//------------------------------// // Ch.3 - Harder than a Rock // Story: Raichu for Hire // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Raichu for Hire - Chapter 3 - Harder than a Rock Nica followed Pinkie, trotting in excitement with red sky and descending sun in the background. Thus far, all of Twilight’s friends were extremely kind and fun to be around, even though assisting Pinkie today turned out to be too stressful for her liking. If a sweet and kind pony like Pinkie Pie had a sister who was living near Ponyville, she was eager to meet her. “Here we are,” Pinkie said as she pointed at the hole in the ground before jumping in. Nica followed, landing softly on the hardened ground as she was now in a cave. Outside of the sunlight that entered into the cave through the hole in the ceiling, several brightly shining gems on the walls lit up the area. Nica’s eyes sparkled at the multicolored spectacle. “Sooo… shiii...nyyy…” “You like it? My sister’s home is close by, so she decorated nearby walls with gems… with Rarity’s help of course.” The pokemon nodded. “It’s almost as colorful and shiny as Twilight’s room with the map.” Pinkie wrapped her tail around Nica’s belly and placed her on her back. “If you like this place, you’ll love Maud’s home, it has everything: A soft bed, small lake and…” She paused and stretched her right ear. Nica’s ears perked upward as she picked up the noise of a hoof making contact with a rock. She held Pinkie’s neck as the mare dashed in direction of the noise. “There you are, Maud, I’ve been looking for you!” Nica waited for her ride to slow down before peeking from behind her neck. In front of her stood a grey pony with violet mane wearing blue clothes, her facial expression displayed pure boredom… but her aura… Nica rubbed the top of her own head in confusion. If this pony was really bored, why was aura of excitement and happiness so strong? “Hello Pinkie.” Pinkie Pie started bouncing in place before lowering her head and pointing at her passenger. “I brought a friend with me, the one we needed your gemstones for.” Nica stepped from Pinkie's back and waved. “Hello Miss Maud.” She held a forepaw on her chest and performed a polite bow. “My name’s Nica, I’m a pokemon and my species is Raichu.” She approached and raised her forepaw. “It’s a pleasure meeting a sister of such a kind and sweet pony like Pinkie Pie.” It took a few seconds before Maud’s hoof touched the bronze edge of her paw and shook it. “A pleasure…” “And I’m really grateful for your help. Thanks to your gems, I no longer fear of hurting others with electricity.” Nica held her forepaw on her own chest, her voice calm and serious, “It means a lot to me, thank you.” “You’re welcome,” Maud answered. Pinkie raised her foreleg in a lecturing gesture. “Now, I know Maud may look and sound very dull, as if devoid of emotions.” Maud continued for her sister, “I’m poor at expressing myself.” Nica shook her forepaw dismissively. “Not a problem, I can sense your emotions just fine.” “Sense my emotions?” Maud asked, still not moving an inch. “You feel a lot of joy, most likely because your sister is visiting,” Nica said, receiving a slow nod. “I sense your curiosity whenever you’re looking at me. I also sensed some excitement, though I can’t tell what excites you.” “Wooooow, you’re gooood,” Pinkie said before pulling a little cookie out from her tail and threw it up. Straightening her own tail upward, Nica directed the falling cookie to slide towards her open mouth. Once done chewing and gulping, she asked, “You like it? I have plenty more tricks I can show you.” “Please, do.” Maud sat and nodded. Nica looked around, picking up the closest pebble and placed it on her nose. She stood on four paws and raised her rear legs before balancing herself on a single paw. With a quick movement of her head, she threw the pebble upward, quickly switching the paw she stood on before the rock fell back onto her little nose. “And now the grand finale,” Nica said before spinning the pebble. She swung her head and performed a backflip, landing on her rear legs while catching the pebble with her paws. “Tada…” She glanced at Maud and took a step back, sensing an alarming level of excitement. Maud took the pebble from Nica’s hold and placed it on her shoulder. “I had fun… and so did Boulder.” She pointed at the pebble, her face unchanging and impassive. “Boulder seems to like you and wants to play with you more.” Nica blinked in confusion. “Boulder?” Pinkie chuckled. “That pebble you played with is Maud’s loyal pet and companion, and his name is Boulder. I feel you two will become the best of friends.” Nica smiled sheepishly. If he is like a rock type pokemon, shouldn’t Boulder have two hands or something? She shrugged and next approached, her eyes staring directly at the stone on Maud’s shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Boulder. I must say, you’re way smaller than the rock pokemon I have encountered.” “Rock pokemon?” Maud asked with a tiny hint of curiosity in her voice. “Tell me more.” Nica nodded. “My trainer often did send me to fight against stronger opponents, and I ended up competing against many ground and rock type pokemon to become tougher.” She gestured with her paws as if trying to visualize the described pokemon. “There was a Geodude who looked like a rounded rock of this size and had two big hands. His evolution Graveler was bigger and have four hands and two legs. His final evolution however was terrifying. A giant boulder with head, legs and hands.” Her body started shaking. “I still remember how he rolled over me back when I was even smaller than Pound or Pumpkin Cake.” Maud Pie lay on the ground, staring at Nica with growing interest. “Go on.” “S-so s-small?” Pinkie asked and gasped. “You s-survived being squashed by a rolling living giant boulder while so tiny?” Nica puffed her chest. “I did. The more I got hurt, the more I could endure. I just wish I remembered all of my past. I still have no idea what my body is capable of and all I can do is experiment.” “More rock pokemon, please,” Maud said with slightly more enthusiasm in her voice. Nica nodded and continued, “There was a gigantic creature made of several boulders merged together, Onix. His roar and presence was very intimidating, though as an opponent, he was a bit of a pushover. His evolution however was made of steel and was a force to be reckoned with. I have some pleasant memories of a Steelix who was teaching me how to use ‘Iron Tail’. He was a harsh teacher, but he respected me despite my size. He even praised my endurance and fighting spirit, saying that for a Pikachu, I was harder than the hardest rock.” Maud chuckled very quietly for half a second. Sensing how her backstory brought an increasing amount of happiness and excitement to Pinkie’s sister, she moved her tail towards Maud and pointed at it. “I would like to show you what I learned from Steelix, but I wouldn’t want to hurt your friends. Is there any stone or boulder I can damage?” Maud nodded and pointed at a specific part of the wall. Nica grit her teeth, sending as much power as she could into her tail before jumping up, spinning in mid air as her tail gained momentum. With a final push, she stretched her tail and swung it at the wall, her metallic tail sunk a few centimeters into the rock. As she was still spinning, her tail hit the surface of the wall a few more times, leaving several marks on it, one atop another. Once her feet touched the ground, she looked at Maud and asked, “So, what do you think?” “I’m slightly impressed.” Maud stood up and approached the same wall. After staring at it for several seconds, she jumped, swinging her foreleg with great force. Nica jumped towards Pinkie and took a defensive stance, ready to intercept any rock-fragment which would speed up in her direction, yet no rubble or rock flew anywhere near them. Nica gasped, seeing as the surface of the wall was now covered by numerous cracks. With a single punch… she did as much or maybe even more damage than I did with my ‘Iron Tail,’ these ponies are amazing. “So, what do you think?” “What do I think? It was incredible. You’re the strongest earth pony I’ve met thus far. Even Big Mac and Lily can’t compare,” she said before performing a cheerful jump, head-smashing into the ceiling. After a moment of struggle, she pulled herself free, landing on the ground with a bit of rubble scattered around her legs. Upon hearing a tiny laugh coming from Maud, she laughed as well. Pinkie joined in a moment later. “Strength isn’t everything,” Maud said before gently poking the stone-wall with her hoof, rubbing away a small stone fragment which revealed a shining green gem the size of Nica’s head. “Woooow… pretty…” Nica said before studying Maud’s technique. “You both seem to be having fun, so I’ll be on my way, I don’t want to get in the way of your friendship or anything,” Pinkie said before looking behind her back. “Well… bye…” She dashed away in a cloud of dust, only to return. “Thanks again for your help, Nica, and have fun together.” Once again she dashed away, this time vanishing for good as Maud and Nica were left to their own devices. “Do you think my sister is weird?” Maud asked, catching Nica’s attention. Nica turned around and looked at the grey mare. “Not really…” Maud blinked in confusion. “So you think that my sister is normal, despite doing what everpony refers to as impossible?” “Impossible? Do you mean how she appears out of nowhere without making any noises, or how she can store food and other stuff in her tail?” Nica asked. The moment she received a nod of confirmation, she said, “To be fair, where I come from, pokemon are doing a lot of weird or near-impossible stuff, and ponies here can use magic in various ways. I assumed what Pinkie Pie is doing to be normal for your species.” “Even when she defies gravity?” Maud asked. “Defy gravity? I haven’t seen Pinkie do that just yet.” Nica looked at the ground and rubbed her chin. “If my memories are accurate, I’ve met a few pokemon who managed to stay in mid-air waaay longer than they should, some even evaded attacks without touching the ground.” She pointed at herself and added, “When I jumped up with all of my strength, I flew up for many seconds, reaching one third of kilometer of height.” She took off her collar and summoned electricity before performing a tiny jump, her legs made contact with bolts of her own making as she bounced against it. Nica grabbed and held collar against her neck, speaking, “My trainer even taught me how to jump on my own electricity not long after I evolved into Pikachu. If this isn’t defying gravity, I don’t know what is.” She fully attached it a moment later. “You must be a bit naive or very trusting if you never questioned my sister’s abilities. Most ponies always found our family to be weird.” Maud displayed a barely noticeable smile and next rubbed Nica behind her ear. “But it’s something I’m starting to like about you.” Nica repaid Maud’s affection by moving her own tail towards Maud’s ear and rubbing behind it. “We can look for rare stones and gems together, if you want...” “Of course I do,” Nica said as she followed Maud and diligently observed her digging technique. There seemed to be something important about precise and weakened strikes against specific points of the rock-surface. Her recovering memories ended a few months after she evolved into Pikachu and learned how to use “Iron Tail’, which she could use offensively. However, back when she was Pichu and her trainer just started gathering her team, Astra mentioned something about using ‘Iron Tail’ for defense after she evolved into Raichu. There seemed to be many tricks and techniques she still didn’t remember, ones that didn’t rely on pure force. After several minutes of watching Maud at work, Nica massaged her forehead and closed her eyes, seeing images of herself as a Raichu using her long tail in a different fashion. Determined to use her resurfacing memory mindedly, she sent power into her tail and started sinking her tail into the stone. After separating a boulder no bigger than her, she started poking it with the heart-shaped edge of her tail, focusing on precision rather than power. “What are you doing?” Maud asked. “I have no idea, I’ll find out once I’m done,” Nica said, following her memory and instinct, as if using her muscle-memory to do the job. Her breathing slow and stable and her lower lip bitten in concentration. Minutes turned into half an hour as the boulder started to take the shape of a pokemon, and soon a life-sized Raichu statue made of rock stood before her. She wiped sweat from her forehead and took in the fruit of her work. Maud rounded the statue, touching it lightly from time to time. “Impressive quality. Granite in this cave is a decent material for such work, but it takes precision to keep the surface of the statue slim.” She sat in front of the pokemon, staring at her with a judging stare as the critter looked back in fear with drooped ears. “There are some imperfections, but they aren’t your fault, but rather the material you used. I think your power isn’t what you should focus on, but on perception and precision instead.” Nica nodded before looking at her own tail, now deep in thought. Until now she learned quite a bit about herself: She could run fast, jump super high and sense emotions. Her agility and reflexes let her react very quickly and her durability and stamina still surprised her. During her fight against Thorax’s brother, she earned her victory not with a brutal quick offensive as she often did as a Pikachu in her dreams, but by evading, defending and with precise strikes. My fighting style as a Pichu and Pikachu in my dreams… and the way I’m acting now… they seem so different. Maybe Maud is right, maybe I shouldn’t focus on power if I want to use my full potential. “Are you tired?” Maud asked. “It’s getting late, I’ll understand if you want to rest.” Nica shook her head and smiled proudly. “Tired? No way. Working for hours on a farm while carrying apples and shaking trees, easy. Cutting large boulders and making statues, not hard at all. I’ll do it over foalsitting anyday.” “And what’s wrong with foalsitting?” Nica’s eyes became wide as plates. She shook her forepaws in panic. “What’s wrong with foalsitting? Do you have any idea how terrified I was that I would hurt those tiny adorable vulnerable little ponies. The fear of failing I felt was insane.” She took a deep calming breath and asked, “You don’t know where I can find a cliff or a pile of sharp rocks by any chance?” Maud gestured at three tunnels before pointing at the one in the middle. “Just go to the end of this tunnel, turn right and you’ll find a cliff with sharp rocks on the bottom. Why do you ask?” “N-no reason,” Nica said, tapping her forepaws. The image of bandage on the little unicorn still fresh in her mind. Maud shrugged. “If you’re not tired, how about we continue our search for rare rocks. You seem delicate and precise enough with your tail to assist me.” Nica displayed a wide glee, showing her teeth. “That sounds great! And we can talk with each other about our past while doing so. I can practice the use of my ‘Iron Tail’ and learn more about you at the same time!” Maud showed a tiny smile, which vanished three seconds later. “I like the sound of that.”