Steam Games Plus Overseas Dad = Pony fic? · 8:54pm Oct 16th, 2015
Not much to say about this, other than: need to get this written out sometime after the cover for Big Batty Not-Wedding is done. Enjoy this little brainfart.
"Ugh..."
Bright lights. Green walls. The smell of antiseptic. The sting of a chencipine quill right through the chest. Bandages over the stinging area, good sign.
"Mister Slam? Sir? Sir, can you hear me?"
The stallion tried to move, to sit up. Blinking bleary eyes and taking in a big gulp of breath, he was rewarded with agony, but an upright position nonetheless. "Aaah... yeah, I can hear you. And see you. Hellooo, nurse. Where am I and how much time do I have?"
The nurse was a capybara: a creature that looked a guinea pig, if guinea pigs ever decided that being small was a bad thing and getting up to the size of actual wild boars was a good idea. They were the largest natural rodent on the planet, and tended to be quite laidback and peaceful in their doings. They were not, however, beyond annoyance. This one was annoyed by the stallion's nonchalance. "You're in Milagro General, the military ward. Your squad took heavy fire."
"No, the chencipines threw heavy fire. He just took it out from under our noses."
The nurse and stallion turned to look at the unicorn who'd shown up. It was a sand yellow mare with blue eyes and a grey mane. Ponies always said she looked like Daring Do, which was ridiculous, because Daring Do never brushed her mane, whereas this girl made a point of keeping her hair flat and manageable at all times.
"Hey, Gritty," Tilt greeted, know. "How's the rest of the gang doing?"
"Good. Everyone made it back safe and sound, except for a few scrapes, and except for you. The capybaras are very grateful. Now why did you have to go and do something stupid like that?"
Tilt rubbed his sore and bandaged chest. "You're welcome. How bad is it?"
"You took an armor-piercing quill to the chest. One of your ribs was sawed through from the impact. Your heart was pierced," Gridlock replied.
Tilt sighed and sat back, trying to bite through the pain. It worked, but only just. "How long was I out?"
"You've only missed a day," Grid replied. "Right on schedule."
"Excuse me?" The nurse furrowed her brow. "On schedule for what? Mister Slam is not going anywhere."
"Damn capybara naming conventions," Slam said. "Like I said to the governor: my name is not Mister Slam, okay? It's Mister Tilt, Slam Tilt. Now, am I to understand I'm in a civilian hospital?"
The big rodent nodded. "Yes, sir. Princess Celestia is aware of your actions. You're likely going to get a medal."
"Does this hospital have a children's ward?" Slam asked.
"Ah, yes, it does. Why do you ask?"
"Gritty, would you mind?"
Gridlock nodded. "I'll go get you a computer."
Slam chuckled. "If it's not too much trouble-"
"One with a lot of power, I know."
Button Mash sat, as he always did this time of night, downstairs. He kept his nose in the book he'd gotten from Silver Spoon.
"Have fun today?"
Button shrugged. "Yeah, mom. It was fun, thanks."
The mare nudged her son's side and nodded to the staircase. "You've still got one party guest, you know."
"Dad's online?"
He didn't even wait for the answer. If his mom was smiling, that meant a definite 'yes'. With one smooth motion, Button Mash rushed into the computer room, got on the chair and put on his headset, with the microphone already down. "Dad?"
"Hey there, champ! How's it feel to be a decade old?" Slam Tilt's voice came with a rasp and a cough.
"I dunno, dad, it feels kinda the same as yesterday, I just have more stuff now. What's wrong with your throat? Did you catch a cough? You're not allergic to rodents, are you?"
Slam Tilt chuckled. Even that close to bedtime, he could count on his boy to ask the smart questions. He coughed again, and groaned through the headset.
Button did notice, of course, but before he could ask more, his dad surprised him.
"Open your Dust account."
"Huh?" Button clicked around on the computer screen to open up Dust, the online games library he and his dad were signed up on. It wasn't so much that Slam had wanted to, it's just that Button really liked video games. Any kind would do, he wasn't picky, but he absolutely loved strategy games, above all others. His grades hadn't suffered from the hobby, either: if anything, they'd improved. It was easier to get him to concentrate on something now, which was reason enough for his parents to allow it, within reason, which was where Dust came in. A lot of the newer ones required a Dust account to install. Not only that, but the online store had a good amount of games that simply didn't come in physical copies any more. It was a social network, too, but Button rarely used it like that. Most of his actual friends, he only hung out with in real life.
And Dust did allow for some other, more practical advantages.
Button saw the welcoming screen, and the notification of a message on the top right.
You have been gifted a new game by Pinhead77.
"Hounds Must Die 2?! You got me Hounds Must Die 2?" Button screamed, loud enough for his mother to hear.
"Not so loud, champ, you don't want the neighbours to complain again. But yeah, I told you I'd get you a game for your birthday. I know how much you liked the first one, even if it's a little too violent."
Button let the game install immediately. "Oh my gosh, this is gonna be so cool. This one's got co-op and everything."
"Yup," Slam said, before coughing again. "How about a couple rounds, huh?"
"Wait, you're gonna play, too? With me?"
"Sure, why not? I just gotta log out and log in with a new account, hang on."
Button waited anxiously. "Dad? Are you okay? You don't sound so good."
"There, I'm in. I'm sending a friend invite."
You have been invited by NittyGrittyWarlock
Button clicked 'Accept'. "Okay, I accepted. Dad, where are you? What happened?"
"Well, I did what I was supposed to, of course. Escorted the governor, protected the convoy, protected the ponies and capies. I got a little banged up, so now I'm in the hospital. I'm on a laptop, so I might be kinda laggy. Can you start the game?"
Button didn't reply. He just hit the buttons.
The music that greeted him was a bombastic orchestra fitting a heroic entry. The opening screen was bright and promising. "Dad, this is so cool."
"I know, that's why I got it. Gonna make your character already?"
A couple more clicks and some typing, and Button was ready to go. A burly War Mage was his choice: the same character as in the first game.
"Okay, I'm ready. Which level do you wanna play?"
Button heard more coughing and two female voices speaking, along with a slight beep. "Dad, am I on speaker?"
On the other end, Slam chuckled again. "Speaker? No, of course not. Why would I do that?"
Button felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. "Is anypony else there, listening? Could you please say something if you are?"
No response.
"See? How about we do something simple, like 'Mirror's Edge'?"
Button went through the right menus again. When the level was done loading, his avatar was there, along with a female one. "Dad, why are you playing a girl?"
"Because the owner of this account is a girl, of course. Now watch how it's done. I'm gonna run over to the entrance where the hounds will spawn, and I'm gonna put down Frost Traps here, here, and... oh, here."
Button's character struggled to keep up. Looking at the map, he already saw the flaw in his father's plan. "Umm, dad? No offense, but you're gonna wanna set up your killbox way farther down. There's three lanes of attack coming, and the central hall's easier to barricade off. You're only gonna want to block off this passage after three waves or so, to thin them out. So, umm, I'm gonna go set up Spike Traps over there, if you don't mind."
Another chuckle came through the headset, followed by a round of heavy coughing.
"Dad? What's going on?"
Button heard a commotion on the other end. Two female voices, his dad arguing, then coughing, then sighing.
Then breathing, heavy breathing.
Slower breathing.
"Dad?"
Silence.
"Dad? Dad, what's going on? Dad?!" Button felt tears start to well up in his eyes.
"Hello?" One of the female voices spoke now. "Is this Button Mash I'm talking to?"
"Yes. Who are you?"
"Oh, you don't know me, my name's Gridlock."
"Gridlock? Like a chokepoint or bottleneck?"
"Yup. Military family, long story. So, I heard you're a gamer, huh? You like these strategy games?"
"Uhuh. I like the planning. Really think hard, you know? It's easier to do when you've got it in front of you."
"Hmm." He could hear the mare's approval ring through. "You do still read books, though, right?"
"Of course. Books are fun, too, they're just not the same as games."
"Good lad."
"Umm, Miss Gridlock?"
"Call me Gritty."
"Gritty, why isn't my dad on anymore?" Button felt something reach for his throat and squeeze.
"He, uh, he had to get away from the screen for a little bit."
"But he's gonna be back, right?"
Silence, then a sigh.
"No, sorry."
The sobs that had built up finally erupted. He threw the headset off and buried his head in his arms.
"What's the matter, honey? What's wrong with Slam?"
His mother yanked out the headset to put the game on speaker again. She could deal with the neighbours' complaints later.
"Hello! Kid, get back here! Hello? Someone answer me!"
Button quickly plugged the thing back in and lowered the mike. "Yes?" He still sobbed. He made some adjustments to the settings so he could speak and his mother could listen.
"Look, your father didn't want to muck up your birthday, but I guess it can't be helped now. We were on protection duty today, guarding the ambassadors. Standard desert patrol, capy governor and Blueblood, the works. We were waylaid by chencipines."
"Chencipines?"
"Like porcupines, but more dog than pig, if you catch my drift. Wild animals, but smart enough to get organised. We, umm, we fought'em off, the first wave. But then the alpha showed up and, well, alpha 'pines don't go down easy, and they're smart critters. Your dad took a quill to the heart."
Button sobbed again. "No."
"Yup. He's okay, though, that's what I'm trying to tell you. You Earth ponies, you're made of sturdier stuff than us unicorns. That thing was aiming for me. Your dad saved my life taking that shot, and he got even, let me tell ya."
"But... he's not..."
"No. He's just tired. Mister Pinhead over here doesn't know when to take a break, and he doesn't listen to mere nurses. He's passed out, they're giving him some painkillers right now. He's gonna be out of it for a while. I don't think he's got any gaming in him today. Besides, looking at the traps here, I don't think he'd have done a good job at it, anyways."
Button let out a hearty laugh. "Yeah, I always beat him in Battle for Ostoo."
He heard the sound of a computer being moved. "I haven't played this game since last time I was home, but I think I remember how to do this one. Do you want me to set up the killbox for you, or do you wanna figure it out yourself?"
"Umm, I wanna figure it out myself, but I've only got the basic traps."
"Don't worry. You just say where, I'll set'em up for ya. And then we can mess up some pixely mongrels, sound like fun?"
"Yeah."
"Don't worry about your dad, kid. He'll be back home soon, I promise. In the meantime, I'll fill in for his birthday duties. Oh, which reminds me: happy birthday, Button Mash."
"Thanks, Gridlock. Okay, looks like I'm gonna want Arrow Walls here, and I think you should start with Acid Sprayers here and here..."
The End
There, first draft of a oneshot brainfart fic.
Basically the concept is: father figure takes a grievous wound, he knows his son loves games, so he gets him a Steam game, or an equivalent. In theory, that's perfectly possible, because of how Steam works, isn't it? But then the dad starts showing signs of his injury and the kid panicks. Another pony steps in, one who's more of a gamer than the dad and who feels she owes him. The part that I'd have to write out from scratch is Button's actual birthday party, him getting the other presents. I'd also want to paint Button as more of a little smart kid who happens to play video games, rather than a total geek who's obsessed with them. I'll also have to think of a good name for Button's mom. There's also the actual fight scene between the ponies, capies, and 'pines, obviously. But then I'll also have to add some lines regarding violent games vs violent reality. The big kicker would be that Button doesn't see it as violence 'since it's only pixels'. 'It's not real, so it's okay'. And he knows full well that real violence is not something to take lightly, with his dad being what he is and all.
I've had this idea for a while, and I was going to do a blog sometime about how technology can both tear people apart from each other (social media) but it can also bring different generations together (my favorite example is drones being used to inspect old paintings that are too high up in a church to inspect). I like when new technology can be used to preserve something old, or bring people together in some way. And since this current generation of people is growing up with social media, maybe it's a good time to start writing positive stories about how these things would work in a fantasy setting.
Or it could just tank horribly.
So, any thoughts? Has this been done before, per chance?
Sounds neat. Really neat.
I like what you have here, but I'm curious as to what you think would be gained from the extra scenes. This seems pretty self-contained already.
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The way I usually write or come up with new stuff is how animation is made: get the keys first, then the breakdowns, then tween it. I often have scenes in my stories that were there at concept stage and carry most of the load of the story as a result, or central phrases that the rest of the dialogue is built around.
Here, the scene that carries the whole story is the one with Button and his dad playing online. It could work on its own, but then I don't create any emotional connection with Slam. What kind of a soldier is he? What sort of job does he do? Exactly how much danger is he in, and does that give Button a good reason to worry? Those are things that make the key scene stand out and make sense. More background on the capies helps with immersion and worldbuilding. All of these things can be done by simply adding the scene where they're attacked.
Button's actual birthday party, that might not be as necessary, that was just brainstorming. I can paint his character in the key scene well enough, or in the few moments leading up to it. My main goal is to portray a smart kid who happens to be a gamer, and not one who's defined by being obsessed with gaming. The kind of tech-savvy kid that modern life's produced, but not the kind that doesn't know how to open a book. The idealised pony version, basically.
Gridlock is also important in this story. Her name implies that she has good instinctual awareness of chokepoints and bottlenecks, a good skill for spotting potential ambushes. The game they're playing is based on Orcs Must Die 2, which is all about chokepoints and creating killboxes, hence why this character tries to advise the stubborn Slam. I can tell all these things in the story, or I can show it.
Basically, what I'm trying to get at is: the key scenes tell you what the story is about, the tweens are there to let the whole thing flow naturally.
Come to think of it, I should have tried my original fiction like this. I still don't know what that one's gonna be about
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who knows?
Thanks! I'll try to have it out soon-ish, then publish the last Quorum Sensing story. After that...