Ever since Chrysalis' failed invasion of Canterlot, Celestia has been under tremendous strain. Plagued by nightmares of her inability to defend the country, her ability to rule is slowly becoming comprised.

After finally revealing the truth to a still recovering Luna, the two sisters take some advice from their friendly neighborhood draconequus on how to handle the problem.

If there's one sure thing in life, it's that advice from Discord rarely goes according to plan...

My name is Harold Storm. The last few years haven't been all that great. I've got a crappy job, no time for a social life and I'm barely making ends meet. I'm making just enough to pay to go to college part time and work towards an engineering degree. That, at least, should help in the job department if I don't run out of money before I graduate. That was, until an unforeseen death in the family had me driving across country to collect some things that were left to me. The trip there went fine, but on the way home something unexpected happened. I ended up in another world.

A twist of fate, or maybe one that was intended, lead me to Equestria and all the magic that comes with it. With no way of getting back home on my own, I've got a long journey to Canterlot, even with the aid of some new friends. However, magic has a funny way of changing the way one looks at the world...

02-07-17 Woah! Somehow made it to the feature box

Alternate universe. Princess Luna is still in her younger form from the end of "Friendship is Magic." Takes place after the events of Magical Mystery Cure and the first Equestria Girls but before Season 4 starts. Doesn't follow show's timeline after that but may draw from some events.

I'd like to give a huge shout-out to fellow author, KorenCZ11, for helping me with pre-reading and editing. Then, after all that hard work he went and made me some awesome cover art!

Kinda slice of life with a bit of adventure thrown in. Some other tags may be added as the story progresses.

The vast majority of the story is 1st person, told from Harold's POV.

Part 1 of a 2 part story.

Rated T for some violence, occasional swearing and innuendo.

Note the lack of a crossover tag
This is not a HL2 crossover, I just happen to like the quote.

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.

When Rainbow Dash suddenly proclaims her love and adoration for a certain 'Miss Sparkle' and tells her friends the story of how the unicorn 'fixed' her, the girls are hesitant to take the situation at face value. However, even they can't deny it when the facts begin to build into a case against Twilight. Twilight claims innocence but her words sound like hollow excuses and obvious lies. The four of them are left wondering if Twilight Sparkle is truly the hero she once was or if she has finally allowed her true nature to show: the nature of a heartless psychopath.

[ Spoilers in the comments... So many spoilers... ]

[ 'Miss Sparkle' occurs a few months before Twilight's ascension, early in the spring of Twilight's second year in Ponyville. According to my version of the chronological timeline, the only episodes of the first three seasons that have yet to take place are (in chronological order) "Wonderbolts Academy", "Just for Sidekicks", "Games Ponies Play", "Spike At Your Service", "Keep Calm and Flutter On" and "Magical Mystery Cure". ]

[ The cover art was made by the oh-so-generous tehmisiu. Thanks again! ]

[ 'Miss Sparkle' placed first in (Incoming spoiler of story-ruining proportions!) Blundy's TwiDash Framed Challenge! Thank you all so much for your support! ]

[ To top it off, Twilight's Library found it worthy of being added to their shelves. I'm at a loss for words as I write this, and I probably will be when you read this too. Just... Thank you. Thank you all so much. ]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/m9vLrr7.png[/img]