The Royal Gamer

by Test4Echo

Chapter 4: Round Two

"I thank thee, Twilight Sparkle, and thy friend Rainbow Dash, for participating with me." Luna told her two party-mates.

As Celestia promised, she informed Twilight of Luna's newfound joy of video games, and swiftly Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who had also purchased a PlayStable, friend requested Luna.

"No problem, princess," Dash said, her voice coming over Luna's headset. "But are we gonna play or what? I've been waiting to own some foals on this!"

"But, why wouldst thou want to own another pony? I believe slavery--"

"She means that she wants to defeat some ponies online, princess." Twilight cut in.

"Yeah. This looks like a good one," Dash stated. "This one's a new kind. Ya got only one life."

Luna observed that the title of the game-mode was called hardcore death-match. As the player pool starting to fill up, Luna hoped that this would go more smoothly than her first match.

"Hardcore death-match: be the last pony standing!" the announcer for the match said before the battle began.

Heart pounding, Luna sprinted for cover once the countdown reached zero. She quietly thanked herself for choosing the perk that removed her from enemy radar, making it that much harder for her to be found.

Continuing mercilessly, the match soon pitted the ponies against each other, a few already fallen. Luna heard Dash start to curse before the pegasus muted her mic.

"Rainboomer78 was killed by XxN00bPwnerxX." a popup on the bottom of Luna's screen informed her.

Un-muting her microphone, Rainbow Dash grumbled, "I'm back."

Luna shook her head. She surmised that profanity was more commonplace in the modern day. While musing, she slowly crept out of her concealment, getting the jump on an unsuspecting player.

Soon there were only two players left: Luna and somepony who went by the online name of "Test4Echo".

"You can get him, princess!" Dash cheered as she waited with the rest of the players, watching the match via the different points of view.

Luna cautiously wandered through the map. A red blip appeared on her radar near her location. Taking up the hunt, Luna crept towards her opponent.

She walked into the clearing near the center of the map, her radar still insisting that the other player was in the vicinity. If the radar was right, her opponent should be smack in the middle of the clearing, yet all there was, was a small pad lying on the ground.

Leaning down to inspect it, Luna's character suddenly went limp and dropped to the ground, the final kill cam showing that the other player eliminated her by sneaking up on her while she was distracted.

Moaning as the match results popped onscreen, Luna knew that she had fallen for an old trick. She should have been on alert the moment she saw the device, whatever it was.

"Nice try, princess," Twilight encouraged. "There's always next match."

As the party of three left the group of players to look for a different game, they were notified of a message that the winner sent to them.

"Should we bother?" Dash asked. "It's probably just a gloat message."

Not listening, Luna opened the message and read, "'Good game. It was close. I almost thought that you wouldn't fall for the trick. I noticed that you were a party of players. It's hard to find good players and respectful players on here. Mind if I joined?'"

As if on cue, Luna received a popup message from the game that Test4Echo wanted to be friends. Not sure what to do, she asked, "I just received a 'friend request'. Should I accept?"

Twilight answered her voice as if in thought, "I don't see why not. I got one from him, too. His profile doesn't send off any red flags."

After hearing what Twilight had to say, Luna accepted and added him to the group.

They faintly heard in their headsets, a mutter of surprise before a deep, masculine voice said, "Thanks. This is the first time somepony's done this."

Rainbow Dash's annoyed voice came over the headsets, "If it were up to me, you wouldn't be here right now."

"What's your problem?"

"You're the problem. You beat me!" Dash snapped back.

"Whoa! Chill out! I won fair and square. Besides, it's just a game. There's plenty more out there right now." Test4Echo replied defensively.

"Just a game?!" Dash retorted. "Do you think pulling off a sonic rainboom and saving Ponyville, heck, Equestria, is just a game?"

There was a moment of silence before the deep voice asked, "Wait... You wouldn't be... No... It couldn't be. Are-are you Rainbow Dash, one of the six ponies who stopped the changeling invasion?"

"Uh... duh?" she snidely answered.

From her headset, Luna heard a thump like someone had hurriedly thrown down their mic, and then faint but excited shouts and screams, and more thumps that she assumed could only be hooves landing on a floor. After another minute of elated cries, the voice asked, still slightly giddy, "And Starswirler, you're Twilight Sparkle, aren't you?"

Twilight mumbled, "Well. Yeah, I am."

"Sweet Celestia," Test4Echo said, his voice still excited. "I'm playing with two of the Elements of Harmony! I am one of your biggest fans!"

"We're just ponies wanting to have some fun," Twilight replied awkwardly. "Just like you."

"And I would appreciate it if thou didst not take my sister's name in vain." Luna stated with mild displeasure.

There was a small gasp from Test4Echo's mic, before he squeaked, "Princess Luna!" followed by resounding thud.

After a moment, they heard a quiet groan, and he replied, "Sorry. I guess I'm just star-struck. You were always my favorite subject in school, princess."

Luna jumped with a start; a small blush on her face. She barely heard Echo frantically say, "I-I mean favorite history subject. Er... What I mean, is that when I studied history, I always found the history about your ruling of the night and the Nightmare Moon incident to be quite fascinating."

Gathering her composure, Luna interrupted the still babbling pony, "We understand that thou wert nervous, but we request that thou dost not speak of our banishment any further."

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed before Twilight suggested that they find another match to play. Readily agreeing, the group joined a large team death-match.

"Don't get in my way." Dash grumped at Test4Echo.

"It's a team game," he replied. "It might happen."

Luna sighed, and waited for the match countdown to finish. The rules were the same as the last game, only this time it was teams of four that were duking it out.

"Everypony find cover and watch your radar!" Test4Echo ordered, his character diving for the nearest shelter that he could find.

"What are we doing?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We should be killing everypony!"

Ignoring her, Echo continued, "We need to think of a game-plan. We have to use our wits: outsmart them."

Before anypony could think of a tactic, a group of red dots appeared on Luna's radar, prompting Rainbow Dash to say, "Hey, there some guys right now! Let's take 'em!"

Without waiting for her teammates to follow her, Dash sent her character bursting out of her cover, guns blazing. She managed to take down one of the opposing soldiers, before she dove behind a piece of rubble, the debris shielding her from the soldiers' fire.

"Well, so much for strategy." Luna heard Echo mutter as she and the others slipped behind cover of their own against their entrenched enemies.

Peaking from behind her cover, Dash's character was shot in head, much enraging the pegasus. Cursing, she raged, "That's it. I'm done!"

Suddenly Luna was notified that Dash was no longer online. She looked back to the screen to see one of the dots slowly winding its way to sneak up on the group. She called Echo's attention to it.

"Great," he said. "Somepony will need to watch our backs."

Twilight volunteered and swiveled around to watch for the would-be ambusher. After a moment, the form of another soldier-pony crept its way out from an adjoining alleyway, and was greeted by a hail of bullets from Twilight's weapon. Now fighting on two fronts, Luna's group was at a disadvantage: they had nowhere to run.

"You hungry?!" Echo quipped at the two soldiers that were currently hiding behind a large chunk of a ruined building. "Because here's a pineapple, just for you!" He pulled a pin from a small, grey cylinder, and lobbed it at the soldiers' position. Within a few seconds of the cylinder disappearing behind the chunk, a large explosion, followed by the two flying bodies of the players, shook the ground beneath Luna's soldier's hooves.

Luna turned to see Twilight's soldier on the ground, pistol in hand, firing at the enemy group's last member, who was slowly progressing his way towards the trio. Bringing her weapon to bear, Luna took down the soldier while Echo sprinted towards Twilight, who was shortly on her hooves.

"Thanks," Twilight said as the group found another position to hunker down in. "I was just about to time out."

"No problem." Echo replied, turning character to face the others.

"Pray tell, what shall we do now?" Luna asked. She was surprised at the amount of thought that could go into the game.

"There's just one team left," he stated. "I think, anyway. If so, we're at a numerical disadvantage. We'll need to stay hidden and hold a position, sniping when we can."

"Although if we get pinned down," Twilight interjected, "we'll be trapped without an escape route."

"I suppose that we could jump to the ground, but they might still have us covered." he agreed.

"Truly thy plan has merit: but could we not attack from multiple buildings?" Luna asked, pointing her character towards the opposing house across the street.

"Yes... That could work. But we must act fast. They're no doubt searching the map now."

The trio quickly split up, Echo staying the building that they were originally in, Luna and Twilight rushing to hole up in nearby buildings overlooking the street. Luna positioned her soldier at one of the windows, trying to stay as hidden as possible. Time seemed to drag forever. Finally, she made out the shapes of four ponies, dashing around to find cover as they searched for her and her two teammates.

Abruptly there was a loud retort, and one of the soldiers dropped to the ground as the other three ran for cover and began shooting at the hidden assailant. Luna had seen Twilight poke her gun out the window of a building further down the street before taking the shot to kill the virtual pony.

Watching keenly for an opening, Luna scanned the street, and asked, "Dost thou see them, fair Echo?"

"Negat--Wait. Yeah, I see one." he replied as there was another bang followed by a notice that another player had been eliminated.

Now there were only two enemies left. "Watch your exits," Echo warned. "They're probably coming up to 'greet' you."

"I don't see anypony on radar." Twilight said.

"I checked; they both are invisible to radar: like us." Echo stated.

Luna caught movement out of the corner of her character's vision. One the other players was creeping up behind Twilight's soldier, knife in mouth and ready to kill. Targeting the player, Luna unleashed a hail of bullets, which barely missed her mark. This did, however, notify Twilight of the danger, who whirled around and shot down the opponent.

"Look out!" Twilight called, raising her soldier's gun to point behind Luna.

She barely dodged the knife that was heading straight for her soldier, before turning around and blasting the player to the floor. As the last enemy fell to the floor, the screen darkened and "Victory" flashed across Luna's TV screen. Luna didn't notice, for the adrenaline was still racing through her body.

Falling back on her bed that she was using for playing video games, she only just realized that for the majority of the last battle she had been standing on the edge of the bed, only just managing to not fall off.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and thought, "Our first successful battle! Verily it was a rush."

She looked back up to the screen which had now switched over to the results. Test4Echo had put out in the game chat a "gg", which was followed by a few others in reply.

"What is thy reasoning behind that?" Luna asked.

"It's shorthand for 'good game'." he sighed in reply.

"Well, I need to get going," Twilight said. "I promised Rarity that I'd help get a new material that she needs."

"See ya, Twilight," Echo said nervously, whispering under his breath after she left, "Still can't believe this is happening!"

As Twilight signed off, Luna was interrupted by the same servant that had brought Celestia earlier. "Your majesty," the hoofmaid said, bowing. "Your sister wanted me to remind you that she will be setting the sun soon, and will need you to raise the moon."

Luna scowled slightly, "Why didst thou remind me? I know very well that the moon must rise soon." She dismissed the filly with a wave of her hoof.

"If you need to leave, I understand." Test4Echo said, sounding slightly dejected.

"Nay, fair Echo. I have time for... one more game." Luna replied, glancing out the nearest window. The sun was indeed almost ready to disappear for the night, its rays slowly turning from golden to a deep red-purple.

"T-Thank you, your majesty."

Without replying, Luna started searching for another open game. She found one, this time another gun game, which luckily had two empty slots left.

As they entered the lobby Echo groaned, "Oh no, not Ponymus Prime!"

"Pray tell, who is that?" Luna asked.

"Only the biggest fraud to grace the internet. Ponymus is either the best player to play any videogame ever, or, he's the best hacker to never get caught." he explained.

"Nopony knows how he does it, but he wins virtually every game he plays. If you want to know what it is to be utterly humiliated is, this is it." he continued as the game commenced.

At first, the game seemed to go normally, Luna and Echo crept their way up the different weapons, reaching the top three in the game. Suddenly Ponymus started to gain points at an unusually swift pace, soon surpassing the current leader.

Echo had been quiet since the match started, but now he spoke, "This is where it all goes downhill."

On her guard, Luna's soldier was suddenly on the floor, a large banner flashing on her screen, with the announcer saying, "Humiliated!" Restraining herself from bursting out, she saw that her slayer was Ponymus, who was sprinting impossibly quick towards another unsuspecting victim.

Not willing to end on that note, Luna began searching out the supposed cheater. She soon found Ponymus, who was busy lurking near another player, and was ready to take the shot, when magically, as if seeing right through her radar stealth, Ponymus whirled around killed her soldier again, ending the match.

"THAT CHEATING KNAVE!" Luna bellowed, going full blast into her archaic speech, "WE WERE UNNOTICABLE TO HIM! VERILY SOMETHING IS AMISS!"

Sighing, Echo replied, "That's Ponymus Prime, for you." After a moment of silence, he continued, "I think we shouldn't do any more multiplayer."

Luna was still too irate to answer; she was annoyed at the somewhat blatant cheating that Ponymus had employed. Forcing herself to calm down, she finally answered, "We-- I agree."

As she was about to leave the party, Echo said, "You know, I think you'd like PC gaming more than you'd ever like console gaming."

Luna halted, returning her gaze to the screen, the small bars for her and Echo's mic volumes bouncing as they talked. "I beseech thee, what is a 'PC'?" she asked.

"Have you ever heard of computers?" he responded.

Luna thought for a moment and then answered, "I believe my sister informed me of the 'personal computers' that were used by the modern-day pony, yes. These can play these games too?"

"Not exactly, but many games that are on the PlayStable or other consoles are on PC. It's what I normally play, anyway."

"My sister has one, I believe. I could use hers."

"You could try," Echo agreed, "but you would probably like a full-blown computer that's meant for gaming."

"Where would we-- I find one?"

"I could show you," he suggested hesitantly. "There's an electronic store near where I live that could fit you out nicely with a gaming computer. We could meet there."

"Perhaps," Luna said warily, she wasn't fully sure with how he was coming on. "But I would need to know where that is."

"Right! Can't believe I forgot. I live in Canterlot." he exclaimed. He told her where the store was. "If you feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry," he continued. "I'm not the best at social situations. If you want, you can bring a couple of royal guards, I won't mind."

"I understand," Luna answered. "I felt the same when I returned. But I will heed your advice about the guards."

Echo bid a farewell and signed off. Luna sat on her bed for another minute before her hoofmaid entered the room again, "Your majesty," she said, forgoing the usual bow. "Your sister demands your presence on the balcony."

Comments

[RavenGuardian17]

Can't wait to see what PC games Luna will play!

[eternalone898]

Now she's going PC gaming........this is definitely going to end perfectly. Great chapter too.

[Some random Rapidash]

2974987 Probaly a pony version of WoW

[Darkus Relling]

Gaming is awesome!

[Test4Echo]

2977093 Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

About the mentioning of profanity: I know that wherever you go on the internet (online gaming or not) its everywhere, but I find in storytelling, that if you can just replace the swear word with "X cursed/swore" it gets across the same message. Plus I don't like doing it too much to canon ponies (although I could Rainbow Dash doing it).

Ponymus Prime's identity shall remain hidden, for a while at least.

[Test4Echo]

2976620 Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, PC gaming, what could go wrong?

[Some random Rapidash]

I knew that there would be a self-plug thingy ma-bob ID thing.

[Test4Echo]

Let the post-editing commence! I've gone back and fixed some grammar mistakes and a couple of missing words. Also chapter titles! Next chapter this Thursday!

[DarthMalentai]

so far this story is sounding like a very interesting case of "Gamer Binge".

[Einhander]

Now THAT'S a cover image.

[Dancewithknives]

Jesus christ, another one!