"Perfection! Victory!" blared through the television, its surround sound booming through Princess Luna's wireless headset. She took a long drink of her energy drink as a small satisfactory smile appeared on her muzzle.
"You freakin' tryhard! Noob!" the voice yelled through the ear piece.
"Awww, are we mad? Did the baby get put down for a nap?" Luna cooed back.
"Let's go round 2! I'll definitely win!"
"Oh, sorry, but I don't have time for people with such low skill. Goodbye."
"Oh, you cocky little-"
The voice was abruptly cut off as Luna searched for her next opponent. She had only lost to two players in her life. While she only lost one round to an up-and-coming gamer, the other pony in question she feared the most. Luna drank more of her drink as the game announced her new opponent.
"A new challenger appears! Select your character!" it announced.
"Well, looks like another "W" for Luna," she chuckled to herself.
As Luna was selecting her character, she glanced over at her opponent's name. The gamer-tag read Numbah_1. Her jaw immediately fell open as the opponent locked in their character.
"Noel Vermillion!" the game shouted.
Luna gulped loudly as she pondered what to do. The time for character selection was running low as furious thoughts crossed the Alicorn's mind. She couldn't decide whether to try her luck and somehow scramble a win or simply let the timer run out. There were only 30 seconds on the timer as she closed her eyes and thought back on her last loss to this insane player.
Woona had just left the kitchen with a gleeful smile on her face. With a slight hum, she casually strolled up the stairs and back into her bedroom. She set down two bottles of grape juice and a box of Snack 'Em Cheesies. She turned on her Canterlot 64 and inserted the Equestrian Kart cartridge into the gaming device. With levitation magic, she held the controller in her hoof while she turning on the television. She waited patiently with a bubbling mood as the screen was blank. Woona sighed in frustration as she turned off the console.
"Again?" she groaned, her face wrought with frustration.
She lifted herself off of the floor and walked over to the console. She shut the console off and glared angrily at it. With another grunt, she removed the cartridge and held the console sideways. With large gasps of air, she forcefully blew into the console repeatedly. After a couple of minutes, she began to feel woozy and softly fell on the floor, the small fibers of the carpet tickling her muzzle. She shook her head and inserted the game back into the console. She turned the console back on a large gold 64 emblem began to spin around and around on the screen. The game announced, "Welcome to Equestrian Kart-a" as Woona readied herself for the onslaught that was about to occur. Her eyes narrowed as she could feel the anticipation welling up inside her. This feeling lasted briefly as Tia walked into the room.
"Ummm, Woona, what are you doing?" she pondered as she observed one of Woona's juice bottles.
"If you must, know, I'm playing a game," Woona replied.
"What kind of game?"
"Racing."
"Is it fun?"
"Yes."
"Are you good at it?"
"YES! Sweet Mother of us, no more questions!" Woona shouted.
"Giirrrlllls, are you both playing nice?" a voice roared from downstairs.
"Yes, Mother, we are!" they both responded.
"Keep your voice down, Woona. We don't want Mother to get angry at us," Tia meekly replied.
"Fine, Tia. Whatever. I know what you're going to ask, so yes, you can play. On one condition," Woona demanded.
"Yes?"
"It's best out of 3. Loser does the dishes tonight."
"It's a deal." The sister's horns glowed brightly as they touched one another, signifying the pact had been made.
Upon the character selection screen, Tia chose the princess of the light weight class. Knowing she won't be outplayed, Woona chose a dark unicorn of the light weight class as well. After character selection, Woona chose the first map. She chose Sunrise Surprise, a map that was a complete 8-track circuit with the final turn being the most difficult. The final turn was the same as the others, but occasionally the sun on the map would light up a player's screen so brightly, they would lose sight of the road. Woona grinned while she chugged one of the juice bottles next to her.
Woona timed the traffic light perfectly and immediately earned herself a boost. Woona shot to first as Tia just calmly held the "A" button as she stared at the screen. Woona hit question mark box and picked up her first item, a lonely banana. She threw the banana on the track as she rounded the second turn. Tia was in fifth place as she hit the box. The item inside was a red shell, which she promptly used. Looking at the mini-map around the edges of the screen, Tia just finished rounding corner 2, while Woona hit a straightaway. For the next two laps, not much happened. A couple of place changes and the occasional blue shell were used, but the third lap would be interesting.
Tia was in third place, while Woona was still in the lead. They were nearing turns 3 and 4, the final stretch coming into view. Woona's expression changed to one of concern rapidly upon hitting the last question mark box. She had picked up a solo mushroom, a one time only boost. She glanced over at her sister's screen and saw that Tia had picked up a three red shells. Tia merely hummed to herself when disaster struck.
The sun immediately blinded both sisters upon entering turn 4. Tia launched all three of her red shells in a blaze of fury and desperation. Tia's on-screen character laughed, signifying the first shell had hit the A.I. in second place. Woona still couldn't see when the second laugh erupted, signifying the second shell had hit the same A.I. again. The sun cleared from Woona's screen revealing about a 500 feet of track ahead. Woona's eyes glimmered with joy at winning the race.
"Maybe I have a chance. I can still win!" Woona thought to herself.
Woona's face started to inch every slow slowly towards the screen. However, a sudden realization fell on top of her like a ton of bricks. The third laugh didn't go off..which means there's STILL ONE SHELL LEFT! Woona darted her eyes to the mini-map, revealing that Tia was in second place. Then, the most horrifying sound of the final turn entered Woona's ears. She could hear the slight whoosh of the shell. She was so close to the finish line, before KAPOW appeared on the screen and her character shouted out on pain. Woona was 100 feet from the line, the first place finish eluding her grasp. Tia's character was rounding the turn and a bout to pass Woona and claim victory.
Woona frantically wished for her cart to stop its animations and remain upright. Just as the cart landed on all four wheels, Tia passed her sister...but not for long. With a hard press of the "Z" button, Woona rocketed past Tia and squeaked out a 1st place finish. Woona jumped for joy at this miraculous win. Tia merely smiled at her sister and nodded her head in acknowledgement of her defeat.
"Seems I shall be serious now, dear sister. You see, I merely wanted to see your skill level. Since you are more than capable of handling yourself, I shall now show...NO MERCY!" she said with a deep boom in her voice.
Tia's small wings extended outward and flapped in a swift and fierce manner. A look of concentration and seriousness spread across Tia's face. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, signaling the beginning of the next track.
The tree-light came on the screen. Woona saw what map she was on: Rainbow Road. Woona winced at this sight, knowing full well this was her worst map. It wasn't the length the map, oh no. It was those Diamond Dog chompers moving back and forth across the road. Woona tried her best, but ended up in 4th place, whereas Tia finished first. Now, it was do or die time. The final map would be chosen at random. The random button was selected and the map chosen: Everfree Forest (Night Time, Reversed).
Both sisters were shocked to know the game had given them the hardest map. It was difficult the forward way, but on reverse it was almost impossible. Vines, overgrown trees, and hydras were but few of the obstacles in their path.
The tree-light appeared and both sisters timed it perfectly. Both with full boosts, they rocketed ahead of the A.I. counterparts. Woona and Tia changed positions back and forth through the first lap, each one unwilling to budge an inch. Tia was fortunate enough to get a star as Woona merely got a green shell. Tia was now a quarter-length ahead of Woona as they ventured into the final lap. Tia chuckled as she was nearing a jump over a water pit. Woona grunted as she heard a siren sound from behind her. With a sharp turn to the right, she barely dodged a blue shell. Knowing what was going to happen, Tia tired to reach the end of the boost that would propel her over the jump. However, the shell hit Tia in mid-air causing her cart to slowly wobble end-over-end and fall into the water below. A cross eyed pegasus fished her out of the water and set her back on the track before the jump. Tia grunted angrily as she went from 1st to 7th place.
Woona chuckled knowing she had 3 long, twist turns to go. She hit the second to last box and got a boost. Knowing it was worthless, she immediately used it and rocketed farther down the track. Tia picked up a star upon landing and triggered it, trying to gain up lost ground. She managed to pick up the pace as she went from 7th to 4th place thanks to a long straightaway and the quick shortcut through the fake quicksand. Upon exiting the shortcut, Tia hit the second to last box. It was a lightning bolt. Tia's wings flapped fiercely once again as she used her lightning.
With the lightning sound effect, all the characters except for Tia had shrunken greatly in size. Tia's cart ran over the second place character. A devious laugh emerged from Tia's throat as her eyes went wide, the pupils dilating in the process. Woona glanced over and started to become weary at the ferocity within her sister. She had never seen Tia this serious before and was concerned whether she could win or not. The lightning faded away revealing that Tia was mere seconds behind her. Woona drifted her way around the last turn and picked up her final item: a solo red shell. Woona smirked with glee knowing that the race was in the bag.
Tia picked up her final item and started to laugh maniacally. She had picked up the ghost perk, a perk that would steal the closest person's item for them-self. In addition, it would temporarily make the person invisible.
"No no no no nononononono," said Woona. It was too late as Tia stole her item.
"And with the final push," Tia said, her hoof pressing the "Z" button.
The red shell launched out and hit Woona directly in the back. Woona's cart went flying forwards end over end as Tia drove past her and crossed the finish line. Woona regained control and crossed the line in second place. Woona had lost the best 2 out of 3 match. Woona hung her head low and just stared blankly at the floor.
"Don't feel bad, dear sister. After all, it is in our blood to rule and conquer. I shall be the only person to defeat you. If you let any pony else win against you, I shall make a hasty visit," Tia announced. Tia walked out of the room and down the stairs. Woona swore she would one day beat her dear sister and claim her vengeance.
The clock timer was at 10 seconds as Luna waited for the timer to run out, sending her back to the main lobby. Luna just stared at the screen and calmly removed her gaming headset. She set down the controller and stretched her aching limbs.
"Not today, Celestia, not today." Luna proceeded to head towards the bathroom.
Meanwhile in Celestia's chambers, Celestia grew restless.
"Awwww, just when I finally get to play a match against you, Luna. Oh well, let's see." Celestia scrolled through her friends list and invited Princess_Sparkle to the game. "Princess Sparkle? Oh, yeah, c'mon Twilight, let me get another perfect on you," Celestia chuckled as the game loaded.