Chapter 34: Reset
Gunsmoke
by Wanderer D
Chapter 34: Reset
The crowd's reaction when the monster exploded into shiny pieces of data was deafening: they cheered and clapped, slammed their feet on the floor and jumped up and down, watching with wide eyes as the Rainbooms and extras finally put down their instruments and slumped down on stage, exhausted.
"Aaand that's a wrap," Pinkie muttered, forcing her face up from the drums with a tired smile and a thumbs up.
"Oh my," Fluttershy—who would have fallen over had Sonata not helped her stay on her feet—said, "I've never felt so tired after using our powers."
"'Tis the strain of transferring so much harmonic energy through Twilight's portals," Luna explained, helping Rainbow Dash and Applejack up. "You bathed your energy on all players in the field, and your will fought against Sombra's malevolence as surely as the brave warriors of GGO did."
"Well, I hope that it was enough, dear," Rarity muttered. "Because at this rate we wouldn't be able to strum a guitar, much less 'pony up'."
"You girls need to relax and maybe finish watching the finals," Principal Celestia said. "I need to check on Prof. Sombra. We don't know what happened to him."
"Verily, his fate remains unknown," Luna said, squaring her shoulders. "I shall accompany you in your investigation, while the girls and sirens rest."
"Yeah, let's go watch the finals!" Sonata said with a grin. "I want to see what team makes it to Japan!"
The music stopped completely, and so did the shimmering energy that had enveloped the group up to that point as one by one the little portals faded away into nothing, leaving the group of gunslingers wet, mentally exhausted, and wary.
Slowly they emerged from the water, from within the cave or in the case of Sukiru rustled from under collapsed rocks, gathering at the edge of the lake to look at the destruction and take a deep breath of wonder at having survived.
"Is that it? Is it gone?" Butcher asked, taking stock of who had survived and who hadn't.
"Yes, it's gone," Mirage said, dropping the diary through a small portal with a sigh. She caught a brief glimpse of Twilight Sparkle giving her a thumbs-up before it closed completely. She looked at the others. "I can feel the magic leaving this place already. Soon, it will be regular GGO."
Wallflower snorted. "As it should be. No offense Mirage, but this RPG is not supposed to have things like that in it. At some point it was going to break and possibly take us all with it."
Mirage cringed and nodded, silently blaming herself for all of this. They shouldn't have experimented. They should have just rolled with it. The worst that would've happened was some bruises, after all.
"It seems we're on equal numbers at this time." Sukiru's dry observation broke the awkward silence that had formed.
Heavy Collar shifted nervously, but Surgeon nodded. "Seems like it. And the fact that we're still on tournament time means one of our teams will have to win this."
Desert Mirage, Nightmare Moon, Surgeon and Heavy Collar were the only ones left of Surgeon's team, while Butcher, Wallflower, Sukiru and Striker were all that remained of XCOM. The two groups eyed each other, measuring their chances.
Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. "After what we just went through we should all be declared the winners."
Butcher chuckled. "That won't work, remember the idea is to have a cross-server fight. If we all got declared winners it would just require another final, and that they won't do either."
Wallflower finally shrugged. "I say we choose a battlefield and meet there in a few minutes."
Surgeon nodded after getting confirming looks from the others. "Sounds good to me. There's an abandoned town not too far from here. How does that sound?"
Butcher smirked, leaning his gun on his shoulder. "Like fun. We'll meet you there."
XCOM made their way down the hill and soon disappeared into the jungle below, leaving what remained of Surgeon's team completely alone.
"So basically they get to set up base before we even get there?" Heavy Collar asked.
Surgeon nodded.
"They'll expect us to act as we usually do." Nightmare Moon pointed out. "Sneak in and find a place to set base then act. They know that our greatest strength is our teamwork."
"Is it?" Surgeon asked, looking up at the sky. "Maybe they expect us to come in, sneaking into position then take them all out. Which is why we won't do what we always do." He grinned at the others. "We've worked a lot on teamwork, but let's not forget where we all came from. And after what we just went through… I feel like just having fun."
Heavy Collar chuckled. "If that's the case, I have just the thing."
The town was not huge like the cities in other GGO areas, with the tallest building being nothing more than a three leveled office, but it still carried the post-apocalyptic feel of rushed evacuation. Downtown was a conglomeration of old buildings and shops split into small blocks. An abandoned park with a dried out fountain stood empty across from a boarded and half-collapsed movie theatre. Old vehicles remained parked on the sides of the streets; some of them rusted but otherwise whole, others overturned by either nature moving in with huge roots and cracks in the pavement, or possibly riots. Windows were dulled, broken, or covered in foliage while most of the paint on the walls had already washed off… but the middle of the street itself was fairly clear.
"I see them," Nightmare Moon said on the radio. "They're careful. I can't get a shot, but I saw some movement on the abandoned gas station, maybe a klick southeast from the office building. Red paint job on the upper half, collapsed sign."
"Any sign of Sukiru?" Surgeon asked.
Nightmare Moon shook her head, scanning the buildings and streets. "Not yet. Don't do anything stupid."
She could hear Mirage's chuckle. "I don't think we know how to operate otherwise."
"Let's do it!" Heavy Collar shouted.
Immediately after, a building exploded and collapsed.
Nightmare Moon frantically searched for any indication of the other sniper jumping to attention. A flicker of movement, and then she saw Butcher.
"Guys, I see Butcher, he's heading towards the explosion. I saw a shimmer of something… it's probably Wallflower, using her stealth clothes. Be careful."
"Keep looking for the sniper," Surgeon said. "Sukiru's the one that'll take us out if we're not careful."
"If you're done setting up, we should see her soon." Moon commented.
All she heard was a snort in response.
"Don't underestimate Wallflower, guys," Mirage's voice said on their earpiece. "There's a reason XCOM wasn't destroyed by Sombra earlier."
"Well, I see my opponent," Surgeon said. "Good luck."
Nightmare Moon scanned the buildings until she saw Surgeon standing across from Butcher on top of one of the smaller buildings. She scanned around, trying to see if she could pinpoint Sukiru, but the other sniper was probably doing the exact same thing. Whoever took the shot to kill one of their opponents—as long as it wasn't the other sniper—was dead.
"I'm confirming contact with Striker," Heavy Collar's voice buzzed into the coms. "He's not alone, though, one of my other traps just got disabled."
"Must be Wallflower…" Mirage's voice responded as Nightmare Moon moved her sights down to where Heavy had set up a dead zone. "Can't see anyone… wait, Striker at your 10, confirmed. Mirage?"
"On my way. Heavy, concentrate on Wallflower."
"As if I had a choice. At least Striker I can see coming."
"I'll keep an eye—" Nightmare Moon started to say before she was interrupted.
"No, you concentrate on finding Sukiru," Mirage ordered. "Don't worry about us, we'll manage. You both are the game changers here."
"Acknowledged." Nightmare Moon opened a private channel. "To be honest, I just want to go home. I don't care about this. We just got you back."
Mirage was silent for a little bit. "I know… but I want to finish this. Maybe it's selfish, but we made it all the way here and Sombra tried to ruin it for us. Just stopping now is like letting him win a little."
"You know that's not really true."
"No, I guess it isn't. But… I don't know when I'll be able to log in again, if ever," Mirage confessed. "I want to give a good last fight."
Nightmare Moon took a deep breath. "Chinese tonight?"
Mirage chuckled. "Just good company would be enough, but sure."
"Then let's finish this quickly." Nightmare Moon replied, setting herself up to look for the other sniper.
She just needed something. One mistake. The wrong angle. Changing positions. Reflecting light. Anything to catch the other sniper.
Mirage sneaked close to a wall, taking cover and keeping her senses going. Her mind, while scanning the area, was also divided. It was true that she had just been brought back to life less than an hour prior… in a sense, at least. And yet, she was still sticking to the game instead of going home, taking a shower and trying to forget about her ordeal.
There was definitely something wrong with her. Probably with everyone else remaining in the game. Normal people would have quit after that last battle, especially knowing there was a chance they would be affected in the real world. Normal people would be too exhausted, too bothered to care about a competition after that… but not them. They were again trying to shoot each other out of the server and go on to yet another competition.
Yet, she felt better than ever, and the thought of just stopping was—if not alien to her—implausible at least. This was something she loved, something that had kept her together through the hardest times… and something that she was not prepared to simply walk away from.
She paused. She had seen a shift in the shadows ahead. Mirage kneeled between a wall and a large bin, peering into the darkness ahead and ducked when she saw Striker sneaking out of a half-collapsed barber shop. She grinned, aiming her gun carefully and letting loose a single shot.
Striker reacted at the sound, turning around just in time to receive the shot to the forehead. Sunset silently cheered. "Gotcha!" she whispered, ready to move on.
"So it comes to this," Surgeon said, smirking at Butcher, who shrugged.
"Apparently so-a one on one," XCOM's leader said, tilting his head. "Are you sure you're ready for it?"
Surgeon pointed his semi at Butcher. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
There was no signal. The pair simply shot in different directions, firing their weapons as they ran into cover. Rolling behind a concrete wall that was quickly becoming swiss cheese, Surgeon tossed a grenade over it in the direction the shooting was coming from before rolling to the other side of the wall and coming out shooting again.
The grenade didn't make it to Butcher without getting shot out of the air, but it proved useful, distracting XCOM's leader long enough for Surgeon to flank him. As Butcher whipped around to face him, he initially missed Heavy Collar jumping from another building onto the roof, ready to fire, but the movement alerted Butcher, who had half-turned and half-skipped sideways to avoid Surgeon's shots. But the trap was sprung: there was no way for him to take down Heavy Collar, who was already pressing down the trigger… or would have if his head hadn't been pierced cleanly by a sniper shot.
He hadn't even fallen on back before another shot echoed in the area and Sukiru's cover, along with half her torso, blew into pieces. The distraction had proven enough for Butcher to roll behind cover, and Surgeon followed suit, cursing his moment of weakness.
"Getting old, Surgeon?" Butcher called out.
"You wish!"
"Well you did miss a golden opportunity, I'm just concerned for your health."
"Keep jabbering, I'll make sure you're out soon enough!"
Nightmare Moon sighed before aiming her rifle to cover Mirage, but she couldn't see any sign of her. Either she had moved out of the street or… no, she would've known if she had been shot down.
She bit her lip and slid down from her perch, moving for her secondary location as quickly as she could. Right now they had a slight advantage, and it wouldn't last if she was made. She had to trust Sunset and Surgeon to keep themselves alive in the meantime.
She didn't get far before a shimmering from the side of the building made her stop. She barely had time to try and dodge when Wallflower appeared suddenly in front of her, chameleon cape fluttering around her as her special edition shotgun opened fire at point blank.
Once more in Celestia's car, Luna had time to ponder, which didn't get past the principal. "Something on your mind, Princess?"
Luna blinked and chuckled, realizing she had been spacing out. "My apologies, sister, my thoughts were indeed elsewhere." Leaning back on the seat and watching the vehicles pass, she smiled a little. "I was looking back on this creation the humans have brought… a world quite literally fed by dreams. My domain."
Celestia nodded wordlessly.
"'Tis true that, by expending some magical effort, I can take ponies into my dreams, or other pony's dreams. I did it before, for young Sweetie Belle. I barely need to think about it to jump from dream to dream, but…" Princess Luna sighed. "It gets lonely sometimes, even if I am surrounded by friends. In their dreams, I am nothing but a visitor or a wisp or a shadow."
Princess Luna was similar enough to her own human sister for Celestia to smirk knowingly. "But?"
"But… this shared dream experience…" Princess Luna looked up. "Something like this destroys those boundaries. Everypony in there is aware, awake and working together to make this shared dream richer."
"It seems to me," Celestia said as they pulled into the parking lot outside of Crystal High, "That you'd like to share this experience."
"By becoming what you call, a gamer?" Princess Luna pondered once more, looking out the window at the school. "Mayhaps." She sighed and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Mayhaps not. 'Tis been our experience so far that the technology of this world mixes poorly with magic. Too much of it and it might break."
Celestia patted Princess Luna's shoulder. "Maybe Sunset and Twilight will figure out how to make it work… but if you ever want to try, well, Luna and I do have sets you could use."
Princess Luna smiled back at her interdimensional sister. "I shall consider it." Her gaze went back to the school. "But for now, we have other matters to attend."
Celestia nodded and took the lead, walking into the mostly empty school with intense purpose. "I seem to recall the computer labs were over here."
Princess Luna sniffed and made a face. "Perchance we should simply follow the smell."
The pair approached the offices, where several people from the cleaning crew had gathered, staring fearfully at the closed door to Sombra's office.
"What happened here?" Celestia asked.
One of the employees turned around eyes wide. "Principal Celestia? Vice Principal Luna? What are you doing here?"
"Cadance asked me to check on things while she was otherwise engaged," Celestia replied smoothly. "We came in and immediately noticed the smell. What is the matter?"
Another janitor shifted in place uncomfortably. "We heard Professor Sombra shout and scream… it became really bad and then he just went quiet…"
Celestia shook her head. "Why haven't you gone in? Does anyone have the key?"
The gathered employees shifted nervously before one reached up with the key on hand. "We… we were afraid. Strange things have been happening in his office and… well, he ordered us to not open it ever, regardless of what we heard… he said he'd get us fired and that we'd never get a job in this state again if we did."
"Don't worry," Celestia said firmly. "I'll take responsibility for this."
She turned around, nodded at Princess Luna and unlocked the door. The smell, which was that of burned plastic was much stronger now and as soon as they opened the door, a dark cloud of acrid smoke spilled out onto the hallway, immediately setting off the fire alarm.
The Principal, the Princess and the janitors had to step away, coughing and with teary eyes to let the air clear out. When they were able to look inside, most of them recoiled, save for the Princess, who grimaced before stepping into the office.
"Call 911," Celestia ordered, following after Princess Luna after a bit of hesitation. "This is… horrible."
Luna shook her head. "'Tis the price he paid for meddling with forces he couldn't possibly comprehend."
Celestia looked at what remained of Sombra—half covered in molten cables, half burnt by the destroyed devices around him. His chest still rose with shivering, short gasps for breath; his hair had been mostly burned away when the NervGear had cracked and split in half, falling off his face and revealing eyes that stared blankly into space. Drool pooled on the side of his mouth and dripped onto the smoking carpet below… he was still breathing but of Sombra himself, little if anything truly remained.
"C-could something like that happen to Twilight or Sunset?"
Princess Luna pressed her lips, thinking for a moment before answering. "Nay, not… this bad. Certainly they could have had a horrible accident, as they almost did already when Sunset got trapped in her dream persona. However, most of this damage resonates within me… the real destruction to his mind and spirit was caused by his attempt to usurp the Equestrian magic that was not his. In that sense, neither Sunset nor Twilight would have suffered as badly, even if they could have lost a limb or two in that explosion caused by Sombra's greed."
She gave Celestia a level look. "Equestrian magic is not fond of being stolen, as your Twilight Sparkle found out."
Celestia nodded numbly, following Luna out of the office to let the police and paramedics in.
"Crap!" Mirage swore under her breath. She felt a pang of regret when she saw Nightmare Moon disappear from the map. It was down to her and Surgeon vs Butcher and Wallflower. Had it been anyone else she'd bet on her own team at this stage regardless… but against XCOM?
She took off towards Nightmare Moon's last known location. Luna was going to be pissed, that's for sure. She saw the area and—had a sixth sense not prompted her to drop to the floor into a rather wild slide—she would have ended up like the shredded wall behind her.
Her slide turned into a tumble-and-run. She didn't even bother to stop and aim before she was shooting in the general direction of where the attack had come from; Mirage's eyes were set on the nearest solid cover: a collapsed tree that had crushed several vehicles at some point in the past.
But knowing Wallflower, this was not going to turn into a shootout from cover. She ducked, still running and jumped up to the tree, releasing several shots from her guns at the shimmering figure that dodged from cover to cover, moving in her direction.
Wallflower was fast. In the blink of an eye she was crouching right in front of Mirage, cape blowing back and revealing the mercenary in all her deadly glory. The shotgun came up beneath Mirage's chin, but before the shot was made, she had already twisted out of the way and crouched.
When she attempted to shoot Wallflower at point blank, however, the shotgun's butt pushed the gun out of the way. Mirage's right hand went behind her head, taking a shot, but the angle of her was too awkward to score a direct hit.
The pair rolled away, breathing heavily and pointing their respective weapons at the other.
"So… that wasn't too bad…" Wallflower said with a grin.
"You killed Nightmare Moon, tho…" Mirage said, smirking back. "You know that means you're going down."
Wallflower arched an eyebrow. "You think you can take me on without magic?"
Mirage gave her a dirty look. "I don't use magic in here."
"Well then, you might regret that," Wallflower replied.
The pair stared at each other for a second longer and then jumped on different sides of the tree. Mirage wasted no time, tossing a grenade over it and taking off to the southwest end of town. She jumped up just in time as a powerful shot tore through the metal of an old mailbox she had used to push up.
Spinning in the air, she opened fire, the kickback from the guns shaking her arms with each pull of the trigger.
Below and behind her, Wallflower zig-zagged and rolled out of the way, avoiding the shots that blasted little craters into the pavement.
Tucking in, Mirage landed and rolled, ending on her back, quickly bringing her guns up straight at Wallflower's chest just as the shotgun stopped inches from her own. On the edge of her vision, a small decreasing number appeared and Mirage cursed in her head.
Triple digits.
"Well, it seems I got you."
"Dream on," Mirage growled. "At this distance you can't dodge either. You know it, or you would have taken your shot.
"I'm still in a better position," Wallflower started to say, but stopped when she felt the shotgun against the back of her head.
"That is debatable," Surgeon said. "Since I would have you where I wanted you… if he hadn't tagged along."
Mirage kept one gun on Wallflower, while her left arm aimed at Butcher, who was aiming directly at Surgeon.
The number kept decreasing.
"Surgeon…" Mirage warned. That number was getting way too small. What the hay was he thinking?
"I know." She could almost hear the smirk in his answer.
"It seems we're going to have to risk it," Wallflower spoke up. "As much as I like the idea of a Mexican Standoff, we can't keep this up until the end of time. This tournament has to end at some point."
Double digits.
"It's been fun," Surgeon spoke up. "It was an honor fighting your team, Butcher."
Butcher snorted. "Same. I didn't expect things to go how they went but but it was fun."
Single digits.
And then it made sense to Mirage.
"Dammit, Surgeon."
BOOM
Rainbow Dash stared in horror at the screen. "Oh, come on!"
Sonata, Aria and Adagio burst out laughing.
When the screen cleared, all that remained of the whole block where the last standoff had occurred was a smoking crater.
A fanfare played and golden words surrounded by sparks exploded on the screen:
Congratulations!
Winners: Team Surgeon
Winners: Team XCOM
Twilight got a text message, and after checking it, ran over to the computer. She logged in and soon a portal opened, allowing Sunset Shimmer to step out of the game world.
The girl blinked and stretched. Before chuckling. "Well, that was something."
"A tie?!" Rainbow Dash wailed. "After all of that? A tie!?"
Sunset sighed and collapsed on a chair. "Well, I wasn't expecting it either."
"Well, we're all here alive and well," Twilight said, taking off her own AmuSphere. "And that's what counts."
"Says you," Rainbow snorted. "Come on! Sunset, you could have taken them!"
Sunset chuckled. "I don't know about that."
Rainbow Dash sighed, sitting back.
Glancing at the pair, Rarity stood up. "Girls, why don't we go get Cadance? I'm sure Sunset is tired and needs her rest after all that she went through." She touched her forehead. "Why, after all we went through I'm already exhausted!"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea sugarcube," Applejack said, nodding. "Let's go get the van ready. Dash, why don't you hang out with Sunset while we do that?"
"Um… okay?"
They watched the girls usher the sirens out and after several encouraging smiles, they all left them alone in the room.
"So…" Rainbow Dash started, rubbing her arms. "You're a gamer, huh?"
Sunset nodded, looking down. "Yeah."
"That's… cool."
Sunset smiled a little. "You think?"
"No…" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "It was… awesome!" She looked up at Sunset. "You were awesome! I can't believe all the stuff you did! I can't believe how good you are at this game!"
Sunset scratched the back of her head, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry it distracted me from practice with you girls."
Rainbow Dash sighed, her enthusiasm quelled. "Yeah… don't worry about it. I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't tell us about it… or about your friendships, or the music you like and—"
She stopped when Sunset got up and sat next to her. "Listen… I think we both could have been better friends about this whole thing… so how about we let it go? You'll always be my friend, Dashie, even if I do like to spend time with other friends, or my girlfriend."
"Your girlfriend?" Rainbow Dash blinked. "Wait, what girlfriend? You're into girls? What girlfriend?"
Sunset grinned. "You realize you asked that three times."
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "But who? When?"
The door to the room opened and a very flustered Vice Principal Luna gazed inside, eyes settling on Sunset. "You made it back!" she said stepping forth as Sunset stood.
The pair embraced tightly, before Luna pulled back and rather boldly planted a kiss full on Sunset's lips.
Rainbow Dash stared, trying to make sense of it all.
"You're into older girls?"
"Thanks for dinner."
Luna smiled. "My pleasure. Although it's a bit sad that this is the first time we've ordered food when we didn't win."
Sunset chuckled and pulled Luna to the sofa, sitting down next to her. "Well, the general public agreement is that this tournament was epic enough that Surgeon's stunt was mostly met with approval, although Rainbow Dash insists we should have gone out in a blaze of glory rather than wiping everyone out with a bomb."
The pair shared a giggle.
"I'm glad that you two are on speaking terms again."
"More than speaking terms, it's almost like we never had a fight. The girls have been very understanding and Rainbow Dash has promised that me hanging out with other people—or with my girlfriend—is not going to be an issue." Sunset grinned. "Plus, she said she's thinking of joining GGO or one of the VMMORPGs… that will definitely be an interesting experience."
"Speaking of issues," Luna said after a moment. "What do you think is going to happen with the tournament? And Sombra?"
Sunset shrugged. "I imagine they'll cast votes or maybe arrange for another battle… I'm just glad we're all back, and whatever anyone might say or who gets to go to the Asian server, we did one hell of a job, every one of us."
Luna nodded, frowning. "I still can't believe Wallflower caught me like that."
Sunset wrapped her arm around Luna's shoulders. "Hey, it's okay. That's how her character is built. She almost got me the exact same way, and I'm the same type as she is. Besides," she added, bopping Luna's nose with the tip of her finger. "If you hadn't taken out Sukiru we wouldn't have had a chance to even tie, so don't beat yourself up over it."
"As for Sombra…" Sunset sighed. "Well, that was the end of our experiments. After the police took all of his research, Twilight and I decided it was better to leave the magic and GGO alone. Which is too bad, since it was an amazing experiment… on the other hoof, it makes things less dangerous."
Luna chuckled, leaning in to kiss Sunset. Those little slips of the tongue were always so adorable. After a moment, she stood up. "I'm heading over to bed, coming?"
Sunset grinned. "Sure, let me just take a quick shower, okay?"
Luna smirked. "Don't be too long, or I'll have passed out."
Sunset rolled her eyes and skipped over to the bathroom, turning over the shower and closing the door behind her.
Alone for the moment, she let her shoulders sag and she looked at herself in the mirror. With a flicker of concentration, she was suddenly a bit more tanned and taller, and the person staring back was not Sunset, but Mirage.
"I wonder who I really am now," she muttered tracing the reflection with her finger. She shuddered and morphed back into Sunset.
She shook her head, the sound of the shower reminding her that someone was waiting for her. Sunset smirked. So her secret life as a gamer was not so secret anymore… and Mirage wasn't just a projection of her inner self and search for freedom… now she was truly a part of herself.
Stepping into the warm water, she let it run down her head and body, closing her eyes and relaxing under it.
No more experiments. Sunset chuckled and wondered… what would happen if she stepped into another gaming world? Could she do it?
"Hey," Luna called, poking her head into the bathroom. "Hurry up, this sniper is getting a bit lonely."
"Be right there!" Sunset called back, laughing. Her thoughts turned back to her wonderings for just a second. "Maybe I'll give it a try… but not tonight."
The End
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A delightful tale was told,
Of one young,
Of one old,
With it my heart rung.
Bravo!
But Mirage persona is valid in GGO only, and so Sunset can only play GGO. Can they make it so it's not and Mirage can exist no matter the game? Sort of magic-assisted modding?
A perfectly fitting ending, if I do say so. A victory cheer, an epic standoff, everyone who deserves it wins... and Sunset even got kind of a boost out of it as well.
Also the ability to constantly cuddle with Luna. That's even more of a win.
Thank you for this story, it's been one hell of a ride, and enjoyable all the way through
Great ending man. As an SAO fan, I I really liked this.
Great stuff!
Definitely my favorite fic on the site. It was an amazing journey and took something as crappy as SAO and used parts of it to make something absolutely amazing. The ending didn't sit too well with me though. The tournament and scenes with Luna were great (though I'm pretty sure the winner would be decided by who was killed last in the explosion, whether through hp ticks or frames for the explosion to reach them, but that is irrelevant). The ending just sort of crashed Rainbow's story into its destination. It felt as though all the growth she and Sunset went through were gone, there was just a quick apology (arguably not even for the right reasons) and it was as though nothing had happened. Rainbow finally accepted that one of her best friends had a life outside of her, and acted shocked about every detail. None of Rainbow's actions were addressed and Sunset ended up apologizing for stuff she shouldn't have to (sorry for not bashing you over the head with the things I like when you clearly ignore them, for being depressed and you not noticing when every other character noticed, and for you eavesdropping and making assumptions that lead to to doing something horrible...). I don't mean verbally addressed, there could have been some body language, or the two silently acknowledging each other's change, some awkwardness between the two, acknowledging the elephant in the room, or something (maybe even a random alicorn bombshell from Sunset). This was something affecting Sunset for months and was a large part of the story, so it's sort of conclusion really bugged me. Oh, and the rest of her friends had no interaction with her post revive, including either Twilight and princess Celestia (they literally thought she was dead for a few days).
The other thing was certain details and world building towards the ending. Sombra melting worked, as did most of the characters wanting to finish the tournament (though XCom was a little to willing to just go with it without asking questions or checking up on Mirage). What didn't work for me was how there was no connection between Butcher, Wallflower, and Mirage. They were friends and helped Mirage get where she is today, but the most noncombat interaction we had was Wallflower implying that Mirage needed the magic (and no comment or detail on how she's felt pain since day one of playing). The magic all draining from the game also felt very weird, especially since they revived Sunset by reconnecting her magic into her body, then blasting it with magic before a massive magical showdown. I'm surprised any damage Sunset took wasn't almost one to one with her real body (actually, wasn't her real body Mirage at the time, and they were worried about Sombra killing her again? Suddenly it was a okay for her to fight to the death in game). Other details bugged me as well, like Twilight and Sombra using NerveGears, direct references to SAO when this world contradicts that one, and stopping the experiments all together (don't mess around with GGO, but the Seed used to build all the VRMMOs is public domain/freeware).
Is there going to be a sequel? A lot of this chapter felt like a setup for one. A new arc was opening up for Sunset, the question of creating something like GGO in Equestria, the greater consequences of the magic, the rest of the tournament, and so on.
I might be a litttle harsh on my criticism of the ending, but I haven't been this emotionally invested in a (written) story before. It beats any other fanfic I've read in that regard, and honestly, while there are a few books I prefer to this, I would say it's the most emotional investment I've had in literature. I remember way back in the day seeing this pop up in Let Them Wonder's also liked stories, and not really liking the first chapter that much, but still adding it to my read later list. Then, when browsing Sunset stories, before seeing any of the Equestria Girls movies, I gave this another try, after the cover art caught my eye a few too many times, and loving it. It's actually what finally convinced me to try watching the movies (though I did skip the first until recently). It was an amazing journey, even if the ending was a little rough.
I've been waiting for this conclusion and it certainly didn't disappoint. I wasn't expecting the tournament to end the way it did, but that's what I've always liked about this story. You never know what would happen next until you read it for yourself. I do feel bad for what happened to Sombra, but that's what can happen when you meddle with forces that are beyond your own understanding.
I can definitely see a sequel come out of this as the conclusion is pretty open-ended with both questions remaining unanswered and certain characters wanting to get in on the excitement that is GGO. You should consider this Wanderer.
Glad you've got those priorities, Dash. A very satisfying end.
Bah, I have nothing I feel worth saying. But It's been such an amazing journey that I can't just leave silently. This story really... Bah I can't find the word. Let me try again:
Sunset was incredibly relateable, especially how parts of this story mirrored so many of my own life experiences. I looked at how Sunset dealt with some of her issues and used it as motivation in my own life. Speaking of, let me look through my old comments:
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The "Find awesome friends you relate to and kick ass together" part finally did happen for me. They respect my crazy, I respect their crazy, and we all shoot bad guys in the face online! We're not going to win any tournaments but man has my life improved since meeting them.
Just like Sunset.
HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING!?
Yay, happy ending all around, and with all loose threads wrapped up (and maybe potential for more, but I'd be more than happy if this was the definite end). Yeah, that's what Sombra gets for messing around with magic. And aw, the happy couple is so cute. I could see Rainbow Dash getting into VRMMOs pretty easily, with her athletic skills probably translating well.
Thank you for the great story, I really enjoyed your combination/crossover of Equestria Girls and SAO/GGO, I'm happy to have followed it from start to finish. I liked your Sunset/Mirage a lot, as well as her gradual romance with Luna.
Very nice. Excellent end for a magnificent story. Sombra gets karmic justice, and a happy ending for those who truly deserve it. Full marks my friend...
Aye, another great story came to a conclusion -- one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Excellent story my friend.
9/10 would read again.
I'm kinda interested in what the cross server match would be.
Will there be a sequel?
Awesome story that was definitely worth the wait. I just have one question.
Who are Butcher and Wallflower?
Are they OC's because I like the thought that Butcher is Shinning Armor.
Best story I have ever read
7815219 I hope so but where would it be more GGO, maybe SAO(can't remeber the new version of the game they used) or would it be "real world", God I just made myself want a sequal even more
7815418 well it could be in ALO?
7815350 Doesn't really make sense to me that butcher would be shinning as that would be one reason for twilight to have stayed or joined back up with Xcom instead of being an ex-member of Xcom though with a name like wallflower i can't help but picture someone LIKE fluttershy for there RL personality, or possible one of ponyvilles flower sellers human version
7817339 Oooh gotcha. Shows what I know.
7817339, 7817688, 7815901 Actually, it's a reference to Stardust. Project Spark is a great crossover too, tho!
7814275 Glad you enjoyed it!
7814277
7814282 Well... originally, yes, but she's now both, right? Could happen that Mirage can appear as herself in other worlds in complete disregard of their rules. I can't see that as being a positive thing, tho.
7814313 Thank you for reading and sticking through the gaps in updates!
7814348 I'm glad a SAO fan would enjoy it, despite the lack of SAO characters!
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7814442 Haha, I did leave it open for a sequel, right? I still need to finish/catch up with other stories before I do that!
7814533 I'm happy you found that amusing! I was hoping someone would get a laugh out of that line.
7814543 It's good to hear that she was relatable. There's nothing worse than characters you can't feel for or connect in some way to.
7814750
7814832 Thank you for reading! The best treat as a writer is to see readers stick through the story until its end.
7814908 Awesome! Thanks for the kind words!
7815142 Thank you! It was hard to finish it, tho!
7815200 Heh, I'm not sure I'll write that tho. I think that's one of those crossover moments that is probably just left in the imagination of the readers.
7815219 Maybe someday, after I either catch up with other stories or conclude a couple.
7815413 You'll make me blush! Thank you!
A fun trip, thanks for letting us tag along D n_n
7814423 Well, I would have answered you in the first mass reply, but you spent a lot of thought into your comment, so I felt it deserved a bit more than "thanks for reading!"
First of all... thanks for reading. Seriously. It's amazing that so many people choose to read my stories and spend time and emotional involvement in them along with me. It's simply awesome.
I did consider a longer scene between Sunset and Rainbow... I felt though, that Rainbow went far and beyond what a conversation there could have rounded up. Her songs to Sunset were actually fairly emotional, and she went through a lot of personal growth that showed through her magical support of Mirage/Sunset and what the lyrics were telling her. I felt that Mirage understood that... and that the reason she apologized was not because she had done something wrong necessarily, but rather because sometimes to help friendships, you need to step back and meet someone halfway. I feel that Sunset realized that while she did try to get through to Rainbow, she also felt frustrated and angry, allowing herself to drift away and be less involved in finding a solution where they both would feel okay about it... so it's (in my head) less of a "I'm sorry because I was wrong" and more of a "I'm sorry we couldn't sort it out without a fight" kind of situation.
Well, the Nerve Gears and Amuspheres were both in the story from the beginning, but I also respected the capabilities of each. For example, at home, Luna, Celestia, Sunset and Twilight all use Amuspheres... but for the experiments they used the Nerve Gears, which at that point were already declared practically illegal. Hence the extra damage to Sombra when things went south for him.
As for a sequel, as I stated earlier, I might or not... but it won't happen for a while. I need to work on other stories first.
But don't worry about the criticism, as you said, you invested a lot into the story and I am glad you were able to express how you felt about it! I hope this post addresses some of your concerns with the ending, and feel free to reply with your thoughts!
7819418 Glad you enjoyed it, Ferret!
7819405 Okay, thanks for the clarification. Awesome story, all the same.
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I know the feeling of having to finish off other stories first. Still, I strongly recommend going for a sequel but I won't pressure you into doing so. You need to have the heart and compassion for wanting to go for a sequel.
A very satisfying ending and enjoyable story. A+
Oh this was so good!
When I saw you updated I just had to read the whole story again before reaching the end. Wanderer D is best latías writer!
I love your Sunset Shimmer, I hope you write more with her. Either a new story, continue the other one you are already writing, or a sequel to this.
Good ending, though it isn't really well explain why Sunset wouldn't just disappear when she died in the tournament battle, I mean, she had her real body there. I'm guessing it was because Magic was not there anymore, and she returned to Glocken normally, but how was she so sure that was going to happen? Love that she can shapeshift between Mirage and Sunset, but how did she do it before she used the portal out of GGO if there was no magic? Or she did it while she was coming out?
Also, I would have liked Sunset had a little happy reunion and group hug with every one, including both Celestias, Princess Luna, Sci Twi, Cadence and Lemon Zest. But that one is just nitpicking, because how happy they all were was obvious.
Thank you very much for the awesome story.
This was a brilliant read, and I'm so glad I could experience the story you have created. Best wishes for the future!
Curses, my love is over! I wait and wish for this every update. Bravo, and good job.
Bravo!! Amazing!! Unbelievable!!! And all that well-wishing nonsense.
Absolutely amazing book. I'm so sad it's over but now I get to spam your comment section with praises. *Sunset whispers into my ear* What's that? I have to limit myself to one comment post to leave room for everypony else? 
Never mind, I get the idea Mirage.
Anyway, thank you so much for making this amazing book, it's one of my absolute favorites so far. Hope to see more of your work in the future, until then I'll see you next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.
I was rather indifferent about the whole GGO aspect (not my cup of tea), but I adored the Sunset/Luna ship. A wonderful, caring pair with similar troubled pasts they overcame. They were why I stuck with the story to the end.
I'm a little late to the party, buuuuut...
...l’examen
Is it wrong that I want to see how Kirito reacted to that final match? Is it even more wrong that I want a one-shot bonus chapter where Kirito challenges Desert Mirage to a duel in GGO?! A no-holds barred duel, meaning that Sunset can use magic, since Kirito is god-tier with pure skill and the only way I could see her standing a chance is if she was allowed to use it? I mean, it's not like it would be Kirito's first time facing magic or an opponent that has powers that should not be in the game, right?
Congratulations on nailing one of the Top 10 Sunset Shimmer Stories of 2017! (which is technically August 1, 2016 to September 22, 2017, but "2017" is easier to say)
8442410 Thank you! I'm glad people liked it!
Amazing story!! Even though I never heard of Sword Art Online before this, it was thoroughly enjoyable. The only thing I would have liked to see was more romance, but there was no romance tag so I'm not too disappointed.
8502862 Thank you for reading!
This was so much fun to read please make a sequel I would love to read it !!
Yeah it's not.
This was good, thanks for the ride
Could this ever get an sequel?
Ps: I just read throught all of this in only in only two days.
8809297 Thanks for reading! I'm afraid there's no sequel planned at the moment.
8807954
Damnit I'm a doctor not a drug dealer!
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Technically medicine is drug.
8809443
. I wanted Sunset to jump through different video games.
Aaww
8809884
Damnit I'm a doctor not a drug dealer!
Whats the difference?
8809443
By the way i think you need to add a romance tag on this story. Just saying