//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Welcome to the Internet 
// Story: The Royal Gamer 
// by Test4Echo 
//------------------------------//

Luna pranced into her suite's bedroom, still magically holding her new toy. She sighed and flopped onto her plush bed. Being royalty had its perks, although she still wasn't one for all of its politics and intrigue.

Getting up from her revelries, she inspected the back of the box that contained the PlayStable. It informed her that it was the special edition, the picture showcasing what came with it: a digital copy of Pony Ops and a device called a "headset".

As Luna conjured up a pair of scissors to open the box, one her maidservants entered the room. She curtsied, and welcomed her monarch back from her journey. "Is there anything I can assist with, your highness?" she asked.

Luna looked up from where she was busily cutting open the box, "Nay. Save, inform our-- my -- sister that I will be unable to attend court, and that I will see her this evening."

"But your majesty doesn't appear busy; all you are doing is opening that box."

Luna scowled and gave a small snarl, "Just do as we tell you. What is in this" --she gestured to PlayStable-- "will take up much of our time!"

Cringing at her ruler's outburst, the servant-mare spun around and told Luna that she'd give Celestia her message.

Quickly Luna turned back to her work, the box now open, and the contents therein spilled over her bed. She inspected the PlayStable before moving to the package next to it. The package held all the cables required to attach the console to a television, as well as containing the headset that was shown on the box.

Suddenly Luna realized she didn't have a TV. Until last night, she had dismissed them as a piece of technology that she didn't need. Pondering the predicament for a moment, Luna was struck with an idea. She burst from her room and down the lushly decorated hallways of Castle Canterlot, until she reached the currently vacant room of Prince Blueblood, the prodigal prince on another of his many pleasure voyages.

Fiddling with the lock for a moment, she pried the door to the suite open, and quietly stepped inside the darkened room. She turned on the lights, and started searching the luxurious room. Her target: Prince Blueblood's television. 

She finally found her prize hanging on the wall facing Blueblood's bed. As she started to dismantle the wiring and take down the TV, Luna realized just how large it was. It was almost as high as the doorway to leave.

Something else also grabbed her attention, below where the TV once hung, was another PlayStable. Levitating the TV down for a moment, she inspected the PlayStable, which was beside its less shiny and impressive predecessor, the PlayStable 2.

She grabbed the TV again and checked to make sure the way was clear. "Strange, how Blueblood never mentioned his PlayStable," Luna thought, ignoring the glances from the passing servants and guards as she carried her load. "He speaks of so many of his other pleasures; it is surprising he didn't ramble on it for hours at one of our... lovely dinners."

As she was about to grab her suite's door handle, she bumped into someone from behind. Swiveling around, she saw that it was Blueblood, with a surprised look surely as dumbfounded as her own.

"Auntie Luna!" he said after shaking his head to clear his surprise. "Aren't you supposed to be with Auntie Celestia at the court, where you usually are?

"Also," he continued, pointing at the floating TV. "What are you doing with my TV?"

Luna gulped and whipped the TV behind her, doing a useless job at hiding it. "This is thy television? Surely you jest, nephew," she laughed, smiling as innocently as possible. "But we thought that you were in the middle in another of your 'royal tours'?"

"Oh, yes," Blueblood stated, swatting at a piece of dust that was floating near him. "The cruise ship had engine problems near off the shore of Trotxico City, forcing the trip to be cancelled. 'Too long to fix the engine.' they said." He rolled his eyes.

"Are you sure that isn't my TV?" he asked again.

"No!" Luna defensively replied, "This is a-a... a new television that I needed for... keeping up with news about modern ponies!"

Blueblood just stared at his aunt for a moment, then shrugged and said, "Okay Auntie. Hugs and kisses!" He blew a kiss towards her and walked off.

Luna returned the kiss, scrunching her face and wiping his air-kiss off as soon as he turned the corner. Blueblood's rather blatant fake-love for his family disgusted her. Unfortunately, he was royalty, and protocol demanded that she keep her feelings about his attitude to herself.

Sighing, she entered her suite, and began searching for an electrical socket to plug the TV into. She found one near her bedroom. After she hooked up the TV and PlayStable, Luna looked over the headset that came with the console.

It was a small device, about the same width as her head, and had two large circles on the end of a curved plastic beam. Luna assumed that the two circles went over one's ears, and that the beam kept them in place. Attached to the left earphone was a swivel-able arm that had a small bump at its end. Unsure of what this was, she looked at the manual that came with the PlayStable, and it helpfully informed her that the end bump was a microphone which could be spoken into to allow for conversing with other players in-game.

Luna plugged in the headset, and put it on her head. The fit was snug, but she could get used to it.

After a minute, the log in screen prompted her to create a user. Scrunching her face in thought, Luna decided on the name "The REAL Princess Luna"

Afterwards, she was greeted with the same menu that was on Twilight's PlayStable the night before. Quickly Luna chose Pony Ops from her hard drive, and waited elatedly for the game to launch.

When the main menu of the game launched, Luna went straightway to multiplayer, and to her consternation, was promptly welcomed with a notification box that she wasn't connected to the "internet".

Groaning, she exited the game. Luna remembered Celestia telling her about the internet, a service which connected computers and other devices together, linking ponies on opposite sides of the planets together.

Navigating the PlayStable menu, she selected the toolbox icon, and began searching its many menus. She found the menu labeled Network Settings and selected it.

The menu informed her that she wasn't connected, and began searching for wireless connections. Seconds later, the screen rematerialized to show her a list of possible networks to connect to.

The network at the top of the list was the strongest and seemed familiar to the her. While she was trying to place it, she ordered the console to connect to the network, Cake-lover1000, and returned to her game.

Faintly, through the wall of Luna's room, came the voice of Celestia, "Who's connected to my internet?!"

Luna winced. She realized that she connected to her sister's network and hoped that she wouldn't find out.

Turning back to face the TV, Luna hit the multiplayer option to start searching for an open group match. After a minute of searching, the game put her into an almost full party of gamers, who were groaning from an apparent bad joke told just before she joined.

One of the other members sent Luna a message, "Help us!" it said in the hopes that maybe a new member of the group bring some sanity.

"Oi. Did I ever tell you, about the time I met Princess Luna?" a familiar cockney asked. Without waiting for an answer, it continued, "So it was me first Nightmare Night, right? And I was all excited to scope out all the new ponies. There was one really loony one, was dressed up as a chicken! But, I was just minding me business, getting candy and the like, when all of a sudden, there was this big ruckus, and boom! Princess Luna was in Ponyville, wanting to interact with the common folk (and doing a bad job at it, too). An' I took one look at her was like: 'Pip, you'd like to--"

"Would you shut your mouth, kid?" an annoyed voice sighed. "The match is starting. If you're trying to be cool, it's not working."

Dazed, lying on the floor, she never heard what the other gamer's reply was. She recognized the owner of the voice: Pipsqueak from Ponyville. He never finished what he was saying, but she heard a few slang words from her guards talking about first dates: she could put two and two together. He called her his favorite princess. Maybe he was implying something else.

"Was it all a ruse?" Luna thought, still lying on the floor, her heart beating frantically. If this was what multiplayer was like, she didn't want it.

Slowly rising from the floor, Luna inched her soldier through the battle. Her heart was racing. This was her first true battle against ponies she never met. She prayed she wouldn't be annihilated.

"...I'll just--Hey! Stop doing that!" Pip complained as a notification appeared in the matches feed of deaths.

Luna's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when the colt issued forth a stream of colorful language at his killer. Wondering what they were teaching foals in schools, Luna continued sniping a pony here or there until the match ended.

As the results of the match materialized, Pip continued to berate the group. Unable to withstand the language any longer, Luna bellowed into her mic, "Thou loud-mouthed, ungrateful, and depraved WHELP! Is this how the children of today spend their lives; in DEGENERATE, UNWHOLESOME, and IMMORAL speech and activity?"

Bursting through the door, Luna's hoofmaid and Celestia herself stopped in shock, watching the night princess continue to lecture the recipient on the other side.

"Forasmuch as I met you in Ponyville, I perceived thee to be a polite and innocent foal. Clearly I am mistaken." Luna continued, blind to the notification from the game that she had been kicked from the party.

Celestia treaded her way to her sister, gently putting a hoof on Luna's shoulder. Halting mid-speech, Luna looked up at Celestia, the scowl swiftly leaving her face.

"What's wrong, Luna?" Celestia whispered soothingly.

Dejectedly, Luna told Celestia of what transpired. Celestia quietly listened, and when her sister was finished, said, "It seems that you were given a curt welcome to the internet. I'm sure this reminded you again of how different things are from a thousand years ago."

Scuffing her hoof on the floor, Luna asked, "But why would have to be young Pip. He was such a sweet child."

"Not everything is so literal today, Luna." Celestia replied. "I feared something like this would happen. Twilight told me that she felt you were going to do something rash when she informed me on how last night went."

Luna only shook her head, a melancholy look on her face.

"I will let Twilight know that you have purchased a PlayStable, 'The REAL Princess Luna'." Celestia said as she rose from the floor next to her sister, and made her way for the door. Glancing over her shoulder, she told Luna, "You should probably return Blueblood's television; I will have one supplied to you."

Broken from her silence, Luna gulped, "How did you know it was his?"

"It's the largest in the castle." Celestia stated, walking out of her sister's bedroom.