PAO: Pony Art Online

Today was launch day. Years of work, failures, successes, all led up to this moment. All one hundred thousand early release copies sold out online within the hour, everyone eager to be a part of a virtual world, and be there for the launch event's unique quest. Sunset and Twilight would to see both their dreams and their company flourish into a reality.

They had the perfect lab to test in. Sunset had just bought a new apartment in the city, with a memory foam bed and the best internet connection to go along with it. All around the bedroom monitors and computers were plugged into the wall sockets, running scheduled checks on both the magical and technological performance of Digisphere, their highly anticipated virtual reality video game console.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Twilight asked, tearing her gaze away from the data charts. "I know you said this wouldn't make you go back, but you've designed Equestrad very closely to Equestria, based on what I hear."

Sunset chuckled. It was true, she always felt torn between the human world and the pony world when she came over, and it only grew stronger after Twilight switched from Crystal Prep to Canterlot.

She took a deep breath. This world, the human world, was her home. She had an apartment, and a lot of friends. In Equestria, all there was was Celestia and some dusty old books.

"I'm fine, Twilight," she confirmed. "I'll log on and test everything while everyone else plays. You're running the diagnostics test from here too. We'll be done in a few hours and then the gamers can have their fun."

Twilight raised her brow and smirked. "You sure a certain rainbow-haired chick isn't going to drag you into a dungeon raid? I hear she's been challenging an apple farmer I know to a race to level twenty."

"I heard about that too," Sunset replied, laughing a little. "But I think I'll beat them to it before lunch time anyways, so they'll both lose."

Twilight chuckled, glancing over at the the helmet resting on the nightstand by Sunset's bed. They've had a lot of success until now, but there was still a lot to be worried about.

Sunset followed her gaze, sensing her discomfort. For the longest time, even the basic  functions of the Digisphere wouldn't work.

"We got it up and running in the end, Twilight," Sunset said. She grabbed the helmet and held it in her lap. "It's been a long journey for you and me, but it's only the beginning."

They both stared at the gem in the center of the helmet. The red hexagon shone with a soft glow. They recreated it from fragments of the gems left behind by the Sirens, a group of magic infused creatures who also roamed the human world.

With the fragments left behind after the Sirens disappeared, Sunset and Twilight were able to study the materials in the crystals and their molecular structure, and quickly became able to recreate and alter new gems with different magical properties. They imitated a whole host of different spells and charms with their unique gems.

The next huge breakthrough after that was creating a powerful gemstone that recreated the shared dream spell Princess Luna could perform. As the princess of the night, Princess Luna was Equestria's leading pony on the power of dreams. She aided ponies through their dreams, sometimes linking a few minds to resolve a difficult situation.

But the gemstone Twilight and Sunset created was more potent than Luna herself. It was not not limited by any mental or biological barriers. Over time, Twilight designed a method to power the gemstones and increase their power, opening shared dreams to thousands of participants. That's when the idea of Pony Art Online began.

"Do you think the Princesses really approve of this?" Twilight asked.

About two years ago they found time to meet with the four alicorn princess of Equestria. They presented their plan to use the magic that had leaked into the human world to create their game. The science and magic studies were as thorough as they could be, but it still took a bit of persuasion to get the blessings from all four Princesses.

Sunset nodded confidently. She wouldn't have messed with magic on a commercial scale without first consulting Princess Twilight or Princess Celestia. "They were cautious at first, a lot more than they let on actually. But trust me, Princess Twilight's genuinely excited for us. She's as studious as you are, after all."

Twilight laughed. "Don't remind me. It's still weird knowing there's another version of me. And a pony princess, no less."

Next to them, their phones buzzed in unison from the alarm they set. Only fifteen minutes until the launch of PAO.

Sunset lied down on her bed and fastened the Digisphere on her head. It was a little loose, but it was important that one size fitted all.

"We're aleady here Twilight," she said. "No time for second thoughts anyways."

Twilight nodded, watching the readings on her screen as it monitored the interaction between the magic crystal and the electronic parts. They were stable, even as thousands began initializing their start-up connection.

The minutes passed felt like hours as Sunset awaited her return to a pony filled land. The group chat on her phone fired off a message nearly every fifteen seconds, but everything could be said once they met up in the starting town on Equestrad's first floor.

"Okay, everything's working perfectly Sunset," Twilight said. She typed a few console commands into her computer and on the adjacent screen a news report from MMO Today flashed onto the screen. It showed the countdown to the launch of PAO. Thirty seconds remained on the screen.

Sunset closed her eyes as Twilight quickly typed in more console commands. The Digisphere's display lit up in Sunset's face, showing the countdown until she could connect to their PAO server. Fifteen seconds remained.

Finally, the message popped up on Twilight's phone, confirming the servers were all online. Pony Art Online was launched, and five hundred players were already online.

Without another moment of hesitation, Sunset entered the game to see the world for herself. "See you for lunch Twilight," she said. Sunset directed her voice to the microphone, and initiated the voice command to log in.

"Link start!" she commanded. The Digisphere hummed with magic, and in a flash she was in the game.

===================================================

===================================================

"Hurry up Applebloom! There's no way you still have chores to do on the farm!" Sweetie Belle called out.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle waited outside Applebloom's home. They agreed to meet at Rarity's house to try out the launch of the newest video game, PAO, on the most talked about platform of the century, Digisphere.

Rarity, Sweetie Belle's older sister, was close friends with Sunset, but not an avid gamer. So she handed off three release copies to the girls who were.

"Hang on, I'm just grabbing my Digisphere," Apple Bloom finally replied. "It's pretty heavy for a simple helmet."

"Well, grab it faster so we can go!" Scootaloo said. "There's only two hours before launch and I don't want to be late to the starting event. I heard the first one thousand to log on get uncommon starting gear."

"Uncommon?" Sweetie Belle interjected. "Twist said it would be rare at the least!"

Scootaloo shook her head. "Those were the rumors. Rainbow Dash mentioned uncommon gear last week when we were talking about it. She checks on the game's progress regularly, so yeah, I'm sure it's just uncommon."

"Well that's killed my hype a little," Sweetie Belle grumbled.

Applebloom came out the door, with her Digisphere in hand. "Doesn't sound that bad Sweetie Belle. Uncommon stuff's still better than the normal starter gear."

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I guess so. Okay, let's go before we miss the event!"

They grabbed their bikes and raced down the road toward the town. With Sweetie Belle's sister away on a world tour for her fashion line, the three of them had the house to themselves. They had snacks, sleeping bags, and a brand new internet router. They were set for the weekend.

"You're ordering pizza for lunch right?" Scootaloo asked once they reached Sweetie Belle's house.

"I hope it's vegetarian this time," Applebloom grumbled.

Sweetie Belle turned to both of them. "It was just that one time. A mix-up in the deliveries, that's all!"

Scootaloo folded her arms. "You knew we were vegetarians Sweetie Belle."

"Really, it was pretty inconsiderate," Applebloom added.

Sweetie Belle threw up her arms in frustration. "I wasn't my fault! I'm vegetarian too, we're all vegetarian!"

Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other. Their friend's reaction was too much to bear, and they were on the floor laughing at her.

Sweetie Belle tried to ignore them and plugged in their Digispheres. "Fine, whatever. Anyways, Pinkie Pie left a cake before she went to join RD and AJ for the launch event."

"Huh? They're trying out PAO too?" Applebloom asked, getting off the floor and fitting the Digisphere to her head.

Scootaloo nodded, laying on the floor to stretch. "Didn't I tell you? Only Rarity can't make it to the launch, but everyone else will be there to cheer on Sunset Shimmer."

Sweetie Belle sat next to Applebloom, putting on her Digisphere and booting it up. "I feel sorry for Rarity," she said, fiddling with the helmet straps. "She won't be back for another week, and by then everyone else will be at least twenty levels ahead, maybe even fifty."

Scootaloo got up and walked over to the kitchen. "She's the most casual gamer I've ever seen. She wouldn't mind being a little bit behind." She drained a juice box and took a slice of the cake Pinkie Pie left behind.

"Still, it wouldn't feel good being left out of such a big event," Sweetie Belle replied, furrowing her brow at Scootaloo. "It's only the biggest thing in MMO gaming, that's just fifteen minutes away, and can't wait for simple things like cake."

Scootaloo glared at Sweetie Belle, staring at her as she consumed another bite of the mango cream cake. The frosting was fresh, and soothingly cold from the fridge.

"Fifteen minutes is plenty time for cake, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo said, her mouth still full of cake. Sweetie Belle sighed, looking at her phone. It was fourteen minutes until the game's launch.

Applebloom eyed the cake greedily, finally giving in to the glistening frosting. "I reckon we've got a little bit of time to spare," she said, taking off her Digisphere and grabbing a slice for herself. "I don't want to be hungry in the middle of a quest after all."

"About that," Scootaloo said, licking her plate clean of cake frosting, "does food even work in the game? It's not like we'll actually be eating in real life."

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment, remembering something. "Last year, while Sunset was helping me with our physics final, we talked a little bit about their game development. She said the gems in the Digisphere created some kind of 'shared dream,' and it basically worked like a regular dream. I suppose you can feel full after eating in a dream, even though you're just sleeping."

"When I dream about eating, I wake up next to an empty box of cereal most of the time," Applebloom replied.

"In any case, I guess eating in-game makes you ignore real hunger, at least for a while," Sweetie Belle continued, ignoring her friends as they chewed on the cake. She fiddled with the straps on her Digisphere, checking the time on her phone again. Twelve minutes left, but it already felt too long.

Finally, Scootaloo washed her plate clean and slumped onto the couch next to Sweetie Belle, putting on her helmet. "So, do you think we could start a guild by today?" she asked.

"Let met guess, you want to bring the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the game?" Applebloom replied, scrubbing clean her plating and setting it to dry.

Scootaloo nodded, powering up the screen on her Digisphere. "Everyone at school knows about our club, we'll have followers in no time!" she said, looking through the Digisphere's main page. The only game was PAO, and it had ten minutes until it was online.

"Hmph, I don't know," Sweetie Belle grunted. "I kind of want PAO to be a place I can escape from school, and forget all the homework I have to do."

Scootaloo's face darkened. "Oh no, don't remind me. Our English teacher gave us a take home essay over the weekend. I gotta have five thousand words done by Tuesday."

Applebloom sat back down and smirked towards Scootaloo. "You're going to do it all on Monday, aren't you?"

"Of course not!" she retorted, folding her arms defensively and sinking into the couch. "I have English fifth period. I'll probably do it Tuesday morning, and finish at lunch."

All of them laughed. Between their club and school work, there seemed to be barely any time left to relax. Still, the three of them still found ways to squeeze in some fun throughout the week, even if it added more stress later.

"I wonder what MMO Today is saying about PAO right now," Sweetie Belle said. She grabbed the remote off the coffee table and flicked the television on, tuning the channel to MMO Today. As expected, there was just a timer awaiting the launch of PAO.

"Oh wow, look at what Pipsqueak texted me," Scootaloo said. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle leaned over and looked at the picture on Scootaloo's phone. It was Pipsqueak's selfie at the line outside the mall, waiting to get a physical copy of the game.

"Crap, is that the line?" Applebloom exclaimed. "That thing reaches around the mall at least twice!"

Scootaloo chuckled. "I heard some people even brought sleeping bags. They'll need it, the mall's selling fifty thousand copies of PAO and everyone's squeezing in to buy one."

"Think he'll get one?" Sweetie Belle asked while checking the time again. It was nearly noon, only four minutes remained until PAO launched.

Scootaloo shook her head. "No way in hell, there's more than fifty thousand for sure."

"There'll be more though, right?" Sweetie Belle replied. "After the launch event there's no reason to limit the number of copies."

Scootaloo shrugged, flipping through other photos on her phone. "Probably, it's not like Sunset or Twilight have a reason to keep it limited."

The television beeped a shocking alarm that made the three jump. It was still showing MMO Today, and marked the two minute mark until PAO was launched.

Sweetie Belle cheered, with the wait nearly over. "No time to waste girls, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are about to take their next step in a virtual world."

The three of them nodded and booted up PAO on their Digispheres. By the time the intiating sequences were finished, it was time for PAO to be experienced first hand. As their phones ticked over to 12:00, thousands began linking to PAO for their first time. In unison, the CMC jumped into the fray.

"Link Start!" they shouted in unison, and stepped across into a virtual reality.