Playback Recording
Digital Dreamscapers' Studio
October 08, XXXX
2:58 PM
The recording started out with the camera swaying its lens back and forth around the room. The room it was surveying was filled with electronic servers and computers that served the purpose to run the world of Equestrian Earth. Most of the monitors ran their screensavers while the servers hummed with magical and electric energy. In the center of the room was a large cylinder column with wires and tubes connected to each and every monitor and computer. The column was colored snow white with red maroon for its rims. Written around the top rim of it was the word ‘Goddess’. Surrounding the pillar were several pods with opened glass covers that were connected to the center object as well. Unlike the continuous hum of its companions, this particular server was singing a melody with its harmonious voice. In the far right, a door sliding open could be heard and three sets of hooves entered the room; two colts and one mare. The mare had a coat of orange and curly orange mane locks that draped down from her hair. Her cutie mark was a smiley jack o’ lantern. One colt was the color of beige and had a red mane with one blue stripe lining towards the left of his eye. The other colt had a yellowish tan color with a black colored mane that had no specific hair style. The only distinctive look on him was a scar that ran down on his right eye. It made him look kinda cool and handsome. The center server stopped singing and greeted the new comers.
“Hello there! It’s good to see you again,” it chirped.
“Hey Goddess, what’s up?” the red mane colt replied. “We have our first beta tester coming in today. I’ve told you about this guy right?”
“Yes of course. It’s good to finally meet you!”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” the scarred colt responded. “I’m really excited for this.”
“I am too!” The orange mare walked towards one of the open pods. “But I do have to ask: You do know what you’re getting into? This is dangerous.”
“Of course. I’m the first beta tester and you guys don’t know what will happen if the game starts. That’s why I’m here right?”
“You don’t have to do this you know,” the other colt concurred with the mare. “I know we promised the guy who wins first place in the contest that he slash she will be the first one to play the game, but we’re still weeks behind the release date. We won’t know what will happen to you.”
“Do not worry about the boy, Sentinel,” the Goddess assured. “I’m perfectly capable of protecting him from any danger he might face.”
Sentinel gave the server and the colt a concerned look. He sighed in resignation, knowing he can’t talk the two out of this, especially the Goddess. She’d been looking forward to this as much as any other pony who wanted to win the chance to play the game before anypony else.
“Alright then. Pumpkin Fest, set him up,” he said.
Pumpkin gave him an uneasy look, but complied with his orders. She started tinkering with some of the controls inside the pod and gave the leather seat inside a hard pat to let the colt know it’s ready to go. He stepped inside the pod and made himself comfortable as much as possible. She gently lowered a visor that connected to the top of the seat and set it over his eyes. She lowered the glass cover over the colt and closed the pod, which gave off the sound of an air hissing. Sentinel walked over to the control panel of the Goddess and adjusted the settings of the colt’s destination.
“Okay, we’re going to be sending you to one of our many beta towns. How does Old Ponyville sound?” Sentinel asked.
“Couldn't have been any better choice,” the colt muffled through the glass.
He rested his hoof over the initiate lever. “Okay, you ready? I’m about to send you in.”
“Go for it.”
Sentinel pulled down the switch and held his breath, waiting for the tester's response. Pumpkin looked as anxious as her co-worker and was biting the tip of her hooves. It was a really bad habit for her. The Goddess however was humming a tune that sounded really familiar, and was feeling all calm and relaxed, unlike the two ponies that were nervously waiting for the colt's reply.
“So how are you feeling?” Pumpkin Fest asked.
The colt’s voice resonated from the speakers of the pod. “Never better! Wow, you really got all the details down! I can see Sweet Apple Acres, and the town looks more rustic than ever!”
Sentinel let out a breath of relief. “That’s good. How’s your movement?”
“Normal. It feels as if I was actually walking for real.”
“Any unnatural sensations or feelings?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“Okay good,” he said. “Now I need you to try out-“
The pod began to give out electrical sparks. Pumpkin Fest yelped out as one of the flickers zapped her flank. She ran behind the safety of Sentinel, who wasn’t exactly as calm as you would think.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no" he muttered under his breath, then utter swears in his former language. "This isn’t good!"
“Dude?” the colt weakly asked. “I don’t feel too good.”
“Fest,” he asked sternly. “Help me disable the pod. I’m not having this guy die here.”
“Y-yes, Sentinel!”
The two technicians let their hooves fly over the controls and switches, not pausing for a single moment. The Goddess was crying out in pain as the electrical surge flowed in her circuits. The energy now took on a light glimmer of red.
“Hang in there you two! Everything is going to be alright!” he assured.
“I’m fine,” the Goddess managed to say through her pained voice. “Just get the boy out of there!”
The two ponies worked even faster to troubleshoot the crisis, not even flinching as the sparks electrocuted their hide. The camera recording fuzzed after several seconds before going out. A flash of a demonic face appeared before the end transmission.
Recording Ends.
October 08, XXXX
3:09 PM
Playback Again?
An actual villain? Meh...
1408777 Well I needed something.
Dun dun dun!
oh dear the beta tester faces an evil demon to which he didn't escape. considering the story line so far that would be mister super evil bold black text speaker.
now the beta tester....is either dead...or brainwashed to do the demon's bidding.......no idea
anywho I'm still expecting some super over leveled player to show up (that's not luna or celestia) to start causing trouble. why? CAUSE SOMEONE ALWAYS DOES IT! one player who becomes way too powerful for his own good just runs instance after instance killing everything before anyone has a chance to do anything. worse part?! he does it solo!!!
*ahem* nice foreshadowing chapter :3
4chanpartyvan.net/kusaba/moe/src/134954027890.gif
:OOOOOOO
OH MAN, SHIT JUST GOT REAL!
What?! I might not be the only one saying this!
Woooooo.... Spooky.
I really need to start moving my story along faster. A third of the way through chapter three and Paperback is still only at third level.
1408884
1408862 I came up with this on Fly. Btw, a very good friend of mine mentioned to me this morning that she wanted to draw you two. I believe I've mentioned her before, her name's Bianca. If you wanna talk to her about that, message me back and will settle this over on Skype. I hope you two know what that is.
1408872 Huh, I never thought about that way. I guess I can incorporate some of the Original Team Awesome's story in here. That'll be fun. Btw Boxanor is reading this (I think).
1408854 I can't stop staring into that one girl's eye.
1408854
That lvl 1 issue in WoW maybe?
1408872
To continue my inane ramblings in the vaguest way possible:
I think the Big Bad is big and red and wears a helmet.
The main reason I'm posting this is because you seem like the kind of person who enjoys watching others squirm, trying to figure out the plot. So I hope my suffering has entertained you.
1408912
Didn't think of it that way...
Well shoot. That's all my ideas down the toilet.
1408912 I suppose for the two of us it would make sense since Sound Wave is going to be one of the Ponies Paperback will regularly quest with. Can't make it the cover image though, already requisitioned a friend to do that, and turning on him now would be like a betrayal.
But, yeah, I'm open to Skype stuff. Will probably have to finalize things after I get back from night class at college, though. I'll PM you my username on there.
1408920 It pleases meh. cdn.broni.es/images/emotes/mlp-drape.png
You should check out the list of comments between me and Talen.
Blog 9/30/12
1408912 WOah! Seriously!? :D Sure!!! :D
1408965>>1408961 Cool. I await your skype names.
GLaDOS! Dammit, stay in Aperture! Quit tryina influence peoples' stories lest I upload you into a potato as Wheatley has done before! Demonic face huh? Darn, I guess the Asmodeans are off the hook as well... for now. Edit: Congrats on featurebox, again. (As of the time this comment is re-edited this story has claimed the last sction of the featured box. Huzzah''s around!)
1409320 I wasn't thinking of GLaDOS when designing the Goddess. Is that what you were referring too?
1408952
1409367 Nah. It just seems like whatever attacked "The Goddess" just kinda makes me think of something GLaDOS might do (for science ) if she had somehow got into Equestria. Or made a Dimensional Link throughout the wifi capabilities of EE. And I must admit, you were true to your word. You DID get back on The Box (We should just start calling it The Box instead of Featured. Sounds more foreboding.)
1409385 Oh thanks for catching that typo. Can't believe I typed 'his' instead of 'him'.
1409401 Dah Box...that's awesome. Also how did I manage to get back on the Box? I must really be that awesome. cdn.broni.es/images/emotes/mlp-ddealwith.png
1409517
i didn't notice that xD i was just quoting the nice jester :3
1409536 Gesture. And thanks for the catch!
1409546
np
1408777>>1408833>>1408854>>1408862>>1408877>>1408884>>1408914>>1408920>>1408952>>1409320>>1409536
I forgot to add in the link to the song Goddess was humming. Check back on the story to see what I was thinking at the time.
Nice little intermission you had. The song going in my mind was that stereotypical intermission music you always hear of.
1409811 Eeeyup.
And thanks for catching that typo. My proofreader has yet to go through it.
1409825
Not a problem. If i catch em, i'll letcha know about em.
Hrrm. I still want to know the continuity for this compared to Luna Plays.
Dang it, why you gotta do this XANA (I'm not the only one who remembers that show, right?)
So the VR visor lets them sleep as they play, now what does that remind me of...
Is the demonic face like a virus or a free thinking program? Also, what is the name of the company doing the play testing n stuff? CC studio?
Shits gunna get real fast. And I'm just getting angrier and angrier that I havn't put enough time into Nitro's Story yet! Grrr!
Oh yeah, anyone else think the Godess would look like the Fausticorn?
1412300 Yes.
1414292 Thanks, I worked hard on that.
1414407 Yea, you said that a while ago.
1414463 You know there is a group that you can join if you want to submit your OC.
well, i think we now know who that was a picture of in chapter 5 (this beta tester who also has a scar). unless the author would like to correct me if i'm wrong.
1413825
To eveything i asked? I'm good ¦3
To ChaoticNote: Will Livo and Night Stalker be seen together?
1421506 That depends on Nxegex's and/or Lord Guffington's fan fics. The Mane Six will see them time to time but ultimately what happens between Livo and Night Stalker will be up to the others.
The demonic face is the bold speaking shadowy villain, and the beta tester is Raynor. that bit became rather obvious when he was described as "the scarred colt".
But neither of these things are bad. Why not? exposition and backstory, that's why!
>>ChaoticNote The very FACT that you have written this states that there is an absolute mega-villain in this story. I am also now familiar with that teaser pic you posted a bit back and I am curious...
Since this game can be played while your asleep, can the dream world be affected in some way?
This is also my first comment ever so bear with me if I did the comment linky thing incorrectly.
1421518 Dangit I DID do the comment linky thing incorrctly!!!!!! (Face palm/hoof)
Just look at the comment before please...
1426105 The I.P.V actually connects the sub-conscious of the mind to the game world while sleeping. The game simulation is real enough that you could get really tired after a fight of a battle. If a pony decides to take a nap, his/her sub-conscious forms dreams inside the game. Subconscious-ception so to speak. This is a bit of a spoiler of how the Interactive Pony Visor works, but I really wanted to go into further detail. Yesh, curse my impatience.
1427342 Which OC?
1414477 That so? Hmmm....
1429574 Yea, btw your chapter with Zero and Rarity at the fashion show made me cringe a little. Just thought I would give my opinion out.
1429877 Yea, heard ya the first time. : /
1429924 Yep.
1408854 Sounds legit.