//------------------------------// // Chapter VII // Story: An Unusual Romance // by DashieFan258 //------------------------------// I placed my hand on Twilight's chest, stopping her a few centimeters away from my face. She opened her eyes and looked at me. "What are you doing?" I ask Twilight's face becomes flushed. "Oh I was just uhh..." She leaned away from me. "Nothing. I was doing nothing." She says as she turns her head to avoid eye contact. "Twilight, you're blushing. It was obviously not nothing. You were going to kiss me weren't you?" I replied in a teasing tone. Twilight looked back at me "N...no I wasn't." she said "I'm just tired that's all. I was about to fall asleep until you rudely stopped me" "Bullshit" I said. Twilight's eyes widened at my sudden vulgarity. I don't think I've ever swore in front of Twilight so it was definitely a shock to her "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked "It means I don't believe you. I think you were going to try and kiss me. Listen, Twilight, I like you and everything but I don't think I want to kiss you. It's nothing against you it's just that's a little weird you know?" Twilight let out a small sigh "Fine. You caught me. Yes I was going to kiss you. But I guess you have a point" She said with a hint of sadness to her voice. I was shocked at this. I was only kidding about her kissing me. I didn't think she was actually trying to. I placed an arm around her. "Don't be upset, Twi. Again, it's nothing against you it's just I've been hurt in a lot of my relationships so I don't think I'm really ready for another one right now. Maybe one day we can be a couple but I just have to get used to the idea. I mean you're a pony and I'm a human. It's just a little strange you know?" I say, reassuringly. I always thought of Twilight as nothing more than a friend so the idea of being in a relationship with her was a little strange to me. "I guess you're right. It is a little strange." She says as she snuggles into my slightly. "So we're just friends for now, right?" she asks as she looks up into my eyes. "Right." I say as a small smile spreads across my face. Twilight returns the smile and sends her gaze towards my Playstation 3 that I have set up under the TV. "I've been meaning to ask you, what exactly is that?" She says as she points a hoof to the black console. I turn my head and follow her hoof to see what she's pointing at. "Oh. That's just my Playstation." I say. Twilight opens her mouth to ask another question but is stopped by me as I place a finger against her lips. "Before you ask, it's a gaming console. You use it to play videogames. But it can also be used to watch movies and tv shows. As well as look things up on the internet." "so it's basically a computer?" She asks "Kind of. It's a little different. Here, let me show you." I say as I stand up and walk towards the console and turn it on. I grab my controller and press the PS button. I turn around and sit back down on the couch as I grab the TV remote and change the input to HDMI. The console turns on and the list of users appear. "So what exactly is that?" She says, pointing to the controller in my hand. "This is the controller. It's basically like the mouse for the computer. Except it has more buttons. You use it to navigate the menus and to control the character in a videogame." "What's a videogame?" Twilight asks as I select my user and sign into my PSN account. "A video game is kind of like a board game only a million times better. Here, I'll show you." I go over to the game column and see which game is currently in the console. I smile as the name comes up and the background changes and as voices begin to chant. It's Skyrim. One of my all time favorite games. "Oh you're in for a treat. This is one of my favorite games." I say as I start the game. I lean back into the couch as Twilight snuggles into my side. "What's it called?" She asks "Skyrim" I reply. Twilight turns her head towards me and gives me a look of confusion. "Sky what?" She asks "Skyrim. It's the name of the country that the game takes place in." "Ah. Alright." Twilight says as she gives a slight nod. Suddenly the main menu pops up and I select the New Game option. "We're gonna make you a character." I say. "Can you edit what they look like?" She asks "Oh yeah." I say. "The character creation is crazy specific. You can edit pretty much every aspect of the characters appearance. But it's kind of pointless for a multitude of reasons." "Like what?" She asks "Well for starters, it's a first person game. That means you play it from the perspective of the character. As if you're looking through their eyes. Although, there is a 3rd person option. Which just means you play it through the perspective of over the character's shoulder. But I usually just play in first person. I find it more immersive. And also you'll end up wearing a full suit of armour so you'll really never see your characters face after like the first quest." "oh" Says Twilight as she looks over to the tv. "So what's going on right now?" "Right now we're being taken to be executed." Twilight instantly looks at me "But if we're the main character, why are we being executed before we even get a chance to explore?" She asks "Just wait. You'll see." I reply with a smug grin. "Don't do that" says Twilight. I look over to her "Huh? Don't do what?" I ask "Don't grin like that. It's kinda creepy. Plus it doesn't look good on you darling." She says, imitating her friend Rarity. I chuckle slightly and look back to the tv. "Alright." I say. "Aw man. Finally. That intro takes forever. Here." I say as I hand the controller to Twilight. She takes the controller in her magic. "Why are you handing me this?" She asks "This is your character so I figured you should get to customize them. I can do it for you if you'd prefer that." I say. Twilight nods and levitates the controller over to me. "Yeah I'd prefer that. But can I tell you how I want them to look?" She asks. "of course." I say as I flip through all the races. "Stop." She says. "I want that one." She says "The Nord. Good choice. Skyrim belongs to the Nords you know." I say. Twilight gives me a look. "What?" She asks "You'll get it later." I reply. "Now I'm assuming you want your character to be a girl?" "Yup." She says with a nod. After about 25 minutes of messing around with the character customization it's finally time to name the character. "So what do you want your characters name to be?" I ask. "It can be anything." "Well since this character is based off me, I guess we should just name it Twilight Sparkle." She says with a shrug. "Kind of unoriginal but alright." I say as I enter the name and hand the controller over to Twilight. "Ok so how do I play?" She asks, examining the controller." "You see the 4 shapes on the right side of the controller?" I ask. Twilight nods. "Ok so the Triangle is to jump. The x is your interact button. It's how you talk to people and loot chests and stuff. The circle brings up your menu where you can check your stats, inventory, map, and magic." And the" I was cut off mid sentence by Twilight. "Wait hold up. They have magic in this?" She asks, excitedly. "Yeah." I say. "It's not like the magic you have in Equestria but there are some really cool spells you can learn. But you have to learn them through reading certain books." I say "They have books too?!" Twilight exclaims. "Yeah. This is an RPG game. They have books. And you can buy houses and get married and stuff. I also have a DLC that lets you adopt kids and build your own house. But you won't be able to do any of that until you're a much higher level." I explain. "Anyway the square button brings out your weapons. You won't be able to yet because your hands are tied up but soon you'll be able to." "Well what level am I?" She asks. "One. You start off at level one." I say. "Anyway the L1 button" Again I was cut off by the mare. "Wait I don't see that button." I sigh and turn the controller upwards and point to the L1 button. "Gotcha. Continue." She says "Your L1 button controls your left hand while your R1 button controls your right hand. The R1 button is the one right beside the L1 button." "Ok. Anything else?" She asks "Well the L2 button is the button right under the L1 button. That controls your sprint. You see the green bar at the bottom of the screen?" I ask. Twilight nod. "That's your Stamina bar. When you run it depletes. You can increase your stamina when you level up. Same with your max health and Magic. Your magic is the blue bar while your health is the red bar." "This is a lot to remember." Says Twilight. "Yeah I know but you'll memorize it soon enough. You're smart. Anyway the R2 button is your shout button. Shouts are kind of like spells only you cast them with your voice. Don't worry about that right now though. You don't unlock any shouts until you meet the Greybeards." I explain. "What are the Greybeards?" Asks Twilight. "The Greybeards are an ancient group who has mastered the art of the Thu'um. Or voice. They're the ones who teach you a few shouts but the rest you have to find in Dungeons and stuff. Now you see those two sticks?" I ask. "uhuh." Says Twilight. "ok so the one of the left is how you move and the one on the right is how you look around. And that's about all you need to know for now. There are a few more things but this part explains what they are and stuff. Just follow the guy with the weird thing above his head and do what he says." Twilight looks back to the screen. "Wait what happened? I wasn't paying attention." She says "You were saved by a powerful Dragon named Alduin. He's basically a dragon god who wants to destroy the world. He's your final boss battle." "They have dragons too? Are they anything like spike?" She asks I burst into laughter. "No Twilight. The dragons in this game are evil. Except like one but you'll meet him later. You kill the dragons and absorb their souls." "well that's rather...morbid." Twilight says. ------------------------------------- "Whoa what just happened?" Asks Twilight. "You leveled up. Press circle and go to the Level up option." I say. Twilight obeyed and the level up menu comes up. "Ok so select which stat you want to increase. Stamina, Health, or Magic." "That's easy." Says Twilight as she selects the magic option. "Okay now what?" She asks. "You have a skill point. You get one skill point every time you level up. You use it to pick an upgrade for a certain skill set. Now I'm assuming you want a mage character?" "Yeah." She replies "Ok so go to your magic skills. Now there are multiple schools of magic each of them have different kind of spells. Some of them are for healing and some of them are for dealing damage. Go to the Destruction one." Twilight does as I say. "Ok now since you're a brand new character your Destruction skill is only level 15. But as you use Destruction spells that level will increase which will unlock new upgrades. Just select the one that makes them cost less Magic to cast." Twilight obeys and selects the upgrade that costs less magic to cast Destruction spells. "So what's your magic level?" Asks Twilight. "I have like 4 different characters so they're all different but my highest one would probably be my Grey Elf mage. His Destruction level is like 78? I don't remember it's been awhile since I've played that character. But my highest character level all together is somewhere around level 97." I say as I place my hands on my hips in a superhero position. "I'm rather proud of that to be honest." "Wow." She says. "How long did that take you?" "let me think." I say as I bring my hand to my chin. "Probably somewhere around 450 hours? And that's just on that one character. All together I have probably around 2000 hours sunk into this game." Twilight let out a shocked gasp. "So you're telling me you've spent almost 2000 hours sitting on the couch playing video games?" I chuckle slightly. "No. I've spent almost 2000 hours sitting on the couch playing this videogame. I can't even imagine how many hours I've spent playing video games all together. I've been doing it since I was like 4 years old." Twilight just shook her head in disbelief. --------------------------------------- Twilight let out a loud yawn. She's been playing Skyrim for nearly 4 hours straight. I think she might be getting addicted. She's already hit level 10 and her Destruction magic is at level 32. "I think someone's tired. I think it's time for bed. Don't you?" I ask "I'm not tired." Says Twilight, keeping her eyes glued to the TV. "Haha take that you nasty skeletons!" Says Twilight as she lights a group of Skeletons on fire. "Impressive or what?" She asks me. "The Skeletons are the easiest enemies in this game. Well I guess they're kinda tied with the wolves. Come talk to me when you light a Elder Dragon on fire and survive." I say, jokingly. "well anyway, I'm kinda tired. So I'm gonna go to bed. Don't stay up all night playing that game. And please for the love of god don't erase any of my files. When you want to save just go to the pause menu and select new save." I get up and walk towards my bedroom. "Alright. Goodnight Jason. I lo-" She stopped mid sentence. "What was that?" I ask as I turn around to face the mare. "Oh nothing. I just uhhh... I lost in a fight that's all." Twilight smiles weakly trying to hide her embarrassment. "Alright. Will you be sleeping in your room or should I leave my door unlocked?" I ask "I'm not sure. Just leave your door unlocked just incase." She answers. "Can do. Goodnight Twilight." I say as I turn around and enter my room, closing the door behind me. "Phew. I can't believe I almost said that. Why would I say that? I mean, I like Jason but I don't love him." Twilight shakes her head and focuses back on the game. "I wonder how you get married in this game?" she asks herself. --------------------------------- I awoke to my alarm clock ringing. I open my eyes slightly and groan as I roll over and slap the clock, shutting off the annoying beeping. "Why do I even set this stupid thing on the weekend?" I ask myself as I roll over. I notice Twilight isn't in the bed. I get up and get dressed. "I guess either she slept in her room or she's already up." I leave my bedroom and head down the hallway. I stop at the entrance to the living room. "Or maybe she slept on the couch." I say with a slight chuckle. On the couch is the purple mare. The controller rests on her chest and she has a small amount of drool hanging out of her mouth. I notice the red light on the controller is shut off. I pass it off as she just turned off the console before she went to bed. I quietly snuck into the kitchen, not wanting to wake the sleeping pony and I prepare a breakfast of peanut butter toast for myself. I sit down at the table and check my phone. '6 new messages' "Huh? Who's texting me?" I ask as I open up my messages. All the messages are from Twilight. But I was just down the hall. Why would she be texting me? I open up the messages and laugh at what she's sent me. How do you buy a house? Why does no one recognize me? I'm supposed to be the Dragonborn. You'd think people would know about me The other messages were kind of the same thing. Just random questions about the game and it's world. Suddenly I hear a loud noise coming from the living room. It's a noise I'm all too familiar with. I look up from my phone at the sleeping mare. "God damn it, Twi." I say as I stand up and enter the living room. Just as I had thought. She fell asleep with the game still on. I gently picked up the controller from the mare's chest and plugged it into the playstation. I decide to check what level she is. Level 21. I just shook my head. Suddenly Twilight shifts around and her eyes open slowly. "hey." She says groggily. "What time is it?" She asks as she rubs her eyes with her hoof. "Like 8:30" I say. "You were up all night playing Skyrim weren't you?" I ask "Not all night." She replies. "Just probably until 2AM." A smile spreads wide across my face. "That's like 10 hours." I say. "I'm not sure why but I'm actually kind of proud of you for that. I mean you did pass out with the console on which can be dangerous for the console but still. For your first gaming session, that's not bad. It's nowhere near my record but still. I'm impressed." I say. "How can it be dangerous?" Asks Twilight as she sits up on the couch. "And what's your record?" "Well for one the console could overheat and that'll break it and 2, my record is like 21 hours straight." I say, slightly proud of myself. Twilight looks around the room. "Hey, where's the controller?" She asks. "I had to plug it in. The battery died on it. So you won't be able to play for the next few hours. Just let it charge a bit." I say as I sit down beside Twilight. "Did you see my level?" She asks excitedly. "I did. Level 21. That's not bad. But you still got a long way to go to get to my skill level." I say as I wrap an arm around the purple mare. "You hungry?" I ask "Nah. I had a midnight snack last night. I don't know why but I really like these video games. They're so much fun. You have anymore?" She asks "I've got tons. Depends on what kind of game you want to check out." I say "You got anymore like this one?" She asks. "I have a few." I reply. ------------------------------- "What did you say this one was called?" Asks Twilight as I take Skyrim out of the console and insert a different disk. "It's called Modern Warfare 2. Or mw2 for short. It's kinda old but it's still tons of fun to play. And you can play with other people on this one." I say as I put skyrim back in it's case and sit down beside Twilight. "So what do you do in it?" Twilight asks as she picks up her controller in her magic. "It's a military shooter. Basically you go around killing enemy soldiers. But That's only the online mode. I think we might hold off on that for now and go to Spec Ops." I reply "A shooter?" She asks. "What's that?" "Oh yeah. I guess you don't have guns in Equestria do you? A shooter is a game where you have a gun and you shoot people." "What's a gun?" Asks Twilight "Well you remember how I told you about the world wars?" I ask "Yeah..." Says Twilight "Well guns are just one of the things us humans use to fight wars. But they're also used for hunting and stuff. Did you have hunting in equestria?" "Yeah but we mostly used sharp rocks tied to sticks and stuff." Says Twilight as the MW2 menu comes up. I press start and select the Spec Ops mode. "So what do we have to do?" She asks "That depends on which mission we're doing. I guess we should start out with an easy one so let's just do The Pit. That'll show you the basics." "Ok so how do I play?" Asks Twilight. "The game will explain it." I say as I start up the mission. "Now you're doing this one on your own but the next one we'll do together. I just want you to get the basic idea of how it's played before I have you watch my back." The mission starts. "You move and look around the same way you do in Skyrim. Just listen to the voice and watch the objective updates. Oh and try not to hit any civilians. You lose points that way." Twilight walked up to the collection of guns in front of her. "What are these?" She asks "Those are the guns. There's way more guns than that in the game but these are the ones you're allowed to use for the mission. I suggest taking the Desert Eagle and the ACR" "I can have more than one gun?" She asks "You're only allowed to have two. You switch between them with triangle." Twilight grabs the guns I suggested. "Ok now what?" "Now it begins. Follow the cursor and take out the enemy targets while avoiding the civilians." "How do I know which ones are the enemies?" She asks "They'll have guns." I say ---------------------------------------- "How was that?" Asks Twilight when the mission is over. "Not bad. For a first time player. You could use a little work on your accuracy though." I say. "Ok. Now are you ready for a real mission?" Twilight nods. "Let's do this." She says "Ok. We'll start off easy with Sniper Fi. All we gotta do is take out a few waves of enemies. Just watch my back and I'll take care of the rest." "Okay." Says Twilight as I select the mission and the loading screen comes up. "Now when we spawn, you're gonna want to get rid of your sniper since you have no experiance with it. Switch it out for the RPD. I'll show you where it is. And stay right by me. Don't leave the area we spawn in. Got it?" "Got it." Says Twilight as the mission opens up and we spawn on the rooftop. 'Enemies inbound' Says a voice. "What's that mean?" Asks Twilight. "It means the enemies are coming. Now you see those things over there? They're called Claymores. Take them and set one up at the ladder behind me. Then switch your sniper out with that gun over there" I move my character over to the gun to show her. "Then get behind me and watch the ladder. If anyone comes up there, take them out." Twilight nods as she grabs the claymores and sets one up at the ladder. She then swaps out her gun for the RPD and crouches behind me, watching the ladder. "Here they come." I say as I start picking off enemies with the Intervention. "Wow. You're pretty good." Says Twilight. "Years of Practise, Twi." I reply as I pick off another enemy. 'wave 1 complete' says a message that pops up on the screen. "How many waves do we have to do?" Asks Twilight. "We're on Novice so only 5. But with each wave comes more enemies and they get harder as we go along. Just make sure no one comes up that ladder." I say. 'wave 2 hostiles inbound' "Can I try taking them out?" Asks Twilight. "Alright but don't get killed. I'll watch the ladder." I say as we switch places. Twilight switches her weapon to the Intervention and starts taking shots. All her shots but one miss. "Wow. You make it look so easy." She says somewhat frustrated. "Just focus Twilight. Be sure to press the right stick to hold your breath. That'll steady your aim. And aim for the head. Wait for enemies to come out from cover and then take the shot." Twilight nods as she bites her lip slightly. Boom headshot. "I did it!" Exclaims Twilight. "Good job. But we're not done yet. Keep at it." ------------------------------ 'mission complete' "you know, that was a lot harder than I thought it'd be." Says Twilight. "Don't worry. You'll get it eventually." I say, reassuringly. I've had the luxury of having years to practise. I used to be just like you at this game. Give it time and you'll be a pro in no time." I say Twilight smiles warmly. "Thanks." She says. "Hey what time is it?" She asks. "No idea. Let me check." I press the PS button on my controller as the Playstation menu pops up. "6:30" I say. Suddenly a rumbling can be heard. I turn to look at Twilight. "Sorry." She says sheepishly. "I guess I'm kind of hungry." "Nothing to apologize about." I say as I stand up and place my controller on the coffee table. I'll make us something to eat. Anything specific you want?" I ask as I head into the kitchen. "No. Whatever you make is fine." Twilight calls out. "Hey, Jason?" Twilight asks. "Yeah?" "What's a campaign?" She asks "That's just the story mode. It's single player only. You can take my controller and try it if you want. Just start a new game and pick the Recruit difficulty. That's the easiest one." I call out as I open up the fridge and peer inside. "Okay." Says Twilight as she places her controller down and picks up mine. I can hear the opening monologue coming from the living room as I grab some lettuce and tomatoes and other vegetables and start cutting them up. "Hey! I already did this." Says Twilight. She must be referring to the first mission where you're in the training camp. "I know. But just do it and you get to do some real missions." I call out as I place the vegetables into a bowl. "Well there's Twilight's dinner. Now what do I want to eat?" I ask myself. I open the freezer and look inside. "Jackpot" I say as I grab a bag of frozen chicken nuggets and place it on the counter. I then reach up and take the deep fryer off the top of the fridge and plug it in. I place 10 or so chicken nuggets into the deep fryer and close the lid. "Ok now what do I do?" Asks Twilight from the living room. I enter the room and look at the screen. "Just follow the objective marker." I say. "Oh by the way, you're dinner is ready." Twilight pauses the game and walks into the kitchen and sits down at the table. I follow behind her and place the bowl in front of her. "Eat up." I say. "Thank you." Says Twilight before she starts to chow down on the salad. I turn around and check the deep fryer. My dinner is just about ready. I close the lid again and sit down at the table directly across from Twilight who was still eating the salad like it was her last meal. "Good?" I ask Twilight just nods in response and keeps eating. Suddenly the deep fryer dings. "There's my dinner" I say as I stand up and open the deep fryer. I place the nuggets onto a plate and sit back down at the table and start eating. ----------------------- Twilight yawns. She's been playing the MW2 campaign for like 3 hours. "I'm tired." Says Twilight, who can barely keep her eyes open. "Then save the game and let's go to bed." I say as I stand up from the couch. "Kinda boring watching someone else play MW2 anyways" I say as I stretch my arms and let out a small yawn. "Sorry." Says Twilight as she saves the game. "Nothing to apologize about. It's not your fault." I say. "How do you turn this off?" Asks Twilight. "Here." I say, holding out my hand. Twilight hands me the controller and I bring up the PS menu and shut the console off. I place the controller down by the console and head off for my room. "You coming?" I ask. Twilight gets up and follows behind me. "Can I sleep in your room tonight?" Asks Twilight. "Of course. Come on in." I say as I open my door and gestured for her to enter. Twilight walks over to the bed and lays down. I close the door and lay down beside her, wrapping an arm around her body as she snuggles into my chest. "Goodnight, Jason." Says Twilight, who's looking right into my dark brown eyes. "Goodnight, Twilight." I say with a smile as I turn off my lamp and we both drift off to sleep.