Has the fun been doubled?
For the first time in a thousand long years, the stillness and peace of Equestria carried itself into the streets of Canterlot. After a thousand long years, the feared Nightmare Moon had been defeated and the elder Princess had finally been reunited with her younger sister. For the first time in a millennium, Princess Celestia was at peace with herself. Her sister was finally back and with her. Now she finally had the opportunity to spend some time with her beloved little sister.
In the bedroom of Princess Luna, the two alicorn siblings sat. Celestia had moved everything Luna owned from the old castle in the Everfree forest into this room and it had served as almost a kind of shrine, for Celestia to mourn over her dear sister, whom she loved greatly. Now, with its ancient tapestries, thousand year old furniture and antique candle chandeliers, the room desperately needed a renovation. But fancy gadgets were not required for the lesson Celestia was going to give to Luna tonight. Beside the two sisters, decks of cards, several board games, instruction manuals and even a uPod and a speaker lay strewn about.
"Pray sister, do describe to us what this curious contraption is." Luna said inquisitively. In her aura, she held a game piece, probably from a Checkers set, though Celestia was not quite sure.
"I believe that's a checkers piece, Luna." Celestia replied.
"Checkers? What are checkers?"
Celestia chuckled, "It's a game. I'll show you in a bit. First, I want to let you get a little sampling of the music of the current time."
"Music! That brings us great joy to hear that the art of touching the soul through pleasant sounds is still thriving. Pray enlighten us!"
Celestia smiled at her sister's enthusiasm. She took hold of the uPod and connected it to the speakers. 'Hmm... should I go with something that is more... unique? Yeah, let's go with something unique... just to elicit a reaction.' Celestia thought to herself.
"Alright... this is something from 'Skilles'. This colt makes a lot of electronic music." Celestia loaded up the music and turned the volume up. The distinct sound of the music was loud and to Luna, extremely foreign.
"AIIEEEEEE!! WHATEVER THIS 'ELECTRONIC' INSTRUMENT IS... WE WISH TO SEE IT BANNED. THOU HAST INTRODUCED A TRULY OFFENDING CACOPHONY OF SOUND TO OUR EARS, DEAR SISTER!" Luna screamed as she brought her hooves to her ears. The royal guard outside the room must have thought that Celestia and Luna were having some kind of royal rave party. Celestia stopped the music. Luna shot an annoyed look at her sister, who wore a large grin. "We believe thou didst that on purpose!"
"I did not! It really is the kind of music some ponies listen to, I promise!" Celestia smiled meekly, hoping to calm her sister.
Luna raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. "Perhaps there is less... vexing music that we could enjoy? If a court musician were to produce such... harsh tones in our presence back in the classical era, there is no doubt he would have been executed!" Luna exclaimed.
Celestia played around with the uPod and brought up some Two Trots from Hell. She had a soft spot for epic theatrical music. Maybe Luna would share her interest. Protectors of Equestria. One of her personal favorites.
"Here Luna. Maybe this suits your tastes." the white alicorn said as she hit 'Play'.
Luna's eyes lit up like a little foal's in a candy shop. "We think we can develop a liking for this kind of music. WE DEMAND MORE!"
Celestia giggled and assured Luna. "There is a lot of music that is just like this. We can continue listening as I show you some games we play in Equestria now."
Luna clapped her hooves together. "Yes! We find great pleasure in engaging in mortal past times! Please explain to us what the aforementioned 'Checkers' is!"
The white alicorn smiled at her sister's filly-like excitement and used her magic to pick up the Checkers board and the red and black pieces scattered across the floor. "This is Checkers, Luna." she said.
Luna's eyes lit up once again. "Oh! Tis the game of draughts is it not? We absolutely adore this game! Remember how many winters ago, we would play this game and thou could not defeat us? I have missed this game dearly." Luna grew a little sadder. "We held those memories very dear to my heart, during our imprisonment. But our skill is still with us, methinks!"
Celestia laid down the board and set the pieces up. "Then shall we play?"
"But of course dear sister!" the younger alicorn replied.
It soon became clear that Luna's thousand years on the moon has left her sorely out of practice. Game after game, the same result always came up. Celestia just kept (figuratively) stomping Luna into the ground.
"GAH!" With a considerable amount of speed, Luna threw the board and its accompanying pieces into the wall behind Celestia. "TIS A LIE! THE CREATORS OF THIS GAME HAVE CONSPIRED TO CAUSE THE NIGHT TO LOSE! WE SHALL NOT STAND FOR SUCH TREACHEROUS ACTIONS!" Luna huffed violently. Celestia ducked down just in time, barely avoiding getting smacked by a plastic checkerboard.
"Um... maybe we should just... play a different game." Celestia quietly stated. She quickly gathered up the pieces and dug out a box of connect four. Simple game to teach, and satisfyingly addictive. Setting the box down between the herself and her sister, Celestia began to set up the game while explaining the rules to Luna. "Okay Luna. We'll play this game. It's called 'Connect Four'. You just drop in these little circles from the top of the board, and you have to try to get four of your circles lined up, in a row. The line can be horizontal, diagonal or vertical. Got it?"
Luna stared intensely at the yellow board in front of her. "We understand the rules quite clearly. Proceed with game play."
Celestia deposited the pile of black chips in front of her sister. "Black for the night." Luna smiled. "You can go first, Luna."
Using her magic, Luna lifted a piece and dropped it into the grid of holes within the board. "Ha sister! Best our move!"
Celestia responded in kind, dropping her red piece adjacent to Luna's black one. Luna dropped a piece on top of Celestia's. The two sisters stared at each other as the grid slowly filled up. The Two Trots from Hell still playing in the background was intermittently interrupted by an occasional grumble from Celestia or exasperated sigh from Luna, indicating that the path to victory had been blocked by their opponent. Finally, after a grueling five minutes of extreme-plastic-disc-dropping, Princess Luna squealed with glee. "YES! HA! WE HAVE TRIUMPHED OVER THEE, SISTER! THE NIGHT HAS PREVAILED!" Celestia rolled her eyes and retorted, "You only won because I let you, Luna." She stuck her tongue out at her younger sister. Luna replied gleefully, "Nay sister! It is because of our superior skill at this past time! We request that we continue to play more! MORE!"
Six hours later, and the regal sisters were still at it. Even though dawn had arrived and Celestia needed to bring up the sun, her sister would not allow her to leave. "NAY DEAR SISTER! PRAY STAY WITH US FOR JUST ONE MORE ROUND!" was Luna's only response. Celestia was getting tired. She desperately needed coffee and she was done with being beaten, game after game by Luna. 'Well... at least I'm finally getting to spend some quality sister time after these thousand years...' the Princess thought to herself.
As Luna readied the board for yet another round, Celestia buried her face into a cushion she had started clutching.
'On second thought... I soooo should have taught her Solitaire instead.'
