Team Fortress 2
Elements of Gaming 9
Team Fortress 2
By Ryden, Krimzon_Flygon and Phil Argus
--
The advent of video games in Equestria had forever changed the way ponies socialize with each other.
Alongside news items like the recent Parasprite pestilence in Cleveland Bay or intriguing rumours like the alleged weakening of Discord’s seal (which were thankfully, as far as Celestia knew, unfounded), there were now heated debates over which between Battlefilly 3 or Modern Warmare 3 was the better first-person shooter, eager speculation of the new upcoming instalment to the Halo series and shared complaints of the infamous Red Ring of Death currently afflicting numerous XBox 360 models.
It is of little surprise, then, that many entrepreneurial individuals had observed the sheer lucrative potential of the video game economy, and broken into the market with innovative ideas and products to enhance the video gaming experience of the common pony while turning out a tidy profit.
Pony Corporation, a pioneering company in electronic products and appliances, had announced plans to launch their own candidate to compete in the game console market: The Pony PlayStable.
Big Gabe founded Valve Corporation and engineered a new system of selling video games digitally direct to the consumer's PC, eliminating the hassle of having to buy physical copies off stores like Gamehoof; dubbed 'Steam', it catered mainly to higher-income ponies with credit cards.
Black Wall and Tommy Tallyho introduced a new spin to the live music industry with Video Games Live, a touring concert series consisting segments of video game music performed by an orchestra accompanied with video game footage. It proved highly popular among video game and music fans alike and promoted the culture to older generations by putting it in a familiar environment.
But one particularly innovative pony had an idea so simple yet with so much marketing potential that it caught the attention of Princess Celestia herself. She invited him to a royal lunch one day to discuss business matters and, seemingly impressed with his ingenious scheme, decided to personally sponsor and launch the first of its kind in Ponyville, by now popularly considered Equestria's video game capital.
In a matter of weeks, an empty plot of land just beside Gamehoof was transformed into a futuristic complex built to fit over a hundred and twenty ponies and hosting an array of tables, wiring, specialized electronic devices and personal computers. It was an object of great anticipation and prospect to anypony who had heard of it, and throngs of ponies from various reaches of Equestria traveled to Ponyville in droves to witness its grand opening, of which the fair sovereign of the sun had announced her attendance.
That innovative pony's name was Lan Shoppe. Proudly displayed above the building's glass door entrance in embellished font were the words 'The LAN Shop'.
My dearest, most faithful student,
It has barely been two months since the public release of the Xbox 360 and the Personal Computer not too long after, and they have already and ever continue to greatly alter the way ponies live their lives. We have come far since the conception of the point-to-point communicator cable; the think-tanks at the Canterlot University for Computer Science has recently informed me of their latest development on the PC, a follow-up to the Xbox Live system as I take it: they call it the 'Ponynet', and it promises a revolutionary new form of accessibility that would essentially close the distance between any two ponies in possession of a computer and allow them to communicate and share information at lightning-fast speeds.
Picture it as a vast mesh of point-to-point communicator cables linking every PC in the nation together and enabling each to freely converse, exchange ideas, and of course have fun playing video games together! The potential it holds for fostering friendship and harmony among the citizens of Equestria is beyond our imagination.
It is truly a wonder to behold, and I have you and your dearest friends to thank for aiding the faculties of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering by testing their creations prior to their release. The immense success of their products has generated sufficient capital to fund further projects and innovations to improve our way of life like the Ponynet, and they owe it to your strict quality control and unsurpassed scrutiny of their prototypes.
Speaking of which, the Canterlot University of Computer Science has just finished the development of yet another video game title and is ready to have it tested. This new game appears schematically similar to the 'Halo' title but seems to exclusively cater to multiplayer-style gaming, as the lack of a single-player or story mode would indicate. Once again I seek the assistance of you and your friends in testing this video game, except this time you shall be doing so in an environment I believe would be very much suitable for a game such as this.
Many video games nowadays have the capability to support a great number of players playing with each other in the same session, but all these players are nevertheless separated by distance, and are unable to experience the joy of having each others' physical company, to be able to exchange friendly banter and smiles, hoofshakes and hugs. However, I most recently had the pleasure of meeting one particularly clever pony who had a solution to this problem.I have taken it upon myself to transform his idea to reality, and it comes in the form of that new building currently under construction in Ponyville marketplace.
As announced, the official opening takes place in five days' time. When that day arrives, I would dearly wish for you to attend and bring along as many friends as pleases you, so that we may all test this new video game and this new facility together. I am not allowed to divulge too much information about it just yet, but I am quite sure you have heard enough rumours from excited ponies everywhere to have a rough understanding of what lies within, and that you are just as thrilled, maybe even more so than me, to be among the first to see all it has to offer.
It is amusing to realize that although I have been sharing video games with you all this time, we have yet to experience the thrills of playing one together. Until then, I very much look forward to spending some quality time with you over an enthralling video game session.
Your mentor,
Princess Celestia
The massive crowd of ponies had been occupying Ponyville Marketplace for two hours now. An overcast sky and a cooling breeze helped to stave off the sweltering heat of the midday sun, courtesy of the helpful pegasi within the group.
Everypony's eyes were glued to the grey 2-storey concrete structure adorned with ribbons and streamers and a huge royal blue banner proclaiming in golden words, 'GRAND OPENING'. The air was filled with excited chatter and joyous cheers. The speech was already done; it was nearly time.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood to the left of the building's entrance, flanked by a pair of stoic-looking royal guards. Lan Shoppe, a middle-aged chestnut-coated earth pony sporting a short black mane and a cutie mark resembling a merchandise cart, stood at the other side, gazing fondly at his brainchild.
The raucous, overly thrilled crowd suddenly fell quiet as Princess Celestia magically levitated a large pair of scissors before her. Everypony watched with bated breath as she carefully straddled the scissor blades around the red ribbon draped in front of the door. This was the moment.
Just then, the pure-white alicorn abruptly turned her head to one side. She looked towards the phalanx of photographer ponies assembled in firing position to one side, a perfectly regal smile curling her lips. Her sister and Lan Shoppe promptly followed suit as the photographers unleashed a clicking barrage of camera flashes, desperate to preserve this moment for posterity. Meanwhile, not a single breath was heard from the crowd.
The volley of camera flashes petered out shortly after, and deathly silence took over again. Princess Celestia resumed her attention to the scissors, her eyes narrowing in concentration but her smile unfading. Very slowly, the scissor blades began to close in. A hundred soundless stares willed it to make contact and create a fissure in the red fabric. The tension in the atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it could be cut by the scissors itself. This was the moment.
Ten seconds in and the scissors had barely made any progress. A snail could finish a 100-yard dash faster than it would cut the ribbon. Yet nopony dared to move a single muscle; all eyes maintained rapt transfixion on the cutting tool engulfed by a pale yellow glow. The only pony not paying attention to the unnaturally slow proceedings was Princess Luna, who instead looked at her sister in mild distaste, obviously aware of what the elder alicorn was up to. The latter felt her gaze and looked back to return it.
"Why, you seem very excited at this grand occasion, dear sister," said Princess Celestia, her voice one of pure innocence. "Why don't I let you do the honours?"
The princess of the night wordlessly assumed control of the scissors, still frowning at her sister. Princess Celestia took the opportunity to quickly survey her audience. She spotted a large number of faces turning an unnatural shade of purple, and allowed herself a faint smirk.
This was the mo-
*SNIP*
Utter silence gave way to utter cacophony. A legion of hooves thundered the ground beneath as the air filled with cheers and cries of jubilation. Those who were not shouting were gasping desperately for air, but gaily stamping their hooves nonetheless. As the red ribbon swung apart in two Princess Luna lowered the scissors with a sigh and shot a disapproving glare at her older sibling, who responded in manner with a guileless look that seemed to ask, 'is anything the matter?'
Partaking in the euphoria were the Elements of Harmony themselves, standing right at the front of the crowd. Their ecstasy was raw and unbridled, plenty more so than anypony else and for good reason; instead of queuing up for a guided tour of a groundbreaking facility coming soon to a street near them like everypony else, they were here on royal invitation by Princess Celestia herself to join her and her esteemed guests in being the first to patronize Equestria's pioneering LAN shop.
Every single one of them seemed to be doing their best impression of Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush, while Pinkie herself had practically transcended to a higher plane of elation. Joining them was Big Macintosh, whose usual calm demeanor was set aside to make way for an uncharacteristically cheery grin, and Spike, who looked as though had he found the largest fire ruby on the planet and was free to have it all for himself.
Princess Celestia appeared to have found Twilight and her friends from within the crowd. The alicorn raised a hoof to wave at her and beckon her over. Twilight caught the signal and squealed in delight.
“C'mon everypony! The Princess is calling us over!” She cried, eagerly stepping forward. The others followed in her wake. The Royal Guards standing before them took their cue and allowed the group to pass.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight called out as they got nearer. “Thank you so much for inviting us to check out this new LAN shop with you! I can't wait to play this new video game with you! Oh, it's going to be so much fun!”
Princess Celestia beamed fondly at her faithful student. “Of that I'm sure, Twilight. The pleasure is all mine. I'm very excited too. This is truly going to be a lot of fun.”
“So it's just gonna be the ten of us, huh?” Rainbow Dash chimed in. She took a cursory glance at the ponies around here. “And here I was hoping for a little more of a challenge,” She added haughtily.
“Is that so, Rainbow Dash?” Princess Luna walked up from behind her sister. She appeared to have toned down her traditional royal Canterlot voice a notch, but her words still sounded clear and sonorous against the backdrop of noise and commotion. “If it is a challenge thou seekest, We would be glad to offer thee exactly that.”
She smiled confidently as her eyes made contact with those of the rainbow-maned pegasus. Rainbow Dash was slightly taken aback by the gesture, but nevertheless rejoiced at the chance to prove her prowess once more. Here was her chance to head-to-head against the very co-ruler of Equestria herself! She suppressed her anxiety and excitement and returned the grin with equal measure.
“I can attest to that.” Princess Celestia laughed. “She may not look like it, but Luna seems to be genuinely talented at playing video games. When she's not attending to her royal duties at night I often find her in her quarters deep in concentration in front of the television set, hard at work playing through the latest video game titles. I've watched her a few times, and in my opinion she certainly has a knack for attaining high scores or championing over everypony else in the game.”
The younger princess puffed up her chest with pride, obviously proud of her achievements. It seemed as though she had finally found her calling in her eternal life.
Princess Celestia lifted her head to look towards the crowd again. Her shimmering mane flowed gracefully in the gentle breeze. “But that is not all,” she said. “I had also extended my invitation to a few more esteemed guests. The more the merrier, or so they say. I do believe Rainbow Dash would be delighted to be in their company. Ah, here they come now.”
Everypony else turned around to follow her gaze. Gliding over the crowd towards their direction were a pair of pegasus ponies, wings astride. One was yellow with a fiery orange mane and the other was teal with mane as blue as the sea. Rainbow Dash immediately recognized them as they got closer.
“Spitfire! Soarin!”
The two Wonderbolt ponies (minus the uniforms) landed before the two princesses and bowed respectfully, before turning to greet Rainbow Dash.
“Hey Rainbow! Fancy seeing you here! “ Spitfire said happily as Soarin dispensed with the pleasantries with the two Princesses. “Are you here on royal invitation as well?”
If Rainbow Dash’s cholesterol level was anywhere near her excitement level right now she may as well be dead. Her she was, about to test her skills against not just the rulers of Equestria, but two of the best fliers in the Wonderbolts! It took all of her willpower to suppress her overflowing joy, lest she detonate into a Sonic Rain-nuke.
“You got that right!” The cyan pegasus practically boomed. She punched the air with alacrity. “This is gonna be the SICKEST gaming session ever!” Spitfire chuckled at her enthusiasm.
“The princess actually spoke to all of us Wonderbolts about this some weeks ago after an aerial display at Canterlot,” Spitfire explained to Twilight Sparkle and the rest. “And while we haven’t got anything scheduled today, it would seem that Soarin and I are the only ones interested in playing video games these days.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you two again.” Twilight nodded knowingly.
Having finished speaking to Soarin, Princess Celestia came forth to address her troupe of pioneering LAN shop testers. “Everypony’s present. Let us head inside before the crowd gets in for the tour.”
“Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie took the lead, racing through the double doors of the LAN shop. The royal guards dutifully held the doors open for the two alicorns and Lan Shoppe to pass, followed by the rest.
Everypony in the group, save for Princess Celestia and Lan Shoppe, let out a collective “ooooh” as they beheld what awaited them inside.
The room was fairly dim, with only a handful of electric lamps spread out on the walls. Their pale yellow glows cast upon three black tables stretching across the room, each lined neatly on either side with numerous personal computers.
Each set-up had its own monitor, keyboard, mouse, mousepad and headphones, all adorning a standard black-and-silver colour theme. Placed in front of each set-up were white comfortable-looking cushions. Presently, only a handful of computers at the leftmost row were switched on, each of their monitors displaying a desktop screen filled with video game icons.
The desktop wallpaper was a simple affair, the words ‘The LAN Shop’ displayed in similar fashion to the sign above the door, set against a black background. These computers probably served as demonstrations for the tour display. Above them, air conditioners droned softly as they provided a cooling respite from the summer heat outside.
“Sixty of them,” Pinkie Pie counted, mesmerized. “I’ve never seen so many in one place before! It’s like a party for PCs!” She chuckled. “Party for Pee-See,” she said to herself, playing with her words. “I like how that sounds.”
“Hmmhmm, that does indeed sound lovely,” Lan Shoppe spoke up, a slight Hoofington lilt to his voice. “‘LAN party’. A party where ponies gather at their neighborhood LAN shop for some fun and computer games. Bring your own cake, balloons and streamers...
“The computers I’ve reserved for you are at the second floor,” he added, gesturing to the flight of stairs to their left. “If you please, Your Majesties. I will stay here at the operator’s computer to monitor the statuses of your PCs upstairs and the local network connectivity. Please play to the fullest of your enjoyment.”
***
The second floor was identical to the first; another sixty computers lined up neatly on three long tables. The twelve computers nearest to the stairs were already turned on, with what looks to be the main menu of a video game showing on each of their monitors. Six computers on each side, facing each other across the walkway.
“Would you like to sit with me, Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked. Twilight beamed eagerly.
“Of course, Princess!”
Everypony took their seats. On the left row sat Soarin, Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Opposite was Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, Big Macintosh and Applejack.
Twilight Sparkle took the headphones that were sitting atop her monitor as she examined her screen. Instantly her ears were filled with the sound of jazzy trumpets and drums belting out a diabolical tune.
What struck her was that the characters depicted on screen looked very cartoon-like, with unnaturally rounded and smooth textures. It was a far cry from most video games she had played, in which graphics were displayed as detailed and true-to-life as possible. While in-game realism could be pretty stunning at times, Twilight found this style pleasantly refreshing.
On the left side were the words "Team Fortress 2" in large white, block letters, and below that were the phrases ‘FIND SERVER’, ‘CREATE SERVER’, ‘DEVELOPER COMMENTARY’, ‘REPORT BUG’, ‘ACHIEVEMENTS’, ‘PLAYER STATS’, ‘OPTIONS’ and ‘QUIT’, in that order, also in white.
Three characters featured prominently in the middle-to-right portion of the screen, each in varying scale. In the foreground stood a paunchy red earth pony with a bald stocky head, a belt of gold-coloured ammunition slung around his right shoulder and a maniacal grin plastered on his face. Mounted on his back was a frightful machine comprising of a steel drum attached to a black contraption bearing numerous long barrels. Gunfire spewed from the barrels as dozens of expended cartridges rained towards the screen.
Behind him to his right was small black, impish creature, looking like a cross between a pony and some sort of insect: a Changeling. Clad smartly in a reddish-brown business suit, he wore a balaclava which covered all facial features except for his cold blue eyes and mouth curled up to a suave, fanged grin. He held aloft a sleek, white-and-silver revolver, and a hole-filled hoof brought up to his chin to pose thoughtfully completed the strangely sleek, sophisticated look.
On the left side, presented in the largest scale among the three, a yellow unicorn in horn-rimmed spectacles and a doctor’s coat stood on its hind legs. He had neat, side-parted hair and traces of a five o’ clock shadow. Upon his back was a saddlebag containing a combination of tubes and canisters, which linked to the unfamiliar hose-like object attached to his back. An ethereal red stream curved out from its spout, leading to the left side of the monitor just beneath the white wording.
“Hang on a sec,” Applejack was the first to speak ever since everypony found their seats. She was already experimenting with the main menu by clicking on each phrase on the left. “Ah don’t see nuthin’ that resembles a tutorial. How’re we supposed to play this game when we don’ even know how ter play it?”
“Oh c’mon AJ, tutorials are for noobs,” Rainbow Dash goaded from across the walkway. Applejack sighed.
“Ah don’t even know what ‘noob’ means, and Ah’m not interested to know where you learnt it from,” she deadpanned, turning her back to face the cyan pegasus. “Since yer being such a smarty-pants, why don’t you show us all how ter get into this game?”
“Err...” Normally, Rainbow Dash would’ve easily accepted such a trivial challenge. Except this time, there was no option on the main menu that appeared remotely close to ‘Start Game’ or ‘New Game’ or anything like that. She spent the next few minutes experimenting with the main menu, until she figured out that her best bet was to create a new server. Randomly picking out a map from the drop-down menu of six, and leaving all fields to default, Rainbow confidently clicked on the ‘Start Game’ button on the bottom right of the window.
“Ha!” She exclaimed triumphantly, turning around to look at Applejack. “How’d ya like-”
She paused mid-sentence when she realized that Applejack, and in fact everypony else, were already on a different screen; an image of a large green chalkboard mounted on a white wall.
Applejack looked over her shoulder. “Finished yet? Took ya long enough, now would ya kindly come and join Twilight’s server so we can git goin’ already?”
“B-but how did she-” Rainbow stammered in protest. Twilight cut her off by waving a Team Fortress 2 game manual at her face.
“I figured this game was different so I went ahead and educated myself with it,” the purple unicorn spoke flatly. “For the benefit of everypony else here.”
Rainbow Dash’s expression immediately soured, and she grudgingly moved her cursor over to click on Twilight’s server to join the game. “Yeah, yeah, beat me to it again, Twilight. Again with the manuals, I swear...”
The cyan pegasus quieted down as the screen changed appearance, presenting what appeared to be a chalkboard with text written on it. More tutorial stuff, she huffed to herself and she spammed the ‘SKIP’ button, going past the welcome message and a tutorial video (which some other ponies, Twilight especially, were studying intently to get an idea of how to play).
She eventually came to a ‘corridor’ with three doors and a small television screen set in front of her. One was grey, its window was labeled ‘RANDOM’, while the other two identified themselves as ‘RED’ and ‘BLU’, sporting respective colours. The television screen has the words ‘SPECTATE’ on it.
“Hey Rainbow, come on an’ join us on the BLU team!” She heard Applejack’s voice call over to her. Applejack was already on the map, waiting for other players to join.
Rainbow Dash entered the character selection screen and was presented with nine portraits of various ponies lined up at the top half of the screen. In the foreground stood a skinny pegasus wearing a baseball cap and wielding a shotgun. Not wanting to drag this out any longer by slowly deciding which class to play, Rainbow hit the ‘RANDOM’ button on the top right corner to spawn a random character for her.
Rainbow Dash the BLU heavy spawned inside what appeared to be a locker room. Light blue walls surrounded her on all four sides, save for a scrolling metal gate on one side. Benches and locker compartments were the only furniture inside. There was a grey cabinet to one side with the symbols of health and ammunition imprinted in its doors.
Inside the room with her was a zebra sporting an eyepatch and wearing a combat vest over a blue shirt, toting a bizzare weapon which resembled an oversized revolver.
“That you AJ?” Rainbow snickered at the ridiculous-looking equine before her. She centred her view on the zebra, and a blue label ‘AJ’ appeared on her screen, confirming her suspicions. “Man, eye did not see that coming!”
“Hyeah, laugh it up, fatty,” Applejack retorted. Rainbow Dash recalled the paunchy and bald red pony from the titled screen. Sure enough, that very pony was displayed on the bottom left of her screen beside her cross-shaped health bar, indicating the current character at play. She frowned, but quickly brightened up again.
“Call me whatever you want, I’ve got me this awesome weapon right here!” She proceeded to hold down the left mouse button. The gun on her bottom right began spinning, a whirring sound emanating from it. Less than a second later it started spewing hot lead to the beat of a 10,000rpm rumble right at the zebra pony.
The bullets appeared to pass right through the zebra as though he was invisible. Applejack was alarmed at first but when she realized that friendly fire was off, proceeded to fire back with her strange weapon. Small cylinders with blinking lights shot out of the barrel with low thuds, bouncing off the walls and rolling on the floor. They exploded a while later with much aplomb but no apparent effect on the environment or her ally.
“Interestin’,” Applejack commented as she reloaded another four rounds into her grenade launcher. “Ah just dove right in and picked a stallion at random. Explosion’s ain’t really mah thing, tho.”
“That’s quite all right,” came Twilight’s voice from the other side. She was still at the (RED team’s) character selection screen, closely examining the profile descriptions of each class. “This first round is meant for us to experiment with all the nine classes to find out which ones we feel most comfortable playing as.”
One by one, the other players streamed in. Everypony was sorted randomly between RED and BLU, and a whole mixed bag of classes filled each spawn location. Suddenly, a disembodied voice boomed out to the entire map.
“Mission begins in ten seconds!” A sonorous voice suddenly echoed in everypony’s speakers. It sounded exceedingly recognizable. Everypony immediately turned to Princess Luna, who smirked back.
“Yes indeed, the ponies at Valve were so impressed by my traditional royal Canterlot voice, preserved in perfection for a century, that they invited me into their voice-recording studio to be a direct contribution to this video game. I agreed at no cost. It was a very pleasant arrangement,” she explained coolly.
She spoke again, but this time not from her own lips.
“Five! Four! Three! Two! One!”
The scrolling doors opened swiftly. From a distance, a wailing siren signaled the beginning of the match, and the carnage began.
“Oh yeah, let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash cried out as she charged right out of her base, her minigun spinning up, her hoof itching to hit the trigger and decimate anypony unlucky enough to be caught in her sights.
‘Charged’, in this case, being a rather subjective term. The Heavy’s movement, slowed to a crawl by the whirling minigun, seemed to drag so much Rainbow Dash was worried for a second that something was wrong with her computer. Everypony else sped past her, unsure of where to go. Applejack disappeared through a doorway on the left which cornered to the right. Soarin went out right to an open courtyard. Spitfire sped up ahead before turning into the spiral room.
“Come ON!” Rainbow seethed. “Can this thing go any slow-”
ZIP!
The pegasus hit the trigger instinctively, firing a short burst at something lean, blue and BLINDINGLY fast that hurtled by her, vanishing from sight.
“WHEEEE!” She heard an exceedingly familiar voice whoop out in excitement. Pinkie Pie the Scout zipped past Rainbow and chased after Applejack down the sniper deck. She leapt gracefully off the deck, double-jumping (unintentionally while mashing the spacebar) onto the bridge roof and heading towards the building in the other side.
A RED Sniper peeped out from the right, and she reacted accordingly.
Pinkie_Pinkie_zoot_zoot[
The above line of text displayed at the top right cover of everypony’s screens.
“What the- how in the hay did she get so fast!?” Rainbow exclaimed.
The cyan pegasus’ jaw dropped just as her character made his way to the sniper deck, only to witness the same blue blur rushing back across the bridge roof towards her as a hail of bullets and rockets chased after him.
“AIEEEEEE!!!” Pinkie screamed in faux-terror as her Scout’s legs pumped as hard as they could. “Dashie, save me!!!”
“I gotcha, Pinks!” Rainbow Dash cried as her hoof depressed on her mouse button. The Heavy leveled the barrels of his dear ‘Sasha’ as she began to spin up, and hot fiery death began spewing out of its multiple rotating barrels barely a second later as she directed her fire over the motley assortment of characters chasing after Pinkie’s Scout.
“Watch out, Spike!” Rainbow heard Twilight shout from the other side.
“Too late!” The dragon yelped in reply.
A couple of her pursuers fell as Rainbow Dash continued spewing out hot lead at them, and the cyan speedster noted with a slight satisfaction the two messages that appeared at the top left of her screen:
TASTE.THE.RAINBOW 
TASTE.THE.RAINBOW 
“CRY SOME MORE!!!” Rainbow Dash’s Heavy roared out in booming laughter, and Rainbow Dash found herself agreeing with him.
“HAHA! How do you like me now!?” The cyan pegasus whooped out in triumph as she scored her first two kills of the match back-to-back, but her face fell almost immediately as one of the rockets from the group pursuing Pinkie detonated too close to her Scout, and sent the skinny colt’s limp body flying and skidding across the ground.
Sun Never Sets 
“Consarnit! Rainbow, cover me, ah’ma counterattackin’!” Applejack called out from next to her, and abruptly, the vest-clad zebra that she was controlling surged past her in a gallop, firing off grenades madly from the launcher it held in its hooves.
“You got it!” Rainbow Dash crowed out confidently as she set her Heavy’s minigun spinning up again. Laughing madly in a giddy rush of triumph, she poured lead into the direction of the opposing team, sending them scattering for cover. “Yeah, that’s right! Run, you suckers, RU-!”
*POW!!!*
Abruptly, her Heavy’s head exploded in a comically exaggerated shower of gore and collapsed into a limp heap, Sasha clattering to the floor in front of him.
Rainbow Dash’s jaw hit the table under her, her mind in a whirl of shock and surprise. “WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT!?”
Maintaining just enough presence of mind to check her screen, one glance at the little message up in the corner of her screen told her all she needed to know:
Moon Also Rises
Her screen dramatically zoomed in towards her killer all the way across the bridge, ending in a freezecam shot of a tall, lanky, bespectacled pony in a hunter’s vest toting a scoped bolt-action rifle in his forehooves. He appeared to be watching vigilantly over the enemy deck, awaiting his next target. A message box near the middle of the screen read: ‘You have been killed by Moon Also Rises’
“Great shot, sister!” She heard Princess Celestia call out in praise somewhere from where she was seated, and Rainbow Dash had to bite back a groan of frustration lest she somehow upset the Princesses - and Princess Luna’s following comment was not helping at all!
“Oh, it kind of helped that she was standing still!” The Princess of the Night giggled. Rainbow Dash ground her teeth together in frustration as she redirected to the class selection menu.
“Okay, Princess Luna,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. “Let’s see how you like it when I beat you at your own game!”
Selecting the sniper class and respawning in her base’s ready bay, the cyan pegasus directed her sniper back out to the balconies overlooking her base, aiming down her scope. “Come on out, Princess... I’ve got a sniper bullet with your name on it...!”
A red-white figure shot past her screen and by pure reflex she hit her mouse button, jerking it wildly in an attempt to follow her target, but she hadn’t reacted in time. Swinging her aim around, wildly trying to reacquire her target, she completely failed to hit spiiike time and again despite firing shot after shot.
“Come on, you little sucker... Stand! Still!!” Rainbow Dash muttered furiously to herself, and just as she managed to draw a proper bead on what appeared to be Spike’s medic engaged in battle with Applejack’s Demopony...
*POW!!!*
… her sniper’s head disappeared in a shower of blood, and he toppled over headless to the ground.
Moon Also Rises
Meanwhile on the RED team, Luna giggled to herself once again as her sniper cycled in the next round on the bolt of his rifle, crowing triumphantly. “Thanks fer standin’ still, wanker!”
“Ohh, nice shot, Princess Luna!” Twilight called out from next to her, and Luna actually took her eyes off the screen to take a short bow.
Rainbow Dash however was seething. “I... am... not... a... wanker...!” She snarled. Flicking her mouse around the class select, her mind raced as she tried to figure out how to shake the Princess of the Night from her perch.
Medic... healing’s not gonna help with a one-shot kill... Heavy... too slow, she’ll get a bead on me before I even get close... Of course! I’ll close the distance with the Scout, and then bash her sniper's stupid face in with the bat as soon as I get close!
As soon as the timer hit zero, Rainbow was off like a shot, her scout flying across the arena at unbelievable speeds.
“TRY TO HIT ME NOW!” Rainbow screamed.
Luna almost did. Two or three bullets missed Rainbow Dash’s Scout by inches as she leapt onto the bridge roof and closed the distance between her and her quarry, Princess Luna expertly backing away down the cornered corridor to the right. Rainbow gave chase relentlessly, drawing out her Scout’s aluminium baseball bat and swinging it wildly as she rounded the corner.
“BATTER UP, PRINCESS-!”
Breep~!
Buddabuddabuddabuddabudda-!
Rainbow Dash choked on her sentence as her Scout was blown off his feet, riddled with bullets from the sentry turret she had seen too late.
bigmac
“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh cheered, pumping a hoof.
“Darn it, Mac!” Rainbow Dash cried out in frustration, throwing her hooves up into the air. “Why don’t you ditch those turrets and fight me one on one!?”
And on the other side of the room, Luna grinned to herself. Yes, the more the pegasus lost her composure, the more mistakes she would make, and the easier she would be to pick off - this was going to be an easy domination.
At least, that was what she thought, until a helmeted brute of a stallion toting a rocket launcher on his shoulder came lumbering out of the BLU sniper deck.
"Try THESE on for size!!!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she madly loosed a salvo of four rockets in their Princess Luna’s general direction, and Princess Luna’s eyes widened in surprise as flaming, screaming death streaked towards her.
Zooming in with her sniper rifle at the last second, she whipped her aiming reticule about and, in twitch reflex, fired off one shot before the rockets reached her, jumping away at the same time and bracing herself.
*POW!!!*
*BOOM!!!*BOOM!!!*BOOM!!!*BOOM!!!*
Moon Also Rises
“OH, FOR PETE’S SAKE!!!!”
“DOMINATED, you ploddin’ potato head!”
In a quieter part of the map, two stallions, one clad in an ultramarine fire-retardant suit, and another wearing a bandoleer and helmet, ran up an empty stairway that led to the ground-level foyer of the RED base.
“Man, Dash really has got some anger management issues, doesn’t she?” Soarin’ chuckled quietly to his teammate seated beside him, and Spitfire nodded with a bemused smile on her face as another infuriated cry rose up from the other table opposite them.
“She sure does. That, and she’s not much a team player, too - one blow to her pride and BAM, off she goes trying to prove herself all on her own again.”
“Aw, give the girl some credit!” Soarin’ protested lightly. “She did well covering that Applejack mare while she ran out to counterattack. She ain’t all that bad, just... needs to learn to stay on target.”
“The Wonderbolts only accept the best, Soarin’.” Spitfire reminded her fellow flier pointedly. “And that doesn’t just cover flying ability: we need to make sure she’s able to work in a team and doesn’t do anything foalish. But seriously, are we really discussing potential Wonderbolt candidates in the middle of a game here?”
Soarin’ shrugged. “Point taken.”
The two stallions controlled by the Wonderbolts duo continued trundling down the stairway as they made their way to the open courtyard of the RED base.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“Simple.” Spitfire answered. “I run in and put up a wall of flames to disorient them, and while they’re blinded and panicking, you mop up the rest of ‘em with the rocket launcher.”
“Sounds like-oh, horseapples! Go back! GO BACK!!!”
The Wonderbolts ducked back around the corner as a literal wall of bullets, syringes and grenades missed them by inches.
“Shoot!” Soarin growled. “There’s too many of them!”
“C’mon, Spike!” Twilight said. “Let’s go get them!”
“Wait for me!” Princess Celestia called out cheerily.
“Oh crud,” Soarin muttered, already scowling as he realized just how much the odds were stacked against them. “Three against two. Whadda we do?”
“Back up,” Spitfire instructed, and Soarin followed Spitfire’s pyro into the adjoining room, taking up a position just beside the doorway.
“I’ll stay here and wait for them to come through. When they do I’ll spring them from behind,” the yellow pegasus muttered to her Wonderbolt companion so that she wouldn’t be overheard.
“So what do I do?”
“Make sure they come through,” she said simply.
Three RED units lumbered in from the courtyard just then, a Demopony, a Medic and a heavy - the moment they spotted Soarin’s Soldier standing out in the open doorway, they immediately let loose, opening fire with everything they had.
“Yaaah!” Soarin cried as he backed away from sight, countering with rockets of his own. As expected, the RED trio squeezed past the doorway in an effort to give chase. None of them noticed the Pyro clad in blue lying in wait to the side, completely bypassing him as they sought out their prey.
What followed next was fiery mayhem in the RED base foyer. The end result:
They’dCallMeSpitfire + gotta stay pie 
They’dCallMeSpitfire + gotta stay pie 
They’dCallMeSpitfire + gotta stay pie 
“Haha!” Spitfire whooped triumphantly. “That’s how you do it Wonderbolts-style!”
“Well that ain’t fair,” Soarin chimed in, checking his health bar. He’d barely made it through with 17 health left. “They got me pretty bad back there.”
“Eh, quit your whining and go find a health pack or something. C’mon.”
Twilight sighed as she was once again faced with the respawn timer and spectator’s camera.
“I’m really sorry about that, Princess,” she spoke. The Princess of the Sun merely smiled in response.
“Whatever for, Twilight?” She asked. “Isn’t it a normal part of video games to be taken down by the enemy sometimes?”
“Yes, but that engagement could been prevented if I’d judged the situation properly. We could have taken them out ourselves. Instead I got us all killed,” the purple unicorn muttered, frowning. Princess Celestia reached a forehoof over to pat Twilight on the shoulder.
“If you’re worried that I’m not having fun, I’ll have you know I’m having the time of my life just being able to play this video game by your side, my faithful student.” Twilight Sparkle perked up at that. “And if you’re so worked up about getting beaten by other ponies, shouldn’t you focus on improving your skills so you can match up to them, then?”
She turned to the Wonderbolts sitting at the far end of their table and called out to them. “That was an exemplary show of teamwork, you two. Well done.” Soarin and Spitfire hurriedly pulled their attentions away from their monitors to bow respectfully in response, a movement made out of habit of drill.
The distraction was enough for an attentive Princess Luna and Big Macintosh to easily wipe their presences from the RED base.
Moon Also Rises 
bigmac + Moon Also Rises 
Princess Celestia smiled to herself as she heard their groans of realization.
“Now let’s show them a little teamwork of our own,” she said to Twilight with vindication. “Everypony, follow my lead.”
“Absolutely, Princess!”
In the Intelligence room of the BLU base, far from the action, Fluttershy the BLU Engineer remained in the company of her mechanical companions. Fluffy the level 1 sentry gun stood at one corner of the room, curiously taking in its surroundings as it gazed from side to side. Herman the dispenser was outside, a pleasant lighting decoration meant to greet any visitors to her playroom and rattling away. Skipper and Flipper the teleporter entrance and exit respectively were taking part in a game Fluttershy had newly invented, ‘Teleport the Engineer’.
Figuring that Team Fortress 2 was another one of those violent ‘kill everypony you meet’ kind of video games and, even worse, a ‘kill all your friends’ variant, she wanted to be as far away from the brutal murdering as possible. Fluttershy had stumbled upon this secluded corner or the map and, happening to be an Engineer at that moment, had decided to have fun her own way. She hoped she wouldn’t have to do anything else for the rest of the game while all her friends were out there having the kind of fun she didn’t really want to partake in.
She was patiently awaiting for Skipper to recharge its energy for another teleport when she realized that another pony had entered the room. She looked up to see a BLU soldier at the right doorway, scanning his surroundings. He seemed to have taken notice the red briefcase floating on the office desk on the far side of the room, magically rotating on its axis.
“Fluttershy dear, is that you?” Rarity spoke from where she sat beside her. She sounded almost surprised to find her in here, and somehow relieved at the same time.
“Oh, hello there Rarity,” Fluttershy greeted. “Fluffy, Skipper, Flipper, this is Rarity. Say hello.”
“Goodness, darling, whatever are you doing in- I mean, I didn’t think anypony would be in the intel... Umm, useless, non-practical room.”
Fluttershy hesitated to respond. “Oh, I know. It’s just that I, umm... It turns out that that this game is just a teeny weeny bit too... Ummm... Confrontational for me so I just thought I’d be in this useless, non-practical room by myself like you said and wait for everypony else to tire themselves out and go home.”
“Oh, Fluttershy,” Rarity’s voice was laced with concern. “That doesn’t sound like you’re having fun at all. Our teammates are all out there and they need your help to fight.”
“Oh, but I am having a lot of fun with my friends here. We’re playing ‘Teleport the Engineer’. And I think the others are doing fine on their own. There’s Soarin and Spitfire and Rainbow Dash, after all. Do you want to join us?”
Rarity turned her head to face the pink-maned pegasus sitting on her right, a dismal look clouding her complexion. This was not the same Fluttershy who could play abysmally admirably in Halo Reach, another first-person shooter video game that also involved guns, explosions, killing, and whatnot. She was determined to coax the serious gamer out of Fluttershy if only to allow her to enjoy playing the game together with everypony else.
She knew just what to do. Her BLU Soldier examined the room at every angle, eyeing the red briefcase on the desk before her, before walking towards the curious mechanical device at one corner scanning the room from left to right.
“No thanks, I’ll pass.” Rarity replied primly. She stared expectantly at the sentry gun, admiring its every detail.
“And these are your... Friends?” She asked questioningly.
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy answered gladly, seeing that her friend seemed to be taking an interest to her newfound companions. “That one’s Fluffy. Fluffy, say hi to Rarity.”
The sentry gun beeped its greetings nonchalantly, not once pausing in its oscillating motion. Rarity took a deep breath and slowly released it.
“Pardon my boorishness, Fluttershy, but these friends of yours seem to be looking a little lacklustre,” she observed tentatively. “Would you mind if I applied some aesthetic finishing on them?”
“Oh, not at all, Rarity,” Fluttershy chirped. “What are you going to-”
“Spy sappin’ mah sentry!” Fluttershy’s BLU Engineer exclaimed in his Southern drawl. The yellow pegasus jerked up in surprise. On the top left hand corner of her screen, an alert tab with an image of a wrench had appeared beside the status bar of her sentry gun, flashing red and white. Meanwhile, its health bar was steadily draining away and falling into the red zone. The same soon followed for both her teleporters.
“Fluttershy dear, these machines are not your friends,” Rarity admonished.
“And I never really was on your side, either.”
Everything became clear to her as she saw Rarity’s Soldier rush over to the briefcase at the other side of the room. The briefcase transferred itself to his back, and Rarity revealed her true colours. Gone was the Soldier in a plume of smoke: in his place stood a Changeling in a maroon suit, cackling wickedly.
“We have taken the enemy intelligence!” Luna’s sonorous voice had a triumphant ring to it as it suddenly called out from the speakers of those in the RED team, while simultaneously a more urgent tone rang out from the BLU team’s stations. “Alert! The enemy has taken our intelligence!” Cries of panic echoed from the other pegasi and Applejack, while whoops of joy were heard from Princess Luna, Spike and Twilight.
“Aw dang, I totally forgot that this game had another overall objective besides killing each other!” Spitfire groaned. “C’mon guys, we gotta track that pony down!”
Fluttershy could only watch in shock as the devious RED Spy dashed out of the room, accompanied by Rarity’s gleeful laughter. The fashionista unicorn made it a point not to kill her soft-spoken friend as well mainly out of sympathy.
“Shoot! I’ll be right there! Use yer wrench, Fluttershy!” Applejack shouted. “Ya’ll can hit those sappers right off yer buildin’s!”
Fluttershy snapped out of it and did as told, fervently whacking her wrench against her contraptions, but only managed to save Flipper by a single screw before the sappers successfully claimed the lives of the others.
lil miss fabulous 
lil miss fabulous 
She gazed dolefully at the wreckage littering the floor, once perfect beautiful machines of her own creation. And Rarity said that these were not her friends...
Another BLU engineer ran into the room, labeled ‘AJ the engineer’ - protective reflexes took over, and Fluttershy’s immediate response was to start bashing him over and over with her wrench.
“Woah, woah, it’s me, AJ! I’m on yer side, don’ worry.” Applejack was slightly taken aback but otherwise her avatar was unhurt. The apple-bucking mare took a second to examine her surroundings before proceeding to pick up the metallic debris on the floor to add to her metal resource count, and then turning to face Fluttershy again.
“Din’ know y’all were here the whole time,” she said. “Ah don’ blame that yer couldn’t stop Rarity, Ah didn’t know she was a spy neither. But at least she kept ya alive.”
Applejack made for the door. “Now c’mon. The rest of us BLU teamers need yer help to fight the RED guys, and yer need ta git back at Rarity for destroyin’ yer pals. So whaddya say? We a team?”
Fluttershy turned her head to Applejack, sitting at her computer to the far left and staring back with a look of encouragement. She then looked the other way at Rarity sitting beside her, who caught the glance and stuck her tongue out playfully at her.
“Can’t catch meee~” she sang tauntingly.
The pegasus resumed her focus to her computer screen, her normally reserved demeanor giving way to one of hardened determination.
“Alright.” She said. “I’ll do this.”
“Tha’s the spirit,” cooed Applejack. “I’m gonna stop over at Hermy’s outside ter restock mah ammo. And then, we got ourselves some buildin’s ter build.”
“His name is Herman,” Fluttershy said quietly. “And if it’s all right with you, I’ll leave the machine building for you to handle.”
Applejack spun around just in time to see Fluttershy’s Engineer collapse in a lifeless heap on the floor - the timid little pegasus had switched classes.
Moments later, a Sniper emerged from the BLU team’s hayloft spawn room.
“I get betrayed, she gets FILLETED!”
Everypony else in the room jerked up in shock at Fluttershy’s sudden outburst. Only Pinkie Pie and Rarity had any idea what was going to happen next, having witnessed firsthand the wrath of ‘new Fluttershy’ once before. The white-coated unicorn licked her lips nervously as she coaxed her Changling spy up the spiral staircase of the BLU base leading up to the hayloft room, wondering if she might have gone too far, before reassuring herself that it was a necessary measure to take.
Things were going to be a lot more exciting from here on out now that Fluttershy has turned on her pro-gamer mode.
“Left! Left flank!” Celestia ordered, launching a grenade at Soarin’ as the pegasus’ soldier ducked back behind cover. The ground level foyer of the BLU base was a hotbed of activity as a RED Demopony, Medic and Pyro combo applied the pressure on the defending trio of Pinkie Pie’s Demopony, Soarin’s Soldier and Spitfire’s Heavy. Princess Celestia deftly took down her class counterpart with a volley of well-placed grenades.
Sun Never Sets 
“Spike, lay down some flames! Twilight, stay behind me! How’s the Ubercharge coming?”
“Almost done, Princess!” Twilight turned her medic’s healing-gun on the Princess’s Demopony, watching the bar at her ammo counter slowly fill. “About 15 seconds before we send these two running-”
*BANG!* *slide-click*
fluttershy 
*BANG!* *slide-click*
fluttershy 
*BANG!* *slide-click*
fluttershy 
Twilight’s, Celestia’s and Spike’s characters all crumpled to the ground one after the other, their heads reduced to blood-spurting stumps. Twilight and Spike froze in their movements, mouths agape and dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Princess Celestia only stared bemusedly at her monitor, before glancing over to her sister; their wordless exchange reaffirmed each other’s belief that Fluttershy had become a player to watch out for.
Soarin’ managed to keep his jaw from dropping in awe at the sheer speed of that marksmanship just in time to look up in shock at the sniper running toward him.
Good thing she’s on our side...
“Have you seen a RED spy run past here?” Fluttershy demanded.
Soarin’ shook his head. “Uhh, no. Spitfire and I were pretty busy with that firefight.” He said, gesturing with his rocket launcher over to the Heavy standing next to him. Fluttershy’s only response was to dash past him.
“Nopony on the BLU team touch Rarity! She’s MINE!”
From the filthy waters of the Sewers beneath her base, Rarity’s Changeling Spy emerged, muttering darkly to herself about how hard it would be to get the stains out of the suit had it been real. The BLU Intelligence briefcase was still attached firmly onto its back, trailing loose papers behind as she moved through the map.
Already she could feel Fluttershy’s sniper closing on her with every passing second, and she had double-timed it all the way back to her base, taking as many twists and turns as she could trying to leave behind a false trail for her pursuer to follow.
This would be so much easier if I could cloak...
Rarity’s little mental complaints were suddenly cut short as she heard something splash down in the water behind her, and with a little terrified yelp, she spun her Spy around, brandishing his revolver.
“Stay back!” She shouted. “Or I’ll punch a third eye through your forehead!”
“Whoa, relax, Rarity, it’s me!” A familiar prepubescent voice called out, and the fashionista raised an eyebrow at the stallion wearing a white lab coat who was eagerly plodding through the sewer’s waters after her.
“Spike?”
“Yeah!” The young dragonling chirped cheerfully as his medic ran up to Rarity’s spy. “I see you’ve got the BLU team’s briefcase. I just respawned so I thought I’d help back you up as a medic.”
Rarity smiled. “Well aren’t you just a darling? Let’s go then.” The RED Spy led the rest of the way, past the sewer room, down another tube and up a small flight of stairs leading to the foyer. Spike followed behind, his healing beam trained on Rarity, slowly bringing her health meter up to a virile 185HP.
No sooner had Rarity entered the entrance room on the ground floor when a distinct gunshot rang out not too far away, her screen shuddering and flickering red to indicate that her character had taken a hit.
The unicorn jolted in her seat, letting out a terrified ‘eep!’. She immediately glanced at her health bar at the bottom left on her screen; it had dropped dramatically to an alarming 35HP (and thankfully still rising, thanks to Spike’s healing).
From the RED base entrance to her right, a menacing figure closed in with frightening speed - a bespectacled stallion in a vest and hunter’s cap. In its right forehoof bore a machete-like weapon, with wicked curves built to maim. The BLU sniper’s expression was a study of vengeance, perfectly mirroring Fluttershy’s emotions.
Rarity was rooted on the spot, petrified. She watched in horror as Fluttershy bore down on her, forehoof raised and prepared to deal the coup de grace...
When a blur of white shot past in front of her and took the blow!
“Rarity, run!” Spike bellowed chivalrously. “I’ll hold her off here!” His Medic pony had sustained some damage but was otherwise no more worse for wear and prepared to defend his one true love. He had switched out his medigun in favour of his bonesaw, prepared for the fight of his life.
Rarity needed no telling twice. Wordlessly she bolted off into the small corridor on the left side, en route to the courtyard.
“There’s no need for you to throw your life away needlessly for her, Spike.” Fluttershy said quietly from where she was seated, yet somehow Spike could hear her voice as clear as day, as though she were standing right next to him. “It wouldn’t make a difference in the end. Just walk away.”
“Never!” The young dragon stood his ground resolutely as his medic flourished his bonesaw. “I’ll defend her to the death, even if it costs me my life!”
“All right.” His opponent murmured in a deathly quiet tone that sent a shiver of dread down his spine. “You’ll go down just like the rest, then.”
And then the sniper lunged forward, his kukri working in a blur.
Spike barely managed to get his medic’s bonesaw in place in time to block the blow, but the shock travelled through his character’s arm and jostled it painfully, reflecting itself in the form of a minor drop of 5HP on his health bar. Snarling, he hammered his index claw down on his mouse button, sending his medic into a whirling frenzy of swipes as he swung his bonesaw back and forth, trying to land a hit on his adversary.
It was an exercise in futility - Fluttershy’s sniper easily gave all of his blows the slip, dancing just out of reach of every swing that he made and parrying aside a few others, until he had barely even made a scratch on her. A forward thrust of his weapon suddenly found his medic’s foreleg grappled in a deadlock that immobilized the entire limb, leaving him helpless.
A quick jerk of the sniper’s wrist and there was a menacing snap! from his medic’s foreleg, the bonesaw tumbling out of a grip that had suddenly turned boneless as the white-coated stallion howled in pain, his HP bar dropping sharply by another 65.
Before Spike could even react, Fluttershy’s character whirled around with the kukri again, slicing a deep bloody line into his medic’s right hind leg and hamstringing him, bringing the stallion to a subdued kneel on the ground as blood splattered across the floor around him and his HP dropped by another 50.
“Nothing personal, Spike.” Fluttershy finished coldly as she poised her sniper behind Spike’s kneeling medic, her kukri raised. “It’s just good business.”
The blade lashed out, and the medic’s head rolled across the floor a second later, Fluttershy having taken off Spike’s character’s head at the neck in a gout of blood.
fluttershy 
The baby dragon slumped back in his seat as he was faced with the killcam once more; Fluttershy’s Sniper was caught mid-stride heading towards the courtyard, closing the distance between her and her quarry.
“I’m sorry, Rarity,” he sighed. “I tried.”
The alabaster pony paused for a moment to lean over and pat the dragon on the head. “You did very well, darling,” she assured, before returning to her controls and guiding her Spy up the courtyard stairs and into the hayloft. She had indeed gained a considerable lead ahead of Fluttershy, which gave her a boost in confidence. “It’s bought me all the time I needed. Thank you.”
Spike’s downcast expression lifted itself by just the slightest fraction, cheered up by Rarity’s encouragement - he might have failed to keep Fluttershy at bay, but at least he’d managed to make a difference.
Fluttershy rounded the next corner and dashed into the RED courtyard. From here she had two routes to take to the capture zone; up the hayloft and into the spiral room, or down the L-shaft staircase leading straight to the basement.
She was just about to take another step forward when out of the corner of her eye she spotted a tall, lanky figure of red standing to one side of the L-shaft entrance.
Her hoof immediately reacted by pure reflex - her sniper darted a step backwards as she hit the ‘S’ key, and the sniper round that had been meant for her character’s cranium slammed into her midsection instead, costing her just 50 health instead of killing her outright.
She heard a muffled curse bit off halfway to her right, and a sideways glance told her that her would-be assassin was indeed Luna, who was giving her screen a stare of utter concentration as she bit her lip with an intensity that only Twilight could have matched while studying.
Already the lunar princess’ sniper was cycling the bolt of his rifle, chambering his next round - Fluttershy didn’t intend to give her that next shot. Her mouse twitched for an instant, and her sights were instantly aligned with the opposing sniper’s cranium.
This was going to be extremely close - if she erred in even the slightest, she would meet her end here, and Rarity’s spy would escape with the intelligence... and deny her justice for what she had done to her mechanical friends.
Luna’s sniper finished his reload cycle, and Fluttershy’s own hoof pressed down on the left mouse button, her sniper’s hoof tightening around the trigger.
*POW!*
*POW!*
Two bullets streaked along trajectories so close that they almost intercepted each other, but in the end only one bullet had been aimed true, while the other whizzed by its intended recipient’s head so closely that the wind whistled in his ears and over the speakers.
*SPLAT!*
fluttershy 
“Oh, fie!” Luna exclaimed. “And I had such a glorious streak going too!”
“HA!!!” A triumphant shout suddenly jolted Fluttershy from her reverie of concentration, and the pegasus glanced over to see Rainbow Dash jumping about in her seat jubilantly, pointing a hoof at Luna. “How’dja like that, Princess!? Nopony messes around with my Fluttershy!!!”
The cyan pegasus almost immediately realized just who she was talking to, and she clapped a hoof over her mouth with a horrified expression, but Luna simply gave her a bemused smile, and shrugged nonchalantly.
“‘Tis simply a game, Rainbow Dash.” The princess of the night replied calmly. “Though perhaps, one must wonder if your joy is at seeing my downfall at the hands of another, simply because you could not achieve it yourself?”
There was an almost inaudible smirk in Luna’s voice, and Fluttershy only saw Rainbow Dash grinding her teeth impotently in response before she directed her attention back to the game, already sending her sniper to resume his chase after Rarity’s changeling spy, the BLU Sniper nimbly picked his way to the L-shaft.
Rarity was already opening up the distance between them, and she would have to pick up the slack or risk letting Rarity get away scot-free.
She would not be denied.
The spiral room seemed to spin to eternity. Rarity followed it down, moving through a declining passageway and turning a left corner only to be faced with another downwards slope. She began to feel anxious that she might have taken the longer way down, squandering whatever time had been bought for her in sacrifice of Princess Luna and her little Spikey-Wikey.
The only upside was that she passed by a small health and ammo refill along the way from the hayloft to the spiral room, providing her a tiny but much-appreciated rejuvenation of HP to increase her survivability.
The tuxedo-clad changeling eventually found itself out of the spiral room and inside the RED basement. From here was a short trip down one of two passageways to the Intelligence Room, where she could finally deposit her hard-won briefcase into the capture zone and score one for the team.
Thankfully, she was alone. Releasing a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, Rarity went ahead for the home stretch. She turned left down the nearest corridor and cornered right, where the capture zone, an area surrounding the office desk bearing the swiveling RED Intelligence briefcase, demarcated on the tiled floor in yellow perforated lines, lay right in her sights. Just a few steps more...
*POW!*
Her spy’s head suddenly exploded in a shower of gore, and he came down hard like a sack of potatoes, the intelligence briefcase clattering to the floor in front of his corpse and just a few scant inches away from the capture zone.
fluttershy 
The BLU team erupted in a cacophony of cheers, coupled with a chorus of groans from the RED team. Rarity could only stare blankly at the screen for a few moments, a freezecam shot of a vindicated-looking BLU sniper. Snapping out of her reverie, she sighed in acceptance of her defeat. She gazed over to Fluttershy on her left, so intently focused on the game her face was nearly plastered to her computer screen. She appeared a very much changed mare, looking all set to actively take this game by storm with a resolute smirk on her face. At least I had accomplished one of my objectives, Rarity thought to herself in consolation.
“All right, Fluttershy!” Applejack cheered on jubilantly for her friend’s victory. “Now, jus’ pick that thing up an’ bring it back to our own turf!”
Fluttershy moved her sniper to the BLU briefcase on the floor but nothing happened. She frowned.
“I can’t pick it up,” she declared, perplexed.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Twilight spoke up. The tone of her voice betrayed a hint of excitement; she had the feeling things were going to get heated up. “According to the manual, whenever somepony drops the intelligence and doesn’t get picked up by the enemy team within a minute, the briefcase will automatically teleport base to its own capture zone.”
“Well, then...” The apple farmer frowned at that - Fluttershy was alone in the RED base, with not a shred of backup to aid her, and her sniper was already wounded - even SHE wouldn’t last long if the entire opposing team mobbed her all at once. “You just hang in there ‘Shy, we’re comin’ to help you!”
“Oh, there’s really no need for that.” The yellow pegasus replied with an unnervingly calm smile on her face, and as if to emphasise her statement, her sniper planted himself firmly over the fallen briefcase, cycled the bolt of his rifle, and chambered his next round, readying himself for the oncoming onslaught. “I think I’ll do just fine on my own.”
And then a volley of grenades bounced themselves into the room. Fluttershy immediately moved -dodging them skilfully, she kept herself well away from the blast zone as they detonated. Seconds later, Celestia’s demopony peeked out from around the corner, aiming for a better shot.
Already scoped in, Fluttershy centred her crosshairs with deadly accuracy.
*POW!*
fluttershy 
Before the demopony’s body had even hit the ground, another two red-clad adversaries, an engineer and a sniper, appeared in the corridor, their weapons drawn and eager to finish the capture Rarity’s spy had started.
Not missing a beat, Fluttershy’s sniper cycled the bolt on his rifle, and raised the scope to his eye, loosing another shot instantly - the engineer crumpled before he could even fire off his shotgun, a stump spurting crimson occupying the spot where his head had been a second ago.
fluttershy 
“Eeeyowch,” deadpanned Big Macintosh. He simply shrugged and shook his head as he returned to the character selection screen without another word or expression, the epitome of stoicism.
The red sniper brought up his submachine gun, charging forward to close the distance as it spat bullets at Fluttershy’s avatar, chipping away at her health at an alarming rate.
“Have at thee, knave!” Luna’s sonorous voice rang out throughout the room. “Thou shalt not deny us the briefcase without a fight!”
It was almost second nature to Fluttershy now.
*POW!*
fluttershy 
Luna tutted in dignified frustration, but she knew that that skirmish had cost Fluttershy quite a bit. Her HP had dropped to a dangerous 37 by now - if backup didn’t arrive soon, the odds that she could hold out for the full minute were, well, minute.
bigmac 
bigmac 
“Aw nuts, it was right behind us!”
“Argh! Sentry gun on the 2nd floor overlooking the courtyard. It’s stopping our advance.”
“Woah nelly. Strafe an’ use grenades or rahkets. Pinkie, Rainbow, see if you can dash past while we distract it. Sorry ‘Shy, that backup’s gonna be takin’ a mite longer than expected.”
“Well struck, Big Macintosh! This is our chance! Twilight, follow me! Uber as soon you can!”
“Yes, Princess!”
Despite her newfound determination, Fluttershy felt the pressure mounting.
Several tense seconds passed as nopony else entered the room...
When suddenly a lumbering brute of a stallion suddenly thundered his way through. The oversized multi-barrelled monstrosity clutched in his grip was already spinning up in a high-pitched whine that signalled incoming death.
“This is for Rarity!” Spike howled as the multiple spinning barrels of Sasha were brought to bear, showering Fluttershy’s general direction with metal rain. She instinctively dove for cover to the right of the entranceway as the hail of bullets slammed into the spot that she had occupied a split-second ago.
Spike’s Heavy slowly advanced. In a few seconds he would be inside the Intelligence Room together with her, and that was when things were going to get ugly really fast. Fluttershy had to wrack her brain for a plan - the heavy had remarkable vitality and immense firepower. At her current health, none of her weapons would be able to dispatch him fast enough before he could do the same to her. Another hand-to-hand duel was out of the question. Even a snap-reaction headshot would only be able to shave off half his health at most, and there certainly wasn’t any time for a second shot. The enclosed space of the room didn’t make things any easier for her either.
It came to her just then that Spike wasn’t actually going for the intelligence, but for her...
Taking the risk, Fluttershy abandoned her post at the briefcase, scooting for the alternative entranceway. She made sure that Spike would take notice of her just as she disappeared down the corridor and into the main basement walkway.
The yellow pegasus moved her sniper pony to the foot of the spiral rampway to create some standoff distance, turned to face the doorway she came out from, and scoped in.
One thing she had observed about the sniper rifle was that as she kept her scope up, a little power meter off one side of the reticule would fill. When she did let it fill, it apparently enabled her to deliver killing shots even without aiming for the head, just like in Halo Reach. She inferred that the more juice there was in the meter, the more power her bullets would be imbued with. This might just give her the edge she needed.
Spike’s heavy showed up at the doorway, just as expected. There was no intelligence capture.
*POW!*
fluttershy 
A trumpeting sound cue echoed in both Fluttershy and Spike’s PCs, followed by an additional message on the kill ticker.
fluttershy 
is DOMINATING spiiike
“What?! What is that supposed to mean?” Spike cried, slamming a fist onto the table. Already he was growing infuriated at getting killed all the time; now it seemed as though even the game itself was going out of its way to add insult to injury by making a rather shaming remark about his poor performance.
As though snapping out of a trance, Fluttershy flinched and jerked her head backwards; she only just realized that she had been staring at her computer monitor with all her might for the past few minutes. She broke her gaze from the screen and turned to look at Spike, who had his head resting on both palms, an upset scowl on his face. Rarity and Twilight were attempting to cool him off with reminders that it was just a video game.
She turned to look behind her. Princess Luna may not be fuming openly, but Fluttershy could sense the underlying animosity at her suddenly besting the princess of the night at a pursuit whom the latter claims to have a distinct proficiency at. Amidst a refreshing openness to the heightened challenge Fluttershy was posing to her and her team, she felt the pressure of having to maintain her reputation. To be subjugated by someone so meek and initially unwilling to partake in the fight out of dread and fear certainly isn’t an easy thing to live down.
Why didn’t I realize it earlier? Fluttershy sank in her seat as her adrenaline wore off. It’s not like Halo or The Darkness...I’m not fighting the computer...I’m fighting REAL ponies.
I’m making them feel bad... Because I’m playing too good...
A nearly inaudible gasp escaped her lips as Fluttershy’s suddenly widened in dawning comprehension, and for just that one moment, she hesitated, uncertain of what she had to do next...
It was all the hesitation Big Mac needed.
BANG!
bigmac 
Big Macintosh let out a highly uncharacteristic whoop, his scout whipping past Fluttershy’s fallen sniper to finish off the capture Rarity had started.
“Success! We have captured the enemy intelligence!” The announcing voice of Princess Luna declared triumphantly to the RED team, simultaneously remarking urgently to the BLU team, “The enemy has captured our intelligence!”
“NO!” Rainbow Dash howled as the RED team cheered.
“Well struck, Big Macintosh!” Luna crowed. “Two more captures and the game is ours!” The stoic farmpony shifted in his seat, averting his eyes as a blush came to his face, not quite sure how to handle a compliment from Canterlot royalty.
Twilight fell back in her seat, a hoof against her forehead as she let her breath out in a ‘whoosh’. “W-we did it, Princess...! We actually brought down Fluttershy...!”
“Aww...” Pinkie groaned. “And we were doing so well...” Applejack simply adjusted her hat, silently steeling herself to fight harder to make up for the failed defense. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was being a little more...vocal.
“Gaah! Darn it! Of all the crummy...we were so CLOSE...!” She seethed. “Oh, those REDs are gonna PAY for this! Alright, Fluttershy, on me! We’re gonna blast right through their defenses and capture THEIR intel! Let’s see how THEY like it! Ya with me?!?” She whooped, leaning out from behind her computer to catch the yellow Pegasus's eye.
The yellow Pegasus in question, however, was nowhere to be found. The door on the opposite side of the room was suddenly ajar.
Rainbow Dash’s stomach flipped.
“Oh, great...nopony kill me while I’m AFK! Fluttershy, WAIT!”
It took some searching, but Rainbow Dash finally tracked down her friend. The yellow pegasus was in the cafeteria, sobbing quietly over a half-eaten chocolate parfait.
“Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy gave a gasp at the sound of her name, turning her red, puffy eyes up to Rainbow Dash. “R-rainbow! I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...! I mean, I almost...!”
Rainbow Dash waved a hoof lazily as she sat down across from her friend. “I saw what happened, Fluttershy. Ya glitched, that’s all!” She smiled. “Happens to the best of us! I mean, you managed to hold out against the...”
Rainbow stammered to a halt: Fluttershy was shaking her head, a haunted look in her eye.
“No...” she whispered. “I almost let...HER out...!”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow as the yellow pegasus suppressed a shudder. “I-I thought she was gone! I swear! I thought I had her under control! But then when Rarity killed Skipper and Fluffy, I just got so ANGRY! I knew something was wrong when I started rhyming, but I didn’t CARE! I almost WANTED her to come out! I wanted her to teach them a lesson...!”
“Cut! Hold on! WAIT a minute!” Rainbow Dash waved her hooves in a ‘cease’ motion. Fluttershy fell silent instantly. “Who in the hay is ‘her’?”
Fluttershy took a huge breath, glanced around the mezzanine, and then leaned in close, her voice dropping to a hoarse whisper.
“New Fluttershy.”
Rainbow Dash stared, wide-eyed, before shaking her head with a look of utter incomprehension. “Say WHAT now?”
Fluttershy glanced around the cafeteria again, like a sheep eyeing the edge of the Everfree Forest for Timberwolves, making sure nopony was watching or listening in. Satisfied, she leaned in close to Rainbow.
“You weren’t there, Rainbow...you didn’t see it. But New Fluttershy is...she’s a monster! A horrible, uncontrollable BEAST! She yelled at everypony in Ponyville, beat up a tourist and...and...she told Pinkie and Rarity that their talents were POINTLESS!” She buried her face in her hooves again. “I tried to stop her! I knew she was making everypony mad by beating them so badly, but then I lost the intel! If I let her out, I make my friends angry at me! If I don’t, I’ll let my friends down! I...I don’t know what to DO!”
Rainbow Dash swallowed, then leaned forward, placing a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Fluttershy... This is only a game! Relax - Spike may be taking it a little hard, but that’s just him. If you ask me, I think Rarity wanted this ‘New Fluttershy’ to come out... I mean, it’s not much of a game if you just stay at the back and out of everypony’s way, right?”
Fluttershy looked up, dumbfounded. “She...WANTED New Fluttershy? She wanted to get yelled at, and beaten, and...”
“Well, I wouldn’t quite go THAT far, Fluttershy.” Rainbow chuckled a bit. “She wanted us all playing together! I mean, seriously; how fun WAS ‘Teleport the Engineer’?”
Fluttershy thought for a moment, before the corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile. “It wasn’t.”
“Didn’t think so. You know what is fun? Playing games with your friends.”
Fluttershy’s smile widened, a hoof coming up to wipe her tears away. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash...I feel a little better now.”
“So...” Rainbow Dash rose into the air. “Whadda ya say we bring the pain to the RED team?”
“Alright.” Fluttershy started into the air, before her face fell again. “Oh...”
Rainbow Dash facehoofed. “What now?” She groaned.
“My parfait...There's no food allowed in the game rooms. There’s so much left and I don’t want to throw it out...”
Rainbow Dash scratched her chin, before zooming off, returning a second later with a spoon.
“Lemme help you with that, Fluttershy.”
“Ahh!” Rainbow stretched, wiping her mouth on the back of her hoof. “THAT hit the spot! Now let’s get going! You ready to kick some flank, Fluttershy?”
“Ready!”
The two flew out of the cafeteria, up the stairs, and through the door of the game room. Rainbow pulled, up, planting both hooves on her hips and striking a dramatic pose. “We’re BACK!”
Silence greeted the two Pegasi. The rest of the ponies in the room simply stared at them; Rainbow Dash heard some snickering that she could have sworn was Rarity. Now that she realized it, the multicolored Pegasus realized how quiet the room was. When she had left, the air had been filled with a cacophony of shouting, explosions and gunfire. Glancing over Soarin’s shoulder, Rainbow Dash stared at the screen.
“Wait...why’s everypony at the main menu?”
Pinkie, true to form, collapsed into a giggling fit. “We’re waiting for you and Fluttershy, Dashie! We don’t wanna start the game without you!”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “Start the game?”
“Oh dear...” Rarity sighed. “How do I put this gently...”
“We honored our agreement, Rainbow Dash.” Celestia smiled gently. “We didn’t attack you nor Fluttershy while you were going to help your friend. However, we said NOTHING about not capturing the intel.”
“The round’s over, Rainbow Dash.” Spitfire sighed. “We lost. We lost REALLY badly.”
Rainbow Dash’s eye twiched, her entire body stiffening from the herculean effort not to launch into a tirade in front of the Princesses.
“I am very proud of you, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow looked over to Celestia again. “Huh?”
“You didn’t hesitate in the slightest to leave the game as soon as you saw Fluttershy needed your help. That is conduct entirely befitting a bearer of the Element of Loyalty.”
“Well, yeah.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Winning a game is never worth losing a friend...oh, hey!” The pegasus flew above the computers, waving to the purple dragon down the aisle. “Spike, take a letter!”
“That won’t be necessary.” Celestia chuckled. “I’m right here.”
On it went, through four more matches. The REDs fought with all their strength, Luna dominating the entire BLU team at one point. But with Fluttershy reinvigorated by Rainbow’s pep-talk, and Rainbow herself determined to make up for the embarrassment of the first match, the BLUs managed to win three out of five. Twilight was just logging off and preparing to head out the door when somepony calling her name stopped her.
“Twilight Sparkle! A moment of your time, please!”
“Oh, Luna! That was a great match. I really thought we were gonna win, though...” Twilight sighed. Luna shrugged.
“It’s like you say in this day and age, Twilight Sparkle: ‘You win some, you lose some’.” The Princess said airily. “One way or another, it has been long since a match has left me so invigorated: pub-stomping gets rather dull after a while. Which brings me to my request.” She cleared her throat. “I would be honored, Twilight Sparkle, if you and your friends would spend the night in my keep, so that perhaps we could play again.”
“Spend the night...” Twilight’s eyes widened. “A sleepover?!? I would love to, Luna! A-and I’m sure my friends would too! I have to tell them, and then I have to pack, and...oh, there’s so much to do!”
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ABOUT GODDARN TIME A NEW CHAPTER!
Fluttershy should compete in gaming competitions.
If you mind me suggesting games for the sleepover chapter: GTA4, Modern Warfar3, Battlefi3ld, Slender.
I think i've decided my new names for tf2
awesome story
have a mustache
I was just talking about this story to someone at the last meetup! Who'd have thought I be spotting it here! One of several fanfics that I bumped into during my first few days in the fandom, and one that I always get a kick out of. Especially the Rock Band chapter.
Oh... That's glorious.
1374423 Three words: It's Pinkie Pie
IT HAS GEARS OF WAR! MUST READ!
TEAM FORTRESS 2 IS AWESOME!!! PLAY IT ON STEAM WITH ME, ANYONE!!! Or Portal 2. (Username is Kiro0613™ by the way)
1374253
May I suggest Dead Space or Bioshock for the sleepover.
It's good to have you back!
oh god imagine of they payed amnesia, or residant evil. Lolz would be insured
An update! Hooray!! :D
I didn't know this fic got on FIMFiction!!!
And a new chapter? Tracking!
I cannot express my joy in words, so here are ponies to help express my joy.
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Spitfire.png
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra.png
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Colgate_beam.png
Great story. Like the character development for Best Poni in this and the previous chapter particularly.
Opinion time! Do not like some of the renaming. Battlefilly in particular because it just seems to be pointless "ponification", with no regards to the meaning of the field part. Bonus points for not renaming Halo to Haylo though, and for the Sony/Pony pun.
I found it funny how Pinkie's user name kept changing.
A new chapter? Already sold. TEAM FORTRESS 2??!!
AND FLUTTERSHY IS AWESOME IN IT?!!!!!
BEST CHAPTER YET!!!!!(next to rock band)
Hee hee, hilarious. There were some goog lol moments in there.
'TASTE.THE.RAINBOW'
BATTLEFIELD 3
(Conquest on Operation Firestorm)
the story is alright but there's no god dam completaction!!!
you should really work with that new fluttershy thing because this would be so much better if it had some form of bad guy in it!!!
Glad to see this series isn't dead yet.
As for the sleepover chapter.....there's one game I know they should play......Mario Party. I know you never played not much Nintendo games, but you could ask some people about that series (or just PM me for more info). It's considered the game that throws the word friendship out the window. Fits pretty well into this story/ark if you ask me. Plus I want to see the cast play some retro games (with the exception to Tetris) that's not about the graphics, but the gameplay and entertainment.
Keep up the good work
A new chapter, after so long. Glorious. And TF2, also glorious. Nice that you didn't just go with the "standard" equivalencies, other then Rarispy.
Though, have to say, my favorite part might have been unintentional, and me just overthinking things. But as soon as Luna revealed she did the voice for Helen, my first thought was "Dear god...Luna is GLADoS." And went on to laugh for a good two minutes.
You should do Moonbase Alpha ^^
Just watch all the videos about it
Or Portal/Portal 2.
Now that we have the basics for competitive gaming, how about "Counter-Strike: Equestrian Offensive"?
1379104
Nnnnope.
Chainsaw bayonet = pure awesomeness. Don't get me wrong, the bayonet on the RetroLancer was cool, but nothing—and I mean nothing—gets my inner savage awake faster than the promise of ripping badguys apart with motorized saw blades.
At least you're right about it being 14 years after E-Day.
I can't help noticing that you used the wrong icon when Big Mac killed Fluttershy; that shotgun should have been a scattergun. also, I get that you were going for dramatic flair with the battle between Fluttershy and Spike's Medic, but ignoring the arm break and hamstring, I'm pretty certain that weapons and projectiles cannot deflect each other in-game, at least not as you've depicted. Also, when I saw (not) a clever pony, I got confused and initially thought the name referred to Derpy.
Otherwise, this was a very entertaining chapter, and I look forward to future installments.
"...but all these players are nevertheless separated by distance, and are unable to experience the joy of having each others' physical company, to be able to exchange friendly banter and smiles, hoofshakes and hugs."
Or beat teamkilling ****tard noobs to within an inch of their life, or tar and feathering people who constantly give grief over the VoIP channels instead of playing the gorram game.
Edit: Oh crap, Celestia's gonna get down in the trenches? This is gonna be goooood.
Edit2: Well, that was a great chapter. Dang, I really need to try TF2, seems I'm missing out on some good shooty stuff. Ah well, I can keep playing the old Ballistic Weapons mod for UT2k4 a bit longer.
Good chapter, quite fun, great characterization. Dash seems a bit off to me, but then again, she's my favorite so I'm probably biased.
Awesome chapter. And I thought that this series was dead too. Suggestions: League of Legends
Epic chapter! I like the use of the killsymbols!
Suggestions: Tribes: Ascend
1384856
And every time you do you'll eat particle beams, savage!
Get the Wii in on this so we can have Mariokart (or any other mariokart game, really)
Or better yet, Worms 2.
Just wondering why there's no minecraft so far .......
Not to offend anypony
Requesting a Resident Evil chapter please.
New Fluttershy is the best gamer EVER!
1374253
If I may suggest a sleepover game, "Mario Party."
can't wait to see them play spore
rainbow dash will be fucked
1402373
You want a rainbow Dash x Spore creature clopfic what now?
1374671 Of GOSH Deadspace... but that's a one player isn't it?
1394466 RE only has two player doesn't it? Hmm... If only Luna spent the night and spike fled, that might be a fun adventure. The ENTIRE RE series even... the RE omnibus.
1388187 No offense taken. That would be interesting.
1403482OH G
OH GOD NOT THAT TYPE OF FUCK
it would be awesome if u made a dead space story or even viva pinata
here is a song for no reason https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yca6UsllwYs&feature=related
UPDATE!
It's probably already been suggested to death, but I'm hoping for either Killing Floor or TF2 MvM next.
Ahem, love the story, but for a new game, may I suggest 'Slendermane?'
So, from what I'm reading, updating has slowed to a crawl... I'm curious: were I to try and write a chapter (I'm thinking the first few levels of HL2), and then send it to you, would you post it here? I'm fairly new to the site, but I have about five years' worth of writing experience. If not, that's understandable. But I certainly hope I can help!
It just hit me like a break wall why not let Fluttershy have a gamecube and a copy of Havens Moon THAT game will fit so well with her!
hey i like to ask to put samething funny like say, give the main six an old school systerm form a school but not like a school unveride but a high school that made a computer that is very low end like the Commodore 64 i bet they be thinking its noting cool but wean the games hit it made by foals and young stollen say oder ways.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LOG I'VE BEEN WAITING COR THIS CHSPTR I DUN CARE ABOUT GRAMMAR MISHAPS GOTTTA GI READ BYE
....good chapter. I was honestly expecting something astronomical and that was unfair of me. It was good :3
Team Fortress 2?
YES.
They should play Left 4 Dead 2.
I remember this story! From a long time ago...
I have a few suggestions for games you could do, if you could please pick one of these
Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2,
Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2, Borderlands 2 and maybe Borderlands 2 if you have the chance