Ironheart and Midnight Lotus. How does your clan fare?” “We are doing well, the question of heirs may be resolved within a week.” “Excelent. Now, might I ask what you are doing escorting my daughter home?” “I wished to seek your blessings in pursuing a relationship with her.” I gulp as I sense his power flaring and his face looks conflicted. Anger, happiness, pride and sadness all etched across his face. Finally curiosity settles back into the mix. “Cat, how did you even encounter her?” His eyes light up in amusement. “Don’t tell me I’m not the only one that has to deal with a gamer. Hah! You are! I can’t wait to mess with Solomon about this. Alright. Shady is special, my beloved youngest daughter. So know that I do not speak these words lightly. You may court her, but if you hurt her I am going to throw you in the dungeon of 99 hells.” I grin at him. “Don’t worry I would never hurt Shady.” He nods. “Good, I know you don’t lie. You are a man of honor who holds the virtues close to his heart. You fail a bit in the department of Magic, a known loner. As well as Kindness, I’ve wondered if Solomon beat the mercy out of you or if it’s an effect of the dem-” He thankfully cuts off before revealing the closest thing to a lie I have. My deepest darkest secret. He hesitates and then smiles again. “But I have never seen you lie, even in a fight. Now I suppose it’s time for some rest. I’ll allow you to be a gentleman and escort her to her house on the estate. After all, your clan and mine have been blood brothers since before the Fall.” He backflips over the wall, the 50 foot high, topped with razor wire, wall. Masters are freaking scary. I walk onto the estate with Shady leading me. Her house is a small cottage in the woods. She really is special to her Elder if she actually has her own house. I just have a small section at the back of the main manor and the garden. She hesitates at the door and a blush forms on her face. “I… um… Cat…” She moves at speed I can barely even track and twists lacing her fingers in my hair pulling my head down to hers. Our lips meet in a kiss and my mind slams to a halt at the contact. All too quickly she breaks the kiss blushing like mad and smiling. “Goodnight!” She darts through her door and shuts it leaving me staring at the space she previously occupied as I try and get my brain to work. A sniggering behind me jumpstarts my brain. I turn and see a tall woman with long raven hair pulled into ponytail. Everything about her screams do not mess with, especially the bladed war bow on her back. She has an amused look. “And here I was worried that you might be trying to take advantage of my little sister. Seriously what kind of man is overwhelmed by a simple kiss? It’s ok, I think I prefer her with a naive little adept like you, less to worry about. Are you any good with those weapons? A scorpion chain is a bit of a rarity and those swords are whispering to me.” I smile finally recognising her. Long ago she was my instructor in my introduction to the art of weaponry. She is a grandmaster of weapon arts and sai, a scary accomplishment for her age. My old weapons master, Hellspark, the Thousand Blade Master. “The years have done you well, Sensei Sparky.” She does a double take. “Wait, is that you Kitten? I haven't seen you in years! When did you go ahead and turn into a Cat without my permission?” I snort. “It’s not my fault you didn’t want to teach me any more.” “All that was left in your weapon training was sparing and advanced techniques, and I can’t safely do that with a twerp like you. Get stronger and I will teach you again gladly. Now, I was told to make sure you didn’t overstay your welcome on our estate. I’ll see you to the front gate.” She Flashes away towards the exit and I do my best to follow her. Doa types have a move similar to the Step called the Flash. I leave the estate and head towards home a smile on my face. That was the best day ever, and for the first time in a long time I feel hope for a better tomorrow. Something slams me to the ground mid Step and I roll to my feet locking eyes with my attacker. What the hell? They are a skeletal goat wearing a black cloak. Around his neck is a golden necklace with a large golden bell on it. I blink stupidly as I try and figure out what the hell is going on. Where am I? Everything is black and I’m standing on thin air. It’s like being in a dream. “Katdestro Ironheart. Yes I think you’ll do nicely. If you ever want to see your world again, you’ll follow my orders. I am the rightful ruler of Equestria, Grogar the invincible. Await my orders with baited breath but for now simply bide your time, young human.”