I watched the fleeting scenery from the back of Mr. Bolin’s car, leaning my head against the corner of the headrest as we drove downtown. The sky had been growing dark for a while now, so the rain against the glass window didn’t affect my mood. In fact, I had been feeling this way since this man stepped through my front door.

“Thank you, Sonya, for agreeing again,” Mr. Bolin said, looking at me through the rear-view mirror. I continued to stare out of the window instead of looking back at him. He returned his eyes to the road.

“You make it seem like I had a choice,” I said, clutching onto the seat belt sashed around my body. I heard him chuckle, so I finally decided to look at him. He looked back, and shook his head.

“My apologies, I suppose you didn’t,” he said. “Still, I believe you made the right call. You’ve no idea the importance of getting Peter out of Equestria Online. Not only does it make Accordion look bad, but we have the lives of innocent people at stake here.”

“This all seems rather cliché,” I said. “I hate to admit it, but I think Peter did plan this, from the start.”

“What do you mean, from the start?” Mr. Bolin asked.

“Where exactly is his body?” I changed the subject. “If he’s running around in a virtual world, then his real body has to be somewhere.”

“We can’t locate it,” he replied, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “If it were inside the building, we’d be able to find it, but we think he’s found a way to link up to the system from a remote area. We checked his apartment, but he wasn’t there either. We have no clue where he is, in or out of the game.”

“Damn it,” I sighed, leaning my head back. I didn’t have time for this… It was nearly the end of the semester for me. I entered this vehicle in a reactionary state it seemed, because now I was regretting my decision to come in the first place.

“Where do you think he would be?” I heard Mr. Bolin ask.

“How should I know?”

I turned my face away again and watched as the rain pounded against the city streets. As we passed the buildings and offices of the crowded city, I studied the faces of each passersby, wondering which one of them had a loved one trapped inside my brother’s virtual world. As far as a plan of action, Mr. Bolin had already run it through me as we were first getting into his car.

Mother and Father didn’t like it, of course, but who were they to object? Their son was committing a crime, and the only one who could stop him was their daughter. I guess in this scenario, I was caught being the adult once more. It felt like it wasn’t my call to go or not, however. No, like Mr. Bolin said, Peter was the one with all the cards. He was moving the pieces in their places, including mine.

“We’re here,” Mr. Bolin said, drawing me from my thoughts.

I peered out the front windshield, and noticed we had just passed under a large canopy, heading deep into a large parking garage. I only faintly caught a glimpse of the building next to it, but from what I could make out, it was a rather incredible structure.

“Twenty floors,” Mr. Bolin said, pulling into an empty space. “Constructed years ago by a contractor who worked with my father. It used to be a building for an independent game company and an advertising firm.” He shut off the ignition and unlatched his seat belt. “The server room is in the basement, and most of the game moderators work on the first ten floors. The rest is just corporate offices and marketing, save for the development committee who is just one floor below me.”

“Are we done with the tour?” I asked, unlatching my own seat belt and exiting the vehicle.

“Right,” he muttered, leaving his car as well. He led me to an elevator in the garage and pushed the basement floor button, straightening his suit a little as we descended below ground. He peered over to me, though I didn’t notice until he cleared his throat. “You’re rather calm, despite the situation at hand,” he said.

“I don’t mean to be,” I replied. “I’m worried about my brother, if that’s what is bothering you.”

“Not particularly,” he answered. “I’m worried about why you seem so distant.”

“Mr. Bolin,” I began, “Don’t pretend that you know me, or my situation. I’m helping you because I love my brother, and I want him to snap out of whatever ridiculous notion he’s driven himself into believing. If I don’t appear upset, it’s probably because the dumb ass decided to do something stupid and dangerous instead of talking to me or my parents about it!

He knows he can’t just get what he wants, and that this act was selfish and childish of him! He knew what he was doing and he knew how I would react! It’s not fair—it’s not fair that I have to clean up his mess because he’s upset over some stupid reason that a quick phone call would have fixed overnight!”

I slammed my hand against the wall of the elevator. I was breathing heavily now, watching the digits on the floor counter drop to the basement levels. I took a quick glance at Mr. Bolin, who was twiddling his cane in his hands. He didn’t look at me, but that was okay. I didn’t really want to look at him right now either.

The elevator stopped, giving off a small ding before opening its sliding door. I stepped out, followed by Mr. Bolin, and nearly tripped on some wires on the floor.

“Mind your step,” he said, catching me falling forward with his cane. I grunted as it collided with my chest.

“Thanks,” I replied, steadying myself.

The room was brightly lit, and full of misconstrued wires and humming towers. Despite the fact that we were underground, the ceiling rose high up, dotted with several industrial-grade fans that swirled slowly up above. The clamor of moving bodies and light conversation died out as me and Mr. Bolin entered the room. I followed him to a large terminal in the center of the space where four workers were typing away at a black screen.

“They’ve been doing their best to break through Peter’s code, but it’s proved impossible,” Mr. Bolin explained.

“All of this… is to run a game?” I didn’t get an answer.

“Impossible is an understatement,” one of the employees said. He stopped working and turned around, looking at me with an unimpressed scowl. “Is this the compatible one?”

“Yes, it is,” Mr. Bolin replied. “Is Fenrir ready for us?”

“She’s been ready for a while,” the man said, returning to his screen. Mr. Bolin nodded and motioned for me to follow him around the large terminal.

“Who’s Fenrir?” I asked.

“She’s in charge of the DIVE mechanic, and our expert technician,” he said. “It’s not her real name, so I’m led to believe, but that’s what she was called when we found her.”

“She sounds insecure,” I mumbled, almost missing what Mr. Bolin had to say next.

“We set up a DIVE portal in this room, thinking that the direct link-up with the servers would provide a better connection and allow us to access the game, but at that point, we got the error message.”

We made it around the beast of a machine and I saw a pretty woman, dressed in a neatly pressed business suit. Her orange hair was tied in a bun, and she wore big thick glasses that professors in porn movies always strutted. I wouldn’t put it past her that she got around often, seeing as her bust was as big as the computer monitor she was looking at.

“Fenrir,” Mr. Bolin said, prompting a smile from the woman.

“Charles, you’re back. Finally, we can begin,” she said. She looked at me and puckered her lips, letting out a little, “Aww” before coming up behind me and pushing me forward. “Look at you, you must be Sonya,” she said, positioning me in front of whirring glass and metal capsule.

“I am,” I said, blinking uncomfortably as she began taking my measurements and feeling me up and down. Mr. Bolin raised his hand and tried to say something, but decided against it as Fenrir finished groping me and began writing on a clipboard.

“Well, the good news is, I don’t have to construct an entirely new machine as I thought,” she said, biting the end of her pen. “I’d like to conduct a pre-DIVE analysis, however, to see if she can mentally handle connecting directly into the server.”

“Well then, hurry, every bit of time matters,” Mr. Bolin said.

“We’re just going to jump in, that quick?” I asked, stepping away from the machine. “I-I don’t know,” I said, eyeing the cold metal in front of me. It was a hell of a lot bigger than a headset. Fenrir and Mr. Bolin both came to my side.

“We already discussed the plan, Sonya,” Mr. Bolin said. “You jump in, find your brother, convince him to stop, and then we pull everyone out.”

“This massive machine in front of you isn’t the gear you’ll use to jump,” Fenrir explained, pointing at the headset inside of the tube. “This is to keep your vitals healthy, and to make sure you don’t experience any trauma that the in-game dangers would present to you.”

I shuddered. Two years, and they still couldn’t prevent pain from being a feature of a virtual world.

“You mentioned you would give me a manual, and update me on the progress of the actual game,” I said, still looking at the device. “I’m sure Peter has come a long way from a simple helmet in his bedroom.”

Mr. Bolin nodded, pulling out the small manual that my brother had given to me a few weeks before the game launched. I chuckled a little inside. I guess I would have to do more than just skim it this time.

“There’s a virtual one available to all players in their menu,” Mr. Bolin said. “I’m not sure how much of the game you actually know or are comfortable with, but it is relatively safe, and is far from buggy, unlike your first experience.”

“So safe that you supply a life-support device for all of your players around the world?” I asked, examining the machine more closely. Fenrir scoffed and crossed her arms.

“This is for your protection, because of what happened the last time you performed a DIVE. Peter said you almost went under shock, and we can’t risk you going into a coma because we weren’t careful enough,” she explained. “Besides, assuming for some reason you aren’t compatible, or something were to go wrong, this is our sure-fire way of making sure you stay conscious if we need to do another DIVE sequence.”

I dropped the booklet. My hands held their position in front of my face, but I saw nothing but red.

“So, that’s how it is, Peter…?” I mumbled to myself.

“I-is something the matter?” Mr. Bolin asked, putting his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, and picked up the small manual, then shook my head.

“There’s not much I can tell you that you won’t either discover, or read about in the manual. All I can really do is pray that you don’t have to actually play the game, and that you can locate Peter before someone gets hurt,” he told me. Fenrir chimed in now.

“Since you’ve never performed a dive before… Well, a real dive, now’s our chance to measure your mental capability and your physical parameters, just to be sure that you won’t vomit in your comatose state, or have a seizure when the world initializes,” she explained, opening the large mechanical tube.

“It’s like something off of a sci-fi movie,” I said as it hissed open.

“Yeah, but no smoke rolling from it, what a rip-off,” she replied, punching in some commands on the terminal in front of her. “Step inside of the device and lay still. Don’t put the headset on just yet,” she said, waiting for me to comply.

I stepped inside and laid down, straightening my body out and waiting for the inevitable lights and sounds to run all over. Fenrir closed the lid on the jar and the machine hissed shut. Almost immediately, several laser lights struck my body, and began moving up and down. A scanner right above my head came to life and fired the same beams into my eyes. I remained still, but peeked at the two bodies standing over the monitor on the outside. I was almost certain they were looking at my naked form.

I couldn’t quite hear what they were saying through the glass, but Mr. Bolin gave a shout, and clapped his hands. Fenrir gave him a smile and then looked at me, moving her arms up and over her head, and then bringing them down. I did the same, reaching for the helmet above me and fastening it over my skull.

Some sort of connection was made, because I could hear Fenrir’s voice in my head. “It’s a bit snug, huh?”

“Just a little,” I said, trying to adjust the straps.

“This is the licensed version of the CAP that your brother invented in his room all those years ago. No shoddy soldering or loose wires here, your brain won’t get fried by accident either,” Fenrir explained. The line clicked open again, though this time, Mr. Bolin’s voice came through.

“Okay, Sonya, we’re about ready for the dive,” he said.

“Is there anything else you guys want to tell me before I jump?” I was getting a little queasy now. My heart started to thump a beat faster than before.

“Peter’s avatar was last seen in Canterlot,” he said, pulling up a picture in my visor. That kind of amazed me. I studied the photo, and nodded. It was exactly the same as before. “It was a white pegasus stallion with long black hair,” he continued.

“Shouldn’t be too hard then,” I said.

“One more thing,” Fenrir popped on the line again, “We’re spawning you in the field just outside of Canterlot, so don’t attract any attention to yourself. Keep it to yourself why you’re there, and try not to get too hurt.”

“I told you, I don’t plan on playing this game,” I replied. “Once I find Peter, I’ll convince him to log out, and undo what he’s done.”

“So level-headed… I wonder if sometimes you do this as a ruse to hide your true feelings,” I heard her say back to me. “It’s okay to be a little nervous, I don’t blame you for not wanting to go back.”

I swallowed and closed my eyes. “I’m ready,” I told them.

“Activating DIVE sequence,” Fenrir announced, cutting off her line after that.

“Good luck,” Mr. Bolin said, cutting out as well.

I waited, listening to the hum of the machine attached to my head, and the whirs of the machine surrounding my body. The visor over my eyes sprung to life, painting the room in a tinted yellow. My heart started thumping faster again. Several commands flashed to life in front of me, contained in neat little pop-up boxes. The numerals and codes finished running, and the entire visor went blank.

I inhaled, and let out a deep breath. The room vanished instantly, and I was falling, falling into the clingy void that almost consumed me the last time I was here. A swirl of colors rushed past my body as I became tangled in a web of green wiring. bits of code adhered to my body surface, pushing and squeezing my figure in awkward ways.

My body continued its descent, until it landed gracely, feet-first on a floating platform in a hollow room. A floating panel appeared before me, and asked for my hand print. I lifted my arm, and noticed I was covered in a black veil, stripped of my clothes, but still conveniently covered. As I placed my hand on the panel, a screen opened up, flashing a bright blue, “WELCOME” across the top.

“Choose a race,” I repeated the prompt as it flashed across the screen. It gave me three choices. There was a regular pony, there was the unicorn, and then there was the pegasus. I lifted my hand and reached for the unblemished horse, but stopped midway as I caught a glimpse of the horn poking out of the unicorn.

It was cool… I mean, the magic.

I blinked a few times, and hovered my hand over the unicorn. The game cycled through different palettes for my character until it decided upon an orange-yellow mango coat, and a bright red mane. It mimicked my current hairstyle, giving me bangs just above my eyes and allowing the rest of my hair to fix itself behind my head in a bun. It fastened it with a stupid flower, finishing off the profile by giving me a long sleek tail and green eyes.

The room became blistering white, forcing me to shut my eyes as a powerful wind blew through the chasm. I could hear a loud howl come from the bottom of the room, and then, it vanished… replaced by the melodious chirping of some distant summer birds.

I found myself steadily opening my eyes against the sunlight that pushed on my face. As they adjusted to the lighting, I could feel a familiar breeze whip across my body, and a varying aroma of flowers invade my nostrils.

“I’m back,” I whispered to myself.

Interestingly enough, it didn’t take as long for me to get used to the four legs as before. I wasn’t sure whether to credit this to the developing, or because of my past experience. Whatever the case, it was one less thing I had to worry about. As I surveyed my surroundings, I could make out that I wasn’t exactly at sea level. The wind was blowing calmly, though it was constant, and the jutting peaks from neighboring mountains rose higher than any tree line I could see. The clouds rolled past amazingly low, and only just now did I notice the the oxygen level wasn’t like back in Accordian.

I stood still for a moment, almost forgetting my reason for coming here again until a small blip notified me on my heads-up display. I looked at the icon, a scroll of parchment, and it suddenly burst open in a small plume of flame.

“Get moving,” I read aloud. It was signed by Fenrir. “Does this mean you can hear me?” I asked. Another blip appeared where the first had vanished.

“Yes,” it read after it had opened.

I watched as the message disintegrated into dust, blown away by the wind shortly after. As I followed its trail, my eyes landed upon Canterlot. Bright, vibrant flags flowed in the wind on top of marvelous pristine towers. The brickwork and masonry of the surrounding wall left nothing to be desired, encompassing an area large enough to rival a mountain itself. Its gates shone a distinct gold, reflecting the beauty of the sun’s rays onto those that entered through them. From what I could see, the walls within were bustling with bodies, many of them with tags above their head followed by colored gauges below. I assumed those to be the other players.

I made my way closer to the hold, only to find myself dwarfed by its sheer size up close. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the majesty that presented itself before me. The tapestry of the city hung boldly in front of the entrance, adorned with what appeared to be raw jewels of every kind. Ponies in shining armor stood at the entrance, vigilant and stout, watching as each player and NPC made their way in and out of the city.

“What’s wrong with these people,” I asked myself. “Don’t they know they’re being held hostage?”

“I don’t think many of them care,” another voice said, causing me to jump. I let out a snort involuntarily, and seemed to be rearing up for something in defense. The offender held a smile over his face and raised a single hoof up, telling me, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Who are you?” I asked, still trying to catch my breath. “Are you a player?”

“Well, obviously,” he said, pointing above his head. I noticed the tag and the health bar underneath. He had chosen an earth pony, I could tell. It was slightly different from the build I was presented, though that could have simply been attributed to gender differences. He had on a brown satchel and was wearing a white scarf, but beyond that he didn’t seem any more experienced than me.

“Gambino?”

“You say that with a a lot of contempt,” he replied. He looked at his username floating above his head and shrugged. “I thought it was cool.”

“Sorry,” I said, “It’s just, I assumed you would be a bad guy, or something.” I wasn’t going to let him know I was scared for no reason.

“Haha, I understand,” he said. “Auburn coat, brown hair, short tail and mane—I must look terrifying.”

“Well, if you’re going to be a jerk about it,” I said, trotting away.

“Oh, hey, wait!” He called out to me, stopping me just short of entering Canterlot. “Let’s start over, okay? I’m Gambino, the earth pony,” he said, extending a hoof.

“I’m not entirely certain those are supposed to work like that,” I started, lifting mine and kind of just tapping his, “and I really have to go, it’s important so…”

“Ah, I guess it’s proper manners to not introduce yourself where you’re from then,” he said now.

I inhaled sharply, and turned around, wanting to do something to that smug grin he had on.

“Sonya,” I said, turning back around and moving on.

“Whoa, hey, hey, where’s the fire, Sonya? you said so yourself, we’re stuck here indefinitely,” Gambino started, following me as I tried to lose him in the sea of bodies. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to avoid me.”

“What tipped you off?” I growled, taking a turn down an alley.

“Maybe the fact that you’d risk getting lost if it meant you would ditch me,” he replied, not even skipping a beat. I finally turned around and pointed my horn at him, trying to muster up some sort of attack to scare him off. He just stood there, however, and chuckled, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

“What, you don’t think I’ll blast you?” I asked, taking a step forward.

“I know you won’t, not here anyway,” he replied. “We’re in a no-combat zone, so all attacks including skills and feats are disabled until we leave the city.” He gave me that smug little grin again. “It’s cool, babe, I can tell a greenhorn when I see one, and you need me.”

I brought my left hoof out and whipped it across his face.

“I’m not your babe, and I just attacked you,” I said, letting out another snort. That was becoming eerily natural.

“Well, that was technically an Emotisplay, so I didn’t lose any health, but it did hurt,” he said, rubbing his face. “I am right about you being new though, you can’t deny that.”

“Listen, Gambino, I’m just trying to… find somebody and I kind of want to do it alone, so… No offense to you, but just let me be,” I explained. That should be more than enough of a tip.

“Oh, you’ve got your eyes set on a player already? Heh, all of you chicks are the same,” he scoffed. “You see the roster of the best players and you all try to get into their party, leaving guys like me, who actually play the game and don’t bother with in-game purchases, in the dust!”

“Why are you getting offended? You’ve been stalking me and wasting my time!” I was shouting back at him now. “If you really want to be any help, then you’ll stop pestering me and hitting on me, and help me find my stupid brother!”

We both glared at each other for a minute, but Gambino stepped down after I refused to let up. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, I assume to think for a bit. He couldn’t have, however, because the next thing he said was, “You thought I was hitting on you?”

“Oh my God, you’re still going,” I said, rushing past him and back into the city proper.

“Hold on, back on up… forget I said that,” he called out to me. There was no point in dodging by this time, so I tried my best to just ignore him. “So your brother is trapped in the game then? You must have gotten separated when the glitch occurred.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” I replied. We had passed by several ponies who were discussing in low breaths, and even more who were weeping or expressing their distress to other players. I turned around to the stallion following me and frowned. “You seem rather calm despite what’s going on,” I said. Great, now I was making conversation…

“Oh, well… I tend to tread on the brighter side of things,” he said. “On the one hand, I’m forever stuck in a videogame and will most likely never see my family or friends again,” he started, lifting a hoof. He dropped it and raised the other, “On this one, I’m forever stuck in a videogame and kind of like the idea that I’ll live out the rest of my life in a virtual bliss, provided I play it safe, of course.”

“I see,” I said, more so to quit the current conversation now.

We had made it into the center of the town now. A large ivory fountain sat in the middle of the paved stone road, pouring glistening water into the air and back into its reserves. The ground was painted in a mosaic, depicting two ponies on either side of each other, one a pristine white, shining with a rainbow mane, and the other, an impressive blue, her mane radiating the night stars like a blanket of space.

I suppose the advantage of making everything so grandiose in a virtual world was the fact that it required no upkeep of any kind. The trees and shrubbery were placed in perfect harmony around the square, no one bigger or smaller than its neighbor. The houses and buildings exuded a likeness to the noticeably cultured NPCs of the area. Ahead of the courtyard, adorned with bannered posts was the road that led to the large castle I had seen from outside the gates.

“I thought the same thing when I saw it,” Gambino interrupted. “Sure, I doubted its credibility when I saw it was a MMO about horses, but when I loaded into the game, I was knocked off of my… hooves, so to speak.”

“I won’t fight you on that one,” I said. I returned my gaze to the floor and noticed the two ponies painted onto the stone again. “Who are they,” I asked.

“The princesses of the land we dwell in,” Gambino said. “The white one is called Celestia, and the other one is Luna.” He went over to the one named Celestia and pointed at the sky. “You see the sun?”

“Yeah,” I replied, shielding my eyes from it as I looked up.

“Celestia controls that,” he explained. “As in, she literally flies into the sky every morning to raise the sun, and every evening to lower it!” He then galloped over to Luna and pointed at a depiction of the moon behind her image.

“Let me guess, the other one controls the moon?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s right!” He was way too excited for me right now. “These sisters cycle night and day, as well as run the government of this land. They are the ultimate rulers in this game, or at least, they have been programmed to be.”

“That’s interesting that he didn’t make himself king or something,” I mumbled to myself then.

“What?” Gambino asked.

“Nothing,” I replied, jumping again as the scroll notification manifested over my HUD.

Enough gawking. Lose the stallion and get back on task.

“Whoa, what’s that? You got someone else in your party already?” Gambino peered over my shoulder, but I closed the scroll and watched it vanish. Taking a step to the side, I cleared my throat and gave him a polite bow.

“Well, Gambino, it’s been ah… alright meeting you, and I thank you for leading me to the courtyard before the castle, but I need to do this on my own, sorry. I just don’t think you could understand how important it is that I find my brother,” I explained.

“Alright, I can take a hint,” he said giving me a long sigh. “At least you humored me for a bit, which is more than what I needed right now.” He smiled at me again and chuckled. “Maybe I’ll see you again sometime?”

“Doubtful,” I replied. “Although, you weren’t kidding when you said you tend to look at the silver lining, and I guess that’s admirable to some extent.”

“Woo Hoo! I got a girl I just met to say I was admirable!” He hopped into the air and threw his hoof high up, landing back onto them rather smoothly. “Emotisplay, that’s why I could do that so smoothly,” he said. “I mean, you are a girl in real life, right?”

“Goodbye, Gambino,” I said, turning around and meeting another obstacle in my path. I smashed face-first into another body, though it didn’t seem to suffer from the impact as much as me. “Oh, S-sorry,” I said, backing up from the character in front of me.”

“That’s quite all right,” the stallion in front of me said. I nearly keeled over when he flapped his wings and docked them back into place. He gave me a charming smile, and just stood there as I stared dumbfounded. “I was just looking for you anyway.”

“Oh, no way… Sonya, is this real?” I suddenly heard Gambino say from behind me. “Do you know who this is?!”

“Everyone knows who I am,” the other stallion said, showing a mark on his upper thigh. It displayed an ornate sword being drawn from its scabbard with a waving flag in the background. The flag held on it the insignia of a pair of wings.

“P—”

“Percidal Wingover, Pegasus Extraordinaire!” The white pegasus interrupted me.

“Oh, I know who you are,” Gambino said, walking up to him. “You’re legendary in this game, and it’s only been out for a couple of months!” He gave a hearty laugh and slapped Gambino on the back, causing him to flinch. He turned his attention to me now, and grinned.

“Your friend here is an interesting one,” Percidal said, looking at me straight in the eyes. “She’s all the way out here in Canterlot and hasn’t even gotten her Cutie Mark yet.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah… I guess I didn’t really notice,” Gambino replied, looking at my thigh.

“Y-you!” I finally was able to say, rising up from my stupor. I marched over to the stallion, shoving Gambino aside and slapped him right across the face.

“Geez, that really is how you greet people,” Gambino remarked.

“Shut up!” I shouted, not taking my eyes off of the pony in front of me. He grinned, not even bothering to rub where I hit him.

“That’s quite the slap,” he commented. “It was powerful enough to almost be considered an attack I think.”

“D-do you think this is—?”

“A game, young Sonya? Why yes, it is,” he said, his voice suddenly dropping an octave. He narrowed his eyes and his grin was replaced with a small smirk. “However, given the circumstances, I can understand why you would be a little concerned.”

“Umm, I’m missing a little bit of something here,” Gambino entered. “Sonya, how do you know Percidal? I mean, obviously everyone knows him, but you seem to know him outside of his glorious fame.”

“We used to be in the same party,” Percidal replied, before I could say anything. “Way back when I was still a noob. She helped me out, but aside from that, there really wasn’t anything special we shared. She didn’t contribute much to the team either.”

“That’s a damn lie!” I said, moving in for another slap, but he rose into the air and swiftly landed behind me.

“She’s a bit sore because we parted ways, and I ended up becoming better than her.”

I turned around and growled at him. That idiot, that jerk! What was he doing, spreading lies like this? I wanted to contest it, but I couldn’t risk accusing him of anything with Gambino standing there. I think Peter knew that as well.

The notification icon on my HUD was going nuts, but I couldn’t be bothered to check it out right now. I was concentrating on the apparent expression of glee that my brother had plastered over his face.

“Dude, that’s kind of harsh,” Gambino said to him. “Then again, I know the feeling of traveling with dead weight…”

I glared at Gambino, who immediately closed his mouth.

“Pe-Percidal,” I said, fighting the urge to call him a string of many other names, “We have things we need to talk about.”

“All in due time, Sonya,” he replied.

“Wait, I thought you were looking for your—Oh no way!” Gambino shouted, prancing around like a stupid little kid in a candy store. I needed him to go away. “Percidal, is your brother? Like, IRL and stuff?!”

“Was,” I was able to say to somewhat express my grief.

“You know, Sonya, I didn’t come here to stir up old wounds,” Percidal said, trotting over to me. “I came here to make you offer. Well, both of you then, since you seem to be in the same party.”

“Wait, what?!” I cried.

“Huh, you’re not? But then why does it say so on my screen?” he asked.

“Hey, Sonya, it’s true… We must have somehow formed a party between now and when we first met,” Gambino said, another smile creeping across his face. “Awesome what the power of friendship can do!”

“I’m thinking there might have been a different reason,” I said, glaring at Peter again. He moved away from me as he spoke.

“It’s no doubt that you’ve both discovered the bug within the game’s menu, the one that erased the logout function. I’ve been investigating this sudden glitch in the game, my little ponies, and I’ve come up with a conclusion,” he said, trotting towards the large fountain.

“Am I about to embark on a quest with the Great Percidal?!” Gambino was geeking out harder than ever. I wanted to hit him, I wanted to hit them both, but most of all I wanted to beat the smug little smirk off of that damned pegasus.

“Sort of,” Percidal replied to Gambino. “You see, I think the developers are trying to get us to play the game in such a way that will force us into different factions, and each faction would then war against the other until the strongest one is left in the game.”

“Is that so?” I said.

“This is what I believe, yes,” he replied.

“Sounds arbitrary, why would they want to do something like that?” I asked.

“That part escapes me, but word through the grapevine is that a few of the beta testers for the game overheard this from a conversation with some developers before the glitch occurred,” he said. “Right before they went public with the information, the logout button vanished.”

“Dude, this is nuts,” Gambino said, letting out a breath. “This is like some deep conspiracy stuff right here.”

“My theory is that Accordian, the company in charge of the game, was using players as a pool of test subjects for a government project in the real world, perhaps with military applications,” Percidal revealed. “All of this is speculation based on the unconfirmed reports of some whispers, but it’s my best lead into this whole situation.”

“Well, what’s the plan? How are we going to escape from Equestria Online?” Gambino asked, almost leaning entirely on his forehooves in anticipation. Percidal closed his eyes and lifted his wings. He beat them down and rose into the air, using his hooves to point to the ground below.

“Take caution, my friends, for what I am about to tell you may come as a shock, but I guarantee that our success will ensure the freedom we desire,” he said. I finally understood it. The whole reason he did this… The fool was trying to get me to play his stupid game. The entire time, I knew it was a trap, and I fell for it anyway.

“What is your amazing plan then, oh Pegasus Extraordinaire?” I asked, almost spitting at him. He smiled, and while I had no idea of the severity of his next statement, Gambino had nearly turned as white as him after he announced his big plan.

“My friends, we are going to assassinate the royal sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“Th-that is… What? Is that even possible?” Gambino asked, his mouth agape. “Percidal, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, those two are more than just NPCs,” he explained. “I believe they’re moderators, player within the game keeping an eye over all of us. I know this because I’ve seen them in action, and their combat skills as well as their diction would lead me to believe someone is controlling the strings outside of Equestria Online.”

My heart was pounding, and my body was shaking. If I had fingers, they would more than likely be curling into a fist. I began to rub my teeth together and furrowed my brow, lifting my head to glare at the pegasus stallion before me.

“That… Is ridiculous!” I shouted, letting out a loud snort. “What on earth is this bull you’re giving me about government conspiracies and evil organizations?! This isn’t some stupid anime or a movie, Peter, this is a fucked up reality that you’re trying too hard to play off as a damn malfunction!”

Gambino had taken several steps back and Peter just stood there in front of me, though I had knocked the smirk off of his face with my little outburst. He sighed, and placed a wing on my shoulder, then looked at me with the softest eyes I’ve ever seen anybody have.

“If you won’t help, then stop trying to intercede into my life!”

He pushed me back, forcing me off of my hooves as I flew through the air and skid across the ground. My eyes widened as I looked up from my position, the scowl of a crazed maniac painted across the visage of that white pegasus looming over me. I was too stunned to notice Gambino until I felt myself being lifted from off of the floor.

“Hey, what the hell,” he said, stepping in front of me. “That wasn’t really cool, man!”

“Oh, shut up! If you’re going to defend her, then you’re no use to me either!” He rose into the sky again and lifted high above us. Our spat had attracted the attention of a few spectators by this time. “Listen to me well, Sonya,” he began, “Accordian misled you into coming here, and I’m sorry about that, but I can’t have you interrupting me while I reveal their intentions to the gaming community, and the world.”

“Peter! You son of a bitch! Stop this and quit the game! Let everyone go, you bastard!” My shouts only made him smile, and he laughed at me.

“God, you don’t get it! I’m not Peter! I’m Percidal! Percidal Wingover, and I promise you, Equestrians, I will usurp the corrupted power of the alicorn sisters, and free you all from this hellish nightmare!” His cries garnered a few cheers from the crowds of ponies watching us now.

“Some hero you tuned out to be, you jerk!” Gambino shouted. “Even if it means I stay low-leveled forever, I won’t ever stoop to your kind of low!”

I couldn’t properly thank or even acknowledge Gambino for his assault, as I was all hot inside from the anguish and hate that was boiling around me. Tears streamed down my face as I watched the pony in the sky take off across the expanse, vanishing in a sea of clouds. The crowds of ponies around us dispersed, and I was left there, alone and cold, sitting in a puddle of my own sorrow. I felt the touch of someone on my shoulder and I flinched, galloping away at full speed in any direction I could.

The notification icon on my HUD was blaring, full of unread messages from my contacts on the outside. I erased them all, somehow, wiping it from my HUD as I sped down some alley on some road in the middle of some part of town. I eventually stopped, blocked off by a cobbled wall and surrounded by garbage and debris. My head hurt, and my throat felt as if I had swallowed a stone.

I threw my head against the wall and began to sob, slamming my hooves against the stone and trading cries for short bursts of breath occasionally. I slumped to the floor and wept, replaying the same image in my head over and over again. The image of that crazed stallion, glaring down at me with unparallelled animosity. I looked into the eyes of a dead man, given up on life and devoid of any sense of reason.

“Sonya,” I heard a voice call out in the middle of my cries. I looked up and saw the earth pony with the scarf and satchel. He trotted over to me and held out a hoof, waiting for a response.

“It’s my fault,” I said, taking his hoof and slowly standing up on my own.

“What? What’s your fault?”

“Me, I did this… I trapped you all here,” I croaked.

“Don’t be crazy… There’s a logical explanation, and we’ll find it, I’m sure!” Gambino said. I looked at him and shook my head, putting it down and weeping some more.

“Peter, I’m sorry,” I whispered to myself. “Gambino… I’m sorry.”

“Hey, quit it, I’m not blaming you for anything!” he told me, grabbing me by the face and pulling it towards his. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, or what the hell happened back there, but don’t worry, it’s all going to be okay. It’ll all be okay, okay?”

I shook myself from his grasp and began to leave the alleyway. He followed, and I stopped, turning around suddenly to embrace him. I half expected a quip, or a little phrase, but instead, I received a hug back.

“It’s not going to be okay,” I said, letting out the last of my grief. “Not until I knock some sense into him.”

“You called him Peter,” Gambino said, “and he called you Sonya. I guess those are your real names?”

“Yeah,” I replied softly.

“Cool,” he said shortly after. “My name’s Simon, in case you were wondering.”

I let go of him, after realizing we had been interlocked for quite some time, and looked away, avoiding the stupid grin he now had on his face.

“I prefer Simon over Gambino,” I admitted, making him laugh.

“It seems your little scene in the courtyard started something, Sonya,” he said then, making me look up. Blocking the exit of the alleyway stood two bulky unicorns, adorned in golden armor and wielding spears on their sides. One of them stepped forward and cleared his throat, looking at me with a powerful set of eyes.

“You two are requested at the Royal Castle at once,” he said, letting out a snort afterwards. I looked above his head and saw a username followed by a life gauge. This wasn’t an NPC, that was for sure. “I didn’t stutter, did I? Move it, or we’ll take you by force,” he stated, stamping a hoof.

“What do you want with us?” Simon asked.

“You made a scene in the center of town, with everybody in Canterlot as witness to the public announcement of conspiring to assassinate the Royal Pony Sisters,” he explained. “This matter must not be taken lightly.”

“They’re NPCs, what do you care? They’ll just respawn if they’re killed,” Simon replied.

“They’re not just NPCs, you idiot,” he replied. “They’re the central code to this game. They make it function as a self-sustaining world in the event of emergencies like the Logout Crisis.”

“Artificial intelligence?” I asked, finding my voice again.

“Advanced artificial intelligence, missy,” the stallion said. “I’ve already revealed too much in too open an environment, come with me peacefully or I will have to activate my admin abilities.”

I looked at the unicorn and then back at Simon, then nodded, stepping forward as the guard allowed us to exit and enter a golden chariot. He and the other pony stepped behind the reins and flapped their wings, lifting the whole carriage off of the ground and into the sky. We took off, flying swiftly towards the large castle at the edge of town. I watched as it came into view, and saw perched on one of the spires the one called Celestia. Waiting on an adjacent spire was her sister, Luna.

“I shouldn’t be afraid because they’re not real, but I have this feeling that we shouldn’t take them lightly either,” Simon said, chuckling nervously.

“Smart,” the guard from before said. “Now, mind your manners, and for their sake as well as mine, tell the truth. It’ll make interrogations easier.”

“Interrogations?” Simon asked.

“Yes,” the stallion replied, landing in the castle courtyard. He turned around and placed an aura ring around our hooves and necks. “I forgot to mention, you’re under arrest.”