//------------------------------//
// Game On! 
// Story: Antics of Anon 
// by 23 KM To Nerdiness 
//------------------------------//

"Please be there, please be there, PLEASE be there!"

You're running through the corridors, turning sharp corners praying to God, Jesus, Buddha, Zeus, freaking Optimus Prime that Spike's in his room. You even prayed to Satan.

Hey, he owed you.

Eventually, you reach your destination and knock on the wooden door faster than a woodpecker on coffee until the dragon answered. "Hey Anon. What are you up to?" he asks.

"Oh nothing, just checking on my bro. Wondering if he wants to do something." you blabber frantically.

"Hm, I don't really have anything planned today-"

Your heart sinks at the statement.

"How about the arcade?" he suggests.

"Great, let's go!"

You dash into the foyer only to see Spike not around.

"Spike, hurry up! We're not getting any younger here!" your voice echoes through the castle.

"One minute!" he hollers back.

You notice the muffled tone in his voice and shake your head in annoyance. "I told you, kissing that picture of Rarity does NOT bring good luck!"

Your happy dragon bro dreamily flies his way down the hall into the foyer, a proud smile on his face. "It does to me."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go already."

Spike gives you a quizzical look. "Why are you so eager to-"

"Come on, Anon! There's nothing wrong with friends studying each other's anatomy!" Twilight's voice echoes down the hall. "I don't bite!"

You kneel down and give the baby dragon a pleading look.

"Yeah, let's get out of here." he says. He jumps on your back as you zoom into town.

"Hey, you can put me down. We're in the safe zone." Spike states.

As you prepare to lower your bro, the hand-fetishist waving to you across the street catches your eye.
"Eenope." you utter, tossing him back on and cutting through the short, less creepy path to the arcade.

Eventually, after some detours, you two reach a building, Cave and Boulder's. Inside was a colt's paradise. It was the Valhalla for boys, with skate parks, snack stands, flashy attractions and dozens of game consoles as far as the eye could see. All the testosterone filled bullshit was so glorious, it even distracted you from the cringy pony game titles like 'Sheet Brawler', 'No Mare's Sky', 'Sprocket and Plank', 'Super Bash Pones' or 'Just Prance'. Colts, stallions and disguised fillies roamed around as the games beeped and booped aloud.

"How come I haven't run into this place?!" you yell in disbelief.

"Didn't think you were the gaming type." Spike shrugs. "What do you want to try first?"

You walk over to a lone console, 'Mac-Pan', and observe the game's similarities to the cherry-chasing dot muncher.

"If 'ol Sandler can do it, SO can I." you mutter as you reach into your pocket for a bit.

Suddenly, a light-brown colt with a propeller hat trots over and cockily leans against the console.

"I see you think you're brave or foolish enough to take on the cheese chomper." he says dramatically.

"What do you want Button?" you sigh.

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to warn you about the difficulty that is Mac-Pan. It took me days, nay, WEEKS to master such a challenge. You think you got what it takes? You couldn't BEGIN to imagine the horrors you will endure-"

"While you were yammering on, I ate through, like THREE levels already."

"What?!"

The colt looks at the screen in awe as you chomp gouda ghouls, racking in the points and beating level after level. Eventually, you overtake Button's high score after losing your last life and entered 'ASH' above 'BTM' on the leaderboard.

"Why'd you call yourself Ash?" Spike asks.

"Because I just BURNED his flank!" you exclaim triumphantly, pointing at the kid like a bucking child yourself.

"Y-You got lucky." Button stutters. "I have the #1 spot on many others!"

"That can be arranged." you give him a smug grin.

"Alright, game on."



After some intense and seizure-inducing gameplay, you made the spunky colt eat his words as you beat half the high scores in the area, tying up with Button. Right now, you're striking a chunky monkey with a mallet.

"Ha! Take THAT Konkey Dong and your suggestive name! Got more high scores here Mash!"

"It's not over yet." Button says. "There's still one last game." he hisses, pointing at a purple console. "The tiebreaker."

You get a closer look at the game, 'Dragon's Lake', and your heart sinks.

"It's the hardest game in the arcade. Sure you're up for it?" the colt asks.

"Oh, I'm aware of it's toughness. But I'm tougher!" you say determined as you put a bit in the slot. You're not going to let the runt best you.

"You sure you're ready Anon?" your bro asks worriedly. "This one's pretty unpredictable."

"Positive."

A little while into the game, you notice it was creepily IDENTICAL to Dragon's Lair. You've memorized the game by heart and constantly had to tell yourself it wasn't a movie or to not let the princess make your pants feel tighter. After, of course, beating Button's score, he takes the wheel, vowing to save his position. He kept that promise and soon was 100 points away from yours. You've worked mildly hard for this and are not gonna let this happen. Gotta find a weakness in him.

There, you got an idea.

"Oh, hey Sweetie Belle. Didn't expect to see ya here."

"Oh buck, is my hat on straight?!" Button yells frantically, taking his hooves off the controls and killing his character.

"Oops, false alarm."

The colt gives you a look of pure hatred as you shrug it off. Suddenly, every light in the building cuts off and back on.

"Attention everypony, we've had some technical difficulties with the power, but it has been quickly resolved. Although, the leaderboards in the consoles have all reset. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Your smile fades as you turn to the colt.

"Truce?"

"Truce." he sighs.