War, War never changes.

>Be Anon.

>You were strolling through the town of ponyville getting your afternoon walk in.

>Had to keep fit, after all you are the sole representative of your species.

>And everyone knows by being a representative, you have to act completely the opposite of what you really were.

>Sometimes it was painful watching all the never ending peace and friendship prance around in this technicolour dimension.

>Sighing to yourself, you strolled past the arcade, only to pause and back peddle to the arcade again.

>The cacophony of beeps and boops coming from the various machines inside made you think back to your teenage years.

>Happy memories of competition and acne flooded your head, and a smile touched your green tinged face.

>Maybe if there was no conflict in their real world, maybe their digital world would have some excitement!

 

>Stepping into the arcade, you could hear the squeaks of undeveloped vocal chords and a few roars of stallions.

>You pushed through several ponies, standing in line for various machines towards the counter.

>Digging your hand into your pocket, you found a couple bits and you flicked them onto the counter towards the cashier.

>The cashier exchanged your two bits for four tokens.

>You took your silver coins and pocketed them in your shirt's top pocket.

>Leaning into the cashier pony, you asked "Which is the most violent game you got?".

>The cashier thought for a moment, then moved to the side of the counter and pointed behind it.

>You followed his hoof and saw a machine with at least half a dozen ponies of all ages.

"Right, with that many peop- Ponies, it's gotta be worth my time" You said aloud, walking towards it.

>You pushed through the throng of ponies lined up in front of "Bug Squasher!"TM.

>You arrive just in time to see a small foal in a helicopter cap get the GAME OVER screen.

"All right kid, my turn" You announce, kicking the foal off the machine.

>A few disgruntled ponies murmur to themselves, but you know that they'd never outright challenge you.

>You insert a token and hit START.

>You start off with a menu screen, graphics resembling that of a gameboy colour.

>You have to choose a character now.

>Six options are available, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and one  greyed out character which you unlocked by beating the game.

>Oh yeah, a beat 'em up!

>You choose Applejack, then hit CONFIRM.

>You're greeted by a cutscene of changlings overrunning the Crystal Empire, hordes of green and black sprites land in front of Applejack, looking menacing.

>Words scroll across the screen.

>"We're going to get you!"

>"Come and get me!"

>Level one starts, and you jam the joystick to the right to engage the changelings, you slam down the buttons and mercilessly slaughter the enemies.

>One thing you noticed was that, after defeating a changeling, they didn't die in glorious amounts of blood, but rather faded out.

>Pressing on, you easily defeated level one, maybe due to having fingers on a button built for ponies.

>And then came level two, a rehashed version of level one, but with different coloured sprites with larger amounts of health.

>You defeated level two, then three, then four and then even five.

>By now a crowd of amazed ponies had gathered around you, muttering words to each other.

>You occasionally catch some of words "By Celestia...", "He's gonna do it" and "It was my turn next..."

>The stage's boss came about, the same routine as the last ones, projectile, melee, melee, projectile, summon minions, projectile.

>You had to be a bit faster, but none the less, you wiped the floor with the boss with most of your health.

>By now you were well and truly bored of the game, and you couldn't be arsed to sit through and end game cutscene.

>So you simply walked away from the machine, dumping your remaining three tokens into some kid's coin cup by a machine.

>Stepping outside, you breathed in the fresh air, devoid of sweat and hormones.

>The sun had almost set and the street lights flickered on, time to go home then.

>Looks like you were never really going to get your fix, maybe you could visit the griffin kingdom, check out their gaming technology.

>Though it's most likely not evolved past hitting each other with sticks.

 

>You arrived back to your secluded cottage by the edge of town by nightfall.

>You ate some leftovers then went to your bed fairly early, your mind plagued by how horribly boring and dull that game was.

>Looking out the window at the full moon, you set your mind to happier thoughts.

>Even playing some CoD would be better than Bug Squasher.

>You close your eyes, remembering World at War.

>You fell asleep easy, mind at least pure of the hugbox that is Equestria.

>A bluish purple haze glided through the window of your room and settled over your head.

>It enveloped your head, inserting itself into your dreams as an observer.

>It only stayed for awhile, before hurriedly retreating, zooming back out of cottage and straight to the castle that overlooked the town.

 

>In the morning you are awoken by a hammering at your door.

>Groggily you get up out of bed, checking the clock before you leave the room.

>8:34 am

>You open the door to find a Fluttershy.

>You reach around behind the door for your bat...

>"Oh Anon, I only just heard from the princesses, I'm so sorry!" She cried, latching herself around you "They want to see you right away!"

"Huh, what?" You ask, dropping the bat "Dammit."

>"There's really no need to explain! But we're going to be late and we need you to come right away"

>You are pulled away from your lodgings before you can even object.

>As you're yanked down the path by your arm by sluttershy, you ask her what the fuck she was doing.

>She didn't manage to hear you though as she was mumbling and muttering to herself about how poor and hurt you were.

>You eventually gave up and allowed yourself to be dragged all the way into town and to the town library.

>From outside you can hear muffled talking, one of the voices sounded like they were yelling.

>"AND FROM THE METAL DRAGON'S THROAT SPEWED FORTH HORRIBLE FLAMES SO HOT THAT THEY MELTED THE VERY FLESH OFF THE ENEMY. BUT WORSE OF ALL, YOU COULD HEAR HIS DYING SCREAMS AS HE DESPERATELY TRIED TO PUT HIMSELF OUT BUT TO NO AVAIL HE FELL TO THE GROUND, DEAD"

>Sounds awesome, you want to get in on this story.

>Though the occupants of the library had a different opinion, as a chorus of shocked gasps came from inside.

>Fluttershy hesitantly knocked at the door, which you ignored and barged in, wanting to know why you were brought here.

>As you opened the door, the whole room fell silent all eyes fell upon you.

>The rest of the mane six were here, as well as concerned Celestia and a terrified Luna.

>Fluttershy awkwardly peeked her head around behind you.

>The rest of the six rushed you, all pulling you into a group hug.

>"Anon, if there's anything I can do, let me know!"

>"You're free to any apples you want, Sugarcube if you ever walk by our orchards!"

>"I'll mend your suit anytime you want, for free, darling!"

>"We should totally make you a party. Like, a happiness party that makes you happier-"

>"Your memories are actually kinda cool"

>Just as it's getting a bit too much for you to handle, Celestia shouts over the ponies.

>"Enough! Can't you see you are stressing poor Anon here? He has been through enough!" She says in a commanding voice and stamping her hoof to emphasize her point "Now Anon. Have a seat"

"Now, wait on a minute. I'd like to know what the fuck is going on here first" You object, kicking Fluttershy off the back of your leg.

>"The wars of course. Luna saw your memories last night. It frightened her quite a lot actually, the things you had to do"

>You spotted Luna, keeping quite a distance between you and her and giving you a "I know what you've done" stare.

"Wait, wars? The-" You caught yourself, realizing an opportunity "Oh, yes. I had... repressed those. Had quite the relapse last night I guess."

>Celestia took a breath in before continuing "Of course. Now first off, before we start, all of us wish to express our deepest condolences for the atrocities you endured and were made to commit".

>You sat back in the chair,barely containing a grin.

"Do go on."