Welcome to Equestrian Art Online!

A rainbow of colors seems to assault me, many bubbles in a white space coming for me.  A shroud of pink takes over, radiating calm.  Words pop up, it seems to be the name of the game, "Equestrian Art Online". It fades after a few seconds, a start and exit button popping up. I push the start button with my will, and it complies.

A random pony appears on my screen, a bubble on top saying "Customize me!". Oh! It must want me to make a pony for me to play as in the game. Hmm, what to choose? Ooooh, it's a randomize button! *CLICK* The pony flashes white, then I see what I got. It had a pale yellow pelt, as well as some poofy purple hair, kinda like Pinkie's but shorter. She had a  red swirl going through it. Her eyes were a nice magenta. Yes, I am keeping those eyes! Different hair though, I'm not really into that bubbly style. Maybe like Rarity's? I have felt jealous of it sometimes... The pony's hair flashed white. The hair curled up like Rarity's at the top, but slickened at the bottom just like mine! The tail was my style, I always did like my tail, it's just right. It was still purple with a red curl though, and I'm not rolling with that. Logic, logic... What goes with that type of hairstyle? Hmm, how about scarlet with a stroke of pine green? The hair flashes for the last time, doing just as I asked. Very sophisticated! For the pelt... nah, yellow won't do. How about a nice dark purple! Yes, a bit darker than my normal coat. The body flashes once more, becoming a deep purple.

A bubble pops up, "You will be a mare, yes?" Puzzled, I agree. What type of question is that? Do ponies really want to know how the other gender feels like in a game? It's exactly the same, except you're either male or female. Nothing to it.

A golden bubble pops up, asking me if I'm done. I promptly press the "Yes" button, willing it to continue. Onwards I went, it now asking whether I wanted magic of flight, magic of earth, magic of spells, or exotic magic. Wow, it must have taken a lot of engineering to be able to let ponies of the other tribes feel what it's like to fly and touch clouds, concoct spells and have a horn, have exceptional talent with plants and animals, or talent with exotics, such as exotic plants and animals. It's obviously referring to the three tribes, along with griffons and zebras. The helmet obviously wouldn't fit on a griffon's head, so I guess it's an option for ponies who want to feel what it's like to be a griffon. Maybe they'll make their second version more flexible to fit on griffon head? Or maybe there are two models, one for equine heads and one for griffon heads. Well, I guess there's no "Ultimate super alicorn magic", so onwards I go with magic of spells. Spell magic was always my strong suit.

A purple bubble appears before my eyes, asking about my Cutie Mark. Two options; a new cutie mark of my choice, or to keep my original one. It promptly informs me that this will only slightly change in-game experience, as I will feel like I know my talent well no matter which choice I choose. I choose my cutie mark, obviously. I have always been satisfied with my cutie mark, and i have no wish to try for another talent.

The bubble flashes white, now with different text. "Would you like to continue to Equestria? Have you finished all of your customization? Are you satisfied with your pony?" It asks me, this time I could actually hear it, as if this was important. Yes, yes, yes.

Nothing happens. Maybe I have to say it aloud? "Yes, yes, yes!" I hear myself say. It must receive the signals of my brain that are controlling my vocal cords and mouth, and then simulating my voice in the game.

The bubble pops and everything flashes purple, as if they're aware that such a flash of white has a chance of blinding a pony, or at least stunning them. What wondrous technology we have these days, and almost fully based on magic. Luna must have picked a very talented bunch of unicorns to work with her, along with earth ponies, pegasi, zebras, and griffons as to learn of how their tribe is different and to stimulate such in the game. I wonder how much time they have spent on this project?

Suddenly, I am in town hall. Some other ponies are here with me, and by their confused expressions I can tell they have also just joined the game. Some ponies seem to already know each other and huddle up together. So much for making new friends.

An earth pony mare trots over to me. She has a nice sky-blue coat and a long light green curly mane. "Hey there! You just joined too?" She asks me with a warm smile on her face.

Stuttering I reply, "Oh, ya, umm yes. I have infact joined exactly 1 minute and 4 seconds ago as of now."

The mare giggles. "Oh, that's nice! Just call me blue, it's a lot shorter then the name I was going to use around here!" She says to me, motioning for me to introduce myself.

"Oh, um, me? I'm T-" Wait! No, I can't tell her my real name! There are probably tons of ponies around who customized themselves as famous ponies, probably even as the bearers of the elements of harmony! "-Tango Sparks! Yes, that is to be my name in this game. Though, I rather you call me Sparks for short. By the way, where are we to go now?" I ask.

"Okie dokie, Sparks it is! Ye, I suppose we go into that room, as most of the ponies are headed there. I read in the pamphlet that we are to watch a small video there, which will give us an overview of the game. Ponies who watched it at the opening in Canterlot just go out into Town Square though." She informs me. She must have actually read all of the pamphlet, unlike me!

"So I guess we'll be headed that way?" I ask her quizzically. "Yes, I guess we will." She responds, already walking.

Okay, so how to move? If the game receives signals from my brain, then all I have to do is tell myself to move just like in real life. Move! I will my front hoof forward, then my other front hoof, then my back hooves. Slowly, I begin to catch up to Blue.

We walk in through the door side by side, along with a throng of ponies that pool in around us. We take a seat, and as soon as all the seats were filled a screen appeared on the wall in front of us.  Luna appears on the screen, and I can hear her silky voice, she opens the video with "Welcome to Equestria!" and flies into the distance. The screen shows all of the places and cities of Equestria, with Luna's voice echoing each of their names.

The cities recede into darkness, and Luna's voice is heard once more, "In this Equestria, you will be able to do many things! You will be able to see and experience battles and events of the old..." The screen shows a picture of Luna and Celestia turning Discord to stone. "You will be able to experience things in a body that is not your own!" The screen then shows a pegasus flying in the sky, and the the screen splits in two, whereas the second picture shows the same pony as a unicorn, levitating a book. "You can go anywhere, even beyond Equestria!" The screen shows a pony bundled in a scarf at the gates of Yakyakistan, staring at the stone statues in awe. "You can make your dreams come true!" A picture of a pony scaling a mountain is shown, then beside it another with a pony skating on the ice, then another with a clown, then another with a zebra venturing into the Everfree Forest, then another, then another, until the screen is covered with pictures of ponies' dreams coming true. Luna flies into the screen, the pictures as the background. "A world full of possibilities, Equestrian Art Online!" Luna winks at us, and the screen fades to black.

The room erupts in applause. "Wasn't that an amazing experience? Just that video alone, I have never seen anything like it at all! Everything she said we could do in this world, it's so exciting!" She exclaims as we make our way out of Town Hall.

"Yes, I agree, it was very persuasive, and the effect was practically tripled with Luna in the video. This game has now caught my curiosity. Though I just wish Spike could be here to experience it, he would love it!" I say, then suddenly my eyes widen when I realize I just slipped up about my identity.

Blue suddenly stops and turns to me. "What about Spike? You mean the famous Spike The Marvelous Dragon that lives with Princess Twilight? What about him?" She asks, her eyes scrunching up in suspicion.

"Oh, you know, just that he really wanted to play this game and he can't because the helmet wouldn't fit him?" I answer quickly, my eyes anywhere but looking into hers. Her expression visibly relaxes.

"Okie dokie, if that's all, then we better get going! We have to go find our rooms!" She responds, skipping in the direction of a humble brick building.  A small bronze bell rings out as Blue opens the door. We walk in and she leads us to a desk. "Hey there, we two just joined, I was wondering if you could give us our rooms?" She asks the stallion behind the desk good naturedly. He nods to her and places two silver keys on the desk. I place my hoof on the key to pick it up, but it fades into blue sparkles.

"Hey, where'd it go?" I look around, befuddled.

"Oh, no worries, it went into your inventory as soon as you touched it." The stallion tells me, and I see Blue touch her key. "Now that you have your key in your inventory, you don't have to take it out to open the door to your room. It will be unlocked for you and anypony you let in." He explains to us, and I can see Blue nodding her head out of the corner of my eye.

"Okie dokie, thanks for the help!" She says, and starts walking up the stairs to the side of the building, and I run to catch up to her. "No problem!" The stallion yells after us, turning back to attend his next customer.

Before I can make a sound, Blue starts talking. "You're probably used to living in a house"- Ha, more like castle!-", but when new players join the game they must take a room at a Switch-Ditch Hotel for their first few games, since the game developers don't want to have a bunch of houses that are taken already but their owner is never online. The Switch-Ditch Hotel was made so that new players could take a room there and try the game for a bit, and if they quit without telling anyone in the game the Switch-Ditch hotel can just give the room to another pony. After a few days of playing, the player gets a choice to take a new home, such as a house or a  room in a different house, or just be a 'wanderer'. Now, you may ask why you even need a room or house or home. This is a good place to place a spawn point, unless you want to spawn in Town Hall each time you join the game. It's also a good spot to be at if you need to quickly leave the game and then come back instead of standing out on the street like a statue. Also, it's a good place if you want to talk to somepony in-game privately. Oh! Right, you can ask to buy a teleportation gem and bind it to your room key, so then whenever you want to quickly get to your room or to Ponyville, you can just use the gem. Good place to rest. Any other questions you want to ask?" She stops at a door.

"Umm, yes. First of all, how do you know I wanted to ask that? Also, how did you know all that?" I ask her, dumbfounded.

"That's silly! Of course I know you wanted to ask that, you just would! Also, all that information was available in the pamphlet, and on the poster behind the desk!" She says enthusiastically, prompting me to open the door.

I push it open to find a nice cozy room. A bed to one side with a small table and a lamp beside it, along with a small box and closet to the other side. A window on the wall had a nice view of Town Square, and a small rug covered the middle of the oak floor. It may be plain, but it felt very homely. Blue walked in after me, looking at me with a questioning look.

"So, do you like it? You can change certain things with the Home Tool downstairs. Very useful if you want to colour your room. I'm in the room across from yours, so come over if you need me, it'll be unlocked. I'm going to go customize my room, cha-cha!" She leaves into the hallway, closing the door behind her. How did she know so much about this place? She must have spent at least  an hour reading that pamphlet, it was as thick as my foal hood textbook!

I look around my room, deciding to sit on the bed. Okay, I want to get something done in this game today, something that will make Spike happy and will leave me satisfied. Well, I made a new friend, is that good enough? No, that's not exciting enough. I need some sort of milestone in this game, my first big thing. In the video, Luna said something about battles of Equestria... Yes! That is what I shall do, I mean, it never hurts to learn a bit of history!

Trotting out and closing the door behind her, I knock on Blue's door. Blue peaks out the door, looking at me. "You're done already?" She walks out the hallway.

"No, I've just decided to leave the decorating 'til next time. I want to go do something, and well, I was thinking, maybe we could go see and experience a historical battle of Equestria? It would be cool to see one for myself." I look to Blue with a shy smile.

"Hmm, okie! I don't mind going to see some awesome battle. Let's go, I read about this, so I'll lead us there!"