//------------------------------// // Straight through the Heart. // Story: Markiplier In Equestria // by xXCondemnedSoulXx //------------------------------// I leant out from behind my cover to offer the small pony a warning, “I have a gun! and I’m not afraid to use it!” Inside my head, I was internally whimpering from nearly being killed so early in the game. As I poked my head around the corner to see where he could have been, another shot rang through the air as a bullet collided into the pillar. “Oh yeah? So do I!” Said the smug young stallion as he aimed down the sights of his longshot sniper rifle. Another shot flew towards me, striking the ground around my hooves, causing me to tumble over in fear as I pushed myself across the floor, away from the shot. I hid behind a pile of sandbags as I attempted on figuring out as to how I could use the blasted weapons. “How am I supposed to use this stupid thing? It’s not like I need fingers or anything to use these.” I grumbled as I soon became irritated with the complexity of the game. “The better question to ask is how in the hell is he using one?” I thought to myself for a moment as I pondered on the subject until I heard a small stone fumble across the floor. “What?” Instantly, I shifted my head to the left and right in search of that evil kid. “Hey.” Called a squeaky voice above me. I looked up and seen him leaning over the sandbags, watching me with his head leant against his hoof, and a Boltok pistol in the other, seemingly bored. “You’re new to this whole gaming dream world, aren’t you?” he asked. “I’m been playing games longer than you’ve been born. I’m just having a little trouble with something...” “And that would be?” I exhaled in defeat as I frowned, “I don’t know how to use these guns without fingers, how in the living hell am I supposed to use these?” “It’s easy, just pretend you have fingers, like... invisible fingers or something. Normally in the real world, it’s not as easy without magic. But in the dream world, it’s as easy as using your imagination.” “Really?” “Yeah.” He stood back up and holstered his pistol. “Just because I can clearly see that this is your first time, in good spirit, I’ll head back over to the other side of the room and we can give these sleeping ponies something to watch. Alright?” I nodded at his offer and he crossed the room. “Alright, are you ready?” I thought about it for a moment, “Just a second.” I fumbled with my lancer, attempting to at least firing a single shot before starting. I imagined myself having fingers and and clenched my pointer finger down on the trigger. A loud shot rang through the stadium, “Nice! This is going to be fun.” I stated as I grew a devilish grin. “Ready!” “Ok, let’s begin!” He dashed forward and ducked behind cover. I followed in suit, but searched the arena for another weapon that would best suit me. As I searched, I found the most beautiful weapon I could imagine. “Yeah!” I cried at the top of my lungs. Quickly thinking, I pulled out a smoke grenade and launched it towards his general direction. I waited for the smoke to blind his vision before sprinting full tilt towards my prize. “Torque bow!” I announced as I grabbed my new weapon off the ground and dove behind another pillar. “I hope you know how to use that thing, I just don’t want this battle to be over already this soon!” He scoffed. I smiled at his remark, “Oh, don’t worry kiddies... I’ll make sure to have your giblets cleaned off the stadium floor after I win this match!” I leant around the corner of my cover and aimed towards Button as I pulled the trigger back, “Poof!” The arrow stabbed his barricade, arming the detonation sequence within the arrow head. “Ka-boom!” I yelled in excitement as the explosion destroyed his cover. Though my happiness was short lived as I inspected the wreckage. There were no signs of Button’s remains, and the voice didn’t call from the ceiling. “Where in the...” “Right behind you.” called a familiar squeaky voice. “That was a bit sloppy, you could really work on your aim and strategies. You were almost too predictable to read.” Slowly, I turned around and could see down the barrel of his boltok pistol. “And no, I don’t give second chances.” “Alright... I surrender...AAGGHH!” I cried as I hit his chest with the butt of the torque bow, causing him to stumble over. “Poof!” With that, I sprinted away in the opposite direction as I could hear his childish scream echo throughout the arena as he grasped the arrowhead lodged within his chest. A gruesome and gory scene left in the explosions wake. “Predictable, eh?” I chuckled to myself for a moment just as the voice called once more. “And with that, Button Mash is out of the game! The winner of the Lunar Games is Markipony!” An uproar of cheers and boos boomed within the arena walls. “And now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for! The final match of the night, our new challenger Markipony verses Equestria’s fiercest, strongest lead gamer, Princess Luna herself!” “Strongest? Fiercest? Just how good is this Luna anyway? She hasn’t even seen my skill yet.” I crossed my arms and drew a small smirk. “Oh, is that so?” Called an unfamiliar voice from behind.