White.Room/Connect

by Mist

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Other, Equestria Girls, Mystery, Science Fiction, Sex, Main 7 (EqG), My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 11683

In the future, everyone is playing the hit game "Everfree", until a mysterious hacker changes the game forever and thus begins the rabbit hole of government conspiracy, corruption and secrets far beyond anyone's imagination.

///Login.sequence.sys initialized...///

Q City, where compliance with authority is law, and life is mandated by the government; a place of safety, security, and tradition. With the technological advancements of the world, comes the threat of consequence. People can not be trusted with their own well-being, and so the government authority has taken control and named their city-state Q City. A utopia where people's needs will be fulfilled, and the government provides for those who contribute to society.

Happy citizens are productive citizens, and so the EG Corporation under the guidance and funding of the Q City government run the most popular online game across the city: Everfree.

Everfree is a next-generation interactive virtual reality MMORPG with over 50,890,000 players to date, nearly 85% of Q City's citizens are active players. and the game's popularity grows every year.

Everything changed though on October 26th, 2045 when two players stumbled across a mysterious hacker who managed to enter an area not intended to be discovered by normal players. This incident came to be known as the T-06 incident and became something of an internet mystery whispered among players across Q City. And would lead to a rabbit hole of corruption, conspiracy and secrets that this group of friends may not be ready to find out.

Published 2025-01-20 15:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2025-01-28 00:59:03 UTC

Data Entry 000

Data Entry 000

Seven Years Prior

Server 6

Synthetic Storm

Waiting for their trusted partner in crime, Synthetic Storm tapped her plated boots and let out a long sigh. Checking her reflection in a nearby puddle, she could see a woman with thick straight blue locks staring back at her. Her sky blue eyes made her stand out, as she couldn’t recall many who designed avatars using the more neon range of eye colors, most stuck to more “natural” colors with a few exceptions, the rest often designed their avatar to look like some kind of celebrity, if she had a credit for every player who looked like a magazine model she had seen at the supermarket back in the real world, she could retire.

Storm instead focused on making a character that she felt would really match her role as a tech. Looking down at the powered gauntlet on her right hand, she noticed that it was rare to see any players select a tech if they favored their left hand, she surmised it had to do with the class requiring lots of mathematic skills and calculations, and she had read somewhere online that those who favored the other side of their brain were often more creative, that or just strange individuals.

Making a holographic display come up in front of herself, Storm leaned back on the old stack of metal crates she had made into a makeshift seat and checked her messages once more. Sure enough, her friend had seen her message over six minutes ago. She quickly re-read their conversation.

Synthetic Storm: We’re going to check out the Abandoned Tech Lab, today, right?
Starr: Naturally. I wonder why they haven’t finished this area, I rarely see anyone talk about it, and I am fairly certain it’s been in the game since launch.
Synthetic Storm: Not sure, but you are definitely right. Every changelog, patch note, and bug report I’ve read suggests the area has always been there, it’s just never updated.
Starr: Why do you think it is accessible now? Prior to a week ago, there was always an invisible barrier blocking it.
Synthetic Storm: Didn’t you read the forum?
Starr: Oh, please. Don’t tell me you actually believe that nonsense about a hacker, surely you of all people know that’s just not feasible.

Storm had to admit she couldn’t think of a single player capable of hacking the game. The encryption was next-level stuff, as the game like most games in the city was funded by and thus controlled by the government, and they kept strict tabs on that kind of thing. Hacking into government-owned property was a serious offense, and there wouldn’t be many out there dumb enough to even try.

The skilled programmers at the EG corporation weren’t stupid either, they had rolled out new tech left and right to catch cheaters in the game, and while occasionally you would hear about someone exploiting a bug or finding a small hole in the game to execute custom code, it never really amounted to much and usually was fixed within the hour, a reward system to players who reported nefarious activity ensured speedy fixes rolled out.

She read the remainder of the conversation and added another message to stress the urgency.

Synthetic Storm: I mean, they’d have to be the biggest coding genius to ever live, so I guess you’re right… Still, we can see for ourselves, after all!
Starr: I suppose so, but I wouldn’t get too excited, this’ll probably be just like when we found that bug that let us go under the Security Stronghold, just ended up being a duplicate area that didn’t even have collision built in yet.
Synthetic Storm: Should still be fun though.
Starr: You and your fun. Alright, I’ll be there in five.
Synthetic Storm: It’s been at least ten minutes since you said that, where are you?

As if she was reading the girl’s mind, the clearing of another woman’s throat caused Storm to look up from her messenger and met eyes with a pair of large crystal blue eyes. A smile played her thick lips, and Storm watched as her white neck-length hair moved freely from the building’s cooling system still running. She had her arms crossed over her average-sized bust, and Storm noted she had swapped in a black utility belt that sat over her white dress.

On one side of the belt, a pistol, probably around level twenty rested, on the other side, a powered shield which protected her from damage sat, causing the belt to lean to one side, it was a good look and went well with her tall heeled boots.

Storm rolled her eyes. “What took you so long? You said five minutes…”

Stepping past her, Starr placed a hand on Storm’s shoulder and smirked playfully as she replied. “My sister wouldn’t stop bothering me. She kept demanding I help her with her homework.”

“She has homework at six years old?” Storm blinked in astonishment.

Letting out a sigh, Starr shook her head. “School is just getting to that point where it’s going to rob all of us of our childhood, I think. I keep hearing my parents say they want to go down to the school and tell them that the workload is too much. I doubt they will though.”

Storm shrugged. “Never bothered me any…”

Starr just rolled her eyes. “Naturally.” Placing her hands on her hips, she leaned to one side and grinned. “So, are we ready for this adventure? Did you stock up? After all, in the off chance that there is something incredible here, we would be wise to be prepared, right?”

Coming to a stand, Storm clenched her fist in the air, showing off her newly upgraded gauntlet to her friend. “Check it out, just unlocked it this morning! Take a look at these stats!”

Leaning in to examine it, Starr made an audible “hmmm” as she pulled up a hologram window to check the specs of the item in question. She pulled back and smirked. “I would have thought the stats would be higher for how much work you put in to get it… Are you sure that you can protect us if something happens?”

Starr just loved teasing her, both in-game and out-of-game. The girl lived to get a rise out of Storm, and it drove her insane sometimes. This time though, she tried to keep her composure as she flaunted her achievement. “I don’t see you grinding out any boss loot…”

“I’m a medic, I don’t grind, I collect a fee as others grind out for me…” Starr reminded with her finger extended. Her matter-of-a-fact tone just made Storm more exasperated with her, she was certainly a handful, a part of Storm wondered what it would be like when she started dating in only a few years; could a guy put up with such a tiring girl?

“You have a comeback to everything, don’t you?” Storm grumbled as she gestured for the two of them to get moving.

Starr followed closely with her hands behind her back and a smirk on her giddy face as she leaned toward Storm. “Well, I may not be as good as you in class, but I’m definitely the quicker one, aren’t I? I suppose I just matured faster than you…” She continued to tease Storm.

Waving a dismissive hand, Storm found herself rolling her eyes once more. “You’re only like 8 months older than me…”

“And 8 months wiser.” Starr winked.

The two found themselves chuckling before coming to a fork in the corridor. The steel-plated walls were rusted toward one pathway, with several pieces of abandoned medical equipment lying there. It was as if the area had been used as some kind of makeshift medical ward. Right away, it made Storm question what kind of questline would have been associated with this area.

Starr poked her head around Storm’s shoulder and eyeballed the two options for paths. Focusing on the dilapidated one, she pointed in that direction before speaking. “I’m going to take a wild guess and assume that’s the way we’re going?”

Without answering, Storm just started walking in that direction, her mouth unable to form words. The two girls remained silent for a brief few minutes while they traversed the abandoned corridor. The further they got in, they noticed skeletons resting in the area, many of them so decomposed they looked like they would turn to dust at the slightest touch.

Stopping in her tracks, Storm reached down to touch one, and sure enough, it began to disintegrate right in front of her. Coming back to a proper stand she looked around them and felt uneasy. Something about the area they were in made her feel tense like they were being watched.

“There certainly was a lot of work put into this area if they were just going to abandon it and leave it forgotten… Why bother even making it? So much of this place is already programmed… Even interactable objects…” Storm thought out loud, her hand already finding its way to her chin.

Retrieving her pistol from her belt, Starr brandished the weapon and let off a few rounds at the wall, which stopped the energy shots dead in their tracks, dissipating them. Storm flinched at the sudden noise and turned to her grumbling. “What did you do that for!?”

Starr shrugged. “I wanted to see if the environment had collision, evidently it does, even for weapons. So I think you’re right, this place definitely had a lot of work put into it already, I wonder why it was scrapped…”

“Normally for something like this, they are just waiting for a future update to make the area relevant, but instead, they’ve gone out of their way to keep this area closed off to players… Even expanded the invisible wall around it…” Storm commented.

“An awful lot of work to keep something you put time and effort into hidden…” Starr pointed out.

She had a point. It only made Storm more curious, too.

The two’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the distance. They both blinked and glanced in the direction of the sound, not seeing much in the darkness, Storm squinted to get a better look, shining the light from her weapon in that direction. “Did you see anything?” She asked her friend.

Starr pointed. “Something at the end of the hallway went right… I think it was another player?”

Nodding, Storm began to head in that direction, and Starr followed without a second thought. The two kept close, both keeping their weapons drawn. With an area like this one, where it was mostly unfinished, they couldn’t be certain if there were any player vs. player restrictions imposed, so they had to assume players trying to take them out were on the table.

In her mind, Storm questioned what kind of player would come to a place like this besides them. Were they here out of curiosity like they were, or did they have other ideas in their head?

While walking carefully, Storm began a scan ability to try and detect nearby players and their stats, but was surprised to find that her scans returned nothing, even though she was certain they had to be in range. Knowing there was a chance it could be a glitch caused by the area they were in, she ran it again and got the same results. Sighing, she realized they might not be able to rely on conventional gameplay in a place like this.

“Guess scanning is out of the question then?” Starr asked.

“You guessed right. I think they’re just up ahead though…” Storm pointed.

Focusing her light, Storm could make out the faint appearance of another player, about a head taller than herself, with a black hood over them. The armor they had on looked intricate and finely crafted, nothing like Storm had ever seen before, not even on the game’s Wiki. She surmised it might have been end-game gear, but she didn’t recall anything about it.

Judging by the impressive blade on their back though, Storm was able to determine they were a light blade class, a melee specialist that focused on short and medium range, another DPS class. They used swords made of energy and could increase their damage output by equipping augments to their weapons. Usually, light blades focused on dexterity for maximizing critical hits and increasing the odds of dodging attacks.

The weapon on their back, however, was one that Storm was familiar with, but the color scheme was off. It was a higher-tiered blade, usually something players within level 70 or higher used, but traditionally it was a blade blade with a white edge, this one was a light blue with a red edge.

Their hand reached up and touched a wall, and Storm took note of their armored gauntlet which began to glow red as a series of numbers appeared before them.

Stepping closer, Storm grabbed her friend and the two raced toward the player in question. She called out to them to get their attention, and the hooded player glanced in their direction with silver eyes widening as they did. Storm found herself frozen upon seeing those eyes, they were fierce, piercing.

The number that had appeared above the cloaked figure’s hand began to rearrange into a sequence and suddenly a loud buzzing noise could be heard by all of them.

Storm and Starr fell to their knees, Starr only being saved from hitting the floor by Storm who caught her friend’s fall. The other figure in the room managed to keep his footing as the ground itself began to dissipate, turning into a blank white space.

It only took a few seconds before the room rearranged itself and soon the group found themselves in what appeared to be a meadow basked in the moonlight.

Bringing herself back to her feet, Storm assisted Starr in getting back up and the two looked around in awe at what they were seeing. The world around them had become so vibrant and detailed, aurora shined through the night sky to create a fantastic scene, something that despite being a simulation, made actual nature look less majestic by comparison. The two girls blinked a few times before Starr broke the silence.

“Where are we?”

Storm wanted to know the same thing, and she wondered if the man who had brought them there knew what was going on. She stepped forward to get his attention and spoke up. “Hey, what is going on? What did you do?”

The figure ignored her as he extended his hand and opened his palm, making more numbers like before appear which he focused his attention on.

Getting annoyed on her behalf, Starr stepped forward and asserted herself. “Hey, my friend asked you a question.”

The man glanced at her before returning his attention to the numbers before him. “You shouldn’t have come here… This isn’t a place for newbies…” He spoke with a deep voice.

Starr placed her hands on her hips indignantly and growled. “How rude! You bring us here and then act like this? We are not newbies, I’ll have you know! We’re level 22, thank you very much!”

He didn’t seem interested in what she had to say, as he tried to ignore her, but when he heard her growl once more, he gave her an answer. “You sound like a kid, this is stuff far beyond your understanding. It would be wise to forget any of this ever happened if you know what’s good for you, kid.”

“How rude!” Starr crossed her arms and looked away.

Storm was about to interject, but numbers above the man’s hand became scrambled, and suddenly a warning displayed in their place. “Shit!” He exclaimed. Looking at the two girls, he held out his other hand. “You two have to get out of here! Now!”

Instead of arguing with him, for some reason, Storm had a sinking feeling that he wasn’t just giving them a hard time this time, something about his demeanor seemed more serious now, and less condescending. She reached forward to take his hand, but at that moment everything went black, everything stopped.

When Storm closed her eyes and re-opened them she couldn’t see anything, not even her own hand in front of herself. It took a few seconds to realize what was really happening.

Twilight Sparkle

After a few seconds of trying to figure out what was going on, Twilight realized that her neural link had ceased functioning. Blinking, the girl placed her hand upon her face, feeling glasses sitting atop of her nose, and no hologram was being projected from the neural link resting on her right ear. She felt the device and tried to determine if it was still on. The girl looked at her computer before her and checked the status of the device, finding that there were no errors on her end.

Looking at her screen, she could see a message from her friend waiting for her. Bringing her fingers to her keyboard, she began to reply.

Starr: Wow, that was weird, wasn’t it!? What do you think just happened?
Synthetic Storm: I’m not sure, I think the game crashed?
Starr: I’m looking at the forum right now, it’s not just us! I’m gonna send you a link right now!
Starr: [link]

After browsing through the post, Twilight leaned back in her chair, her mind stuck on the fact that the post in question mentioned a player with hacked gear. She tapped her chin and thought it over.

“Could that be the guy we saw…?” She thought out loud.

In all of her time playing, she had never heard of anyone able to take the entire game offline via hacking, after all, Everfree was a fairly robust game, that would require an exceptionally skilled programmer to take offline.

At only 13 years old, Twilight knew her way around a system better than most, but nowhere to the level that she could even imagine hacking a program as sophisticated as Everfree, let alone taking the entire game offline, there had to be more at work, she knew it.

Twilight skimmed the forum a bit more and found numerous other posts talking about the game being offline, and a handful more referring to this supposed “hacker”, but when she came across one that mentioned the odd color scheme of their blade, asking if there was some kind of cosmetic in-game that charged the blade’s colors, she knew it had to be the same person.

Pulling her chat with Starr back up, Twilight began responding once more.

Synthetic Storm: Yeah, something weird is going on. People are saying that guy is a hacker or something…
Starr: Yeah, I saw that. I thought you said a hacker wouldn’t even be able to do something like that? The server is pretty big, I mean it’s the most played game in all of Q City after all! There’s no way a single user has a machine powerful enough to do that, the government wouldn’t even allow an end user to have something like that.
Synthetic Storm: True, but what if they’re not a typical end user?
Starr: What do you mean?
Starr: Are you suggesting it’s someone from the government? There’s no way. My father works for the government, and they keep those machines pretty tightly monitored. There’s no way someone could do something like that, not to mention they’d figure out who almost instantly! Hacking is a felony, after all, especially considering the game is partially government property.
Synthetic Storm: If not them, then who?
Starr: Not sure. Might be a developer?
Synthetic Storm: Doubt it.
Starr: I did find something that might be of interest though.
Synthetic Storm: What is it?
Starr: I think I got the name of that guy. A few people one the forums are mentioning it. I am pretty sure he goes by FallenBlade in-game.
Starr: Not sure about anything else though.

Twilight leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. The girl removed her glasses and set them aside on her desk. She repeated the username to herself out loud. “FallenBlade… I wonder what kind of person you are…”

/End of Entry/

Author's Note

I know it's been a VERY long time since I've posted anything, but this is a little project I was working with on the side. I can't say for certain how frequent updates will happen, or how long it'll be, but I wanted to put it out there and see what people thought. The links are supplementary material, and I will try to keep them to where they aren't "necessary" to read, but just extra info and easter eggs.

I am open to any questions though.

Data Entry 001

Data Entry 001

Player’s Guide 001

Welcome to Everfree. Everfree is Q City’s largest, most expansive MMORPG available! With a player base recently surpassing 50,890,000 users (that’s over 85% of Q City!), Everfree is the most active online experience ever created. At any given time there are over 20,000,000 users online actively engaging in quests, exploring dungeons, attempting raids, or just socializing with other players within the world.

Everfree was created by EG Corporation and is maintained by experienced programmers who work around the clock to not only keep the game online but also deliver the best user experience possible, along with providing engaging content that excites both newcomers and experienced players. There’s always something new to do in the world of Everfree, and you as a community member can give your feedback to change the ever-changing face of the world you play in.

The world of Everfree is designed for many unique playstyles, and players are free to decide what their own goals are within the game, however there are rules of conduct that we recommend all players read prior to making an avatar to explore!

If this is your first time playing, you should check the system requirements to make sure that your system meets the minimum specifications necessary to play, don’t worry though, Everfree has been optimized to run on most lower-end systems thanks to our optimization team ensuring maximum compatibility, though you should note the game requires a EG Neural Interface Generation 4 or greater, you can check which model you have by looking at the manufacture year on the side, any model made after February 2044 is ready-to-play!

For information on legacy models and how to upgrade, you may contact customer support to take advantage of our amazing trade-in program! You may be able to get $4,000 off of a brand-new Generation 6 EG Neural Interface!

Thank you for joining the Everfree family, remember, Everfree is your home away from home, happy adventuring!

Twilight Sparkle

Finally finishing up the file she was working on, Twilight quickly saved her work and leaned back in her chair, letting out a long yawn. She checked the time and saw she still had about an hour of work left. Grumbling, she cursed herself for not getting enough sleep the night prior, but she got a little too engrossed in a raid in Everfree the night prior. She wanted to turn in early, but when the first mini-boss of the raid dropped some fairly rare gear, she found herself powering through until the end, and before she knew it, it was 4:00 AM.

She reached her hand for her nearby coffee and slurped down a large gulp. It was at least eight hours cold, as she bought it on the way to work. She recalled groaning at the recent price increase, last week it was only $49 a cup, but this week it had risen to $59. She knew it would only stay so cheap for so long, but it didn’t stop her from being annoyed by it. She contemplated looking for another cheap coffee shop, but the part of herself that loved routines couldn’t break her morning rituals for something as trivial as $10. It was hardly a reason to spend what precious free time she had scouring the city for another place to get what her friend Rainbow called “bean water”.

There had been a report on television a while ago about prices across the city climbing, but the government assured people they were doing everything that they could to control prices; Twilight already knew it was a joke. Sombra, the Prime Minister, hardly ever delivered on promises when it came to the economy, usually he would just say whatever he needed to so that people would be at ease, then wait until everyone got used to the new prices; rinse and repeat.

When she was a child, Twilight remembered her parents telling her that coffee was as low as $4 a cup, but Twilight could hardly imagine such a time. Twilight rarely saw a price below $5 after all.

Yawning again, Twilight found herself unable to focus on her code. She glanced at the clock again, but only two minutes had passed. She realized she needed warm coffee if she hoped to make it through the remainder of her shift. Standing up, she nodded at her coworker sitting next to her, who nodded back before adjusting his glasses.

She had sat next to him for about a week now since her joined the company, but Twilight had yet to have a single conversation with him, or even ask his name. Then again, it was better that way, the last thing she needed was a rookie leaning on her for help, increasing her workload.

A quick trip to the employee break room and Twilight shoved her to-go cup into the microwave as she leaned back and looked up at the hologram television in the corner of the room, her eyes focused on an image of Sombra who was giving a press conference. He was a tall man, who definitely had the look of a politician if not for his wild fierce jet-black hair. Even though he slicked it back, it still looked untamed.

Twilight’s own fashion sense was not much to write home about, as she often just wore a white blouse with a purple ribbon around her neck and a tight pencil skirt, but Sombra for some reason was still trying to make brown corduroy suits work despite going out of style when Twilight’s grandfather was in high school.

The man spoke with a loud voice, hardly making a microphone necessary as he addressed the city.

“And it is that reason why we are taking this initiative to extend our previous provisions to protect our youth. Children needn’t be distracted by vices that would lead them down the path of debauchery.” He shouted to his audience. “It is for that reason we have made the decision to restrict romantic relationships of any kind until a child reaches the age of 16. Kids should be studying to become productive members of society, not engaging in adult activities!” He continued.

Twilight rolled her eyes and heard a familiar raspy voice chime in, causing the woman to look to her left.

“First no porn, now no dating. No one is getting their rocks off anymore, huh?” The voice came from a woman with a wild messy hairstyle, dyed multiple colors resembling a rainbow. A nose ring that was definitely a violation of company policy was sitting on her face, but Twilight surmised she sweet-talked the boss to look the other way. Her name was Rainbow Dash, an old friend that Twilight had reconnected with only a few months ago.

Twilight shrugged at her comment. “Doesn’t really matter. With the amount of regulations in school these days, I doubt anyone was going to be dating at that age anyway…”

Rainbow let out a chuckle and nodded. “I guess so. It’s not like Rarity, she had a new one every other week it seemed.”

“Her standards are high, few met them, I suppose?” Twilight suggested.

That was an understatement. Rarity expected the very best treatment and not a single person that she had dated ever measured up, but then again, Rarity was quite a handful; far too much woman for most to handle. The person who could gain her admiration would have to be capable of walking on water. She could afford to be choosy though, being as beautiful as she was.

Rainbow and Rarity knew each other from back when Twilight was in grade school, the three of them hung out from time to time, but Rainbow moved to another district after her mother died and her father had to move for work.

“Yeah, makes me glad she’s not my type, I can’t imagine pining over her…” Rainbow joked.

“You have the opposite problem, your standards are too low.” Twilight teased with a smirk appearing on her face.

Rainbow crossed her arms and returned the smirk. “Hey, what can I say? I keep my standards low so I’m never disappointed. It’s worked for me so far, though sometimes I do wonder if I can do better than Soarin… He’s sweet and all, but damn if he isn’t an idiot. Maybe I should try and convince Spitfire to take me back…” Rainbow began to ramble on as she lost herself in thoughts of past romances.

“Soarin seems like he likes you though. He was willing to take a job he hated to make more money so you two could move in together. That’s more than anyone’s ever done for me…” Twilight commented.

Rainbow blinked and snapped out of her trance as she looked at her childhood friend, “Well, maybe if you actually tried to date anyone, you’d actually get that far?”

Hearing the microwave beep, Twilight flinched. Turning around, she retrieved her coffee and sipped it to test the temperature. It wasn’t exactly to her liking, so she placed it back in and set it for another minute.

She brushed her blunt bangs as she itched her forehead before turning back to Rainbow. “You know how me and dating goes… It doesn’t go. Last time I went out with a guy all I had to talk about was how I managed to create a new compiler that increases productivity by 19%. I’m pretty sure the guy fell asleep during dinner.”

Clicking with her tongue, Rainbow shook her head. “Typical egghead. You really should find some other hobbies, Twilight.”

“I have plenty of hobbies…” Twilight protested.

“Being an egghead isn’t a hobby.” Rainbow raised a finger.

Twilight let out a “hmph” as she turned away and crossed her arms, causing both girls to giggle.

Changing the subject, Twilight decided it was best to inquire how Rainbow was adjusting to her new job. “So, how are you fitting in around here? You’ve already been here a month, hard to believe it’s been that long already.”

Rainbow smiled warmly at her and gave a thumbs up. “I’m doing alright. Boring as hell, but I guess that’s to be expected. I wasn’t really thinking this was going to be as exciting as my last job, but the pay is a lot better. Still, I miss being a personal trainer sometimes, but there’s just not as much demand anymore…”

When Rainbow and Twilight had reconnected after so long a few months back, they had gotten on the subject of finances. Rainbow had been struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living due to her career path not exactly panning out as she had hoped. New city regulations of food had drastically decreased the intake of junk food, and thus there were far fewer people out there looking to lose weight.

She was far too proud to ask Twilight for help, but Twilight could sense she needed a way out. Going out on a whim, she talked to her boss and managed to get Rainbow a data entry job at an entry level. The contract had a nice little sign-on bonus too, so she could get settled in.

Twilight was fortunate that she was a star performer, and had already been promoted once, so her boss favored her. She had been with the company for a little over a year now, starting at age nineteen, now approaching age twenty-one. Still too young to drink, but not too young to work, such was the world.

Rainbow was Twilight’s age, only a month younger than her, but she looked far younger thanks to her messy appearance. There was sort of a childish aura about her.

“It’s a pretty easy job, and we’re pretty lucky for the nine-hour shifts, it’s super rare to find full-time positions under 50 hours a week these days, gotta love that productivity initiative that Sombra put out, huh?” Twilight rolled her eyes at that last part.

Rainbow returned the gesture. “Yeah, totally love that, as if the 45-hour requirement to meet full-time wasn’t enough…”

Sarcasm was Rainbow’s second language.

“Well, we can complain about it later. I think we should really get back to work and finish up this last hour, huh? Are you going to log on later? I was thinking we could check out that area that I was talking about last night? The one that we found in that old play area that no one goes to anymore?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow gave a nod. “Yeah, I’ll be on. I gotta feed my turtle, but I’ll log on after that. You sure do have a knack for finding obscure areas… I’m assuming we will be inviting Rarity then?”

Twilight nodded back. “Of course. I think she gets off of work about an hour after we do, so that should give me enough time to eat, and you enough time to feed your turtle.”

Winking at her friend, Rainbow stuck her pierced tongue out. “It’s a date.”

Twilight just rolled her eyes.

Rarity Starr

It was far from a classy place, definitely far from what she imagined herself doing at twenty-one, but the Nirvana bar was sort of like a second home for Rarity. It was still a step above the usual rowdy night-time haunts of many within the financial strip where she lived though, likely because the owner, a woman named Octavia kept things proper, though her co-owner loved to play rock, techno, and synth music quite often. They had made a compromise, and agreed upon formal attire for the staff, and that such music could be played, but not so loud that people couldn’t even hear themselves talk.

From time to time, Rarity would overhear Octavia complaining about the music, but the two of them never had verbal arguments due to her co-partner being mute. Rarity noticed the very same woman stepping out of the office and nodding to Rarity. Rarity raised her hands and signed to the woman, “Hey, Vinyl.”

Vinyl grinned and adjusted her headphones. Once her hands were free, she signed back to Rarity, “Octavia is having a conniption over last week, you know how it goes.”

Rarity giggled and nodded before turning her attention toward the door after hearing the bell above it ring. She bowed gently as a man she recognized entered. With blue hair and a chiseled face, she knew him to be Twilight’s older brother, Shining. The two had known each other for almost her entire life, as Twilight was her oldest friend.

Shining glanced over at Rarity’s coworker, a quiet fellow named Thorax. He was a nice guy and all, but Rarity always felt his overly mysterious nature got on her nerves after a while. The guy didn’t ever want to talk about his personal life, and it made Rarity wonder what kind of guy he really was. His sweet demeanor was a front for all she knew.

Returning his attention to Rarity, Shining spoke up. “Equestrian Cider, please.”

Rarity nodded and grabbed a mug which she quickly filled, with the skill of a competent bartender, she slid it across the counter to him before resting her elbows on the counter as she leaned in.

Shining’s eyes focused on the woman before him for a brief second, observing her. She was about as skinny as they came, with a modest bust, but you could see her makeup skills were beyond that of a mere novice. Rarity’s ability would make her an exceptional online makeup guru, he always thought.

Rarity giggled as she twirled her finger around the short necktie she wore with her uniform. “Like what you see, Shining? Should I be telling your girlfriend about this?”

Shining rolled his eyes before taking a sip of the drink. After two long swigs, he set the mug down but kept his hand wrapped around the handle as he locked eyes with the attractive young woman before him. “Oh please, I saw you when you wore diapers, instant turn-off just imagining it…”

Thorax let out a chuckle as he commented. “There’s a thought… Rarity in a diaper…”

Putting on a pouty face, Rarity crossed her arms. “Wow, the first words I hear from you tonight, and it’s to insult me? You’re so mean, Thorax.”

Thorax turned only slightly, catching Rarity with the corner of his eye. His expression didn’t seem to be a frown or a smile as he responded to her, making her uncertain of his sincerity. “Sorry, it was just an amusing thought.”

“I didn’t take you as one for jokes…” Shining chimed in.

Thorax blinked and gave Shining his full attention as he tilted his head, his long shoulder-length messy hair swaying to one side as he did. Rarity couldn’t help but think if he acted a bit less like he was a secret agent or something that he would be kind of cute, maybe even the kind of guy she would date, but then again she wasn’t even sure how old Thorax was.

“I don’t?” He asked.

Shining shook his head. “Nah, you’re too serious.”

Thorax shrugged. “I guess I can’t change anyone’s mind there…”

“That’s so like you, you know, Thorax you’re never going to meet a nice girl if you’re always like that.” Rarity raised a finger as she spoke with her free hand placed on her hip, swaying to one side as she lectured him.

A small grin came to Thorax’s face. “That’s rich coming from you. Didn’t you just break up with a guy? What’s that, like the fourth one in six months?”

Rarity looked away, her face turning a shade of red at the mention of her romantic failures. She wondered how Thorax even knew about it, it wasn’t like the two of them talked much, but somehow he always seemed to be privy to what was going on with her, and yet she knew nothing about him.

“He was too needy… I felt like I was dating a younger version of myself… I need someone more mature, less emotionally draining…” Rarity explained.

Shining raised his glass and gestured toward Thorax. “Hey, this is perfect. You should date Thorax then! He definitely doesn’t seem like the emotionally needy type.”

Rarity rolled her eyes once more at the ridiculous suggestion. “I said less emotionally needy, not emotionally dead…” A smirk came to her face. “Though, I’ll admit he’s very cute… I wonder if you could even handle a girl like me, Thorax…”

Her attempt to tease him didn’t seem to go anywhere though, Thorax just shrugged and kept his usual deadpan expression as he brushed off her flirting. “Probably not. Just working with you, I can already tell you’re a handful, not to mention you have all these plans for your life, I don’t.”

“I guess our love could never be then,” Rarity made a dramatic hand gesture to signal she was joking. She wasn’t entirely sure Thorax caught on though, as he just returned to wiping down a counter and checked out of the conversation. Rarity wanted to comment on how rude it was to just ignore someone who was talking to you, but she imagined she wasn’t going to get a proper reply out of him, like usual.

Shining sensed the tension and quickly changed the subject. “Sorry to hear about your breakup, Rarity.”

Waving her hand dismissively, Rarity shook her head at her friend’s brother. “Oh, it’s nothing. We weren’t together that long, we hadn’t even kissed or anything like that, darling. My situation is far better than Twilight’s, that’s for sure. I’m not sure if she told you about her last date…”

Shining smirked. “Oh yeah, I heard about it. I got secondhand embarrassment just listening to her tell me.”

Twilight’s standards were too difficult for Rarity to pinpoint, but she knew one thing; when Twilight actually managed to get to the dating part, she usually screwed it up. Sometimes by overdressing for the occasion, others by underdressing, but most of the time by showing how much of an absolute nerd she was far too quickly.

Rarity adjusted her skirt before sitting on a stool. “So, you think she’ll ever settle down? What kind of guys is she even into?”

Shining shrugged. “She doesn’t say. Whoever she ends up with will need a lot of patience, that’s for sure…”

Just as Rarity was about to comment, she felt a vibration on her wrist. Looking down, she saw the holographic band there was vibrating. With a gesture, a screen appeared in front of her eyes. She smirked as she saw who was messaging her.

“Speak of the devil…” She thought out loud.

Synthetic Storm: Hey, we’re going to explore that place we talked about tonight, Rainbow already agreed to come with us.
Starr: Sounds fine, your brother is here, btw.
Synthetic Storm: I hope you two aren’t gossiping about me…
Starr: Oh we definitely are! When were you going to tell me that you bought new lingerie for an upcoming date!?
Synthetic Storm: You can’t see it, but I am sure you can imagine the eye roll I just did.
Starr: I can see it ever so clearly. It’s like you’re in the room with us.
Synthetic Storm: So you’re definitely coming then?
Starr: Of course. Partners in crime and all of that, right, darling?
Synthetic Storm: See you in a bit then.

“Everfree, I take it?” Shining asked as he gulped down a large portion of his drink.

Rarity nodded.

Shining chuckled before finishing his drink and wiping his mouth clean of any foam left behind. “I don’t think I had time to play this week, been pretty busy with the baby on the way, hardly have time to do anything.”

“You always need time to entertain yourself, darling. I manage to squeeze it in between school and this job. Bonding with your friends is very important, you know…” Rarity wagged her finger at him.

He chuckled before standing up and bowing his head. “Yeah, good point. Maybe I’ll log on this weekend.”

“Now that’s a good boy.” Rarity teased.

Laughing, he nodded and pressed the phone on his wrist to a reader on the counter to pay his tab. The tall man looked in Thorax’s direction and nodded, causing Thorax to nod back.

Rarity watched as Shining left, and right after he was gone, she smirked at Thorax. “So, do you play then?”

Thorax smirked back at her and turned away. “What do you think?”

Rarity giggled. “You’re no fun, you know that?”

Synthetic Storm

The time it had taken to get in the game had been longer than Storm anticipated. The servers seemed particularly slow today, causing her to check her ping, but she found it odd that she was looking at lower than eight ping, meaning things were running smoothly. It didn’t make sense, but she didn’t dwell on it.

Starr showed up as expected, and waved to her friend as she approached. Storm waved back and nodded her head approvingly at the medic.

As Starr pulled a nearby box to sit upon, closer to her friend, she sat down and crossed her legs. Even in game, she couldn’t help but be so womanly, just the absolute icon of feminity. Storm was a little jealous of her ability to be such a natural.

“I take it Tank is late?” She asked.

“Naturally. She said she had to feed her turtle, but I think she might have gotten distracted…” Storm admitted with a frown.

Starr giggled. “She always had a short attention span, darling.”

“I take it you just got off of work?” Storm asked.

Starr nodded at her, while leaning back. “Yes, but I took a quick shower before logging on. I’m actually in my bathrobe right now.”

Storm laughed and smirked. “That’s so like you. How was work? Thorax still a mystery?”

A smirk was returned to Storm as Starr answered her. “Always, but let’s not talk about work, darling. This area you wanted to explore, do you think it’s like before? The one from years ago? The T-06 incident?”

It would be a lie for Storm to say she hadn’t thought about that event from time to time. She had even seen a few board posts about it, whispers, and rumors of what really happened. She and Starr had contemplated posting about it on the message board but decided against it. From all the talk that surrounded FallenBlade being some kind of hacker, the both realized it wasn’t wise to attach themselves to the incident.

Since that day, they were the only ones who knew they were there when it happened, but they still wondered how. It wasn’t normal for the admins to not be able to track players, even in unfinished areas. Storm had come to only one conclusion, and that was that FallenBlade had done something to obscure their involvement that day, but she couldn’t figure out why. A player like that who didn’t know them going out of their way to protect them just seemed odd. It was all a bit too altruistic for her to believe. What did he gain from protecting them?

“It’s possible, but I’m not sure. It’s not like there’s a lot of info on the board about it, most topics opened are closed and deleted swiftly…” Storm replied.

Starr looked up at the sky, it was nighttime in game, and the area they were in was an abandoned research facility in the woods, covered in moss and shrubbery that had long since reclaimed the simulated man-made structure for nature.

“I wonder why they never banned FallenBlade… If he really was a hacker and they went through great lengths to cover up the T-06 incident, why not ban him? That’s the part that has me confused…” Starr thought out loud.

That too was bothering Storm. He had broken the rules, and hacking was a criminal offense, yet players still ran into him in game from time to time. He didn’t seem to suffer any consequences that day, but why?

“What’re you guys talking about?” A raspy voice called out to the two of them.

Storm and Starr both stood up and looked to their left, and sure enough a tall male avatar with multi-colored hair stood before them with an oversized sword on their back. He grinned at the two of them and placed his hands on his hips. “Sorry, I kept you waiting.”

Starr wagged her finger at him. “You really need to work on being more punctual, you know that, Tank?”

Tank chuckled and stuck his tongue out. “It’s not my style to do things on others' clocks.”

It was true, everything about them was to defy societal norms. While it wasn’t uncommon for players to make characters that didn’t represent their real-life gender, Tank only did it to go against the grain.

Starr gestured toward the facility behind them. “Let’s not waste any more time, we should go inside already.”

Tank gave a salute and looked at Storm. “Fine by me, you lead the way, Storm.”

Storm nodded and gestured for them both to follow her.

Player’s Guide 002

Navigating the world of Everfree may seem challenging at first, but we have a few basic points of knowledge that will make your journey a more comfortable one, and help you respect the community within the game. Outside of the rules, there are generally agreed-upon ethics.

While it’s easy to forget thanks to the amazing virtual reality technology provided by the Neural Interface, Everfree is full of real people behind their avatars, and like all things, people have formed a community within Everfree.

It is customary to address players using their in game usernames and not their real names. Privacy is our top concern after all!

On top of this, it has become a socially agreed upon practice to refer to all players via their in game preferred gender and gender pronouns, regardless of their identity outside of the game. While it is not a rule in and of itself, it falls within the guidelines of showing general respect for your fellow player.

Many players enjoy the aspect of “role-playing” within Everfree, that is the concept of taking on the identity of a character that they have crafted and not breaking character. We ask that you kindly respect players who engage in such and not try to disrupt their gaming experience. Respect for your fellow players is what makes Everfree the amazing social experience that it has become, and we aim to keep it that way.

Remember, you are not the only one who pays for the game, and everyone around you has just as much of a right to enjoy their experience as you do. If you see players engaging in disruptive or otherwise disrespectful behavior, we encourage you to not only report this behavior but to try and encourage positive change toward said players. We are a community, and all members of a community must do their part.

EG Corporation has a zero-tolerance policy toward inflammatory behavior toward other payers, and reports any acts of hateful behavior based upon sex, gender identity, race, religion, or sexual orientation to the authority bureau under compliance with the law. Engaging in the above-mentioned acts is a criminal offense and one that lessons our community.

If you would like to read more, you can visit Q City’s official website.

Tank

Storm was the kind of player who always seemed to want to look into unexplained phenomena within the game it seemed to Tank. Whenever she’d uncover something that few players had, or was undocumented on the wiki, she went headfirst into trying to understand it. There had been quite a few articles on the wiki that had been extensively edited solely because of her, which naturally made her very proud.

Tank never got it, but there was always great mystery when it came to how other people had fun, and Storm was definitely the most mysterious when it came to how she enjoyed her free time.

The group had been exploring the abandoned facility for only a few minutes, and Tank was already wondering what the area would have even been intended for. Much of it had actually been rendered, but there wasn’t a single NPC to interact with.

Tank cleared his throat and spoke up. “So, Storm, are you sure that players have actually clipped out of bounds here like those chat rooms you’re in said?”

Storm nodded as she kept her light shined ahead of them, examining some old terminals covered in vines. “Absolutely, Starr and I tried to replicate it with a bit of success…”

Starr’s expression became a worried one as she chimed into the conversation. “Are you certain we will be able to do it with our actual avatars though? I still have nightmares about that cat…”

“What cat?” Tank asked.

Ignoring her query, Storm reassured Starr. “It was just a summon, but I doubt we’d get stuck and unable to get back, we can always home teleport.”

“Uhhh guys… What cat?” Tank asked once more.

Starr shook her head. “It’s probably best if you don’t know, darling. It wasn’t a pretty sight, that’s for sure…”

Tank gave up, realizing they weren’t going to get a true answer out of either of them. It was all too common for the two of them to leave others out of their insider information. Their bond was simply that strong, which always struck Tank as odd, given how different the two of them were outside of the game.

Just a few more steps in, and Storm stopped in her tracks. She focused her light down a hallway. As if following some kind of silent order from her, Starr drew her pistol and prepared for a potential fight, Tank responded in turn by placing his hand upon the hilt of his sword, readying himself as well, though he was uncertain what for.

“What’s up?” Tank asked.

Storm gestured with her hand. “Look at that… This area… It’s suddenly not rendered…”

Ahead of them, they could see the entire area was a blank black space, inconsistent with the facility around them, just untextured, no detail, no objects, nothing but empty space. Starr lowered her weapon and blinked. “I suppose we don’t need to worry about trying to clip our way in… Was it like this the last time we visited yesterday?”

Storm shook her head. “No, I’m positive this area was rendered previously. I wonder what changed…”

“Only one way to find out.” Tank suggested.

The trio silently agreed and pressed onward, now all with their weapons drawn. Storm and Starr had learned to be on their guard since the T-06 incident years ago, especially when exploring areas like this.

As they entered the negative space, they wandered for what felt like fifteen minutes down the long untextured hallway until they came around a bend, and there at the end of it was a face that Tank had only heard of, but never actually seen, a figure he had seen mentioned on the boards on rare occasions before the posts were deleted, but from the description that Storm had given them, there was little down.

There with a hood obscuring most of his face, and a light blade in his right hand was FallenBlade, the mythical hacker who had achieved almost legendary status within the community of Everfree.

“It’s him…” Storm pointed out.

FallenBlade stood still and watched as the trio approached him, he stood still while the group came close enough to speak. Storm lead the conversation.

“FallenBlade.” Storm nodded.

He tilted his head ever so slightly. “Synthetic Storm.”

She blinked. “How did you know my name?”

FallenBlade gestured with his sword. “You are Synthetic Storm. That is Starr, and the third member of your group is Tank. I am familiar with all of your usernames, and more than that…”

“Is that so? What could you possibly know about us?” Tank grunted.

Glancing at Tank, FallenBlade’s expression remained neutral as he spoke in his matter-of-a-fact tone that annoyed Tank. “Your real name is Rainbow Dash, and your email address is Dashie2077. Email service provider: Griffon mail.”

Tank growled and spat. “So you can get some basic info, big deal? Some hacker you turned out to be, I thought you were some kind of legendary hacker or something?”

“You are twenty years old, blood type AB-, your phone number is 0014-5527-00123… Your home address is…” They continued until Storm cut them off.

“Okay, that’s enough… How are you able to get all of that information?” Storm questioned.

FallenBlade turned to Storm. “I can find yours just as quickly, but I don’t see much joy in that. I wouldn’t have done so just now if your friend hadn’t challenged me to do so… It was necessary for you to understand the seriousness of the situation you’re stumbling into, Storm…”

Storm crossed her arms. “I have so many questions for you… Like what is this place? Why did you turn up here? It can’t be a coincidence…”

FallenBlade shook their head. “I would advise against digging any further. It would not be good for any of you to dig deeper into this. I suggest you all let it go and leave before you get yourselves into a situation that you are unable to get out of…”

“Is that a threat?” Tank adjusted their stance, ready to take a swing at the hacker.

FallenBlade lifted their blade. “Given your stats, I doubt you could defeat me. I can see by looking at you that you are only level 87… Your equipment is far from top tier.”

Tank hadn’t been playing nearly as much as Storm and Starr, thus his level was significantly lower than his friends, but that didn’t stop him. He knew that with their help, they could easily take FallenBlade, there was no way the three of them together could lose.

“We can take him, guys!” Tank threatened.

Starr raised her firearm, but Storm stood still. “Something is off here… He’s not the same as I remember him… There’s something different about him this time…”

FallenBlade lowered their weapon and shook their head, his short hair swaying as he did so. “I’m afraid you all need to leave right away for your own safety…”

Just as Tank was ready to hit them with a surprise attack, he blinked and Storm vanished, followed by Starr. He was about to ask what happened, until he saw a red light flash around them, followed by the game crashing, pulling him out.

Twilight Sparkle

Blinking, Twilight glanced around, realizing she had appeared back in her apartment, it was just like the T-06 incident. Her hand instinctively touched the Neural Link Interface on her temple, and sure enough, it was still there. Looking at the computer in front of her, Twilight checked the board quickly to see if the game had crashed again as it did back then, but after a quick browse, it was obvious that the game was still online.

Something had booted only them out of the game, something centralized. Instantly, she pulled up her messenger and sent a message to Rarity.

Synthetic Storm: Something booted us out of the game.
Starr: Probably FallenBlade.
Synthetic Storm: I guess it’s possible… He’s DEFINITELY a hacker, I think that much is confirmed now.
Starr: Shouldn’t we report him?
Synthetic Storm: That would be the smartest decision, but…
Starr: You’re curious, aren’t you?
Synthetic Storm: Sort of.
Starr: We should check on Rainbow first, we can submit a ticket reporting him together. I know you’re curious, Twilight, but this is serious, darling. If he’s a hacker, we could get in real trouble if we don’t report him.
Synthetic Storm: Fine. Let’s talk to Rainbow first, maybe she saw more than we did.

Wasting no time, Twilight opened a new chat window and messaged her friend, Rainbow as well, trying to see what she knew, hoping she wasn’t still in the game.

Synthetic Storm: Hey, did you get booted out of game too?

Twilight waited several minutes but didn’t even see a symbol signifying that Rainbow was even typing. She sat patiently a few more moments but realized that Rainbow had not even read her message. She sent another message.

Synthetic Storm: Rainbow? Are you there? What happened?

Another few minutes passed and there was no response. Twilight felt a cold bead of sweat run down her neck, something was wrong, she just knew it. In a panic, she dialed Rainbow’s phone number on the phone on her wrist. It rang a few times but then went right to voice mail.

The cold sweat down her neck felt that much colder, but her eyes were drawn back to her screen when a new message appeared from someone she never expected.

FallenBlade: You shouldn’t have done that, Twilight.

Rainbow Dash

Removing the Neural Link from her head, Rainbow glanced at the device a few times, examining it. It was a circular item that fit within her palm, with a blue glow around its outer edge, but at the moment the lights on it had all completely turned off. She shook it a few times to see if it was working properly but got no response. She cursed under her breath as she recalled upgrading only a few months ago to the newest model.

A new device would be pricey, but she knew her’s still had to be under warranty. Pushing herself away from her desk, Rainbow got down on her hands and knees and began rummaging through a pile of paperwork she kept underneath her desk, trying to see if she could locate her warranty information.

Hearing her computer make a noise that she recognized as the notification sound, Rainbow lifted her head instinctively only to bump it on the table above her. She groaned in annoyance and rubbed the bruised spot before crawling out from under the desk and looking at her screen, to her surprise a series of messages had appeared, but the one that caught her attention was that of a username she knew she hadn’t added to her friend’s list: FallenBlade.

Crawling back into her chair, Rainbow yawned before scratching her thigh. She was only wearing a tank top and her panties, which was a usual attire when she was lounging at her apartment in the 9th district. She lived a good ten-minute walk from Twilight.

She looked at her screen and began replying to the message she received, ignoring her incoming messages from Twilight for the time being.

FallenBlade: I tried to warn you, Rainbow. This isn’t good.
Tank: What’re you talking about? How did you get my messenger ID?
FallenBlade: There isn’t time, you have to leave, NOW.
Tank: Leave where? The game crashed.
FallenBlade: The game didn’t crash, and I’m not talking about the game, I’m talking about your home, you need to leave, NOW.
Tank: Bro, I don’t even have pants on, what are you on about? What the hell is going on?
FallenBlade: Rainbow, you have to trust me, you need to leave, right now, or else something bad is going to happen, I promise you that.
Tank: As if I would trust you. Give me one good reason, hacker?
FallenBlade: It might already be too late. Rainbow, I’m going to erase your system in a minute, but you need to exit your apartment, use the fire escape if you have to, just run. Don’t ask any more questions, just go, now.

True to his word, Rainbow’s computer suddenly ceased allowing her to control it. She tried to move her mouse, but nothing happened, suddenly the screen went white and an error message appeared. Rainbow banged her table in frustration. “That damn hacker! I can’t believe this! What the hell is he trying to pull!”

At that moment, Rainbow’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bang at the door. Blinking, she checked the time on her phone, to her surprise though, her phone had been destroyed as well, now only displaying a white blank hologram. FallenBlade was thorough and kept his word about erasing her system, he even wiped her phone!

Rainbow surmised it must have been at least midnight, an odd hour for any visitors, but without thinking, her hand reached for the knob on her door and she opened it.

Standing before her was a taller figure wearing an authority bureau uniform. Rainbow recognized them as law enforcement. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes before looking up at the tall man standing before her in dark sunglasses that obscured his eyes.

Rainbow cleared her throat and spoke. “Can I help you, officer?”

He didn’t answer, instead, he drew his firearm and pointed it directly at the prismatic-haired woman, touching the barrel directly to her forehead. Rainbow could feel the cold steel touch her skin, she froze in place.

Community Guide 001

The T-06 incident refers to an event that occurred on October 26th, 2045, approximately seven years ago. The incident has no known first-hand accounts, but most information regarding it was compiled via the Everfree message boards, though it is uncertain how much is true as the team behind the game scrub topics discussing it to this very day.

What is known is that it is believed a user known only as FallenBlade was involved in a hacking incident while trying to gain access to a restricted area in the game. FallenBlade supposedly activated some kind of firewall designed to keep players out of areas not intended for standard play, causing the game to crash for the entire city. It is the only known incident of the entire game being taken offline by a user, though it is all only speculated.

FallenBlade has never commented regarding the incident, and no one is certain who he is outside of the game to contact him for more information, so there is no definitive proof that any of this even truly happened.

As far as people know, FallenBlade was never punished for his potential involvement, leading many to believe that his involvement is merely a rumor or a hoax, possibly spread by himself just to gain notoriety across the internet. Others believe he was a scapegoat for a server issue, though the most accepted theory is that FallenBlade is actually a developer who was merely testing something out that ended up breaking the game.

EG Corporation staff are known for being very unwilling to answer inquiries about upcoming in-game content, after all, and only usually respond to questions related to existing content or already previously confirmed changes coming to the game. It is not outside the realm of possibility that FallenBlade is merely an alias one of the developers uses, and the entire incident could have merely been a marketing stunt to get players talking.

Talk of the incident is prohibited on the official board, and posts are swiftly taken down almost faster than any human moderator could possibly remove them, leading people to believe that there is some kind of AI system that flags posts about it automatically.

Whichever the case, it remains the most widely known urban legend of Everfree, and FallenBlade has become the most enigmatic entity within the game. Some speculate that he is able to change his player model on a whim, and even modify his in-game information to make it impossible to track him. No one is entirely certain what he is capable of, or even if he truly exists as a real person.

There is even speculation that FallenBlade lives outside of Q City, but it is unlikely. No one is permitted outside of Q City after all.

There are small interest groups who offer rewards for any information regarding him, though they operate mostly within the shadows and little is known on if any of them have ever made any real headway in discovering his identity.

The mystery of FallenBlade’s true identity or intentions remains and is cemented in internet history within Q City.

Twilight Sparkle

Once she stopped getting a response from Rainbow, Twilight tried to pry FallenBlade for what he meant with his message, but he never answered Twilight. He went completely silent after that, and no matter how many times Twilight asked him for answers, he would leave her messages on read.

Without an answer from him or Rainbow, Twilight quickly grabbed her jacket and left her apartment. She just sensed something was wrong, and she needed to see Rainbow with her own eyes to be certain she was okay.

The young woman raced down the street, trying to stay within the illuminated sidewalk as she recalled the directions to Rainbow’s apartment. It was a short walk away, and Twilight was beginning to recall the route in her mind as her legs carried her as fast as they could. It would only take her a few minutes if she ran, that’s what she told herself.

Unfortunately, Twilight was far from the most athletic of women, and it showed when she was winded after only a few minutes. She panted and forced herself to speed walk the rest of the way, cutting around a corner before she came to the building she was searching for.

The building Rainbow lived in was outdated and poorly maintained, but it was likely due to her only recently obtaining a job that could get her out of debt.

Racing inside, Twilight ascended two flights of stairs and came to Apartment V13, Rainbow’s apartment. She was out of breath but wasted no time knocking on the door. After a few knocks, there was no answer. Looking down at the doorknob, she reached for it and found the door was unlocked. For some reason it made her feel a cold sweat run down her neck. She gulped and turned it.

She opened the door and looked inside, there was no one home. Rainbow had vanished without a trace. Stepping inside, she glanced around and noticed that Rainbow’s chair had been pulled away from the computer as if she had gotten up. Heading to her computer, Twilight tapped at the holographic keyboard only to find the computer now was only a blue screen. She hit a few keys and blinked when she realized the entire system had been wiped out.

Twilight stepped backward and placed her hand on her chest. Something far bigger than herself had gone done here.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading, did you spot all the easter eggs? The story is full of them. Lots of references to video games or other popular media, see if you can spot them all. Some are harder than others, that's for sure. I'll give you an easy one, Rarity's job is inspired by VA-11 HALL-A. I kind of wanted to just have fun with this one and just have a good time.

Let me know what you guys think of the supplemental material, it takes a bit of extra time to make, but I feel it's worth it for building the world that the characters live in.