Your Faithful Student, Buggy Brush

by BUGFlower413

Chapter 11 - Playtime

Chapter 11: Playtime

“Is there really no more nightmares for us to deal with tonight? It’s barely midnight!”

“I know. It seems to be a rather peaceful night this time, way more than the usual.”

“Should we worry about that?”

The princess giggled.

“Not everything has to be a reason to worry about, Buggy Brush.”

“Heh, you’re right, sorry. It’s just that it’s the first time since I’ve been doing this that we finish the job so early. There’s a good amount of hours yet before sunrise.”

“Is not that something good?”

“I think so. What are we meant to do now, though? Is there anything else I could help you with?”

After thinking about the question for a moment, she shook her head from side to side.

“Oh…”

They kept walking down the castle hallways in silence, until Luna stopped and took an unexpected turn to another path Buggy had never gone through before. He stopped and looked at her, like waiting for an instruction from her to follow. She just pointed at the corridor with her eyes without saying a word.

“Where are we going, Princess?”

“You will see, my friend.”

That answer didn’t solve any doubt for him, but he continued following her as she had a confident smile on her face. Wouldn’t it be faster for them if Luna just teleported them there? That would probably ruin the expectation of the scenario though.

After some more turns and stairs, they reached a tall, elegant looking door with a moon symbol on the middle. He felt hesitant towards opening it, so he took a step back and looked at the Princess. She pushed the door with her magic revealing a dark room, dark enough for the unicorn to not be able to see anything besides from what the reflect of the light coming from the slightly less dark hallway fall upon. One of the few things he managed to see, and the one that caught his attention the most, was a huge, fancy moon-shaped bed. Luna walked into the room to the middle of it, lighting it a little with her horn.

“What is this place?” asked the unicorn.

“This is my bedroom, Buggy Brush.”

He blinked at her confused.

“Or, as I like to call it,” -she levitated a little remote and, pressing one of its buttons, turned on a big screen, showering the room in a dim, blue light- “my Recreational Sanctuary.”

He looked at the screen. It seemed like some kind of menu of a videogame console. Thanks to the screen’s lighting he was able to distinguish some other items of the room as well. A few drawers, some disks, cartridges and controllers. He saw at least 3 Game Colts on the floor, some empty cans of cola and a dark, purple hoodie. Luna took off her crown and the rest of her royal regalia and levitated the hoodie towards her.

Once she put on her hoodie, she walked towards some of the group of disks. She picked one and put it into the console, then sat down in front of the screen, grab one of the controllers and connected a second one. She turned to her assistant and patted the spot next to her for him to sit.

“What are you waiting for?”

“I… don’t know. I’m just confused.”

She giggled.

“Since we still have some hours before morning, I thought it would be nice to just enjoy of some relaxation and fun. The last couple of weeks has been filled with exhausting nights, I think we have earned it.”

“I think you’re right. It’s just that…” -he walked towards her in a shy manner- “Me, your assistant, being here in your room. This seems kind of… I don’t know, personal? Like I shouldn’t be here?”

He sat next to her and picked up the other controller, looking at her instead of at the screen.

“I have not invited anypony here before aside from my sister. Not because it is something I am embarrassed about, I am not, but because this is kind of my special place. I wanted to share it with you.”

She turned at him.

“Unless you do not feel comfortable with it?”

“No no, I do. I really do.”

She replied with a warm smile which he also returned, then the both of them looked at the screen.

“Besides, I think you will like this game.”

The menu of the game showcased 7 ungulates of different species and some shadowy creatures. It seemed like some kind of fighting game. Buggy wasn’t really that much into the fighting genre, yet the artstyle certainly caught his attention.

“Have you ever played it before?”

“No, but I think I’ve heard of it at some point. It seems fun.”

“And it is.”

Luna selected a dragon-looking character as her fighter while Buggy picked a unicorn whose general vibe and curved horn reminded him of one of his friends. He had no idea how to play, so he asked Luna all the doubts he had while they fought their first match, quickly grasping most of the mechanics of it. At some point during their third match, the unicorn felt something pulling his tail and it made him jump. Luna paused the game as the two turned to see what it was. It was a little, friendly looking possum. The Princess softly put her controller down as she opened her hooves to hug the little creature.

After a few seconds, Buggy recognized the little animal too.

“Oh, so this must be Tiberius, right?”

Luna nodded and the possum looked at the unicorn with curiosity.

“Hi little guy! It’s nice too finally meet you, Princess Luna has told me a lot about you. I’m Buggy Brush.”

The possum walked towards him and, trying to mimic what she did before, the unicorn opened his hooves to hug Tiberius, who jumped at him, accepting the hug solicitation.

“Heh heh, you’re fluffy.”

“I think he likes you.”

The possum walked towards his mother again and settled himself over her starry mane. Luna then picked her controller again and, asking Buggy if he was ready, resumed the game.

After their sixth match, the alicorn’s stomach was grumbling, so she paused the game once again, went to one of her drawers and retrieved three bags of snacks, opened them and poured them all into a bowl she then placed in front of them so they could eat as they play.

“So, have you been enjoying this?”

“The game?”

“No. Being my nighttime assistant.”

“Yeah!” -he levitated some snacks- “It can get a little exhausting sometimes, but I have really been enjoying it a lot.”

“I am glad to hear that then.”

“It feels really rewarding to be able to help all those ponies with their fears, especially when some of them turn out to be some of my friends.”

“Oh, how many times have you came across your friends during your missions?”

He tried to remember.

“I think no more than 4 times. I’ve came across my friend June at least twice, and I’ve came across Zweet Beatz once, then the next night I went into her dream again just to check on her.”

“That is really considerate of you.”

“Thank you.”

They went back to silence, with just the sound of the buttons, the game, and the snacks in their mouths filling the room. It didn’t last long as Buggy broke the ice one minute after with a question of his own.

“Have you been enjoying it?”

“Of course I have!”

“Am I really helping you much with this? Do you think I’m doing a nice job?” he asked in a lower, doubtful tone.

Without pausing the game, nor either of them breaking eye contact with the screen, Luna began talking in a reassuring voice.

“Buggy Brush, you are doing a more than excellent job. While you still have a lot of things to learn, the help and support you have given me, both have made dealing with nightmares a lot easier and, sometimes, even a litttle funner.”

“For real?”

“Yes. I should have listened to my sister long ago all the times she suggested me to get an assistant.”

He looked at her with a smile for a second, forgetting they were still playing and the game was unpaused, when…

“Hey! That was cheating!”

“No, it was not. You got distracted,” she responded with a smirk on her face.

“But you distracted me!”

“You asked me the question.”

“Because you asked me one first!”

Luna laughed.

“Stop whining and accept your defeat.”

“C’mon, cut me some slack! I’m still learning how to play and you have already beaten me seven times!”

“Have you been keeping count?”

“Yeah! So I know how many times I have to beat you for us to be even.”

“Like if that was ever going to happen,” she replied in a sassy, confident tone that Buggy took as a challenge.

“Oh ho ho, that sounds like a war declaration to me.”

A malicious grin took place on her face.

“You are so on.”

The two of them kept playing for a while, but with a serious feeling of competition now on the air. Friendly competition, of course, occasionally picking on each other as friendly banter. Even the little possum seemed to have gotten fully into the action of the game. After about an hour and a half, they stopped for a break.

“Counter?”

“You 14, me 5.”

She broke into laughter.

“Yeah, laugh now. This isn’t over yet, buddy. After this break, I won’t hold anything back!”

“What? You want me to beat up you even more, you say?” she managed to say between her laughter.

“Ha ha, very funny. We will see who laughs last.”

Once she calmed down, she sat again, wiping a tear caused by the intense laughter, then levitated another bag of snacks and poured it into the now almost-empty bowl, also bringing 2 cans of soda.

While they rested, Buggy took the chance to look around Luna’s room, now spotting something he didn’t notice before. In one of the walls there was drawing he quickly recognized. It was the drawing of her he sent her in one of his letters many moons ago. He couldn’t help but to smile at that.

“Thank you, Buggy.”

He looked at her, still smiling.

“I do not get to do this kind of things so often, and it has been really fun playing with you.”

“Even when I’m bad at the game?”

They shared a laugh.

“You are not bad, you are still learning.”

He looked down at his controller.

“Thank you for inviting me, Princess Luna.”

“I said it before, and I will say it again. You can just call me Luna.”

“Ok then, Luna.”

She smiled at him.

“So, are you ready for round 2?”

“Damn yeah, I am! Are you ready though?”

“To beat you up once more? You can count of that!”

“Oh, we’re about to see that!”

They both engaged into their gaming position once again.

Author's Note: