The clock is ticking and Twilight is tapping her front hooves on the table impatiently. She is waiting for an important delivery from Canterlot. It is a gift from Princess Celestia. Spike, who is playing his Gamefilly Advanced, cannot help but get annoyed from the sound of tapping and ends up blurting out what has been bothering him all week.

Spike: ”Its not fair!”

Twilight: ”Not this again..”

Spike: ”Why are you the one, that gets to play ECO?”

Twilight: ”ECO?”

Spike: ”Are you kidding me?! You don't even know the name of the game you are about to play? Equestria Crawler Online is THE MOST HARDCORE action RPG ever made!”

Twilight: ”I am not exactly interested in playing it..”

Spike: ”Who are you trying to fool? The way you are acting right now tells me otherwise.”

Twilight: ”I am simply interested in the idea of being able to speak with Princess Celestia, that is all.. For some reason, most of my friends have been very busy lately and this might help with the boredom i am feeling. Not to mentioned, you are way too small to play such a.. ha-hardcore game.”

Spike: ”I'm a fucking dragon, that shit can't faze me!”

Twilight: ”Spike! Watch your language!”

Spike: ”Uh.. sorry Twilight.”

As Twilight was about to scold Spike further, somepony knocked on the door. Delivery must be here. Twilight used her magic to open the door.

Derpy: ”Delivery!”

Twilight: ”Finally! Uh, actually you are way too early..”

Derpy: ”I hope i'm not causing any problems like this, but i sort of wanna get home early!”

Twilight: ”Oh, why is that?”

Derpy: ”Well, i am sort of.. into gaming and stuff..”

Twilight: ”Funny you should mention that, as i am about to try out ECO for the first time. Maybe we could play together some time?”

Derpy: ”Oh.. Sorry, but i.. i don't play with noobs..”

Derpy gave Twilight the package and took flight, leaving Twilight wondering, what in the hay is a ”noob”. Spike used this moment to flee from the scene.

Derpy is flying fast as she is really exited. Tomorrow ECO is going to have a major update, that enables three player co-operative mode, not to mentioned hundreds of new items, that might completely change the way you can play the game. Some rumors about PvP have been floating around, but it is hard to imagine how that would even work well in a game like this. Also there is going to be a competition. The team with most power at the end of the week, will be the winner. The winning prize wont be revealed until the winner is decided. Derpy is a very confident mare and she never gives up, so she decided, that she will compete without a team. She wont be able to use the power she has gathered so far, because the competition will use a new server, but she has not been even trying that hard yet. Only enough to stay on top of the ranking list. Somepony did try hard to catch up, but that was not even a minor problem. You could say, that the biggest reason Derpy is so good at the game, is because of her computer, but it would be false to assume, that this is the only reason. You see, Derpy has a unique eye sight, that is well synced with her brain, making it possible to react faster and even predict some things. This, however, is only possible with the help of P-X computer model. P stands for pegasi and is a standard model for pegasi, that wish to be able to use wings to interact with the computer, incase hooves feel awkward. Sadly, when Derpy used the P model for the first time, her eyes couldn't concentrate for some reason. After few hours she had unbearable eye pain. She took matters in her own hooves and started studying technology. This was years ago, before ECO even existed.  About a year ago, just before ECO Beta testing started, she had finished customizing her own computer. She has three screens and she can keep track of them all at the same time. Her wings control screen one, hooves the control screen two and her voice controls the screen three. She can start the game on each screen and play three characters at once and for some reason she has no trouble keeping up with the action. This has unofficially broken the well known fact, that unicorn model is the best. Obviously magic is a very convenient way of controlling a computer.

Derpy arrives home and shouts ”I'm home!”. It was a customized computer startup voice command and the computer responded, ”Welcome home, Derpy Hooves.”

Derpy: ”Top 10!”

Computer: *beep*

Harmony P0N3T browser starts and loads ECO ranking page.

Equestria Crawler Online Top 10:

Rank:         Name:                           Power:               Model:  

1                Derpynator                    99,991,337        P-X  

2                R3D-3Y3                       82,561,688        U  

3                CupOfChaos                 72,180,191        U  

4                DarkVoiceOfCanterlot   55,221,000        U  

5                ModestMagician            10,000,000        U  

6                DumbFabric                   2,866,190         U  

7                Sonic-Chickenboom      2,626,912          P  

8                DrappleBlood                1,666,999          E  

9                LAN-PartyCannon         567,890             E  

10              Bunny                           480,360              P  

The difference in power is very large. Mainly because computers are still rare in Equestria and Derpy was one of the first players in ECO. Lately, however, she has been delivering a lot of them and a month ago the top 10 finally had 10 names in it.

Derpy: ”Team top 10!”

Computer: *beep*

Rank:          Name:                             Power:

1                 [Powerful Night-Critters]  0

2                 [Remixed Party Chaos]   0

3                 [Cutie Mark Crusaders]   0

4                 None

5                 None

6                 None

7                 None

8                 None

9                 None

10               None

Derpy: ”Open tab team 1! Open tab team 2! Open tab team 3!”

Computer: *beep*

Three new tabs open in the P0N3T browser, revealing information about each team.

Team name:             Powerful Night-Critters

Members:                 Bunny, ModestMagician, DarkVoiceOfCanterlot

Team name:            Remixed Party Chaos

Members:                R3D-3Y3, LAN-PartyCannon, CupOfChaos

Team name:            Cutie Mark Crusaders

Members:                DumbFabric, Sonic-Chickenboom, DrappleBlood

Seems like everypony else in top 10 has registered already, but it is somewhat disappointing to see no new names. Maybe Twilight Sparkle will join later..

Derpy has no voice command set for creating a new team. It is a tool created for gaming after all. Not for general use. She now starts using her wings and the same site appears on another screen.

==> Create new team

Team name:                      Delivering The Derp

Invite following players:     None

==> Ok

The new team now appears in the ranking list.  Hmm, 6 hours until midnight.. Cannot wait!

Twilight finished setting up the computer and is now looking at the shortcuts on the desktop. She looks confused and decides to take a look at the letter, that Celestia sent yesterday.

”My dearest and most faithful student Twilight Sparkle,

I am glad, that you are willing to help me with this very important quest and i will be sending you what you need in order to assist me.

Once you receive and set up the computer i sent you in mail, follow these steps:

1. Start the Harmony P0N3T browser and go to ppp.ChaosCommunication.ele

1.1 Download and install PonyShouter 3

1.2 Join PonyGamer.cha, room name: ECO – Private #1, password: quest

1.3 I can assist you after that, incase you have trouble with next step.

2. go to ppp.EquestriaCrawlerOnline.ele

2.1 Create a new account. You need this code to create it: M3s54gEt05omeBr0NI3sDonTCL0Pt0P0n1EsyOUs1cKMon5T3R5

2.2 Download the game

Your BFF and mentor, Princess Celestia”

Twilight: ”Right.. Harmony browser.. Where it is? Ah, right there!”

She spotted the right shortcut right next to BronyGuard AV software. Few minutes pass, new software is downloaded and installed and she is now connecting to the PonyGamer server. She plugs in her ponyspeaker and gives it a test:

Twilight: ”Hello?”

Celestia: ”Am i glad to hear you Twilight.. wait, is that an echo i hear? Haha, silly Twilight. You need to use headphones, so we do not hear our own voices when we talk.”

Twilight: ”Oh, sorry! Just a second..”

Dash: ”Yeah Twi, learn from the elites!”

Twilight: ”Rainbow Dash, is that you?”

Dash: ”Well, duh.. You think i would ignore a competition?”

Twilight: ”Competition? Wait, what exactly was this important quest, that you need help with?”

Celestia: ”We must beat Discord.”

Twilight: ”Discord is free again?!”

Celestia: ”Oh Twilight, he has been free for a while, but even Lord of Chaos takes a vacation sometimes. No, this is not about him causing problems around Equestria. However, he did challenge me and we agreed on a bet.”

Twilight: ”You agreed on a bet?”

Celestia: ”I believe i just stated, that i did? Or did you expect me to refuse a challenge?”

Dash: ”Twi, it would be so uncool to run away from a competition!”

Twilight: ”Uh, ok.. Let us leave it at that for now and could somepony explain what the competition is about?”

Celestia: ”As i mentioned in one of the letters before, there is a certain game, that will be getting a major update and i need your help with that.”

Twilight: ”In what way exactly am i going to help you?”

Celestia: ”We, as in me, you and Rainbow Dash will be forming a team and play the game together, starting midnight today. The competition will last for a week and if possible, we should not take any long brakes. Did you get the potions i recommended?”

Twilight: ”Yes, i have plenty of ”True Energy” potions and-WHOA, wait for just a second now! This competition will last for a week?! I can't ignore my duties for such a long time period!”

Celestia: ”You have no reason to worry. I sent some guards over there to deal with your duties and prepare you some proper meals, so that nothing will stop you from playing the game. You should have no trouble concentrating on this task.”

Twilight: ”This.. I can't help but feel, that this is somewhat ridiculous.”

Dash: ”I used to think the same thing about you and books..”

Celestia: ”Well said! Stop doubting my brilliant plan!”

Twilight: ”This is.. I do not.. *sigh* You are right, maybe i just can't see the bigger picture. I apologize.. However, is it fair, that there is three of us and Discord is alone?”

Celestia: ”Discord is not alone. He as well, has a team of three.”

Twilight: ”What? Who would team up with Discord?!”

Dash: ”Vinyl Scratch and Pinkie Pie. The team is called Remixed Party Chaos.”

…

…

Twilight: ”I will get the game installed as soon as possible. We have no time to waste.”

Dash: ”Aaaaawwww yeah!”

Celestia: ”You need to learn as much as possible before the competition starts. I will use PonySpec to spectate you as you play and guide you through the basics in no time.”

Meanwhile at another house close by, where music is loud and party lights and lasers are bright. It is, no doubt, the most chaotic LAN-Party in history of Equestria. Code name: Balloon Party. The songs are so hardcore, that Pinkie Pie is unable to stop twitching and laughing at herself twitching.

Pinkie Pie: ”Hahaha *snort* this is so much fun! We got to do this again for sure!”

Discord: ”Mmm.. hahaha! Already forgot, that this little party of chaos will last for a week? Maybe you should lower the volume just a bit, Scratch, or Pinkie Pie wont be able to play the game!”

P0N-3: ”Sure thing! Oh, somepony sent me an email.. Who could it.. Oh..”

Pinkie Pie: ”Its Mando! Am i right or am i right! Hahaha, haha *snort* hahaha!”

P0N-3: ”Yes.. And he actually linked a song he made.. about me?”

Pinkie Pie: ”Oh! Play it, play it, play it! Turn it up! Let the whole Ponyville hear it!”

Discord: ”Bahaha! What is this? You never mentioned you had something going on. Sure he wont be missing you, when you are stuck here for a whole week?”

P0N-3: ”We have nothing going on. I already told him, that music is my true interest. I guess this was the answer he came up with. He never told me, that he makes music.. Ok, lets spin this shit!”

Now Playing: My Special Somepony is a DJ - The V-Scratch Sessions

Pinkie Pie: ”Woaaaaah!! Is that him singing?! He can sing! This pony can sing! I mean, i guess the lyrics are sort of simple and-”

Discord: ”It is missing a small seasoning of chaos, but i got to admit this youngster has talent.”

Pinkie Pie: ”Mando is not that young, silly!”

Discord: ”Oh please, i can call everypony in Ponyville young. I am far older than any of you.”

Pinkie Pie: ”*snort* Hahaha, you are not old! You still know how to paaaartaaay!”

Discord: ”Bahaha, i guess you are right! Once our DJ here has responded to the love confession, let's play some ECO, shall we?”

Pinkie Pie: ”Yeah! This game is so much fun! I keep losing, but i just want to keep playing and trying, haha!”

Discord: ”You are not supposed to win at this game. You simply survive as long as you can.”

Pinkie Pie: ”Haha! *snort* Hahaha, that is why aiming to win is so much more fun!”

P0N-3: ”This song stays on repeat for now. Let's play!”

We now take a look at a certain club house. Headquarters of Cutie Mark Crusaders. Three little fillies are all staring at their own computer screen, looking very serious for some reason. They are playing a game, in preparation for what is about to happen later, at midnight. Nopony knows, that they have computers, because they have been clever about this. Not to mentioned how lucky they were to get a chance to fool both Rarity and Applejack just few hours ago. It is like, the game wants them to participate in the competition.

First of all, Sweetie Belle mastered the gem finding spell and thanks to that they managed to collect loads of gems. This was hard work, but worth it. After few days they managed to find someone, who they can trust with the task of delivering gems to Canterlot, so they can get some bits. Derpy Hooves was the mare responsible for this job and as a payment she got 25% of the profit. Derpy was not so much after money as she was an understanding senior gamer. She also delivered the computer, that CMC ordered. When technology and gaming is involved, Derpy is extra careful and motivated with the delivery.

At this point, our fillies had no idea, that there will be a competition for their favorite game in about a month. Once it was finally announced, about a week before the competition, our brave crusaders were depressed. There was no way they could participate in a competition, that lasts for a week and involves a violent game, right? However, just today it just happened to be, that Rarity must go to Canterlot to make a dress for some very important and busy pony, while Applejack and Big Macintosh have to leave ponyville for a week as well to help Braeburn in Appleloosa. So both Rarity and Applejack, busy as they were, asked girls to go ask Fluttershy if she could take care of them. Girls had an idea. They took a cassette recorder and asked Fluttershy if she could take care of Rarity's cat, Opalescence, for a week and recorded her answer: ”Oh, yes! It would be my pleasure!”. They had a solid false permission. The last of the bits they had saved up for Cutie Mark Crusader activity, was used to buy some food for the club house and they even got their hooves on some energy potions, thanks to Derpy.

Scootaloo: ”One of us is getting a cutie mark this week for sure!”

Apple bloom: ”I agree!”

Sweetie Belle: ”Even if that is not exactly the plan this time, yeah!”

Meanwhile at Fluttershy's place, there was an unusual commotion. Just few hours ago when Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple bloom dropped off Opal, everything was normal, but it seems Fluttershy has agreed to do something unusual with some new friends.

Fluttershy: ”Umm, is everything ok?”

Luna: ”Yes, i have this under control.”

Trixie: ”I did not expect royalty to be an expert of technology. This being a compliment of course! I also admire your skill as a magician.”

Luna: ”You are so kind.. When i.. returned, i had many problems with fitting in. I looked for a solution and technology seemed to be one of them.”

Trixie: ”Hmm, is that the reasons that motivated a pony of your status to play this game?”

Luna: ”Well, yes, but i have a far bigger reason to play this game. I suppose you can be trusted with this information. As you both know, i used to be known as Nightmare Moon. It is a side of me, that everypony consider to be gone now, but the truth is that i still need to let her out sometimes and i do this while playing games.”

Fluttershy: ”Oh dear..”

Luna: ”You have no reason to be alarmed. I am positive, that you are not in danger. Same cannot be said for other teams, hahaha!”

Trixie: ”Hahaha, we are going to dominate this competition!”

Fluttershy: ”ok..”

Twilight selected ECO shortcut and pressed enter. After some fancy logos, the intro for the game appears. It starts by floating through a beautiful land, that is obviously Equestria. Voice starts speaking.

Equestria is the land of beauty and grand shine,

Ponies believed, that everything is going just fine.

Suddenly the screen flashes in red and whole Equestria is now very dark and scary.

Something went wrong, would everypony say at least,

Fight or begone, as horror on your mind will feast.

After showing the large and cruel game world briefly, the intro suddenly decides to reveal a small cave, where ponies seem to be hiding. They look so sad and weak. Afraid of what could happen at any moment.

They question, does pony even stand a chance,

prove them wrong, or is this your last dance?

Some sort of abomination appears and the ponies are now running in panic, deeper in the cave.

Everything is in chaos, but still possible to tame,

why do that, nobody is here to admire your fame.

Old mare opens a secret passage and apparently orders few fillies to escape through it, but instead of following the fillies, the old mare closes the way and meets her end.

Your path looks so grim, since just a filly you are,

but the old mare told us, this road might take us far.

Equestria Crawler Online

Twilight wants to quit the game already.

Twilight: ”Why would anypony make a game like this? Do i really have to play this?”

Celestia: ”But Twilight, you promised..”

Twilight: ”Aha! AHAHA! YES, I DID PROMISE! PERFECT! Just.. perfect..”

Celestia: ”That is right, i almost forgot. What is your player name? I need it to create our team”

Twilight: ”AstronomicalDestiny”

Celestia: ”Lets see now.. Combine DaringWonder with AstronomicalDestiny and my nickname.. You get.. Oh wow, this is perfect!”

Dash: ”What did you come up with?”

Celestia: ”Daring Trolls of Destiny!”

Twilight and Dash: ”Excuse me?”

Celestia: ”DaringWonder, AstronomicalDestiny and Trollestia”

Twilight: ”Your name is Trollestia? What does that even mean?”

Celestia: ”Do not worry about such little details. You just have to believe me when i say, that the name is absolutely brilliant”

Celestia was not ready to reveal anypony, that she has another side, that she is unable to control completely. She has always been searching for hobbies, where she could let this side loose. This game seems to work well for that purpose. The truth is, that she sometimes laughs very loudly in a manner, that could be considered as ”evil”. This is not going to be a problem while playing, as she has ”push to talk” enabled in order to communicate with Twilight or Rainbow.

About a millennium ago when Celestia's sister ”went berserk” as Nightmare Moon, nopony knew that this actually happened because Trollestia was on the loose as well. Celestia had always been smarter than Luna and thanks to some clever schemes nopony knew, that the real problem had been Trollestia all along. When Luna returned, Celestia feared that the secret will be revealed, but it seems that 1000 years was enough for Luna to forget what really happened. Of course Celestia is truly sorry and regrets everything that happened, but it is hard to apologize when everypony believes you are perfect in so many ways. She is working hard to make sure, that this wont happen again, but the truth is that she failed to control it just recently and agreed on a challenge sent forth by Discord. Right now the only thing that matters, is winning. Trollestia will be going wild this week.

Twilight: ”Hey Dash, are you ok? I am not used to seeing.. i mean, hearing you this quiet.”

Dash: ”I'm just busy playing this totally awesome game!”

Twilight: ”Wait, you actually like this game?”

Dash: ”Well, duhh! If i didn't like it, why would i play it?”

Twilight: ”I just thought.. never mind.”

Celestia: ”Hey Twilight, how long are you planning to stare the main menu? Customize your pony and start the game! Oh, and you only get to customize once, so i guess if you care about details, choose carefully. I myself clicked the random option until i got something decent and just rode with it”

Twilight: ”Sorry!”

Twilight completely forgot, that Celestia was spectating. This adds some pressure on her, but once she realizes how in-depth the customization is, she completely forgets about Celestia. After 30 minutes she has a perfect filly version of herself as her character, except that she has no horn or cutie mark.

Twilight: ”How can i add a horn?”

Celestia: ”Huh? Oh right, i got tired of watching you customizing, so what are you-Oh wow! You actually managed to make a little filly version of yourself. Ah right, the horn. You are unable to add a horn, wings or a cutie mark, because those are special powers you can gain as you play. Each time you fail, you lose all process. Exception is the power you earn, that is based on what you have achieved. You can reuse the power each time you restart and buy items and other useful stuff. More power enabled more stuff and so forth.

Twilight: ”Ok.. I think i understand.”

Twilight pressed continue and can now choose ”New Attempt”. Just like the intro and main menu, the loading screen is creepy. It is showing off some creepy dark tome, that has a picture of zebra with glowing red eyes on the cover and bellow the book is written a hint.

”Every item, object or being in the game could be deceiving. Something as simple as a book could hold a great power or it could cause great misfortune. Then again, it could be just a normal book. It is up to you to decide if it is worth the risk”

Some sort of window appears and at left side has a lot of stuff in it. Helmets, cloaks, body armors, boots, scrolls, potions and other useful stuff. At the right side is similar, but there are no items and bellow this is a number 0 and some sort of white sun symbol. I concentrate on this symbol with my magic and the word ”power” appears. So i have 0 power.

Celestia: ”You cannot buy anything yet. Once you have played the game few times and actually managed to do something, you can use the power you earned to buy items and improve yourself each time you start over. Improvements are not permanent, so you have to respend the power once you start over. But to make it easier, at least the game asks if you want to improve the same attributes as last time to speed the process. The items, however, are always sort of random, while still balanced based on the amount of power you have, so you have to look through the shop and buy new items each time.  Above the shop window you see another tab, that takes you to the character screen, that has information about you. In this game, you have no experience levels and even your strength, agility, intelligence and other usual attributes are not revealed accurately. You can only see a text stating if you are somewhat smart or weak. Once you start the game, you can no longer even access the character information window, unless you get a certain scroll or learn a spell, that enables this. Not exactly useful, but sometimes knowing your stats can give you confidence. So based on this, the only way to know for sure, that you are becoming stronger, is to either use better items and learn new abilities or spells. Still, you will improve as you fight, even if you cannot tell the difference. Same thing can be said about becoming weaker. Sometimes you may see a message like -You have been cursed- and have no idea what exactly it does to you.”

Twilight: ”I had no idea this game is so complicated..”

Celestia: ”Sorry, did i explain too much?”

Twilight: ”No, i have no trouble following what you just said. It is just that.. i thought games are simple and.. less interesting.”

Dash: ”Ahh, not fair.. I got beaten by a giant snake! It was a boss!”

Celestia: ”I have not seen that boss yet.. The amount of monsters in this game is just ridiculous, but it is one of the few things you can learn from. Certain monsters always have certain abilities or you can guess some special abilities they have by simply looking at them. As an example if they have this cold looking blue aura around them, they can slow you if you go near them.”

Dash: ”I don't think i can remember all of this..”

Twilight: ”Maybe you do not have to remember all of it.. Once we start playing together, i can remind you when this information is needed.

Celestia: ”Exactly.. Now, Twilight, please start the game.

Twilight: ”Ehehe! Right!”

Twilight closes the shop window and after a short delay the hornless filly version of herself is alone in a dark cave. Twilight starts moving west and soon finds a small pond. She moves close to it and has an option to drink, dip or bathe in it. Before Celestia had the chance to warn Twilight, she had already chosen to drink from the pond.

AstronomicalDestiny feels sick.

Celestia: ”Well done. You are probably poisoned.”

Twilight: ”Oh no, what can i do?”

Celestia: ”Nothing really, except you could keep moving and hope for the best. Good thing is, that poison wont reduce your health bar. However, it will slow you down and makes it hard to fight well. Also, it might kill you suddenly.”

Twilight keeps moving west and finds a chest. She can open or kick. Twilight decides to open it, but the chest is locked. Twilight gives up and starts moving west again, but is interrupted by Celestia.

Celestia: ”What are you doing?! Kick the chest, silly!”

Twilight: ”Ohh, sorry!”

Twilight goes back and kicks the chest.

The chest was trapped! AstronomicalDestiny is hit by a poison dart!

AstronomicalDestiny feels very sick and is barely conscious.

Celestia: ”That was unlucky. Traps are not that common in early chests. Hmm, you can open the chest now.”

Twilight: ”Right..”

Chest contains: Unidentified Potion, unidentified scroll.

Celestia: ”Ok, i think you wont survive for long, so you might want to take a gamble and drink the potion you got.

AstronomicalDestiny drinks the Unidentified Potion.

It tastes like poison! AstronomicalDestiny dies.

Celestia: ”Uh.. Not.. Not bad for a first try!”

Dash: ”Pfft! She died already? Hahaha! Come on Twilight, you should be better than that!”

Twilight: ”This game is hard.. and there are monsters as well, right? How can a filly fight against monsters?”

Celestia: ”At the beginning it is more about running away and using the environment against the monsters if possible, unless you are lucky and find some useful scrolls or you have earned enough power to spend it at the shop for some good items.”

AstronomicalDestiny earned a total score of 225 and gained 1 Power.

225 / 100 x 0.5 = 1

Twilight: ”What does this mean?”

Celestia: ”That is your score, based on how well you did. It is converted into power. Since you died in such an embarrassing way, you got a negative multiplier. Death against normal monster gives you the usual 1.0 multiplier and sometimes your actions might give additional multipliers, making it look something like this.. *PonyShouterChat: 15 000 / 100 x (1.0 + 0.2 + 0.35) = 232 Power* It can be even better if you get killed by something amazing.”

Twilight: ”Killed by something amazing? That sounds wrong no matter how much i keep repeating it.”

Celestia: ”You should try again right away. It is important to make some progress to get the feel, that it is possible to play this game.”

Twilight: ”Fine..”

Twilights selects New Attempt and the loading screen is now showing a shadow, that looks like a monster of some sort and there is another tip at the bottom:

The world is full of creatures, that live in the shadows. Sometimes it will pay off to be alert as you might notice something and act based on this. You can even spot some traps, like pressure plates or wires. Most monsters can trigger and take damage from traps.

Shop screen pops up and Twilight closes it. Not like 1 power is enough to buy anything. She now realizes that she started in a cave again, but it is clearly different this time. It must be randomly generated. This time she noticed an item before even moving anywhere. Unidentified Circlet. Twilight picks it up.

Celestia: ”When you get far, it becomes too risky to wear unidentified stuff as it could be cursed, but in your current situation i would wear it.”

Twilight: ”Makes sense.”

AstronomicalDestiny is now wearing a Circlet.

AstronomicalDestiny feels smart.

AstronomicalDestiny feels happy.

Celestia: ”First game you are really unlucky and now you get something very useful without taking a step. Interesting.”

Twilight: ”My character feels happy?”

Celestia: ”Your characters starts as sad and scared. You can get rid of fear by becoming brave or get rid of both sadness and fear by simply becoming happy. It is really useful as you wont be frozen by fear as easily. Not to mention, that scrolls, magic and abilities work far better when you are not sad or afraid.”

Twilight: ”Then what about..”

Celestia: ”Your character is smarter, as in, she has more knowledge about things in general.  I do not know the exact details, but it might help you at most things you do.”

Dash: ”Do you really need to know all this? I never asked for advice and i am doing just fine!”

Celestia: ”You have been playing a lot since last week. Even if you are not showing good performance, you keep improving thanks to the power you gain.”

Dash: ”I am not doing bad! My performance is off the charts!”

Celestia: ”At least i know you can be trusted and once we work together, i can work around any weakness we might have. Main problem being lack of knowledge about the game itself.”

Dash: ”I have no weakness!”

Celestia: ”Everypony has a weakness in this game. Some rank high but none have actually beaten the game. It might take years of hard work to gain the power required to do that. I am not sure how much the update will change the game, but developers promised, that it will be even harder in some ways to make up for the advantage gained from having a team.”

Dash: ”I'm going to be just awesome, so you two better not bring our team down!”

Twilight: ”I am working on that..”

Twilight stops idling around in game and starts moving right. She noticed some sort of stone altar, that has a book on it. It is shining in the dark.

Celestia: ”I would not touch that!”

Twilight: ”I.. well, i guess it could be a trap..”

Celestia: ”There is one very good reason, why you should not risk your game for a book yet.”

Twilight: ”Why?”

Celestia: ”You have no horn. You cannot use magic anyway.”

Twilight: ”But how do i know it is a spell book and not something else?”

Celestia: ”Twilight, this is a game. Every book is a spell book or a trap. There are no books, that help you in another way. At least not yet..  Also you learn abilities in another way”

Twilight: ”I understand, i wont take the risk and-Ah, WHAT IS THAT?! Oh no, oh no!

Black Mist appeared!

AstronomicalDestiny is still happy.

Celestia: ”Run!”

Some sort of big Black Mist appeared from north and is floating towards at the filly!  Twilight moves the little filly south and hopes to get away.

Twilight: ”What do i do?! It is catching up!”

Celestia: ”Keep running! If something useful shows up, i will let you-”

-CRASH-

Terrotorment [BOSS] appeared!

AstronomicalDestiny is still happy.

Huge boss monster broke through the cave wall in front of the little filly. Purple dark scales, slightly lizard like, but very big and strong and.. slow? As a weapon it is holding a powerful and oversized double halberd with its both hands. Large health bar appeared at the bottom, with Terrotorment written on it.

Twilight: ”How useful indeed!”

Celestia: ”Trust me, if you time this right, maybe the black mist will attack this boss monster instead! Run closer to it and as soon as it realizes you are there, turn left.

Twilight: ”This game is driving me crazy!”

Twilight is not sure what is scarier. That there are two powerful monsters after little filly or the fact, that the little filly is constantly smiling. The new boss monster now realized, that there is a little filly running towards it.

Celestia: ”Now! Turn left!”

Terrotorment used Darkened Dash

The boss monster used some sort of ability to become as dark as a shadow and quickly dashed towards the little filly, but missed as the little happy filly turned left early enough. The monster dashed at the Black Mist instead and now the Black Mist is going wild, covering the boss monster inside itself. After a short moment the Black Mist simply vanished with the boss monster, but something else was left on the ground.

Terrotorment defeated!

Twilight's heart is racing and she is still at ready as it makes no sense why both of the threats simply vanished.

Celestia: ”Congratulations. Now, go get the well earned loot.”

Twilight: ”Where did the Black Mist go?”

Celestia: ”This is the first time i see either of those things, but based on what i have read from the online guide, Black Mist must devour enough monsters in order to travel to another dimension. If you are fast enough, you can simply outrun it. As for Terrotorment, never heard of it! That Darkened Dash sure surprised me..”

Little happy filly goes to loot the small pile of items. Following items are on the ground:

3 x scrolls of identify, unidentified scroll, unidentified leather boots, 4 x unidentified potions and unidentified gold bracelet.

Celestia: ”Pick it all up and identify the boots and golden bracelet.”

AstronomicalDestiny casts identify.

Screaming Cursed Leather Boots of Weakness

lower strength

taunts enemies

more damage taken from physical attacks

Golden Bracelet of Minor Luck

increase luck

AstronomicalDestiny is now wearing Golden Bracelet of Minor Luck.

AstronomicalDestiny feels lucky.

Celestia: ”Very nice, but there is only about an hour left until the competition starts, so you might want to take more risks now and after that you should go and accept the invite is sent you, so we are an official team”

Twilight: ”Already? I barely know how to play..”

Celestia: ”That cannot be helped. It took you so long to download the game. Have the guards arrived yet?”

Twilight: ”Hmm? Oh, right. Not yet.”

Twilight then figured, that if she has nothing to worry about, might as well go and pick up that book.

Celestia: ”Maybe that is a bit too risky.”

Twilight: ”I am curious about what could happen.”

The little filly has returned to the area where the mysterious book is shining. Twilight selects the book and has an option to read, take or destroy the book.

AstronomicalDestiny takes the book.

AstronomicalDestiny was fooled!

Some sort of dark force field surrounds a large area around the book, making it impossible for the little filly to leave.

Frail Entity [BOSS] appeared!

AstronomicalDestiny is still happy.

Twilight cannot see the boss and this scares her even more. Large health bar appeared on the bottom again.

Twilight: ”Where is it?!”

Celestia: ”I have no idea what it is.”

Suddenly a ghostly transparent ”thing” appeared right next to the little filly, but just for a quick moment before disappearing again.

Frail Entity absorbed some of AstronimicalDestiny's entity!

AstronomicalDestiny feels weaker.

AstronomicalDestiny is hallucinating.”

This completely freaks out Twilight, who then backs away from her computer. To make things worse, the little filly is now hallucinating and additional ghostly monsters appear.

Twilight: ”Eeek!! What is that thing! Stay way! No, no, no, no!”

Dash: ”Pfft, hahaha! That scream! I wish i could see the look on your face!”

Celestia: ”Try running in a circle *giggle* and hope, that the force field will disappear soon.

Frail Entity casts Banish on AstronimicalDestiny.

AstronomicalDestiny is banished in another dimension.

AstronomicalDestiny is scared.

The ghostly monsters are now completely visible and the cave is black and white. Force field does not exist in this dimension!

Twilight moves the little filly in panic. Little filly seems to respond slower than usual, but starts running south soon enough.

Twilight: ”Move, you foolish filly!”

Dash: ”Haha! Celestia, you should give me a real time report on what is going on!”

Celestia: ”Good idea. Astro-filly, who was just banished in another dimension, is now fleeing south in panic! Is she going to escape the creatures of this dimension or is this the end of her road?! She passed the area where she met Terrotorment in another dimension just a while ago and turns left again! Oh wait, a pressure plate!”

AstronomicalDestiny stepped on a pressure plate!

Twilight: ”Huh, what-OH NO!”

Celestia: ”Here comes Tom!”

AstronomicalDestiny is crushed by a giant boulder! AstronimicalDestiny dies.

AstronomicalDestiny earned a total score of 5790 and gained 57 Power.

5790 / 100 x (0.9 + 0.1) = 57

Celestia: ”If you had been a bit more careful, that boulder could have crushed at least one of the monsters behind you. Still, well done!”

Twilight: ”I am out of breath!”

Celestia: *giggle* ”Then do not not hold your breath while playing.”

Rainbow Dash laughing, Twilight panting and Celestia smiling. Daring Trolls of Destiny are almost ready for the competition.