My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Friends from Unexpected Places

Chapter 33

Game Night II

eTu`nes, asleep from what was a GREAT night, talked in his sleep. “mmm… Derpy… did I ever tell you how lovely your eyes are…?” he didn’t want to open his eyes but he had to. He can’t stay asleep forever. He opened them to find himself back in his room. “uh-oh.” he shot up and bit his finger. “That wasn’t a dream, was it?”

He got out of bed and into his bathroom. “oh, no no no. no, It couldn’t have been a dream. It was so real.” he pinched himself, making sure that this wasn’t a dream. Unfortunately, it was. “oh, no.” he slammed his head into the sink, cracking the porcelain. “Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Oh, man. That means I have to start all over.” he glanced out the window, seeing that it was day outside. “*Sigh* guess I better get going. Don’t want to be late again. *Sigh* if it was a dream, I can tell her at the dance tonight.”

He walked into his room, grabbed his bags, and walked out, completely oblivious to a note on his door.

Meanwhile, in another bathroom, Derpy was vomiting up a storm.

“BLAH!” after that volley, Derpy groaned and rested her head. “Oohhhhh, man. I don’t remember drinking that much on the camping trip.” she vomited again and groaned. “ugh… what exactly happened last night?” she groaned as she rubbed her forehead. “I can barely remember a thing, other then eTu`nes.”

Confident that her stomach was empty of things to blow out, she got up and splashed some cold water into her face from the sink. “he was saying something to me…” she splashed again and turned the sink off. “but… what was it?” her stomach felt funny, like there were butterflies in there. She thought she was gonna throw up again. When the volley didn’t come, she walked back into her room and grabbed her bag. “Maybe one of the others knows what happened last night.”

She walked out of her room and closed the door, completely oblivious to a note on her door.

eTu`nes was the first to reach the school and slammed his head into his desk. Seaswirl and Colgate walked in, talking and laughing, when they noticed eTu`nes out on his desk.

“Un… eTu`nes? You okay?” Seaswirl asked as the two walked over.

The dragon glanced up at them. “hey, Sea. Col. What are you two doing here so early?”

“we’re to help with the finishing touches for the dance.” Colgate said. “what’s wrong with you?”

“just… uh, it was nothing.”

“oh. Well, thank you for that camping trip yesterday. It was just what we needed.”

One of eTu`nes ears perked up. “Camping trip?”

“yeah. And we should thank you. Everyone who went ended up hooking up with their special somepony.” Seaswirl smiled. “me and Roseluck ended up revealing our true feelings to each other and we couldn’t be happier.”

“Same with me and Berry Punch.” Colgate said with a smile. Both mares suddenly hugged him, making him blush a bit. “thanks a lot, eTu`nes.”

“uh… sure. No problem.” he shakingly said. “say, un… what happened yesterday?”

“well, you went to go search for Derpy when she didn’t come back. After 5 hours, we got worried and went to look for you. We found you two fast asleep in each other’s embrace. It was the cutest thing we ever saw. We wrote you two notes which we taped to your doors.”

“oh. Well… thanks.”

The two mares walked to their seats, leaving eTu`nes to his thoughts. “(Yes. It wasn’t a dream. It was real. Hopefully, Derpy…)” he stopped thinking when he saw Derpy come in. “oh, hey Derpy.”

“Hey eTu`nes.” she said in a groggy manner.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Just… have a bit of a headache. Oh. And a stomachache.” she rubber her forehead and groaned. “Listen, do you remember what happened last night because my mind is a blank.”

eTu`nes heart sank a bit. “(she… doesn’t remember? Anything?)” he rested his head on his desk. “you don’t remember anything from last night?”

“no. I vaguely remember you but that’s about it. Next thing I know, I woke up in my room with a headache and a stomachache. So… what happened?”

If she doesn’t remember, there’s no reason to talk to her about it. “Nothing… nothing happened.”

Derpy leaned her head to get a better look at his face. Were those… tears? “oh… okay.” wonderful why he would be crying, she walked to her desk. eTu`nes wiped his eyes and rested his head. Why doesn’t she remember? Why?

Time Turner came in and walked up to Derpy. “Ah. Derpy. There you are. Listen, I have a friend I would like to show you after school. He would be perfect for you to go to the dance with. He‘s a excellent dancer with as great a accent as me. Anyway, you‘ll love Clockwerk.”

“Clockwerk?”

“my cousin from Clopdon. Trust me, you’ll love him.”

Derpy wasn’t so sure. Last time she went on a blind date, her date ended up being a really stuffy royal. Think his name was Blue Shift or something like that. Still, she was desperate. “okay. Sure.”

eTu`nes glanced back and sighed. What was he thinking? Derpy deserves to be with someone like her. Like a pony. “(wait a minute. What am I thinking?)” he pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and began writing.

8 Years Later…

In the 4 months following Discord’s defeat and eventually return to his older form Dis, and the return of Cosmos and Erys, things gradually fell back to normal. Well, normal as can be. The humans still haven’t found the missing piece to their ship that allows them to travel between worlds and as a result, they aren’t able to leave. The only way to get that back is to find Oscurita but he hasn’t been seen since the end of the Winter War. Well, whatever the case, the off-worlders have gotten used to living with these ponies, some to the point that they don’t want to leave.

Now, on the day before Winter Wrap Up, it was time to sit back, relax, and do one thing they haven’t all done in a long while…

“GAME NIGHT!!!” Pinkie and Twilight exclaimed, walking out of Gamestop. “and we’re gonna kick butt tonight.” Twi said with a wicked smile.

“Yeah. Since we’re the only ones who practiced with Marlo 4.” both mares evilly snickered. “That NightQueen616 is going down tonight.”

“well, we got some new players joining us. You know that, right?” Twi said.

“I know. It’s a 32 player capacity. There should be more then enough for everyone.”

Twilight thought for a moment, going though the players. There was…

Twilight as MagicSage112

Pinkie as PartyPar1yParty

Celestia as Lightqueen216

Luna as Nightqueen616

Lyra as HarpestHand10

Bonbon as Candymach1ne

Octavia as Cello121212

Vinyl as Tempest00000

Dash as Son1cSpeed

Rarity as RubyHunter3

Applejack as FarmH3nd

Fluttershy as Ramification

Spitfire as Fire2TheStars

Gilda as SpeedDem0n

Shadow as FinalFl1ght

Halo as GlintoftheNight

Zilver as GlintoftheDay

Marble as Degrade123

And Derpy as MuffinMail68

New gamers joining them are…

Armor as Guardman23

Cadence as LoveisB1iss

Trixie as BoastfulDuchess18

Edge as DisguiseMast3r

Requiem as Godd3ss

Jax as MagicMast3r

And Aura as SolSurv1vor

“hmm… there’s 24 for of us playing… and it’s a 32 player capacity… yeah, we should be good.”

Pinkie hailed down a cab and got in. “Golden Oaks Library, please.” she helped Twilight in, who had trouble sitting down. “Geez, Twilight. You’re getting bigger every day. I think your stomach’s gonna explode and Starlight’s gonna walk out.”

“ugh. You have no idea, Pinkie.” Twi looked back at her 11 month belly. “I feel so big, I feel like a whale.”

“She’s due any day now, right?”

“yeah. Just wish she’d hurry up and come already. It’s getting difficult to do even the simplest of tasks. I have to have Spike or Halo help me into the bathroom.”

“ew.”

“they don’t help with those parts.” Twilight sat on her back, giving her feet some rest. “ugh… whoever knocked me up at the Gryphon Kingdom is gonna pay when I find him.”

Pinkie shrugged in agreement. “if you say so. And you’re making me second-guess if me and Marble should have kids.”

She was planning on that? “well, don’t let me discourage you Pinkie. Except for the last month, it’s really quite a time you can’t miss.”

“you sure?”

“Positive.” the cab rolled in front of the library. Both mares got off and headed inside. “it’s almost as much fun as Game Night. Plus, you get all those goodies from baby showers.” Twi reached the door and opened it. “and thanks for that diaper genie.”

“No prob.” the two walked in and closed the door.

Luna used her magic to raise the moon. Once her job was done, she unfurled her wings and flew into her room. Not only was her wife Trixie waiting, but also Celestia, Cosmos, Erys, Dis, Cadence, Armor, and Glade. They were showing Cosmos, Erys, and Dis what a game system was.

“A controller?” Dis scratched his head as he looked at it.

“yeah. You use it to control the person your playing.” Trixie explained.

“huh.” Cosmos gently touched the console, intrigued by it. “how… does this thing even work?”

Luna and Trixie chuckled warmly. “it’s magic.” they both joked. “now, what’s the game for tonight?”

“Marlo 4.” Armor said, holding up the disc. “it was PartyPar1yParty’s and MagicSage112’s suggestion.”

“Too bad for them.” Luna sighed. “I’ve played every video game out there and I put a lot of hours in Marlo.” she used her magic to grab her controller. “those two won’t know what hit her.”

“and now…” Celestia used her magic to hook up a speaker to the console. “…we can talk to each other.

“just watch and learn, you three.” Trixie said with a snicker. “we’ll show you how to roll.”

Dinky walked though the Orion’s hallway to Jax’s and Sora’s room. She noticed that it was slightly open. There was also some odd sounds coming from within. The filly peeked it to see Jax wrapping a rope tight around her upper arm.

“(what is she doing?)” Dinky thought, trying to figure out what she would tie a rope around her upper arm.

Jax grabbed a needle and shoved it right into her arm. She pushed down on the plunger and sighed. “this is not a great way to live a life.” she groaned. She took the needle out, tossed it away, and untied the rope. She held her heart in pain just as the stuff she injected in went into effect. “ugh… that was too close… dammit…”

Dinky watched in worry as Jax suffered from… something. “is something wrong with her?” she muttered to herself. Well, she knows Jax won’t tell her what’s wrong with her. Instead, she acted like she doesn’t know and knocked on the door. “Jax? You in there?”

“yeah. Just give me a moment.” Jax got up and opened her door. “Hey, Dinks.”

“come on. Hurry up. We don’t wanna be late for game night.”

“oh, right. I forgot.” she walked out and closed the door. “come on. Let’s get going.” Dinky nodded and followed after her. “by the way, where’s Derpy?”

“in Canterlot on business. She won’t be back till tomorrow.”

“oh. I’ve yet to get my things out from my room at her place.”

“it’s okay. I can let you in.”

“oh, thanks.”

The humans were spread out among the various pony players. Only Req, Jax, Sora, Ash, Riku, Hiccup, and Toothless are at the library with Twi, Halo, Pinkie, Marble, Rarity, Spike, and Dinky. And this Game Night is also doubling as a sleep-over because the Pegasi have a big thunderstorm planned for Ponyville and Canterlot and nobody want‘s to walk in 30 mile a hour wind and rain with lightning crashing down.

“where’d this thing come from” Sora asked as Halo hooked up a speaker.

“from Vinyl. It’s so we can all talk to each other while we play.” he explained as he hooked it up to the big tv.

“Oh.” Sora grunted as she readjusted in her wheelchair. “sure do wish Adolf can tell Gabriëlle about my bum leg soon. Not having to walk is killing me. Having my leg f*&ked up like this is killing me.”

“he’ll tell Gabs when he tell Gabs. You can’t rush it.” Req said.

“it’s been 4 months! I think Gabs would’ve visited the Afterworld by now.”

“Maybe he’s busy.” Ash suggested. “he is, technically, the only god left for Earth.”

“yeah yeah, because he was Anubis. I know.”

The door to Luna’s and Trixie’s room knocked, getting the attention of the duchess. Trixie walked over and opened it up to see a certain mail-mare on the other side. “Derpy? What are you doing here?”

“I was in Canterlot on business and I lost my Hotel Key. Is it okay if I stay here for the night? I don’t want to be left in the rain.”

“of course. Come in.”

Derpy jumped in and shook the water off, inadvertadly getting Trixie wet. “oops. My bad.”

“it’s okay.” Trixie used her magic to dry her hair. “I know a few get-dry-quick spells.” she walked back to the others with Derpy not far behind. “Derpy’s gonna be staying with us during the storm. She lost her hotel key.”

“Okay.” Luna and Cadence said, not breaking their glance away from the TV.

Trixie grumbled as she pouted to the left. “sorry about that. Tonight’s Game Night.”

Derpy’s mouth fell, then she face-hoofed. “Oh, Faust. I completely forgot. Ugh. And I left my controller with my tag back home.” she shrugged. “guess I can still watch. What’s the game?”

“Marlo 4.”

“oh. I never played that yet. Tell me what happens; don’t care about spoilers.”

“Short version, ancient evil awakens, nearly extinguishes pony-kind, kills Coltana.” Luna said as she sighed in.

“they killed her off? Oh man. She was my favorite character.”

“ours too.” everyone said over the speaker, surprising Derpy.

“hi mommy.” Dinky said over it.

“hey, Dinky.”

Game Night is officially underway. It was a free-for-all match on all maps in alphabetical order. Now, they were on Outbreak.

Lightning cracked outside as the storm went into effect.

“nice work with the storm, Dash. Really workin’ out there.” Rarity said into the speaker.

“thanks but it was Thunderlane you should give credit too. Although I think he went a little bit too far.” Dash replied though the speaker.

“I’ll say.” Scoots and Shadow added.

“Wait! Wait! She’s over there!” Erys exclaimed, pointing at Vinyl’s character on the tv.

Luna moved her avatar, took aim, and gunned Vinyl’s character down. “Huzzah! Take that.”

“oh, man.” Vinyl whined from over the speaker. “darn you, Erys, and your keen eye.”

“Sorry.” Erys evilly chuckled.

“great. some part of her Draconequus self is still in there.” Zel muttered.

Everyone laughed over the speaker, as did everyone in Canterlot. Derpy, however, wasn’t laughing. Her mind was, as it did in the weeks after that fiasco with the door, filled with memories of eTu`nes. She had to talk to someone about it.

“Un… Luna… Trixie… can I speak to you two privately for a moment?”

“huh?” the couple looked at each other with wry eyes. “un… okay.” Luna passed her controller to Erys. “keep kicking butt for me, okay?” she asked her niece.

“Well do, Auntie Luna.” Erys took it with her magic and played for her. For her first time playing, she was pretty skilled.

Derpy walked into a different part of the room where the 3 of them would have some privacy. “what is it, Derpy?” Luna asked.

“well…” she scratched her hoof. “have you ever… loved someone but didn’t say anything about it?”

Trixie and Luna looked at each other for a moment. “well, there was Twilight.” Trixie nervously chuckled. “but she knew that. And she was the only one I had before I met Luna.”

“and I had crush on someone back before Discord launched his attack 2000 years ago but he ended up moving away before I said anything.”

“Why are you asking?” both of them asked.

Derpy gulped. “Well… when I was a filly… I met someone who helped me though a hard time. And as we became teenagers, I grew to like him, but… I did something really, really stupid and ended up going with someone else to a school dance. And not long after that… he left. That was 8 years ago.”

“oh.”

“And my friend… I never told Dinky this, but… he was her true father, not the pony who I married.”

“well, why didn’t you tell her? Or even told anyone else, for that matter?” Luna asked.

Derpy glanced away. “well… her father… my friend who left… he was a dragon.”

“A dragon?” Trixie gasped.

“yeah. I never told anyone because I thought everyone would look at me weird and treat me funny and…” Luna’s and Trixie’s giggling stopped Derpy’s exposition. “What’s so funny?”

“Are you kidding me? You were worried about other people thought?” Trixie giggled. “please. If I listened to other ponies, I never would’ve married Luna.”

“And look at Spike and Rarity.” Luna added. “He’s a dragon and she’s a pony and they found true love with each other. They‘re even planning their wedding and having a foal together.”

“I know. I know. Seeing them together made me rethink what happened 8 years ago and… *Sigh* sometimes I wish I can go back in time and fix my mistake.”

Trixie patted a depressed Derpy on the back. “Derpy, you’ll find your friend again. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that fate works in mysterious ways. Me and Luna met other a feather in the wind and Spike and Rarity met thanks to the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“but… it’s been 8 years. What if he doesn’t remember me anymore? What if he met someone else? What if he--”

Luna shut her up. “Don’t focus on what ifs. Trust us. You’ll meet again and he’ll remember you. The question is where he disappeared to.”

“well, will knowing his name help?”

“Maybe. He has been missing for 8 years so I can’t promise anything.”

Derpy slowly nodded. Even if he was dead, it would be great to have closure. “His name was eTu`nes. Think you can find him with that?”

Luna winked. “I can try.”

Req pulled a tray of cupcakes out of the oven and set it on the counter. “these sweets will be perfect for everyone. Be glad Bahamut isn’t here. He’d gobble them all up in a second.” she happily said with closed eyes to Twilight and Pinkie.

“I know. I learned that the hard way.” Pinkie said, thinking back to one of Bahamut’s visits to Sugarcube Corner. “*Shivers* that wasn’t pretty.”

The trio laughed and giggled.

“Hey! What’s taking so long?” Riku asked.

“we’re dying from a lack of sweets in here!” Spike called out.

“Coming.” Req and Pinkie replied. They put the trays on a rolling tray and laughed as they walked out.

Twilight walked after them. A shot of pain went though her stomach, making her stop and groan in pain. When it passed, she got up and shrugged it off. “man. That came out of nowhere.” she gently rubbed her stomach for a moment. “Think I ate a bad pie.” she said as she walked out.

Author's Notes:

uh-oh. pain in the stomach. she's ready to pop. 4 months between now and the end of Discordian Troubles? ... yeah, we all know where this is going.