//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Who's Awesome? Magikarp is Awesome! // Story: Magikarp Is The Best Pokemon // by RainbowBob //------------------------------// The walk was seldom and placid for such a strange as hell day, as they headed for the house of their timid friend in hopes that she would know what creature this could be. It could spout a word, one simple word, Magikarp, all the way to Fluttershy’s house. It wasn’t quite a noise that an animal usually produced, but how many animals usually say their own name? “Wow, is that all he can say?” Spike questioned, still lugging around the large, fish like creature on his back and having a hard time of it. “Has he said anything else?” Twilight asked, leaving the obvious in the clear for Spike to notice. “I guess not.” Spike answered, his legs shaking now from the great weight of the Pokemon. “Hopefully Fluttershy will know.” Twilight took a quick glance at the still breathing fish, “Come on, we’re almost there!” “Don’t see you helping out,” Spike muttered under his breath, sweating pouring down his face. “That’s because you have the hands in this relationship.” Twilight pointed out. Spike rolled his eyes. “And I’m guessing that horn on your head is just useful for popping balloons?” Twilight gave him a look and stuck out her tongue playfully. “Don’t test me, mortal!” Twilight leaped into the air, pretending she was some sort of goddess with wings. “Twilight, you’re not a Princess. Also, I’ve found those fake, plastic wings in your closet.” Spike shot her a devious smirk. “Right next to those fanfictions you made about yourself...” “I told you that was my diary!” Twilight shot back, pushing Spike with her sides. “Oh really? When exactly in your life did Big Mac break through our wall, dressed as a noble knight? His long, orange hair swaying in the breeze as he took you and rode off into the sunset, whispering ‘Twilight, you are my love forever and totally not an egghead. Now, let us--’” “We’re here!” Twilight interjected, pointing to Fluttershy’s cottage in the distance, “Now shush, we need to act calm and flutter on in.” Twilight raced to the cottage quickly, clearly avoiding further questions for Spike. She raised her hoof, gave the door a swift and soft knock, and waited patiently. “And avoiding questions like usual,” Spike muttered, practically dragging Magikarp in the dirt because he didn’t seem to mind. The door opened to a mere phantom, nothing at the mare’s eyesight, for it was Angel Bunny who opened the door. The furry white critter gave her an annoyed look, but his eyes went wide when Spike finally arrived with Magikarp in tow. Giving the small bunny her best winning smile, Twilight said, “Hello there. You know if Fluttershy is home? We have a couple of questions.” “Also, some water would be appreciated!” Spike shot in, wiping some sweat from his brow with his long, snake like tongue sticking out while he panted. “You know, for the fish.” Magikarp simply floundered on the ground, repeating his own name over and over again. His feeble tone was becoming an annoyance for the three of them in only a short amount of time. The bunny hopped back into to cottage, giving no clear indication what Twilight and Spike should do, so they followed right in along with him. Fluttershy’s cottage had a plethora of animals inside, which wasn’t much of a surprise since the pegasus was known for her care of the forest critters. And there was Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus currently feeding a group of squirrels. “Fluttershy, can you help us?” Twilight called out, causing the pegasus to squeak in surprise and nearly jump out of her fur. Turning back to the pair, she stopped her cowering and blinked, realizing it was her friends. Giving a sheepish and embarrassed smile, she said, “Sorry about that, Twilight. You need my help with something?” “Remember that comet crash not too long ago?” Twilight asked. “Oh yeah. It was so scary. All my animal friends started to freak out a little, but we’re all better now.” Fluttershy arched an eyebrow at the unicorn, finally noticing that Spike was also present behind Twilight. “Why do you ask?” Twilight moved out of the way, revealing a near exhausted Spike carrying a strange, red floundering fish by the tail. “This guy caused the crash. We were hoping you might know what type of fish he is?” “Um... shouldn’t we put him in some water first?” she asked, uneasy how the fish flayed on the ground. “Nah. He went over thirty minutes without. Plus, he just came from space,” Spike pointed out. “Either he doesn’t have to breathe, or he can breathe air.” “Okay then... let me see him closer.” Fluttershy approached Magikarp, but he paid her no mind and just went on and on about repeated his own name. “Is ‘Magikarp’ the only thing he can say?” “Pretty much. So, know how he survived a crash from the upper atmosphere?” Spike asked, poking Magikarp with his foot. Fluttershy shook her head. “No creature should have been able to do that. It’s not possible...” “Fluttershy has a point,” Twilight agreed. “If the no air didn’t kill him, him reentering the atmosphere would’ve burned him to a crisp. Not to mention that crash should’ve flattened him like a pancake. Really, he’s an anomaly stranger than Pinkie.” “Not to mention I have no idea what fish he could be,” Fluttershy added, tugging lightly at one of Magikarp’s whiskers. “He could belong to the carp family, because of his name and whiskers, but his body anomaly and shape are all wrong. Plus, his colors are way too strange.” “What about him not blinking?” Spike asked, unnerved by the fact the fish hasn’t closed his eyes once since they met him. “Well, fish don’t normally blink,” Fluttershy explained, also slightly creeped out by the Magikarp’s unblinking eyes. “But I’ve never seen one with eyes this large or strange before.” The three remained silent for some time, until Twilight blurted out, “So you have no idea what type of fish he is?” Fluttershy sadly shook her head, hiding her face behind her mane as she averted her gaze. “I’m really sorry, but I’m just not sure. Maybe he’s some type of alien or something?” “But how did he arrive here in the first place? Some type of flying saucer?” Twilight scoffed. “He’s a mindless fish by the looks of things. So far the only sign of his intellect is him repeating his own name over and over again. Which is getting really annoying, by the way. So he isn’t exactly part of some advanced alien species.” “Hey, maybe he is magic!” Spike suggested, snapping his fingers at this revelation. “That could explain how he managed to survive the fall and breathe on land. Hey Twi, can you check if he has any?” “Well... I can try,” Twilight replied, her horn glowing in preparation for her magic finder spell. It was a simple spell, able to locate any type of magic. It worked in the traditional way of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ game. When her horn glows blue, she’s ‘cold’, meaning there’s no magic, and red means ‘hot’, which indicates she’s close to magic. Her horn glowed a light tone of blue. Carefully, she placed it closer towards Magikarp. All that got was her horn to glow deeper shades of blue, until it was nearly black. Which was a pretty good sign Magikarp was anything but magical. Casting off her magic, she said, “Well, he isn’t magical, that’s for sure. Any other suggestions?” The three returned to silence, quietly watching Magikarp as it floundered about without a care in the world. Eventually, when one of them was sure to crack just staring at him, Spike asked, “Maybe we should feed him something?” “Worth a try. Might get him to do something else for once,” Twilight agreed. “I’ll go get some fish food then,” Fluttershy said, flying away to acquire some food for the fish. Returning with a canister of fish feed, she shook it in front of Magikarp. “Hey Magikarp, are you hungry?” “Karp, karp. Magikarp,” he said, the only words he could say, actually. “I take that as a yes.” Fluttershy opened up the canister and poured some of the feed in Magikarp’s mouth. The fish opened and closed his mouth, gobbling up the food in mere seconds. “Would you look at that! He did something for once!” Spike said joyously. “So eating makes him react!” “I wonder what other food he can eat?” Twilight said to herself, leaning closer to inspect Magikarp’s mouth to see what type of teeth he had to see whether he was a carnivore or herbivore. Unfortunately, Magikarp grabbed onto Twilight’s mane at that moment, sucking it up in his mouth. “AHHHHHH!” Twilight shrieked, shaking her head to try and dislodge Magikarp from her mane. “Get him off! Get him off now!” “Hold still, Twilight!” Spike yelled, attempting to pull of Magikarp from her hair. All that resulted in tugging Twilight’s mane painfully and her yelling even more. “Don’t try to rip my mane out! Just get him off!” she shouted, tears springing up in her eyes from the severe hair pulling. “Um, I think everyone should calm down...” Fluttershy said, but the two were too busy and didn’t really care at the moment to listen to what she said. Magikarp had now gobbled a full half of Twilight’s mane length in his mouth, intent on eating all of it at this rate. “Oh dear Celestia, it’s so disgusting!” “If you keep on shaking your head, I won’t be able to take him off!” Spike reminded her, grunting in effort as he finally managed to pull off the hungry fish. Magikarp flew behind them from the force of Spike’s pull, bouncing off the wall and right back at them. Magikarp smacked right into Twilight’s face, 10 kilograms of force hitting her square on in the muzzle. Twilight fell to the ground, having been knocked unconscious from the hit. Magikarp just continued to flop on the floor next to Twilight’s prone body. The wild TWILIGHT fainted! Magikarp gained 1032 Exp. points! “... anyone know where that voice came from?” Spike asked, confused as to where and how that voice sprung up out of nowhere. “Magikarp,” Magikarp said, the fish’s face as impassive as ever. “Yeah... that’s what I thought,” Spike said, facepalming.