Mark and his friends Leo(1), Sam (short for Samantha) and Rick (short for Fredrick) were leaving the store, happy owners of the newest MLP game. When they presented it to the person at the desk, he looked puzzled, but charged then 15 bucks each anyways.

Their errands also done (and groceries needing to be put away) they carried their purchases to their respective homes.

Mark was the first to slot the disk, smiling with eagerness. "This ought to be good!" he said to himself.

A bright flash briefly blinded him, and when it dissipated there was a VR set sitting on his desk. "Free hardware? I'm down!"

Not thinking further, he slipped the headset on and that was the last he saw of the real world.(2)

Mark appeared as a being of white energy, along with the rest of his friends shortly thereafter. "I'm not sure I like this..." Sam said, more than slightly nervous.

Mark was taking a moment to check out his current appearance. (3)

Just then...

"Welcome to the Gateway! I am CelestAI! And this is the beginning of a new adventure for all of you!"

"You don't say." Leo deadpanned.

"But first! You have to create your character! Races first! So, what'll it be?"

In short order, there stood a Dragon in place of Mark. He was a molten gold colour, with platinum spines.

Name: Burning Bright
Racial Bonuses:
+4 STR
+4 CON
+2 CHA
-2 INT
-2 WIS
+2 Intimidate
Heat Immunity 200%: heals in lava and other hot substances
Bashing Damage immunity 100%
Cold Intolerance
Damage Soak: absorbs first 8 Lethal Damage.
Level Adjustment +2: Dragons are significantly more powerful than other characters and gain levels much more slowly as a result.
Desperation Move: Volcanic Power- when at critical hp (or when becoming angry enough), can use Volcanic Power to gain 80% Damage Resistance, STR and CON increase by +4 and becomes unbearable to touch.

Mark flexed his new arms, grinning. "I'm okay with this."

Next Sam appeared as a Yak. She had the race's trademark brown hairy coat and her mane was done up in braids.

Name: Io

"Io?" CelestAI queried.

"Io was priestess of Hera. Chosen by Zeus to be wife. Hera not approve. Was turned into cow to be hidden. That's another story. Always liked that story. Had happy ending."

"Interesting." the white Alicorn said with a smirk.

Racial Bonuses:
+4 STR
+4 CON
-4 INT
-2 WIS
Cold Resistance 99%
Damage Soak: absorbs first 6 points of Bashing Damage and 3 points of Lethal Damage -increases by +2/+1 with every third level up.
SMASH!: Gains Momentum with every object destroyed. Soon becomes extremely hard to hit and harder to hurt.
Desperation Move: Walking Tank- when at critical hp level (or becomes angry enough), can become invincible for 30 seconds. projectiles bounce, anyone who attacks with a melee weapon automatically critically misses and is stunned.

"Me like!" Sam said proudly.

Next up was a jet black Minotaur, appearing in the place of Leo.

Name: Asterion
Racial Bonuses:
+4 STR
+4 DEX
+2 CON
-2 INT
-2 CHA
Iron Grip: Can hold on to the most slippery of objects or pull loose nearly anything that's blocked.
Desperation Move: Bull Rush - When at critical hp (or when angry enough) can summon the power of their race to increase STR +6 and gain +8 movement speed, allowing them to charge at great speed and break most anything in their way.
Level Adjustment +0.5: Minotaurs are slightly more powerful than other races, and gain levels a bit more slowly as a result.

And lastly, Rick came up as a Zebra. He gave himself the once-over briefly. "A pleasing form, I do believe. What bonuses do I receive?"

As if on cue, the menu popped up.

Name: Zachory
Racial Bonuses:
+2 INT
+2 WIS
-2 STR
Green Hoof: Instinctive knowledge of plants and their purposes.
Desperation Move: Wild Growth - when at critical hp (or when angry enough), they can use their magic to cause nature itself to attack their enemies.

"I believe that this will do for me. What next are we to do and see?"

Burning Bright asked his friend, "Question?"

"Hark! A question from Mark."

"... Why a Zebra, of all things."

"They are my favourite creature on Earth, thus appropos for my rebirth."(4)

CelestAI coughed. "Next are your... classes. Yes."

Burning Bright had a different selection from the others.

Arcanist
Berserker
Chronicler
Dragoon
Paladin
Warder

"Hmm..." Burning said contemplatively. "I'm a sucker for Paladins, so i'll go for that. As... odd as it may seem for a Dragon."

Io said shortly, "Berserker. Obvious, right?"

Asterion also had an odd selection.

Brawler
Craftknight(4)
Fighter
Martial Artist
Mechanist
Merchant

"I'm going with Craftknight. It'll be good to be able to do something with these babies." he said, flexng his right arm.

Io commented dryly. "Show off."

Zachory said, "I'll be a Shaman, obviously. How good a one? Well, we'll see."

CelestAI said, "Positions have been found for you."

The lot of them began to shrink in size. A flash occurred just before they were fully regressed and sent through the portal.

CelestAI held up a picture showing the looks on the group's faces. "Oh, by my counterpart. I will never get tired of that."

Over in the Dragon Lands, life stirred in a yellow egg.

In Yakyakistan, life stirred within a yak female, but it was too early for her to notice.

In Minos Taurath, A new child was being prepared to be born

And in Zebrica, something similar was occurring.

Little did anyone know that these four would one day become a force for good, to drive back a greater evil than that world had ever faced.

Author's Note

1: Any references to Resident Evil 4 will be given the Dio treatment.
2: And the last he WOULD see for a loooong time!
3: No pun intended.
4: Yes, reference to Craft Sword Monogatari (Aka Summon Night).