M0re Than Gam3rs

by P3RROHAMBRE

Level 9

Thursday: Two days before match against Princess Celestia.


“I’m tired of them trampling through my garden when they play their hooligan games and I demand that they be punished for it!”

Luna sat on her throne with her head leaning against her silver hoof and stared off into space. The cranky old, brown stallion that stood before her had been rambling about how precious his flowerbed and things were to him and had came to her to complain about some colt’s and filly’s that sometimes seemed to run through it when they played tag.

The princess would know that if she had been paying attention but she was left to her own thoughts as the old bag spat and spewed ways that the said children should be punished. She was more preoccupied with thoughts of her friend, Derpy.

 Three days had past since her best friend had left for Ponyville, as was usual after their gaming night’s together. What was unusual though was that she hadn’t heard from the mailmare since then and she missed her a lot... may be way more than she should but Luna couldn’t help it. She missed her friend and the only thing that was helping the alicorn get through her day was her thoughts of the grey mare.

The image of Derpy seemed to haunt her mind constantly now, especially during her court when she was supposed to be listening to her subject’s complaints and other crap. All she could see was those crossed eyes that could induce anypony to have some type of cutegasm and her blonde mane while she smiled bright and wide.

This was the innocent part of her mind but there was now another side of her inner eye that had reared it’s ugly head in the past few days. One she tried to block out but the more she tried to repress it, the worse it got.

Just earlier this day, she found herself in her bed this morning, staring at the ceiling of her chambers as she imagined Derpy on top of her, holding each other and being tongue locked at their mouths. Ideas...dirty ideas... plagued her mind and made her want her friend even more but thankfully the princess was able to rip her mind away from these thoughts before she indulged in them. Oh, but how she sometimes wished to indulge in them...she wanted to take it all the way but she couldn’t. She was to afraid too. Maybe afraid of being similar to her sister?

Derpy Hooves was her friend and Luna knew it wasn’t right to think of such things of the mailmare. These feelings and thoughts to her were still alien, still with no real explanation of why, and ever since her awkward discussion with Cadence and Vinyl, she has kept these ever increasing emotions to herself.

But what about Vinyl’s suggestion? What about talking to her stallion friend she referred to as Perro?

Simple.

Luna simply kept forgetting. The many times that she would get online and own her victims, she would always forget to see if Vinyl’s friend was online and take the chance to talk to him about these damned feeling that consumed her mind with the image of her beautiful friend.

Or maybe she was just too nervous to tell him? Was she afraid of what judgement she would get? Would she be scorned for having these type of feelings for a friend?

“Hey! Are you even listening to me?!” the old stallion exclaimed, noticing that this ruler was off in whatever land she was instead of listening to him bitch.

“Not really,” Luna stated flatly, her mind still wrapped around Derpy.

“Wha...what?! What kind of ruler are you who doesn't even listen to her subjects?? This is insulting! I’m having a crisis and you don’t even care?!”

Luna simply stared at the old stallion. She was now trying to remember what he was complaining about. She heard the words ‘kids’ and ‘garden’. Being the smart mare she was, she put the two together and winged it real quick so she could get this pony out of here.

“Look, you can’t come to me to go and punish some kids because they are screwing up your garden. I only deal with stuff that are actually important. Your garden is...well...not exactly up there. Sorry,” Princess Luna explained, trying to be as nice as possible about it.

The old stallion scrunched his face and Luna could see his old cheeks begin to light up. He was obviously angry but she knew that this pony was trying to restrain himself. Many kept in mind of what she formerly was and the power that came along with it...a power that they did not want to invoke upon them even though she would never resort to that.

“Fine then. I’ll just be on my way then, your highness,” the stallion hissed through his teeth as he turned to make his exit out of her court.

Luna simply put on a fake smile to make it seem like she appreciated him coming to her about something so stupid. What she needed to do was find out how Derpy was doing...not that she didn’t miss hearing her voice or anything, nothing of that sort. Really.

Maybe I should call her. She should be on break or something.

Luna looked around. Her guards stood at every door and there was a line of ponies that awaited to be helped but it was obvious to Luna that she was in no condition to help anypony until she found out why her friend had been silent the past few days. So, with only one thing to do and with the knowledge that most of these ponies would hate her for doing this, she gave the command.

“Guard!”

One of the guards, dawned in black armor with her insignia emblazoned on his chestpiece, that stood next to her throne quickly brought his attention to her.

“Yes your highness?”

“Could you dismiss my court for me for the rest of the day please? I have some personal matters to take care of.”

“Is it about your friend, Miss Hooves?”

Luna’s cheeks flustered.

“Wha-?! How...you been talking to my sister again, haven’t you?”

The guard smiled sheepishly, “Sorry princess, I kind of overheard Princess Celestia talking about you and Miss Hooves.”

Probably going around saying that we’re bucking each other silly or something.

The guard quickly changed the subject, noticing that it seemed like something that shouldn’t be discussed with the Princess of the Night.

“I’ll dismiss your court for you Princess Luna. You can take care of whatever you feel is important.”

Luna softly smiled, happy that at least her guard wasn’t going to try and push this.

“Thank you.”

The guard nodded and turned to the line of ponies as Luna began to make her way out. She didn’t want to hear what ponies were going to yell when he dismissed them. They would probably spew out insults along the lines ‘lazy’ or ‘Incompetent.’ There was even one time that some pony yelled that she was ugly. None of these really bothered her...or at least that’s what she showed.

Luna opened the side door of her court and left the accursed room just in time. As soon as she closed the door behind her and began walking in the marble hall, she could hear a commotion of voices coming from her court.

They mad. Oh well. I have more important things to find out right now.

Luna summoned her phone in front of her with her magic and dialed Derpy’s number. She needed to know where her friend had been... and maybe just hear that adorkable voice again. Luna put the phone to her ear and waited.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

“C’mon. Answer the phone.”

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Luna bit her bottom lip. Derpy always had her phone with her. Why wasn’t she answering?

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Fear and worry started to set in Luna. Did she do something that made Derpy mad? Did Derpy not want to talk to her because of something she might have done unwittingly? Or was it that her friend now realized what her sister was after the whole thing with the socks and panties? So many questions now ran through her scattered mind.

Hi! If I didn’t answer my phone, I’m sorry. I’m either busy baking muffins or..well...yeah that’ s really just it. Just leave a message and I’ll answer ASAP. I’ll even send an apology muffin since I didn’t answer. Just tell me what flavor. Bye!

Luna sighed as she heard the voice message. Something in her gut was telling her that something wasn’t right. Derpy always answered when she called, even times when she was flying and delivering mail. (Don’t fly and text kids.)

The alicorn shut her phone before the long beep came on and she had to leave a voicemail. For three days she hadn’t heard from the mailmare and Luna was now worried it was because she was mad with her for some reason. She didn’t know what but the pull in her stomach that was telling her something wasn’t right kept tugging at her.
Maybe you should go check on her yourself if she won’t answer her phone.

The little voice was right! Why not just travel to Ponyville and see her blonde friend there? It has been a while since she had been in Ponyville and it would be nice to get out of Canterlot for a bit but what was she going to say? ‘Oh hey Derpy, I just got paranoid that you didn’t like me anymore so I came here to see if you didn’t want to be my friend anymore.’

No, she couldn’t say that. She would look like some paranoid foal. She thought for a second and quickly came with an answer that would be the perfect guise.

“Ohhhh Five Star!” she chimed, loving her small excuse that she was going to use to see her friend.

 “I have the sudden hunger for muffins.”

The cool wind whipped across Luna’s face and she embraced it with a wide smile. It felt refreshing to get out of Canterlot and be out in the open blue sky. She admired the white clouds that pegasi have so skillfully placed and her sister’s bright sun that hung over the sky.

Luna knew that raising and creating her mystical night was her special talent, along with gaming, but she wouldn’t have mind if she had gotten a cutie mark that represented flying. Now she was no racer like a certain pegasus with a multi-colored mane, but it was the feeling of being light in a vast sea of air. She felt alive and exhilarated when she sped through the sky.

There it is.

Luna spotted a familiar tower that stood in the middle of a small town. She flapped her wings harder and held onto the dark blue bag that hung over her back, filled with her delicious excuses to see her friend and see why she hadn’t heard from her.

Maybe I should have given notice that I was coming.

Given notice? Didn’t she already try to call her friend?

This was true but now she was thinking about the town itself. It wasn’t everyday that a princess just flew into Ponyville and she was worried that residents would freak out, despite this not being the first time she had been in Ponyville. Regardless, her desire to see her friend and make sure everything was still cool between them outweighed these petty worries.
With no more hesitation, Luna descended down into the small town and with grace and precision, landed softly onto the ground.

The alicorn quickly looked around. Cottages and small houses lined the dirt road along with carts of merchandise and foods. Luckily for the princess, most ponies in this very busy area were too pre-occupied and the ones that did take notice of her simply stared for a moment and went back to their business.

Hmm...maybe I was wrong about how they would react-

“Princess Luna!” a voice yelled.

Spoke too soon.

She turned her head, ready to take on whatever some pony wanted from her but instead was met with Ponyville’s notorious couple, Lyra and Bon Bon.

“Oh hey Lyra. Bon Bon.”

“Hello,” Bon Bon replied. She had a small bag hanging across her back. It was green and Luna noticed that it had a small muffin stamp on it, obviously crafted from the hooves of her friend.

“No pony said anything about you coming to Ponyville princess. If I would have known, I would have had Bons here make some candy for ya or something.”

“Oh yeah!” Bon Bon exclaimed happily, “I made a new recipe for some mints I was making.”

“So what brings you here Luna?” Lyra asked before Bon Bon went on about her recipes and such.

“Well, I came here to bring some muffins to Derpy,” Luna replied happily.

Luna held out the bag and showed them the assortment of baked goods that sat in her bag but noticed that something was off. The alicorn noticed that Lyra’s and Bon Bon’s faces turned into ones of uncertainty.

“Is something wrong?” Luna asked.

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other and back at Luna.

“Well...ummm,” Lyra began, rubbing her hooves together as she tried to think how she was going to tell Luna whatever had to be told, “It’s about Derpy.”

A sudden fear struck into Luna’s heart. What about Derpy? The earlier worry about her grey friend began to grip her mind. Maybe she did do something that made the pony not want to talk to her.

“What’s wrong with Derpy?” Luna asked with uneasiness.

Lyra bit her bottom lip while she looked at Bon Bon, trying to signal that it was her turn to speak.

“Well Princess...she kind of told us not to say anything...to you...in particular.”

“What??”

Oh no! I did do something! She hates me and I don’t even know why!

But what could she have done? Luna searched the recesses of her mind and memory of the past few days. She ran through every image and thought, trying to see if somehow she unwittingly made her friend upset but couldn’t find anything.

“Why doesn't she want me to know??” Luna asked, trying to keep the sudden worry hidden in her voice.

Bon bon shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know Luna but she seemed really upset when she came back from work Sunday, and the first thing she said was not to tell you anything. She didn’t even tell us why she was so upset but whatever it was, it must have really gotten to her because she was crying.”

She was crying?! Luna you damn idiot!

Luna felt her heart sinking in her chest as an image of Derpy came into her mind. She could see the small pony with wide, watery eyes as she sat there with a giant frown on her face and cried...because of her. Her stomach turned and Luna swore that she could even feel water forming at the corner of her eyes. Did she cause so much unknown damage to bring such an innocent mare to tears?

She needed to know what she did.

“Where is Derpy now? At work?” Luna asked. She needed to see Derpy and find out what she had done and fix all this...somehow.

“She’s at home with Dinky. I just saw the two at the bank an hour ago so I’m assuming their home now.”

Luna nodded.

“Thank you. I’m going to go see her and find out what’s going on with her.”

“Well good luck princess. Maybe you’ll have better luck than us,” Lyra said, “We’ll talk to you later Luna. C’mon Bon Bon, lets get to the sperm bank before we’re late.”

“Bye Luna,” the cream colored mare chimed as she followed her lover to the questionable deposit facility of a male’s reproductive cells.

Luna waved her hoof and smiled while inside she was beating herself up and down for doing whatever she did to her friend. She needed to make things right and find out what she did. Luna didn’t know if she could bear losing her best friend...

Or maybe she couldn’t bear losing something more than just a best friend.

Princess Luna didn’t know how long she had been standing at the door. Her hoof was up right next to it, ready to knock and see her friend but she couldn’t just bring her hoof to meet the wooden door. Fear and worry had gripped her from doing so and kept her frozen in place like her old nemesis, Discord.

C’mon Luna! Just knock on the door and find out what you did. Stop being scared. For all you know, it might be something completely different!

Luna doubted the little voice in her head.

“No...I had to have done something. Why would she not answer her phone and tell Lyra and Bon Bon not to tell me huh?”

Maybe because it might piss you off or something, the hay I know. I’m just a voice in your head...jeez. Expecting me to have all the answers. How about you just knock and find out yeah?

“But what would piss me off? What could she possibly do to piss me off and why not just tell me??” Luna asked this pestering voice in her noggin.

Hmmm. How about when she blew up your computer? Oh, and let’s not forget when she took Pinkie’s party cannon and blew up your life size replica of Master Chief and Samus fighting each other...anything else?

Luna grimaced.

“I wasn’t pissed per say...just a little...disappointed was all.”

“Woona? Who you talkin’ to?” a little voice asked below the alicorn, making her quickly throw herself out of her own personal conversation.

There below her was a small filly that had opened the door. She had a small blonde mane and a tiny horn that split it. Her eyes were the same color as Derpy’s and her coat was a light, grayish violet.

“Why hello there Dinky,” Luna greeted and smiled, “How are you doing today?”

“I’m doing okay. My sister didn’t tell me that you were coming Woona,” the small filly answered in her small voice.

Luna loved hearing Dinky say her name. She had tried teaching the filly how to say her name properly but grew to hearing ‘Woona.’ It was just damn cute alright, don’t judge her.

“Why just okay Dinky? Is there something wrong with your sister?” Luna asked as she knelt down to be on the filly’s level.

Dinky looked around, like she was being watched or something but then nodded her head.

“She’s been really sad. I know because she hasn’t baked any muffins for a while and I love my sister’s muffins. She won’t tell me what’s wrong, no matter how many times I ask her. I love my sister now being home all the time but I don’t want to see her sad.”

Luna raised her brow. The muffin mare not baking any muffins on a daily basis? What had Luna done to be that severe?

“Well maybe I can. Is it okay if I come in and see her?”

Dinky nodded her head furiously.

“Yeah! Maybe you can make her happy again Woona!”

Luna smiled again and got up to follow the small filly inside. The wooden door opened and Luna made sure to close it behind her. The scent of muffins and flowers filled her nostrils and she could instantly feel the warm embrace of this small home.

The alicorn took in the small setup of the living room. A small T.V. sat on a small nightstand in the middle of the room. There next to it was a PS3 and 360, ready to be played if need be. A futon sat across the T.V. with another nightstand sitting right next to the couch/bed. On the back wall, portraits of Derpy and her sister hung across it. There were some where they were both making goofy faces, some where they were both dressed up, and some were just with them two smiling together.

It was obvious that these two sister’s loved each other very much and it warmed the dark princess’s heart. She now felt even more compelled to see what she had done and make it right. Luna wasn’t the only one who missed that cheery mare but also her sister.

“You want a muffin Woona? I made these myself,” Dinky asked as she held out a tray of black burnt muffins.

Luna smiled sheepishly. She couldn’t really say no, especially to this small filly who looked up to her with hopeful eyes.

“Sure. I’ll just um...save this for the trip back to Canterlot later,” Luna said as she took the muffin and placed it in her bag of other muffins.”

Dinky smiled and set the tray down.

“My sister is in her room. She down that hallway. Last door and on the left,” Dinky instructed and pointed her small hoof.

“Thank you Dinky. I’ll be sure to get your sister back and up to her old self.”

Because I bucked up somehow.

“Thanks Woona.”

Dinky turned away and went into the kitchen and Luna assumed to probably bake more burnt muffins. Probably a bit unsafe for a filly for her age but the alicorn thought that the unicorn was smart enough to operate an oven...at least to burn muffins.

Luna trotted down the small hallway. It was nothing like the ones in Canterlot Castle; adorned with portraits of renowned ponies and made in expensive marble stone...she liked it. Luna liked the simplicity that Derpy’s humble abode had compared to the  complexity the castle had.

Last door on the left.

Princess Luna looked to her left and knew that this was the right door. A muffin shaped plaque hung on it with bold letters reading Derpy Hooves.

Well. You gonna knock or we going to have a repeat of earlier?

As much as she didn’t want to, she needed to. Luna was very concerned for her friend and needed to know what she did to bring Derpy to such a state. She couldn’t handle knowing that she did something to hurt her friend and not rectify it.

Luna took a deep breath.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Derpy...It’s Luna.”

“Luna?” a voice said from behind the door.

“Yes. I came here to bring you some muffins but I was being told that you haven’t been...” she paused as she tried to think of nice word for all this, “happy lately.”

There was a silence for a few moments but then Luna heard a shuffling of what sounded like papers and hoof steps, followed now by a click of the door.

“Come in,” the mare stated flatly.

Luna obeyed and slowly opened the door and entered Derpy’s room. Posters of multiple movies and gaming icons were hung in this small room and a bed that was covered in a plethora of newspapers and magazines with a grey mare sitting in the middle of it, her back towards Luna.

“What’s with all the papers and stuff?” Luna asked as she shut the door behind her.

Derpy let out a small sigh.

“Did Lyra and Bon Bon tell you?”

Luna’s body went to ice. Derpy’s voice was not the cheery and soft voice that she knew but something completely different. She could sense the sadness and maybe a bit of irritation in it. Maybe this was all a bad idea.

“Um well...I did pass by them and they told me that you haven’t been yourself lately but for some reason couldn’t tell me why and that they weren’t supposed to...um...tell me.”

Derpy didn’t respond and began to sniffle while Luna just stood there and stared at her beloved friend. A silence formed between them for a few moments that felt like forever for Luna. The alicorn had to know what has caused this sadness within the mailmare. What did she do to bring this upon her?

“What did I do Derpy? Please, I didn’t mean to make you upset or anything,” Luna blurted, breaking the silence that was torturing her.

Derpy turned to her in the pile of papers and magazines with watery eyes.

“What? What are you talking about Luna?” Derpy asked as she sniffled more and tried to hold back tears.

“Didn’t I do something to make you mad or upset? I haven’t heard from you for the past few days and I tried calling today and you never answered, so I thought you were mad at me because of something I did.”

Derpy sniffed again and weakly chuckled.

“Sorry about that. My phone’s been turned off but I’m not mad at you or anything. Probably should have sent a letter to you telling you that it was off.”

Turned off?

“Turned off? Was your phone stolen that it had to be turned off or something?” Luna asked as she went over and took a seat on the floor in front of Derpy.

Derpy’s crossed eyes looked left and right.

“Well no. I couldn’t pay my bill so it got turned off.”

Luna raised her brow in confusion.

“Your bill? Well if you didn’t have enough bits to pay it, why didn’t you tell me? I would have covered it for you. Is that what’s gotten you so upset?”

She saw Derpy’s lower lip begin to tremble and her golden eyes fill with watery, held back tears.

“No...it’s not that,” Derpy whimpered.

Luna placed her silver hoof on Derpy’s shoulder as the small mare whimpered. The alicorn’s very heart seemed to feel like it was breaking piece by piece as she watched Derpy hold back tears.

“Please tell me Derpy,” Luna asked softly.

“I...I...,” Derpy stuttered and tears began to roll down her face, “I lost my job.”

“What?!” Luna exclaimed in bewilderment,” You lost your job?? How?!”

Derpy wiped the tears from her face, though it did little as new ones just came down.

“I was late delivering a few packages again and my boss got mad at me and stuff. He started calling me names and fired me because I wasn’t dependable. I tried begging him to let me keep my job...I loved my job....and I would do better but he threw me out and so here I am now, looking for new work,” Derpy explained through her whimpers and tears.

Luna’s heart fell into her stomach. She knew how much Derpy loved her job and now to lose it... it was probably devastating for the mare but also a flare of anger lit up in her. How could anypony fire her friend? One that loved her job and had even came out in rain and snow just to do it? She couldn’t let this stand.

“He fired you because you were late for a few packages?! That’s... that’s a stupid reason to fire you!” Luna exclaimed as her anger grew.

Derpy quickly noticed the anger in Luna’s voice and waved her hooves to calm the alicorn down.

“It’s okay Luna, he was right! I didn’t deserve to have that job if I couldn’t be on time with my deliveries.”

Luna got up, not believing what she was hearing.

“What?! Derpy, your the best mare for the job and so what you were late for a few packages?! That’s complete bullshit to fire you because of that! And then he called you names?? What kind of names?”

Derpy looked around, hesitant to answer but Luna was a little more than pissed and was not going to let this injustice stand against her friend.

“What did he say to you Derpy?” Luna asked firmly.

Tears began to roll down the grey mare’s face again. She motioned for Luna to come closer and Luna obeyed. Derpy put her mouth to Luna’s ear and whispered into it, saying a name that made the gamer princess completely lose it.

“WHAT?! He called you that????!”

Derpy nodded silently.

Complete and utter rage now took hold of Luna. No pony was going to call her friend, her fellow gamer, such a name and get away with it. With a quickness, she pulled Derpy off the bed and began dragging her by her hoof and out the door of her room.

“Wha-?! Luna, what are you doing?!” Derpy said as she was dragged on the carpet.

Luna gritted her teeth and her eyes narrowed. A fire burned in her that couldn’t be quelled and there was only one way to satiate this gamer’s rage.

“We’re going to get your job back.”

(A/N. Wow, I wrote a serious chapter...WTF am I doing??)