Moonshine is playing Heroes 3. This game got her pretty fast, and she really likes it. Well, that was expected. Who can resist that? The gameplay is addictive and interesting, it forces you to think ahead, and to make decisions that will benefit you in the future.

So, what should I do now? Since my smartphone is currently occupied, I should... Well, I don't really know. There's no homework for tomorrow or any other day, it's cold outside... Yeah, there's nothing for me to do.

"Meow?" I heard. I looked down and saw my cat Molniya. She was looking at me with her big eyes as if waiting for something. Well, at least I can occupy myself with petting her.

I smiled, walked to my bed and lied on it, and the cat hopped on it, following me. She nested at my side, purring softly, and I started petting her. Showing affection to a cat is a basis of a healthy relationship with one. I had a misfortune once when I didn't understand that, and... Well, the first cat my family owned wasn't too fond of me. I didn't show affection, I was more like "amuse me, cat" type of person, and it makes me feel so much shame. Ugh... Anyway, I understood that in time for the first cat to have a serene old age. Now, I am a good master for my pet, and I am glad it turned out to be so.

So, Molniya was always treated right. I show her affection, I play with her... Also, I should really play with her. I think that's what she needs right now.

I telekinetically moved a small toy mouse to my cat. She immediately noticed it and fixated her eyes on it, opening them wide. She quickly became ready to pounce.

I quickly moved the mouse, and my cat jumped, trying to catch it. I used my magic to move the mouse away from her, moving it through furniture so that Molniya exercised herself with all that running and jumping. It is really fun, watching her chase that mouse. It also prevents her from getting fat. All cats need exercise, after all.

After some time, I let Molniya catch the mouse because she looked a bit tired and was panting. She put it in her mouth, but the toy was too big for her to swallow. She walked to me and placed the mouse near me. I know it's how cats show their care — they bring what they think is food.

"Good cat." I stroked Molniya, and she pressed her head against my hoof. "You're good!"

You're supposed to say something like "good girl" to a dog but whatever. My cat more or less understands what I'm saying, and that's fine.

She meowed, and then jumped on top of drawers and set herself there. It's the spot she likes — the whole room is visible from there.

I looked at Moonshine and saw that she was still playing. The game did really get her. She reminds me of myself — I played Heroes 3 non-stop when I first discovered it. It was about... Two thousand and four? Yeah, that was the year. And when Heroes 5 came out, I got that game, too. These two are my favorite among the Heroes series. I played the sixth, and oh my is it so shitty! Many things got dumbed down. For hell's sake, I figured out everything myself when I was freaking four! I mean, if kids nowadays can't play Heroes of Might & Magic 3 because they claim it to be too complicated... Well, I may call them retards. Or their parents. I could do some things by myself, it doesn't take much to learn. Fuck, everything is intuitive! You right-click something, it explains what it is. You have the manual of how to play the game. Well, I never opened it, but still! Only wiping my ass is easier.

Alright, I should stop ranting. So far, the only kid to play this game here seems to know what and how she's doing everything. I have high hopes for Equestrian society here! I just hope they won't proclaim that games make people violent. It's lag that does! Well, that is but a joke, but really, I played GTA from third to San Andreas. I don't see myself killing people or hurting them just because I think it is fun.

Yes, I should indeed stop ranting. Don't fix something if it's not broken. That's the right saying, I guess...

Anyway, I still don't know what to do. I mean, I've just pet the cat and played with her a bit, but there's nothing more I can do. Hm... Wait, what if she wants to learn how to play keys?

"Hey Moon," I called her. She turned to me with a questioning look on her face. "Do you want to learn how to play the keyboard?"

She blinked for a few moments, then dropped the pencil, and replied, "Yeah, I want to!" then, she blushed because of her excitement. "Um, I mean, I do want this. I... I really wanted to ask you but... Well, you know."

I nodded in understanding.

So, I got my synthesizer and set it up near the bed so that Moonshine could sit comfortably and play.

"Well, sit down, and lemme tell you some basics." I told her. She hopped in on my bed and sat by the synthesizer, ready to listen. "So, there is an octave. An octave consists of seven notes and five sharp notes, the first ones being white keys, and the second are the black keys." Well, I explained it in a simple way. Not too much fancy words, I hate them. And frankly... I don't know much music theory. I mean, I do know quite some but explaining it? It's a whole new level. "So, the first key here is note A." I pointed at the first key in the row of white keys. "So, the notes are A, B, C and up to G, going by the alphabet. Simple, right?" Moonshine nodded. "The black keys are A sharp, C sharp, D sharp, F sharp, and G sharp. Frankly, I think they made the row of black keys because it makes everything a bit easier, that that is why not all notes have sharps." I really think they made black keys as such because of convenience so that people don't mess up with notes. I don't know the real reason, but I think I am right.

"So," I continued. "The notes go from left to right, from low to high." I made a progression from A to G. A simple one, really. "If played simultaneously, similar notes produce good sound. It is pleasant to the ear." I played A note from the first octave and from the third simultaneously, making a rather nice simple sound. I know that the first octave is in the middle, or so I was told, but I have none of that nonsense. We don't read sentences or texts from the middle, now are we? Anyway, jokes aside. "But if we play it like this..." A and A sharp simultaneously. "We get something... Cringy." Moonshine nodded, seemingly understanding what I'm trying to say. "Anyway, if we play at least three keys together, and it sounds nice, it's a chord." I played C-chord. I don't really know how chords are called since I can just understand how to press the keys to elicit the sound I need. The perfect pitch really helps, and I didn't have to learn that much. Though, I cannot say if she has a perfect pitch. That's a rare occurrence, after all. "It will sound good on any instrument. Combined notes stay the same, after all.

"But, truth be told, I learned everything mostly by improvising or playing different songs." I admitted. "I... I don't really know how to teach you. I mean, I have perfect pitch, I can play any song I hear without a ditch." hey, that rhymed! "So, uh... you can't really learn anything from me. I just don't have enough knowledge. You can... try to improvise and see where it goes."

Moonshine nodded, and started playing. Oh my... That is cringy. No progression, poor chords, um... Improvisation wasn't a great idea.

"Okay, stop." I said. "We need to get you a real teacher. Do you have anypony on your mind?"

"I... I don't know." she slumped. "I really wanted to be taught by you." she blushed. "And... doesn't that count as special talent? I've not even heard of that 'perfect pitch'. Why don't you have a cutie mark yet?"

That's probably a valid question. But since I don't really know how their cutie mark stuff works, and I think I can't even get one simply because... Well, I think the whole concept of a cutie mark is kinda bullshit. I mean, you aren't instantly good at stuff. Well, unless you're born with something unusual, like me. There's no talent, there's skill, a lot of learning and practice. Until I learned how to sing, my voice changing abilities were crap. Making my voice follow notes was hard. You go too high, and your voice starts squeaking. You go too low, and you just making strange vibration-like noise. Singing isn't just having a right voice, after all. It is also training it.

"I don't know." I finally replied, shrugging. "Maybe because it happens randomly and I did nothing to earn it?"

"But you're really talented in... stuff!" Moonshine replied.

"I learned how to do what I do when I wasn't a pony, maybe that's why I don't have a cutie mark?" damn, those two words sound so dumb.

Yeah, let's see... I've spent years learning how to play guitar and keyboard. After all, my fingers needed to be trained to be able to move fast and precise. My first attempts at playing were... kinda cringy, but less so than Moonshine's. I hit the notes most of the time, but the tempo was off because I had to search for the key or fret with my eyes, and that took time. Eventually, I learned how to play. Well, I can't say I know how this or that called specifically, but I don't care. I can write a song of my own pretty easily. Without the lyrics, though. Coming up with them is so much pain in the ass!

"Um, Flame... Would you like to play this game with me?" Moonshine asked.

"Why not? Let's do it." I nodded.

Well, let's see how well she can play against a living being. AI cheats, too, and I do not.

"What map would you like to play?" I asked Moonshine.

"Um... Simple one, and not too big." she answered.

Well, it's medium sized map, then.

"Are we allies or enemies?" I asked another question.

"I don't know... I mean, you played this game a lot, yes?" she asked and I nodded. "Um, I don't think I can do good against you."

"We'll play together, and I will help you from time to time." I nodded and started searching for a map that has allies in it.

Uh-huh, this one will do. Two versus two, factions can be chosen. As for me, I choose... Necropolis. Yeah, the most overpowered faction out there. Anyway, I haven't played for this faction for a lot of time, I think I should remind myself of how to play this. Besides, an army of skeletons isn't a bad thing, right?

So, I choose the hero Sandro. He looks kinda odd with that pony skull instead of human one. Nonetheless, he still looks threatening and awesome.

Moonshine decided to play as Castle, Erathians. Well, not a bad choice. She didn't choose a hero and chose starting bonus as an artifact.

Well, we can start now!

A couple of hours have passed since we started. Well, a game like this can last for more than twelve hours straight. I'm speaking from experience here. But I won't let it come to this. Sitting too much and playing too many games isn't healthy, especially if it breaks your sleep pattern. Getting back to the right one is very hard, trust me.

Our combined efforts helped us defeat one of two enemies. I kindly let Moonshine take the castle. With huge losses, she took it. I tell ya, AI is always cheating! Both of us put great effort into building our armies, we defeated a couple of enemies' heroes, and yet they managed to build an army that is as big as each of ours!

I looked at Moonshine and saw that her eyes were a bit red. Shit, that is bad. We should stop our game for now.

"Moonshine, I think we should stop." I said. "You have red eyes from this. We can continue tomorrow if you want."

"Oh, okay..." she sighed. I saved the current progress and closed the game.

Moonshine took a small mirror and looked at herself.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed. "It looks terrible!"

"Rest your eyes for a bit and it'll be fine." I assured her. "I used to have that, too." and I guess it lowered my eyesight a bit. But I'm not gonna scare Moonshine with that, she already doesn't seem alright. "A bit of rest and doing something else will return your eyes to normal. But you shouldn't play any longer, for now."

"O-okay." she replied. It seems her red eyes scared her. "Thanks..." she muttered, and then went to her bed. She lay on it and closed her eyes.

I guess she decided to take a nap. Maybe—

Wait, what time is it?

...

Three forty-six p.m.

Fuck, I am going to be late for my training if I don't go now! Shit, neither walking nor running will get me there in time. Ugh, fuck!

I think I'll have to teleport again.

...

Fuck.