Scootaloo sighed as she sat in a tree outside of Ponyville. Her mind wandered in the sky, wishing more than anything to fly. Damn human anatomy... Why the hell did we have to evolve from apes? Birds would have been SO much better...
Her dream was snapped off when a paper hit her face.Ow. Peeling it off, Scootaloo read what it had to say.
CUTIE MARK ONLINE!
Join a world of ponies as you begin a quest to find your special talent! Form parties and guilds! Win cool prizes for your avatar! You can even choose a different race! Tired of relying on hooves? Be a Unicorn! Tired of using magic? Become an Earth Pony! Tired of being grounded? Become a Pegasus and Soar!
Scootaloo stopped reading, and started squeeing.
A chance to fly? To really know what it feels like? She had to know more! Looking at the bottom of the sheet, she read:
This Game utilizes a new system called the Nervegear, a special electronic device capable of placing your consciousness in a virtual world. Ask for one at your local store! Nervegear apparaus only $499.99
Just like that, her dreams were crushed. How was she going to afford this? Little did she know that Sweetie was heading straight toward her with wonderful news.
“Scootaloo! Scootaloo? Where are you?” Sweetie Belle called out.
“Up here!” Scootaloo replied from the tree.
“Scoots!” Sweetie squeaked, “You won’t believe what Button Mash just did!”
“What did he do?” Scootaloo asked in wonder.
“He just bought six of these Nervegear things, and that CMO game, and wants all of us to play!” Sweetie said.
Scootaloo tried her hardest not to bounce up and down at the news. “All right, let me get down from here and then we can go get Applebloom.”
Scootaloo shimmied down the tree and started walking with Sweetie. But that a thought stopped her in her tracks.
“Six? Who are the other two for?” She asked Sweetie, who had started skipping.
“Oh! Um. . . he said something about his friends playing too.” She answered, still skipping.
“Friends? As in Featherweight and Rumble?” Scootaloo asked, her mind traveling to those moments in class when she’d catch herself staring at Rumble.
Sweetie put a hand to her chin, “Yeah, I think that’s it.”
Scootaloo smiled. "Those guys are cool- alright, let’s go get Applebloom!”
Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom found themselves standing outside Button Mash’s house, if you could call it that. It was huge. At least 4 stories tall, and long enough for four extra car ports, it was no secret Button was wealthy.
So when Button befriended Sweetie Belle first, the class vied for her attention, even Diamond and Silver tried to befriend her, but to no avail.
Scootaloo, (eager to play) rushed up and pressed the doorbell.
DING-DONG
A few seconds later the door opened to find three boys standing there. One had a propeller hat on top of orange hair. Then next kid was rather skinny with short brown hair. The last one was athletically built, with shaggy black hair.
Button, Featherweight and Rumble smiled at the girls.
“Ready to play the most funnest, coolest game ever?” Button asked with a smile.
"Yeah!" The girls shouted, chatter now breaking out between the two groups.
Button turned and walked away from the door. "Follow me, Comrades." He spoke, leading the group down into the basement to his coveted game room. Inside sat a couple of beds, which faced a flat wall that a projector would cast the game’s picture from one of his many consoles.
But tonight, the six eager kids walked to the beds, as they held six different NerveGear helmets.
“So how does this work exactly?” Applebloom asked picking up one of the helmets.
“Well,” Button said, picking up one for himself, “You just put the helmet on and say “Link start!” It’s voice commanded that way.” Button paused, blinking before getting a 'A-Ha' moment and sliding the CMO disc into the Nervegear. "Well, you do that too!" Everyone laughed.
“Anything else we should know Button?” Sweetie asked, her voice sounding a little nervous.
“Just one thing, dying in the game will only wake you in real life- So don't sweat it too much. You guys ready?” Button asked.
All of them nodded as they picked up their own NerveGear helmets, slid the discs in and laid on the beds.
“On three,” Button instucted, “One.”
“Two.” Featherweight and Rumble said.
“Three.” The Crusaders chimed.
As one, all six kids shouted the two words that would change their lives forever.
“Link Start!”
Scootaloo was extremely worried as to what she had done, all she could see were flashing cylinders of color streaking by, as if she was in a tunnel. Eventually, they stopped, and she saw five orbs arranged vertically on the far right end of the screen. The first one popped out, reading SIGHT. It paused, then glowed green and returned to it's shrunken state. The other four replicated this, but they read SOUND, TASTE, TOUCH, and SMELL, respectively.
Soon, a rectangular message popped up in her field of vision.
WELCOME TO CMO! Please Create Your Character!
Scootaloo smiled. "Awesome!"
PLEASE CHOOSE A RACE - <|Unicorn|> <|Pegasus|> <|Earth Pony|>
Scootaloo paused. "Can I get more info on each race?" She asked the AI.
PROCESSING
RETRIEVING INFORMATION- RACES
Soon, an Octagon appeared below each race choice, describing their special attributes and such.
PEGASUS- The Pegasus Ponies are gifted with the power of flight, and are capable of flying in 15 minute increments, followed by 5 minute rest periods. They have higher Speed, Agility, and skill with One-Handed blades than the other races, and are the only race that can wield Weather-based magic by manipulating clouds. They also posses a fair amount of health.
UNICORN- The Unicorns are gifted with magic, being the most potent spellcasters in the game. They have a Mana bar that is used for casting their spells, and it will fully recharge within five minutes once depleted. They have higher Intelligence, Recovery, and Critical stats, and are the only race able to wield staves and wands as weapons. They posses a lower amount of health.
EARTH PONY- The Earth Ponies are strong, resilient warriors, physically the strongest race in the game. However, they possess little to no magical capability, save for a few buffing spells. They have higher Strength, Stamina, Defense, and Magic Defense than the other races, and are the only race able to wield Two-handed weapons. They possess a great amount of health.
Scootaloo rubbed her chin. Magic seemed like it would be cool, so that ruled out Earth Pony... And she was not passing up a chance to fly! "Pegasus it is!" She cried, pushing the rectangle.
YOU HAVE CHOSEN: PEGASUS PONY. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED? <|Yes|> <|No|>
Scootaloo tapped yes, and the screen whirled and shook as the character creation menu exploded into existence.
CHOOSE YOUR COLOR SCHEME.
Scootaloo eventually decided on an orange coat, with a purple mane and tail.
EXCELLENT. NOW, WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY THE TUTORIAL STAGE? <|Yes|> <|No|>
Without a moment's hesitation she hit yes.
EXCELLENT. ENJOY YOUR TIME IN CMO!
With a swirl of color, Scootaloo found herself standing in a field. On her hip sat a sword. She wrapped her fingers around its hilt. She smiled.
Another box popped up:
WHICH TUTORIAL DO YOU WANT FIRST? <|Flight|> <|Fighting|> <|Skill Tree|> <|Miscellaneous|>
Scootaloo went to hit flying. . . but she realised that fighting might come in handy first, as anybody could easily come across her and attack her. She then pressed the fighting option.
PROCESSING
-Welcome to the CMO fighting simulator! Here we will teach you the basics of fighting.-
"Sweet!"
-To combat the evil forces in CMO, players wield a variety of weapons, ranging from Swords, to Axes, to Spears, to Magic, and more. What weapon Archetype would you like to try out?-
<| One-Handed Swords|> <|Two-Handed Swords and Two-Handed Axes|> <|Wands and Staves|> <|Spears|> <|One-Handed Axes|> <|One-Handed Maces and Flails|> <|Other|>
"Huh. Well, I have a One-Handed Sword here, so why not those?" Scootaloo tapped the corresponding icon.
EXCELENT! PICK UP THE SWORD TO BEGIN.
Scootaloo picked up the sword, and as her hand- or rather, hoof- wrapped around the hilt, a box popped up next to it with various stats, the weapon's name (Trainee's Blade), and empty rectangles labeled 'Skill Slots'.
-As you use your weapon, you will gain different skills to use with it. Place the skills in the skill slots to make them active.-
-Skills, when seen on the playing field, look like scrolls- The A.I. magicked one into existence -Like so. Picking it up will add it to your inventory. Pick up the Skill.-
Below her Health bar, a small bullet point appeared, along with the words 'Pick up The Scroll'.
-That, is your Objective, in case you forget.-
“Useful.” Scootaloo commented as she turned her attention to the scroll. She walked up to it and grabbed it, and as soon as she did, a small blue exclamation mark appeared next to her health bar.
-Swipe down with your right hoof to open the Menu-
Scootaloo obeyed, six circles popping up in a vertical line where her hoof had been. They read, top to bottom, <|Stats|>, <|Inventory|>, <|Cutie Marks|>, <|Social|>, <|Skill Tree|>, and <|Settings|>.
-This is the menu. Each Circle here has a different function, and we'll get to that in due time. For now, tap on 'Inventory.'-
The Orange Filly did so, her character's inventory popping up. In the <|Scrolls|> Column, there was an icon of the scroll she had picked up. Tapping on it revealed that it was called <\Basic Thrust/>, and the A.I. told her how to equip it to a weapon, namely, her Sword.
-Now, Weapons can only use a set amount of skills, but they are swappable on the fly. As for the execution of skills, that's the easy part. Take a few stabs at this training dummy.-
A small animal-like creature then appeared near Scootaloo. Readying her sword, she swung. As the sword cut the creature, a glowing red line appeared showing where the cut landed. The health bar above the creature’s head depleted a bit.
-Excellent! Now, to execute skills, you have to do certain motions. For instance, a basic thrust is activated when running and thrusting the sword forward. Try it on the dummy!-
The animal's health bar filled up to full as Scootaloo backed up a bit. Running forward, Scootaloo pushed her sword in front of her. After a few moments, she realized her eyes were still closed, opening them showed her the animal. A spiral of red surrounded it's body before it burst into what looked like shards of light.
-The higher the level the creature is, the more likely it will drop rewards, such as money, weapons and armour.-
Scootaloo smiled, she was going to love this game.
-This completes the tutorial on fighting. Would you like to take the tutorial again, or try a new one?-
<|Yes|> <|No|>
Before she went to press a button, Scootaloo decided to check the time. Raising her right hoof, she brought it down to open her menu.
6:30
Scootaloo thought for a moment, she would like to learn how to fly, but she was sure that Button would probably want to round up the group for dinner.
With a sigh, she looked back at the box. “Can I always take the other Tutorials later?”
-Of course, just open the menu and look in the settings section.-
“Thank you.” Scootaloo said.
-No, Thank you for playing CMO! Where everyone can find their special talent!-
With that, the tutorial box disappeared and Scootaloo turned to the center of the map. A tall tower sat there, and Scootaloo saw many ponies of all sorts heading that way.
With a bright smile and high hopes, Scootaloo walked toward the tower, unaware that her life was in jeopardy. That all of the ponies here were in jeopardy.
The city was bustling. Ponies walked back and forth, buying weapons and armour. Scootaloo tried to keep her eyes peeled. She was a little worried, as she had no idea what her friends would look like here.
“What do ya mean ah have to be a ‘higher level’?!” A familiar southern accent rang, “All ah want is to smith!”
“Listen little lady,” Said a gruff voice, “The thing you want to build is out of your skill level, so stick to normal swords.” It was followed by a slam, Scootaloo rounded the corner in time to see the doors slam in the face of a yellow earth pony with red hair.
“Applebloom?” Scootaloo asked in surprise.
The pony turned to Scootaloo, “Scoots?”
Scootaloo nodded, “I’m so glad I found you.”
“Ah’m surprised that we even managed to run into each other when ah’ve heard that there’s at least 10,000 people here!” Applebloom exclaimed.
Scootaloo looked at Applebloom again, “So why an earth pony?”
Applebloom gave a sheepish smile, “So ah could see what it felt like to be stronger than mah sis. Why are you a pegasus?”
Scootaloo fanned out her small wings, “Because I’ve always wanted to fly.”
After a short hug, Applebloom and Scootaloo looked around. The street they were on was growing quiet. Everypony was heading in the same direction.
“Should we follow them?” Applebloom asked.
“Yeah, lets hurry.”
There was a large crowd standing outside of a magic shop, inside was two ponies arguing over an ebony wand.
“Girls, girls!” Said the shopkeep, an older unicorn with a swirly beard. “This wand isn’t for sale!”
“What?!” Both Unicorns screeched.
“It’s going to be a reward in a magical tournament. But that is weeks away.” The Shopkeeper explained.
With a sigh the two unicorns stepped out of the shop, into the view of the crowd. The first one was a bit taller, purple with a purple streaked mane. She was easily in her early 20’s. The second was a bit smaller, in her teens. Her coat was white while her mane was a two tone of light purple and pink.
Shortly after, the crowd dispersed, leaving Scootaloo and Applebloom looking at the unicorn.
“Excuse me, but what is your name?” Scootaloo asked.
“Sweetie Belle, and you?” Sweetie answered, suddenly squished by her friends as they hugged her.
“Sweetie it’s us!” Applebloom said.
“Wait, how is it possible that we found each other?” Sweetie asked.
“Luck?” Scootaloo guessed.
Sweetie smiled, “I hope we find the boys soon, we need go get dinner.”
“Then what are we waiting fer? Let’s go an find them!” Applebloom exclaimed.
So the three took off to the next location.
Unlike the crowd at the magic store, the crowd at the bar was smaller and louder. In the middle were two ponies arm wrestling, one was smaller with a brown coat and orange-ish hair. The other was black with a two-tone grey mane.
"Honestly, Lane." The brown Earth Pony taunted."I'm literally not even trying."
"Yeah right!" The black Pegasus replied, clearly using all of his strength, yet still unable to budge his opponent's arm.
With a yawn, the Brown Stallion slammed his hoof down, instantly winning the competition.
"Button, dude," The Black Stallion started, "How did you beat me? I'm like, three times as strong as you IRL!"
"Oh Thunderlane." Button smiled. "Ever heard of the CMO Beta testers? You're looking at one."
Thunderlane's jaw dropped. "No way! That's awesome, dude!"
Button just nodded with a grin. “Another thing, Earth Ponies have all the strength!”
Thunderlane chuckled as his wings twitched. “Still, I can make you run for your money. Take care dude.”
Button waved as Thunderlane left the bar. Then he turned to see three fillies walking toward him.
“Button?!” Sweetie asked in surprise, eyeing his muscles.
“Yep, you guys seen Featherweight or Rumble yet?” Button asked, picking up a bag of golden coins from the table.
“Nah, not yet.” Applebloom replied.
“What’s that?” Scootaloo asked, pointing at the bag before it disappeared into Button’s inventory.
“Those were bits, the currency of this game.” Button explained.
“Button! There you are!” Shouted a grey pegasus with a black mane. He was followed by a white pegasus with a brown mane.
“Ah, now we got our guild!” Button answered.The other five just stared at Button with blank looks.
“Ah, right.” Button chuckled while rubbing the back of his head with a hoof, “A guild is a group of players that work together to beat challenges and quests given to them. The guild can be as small as six players, or as large as they want.”
“So what would our guild name be?” Sweetie asked.
“Hmm. . . “ Button hummed in thought.
"Something totally badass, that's what... How about... Crusaders of Light?"
"Yeah!" Sweetie agreed. "I like it!" "Same here!" "Nice ring tah it..." "Awesome name dude!" "Nice!"
"Then it's settled!" Button spoke as he pulled up the Guild Menu. "We are... The Crusaders of Light!"
A collective 'ding' went off as everyone there got their invites. Soon, the six were united in the guild.
“Now what?” asked Scootaloo.
“Now we log out and have dinner. We’ll check our money later.” Button replied as he opened his menu. A few seconds passed before Button spoke, “Uh oh.”
“What?” Sweetie asked.
“We uh. . . we seem to have a problem. . .”
“What is it?” Rumble asked.
“We. . .we can’t leave the game.”
The six crusaders looked at each other in worry before opening their own menus to check for themselves.
Sure enough, the log-out option was missing.
“W-what do we do?!” Exclaimed Sweetie, “I don’t want to stay here forever!”
But Sweetie wasn’t the only one. Everypony in the bar had opened their menus after hearing the exchange, and they too were stuck.
“What do we do?!” Sweetie exclaimed again.
Suddenly, a brown hoof rested on her shoulder, “We stay calm.” Button told her. Sweetie then tried her hardest not to blush. But a faint snickering came from Scootaloo and Applebloom.
“So now what Button?” Rumble asked, looking at the panic that was starting.
Button gripped his chin in thought. “Ah-ha!” He shouted, causing the group to jump.
“What?” Featherweight asked.
“There should be an access terminal in the middle of the city that players can use to report bugs to the game mods.” He looked at the confused faces of his group. With a sigh, he simplified, “A computer that you can put your complaint into.”
With an unanimous “OH!” The group set off for the middle of town.
By the time they reached the middle of town, the Crusaders realised that it was hopeless.
Thousands of ponies were trying to get to the terminals. But sadly, no answer came from them.
“Why aren’t they responding?!” A nearby pegasus exclaimed, rage evident in her face.
The crowd broke into a loud conversation as theories of why they were trapped began to circle.
Some of the younger ponies began to cry while others were starting to draw their weapons on each other.
“BWOOOOOOOOP!”
Everypony was startled into silence by the alarm. It continued to ring as a red force field fell over the city.
Then, a being appeared in the air above the city. The only thing the ponies saw was a giant cloak, which concealed the being's face, and body for that matter.
“Attention players.” It spoke, “ I am Satsukan Marakanoke, you should all know me as the man responsible for the making of this game.” He gave pause as some ponies began to chatter again.
“By now most of you will notice you can’t leave.” Satsukan continued. “Do not worry, this is intentional.” At this, ponies burst into an outrage.
“You are now trapped here, and only by clearing all 100 chambers of the maze may you leave. If you are killed here, your Navgear will kill your body with electromagnetic pulses.”
Ponies began to cry. “Many of you wonder what is the purpose for my doing this. The purpose is simple. I wish to see what the power of a god truly is.”
As the red dome began to disappear, Satsukan said one last thing.
The Crusaders of Light sat in the bar. None of them dared to speak. Outside, panic was everywhere.
"My God" Scootaloo mumbled in shock. "My God...."
“So, what’s the plan, leader?” Rumble asked Button, who seemed to be deep in thought.
“Well, we have to raise our levels. That's the only way to get stronger here, and we're gonna need to be pretty damn strong if we want to clear this game. Next order of business is fighting this Chamber’s boss in order to get to the next Chamber..”
“Actually, where are we?” Featherweight asked.
“This area is called the Glassed Lands. Most of it is desert except for a few hills near this city.” Button replied, looking over a map.
“Wait, what is this city called?” Sweetie asked.
“This is the city of Valorient. The hills around it are called the Endless Verdant.” Button explained while standing. “And now I have our route, let's go!”
"Wait." Scootaloo rose. "Button, I don't think the rest of us know how to do anything in this game. I say Button tries to get us some gold by killing low-level monsters while the rest of us play the tutorials."
Button blinked. "That's... A better idea. Just find the tutorials in the settings submenu, guys." He called out, leaving the bar. "Meet back here at Midnight!"
Scootaloo panted as she parried Applebloom’s blow. She was tired. Everybody was tired.
Applebloom looked to the west as the last lights of the sun faded away, “Ah think that’s good for today. . .”
Sweetie looked around for a moment before asking, “Where do we sleep?”
“In a hotel, I presume.” Rumble guessed, “But I think we should head back to the bar first.”
Everypony paused as they realized they didn’t know how to get back.
“I guess I’ll lead the way. . . “ Rumble sighed as he took off towards the town.
The other crusaders fell in line behind him as they made their way through the city.
“If you're stuck, take one of these, I promise they’ll help!” Said a white pony with blue streaked black hair.
“What are they?” Featherweight asked.
“Guides.” The pony smiled, “Guides to surviving in CMO.”
“Did ya make these? All by yourself?” Applebloom asked.
“Oh good heavens no! I had a friend that helped me.” The pony replied.
“Who was it?” Sweetie wondered.
“A good kid called Button Mash.” The pony sighed whimsically, “Oh the times we had.”
“Wait, you’re a beta-tester?!” Rumble exclaimed.
“That I am, one of the first.” The pony boasted, “Me an’ Mash got further than any of the testers. Cleared half the game, we did.”
“You made it to chamber 50?” Scootaloo asked in disbelief. "That far in two weeks?!"
“Oh yes, but listen good: No one could pass it.” The pony warned.
“Wait, why not?” Scootaloo wondered.
“Because, the boss was adaptable.” The pony explained.
“Adaptable?” Sweetie wondered, “You mean, he learned from your attacks?”
The pony nodded, “Yes. He learned from Button’s and my attacks.”
“But, he would become virtually undefeatable!” Rumble exclaimed.
“Only if you went one at a time.” The pony answered, “I believe dealing with him is simple as an ambush. Divide his attention so he won’t have time to learn.”
“But if that is only level 50, I’d hate to see level 100.” Sweetie commented.
The stranger laughed. "I'd still hate to see level 50! I heard that the devs buffed up all the enemies just before release."The pony chuckled, “If you know Button. Tell him he owes Paladin Inferius a dance.”
“We will.” Rumble told Inferius, then he paused, “You wouldn't happen to know where the bar is?”
He deadpanned. "Depends on the bar, kiddo." Inferius laughed, "I kid, I kid. If Button hasn't changed, he'll still be going to the Lucky Star. Head west on the next intersection. Bar will be on your left.”
Scootaloo smiled, “Thanks.”
Thus, the guild left in the direction Inferius gave them. None of them spoke, as they were all trying to memorize the route to the bar.
“So. . . “ Scootaloo hummed to herself. ”Do you guys think Button found the boss yet?”
“I suppose that all depends on whether or not it’s room moved.” Rumble answered.
“Wait, you mean the rooms can move?” Sweetie asked.
“From what Button told me, this game is designed with an AI tech program called ‘Daedalus Tech’.” Rumble explained.
“Wait. . . “ Applebloom paused, “Wasn’t Daedalus the guy who built that labyrinth in the ancient greek times?”
“But then that would mean. . .” Scootaloo breathed.
“We’re in the deadliest maze in history.” Button Mash finished.
The group sat in the Lucky Star. All of them we’re lost in thought.
“This is going to be hard if we can’t find a way to navigate it.” Rumble sighed.
Button nodded, “You’re right, we need to find that way.”
Suddenly Sweetie gasped. “Guys! I remember now! The legend!”
“What legend Sweetie?” Scootaloo asked her.
“There was a guy who navigated the first labyrinth. He did it with a special string!” Sweetie explained.
“So, leader, how do we go about finding it?” Rumble asked.
“Simple.” Button answered, “A NPC should be giving us a quest with the string as a reward.”
“So, all we gotta do is find the right NPC before the other 10,000 players do?” Scootaloo summarized.
Button nodded. “That’s right! Let’s go find us that ball of string!”
The group had searched half of the town before regrouping at the blacksmith shop that Applebloom had been to earlier.
“Any luck?” Rumble asked Button as he walked up to the meeting place.
Button shook his head, “None. I’m afraid.”
“Maybe one of the storekeepers know where we could go?” Sweetie suggested.
“Hmm, maybe.” Scootaloo agreed before stepping inside the blacksmith’s shop. “Excuse me, where can we find Ariadne’s string?” She asked the blacksmith.
“Well, if it’s Princess Ariadne’s String, then I would head to the castle north of here.” The NPC replied.
“C’mon guys, I know the way!” Button exclaimed.
And so, the group took off across the desert to find the castle of Princess Ariadne.
But, unknown to them, another group followed close behind. And these players had red symbols above their heads.