CYOA Level 2: From Earth Bet to Equestria!

by megabyte97

Prologue

“Are you ready to go?” I jolt awake at the question and find myself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. As always, my power jumps into action, providing me numbers the moment I open my eyes and look around.

‘Location, warehouse approximately one thousand by one thousand square feet. No air vibrations, speaker is planting thoughts directly into my head, speaker does not have a physical form. Speaker does not mean me harm.’

I blink and shake my head before taking another look around, choosing to focus on my surroundings rather than the apparent benevolent mysterious speaker.

‘Bed is from Earth Bet Protectorate HQ Boston branch. Desk in middle from home dimension.’

I push myself off the bed and land on my feet slowly walking towards the desk as more pieces to this puzzle fall into place.

‘No windows, no doors, shutter is a barrier, oxygen is being used but oxygen level stays the same. Location is time locked, location is simulated.’

I reach the desk and find a laptop running with the screen displaying a word document.

‘Laptop is from home dimension, speaker is the being who sent me to Earth Bet.’

I pause, taking a steadying breath before I look at the word document. “Choose Your Own Adventure,” I mutter into my hand with wide eyes.

I remember completing one of these just for shits and giggles years ago only for a random omnipotent being to take notice and throw me into the life I chose. It is funny when one reads stories like that, not so much when one experiences them first hand. I can still remember the first few weeks on Earth Bet. Walking around in a daze and seeing numbers everywhere... it was not a good time.

Although, learning to use my powers after understanding what they were was very fun, and I doubt that other worlds will be nearly as bad as Earth Bet.

With some hesitation, I start scrolling through the prompt. It’s not like there’s anything tethering me to Earth Bet anyways, Scion made sure of that.

Looking over the prompt I am… somewhat surprised. The adventure will take place in ‘The magical land of Equestria,’ essentially placing me in the world of “My Little Pony.” I don’t have any illusions about what will happen once I complete this, but if I am going to a world based off a cartoon for all ages it can’t be that bad… can it?

I have a thousand points to spend starting out and I can become an Earth pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn for free… I completely ignore them along with the other equine races as I’d rather not be quadruped and limited to manipulating things with my mouth and tongue. Changelings have some potential, but I would rather not be half insect.

The non-equine races consist of Diamond Dogs, Minotaurs, and Griffins, all for one hundred points, the races listed have potential and being a Diamond Dog sounds interesting at the very least.

The mythical beings consist of: humans (one hundred points), sirens (four hundred points), dragons (four hundred points), centaurs (four hundred points), and alicorns (six hundred points). To be honest, the only one that even remotely interests me is the human race and taking it would put me at a disadvantage if everyone else on the planet can use magic and I can’t.

With a sigh, I choose to be a Diamond Dog for a hundred points, and move on to the next portion.

The next item on the agenda is the location I will appear at, and since I know next to nothing about the world in question I simply take the free option to wake up near ‘the small town of Ponyville.’

Next is origin and, hoo boy, age. I spend fifty points to make myself twenty years old and look at the roles available.

Traveler is basically a free fresh start and is pretty appealing right off the bat. Farmer seems decent as well, but I can’t imagine myself being good at it at all. Villian is automatically out seeing as it costs one hundred points and if this world really is based off of a children’s cartoon than I will never win. Noble is also out as it also costs a hundred points and I have never been able to bring myself to care about politics.

Selecting the traveler option, I move on.

Skills and Abilities pops up next and makes me thankful I didn’t choose to be a villain or noble. ‘Flash Mob’ is a free ability that basically grants anyone and everyone the ability to turn life into a musical at the drop of a hat. Villains never win in musicals and that is a fact. ‘Special Talent’ I am somewhat confused about given my situation and more than a little wary of. Would my power be considered my ‘special talent?’ My power is more along the lines of an ‘advanced talent’ with me being able to see the math behind everything, hell I’ve dodged bullets and lasers with it!

Being uncertain about this, I simply move on to other perks.

‘Giggle at the Ghosties’ is one of those perks where you can’t not buy it. Being able to laugh in the face of fear is pretty much a must have and the best part is it’s free for travelers. I pick up the ‘Friendly’ perk next for one hundred points so I might make some friends, another plus is that it gives me an amazing memory for names and people’s likes and dislikes. ‘The Sense’ perk follows shortly after, it costs a whopping three hundred points even with a discount for travelers but for having a reliable form of precognition along side my powers it is well worth it.

Equipment comes next and I immediately buy three ‘Bits’ for one hundred and fifty points giving me a starting capital of nine hundred bits. The ‘Party Cannon’ is free for travelers and if I can really pull it out at anytime it could be really useful, purchased for zero. The ‘Story Book’ is the next piece of equipment I pick up for a measly one hundred points, seriously, for getting all the myths, prophecies, and legends of any world one goes to one hundred points is a bargain especially if one encounters more worlds with magic. Finally I pick up the ‘Gem Collection’ as my final piece of equipment. I remember a few stories where gems had magical properties and allowed individuals to perform magic even in circumstances where they shouldn’t be able to.

I look over the list of perks and equipment one more time in case there is anything else I deem necessary. Nothing catches my eye and with a click I finalize my perks and equipment.

Drawbacks pop up with a little counter at the top exclaiming “You have -0 points.” I’m guessing at this point the finalize button at the bottom would have been greyed out if I had a negative amount of points. With no reason to take a drawback I click the finalize button at the bottom.

“It seems that you’re ready,” I yawn and walk back to my bed before collapsing on the mattress and drift off to sleep.

---

I wake to the sound of birds calling to each other. Opening my eyes is a mistake as it is extremely bright and my power takes over for my sight as I slap a furry arm over my eyes.

‘Eyes are three point seven five six times larger than normal, facial features are three point one two eight times bigger and are elongated by a factor of four point seven two. Ears are enhanced by a factor of eight point two, sense of smell is increased by a factor of fifty point zero two. Birds are twenty feet in the air following a circular pattern and two hundred and sixty three trees are currently echoing the disrupted air currents.’

I open my eyes slowly and blink rapidly, note to self, enhanced senses suck when combined with thinker powers.

‘Brain is reinforced by a factor of eighty two point one.’

“...Well, that’s useful,” I mutter, running the calculations in my head. Surprisingly it comes out to a net positive, sure I might have to pace my powers, but other than that I upgraded my range without a drawback.

Blinking tears and sleep away, I find myself lying under an apple tree a little ways outside a small town. Hell, it looks like it jumped right off the pages of a picture book, with thatched roofs surrounded by lush green plains, and even a dirt road leading right to it.

It’s… jarring how alien the surroundings are. I’m so used to seeing skyscrapers and shingle roofs, greys, whites, and stale brown buildings… I know the feeling will probably wear off eventually, but right now I can definitely feel that… culture clash moment.

I let the moment pass, trying not to think of all the luxuries I gave up for an unsure adventure, and take stock of what I have. Looking down, I see I have a blue coat of fur and my legs bend in strange ways. I am wearing what could be generously called a ragged vest with small pockets on both sides. Reaching into the pockets, my new paws are swallowed up to my elbows before they brush against two things. I pull the items out and find myself looking at two fairly decent sized bags closed by ropes at the tops. The two bags can barely fit in my paws and opening them gives me a view of numerous gold coins in the left bag and quite a few gems in the right bag.

I blink before carefully tying both bags closed and dropping them in my apparent pockets of holding. Climbing to my paws, I start walking, or more accurately I start stumbling in circles. My balance has changed with my new limbs making me feel like I’m leaning forward as I move.

‘Body is topheavy, muscle mass and muscle density has increased by a factor of two point three. Bone density has increased by a factor of two point seven.’

I am grateful for my power in times like these. Learning to stand, let alone walk on unfamiliar limbs would normally take quite a bit of time. My power streamlines the process and what should take days of working out how my body moves instead takes minutes.

It takes a conscious effort on my part to turn my power off, or at least ignore it, and that is what I do once I am able to effectively walk. Many individuals would probably wonder why I would do such a thing, but… well… there are downsides to being a “Thinker.”

Putting one paw in front of the other, I leave the numerous apple trees behind and head towards the small town. My first priority is to acquire food, water, and shelter for the night. While I could have picked several apples from the trees, I have a feeling that simply taking them would be a bad idea.

‘It’s a beautiful day outside,’ I think with a chuckle. ‘Birds are singing, flowers are blooming,’ I grin and lock my arms behind my back. ‘The stage is set, and the die is cast. A new chapter unfolds…’

I continue down the road.

Author's Note:

Whelp, this story has been in the works for a while now, and I actually know where I am going with it for once so... yay?

If you have the time leave a comment down below with your thoughts on the chapter. Thanks for reading and I hope you readers have a wonderful day.

Comments

[Divan1229]

well done