New Vegas, Old Problem [RGRE, Vidya, Oneshot]

>"What are games like where you come from, Anon?"
>Twilight’s question is simple enough, but it still manages to catch you by surprise.
>Though it seemed a little obvious in hindsight that it might come up, you hadn't had much opportunity to talk any real shop or think about that sort of thing recently.
>Getting settled into Ponyville and literally restarting your life in a matter of weeks left little time for hobbiest pleasantries as it turns out.
>Hosting game night for the six little critters now sitting around your table was probably the closest thing you’ve had to coping with your media withdrawal.
>Apparently it’s been working.
“… where I come from?” you reply, stalling as best you can to gather your thoughts.
>”Yes,” replies a curious Twilight. “With what you’ve told us about your technology I assumed you might have something a little more, erm… different? – than our entertainment.”
>Rainbow Dash scoffs. “It’s a miracle you got him into your nerd games in the first place. I doubt he’s the one to ask about that sort of stuff, even if he did live there.”
>”Our,” Rarity interjects with a smile as she tips her glass, “‘our’ nerd games, you mean? Besides, as I recall our friend was quite acquainted already, weren’t you dear?”
“Uh, yeah,” you say, clearing your throat, “yeah, mostly. Been a while since I played anything longhand, though. Uh, pen and paper, I mean – O&O,” you clarify to dawning faces.
>”See?” Twilight says.
>Rainbow Dash folds her hooves and leans back on her cushion, declining to retort.
>Twilight turns her attention back to you, as do the others, even if Dash tries to hide her interest.
>”Do they use screens and gyroscopes? Like the Netflix?” she asks.
>You chuckle and toss back your drink, still trying to summon a place to start to such a broad subject.
“Yes? The screens at least. Some had gyroscopes on handheld devices, but not all. It’s, uh… it’s complicated, if I’m honest. There’s so much to talk about.”
“Oh…” Twilight replies.
>The purples pony leans back in her chair, thoughtful, probably wondering how she might help you crack the surface of something she knew next to nothing about.
>Fluttershy’s ears perk. “Did you maybe… have a favorite one? You could tell us about that one?” she offers softly to the immediate nods of approval from your other furry friends.
>”Yes! Good idea,” Twilight says, turning back to you. “Did you have a favorite one?”
>You’re glad she thinks it’s a good idea, because even though a favorite game would help narrow things down, now you had to choose a favorite game to talk about, and that was a hurdle all its own.
“Yeah? I mean, I had a few things I really liked to play. Mostly mouse and keyboard stuff.”
>Twilight furrows her brow, so you put your hands out in front of you to demonstrate.
>”The board with the buttons,” you say, tap-taping your left hand fingers, “and the motion-controller,” you continue, sliding around your right.
>”Like a pinball box, right,” Applejack says with a sure nod.
>You shake your head.
“Not… quite. There’s more than two or three buttons. Probably closer to seventy or eighty.”
>“Eighty?” Rarity says with a pop of the brow. “That certainly sounds complicated…”
You wiggle your fingers at her and smile. “Noodle-friendly, as it were. You don’t really need to use all of them at once. Might be hard to understand with hooves.”
>Applejack’s nose crinkles in thought. “Ah s’ppose it don’t sound so far-fetched when ya’ put it like that…”
>”Alright,” Twilight says, “so, what was your favorite game to play with the Mice and Key-Board?”
>There’s that word again.
>Right, favorite.
>Favorite, favorite, favorite video game.
>Dash smirks a tad as you continue to flounder for a reply, and you can practically see her ‘gamer colt’ incredulity seeping through it.
>You take another sip before setting the empty cup down and resigning yourself to an answer – a reasonable answer by your critical assessment.
“Well… one I really liked to play was called ‘New Vegas’. It was part of a series or lore-rich roleplaying games you played on screens called Fallout. I don’t know if it’s my favorite, but it’s certainly up there.”
>Dash’s smiles grows somewhat, both in size and in complexity as a little surprise manages to sneak in.
>”Did you play it with friends?” comes the obvious question from Twilight.
“Mmm, you could do it through some tinkering with the game, but it was generally intended to be played alone.”
>”Like solitaire!” Applejack cuts in again, her confidence returning.
“Not, uh… well…” You can’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. “Yeah, I guess. Kinda’ like solitare.”
>”Sounds boring,” Dash remarks, frowning.
>Pinkie claps the pegasus on her back. “Then you’ve never played solitare with me!” she says, tossing a smile in your direction.
>Dash looks unconvinced, but Twilight caries on regardless, clearly interested.
>”It must really be something if it’s one of your favorites from back home,” she says genuinely. “How do you play it? Is there a story, or…?”
“Yes, actually,” you say, feeling a sudden eagerness now that you had a direction to swim in. “In fact, the story is a big part of it. Your choices in the story, I mean. It changes a little bit depending on your choices. Different outcomes and such. Not quite as freeform as what we were doing, though.”
>You motion to your table in the kitchen where the various models, pads and quills still sat, freshly used.
”Think of it like… it was made by an author, not a dungeon master,” you clarify. “You’re the only player character. The mouse and key-ahh, the computer, is the dungeon master, controlling the bits of randomness in between the author’s story.”
>Twilight places a hoof against her temple. “Hmm… I think I understand…”
>”That does sound interesting, darling,” Rarity says. “What was the story about?”
>”Is there lots of fighting?” Dash cuts in, “cool action-y stuff like in Ogres? That’s pretty much the only reason it’s playable in the first place.”
>Warming at their apparent and pleasant level interest, you fold your hands over your stomach and sit back, thinking of where to begin.
“Well… I guess I should start with the setting? It’s post apocalypse – uhh, that is, after a significant event that changes the planet and society severely and negatively,” you explain.
>”Like a monster attack?” Applejack asks.
“Ehh… bigger than that.”
>Applejack’s brow crinkles then smoothes a moment later, and she leans toward you.
>”Like a BIG monster attack?” she adds.
“Uhh, a war, actually. A big but very quiet war that quickly gets out of hand.”
>The pony’s faces twist slightly as the ‘W’ word.
>They remain quiet for a moment, and Twilight is the one break the silence.
>”A… quiet war? What do you mean? Was there no fighting?”
>The others nod, sharing her confusion.
”Not really, no. And if there was fighting, it was on very small terms with not a lot of damage done.”
>The pony’s faces smooth somewhat at your explanation.
“It gets out of hand, though. The games don’t go into specifics about why’s or how’s, but the story is loosely based around real-world events concerning Nuclear Warheads – bombs that had massive areas of destruction that were also lethally poisonous to living things.”
>The pony’s faces drop again, lower this time, and on the ‘L’ word.
“The story takes place after the event where all the major nations of the world who had Nuclear munitions began firing on each other, wiping out the vast majority of humans and their civilizations. The timeline of New Vegas is just one such story that takes place in the world afterward.”
>After a moment of silence Rarity clears her throat and places her cup onto the table, peering at you oddly.
>”You said this was based on real events?” she says.
“Uhh, the Nuclear Scare, yeah. Somewhat, at least,” you say, picking up on her intent. “Nothing like that ever happened where I came from. The game pretends that it did, essentially, and the story is about your character surviving in the environment that comes afterward.”
“Oh,” Rarity replies, her expression lightening from what you now recognize as concern. “Yes, I see – that’s good, darling, very good.”
>”So… it’s just about living?” Twilight says, her mood improving as well. “Just going around and seeing what’s happening? Maybe helping ponies? Like in O&O?”
“Yes,” you reply, “you can help people. Though the start of the story is a little more glib on those wider prospects. The story actually starts in a very simple manner. Your character is working as a courier at the very beginning. You deliver packages.”
>Dash frowns but Twilight seems more than eager enough to continue.
>”Oh, that sounds nice. You help po-ahh, humans, by delivering their mail?”
>You scratch at the back of your neck, happy she was interested but cautious about going on in the context, even if you did enjoy the game a lot.
“Well… you ‘were’ delivering packages,” you say. “The story starts when a man and his friends stop you on the road, take one of your package, and, uh… kill you, pretty much.”
>”W-What?” Twilight says, caught off guard.
>The arrival of the ‘K’ word has its expected result amongst your listeners.
>Even Dash, acquainted with fantasy rough-housing just as much as all the others, squirms back somewhat at your statement.
>Death wasn’t completely alien to ponies, of course.
> It couldn’t be – they were just as mortal as you, excluding a few… special cases, or so you hear…
>Killing, on the other hand, was a bit rarer of a circumstance.
>The concept rarely came up even in O&O, a setting where fantasy violence was abound.
>When it did, it usually only came up in Disney-style out-of-view deaths of the big bads – and you’d only witnessed that happen ONCE.
>Your purple dungeon master was called ‘edgy’ for it, in fact.
>It might have been a good idea to consider your audience a little more before starting this little story, but even if you had, and were being honest, a lot of the games you really enjoy tend toward… gruesomeness, in spots.
>Conflict is the spice of a good story, after all.
>Still, in your experience, human ‘conflict’ tended to be a bit more, well…
>More.
>”Yeah,” you go on, “he knows what you’re carrying. He stops you to take it from you.”
>Twilight lifts a hoof to her mouth. “Oh… so… was it was an accident?” she says.
>”That’s what ah was thinkin’,” Applejack adds, “ya fall or somethin’ in the scuffle? Like down a big pit?”
You try to smile at them. “Ahh, no, not really… he shoots you. Twice actually.” You lift your hand a tap your forehead. “In the head. He was trying to kill you. He doesn’t want you to tell anyone what he’s done.”
>”… He?” Rarity says.
>Twilight seems even more confused, not to mention troubled.
>”What he’s done?” she repeats, staring down at the table. “What could be worse than doing… doing… ‘that’ to somepony in the first place?”
>You’re eager to move on from this topic suffice it to say, and take your opportunity.
“You learn why as the story goes on. I don’t really want to tell you too much, but he essentially does it so that you can’t tell anyone that he has the item you were supposed to deliver. The item is very important to the story.”
>”I sure hope so!” Pinkie says, trying for surprise but deflating into solemnness a moment later. “That’s a really, uh… really not nice thing to do…”
>”And you said a stallion does this?” Rarity says.
“Yeah, his name is Benny. He, uh… ‘does away’ with you, takes your package, and then leaves,” you say, hoping that your next description goes a little more smoothly. “Only you aren’t dead. Not… quite, at least. Another character finds you and takes you to a doctor who’s only narrowly able to save your life. The driving force for most of the early story is you tracking Benny down across the Nevada wasteland – a very dangerous place with multiple groups with their own problems and needs – to learn why he did what he did, and deal with him.”
>Ahh, fuck, that last thing – not smart.
>Twilight’s ears have practically fallen to the floor, but before she can ask you quickly cut in.
“You make your own choices,” you say carefully. “How you ‘resolve things’ with Benny is up to you, and what you decide to do will affect the story in the long run.”
>Twilight’s ears perk slightly. “Oh! Well, that’s-that’s good!”
>The rest of your audience eagerly nod in agreement at her sentiment.
“You develop skills and attributes just like in O&O, too,” you add. “You can improve your speech skill to increase your ability to persuade and make friends with people. You can improve you medicine skill to help heal yourself and even others if something bad has happened to them. You have a repair skill to help fix broken things.”
>A skill to blow people into red mist with explosives, a skill to melt their faces off with plasma, a skill to excavate their fucking SKULLS with shotguns—
“You control the character, how they move, where they go and who they make friends with. The story unfolds around you on the screen as you play.”
>Applejack tips her head back and whistles ”Ya’ll got up to some interestin’ things in humanland, huh?
>”Yes,” Rarity adds, “your New Vegas does certainly sounds… interesting, darling.”
>Rarity’s comment hangs in the air for a long while, but it isn’t denied by any of the other ponies.
>Despite your assumptions all of them seem quite satisfied with your tailored description, even if the meekest among them still appear slightly troubled.
>It isn’t long after that Twilight rises from her seat and declares the time, reminding her friends that they had things to door in the morning.
>They all agree and stand to leave, each wishing you a goodnight as Twilight collects her dungeoneering gear from the kitchen and meets them outside.
>”Don’t forget to lock your door, darling,” Rarity advises sweetly as she steps outside and turns back to find you standing alone in your little cottage.
>You smile and nod.
>The last one out your door is Rainbow Dash who, to your surprise, turns back round to look up at you before leaving.
“Yeah?” you say, after she doesn’t.
>Dash frowns and peers back toward the others, all of whom were waiting for her to follow.
>Clearly not keen on them listening, she speaks regardless.
>”Uhh, so… I was thinking that maybe you could tell m-us more about your, uh… thing, some time? Maybe next game night?”
>Rarity hums smugly and Dash hunches her shoulders a little.
>Despite being all too happy knowing you’d won over your only critic, it doesn’t stop the cold line of sweat that rolls down the back of your scalp.
“U-Uhh… more?” you say.
>”Yeah,” she replies, doing her best to ignore the white pony now drawing up to her side.
>”You seemed so alive tonight, dear, practically radiant,” Rarity comments with a smile. “I’m sure everypony would love to hear more whenever you had the time if it suits you so much.”
>The others agree whole-heartedly.
>You smile at their sincerity despite the distracting visions of exploding NCR soldiers and decapitated super mutants now bubbling up in your mind.
“Oh, uh, well… it’s alright. You guys don’t have to bother. I mean, it can’t be THAT interesting hearing me babble on about video games, haha,” you chuckle, hoping she can’t see through you.
>”Quite the contrary, dear! We’d love to hear more.” Rarity replies.
”O-Oh yeah?” you return, the screams of the Brotherhood trainees and the sound of gatling gun fire ramping up in your mind. “You sure…?”
>”Quite; we all are, aren’t we?” She slings and hoof over Dash’s withers and shakes her good-spiritedly.
>Rarity smirks and the blue pegasus grumbles something, hiding her face from you.
>”There, see? It’s settled,” Rarity continues. “I can’t wait to hear more.”
>You lips thin slightly as you search the little pony for any sign of understanding, any sense that she may be able to read minds.
“Yeah… yeah, me either,” you reply softly.
>The ponies depart with no other fanfare, wishing you a goodnight one last time before vanishing down the road, still talking amongst themselves as they go.
>Despite the good mood they leave you with, your mind races as you shut the door behind them.
>You go through a thousand different scenarios, all of them more convoluted than the last.
>Though you can’t settle on specifics, there is one thing you know for sure; Applejack has to miss the next game night.
>Because you’re going to be lying your tits off.