Release Day
Twilight Sparkle was wired on the three cups of coffee she drank that morning, and she had barely avoided a case of the shakes from it. Normally, she would have had only one cup, black no sugar, but today was no normal day. Today was the release of the new full-dive virtual reality game Blade Shield Online.
Twilight was standing in line with all of her friends; Pinkie could not stop bouncing, Rarity was levitating a mirror to make sure she looked like her usual self. Fluttershy was trying not to freak out about the sheer number of ponies in line behind her, and Rainbow Dash was flying loops over their heads. Applejack left to go to the bathroom a half hour prior and has yet to come back.
The line was at least a kilometer long, with over 10,000 ponies in line to get the game. Twilight and her friends were in the first half of the line, which was fortunate as the first 5,000 ponies got a special in-game bonus. Just as the doors were about to open, Twilight saw Applejack in the distance.
“Applejack!” yelled Twilight, hoping to get her attention before they started moving towards the doors.
“Ah’m comin’, Ah’m comin’. Just give me a sec’,” Applejack yelled back, while muttering ‘excuse me’ and ‘pardon me’ under her breath as she tried to make her way back to the group. Just as the doors opened, a helicopter flew over, trying to document the huge mass of ponies lined up for the game while it was at its greatest for the papers the next day. Just then, the doors opened; and the giant mass of ponies charged, nearly trampling each other in the rush to be the first to buy the game.
While some would get confused as to why some ponies would get excited over something as basic as a game, those who asked would reply with a curt ‘it’s not just a game,’ along with an explanation as to why it wasn’t just a game. They would say that ‘it’s like you’re actually there, running from the monsters, fighting the bosses, and interacting with the other players,’ all while in a game.
What made this new game so innovating was the new technology developed just for this. The creator, Assateague, was pioneering a new age of technology for ponykind. He had multiple reasons, all of which he kept to himself. It was rumored that he had personally given a copy to Princess Luna early for her to beta test. What Twilight’s friends did not know was that Twilight was a beta tester as well. Princess Luna was actually given two copies of the game and two Nerve Gear headsets. While he assumed that she wanted the other for Celestia, she had actually given it to Twilight. All Twilight was really standing in line for was the extra surprise that the first 5,000 players got. She had a hunch that it was some sort of exclusive high-tier weapon, but could not be sure.
-----------------------------------------6 months prior------------------------------------------
When she first got the Nerve Gear from Luna, Twilight tested it to figure out how it worked. From her tests, it seemed to work off of a modified fMRI algorithm that was calibrated to the owner’s own brain patterns when a certain action was performed. One such example she noted: when she was calibrating it, it recorded the specific patterns of her brain in the posterior parietal lobe of the cerebral cortex when it asked her to run in place. So whenever she wants to run, that specific part of the brain lights up in a unique pattern and the Nerve Gear associates that with running. When she finished with the calibration, she joined the server for central and northern Equestria, and her and Luna met up in the Town of Beginnings, which is the starting point for all players.
The starting plaza in the Town of Beginnings is uniquely designed; it is a circular plaza with a bell tower in the center, and teleport stations on all sides for easy travel between floors. There were paths under the second stories of the buildings on the edges of the square, held up by columns designed with a similar architecture to that of 1,000 years ago, from the golden age of the Royal Pony Sisters. The Grand Mausoleum was directly in front of them, with a large, 500 meter wide dome in the center, and four towers at the corners, each topped with a smaller dome. When in the beta, Luna and Twilight made it higher then any of the other beta testers. The two just cleared the eighth floor and were working on the ninth when the beta closed until launch.
-------------------------------------------------------Present Day--------------------------------------------
As the doors opened, the store was mobbed as the crowd nearly ripped the doors off of their hinges. The police ponies were busy patrolling the crowd, trying to ensure that nopony was injured in that large mass. They hoped to get some off time before the day was over, though that was doubtful. As Twilight made her way through the doors, she saw a group of promoters from Argus, the company that made the game, handing out slips of paper to everypony who walked through the door. When Twilight finally got there, she grabbed a copy in her magic and prepared to leave, telling her friends that she’d wait for them at the castle and explain everything when they got there. Twilight realized, just before she left the line, that Applejack was too far back, and would be unable to get one of the codes. So, being the good friend she was, Twilight went back to the promoters, grabbed another code, then went in and bought a Nerve Gear rig and a copy of BSO for Applejack. She finally started to make her way to the castle.
As Twilight ran through the streets of Canterlot, she could not wait to get back to Ponyville to hook up her Nerve Gear and start playing. En route to the castle, she thought about asking Luna if she knew how to enter the code without having to be in game, as she did not know whether she would have to wait until the game officially launched for it to be valid or if she could do it now. As she approached the castle gates, the two guards stationed there almost clotheslined her. They recognized Twilight at the last second, and hastily unbarred her path up the steps. Why didn’t I just fly? She wondered to herself. She probably could have gotten the six codes for her and her friends for free, but Twilight was not one to abuse her position of Princess of Equestria for a little code. Her thoughts came to an abrupt end as she ran head first into Princess Luna, and proceeded to fall right on her flank.
“Princess Luna! I’m so so so sorry about that! I didn’t see you there, and I was too busy thinking about how I could’ve flown here instead of running the entire way from the game store that was selling Blade Shield Online, and-” She was quickly silenced with a hoof to her mouth.
“It is fine. Thou shouldn’t worry thyself with problems that don’t exist. Now, may we ask what you were coming here for?”
---------------------------------------------------Meanwhile; back at the game store--------------------------
“Why do ya reckon Twi ran off like that?” inquired Applejack, confused as to why her lavender friend would just bolt after getting both Twilight’s own code, and one for herself with a copy of the game and a headset.
“It’s beyond me, dear,” Rarity replied, while holding back her excitement that reviled the way she felt when they first found out about the Crystal Ponies. “Though I will agree it was strange of her. Do you think that there’s something that she’s not telling us?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care either. I just can’t wait until we get back to Ponyville so that I can try this! Ooh! Maybe we could have an ‘Amazingly Awesome New Game’ party!”
“Pinkie, calm down. You need to just be patient and we’ll be able to play it soon enough,” said Rarity, who was about to start talking again when Rainbow interrupted her.
“Rarity, chill out. Nopony’s gonna be on this game faster than me, I’m gonna head home and log on as soon as I can.”
First, they had to find Twilight, who just so happened to land next to Rainbow Dash as she finished speaking. “Hey girls. Did I miss anything?”
“Not really, sugarcube, but Ah gotta ask: where’d you go runnin’ off to? You just grabbed your code and ran. Ya even gave me yer headset after I was too far back to get my own.”
“Yeah, about that. I had to ask Princess Luna something. And I don’t mind that I didn’t get a headset, because, well…,” she started to trail off, “I was a beta tester too. Princess Luna got two copies from Argus and gave one to me. The only thing that I didn’t have was the item code.”
Her friends all stared in shock; they did not expect an answer like that. Rainbow’s jawbone literally hit the pavement, and looked like it would have to be reattached surgically. Applejack’s hat fell off her head. Rarity teleported her fainting couch from Ponyville and put it to good use, the purpose it was named for. Pinkie Pie nearly shot herself to the moon with her party cannon, which seemed to appear out of nowhere. Fluttershy didn’t know what to do, so she decided to extricate herself from the group for a bit. Thus, she shot off at speeds that were close to those of a sonic rainboom in her rush to escape. Gulping, Twilight decided to try and get a different reaction than the one she was currently getting, saying “Um, Girls?”
“Whadd’ya mean you were a beta tester!?” shouted Rainbow Dash, after picking her jaw up. “Why didn’t you tell us? That is, like, The. Coolest. Thing. EVER!” Rainbow shouted.
“Yes, darling, do tell. I’m quite curious myself as to why you didn’t tell us that Princess Luna got you into the beta test.” Rarity said, hoping that Twilight wouldn’t bolt in a panic.
“Well, Luna wanted me to try to play games other than puzzle games, so she hooked me up with a Nerve Gear rig and the beta of BSO,” Twilight started,” When I turned it on and got in-game, it was amazing. I had never felt more alive than when I was in BSO, playing against the bosses,” she continued, her face lighting up. “In fact, if you girls really want to know, I made it past Floor 8, hoping to get at least to Floor 10 by the time the beta was over with. But now I’ve got you girls, and we can all go beat the game together.”
“Well that’s just dandy, sugarcube. Weren’t ya playin’ with Princess Luna, too?” Applejack questioned, hoping her hunch was correct.
“Yeah, we did. We made one heck of a party, if I do say so myself.” Pinkie was about to yell something about parties, but was stopped by Rainbow’s hoof in her mouth, and a small mutter that only Pinkie could hear about it ‘not being that kind of party.’ With that small comment, Pinkie’s ears drooped, but only momentarily.
“Hey! Maybe I should open a cake shop when we get in-game! Then I would be able to get some experience for if I decide to open my own!” yelled Pinkie excitedly, nearly bouncing off the walls like a school filly on Hearths Warming Eve. “I could even try new recipes that I would have a really hard time with here in the real world. Ooh! I could try making a 15 layer cake, with different kinds of cake; the bottom layer could be vanilla, and the next one could be chocolate, then maybe red velvet, the-” Pinkie was again cut off by yet another hoof in her mouth.
“We get it, Pinks. Calm yer horses, and let’s go get on the train so we can go play this game.”
---------------------------------------Ponyville train station; 2 hours later----------------------------------------
“Well, girls, Ah’m gonna head on home and hook this up. So where are we all gonna meet up?” asked applejack, hoping to figure out some sort of game plan before they actually got in-game.
“Well, I would say that we should meet up in the main plaza in the Town of Beginnings. It’s a central location that shouldn’t be too hard to find. We can all meet up there,” said Twilight, taking the lead. “We should probably head out to a village farther away to avoid the rush, and also have the chance to earn more money on quests that other ponies haven’t gotten to yet.”
With a game plan decided upon, their impromptu meeting adjourned. The friends all headed out to their respective homes in an anxious anticipation for when they finally got to start the game. On her way home, Twilight decided to stop and buy some apples from Big Mac, as would want a snack after she got off for the night. As she walked into her library, she set the apples in the kitchen, and then went to get Spike.
Twilight wanted to let him know that she was back from Canterlot, and would be staying in her room for the remainder of the night and probably into the morning. She eventually found the Dragon in the kitchen; he managed to sneak past her and decided to start stuffing his face with ice cream.
“Spike! You know that you’ll have a horrid tummy ache later!” Twilight shouted from the doorway the moment that she saw him.
“But Twilight, it’s so good,” Spike replied, hoping against hope that she would let him slide this one time. “Besides, it’ll be Future Spike’s problem,” he told her, using that now old joke between himself, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie.
“No, Spike. I can’t let you have any more. I don’t like watching you suffer for short-sighted actions; there’s no point.” Twilight told him, hoping that he’d see reason. “If you put it away right now, I’ll give you one of the gems that I’m saving for your birthday,” Twilight said in a sing-song voice, hoping the thought of gems would get his mind off the ice cream.
“Alright, Twilight,” Spike said dejectedly, only to continue with “But I want that gem right before bed, and I don’t have to brush my teeth either.”
“Oh alright,” Twilight replied exasperatedly, “But you have to brush your teeth for twice as long in the morning, and no gems the rest of the day.” While confident in her negotiating skills, she did not think that Spike would take it.
“That sounds like a deal,” Spike replied joyfully, much to Twilight’s surprise. Hopping off his chair to head into the main reading room to grab one of his comics, he yelled over his shoulder, “But for that I’d need one and a half gems!”
“Ugh, fine.” Twilight groaned, the purple Dragon’s comment did not shock her one bit. While Spike could get a little cheeky at times, he was still her number one assistant, and she would be damned if she did anything to get him really mad at her. While Twilight cleaned up the kitchen from her mini-dinner, she caught herself humming a little tune from years ago, back before she moved into the castle with the princess. Twilight quickly stopped, as she did not want to have to tell Spike where that particular tune came from, and how, even though they sounded innocent enough, it was very dark.
The tune described a time when a horrible plague razed the land. Twilight did not think Spike was old or mature enough to learn about those dark days in Equestria’s history. As soon as she stopped humming, Spike walked back into the kitchen, comic book in hand.
“Hey, Twilight, where’d ya put the issue before this one? I checked where I’d stuck it yesterday, but I couldn’t find it. I even checked under your bed, but all I found was this weird magazine.” As soon as Spike mentioned the magazine that was under her bed, Twilight blushed furiously, her whole face looking like a tomato.
“SPIKE! What did I tell you about going through things that weren’t yours?!” Twilight screamed, and almost woke half of Ponyville in the process. “I thought I raised you better. Now, you only get half of those gems we were talking about earlier,” Twilight finished her decree, only to be met with one of the saddest faces she had ever seen. “No! C’mon Spike, you know what I taught you before we moved here. And what did I teach you exactly?”
“Never look through another pony’s things without permission,” Spike recited, with a ridiculously, borderline overboard, sad voice, and the edges of his lips were almost on the floor of the kitchen.
“Exactly. Now, what did we learn?” asked Twilight, hoping she could get him to see the error of his ways.
“Just ask for help if you can’t find something, instead of snooping through things you shouldn’t be snooping through.”
“Alright. I’ll give you one gem tomorrow, but you still only get half of one tonight,” Twilight told him, hoping to pick his mood up somewhat.
He perked up nearly immediately. “You really mean it?”
Chuckling, she said, “Yes, Spike, I mean it, but~ you have to do all your chores tomorrow. Deal?” she finished, wishing that he’d say yes.
“Twi, you know I’d do them anyways. The gem is just a bonus,” Spike said, giving a conspiratorial wink.
Twilight groaned internally, wishing for a moment that she had not taught him so well. However, with her dinner eaten, Twilight headed upstairs to her bedroom. When she got in, the first thing she did was memorize the code, so that she could enter it in-game without having to worry about it. Then, she plugged the headset into the computer, lay down on her bed, and shouted, “Link...Start!”
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! 
Now, I might not be able to work on it for a little bit, so chapter 2 (whatever I decide to name it, if I even do) might be released anywhere between next week, to 3 or 4 weeks. All depends on how much stuff I have to deal with, what with finals coming up and other stuff IRL. Again, big thanks to Twidashforever for editing and prereading. He was a ridiculously huge help in making this a publishable work.
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Okay, I'll stick with this. Though I have to say, no romance tag? That's a pretty big part of SAO.
4337200 I was going to add it later, after I introduce the idea. I just didn't think it appropriate at this point.
4337212
*Cough* Twiluna *Cough* The romance in the story is very important. It's part of the message saying that no matter what you do in life, it is real. Kirito's isolation to protect himself is also very important to the romance aspect. I'm curious how you will set this up. Unless you are only somewhat basing this story off SAO. I suppose Luna could be Kirito, because of her isolation on the moon and Twilight being her only friend. It would make sense if she were a solo player. Excluding Twilight *Cough* Love interest *Cough*
Ya, I would go ahead and add the romance tag. Even if there isn't any now it lets everyone know it's coming later.
No romance!? Idk...
Romance tag added
4338245
There you go. Now people will stop pointing that out.
oh my goodness! A fanfiction that combines SAO and MLP?!?! I must be dreaming. Apparently not as I just threw myself off my bunk bed and didn't wake up. Dang that hurt. Anyhooo I am so excited for the next chapter! Hope it doesn't come too much later!
4338973 Depending on how life goes, it might be quick, or it might be long. I'm going to try to get the new chapters out in a timely manner (I know how fun it is to be waiting for an update).
This could get real interesting. I wonder how Twi and her friends'll do in BSO?
Blade Shield Online?!
HAVE ALL MY YESH!!
By the way...is their going to be a Season 2? The Gun Gaia Online or something like that? It's the new version of SAO, but with guns!
Other than that, didn't have to read the story! Just take a Fav since. I love SAO so much!
4340421 There's supposed to be season 2 released sometime this year, and what you're thinking of is Gun Gale Online.
4344098
when you find out, let me know!
4340421 I just checked, and season 2 is out. You can find episodes here.
4346999 those say "Coming soon"
4347082 So they do. I didn't think to click on them. Guess that's what I get for assuming.
Well, you've certainly got me interested with this one. Although I'm not a really big fan of human-technology-in-equestria stories.
Oh well, I bet it's just a small part of the story. I hope you'll update soon!
4362429 I'm going to release a chapter on how they came up with the anthro part. (it's canon with the comics)
I'm interested, but every one keeps calling it BSO, am I the only one who laughed at that?
4415729 No sir, you are not
I'm sorry for the DownVote, but this is too similar to the original SAO story, with barely enough adjustments to incorporate a My Little Pony aspect. Yes, I'm judging off the first chapter, but...the first chapter often says a lot about the whole of the story.