A normal day for two worlds.
In one, Twilight is researching magic at her home in Canterlot, trying to find information on the fabled Elements of Harmony.
In another, a young man, a childhood survivor of the infamous death game Sword Art Online, is about to enter the virtual world for the first time in seven years. The name he chose for himself, the one he hasn't used since that time, Animus.
In mere moments, their lives take a sudden and unexpected turn as the land of Equestria is transformed. The laws of reality are altered, following the rules of a game, and humans are pulled across the bounds of worlds. Now, Twilight and Animus must choose their path. Will they work together to understand the game they've been forced to play? They'll have to choose fast, because war is coming, and the only way to beat the game and wish everything back to normal is to fight against forces that would kill to have their wish granted.
Cover art by the amazing 2135D, also known as EZ The Pony. Authors, I implore you to enter his end of the month raffles or commission art from him. He is an awesome dude who is flexible to your spending limit, and will work with you to make sure that it is absolutely perfect. Just be sure to give him artistic license too.
Let's see how this goes
3148669
Hopefully well.
I have a few ideas that I hope readers will like, and I am adamant to follow through on them down the road.
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http://www.fimfiction.net/story/70699/sword-art-equestria
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3149750
Haters gonna hate.
Just kidding, but really, we have two entirely different ideas in this story. In my story, MLP isn't known in the SAO universe, and while I haven't gotten to describing it, it takes place well after the SAO incident, when the World Seed is in full swing. Plus I'm using OCs, rather than SAO characters.
You, however, sort of merged Aincrad and Equestria together into a sort of strange mix, made Kirito a brony, and generally made a more direct crossover.
Two entirely different ideas that each of us had.
Plus I'm using a special weapon concept I started in my Legend of Dragoon fic, the Casts.
They're just too good not to use.
3149856
That's good then, at least we're different somehow. i'll admit i haven't read yours yet but i may do soon.
and Kirito as a brony is just too awesome to not have
3149964
Hope you like what you read.
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3150318
I will!
Look ok so far.
Other than some basic mistakes, this was rather well done! After reading Sword-Art-Equestria, I didn't think there was a good cross-over for these two shows.
I'm hoping this improves a bit on the editing side of things, but you've got a fav. Update soon, 'kay?
3367709
Any mistakes come from the fact that I don't have anyone editting it but me yet, and I admittedly only put so much effort in catching errors. Still, I think I have a fairly small amount abd the rest of the quality outshines them.
Glad you enjoyed it though. I do try to make the most interesting concepts that I can and execute them in fun ways.
3367737
I see what you did there... Just enough to bug me, but not enough to complain.
Still, good read for what little there is. I'm one of the worst readers out there, really hard to impress. So if I start throwing you crap, just tell me to stuff it and don't take it personally.
3367748
Hehe, well if you want to see what I consider the best of my work thusfar, read my story, Dragoon Wars; Seven Lords Rising. It is a crossover with the game Legend of Dragoon, and I would recommend it even if you are not familiar with the source, since I have done my absolute best to make it accessible and enjoyable for everyone with a learning curve suitable for those who both are and aren't familiar with it. Plus, it is the story where I actually debuted the concept of Cast weapons that you saw in this story. They are a personal touch in some of my stories that I am very proud of.
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I'll take a peek at it, since I'm currently out of reading material.
And I did find the idea of a specialized, collapsible weapon design EXTREMELY intriguing. Unless I've misunderstood your Casts?
3367775
It is a little better explained so far in Dragoon Wars, but would be explained in later chapters of this story too. They are amorphous magic gauntlets that bond to the ambient magic of their weilder, giving them weapons specially suited for them. They have three stages: The active weapon stage, ready for battle, and in my stories I plan for each to have at least one other weapon form of a similar nature to the original weapon form that they unlock. The second is the ready stage, with the silver gauntlet manifested on their hooves/hands, this form's only practical use is minor defense and being ready to immediately deploy their weapon. Last is the inactive state, where the gauntlet disperses and forms an invisible layer of magic over their bodies as a sort of means to have their weapons on them at all times, but not always have them around.
The weapon itself forms from tying into their magic inside of them and generating the weapon from the metal of the Cast to suit the bearer.
3367791
An interesting idea... Hopefully I won't spoil them for myself when I read your Legend of Dragoon story
3367795
Not terribly so, I think. The Casts are cool, yes, but they are more of a personal flavor of my writing than a pivotal element of any story.
3367805
Interesting. I've got to say, I'm rather excited about this.
3367810
Glad to hear it. I do take pride in my unique ideas that I blend in with existing ones, and do my best to make then sensible. For instance, the big question I asked that lead to Casts was "How can I create weapon-based combat while using hooves and no levitation?" Lo and behold, I came up with a special gauntlet that is a weapon they wear rather than hold.
3367825
See, my thought process travels more along the lines of, "How can I create an interesting skill or weapon that people will love to read about, without completely destroying any chance of suspense?"
3367830
That was the secondary question it answered. It needed to be a dynamic and interesting weapon that was believable in the world of Equestria. It's just the primary question was the hoof issue. The Casts are really very flexible in how I can use them, and add a personal touch for each character.
3367840
I'm assuming that the Casts as a whole have some glaring weak-point in their design that each user has to learn to compensate for, due to the fact that they reflect the wearer's magic/personality?
3367866
I really don't have any weaknesses planned other than those of the weapon forms they take. The gauntlets themselves are only as powerful as their weilder is skilled and strong, such being the case with any weapon.
3149964 Ehh... I think it'd fit his character archetype to not care either way about MLP. Maybe Asuna or Suguha, but not Kazuto Kirigaya. I just can't see it, since it'd completely change him as a character.
3368295 Hmm... I might "steal" your Casts, with permission, of course. I think they'd be interesting in a story I'm collaborating on for the Comment Warriors group.
Ooh, I like this! It does feel more fluid than the previous incarnation, and it gives the readers a much better 'start' to the story,
Oddly enough, I finally got around to watching the second half of SAO just the other day so now I'm not scratching my head when you say 'Alfheim',
I wonder what Animus wanted to talk to Kirito about and how it's going to come into play down the road,
3644532
You'll have to wait and see. I really think it is a wonderful bit of backstory though. It's gonna be a blast writing that particular quest.
And thank you, I am glad someone else thinks this is as much of an improvement as I think it is.
So obviously this story is gonna be told from the season one premiere. But only one month has past and planned ambushes and strong players are about in the game? Either humans and ponies have a learning bonus stat that let's them learn new abilities and Intel quicker as well as having a exp boost, or you didn't think the time frame of how in a VRMMO leveling is suppose to work. In the show people took them in general, umm, I think it was 6 months to get through a few floors and to reach level 20-25. I won't say that this is bad, but you may want to consider this aspects for any big lovers of SAO.
Also, if you get to one of those history style quests, have some of the cast from the other seasons come to be part of the mission until it is completed. You can find a way around them asking why are they there, possibly saying that they were offered to be part of an exclusive game and they wondered if they be interested to take part on it for a bit.
3651754 I already have plans for how it all works. I am taking into account all of those things you mentioned, and I have plans set already for a lot of characters as it goes into the future. I already have a lot taken into consideration about this, so don't worry.
Heck, I am gonna be using details that were in the light novels and not the anime too.
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3651754
600 health is strong?
Can't be past level 10 yet if its similar to SAO
Probably closer to 5 unless my memory fails me.
3665036 In ESO, I think the maximum range of HP will hit around 5000.
It's actually somewhere between SAO and ALO in that sense. Casts level up and grow stronger, but characters grow marginally stronger through increaseing skill levels. All of these things boost combat potential, but are no offset for genuine skill. No amount of levels on Casts or skills can completely overwhelm a truly skilled fighter. Something like Episode 4 where Kirito just stood and took hits from 7 other players and out-regened the damage can't happen.
Hmm, now I wonder who, apart from Kirito, will be joining this story? Should we add some of the past antagonists of the show to be commanders for Nightmare moon? Like the woman who bullied the, umm, can't remember her name, the one with the healing dragon. Or maybe that guy who killedhis own wife, could make sense.
Also, how many territories are there gonna be? And I'm also guessing that if you join a side, you can't leave it.
Congratulations! This story has officially been deemed a Sapphire by The Gem Hunters.
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A Gem Hunter's Sapphire
Urgh, why you gotta stop right there; I have a feeling something big is about to happen!
3805061 Heh, you will have to wait until the next chapter comes out. All I'll say about it is that we'll be buckling back into Twilight's perspective. I'm glad you're so hooked though.
IT'S ALIVE!!!!
4182333
Haha, I'm glad to have such a ravenous reader. It makes me all the more proud of my work.
What did you think of this chapter? I tried to put in a lot of nods to the anime.
4182462
You've got kickass timing too, I was just getting ready to go on lunch and didn't have anything to read. BOOM; UPDATE.
LOL @ Agil; first thing the man thinks after being sucked into a trans-dimensional videogame? 'Sweet, how can this make me more money?'
Never change, Agil... never change,
4182501 Heh, yeah, I figured Agil was a perfect character to put in with Applejack. Plus next chapter I should be showing the dynamic between Rarity and Lisbeth, another match made in heaven, I think. Seriously, an awesome weaponsmith and a great fashion designer who can also delve into stylish and functional armor in this new setting? Perfect. Fit.
And I really wanted to bring a very obscure and unexplored character in too. Sasha was perfect for that to complement Fluttershy.
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Awesome! New chapter baby, and now we can speculate as to who else is missing from the original cast, I just wish I could think of a good pair for Pinkie, but who!?
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......GENIUS!!!
Also, how long until you may be able to accept OC's?
4182652 I don't know if I'll be accepting OCs at all. I kinda have a specific story I want to tell with the setup I have in mind, so I don't know what room I'd even have for the OCs of others.
Also, I wouldn't and am not pairing Klein with Pinkie. If anything, I think he'd be a better fit with Rainbow Dash, but I already have that spot taken by Miya. He'll pop up, I'm sure, he just won't be a central character in any sense. I already know exactly who's going to be paired with Pinkie too, don't you worry. And in my opinion, it's also a match made in heaven. You'll just need to wait a while for it to pan out.
I don't know what medium you're using to write this, or if you have any editors or prereaders, but I've spotted a few spots that could use some polishing if you'd like a bit of help. :)
"YAY!" for this not showing up in my auto updates and stumbleing on it over a month later
4362966 Well, at least you found out about the update.
The next chapter is in steady progress, and it should only be this next chapter before the real shit hits the fan.
4362383 I actually type out on a flip-phone, text it to my email, then copy-paste it to gdocs on a smartphone or computer. I don't have any major editor for any of my works, though some people have helped with tweaks here or there in all of them.
im just waiting for Kirito to show up when the Ani and Twi have there backs to the wall
Are you kidding? Your introduction is more entertaining and paced better than some people's whole stories! This is one of the few fics out right now that I get excited to read whenever I see an update,