"Hey, Di! Do you want to-?"
"Not now, Spoon!"
Silver Spoon stopped midwave with her mouth wide open. She couldn't even force the next syllable to escape her throat as she watched her best friend walk away. Her glasses actually slid to the diagonal, but she didn't even blink. When was the last time Diamond Tiara had brushed her off like that? Three days ago? That was like forever!
In comparison, Diamond Tiara wasn't even watching where she was going. She was doing her best to bore holes in the ground with nothing but her eyesight. Needless to say, this wasn't working too well. It was a good thing her hooves knew where she was going. The arcade might have felt neglected if she had gotten lost.
At least, that's what she wanted to think. She didn't really care that most of the players in this joint ignored her presence. All that mattered were the various game machines. They didn't form stupid opinions that she didn't care about. Instead, they offered praise when she gave her best efforts.
Such was the case with her default choice. She watched a couple of ponies depart from the front to make way for her presence. Maybe they were just taking a break for hayshakes. She couldn't care less. All that mattered was she had it to herself now. While shaking her mane once to the left, she presented her bit to the machine's interior workings while she set her four hooves in a ready position.
The voice of Sapphire Shores and her backup singers blasted through the speakers.
~I may have had a little bit
So much that I can't handle it~
As per the instructed arrows on the screen, Tiara took simple steps to the left and to the right on their respective beats. Every four steps or so, she took a breath. As her anticipation rose, the chorus began.
~Gallop! Gonna run away
La da da da
Gallop! Can't face the day
And start the work
Gallop! And it's going to
Be dandy
Gallop! (-op... -op)
Gall, Ga-Ga-Gallop!~
The colorful arrows were now facing vertical directions. Diamond reflected on the ups and downs while her hooves pressed on as if in autopilot. It was a rather frustrating illustration of her life. She practically had her power in the Foal Free Press, but it was taken away by the class's lightweight. She had a chance to carry Ponyville's flag in the Equestria games, but those darn blank flanks had somehow snatched that away from her too. Why couldn't she have just one more up than down?
~Gallop! Pirouette, filly!
La da da da
Gallop! (-op! -op!)~
The sliding belt of arrows was removed from the screen. In its place, an overall score sheet chalked up the results of the current dancer. After the numbers rattled off somewhere in the high thousands, a glowing white "A+" flashed at the bottom.
"You've got the moves like Dagger!" exclaimed the electronic voice.
"I know." Diamond Tiara smirked while holding her head high.
Something rattled loudly, causing Diamond to wake up from her ego-induced moment. A tail shook slightly from the opposite machine in front of her. But in the arcade's entertainment lighting, she couldn't tell who it was.
"Player 2 has challenged you to a dance-off!" announced Tiara's machine, "Do you accept?"
On screen, it prompted the insertion of another bit. Diamond scrunched her face in determination. She never lost at anything. She would gladly accept this challenge just to put some pony in their place... beneath her. Jingling the coins in her pouch for a second, she popped in another bit without a second thought. A piano's melody started flowing out of the speakers.
Kidney Stone's voice soon followed.
~Don't start unbelieving
Never don't not give up your feelings~
The arrows' pattern was all over the place. Tiara managed to stomp a few of the combinational directions of up-right and down-right just fine. But as the song continued, she felt like she was scampering across the dance board just to keep up with the rhythm.
She chanced a glance at her opponent's board being shown off to the right of the split-screen. She nearly tripped at all of the "Perfect"s that were flashing.
~File through the loud crowd
Finish the race with sublime time
Don't start 'til you've finished
Don't start!~
Diamond wiped off a single sweat drop after the song had reached a conclusion. What difficulty setting had her opponent chosen anyway? It was ridiculous! She was even more appalled at the final score shown on screen. Player 1 had a low "B" while Player 2 had a mid "A".
"So close!" called out the electronic announcer's voice, "Play again?"
"That was a fluke," insisted Diamond Tiara while practically shoving another bit into the machine. "I won't lose!"
On the other side, the barely visible tail flicked at an imaginary mosquito. Tiara simply harrumphed as a counter response. The belts popped up again as a slow organ's introduction led into an ever-increasingly paced symphony.
---
Diamond Tiara fell onto her back. She was panting and sweating profusely. The couple that had gotten hayshakes earlier had returned, only to see a filly all over the floor. They decided that now was a good time to slowly trot away and never speak of what they saw again.
"Hooves aren't supposed to bend that way," whimpered Tiara as she continued her struggle for a breath.
As if to complete the insulting image, the opponent finally decided to show her face as she trotted past.
"Who's Dagger now, foal?!" shouted a hatless Redheart, "Who is Dagger now?"
---
If it were at all possible, Diamond Tiara actually felt worse after blowing some of her parents' bits on video games. As she wandered home, Silver Spoon had managed to catch up and silently trotted beside her. Tiara's frown was contagious and it made Spoon feel sad too.
The sad atmosphere was interrupted by a sudden buzzing. Diamond reached to her side and pulled open her personal cell phone. It beeped automatically for the convenience of an earth pony user.
"Hello?" asked Diamond.
"Don't ever let me catch you on my game again! Understand?"
*click*
The voice was loud enough for both of the young fillies to hear. Silver Spoon was once again flabbergasted.
"Like, who was that?" she wondered.
"I don't know," admitted Diamond. She moved the phone away from her ear to look at the small screen. "The caller ID just says Red Heart of the Funk."
~Unce, unce, unce, unce,
Red Heart of the Funk!~
Diamond's eyes raced around her wildly. "What in the hoof was that?"
"What are you talking about?" inquired Silver.
"The sky changed feathering colors, girl!"
Silver tilted her head while raising an eyebrow. "Diamond, did you get into your mother's stash again?"
Tiara held a hoof against her head. "I don't even know anymore, Spoon."
---