The Koopas were in their Dark Land castle, and, believe it or not, all of them were happily entertained in relatively harmless activities.  Ludwig was working on an invention that would allow him to eat quicker (so he could create more inventions).  Lemmy was busy practicing the new ball trick he had recently invented.  Roy and Iggy were both in the gym.  Iggy was lifting ten-pound weights, and Roy was punching a boxing bag, a safe alternative to punching his siblings.  Wendy was swimming, mostly underwater, in her indoor Olympic size pool.  Morton was watching several talk shows at the same time.  Larry was reading a book about plants while taking measurements of a new plant he had recently discovered.

At first, Bowser thought the quiet was very relaxing.  The only sounds he could hear were from the TVs Morton was watching and the occasional bangings of tools from Ludwig’s laboratory.  Suddenly, Bowser began to hear a loud buzz in his ear.  The castle was always so noisy that he could not stand the silence.  Bowser covered his ears, ran to the emergency area of the castle, got on the announcement system, and ordered all the Koopalings to report at once to the throne room.

None of the Koopalings were pleased that their activities had been interrupted, especially Ludwig, who thought he was one step away from completing his invention.  When they reached the throne room, they found Bowser dressed remarkably like Santa Claus, except that he did not put on a white beard.

“Why are you dressed as a gift giving saint?” asked Iggy.

“Yeah!” agreed Roy.  “We’re evil!”

“Silence!” demanded the jolly looking Bowser. “I’ve decided you are all being too quiet, and so we are going to have a contest.  I hope you all like sledding!”

All the Koopalings groaned.

“Snow is way to cold for me!” exclaimed the desert loving Morton.  The thought of snow made him shiver and he was unable to say any more.

“Usually I like snow,” explained Wendy, “but right now I am dripping wet.  It will take me at least an hour to dry, and if I go in the snow now I will probably freeze.”

“Sledding is for wimps!” insisted Roy.

“I’ve never sledded before!” pouted Larry.  “I’m sure to lose!”

“If you will allow me the pleasure of manipulating my invention for the span of approximately 300 seconds then I am of the hypothesis that it will be available and then I will not be against a competition,” complained Ludwig in vain.

“I can’t move a sled,” Iggy sighed.  He hung his head in shame as he realized that he was really a weakling.

Even Lemmy, who absolutely loved snow and ice, was not impressed.  “I think we should race another time,” he decided.  “Tomorrow’s fine with me.”

All the rest of the Koopalings showed their consent that procrastination was the best plan.  Bowser, however, had already made up his mind.

“Well, we’re going sledding because I want to!” Bowser stomped.  “If you don’t like it, tough darts!  Now, go upstairs and dig your sleds out of your grubby old closets and meet me at the portal for Ice Land in five minutes.”

The Koopalings sighed and headed upstairs to get their sleds.  All of them except Lemmy had trouble finding them, but nevertheless they were ready in five minutes, and they all jumped into the warp pipe and took a short walk to the Ice Land racetrack.

Each Koopaling had a sled of their favorite color.  Lemmy had a blue sled, Larry had a green sled, Ludwig had a black sled, Wendy had a purple sled, and Roy had a grey sled.  The course had been laid out years earlier, so the Koopalings lined up at the start line with the oldest at the left and the youngest at the right.  Bowser took a flag that was a positioned just off the course, stood next to the starting line, and prepared to start the race.

Bowser smiled, rose the flag, and exclaimed, “On your marks... get set...”

“Wait!” a small voice cried out as loud as it could.  Bowser lowered the flag, and he and the Koopalings turned to see a small turtle racing up from a nearby slope as fast as it could.  At first, the Koopalings could not tell who it was, but when they were able to, seven loud groans were heard.

“What are you doing here?” snapped Roy.

“I want to race too!” insisted the newcomer, ignoring the question.

Bowser smiled, but before he could say anything, Lemmy explained, “Sorry, but you can’t race because you don’t have a sled.”

The other Koopalings smiled at the correctness of this statement, until the newcomer suddenly produced a golden sled.  “I want to race too!” the newcomer repeated.

The Koopalings all scratched their heads, trying to think of a good reason why only they could race.  Before they could think of one, Bowser exclaimed, “You’re very welcome to race!  You can take the spot next to Larry.”

An especially loud groan was heard as the newcomer raced to take position.  Suddenly, a Koopaling thought of a reason why the newcomer shouldn’t race.  “I have that color sled,” exclaimed the Koopaling, who was so upset that he could hardly talk.  “And you said that no two competitors can ever have the same color vehicle.”

The other Koopalings slowly nodded as they remembered (or pretended to remember) that Bowser had said that.

“Well, tough darts!” snapped Bowser.  “I don’t remember saying that, so it doesn’t count.  You will all race!”

“Is there a prize?” asked a Koopa who was nearly frozen.

“Sure!” Bowser smiled, very sweetly.  “I won’t dip you into the lava pits afterward!” Bowser snapped suddenly amidst a sea of gasps. He raised the flag again and yelled, “On your mark... get set... go!”

At ‘go’, seven racers bolted forward.  Bowser watched curiously as a racer, who was positioned towards the right, adjusted his sled and took a side route nearly hidden by the trees.

Meanwhile, the other seven racers were battling for position.  One Koopa growled upon seeing who was in the lead.  “Well, of course he’s going to win!” the Koopa snapped.  The Koopa decided to throw a snowball at the leader, but upon trying to lean over the side of the sled to collect some snow, lost control of the great weight on the sled and fell into the snow.

One Koopa was forced to make a severe swerve to avoid the Koopa that fell over.  Unfortunately, the Koopa could not turn fast enough, and ran over the glasses of the snowbound racer, and then ran into a tree and also fell over.  The Koopa who crashed was mad at first, but then decided that playing in the snow was fun.  The Koopaling whose glasses were crushed was furious until he realized that he could use his fallen opponent’s sled to make a much more valuable pair.

Another Koopa, who had just passed the leader, turned around and thought he was way in the lead.  Suddenly, a sled appeared in the air above the racer and came down for a landing.  The attacked racer fell over while the attacker skidded away, laughing maniacally.

Another racer, who was afraid to touch the snow and so was shivering for two reasons, was surprised when a Koopa raced out of some bushes and side swiped him.  The hit Koopa nearly fell into the snow, but his fear caused him to shift his weight properly, and he remained upright.  The Koopa blinked his eyes, and a large fireball descended from the sky and destroyed the sled of his attacker.  Then the racer watched with glee as a flame appeared at the back of his sled and gave him a huge boost.  The Koopa sped ahead, passing many Koopas on the way.  Just as the boost ended, the Koopaling thought he heard some laughter not too far behind him, but could not be sure.

By that time, Bowser had transported himself to the finish line so he could declare the winner.  When he saw two Koopas racing towards the line at top speed, Bowser quickly readied his camera.  Indeed, no sooner was the camera ready then Bowser snapped a picture of the two Koopalings crossing the line almost simultaneously.  Bowser ran off to develop the film.

While Bowser was gone, the two Koopas had a heated debate about who had won.  They were both glad that they had a chance to win, and also that the debate was warming them up.  They agreed that they would have hot cocoa together back at the castle.  Then, the fourth place Koopa, and the last racer who finished, crossed the line, smiled, and said, “See, I didn’t win after all!”

Bowser returned and announced the winner.  The winner cheered their head off while the loser of the photo finish pouted.  Suddenly, the loser decided to look on the bright side and remembered the great photograph that had been taken.  Remembering their love for personal photos, the loser decided to shake hands with the winner, and then teleported back to the castle to have the promised cocoa.