The mid-afternoon sun shone brightly down on Ponyville as its inhabitants moved about busily, some talking to friends and others going about their daily routine.  Many ponies would say that the light that touched Ponyville was brighter than anywhere else in Equestria. Those ponies might be correct, for in this town was the residence of the unicorn Twilight Sparkle,Princess Celestia's protege. However today is not about Twilight, nor is it about Celestia. Today is about an earth pony, a pink earth pony. Pinkie to be exact.

    This is going to be so much fun! the pink mare thought to herself as she bounded through town square. Today was Friday, which meant Pinkie Pie didn't have to work this afternoon. As usual on Friday, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash would meet up to spend the afternoon gaming. This was the ritual the two of them had observed every Friday for the past couple of months. Now Pinkie was on her way to meet Rainbow at her cloud house.

    "Sorry Pinkie Pie, I can't play today," Rainbow said as descended from her home.

    "Aw, why not Dashie?" asked a slightly deflated Pinkie.

    "All the weather pegasi were called to Canterlot. Apparently they've fallen behind on their storm schedule so they need us to help with a big one. It's going to be so awesome," squealed the cyan Pegasus. "Though how about just me and you meet up this weekend?"

    "I'm sorry Dashie, but the Cakes need me this weekend. The Princess is throwing a super big party in the castle!" exclaimed Pinkie.

    "What's the party for?" asked Rainbow, "It can't be the Summer Sun Celebration, that's not until next month."

    Pinkie Pie shrugged and replied, "Not sure, the princess only said it had something to do with Discord and Nightmare Moon."

    A look of anger quickly flashed over her face. No, no The Princess said they've changed. Just give them a chance, she told herself, trying to focus back on Pinkie Pie.

    "You okay Dashie? You were staring off at the Reader pretty weirdly," Pinkie said as she stared at you knowingly.

    Dash laughed nervously "Yes, the Readers..." Pinkie Pie can be so random sometimes. Actually, all the time. "I was just... So Pinks, what are you going to do now?" Dash changed the subject, in a quite unsubtle fashion.

    "Oh, I had forgotten about that. I guess I'll go and see if one of the others wants to play, but I just don't know who," Pinkie finished with a slightly sad tone in her voice. She had really been looking forward to today.

    "How about Fluttershy? She came over earlier and asked me if I needed help with anything, she seemed bored," Rainbow said with a shrug.

    Pinkie laughed and jabbed, "That's hilarious Dashie, Fluttershy playing a video game."

    Rainbow stared at the laughing mare and said, "I'm serious Pinkie, why not let Fluttershy have a chance? Just don't bring her into anything too rough, keep it simple and talk her through it."

    Pinkie Laughed again. "Okie dokie Dashie, I'll go see if she wants to play,'' she finished as she bounded off, back towards Ponyville.

    Rainbow Dash watched as Pinkie Pie disappeared over the hill. "Celestia have mercy on Fluttershy," she said aloud to herself. Pinkie Pie was going to destroy the poor mare but Rainbow couldn't worry about that now, she had work to do.

    For a pony who mostly hopped everywhere, Pinkie could get make some distance quite quickly. Less than five minutes after leaving Rainbow Dash to her work, Pinkie had arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. Pinkie Pie approached the door and knocked. Several seconds later, the door creaked open, revealing the bright yellow-coated pink-maned Fluttershy.

    "Oh, hello Pinkie Pie, how are you?" asked the meek pony.

    "Hi Flutters, I'm spectacular, how ‘bout you?" answered the bouncing pony.

    "I'm good Pinkie, what brings you out here?" she asked as she exited her cottage and shut the door.

    "Oh! Well you see, first I went to see Rainbow Dash because today is the day we normally get together and play some video games but she has to work today so I came to ask you if you wanted to come and play with me since I heard you were bored and if I don't have anyone to play with I'll be bored so instead of us both being bored we can have fun," the speed talking mare finished, taking in a deep breath.

    "I don't know Pinkie, I heard those things were bad for you," Fluttershy replied in her normal nervous tone.

    "Don't worry Shy, auntie Pinkie Pie will be there with you," Pinkie said with a toothy grin.

    Fluttershy stared at Pinkie awkwardly. "I'm still a year older than you."

    Pinkie moved closer to Fluttershy. "So is that a yes?"

    Fluttershy wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to disappoint Pinkie Pie by saying no. Part of her wanted to go with Pinkie just to add something to her day. Fridays were always slow. Rarity normally delivered her dresses for the week, Applejack finished tending the trees, Twilight re-organized the library every Friday and Monday and Wednesday. Which left her nothing to do, but today she was given the opportunity to try something new. What could go wrong? she thought to herself.

    "Sure Pinkie, I'll go with you," Fluttershy said with a sweet smile. “Just let me feed the chickens, they get hungry pretty quickly."

    One hour later, Pinkie and Fluttershy arrived at Sugarcube Corner. Though it had taken longer than Pinkie would have liked, seeing as Fluttershy refused to fly for fear that she might fall, she also refused to walk faster for fear she might trip. But even Pinkie Pie knew there were some things she couldn't rush with Fluttershy.

    "Hello Pinkie, hello Fluttershy," rang the voice of Mrs. Cake.

    "Hi Mrs.Cake!" both Pinkie and Fluttershy answered in unison.

    "Me and Fluttershy are gonna go up to my room, Mrs. Cake, so if you need anything come get us," said Pinkie as she began to climb the stairs Fluttershy right behind her.

    "Okay dearies, you two have fun," Mrs.Cake answered, not noticing that they were already gone.

    Once up stairs Fluttershy was surprised, Pinkies room looked quite different from the last time she had seen it. Though, the last time she had seen it was just before the Grand Galloping Gala. For some part Pinkie Pie’s room had the same party feel as Pinkie herself had, but the biggest difference was the large television on the wall across from the stairs.

    Pinkie approached the television. She turned it on, then sat down on the couch.

    "Come on Silly, you can't play from over there," Pinkie said as she patted the open seat next to her.

    Fluttershy took a seat on the couch next to Pinkie who had already passed her a white controller. A few seconds later, Pinkie had the television and the game console completely set up and was ready to play. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was completely confused by the controller Pinkie had passed her.

    "What do all the buttons do?" she asked, pressing randomly and hoping to get some kind of response from the device.

    "Oh, silly me, I forgot you've never played a video game before," chortled Pinkie. "Okay, so this little stick here lets you look around."

    Fluttershy nodded.

    "This stick lets you move around," Pinkie Pie said, pointing to the stick on the right side of the controller.

    Fluttershy nodded again.

    "Finally, this button here fires your weapon, you'll figure out the other buttons as we play," Pinkie said as she placed the game disk inside the console.

         Fluttershy was about to nod again, but then her mind just finished processing Pinkie Pie’s words.

    "Weapon!?" The yellow pegasus stammered "You never said anything about weapons..."

    Pinkie Pie giggled. "Well, duh! If I told you about the weapons, you wouldn't have come over here, now would you? Anyways, think of it as an exercise to become more assertive," Pinkie finished with a beaming smile.

    Fluttershy didn't know what to say. Nopony told her she had to use weapons. Part of her wanted to flee, run back home and spend the rest of her day in boring peace. However, a small part of her liked the idea of becoming more assertive.

    "Okay, Pinkie, I trust you. So what is this game called?" Fluttershy asked, somewhat excited at the prospect of something completely new.

    Pinkie smiled "Rainbow Six, it's one of Dashie and I’s favorite games."

    "Rainbow Six? That doesn't sound bad at all," Fluttershy giggled. She felt extremely foalish now, of course it wouldn't be that bad if Pinkie Pie was willing to play it.

The Game Begins

    Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were standing in what appeared to be a garage. Racks of tools covered the walls and a large red carriage was partially blocking what appeared to be the only exit to the small building. After several seconds of looking around the room, she noticed a large metal object on her side.

    "Pinkie, what is this?" asked the confused Pegasus as she tried to get a better look at the object.

    Pinkie Pie laughed. "Silly, that's a shotgun."

    "A shotgun?! Pinkie, why are ponies using guns?" asked the panicked pegasus as she tried to out run her weapon.

    "Duh, how else are we going to get rid of the bad guys?" answered Pinkie, giggling as she watched her panicked friend run around. "You know you can't get away from it, right Fluttershy? It's strapped to your side." she finished with another laugh.

    "But I don't want to hurt another pony. Even if they're bad ponies. I'm sorry Pinkie, I can't do it."

    Pinkie put a hoof on Fluttershy's back. "It's okay Flutters, how about you follow me and I'll do the work and if you work up the courage to play, you can join at any time."

    Fluttershy smiled. "I like that plan Pinkie, I'll stay behind you"

    With the plan set the two armed ponies were ready to begin their assault. Well, at least one pony was ready. The other pony was quite ready to curl up into a ball and wait the whole thing out. However, even if she couldn’t actually help Pinkie, she wasn't about to leave one of her friends alone.

    "Okay Private Fluttershy, I'm going to check out side. Stay here and wait for my signal," Pinkie Pie spoke in an unusual manner, her normally happy tone was replaced by a strict and commanding tone.

    "Pinkie, why are you talking like that?" asked the confused mare.

    "That's Commander Pinkie to you and this is how Commander Dash and I communicate in combat situations," responded Pinkie Pie, not breaking character.

    Pinkie Pie stared at Fluttershy for a few seconds before noticing the nervous look on Fluttershy's face.

    "I'm sorry Fluttershy," she said, reverting back to her happy tone. "I didn't mean to scare you or anything, it's just that’s how me and Dashie play."

    Hearing her friend switch back to her happy self helped raise Fluttershy's spirit. "I would really like that Pinkie. If you want though, you can still call me Private Fluttershy if you want," spoke Fluttershy cheerfully.

    "Okie dokie Private Fluttershy, you wait here I'll go peek around the corner and see if there's any baddies."

    Fluttershy sat with her back to some crates and watched anxiously as Pinkie went outside. After several seconds of silence, Fluttershy began to worry, having completely forgotten that they were in fact not actually in the game but sitting on the same couch. Fluttershy worked up the courage to go outside. However, just before Fluttershy could peek out the door, a Pink blur darted through the door and behind the carriage.

    "Don't go out there!" shouted Pinkie from behind the carriage.

    "Why not?" Asked Fluttershy confused by her friends new found fear.

    As if on cue a barge of bullets began to impact the outside wall of the garage. Many of the rounds were stopped by the wall but some managed to penetrate barely skimming the two ponies hiding inside. Fluttershy had crouched into a tiny puddle of fear behind her crates.

    "I don't want to die Pinkie," whimpered the terrified Pegasus

    "Don't worry Flutter, if either of us die as long as one of us is still alive we'll come back," answered Pinkie as she attempted to return fire.

    "What do you mean come back?" Fluttershy whimpered once again.

    "Since its just a game, nopony actually dies. Instead, if one of us dies, we'll just come back after the area is safe, good as new."

    As Pinkie Pie finished explaining the respawn system to Fluttershy, a bullet whizzed through the air pegging Pinkie right between the eyes. She dropped to the ground and her screen faded to black.

    "It's up to you Private Fluttershy." Pinkie said saluting her friend on the couch.

    Fluttershy wasn't sure what to do. Her friend had just been shot, but not really. She stood up and faced their attacker.  A large colt fully suited in black. On his side was another gun, though it appeared to be different then Fluttershy's.

    She took a deep breath Okay Fluttershy, it's you or him, She told herself. The colt just stood there, looking at her. As if he knew she couldn't do it. Fluttershy used every ounce of her willpower to shoot, but she just couldn't.

    The Colt laughed. "Ha, I got the first one and now I'm going to kill the second one."

    After hearing the colt the laugh at her something in Fluttershy snapped. A look of anger covered her face. The sudden change in Fluttershy's demeanor caused Pinkie to jump behind the couch. Pinkie peeked over the side of the couch and watched her friend carefully as she stood up and stared at the colt on the screen.

    "How dare you!" shouted Fluttershy as she pulled the trigger. "How dare you hurt one of my friends!" She pulled the trigger again. The large colt dropped to the ground. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, though it was short lived as an unseen colt managed to get a shot off placing a bullet clean through her skull.

    "Whoa Fluttershy, that was amazing!" Exclaimed Pinkie "You were all like ‘You big meanie’ then you got him."

    "Oh, it was nothing Pinkie. I'm sorry I got killed," Fluttershy said awkwardly, looking back at the screen. "So, are we going to try again?"

    A sly grin covered Pinkie's face. "Soooo, you liked it, didn't you?

    Fluttershy blushed. "Just a tiny bit."

    "Okie dokie Flutters, this time we'll both go after them," Pinkie said with a smile, returning to her seat.

    Fluttershy and Pinkie were back inside the garage, though now it appeared as if it had not seen a single battle. Pinkie immediately rushed to her position behind the red carriage and carefully aimed towards stairs leading into the house. Fluttershy with a new sense of battle found the second entrance from which the large colt had snuck up on her from. She took cover behind several wheels and waited for her sign.

    "Private Fluttershy, are you in position?" asked Commander Pinkie, once again using her military tone.

    "Yes Commander Pinkie," responded Fluttershy as she saluted Pinkie Pie from across the couch.

    "Go! Go! Go!" shouted Pinkie Pie

    Both Pinkie and Fluttershy moved from their positions each heading in a separate direction. Pinkie heading towards the stairs leading to the second floor of the house, Fluttershy heading towards the smaller garage attached to the house. However, Fluttershy was not as lucky as Pinkie who had met no resistance on her path. Another black colt was waiting for her inside the garage.

    "Aim for the head!" the colt shouted to absolutely no other pony, as he took a shot barely missing Fluttershy's head.

    Fluttershy hid behind the wall. This time she would have to plan it out, the only reason she had beaten the first colt was because it had gotten cocky. However, this colt seemed to be aware she was threat and was quite ready to shoot her.

    "Aim for the head!" the colt shouted once again, apparently still unaware he was alone.

    Meanwhile, Up Stairs

    Pinkie had made it up to the second floor. She flung the door open, eliminating the three unprepared colts in a hail of bullets. She knew that more would be on their way. Pinkie hid behind the door and waited for her prey to come to her.

    Meanwhile, Down Stairs

    "Aim for the head!" the colt shouted for the seventh time.

    Why does he keep yelling that? Fluttershy thought to herself.

    "Aim for the head!" the colt shouted again

    "That's it." Fluttershy said aloud, startling Pinkie Pie in the process.

    Fluttershy dived from her cover, catching the colt off guard. Before the guard saw her she managed a direct hit on his front leg. She quickly dived back into cover and reloaded. She peeked back around the corner and was surprised when the colt attempt to get another shot. Fluttershy waited for the colt to begin reloading before emerging from her hiding spot. With two quick pulls of the trigger, the colt dropped.

    "Aim for the head now." she muttered under her breath as she entered the garage. Two more colts were waiting for her on the stairs leading out of the garage. However, they posed little threat as she eliminated them both with a single shot.

    Fluttershy charged her way through the building, ramming doors and blasting anypony who got in her way. Fluttershy was now in a full gallop heading for the door at the end of the hall. She kicked the door open and immediately saw her next target. However her target saw her as well, they both pulled the trigger and in a flash both screens went black

    Awkward silence filled the room as the two ponies stared at each other.

    "We shot each other, didn't we?" Pinkie asked flatly.

    "Yup," Fluttershy answered, stunned.

    Though they both died the colts in the game continued to move around. Eventually, two colts wandered over to their bodies

    "Haha, these two colts fought like mares," the first one said before kicking Fluttershy's body.

    The second colt laughed. "If only they had aimed for the head, they might have been a challenge."

    The two mares stared at the screen blankly. The two of them had eliminated over half their comrades, yet they treated them as if they were foals. Though Fluttershy would never admit it, this made her slightly mad.

    "One more time?" she asked Pinkie.

    "You're more fun then Dashie, Fluttershy. She would normally get mad and leave at this point. Let’s go again."

    The two ponies reappeared in the now familiar garage. However, before either of them could leave the building, the door to Pinkie’s room opened and there stood Mrs.Cake.

    "Pinkie Pie dearie?" Asked the light blue mare.

    "Yes Mrs.Cake?" Answered Pinkie as she bounded over the couch.

    "Would you be a dear and come help us real quick, it won’t take more than twenty minutes."

    "Okie dokie Mrs. Cake, Fluttershy, you'll be okay alone for a few minutes, right?"

    Fluttershy nodded.

    "If you want you can go ahead without me, though I think there might be too many for just one pony." With that, she shut the door and descended back to the bakery with Mrs. Cake ahead of her.

    "So, what do you need help with Mrs. Cake?" asked Pinkie as she dived over the counter and into the kitchen.

    It took Mrs. Cake a few moments to catch up with the hyperactive mare. "We just need your help with a couple batches of cupcakes.”

    Several minutes later, Pinkie was making her way back up stairs when she heard the muffled shouts of Fluttershy.

    "Don't worry Fluttershy, auntie Pinkie Pie is coming!" shouted Pinkie as she hurried up the stairs, determined to save her friend from whatever had befallen her. She rammed the door open. What she saw left the Pinkie Pie completely speechless, which was a feat on it's own. Fluttershy wasn't shouting because she was in trouble. Instead, she was shouting out in joy something Pinkie hadn't seen since Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom in Cloudsdale.

    On the screen in big bold letters were the words "Mission Accomplished Team, All Terrorists have been eliminated."

    "Wha... What... How?!" Stammered the Pink earth pony "Dashie and I have never been able to beat that!" exclaimed the still shocked earth pony. "What happened? How did you do it?!"

    Fluttershy shrugged. "I don't know. They laughed at me, I didn't like that."

    Pinkie Pie just stared at the yellow Pegasus. Note to self, don't laugh at Fluttershy, ever.