EQG: Sword Art Online - Ruby Palace

Episode 94 — Operation Midnight Redemption
Part 3 of 3
Again, the Floor and dates are not stated for a reason. Each segment may jump, including ahead of the current main chapter. They are in order of the tasks in the quest.

Amidst the vast Serengeti plains,
A legend waits to be untamed.

The Heart of The Great Lion, a prize so rare,
Elusive as the beast with golden hair.

The Great Lion with a heart so pure,
A treasure many a daring adventurer sought.

The pygmies who dwell high up in the trees,
May help you seek the beast with ease.

Through the grasslands and the forests deep,
Your journey to find the lion shall keep.

With wit and will, and courage bold,
You must track the lion, quick and gold.

Only then, with the Heart in sight,
Will you complete the quest with might.

Floor Twenty-Nine was themed after the Serengeti. It felt like being on a safari. Or at least what nature shows always made it seem like. Lions, kudu, springboks, and a three-horned rhino populated the floor. The NPCs were all pygmies who lived in huts hanging from large acacia trees with sprawling canopies. Four or five trees were all that was needed to suspend an entire village.

The lions were what Doombunny was targeting, but not just any lion. Colorra happily stalked the savannah as Doombunny sought The Great Lion. He was a flag mob which was incredibly elusive. No one knew his true strengths or stats, but Floor Twenty-Nine wasn't that high. Players caught glimpses of him from time to time, yet none had come close to fighting him. Somehow Doombunny was supposed to do that. The riddle got her to the floor and gave her the target, while the pygmies told her the location:

"High above the rock and tree,
Beyond the river, you'll find me."

He stalks only in the light,
For the night cannot reveal his true might.

She was past the river. Search, Reveal, and Listen were her tools. They gave her the advantage compared to any other hunters. It also helped her avoid monsters that she didn't want to fight and reminded her how beautiful the world of Aincrad truly was. She had been sludging through life since Knightstar left — she was mad at losing her friend, mad at herself for speaking the truth, mad about getting caught, and depressed because a dear friend was missing — trying to get the quest done to get her friend back. Before that argument she had been living a lie and was angry all of the time. She was still angry, she hated Kayaba for his trick, but currently she had the amazing sounds and beauty of the landscape to remind her why she wanted to play this game in the first place.

This world was worth protecting, but there was no way it would be saved once they were free. No one would ever visit Aincrad again. It would be, understandably, shut down and likely erased, although preserving it as their eternal tomb made sense. Erasing it would be erasing at least part of the lives lost. It was a shame though, because it was a beautiful world that was livable art. No other artist got to have the viewer truly step into their work and enjoy it, until Aincrad and VR became the new medium.

Doombunny, with Colorra’s help, killed a lion that couldn't be avoided. It had hunted her down, giving her no other option. It was a regular lion, not The Great Lion. Even without Colorra it was easy enough to cut down the ferocious beast since the front line was over twice as high as Floor Twenty-Nine. It did give Doom a good cut with a swipe of its claws and the paw had batted her away with ease, but it couldn’t stop the Ruby Krait venom.

Doombunny took a break from her hunt and sat on a log to eat lunch. Colorra had eaten her fill from her hunting excursion, but Doombunny was hungry. This was not how she wanted to spend her free day, but it was what she most needed to do. According to the NPC pygmies, The Great Lion would not be found at night. It only appeared while the sun was shining.

Doombunny didn't hear the player approach. Search had failed her and so had Listen. She had been enjoying the sounds of nature too, yet he slipped through her protections. She didn't turn around, not yet. Not now that she could sense him. He was close, but not too close. Her hand calmly slipped to her dagger.

"Young Lady, Master of the Ruby Krait, what is it you seek?" The man asked in a deep voice. It was powerful and fearsome, yet had a soothing gentleness to it.

"I seek The Great Lion," Doombunny calmly replied, trying not to give away how prepared she was to fight.

"Why do you seek him?" He asked her.

For some reason, Doombunny felt like she could trust the stranger with the truth. Maybe it was his voice? He may have snuck up on her, but he had not attacked. He could have, but didn't. A threat would have struck with a weapon or paralyzing agent, or by gloating, not with a conversation. Or maybe she didn’t dare not answer him because of the authority in his voice.

"I seek to obtain his heart," Doombunny stated.

"Will not obtaining his heart kill him?" He asked.

Doombunny tensed up. Until that moment, she had been able to push that fact aside. Now there was no avoiding what she was trying to suppress.

"Yes, it would," Doombunny admitted. "No, I don't like that. I've done many things I don't like since coming to this world. Befriending Colorra is one of the few things I have done that I don't have some distaste for. She is my light in the darkness."

"Then why do you wish to carry out this plan?" He asked.

"Because I need to, for a quest," Doombunny justified. "Eventually, the quest will give me a charm which I need. I screwed up. I had an argument with a friend and am trying to patch it up. I'm preparing a special gift, something to remind her of our friendship and hopefully reignite that spark inside her, which she buried underneath her own fears. Hopefully I can get through to her with the gift. If I knew how to get only the charm I needed, I would, but I don't. I only get the information on the next charm, a riddle, after I obtain the previous charm. The order is a mystery, as are most of the charms."

"This friend is very important to you?" He asked.

"More than you can understand," Doombunny flippantly stated. "She is one of seven. We are incomplete without her. I made a choice and ended up hurting her and causing her to leave the guild and retreat away from her friends. I spoke the harsh truth, but I was selfish in certain actions I took. We need her back, all six of us, and she needs to be with us to help her, mentally and physically. I'm scared for her. So I'll kill something that breaks my heart, but only because there is no other choice."

"You must love her very much," he said.

"I do," Doombunny confirmed. "She is family, closer to me than my own brother is, especially since we got trapped here. You know what it's like; you build the relationships you can. Survive how we can in this world.

"Eight of us started together on day one. We made it through the first month because we stayed together. We didn't lose anyone to the game. Losing her as a friend, having her shut us out and leave the guild, that is the greatest loss we have personally experienced together, besides losing our freedom. We don't want to lose her permanently. If she can't fight anymore, that’s okay. We just want her back in the guild, among her friends. We need her back in the guild. We are not complete without her and she is not complete without us.

"We are like a seven petaled cherry blossom, except we are missing a petal. The seven of us are not from Japan. We came here on a foreign exchange program. We got to experience a lot and we wanted to experience VR because, where we are from, we won't get something like the NerveGear for a long time. We started with an eighth friend, from the school we attended, who got us into the game. Then we picked up three in-game after Sunset, well Bladescape in here, our leader saved three of their group of five. I'm sure it eats at her more than she lets on, but she did all she could to save them and was far away when they were attacked and they were lower levels than were safe to be at for the area. She rescued them and then they became good friends. The eleven of us are the Wondercolts.

"I'm sorry," Doombunny apologized. "You probably don't want to hear about all of that. I don't know why I shared so much with you. Our personal drama is our own, not your burden."

"It's fine," he said. "Think nothing of it. But you don't appear to be like the others who hunt on this floor."

"No, Colorra and I are not," Doombunny answered. "We are members of a frontline guild, Clearers. We have always been Clearers and most of the guild is on the Assault Team, directly fighting the floor bosses to obtain our freedom. I've fought three floor bosses, except I never wanted to face any. I did it because I was needed. Once as another body necessary to fill out our numbers and the other two for my particular skill set."

“Tell me about these battles,” he said. “You seem distraught and I know nothing of them.”

Doombunny opened up about each boss battle she had joined and why she had decided to join them. It was interesting telling a stranger such intimate thoughts. Clearly she needed to voice them. She certainly couldn't speak some of it to the others. A therapist in Aincrad would be handy, although they would probably always be booked up.

"What are you doing here?" Doombunny asked. "You know about my life. What about you?"

"I roam the various lands," he said. "You haven't looked at me. Most would have turned around as soon as I spoke."

"I don't need to face you to understand that you are not a threat," Doombunny replied. "Even though you made it through my Skill barriers, avoiding being detected as you approached, a threat would have done something. Instead, you started a conversation."

"You are a kindhearted soul," he stated. "Yet you have sharpened yourself into a dangerous blade. A double-edged sword which cuts in both directions. Hatred is your biggest burden, something you are not used to feeling. Battles are ugly affairs which bring out the worst, even in the best."

"Yes, they are," Doombunny said. "And you're right, I'm not used to the hate I feel, but the hate and anger helps drive me forward, to survive. Colorra wouldn't have asked to join me if I didn't have a kind heart and our fight wasn't righteous."

"What hate and anger really burden you?" He asked. "And why?"

Doombunny felt the anger snap up and couldn't suppress it. She was too used to its presence, but she was not used to speaking about it.

"Kayaba stole us from our lives," she spat. "I can't go home to my family because of him. I can't finish school because of him. I have to kill beautiful creatures, and plenty of ugly ones, because of him. This beautiful world is living art, yet he ruined it by splashing our blood on it.

"Worse, I don't get to go home to my animal friends because of him. Angel must be so confused and hurt, worrying about me. The others at the shelter I volunteer at, they are, well I don't know what's happened to them because I'm stuck here, but if they were not adopted, they too must be confused. I was their one stable thing in life as they waited for someone to come along and bring them into their family. It was supposed to be four months. Four months in Japan for school. A fun four months, with good life challenges. Instead, I've been gone for two years and we are not getting out before the end of the second year, not with how our progress has been. I don't know the full extent, but laying in a hospital bed for two years is very detrimental to the body. Three will be problematic. The longer we go, the worse it gets. Some may not survive by time alone. We have to get free."

Doombunny was beginning to wonder who it was. As far as they knew, Kayaba was unaccounted for. If anyone could get past her Skills, it would be him. He could probably appear wherever he wanted to, right past her barriers, without setting them off. She didn’t remember what he looked like and had never heard his voice before his tutorial, except she barely remembered what that sounded like, just the giant GM robe in the sky that no one wore.

"It was certainly a great injustice which was done," he said. "Kayaba Akihiko is learning that no matter who you are, even if you create the world for people to live in, life does not go the way people plan. That is life as a human."

And that ruled Kayaba out, but it was an interesting question. Doombunny squared her shoulders. It was time to find out who this mystery man was.

Doombunny turned around. She was shocked into silence and awe. He was certainly not what she was expecting.

Standing before her, in all his glory, was The Great Lion. His golden coat shone as if it had light inside each hair. The mane was voluminous yet not overbearing. He stood so sure of himself, was calm, yet clearly there was nothing tame about him. He was an ancient beast, which was evident by his size, although he looked to be in his prime. Doombunny couldn't believe that he had spoken to her.

"You bear a heavy burden," he said. It was clearly the lion speaking and with the same voice. It was just odd to see a lion speaking. "You have regrets, as you should, yet you seek to fix the mistakes you made. That is noble and right of you."

Still, the first thing that came to Doombunny's mind was something he had said. "What do you mean, when you said Kayaba is learning about life not going his way?"

"Child," he said with a lion's smile. "No one is told anyone's story but their own. Your story is one of pain and suffering. Anger, wrath, deceit, were how you expressed that suffering. Each one trapped here is suffering, but not all in the same way. The very things you love most are out of reach, with no substitute. What you must do to survive only widens the wound you have inflicted upon yourself." He laid down, rolling onto his side. "At least let this stroke of your knife not cause you pain. I offer you my heart for your quest."

"I-" Doombunny stammered as she looked at him, laying there. She wanted to sit by his side, stroke his lovely mane, and continue to speak with him, not take his heart. Except he was offering it up to her.

"Child, it is okay," he said. "I give it freely to you, a gift, in hopes that you will find your kindness once again."

"I don't want to take it," Doombunny stated. She started to tear up. "Why did you have to speak? Speaking made you real, as real as Angel Bunny or any of my other animal friends. If you had attacked me, I could have killed you and taken it and moved on. This is worse."

"But then it would not be a gift," he explained, not getting up. "Have no fear, cry no tears, my gift is well given, by my choice. I cannot do this for you and you must do this for yourself. You will get no condemnation from me about using your knife to fight your way free. At least this stroke will be different. It won't be for survival. It will be to fix what was accidentally broken. That is why you are here, looking for me."

Doombunny stood up and took a step forward through her tears. She reached to her right hip, drawing Endbringer. At least she could make it swift.

"No, Child," he said. "Your poison blades are just that, poison. They will taint the gift I offer. They serve an important role for you in your fight, but they negate the guiltless stroke I am telling you to deliver."

Doombunny sheathed Endbringer and pulled out her regular knife. It rarely saw use anymore. She tried to wipe away the tears, but they just kept coming as she approached his side.

"I wish we could speak longer," she said.

"When the burden is too great to bear, when you remember your true heart, seek me out and we shall talk," he said. "Your tears are proof your lost heart is still harbored inside you. Until then, take my heart and bring Knightstar back to the Wondercolts."

Doombunny lifted the knife. She didn't know what Sword Skill to use. She looked down at him and he smiled back at her. His fierce eyes still showed the wild beast that he was. He was no tame lion, but he was happy to do this for her. He understood what he was asking of her. He understood that it would mean he would cease to be. He was a flag mob. A one-of-a-kind boss which would not respawn. His words to her were meant as encouragement, even though he knew they were not true.

In the end, Doombunny didn't use a Sword Skill. She plunged the knife down into his chest. The single strike was all that was needed. The Great Lion shattered into polygons, leaving his heart for her. When worn on the bracelet, it boosted her defense by twenty-five percent. That was a significant boost, above the others by a decent margin, yet still within the ballpark of the others. Really the grand slam while the others were home runs.

Doombunny still had time to acquire the next item. It was the Ammolite Metalmark. She could, at the very least, finish the day ahead of schedule and retrieve the second to last charm.

In the jungle I reside,
Where dense foliage does hide.

I flutter lightly on the breeze,
A wondrous sight with grace and ease.

My body’s pink, adorned with gold,
A rare pattern to behold.

What am I, can you unveil?
A butterfly, a splendid tale.

Doombunny never expected to be back where she was. Floor Twenty-Five had been the destination of an earlier charm, but this was different. This time she was walking through the high canopy jungles the ruby krait called home. The poison streams were no longer a threat to Doombunny, thanks to the Beast Tamer’s Charms. She saw the flash of red at times in the canopy high above her. Colorra was draped across her shoulders, enjoying the ride. The snake was happy to be among familiar trees and more relaxed than normal, but Colorra was never going to complain. She enjoyed fighting alongside Doombunny and as a Wondercolt. Even though many either forgot Colorra's independence or did not know it, the elapid was still content with the situation.

The jungle was more than just the home of the ruby krait. Inside would be a tree covered in butterflies. She had to catch the right one to receive the second to last charm. This charm would be used for her gift to Knightstar.

The forest was not fully mapped by anyone because of the dangers it still posed to most players, but rumored to be at its heart was a tree shimmering in a rainbow of colors from all of the butterflies which would rest on it. Mo had been the one to know that detail. Why she did wasn’t clear, but she sold the information for a fair price.

Doombunny finally found the tree, but it wasn’t what she was expecting. Yes, all colors and manners of butterflies were resting on it; contently flapping their wings. Plenty more were fluttering all around it: skippers, emperors, brushfoots, longwings, snouts, admirals, swallowtails, and metalmarks. It was beautiful, however, the tree was in the middle of the water. Its roots did create an island, but she had to get over to it.

The water’s toxicity itself wasn’t a concern, but she didn’t know how deep it was. She didn’t have a swimming Skill. Also stacked against her was the fact that dangerous creatures lurked in the open water. The back bays and small creeks were too shallow for the dangerous creatures.

Colorra dropped off her body and sprinted into the water. It suddenly became a tumultuous scene filled with a lot of splashing. It became even more confusing as male ruby kraits came out of hiding and joined in the fray. They were there to protect a matriarch. Some even dove from the high branches they were in, straight into the water. At one point, something like a caiman surfaced, rolling and thrashing as it fought against the dozen kraits attacking it, many having wrapped their way around it to squeeze it to death.

The water calmed down as quickly as it had erupted. Plenty of black heads with red arrows surfaced. Colorra swam out onto the roots of the tree. Doombunny understood why they were looking at her and she entered the water. It was deep, but shallow enough to allow her head to stay above the water. She got over to the roots and climbed up onto them.

“We are teleporting back,” Doombunny stated to Colorra. The elapid just nodded back to her.

Now the really hard part came. She wasn’t sure what the metalmark charm actually looked like. It could be one of the butterflies that turned into the charm, or it could be something else entirely. Metalmark screened out a lot of the butterfly species, but it still left plenty of options available. She didn’t want to hurt them either.

Doombunny walked around the tree, looking for anything that stood out. Nothing did, but the tree was very large and old. She made another pass, taking note of each metalmark resting on it. She ended up by Colorra again when she spotted it way up high.

It was a pink Riodina lysippus metalmark with soft yellow stripes. That wasn’t the normal colors, but what really set it apart was the size. It was almost as large as her head and it had a smaller butterfly riding it.

Collora was quick, spotting where she was looking. Her scales shimmered with a double rainbow as she secreted more of her coating to increase her friction. It was the only way for her to climb a tree that she could not wrap herself around. The butterflies scattered as their rest was disturbed. Through their colorful wings, Doombunny saw Colorra stop just below the giant metalmark and lift her head. Then the elapid was in a freefall.

Catching a six foot snake in free fall was not an easy task. Somehow Doombunny managed it, but she was sticky from all of the extra scale slime. Collora’s head was immediately in front of her face. In the elapid’s lips was the charm. The body was pink sapphire and the stretched-out wings were made of gold. The chain hung off the head. It was missing the antennas and legs, a common tactic as those were too easy to break to be on a charm.

Doombunny took it from Colorra and gave the snake’s head a good petting before she shifted her onto her shoulders. The charm gave a fifteen percent increase in artistic skills’ outcomes. That would be any of the crafting Skills which had stats for the item made. For Cooking, that would increase the durability of the food item, meaning it could be kept longer.

Her quest was updated with the final riddle clue, but she would have to wait till it was dark. She messaged Hyorinmaru and he was fine with staying up late, waiting for her. He was excited to finish the project. Doombunny informed Bladescape of her absence for dinner and teleported to Algade to get dinner at a faster place. It was almost dark.

When the twilight blossoms are in full bloom,
return to the castle of the sundered siblings.
Inside the vault you shall find the greatest prize of all,
the stars that once upon this floating castle shone,
but were ripped from existence.
Their remnants are yours to take. No other items may you take.

Six lies and a truth are the stars.
Only one choice might you make,
for all soon will be gone and only truth can remain in your palm.
The truth of who all of you are.

Doombunny stood in front of the Castle of the Two Kings for a third time. Once again, it was night time. She entered it, ready to finally finish this long quest. This was for the final charm. The one she was really after. Of course it had to be the last one.

Doombunny wasn't even a quarter of the way to the thrones when the keeper of the key appeared.

"YOU DARE TO STEP FOOT IN THIS HALL ONCE AGAIN?" The alicorn shouted. "INSOLENT GIRL! I SHALL MAKE YOU REGRET THAT CHOICE! YOUR PREVIOUS TRICK WILL NOT WORK ON ME ANYMORE, FOR I AM AN AGELESS BEING OF MAGIC!"

"THEN I WILL DO IT THE HARD WAY," Doombunny yelled back. "Unless you would simply help me out. After all, I could have killed you last time, but chose not to."

“That was your failure!” the alicorn stated. “Now face the consequences of your choices!”

The equine guardian leapt off the throne platform and charged Doombunny, horn glowing a beautiful amethyst. Doombunny drew her poisoned dagger as she stood her ground. Just before she was trampled, Doombunny skipped to the side, slicing at the equine’s flank. Her dagger skipped off something and Doombunny spun around to face her. The alicorn now had a translucent midnight blue shield and sword, both being summoned and held by her magic.

The alicorn changed Doombunny, no longer keeping to the center line as she kept the shield in between her body and Doombunny. The sword sliced through the air, barely missing her as Doombunny dove out of the way. As she rolled out of the dive, she had her parrying dagger out and ready. The next slice of the sword was redirected by the dagger and Doombunny sliced at the alicorn. All her dagger hit was the shield, but the offensive move was intentional.

As much fluidity as the sword and shield had, simply because they were not attached to limbs, they both were stagnant. Doombunny sparred with the alicorn, sharpening her solo combat skills as she tried to get around the shield. It was always just mobile enough to shift into the way, denying Doombunny the satisfaction.

Doombunny eventually gave up, skipping backwards, to gain the distance she needed. She squared off against the alicorn, parrying dagger forward and knife raised up, poised to attack.

“This is your final chance to surrender the key,” Doombunny warned. “In all of my attacks, I was merciful. I tire of this though. I must retrieve the final charm. Either let me do that, or die and I will become the keeper of the key. If I become the keeper, there is nothing to stop me from taking anything I want, or everything. Make your choice! Play nice or die!”

“I SHALL STOP PLAYING WITH YOU AS WELL!” The Alicorn declared.

Doombunny smirked. The stalwart defiance was admirable in an NPC. Still, the alicorn had massively miscalculated. Colorra struck, sinking her fangs in the haunches of the equine, just above the joint where there was no armor. The elapid was gone before it could get kicked. All that mattered was the poison it left behind.

Doombunny dodged a bolt of magic as the sword and shield disappeared. She dodged several more as the alicorn went into a rage as its health rapidly disappeared. It was over within two minutes.

Doombunny sheathed both daggers and walked over to where the Alicorn had physically dropped the key. She picked it up and checked the quest log. It hadn’t changed. She was still supposed to only take the remnant stars, nothing else. However, she did have a new quest that was started: Keeper of the Moon Key. All it said was to protect the key and the treasures inside the vault. She would have to audit the vault later, in the daylight if she could, to see if it was worth taking anything or not. Then again, taking anything could fail the quest. It was an odd one. She had bigger things to worry about right now.

Colorra climbed onto Doombunny’s shoulders and then Doombunny walked up to the thrones. She pushed aside the tapestry and inserted the key into the lock. With a twist the door was open and she once again walked into the vault, this time heading to the far wall. On the bronze pillar in the back of the vault were the remnants, laid out side by side, in a single row, on a velvet cushion.

The stars were all six pointed, with five smaller ones surrounding the center one. The one in the center was the largest. Points of the big star acted as the bridge to connect the smaller stars by their points so that it all was one item. The center star was a purple or pink, it was difficult to tell the exact shade through the night vision filter.

The trick was to pick out which of the seven were the true Stars of the Forgotten Night. The others were replicas, meant to protect the real one. She could only choose one and touching them was also out of the question. Touching could be seen as being held in the hand.

The first five were fakes. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were the first five to come together. They were five of the six Elements of Harmony that Princess Twilight spoke about and which they represented in this world. Princess Twilight, in her world, was the sixth. Sunset had no Equestrian counterpart to her Element of Harmony, however, she was the sixth human to join the group. Knightstar, human Twilight, was the seventh to join the group and take up her Element of Harmony.

Doombunny had to ask Bladescape more about the Elements of Harmony and get a run down of their Equestrian origins. It was the only logic she could muster for the number seven. It also explained the other charms Doombunny had labored to get. One for each element, one for each Pillar of Equestria, and one for Sunset, the bridge between two worlds.

Doombunny decided to take the sixth one. The sixth charm she had retrieved was the Fragment of the Palace, which represented, as best as Doombunny could deduce, Sorcery, which was the root of Twilight’s element, Magic. After all, she had searched a magician’s library for it. That was the best correlation she had.

Doombunny took a deep breath in and picked up the sixth one. The other six shattered as soon as it was off the cushion. Doombunny's hand still had her chosen fragment. She backed up, exiting the vault and locked it back up.

Only once the vault was sealed did she look at it. It looked very much like the mark Twilight always had. Better still, it was in her hand. It hadn't shattered, meaning she had picked the correct one. The charm boosted Reveal's skill by twenty percent, or 200 points out of a thousand. It would push max Reveal to 1200. As great as that was, she wasn't retrieving it for its statistical power.

Hyorinmaru was waiting on Doombunny to bring the charm. Her personal quest was over. Doombunny double checked her quest log. It was updated, assigning her one last task: attach six charms and equip the bracelet.

Doombunny chose the Painite Blossom, Iron Opal, Cor Standard, Fragment of the Palace, Golden Compass, and the Heart of The Great Lion — Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Starswirl, Flash Magnus, and Sunset — She then equipped the bracelet through the menu, officially ending the quest. She swapped it back to the beast tamer's charms' fur bracelet and teleported to Granzam.

The steel city was icy cold as the wind blew through the city. Without the warmth of the sun, it was a very cold place to live. Inside the workshops, forges, and foundries it was warmer, but, even then, few people wanted to live in metal homes with little cheer. They might work here, but they left to live in other places.

Hyorinmaru was awake, patiently waiting for Doombunny. It wasn't yet midnight. He took the Ammolite Metalmark charm and the Stars of the Forgotten Night charm from her and bid her goodnight. She left so he could lock up his shop and head up to his bedroom above it. He did live in the city, despite its drawbacks.

Doombunny went home. Her part of the operation was over. Hyorinmaru would finish it in a day or two and then it would be delivered to Knightstar, where the choice would be up to her.

Radial Charm Bracelet:

1. Painite Blossom (Applejack) — +150 Strength
2. Col Standard (Rarity) — +15% col dropped by monsters
3. Iron Opal (Pinkie Pie) — +15% Carry Weight
4. Tuft of a Rainbow Cloud (Rainbow) — +20% boost to speed
5. Vial Of Life (Mage Meadowbrook) — +150 Constitution
6. Fragment of the Palace (Star Swirl) — 20% reduction in skill delay
7. The Ribbon of Seven Thousand Threads (Somnambula) — +150 Agility
8. Radial Orchid (Mistmane) — +15% Search
9. Triadic Trefoil (Rockhoof) — + 150 Attack
10. Golden Compass (Flash Magnus) — +150 to equipped weapon’s accuracy
11. Heart of The Great Lion (Sunset) — +25% to defense
12. Ammolite Metalmark (Fluttershy) — +15% increase in artistic skills’ outcomes
13. Stars of the Forgotten Night (Twilight) — +200 Reveal