//------------------------------// // Pilot Episode 0.1 - Japan // Story: EQG: Sword Art Online - Ruby Palace // by Mindrop //------------------------------// Episode 0.1 - Japan August 19 – 4 p.m. JST 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. 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. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight had also qualified for the program, but were on different flights to Tokyo. 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, although nobody had realized that she was taking it 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. 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 and Sunset were carrying out entire conversations in Japanese, without the need for a lexicon or help. Pinkie 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 attempts at a word play. It never failed to shock Sunset 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 trimesters 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. Sunset was called forward to the next customs counter. She presented her passport, opened to her student visa. She was asked a few basic questions and then welcomed to Japan. She stepped past the counter, officially entering Japan. Haneda Airport was an international airport and Tokyo's main terminal for air travel. It served many different nationalities and languages. Many of the directional signs were in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, English, and a few other languages for the convenience of the travelers. It made it easy for Sunset to navigate to the carousels where her luggage would be. She needed easy after the grueling flight and as her nerves began to heighten. More important than her luggage was the fact that her exchange family would be there, waiting for her. They knew her name, had her picture, her basic questionnaire file, and had agreed on the flight time. They also had sent a few emails back and forth since they were matched, getting to know each other more.  Her “exchange parents” were Mister Nakamura Isoraku and Missus Nakamura Riko. They had a twelve-year-old daughter, Himari, and a nineteen-year-old son, Haruki, who was out of the house and going to a university. Isoraku worked for the government and Riko enjoyed cooking and caring for their home. They had wanted to be exchange parents for several years, but decided to wait until Haruki was in college and out of the house.  Japanese schools were just getting off summer break and starting their second trimester. School wouldn’t start for her until Monday, September 5th, almost two weeks away, with an orientation day for the international students on Friday, the 2nd. The extra time would allow her to adjust to living with a new “family” before the stress of a new school and a school structure that would be dramatically different.  The Nakamauras had a plan to show Sunset around Tokyo and help her get accustomed to the culture, city, and most importantly the vast public transit network.  Sunset was looking forward to seeing the city. The Nakamura family lived in the Minato Ward, Akasaka district, not far from the Imperial Palace. It was a good location for a government employee to live since Chiyoda Ward was home to most of Japan’s federal government and they were right on the boundary to it. What exactly Nakamura Isoraku did wasn’t discussed and it was obvious it wasn’t a topic to discuss further. Sunset spotted the Nakamura family by the handmade sign with her name on it. The colorful sign was held by a Himari. She headed straight for them. Her luggage wouldn’t be available for a little while longer. She waved to them as she walked over, and then choked, unsure what to say or do. She was going to be living with these people for a few months, like their own kid, but not.  They bowed and it reminded Sunset to bow back. “Sorry,” Sunset apologized in Japanese. “I thought I was more prepared than I am. The shock is sinking in.” “That’s understandable,” Mister Nakamura replied with a smile. “It is for us too. But it is wonderful to meet you. We are very excited to be able to extend our house and this exchange opportunity to you.” “It is very appreciated,” Sunset replied. “I promise I will make the most of it.” “We are certain you will,” Mister Nakamura said. “But there is more to life than school and that is what this program is also about. We can’t wait to show you the city and our heritage. I know the school system is different and will take adjusting, but I do hope you take every opportunity outside the classroom to expand yourself.” “I will keep that in mind and do my best,” Sunset replied.  The carousel buzzed and began to move. It changed their focus to getting Sunset’s bags. She only had one suitcase. School would require a uniform and she would be getting that during orientation. There was a good chance she would leave with a second bag, but for her arrival, it was just one suitcase and her backpack.  Sunset grabbed her luggage off the carousel, but Mister Nakamura took it from her and led them all out of the airport. They didn’t head to the parking lot.  “I know the flight was long, but I figured this would be a good time to introduce you to our public transit system,” He explained. “There is a subway station right by our home.” “That’s fine,” Sunset replied. “I need to learn. We have a decent bus system in Canterlot and I am used to walking places, but our infrastructure just isn’t built to handle anything but cars.” Tokyo had a train, subway, monorail, and bus system connecting the very large city. The area around Chiyoda was all subways and buses. They had to take the monorail to a station where they could get on a subway. All of the information was written small to get it on the maps and maximize the information available at the stations. There wasn’t a lot of room to give that information out. For now, Sunset only made a few mental notes, but let the Nakamura family guide her.  They got off at their stop and only had to walk five minutes to their home. It was a multi-tenant building, but from what Sunset understood, they owned their portion of it. It was basically a condominium. Sunset was shocked at how nice the inside was. She had seen pictures, and she knew they lived in a nice place, but the pictures didn’t do it justice. Mister Nakamura had to make some good money to afford what she was seeing.  They entered the unit and the Nakamura family had a pair of slippers for Sunset. They were not the guest slippers. They had purchased a personal pair just for her. Sunset would have to get used to the shuffling walk of the slippers, rather than the “stomping around” she was used to.  Her bedroom was very nice. It had been their son’s room, but it was cleaned up nicely for her and most of his stuff had been removed. Everything was modernized. The closet opened with a sensor, hands free. The desk was very nice as well. The room even had a private bathroom.  Sunset was left to settle in and put her clothes away. She met the family in the living room. It was a more traditional feel than the bedroom. They were all having tea and had a cup ready for Sunset.  They laid out the goal for the rest of the day and the following day. The jet lag would be a tough battle. They would stay inside, enjoying a nice dinner and some family games, before Sunset would retire early. The next day was Saturday, and they would hit the town. They would show her the local’s spots, not the tourist locations. On Sunday, they would do the touristy stuff, like visiting the imperial palace grounds. They wanted Sunset to see the “real” Tokyo first.  Missus Nakamura was an amazing cook. She had made ramen for dinner. It wasn’t a cheap dish you microwaved. She had made the noodles from scratch the day before and everything else was fresh. Traditional ramen was not an easy dish to make right; not that Sunset would be able to tell the difference. Missus Nakamura attended a culinary school in Tokyo soon after she married. She had always enjoyed making food and with someone else to cook for, she wanted to follow that personal passion. With her husband’s stable job in the government, she had been able to follow that dream. It was a very good return on their investment, bringing the family joy almost daily. While eating dinner, Sunset learned that her school didn’t have a cafeteria, which was very common in Japan. Himari’s school also lacked a cafeteria. They took a lot of space if you tried to seat all of the students at once and they were empty the rest of the day. Instead, students would eat lunch in their classrooms. Missus Nakamura would be making a bento, box lunch, for Sunset along with Himari’s bento. It was something she enjoyed doing and not seen as a chore. She had been waiting for Himari to enter lower secondary school so she could make her lunch. Elementary schools had heavily subsidized lunches and getting a student exempt was nearly impossible, but high schools did not have subsidized meals. Sunset’s school did have a lunch program students could opt into rather than bringing their own. Healthy eating was a strong focus at school for all levels, junk food was not allowed, no matter if the student brought their own or ate the school lunch. The school lunches rarely had processed foods, they were never cafeteria style meals, and if the school didn’t have a kitchen, they were made off campus and brought in. At least for Sunset, she would not have to worry about lunches and she knew they would be delicious and nutritious.  Before bed, Sunset took a shower and then prepared to post to their social media account. The girls were sharing an account to document their time in Japan. They were required to fundraise at least half of the cost, but they had fundraised the entire thing. The social media account would allow their amazing donors to walk through the girl’s journey with them. They planned on sending at least one update each day, which with seven of them should be easy, but more was always better. Even normal stuff in Japan that was foreign to Canterlot would be great to post and share. Sunset was the first one in the country, so she got to be the first one posting from there.  Her post right before boarding the plane had a lot of likes and comments, but it was not the most recent. Rarity had posted an hour ago about last-minute packing “problems.” She was going to be heading to the airport soon, if she wasn’t already there. Rarity and Twilight were on the same flight and would be posting their joint pre-flight update soon. Pinkie and Fluttershy would be leaving the day after, also on the same flight together. Dash was coming the day after that and Applejack would be the last to arrive a few days after Twilight.  Sunset had to switch her phone’s keyboard to English so she could write the update. It was all basic stuff about getting to Japan safely and a description for the photos. She added pictures of tea with her exchange family, real ramen, and one of her bedroom. The bedroom was cool because it was a different furniture style than anything that could be gotten at the stores in Canterlot. The Nakamuras loved that they had a joint social media account and had not only been very accommodating to having pictures taken, but were encouraging it. Normally, phones were not something to bring to the dinner table, but there would be exceptions to allow Sunset to snap photos of cool food to post. Sunset double checked her update for spelling errors and then posted it.  Day one in Japan was a very good day.