Little Lost Raichu
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Chapter 2
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Memories and Magic
“Twilight, where are ya? Ah need yer help with somethin’!”
Starlight recognized the speaker by accent alone and quickly shook dust from mane. Experimenting with magic sometimes ended with explosive results, and she hadn't expected any visitors at this hour. Once the light teal streaks in her mane and tail looked presentable, she trotted towards the source of the voice.
We should start renting this place. So many rooms go to waste and the castle itself feels empty. She stopped in front of two staircases and waited for Applejack to approach. “If you’re looking for Twilight, she’s still having a picnic with Fluttershy.”
“Ah shucks,” Applejack said with a disappointed swing of her foreleg, stopping herself in the middle of the stairs. “Wait a sec, yer almost as good at magic as Twilight, right?”
Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Almost? I can keep up with her just fine.” She pointed at something or someone perched on Applejack’s back. “Who’s your little passenger?”
The critter peeked from behind Applejack’s neck and waved. <Hello,> she said as the word “Rai” reached ponies’ ears.
Starlight narrowed her eyes to take a better look. A few bandages were present on the critter’s head, with the most noticeable one being slightly above its tiny nose. With Applejack’s neck in the way, she walked to the side, and as she expected, bandages covered a fifth of the critter’s body.
“This here is… Ah dunno exactly, that’s why Ah’m here.”
“You want me to identify it?” Starlight asked.
“Not just that, sugarcube,” Applejack said, once again walking up the stairs. She stopped in front of the unicorn and continued, “Ah found this little fella… girl... eatin’ mah apples, bein’ all beaten up and scared. We gave her food and took her to the vet, but…"
“Yes?” Starlight asked with a hint of curiosity as she stared deeply into the critter’s oval eyes.
“Dr. Fauna got her all patched up, but she told me that this critter has memory loss, and had no clue how to heal it,” Applejack explained.
“Memory loss? How can you be sure?” Starlight asked.
Applejack glanced at her passenger in pity. “Whenever we asked her about herself, her family or where she lives, she kept shruggin’, and she's a smart enough cookie to understand us just fine.”
“Are you sure she isn’t faking it to get free shelter?” Starlight asked.
<No, I would never!> the critter responded hastily with a shake of her head. She tapped her paws together and lowered her head. <I’m not a burden already, am I?>
“Free shelter? Nah,” Applejack said with a shake of her foreleg. “Ever since Flim and Flam, Ah can recognize fakes from a mile away, and Ah wasn’t the bearer of the Element of Honesty for nothin’,” she stated while rubbing her chest pridefully.
“Element of Honesty? Let me guess, you can easily tell if somepony’s lying and you’re a terrible liar yourself,” Starlight said with a smirk as she expected amusing response.
“M-maybe,” Applejack said, pursing her lips and glancing around shiftily. “Anyway, can ya magic back her memories, or should Ah wait for Twilight?”
<Element of Honesty, what does that mean?> Raichu asked herself. Was it something important to know? In the end the ponies didn’t understand her, so all she could hope for was for the ponies to be very talkative.
With a determined stare and a firm stomp, Starlight said, “Just leave it to me, I got this.” She walked towards the library and gestured for Applejack to follow. This was it, a chance to prove her worth, and she wasn’t going to waste it.
Raichu looked at the scenery with utmost curiosity, observing the lavender banners, crystal pillars and numerous doors that kept repeating through the long hallway. <Woooow…> She stood on the tips of her hind legs and spread her forepaws. <This place is sooo big!>
“Ya seem excited up there,” Applejack said as she glanced at her passenger. “Ah ain’t blamin’ ya. If all goes well, ya may get yer memories back.”
<That’s not exactly what I was excited about… but now that you mention it, I really, really hope it will work.> Raichu tapped her paws and showed her teeth in a wide smile. <I can’t wait!>
“Are you sure she’s a wild animal?” Starlight asked. “She seems tame to me. Not to mention that most animals hiss, roar, squeak, but none keep repeating over and over words made of, what I assume is their own name. We can as well call her Raichu since keeps repeating it so often.”
“She’s wild alright, but well behavin’,” Applejack said. “Ah never thought Ah would get attached to an apple thief, but she’s the nicest pest Ah met.”
"Chuuu," Raichu exhaled sadly and her ears drooped, her enthusiasm gone.
“Why are you calling her a pest? You’re hurting her feelings,” Starlight said, still remembering how her brutal honesty depressed Pinkie Pie a few weeks ago. Luckily, Maud agreed to stay in Ponyville after all and she remembered her lesson.
“S-sorry,” Applejack said in panic. “Ah didn’t mean it in a mean way.”
<It’s fine…> Raichu said in a depressed tone.
Starlight's horn glowed with white-green aura as she used her magic to open the large double door. Raichu stared with curiosity at the aura of magic. “By the way, were you having any problems with her at the veterinarian clinic?” Starlight asked, giving Applejack a quick glance.
“There was that one time when Dr. Fauna tried to take a blood sample,” Applejack answered, perching herself on a pillow in front of a big rounded table. Hundreds, if not thousand of books on tall bookshelves surrounded her from all sides. For some it was just a big stack of literature that would take a lifetime to read. For Twilight, it was a few months' worth of studying that she got tired of after the fifth read or so.
Starlight chuckled. “Let me guess, she panicked at the sight of the needle and created a mess.”
Applejack shook her head. “Actually…”
“I must say, never in my life have I encountered or read about such an animal,” Dr. Fauna said, clapping her forehooves in excitement. She kept examining the mysterious creature with her brown eyes, studying Raichu’s every detail. “You won’t mind if I take a picture and run some tests once she gets better?” she asked Applejack.
“Ah dunno, she’s wild,” Applejack responded, pointing at the critter sitting on a small rounded chair next to the table. The clinic was filled with tables, drawers and shelves, but no animals except for a few small critters resting on pillows were present.
<I don’t mind,> Raichu said with a nod, a fifth of her body covered in bandages. She observed the doctor whose coat was a light yellow with two-tone blue mane and tail. The weirdest thing however was a tattoo of a dog's head, cat's head, and white bird present on Fauna’s flank. Was it a meaningful symbol of sort? But then, something small caught Raichu’s attention. It was a white rat with a bandaged tail as it walked with short but quick steps. The two started to stare at each other curiously, as if fascinated by the other one.
Tiny long tail, small long floppy ears, fur color similar to the one on her own belly, and those thin whiskers. Raichu had to admit, it was an adorable little creature, and it reminded her of herself.
The rat stared back with wide eyes and straightened ears. Was it her large size that impressed her little creature? Or was it her long tail that it glanced at from time to time? Maybe the rat just saw her as a superior and more evolved version of itself? Whatever the reason, she could see nothing but admiration in those two silvery pupils.
Raichu tilted her head towards the tiny critter and they sniffed each other. She exposed her paw, allowing the rat to jump onto the bronze edge. With the passenger on board, she raised her paw and started affectionately nuzzling the rat’s muzzle with her tiny nose.
“She seems friendly to critters, so I doubt she’s a meat-eating predator. I’m also sixty percent sure she’s a female based on the tone of her voice. I don’t have any data about this species to confirm it, but she seems to agree with my deduction,” Dr. Fauna said before taking a syringe with attached sterilized needle between her teeth. She released it on the table and grabbed it with her hoof. “Studying her blood sample should reveal how healthy she really is and give me some useful data.”
Rat screeched at the sight of the long needle, jumping from Raichu’s paw and hiding behind the pokemon’s shoulder.
Dr. Fauna took a quick glance at her notepad. “Let’s see…You’re a bit bigger than a cat… and the scale said you weighed around twenty-two kilograms. I think a syringe of this size should do,” Dr. Fauna said, taking a slow breath before smiling and speaking calmly to her patient. “Now, please, don’t be afraid. I know needles looks sharp and scary, but I’ll be very gentle. You won’t feel a thing.”
Raichu kept staring at the earth pony with a neutral gaze, not intimidated in the least. The little needle being nothing when compared to the large claws of the beast that left only a few scratches when slashing her belly.
“If you’ll behave, I’ll give you sweets.” Fauna pointed at the basket filled with candy located next to a closed window.
<Sweets?> The mere word seemed quite intriguing.
Dr. Fauna approached with slow steps while Applejack sat behind Raichu in case she needed to hold her in place. “Expose your arm, please,” the veterinarian said. She carefully moved the shining needle toward the paw, quickly locating a vein. With a slow movement, she pushed the syringe down, but the needle failed to pierce the skin. Thinking she was too gentle, she tried again with slightly more force, but with no effect.
Raichu looked between her arm and the doctor pony, and rolled her eyes as the needle tickled her at best. <But of course.>
Drops of sweat started falling down Fauna’s forehead as she put more and more force into her forelegs, glancing occasionally at her patient to ensure she wasn’t in pain. Much to her surprise, the large critter kept staring back at her with a bored expression, her head supported on the other paw.
After half a minute of struggling, the needle broke in half, not leaving any mark on the pokemon’s fur.
Raichu shook her head in disappointment while the rat on her shoulder giggled squeakily in amusement.
“How can you be so squishy, yet so thick skinned? What are you even made of?” Dr. Fauna asked before securing the broken equipment inside a prepared box.
“Ya sure are tough for someone this small,” Applejack commented before poking Raichu’s arm. Her hoof sunk slightly into the fur. How could something this soft be this durable at the same time? Even the skin of earth ponies, known for their durability, could still be pierced with sharp objects.
Dr. Fauna approached with the basket of sweets, catching Raichu off guard. “A promise is a promise. Eat some for your good behavior.”
Raichu looked at the chocolate canes and lollipops and then at the veterinarian. She pushed the basket away and shook her head. <I don’t deserve any of that.>
Applejack placed her forehoof on Raichu’s shoulder and asked, “Ain’t ya still hungry? Ya were starvin’ when Ah found ya.”
“You may seem fat for your size, but our previous tests indicate that you’re probably underweight for your species, so please, don’t be shy,” Dr. Fauna said in a calm and encouraging voice as she placed the basket with sweets on the table. That moment the rat jumped from the pokemon’s shoulder towards the basket, Fauna blocked his path with a hoof. “No sweets for you today, Mr. Patrik. Your behaviour today was anything but good.”
Unable to communicate with words, Raichu pointed at her arm and then at the broken needle which was in the box for damaged equipment in the corner of the room. <You didn’t get my blood, and I damaged your stuff.> She pushed the basket to the side and shook her head.
Dr. Fauna chuckled before taking a red heart-shaped lollipop from the basket and pushing it into Raichu’s mouth.
The pokemon was about to protest, but sweetness overcome her taste buds. Her eyes sparkled. She grabbed the lollipop and started licking intensively.
“You were a very good patient, so you can eat as many sweets as you want.”
Overwhelmed with joy, she placed what was left of her lollipop on the table and spread her forepaws. <This tastes delicious, thank you!> She jumped at the doctor and hugged her neck, the force of the impact pushing the pony at the wall on the other side of the room.
Applejack bit her lip and half-closed her eyes, raising her foreleg protectively as wood fragments started flying across the room. The noise of a loud crash followed. “Oh nelly, that had to hurt.”
The white rat fell onto his back and started laughing while holding his belly, rolling left and right on the table.
Starlight lowered the books she was levitating and narrowed her eyes, now staring between Applejack and the blushing critter, who was hiding curled under the table. “You're messing with me, aren’t you?"
“Ah ain’t kiddin’,” Applejack said, still perched on a pillow. “She tried to hug Dr. Fauna, but ended up tackling her into a wall. It took us five minutes to wake her up, five more until the critter stopped apologizin', and at the end Ah swore to repair the hole once Ah’m done here.”
<I’m sorry! I’m sorry!> Raichu yelled, repeating her name over and over while still covering her blushing face with her forepaws.
“This little girl’s got no memories of her own strength,” Applejack pointed out. “Ah would kick trees from their roots when apple-buckin’ if Ah was in her shoes.”
“Well, that won't be a problem for much longer,” Starlight said with a satisfied smile before pointing at the levitated open book titled as Arts of Mind Healing and Hypnosis. “A simple memory refreshing spell should do the trick. It’s categorized as a medium advanced magic, so casting it for me will be a breeze.”
Raichu walked from under the table and approached the unicorn, now staring curiously at the levitating book. Magic? Whatever it is, if it can fix me I’m fine with it, she thought, her hope renewed. The smile on the unicorn’s face seemed reassuring.
“Cheer up, little one, I’m a professional. One spell, and all your problems will be blown away,” Starlight said as she puffed out her chest and raised her head pridefully.
Applejack took a step back. “When ya say it like that, it makes me worried.”
Raichu felt her heart beating faster and faster, her smile widened and her ears straightened upward. This was it, a chance for this nightmare to end and for her luck to return. She was about to recover the missing part of her life. Memories of her family, home, everything from before being brutally thrown into the ground.
<Hurray!> Raichu shouted, balancing herself on just one hind leg and using it for a cheerful jump. Like a rocket, she shot upward, slamming into the ceiling as her entire head was now stuck in it. Her body and tail were hanging motionlessly while debris fell down and dirtied the clean floor. <I hate jumping sooo much,> she said, her voice muffled by the crystal material she was stuck in.
Starlight and Applejack stared dumbfounded at the two light-yellow feet for a few seconds before looking at each other.
Starlight covered her own mouth with a hoof and laughed. “It seems we have a new chandelier for this library. All we’re missing are a few illuminating gems attached to her tail.”
Applejack rolled her eyes.
<This isn’t funny,> Raichu said with an annoyed frown, hearing the ponies despite the long distance from the floor. <Can any of you free me? Or should I do it myself?>
Starlight’s horn lit as she levitated the large critter down with a bit more rubble falling onto the floor. She stared at the tomato-red face and rubbed the top of Raichu's head, finding her embarrassment to be quite amusing. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix the ceiling with a spell once I’m done with your problem.” She lowered herself to Raichu’s head level and touched the pokemon’s forehead with a horn. She gritted her teeth and focused on the spell, her horn sparkling with magic.
Raichu closed her eyes upon feeling a strong headache, but she wasn’t going to let a little discomfort get in the way.
Starlight yelped as she was forcibly flung back, landing on her rear. “What… happened?”
Applejack ran over and helped her stand. “That’s what Ah wanna know. Did it work?”
Raichu massaged her forehead, trying to recall any memory, yet events from before her encounter with the beast were still missing. <Nooo,> she said with a short “chuuu,” and shook her head.
Starlight narrowed her eyes and cast another spell, this one scanning the large critter from top to bottom. Starlight gasped and took a step back. “She doesn't have amnesia, her memories have been sealed!"
“Sealed?” Applejack asked, tilting her head to the side
<Sealed?> Raichu mimicked.
Starlight stomped. “I know a thing or two about mind affecting spells… not that I’m proud of it,” she remarked, now looking at Applejack. “I detect a strong dark magic affecting her mind and my scanning spell confirmed it. Someone cursed her with a memory seal.”
“Oh no!” Applejack shouted, raising her forehoof up to her face. “Are ya sayin’ someone was so mean to do somethin’ like that to this here cute critter?”
“Cute critter? And here I thought she was a pest to you,” Starlight said in a mocking tone.
“Don't mock me. Can ya do somethin’ 'bout this?”
“Certainly,” Starlight said with a grin, more than happy to accept the challenge.
Raichu took a step back, suddenly feeling uneasy around Starlight. She could sense something off about this unicorn’s aura, as if the pony was planning something reckless. Raichu steeled her nerves and closed her eyes. The ponies had only helped her thus far, and she was going to trust them.
Starlight narrowed her eyes and once again touched Raichu’s forehead with her horn, her concentration way more intense.
Raichu fell to her knees and gritted her teeth, her ears drooped, and paws trembled. A massive rush of pain went hammering through her head. But she wasn’t going to stop it when her missing memories were in her reach.
She had to endure!
Drops of sweat started to appear on Starlight and Raichu’s forehead as both struggled in their own way. Starlight from mental exhaustion as she maintained an advanced spell, and Raichu from pain as the seal on her memory was being bombarded with magic.
"Raichuuuu…!" she screamed, her mouth opened widely. A pain she had never felt before overwhelmed her. What she felt after waking up in the crater, being attacked and slashed by beast’s claws, crashing into the tree or the ceiling, all of this combined seemed like child's play in comparison. It was no longer something she could easily ignore but a soul-wrenching agony.
“Starlight, ya need to stop, yer hurtin’ her!” Applejack shouted as she kept protecting her face with a hoof from the magical bolts that were escaping Starlight’s horn. Luckily for Twilight, not a single bolt reached the shelves with numerous books.
“N-not yet… the seal isn’t broken yet.”
“Chuuuuuuuu...!” the scream continued for at least ten seconds before bolts of electricity from Raichu’s cheeks struck the unicorn’s horn. The moment the agonizing pain weakened, she ran, rolling and crashing into the corner of the room. She curled herself into a ball and held her tail between her trembling paws. P-pain… so m-much p-pain… She closed her eyes as her mind escaped the painful reality, seeking shelter in a world of dreams.
Starlight collapsed. After several quick breaths, she whimpered and massaged her horn, only to grimace upon touching the burned edge. “I was… so close.”
“That was too reckless, even for ya!” Applejack shouted with a firm stomp, her hoof leaving a mark on the floor. “Couldn’t ya tell she was in pain?”
“B-but… this seal is a very powerful one, I only managed to crack it,” Starlight explained before standing on her trembling legs. “I need another try, maybe this time I’ll fully break it.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Applejack said before pointing at the horrified critter. “Do ya think she’ll trust ya again after what ya pulled? Ah think not.”
Starlight bit her lip at the sight of the curled critter, feeling a surge of guilt. She took hesitant steps forward and spoke softly, “I went overboard, I know, and I’m really really sorry.” She added in a whisper, “Please, don’t be afraid.” Upon receiving no response, she sped up, stopping in front of the curled creature. “Are you okay?” she asked, poking Raichu’s shoulder. Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. Now overwhelmed with worry, she cast a quick scanning spell and sighed in relief. “She doesn’t seem wounded, but her brain is under a lot of pressure. I fear using magic on it again can cause a permanent damage.” She levitated Raichu upward and placed her on her own back, grateful that the critter was unconscious. Thanks to this she had time to prepare a proper apology, and Raichu didn’t feel the pain.
Applejack held hat on her chest and said, “So in the end we can’t help this poor girl remember her past? Critter or not, Ah feel really sorry for her.”
“Actually, we can. The seal may not be destroyed, but it is cracked. Her memories should return to her, little by little,” Starlight explained, bringing back a smile to Applejack’s face. “All she needs now is a safe environment and time.”
“Ah see. Ah dunno if Granny will let her into our home, but Ah can always let her sleep on hay in the barn,” Applejack said.
“Actually, I was thinking on letting her stay inside the castle. This place has plenty of empty rooms and she’ll be safe here,” Starlight suggested.
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t look at me like that. I may be reckless, but I’m not stupid. I’ll be very careful,” Starlight said before lowering her head and rubbing her foreleg. “I really screwed up, so the least I can do is make up for my mistake.”
“Fine, Ah’ll leave ya to it for now. But it’s only fair to let Twilight decide.”
Starlight nodded. “Agreed.”
There goes Starlight, messing with people's heads again... the smiles of those villagers when the Mane Six first went to Our Town... those haunted me in my nightmares... but, I'm waiting for Raichu to fire off a lightning bolt/Thundershock and end up getting used as a power source by Twilight or someone like that. Anyways, good chapter, looking forward to more.
intesting I like where this is going
Yeah good story so far
Okay, now I'm faving this.
Not bad. It looks like our Raichu know the move strength. I wonder what her move set is currently at?
8466389
Starlight's weakness is that she rarely think about consequences and think that magic can solve every problem. She's slowly learning, but some character trails are hard to change.
Let's look on the bright side, this time she tried to break a memory seal to help Raichu, but didn't account for the risk (it is an improvement over mind controling her friends for more silly reasons).
8466425
I may I ask what in chapter 2 changed your mind?
8466426
Move strength? Not really. She's just stronger than she thinks. In pokemon size rarely matters, and Pikachu often lifted crazy weights (that one time he tossed Milotic over his head, and that other time pushed Miltank into the air).
I fear her move set will remain a mystery for the poor Raichu, at least until she'll find out from memories of her past. One thing for sure, it won't come quickly.
8466528
Because I can tell that the story will get better with each new chapter.
Poor Raichu, I think she was abandon
I have a feeling this story is going in the right direction. Good thing I tracked it before. Now waiting for further development.
Something even MORE physics breaking and durable than whatever ponies are made of.
till the next skilled liar comes along.
8467165
I agree, even if I often enough slightly hate it if they use a human that is giving in by a little amount of pain and the ponies enduring much more.
This might be a cartoon, but I like it more if either Equestria is affecting the human too, or if the ponies just have the different stature of a horse and nothing more. It is like when I hate them living much longer than the humans they marry in some stories, but I don't mind it if the story is without humans. I just think it is sad sometimes.
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Nice story, I actually started to want Applejack to have Raichu because of the nice beginning, but I knew she would end up with Twilight in the end and the chapter was funny.
I think what I mean is, even if Starlight is one of my favourite Villains/main char, not every story with her is good. Not sure if it is the fact that they are still writing her overly apologetic or because no one really manage to write her that interessting.
8466697
An interesting theory. Though it still leaves unanswered questions who sealed her memories and how did she ended up in a diferent world.
8466761
Not really.
Twilight said that whatever fell from the portal broke sound barrier (the same way Rainbow Dash broke it with Sonic Rainboom). She didn't say that it fell at speed of sound. Besides, I think someone made a theory that for Rainbow Dash to break sound barrier, she needed to fly at 5 mach speed (though I don't remember if it was accurate or not).
Either way, your nitpick isn't exacly a nitpick, since I didn't make a mistake in this part. Raichu just had poor luck of crashing into the ground at speed of 6 mach form 5 kilometers of heigh. But don't worry, pokemon crashed into ground, stone walls and objects at extreme speed, piercing even large stone, and still kept fighting.
8467070
Cool. I hope we won't disapoint.
On a side note, chapter 2 originally was 6.2k words long, but it seemed a bit too long, so I split it. Chapter 2.5 will be uploaded for two days where Twilight will meet with Raichu and decide her fate.
8467165
In MLP, only Pinkie is guilty of breaking laws of physics on a large scale, other ponies do it in moderate fashion. Pokemon however with their crazy battles go on totally new level. (Pokemon mastered the art of combat and survibility, enduring attacks that can cut boulders and buildings in half with only a few scraches, something that Pikachu is guilty of in plenty occasions. There's not much a needle can do against fully evolved Raichu)
8467529
To be fair, ponies live in a world filled with magic, dangerous artecats and gigantic beats. They had to adapt to survive in such harsh enviroment somehow.
Magic not only allow unicorns to cast powerful spells and pegasi to control weather and fly extremely fast, they also boost earth ponies strenght, endurance and farming capabilities, But if unicorns possesed extreme powers, they would die easily by simply having accident with a strong spell, and pegasi would die easily by simply zapping each other with a thunder, so their inner magic also increase their endurance. Which is why Twilight endured being smashed by tons of heavy stuff, or was strong enough to carry 1.5 tonne of weight on her back (TOM).
What I try to say is that, it make sense that humans are way more feeble and vunerable than ponies in such stories, because they come from a world that a simple car accident can get you killed (and they don't posses magic that would strengthen them). So unless a human comes from anime or cartoon where humans have super powers or are extremely durable for whatever reason, it would make no sense for them to be as strong as ponies.
In case of pokemon world however, humans show incredible endurance. An experienced trainer can take attack from his/her pokemon and then some. (Which make sense, or else they wouldn't survive living in a world filled with powerful creatures). It's as if humans were not much diferent from pokemon (they can become stronger and tougher with training, like that Nurse Joy who lifted a Magicarp that had 2.2 meters of height and was 3 meters long. That's 400-800 kilograms of weight). What differ humans from pokemon is that they went for technology, creativity and logical thinking, giving up on using powerful moves, though there was that one gym leader who had psychic power even greater than the pokemon she used. Humans from pokemon wolrd would certanly rival ponies in terms of endurance.
Well, Twilight still needs to make a decision, but I suppouse it was a bit predictable.
To be fair, Twilight now live in a large empty castle with only Starlight and Spike (and her owl) to keep her company, even getting bored as there's not much for her to do. It seemed like a large waste of space and both Twilight and Starlight would use an extra company. I actually was considering between Twilight's castle and Fluttershy's cottage (from all main 6 members, those two seems to have the most resources, time and abilities to take care of Raichu from all main 7 members).
Regardless, there are story-related reason why I made this decision, so while predictable, I hope that the end-goal will justify it.
There's a small story ark between Raichu and Starlight in this story in future chapters, so hopefully I'll write her interesting enough. The bad news is that she'll be quite apologetic, considering that she nearly fried Raichu's brain, but she'll get a chance to shine.
8467673
I understand and heard that often enough, I just think since everything is more or less only theory and them being from a cartoon, there is no reason why they can't adapt the humans to their story or let the world affect them.
I'm just not that much a fan of a main char that has to hide all the while can't do anything else interessting and if they play rough with each other, the human get's a concussion and the pony maybe a bump to the head. I know it can make sense that way, but I know stories that handle it different at least a bit and I like that more. If they are that weak they should be able to shine otherwise.
I just like the theory that if they eat their food or live their for a while that the humans adapt to it, at least to a degree, that it is only a matter of their abilities and not "humans are weaker, so they can't do anything", it is just not fun to me.
The stuff you said about Pokemon and everything made sense or is is a nice enough thought, I just remember several situations in which I hated to see the main char as some kind of wimp or the main six having to protect him. Not sure if it was the main char being protected, or if there exist situations in which I still see the ponies as either weak or to strong.
Not sure what ideas the comic gives, but in some stories I'm not so sure if I like to believe Rainbow beating up an entire army of Changelings, even if they try to tell me she is way to fast or them being to weak. I think somewhere it has to stop sometimes even in such a story. You could say I enjoy a certain amount of realism too, but it depens on every other element.
If nothing else is in conflict with an idea than I don't mind it.
I really hope it sounds in english like it does in my head when I translate it in german.
Well I think I said I don't need them to be that strong, just being like an aditional race to Equestria, the humans often appear to me like there would be no other race that is weaker than them, I think I like to see their strenght being played out more.
(I hope that grammar makes sense, I'm not sure with what I'm writing at the moment. (how to write it)
Oh I can handle a little dose of it too, it depens on how it is written or in which context I guess. It makes sense here.
It seems that you got the idea what I meant with it through, like when she is overly angsty around the main six or everything else and stuff like that, longer than it feels necessary. I stop here, because otherwise I'm probably going to confuse you while describing it more.
ps: did they use that awful colouration for the quotes again?
8467749
On the one hand, any story where the human is utterly useless is likely to suck, unless the whole POINT is to explore the emotional state of a human who's trapped in a world that's trying to be friendly, even as it's full of eldritch abominations.
At the same time, humans are actually kinda weak even by our own world's standards, with the exception of our endurance (which is high) and our intelligence (which is off the charts). A human need not be buffed physically in order to be useful or to play up their strenghts, since while ponies are roughly as intelligent as we are overall, there's definitely categories where ponies just don't get it. For example, the ponies HAVE spells that could plausibly let them build their own magicnet; however, Daring Do is able to pass herself off as fictional in roughly half of Equestria, even as the other half thinks she's an annoying troublemaker, Griffinstone slid into decline and NOBODY updated the tourist guides (pony or otherwise)...
One could certainly say "ambient magic", but my personal pet peeve is stories where the human is assumed to be physically stronger than the ponies by default. Did such authors even watch the show? *shrugs*
8468095
I don't understand that part, I mean even if you would count the cartoon show as some kind of weird proof, where was there a scene that made that showed that Human were weaker or whatever your trying to say with that.
Don't worry I understood what you tried to say, I was just trying to figure out what you meant there.
(I hope I translated that right (by default) and (pet peve)
While I agree that it can be also weird if the human can do everything better than Ponies, I don't just like it when the ponies win by a mile too. I think I like some kind of equal chance for everyone to reach the top, like I enjoy stories in which some characters found ways to even harm those "almighty Alicorns", if it aren't stories in which they could basically trow a planet on them.
Long story short, I think I'm more in the middle of those two opinions, I always enjoyed characters, that can achive great things even while being not that special themself, either because they to clever, crafty or have the advantage of their body.
I hear often in stories that they considered the diamond dogs or humans to have at least the advantage of a better movement (being agile or something), because they where bipedal and could use weapons or something.
I also enjoy good romance, but I hardly see anything where they don't end up in the bed to soon, or where the feelings that are supposed to be there are missing and it only looks like they watch each other as some piece of meat.
Well at least I enjoy this story.
8468245
I'm thinking of three stories in particular, all of which involved humans from "real life". One just kinda assumed humans were stronger than ponies, without really thinking about the issue. Another did it because "humanity f yeah". Humanity F yeah has its place, but it should've played to the advantages we actually have rather than inventing an advantage we most assuredly don't have (if we're dealing with ponies from the show). Still a third did it because "realism", which sounds like a valid reason until you remember that Equestria is a place where the sun and moon need to be moved by magic; as such, realism needs to be applied sparingly in one's world building, not heavyhandedly, unless you wish to build a low-magic Equestria from the ground up.
I suppose it was slightly more forgivable back before earth ponies EXPLICITLY had magically enhanced strength (Tirek incident) and only had implicit stuff from feats that many could have assumed were only one-off visual gags. Since then, anyone writing ponies that are only as strong as their real life counterparts should IMO be fully aware they're breaking from show canon in that respect.
8468393
What issue? I know that horses must have a more durable body, but the issue is already there when trying to combine cartoon with reality. Why should you not just accept both as some kind of reality and meet in the middle or something?
Sometimes even with all theories, I think it is hard to argue about fantasy and call something the "one and only truth" or something like that.
I just remember a certain story in which great power didn't meant that their power meant an equal defense and immunity against all damage.
Like I said even when I can see at least some reason in those arguments, I dislike to just look at it like that one old movie in which cartoon characters lived in the real world and couldn't die no matter what.
I'm not saying that I have a theory, but I bet there aren't that many informations and if they wanted they could add a little fact that would throw everything out of the window and change it quite a bit.
I'm not quite sure what you mean with "Tirek accident" or rather what they exactly said that made it so "unbeliveable", but like I said, that they can apple buck and everything doesn't have to mean that they have to be immune to everything that could kill a human.
I meant if it is a story or if we add the unrealistic component "humans" in the real Equestria, then practically everything could happen.
In a way it is pointless to argue about it, I think I only said that I prefer it in a certain way.
8468431
Tirek incident, not accident; it's when Tirek went around draining all the magic, leaving extremely weak ponies that could barely even lift their heads in his wake. We can thus take it as fully canonical that ponies use magic to supplement their strength. During said fight, Tirek and Twilight went DBZ-but-cuter, demonstrating quite ludicrous durability. We'd need nukes or a LOT of missiles to take him out.
Ponies also have a great many ludicrous durability feats on top of their strength feats, which I thought you were aware of. (falling anvil to Twilight's head, for instance). I'm also a touch more tolerant of writers using whatever they feel like for durability, simply because that's a bit harder to accurately judge than strength...but, well, keep reading.
The pilot episodes make it VERY clear that, without magical intervention, the sun DOES NOT RISE. What's more, this fact is the key driving element of the entire plot; while one could substitute some other reason to retrieve the elements, one must actually make such a substitution.
The Tirek episode makes it very clear that, without magical intervention, the sun DOES NOT MOVE.
The Hearthswarming episode spells it out that, before Celestia and Luna, groups of unicorns were required to move the sun and moon.
The comics go into additional detail, though their admissibility to canon is less clear.
I think you've managed to miss my point. Perhaps I should give some examples of how to do it RIGHT, because ther'es a right way and a wrong way to go about fudging the power levels of humans and ponies.
Bushkeeper buffs the human via ambient magic (and takes place in the distant past anyways), Anon in prison takes "ponies are childlike", dials it up to eleven, and then proceeds to use that as the core premise, building an entire prison-world around that premise; "Ponies are squishy" attempts to analyze pony toonforce, taking it at face value...but then posits that hatred bypasses their toonforce; it's a bit like Undertale that way.
I've already listed some WRONG ways to go about doing it, which I won't repeat.
The term you are looking for is "canon". Some amount of interpretation is going to happen regarding this, of course, but there are some things that the show has established very, very thoroughly-such as "the sun and moon are moved by magic in this world", and "ponies use magic to enhance their otherwise weak muscles". There's also just far too many cases of ponies demonstrating superhuman ability and durability to brush them under the rug as "oh, that's just an animation quirk or one-off joke".
Diverging from canon is also fine-but the amounts of divergence from what canon presents should be matched by an equal amount of worldbuilding, hand-waving, or other form of justification. Since so many events in MLP simply do NOT happen without superhuman ponies, or must be forced to happen in a novel way, it really irritates me when an author writes them as significantly weaker than they are, and then fails to acknowledge that this is, in fact, a significant divergence. (especially a humanity f-yeah story that nerfs the ponies, and then pretends that easy victory against the nerfed ponies means we could beat the ponies-as-seen-in-the-show with ease.)
Finally, let me whip up an example of how I might go about nerfing the ponies to roughly human strength.
First, something severely reduced the levels of magic in equestria in the past. Earth ponies are still somewhat stronger than a human, but unicorns and pegasi are not, with the possible exception of electrical resistance.
This has consequences. Applejack only ever bucks apples for cider season, because doing so results in a bunch of bruised apples on the ground; she just doesn't have the spare magic to make them fall into neat and tidy unbruised piles anymore. Zap apples exist only in the everfree forest, and that tree only produces a few of them each year, which are sold to the Princesses as premium items. Parasprites are much more sluggish, and may be safely kept as pets. The incident with the Ursa minor either has to happen differently or not at all-Twilight was struggling back then.
Finally, and most importantly...the sonic rainboom either never happened, or has to happen differently, because flying that fast would kill an ordinary animal.
If it doesn't happen, this has all kinds of repercussions for equestrian history, as seen in The Cutie Remark.
Conclusion: Equestria with near-human-strength ponies looks noticeably different from Equestria as seen in the show; an author who wishes to make that particular divergence should treat it as the significant divergence it actually is, rather than treating it as a minor divergence. Failing to do so is a pet peeve of mine.
8468808
I'm not trying to be mean, but at this point I probably stop reading the whole comment, you might have some good points, but my reasons are enough for me to not let my mind be changed so easily and it is enough to me that there are a few people who think or like the same.
I can't argue so good, but I still have the feeling it doesn't have to be that way.
Like I said I believe both our opinion isn't changes so easily, which is why I think we should stop here.
So far I think she knows Bounce and Quick Attack. Her ability might be static' seeing as the electricity arced when the manticore used a 'contact move' on her...
This was a pretty exciting chapter, but at one point towards the end it says arm where it should say foreleg.
THANK YOU! Finally, a decent story that actually acknowledges how powerful Pokemon are! I can't tell you how many Pokemon fics out there assume Pokemon are so much weaker than they've been shown to be. I've seen several stories where tough Pokemon like Umbreon and Lucario break their legs or lose teeth or cough blood after taking ordinary attacks in relatively standard battles.
As for the actual story, I found it long before it completed and put it on my "read later" list. I know it's been complete for a while now, but I still want to share my opinion. I feel like some of the dialogue is a little awkward, but otherwise, I can't wait to read more. The slapstick is fun, Raichu is cute, and the ponies are mostly consistent with their canon selves.