Something that Kirby liked to do from time to time was go to arcades. They were usually fun experiences and he found himself doing it more and more.
One day, Kirby had the idea to bring his little brother Shadow with him. The two merrily skipped skipped around the store when they heard word of a game about to be taken out. The puffs were quickly thrown out of the arcade - seeing as it was closing time and all.
"I wanna play that game." Kirby mumbled, watching through a window as they took the rather old game into a back room.
Shadow seemed to think for a few moments before perking up. "We can sneak in before they trash it! Ya know - just to see what game it is!" He offered.
The pink puffball grinned as his younger brother. "That is a grand idea, Shadow! C'mon! They're probably gone by now." Kirby chirped as he bolted back to the door as the last car pulled out of the parking lot.
The two puffballs carefully pushed the doors open and walked inside. It was quite easy to do - they hadn't even locked the door.
Kirby had heard that the arcade might be closing soon, too. Children and adults alike randomly disappearing. Was that why they were taking that game out - so they could transfer it somewhere else?
It was bound to be a good game, then!
The duo stared at the large, grey door that separated them from the game. "How do we get past this?" Shadow asked.
Kirby gave a small shrug of his paws. "I heard this place was about to close down...we could kick it down." He stated, backing up slightly.
"Or we could pick it."
"With what?"
"...you have a point."
With that Kirby and Shadow landed two hard kicks on the door, knocking it over. They came to face a rather dark room eerily lit by a lamp. A very dusty and flickering lamp. Kirby let out a small huff. "I can't even see the walls it's so dark." He grumbled.
Shadow nodded his grey head, smiling. "Dark is good. Easy to hide in."
Another huff crawled out of the pink puffball. "Speak for yourself. Look at my bright pink fuzz." He said, gesturing to his pelt.
The grey puff gave his brother a playful nudge. "Shut up and boot up the game already."
With that being said the duo walked closer to the machine. It was a dull brown with the words 'PONY ISLAND' written at the top. There was a joy-stick - as Kirby had expected - however was attached to a computer's keyboard and mouse. A stool sat in the corner which Kirby quickly dragged over for him and his brother to stand on. "This looks weird."
"Boot it up then." Shadow replied, bouncing eagerly. "I love ponies."
Kirby let out a small, high pitched chuckle. "Maybe you should play it then." The older brother returned a nudge, making the others grey face turn an easily noticed shade of red while trying to regain his balance on the stool.
"Sh-shut up!"
"Your words not mine." Kirby replied, hitting the power button.
The machine loudly whirred to life. The screen glitched for a few moments before going through a few logos - as Kirby had expected. Then it opened up to a purple sunset with green hills and purple ponies in the background - only noticeable when passing by a setting sun. "PONIES!" Shadow shrilled in delight, earning a small giggle from Kirby.
"Okay, let's take a look at the options real quick." The pink puff quickly moved the joystick only to realize it did nothing. "Gues we have to use the keyboard, then."
Shadow let out a small whine. "But we have PAWS, Kirby!" He complained. "We can't push the keys!"
Kirby let out a small sigh. "Relax. I'll call up Kinzoku and get him to bring us a working keyboard." With that Kirby walked out of the room. "See if you can get it to do anything."
The grey puff nodded his head, turning his red gaze from his brother back to the screen. Some happy music played which fit the scenery on screen.
He stared as he heard Kirby chatter outside the room, red eyes widening in interest. For a split second - that made Shadow even wonder if he saw it - the screen flickered. The purple ponies turned white. The music stopped. Everything turned greyscaled before going back to normal.
Shadow winced slightly. "Kirby, it might be broken."
"He's on his way." Kirby said at the same time, walking back in and putting his phone up to...wherever he kept it, earning his brothers attention once more."The keys will be bigger so it might take a while to push a button. Good thing there's two of us, eh?"
The grey puffball nodded his head, turning his red gaze back to the screen. "We might not even need the keys - only the mouse."
"We'd be able to see if the sprinking joystick worked." Kirby growled, sapphire eyes narrowed as he hopped back onto the stool.
Shadow frowned. "Sutara's gonna be mad that you said that." He mumbled.
But he was standing right next to Kirby, so of course he heard. "She won't know. What you don't know can't hurt ya." He replied, closing his eyes with a small stretch.
The words 'I BEG TO DIFFER' flashed on the screen before quickly going away. "I sorta don't wanna play anymore…" Shadow mumbled.
Kirby rolled his once again opened eyes with a loud sigh. "Shadow. It's a game about ponies. PONIES, Shadow. How bad could it possibly be?"
Really, really bad.
