.hack// Pony Protocol

by Shaq-of-All-Trades

Of Secrets and Lost

Twilight, upon returning to Mac Anu, made her way to the guild area. She held up the key, and placed it in the door. There was only one @home per Root Town, but different keys allowed access to different @homes. The Raven guild's @home seemed rather sparse, and nopony was there to greet her. Twilight looked around, then decided to move deeper into the space. She walked up the stairs in the corner, then made her way towards the hall. Her mind wandered as she walked, her thoughts drifting eventually to what she had said to Spike. She had been too hard on him when all he was trying to do was make her feel better. She had no idea what had come over her. It was as if something inside her just wanted her anger, wanted her pain. A shadow seemed to pass through her thoughts, but before she could focus on it, an orb glowed before her.

"Huh?" she mumbled, before the silhouette of a character was outlined behind the orb. "Who are you?" The character turned, and looked at Twilight from behind tinted glasses. It took Twilight a moment to realize that the character wasn't a pony, nor a dragon or griffon.

"And here she is, rude and demanding; you're not in the position to make such requests from where I'm standing." The figure moved closer to the orb and placed her hoof it. She lightly touched the orb, and the room filled with glowing screens. A giant revolving snake which appeared to be eating its own tail (Ouroboros, if Twilight remembered correctly) stood behind the character who Twilight had come to recognize. There was only one Twilight knew who spoke in rhymes living in Equestria.

"Zecora?!" Twilight asked incredulously. "Why are you here? Where is AJ? She said she'd meet me here..." Twilight heard a sound to her right and left, and backed up to see Applejack and Rarity stepping from either side of Zecora's platform. Twilight bent low, cautious of their intentions. It felt like a trap, and she wasn't prepared to handle three on one. Zecora raised her hoof, and Aj and Rarity stopped. Twilight looked at her warily. "What's going on here?"

"Ah, I see you still have questions to ask; the answers I shall reveal, but accepting is no simple task," Zecora warned. She held up her hoof to the orb again, and suddenly a large screen appeared behind her. It showed a map of Equestria, then began to flash with dots. Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "On this map is a secret most sullen, for it shows those who have fallen. Though the scale has not yet become dire, for it to reach that point is not our desire." She moved her hoof, and suddenly images of different characters flashed on the screen. Twilight instantly recognized one of them.

"Fluttershy!" she cried out.

"Yes, your friend most dear is mentioned here. She, like others, has become a victim. And we somewhat know what has caused this symptom." Zecora spun the orb, and suddenly an image of Tri-Edge appeared. Twilight felt her anger well up like a volcano. "As you know, this character is suspicious; always at the scene of the crimes, we feel his intent is malicious."

"We believe he is either an aspect of or carrier of AIDA, an acronym for Artificially Infectious Discord Anomaly. It has been given this title because the aspects are wide and varied, and those who become infected either fall into comas or become mentally unstable." Rarity continued. "This player, "Tri-Edge," has been rather difficult to track; however, we have been putting in massive efforts. For you, Twilight. We believe he may be a key in waking Fluttershy, as well as the other Lost Ponies, from the coma they've been inflicted with."

Twilight lowered her head, then began to laugh. Her laughter grew and grew, growing more and more hysteric. AJ and rarity looked at each other with concern before she eventually stopped. "You all are idiots if you think that just watching him will do anything," Twilight looked Zecora in the eye. "I've faced him, and he was unlike anything I'd ever seen. We don't need eyes, and we don't need this tiny group. What we need, is power. The power to crush him, and make him tell us how to bring Fluttershy back!"

Applejack stepped forward. "Twi, don't go trying to harvest the crops before their time. You think we're just some guild looking after strange things? We've been designated by the company what made this game to contain and destroy AIDA. remember that power you saw me use to destroy the AIDA in that area?" Twilight nodded. Indeed, Applejack's power had impressed her. It even resembled what Tri-Edge had used on her. "Well," AJ continued, "What I did was summon mah Avatar. There are only a handful of players capable of it, and it is the only way to destroy AIDA. Twi, we want you to help us, because we're sure you have that power within ya. Haven't ya felt it calling out to ya? Rarity here says she saw ya nearly calling it out not too long ago."

Twilight thought back to when she had met Rarity during her encounter with Trixie. She had felt a strange power, and she had heard that strange voice calling out to her. Was that the power they were talking about? Of course, if Twilight did possess this power, then she'd no doubt be strong enough to defeat him. She'd be able to take out Tri-Edge and bring Fluttershy back. She knew that if Fluttershy just woke up, everything would be better.

"In your eyes I see the power, but be warned young Twilight, lest you it devour," Zecora said with no empathy. "To summon an Avatar brings great danger; for chaos to them is no stranger. Train you must, to bring it out, and in your heart there must be little doubt. Your trials will be harsh and cause you trouble; if you fail to control your power, it may become double. Now the choice to you we present: are you with us, or are you against?"

Twilight took no time to think. Here was her chance to not only have a better way to track Tri-Edge, but a way to get the power to defeat him. Twilight wanted the power. She needed the power. Power was everything here, as was proven time and time again. when she spoke, her voice echoed with desire.

"I'm in."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Twilight made her way to the Chaos Gate from the Raven @home, she was blocked by Vinyl and Octavia. "Hey, hey, hey!" Vinyl said with gusto, "If it isn't my favorite legend! How've ya been since we last hung out? See you've gotten a lot stronger! Heck, you're stronger than me and Tavi here!" She put her arm/leg around Octavia's shoulders and pulled her close. Twilight rolled her eyes and tried to walk around, when Vinyl stood in her way again. "Hey, wait! We've actually got a favor to ask. Ya see, me and Tavi have to head to a few areas and get some things done, and our poor little guild shop will be left all alone. Since we don't really have anyone else to ask, we were wondering if you could help us out?" They both smiled cheesily at Twilight.

Twilight facehoofed herself. This was ridiculous. "Fine, I'll watch the shop. Just hurry up, please." The two mares smiled and hugged each other, then told her the prices of the items. When Twilight memorized them all, they ran off, leaving Twilight standing behind the small booth. "How do I get myself into these messes?" she wondered, annoyed. For a few hours, nothing spectacular happened. Then it occurred. Twilight blinked, then noticed that an item had disappeared, and money was left on the table. "That was... strange." The rest of the time simply flew by with a few more players making purchases, then Vinyl and Octavia reappeared.

"Thanks, Twi, you're a lifesaver!" Vinyl said when Twilight gave her the money she'd made. "Wanna hear something funny? Tavi said you might up and just leave!"

"Vinyl!" Octavia said shocked, "Why would you tell her that?" Twilight raised an eyebrow, and Octavia gave her a hesitant smile. "I meant nothing by it, honestly. We're just a rather small guild, and it's not very often ponies want to simply help us..."

"I get it," Twilight muttered, when her headset beeped. It seemed she was getting a message. Twilight saw it was from Applejack, and decided she might as well read it. It went as such:

'Dear Twi,

We have a lead on an area that's just brimming with AIDA. Zecora wants me, you, and Rarity to go check it out, and see if we can't get your Avatar summoned. The keywords are Delta Burning Tiger Cry. See ya real soon, Twi!

Sincerely,

Applejack

Twilight closed the email, then nodded to the two ponies, before trotting to the Chaos Gate. She took a moment to invite AJ and Rarity to her party, then spoke the words. They appeared in a dungeon (not a cave dungeon, but a house dungeon). Rarity took the lead, and AJ stood beside Twilight. They walked through the dungeon like this, both trying to start conversation, but Twilight didn't feel in the mood. It was as if they were trying to make things normal again, but it felt fake, restrained, as if they were forcing themselves to talk to her. She wasn't about to take their pity. Once Fluttershy woke up, then they could work on making amends.

They eventually got to the end of the dungeon. Twilight was going to call the two on not spotting anything, when a crop of black bubbles appeared. "AIDA!" cried out Rarity, backing up slightly. AJ nudged Twilight, and she stepped forward. Closing her eyes, she thought about drawing out the mysterious power she had felt that day she prepared to face Trixie. She focused and focused, and nearly thought she had it, but the power simply wouldn't emerge. She opened her eyes as the black bubbles began to surge towards her. Applejack leaped forward, summoning her own Avatar, and removing the AIDA. She wiped her brow and turned to face Twilight.

"Gee, I really thought you had it there for a second Twi," she said honestly. "I would've let ya keep trying, but we couldn't afford the risk. We need ya to stay uncorrupted. Who knows what could've happened?" Twilight ground her teeth slightly, more angry at herself than Applejack. She was the one who couldn't summon an Avatar after all. She was the weak one. She ran to the exit, abandoning AJ and Rarity, who called out to her.

Twilight stood in Mac Anu, preparing to leave for the day, when Vinyl and Octavia called to her. She looked at them with daggers shooting from her eyes. "What could you two possibly want now?!" Octavia hid behind Vinyl, who simply shrugged.

"Well, it's like this: we want you to be our new guild master. Neither of us really want the job, and you're more of a leader type really. Besides, it'll be fun! So what do ya say? Wanna be the new guild master of Canard?" Her and Octavia scooched close together, smiling as hard as they could. Twilight stared at them coldly for what felt like hours, then dropped her head in defeat.

"Fine, fine, I'll be your guild master." she acquiesced. Vinyl and Octavia leaped with joy, and began singing and spinning in circles. Twilight couched, and the two seemed to calm down. Octavia held out the guild key to Canard, and the two scampered off quickly. Twilight put away the key, then proceeded to log off. She had too much on her mind to keep playing, and it was getting late. She'd check back the next day and see if Zecora had anything else to help her draw out her Avatar.

Comments

[Twisassin]

question, how the hay is Zecora playing the game from in the Everfree Forest?

[Shaq-of-All-Trades]

1845709
Because she is one my favorite characters, she makes the perfect Yata, and because shenanigans. I think that covers all the bases. Have a mustache though.

[Twisassin]

1846096 Zecora is my second favorite character only losing to Twilight