Episode 3 - First Steps
Sixth day in the Month of Cypress (November 6) in the Year of the Hawk
Floor 1
Sunset Shimmer stood there in shock as her vision came back to her from the mirror exploding. She immediately noticed her hands. They were her own hands, down to the pigment of her olive skin. She wasn't in her Avatar's body anymore. Her clothes and equipment were the same, and they fit her exactly like they should, but she was now in a copy of her own body. She couldn’t immediately tell that it wasn’t her real body. Her hair was no longer braided and it too was her normal red with yellow highlights.
The first question was how? How could the NerveGear know her body size and shape? The inside of the helmet could see her face, to read her eyes upon start up, but it didn’t have the visuals of the rest of her body. Then Sunset remembered the calibration she had to do the day before. It required her to touch various parts of her body, to read the brain signals her body sent, but it also gave size and shape data.
Sunset Shimmer had just been pulled through a portal, without her approval, and so had her friends. They were now here, in Aincrad, with it as their only lives, or the only ones that really mattered. If their hit points reached 0, they would be dead; in any reality, any dimension, totally and utterly dead.
Kayaba spoke again, the blood red sky accentuating his words. “You are likely asking yourselves, why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of SAO and the NerveGear unit, do such a thing? Is it an act of terrorism? An elaborate kidnapping to extract ransom money?”
The tone of his voice shifted a bit, adding in a bit of color to the faceless voice from the sky. It almost sounded like it had a deep longing to it, but Sunset was sure that couldn’t be right. Her ears had to be mistaken.
“What I seek is neither of these things. I have no goals or justifications at this moment. In fact, this very situation was my ultimate goal. I created the NerveGear and SAO precisely in order to build this world and observe it. I have now achieved that aim.”
The voice paused, and shifted back to the monotone it had originally held. “This concludes the tutorial phase of Sword Art Online. I wish you the best of luck, dear players.”
Sunset watched as the crimson robe silently ascended back into the ceiling, where it melted into the system warning octagons still displayed in midair. The rest of the robe was sucked up with it. Then the red warnings disappeared, letting the light return to its normal golden evening colors. The background music of the floor swept over the crowd as well, as if nothing had happened.
Sunset looked at her body. The change was absolute proof that what the giant robe in the sky had said was true. They were trapped here until they beat the final boss, who awaited them all the way at the top of the game in the Ruby Palace. And they had to do it without dying.
Her mind went into overdrive now that Kayaba was gone and she could think without being interrupted. They had to get out of the game. They had already taken down magical beasts before. Just a few months prior they had been at Camp Everfree and proven their worth once again. Surely, they could overcome this. It might not be their real, physical bodies, but they were Wondercolts in mind and soul. And they were gifted with Equestrian magic.
Except, they were not. None of that existed except in their minds now. Who they were was just that, a past life. It was no different than her having once been a unicorn: it was in the past. Now they were players in Sword Art Online, whose lives were in Aincrad. Any magic they once had was gone. Now they would need to learn the sword, the axe, the hammer, the mace, the dagger, and the spear to get out of here.
Sunset grabbed Natsuki by the shirt and pulled her face to face. Natsuki looked like she did in the real world. “Get your party to the rally point and in all seriousness, don’t lose Pinkie Pie on the way!”
“Right,” Natsuki nodded as Sunset let her go.
Sunset focused on her party. She glanced around to see where they were. They hadn’t moved much. Twilight was standing there, mumbling and lost in her thoughts. Fluttershy was on the ground weeping. Applejack was trying to comfort both of her friends and was torn as to how to do that as she battled her own fears.
Sunset put her hand on Applejack’s shoulder. She jumped, not expecting the touch. She looked at her friend and Sunset nodded slowly at her. “We are rallying at the Western gate. Grab Fluttershy. Carry her if you have to. We stay together, the four of us. Natsuki will get the others to the rally point. Then we stay together, the eight of us. No one gets left behind. Safety in numbers. We are stronger together. We have proved that multiple times already."
Applejack nodded and bent down to Fluttershy. Sunset put her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. She didn’t jump, but she was shocked back into the present moment. She looked at her friend and Sunset told her the plan. They looked at Applejack, who had decided to just pick up Fluttershy.
“Let’s go!” Sunset declared, as she grabbed Twilight’s hand. Twilight grabbed Applejack’s shirt so they were all together and they began to push and weave their way out of the sea of players. Most of them hadn't moved. They were afraid, crying, shaking in panic. Sunset felt bad for them, but she could only care for so many people right now. Her priority was her friends who she knew. She could meet their needs. She may not be able to meet the needs of complete strangers. They got free and began to sprint to the meeting point.
They were passing by a group of stalls when a vial caught Sunset’s eyes. She slid to a stop. The others ground to a halt as well, confused.
“Health potions!” Sunset declared.
She had just enough Col to buy one. Each of them was barely able to cover the cost of a minor health potion. Fluttershy did it from Applejack’s arms, but they were able to get her present enough to buy one.
As they turned to get back on track, a player collided with Sunset and they both fell to the ground in a tangle.
“Ow,” the boy groaned. He was only a few years older than Sunset, probably barely out of college. He had a red bandana on his head and his scruffy face meant that he hadn’t shaved in a few days. Probably since Friday morning, before he went to work last.
“Sorry,” Sunset said.
“You should really--” he froze, staring at her. “Hey, I know I am handsome, but you didn’t have to literally fall for me.”
Sunset rolled her eyes and got up. “By you, not for,” she grumbled. “You physically knocked me down.”
“Now where are you four lovely ladies off to in such a hurry?” he asked, sitting up but not standing.
“To rally with our friends,” Sunset said as she picked up her foot. She used it to lightly shove him onto his back. He needed some "punishment" for trying to pick her up at the start of a death game. She was doing him a favor. If his mind stayed on girls like it was, he wouldn’t last a week. Probably not even twenty-four hours.
The three of them sprinted away from him, down the street. “Well, I have friends I have to meet up with as well!” he yelled after them from the ground.
“Now I see why Natsuki wanted to play as a guy,” Applejack stated. “I sure hope that doesn’t happen more often.”
“I’m sure it won’t,” Sunset said. “I think we just happened to run into one of the problem guys who ruin it for everyone else. Plus, did you notice how many women were playing? This isn’t a bunch of hardcore gamers. Many of these people would never be considered gamers. That will leave a different feel on the game.”
They got to the gate and reunited with the others. “Sorry,” Sunset immediately said. “I saw a potion stand and we each could afford one each. So, we have four health potions. And then I accidentally got knocked down by a guy who wasn’t paying attention to where he was running.”
“Nice job snagging the potions,” Natsuki said with a smile. “Unfortunately, we are going to need them. I'd say we should go grab more, but four will have to do since you said you are almost out of Col. We will need the rest of ours to cover food and lodging."
“Now what do we do?” Rarity asked. “I was prepared to do a little fighting, but not for my life. Uncultured swine.” Rarity actually spat after insulting Kayaba.
“We fight,” Sunset said. “It won’t be easy, it will be scary, but what other option do we have? We have never backed down from a fight before. Sure, no magic, but we can learn to use our weapons and level ourselves up. We have to do it for our safety. Our current HP isn’t enough. But I think the eight of us can get the levels and make a run at this game. I don’t know how, but we can’t beat it unless we first gain more levels. Again, we need more HP and, Rarity, if you are to help support us by crafting, you need more skill slots. That is our only option. He made it our only option.”
“I don’t think I can do this,” Fluttershy squeaked from Applejack’s arms.
“I’ll protect you,” Applejack said. “Sugarcube, we all'll protect you.”
“We are stronger together,” Natsuki said. “I know this Floor well enough that we have some advantages. We already are up to Level Two, which is important. Plus, we have three-hundred HP, that is fifty points safer than what we had at the start. We also are a strong group with a variety of weapons, attack types, and ranges and that will expand even more soon enough as some of us switch to our unlocked combat skills.”
“Let’s do it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“First goal, Level Six,” Natsuki said. “We get our third Skill Slot then. The next is at Level Twelve, then the fifth at Level Twenty, and after that, we get a new slot every ten Levels. Thirty, Forty, Fifty and so on.”
“What gets us to Level Three safely and quickly?” Sunset asked, shooting even shorter in her goal setting.
“It already took us a few hours against these Level One boars to get to Level Two,” Natsuki pointed out. “We need a better source of XP. The next village, Horunka, is small, but it has a quest for a good sword. Eight of us will attract attention from monsters, but numbers will be on our side. We can fight our way there, staying safe in our group and gaining XP with each kill, and then we do that quest so our sword users can get upgraded swords. We may not get any sleep tonight, working to get there, but I think it is a safe risk. Plus, the enemies are Level Three and give more XP per kill, which will level us up faster. If we stay in teams of three or four, we should offset most of the risk, while reaping the shared XP.”
“Then let’s get going,” Sunset declared. “We won’t let this evil overlord crush us under his toe. We are--” Sunset stopped. She almost said Wondercolts, but with Natsuki in their group, that wasn’t 100% true. “--we are warriors.” Sunset declared. “And as warriors, we will do what we can to free ourselves from the iron shackles placed upon us today!”
Sunset extended her hand into ‘the center.’ “Level Three,” she said.
The others put their hands in. Fluttershy stood on her own to do so. They all said “Level Three” together as they raised their hands up to a strong rally.
They didn’t rush blindly out into the field. To get to Horunka, they would need to be smooth, focusing on the longevity of their ability to fight. There would be no other safe zones until they crossed into the village.
They still had their parties set up. Sunset looked at the three extra health bars in her vision. Each had their game names. She sighed. The Real World wasn’t a short hop away anymore. She really was Bladescape, for better or worse.
Malus was on point, with Thunderborne, Natora, and Bladescape on her flanks. Knightstar and Diemond were on the wings, shields ready to protect the others. Doombunny was on the inside, safe. She was at least moving and staying with them. Konpeito was skipping along with them and humming. She too was with them. So long as Doombunny and Konpeito stayed with them, Bladescape was calmer. Doombunny freezing and getting separated from them was a real concern, as much as Konpeito being Pinkie Pie and wandering off without them, or without her realizing she had left the group.
They quickly killed a boar that crossed their path and continued to follow the path that would take them from the Town of Beginnings to Horunka. The next thing they faced was a wolf, which was standing dead center of the worn dirt path.
“It’s cute,” Doombunny commented.
“And it will readily bite your head off,” Natora warned. “It isn’t smiling at us. They are more agile than the boars, but they don’t have the same strength. They do have a higher attack and are a lot faster, but less health.”
Malus led Bladescape and Natora out to meet it. They left Thunderborne back to be the offensive defender. Bladescape leaped out from behind Malus and she swung her sword, keying up the Sword Skill Vertical. It slashed a red mark along the shoulder of the wolf as it leapt at Malus’ shield. As the wolf’s paws landed on the ground, Natora struck from behind Malus, keeping her as a buffer while using her spear’s reach to her advantage. The stab knocked the rest of the HP off the wolf and it shattered into polygons.
“Clean and efficient,” Natora declared. “And most important, safe.”
“How did you survive solo with a spear?” Bladescape asked. “That wordless switch move was perfect.”
“I didn’t,” Natora shrugged. “I died. A lot. I also didn’t start with a spear. I started with a sword, tried an axe, hammer, mace, and finally found my love with a spear. I still want to get that spear back.”
“Can you?” Bladescape asked.
“Well, it was a quest reward, so most likely. It wasn’t an iron spear like I have now. That one was called the Spring Evening Spear. I had it all of two days, but it was a great spear. That quest was on the other side of the map, in Tolbana, and it’s way out of our safety range and skill at the current moment. I doubt they changed the location of the boss labyrinth, which was near Tolbana."
“Then we have another goal,” Bladescape said. “Let’s keep moving for us to make it to Horunka before midnight.”
They stayed in their formation, taking on anything that came in their way. Sometimes it was one wolf, other times it was a small pack. Their defensive pattern kept them safe as the field shifted to a forest. They didn’t earn a lot of XP in their effort to get to the higher yielding monsters.
“These guys are Level Three,” Natora warned as they entered the forest. “One above us. And uh, they look like flowers. Deadly, walking vine flowers that will eat you alive?”
“How can they eat you?” Konpeito asked. "I thought it was for eating. That is why we grind it up to make it into bread.”
“Flowers, with petals and pollen, not bread flour,” Natora clarified after a sigh.
“Ooooooh,” Konpeito said. “Thorn Flower.”
“The Korean Film?” Natora asked.
“So, no?” Konpeito asked.
“NO!” Natora exclaimed.
“Guys!” Bladescape yelled. “Search just lit up a whole bunch of enemies on either side of us. They are coming for us and, Pinkie, they look like giant flowers with mouths! They are called Little Nepenthes.”
“They are nasty buggers,” Natora growled as she took a defensive stance. “They are fast, lashing out with the very vines they move on. They are vulnerable to slashes at their stalks. They also are the first multivariable enemy. There are three types, all level three. The normal variant you see. The second is rare and it has a poison sack hanging on its head that if popped, attracts even more to you. A lot of players died in the beta because they got overwhelmed. That is how bad it is. They are rare, just like the third type. It has a flower on its head. The quest needs the flower. The drop rate is...well I gave up in the beta.”
“And we will need three, right?” Bladescape asked.
“One for each of you,” Natora confirmed. “However, we need to deal with these guys in front of us. New plan; Thunder, you put Sprint as your second Skill, right?”
“Yeah?” Thunderborne replied. “Why?”
“I spent the least amount of time in this area. Sprint ahead, avoid combat, and find out how far away we are. Just follow the path. We will probably get stuck here. Now run! Before they cut you off!”
Thunderborne nodded and sprinted off down the path. She nimbly avoided several of the Little Nepenthes and disappeared into the dark.
Sunset set their strategy. “I’ll work with AJ; Nats, take Rarity; and Twilight and Pinkie can work together,”
“We will work on game name etiquette later,” Natora said, stepping over to Diemond and raising her spear. “Survival first. And Doom, now would be a good time to claim your namesake. You did it this afternoon and, as you can see in the moonlight, these things are anything but cute.”
There was no more time for words as the first vines lashed out. Bladescape stacked up behind Malus who took several strikes against her shield. Malus yelled “switch” and Bladescape jumped out from behind her friend, unleashing Horizontal on the stock of the flower monster. It left a red line across the narrow green stalk and the HP dropped a good amount.
A vine stabbed into Bladescape’s shoulder. For the first time in Sword Art Online, Sunset felt real fear. She had been afraid during the tutorial. She had experienced various forms of fear from going through the portal to a new world unlike anything she knew. She knew the various types of fear except this one. This time, it was an adrenaline-fueled fear of imminent death making it impossible to move.
The strike took off a good deal of HP, but that wasn’t what sparked the fear. Before the opening ceremony, getting hit hadn’t hurt. When Kayaba officially changed the game, pain was added. This new element was what sparked a deep fear in Sunset Shimmer. There was no ignoring how real this world was.
A second vine pierced Sunset in the kidney, the other creature having circumvented the defenses of Knightstar and Konpeito. They were outnumbered by one or two, with more on the way.
Malus blasted apart the one Bladescape had struck. She slid herself in between another, taking multiple strikes on her shield in rapid succession.
Malus looked back at Bladescape questioning her frozen actions. “It hurts,” Bladescape coughed. “Real pain.”
Knightstar was knocked off her feet. She had frozen after hearing Bladescape’s warning. Konpeito was left trying to deal with two of the creatures at the same time.
Bladescape tried to stand and stumbled. She fell into Malus, sending both of them to the ground. Natora yelled a war cry and jumped over them, trying to draw aggro. It left Diemond trying to balance three of the Little Nepenthes. All she was able to do was put up a defense.
Natora let out a cry of pain as her arm was slashed by a vine. The strike led to an involuntary discard of her spear. It clattered to the ground. Natora looked her killer in the face and smiled.
It shattered. The polygons floated through the air rather than end Natora’s life.
The others began to shatter. They were left without any enemies. They all looked around. Thunderborne slid up to them.
“What gives?” Thunderborne asked. “I thought I would have to rescue you?”
“You didn’t?” Malus asked from the ground.
“No,” Thunderborne replied, readying her sword and looking for the attacker.
“Um, that would be me,” Doombunny sweetly said. She flashed her dagger and then sheathed it. “I couldn’t let you all die. Like Natora said, they are not cute. That and I have to own Doom at some point. Against these things...I can.”
“The chilling speed of daggers and knives,” Natora said. “When used properly, in an all-out attack…well nothing beats it in my opinion. I just don’t have the right mindset to pull it off.
"My advice to you, Doom, is simple: own it and hone it. What you just did, well it's not a skill you would apply to dragons or most of the larger beasts, but it's a special skill that has its places. When you find them, it defies the limits of the game. It's also a skill few can handle, especially day in and day out. You apparently have that skill. Carving up one or two monsters is one thing, okay, but nine? Find your center, what anchors you despite your fear, and never let it go. Use it to hone and drive that skill. And that is skill as in natural ability, not the system defined One-handed Dagger Skill."
Doombunny just quietly nodded back. She didn't look at all like a ferocious warrior. And not at all like someone who had just carved up almost a dozen monsters in quick succession. Then again, none of them really looked like warriors at this point. Their starter gear didn’t help.
"Thunder," Natora said with a sly grin that was even more concerning in the moonlight. "You better watch yourself, or she will be the fastest player in our group."
"No one is going to be faster than me," Thunderborne declared. "Not in our group and not in the whole game."
"How far is the village?" Bladescape asked as she was pulled to her feet by Konpeito.
"It's not too far,” Rainbow Dash replied. “But I passed plenty of the creatures on the way. No doubt they are making their way towards us, or at least will stand in our way. But what happened? How’d you guys fall apart?"
"Pain was added to the game," Bladescape growled. "I got stabbed and it felt worse than I ever could imagine."
"Oh," was all Thunderborne said.
She didn't want to go down that line of thought. None of them did. But like the real world, pain was a part of the game now. To survive the battles would require them to learn to push past it and still fight. Unlike the real world, a stab was not as debilitating. It wouldn't sever muscles or cause them to bleed out, because their virtual bodies lacked both.
Sunset finally spoke. “We stick together, protect each other, and when we fall, help each other up. Together, we will learn what real pain is and how to fight despite it. Survival doesn’t seem like it will let us get by without learning that lesson. I know that means we will need to build an iron will, just like the iron exterior of Aincrad. That won’t be easy, but we are--” Sunset almost said Wondercolts again except that Natsuki wasn’t. “--warriors. Aincrad lets us be warriors so let's be warriors of Aincrad."
“That’s the spirit,” Natora said. “That’s what a warrior does. The old battlefields of sword and spears left warriors cut, bruised, and broken. Yet they fought on so they didn’t fail their friends, allies, and families. We can’t fail each other in SAO. Plus, Thunder keeps talking about the magic of friendship you all have. I want to see the power that is your friendship.”
“Let’s go,” Bladescape said, swiping her sword down the path. “We have a safe place not too far away. We need rest and time to think. Our friendship is stronger than Aincrad but we need to settle that in our minds after everything that just got thrown at us.”
“Better drink one of those health potions,” Natora reminded her. “And could I get one? I know that leaves us with two, but the rest of you only got knocked off your feet.”
Malus passed Natora a potion. Potions regenerated health over a period of time. It was pretty quick, but not instantaneous. The amount depended on the strength of the potion. Their low levels meant that at even 100 points, it was a significant restoration.
As they healed, they continued on. They killed anything in their path, fighting to be faster than the vines unleashed at them; a strong offense in their dash to safety. They broke through a few assaults and then stumbled into the small village.
Even in the darkness, it was easy to tell there were only a dozen buildings, if that.
“That’s the inn,” Natora said, pointing it out. “I recommend we get two rooms. We don’t have a lot of Col and, in our parties, we can share the room. It's only going to be a single bed though, and it won’t fit all of us. Also, the inn only has a half dozen rooms to rent. Other players will need them. We can order the rooms for several nights at a time."
“What about the weapons shop?” Malus asked, pointing at it. “And potions?”
“Potions are limited,” Natora admitted. “We need to snag what we can before more players come. And they are in that building, the general store.” Natora pulled up her menu. “I haven’t had a chance to use it, but for my second skill I put purchase negotiations. It’s particularly helpful to have, as it gives discounts at NPC shops and such. Diemond and Bladescape, go get us two inn rooms. The rest of us will get some potions. We can sell the hides and such that we got this afternoon at the shop for more Col. The two of you can keep a hold of your items for now, to help us be able to have something to sell later. Short term, while we get our feet under us, we should pool our resources, after we are established, we can stop pooling it. The inn has food and we need to eat, so we meet there and then head to the rooms for a little rest. The town is about to shut down for the night. We can grab the quest tomorrow morning.”
They agreed and went their separate ways.
“Hey,” Malus said to Natora in the general store. “What about new weapons? This spear looks good. And the sword.”
“Nah,” Natora shrugged. “They are bronze, only slightly better than what we all have, but they have less durability than our starter gear and are more susceptible to the plant's slightly corrosive bodies. For now, the starter gear is wisest. We can’t stay like that way long, but for the time being, in our teams, this is the best use of our limited funds.”
They made their potion purchases, buying up the limited stock of health potions and antidote potions, and then headed to the inn. They got cheap bread and water. It filled their stomachs and curbed their hunger which was all that they needed. They ate it in silence around the table. They were done quickly and headed to the rooms.
Sunset laid down on the floor. She had elected to take it, along with Applejack, leaving the small bed to Twilight and Fluttershy. The two of them were not doing well by the end and needed a good night's sleep after the trauma of the day. They all needed sleep.
Since she hadn’t gone to the store, she used the boar hides as extra pillows for her and AJ. Another one also provided a decent buffer between the hard wooden floor and her body.
Still, Sunset laid there, wide awake despite being tired. Her mind wouldn’t go into sleep mode. She wasn’t dwelling on anything in particular, or overly anxious, but sleep would not find her. Something was missing, and she couldn’t figure out what, and neither could she pin down why a little memory recall issue was even a problem. The feeling came and went all night. Sunset laid there, pretending to sleep as Applejack snored loudly beside her and Fluttershy purred from the bed.
BLADESCAPE: Level 2 — One-Handed Sword — Searching
NATORA: Level 2 — One-Handed Spear — Purchase Negotiations
KNIGHTSTAR: Level 2 — One-Handed Sword — Shield
MALUS: Level 2 — One-Handed War Hammer — Shield
THUNDERBORNE: Level 2 — One-Handed Sword — Sprint
KONPEITO: Level 2 — One-Handed Axe — Cooking
DIEMOND: Level 2 — Mace — Shield
DOOMBUNNY: Level 2 — One-Handed Dagger — Hide