EQG: Sword Art Online - Ruby Palace

by Mindrop

Vignettes Arc - Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Author's Note:

The Vignettes Arcs are compiled blog posts, placed here for convenience. The vignettes themselves are short stories pushed out while I was in the transition between EQG:SAO Aincrad and writing Ruby Palace, to keep the fans up to date. They are not the official start of Ruby Palace, that would be the Pilot Episodes, but they are part of it. Reading them is not required to understand the story. They received much less editing effort since they were originally blog posts. Still, they are fun, give some more background than the pilot episodes can cover, and were put here so that anyone who wanted to read/reread them wouldn't have to dig through my blogs.

Enjoy!

Powered Down
August 14 – Sunday - 10 am.

Sunset put on her headset. She made sure they were situated properly and then she double checked that the mic was in the optimal spot. She hit the delay start on the recorder and sat down on her couch. The blinking light turned solid to indicate that it was recording.

“Welcome back to Shimmer Code,” Sunset said. “It’s time for day four of my speed run of a classic, Final Fantasy Seven. For those of your who are watching just the highlight reel, day one was ten hours, day two was nine hours, and day three was ten hours. That’s a total of twenty-nine hours. If you don’t know, the game has a main story play time of thirty-six and a half hours. I’m trying to beat it in under thirty-six. Although it’s my first time playing it, I’m not doing a completionist run. Today I should beat it.”

Sunset held up her controller. “For those of you brave enough to watch from the beginning, you may recall me saying I had an upcoming announcement. That is why am I doing this, but I am sure you are wondering, ‘why pick such an old game?’ Simply put, it’s considered one of the greatest video games of all times which did some ground breaking advancements in video game design and gameplay, like being the first to use Three-D computer graphics, and it continues to influence games to this day. More importantly, it was produced by Square, now known as Square Enix, one of the world’s foremost video game companies, based out of Japan. It was created and designed in Japan first and foremost.”

“Today’s stream is the last I’ll be doing for a while,” Sunset smiled coyly into the camera, pausing for dramatic effect. Rarity was becoming a big influence on certain aspects of Sunset’s life. “Because where I am going, I won’t have my system with me. In three days, I’ll be in Tokyo, Japan, doing a semester abroad. I couldn’t think of a more appropriate game to beat before heading on that journey.

“So, without any more stalling, let’s get to it!”

Sunset loaded from her last save point and continued playing. Speed running a game she had never played before came with its own challenges. She had to do some research ahead of time, especially to make sure she knew where the highlights of the playthrough would be for her compilation. She also had to keep a log of her timing, so that she knew where to grab the clips. After each day, she had spent time cutting out the good parts and splicing them together.

It wasn’t like Sunset was wasting time. She had put in notice of her absence for her job when she had gotten approved for the program, but due to the pay periods, she wasn’t working the week before her last available day. She technically still had a job; she just wasn’t going to be on the schedule while she was in Japan. When she got back, they would assess if they could add her onto the schedule, or if her position had been filled with someone just as permanent as she was. It was a better arrangement than knowing she had to start from scratch and her boss was more than happy to provide a good reference for her if it didn’t work out for her to return. Yes, she would be gone for four months, but they knew when she was going to be returning and it was a very good reason to be leaving. She had no reason to officially quit either. If they needed to hire someone about the time she got back, the job would absolutely be waiting for her to pick it back up without a problem. It might save them from having to train someone, so it was a winning arrangement all around.

Sunset moved into the final boss fight as she got to thirty-five hours and forty-five minutes. Because she had been skipping side quests for time, Sunset’s characters were on the lower side in regards to their level. The blitz left her with the bare minimum for experience, equipment, and supplies. She saved before going into the final fights. Her first attempt got her through the first phase, but lacking the healing potions to beat the second phase. Sunset groaned as her characters were KO’d. It wasn’t the first time she had died. She had several times. That was common enough in any game, but after the fight she had just put up, she knew she was in a tight spot. Beating the game at her level was going to be very difficult. If she couldn’t, that meant she would have to take a significant step backwards in her saves to a place where she could do some side objectives and increase stats and equipment.

The game’s fighting style was called Active Time Battle, where the player chose the actions for their characters – healing, attacking, or using an item – and both sides exchanged moves until one side was defeated. The characters had their base stats, but then there was equipment that enhanced the stats. There were the basic set of attacks, combination attacks, and each character had their own unique attacks too. Damage dealt, damage taken, and critical attacks were often an RNG decision based on the base stats and equipment in use.

It took Sunset two more runs to finally fight her way to the end. She was on the edge of the couch as she used her last health potion to heal Cloud before he took critical damage, putting his health in the single digits as she launched the final attack. Sunset collapse back into the couch as the final cutscenes played out. There was nothing left for her to do but watch the show unfold. There was a reason the game was critically acclaimed and Sunset had not even explored half of what it had to offer. She would leave a complete playthrough for when she got back and not for a stream. At least not the eighty plus hours it would take to fully enjoy such a masterpiece.

The last scene ended and Sunset looked at the clock. “And a total completion time of thirty-six hours and fifty-two minutes. With nine deaths. Not bad considering I’ve never played it and I wasn’t rocking the best gear and didn’t spend time level grinding. That’s it for the live stream. I’ll have a highlights reel posted in the next day or two. For now, I have some packing to do!” Sunset waved to the camera. “Ki wo tsukete! Take care!”

Sunset stood up and almost fell down. Her legs were not ready to support her after sitting for so long. She managed to stay up and steady enough to turn the camera off before something embarrassing happened.

Seven hours, nonstop gaming, was not the healthiest lifestyle. At least she rarely did it, but after the four days, she was very stiff. Sunset made her first priority to fuel up and rehydrate. In order to be ready to fly out, she had some laundry to do and then packing. She knew what she was going to bring, she was just trying to slide through the next few days, biding her time, until it was laundry day so she could pack fresh clothes. Some other items couldn’t be packed until the last minute. She also had to make sure she left herself ready to come back after the semester was over, not immediately needing to do things like laundry.

It was with a heavy heart that she powered down her game console and then unplugged it. Likewise, she unplugged her controller charging stand and headphone charger. When she got back, she would have to plug them back in and charge them, but she didn’t need them draining power over the months she wouldn’t be around. Eventually, almost every electronic would be unplugged to save electricity. If it had a ghost light or standby mode, it would get unplugged. Unplugging everything was healthier for the electronics and it was pointless to keep them active, even for four months.

Tomorrow Sunset would prep her guitars for the months she would be away. Loosening the strings a tad would keep both them and the neck in better conditional while not being used and it would need to be turned anyway when she got back. Her room wasn’t going to fluctuate in humidity or temperature that much, so she didn’t have too much to worry about.

It was a bit eerie standing in the room, knowing she would be vacating it, yet have it waiting for her to return. She was moving, yet not. Nothing around her felt comfortable because of her impending departure. Her flight on the 16th could not come soon enough.

No Dogs Allowed
August 18 – Thursday

Twilight walked up to the house’s front door and noticed two different cameras watching over it and the front of the house. They were not there the week prior when she had been to the housewarming. Shining Armor was increasing his home security, which was a good thing.

She looked at Spike by her feet and smiled at her beloved pet. The dog smiled back at her, as best as any dog could. Shining Armor didn’t know Spike could speak and he was going to be taking care of Spike while she was away. At least for the first half. Their parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet, were going to be spending six weeks touring Europe, a trip which was two years in the making. It worked out perfectly that Twilight would be gone, not that she couldn’t have cared for herself.

After she had finished packing, Twilight had spent a wonderful night with Spike, snuggling and talking through most of the night. It was only four months, but it would be four months where he would always have to look like a regular dog. Especially if Shining Armor had cameras.

Twilight rang the doorbell and waited. Shining Armor hadn’t been on shift today, so he had invited her to come over early and drop Spike off, along with Spike’s stuff, before the family went off to dinner together. It seemed like there was something else going on, but she couldn’t tell with him. Not recently. Her B.B.B.F.F. had been quite busy and working a lot lately. Buying the house was unexpected, but his apartment lease was up in three months. He certainly could afford it. Shining Armor had just made Lieutenant and been placed in charge of Canterlot Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics Unit.

The door opened. “Twily!” Shining Armor exclaimed. “And Spike. Come on in you two.” Shining Armor took both bags from Twilight before letting Twilight and Spike enter. He set them off to the side. “Glad you could come by early so we could get some sibling time in before dinner. It’s been too long and we won’t get to for a while.”

“Four months isn’t that long, but it will be a while,” Twilight said. “It certainly will feel longer and I won’t be the same girl when I get back. I’ll have a whole world of experience. I look forward to sharing it with my big brother when I get back, we can only post so much on our social media account, then we can have some fun catching up. Should I bring you back something personal, or for the house? It’s still a bit sparse. You opted to get cameras instead of furniture.”

They sat at the kitchen island’s seats where Shining Armor had glasses of iced tea for them. He had left the dining table with his roommate. It was too small for a house, but perfect for that apartment.

“I still haven’t figured out the decorating direction, but home security is always a smart bet,” Shining Armor said. “Especially with my job. But this is a good neighborhood, pretty safe. You know that no matter what you bring me, I’ll always cherish it. I’m certain you will find the perfect thing.”

“Well, this place better have more furniture when I get back,” Twilight poked. “Four months is plenty of time to figure out what to do with your house.”

“I don’t think it will have anything new,” Shining Armor said. “I wasn’t planning on it-”

“Then why did you buy such a big place?” Twilight asked.

“Well, if you would give me a moment and not interrupt-”

“Sorry,” Twilight apologized.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes and smiled. “I bought it because it’s the right direction for having a family. And that’s also why I don’t plan on buying any more stuff.” Shining Armor set a box on the countertop and opened it to display an engagement ring.

Twilight almost dropped her glass of tea in shock. She was aware that Shining Armor was seeing someone with what little time he had with his job, but an engagement ring was more serious that she thought the relationship was. She didn't even know who he was seeing. He had always casually blown it off, indicating that it wasn’t that serious. Or rather that’s what Twilight had understood it as.

It absolutely explained why he bought a house without anyone hearing he was thinking about it. The same for the furniture, or lack of furniture. Why buy new stuff you don’t need when you may replace it or your future spouse already has what will be used.

“Who?” Twilight stammered. “I don’t even know this girl. I would have thought you would have let me meet her first!”

“Relax,” Shining Armor said. “First off, you know her. Second, we kept it quiet for a while for professional reasons. You may have spent your junior year at Canterlot High, but I wasn’t sure you would stay there. It’s been exactly what you needed, but in case you needed, or wanted, to go back to Crystal Prep, well we didn’t want to cause more stress or make things awkward for you. But now you are about to leave for Japan, a semester abroad, so I don’t have those concerns. I haven’t figured out when I’ll ask, but I don’t think you will be back by the time I propose. If, for some reason, I don’t ask before you get back, well at least you know I’ll be asking, which is better than finding out after I ask.”

“Okay,” Twilight said with a slow nod. “But who are you seeing!”

“I’ve been seeing Cadance,” Shining Armor stated. “As in Principal Cadance, the former dean of Crystal Prep.”

Twilight was taken aback even more by that. She loved Cadance. Cadance had always been good to Twilight. She understood Twilight better than Principal Cinch ever had. She still kept up with Twilight, checking in from time to time. Cadance had written a letter of recommendation to the foreign exchange program for Twilight.

What was an even bigger shock was that Shining Armor had been seeing her without Twilight knowing. Twilight didn’t even realize they knew each other’s names. Cadance was a few years older than Shining Armor and she wasn’t at the school when he was a student. Many alumni were engaged with the school, to varying degrees, but the only time Twilight could remember seeing the two of them in the same room was when Principal Cinch used Shining Armor to convince her to join Crystal Prep’s Friendship Games team.

“When did you two start seeing each other?” Twilight asked. “I didn’t realize you knew her.”

“Remember freshman year, when I picked you up after school for your birthday?” Shining Armor asked.

Twilight nodded to him. Shining Armor had been at a training academy for advanced S.W.A.T. tactics and was supposed to miss her birthday, but he had surprised her by getting back early. Really, he had told her the wrong date in order to be able to surprise her. Shining Armor had stayed outside, or so she had thought. That was where he had surprised her. She had found him leaning against his brand-new sports car. It was also the first time she had seen that car.

“I got to the school early, so I walked the halls a bit, remembering my time as a student,” Shining Armor explained. “That’s when I met Cadance. We spoke for a bit and I convinced her to meet me for coffee at a later date. Then we kept it quiet for your sake. You had enough trouble fitting in. We didn’t want to eclipse you and make you the younger sister of one of the school’s former stars who was dating the dean.”

That was almost three years ago. Twilight had been thinking that Shining Armor was rushing things a bit, but that was certainly enough time to get to know Cadance and decide if she was the right woman for him, to decide if they could make a family together.

Twilight didn’t know what to say. She just threw her arms around him, hugging her brother in her joy. She was happy for him. Very happy for him. The one thing she missed about Crystal Prep was Cadance. It wouldn’t be that long until Cadance was her sister-in-law. She would always be in Twilight’s life, assuming she said yes. Twilight knew Shining Armor; he wouldn’t be asking if he either wasn’t certain she would say yes or that he could convince her to say yes.

“I’m so happy for you,” Twilight finally said. “The two of you must make a cute couple. I guess I’ll have to celebrate your engagement when I get back.”

“Definitely,” Shining Armor said as he hugged her tightly. “And thank you. I look forward to celebrating both the engagement and hearing about your time in Japan.”

“Wait, do mom and dad know yet?” Twilight asked as they broke the hug.

“Dad knows, I asked him for some advice,” Shining Armor answered. “Mom doesn’t. She doesn’t know any more than you did. Neither did dad until I needed his guidance.”

“Are you going to tell her tonight?” Twilight asked. She was getting excited. It was titillating knowing before her mother, even if it was only for a few hours.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Shining Armor said. “I didn’t want to ruin your last night here. It’s supposed to be about you, not me.”

“Giving mom something to think about besides me would be nice,” Twilight said. “She got a bit clingy and sentimental this past week. I wasn’t expecting that to happen, but I guess their trip is still far enough out that it hasn’t completely engulfed her yet.”

“Do you want me to tell her tonight?” Shining Armor asked. “It’s up to you. I wasn’t going to.”

Twilight could feel her cheeks flush. “I really want to see her face when you tell her,” she admitted. “It’s fun knowing before she does. It will give us all something to celebrate as a family before we temporarily go our separate ways.”

“Okay, then I’ll tell her,” Shining Armor said, flashing her a sly grin. “It’s been hard to keep it to myself.”

Shining Armor’s phone chimed and then Twilight’s did. Either they had both gotten a group message, or two people had texted them separately. It was their father, confirming the time for dinner.

“Well, we have to leave soon anyway,” Shining Armor said as he typed the response. “It’s a bit of a drive to Silo’s.”

“Oh, that’s fancy,” Twilight said. “Who picked that place?”

“Dad and I did,” Shining Armor said. “It hit my radar after he took mom for their anniversary. It seemed like the perfect place for your sendoff dinner. But before we go, is there anything I need to know for Spike?”

“All of his stuff is in the bags,” Twilight said. “Bowl, food, leash, bed, and toys. Heartworm pill at the first of the month. He just had a bath yesterday and hasn’t gotten himself dirty. You know how to take care of a dog.”

“I installed a doggy door,” Shining Armor said, bending down to Spike. “Comes with this special tag that locks it unless it senses this tag.” Shining Armor clipped something to Spike’s collar. “So, Spike, you can go out whenever you need to. Do mom and dad know Spike can speak?”

“You know!” Twilight blurted out in her surprise.

“Cadance let it slip,” Shining Armor said with a shrug. “Well, it was more of part of the tale she told me about the friendship games. The fact that you two have been keeping it from me all this time was rather funny.”

“Oh,” was all Twilight said. She was still trying to process that surprise.

“Oh yeah, they know,” Spike said with a chuckle. “They couldn’t help but hear at times. Twilight talks to me a lot as she does schoolwork.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t get it past them. Plus, Spike is a great conversationalist. Thanks for taking care of him while everyone is gone.”

“Think nothing of it,” Shining Armor said. “I look forward to our guys' nights while you are away.”

“Oh, now I’m intrigued,” Spike stated. “Plus, things are going to be much easier now that I don’t have to play dumb. I got used to verbally answering Twilight.”

Twilight bent down and hugged Spike. “I’m going to miss you so much. I wish I could take you with me.”

“No you don’t,” Spike said. “Having to take care of me, in a city like Tokyo, it’s way too much to worry about on top of having to do school in another language and everything else you will be doing and experiencing. I’ll be fine. You two go have dinner. We said all we needed to last night.” Spike licked her cheek as a parting gesture.

“See you later tonight, Spike,” Shining Armor said.

Twilight followed Shining Armor to the garage where his car was. It was the same sports car he had picked her up in on her birthday, the same day he had apparently met Cadance. Twilight was leaving a lot behind in Canterlot, but she would be coming back to a whole lot more and with a mountain of life experience and memories.

Final Goal
August 19 — Friday

Rainbow Dash slipped the soccer ball out of Astroturf’s control, smoothly reversing direction and driving the ball towards the other goal. She chipped it to Sour Sweet to get it around a defender. Another defender got in between the goal and Sour Sweet, forcing her to kick it back to Dash. The ball went high in her haste and Dash performed a bicycle kick to redirect it. The goalie reached for it, but couldn’t block the goal. They celebrated the goal with a fist bump.

It was just a friendly match at the end of Soccer Training Camp. Everyone at camp was on a school soccer team; namely the Wondercolts, Shadowbolts, Commanders, Boltcasters, Minotaurs, Griffons, and Spellshields. Usually they were pitted against each other, but Soccer Training Camp was about the game and developing skills, not school teams. Rainbow Dash would be missing the fall soccer season and, as a senior, she wouldn’t get to be scouted by colleges. However, compared to the others around her, Dash’s college resume would look a lot better and she could be a walk-on player and pick up scholarships after she got onto a team. It also meant she got to pick what school she went to, not based solely on who was offering her scholarships.

Sunset was already in Japan. Twilight and Rarity were on their way. Pinkie and Fluttershy were leaving tomorrow morning. Dash would get back from soccer camp tomorrow and leave the day after, on Sunday. Everything was timed around training camp and tomorrow would mean a lot of work to flip everything so she could leave for Japan on time.

For now, Dash got to enjoy the last day of her last year of soccer training camp with her fellow athletes and friends. Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Astroturf, Lightning Dust, Tempest Shadow, and Rainbow Dash had been going to this training camp since middle school. It was their seventh year at the training camp and fourth in the same cabin. The cabins had four bunk beds, but they were the camp’s senior cohort. No one else were seventh year campers, most were third and fourth years, so the six of them had scored a cabin of their own. At camp, they were best friends, but as soon as they went back to their teams, all bets were off. Dash didn’t really speak to anyone outside of camp, or things relating to camp, except for Astroturf and Lightning Dust. Dash always forgot that Sour Sweet and Indigo Zap attended Crystal Prep, because they didn’t play soccer for Crystal Prep. They were Griffons since Crystal Prep’s Shadowbolts were horrible at soccer. They were able to do that since Crystal Prep was a private school and public schools had to allow kids who would attend their school the fair opportunity to play sports the same as their students; be they home schooled students or private school students.

This was the best way to spend the down days before leaving. Dash didn’t want to sit around the house with her parents lauding her for getting into the exchange program. They had done enough of that already. She was thankful for their support, but they could go too far. There was a concern that they would follow Dash to Japan if something big happened where they could cheer her on. That would be an expensive trip for them. They didn’t have passports, at least not that Dash knew of.

The rest of the soccer match was average performance for Dash. It went down to a shootout. This year, their goalies were very good at stopping penalty kicks. Dash was the only one to score. Red Shirts, the team Dash was on, won because of it.

The camp was mostly training and soccer. It wasn’t a summer camp feel, although some things did feel like a camp. Most nights they went to bed early because they were up early to start training, but the last night ended with a campfire and star watching, including s’mores and other “unhealthy” things the camp didn’t put on the menu. They were athletes, but they also were kids and they had worked hard all week. Cracking open a soda on the last night wasn’t going to harm them.

“So, Dash, ready to live abroad?” Astroturf asked as the six of them sat on their cabin steps, looking up at the stars.

“Sort of,” Dash admitted. “It’s going to be interesting to do school in Japanese. Their school system is similar, but very different. The teachers move, not the students. As long as one of my friends is with me in case I miss something the teacher says, I’ll be good. Hopefully at least Fluttershy will be in the same room. She’s really good at Japanese.”

“It’s going to be interesting to face the Wondercolts without you, Dash,” Lightning Dust said. “Winning won’t be as sweet.”

“That won’t be a problem. They’ll make sure you lose,” Dash shot back. It elicited a round of laughs.

“And you will have to get used to it as football, not soccer,” Astroturf added.

“Eh,” Dash shrugged. “I’ve been watching the British teams on and off for a while and recently started watching JFA games. Both use football. Soccer actually is British. They started the first Football Association to standardize the rules between the schools in the group and make it unique from rugby football. The slang they made was ‘assoc,’ for association, then they added the ‘er’ and we got soccer.”

“You’re an egghead,” Indigo shot. “Use that head to bounce the ball into the goal.”

“Come on,” Dash groaned. “The head is Tempest’s specialty. Mine’s the bicycle kick and you know that.”

“Yeah,” Tempest said, lightly shoving Indigo Zap. “She needs the brain cells for her second language.”

“Ha ha,” Dash sarcastically laughed. “I do it when I need to, but using my head usually leaves me with a headache and less ability to react for a minute or two. Especially if Astro kicked it.”

“I always tell you to go long,” Astro shot back. “I didn’t expect you to need to leave the country.”

“Will you get to see any games while there?” Sour Sweet asked.

“They’re on break in the fall,” Dash explained. “Soccer is a spring and summer sport there. I'll be trying out for volleyball. They have club volleyball and a competitive club at the school. Everything is a bit weird. Students do one or two clubs, not sports. Plenty of the clubs are sports, but they don’t represent the school, not like ours do. Also, their schools tend to have more limited resources, specifically for space. Soccer pitches are bigger than most schools can do. Volleyball courts are small. Same with basketball and tennis. After all, Japan is a small group of islands with a large population.”

“Are you the last one to make it there?” Astroturf asked. “Cause you're going with school friends, right?”

“I’ll be the sixth to arrive,” Dash answered. “AJ will be last.”

“Any good updates from the ones there?” Astroturf asked.

“Sunset posted some pics,” Dash said. “Nothing really to pass on to you guys. You already follow our social media page. Rarity and Twilight haven’t had time to post anything other than departure photos and being stuck in airports. Tokyo is like fifteen hours ahead of us, so Sunset is just waking up on Saturday morning. When we wake up tomorrow, we’ll get to see her Saturday adventure with her exchange family.”

“It has to be weird to go live with strangers for four months,” Lightning Dust said.

“I’ve exchanged emails with my exchange family,” Dash said. “I’ll admit, it is a bit weird, but they seem like cool people. They're excited to have me join their family for the semester. Honestly, I’m excited. Being here, at training camp, it makes me miss the upcoming season, but soccer will be here when I get back. So will you guys. I only get one opportunity to do high school in another country. As big as some of my reservations are, like doing another language full time, I know they are nothing compared to what I’ll get to experience. The hard work will pay off and then I can cruise through graduation and then onto college sports! Maybe we can all team up together and crush the opponents of whatever school we choose.”

They all laughed at that idea. After getting to only spend a week together for seven years, the idea was enticing, but finding a school that would accept all six of them to the soccer team would be the hard part.

“Well, Dash, we should send you off with a toast,” Astroturf said. Everyone raised their cans. “To Rainbow Dash and her success in another country! Since she can’t grace the soccer pitches with us, may she dominate the volleyball courts of Japan!”

Sisterhood Social
August 20 - Saturday

Applejack sunk her face into the pie with the enthusiasm of a freshly washed pig jumping into mud. She was going to make sure Applebloom and her were going to be hogs at the trough by the end of the Sisterhood Social. They even had matching shirts, white with a red circle on the front and back, imitating Japan's national flag.

So far, they were in the top three. They could have done better at the singing competition, but they snagged the red ribbon for the cheer contest and the blue ribbon for the prized hog competition. They also placed well in the three-legged race, sister-sack hop, and water balloon toss. Now it was the pie eating event, without any eatin irons. You just had to dive in, face first, and eat your way out.

This was one of the easiest competitions for the two Apple sisters to win. They beat everyone out by several miles. They even had time to clean up before the next pair of sisters were finished. Of course, Rainbow Dash was on the way to Japan, eliminating a main competitor for the Apple sisters. Rarity was also missing this year; she was already in Japan and posting updates, and she normally could have swept Sweetie Belle to victory in the cheer, singing, and talent competitions. There would be plenty more Sisterhood Socials in the future where the six of them could compete against each other.

Applejack had planned to be in Japan too, missing this year's social, except Braeburn couldn't arrive until Monday and there were some things she needed to finish up, with him present, to ensure the farm was ready for the harvest without her. She got to have one last rodeo with her sister for the year. It would be the dead of winter when she returned, nothing to do except making their own fun, inside the house.

But all of that could be worried about later. The pie eating competition was finishing up. The judges made their final scoring marks. Only the five teams with the highest scores would be eligible for the big finale; the obstacle course race.

The talent competition was one they had worked on all year. Last year’s attempt had ended in disaster. They had worked on their juggling act all year. The execution was near-flawless as they added more pins and began tossing them back and forth. Then came the steps as they recited the lyrics to do-si-do. They did their best to pass the juggling back and forth as they turned and twisted as much as they could to the orders they were reciting. They only lost one pin, dropped by Applebloom, through the entire routine.

Their practice had paid off as they won that competition. It was getting late, but all they had left was the obstacle course. One other team was a veteran of the obstacle course. The other three were long time teams in the social, first time as finalists. Not that greenhorns couldn't win. All of the finalists could trounce them for any number of reasons.

At the starting line, they waited for Granny Smith to declare the start. The old woman was using a starting pistol, which was kind of a scary thought at her age. Especially since she had acquired it in order to compensate for her voice slowly getting quieter.

The pistol went off and everyone rushed forward. Both of the Apple sisters easily cleared the mud trench, giving them an early lead. The basket hurdle was always interesting, since baskets had taller walls than tires. Applejack made it through without issue. Applebloom had some trouble halfway through.

Still, they were in the lead as they moved to the wall. Applejack was first, leaping up and pulling herself over. She dropped her arms to Applebloom and pulled her sister up and over with her.

They had to push a haybale, which wasn't an easy task. They were heavy and the ground wasn't smooth. There was a lot of friction. The two of them were strong, but the others caught up. Then the others slowed down as they met the same resistance. The Apple sisters didn't know when to quit as they got the haybale across the line and transitioned to the cider harvest challenge.

Applejack tossed apples to Applebloom, who caught them in a basket on the far side. Once they were all caught, Applejack sprinted over to Applebloom’s side to help her on the next step. They had to stick them on peelers and rotate them so the apples were peeled. The peeled apples were placed in a bucket and then they used a press to squeeze the juice out of them; into the waiting jar. Not every apple would produce the same amount of juice. What mattered was getting the press all the way down and holding it for twenty seconds. A quick dash with the jar delivered it to the awaiting chair finished that obstacle.

The final obstacle event was the egg walk. They each had to balance an egg on a spoon and walk it the last length of distance. If it dropped it would shatter, forcing them both to restart. Applejack fumbled an egg halfway through as the other veteran team caught up.

They were starting behind them, but the sister team lost both of their eggs, forcing them to restart. Applejack made it across the end line with her egg intact. Applebloom was close behind her and made it.

The mad dash to the finish line was the last thing. They had to clear three hurdles, because why not? They each did with practiced ease and breezed past the finish line, solidly in the lead.

The Apple sisters got to stand at the top of the podium this year as they received the large blue sash for winning it all. Every event ribbon they won was added to the sash. They smiled as the picture was taken of the top three teams In their respective sashes.

While the competition was over, the Sisterhood Social was still going on. It gave the three teams time to wear their respective sashes. Besides food, there were crafts, fun picture stations, and plenty of seating to hang out and chat. The social was more than just the competition. Not every set of sisters tried to compete or compete in all of the events.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo took the opportunity at the end to sing for fun. They were eliminated before they got to the singing competition. It wasn't half bad. Since their own sister and adoptive sister were unable to attend, they adopted each other in order to participate. The rules about what constituted a "sister" were quite loose. It was an intentionally vague term.

It was wonderful to see everyone again. Many of these people Applejack only saw at the social. She had watched some of the younger sisters grow up. Of course, many of them had been at the musical concert and supported Applejack and the others in going to Japan. Applejack was able to thank them and, now that the competition was over, they were usually congratulating her on being able to go.

The bulk of the cleanup would happen in the morning. That meant that Applejack, Applebloom, and Big Mac were able to spend some quality time together, as siblings. They sat under a pear and apple tree that had been guided to twist around each other as they grew. The trees were a reminder of their parents. There wasn’t much left to say, at least not that had already been said over the week.

Tomorrow, after cleaning up the farm, Applejack would finalize her packing. Monday Braeburn would arrive and they would ensure he was caught up to any specifics about the farm. Big Mac, Granny Smith, and even Applebloom could answer a lot. He would not be alone. The farm would be in good hands.

Applejack knew she worried too much. Sweet Apple Acres wasn’t just a farm, or money, job, cider, Apple family, identity, or a house — not to her — it was a home. Her home. Take any major part of it away and it wouldn’t be home. It needed all of the parts to work. She could have family and a house, but it wouldn’t be home. That included Applejack herself. This adventure was not permanent. It was only four months. She would be back with family and home real quick and she would bring back a wealth of knowledge which would only enrich Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack specifically wanted to bring back a seed. International customs were a pain, but seeds for personal growing were easier than fresh fruit or a live tree, even a sapling. She was specifically eying the Akane apple, Malus pumila, also known as the “Tokyo Rose.” If not that, there were other species of apple cultivars from Japan. If not something for eating, there were several beautiful Japanese crabapple trees, like Malus spontanea, which would make excellent visual additions to Sweet Apple Acres. The last resort would be a cherry blossom seed or other highly ornamental Rosaceae family trees. All would be great options for the farm.

Then she could plant it with help from Big Mac and Applebloom, where it would be fostered and cared for until it was truly part of the farm, one which could serve as a reminder and teaching tools about the lessons she would bring back with her. Their future families could use something like that to show that Sweet Apple Acres was not a small farm simply passed down through the generations, rather that it had big aspirations and a wider view of the world than most people thought of when they hear the title of “farmer.”

That would be a legacy worth leaving, just like the apple and pear tree the Apple siblings were sitting under.

Comments

[jardex22]

I didn't reread any of these, since I kept up with the blog posts. I just kept forgetting to say that it's interesting how nothing from SAO is even mentioned in these chapters. This could literally be a lead up to any anime set in modern(ish) Japan. Cardcaptor Sakura, Fruits Basket, Haruhi, Persona, Bofuri, etc. They could've ended up petrified in Japan during the first episode of Dr. Stone, or be there to help Megumi after her friend leaves on a trip to Antarctica in A Place Further Than the Universe. They also could have been part of their school's camping or DIY clubs as well.

[Mindrop]

11570480
They really could be. I hadn't noticed that before.

[The Chronicler]

Haven't been in Fimfiction as often as I used to, and I guess I missed the vignette with SciTwi. All caught up though, and now it's time for the main event!

[NightFlame389]

Missed opportunity to have Poly Stitch (I think that was her name) cameo in the Rainbow Dash vignette

[Mindrop]

11571049
I absolutely toyed it with it and chose not to. I know I planned something, I just can't remember what. I have been writing a 30 page paper all week.