Picnics, Milkshakes, and Shademechs
Button carefully spread out the red and white checkered blanket on the grassy ground. He smiled contentedly as the smell of the castle labyrinth’s flowers surrounded him. Birds flew through the afternoon sky, and the peaceful babble of fountains trickled around him.
“Perfect.”
And perfect it was. His picnic basket was placed on the edge of the blanket, the wicker container holding a few carefully prepared sandwiches, a bag of chips that he’d picked up at the local market, several apples, a bunch of grapes, and a single bottle of red wine. In the middle of the prepared area was a vase filled with blue and purple flowers.
The stallion looked around as he waited for his marefriend to appear. His smile broadened as he allowed that word to soak in. “My marefriend…”
“Button!”
His ears perked up at the sound of her voice cutting through the birdsong and the soft trickle of water. Quickly, Button stood to his hooves and glanced over to see—
“L— I mean, Starry.” He smirked as the ‘pegasus’ trotted over to him with a grin on her face. “You look amazing, as always. Although I was expecting someone a bit different.” Button winked coyly.
“Oh, shush.” She laughed as she walked up to him and kissed his cheek. Button pulled her close with his foreleg and nuzzled her neck.
“But really, any reason that you’re still, you know,” he asked, glancing sideways, “disguised?”
Luna gazed at him through her glasses. “Button… did you know that my sister’s love for cake has made the front page of newspapers all over Equestria dozens of times? What do you think would happen if the press knew that a certain somepony had a coltfriend?”
“Oh.” Button nodded. “I’m okay with this, Starry.” He gestured to the blanket. “Well, we don’t really need to worry about that. Right now, it’s just you and me.”
“That sounds lovely.” Luna sat down on the blanket, curling her forelegs under her. “It was a rather long night for me. I really need a break.”
“It was? What happened?” Button unwrapped the basket and pulled out the platter of fruit.
“Well, the patrols were finding windigo stragglers all night long. Most of our unicorns were able to cast detection spells, but not all of them were powerful enough to find every windigo in the area. Princess Twilight’s students came in to assist, but Celestia and I also had to help. I spent all night wandering the castle looking for wounded invisible assassins.” She grunted. “Not exactly how I wanted to spend my evening.”
“Well, I got to spend my evening exactly how I wanted to.” Button leaned down and kissed the top of her head, and she giggled in response. “I got to spend time with the most amazing mare in Equestria. And kiss her too. Can’t forget that last point.”
“That part of last night was very nice,” Luna replied in a low voice. “I got to spend time with my favorite idiot.” She smirked and looked up at him. “That actually balances out all the other stuff. In all, not too bad of a night.”
“Hey! I’m not that much of an idiot…” Button shook his head wryly as he lifted the sandwiches from the basket.
“Yes, you are. You are a very lovable idiot. My lovable idiot.” She reached out and grabbed the bag of chips that Button hoofed to her.
Button snickered. “Okay, so it was a little dumb for me to think that you were a changeling..”
“‘A little?’ Methinks that you are not aware of the magnitude of thine error.” Luna quipped.
“Oh? Middle Equestrian, eh? Two can play at this game, my lady.” Button cleared his throat. “‘O, lover of my soul! My heart! My jewel! My star in the evening sky! Why hast thou—’”
“Stop! Stop!” Luna cried, choking back her laughter. “That was awful! Where did you learn Middle Equestrian?”
“I didn’t. I was faking it. Well, I know some of the basics, but just from what I’ve studied in books,” he replied with a chortle. He took the fruit from the basket and placed it on a plate he had just set on the blanket. “You know, I am actually really happy that you’re not a changeling.”
“Really? What happened to your speech last night?” She raised an eyebrow.
He sat down beside her after pulling the bottle of wine and two elegant glasses out of the basket. “See, I’d have been okay with you as a changeling, or as Starry, or as anything, really. But as a princess…” He looked into her eyes. “I gave it some thoughts, Starry. You’re a princess who is pretty much out of her time. I’m a historian who would have loved to have lived back a thousand years ago. The culture, the honor, the chivalry… I love it all, and you’re the ponyfication of everything I adore about history. But you’re not some pony out of a book that could never convey the real you, no matter how wonderful the writing is. You’re here, and you’re real, and I love you.”
“Oh…” Luna just looked at him, her eyes unfocused. “I hadn’t thought of that.” Looking back at him, she smiled. “That’s actually kind of amazing.”
“I think that’s why we hit it off so well. Talking to you felt like…” Button grasped for the words. “It felt like coming home, L— Starry.”
He gazed at the mare before him. A smile sat on her soft features, and a lock of her mane hung in front of her face. She slowly flicked it away, her cheeks flushed. “I… I feel the same way, Button.”
Button leaned forward and met her lips in a chaste kiss. She leaned into him and wrapped a wing around his neck. A moment later, the kiss broke, and the two stayed right there. Their noses touched as they gazed into each other's eyes. The scent of her vanilla perfume surrounded him, and he sighed contentedly.
“So, I guess we should get to eating…” he said.
Her eyes flashed. “Maybe in a few minutes.” Then, she pressed their lips together once more, and Button forgot about the food for a little while.
~~~
“So, let me get this straight… your two hundred and fifty-eighth birthday was two months ago?”
Luna nodded in response to her coltfriend’s question. She finished taking a sip of her milkshake and wiped some of the chocolate ice cream away with a napkin before replying. “Yes. It was a quiet ceremony. I try to keep things like that private.”
“But… you and your sister refounded Equestria, what, one thousand two hundred and thirty years ago?” Button inquired. He set his empty milkshake cup aside and leaned toward her. “How does that work?”
“Well, it was one thousand two hundred and thirty-five. She and I ruled together for about two hundred and sixteen years before my… incident.” She grimaced. “When Celestia banished me to the moon, I was in a semi-comatose state. I didn’t exactly celebrate any birthday for that thousand years.”
“Wow…” Button said. He blinked his eyes rapidly. “Wait, so that means that you were…” He muttered something nearly inaudible under his breath before continuing. “You were in your twenties when you took control of Equestria!”
The princess nodded. “Indeed. We were very young and completely unqualified for the job, but we were there, and the ponies wanted to follow us. It also helped that we were a lot taller than most of them.” She chortled and took a drink of water.
The Dairy Princess wasn’t too busy that afternoon. Luna and Button sat at a tall table in the far corner of the room, away from the other few patrons. The taste of the sweet ice cream brought a smile to the disguised princess’ face, and Button grinned back at her.
“So, I guess it’s kind of convenient that I actually really like taller mares.” His eyes twinkled. “And older ones too.”
“Oh, you!” Luna kicked him lightly under the table. “It could be worse. You could be dating my sister.”
Button snorted, and ice cream almost went up his nose. “Oh, Lu— Ah, I forgot that I can’t swear by my marefriend’s name…”
“I use ‘stars,’” Luna remarked. “It works pretty well for me.”
“That works.” Button shook his head. “I was just saying that it just clicked who you were talking about whenever you were telling me about your sister while we were playing the game…” The stallion gave a low whistle before saying, “I’m dating a princess. What the tartarus.”
“Yes, I think we have established this,” Luna teased, reaching a hoof across the table to pat him tenderly. “Try not to hurt yourself.”
“Pfff. I have a master’s degree, you know.” He grabbed ahold of her hoof, squeezing it lovingly. “I’m not stupid. That much.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But it’s too much fun to tease you.” Luna blew him a kiss. “Your reactions are adorable.”
To that, the stallion merely raised an eyebrow. “Wow.”
The princess giggled. “On the bright side, for you, I also think you’re adorable when I kiss you. You scrunch your face up, and it’s just too cute.”
“Hey! I’m an adult! I’m not cute. I’m… I’m… I’m ruggedly handsome. And gallant!” Button sat up straight, put on a serious face and looked to the side. “This is a face that melts the hearts of mares the world over!”
“Puh-lease... “ Luna shook her head and giggled even more. “You’re adorable, and you know it.”
“Okay, I am pretty adorable,” he conceded with a smile. “You’re pretty cute yourself, too. No matter what shape you’re in. I particularly like the glasses. It brings out your inner dork.”
Luna spluttered. “Why, you… I am a princess! I am not a dork!”
“You spent three days making a forum post about one of your alt-character’s builds less than a month ago. With graphs. And derivatives and stuff. You used science to prove how to make a pure Warrior do more damage than a DPS spec’d Rager.” He stifled a chuckle. “You might be a princess, but the fact is undeniable. You. Are. A. Giant. Dork.”
“Yeah, well… it was cool math!” Luna protested.
Button scrunched his nose and leaned back. “Eww. Math is not cool. History is cool. Explosions are cool. Math is nope. Just nope.”
Luna laughed. “But yeah… I am a dork. Can you imagine if that information leaked out to the press?”
“I can see the headlines now! ‘Princess Luna Plays Video Games, Dates Loser Stallion From Ponyville, Wears Glasses, and is an Enormous Dork!’” Button took a sip of his own water. “Your reputation would be destroyed… or ponies might not care.”
“They always care, Button. That’s part of the reason I stayed so isolated since I returned.” Luna looked down at the table. “Everypony cares about the princesses. They see us as goddesses. Legends in our own time, forever elevated above everypony else. I once went out with a friend to dinner. She was a student at the school for gifted unicorns, and she was actually a descendant of one of my old friends, back before my banishment. Do you know what the press did?”
“What’d they do?” he asked carefully.
“They announced to the world that I had a marefriend. It was all over the country within a day. Neither of us could go outside without being hounded by reporters.” Luna sighed. “She was so shy that it drove her over the edge. She quit her studies and left the city. I haven’t heard from her since.”
Button reached a hoof across the table. “I’m sorry, Starry…”
“It’s not your fault,” Luna said with a sniff.
“But can I still be sorry that you felt pain?” he asked simply.
She looked up and grabbed his hoof. She met his gaze and saw the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. His lips twitched upward in a small smile, and she returned it. “I guess you can do that.”
“Starry, you don’t have to be scared of ponies. So the press gets a bit hyperactive. So what? Let them talk. If you’re happy, then it doesn’t matter what they say. And if anything like that ever happens to us, I won’t run back to Ponyville. I’ll stand beside you and hold up a newspaper to block the cameras as we run off to get more ice cream together.”
Luna chuckled at this. “And how do you plan to run with two legs occupied holding the newspaper?”
“I said we’ll be running. What I meant was that you’ll be running. I’ll ride on your back and cover us with magical shielding paper so that nopony will know that it’s us!” he exclaimed.
“Oh, stars. You have the oddest ideas, you goof.” Luna smirked at him.
“Hey, it’ll work! Plus, it might even be fun.” He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Luna felt heat rush to her face, and she had to raise a hoof up to her eyes. “I can’t believe that you said that!”
Button snickered. “Well, it’s true!” With a sigh, he glanced down at his empty milkshake cup. “So, do you have to go back to work, or do you have some more free time? ‘Cause I was thinking… maybe we can log on and get some playtime in?”
“Ummm…” Luna scratched under her chin. “I think I actually do have some time!”
“Awesome!” Button grinned widely. “Do you want to head back to the castle and get your laptop? We could meet up at my hotel!”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Luna replied. “You get the snacks, and I’ll get the drinks?”
“Perfect.” Button stood up and nodded. “It’s a date!”
~~~
Button’s bullets tore through the air toward his helpless targets. The rounds entered the shimmering field containing six Shademechs and instantly froze, waiting for time to resume its normal course. Beside him, Luna fired her own weapons at the same foes. “Well, this is easy,” Button remarked.
The two soldiers stood in the wreckage of an ancient crashed spaceship. Twisted metal littered the ground, gleaming in the moonlight. More Shademechs, robot warriors who had been turned partially incorporeal by a corrupt spell, surrounded them, but the duo seemed entirely unperturbed by their presence. Luna had hacked a few of the mechs, commanding them to cast a shield behind them, and Button’s time control had rendered the few enemies in front of them useless.
“It’s mechanicals, after all. We’re not going to have too much trouble with them,” Luna said as she charged a glowing spell in the air above them. With a brilliant flash, molten light arced out over the shields around them and struck all of their enemies. They caught fire, burned by the power of Celestia.
“So, is it weird playing as a character who’s Favored by your real life sister?” Button asked. He tossed a grenade forward, and the nearest Shademechs exploded with a flash of blue energy.
Luna laughed. “I’m used to it by now. It’s actually kind of funny, Button. My favorite part is when ‘Celestia’ speaks to me in class-based cutscenes. The voice actress does a decent job, but it is different just enough to make me laugh. The developers could have just asked us to voice ourselves. I know that I would have agreed.”
“Really? Do you think that your sister would have?” Button turned around and dove through the shields. He lashed out at the closest mechs, striking them with his augmented hooves. They crashed to the ground in a spectacular shower of sparks.
“Oh, Tia would never pass up an opportunity to say lines like, ‘You, Child, shall be my sword. Through your power, my justice shall once more cleanse the world! Peace through victory. Salvation through life.’ She would have laughed her flank off at the level of cheese.” Luna chortled as she opened a portal up to the top of the wreckage. She stepped through and aimed her sniper rifle down at the few remaining monsters.
Button brought his hooves down on the next mech with a laugh. “Really? I never would have guessed that she was that kind of pony.”
“Most definitely.” The princess fired the rifle three times in rapid succession. Four creatures fell, and she trained her scope on a fifth. “She projects an air of… how should I put this? Serenity, I suppose. Ancient, perfect, motherly. But she’s a joker at heart, and her pranks were legendary, back before I was banished.” Another pair of mobs screamed as they perished, slain by her precision. “I think she adopted the more serious persona because she had to lead Equestria alone. But if you could have seen her with Paix, you wouldn’t have believed your eyes.”
“Wait, ‘Paix?’ Who’s that?” Button asked, pausing his attack briefly.
Luna looked at him, eyebrow raised. “You don’t know? I thought you were a historian.”
“Hey! I’m not a specialist in the life of Princess Celestia. That’s basically a branch of history in and of itself. Who’s Paix?” He resumed his attacks, striking down his enemies with his burstfire submachine guns.
The princess frowned. “Why… why don’t you know about Paix? Celestia’s husband?”
“Princess Celestia was married?” Button asked incredulously. “What?”
“I thought this was common knowledge! She didn’t exactly hide it…” Luna narrowed her eyes and cast a portal over to another part of the wreckage. She leapt through and trained her sights on new enemies that had lurked just outside her view.
“I’ve never heard anything about this before anywhere! What the tartarus?” Button exclaimed, sprinting toward a mech that was charging its laser rifle. “Do you know what this means?”
“It means that my sister is covering things up in history…” she muttered.
“It means that— wait, what?” Button took down the mech and spun around to cut through another with the sheer force of his physical blows.
Luna sighed. “I need to talk to her about this. Why would she hide Paix?”
“I have no idea,” he replied. “But hey, she must have had a good reason, right?”
“I suppose…” Luna fired three more shots and finished off the last of the shadowy creatures. “Button, can you get the loot? I’ll keep watch for any more mobs.”
“Can do!” Button turned toward the crashed ship and took to the air using his jetpack. Latching onto the side of the ship, he grabbed onto the thick armor plating and ripped outward. The strength of his augmented limbs bent the decaying metal, revealing another layer of protection. Button charged his cybernetics and struck downward with a cry. His strike broke through the ship, creating a hole through which he could see the corridors inside the wreckage. “Hey, Luna? Can you cast a portal through this?”
“Let me see…” The princess swooped over to him and glanced inside. “I’ll try.” She focused her chaotic energies on the darkened hallways. Concentrating on the far wall, she shaped the power into a portal and felt the spell activate. She turned around at cast the companion portal right behind them. “After you, my good sir.”
“Eh… it’s dark inside.” Button backed up. “What about ladies first, huh?”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Oh, so mister ‘I love the chivalry and gallantry’ won’t even go into battle in front of his marefriend?”
“Well, to be honest, my marefriend is kind of a badflank both in-game and out, so…” He winked at her. “I’m just kidding, Mem. Of course I’ll go first, although I fully expect to be repaid in kisses later.”
“Oh, you wish!” Luna nudged into him. “Hey, you called me ‘Mem’ again.”
“Whoops!” Button exclaimed. “Sorry. Old habits die hard, I guess.”
“Actually, you said you wanted to give me a nickname. Why don’t we just stick with Mem and Fade? Top secret pet names.” Luna walked beside him.
“That’s… a really good idea. I like it. Nopony will ever understand what we’re talking about!” Button chuckled as he made his character blow a kiss toward her. “Well then, Mem, let’s get going, shall we?”
“Lead onward, oh gallant knight.” The princess’ avatar stopped moving as she leaned sideways to kiss the stallion who sat beside her. “And maybe you can have some more later.”
“All righty then!” Button moved forward to enter the portal and—
>Private Message. Sender: Silver Feather: Mem, Fade! Base is under attack! We’re gonna hit the Red Legion! I need you two back at base ASAP!
A smile broke across Luna’s face as she heard the chime come from Button’s computer as well. “Oh my,” she said.
Button turned to her with a grin. “You heard that griffon! Let’s go kick some mercenary flank!” His character pulled a glowing golden box out of his saddlebag as he flew toward the ground. He dropped the object quickly and typed something on his control pad. A strong white light filtered from the device, and Luna saw a few words appear on her HUD.
>Accept teleport to base? y/n
Luna allowed herself a low chuckle as she pressed the ‘y’ button on her keyboard.
The world went dark, and the princess prepared herself for battle.
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I love these game sequences!
Now I want a picnic. And a milkshake. And a girlfriend.
Thanks a lot Doc.
...
...
...
Nothing I can say will upset you. You'll probably just say "okay with a smile and laughing emoji". I wonder if my death threats to you are even effective.
Looks like you win this round Doc.
This is just the kind of sappy happiness that I wanted to read tonight.
In fact, I probably should just stop reading now. Kind of hard to beat that for putting a smile on my face tonight.
...who is this griffon online?
...
...could it be? No no why would...
Button i swear by the stars you better not break lunas heart
I'm crossing my bony fingers for a Carnegie Porter cameo. He'd be so outrageously perfect for this story.
nerd love is the truest love there is.
Wait...
Griffon... Silver Feather...
Feathers make Quills
Griffons make Hippogriffs
Silver quill is a Hippogriff
ITS SPIKE
I want to play this game...
Does it have a pet class?
6452451
6452217 Me too, favorite part if I'm being totally honest.
6452451 face hoof
Whoo! New chapter! I agree with Luna. Button is a lovable idiot. And cute.
!!!!!
6452451 ILLUMINATE CONFERMED
BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAHAHHHHHH!!!!
The tidbit about Paix caught my curiosity. Still, the date between Button and Luna was adorable.
They. Are. So.... CUUUTTEE!!!!!!!!!!!
With all their kissin' and ice cweam, and wuvvy dubby pet names
This is gonna end in flames isnt it
6452610 Illuminate confirmed?
So, the lights are going to turn on soon.......
6452451 uhh... Interesting logic there. Could you explain it in more detail for me? (Also, if it were Spike, I think Luna would have noticed when they spoke through voice chat.)
6452515 I concur I would also like to play.
What inspired how this game works, and dose it have a real world counterpart in 2D or 3D format?
until some years ago i was also a mercenary in all kinds of online games ah good old times even admins were not able to stop me
edit:in some games i was a merchant at the same time which gave me in the games lots of game money
6452674
d.justpo.st/media/images/2013/06/1895616baf84ca8b72820481a156c6ac.gif
I fully expect it to hit the fan at full tilt.
Heeheehee, I love it! Awesome job, this is great!
Can't wait for more
I think Luna's more of a nerd then a dork.Also I think I speak for the readers when I say "Who the buck is Paix?"
Wow, Button, you sure know how to show a girl a good time!
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Emoticons/shrug_Luna_apple.png
So adorable! Seriously, I can't even. Great job!
So, Celestia's husband isn't known. Maybe she just didn't feel like promoting it at all times, and honors his memory privately?
After all, some things should be kept private.
Really is a great story so far.
"Or… we just chill here and play video games."
The game sequences are amazing, especially if you played any A title MMOs. I would ask what games inspired you, but really what your describing is at least two or three game generations more advance a than anything on today's market.
You haven't described it as a VR game, but the control flexibility your are describing is too the point that I almost would have expected it to be based on a 'full body motion' controller and VR headsets.
Most current MMOs you have basic cumpus directions (arrow or wasd keys mostly) and jump. With few exceptions most battle commands are button presses that trigger animations. (Well some of the wii and motion detection games can use body slash movements that mimic the action, but that is rare)
Yet in you description your describing physical actions, including the ability to control body parts as if they are puppeteering their avatars though all the motions of battle rather than triggering commands. That would be a great advancement in MMO controls.
The physics engine is amazingly details with how things break and the rubble can be weaponized.
Sorry I'm nerding out....I really want to play this game...somepony go an make it real :-)
hey just asking can you use a oc team im part off in your game sequence its just 3 of us.
but were the baddest oc team ever with 2 part demon ocs and a demo expert codenamed wolfpack.
just as a random payback rad on red legion for dissolving our clan after a raid so where hitting them constantly .
“Oh, stars. You have the oddest ideas, you goof.” Luna smirked at him.
“Hey, it’ll work! Plus, it might even be fun.” He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Luna felt heat rush to her face, and she had to raise a hoof up to her eyes. “I can’t believe that you said that!”
also my my my buttons an exibisonist
6453337 Please use punctuation. Please. It took me 4 read-throughs to understand what you were saying, and I'm usually good at understanding unpunctuated sentences.
6453418 kk il edit it been trying to improve grammer but its taking time that better
6453419 Second language?
6453440 no im just not used tho having to be grammilcly perfect
Aww damn! I'm caught up with the story now!
6452383
Honestly, it would be hilarious if General Chaput was a gamer as well. Not as a part of any plot, just a thing he does to relax. Then suddenly, oh hey, Luna.
I swear I wanna play this game!
And from what I'm noticing, it seems like a Minecraft/Halo/? mashup*shrugs*. Oh, and ponies too.
The adorable level just hit critical mass. We're all doomed.
I think I speak for all of us when I say that I have no idea how to pronounce Paix.
6453498 Add some fallout or rust to it as well.
6453498 Nope seems more like an MMORPG to me.
I was at the live writing session, and originally the author typed 'coltfried'.
I got mild amusement from that.
6453542
XD True. I say it "Payx"
SOMEONE BETTER MAKE THIS GAME A THING OR I WILL RIP OFF YOUR HEAD!
Now thats my kind of date, and I've said as much to a number of girls but they all seem to be washing their hair at the time.
6453498
It think its more like what Destiny was trying to be but couldn't do to game balancing issues/technology.
6453595 6453601 6453687
...Okay then.
6452796 OH CRUD! THEIR AFTER ME!!!
THE CONSPIRACY IS REAL! ITS REAL!!!