Spike of All Trades

by Ariamaki

Zero Hour: Part 23

Spike certainly wasn't going to turn down that kind of opportunity, so he gladly followed. Their route this time was a lot more straightforward: Just moving through two connecting rooms until they hit a second very similar-looking space to the one he’d first entered from the lobby.

"So, you were saying?"

Contrary to all her earlier actions and in defiance of what she'd said? Lyra sat down before speaking this time, plopping herself onto a bench with her back up against the wall.
"Right. About your question earlier, with the meditation I taught you... That's a personal thing. I'm taking a leaf out of Bonnie's book here and saying 'I can neither confirm nor deny' if there's a fourth way to use that base. So let's just shelve that before we talk about anything else, alright?"

That made sense to Spike, and he wasn't in any rush: If anything he'd leave with an interesting new puzzle to try and figure out on his own. Plus the almost nervous tone of her voice made it clear she was either being genuine or had a lot of practice lying. Or both. Could be both.
"Crystal clear: Should I be calling you teacher or sensei or anything here?"

"Please don't: I'm not about the super-formal stuff, and even if I were we'd save that for if I was really going to teach you. Which is the other thing: I'm not. Not today anyways, this isn't me saying I'm totally against the idea. Try back in a couple of days or something, give me some time to decide if I'm ready to teach anypony. We'll work that out when the time comes."

"But since we went out of our way to take up a training space, I'm guessing you've got something in mind?"

"For sure! Specifically? You need to learn how to train."

He'd already told her about everything he'd put himself through so far, and she had even commented on how hard he was pushing himself. That didn't stop the mint-green mare from giving him a smug expression as she leaned into the wall behind her.

"Seriously man, it's like... Twilight Sparkle probably taught you about learning how to learn, right? Proper studying habits and that sort of thing. It's the same deal with exercise and training, sparring, the works: If you really are interested in learning how to fight from the ponies around here, this would be a sorely-needed first step."

That made a lot of sense: He'd been taking advantage of his Gamer's Body to do absurd things this whole time. The closest he'd gotten to proper exercise was having the Crusaders pile objects onto him as if he were preparing for the tournament arc in a Neighponese battle comic. Even though his powers made it so he lived 'life as if it were a game', which in turn made his body behave weirdly? It was still a body at the end of the day. He had muscles and bones and nerves working to make him move. That meant there was a right way and a wrong way to move, right and wrong ways to train.

Lyra continued with a frown on her muzzle.
"The only problem with that is, uh, I don't really have any idea what the right way to train is for you? Like, you can imagine I mostly deal with unicorns. Some pegasi and earth ponies, but not so much other species. And 'dragons' is completely out of my ballpark."

Now that was a problem he could solve easily enough: They'd had the exact same problem for different reasons back when he was a hatchling, after all.
"Well, me and Twilight have been in and out of enough study sessions and doctors' offices over the years to get a pretty good idea of how my dragon body works. So I bet if we use my anatomical knowledge and your general experience with training others we can figure something out, right?"

"Hah! Totally makes sense that you'd know your own body best. Well... Let's get started then!"

The difference between his 'training' (real hard air quotes there) with the Crusaders and his sparring with Bruxis... It was like a world's width. The difference between that fight and this new training with Lyra was equally distant, but along a different tangent. It wasn't about swift execution or the most precise way to get the job done, it was about paths of least and most resistance: When he swung his claws through the air, what was the best posture for his arm? If he wanted to train the muscles connecting his hips and legs, how could he focus on exactly those parts and nothing else?

Spike's ambition wasn't limited to only training his body, and this dojo shared his absent limitations. Lyra took him through dusty rooms filled with pamphlets and scrolls of all ages and styles, wooden shelves and cubbies filled with all sorts of information. He took his time poring over each section in turn, saving Lyra's time by using Photographic Speedreading to record most of it for later perusal.

Some conversations about Spike's stats led them down the halls to a storage room where Lyra levitated out a variety of unusual items: A bag, a bundle of intricately-carved sticks, a stone bowl with a lid, dice, and even small smooth stones. She decided that if Luck was on the table for things he could train, she would introduce him to the little games and tools of fate the dojo favored. After all, students needed a way to pass the time during cooldowns... And to pick the odd-mare-out for partnered exercises.

As the hours whiled themselves away, Spike decided to give back the best way he currently could: First a little luncheon, presenting each of his buffing foods (with one obvious exception) one after the other. Then another bout of sparring and play-fighting while he gave Observe a full-textbox workout, parsing Lyra's moves and statistics in order to let her measure her ability by his system's scales. In the cooldown period afterwards, she sat down with her newly-repaired instrument to provide a sonic backdrop while he reinforced her meditation lessons.

Other ponies came through as the day wore on, but he'd gotten a bit of the old Twilight tunnel vision and Lyra was clearly no stranger to being seen as strange. He'd heard enough of the rumors around town and seen plenty of her behavior himself: Giving pointers on stretching and muscle-load to a bipedal dragon was probably not that far off from anything her fellows had seen her doing before.

Time slipped over them and through while leaving a marked difference in its wake. Spike leveraged every piece of information he could, gathering knowledge and creating a bespoke tome of his own personalized exercises. Everything from cardiac to core, burst and balance, reach and respiration, strength and stamina. He folded in his own experiences with Lyra's formal procedures, anatomical knowledge mixed with breath control and plain old physics.

They didn't just train muscular methods but mental ones as well, mantras and sutra matched with drills of data and particular puzzles. He leaned back on the history he'd built up with Twilight and the girls, cross-referencing the isolated pools of knowledge until they began to run together into a much wider and deeper sea of information.

Their day was rounded out with tricks for not just reinforcing his engine-driven Luck, but how to use his senses in concert with that ineffable state of being lucky. Not just grinding away at randomized events, but taking those random chances and turning them into meaningful action: Seeing potential in the moment and figuring out how to grasp it. Luck didn't matter if you couldn't take advantage.

That was the third mantra he learned, actually! Set your sights on good fortune: Concentrate.

Lyra taught him a lot of new things, but at the same time she kept reinforcing and reminding him just how much of this he was teaching himself. Adapting his knowledge of how the engine worked and of how his dragon body worked, turning it into training methods using her lessons as a guide. Using past experience with science and history to form a base for further education. It was exactly what he'd expect from a good teacher, regardless of whether or not Lyra believed herself ready.

Putting her intent aside, she had a resounding success in terms of putting him in the right frame of mind: The idea that this was his work, and his creation. Something he was doing using all of his history, assembling bits and pieces to make a sum much bigger than the parts list implied. Just like anypony else he couldn't start from scratch: He had to learn from somewhere, from someone. But then he took that learning and made it his own.

Twilight would have made a comparison to chemistry at one point, where Pinkie might have drawn the line to baking instead: After all, 'baking is just chemistry you can eat'. They would both agree that the real comparison was to friendship, different and distinct parts making a greater whole.

It was when Spike focused on that idea, when he really settled on the concept of this being a new creation that was made up of everything he could bring to bear... That was when it clicked. This did not represent some ultimate completion. There would always be a step above and beyond, because he could take today's pinnacle triumph and turn it into the base again, building up a tower on top of the tower. Onward and upward, first growing and then establishing new foundations on that growth-

You have created a completely original skill on the route of personal fulfillment.

What would you like to name it?

A completely original skill. Not a skill he'd learned from somepony else, from an example or a book or an inspired dream. This was a skill made by himself, for himself, from himself. Not inherited from his parents or taught by his elders. This wasn't a Gamer's skill, this wasn't a Dragon's skill. It was his and his alone. So the name ended up being an obvious one: This skill might have been his own unique creation, but it was still rooted in the lessons that inspired it, the things he learned to reach this point.

"Spike's Studies."

[Spike's Studies] (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
This is a skill without a history, only a backstory. Without a legacy yet, but with one to come. You will author the future of this skill, and perhaps it will fade into obscurity... or perhaps it will become a legend passed down to others. Either way it is the first step, in your own pace, on your own path.

You have created an optimized personal process for studying, exercising, and practicing skills.
While using these optimal methods you improve with significantly greater stability and safety.
Further experimentation and practice can expand and refine these methods to a greater degree.
As you grow and develop, you must keep improving this skill in order to keep the above benefits.

This skill represents a consolidation of past practice: You gain five points each in every attribute.
This skill represents a new pinnacle of personal growth: You gain one character level immediately.
This skill represents the opening of your eyes: Observe's experience requirements are halved.

Author's Note:

Chapter 104
Zero Hour: Part 23
- OR -
Spike's Studies

Comments

[Dragon Verse]

A brand new Personal Skill?!? UNNAMED?!? Someone's getting Spoiled here!

[1batman4u]

You have created an optimized personal process for studying, exercising, and practicing skills.
While using these optimal methods you improve with significantly greater stability and safety.

[Spike's Studies] will have a ton of synergy with [Dragon's Mind] when Spike tries to study and learn the magic of other species: unicorn spells, pegasi flight and weather magic, earth pony strength and plant manipulation, etc.

[redsopine]

Interesting very interesting this has the potential to either be weak or game breaking

[Black--Soul]

Talk about game changing events... Hot damn! Magnificent chapter

[Lanigiro]

Interesting, a skill that has a name given to it. Now I'm curious about whether Indra's Net was a creation of the game engine, or a very real part of history merely inherited... Time will tell.

[Herald of Opera]

10892862
Considering we've had vaguely Indian-themed ponies in the show? That raises further questions.

[Booster Spice]

Thats an awful lot of effort, with th reward of another recursive multiplier. Next would be to extend it with Cantus, through the music library and hoard of instruments eventually? Through Kitchen, the ingredients, equipment and style, creating not just new recipies but new cooking and preparation methods?

Still not something that can be classed as a Combat Skill or Ability? But will integrate and enhance that and those when they finally are discovered, taught?

[WiseIdiot]

Alright, way to go Spike!

Let's see how we can best cheese this new skill, shall we?

[RP422]

Alternate skill name: Way of the Munchkin

[1batman4u]

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10892879
Wow, good point, it’d be cool to have Spike said “Indra” out loud in front of Saffron Marsala and Coriander Cumin, then see what their reaction is.

It’s odd that the ability to see the relationships between people is named after a God of war, storms, and lightning, perhaps implying how destructive this power can be if not used properly.

[Ariamaki]

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10892862
10892879

This one is a spot where I'll step in and espouse a little bit, although that doesn't mean this is the final answer. Just part of the whole.

Indra's Net as a philosophical principle refers to how all things can be seen in one thing, reflected within each other. It's a harmonious kind of unity, where everything is part of a system stretching out to infinity.

But this is Spike's system, and its take on the concept had a specific reference of its own, nested inside...

...Denying the singular vision of Gutei...

Gutei's Finger was and is a Zen Buddhist koan, often considered heretical or flawed, which is best summarized at the link there. Long story short it's about how one thing can mean everything, how the infinitude of reality can be reduced down to a single point shining in the void, an inexhaustible singularity.

The conflict between these two views, the idea that all things are harmonious and reflected in each other vs. the idea that all things can be drawn down and reduced to a single overriding focus, is central to the extremely recommended plot-driven tower? defense? video game Immortal Defense.

And while that conflict isn't as critical in Spikefic, the distance between those two points is going to come up more than once from here on out. How soon? Well, I wonder why I was compelled to make this comment in a chapter where the ability didn't even make an appearance... <.<

[Lasairfion]

10893497
But it did make an appearance. Spike did not follow someone else's teachings blindly by imitating what he had been shown; but instead forged his own path to understanding. Isn't that the teaching point of the koan?

[Zolrak Osdidar]

Bruh that new skill is broken. I like it.

Another awesome chapter.

[Mr Good Guy]

10893497
Hey, Ariamaki, do you think you can make a list of all the Equestrian version games you listed in the story and their actual Earth names in a blog post, or something? It's kind of hard to do research on some of them, and I haven't played more recent videogames lately, so it's kind of hard to understand what you're talking about in some of the chapters. Plus, I'd like to play some of these myself if that's the case, maybe look for an emulator, or something.... Please, it would be very much appreciated.

[Ariamaki]

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Sure! I can definitely look into doing a blog in the future, but for now I should just cut out the middleman and tell you. There's a handful early on where I actually lost track of the reference myself, but in part because of that incident I have a very comprehensive list for all of the rest. :V

It also helps that the last specific game title reference was already published a while back (in the Glittershell chapter) and I haven't made any new ones since in my advance writing. But I do have a huge glut of pre-written ones ready to be dropped in at a moment's notice, just haven't had to dig into that arsenal at all lately.

IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE, I THINK?

(a licensed Power Ponies game with skills you can level is discussed but never named)
Basilisk's Lair (Dragon's Lair)
Unicorn Alley (crunchy possibly pen-and-paper RPG)
King Blaster (normally-invisible stamina meter)
Plane of Battleforge (World of Warcraft)
Cloudedge (Skyrim)
Martial Mares (meditation as game mechanic)
Wizards of Winsome Falls (meditation as game mechanic)
These two might be Magician and Legacy of the Wizard, with non-parody but still on-theme names?
Bandit (Rogue)
Gridslash (Nethack)
Moondust Wanderer (Starseed Pilgrim)
Sun Seekers (Moon Hunters)
The 'JewelSmith' series (GemCraft)
Treasure Tomb (Coin Crypt)
Outerworlds (Borderlands)
Haven (Sanctum)
Aureola CE (Halo CE / the Halo franchise)
Enormous Goblet (Massive Chalice)
ULTRACOOL (SUPERHOT)
Sanctuary (Bastion)
Trail Untrodden (Road Not Taken)
Monkey Emulator (Goat Simulator)
The Stricture of Steven (The Binding of Isaac)
The Myth of Hobo-Jo (The Legend of Bum-Bo)
Shadow Spirits (Dark Souls)
Marrowmade (Bloodborne)
Denizen Nightmare (Resident Evil)

Additionally, while they haven't been referenced, I specifically want to take a moment to recommend the following:
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus, Monster Prom, Paradise Killer, Wizard of Legend, The Witness, Loop Hero, and Siralim Ultimate.

[Mr Good Guy]

10901051

Cool, thanks a bunch, though hmm....
Unicorn's Alley-Magician's Road? don't recall if it was pen-an paper
King Blaster-Shooter King/Emperor, or Master Blaster/Blaster Master? (the one with the tank? don't remember a stamina meter, though)
Wizards of Winsome Falls-Wizards of Waverly Place? (Not a game, though, as far as I know) Mages of ??? Rise? Manyloss? Manylost?
Martial Mares-Mortal Kombat? Street Fighter? Don't think they have meditation, though?

I don't even know if some of my guesses are titles for actual games here, *shrugs* maybe this could trigger some memory of what they're supposed to reference?

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True nobility comes not from proving superior to another, but in proving superior to one's previous self.

[Black--Soul]

That will be a very observant Dragon fighter...
Good for his memorys to be so well stored otherwise i can't see him keeping it all...