Equestrian Earth: The Changeling War

by Draconis187

Learning Curve

Equestrian Earth: The Changeling War
Learning Curve
Author: Draconis187

Best read in Dark Mode. Several bright text colours are used.

If there was one thing every Changeling had in common in terms of personality, it was paranoia. It stemmed from the fear of being discovered. While most get over it and manage to truly ‘integrate’ into society, others find it too hard and become the introverts within society and in effect fail their given missions.

Seeker could barely concentrate as the new lenses for the telescope came in for the cracked one. Two spares were placed into storage which lay beneath the observatory under lock and key while a third one was being used as the replacement, levitating in the air thanks to a Unicorn.

The job called for two ponies, the Unicorn to lift and insert the lens while a Pegasus used their keen eyesight - a moot point given Seeker was a Changeling - to direct it from above. The Pegasus usually hovered next to the telescope or above it as the lens was being inserted since the openings between models varied.

“Concentrate, Seeker… Can you hear me?” The Unicorn asked, with a slightly annoyed tone.

“Hm? Sorry, Horizon. I’m not feeling like myself today,” Seeker apologised. “Kind of have things nagging my mind.”

Event Horizon shrugged his shoulders, “Having one of ‘those’ days?”

“You could say that,” Seeker replied.

“Look, how about we deal with this lens first and you can tell me all about it? Sound good?” Event said.

Seeker smiled slightly and nodded his head. He was glad that so many ponies cared about each other. It was a massive shock the first time he stepped out of his Hive on a small infiltration mission to a place called Baltimare. In a few years he got used to it and grew to appreciate it.

After they inserted the lens, Seeker calibrated it while Horizon fetched some coffee. The work was monotonous, they got the most minimal of work benefits and rarely got any appreciation but Seeker found some enjoyment in it. As he was satisfied with the telescope’s calibration, he sat on his haunches and waited for Horizon.

“So, what’s been eating you?” Horizon asked, blowing the bang of his magenta mane away from his face. The lime green Unicorn levitated the cup of hot liquid to Seeker.

“Just some age old paranoia, Horizon.” Seeker deadpanned. “It’s not something you can help with.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Horizon asked with concern.

“I am certain it won’t do me any good. I’m probably just overreacting,” Seeker said as he took a sip and pouted. “Ugh, the coffee here tastes funny.”

“That’s because it’s tea, you wazzik. Turns out we ran out of coffee and nopony saw fit to say anything,” Horizon replied. “We really need to keep tabs on how much we use.”

Seeker chuckled as he took a sip, “Still… tastes terrible.”

Horizon chuckled, “What do you expect from a box of teabags that costs 15 bits?”

Once they finished their drinks, they sealed the observatory roof as the rain forecasted for the day was to last well into the night. The rain hit once it was lunchtime, drenching the streets, making Seeker and Joystick’s regular meet-up next to impossible.

Since the rain persisted after Seeker’s shift had ended, he borrowed an umbrella from one of his co-workers as they came into the observatory. He made a mental note to return the umbrella in the morning when he relieved the generous pony.

He arrived back at home and sealed his apartment up as usual. With a sigh as he laid on his cloud, Equestrian Earth came online and he ‘woke up’ in Old Ponyville’s Broken Mare once more.

As he left the bar, he quickly opened up his Chat Scroll to message his adventuring partners. As he began to dictate to the scroll, he was interrupted by some crazed pony as he got tackled to the ground.

“Hey, Seeker!” The familiar voice of Joystick said cheerfully as he pulled his friend up to his hooves. “We didn’t get to have our lunch today so I thought I’d make it up by-”

“-tackling me like a hoofball player?” Seeker replied with a raised eyebrow. “You are so random, Joystick.”

“I know! Isn’t it nice?” Joystick said with a grin.

Seeker rolled his eyes and softly chuckled. “I guess it cures the boredom of everyday life. Where are the others?”

“Well, Solace and Mixer won’t be on till a little later. Real life and all that, you know how it is. As for Illusion -” Joystick’s expression fell a little “- she doesn’t respond to any of my messages. I think she’s still got a few trust issues.”

Seeker nodded his head in agreement, “Could you blame her? You know what she is, not to mention the last time we were on… it was just… well, weird.”

“About the ruckus we had with Rufus and Fate’s Fortune?” Joystick asked, Seeker nodded his head once again, “I know… I’ve been thinking about that too. I just don’t understand what Vinyl was talking about. ‘I think you five were the target?’ All we did was accept a simple-sounding challenge and yet we got… this.

“I don’t know, Seeker. I barely slept last night just thinking about it,” Joystick said. Seeker knew that despite his friend’s happy-go-lucky attitude, he could become quite a deep thinker when his jimmies got rustled enough. “Seeker… we need to figure this out but we have nothing to go on.”

Seeker shook his head, “That may be but we can’t truly worry about it right now. Let’s just… focus on the game for now and see what happens, hm? We have nothing we can use to help track them and ask so maybe we should just let it be for now?”

Joystick chuckled, “Seeker, Voice of Reason for when there is none. Bringer of Insight for when we ha-”

“Oh shut it,” Seeker said with a grin.

The pair began to walk through Old Ponyville. The olden town was always bursting with things to do. From ‘collect X and bring to Y’ and other forms of generic MMORPG quests, all the way to Races where players could bet or participate in if they were one of the appropriate species.

Players walked off in groups or alone as was their want. The game never punished a player for hoofing it alone but it was encouraged to join a guild and socialise with others from all over the world. It made the game far more enjoyable and worth the subscription fee.

“So what do you want to do, Seeker?” Joystick asked.

“I want to know something: -” Seeker stopped and looked directly at his friend “- are we going to go to this ‘Dagger’s Keep’ now that we have a Crystal Key?”

“I think I’ll put it up to a vote with the others. It’s only fair since we all fought in our own way for the thing,” Joystick replied.

“Understandable,” Seeker said coolly. “What is in this ‘Dagger’s Keep’ anyway?”

Joystick and Seeker stopped outside a small herbalist’s shop, sitting on one of the benches that littered the Market Square area. The oaken, worn bench creaked under their weight as they sat. It wasn’t going to break but the sound effect added to the game’s realism.

“I’ve played several RPGs so I’m guessing a ton of monsters and plenty of loot,” Joystick said thoughtfully, “I expect we’ll need to make sure we’re stocked up on everything before moving out for it.”

“There you are!” A voice cried out, grabbing their attention.

Solace was walking towards the group with a massive grin on his face as usual. The Pegasus seemed to be the same as he was before he drank himself into a virtual stupor if the way he walked was any indication.

“Solace, great to see you made it. Feeling better?” Joystick asked, grinning a little.

“It’ll take more than a little drinking contest to keep me down!” Solace replied with great enthusiasm. “So what are you two doing just sitting around?”

“Waiting for you, Mixer and Illusion of course so we can decide on our next objective,” Seeker said this time, looking at Solace with a small grin.

“Right, right. Well, I’m here so we just need the other two then?” Solace asked.

“One more,” A cool voice said, directing attention away from the grey Pegasus.

“Illusion!” Joystick said with a massive grin, “So nice of you to join us!”

“Make no mistake, I am merely here to see this through to the end. The moment this… disturbing issue has been resolved, consider me gone.” The Changeling showed little care in her voice as she spoke. “Now we wait for Mixer…”

“That we do but I doubt he’ll be too long,” Solace said. “He’s nothing if not punctual.”

“That and he wastes little time getting under your fur,” Seeker pointed out.

Solace shrugged with his usual smile on his face, “We both do that, and it’s all in good fun so I don’t see a problem.”

Illusion chose to say nothing at this point, knowing it would end up as a full blown argument and she was not in the mood.

“So… When’s Mixer getting here, Solace?” Joystick asked.

“He’s over there,” Illusion stated, directing everypony’s attention to the far side of the Market Square.

The Crystal Mage’s armour clanged a little as he walked up to the group while they walked towards him. They all met about halfway, near a Blacksmith where an NPC was happily hammering away on some generic weapon and a miscellaneous shop.

“Hey, Mixer. How are you?” Joystick asked as Solace beamed happily. Illusion merely muttered a small greeting while Seeker was more enthusiastic to his new friend.

“I am fine despite recent events,” Mixer replied flatly. “We’re all together then?”

“That we are. I’ve been wondering if we should try out that Crystal Key and get into Dagger’s Keep,” Joystick stated.

“Fine,” Mixer deadpanned.

“Sounds good to me,” Solace said.

“I’m here to see this to the end and if this ‘Dagger’s Keep’ will yield answers then I am coming along as well,” Illusion said flatly.

“And I’m coming too. Got to keep you from getting in over your head,” Seeker sighed, a small smirk on his face as he mostly addressed Joystick with his statement.

Joystick chuckled as he pulled out his map while the others did the same. They all sat down on their haunches with their maps in front of them on the floor while the magically inclined members levitated them which meant Solace's map was the only one in the dirt.

“Alright. If I recall correctly, Dagger’s Keep is… here,” Joystick’s magic aura made a series of small circles around the point he could recall on Rufus’ map back in the Broken Mare. “We are still here in Old Ponyville so what we are going to do is simple: fight our way to the dungeon, go in, kill what's inside and claim our reward.”

“Can’t we just catch a Zeppelin or use some form of teleporting mechanic to get there?” Seeker asked.

“No,” Illusion responded almost instantly.

“The game doesn’t work that way, Seeker. Dungeons – special or otherwise – are not some instant travel location as that kills the whole ‘adventure’ shtick. And that is the point of the game,” Joystick said. “Fight it, beat it and reap the spoils.”

“At least it’s not Zebrican Hunter Tri’s motto of ‘kill it, clean it, wear it,’” Seeker commented, shivering a little.

“Maybe, but the principle is the same in every RPG. Get better stuff by killing tougher things,” Joystick said.

“And in Crystal Dungeons, they are a lot tougher. Even if we are at the same level as the target, it still makes teamwork paramount,” Illusion said.

“How do you know that?” Seeker asked.

“I read the forums,” She replied.

“Makes sense. Shall we crack on then?” Joystick said, addressing the group.

The adventurers looked to one another, nodding in agreement as the maps were returned to their respective owners’ inventory. As they got up to venture forth, a familiar voice shouted loudly in their general direction.

“Yo! Retribution!” They all turned their heads, looking at the source who turned out to be Vinyl Scratch. “What you all up to in the middle of Old Ponyville?”

“We were just about to venture out to Dagger’s Keep,” Joystick replied with a smile.

“Well, good luck to you then. If that key works, give me a [color= plum]Private Message,” She said, removing her glasses slightly, enough to reveal her eyes. “We could have a problem if hackers are making items that can fool the system.”

“If it does work, are you going to take what we get?” Seeker asked.

Vinyl giggled for a few moments before erupting in uproarious laughter. The group just looked at each other before looking back at her, “Nah man! If you’re going through all this trouble, I couldn’t do that! Neon would have my tail.” She calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye and fixing her glasses.

Mixer rolled his eyes, “Right…”

“Go and find out if it works. If it doesn’t, tell me anyway. I’ll make it worth your while,” Vinyl said with a smirk. “Think of it as an ‘unofficial quest.’ Oh and here, take this. Just so that you know I’m serious.”

She gave the group an assortment of potions and gave the Bow Gun wielding adventurers three oddly designed boxes. Seeker recognised them as Bow Gun magazines. One was a deep red with orange and faint blue colours, stylised to look like a towering inferno. Another one was pale blue and silver, looking like the crest of a giant wave. The last one was grey and white, resembling an overcast sky.

Items Acquired!

x1 Aero Magazine D-Grade
x1 Hellfire Magazine D-Grade
x1 Hydro magazine D-Grade
x5 Medium Health potion
x5 Medium Mana potion

“Uh, thanks?” Seeker said, a little uncertain as he checked them in his inventory.

“Load ‘em and watch the fireworks,” Vinyl said with a massive grin before turning around and walking down the street. “Catch you on the rebound!”

“What a strange mare,” Seeker commented.

The group nodded slowly in unison, except for Joystick and Solace who merely smiled.

“She seems fine to me,” Joystick said. “Let’s go, we have a Keep to get to.”

The group turned towards the general direction of the entrance to the Everfree Forest. Seeker had been looking over the three magazines he had received. As the group walked, he pulled out his Bow Gun and ejected the generic Normal Magazine. He picked it up with his magic and placed it into his inventory before inserting the Aero Magazine and pulling back on the bolt to load the first round.

His Potshot vanished instantly, replacing itself with Tornado with the number six attached to the bottom right of the icon.

Tornado - D

Each shot generates a vortex of air to disorientate and confuse enemies. Damage dealt is equal to a standard round of similar grade.
Ability has limited number of shots.

Curious, Seeker ejected the magazine to see what the other new magazines did. Each time he inserted the magazine, the Potshot ability would be replaced by a different, element-based skill with a different number in the corner.

Fire Vortex - D

Turns weapon into a flamethrower to deal fire damage at short range. Damage dealt is equal to 10% of a standard magazine of similar grade. Deals damage over time equal to damage dealt.

Tsunami - D

Drains the entire magazine to create a wave of water, dealing both damage and knockback upon impact. Damage is equal to maximum capacity of magazine multiplied by the maximum damage dealt by a standard round of similar grade.

Seeker was too busy looking at his changing skillset as he failed to realise the group had arrived at the entrance to the Everfree Forest. He ejected the magazine and inserted his Normal Magazine, turning his skill back to its stock form.

“Is everypony ready? Bladders drained, weapons ready and all that good stuff?” Joystick asked. The group nodded their heads. “Then let’s do this!”

The group ventured into the maze of trees that was the Everfree Forest. The odd Green Timberwolf came out but was quickly dispatched by one of the adventurers with either a well placed shot or blade.

The journey was going relatively smooth until they reached one of the larger clearings in the forest. In the middle of the clearing, staring back at them as they drew closer, were three Manticores. They stood on their hind legs with their red, bat-like wings flaring as the creatures roared at the group, making them cringe.

“Divide and conquer!” Joystick shouted as the group dispersed to divide the Manticores’ attention.

Seeker and Illusion buzzed to the right, drawing one of the Manticores while Joystick used his Shining Beacon ability to keep another one’s focus on him as he charged straight towards it. Solace and Mixer went left, drawing the attention of the remaining Manticore.

As their targets drew nearer, Seeker’s HUD displayed slightly more information on the Manticore. It showed Manticore Lv8 hovering about its head as it brought its claws down on Seeker.

The Changeling dodged it and buzzed backwards, pulling the bolt back on his Bow Gun and firing a normal shot. The round impacted against the Manticore’s head, making it recoil slightly and only serving to anger the virtual beast further.

Illusion used Terminal Velocity to get between Seeker and the angry Manticore and began to slash at it with her blades. The beast roared in anger and pain as Illusion kept up her assault until the effects of Terminal Velocity waned.

As they did, Seeker aimed at the barrel of his Bow Gun at his target and activated Potshot. The Gun recoiled hard into his shoulder as the round ejected from the barrel at high speed before colliding with the Manticore’s torso. The beast howled as its health reached zero, forcing it to collapse to the ground with a thud, ready for looting.

As they had been fighting their target, Solace and Mixer were having an easier time with theirs. Using Hinder to slow the Manticore down while Solace fired heavy round upon heavy round from his Bow Gun, taking out his target’s health fraction by fraction.

Solace ejected his Normal Magazine and inserted a Hellfire Magazine. His standard skill changed, showing a phoenix covered beak to tail-feathers in flames in place of the standard icon with the number three in the bottom right corner.

Phoenix’s Fire
Fires a flaming round in the form of a phoenix, homing in on a single target and burning it for a duration.
Damage dealt is equal to a standard round of similar grade over five seconds.

With a press of a trigger, he activated the special round in the chamber and the round fired, blazing a small trail as the animated phoenix flew from the barrel. It collided with the Manticore, igniting its fur and making it howl in pain. The Manticore still went after Mixer, its claws raised high in the air as it was about to try and crush him.

Mixer retaliated with Fortress, making his attacker stop attacking at its claws collided with the topaz wall. The Manticore shifted focus to the wall and began to tear at it with its claws, witling the health of the wall down with each strike.

Solace and Mixer wasted no time as Mixer’s Crystal Storm ability came down at it while Solace fired another Phoenix’s Fire. Their attacks killed off their target, making it collapse in a heap. The pair exchanged a grin as they took their spoils.

Joystick grunted as his shield met his target’s claws, making him move backwards a little. His Shining Beacon ability was still active, draining his mana at a constant steady rate as he battled the Manticore one-on-one. He lunged with his shortsword, aiming to stab his target in the chest. Sadly he got the backend of the Manticore’s tail.

Joystick fell onto the floor, rolling twice before getting onto his hooves and charging again. He was nothing if not highly persistent. The Paladin placed his weapons away and charged full force into the Manticore. He bowled the beast over and quickly unsheathed his weapons.

His blade met the slightly disoriented Manticore’s torso as Joystick slashed at it. The beast roared and got up too quickly for Joystick’s liking and roared, making him cover his ears. As the chimeric monster was about to capitalise on Joystick’s reaction, two loud bangs rang through the clearing. The beast fell to the ground with a thump.

“Thanks guys,” Joystick said as he looted the corpse for money.

Seeker pulled back on his Bow Gun’s bolt and manually ejected the spent casing as Solace did the same with his heavier rifle. Seeker folded the weapon up and placed it on his back as he and Illusion rejoined their leader.

“Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you,” Seeker reiterated.

Level up!

Joystick Lv9!
Shining Beacon lv2

Increases damage resistance by 1.5% of combined armour rating and forces close monsters of lower level to attack user, ignoring others.

Next level: damage resistance 1.75% of combined armour rating.

Solace lv8!
Ricochet gained!

Fire a round that bounces off surfaces and targets, dealing less damage with each hit.

Bounces three times, dealing full, standard damage on the first hit and 25% on the last.

Next level: bounces four times.

Mixer lv9!
Fortress lv2

Create a wall of topaz in front of the caster to protect him/her.

Current health: 230

Next level: 290
Secondary function Entrapment surrounds a single target with transparent crystals.

Current health: 340

Next level: 400

Seeker lv6!
High Impact Shot gained!

Fires an explosive round, dealing damage in a small radius around target.

Deals x2 damage of currently equipped weapon.

Next level: increases effective blast radius by 0.2%

Illusion lv8!
Terminal Velocity lv2!

Increases movement speed and attack rate by 50% for 6 seconds.

Next level: duration of ability lasts for 7 seconds.

“Now, how far are we to our destination?” Illusion inquired, ignoring her level up while the others smiled a little for getting more than 23 bits from their previous looting.

“Well we sh- oh, rhetorical I gather,” Seeker replied as Illusion pulled out her map.

“This clearing should be… here,” Illusion said, tapping a clearing with her hoof. “That means Dagger’s Keep is… there.” This was again followed by another tap where the aforementioned tower stood.

“Let’s get going then,” Mixer said quickly, looking down on of the paths through the forest. “As much as entertaining constantly reappearing Manticores sounds like fun, we don’t have the provisions to do that as well as raid a Crystal Dungeon.”

“Mixer’s right. That way,” Joystick said as the group picked up their pace, and sprinted as three new Manticores appeared in the clearing, waiting for the next adventurer to happen upon them.

The Everfree Forest began to get darker as the group continued to venture towards the Dagger’s Keep. Due to their paranoia, the group found the Changelings had their weapons out and at the ready, held in the air with their magic as they kept close.

Changelings always have an innate fear when alone or in low numbers. It was what brought upon their shapeshifting, both as a method for getting closer to prey and to confuse any attackers. Seeker held his breath as the group broke through some foliage and stood before an aging tower.

Years of wear and neglect were evident even from the moment the group laid eyes on Dagger’s Keep. The stone was worn, vines and moss grew along the sides with some hanging out from a broken window akin to a window box flower. The main door was as ancient as the Keep, the oaken finish worn and riddled with holes as if chewed through by large termites.

Yet the door in question held firm, a large translucent crystal lock was hanging in the centre by similar chains in the doorframe. Apart from the tower itself, there was little else around other than the local flora and a rock that could be mined with a pickaxe for some crafting materials.

“Okay, let’s find out of we went all this way for nothing,” Joystick said, walking up to the lock and turned the key.

Nothing happened, the key stopped turning a few degrees and appeared to get stuck. Joystick tried to wiggle it in the lock to no avail. Solace chuckled as their illustrious leader fell on his flank trying to pull it out with his hooves when his magic failed.

“Looks like it couldn’t fool a Crystal Lock,” Mixer commented.

“I never would have guessed,” Illusion replied curtly as she rolled her eyes, keeping her eyes on the underbrush with Seeker.

“Well, that was a total loss…” Joystick said sadly. “On the bright side, we did level up so the journey wasn’t a total loss.”

Seeker hefted his rifle against his shoulder as he looked to Joystick. “Yeah, that’s true.”

The group voiced their agreement as they began to walk away. “Vinyl will be pleased to know the game wasn’t entirely fooled.”

“Agreed, Solace,” Illusion said. “I would have enjoyed the prospect of-” The ground rumbled a little. “-please tell me that was your stomach growling…”

The group shook their heads and unsheathed their weapons, looking around in case something exceptionally large was coming. Another rumble made a few of them stagger and Seeker had to use the rifle butt to steady himself.

“Where is it coming from?” Mixer asked.

“The ground?” Solace replied helpfully.

“Your powers of observation are frighteningly sharp,” Illusion said callously.

“You asked. It’s not Solace’s fault,” Seeker softly rebuked.

“Ugh… I guess so,” Illusion said, muttering under her breath.

The ground stopped rumbling after a few seconds, allowing the group to gather their wits. A loud noise – akin to the sound of shattering glass – rang out through the forest. The group looked at each other before looking at the door to the Dagger’s Keep.

“No… bucking way…” Seeker said softly, in a tone barely audible to anyone other than Illusion who silently nodded her own disbelief.

One of the Crystal Lock’s chains had shattered and what laid on the floor below was a heap of shiny fragments. Another chain shattered spontaneously in front of the group, falling to the ground in a similar pile.

The last two fell as well, faster than the first and second chains and left the Crystal Lock itself on the door. It seemed to just hang there, unsupported by anything until it and the Crystal Key itself shattered in unison, clattering to the ground.

Joystick walked up to the door and gently pushed it. The door fell off its hinges the moment his hoof made contact, clattering to the ground and making the group cringe.

The room before them was a maze of broken weapon racks, tables and something resembling a chair. As they entered, a cold chill ran up their spines as a freezing wind blew through the dungeon. Some of the masonry work had fallen inside, leaving more rubble strewn across the floor. Each step had to be careful lest they upset it.

It was a moot point for the Changelings and Solace who simply hovered in place but found even that difficult thanks to the poor air circulation in the room.

“Well” – Joystick said as he looked to the caved in staircase – “we aren’t taking the stairs up, that’s for sure.”

A torn rug in the centre of the room caught their attention as Solace, Seeker and Illusion pulled on the rings that were attached to a large, old-looking trap door. Joystick and Mixer helped by grabbing the last two rings and pulling with their magic. In a few hard heaves, the door opened and clattered against the floor, almost hitting the Unicorns as they evaded it just in time.

The trapdoor revealed a dark passage that lit up thanks to the wall mounted torches as they glowed with a deep purple flame. Joystick looked to his friends as they all checked their inventory and nodded at him.

Joystick smiled broadly as he looked back down at the staircase, pulling out his sword and shield. “LEEEROY JEENKIIINS!!”

Author's Note:

Too many fics make updates suffer... But, I enjoy writing them all. Have another colour filled chapter. Next stop on this fic: Dungeon raiding!
For those wondering, Solace had already used Phoenix's Fire before but I never named it then. As for the rest of the group's abilities, they will become known as they level up.

Comments

[Chaotic Note]

Dude I love this chapter! You're getting better and better!

[Draconis187]

3211821 Thank you very much.

[Discord Kantus]

So, how long 'till the next chapter?

[Draconis187]

4501951 I am currently busy with it. It's at 682 words so far. Sadly I just haven't had the time or drive to do updates...

[Discord Kantus]

4514755 I see.