Equestrian Earth: Team Solar Moon

by Tyrant Molestia

Making Friends and Enemies Alike

Chapter Four

Making Friends and Enemies Alike

I looked at Heks Blad as little as I could. Lyra kept giving her a glare here and there when she noticed that I had been ogling at Heks every time she spoke. If I had known this was going to happen I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed this morning. Then again, I would have still been here due to the fact that we played this game while we were sleeping. I talked to Twitch more so I wouldn’t have to look in Heks’ direction. Twitch seemed to have a bit of fear for Heks Blad, as if she was a threat to everything he knew. I thought the notion was ridiculous but kept it to myself so as to avoid any confrontations.

We were welcomed into the shop with open hooves, everypony had saw the whole thing through the windows in the store and believed us to be the most awesome players ever. Twitch seemed the most happy about this whilst Heks was the one who thought it was a pointless gesture. “It makes no difference who killed the Roc, as long as it’s now dead.”

The lower leveled players only grew more attached to her when she said this, apparently earning the eyes of a few stallions and even a mare who seemed a bit shy when trying to approach her. Heks Blad looked more comfortable with the mare rather than the stallions and they must have seen that too as they went towards Bon Bon instead much to the dismay of Twitch, who gazed on at the scene with the eyes of a love-torn puppy.

Big Mac, as usual, just took everything in strides. I don’t think anything bothers him. A few mares came up to him to ask for his autograph much to his surprise. Of course, this got Twitch involved as he shouted that he should be giving autographs too. However, the mares just backed up and hid from the over excentric bug pony. I stifled a small chuckle at his expense and turned away real quick when he swung his head towards me. I don’t think he noticed it was me though.

Bon Bon was busy teaching some of the younger ponies the basics of...something. Honestly, I didn’t have a freaking clue what she was talking about but they seemed to like it. She should have been a teacher with how much she enjoys showing others how to do things.

Lyra was busy...oh no. No no no no no. She was talking to Heks Blad. Oh no, they’re giggling! Giggling is bad when it’s between your new marefriend and a mare you think is cute, right? Yeah, I think it’s bad. It must be. Oh sweet Celestia, they’re looking at me. They’re looking at me while giggling. Oh no. This is bad. What are they talking about? Do I really want to know? I think I do but I’m afraid to find out. I look back towards Bon Bon only to see her walking in Lyra and Heks’ direction. Maybe she can get them to stop? Wait. What is she doing? No. She’s starting to giggle too. Oh crap, this is bad.

...What do I do? I think I should talk to someone about this. No wait. I shouldn’t talk to anypony about this. They would laugh at me. Then they would laugh at the fact that I tried to talk to someone about it. My stallionhood would be at stake! Can’t risk my stallionhood. Okay then, I’ll ignore this and everything will be fine. Wait, why are they walking this way? Oh no. They must want to tell me what they were talking about. I don’t want to talk about it. They had to of been making fun of me, right? Was it my cutie mark? Is it not good? Am I a waste of space?! Okay maybe not that, but why? Oh mane, they’re right in front of me! When did they get here? How did they get here? Oh right. They walked. I saw that.

“Hey, Nubs.” Lyra looked at Heks real quick with a giggle. This is bad.

“...Yes?” I asked with no hesitation in my obviously not shaking voice.

“Who do you think is cuter? Me, Bon Bon, or Heks Blad?” It’s one of those questions?! Oh, bucking, fucking Tartarus. My life is over. I’m about to die by at least two of these mares if I don’t answer right.

“...Uh.” She raises an eyebrow. ‘Oh no, not the raised eyebrow. Oh crap am I screwed!’

I put a hoof up to her. “How about you hold that question until I get back. From the restroom! Yeah, I really need to go, so uh, hold that thought okay?” ‘Smooth. Now I just need to find the...crap. We’re in a video game. We don’t need to use the restroom while in a game. Bon Bon pointed that out earlier when Twitch asked about it. Stupid brain.’

She looked at Heks and then Bon Bon. They all giggled. I think I’m screwed. Yep, I’m totally screwed.

“Well, okay then. When you get back from the restroom, just answer the question.” She practically giggled through the whole sentence. ‘Wait, she bought it? This is good, right? Okay, so now I just log off and go. To the bathroom. I am a stallion of my word after all. Never said what I would do there though...’

~~~~~

Lyra’s POV

“That was so awesome! Did you two see the way Nubs squirmed?” I couldn’t help but feel giddy over our little prank. I always loved the feel of pranking others and seeing their reactions. I’ve always wanted to get in on Rainbow and Pinkie’s prank days but they always seemed to take it as a challenge to a prank war and I kinda don’t like how it usually ends.

“Oh that was good.” Heks giggled. I was kinda jealous of how Nubs seemed to be attracted to her and not to me but then I found out she was only into mares, so I guess I can say that my position in being his marefriend is safe.

Bon Bon just stood there and smirked at us. “You two are such little foals at times,” She glanced back at where Nubs had been moments before. “But in this case I think I can make an exception on whether it was called for or not.”

“I can’t wait to hear what his answer will be.” I giggled again at the situation we put Nubs in.

“It shall be one of the most amusing things I have heard. I just know it.” Heks said, her laughter replaced by a loopy grin. I wonder why she seems to change her moods and expressions so fast. Then again, it may not be a good idea to ask her. Bon Bon would have a fit at me being nosy again.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Heks Blad. Or should I say WitchLeaf?” A somewhat gruff and deep voice sounded out. The three of us turned towards the door to see who it was, although Heks had a look that made me think she already knew. The voice came from a Pegasus that looked a bit like he had a fight with a tanning bed and lost. He was a dark sunburst shade of yellow and his mane was tan orange. I took a quick glance at his cutie mark to see that it showed a raven holding a sword. I want to say it looked like it was getting ready to swoop down but I also looked like it was fleeing.

Heks took on a scowl as the mystery pony made his way over to us. “Go fuck yourself, Raven.” She spat with more venom than I think a cobra has.

“Whoa, Little Leaf. Don’t get nasty when we have guests. Friends of yours, I assume? Do they know of your...dealings?”

“They know what they know now leave or I’ll make you leave.”

“Meh. You’re just mad that your old marefriend found that the straight path is the only way to go. With a good looking stallion no less.” He gave off a smirk at that last line. I didn’t like his attitude or cockiness. It reminded me of my old... Nevermind.

“Why are you even here, Raven?” She replied. “I highly doubt that General Web permitted this.” General Web? What kind of name is that?

Raven frowned at the name. “What’s it matter to you why I’m here? And besides, that asshole doesn’t boss me around here. I bet he’s sitting on his ass right now, just drinking his problems away.”

“Don’t talk about him like that! You know that father hasn’t even touched a bottle in years!” Heks shouted gaining the attention of everypony in the room. She tried to fight back some tears only to fail as a couple slipped past her. “What kind of son are you? To outright lie and talk bad about your own flesh and blood, it’s disgraceful. What would Mother sa-”

“Don’t talk about Mother!” Raven snapped making Bon Bo and I back off a step. Heks just stood her ground, waiting for him to finish. “You have no right to speak of her. You may be her little angel but I know what you really are. You are nothing but a teef. A teef and hoer!”

Heks glowered at Raven, I could almost feel her anger radiating off of her. I looked at Twitch and saw him struggling to stand, also looking at Raven in pure hatred I didn’t even know he had. I turned my attention back to Heks and Raven, just as she was about to say something. “Raven aanbidder, jij bent een schande voor Moeders geheugen!”

Raven just stood there, apparently shocked at whatever Heks Blad had said to him. Everypony else had a look of confusion on their face, trying to figure out the meaning of those words. As I was about to trot up to Heks I stopped as she raised a hoof in the air. She had even more tears streaming down her face and torrent of emotions flashed in her eyes as she brought her hoof down onto Raven.

*SMACK!* The sound echoed around the room and all other sounds stopped as it was heard. I looked on in horror as I saw flecks of red hit the floor from Heks Blad’s hoof. On her face was nothing but sheer rage and disgust for the stallion in front of her. “When you have finished up here you are to meet me at home.”

Raven looked at Heks in despair and then hung his head. “Very well, Sister. I shall see you at home.” After he said that, Raven logged off. ...Wait. Sister?

Again, I tried to move towards Heks but was stopped by a voice from the entrance of the building. “That boy gets in more trouble than a mouse goes for cheese.” The voice was owned by a grey stallion looking to be about fifty years old. That’s older than my dad! He had charcoal black mane that was turning into a lighter shade in some places and highlighted his dark blue eyes. His cutie mark was a... Well it kinda looked like some map you would see in a military base and the city on the map looked kinda like a spider web? Well, that’s kinda weird.

“Daddy?!” Heks turned her head in confusion but lit up and squee’d at the sight of the stallion. She ran up to him and tackled him to the ground.

“D’aww,” I heard to my left as Bon Bon trotted up to me. “Isn’t that adorable?”

All I could was smile and nod.

“Heks, my baby. How are you?” He said, a soft sad smile on his face.

“I’m alright. I was just telling Raven off.” She took on a scowl at this.

He gave a sigh, as if he expected something like this. “Of course. Heks don’t worry about him. I’ll take care of it when I get off of work tonight.” Wait...he’s working?

“Alright, daddy.” She started to look back but froze and looked like she was scrolling on something.

“Heks?” I wouldn’t say I was worried but I was a little concerned at the very least.

She gave a sigh and looked back at us. “Sorry, girls. I have to go. Chaotic needs me to scan an area for a hacker’s code. I’ll catch you all later.” She pulled out a weird orb and it began to glow along with her, then in a flash she was gone.

I being the best at saying things said the only thing I could. “Well, that happened.”

~~~~

Noble’s POV

When I logged back on I noticed two things. First, my friends were talking to some random old guy. Second, Heks was gone. I mean, it’s not like it mattered. She probably had things to do, but still.

“Hey, Noble is back! Hey, bro!”

“Ugh, Hi Twitch.” I put my head down in annoyance. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy to death, but sometimes you just have too much going on in one day, you know? Yeah, anyway... “Who’s this guy?” I nodded my head towards the grey looking stallion with the spider web looking Cutie Mark.

“The name’s General Web, welp. I think I deserve some more respect from the new leader of my organization.” He said with a bit of a gleam in his eye.

“Wait, your organization? You’re The Legendary Strategist?!” To say I was shocked is an insult to the mere word.

“Well, looks like somepony knows me pretty darn well. My rep must have only improved since I retired.” He gave a smug grin. “I honestly thought Princess Celestia would have disbanded my little group after I left. Looks like I owe her a thank you cake.” He chuckled at his own joke.

“Wow,” Twitch looked at me in expectancy. “So can we keep him?”

“What?” Everypony looked at Twitch and his lost mind. He just gave a sheepish grin.

~~~~

So, apparently, General Web was the father of Heks Blad. I mean, who knew? ...Everypony but me, obviously. I think they like me being in shock. It must make their lives so much better. ...Makes mine hell.

“So there I was, surrounded on all sides by these four dragons and they all try to breath their own element right? Well I dodge two of them who were breathing out fire and lightning. Nasty business those two elements, and I get hit with the ice breath and get frozen to the cave floor. Now I’m sitting here thinking ‘wasn’t there a fourth?’ and I see the fourth one hacking up a lung. I point at him saying ‘hey your buddy is choking!’ and they all look, so I take my chance and I try to get loose. Now one of them gets bored seeing the fourth one coughing up a storm and looks over at me. It just so happens that she didn’t even want to be there, and she breaths fire where the ice was and I start to run. Now, the other two dragons notice this and...”

“Wait, You fought four dragons at once?” Twitch asked in bewilderment.

General Web snorted in amusement. “Eeyup. All by my lonesome. “Twas about twenty years ago if I recall. Nasty amount of distrust between dragons and ponies back then. Even more so than ponies and griffons.”

Twitch frowned, deep in thought for once. “Why is everypony racist?” This got the attention of nearly all the players in the room.

General Web rubbed his chin in thought. “Well, I suppose it has something to do with how not everypony can live in harmony. Some prefer to be alone and others tend to stick to the familiar. It’s just how we are. There is no way around it. I hope we can overcome that particular flaw though. I know a few nice Griffons where I’m from. Even met a few Changelings. They were a right lively bunch.” He laughed at that. “They sure know how to make a party last though! I wasn’t sure who was who by the time it ended.”

I looked around the room, noticing that some of the other players had their heads held down in shame. ‘Maybe we can move past this flaw.’ I thought before turning to Web. “Well, have you ever had to deal with the king of dragons?” I asked with a smirk.

“Does dealing with his wife count?” He asked with a chuckle. “She was a real pain. I swear, if it wasn’t for the king she would have had her way ten times over.” He blinked at all the either disgusted or dumbfounded expressions in the room. “Hay, She was a good looking dragon...Just a bit too rough.” He took a bottle out of his inventory and took a swig. “Ahh yeah, that’s the stuff.

“So, what’s the plan for your little group now?” He looked at me.

“Well, we were here to see about some ‘big deal’ here, but then we saw it was being attacked by all sorts of mobs.” I shrugged. “Took them out with a bit of team effort.”

Web nodded. “That’s the way the Director of The Secret Service should act. Never forget that.” I noticed out of the corner of my eye that some of the ponies were shocked to hear about the organization, but I just inwardly shrugged it off. They wouldn’t really care about that kind of stuff.

“And as for the big deal? It’s a sale on enchanted weapons. Half off for the day.” He smirked. “I bet they have some nice axes for sale.”

I looked around and I saw that some of the players did have some amazing weapons.

“Is that what I think it is?!” Twitch rushed over to the counter and started drooling over some red gauntlets.

“What did ya find Twitch?” I called over to him. Hell, if he’s going to get something I might as well learn what he’s getting into... For the team and certainly not because they were cool looking Gauntlets.

...Shut up.

“Changeling Speed Gauntlets!” He yelled back, his enthusiasm completely apparent.

I looked at him in confusion as I trotted over. “Say what, now?”

“Changeling Speed Gauntlets. They make a changeling’s transformation faster, as well as having a slight power boost to their strongest form!” He exclaimed, obviously having done excessive research on it.

“How do you know that?”

“I used to be Queen Chrysalis’ Personal Expert on Praetorians, remember? They used these on their missions. Oh, dude! I would look so cool in full Praetorian Armor!” He squealed in delight. I backed away from him while he did this. Twitch tended to get..huggy when he gets excited.

“Yeah... Okay then, you get that and I’m going to browse the store for...something not here next to you.” I high-tailed it away from him, not caring if I was getting strange looks or not. I was not going to be hugged.

After a small uh... trot away from Twitch, I began to look around at all the different things on display. I saw a Helmet or regeneration, though I could use it due to my class. I saw a Cowl of Conquest... I couldn’t even tell what it did. I then paused as I saw something that immediately caught my eye.

“No way.” I breathed out. Right in front of me was something I never thought I would see. An actual Olde Age Archer’s Bow. The designing was flawless. The way it swirled slightly at the edges to give it a smooth look, the small bit of gloss on the shaft, making it shine in the light.

“You just going to stare and drool or you going to buy the dang thing?” I was broken out of my stupor to see the owner looking at me.

“Uh...how much?” I asked,pointing at the most amazing bow ever.

“Two fifty.” He stated, gaining a smirk on his face.

I looked at how much I had. ‘Let’s see I have... uh oh.’ I looked back at him. “Two thirty for it.”

“Two forty-five.” He raised an eyebrow, while I lowered mine.

“Two thirty-five.” I said giving him a wary glance.

“Two forty-six.” I looked at him with a shocked look.

“What happened to two forty-five?”

“You’re taking up my time.” My eye twitched.

“Two thirty-eight. Final offer.”

“No deal.” He said before walking away.

“Ugh!” I threw a hoof up in anguish before walking away.

I guess it wasn’t a complete loss. I did still have my bow from that one side quest. It was fun too. So many things tried to kill Twitch... Though I would have thought he would have enough sense not to walk straight into that herd of boars. Or the group of bandits....or those exploding mushroom things. Actually, how the hell did he not die yet?

I shook my head as I trotted back to the group. Everypony was there so I assume that they had everything they needed. “Alright, where to next?”

Just as Bon Bon opened her mouth to say something I felt somepony tap on my shoulder, and heard a VERY familiar voice.

“Hello, Director SunStar. I challenge you for your position as leader.”

Why does the world hate me?

Author's Note:

Look! A chapter! Yay~
...sorry for the long wait for such a short chapter. Comments and help other helpful advice (aside from telling me to stop writing) is greatly appreciated.
...and yes. I know this chapter sucks.

Comments

[SpiderMonkey877]

It's not that bad, and i'm interested about Heks Blad and her family, though you could've lead onto that a bit more slowly. Anyway still a great story and i will be awaiting the next chapter.

[Tyrant Molestia]

2783292 I could have? Care to explain a bit more?
Edit: Wait, no nevermind. Sleepy brain finally got it.

[Discord Kantus]

Pretty good. How long until the next chapter?

[Tyrant Molestia]

4503867 Sorry. It's currently on hiatus until I can figure out a proper direction. I hope I haven't upset you or anyone else, but I have to figure this out. I wrote this mainly on a whim and I realize that was a bad idea. Please be patient, okay?

[Discord Kantus]

4504422 Come up with an antagonistic hacker. Make them summon a bunch of glitches into the game. Have your characters need to find a way to stop the hacker by leveling up and stuff. That's pretty much the best direction you'll get with a video-game story like this.

[Tyrant Molestia]

4504462 I could do that. I just need to get my thoughts straightened out and I could possibly get back to work on this