Rainbow Dash glided effortlessly across the sky, drinking in as much information as she could. Rainbow was a loyal friend and right now the other five needed her.
“I don’t care what it takes,” she muttered to herself. “I have to help my friends, whatever the cost. I’ll fight for them, kill if I have to, but I will find them.”
Dotted about on the ground below her were several small towns with what appeared to be people bustling about their daily lives. Between each town were large expanses of woodland with lots of different roads constructed to connect each town. Even from her height, Rainbow Dash could discern areas of tall grass scattered randomly throughout the countryside.
Rainbow Dash set herself down gently in a clearing and began to think about her plan of action. There could be all manner of ponies and monsters here, so which one was her opponent? A flock of bizarre looking birds soared overhead, letting out weird screeches that made Rainbow Dash cover her ears and grimace. The animals here were not the kind that Rainbow Dash would ever want to have anything to do with again, the sooner she could get out of here the better.
In the long grass behind her, Rainbow Dash could hear something rustling away. She turned and took a few steps back, preparing herself to fight. She was the type of pony who could kick a dragon in the face and live to tell the tale, so there was nothing that this world could throw at her that she wouldn’t be able to overcome. The rustling came closer and closer as she dug her hooves into the ground. She arched her back, leant forward and extended her wings, ready to pounce on whatever came to face her. A single bead of sweat ran down her face and dropped off the end of her nose as she waited for her opponent to emerge. At least, she assumed that whatever beast or warrior would emerge would be her designated foe. She wasn’t really sure, but she felt it better to treat everything as a sign of the impending duel. Suddenly, the grass in front of her eyes shook violently and a wild yellow blur appeared.
Rainbow hesitated for just a second, but it was enough for her to register the tiny yellow mouse sitting on the floor in front of her. She looked at it for a few seconds, not sure what to think, but eventually she started laughing to herself, folded her wings and relaxed a little. The little creature was absolutely adorable! It had big bright red rosy cheeks and it’s tiny body was a disarming shade of yellow, mixed with a few stripes of brown here and there. Its jagged brown and yellow tail bounced slightly as it shifted its position and its tiny paws hung by its side. The creature lifted up a little paw and scratched behind it’s huge black and white ears, smiling contently as it did so.
“Pika!” the creature said cheerfully, clearly oblivious to the rainbow coloured pony standing little more than five feet away.
Rainbow Dash felt her heart jump a little bit at the unadulterated adorableness of the creature before her and though she would never admit it, she did allow a little d’aww to escape her lips. Rainbow Dash’s involuntary exclamation alerted the creature to her existence and it eyed her cautiously.
“Pika? Pikachu.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t want to scare the thing, but she wanted to let it know that she was friendly, so she took a few tentative steps forward. The yellow mouse noticed this and mirrored her actions in the opposite direction, taking a few steps away from the advancing pony. After a few steps, the creature let out a noise that sounded almost like a growl, trying to warn Rainbow Dash to stay away. But Rainbow Dash was adamant that this little animal should know that she meant it no harm, so she kept taking steps forward.
As she moved closer to the creature, Rainbow Dash began to experience a bizarre sensation. As a weather pony, Rainbow Dash knew how it felt when there was static electricity in the air, such as there is immediately before a thunderstorm, so it was peculiar to feel this on the ground when there wasn’t a cloud in sight. She looked at the little animal (who she had decided to call Pikachu, considering that was all it ever seemed to say), and noticed that the static electricity was coming from it. Little sparks were appearing on the cheeks of Pikachu and Rainbow Dash chose to edge backwards. There was something not right about this little mouse creature.
“Pi…ka…CHU!”
The Pikachu released a volley of lightning straight at the rainbow maned mare. Rainbow Dash dodged to the side, but not even she was fast enough to outrun lightning. She took a hit to the side and was launched several feet backwards. Her body dragged along the ground until she came to a halt. Shaking her head, she got back up onto her hooves just in time to see Pikachu bat a ball of lightning at her with its tail. This time though, the attack was much slower and Rainbow Dash had time to duck out of the way. She lowered her head and her eyebrows came down slightly, glaring at Pikachu. She flapped her wings and took off straight toward the mouse. One way or another, she was going to put this creature underground.
Rainbow Dash tackled Pikachu to the ground, rolled over and kicked it into the air. Pikachu yelped as it twisted in the air, before forcing itself into a flip as its tail began to glow. It became clear that Pikachu was going in for another attack, so Rainbow Dash strafed to the left just as Pikachu smashed its iron tail into the ground with a heavy thud. The earth shook slightly, knocking Rainbow Dash off balance for a millisecond, but she recovered quickly and kicked Pikachu with as much force as she could. The tiny monster was knocked a few yards away by the force of the attack, but it got right back up. Wiping away the little stream of blood that was running down its chin, Pikachu stared right at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash threw herself at Pikachu again. Pikachu charged another electroball and hurled it at Rainbow Dash. She didn’t have time to dodge this one, so she took it right in the face. But aside from stinging a little bit, the attack wasn’t very effective. It did, however, force her to close her eyes until they stopped stinging, and when she opened them again Pikachu was not in front of her any more. She glanced in every direction she could but she couldn’t find the little devil.
“Pi…ka…CHU!”
The cry had come from above, and before Rainbow Dash could move out of the way, Pikachu smashed is iron tail directly onto the back of the pegasus. She slammed into the ground, feeling all of the air in her lungs be instantly expelled by the force of the blow. Without hesitation, Pikachu blasted Rainbow Dash with a barrage of lightning. Rainbow Dash couldn’t even scream as she was sent hurtling through the air, her body being cooked by the electricity being forced into her body. She hurtled across the arena, landing ungracefully with a dull thud on the other side of the clearing.
For several moments, Rainbow Dash couldn’t even catch her breath. She lay on her side, her breathing irregular and raspy as sparks shot off from her mane. As the final effects of the thundershock wore off, Rainbow Dash struggled to get to her hooves again. First time she tried, she fell down again almost instantly. The second time, she managed to stand for a few seconds before collapsing again. Forcing herself to try again, Rainbow Dash realised that she needed to find a way to kill this thing and quickly. There was no way that she was going to survive another hit like that.
She checked her wings and both of them seemed to be in full working order. The worst of the effects of the thundershock were wearing off, and Rainbow Dash was able to stand up straight again. She was fairly sure that she could walk or run, but flying was definitely a better option for now at least. As she turned around, she saw Pikachu on all fours, glowering at her. There was a considerable bit of distance between them and Rainbow Dash wondered how such a little monster could be such a pain in the neck. Pikachu interrupted Rainbow Dash’s train of thought by lowering its head and charging. A bright aura of lightning built up around Pikachu as it moved with impressive speed towards Rainbow Dash.
“Pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika PIKA!”
It was now or never, and as Rainbow Dash began to formulate a plan, she launched herself toward the little yellow mouse. Flapping her wings, Rainbow Dash hurtled toward Pikachu at almost her top speed. Hopefully, a Buccaneer Blaze would have more power behind it than the attack that Pikachu was using, which would mean that Rainbow Dash’s two step attack would succeed. Both combatants flew at each other, travelling at nigh impossible speeds and both of them intent on destroying each other in the next attack. Rainbow Dash pooled her energy and prepared her body for the attack. This Buccaneer Blaze would require more power and focus than any previous one, because she was attempting to weaponise it this time.
The two fighters collided in the air with incredible force, Rainbow Dash’s blue aura and Pikachu’s yellow one were the only things that prevented the two of them from smashing head first into each other. Rainbow Dash opened up her mind and body, receiving power from Pikachu’s attack and letting it flood her senses. This was a technique that she had learned several years ago and it allowed her to perform her most captivating routines. Lightning ensnared her senses and she became awash with power. She shut her eyes momentarily and allowed herself to visualise her Buccaneer Blaze, where her legs should be positioned and where her wings should be. She threw herself up and released her attack.
The blue aura that had accumulated around her dispersed in a huge explosion, tripling in size within the blink of an eye.. With tremendous force, Pikachu’s electrical aura dissipated and the tiny mouse was launched several yards into the air. Rainbow Dash unleashed the full force of her Buccaneer Blaze generating almost immeasurable amounts of energy. Her very body seemed to hum with the force being generated by the ferocity of her attack. The now airborne Pikachu was fully enveloped in the blue explosion, the forces holding its body together slowly being pulled apart by the force of Rainbow Dash’s attack. When the cyan pegasus had released all of her power, she let herself down gently, unsteadily standing on the ground.
“HA! I’m number one again.”
She looked around for her opponent, but Pikachu was nowhere to be found. She took a few steps forward and felt her hoof land in something wet. It was red and sticky and smelled metallic. At first Rainbow Dash didn’t know what the liquid was. It hadn’t been there before. But floating in a larger puddle of the liquid was a torn piece of skin with dirty brown and yellow fur. Rainbow Dash shrieked as she realised that the reason she couldn’t see Pikachu was because she was standing IN Pikachu. The force of her Buccaneer Blaze had shredded the poor creature’s body to the point where it had exploded. Rainbow Dash had known that she was going to kill Pikachu, but she hadn’t intended to be so brutal about it. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but wonder if the little guy had been conscious as its body was torn apart. The very thought of it made Rainbow Dash vomit violently. Beside her a portal opened up. With regret heavy in her heart, she stepped through and prepared herself to face the next opponent that awaited her.