A young stallion named Nova Blast was sitting at home one day, writing down new ideas for a game on some paper, and 'typing' the keys on his computer keyboard, via magic, into a data cruncher for the game he was designing. He was in his bedroom, which was stocked with all kinds of video game memorabilia. Including a trophy case riddled with blue ribbons, and filled with his trophies for being regional gaming champions in many games such as Super Pony Brothers, Ditch Dug, and Mega-Mare. He also had banners and flags spread all across his bedroom walls, one of them reading, "Master-Blaster."
Since Nova had a case of "gamer's block", he decided to take a break and got up from his desk, sat down on his bed and looked right at a shelf containing his memories from his younger years, including a picture of him and his dad on top.
"I remember that. That was me and my dad when I was a colt," Nova thought to himself, "that was so long ago. Heh, I've come a long way since then, and my dad was such a pain in the flank. Good times..."
He began to reminisce about his past, and how exactly he earned that banner. But it was so long ago, that it was before he was even into gaming, when he was still a colt, and when his father, Aster Sanctius, was still nagging to him about becoming a Canterlot Delegate.
FLASHBACK
Young Nova grew up in Canterlot. He was still a blank flank at that time, and lived with his dad, Aster. He was an earth pony stallion who looked a lot like Nova, except with a more yellow coat, green eyes, and a scroll for a cutie mark. As a retired Canterlot Guard, and a Canterlot Delegate, Aster was only interested in Equestrian Legislature, and nothing else. This is because he felt that delegation is what ran the world, and therefore, that was his only major interest. Due to this, he wanted his son to be just like him and become a delegate when he got older. Unfortunately for Aster, Nova wasn't interested in legislation one bit.
Nova was doing his homework as usual one night. His dad, Aster, came in his room and asked him, "How's your homework coming son?"
"Just fine dad," Nova muttered.
"Good, because when you're done with that, we begin reviewing the importance of Equestrian Delegation." Aster proclaimed.
Nova sighed, "Again dad? What's so great about legislation?"
"It's for your own good," said Aster, "Legislation is what runs the land of Equestria, son. It is very important for you to learn about this, because otherwise, you won't have any proper understanding of how the world works. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Nova grumbled.
"Good," Aster stated, "Meet me downstairs in an hour." And with that, he left Nova alone in his room. However, even though Nova said he understood, he really didn't.
"I don't wanna deal with dumb old delegates," said Nova, "I wanna choose what I wanna be when I grow up."
At the time, and still to this day, Nova had no interest in politics whatsoever. But then again, at the time, he also had no idea what he'd want to be when he got older, so his future was still a toss-up at that time. Hour after hour, day after day, Nova would sit there, and listen to his father go on and on about politics, and paperwork, and blah, blah, blah, It was just getting annoying. Nova wanted to have fun, he wanted to go out and make friends, and just be himself. But unfortunately Aster was inadvertently bounding Nova to his rules of what he had to become when he got older, and it was suffocating.
The next day, Aster was prepared to leave for his scheduled meeting with the Mayor of Ponyville. He had planned the trip with Nova for about a week, and when the day came, Aster knocked on his son's bedroom door, "Son you ready to go?"
Nova was just about ready. Although he didn't have much to take with him to keep himself entertained besides his books about pony sports and athletics. Even though he wasn't all that interested in playing sports, it was all he had to read when he would leave with his dad on these meetings. Ever since it was just him and his dad, he had been all over Equestria with his dad to these meetings and was almost always bored when he sat outside the window of the building in which the meetings were being held, and just read his library books, so he figured this experience would be no different.
"Ready dad," Nova stated flatly, as he held his library athletics books in hoof.
"Great!" Aster proclaimed. He then looked at the books his son was holding, and raised an eyebrow, "Son, you know I told you to pick out books that had something to do with how Equestria is run."
Nova looked down at the ground in shame and mumbled, "I know..."
Aster sighed, and knelt down to Nova, "Look at me, son. Look at me." Nova looked up to his father before he continued, "I only want you to follow this path because I want you to be able to understand how important decisions in Equestria could change almost anything. That way, when you get older, you can end up making some of those decisions to make Equestria a better place." he paused for a moment to let Nova process what he had said, "Do you understand, Nova?"
Nova was conflicted. On one hoof, he understood the basic importance of decision-making of Equestrian Delegates. But on the other hoof, he didn't want that kind of life. He felt that it was boring to him, and that he'd rather do something that he could enjoy.
But, for the sake of sparing his father's feelings, Nova didn't speak his mind, and simply stated, "Yeah dad. I understand."
"Ok," Aster said as he got up, "Now we better get going if we wanna catch the train on time." He then started to walk down the stairs, expecting Nova to follow.
Nova followed his father, slowly down the stairs. They left their house, and headed to the train station. Fortunately, their house was only a short walk from the station, so it didn't take them that long for them to get there. As they reached the loading platform, Aster thought to himself, "Don't worry son. You'll understand soon enough."
Loud chugging could be heard as the train for Ponyville pulled into the Canterlot Station, and it hissed as it slowly came to a stop. Ponies began to exit the train and head into the city of Canterlot. Aster looked around to find a spot for him and Nova to sit, and he eventually found a spot for them both. "Come on, son." he said as Nova walked with him onto the train.
When they got onto the train, Nova took a seat next to the window, and his dad sat next to him. After a few more ponies entered the train, the conductor shouted, "All aboard!" , and got on the train as well. Soon after, the shrill sound of the train's whistle, and the hissing sound of steam could be heard like a thousand rattlesnakes as the train began to slowly leave its station.
FLASHBACK BREAK
Nova sat up on his bed for a moment, and looked over his desk of memorabilia, "Ah. I remember this," he thought as he picked up an old gamer pass that allowed free admission to any arcade game, "I got this from my friend Ace. It was the very first time I ever played a video game...."
FLASHBACK CONTINUATION
As the train began to pick up speed and chug towards Ponyville, Nova was looking out the window with a sad frown upon his face, as he began to solemnly mull over his thoughts to himself, "That paperwork and stuff sounds so boring. I just wish I could find what interests me, and not have to just do what my dad says all the time. What do I do...?" In truth, Nova didn't exactly know what he himself wanted to be when he got older. It made it that much harder for Nova, since he hasn't decided on anything, his father felt the thing to do, was give Nova and idea on what to do with his life, based on his profession as a delegate. However, Nova neither wanted his dad's profession (or anything similar to it), or knew what his own profession was going to be when he got older. Nova was stuck, and knew no way out.
Aster noticed Nova looking out the window. He put a hoof on his son's shoulder, "Hey, Nova. You okay, buddy?"
Nova almost didn't respond due his deep thoughts, but he did hear his father speak, and replied without turning around, "Huh? Oh, I'm fine, dad."
Aster could tell that something was wrong, and expressed compassion, "Are you sure? If something's wrong, then you should tell me what it is, okay?"
Nova turned to his father. He thought about whether or not he should tell him what the problem was, but decided against it, "Yeah, I'm sure. Nothing's wrong at all, really."
Aster sighed, "Alright. But make sure you come to me if something's wrong ok?"
Nova nodded with a smile, "Got it, dad." He put on a happy expression, but immediately turned around to the window to think, "What do I do...?"
The train continued down the tracks until it go near Ponyville. As it reached the station, the train started to slow down, screech, and hiss steam as it slowly came to a stop. The doors to the train opened, and ponies began to exit the train. Aster nugded his son, "Nove, come on. Time to go," he said as he got up.
Nova hadn't noticed the train stopping until he was nudged by his father. He turned around and got up, an followed his father out the doors of the train, and onto the Ponyville loading zone. Ponies began to exit and board the train, just like at the station in Canterlot. When the last few ponies who were boarding the train, entered, the conductor shouted, "All aboard!" And just like before, the train whistle blew, steam hissed, and the train began to slowly chug away from the station.
Nova and his father walked into Ponyville. There were birds singing, flowers blooming, and friendly faces everywhere you look. Everything seemed so nice in Ponyville that day, just like almost every other day in Ponyville. Despite the friendly atmosphere, Nova couldn't get over the idea of potentially having to be stuck with paperwork for the rest of his life. He did however, manage to keep somewhat of a smile, in order to keep his father from suspecting too much.
They both arrived at the front door of the town hall. Aster knocked on the door. The Mayor of Ponyville came to the door, and invited Aster inside. Since foals weren't allowed inside, Aster turned to his son, "Ok, Nova, I'm going inside now. Wait for me out here where I can see you alright?"
Nova nodded, "Yes, dad." And the doors to the hall closed, as the meeting began inside. Leaving Nova outside, on his own. He looked into the building through a window for a moment, before walking around town the outside hall to find something to do. "It's gonna be the same thing ever time. Dad goes to have his meetings, I have these boring old books, and nothing else to do," he thought to himself sadly.
He kept on slowly walking within a few feet of the town hall, and kept on mulling over his thoughts. Nova felt as though that this experience waiting outside for his dad at a meeting was going to be like all the others: Boring, tedious, and straight up dull. To Nova, it seemed that he would never be free from this monotonous cycle of boredom and being bound to what his father says. Well, that was about to change.
A bunch of fillies and colts were running in a group to a specific area nearby, and it caused some commotion, "Hm, I wonder where everypony's going," Nova thought to himself. Since he was naturally curious, he couldn't help but follow the mass of foals to where they were going. As Nova followed, he began wondering what was going on. Most of the time, groups of foals don't just run anywhere without a reason. So to Nova, it was worth investigating.
When the foals stopped running, they had reached their destination: An outdoor arcade. The group of foals spread out among the arcade, and began playing all kinds of games, such as "Hayburger Time", "Dogger", and a whole lot more. Nova couldn't believe his eyes. Everything looked so...awesome! He hadn't seen anything like this before in his life, "Wooooow....this is...amazing..." he said in awe, as his eyes beamed in amazement. He started to walk around the arcade, looking up at all the cool video games.
Nova was suddenly approached by an earth pony colt. He had a black mane, blue eyes, gray body, and no cutie mark, "Hey there."
Nova was still in awe until he was spoken to, "Wooo-- oh, hello," he replied.
"You not from around here, are you?" the colt asked.
Nova shook his head, "No," and stated, "I'm from Canterlot. Although I do come here sometimes with my dad on his business meetings. But I've never seen this place before." He looked around for a moment, "What is all this?"
The colt answered, "Oh boy, a newcomer. Well this is an arcade. You put bits in a game machine, and you get to play a game. It's as simple as that. Ok? Have fun!" he said as he ran off to play more games.
Nova was intrigued by what the colt had told him, "Games?" he thought. Normally, the games Nova knew of were sports games and whatnot, but never has he seen anything like this before. He continued to wander around the arcade, amazed, until he came across a game that caught his eye. "Fruit Slicer?" he questioned as he looked up to the arcade machine with that title. Since he enjoyed eating fruit, he was interested in what exactly the game was.
A bit was inserted into the machine, and the game started. Nova read the instructions on how to play, and was ready. Bunches of fruit began flying across the screen, and Nova pressed the button at the correct time to make the game slice the fruit in half as it passed the mark, "Wow...this is...fun!" he exclaimed happily.
Nova laughed cheerfully as he played the game, pressing the buttons rapidly as the fruit was thrown across the screen. He was doing so well, that he didn't even realize that when the game was over, he had set the new highest, high score of 187. The screen displayed the option for Nova to enter his name. He was confused on what he should do, because he didn't know what a high score was.
The colt who greeted Nova from before, came back to see him perplexed at the sight of the 'high score' screen, "Hey, you won! And you got the high score? Awesome!" he shouted triumphantly.
Nova was still confused, "But...what does this mean?" he asked, pointing a hoof to the screen.
The colt walked up to him and chuckled, "You just put your name in, and the game saves that as the score for your name. But you made a whole new record, dude! Awesome!"
"Ok...." Nova breathed, "N...o...v....a." He pressed the 'enter' button, and his name was saved. With a high score of 187, Nova held the new current record for the game, "Fruit Slicer". "Well, that was fun," he chirped, "but I gotta go back and wait for my dad." With that, he got up and started to walk back to the town hall.
The colt stood in front of Nova, stopping him from walking, "Wait! Uh, whats your name?"
"Yeah...?" he asked confusedly.
"Hey there, Nova," the colt greeted, "Call me 'Ace'. That's what all my friends call me, because I'm so good at video games."
Nova tilted his head in confusion, "That's what these are called? Video...games?"
Ace laughed, "Yep, you're definitely new alright. But you seem like you're cool. Wanna walk with me and check out more of the games?"
Nova thought for a moment. He knew that his dad took a long time with his meetings, and figured that playing a few games would help pass the time. However, he didn't know whether or not his dad would approve of him playing these new, "games". He looked up to the Town Hall. It wasn't that far away from where the arcade was, and Nova could easily sneak back there once he was done. So he decided to go for it, "Uh, sure, why not?" he replied casually.
"Ok, follow me," Ace said as he began to walk, "There's a great game over here, that everyone likes."
Nova nodded, and followed Ace through the arcade, until they both stopped at another game machine. Nova read the title of the game,"'Xtreme Pong'?" he read apprehensively.
"Yep!" Ace chirped, "Everypony plays this game. It's a 2 player game, me on one side, you on the other. We try to knock the ball into the other guys' goal. Now, I'm the champion of this game. Nopony has ever been able to beat me at it. First to 10 wins. You ready?"
Nova grew a smirk, along with a great sense of confidence, "How hard could it be? I got the high score on the other game, I can do it again. Let's do this." 2 bits were inserted into the machine, and the game started up. The display was fairly simple, showing a blue screen, with 2 three dimensional white bars, and a single silver-colored ball . There were numbers at the top, to represent the scores, which read, "0" , and the game started. The ball moved towards Nova's paddle and he didn't manage to block it, earning Ace a point, "Dangit."
"You'll get it," Ace worded compassionately, "It's all in the paddle. Let's keep going."
With the score at, "0-1", Nova decided to keep playing. "Alright. Bring it," he stated confidently.
The game continued. The ball was reset to the middle of the screen, and the paddles of bot Nova and Ace moved back and forth to block the ball from scoring a goal on them. Eventually, Nova managed to score a goal, "Yes!"
"Not bad," Ace said, as the ball was reset, and the game continued with a score of "1-1". Both of the colts played the game really well. According to Ace, he thought Nova was, "Alright for a newbie." The game was going on for a long time due to the sheer amount of skill the 2 colts possessed. To Ace, he was an expert, so he practically knew the game in and out. For Nova, he felt that it was fairly simple, and easy enough to get the hang of and play. Once he did, he was managing to keep up evenly with Ace.
After about 10 to 15 minutes of gameplay, the score was tied at, "9-9", and both Nova and Ace were sweating after playing so much. "Alright," Ace said, "It's time for the tie breaker; whoever scores the next point wins...you think you can handle it?"
Nova cracked a grin, "I think I got it. Come on."
And the ball was once again, in motion. It bounced back and forth between the colt's digital paddles as if it were the world series championship of tennis. The feeling of pressure and adrenaline rushed between both of them as they played the game, as they wondered who would win: Nova the beginner, or Ace the champion.
"He's putting up a good fight," Ace thought, turning his head to Nova, who was still looking at the game. However, while doing so, Ace diverted his attention from the game for a quick moment, and it ended up becoming his undoing, as Nova scored the winning point.
"Yes!" Nova shouted, "I won!"
Ace facehooved. He felt a tad foolish, having lost his championship title to a newbie. However, he knew the rules, and congratulated Nova, "Good job, rookie. You're the new champion of 'Xtreme Pong' Here, take this." He gave Nova an arcade gaming pass to play all the games he wanted for free for a day, "This is for the arcade. It's customary that when you beat the champion at something, which around here, the champ is me, you get one of these babies. Free gaming for a day when you redeem it. My parents, the owners of the arcade, actually have me give these out so ponies will come back more often."
Nova was unsure at first, "Hm...I don't know..."
"Go on, take it," Ace said, "I've got a ton more. Consider it as a token of our friendship."
At first, Nova was unsure, but decided to take it, because he wasn't about to pass up a chance to play more games without spending money, "Thanks. I--" He then saw his father step slowly out of the town hall with the Mayor, "Shoot, I gotta go. Thanks for showing me around, Ace!" He said as he ran off to town hall to meet up with his father.
Ace waved, "No problem!"
Nova ran back to where his father had first left him to wait, before he realized he was gone. By then the Mayor had just finished talking to Aster, and went back inside. Aster turned to Nova, "Ok, son. You ready to head back?"
"Uh-huh," Nova said, as he secretly slipped the gaming pass into one of his library books, and started walking with his father, "You know, nothing major. Just waiting outside listening to the meetings."
Aster chuckled, "Well, Nova. I'm glad you decided to listen to what was going on. You're gonna be a pony that makes very important decisions for his town one day, I just know it."
"Thanks, dad," Nova said, casually. In reality however, Aster had no idea what Nova had been doing all that time. And because Nova knew how strict his father was when it came to anything outside of his father's interests, he didn't want to tell him how much fun he had while doing something else, "I don't want dad to be mad at me....I'll just play it off," he thought quietly to himself. He then looked up to his dad, and asked, "Hey, dad, how soon can we come back?"
"Well, we usually don't have to come to Ponyville," Aster replied, "But we do have to be every week from now on to check in with the Mayor." He chuckled, "Why do you ask? You must really like listening to the meetings, huh?"
Nova swallowed his guilt as he spoke, "Uh-huh..."
"That's great son," Aster said with a smile, "I'm really glad that you take interest in what helps to keep Equestria running. I'm proud of you."
Nova started to feel guilty. He knew that he didn't like anything to do with legislature, delegation or politics. But the fact that he knew he was lying about listening to the meeting was slowly becoming a heavy weight on his shoulders, "I...I just won't tell him. If he doesn't find out, he won't get angry."
Aster looked at Nova with concern, "Hey, you alright, buddy?"
"Huh? Yeah, I-I'm ok," he answered quickly.
Aster had a feeling that something was wrong, but felt that Nova was ok for the time being. Nova himself, on the other hand, could not bring himself to say another word, let alone tell his father how much fun he had playing video games. Because of this, he remained quiet as they walked all the way back to the train station. And when the train came, he still didn't utter a single word as he got onto the train with his father, and left Ponyville to go home to Canterlot.
FLASHBACK BREAK
Nova was remembering how he used to feel when he was younger, "Jeez, I remember when I was a kid how I always felt just...apprehensive when it came to talking to my dad. But around other foals, I was my normal, cool, self. I was stuck for a while being scared of what he would think about how much I enjoyed video games. But I was amazed when I first found that game design was a job. Unfortunately...I got caught....
FLASHBACK CONTINUATION
Ever since he visited the arcade in Ponyville, that Saturday, Nova would sneak away to there every week when his dad went to his Ponyville meetings. During the school week, he would always anticipate going back to play the games. However, he concealed his interest in gaming, and pretended to like his father's 'lessons' on how Equestria is ran. It seemed easy enough, considering Aster was expecting his son to be sitting outside, waiting for him when he came back from his meetings with the Mayor. Every time Nova went back, he did feel more and more guilty, going behind his father's back and playing the games without his permission. However, the amount of sheer enjoyment he got from doing it, overpowered his sense of guilt, so he continued to do so, every week.
However, one particular week, things didn't go so well for Nova and his decision.
Nova was back at the arcade for his 5th time. While he was there, he was with Ace again, and the two were talking. "You've gotten better," Ace said.
"Well, yeah. I try," Nova replied.
"Try?!" Ace questioned, "No. You are awesome, dude! I haven't seen anypony beat that many high scores!"
Nova shrugged, "Eh, it was just 3 games. I practiced, got better, and managed to beat them."
Ace smiled, "I'm serious, Nova. You're so good, maybe you could probably make them when you get older."
Nova laughed casually, "Yeah, but that's not a real job like a Canterlot Guard or anything..."
Ace wasn't laughing, he was actually dead serious, "Uh...yeah it is a real job actually."
Nova wasn't listening, he was just busy laughing his head off, and took a breath to speak "Y-you mean to tell me, that ponies get paid to make these?" after a moment, he continued laughing on the ground.
Ace was still unfazed by Nova's laughter, so he decided to really show him, "I'll show you. Come on." He went over to his most favorite game at the arcade, "Sanic the Hedgewolf," and speed-played through the game in 20 minutes, just 3 minutes shy of the record for speed running through the game. "Nova, get up here, and look at the staff roll," Ace asserted.
Nova was still laughing as he got up to the seat. He opened his eyes to a surprise: The names of all the ponies who worked on that game. Nova was shocked for a moment. So much so, that if he was drinking anything at that moment, there would have been a spit take, "M-make them? Ponies actually make these things?!" Nova asked.
"Well, yeah," Ace explained, "Where else do you think they come from?" he said before laughing.
Nova's mind was blown. He had no idea that ponies actually made these things, "That....is....awesome! How many ponies worked on this one game?"
Ace shrugged, "I don't know, like at least 50. But everypony's name you see on that screen has worked on this game, and got paid to do it. And I bet somepony as talented as you could become a game designer like these guys," he said, pointing his hoof to the screen of scrolling developer names.
"Wooow," Nova muttered.
Ace got a flyer from a nearby tree, and went back over to Nova, "Here, dude. take a look. If you're interested, maybe you could come back for this event. Who knows? You might get picked."
Nova read what was on the flyer. It was a blue piece of paper with digitized font words that read:
"On behalf of the Neigh-Station Company of Gaming, (or NSCG), we are happy to make an announcement. After reading great reviews based upon our demographic, we invite all young gamers to join us at our convention, being held next week at the Ponyville Outdoor Arcade. We are also looking for young game testers. The top scorers in the arcade games, will be able to test our newest upcoming games. And with parental permission, they'll be able to take classes to become game designers of the future. We hope to see you all there, and remember, GAME ON!"
Nova's eyes grew wide. Maybe he had finally found something that interests him? Something he'd like to do for a living once he got older? He was speechless. After being stuck within a rut of following what his dad had always told him to do, he finally found the opportunity to do something that he enjoyed. "Woooow," he said in amazement, "Are you gonna go too, Ace?"
Ace scoffed, "You're kiddin' right? Of course I'll be there! I have the top scores in almost every single game," he said, slamming his hoof on the ground, once each time he said his last three words, "But, you. You Nova, have top-scored in quite a few of these games yourself. You could easily take classes for this."
Meanwhile, Aster's weekly meeting with the Mayor had ended earlier than usual, due to another scheduled meeting that she had with a delegate from Baltimare. With a quick goodbye, Aster left the Mayor's office, and went outside to pick up Nova, but he was shocked to see that he wasn't there, "Nova? Nova?!" he called as he started looking for his son.
Nova was overjoyed. To the point where he could hardly speak any words, "I...this is...awesome. I'm definitely coming to this thing, Ace. Just gotta talk to my dad about it."
Aster was looking for his son, and suddenly saw him, "Oh, there he is," he thought in relief as he ran over to him. "Nova, are you ok? What are you doing here? Why weren't you waiting for me outside the Mayor's office like you normally do?"
Nova felt nervous talking to his father about what he has been doing behind his back, but decided to finally admit the truth to him, "Ok, dad. This is my friend Ace," he said with a point of his hoof to Ace, "He's been showing me the stuff around the arcade and how these games work. And...every week, I've been coming here to play games while you were in your meetings, and I've even managed to get the top scores in a few games. And now I wanna come back in three days to the Convention. Do you think we could come back...?" he asked nervously as he gave the flyer to his father.
Aster didn't know what to think as he looked over the flyer. He felt angry, confused, and didn't say a word to Nova for a moment. All he said was, "Nova...we're leaving. Let's go."
"But dad," Nova pleaded, "I--"
"Now!" Aster interrupted angrily. And without another word, Nova followed his father. Aster was very angry, and didn't say a single word as they walked all the way back to the train station, nor did he say anything on the train ride all the way back to keep from making a scene.
After a long, silent train ride home, Nova and his father finally made it back. Aster was still as angry, and silent as he was before. So much so, that Nova was practically mortified to even try to speak to him. Because of this, Nova tried to avoid his father by sneaking up to his bedroom, but unfortunately, he didn't get far. "Nova, come down here," Aster demanded.
Nova slowly made his way back downstairs to see his father sitting at the dinner table, looking at the flyer with disgust. "Sit down," he said to Nova, while pointing a hoof at a chair next to him. As Nova sat down, Aster pushed the flyer towards him and asked, "What is this?"
Nova gulped nervously, and spoke with a shaking voice, "W-well, it's...a flyer for a convention that I want to go to next week about video games."
Aster sighed, "So this is what you're interested in? Not being a Canterlot Guard or a Delegate or anything actually worth doing? Because not only am I disappointed in you for lying to me, sneaking away every time we got to Ponyville to play these....stupid games. I'm also disappointed in the fact that you actually think that that's a decent career path. Playing these games are not productive, proactive, and they are a waste of time. Why would you even consider doing something like this?" he asked sternly.
Nova felt that it was finally time to admit the truth. He gulped again, and began speaking, "Because...the truth is...dad..I don't want to become a guard or a delegate when I get older. I just don't like it, and it's boring to me. Although, I do understand what you mean when you say it's important for all of Equestria, but have you ever considered what was important to me?" he asked sadly.
Aster didn't like hearing that at all. After trying to instill the thoughts and ideals of what ran Equestria into his son, he's now learning that it was a waste of time, and that his son wanted to grow up to waste his life, "But son," he said slowly, "video games are not worth the time and effort. They're just pictures on a screen, and I've never liked them."
Nova responded defensively, "So, just because you don't like something, that means I can be able to choose a path of my own?"
Aster raised his voice a bit, "Look son, while you're living in my house, you have to abide by my rules," he asserted, "When you get older, you can do whatever the heck you want with your life, but while you're under my care, you're gonna do what I say. Understand?"
Nova had just about enough, and tried to speak up for himself, "No. Actually, I don't understand why you would want to restrict me from my interests."
Aster felt like his son wasn't listening, so he decided to end the conversation for the time being, "Nova, just go to your room. We'll talk about it later."
"But I--," Nova said.
"Go!" Aster said with an elevated tone.
Nova felt angry, and got up to go to his room, as his dad watched him. He said, "Ok, dad, fine. But ask yourself something, 'What would mom say?'" With that, Nova slammed the door to his bedroom, hard enough to cause the picture hanging on the outside to fall off. The picture was of Aster and a white cream-colored unicorn mare with brown hair, and blue eyes. Nova's mom.
FLASHBACK BREAK
Nova began to remember the argument he had with his dad when he was younger, and smirked, "I remember dad was so cheesed off about what I had done behind his back for several weeks behind his back. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help doing something i found so much fun."
His eyes then shifted over to possibly the most important piece of his younger life: His mom's journal. It was full of everything important his mom has written down especially for Nova. He shed a single tear as he laid his hoof on it, "This book. Is full of so many great entries. I read them everyday, and they have been one of the things that has kept me going all these years..."
Nova clutched it tightly, as he reminisced about how he obtained the journal.
FLASHBACK CONTINUATION
Aster went upstairs, and almost knocked on the door, but instead, looked down at the now broken picture of him and his wife. He started to think, "What would she say? Am I being to hard on him? Am I a bad parent? What do I do?" In the broken part of the picture, a piece of paper came loose, and it didn't seem like it was part of the picture at all. "What's this?" Aster said, as he took the hidden paper out. It was a paper with a message reading:
"Beside: 3rd Drawer from bottom."
"This is weird," Aster thought, "I wonder what this leads to." Aster put the picture down, and went to his bedroom, and went to his wife's side of the bed, and opened the 3rd drawer from the bottom, revealing another note that read:
"Antique Living Room Drawer: 1st Drawer from bottom. Page 1."
"What the buck?" Aster thought, "Did Joy, leave these behind or something? No one EVER messes with that drawer, it's gotta be a t least 100 years old if it came from her grandmother." He then went downstairs to the living room. There were a few luxury white chairs, and a black leather sofa. Next to the sofa was the antique drawer that nopony has touched in a long time. "Ok, gotta be careful...." Aster thought as he opened the drawer, and found a gray journal with no title on the front. Aster turned to page 1, which read:
"Basement Codes: G3 6C M8 A1 After entering the codes, read the last page."
Aster was very confused at this point, "Codes?!" he thought, "Basement?! Where did this book come from? What in Equestria is going on here?" He went to the basement, and turned on the lights. It was an average looking basement with a gray concrete floor, and hardly anything in it. "Ok...now where do I enter these codes?" he said as he walked down the stairs of the basement. He was stuck for a moment on what to do, until it hit him...right in the face. He had walked straight into an electronic, alphanumeric pad that was on the basement wall for the purpose of entering codes. "That's funny, I don't remember this here before," Aster said casually.
Aster pressed the big buttons with a hoof as he said the code aloud, "G3...6C....M8...A1." He looked around, expecting something to happen, but it seemed as though everything stayed the same, "Hm. Well, this got nowhere," he said snarkily, as he made his way towards the stairs.
All of a sudden, a low rumbling sound could be heard as a secret door in the floor opened up to reveal another level below the basement. One of which Aster never knew of until now, "What the...?" He slowly made his way to the opening, went down the stairs of the secret room, and his jaw dropped when he found a sight that he could not believe.
Down in the secret room, were 10 different, functioning game consoles and a table stacked with papers for game ideas. All of which Ebony Joy, Nova's mom, created. Aster could not understand why all this was here. Then again, he never had a clue of what Joy would always be doing when she went down to the basement at the end of each day. And this was it. But there was still one question: Why? "I don't get it," Aster thought, "Why would she keep this a secret from me? Why did she make all of this? Why?"
He remembered the clue from the first page of the book, that came along with the codes. Which was after punching in said codes, to turn to the last page of the journal, and read it. Aster decided to do it, since he couldn't think of anything else to do at the moment, besides be in shock. He turned to the final page of the book, and it read:
"Dear Nova and Aster,
If either of you have found this, you're probably looking at my 10 games that I made right now. If so, then Aster, I have a confession to make. Everyday after working with kids at the nursery, I went down to the basement. Down there, I've been busy completing my own video games. Now, Aster, I know you don't like video games, but I do. I remember how you used to say, that they weren't worth anything, and you may have been right. But I still practiced what I thought was enjoyable to me. That's also the reason why I've done all of this in secret if you're wondering."
"My personal favorite game, was one called, 'Nova Blast.' Which is what I named our son after. I named him that because the game, to me, represents a special, bright occurrence because of how the player had to use an extremely powerful telescope to spot star novae all across the night sky. And the nova was only around for a short amount of time before the star returned normal. To me, this game represented the idea of miracles. Just like how our first son was to us; a miracle of nature. And to Nova, I hope you enjoy mommy's secret stash of games. I just know that my little boy is going to grow up into a noble stallion like his dad. And just know, that no matter what you choose to be when you grow up, mommy's behind you 100%. Be that little nova, that little miracle, and show the world who you are and what you can do. Just know, that I will always be by the sides of my boys."
"Love, Ebony Joy."
Aster cried as he read what was on the paper, and he also felt very guilty having talked to his son the way he did, "You're right, honey. I gotta make things right."
Aster ran up to Nova's bedroom, and knocked on his door, "Nova. Nova. I need to talk to you, son."
Nova slowly opened the door, "Yes dad?"
"I'm sorry about earlier, son," Aster explained, "I shouldn't have raised my voice, nor should I restrict you from what you want to do."
"It's okay. And I'm sorry too," Nova apologized, "I shouldn't have gotten mad either."
Aster smiled and hugged Nova, tightly, "Come on, son. There's something I want to show you."
Nova nodded, and began to follow his father downstairs, and into the basement. "I hope it's not another lecture," he thought.
Aster led his son to the basement, where he showed him the secret door, that led to the underground gaming area, and Nova's jaw dropped when he went inside, "Yep, that was my reaction too," Aster said before laughing.
Nova was astonished, "Wh-where did....how did...? What's all this stuff?"
Aster gave Nova the journal, that was opened to the last page, "Read that son," he said.
Nova read through all of what his mom wrote in her journal before asking, "So dad?"
"Yes, son?" Aster asked.
"Now, do you know what mom would say?" he questioned.
Aster chuckled, "Well, I think she'd say that she'd be behind whatever decision you make in your life. No matter what. And, after reading that, I'm behind you too."
Nova's eyes lit up with happiness, "Really? So, does this mean I can go to the convention? With your permission, I can sign up for gaming classes so I could make games when I get older. A lot of ponies play games, dad. But a lot of ponies also put their effort into making them. And I'm more than willing to put forth my effort to become a game creator."
Aster hugged his son again, "I know you are, son. I know you are. Yes, we can go to the convention, next week."
Nova was overjoyed, "Yay! Thanks, dad! You're the best!" he shouted as he went down the stairs to look through all the games.
Aster watched his son rush to the games, and smiled, "I guess I may have been wrong about these video games altogether. If my wife's favorite game is what inspired her to name our son based on the idea of miracles, then I think it's interesting how much one could learn from these things. Our son is gonna be a great stallion when he gets older, Joy. And it's all because of you...."
FLASHBACK BREAK
"My mom was the best," Nova thought, "I'm glad I have her journal with me at all times. Whenever i feel sad, I just read that same page, and it's like she's right there next to me...
Nova laughed before continuing his thoughts, "I'm glad my dad was able to accept what I wanted to do. If it wasn't for his approval an mom's support, I wouldn't be where I am today. Thanks mom and dad."
FLASHBACK CONTINUATION
When the day of the convention came to Ponyville, ponies were everywhere. Dressing up as characters from their favorite games, getting merchandise, and autographs from developers. But only few got the chance to actually go up to the booth of the Neigh-Station Company of Gaming. Nova, and his father was there, as well as Ace and his parents.
After reviewing all the games at the Ponyville arcade, certain ponies' names were called up to meet the representatives from the NSCG. When it was Nova's turn, he went up and greeted the developers. And even the president of the company: Sean Hayden. With Aster's permission, and contract signature, Nova was able to immediately start taking classes for gaming along with his courses for regular school.
"Congratulations, Nova," Ace said, "Looks like you and I might end up becoming partners for gaming later on."
Nova laughed before speaking, "Yeah, it seems that way. Can't wait to start our first day after school, Monday!"
As he got older, Nova eventually went to school for graphics and design, and graduated with a diploma along with his friend Ace. From there, he and Ace have developed and designed many games together since then earned their cutie marks, (Nova earned a joystick cutie mark, and Ace earned a cutie mark that was the word, "1-UP", digitized.), and eventually moved up to becoming producers for the NSCG when they were old enough.
FLASHBACK END
Nova sighed happily as he finished reliving his past, "It seems like just yesterday I was getting chewed out by my dad, but now, I'm my own stallion working on games the like of which nopony has even heard of."
Suddenly, there was a knock at Nova's front door, "Oh, finally. That must be Ace with the equipment we need."
Nova went downstairs, and opened the door with magic to see a struggling Ace, who was a young stallion now, with boxes on his back, "Hey bro. Need some help?" he asked cheekily.
"What do you...think?" Ace strained.
Nova laughed as he used his magic to levitate the boxes, "Is this the stuff?" he asked.
Ace nodded, "Yup. Everything we need. Let's go, bruh. To the gaming test lab. We got a deadline!"
"Calm down," Nova said, "Remember Rule #1 of video games?"
"Yeah, yeah, 'Stay focused, stay alive.' I gotcha," Ace replied.
"Great, now let's get going, I have a lot of cool ideas," Nova said as he put the supplies in a wagon and started to pull it with his magic. He then walked outside with the wagon-pulled supplies, and motioned with his hoof for Ace to follow.
As Ace followed Nove through the streets of Canterlot, he asked, "Really? What kind of ideas?"
Nova chuckled, "Oh, just an RPG about a colt going through life with difficult choices to make."
Ace grew a dumbfounded expression, "I don't get it."
Nova laughed, "Don't worry, bruh. You'll get soon. Heh, I sure did."
Ace shrugged, and continued to follow Nova through the streets of Canterlot to the Game Creation Lab where they worked, to create more games for the ponies who loved to play them.
THE END