Chapter 21: Arcana
ARCANE AMMO'S ALL-DAY ARCADE
His brain could parse the words. He knew them. He was just having a hard time believing it.
"All day?"
Rarity nodded as she stepped forward, holding one door open in her magic's grasp.
"Indeed! Morning and night, barring holidays I do believe. The new owner is... well, you'll see."
Spike walked in at a slow and solemn pace, almost joking but not quite. He had really loved the old space as plain as it was. In truth? It had been little more than a field with six or seven cabinets and a food cart on busy days, a few trees and umbrellas for shade on the older machines. It had been cozy in a way open spaces usually weren't. Given all that, being here... Somewhere new that was built on that base? It felt right that he should enter like this, eyes wide and head clear.
Putting his remembrance aside, he had to stop and gawk once he got past the entrance. The carpet beneath his claws was dense and riotously colored, the wall to his left stark black, then to his right were... Dozens. Maybe a hundred, even? Arcade cabinets, game machines, engines, exposed engines even, in sizes and shapes he had never seen before. There were tables for not-so-video games he recognized (pool and poker and that one with the little rubber hoofball players on rods), there were tables for sitting and relaxing and eating, there was so much space...
Really, 'space' was the operative word. Just like the outside the interior was decorated in cool dim shades that resembled the night sky. Outside the sun beat down, and yet inside there was no hint of day. Instead there was a pale and pleasant artificial glow, all coming from saucer-shaped lamps and wall-mounted crystal rods.
And that light shone on ponies. A lot of ponies. Even before he saw any of the high outliers in terms of Level, he knew not all of them were from Ponyville. Whether it was the dialects, the clothes, the way they carried themselves... Or the fact that there were too many wings, many leathered rather than feathered.
"w-what?"
Rarity hummed happily as she stepped ahead of him, gesturing out into the crowd.
"For a... variety of reasons, it seems this has become a popular spot for both Luna's Night Guard and the weather-ponies coming to and from Cloudsdale. They used to call Ponyville flyover country in a dismissive way, you know! But now that they have a spot in the middle of their paths to stop for food and drinks, coffee and a break at any time? Their tone has certainly changed. I daresay I've considered opening the Boutique on some sleepless nights just to take advantage of the traffic!"
Spike took a deep breath and just... soaked it in for a minute. Noises, lights, the scent of cooking food and the feeling of the carpet. Brick walls, open vaulted ceiling, no windows. Ponies of every breed and age. He had never, not once in his life, been in any building quite like this one. Even the exhibition arcades in Canterlot didn't have this kind of complex density. But it felt right in a way he couldn't put a claw on, like this was what an arcade should be. He suppressed a small shiver at the scope of it all and then stood straight, turning to Rarity with a smile.
"Alright, since you're so familiar with the place: Gimme the grand tour?"
"Oh nonono, that simply won't do. After all, there's somepony far more qualified than I! One mo, please."
She trotted forward quickly, tail whipping happily as she rounded the corner off into an area that Spike couldn't see from where he stood. He took the opportunity to step down into the lower floor (only a step down from the entrance, but enough of a difference to make headroom for the taller cabinets) and start looking at the place. It's not like he'd be hard to pick out of a crowd, and he'd stick close to the entrance... It was all just so new. Mmmh, not all of it: He recognized the original arcade's cabinets from where he stood. Gillie had probably kept thirty-odd engines in storage even though he only owned ten cabinets, but now it looked like they were all on the floor and then some.
There was Power Ponies: Mares in Space, the one with the power-levelling. There was Martial Mares and Bandit and the latest JewelSmith. There was Haven (with multiplayer!), Treasure Tomb, Sun Seekers and Moondust Wanderer... Spike just marveled at it all for a bit until he heard the distinct quadruple-beat of two ponies approaching: Rarity must have found that guide she was talking about: Maybe an employee, or one of Rainbow's friends from the weather team? He turned to look over his shoulder and... Well, he doubled down on how much he had been staring at things lately.
It was just one shock after another. That was a fitting phrase, really: The mare had a shock of dusty yellow mane over shockingly bright orange eyes, all in the frame of a shockingly fit unicorn mare... Which was made more shocking because she had the grey coat, tufted ears, and bat-like seeming of a Night Guard. Rather than the leathered wings of a normal pegasus affected by Luna's glamour? This mare had a tracery of black thorns running from the tip of her horn down onto her shoulders like a tattooed mantle. Topping off the entire situation was one last, slightly more literal shock: Lightning bolts on her flank, her Cutie Mark showing six of them arranged in a hex pattern.
No, wait. That wasn't quite right.
Really topping it off and really shocking? That was above her, and only Spike could see it:
[A Shot In The Dark]
Arcane Ammunition
LV 39
Thirty. Freaking. Nine. That's nearly forty. Twilight was level twenty-seven. This was somepony who was absolutely not to be trifled with, and he felt nervous just flicking his eyes between her title and her calm smile once. Looking suspicious seemed like a very bad idea right about now. So instead he popped a big bright smile and looked to Rarity as if begging an introduction (easy enough, since he was). She hesitated, reasonably so: He had told her about the whole shebang of The Gamer, including the names and titles. But when he continued to smile, a bit more strained, she relented.
"Ah, Spike... Well, this is Spike-"
The older mare interrupted her with a light cough.
"I do recognize him, although it's only from reports. Pleased to meet you, Mr. The Dragon."
His mood lightened when he realized that level or not, she might be a pony willing to crack a joke.
"Please: Just 'The', or Spike should you prefer."
She dropped into a short and graceful bow, her eyes glinting with a repressed smile.
"An honor! Well met, Spike."
"And you as well, Ms..."
Rarity coughed, apparently at least a little embarrassed about the situation.
"Mrs., as it were. Mrs. Arcane Ammunition, although she prefers to be addressed by 'Ammo'."
Spike continued lightening the mood, breaking into an oversized toothy grin.
"Well then, that seems like an introduction if I've ever heard one!"
"And a long mile better than the ones we get at court, eh?"
Rarity seemed even more scandalized at that, yet Spike himself couldn't help but laugh.
"Trumpeter. Reader. Other trumpeter. And it's so much worse when there's some big shindig."
"If you think it's bad, try writing up the requisition forms for all those extra ponies."
"If you think that's bad, try belching up all those forms!"
Ammo put a mock-offended hoof up to the fluff of her chest.
"So you're the mysterious beast that's always eating paperwork right before it's due!"
"Does that make you the second half of 'Praise the Sun and pass the ammunition?'"
He was 100% sure that Rarity was going to yell at him for that gag, but he couldn't stop himself: The sense of relief from realizing that this over-levelled monster was a nice pony (visual indications aside) had him giddy. It helped when Ammo herself burst out laughing and fell back against a nearby cabinet to wipe at one teary eye. She raised a hoof and Rarity (begrudgingly) helped her up.
"You've got good friends, Rari. I'm so glad we decided to move out here: This is such a great town."
Spike was putting two and two together in his head, although it was honestly nearly as easy as actually getting 4 from 2+2: Rarity knew about the arcade before him. New owner from out of town who doesn't know a ton about video games. The new arcade is open overnight, all day. The structure blocks the sun completely. And now this pony, who speaks to Rarity casually and is apparently either a Night Guard or something very much like it.
"So you're Rarity's..."
"Aunt! Auntie Ammo, isn't that right Rara?"
"Rrrghhhyes to my eternal chagrin, Mrs. Ammo is my father's sister."
"Your father's named after my grandfather, you know! Good ol' Magnum Ammo."
"Since you remind me at nearly every family gathering: yes I do know."
Spike looked askance at Rarity.
"'Auntie Ammo', huh?. Which makes you..."
"Rarity Belle, thank you. I like to hope that I inherited the more gentle side of the family line."
"Pfft, sure. Keep tellin' yourself that Rares. But back on topic... Spike! The Dragon of Canterlot Mountain himself, aide to Twilight Sparkle. What brings you to my establishment today?"
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Rarity...Ammo...
Rare Ammo?
Like Tracer Rounds, Dragons Breath Shells...
I guess being a diamond miner could help in those specializations
I wonder if the place is established enough to have an Exploit Corner where players can talk about intresting glitches discovered, rumored, even featured, but with Aunt Ammo there sounding like one of my Tabletop Gamers hopefully slapping down any Egonos that try to clique up their superior gaming knowledge?
Then again, SMILE found the perfect excuse on how to finally get acceptable security to the location of Harmony ?
I wonder how close a classic Changeling could get to the Arcade before getting too fat to fly or even stalled? Especially if they have certain Origionals and Uniques? Like Pong?
The Geek shall inherit the Worth.
Praise the Sun? Be careful there Spike. You dont want to mess this Opportunity up.
So .... Sweetie Belle could've been Sweet Ammo? The heck would that be?
This is a big increase in arcade space for the town.
And it's already serving as a destination attraction, that's a good development for a small town.
Neat.
Oh shit!
Reports, eh?
I'm guessing guard retiree, which if true tells us at least some portions of the guard are very much not screwing around if they are producing retirees this badass. Now I'm curious what we'd learn from a walk through the castle, or from looking at Shining Armor.
We? Sounds like more than just Arcane here moved in.
Awesome.
LOL, sure.
9950133
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9950191
I was incredibly close to linking this directly to Spike's joke about her name, but... You all get it down here in the comments instead.
Ok, we're really gonna need some explanation on other ponies' levels pretty soon... How does Twilight have a lower level than this one, and what does it mean?
Also, not quite clear, when is this exactly, in the timeline? I see that the library is still there...
How many chapters are there gonna be? I'm holding onto this to bingeread when it's done
9950133
Don't ask me how I got to this exactly, because my brain works funny sometimes, but now I'm imagining a 'baby blue diamond', being a diamond colored by mithril deposits and thus being a wonderfully versatile medium for storing spells, and taking that and running all the way to spell grenades.
Welp. Brand new OP OC, super special new species, related to the mane six, more powerful than Twilight Sparkle, and dropping the "Rarity Belle" bomb...how many red flags can you wave at once? I'm outta here.
9950133
Purple is a pretty good rarity. But why isn't she red? That's the best rarity!
9950364
Eh, higher level doesn't mean more powerful. In the inspiring work, The Gamer, the MC manages to defeat people higher "level" than him by simply knowing more useful skills, or using them in better ways than mere brute force (similarly, he's been overwhelmed or caught off-guard by some pretty low-level mooks with unexpected abilities). Ammo is Rarity's aunt, so she's had more time to level up than a lavender unicorn Rarity's age. And even if she has, say, military experience (with a name like Ammo, that's more than likely), that still doesn't mean she'd best twinkle sprinkle at organization, general trivia knowledge, or even being friends. Strength takes many forms.
(and to cap that off, a Level 4 Rattata can beat a Level 100 Mega Rayquaza in Sun/Moon with the right strategy)
Also, isn't Rarity Belle pretty common fanon?
This has been pretty well-written so far, I'll see how it keeps going.
9950483
I forgot which Roadshow it was at, but the cheer that went up when this guy took the Power Troll out was loud even before the first move. A Lot of people heard of the exploit but just wernt carrying a squad to do it.
Just imagine if Spike married into the family, he could end up with the nickname at least, Unlimited Ammo.
9950293
The upcoming FAQ is going to cover this and some other questions, but TL;DR it's set back when Twilight was still 'just' a unicorn, although it's not clear yet (for the audience) if the intention is for that to change later in the fic. And since Level in most games is raised most efficiently through combat, it shouldn't be very surprising for a military pony to outlevel her.
9950364
She's directly stated, right there in the text, to be a normal unicorn who only looks different because of an illusion or similar spell. And as mentioned in the above reply in this comment, Twilight is neither a fighter nor extremely strong at this point (Still being the non-Princess Element of Magic unicorn who runs a library). Don't go around complaining about things that are clearly false, especially if you're going to downvote and bail in a huff afterwards.
9950302
Again, this is covered already in the attached blog post for the upcoming FAQ. But to repeat for people who are allergic to blogs: This is going for another ~50ish chapters of similar size, at a similar or slower pace, and will have an immediate direct sequel that's already well underway in terms of writing. Each 'Arc' will be (ideally) self-contained enough to be a satisfying read even if you stop there, so if you want to binge? Come back once this is done, but before the sequel.
Nobody tell her about her distant ancestor Hanna
So has Ammo basically invented... kind of the opposite of the barcade, I guess. The arcafé?
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It's broadly based on a cross between the larger arcades I've been to, hybridized with my local bowling alley! The second half is where it gets the diner / cafe, general size and layout, and a few other things. :3
Ammo is war veteran or special agent and killed a lot, so her level is so ridiculously high?
9950364
I'm assuming Level is just a standard for potential. Like, reaching level 50 is only one half of your growth. Unless Limit Breakers are involved anyway.
I'm also thinking the Bearers have a bunch of boosts that make them outclass anyone else at lower levels. The richness of their level ups are probably off the chain.
9950625
thanks for the clarification!
Because I really feel lost when authors don't give any indication of what state the characters are in or when it's happening in the timeline...
Particularly when they write a romance fic with Spike and one of the adult ponies and don't specify, how old and how tall Spike is in the story, and whether I should ask them to have a seat over there.
For those playing at home, Rarity has a tendency to leap into fights literally hooves-first despite, y'know, having a magic wand attached to her forehead.
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Well, don't bother with that around here: Spike is, per always, old enough for his romances to work out just fine. And his height is irrelevant to that subject, although as you've already seen, that's variable now anyways. :V
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Make sense.
Me and Ammo: *watches Rarity tearing apart a pack of Timberwolves who dared try to eat Sweetie Belle*
Random Timberwolf Trying To Crawl Away Unnoticed: *gets dragged back in by the tail gripped in Rarity's magic*
Rarity: "You brute! You scoundrel! You cretin!" *pulls every sharp object within 10 miles of herself into the fray*
Me: "Wow, if this is the gentle side of the family I can't wait to see what you are capable of."
“[…] bat-like seeming ____?____ of a Night Guard.”
I hardly ever see anyone explore Rarity's family tree. Though maybe I just not reading the right stories?
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seeming, noun -- the outward appearance or aspect of someone or something, especially when considered as deceptive or as distinguished from reality.
There's no word missing, just an uncommon use of a word.
9958059
Oooh… Okay. I see now… Perhaps my linguistic instincts are glitching? Maybe it a rules conflict in my internal language engine. I guess that if it's a noun, it's perfectly legal to use it the way you did. Hmm… When I read it, I still get the feeling that something's wrong. Maybe it's a preference for using different vocabulary here?
I am tired; maybe I just need a nap, and it'll make sense afterward.
9958104
Ugh seen something similar recently, a word which I never saw used in a certain context but google translate said it's ok.
Some words are like that. I think it's probably regional.
I didn’t know that Rarity’s dad is a Royal Guard vet. Rarity and Sweetie must have inherited their naming conventions from the mom’s side of the family.
Rare Ammo?
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I was thinking Rarity Parabell(e)/(u)m.
Which might not fit the text, especially since hoof-held firearms seem lacking in Equestria. Still, her father IS Magnum.
Ah but has anypony realized that with so many guards present, that Ponyville technically now HAS a guard contingent, even if informally?
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That is a little bit scary.
*Two goons run into the arcade with crossbows*
"Stick 'em up! We're robbing the place!"
*All the Night Guards turn away from their machines to stare at the robbers. They chuckle*
"Dah, crap."
Sweet. Rarity has a kickass familie ♡
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Well, she is kickass herself even though I strongly dislike her drama queen moments. She's known in martial arts and know how to play electric guitar. So, gentle or not she's quite capable to kick some ass when need arise both literally and figuratively.
A story with fluffy ear ponys is always welcome. Got to love this adorable fangs and slit pupils
Reminds me of the story of Firesight with Feathered Hearts - Eros. We come for the Services but stay for the Company of pur fellows and good food.
( food for thoughts and stuff in this case of the comparison )