Floor 56
March 6
Bladescape was following Backbreaker at the head of their party through a narrow mountain valley. Floor 56 was an arid, dry Floor which was carpeted in short, tough grasses in between the rocks. The area they were at had become mountainous rather than the more open plains of the rest of the map. Thankfully, the Floor was just dry, rocky, and harsh, and not dusty, sandy, or extremely hot. The sweltering deserts and choking dust storm floors were unbearable. This was at least something they could handle.
Ahead of them was the largest boss they had ever faced: The GeoCrawler. It was an armored, two legged, horned lizard with an elongated body like a serpent. The narrow valley made it very difficult to fight directly, and flanking it would be nearly impossible.
The reports were understated. Fuurinkazan, The Wondercolts, and Kirito were scouting the first contact with the boss, with Klein watching and planning their attack. It was three strong parties moving forward to get an idea of the weaknesses of the boss and its attack patterns. They all were armed with poisons and paralyzing agents.
In the opening minutes of the attack, Backbreaker, Joltron, Diemond, and Harry One were left blocking the mouth and horns. The rest of the party tried to flank it while the tanks had its attention locked down, but the valley wasn’t wide enough. The armor on its body was also too strong for even piercing weapons to penetrate, and they couldn’t get at its underbelly.
“Fall Back!” Klein ordered after a while of one failure after another. “We've learned enough!”
The Tanks fell back in a staggered line. One would block, letting the others retreat before the next tank set up behind them and took the boss' attention. They switched back and forth until the GeoCrawler ignored them, done with the “fight.”
They held the field boss meeting that afternoon. All of the major guilds had representatives or parties in attendance. The Wondercolts had their whole group there, but most of them would not be in the raid.
Klein started the meeting. "Well, for starters, it is a giant, armored, lizard, snake, thingy."
Knightstar stepped forward. "It is an armored bipes."
"A what?" Klein asked.
"Bipes. Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Amphisbaenia, Bipedidate, Bipes." Knightstar stopped and then she blushed. "Sorry. There are only three species in a remote part of the world. I guess that means it wouldn't be common knowledge."
“Well, whatever it is called, we didn’t find any weaknesses,” Klein stated. “But Kirito and I were thinking of a way to distract it so we could maneuver around to the sides and get under the armor."
Bladescape’s palm slammed into her forehead as she heard the name. “Grand Meaty Meat Plan.” A-class meat would be used to bait it and then they could maneuver into position. It wasn’t a bad plan, but the name was obviously the brainchild of an immature boy. Immature and stupid names for effective plans weren't unusual from AFCK, but Bladescape had come to expect more from Klein and Kirito.
The group set up and prepared to try it in the morning. It wasn’t hard, but it would require a bit of time to gather the A-class meat. A-class ingredients was the second-best tier for food. S-class was the top, and even harder to find. The rarest of the rare, and the Wondercolts hadn’t found any.
Morning brought the same hike out. It wasn’t tough, but the Wondercolts’ party knew what they were getting into. Unfortunately, the bait wasn't taken, and Backbreaker was the main cover for their retreat as the plan failed.
Meeting two commenced shortly after getting back. Asuna, Lightning Flash, was now taking charge, asserting her position as Second in Command of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Bladescape groaned as her plan unfolded. She wanted to open the gates to the village and lure the field boss into it, their one safe haven, so they could kill it while it went for the NPC villagers.
Kirito was arguing against the plan. It ended up being a giant shouting match. He was making the point that NPCs were not like the rocks and trees, or the rest of the game. A loud point that made Bladescape’s head hurt.
“Some of them may be critical for further quests and things,” Astro whispered to Bladescape.
“I don’t know how to stop it,” Bladescape said, straining to speak over the shouts. “I'm sure this isn’t the answer, but we're not in a position to put forth a valid counterargument. Unless you have something more clever...”
“Nope,” Astro sighed.
Bladescape sighed as things once again went immature. Almost as immature as a coin flip. Kirito and Asuna went to duel for the outcome of this plan.
“Should we watch?” Backbreaker asked.
“Might as well,” Bladescape said as the others filed out. Some of the onlookers were even placing bets on the outcome.
Thunderborne bet Astro 1,000 Col that Asuna would win. Klein was taking bets against Kirito. He stood to gain a good amount if Kirito won, but would lose even more if Asuna did.
Two of the clearly top players fighting a clean duel was usually a major event. It was unremarkable for Bladescape. It pitted the one-handed sword of Kirito the Black Swordsman against the rapier of Lightning Flash Asuna. Kirito was now sporting a pitch-black blade that was fitting for his title. As fast as Asuna was, Kirito was almost her equal, enough to keep him alive against her.
Eventually Kirito won, which put them back to where they had started: no plan and completely blocked from the Boss Labyrinth to the 56th Floor Boss. They decided to take a break to try and figure out a new plan. In their rush to get to the Boss Labyrinth they hadn’t explored the region much. The floor around them might hold the key to the problem at hand.
Argo had been brought in, but there still was no plan. The girls had split up, trying to figure out the next move, like the others. AFCK was her usual self as she moped around, bored. She had been promised battle and she was out of cupcakes, which left her mind to wander.
“I’m bored,” AFCK whined to the NPC she was sitting next to. “Oh yeah! I just started Music Instrument as a Skill!”
AFCK pulled out a fife and began to fiddle around with it. She was trying to learn to play “Awesome As I Wanna Be,” but she knew the song on the drums, and mostly that was her banging around it a pattern. She was not accustomed to playing melodies instead of rhythms.
“Why don’t you try playing along with this,” The NPC said, before starting to sing a lullaby.
“M’okay!” AFCK shrugged.
AFCK tried to play along with the simple lullaby. The NPC was kind enough to keep singing it while AFCK learned the notes. She was slow and often off key. It wasn’t a good melody for a fife. It was too slow, but that made it perfect for AFCK to learn. She kept playing it while the NPC kept singing. It was raising her skill level, so it was worth it.
Lightning Flash stopped in front of AFCK and the NPC and huffed. She was judging AFCK for just lying there, fiddling with a fife instead of doing any work to figure out how to beat the boss. Or at least, make it look like she was working.
“What?” AFCK asked in with a bit of a whine. “I was promised fun, a fight, and fruitcake! I haven’t gotten any of those things yet, so I'm taking charge of my fife!”
“And just what are you playing?” Asuna asked, grumpy.
“I dono?” AFCK shrugged. “Some lullaby Ruru here knows. I’m just trying to play along.”
“AFCK!” Bladescape called, finally finding her. “You have our dinner. Come on! We're hungry.”
“Oh! Sorry!”
AFCK bounced up and skipped over to her friends, leaving Asuna and Ruru behind. AFCK pulled up her menu and pulled out dinner. She tossed them their packaged sacks with a fun bounce and plopped down to eat. The others had gone home, leaving just Bladescape, Backbreaker, Joltron, AFCK, Kiefer, and Lessa.
“What were you doing?” Backbreaker asked AFCK asked as she ate.
“Duh, passing the time with Ruru, learning the top-secret special song! Seriously, how did you not know that?”
“I’m too tired,” Bladescape groaned, falling onto her back. “I’m not moving. I’m just going to pop out my bed roll and sleep here.”
“Okie-dokie-lokie!” AFCK hummed. “Camping sounds fun!”
Bladescape was able to set her Search Skill to watch over them. If she or any of the Wondercolts were touched, it would go off. They might be in a safe zone, but Bladescape wasn’t going to let her guard down. She was their leader. Their safety fell on her shoulders.
Bladescape only slept a few hours. It was something that had become the norm. She hunted alone a lot in the hours the others slept. Sometimes others joined her, but while she could do it consistently, almost day after day, they couldn’t. Bladescape just laid there, looking asleep as she watched over her friends. There was no point in getting up. Morning proper was a few hours away. They were out of food, so they would have to pay for breakfast from a local establishment.
Bladescape got them up early so they could get food before the establishments were overcrowded. AFCK whined and grumbled, but food put a stop to that. Word got around to the Wondercolts quickly. They were having a meeting at 9am. Someone had found key information.
They sat there, listening to Asuna. She had found the weakness for the boss. It could be lulled to sleep with a special song, leaving it open to kill. They just needed a musician.
Bladescape looked at AFCK, eyebrow raised, but not because she was a musician. They had all heard her ability to play the fife. It was still a new skill.
“What?” AFCK asked.
“Was that the song you were learning yesterday?”
“Well duh. I said it was a top-secret special song. How did you not understand that!”
Their party groaned. Once again, AFCK knew stuff, but didn’t know they didn’t know stuff. She knew information that would have saved hours of their time.
“I mean, how else would we lull it to sleep?” AFCK continued. “We can’t kill it without it being asleep. I thought you knew that!”
“Then why did we attack it the past two days?” Backbreaker asked, trying to not go off but daring to go far enough down the rabbit hole to ask.
“Cause it was more fun?” AFCK said, cocking her head. “I was just following you guys.”
They were tracking down a musician with a high enough skill to perform it perfectly. Once they located one, they had to get her out to the boss. It came with a hefty price and guards were necessary to protect the noncombatant. Backbreaker was chosen to be one of those guards.
With a new plan in place, they marched back out to the boss' lair. It took a moment for the lullaby to kick in, especially over the sound of the GeoCrawler clashing against the shields of the forward Tanks. Then, it staggered, its legs buckling before it collapsed on its belly. It moved around a bit, writhing over the ground as it was trying to resist sleep.
“Keep that song up!” Asuna ordered. “Move forward towards the head more. Tanks, do not let her get hurt. Everyone else, spread out along the sides and wait until I give the order.”
The Wondercolts flowed out with the others along the sides, waiting for the order. As soon as they were sure it was asleep, the order was given and everyone attacked. It was a fury of attacks unleashed. They were not worried too much about the delay from their skills.
“HEY!” Lightning Flash Asuna yelled at AFCK. It didn’t matter how loud they were, if the creature wasn’t going to wake up from all the attacks, it wasn’t going to wake up to more noise. “Are you sleeping!”
“Huh!” AFCK snorted as she woke up. She had been leaning against her axe for support.
“You were asleep!” Asuna yelled, furious AFCK was slacking.
“Well it is a lullaby, so duh!”
“PINKIE!” Bladescape yelled from her position in her own time delay. “FOCUS!”
“Oh! Right! Sorry!”
AFCK Bounced over to the GeoCrawler, into the middle of the Wondercolts. She unleashed Windmill, a 3-combo attack that was a strike up in a spin. She finished with her Rock Candy Smash, but without yelling it to the world. She had learned some discretion.
The blow hit with an impact that actually moved the GeoCrawler before it exploded into polygons.
“Yay!” AFCK giggled as she bounced up and down. “Lab!”
Bladescape covered AFCK’s loud mouth before she could do any more damage. It already was rewarded with a glare from Lightning Flash, who had slipped into the fray a little further down. She was certainly thinking AFCK was trying to poach the Last Attack Bonus.
“She’s not all there,” Bladescape said as Asuna stormed over. “Her mind is filled with taffy, whip cream, cola rivers, and sugar mountains. She is an amazing cook and Clearer, but she is not always together.”
“She said she was sleeping,” The Flash declared.
“Well we were playin' a lullaby,” Backbreaker said as she joined them.
AFCK slipped out of Bladescape’s grip.
“Did you get sprinkles dropped?” She asked Lightning Flash Asuna. “No one drops sprinkles and I keep waiting for sprinkles to be dropped. And not the kind you eat! I mean the kind you mmmhm mumhmhmsm mmmumhum.”
Bladescape sighed as she held AFCK tight and kept her mouth closed. Lightning Flash huffed, recognizing that they were not lying. Unlike them though, she saw a mentally compromised player who took the news of being trapped here to a whole different dimension. She didn’t see the real Pinkie Pie, but that was fine with Bladescape at the moment.
Bladescape let AFCK go, giving her a bit of a shove in her anger.
“What?” AFCK whined.
“You fell asleep!” Bladescape growled.
“Sorry.”
“Pinkie,” Bladescape raged. “You just made us look like poaching cheaters! I know you weren't trying to, but it still looks bad.”
“Dang right it does,” Klein said coming over. “But we know you better than that. What matters is that we cleared the way to the 56th Floor’s Labyrinth.” Klein milled around for a second. “But uh, what did you get?”
“Get from what?” AFCK asked, already forgetting what they had just been doing. “Oh, right,” she said, laughing. “That.”
AFCK played with her menu and a giant, double headed war axe popped out. “I call her, Candy Cutter.”
“And what is her real name?” Klein asked.
“Geode Splitter,” AFCK shrugged. “But the geodes need to be protected! They are being hunted to extinction for the sweet candy they produce. They can’t reproduce fast enough for us to harvest them like we do. They need to be nurtured and allowed to grow until they die and kindly offer their treats to us.”
“I am very afraid to ask,” Klein stated.
“And yet she functions so well in real life,” Bladescape chuckled. “We just accept her for who she is. She's an amazing friend, and she is really smart, when she's on topic. And her creativity is truly off the charts.”
“Too bad we can’t have her full potential,” Klein said, scratching the back of his head. “Maybe we can meet up in the real world and see what she can really do.”
“Coming from you, Klein, that sounded perverted,” Bladescape quipped. “But maybe, if you recognize it as just friends and nothing more. After all, we are still in high school.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Klein groaned, annoyed. “I know. You made it very clear. I’m not hitting on you. I’m just saying, you girls seem like a cool crowd to hang out with.”
Bladescape quietly nodded as Klein and the rest of Fuurinkazan departed.
“Let’s pack it in,” Backbreaker said. “I think we should regroup before we hit the Labyrinth.”
“Getting the others would be smart,” AFCK added.
AFCK was back to her normal self.
Bladescape (SS): Lvl 78 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Leather Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Sprint – Acrobatics – Blade Throwing – Extended Weight Carry
Knightstar (TS): Lvl 68 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal – Parry – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Search – Armor Pierce
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 71 – Rapier – Sprint – Acrobatics – Armor Pierce – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Leather Armor – Weapon Defense – Extended Weight Carry – Search
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 74 – Heavy Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Fishing – Search – Martial Arts – Acrobatics
AFCK (PP): Lvl 71 – Two-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense – Martial Arts – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Thrown Weapon – Musical Instrument
Diemond (R): Lvl 71 – Heavy Shield – Mace – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Heavy Metal Armor – Tailoring – Light Metal Armor Forging – Heavy Metal Armor Forging – Jewelry Making – Extended Weight Carry
Doombunny (FS): Lvl 68 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search – Listening – Battle Regeneration – Fighting Spirit – Familiar Communication (Colorra) – Drug Mixing – Reveal
Astro (PS): Lvl 71 – Two-Handed Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics – First Aid – Light Metal Armor – Battle Regeneration – Weapon Defense – Parry – Extended Wight Carry
Kiefer: Lvl 68 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – Weapon Defense – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Slash Weapon Forging – Katana – Martial Arts
Lessa: Lvl 68 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Equipment Repair – Metal Equipment Repairing – Armor Pierce – Search
Joltron: Lvl 72 – One handed Axe – Heavy Shield – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Metal Refining – Blunt Weapon Forging – One Handed Weapon Creation – Two Handed Weapon Creation – Extended Weight Carry
I wondered how they handled this boss in the anime, nice job incorporating it. Just another instance of Pinkie being Pinkie and no point in questioning it.
10048985
This is exactly what they did, I just added in the Wondercolts.
Question, how old are they now? Will they be minors still when they get out or will they be of age? Doesn't make a diference to be clear, just curious.
10049107
That question came up the other day. I don't actually know. We know they may be as young as Sophomores. They showed a picture of them at the Freshman Fair in the first movie. I don't know where that puts them age wise tough.
What are your thoughts on their age?
10049179
Keeping in mind they most likely aren't the same age (it was stated in the show that Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie) then the safest bet would be 16/17.
10049179
pinkie has always thought to be the youngest with fluttershy following and then applejack, rainbow in the middle and Raity the oldest
10049271
Leaving Sunset and Twilight where? Also that is in Equestria. I know, a year older doesn't mean you can't be in the same grade (even without skipping), but how does that translate over?
Also, I don't think Equestria and the EQG world are perfectly in sync with their timing. All of the changes kind of screw with things.
10049179
They spend what, two and a half years inside the game? One and a half? Considering they start high school at 15~16 and this is after the geodes, so they're at least in the seccond half of the first year - at the VERY least - then there's quite the possibility at least one of them is around 18 when it ends, if not most. Sunset's one that can be taken a lot of ways, depends on how old she was for a pony when she entered the mirror - she could well be a pony adult by now!
It mostly depends on what you want for the story/world.
10049297
I had literally not thought about their ages. I think it is the one fact I forgot about or haven't planned for. Now I have to plan for it, maybe. At the end if it needs stating.
10049179
10049233
I'd put them at roughly the same. At the absolute Earliest, I would put the first EQG Movie at the beginning of their Sophomore year, and the Friendship Games seem like a suped-up Track and Field competition, which are usually held either in the late spring or early summer before school lets out for summer vacation. If you compress the EQG series into a single school year, that would put the timeline at the beginning of their Junior year since SAO released in the fall. At the current rate they are clearing the game, with them not knowing what's going to happen on Floor 75, the earliest projection for escaping SAO is around two and a half to three years.
I find it somewhat amusing, and also somewhat sad, that while Sunset realizes what being trapped in SAO is doing to their physical bodies, she hasn't seemed to realize yet that by the time they get out at the rate they're clearing the game, even not counting their early release on floor 75, they're going to be "Too Old" for high school by the time they return to the physical world... Heck, unless they get some sort of special dispensation or schooling, they're probably going to have to settle for GEDs rather than Diplomas if they want high school credentials. That's going to absolutely Kill Twilight's spirits when she realizes it, since a lot of colleges and job applications tend to look poorly on people who have GEDs instead of Graduation Diplomas...
On a related note, I also feel somewhat sad for Pinkie. It seems that the longer she's trapped, the more she seems to be slipping into her own little world more than she already did before. Being "away" from her sisters, especially Maud, for so long must be killing her inside. Applejack seems to be toughing through being away from her family well enough, but she's had to deal with loss before, and while Rarity and Sweetie Belle are close, they're also both a lot more independently minded than the other Wondercolts with siblings. Twilight and Shining are close, but Shining is an adult, so he's probably already moved away, and I can only think Fluttershy would see being away from Zephyr Breeze as a good thing. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo might also be close, but like Rarity and Sweetie, they're also very independent, even if Scootaloo worships the ground Rainbow walks on. This is probably affecting her more than it is her big sister figure, though I don't doubt that Rainbow still misses her "Little Sister".
10049376
Considering SAO is, in universe, an enormous hostage crisis than spans over two years it'd make sense that even if they need GEDs there going to get into college easier than otherwise even if only for the brownie points the colleges would get for helping the poor souls whose flower of youth was stolen from. Twiggles has nothing to fear there, nor do the others.
10048985
I remember this scene from the Abridged Series, where the boss was called Sheeptar the Sheep King; later in the episode, its moveset is described (which included clinging from the ceiling and spitting acid), and it was less "giant armoured burrowing lizard" and more (as Kirito calls it upon hearing of its moveset) "some kind of fluffy xenomorph or something".
Also, they only hatched the plan because it had already killed seven of them (or as Asuna says later, "twelve now").
10049275
That's the funny thing Twilight's age even in the show has never been stated and just nope on Sunset. Little miss filly jumps in a mirror and winds up as a teen somehow lol
10049376
10049619
I imagine it would be handled the same way it was in SAO canon where the Government just set up a special school for all the students.
10049808
But, the girls are one of the few non-native and outside of Japan to own the game and play. The local government isn't going to create a program for 7 kids in one area. Japan was small enough and the numbers large enough that they could condense. Also, they condensed so they could monitor them, not so much about getting them through school. School was convenient ploy that alps helped the kid. Klein and Agil went back to jobs. Agil his own Cafe, working with his wife, and Klein appears to have become a warehouse worker.
10049929
Well now to be fair I've been operating under the assumption that this was some kind of merged universe not that the girls had somehow managed to connect to a mostly Japanese exclusive game and that they all just happened to speak fluent Japanese.
I'd still argue that if the local government is going to the trouble of keeping them alive, that they would also go to the trouble of helping them reacclimate to the normal world which would include helping them out with their education.
10049619
10049808
Exactly what 10049929 said. The girls are in the US of A, not Japan, and both in raw numbers and Population %, the victims of SAO in this universe's version of events that come from the US is much, Much smaller. I doubt the government is going to step in to do much, both because of the smaller numbers and because since Argus is a Japanese company and Akikiko a Japanese Citizen, it isn't as much of a PR Nightmare for the US Government. Don't get me wrong, he's still going to be Tried in Absentia, but the charges the US levies against him, which are probably on the level of War Crimes, probably got rolled into the same trial the Japanese Government held against him when the whole mess started. At the most, they'll probably get a slice of the settlement against Argus that every other SAO victim received, but that's not going to carry them far.
They might get "Sympathy PR" from certain colleges, but it wouldn't be nearly as much of a big deal as it would be if they lived in Japan. I'm also not sure how comfortable the girls would be with that after they realize they're essentially being used for political reasons. I can see a couple of them like Sunset and Twilight gritting their teeth and toughing it out, but Fluttershy especially, if her Post High School/SAO Life Goals include something like becoming a Vet or other animal related vocation that requires a college education, would probably end up dropping out of such a school and finding a nice, quiet community college where she could study in peace, and even the ones who can take the PR spotlight might follow her just to keep their SAO support network together.
10049977
I never thought to merge them in that way...
10049619
10049994
10049808
I had always planned that the Japanese Government was paying their hospital bills.
10049929
America would consider this as some form of terror attack from Japan. Politics will be REALLY rough so they probably would do something to help the 'survivors' of the attack reacclimate to real life. We wouldn't go so far as to make an entire school funded via tax dollars. But we wouldn't just leave them to rot either.
10050197
The only nation I have identified in this story is Japan. I have purposefully avoided naming any other nation. In the Equestria Girls World, there may not be a "United States of America." That is exactly like how the developers have avoided naming any nation in EQG. I gambled with naming Japan. I could have just as easily avoided it being a nation as a whole, but I felt that it was too crucial to SAO, Aincrad, the NerveGear, and Characters like Klein, Kirito, and Asuna to remove their national origin.
Each chapter I wonder if any of the Wondercolts aren't going to make it
*Extended Wight Carry* I wonder what this is?
10050343
At the basics, it allows you to carry more than your current cap is at. Each player can only carry as much gear as their strength allows, and that includes worn equipment. It modifies it to help you carry more and still be able to move.
10050496
Sarcasm I see wight not weight -_-
10050817
Crap!
Prologue of episode 5
10052807
Yes it is nice catch. I wish they showed the duel.
10053001
Yeah.
Now, 7 months to freedom.
10053119
A lot can, and will, happen in that 7 months. Hehehe.
So... I noticed almost every character have "Extended Weight Carry" but I could think many of them are more focused in agility or in attack... Why use a slot of skill in that?
10057035
Good question. The main reason is so that they can carry more. I looked to see who was picking up Extended Weight Carry, and a lot of the Assault Team had it applied. Asuna didn't, but Kirito, Klein, and Agil all did. For tanks, they already put a lot into the carry weight of their armor alone. For more agile fighters, you still want to use it because it allows you to carry more. Instead of raising strength, and directly removing agility or speed, a speed based fighter can raise their carry limit without taking away from their agility. The Wondercolts need to be able to dive into a dungeon for the whole day, and not risk hitting their carry weight limit. It sneaks up on you faster than you often realize.
So apparently a bunch of the girls are using a precious skill slot to carry around undead monsters for some reason.
10057035
10057411
Really! The ones who have it are:
For a guild of 11 members of the Assault Team, that is right. 5 girls and 1 boy! Knightstar will make sure that they can carry all they need and won't run out of space! They are constantly switching parties, making a "porter" harder to do.
Kiefer doesn't have it and he is a regular at boss fights. The same goes for AFCK. Knightstar, surprisingly, doesn't have it even though she appraises weapons, equipment, and supplies for the guild. Diemond should have applied it earlier since she is a tank. Joltron should have as well.
Obviously I value that skill.
10049179
Usually in these types of shows, it's obvious if they're Freshmen with a first day of high school reality check episode. The writers also make them young enough to fit a couple seasons in before they graduate in the series finale. Unless it's one of those shows that continues to follow the main character into college.
Anyways, I figure they're either Sophomores or Juniors as of the first EG movie. If that's the case, they won't be graduating with the rest of their CHS class. Rarity and Sweetie Bell will probably be covering the same schoolwork once she wakes up.
10049929
Not at a state or federal level, I could see Canterlot providing some kind of support. I suppose a good way to see what kind of post game support they'll be getting is to see who's caring for them now. Not just paying for the life support, but visiting them, caring for their families, etc.
What if the survivor school was open to everyone, instead of just the Japanese survivors. I could imagine a couple character making the move if offered the chance.
Sunset doesn't technically have a family, and no one in Canterlot, aside from her 6 friends, is going to understand what she went through. The School would put her among others that went through a similar experience and are empathetic. The Japanese government in particular would probably be interested in the fact that she doesn't have any kind of history. Unless you wanted to play with the idea that her EQG counterpart is somewhere out there.
Twilight might become more interested in the Full Dive tech itself, and move in order to study it.
While Fluttershy would want to stay with her animals, maybe she'd temporarily relocate to avoid the media attention.
Dash would probably follow one of her friends there. Her post game arc would probably be around dealing with her IRL limitations. I suppose there might be some kind of muscle treatment in Japan.
I can't see AJ leaving the farm at all.
Pinkie could go either way. It depends on if he wanted to go with her friends, or stay with her family.
Rarity would probably stay. Moving wouldn't let her practice her trade, plus she would want to be with Sweetie.
Hypothetically, I could see them all getting the offer, but only half of them going. They would meet up in ALO or GGO to still stay in contact. That's just my mind thinking too far ahead though.
10193554
Interesting ideas. A good chunk of the outside stuff is addressed in the Aside Blog Posts.
Technically it's only 2 parties as Kirito is a solo player.
That's just great.
Only problem there is the girls are from America and Klein and many of the others are from Japan.