Civilization? I don't get it...
Today was just another ordinary day for me. Wake up, go to work, come back home, sleep. Yeah I have a very ordinary lifestyle. I enjoy it, I mean I get to work on movies and no matter how much we get paid it's a very satisfying job. Lately things have become a bit monotonous around here. Usually my friends would be available to hang out but it just isn't the case anymore. Many of them have moved out of state so I'm pretty much alone. I keep in touch, though. So as I came back from the studio, I put my feet up on the sofa and turned on the TV. Knowing that I didn't have to work for a week was a bittersweet feeling. I was glad that I didn't need to wake up early but I also didn't like the fact that I wasn't getting paid. Oh well, that's show biz.
As I was flipping through the channels, I came across the Hub which I guessed was some cartoon channel. Transformers was on so I decided to just leave it there and watch it. Anything is better than the History Channel's fake alien documentaries. It was already 11 PM when Transformers was done. I was about to turn off the TV when the next show started. My Little Pony? The intro started to play and I just stayed there. Somehow this show kept me from going to sleep. I'm not sure how it was doing that. I looked at the time and I was surprised. 3 AM? I ended up watching four hours of ponies? Wow, I really need to sleep. I hit the bed and dozed off.
I woke up as the rooster sang its cry. Well not really, that was my alarm ringtone. Damn its 6 AM! I forgot to turn the alarm off. I was going to go back to sleep when I heard steps in the kitchen. I opened the door which led to the little hallway. Those steps were definitely in the kitchen. I sneaked through the living room, trying not to make any sound. I sure hope this isn't a thief. Then again, why would there be a thief here? The only thing here worth stealing is my 50 inch TV and my computer. And they were still where they were. I needed to know who was in the kitchen. I peeked a little and saw that they were inside the fridge. I couldn't tell because the door was covering whoever it was. I got closer and with a hint of courage I closed the door.
Oh my god! A pony? No, I must be seeing things. After all, I only got 3 hours of sleep. While I was dumbstruck, the pony was surprised and also feeling fear.
"Please, don't hurt me," said the pony, "I was just hungry. I didn't know it was your food," My jaw dropped.
"You could talk?" I said.
"Of course I could talk. All ponies do," said the pony. Her facial expression changed from fear to confusion.
"Ok...I'm probably hallucinating," I said, acknowledging that this is all in my mind. The last thing I saw before going to sleep was ponies so this is just a relapse of sorts. But then the pony answered back.
"No you're not hallucinating. I really am here. I'm not a mirage or anything like that, I'm just a pony err... well technically I'm a unicorn," said the pony.
"Alright," I said. I was thinking of just playing along with this no matter if it was real or not, "so pony, what's your name?"
"Well I'm glad you asked," she said, "My name is Twilight Sparkle,"
"Twilight Sparkle?" I said.
"Yeah, that's my name but you can call me Twilight," she Twilight, "and what's your name?"
"Oh, well my name is Peter," I said. I can't believe I'm talking to a purple pony.
"You humans have weird names," said Twilight.
"I could say the same thing about you ponies," I said, "By the way, how did you get in my apartment?"
"You see I was testing out a new spell that I discovered in an old magic book. It supposedly lets you teleport to faraway places. Princess Celestia asked me to test it out as it might allow her to visit all the other nations in our world," Twilight said, "However, I think something went wrong and threw me into another universe. To be more specific, it transported me to your living room. I was looking through and I caught up reading a couple of your books," She must have meant those history books that I had from college.
"You mean those history books?" I asked.
"Yeah, the history of your world is fascinating!" she said.
"Really?" I said.
"Yeah, it's amazing how so much can happen in 4,000 years. Equestria has always been the same for about 5,000 years while your world changed so much," said Twilight. I never thought too much about history. I only learned it to pass my class. The only reason I could remember some history was because I played Civilzation. What she said gave me an idea. I got on my computer and started up Civilization V. Twilight followed me and sat right next to me as she saw the screen.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm gonna play this game called Civilzation V." I said.
"Civilization? I don't get it," said a confused Twilight.
"It's a game where you make your own country. You start off in the stone age and you can win in a variety of ways," I said.
"Oh ok so how do you win?" she asked.
"Well you can either just destroy everyone else, send a spaceship, high culture, or you could just win with the high score," I said.
"I get it. It sure sounds like fun. Do you think I could play?" she said. Now, normally I don't let anybody use my computer. But this time I had to make an exception.
"Alright Twilight you could play," I said.
"Great!," she said with glee as the game menu started up. She started a new game and now had to choose her country, "So which one should I pick?"
"I always play as Babylon. It's my favorite one," I said.
"Then Babylon it is, " she said. The game loaded up and soon enough, there was the settler and the map, "So what do I do now,"
"Well you build your first city. The settler there can build," I said.
After half an hour of playing, Twilight got the hang of the game. She built more cities and units and went exploring. The game drew her attention and she was literally glued to the screen. I was glad that she was having fun, seeing how Civilization V is one of my favorite games. It was all fun and games when suddenly she had a first encounter with Gandhi.
"Hey I read about him in one of your books," she said, "I'm going to see if we can trade and be in peace," I wanted to tell her that Gandhi in Civilization V is not the Gandhi from history. This Gandhi is a monster who uses nukes to get what he wants.
"This is not good. Twilight don't sign open borders with him," I said.
"Why not? Isn't he a man of peace?" she said.
"Not in this game he isn't," I said.
"I'm not so sure about that. He's giving me spices while I'm sending him Uranium," she said.
"What!" I said, "Why would you do that? You know he's gonna build nukes with that!"
"Well he's friendly so there's nothing to worry about," she said, "after all, it's just a game, "Ten minutes passed when suddenly Gandhi broke all the deals he made with Twilight. She was confused.
"Why did he cancel all our trading deals?" she said, "not to mention that he cancled the open borders as well," I already knew what was going on but I wanted Twilight to experience it firsthand. Gandhi then comes out on the screen.
"My words are backed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS!" said Gandhi. Then, nuke after nuke, Twilight's cities were destroyed. You can tell that she was confused and then she became mad.
"Why did he betray me? We had peace for the whole game and now he destroys my cities? What kind of a sorry excuse of a leader is this Gandhi?" she said with a tone of anger. Granted, she isn't the only one to get enraged when Gandhi used his nukes.
"He's a total douche in this game," I said, "That's how the programmers made him,"
"Well those programmers are obviously stupid since they can't even portray a historical figure correctly! He's the complete opposite of the real one," she said.
"They did it as a joke, you know," I said to her.
"Well it's a cruel joke," she said.
"The funny thing is that you didn't expect it. That happens to all of us who play Civilization," I said, trying to make her feel better. Her facial expression changed from anger to one of laughter.
"It was pretty funny, right? Who would have thought?" she said. As we were laughing about her experience with Gandhi, a flashing purple orb appeared in my kitchen.
"Well that's my ride home. Thanks for having me here," she said, "and thanks for letting me play the game," she said.
"Not a problem, good bye Twilight," I said, waving my hand. She waved her hoof and jumped into the portal. And with that, the orb disappeared. I saw the computer screen on but I was feeling too lazy to turn it off and went right back to my room. I need my sleep.
Back in Equestria
Once Twilight came back, she realized that she had to send a report to Princess Celestia. Then she remembered her time with Peter and that game that they were playing. She got an idea.
"Spike! Get your pen ready," Twilight said, " I know what to send the Princess,"
"Lead on Twilight," said Spike.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I learned that sometimes we get jokes played on us. It might make us feel angry and mad but we should remember that we shouldn't take such things to heart. It's best to laugh at yourself, because it means that you love yourself.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle
