July 3rd (Fighting With My Friends)
Hey, Shadowflame here. Of course, who else were you expecting?
I would just like to take a second to say one thing; a little piece of factual advice. Life will always make you do hard things, whether you like it or not. It’s the truth, see. Though sometimes, life hands you things to do that are harder than others.
Sometimes it’s working overtime on shifts to pay off that huge debt on your credit card. Or sometimes it’s caring for a loved one who unexpectedly fell sick with cancer.
…And sometimes it’s fighting tooth and nail against five hundred changelings at once.
Yeah, talk about difficult, right? I had only been fighting against my share of the changeling swarm for about two minutes until I figured out just how annoying the little buggers were.
For one thing, yes, all changelings were weak individually. But when 10 of them swarm your personal space simultaneously, they can really drain the health out of you quickly. And another thing to note: Because there were so many changelings around us, killing one out of the bunch seemed to do nothing at all. By the time you could clear a small space of these love parasites, more changelings would instantly fill the void.
And when you’re outnumbered 10 to 10,000…
Yeah, life just handed you one of the hardest things you’ve ever done. Yes, ‘thank you’, life. And while I’m at it, I would also like to say, ‘Screw you, I’ve got enough to deal with right now.’
My wings flapped as fast as possible and I soared through the open space of the chamber. Levitating my sword and my shield close to me, I risked a glance behind me to see that I still had a little over twenty changelings on my tail. And they were still managing to gain distance on me, so it was only a matter of time before they were *literally* on my tail.
For those of you readers who have never had tails before, let me enlighten you. Having a tail is marvelous, but when someone so much as tugs on it, it feels both painful and weird as heck. So, rather than letting a couple dozen changelings provide that less than unsavory experience, I proceeded to act in defense.
With two beats of my wings, I flipped myself around and flew right at the mini swarm with my sword raised,
“Blaze!”
With each swing of my flaming sword, I took out three changelings every time. And with the speed and precision of a magically held blade, my group of pursuers burst into a cloud of blue code within a couple of seconds.
With the changelings no longer on my tail, I took a second to hover in midair and catch my breath. I’m sure I’ve told you readers before, but you can still get tired in this video game. Fatigue and exhaustion were common side effects after fighting a bunch of monsters. But Chrysalis’ horde here was really pushing our limits.
I took a moment to reevaluate our situation. Down on the ground, everybody who didn’t have wings were fighting back to back with each other as they fought the changeling horde off. Everypony else was airborne, zooming through the space of the chamber in an underground, aerial dogfight against the changelings. It was difficult enough for anybody with close-quarters weapons to fight, but it was even worse for anybody with long-range weapons.
The long rangers, mainly Eclipse and Siren, were in the worst situation. Their bows were exceptional when picking off foes from long distances. But with the swarming changelings, they were firing their bows as quickly as possible in rapid fire. If it weren’t for the help of the other close-combat fighters in the group, those two would’ve probably been dead by now.
Suddenly, a huge shadow loomed high above me. As soon as I saw it, I dove out of the way of a giant, red, scaly fist. I cursed to myself as the dragon’s claw smashed into the ground with a deafening BOOM!
The dragon itself had been the biggest threat and annoyance thus far. Whenever any of us had just a moment without the changelings on top of us, the dragon was there instead to wreck our day.
I glanced up at the dragon just in time to see it open its giant maw at me. As quickly as magic would allow me to work, I concentrated hard as the dragon let loose a roaring stream of fire. I quickly cast a spell, and I began to absorb the fire and regenerate my magic power slightly from it. Sure, the magic power was great, but I immediately had to swoop out of the way of another dragon claw once the flames subsided.
I was panting hard as more changelings flew towards me, and I fought them off through the air with my weapons and magic. But at this rate, I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be able to keep this up.
Down below, I could hear Queen Chrysalis’ smug laughter through the buzzing of changeling wings.
Chrysalis smirked at the battle around her, “This is very enjoyable. I never realized how entertaining it was to watch pathetic humans struggle for survival.”
With a single swing of my sword, I cleared the changelings around me and took a moment to glare down at the smug changeling queen. She was the boss we were supposed to defeat, yet she was letting her swarm and the dragon do all the fighting for her. Rather than fighting all of her unlimited lackeys, I decided to dig up this parasitic swarm by the roots.
I propelled myself downwards and tucked my wings to my sides into a dive. I stuck my sword out in my path, like the head of an arrow, aiming right for Chrysalis.
But as I was about to ram my sword through her chest, a massive wall of changelings suddenly formed around the queen, and I jerked to a stop as my sword pierced it. I looked to see that I hadn’t gotten close to Chrysalis because these changelings had protected her. I quickly withdrew my sword from the changeling I had stabbed and took to the sky again, just before the wall of changelings merged into a swarm that pursued me.
My attempt had only made Chrysalis laugh harder, “Is that honestly the best you can do, Courage? I must admit, that was fearless, but completely stupid.”
“Shut up!” I roared in frustration as I decapitated a few changelings in a single blade stroke.
Chrysalis laughed in mock concern, “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you on edge just because we kept two of your friends from the joining the party? What were their names again?... Oh, that’s right, Cross Burst and Cloudheart. Haha, what pitiful na-AGH!”
The changeling queen suddenly screamed in pain, causing the whole room to freeze. Literally, every changeling, player, and even the dragon, stopped to look at the queen. And as we looked, we all noticed the point of a black sword protruding out from Chrysalis’ chest.
Just behind the queen, a deathly cold voice spoke, “Their names are Crossheart and Cloud Burst, Chrysalis. Tell me…” The black sword suddenly jerked back out of the queen’s chest and exited through her back, causing her to scream again, “… Was their imprisonment your idea?”
Chrysalis quickly pumped her wings and took off to the air. Once at a safe distance, the queen looked back at her throne to see a pure black sword floating in midair, without a single pony holding it. But before our eyes, we watched as the sword evaporated into a dark cloud of smoke, the kind that reminded me of the demon back in Hollow Shades.
The dark cloud suddenly began to condense and take the shape of a pony. The smoke dissipated to reveal a figure covered in a black coat. On his back, he had sheathed a pair of dual swords, one black with blue gems on its hand guard, and one white with green gems in the same place.
The figure spoke again, his voice slightly distorted by... something, “They are my friends, as is everyone here. And I will fight alongside them, no matter what I’ve done in the past.”
Though his voice was distorted, I instantly recognized the voice, as well as one of the swords. I couldn’t believe it! It really was-
The figure’s hood flew back off his head, revealing a dark cyan unicorn, with a black DJ mane and a pair of red eyes. His player ID appeared above his head, reading: Midnight5ky.
Sky narrowed his eyes into a wicked grin, aimed straight at Chrysalis, “I’m back, motherbuckers! And this time,” He drew both swords, which instantly glowed black in eerie smoke as his magic wrapped around them, “I’m never leaving my team again!”
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Alright, everypony! We've got some epic background music for this fight, so I suggest that if you're reading this and you can't listen to the song while reading, stop now and wait until you can, because it is just epic. I present to you, "Dragon Force".
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"Why are you gawking, fools?!" Chrysalis screamed, "KILL THEM!!"
Instantly, a wave of changelings rushed towards Sky, while the rest of the horde and the dragon turned their attention back towards the rest of us. The buzzing and roaring of monsters filled the chamber as they attacked.
I turned and fought off the changelings who had come after me like I had before. But this time was different from the beginning of the battle. This time I was giving more fight than before.
This time, Sky was back, and my resolution to fight was burning brighter than ever!
"BLAZE!" My sword burst into flames that extended two feet past the point of the weapon, longer than any time I had used my ability. I grinned in anticipation at the oncoming changelings with a reignited vigor, "Time for you insects to burn!"
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Midnight5ky
Sky glared through the mob of changelings swarming around him, right at Queen Chrysalis. The changeling queen had retreated back behind her forces as the battle continued.
"I'm not through with you yet, Chrysalis!" Sky flared his magic, and the familiar feeling of evaporation took over. Within a second, his body was only dark smoke, and he weaved his cloud form through the oncoming changelings.
Chrysalis' eyes widened as she watched Sky's body reform behind the backs of her changelings, and he leaped through the air right towards her with both swords raised. The queen only had enough time to react and deflected one of the dual wielding unicorn's swords with her horn, but that didn't stop the other one from slicing into her leg.
Chrysalis shrieked in pain, and she kicked her hind legs forward mid-flight. The blow knocked Sky and his swords away, but the unicorn quickly recovered as his hooves skid back down onto solid ground. By the time Sky looked back up at the changeling queen, Chrysalis was surrounded by a wall of changelings to protect herself.
Grumbling under his breath, Sky readied his swords to attack again. But before he could, the giant shadow of a dragon fist came racing down above him. He leaped out of the way just in time as the clawed fist crashed through the ground.
The dragon roared from above as it withdrew its claw from the crater it created, glaring down at the target it had missed. Sky glared back at it, cursing under his breath.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sky spotted a group of changelings racing towards him. But before he reacted, they were suddenly doused in a jet of flames as a gray alicorn lighted down beside him, sword and shield raised.
"Heh, long time, no see, Shadow." Sky said with a smirk.
Shadow smiled at him in mocked surprise, "Sky? Is that really you?" He quickly sliced his sword through a changeling that had come too close, "We'll need to catch up later when our lives aren't hanging in the balance."
Suddenly, both of them leaped backwards as the shadows of dragon fists came crashing down where they stood. Sky cringed as he regained his balance, "Yeah, well, this dragon is gonna need to die if we want any shot at surviving this."
Shadow nodded, "Yeah. But it shouldn't be too hard for an alicorn and a..." He frowned, "What are you now, anyways?"
Sky smirked, "I guess you could call me a demon child." Both players turned towards the dragon. It breathed fire up into the air as if it were asking for any challengers. Luckily for the dragon, it had two players ready to take its challenge.
"Let's do this!"
"Let's do this!"
Shadow and Sky took off in flight at the giant, winged lizard. Seeing the two players approaching, the dragon tried to blow them away by breathing a blazing stream of fire in their path. But the fire quickly dwindled as Shadow's magic absorbed it, leaving the flight path open for Sky to strike.
Sky flew through the air with his momentum as he shifted out of cloud form. With both swords, he drove their points home through the dragon's eye.
The dragon roared in fury and its claws swiped at its snout to get the unicorn perched up there off. Sky jumped away from the claw, just as Shadow swooped in drove his sword into the dragon's claw. The scaled flesh suddenly began to bubble and burst from the intense heat of his sword, leaving the claw a mangled mess.
Shadow smirked as he watched the flesh boil, "Guess dragons aren't too fireproof on the inside."
"Either that," Sky commented, "Or it's never felt alicorn fire before."
The dragon roared in pain again, spewing fire everywhere to get rid of its attackers. But it was all for naught as Sky drove his swords into the dragon's other eye, blinding it for good.
The blind dragon roared and thrashed in pain and fury, swinging its massive claws, neck, and spiked tail across the chamber like a wild animal. The air of the chamber grew hot as the dragon breathed searing flames around in its wild rage. Sky and Shadow leaped off of the mad lizard's snout and sailed to the safety of the chamber's edge. They looked in satisfaction as the blind dragon unintentionally took out hundreds of changelings in its rampage, but they soon realized that any of their group members could end up just like those changelings.
"Crap, we're going to have to take care of this dragon quick, before any of our group members become pony pancakes." Shadow grumbled, "While you were away, you didn't happen to learn any uber demonic spells that could finish this thing off?"
Sky grinned wickedly, "Thought you'd never ask." He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration. All around him, the sounds of the dragon's rampage through the hive were blocked by his mind. Everything, in his mind, was silent, just like he wanted. In the silence, Sky drew on his magic and let the energy surge through his body. Slowly, black smoke began to pour out from every pore of his body.
Sky's eyes flew open, completely pitch black, "Demon Drive!" Above his head, a purple bar appeared just below his health meter: The Corruption Bar. As Demon Drive started, the purple in the bar began to slowly drop, and the ability would end once it reached zero. This just reminded Sky about how quickly he'd need to kill the dragon before the extra ability boost wore off. He intended to make every moment of Corruption count.
Within a flash, Sky's body sailed into the air with the black smoke, though his form didn't change as it was held aloft with demonic power. With two swords at the ready, Sky soared through the flailing of the dragon's limbs, aiming straight for its underbelly. Once close enough, Sky unleashed a hurricane of slashes and stabs with his dual swords, moving so fast that the smoke surrounding the swords literally formed a black vortex around the unicorn wielding them.
But that wasn't all, for Sky's black tornado of death zoomed around the dragon's midsection, looping around the entire dragon's body as his swords pierced through its thick scales. Wherever he went, the dragon was left with hundreds of red scars of code created by the Demon child's frightening power.
As if the dragon's current rampage wasn't enough, but the monster's rage grew tenfold as its underbelly was mauled by Sky's Demon Drive. Its health bar was dropping rapidly, but its thrashing grew wilder and wilder, until the dragon couldn't take it anymore. Blind, angry, and confused, the dragon swiped down with its good claw at what it thought was its attacker.
The dragon's claw missed Sky, but kept reaching down to the ground until its claw grasped around...
"AAGGHH!"
Lexus, who had been fighting beside her, shouted, "NEON! NO!"
Before anyone could fly after Neon in the dragon's grasp, the dragon spread its wings in the giant chamber. In blind outrage, the dragon flapped off of the ground and towards the chamber ceiling. But the fact that the dragon was underground didn't stop it, and the angry beast crushed through the rock and stone like they were building blocks. Everyone in the chamber below made a mad scramble around to keep from being crushed by the falling debris.
The ground shook violently as boulders tumbled down into the depths of the chamber, crushing several changelings in the process. Up above, the light of day shone through the gaps between the falling rocks, blinding almost everyone with the sudden change in lighting. Sky, Shadow, Violet, Eclipse, Dylan, and all the others took cover at the edges of the chamber, where no stone fell. Well, everyone, save for Lexus.
Lexus, whose marefriend had been taken by a dragon, weaved through the falling wreckage with unmatched precision. With narrowed eyes, the gray pegasus flew after the dragon to save his damsel in distress, and just above him, he saw said beast fly up higher and higher into the now visible sky.
Lexus left the depths of the underground, giving every pump of energy into his wings, "NEON! HOLD ON!"
Down below in the ruined hive, everyone was regaining their bearings. Shadow looked up at the dragon that was disappearing into the distant sky above. Cringing, he glanced around at the rest of his group, who had all thankfully avoided the wreckage of the chamber.
He yelled out to them, "Come on, we gotta help Neon!" He spread his wings and tried to take off after the dragon and Lexus, but he was quickly stopped as a wave of changelings flew in front of him.
"AND WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!" From the opposite end of the destroyed chamber, Chrysalis stood, glowering at the Elements of Harmony. She breathed heavily, snorting in frustration through her nose. She was now officially pissed, "Curses, Discord. This hive was supposed to spawn unlimited number of changelings, but now your blasted dragon destroyed it!"
Out from the rubble, only about two hundred out of the once thousand legions of changelings still stood. Chrysalis growled in annoyance, "I guess we'll have to make do with our reduced numbers. CHANGELINGS," Chrysalis suddenly became engulfed in the green flames of changeling magic, and in her place, a gray, crimson maned alicorn stood, his cloak trailing behind him.
Shadow's jaw dropped as he realized that he was looking at himself. On the ground, Chrysalis grinned through Shadow's face, "CHANGE!"
Immediately, what was left of the hive took on a green glow as the rest of the changelings shifted forms. Soon, the Elements of Harmony were faced by legions of their own group. Doppelgangers of Sky, Dylan, Soul, Siren, Swift, Shadow, Violet, Eclipse, and Comet all glared back at the small team, grinning mischievously at them with weapons drawn, horns lit, and wings stretched.
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Shadowflame
I stared in horror at the sight before us. I looked across the rubble at the massive army before us. Sure, it was smaller than what we had been facing before, but this time... The ones we had to fight were ourselves and our friends.
I cringed as I realized that all of us would become confused while fighting these changelings. It would be more than possible that we'd accidentally hurt the real members of our group by mistaking them for their doppelgangers.
Thinking quickly, I drew my sword, "Alright everybody! Only injure the changelings that look like yourselves. If another pony raises a blade on you, then kill them, no matter who they look like. As long as we only injure our doubles ourselves, there won't be any 'friendly fires' happening."
Suddenly, the massive army before us charged. Lighting my sword with flames, I prepared for the worst. Lexus and Neon would have to wait, but I hoped they'd be alright on their own.
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Lexus
Lexus flapped his wings as hard as he could as he raced after the dragon flying high above him. Even through the deafening roars and wing beats of the dragon, Lexus could still hear the screams of Neon as she was carried higher into the desert sky.
Lexus' ability zoomed his vision in on the dragon's claw, where Neon was struggling underneath its incredible strength. Lexus could feel his anger at the beast rising as he watched Neon try to squeeze her way out of the dragon's grip. Her face was contorted in discomfort and fear, neither of which Lexus could stand for his girlfriend to bear. Neon's health was being slowly sapped away by the crushing force of her captor's hold, and it was already in the yellow. Lexus knew he needed to get rid of this dragon soon, or it would kill her.
He put this extra motivation and fury towards the dragon into each wing beat, and he accelerated up into the sky after the flying behemoth. With greater speed, the pegasus flew up faster than the dragon, his flight pattern almost grazing the belly of this massive beast.
Lexus slowed his ascent as he reached Neon's location in the dragon's grasp, "Neon! Are you alright?"
Neon gave a quick nod as her arms tried to pull herself out of her captor's grip, "I'm fine! But I lost my weapons when this thing grabbed me! I can't get out!"
Lexus ground his teeth together as he grasped his spear tighter, "Then hold on tight. It shouldn't take long for me to skin this lizard alive."
With a flurry of wing beats, Lexus soared up higher on the dragon, aiming for the one place he wanted to throw all of his rage on: The dragon's throat. Lexus' eyes spotted the pulsating jugular of the dragon as he came within an arm's reach.
With a battle cry that would have frightened a manticore, Lexus drove his spear into the dragon's jugular in pure malice. The dragon roared in pain, both in surprise and anger. It could be wondered that the dragon hadn't expected the enemies from before to follow it up this high into the air. The sky was the place where a winged beast of its size could rule the air with an iron fist, incinerating all that came before it.
Lexus sliced his spear across and out of the dragon's neck, leaving a long, red scar in the roaring beast. In outrage, the dragon swung its mangled claw at Lexus, which smacked the pegasus away and sent him tumbling down through the air. Neon yelled after him as he fell back down past the dragon, towards the Earth.
Lexus grunted as he flapped hard to right his flight path, and once he did, he glanced up to see the dragon pulling upwards at even greater speed than before. He cringed as he realized he wouldn't be able to catch up to the dragon before it killed Neon. But he still had to at least try.
He flapped his wings harder than before, so hard that he felt them tire even more underneath extra stress. Though he was inching towards the dragon, he was making much progress. High above, he could see Neon's health bar drop into the red zone. But even higher above her, the dragon's health bar was visible as well. It too was in the red zone. All it needed was a powerful attack to put it out of its misery. Luckily for it, Lexus was ready to oblige.
This winged lizard had the strength and capability to rule the air, but never the sky. Because the sky was the pegasi's domain.
The dragon rose up higher into the air, passing the top cloud layer. As Lexus passed the clouds himself, he grabbed hold of a single piece of fluffy matter in his hooves on hot pursuit of the giant lizard. He mashed the tiny cloud against the tip of his spear, and using his pegasi abilities, changed it into a storm cloud, which sparked with lightning.
The lightning sparked from the cloud and jolted into the iron tip of Lexus' spear. Within a couple seconds of charging, the spearhead was crackling with electricity.
Lexus discarded the tiny cloud and repositioned his electrified spear in his grip, so he was holding the weapon like an olympic javelin thrower. His eyes darted up towards the dragon, whose flying pace seemed to have slowed down slightly. His gaze zoomed in towards the dragons jaw, and he reared his arm back with spear in tow.
Giving a grunt of effort, Lexus hurled his javelin upwards like an arrow that pierced the sky with crackling lightning. The weapon soared through the thick atmosphere and struck home, piercing the dragon's lower jaw, and stabbing up and through the creature's skull.
The dragon roared in ferocious outrage as it's head was punctured by the small, but lethal, spear. It's roars of fury quickly escalated as hundreds of volts surged through it's brain from the electricity of the spear point. The beast's whole body convulsed as it's head was electrocuted, as well as the arm where a now screaming Neon was being held.
Neon shrieked as she was jerked every which way by the giant's claw, all the while the dragon's wings were failing it. The dragon began to plummet down to earth, with Neon Fire in tow.
The dragon's sudden change in direction caught Lexus off guard, and the pegasus was suddenly kicked away by a flailing, convulsing limb.
Lexus grunted as he was hit by what felt like a train. His vision blurred with such a wild, hard hit, and he was launched away at high speed, his ears ringing with the dragon's roars and Neon's screams.
Out of the two sounds, it was only Neon's that he was concerned for. Her voice was filled with panic, and that was enough to cause Lexus the same. He desperately tried to right himself, but the force of the dragon's hit had sent him spinning faster than whirlwind. But his momentum through the air was suddenly stopped as his body hit the cloud layer below, which thankfully cushioned his fall to some degree.
Lexus quickly popped himself off of the clouds and back onto his hooves, glancing back towards the dragon just in time to see it plummet through the cloud layer at top speed. As soon as it dropped below the clouds and out of Lexus' sight, chips of blue code floated upward out of the hole in the cumuli as the dragon gave its last, dying roar.
Lexus would have been ecstatic about killing a dragon (cause how often do you get to kill a freakin' dragon?), except... It was quiet. Too quiet. Besides the slight breeze of the air in his ears, there was nothing. In the deathly silence, Lexus realized that after the dragon's roaring ceased...
Neon's screaming had stopped.
Lexus suddenly gasped as he rushed towards the giant hole in the clouds the dragon had punched through, looking downwards to see if he could find her.
With shaky breaths, Lexus searched the open sky for Neon, but he couldn't see her; Not even a sign of her. Panic and fear gripped his chest with an icy grip that made his blood run cold,
"Dear God... I-I... Did I k-kill her!?"
His breathing grew more rapid as he desperately searched the sky below for any signs of Neon. But suddenly, he spotted something gray and green, thousands of feet below him as it raced towards the ground.
Lexus gasped, "NEON!!" He instantly dove downwards off of the cloud in a nose dive, his tired wings thrusting him down after his girlfriend. Using his ability, Lexus' eyes focused in on Neon, only to find she was unconscious, with eyes closed, and falling fast towards the barren wastelands below. Her health was in the red and Lexus knew there was no way she'd survive the fall damage from this height.
With no one around to catch her, Lexus knew he was the only one who could save her. He pushed his aching wings to drive him downwards, faster and faster, until he was flying faster than he had ever flown before.
His wings screamed in pain, just as loud as the whipping wind in his ears, begging him to slow down. But Lexus wouldn't let himself slow down, not until his Neon was safe.
But even as his desire to save his girlfriend burned willpower into his resolve, Lexus looked in horror as he realized he was barely closing the distance between them, even with his incredible speed. Lexus knew Neon had been falling for so long that she had already reached terminal velocity, the fastest speed her unconscious body could reach in mid air. And worse yet, the ground was racing all too quickly up to meet her.
Lexus heart skipped a beat as the reality of the situation set in, "I- I can't... I-I won't reach her in time. S-she's going to-" He felt his eyes water in terror. His wings were burning, threatening to give out from over exertion. Even if his wings were in perfect condition, he couldn't catch up to Neon before she hit the ground... It just wasn't possible for him to catch her before...
Lexus swallowed a choked sob as tears flew up and out of his eyes and into the air rushing past him. He clamped his eyes shut in denial, as if he could shut out this nightmare before him; The nightmare of losing Neon forever, "No... It can't end like this... She can't die! No! NEON!!! NO!!!!"
"LEXUS!"
His eyes shot open at the sound, darting down towards Neon. She had woken up, her face contorted in panic as she fell through the sky to her doom below. Her limbs flailed about helplessly in the air, as if it could stop her descent, but all for not.
Even through his blurred eyes, Lexus could see her face; her eyes... They were looking up at him, pleading him to save her. But he couldn't... He knew he couldn't save her, and every part of him screamed in agony to catch her. It was torture to him, just watching her fall. He was so close, but it felt so much farther away...
All he could do was fly as fast as he could, fly the best he could, but his best wasn't enough... His best wasn't good enough, and now, he'd lose Neon because of it.
Neon...
His... Dearly beloved... Neon... The only girl he had truly loved in his miserable life.
He... loved her, didn't he?
Then why couldn't he save her life?... She looked helpless now, so why couldn't he help her?... That's what he wanted to do...
Or was it... All for nothing? Did he not love her enough? Did he not love her whole being with his own enough to push his limits and snatch her out of the air? ...
Lexus bit his teeth in bitterness, unable to stop his tears from flowing. His hooves were outstretched as far as they could go, as if he could grab her. But Neon was still hundreds of feet below him, wide eyed in fear and reaching out towards him with her own hoof.
Is this... where I lose her? Lexus' lip curled into a choked sob, I- I didn't think this would happen. Not now! He remembered back to his conversation with Shadow, just that day:
"Well, that's the problem." Lexus retorted, a bit frustrated, "Back in the human world, I'm just a dirt poor, college student with barely any money to my name. I asked Neon what her old life was like, and it turns out that she lives on the other side of the country from me. I'd have to buy a plane ticket if I wanted to see her again, and if our relationship has to be long distanced, then I'm afraid it won't last. What if I never get to see her again after this is all over?"
... Back then, I didn't think Neon would die fighting. I thought we'd survive together... That's what I've always wanted, because...
because...
Lexus furrowed his brow, ...Because I love her.
With whatever strength he had left in his wings, Lexus pushed his feathered limbs even harder with wing beat after wing beat. His eyes were quickly wiped clear of tears as the sheer acceleration created aerial slipstream around him, catching all moisture into the air. With clear vision, his focus honed in on Neon, because that's all he needed to see. That was his focus. He loved Neon, and there was no way he was going to let her go that easily. There was no way he'd let her die!
Neon watched Lexus fly towards her, slowly getting faster and faster. But her jaw dropped as she saw what appeared to be lightning forming around his front hooves.
Lexus pushed his front hooves as far as he could, close together like a spearhead. He could feel the wind rip past him as he flew faster and faster, but he didn't let up. He wouldn't be satisfied until Neon was safe in his arms.
Neon's expression turned into one of disbelief as she watched Lexus' body become shrouded in thick atmosphere, which crackled with white lightning. Is he... I don't believe it! Is he doing...
Lexus' body screamed in pain as he flew faster and faster towards Neon. It felt as if the air was crushing him beneath is pressure, like a wall trying to stop him. But Lexus wouldn't let that happen. Neon still needed him! He heard a vague buzz in his ears, one of cracking energy, as he pushed with all his might against this wall of atmosphere. It grew louder and louder, as the air around him solidified into a cone of Ozone burning in electricity, until finally...
... A sonic rainboom?!
...Lexus shattered the sound barrier.
Lexus shot forward like a bullet as the air exploded behind him, leaving a massive, blue shock wave in his wake. At speeds greater than the speed of sound, he dove down towards Neon and grabbed her body in his hooves as soon as she was in arm's reach. And once he did, he clutched her to his chest, never to let go.
Neon only watched in sheer awe and joy at Lexus as she was pulled upwards out of her deathly descent. All behind her coltfriend, a massive, blue streak marked the path he had flown. Down below them, the badlands flew by in an orange blur, the dust of the earth kicked up into the air as they zoomed a few feet above its surface in a blue streak of chrome.
Neon hugged Lexus tightly, "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! You did it! You did a sonic rainboom!" She smiled at him warmly, "You- you saved me... again." She giggled at the last word.
Lexus could feel his wings were on the verge of collapsing, if not falling off his sides, so he slowed his momentum and landed gently onto a nearby plateau, completely drained. As he landed, his blue sonic trail remained burned into the yellow sky of the badlands' dusk.
But after Lexus landed, he didn't let go of Neon. He just hugged her tightly to his chest, pure relief written across his form, "I'm glad... You're safe."
He gave her a loving smile, "Neon, I love you. I-... I was worried that after this game was over... I was worried that I'd lose you in the real world, but... I couldn't bear to lose you at all while we're still together here. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you were gone."
"What are you talking about?" Neon giggled as if he had made a joke, "You know there's no way I'd ever let you go, either. Even in the human world, I'd stay with you. We'll work something out when that comes, because I love you, too."
Lexus gave her a questioning look, but then sighed in relief, "That's good to know." He nuzzled her affectionately, which she happily returned. He couldn't be more at peace, knowing that she'd never leave him. Likewise, he'd do the same for her.
Neon giggled, "Love ya, Lexus."
Lexus smirked as he pulled out of the nuzzle, "I love you too, Neon." Without a moment of hesitation, he pulled her into a kiss; a deep, passionate kiss; one that made his mind and body melt in pure ecstacy. And there they stayed in each other's embrace, on top of the badlands, with a beautiful sunset to perfect the moment.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Crossheart and Cloud Burst
"Cross-out!" Cross yelled as his horn flared. Suddenly, a red 'X' came flying out of his horn, landing against the barrier around him and Cloud, only for the spell to fizzle out, much to Cross' frustration.
The unicorn stomped a hoof against the ground, "Dangit, not again."
Cloud put a claw on his shoulder, "Come on, dude. Take it easy. You've already tried your cancellation spells for the past ten minutes. Just take a break now..."
Much to Cross' surprise, his dragon friend sounded... monotone and serious, as if he were in deep thought. Beneath the dragon's sunglasses, Cross could see his friend's eyes were distant and unfocused.
Sighing, Cross muttered, "Okay, I'll take a break for now." He sat down on his haunches in the center of the dome. At the same time, Cloud sat down and leaned his back against Cross'.
___________________________________________________________
BGM: Flutterstare
___________________________________________________________
A few moments of silence passed between them, neither one saying anything.
But that only lasted until Cloud broke the silence, "Some predicament we're in, huh?"
Cross nodded, "Yeah, it is." He looked through the barrier, finding the faint outline of the tunnel where the rest of the group had left through, "But it looks like we'll just need to wait for the others to beat the boss before we can get out."
Cross could have sworn Cloud's scales ruffled a bit as he said that, since he felt a slight itch at his back where Cloud laid. The dragon coughed suddenly, "You know, I've been thinking about that."
"About what?"
The dragon didn't even turn to look back at him, "About this whole mess. I mean, Discord has always tried to throw a trap at us before every boss battle so far, hasn't he? And whenever he did, we only got out of it with luck. This time... I don't think we're getting lucky and escaping this scotch free."
Cross chuckled, "What do we have to lose anyways? Discord's almost already taken everything."
Cloud's voice suddenly grew grim, "Our lives, our families, our friends."
Cross turned to look at his friend, a small frown on his face, "Don't say that, Cloud. I don't think anyone's dying today."
"Well somebody is!" Cloud snapped back, jumping to his feet as he turned on Cross. Before Cross could say anything, Cloud shouted at him, "Haven't you stopped to consider why we're the ones who are trapped in here?! Why nobody else from the group did?! Was that luck, or was that part of Discord's plan?"
Cross blinked in confusion, surprised by his friend's outburst, "What- What are you talking about?"
"Think about it, Cross." The dragon said, grimly, "Back in Cloudsdale, Discord tried to take the floor out from under Dylan's hooves, so that he'd fall to his death. He said he had been trying to kill Dylan specifically. And then, in Hollow Shades, Lexus became possessed by that demon. And who did it try to kill?"
"It tried to kill Shadow. We were both there to see that." Cross replied.
"And who was in the room with him when that happened?" Cloud snapped, "Who was the only one who could have defeated the demon?"
Cross paused as his mind subconsciously began to catch on, "...Sky..."
"Exactly. The demon wasn't going after Shadow. It just tried to take out the bigger threat in that room before moving on to its real target, the only pony who could have killed it and retrieved the Element of Willpower." Cloud ground his teeth as he looked down at his feet with claws clenched, "Discord had set that demon loose on us specifically to keep us from gaining the next element of harmony. Now, I'll ask you again, why do you think we're the ones who got captured in this Morality Trap?"
Cross' jaw dropped open as the facts started coming together. Everytime Discord had set a trap for them, it was to try and keep them from defeating the boss and retrieving the elements. Every time, he had a specific target he tried to take out, though he never succeeded. Which meant, Discord had gone directly after them because...
Cloud didn't even look at Cross, "You see? Discord targeted us specifically, because one of us can defeat Queen Chrysalis. And since I'm a dragon, a glitched player, I can never become an actual bearer of the Elements of Harmony. That means you're the only one who can defeat Chrysalis, Cross."
Cross' eyes widened as everything seemed to click in his mind. Discord had made sure he wouldn't be able to fight Chrysalis, because the changeling queen would never die until Cross gave the final blow. But he couldn't do that unless he escaped the Morality Trap, which he couldn't do unless...
"Cross, the only way for you to get out of here and end this boss battle..." Cloud cringed as two tears rolled out from beneath his glasses and down his cheeks, "... I didn't want to tell you this, but you needed to know... I'm going to let you out of this trap, and in order for that to happen," He reached behind his back, pulling out two bombs from his person, two of which Cross recognized: A smoke bomb, and an 'elemental ice' bomb, which could freeze just about anything in close proximity of it, "...I need to kill myself."
A small click suddenly echoed through the chamber, before Cloud's smoke bomb went off. The inside of the trap was suddenly filled with smoke, and Cross was blinded by the dark gaseous cloud.
Cross coughed through the smoke, "Cloud! *hack* *hack* What are you doing?!"
Though he couldn't see the dragon, Cross could hear Cloud's voice perfectly, "You know this needs to happen, otherwise you'll never get out of here. Everyone will die if you don't help them, and their lives are more important than mine."
Cross stumbled to his hooves and tried to reach for his friend in the blinding smog, only to be met by intangible smoke, "*hack* *cough* Cloud! No! That's not true! You can't kill yourself! *cough* You're my best friend! Don't do this!"
He heard a sniffle, then Cloud sobbed, "I-I'm sorry, Cross... But it has to happen this way. It was a matter of time before I died anyways." There was a pause, before Cloud's voice chuckled, "You know, you told me about your grandma back home, how you promised her you'd always keep smiling, even though you knew your parents were gone?... Yeah... Dude, I want you to promise me that same thing. Even though your best pal isn't around, you'll keep smiling, won't you?"
Cross couldn't believe his ears, which made him try and reach for Cloud even more desperately, "No! Cloud! I won't let you kill yourself!" His own eyes were being obscured by tears beneath his sunglasses, as he assumed the same was true for Cloud.
But no matter how hard he tried, the little dragon just evaded him in the dense smoke, even inside the close confines of the trap. All that was present from him was his sad, meek voice, "Cross... I just want to say... Thanks for being my friend, dude. Ever since we started this game, you've always had my back. Thank you..."
"Cloud! NO!" Cross sobbed out, only to start coughing from the smoke again.
"And Cross?"
Cross panted as he regained his breath, the smoke dispersing a bit. But through the smoke, he spotted Cloud, hovering in the air on his wings. The dragon took off his glasses and dropped them to the ground, all while smiling with wet eyes,
"Please... Keep smiling, dude. Everyone else needs that laughter of yours as much as I did. Now go and give that changeling queen, and that damned draconequus a living dose of hell." He suddenly raised the 'elemental ice' bomb to his mouth, armed it, and shoved it down his throat.
"NO, CLOUD!!" Cross tried to leap for his friend, but it was too late.
The bomb inside Cloud detonated, and the little dragon's body instantly froze like an ice sculpture. His scales could have prevented him from dying if the bomb had detonated on his outside, but his innards didn't have the same resistance. As soon as his wings froze, his body dropped to the floor and shattered into blue code.
Cross stared wide eyed at the code that had once been his friend, as it all floated into the air and disappeared.
His mind came to a full stop, unable to say anything, do anything... It was like the whole world had stopped around him; him and his best friend in the world... But only to find one of the two left...
Cloud was dead.
"CLOUD!!! NO! NO! NOOOO!!!!!!"
Cross' eyes clamped shut as more tears began racing out of them. His breathing changed into sobs and wheezing, and his throat clogged with bitter mucus. All around him, the cloud of smoke dispersed into the rest of the chamber as the Morality Trap released its only living captive, but Cross didn't move.
He only stared down at where Cloud's body had been. There, on the ground, lay the dragon's pair of sunglasses, the very ones Cross had bought for him... That day, the day they became friends... The day when they weren't fighting for their lives, and were just friends playing a game together, like any friend should.
Cross collapsed to his haunches and hung his head in sorrow, his strength failing him. He looked down, letting his own glasses slip off his nose and onto the ground where they landed with a *clink* next to Cloud's pair. He stared down at them, letting his tears create wet puddles on the ground before him.
Cloud was gone. Cloud was dead. His best friend, dead.
And it was all...
...
... Discord's fault.
Cross' eyes slowly widened in realization... Everything had been Discord's fault. They were in this game, because of Discord. They had come to the badlands to fight Queen Chrysalis, because of Discord.
Cloud is dead... Cross stood up from his haunches, his brow furrowing in anger, because of Discord!
He stomped a hoof on the ground in anger, not caring that his hoof smashed his sunglasses to pieces in the process. The unicorn felt his horn burning in rage, and the rest of his body shook in the desire for revenge.
Cross levitated Cloud's sunglasses onto his nose, a final momento from his deceased friend. Cross silently vowed to carry out his friends wishes, his final words before he took his own life to save the others. He pulled out his hammer and buckler, gripping them in his magic as his horn blazed red in aura. He was going to slaughter Discord for killing his best friend. But before he could, there was one thing he need to destroy to get revenge, the very reason why they had come to the badlands in the first place.
He hissed under his breath, "Chrysalis, It's time to die!"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Shadowflame
The fight went on like it had before, though the rays of the badland's sunset were what illuminated the pit that had once been the changeling hive. And the changelings, they were harder to fight than before.
I assumed it was just the changelings' ability at this point. In their changed forms, they could use the skills and abilities of the one they were disguised as. Their flight speed, their magic power, their defense, their attacks, all of them were tougher than before. And to only make matters worse, they were all in the forms of 9 of ELO's strongest players. They were all in the forms of me and my friends.
But that was only half of the trouble. The problem with fighting changelings in disguise was that they all looked like my group. It was unnerving to see my friends attack me, and even more unnerving to see 'them' glaring at me in pure hatred.
Of course, that was only when the stray changeling attacked me. Otherwise, I had no moral remorse as I hunted down my doppelgangers.
I dove down from above on an unsuspecting Shadowflame, who yelped in pain as my sword beheaded his head, which flashed in green flames, changed back into its black changeling form, and then burst into blue code.
I would have reveled in the ambush kill, since I don't usually get many of those, but I felt a stab of pain as a sword shot into my side, just below my wing. I gave a startled yelp as I flew away from the sword to see another one of my doppelgangers holding it.
The Shadowflame rushed at me with his sword, which I met with my own in the same fashion. The result was a steel-ringing clang as our blades locked, and it quickly turned into a power match to see who could push the other's sword away.
As I pushed my sword, I glared at my doppelganger, who ginned wickedly back at me. Suddenly, to my surprise, the doppelganger spoke with Chrysalis' voice, "Give up, Courage! Your friends are going to die with you here!"
I growled back at the changeling queen, "None of us are dead just yet, Chrysalis. We'll wipe you out before we give up."
Our blades unlatched from each other, and we both simultaneously backed away in flight, facing off in ready stance. But Chrysalis only laughed again, "You fools. I can never die, unless the next bearer of the Element of Harmony strikes me down. Unfortunately for you, he isn't here."
"... How do you know that?" I glowered.
The changeling bellowed in laughter, "Isn't it obvious? When Discord made the rule change, he already selected the remaining three players who could obtain the next elements. With that in mind, it was child's play for Lord Discord to rig up a trap to keep Crossheart from getting anywhere near me to deal the final blow."
My eyes widened in realization, "Crossheart's the next bearer?"
"Yes, that's right." Chrysalis cackled, "And right now, he's trapped in the tunnels. The only way he could ever get out of there is if he killed his best friend, which we both know he'd never do!"
"CHRYSALIS!!!"
The entire room seemed to stop as the roar of anger and outrage shook through its broken structure. Every player and changeling stopped and looked at the entrance to the chamber.
There, standing in the opening to the tunnels, Cross held his hammer and shield in his grasp, his horn glowing bright in excessive magical energy. He was panting hard as fury seemed to emanate out of his every pore. He was seething with outrage, and it was very easy to see who he was about to direct it at.
Cross ground his teeth in annoyance as he looked at all of the doppelgangers of his team mates, "WHERE IS CHRYSALIS!?"
Before anyone could respond, his horn burned even brighter, and a single pulse of red magic spread through the chamber. Instantly, as soon as the spell reached a changeling, the creature's illusion faded, returning it to its original form. The spell shot through every changeling, passing harmlessly through the rest of our team. But I found a great hint of satisfaction as a perplexed look came to Chrysalis' face as the spell changed her back to her carapace form.
As soon as Cross' eyes spotted Chrysalis, his brow knotted into a look that would have killed an immortal if it could. Within a split second, Cross' horn surged again, and he did something that I had never seen him do before...
He teleported.
Chryslias screamed in terror and pain as Cross appeared above her and struck her down with the blunt of his hammer. The changeling was hurled to the ground, with her unicorn assailant bearing down on her. They landed on the rubble on the ground, with all the changelings below scattering as their queen was overpowered.
But Cross didn't miss a beat after he landed, since Chrysalis broke his fall. He quickly rammed his hammer and buckler into every visible part of the changeling's body. To say his was enraged was an understatement.
"YOU. KILLED. CLOUD!!" Cross screamed at the top of his lungs as he wore away at the changeling queen with unrelenting fury.
Chrysalis convulsed as she caught another hammer blow to the head, coughing, "*cough* I assume that's how you escaped that trap... However, that only means it was you who killed your friend, Cross-"
"SHUT UP, YOU OVER-SIZED, INSECT WHORE!!!"
Cross kept wailing away at the queen, all the while, everyone watched in awe and horror, more specifically the latter, though. Suddenly, Chrysalis managed to kick Cross off of her with her legs.
Cross was launched backwards, but he simply came to a halt back on four hooves. His piercing eyes burned a hole into Chrysalis soul, if she had any, as he flared his horn, BURN, YOU MONSTER! CROSS BOMB!"
His horn flared so brightly, it illuminated the chamber in the fading dusk. From its point, a single bolt of magic shot from his horn, flying straight until it came into contact with Chrysalis' beaten form on the floor. As soon as the magic hit the changeling, it burst into a blazing 'X' of magic.
Chrysalis let loose a blood curdling scream that would have given any sane person nightmares, as her body was burned alive by pure, red magic. The cross explosion lasted for a long while, longer than any normal explosion, as Cross fed it with his pure hatred for the changeling queen.
And then, her health bar finally hit zero, and her last screams echoed through the chamber as her body burst into blue code. And with her, like their queen, the rest of the changelings suddenly burst in the same manner.
We'd done it... Cross had defeated the boss....
... But none of us felt like celebrating, not after seeing Cross in so much pain as he drove his anger into a brutal changeling killing.
Suddenly, the top area of the chamber was illuminated by a bright, white light, which slowly descended until it floated in front of Cross. He grabbed it with a hoof, and its light subsided to reveal a golden necklace with a jewel in its center. He tapped a hoof on it, bringing up its item ID:
Element of Laughter (Inactive)
Object Type: Item
Finally, we had retrieved another Element of Harmony, bringing us one step closer to defeating Discord... Which was fine and dandy, but there was something else on my mind.
"Cross?" I stowed away my weapons as came up beside him, putting a hoof on his shoulder, "Is what you said true? Is Cloud... dead?"
Cross shut his eyes, stowing away the Element of Laughter in his inventory. He didn't even look at me as he replied, grimly, "Yes..."
He turned away from me, wrenching himself out of my hold. I could see tears begin streaming out from behind his eyelids as he desperately tried to hold them back. He sobbed quietly, "Let's just go... back home."
I wasn't going to argue with him, because...
I, as a team leader, had lost another member of our team... Sky had left the team, but he had returned... This time, there was no way of getting Cloud back.
He was gone forever.
I shut my eyes, letting my neck droop to the ground. My eyes were beginning to tear up as well, as I assumed was happening to the others... I had lost... No, we all had lost a friend...
Team Equitum was back to having only four members within minutes of Sky coming back. We had gained a departed friend, but we had all lost another as he departed.
I was going to miss that dragon, because there was no way our team was going to be the same without him...
Cloud...
...
If you can somehow read this from beyond the grave, then I'll let you know one thing.
We're going to avenge you, even if we have to rip Discord's innards out and burn them on a spittle. We will still fight, because we know you wanted us to.
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I'm still trying to picture the likes of CNN reporting on the struggle with the gamers... Having to see stuff like this happen... Not to mention the people that have turned against their fellow players.
4367932 What is going to be harder to imagine, is how are we going to tie up this story with SAO, seeing as they are in the same universe, meaning Kirito exists here.
And onto the story.
WHYYYYYYYYY!?!?!? Why do you have to kill a member of the team!? Cloud was never meant to die! Let me at him! Let me at Discord so I can tear his face, insides and even soul apart!!!
But I can actually see why you did it. Very cleaver in my opinion. And regarding a bet that we made before, I still say Kirito can beat Sky. He may have gained that new ability, but have it against a player and its harder to properly use, same applies with Kirito, and the reason why he would win is because he is a hardcore gamer.
4368109 And I'm NOT a hardcore gamer? You remember when we were raiding Godzofwar in Factions? It took four of them at once to kill me. They said that's the closest anyone ever came to beating them all, and we didn't even have absorption or health boost potions. They did.
If that doesn't prove my video game fighting skills, I don't know what does. I'd slaughter Kirito in ten seconds flat, especially with my crazy new abilities, which we've only just began to reveal...
Now, the chapter.
I'm so badass.
And here are my exact thoughts as I approached the Flutterstare BGM (which Shadow has only heard because of me).
"Oh, that's...
Oh no.
No. No no no no no no.
He can't do this to me!!
NO!!!
This is gonna suck!
GAAAAAAAHHH FEELS TIME!!!!!"
And then I
ed all night.
well all i have to say is ... HOLYSHITTHATWASAWSOMEICANTBELIVEYOUJUSTDIDTHAT WELL DONE
though cloud may be gone he will never be forgotten
4369070 Still pretty sure Kirito could beat you. We aren't saying who is the most powerful in the game, but who is the best at it. I would say that if both of those characters were to be real, then you would win for sure. But if we stick to game mechanics, then we need to remember that every ability and attack works differently depending on the target.
If you were to use you new ability on a normal longer, then you would more or less do something similar to what you did with the dragon, only slower. The game was design to make fairly OP, to the point that if they become that powerful, is because of their level only. So, if it were to being used on a player, you have to consider side effects or abilities that you may not be able to do. Like, if your attacks are parried or shielded, you lose half a second more of your overdrive mode, or even that you can take twice as much damage from other types of attack. Remember that you are in a game, and all game abilities must have a con to them that will give players of the same level a fair chance against you. And I mean 1v1, not a team battle where you keep being healed by a friend.
4370693 Yes, but Shadow, the creator of all, has said I would kill Kirito, even considering all of that.
4372740
4370693
It's so great to watch fights in my own comments section.
4372740 4372840 Come on Shadow, you can't still say that Sky will still be able to beat Kirito, after hearing all those points regarding ability usage and PvPing skills. Can we at least say that one in three chances, Sky can actually beat him? They are pretty OP, but Kirito seems more skilled in my opinion, how else did he get to be a beta tester for such a game? They use skilled players in this type of games.
4373089
You know what... This ain't SAO.
THIS
IS
EQUESTRIA!
4374280 ......So now this is separated from the universe of SAO? Then I guess Sky is Kirito here. Would make sense since this is considered the first case of death from the NERVEGEAR, and that can't be because SAO was suppose to be the first.
But still, I still believe Kirito can beat Sky! Can't make me say otherwise, Peace!
4373089 Actually I am common beta tester for games because of how simply retarded I am. I have found more ways to break or cheat a game than you could imagine because of my ignorant stupidity. I have done everything from one-shot a final boss to send a car flying out of the map on a racing game and still continue. One in particular was an RPG where every other beta tester was extremely skilled, as you said. I was frowned upon by them right before I found the most gamebreaking bug that crashed them all. It was fun.
4384332
Awesome
4384332 4384363 4372740 Hmm, interesting. But I think that is also a type of job? If there aren't any players who just play for play, then they can't find even the smallest bugs that can have a major impact. The skill players take care of the main build of the game, finding the best ways to clear the games and level up. While the players like you explore every aesthetic part of the game, and having a greater chance of finding errors to correct them.
The main issue wasn't on who gets to be a beta tester, but that Kirito is a beta tester because of his great skills at games. So it shows how quick he is to adapt to any type of game and using the skills given in the most efficient way. He did manage to survive in a game of death for about 2 years. While Sky has been trapped for some months, and he displays the same struggle that Kirito faced when he was near the max level of the game. While this shows a great amount of skill from both of them, Kirito has far more experience fighting inside a game than sky, and all classes can outclass another one if the player is skilled enough. So even if Sky has magic at his side, and a lot of sword combat abilities, that still cannot compare to experience of living in a game that will kill you in real life if you die in the game.
Plus, if everyone levelled up so high so quickly in that game, then that means the game isn't as hard as one may think, as the less time you spend levelling up in a game, the easier it is to beat it, as you don't need to work as hard to be at your strongest, so less skill is required. Which means Kirito is far stronger with his experience of 2 years in the game. So in the end, it all comes down to skill and experience, which Kirito clearly beats Sky at.
Dear Lord, I went full explanation there.
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Ok now Im crying, I managed to somehow time it with my reading and it ended as cross put on Clouds sunglasses..... y me?
Mah Feels
God Damn
Cl...cloud? Dude.....
My feely parts...
At least he went out with a bang....
also, Element of Laughter. Ironic