//------------------------------// // Chapter 6.5 - Struggle // Story: Little Lost Raichu // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Little Lost Raichu - Chapter 6.5 - Struggle With Raichu’s memories regularly returning in her dreams, and with fragments of it resurfacing because of outside stimulants, many holes appeared in between. Though it seemed only a matter of time before such holes would be filled. Not long after her defeat and capture, the Pichu was brought into some sort of bunker built into the mountain, quite impressively camouflaged. From the outside, it looked like a waterfall, but after taking a few steps into the rushing water, a cave revealed itself, leading into a secret entrance. The walls and door of the bunker were wide and reinforced, while the natural stone served as both camouflage and additional protection, separating those hiding inside from outside threats with walls of steel and stone. The insides of the bunker were painted in white and were very spacious, from a large kitchen, food and water storage, to a library and several bedrooms. A few rooms were filled with machinery, not that she had a simple idea of what said machinery was for. One thing was certain, it wasn’t an ordinary human house. It turned out that the girl was the only human on the island, living inside the bunker with Ninetales as her only companion. Was this girl abandoned? And why was the powerful fire-breathing fox even around if she disliked this human so much? The answer to those questions had to wait as Raichu opened her eyes, awoken by the noise of rushing water. “Either you fell asleep from all the stress, or the sleeping spell had some late side effects,” Starlight said, stopping the rushing water with her magic since the bathtub was half-full. She released the critter and the writing equipment from her magic, placing them on the carpet. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” Raichu lowered her head and tapped her forepaws together. While Starlight assured her that ponies would forgive her, it didn’t change the fact that she still hurt them. It seemed so unfair. She received kindness and care despite failing over and over again. She didn’t deserve it. “Hurry up and jump in. It would be impolite to apologize to the ponies you hurt while covered in dust, don’t you think?” Starlight asked, checking the temperature of the water with her hoof. Raichu bit her lip at the infamous word ‘jump’. The bathroom seemed clean, and she wasn’t planning to cover the floor with rubble. She carefully climbed into the bathtub, sinking into the steaming water. Apologizing is a good start, but it won’t make up for what I did, and what if I hurt the ponies again? Her thoughts were interrupted by a sponge and soap rubbing harshly through her fur and ears. Starlight’s magic was certainly more forceful than Twilight’s, and she could feel it here and now. “This reminds me of the time when I met Trixie. We both thought that ponies wouldn’t overlook our mistakes and would blame us for our past,” Starlight said, now gazing at the ceiling. “Oh, good times. From my experience, ponies are very quick to judge, but even quicker to forgive… s-sorry.” She withdrew the soap, which she accidently pushed into the critter’s mouth. Raichu burped a few bubbles before slapping her paw against the water, sending a weak splash towards Starlight’s face playfully. The unicorn returned the gesture, greatly lowering the tension at the same time. “Here’s an idea,” Starlight said. “Try to remember what caused your electrical surge and recreate it inside this castle… not in this bathtub that is.” She cleared her throat. “If we can learn what caused it, we may also learn how to prevent it. In the meanwhile, I’ll make some solid efforts in making the strongest electric absorbing magical runes I can. I won’t underestimate your hidden powers again.” Raichu displayed an honest smile for the first time since her terrible deed, loving the idea. Or was it just the hot water relaxing her this much? Thinking back to her experience with the fillies and colts, she felt power inside of her building up whenever under physical stress, like being pulled by her limbs or strongly hugged. She felt a similar sensation before when Pinkie Pie had hugged her. Now that she thought about it, she had a surge of electricity when struck by the beast’s claws, but forgot about it in the heat of the moment. Unleashing electricity seemed like some sort of defensive mechanism of her body when threatened. Raichu’s eyes shot open. She placed her forepaws on her cheeks and rubbed them harshly. She gritted her teeth and lowered her head. The bolts of electricity started to travel through the water. “I told you not in the bathtub!” Starlight took a few steps back. “Did you figure something out?” The critter nodded and pointed at the yellow dots on her cheeks. “So no cheek touching or cheek nuzzling, t-that’s great.” Starlight’s ears drooped in disappointment, though Raichu couldn't tell the reason behind it. “It’s quite useful information, now you know what to avoid the most,” she said, resuming the cleaning process. With Raichu’s belly and paws clean, she could focus on getting the dust and spiderwebs off her back, but avoiding Raichu's face and the dangerous spots on her cheeks. Raichu turned around, finding the harsh cleaning somewhat pleasant, as if it was a strong massage on her stiff back. Squeezing herself into a crack in the wall was proving to have been bad for her bones. She rubbed her wet chin, now deep in thought, Avoid the most, I don’t think so. She narrowed her eyes. I’ll find a safe spot and force surges, one after another, until I learn how to keep them in check. No matter how long it takes. “And… done,” Starlight said, levitating the critter from the bathtub onto the carpet with drops of water sliding down at a fast rate. Starlight’s horn lit as she summoned a strong wind, forcing Raichu to press her paws against the side of the bathtub for support. The towel levitated over, wiping Raichu from her legs up to her neck quite forcefully, yet slowing down once reaching the face. “Now you’re clean and refreshed. I hope I wasn’t too harsh.” Raichu shook her head, only to have the short jiggling of her cheeks trigger something that made the fur on her entire body puff up, like some giant orange puffball. Seeing as the unicorn started to giggle, she joined in. Her worries pushed aside. “I need to take a bath as well. If you’re tired or hungry, feel free to visit the kitchen or your bedroom. Just don’t leave the castle for now, okay?” Raichu nodded, standing on the tips of her rear paws in an effort to open the door. After stepping outside, she glanced at the writing equipment on the floor, deciding to leave it behind for now. Raichu stopped in her tracks and pupils in her eyes shrank as something gave a sharp yank to her tail “S-sorry.” The door opened, releasing the second half of her tail. Raichu furrowed her brow, giving her own tail a disappointing glare. Thus far it had proved to be completely useless, only getting in the way, something that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. After reaching the kitchen with several short sprints, Raichu climbed up toward the sink by using the shelves as stepping stones while holding an empty glass cup with her paw. Crying for so long had left her dehydrated, so every gulp of water felt extremely refreshing. One gulp after another, she finished the glass, wiped her mouth and sighed in satisfaction. she said to herself, clenching her paws and narrowing her eyes. She returned the empty glass back onto the shelf, climbed down and left the room. There was one very spacious area inside the castle between the main entrance and the stairs, a perfect spot for what she was about to do. She looked around, seeing walls on all sides, but far enough away as to not get damaged. After breathing in and out, she raised her paws up to her cheeks in order to rub the yellow dots. What she felt was but a taste of the struggle ahead of her. Even keeping her eyes open proved to be a challenge when the power started building up, demanding to be unleashed. She gritted her teeth, keeping the electricity from escaping as a few bolts started to flash on her cheeks. She rubbed her cheeks even harder, feeling a growing pain as the electricity surged inside her. Her forepaws started trembling and her eyes closed on their own. Only a few seconds passed as the surge of electricity burst from her body, spreading through the spacious room. Raichu dropped to her knees, breathing heavily. Drops of sweat fell down from her face. Taking a moment to collect herself, she stood up and examined the area. No damage was present on the walls or the ceiling as her surge had failed to reach it, though the red carpet under her legs received a few burns. She blushed and bit her lip, stepping from the carpet while still maintaining a distance from the wall. she said, rubbing the dots on her cheeks even harder than before. After a few seconds of keeping the power inside, the pain returned, even stronger than before. A few tears slid down from her tightly closed eyes. She unleashed the electricity and dropped to her knees, this time taking a little bit longer than before. Breathe in, Breathe out. She stood up and raised her trembling paws to her chest, feeling her heart beating at a faster pace. Her last attempts proved that she could keep the electricity inside with her willpower alone. Now was the time to see how much she could really handle.  She ignored her headache and the aching belly, repeating her training. Five seconds, seven seconds, ten seconds. Raichu fell to her knees, lowering one paw to the floor for support, but the electricity didn’t leave her body. Adding more strength into her little paws, she rubbed the dots on her cheeks violently as the pain turned into agony. She screamed a loud “Chuuu…” and rolled in pain as tiny bolts of electricity started to form on her entire body, from her long tail up to her face. More seconds passed until she released a strong surge on the spacious hallway, this one several times stronger than the last. Her scream stopped alongside her surge as sweat covered her entire body. She lay on her back and looked at the ceiling, still feeling leftovers of pain. she said to herself between her breathing. I can’t believe I’m thinking this… but I would take crashing into the ground or being slashed by the giant beast over this anyday. While her previous experiences confirmed that she had a lot of durability and stamina, as well as a strong resistance to pain, two things seemed to be extremely difficult to handle: Starlight using magic on her mind, and keeping electricity from escaping. She rolled and stood up, once again putting all her willpower into her training. This time blurry vision was added into the mix. A scream of pain and a massive surge of electricity later, she lay flat on the floor. Was it normal that the room was spinning as if she was on a carousel? Raichu resisted the growing urge to puke. She wanted to stand up and continue, but should she? Her body felt weak, her insides begged her to stop and the room was still spinning. The pain she felt before wasn’t something she was looking for. How much screaming would her jaw even endure? She lay on her belly for several seconds, not feeling like standing up. Befriending the cold floor seemed much more attractive. Raichu grit her teeth and pushed herself to a sitting position. Just an hour ago she had caused so much pain to many young ponies, and it was her responsibility to make sure it won’t happen again. Even though Starlight ensured her that the new collar would be able to handle her surges, she wasn’t planning to leave it to chance. Or maybe the pain she experienced was just the self-inflicted punishment she desired? For spreading pain, she deserved pain. “I can’t believe you believed her, Spike. I expected better of you,” Twilight said in disappointment, walking back towards her castle with the baby dragon perched on her back, her home only a hundred hoofsteps away. “I gave the C.M.C. permission to visit, but not to take Raichu into the school full of kids. She wasn’t ready yet.” “Well… I had my suspicions, but those gems looked so delicious…” He lowered himself, pressing his belly and chin onto Twilight’s neck, with his hands hanging down in defeat. “I’m really sorry… I had no idea it would turn out like this.” “We’re lucky nopony was seriously hurt. Cheerilee isn’t happy though.” Twilight groaned. “Even if Scootaloo was mostly at fault, this wasn’t the good first impression I had hoped for. I don’t want Raichu to hide from the public because of rumors and angry parents.” “I would worry more about Raichu’s reaction. She looked devastated before running away,” Spike pointed out. While Scootaloo had been punished to write on the blackboard ‘I won’t bring dangerous animals to school’ fifty times over and over again, Raichu had fled towards the center of the town and it was up to them to find the scared critter. Luckily, the eye witnesses pointed them towards the castle, saying that a weird, long-tailed large rabbit ran towards it. “Maybe we should ask Pinkie Pie for help in cheering her up.” Twilight was about to respond, but a loud scream caught her attention. Spreading her wings, she flew towards the castle until she spotted a small hole in the large door. Feeling a rush of adrenaline, she lit her horn and opened the double door, landing on the carpet with a weak thump. “Starlight, what happened?” she asked with her attention focused on the fragments of wood lying on the floor, including a few burned marks on the carpet and Raichu lying on the floor on her belly. Starlight was standing next to the critter. “It’s… a long story,” Starlight said, rubbing her foreleg nervously. “In short, I managed to cheer her up and convince her that she’ll be forgiven after an apology. And I assume she was trying to learn how to control her power.” Raichu raised her head, looking at the alicorn with tired eyes. Her face fell back onto the floor. “This scene can be taken out of context in sooo many ways,” Spike said, jumping from Twilight’s back. The princess gave Starlight a curious glance. “I’d like the long version of the story, please. The very long version.”