//------------------------------// // Episode 1 - Link Start // Story: EQG: Sword Art Online - Ruby Palace // by Mindrop //------------------------------// Episode 1 - Link Start (Ruby Palace) Sixth day of the Month of Cypress (November 6) in the Year of the Hawk Sunset Shimmer was reading ahead before SAO launched. She didn't expect to have much of the day left after they played the game. It was quiet in the house, particularly for a Sunday. Himari was at a friend's house and Missus Nakamura was over there as well. Mister Nakamura had stepped out of the house to run a few errands.  The doorbell chimed, which was an unusual occurrence. Sunset checked her phone to see if one of them had forgotten their keys or something, but no new texts had come in. The doorbell rang again, so she got up to see who it was. Behind the door was an elderly couple. They looked her over and the woman leaned over to double check the number on the door.  "Forgive me, we are looking for our son, Isoraku," she explained.  Sunset suddenly remembered the family portrait and bowed low. "Forgive me. I should have recognized you. I am Sunset Shimmer, the foreign exchange student staying with your son's family." Sunset stood up. "Please, come in. Mister Nakamura is running some errands and Missus Nakamura and Miss Himari are at a friend's house." They stepped inside and Sunset offered them the guest slippers. "Let me get my phone and send them a message that you have arrived. I wasn't aware you were coming." "It's a surprise visit," she explained. "And thank you. We knew Sundays were usually a quiet, family day for them." Sunset rushed off to her room and grabbed her phone. She messaged both of them in the group message. As she hit send, she heard the door open.  "Mother! Father!" Mister Nakamura exclaimed. "This is a surprise." Sunset went out to talk to Mister Nakamura. He was standing by his parents, who had sat down on the couch.  "Your exchange student let us in," his mother said. "She is a pretty girl and respectful." Sunset ignored the compliment. She had no idea how to respond so she rolled with not hearing it. "Mister Nakamura, you can ignore the text message I just sent you." "Thank you, Sunset," he replied, glancing at his watch. "It's almost one O’clock. Doesn't everything start then?" "It does," Sunset nodded. She didn't want to be rude. Even though she was technically a guest, she hadn't had the ability to meet his parents. They deserved her attention. "What is at one?" His father asked her. "Oh," Sunset said, blushing. "I have a copy of a new game and I was going to be playing it with some friends from school. Some are exchange students with me, one is from here. The official launch is at one o'clock today." "You got a copy of Sword Art Online!" He asked, surprised. "You know, I looked at getting a copy, but I decided against fighting all the youngsters for it. When they release more copies, maybe I will. I hear a man my age can feel like he is in his 20s again, and enjoy a whole new adventure in life. Go! Play!" "Oh, are you sure?" Sunset asked.  "Listen here," he said with a kind, wise smile. "Every generation has its own adventures, its own new experiences that no other generation can ever have. I got to have mine in the fledgling Japanese Self Defense Force, Isoraku got his in University when he did an exchange program." "I didn't know he did an exchange program," Sunset said, accidentally interrupting.  "It was different from yours," Mister Nakamura explained. "I was already living on my own, and a junior in college when I went abroad. I had my own apartment there and my transition between school types was not as severe as yours has been. We did semesters, not trimesters, even back then. "It was fun. It had its ups and downs. Your experience has been better than mine, and I suppose that is because you have exchange parents, while I had none. I had to find my own way and make my own friends. I still talk with Jason quite often and would love to take the family to visit his. Probably in a year or two, when Himari is older and able to get more out of such a big trip." "As I was saying," Mister Nakamura's father continued, not bothered by the side track. "Each generation gets their own experiences. You are certainly taking the time to gain your own. Living in another country while going to school is an amazing opportunity. But you also get to be the first with this technology. It is a unique opportunity, and one so rare it is one of only ten thousand. So go, play, enjoy, explore, make memories you can tell your grandchildren and learn the lessons that you can from whatever that fantastical world has to offer. And swing your sword a few times for me." "I will," Sunset assured him, adding a respectful bow. "And I would love to play with you if we ever got the chance." He chuckled. “I would enjoy that opportunity.” Sunset rushed off to her room. Natsuki had given them all pointers on the best diving atmosphere, specifically for when you exited. You didn’t want to be too cold, or too hot, and keep things comfortable. She double checked the temperature in her room, making sure it was good. She also had eaten an early lunch, since diving on a full stomach wasn’t suggested. She went to the bathroom one last time and then threw on looser clothing as advised, strapped on the NerveGear, and laid down in bed.  She touched her geode for good luck and gave the command, “LINK START!” Colors flashed and streaked by as Sunset was transported away. When it stopped she was at the starting menu. Yesterday, Argus had opened the server for SAO’s character data. They allowed players to register and create their character ahead of the launch. It had taken Sunset nearly an hour to go through all of the options for her character and design Bladescape. She logged in and the colors began to fly again.  Before she could create her character, she first had to calibrate the NerveGear. The calibration was simple, it walked her through touching her major joints and body points as it directed so the rig could read the signals her brain sent along the nervous system. The character creation menu loaded up her actual dimensions as the base. Sunset had stuck with Natsuki’s recommendation and kept her body shape and size the same. If she adjusted those parameters too far in either direction, it could throw off her perception of her body and make it hard to move and fight.  With her body dimensions settled, the hard part began. SAO was more hands on with avatar creation than any other game on the market. The hairstyles alone had over a hundred to choose from with forty-seven natural shades to decide on. There would be more available once players were in the game, Sunset had seen other colors in Natsuki’s pictures, but for initial character creation, this was what they had to work with and it was more than most games could manage. It explained why they had to limit the launch to just ten thousand copies. Sunset chose a dark auburn in the “Double Dutch Rope” style; two Dutch braids starting on either side of the crown which merged into one braid at the base of the neck to dangle. It would keep her hair from falling into her face while fighting.    There were twenty preset faces, with each preset able to have one of six skin tones, plus the choice of one of the three undertones. That equaled three hundred and sixty preset faces. From any of them the player could cycle through other presets for specific facial features like eye shape, brow style, chin shape, jawline, and nose. Further manual adjustments to fine tune the avatar’s face could be done. Sunset had settled on a stronger jawline, slimmer nose, thin yet bright lips, and a stronger brow ridge but thinner eyebrows. She also had settled on a skin tone that was lighter than her normal with a warm, rosy undertone.   For clothing, Argus gave players four bases that could be chosen from. Two different shirts, paired with the same pants; a dress with a primary and secondary color; or a shirt and skirt combination with optional stockings. Each had preset color combinations, but players could customize with an RBG sliding scale. Still, they were more muted colors. The leather boots came in a variety of colors, but only one basic style. Their chest protector and belt were matching and only were natural leather colors. The clothing would be the first thing most players would end up changing anyway. Sunset had gone with a wine-red shirt and tan pants, with a black belt and chest protector. Her boots were also black. Since she had chosen a straight, one-handed sword for her starting weapon, she had two options for where it could be mounted: her hip or her back. Sunset had settled for her back since she planned to evolve the skill to two-handed sword, which would force her to wear it on her back due to their size. Her view shifted and Sunset blinked into the new world. She was in the town center. It was all made of stone, even the pavement. The center plaza was surrounded by a decorative stone wall, and only had a few exits. The center had a spire which acted as the main jump point for the teleport plaza system. The background music was a fun fanfare with some wind instruments and strings.    Plenty of other players were popping up in blue lights. Sunset looked ahead, which was north, and to the entrance to the Black Iron Palace. It looked exactly as it was named. Inside was the Room of Resurrection, where players respawned when they died.  For now, she was concerned with the meet up. Sunset rushed west, out of the town center. As she ran, it felt just like real life. She felt each muscle move as she took the long strides and her arms moved to her pace. Her focus slipped to just experiencing the feeling of being in another reality.  Crossing over from Equestria into the human world, it was a whole different experience. She had changed forms. Now she was still human, but in a different body. There was also a different set of natural laws, albeit not too different.  The circular city was laid out like a wheel with spokes. It was a straight shot to the western gate where Natsuki had told them to meet her.  She saw the exit and seven players. None of them she recognized, but that was expected. All she could see was a green cursor above their heads, signaling they were a player. Red was a monster and blue was an NPC. Names didn’t automatically show up, unless you were friends with the player. Despite no names and no recognizable faces, Sunset could pick out who was who. Each of her friends still stood the same way they did in the real world and they all chose their obvious colors.  Natsuki was the smaller male in the group. She hated getting harassed by the gamer guys who were desperate and lonely. To solve that, she typically played as a male character for MMORPGs. No doubt, her avatar was the picture of what she found attractive: semi buff, fair skin, and blue eyes with silver hair that was short and spiky. She was wearing a light orange shirt with black pants, plus black boots and gear. The very lean girl with black hair was clearly Rainbow Dash. She had a straight sword on her hip and had chosen black boots and gear to go with the sky-blue shirt and navy pants. The shortest of them all, sporting an auburn pixie cut, pink shirt with yellow skirt and yellow stockings, had to be Fluttershy. The girl in the ivory dress with flowing black locks was obviously Rarity. She wasn’t wearing any of the starter armor or a weapon and her facial features were an expertly sculpted picture of beauty. Rarity had spent several hours on her avatar and it showed.  The blond-haired bodybuilder was Applejack. She was using one of the first preset avatars with no alterations. Two other big clues to her identity were her burnt-orange shirt, with tan gear, and how she was leaning against the wall; her left foot was crossed over her right. A war hammer was thrust through her belt. Twilight was the one with the purple and lavender dress under the armor, but what really gave her away was that she was trying to fix her glasses, which were not present. She also had her weapon equipped, the same basic starter sword as Sunset and Rainbow Dash.  The final player was a hulking giant with a black afro. Pinkie Pie had bragged about maxing what was allowed for avatars and she had also decided to play as a male character. Somehow there was a pink shirt large enough to fit that body size, as well as a pair of sage pants big enough for those sculpted glutes. A basic one-headed battle axe was thrust through her brown belt, but the hulking giant had told them all she wanted to use the biggest war axe possible. She had built an avatar to do just that.  "What gives? I thought you were all set?" Rainbow Dash asked. “Even Rarity got here before you.” “Sorry," Sunset Shimmer replied. "I was ready, but Mister Nakamura's parents dropped by unannounced. I was the only one home at the time. He wasn’t much longer and then they sent me off to play.” Natsuki’s voice matched her avatar’s look. “Since you were the last to arrive, you can start with introductions. What is your name?”  “I am Bladescape,” Sunset declared. “I learned a lot from Iaido over the weeks. A warrior stamps his identity on the battlefield, much like when we write our name on a paper, we are putting our identity on the page. I must be intentional about what I say with my sword. I kept seeing that single tree on the hill that you, Nats, said was outside of town and the hamon of a Katana reminds me of a mountain range. Landscape, plus sword, equals Bladescape. With each stroke of my sword, I will change Aincrad and put my identity on it. I can't waste a stroke or it will ruin my stamp on this world and you can never take back the stroke of a sword.” “Of course you would go with a name like that,” Rainbow Dash snorted.  “Hey!” Sunset protested. “Just because I wanted more of an artistic name, one with subtlety and class, that shouldn’t diminish my choice. What did you even choose?” "I'm so fast, I give birth to thunder," Rainbow Dash flaunted. "So I chose Thunderborne. Borne as in 'to carry,' the one that ends with an E. How is that for subtlety and class?" “Oh please,” Rarity snorted. “That isn’t subtle or classy. It's brash. I’m Diemond, with an E instead of an A. Both beautiful and deadly, subtle yet flashy, a high society name for a high society lady like moi while also being a name worthy of a paladin.” “How is this for class, Diemond?” Applejack asked. “I went with Malus. As in the genus of trees we know as apple trees. Which also makes for a good warrior name.” “I’ll give you that one,” Rarity said. “It is clever and full of tact, and, dare I say, classy in its strength.” “Since we are currently judging our names off class,” Twilight started, reflexively going to adjust her nonexistent glasses. “Well how about this? Knightstar, K N I G H T S T A R. Stars of the night, switched with the warrior.” “It’s very you, darling,” Rarity said. “The word play is smart with its own classification of elegance. I do like it. It lacks the haughty flair of Thunderborne.” “Hey!” Rainbow Dash protested.  Natsuki broke down laughing. “She got you there! So far, the names are good. They fit you and are strong ones, be it artful or more brash. I guess it is my turn. I took Natsuki and smashed it together with Tora, the name I wish I had been given. I’m sure Thunderborne forgot that Tora means tiger and you all know I have always been fascinated by tigers. I think my parents actually wish they had named me Tora, except it is clearly a boy’s name in Japan. Anyway, in SAO, I’m Natora!"  “And I’m Konpeito!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing over to her and shaking her hand. “Japan’s version of rock candy. Delicious, hard, and tantalizingly prickly. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Natsuki didn’t know what to do with Pinkie Pie. “Uh, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Konpeito.” Applejack came to Natsuki’s rescue. “We have just one more name to learn, Fluttershy, what did you do?” "I um...well…" Fluttershy stammered. "Sugarcube, we’ll find out soon enough,” Applejack encouraged. "I'm Doombunny in SAO," Fluttershy declared, decently confident. "I love bunnies and I'll bring the Doom of anything that harms my friends! At least...I hope so." "You were thinking about Angel, weren't you?" Twilight asked. "I'm always thinking about him," Fluttershy replied. “The exchange program is amazing and fun, but I do miss our cuddle sessions and being able to hold a soft, fluffy bunny.” "I'm always thinking about Spike," Twilight admitted. "So, I understand. It won't be much longer until we see our pets again." “Beast taming is a thing in SAO,” Natsuki reminded her. “I’m not sure how it works. Maybe that can be your thing. I hope it is, especially if it’s a tiger beast. That would make our team awesome.” Natsuki stretched and cracked her knuckles. “If we are going to get the jump on the ten-thousand other players, we need to get moving. For now, most of them will be staying in the city, experiencing things there, but the real stuff is outside the walls. The fields will provide us with enough enemies to learn how to move and fight, plus the XP to gain a level or two before the others stop marveling and begin to wander out in search of something actually exciting to do. So, equip your gear. If your weapon or shield isn’t a chosen skill, make sure to do that as well.” BLADESCAPE: Sunset Shimmer  NATORA: Ota Natsuki  KNIGHTSTAR: Twilight Sparkle  MALUS: Applejack  THUNDERBORNE: Rainbow Dash KONPEITO: Pinkie Pie  DIEMOND: Rarity DOOMBUNNY: Fluttershy