The year 2000 saw a number of changes for Twilight and Spike. The Alicorn began her third year of college at the start of September, throwing herself into her studies to ensure the greatest understanding of her curriculum possible. After the announcement of the PS2, the siblings waited anxiously in anticipation. Three days before its release, Twilight returned to her dorm with a new record in hoof.
"Did you find anything good?" Spike asked.
"The guy at the counter recommended this one."
Twilight levitated the case in front of her brother. The dragon read the jagged font out loud.
"'The Whispered Lies of Angels'...?"
"He told me it sounds a lot like Prayer for Cleansing."
"Oh, sweet. Put it in."
Twilight glided the CD over to her original PlayStation. She used her magic to unwrap the plastic packaging, discarding it in the trash. She opened the case and inserted the disc, booting on the power. To their surprise, the cashier was spot on. The riffs were fast, melodic, and aggressive. What set the bands apart were the vocals. Here, they were throatier and focused more on the diaphragm. The pair listened closely to the lyrics.
"Woah," Spike remarked, "This is a lot deeper than I expected."
"Yeah," Twilight agreed, "I'm used to thinking with the logical side of my brain, but these guys have the emotional side down to a T. Kinda makes me wonder what their live shows are like."
"Guess we'll have to see sometime. First we need to get ahold of a PS2, though."
"What games should we get? I can afford a few at this point."
"The only ones that look good right now are Timesplitters and Street Fighter. The real good stuff's probably gonna be a bit late 'cause of the hardware shift."
"True. We still have to beat Final Fantasy 9 and Dragoon."
"How 'bout we pick up Pro Skater 2? Been wanting to try it out for a while."
"Sounds good."
Twilight returned to her studies, letting the album play in the background while she finished her work.
Two nights later, Spike and Twilight spent the evening at a nearby electronics store. They listened to music and read manga to keep themselves occupied.
"What kind of games do you think'll come out over the system's lifespan?" Spike wondered curiously.
"Hopefully lots of RPGs. If Parasite Eve's anything to go by, the genre's got a strong future ahead."
"You think we'll get another Koudelka or Soul Reaver?"
"I dunno. It's hard to say."
"Personally, I'm hoping for another DOOM title. It's been a bit since the last one."
"The system's supposed to be backwards compatible, so we'll be able to play our entire library, which reminds me: we need to make sure we pick up a couple memory cards, too. Don't want a repeat of last time."
Spike shuddered, remembering the infamous marketing prank Sony pulled the first time around.
"That was a nightmare."
"I bought a magazine that details the console's features. There's a built-in DVD player so we can watch movies if we take it on vacation."
"That's sick! With all the Dragon Ball merch coming out, we might see some movies soon."
"That would be awesome."
"I don't care how old we get. We need to buy happy meals just for the toys."
"I'm with you on that."
"You think we'll be able to listen to music on this thing?"
"I don't see why not if the original could support it."
"I heard a rumor the new 7 Angels 7 Plagues album will be out next year. They supposedly got a new singer, Matt Mixon."
"What happened to Temo?"
"Guess he left the band to become a pastor."
"Should've guessed."
"Most people don't even know they're a Christian band."
"Their lyrics were never really overly-preachy. Guess they were trying to put the music first."
"Still, it's kinda surprising. Their lyrics sound like stuff angsty goth kids would write."
"You mean like us?"
"Pretty much."
"How's that comic book series of yours coming along?"
"I'm making some revisions right now. I think I've almost got it down."
"To tell you the truth, I think you should keep it underground: make it a cult classic only hardcore fans would know."
"Yeah. I think so, too. Mainstream superheroes just don't cut it for me these days."
"That's 'cause you have a big sister who knows what quality content is."
"True."
The shop owner emerged to let the line know the consoles were available.
"Hold on," Twilight halted, holding her brother in place, "We'll have to be sneaky if we want to do this right."
"Gotcha." Spike realized.
The duo waited for the crowd to pour in, providing them with the perfect cover to snag a box without being noticed. They quickly located the games, memory cards, and extra controllers, gathering everything together before disappearing into obscurity until they could make their purchase.
"That's one system down," the dragon counted, "PC's next."
"I know a little bit about system modification. We should start learning how to tinker around with tech for better performance."
"I'm down. For now let's revel in our victory."
"Fine by me. Place was a freakin' madhouse."
Back at the dorm, Spike and Twilight hooked up the new PlayStation to their TV. They inserted their memory cards into their respective slots and booted up Timesplitters.
"What difficulty should we play on?" Spike questioned.
"Let's do hard just to see how fast we get murdered."
"Fitting test run, I'd say."
To the dragon's shock and amazement, Twilight decimated the entire game in one solid run. Her reflexes were comparable to those of a martial arts master.
"Holy crap! How did you beat it so fast!?"
"Shining."
"You mean that military training you guys did before you started school?"
"How do you think I stayed focused so long?"
"Actually, now that I think about it, it makes sense."
"You could probably benefit from a little tough love yourself, slacker."
"I'm eight."
"That's no excuse."
"Butthead..."
Twilight snickered, locking her brother in an uncharacteristically tomboyish headlock.
"You know I only give you a hard time 'cause I love ya."
"Yeah, yeah, ya big sap."
"I think I said the same thing to Shining once or twice."
"Probably."
Spike yawned, checking his watch for the time.
"It's already two in the morning? I'm beat."
"Come on. Let's turn in for the night."
"No complaints from me."
Twilight shut off the system, tucking her brother in before resting her own muscles.
"We'll try out the others when I get back tomorrow."
"Heck yeah. Sounds like a plan."
"Night."
"Night."