> Pony Art Online (BETA VERSION)
>  by Kaliann25
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A world of swordsmanship, a world of guns, and a world of ponies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A world of swordsmanship, a world of guns, and a world of ponies


It was a day like any other in Alfheim, with a bright sun, combined with a nice breeze. The ideal weather to go out with family or hanging out with friends. However, for the players, hanging out meant fighting against game monsters.

In a beautiful meadow, full of giant mushrooms, a group of seven friends were standing against a strange hybrid between plant and insect, who attacked by opening its horrid mouth/flower to send its tentacles to catch its opponents. 

One of the tentacles caught by the ankles a young girl, with short stature, copper eyes, and brown hair tied in two pigtails, along with a couple of cat ears.

The girl shrieked as she tried to get rid of the tentacle, by wielding her sword. 

At some point, when the tentacle was dragging her to the flower’s mouth, when she extended her wings, and managed to cut the tentacle off.

The monster roared in anger, and sent another three tentacles against the girl, but a young man, with short red hair, cut them off with his katana. That was enough to get the plant’s attention, but he wasn’t alone. A young girl with blond hair tied in a long ponytail, made a series of cuts on the monster’s stem.

The plant monster was now dividing its attention between Leafa (the blond girl), and Klein, (the short-haired man). An error that costed its life; since a girl sitting on giant mushroom, at the distance, was waiting for this moment. She had a light blue hair, and a eyes of the same color. And, just as the small girl fighting the plant monster, she had two cat ears on the top of her head. 

When the creature’s attention was withdrawn by the other two warriors, the blue-haired girl prepared her customized bow, and shot a huge-ass arrow to the creature. 

The plant monster screamed in agony, as it disappeared in a bunch of blue sparks.

The girls with the copper eyes, Silica, sighed tired as she looked at her HP bar. It had turned a little bit red. But, then, a small dragon with blue scales and red eyes, landed on her shoulder, and used her healing breath over her, recovering her HP.

“Arigatou, Pina.” smiled Silica to the dragon. 

The dragon chipped happily, as she nuzzled at her master.

“Osh! We have enough materials with this one!” announced a young woman, with pink hair and pink eyes. “Arigatou, minna-san!”

“The weapon you working on better worth it.” complained Klein, as he lied on the ground. “I’m exhausted!”

“Hai, hai, I promised I’ll make it up for you!” grinned Lizbeth. “I Promise. Now…” she looked up to another of the giant mushrooms, where two of her friends were sitting in silence. 

A blue-haired girl was lying on the lap of a short-black-haired boy, who was slowly stroking her hair to comfort her. 

Lizbeth pouted in jealousness, when Klein came to calm her down. “Leave them. You know how bad Asuna needs comfort.”

Lizbeth sighed in defeat, as she joined her friends back to town. Not before giving the couple a last glance. “Ah, whatever.”  

In the meantime, at the top of the mushroom, Asuna (the blue-haired girl) stayed in silence, lookingat the horizon as her boyfriend was waiting for her to talk. Also, on the boy’s shoulder was a small pixie girl, at the size of a small doll, and long beautiful hair and brown eyes. Their adopted daughter Yui. 

“Kirito-kun…”

“Asuna, don’t push yourself too hard.” 

“But Yuuki would wanted for me to…”

She couldn’t say anything else as she began to cry. 

The problem was that Asuna’s best friend have just passed away, by a terminal disease. And, since they met inside the game Alfheim Online, it was really hard for Asuna to just log in and play. Everything reminded her to Yuuki. 

“I didn’t know Kono-san that well, but I’m pretty sure she would like you to go on with your life, Asuna.” said Kirito. “A game is just a game, I don’t think she would be mad at you if you want to stop playing for a while. And the others will understand.”

Asuna hugged him tight. “Kirito-kun…”

Kirito hugged her back, and soon, little Yui joined in. 

“Mama.”

Asuna cried in silence for a while, but in the end, she smiled. 

“You’re right, Yuuki would understand if I take a break.”

Kirito nodded, relieved. “After all, game is supposed to be fun.”

Asuna nodded. “Oi, Kirito-kun, if I choose another game for a while… would you and Yui-chan join me?” 

Kirito smiled. “Of course!”

“You don’t have to even ask, mama!” said the little pixie. 

Asuna nodded, thankful. “Okay, Kirito-kun, do you mind if I meet you at your place? I mean, in the real world.” 

“Of course! Log out, and, in the meantime, I’ll send a PM to the others explaining the situation.”

Asuna nodded again, and logged out as Kirito sent the PM; and logged out as well. 

He didn’t know what kind of game Asuna would choose, but he’ll make sure they have a good time, and help her to feel better. 





In a small house at Tokyo’s outskirts, young Kazuto Kirigaya (Kirito inside the game), opened his eyes and took off his virtual reality equipment, the AtmuSphere, and waited for his girlfriend to show up. He looked almost like his game avatar, except his ears that weren’t pointy. 

The girl, Asuna Yuuki, appeared twenty minutes later. Just as Kirito, she shared the same features of her character, except her hair was light brown instead of blue. 

“Hi, Kirito-kun.” 

“Hi, come on in!” smiled Kazuto. “So, do you already know what do you want to play?” 

Asuna giggled as she showed Kazuto she had her AtmuSphere with her. “Well, I came early so we can decide together. What do you think?”

“Okay, sure!”

They rushed to Kazuto’s room, where they began to search for a game they both could enjoy. They stayed away from the games that were similar to ALO, and also, none of them liked shooter games like GGO so they stayed away from those too. Finally, Asuna found something she found interesting.


LEGENDS OF EQUESTRIA



Become the new hero of the magical lands of ponies. Charge your sword with the Power of Friendship. Defeat the evil Nightmare Moon and save the ponykind from the eternal night.



Kazuto sighed, but as long Asuna was happy, he could give it a shot.

“Are you sure?”

“Come on, Kirito-kun, it seems cute. And also have swords, why not give it a shot?”

“Okay, okay.”

The two of them created an account. 

A new message appeared on screen: 


DO YOU WANT TO TRANSFER COMPATIBLE DATA FROM A PREVIOUS GAME?


“What do you think?” asked Asuna.

“Let’s do it! At least we wouldn’t have to start from scratch.”

“Alright.”

They both selected YES and lied on Kazuto’s bed wearing their AtmuSpheres. After exchanging a look, they both shouted:

“Link start!” 

Their surroundings turned into a rainbow tunnel that finally turned into a white room with a floating message:


WELCOME TO LEGENDS OF EQUESTRIA. SELECT YOUR TYPE OF PONY TO START


There were three choices: unicorn, earth pony, and pegasus. 

Unicorns, apparently, could use magic, but their physical stats were the lowest of the three races. Pegasi were able to fly and control weather, however, they were extremely vulnerable to magic. And finally, earth ponies possessed twice the strength and stamina than the other races. They also possessed greater resistance against magic.

Also, there was a fourth option, but they had to unlock it first. It was called ‘alicorn’, and it had the features of all the pony races. 

Kirito smiled, he liked aerial combat, so he selected pegasus. As for Asuna, she thought it would be okay to be a unicorn.

Then, they chose hair color, fur color, etc. 

Kirito’s avatar was dark blue, with short mane and tail and black eyes. Asuna’s avatar was snow white, with light brown hair, and amber eyes. 

A new massage popped up:


WAIT A MOMENT WHILE COMPATIBLE ITEMS AND STATS ARE TRANSFERRED


When the transference was over, a strange-looking tattoo appeared on their avatars’ flanks. On Asuna’s, it represented the guild icon of her deceased friend, Yuuki Kono. As for Kirito, it was two crossed swords. His old swords, Elucidator and Dark Repulser.

And only then, their conscious were fully absorbed into their avatars. 


…


When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in a forest, and it was late night.

“Where are we, Kirito-kun?”

“It seems like a strange forest. I wonder if there’s any monsters in here.”
“Let’s equip our swords, just in case.” suggested Asuna. 

They both made a small gesture with their hooves, summoning their inventories.

And, much to their surprise, they found a lot of their old items from SAO, like Kirito’s signature trench coat, Asuna’s former equipment from the Knights of Blood; and their old swords. Elucidator, Dark Repulser, and Lambent Light. 

“For real?” asked Asuna. “We have our old weapon back.”

“And our stats look quite similar to our SAO ones. But I thought they were erased.” 

“This game is more interesting than you thought, right?” smiled Asuna. 

Kirito had to nod, thoughtful, as he continued to examine his inventory. He still had a bunch of healing potions, teleportation crystals, and even some food from ALO. It was really weird. 

“Let’s continue with this to see where it ends.” suggested Kirito. 

“I guess so.” agreed Asuna, with a shrug. 

And they went deeper into the forest. The adventure have just begun.


…


The unicorn Twilight Sparkle was in a really desperate situation, holding to Applejack’s hooves at the edge of a cliff. 

“Applejack!” cried Twilight. “What should I do?!” 

The cowgirl, who was holding Twilight looked up, and smiled. Apparently, her friends Rainbow Dash and Fltutershy (pegasi) had successfully rescued Pinkie Pie and Rarity from the fall, and were ready to catch Twilight. 

“Let yerself’ go!” said Applejack.

“What? Are you crazy?”

“Listen: ya’ have to trust me! A’m telling ya’ the honest truth. Let yereslf’ go!”

Twilight looked at Applejack’s eyes, seeing truth on them. 

She nodded, and did as she said.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy caught her on time, but Twilight was heavier than they thought, and she slipped away from them.

“NO!” they said in the unison. 

Twilight began to fall. “HEEEEEELP!!” 

“Twilight!” said Applejack, slipping on the gravel. “NO, HELP!!”

The cowgirl tried to recover balance, but she was going to fall unless somepony helped her.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a magic aura grabbed her. “Hold on, just a little more!!” said a voice behind her. 

With the help of the magic aura, Applejack was able to walk away from the cliff, and stand in firm ground. 

Applejack turned, it was a snow white unicorn, in a white and red outfit. “Thanks!” 

“You’re welcome.” answered Asuna. 

Then, the cowgirl remembered. 

“Oh no! Twilight! Ma’ friend…”

“Don’t worry. Kirito-kun already rescued her.” explained Asuna. 

“What?” 

Asuna simply aimed a hoof to the cliff, where Twilight was being held by a dark blue pegasus in a black trench coat.

“Are you alright?” asked Kirito to the lavender unicorn. 

“Yes, thanks Celestia you came!” smiled Twilight.

With a sigh of relief, Applejack began to descend the cliff by jumping from rock to rock. She turned to Asuna to see if she needed any help, but the unicorn seemed to be in really good shape, and was able to follow her with ease. 

“Whoa, ye’re fit, ma’ friend!”

“Thanks, a lot of training I guess.” answered the unicorn. 

The two mares reached the bottom of the cliff safely, where they reunited with the rest of the group.

Asuna and Kirito bumped hooves, it was fun so far. 

“Good you spotted her on time, Kirito-kun.”

“Glad you were able to help the cowgirl before it was too late.” smiled the dark blue pegasus. 

Rarity approached to the both of them. “Ehem, thanks for the last-minute assistance, darlings. If it wasn’t for you, this adventure would ended up in tragedy. What are your names?”

“Asuna.”

“Kirito.”

Pinkie Pie tilted her names, as she giggled. “Those are really curious names. Are you foreigners or something?”

“Precisely,” said Kirito, “we come from a faraway land called Aincrad.”

“Aincrad? Never heard of it.” mumbled Fluttershy.

“It’s really far away.” Explained Asuna. “Anyway, what were you doing at that cliff? Do you realize it was dangerous?”

“Yeah, sorry, but we are in a hurry.” apologized Twilight. “We need to get to the old Castle as soon as possible!”

“So that’s why you are in this forest, I guess.” said Kirito.

“What about you?” questioned Rainbow Dash, distrustful. “What are you two doing here, on the Everfree Forest of all places?” 

“We got lost, before we realized, we were trapped on the deeps of the forest.” explained Asuna. 

“Is that all?” asked Applejack. “But ya’ don’t seem to be too worried about your predicament.”

“Look at the swords,” bragged Kirito. “We are adventurers. This is nothing!” 

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “It seems like the two of you have an interesting story. But we don’t have the time for this.”

“Aw, but I like stories. Especially fun stories!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie, we need to get the Elements of Harmony, remember?” reminded Twilight. “You know, to get the sun back, and save the ponykind from the Eternal Night?” 

Asuna and Kirito exchanged a look. This sounded familiar. 

“Let us help you.” 

“Yes, who knows what could be waiting for us in this forest.”

Twilight smiled awkwardly, five companions were already too many. Now she had two more? No, this time she would reject them and continue with her journey, and…

“Sure, we can always use an extra hoof!” agreed Rainbow. “Especially if you’re adventurers.”
“Wait, what?” asked Twilight.

“Ya’ were really helpful up there.” agreed Applejack. “And seem strong as well.”

“Ehem… I don’t like violence, but I do feel a little safer with the two of you…” said Fluttershy.

“So, it’s decided then! We have two new friends who will join us!” smiled Pinkie Pie.

“Wait…” said Twilight.

But it was already too late, the group was on their way. 

“Come on darling! Hurry!” called Rarity.

With a defeated sigh, Twilight joined them. 

They wandered for a while, when a furious roar stopped them.

“Look out, a manticore!” cried Twilight.

The two warriors took their swords, and calmly aimed them to the monsters. Kirito chose his trusty Elucidator, and Asuna Lament Light.

Asuna and Kirito exchanged a smile, and they ran to the beast encounter.
> The trials of Friendship, and the friendship among warriors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The trials of Friendship, and the friendship among warriors


A furious roar called everypony’s attention. 

“Look out, a manticore!” cried Twilight.

The two warriors took their swords, and calmly aimed them to the monsters. Kirito chose his trusty Elucidator, and Asuna Lament Light.

Asuna and Kirito exchanged a smile, and they ran to the beast encounter.

The manticore tried to stab them with its sting, but Kirito blocked the attack with the Elucidator, and kicked the monster on the nose. The monster gasped in pain, this pony was stronger than it thought.  

Seeing Kirito’s blade approaching at a dangerous speed, the manticore jumped backwards; but Asuna teleported on the monster’s back, and raised her sword ready to stab it on the head. 

“No, wait!” shrieked Fluttershy. “Girls! We have to do something!” 

“You mean help Asuna and Kirito?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I think they have everything under control!”

“No, stop them! Don’t you see they’re going to kill her?” said Fluttershy. 

In the meantime, the manticore have managed to get rid of Asuna, making her fall, and tried to stab her with its sting. But, she rolled out of the way as Kirito charged at her, ready to destroy the monster.

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy in awe, but in the end she groaned, and charged at the black swordsman.

“Oi, what’s wrong with you?” yelled Kirito.

At this point, Asuna was back on her hooves, and looked at the manticore to the eyes. 

The manticore roared, and charged at Asuna ready to bite her. She closed her eyes, just for a fraction of a second, and opened ready for combat. And a boastful smile.

But, suddenly, Fluttershy stood before her and the manticore.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” protested Asuna. “Don’t you see that…?”

She muted when she saw the stare Fluttershy was giving her. This was, by far, the most disturbing thing she have ever witnessed inside a game. 

Then, the yellow pegasus turned to the manticore, giving her a warm look.

“Do you mind to tell me what is wrong with you?” 

The creature looked at Fluttershy, then at Asuna, and then, back to Fluttershy; and, with tears on its eyes, it showed her its paw. It had a big spike, buried deep inside. 

“Aw, you poor thing…” said Fluttershy softly. “You’re just a big baby, aren’t you?”

“Baby?” asked Rainbow Dash and Kirito in the unison.

Fluttershy looked at the manticore to the eyes, and gently approached to its extended paw.

“This will hurt only for a second, alright?” said Fluttershy softly.

Then, she took the spike between her teeth, and pulled it out. The monster roared, making Asuna and Kirito to prepare fight again, when they saw the manticore simply licking Fluttershy’s face affectively. 

“Oh, come on!” smiled the shy pegasus. “You’re just a baby kitty, right?” 

The manticore made a thankful purr, and nuzzled to Fluttershy before getting lost inside the woods.

Asuna and Kirito looked down at the spike, as it turned into a puff of purplish smoke. They were about to ask if anypony else saw that, but, unfortunately, Fluttershy confronted them with her unnerving Stare.

“You! How dared you to attack that poor creature? It didn’t do anything wrong!!” 

The two warriors moved backwards, strangely intimidated by the pegasus’ stare.

Still, Kirito tried to calm her down, as he put Elucidator back on its scabbard. “Okay, in our defense, we had no idea what was wrong with it! I only saw a hungry animal trying to eat us!” 

Fluttershy was going to say something, but Applejack interjected for the two of them. 

“Flutters’, ya’ have to admit they have a point! They wanted to protect, us that’s it!”

“But… they tried to kill it…”

“It was violent, yeah, but I can understand why they did it.” said Twilight. 

“Let’s leave all this on the past, and move on! Like good friends should!” cheered Pinkie Pie.

So, in the end, Fluttershy had to admit she overreacted. 

“But please! Next time don’t pull your swords this quickly. You can hurt somepony!” asked Fluttershy.

“Fine, I guess.” agreed Kirito.

“Yeah, we can do that.” shrugged Asuna. 

The group continued their journey to the castle, and to the Elements of Harmony, when Twilight turned to Fluttershy.

“Hey, how did you know what the manticore needed?”

“I didn’t. Sometimes, you just need some kindness.” explained Fluttershy. 

Twilight smiled, as she engraved those words in her heart.

In the meantime, what got Rainbow’s attention was something else.

“Hey, dude!” she said to Kirito. “Why do you carry two swords?”

“Oh, it’s my specialty.” explained Kirito. “The double blade, but, it’s only in case of emergency.”

“Sweet! But is not too difficult to use the two swords at the same time?” 

“I’m used to it!” smiled Kirito.

“It seems like that skill is still gaining you some fans, right Kirito-kun?” smiled Asuna. 

“He have fans?” asked Pinkie.

“They know him as the Black Swordsman.” Said Asuna.

“Oh, so awesome!” grinned Rainbow.

Kirito smiled back to his girlfriend. “Asuna forgot to tell you something. She’s famous as well, known as the Lightning Flash.” 

“Oh, for real?” 

They continued chatting for a while, when a roar in the middle of the darkness called everypony’s attention. Asuna dragged Lambent Light, when suddenly, Kirito raised a hoof. “Ehem, sorry, that was my stomach!”

Everypony looked at Kirito in awe, when suddenly, they laughed happily.

“It’s a shame we came for the Elements in so short notice, if not, I would pack some cupcakes to go.” 

“Well, this is a forest.” said Fluttershy. “You can find an edible weed, or even wild berries. I’m pretty sure the forest creatures won’t mind to share with you.”

But then, Asuna gave a sandwich to Kirito that he gladly accepted. “Thanks, Asuna.”

“I’m always prepared, Kirito-kun.” said Asuna, taking her own sandwich. 

“You’re an excellent cook, Asuna.” said Kirito, enjoying his sandwich. “No matter if we’re in Aincrad, Tokyo, or in here, your meals have no comparison.” He then offered part of his sandwich to his new friends. “Somepony want some?” 

The girls accepted Kirito’s offer. And it was great.

“Whoa, Asuna, this is great! What’s your secret?” asked Twilight.

Asuna blushed slightly, and kissed Kirito on the cheek. 

“Let’s just say I have somepony especial to cook for.”

Kirito blushed too, but he kissed Asuna back.

Rarity giggled happily. “Ehem, darlings, if you don’t mind me asking, how long you’ve been together?” 

Asuna and Kirito exchanged a playful look, and shrugged. Somehow, these NPCs were very likable. Somehow, they felt more like real people instead of artificial intelligences. 

“So? Or am I being too personal?” asked Rarity.

“Well, we met five years ago, and we’ve been together for three years.”

“How wonderful!” said Fluttershy happily. “You do look cute together. At least when you’re not fighting little creatures.” 

“If you want to, I can make you the cutest darling outfits!” offered Rarity.

Kirito laughed uncomfortably. “Well, thanks, but unless Asuna starts wearing black, matching outfits are out of the question.”

“Oh, don’t be such a sourpuss, Kirito-kun.” Said Asuna. “There must be a color that matches the both of us.” 

Kirito sighed, as the girls giggled. Seriously, these NPCs were a little too interested in his romance with Asuna. Especially Rarity, who was a romantic since foalhood. 

“And, tell me, darlings, and please, feel free to stop me when you think I’m asking too much. How far you’ve gone with your love?”

Both warriors laughed, dealing with Rarity was like dealing with Rika, or Lizbeth inside the game. 

“Well, we live together, and we have a daughter about…”

“Six or eight, we can’t really tell.” Said Kirito.

Rainbow Dash tilted he head, confused. “What you mean six or eigth? Haven’t you been together only for three years?”

“And, most important, don’t you remember the age of your own daughter?” asked Twilight.

“Yui-chan is adopted.” explained Asuna.

“Yeah. You can say she adopted us.” added Kirito. 

“What?” asked the ponies in the unison. 

Kirito shrugged, and began to tell:

“There were we, a newly wedded couple, with our recently purchased house. We were walking around a small forest near our home, when we found a small girl, fainted. We took her home, and, when she woke up, she could only remember her name. Yui. One thing took us to another, and ended up as a family.” 

Asuna smiled, that was one of the most beautiful memories she had from Aincrad. She remembered what Kirito taught her back there, at SAO. To appreciate their little moments in there, as it was the real life. Since that was life for them, during that time.

“But, isn’t too much responsibility?” asked Fluttershy.

“Believe it or not, is Yui who always help us. Kirito and I have ended up in really compromising situations, and, if it wasn’t for Yui, who knows what could have happened to us.” 

Truth be told, Yui was actually an AI, created by the Cardinal System, for the game Sword Art Online.

“But you left her behind?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Kirito shrugged. “She is safe. Believe us. But, as soon as we are at a ‘safe zone’, first thing we will do, would be calling her at our side.”

The girls didn’t ask more. Of course, bringing a small child with them to a place like the Everfree Forest was too dangerous. 

They continued walking, getting deep into the forest. It was getting darker at each step. 

“Uf, I wish my eyes can have a break of this sight.”

Finally, the darkness swallowed completely. “I didn’t mean that literally!” said Rarity.

They continued walking.

“Hey, I think I stepped on something!” complained Applejack.

“AAAAAAH!!” shrieked Applejack.

“Is just mud!” said Applejack, annoyed.

“No, THAT!” cried Rarity, aiming a hoof to a horrid-looking tree.

And it wasn’t alone, they were surrounded by similar-looking trees.

Asuna looked at Fluttershy. “We can drag our swords now, right?”

The pegasus nodded weakly. 

But, when they were about to reduce the trees to splinters, Pinkie Pie began to laugh at the tree’s faces, making faces too, and giggling. 

Immediately, the trees went back to normal.

Kirito sighed. “You have to be kidding me!” 

“So what now?”

Out of nowhere, they began to listen to music.

“Ehem… what’s going on?” asked Asuna.  

Before they could ask what was going on, Asuna and Kirito found themselves in a musical number, along with the others. It was a song about giggle at the ghostly, or something like that. 

When Pinkie Pie finished her singing, they all were laughing, lying on the grass.

“This was, surprisingly fun!” smiled Kirito.

“See? A sword is not the solution to all problems!” said Pinkie Pie. 

The two warriors laughed at the comment, and the girls soon joined. At this point, they have built a really strong bond among them. Including Twilight, whose personality was a bit antisocial, but now she found herself enjoying the others’ company. 

The only thing that worried the two gamers, was that they spotted the purplish fog, but it disappeared before they could tell the others about it. 


…


In another point of the Everfree Forest, a new group of ponies materialized form thin air. 

It was a brown earth pony, with short red mane, and beard; with a katana at his belt, and a bandana. A red earth pony mare, with pink mane and tail, and she had a war hammer on her belt. The other, was red terracotta earth pony, with dark brown hair tied in two ponytails. She had a small dagger at her belt, along with a dragon on her back. A green pegasus with blue eyes, and blond mane; with a short sword. 

And finally, a moss green unicorn, sky blue mane and eyes. She was wearing some kind of brown shorts, a forest green jacket, and some kind of rifle on her back.

“Oi, Sinon-chan!” said the pony with the katana (Klein) to the unicorn. “Isn’t that a pony version of your GGO avatar?” 

She took a good look of herself. “I think so. I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Well, we kinda’ look like our SAO versions.” mumbled Klein, examining his new body.

“Leaving that aside, it’s okay we have followed them to this game?” asked the pony with the pigtails, Silica. “I mean, Asuna-san is going through difficult times, we should leave her alone with Kirito-san.”

“Easy, Silica. She’ll be happy to see us all!” suddenly said the dragon at the girl’s back.

They all gasped, and turned to the dragoness.

Now that they noticed, Silica’s virtual pet have changed a lot. In ALO and SAO, she was small enough to fit on Silica’s shoulder. Now she was as tall as them, and now, could talk. 

“What?” asked the dragoness.

“Unexpected.” said Lizbeth. 

“Yeah, I think we would get used to it, with time.” smiled Silica.

“Anyway, can anyone contact Asuna and Kirito?” asked Lizbeth.

“We don’t have them as contacts in this game. Not yet.” said Klein. 

“Then how are supposed to find them?” complained Lizbeth.

Leafa flew over the trees, only to have a better view of their surroundings. “Hey, guys, I see an abandoned castle on the depths of the forest, possibly a dungeon. Knowing them, they’re on their way.”

“Let’s go then!” smiled Pina and Silica.

The group rushed toward the castle, except for Sinon, who was still doubtful about all this. Something inside her was telling her this weren’t a normal game. 

“Oi, Sinon-chan! We’re leaving!” called Klein.

The cold-hearted sniper shook her head, and joined her friends. Hopefully, she was just imagining things.


…


Back with the main group, they continued with their journey, until a wide river blocked their way.

“Oi, Rainbow Dash, do you think you can help me to bring the others to the other side?” asked Kirito.

The cyan pegasus raised an eyebrow. “Well, I think we can do it, but it would be exhausting. Especially for you who have to carry those things.”

Kirito looked at his swords. “Hey, my physical stats are at its max. Besides, all I have to do is to put my swords back on the inventory.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what are you talking about.” said Rainbow.  

“Well, there must be a solution. For example, Kirito and Asuna can chop down some trees, and I could make a raft with my magic!” suggested Twilight.

“Okay. Give us a minute.” said Asuna as she dragged Lambent Light. 

But before the warroprs could start, they heard a cry on the distance. 

They all exchanged a look, and went to the source of that noise.

What they found, it was something nopony was expecting. A serpent-like monster, crying desperately. 

“Please darlings, put your swords away.” asked Rarity.

“Sure!” said the couple in the unison. They didn’t want to fight a creature looking this sad. 

By her way, Twilight approached to the serpent monster, who was really beautiful. With purple scales, well-combed mane, and… half of a mustache?

“Ehem, Mister, can you tell us why are you crying?” asked Twilight.

The serpent looked at them. “Oh, well, I don’t know. I was sitting here, doing my business, when that purple fog came in, and cut my beautiful mustache!” 

They all groaned in exasperation, seriously, all because of that?

“Is that really a reason to cry about?” asked Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes.

Rarity stared at her. “But of course! Just look at him! Those shiny scales…”

“I know, I know!” smiled the serpent.

“Your beautifully combed hair!” continued the unicorn mare. 

“Oh, yeah!” said the monster, delighted.

Kirito sighed, this was exactly what he feared when he started this game. The first part was kind of fun, but it was getting way too girly for his taste. 

“Your perfect manicure!” exclaimed Rarity.

“Oh, that’s so true!” answered the serpent, delighted. 

Asuna giggled, as she saw Kirito making a face-hoof. She felt a little guilty for dragging him to this point, but hopefully, something interesting would happen soon. 

In the meantime, Rarity continued comforting the monster. “It’s all ruined without your mustache!”

“I KNOW!” cried the creature, as he started crying again.

Rarity frowned. “I cannot allow this! I won’t sit here and see this crime against style! Asuna, can I borrow your sword? It seems lightest than Kirito’s.”

Asuna obeyed. What was she up to?

Rarity used Lambent Light to cut her own tail, and used her magic to attach it to the remaining of the Serpent’s mustache. 

“No, Rarity! Your beautiful tail!” said Twilight.

“Don’t worry, dear, everypony knows that short is the new black. Now, what do you think my friend?”

The serpent was admiring its image on the river. “My mustache! So beautiful!”

“I’m glad I could help.” said Rarity. 

The serpent hugged Rarity happily, to then offer them their back so they could cross the river safely. “Please, allow me!”

And they all crossed the river, safely. 

“Okay girls, we’re getting closer!” said Twilight, leading the way.

The group cheered happily, as they went a little faster. Only Asuna and Kirito were left behind.

“Kirito-kun, have you noticed? The creature said something about a purple fog.” 

“We’re being watched. I guess this is part of the challenge.” said Kirito confidently. 

“I have a feeling there’s a boss battle ahead us.” 

“You don’t say!” laughed the dark blue pegasus. 

Finally, they saw it, the Castle towering over the Everfree Forest. As big and menacing as only itself. 

Twilight cheered excitedly, and ran toward the castle. However, she didn’t noticed she was leading straight to a cliff. Luckily, Rainbow stopped her on time.

“What’s with you and cliffs today?” mocked the pegasus.

“Great!” complained Twilight. “Now what?”

“Yeah, how are we supposed to cross?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“Duh!” said Rainbow flapping her wings. “I see a bridge on the other side. I’ll repair it!”

Kirito looked to the other side, only to see the purple fog swirling in front of him. 

“I’ll go with you.” 

“No, it’s easy!” said Rainbow, already halfway through the other side. Where the Elements of Harmony were waiting.

But as soon as she crossed to the other side, the purple fog blocked the others’ vision. 

Kirito prepared to go, but he was stopped by Asuna. “Wait! Maybe she can do it on her own.”

“But…”

“Just think how things have been going since we started this game.”

Kirito had to nod, and wait.

The others just looked at them, confused. What they were talking about?

However, they were more worried about Rainbow’s fate.

At the other side of the cliff, Rainbow Dash was about to repair the bridge, when a mysterious voice called her.

“Rainbow…”

She turned, as she prepared to fight. “Who’s there? I’m not afraid of you!”

“We were waiting for you, Rainbow Dash!” said a dark pegasus, appearing from the fog surrounding them. “To the best flyer in all Equestria”

Rainbow tilted her head. “Who? Oh, me!” she smiled. “Hey, do you mind to tell that to the Wonderbolts? I’ve been trying to join that team for years!”

“No, Rainbow, we want you to join us! The Shadow Bolts. The best flyers of the Everfee Forest. We only need…”

“A captain.” 

“Not any captain though.”

The three shadow mares began to fly in circles around Rainbow Dash. 

“We need the fastest…”

“Yes!”

“The bravest!”

“Yes!”

“We need… you.”

Rainbow smiled. “I’m in! Just let me fix the bridge, and we’ll talk about the details.” 

But one of the shadow ponies blocked her way. 

“NO! You have to choose between them. Or us.”

Rainbow frowned. “Okay then. Thanks. But no thanks.”

The shadow ponies shrugged. “As you wish.”

“It’s a shame though, we were serious about the offer.” 

They grew fangs, and long menacing claws, ready to kill Rainbow.

“It’s been a pleasure.”

“No, wait!” said Rainbow, flying backwards. 

Suddenly, a black and blue blur came from the fog, and cut through them with ease.

The three shadow ponies vanished in a puff of purple fog. 

“Kirito!” said Rainbow, relieved.

The warrior looked disappointed. “I was hoping for a more challenging fight. Anyway, hurry to fix the bridge.”

Rainbow nodded, and went to fix the bridge, allowing the others to cross safely. 

“Rainbow, thank you.” said Twilight.

“For what? I never abandon my friends!” said Dash, winking an eye to Twilight. “But the true hero was Kirito. If it wasn’t for him, who knows what those things would do to me.”

“Nothing, they were illusions.” said Kirito. “But now, I have a feeling that the real challenge is about to start.”

“No, if we find the Elements it won’t!” said Twilight, with confidence.
> Nightmare Moon, the final boss
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Nightmare Moon, the final boss


The group arrived to the gates of the old Castle, looking to each other before entering. 

They were all confident and chatty, but they all muttered when they got in, knowing it was vital for Twilight co concentrate. 

“I have only one question, what are the Elements of Harmony?” asked Kirito. 

“Oh, right! We went through all this together, and you don’t even know that!” said Pinkie. “There are some kind of magical artifacts that represent the basis of Harmony.” 

Twilight nodded. “There are seven. Six are known by the ponykind: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic. The seventh, the most powerful of them all, would be revealed when a spark gets together the other six.”

Kirito looked at his girlfriend. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

She nodded, “This isn’t a coincidence. I guess our mission would be protect them.” 

Kirito agreed. They will have to stay as close as possible of the girls when the such-called Nightmare Moon finally decided to show up. 

They went through a large corridor, surrounded by decorations, bookshelves, furniture from another times. A past era. 

Asuna and Kirito looked around, ready to drag their swords at first sight of danger.

Finally, they arrived to a large hall, with six stone spheres on the center. Each one with a different design engraved on the center.

“Finally!” cheered Twilight. “The Elements of Harmony! But…”

Pinkie Pie began to count. “One, two, three, four, five, six…! There are only six! We’re missing one!” 

Twilight nodded, worried.

“According with the legend, the Seventh Element would appear on its own when a spark get together the other six.”

Applejack nodded, and guided the group outside. “Alright, ya’ heard her guys. She needs to focus. Let’s leave her to figure this out.”

Kirito shook her head. “Are you out of your mind? What if Nightmare Moon shows up?”

“I’ll stop her with the Elements of Harmony.” said Twilight.

“Twilight, seriously, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” added Asuna.   

“Don’t worry, I can handle this.” said Twilight. “Come, on, you’ll just distract me.”

Finally, Applejack managed to push them out of the room too, but the warriors still had their doubts. 

“I’ll be fine!” assured Twilight, when Asuna and Kirito gave her a last glance. 

And, finally, when she was left on her own, Twilight began to walk around the Elements. Then, she tried to use her magic to create the ‘spark’, but suddenly, a purple fog surrounded her. 

“What?” shrieked Twilight. 

Twilight’s shriek called the ponies’ attention, and they ran to help her friend. 

But it was already too late, they saw Twilight vanishing in a purple puff.

“No!!” said the girls in the unison.

“Don’t say we didn’t warn you.” said Asuna, with a frown.

“This isn’t about if ya’ were right or what! This is about saving our friend!” protested Applejack.

“Yes, you did warn us, now what?” asked Rainbow. “What can we do now?”

In the end, Kirito raised a hoof. “Shut up!”

“What?” said Rainbow, angrily.

“Shut up and listen.” said Kirito. 

They obeyed, and exchanged a look. They could hear two ponies arguing in the distance. 

“She’s close!”

“What are we waiting for, then?” 

“LET’S GO!” 


…


Twilight opened her eyes, feeling disoriented and dizzy. Where was she? 

Then, she looked up. Only to see a black alicorn blocking her way to the Elements of Harmony.

“Oh, I see you’re awake.” said Nightmare Moon, staring at Twilight. “The one who recognized me back at that party.”

“Nightmare Moon…” said Twilight, with a gasp.

She nodded, shrugging. “You know? When I saw you with the Elements, I did worry a little. I thought it was my end. But, then, you asked to be left alone. Are you so arrogant that you actually thought you could defeat me on your own? What an idiot. Are you sure you are my sister’s personal student?”

Twilight glared at Nightmare. “This isn’t over, Nightmare.” 

Nightmare Moon grinned. “Oh, I think it is, dear. Now tell me, what I should do to you?” 

Twilight charged her magic, and ran toward the alicorn with all her power.

That made Nightmare laugh.

“You’re kidding! You’re kidding, right?”

Apparently not, since Twilight continued.

Nightmare grinned, as she created a huge black and blue sword, surrounded in her purple mist. With a murderous smile, she swung her sword toward Twilight, to deliver a quick death. 

But Twilight anticipated this, and teleported right behind Nightmare, right before the Elements of Harmony. 

“Come on, a spark! Just a little spark!” 

Twilight tried to activate the six Elements, but all she could do was to levitate them.

Nightmare chuckled at this pony’s stupidity, and waved her sword, destroying the Elements. Then, she aimed her weapon to Twilight. The lavender unicorn shrank in fear

“Did you seriously believed you could use those on your own? Okay, I was wrong. You are indeed Celestia’s student. It seems like that moron is still a cryptic idiot, who only gives half of the information, no matter how vital it is. Now, you’ll pay for her mistake with your life!” 

The sound of voices, and hoofsteps coming to their direction called Nightmare’s and Twilight’s attention.

With a grin, Nightmare grabbed Twilight with her magic, and threw her right in front of the door, right when the group arrived. 

And, of course, they froze when they saw Twilight’s predicament.

“Just in time for the execution!” said Nightmare Moon, with joy. “Let this pony’s idiocy to serve as an example for you! For all Equestria!” 

Twilight could only see how the dark alicorn’s sword descended right to her neck. She let escape a small tear, at least her death would be quick, and as painless as it could be. 

But then, something blocked Nightmare’s blade. Twilight opened her eyes, to see Asuna and Kirito using their swords to protect her from Nightmare’s.

“What?!” gasped the black alicorn.

“Asuna! Kirito!” said Twilight, relieved.

The black swordsman glanced at her. “Next time, listen to what we say!”

Between the two warriors, managed to push Nightmare’s blade away, and managed to give her a couple of blows to her sides. She screamed both in surprise, and pain. 

Nightmare was forced to make a step backwards, as she analyzed the new challengers. 

Asuna and Kirito kept their swords aimed toward her, ready to react at the first move they spotted. 

In all her years of experience, Nightmare Moon knew how to recognize a true warrior when she saw one. And these two were on their own league, she could say that from both their position and expressions. She grinned, this was going to be fun. 

“Interesting, let’s see what you have!” invited Nightmare Moon.

The two warriors did not hesitate, they both attacked the dark alicorn at once.

Kirito extended his wings to gain altitude, allowing him to grab Dark Repulser on his left hoof, and attacked. His attacks were savage and quick. That made him to suffer several openings, but he compensated those by adding his second sword to the equation. 

As for Asuna, she moved at incredible speed, always going for the back, or the sides as Kirito was keeping her busy on the front. 

Nightmare Moon lost terrain, but she was grinning. 

Asuna and Kirito also knew when they were before a veteran swordsman, something that this pony certainly was. 
They knew she was just studying their moves. But they didn’t care, they knew they had to take this chance to do as much damage as possible. After all, this was only the first stage of a fight. 

Finally, Nightmare Moon charged her sword with dark power, and swung her sword with all her might. 

Asuna and Kirito were sent to the wall, where they both created a huge crack because of the impact.

“Asuna, Kirito!” cried Rarity, as she approached to Asuna, who was closer to her; as Fluttershy did the same with Kirito.

“Are you okay?” asked Twilight, worried to see them getting hurt.

Asuna got back on her hooves, calmly. “Hai, we’re okay.” 

“Yeah, our HP bar lowered a bit, but we’re fine.” said Kirito, getting back on fours as well.

Nightmare aimed her sword to the both of them, aiming her sword toward the group. “Wait, wait, wait! Something is definitely wrong here. That move should, at least, break a couple of bones. How are you still able to stand?” 

Kirito smiled confidently. “Do you actually hoped to finish this fight in one move? You’re not that strong.”

Nightmare Moon screamed in anger, and charged toward them.

Kirito looked at the other side of the room, where his swords were. Then, he looked at Asuna, who still had Lambent Light on hoof.

“Asuna, I’m going for my swords! Distract her for a few seconds!”

Asuna nodded. “Understood. Switch!”

Kirito made an agile backflip, as Asuna charged at Nightmare, using her speed as an advantage.

But now, Nightmare have successfully warmed up, and was more than capable to match Asuna’s speed with ease.

“Admit it, you can’t win.”

Asuna didn’t say anything, she just glanced at her partner, who have grabbed his swords, and charged back at Nightmare.

In the meantime, the girls could not believe their eyes.

“They’re strong. Really strong…” mumbled Pinkie Pie, amazed. 

“So awesome…” mumbled Rainbow Dash.

Asuna and Nightmare continued fighting, until a decisive blow from Nightmare Moon made Asuna to fall, giving the dark alicorn the chance to deliver the fatal blow.

But then, she had to turn to block Kirito’s blow from Elucidator. But that was what Kirito was expecting. He used his enemy’s strength on his favor, using it to add some speed to his blow with Dark Repulser.

The blue sword penetrated through Nightmare’s armor, making her scream in anger. 

She sent a powerful magic beam to push away the black swordsman, giving Asuna the chance to deliver three painful blows to her left wing.

The dark alicorn glared at the warriors, who stood side by side in front of her. Then, she smiled. “You’re strong.”

“So are you.” said the warriors in the unison. 

They both noticed their HP was at orange, so they called their inventories, to pick a couple of recovery potions that they drank on the spot.

“What the hell was that white screen you summoned?” asked Nightmare.

“None of your business.” said Asuna.

“Fine.” said Nightmare, still smiling. “You’ve been giving me so much fun, so I’ll let that pass. But you better haven’t show me all you have, because I won’t hold back from now on.”

“Same here!” 

They resumed the fight, and, much to Asuna’s and Kirito’s dismay, the dark alicorn have become faster, and her blows were more powerful. But they could handle her, at least for a while. 

The girls watched at the fight in awe. They wanted to do something to help their friends, but they weren’t warriors. Still, they knew they had to do something.

The only one who wasn’t watching the fight was Twilight. She had a lot in her mind. Especially Nightmare’s words: 

“Did you seriously believed you could use those on your own?” and, “You know? When I saw you with the Elements, I did worry a little. I thought it was my end. But, then, you asked to be left alone.”

Finally, it hit her. “Of course…” she mumbled. 

“Twilight?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“We can help them.” said Twilight. 

“How?” asked Fluttershy, trembling in fear.

“Don’t you see? That’s why she wanted to kill me. That’s why she tried to delay us so desperately. The Elements of Harmony weren’t on those stones.”

“Then were are them?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“They live inside us!”

“WHAT?” asked the girls in the unison. 

“Try to understand, when we fell from the cliff, Applejack managed to calm me with her honest words. She told me to trust her, and so I did. That’s when I realized, for a few seconds, that she represents the spirit of Honesty!”

“You fell anyway.” mumbled Applejack.

But Twilight ignored her, and continued. “Then, Fluttershy, who saw beyond the monster’s anger, and knew what it needed with her Kindness.”

Fluttershy blushed. 

“Then, at the dark Forest, when Pinkie Pie helped us by looking beyond the scary things we thought we were seeing, and laugh. She represented the spirit of…”

“Laughter!” cheered Pinkie Pie. 

Twilight nodded. “Precisely. Then, Rarity, who comforted the beast with a beautiful gift! In that moment, she showed us she represented the spirit of Generosity!” 

Rarity blushed as well. “It was nothing …”

Rainbow grinned. “Don’t forget about me!”

“How could I?” asked Twilight. “You decided to help your friends instead of the easy way to get what you want the most. If that’s not true Loyalty, I don’t know what it is.”

Rainbow smiled proudly, as Twilight finished:

“And then, there’s me. I’ve dedicated my life to study the mysteries of Magic. But, I always ignored the most powerful of Magics, the one I found when I met all of you. I got it when you came to rescue me, and realized how happy I was to see you. I realized you… ARE MY FRIENDS!”

A white light surrounded the group. 

“But those are only six Elements. We still haven’t found the seventh!” said Rarity. 

Twilight smiled. “We had. The most powerful of the Elements, so big that it can’t be contained by one soul only. The purer and most beautiful feeling that exists. Something that Asuna and Kirito share!”

It was obvious what she was talking about. But before Twilight could say the ‘L word’, an army of black and blue armors charged at the group of mares. 

Nightmare Moon took a break from the fight, and looked at them. “What? Did you actually thought I wasn’t paying attention to your little speech? Congratulations for solving the riddle, but I have no intention to go back to the moon.” Then, she turned to Asuna and Kirito. “Tell me, my little ponies, what is going to be? Me, or your friends? You cannot defeat me and protect them at the same time.”

Kirito jumped toward the dark alicorn with both of his swords, as Asuna teleported in front of the six mares, and started to destroy Nightmare’s living armors. 

Nightmare rolled her eyes. “Okay, good choice, but you know you can’t keep like this forever. Sooner or later, one of you is going to get tired.” 

They continued for a while, when the sun began to raise in the horizon.

Nightmare Moon sent Kirito away with a powerful blow, sending him against Asuna.

The couple crashed to a wall, creating a new crack.

Nodding, Nightmare Moon turned to the window.

“Finally! I thought you weren’t going to show up in the entire night, Tia.”

A big, powerful figure, entered through the window. A pure white alicorn, with the mane made out of the aurora borealis itself. 

“Princess Celestia!” cried Twilight.

Princess Celestia looked at her protégée, surrounded by the black armors, who have stopped their attack. 

“Tia! Long time no see you, sister.” said Nightmare. “Not because I didn’t try, thought. First thing I did when I got free was go look for you, but you went into hiding. As usual.” 

Celestia gave a worried look to her student and her new friends, completely surrounded by her sister’s creatures. Then, she looked back at the dark alicorn.

“Luna… please, this doesn’t have to end like this!” 

Nightmare Moon grinned. “Oh, I think it does. What were you thinking anyway? That I wouldn’t dare to use violence against them? Come on!”

Celestia looked at Nightmare, and, doubtful, she made appear her own sword. Golden as the sun.

Nightmare’s grin went wider. “Come on! We both know that between the two of us, I am the better fighter. You may be good with protection spells, but didn’t go any further. Me, on the other hoof, I’m great with combat magic. Also, while you were stuffing yourself with sweets, I took fencing lessons. I’m also in better shape.” She laughed. “Let’s be honest, if it wasn’t for the Elements of Harmony, there was no way you could defeat me.” 

Celestia nodded. “I know I am no match for you, sister. That’s why I came to talk you to reason. Luna, please, see beyond your jealousness!” 

Nightmare Moon laughed. “Tia, wake up! There’s no Luna! Only ME!”

And she charged against Celestia, who barely blocked the attack with her own sword. 

Nightmare Moon swung her sword again, sending Celestia’s flying. It was over.

But then, certain dark blue pegasus came from behind, delivering a double-blade attack right to her back.

Nightmare screamed in pain, and turned to destroy the insolent pegasus.

Kirito blocked the attack using both of his swords, and moved backwards, looking at his opponent to the eyes. 

“Never turn your back to an opponent.”

“WHY DON’T YOU DIE?!!”

She turned her attention to Kirito, as she made her living armors to resume their attack. Luckily, Asuna got rid of them with ease.

They continued fighting, but Nightmare quickly noticed the warriors were at their limit. Their moves were slower, and weaker. They were no match for her in this shape. 

Finally, she grabbed them both with her magic, as she prepared her sword.

“You two have earned all my respect, warriors. When I become the absolute Queen, I’ll build a monument to honor the two of you. I haven’t had an opponent as worthy in centuries. Tell me your names!” 

The two of them smiled, they were defeated but at least it was a fun little game to play.

“Kirito, the Black Swordsman.”

“Asuna, the Lighting Flash.”

Nightmare raised her sword, ready to finish them for good, when a red spot appeared on her chest.

“What the hell is this?”

She looked at her sister and the bearers, but they looked as confused as her.

As for Kirito, his eyes went wide when he recognized the ‘prediction lines’. A mechanic used in the shooter game, Gun Gail Online. 

“I knew they were coming.” smiled Kirito. 

“Of course they would. What are friends for?” said Asuna, as she smiled back.

Nightmare Moon grinded her teeth. “Who are you talking about?”

The warriors closed their eyes, waiting.

A detonation resounded all over the Castle, and, before the ponies could ask what was going on, a bullet impacted right on Nightmare’s chest, making her fall.

Asuna and Kirito got free from her aura, and moved backwards increasing their distance with the dark alicorn. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” yelled Nightmare.

Kirito looked back, and waved a hoof. “Great shot, Sinon!”

A moss green unicorn with blue mane entered to the room, carrying a strange weapon. Something that the ponies haven’t see, a sniper rifle. Sinon’s beloved weapon, Hecate. 

Soon, the rest of the group joined her. Klein, Lizbeth, Silica, Pina and Leafa; each carrying their weapons in hoof.

The living armors turned to them, and charged. But the warriors were quicker, and disposed of them in a single move. 

“Sorry for the delay, but the forest is full of monsters.” said Leafa, winking to Asuna and Kirito. “Are you okay, Onii-chan, Asuna-san?”

“Yes, thank you.” said Kirito. “You arrived just in time.”

“Mmh, thank you for your help.” said Asuna.

Klein grinned. “What were you thinking, going to confront a Dungeon Boss without us?”

More living armors appeared, at Nightmare’s command.

“Oh no, don’t you think this is over.”

Kirito stood, and commanded his team: “Okay, Sinon, Klein, I need you to cover the NPCs. Klein, you take care of the Princess personally. Silica, Lizbeth, clean our path. We need a clear sigh of this boss. Leafa, help us.”

“Roger!” said the team. 

They followed Kirito’s directions, resuming the fight.

Nightmare Moon couldn’t believe this was happening. This changed everything. And yes, she was tired. She underestimated the warriors and now she was paying the consequences.

Twilight, seeing that the warriors kept her attackers occupied, also resumed her speech:

“As I was saying, Applejack is Honesty; Fluttershy, Kindness; Pinkie Pie, Laughter; Rarity, Generosity; Rainbow Dash, Loyalty; I am Magic. And Asuna and Kirito form together… THE ELEMENT OF LOVE!”

Leafa, Asuna and Kirito ran toward Nightmare, who knew she was now on the weakest position. They jumped, ready to deliver their attacks, when strange things started to happen.

A white light surrounded all the Bearers of Harmony, including Asuna and Kirito.

The magic turned into a crown in Twilight’s head, and seven necklaces on the others. Each of the necklaces represented the Bearer’s Cutie Marks. 

Except for Asuna and Kirito, who had matching necklaces each with half of a heart.

But the strange things didn’t end up there. The white light pushed Leafa away, as it began to concentrate over the Bearers’s necklaces, and crown, creating a rainbow chain that concentrated on the warriors’ swords. 

“No, I was so close!” screamed Nightmare Moon, as she saw the two warriors approached.

Suddenly, Klein realized of something.

“Hey, there’s something wrong with their avatars!”

It was true, soon enough, the avatars turned pixelated, unstable. 

Suddenly, the two of them turned into humans. Their SAO version.

“Are those monkeys?” asked Twilight, in shock.

But the changes didn’t stop there. Soon, Kirito turned into some kind of feminine version of himself, but still a male. 
Sinon frowned, as she recognized his GGO avatar. “I knew there’s something off with this game. ASUNA, KIRITO, STOP NOW THAT YOU CAN!”

But they couldn’t hear her. In fact, they seemed unaware of that was happening to them.

Asuna also transformed, turning into the Titatia avatar Sugouh Noboyuki have made for her.

They changed again, to their usual ALO avatars. 

And, finally, they turned back to their pony selves.

“No, there’s something wrong here!” said Leafa, worried.

“STOOOP!” warned the other warriors.

It was already too late.

Nightmare screamed in pain when the three blades went through her body, as the two powerful warriors looked at her to the eyes.

Around the group, all kind of objects began to materialize. Since potions, money, plants, cooking items, and such. But also, all the weapons they have collected during their games. 

“This is impossible…” mumbled Silica.

Finally, a crystal tear called the ponies’ attention since it was glowing. With a flash, it turned into a small unicorn filly, with brown eyes and black hair. She slowly opened her eyes, and looked at the action.

“Mama, papa!” she called.

“Yui, you know what’s going on?” asked Leafa.

“What? No, I just wake up!” said the filly.

Celestia nodded. “Yeah, we can use some answers as well…”

In the meantime, Nightmare did her best to black the warriors’ attacks. Now that they were charged with the power of the Elements of Harmony, all felt devastating.

And then, Asuna and Kirito decided it was time to finish her off, with their signature moves:

“STAR BURST… STREAM/MOTHER’S… ROSARIO!!”

Nightmare screamed in pain, as the last of her darkness was destroyed by the sparkling swords.

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!”

In a final flash of white light, Nightmare Moon disappeared in a million sparks, turning into a little blue alicorn with light blue mane. 

“Luna!” called Celestia.

The small alicorn smiled weakly at her older sister. “Hi sist… I’m back…”

And she fainted.

Asuna and Kirito put their swords back on their scabbards, as they breathed heavily. But they were smiling.

“We won.” said the pegasus. 

“It seems so.” agreed Asuna. 

Luna opened her eyes, for a bit, and smiled at them. “Thank you…”

And then, she fainted for good. It was over.

Or was it?

Sinon broke the silence. “Guys… why did your cursors turned into NPC’s?” 

Leafa shivered. “This is not a normal game, isn’t it?”
> The fate of Asuna and Kirito
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The fate of Asuna and Kirito


Everyone in Ponyville was scared and confused. Mostly confused.

It all started when Princess Celestia mysteriously vanished, and a dark alicorn came out of nowhere, and claimed that she would bring the eternal night. 

Then, the new girl, Twilight Sparkle, and a bunch of other ponies, ran into the Everfree Forest to stop her.

They didn’t know what to expect, but then, the sun raised. Apparently, they saved the day. But how?

Now everypony was expecting excitedly to greet the new heroes. Or, have they been killed by the alicorn? 

And, of course, the most worried of them all was the dragon the new girl brought with her. Spike. He was worried sick since he woke up in an empty library. Did Twiligth made it? And what about the love of his life, Rarity? Was she gonna be okay? 

But finally, the six ponies exited the forest victoriously. Leaded by no other than Princess Celestia, who was holding with her magic an improvised stretcher, made of a couple of wooden planks, tied together by a few vines. And, on the stretcher, was an unconscious blue alicorn. She seemed badly injured, as she have taken the worse part of a fight. 

Then, closing the procession, there were three unknown ponies. A dark blue pegasus in a black trench coat, and two swords in his back. A snow white unicorn, in a red and white outfit, with a light blue rapier on her waist. Finally, a small filly with a long black mane, and beautiful and expressive brown eyes. 

“Princess Celestia!” called Mayor Mare. “What happened?”

Celestia looked at her sister, and then announced:

“Citizens of Ponyville! Today Equestria was saved thanks to the efforts of this groups of ponies. By saving my sister, they have proved to be the incarnation of the Elements of Harmony!!”

The ponies began to talk among each other, completely confused.

“Sister?”

“What’s going on?”

“The Elements of Harmony?” 

Princess Celestia smiled calmly. “With time, we’ll explain everything. But right now, what matters, is that Equestria was saved by this ponies. Applejack Apple, Fluttershy, Pinkamena Pie, Rarity Belle, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle…”

The town began to cheer for their heroes, when Celestia interrupted them,

“Wait! There are still two other ponies we should thank. They took the harder part of this trial, by protecting their new friends with the strength of their love. Citizens of Ponyville, let me introduce you to Kirito the Black Swordsman, and Asuna, the Lightning Flash.” 

The young couple made a small, Japanese-style bow, and smiled at the twonsponies; as their daughter hugged them. 

“Great job, mama, papa.”

“But I cannot help but feel that this is only the beginning.” mumbled Asuna. 

Kirito nodded in agreement. Something strange happened while they were fighting, but he couldn’t tell why.

And walking a little farther from the main group, there was another group of strange ponies. The group from ALO.

Asuna and Kirito wanted to join their friends, but the big NPC insisted that they should join the other NPCs. 

“Wait!” called one young colt, white with brown spots. “You helped too?”

Klein smiled, but only to please the NPC. Like the others, he was worried about the strange turn of events during the battle against the Dungeon Boss. Still, his light-hearted nature urged him to please the colt.

“Ehem, yes we did. But only at the very last moment. We didn’t help that much.”

Rarity turned to them. “Oh, don’t be so modest, darlings, if it wasn’t for you, those armors would kill us!”

The colt’s eyes widened in excitement. “So, what are your names?”

Klein looked at his friends, who seemed as confused as he was. In the end, he introduced himself as goofy as he usually was. 

“My name is Klein, leader of the Fuunrikazn guild!”

Lizbeth shrugged, and joined Klein as well. “Lizbeth, Leprechaun blacksmith.”

“Leafa from the clan of Sylf.” 

“Silica the Beast Tamer.”

“Pina!”

“Sinon, the cold-hearted sniper.” 

The ponies began to mumble among themselves, but Princess Celestia urged the second group to join the first one inside the library.

“Anyone else wants to log out?” asked Sinon.

“Well, I’m half curious, half worried about Asuna and Kirito.” said Lizbeth.

The others agreed, and followed the Princess. 

“You too Spike!” called Twilight.

And the dragon obediently followed them to the library.

Once they left the ponies celebrating, Celestia put her sister on the center of the library, as the others looked at her, worried.

“First things first!” said Celestia. “Luna! I need to apologize with her. Oh, my dear sister…”

“What happened between the two of you?” asked Twilight.

Celestia sighed. “It was a thousand years ago, when we began to argue. Luna’s anger and resentment have turned her quiet, mysterious, and dark. And one day, out of nowhere she began to tell me that a dark entity was passosesing her, turning her into something dangerous and cruel. I did not believe her. I thought she was making up an excuse to challenge me. And my suspicions get confirmed when she turned into Nightmare Moon and attacked. She tried to warn me, she asked for help, but I turned my back on her… and instead of saving her, I locked her in the moon. Oh, Luna, I could have helped…”

Celestia couldn’t hold it anymore, she began to cry.

But then, the blue dragoness approached to Luna, and used her healing breath over the unconscious alicorn. 

The wounds of the Princess of the Night began to heal, but only a little. 

Pina smiled at Celestia.

“There you go, she’s better now. Unfortunately, I’m still young, and my healing breath is not that strong.”

Celestia smiled warmly. “But your help is appreciated, young…”

Spike ran to the dragoness, taking her claws on his. “Oh, hi! I’m Spike! What’s your name, beautiful?”

The dragoness blushed, delighted with this newcomer. “My name is Pina. Nice to meet you… Spike.”

Spike smiled happily. “Oh, hi… yes… that trick… was really neat!”

“You don’t have a healing breath?”

“No, but I have messenger breath.”

“Oh, for real? Tell me more!”

And, in this point, they were dragged to a corner by Twilight and Silica.

“I’m glad you two are getting along, but we have a situation between hooves.” said Twilight. 

Asuna and Kirito turned to Silica. “Pina can talk?” 

“Is the world we’re in, I guess.” said the Beast Tamer with a smile. “I like it!”

“Hey, why are you surprised that a dragon is talking?” asked Spike. “I mean, Twilight says that the real surprise is when I stay quiet.”

Everyone but Sinon chuckled at this. No, she still was staring at Asuna’s and Kirito’s cursor. It was still an NPC’s. She had a really bad feeling about all this, but they had to play along with the ponies, at least for a while.

“She still needs help…” said Celestia, worried.

Kirito exchanged a look with Asuna, and the two of them approached to Celestia, holding a small bottle.

“Here, it’s a healing potion. Cures any injure instantly.” explained Kirito.

“We still have one left from the combat.”  

“The combat?” asked Celestia. “Oh, whatever. Thank you for your help. Luna, take this…”

Celestia then took the potion with her magic, and gently put it on her sister’s lips. 

Luna opened her eyes, and looked around. Then, she took a good look on herself, and smiled.

“So, it wasn’t a dream! You made it, you defeated her! She’s out of my body! You returned me to my good old self! Oh, but how could you cure me that fast? I received a considerate amount of damage!” 

“You can thank our visitors for that.” said Celestia, relieved to see her sister recovered.

“You’re welcome.” said Asuna. “I’m just glad that you turned back to normal.” 

“And sorry for attacking you.” added Kirito. 

“No, I am the one who is sorry.” smiled Luna. 

Celestia nodded. “Now that my sister is safe, let’s focus on the two of you. Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“I think we already introduced ourselves, right?” asked Kirito.

“You don’t understand.” said Celestia. “Until now, we have detected six of the eight Bearers of Harmony. The incarnations of Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. But there was no trace of Love.”

“Wait!” protested Applejack. “Yer’ telling me that ya’ already know that we were the Elements of Harmony?”

Celestia nodded. 

“Each generation, the Elements of Harmony incarnates in ponies, whose souls represent them perfectly. Part of my duties, as a Princess, is to locate this ponies, and keep an eye on them, in case Equestria needs the Elements. Like today.”

The girls exchanged an excited look.

“So, we’re destined to be defenders of Equestria?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Awesome!” 

Twilight looked at her teacher in awe. “That’s why you sent me to Ponyville? To meet them, and become friends? To become the Elements of Harmony?”

“Precisely!” said Celestia. “Without the spark of the Magic of Friendship, the Elements of Harmony would never work.”

“I see…”
“But, what I don’t understand, is what happened with Princess Luna? What was powerful enough to possess no other than Celestia’s sister?” asked Rainbow.

“Myself!” sighed Luna. “Stupidly, I tried to magically get rid of my jealousness, and anger. But, instead of locking them in the depths of my mind, I ended up giving them a mind on their own, and self-awareness. Nightmare was born from my carelessness.” 

Luna sighed. 

“I should believe you, Luna.” said Celestia. 

“And, your dark self turned you into a master in swordsmanship?” asked Pinkie Pie excitedly.

“No, I’ve always loved sword fighting. It’s fun, and keeps me fit!” bragged Luna. “As Tia spends her time stuffing herself with sweets, I train my muscles with the sword. I wasn’t kidding when I said Tia was no match for me.”

“At least we had a bunch of master sword fighters at our side.” cheered Pinkie Pie, as she hugged Leafa and Lizbeth.

Leafa smiled uncomfortably. “Asuna-san and Onii-chan did most of the work. We only helped with the armors.”

“And, if it wasn’t for your help, they would kill us.” assured Celestia. “And we can’t thank you enough for that.”

Lizbeth slowly broke Pinkie’s embrace. “Yeah, we’re good with just ‘thank you’. We don’t need the hug.”

“Aw!” mumbled Pinkie.

Kirito simply asked a question. “So, what you were saying about the Elements of Harmony?”

“Oh, yes!” said Celestia. “The Love was always difficult to track, dince it needd two souls deeply in love in order to bear it. That’s why, in some generations, I’m unable to track it. This time, I thought we would have to deal with Nightmare Moon without it, but thanks Faust you two arrived!”

Yui cuddled with her parents. “You’re great, mama, papa…”

The two warriors stroked their daughter’s mane. 

“What brings me back to my question, who are you? Where did you came from? Why you appeared right when we needed you the most?” 

Kirito looked at his friends, who shrugged. It was up to him.

Finally, Asuna explained. “As we told the Bearers of Harmony, we came from Aincrad.” 

“And got lost in the forest.” finished Kirito. 

Princess Celestia nodded. “Please, Kirito the Black Swordsman, Asuna the Lighting Flash, let us see into your memories. We need to understand.”

“Please, we would like to know more about the two of you!” said Twilight, then she clarified. “We do trust you, you are our friends, but we want to know.”

“If, that’s okay with you…” mumbled Fluttershy. 

“It would be awesome to watch your adventures!” added Rainbow Dash.

“A good action story would be just fine!” smiled Applejack.

“An epic adventure should give me inspiration for new designs!” said Rarity.

Pinkie Pie just disappeared, and returned with popcorn, chocolates, and sodas.

Asuna and Kirito exchanged a look. They had a bad feeling about it.

But in the end, they nodded. Somehow, something deep inside them was telling the warriors they should know what was coming.

“Okay, go on!” 

Celestia’s horn glowed, and a white light covered the two new Bearers of Harmony.

A window made of light appeared on the middle of the library, and the images began to flow.

As the warriors feared, this was no made-up bio for the game. It was their lives, their real lives. 

“Are those, monkeys?” gasped Fluttershy. 

The window showed the story of a young man, who found out that he was adopted, and the ones he thought were his parents, were, in fact, his aunt and uncle. And the one he always called his little sister, it was actually his second-grade cousin. And soon, he began to look at her differently. He tried to fight this newfound feelings, but he couldn’t. His discovery have changed his perception of life forever.

There was also a story of a young heiress of a wealthy family, chased by her family’s demands. Always scolding her to be perfect in every aspect of her life. The pressure was 

Too much to handle, and she desperately tried to look for an escape. 

They both find the same escape to their problems: videogames. The MMO-RPGs to be more precise.

Everything changed when they bought the virtual reality equipment, known as the NerveGear. They played a few games on it, but none of the games out there were up to the equipment’s true capability. Until the legendary designer, Akihiko Kayaba, created Sword Art Online. A game that they both purchased without second thoughts.

But the game was a death trap, where no player could escape until the game was completed. They were trapped for years, until they defeated Kayaba himself. A traumatizing experience that marked them both. 

The only good thing that came out of the game, was that they found each other.

Luna was fascinated, leaving aside the dangerous nature of SAO, she had to admit the game’s mechanics were fascinating, and the fights were thrilling. She saw the young couple fight against lots of dangerous foes. Since powerful dungeon bosses like the Gleam Eyes, to the Assassin’s guild, Laughing Coffin. 

During their countless battles, the young warriors fell in love, and get married inside the game. The newlywed couple bought a beautiful home in the woods, where they found a little girl without memories of her past. She began to call them, ‘mama’ and ‘papa’, much to the warriors’ confusion. But, in the end, they became a happy family. 

Later on, they found out that their new daughter was actually a computer program, called YUI-MHCP001. Created by no other than Kayaba himself. In the end, the system tried to erase Yui, but Kirito saved her by turning her into a file on the internal memory of the NerveGear.

Later on, they defeated Kayaba (AKA Heathcliff), their adventure was far from over. 

A devious man, called Sugou Nobuyuki, held Asuna, and a bunch of other players, as hostages to use Kayaba’s science, for a mind-control project.

Kirito defeated him, with Kayaba’s, and Yui’s help. 

The next part made Sinon shiver, it was the time when a survivor from Laughing Coffin infiltrated inside the shooter game, Gun Gail Online. And Kirito was hired to clarify the mystery. He met a new friend, Sinon, and an old foe, Zaza, from Laughing Coffin.

Finally, the window showed the event that changed Asuna for life. The meeting, and the death of her dear friend, Yuuki Kono. They saw their heartbreaking farewell, when Yuuki granted Asuna with her personal skill, the Mother’s Rosario. 

But the strangest part was when the window showed how Asuna and Kazuto (Kirito’s real name) downloaded the game ‘Legends of Equestria’. The window even showed them Nightmare Moon as Asuna and Kirito saw her. With four Bars of HP over her head. Nothing but a Dungeon Boss. 

The window vanished, and everyone in the room shivered.

“That’s it, I’m login out!” announced Sinon, as she activated her options screen, and then selected the ‘Log-Out’ button. “And I highly recommend you to do the same.”

Klein agreed, and activated his screen too. “Sorry, but this is way too creepy for me.” 

And the ponies weren’t any better. They were as scared as the visitors.

“We do not exist? We’re nothing but a source of entertainment for humans? ALL MY MEMORIES ARE A LIE?!”

“Rainbow Dash, calm down!” said Twilight.

“CALM DOWN, YA’ SAY?” yelled Applejack. “Don’t ya’ see what this means? WE’RE NOT REAL, WE’RE A COMPUTER PROGRAM! A lie…”

Celestia was in shock as well, trying to understand what happened. So, she was nothing but a bunch of… code? And all her memories were made up by a human? Why?

“Onii-chan, Asuna-san, are you coming?” urged Leafa.

Kirito nodded, and made the move that supposedly, activate his player’s menu. But nothing appeared.

“What?” gasped the black swordsman.

Asuna gulped, and tried to do the same. But the result was the same.

“What’s going on?” asked Asuna.

Silica approached. “Are you feeling alright? What’s going on?” 

“The player’s menu, it doesn’t come out!” said Kirito.

Yui looked at her parents, and then closed her eyes, trying to get into the system, and figure out what was going on.

Finally, she opened her eyes, and trembled.

“Yui-chan?” asked Asuna.

“Something is wrong, mama, papa…” said the small filly. “I cannot feel any code, or anything that tells me we are inside a game… all I feel is… myself. And I don’t feel like an IA, but…”

“Real?” asked Kirito.

“No, no, no, wait!” intervened Klein. “That’s impossible… right? Unless… unless, I mean, it could be that… but no, that’s ridiculous!” 

Lizbeth forced a mocking smile. “Come on, Klein-san, you’re not actually suggesting that… this is a real world. I mean, the AtmuSphere can only takes you to virtual worlds, you know…”

“But even if this is indeed, a real world, how can you explain that all of sudden, Asuna and Kirito have become part of this world as well?” asked Silica, trying to control her fear. “That would never happen! Right?” 

Sinon shook her head. “Remember when they defeated the Dungeon Boss? Something odd did happen.” 

Finally, Princess Luna intervened. “Okay, so, you are, in reality, aliens who visit this world through projecting your consciousness through a gadget called AtmuSphere, inside a fake body.”

“But that doesn’t explain what’s happening with Asuna and Kirito!” said Lizbeth.

“They turned into the Bearers of the Element of Love.” said Princess Luna. “The Elements of Harmony are the most powerful artifacts in this world. And they can only work when they merge with a soul that represents them. When you were chosen, they may…”

“Dragged our souls into this world… turning us completely… real” said Kirito, paling.

And he wasn’t the only one. All his friends were now pale, looking at him and Asuna in awe. 

“But, if our souls transferred here, what happened with our bodies?” asked Asuna.

“SUGU!” called Kirito.

Leafa logged out, and disappeared in a flash of blue pixels. 

Five minutes later, she reappeared. She was crying.

“Asuna-san, Onii-chan…” mumbled Leafa. 

“What?!” asked Asuna and Kirito. 

“Your bodies… don’t breath. You don’t have any pulse. You… two… are…”

Horrified, the warriors hugged their friends, unsure how to react. Then, they turned to the ponies.

“I am sorry.”

“This is too much…”

The two of them dragged their swords and aimed to themselves.

Realizing what they were going to do, Celestia intervened, by knocking them out with a sleeping spell.

“Mama, papa…” said Yui, hugging her parents. 

Celestia frowned. “We have lots to discuss, but right now, these two need to rest.”

The visitors agreed.

“This spell would last at least two days, but, when they wake up, we will discuss this.” continued Celestia. “All I know, is that we need to be together. For the moment, I highly recommend you to abandon Equestria, and come back tomorrow. And, I’m truly sorry. If there’s anything I can do to return them what they’ve lost, or at least compensate them, I will do it. I swear.”

Luna shook her head.

“No sister, this is my responsibility. It was me who they fought. If it wasn’t for my madness, this wouldn’t happened. If somepony needs to do something to compensate this ponies that would be me.”
> A new beginning for everyone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A new beginning for everyone


Everypony was confused, why won’t they be? 

A lot have happened in just a few minutes. The Bearers of Harmony just realized that their new friends were aliens from another world, who perceived their reality as a ‘game’.

As for the warriors, they just realized that they were actually in a real world, with real people. And, two of their friends have just turned into permanent residents of this world.

Everypony was scared, talking among themselves, except for Yui. She was silently cuddling with her parents’ bodies. 

“So, we do exist?” asked Rainbow. “We are not artificial intelligences?”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash!” repeated Twilight, for the tenth time. “We exist, they ended up in our world because of an accident. And now Asuna and Kirito have no choice but stay here with us.”

“How can you say it just like that?!” shouted Leafa. “My brother and Asuna-san have lost everything!” 

Princess Celestia agreed. “Yes, as relieved as I am for not being an artificial intelligence, we cannot ignore the tragedy before us. These youngsters did not deserve this fate. Whoever connected our world with yours, cannot have its own intentions. We don’t know if good, or bad, but it doesn’t change that two innocents paid for this.”

Yui stroke her parent’s manes. “Yuuki-san’s death really affected mama. All she wanted was a way to reconcile herself with games. All we wanted was a time away from ALO. Nothing more. And papa, all he wanted was to help mama to heal.” 

“And now you are trapped in a world that isn’t yours…” said Sinon, angrily. “Whoever did this to our friends, would pay!”

Luna looked away, but Leafa calmed her. “This is not your fault. None of you knew anything.”

“Yes, you wanted to save your world. The natural thing to do.” said Klein, looking at the Bearers of Harmony. Then, he turned to Luna. “And you, were possessed by a dark entity that also knew nothing about what was going on.” 

Yui embraced her parents’ bodies. “I wish there’s something I can do.”

“No, Yui.” said Luna, putting a hoof on the filly’s shoulder. “You are still young, and with a whole life ahead of you. This is not your responsibility, it’s mine. For the moment, I suggest we carry these two to my sister’s residence. We can think of something from there.”

Celestia shook her head. “Luna, it’s our residence now. I’ll give you half of everything I have, that’s the least I can do.”

“Fine, thanks Tia!” said Luna, impatient. “Sorry for my lack of enthusiasm, but right now, all I want is to help these brave warriors.”

Celestia nodded. “I understand.” She turned to the other warriors. “As for you, young gamers, I assure you, your friends are safe with us. But right now, you will have to go back to your world.”

They reluctantly agreed. 

“Fine!” said Lizbeth. “But you better take good care of them!” 

“Sou ka na…” said Klein. “In that case, we’ll leave them in your hands. Or hooves” 

Sinon logged out without a word. This was too weird.

Same for Silica, she just hugged Pina, and disappeared as well. 

But Leafa stayed, glaring at the ponies.

“And what should I tell my mom? And Asuna’s parents, huh?”

“Bring them here.” suggested Celestia. 

“Yes, we are willing to take all the responsibility for this tragedy.” assured Luna. “And gladly will take it before your families. You can trust us, Leafa from the clan of Sylf.” She shook her head. “No, Suguha Kirigaya.”

Leafa looked at her brother, and Asuna, and logged out.

“So what we do now?” asked Yui.

“You’ll come with us!” said Luna. “You agree, right Tia?”

“Of course. That’s the least we can do.”

The filly hugged her parents tightly, and smiled.

“Thank you, Princesses.”

“No. Thank you.”

Then, Celestia turned to the new Bearers of Harmony. “As for you, Twilight Sparkle, you and your friends should come too. You’re the closest friends Asuna and Kirito have here, and they need all the support we can give them.”

Twilight frowned. “Of course but…”

“So, there’s no way back for them?” asked Rarity, feeling awful for the warriors who protected them from Nightmare Moon. 

“I’m afraid not.” sighed Luna. “This will be a new beginning. For me, and for your friends.”


…


Asuna and Kirito were together inside a dream. They knew that all-too-well.

They were in an infinite black space, without nothing but each other to keep them company. 
If it wasn’t for that detail, the loneliness would swallow them. That’s why they stayed together, holding hands, waiting to wake up, and see that this wasn’t real. That everything was a bad dream, or, at least, a bad game. 

But they knew that was only an overly optimistic hope. This new game, LOE, have done what SAO and GGO couldn’t. They were trapped. Forever. 
Why this happened? Why did they have to end up like this?

“And, haven’t you considered that the reason you are in this reality, is because you did so much good to your own world, that another world would need your help?” 

The lightning flash turned, to see a young imp girl, with long black hair,with a read diadem, and a black sword that aimed to Asuna’s neck.

“Yuuki…” said Asuna, looking away.

“Look at me, Asuna!” demanded Yuuki Kono, better known as Zekken.

Asuna obeyed.

“This is a dream, isn’t it?”  

“It is, Asuna. That’s why I am here.” said Yuuki, sternly. “What happened with you? Since when you are paralyzed by fear? I will not let you give up, Asuna. Not unless you defeat me. Are you ready?”

Asuna looked at Yuuki, who held her sword against Asuna. The girl doubted at first, but that only let her friend to give her two powerful strokes with her sword.

“Face me!” commanded Zekken.

Asuna didn’t know what to do at first, but she took Lambent Light, and attacked Yuuki.

Zekken answered by sending a series of strokes against her friend. Asuna barely had the time to block a few, but the others hit her, leaving her in a bad condition.

But the Lighting Flash still some strength left.

With a skilful backflip, she took her distance from her friend, and prepared her sword.

Unfortunately, Yuuki saw through her intentions, and charged against Asuna with all her strength. She sent an uninterrupted torrent of eleven strokes that made Asuna fall on her back.

Yuuki smiled at her friend, offering her hand.

“You still cannot beat me, right?” smirked the imp. “How dare you to let your fear paralyze you?”

“But Yuuki… Equestria is no game. Equestria is…”

“An alternate reality, I know.” said Yuuki, with a small nod. “More reason for you to learn how to deal with this, instead of sitting in your room, feeling sorry for yourself. You were chosen as an Element of Harmony because Equestria needs you. Just as I needed you, back in ALO. The same goes for Kirito-san. If you let your fear to control you, I will never forgive you.”

Asuna looked at her friend, who dedicated her a warm smile. The same smile that Asuna missed that much. 

The lightning flash accepted the hand her friend was offering her, and stood.

“Thank you, Yuuki.”

“Whenever you need me, Asuna.”

In the meantime, Kirito was alone in the dark. Thinking in everything that have happened to him since SAO. His experiences brought him, mostly, good things, but then, somehow, he ended up in this situation. Forced to spend the rest of his life in a reality that wasn’t his.

Then, a gentle hand pressed his shoulder.

He turned. “Asuna?”

But it wasn’t his wife. No, it was a short girl with gray eyes, and short black hair. Looking at him with a shy, but happy smile.

“Sachi!” gasped Kirito. 

“How are you, Kirito?” asked the girl.

He smiled sadly. “I lost, Sachi. I ended up dying in a game. The worst part is, it was a game where I shouldn’t supposed to die.”
“But it wasn’t a game, Kirito! It is actually another world. A world that needs you, as an Element of Harmony. Besides, not everything is lost. How did you get here in the frist place? You can use the technology to stay in contact with the people you love.”

Sachi offered him a hand. Kirito accepted it, and stood.

“I won’t allow you to give up, Kirito.” continued Sachi. “You are strong, you have to continue fighting. The Kirito I met did not give up.”

The warrior smiled at his friend’s ghost, who vanished in the shadows along with Yuuki.

“It’s time to wake up.”


…


The two warriors opened their eyes, and examined their surroundings.

They were in a luxurious room that resembled the ones of a five star hotel. 

“Mama! Papa!” cried Yui, cuddling with them,

“Oh, Yui-chan, is so good to see you!!” said Asuna, kissing her daughter.

“Sorry for worrying you.” said Kirito, holding his daughter tightly.

Yui accepted the embrace for a while, and nuzzled them both. A new way to demonstrate affect she learned from the ponies.

“How long have we been sleeping, Yui?” asked Kirito.

“Three days.” said Yui. “Princess Luna said she would let you sleep the time you needed. I’m so glad you’re awake now.”

“And all this time, you have been with us?” asked Asuna.

“Of course. I wouldn’t leave you for anything, mama, papa!”

The warriors cuddled with their daughter for a little longer, until she jumped out of the bed, to then push a cart with food toward them.

“Also, the Princesses sent you this for the time you wake up. Magic keeps it warm.”

The young couple gladly accepted the meal, as Yui looked at them, smiling.

“Don’t you want some, Yui-chan?” asked Asuna.

“No, I already ate something. This is all for you, mama, papa.” assured the small filly. 

And, as her parents continued eating, she opened a closet, where all their equipment were waiting for them. Weapons, clothes, crystals, potions, and a huge bag of bits. Everything was carefully organized, making it easy to pick up what they needed.

“They also brought all your stuff.”

“Arigatou, Yui.” said Kirito. “So, what have we missed?”

Yui took a deep breath, this would be a long explanation, but she would do her best.

“Everything happened so fast. First of all, Princess Celestia made a ceremony to reintroduce her sister to pony society. Then, she introduced six of the seven Elements of Harmony.”

She continued.

Apparently, the six mares they befriended were also in Canterlot, waiting for them to wake up. In the meantime, they were at other wing of the castle since they didn’t want to disturb them. Also, Luna and Celestia took care of Yui while they were sleeping. Especially Luna.

“Well, we should thank Princess Luna then.” said Kirito. “You seem happy.”

“I am! And you should see Princess Luna. In only these three days, she made herself a reputation between the Royal Guard. She loves practicing with her sword, and show how good she actually is.”
“And?”

“She gave you tons of trouble back when you fought, right?” smiled Yui.

The two warriors finished their meal, and dressed up. 

“Well, the best we can do is to thank the Princess in person.” said Asuna, adjusting her white and red outfit. 

“Yeah, let’s see what surprises Equestria have for us!” said Kirito, as he put on his black trench coat.

They both opened the door of their room, and Yui guided them to the training field. Apparently, Princess Luna was training at this hour.

In the meantime, in the arena, Twilight and her new friends cheered for Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor. He was fighting against Princess Luna. And, it was obvious for everypony that she had absolute advantage over the stallion.

Initially, Shining’s role was to serve as a host, and a guide through Canterlot to his sister and friends, since Princess Celestia was busy with her royal duties, and Luna taking care of Yui. He showed them the city, and introduced them to his fiancé: Twilight’s former foalsiter, Cadence. 

But, when she had the time, Luna constantly asked Shining Armor for a duel. She have proved to be an extraordinary fighter, but she haven’t beaten the captain of the guard. Yet.

Now that he have agreed to fight, he realized why his troops looked up to Princess Luna. She was giving him a lot of trouble. As much as he tried, his efforts were nothing compared the experience, and speed of the Princess.

With her skill, she easily eluded all his attacks, to next disarm him with a quick blow, and finished him with a kick to the gut. 

Shining Armor fell, he have lost.

Shining didn’t say anything, he only stood, and approached to his sister, and fiancé, who smiled at him.

“Don’t worry, Shiny. Remember that my aunt is an alicorn, and no normal pony can face her.” 

Twilight and the others exchanged an uncomfortable look. Since they met Cadence, they learned that she appreciated Shining very much. And, Shining corresponded by trying to be the very best in everything, each time Cadence was watching. 

As for Luna, she winked an eye to the young couple.

“Precisely, don’t feel bad, young Shining Armor. With time, and constant training, you’ll reach my level soon. Now, is there anypony left who wants to face me? I could use some more exercise.” 

The guards exchanged a nervous look, and looked away.

“Oh, come on! Aren’t you warriors of Equestria? There’s really no pony up to the challenge?” 

Suddenly, two ponies jumped to the training field, as they dragged out their swords. 

Luna turned. “It is you!”

“We’ve been sleeping for way too long! We could use some exercise as well.” said Kirito, smiling. 

“Mmmh, but, since we haven’t exercised in a while, please go easy on us.” said Asuna. 

Luna smiled at the two warriors, as she prepared her sword.

“Oh, are you kidding? I’ve been waiting for a rematch for way too long!” said the Princess of the Night. “But, can I ask you a small favor?”

“What is it?” asked Asuna and Kirito.

“Let me face you one on one. Asuna, do you mind if I start with you?”

“Of course not.” said Asuna, aiming her sword to Princess Luna.

“Good luck, Asuna.” said Kirito with shrug, as he joined his friends. 

Luna and Asuna began fighting.

Luna charged with everything she had, but Asuna agilely jumped aside, and managed to send a series of blows to Luna’s right side. That forced the Princess to change her position, and tried to block her with her sword, but Asuna was unbelievably fast, and quickly moved to the left, where she send a blow to Luna’s wing.

Luna grinded her teeth because of the pain, and tried to block the attacks from that direction with her sword.

But then, Asuna jumped over her, and tried to send a blow to Luna’s head.

This time Luna was able to block Asuna’s attack, but she teleported right behind Luna, and before she could block the attack, Asuna hit her again.

Shining’s and Cadence’s dropped their jaws. 

“What’s this?”

“Amazing, right?” asked Twilight. “Now imagine Kirito’s double blade. It is impressive.”

Shining looked at Kirito.

“Double blade? How can you handle two weapons at the same time?” 

Kirito shrugged. “It’s an artificial ability, don’t think too much about it. Also, I’m a pegasus.”

Shining nodded. “I see. That trench coat of yours can be confusing.” 

Celestia appeared, putting a hoof on the warrior’s shoulder.

“I’m glad to see you back to normal. Is everything alright, Kazuto Kirigaya?” 

Kirito nodded. “Yes. Thank you for your concerning.”

Celestia smiled, and turned her attention to the battle between Asuna and her sister. 

Those two were really close, but Asuna decided to finish the fight with a final move.

“MOTHER’S ROSARIO!”

Eleven consecutive strokes later, Luna ended up on the ground, with Asuna’s Lambent Light on her neck.

“I won.”

Luna smiled. “I simply cannot beat you, right? Not even if I face you one by one. There’s no way to block that technique.”

“Yuuki made it really well.” agreed Asuna, helping Luna to stand.  

“Yuuki Kono was an amazing person, I’m so sorry for your lost, Asuna.” 

“It’s okay.” said Asuna with a sad smile. “Now I know she’s still with me, watching carefully I do the right thing.”

“And what about your situation?” asked Luna, with concern.

“We kind of accepted it. Now we need to discuss what should we do now.”

“According with some friends, we are here because this world needs us.” said Kirito calmly. “So, I guess we’ll have to stick around.

Luna nodded, and looked at the six Bearers of Harmony, along with her sister.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Are you really doing this, Luna?”

“Yes I am.”

“What do you mean?” asked Asuna.

Luna smiled to the warriors. “Kirito the black swordsman, Asuna the lightning flash, you defeated my evil self for good, banishing her forever. You have my eternal thanks for that. But, if that wasn’t enough, you two lost your lives in your world because of what you did for me. It’s up to me to make it up for you.” 

“So, what do you have in mind?” asked Asuna, Kirito and Yui in the unison.

Luna bowed to them. “It would never be enough to compensate you for everything you lost, but this is the best I can do for you. I’m offering you a position as my new captains of my royal guard. Training and guiding my new recruits, to become powerful warriors. As powerful as your fellows from Aincrad, if it’s possible.” 

The two of them exchanged a look, and bowed before the Princess of the Night.

“It will be my pleasure, Princess Luna.”

“Just tell us what you need. We’ll be at your service.”