Chapter I

The Treaty

It has been three years since the ‘The Royal Wedding Invasion’ as it has became known by many in the land of Equestria. The disgraced Queen Chrysalis had gone into hiding as soon as she was launched out of Canterlot by Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Since that time, a new regime of Changelings have taken hold and sought peace with Equestria. A collaborative effort by the other Changeling hive underwent to apprehend the mad Queen.

After many negotiations Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, and her younger sister Princess Luna, forged a peace treaty with the Changeling race which ushered in a new era of trade and prosperity. Unfortunately many Equestrians still resented the Changelings for the attack and chose to only tolerate them rather than welcome them, because of this not many Changelings migrated to Equestria and those that did were treated poorly and were met with with accusing glares, unfair rates and even acts of physical violence. Celestia wanted there to be true peace with their new allies and allowed integration within the school system, even a school she personally taught at; Canterlot College.

Mantis Xanthous yawned as he waited outside the Principal’s office. Since there were still few Changeling’s in Canterlot he kept his real features hidden with a basic illusion spell. He had light skin and dark golden hair that matched his eyes. The doors opened and Mantis stood up, cracking his back. He made his way inside to see three women.

On the left was a woman that only looked a few years older than him with tri-colored hair and a had on a pink sport coat with matching skirt and heels. There was also a set of pink wings coming from her back. On the far right was a woman with flowing blue hair that reminded the man of the night sky. Her bright blue eyes seemed to pierce everything they fell upon. Her dark blue wings matched her blue business suit. Lastly, in the center was a woman who had multi colored hair and angelic white wings. Her calm magenta eyes focused on the man.

“Greetings.” She said with a smile. “My name is Princess Celestia, this is my sister Luna,” She gestured to the blue haired woman who narrowed her eyes. “and my niece, Princess Cadence.”

“Hello.” The woman smiled. Mantis gave them each a nod.

“Mantis Xanthous. Nice to meet you.” He smiled. “Let’s shoo the dragon out of the room shall we?” He snapped his fingers and his disguise shattered like clay revealing his golden spliced eyes, ebony black skin and hair that was a dark gold color.

“As you know, in order to enroll in my school, students must pass a rigorous entrance exam.” Celestia stated. “Most students spend years attending one of the many schools that prepare them for this institution. You are one of the few who haven’t and yet you passed the entrance exam with ease.”

“If you can’t learn, then you can’t survive.” Mantis said in a firm tone.

“True.” The woman folded her hands. “I’m pleased to run a school and country that accepts all forms of people.” She reached for her tea cup. “Mages, flyers, griffonians, draconians....Changelings.” He frowned at the words. “Tell me, why do you want to go to this school?”

“I’d like to expand my knowledge.” He said in a calm tone. “I know that this school has quite a bit to offer and I plan to take advantage of that, like any other student aiming to come here.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “Also to show this generation that all Changelings aren’t blood thirsty psychopaths bent on reducing your country to a pile of rubble.” He said with a small smile.

“Do you harbor any feelings of revenge against this country?” Luna asked.

“Aunt Luna I really don’t think-” Cadence was cut off as Mantis raised a hand.

“Not the country itself.” The man said with a sigh. “Of course I’m more angry at certain individuals rather than the whole country and it’s populace. I suppose I’m able to differentiate between the two, unlike some people I know of.”

“You’ve got quite a mouth on you.”He gave laugh at the comment.

“Sorry, I only get like this whenever someone has a gun pointed at me.” He whistles in a high pitched tone. There was a red flash and a faint slashing noise coming from behind the curtains. Two soldiers with spell rifles fell to the floor, motionless. A figure wearing wearing a red tunic under golden armor that shined in the sunlight stepped out from the curtains.

The figure’s helmet had a pair of wings on either side and the eye holes were slanted giving them a menacing look. Hanging off it’s back was a black cape that had been torn at the edges. Celestia and the others immediately stood up at the sight of them. “Relax. This one is with me.” He said as he looked at the figure who nodded. “Leave us.”

A portal opened up behind the figure and it walked through the portal before it vanished. “In my situation I need a reliable body guard.” He glanced down at the guards. “For obvious reasons.” Celestia and Cadence glared at Luna.

“Precaution.” Luna stated.

“I do the same.” Luna looked down at the guards and gritted her teeth in frustration. “They’re fine. Give them a few minutes and they’ll be back on their feet.” Celestia cleared her throat before speaking

“I believe my school would value having a guest such as-” Mantis raised his hand.

“No offense Princess Celestia, but if it’s one thing that gets under my skin it’s beating around the bush.” He sighed.

“I’m not following.”

“If by ‘guest’ you mean political prisoner, then you’re right.”

“You’re not-”

“I’m not an idiot.” He said in a serious tone. “While the New Changeling Government and your military are busy hunting down Chrysalis, your army needs something to keep them from--what was it?--Right, ‘doing anything they might regret.’” He deadpanned. “I’m insurance. A hostage to make sure they do what your government says until things are up and running.” Celestia bit her lip at the words. “Although I suppose I’m also here for my own protection.”

“What do you mean?” Cadence asked.

“Do you know how much my head is worth to that crazy witch? She’d cut my face off, sew it to a ball and kick it into my mother’s yard.” Cadence gagged at the words. “Chrysalis has always been twisted like that.”

“You make it sound as if you know her.” Luna stated.

“Well I should, she’s my aunt after all.”

~~~

An indigo haired woman by the name of Twilight Sparkle finally finished unpacking her things in her new dorm room. Her desk was in order, her books stacked on shelves and her small collection of games were on the shelf above. Her little brother Spike and her friend Rainbow Dash got her into gaming a few years ago when she moved to Ponyville. She started out on the generic action, first person shooter games, but never really cared for them. Once she got her hands on role playing games she was hooked.

She had recently gotten her hands on the newest game engine and RPG. The machine was called an Immersion Visor. It looked similar to a pair of incognito sunglasses. The machine scanned the user’s brain through the eyes and connects to the nerve center in their head to make the game look, hear, feel, smell and taste games in a whole new way. This lead to the creation of Virtual Reality Games or VRG’s. One such game that had caught the scholar’s interest was ‘Fantasia Crusade.’

It had everything. A compelling story, rich lore, amazing visuals, dynamic combat and a unique interface. It was the first virtual reality massive multiplayer online role playing game, or VRMMORPG for short. Twilight was hesitant at first to buy the game, but her curiosity got the better of her. She could barely stay offline once she got a taste. However, she was responsible enough to not let it affect her studies or social life.

Once done with stacking, she left to meet her friends in the lounge of the school. The lounge had three floors dedicated to it. The basement was used for storing things for special events. The main floor had a cafeteria, reading area and a game room. The top floor was for the club offices. “C’mon guys its really fun. Just try it.” The scholar had been trying for weeks to get her friends interested in the game, with little success.

“Twilight it’s an RPG.” A girl with rainbow colored hair and cyan wings said. “It’s boring.” The flyer said as she sat back.

“You play more video games out of everyone here Dashie.” A girl with pink curly hair stated.

“I play awesome games Pinkie.” The flyer said crossing her arms. “Like ‘Daring Do: Lies of a Thief’ and ‘Guns of Honor.’”

“Yeah Twi, as much as I’d like to play it sounds really complicated.” The voice came from a girl who had a brown leather Stetson sitting atop her blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail. “Ah can barely shoot straight in Dash’s shooting games.”

“I think it sounds cool! I’ll try anything as long as it’s fun!” The pink haired girl said.

“Thank you Pinkie.” Twilight smiled. “Rarity? Fluttershy?” She turned to the other two girls. One had a beautiful head of purple hair that had a slight curl to it and did a good job of contrasting her sapphire blue eyes. The other was hiding behind her lochs of pink hair and had a pair of butter yellow wings.

“I-I don’t know. It sounds kinda scary.” The flyer said shrinking back.

“As fun as it sounds dear, games like that take up a lot of time.” The beauty said with a sigh. Twilight sighed in defeat.

“Besides Twilight, games like that are for dorks. No offense.” Dash said.

“Then I guess you think the Wonderbolts are dorks.” Twilight muttered. The cyan flyer’s ears twitched at the words. Dash’s head whipped around and glared at her friend. “I met Soarin and Spitfire there and did a few quests with them.”

“No way they play that game!” She said slamming her hands on the table.

“I was as shocked as you are when I met them in game.” Twilight grabbed her phone and logged onto the website. After signing into her account she accessed her friend’s list and pulled up their profiles. “Here they are.” She slid her phone over to the flyer and read the info. The avatar’s face was the spitting image of the golden winged Wonderbolt. Her character had a bright red hood and sleeveless robes with two daggers on her back.

‘FireSpitter’

Level 23

Human Rogue/Assassin.

Offline for 4 days 6 hours.

The next picture was a blue winged man, with blue hair, wearing shiny silver armor, holding a silver sword and a black iron shield.

‘BlueBolt’

Level 22

Human Warrior/Champion.

Offline for 3 days 5 hours.

“Still think it’s just for dorks Rainbow?” Twilight chuckled. The flyer dropped the phone and glared at Twilight.

“How many bits for the game?”

“Sixty. Excluding expansions and add ons.” The cyan flyer took off with a blur behind her towards the nearest game store. “Well, that’s two.” Rarity suddenly grabbed her friend’s phone and found Twilight’s avatar.

‘LavenderTwilight’

Level 15

High Elf Mage.

Offline for 3 days 9 hours.

Her character was wearing dark purple mage robes, with a matching witch hat and held a light purple staff that crackled with purple magic. The avatar’s ears also had a point to them. “That outfit is amazing!” Rarity yelled.

“Hardly. The higher level you are, the better armor and robes you can buy and craft.” Rarity bit her lip and sighed.

“I suppose it could give me ideas for a new fashion line.” The fashionista said giving back the phone.

“Not to mention all the cosplayers that are in the game. You’d probably make a killing.” Twilight shrugged.

“Well, then I will definitely look into it.” She smiled. Rarity then glared at Applejack. The farmer gulped as she felt the fashionista’s sapphire blue eyes on her. Eventually she slammed her hands down on the table and grunted.

“Dang it! Fine!” The farmer grumbled a she crossed her arms. “I’ll give it a shot. Just get those dang eyes off me!” Rarity smirked at her small victory.

“S-since everyone else is doing it. I’ll do it.” Fluttershy squeaked.

“You’ll have a good time Shy. You can even raise animals in it.” The flyer smiled as her wings fluttered slightly at the news. Twilight sat back with a smile on her face. “Awesome! Let me know when you guys get it and download it. I’ll teach you the basics.”

“I still need to unpack dear.” Rarity said.

“Okay, how about we get it later?” Twilight said.

“Sure. Although it may take me a while to get my things.”

~~~

Mantis sighed as he made his way out of the main building and headed towards his new dorm room. Most of his bags had already been delivered to his dorm. As he made his way out he accidentally bumped into someone. “Oops. Sorry about that.” As he looked at the purple haired girl he was a bit struck at her beauty. Her sapphire blue eyes were like two deep pools one would find in a tropical rainforest.

“Oh it’s alright.” She had an accent that had a refined tone to it. Mantis shook his head and helped her up. “I was just coming for my things.”

“Likewise.” Mantis said gesturing to his bags. “Need a hand with them?”

“Oh I couldn’t ask you to help.”

“I insist. I feel bad for knocking you over.” Rarity smiled at the golden haired man.

“Well, aren’t you generous.” She smiled.

“Rarity?” The woman turned to see her scholarly friend coming up to them. “Sorry, I got a call from Spike and I had to take it.”

“Not a problem at all dear.” She smiled. Twilight then noticed Mantis.

“Who’s this?” She asked.

“Oh yes this is....Sorry, but we haven’t exchanged pleasantries.” Rarity said.

“Mantis Xanthous.” He said before kissing Rarity’s hand. “At your service.” The blue eyed girl gave a small giggle.

I still got it.

“Rarity Belle.” She smiled.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Mantis froze at the words.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t your older brother-”

“Prince Shining Armor? Yeah, I’m his little sister.” If the young man had a danger meter installed in his brain it would have gone off loud enough for it to be heard for miles. Luckily he remained calm and shook her hand.

“Nice to meet you.” He smiled as he followed the girls. His eyes shrank when he saw that Rarity had two luggage carts filled to the brim. “Bring your house in pieces Rarity?”

“What? A lady needs the essentials.” Twilight couldn’t help but role her eyes at the words. Mantis took one of the larger ones and slung it over his back.

“So where am I hauling this thing to?”

“Room B36. Just follow me.” Twilight said. “We’re in the same room. Where are you staying?” Locust reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.

“Room D13.” After ten minutes of walking through the dorm building, the three arrived at Twilight and Rarity’s room. Mantis set the bag down and sighed.

“Thank you again dear.” Rarity smiled.

“No biggie. See you two around.” He said as he made his way towards the D wing. He arrived at room D13 and opened the door. It was a small living area with a large TV, a couch and a kitchenette. There were three doors, one two on the right and one on the left.

He opened the one on the left and saw a nice bathroom that had a full shower and bathtub. The bedrooms were the same; one double bed, a desk and bookshelf. “A little small, but I can work with this.” He started unpacking his things and put his clothes away.

Mantis set his immersion visor on the nightstand and brought out a few bottles, beakers and cylinders. He unpacked his computer hard drive and monitor and connected them to the school’s wireless network. The man put the helmet on and laid down in bed. He connected the helmet to his hard drive and the visor came to life. “Start up.” He said as several light’s flashed before his eyes and he felt a falling sensation creep over him. Soon his eyes closed and everything went dark.

Light filled his vision as he looked down at his armored hands. “Good to be back in this world.” He gripped his hands and looked at the large town that laid before him. Several shops and buildings filled the streets. Several NPC’s were selling goods. Mantis swiped to the left and his character menu popped up.

‘CrowofSpirits’

Level 30

Dark Elf Mage/Necromancer.

Online.

His character was dressed in a dark yellow robes that appeared to have black feathers attached to the back. He had several potions attached to his belt and a long staff with a glowing yellow orb attached to one end was on his back. On his face was a plague doctor mask that was painted dark gold and a flat brimmed hat was on his head. He checked his inventory and items. Forgot I stocked up after that last raid. He let out a sigh and made his way into the crowd.

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of this new fic. The inner workings of the digital world will unfold as the story progresses.