A new day had arrived and Sunburst was up early that morning, excited to go to school. While he always loved learning, he was excited because it was game day and that meant only one thing, he would get to play The Oregon Trail. He loved that game because not only did he get to learn what it was like for pioneers in the human world, but he knew he always had a chance to finally beat the game, something that had always eluded him.
When he got to school, the teacher gave her class the same warm smile, "Alright class, everypony has been exceeding Princess Celestia's expectations so today is going to be special. Today she is giving you the full day off to play computer games!"
The class erupted into a cheer and Sunburst exclaimed, "Yes, finally! Maybe today is the day I'll get to Oregon!"
Sunburst knew he had to be quick to get to the games because there were only three copies of the game. If he didn't get to them quick enough, he would likely wind up having to play Number Crunchers or Odell Lake. Sunburst quickly rushed to where the games were kept and was the first to grab a game. Another thing that made Sunburst happy was that he was able to get to a computer with a full color screen rather than having to play on one with the black and green screen.
"Yes," he said to himself, "I get one with a good screen!"
He sat down and put the floppy disk into the drive and turned the computer on. Given that it always took a bit to load, he was relieved that Celestia was giving them the whole day to play computer games. Once it started loading he said to himself, "Ok, travel trail."
He then looked at the options and this was always one that he always took longer to decide on than most of the other foals, "Hmmm....if I'm a banker from Boston I'll have more money but that won't help get me into The Oregon Trail Top Ten. If I choose to be a carpenter, I won't get the highest multiplier for points but if something goes wrong with my wagon, I'll be more likely to be able to fix it. If I choose to be a farmer, I won't have much money, I'll have to hunt more but if I do things just right, I'll get to Oregon and maybe make the Top Ten!"
Ultimately Sunburst chose to be a carpenter so that fixing the wagon would be easier. The next screen came up and he said, "Ok, name of wagon leader: Sunburst. Now for the other four party members....how about Starlight, Celestia, Stellar," he couldn't think of a name for the last party member so he chose something that came off of the top of his head, "that's it, Booksy!"
Next up he had to decide when to leave. He saw the list and thought to himself, "Well if I leave in March, I'll be sure to get to Oregon before winter hits but it will still be cold. If I wait too long, it will be winter before I get to Oregon and I might freeze to death. I'm leaving in April!"
The time then came for him to visit Matt's General Store. He only had $ 800 so he said to himself, "Ok, I'm going to have to be careful. I may not have to get 3 of each wagon part but still, I can't spend too much on food. Yeah I'm not a good hunter but I'll still have to do it."
He then made his purchases, 3 yoke of oxen, 750 pounds of food, 6 sets of clothing, 20 boxes of ammunition and 2 of each spare wagon part. Once he made his purchases he sighed, "Ok, I still have a fair amount of money but stuff does get more expensive and you'll get more points if you have more money in the end."
The time had finally come for him to start his journey, "Ok, continue on trail!" he said to himself.
It took him six days to get to the first river crossing and he saw that his party had already consumed a fair amount of food. He sighed, "Well I'm going to have to go hunting AND change my rations to meager."
He noticed that the Kansas River was not too high but it still concerned him. He knew that he could take the ferry but that would cost money so he finally decided, "I'll caulk the wagon and float it across."
Sunburst made it across the river with no problems and cheered, "Yes, I crossed without tipping over!"
Other students in the room along with the teacher just sighed and rolled their eyes when he did this. Everypony knew how he got when he played the game but it still did irritate them.
He then saw that it wasn't too far away from the next river crossing but knew that on the next day, he would have to go hunting. He let out a sigh of frustration as he was unable to shoot any food, "Ugh, why do they have to put those stupid trees there and why couldn't they have sent a buffalo in for me?"
Sunburst then set the rations to meager and figured that he could try hunting later and if worse came to worse, he could get some more food at Fort Kearney, before the prices started getting too high. When he crossed the Big Blue river with no problems, he more quietly cheered so he wouldn't have his teacher reminding him to use his inside voice.
He sighed in frustration as he was only able to shoot a squirrel, he only got three pounds of meat from it. He let out a sigh knowing that he was probably going to have to buy some food at the next fort. "Ugh, well it won't be too expensive, yet."
At the fort he bought an adequate amount of food, not so much it would bankrupt him but still he had his concerns. One thing he had always been taught was that it was good to rest at forts but he said to himself, "I don't have enough money to just rest. I have to get going."
He knew the distance to the next landmark was quite a ways so he headed out without allowing his party to rest for even one day. Two days after leaving the fort he went hunting and let out a cheer when he had killed two deer, a cheer that would not go unnoticed by the teacher, "Sunburst, I know you're happy you shot some food but keep it down or I'll make you play some other game, a game you don't get so excited over!"
"Sorry, I just get excited."
The teacher rolled her eyes and Sunburst got back to his game. He then just let his party go on to Chimney Rock without any rest. He whispered, "Seriously, their health is only fair? It's not like I'm starving them or having them be on a grueling pace!"
Sunburst then decided to allow his party to rest for two days. Much to his dismay, it didn't help his party any, at all. He grumbled, "Well I've only got so much food. I'm not always successful at hunting so they'll have to deal with leaving early."
After a very successful hunting session, Sunburst sighed in frustration, "Why can I only carry a hundred pounds back to the wagon, I killed over 2000 pounds of food!"
A student sitting next to him said, "Sunburst, that is how it is believed it was in the human world at that time. They had to cut whatever meat they could off the animals and take it. They couldn't just carry the whole corpse with them."
Sunburst sighed, "I know, I know. I just wish it would let you take more."
Several days down the road, the first medical problem struck. He sighed, "Mom got a snake bite. I hope she'll be ok."
The same student he had talked to earlier sighed in frustration. While he knew that Sunburst got like this, it did become rather annoying after a point. Sunburst continued, "Well I'm sure she will be ok. She has survived snake bites before."
Finally he reached Independence Rock on June 3rd. He thought to himself, "Ok, it is hot but I'd say I'm making good timing on this. I'll let them rest a couple days and then get them going again."
He did that but just two days after getting going again, Stellar contracted measles. He mumbled to himself, "Why does mom always get measles right around South Pass, why?"
By this point he had become quiet enough that only a couple of the closest students would look his way before sighing in frustration and then continuing to their own game. By the time he got to South Pass, his party was in poor health and one of the oxen was injured. He sighed, "I don't know how long I can afford to rest. After South Pass you get bears instead of bison and they are faster and don't have as much meat on them."
Sunburst knew that he would have to rest for a few days and then do some hunting if he didn't want to kill his whole party off. When he got ready to have his party depart the option menu came up, choose 1 to go to the Green River crossing or choose 2 to go to Fort Bridger. Sunburst had played the game enough he knew what the better option was, "Alright go to the Green River crossing."
Sunburst then decided to stop to hunt and he would breathe a sigh of relief when he killed a bear with one shot. "Food for six days!" he whispered.
Once he got to the Green River he was conflicted, he almost always tipped over his wagon when he tried to cross it but knew his money was short. "I know I should take the ferry but who knows how long the wait will be and I can't spare time or money."
Sunburst let out a sigh of relief as he was able to cross the river with no problems and then cruised on to Soda Springs. He knew he was in the second half of the journey and he thought maybe, just maybe that he would make it. She thought to himself, "Normally dysentery has already killed me by now, I might just make it!"
He continued to be happy as he had another successful hunt prior to getting to Fort Hall. His confidence was building as he might finally make it. He saw that the party's health was just fair so he made a decision, "You know what, I'm increasing the rations. They should be able to make it and with bigger meals, they might get in good health again!"
He was less than thrilled that between Fort Hall and the Snake River crossing, that the party's health had gotten worse and Celestia had measles and Booksy had typhoid. He sighed, "Oh so here we go, everyone is going to start dying, AGAIN!"
Sunburst let out a sigh of relief as he was able to cross the river with no problems but his party was still in poor health. He knew that he couldn't reduce their rations then and decided to try and hunt again. Given his successes, he felt that he would have more successful hunts and hopefully not have to spend a fortune on food at Fort Boise.
He would sigh in frustration as Celestia died immediately after leaving the fort. "Well there goes me making the top ten." he grumbled.
After an unsuccessful hunt and one of the oxen dying, he became frustrated. "Ugh, why can't you just eat the dead ox."
The teacher was behind him and sighed, "Sunburst, it is just a game. I know you're really emotionally invested in this but still, no need to be getting so worked up."
Sunburst let out a sigh and got back to his game. He knew now that he was going to have to buy food at Fort Boise and that would not be cheap. "Crooked Fort Boise anyway, why can't they sell their food cheap?" He questioned quietly.
After Starlight breaking her leg and having to spend almost all his money on food at Fort Boise, he said to himself, "Ok, I'm almost there. Maybe dysentery won't kill me this time!"
Things seemed to improve a bit for his party by the time he reached the Blue Mountains. He could feel it, he might finally make it to Oregon! He got a smile on his face and whispered, "I'll let them rest for a day and then get going. I'm going to make it this time, I know it!"
After a relatively easy trip past Fort Walla Walla and on to the Dalles, Sunburst got to another option, one he had never reached before. He could either float down the Columbia River or take the Barlow Toll Road. Luckily for Sunburst he had enough money left over to travel the road rather than trying to float down the Columbia.
He had a huge grin on his face as he travelled with ease towards the Willamette Valley. When he finally finished his journey, it was October 3, 1848. He jumped up and exclaimed, I did it, I finally did it, I made it to Oregon!"
The class gasped in shock as only a few of them had ever made it and Sunburst would be even happier when he saw his point total, "3,366 points! I made the top ten, woo-hoo!"
Rather than scolding him, the teacher headed over to him and said, "Sunburst, I'm happy for you and I'm proud of you. Nopony else has ever got into the top ten."
Sunburst knew he had to hold his enthusiasm and not get too loud. He said, "Maybe next time I'll do even better than making 7th! Maybe someday I'll be able to top Stephen Meek!"
The teacher laughed, "Well you'll have to be a farmer, you can't let Celestia die and improve your hunting skills further but hey, you could do it. I have confidence in you."
Sunburst felt even better as this was the first time anypony had ever shown confidence in him. Yes it was only for him being able to beat the popular computer game but any confidence shown to him was something that made him happy.
As he got sat down to play another game he decided to take his teacher's advice and had high hopes for how his next game would turn out. He did know one thing, he knew that death by dysentery wasn't always inevitable, he knew that winning is always a possibility and with the right decisions, a most likely outcome.
