The release of Equestria Online and the incredible capabilities of its central Celestia AI led to ferocious debates among ethicists, computer science experts, every religious community on the globe, and more besides.
In hindsight, I probably should've been paying more attention to the news. In my defense, I was reading a lot of fan fiction at the time.
An entry in the Friendship is Optimal contest. Names have been changed to protect the variably innocent.
Cover image by Chatoyance, used with permission. Prereading provided by Speckle.