//------------------------------// // The Pwning Pony Princess // Story: Forgotten: Sunrise // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// During her protege days, dinner without Celestia was frequently whatever Sunset wanted it to be, and it just involved a trip down to the dining hall before 9pm, when the cooking staff retired for the night. But here, she was a guest, and she imagined that the technological advances Equestria had made meant that it wasn't even going to involve a trip to the kitchen. "If we're talking room service here," Sunset began as she walked alongside Pipp to her 'streaming room'. "Just as long as that isn't every meal here. If you've got a decent kitchen, let me have at it one of these times. I make some mean hash browns for breakfast." "Sounds like a plan. You can make us whatever you like for breakfast before rehearsal tomorrow. For now, how's pizza and gaming sound?" Pipp asked as they turned the corner. "Sounds perfect," the unicorn replied. "I'm hearing that there's a development team here in Zephyr Heights that's designing an adventure game about a post-apocalyptic Equestria, and they're basing a fair amount of it based on what Sunny has gathered for the museums. Think it's called 'Hayrizon: Zero Dawn' or something like that. I'm looking forward to it." They came to the third door on the right, and Pipp pressed her right hoof into the metallic pad next to the door. The LED light went from red to green, and the door unlocked, with the pegasus immediately turning the knob and opening it up. "Come on in, and behold my gaming abode," Pipp told her. Sunset stepped through the doorway and her eyes immediately widened. "Whoa." It wasn't even a bedroom; this was 100% committed to all things streaming and gaming. Front and center was a large screen, and a very comfortable looking couch ten feet from it, with a polished oak coffee table in between. From the controllers, microphone, boom arm, and web cam, Sunset knew a streaming setup when she saw one. "Ponystation 4..." Sunset read the lettering on the white console just below the television screen. "Surround sound... Not bad at all. What are we playing tonight?" "A crazy fantasy sports game called Pony League," Pipp answered, grabbing the remote control and turning on the entertainment center. "Sounds vague enough to be anything," the unicorn commented as she took a seat next to the pegasus, who handed her the second controller; it was much closer to an arcade fighting stick and buttons than the ergonomic controllers that she had been using, but she immediately figured that these were easier to use with hooves. Pipp held down the center button on her set of controls, and the Ponystation lit up, as did the screen. "Don't worry, I'm not scheduled to start the stream for another twenty minutes. That's enough time to get into the game, give you a quick tutorial, and get dinner ordered," Pipp said, logging into her account. Even with a new control pad, Sunset was fairly confident; she picked up new games fairly quickly; complete collapses on her part like Super Squirrel Climb with Fluttershy were pretty rare, and a hoot for her audience when they happened. With Pipp logged in, a blue-tinted main menu appeared, and she selected Pony League. As the splash screens came up, it was accompanied by a seriously catchy techno beat, which dropped as the main menu came up. Pipp quickly selected multiplayer, and let Sunset create her pony avatar. "There used to be just pegasus characters, but in the months following reunification, the developers patched in the two other races, so make whatever you like," the princess told her. Over the next few minutes, Sunset carefully recreated herself in the game, a unicorn with a crimson and yellow mane. "I did the same thing," Pipp told her, and as she selected her character, Sunset saw that it was a near perfect recreation of her. With their characters selected, the game proper loaded in, and Sunset found their avatars in a large open arena. "Soccer?" Sunset asked. "Even better; ridiculous soccer," Pipp replied, as Sunset noticed the oversized ball that a half dozen ponies could fit into. "The goal is simple, get the ball into your opponent's goal. Things get complicated with your character's movement." Sunset moved her on-screen avatar around a bit, and jumped towards the ball. "What are those things on the hooves?" Sunset asked. "The complicated part," Pipp answered, jumping her character up into the air, but as she was in mid-air, plumes of fire erupted from her hooves, and she took off higher into the air. "Whoa. Jet-power hooves? Seriously?" Sunset asked, trying it herself, her unicorn avatar taking off into the sky. "I told you it was ridiculous. Back when this game was developed, pegasi couldn't fly, so this was a creative alternative. Right now it's just you and me for practice, but matchmade games are 3v3 or 4v4, and things get fairly hectic." It took a few minutes for Sunset to get the hang of flying with jet-powered legs, but she felt she had the basics down. Pipp made sure that all the cameras and microphones were receiving correctly before she and her new friend went live. Just as there was a knock on the door, signalling that dinner had arrived, Pipp's phone also went off, vibrating on the coffee table. "You're popular tonight," Sunset commented as Pipp got up to answer the door. "Are you kidding? This is actually kind of a quiet night because I've turned on limited notifications, so the only ones I get are from my personal contacts," the princess replied as she opened the door and greeted the server. "Good evening, sir! Thank you very much!" "Anytime, your highness. Enjoy the stream tonight," the server replied with a polite bow. Pipp returned to the coffee table wheeling a cart up next to the coffee table, then set down two steaming, bubbling cheese pizzas, along with plates, napkins, and individual bottles of soda. Sitting back down, she picked up her phone and checked the notification she had received. "Alright, looks like Sunny and Sprout are going to make it up here in time for our concert. Think you'll be able to put on a show?" Pipp asked, swiping her phone's screen. "I guess we'll find out during rehearsal tomorrow, won't we?" Sunset asked in return. Pipp smirked at her. "Well, now that we're ready to eat and game, let's put on a show right now." With that, Pipp pressed a bright red button on her phone's screen, and Sunset saw the red light on the webcam below the TV lit up. "Good evening, Pippsqueaks! Who's ready to thrash some noobs in Pony League? I know I am, and I've got a new friend along for the ride. Let's play!"