Spike had gotten out of school and was walking home. He heard his phone beep and read a text that said, "Dear sir or ma'am, your NRG Virtual Reality System has arrived at our store and is ready for pick-up. Please come pick it up at your earliest convenience." Smiling, Spike said, "Sweet! My new game system is here!" he ran to the game store and saw his friends Gabby, Thorax, and Starlight Glimmer picking up their own NRG Systems. Spike waved to his friends, "Hey guys, what game did you order with your system?"

All three of them told Spike,"Star Wars the Old Republic."

Spike smiled, "Sweet, same game I got. When we all get together in the game, we should form a guild."

Thorax nodded, "Sounds like a good idea."

After Spike had shown the cashier his pre-order card, the cashier gave him the system and game. When him and his friends were leaving the store he asked them, "Since it's not a school night, you guys want to play over the weekend?"

His friends nodded and said goodbye as they split up to head to their houses

When Spike had gotten home from the game store, he was later than he normally was. Twilight Velvet called to him, "Spike? Is that you? You're awfully late from coming home"

Spike put his backpack in the closet and called back to his mother, "Sorry mom, I stopped by the game store to pick up that game system I pre-ordered a couple of months ago."

Night Light looked up from the newspaper he was reading and asked his son, "Another video game console? What's so special about this new one?"

Spike started explaining, "It's called the NRG Virtual Reality System. It lets you put yourself into the game."

Twilight walked downstairs adjusting her glasses and said, "Virtual reality? I'm somewhat intrigued by that idea. Do you mind if I play it some time?"

Spike smiled at his sister, "Sure, but I was only able to get one game for it, Star Wars the Old Republic. I wanted to start off as a Sith Warrior, plus, Gabby, Thorax, Starlight and I were going to get together to form a guild." He went up to his room, plugged in the NRG system and started up his game. When he put his virtual reality helmet on, he started making his avatar. A Sith Pureblood Sith Warrior named Spike. Thankfully, the name wasn't taken, so he could use it. When he finished the opening cutscene, his helmet went dark. "What's going on? Don't tell me it's broken already!" suddenly a message came up and he read it to himself aloud, "Welcome to Star Wars the Old Republic for the NRG. You will be playing the character you have created through the entire game. However, due to technical errors from our developers, you will not be able to exit the game until you complete the main story..."

As Spike was getting sucked into the game, he was able to quickly write a letter that more or less explained what happened, and to ask to find a way to get him out.

When Spike awoke in the game, he was on an Imperial transport shuttle and was wearing black pants, white boots, and a black jacket above white training shirt. On his back there was a Sith Practice Blade, the Sith Warrior's starting weapon. He'd seen YouTubers do let's plays of the game before, so he knew this was the ride to the Sith starting planet, Korriban. As the shuttle landed he thought to himself, "So... I've got to finish the game to get home... this reminds me of Sword Art Online, hopefully the same principles don't apply when it comes to dying."

As Spike was playing the game, Twilight Velvet went up to his room to tell him dinner was ready when she saw him out cold on the floor, the virtual reality helmet still on his head. She ran over to him and tried to take it off, but she couldn't. She read Spike's letter and her eyes widened before she screamed at the top of her lungs, causing Night Light and Twilight to run in. Twilight Sparkle called, "What's wrong mom!?"

Twilight Velvet was on her knees sobbing, "Spike's trapped in that game, and the only way for him to get out is to beat it!"

Night Light chuckled, "You're joking, Spike's trapped in a video game?" When his wife glared at him, he realized that she would never make up a story like that. "Ok, what if we just unplug the game? That should work."

Before he could unplug the game, Twilight Sparkle yelled, "Dad no! I recognize this gimmick from the Sword Art Online anime and manga. If Spike dies in the game or if somebody tries to remove the helmet, he'll die in real life!"

Night Light stopped when his daughter yelled at him and explained what would happen if he turned the game off. "So how are we supposed to watch his progress? We can't let him stay in there all alone."

Twilight Sparkle walked over to the box that the NRG came in and looked through the owner's manual. "Ok, I think I found a way to let us know what's going on. There's a green button on the helmet, if you press that button, Spike and the entire game will show up on the TV screen. I don't see anything on how to communicate with him... But I do have some good news and bad news. The good news is that if Spike dies in the game, he won't die in real life. The bad news is that if the game is turned off, he'll be trapped in the game forever. These damn companies are always trying to make a quick buck without thinking of their customers' well-being."

Twilight Velvet pressed the green button on the back of the helmet and the game came up on Spike's TV. She saw that he had just met Overseer Tremel. She could hear Spike and the Overseer talking to each other. The overseer told Spike, "That practice sword is insufficient, the blade of lesser acolytes. You need a dominating weapon. In the Tomb of Ajunta Pall, there's an armory, an ancient Sith war blade awaits you. Be careful in there, the tomb is filled with k'lor'slugs, deadly, savage creatures. They've been the end of many acolytes."

Spike nodded and said, "If they lack the instinct to avoid me, I'll feed them their heads."

Tremel chuckled, "Good, once you obtain the war blade, I suggest you spend some time in the tombs bloodying it, then report to me in my chambers at the academy."

As Tremel left, Spike walked out to the Valley of the Dark Lords and looked around the barren red plains. It almost looked like Mars, although it had ruined temples, the first of which he saw was the Tomb of Ajunta Pall, and the disgusting k'lor'slugs. The k'lor'slugs weren't really dangerous individually, but if enough of them gathered, you'd be their lunch. They could easily swallow a man whole with the size of their mouths. Spike saw many people in a group talking. He walked over to the group and asked them, "Are you guys actual people?"

One of the people nodded, "Yeah, all of us got here from the NRG system. Some of us are thinking that we should stay in groups to figure out how to get out of here."

A familiar voice said, "The only way we can get out is by beating the main story. It's not extremely difficult. Wait... Spike!? You're here too!?"

Spike saw a girl in robes with a vibro-sword and recognized her voice, "Starlight!? Where are Thorax and Gabby?"

Starlight shrugged, "I haven't seen them anywhere, which means they must be on Hutta."

Spike sighed, "Well, that figures. But still, groups might be a good idea, or at least pairs. Once we meet Thorax and Gabby on the fleet, we should probably stick together."

Twilight Sparkle facepalmed when she saw Starlight in the game, "Starlight, I can't believe you didn't read the manual. Spike I can understand, but you? Well, we'll just have to see how this plays out. I hope that being a Sith in the game doesn't go to Spike's head when he gets out of there."

And so, Spike has been trapped in SWTOR by his new NRG gaming console. Will he be able to complete and escape the game with the help of his friends?

Author's Note

If any of you wonder what Spike and his friends look like in game, I don't have pictures, but I can describe them to the best of my ability.

Spike: Spike chose to go with the Sith Pureblood race. His skin is blood red, and he has black dreadlocks. He has horns on his chin that mimic a beard. His irises are a milky white color. When he obtains his lightsabers, they will have a purple w/a black core color crystal. He wears typical Warrior acolyte attire

Starlight Glimmer: Starlight went with the Togruta race. Her skin is a deep purple color, with facial markings that resemble an upside down trident, and she has blue eyes. Her lekku and montrals are dark brown with white markings in zigzags. When she gets her double-bladed lightsaber, the color crystal will be a fiery orange.

Thorax: Thorax is a Chiss Bounty hunter, which means he has deep blue skin and blood red eyes. He has a receding hairline with a traditional ponytail, the color of which is a red-violet color. His blaster will have a green w/black core color crystal.

Gabby: Gabby chose to be a Cyborg Imperial Agent, and has a pale chocolate skin with cybernetic enhancements on her ears and eyes. She wears a typical Imperial uniform, and current blaster rifle has a red color crystal, but when she gets her sniper rifle, she'll use a pink color crystal