//------------------------------// // When Myst rides the Wind (written by Greycait) // Story: Tale of the Misfits: Deleted Scenes // by bluemoon1996 //------------------------------// It sat waiting for me on my bed, fresh out of its packaging; a metal helmet with a fair amount of cables connecting it to the console, also fresh out of its packaging, that rested on the bedside table. They even had that new electronics smell. I inhaled and let it sink in. I bought the game. No, scratch that. I bought a highly advanced, and fairly costly, technological apparatus capable of thrusting someone’s awareness into a virtual setting with accurate simulations of all five senses. It was all thanks to a complicated process of subverting and (or was that or?) blocking the typical signals exchanged between the brain and body, and replacing them with signals it creates itself, thus propagating and sustaining a reality the mind believes is real. What? I read the manual. And the press releases. Also the research papers. While not quite riveting, it was interesting. A game based on My Little Pony. Scoff all you want, but My Little Pony was a pretty amazing show set in a remarkable world, and the creative sparks in the fandom just made it all the better. There was no way I was missing out on the experience of a virtual reality game based on it, if only to be one of those casual users. I had heard the worlds they made for these things could be remarkably involving, even for those who didn’t go for the hack and slash routes. But on topic; Equestria Legends Online’s servers were coming only today. Actually, they came online a few hours ago. I stopped wasting time on random musing and quickly settled on my bed, fitting the Nervegear on nervously, mentally psyching myself up for the dive. “Um… Link start!” The system quickly started working at my command, lights flashing on the inner surfaces of the gear, dancing and sweeping across my vision. It quickly disappeared Sight: Okay Hearing: Okay Smell: Okay Taste: Okay Touch: Okay The display went black. Crap… did it bre- ah, there we go! Language: English Username: MystRyder Password: ********** The sign in process complete, I was subject to blackness again, before a single line of simple white text appeared. Welcome to Equestria Legends Online The text faded and it was dark again. This time, I could feel my body. I was standing, and a beam of light was shining down. Another line of white text appeared against the dark, this time accompanied by a small text box. Now you must choose your avatar. Select which pony race you would like. - Earth Pony - Pegasus - Unicorn “Really going for the ‘less is more’ thing, are you guys?” I mused out load to no one in particular as I selected the ‘pegasus’ option. I had thought long and hard on it. While an earth pony warrior, alchemist or poison crafter might have been fun, I wasn’t the direct fighting type most times, and crafting systems were notorious for being finicky. At least in tabletops. It had been years since I played a real video game, but seriously; Virtual Reality Ponies. Unicorns and their magic system might be an even worse headache. So nimble fighter it was The words in the text box shifted. What would you like your avatar to be? - Ponified self - OC “Ponify me,” I grinned, tapping the first option. Might as well. The text box faded away as new words appeared in the dark. Please hold still. “Oka-aaah!” I yelped as a bright blue light shone down on me. It didn’t last too long, and I did my best to hold still while it… did whatever it did. After a few seconds the light drifted away from me in wafting mists, reforming into a pony like shape in front of me. The mist held the shape as the glowing dimmed, revealing my glorious pony form. A bit underwhelming, I was forced to admit. Blue grey fur comprised it’s, er, my coat, covering the somewhat leggy form. The, my mane and tail were orange with russet shadings, full streaks in places, highlights in others. My eyes matched the orange. I noted the wings tugged against the barrel of its, my, form, and the blank flank behind it. “I can work with this,” I murmured, taking in the length of the tail and the unruly nature of my mane. Though leggy, my pony self wasn’t as disproportionate as the young Fluttershy had been, and far from the winged stick-figure limbed bobble head Featherweight was. I was just a bit long legged, with a long tail and an untamed mane. “I’ll call you ponime for now,” I decided. “And I probably look fine in a suit too.” Please make your cutie mark. A new box appeared. Actually, this was a full window. A blank canvass surrounded by a generous helping of art related icons. I cursed softly. I was familiar with photoshop, paint, paint.net and a handful of other programs like it. But that was all passing familiarity. Fortunately, there were enough elements to work it. Good thing too, otherwise ELO would be filled with ponies adorned with artwork that would make a preschooler cry. Not everyone was good at art. I start drawing a trio of daggers (or checking the default vectors for one), but I hesitated part way through the first one, pulling my hand back. Tapping a finger on my chin, I hummed contemplatively, pacing slightly, stopping to gaze at ponime. “This is your Cutie Mark story, isn’t it? Well, mine too. Ours?” Ponime stared back with his vacant expression. “Mine. You are me after all, it’s just… looking in a dimensional mirror. “Daggers… aren’t me…” I quickly erased it and stared at the blank canvas thoughtfully. The empty space didn’t have the answers, so I started talking to myself. Actually, with ponime right there, I literally was. That didn’t happen every day. “Why am I here?” I started, only to grimace. “Well, ain’t that the meaning of life… Okay, why did I get this game? Because I liked MLP. Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Sweetie Belle, Scoots, the whole gang. Well, Equestria. I liked the world and wanted to experience it in a way stories couldn’t.” I smiled. I like that one. “I didn’t come here to fight and battle,” I said finally, “so much as I came to experience… I came to experience the world and story, and to see where it would take me. Ha! Now… how to put that in ink?” It took me a while, but I managed to make something passable. A few swirling white lines for a breath of wind, a feather that could be taken for both a quill or a flight feather, depending on your personal perspective, and a plain page or sheet of parchment caught up in it. I even added a tiny scribble or two to one edge of the page, the start of a document. Carried by the wind, a story told, experienced, a life. “That’ll do, pig, that’ll do,” I nodded, hitting okay. The masterpiece of art flew from the window, duplicating itself and adhering to the flanks of ponime with a soft glow. Is this design acceptable? “That it is,” I nodded, pressing okay. "Now that you have chosen your pony, you may enter Equestria." I totally didn’t squeal like a little filly when, in a completely unexpected turn, a voice suddenly spoke up in the place I’d been all alone in for the past thirty minutes or so. I squealed like a young drake, because that was manlier. The darkness brightened considerably as brilliant light swept across the area. “Good Luck~”