Equestria Online

"The copies of this game are being given away in contests throughout the country. A lucky five-thousand players will receive the game should they be chosen in a raffle." The news reporter says through the TV. I look down at the disk in my hand, wondering why exactly I agreed to play this. Probably because my little sister begged me to.

Alice is thirteen, and the most amazing person I have ever met, and I am lucky to call her my sister. We both got into virtual reality games about a year ago, and just couldn't put them down. So, when a new game was launched that is based off the show My Little Pony, she just couldn't resist entering some radio contest that promised two copies to the winner. Luck must have been on her side that day, because she was the chosen winner. That was four days ago, and the disks just came in the mail today.

Five-thousand other players will also be receiving their copies of the game as well. The servers will all come on at the same time to ensure everybody can join simultaneously. That should be in about two minutes from now.

My sister is in her room, just dying to finally play the game. While I was never really a fan of that pony show she was addicted to, I'm willing to give this new game a shot if it'll make her happy.

I roll my chair across the room towards me computer where my NerveGear headset is hooked up. I open up the CD tray and insert the game disk, watching it disappear into the computer. I jump out of my chair and land on my bed, rolling over onto my back. I grab my headset and slip it over my face, ready to get into the game. I look over at my clock, seeing that the servers should be online in a matter of seconds.

I look up at the ceiling, smiling as I close my eyes. Just another second or two... Okay! Servers are now online! I get my body into a comfortable position, and close my eyes.

"Link... start!" I say loudly as my vision quickly goes from darkness to a white light. I watch as colors flash by me until a login screen appears. I log into my NerveGear account, and proceed to the next area.

I open my eyes, and see a character creation screen in front of me. I quickly create an avatar that looks just like me, and hit enter. The character opens his eyes, and I feel a quick rush of wind around me before I am literally placed in his body. Another white light overtakes my vision, and I feel like I'm falling.

The wind stops, and I risk opening my eyes. Everything is blurry at first, but once it clears, I look down at my hands. They look slightly less detailed than normal, but that's to be expected from a world based around a cartoon. I look around me and see I am in a small town, probably the tutorial level. I wonder if this world works like other VR games?

I swipe my finger downwards, and an interaction menu pops up. A smile creeps across my face as I start scrolling through all the new options until I find the friends list. Good think this carries over from other games. My sister is still offline, so I guess she hasn't logged in yet. Might as well learn about this game while I wait for her.

I open my inventory, and the only thing there is a book labeled, "Guide to Equestria Online". I equip the item, and it appears in front of me from a flash of light. I catch it in my hands, smiling at the amazingness that is virtual reality. You can do pretty much anything you can dream of in a game like this, including making a booklet appear out of nowhere. I start walking as I begin to read the booklet.

"Welcome to Equestria Online! If you are reading this, then you are probably a new player, so allow us to help you get started! There aren't many rules to this game, so this shouldn't take too long." I lean up against a wall as I continue to read on. The rules are pretty general, so I start to skip over them to get to the part about how to actually play the game. Apparently all ponies are programmed with an advanced AI system that allows them to think just like we do. That part really seemed interesting to me, as it means that I can really interact with the world around me.

Once I finish reading the small booklet, I send it back to my inventory before looking at the next interaction icon in my menu, the map. A large square appears in front of me, and it shows every corner of this new world. In the dead center is some place called Canterlot, but that isn't what catches my eye. South-west of Canterlot is some town named Ponyville, but for some reason it is highlighted in red. Maybe it has to be unlocked or something? This game is an MMORPG which means we can level up and receive quests from different characters in game. That also means there are weapons and enemies in this world, which leads me to my next task of getting myself armed.

I close my interaction menu and begin walking into town. There aren't any ponies here, so this really must be just the starting town for new players. In my vision, in the top left corner is a stat bar showing my name, health, level, and amount of money. Right now, I have a thousand bits, which I guess is this game's currency. Seeing as this is the beginning town, the prices here should be pretty low, so I should be able to equip myself with some pretty decent weapons.

"Hey, where can I buy a weapon?" I ask as I approach a cloaked stranger. The figure turns around an remove's their hood revealing a blonde haired girl. She looks at me with a smile before looking down the street we are currently standing on.

"Weapon? Have you not been exploring dude? The servers have been up for like two hours, what have you been doing all this time?" She says with a curious, yet friendly expression. She looks about my age, maybe a year younger at the most, which makes it easy to talk to her.

"Oh, uh..." I say, somewhat embarrassed that I had wasted so much time reading the guide booklet. "I was just reading the guide and checking out the inventory system. It's pretty different from the last game I played, so I figured I would get accustomed to it." I say with a nervous laugh as I rub the back of my head.

"Here, let me show you." She says with a chuckle. We start walking down the street, and I notice just how many players are here. Damn, that's a lot of dedicated fans. I'm probably the only one here who doesn't know shit about the show or the world around me that is apparently called Equestria. "So, what's your name?" She asks me as I snap back to my senses.

"Oh, I'm Hunter, sixteen years old as of last week." I say as I hold out a hand to her.

"I'm Penny, nice to meet you Hunter! I'm fourteen, and I'll turn fifteen in about five months." She says as she shakes my hand. I smile and look at her a little closer. She reminds me a lot of my sister, which makes me that much more friendlier towards her. I'm normally a pretty friendly guy to people I like, but I can be a real asshole if I feel like it. Better not show that side of me around here I suppose.

"You should probably buy some new clothes too, those beginner clothes are just so... bleh." She says as she points to my body. I look down for the first time to see ragged brown clothes that looked like they were made out of potato sacks. I laugh at myself for not noticing that earlier, and look back up at Penny. She has a red cloak on, and white pants that really seem to suit her well. She also has a small dagger on her belt, which means my assumptions of weapons and enemies were correct.

"Yeah, I should. The rags are ugly as crap!" We both start laughing as we approach what looks like the weapons shop. On the front is a sign with a sword and a shield on it, so I guess this is it. I open the door, and lay my eyes on the first pony I've ever seen. It makes sense that a pony would be running the store since no players were even near being skilled enough to open their own shops. There's also the fact that the only humans in the game are players, so there couldn't be an NPC human running a shop.

The pony is black with hair that ranges from dark grey to a light silver in different streaks across his head. He smiles at us from behind a counter as we enter, and Penny waves to him.

"Hey Smith! Me again!" She says with a smile. I guess she has already been in here. She leans over to whisper something to me. "Never tell a pony that we are in a game, they'll just freak out and deny it. The AI system here is extremely well coded, and they actually believe that they are real." She says into my ear. Good thing she told me that before I went around telling every pony I see that they aren't real.

"Ah, Penny! Good to see you again dear." The pony says with a rough voice. He sounds pretty old and experienced, which makes me feel more comfortable buying weapons from him. I only want the best money can buy, and he sounds like he'd know what he's doing. "Who is this fine lad?" Do they all talk like they just came from old timey England?

"This is Hunter, and he needs a weapon. Got anything for him?"

"That depends, what kind of weapon do you prefer boy?" The pony asks me from across the room. I start walking around the room, looking at all the weapons on display. The only other game that I've played with weapons like these didn't last that long. I ended up quitting because I got bored pretty fast. I was more into shooter games, so I was more used to guns than swords and knives. I spot something that catches my eye, and run over to a glass case. Inside are few pistols, each ranging in price ranges. I had no idea a world like this would have guns! My spirits drop however when I see the prices. The cheapest one is a whopping hundred thousand bits, a little too expensive for my taste.

I sigh as I back away from the case, deciding to settle with a melee weapon. The best deal I find is a one-handed sword for eight hundred bits. If a sword is that cheap, and a gun is so expensive, they must be rare items which means not many people will have them. I make a mental note to come back and get one as soon as I have the money to do so.

Penny and I walk out of the store, new sword on my back in it's sheath. The next thing I need to do is find a clothing shop, so Penny starts leading me farther down the shopping district.

"Here, this will help you keep track of me better in case we get separated." She says as she opens her interaction menu. She uses her finger to scroll through the projection in front of her until she finds the screen she was looking for. Suddenly, an alert pops up in front of me asking if I'd like the accept a friend request from Penny. I smile and press the check-mark icon, and the alert vanishes as quickly as it came. "There, now you can just use your map to find me if you get lost." I open my map to make sure, and sure enough, her name appears on the town where we are currently located. Just south of where we are is Alice's name, indicating that she must have logged in. I should probably go find her soon, but for now, I really need those clothes.

"Okay, here we are." Penny says as we approach a small building. It looks a lot smaller than the weapons shop, but it feels more homey inside with a fireplace in the corner warming up the room. A pink pony with a blonde mane walks out from the back to greet us, and shows us the different outfits available in the male section. I have two-hundred bits left, so I hope that will buy me something nice.

I end up with a black t-shirt and blue jeans, which seems really simple and out of place here, but I like it, and Penny seems to feel the same way. Now I look like a normal citizen, in the real world anyway, with a sword on his back. Other players around us are dressed in what looks like medieval clothing, but I just don't see the appeal in it. Even Penny has that whole cloak thing going on.

"You finally look like a real player now." Penny says with a smile.

"Thanks for showing me around Penny, it was fun! We should definitely do some leveling or exploring later." I say as I return the smile. "I probably should have gone to see my sister a while ago... Ah well, we can always play later, but right now I have a butt load of homework." I say as I sigh and look up at the realistic looking sky.

"Oh, alright, I'll see you later then Hunter!" She says as she starts to walk away with a wave. I wave back before opening up my interaction menu to log out. My expression quickly goes from happiness to confusion.

"Huh, that can't be right..." I mumble rather loudly. Penny must have heard me because she stops walking and turns back towards me.

"What do you mean? Need some help with something?" She asks as she approaches me again.

"No, I can't find the logout button. It isn't under the player menu..." I say as I begin to panic. "Alright, shouldn't freak out, probably just a bug right? I mean the servers only went up like three hours ago right?" Penny opens her own menu, looking for the logout button. She tries and tries, but has no luck on finding the button either.

"This is weird... It can't just be some bug, people would have reported it already and it would have been fixed... What's going on?" She says as she closes her menu.

I cover my ears as an alarm blares through the city. Suddenly, Penny vanishes in a flash of light, and a couple of seconds later I feel the sensation of being teleported. I open my eyes to see we are back in the big open area where we first spawned in. There are thousands of people here, and it seems to be every player online was brought here through a force teleportation.

"What the hell?" I mumble as I look around us. Another alarm goes off, and my eyes shoot towards the sky. The entire sky starts to turn a blood red, and everyone in the square starts to panic. Some people try to run away, but fail once they run into an invisible barrier surrounding us. I look down at Penny who looks as equally confused as I am.

"Silence!" A voice that sounds like it was blasted over loud speakers yells out. Every player goes dead silent, and our attention turns towards a large figure floating above us.

"Now, first of all, I must say welcome to Equestria Online! Players, you may haven noticed by now, that the logout button is not present in the interaction menu. This is not a bug, as it was intentional for the game. It is impossible to logout. If somebody in the real world tries to remove your NerveGear helmets, your brain will be destroyed by microwaves transmitted from the helmet." The figure says from above us. Everyone starts to freak out, and even Penny looks like she's about to lose it.

"We're... stuck here?" She whispers to nobody in particular. What the hell is happening?

"Now, this game is different from other MMORPGs, as the same rules do not apply here. Normally, if a player were to die in game, they would respawn at the nearest town. However, that rule does not apply to Equestria Online. If a player dies here, the NerveGear will kill them in the real world as well." Everyone around us gasps and starts screaming at the cloaked figure.

"Now, allow me to tell you how you might leave this game. There is only one way to do so, and that is to simply find the exit. Of course, this won't be easy as this world is essentially the size of Australia, but I believe that it is possible. After all, you are all gamers, this is what you're good at! Before I go, there is one more thing I'd like to give you. If everyone could check they're inventories, they will find a gift from me."

I swipe my finger down and the inventory menu appears in front of me. The only three things there are the guide booklet, my sword, and a... mirror? I equip the mirror, and it appears in front of me. I catch it before it can fall, and look at my reflection. Suddenly, my entire body starts to glow, and I have to close my eyes to protect them from the light. When I open them, I look back at the mirror and gasp. I don't see my avatar looking back at me, I see myself, the REAL me. Not much changed due to the fact that I made my character to look just like me, but I can definitely see some differences. My brown hair is shorter now, and my facial hair is now gone, having shaved earlier today. My body still feels the same, toned and somewhat athletic. I played basketball back in real life, so I was pretty fit.

"Hunter?" I hear a voice behind me. I turn to see a girl with light brown hair, and she looks a little taller than... Penny?

"Penny is that you?" I say as I walk towards her. I place a hand on her shoulder, and she starts to cry. Not from sadness, but fear.

"Y-Yeah, the real me. Hunter, I don't know what's happening, why are we trapped here!?" I go to answer, but the figure above us speaks up again.

"I think your real appearances really define who you are. Why would you want to cover up your true identity? It isn't like you have anything to hide right? Now then, if you all don't mind, I have some business to attend to. Goodbye for now, and good luck players!" He cloaked figure laughs his evil laugh before vanishing into nothing. The sky becomes it's natural blue again, and everyone starts to run out of the square now that the barriers are gone.

I have to get out of here, I need to find my sister!