Little Lost Raichu

Chapter 19
-

The Mysterious Threat

“I’ve got you now!” Starlight shouted as she shot a beam of her magic at Twilight, who vanished in a flash of light. She looked around and jumped to the side, just in time to not get hit herself.

“Nice try, but…” She turned around and aimed, but her mentor was gone. She yelped upon feeling the weight of a young alicorn land on her back, her legs bent from the additional weight.

“Who got who?” Twilight asked, poking Starlight’s horn while standing on her back.

Starlight grinned as her horn flashed to life, creating a forcefield in an attempt to push the alicorn away before rolling over and shooting beams of magic while lying on her back.

The alicorn flew away fast enough to avoid the forcefield, zipping left and right between the beams.

Starlight’s barrage was interrupted when a lavender aura enveloped her and pressed her into the ground with great force. In response, she grabbed Twilight with her magic and returned the favor.

Both mares grit their teeth, feeling squeezed by several tons of force as neither of them could move a single muscle. After half a minute of magical wrestling while having an intimate introduction to the dirt, the aura around Starlight’s horn vanished.

“I give up, I give up!” Starlight shouted, her voice muffed by the soil she was stuck in. After a few seconds, she was pulled up and levitated in front of Twilight. If the situation was reversed, she would grin at her mentor’s defeat, yet Twilight didn’t show any satisfaction or expression of superiority.

“Well... that was… an experience…” Twilight said between heavy breaths, her legs trembling.

“It sure was,” Starlight responded, too tired to move. The moment she was placed on the ground, she lost her balance and fell onto her side. “How are you… still standing?”

Starlight sighed. Without a powerful motivation to ruin Twilight’s life and with the gap in combat skills between them shrinking, the greater raw power and durability of an alicorn started to shine. “That’s five to three victories to you, wanna go for seven?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’ll pass. Whenever I checked in on our little friend lately, she was pushing me through lots of combat exercises. I think I’ve had more than enough.” She turned around and rubbed her chin. “Now that I think about it, most of her sessions focused on teaching me how to react to danger, or how to protect myself and those around me. Practicing my offensive magic was few and far between.”

“I think that’s just her style,” Starlight said, taking a moment to sit up despite her protesting muscles. “Nica always seemed innocent and afraid to hurt anypony. It makes perfect sense that her fighting style would be so defensive.” She forced herself to stand on her rear hooves and pointed at the sky. “Speaking of Nica, here she comes, and she’s coming back in style!” Starlight yelped, tripping over onto her back. Trying to stand on my rear hooves after enduring tons of pressure is a bad idea, lesson learned.

Not wasting a moment, she pushed herself to a standing position and approached, sitting next to her mentor. A few new small craters surrounded them from all sides as their magical practice took place in the post-Tirek battlefield. Before them landed a griffon with greenish head feathers and grey feathers, Nica was perched on her back.

“Oh… it’s you,” Twilight said, pointing at the griffon as they started to stare at each other in silence.

Starlight spread her forelegs in a welcoming gesture as Nica jumped from the griffon’s back into her embrace. She fell onto her back and bit her lip, refusing to make a single noise that would show her pain. Her hooves pressed Nica into her chest as she nuzzled her head.

“But how can I prove myself useful without visiting new locations?” Nica asked before pushing herself free from Starlight’s embrace, looking her in the eyes. “Helping Miss Coco, saving lives, dealing with crime, it made me feel… as if I wasn’t worthless anymore.”

“Worthless? But you aren’t. Is this how you felt until now?” Starlight asked, filled with concern.

“K-kind of…” Nica looked to the side as her ears drooped. “The more I remembered about my past and my abilities, the more worthless I felt for not using my powers. Putting myself in danger to spare others the pain filled me with more joy than the warmest hugs and most delicious sweets.” She stepped onto the bare stone and shot Starlight a cheerful smile. “To be honest, I even felt a bit guilty for all the sweets and kindness I was gifted without doing anything in return.”

“So that’s why you reacted to the word ‘help’ the way you did.” Starlight swung her foreleg enthusiastically. “I’m happy for you.” She glanced at her mentor. “Twilight, don’t you want to…” She paused and rubbed back of her neck. “Ummm… what’s wrong between you two?”

Twilight looked away from the griffon and said, “It’s a long story. Let’s just say that Gabby’s attempt to make the CMCs happy filled me with hopes of amazing research—” she frowned, “—only to dash them entirely into a void of disappointment.”

“Anyway, since you’re back, it’s the perfect time for your weekly report,” Twilight said, staring at Nica with eyes filled with expectations.

Nica took a step back and shook her head. “There’s no time for reports. There’s something important I need to–” Twilight stomped and spread her wings, forcing Nica to pause.

“As I was saying, I expect a full report on any memories you’ve recovered and of your achievements as a mercenary. Whatever you want to tell me can wait,” Twilight said in a commanding tone, her eyes narrowed and radiating authority.

Starlight approached Nica and poked her on the shoulder. “You know you won’t win this argument. Just do what she says. It will be easier that way.” Her little friend lowered her head and sighed. “Come on, don’t be like that. You left Ponyville for quite some time to help the changelings, and then left again a day after becoming a mercenary. A quick update will help us get in touch.”

Nica looked between both mares and nodded. It had been more than three weeks since she’d woken up in the dangerous forest, and more than two of those weeks she spent traveling away from her caretakers. The least she could do was share her past and experiences.

“Ummm… can I join?” Gabby asked. “I would also like to learn more about what good that chubby cutie did before working for me. I haven’t heard a fun and thrilling story in forever.”

“I suppose…” Twilight said hesitantly. She gestured with her hooves for others to approach. “Gather around me, everyone. I’ll teleport us to the castle library.”

Starlight, Spike, Gabby, Twilight and Nica gathered around a rounded table, seated on their own pillow and with teacups and plates adorned with snacks before them.

Twilight kept reading Nica’s report, holding the scrolls in her hooves, while Nica told a shorter version to the rest of the group.

“...and that’s how I got here,” Nica finished, staring at the listening party with full attention. Even the stack of delicious-looking cream-covered pancakes on a plate before her didn’t distract her… until then. Her mouth watered as she pushed one into her mouth and chewed, making noises of satisfaction. Drops of saliva fell onto the table.

Twilight’s wings flapped as she finishing her reading. “So… let’s start with a quick recap,” she said, checking earlier notes. “Your career started with you helping at Sweet Apple Acres, transporting apples or using your tail attack on the trees.”

“After which, you assisted Pinkie Pie during her foalsitting job,” Twilight said.

“And it was terrifying,” Nica said. “I can take on any danger over taking care of those tiny Cakes.”

“Foalsitting isn’t that bad,” Gabby said before stepping from her pillow and grabbing it into her embrace. “Little ponies are so cute and cuddly.”

“But they are vulnerable,” Nica pointed out. “Well… the Cake twins seem very strong for their age, but it just makes it harder to keep them safe.”

“After your foalsitting job, Pinkie brought you to Maud Pie… Well, this wasn’t exactly a job, so we can skip it.”

“Job or not, an opportunity to practice the use of your so-called ‘Iron Tail’ while sharing stories was certainly time well-spent,” Starlight said, staring at Nica. “Maud Pie spoke quite highly of you, and she found your stories about rock-type pokemon quite interesting.”

“Get to the good part please. I want to hear it again!” Spike said, his eyes wide like plates. “Did you really crash a gang in Manehattan to protect Coco’s property and take down the mob?” He jumped onto the table and pointed at the ceiling, taking a heroic pose. “You were even named in the newspaper as a heroine of Manehattan.”

“We’ll get to it, Spike,” Twilight said, levitating the young drake onto his pillow. Spike crossed his arms and looked to the side in annoyance. “After working for Derpy, Rarity asked you to assist Miss Coco Pommel in protecting her clothing store in Manehattan.”

“Which was in the mob’s territory,” Spike said in excitement. His hands slammed on the table. “You worked for Coco as her bodyguard, defended her store from a gang, and next attacked the gang’s hideout and turned them in to the police.”

Nica nodded, her tail started swinging in random directions as she opened her mouth in a wide smile. “I did it, and it was great. Well, maybe except the part where I had to hurt those who were most aggressive.”

“But you did your best not to hurt anypony, and instead destroyed their weapons and tried to intimidate them. If that’s not what a hero would do, I don’t know what is,” Spike said.

“Fighting against a bunch of gangsters isn’t something I would normally approve, but in your case, I’ll make an exception,” Twilight said, giving Nica a nod of approval. “What I find horrible, however, is how the mob in Manehattan set an entire building on fire, just because not all the ponies living there paid them enough for protection.” Her ears drooped as she looked at Nica in pity. “And you just ran into this building, doing your best to rescue as many ponies as possible. Weren’t you afraid of being burned?”

Nica shook her head again. “A few unicorns who worked for the mob discovered a spell that made fire spread on stone and metal while also melting them. I had to endure running and standing in flames with little space to breathe.” She climbed onto the table, raised her rear leg and pointed at the bottom of her feet. “I stepped on a melting pan. It wasn’t pleasant.”

Twilight bit her lip. Starlight grit her teeth. Gabby gasped and held her talons over her face.

Spike looked at his own legs and shrugged. “A pity you don’t have dragon scales, those would really help.”

“Moving on…” Twilight said, once again looking at her scrolls. “After your heroic deeds, you took a ten minute break before storming the mob headquarters… something that local police were afraid to do for years.”

Starlight pointed at Nica and spoke slowly, “So... after being cooked in flames, you took a ten minute break... and next stormed a base filled with merciless thugs, pyro-spellcasters and the boss himself. You fought against them all… on their home turf… while covered in burns?”

“Essentially,” Nica said, tilting her head to the side while staring at her gasping and shocked friends. “Don’t look at me like that. I had tougher battles back when I was still a Pikachu. I’m used to fighting despite being hurt or tired.”

“No, no, no… There’s something the mob boss said that needs your attention!” Nica shouted in panic.

"I read about it already. He gave you some sort of cryptic warning. We'll get to the meaning behind it later," Twilight said with a dismissing shake of her foreleg, causing Nica to whimper. “According to your recovered memories, your trainer explored the main continent, traveling to Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and Hoenn. Outside of facing Gym Leaders and participating in tournaments, you and your trainer started to target criminals who were responsible for the death of Astra’s parents.”

Nica lowered her head and rubbed her paws nervously against one another. “Those criminals corrupted higher-ups in the police in Kanto and Johto, using it to their advantage. Astra strengthened me and the rest of the team with harsh training while Lt. Surge provided us with intel, waiting for an opportunity to strike against them. We stopped Team Rocket from capturing Zapdos, Moltres, and we even befriended Articuno.”

“Interesting,” Twilight said while rubbing her chin. “This Team Rocket… I assume they didn’t take kindly to you ruining their plan?”

Nica nodded. “With Articuno’s help, we flew to Hoenn to escape Team Rocket’s elites. With the police in their pocket, there was no way any criminal we defeated and captured would remain behind bars for long.”

“Is this why you went after the mob in Manehattan, because you had experience in facing organised criminals?” the princess asked.

“It’s only one reason of many,” Nica answered. “As a fully-evolved and well-trained pokemon, I had the power to prevent the mob from harming innocent ponies. I would never forgive myself if I didn’t do something.”

“I understand the feeling,” Gabby said before biting a half-eaten cookie with her beak, gulping. “I mean, I doubt I would stand a chance of defeating mean and cruel ponies… but I would still try to help however I could.”

In a flash of teleportation, the alicorn appeared next to Nica and embraced her shoulder with her right wing. “You were in Manehattan without our guidance, presented with difficult choices, and made the correct ones. I’m proud of you.”

Starlight climbed onto the round table and rubbed Nica’s head. “Correction. We’re proud of you.”

Nica’s eyes watered and she felt warmth in her chest. Those words, those precious words. Her caretakers took her in, sheltered, fed and guided her, and after all that, they were proud. With a movement of her tail, she grabbed both Twilight and Starlight and pressed against herself, hugging them both in her own way. “Thank youuuuuuuuuuuu…!”

After taking a minute, the group stepped from the table and perched themselves in their pillows.

“According to your story, becoming famous as a heroine of Manehattan wasn’t enough. You quickly took a dangerous job inside an iron mine that had a leak of explosive gas, assisting the rescue party,” Twilight said before her ears drooped. She lowered the scroll.

Noticing the hesitation, Spike spoke up, “And you rushed into hundreds, if not thousands, of tons of boulders and stones blocking the way, piercing through with ‘Volt Tackle’,” Spike said, waving his hands in excitement. He jumped and shouted, “And then boom, the gas exploded, blowing you up alongside all the boulders and stones that trapped the workers inside.”

“Well, duuuh, she’s still with us, so obviously she survived!” Spike shouted, giving Starlight a sassy smile.

“W-was it painful?” Gabby asked, resisting the urge to cry, as well as the urge to wrap the long-tailed critter into another powerful hug.

“It was. With each boulder I crushed into rubble while using ‘Volt Tackle’, I felt the hard stone pierce my fur. After the gas exploded, I could barely move.”

Starlight tapped her forehooves, giving Nica a sheepish glance. “Ummm… was the pain you felt worse… than the one you felt when I damaged the seal on your mind with my magic? J-just curious.”

Starlight’s then asked, “Does this mean that crushing several boulders with your body and electricity, even being blown up, still hurt less than what I did?” Her ears drooped. She turned around, walked towards the corner of the library and lowered her head. “I… I’ll sit here for a while,” she muttered to herself.

“Please, don’t feel sad. I forgave you a long time ago,” Nica said, tapping her forepaws nervously against each other. “My memories were worth the suffering.”

Twilight rubbed her chin, thinking. “That’s fascinating. It appears that, even though your body was hardened to an unbelievable level after hundreds of tough battles, your mind is vulnerable to spells.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Funny, considering that spells that affect minds are very common in Equestria. Love potions, reforming spells, the alicorn amulet...” He grabbed a pancake with his claw and shoved it into his mouth, chewing it. His cheeks looked more like two purple bubbles.

“And that one time when my student took control of my friends,” Twilight said, causing Starlight to whimper in the corner of the room. “Due to high exposure, ponies are somewhat resistant to mind-affecting spells. I suppose pokemon are more vulnerable to it. No wonder someone managed to seal all of your memories.”

“Since you started training the Royal Guards in Canterlot to improve their performance, have you met Princess Celestia or Princess Luna by any chance?”

“No, I haven’t,” Nica answered, lowering her paws. “I met Princess Cadence and your brother when I started training the Crystal Guards though. Pharynx and his more skilled changelings agreed to cover for me in Canterlot.”

“Oh, so you met my brother and my sister-in-law,” Twilight said while taking a closer look at the written report. “I hope you got along.”

“Well… Cadence seemed to like me and allowed me to play with Flurry Heart, but I got into an argument with your brother.”

“I was just curious why he hadn’t even trained you in self-defense or assist you against some of the villains. I got carried away,” Nica said before shrugging. “He seemed annoyed, but nothing worse.”

Twilight blinked in confusion, repeating specific lines written on the scroll. “You can’t be serious.” She looked between Gabby and Nica. “You gave up on your job at the Crystal Empire in order to work for Gabby, with wing-hugs as payment instead of bits?”

“What can I say? Gabby’s wing-hugs are the best. They are better than yours and Cadence’s. What’s more, the aura of positive emotions I sensed from Gabby was incredible, I would even dare to say it surpasses the ones I sensed from Fluttershy.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You just couldn’t resist helping Gabby in helping the Griffon Kingdom. It was never about the bits, am I right?”

“Guilty as charged,” Nica said with a cheerful smile. “Plus, I love being around Gabby. Not only she is extremely kind and energetic, strong and brave, but she is also an expert at helping others. How could I give up on an opportunity to work and learn from her?”

“Awww... come here!” Gabby shouted as she flew over the table, tackling Nica before wrapping her in a hug and next tickling her paws. The pokemon giggled cheerfully in response.

“Alright. Everything is noted and confirmed. We can now focus on–” Twilight was cut off as Nica pushed herself free from the griffon’s vice grip and landed on the table before her. Her black nose millimeters away from her muzzle.

“The mob boss. After I defeated him, he told me that some mysterious being put a curse on him and his most powerful followers, and then sealed their memories of that event,” Nica started, waving her paws in panic. “At first I thought he was making things up, but in the Griffon Kingdom, someone… did something, not sure what it was… to convince Gabby to share her magic with him. I interfered, and the next morning a bunch of hired griffons captured Gabby and tried to slow me down. When I found her, she didn’t remember that she was even caught in the first place.”

Gabby nodded, still hovering above the floor. “I don’t remember anyone trying to capture me, but I trust Nica, so I brought her here so we can find out what’s going on.”

Twilight took a step back and spread her wings, her horn surrounded by lavender aura. “There’s only one way to confirm this.”

Starlight approached and sat by her mentor’s side, her horn filled with magic as well. “We’ll scan you both in search for any signs of dark magic. It will also help us confirm if the seal on your memory is similar to the one Nica has.”

Gabby landed next to Nica and sat with her on the table. Both nodded. While Gabby’s face displayed nothing but worry, Nica’s face seemed filled with determination.

After intense scanning. Twilight and Starlight looked at each other and nodded. Starlight spoke first, “The seals placed on you both are very similar. Nica, yours is much stronger than Gabby’s.”

Twilight spoke next, “Your seal may be weaker, but there’s more of a dark magic influence in you, Gabby. It may indeed be some sort of curse, but I would need to do further research to learn what it does and how to remove it.”

Nica gently stroked Gabby’s wing and gave her a look of pity, who smiled at the kind gesture. She took a step forward and said, “The mafia boss told me that this curse was regularly draining his magic while causing headaches. When he tried to research a cure, a note mysteriously appeared in his room.”

Nica raised her paw in a lecturing gesture and said, “I quote: Either live in ignorance, or your life is forfeit.” She lowered her forepaw and added, “Or was it; live in bliss… I don’t remember. Long story short, it was a warning.”

Starlight rubbed her chin. “So, in other words, this mysterious being possesses the ability to use powerful dark magic. It is cursing ponies… and griffons, mostly targeting those with strong magic in them. This curse slowly drains it, and since their memories of the event are sealed, they are unaware of it happening.” She took a step back. “Maybe it even tried to target Thorax during his visit.” Her words caused Spike and Nica to flinch. She looked at Twilight in worry. “Whatever it is, it’s trying to spread this curse like an infection while doing its best to remain undetected. It must be powerful and cunning, but certainly not lethal.”

Twilight nodded before looking at Nica in pity. “But why did it seal all of your memories? Maybe it thought that by taking your memories away, it would make you defenseless. It almost succeeded in this regard.”

“That may be true,” Nica said before glancing at her own tail and swung it like a sword. When she first woke up in the dangerous forest, she was nearly powerless against beasts there, and at that moment she felt strong and skilled enough to face an entire army.

“Are there any symptoms we can use to recognize who has been infected with that curse?” Twilight asked, giving Nica a curious stare. “Outside of headaches that is.”

Nica rubbed her chin, thinking back to her encounter with the boss. Nothing came to mind.

“Well, I was feeling occasional headaches,” Gabby pointed out, receiving everyone’s attention. “I started experiencing them ever since that morning. They come and go.”

“That confirms it… It’s just one symptom, but it will have to… do…” She gasped and took a step back, her face became pale, a sudden realization was born in her mind. “Oh no.” Starlight held her forehoof over her face. “When I took Nica to meet Fluttershy, both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie said that they started having headaches recently. I think our friends have been targeted as well. We need to warn them.”

“Not yet,” Twilight said, levitating Gabby off the table. “We should first focus on learning how to remove the curse without acting suspicious. Once we have the cure, we’ll check on our friends.” She glanced at Gabby and asked, “You don’t mind helping me discover the cure, do you?” She yelped upon being wrapped by a powerful hug.

Starlight powered up her scanning spell, using it to check the library and nearby hallways. “I don’t detect anyone except us in this part of the castle. I don't think our discussion was spied upon.”

Spike climbed onto the table and approached Nica, poking her shoulder. “So, wanna hang out while they do their research?”

Nica lowered her head. “I suppose we can,” she said and glanced at Twilight, “but only after my self-defense session with the princess.” She stomped. “If there’s an even greater threat looming over us, we need to be prepared.”

“B-but… the research…” Twilight stammered, pulling herself free from Gabby’s hold before hovering mid-air with the use of her own wings.

“I can practice self-defense with you while Twilight studies Gabby’s curse,” Starlight said, standing on her rear hooves.

“I have a better idea,” Nica sassed. “You start researching and Twilight will join you later,” Nica said, giving her friend a firm glare.

“Oh geez… you sure turn bossy when it comes to combat training.” Starlight giggled, “Though I can’t deny that I like this about you.”

The large critter looked at each of her friends with a firm stare. They were all aware of danger, the plan was formed, and it was the time to take action.

Nica gazed at the ceiling while lying on her bed. The rat and green poisonous spider were perched on her belly. With Starlight and Twilight busy with their research and Gabby helping them, and after playing a board game involving cubes and paper monsters with Spike, it was now time to rest for the next day.

She sighed. The moment I close my eyes and fall asleep, I’ll no doubt continue dreaming of those painful battles against the legendaries. She gulped. All the fights she dreamed about were nothing when compared to that. Taking a deep sad breath, she closed her eyes. No matter how harsh her past was, she needed to learn about it.

Twilight glanced between the napping Gabby and her stacks of notes, and felt a hoof poke her shoulder a moment later. She looked at her student and asked, “What?”

“Because, when I first scanned her that time Applejack brought her into the castle, I didn’t detect any magic in her body,” Starlight answered. “Now she seems to possess small reserves of it, mostly concentrated in her head.”

Starlight nodded. “Some creatures have only small bits of magic, some possess a lot of it. In terms of species, ponies have strong affinity to magic, which is what makes us so strong and capable of defending ourselves against larger creatures. In terms of pokemon however, they seem to possess a different kind of power, and they certainly don’t have any magic.”

Does this mean that on her home island and surrounding islands there's no magic, so those pokemon developed a different type of power that makes them so strong; yet after spending a few weeks in Equestria, Nica started to adapt to its magic, as well?"

“That’s a solid theory. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was accurate.” Starlight asked, “So, should we tell her?”

"I don't see why not. We have other priorities right now, but it may be worth researching in the future.”

Starlight rubbed her chin while glancing at the surrounding bookshelves. “If her body is adapting to use Equestria’s magic, I wonder what it will do. My bet would be on strengthening her electric attacks.”

“My guess is rather on her body using magic to improve her survivability.” Twilight shrugged before levitating over a blanket, placing it on the curled up Gabby, whose head and rear legs were quite close to each other. “Enough theorising. Let’s go back to our research.”

Starlight yawned and shook her head. “I think we should hit the bed and continue tomorrow. It’s getting late.”

Little Lost Raichu

by CommanderX5

Chapter 19 - The Mysterious Threat