Gaming is Magic
Main Characters: TWP, Twilight Sparkle
Cameos: The Doctor (10)
Original Write Date: September 28, 2011
It is an average day in Ponyville. The town is alive with activity. That is, all of the town except for one small section that caters to a few niche shops. There is one that exclusively sells non-web-based comics. There is one that exclusively sells items imported from Neighpon. Then there is the video game shop run by a very odd pony. One whose name does not fit with his profession in an odd twist to ponydom. The Wandering Physicist is just chilling in his shop playing a game of Legend of Celestia: The Wind Waker.
Despite, or probably because it is off the beaten path, a rather well-recognized pony approaches The Power Block. The lavender pony has never been in this part of town, despite her friends’ insistence that she would enjoy it. Their most talked about shop is the video game shop. Twilight Sparkle takes a deep breath and enters the shop.
‘Welcome to Dracula and Wolfpony’s Used Game Emporium,’ The Wandering Physicist says without looking up.
‘What?’ Twilight turns around to see if she entered the right shop.
‘Ah. Sorry. Bit of a gaming joke there.’
‘Oh. Okay.’ Twilight gets out a quill and writes something down on a piece of parchment.
‘I recognize you. You are the filly who runs the library. I am surprised you didn’t come sooner.’
‘What?’ Twilight blushes and hides behind her notes a little.
‘Sorry. Again. Another nerd thing.’
Why does he seem to think I am a nerd? Twilight looks at The Wandering Physicist in a confused manner. He is staring into space and seems to be counting to himself.
‘Whoa. I think this is the whole set,’ the stallion says to himself.
‘Again, I am confused.’
‘Oh! You’re a little famous, but I guess you are used to it, being an Element of Harmony and princess and all.’
‘How do you know all of that?’
‘I have my ways.’ The Wandering Physicist smirks. He then glances to one side and nods towards a magazine rack.
Twilight gets the hint and takes out the magazine on display. She opens it up and immediately sees an ad for a new game: ‘The Elements of Harmony 2: Discord Edition.’
‘Oh, please,’ Twilight groans as she rolls her eyes and starts reading the magazine.
There are a few moments of awkward silence between the two ponies. Twilight looks up from the magazine and looks at The Wandering Physicist. The Wandering Physicist stares back. Their eyes meet, and both blush slightly.
‘Oh! Right! Customer service. I am still getting used to that. So, uh, how may I help you?’
‘Um, right. Uh... Introductions! Yes. I am Twilight Sparkle. I am the personal student of Princess Celestia. I have been tasked with learning about the magic of friendship. I currently live in the library in town where I do my studies.’
The Wandering Physicist taps the magazine again.
Twilight blushes again. ‘Right.’
‘... Oh! My turn I guess.’ The Wandering Physicist poses slightly. ‘They call me The Wandering Physicist... I am not sure why. I also call myself The Wandering Physicist... I still don’t know why.’
Twilight laughs while writing this down. ‘Has anypony ever told you you are really weird?’
‘They never really stop,’ the stallion replies slightly proudly. ‘So... What brings you here?’
‘I, uh, want to do a friendship report on you,’ Twilight says nervously. The Wandering Physicist raises an eyebrow. Twilight nervously stammers, ‘You see! We, the other Elements and I, were all over at Pinkie’s, that is my friend Pinkie Pie, like in the game, and, uh, she had this game where you would dance and the game would dance with you. We all had such a fun time that I figured that I would write a report on the game. That is when the others insisted that I came here.’
‘Ah yes. Pinkie. Easiest Kinect sell ever. Just had to show her Dance Central and she makes a sound like she is having a heart attack.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Twilight says, remembering the first time she met Pinkie and the loud gasp her future friend greeted her with. ‘Anyway, what can you tell me about video games and how they relate to friendship?’
‘Hmm, that is a tricky question. As best as I can say... I feel as though there is a game out there for everyone. And that game is Professor Layton.’
Twilight giggles at the comment. The door to the shop bursts open, and a light brown pony with a dark brown mane looks in.
‘Don’t I know you from somewhere?’ the strange pony asks The Wandering Physicist.
‘Nope,’ the other strange pony replies.
‘Very well then.’
The strange pony leaves, flashing his hourglass-shaped cutie mark briefly before closing the door.
‘His game is Timesplitters.’ The Wandering Physicist whispers.
Twilight openly laughs at that joke. She writes some more. ‘What do you think my game would be?’
‘I’d have to get to know you better before I could tell.’
The princess turns bright red and almost drops her quill, which is amazing given that she was holding it by magic. ‘Um, well, uh, er... Oh! You have apparently met all of my friends. What do they like?’
The Wandering Physicist laughs a little. ‘Well, we know what Pinkie likes. Hmm... Well... Let’s see. I recommended Bejeweled to Rarity since it can easily fit in her busy schedule and focuses on gem collecting.’
‘Sounds like her.’
‘Uh... Fluttershy came in the other day and got a couple games. She insisted they were for her rabbit, but I think Pokemon was for her. She also stared at Assassin’s Creed for the longest time before picking it up. She was very insistent that the game was for her rabbit.’
‘Oh my! That one sounds violent.’
The Wandering Physicist makes a sheepish face. ‘It does have a lot of killing, but it is not as graphic as it sounds. I’d say the violence balances the crazy philosophy and theology in equal proportions.’
‘Interesting...’ Twilight muses as she scribbles some notes.
‘Who else... That Big Mac fellow is a large fan of FPS games. Although... He did pick up a copy of Harvest Moon the other day, and he not-so-secretly dropped it off at a certain apple vender’s stall.’
‘Huh. I heard about your encounter with the CMC... with conflicting results.’
The Wandering Physicist once again attempts to avoid his visitor’s glare. ‘Heh, heh. That was a fun day.’
‘I see...’ Twilight starts writing something again and mutters to herself, ‘Clinically insane.’
‘I’ll have you know I have never been to a clinic.’
The alicorn panics, and her quill and notes fall out of the air.
The Wandering Physicist laughs. ‘No worries. Now... What else do you want to hear about?’
Twilight lifts her notes again. ‘Um, what were you playing when I came in?’
‘It was one of my favorites. Wind Waker.‘
The Wandering Physicist nods Twilight over and unpauses his game. She comes over to where he is sitting, and he starts to explain the game. Twilight takes notes on the game but quickly stops as she gets drawn into the game. The two ponies chat about the game and others as the stallion plays. After a while, The Wandering Physicist notices the time and starts shutting down.
Twilight is confused. ‘Why are you stopping? Aren’t you going to get all of the Triumph Forks?’
‘I will, but it is almost two-thirty. I get a bit of after-school rush.’ The Wandering Physicist starts going around the store setting up games and displays. ‘You are free to leave. It gets pretty busy.’
‘I don’t mind. Besides, it sounds like you might need a hoof.’
‘Okay... But if any of them asks you a question about a game that you can’t answer just grab me.’
‘Gotcha.’
The Wandering Physicist finishes his prep work with as a pair of young colts enter. They are talking about a game Twilight has never heard of, but she has only been exposed to gaming for a few hours and writes it off. The Wandering Physicist listens in on the conversation and stifles laughs at some of the comments. The colts ignore the two clerks and go about their business. Slowly, the shop fills with more young ponies and their numbers ebb and flow throughout the day. Twilight has some difficulty handling questions about the games, but The Wandering Physicist helps her out enough so she is eventually able to handle them on her own. Twilight is pretty impressed with the speed and skill that The Wandering Physicist answers all of the gaming questions presented him. He chats with the various colts and fillies that just want to chat and is able to convince others why or why not they should get a certain game regardless of system and age of the console. Eventually, the crowds die down and it is only the two ponies are left. Twilight sits by the counter, tired from the compact few hours of rushed work. The Wandering Physicist is reorganizing games in a section labeled ‘Genesis.’
‘You do this every day?’ Twilight says with a bit of a sigh.
‘Only if I remember to get up.’ The Wandering Physicist laughs a bit.
Twilight laughs too, not really sure if that was a joke even after spending the day getting to know this stallion who openly describes himself as ‘weird.’ She sighs again and writes more notes for her future Friendship Report. Suddenly, the door to the shop bursts open, and the odd pony from earlier in the day looks in again.
‘Do you have any quantum flux inhibitors?’
‘Back by the 2600s. Ten bits each.’
‘Thanks, mate.’
The pony tosses a bag of bits towards The Wandering Physicist as he heads to the back. Twilight watches the odd pony as The Wandering Physicist takes the bits to the register. The odd pony comes out of the back and heads to the door.
‘Thanks again. Allons-y!’
The pony runs out once more. Twilight writes a few more notes then puts away her notes.
‘I think I have enough notes for a good report.’
‘I am glad to have helped.’
‘Um... There is one last thing I have to ask you,’ Twilight states nervously. ‘Do, do you have another copy of the game you were showing me?’
The Wandering Physicist laughs. ‘Of course. I’ll get you one and a system to play it on too.’
The stallion goes to the back to get a console. An odd whirring noise is heard briefly. Twilight goes over to a shelf and tries to find the game. The Wandering Physicist comes out of the back and notices Twilight looking for the game. He quietly sneaks beside her and starts looking too. Twilight turns slightly to keep looking. There is a new object just to her side. She looks again and jumps to the side while letting out a loud yelp. The Wandering Physicist just looks at her and laughs.
‘Here is the console for you.’ The Wandering Physicist leans in close. ‘I may have modified it a little for you.’ He winks, then turns deadly serious. ‘Don’t tell anyone.’
Twilight levitates the box from The Wandering Physicist’s back. ‘Neightendo Wii. How much do I owe you?’
The Wandering Physicist finds the game and pulls it off the shelf. ‘On the house. Consider it payment for the help today and not a bribe for a good report.’
‘Are you sure about this?’ Twilight asks as she puts the game and console in her bag.
The Wandering Physicist shrugs. ‘It was a used system anyway. It is not like the company will get the money, and that is more important in the long run.’
‘If you insist... It is a very nice gift. Thank you.’ Twilight bows.
‘The game is fifty bits though.’ Twilight looks up at The Wandering Physicist, shocked. ‘Just kidding.’
The two new friends laugh as they head out of the shop.
‘Have a good evening.’
‘Back at you. Don’t spend the whole night gaming.’
‘Same to you, Mr Wanderer.’
The Wandering Physicist waves as Twilight heads back to the library after the long day. ‘I need a nickname or something shorter for others to remember.’
Another pony comes out of the comic shop next door.
The Wandering Physicist nods down the street. ‘Hey. Guess who hung out with Twilight Sparkle all day.’
The other pony does not even look back. ‘Pics or it didn’t happen.’
The Wandering Physicist laughs and heads back inside for the night.
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DOCTOR! NOOOOO! I hope we see you again...
Anyway, I am surprised to see that you managed to write this pre-season 3 finale. There's no way you typed up all these chapters in a week. How did you know about this? You must be a wizard... or a time traveler... stallion from Gallopfrey...
2167078
Except for Spaklerific's wings, all of this chapter was written the date given at the top. As for her wings... The story evolves and changes as the show changes. Previously, I had to change everything when Derpy was named and before the finale when Discord was freed. I have tried to keep the series 'future-proof', but show canon wins over TWP canon and TWP canon must change as needed, even if it is one word or a line at a time.
Why is this uploaded when i have to go to work WHY!!!!!!!
Hehe, I can't wait to re-read this whole thing... Again...
2615068
Wait until you start seeing older scenes that are similar to the newer scenes. Yeah. I did that
Actually, that is a 'treat' I did include for longtime readers and re-readers. By this chapter, there should be 2-3 scenes that reappear later in the series with different characters/outcomes/wording
2615068 Same, it's just that good!
*FRANTIC READING*