Transform
Liz and Twilight got back to Ponyville late, of course, and were surprised when they found that Fluttershy had not arrived yet. Of course, the reason was obvious enough: Fluttershy wasn’t able to get Ohm onto the train, so they would have to go the long way back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash said that she would fly out to meet them first thing in the morning… but then amended that to second thing after getting cleared by the nurse. Okay, third, after breakfast-oh blast, she’d have to do the weather, too! She promised that she’d do it as soon as ponily possible.
Liz wasn’t worried. She knew that Ohm could last a while between meals, and did not doubt that Ohm would cooperate with Fluttershy. He was sometimes troublesome, but not as much as certain oft-disobedient Pokémon she had.
And so it happened that Liz wound up in Sweet Apple Acres with the intent of making herself useful for the day. Without any emergencies, she had to find things to do… and preferably get paid for.
“Well,” Applejack said as they walked through the fields, “There’s not a whole lot of work to get done right now. It’s not Cider Season, or Applebuck Season… in fact, you might almost call this the ‘off-season’ as far as Sweet Apple Acres is concerned. For the most part, all we have is the year-‘rounds, and not all that many of those today.”
“Year-rounds?” Liz asked, “I don’t know what that means.”
Applejack smiled slightly. “Oh, no, I bet not. So, you know how there are apples available all year ‘round, despite the fact that Applebuck Season comes once a year?”
“Applebuck… I assume that means apple harvest time?” Liz asked to clarify.
“Yep,” Applejack said with a nod, “The trick is that with the proper tending, apple trees can be convinced to drop year ‘round, with only most of the trees dropping at that time. That gives ponies a reliable source of apples all year… well, except for in winter. Can’t really get them to have apples in winter.”
Liz wanted to ask about this, but after thinking about it decided that the explanation probably boiled down to ‘magic’ and decided to accept it. “So basically, today isn’t very busy, and you don’t really need an extra hand?”
Applejack nodded. “Sorry, but everything’s… huh… actually, there may be one thing. How are you with busted things?”
“Stubborn and crafty,” Liz said. The moment afterward she regretted it; that had to be one of the worst ways to voice her ability to fix things. Or work around broken things. Or treatment of uncooperative equipment in general…
“Perfect!” Applejack declared. “We’ve got a plow that’s got a huge dent in it from a rock. If you’re good enough with a hammer to straighten it enough that it works again, I’m sure Big Mac’ll pay ya!”
“I’ll try,” Liz said with a smile, “No guarantees I won’t make it worse, but I will try!”
It just so happened that stubbornness and being crafty was just what was needed. The Apple family has a big old hammer and an anvil, but that only did so much good. Liz didn’t have a lot of experience with the hammer, so she couldn’t swing it all that accurately.
Adding that to the detail that the steel was high-quality and quite solid, most ponies would have given up after about thirty minutes. It took Liz forty-five to get tired of the hammer, and get a big rock instead. Still quite heavy, but easier to aim and with a wider hitting surface. Of course, a wider hitting surface wasn’t all that good, so after another fifteen minutes she went to find another rock.
It was a challenge by then, and Liz had a habit of not backing down from a challenge until she was well and thoroughly beaten.
Some time later, Applejack arrive to check on Liz, followed by a very large, Red Stallion. Liz guessed that was Big Mac. “Hi,” Liz said between breaths, “I think I’ve got it. Whadda you think?”
Applejack looked at the plow. “Well… that looks like some solid work. Wouldn’t you say so, Big Mac?”
Big Mac turned a discerning eye to the plow, examining the blade carefully. “Yup,” He said simply.
“Hey,” Applejack said, “is it just me or did she work out some of the smaller dings, too?”
“Yup,” Big Mac agreed.
“Well, I’d say that this plow was about ready to go back into the field.”
“Yup.”
Applejack turned back to the hot, sweaty, and tired Liz. “Good job, Liz! You just saved us a lot of trouble. Took you a while, I’ll admit that, but it’s a job well done. Oh, where are my manners? This here is Big Macintosh, my brother. He does a lot of the heavy lifting here at Sweet Apple Acres, both physically and… paperwork-wise.”
“Hi,” Liz said simply. She would say more, but without the plow to be frustrated at, she was forced to notice that she was tired after beating a piece of metal for… a long time. She wasn’t sure how long it had been.
Happily, Big Mac didn’t seem to be the type to talk a lot anyway, so he simply replied with a “Howdy.”
“Come on inside, Liz,” Applejack said, “And I’ll get you some apple juice.”
Liz followed Applejack and Big Mac into the house. It was quaint, a little kitchen and eating area right inside the door. She sat down at the table, letting her legs rest a bit.
From behind her, a voice came, “Oh, now who are you? I’ve plum gone and forgotten ya. I like to think that my memory is better than a lot of ponies my age, but when I don’t see someone for a while…” Liz looked over her shoulder to see a very, very old pony. Green with a grey mane, age lines, and sagging skin, the pony tottered over to get a better look at Liz.
“Nah, Granny, that’s not anyone you know. That’s Liz, she’s new in town, and she just helped un-dent our plow. Liz, meet Granny Smith.”
“Ohh, goody. That’ll save Big Macintosh the work this winter. Can I get you anything? Apple juice? Coffee? Cider? Wait… might be out of cider.”
Liz perked up. “Coffee, please.”
Granny nodded and headed toward what Liz recognized as a coffee pot. “How do you like it, dear? Wakeful or sleepy? Strong or casual? Cream? Yessir, we have bona-fide cream for our milk.”
Liz smiled brightly. This was something that was familiar. “I’m addicted; the wake-up would be nice. I like it strong, and black.”
The smile disappeared from Applejack’s face, and she and Big Mac shared a concerned glance.
“Not trying to kick it, huh? I guess if you came out and beat our plow straight you would be tired, though. How about I make you my special blend? It’s stronger than Big Mac, and it’ll keep you going until sundown, guaranteed.”
“That sounds great,” Liz replied. Nothing better than coffee made by someone who spent their life making the stuff!
Applejack stepped forward. “Liz… ah, you might want to re-think that… Granny’s brew is really strong stuff. Really strong.”
“Eeeeeeeee-YUP,” Big Mac stated. There was fear in his voice. Granny’s coffee scared him.
“Well… now you have me curious,” Liz said. “I’ve at least got to try it.”
Granny chuckled. “That’s the spirit! Just give me a few minutes, dearie.”
A few minutes later, a cup of piping hot coffee was placed in front of Liz. She let it cool, lifted it to her nose, sniffed it…“Whoof! This is strong stuff,” Liz commented out loud. She then carefully took a sip. Her eyes grew wide for a moment, and she shook her head. “Wow. That is the best coffee I’ve ever had. Not the strongest, but the best. Amazing. I love it.” Liz quickly finished the mug. “Yep. Best coffee ever. Love it. Can I have your recipe? Maybe? Well, I came here to work, so I really should do that, is there any work I should do? I’m willing to work for my coffee. Oh, and some money. Not a lot of money, but I don’t have any money, so money would be nice, for coffee, because I keep drinking all of Twilight’s coffee, and I feel kind of bad about it, you know?”
“Slow down there, girly!” Granny said with a laugh. “I’m sure we can find some things for ya to do. Come on, no point wasting your energy on talk.” Granny got up, and Liz followed suit. The pair of them went out to find something useful to do. Applejack and Big Mac watched them go.
Applejack spoke a bit after the pair went outside. “That was the same brew that knocked you flat on your flank, right?”
Big Mac nodded. “And made me buzz like a bee until midnight, yup.”
There was a beat of silence before Applejack found another, even more disturbing truth.
“She’s going to be fun once the caffeine kicks in, isn’t she?”
“Eeyup.”
“It was a good idea,” Fluttershy said, “it’s just a pity that the only plant in the area we could feasibly use as coloring is out-of-season.”
She and Ohm were flying above the trees at a casual pace; having decided that it would be faster than walking through the thick forest here. Fluttershy wasn’t sure how Ohm was flying, but she had decided not to question it. Maybe it was just magic.
“It’s probably safe to say that when they notice that we don’t arrive for a while, Rainbow Dash will come looking for us. She’s a close friend of mine, and can fly much faster than I can. She’s sure to see us if we’re easily visible from the sky, and from there we can explain what’s going on and why we’re late.”
The forest gave way to a road, and Fluttershy went down to land. Ohm followed, but didn’t really land, of course. The odd magnetic thing… Magneton, Liz had called it? It was one of the most confusing creatures Fluttershy had ever met.
The pair began to move down the road, and Fluttershy tried to make small talk to her magnetic companion. “So… is electricity more common where you come from? Common enough that it’s a reliable source of food?”
Ohm’s answer was a series of noises that Fluttershy understood. Other ponies thought that her being able to talk to animals was weird, but even Fluttershy had to admit that talking to Ohm was weird.
What’s more, the response was very long, so Fluttershy had to listen to the noises it made for a bit. Even if the noises weren’t so bizarre, the answer was complex enough that Fluttershy had to take a moment to figure out what was actually being said. This entire situation was dreadfully confusing.
To make matters worse, a wagon pulled by a pair of ponies and ridden by two more came around the bend. Ohm saw this, and cut off to zip into the forest. “Up, Ohm!” Fluttershy advised him, “Earth ponies don’t look up often!” Ohm took the advice and took back to the sky.
Now… all she had to do was be calm. That wasn’t hard. Fluttershy would just walk past the wagon, and no one would be the wiser. She trotted forward casually, past the pulling ponies and the riding ponies and the wagon itself… which was covered by a white sheet, probably to protect the things inside from any weather that might come up.
“Hey… hold up a minute!”
Fluttershy came to a stop, and so did the cart. She turned around, and found the two riding ponies looking at her. One of them spoke up, “Bend, have I seen that pegasus somewhere before? I have the darndest feeling…”
The second one thought for a moment, and then his eyes lit up. “While I’ll be, Curve! It’s one o’ tha elements o’ harmony! Ya’ll remember that? They helped chase tha changelings out o’ Canterlot.”
Curve smiled goofily. “While I’ll be, too! It is!” He hopped down from the wagon and trotted forward. “I owe you a thanks! I was in town when all that trouble hit!”
Fluttershy smiled, but shook her head. “Well, thank you, but I didn’t do much. It was Shining Armor and Princess Candace who threw out the cangelings.”
“Don’ sell ya’llself short,” Bend said as he got down from the wagon, too. “Ya’ll d’feated Discord, an’ Nightmare Moon… an’ I feel like there was somethin’ else? O’ well. Tha point is, ya’ll’re a hero. Thanks.”
“Come on, Bend,” Curve said, “All you’ve got to say is a thanks? The Elements of Harmony have saved Equestria three times! In as many years at that. I think they deserve a bit more than thanks. Come on over here, and I’ll let you pick out something from my stock.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no. I couldn’t. I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t need any reward for being a hero.”
“Aw, come now,” Curve said, “Are you sure? It’s not like it’s anything big. Mainly nick-knacks and lil crafts I whittled myself.”
Fluttershy considered, and then gave in. “Okay. What have you got?”
“See for yourself,” Curve said, lifting an edge of the sheet. Fluttershy caught a glance of two bright blue-glowing eyes under the sheet, and stopped. Bend moved around behind her. Was that… was this? Was there a way to tell?
Thinking fast, Fluttershy reared up on her hind legs and flapped. She made enough wind to blow the sheet back a bit more… revealing the black carapace of a changeling.
“Oh you’re a clever one!” ‘Bend’ declared as he grabbed her. “What gave us away? It was going to sell ‘nick-knacks’ in Canterlot, wasn’t it?”
‘Curve’ frowned as well. “Come on. You’re pinning this on me? Did you hear your accent? It was like a parody of an accent. I don’t even know what it was a parody of.”
Fluttershy tired to call for help, but was stifled by the pony (who was probably a changeling) behind her. “Nope,” ‘Bend’ said, “Not going to be that easy. Don’t worry, you’re just going for a ride! Your friends won’t even notice you’re gone.”
A bolt of lightning shot from the sky, striking ‘Curve’. He seized up, and then flopped to the ground twitching. Ohm floated down, between ‘Bend’ and the wagon, and electricity arced between its magnets.
Of course, the changeling in the wagon immediately sat up and seized Ohm in its front legs. It opened its mouth wide, wide enough to use its fangs, and bit down on one of Ohm’s three spheres. Or tired, anyway. Ohm was made of metal, and as thus the only thing that got hurt was the changeling’s teeth. Ohm, little more than annoyed, sent a single surge of energy over its form, zapping the changeling enough to get it to let go. The changeling fell back into the cart, hissing in pain.
Then from Ohm’s magnets came a number of… small, silvery-colored balls of energy, which flew past ‘Bend’ and then pulled sharp u-turns and ran into his back. He cried out in pain, and let go of Fluttershy. Fluttershy ran, but out from under the sheet came four changelings: it seems like that’s all there was in the wagon! They quickly flitted overhead and landed in front of Fluttershy, cutting off her escape. Ohm rushed to her side, and behind her ‘Bend’ and the two ponies that were pulling the wagon rushed to surround them. Those three dropped their disguises, so that they could use their full combat prowess as changelings. ‘Curve’ tried to get up, but the most he could do was roll over onto his other side and twitch some more.
Ohm didn’t seem to be afraid. It told Fluttershy something very simple, and she was quite eager to do so: Get down!
As Fluttershy hit the dirt, Ohm let loose a beam of oddly reflective energy from an eye, knocking back one of the changelings. The others charged forward… and almost immediately regretted it, as Ohm electrified its body and zapped any changeling that got too close. It then let loose a bolt of electricity toward on changeling, who managed to dodge. Fluttershy didn’t know it was possible to dodge electricity.
When the changelings started firing beams of magic was when Fluttershy lost track of the battle. Ohm seemed to consider the beams more dangerous than the threat of the changelings tackling it, and so began actually trying to dodge itself. Beams of reflective energy returned to the changelings, as did shocks of electricity.
Fluttershy thought that there might have been more than one kind of electricity shock, but wasn’t sure. Sometimes the bolts missed, sometimes they hit, sometimes they hit and made a changeling fall to the ground. At one point, Curve got back up and almost immediately was electrocuted again. It was all far, far too hectic for her to make sense of. The first real landmark Fluttershy noticed was when three of the changeling’s beams hit Ohm at once, something that really looked like it hurt! Ohm was made of metal, but even metal could only take so much strain under a magical onslaught. Thankfully, this coordinated blast didn’t seem to severely damage it.
However, it made it angry. Ohm released a sound. It sounded like the wrenching of metal in a train wreck, the shriek of gears that are not cooperating, the final, warbling squawk of one of Vinyl Scratch’s speakers as yet another one bites the dust. Fluttershy reacted about the same as the changelings: everyone cried out in surprise and pain and covered their ears.
All Ohm’s magnets pointed toward one changeling, and in front of it a sphere of silvery light formed. It then suddenly turned into a pillar of white light, shooting out to the unfortunate changeling. The changeling was knocked over the wooden cart and into the trees a ways away. Fluttershy remembered that Liz had said that Pokémon were dangerous, how they caused trouble. How the people of her world had considered walling of the roads. Now she understood that. If many Pokémon were as strong as Ohm, it’s little wonder that they were domesticated!
Ohm switched focus to dodging, being more cautious after that concentrated burst. It juked, turned, and kept moving, but didn’t give itself enough time to aim its own attacks. After a few wildly off bolts of electricity, it came up with a solution: it released more of those silvery balls of energy, which directed themselves into the changelings. The changelings, battered and tired from the fight, began to fall one by one. In time, none were left standing.
Fluttershy got to her feet shakily. So many thoughts went through her head. Was Ohm Okay? Would the changelings be okay? Where did they come from? Had they planned this? One thought in particular managed to make its way to her mouth: “We need to tell the Princess.” This was all Fluttershy managed to get out before she fainted.
Stats
Page generated in 0.029 seconds
Total duration
787 users online
1,125,112 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
And the plot thread has been sewn in...
I got metal sound, U-turn, agility, and thundershock couldn't notice the others
As for the four move set i believe that's only for official battles/competitions or something
Heh, clever. Hint at Fluttershy disguising herself last chapter, and have this chapter be titled "Transform".
Magnet bomb,, hyperbeam. ?
When I saw the chapter title I thought Liz might have had a Ditto on her team. I bet Anypony who saw one of those would jump to the conclusion 'Changeling!'
Still, awesome chapter. I loved that Ohm defended Fluttershy & did it so effectively without a trainer.
I also like the way the story is going in general. Spending the time setting up how Liz & her team react to Equestria before getting into the nitty-gritty of why they might be there, & what they can do about it.
I'm going to confirm Magnet Bomb, Metal Sound, and Thundershock. There are... 4 more moves, I think. Well, 5, but that one I don't expect people to notice.
I'm sort of hoping for Mega Evolutions to show up, just for total insanity.
--------------------------------------------------
"Princess Cadence are you alright?"
"Y-yes... I just thought I felt something I haven't for... A while."
"Shall I fetch the nurse?"
"No... J-just give me some time alone, I'll be in my chambers."
"Very well"
*Cadence goes into her private room, and opens the secret basement*
Several voices chirped in unison in the sounproof room:
"Uuunooown"
"Uuunooown"
"Uuunooown"
Cadence goes around the ball of odd little creatures to the other side and enters the next room.
"They've started changing things again. We need to find what or who it is and send them back before it happens again... Papa."
"If that is what you wish... Molly."
3368287 Discharge, right?
3368843
...If you write that, I may very well read it.
3370673
Nope, Discharge is an area of effect attack: in triple battles, it hits all adjacent Pokemon. In addition, it does not make contact. Good guess, though. I did consider it.
Time to channel my inner Pokenerd!
Thundershock and Thunderbolt? Possibly Thunder?
Magnet Bomb was already confirmed.
So was Metal Sound.
Sounds like he's paralyzed. Was Ohm's initial attack Thunder Wave or was it lucky with a Thundershock/bolt?
Not sure on this one.
Flash Cannon?
Hyper Beam? Or did I get the previous attack wrong and this is Flash Cannon?
More than 4 moves, huh. You know the way I always fanonized the 4 move slots was the principle "In a fight one technique practiced ten thousand times is superior to ten techniques practiced a thousand times each."
Basically after millenia of trial and error Pokemon training it was determined that focusing practice on 4ish moves was the most efficient use of a Pokemon Trainer's time and effort given that there are only so many hours in the day. Moves aren't forgotten so much that they get rusty and unreliable from lack of practice.
3373480
Here we go! I'll give it to you. Thunder Wave and Thunder Shock were both used; Thunder Wave was used first, yes. The one that Ohm used in melee was Spark: physical attack, makes contact. The "beam of oddly reflective energy" was Mirror Shot, and the beam was Flash Cannon.
Bonus: I mainly handwave this as it makes sense, but someone could plead "Magnet Rise" at Ohm flying. They wouldn't be wrong, but I consider that less a move and more that it makes SENSE. Magnemite fly! It's a thing they do! In all the fluff it's a thing they do!
3375218
A man who is really good at one move might not have the flexibility to fight someone who can counter that move. Realistically speaking, you would have trainers who encouraged wide movesets, and those who felt that focus on a few moves would be better...
...and really, Thunder Shock, Thunder Bolt, Thunder, and to a lesser extent Thunder Wave are all variants on the same move. It just matters how much energy you put in, how easy it is to aim, and how likely it is to wreak chaos with your enemy's nervous system. I bet you could be good at all of those and have the time to also train it how to make the worst noise ever (Which itself comes in various flavors!)
Meditation: Ohm...Ohm...Ohm......
Nice fic. From your approach I can tell that you have an eye for detail and you harness it well without going over bored. In addition, this is honestly one of the better pokemon fics I've seen that have a (former) human in equestria. I like how you the approach of the story, in terms of characterization, and having a little fun with jokes along the way.
However, I do not see that many dynamic characters. People change, especially after life changing events. I know this is just the opinion of an inexperienced writer and that you could have done this by choice, but I always find a story more engaging when you add in the fact that people are fallible and can change as a person in as little as a few days.
From a new writer to an experienced one, how do you keep the urge to explain details under control? I am working on my first real fic and the editor I found told me that had interesting concepts but it was too dull. I believe I tell people rather than show them. Any advice?
3456817
I'm a new writer, yes, and as thus have to improve on many things.
Now, part of the issue with dynamics is that the few days that Liz has been in Equestria haven't been all that crazy. In addition, I'm still setting up the finer points of Liz's character; there's a lot about her that you don't know yet. You really don't know Liz before she was plopped into Equestria; something that I would add to the intro if I were to ever re-write it. Having character dynamics when you've only seen half of what a character is can be interesting, but it's not what I want in this case.
As for details... good question. Maybe my writing style is just less detail-heavy than yours. I need to work on 'show, don't tell', too. Let me think... after thinking, writing, and re-writing my answer three times, I think it varies enough between writers that you would need feedback tailored for you. What might help depends on what you're doing, what is intrinsic to the story, what the tone is, etc.
See if you can get your editor, or someone, to give you an in-depth critique. Criticism, as long as it's polite and constructive, can help make new writers into decent writers and decent writers into good ones.
Have the anime ever stuck to four moves?
3472483
Actually? I've never counted, but I have noticed that Pokemon under Ash's care tend to stop using certain old moves after getting new ones. Now, I'm not sure if that's just the writers forgetting or having bias, and now that I think about it I'm not even sure that they used four moves. I haven't seen the anime in years, though, so things might have changed in the last few years. Or I'm mis-remembering.
3473393 well I just noticed this comment
if I remember well there was one battle between Gary's Umbreon Vs another Trainer
Alakazam or Kadabra and I counted like 9 moves used in that battle or maybe more I don't
remember well I watch the episode like 1 time but I remember that Ash was there
also focus on the more effective attacks that suit best a Pokemon is a thing if Ash's Pikachu
didn't train Iron tail and not just learned it will be very weak so trainers mostly will condense
a Pokemon move set to around 4 moves in order to focus the Pokemon strength and not
spread it thin
well that's the best I got from both the Anime and Games
And yet, that is a pretty perfect descriptor of humanity in general. If she was worried about being too pony-ish, well, she just gained +25 humanity points.