My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Friends from Unexpected Places

Chapter 11

Game Night

The morning sun rose, illuminating Young Derpy and eTu`nes. The pain from the potion had stopped 4 hours prior, allowing the 2 to finally go to sleep.

eTu`nes was the first to wake up when the sun’s rays hit his eyes. He sat up and loudly yawned. “what a night.” he smacked his lips and rubbed his eyes.

He looked to his left and stared at Derpy. She went thought a rough night. “think I’ll let her sleep in.” he said as he got up and headed for the river.

He splashed some water on his face and sighed. “what am I gonna tell her?” he muttered to himself.

Derpy groaned as she woke up. Almost instantly, she could see the yellow of the sun behind the cloth of her bandage. That color made her ecstatic. “eTu`nes. I’m seeing yellow, I’m seeing yellow!” she said with increasing giddiness. She immediately went for her bandages.

“whoa whoa whoa whoa. Hold on there, little missy.” eTu`nes exclaimed as he ran over. “can’t just rip them off. Didn’t they mention that in school?” he said as started to take off the bandage.

“must’ve been asleep at the time. Besides, I’m only 7.”

“right. Well, this is a slow and delicate process. Can’t be rushed.” eTu`nes said. Derpy’s lips pouted. “wait, did you say you were 7?”

“yep. Why? How old are you?”

“7 as well. Guess we’re twins from different species.”

Derpy chuckled. “I guess.” eTu`nes chuckled back. “by the way, how do you know how things like… this work?” she asked, pointing up to the bandages.

“well… let’s just say that studying pony life-style is frowned upon and if you‘re caught… well….”

“oh.”

It didn’t take long for eTu`nes to take off the last of the bandages. Derpy’s eyelids were closed but unscathed. “potion looked like it worked. Eyelids look all healed.”

“thanks goodness for that. I was worried all that pain was for nothing.” Derpy nervously chuckled, thinking back to last night.

“okay. Now, open them slowly so the eyes can get used to the light again.”

Derpy nodded and did just that. She slowly opened her eyes up. Her eyes adjusted to seeing light and color for the first time in a week but she was able to see everything again; eTu`nes, the trees, the river, everything.

Derpy gasped in excitement. “YES! I can see! I can see again! It WORKED!” she cheered. She ran around and jumped around, overjoyed that it worked. She ran over and suddenly hugged eTu`nes. “it worked, it worked!” she cheered. In the heat of the moment, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

Both eTu`nes and Derpy were caught off guard. She immediately broke the kiss and blushed. “s-sorry. Just excited that I got my sight back.”

“Don’t mention it.” eTu`nes shakingly replied. As he looked away, he noticed something off with her eyes. “un… Derpy… did your eyes always look like that?”

“look like what?” she nervously asked.

eTu`nes couldn’t bring himself to say it himself. “un… better look at the reflection in the water.”

A bit scared, Derpy walked over to the water and looked at it. She saw her reflection and gasped by what she saw; her eyes are wall-eyed.

“oh. Oh no.” she gasped. She backed away from the water, not able to bear looking at her reflection anymore.

“guess that was one side-effect we didn’t see coming.” eTu`nes said as he walked over. He picked up the bottle that held the potion and looked at the label again.

“I… I can’t go back.” she gasped in sadness.

“beg pardon?” eTu`nes asked.

“I can’t go back home looking like this.” she cried. “everyone will think I’m a freak.”

“un… ba…. W-well, I’m sure they’ll understand if you told them the whole story.”

“you haven’t seen who lives at Ponyville. Okay. I was constantly bullied by these 2 mean foals that made fun of my clumsiness and how I acted; I hated them so much, I ran away from home and... If they see me as I am now…”

eTu`nes nodded in agreement. “I can believe that. Guess we have more in common then we realized; we were both bullied to where we sot refuge here in Everfree.”

“I can not go back. Not like this.” Derpy emphasized.

“but what about your parents, or the ponies who really care for you?”

Derpy couldn‘t think of anything to counter with. “I… I…” Derpy groaned as she fell to the ground. “just… just let me think…”

eTu`nes sighed. He didn’t like it but he didn’t say anything. He knows what Derpy went though first-hand and knows why she would have trouble going back to those who bullied her.

20 Years Later…

Twilight put some drinks on a table as she prepared for tonight. On the table were some cupcakes, muffins, napkins, cups, and… batteries?

“sorry I’m late, Twi.” Req announced as she walked in. “Aura got me caught up with…” she noticed the table of treats and was confused. “un… Twi? What’s all this?”

“oh, Requiem. Sorry, but I’m busy preparing for Game Night.”

“Game Night?” Req asked. She was intrigued. “What’s Game Night?”

“every 2 weeks, we hold a game night here at my house and, well, play some games. Speaking of which, Spike!” Twi called out. “you find the Gbox yet?”

“not yet.” Spike called from the basement. “we have a bunch of crap down here.”

“So who’s coming?”

“oh, the girls and something tells me your friends as well, thought I’m not sure about Fluttershy, what with her taking care of that pony. What was his name again?”

“Mirror’s Edge, I think it was.” Requiem muttered, trying to remember it herself.

“Found it!” Spike yelled. He climbed back up from the basement, carrying a Gbox and several controllers.

“OH! Video Games. I love Video Games.” Req squealed.

“you have games on your planet?” Twi asked as she helped Spike set it up.

“well, not this kind… not anymore, at least. But still, I love. Love ‘em, love ‘em, love ‘em.”

“Love ‘em, huh? Well, can’t wait to see how you fair at Pony Cart.” a intrigued Twilight said. She used her magic to roll a TV over.

Luna scoffed as she threw the last book she could find on Humans away. “nothing.” she sighed. She placed her head on a hoof and sighed again. “I swear, I’m missing something.” She looked up at the night sky and sighed. “what am I missing?”

“I believe…” Celestia intervened, standing at the door with a pair of controllers. “… you’re missing Game Night.”

“oh, right. Game Night. Almost forgot about that.” Luna shot up and magically grabbed her controller. “I feel it, Tia. That MagicSage112 is going down.” Luna chortled as she ran off to the game room.

“right right.” Celestia chuckled. “just remember to wait for me to sign in this time.”

Before long, the rest of the Mane 6 and Req’s friends came over. Rainbow dragged the still drugged out Satoshi in by his shirt collar.

“how much longer is he gonna be out?” Aura asked.

“I don’t know. Ask the enabler.” Dash replied, glancing at Sora.

“it… was… an… ACCIDENT!” she yelled. “Besides, I think the doc said today was the last day.”

“Good. This guy’s drooling all over.” Dash muttered.

The TV pinged as some players across the way signed in. “who’s NightQueen616?” Jax asked.

“don’t know who she is in real life but she always kicks our butts. but tonight…” Twi took her controller and chortled. “…she’s going down!”

“She that good?”

“That good? Night always kicks our butts. Whoever he or she is, she or he is one of the best players we’ve ever seen.” Rarity explained.

“okay. Then I’ll stay clear of Twi, then.”

Bahamut flew in and landed near the table. “hey, Bahamut.” Spike said. He looked and noticed a yellow Pegasus ain’t here. “where’s Fluttershy?”

“Staying back at her place, taking care of Edge.”

“too bad. She was one of our best players.” Applejack said.

“well, everyone’s here. Break out the Halo. NightQueen is going down this time.” Twi grinned as Spike put the game, Pony Kart 7, in.

“un… Twi.. We still need a 4th.” A.J. said.

“oh, right.” Twi turned around to the group. “who here is a good gamer?”

The humans looked at each other, then turned their attention to Requiem. “she is.” they all said in unison.

Req just shrugged as she walked over and grabbed the 4th controller. “is it okay if I create my own account?”

“go ahead.” Rarity said as she took her controller.

The intro to Pony Kart played as Requiem made her own temporary account. “hmm…. I think… I’ll go with…. GoddessofL1ght.”

“now that sounds like a good name.” A.J. said, sitting back with the rest of the non-players.

“so what’s the game type?” Req asked.

“150 CC.” Twilight smirked.

At the matchmaking screen, Twi was the leader of the group and put on ‘Free-For-All.’ everyone saw the contestants but were confused who’s behind them.

“Who’s… HarpestHand10?” Ash asked.

Lyra cleared her throat and used her magic to grab her controller. Bonbon sat beside her and grabbed hers, logging in.

“scratch that? Who’s Candymach1ne?” Bahamut asked.

“who knows? Besides, everyone chooses weird names. Like look at this one…” Sora directed them to one such name. “who’s Tempest00000 and Cello121212?”

Vinyl and Octavia sat on their couch, sharing a Big Gulp with 2 straws as they signed in.

The TV beeped as NightQueen616 signed in, along with…

“LightQueen216?” Req muttered. “Do you know who any of these ponies are?”

“Nope!” R.D. said as she took her controller and signed in under the name ‘Son1cSpeed.’ Rarity signed in under ‘RubyHunter3’ and Twilight under ‘MagicSage112.’

Requiem decided to look though the other profiles, see who the other 3 were. “I’m gonna guess that…. FarmH3nd is A.J…”

“yep.”

Req couldn‘t believe this next one. “…Pinkie is PartyPar1yParty…”

“bingo!”

“…so that leaves Fluttershy as… Ramification?”

“that was my idea.” Dash chuckled.

“Ramification?” Bahamut asked.

“well, you get her angry, you’re gonna suffer the ramifications. Trust me.”

“I ain’t gonna argue.” Bahamut replied. “I’ve seen her angry.”

More dings popped as more people joined their party, which included Bolt222(Soarin’), Fire2thestars(Spitfire), SpeedDem0n(Gilda), and some new players they added to their friends list such as FinalFl1ght(Storm Shadow), Glintofthenight(Halo’s Light), Glintoftheday(Zilver Light), Degrade123(Marble Cake), and…

“MuffinMail68?” everyone asked in surprise. Seems this player wanted everyone to know who this was. “Derpy.” everyone said.

With all the players online, it was the leaders turn, which though a die in the game turned out to be Halo, to pick the track.

“please not Boo’s Mansion.” Dash prayed. “That track sucks.”

“you hoping for Star Road?” Twi asked.

“Yep. Longest track in the game with lots of twists and turns.” Sure enough, Halo went with Star Road. “thank you, Celestia.” Rainbow exclaimed.

True to it being a mirror of Earth, Pony Cart’s character’s are pony version’s of Mario characters, though Bowser and D.K. are the same.

Twi went to work out the math. “let’s see, there’s 4 of us, plus 12 others online… and there’s 22 character’s total…”

“I think we’re good, Twi, now pick your character so we can get this on.” Req exclaimed.

“okay, okay. Mmm……. I think I’ll go with Mareio.”

“what a surprise.” Rarity sarcastically said.

Luna sat down on a pillow and pulled up to the TV. Celestia looked at her with half-closed eyes.

“sorry. So, everyone here?”

“yes and with a few newcomers.” Tia said, highlighting the new names.

“hehe. New victims.” Luna smirked. Tia got a little frightened. “oh, come on. I’m just having a little fun.”

“yeah… just hope it goes better then when we tried that game Portal.".”

“pardon me for having a off day. Mare’s go though that once in awhile.” Tia rolled her eyes and chuckled. Luna scoffed. “Figures. Sage went with Mareio. All right, guess I’m going with Bowser.” Luna clicked the button, going with the Koopa King.”

“hey, Twi. Looks like NightQueen went with your ‘archrival.’” Dash joked.

“of course she’d go with Bowser.” Twi sighed. “well, no matter, she’s going down.” she said as she gripped her controller tightly.

Req ignored her and asked Rarity a question. “So, how does this work? Elimination?”

“yeah. Last 8 to finish get booted, then the last 4, then the last 2...”

“okay, okay, okay. I get it. Roster divides by 2 every time a race is over.” Req glanced over to Twi. “and what of her obsession with this ‘NightQueen?’”

“the 2 seem to have a friendly rivalry going on but we’re starting to get worried.” A.J. joined. “Twi has 19 wins and NightQueen has 19 wins.”

“and regardless if they get in the final race or not, this’ll break the tie.” Req muttered.

“bingo!” Rare and A.J. exclaimed. “and hopefully the end of this little rivalry.” A.J. finished.

Fluttershy wringed a washcloth, squeezing excess water out of it before placing it on Edge’s forehead. The Changeling groaned in his sleep as a worried Fluttershy looked on.

Edge slowly opened his eyes. His vision was a little blurry but it eventually cleared. He saw the yellow Pegasus watching over him. She noticed the opened eyes. “Oh. Thank goodness you’re all right.”

Edge groaned as he sat up. “where…. Where am I?” he groaned.

“you’re in my house at Ponyville.” F.S. explained. “you were badly injured when me and Bahamut found you.”

“badly injured?” Edge painfully asked. He looked over his entire body. Sure enough, he was beaten and bruised all over. “how did…” Edge remembered back to last week. “oh right. Me and my brothers and sisters were fighting some… demon sorcerer.”

“Demon Sorcerer? Sounds bad.”

“worse. That… thing wiped out everyone. Not sure how I survived but… I somehow did.”

“well, I guess you should consider yourself lucky.” Fluttershy flew over to a nearby desk and grabbed some bandages.

Edge was feeling indifferent about this situation. He was being cared for by a pony; something he had tried to attack 4 months ago. “why… why are you helping me?”

“didn’t I mention why before?” F.S. asked.

“yeah, but I need a better reason other then ‘sometimes everyone needs to be shown a little kindness’ for a actual answer.”

“oh. Well…” Fluttershy flew back over and started un-bandaging Edge’s back right leg. “…I was raised to offer help to whoever needs it, regardless of who they are or what their background is.”

Edge was taken a little aback by her explanation. “so… you’d help murderers and robbers?”

“oh, no no no.”

“That’s what I thought.” Edge muttered. “but… why help me, a Changeling? I tried to overthrow all of you not that long ago.”

“well, I’m willing to overlook that for someone in need.” Fluttershy said as she finished wrapping a new bandage around the leg.

Edge rolled his eyes and looked out the nearest window to see birds chirping and flying. He wasn’t gonna be out for a long while so he might as well get used to this.

F.S. hummed a little song as she flew back to her bathroom to get more medical supplies for Edge.

Edge snorted as he looked away. He tried but found himself attracted to Fluttershy’s song. It was beautiful, more then the annoying buzzing of the hive. He also felt something weird in his chest but dismissed it. It was probably some cracked ribs or something.

“GO! GO! GO!” Twilight’s friends cheered on as she directed her avatar down the race track.

2 hours have passed since the little Tourney began. Everyone had been eliminated by the order A.J. and Rarity went over with Req earlier. By the end, it was down to Twilight and Luna and they are on the toughest course in the game: Bowser’s Castle.

“no way that NightQueen’s gonna beat me tonight.” Twi snickered.

“no way you’re gonna win, MagicSage.” Luna grunted as she directed her pixilated avatar around Twi’s character.

Celestia looked away from her desk, munching on a muffin.

“not tonight!” Twi exclaimed as her avatar hit against Luna’s, sending it spinning.

Luna stopped her character from spinning into lava and sped on after Twi’s.

The 2 avatars raced neck and neck, nearing the finish line.

“if you spent as much time on this as you claimed you have, you would’ve used the Archive Shortcut at the beginning of the race.” Celestia mentioned.

Luna concentrated until Celestia mentioned one little word. “Archives… THAT’S IT!” she exclaimed.

Luna’s distraction sent Bowser into the lava and allowing Mareio to win.

“YES!” Twi cheered. Everyone else cheered with her. “I am… the greatest. Twilight, 30. NightQueen, 29! Bu-bye. Queenie. I win.” Twi gloated

“The Archives! Why didn’t I think about it before!?” Luna exclaimed, scaring Celestia a bit.

“you okay, Luna?”

“Better then okay. You just gave me a big clue as to where to find information on Humans.” Luna cheerfully exclaimed as she skipped out.

Tia poked her head out. “where?”

“back at our old castle in the Everfree Forest.” Luna said as she skipped back to her room.

“that old place…?” Tia muttered. “there’s nothing left but rubble.” she sat down back at her desk. “does Lulu know something I don’t about that place?” Tia just shrugged it off and went back to reading Twilight’s letter from last week. “humans, huh? Think I should meet them in person.”

She looked up at the calendar. “well, next week is the Grand Galloping Gala. Then would be a good time to meet them, see what Luna’s prattling on about.”