2)2,876 words

Prepping & Loading

Early Morning, Jan. 29th
Rachelle/F1eur_de_7is’s POV

As everyone began waking up for the morning, I spent the morning re-reading the message Alex had given me about what we would do over a cup of juice and what was the largest breakfast I’ve ever had in my life.

After passing the last two-thirds of it over to Joey, who was as early a riser as me I found out, I sent him a message asking if he could tell the others that I went out to start my quest as the instructions said.

When he gave me a nod and a wave, I headed out as I finished the last of my toast and jam.

The trip to the market itself was simple. I equipped my bow and quiver of arrows, slinging them over my back to help look the part as I passed by a handful of players and fake ponies alike.

There was still the occasional odd look from some of the players, which I still didn’t understand, but it was starting to become easier to ignore.

Finding the fletcher was easier than I thought it’d be. When I asked the computer ponies, they kindly pointed me in the right direction as though they were all guides.

Some would try promoting their wares but I had to save what I had. I needed to make sure I had enough arrows and a good bow before anything else.

It wasn’t long afterward that I found him. Set up between a fabric merchant and someone selling pieces of armor was a brown unicorn with a dusty black mane swept away from his face. He rested on a stool with his hind legs propped up on the table and his forelegs folded behind his head.

Littering the table were arrows and bolts either alone or tied up in bundles of 5 and 10. As I looked between them, text boxes with prices and short descriptions appeared.

But at the center of the table, there was both an arrow and a bolt with the arrowheads glowing a warm orange hue. The boxes above them read ‘Fire Arrow’ and ‘Fire Bolt’ both costing 30 Bits and 40 Bits respectively.

Gray and Alex said to stare at these arrows, I recalled. If I do then the fletcher, Long Shot, will react. That’s what’s supposed to happen.

I didn’t have to wait long. From the corner of my vision, Long Shot’s hooves moved off of the table as he sat up to face me.

“Interested in buyin’ ‘em, miss?” He asked with a young but gruff voice. Like the other vendors, he spoke in French whenever I heard him.

“Yes,” I replied. “But I’m a little disappointed, I must admit. I was told you had something else?”

As I looked up and watched him blink unnaturally. There. I narrowed my eyes with a grin. That’s the tell.

Long Shot matched my grin with a wider one. “Aye, I’ve heard them rumors floatin’ around. A few folks ‘ave come by wantin’ ta buy them before,” he explained. “What’s yer poison?”

I took in a breath and started, going off script for a moment. “Acid arrows.”

This time he blinked but not robotically. More like I caught him off guard. “I’m sorry, what now?”

“Acid arrows.” I kept my grin. “Acid doesn’t spread as unpredictably as fire, you see. And you can’t put it out as easily either.”

Shot let his mind wander for a moment, nodding to himself with admiration. “Have to admit, that ain’t a type ponies tend ta bring up. Not one I’ve tried either,” he admitted.

I feigned disinterest. “Ah. I was afraid you’d say that.”

“Now, now, I didn’t quite say no, did I?” His smile returned. “I’m always willin’ ta try something once. That said, Ah know there ain’t anypony else ‘round here that can make something like that.”

“So you would do a special order for me then?” I gave him a sweet smile.

He blinked again and nodded along. “Ah think Ah could try fillin’ that order. be willin’ ta try it free of charge. That is if I could ask fer your services in advance.”

There we go. My grin settled into a smirk. But before I answered, I glanced behind me. There was already another player getting in line.

I need to make this quick, I figured. Looking back to Shot, I rested my arm on the counter and spoke quieter. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, Ah’m hopin’ ta start sellin’ a couple of other special arrows I got recipes for. Problem is, Ah need a seasoned archer ta test ‘em out for me. And you look like just the right archer.”

I gave a small nod. “I try.”

And with that, this is the box that appeared ahead of me.

Nouvelle Quête
Sur le Mar(que/ché)
Récompense: 3 (Glace / Bombe / Gourdin) Flèches (+ EXP)
Conditions: Tir d'essai 3 flèches de spécialité.
-Accepter la Quête
-Déclin Quête

I quickly hit ‘Accepter’ before the player behind me realized I wasn’t buying anything.

“I’d be happy to,” I told him. I could hear the player behind me trying to walk to the side so he could try finding out why I was talking in something other than English.

“Perfect,” the fletcher said, reaching under his desk. Then, one by one, Long Shot pulled out six arrows.

The first two didn’t have normal arrowheads and instead ended with metal orbs. The next two had arrowheads glowing blue similar to the fire arrows. Then the last one’s Long Shot handled very carefully.

“In order,” he told me. “These are Bludgeon Arrows. They have more durability and a better punch but lack range. So, when the fight’s done you can scoop ‘em back up and use them a few more times.”

He levitated them to me, which I took in my own magic and sent them to inventory.

“The Ice Arrows speak for themselves,” he went on. “Rather than burn a target, they’ll inflict freeze on them, which slows down a monster’s movements.” Again, he passed them to me and I stored them away.

“And for the finale; Bomb Arrows.”

“Bomb?!” “Bombe?” The player behind me and I questioned in unison. Other players heard the shop ponies speak English even while I heard French.

“I was hopin’ that’d catch your attention.” He smirked. “And by the way, I’m given’ ya two of each just in case ya miss.” Shot used his magic to levitate the bombs between us, making me lean back out of instinct.

“For the Bomb Arrows,” he went on. “It’s better to aim low with these because the moment they strike something. Boom.”

“B-Boom?” I had a chill go down my horizontal spine.

“Anything close by will get struck so make sure your allies ain’t close. Oh, and there’s a fuse the moment ya notch the arrow. It’s got about five seconds. Flimsier bows might break and it’ll do a lot of damage if it explodes in your face so...Don’t let that happen.”

I took my sweet time carefully taking them in my own magic. Thankfully, the player understood why I was taking so much time.

When I finally built the nerve, I reached out and tapped the first arrow. Then the next. Even when they were in my inventory I was so nervous.

I barely remembered to buy some regular arrows too before waddling away as quick as I could. But not before the player behind me slowly stepped up to the vendor and cleared his throat.

“Um...20 not explosive arrows, please?”

Later
Other Side of Ponyville
Alex/E1ectric_B1itz’s POV

I was the last one to wake up, which was normal. So by the time I made it down to the inn’s taproom for breakfast, Rachelle was already gone and Gwen was with a random player for her side hustle. Which left Joey with nothing to do except ask if he could tag along.

With him in tow, we made our way through the streets towards the higher-end stores. There were plenty of shops that a player would be more interested like a blacksmith or carpenter but ours was interesting for a different reason.

Among the other brick, thatch-roofed buildings, the jeweler’s looked unnaturally modern. The building itself was painted cobalt blue with a large display with pictures of jewelry painted onto it. The name “Formal’s Design” was set between the sign and main door.

Flanking the entrance were two windows that let anyone passing by get a good view of the jewelry displayed. Upon glancing at them, the names and descriptions appeared as they did when I was here yesterday. Except with bonuses this time.

Most were passive and uninteresting but the two that stood out were ‘Fire Resist 2’ and ‘+2 to Damage’.

‘Fire Resist 2’ meant that for any source of fire damage you took, you negated 2 points of damage. So if you ran through a campfire and took 14 damage, you would instead take 12.

The ‘+2 to Damage’ was more useful to me. With each attack you made, you would deal an additional 2 damage with this bonus. While my weapons did 8-13 damage, the bonus would make that 10-15 instead.

Although, I had tonfa; weapons made for hitting an enemy repeatedly. So adding two damage to each hit would make that bonus so much better.

Too bad that bonus is on a tiara, I lamented, staring at the accessory in contempt.

Joey tapped my shoulder and pointed to the door as it opened. From it, three players were walking out; two with large weapons, one with a crossbow, and all three with some sort of jewelry on their person.

“I thought you said no one came here,” Joey said.

“Yeah.” I watched as they walked away, talking about how they would head out into the Everfree today. “This is different.”

Joey used his magic to catch the door before it could shut and we moved inside. From above, a comforting gust of air welcomed you whenever you stepped inside.

Aside from the distinct lack of technology, it felt like a modern jewelry store. Glass cases held dozens of pieces of jewelry on display with plenty of variety.

Then, behind the counter was the jeweler I met yesterday who was in much brighter spirits. And when he recognized me, his smile fell on me.

His name, displayed above him, was Formal Attire. Attire was a unicorn with a cobalt blue coat and a deep purple mane a matching deep purple-striped suit jacket.

He was, in short, a friendly snob. Apparently, he admired Rachelle and me because we seemed less ‘brutish’ than most other adventurers. Go figure.

“Good morning Blitz,” he greeted. Blitz was the name I introduced myself with. I was surprised he remembered.

“Is this another member of your group?” He asked, looking towards Joey.

“Why yes,” I said in a ‘sophisticated’ manner. Mostly to make Joey smile. “This is my kind brother, Light Chill. He also goes by Chill, I believe. Isn’t that right, dear brother?”

I gave him a wink and watched as he groaned but couldn’t hide the sad smile growing on his face.

“Why...You are right. Dear brother,” he joined with tired effort. “That is what I, Chill, go by.”

“Well, it is a pleasure, Mr. Chill,” Attire gave him a firm nod.

I turned to Joey. “Chill, this is Formal Attire. Fleur and I had come by, looking about his wares and he had supposedly seen something in us that we could help with.”

From the corner of my eye, Attire’s eyes fluttered statically for a moment before smiling at Joey. “Incredibly so, as well! Blitz and Madam Fleur had acted as my models to help me find what I was missing. And, by Celestia’s Rays, I believe I have found it.”

“We noticed on the way in,” I told him. “Those adventurers seemed pretty well off.”

Another blink and he watched the door for a second before speaking softly. “Perhaps but, between us, I think it’ll take me some time to grow accustomed to those more...rugged ponies.”

He waved off the subject with a hoof. “Anyways. If you’re not terribly busy today, I wanted to know if you could assist me yet again.”

“I would be delighted to,” I told him in a strong tone, making Chill giggle quietly. “By all means, what is your request?”

One more blink later. “As I had discovered,” Attire began. “While I worked on adding these enchantments to my pieces, I recalled that a nearby friend of mine is a retired craftspony that had a set of enchantment tools. Out of curiosity, I went to see if I might purchase them.

“Unfortunately.” his tone dropped as he became more frustrated. “He told me that a thief accosted his home several days ago. He believes he knows exactly who was daft enough to steal from him but the guards won’t act without proof. On top of that, my friend tells me the thief is too squirrely to fight but just squirrely enough to get away. Somepony needs to catch him.”

“And that somepony would be, say, us?” And as if to prove it:

New Quest
The Startup Thief
Reward: 200 Bits and ??? (+ EXP)
Conditions: Capture the thief and deliver the tools
to Formal Attire.
-Accept Quest
-Decline Quest

I let out a whistle at the sight of all the Bits that reward has. That’s the amount you started the game with. Getting that all over again would make stocking up on supplies much easier.

“What’s the question marks supposed to mean?” Joey asked.

“No idea but we’re taking it.” I reached up and accepted the quest and watched as Attire blinked again. “Attire, I would be happy to find this thief for you.”

“Terrific,” He cheered. “With those tools, I can place a much wider array of enchantments on my pieces. I would also be willing to make something that would benefit you more directly.”

He started to make his way back behind the counter. “You may want to check with my craftsman friend first. He can help you find some leads.”

Out of the corner of my eye the words ‘Map Updated’ lit up before slowly fading away.

Simple enough.

“Well, Light Chill,” I started, turning towards him. “Arst thou ready to quest?”

“I, erm, art-st,” he told me, trying to keep up.

“Very well! Come along, dear brother.” I snickered as I headed for the door.

“Uh, yes. Along,” Chill added, trying to follow my ridiculousness as I proceeded to leave the store like a true gentleman.

And the second the door closed behind us, we were laughing down the street.

Twenty Minutes Later
Gwen/GrayMatt3rsxxx’s POV
Ponyville Market

“Bomb Arrows?” I questioned.

“Oui.” Fleur nodded frantically. “Two.”

I turned to look to my left where Alex and his brother were walking beside me. “Is that normal in these games?”

“Depends on the setting.” Alex shrugged. Then he looked at his little brother. “Joey, I’m assuming bombs don’t exist in that show of yours, yeah?”

“I don’t think so.” Chill shrugged in return. “Bomb arrows sound pretty cool though.”

“Not if you’re holding them,” I reminded him as Fleur got increasingly uncomfortable the more they kept saying that word. “Moving on. Alex, where’s that vendor?”

“He is...over there.” Alex pointed over ahead of us to a plain-looking booth wedged between two nicer tents. Two bookshelves acted as his back wall and wooden weapons of all kinds were set up.

“Huh. The sign’s new,” Alex remarked, pointing up at the wooden sign that dangled above the table. It was hand-carved and had the image of a wood carving tool set into it.

“I think I remember reading something about dynamic shops on the forums,” I explained. “If players use one shop often, it’ll get bigger and better. Same goes for the reverse too.”

“Which means if we level that shop up enough, they’ll have better equipment to sell.” Alex thought it over as we approached. “Alright. Let’s get this done.”

“Hold on,” Chill jumped in. “Alex, can you do the voice here too?”

“The voice?” I stared back at Alex.

“Oh, yeah. I guess I could.” He shrugged. “Stand back guys. It’s time...for action,” he said in the dumbest, most dramatic way I’ve ever heard.

“Why do I regret meeting you all of a sud—” “Why helloooo, my dear friend!” Alex shouted in a deep, spirited tone.

I leaned towards Chill who was already giggling. “He’s going to talk like that the whole time, isn’t he?”

Chill nodded happily and I secretly wished for that Frankenstein’s Monster of a god to smite me where I was.

“Oaken Handle,” Alex went on in the ‘adventuring tone’, arriving in front of the booth where an older Earth pony was standing. “I’ve not seen you in a fortnight. Tell me, chum, how goes business?”

‘Oaken Handle’ blinked nonstop for a moment before an equally excited smile spread across his face. “Ah, Sir Blitz. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Business is going on pace. Thanks to you, my custom orders have all been completed.”

“Well that is terrific,” Alex complimented. “Although, if it is alright by you, I had brought along my compatriots to see if they could look at your wares themselves. These lovely ladies are Madam Gray and Madam Fleur. And, of course, you’ve already met my brother.”

He motioned for us to step forward and instantly Handle started looking between each of us. Once the AI was done memorizing us, he straightened out. “So many! Well, any friends of Sir Blitz are friends of mine.

“And Sir Joey,” he added, nodding towards Chill. “An honor to meet you again.”

Joey? I thought. They must have introduced him to the shopkeep by his real name. That’s the only way that would have happened.

All of us started looking over what was for sale but I quickly ducked out. I was going for a rogue build, which meant daggers. Unless I wanted to give someone a splinter, this shop was useless to me.

The others had much better luck though. Going back and forth, they all bought better gear and sold their older equipment while I watched.

A whole week of being stuck in here and only now are they selling their starting gear. And this is the group I teamed up with, I reminded myself.

“Do you have a better staff,” Chill asked.

“Well, Sir Joey,” Handle began, pulling over a nicely polished quarterstaff. “This is the finest staff I have in stock for now.”

“Not that kind of.” Chill stopped talking when Alex placed a hoof over his mouth.

“Sir Joey would like to see your best wand too,” he explained shortly.

“Oh.” Handle looked upset. “Unfortunately, the Handcarved Wand is still the best one I have. I’m afraid I lack the means to make a better one than that. I’m so sorry Sir Joey.”

“That’s okay. Thanks anyway,” Joey said, equipping the new buckler he had gotten.

When they were finished, Alex cleared his throat and put the stupid act on again. “Say, Oak. I wanted to ask if you had any more work for us. Our band happens to be available at the moment and I thought I should extend our services to friends first.”

Handle blinked again before he had this thoughtful look on his face. “Actually, I think I might have something. Are you familiar with a pony known as Smooth Grain?”

“I’m not, actually.” Alex looked back at me. “Say, Madam Gray, have you heard anything?”

He and Joey looked at me with goofy smiles hoping I would join in the roleplaying.

I wasn’t.

“As far as I’ve heard, no,” I said like a normal person. “There aren’t any vendors with that name.”

“Oh. She isn’t local,” Handle informed me. “She is...was, a bigger name in Canterlot. She was said to have crafted incredible shields sturdier than most metals. Collectors crave her work.”

“We can’t go clear to Canterlot for one job.” I frowned. “That’s a whole different problem.”

Handle blinked again and shook his head. “You wouldn’t need to go that far. In fact, about a month ago, I heard of somepony with one of her very shields here in Ponyville. They only stayed in town for a day or two before going out to the Everfree. Something about a hero’s tomb, I believe.”

“Tomb?” My eyes widened. “Wait. Was that tomb in a graveyard?”

“Where else would it be?” Handle questioned.

“Do you know where that is?” Alex asked, dropping the voice.

“Oh yeah.” I nodded along, grinning. “It’s one of the spots where beta testers farmed for EXP. They talked about it over the forums. I’ve been selling it to players. I know it well.”

“The adventurer had left into the forest to find that tomb. Why, they never explained,” Handle went on. “However, no pony ever saw them come back.”

“We’ll take the job,” I answered before the pony could say anything else.

“Wait, hold—” Alex was cut out when a familiar message popped up in front of me.

New Quest
Of Shield’s Past
Reward: 90 Bits and Polished (weapon of choice) (+ EXP)
Conditions: Discover what happened to the
adventurer & their shield.
-Accept Quest
-Decline Quest

The reward was pathetic but that didn’t matter. I slammed my hoof into the ‘Accept’ button and was met with Alex giving me a confused look.

“Why’re you jumping on it?”

“Told you, I know this place. I know the route, the traps, and the monsters. This is a walk,” I told him. “But it’s already noon. If we go now, we’ll make it back with enough time for the other jobs.”

“Wait.” Alex stopped me. “Are we sure we should do this now? The four of us haven’t fought together yet. I’m level three. And if something gets past me, you’re all exposed.”

“We’ll have fights on the way,” I told him. “It’s the forest. Timberwolves are all over the place. And we’ve all fought them solo. If we practice with them, Fleur can use the specialty arrows, you get another level, and we’ll be set. But we have to go right now.”

“Why now?” Chill questioned.

“Well, it’s a graveyard,” I told him. “What kind of monsters would you fight in a graveyard?”

“Ghosts?” The kid guessed.

“Zombies and undead,” Alex answered.

“Zombies?” Fleur straightened out. Guess zombies are still zombies in France.

I clicked my tongue. “Bingo. And in every horror movie, what time of day are the undead a problem?”

“...At night,” Alex connected.

“Specifically, starting at sunset,” I clarified. “We have a little more than five hours. If we go now we’ll be able to leave the graveyard before sunset.”

“It’s a five-hour walk?” Chill looked devastated.

“With fighting monsters, it is.”

On hearing that, Alex looked back at his brother. Then he froze.

After a few seconds, Alex started opening and closing his mouth like some kind of fish. His face suddenly stretching into fear.

No...

I stepped back and closed my eyes, feeling this urge of guilt well up in the back of my mind as a thought crossed my mind.

He forgot this isn’t a game anymore. Did he never realize he was sending his little brother to fight to the death?

That’s when I acted out of instinct. Before I realized it, my mind forced me to stare down at the younger brother who was watching his brother start to break down. Then that guilty feeling became a pit in my stomach.

At the same time, Rachelle saw the expression on Alex’s face and began to understand the situation. Then the same fear washed across her face, copying Alex.

No. That’s what I AM doing. I’m bringing all of them to fight to the death for me.

I’m the only adult here, I recognized, resting my head in a virtual hoof. Both of them are just teenagers. And then the kid...

I bit my lip. I’m guilt-tripping these kids into helping me make virtual money. I’m almost a decade older than any of them. What the hell am I doing?!

U-Uh...Are. Are you guys okay?” Joey asked in a mousy voice. “...Are zombies supposed to be that scary?”

Alex let out a shaky breath. “No, Joey. It. It’s not that. It’s—”

“Then what are you so scared of?” Joey asked, the pitch of his voice spiking for a moment. “Zombies only walk anyway. And. And Fleur and I have been shooting the Timberwolves the last few days. Plus she’s got bombs. And Gray said this is easy. So why are you freaking out?”

“It’s...It’s not that easy,” Alex tried explaining. “Joey, this is dangerous. And...I-I’m not sure that we—” “We’ll be fine!”

Joey sat there with a big grin on his face and his eyes tightly closed. “You and Dad play these kinds of games all the time. And whenever I play those games, you and him keep me from dy...losing,” he caught himself. “And now there’s four of us.”

...What is this brat doing? I stared at him. He’s pretending to sound happy. He’s...He’s trying to copy my customer service voice, I thought weakly. He’s trying not to cry. I can even hear it.

“It’ll be fine, Blitz,” he said, his voice cracking again. “We’ll be fine!”

“...” Alex stared at him, trying to keep himself from shaking. But every time he opened his mouth to speak, he just let out another sad breath.

So when he realized he couldn’t open his mouth long enough to say anything, he didn’t. Instead, he settled for hugging his brother.

From where Rachelle and I were standing, we saw Joey’s jaw quivering as he used his magic to wipe his eyes.

“...Still...Terrible liar,” Alex said through shaking breaths.

“You too Blitz,” Joe…’Light Chill’ tossed back.

Rachelle and I let them have their moment a little longer, having enough wits to glare daggers at any player that dared pass by laughing.

“So…” The two broke out of their hug and Light Chill looked at me. “Zombies?”

“...” I took a deep breath, watching the kid now threatening his smile towards me.

His older brother looked to me for an answer. As did Rachelle.

“...Zombies,” I repeated, pulling my cloak’s hood over my eyes so no one could see me. “...Let’s go.”

Author's Note:

Oof. This one was a little longer than I intended.
I didn't want to set up quests and have that last scene take place the same time as the group fighting monsters. That wouldn't have mixed well. So this chapter needed to be a little long as a result.

I don't really have any bonus thing to add to this chapter. So instead I'd like to ask something directly. What do you think of the four party members? Are there any character that you think I should work on a little better or possibly a character that seems believable?

At the risk of sounding a little demanding, it'd be a great holiday gift.

That said, I hope you all have a Happy Holidays. Until next chapter,
-Zeke

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Equestria Legends Online: Brothers - 4428Gamer

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