Spike of All Trades

by Ariamaki

Zero Hour: Part 17

Out of a mix of fairly justifiable paranoia and Twilight-esque compulsion, he did one final lap of the tunnels before he made it back to the center of the warren. There was now a consistently safe and clear ring all the way around and out; a path that led from their current hiding place to the bottleneck entrance back the way they came. That area had already been clear before Spike came along, and was where the majority of the Guards were posted: He saw one with a number as high as Twenty Eight, so they clearly wanted to keep their current secure location... well, secure.

Spike knew his next trip to help the Diamond Dogs would almost certainly involve going out beyond that guarded gate, into the chaotic mishmash of tunnels they'd been forced to make during the escape from the still-unknown monster bug. He would have to prepare and be certain that he was in the best position first: There would be no patrols to back him up, no Ammos on the sidelines, no Princess a few miles and some mail away from bringing assistance.

He'd be lying if he said the concept didn't excite him: He was already positively buzzing with plans and ideas, and the urge to figure out this whole 'Combat Discipline' issue with his new attacks was hard to push down... Would have been hard to push down, but no matter how excited the thoughts on the inside of his head? He stayed calm and clearly focused, walking calmly into the warrens. It had been a bit of a worrying realization, but he was coming to term with the Gamer's Mind.

The Gamer's Mind didn't prevent Spike from having emotions or even feeling them: The more he got used to it, the closer it felt to how he'd always felt before he got these powers. The real difference, the reason it was a skill and not a debuff or a cost? He got the best of both worlds! He was able to feel all the sway and influence of emotions, without any compulsion to act on them. Whereas previously the idea of 'not being able to wait' could drive him to shred the wrapping on a Hearth's Warming present a week in advance, now it was just a curious little tickle he could ignore as easily as any other idle thought.

Maybe it was another side-effect of being raised by Twilight, but in Spike's mind that was a pure advantage. Distance from his emotional reactions gave him the ability to react with logical basis, but it didn't stop him from reacting the way he would have before. Sure, philosopher ponies might argue that he was just faking those reactions if they weren't genuinely driven by emotion alone... And he didn't have a counter-argument to that. Wasn't sure he needed one either.

Spike passed under one glass-hooded lamp after another on his way through the tunnels, nodding to each of the Diamond Dogs he passed. He could have called them all out by name thanks to Observe but that would easily overstep the line from 'comforting presence' to 'creepy monster', and as a dragon raised by ponies he was already toeing that line constantly. He still felt a little surge of pride at the nods and waves he got in return: The people of this warren knew he came here to help them, and now that he had made good he felt good.

He was broken out of that particular reverie when he caught a glimpse of hunter green around the corner: King Rudy was standing outside of his official chambers, idly turning that ring between his thick fingers. None of the members of his council were in sight, and there were only two Guards on either side of the T-junction between the two hallways.

"Welcome back Spike. I have been told you are done with the initial strike?"

He shot the King a smile.
"Yup! There were some close calls and a bit of a... strange ending. But we're all good as far as I can tell."

"Our gratitude needs no restatement: My people would be in ruff straits indeed without your aid. Consider yourself welcome in these halls at any time-"

"Especially if I'm coming back to pitch in again?"

"...Perceptive as always. A character trait I can truly appreciate. Yes, I will make sure to send one of my people to contact you when the time comes. Although I do worry about causing a panic among the ponies if they were to enter your town."

"Oh! I actually thought about a solution to that while I was grind... Err, taking care of the bugs. I've got a friend who throws a party for everypony that ever comes to Ponyville and plenty of other creatures besides: If she meets your envoy then it'll be easy for the citizens to just write it off as another Pinkie thing. Probably not a bad first step to getting ponies comfortable with treating Diamond Dogs as neighbors in general, as a cherry on top."

"Indeed. I assume you will inform them on your return and then inform us of the other details with the method discussed previously?"

During the impromptu dinner-table meeting where Spike had gotten the council to open up and hatched his plan to help them out, he'd mentioned to King Rudy (aside from the others) about his letter-sending abilities. Specifically he had mentioned that he could send letters to Rudy himself, not just the Princesses. That was made possible thanks to his recent gains with the Dragon's Breath, and he even had a slot to spare on top of that now.

"Yup again: I'll ping Pinkie once I'm in Ponyville and throw you a letter with a good meeting spot where she can 'accidentally' run into the new Dog in town."

The King inclined his head in gratitude, and then extended it into a half-bow.
"Thank you for that consideration, and for all else you have done and will do."

Spike knew it would probably be more bothersome to shake off the gratitude than it would be to just accept it: Even growing up around Celestia (to a degree where he often forgot the 'Princess' on the front) he still felt awkward getting this kind of treatment from royalty.

"It's much appreciated: I also wanted to offer up a few more hours of my time... Specifically so I can provide meals for the patrolling troops and the rest of the warren before I leave. It would be a bit of a waste to head back into town before daybreak, and I'm grateful to all the Dogs who helped me with finding the nests and stragglers I needed to take care of."

Rudy gave Spike's plan the OK quickly and graciously, directing a Guard to lead him back to the kitchens. It was a nice gesture, albeit one made kinda less useful by Eidetic Memory. The route was complex for sure: It wove between multiple smaller cells and tunnels before terminating in a mess hall and cooking area that had been given just a little more care than the rest of the den.

They didn't have any proper ovens or other facilities but they'd at least managed to bring along some knives and tongs, pots and pans: Apparently scavenged like all the other tools they used. Spike had thankfully been filling his inventory with a diverse pile of various useful bits and pieces over the last week... Which did bring up an idea. After checking with the one Diamond Dog cook he had seen (recognizable by his tattered chef's toque), Spike pulled out the most surprising thing in his entire inventory...

Admittedly it wasn't so much one surprising thing as it was seventy-five or eighty individual things: The (kinda) intact forms of almost every Bermite and Mountain Crawler he had defeated. Some had been cut up too badly to keep, others had been burned with dragon-fire beyond recognition. The remainder were mostly whole and put Spike in an experimental mood. Not just experimental cooking, although the Dog-on-duty assured him they were used to insect meat.

No, Spike was feeling crafty.

He looked down at his spoils... Spoils! Spoilage. Crap. Spike quickly put most of the remains back into the Inventory, leaving only the most badly damaged to start with. He took a few deep breaths: Fighting the bugs was one thing while carving them up afterwards was another... But if he just left them to rot it would be wasteful, so this felt like a way to carry on their value further. Better to go back into the world in some helpful way than to just decay in a cave, right?

Starting with the damaged parts, he let his mind wander as he worked. Bermites felt like they'd be paradoxically easier to deal with because of their armored exteriors. More room for error, as long as he made clean cuts with gentle force. That would be made smoother in turn by the sheer weight of the material: It was kind of shocking that he was able to haul all of this in the Inventory in the first place! Apparently there was no limit on slots, weight or even technically size.

The sole restriction was that he could only store things which he could lift and move. Thanks to the Hoard and Heart that was not a very meaningful limit. Speaking of the Hoard, ironically (a tenuous use of the word but he was going to count it) he'd even gotten a Dragon's Hoard option for his new 'collection' of body parts. Sadly it didn't provide new heights at the top or bottom ranges.

After seeing him work with the insect legs for a few minutes, the Dog eventually went off on his own and gave Spike more room to work. He let out a mental sigh and then paused his efforts, throwing all the bug bits back in the bag. Now that he was properly alone, he could take some time out to look over the yields from the final fight... 'Fight? More of an execution, really. Euthenasia?' He wasn't an expert on the topic, not that anypony probably was.

Regardless of what he called it, the thing with the Glittershell beetle. His first loot-bearing battle! And there hadn’t been just one piece of loot.

Author's Note:

Chapter 98
Zero Hour: Part 17
- OR -
Returning, Ruminating

Comments

[Booster Spice]

On the road crafting Skills? Bodging and Bagering? Quartermaster and Scavanger?

Thing is, will Pinkie already be waiting at the to be prearranged spot by the time Spike gets there?

Saw a good video on exp[Matrix] and Complex Fibbonacci numbers, and how they relate to relationships and quantum mechanics, and my first thought was, great gaming algorithms.

[redsopine]

10836839
Somehow I see pinkie showing up in the caves with her party cannon and saying welcome neighbours

[Greenhorn]

10836839
How did you know where I would choose as a meeting spot?
You forgot to turn off the party line, silly.

[Black--Soul]

One very fine conclusion! I wonder if it helped Lunas quest part, Celestias quest or was one final grind before he start his quest to the Benediction. The time is limited after all...

[dzamie]

10837234
"It's a PARTY line, silly! How could I not know?"

[link4]

Question... The beetle adapts. Would those adaptations still remain after it was killed? Super armor

[Black--Soul]

Natural Armor over his natural Armor. Awesome concept of environmental friendly armor
10844157
Very good question, but he almost pulverised his target... Unless he did just that...