Chapter 40: Confusion
Rarity waved the two of them off and the last leg of their trip began. It was going to be a short walk, which Spike didn't mind: Scootaloo had a tendency to get quiet when it was just the two of them. It wasn't a problem, but it was something that sort of stuck in his head. It especially stood out when she actually did start a conversation, around halfway to the cloud house.
"Do we tell her?"
"I... Hm. That's a good question."
Rainbow Dash was certainly the most brash, outspoken, adventurous, and physical of the group. Even Applejack, who arguably worked harder? Worked with a more dedicated focus. Dash just got out there and did things for better or worse. And sure it had her on the shortlist for Wonderbolts membership. And the Sonic Rainboom, etc. But it also meant she was probably the biggest risk in terms of sharing this kind of secret. It'd be like telling her Daring Do spoilers and then expecting her to not spill it to Twilight on accident. That was what actually settled the decision for Spike.
"Absolutely."
"OK, go- Wait really."
"Yeah! Because, honestly? She'd find out anyways."
"Are you kidding me? I could totally kee... But she'd... Uh. One sec."
Spike waited for 'a sec'. And then a few. And then a minute. Eventually Scootaloo shook her head.
"No, yeah, you're... yes. Yes, she'd absolutely figure it out. Or I'd squeal. Fifty-fifty."
"Alright then. So we tell her?"
Scootaloo went quiet again, and initially Spike was worried that he had made her mad somehow. But that concern went out the window when the filly's expression changed to something more... devious. She was looking up at Dash's lazily-floating house with the look of somepony who just had an idea so glorious and terrible that they don't want to speak it, lest the moment be broken.
"The last time you looked at a house like that we had to replace a window."
"We won't this time! I mean, it's all cloud: Dash can just slap it back together."
"Scootaloo."
She whipped around on all fours and stared him in the eye... Or tried. She was used to his previous height, he guessed, because her initial glare was directed more throatwards than anything. After a second she corrected and then started in on what could only be called a schpiel.
"Spike, when you see an opportunity in this life you have to seize it. Ponies did not get where they are today by keeping their hooves on the ground (no offense). They got here by striving, reaching higher! Daring to do the impossible. We have but one chance to do this. One shot. Are you going to let it slip?"
"...Some of those Cloudsdalian war stories stuck with you, huh?"
"Seriously! But seriously. We have the window, no jokes, for a perfect prank here. Get me up to Rainbow's house. And the timeframe for doing it is-"
It hits him, just then.
"Right. It won't be a surprise once she knows I can buff my Strength. So it's literally now or never. And it is pretty funny."
"Right?"
He starts crunching numbers in his head. He doesn't know an appropriate Heartsong to use with Cantus for Strength or... athletics, maybe? Whatever governs throwing force or distance. He can put his size all the way up to the biggest scale Dragon's Hoard will allow. Dragon's Scale was boosting his Strength, and would make Dragon's Heart boost it even more than it used to. But...
"Even at max size, with my full mana pool, with Omphaloskepsis up, running Dragon's Heart at the highest I can put it, and with Dragon's Scale factored in... I don't know if I'm strong enough. So either we come up with a Heartsong, or I suddenly develop a skill for giving magically-potent motivational speeches... to myself."
Scootaloo frowned and sat back on her haunches, and for a moment they just crunched the numbers, chatting down a hundred or so feet below Rainbow's house. Eventually Scootaloo had him actually write out the numbers he was getting, and that's when she stopped him.
"Right here, you've got Dragon's Heart listed as taking all of your mana for a one-minute buff."
"Yeah, that's the most I can put into it: Cantus gets better efficiency even at the lower level, but again, we've got no rhythm to work with."
"OK, I get that, but... why one minute?"
He blinked a few times.
"Seriously, do you need an entire minute to throw me?"
Spike hadn't thought of it like that before. In fact, he hadn't really thought of that at all. His buffs took away MP from him as a pulse every minute... But why was it in that interval? He could adjust how much mana he put in, why not for how long? A thought pulled up the menu, and he looked over the Dragon's Heart description. Like most of his skills so far, the cost was "MP: Varies". It wasn't the most concrete or useful way for the UI to put it... But that meant there was probably a reason.
And reasons, in his experience (and according to Twilight) were always worth testing. He directed his focus onto the flow of magic in his body. One channel in his mind, in particular, represented the buff he got from Dragon's Heart. A slight 'twitch', so to speak, changed the potency of the effect. He sent it up and down a few times... Then he cranked it up all the way, exhausting his MP. Dialed back, waited, did it again. Spike repeated the process a few times, cancelling the benefits each time so that he could recast it faster. Finally, after a dozen or so cycles, he felt it.
It wasn't obvious. Honestly, if he weren't looking so intently, he wouldn't have noticed it at all. But there was a pace to how the mana moved, like the speed of the blood in his veins (which he could feel when he meditated: it was unsettling). So if he could mentally adjust how much of his mana was flowing into the ability, then surely he could adjust how fast. In his mind, he pushed. He felt channels of energy narrow and focus, trying to find purchase on their potential new shapes... And then a bright flash of blood-red shot across his eyes. He opened them and read...
ERROR: Ability factor 'Timescale' not currently available. Would you like to spend an Unlocker?
His concentration broke when the message window came up, and he felt deeply unsettled. Not just in his mind but in his belly, where there was now a roiling fire as the mana inside of him shook.
You were disrupted during a significant act of internal alchemy! 'Mana Confusion' has been applied.
Whatever that was, it hit him fast. His body was not a fan of the sudden whipsaw fluxes of mana rocketing up and down. Pain wracked him worse than any of the physical injuries from earlier. It hurt far worse than his growth spurt at the Boutique: If it weren't for his new skills he would have dropped to his knees. Even with that, it was impossible to ignore the prickling and popping in his veins. The sensation was like the bursts of fizzing candy on his tongue, elevated a thousand times and inside his blood. His HP took a series of quick hits while his MP recovered at a snail's pace. A moment later, his entire MP bar swallowed itself in a huge gulp...
Scootaloo could tell something was wrong from the outside, but he waved her off with a claw. It didn't seem like he could do anything to end this condition, not in his current state. But The Gamer giveth and The Gamer taketh away: The debuff had a visible timer in his status screen.
So Spike waited it out, thankful that Gamer's Body kept this from doing any kind of permanent harm to his internal organs... Hopefully. His health continued to burn away in fits and starts while his mana alternately burbled upwards and plummeted, both forces burning and sizzling. It went on for a full minute before it settled, leaving him emotionally shaken but physically recovering. He blinked back tears as he tried to stand up straight, failing several times.
After another minute passed Spike took a deep breath, shook himself off, and gave Scootaloo a thumbs-up to signal that he was OK. This had been a valuable experiment, and sometimes progress came at the cost of some pain. Rather than make his friend worry, he kept quiet about what had just happened. Thankfully, she didn’t question it. After making sure nothing around him had been impacted, he turned his attention to the messages.
Before he got back to the Timescale thing, the other window had told Spike that his experiment was related to Internal Alchemy, by name if nothing else. Which meant that his big mystery Mastery was... like alchemy, but inside his body. 'The movement and processing of magic using tools and material substrates', except the tools and the materials were both him. That might have been an easy thing to assume from the name, sure, but he tried not to take things for granted. That would help avoid more mistakes like his assumption about Observe's levelling curve, at least.
When he went to check the Timescale error, his view was blocked by a set of other screens.
By using [Internal Alchemy] without the skill, your Mastery increases by 1%
By surviving [Mana Confusion] without any aid, your Mastery of [Internal Alchemy] increases by 1%
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10091392
so that's how mandarin oranges are done!
Spikes learning Skill, Errol.
Yeah, trying to do any form of alchemy untrained generally results in an explosion. Spike's a lot luckier than his stats suggest (which is sort of a given for protagonists in life-or-death situations, but I digress)
Guess MODS are out. Sorry, Spike.
10095034 Alternately, if you don’t have access to that chemical, you just need a mandarin orange and a paring knife. Cut between the pith and you when you are done separating the pulp from the pith, you can crush the latter to make juice. I know this b/c of culinary school.
Oh, and you can also apply this technique to any citrus fruit.
Hmm... Spike's Internal Alchemy skill seems to be several hundred levels short of where it should be. There's all kinds of gold spilling out of him.
No, I don’t think he will.
Ah, internal alchemy! In real life, it's more metaphorical, turning negative thought processes and habits into positive ones. I wonder what it will be like here?
I have to admit, a major success of your [the author's] writing is the wonderful interactions between characters.
Everything flows smoothly and naturally. Each character feels genuine and the original characters are fitted in seamlessly.
To cut a long comment short: I'm been absolutely thrilled that you've shared this story with us, and I hope there will be many more chapters to come.
Internal alchemy gives me wuxia vibes.
Oh no.
Good question.
This is a useful experiment.
Bit dangerous, though.
Some very interesting things this chapter. Number one is probably that this situation should be taken seriously. "By surviving [Mana Confusion] without any aid" rather strongly implies that not surviving was a non-zero possibility. Learning about Internal Alchemy is another big one, but what really makes me wonder is the Unlocker bit.
Is it a way to unlock skills Spike would otherwise get without activating the normal triggering requirements? Or maybe they're extra skills that would never unlock without using the Unlocker? Big difference in using them (whatever they are) depending on what they actually unlock. You wouldn't want to spend a rare item on a skill you would eventually get through normal play, but it might be worth doing so for a skill that would be otherwise unavailable.
10096260
Well, we know he has at least one!
Back in Chapter 10...
At least one, and probably fewer than 10. if it had been double digits I would have used two question marks, right? :V
...By SURVIVING Mana Confusion????!?? God, that's grim hahaha.
Hmm... Internal Alchemy... I get the feeling that, between that skill and Dragons Fang/Claw, his chances of absorbing the skill in that stone are gonna sky rocket.
Spike literally survived a deadly magic status... He is surprising chill about it. His mind is indeed immune to panik etc. it seems...
Very valuable skill and situation managed. Probably survives later on thanks to the skill and experiences with this status.
The mind is the only limiter to his abilitys. Reminds me of the 'Goblins Slayer' ! Creative thinking is a weapon all on its own
10095141
Slams into windows everywhere it goes? Yep, seems to check out.
I wonder when Spike will molt and gain Wings...