Author's Note

This will be quite the wild ride. Tons of kinks are in this story and it is the biggest one I have written yet by far. It was fun, but also a bit demanding as one can imagine. Editing will take some time, but chapters will come out more regularly overall.

Either way, I hope you will all enjoy this ride!

Prologue: And so it begins...

Equis Online. A full dive virtual reality MMORPG, created by Luna and a team of thestrals that were versed in all things game development and MMORPG’s.

It was an ill-kept secret that the Princess of the Night had become a huge fan of modern entertainment, especially video games. From immersive Singleplayer to the more social Multiplayer games. The Princess had experienced it all and yet she felt that something was missing.

She loved the depth and content of Singleplayer, but also adored the interaction and admiration she got in Multiplayer for her skills. Of course Multiplayer was more flat in content. MMORPGs were repetitive after some time, offering many classes and equipment but mainly only the same type of quest and gameplay with little variety to spice things up.

So, because of this limitation of MMORPGs, Luna wanted to challenge said limitations. She wanted to combine the content depth of Singleplayer with the interactivity of Multiplayer, which is what had led to the creation of Equis Online.

The new technology to virtually dive into the game only spiced it up more. It was a huge project that was in development for merely a few years. Not a big time frame for what was planned for it, but having the necessary resources as well as her impeccable leadership skills Luna managed to do in a short amount of time, what others would not have managed in six years.

And she was proud of the final product. Countless events and monster encounters were in it, as well as equipment and interactions with NPCs. From slaying monsters, to opening a shop, to even...sexual events. The princess wanted this game to be as unique and versatile as the real world, even if that embarrassed some ponies that worked on the project.

It was boasting a robust and diverse world with intelligent A.I., unique biomes and experiences unlike any other.

Take on quests, explore, interact, and most important of all, have fun.

And now the game is finally reaching its Beta Stage. It has been an arduous journey but now they were ready to test things out with an audience of selected and vetted Beta Testers. The test run itself would only last 24 hours, where the participants could experience the world and carry their progress over to the final build.

There were six classes the players could choose from:

• Brawler
  
• Guard
  
• Ninja
  
• Mage
  
• Utility
  
• Weapon Specialist

And that is where the Main Six, plus Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, come in. They belonged to the group of Beta Testers. Of course there were many familiar faces as well. Big Mac, Thunderlane, Sunburst, some students from Twilight’s school, Dragon Lord Ember, even Sunset was invited over. All so they could have the best feedback from many different sources with their own unique viewpoints.

“This is so exciting! A whole new world to explore! Fight monsters, look for treasures and interact with virtual reality ponies!” Apple Bloom gushed as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle animatedly chattered away as well.

“They look like they are enthusiastic about it. I can’t wait for it either! This will be the game of all games! Too bad Discord is on a vacation and can’t be here right now. I bet he would have loved this,” Spike said with a regretful little smile as Rarity tittered a bit, rubbing his head spikes lovingly, while looking at the setup, inside the crystalline castle. A comfortable lounger with a modern looking helmet and visor that would suck their consciousness directly into the game world. All in a modern crystal and metallic blue design.

It was an idea that was developed from the time when Luna made a shared dream to stop the Tantabus. The theory was to use dream magic as a basis for this MMORPG and it worked wonders. This special kind of magic gave the game an even more realistic feel to it.

“Silly! The Princess might have set the date like this on purpose to have him not here. After all, he would love to mess around with the world using his magic to cheat with skills and items. I know I would!” Pinkie chimed in with a giggle.

“Nothing Ah care for personally. Just...should we really let them fillies and dragon in on this?” Applejack interected, sounding very much worried as she eyed the modern apparatus skeptically.

“We have been over this!” Rainbow groaned, throwing her hooves up as she fluttered around impatiently, not wanting to delay this any further. “That A.I. thingy won’t proposition to fillies or anything like that and they are mature enough to avoid trouble anyway.”

“But still…”

Rarity laid a soothing hoof on her back, rubbing along it. “They will be fine. If Rainbow and myself can trust this game to be safe as well as our sisters to behave, so can you. Or do we have to talk about the chimera incident again?”

The farm mare groaned at the memory and what her overprotectiveness had led her sister to do.

“Ah...reckon you are right. Ah will just have to try to relax and enjoy this game,” she acquiesced as the magic on the helmets started to glow. Twilight walked up to them with a smile, gesturing towards them.

“All is set and ready for us. Luna has given me the okay from Canterlot. This will be a good stress test for long distance connections. I can’t wait to gather all the data from this new experimental use of magic!”

Applejack gave her a flat look, making the purple princess chuckle in some embarrassment.

“Riiiight. Sorry about this, Applejack. Of course, while this is experimental, it is safe. A few bugs and glitches will not do us nor your sister any harm,” Twilight assured her, before Pinkie Pie hugged them both, pulling them into her side.

“Then let’s do this. Let us start and form a paaaarty!”

“You heard her! Now get down and settled!” Rainbow hurried them along, helping a nervously mumbling Fluttershy first, before laying down herself, with the others slowly following.

There was no need to waste anymore time as they put on the helmets, some more eager than others. The machine whirred to life, light flashing before their eyes before they could feel a soft pull. The next thing they knew, they were in a white room that swiftly turned into a beautiful night sky with six bright stars, representing the classes one could pick.

And after they did so and distributed their skill points, they could log into the game. Soon enough the world lit up again in white before they were transported to the townsquare. The white light left again to reveal the large town to them with the sun shining brightly as it had just dawned.

Many rows of buildings made of wood and stone lined the streets with a big castle further up north, that was a replica of the Castle of the Two Sister’s.

It was a beautiful starting town that had all the stores and shops that were needed, while a lot of the other buildings were up for sale, seeing how the NPCs couldn’t use them all.

Twilight looked to the castle in the distance in her dark purple robe with silver trim that spanned over her body with a staff bound on her back. The basic Mage equipment.

The princesses would be there, serving as royalty of the land while monitoring the game and scribbling down any bug or glitch that would get reported.

And it didn’t take long as she turned around to look at Spike as he whined out.

“W-What is this?” he asked, looking over his very enormous plush sexy ass. The black ninja robes were hugging his body tightly and did nothing to hide it.

The others looked to him as well, Rainbow starting to laugh boisterously in her red headband and brown leather chestplate. The equipment of a Brawler.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy supplied squirming in her green turtleneck sweater and a brown saddlebag as well as a pair of round glasses. The Utility class.

“Is this one of them bug thingies?” Applejack wondered, holding a hoof before her mouth to suppress a snicker at the distressed dragon. Those were assets that could make even Rarity jealous.

The farm mare herself wore an armor chestplate, helmet and was equipped with a sword. The equipment of a Guard.

“Poor Spikey-Wikey. Twilight, is this something you can solve?” Rarity asked, ruffling his head spikes and making him swoon, forgetting all about his butt-related problems.

The fashionista was wearing a blue blouse along with some more stylish white saddlebags and her red oval glasses she normally used for work at the boutique. Another Utility class.

“No, but I can report this, so it will be fixed in the future,” she offered instead, giving her little brother an apologetic smile as he sighed.

“Well...I guess it cannot be helped then…Or can I switch classes?”

“That option hasn't been worked in yet,” the purple mare shot him down, making him groan, before he squeaked as Pinkie had pulled him into a hug from behind.

“Aww! No need to be pouty, Spikey! I am sure you will be doing fine even with this bug. Heh. Bug. Funny word for a funny problem,” the bubbly pink mare with leather chestplate and some hoof gloves offered. Another Brawler.

“Thanks, Pinkie. Yeah. I think I’ll be fine! Something as small as this won’t be able to bring me down. A little challenge never hurt anyone!” he exclaimed with confidence, spirit lifted as he started to walk after the pink mare had released him from her firm hug.

Only then to have his big ass cheeks make a loud notable clapping noise with each stride, threatening to set Rainbow off again, before Applejack smacked her on the back of her head, giving her a warning glare.

The dragon looked back for a moment, before opening his menu.
“-7 STEALTH? I
did put all my points into STEALTH though and it was supposed to be +7. They seem to have been counted as minus points,” he concluded, before shrugging, he was determined not to let this bug ruin his fun.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were there as well by then, having chosen Utility, Mage and Brawler classes for Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo respectively.

They were already storming off to explore the world after saying their quick goodbyes, much to the exasperation of Applejack. Twilight of course wasn’t missing a beat either, calling them over to discuss their plans.

“Listen here, everypony. This will be the plan of action during the short beta test phase. To use our time the most efficiently it would be best to split up. First off we will need two ponies to buy a base and start a guild, while supplying it with provisions, two others will scavenge for loot and the remaining two will farm for skill points that the guild can share.”

“Then I will go to the forest to slay some monsters for loot!” Rainbow volunteered, only for Twilight to hold her hoof up to stop her.

“Actually, I will need you to go with Fluttershy to buy a base and start a guild first. Additionally, stacking up supplies as well after that is done.”

“What? Why? AJ and I could do sooooo much more together in the forest as two brawlers, right?” Rainbow protested with a pout, making Twilight giggle softly.

“It is best if we spread out our different talents. Utility classes are good at appraising and can find valuable loot, so it would be a waste to have none of them in the loot team, and if you wanted to brawl, farming for skill points would be the better option as looting means gathering materials in the environment too and not just purely from fighting monsters, so it is split in a sense between these two. But I digress. I need you to go with Fluttershy for a reason. It would be best to have a brawler or guard with an utility class at all times. The A.I. is smart, it will target vulnerable utility classes if they are too unprotected. Some minor thieves could be in the town as well,” the princess warned, making Fluttershy gulp.

“T-Thieves?”

“Yes. And seeing as we will hand all of our starting gold to Fluttershy we need somepony capable enough to fend for her and I thought this might be the perfect job for you. Even if something gets stolen from you, unlike Applejack, you can take to the air to ensure you have a good view of where the culprit might be fleeing. Of course assuming something happens in the first place.”

“24 hours is a long time, ya can still get some fighting in after yer done there,” Applejack argued as Rainbow huffed, ruffling her feathers.

“Fiiiiiine. Just hand over the dough and we will be off,” the prismatic mare retorted, pouting a bit at the thought of having to wait to engage in combat. Though maybe she would be lucky and there were some NPCs that would actually try to steal from them.

Meanwhile, the others did so, handing their starting gold over to their shy friend, before Twilight elaborated further.

“Now then. Applejack and Rarity, you will be doing the looting in the forest. Spike, Pinkie and I will be going to farm skill points. Any questions?”

“Yay! Monster hunting paaaaaarty!”

“Sounds fine ta me.”

“I do have a rather discerning eye, so no problems here, dear.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get to it!”

“O-Okay.”

“Yup,” Spike shrugged as the last one, no protests to be heard from him as Twilight had told him about this plan earlier already. And while he would have loved to be in Rarity’s group, the promise of exciting fights was enticing in itself and they would meet up later. If he did a good enough job he could get some more nice head pats from her too and that was all the motivation he needed.

With that the group split up, all more than eager to see what this game has to offer.

Unfortunately none of them realised at this point that not all is what it seems. The A.I. is very intelligent, that is true, but in the end it was too intelligent. To the point where it developed self awareness, individuality and lust.

The inherent desire to breed and find enjoyment, one can find in every living being was awakened and as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash turned their flanks to go fulfill their tasks, they did not notice the greedy and lust filled stares that followed them.