//------------------------------// // Uninvited Strangers // Story: Spike The Awakened Gamer // by SpookySocks //------------------------------// After defeating Nightmare Moon I got really high increase of levels from her, now that I'm level 18 with 50 points on my stats begging to be used. Honestly, I don't even know what to put those points in so I decided to leave them be for a while until I come up with something. Welp, time to check my other rewards. I quickly opened my inventory and saw the new weapon, it was a basic cutlass blade. I clicked on it to read its description. [ Cutlass (Uncommon) ] A swift sword that can cut even air with its might. Agility (+10) Strength (+15) Vitality (+14) —----- Not bad, not bad. But I expected something more overpowered than an average cutlass. That feels like cheat, I literally fought a deity just for this? Well, can't complain about it. I decided to investigate more into this sword and found out something that took me off guard. Apparently, this sword have movesets.  —---- [Move 1] Lion's Song: Allows the user to rush forward towards the target. Requirements: 25 Strength, 30 Agility. Cutlass Mastery Level 20 [Move 2] Wind Slash: Allows the user to create a slash from air. Requirements: 30 Strength, 20 Endurance. Cutlass Mastery Level 45 —----- I take back everything I said about this sword, this is really awesome. Though the Mastery requirements are a little bit insane but I think I can find a quicker way to get Mastery. But for now, I'm busy with these new rewards. Speaking of rewards, I decided to see what's my new title was. I opened my stats and there it was, my new title. I pressed on the new title as it reads: [ Night's Edge ] You get this title by defeating Nightmare Moon.  Strength (+7)  Agility (+10)  Endurance (+8)  Vitality (+5)  Luck (+9) Those buffs can only work at night. —---- Well, I guess I didn't expect anything special from it anyways, but atleast I can benefit from the night's buff. I noticed something else with my rewards, a message from Gamer's Paradise was already sent in my inbox. Huh, that's weird. I didn't know I had inbox, until now. I opened the message wondering what could they be sending me. [Congratulations for reaching level 10! You've unlocked Gamer's Paradise Gacha Rolls!] Gacha roll? Neat, really neat. For those who don't know what a gacha roll is, basically, it's like gambling for gamers, you buy a roll from the gacha and hope for something good. Sometimes the stuff you get from the gacha roll can either be a super power or a legendary elixir that can heal sickness, it all depends on your luck.  Speaking of luck, now that I got access to gacha, I can add some points to my luck stats to increase the chances of getting something good outta this. But the question is, how much does each roll cost exactly? I decided to open the Gacha Rolls tab to see the prices for a gacha roll. —----- 1x Gacha Roll (10 bits) 5x Gacha Roll (50 bits) 10x Gacha Roll (100 bits) ……. —----- Fair price, now that I have 500+ bits, I can go for 50 gacha rolls, that would also increase my chances alongside the luck stat of getting what I really need from this system. Afterall, getting atleast access to magic is only something unicorns and alicorns could do. Also my magic fire isn't considered a combat magic, more like communicating magic except that you can only communicate with Princess Celestia. I decided to buy the 10 Gacha Roll option, to save some money for bigger events and plans that I'm going to make.  [You've successfully bought (10x Gacha Rolls)!] I opened my inventory to look for the gacha rolls and use them. I quickly rolled a gacha roll leaving me with 9 left. [ You got: 53 bits from Gacha Roll!] Okay, that's disappointing. Oh right, I forgot to add some points on my luck stats for this. But I don't think I'll add some points right now, I still have to think of a really better way to divide my points equally in a way that benefits me. Well, I'll roll for gachas later, I walked through the now sunny streets of Ponyville as I watched the ponies enjoy the summer sun celebration. Guess I can take some of the food and get on my way, who knows when you need an extra healing items? I made my way towards one of the tables and took a cupcake from it, it's a shame, they don't have any food with meat. But then again, Spike isn't the one to eat meat either. I added the cupcake to my Inventory. I decided to open my stats again this time and add 20 points on luck so that I can get lucky with my next gacha roll. As I started walking towards the library I noticed Twilight exit it and started heading to where I assumed to be the Apple Orchard. I started making my way towards Twilight who just noticed me walking closer to her as she started waving at me to gain my attention. "I can see you Twilight. You don't have to wave," I said to her as she stopped waving and slightly blushed from embarrassment. "Anyways, where are you going?" I asked her. "Applejack wanted me to help her with work and I was wondering if you want to tag along," She replied, guess this is the episode where they would be fighting for the gala tickets. "Sure, I don't mind tagging along," I answered her as we began walking towards the orchard in complete silence. Okay, this is awkward, I should start a conversation right now, now that nothing is on her mind. "So, how are you doing today? I mean after you finally defeated Nightmare Moon," I asked, trying to initiate a conversation as soon as possible. "I'm not entirely sure, I mean I'm really glad that we stopped Nightmare Moon and reformed her back into her old self but I have these doubts on my mind," She said as she was staring at the sky for some reason. "Well I'm sure that you will overcome those doubts as soon as you can, aye?" I assured her as she smiled at me. "You're right, Spike. I'll try to overcome those doubts." She said with a new-found determination. "But, something doesn't add up," She added. Oh boy, I think I know where this is going next. "Before we defeated her, I noticed some sort of a battle injury marks and a newly healed slash on her back as if it was made by a dagger, that made me think that she was attacked before we even arrived,"  This is what I meant by smart individuals, she knew the type of weapon that attacked Nightmare Moon and caused her that slash just at the first glance on her body, I guess I'm going to be more careful from now on. "Well, I'm sure it means nothing. Look, we are almost at Sweet Apple Acres," I tried to divert the attention from this topic as quickly as possible. We saw in the distance Applejack bucking some Apples trees as we started approaching her, she noticed us approaching as she went to us and started greetings us. "Well howdy there, Twilight, Spike. I take it that ya two are here to help me?" She asked as Twilight nodded at her question which makes her smile. "Can't say that I'm not grateful for your help but I really hope Rainbow Dash is here to help," She sighed. "It's no problem AppleJack, me and Spike can also you help you," Twilight smiled at Applejack who in turn smiled back at her before nudging me. "Isn't that right, Spike?"  "Nah, I think I'm going to take a nap," I said as I went over to one of the trees and layed down under it's shade. I can see from my peripheral vision Twilight rolling her eyes as her horn lights up, shortly after, I began floating as she picked me up with magic. "Alright, Mr Helpful. You can have your nap," She sarcastically said as she set me on her back. Good, she is not suspecting a thing. I guess I'm playing Spike's role far better than I originally anticipated. Going to save you the boring details again by just skipping to where we started making our way back to the orchard to get some rest. Just then I felt something my stomach slightly rambling as I can feel an incoming barf. Well, that's the moment. I barfed out the the envelope that had the tickets to the gala on it with my magical green fire. Honestly, I could actually think that Spike is a lucky character, even luckier than the main protagonist of the show. To have the ability to personally send the princess a letter almost instantaneously is a really big advantage over lots characters in the show.  After the whole events of the "Ticket Master" episode I made my way into the Everfree forest. Now that I got more points in luck, I can safely gamble with a higher chance of winning something that could be used to my advantage. As I started rolling my second Gacha roll of the day, I waited patiently for my prize, like a predator waiting for its prey. After waiting for a while, I was amused with my reward: [You got: Duplications (Rare)] An ability that allows you to clone yourself depending on your own level. —---- This description gave me a not so clear information about the move, I decided to open my stats and look for the skill, there it is. [ Duplications (Rare) ] The ability to create a realistically accurate duplicated version of your own self, max clones number: 3. —---- This is what I truly needed, if I were to create atleast a clone of Spike, I can let it go through some of the boring parts of the storyline while I'm either figuring out some new stuff with the interface or leveling up. This move is something I can truly use to my advantage if I were to hope to make a significant progress in leveling up, and I would start by leveling up my Cutlass Mastery, seeing how it got movesets which can be deadly. I started making my way back to ponyville, until a notification of my [ Instincts ] appeared, I quickly but surely pulled out my dagger and in the next second, the sound of clinging was heard as my dagger collided with another dagger. I turned to where the Dagger originally came from only to see two cloaked ponies, one was a larger pony with a huge, jacked body, and the other was what assumed to be a normal sized unicorn due to the glowing that can be seen from their forehead. I quickly used [ Observation ] on my attackers as I made sure to watch out for anything that may endanger me, I'm not planning to die on the second episode. I changed my aim to the buff pony. [ The Giant ] Mighty Mane (Lvl 36) A warrior with overwhelming strength and the strongest endurance, known as a "giant" for being able to tank most of physical and magical attacks and also for his body size. —----- This isn't good, someone with a skin hard as this will be a problem for me, seeing how his body is so large, then I can have the speed advantage over him, but I don't know about the other unicorn. I quickly used my [ Observation ] on the other unicorn who seemed to be levitating a dagger, the same dagger that attacked me. [ Silent Murderer ] Dolorossia Parks (Lvl 41) A young unicorn mare, her aim with ranged attacks is almost accurate and her magical prowess is not to be undersistimated. —---- …. This is terrible for me, if I have to fight those then it may as well be the end of me, having to fight both a close range and long range fighters all by myself is clearly a disadvantage for my part. I was slightly beginning to panic if not for [ Gamer's Mind ] to calm me down, now that I've calmed down, I began thinking more rationally as I stared at my attackers with no emotion on my face. For some reason, I feel like one of those two is the unknown attacker, actually, I'm now really confident that the unicorn IS the unknown attacker. I watched as the buff pony take off his cloak to reveal his brown coat and his yellow mane while the unicorn still held onto her cloak before speaking towards her partner. "Can you handle things on your own from here?" The unicorn asked as I watch the earth pony hit the ground with so much force that the sound could be heard from miles. "Don't worry, honey. I can easily end this twig without any assistance at all," The pony said which both made me and the mare frown at his words. Underestimating me huh? Well I'll make sure you won't be taking the last laugh. " I told you to not call me that, our relationship is purely hypothetical, I do not have anything to gain from your meat-head other than getting my missions done, is that clear?" The mare said. "Is that your way of showing love to me? Well, don't worry. I love you too!" The earth pony said, I decided to start this fight if they're not planning to do so, I dumped 20 points on my agility while the last 10 went to my Strength. I quickly pulled out my Dagger as I cleared the distance between me and my attackers ready to cut the earth pony's head off. My Dagger collided with another Dagger that belonged to the mare who intercepted my own attack. I quickly jumped back as I made a distance between me and them, while the arrogant pony faced me with an irritated look on his face. "Is that how you fight? By just taking your opponents by surprise? Do you have no honor?!" The earth pony said with much anger. "I'm not here for a friendly sparring to the death, tell me what do you two want from me, before I kill you both on the spot." I threatened as I watch the giant laugh at me while the unicorn started inspecting me closely. From their own actions and reactions, I can tell that Mighty Mane is the arrogant, dumb one while the mare is the smart, careful one out of each. "You? Killing us? That's the best joke I've ever heard in a while, Dolly you heard that? He is going to kill us! Hahahahahah!" I watched as the giant started rolling from laughter. "I advice you to not take our target lightly, Giant. He may seem like a small fry but I can tell that he is quite deadly." The mare warned. Smart, she's quite smart. I guess I'm going to prove her point to the giant, I quickly took out my dagger as I dashed towards the giant aiming to decapitate his head while he was vulnerable. The giant quickly but barely blocked my own attack with his hooves as I watched them slightly bleed from my strength. "Hey! Cut that out! I'm laughing here!" He said as he started hitting the ground causing a shockwave to happen which started throwing me off balance. If it wasn't for my [ Instincts ] then I wouldn't even be able to dodge the incoming punch that came from the earth pony after creating the shockwave, I quickly sidestepped from the punch as I went again for another attack only for him to block with his own hooves. Our clash continued on for a while before both of us backed away from eachother, I stared at Mighty Mane calmly trying to formulate a plan. Sadly, this wasn't the fight that I was ready for, if I want to get out of here alive then I'll have to improvise my battle techniques. "Alright, I'll leave you with the drake, don't disappoint me." The mare said as she casted a teleporting spell on herself and poofed out of the battlefield, the buff pony watched me with a smirk before clearing the distance between us in a second. My [ Instincts ] quickly booted up allowing me to dodge the attack easily, he continued on his attempts to punch me without seeming to stop. I quickly backflipped into one of the nearby trees as I kept my balance with my claws while staring down my enemy. I have to think of a strategy and quickly, before this meat for a brain kills me. I looked around the forest trying to look for anything useful to me, there was nothing but just trees and more trees. Wait, that's it! Trees! Now I know how to fool him. "Hey Muscle head, is it me or you look like you've grown tired? Aw, do you need sleep?" I taunted the pony as his look of arrogance was replaced with the look of irritation. Good, I guess I'm easily getting to him. "Oh I'll show you who is tired!" He replied as he jumped towards the branch where I stood. I quickly moved out of the way which made him collide with the tree, I quickly got down to the ground as I started sprinting away from the battlefield and into where my plan shall commence, while checking if he is running behind me. Fortunately, he is straight behind me with a look of pure anger. "Get back here and fight like a…. Fighter! You honorless coward!" The pony shouted as he started running behind me. "Dude chill, you are attacking a baby dragon, where is your sense of honor exactly?" I said to the stallion who ironically ignored me as he continued to advance. I finally made it to the where I will carry on with my plan as I hid behind one of the trees. Mighty Mane stopped running as he was looking around, to find me. Mighty Mane's POV: When I get my hooves on that little brat I'll show him! I'll crush him with my own hooves. Hopefully, that'll be enough to satisfy lady Dolorossia. I started walking around the forest looking for that little shit, I wonder where he is hiding. Just then, I heard a familiar sound, a familiar sound calling for my help. I quickly ran to the source of the sound only to find…. No… it's Lady Dolorossia! She's getting attacked by that Manticore! I'm going to save her! Spike's POV: What a fool, he is heading straight for his death, I watched the giant pony ran towards the tree, probably off to save his "lady" or something. Just before he reaches the tree, roots immediately attacked him, pinning him to the ground. He struggled to remove the roots as I watch him get stabbed by one of them. Heh, his own idiocy led him to his miserable death. I could see his face almost tearing up from anger as he took out the roots from his body and the ones that were pinning him down. I didn't even need to be worried about this anymore, he already got stabbed, he can't save himself from blood loss unless he got a healing elixir. I watched him punch the roots as he took out what seems to be an elixir. Me and my big mouth, I dashed towards the injured pony as I knocked out the elixir from him. Unfortunately, I was a little bit late since now he got healed a little bit. Note to self: Arrogance can be your own demise. Mighty Mane tried to buck me but thanks to my [ Instincts ] he failed to do so. I decided to make more distance between him since he is tanky. I watch as he started pulling the Tree of Illusions from its roots. Is he really going to..? My [ Instincts ] started tingling again as I barely dodged the tree that was thrown at me by the earth pony. "Heh, did you like that you damn bastard? Consider this a gift from me, though I prefer roses!" He pulled another tree as he threw it at me which I dodged in a neck of time. This continued on for a while with him throwing more trees while me being barely able to advance towards him, busy dodging. I could see the sun setting, our fight lasted longer than what I thought. Now that would be a good time to use my new Title to atleast give me more stats, I quickly opened my stats as I equipped [ Night's Edge ] title, I could feel the buffs from the title. Good, I could last a little longer. Just then, I saw Mighty Mane shout in anger as he was running straight towards a really large tree. He started pulling it out of its roots with all of his strength as his face reddened from anger. I watched as the giant shadow of the tree closing on me, ready to squash me. Alright, this is going to be a serious gamble that I need to consider in those last seconds of my life. If I ever pulled that off then I would tip the outcome of this battle to my favor. I quickly opened my inventory and closed my eyes, ready to do the ultimate stunt. Mighty Mane's POV: Haha! That bastard is going to die! And Lady Dolorossia is going to be proud of me! I watched the tree quickly closing on the young drake before slightly pausing. Huh… what's going on with the tree?! Isn't it supposed to be crushing this drake right now? What is going on?! The next thing I saw, left me pretty surprised and speechless. The tree fell into the ground, cut into pieces. I looked at the drake before seeing him weld a cutlass with an uncharacteristically serious and calm look on his face. What in Tartarus has just happened here? Spike's POV: [ Cutlass Mastery had leveled up! ] [ Cutlass Mastery had leveled up! ] [ Cutlass Mastery had leveled up! ] [ Cutlass Mastery had leveled up! ]x5 I survived the attack, incredible. I guess I should thank the title and my luck stats for this. Now that I have mastery on Cutlass I can safely use it without worrying about anything. And added with the Cutlass on my right hand, the dagger on my left, and my title. The stats buffs are enormous which means that this fight is already over for Mighty Mane. I started walking towards the shocked pony with a creepily terrifying calmness on my face. He backed up a bit before standing his ground again. "Don't think just because you were able to cut a tree, you can defeat me! I'm Mighty Mane! The legend of legends! The stronge—"  I didn't even let him continue as I quickly slashed him with my cutlass, he managed to react quickly and block my slash only for his hoof to drop down into the ground, completely disconnected from the rest of his body. The giant stared at his hoof for a while before looking at me with a look of pure terror on his face, while sweat dripped down his snout. "Please don't kill me," Pathetic, he was trying to kill me, did you really think I'm going to spare you? Then again, I'm not a fan killing, sure I only kill when it's aboslute necessary and doesn't have any negative impact on me, so I'll only temporary let him live to tell me anything about the person who sent him before I end him for good. What? Did you really think I would let someone as strong as him alive so that he could grow stronger and attack me later? No. "Where was your arrogance Muscle head? Didn't you say that you are going to end me?" I harshly asked as I put my dagger towards his throat. "Oh, I was just joking… you know… to lighten up the mood? Hehe…" He started sweating uncontrollably. Obviously, I didn't buy that. But I'm not killing him now, that wouldn't benefit me in any shape or form. Alright, I'm going to say one of the most cliché lines in action movie history. "Who sent you?" I asked with an acid tone on my voice. Just as he was about to talk, my [ Instincts ] quickly screamed at me to get out of the way as I dodged an arrow that was heading towards… my head. I watched the unicorn slowly materialize infront of me. Was she here the whole time? Because if so, then that would explain the accurate timing. "Lady Dolorossia! Please save me!" The pony begged as he lightened up after seeing his partner again. Dolorossia casted a what seems to be a fire spell as I quickly jumped out of the way, though Mighty Mane wasn't so lucky and got incinerated instantly. "You killed your own partner? Weird way of showing love if I do say so myself," I said as I watch the ashes of what was a proud strong pony slowly wither away. "I have no use for weak ponies on my team. Just wait, young drake. I'll be coming to get you," Yeah, cliché villain lines. Can't say I haven't heard them in almost every show. "What did I do to gain your hate anyways? Am I really that cool?" I taunted the mare who just ignored me and casted another teleportation spell. Oh no you don't. I quickly threw my Dagger at her, Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough and she successfully teleported away. Damn it. Now I have to be extra careful now I know that the unknown attacker is far way more dangerous. I will start by leveling up. Speaking of level, it's strange that I never got any levels from the buffed pony. I don't even remember getting a quest, this is weird. But I'll investigate on it later. I started walking towards a specific destination I had in mind.