Being seniors at Canterlot High has some advantages. For the fall semester, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle won't actually be at CHS. Instead, the girls made it into a competitive foreign exchange program, which is sending them to Tokyo for the semester! Having taken Japanese as their foreign language credits, the girls joined the exchange program to open themselves up to a broader world.

Among the many experiences the exchange program exposed the girls to is the newest and hottest technology, the NerveGear, which brings virtual reality to a whole new level. Sword Art Online, also known as SAO, is the premier game soon to be released for the NerveGear. With their new friend, Ota Natsuki, they scored limited copies and get to be some of the 10,000 players to first experience Aincrad, but SAO is more than a game.

The girls are trapped, along with the other 10,000 players, by Akihiko Kayaba, the developer of the NerveGear and SAO. To get out, they must conquer Aincrad, floor by floor, until they beat the final boss in the Ruby Palace at it's summit. Then they all will be freed, however, if you die in the game, you die in real life.

The girls must band together with their new friend and face Aincrad, not just for themselves, but for all of the other players who can't take on such a challenge. After all they have been through, beating demons and sirens, a game should be easy, right?

EQG: Sword Art Online - Ruby Palace is not a sequel to EQG:SAO - Aincrad and, likewise, Ruby Palace is not a "rewrite". I chose to follow SOA Canon in Aincrad, placing the girls inside those events. Ruby Palace is a full crossover and Alt-U between EQG and SAO.

The Vignette Arcs are not required reading to follow the story, but they are recommended. The Pilot Episodes are the official start of the story.

Special Thanks to my editor, Void Runner and my beta reader, Cotton Sweet.
Artwork - Wing banners and page breaks are by Drytil.

Sword Art Online is created by Reki Kawahara.
My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro.

Twilight looked over to her dear mentor, Princess Celestia, and found she had once again fallen asleep mid-lesson. Her intense debate on awakening the princess was cut short when the decision was taken out of her hooves.

“Huh? Oh. Twilight, I am so sorry for falling asleep again. I think we need to reschedule this for tomorrow morning.”

Twilight nodded. After all, Princess Celestia was obviously overworked. If only there was something she could do to help.

Now with a dramatic reading courtesy of DRWolf.
Additionally, there’s a Spanish translation by Spaniard Kiwi over on Deviant Art.

Current Episode: Season Zero – Episode One
Next Episode: Twin Twilights

Art created from images by Tim015 and ShilaDaLioness.

This story takes place during the Season Five finale, "The Cutie Re-Mark". As such, there are spoilers ahead.

Starlight Glimmer's plan is working. All she has to do is upset Rainbow Dash's rainboom-creating race in the past, and Twilight Sparkle's connection with her friends will be severed. And she's done it. Repeatedly. Sure, Twilight can go back in time to try and stop her, but Starlight will always be brought back as well. No matter what Twilight tries, no matter how many times she returns, she can't stop Starlight. They're evenly-matched, and it's much easier to disrupt events than it is to preserve them.

That means Starlight wins, right?

The newest and hottest game on the market is Sword Art Online, or SAO. A VRMMORPG, Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, Sword Art Online takes the player into a virtual reality world of swords and shields. Only 10,000 copies were sold online or in stores. But quickly, things go wrong and the fight goes from fun, to survival.

To escape the game of death, the game must be cleared. All 100 floors of the floating iron castle, known as Aincrad, must be conquered. If you die in game, you die in real life. The NerveGear will fry your brain. The same goes if the NerveGear is removed while you are in the game, you die.

Sword Art Online is a game of swords and shields with no magic. The game isn't designed to handle their Equestrian Magic. Sunset Shimmer must make sure that her friends and guildmates escape the game, or at least survive long enough until the game is defeated.

This story is a Serial Novel Society story: Updates will be at least on a weekly, Tuesday, basis.

*Pre-knowledge of Sword Art Online is not required. The Pilot Episode covers all you need to know.
**First Featured Tuesday, November 12, 2019. Also on 12/3/19, 12/10/19, 01/14/20, 2/11/20, 2/18/20, 2/25/20, 3/3/20, 3/10/20, 3/17/20, 3/24/20, 3/31/20, 4/14/20, 4/21/20, 4/28/20, 5/5/20, 5/19/20, 5/26/20, 6/2/20, 6/9/20, 6/23/2020, 6/30/2020, 7/28/20, 8/4/20, 8/18/20, 8/25/20, 8/27/20, 9/1/20, 9/8/20, 9/15/20, 9/22/20, 9/29/20, 10/20/20, 10/27/20, 11/3/2020, 11/10/20, 11/17/20, 12/1/20, 12/8/20, 12/15/20, 12/22/20, 12/29/20, 1/5/21, 1/19/21, 2/2/21, ICE, 2/23/21, 3/2/21, 3/9/21, 3/16/21, 3/23/21, & 3/30/21.

Want to know what is happening outside the SAO in the real world? There is a story for them! Link to the Asides.

A big thank you to my editor, Void Runner.
A special thanks to SuperSonicHeroes and Wildfiretiremile. Each helped a lot with Beta Reading!
Also, a special Thanks to Badwolf231. He helped me as this project got started.

- Sword Art Online is owned and created by Reki Kawahara.
* Cover Art created with art elements from Orin331, Frye-Medi, and flutterdashrarijack.

This story is a sequel to Changeling Space Program

Twilight Sparkle's experimental interplanetary drive has malfunctioned, stranding Starlight Glimmer, Spitfire, Cherry Berry, a changeling and a dragon on a hostile planet in another universe. With limited food supplies, very little magic, no communications with home, and no way to leave the planet, they must survive until somepony rescues them.

Fortunately they crashed right next door to another creature with the exact same problem- a creature named Mark Watney.

They're going to science the buck out of everything- and do whatever it takes to survive Mars and get everybody home.

TVTropes page here! Thanks to GymQuirk for making it!

Commissioned art and fan works from the readers! Thanks, everybody!

This experiment in an updates-daily story was made possible by a generous grant from Canary in the Coal Mine and viewers like you.

(Sex tag for crude talk about sex, but no actual sex in the story.)