Equestria Legends Online

by Shadowflame

March 21st (A Party?... In Canterlot?!)

Hey, Shadowflame here.

Well, the day had finally come, whether I agreed with it or not. Today, the Knights of Harmony would be hosting a party in the Canterlot Castle. Truthfully, everyone was excited for a party. They really needed some fun or some time to relax after working in this game for so long. Of course, even though I too was excited about the idea for a party, I was also wary about the event.

I sat on the bed in my room, at the Team Equitum Base. All of my other team members had already gone to the Castle to help set up for the party, leaving me on my own until the celebration actually started.

I sighed as I recalled my argument with Jupiter, just prior to my learning of the party:

I growled at Jupiter, very frustrated, "Are you out of your mind, Jupiter? The Haters' Guild has already made two attacks on different teams across Equestria, and you choose now to have a party?"

Jupiter nodded, his face emotionless as he sat behind his desk, "Yes, Shadow. Even though we are still in this murderous game, there's no rule that we can't have some fun every now and again. Besides, you have worked constantly to find the other elements, along with your team and Team Calvary. And thanks to your efforts, we've been able to sweep the surrounding area clean of any possibilities for a place where the elements are hidden."

But, Jupiter could easily tell from my angry expression that I wasn't convinced. The admin sighed, "Look, Shadow. I know that you're worried about everybody's safety during this party, due to the increasing attacks from the Haters' Guild, but do not worry. I have thought this through.

"You see, I have sent out the party invitations all across Equestria. If my calculations are correct, dozens of players will travel from their towns and cities to Canterlot. With all of us who are already here, and the number of players travelling to Canterlot, our numbers would be too large for the Haters' Guild to try to strike us. As for the other players who will stay out in their own towns, I've informed the admins that they all need to be on high alert for any suspicious activity."

He then turned towards me as he stood up from his desk, "But if it makes you feel any better, Shadow. Seeing as the Knights of Harmony will be the ones to organize this party, I would like you to do your part in making preparations by being the head of security."

I raised an eyebrow, "Why me?"

"I'm choosing you because so far, you're the one who has shown the most concern for everybody's safety. Not just with this party, but ever since you first came here to Canterlot." Jupiter paused, "But I am curious, does this have anything to do with Rex, before he died in the first boss battle?"

I winced at the memory, but I nodded, "Yes. Before the battle, Rex told me to do whatever I needed to, so that the ones I fight alongside survive. I promised that I would live out that rule until we finished this game, and I'm sticking to it."

Jupiter nodded, "I see. But nonetheless, I believe the best way to fulfill that rule would be to protect everyone in this party. Thus, I am appointing you as the Head of Security."

I nodded, "Fine. How do I get started?"

I sighed as I glanced towards the clock in my room: It read 4:00, which meant there was only an hour left before the party actually started. But that also meant that it was time for me to leave and make security checks around the castle.

I stood up onto my hooves, and opened my inventory. I glanced towards the icons that represented my weapons and my usual armor: My Shadow Cloak. Seeing as I was part of security, you'd think that I would take my weapons and cloak. However, being the Head of Security, I was allowed to enjoy the party, as long as I kept up to date with the other guards.

So, I didn't equip my weapons or cloak, but I did select my sword. In the game, if an item is "selected", then a player wouldn't need to open up their player menu to equip/use it. They could instantly bring the item out of their inventory without opening their menu. With my sword selected, I could easily equip my sword if I needed it.

After making my preparations, I turned and ran out of my room and began to make my way to the castle.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"...Now remember, no player is to be allowed into the castle grounds if there are any lethal weapons found on them. That includes poisoning, paralysis, or burning attributes. Got it?" I glanced towards the troop of twenty players in front of me, all of whom Jupiter had assigned to act as guards during the party.

All of the guards nodded, "Yes sir."

After I had arrived to the castle, Jupiter had led me to the ballroom, where the main party would be taking place. It was there that he also left me with the guards for me to give orders. As I was instructing the guards, several players from the Knights of Harmony were bustling about the ballroom as they prepared for the party. However, the guards and I ignored them as I continued with my instruction.

"Good. Now, the party starts in just a half hour, so get to your stations ASAP. During the length of the party, I will check each of your posts at random. So, none of you should be sleeping on the job. Also, the rule is that two guards must be present at one station at all times. Do not leave another guard unattended, or else you will answer to me and then to Jupiter. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

I nodded, "Now, get to your stations. Party guests will be arriving any minute, so start searching them for any weapons. Dismissed."

At once, all of the guards ran to get to their stations. I smiled in satisfaction as each of the guards disappeared.

"Hey, nice job." A familiar voice said.

I glanced to my right to see Cross standing behind me. The blue unicorn grinned through his usual pair of sunglasses, "Man, no wonder you're our team leader. Those guards didn't even question you when you began giving orders."

I smiled, "Thanks."

Above us, another voice called out, "Hey Cross, stop hanging around and help me with this."

I looked up to see Cloud flying near the ceiling, holding a streamer in his claws against the ceiling of the ballroom, "Come on, man. Hurry up and tape this before my arm falls off."

Cross laughed, "All right. Hold on a sec." The unicorn picked up a piece of tape with his magic and taped the streamer to the ceiling, allowing Cloud to let go of the party decoration.

I had to suppress a small chuckle. When Jupiter had assigned all of us jobs to help prepare for the party, he had assigned Cloud and Cross to handle decorations. Compared to being made Head of Security, I was kind of glad Jupiter had made the assignments. It had made preparations more straight forward than if we had to organize it ourselves.

Of course, Jupiter had given assignments to the other members of the Knights of Harmony. Sky had been made the DJ for the party (Of course he'd be the DJ. His mane style says it all.), Dylan and Violet had been put in charge of entertainment, Lexus and Neon were put in charge of organizing the dueling ring, and Soul was put in charge of overseeing the party games. All of the other members of our guild had been given jobs to take care of the rest of the preparations.

I glanced at the small clock in the right hand corner of my vision: It read 4:45, which meant that party guests would be starting to arrive. So, we needed to wrap up preparations as quickly as possible. Seeing as we didn't have a lot of time left, I pitched in and helped Cloud and Cross finish putting up the decorations.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

5:00 PM

The time had finally arrived for the party to start and we finished preparations just in time. I stood in the now filled ballroom... Well actually, to say that it was filled would be an understatement. The ballroom was packed with players, because Jupiter had ordered that before that party started, he wanted to make an announcement. Although, I had to laugh a bit. There were so many players in this castle that the Haters' Guild would have to be crazy to try and crash the party.

But then, the crowd in the ballroom was quickly silenced as Jupiter cleared his throat. The admin now stood on top of the stage in the ballroom, with a microphone placed in front of him, "Welcome everybody, to the very first, game-wide party!"

Everybody let out a cheer, followed by an applause of hoof stomps.

After everybody calmed down, Jupiter continued, "Now, I suppose some of you may be curious why we organized this party. But don't worry, because I'll tell you."

"Before this game was released, before Discord trapped us in here, this game was designed to be a way for players from all across the world to directly interact with each other. This game was created so that everyone could become friends with one another. And after this whole mess is over and we are released from this prison, I would like to continue ELO as it was meant to be.

"However, after Discord trapped us here, the game's future has been looking bleak. After we escape from this game, the authorities of the real world will most likely shut down ELO for causing the deaths of so many lives. But that's why I called this party to be organized.

"This party is meant to remind everyone of what ELO was meant to be. This is to show that this game isn't responsible for our imprisonment here, and it was never meant to be blamed for our troubles."

A small silence passed over the crowd, before Jupiter continued, "Now, I am asking you. Please enjoy yourselves. And without further ado, let's get this party started." Instantly, Jupiter hopped off of the stage.

But then, Sky popped up in the DJ's booth, just behind where Jupiter had been standing. I almost laughed as I saw that Sky was now wearing a pair of black sunglasses, just like Vinyl Scratch. Sky then placed a track down onto the DJ booth, raising a hoof to the crowd, "All right, everypony! Let's spin this thing!"

Everyone let out a cheer, and then, the stereos and the bass cannon began to fill the ballroom with music. The party had officially begun. Several players started to dance with the music while others began to leave the ballroom to entertain themselves with the other activities that the party had to offer.

However, I would have stayed in the ballroom and enjoyed my best friend's DJ'ing, but as the head of Security, I needed to make my rounds to all of the guard stations before the party got too wild. And so, I trotted out of the ballroom and made my way to the nearest guard station.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

6:00 PM

After doing quite a few perimeter checks around that castle, I was able to have the chance to enjoy the party. So, to start, I thought I would check on Violet and Dylan, just to see what they had planned for the entertainment. I walked to the room where they had set up for the party.

As I walked in, I noticed several benches positioned in front of a raised stage. From the look of the number of players who were already seated on the benches, it looked as if Violet's and Dylan's show was about to begin. So, I quickly took my seat, and at that moment, the lights went out, save for a single spotlight on the stage.

I watched as the show began with Violet stepping out onto the stage.

Violet just stood alone until Dylan ran up next to him from the other side of the stage, breathing heavily, "Hey, I'm back!"

Violet nodded, "Right, what's up?"

Dylan began to breath slower as he caught his breath, "Man, there are a lot of monsters out there. Did you get a group together to fight them?"

Violet nodded, "Yeah, I did. But they have some really weird names. Let's see..." The unicorn began to list of the players, "Who's the Tank, What's the Mage, I don't know's the Priest-"

"Wait, come again?"

"Who's the Tank, What's the Mage, I don't know's the Priest-"

Dylan frowned, "You got these guys together, but you don't even know their names?"

"No, I do know their names."

"Then who's the Tank?"

"Yeah."

"No, I mean the guy's name."

"Who."

"The Tank."

"Who."

"The guy taking damage for all of us."

"Who."

"The guy with the huge sword!"

"Who!"

"The Tank!"

"Who. Is. The. Tank."

Dylan shouted, "That's what I'm asking you!"

Violet nodded, "That's his name."

"Who's name?"

"Yes."

"Well, then go ahead and tell me."

"That's it."

"That's who?"

Violet nodded, "Exactly."

Dylan groaned in frustration, "Ugh.... Phew."

I found myself laughing a bit, as well as everyone in the audience. But then Dylan and Violet continued.

Dylan sighed, "Look, all I'm asking you is what is the name of the Tank?"

"No, what's the mage."

"I'm not asking who's the mage!"

"No, Who's the tank."

Dylan held up his hooves in frustration, "One class at a time!"

"Hey, take it easy."

Dylan calmed himself down, "Look, tell me. Who. Is. The. Freaking. *Tank*?!"

Violet nodded, "That's right."

Dylan shrugged, "Okay." And the earth pony began to walk off of the stage. But then, just as quickly, Dylan turned around and ran back to Violet, "Wait a minute...."

Violet raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"You still didn't tell me the name of the Tank."

"No, I did."

"Then who's the Tank?"

"Yes."

Dylan sighed, obviously frustrated, "Look, I'll ask one last time. What is the name of the Tank!?"

"No, What's the mage."

"I'm not asking who's the mage!"

"Who's the Tank!"

Dylan shrugged, "I don't know!"

Violet shook his head, "No, he's the Priest. We're not talking about him."

Dylan cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "How did I get to the Priest?"

"You mentioned his name."

"I mentioned who's name?"

"No, Who's the Tank."

"What?"

"What's the mage!"

"I don't know!"

"He's the Priest." Violet paused, "Look, we're back to the Priest again."

Dylan shook his head, "Forget the Tank for now. Do you have a Rogue in the group?"

Violet nodded, "Yep, it wouldn't be a group without one."

"Then tell me his name."

"Why."

"I just thought I'd ask you."

"I just thought I'd tell you."

"Then who's the rogue?"

"No, Who's the Tank."

"I'm not asking- Wait a minute..." Dylan paused for a moment, "Stick with the Rogue."

"Okay."

"What's the name of the Rogue?"

"What's the name of the mage."

"I don't know."

"No, he's the-"

"PRIEST! I get it!" Dylan groaned, "Just tell me the name of the Rogue!"

"Why."

"Because!"

Violet paused, "Oh, he's our Hunter."

Dylan then began to glare at Violet, making all of the audience laugh. Dylan shook his head, "Whatever. Do you have a Warlock?"

Violet nodded, "Sure."

"And the Warlock's name is...?"

"Tomorrow."

Dylan raised an eyebrow, "You don't want to tell me today?"

"I'm telling you *now*."

"Then go ahead."

"Tomorrow."

"What time?"

"What time what?"

"What time tomorrow are you going to tell me who's the Warlock?!"

"Who's not the Warlock. Who's the-"

Dylan screamed, "I'll break your arm if you say 'Who's the Tank'!" The audience burst out in laughter, but then quickly quieted down as the show continued.

Dylan asked, "What's the name of the Warlock?!"

"What's the mage."

"I don't know!"

"No, he's the-"

Dylan instantly shot his hooves into the air in frustration, "Priest! Priest! Priest!" The earth pony groaned, "You know what, I have some healing potions."

Violet rolled his eyes, "Really?"

"Yeah. So, let's say that we group together and fight a dragon. We can't wait 'till Tomorrow to attack, so the Tank starts taking damage for us. I see that he's getting pretty banged up, so being a good team member, I give the healing potion to Who."

Violet nodded, "Now that's the first thing you've said right all day."

Dylan yelled in frustration, "I don't even know what I'm taking about!" He continued, "I give the potion to who?"

"Naturally."

"Who?"

"Naturally."

Dylan nodded, "Naturally."

"Naturally."

"So I give the potion to Naturally?"

"No, you give the potion to Who."

"Naturally."

Violet nodded, "Yep, now you've got it."

Dylan groaned, "That's what I said!"

Violet paused, "Here, now you ask me."

"I give the potion to who?"

"Naturally."

"Now you ask me."

"You give the potion to Who."

"Naturally."

"Naturally."

"See, I said it the same as you!"

Violet snickered, "Look, just calm down."

Dylan paused as he composed himself, "Who gets my potion?"

"Naturally."

"He'd better get it!!" Dylan continued, "So I give the potion to who, but the potion wasn't strong enough, so whoever is the Tank dies. Boo hoo, sad story. The dragon then goes after Why? Because. I don't know. He's the Priest, and I don't care!"

"Wait, what did you say?"

Dylan groaned, "I said I don't care!"

Violet paused, "Oh, he's our Paladin."

Dylan screamed, "That's it!!" Suddenly, the small earth pony ran forward and tackled Violet off of the stage and onto the floor.

Everyone burst out into laughter and applauded as the show ended. I found myself laughing extremely hard. I didn't think that Dylan would actually tackle Violet.

But then, my small moment of laughter was interrupted as someone called my name through the hallway of the castle, "SHADOW!"

I quickly turned to see Cross run into the show room, panting hard to show that he'd been running hard. That also meant that something was up.

I raised an eyebrow, "Cross? What is it?"

The unicorn gasped as he caught his breath, "It's Lexus! Out in the Dueling Ring! It's..."

I gave Cross a questioning look, "What do you mean? Did he loose in a duel or something?"

Cross shook his head, "No, he's in a duel right now! And his opponent is totally brutalizing him, practically torturing him!"

"What?!" I stared at Cross in shock, "What do you mean?"

Cross motioned towards the doorway, "I think it'll be easier just to show you, unless the duel has already ended. Follow me."

And so, I galloped after Cross as he lead me through the halls of the castle and towards the Dueling Rings outside.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

6:20 PM

By the time Cross and I reached the Dueling Rings, a large crowd of players had already gathered around the main Duel Ring. The crowd was large enough that Cross and I had to push our way through some players to be able to see the fight that was going on. But soon, I reached the outside edge of the ring and Lexus came into view, locked in a fierce fight against his opponent.

Lexus was on one end of the ring, holding himself up with his spear, which was planted firmly into the ground. His breathing was short and ragged, and he was sweating profusely. I glanced towards his health bar, which was just a little more than half full, almost in the yellow zone. According to Dueling rules, the first dueler to have his health bar reach the yellow looses the fight. And from the look of things, the duel would only last a little while now, due to Lexus' current state.

I glanced towards Lexus' opponent who stood on the other side of the ring, only to find a large, black unicorn stallion, with a dark green mane. His cutie mark was covered by a by a black cloak, so no one could see it... That is, if it was even there. In his magical grip, he held a pair of black sais, much like Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Just a reference point for those of you who don't know what a sai is). The player ID above his head read: Nyxia, and from what I could tell, his health meter was still completely full.

I turned towards Cross, "What's going on? I've never seen Lexus lose this badly in any fight."

Cross glanced towards me warily, "Well, the duel started with Nyxia betting Lexus that he could still beat him, even if neither of them used wings or magic. Lexus accepted the challenge, of course. But after one minute, Nyxia cheated and began using magic."

I raised an eyebrow, "But what about Lexus? I mean, after Nyxia started using magic, wouldn't he have used his wings?"

Cross shook his head, "That's just it. Lexus is refusing to go against the deal he made with Nyxia. And now, for the past five minutes, Nyxia has just been toying with him. He's slowly bringing down Lexus' health, all while inflicting as much pain as possible."

I frowned as I watched Lexus and Nyxia duel, "And yet, nobody has even stepped in?"

Again, Cross shook his head, "No, the rules to dueling say that no one can end the duel unless a winner is declared. And the only ways to do that is for one dueler's health to reach the yellow zone, otherwise one of the duelers have to surrender. And so far, it doesn't look like either of them are giving up, yet."

I growled sarcastically under my breath, "Out of all of the things Lexus could be, he had to be the Element of Honesty."

However, the fight still continued, and the only way for it to end would be if Nyxia finally brought Lexus down to the yellow zone, unless Lexus could make some kind of a miraculous comeback. However, by the look of things,the latter seemed the most unlikely.

I cringed as I watched Lexus be pushed to the ground by Nyxia's telekinesis, only for the unicorn to stab one of his sais into the pegasus' leg. Lexus let out a yelp of pain as his health bar decreased just slightly, still staying in the green. In retaliation, Lexus tried to swipe at Nyxia with his spear. But the unicorn simply caught the spear with one of his sais, knocking the weapon out of Lexus' grip.

Nyxia chortled loudly as he looked down at the defenseless pegasus on the ground, "Even after all of this, you refuse to go against your word."

Lexus didn't reply. He simply glared at Nyxia as he struggled to get up.

Nyxia simply laughed at Lexus' struggle, "You know, I could end this now. Just by a small prick of my sai, I could finally end this duel... But the thing is, I don't want to. I just want to see somebody suffer like me."

Lexus glanced towards Nyxia with hateful eyes, as he continued to try and stand up, "What... do you... urgh, mean?

Nyxia laughed darkly, "Isn't it obvious? I'm stuck in this game against my will. However, it's not like any of you know what that feels like." The unicorn slowly lifted one of his sais into the air above Lexus, the point facing down, "But for now, I've had my fun. It's time to end this duel, but I'm going to do it in a way that you'll never forget."

Before anyone could react, the sai was slammed down through Lexus' chest, right where his heart would be. Lexus let our a bloodcurdling yell as the overwhelming sensation of pain filled his chest. I glanced towards Lexus' health bar to see that the blow had dropped his health bar into the yellow zone... But it went past the yellow and into the red zone!

Everyone let out a gasp as Lexus' health meter stopped in the red zone, leaving the pegasus with only a sixth of his max HP. But then, Nyxia withdrew his sai from Lexus' chest as a box of text appeared over him:

Congratulations!
You've won the duel!

Nyxia grinned at his success as he glanced down towards Lexus, who was only managing to stay conscious, "You should realize that you're lucky. If I were fighting you outside the city, then I wouldn't hesitate to end the life of a weakling like you. I don't even have a clue as to how you got your element from that Hydra. Some Element of Harmony you are." And with that, Nyxia spat directly into Lexus' face.

In that moment, I felt a deep hatred towards Nyxia. There was no way I was going to let something like that happen to one of my team members without any consequences. But right as I was about to step out onto the ring to give Nyxia a piece of my mind, I was stopped by a shout that came from the crowd:

"Hey, Flankhole!"

I quickly glanced to the side to see Neon walk into the ring, her expression very much like my current feelings towards Nyxia. Neon then walked up to Nyxia, right into his face, "Nobody does that to one of my guild members and walks away gloating about it!"

Although, one thing that surprised me was that Neon was now speaking in a British accent, unlike her regular American accent. But then, I glanced to the side to see the rest of my team and Team Calvary join me and Cross outside of the ring.

I glanced towards Soul, who had been in Neon's team for longer than anyone else, "What's up with Neon? She just got angry with this guy and her accent went British!"

Soul's eyes widened, "Uh, oh. The only time her accent changes is when she's seriously pissed."

I raised an eyebrow, "You seem kind of concerned."

Violet nodded, "Yeah. Right now we're mainly concerned for Nyxia. You do not want to be in the path of Neon's rage."

Meanwhile, out in the ring, Nyxia merely smirked at Neon, "Oh, is this weakling one of your guild members? Well, pardon me. I was simply showing what a fool he was, much like the rest of your guild."

Neon glared at Nyxia, her eyes practically giving of small flames of Neon green fire, "Shut up or else I'll hand your flank back to you on a silver platter!"

"Is that so, Little Cutie? And how are you gonna do that?" Nyxia sneered.

"I'm gonna challenge you to a duel, and I won't even fight with any weapons. I won't need them to deal with an egotistical hog like you. Besides, I'd rather give you a fair chance to win, unlike what you did with Lexus."

Nyxia growled at Neon, "Alright, fine. Let's see who's eating their own words after this!"

Immediately, Nyxia opened up his player menu and tapped a few buttons. But then, a small box of text appeared in front of Neon:

Nyxia has invited you to a duel. Will you accept?

-Yes

-No

Neon tapped the "Yes" option with a hoof, and a counter suddenly appeared in the air between Nyxia and Neon. Meanwhile, Sky and I ran into the ring and pulled Lexus out of the way. Lexus stirred slightly as he was carried between me and Sky.

I chuckled, "Ah man, Lexus. You gave us a pretty bad scare." Just then, we set Lexus on the ground outside of the ring.

Lexus didn't bother to reply, as he saw the scene before him in the ring, "W-What happened? Why is Neon fighting Nyxia now?... Why doesn't she have any weapons out?"

I cleared my throat and proceeded to tell him the situation that had occurred. And once I had finished explaining, Lexus only watched the ring with shock.

Meanwhile, Neon and Nyxia stared each other down from their own sides of the ring. The counter between them slowly counted down the seconds before the duel began.

9...

8...

7...

Nyxia drew his sais and held them out in a fighting position.

6...

5...

4...

Neon's horn began to glow with a deep neon, green aura, as did her eyes.

3...

2...

1...

Only silence filled through the air...

START! The game blared with the sound of a bell chime, signalling the start of the duel.

Instantly, Nyxia wasted no time in galloping right at his opponent. With only a few feet between him and Neon, Nyxia lashed out at the mare with his sais. However, Neon sidestepped the attack with blinding speed. Instantly, Neon conjured a whip of green flames and lashed it across Nyxia's back, long before the stallion could even react.

Nyxia cringed in pain as hot flames seared his backside, his health bar decreasing somewhat. Enraged, Nyxia turned to face his opponent, only to find that Neon was no longer there. Nyxia quickly glanced behind him to see Neon's hind legs bash into his face, sending him flying back a couple feet backwards.

Nyxia quickly stood up again to face his opponent, face contorted into a fierce glare, "What the hell is happening? No player can move that fast. It's not even possible!"

Neon simply smirked as she stood her ground, "I'll let you into a little secret. My player ability is called Avenge. What it does is when one of my allies' health is in the red zone, my attacks and speed are raised by 50%. However, my defense is lowered by 25%, but I have my magic to keep you from ever getting close enough to actually hurt me."

Nyxia's eyes widened in realization, making Neon grin, "Now do you see why I don't need any weapons to deal with you? It's because you hurt Lexus, and now," Neon paused as her horn began to glow with bright, green flames, "I'm avenging him."

Instantly, the ground below Nyxia burst in green flames, sending the unicorn high into the air. But then, Nyxia struggled as found that his legs were bound by Neon's magic. Gaping in shock, the stallion glanced down towards Neon to see three whips of neon fire protrude from her horn.

Then suddenly, Neon's whips lashed at Nyxia's defenseless, hammering the stallion in quick succession of each other. For only a few moments, Neon kept this going until Nyxia's health bar was just barely in the green zone. When only one hit was needed to knock Nyxia into the yellow zone, Neon withdrew her whips and with the force of her magic holding Nyxia, she slammed the stallion down onto the ground... Very hard.

Instantly, Nyxia's health bar dropped into the yellow zone, thus ending the duel. A large window of text appeared in the air above Neon:

Congratulations!
You've won the duel!

Neon, smiling smugly at her victory, walked up to Nyxia, who was stuck on the ground in the small crater that his body had created after Neon's magic slammed him down from the air. Nyxia, upon seeing Neon, flinched and quickly tried to stand up.

Neon smirked as she stomped a hoof on Nyxia's arm, "Don't worry, the duel is over. You should consider yourself lucky. If I were fighting you outside the city, then I wouldn't have hesitated to end the life of a weakling like you." Neon said coldly, repeating the very words that Nyxia had said to Lexus.

Nyxia looked as if he were on the verge of tears, but Neon wasn't finished, yet, "Listen here, Nyxia. I'm gonna let you go for now, but if you ever come near Lexus, or another one of my guild members, then I will personally leave you, defenseless and alone, in the next boss room before anyone else goes inside. Got it!?"

Nyxia nodded frantically and Neon took her hoof off of his arm. Satisfied with her work, Neon walked over to our group with a smug look. But as she reached us, she sat down in front of Lexus so that she was eye level with him.

Lexus raised an eyebrow at her, "Why did you do that? Why did you get back at Nyxia?"

Neon smiled softly, "You already know the answer to that. Nobody hurts my team members like that for no reason and walks away unscathed." Neon paused, blushing slightly, "I also might have done it because you saved my life twice in the Labyrinth. I was simply paying you back for that."

Lexus smiled at her as he raised a hoof to her cheek, "No, you were never in debt to me for that. However, now I'm in debt to you, and I need to repay you in the only way I can."

All of us around the two of them remained silent as we watched as the two of them inched closer. Slowly at first, but finally, their lips met together and they closed their eyes in bliss, oblivious to everyone around them.

Meanwhile, all of us from our guild let out a hearty cheer, celebrating the bond that had formed between Neon and Lexus. Everyone was clapping for the two of them, laughing, and cheering as Neon and Lexus ended their kiss, only to stare dreamily into each other's eyes.

Sky let out a small chuckle, "What do you know. When we first met Lexus, I never pegged him as a lover boy."

I grinned, "Neither did I. Kudos to him."

Sky shook his head, coming back to reality, "All right. I don't know about you guys, but I have a party to DJ. In fact, I think the next dance should be a slow one, just for them." He raised his voice to the crowd, "Let's have them dance together, right?"

Everyone let out a cheer and Sky galloped back into the castle, a sly grin on his face.

Behind Sky, Soul and Violet led everyone back inside, "All right, everybody! Let's keep this party going!"

However, as I watched everyone trot back into the castle, I spotted Neon and Lexus following the crowd, walking side by side, not taking their eyes off of each other for an instant.

Lexus chuckled as he stared into Neon's eyes, "Huh, I guess they want us to dance together. Well Neon, would you care to dance with me?"

Neon giggled, "Of course I would." And so, the two of them walked into the castle, without a care in the world. I found myself grinning as they disappeared behind the doors of the castle. I had to say, I was happy for them.

Suddenly, a voice jolted me out of my thoughts, "Hey, Shadow." I turned to see Cross, as well as Cloud who rode on Cross' back.

"Yeah?" I replied.

Cross scratched his head, "Well, since we're already out here, do you mind having a duel with me? I've been working on my magic and I've been dying to try it on a hard opponent."

I shrugged, "Why not?"

Cross beamed, "Great." He turned to Cloud, "All right, Cloud. You might want to get off of my back, unless you'd rather get caught in the middle of the fight."

Cloud rolled his eyes, "Right, I get it." With that, Cloud flapped his wings and flew off of Cross' back. Meanwhile, Cross and I entered the ring to begin the duel.

However, as our duel began, neither of us noticed a broken and bruised Nyxia limp away. The beaten unicorn stallion growled bitterly to himself, "Oh, you've made a huge mistake Neon. Now my goal in this game isn't to search for the elements. Now my main priority is to kill both you and Lexus. I swear that I will not stop until you both are dead!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________

8:50 PM

Nevertheless, let's just say that Cross is one heck of a dueler. I was surprised when he showed me his latest spell that he'd learned. The spell he used at the very beginning of our duel conjured a giant, red "X", which could protect him from just about any enchantment, not to mention destroy any enchantments set on anything else. This spell was always able to counter my spells, even my own Blaze ability when I used my sword.

So, that left me to duel Cross without magic, with only my sword and shield. Of course, with his hammer and buckler, Cross put up a really good fight. We were both equally matched and the duel lasted for quite a while. But nonetheless, we had to end our duel early as the night came, due to my responsibilities as the Head of Security.

That's where I was at the moment, patrolling the hallways that were supposed to be restricted from party guests. The hallway was left dark, just to give the sign to any wandering party guests that they weren't supposed to be there. But I lit up the dark hallway with my magic, which cast off a bright red glow.

I continued to walk through the restricted castle hallways, focusing on my surroundings. But then, I stopped in the hallway as I noticed a single door that was open, and the light inside it was on. I raised a curious eyebrow as I realized that the room in question was Jupiter's office.

I thought to myself, Hm, that's weird. Why would Jupiter be up here when his own party is downstairs? Being curious as I was, I decided to investigate. Slowly and quietly, I peeked through the door to the office to see who was there.

But my eyes widened as I found that it wasn't Jupiter in the office, but rather somepony else. This stranger was a cerulean blue, thin, unicorn stallion. He had a dark blue mane, streaked with a sky blue color. I also noticed that this guy didn't have any cutie mark on his flank; It was completely blank. I glanced at his player ID, it read: Sharky.

I continued to watch Sharky while out of sight, but I then noticed that this strange unicorn was leafing through Jupiter's documents. As the Head of Security, I knew I couldn't allow this guy to go unchecked. I decided to make myself known.

I stepped into the room, facing Sharky, "Hey, you're not supposed to be in here!"

Sharky flinched as he heard me, quickly turning to me he cursed to himself, "Crap."

Instantly, Sharky tried run, but I was blocking his only way out, seeing as Jupiter's office didn't have any windows. My horn began to glow with red aura as I barred the exit, "Stop, what were you just doing in here?"

Sharky remained unresponsive as he tried to run past me. However, I stepped into his path and shoved him back into the office, "Freeze."

Sharky quickly regained his balance and turned to face me. To my surprise, the unicorn now had a small smirk on his face, "Freeze? Okay, if you say so."

Instantly, Sharky's horn flared with a light blue aura and a beam of ice-like magic was shot towards me. Immediately as I saw the spell coming towards me, I flared my magic, firing a jet of fire to counteract the freezing spell. The resulting collision of spells burst into a cloud of steam, temporarily blinding me for a second.

By the time that I had recovered from Sharky's sudden attack, the blue unicorn had slipped past me and out the door. Immediately, I turned around and began to chase him down. As I ran, I equipped my sword and I felt the familiar sheath appear on my back. With my magic, I drew my sword, following close on Sharky's tail.

But as I ran, I noticed that a thin, lanky unicorn like Sharky was surprisingly quick, and he seemed to match me in speed. But then, I was snapped out of my thoughts as Sharky stopped suddenly and jumped out of an open window. I gasped suddenly, because I knew that he had just jumped out of a window that was thirty stories off of the ground.

I quickly ran to the window and searched for any sign of Sharky. But I was dumbfounded as I saw that the unicorn was perfectly unharmed. Apparently, Sharky had been able to use his magic to create a ramp entirely out of ice, and now he was sliding down it all the way to the ground.

I quickly shook my head, snapping me back into focus. I refused to let this guy get away, and so I did the most crazy thing I could think of: Jump out the window after him. I leaped through the window, landing on the top of Sharky's ice ramp. However, the slick surface made me lose my balance and fell on my side, all while sliding down the chute of ice.

Below me, I spotted Sharky making a break for the castle gates. I knew that I would lose sight of him by the time I got to the end of the ice ramp, so I needed to do something fast. But then, i got an idea.

Immediately, I pointed my horn towards the ramp in front of me, and I fired a large burst of fire at the ice. The fire connected with the ramp at the same moment that I slid over it, and the resulting burst sent me flying off of the ramp and into the air.

Just by luck, the blast threw me through the air and into Sharky's direction. Having heard the blast, I watched as Sharky turned around to see me land on top of him.

"Oof!" We both cringed as we collided with each other, and we both fell to the ground. Immediately afterwards, we both stood up to face each other.

Sharky was panting hard from the chase and the sudden scare that I had given him when I had fallen on top of him, "Hm, I'm guessing you're Shadowflame, bearer of the Element of Courage?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Yes, that's me. But what I want to know is who you are. Why were you leafing through Jupiter's office? And why did you run when I caught you?"

Sharky shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I cannot show my identity. Too much is at stake for me to reveal myself..." I suddenly noticed that Sharky's horn was glowing, "... But one thing you can be sure of is that our paths will cross again in the future. But until then, Shadow, keep searching for the elements."

Suddenly, Sharky's horn flared and a wall of ice instantly grew out of the ground between us. I quickly fired several jets of fire from my horn to melt the ice wall. After a few shots, I was able to break through the ice barrier. I ran through the hole that I had created, only to find that Sharky was no longer in sight. I had lost him.

I stomped a hoof in frustration, "Crap. Jupiter will want to hear about this." Immediately, I turned around and headed back to the castle to report what just happened to Jupiter.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

9:20 PM

I watched as Jupiter searched through the contents of his desk, a grim expression on his face. The head admin had been searching through his desk for anything that the intruder could have taken.

Jupiter glanced towards me, "Are you sure that he didn't have anything with him when you were chasing him down?"

I nodded, "Yeah, he didn't have anything on him, unless he had already deposited it in his inventory." Jupiter continued to search through his desk, but the admin sighed with relief as he stood up.

Jupiter turned towards me, "Well, it doesn't seem like he took anything."

But I still didn't know why Sharky came in here in the first place, "Who do you think that guy was?"

Jupiter paused, "Hm, I'm not sure. Although, I'd guess it wouldn't be a long shot to say that he was part of the Haters' Guild..." Jupiter looked to me again, "What did his Player ID say again?"

"Sharky."

Jupiter's eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets at the single name, "Wait, what?! Why didn't you tell me this before?"

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

However, Jupiter ignored me as he was lost in his own thoughts, quietly muttering to himself, "No, it can't be... It couldn't really be him. That'd be impossible... But the description Shadow gave fits his character, not to mention his deep affinity with ice. But how is this even possible?"

I stopped Jupiter short, "Are you saying that you actually know this Sharky guy?"

Jupiter nodded, "Yes. Well, that is, if this is even the same Sharky..." Jupiter dropped back into his thoughts, "But the servers for ELO are specifically programmed to keep players from having the same name, so it has to be him."

"Wait, what do you mean? Was he in the game before?"

Jupiter nodded again, "Sharky was one of the system admins for ELO. He was in charge for monster development in the creation of this game. He did all of the monster development on his own, and he really was a wiz at that kind of thing... But the morning before ELO's servers came online, I heard a news report that Sharky's house blew up while he was still inside it. They said that he was presumed to be dead, but I didn't get any more details because I had to come into the game to open up the servers. And then, that's when Discord showed up and you know the rest."

I just stared at Jupiter, "But- But if he's dead, then how is he even in this game?"

Jupiter paused, "I'm not sure. It's possible that he survived his house's explosion, but why he would come back into the game is beyond me."

We were both silent for a moment, until I broke the silence, "Well, if he isn't part of the Haters' Guild, then what are we supposed to do about Sharky?"

Jupiter sighed, "We don't have enough information, but for now, we just need to wait for Sharky to appear again." Jupiter turned to leave the office, "However, we still have a party to enjoy for the rest of the night. Besides, I hear that Lexus and Neon haven't even left each other's side since the dueling incident. I want to see if that's really true." He finished with a smirk.

I gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, I guess you're right." We both walked out of the the office and down the halls of the castle. I laughed a bit, "Man, what a crazy night."

And so, after a few more uneventful, but still fun filled hours, the party ended and everyone returned back to their bases...Of course, that is, except for the Knights of Harmony. Since the party was our idea, we were stuck with clean-up duty. And when a party happens in a large place like the Canterlot Castle, you get a very, very large mess.

Let's just say that wasn't the highlight of my night. But hey, everyone had enjoyed it. And surprisingly enough, there wasn't even a single appearance from the Haters' Guild or Discord, so I thought that the party was a huge success. Of course, after all of that time of partying, tomorrow we were going to have to get right back to work and find the other elements.

... But, as the party was ending, I found myself thinking about our current situation in the game. During the last boss battle, Discord had revealed that he was planning something very big; something that none of the other players could survive. Alongside that, the Haters' Guild was growing more dangerous in their spontaneous attacks. And on top of that, I just met an old system admin that was supposedly thought to be dead. With these three things all happening at once, I know that this game is going to get even harder from here on in.

Anyways, I will leave you with this: We're all going to have to get ready, so when something does happen, we'll be prepared for it.

~Shadowflame

The Element of Courage

Author's Note:

Special thanks to Sharky for sending in Sharky. We'll be seeing this OC in later chapters.

Thanks for reading,
-Shadowflame

Comments

[delet this]

I loved the bit where they were discussing the team members with confusing names, such as Who, Tomorrow, I don't know and I don't Care. Still, I don't know when My OC is going to be in, Maybe Tomorrow, I don't care too much if I don't get in, but I digress, I wonder Who's OC is going to be in the next chapter, also, Puns, I just made so many puns

[Shadowflame]

2657570
... You know, it's possible to make too many puns... Just sayin'.

[delet this]

2657579 Nonsense! Puns are my shtick! In my eyes there is never a thing known as too many puns, look at Chuggaaconroy! Puns everywhere! And barely anyone are sick of them!

[delet this]

2635080 I just noticed that reference, It's one to Medabots, I liked that Anime.

[thedams]

Just one question. Who won the duel, Cross or Shadow?

[Sharky]

2657955i think it was a draw

[thedams]

2658193 I think that too. Just asking

[Shadowflame]

2657955
Okay, if you really want to know, Shadow and Cross are pretty equally matched. So, there really wasn't a winner. XD

[Shadowflame]

2657604
Well, just so you know, adding a comment with a pun after another chapter has been published will make me *not* want to add your character into the story. So, STOP!!!

[Shadowflame]

2660867
Yes, I know that... However, it is also known as an exorcism circle, used to release evil spirits from a being that they are possessing. Do not worry, for this fact will become another large fact in later chapters... Oh, crap. I just gave a spoiler, didn't I?

[BronzeFog]

2661568 NEON AND LEXUS KISSED!!! *SQUEE*

[Playtindo]

2657604 You watch Chuggaaconroy as well?!
All of my mustaches.

[Fawkes]

is he like Kayaba? his conciseness drifting through the internet?

[Crystonian]

"Who's the Tank, What's the Mage, I don't know's the Priest-"

I love this