//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: oh hai, it's the actual canon // Story: The Gamer: Equestria // by TerribleTy27 //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Luck. Luck. Luck. The word had etched itself into Spikes mind. In a vain attempt to be like Twilight, he had been pumping his spare points into wisdom and intelligence. Perhaps he could finally see the truth thanks to said stats. Dodging to the side of his enemies attack, he fired another mana bullet. He had begun to realize that luck was by far the most powerful stat he could dump points into. No amount of wisdom or strength could overturn a truly unlucky situation. One last bullet finished off the manticore. STR-23 VIT-19 DEX-16 INT-50 WIS-44 LUC-13 POINTS-170 STR-23 VIT-19 DEX-16 INT-50 WIS-44 LUC-183 POINTS-0 LUC over 100! Steel Plot Armor LV MAX You thought you had MC syndrome before? You'll be wishing you did... 'That's ominous,' he thought. Looking around the forest, he slowly began to wonder where on earth the conflict was. This was supposed to be an adventure story, correct? Sighing, he flipped on his body enhancement skills and got ready for another round of grinding. Alert! Danger detected! Spike whipped his head around. Carefully, he scanned through the foliage. Nothing, save for the tree and changeling. As soon as Spike made eye-contact, it made its move. The changeling rushed forward clumsily. Its fist drew back, ready to knock Spike out. Spike rolled his eyes and stepped to the side. The changeling fell into the ground painfully. Spike winced. He was pretty sure he heard a couple cracks. Walking over to the changeling, Spike picked it up by the leg. ~|~|~|~ Spike had learned quite a bit from the unfortunate changeling. But the gist of it was that they had spotted Spike using his abilities one too many times, and they wanted him abducted and studied. He had found out where their hive is after a bit of prodding. "So what are you going to do about it?" Starlight asked. He had just finished explaining what he had learned to her when she posed the question. "I dunno," he said, shrugging. She raised her eyebrow, before beginning with what would have been a two hour long rant- When they spotted Twilight. "You're kidding me," said Spike, eyes widened in disbelief. Starlight nodded at him, expression mirrored. Outside the treehouse and behind a bush, a camouflaged Twilight was spying on them. She was dressed in a skintight black and green suit. The skin under her eyes had a bit of black dye on them. On top of all that, an army helmet with the words 'Made in China' emblazoned on the front. She was levitating a pencil and paper. Meanwhile, her eyes were glued to a pair of binoculars. Said binoculars were very clearly pointed at the two of them. The binoculars slid down her face as she adopted an embarrassed smile, her constipated face vanishing in a heartbeat. Whether she was embarrassed cause she was spying or because she was caught, Spike didn't know. 'This never happened,' she mouthed to Starlight as she slithered away to parts unknown. How could they see what she mouthed, you ask? Well, it probably had something to do with the bush being less then five feet from the window. "That mare needs help," Starlight muttered. "Hey, that's my sister/mother/aunt/role-model you're talking about," Spike muttered back. "She still needs help," she responded. Crickets. Spike stayed silent. Starlight picked up her book. A distant thunderstorm could be heard in the distance. "Starlight, do you want to go back to- well, ya know ?" he asked. She dropped her book. Sighing, she leaned back into her chair. Spike grabbed a nearby duster and started to work on a nearby bookshelf. "I don't know-" Crash! "Uh, do be a polite house guest and go wash up please, won't you?" Spike turned around to be greeted by the sight of Rarity, Applejack and Twilight. Applejack had just wandered out the door, presumably to wash up. Spike continued working, while Starlight continued reading. Ignorance is bliss, after all. "You can stay here if need be. We'll have a slumber party!" said Twilight. Spike and Starlight snapped back to attention. Nodding to each other, they both tensed up, ready to jump out the window. "Oh, and Spike and Starlight can join us!" Crap. "Ah don't believe ah've had the pleasure ta make your acquaintance?" Applejack started. Starlight stepped forward, grasping Applejacks hoof. "I'm Starlight Glimmer. I'm currently renting out a room here at the library," she said. "Oh, and I'm Spike! Y'know, in case you forgot. . ." he said, finishing slowly as he saw the raised eyebrows. As Twilight waved around her Slumber 101, Spike whispered to Starlight. "What are we going to do!?" he whispered loudly. Starlight grimaced. "Survive," she replied, her face hard as stone. Of course, that had something to do with the mud hardening on her face. In that moment, Spike had never admired anyone quite as much he did then. "It says here we have to tell scary stories!" Twilight magically turned down the lights and gestured for Starlight to step forward. "Has anyone of you ever heard of Cthulu?" ~|~|~|~ "Seriously girls?" said Spike. Spike was currently covered in a messy blanket of pony. Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity had been reduced to tears over the simultaneously horrifying and mildly depressing story. It had all climaxed to the female lead being slaughtered inadvertently by the main character, who had been trying to save her. Twilight coughed and got off him, followed by the other two. "Now we have to do s'mores!" she said shakily. As Spike and Starlight ate the s'mores, Twilight motioned to Rarity and Applejack. Huddling, they formulated a plan. Revenge would be theirs. "Truth or dare next!" Rarity yelled. As they sat around in a circle, Twilight gave the signal. Applejack ran off, a focused expression on her face. "Starlight, truth or dare!" Twilight yelled. "Truth," Starlight responded. "Do you likeee Spike?" Twilight asked, drawling out the e. "Uh, yes?" Starlight responded, eyes half closed and staring at Twilight in confusion. 'We've almost got her!' Twilight mouthed. "Spike, Truth or dare?" asked Rarity. "Uh, dare?" he responded succinctly. "Be a dear and hug Starlight for me," she said. Spike nodded slowly, doing as she asked. Wrapping his arms around her neck, he raised his eyebrow. Starlight spoke, a confused tone entering her voice. "If this is supposed to be embarrassing-" she began. "Now, Applejack!" Twilight yelled. Before Spike or Starlight saw what was even happening, a small dress had been tossed onto Spike, while a suit onto Starlight. Snap! A blinding light came over them, but quickly disappeared. In its place, a grinning Twilight levitating a camera. "They were right were ya said they was, Twilight," said Applejack, grinning. A small apartment fire broke out across Spikes face. Starlight stayed stony-faced. However, it was clear she was very pissed, if the small army of pillows behind her had anything to say about it. Twilight wasted no time. Leaping behind her bed, she screamed out two words that would forever be engraved in Spikes mind. These two words would forever define who he was. When he looked back on that day, they would be the only thing he could clearly remember. The whole world shuddered- "Pillow fight!" she screamed. It was a fight for the ages. You though Pinkie V. Starlight was awesome? You ain't even heard of the Pillow Fight of Harmony. Legends say that Celestia herself had been watching- and betting- along with the rest of Ponyville. Few can remember the details clearly. What was remembered was the massive amount of collateral damage. Windows had to be replaced. Books had to be restored. The universes karmic balance had to be readjusted. Oh, and there was a tree or something, but that wasn't important. ~|~|~|~ Of course, Spike did have a plan for the changelings. However, it was such a terrible, horrific, altogether bad idea, Starlight would've smacked him up the jaw. At exactly one o'clock morning, a purple dragon boarded a train for the badlands. After about an hour, he was dropped off close to the badlands. Step by step, he trudged forward, changeling prisoner in tow. "Chrysalis, I've come to bargain!"