//------------------------------// // Rogue Dreams and New Allies // Story: Fancy Meeting YOU here... // by Unbound Bass //------------------------------// Octavia wiped her eyes and looked at her clock. It read 7:58. She'd been playing for around four hours. She couldn't believe her own a absent-mindedness. With a simple text chat message she went offline. She didn't want her friends to hear her in the state she was in. "I probably look awful..." She said as she stood and trudged painstakingly slow to her bathroom. She had been right. She was a mess. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair was disheveled from where her headset had been. As she splashed water in her face she couldn't help thinking of Vinyl and her chance encounter with her. It seemed as though she was trying to be nice. Maybe Vinyl had forgiven her for what she had done..... "I highly doubt that..." Speaking to nopony in particular except for herself. She stood there looking at her reflection. The mare she saw there wasn't the same one she had seen so many times before in the mirror in her old home...her REAL home. The mare she saw there was a shell of what once had been a happy and slightly stuck-up pony was now a depressed and lonely shell. She decided to simply sleep away her troubles, so after a quick shower she flopped down on her bed and tried to sleep. She fell asleep after five minutes or so. In Ponyville... Octavia was happily strolling down the street with saddlebags full of apples. She occasionally waved and greeted ponies on the street around her. Nothing could ruin her mood today. Not even the dishes or Vinyl brushing her teeth. Octavia was simply over-joyed over the fact that today was the first REAL date she was going to have with Vinyl. Vinyl had asked her out over the phone while she was in Canterlot auditioning for the Royal Symphony. Her words were... "Soooo Tavi......ummm......I was wondering......wouldyouliketogooutwithmewhenyougetback." Vinyl shakily said. "Can you repeat that Vinyl....and this time don't make one long word," Tavi replied simply even though she knew exactly what she had said. She wanted to savor the moment. "Would....you.....like.....to.....go.....out....with......ME?" Vinyl said extremely slowly emphasizing the "ME" part as much as possible. "Of course I would..." Tavi said nonchalantly. "I've been waiting for so long to hear you say tho....." "Really!?!? You really will!?!? OMG OMG OMG!!!" Vinyl screeched into her phone not caring about interrupting Tavi or nearly causing to drop her phone at the sudden outburst. There was a pause and then Vinyl hung up. "Bye....I guess?" Tavi shrugged guessing that Vinyl was still freaking out. She had kept walking as she remembered and ,for the first time ever, somepony walked into Derpy. Octavia snapped out of her happy memory to see Derpy sitting on her haunches on the ground in front of her. "Owchies..." Derpy said as she rubbed her rump. "That really hurt!" "I'm so so soooo sorry for my lack of attention...." Octavia let out quickly while helping the grey mare to her hooves. "I guess you could say you just don't know what went wrong?" Derpy said with an adorable smile quoting her own all too famous line. "I suppose you could put it that way." Octavia replied sheepishly. Derpy simply started walking off and said.... "Bye Octopus!" Yelling as she left Octavia there awestruck at the fact she thought she was an eight-limbed sea creature. "She thinks I'm an octopus? " Octavia thought to herself. "Or does she just think my name is Octopus?" Shrugging it off Octavia simply continued her happy stroll back home where she knew Vinyl would be waiting... hopefully with a romantic setting. She even started humming one of Vinyl's "awful" remixes. She came into view of the home that she was so excited to enter and see the mare that she loved so much. The one that had finally confirmed her love to her as well. Octavia got giddy with excitement and anticipation. She stood at the door calming herself and telling herself to put on a convincing surprised look whenever she walked in. She started to the doorknob to find it locked. "Well....that's odd..." She simply said to herself. She rummaged around the apples in her saddlebags and found her keys. After what seemed like an eternity going through all of her keys to find the correct one she unlocked the door and opened it...her jaw near literally hit the floor. "Oh my...." Were the only words she could muster as she opened the door. She found nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary that is. She gasped and trudged up the stairs and straight into Vinyl's room to find her sleeping....at two in the afternoon. Octavia nearly shouted straight into the obnoxious, yet "adorable" DJ's ear. She calmed herself and "gently" prodded Vinyl's forehead with her hoof. Vinyl fell off her bed and onto the floor. "Ow!" Was all that came out of her at first as she hit the wooden floor back first. She was met with Octavia's stern glare. One that expressed both fury and curiosity at the same time. "Oh look it's the late date..." Vinyl said a straight look on her face. "What are you going on about!?!?" Octavia questioned loudly. She was sure the neighbors heard it. "We both agreed on when i got back!" "Yeah...,but you told me you'd be back two days ago..." Vinyl returning a serious look that Octavia had only seen a few times before. "Oh um.....I'm sorry Vinyl..." Octavia realized that she hadn't informed her date of her last minute audition. "SORRY! SORRY!?!?" Vinyl's face turned into one of fury. "I paid a hundred bits for your favorite red wine for you to not show up to drink it with me!" "Vinyl...I..." Octavia was at a loss for words. "So getting your spot in your little band was more important than your date!?!?" Vinyl shouted only inches away from Tavi's face. "H-how did you know i got the spot???" Octavia asked with a saddened expression. She wanted it to be a surprise. "I read it in the paper yesterday!!!" Vinyl replied throwing a folded up newspaper at her. The front-page read... "Local Cellist claims spot in Royal Canterlot Symphony!!!" "I guess i wasn't as important to you as i thought..." Vinyl said as she walked out the door using her magic to slam it behind her. Octavia heard another slam as she went out the front door as well. She was furious now...she wanted to just be rid of that obnoxious mare! Tavi quickly went into her room and gathered up all the belongings she wanted to take with her and left. She left a simple note on the fridge that read... Goodbye Vinyl... Tavi went to the train station and got a ticket to go back to Canterlot. She wasn't thinking and in her haste forgot about needing a place to live. She and Vinyl had shared that house for nearly a year ,and Tavi never really made any plan for moving out. That didn't concern her now she just wanted to be away from there as soon as possible. She had gotten on the train and as soon as everypony began to recognize her she began getting praise and "Congrats" from everypony within speaking distance of her seat. She simply stayed silent the entire train ride. Tavi rocketed up into a sitting position in her bed. She glanced at her clock it read 12:36. She hadn't been sleeping long, then she recalled her "dream". "Was that a dream?" She asked herself aloud. "No...it couldn't have been..." She thought hard for a few moments... "It was no dream....It was a memory...." She stared at her wall for a few seconds. She went to lay back down and found she no longer felt the need for sleep. Finding this odd she also realized she felt her mind almost ordering her to get up and play the game. Her first thought was that the game had no real importance and why he should play it at this hour. After a few more seconds of staring into the blank wall she realized... the game was a way to communicate with Vinyl. Her heart had yearned for it, but her mind rejected it. It was almost like her body and mind were locked in a war whether to forgive and forget or hold a grudge. She no longer cared what her mind said. Her heart was all that mattered. This was the first time she truly realized how shattered her heart had been for the past four months. She got up and trudged to the computer which she had foolishly left on. She cursed herself and her rising electric bill. "Might as well..." She said groggily to herself. Her mind wanted sleep, but her heart wanted Vinyl. Even if it was a small exchange of words from the mare it wanted so badly. She woke up her PC and turned on the game. She saw a message appear saying the game had been updated. Under patch notes said one thing... Area Boss "Wolf Pack Alpha-Male" Legendary Helmet Drop is now less common. "Isn't that the thing I got?" She asked herself aloud. Shortly after she cursed herself and her new habit of speaking to herself. She X'd out of the patch notes and spawned in...just in time to see a golden Pegasus mare Sniper character get wrecked by a wolf enemy. She chuckled. She realized there was a new marker on her map. The title for it was... Area 2: Forest of Shadows Lvl:5-15 She saw this and almost was foolish enough to go to the next area. At the last moment she realized... she was unarmed. Her sword had been sliced in two during the boss battle. She rushed back into Hoofbarton and went straight to the Weapons Vendor that her friends had shown her. She noticed she had a bit of junk loot that was less effective than what she currently had equipped so she sold it for the extra bits. She saw a level 6 sword that was quite powerful. She purchased it for not even a quarter of her total amount of bits. She went to the armor vendor to check his stock. She found a very intriguing shield. It's name and description were.... Animal Soul Infused Steel Shield A steel shield infused with the souls of many animals. (-50% Damage from Animal Type Opponents) She bought this almost immediately. It was quite expensive, but not enough to empty her wallet too severely. She equipped her new gear and bought some consumables. This included a splint. She wasn't going to be caught "breaking a leg" during a fight. At least not literally... She got some heads to turn her way as she left town. Many of the noobs were in awe of her Legendary Helmet whose drop had just gotten nerfed. She left town before any noob could question her about the helmet. Tavi looked around quickly for any other players that may have been useful allies, but found none. It was late after all. Tavi stepped through to the next area. She was met with a target almost immediately. It was her shadow. Herself. "Figures...Forest of Shadows after all...." She said under her breath. What frightened her most were its status. Her status read... Octavia Lvl:7 HP:115/115 The shadow's status.... Shadow Doppelganger(Octavia) Lvl:7 HP:115/115 This intrigued Tavi because if its status were exact copies wouldn't that mean it had her buffs power-ups? Her answer came quick as it used her best SPD buff. Tavi responded with a simultaneous activation of all four of her buffs including the one the Shadow had used. They circled each other waiting for the opposite to make a move. The shadow made the first move. A quick stab lunge straight towards Tavi. It used the same form as she did when she would do it. That meant..... "It knows my play-style!" She was alarmed that the devs could make such a thing happen. She dodged right much faster due to the stacked buffs she had compared to the Shadow's one. She retaliated with a slice. She usually avoided slicing with her previous sword, but this one was much different. The Shadow was caught off-guard and took the blow to the arm. The arm fell and burst into dark particles. The shadow simply regenerated the severed limb instantly. The attack still did considerable damage. The shadow's health had fallen. The bar now read... Shadow Doppelganger(Octavia) Lvl:7 HP:85/115 She was at first surprised at the thirty points of damage without a critical. She realized quickly her sword had (+30%) Demon damage on it. That meant the Shadow her was a demon type enemy. The shadow swung the shield at her for a bash attack stun effect. Tavi bounced it off her own shield, staggering the Shadow Tavi. Tavi took the chance and swiped at the neck. The head came off and burst into particles. Instead of a damage number though she was met with a red text.... INSTANT DEATH!!! She was stunned. She didn't know that was possible. She was alerted to possible threats when she heard a familiar voice in chat. "Get away you shadow creeps!!!" screeched a grey Pegasus mare archer as she fended them off with dual dagger swipes. Tavi knew her. It was Derpy. Upon closer inspection her character even had the recently added Wall-Eyes effect on it. No time for appearances though. The poor girl was in trouble. There were at least four shadow demons. One of them was her doppelganger. Three of them were identical besides weapons. They read... Shadow Demon Lvl:6 HP:75/75 Derpy's Shadow form read... Shadow Doppelganger(Derpy) Lvl:5 HP:50/50 It carried a simple Applewood bow. The same bow currently strapped to Derpy's back. Tavi realized the Shadow was level five...which meant Derpy was the bare minimum level for the area. She had three level sixes attacking her. Derpy's health bar dropped dangerously low. Tavi sprang into action. She used a One-Use Throwing Knife and aimed for the throat of the Shadow Derpy. She got lucky and it flashed "INSTANT DEATH!!!" quickly over the shadow before it burst like the one before. She lunged forward full speed and killed two of them instantly while Derpy Skill Dodged Backward and nailed the third with a flaming arrow to the throat. "Derpy are you okay?!?!" Tavi may not have been good friends with her, but still worried for the poor mare. "I'm okay...who are you?" She asked with a questioning face. "Um....ugh....O-octopus....." Tavi said. The name Derpy knew her by wasn't one she particularly liked. "Oh that's who you are!" Derpy shouted a bit too loud for Tavi's liking. "Yeah...I'm okay." "You do know those three were level six right?" Tavi asked with a grin. "Yes....I just don't know what went wrong...." Derpy said looking down sadly. "At first I was fighting the shadow "me" then those three came out of....well....the SHADOWS!" Derpy pulled out a muffin and chomped on it. Her health bar went to the minimum to be green. "Why didn't you just fly?" Tavi asked straight-faced. "One of the axes caught my left wing..." Derpy looked down again. Tavi pulled out her splint. Splints weren't specific for any body part. They just repaired broken ones such as legs and wings. She used it on Derpy. "Try to fly now." Tavi said or more accurately ordered. Derpy took off. She wasn't at full mobility, but she could hover and get a bit of altitude. "Wow....thanks Octo....Octavia." Pausing to get her name right. Derpy flew in a circle or two before flying face first into a tree. "Owchies...." She said as she pulled out another muffin. Tavi noticed she was level eight now. She used her Ability Point to get a sword buff for flame damage. Her skill points went straight to SPD and PRCSN. Derpy had leveled up level six as well. She knew a general idea of what she wanted. She was doing PRCSN and STMNA(Stamina). It allowed her to be accurate with PRCSN, and allowed her to take her time to aim with STMNA. Tavi observed Derpy as she was choosing her skills. Tavi had at first assumed Derpy was just going to barrel through the game doing whatever skills with whatever abilities she randomly chose. That was obviously not the case. Derpy was deliberately choosing what she wanted for her set-up. Which Tavi didn't know what that set-up actually was. "Derpy...what is your set-up going to be?" Tavi couldn't believe herself she was talking like she was some experienced MMORPG player when in truth she had just started earlier that same day. "I was hoping to make an Accurate Archer that relied on critical hits to deal massive damage!" Derpy happily shouted. "I'm waiting to get to level ten so I can get the skill that tells me where an enemy's critical hit areas are." "That's an interesting skill...too bad it's exclusive to archers and snipers." Tavi replied a little disappointed. "I know, but you don't seem to need it... you seem to know what you're aiming for." Derpy said as she turned to look at her. "I learned the instant kill spot by accident while fighting Shadow Octavia." Octavia said pulling out an apple to restore a little bit of health she had lost earlier. "Wanna be in a party!?!?" Derpy's sudden outburst of a question startled Tavi thoroughly. "Um....What's that?" Octavia asked slightly confused. "It's a group where the members share the Exp. and Bits from kills even if they are made by a different member." Derpy replied quickly. "Come on...it'll be fun!" "Ok...my friends aren't on at this hour, so I guess I can team with you." Tavi replied with a grin. She was excited for the extra support and the person to talk to during slow moments in between fights. A notification popped up in the bottom left corner of her screen that read... Player "Derpy" has invited you to a party! (CLICK TO JOIN) Tavi clicked it and a new interface popped up under her health bar. It read: "Party" and under were the names Derpy(Party Leader) and Octavia. "There!" Derpy ecstatically shouted. "Now we can know where the other is at at all times and know what their health and other status are at at all times as well." "This'll be a nice experience..." Tavi said not sounding as excited as she truly was. With that the new allies ventured forth an amazing ten paces before meeting a couple of shadow demons. "I got the two at the back!" Derpy shouted. Tavi was surprised that the mare she thought was simple-minded was actually strategizing. "I'll take the two in the front with the shields!" Tavi knew that Derpy would have a tough time getting arrows around the shields. The shielded shadows took up defensive stances. Their status merged into a new shadow foe... it read... Shadow Demon Phalanx Lvl:6 HP:150/75 Their max HP's had also merged over matching the maximum amount of HP they would normally have. "Oh that's just wonderful...." Tavi said to nopony in particular, but Derpy responded anyways as soon as she nailed both of the archer targets with a double shot ability. "Need an assist?" Derpy asked with a smile. "I think i'll return the favor." She loaded an explosive arrow and shot it behind the Phalanx. The explosion split them up. Tavi made short work of them once they split. She downed one with her second and last throwing knife and destroyed the second with a precise stab through it's neck. "I guess we're even now?" Tavi asked smiling. "I guess we are..." Derpy grew a huge grin. "Not for long once I screw up again." The pair chuckled and continued deeper into the forest. By the time they reached the Area Boss Tavi was level 16 and Derpy was level 15. Tavi had upgraded her existing buffs as well as gotten the lightning elemental sword buff. Derpy had the critical area indicator skill unlocked as well as PRCSN that nearly matched Tavi's. "This is the area boss?" Derpy asked looking at the small run-down building in front of them. "The map says it is..." Tavi replied. "Maybe it's glit..." She was cut-off by a loud bang and smoke started to surround the entire area. A figure appeared. A shadow larger than the ones before. Its health bar read... Farok Master of Shadow Lvl:15 HP:200/200 Tavi and Derpy were ready their status read... Octavia Lvl:16 HP:250/250 Derpy Lvl:15 HP:100/100 Derpy jumped up and readied herself to start flying or dodging. Tavi took up a defensive stance shield raised. Farok spoke.... "You cannot defeat me...if you cannot not defeat yourselves!!!" He created two more doppelgangers and these now matched their new status. Expecting to fight themselves they weren't prepared for when the opposite's doppelganger attacked. Tavi had her shield raised and bounced an explosive arrow straight up that exploded at the top of the tree-line. Derpy dodged a lunge from a fully-buffed Lightning Elemental Tavi. Farok spoke once more... "Try defeating the fake ones now!!!" As he spoke the doppelgangers went from shadow black to the exact same appearance as their real counterparts. Their names lost the "Shadow Doppelganger" meaning they were now identical. "Derpy we're going to have to communicate if we want to get through this without either of us destroying each other!" Tavi shouted desperately as she dodged a five arrow volley of fire arrows. "I know who's who!" Derpy responded. "My critical hit area shows me the critical areas for hostile targets not friendlies!" "So I have no markers on me!?!?" Tavi shouted dodging a dagger lunge from the Doppelganger Derpy. "Exactly!" Derpy shouted back, but as she did she lost focus and took a sword slash to the wing. She fell and hit the ground hard. Her HP bar went orange. Tavi noticed the other her lunging towards the downed pegasus sword held high to finish her. Tavi acted on that same rather strange and new instinct and with her heavily buffed SPD sprinted in front of the Doppelganger and held her sword straight outward. The copied Tavi could do nothing to stop herself from hurdling straight into the outstretched sword. The impalement wasn't enough to kill the shadow off, but with a swift pull upward taking the sword up through the neck area of the shadow it burst into dark particles. Derpy was still down, but was recovering health from yet another muffin. Tavi was waiting for Derpy to recover and in doing so forgot about the Doppelganger archer. The copied Derpy sent an explosive arrow straight towards Tavi's skull and skull helmet. Derpy reacted as soon as she recovered. She sprang up without a word and sliced the arrow in two with her left dagger and smacked the explosive tip straight back at the user. The arrow exploded directly in front of the fake Derpy and sent it flying into a tree where it burst into dark particles. "I can't fly Tavi...,but I'll provide fire support from here." Derpy said quickly. Tavi nodded and lunged toward Farok. As she closed the distance he teleported backwards. He spoke slowly.... "Naughty...." He raised a hand and Tavi was caught in a stasis field of sorts made of pure dark magic. "Octavia!" Derpy didn't know what had happened, but Octavia could no longer move. "I can't get out of this thing!!!" Tavi shouted as if she were actually in danger. As soon as she finished her sentence a ball of light hit the dark energy that surrounded her and caused it to dissipate. "Derpy what did you do?" Tavi asked stunned at what had just happened. "I didn't do it!" She replied dodging a ball of dark energy Farok had fired at her. "She did it!" Pointing at a white mare in the shadows with a glowing horn. Tavi knew who it was, but as soon as she looked at her Vinyl backed farther away. Refocusing Tavi looked back to the fight. Derpy had taken his health down with a few splash damage explosions, but that was it. "His critical area isn't the neck!" Derpy informed Octavia. "It's where a heart would be." Tavi formulated a plan. Everytime he teleported she noticed he went back, then the next time he went right or their left usually. "Derpy I'm going to make him teleport!" Octavia told her companion. "As he does shoot an explosive arrow around ten feet behind him!" "Okie dokie!" Derpy shouted happily now that she had some kind of plan of action. Tavi lunged towards Farok and as predicted he teleported backwards. Derpy did as she was told and the arrow landed in the ground right where he appeared. The arrow exploded and caused minimal damage, but did what Tavi was hoping for... it stunned him. Tavi took the opportunity and lunged once more sword outstretched. She pierced where a heart would be to find a heart was actually there, but it was enveloped in the same shadow magic. The shadow magic around dissipated and blood began to gush out. Tavi had long gotten used to it, so it didn't affect her as much as it did when she first started. She withdrew her sword an sheathed it. Derpy rushed to her side and together they watched as the large shadow demon turned into a seemingly normal pony. Farok spoke one last time... "Thank you..." Derpy suddenly sounded like she was crying. Tavi understood why. It was a pretty sad moment. The loot notifications popped-up. 500 Exp. 1500 Bits Chest-plate of Shadows Lvl:15 (Uncommon)(Chest Armor)(Octavia) Shadow-Wood Bow Lvl:16 (Rare)(Bow)(Derpy) Derpy went from crying to cheering in a matter of seconds. Tavi simply equipped her new chest-plate and waited for Derpy to calm down while she looked for Vinyl. Vinyl did what she had done before. Vanished. Out of all the ponies to turn into a bucking ninja it was one of the loudest and most obnoxious ones. "Octy...can I call you that?" Derpy asked as if she was going to get punished for simply asking. Tavi winced at the name Vinyl used to call her, but if it made Derpy happy... "Sure..." Tavi replied slowly. "Can you call me Derpsters from now on?!?!" Derpy asked grinning. "Let's not get out of hoof here..." Tavi said slowly with a teasing grin. "Derpsters..." Unknown to the both of them Vinyl had cast an invisibility spell on herself and had watched the whole thing play-out. She especially noticed the wince at the name "Octy". "Maybe she does still care..."