//------------------------------//
// Pilot Episode 0.4 - Something We All Could Do 
// Story: EQG: Sword Art Online - Ruby Palace 
// by Mindrop 
//------------------------------//

Episode 0.4 - Something We All Could Do
September 30 - Friday

The bell chimed, and Sunset Shimmer found herself once again dumping everything she needed into her backpack to head back to the house and study. She wasn't having a problem with the language, but the curriculum and school structure was different enough that it had her on edge. She felt like she was on ice, without skates, and one wrong step would send her face first into the ground, leaving her with a big headache or worse. She was basically caught up from the skewed semester, but one misstep and she would fall behind again. Determined not to let that happen, Sunset threw her backpack on as she left the classroom. 

"Sunset! Wait up!" The call wasn't in Japanese and even if it was, the voice was unmistakably Rainbow Dash's. Their classrooms were right by each other, so it wasn’t uncommon for any of them to run into each other after class, but Dash had clearly been looking for her. 

"What's up?" Sunset asked in Japanese as Rainbow Dash caught up to her. 

"Can you cut that out? I hear Japanese all day long! I get sick of it. It gives me a literal headache."

Sunset rolled her eyes. Rainbow Dash was not handling things as well as she was. Even Applejack had adjusted better than Rainbow. AJ’s countryisms hadn’t transferred well, but she stubbornly kept using them in another language. At least it got some good laughs from understanding students. Dash’s grades were good and her skills on the volleyball court were spot on, but she was having trouble adjusting to some of the game plays and calls being in Japanese.

Sunset gave her a break, despite the hallway being full of their fellow students. "What's up, Rainbow? Shouldn't you be at practice?"

"My uniform is under my school uniform,” Dash stated. “I’ve got some time. Less now. Anyway, Natsuki has invited us over tomorrow to hang out. It would be awesome if you came."

Sunset's mind immediately began to list out all she had to do. The top of the list was the special dinner that was tonight. Mister Nakamura was bringing home a guest from work. Most likely it was a boss of his. However, that was tonight, Friday, and the invitation was for Saturday. Plus, a little away time from the books would be a welcome break and wise idea. Mister Nakamura liked that she did Iaido, but at the same time, it was only an hour and a half each day, and she didn’t have much of a social life outside of that. He would be thrilled for her to do something away from school with the other students. "Sure. Text me the details and I'll be there. But if I am going to-"

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I gotta go!"

"See you tomorrow and good luck," Sunset called after her athletic friend with a grin as she watched Dash bolt down the hall. Some things never changed, no matter what country you were in. 

"I make my own luck!" Dash shouted back.

Sunset rolled her eyes with a grin at Rainbow’s attitude, only to jump as Fluttershy spoke up from beside her in Japanese. “Dash seems happy today.”

“Where did you come from?” Sunset asked, switching back to speaking Japanese as well. 

“From class,” Fluttershy said. “Why?”

“I didn’t see you,” Sunset said. “Anyway, yeah, she is happy today.”

“It will be fun to hang out together,” Fluttershy added. “Anyway, I’m heading off to tea ceremony.”

“See you tomorrow,” Sunset said to Fluttershy as she started to walk away from her. “Wait, I have to go this way too.” Sunset caught up with Fluttershy and they walked to the stairs together. They parted ways after they were on the ground level and Sunset headed to the lockers and then Iaido.

Iaido was enjoyable. Mister Shinmi was still working her through the basics while the others worked hard to perfect their forms, but the club always started with stretching and basic fitness, something they could all do together. By now, Sunset had also found the rhythm with the others for setting up and cleaning up the room. 

The walk home was easy. She enjoyed living with the Nakamura family. Himari was always a joy to talk to. She was using Sunset to practice her English on. It was a fun (and sometimes hilarious) exchange usually done at dinner, with Mister Nakamura often joining in to stay sharp.  

Missus Nakamura didn’t greet Sunset, if she even was aware that she was home, because she was clearly busy in the kitchen. All of her culinary training was being put to the test for this dinner. 

Sunset started on the math homework that was due. It was her only real homework that had to be done. She was on top of the reading. She didn’t have long before dinner would happen. Sunset got the text to the whole family, letting them know they were almost here. 

Sunset double checked that her uniform was in good order and then lined up with the rest of the family. It was important that they all be there, ready to greet the visitor. Missus Nakamura was in a formal kimono and makeup, but Himari was in her school uniform. Sunset’s school uniform was exactly what she should be wearing. Haruki had even come home for the evening. Sunset had met Haruki one other time and today he was in a business suit. From what Sunset understood, his studies were in commerce and economics and they required him to be in business attire for every class.

The door opened and a non-descript Japanese man in a black suit and tie was shown in. The only thing that was notable were his elongated hexagonal glasses. The three of them bowed to the guest. Mister Nakamura was obviously nervous. Sunset still had no idea what he did in the government, but it didn't matter for the dinner. 

"This is my family; my wife Riko, our son, Haruki, who is attending Hitotsubashi University, my daughter Himari, and then our foreign exchange student, Sunset Shimmer. Everyone, this is Mister Kikuoka."

"Foreign exchange student," Mister Kikuoka said in perfect English, with only a bit of an accent. "What year are you and where are you from?"

Sunset gave a short bow before responding back in English. He was her superior and it was best to match the language he chose. "Highschool, Sir, and senior year. I come from the city of Canterlot, specifically the public school Canterlot High School. Our school is one of many in the program that sends and receives students from several countries. This year, seven of us came from our school to Tokyo. The other six are all good friends of mine."

"It is good to hear that you are not alone," Mister Kikuoka replied with a soft smile. "It is a difficult transition. I hope it has been going well."

"My grades are solid and I am caught up with the curriculum," Sunset replied. 

"That is wonderful to hear,” he said. “I hope you are learning more than just books and school work."

"The Nakamura family has ensured I have been able to enjoy Tokyo and am learning more than just the language and school subjects,” Sunset said. “It is a pleasure and honor to be invited as a part of the family for this dinner. I have also been an active member of the Iaido club at school, and I am making friends there too. Tomorrow I will be visiting with my friends from home at another student's house. We were invited for the day."

"Good," he replied with a smile. 

Mister Kikuoka turned his attention to Himari, to learn where she was in school. He was very personable, but outside the fact that he spoke English very well, he gave no information about himself. After that, he grilled Haruki about his college studies. Haruki stood there and answered all the questions quickly and respectfully, no matter what they were. Still, it all made Sunset feel like she was closer to this new man than she actually was. His job, or his relation to Mister Nakamura’s job, was never discussed, let alone hinted at. 

Missus Nakamura certainly had made excellent use of her culinary training. She had spent the past two days making sure everything was made from scratch and as fresh as possible. Outside of sitting at a modern table, it was as traditional as possible. 

The night before, they had taken Sunset through some of the finer points of etiquette to ensure she was ready. Of course, she would be forgiven if she made a mistake, since she was in Japan to learn, but she didn’t want to have to ask for forgiveness. 

The dinner went off without any glitches and Mister Kikuoka didn’t stay long. Haruki didn’t linger either, needing to get back to his studies. He had a paper that was due the next day. He had been granted an extra day because of the importance of the dinner. He wasn’t the most thrilled that his father had approached his teacher, without his knowledge, when he found out about the paper’s due date, but it proved that whatever was happening at his job, it was very important. 

Everyone retired to their rooms early to relax after the stressful dinner. Sunset was asleep not long after only to bolt awake in the morning feeling rested but also as though no time had passed from when her head hit the pillow the night before. She smiled at the ceiling. Today wasn’t a normal day. Plenty of Saturdays she had gone out with the Nakamura family to do things, but today she was going out alone to meet up with her friends at another student’s house. She had hung out a few times with the others outside of school and even spent some time with a few of the girls from the Iaido club, but the seven of them had not gathered together since their orientation. That had not even been a month prior, but it was fresh and exciting. 

Sunset put on something other than her school uniform and got breakfast. Weekend breakfasts were a “make your own” deal. Missus Nakamura joyfully cooked them breakfast all week long, but the weekend was her days off for breakfast duty and she slept in if she could. 

The invitation was for 10am, after volleyball practice was over. Whatever they had planned for them, it was going to be an all-day thing. Sunset was gone before Mister and Missus Nakamura were out of their bedroom. Himari was enjoying some TV show as Sunset departed. 

Sunset hopped on the subway for a stop and then walked several blocks to Ota Natsuki’s house. It was another condominium style home, but nowhere near as nice as the Nakamura’s. Sunset knew Natsuki in passing only and always in context with Rainbow Dash. The two of them hung out a lot since they both were sports fanatics, in the same class, and Natsuki was a part of the volleyball team. 

Sunset lived closest to Natsuki and the school. The others were not far, but they were spread out. It depended on where their exchange family lived. The program only ensured that the exchange students had an easy commute to the school and there was a metro station very close to the school. The maximum travel time for the average commute could not exceed an hour. A lot of high school students traveled a good way for school, which was easy because of Japan’s public transit system.

Tokyo Metropolis was composed of twenty-three wards, now known as cities, and the school was located in Chiyoda at the heart of the metropolis. Sunset and Fluttershy lived in Minato. Fluttershy had a short subway trip to the school. Sunset was in between her and the school if Fluttershy walked. Applejack was in Bunkyo, also not far of a trip. She had to take the same line as Fluttershy, but in the opposite direction, to get to school. Twilight was the furthest from the school, in Kita. She would run into Applejack on the ride to the school. Pinkie’s and Rarity’s exchange families were siblings who lived in apartments in the same complex. They were in Shinjuku and an easy ride to the school. They often joined Rainbow Dash, who was living in Suginami. Dash lived with a family right across the street from the station.

Sunset got to the door and found a note written in English. It said “come on in” and listed their names. It was signed “Natsuki.” Sunset shrugged and opened the door. She saw Rainbow’s shoes off to the side and six pairs of slippers were already prepared. Sunset transferred her feet to the slippers and announced her arrival. 

“Back here!” Natsuki called out, also in English, from down the hall. 

It wasn’t hard to find them from the noise being made. Sunset found her and Rainbow Dash in a bedroom, playing a video game. They were leaning up against the footboard of the bed, with some pillows to cushion their backs.

Sunset was used to the more neat-and-tidy Nakamura house, but while it wasn't messy, the room was definitely personalized. Multiple tiger posters and pictures were hung on the wall, the pillows were tiger stripes, as well as the bed linens and window treatments. The TV stand was painted in orange and black stripes as well. Even the game controllers were striped like a tiger. 

“Yo,” Rainbow said, in English, focused on the game.

“Uh, hey.” Sunset replied in English. 

“My parents are out of town for the weekend,” Natsuki added, also in English, as she focused on the game. “You have permission to be here, so don’t worry about that. Dash is spending the weekend here.” Rainbow Dash groaned as she lost and Natsuki looked at Sunset for the first time. “And trust me, we could not get rowdier this weekend than the twins make it on any given day.” Natsuki snapped as she remembered something “Right! You don’t know my parents or family. Both of my parents teach English in schools, so this house’s native tongue is English. In here, English, out in the real world, Japanese."

“Now I get why Dash clicked so well with you right away,” Sunset chuckled. Natsuki laughed as the next round of the game started. It was obviously a true statement. 

“Also, before you drive me nuts, in this house, my name is Nats. I go by my full name at school and out of the house, but in here, well usually the breath needed to say the rest of my name has to be put to better use dealing with the twins. Also, if you ‘Miss Natsuki, me, I will punch you in the face, and heavens help me if you even dare to start calling me ‘Miss Ota.’ Formality has its place, but not here and not among friends.”

“It’s two sets of twins,” Rainbow added. “Things get very rowdy. It’s never a dull moment. I do homework here pretty often, since it's English here, and they can help explain some things in ways I get."

“My parents don’t make me care for the twins,” Natsuki clarified. “When they go out of town to conferences and such, like this weekend, they get shipped up to the grandparents. One set of twins goes to one set of grandparents, the other set to the others. They flip back and forth so both sides get to see the grandkids and I get a free weekend. Usually I don’t have anyone over, but I have been waiting for this weekend to get you guys together and have some fun."

“You have this well planned out,” Sunset said, sitting down beside them. 

“Oh yeah,” Natsuki chuckled. She lost and looked at Sunset while Rainbow celebrated to an imaginary crowd. “This weekend is an annual conference, so I knew when I would get my break months in advance and could plan accordingly. My parents would love to play host to an exchange student, but the twins make that dream impossible. At least for another decade or so.” 

“How old are they?” Sunset asked, not wanting to get stuck on them for Natsuki’s sake. Still, she wanted to know since it had been brought up enough times."

“Second Grade and Sixth Grade,” Natsuki answered. “One boy and one girl each, so the boys share a room and the girls share another. The age differences, yet room sharing, creates an interesting dynamic between the four of them. They are respectful kids when they need to be, but they easily get rowdy. I guarantee they are the perfect image of children this weekend for our grandparents. I would love to say they are that way in school, but they are a bit too loud for that to be true. Good enough grades, but I don’t think they have ever not gotten a school report that didn’t state they were too loud or a bit disruptive. Not that my record with that is clean. Last report I got ‘distracted,’ ‘a distraction,’ and ‘an instigator’ on my report card. The instigator was one time, right as the teacher walked in."

Natsuki snatched the controller out of Rainbow’s hand. “Care to see if you can beat me?”

“Sure,” Sunset grinned. “I hosted my own game channel for a while. I’m no Dash or AJ, but I can play a solid game.”

It was an old school fighting game. Sunset got a run down on the controls and the match started. She adapted well, giving Natsuki a good challenge, but she ultimately lost. They played four more rounds, Sunset won once, and then Sunset and Rainbow Dash faced off. Dash won three of the five games. 

Sometime during the last round, Natsuki got up to greet the others as they arrived. She could greet them since she wasn’t playing a match. Sunset barely beat Rainbow in a very heated contest of wills that had each character’s health down in the single digits. Their friends arrived to find a griping Rainbow Dash and grinning Sunset Shimmer. 

“No need to worry about food,” Natsuki said. “My parents left me with plenty of cash for us to get stuff and we are well stocked on snacks and drinks. My dad teaches at UTokyo, which is who sent him to the TSLC, Teaching Secondary Language Conference. They are happy to have you guys over and they wanted to cover this fun weekend."

“Uh, not to pry,” AJ started before hesitating. “Well, your room ain’t cluttered so I can see everything. What’s this helmet on your desk by your computer?"

Natsuki’s face lit up. “That is something I was planning on addressing after lunch, but since you brought it up.” She paused for dramatic effect. “That is the coolest piece of tech this entire world will ever see! Even though it will get improved upon. That is a NerveGear rig. It is newly released and has a few games and programs, but the real one is just about to come out.

“Basically, you wear it on your head, and ‘dive.’ You go into a purely virtual world, where you move your body in that game, not your body in this world. It is the best thing ever! I was lucky and got to beta test it this summer. Sword Art Online is the game of the century. Only one-thousand people got to test it. It officially launches in a few weeks, and I was hoping you guys could try and score some of the limited copies so we could all play it. Even after you left Japan.”

“It sounds sick,” Rainbow Dash added. “Nats showed me screenshots she took. As a beta tester, she couldn’t share certain things, it was in the contract she signed, but what she can talk about, it was amazing. Is amazing. You get to reinvent yourself in this unique world called Aincrad.”

“It's a giant floating castle of iron in the sky,” Natsuki continued. “You play in the castle. It is divided into one-hundred floors. However, it isn't a castle in the traditional sense. Each floor is different and special. To get to the one above, you have to beat that floor’s boss. All the way up until you beat the final boss on the hundredth floor. 

“But unlike most fantasy RPGs, this one is more realistic. And not just because you get to move your body inside an actual game. Sword Art Online is a game of swords, no magic. Not even bows are available. It has to be a weapon you can wield in your hand. There are a few types of throwing weapons with short range, but outside of that, combat is purely you against the other player or the monster, with whatever is in your hand. Spears, knives, daggers, axes, maces, war hammers, and all the different types of swords are all present.”

“That sounds barbaric,” Rarity stated, a bit put off at the idea.

“No blood,” Rainbow pointed out. “It’s a clean game that way. And like most MMORPGs its-”

“A MMPRC?” Rarity interrupted so she could understand what was being said.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at her fashionista friend. “A massive multiplayer online role-playing game. M-M-O-R-P-G. Everyone plays in the same world at the same time and can interact with each other. And a part of that roleplaying is the ability to craft. It’s not all about hack and slash and killing. A large part of any RPG, but especially MMORPGs, is the non-combat stuff like smithing, tailoring, and cooking. To get anywhere, you usually need to be able to make the stuff, or at least someone has to. And SAO is in a league of its own when it comes to those skills.”

“There are an unlimited number of skills,” Natsuki continued. “And the things you can craft with, well everything has a use. It doesn’t exist if it doesn’t have at least one use. You just have to learn how to use it. The game replicates any taste, smell, or texture you can think of. You feel alive inside it. That is how realistic it is. You get to explore it all with quests and the materials to make things which are as numerous as they are in real life. Just don’t expect them to be named the same.

“And the whole thing, it is unlike anything I have ever felt. It’s like a lucid dream, but infinitely better. The game has a combat assist system to make sure your weapons hit the target, and the higher level that combat skill is, the better attack combos you can unlock. You can become a powerful player, unlocking abilities, and doing things you can't in real life. Anyone can!

“Want super speed? You can learn Sprint and train that until you can run at unimaginable speeds. Super strength? Lifting boulders isn’t unthinkable in SAO. The weapons, especially blunt ones like maces, get super heavy so they hit harder. You could soon be swinging a two-hundred pound hammer with ease. Can any of you do that in real life? No. Agility can have you bouncing off walls, jumping up twenty feet and higher, all while attacking bosses three times your height. No magic or levitation, but there should be the ability to tame monsters so that you can have a sidekick. A pet that helps you in combat and such. No one was able to do it in the beta, but knowing MMORPGs, I expect it to pop up, eventually. There are some really cool creatures in SAO that would be epic to tame. I’d love to tame a tiger.”

Natsuki was left looking at everyone in confusion as they all shared amused looks. 

“Yeah, some of us can do that,” Rainbow Dash said, breaking the silence. She lifted up her geode necklace. “We have to use them sparingly, we are trying to keep a low profile while in Japan, but we don’t exactly come from a regular world anymore. I can run faster than sound, AJ is already really strong from growing up on a farm, but I have seen her lift a car with a single hand. All of us have some sort of ability that we have used to save our school a few times.”

“It’s complicated,” Sunset said, trying to figure out how to explain it. Rainbow Dash hadn’t made it easy. “There’s a portal to another world with actual magic, and things come through sometimes...”

Natsuki looked stupefied for a moment before she shook it off and shrugged. “Cool. I always believed in other dimensions. I love SAO because I can do things I can’t do in the real world. If you guys have special powers like anime characters to save the world and such, you better not hold back.”

“We mostly use it to combat any magic that crosses over between the portal between our world and the one the magic comes from,” Sunset explained. “But thankfully, despite some of the things we have faced, it hasn’t gotten too violent. So far, Japan seems too far away from that portal to have need of our abilities, which I am perfectly fine with. Even when we have tried to get a break from it, trouble always seems to find us. Back home has been quiet too, which is good because they currently have no one protecting them. We can't just pass these abilities on."

“Is it cool over there?” Natsuki asked. "On their magic side?"

Everyone left that to Sunset. “It’s very different. They are not human over there, or even humanoid. It's primarily ponies, unicorns, and their winged variant, pegasi. They live in harmony together."

“Interesting,” Natsuki nodded. “I assume from the looks the others have, that only you, Sunset, have been.”

Sunset sighed and leaned against the footboard. “Long story short, I was born there, and left for reasons I’d like to keep behind me.”

“Different language?” Natsuki asked.  

“No, but yes,” Sunset explained. “Where the portal joins both worlds, we speak the same language. Here it is called English, but on the other side, it’s called Ponish. There are other languages spoken in other regions. The portal might convert our brains so we understand the local language, I’m not sure. Over there, it is a whole lot more varied, and unlike this world, it has real races.”

“Dragons? Or Minotaurs? Or Cyclops? Oh! What about Centaurs?” Natsuki asked in rapid succession. 

Sunset rolled with it and answered the questions. “Yes to dragons and minotaurs, although both are not creatures you really want to sit down and have a chat with, especially as a pony. And they don't live nearby. No Cyclops or Centaurs, well not native. Historically a single one of each showed up at one point in time. There are also Zebras, Griffons, and Hippogriffs, and that is really just barely getting into things. The Zebras have their own language. I was a student of magic and learned a bit about it and the world at large from my studies. Most of Equestria doesn’t have that wide of a world view outside of the three pony races.”

“Cool,” Natsuki said, nodding as she was obviously thinking through some stuff in her head. “Anyway, you guys may be more accustomed to some of the abilities in the game, but let me show you the screen shots.”

“This is going to be an all-day thing, isn’t it?” Rarity asked, almost whining. 

“Well, AJ started it,” Rainbow Dash shot back. “Accidentally. We were going to pitch us all playing towards dinner, but now we can get it out of the way and focus on other stuff after.”

They crowded around Natsuki’s computer as she woke it up from sleep mode. She had several hundred different images she could show them, all taken from her perspective. It was all first-person view, which made sense. They saw a beautiful stone city, at least two different forests, a large field with various boars, as well as a wide variety of weapons and equipment. If it could be held in the hand as a weapon, it was available in SAO. 

One picture was burned into Sunset’s memory. A single oak tree, strong and mighty, on a small hilltop and surrounded by a field with mountains in the background. It looked to be sunset, as the sun radiated around the tree and through the leaves. There was something striking and beautiful about that image of the landscape that grabbed her mind. She wanted to be there. To sit under it and just enjoy the view. 

“I never got off the first floor,” Natsuki explained. “As good as I got, I couldn’t beat the boss. I finally found him with less than a week of the beta left. The first time, his minions killed me. The second time, I got the better of them, but was left unable to face him. The third time, I was in better shape, but didn’t even clear a third of his total health before he killed me. After that, I gave up to test out more things, rather than try to get to the next floor. I only had a few more days until the beta closed anyway, so it wasn’t a total loss.

"For the beta, I was running alone, but if I was in with a group, like playing with you guys, we could easily crack the floors above, especially with me giving you guys a boost acclimating to the system. I tried all the starter weapon classes, as well as a ton of the crafting and support skills. We could have you all up to speed and solid warriors in three weeks, tops.”

“And if we just want to craft?” Rarity asked. 

“From what Dash says, you would make sure we look epic and stylish,” Natsuki said. “I’m all for that. Your real-life experience means you will be better than me when it comes to crafting. To get yourself into a position to do that, in a game like SAO, crafting isn’t your best opening start. SAO reformats some older methods in games by going with a limited number of skill slots. You start with two and at specific total levels you unlock another slot. If you remove a skill from the slot, it resets it to 0 to stop players from swapping, so the only way to get anywhere, even as a crafter, is to get more slots. The more skill slots, the more types of crafting you can do and the more you have to find awesome combinations mixing them. Combat levels you up faster than any other method. If you have a sword and armor, that is two skills being trained when you fight, compared to a single crafting skill. Higher total level also means higher stats like your health points and unlocking more combat combination attacks.

“For crafting, you often have to harvest or gather your own materials. Sometimes that is from monster drops, other times it's from areas with monsters protecting it. Or buy it from other players who did stuff to get it. Things cost col, the game’s money, and it isn’t cheap to do certain things, so you need a way to raise col, and combat is usually the fastest method to get that col. More col, more ability to buy what you need to craft. You want to fight the monsters that drop more col than others. Otherwise, your only way to make money crafting is selling to other players. The game’s NPC stores always buy dirt cheap. At some point, you will need to fight to get what you want, so you will want all of those levels for those stats too.

“I do love crafting, but adventuring and questing is always a fun thing to do. For quests, you are playing a story, and with a game like SAO, the answer isn’t always clear. The answer might require crafting too. Some quests might have a variety of outcomes, depending on what you choose. The game is like real life, meaning oftentimes, things are complex and there is no simple fix. It also means that sometimes you get unexpected results because of the complexity of the game itself.”

“I’m sold,” Applejack said. “I think it would be fun. It would be a good way to unwind and have fun.”

“I obviously want to play,” Rainbow Dash said. 

“I’m game!” Pinkie Pie said, intentionally using the word play. 

“I always enjoy a good game,” Sunset added. 

“I would love to see what animals they have,” Fluttershy said, speaking up. 

“It would be fun to be a classical knight,” Twilight added, almost squealing at the idea. 

“There are no classes like in some RPGs,” Natsuki explained. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t get weapons and armor to be a knight in shining armor, or a samurai, or any other type of warrior. You choose your weapon class, your armor class, and how you will interact with the world. Some players will roleplay harder than others and try to be that knight, paladin, samurai, rogue, ranger, and whatever other ‘class’ they want.”

Everyone looked at Rarity, the sole holdout. She sighed. “I guess it will be up to me to bring some civility and grace to this world called...what was it again? An-cried?”

“Aincrad,” Natsuki fluidly said. “Aine-cr-ad. Like Line, but with an A, cr as in crunch, and ad, as in advertisement. And while I know that you all have a better grip of Japanese than Dash does, much of the written game is in English. Spoken, almost all Japanese, but the game names use English characters for player names and other stuff.”

Sunset, Rarity, and Applejack chuckled at the fun poke at Rainbow Dash.  

"Now comes the hard part," Natsuki said. "Only ten-thousand copies are being released to start; in store and online. We don’t know when more will be released. It could be a week, two weeks, four weeks, or a few months. They will want to get more copies out as quickly as possible, but Argus has to make sure the game’s servers can handle the load. It is unexplored territory with the NerveGear, so starting a bit slow is wise. 

“I have my copy. As a beta tester, I was given the opportunity to purchase it once the beta ended. Getting you guys copies will be the hardest part. People are going to be lining up early at storefronts, trying to snag a copy. It goes on sale in a couple of weeks, November Fifth, and it launches the next day, November Sixth. That is a Sunday. Every gamer in Japan wants a copy, and at least half of the everyone else wants to try out this new technology and the full dive, whole new world deal. It's one thing to sit behind a screen and play the game, it's another to be in the game. SAO is a non-gamer friendly game. That hype won’t die easily unless their servers crash and buckle, then no one will trust it.”

“Seven copies are a lot,” Sunset said. “Well, for that small of a release it is.”

"And if we all don't score, the others will have to wait until they release the next set of copies," Rainbow Dash said. "And yes, Rarity, AJ, I know I may not get a copy and the rest of you might. It's a chance I am willing to take to play something so cool with my friends."

“We will have to be tactical,” Natsuki said. “Scoping out what places will likely get copies and where it is best to line up at. I can vouch for how worth it the work will be. Argus will do what they can to stop a black market of pre-buying or bribing from popping up and protect the location of shipments and numbers of copies sent. A store probably won’t know if they get any copies until the Fourth, the day before."

"We can plan that later," Sunset said. "I want to enjoy the rest of the day without school and with my friends. We haven't all gotten together since orientation!"

"With that conversation out of the way, the real party can get started," Natsuki said with a wicked grin. "I've got a place you have to try for lunch. And after that, I'll introduce you to a whole different side of Tokyo than you know existed."

"Why does that prospect concern me?" Rarity said with a sigh.

"Don't worry," Natsuki said. "This side has fashion. Underground fashion, with a mix of traditional. I am sure you will find something you like."

"The whole eastern style is a bit lost on me," Rarity admitted. "There just are so many layers, and meaning to each one. I’m in several culture clubs, including the kimono club that meets once a month on Saturdays. Last weekend I got to try a formal one on and learn all about the design and layers, but there is a lot of fabric and folds.”

"Ugh," Natsuki groaned. "I know. I have my traditional Kimono. I have to have one for my dad's job. UTokyo is an elite school, so if it is a function where he can bring the family, and there usually is at least one faculty one a semester, then yes, I go in traditional clothing; traditional hair and makeup too. The twins dress up as well, although the makeup is not something the girls are required to wear at their ages."

“Before I leave, I want to try to make one for the club to honestly judge,” Rarity added.

“That’s a good goal,” Sunset said. “You have plenty of time to learn.”

“I hope so,” Rarity said. “Anyway, let’s hit the town!”

They left the apartment and headed out to eat. Sunset was surprised they were actually leaving. The vibe she got when she first arrived was a day inside. But it was lunch time and they were all hungry. Looking at all the images blew through the morning. 

The place Natsuki showed them too was not the most attractive, either inside or out. 

"Looks can be deceiving," Natsuki said in Japanese. 

Inside, Natsuki was greeted by her first name and they were shown to a table. The cafe of sorts had a variety of authentic Japanese cuisine. It lacked sushi, but it had a wide range of soups, dumplings, ramen, and kare raisu (curry rice). But the house specialty was monjayaki, a "pancake" with whatever you want in it. Pinkie Pie was in nirvana and adventurous in her selections.

After the delicious lunch, they went two blocks over. It was a small set of shops at the ground floor of the apartment buildings. There was a convenience store, an electronics store, a cleaner, a store that just said “clothes” and several other retail establishments. They followed Natsuki into the electronics store. The door rang a tiny bell to alert the owners that someone had come in.

“Hey Nats, how is it going?” the shopkeeper asked. He was a middle-aged gentleman on the portly side. 

“It is going,” Natsuki replied. “Yukio, these are my friends. They are exchange students at my school.”

He bowed politely to them. “It is a pleasure to have you in my store. What brings such travelers as yourselves here?”

“You wouldn’t happen to be on the list to get any copies of SAO, would you?” Natsuki asked.

“I am not,” he replied. “I didn’t even put in to try and sell it. You are one of only a handful of people who come to me for games. I don't even have one of their helmet things on my shelves."

“I figured it was a long shot,” Natsuki nodded. “But I still wanted to show them where I get my electronics. Especially Dash here since she knows the specifications of the computer I just built. And my TV.” 

The store had a wide variety of technology, from base components like wires, to full computers, TVs, and other electronic appliances. It was more varied in what it carried than in each category of its inventory. All three of the TVs sizes they sold were from the same company. 

“If you are looking for copies of SAO, I can poke around to some of the other guys and see what information we can score. One for each of you?” 

“I have one, since I beta tested,” Natsuki clarified. “But the goal is seven copies. If you could ask, it would be appreciated.”

“I’ll be discreet,” he said. He turned to head into the back. “Call if you need me.”

They stayed for a bit, mostly Natsuki showing Rainbow Dash some things. At some point, Pinkie Pie had a bag of various candies, which hadn’t come from the store. Sunset hadn’t heard the bell ring at all.

The clothing shop across the street was an interesting adventure. Inside it was a hodgepodge of various styles and mixes. Nothing was the same. Rarity picked up a shirt with an odd printing on it with only two fingers, disgusted at the colors.

“Everything in here is handmade,” Natsuki explained. “And the owner, she does this for fun, not profit. Still, she somehow moves a lot of this stuff.”

“I have no idea how,” Rarity stated, put off by another “unique” piece. 

Sunset found a small section of basic, solid-colored shirts and jeans, tucked away in between a fusion of traditional kimonos and what Sunset could only guess was Celtic in influence. Plaid was not a good mix. 

They finally went back to Natsuki’s home. 

“Well, that was a bust,” Natsuki said, in English since they were back inside the house. “I was hoping for more adventure, but I feel like I just dragged you guys through the mud.”

“I wish I had my equipment,” Rarity said. “I could show you what real fashion design is. Not that…whatever that was.”

Everyone laughed a bit.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was fun. Dinner was ordered in, they played some board games, and had some real, unbridled fun. They even got Rainbow to paint her toenails. 

The fun only ended with just enough time for everyone to catch the trains they needed. It was a safe neighborhood with plenty of lighting. The Nakamuras had texted her earlier in the evening to not worry about the time, just to have fun, and that the door would be locked, but that was why she had a key. Sunset was quiet as she slipped into the house and went to bed.