Author's Note

Welcome to my entry for the Friendship is Optimal Writing Contest, Friendship is Optimal: SOULs Recoded! I hope you enjoy the first chapter!

"XYZ" - Speech
XYZ - Flashback
'XYZ' - Thought

1: Dreams, Wishes & Ponies

‘Ugh,’ I thought to myself as I woke up, ‘What happened?’

Thinking back, I tried to remember, as I remembered the events of the previous day.

~Flashback Start~

It was a fairly normal day, with Daniel getting up, eating some leftover pizza, taking his medicine, brushing his teeth, getting changed, and going to school. It had been the first day of a DnD campaign he had started, trying to create a big crossover campaign. It somewhat worked, but two of his friends (ironically the two whose classes weren’t Fighter) kept trying to attack each other in the game. When lunch ended, everything else had been normal for the rest of the day.

As he was browsing through Google on his phone, however, he saw an ad for a new MMO, which wasn’t too interesting at first, but the game was promised to be “highly adaptable to its players”, and “something people of all ages could enjoy”. Upon closer examination, he had realized that it was based on My Little Pony, a show he had been introduced to by his friend two years earlier, and that he had become borderline obsessed with, creating an Original Character, Emerald Breeze, and planning out a story series involving her and his friend’s OC, Speda Hooves. He continued researching the MMO, called Equestria Online, and realized that he could play it pretty easily, he just had to buy a device called a “ponypad”, which was the only way to play the game. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anywhere near enough money to buy one, so he eventually went to sleep. As he was falling asleep, his last thought before he had drifted off to sleep had been ‘I wish I could become Emerald Breeze.’

While Daniel had been asleep, he had his first dream in a long time, during which Princess Celestia had appeared to him, but she was... different. Parts of her faded in and out of existence, while other parts glitched a bit, almost like she was having trouble sustaining a physical form.
“Daniel,” Celestia had stated, “I heard your wish, and will give you a way to fulfill it.”
“W-what do you mean?” Daniel had replied, stuttering a bit, “How could you do that?”
“This will be the first time I’ve tried do this outside of a clinic, and without a ponypad to speak through,” Celestia had responded, “But I might be able to scan and upload a copy of your brain to Equestria Online, however, it might not work. There is about a 50% chance that this will fail, so I leave the choice to you.”
“What will happen to my family?” Daniel had inquired, “Or my friends? What about Marie?”
“If your mind is successfully transferred, then your close family, friends, and of course Marie will receive a ponypad completely free, so that they can communicate with you at will, since you would be taking a huge risk attempting this remotely, but if it pays off, your wish will be fulfilled.”
“I...” Daniel had paused, and considered my options. he could accept this, and possibly have his wish fulfilled, or he could deny, and possibly never have this opportunity again.
“I don’t want to force you to do this, if you don’t want to.” Celestia had stated, resting a wing on his shoulder, “The choice is entirely yours, Daniel.”
“I...” Daniel had trailed off again, before he met Celestia in the eyes, determination shining in his eyes, “I accept!”
“Very well, then.” Celestia had replied, before lighting up her horn, “I will do my best to make this a success. But for now, you must sleep, so that I can begin.” As the Princess of the Sun had finished speaking, Daniel’s world had faded to black.

~Flashback End~

‘Well,’ I thought, having finished remembering what had happened, ‘I guess, if I’m alive, then the procedure was a success. Might as well see where I am.'

I then got up, noting that I had been sleeping in a queen-size bed with purple sheets and a white pillow. The room I was in had walls made out of cut dark granite. There was a window to the left of the bed, which overlooked a large city on the side of a mountain, through it, I could see the first traces of sunrise. Looking around, I spotted a full-length mirror on the other side of the room, with a golden border. Slowly, I walked over to it, wishing to see what I looked like now. As I looked into the mirror, I could hardly believe what I saw. Staring back at me was an anthro version of Emerald Breeze! She had light green skin, yellow hair with sky blue stripes that flowed to her shoulder, and beautiful blue eyes. She had an average bust, probably about a C-Cup, and a matching butt and hips. She was wearing a beautiful yellow nightgown, and there was a cyan crescent moon-shaped pendant with a purple strap around her neck, as well as a pair of teal, round glasses on her muzzle. On her head was a unicorn horn, and instead of feet, she had hooves.

Confused, I raised a hand (which was the same color as Emerald's) up to the mirror, and the girl in the mirror did the same. I shook my head, with yellow hair with sky blue stripes getting in my face, and, once again, she did the same thing. Not believing what I saw in the mirror, I looked down, and immediately saw a pair of breasts, the same size as the girl in the mirror's, a yellow nightgown, and a cyan, crescent moon-shaped pendant with a purple strap.

“It…” I began, as I realized just what happened, and who I now am, “It actually worked!”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, before a familiar voice started speaking.

“Emerald?” Princess Celestia inquired softly, a motherly tone in her voice, “Are you awake, my little pony?”

“I’m awake, Princess!” I replied quickly, before turning to the door as it opened, bowing to the Alicorn who walked in, only to be shocked once more, as this Celestia was also anthropomorphized, with a pair of large, white wings folded to her back, and a much longer horn on her head, as she wore a somewhat-revealing white dress with golden trim, and her cutie mark on the hip, as well as a matching pair of gloves that reached to just below her shoulders, and golden flats with a fleur-de-lis-like protrusion at the front.

“Emerald, there's no need to bow to me,” Celestia stated, “After all, you're the guest in this world.”

“I-I guess.” I replied, quickly straightening up, before blushing as I remembered what I was wearing, “D-do you have any other clothes I can wear?”

“There are some clothes in the dresser over there.” Celestia responded, pointing at the aforementioned dark oak dresser, before walking out of the room, “When you’re done changing, please meet me in the Dining Hall, there are a few ponies I want you to meet.”

“Alright!” I replied, excited at the possibilities of who I might be meeting. Once Princess Celestia had left, I walked over to the dresser to see what clothes there were. There were quite a few different pairs of clothes, but eventually I decided, and changed into a pair of sky-blue panties, a matching bra, an emerald green t-shirt, a black jacket, a yellow skirt, black, crew-cut socks, and blue shoes. I then made my way out to the Dining Hall, where I saw Princess Celestia, as well as another Alicorn to her right, and a Unicorn to her left.

As I saw the ponies sat at the table, my excitement was replaced by nervousness, as I recognized them. Sitting to the right of Princess Celestia was Princess Twilight Sparkle, while on the left was Sunset Shimmer! They were my favorite characters of the show back on Earth, and seeing them in real life both excited me and made me nervous. As I stood there, wondering what I should do, Princess Celestia noticed me, and called out to me.

“Emerald!” She stated warmly, that motherly tone in her voice again, “Glad you could join us! Come have a seat!”

“O-okay.” I replied, slowly walking towards the chair to the right of Twilight, fidgeting with my necklace at the same time.

“Emerald,” Celestia began, “These two ponies are Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and Wielder of the Element of Magic, and Sunset Shimmer, the most powerful Warlock as of now and Wielder of the Element of Empathy.”

“N-nice to meet you!” I exclaimed.

“No need to be so nervous,” Sunset replied, “I won’t bite!”

“I-I know,” I replied, choosing my words carefully, “It’s just that you two are kind of idols to me! I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time!”

“Anyways,” Twilight responded, “It’s nice to meet you, Emerald!”

“Same!” Sunset stated, “And besides, you look really cute in that outfit!”

At that, my brain shut down, and I felt blood rush to my cheeks, which now felt like they were burning up, as I mumbled out a thank you, hiding my face in my hands.

“Really, Sunset?” I heard Twilight tease, “You just had to do that!”

“Sorry!” Sunset retorted, “I thought she could handle my compliments!”

‘Still teasing each other, as usual.’ A voice spoke in my head.

‘Hello?’ I asked, nervous, ‘Who’s there?’

‘Don’t worry, pretty mirror, it’s just me.’ The voice responded, ‘Remember? I’m the original Emerald Breeze, but now you have my body.’

‘O-oh.’ I replied, ‘Sorry. I didn’t realize that there was another Emerald Breeze.’

‘It’s fine! Besides, I’m glad that your wish was granted, even if it cost me my body!’ Emerald Breeze stated, ‘However, there’s somebody else in here, if they feel like showing up.’

‘Greetings,’ A second voice stated, ‘I am Chara, the demon that comes when you call their name.’

‘Oh, hush with all your demon nonsense!’ Emerald retorted, ‘You’re not a demon!’

‘How did you get here, Chara?’ I inquired.

‘I’ll tell you later, but I think Sunset and Twilight are getting worried, so you should probably focus back in.’

‘Okay,’ I stated, ‘But I’m holding you to that!’

After that little exchange, I peeked out from my hands, and saw Sunset and Twilight looking at me with a worried expression.

“Are you okay now?” Sunset asked, “Sorry about that, I didn’t realize my flirting would have that much of an effect on you.”

“Yeah, I’m fine now!” I responded, “I just had to collect my thoughts. After all, it’s not every day that one of the pe-er-ponies you look up to calls you cute!”

“Well, Sunset, Twilight,” Celestia stated, “I trust you can help Emerald get settled in in Ponyville? I have duties here in Canterlot I must attend to.”

“I won’t let you down, Princess!” Twilight replied, with Sunset murmuring her agreement. With that, Celestia disappeared in a flash of golden light and a crackle-pop.

“Now that she’s gone,” Sunset stated, “We can get to the real questions.”

“L-like what?” I asked, my nervousness returning.

“Like what kind of books you like!” Twilight replied.

“O-oh,” I responded, my nerves calming, “I thought you were going to ask how I got here.”

“Nah,” Sunset stated, “Celestia already told us, you were brought here from another dimension by an AI version of her.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” I inquired, confused, “I thought that Celestia was going to upload me to an online game. Then again, something might’ve gone wrong, so that’s why I’m here.”

“Oh.” Sunset replied, “That’s not what Celestia told us. However, she might be wrong.”

“Either way,” Twilight continued, “It’d probably be best for you to get settled in, and then we can talk to her.”

“Alright, that’s fine!” I stated, excited at finding, or possibly even building, my own house, “So where do we start?”

“Well...” Sunset trailed off, “There isn’t exactly any houses for sale right now, and I have a feeling you wouldn’t like to live in here forever.”

“It’s fine!” I replied, “Isn’t there like another castle in the Everfree that I could live in?”

“You mean the Castle of the Two Sisters?” Twilight inquired, “Even if you did decide to live there, it’d be nearly uninhabitable right now, so we’d be back to square one.”

“Oh.” I replied, “Well then, what should I do? I kinda need a house before I can start working and earning bits."

"You're right," Twilight stated, "But how are we going to get you a house without bits?"

“Well,” I stated, “Maybe we should head to Ponyville first, before we keep planning out where I’ll live.”

“Thats...” Sunset trailed off, “That’s probably a good idea. Can you teleport yet?”

“Jee, I don’t know,” I deadpanned, “It’s not like I just woke up in a completely different body, with different abilities than my previous one.”

“Oh yeah.” Sunset replied sheepishly, scratching the back of her head, “Well, how about you let Twilight and I teleport you, and we can work on your magic once you’re all settled in!”

“If it’s not too much trouble, sure!” I responded.

“Alright,” Twilight stated, quickly becoming serious, “We’ll all need to link hands, so that our magic can properly merge and channel.”

“This will be a bit disorienting,” Sunset continued, “But as long as you don’t actively try to fight against the teleport, we should be fine.”

“Are you absolutely sure you’re ready?” Twilight inquired, “This is a very serious matter, and could cause serious harm or even death if done incorrectly.”

“Yes, I am.” I answered, looking Twilight dead in the eyes.

“Alright then.” Sunset stated, holding Twilight’s hand, “Then grab both my hand and Twilight’s. There will be a slight pulling sensation at first, but it shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

“Okay,” I replied, grasping both hands that were offered to me, as the owners of those hands gave me a comforting smile, “I can do this.”

Then, both Twilight and Sunset’s horns lit up, a deep purple and blazing red aura of magic surrounding the horn of the respective mare, as well as joining together in an orb of magic in the center of the triangle we had formed. I then felt a pulling sensation, before a power washed through me, and I could instinctively feel my own horn light up, as emerald green magic joined the orb of pure, magical energy. The orb then spread outward, surrounding all three of us in a pool of our combined magic, before there was an audible crackle-pop, and the world shifted around us.

When the world finally stopped shifting, I could tell we were in a library, with books lining the shelves of the room we were in, as well as a pair of stairs leading both up and down. I heard Twilight and Sunset speaking, but couldn't make out what they were saying. All I could do was fall to my knees, and then the world around me faded to black.