Night has fallen over the mystical land of Equestria. Lights from within the buildings have been switched on. Out on the balcony of Princess Luna's room, she and Princess Twilight Sparkle gaze out to the star-themed, dark horizon.
Twilight flipped a page of her book about stars, revealing an image of a constellation. She brought the book closer to Luna so she could better. "Did you know that constellation is the biggest out of any constellation we know?"
Luna chuckled. She felt warm knowing there is a pony who took this much interest and passion from her beautiful night. The first time Twilight showed Luna her study room in her castle, she exposed an entire map of every constellation and a whole section of her shelf with books about the stars and space. To top it all off, even Twilight's blanket, her sleeping robe and the walls of her room were decorated with stars.
"Of course, I know that my friend," Luna answered with a smile. "I know my sky better than any pony."
Twilight retracted the book and turned another page. "Well, I'll make sure I know even more than you someday."
Luna gave Twilight a friendly bump. "Let us not go too far now. You should know a competition with me is not the greatest idea."
They both exchanged a hearty laugh and then turned to look at the sky again. Luna loved doing this. She and Twilight were first penpals. They wrote to one another a lot. Letter after letter, they got closer and soon a friendship blossomed. Then they began meeting with each other every Friday to have some fun. Sometimes they would go flying out at night. She and Twilight even had a water fight once in a lake. Luna couldn't remember the last time she had that much fun. Other times she and Twilight would sit somewhere, mostly on a cloud or here, and they would stargaze. Luna also told Twilight all the secrets of the dream realm.
Speaking of secrets, Luna wanted to show Twilight something new. During one of her night shifts, Luna had flown through the streets of Canterlot and came across a window in which a foal was playing with a controller. The video game was attached to a TV. Luna was extremely fascinated and immediately wanted one of her own. She consulted with her sister but Celestia said video games were for foals. Not grown mares. Luna disagreed thoroughly. Even grown mares deserved to have fun. So she bought one video game in secret. The first night Luna played a round with the controller, she instantly fell in love with it.
She hoped Twilight would feel the same. That's why Luna got a second controller. It's funner to have some pony to play with instead of alone. "Twilight Sparkle, I would like to show you something very special."
Twilight was busy finding a planet with her telescope. Upon hearing Luna's voice, she turned her head while raising a curious eyebrow. "Something special?"
Luna nodded enthusiastically. Her sparkling mane moves up and down from her vigorous head shakes, leaving behind misty stardust. "Yes, yes. Our fun will be doubled by a thousand, my friend!! I loved this so much, and I know you will too. Unlike Tia."
Twilight glanced at her telescope thoughtfully.
Remember what she and Twilight had intended to do for their Friday meeting, Luna assured her friend. "Worry not, Twilight. I promise we shall make more time for stargazing next Friday. Please come with me, I really want to show you."
Twilight smiled and let out a giggle. She levitated her telescope and books and teleported them away. Then she stood up, "Alright, Luna. If it makes you that happy then let's go."
Luna practically jumped up and down in excitement before grasping onto one of Twilight's forelegs. Twilight let out a surprised yelp as Luna dragged her down the hall of the castle all the way to Luna's room. With her magic, she flung the door open and shoved herself and Twilight in.
Using her telekinesis, she placed Twilight on the side of her bed. "Wait here, I need a few seconds to set it up. Also, can you shut the door?"
Twilight did as told while Luna took out a box from her closet. She fished out two controllers and the video game. Then she went to a table and yanked the white cloth off her TV. Quickly, as Luna was anticipating the fun to come, she plugged the wires of the controllers into the outlets. She was done.
She turned around to see Twilight watching her with piqued interest. Her hooves were held in her lap. Her ear twitched constantly. Luna turned to her. "Huzzah!!!" she cried. "This is my latest video game. During one of my night flights, I spotted a colt playing with one. I was so intrigued and fascinated, I immediately wanted one of my own. I consulted with Tia, but my sister said such things are for foals. I disagreed and bought one in secret. What do you think?"
Twilight moved off of the bed and went over to Luna. She lifted up one of the controllers and inspected the buttons. "I know what these are. Rainbow Dash has one. I often wondered what playing with one must be like. I never got the chance to due to my work. Other times it would generally slip out of my mind. Now that you have one, I'm looking forward to this."
With her veins buzzing with excitement and giddiness, Luna threw her hooves around Twilight. "I knew you would love it. I assure you Twilight, you will have the time of your life with this wonderful thing."
Twilight laughed and hugged Luna back. But then she pulled away, picked up her controller and held it at a ready position. "Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's get right to it."
Luna nodded sternly and picked up the second controller while switching on the TV and placing a compact disc in the slot. The screen flashed on. "As you can see Twilight, this game is called Monster Race. We are going to race as the title implies. However, in the middle of the race, we will run into terrible monsters that we need to defeat in order to get past them. As you defeat each monster, you score more points. And whoever reaches the end line first wins the game. I am very good at it."
Twilight glanced excitedly at her controller. "Oh wow, that sound really interesting and fun." she hesitated a minute or two before adding. "It is my first time, though. So you have a higher chance of winning. Especially since you said you're very good at it."
Luna gave Twilight a pat on her shoulder. "There, there Twilight. Don't have too much doubt in yourself. I assure you for a mare as smart as you, understanding the game won't be a difficult task. But I will give you a heads up." Luna leaned in closer to Twilight until they were levelled. Luna's tone came down to a whisper. "I am very competitive, so if you do somehow catch up to me, don't be surprised if I get very, very mad."
Twilight blinked back in astonishment. Then she nodded, "Alright. I'll keep that in mind."
Luna moved away and smiled brightly. "Let us begin then!!"
The two ponies got into place on Luna's couch and held their individual controllers at the ready. Twilight is a smart pony, Luna was well aware, but she's still a beginner. It will take her a little bit, at the very least, to get a hang of the game. It gave Luna some hope of being the one to claim victory.
Hopefully.
And then they started playing.
Twilight scrutinized everything very carefully. However, with a slightly panicked look on her face. As the race began, Twilight's cart toppled off the cliff twice. Luna had to bite her lip to contain her laughter. Instead, she gave her friend an encouraging smile. "Fret not, you will get the hang. Even I experienced the same thing as I began."
The best part is that Luna was ahead. She continued maneuvering around for a good few minutes before encountering her first monster. Luna licked her lips, she was ready for the battle.
Twilight glanced at the screen and gave her clumsy movements a flat, unamused glare. Then Luna felt Twilight flick her eyes over to her and the way Luna played her controller. Twilight took a minute to take in all the little tricks and shifts on the buttons and mimicked them. Her cart was now moving in a much steadier gait than it was initially. She didn't fall again and it was only a matter of time before she caught up with Luna.
Clever mare, Luna thought. A small part in the back of her mind evoked a feeling of annoyance.
A few more miles into the race, Luna and Twilight met up with the second monster. Luna shot several laser beams toward the creature. Unfortunately, this monster was a bit more advanced than the previous one and came with a magical shield. Luna grumbled angrily, now she had to find a way to break the shield.
Twilight on the other hoof, quickly figured innate magic doesn't work on the monster's shield. Instead, her sword did. She gave the shield three swipes and it disappeared. Once done, she angled her horn and fired off a few lasers and the monster forfeited the battle. She carried on with the race.
Luna felt her panic rise.
Twilight laughed, "I'm really enjoying this. It was pretty easy to get the hang of this. Now that I do, I'm loving the results so far." She blasted a gigantic boulder in her path and gave a victorious "woo!"
Luna muttered something grumpily under her breath. Outwardly, she laughed as well. "See," she cried. "Isn't it fun? I told you you would like this."
Twilight looked up at Luna's cart struggling with some vines. She raised an eyebrow. "Really? I mean, I'm having fun but that..." she motioned to Luna's cart, "doesn't look much fun. I thought you said you were good at this game."
Sweat dripped down Luna's forehead. She turned and gave Twilight a laugh that came out more nervous than intended. "Um, well, the princess of the night was going a bit easy to give you a chance to catch up." She ended off with a toothy grin.
Twilight frowned. "But you said you were competitive. Very, competitive."
Now Luna didn't know what to say. She fumbled over how to answer with civility. Nothing came to her head. In the end, Luna realized Twilight must have figured out her frustration by that point. So, therefore, lying makes no difference. The last straw was out and Luna shouted. "Okay, Twilight Sparkle, you were right! I am NOT having fun. How could you be that good at the game when you just started!? That is not fair!! But I will not lose. I repeat. I WILL NOT LOSE!!!!"
Twilight dropped her controller, her hooves flying to her ears when Luna suddenly spoke in her Royal Canterlot Voice. That gave Luna an opportunity to catch up.
She grabbed her controller with her hooves hard and drove her cart forward. When she passed Twilight's cart, she grinned like a maniac. "Yes, yes, yes. The Luna is best gamer. And Luna will win. She will win for sure."
Twilight shot Luna a flagger-basted look. She let out a frustrated groan. "You can't do that! You tipped me off."
Luna smiled. "I couldn't possibly let you win."
Twilight observed the screen. After a minute, her face lit up. "That's it!" she said. She drove her cart over to a hill, raced all the way to the top, jumped and then lasted a few meters ahead of Luna's.
Luna's eyes widened in shock. She shot Twilight a deadly frown. "You dare do that to me!! I will not lose!!" Luna shrieked. She let loose another panicked shout when Twilight's cart neared the finishing line.
"NOOOOO!!!" Luna howled. She thought and thought until a brilliant but evil idea came to her. Luna knew it was unfair, but she had to do it. She couldn't be denied her victory. She swiftly lunged toward the TV, clamped her teeth on the wire that attached Twilight's controller to the TV, and yanked it out.
Twilight gasped as her section of the screen flashed "Your controller is unplugged."
Luna's panic ceased, knowing there is no way Twilight could catch up now. She drove her cart toward the finishing line in one clean movement.
"YYYYEEEEESSSSS," Luna yelled. Her wings flung open. She hugged Twilight and yanked her up in the air with her. She spun them both around. "Yes, yes, yes!!!! I win. The princess of the night approaches claiming the golden cup."
Poor Twilight was still in too much shock to answer. She remained dead silent the whole time until Luna landed them. Luna was so happy though. Playing the game was the best idea.
Finally, Twilight shook her head and turned to Luna slowly. "How could you? You cheated. That wasn't fair. You could have called it a fair game. Who knows? Maybe you could have won without doing that."
Luna considered this. "True, but I wasn't in the mood to take chances. You don't mind too much do you? It was just for fun after all."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "You should tell yourself that. But yeah, I don't mind too much." She squared her shoulders and flattened her belly down on the couch.
Luna patted Twilight on the head. "Okay, listen. Next time when we play, I won't do that. I'll play fairly." She lifted Twilight up in a hug. "The most important bit is that we had fun. Right?"
Twilight smiled and giggled. "Duh, I definitely had fun."
The both exchanged a joyful laugh before saying in unison. "Best friends forever!!!!"
