Last extra one for a while. Ruby Palace - Art Post 4 · 4:35pm Aug 28th, 2022
First batch is off to editing. Still finalizing vignettes. Oh yeah, and Thesis. Thesis. Thesis. Thesis. And Thesis. Anyway I got some art made. No wing banners, but these will make epic page breaks!
Japan. Sunset Shimmer walked off the plane and through the jet walk, adjusting her backpack as she walked. Customs was ahead and she needed to focus on getting through. It wouldn't, shouldn’t, be too hard. The flight had been long and it was the last thing she wanted to deal with, but it was a necessary, adult, step.
She was a senior in high school and she was in Japan for a foreign exchange semester. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight had also qualified for the program, but were on different flights to Tokyo. Canterlot High School was partnered with the foreign exchange program and often had an exchange student attending the school. The program was a once in a lifetime opportunity and only available to seniors.
Besides being a Senior, to be eligible to go to Japan, the student had to take at least Japanese 101 over Junior Year. The semester would count as a year of language credit, and they needed at least two credits to graduate. Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie had taken J101 as a sophomore and J102 a junior. Neither had planned on taking advantage of the exchange program when they chose Japanese for their language credit. Fluttershy had started Japanese as a freshman. No one had realized that she had even taken Japanese until they had begun to talk about the exchange program.
The three of them had their language credits for the school’s graduation qualifications satisfied, making the exchange less stressful, at least for Sunset Shimmer. She wouldn’t have stress over the language proficiency test at the end of the semester because she didn't have to take it. She felt confident that she could handle being in class all day long learning only in Japanese. She hoped her accent would dwindle in the short time she would have here.
The rest of the others had taken J101 the previous school year. Over the last few weeks, they had been spending time talking and texting in Japanese to stay sharp. They all had varying degrees of success at grasping the language, but each one had passed the test enough to qualify for the exchange program. Learning any language in just one year was difficult and Japanese was no exception. This exchange would provide a full immersion into the language and culture and help solidify the language in their minds.
Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer were carrying out entire conversations in Japanese, without the need for a lexicon or help. Pinkie Pie was quick with the language and worse, she was already able to do word play with it. Fluttershy, as usual, kept pretty quiet in the group chat, until she had to correct Pinkie Pie’s attempt at a word play. It never failed to shock Sunset Shimmer when Fluttershy explained everything in Japanese like their teacher, but better.
Thankfully, if any of them began to struggle, they had a safety net. Japan required their students to learn English all throughout the various levels of school. How well they could speak it varied from person to person, but if they had trouble communicating verbally, they could at least do it over a written exchange. Their fellow students and many of their teachers could help if they needed it.
There was more to qualifying for the exchange program than language credits. Students had to have good grades for their other classes. They needed recommendation letters and good ones that impressed both schools. They had to go through a video interview with the acceptance committee, which had both English based members and Japanese based members on it, and at least part of the interview had been in Japanese. The program had to believe the students could handle the transitions, especially back to their home school after winter break. Japan used trimester instead of semesters, making that transition an interesting hurdle for students. The student’s success was the most important thing being gauged, even if it didn’t feel like it, but that didn’t matter anymore because she had already been accepted and so had her friends.
Yes, those are arrow (Sunset/Bladescape, Rarity/Diemond, KoB/Knights of the Bloodoath, & Wondercolts). They came with bows. No, Ruby Palace won't have bows, it will be sticking to SAO canon for weapons. Might as well toss theme here too!
Nice, while they wont work in RP, if you continue in to ALO I can totaly see Rarity/Diemond use hers.
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I may use the KOB ones, as its 800x25 pixels. Nice and thin. The Rapiers are epic, but 800x100. Sometimes that can be a big break, depending on what is happening. Using page space properly is key. FimFic is more limited than a word document, but I can still do a lot. Hehehe.
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I love the purple arrow and bow
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I know! The symmetry of the crystal is beautiful, yet the asymmetry is amazingly well balanced!
They look amazing,thank you.
WOWWIE! You are a very amazing author with a very beautiful and creative mind. I just binged read the entirety of EQG: SAO in 2 days without break. That’s just how captivating your writing is.
I just wanted to write down here that this hobby of yours is something really special and it’s been truly, amazingly, invigorating to be able to find such a gem within all the other stories.
Thank you so much for writing these stories, and I wish and hope with all my might that you may someday update more masterpieces when you are well rested (and successful) in the future.
(Also, your stories have inspired me to writing my own too. Although I’ll never understand how you write as well as you do)
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Thanks! I appreciate it. In a few days my semester ends, so I'll have some more time to write Ruby Palace. I am glad you really enjoyed Aincrad and that I inspired you to do more writing. I got as good as I did because somewhat of classes I've taken, but also just by consistently writing. That is the best thing to do. Classes teach, but writing requires repetition to become good. I also have a good editor.