//------------------------------//
// Time Flies When You're Having Fun 
// Story: Bits and Games 
// by Brian Jacko 
//------------------------------//

	Rainbow Dash snuck up and grabbed Applejack from behind in a tight hug."Applejack! Get over here!" she yelled out. 

"What in tarnations!?" Applejack said. Applejack turned around to see Rainbow Dash looking at her with excitement and joy in her eyes. "Rainbow, ya almost made me miss my shot. What's gotten into ya? Yer also soakin' wet!" 	
Rainbow giggled and said, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Applejack you HAVE to try these dance games! They are so much fuuuuun!" 

Applejack readjusted her hat and said, "Calm down sugar cube, I don't think video games are my thing. I tried to play one game and it ate my bits just like that!" 

Rainbow didn't say anything back, she simply grabbed Applejack by the hoof and raced over to where the dance machines were. "I found out that you don't have to worry about losing your bits if you have a friend playing with you. I'm good enough to keep the both of us alive and we can play our three songs together!" Rainbow proudly said. 

Applejack looked around nervously and said, "Well, if ya say so, R.D. I just don't wanna make myself look like a fool on one of these here machines. Which one are we gonna play?" 

Rainbow Dash puffed up her chest proudly and said, "This one has four arrows. Up, down, left, and right. The other game has five. All diagonal arrows and a center step. The last game has nine, but I think that might be too advanced for you right now. Let's try the one with four to start with."

Applejack nodded and stepped on the pads. "So all ya gotta do is step on the arrow when it reaches the top?" she asked.

Rainbow nodded yes proudly with her eyes closed and said, "Yup, and make sure to avoid the mines! Some of them can be tricky." Rainbow Dash put the coins in the machine and started to scroll through the music. "They have some really great songs in here, A.J. I even played a song by DJ Pon-3!" 

Applejack just stared at the screen in confusion. "What in the hay is all this electronic soundin' music? Ain't there somethin' on this machine that a farm girl could dance too?" she asked. 

Rainbow Dash ignored her friend and continued to scroll through songs, looking for something like rock and roll or metal to dance to. 

Applejack's ears suddenly perked up and she swatted Rainbow's hoof away from the buttons. "Go back! Go back! I heard a familiar bluegrass tune!" she cried out. Applejack pressed one of the buttons on the machine and it took her back to the previous song that Rainbow had scrolled over. "I want this one, Rainbow! Good ol'e fashioned bluegrass music!" 

Rainbow muttered some words under her breath and held the start button down. She adjusted her speed mods and then went on Applejacks side and put on the same speed mod she was using. 

"What are ya doin' to my screen, R.D?" Applejack asked. 

"I'm just adjusting the scroll rate of the arrows so you can see them better. Just trust me Applejack," Rainbow replied. 

Rainbow got down to the very bottom of the screen and put her hoof to her chin. "How about we play on medium Applejack?" she suggested. "That way we can both play the same chart and it won't be too hard for you. I'm sure you're going to be good at this game, seeing that you're in such good shape from all that hard farm work you do." 

Applejack nodded yes and grinned at the thought that Rainbow called her a hard worker. 

Rainbow locked in both of their screens and stepped back. 

The two of them began stepping on arrows.

Rainbow couldn't help but glance at Applejack's screen to watch how high her score was. She was a lot better than she thought, but Rainbow was confident that she'd pull ahead and win. When the song ended, Rainbow and Applejack stared at the screen in anticipation to see their scores. 

"No way!" Applejack cried out. "I beat ya at yer own game fair and square, Rainbow!" 

Rainbow muttered some words of disapproval. "It was close, A.J. I got an eighty nine point ninety nine percent score you got a ninety percent score. I was off by a smidgen!" Rainbow Dash said. 

Rainbow Dash and Applejack played another two songs together. Rainbow won the next one, but Applejack came back and won on the third song. 

"Yee-Haw! That wasn't so bad Rainbow, maybe I'll play with ya again after I finish my game of pool. I'll catch ya later." 

Rainbow stared at the screen in disbelief. "I hate losing," she whispered to herself. Just then, she saw Fluttershy walking very slowly behind the dance game, hoping not to be noticed by any pony. "HEY FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow called out. 

Fluttershy let out an "Eeeep!" and ducked behind the arcade cabinet. 

Rainbow Dash went behind the machine and pushed her onto the dance pad. She put some more bits into the machine. 

Fluttershy nervously looked up at the screen and said, "Um, excuse me Rainbow, but is this a violent game? I don't like games with violence in them." 

Rainbow shook her head no and said, "Well not really, but you do kind of stomp on the pads pretty violently though!" Rainbow stomped her hoof on the pad causing Fluttershy to feel vibrations in her hooves.

"Eeeep!" Fluttershy cried out and held onto the red bar attached to the pad. 

Rainbow grabbed her tail and yanked her back down to the pad, she then took Fluttershy's headphones off and hung them on the bar behind her. "Relax Fluttershy. All you have to do is step on the arrow when it reaches the top. Just don't step on any mines!" 

Fluttershy nodded her head nervously. 

Rainbow started the game up and picked her song. She put Fluttershy on an easy difficulty and picked a harder difficulty for herself. 

Fluttershy stayed put on the center platform. She was frozen there in fear. When the song started, a single arrow came up on Fluttershy's side of the screen. She nervously stuck out her hoof and stepped on the panel. She squeaked a little bit in fear. 

Rainbow was watching her step out of the corner of her eye. "Keep your hooves on the arrows and stay off the center, Fluttershy!" Rainbow called out. 

Fluttershy kept her hooves on the arrows until the mines started going off. "Bang! Boom! Pow! Fluttershy let out a squeak and instinctively went back to staying on the center of the raised metal platform again.

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the sight of Fluttershy tapping each arrow gently with her hoof and then pulling it back quickly to the center in fear of stepping on another mine. When the song ended, they compared their scores. "Um, Rainbow? Did I just beat you?" Fluttershy quietly asked. 

Rainbow pressed the start button in disgust and replied, "Yeah, but that's only because I played a harder difficulty than you. You should really try to not stay on the center platform so much." 

Rainbow played two more songs and lost each one to Fluttershy. 

"Fluttershy, I don't know how you do it, but your rhythm is flawless in this game," Rainbow said.

Fluttershy's cheeks turned red at the compliment. she looked at Rainbow and said, "I guess I um, must have good rhythm from teaching the birds how to sing." 

Rainbow Dash spread her wings out and said, "Are you up for a rematch? I bet I can beat you this time if you play a harder difficulty level with me!" 

Fluttershy stepped off the pads and grabbed her headphones. She put them around her neck and said, "No, that's ok, Rainbow. I was actually making my way over to play another one of these music games where you press buttons that match the notes on the screen. Maybe we'll play sometime later." 

Rainbow Dash nodded and went back to her game. 



Twilight Sparkle looked up at a clock nearby. "Oh my goodness! We have been here for almost eight hours! We missed lunch and it's almost dinner time!" she cried out. 

Twilight ran around the Arcade looking for her friends. Each one was still busy playing their games. They were all locked deep in concentration as they stared at their games. Twilight was able to gather up all her friends. They were all oblivious as to how much time had gone by. None of them even realized that they were hungry, and none of them wanted to leave the arcade. 

They eventually settled down at the snack bar and had some food. No pony said much of anything. They all devoured their meals and went back to playing games. 

The arcade eventually closed and all the ponies were left outside sitting in the dark of night. They were all silent. 	
Twilight eventually spoke up. "Hey girls?" 

"Yeah?" they all responded. 

"I don't know about you all, but I'm kind of afraid to admit that I actually had fun and maybe video games aren't just for little foals, but are quite challenging and fun for adults too." 

Rainbow Dash spoke up, "Hey Twi? I still have a good chunk of bits left in my bag. Could we perhaps come back here tomorrow and play some more games?" 

All the other girls murmured in approval. 

"Rainbow, you bet your flank we'll come back tomorrow! I haven't had this much fun since I was a little foal! I'm still embarrassed about other ponies finding out about us playing here, but we seemed to be the only ponies here tonight," Twilight said with enthusiasm. 

All the other girls cheered. They decided on a time to meet up tomorrow. They were exhausted and went home and fell asleep.