Mooning the Game

by BattleCat311

Tinkle Shine

Act 1.3
Once I opened the door I stared in wide-eyed shock at the absolutely messed up Mare in front of me. My mind came to a halt at the sheer amount of mess all over her.

At first, I hadn’t even recognized Twinkle Heart under all the stains and hardened goo all over her coat. But when I did I nearly fell into a panic.

“Sweet Celestia, Twinkle what happened to you? You look like…” I keep from saying anything else when I notice some tears in the corner of her eyes. I quickly get out of the door frame and let her in.

All over Twikeshines pink mane and Eggshell coat were dozens of multicolored stains. They all still looked wet and some even dripped onto my cheap carpet. Among the stains were dozens of small clumps of gloop, some of them looked hard some of them looked soft. I had to spare some pity for her since pulling hardened goop (or whatever it is) out of your coat can be a nightmare and it often lingered for weeks. Chaffing at your skin till it drives you mad.

[A new Quest has been issued]

[A friend in Need]

[One of your old Foalhood friends has suffered a no good very bad day. In her distraught emotional state, she somehow found her way to your door and is now on the verge of a nervous breakdown. You may choose to either aide your friend at this time or Turn her away.]

Clearly, I wasn’t going to just kick her out the door looking like this. I’m anti-social not a Damed monster.

Trotting over slowly to twinkle I noticed she looked very unsteady on her hooves and if I was judging her composure right she might not even be too aware of what was going on around her.

“Twinkle… Twinkleshine…um...What happened?” I asked her, But she didn’t respond.

I haven't really been keeping up with Tiwnkleshine or the rest of the girls after we all graduated. Before then we had all been, maybe not the closest, but good friends. We hung out and played at least once a week and often helped each other with the school. I was always a busy mare and right after Graduating, I had even less time to hang out than before. So we naturally drifted apart.

That didn’t mean I was going to leave her like this.

Come on brian think of something to help. Does Mabey offer some food? No that was a terrible idea she was filthy, not hungry.

“I.. Was…Rain.. Then He. Hiug* and…candy..*hig*”

Slowly the mare started to break down in the middle of my living room. Faint and controlled sobs quickly got louder and messier as she fell down to her knees, her face crashing into my couch cushions.

I think all my hair stood on end at that as I quickly looked around for something to help her.

‘Ok think what did sister used to do when I was feeling blue? Um, Cookies, Milk? Hugs?‘

Figuring there was nothing else I could do, I sat down next to the mare and gave her a hug from behind. It was awkward and strange but she quickly latched onto me with a deceivingly strong vice-like grip.

‘Don’t panic don’t panic, Just keep hugging her, Sweet Celestia that’s a tight grip, I’m going to pass out if she keeps squeezing me like this.’ I think as her hooves trap my neck in an iron grip.

After what felt like hours Twinkle exhausted herself from crying. The poor mare's head drooped down into the land of dreams. I didn’t want her to sleep awkwardly or accidentally vomit the wrong way and die from asphyxiation.

That is a thing, right? Yeah, I think I read that somewhere.

Picking up the sleeping mare I struggle to move her over to the couch. Her body weight was so heavy I had to drag her more than hold her.

[STR 2] Strength Check FAILED

‘PSST, NOT HELPING’ I whisper shout to Shady as I unload I give up using my hooves and use my horn instead.
I then run around the house looking for a blanket. Soon slapping my muzzle as I realize it was in the chair next to the couch.

“And here I thought my intelligence was my best feature, but in reality i’m a dumb ass.” I grumble as I pulled the blanket over Twinkle, trying to make her comfortable.

I made sure she was as comfortable as I could make her without giving her a shower. Theirs no way I’m going to be able to drag her into the shower let alone a bath.

I sat down at my coffee table.

I glanced over at the clock and balked. “8:30 am, It’s only 8:30 in the morning!? But it feels like the whole days past by. If this keeps up I’m going to have a heart attack by lunchtime.”

[Nope, Thanks to [Gamers Mind] and [Body] your incapable of having so much as cold let alone a heart attack.]

“Wait what? How does that work? Am I… immortal now?” I ask with a lot of confusion. This was totally going to wreak havoc with how I understood my body. I’m also feeling a little violated that my whole biology was now different.

[Far from it. While [Gamer's Body] will heal you from everything with a good night's sleep, there are rules and limits. The first one being that if your HP goes down to 0 it’s game over. Second, you can still be hurt and feel pain. But they will mostly go away quickly and a good night's sleep will even give you back your limbs. While you can not get sick conventionally you will get sick if the disease is implemented in the form of an attack on you. So you won't catch a cold from a friend but if a death wizard cast the plague on you it will have an effect. That kind of attack will be based on your constitution.]

“I guess that’s good to know, But before I dive into that rabbit hole, please tell me you didn’t have anything to do with Twinkle’s situation” I didn’t want to even contemplate the idea that I might be responsible for Twikleshine being in this mess. But I do have to consider the possibility that Shady is more malicious than he seems.
If it could completely change how my body worked then causing my friends some bad luck could be possible as well.

[Nope! 9) . Her problems were already going on. I just tipped fate a bit so that she stumbled onto your door instead of strangers. You're welcome! Keep in mind I’ll only be throwing situations at you not necessarily creating them. That’s like, WAAAYYY too much work.”]

A little reassured that my new…partner? Wasn’t causing my friends and family grief. SInce I didn’t have a way to test if that was true or not either I’d have to just believe her for now.

I’d still like to do something more to make sure Twinkle was OK. At least physically.

Looking over at my bookcase full of knowledge and spells I know I don’t have anything more than the most basic of diagnostic spells in there.

But I guess they're better than nothing.

Leaving behind Twinkle I search my shelves for the book I needed.

Eventually finding the spell I needed in an old book called [Basic’s of First Aid, A Unicorn’s Guide to basic first aid]
[You have found a skill book. INT is high enough to learn skills. Do you wish to learn Basic First Aid Skill?]
“Um, Sure?”I said in confusion as I thought I already knew first aid.

The book bust into a cloud of sparkle dust as the book disappeared from my grip.
Startled I stepped back and tripped landing on my flank hard.

I was about to yell at Shady for startling me AGAIN! But before I could I felt something…odd in my head.

It was strange. It felt like the book was now in my head and now I could just read it in their rather than in reality. Which was a lot easier since I could read it at the speed of thought now rather then the speed of comprehension. It was very disconcerting.

Now knowing the spell I needed to use I got up off my flank and walked over to Twinkle Shine to cast a simple diagnostic spell. It was a complicated bit of magic to cast and was only invented a couple of decades ago. It did a relatively deep scan into a person's body but only gave you enough information to tell you they were safe or not. A clever way to preserve patient privacy without sacrificing function.

“Hmm, Nothing seems to be too bad. A couple of bruises around her hooves. Most likely from not watching where she was going. A small cut around her ankle that a bandage should cover.” I mumbled to myself as I made sure that nothing else was bothering Twinkle.

Thankfully there was nothing worse than a few small bruises she probably won’t even feel.

Meaning that most of the damage was….emotional.

‘OH, sweet Celestia it’s going to get so awkward when she wakes up.’

Even with her sleeping, I knew I couldn’t just leave her all by herself, even if I had work to do.

So I walked into my home office/workshop and levitated all the paperwork I was meaning to catch up on. Usually, it was left alone to gather dust till the very last minute, but it was the only thing I could possibly do that wouldn’t be too loud.

I don’t think I know anypony that actually likes to do Paperwork. Even the ponies who have a cutie mark in paperwork usually just get it done better and faster. Didn’t mean they actually enjoyed it.

So I trudged threw my paperwork. Deliveries, invoices, and bills are all handled relatively easily.

However, something strange happened as I was looking over one order for some stallion that requested a pair of enchanted training spears. A deep sense of wrongness and strangeness passed threw me as I examined the slightly crumpled parchment.

Choosing to trust this feeling I parse over the document once more to examine it for anything that shouldn’t be in it.

After a few seconds of perusing the document, I scrunch my muzzle up in puzzlement.

The royal seal of Equestria had been placed on this document. A well-known design of a regal alicorn taking flight. I had seen it hundreds of times during my time at Celestias school and it wasn’t uncommon to see it used throughout the city. Most guards, stewards, and other ponies of note used it as a stamp of authenticity when making orders or purchases on behalf of the crown.

However, this one seems a bit off. The wings were not quite right, the horn a bit too long. Easily something missed at first glance but noticeable on a second look.

Thinking back on the stallion that had made this order, I didn’t remember seeing anything strange about him. Tho if Shady was to be believed about the Charisma skills I might be tricked by a couple of foals wearing a trench coat.

Clearly, this stamp was a forgery! A FAKE. Meaning that whoever was ordering the spears didn’t have the proper certificates or authority to buy them legally so they had forged the royal seal. And considering the Certificate of weapon ownership wasn’t hard to get the stallion was either a criminal or smuggler.

I wondered for a moment if i should just hand this over to the guards so they could deal with him themselves of if I should somehow confront the stallion myself?
I pondered on this while looking over the rest of my form for more nefarious errors.

However, I was swiftly and abruptly distracted by the soft sounds of groaning emanating from my couch.

Magicking away the annoying paperwork I rushed over to Twinkle. Thrashing and bumping against most of my furniture on the way and knocking over a cup full of ink.

“Twinkle? Twinkle?” I shout as I kneel down next to the couch as Twinkle shakes herself awake.

“Twinkie! Thank goodness you woke up. You were all wet, and iky and crying and i didn’t know what to do! So I let you sleep on the couch. I also ran a quick First aid scan to make sure you are ok. Witch you are. Physically at least. Mentally you might still be a wreck.”

[Cha Check Failed]

‘NOT NOW’ I think at Shady as I start to fuss over Twinkle.

“WU..? Where am i?” Twinkle asked in confused grogginess as she started to cast off the final dregs of sleep.

“You're at my house. You knocked on the door this morning looking soo unsanitary. What happened Twinkle?’ I ask as I kneel by her side.

Twinkle stares at me uncomprehendingly for a while. It got very awkward as she just stayed still until I started to see some more tears start to prick at her Cyan eyes.

“Oh, That all happened. It wasn’t just a nightmare?” Twinkle whispered so softly I almost missed it.

Feeling Very awkward again I really wanted to get out of this conversation. Searching for anything and everything that could keep Twinkle from falling into tears again. I pick up a half-finished bottle of Apple Blood and tried to offer it.

“Heh, Um, You must be thirsty or something. Want Drink?” I stutter out as I hold up the bottle.

[Cha Check Failed]

‘WHY, JUST WHY?’’

I watched as Twinkle dug herself further down into my couch as she tried to wrap her hooves around herself. Only to wince at the feeling of the dried goop tearing off the couch with a snapping sound. Or at least some of it since I could see some of the multicolored goop was still stuck on the couch with strands of Twinkles coat and mane mixed in.

That could not have been painless.

“Um….Would you like to ..maybe use my shower? I know it’s not that big or half as good as you're used to but you are covering my couch in…whatever that is.” I said, unknowingly helping and harming my own situation by making myself look like a jerk but also motivating Twinkle into getting up to avoid being rude.

“I..Yes… I Could use a shower before the candy sets in. Thank you MoonDancer. Where was the shower again?” Twinkle said as she tried to get off the couch.

Only to fall back onto it with a large ‘Oomf’ as the sticky candy refused to let her get up.

“Hmm, I should have a spell for this. Just stay still for a minute while I heat the Candy around you.” I said as I quickly cast the spell onto the couch. With a small shimmer of blue aura, the candy started to loosen as my spell heated the now named candy around twinkle.
It wasn’t much but it was enough for Twinkle to peel herself from the couch.

As twinkle tore herself from the couch she quickly darted towards the direction of the bathroom. The couch was never going to be the same again. There were large tears in it now and multiple colorful splotches and bits of hardened goo now stuck to the edges. Maybe I could fix it but it was going to be a major pain in my flank.

Once I heard the sound of running water from the shower and a soft yelp I realized I never told Twinkle it takes a minute for the hot water to come threw.

I shrugged, figuring that Twinky had more important things to worry about.

As Twinkle struggled with my subpar shower I had an idea.

“Hey, shady. What kind of spells can I Artifice?” I asked as an idea popped into my head with how to help.

Shady pulled up a list of all the available spells that I know and some I never even heard of that I could currently use. Some of them were downright useless. In what situation would I even need a light object to float only 1 foot off the ground?

But there are a few that showed some potential.

Scrolling threw the spell list I levitate my spell notebook to myself and begin writing a new diagram and spell chart as my idea begins to solidify.
“Ok, so if I take Ember and Prestidigitation and run them threw spell coloration and then try tinkering with a Hairbrush and then use a bit of Enchanting to bridge the gap…” I mumble as my hooves begin to work.
Grabbing one of my spare hairbrushes and a few enchanting regents I begin to tinker with the brush in my hooves.

After the first few minutes, the brush breaks in my hooves as I fail miserably as I realized I miscalculated the heat threshold of the brush. But I'm in the zone.

I grabbed another brush and tried tinkering again.

A small smile crept across my face at the bits of magic I was casting began to take hold.

[Congradualtions on Creating your first artifact!]
[You have created a [Heated Hairbrush of cleaning] By combining elements from unicorn magic, Artificer spells, and a dash of enchanting you made a Brush that should be able to clean off even the foulest of stains from your hair.]

[Not what I expected to be your first creation but it’s rather impressive considering you don’t have the [Imbue item] spell and yet still managed to bull threw it.]

Now that I made my first artifact ideas were flooding my brain about what else I could build. I’d need to buy a whole new notebook and sets of quills just to fit them all.

But for now, I walked over to my couch and ran the brush softly threw the damaged fibers.
At first, it was still hard going but then I could see as the stains with hardened goop began to give and disappear. Even the tears from when Twinkle had pulled herself out of the couch were starting to mend.

“Yes. That was so much easier than making a normal enchantment. And took way less time. If I can master this I could start churning out some really impressive items. Or at least save a ton on enchanting reagents. I better get this to Twinkle for now. Getting hard candy out of her fur’s got to be murder.”

I've only had a few instances where gum got stuck to the coat of my hooves and it had been a nightmare each time to get them off. Getting hardened candy out of your soft fur coat and main must be horrible.

It’s a real shame too because Twinkle Shine had a very beautiful and shiny dark white coat and the most vibrant bubblegum pink main. Twink was very proud of her Mane. She wasn't quite as fashion-focused and proper as Leamon Heart. Tho few ponies were. But it was still something she could be proud of.

So if this could help her get some stains out without having to cut pieces of candy out of her main and coat then I was glad to help.

It also helped I could probably sell this enchantment for a nice profit.

Getting off my knees I left the still stained but much better couch behind. I made my short walk over to the bathroom door and knocked on it a few times to get Twinkle's attention.

It took a couple of tense moments for twinkle to open the door.

With a brief look inside I could see all my towels strewn around the place with multicolored stains on them as well. I suppose I can use them later to run some tests on the brush.

“Hey, Twinkle. um… Here, use this brush. I enchanted it to help get the candy and stains out of your coat. I don’t think the towels are going to be very helpful on their own. Just pass it threw your coat a few times and it should get even the worse stains and clumps out.” I said to Twinkle who grabbed the rush in her magic.

She looked down momentarily and blushes as she realized that she completely ruined all my towels.

With a quick thank you she closed the door and went back to trying to clean herself.

I decided that now would be a good time to make some coffee or tea. It should help smooth things over and get Twinkle ready to talk.

“I wonder if I can fiddle with the tea kettle too?”

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Why didn't you respond to my comment?

[ClutchNixon]

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[martsteven]

There the heading on the website refers to something that is all about Mooning the Game, so if you think this was what you need to know regarding the gaming stuff then that would be best for many reasons. Explore more on Nft games as these are what many kids are interested into.

[Einherjarr]

Such a good start, too bad it looks to be dead. Any chance of a revival?