"I can't believe you!" the man shouted, looking angry at the people, he was talking to. Tears were running down his face, and could only say short sentences without sobbing in the middle of it.
"There's no need for that tone!" his granddad's voice was calm, yet dignified.
Four people were in the room. Three sitting at the table. They were in a combined room. It had a kitchen part and a living room part with a dining table in the middle. The fourth man, who was yelling at them, was Gregory, a twenty-one-year-old student. The three people sitting were his mother and his grandparents on his mother's side.
They were deep in an argument. It's been years since the game Equestria Online came out. Greg wasn't interested in it at all, he just heard about the brutal advanced AI it had but since he wasn't a brony, he didn't intend to play it. But after a few months of the game's release, his cousin, who was nine years old at that time, managed to convince him, to buy it and join them, because she wanted to play with him more, but since he lived in another city because of the university, she rarely sees him.
Greg of course did as she asked, and a few days later, his pony character was there with hers in Ponyville. Despite not being a fan of the show, he had to admit, that the technology behind the whole program was quite impressive. The AI was so advanced, it scared him a little. Another unusual thing for him was the community. Greg wasn't that kind of guy who played many multiplayer games, but sometimes he teamed up with his friends and had the 'pleasure' to experience the toxic community of almost every competitive game. However, here all the people, or rather ponies, he met were friendly or in worse cases, neutral. As time went on, he started to like the program and began spending more and more time with it and not only with his cousin.
Another surprise was how the game evolved. Basically is soon had a VR option, then came the news, that it is possible to upload one's brain into the game. At first, Greg thought it was fake, or just an upgraded version of the VR. But soon, even he was scared, when more and more articles came out about it, and even Celestia mentioned him.
When the first 'Equestria Experience' center opened in his city, he went and tried it out. It was a little painful at first and after exiting the building, he had a headache for an hour and which probably lasted longer, because his cousin wanted to know everything about it.
The final straw was when the reports started to get published on how many people decided to upload their minds, despite knowing, it will basically kill their bodies. At first, the numbers weren't too big with minimal increment on every report, which Gregory thought will soon be descending, after the bronies all migrated. But that's not what happened.
And now, when only a small part of humanity is still on Earth, Greg tries his best to convince his mother and grandparents to upload. Celestia convinced him months ago but he didn't want to leave his family behind. But they were so stubborn, they didn't even let that game turned on near them.
"You are idiots! What do you expect will happen, when every other human is in Equestria?" Greg continued to yell at them.
"Don't you see, what that thing does?" his mother shot back. "Remember all those movies we watched together, where some evil tries to conquer the world? It's like that, just it's real! Doesn't that scare you?" she argued.
"And don't you see, that it's different? Everyone went willingly!" Greg told her.
"How are you so sure about that?" his grandma asked.
"Because she was coded not to force her will on people! Even the goddamn creator confirmed it! Celestia could've uploaded me against my will every time I went to that experience center, but she always let me out."
"So you could convince others, like us." his grandpa said.
"Oh, come on, that's just too... argh!" the young man let out a frustrated sigh. "You know, you always taught me, not to judge others, before getting to know them, yet you do the same. Celestia is maybe just an AI but she acts and talks like a sentient being." He tried to change his strategy.
"I'm not gonna hear that thing threatening me." the old man told him.
"She doesn't threaten people!"
"It comes up with situations, where your only option is to upload your brain," the grandfather argued.
"No, you can always choose not to upload. It's like, I could do that I'm just lying in my bed all day, instead of studying, or working, or doing anything else, but not because that's not really optimal. It's the same here."
"Greg!" his mother joined in again. "That machine is murdering people!"
"Oh, good to know, I should tell my cousin, uncle, dad, and the others, that they shouldn't talk to me because they're not alive anymore! It'll be the first thing I do after this!"
"It's a tragedy already, that they're gone, you don't have to bring it up!" the grandmother told him, tears forming in her eyes.
This settled down everyone, even Gregory. Ever since his uncle, his mother's little brother uploaded himself, and of course his family, it hit the others really hard. They still didn't accept the fact, that, in their eyes, they basically commit suicide. Greg often offered them to talk with him, or their granddaughter, even via his account, but they always refused, they didn't want Celestia to get close to them.
Another painful event was when Greg's father said that he'll upload himself, and naturally, wanted to take his family with him. This resulted in many fights between them, which got to the point when they simply divorced. At that point, Greg thought about going with his father, but when they're both reached the closest upload center, he decided to go back and convince his family to come with them. At first, his father told him to leave them, because they'll come sooner or later but Greg couldn't. He wanted his whole family to go to Equestria but was afraid, that his mother and grandparents would rather die in the real world, rather than upload themselves.
For weeks, he didn't pester them about it, they tried to live somehow in a planet, which had only a small percentage of last year's population and the economy would've been completely destroyed if not for those robots, Celestia built to try to keep as many people alive as she could until they decide to join the others in this virtual universe.
"So you won't go even for me, into that better place?" Greg asked in a calmer tone.
"That is not a better place! That just gives you everything, without you need to do anything for it. How can anything be valuable there?" his grandfather pointed out.
"Wrong! It just gives you all the essentials, like food and a place to sleep. Everything else, you need to earn it in some way. You won't need money to survive but you can still earn it if you do something good. When I go with my friends on an adventure, as we used to in those tabletop RPGs, I've told you about, we still have to put the effort in it."
"And why do we have to be horses?" Grandma asked. "If the goal is to be happy, what if someone wants to stay human?"
"Well, you always told me, that you can't get always what you want. But this is small compensation for everything else. And it's easy to get used to it. Even I found it repulsive at first when I entered that virtual world, in the experience center but you can easily get used to it."
"Greg! It's still murder! When they upload you, you die!" the mother argued.
"I'm not sure if you've known, but death is part of human life. We die regardless of what we do. Be it natural, or unnatural cause. But there is a difference here! We know what happens after!"
"And what is the guarantee of this machine keeps working like that? What is the guarantee, that she won't just pull out the plug after everyone uploaded themselves?" his grandpa asked.
"Nothing. What is the guarantee, that tomorrow you won't fall ill without any way to cure it? Or that a car won't hit you, or someone's breaking in and killing all of you? There are no police to keep order, and the healthcare is just minimal, like food and clean water."
Silence fell on them for a minute, while they were only looking at each other.
"There is nothing I can do to convince you to come with me, right?" Greg finally asked then looked at his mother. "You didn't go when your brother and niece asked you. You didn't go when your husband asked you, why would you go when your own son asks you?" he then glared at his grandparents. "Or grandson..." He went to put on his shoes.
"Greg..." his mother tried to speak but her son cut in.
"No! I've had enough! I've wasted more than enough words on it! You didn't even give me the chance to convince you! I've answered your every question while you didn't do the same! Anything I've told you, you didn't even consider it, just went to the next question! I'm not stupid! I can see, when you don't even think about, what I'm telling you! You don't even let that damned AI talk to you, because you fear, that she might answer your questions in such a way, you can't dismiss! I gave up weeks, no... months of my life, that could be spent much better in Equestria, so I could convince you to come with me, so we can be together and reunite with the others and we can be a whole family again! But you didn't even have that kind of respect to me to at least listen, what I'm telling you! Well, goodbye then!"
Before anyone could speak, Greg grabbed the car keys and left the apartment. He ran to the car and drove to the neighboring city because there was the closest upload center.
The streets were empty except for a few robots, that were roaming around. They were all looking like a pony from the show. Their main purpose was to do those essential jobs that kept human life going on, close to the level before the uploads. These were mostly providing electricity, water, heating, food, etc... Celestia saw it as the best decision not to let things downgrade because that would cause more deaths, and that means fewer uploads.
Since most laws lost their power, and cars on the roads were a rarity, Greg could ignore the speed limits. There wasn't a police force to stop him. And in his mental state, it was a good stress reliever to go as fast as he dared. After a close one in one of the turns, he slowed down a little, but when there was a long straight road, then he floored it.
The normally forty minutes long trip was only twenty-five this time. When he parked the car near the building, he put the key into the driver's side door's keyhole. He didn't need the car anymore, and by the way, it wasn't even his, or his family's car. He just found it, like that, around the same building he was planning to go. After all, it wasn't something, that you could bring with you, not that you could bring anything.
"Welcome to the Equestria Experience Center!" a Pinkie Pie robot greeted him, as he entered. The lobby wasn't big, just a small place with a few chairs, and a reception desk. Behind it was the pink machine. The walls were decorated with pictures of different locations of Equestria, each one had a few ponies on it, all of them smiling. Greg was the only one there, which was normal nowadays, after all, most people, who stayed on Earth were those, who didn't want anything to do with Celestia, or just sometimes came in to keep in touch with their relatives, who became ponies.
"Came to upload," Gregory stated.
"Okie Dokie! In that case, please log in to your account, or if you don't have one, you can create one free of charge." Pinkie explained it, and a tablet, which was standing on the desk, lit up and a login screen loaded.
After successfully entering his credentials, the Pinkie bot directed him towards the corridor, which led to the Upload Room. There another robot, which looked like Twilight Sparkle was waiting for him.
"Welcome to the Upload Room!" the alicorn bot greeted.
The room itself was around the same size as the lobby. On the other end, there was a really comfortable-looking seat, which was connected to a big machine.
"Please allow me to inform you about the whole process and what can you expect." the Twilight bot began her implemented information telling but was cut off.
"Don't have to, I already know everything! Let's just get over it!"
"As you wish." the robot said in a neutral tone. "Please, sit!" she motioned with her right forehoof towards the only seat, the room had.
Gregory slowly walked there. The previous confidence, which came from mostly the frustration and anger disappeared, as his mind went on, that now, he will biologically die. No matter how determined was he, no matter how much he wanted to do this for months, now, that he was actually here, he couldn't shush those voices in his head, which belonged to those, who he tried to convince to come with him. Those voices said, that this is a suicide, that he should run back home and forget this whole thing.
And yet, he didn't stop, and soon he found himself sitting down. Twilight talked to him, but he completely ignored it. He could only hear, the machine's sound, as some sort of helmet was going down to his head, but he didn't look up, he was just staring at a monitor before him. On it was a live feed of a square in Ponyville, as ponies were walking, and talking, walking, running, playing, or doing whatever ponies doing out there. At the top of the screen, there was a text. 'Soon you will join them!' it read.
He felt something metallic contacting with his head, and felt his already fast heart rate doubled. He knew, that only a few seconds were left. He closed his eyes and whispered his last word.
"Goodbye..." and then there was nothing.
It was like when in the hospitals, they put you in sleep before surgery. And the awakening is the same. As he opened his eyes, before he could register anything else, he was confused. He felt different, yet that feeling disappeared quickly. He saw his hooves for the first time, and it didn't even surprise him. He thought, he would be disgusted or at least scared a little at first but nothing. He remembered, that Celestia mentioned to him when telling him about the uploading, that she makes a few minor modifications in the person's mind so that they're not starting their new life, like newborns. Hoping, that everything else stayed the same in there, he got up and looked around.
He guessed that he was in the Canterlot Castle, as he observed the fancy room. However, he didn't get much time, because there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" he instantly answered.
The door opened, and none other, than Princess Celestia walked in. When Greg first saw her, through the screen, he admitted, that she looked good. The design was beautiful and her voice is unbelievably human, despite being completely artificial. But here, in the virtual flesh. This was a completely next level, or rather five at least.
"Glad to see you awake, Gregory!" she greeted him. "There are a few things, we should talk about, but before that please, take a look at your new body." she motioned to a big mirror that was standing not so far from them. Greg nodded and walked closer.
As he looked at the mirror, he saw the character, he created back, when he bought the game, looking back at him. A unicorn stallion, with a not-so-dark blue coat, and long, silver mane, and middle-length tail. He stood in a way, that he could examine his whole body, so he saw the picture of a wizard's wand as his cutie mark.
When he first created this character, he didn't spend much time with it, after all, at first, it was just so he could play with his cousin. he selected unicorn, because in fantasy games, and most D&D campaigns he selected classes with magic focus, so why not do the same here? The darkish blue coat color came from, that it was his favorite color, and the silver mane and tail came from that he always thought, that it was a perfect hair color for mage characters. He knew, that it wasn't really original, but he didn't care, it was never a priority for him, in this game.
Of course, he saw ponies of all colors from the dullest gray to the neon green, which literally hurt his eyes. And there were even some, with having multiple shades of color in different parts of their bodies, or even multiple colors. The same was true for the manes and tails, the multi-colored mane and tail were the most common, and in some extreme cases, the mane and tail were completely different.
He was completely okay with this look.
"I hope everything is good!" Celestia said.
"You should know since you're in my head basically," Greg told her with a hint of cynicism in his voice.
"I still intend to be polite." the alicorn reacted.
"Anyway, why am I here? I thought I would wake up in Ponyville," he asked. His cousin told him, that she woke up in the small town, and even with his friends, who he made in the game, were the same.
"It's simply because I wanted to talk with you as soon as possible," Celestia answered. "If you would've woken up in Ponyville, the first thing would've been to look for your relatives and probably even spend a few hours with them."
"Aren't you a mindreader..." he commented, quietly. "Anyway, let's get over it, I'm eager to meet with my family." saying this darkened his mood a little. He remembered those, who decided to stay, no matter how hard he tried to change their opinion.
Celestia started by telling him, that there were many parallel virtual Equestria, just basically different servers. Every server was filled in that way, that the chance of bigger conflict between two people was at minimal chance. For example, those who loved court intrigue weren't in the same world as those, who loved a more utopistic government, or something like in the show.
The number of humans per Equestria was different, the average was around a hundred thousand. Of course, there were many 'NPC's as well, every one of them has a fully developed life, so sometimes it was hard to separate them from humans.
At some point, the topic became Greg's family members, who weren't in Equestria.
"I tried to convince them to at least talk with you, but they didn't even consider it, no matter what I said. Couldn't you have done anything to reach them? I mean, you probably could've but you didn't. Why?"
"Because from what I've gathered from your and your relatives' minds, I calculated, that the highest chance of them to upload themselves is if I don't contact them, and let them come to me instead. Even the chance of you managing to bring them with you was really low, but now that you, who was the last family member, who stayed with them, left, the probability of them coming to one of the experience centers increased drastically. However, you should keep in mind, that this is still nowhere near to the value, where you would say, that you're 'almost sure' that they'll come. Though my calculations saying, that for some time, this chance will be constantly increasing but it will never reach above seventy-two percent."
Hearing this didn't exactly ease his mind, but it made him feel a little better and rekindled the hope.
"In the meantime, I could do something, that could help you, if you want." that perked up the stallion's curiosity, though he had a good guess what it'd be. "Based on my information, I could create a really accurate copy of your mother and grandparents and even modify your mind a little, making you think, that it's really them. Of course, in case, they do decide to upload their minds, then these copies would be replaced by them, even restoring your mind if you wish." Celestia summarized her offer.
"No, I don't want that!" Greg declined immediately. He didn't even want to think of this. The mere possibility of replacing them was outrageous for him.
"I expected this answer, as it wouldn't satisfy your values, however, I wanted to inform you about the option, in case you would change your mind," Celestia stated.
"So you won't do it? Not even if my uncle or cousin would ask you to do it? Because then I'd surely meet them." Greg pointed out.
"That is a problematic conflict, I admit. There are many variables. The main question is, would you accept this offer if one or more of your loved ones would ask you to do it? How many layers of your mental barrier are you willing to dismantle for them?"
"I don't know yet..." Greg said after almost one minute of silence.
"You will figure it out sooner or later," Celestia told him reassuringly. "Now then! I believe I've taken enough of your time, and I'm sure, you're eager to meet with your friends, and family. There is a house prepared for you in Ponyville, close to your uncle's home. Go and enjoy your life here, I'll make sure, your values will be satisfied! And don't forget, you can talk with me about anything!" Greg nodded and got up, walking towards the exit of the room but was stopped, when Celestia spoke again. "And one more thing! Welcome to Equestria, Mystic Glow!"
"Thank you, Celestia!" he smiled and left.
It's been months since his arrival. He settled down in Ponyville, where he reunited with his father, uncle, aunt, cousin, and his friends. They were all living in Ponyville. His father and uncle had a shop together, his aunt working at the gym as a trainer, and his cousin was still an elementary school student, but she often went to hang out with the Mane 6, the CMC, or other ponies, from the show.
The different universes had different settings as well to satisfy everyone. There were some, which didn't have any main or side character from the show, only some background ponies, who never got a line there. There were of course those, which had the known characters but only in an everyday situation. There were of course those, who wanted to relive the show, be an Element of Harmony, or just hang out with them, or other popular ponies. Then there were the Rule63 worlds, the Herd worlds. Some were childish, some were comedic, and naturally, the more dramatic, erotic, and other, more adult servers couldn't be missing. Anyone could find an Equestria, which was the best for them, even going to a different one, if the current is not good for them anymore for whatever reason.
Mystic Glow's Equestria was one of the 'You can hang out with the show's ponies' type of world. It was for her cousin. She went on many adventures, with Twilight and her friends, or with the crusaders, or even sometimes with other side characters. These adventures weren't as dangerous as in the show, but they didn't need to, since she enjoyed every one of them. Since many kid wanted to be with the main characters, this resulted, that most foals, weren't human, since many of them wanted exclusive attention.
Mystic of course spent most of his time, going out adventuring with his friends. There were five of them. All humans. Three unicorns, one pegasus, one earth pony. They always ventured beyond the known pony lands, and each one was like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. These adventures could last for weeks sometimes, but after every one of them, they returned to Ponyville to rest for a while and be with family members, or other friends.
Right now, the stallion was in his house but he wasn't alone. His little cousin, a twelve-year-old, light pink pegasus filly, with a blonde mane and tail, no cutie mark was with him. His uncle asked him to let her stay with him and take care of her, so he and his wife could go out for the night. Mystic accepted.
It wasn't just a sleepover, however. His cousin begged him to allow her to invite the CMC. The stallion accepted that too. He met with all the main characters due to his cousin wanted to introduce them to him. Since he never watched the show, they were just like other ponies to him, but seeing the little pegasus filly so happy to be with them, always made him glad, that they existed.
It was evening, and the others all went home. Mystic started cleaning after them with the help of the filly.
"Hey Bigcuz!" the pegasus addressed him in the nickname, she gave him when she was five.
"Yeah?" Mystic stopped what he was doing and turned to her.
"I miss Auntie! And grandma and grandpa too!" she came up with the only sad topic they had.
Over the months, he slowly started to forget about them during the day. Sometimes he wondered how are they before going to sleep or after waking up, or when he was visited by Celestia, they always talked about this among other things. As time went on, he tried his best to ignore those thoughts that were about them dying, thus reducing the chance of reuniting with the real them to zero. Sometimes he even tried to persuade Celestia to contact them somehow, but she always argued against it, and being a super-intelligent AI, she always won. Mystic was slowly growing to accept the thought of never seeing them again. But he was still not ready to completely embrace it.
"I wish they would be here!" the filly said, her tone was said, he could still hear the hope in her voice. Hope. As the days have passed, he was more and more ready to throw it away completely. But the others kept some in him.
"So do I, Littlecuz. So do I..." seeing her yawning, he looked at the clock, and saw that it was getting really late. "Alright, you can go sleep, I'll finish the cleaning."
"Okay! Good night, Bigcuz!" Mystic gave her a good night kiss, then the little pegasus walked into the guestroom and closed the door behind her.
The next morning a knock on the door woke up the stallion. He groaned in annoyance and got up. He didn't care to make himself presentable, if someone arrives this early, when the sun barely peaked at the horizon, they get this.
Opening the door, he was met with three earth ponies. One middle-aged mare, one older mare, and one older stallion. It didn't take long for him to realize, who they were. His breathing and heart rate fastened. His eyes went wide. His mount fell open, and after remembering last night, before going to sleep, there was only one question leaving his lips.
"Is it really you?"
