Raichu for Hire

by CommanderX5

Rating: everyone
Tags: Pokémon, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, Crossover, Coco Pommel, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Starlight Glimmer
Length: 54671

Twilight and Starlight provided her with a home and food while showering her with kindness and friendship. Determined to repay them, Raichu takes on various jobs, using her skills and survivability to face tasks too dangerous for common ponies.

It has been over two weeks since she woke up in the Everfree Forest, devoid of memories of her past and unaware of her own powers and abilities. Twilight and her friends accepted her, nursed back to health, fed her and provided with a place to live. Despite all the accidents and troubles she caused, she was met with kindness, forgiveness and friendship.

With part of her memories restored and aware of her survival and combat abilities, Raichu is determined to repay their kindness. How? By becoming a mercenary (help for hire) and earning her keep.

No matter how dangerous or silly the job, no matter if her life would be in danger, she was going to be useful. Will ponies underestimate her due to her innocent and weak appearance? Or will she prove them wrong and make her caretakers proud?

List of Prof-readers:
Jay Tarrant (Thanks for very quick proof-reding and all your constructive feedback).

Golarala (Thanks for checking for missing errors in prologue and chapter 1).

SilverDiamond (Thanks a lot for a very quick assistance with the side-story, it will greatly haste the uploading progress.)

Published 2018-03-24 19:00:07 UTC
Last updated 2018-04-08 12:21:04 UTC

Ch.1 - An Apple Picking Minute

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 1
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An Apple Picking Minute

One tree and a solid kick with her rear hooves was all it took to fill two baskets with apples. Applejack was about to pick up the baskets, but stopped, massaging her forehead. Darn headaches. She stomped before attaching the baskets to her sides. Ah’ll fall behind schedule, if this keeps up…

“Hey, Applejack! Guess who’s visiting!”

Applejack’s train of thought was interrupted as her eyes rested upon the approaching group, or more specifically, on the passenger on Pinkie’s back. “Well, well, well, if it ain’t the lost hungry Raichu? Ah haven’t seen ya for two weeks or more.” She approached, her eyes fully focused on the waving critter.

Without any warning, Raichu climbed onto Pinkie’s head and leaped forward, tackling and embracing Applejack’s neck. Her hooves dug short trails as she refused to tip over.

“There, there, Ah missed ya too, but it was just two weeks, no need to get so sappy,” Applejack commented.

“I’m so sorry! After all you did for me, I forgot to thank you! I was so focused on my own problems that I forgot about you! I’m really, really sorry!”

Applejack was about to respond, but words ended up stuck in her mouth. She gazed upon Raichu as if seeing a ghost, her mouth agape. “Ya… ya can speak… without repeating yer name. Since when?”

Raichu released the farm mare and took a few steps backward. “Oh, right… about that…”

Pinkie leaped forward, landing with her forehooves on Raichu’s head as she looked at Applejack in excitement. “It’s all thanks to Twilight and Starlight. At first, they made Raichu a collar to restrain electricity as Nica -Raichu’s name is Nica by the way- had no idea how to control her powers. The collar failed spectacularly and she electrocuted a bunch of fillies and colts at school by accident caused by an overwhelming amount of limb-pulling and hugs.” She took a quick breath and continued, “Using stronger magic, Maud’s gems and Rarity’s fashion, they made another collar which was strong enough to keep her electricity from escaping, and it worked. Recently, Twilight improved the collar even more, and now Nica can speak our language as long as she wears it. Isn’t this great? No more writing messages or body-gestures, no more ‘Raichu’ being repeated over and over. I couldn’t contain my excitement when I found out about this. Now it’s your cue to be excited, Applejack.”

Nica opened her eyes and said in annoyance, “What she said,” tilting her head.

Applejack displayed an uneasy smile, feeling heavy by merely looking at the poor critter. According to Dr Fauna, Raichu weighed twenty two kilograms when she brought her for a checkup, and average mares weigh up to a hundred kilograms. Seeing as most of Pinkie’s weight was now pressed against Nica’s head made her wonder how she was still able to stand. “Ummm… Pinkie… would ya kindly step from our little friend?”

“Oops, sorry.” Pinkie jumped backward, withdrawing her forehooves.

“It’s alright,” Nica said, massaging back of her neck before giving the party mare a patient smile. She lowered her head and tapped her forepaws nervously. “Miss Applejack… When I was hungry, hurt and scared, I stole your apples, but you and Apple Bloom forgave me and fed me. You cleaned my fur and took me to the doctor. You introduced me to Starlight, who damaged the seal blocking my memories, and her mentor gave me shelter at her castle.” She took hesitant steps forward and looked up with puppy eyes. “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, and apologize for being a pest. I was so focused on fitting in–”

Applejack sealed the critter’s mouth with a hoof. “Say no more. Ah just did what was right, and ya behaved yerself better than any rodent Ah’ve ever met.” She lowered her head to the critter’s level. “Yer welcome to visit anytime ya want, and Ah’m glad yer likin’ it here.” She raised herself to her full height and rubbed the top of Nica’s head. “And Ah must say, now when ya can say more than just yer name, ya sound very sincere, Nica. Ah like that.”

She blushed. “You’re too kind. To be honest, I came here to ask if I can repay your kindness in any way.” Nica puffed her chest and poked it with her paw. “If you need a helper or worker, I’ll do my best.”

Applejack eyed the long-tailed creature from top to bottom. Never before had any critter, pest or rodent ever offered to work for her. Rats, bunnies, beavers and fruit-bats… her interactions with animals usually ended in disaster. “Well… Ah think Ah can think of somethin’ ya can help with.” The pokemon looked back at her with glee.

Pinkie poked Nica’s shoulder and spoke up, “I need to go back to the bakery for now. You memorized the way to Sweet Apple Acres, right?”

“I did, thanks for showing the way.”

“No biggie. I’m always happy to help a friend. Good luck at your first job, miss mercenary.” Pinkie giggled and bounced away, vanishing behind the lines of trees and bushes.

“Mercenary?” Applejack asked in confusion.

“Long story,” Nica said before standing up on the very tips of her rear paws while holding her forepaws curled in front of her belly. “So, how can I help?” Her tail started swinging back and forth as she stared with eagerness in her eyes.

Applejack chuckled nervously. She's as lively as an excited puppy, she almost looks like Winona. Now… how can a critter like her help me? She pointed at a nearby tree and asked, “How ‘bout ya carry empty baskets while Ah buck some apples… Think ya can do it?”

She nodded eagerly and followed her friend’s instructions.

Big Mac walked at a steady pace while pulling a large empty wooden cart with four wheels, like a train with one wagon heading for another delivery of apples gathered by his sister.

His ears perked up at the noise of steps. Those weren’t hoofsteps however, but rather paws making contact with grass at quick pace. A moment later, he noticed a large critter running with a load of apples. Is that tail rounded around two full baskets? He observed the critter curiously who seemed to spot him and run in his direction on its rear paws. Two little forepaws were wrapped around a third basket. Is she the guest mah sister mentioned?

Nica jumped, not slowed down by the gathered apples which seemed to weigh more than her body. She landed on the stallion’s back and next hopped into the cart, carefully unloading the baskets.

Big Mac glanced into his cart and blinked in confusion. “Ya don’t need to be so gentle. Apples here are tough, ya can just dump them.”

Nica jumped from the cart and ran towards another tree, waiting for more apples to fall. Trotting back, she balanced a massive tower of apples in a basket on her head, which was shaking slightly with each of her steps. She bit her bottom lip and spread her forepaws as her legs were shaking.

With slow steps, Big Mac approached the struggling creature and unbuckled himself from the cart. He grabbed the basket from Raichu’s head and stood on his rear hooves before dumping the cargo into the cart.

“Thank you!” the critter said with a warm smile before jumping a meter upward and made a 180 turn, sliding more apples into the growing pile from two baskets wrapped by her tail. She made a short jump to the side and looked up at the towering stallion. “We haven’t met before. My name is Nica and I’m a pokemon, the Raichu species to be precise. Nice to meet you,” she said with a beaming smile as she grabbed Bic Mac’s massive foreleg and raised it upward, shaking energetically.

“Thank ya,” Bic Mac said. “Nice to–” he failed to finish as the weird creature already ran towards another tree, leaving empty baskets under it while picking up three apple-filled baskets at once. After she returned with more cargo, he continued, “Mah name’s Big Mac.” He helped unload the cargo. With his sister filling at least six baskets with a single kick while not wasting time with their transportation, it became clear that this Raichu didn’t have a single second of break just to keep up. “Ah’m Applejack’s brother.”

After unloading more cargo and wiping sweat from her forehead. Nica raised his massive hoof and shook it once more. “Nice to meet you. I owe a lot to your family, it’s a pleasure being helpful for a change.” Using her tail for support, she raised her entire body up to Big Mac’s level and nuzzled his cheek.

This is one hard workin’ visitor. Ah’m impressed. She may lack the strength of an earth pony, but she’s quite quick on her feet and creative with her tail, Big Mac thought. The moment his new fluffy friend stopped nuzzling him -which he actually found heartwarming- Big Mac turned around and looked at the apples inside his cart, and next at the barn on the horizon. Ah feel mah rounds are goin’ to get much more frequent.

Nica ran on four legs, holding an empty basket between her teeth. After placing it under a tree, she released a stack of empty baskets she held with her tail, placing them in their proper positions. One quick look at Applejack’s satisfied face filled her with joy. There was something fulfilling about helping others, and repaying ponies for their kindness and support seemed especially enjoyable. Enjoyment and fulfillment aside, the way Applejack collected apples caught her interest.

She focused on Applejack’s body movements, studying her technique. The way this mare raised her rear hooves, displaying unshaken balance as she held her rear legs very close to her belly. The following strike caused the tree to shake as a rain of apples half-filled the baskets.

“Can I try?”

“Huh? What do ya mean?” Applejack asked. “Ya want an apple?”

Nica ran towards the closest tree and turned around. With half-closed eyes filled with determination, she placed her forepaws close together and raised her body, holding her rear legs raised as close to her belly as she could.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but at yer size ya won’t get much done.” Applejack raised rear leg and glanced at it. “Ah got hard hooves and years of apple bucking. Ya may be quick, but yer little paws just ain’t gonna do it.”

Nica looked behind and up at the towering tree and gulped, the large size difference being a clear reminder of her miniscule size. Despite having significantly bigger feet than the tiny ones she had in her previous evolutions, they were still way smaller when compared to pony legs. Her little bronze edges being no match for big and sturdy hooves. She took a deep breath and grit her teeth, unleashing all of her strength as her legs hit the surface of the tree. Two apples fell on the soft grass while a few branches shook slightly. Her ears drooped at her poor performance.

“Ya actually dropped an apple or two, color me impressed,” Applejack said before rubbing the top of Nica’s head. “Cheer up. Ya tried and did nice for yer size, but it ain’t a job for ya.”

Raichu looked at her own tail before raising it, her eyes now fully focused on the thunder-shaped end. I wonder… Thinking back to her recent memories, she learned how to use ‘Iron Tail’ not long after evolving into Pikachu, which proved nearly as destructive as her electricity. As Raichu however, her tail was longer and much more flexible. Maybe if I don’t aim with the sharp part?

“Ya keep staring at yer tail. Is somethin’ wrong?” Applejack asked.

She bit her lip, focusing a small portion of her power into her tail as the yellow part started to glow in a metallic grey. Looking between her tail and the towering tree, she aimed with the blunt part of her tail and swung lightly. At least nine apples fell onto the grass. That’s odd. I swung very lightly, so why did I hit with so much force?

Applejack lowered herself to take a better look and next poked the tail. “What’s that?”

“I’m using ‘Iron Tail’ for a boost in power. It seems the strength of my tail increases a lot when I do that,” she explained before sending a little more power into her tail, and next hitting the tree with slightly more force. A few apples bounced against Applejack’s hat, and she quickly flinched to the side out of reflex to avoid falling apples.

“Oh nelly, that’s some strong tail ya got there. An’ here Ah though it was just for show.”

Nica smiled in pride, displaying her shining teeth. This was it. By not aiming with the sharp part of her tail, she could use ‘Iron Tail’ for more than destruction. With just bits of her power, she could strengthen her tail several times over. Finally something useful. Wanting to experiment more, she started increasing the power of her tail, swinging it stronger and stronger before replicating the results of Applejack’s technique. “It’s working!” With a wide smile, she quickly delivered the cargo of apples, dumping it in Big Mac’s cart before placing them under another tree. A few light swings of her tail being enough to fill them without damaging the tree.

“Yer a natural at this,” Applejack said before gritting her teeth and massaging her forehead. “Stupid headaches, they’re gettin’ annoyin’,” she murmured to herself, grumbling. “Maybe Ah could use a short nap.”

Feeling a growing excitement, Nica backflipped cheerfully. Since I know how much power I need to use and how hard to hit, I may as well be more creative and have some fun. I hope Applejack doesn’t mind.

Nica stood on her four paws, lowered like a panther preparing to ambush her prey. Her tail slapped against the ground with a loud thump and weak quake. “Apple-tail-bucking time!” She grinned and half-closed her eyes, her ears straightened upward. She dashed forward, scattering the dirt and grass with her steps. With a wild turn, she circled an apple tree, hitting it in multiple spots with her tail continuously, taking ten seconds before the baskets were full and the tree became bare. Some leaves fell onto the ground as a side effect.

“Ya seems to be havin’ fun. If yer so eager to help, Ah won’t stop ya.” Applejack approached the closest tree and supported her back against it, lowering her hat to cover her eyes, and next crossed her rear legs. “Nica, just wake me up once ya get tired, and Ah’ll take mah turn.”

“Alright,” Nica answered while delivering apples into the cart. “Seems it is just you and me left, Big… pony… Let’s do our best.”

“Eeyup… and the name’s Big Mac.”

“Big Mac, got it! Let’s work hard and have fun!”

Applejack relaxed herself. Before she knew it, her nap turned into a deep sleep.

Big Mac was a strong hard-working stallion, this was a fact, yet his extreme strength didn’t mean he had an unlimited stamina. Transporting tons of apples to the barn on long distance for hours without a break was simply impossible.

This time however he wasn’t working with his sister but with a creature from a distant land, who made up for her lack of strength with powerful attacks, speed and stamina.

Breathing heavily, Big Mac sat and lowered his head, allowing his tense muscles to relax. He glanced at Applejack who kept napping. Mah sister sometimes took breaks from work, but they were always short, yet here she still sleeps for the third hour. Those headaches must really tire her out. He massaged his own forehead. Ah can’t show weakness now…

“Are you tired?”

Big Mac opened his eyes and looked around before glancing down, being greeted by the worried oval eyes of the large critter. “Ah should ask ya the same question.” He gently wiped a few drops of sweat from Nica’s forehead. A mere look at the wide white belly and her mouth showed her quickened breath rate.

Nica rubbed back of her neck and smiled sheepishly. “Don’t worry about me, I’m not tired at all.”

Big Mac rolled his eyes. Seems Ah’m not the only one tryin’ to act tough. He untied himself from his cart and picked a few apples, presenting them to his little worker. “Eat up. Ya were workin’ for three hours without a break, ya must be hungry.”

She smiled nervously before hiding it behind an insincere smile. “T-thank you… they look… tasty.”

Big Mac ate an apple with two bites, taking another one a moment later. After finishing his fifth, he glanced at the pokemon who still hadn’t started eating. “Don’t be shy and eat, ya earned it.” He could see Nica’s little mouth open, displaying white teeth with four tiny fangs which sank into the juicy apple a moment later, yet the grimace which appeared on her face was hard to ignore. After waiting for his small companion to finish her apple, he asked, “Ya don’t like… apples?”

Nica shook her head, but he could tell she was lying.

“Ah won’t be mad, so please, be honest.”

Nica sighed and nodded. “I’m sorry…” She looked to the side. “I really love sweets, but I dislike sour tastes… I can’t help it.” She glanced at Applejack in distance who was still napping on a higher ground. “Don’t get me wrong, your apples are very juicy. When I was hungry and thirsty, I couldn’t help myself but eat lots of them. But now...” She looked up, staring deeply into his eyes. “Please, don’t tell your sister that I dislike apples.”

Big Mac chuckled cheerfully. “Don’t worry, yer secret is safe with me.” He sat and grabbed Nica between his massive hooves, holding her in front of his muzzle. “How ‘bout a pear pie instead? Pears are sweet.”

“That sounds lovely!” Nica shouted with glee and licked his muzzle before pushing his hooves away with her paws and tail, landing softly on the soil. “But there’s still work to do.”

“Well, Ah need a break. How ‘bout we go home and make a pear pie together while on break?”

“B-b-but… w-work… h-helping…” the pokemon said while tapping her paws, her ears dropped and a sad pout was present on her face. “I can run to the barn with baskets and back and forth while you eat the pie.”

Big Mac closed his eyes and shook his head. “Ah need yer help with makin’ this pie. Ya won’t leave me to do all the work on mah own, will ya?”

Nica shook her head and circled around the stallion. “Of course not, ya can count on me!”

Big Mac chuckled. She’s just too sweet. We’re goin’ to get alon’ just fine.

“Applejack, wake up.”

“Huh, what?” Applejack stretched herself and fixed her hat, now staring at her brother. Not wasting a moment, she pushed herself to a standing position and swung her foreleg enthusiastically. “It sure was a nice nap, Ah feel strong and ready.” She looked around in search for her little assistant. “Where’s Nica?”

“She left. All our chores are done already.”

Applejack laughed before poking Big Mac’s chest. “Good one, big brother. But seriously, where’s Nica?”

“Ah told ya, she left the farm. Ya slept for four... five hours, and she’s done all your chores already.”

“W-what!” Applejack gasped. “Ah slept for five hours?” She stood up on her rear hooves and looked around, her attention focused on the upper part of the trees among the green sea of leaves. Most of the apples in the area were gone. “Yer serious?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said with a nod.

“She did seven hours worth of chores in five?”

“Eeyup?”

“But Ah told her to wake me up once she gets tired,” Applejack pointed out.

“She kept jumping and dancing cheerfully during her work and refused to take a break. Ah convinced her to eat somethin’, but she asked to not wake ya up.”

Applejack could do little but stare at her brother in shock. As a hard-working earth pony, she always had plenty of strength and stamina, but even she needed to take a short break after an hour or two of apple bucking. If somepony told her that a large critter would surpass her in hard work and stamina, she would laugh in his face and call him crazy.

Big Mac chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Applejack asked, now seeing the grin on her brother’s face.

“It seems Nica beat ya at yer own game.”

Applejack groaned as she struggled to push words through her throat. “Seems she did. So… what now? Our chores are done, so we can do whatever we want for today.”

“Eeyup.”

“Ah have an idea. Ah’ll bake some apple pies for Nica to thank her, she’ll love them.”

"Ah'm sure she will." Big Mac chuckled nervously. "Just... don't forget to add lots of sugar."

"Extra sweet cakes for a sugarcube like Nica? Got it," Applejack said with a firm nod, earning a satisfied smile from her brother.

Ch.2 - Electric Critter the Foalsitter

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 2
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Electric Critter the Foalsitter

“Pinkie Pie! Where are you?”

Pinkie flinched and slipped on a bar of soap, slamming her head into the slippery floor of the bathroom. Cheerful laughter of two very young ponies filled the room. After a moment to shake the stars from above her head, Pinkie glanced at the foals, a little pegasus and unicorn whose faces were visible among the bubbles and water.

Knowing better than to leave the troublemaking duo alone in the bathtub, she slowly opened the door and asked, “Nica, is that you?”

“Yes! Where are you?”

“Over here! Just go upstairs and look for the open door!” Pinkie shouted before her attention once again focused on the children. The moment Nica peeked inside, she grabbed her by the shoulder in a side-hug. “Perfect timing! I need help and I need it now!”

Several pears and apples –which were wrapped by Nica’s long tail– fell onto the floor as she gave the party mare a confused stare, which quickly shifted into a look filled with determination. It didn’t matter that she ran all the way from Sweet Apple Acres after hours of work, she still had stamina to spare and could no doubt ignore her tired muscles. “Whatever it is, I’m on it.”

Pinkie released her and bounced towards the bathtub, picking up two little wet ponies before placing them on the carpet. “Nica, meet Pound Cake,” she said, pointing at the yellow-white pegasus with bronze mane who waved his forelegs and released happy noises. “And Pumpkin Cake.” She pointed at the yellow unicorn with orange mane who shook her wet fur and started chewing Pinkie’s tail.

Nica gasped, staring into their blue and bronze eyes. Those weren’t normal fillies and foals, but tiny adorable defenseless toddlers. Their heads… are sooo big, and their bellies so small… Suddenly, an image of a transparent Pichu appeared before her. A mere look at the tiny ponies reminded her of her unevolved younger self. As a Pichu she also had an extremely large head and tiny belly.

“Hellooo... Pinkie to Nica, there’s no time for daydreaming,” Pinkie said as she waved her foreleg in front of the Raichu’s face.

Nica blinked and shook her head. The ponies before her were nearly as small as she was in the past. There was one major difference however. Now that I think about it, it took a lot of time before I proved worthy to evolve into Pikachu, facing hundreds of battles against stronger opponents while having a feeble body. It toughened me up a lot. But those tiny ponies look like the most fragile beings in the world. And they’re sooo innocent and cute!

“The Cakes got an order for a large delivery and they tasked me with a foalsitting job, but I could really use some backup. So, are you in, or are you in?”

Nica blinked in confusion, staring into Pinkie’s eyes as she struggled to comprehend the meaning behind her request. She slowly turned her head to look at the tiny ponies and bit her bottom lip, her eyes becoming as wide as plates. “Oh no…” She pushed herself free from Pinkie’s hold and started walking backward. “Oh no, no, no, no, no…”

“What’s wrong?” Pinkie asked.

“What’s wrong?” She gulped before giving Pinkie a panicked stare. “What’s wrong?! Did you forget that my last encounter with a bunch of fillies and colts ended up with me,” she held forepaw on her chest, “electrocuting them!” She hyperventilated. “My heart nearly broke that day, and I was lucky that no one was seriously hurt.” She pointed at the two tiny ponies with her trembling forepaw. “And after all that, you want me to take care of the most tiny and vulnerable beings, are you insane?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Bygones are bygones, besides, you now have that neat collar.”

Nica touched the collar on her neck as her breathing slowed down. She shook her head and said, “That’s not the point. Even with this collar, I’m still way too dangerous to be entrusted with kids of this age. I’ve tackled ponies into walls and head-smashed into ceilings whenever I was excited.”

“But you got waaay better with your jumping. Besides, the young Cakes seems to like you already.”

Nica looked down, now watching as the little unicorn climbed up her leg before nuzzling her belly, sinking herself into her white fluff. A moment later she felt the light pegasus land on her head and start chewing her ear. Nica whimpered, wishing that she would rather face a giant beast in the Everfree Forest.

Pinkie assaulted her with pleading eyes. “I really really really need your help with this. Pretty please!”

Nica closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She owed the ponies a lot, so how could she say no, especially to Pinkie who always gifted her with the most delicious sweets and cakes. “F-fine…” Noticing how the pegasus flew away from her head and was now circling around her tail, she asked, “Are there any pillows around?”

“Pillows? On it!”

Nica stared at the party mare in confusion, seeing as her head, neck and forelegs were now digging themselves into the large tail. Did this mare manage to hide half of her body in her own tail? How’s that possible? Maybe using tail as storage is normal for ponies?

“Cupcake… no… umbrella… no… here it is!” Pinkie pulled a pink pillow with numerous sunflowers stitched on it and presented it to the large critter.

Not wasting a moment, Nica grabbed the pillow and pushed it against the yellow part of her tail. She sighed in relief.

“What are you doing?” Pinkie asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? My tail is a little bit sharp at edges, so I put it into a pillow.” She moved her tail towards Pinkie as Pound Cake landed and perched himself on it.

“Clever,” Pinkie said with a wide smile.

“Cute plushy…” Pumpkin Cake said as she climbed up her shoulder and next poked her nose. “Funny plushy.”

“Soft plushy,” Pound Cake said as he rolled on the pillow attached on her tail.

Nica resisted the urge to cry and her lips started shaking. Should she dare to leave even a scratch on those precious little beings, jumping down from a cliff –preferably into sharp rocks– as punishment would be the next thing on her agenda.

“Okay, so here’s what we’ll do,” Pinkie said, gesturing over the kitchen. “Do you see this bottle with orange goo… Apparently it’s healthy for kids to eat, but they don’t like the taste.” She pointed at the bottle and cupcake on the table. “We can always give them some sweets or cupcakes as last resort.”

Nica and Pinkie’s ears perked upward at the noise of ringing.

“On it!” Pinkie shouted before picking the kids from her back and placing them on the pillow attached to Nica’s tail. “I need to answer the customer and put a closed sign on the door. Try to feed them until I’m be back, okay?”

“B-but–” Nica failed to answer as the party mare had already dashed towards the door and downstairs. She looked at the confused duo as drops of sweat started falling down her forehead. “It’ll be alright… it’ll be alright…”

“Pinkie? Where’s Pinkie?” the young ponies said, calling for their caretaker.

Nica gulped before approaching the bottle with orange goo, sinking her paw into it. “Here you go… eat up.” She presented her paw covered in orange food to the fillies, who stared back at her in confusion. “What?”

The little unicorn crossed her front hooves and next pointed at the nearby shelf. The moment Nica opened it, several spoons caught her attention.

“Oh… ooooohhh…” Nica smiled sheepishly at realization. Her human trainer did use spoons and forks when eating. “How silly of me.”

Pound Cake flew towards the cupcake and grabbed it.

“Hey… don’t eat that,” Nica said as she leaped forward very lightly, snatching the cupcake away with a swift move of her forepaw. “You can eat this cupcake only after you eat some of… whatever that orange thing is.” Seeing tears forming in the pegasus’ eyes, she said, “No, please, no.” A wild loud crying overtook the room as Nica flinched and covered her ears, smudging some of the orange goo over them. Without a second to waste, she returned the cupcake. “Here you go, just please, don’t cry.” As the wild crying was replaced by a cheerful laughter, she sighed in relief.

“Cookies!”

Nica turned around, noticing a jar filled with cookies being levitated in a magical aura. The aura was shrinking though.

Nica bit her bottom lip and next jumped forward, catching the jar before it could hit the floor. Her tail remained straightened to keep the unicorn passenger from falling.

Pumpkin Cake clapped with her forehooves before stepping from the pillow, walking on the long black tail in the direction of the jar. Pound Cake reached it first and dived in between numerous cookies.

“Stop it, please,” Nica said as she pulled the pegasus from the jar, who shot her a raspberry and started flapping its tiny wings at rapid speed. Before Nica even noticed, she was being pulled by the smaller creature. Using her own strength she pulled in the opposite direction, her legs anchored against the floor. Noticing that she was losing this battle, she placed the unicorn on the floor and next wrapped her tail around nearby cupboard. She grit her teeth, her paws which were tired after hours of work were shaking as she struggled against the little pony. How… how are ponies this strong? Big Mac, Applejack, Lily Longsock, and now Pound Cake. How can I compete against it? Her ears picked the noise of cracking wood. Oh please no! The cupboard her tail was wrapped around shattered into pieces. Like a bolt shot from a crossbow, she and the pegasus she held flew towards the closed door at increasing speed.

Out of desperation, Nica pressed the pegasus into her belly and wrapped him with her four legs, trying to surround him with her entire body. Her back pierced through the door, scattering wood all over the place. Their trip continued as Nica rolled towards the stairs, bouncing against them like a ball. The moment she lost momentum, she pressed her rear paws against the floor to pull herself to a full stop.

“Nica? What happened?” Pinkie asked as she dashed in her direction.

Nica ignored Pinkie and looked at the pegasus pressed against her belly, picking him up in search for scratches or injuries, though his cheerful laughter calmed her and slowed her rapid breathing. She put the little pony in Pinkie’s embrace and wiped sweat from her forehead.

“Is Pumpkin Cake still in the kitchen?”

Nica’s face became pale, imagining what kind of horrors the tiny unicorn could get herself into after being left alone for several seconds. After two seconds of dashing, she leaped into the room and looked around in panic, only to see Pumpkin Cake chewing on a cookie next to a pile of cookies, the jar was lying on the floor, no doubt tripped over by the hungry toddler. Sensing how Pinkie Pie somehow appeared behind her without taking a single step, she turned around and smiled at her sheepishly. I can handle hours of hard labor, but a few minutes of foalsitting is killing me.

The foalsitting job continued for the next two hours, which involved a game of hide and seek, one long-lasting singing performance done by Pinkie Pie and…

“P-p-please… don’t cry…” Nica said as she held Pumpkin Cake in her paws, waving gently left and right in attempt to calm her down. A small bandage was wrapped around a small bruise on the unicorn’s knee. Just a few minutes ago both young ponies got into argument with each other over a plush bunny. Nica and Pinkie separated the duo, but not before Pound Cake’s extreme strength was used against his sister. Nica’s eyes watered on their own. “Ev-everything will be ok-okay… By seeing you sad… I… I feel…” She started sobbing as well, which in turn calmed the little pony in her embrace.

Pumpkin Cake focused her magic on a bag of flour, levitating it towards herself, but the moment she released it, Nica’s pillow-tail intercepted it in mid-air.

“Awww… it seems Pumpkin tried to cheer you up,” Pinkie said as she wiped tears from Nica’s cheeks with her tail. “How about we put them to sleep. The Cakes should be back soon.”

Nica nodded, following Pinkie Pie while walking on her rear feet. While Pound Cake –depressed in his guilt– was being held captive by Pinkie’s tail, his sister was held safe in Nica’s embrace.

The moment they entered a room with two beds surrounded by wooden bars, Nica placed Pumpkin Cake on her pillow-tail and started untying her own collar. An idea was born in her mind.

Pinkie placed Pound Cake in his bed and said with angered tone, “Now go to sleep, young mister, and think about what you’ve done. You’re very strong for your age, so you need to be very carefully with your pounding.”

Pound Cake lowered his head in shame.

Pinkie glanced at Nica and turned around, looking at her in confusion. Pumpkin Cake was being gently swayed back and forth on the pillow-tail, as in a crib, while Nica’s calm singing filled the room.

“Raichu Rai, Raichu Rai, Raichu Rai Rai Rai Rai Rai, Raichu Rai, Raichu Rai, Rai Rai Rai Rai, Rai Rai…”

“Is that… a lullaby?” Pinkie smiled and started shaking her head left and right to the rhythm of the calm song. Once sleeping Pumpkin Cake was taken from tail-pillow and placed on her bed-pillow, she approached and said, “You have a very pleasant voice, you should consider singing more.”

Nica picked up the collar and tied it on her neck. She looked up at the party mare and blushed. “My mom often sang to me whenever I felt depressed or was hurt. To be honest… I didn’t remember all the words. I thought my singing would work better if nopony could understand me.”

Pinkie chuckled and next rubbed top of Nica’s head.

“By the way. Do you know if there’s any cliff, or a large pile of very sharp rocks nearby Ponyville?”

“Nope, but my sister may know, why do you ask?” Pinkie asked with a shake of her head.

Nica’s ears dropped as she started tapping her forepaws together. She glanced at the bandage on unicorn’s knee and answered, “N-no reason…”

Ch.3 - Harder than a Rock

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 3
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Harder than a Rock

Nica followed Pinkie, trotting in excitement with red sky and descending sun in the background. Thus far, all of Twilight’s friends were extremely kind and fun to be around, even though assisting Pinkie today turned out to be too stressful for her liking. If a sweet and kind pony like Pinkie Pie had a sister who was living near Ponyville, she was eager to meet her.

“Here we are,” Pinkie said as she pointed at the hole in the ground before jumping in.

Nica followed, landing softly on the hardened ground as she was now in a cave. Outside of the sunlight that entered into the cave through the hole in the ceiling, several brightly shining gems on the walls lit up the area. Nica’s eyes sparkled at the multicolored spectacle. “Sooo… shiii...nyyy…”

“You like it? My sister’s home is close by, so she decorated nearby walls with gems… with Rarity’s help of course.”

The pokemon nodded. “It’s almost as colorful and shiny as Twilight’s room with the map.”

Pinkie wrapped her tail around Nica’s belly and placed her on her back. “If you like this place, you’ll love Maud’s home, it has everything: A soft bed, small lake and…” She paused and stretched her right ear.

Nica’s ears perked upward as she picked up the noise of a hoof making contact with a rock. She held Pinkie’s neck as the mare dashed in direction of the noise.

“There you are, Maud, I’ve been looking for you!”

Nica waited for her ride to slow down before peeking from behind her neck. In front of her stood a grey pony with violet mane wearing blue clothes, her facial expression displayed pure boredom… but her aura… Nica rubbed the top of her own head in confusion. If this pony was really bored, why was aura of excitement and happiness so strong?

“Hello Pinkie.”

Pinkie Pie started bouncing in place before lowering her head and pointing at her passenger. “I brought a friend with me, the one we needed your gemstones for.”

Nica stepped from Pinkie's back and waved. “Hello Miss Maud.” She held a forepaw on her chest and performed a polite bow. “My name’s Nica, I’m a pokemon and my species is Raichu.” She approached and raised her forepaw. “It’s a pleasure meeting a sister of such a kind and sweet pony like Pinkie Pie.” It took a few seconds before Maud’s hoof touched the bronze edge of her paw and shook it.

“A pleasure…”

“And I’m really grateful for your help. Thanks to your gems, I no longer fear of hurting others with electricity.” Nica held her forepaw on her own chest, her voice calm and serious, “It means a lot to me, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Maud answered.

Pinkie raised her foreleg in a lecturing gesture. “Now, I know Maud may look and sound very dull, as if devoid of emotions.”

Maud continued for her sister, “I’m poor at expressing myself.”

Nica shook her forepaw dismissively. “Not a problem, I can sense your emotions just fine.”

“Sense my emotions?” Maud asked, still not moving an inch.

“You feel a lot of joy, most likely because your sister is visiting,” Nica said, receiving a slow nod. “I sense your curiosity whenever you’re looking at me. I also sensed some excitement, though I can’t tell what excites you.”

“Wooooow, you’re gooood,” Pinkie said before pulling a little cookie out from her tail and threw it up.

Straightening her own tail upward, Nica directed the falling cookie to slide towards her open mouth. Once done chewing and gulping, she asked, “You like it? I have plenty more tricks I can show you.”

“Please, do.” Maud sat and nodded.

Nica looked around, picking up the closest pebble and placed it on her nose. She stood on four paws and raised her rear legs before balancing herself on a single paw. With a quick movement of her head, she threw the pebble upward, quickly switching the paw she stood on before the rock fell back onto her little nose. “And now the grand finale,” Nica said before spinning the pebble. She swung her head and performed a backflip, landing on her rear legs while catching the pebble with her paws. “Tada…” She glanced at Maud and took a step back, sensing an alarming level of excitement.

Maud took the pebble from Nica’s hold and placed it on her shoulder. “I had fun… and so did Boulder.” She pointed at the pebble, her face unchanging and impassive. “Boulder seems to like you and wants to play with you more.”

Nica blinked in confusion. “Boulder?”

Pinkie chuckled. “That pebble you played with is Maud’s loyal pet and companion, and his name is Boulder. I feel you two will become the best of friends.”

Nica smiled sheepishly. If he is like a rock type pokemon, shouldn’t Boulder have two hands or something? She shrugged and next approached, her eyes staring directly at the stone on Maud’s shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Boulder. I must say, you’re way smaller than the rock pokemon I have encountered.”

“Rock pokemon?” Maud asked with a tiny hint of curiosity in her voice. “Tell me more.”

Nica nodded. “My trainer often did send me to fight against stronger opponents, and I ended up competing against many ground and rock type pokemon to become tougher.” She gestured with her paws as if trying to visualize the described pokemon. “There was a Geodude who looked like a rounded rock of this size and had two big hands. His evolution Graveler was bigger and have four hands and two legs. His final evolution however was terrifying. A giant boulder with head, legs and hands.” Her body started shaking. “I still remember how he rolled over me back when I was even smaller than Pound or Pumpkin Cake.”

Maud Pie lay on the ground, staring at Nica with growing interest. “Go on.”

“S-so s-small?” Pinkie asked and gasped. “You s-survived being squashed by a rolling living giant boulder while so tiny?”

Nica puffed her chest. “I did. The more I got hurt, the more I could endure. I just wish I remembered all of my past. I still have no idea what my body is capable of and all I can do is experiment.”

“More rock pokemon, please,” Maud said with slightly more enthusiasm in her voice.

Nica nodded and continued, “There was a gigantic creature made of several boulders merged together, Onix. His roar and presence was very intimidating, though as an opponent, he was a bit of a pushover. His evolution however was made of steel and was a force to be reckoned with. I have some pleasant memories of a Steelix who was teaching me how to use ‘Iron Tail’. He was a harsh teacher, but he respected me despite my size. He even praised my endurance and fighting spirit, saying that for a Pikachu, I was harder than the hardest rock.”

Maud chuckled very quietly for half a second.

Sensing how her backstory brought an increasing amount of happiness and excitement to Pinkie’s sister, she moved her tail towards Maud and pointed at it. “I would like to show you what I learned from Steelix, but I wouldn’t want to hurt your friends. Is there any stone or boulder I can damage?”

Maud nodded and pointed at a specific part of the wall.

Nica grit her teeth, sending as much power as she could into her tail before jumping up, spinning in mid air as her tail gained momentum. With a final push, she stretched her tail and swung it at the wall, her metallic tail sunk a few centimeters into the rock. As she was still spinning, her tail hit the surface of the wall a few more times, leaving several marks on it, one atop another. Once her feet touched the ground, she looked at Maud and asked, “So, what do you think?”

“I’m slightly impressed.” Maud stood up and approached the same wall. After staring at it for several seconds, she jumped, swinging her foreleg with great force.

Nica jumped towards Pinkie and took a defensive stance, ready to intercept any rock-fragment which would speed up in her direction, yet no rubble or rock flew anywhere near them. Nica gasped, seeing as the surface of the wall was now covered by numerous cracks. With a single punch… she did as much or maybe even more damage than I did with my ‘Iron Tail,’ these ponies are amazing.

“So, what do you think?”

“What do I think? It was incredible. You’re the strongest earth pony I’ve met thus far. Even Big Mac and Lily can’t compare,” she said before performing a cheerful jump, head-smashing into the ceiling. After a moment of struggle, she pulled herself free, landing on the ground with a bit of rubble scattered around her legs. Upon hearing a tiny laugh coming from Maud, she laughed as well. Pinkie joined in a moment later.

“Strength isn’t everything,” Maud said before gently poking the stone-wall with her hoof, rubbing away a small stone fragment which revealed a shining green gem the size of Nica’s head.

“Woooow… pretty…” Nica said before studying Maud’s technique.

“You both seem to be having fun, so I’ll be on my way, I don’t want to get in the way of your friendship or anything,” Pinkie said before looking behind her back. “Well… bye…” She dashed away in a cloud of dust, only to return. “Thanks again for your help, Nica, and have fun together.” Once again she dashed away, this time vanishing for good as Maud and Nica were left to their own devices.

“Do you think my sister is weird?” Maud asked, catching Nica’s attention.

Nica turned around and looked at the grey mare. “Not really…”

Maud blinked in confusion. “So you think that my sister is normal, despite doing what everpony refers to as impossible?”

“Impossible? Do you mean how she appears out of nowhere without making any noises, or how she can store food and other stuff in her tail?” Nica asked. The moment she received a nod of confirmation, she said, “To be fair, where I come from, pokemon are doing a lot of weird or near-impossible stuff, and ponies here can use magic in various ways. I assumed what Pinkie Pie is doing to be normal for your species.”

“Even when she defies gravity?” Maud asked.

“Defy gravity? I haven’t seen Pinkie do that just yet.” Nica looked at the ground and rubbed her chin. “If my memories are accurate, I’ve met a few pokemon who managed to stay in mid-air waaay longer than they should, some even evaded attacks without touching the ground.” She pointed at herself and added, “When I jumped up with all of my strength, I flew up for many seconds, reaching one third of kilometer of height.” She took off her collar and summoned electricity before performing a tiny jump, her legs made contact with bolts of her own making as she bounced against it.

Nica grabbed and held collar against her neck, speaking, “My trainer even taught me how to jump on my own electricity not long after I evolved into Pikachu. If this isn’t defying gravity, I don’t know what is.” She fully attached it a moment later.

“You must be a bit naive or very trusting if you never questioned my sister’s abilities. Most ponies always found our family to be weird.” Maud displayed a barely noticeable smile and next rubbed Nica behind her ear. “But it’s something I’m starting to like about you.”

Nica repaid Maud’s affection by moving her own tail towards Maud’s ear and rubbing behind it.

“We can look for rare stones and gems together, if you want...”

“Of course I do,” Nica said as she followed Maud and diligently observed her digging technique. There seemed to be something important about precise and weakened strikes against specific points of the rock-surface.

Her recovering memories ended a few months after she evolved into Pikachu and learned how to use “Iron Tail’, which she could use offensively. However, back when she was Pichu and her trainer just started gathering her team, Astra mentioned something about using ‘Iron Tail’ for defense after she evolved into Raichu. There seemed to be many tricks and techniques she still didn’t remember, ones that didn’t rely on pure force.

After several minutes of watching Maud at work, Nica massaged her forehead and closed her eyes, seeing images of herself as a Raichu using her long tail in a different fashion. Determined to use her resurfacing memory mindedly, she sent power into her tail and started sinking her tail into the stone. After separating a boulder no bigger than her, she started poking it with the heart-shaped edge of her tail, focusing on precision rather than power.

“What are you doing?” Maud asked.

“I have no idea, I’ll find out once I’m done,” Nica said, following her memory and instinct, as if using her muscle-memory to do the job. Her breathing slow and stable and her lower lip bitten in concentration. Minutes turned into half an hour as the boulder started to take the shape of a pokemon, and soon a life-sized Raichu statue made of rock stood before her. She wiped sweat from her forehead and took in the fruit of her work.

Maud rounded the statue, touching it lightly from time to time. “Impressive quality. Granite in this cave is a decent material for such work, but it takes precision to keep the surface of the statue slim.” She sat in front of the pokemon, staring at her with a judging stare as the critter looked back in fear with drooped ears. “There are some imperfections, but they aren’t your fault, but rather the material you used. I think your power isn’t what you should focus on, but on perception and precision instead.”

Nica nodded before looking at her own tail, now deep in thought. Until now she learned quite a bit about herself: She could run fast, jump super high and sense emotions. Her agility and reflexes let her react very quickly and her durability and stamina still surprised her. During her fight against Thorax’s brother, she earned her victory not with a brutal quick offensive as she often did as a Pikachu in her dreams, but by evading, defending and with precise strikes. My fighting style as a Pichu and Pikachu in my dreams… and the way I’m acting now… they seem so different. Maybe Maud is right, maybe I shouldn’t focus on power if I want to use my full potential.

“Are you tired?” Maud asked. “It’s getting late, I’ll understand if you want to rest.”

Nica shook her head and smiled proudly. “Tired? No way. Working for hours on a farm while carrying apples and shaking trees, easy. Cutting large boulders and making statues, not hard at all. I’ll do it over foalsitting anyday.”

“And what’s wrong with foalsitting?”

Nica’s eyes became wide as plates. She shook her forepaws in panic. “What’s wrong with foalsitting? Do you have any idea how terrified I was that I would hurt those tiny adorable vulnerable little ponies. The fear of failing I felt was insane.” She took a deep calming breath and asked, “You don’t know where I can find a cliff or a pile of sharp rocks by any chance?”

Maud gestured at three tunnels before pointing at the one in the middle. “Just go to the end of this tunnel, turn right and you’ll find a cliff with sharp rocks on the bottom. Why do you ask?”

“N-no reason,” Nica said, tapping her forepaws. The image of bandage on the little unicorn still fresh in her mind.

Maud shrugged. “If you’re not tired, how about we continue our search for rare rocks. You seem delicate and precise enough with your tail to assist me.”

Nica displayed a wide glee, showing her teeth. “That sounds great! And we can talk with each other about our past while doing so. I can practice the use of my ‘Iron Tail’ and learn more about you at the same time!”

Maud showed a tiny smile, which vanished three seconds later. “I like the sound of that.”

Ch.4 - How to Train Your Alicorn

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 4
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How to Train Your Alicorn

Nica trotted towards the friendship castle with a cheerful smile, finding her time she spent with Maud Pie to be worthwhile. In fact, her entire day felt very fulfilling. Now all there was left to do was to return home while admiring the stars on the clear sky. Her head raised in pride.

She stopped, her attention focused on the balcony as she caught a glimpse of Twilight Sparkle. Feeling a burst of excitement, she ran at increasing speed. With a single jump, she flew towards the balcony like a bullet. Nica grit her teeth and the pupils in her eyes shrank at the sudden realization, at this speed, she would no doubt crash into her caretaker. Once close enough, she anchored herself against the edge of the balcony with her tail, slowing down her speed enough to land on it.

The princess flinched and yelped in surprise. “N-Nica?” She took a few calming breaths. “I was waiting for you, and yet you still caught me off guard.”

“Sorry,” Nica said, rubbing the back of her head as a small blush appeared on her cheeks.

“It’s okay. Ummm… did you have an accident?” Twilight asked as she pointed at a few bruises on her fur, most of them being on the wide belly, though a few were present on her forehead, left cheek and on each of her limbs.

Nica shook her head. “No accident… I just…” She rubbed her forearm nervously. “Let’s just say that I ended up testing my durability. Turns out that falling from a hundred meters of height into a pile of sharp rocks made of granite caused waaaaay less damage than I anticipated.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “You know. If I didn’t know you as well as I do, I would be really worried about your well-being.”

“Where I come from, pokemon put themselves in danger all the time and become tougher for it. If anything, getting hurt is helping me in the long-run,” Nica explained. With a large portion of my memories still missing, I can only imagine what kind of brutal battles I endured to become so tough.

“I see.” Twilight cleared her throat and said firmly, “By the way, while you were away, I had an interesting invitation from the ‘Not Powerful but still a little Great Trixie’ for a show, which turned into a public apology before a large crowd of ponies.”

“It did?” Nica asked, feeling a sudden rush of pride. Great work, Trixie, I knew I could count on you.

“She not only apologised, but also publicly announced my superiority and even bowed to me. And no, she wasn’t brainwashed or hypnotised, I checked!” Twilight’s wings started flapping at quick pace, creating a soft breeze for the pokemon to feel. “I felt as if my view of the universe itself was shaken, as if I rediscovered Pinkie’s weird abilities all over again. Even facing powerful villains and protecting Equestria with my friends didn’t prepare me for miracles like that!” She took a deep breath and lowered herself to Nica’s face. “And something tells me you put your paw into it.”

Nica nodded. “I simply exchanged my ideology and moral values with her.” She displayed her teeth in a cheerful smile. “There was something in big ego and arrogance that annoyed me for some reason. I’m really happy I helped Trixie find a better way in life.”

Twilight looked to the side and giggled. “I swear, your humble and cheerful personality is contagious.”

Nica stared at the princess curiosity and asked, “Soooo… are you going to ask me how my day was or something?”

“Oh… right… I completely forgot.” Twilight’s wings spread and her tail started flapping left and right. Curiosity overpowered her worry. “So, how was your day? Find any jobs? Were you good at them? Do tell, do tell.”

Overwhelmed by Twilight’s excitement whose muzzle collided with her nose, Nica tripped over and was now staring at the alicorn while lying on her back. “I will tell you, just give me some space.” She gently pushed Twilight’s muzzle with her paw, took a sitting position and spoke up, “I helped Applejack and her brother… Big… Mac... was it… I carried the baskets and tail-bucked the trees so Applejack could rest.”

“Tail-bucked?”

Nica nodded before pointing at the yellow part of her tail, which turned grey-metallic for a few seconds. “I can send power into my tail to make it harder and stronger.” She performed a fake swing. “One weak slam made apples fall from each tree.” She beamed. “I even helped Big Mac make a pear pie and we ate it together. It was delicious!”

Twilight clapped her forehooves in applause. “That’s great. There’s always plenty of work on the farm, how long were you working there?”

“I’m not sure, five hours, maybe six. Time goes very quickly when I’m having fun.”

“Wait, you were having fun while doing Applejack’s labor?” Twilight asked, receiving a nod of confirmation. “Well, that’s a first... Anyway, how much did Applejack pay you for your work?”

Nica tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Wait… was I supposed to get paid?”

“Of course. You were working for her after all, so she should pay you,” Twilight explained. “A few hours of labor is waaay above and beyond friendly helping.”

Nica’s ears drooped as she stood up, now standing on the tips of her rear paws while looking the princess in the eyes. “B-but… Applejack fed me, cleaned my dirty fur and took me to a veterinarian before bringing me here. I wanted to repay her…”

Twilight smiled warmly and shut her eyes. “Fair enough. So, what did you do next?”

Nica sat and relaxed herself, continuing in calm voice, “I went to Sugarcube Corner to deliver Pinkie a few pears and apples as a present, but she needed assistance with the foalsitting of two,” she held paws on her cheeks and displayed a dreamy smile, “cute, itty bitty vulnerable little ponies.”

“Oh, so you became the assistant of a foalsitter. Sounds like an easy task.”

“Easy?” Nica leaped towards Twilight’s face, her rear legs pressed into her chest. “Easy! Do you have any ideas what those two little kids are capable off? I think my life is going to be half a year shorter after all stress I endured!”

Twilight levitated Nica away, lowering to the floor of the balcony. “Okeeeey… Should I assume that you didn’t ask Pinkie to pay you a single bit?” Upon seeing a nod of confirmation, she facehooved. “Was there anything else?”

“Yes, there was. Pinkie introduced me to her sister, Maud, the strongest earth pony of all strong earth ponies I’ve met thus far. I got the impression that no rock-type or even steel-type pokemon would stand a chance against her.”

Twilight lowered her foreleg down and asked, “Did she hire you?”

Nica shook her head. “Not really. We just talked, exchanged our experiences, and she allowed me to practice the use of my ‘Iron Tail’ in her cave. She was very enthusiastic, cheerful and enjoyed watching my tricks and performances.”

“Wait… Maud was enthusiastic and cheerful?” Twilight asked. The moment she received a nod of confirmation, she sat and massaged her forehead. “And here I thought my life in Ponyville couldn’t get any weirder.” Her horn lit as she levitated Nica over and held in front of her face.

“Now listen, Nica. I know you were just helping Applejack and Pinkie for free because they are your friends, and it’s something I absolutely approve. But... should you get a real job, don’t forget to ask about payment, okay? Ponyville may be full of trustworthy ponies, but I wouldn’t want anyone to take advantage of you.” Twilight gave the large critter a patient smile and patted her on the head. “Let’s go to sleep. Hopefully you’ll have more luck tomorrow.”

“Not so fast!” Nica shouted as she pointed at the alicorn accusingly. “What about your training? Did you forget?”

Twilight chuckled nervously as she released Nica from her levitation. “Oh… that…”

“You’re a national heroine and an alicorn, yet Starlight who’s a unicorn still defeated you with her skills. And Chrysalis is still on the loose!” She stomped. “I swore I would help you improve for your own good, and tonight…”

“Y-yes?” Twilight asked, taking a step back.

“I’ll teach you, how to dodge.”

Twilight gulped.

Leftovers of the battleground between Twilight and Tirek were still present nearby Ponyville, no more than a few miles away from Twilight’s castle. A vast canyon with craters, shattered rocks, and a small mountain with a hole in it. A perfect location for an exercise worthy of a princess.

Twilight’s wings were raised and her horn lit as a lavender barrier protected her from all sides.

Nica stood a few meters in front of the lavender bubble, standing on four paws in a combat stance. Her tail raised upward threateningly while shining in metallic grey. The collar was no longer present on her neck. She started circling around the lavender dome, taking her time before her walk switched into a full-speed run.

I have no time for her barriers, but I won’t break it with force alone, Nica thought before unleashing a ‘Thunderbolt’ towards the barrier as the electricity scattered all over the dome. Maybe I can use my newest trick. My attacks may be too weak, but if I focus on one spot…

Maintaining her speed, Nica made some distance from the protective dome before charging at it. Continuously repeating her name, she surrounded herself in a rich aura of electricity. ’Volt Tackle’ ready. Nica unleashed another ‘Thunderbolt’, focusing her attack on one spot of the lavender barrier as electricity continuously hit it. Once close enough, she jumped, slamming herself into the damaged spot on the lavender shield as a massive explosion of electricity followed. A few cracks appeared on the barrier, as well as a small bruise on Nica’s forehead.

Without wasting a moment, Nica started running once more, making one quick circle to build up her ‘Volt Tackle’ before launching herself towards the barrier. She spun in mid air, striking the cracked part of the barrier with both ‘Volt Tackle’ and ‘Iron Tail’ at the same time, concentrating the entire force of both attacks in one specific spot, piercing it. With a hole in the barrier, she sent a weak thin ‘Thunderbolt’ inside, hearing Twilight’s yelping a moment later.

The dome vanished as the dizzy alicorn now had a few small burns present on her side.

Nica’s breathing was heavy. Even with her stamina, using a few powerful attacks in a row proved very draining. She pushed forward despite being tired, getting close enough to Twilight in time before another barrier was raised. She poked Twilight with her tail and smirked. she said, her words no longer translated by the magical collar.

Twilight canceled her barrier and lowered herself to Nica’s face level. “It seems you broke my defenses. I was sure you didn’t have enough power to do so.”

Nica held her forepaws on her hips and gave her a glare of disapproval.

“Alright, fine, you convinced me. It seems I need to rely on more than just on my defensive magic.” Twilight spread her wings and flapped them, launching herself into air.

Nica’s ears and tail waved on the wind created by the alicorn’s wings as she observed the princess, awaiting her counterattack. The moment a beam of magic was shot in her direction, she leaped to the side and next jumped. She bit her lip, sending only tiny bit of power into her tail as hurting her caretaker was something she wanted to keep to a bare minimum. As she had hoped for, the princess evaded her attack by flying to the side.

“Ha, I dod-yayayayayaj…” Twilight yelped as she was struck by tiny bolts of electricity.

Nica landed on the ground softly and smirked. Putting all her speed and power into one attack… wasn’t her style. Why put all of her might into a single strike which can be evaded?

“Ugh… you got me again, but this time I’ll do better.” Twilight grit her teeth as she surrounded Nica with her magic, pressing into the ground with extreme pressure, which only grew with each passing second.

Nica closed her eyes, unable to even struggle as her paws and head started sinking half a meter into the rocky ground. Her body felt as if it weighed sixty tons. Her mind provided her with a memory of her fight against Alakazam, a powerful pokemon whose ‘Psychic’ attack pressed against her with similar force, back when she was but a tiny Pichu. While Twilight’s raw power surpassed Alakazam’s many times over, she herself was no longer a feeble being, she was a fully evolved battle-hardened Raichu, and she wasn’t going to give up without doing her best.

“Are you okay down there? Am I using too much force?” Twilight asked with a hint of worry, lowering her guard.

Nica grit her teeth, sending power into her tail and using it to push herself against the pressure. Her eyes were closed, her ears and paws were hanging down, pulled with magic as if trying to separate themselves from the rest of the body, her rear paws were still trapped in the stone. After standing up, Nica unleashed electricity, breaking free from Twilight’s magic. The shift in pressure felt incredible. Her head which weighed a few tons now felt so light... She jumped out from the hole and quickly followed up with a weak ‘Thunderbolt’.

Twilight braced herself, her forelegs receiving a few small burns. “Heh, you hit me again.”

Nica wiped sweat from her forehead, now staring at Twilight with narrowed eyes.

Twilight started flying above the ground, shooting beams of magic.

Nica didn’t take her attention away from Twilight even for a moment, hopping to the side to dodge each magical beam while staring up. Despite low visibility with just the moon, stars and Twilight's beams being the only source of light, she still saw the alicorn’s movements. After all, vanishing stars on the sky meant that something blocked them.

Dodge, dodge, ‘Thunderbolt,’ dodge, dodge, ‘Thunderbolt’. Raichu repeated her pattern, easily targeting her airborne opponent while evading at the same time. Her fifth weakened attack hit its target.

Twilight frowned. “How am I supposed to evade? You’re hitting me even when I’m flying at full speed. Oh, wait… I can teleport… Maybe I should fly and teleport at the same time.”

Nica massaged her forehead. This was going to be a looong night.

Starlight was sitting on her bed with annoyed expression, staring at the ceiling. You’re already too skilled and powerful, Starlight. I need to train Twilight so she can better use her powers, she thought to herself, groaning. Ever since Nica regained her fighting skills, she was looking forward to having a friendly and exciting duel, only to be shot down because… apparently… she was too overpowered already.

She groaned again before sinking her head into the pillow.

Ch.5 - Dream of the Past

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 5
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Dream of the Past

It has been more than two years since she was captured by the human girl, Astra Longshot. The first six months her trainer taught her how to read and write, a boring routine she disliked with all her passion. The next six months she spent on an island with her trainer, helping her capture three new team members while training hard and fighting against the local pokemon.

Facing Orange Islands as their next step ended in failure as Astra limited herself to only four pokemon, outnumbered six to four against the local champion.

With Ninetales joining Astra on the road for vengeance against criminals, the team faced the trials of Alola, mastering the use of the electric, and fire Z-move. Defeating four Kahunas in the Grand Trial didn’t bring them any fame, though.

Kanto League ended up in failure during the semi-finals, losing against Astra’s self-proclaimed rival in a five vs six battle. The real victory however lay in Nica defeating an Alakazam, winning with massive odds stacked up against her. She earned her evolution that day, becoming a Pikachu. This very day they also met Team Rocket’s hitman, codename ‘Deathblow’, who become their greatest enemy.

After failing over and over, the time to turn the table around had come in the Johto region. With a full team of six, four fully evolved, they teared through the tournament, defeating the less experienced opposition easily.

It was an odd feeling for Nica. Two years of battling against more powerful opponents while being a tiny feeble Pichu, their team always handicapped and outnumbered, sent to face against opponents who had type advantages. The moment she and the rest of the team evolved, the moment all the handicaps has been lifted, nothing could stand in the way of their victory. It felt like climbing up a tall mountain for hours with a heavy stone tied to her back, only to take a long rest and get rid of the stone halfway. Reaching the peak suddenly became a breeze.

Winning the tournament in Johto was only the first step, though, as it gave Astra the privilege of fighting the Elite Four. Only by defeating four elite trainers, would they be allowed to challenge the champion of Johto for his title.

The first opponent to face was Bruno.

Nica ignored the cheering crowd, her attention focused on the muscular man as trousers was the only piece of clothing he was wearing. According to the rumors, Bruno’s strength was big enough to challenge a pokemon in direct combat. By looking at him, Nica had a flashback of two other humans. Lt. Surge, whose size and muscles would no doubt give Bruno a challenge, and a tan Nurse Joy, who despite smaller size, had unimaginable strength which was still growing with each passing month filled with struggles. I wonder, if Bruno, Lt. Surge and the tan Nurse Joy ended up facing numerous competitions of strength and skills, who would get on the top? Now that would be interesting.

The battlefield between both trainers was filled with numerous rocky hills and one pool filled with water in the middle.

Not wasting a moment, Astra sent her Starmie into the battlefield. Being both water and psychic type, the large starfish had coverage to everything her opponent would deploy.

Nica jumped from her trainer’s shoulder and looked up at her in confusion. Until now, Astra often used pokemon with a type disadvantage, purposely handicapping her team so they would learn how to win against the odds and get used to attacks they are weak against. Whenever she’s using strategy and is trying to gain advantage, it means she’s taking this battle very seriously. I can’t let my guard down.

In response, Bruno sent a boxing pokemon, Hitmonchan. Despite being at a disadvantage, Hitmonchan jumped all over the battlefield, circling around Starmie while avoiding most of its attacks. His ‘Thunder Punch’ proving strong enough to overcome Starmie’s defenses. Even though he lost, Astra’s ace was now at its limits.

Nica gulped. Starmie was the strongest member of the team and was on the ropes already. The Elite Four despite their predictable pokemon typing proved to be no joke.

Gligar replaced Starmie in the second round, now facing Hitmonlee. Despite a type advantage, as a recently joined member of the team he lacked experience, not lasting long against the hard-kicking pokemon.

“Nica, I’m counting on you. Your opponent is tired and you’re faster, so just keep your distance. Attack from afar and victory is yours.”

Nica nodded, running into the battlefield. Using ‘Nasty Plot’ while staying at distance, she powered up her special attack temporarily. It came as a surprise when Hitmonlee was switched for an Onix.

“Onix, use ‘Earthquake’!” Bruno commanded.

“Nica, jump and use ‘Iron Tail’,” Astra commanded.

Nica ran forward at full speed, seeing how the gigantic tail hit the ground, splitting it as the earth trembled under her paws. It wasn’t the first ‘Earthquake’ she faced, already experienced enough not to lose balance on the trembling ground. She jumped in time to avoid the attack, swinging her tail directly against the Onix’s face. Before she could land on the trembling ground, she was recalled into a pokeball.

She rarely spent time inside her pokeball, most of the time following her trainer as the partner she was. While inside, she experienced a growing anxiety, worried and curious about how the battle was going. Not that being inside a pokeball wasn’t comfortable, especially after her trainer relocated all of her pokemon into Luxury Balls for their comfort. Comfortable accommodations or not, she didn’t like not being by her trainer’s side, especially during important battles.

Her worries didn’t last long as she was send into the battlefield, facing a big boulder with two hands and two legs. A quick glance at the large screen above the crowd provided her with informations she needed. Astra’s Blissey, Starmie, Gligar and Venusaur were defeated, as well as Bruno’s Onix, Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, leaving her and Ninetales to defeat the Golem. A quick look at the numerous scratches on the sturdy shell told Nica that he wasn’t at full power.

“Nica, attack with ‘Iron Tail!”

She did as she was told, running towards her weakened opponent while charging power into her tail. It didn’t surprise her that the Golem used ‘Earthquake’ against her, the very ground becoming her enemy.

“You know what to do.”

Nica narrowed her eyes and jumped, landing on her opponent’s shell while grabbing his head. After enduring and evading ground type attacks over and over, she learned that the best counter against them is to jump very high or to jump onto her opponents. They couldn’t target her with ground attacks as long as she wasn’t on the ground after all.

She followed up with ‘Iron Tail’, pushing the Golem into the cracked ground.

“Keep attacking!”

Nica nodded and delivered another ‘Iron Tail’ before landing on the ground in front of the trapped opponent.

“Golem, use ‘Steamroller’!” Bruno commanded as his pokemon climbed up from the crack, hid in his shell and rolled, crushing any rock which got in his way.

Nica gulped. She already ended up rolled over by a Golem while still being a Pichu. Even after her evolution increased her size, the Golem who was now charging at her still looked bigger than the last one. It was gigantic. Using her speed, she jumped to the side, evading the attack.

“Don’t slow down, crash into the hill!”

Nica looked behind, only to see the Golem hit the hill, filling the stadium with a rain of stones. Caught off guard, she braced herself for the impact, closing her eyes as a few stones twice her size struck her. The moment she pushed the rocks off her body, she gasped, the pupils in her eyes shrank. Her body sank into the ground as she ended up rolled over by the gigantic ball of destruction.

“Use ‘Earthquake’.”

Nica whimpered, unable to evade while stuck in the ground. The following pain was indescribable as she screamed for several seconds, bouncing against the cracked ground.

“Heavy Slam!”

Nica’s legs trembled as she struggled to stand. Her body covered in bruises and cuts with sweat dripping from her head. I must fight… I can’t give up… I need to prove myself… worthy of my evolution! She pushed herself forward, her ears twitching at the noise of Golem crashing behind her. Ignoring the pain in her muscles and bones, she sent power into her tail quickly and backflipped, hitting the Golem with ‘Iron Tail’ fast enough to push him deeper into the ground.

“Golem, use ‘Steamroller’!” Bruno commanded.

Golem hid in his shell and started rolling, trying to climb up from the ground he was trapped in.

Nica didn’t wait for her trainer’s command, nor giving her opponent a chance to climb up. She kept attacking the golem with ‘Iron Tail’ with whatever strength she had left, keeping him trapped. She bounced against the hardened shell after her fourth attack as her tail was no longer covered by metal. She breathed heavily and turned her head, glancing at her trainer who just gazed back in confusion. Why isn’t she giving me any commands… why is she not coming up with a new strategy? Nica thought. Until now her trainer always trained the team to prepare it for every opportunity, to make her pokemon strong against opponents who had the advantage. Astra predicted how the battle would go before it even started and shared her strategy with her pokemon in advance. Yet the moment Golem caught them off guard, the situation turned for the worse.

Nica sighed, now understanding her trainer’s limits. While Astra had a lot of theoretical knowledge and came up with many great strategies in advance, she was terrible at improvising. Creative strategies formed in the middle of combat, using terrain for their advantage, this was what she struggled against.

“Nica, return!” Astra commanded as she recalled her with a pokeball once more.

After a night of recovery in the Pokemon Center, Nica learned about the result of the fight from her trainer.

Thanks to Ninetales speed and experience which he used against the weakened Golem, Astra defeated her first Elite Four member, yet winning only thanks to a six vs five number advantage.

Other Elite Four members who watched the battle from the VIP seats picked up on her weakness quickly, defeating her while taking away her opportunity of becoming a Johto Champion.

The loss didn’t break their resolve, quite the opposite. More determined than before, they set up their eyes on the Hoenn region. After besting a member of Elite Four, no badge proved enough of a challenge to slow them down.

Nica stretched her limbs and yawned, quickly welcoming the new day. Her newly recovered memories still fresh in her mind. Any bruise from yesterday was no longer present on her spotless fur.

Much to her surprise, a rat she befriended a week ago climbed onto her shoulder and nuzzled her cheek. She returned the friendly gesture with a smile and next glanced at the sun on the horizon, feeling a pleasant warmness in her heart.

Not only were her memories more and more complete with each passing day, but today she had another opportunity to prove herself useful. As long as it didn’t involve foalsitting, she was looking forward to her next jobs.

Ch 6.5 - Bodyguard Career pt.2

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 6.5
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Bodyguard Career pt.2

With her hope renewed and her plump bodyguard standing beside her, Coco Pommel focused her attention on the clothing production, carefully pushing the green material on the sewing machine. The repetitive noise ‘dun, dun, duh…' filled the room.

Once done, she took several seconds to attach a thread on a needle, and next grabbed it with her teeth. As useful as the sewing machine proved to be, some tiny improvements required a more personal touch.

With buttons and pockets attached to the newly created jacket, she released the needle and stared at her creation in pride. “I wonder… should I add zip fasteners to the pockets? Pickpockets are probably quite common in this part of the city after all.” She looked at her little companion and asked, “Nica, what do you think?”

“I think it’s a good idea, but wouldn’t it be too difficult for you?”

“Too difficult? Not at all. Why would you even think that?” Coco asked.

The pokemon stood on tip of her foot and stretched her forepaw, touching the top of her head. “I didn’t pay attention at first, but I just noticed that you don’t have a horn. You can’t use magic.”

Coco forced a smile and shook her forehoof dismissively. “Oh, that’s okay. Telekinesis or not, I can handle it.” She looked at her companion who climbed up onto the table and now stood next to the sewing machine, gesturing over the storage.

“You have so many materials in this room. Do you really want to turn them all into clothes with your hooves with no one’s help?” Nica asked.

Coco nodded, now understanding her bodyguard’s worries. “I do. I know it is difficult, but I always managed somehow despite not being a unicorn myself.” She held forehoof on her chest. “Without unicorn’s magic I can’t multitask and I need to rely on tools. Keeping up with the competition was tough and filled with struggle, but I never gave up.” She closed her eyes. “If I had to work more hours than the others, I did, if I had to fix my mistakes more often than others, I did. I know that this field of work is dominated by unicorns due to their natural advantage, but with enough determination, passion and talent, even an earth pony like me can have her chance.”

She stomped and opened her eyes, her head raised proudly. “All my hard work and achievements are proof that even earth ponies can… ummm… why do you have glitter in your eyes?” Her ears drooped and she felt uneasy, slightly creeped by the large smile and wide-glittering eyes of her bodyguard. Nica’s nose was only a centimeter away from her muzzle.

“You’re amazing!”

“I… am?” Coco asked before rubbing her arm, a blush appeared on her cheeks. “Oh, no no no, even with my hard work and dedication, I’m still barely keeping up with other talented ponies. There’s nothing special about me.”

“Of course you’re special!” Nica shouted as her tail flapped left and right in excitement. She stepped from the table and looked up at the earth pony in admiration. “You’re even better than Rarity.”

“W-what… b-but… I’m not…” She looked to the side. “The quality of Rarity’s work is above mine.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nica said before nuzzling Coco’s foreleg, pressing her ear against pony’s fur. “My trainer always told me that the more power one possess, the more they need to accomplish to deserve their power, and the other way around. In your case, you’re an earth pony, so you’re handicapped when it comes to making clothes, yet you still kept up with the unicorns.”

“Y-yes… b-but.”

Nica stood on the tips of her rear legs and grabbed Coco’s face with her paws, pressing her muzzle against her nose. “Think about it. If Rarity was an earth pony, do you think she could manage to work as fast as you, or even reach your quality of work?” She released Coco and took a few steps backward. “Or if you were a unicorn, how much faster you would create? How much the quality of your work would improve?”

“Well… I can’t deny your reasoning… but still…” Coco said, her train of thoughts becoming a mess. Rarity was her friend, a very talented, kind, generous and hardworking mare. Was it fair to think that she could surpass her if she was a unicorn herself?

“My memories may not be fully recovered yet, but based on teachings of my trainer and my experiences, I believe that the more one accomplishes based on how much they can do, the greater they are.” She pointed at herself, her head raised proudly. “Using myself as an example, I was a tiny Pichu when I was young, I evolved into a Pikachu after hundreds of harsh battles, and I still don’t remember how much it took me to prove myself worthy to evolve into Raichu.”

Coco could do little but stare as her little bodyguard suddenly radiated with confidence and ideals, a big shift when compared to the humble cuddly creature from two hours ago.

Nica huffed. “Let’s say, hypothetically, that somewhere up there is a Pichu or a Pikachu who –with their hard work and determination– accomplished great feats, maybe even surpassing mine. From my point of view, they would be superior to me.”

“Superior?” Coco asked. She sat and pointed at the pokemon. “So if I understand you correctly, you believe that since evolving makes you better…”

“Not better, just stronger, it gives me greater power and durability that I can use,” Nica corrected. “And a much longer tail.”

“R-right… so since evolving makes you stronger and allow you to accomplish more, if Pichu or Pikachu kept up with you despite their handicaps, they would be better than you?”

Nica held forepaws on her sides and nodded. “Exactly. If those weaker than me accomplished more, I would view them as idols, ones I should take examples from.” She pointed at Coco, her smile encouraging. “That’s why I admire you, Coco. I feel honored to work for an inspiring pony like you.”

Coco Pommel blushed once again, now even stronger than before as she hid it with her foreleg. “Thank you, thank you so much.” She looked at her bodyguard with an expression filled with confidence as a few tears started forming in her eyes. “You’re the first admirer I ever had. It’s nice to be appreciated, and now I feel more sure of myself than ever before.” She stomped. “Let’s make this shop a big success, no matter the obstacles!”

“That’s the spirit,” Nica said before her ears drooped. She held forepaws in a pleading gesture as she asked, “Ummm… I know I don’t have talent in cloth-making… but can I assist you in any way?” She looked around in haste, grabbing a nearby needle before attaching a threat to it, taking three seconds to do so. “See, I’m fast, I can be helpful.”

Coco Pommel rubbed her chin, deep in thought. “Well… I suppose you can be my assistant, aside from being my bodyguard. I could use extra hooves… paws around here.”

Nica cheered and jumped up in excitement, her head ended up stuck in the ceiling a moment later.

Coco flinched and yelped. “Oh nooo...!” She approached, stood on her rear hooves and pulled the long tail, freeing Nica before catching her with her forelegs and holding her like a baby. With a face filled with compassion and pity, she examined Nica’s head, not finding any sign of injury. “Is your head hurting? Do you need some ice or a bandage?”

Nica shook her head before pointing at the hole in the ceiling, her ears drooped. “I’m sorry for damaging your shop. I’ll fix it… please, don’t be angry.”

Coco sighed in relief and released her bodyguard. She cares more about the wellbeing of my shop over her own health. She’s just... precious. She shook her head and smiled warmly. “How can I be angry at you? It was an accident. Buildings can be repaired, but injuries may last for years. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Nica embraced her neck and nuzzled her cheek. “Oh Coco. If you knew about pokemon as much as I do, you would know that my health is unimportant.”

“Unimportant? What do you mean?”

She released the earth pony and scanned the area in search for materials to use on the hole. “Nevermind. I think it’s best if you don’t know.”

After patching the hole and hours of work, Coco locked her store and approached her bed, which was located in the corner of the storage she was working in. While the building itself was spacious, it had only two rooms, forcing her to use the acquired space the best she could. After a moment of stretching, she untied her neck-decoration and placed it next to a flower on the table. She climbed onto her bed and covering herself with a warm eiderdown. Glancing at Nica, she said, “I know there’s no space left on the bed, but you can sleep on me… like cats usually do. Or I can gather a few materials into a pile for you to sleep on.

“Sleep? I’m not going to sleep tonight.”

“Huh, why?”

“I’m your bodyguard, I’ll keep watch so no thief can sneak in.”

Coco shook her head and sat on her bed. “Oh no no no, I wouldn’t want you to trouble yourself. While I learned that this part of Manehattan isn’t the safest, I don’t think any thief would be interested in robbing a clothing store.”

Nica shook her head, her tail gently pushing Coco to a lying position before pulling the soft cover over her. “Sleep well, Miss Pommel. I’ll keep you safe.” She licked her cheek before running away.

Before Coco could protest, her bodyguard turned off the lights, leaving her in the dark room. Too tired to argue, she pressed her head into the pillow, relaxing herself while knowing that she wasn’t alone anymore.

Hearing a ringing noise, Coco pushed herself to a sitting position and rubbed her eyes, feeling refreshed after her first worry-free sleep she had in weeks. The sunlight peeked into the storage by small windows as the room was still a little bit dark. Most of her materials and gears were now lying in shadows. With her vision sharpening, she looked to the side, noticing a tray with a hay sandwich and a cup of water on the nearby table next to her ringing watch.

“Did she?” She stepped from her bed and picked up the hay sandwich, taking a bite. Not that it was a difficult dish to make, but how could she not appreciate such a kind gesture? After finishing her food and taking gulps of refreshing water, she put a collar with a scarlet tie on her neck, and next fixed a tri-shade hair clip in the back of her mane.

Once presentable enough, she started patrolling the storage. “Miss Nica, where are you?” Her call was answered immediately as Nica entered the room and yawned, her eyes half-closed and somewhat sleepy. “Oh no… I knew you staying awake at night was a bad idea.”

Nica shook her head and forced a smile. “D-don’t worry, I’m f-fine. I’ll manage.”

Coco glanced at her watch and bit her lip. “It is seven in the morning, we still have an hour before opening.” She pointed at her own bed. “Take a nap while there’s still time.”

She perched her bodyguard in her bed, stroking her gently on the head. Her stress grew in strength the closer she was to opening her store as she made final preparation, biting her forehooves on 7:50. She yelped upon feeling a gentle paw of her bodyguard patting her shoulder. Seeing Nica smile restored her confidence. “I hope everything will go without a hitch.” Upon noticing that the collar was still present on the pokemon’s neck, she pointed out, “There are still ten minutes left, and since you’re working for me, you deserve to look presentable and elegant.”

Nica nodded hesitantly. “It won’t involve hours of posing or standing still, isn’t?”

“Of course not, why would you think that?” Coco asked as an image of Rarity unleashing her creativity on the poor critter flashed in her mind.

Pressured by limited time, she ran into her storage, returning three minutes later with a black suit on her back. “Now turn around.” As she’d hoped for, the pokemon listened to her request. “I made it months ago, hoping I could sell it to a colt who wanted to look cool. It didn’t work out.” She put the black suit on Nica, covering half of her forepaws and most of her belly. She rounded the critter and attached a grey tie on her neck atop her collar, right under the name-tag. “And now for the finishing touch.” She put sunglasses on Nica, who’s ears proved big enough to keep it stable. “Perfect. You look elegant, professional and cool.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Coco chuckled before unlocking the door, only for a crowd of ponies to rush inside. A moment later she felt Nica’s tail wrap around her foreleg as she was escorted outside of the excited crowd. “Thank you.” She sat behind the glass counter and fixed her tie as the room was now filled with murmuring ponies.

“That’s…. a lot of customers,” Nica commented.

“What can I say. Ponies here aren’t exactly rich and I sell practical clothes cheaper than anywhere else. I don’t earn much income with such prices, but I’m happy to help those with less luck than me.”

Nica nodded before approaching the exit, wrapping her tail around the stallion’s rear leg. “Excuse me… ummm… sir, but I believe you should pay for those first.”

The stallion with two punching gloves as a cutie mark and muscular legs turned around and shot the pokemon an angered glare. “And if I don’t want to pay for it, what will you do about it? Small fry.” A big green jacket with pockets with zippers lay on his back.

Nica lowered her head and sighed. She untied her collar and next pulled the stolen clothes away from the stallion’s back with her tail.

“Give those back if you know what’s good for you,” the stallion said, pinning Nica to the floor with his heavy hoof.

Coco observed the scene from behind the counter, a trembling foreleg was raised up to her face. The reason why she didn’t fear of thieves coming at night being due to some ponies stealing her work openly during the day. Her income had been poor for the past week as she couldn’t stand up against the intimidating figures. Oh dear… this isn’t good. As much as she wanted to yell at the stallion to release her bodyguard, she couldn’t get the words through her throat, her legs feeling as if they were made of jelly. Suddenly, bolts of electricity surrounded the stallion who lost his balance a moment later. She sighed, feeling a surge of relief. Maybe I shouldn’t worry about my bodyguard, but rather for the thief. That shock must’ve hurt a lot.

Nica wiped dirt and dust from her uniform before placing forepaws on her sides. Her words sounding more like, “Rai Rai Rai Raichu Raichu, Rai Rai Rai,” to the surrounding ponies.

“You little…” He slammed his foreleg against the pokemon’s head, only for it to be blocked by her shining tail. “What’s your tail made of, some kind of metal?” The tail wrapped around his foreleg and more electricity went through his body.

Nica picked up her collar from the floor and put back on her neck. “As I was saying, you’ll now pay for those clothes and apologize to Miss Coco Pommel. Do we have an understanding?”

“Ugh… fine,” he said and groaned, picking up the jacket from the floor and murmuring annoyed words to himself quietly.

Coco Pommel felt her heartbeat increase in speed with each of the stallion’s steps. She gulped, forcing a smile as the muscular pony now sat in front of her counter.

“How much for these?”

“T-ten b-bits… plus a hundred bits for all the other clothes you took from my store without paying the other day.”

The stallion groaned and was about to slam his hoof against the glass, only for a metallic tail to intercept it. The thud like a mace colliding with a sword followed.

Nica crossed her forepaws and shook her head, the black glasses still present on her eyes.

“Fine!” He took a small bag of bits from his saddlebag and threw it at Coco, yet instead of hitting her head, the bag was grabbed by pokemon’s tail. “I’ll never buy anything here ever again.” He turned around and left the store, his head lowered as one could imagine a dark cloud floating over it.

“T-thank you…” Coco said, still feeling the rapid beating of her heart. She could only stare as Nica went towards the middle of the store and addressed the crowd.

“I apologize for the commotion, dear customers,” Nica said, performing a polite bow while holding her glasses in place, a lesson no doubt picked up at Rarity’s workplace. “I’m here to ensure everyone’s safety, so please, buy at ease and have a nice day.”

The ponies either shrugged or nodded, returning to their shopping, though a few more suspicious individuals wearing capes returned the clothes and left the shop with panicked faces.

Coco smiled warmly. The more she learned about her new bodyguard, the more she enjoyed her company. It became obvious that Nica could use electricity to hurt others and had combat experience, having good enough reflexes to block various attacks. Yet she also proved herself to be calm and friendly, even when dealing with aggressive opponent. Clearly, the bodyguard of her dreams.

Nica had mixed feelings… On one side, she was proud of herself, fulfilling an important role while helping a pony whose kindness and sweetness could give Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy a challenge. On another, trying to stay awake proved to be quite a struggle. Her eyes closed on their own for a minute or two, which was well hidden behind her sunglasses. It wouldn’t be a problem if the customers didn’t ask for permission to stroke her head from time to time, forcing her to hide her sleepiness.

As the store had ten minutes before closing, –something Nica looked forward to– the double door at the entrance slammed open with a loud thud.

The pokemon glared at the three entering ponies, sensing their hostility while seeing grins on their faces. Two stallions and one mare had more than just one tattoo covering their bodies, with flame-breathing beast and a bird made of flames tattoo on their sides being the most noticeable. Their manes were cut shortly, and looked strange.

“Oh no, please no... not you again,” Coco said, ducking behind the counter in fear.

“You know what we’re here for,” said the mare in the middle. “You have such a nice-looking shop here, it would be a shame if something happened to it.”

Nica grit her teeth, only now noticing that the stallion on left and on right side were both armed with metallic objects. Not bothering to take off her collar, she ran forward, getting in their way.

“Huh? That’s an odd looking pet you got there, little Coco, though I must say, I like its style,” the mare said, giving the store-owner a satisfied smile. “I see you not only know how to dress up ponies, but pets as well, good. My dog could use some free-samples for the winter.

The stallions laughed.

“Miss Nica… those are the ponies who… I told you about,” Coco muttered, as if trying to be heard by her bodyguard, but not by the armed ponies.

Nica glanced at her boss, seeing only her ears and mane standing out from behind the cover. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

“Wow, and it talks, talk about exclusive pets,” the mare said before lowering herself to Nica’s level. “I think I’ll be taking you. A cutie like you may earn me lots of bits on the black market.” She chuckled. “I bet some rich snob will pay a lot for something like you.”

Nica took a deep calming breath, relaxing herself. She slapped the mare’s nose with her paw and said calmly, “My name’s Nica and I work for Miss Pommel as her bodyguard. I am not a pet you can make fun of.” She took off her glasses and placed them in small pocket in her uniform. Narrowing her sleepy eyes, she pointed at the intruders and shouted, “I demand that you return the money you stole from Coco, or… or… or I’ll be forced to hurt you!”

The mare raised to her full height and looked at each escorting her stallions before the trio burst into laughter.

After wiping a tear of joy from her cheek, she spoke, “Listen, fluffy ball. Your jokes put me in good mood, so I won’t take protection money from your owner today. I’ll just take you instead.”

Nica flinched and slapped the forelegs of the mare with her tail, staring at her with an angered glare. “I wasn’t joking.”

“You dare to defy me? They call me Breakbone for a reason, and trust me, you don’t want to find out why.” She looked at the mare hiding behind the glass counter. “Maybe I should demonstrate the meaning behind my name on your owner. This should make you more obedient.”

Nica sent a calculated amount of power into her tail before lightly slamming the mare’s chest, throwing her across the store and out the opened door. Yelps of pain followed as the mare bounced across the street before hitting the trash can on the other side.

“The stolen money, return it now!” Nica commanded, slamming her tail against the floor with a weak quake. While she needed her collar to communicate with ponies, restricting her use of electricity as a side-effect, she still had her tail to count on.

The angered mare ran inside the store and yelled, “Smackdown, Crusher, stop staring like a bunch of idiots and smash that stupid pet!”

“B-but… if we damage her, she’ll be worth less when–”

“I don’t care!” Breakbone yelled in rage. “Unless you want me to call you Douchebag and Jerkface for the rest of your lives, beat this rabbit-rat thingy into submission!”

Nica kept glaring at the stallions, now sensing hesitation and even guilt. The aura of malice was surprisingly weak. I see. It seems they are hanging with the wrong crowd. Her glare softened. She turned her head slightly and gestured at her cheek. “Go on, hit as hard as you can.”

“W-what?”

“Come on and hit me, I won’t resist.”

A foreleg holding a metallic weapon started to tremble and drops of sweat fell down his forehead. Smackdown gulped and glanced at his boss. “B-but… it would be animal abuse.”

“If you don’t want me to show you pony-abuse and break your jaw, hit that critter now!”

Smackdown’s ears drooped and he lowered her head. “Sorry, little girl, it’s either you or me.” He raised his weapon like a baseball player preparing to hit the ball.

Coco peeked from behind the counter before yelling. “Nica, get out of the way! That crowbar is sharp!” The pupils in her eyes shrank at the following scene.

Nica pushed her tail into the floor for support and closed her eyes. Her legs sank into the floor of the shop while her tail kept her stable despite the force of the impact. The metallic object hit her even harder than the beast’s paw in the Everfree Forest.

“You call that a hit, she doesn’t have a single scratch? Strike harder, strike with the sharp edge.”

Nica sensed a big rush of guilt as she was hit again, this time the sharp edge struck her cheek with even more strength than before. The noise of metal hitting the floor reached her ears. She opened her eyes and massaged her cheek. According to her memories, even Nidoqueen’s ‘Horn Attack’ hurt way more. She gazed between the floor and the broken weapon in the stallion's forelegs.

“It seems you broke your tool, allow me to fix it,” Nica said before wrapping her tail around the two pieces of weapon, pulling them into her own paws. She threw both parts up and slashed with the sharp part of her tail, catching four parts instead. “Oops, I think I damaged it even more, let me try again.” She repeated her action two more times, now holding sixteen pieces of metal while sensing auras of fear. “Please, count for me,” Nica said before pushing sixteen pieces, cutting them in mid air as her tail moved in speed too fast for the pony eye. She pointed down and asked, “How many pieces are now on the floor?”

Both stallions gulped and ran towards the exit.

Nica dashed, bypassing the intruders while charging at the angered mare, who grabbed the nearby glass counter with boots and threw it. The easiest option would be jumping over, or she could block the attack with ‘Iron Tail,’ yet it could damage Coco’s property, and she would have none of that. She took the hit head on, wrapping her paws around the counter while using herself to soften the fall. Using her own body as a pillow was a strategy she didn’t really mind using if necessary. Huh, that was close. She rounded the counter and struck the mare’s legs with her tail.

“You annoying little pet,” Breakbone said while massaging her foreleg.

Nica struck the mare in the head with the blunt part of her tail, limiting her strength just enough to knock her out without injury. The stallions behind her stopped and started trembling in fear.

“We… won’t bother your boss ever again.. Just please, let us go!” Smackdown shouted in panic.

Nica shot them angered glare. “Will you return the money you’ve stolen? I really don’t want to use more violence than necessary.”

“B-but… we don’t have it,” Crusher said.

“We have it at our hideout,” Smackdown said, receiving a side-bump to his foreleg.

“Shut up you fool.”

“I won’t! Stealing bits and breaking stuff is fine, but I didn’t sign up on smacking ponies or animals. And if you haven’t noticed,” he pointed at the large critter, “We are outmatched.”

“Fine, do what you want, but I won’t spill the beans,” Crusher said before attacking with his crowbar, which was blocked and cut in half immediately by the metallic tail. “Okay, fine, fine, we have all the stolen goods in our hideout in the old abandoned storage, I can lead you there, just don’t hurt me!”

Smackdown rolled his eyes. “A bit late on the pattern recognition there, bro.”

“Shut up,” Crusher responded.

Nica smirked. Not only had she defended her owner’s store, but she gained an opportunity to return stolen bits and goods to their rightful owners. She rounded the stallions and shouted, “Coco, please close the store and wait for me. I’ll go raid their hideout!” Overwhelmed with excitement, she waved at her boss and turned to the stallions. “Lead the way!” Using her tail, she picked up the unconscious mare and followed her captives.

Coco just stared at the scene before her, her eyes wide and mouth agape. Not a single muscle in her body moved for the past two minutes as even her blinking slowed down to one blink each twenty seconds.

“What just… happened…” she murmured to herself. Her cute, cuddly and chubby bodyguard just took a powerful hit into the cheek, yet she didn’t lose a single drop of blood, not even having a scratch. For the first time in her life she witnessed violence between ponies and animal, her heartbeat and breathing were heavy as her mind struggled to come to terms with what happened just a moment ago.

“In short, your bodyguard scared two thugs, beat up the third one, and now she’s going to raid their hideout.”

Coco looked to the side, only now noticing that one of her customers was hiding between her clothes on the left wing of her store.

“S-sorry for hiding like that. I heard your shop is well guarded, and…” he gulped, “... those thugs were after me. I’ll be leaving now.”

Coco walked from behind the counter and approached the pony. With no clothes in the way, what she saw almost caught her off guard, causing her to flinch. It was a colt with a few bruises and black mark under his eye. “W-wait…”

“Huh?”

“You’re hurt, I’ll go get some bandages.”

“You… you want to help me?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” Coco asked before going into her storage, returning with a first-aid kit she bought recently in case of emergency. “What’s your name?”

“Quiet Leaf,” the colt answered, gritting his teeth upon being touched on his injuries, but didn’t complain.

“Nice to meet you, Quiet Leaf,” Coco said. Now that she looked at the young pony from close, he had a green leaf as a cutie mark and a horn on his head. “So, why were those mean ponies after you, and where are your parents?” As the colt looked to the side, Coco gently moved his head to look at her, pushing aside his violet mane which hid part of his face. She kept smiling in compassion. “You can trust me.”

The police station in the Manehattan, a big place filled with ponies in blue uniforms, a few cells which from time to time contained a criminal or two. With most of the officers patrolling the large city, a few were left to accept complaints and reports of crimes.

A box with donuts and cup of coffee lay on a desk with one slightly relaxed unicorn officer sitting behind it. A mustache was present on his face. He levitated his coffee cup back onto the desk and stood from his seat, his attention now focused on five stallions and three mares covered in tattoos, bruises and burns who entered the station, numerous bags were present on their backs. “Who are you, what’s the meaning of this?” One thing was certain, it wasn’t a group of innocent citizens.

The stallions and mares groaned in annoyance, none but one interested to speak.

“My name’s Smackdown, a member of the Crushers gang. We… want to surrender ourselves.”

The police officer stared at the group for a few seconds before checking a small stock of paper under his deck. He heard the name Crushers a few times before, so no doubt he would have some data about them, yet he couldn’t lower his guard just yet. He glanced over the group and asked, “And if I may ask, why are you surrendering yourselves. What’s the catch?”

The stallion walked to the side and pointed down.

The officer blinked in confusion, staring at a long-tailed creature with silly-looking ears wearing a black suit. A grey tie and blue collar with a few shining white gems were present on its neck and sunglasses covered its eyes.

“Hello, officer, my name’s Nica, and I work as a bodyguard for Miss Coco Pommel.” She gestured at the group of ponies. “This gang was demanding protection money from my boss, so I raided their hideout and convinced them to surrender themselves.” She climbed up onto the back of a nearby stallion and pointed at the bags. “All bits and items they stole are in these. I hoped you could help return them to their rightful owners.” She yawned a moment later.

The officer kept staring at the critter for a few seconds before looking at his desk at the half-empty cup. “I swear, once I find out who accidently put drugs from the evidence room into my coffee, he’ll clean the bathroom and toilets for months.”

Ch.7 - Bodyguard vs...

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 7
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Bodyguard vs...

“Oh, you poor, poor dear,” Coco said while sitting on her small bed with the young colt perched on the pillow. She gently stroked the unicorn on the back of his head. “I don’t know how much I can do, but you can stay in my shop as long as you want.”

“B-but… I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“B-because… because I was working for those mean ponies as a pickpocket. Sneaking silently is my special talent. You shouldn’t shelter a thief.”

Coco shook her head, her smile filled with understanding. “It doesn’t matter. They forced you to do it, and you ran away because of that.”

“And… and what if it’s a lie, what if I made up this story to get your pity? Trusting anypony in this part of town is dangerous,” Leaf answered, stepping from the pillow.

“Even if you did, you must have your reasons. After all, you said yourself that you don’t even know if your parents are alive. I can’t let a colt without a home or family live on the street.”

Quiet Leaf narrowed his eyes, his tone of voice suddenly sharper. “And if I lied about it as well? What if I’m not an orphan but just pretended to be?”

“If so, why are you admitting to such things? No liar would tell anypony they’re lying,” Coco said before picking a teacup from the nearby table and placing it in the colt’s hooves. “And even if you’re lying, I can’t let you leave until your wounds heal. If you really have parents, just tell me where they live and I’ll call them here.”

The colt’s smile started trembling as tears formed in his eyes. “You… you’re not from around here…” He gulped, his voice somewhat sappy. “Nopony from this part of town… ever showed anypony… even half of your kindness and trust. You need to leave, it’s too dangerous for you to work here.” He held a forehoof on his chest. “Trust me! I begged for bits on these streets, was bullied by hooligans and was picked up and trained by the Crusher gang to steal for them. This place will hurt… or corrupt a nice pony like you.”

Coco shook her head and next sighed. “I can’t leave. I put all the bits and resources I had into this store.” Her smile returned as she closed her eyes. “But I no longer feel fear. My bodyguard, Miss Nica, is a marvelous, kind, and brave… Raichu... She’ll protect me.” Her ears perked up upon hearing a knocking noise coming from the other room. “Maybe it’s Miss Nica. I’ll go check, and in the meanwhile, drink your tea as long as it is hot.” She smiled cheerfully, giving the bandages wrapped on the colt one last glance before approaching the door. Leaving a potential thief in her storage seemed naive of her, but weeks spent in this place didn’t break her trusting nature just yet.

Upon hearing continued knocking, she asked, “Nica, is that you?”

“Kind of. She’s with us.”

“Who’s speaking?” Coco asked, stopping in her track while feeling slightly nervous. Those couldn’t be ponies from the Crusher gang? She raised a forehoof up to her face and started trembling? Oh no… what if they hurt Nica and are now here to destroy my shop, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…

“My name’s is Blue Cross, Commander Blue Cross. I’m chief of the Manehattan Police Department.”

Coco approached a nearby window and peeked outside, seeing a group of police officers, all wearing uniforms with badges on their chests and police hats on their heads. After a few seconds of studying the intimidating force, she noticed Nica lying on one of the officer’s back. Whether she was unconscious or asleep was difficult to tell.

“Are you Miss Coco Pommel? Is Nica your bodyguard?” Blue Cross asked.

“Y-yes…” she answered with a squeaky voice.

“Then please, open the door, ma’am, we have goods to return and important matters to discuss.”

“Oh, but of course!” She ran towards the door and unlocked it, which took several seconds as her hooves were still shaking. With a half-bow and a welcoming gesture of her foreleg, she invited the police squad inside. Their boss proved to be a tall bronze stallion, earth pony no less, with a large crowd-control shield as a cutie mark.

The police chief turned to her and approached, gently raising her foreleg before kissing it. “A pleasure.”

“P-pleasure…” Coco responded with a strong blush, her face now looking more like a large tomato.

Blue Cross released the hoof and raised to his full height, his shadow now enveloping Miss Pommel in the fullest. “I’ll cut to the chase. Your bodyguard subordinate convinced the Crusher gang to turn themselves in. My ponies at the police station are searching for the owners of the stolen goods, which will no doubt take quite some time and involve a lot of paperwork.” He pointed at the unicorn officer who was levitating one big and one small bag by his side. “However, with the cooperation of two of the gang members, we separated the goods that were taken from your store, all that’s left is for you to identify them for the protocol.”

Coco nodded. “Al-alright, officer Blue Cross. I mean, Police Chief Blue Cross.” She smiled sheepishly as drops of sweat were falling down her forehead. For the past couple weeks I reported to the police about my situation, and they did nothing to help… and now the Police Chief himself is in my shop, returning my goods. I must be dreaming.

After taking a moment to look over the clothes presented to her in a violet aura of magic, recognizing most of them as some were worse for wear, she glanced at Nica, who was still napping on the back of a pegasus officer. The winged pony occasionally glanced at the passenger, but maintained a firm unchanging expression.

“Is Miss Nica alright?” Coco asked.

“If you’re worried about her health, she’s perfectly fine,” Blue Cross said. “According to the report from my subordinates, after the gang was locked behind bars at the police station, this critter perched herself on Sharp Eye’s back and fell asleep.” He pointed at the pegasus. “Sharp Eye always had a soft spot for police dogs, so he didn’t mind carrying her all the way here.”

“I… see…” Coco took a moment to gather courage before giving the tall stallion a firm stare. “Please, don’t feel offended for asking, but why would a Police Chief himself visit my establishment, especially considering that the police refused to answer my pleas so many times until now.” She curled herself slightly and tapped her forehooves. “I mean… not that I’m complaining…”

Blue Cross sighed and lowered his head in shame. “There’s a reason why we couldn’t help you, which is why I am here.”

Coco blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“The reason why my force can’t operate in this area is because… of the mob.”

“M-m-mob?” Coco said, her body started trembling.

“Yes, mob, a local mafia. They operate in this part of Manehattan,” Blue Cross explained, now sitting in front of Coco who looked like a tower of cards ready to tumble. “We can’t defeat them head on and they keep tabs on the families of the most high ranking police officers, blackmailing us.” He lowered his hat and held it against his chest. “I tried to hide my own family from their sight and failed. They have dangerously good intel.”

“Oh, oh dear,” Coco said, her face pale and her eyes now wide as plates.

“However, your bodyguard took down a small gang on her own. Most of the Crusher members called her an unbeatable beast, saying that she defeated them effortlessly.”

“Actually, most of the gang members didn’t have any bruises. She beat up the more aggressive members and intimidated the rest,” pointed out a unicorn mare, this one wearing a high-ranking officer uniform.

Blue Cross nodded. “Your bodyguard possesses great fighting skills, but most importantly, she looks very innocent and defenseless. We wish to hire your bodyguard to help us capture the mafia boss and his lieutenants.”

“We examined her collar when she was asleep. The magic used to enhance it is on level of the princesses themselves, which means that this creature may possess qualities which can help us end this mob once and for all,” the high-ranking mare explained, her cutie mark being a large red book. “Oh, my apologies, I should introduce myself. My name’s Procedure.”

Blue Cross spoke up, “The mafia will never suspect that such a little creature may be a threat to them, and they have no intel about her they can use to their advantage, which is why she’s perfect for the job. Without guidance from higher-ups, the mafia won’t make a move against the police.” He looked at the shop owner with narrowed eyes. “You’re her boss, Miss Coco Pommel, which is why we wish to ask you for permission to hire her for the job.” He lowered himself. “I humbly request your cooperation.”

Coco’s mouth was agape for the last minute. Her eyes went up and she raised forehoof up to her forehead before losing balance. Tilting to the side while fainting, she was grabbed by the large stallion before hitting the floor.

Nica yawned and stretched her limbs, finally making up for her sleepless night.

“Have you been sleeping well?”

Nica rubbed her eyes before looking towards the source of voice as the face of Coco Pommel sharpened in her vision. “Yes, yes I did,” she said with a cheerful smile. After a moment of looking around, she found herself perched on a gathered stock of materials, no longer wearing her bodyguard clothes, though the collar was still safe on her neck. “I had this interesting dream about my past.”

“Dream about your past? Oh right, you have that forced amnesia. If you wish to share your dream, I’m listening?” Coco said, displaying a patient smile.

Nica sat and reaserted herself on the pile of random materials, waving her forepaws in excitement. “As I and my trainer explored the Hoenn region, getting badges and practicing for the coming league, we ended up in a crossfire between two criminal gangs.”

“C-criminal g-g-gangs?”

Nica nodded. “We were camping inside a massive forest and I was training my balance, paw-standing under a small waterfall, when suddenly, a large number of battles started taking place all around us. Apparently, there was a hidden entrance into some old ruins in the forest and both gangs searched for it. It quickly turned into an all out war.” She took a quick breath. “A small part of the forest caught on fire from fire attacks, the other part turned into a swamp from an overdose of water attacks. It was crazy.”

“And…” Coco held her breath in anticipation.

“My trainer assumed that fighting both gangs would be unwise, and we didn’t know enough about them to pick a side, so instead we focused on helping local pokemon as much as we could and minimize the damage,” Nica continued, speaking in haste and excitement. “We found a lot of abandoned eggs while doing so and protected them, at least until their parents returned, however, no pokemon returned for one of the eggs for days, so we took it under our care.”

Coco nodded.

The young colt with a leaf as a cutie mark who was lying on the bed while staring at the ceiling looked at Nica with full attention, now listening to the story as well.

“A male Eevee was born from the egg and became our friend, and he even often called my trainer his ‘Mom', can you believe it? Not that Astra ever understood what the Eevee was saying, but it was heartwarming.” She blushed, tapping her forepaws together. “What’s more, this Eevee looked up to me as if I was his older sister. It was a new experience to me, but I took care of him the best I could.”

“Older sister? Mom?”

Nica looked towards the source of voice, noticing a young unicorn colt. Bandages were present on his face.

“Miss Nica, meet Quiet Leaf. The gang you faced was forcing him to steal for them, so I gave him shelter. He’s a good colt,” Coco explained.

Nica nodded. “Really? That’s very kind of you, Coco, as expected from such an amazing pony.” She ignored the embarrassment on her boss’ face and stepped from her soft seat, approaching the unicorn while giving him a look of pity. She sensed an aura of depression, not that it surprised her. Being forced to steal for mean thugs had to be anything but pleasant. Yet there was also a positive aura. Was it hope that the future would turn out better, or maybe Leaf was just grateful to the fashionista for her kindness, it was hard to tell.

Trying to show compassion and cheer up the young pony, she went with her instincts, pressing her cheek into the colt’s chest and nuzzling it affectionately. “You have nothing to fear. The gang that used you surrendered to the police. Cheer up.”

“I heard as much, and I’m really glad.” Leaf stroked Nica with his hoof, finding comfort in her presence and soft fur. “I’m safe thanks to you, and your boss wants to let me work as her assistant in exchange for shelter, food and bits.”

Nica gave the fashionista a proud smile. It seems I’m not the only one taking care of someone younger. Miss Pommel wants to do it as well.

“Anyway, can you continue your story. I’m interested in how it ends,” Leaf said, looking into her oval eyes curiously.

Nica nodded. “My trained agreed to let him join the team, but since every trainer –except law-breaking criminals– can have a team of six pokemon at maximum, she asked her team who would volunteer to stay in reserve for now. Starmie agreed to be replaced temporarily.”

“Starmie? Eevee? What do they look like?” Leaf asked while Coco listened silently.

Nica stood on tips of hair rear paws and spread her forepaws. “Starmie is a large starfish with a red ruby in the middle.” She sat and tried to picture a small dog-like creature with her paws. “And Eevee is a small bronze pokemon with big ears and a white fluffy chest. He was very cuddly and looked up to me, but responded mostly with aggression to strangers.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Huh?” Nica asked, caught off guard by the question.

“Do you miss your trainer and team?” Leaf asked. “Coco told me what Rarity told her, how you’re far away from home and recovering your memories. Don’t you miss your home, your family and friends?”

Nica blinked in confusion, staring at Leaf for a moment before closing her eyes and thinking deeply. It didn’t cross her mind until now, but she was indeed far away from home. Being focused on her current problems and surrounded by friendly ponies, she didn’t miss her family, nor her trainer.

After a moment of thinking, she looked the colt in the eyes and shook her head. “I don’t miss my home, nor my family, nor my team.”

“Huh? Why not? Don’t you care about them?”

“I do care about them. With every night, a new part of my past reveals itself. Each night I dream of my adventures side by side with my friends and trainer, however...” She raised paw in a lecturing gesture. “I believe that once my memories fully recover, I’ll learn how to return home and how I got here in the first place. For now I’m under the care of great, brave, and kind heroines, and returning their kindness is my priority.” She pointed at Coco. “Miss Pommel is Rarity’s friend and she was in trouble, so I’ll do my best to help her. I’m sure wherever my family, friends and trainer are, I believe they would want me to be helping others.”

“I… see,” Leaf said, his facial expression full of surprise. He displayed a weak smile and commented, “I suppose sometimes it’s a good idea not to look back but focus on here and now. As for me, being with Coco will be much better than stealing or begging for bits and food.” He displayed his teeth in a wide smile. “I couldn’t be happier.”

Coco blushed and hid it behind her forehoof.

“What happened with that Eevee, did he ever find his real parents?”

Nica nodded. “He did…” She took a deep breath and spoke in a calm tone, “My trainer wasn’t sure if defeating one of the gangs would allow the other one grow too powerful, and fighting both gangs at the same time would be no better than letting them fight each other. Instead, she decided to defeat and capture the most elite members from both gangs to weaken their influence.”

“But what of the Eevee’s parents, tell me, tell me!”

“I was getting to that,” Nica said. “The leader from Magma gang had three elite followers. We managed to defeat two of them and delivered them to the police. It turned out that Eevee’s parents were caught by one of them and trained against Aqua gang. A male Jolteon and female Leafeon, an electric and grass type pokemon with a great advantage against the water types. After freeing them, Eevee reunited with his parents, only to say his goodbye.”

“Goodbye? But why?” Leaf asked, his thin forelegs trembling.

“Because for Eevee, Astra was the parental figure, taking care and raising him. He did not want to leave the team.” Nica smiled cheerfully, her tone now very calm, “And you know how they reacted? They thanked us for taking care of their egg and for raising their child. They trusted us to be the better influence and left, believing it was for the best.”

“I see…”

Nica’s ears perked up at the noise of sobbing, it wasn’t the colt who was sobbing though, but it was Coco herself. The fashionista was rubbing her watery eyes with a tissue. “S-so… touching…”

Nica smiled sheepishly. “I think I better stop talking about myself.” She puffed and poked her chest. “I’m ready for orders, boss. Are there any other gangs that bothered your shop I should take care of? Or should I just stand and guard?”

“About that…” Coco said, rubbing back of her neck. “Turns out that the mafia is operating in this part of Manehattan, preventing police from patrolling it.”

“Mafia? Like… a criminal organization or evil team?” Nica asked, approaching her boss while walking on two feet before sitting in front of Coco, her eyes now radiating with curiosity.

Coco whimpered and looked to the side. “It was only a matter of time before the mob would interfere. According to Mr. Blue Cross, they would either force the Crushers to pay them for operating on their territory, or they would recruit the most competent members for their ranks, or… they would make them disappear.” She gulped. “I fear my shop will be targeted by them sooner or later…”

“I see…” Nica balanced herself on tip of her rear leg and patted her boss on the shoulder. “Mob or not, I can handle it, so don’t worry.”

“No, you can’t…” Coco said, her voice high and filled with worry. “They are not a group of thugs but organized criminals. Even the police is afraid of them.” She grabbed her by her cheeks and pressed the muzzle against her nose. “I can’t let you put yourself in such danger!” She released her and looked around nervously. “M-maybe they’ll be more r-reasonable… Maybe the protection money they demand will be acceptable enough. At worst, I can raise the prices.”

Nica lowered her head and her ears drooped. “If… if you say so…”

The sales continued almost as well as yesterday, with satisfied customers leaving the shop with practical clothes while leaving Coco with a fair amount of bits. One caped figure was caught by Nica while stealing a few scarves and boots, hiding them in the pockets of their cape. Unlike yesterday, the situation was resolved without a scene.

Coco’s good mood from counting her earnings vanished the moment she glanced at her bodyguard, seeing a pout and other signs of sadness. While Nica followed her orders to the letter and maintained good performance, the enthusiasm she radiated yesterday was gone.

“Is something wrong?” Leaf asked, placing a cup filled with hot tea on the glass counter in front of her.

Coco glanced at her assistant, who despite the young age pulled his weight, relocating clothes from the storage into the main hall whenever customers bought them. “Yes, it is… The police are hoping that Nica can help them deal with the mob, but I don’t want to put her in danger.” She pointed at the pokemon who wore yesterday’s clothing and sunglasses, supported against the wall while staring at the floor. “She was so eager to deal with the mob ponies for me, but ever since I refused, she’s been depressed.”

“Oh, about that, I talked with her about it,” Leaf said.

Coco’s eyes became wide as plates for a moment. “Really? And what did she say?”

“She said that she feels like a failure, and is sad that you don’t have faith in her skills.” Leaf pointed at Nica and added, “According to her memories, she fought against criminals alongside her trainer while being smaller, so she’s experienced at it. The fact that she’s not allowed to fight them while being a Raichu hit her hard.”

“Experienced or not… I don’t know…” Coco struggled to find correct words. Was it fair for her to keep Nica from doing something dangerous? Something that could help the town?

“She seemed confident in herself when I talked with her. Here’s a suggestion, ask her if she fears being hurt or not.”

Coco nodded hesitantly. “Al-alright.”

After closing the store as selling hours were over, she turned to Nica and gave her a curious glance. “Excuse me, may I ask you a question?”

Nica took off her glasses and nodded.

“Do you not fear of being hurt by the mob ponies?”

“Fear that they’ll hurt me? Why should I. Being hurt and getting stronger for it is part of a pokemon’s nature.”

Coco took a step back and raised foreleg defensively. “B-b-but… don’t you fear that the armed ponies will break your bones with their weapons?” She lowered herself and gently stroked Nica’s cheek, who withdrew her face the moment her hoof was going to make contact with the yellow dot. “I can’t even stand the thought of what those mean ponies will do to your adorable face. Do you really not fear any of that”

“No, I don’t. The more I get hurt, accident or not, the less it fazes me. Facing a mob doesn’t sound scary at all.”

“But you have to feel fear. Everyone does,” Coco commented.

Nica sighed and spoke in a depressed tone, “I do feel fear, but it is different from yours.”

“M-meaning?” Coco asked, raising herself to her full height.

“I fear that I can hurt others with my powers. Smashing ponies into walls whenever I’m excited, hurting them with electricity whenever I lose control.” She poked her own collar. “Which is why I'm wearing this collar and why I practice self-control. I want to avoid hurting others.” She tightened her paw. “But while I don’t wish to hurt innocents, or even the mean ones, I know that criminals are tough. I may not like it, but I’ll use violence against them if I’m forced to, as long as it keeps them from hurting others.”

Coco nodded, listening with full attention.

“I also fear failure.” She pointed at her tail and next dots on her cheeks. “I’m fully evolved and battle-hardened with a lot of combat experience. Yet I fear that when a danger arises, I won’t be fast or skilled enough to protect those I care about. Like you... “ She tapped her paws together and lowered her head. “I want to help Twilight Sparkle learn how to defend herself and her friend. I want to use my powers, speed and durability to help others, to deal with what may threaten them, and the idea of failing to do so terrifies me. I fear being useless, of being worthless.”

“I see… and you believe that by dealing with the mob, you can not only help those in need, but also prove your worth?” Coco asked.

Nica nodded. “Do you remember how I said that the more power one possess, the more they should accomplish? I feel that everyday when my powers aren’t used to ease the burden of others, I’m more and more worthless. But I swore I would listen to you, even if it pains me…”

Coco’s ears flattened against her head. She looked to the side, feeling a growing surge of guilt. In the end, keeping Nica from danger hurt the critter the most.

“What’s that?” Nica asked, pointed outside the window as smoke caught her attention.

Coco quickly unlocked the door and ran outside, her eyes now focused on a tall building in the distance covered by flames. “Oh no, it’s the mob!” She turned around, glancing at her young assistant at the entrance. “Leaf, lock the door and wait for us, and if some mean ponies come, use the window in the storage to escape!”

The unicorn nodded, following her command.

“Please, explain,” Nica begged, giving her a stressed smile. “Did the mob ponies cause this fire?”

Coco nodded before galloping in the direction of the flaming building, Nica following by her side. “According to the Police Chief, the mob demands protection money from each building. The more wealthy the residents, the more they're demanding. The worst part is that if some residents refuse to pay, others needs to pay more, so as result they often fight among themselves.”

Nica glanced at the flaming building and asked, “Is that what happens when they fail to pay enough, the mob sets the entire building on fire? That’s insane and cruel!”

Coco nodded. “And terrifying… According to what Blue Cross told me, the mob has five skilled pyrocasters who can set flames that spread even on metal and rocks. The police already have plenty of evidence, but are too afraid to use it.” Her breathing became heavy. Despite being an earth pony, she was still a peaceful mare whose main focus was on perception and precision, not athletic activities. She glanced at her bodyguard with pleading eyes and said, “You’re very fast, right? Can you–”

“On it!” Nica shouted. Using her tail, she cut the back of her collar to get it off before speeding up, leaving the pony in the dust.

After a moment of coughing and shaking her forehoof in an attempt to push the dust away, Coco finished, “–inform the firefighters.” She picked the collar from the street and stared at Nica who kept running with aura of electricity surrounding her. The pokemon kept repeating her name at rapid pace. “Wait, she won’t…” Coco blinked as Nica ahead of her jumped, piercing the wall. “She just ran into a flaming building,” Coco said calmly before raising forehoof towards her heart. She screamed, “She just ran into a flaming building!” Placing a forehoof on her forehead, Coco fainted.

Ch 7.5 - ...the Mob

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 7.5
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...the Mob

Running through a building covered in scorching fire taught Nica two lessons. The first one being that using ‘Volt Tackle’ provided her with some protection from the fire, like a small barrier of her own. The other being that she couldn’t use ‘Volt Tackle’ unless she was running, and she couldn’t search for trapped ponies without stopping and looking around.

With the aura of electricity vanishing the moment she pulled herself to a full stop on the stairs, she felt the heated atmosphere, her face quickly became sweaty. Breathing alone let her feel the hot air in her lungs, and the smoke traveling on the ceiling left her with the feeling of dread.

Her ears perked up as she listened with full attention, her senses now fully focused on her surroundings. Focus, focus… when I was running towards this building, the flames were covering the walls and were visible on every window and balcony. However, the moment I got inside through the wall, most of the area was fire-free… She trotted across the hallway in search, yet no noise of panic was to be heard. Were ponies unaware that flames started spreading through the floor and walls? Coco told me that those flames are magical and can spread on metal and stone. Maybe those culprits cast them from the outside, enveloping the building in flames to trap the residents inside. It means that most ponies are trapped and unaware of danger.

Nica narrowed her eyes. She sent a small portion of power into her tail, slapping the door open. The screams of panic echoed inside the apartament.

“What’s that thing?”

Nica took a moment to stare at the terrified family of unicorns. Both parents stepped in front of their daughter and son.

“I don’t care what you are, but if you think you can just break out our door and come in uninvited, you’re wrong,” the stallion said, his face unamused.

“You’re not going to steal our property, are you?” the mare asked before growling angrily. “You better not!”

Nica shouted, only to realize that her collar was no longer on her neck. To use electricity, she sacrificed her means of communication.

“I’m… I’m armed,” the stallion said before levitating over a golf club, waving it in front of him threateningly.

Nica’s mouth was agape. These ponies were completely unaware the danger they were in. I have to warn them somehow. Her nose picked up a burning smell coming from another room.

“Wait… is something burning?” the mare asked, sniffing the air before looking around in confusion.

Not wasting a moment, Nica ran towards the door and slapped it open, pointing at the spreading flames coming from the balcony. A third of the room already being on fire. She examined the expression of the family, seeing nothing but shock on the parents faces. She turned back to the flames and walked inside the room. At times like this, having Starmie around would be really helpful. She narrowed her eyes and focused on her electricity, sending a weakened ‘Thunderbolt’ in attempt to separate the burning part of the room from the rest. With the flaming rubble falling onto the street, Nica approached the edge, examining distance from the ground. Wait… the flames are gone? she thought. The rubble that fell to the street was no longer on fire. So that’s how this spell works. It’s meant to burn the entire building, but doesn’t spread further than that.

“It must be the mob!” the stallion shouted. “Oh no. I should’ve paid my part…”

The mare looked at Nica in confusion. “You… you didn’t come to rob us, but to help us, r-right?

Nica nodded before pointing down as the family approached.

“It’s only the third floor, we could jump…” the stallion said before looking at the colt by his side. Focusing on his magic, he levitated both children towards the street before jumping themselves, landing on the street safely.

Nica sighed before walking towards the stairs, only to hear screams of panic and see ponies leaving their rooms, forming a crowd. Out of reflex, she leaped towards the ceiling and pierced it with her tail, now hanging onto the hole. The crowd of ponies galloped under her while ignoring her presence. Numerous ponies started pushing one another in attempt to get downstairs while two tall stallions kicked a hole in the wall, now jumping outside form the third floor.

Nica’s ears drooped as she powerlessly stared at the scene. There wasn’t much she could do for the crowd, and ponies seemed capable enough to jump from this height or run through the flames at the entrance. Oh right… ponies are quite durable themselves, she thought, now remembering her interaction with Maud Pie.

She climbed onto the fourth floor and made another hole in the ceiling, climbing floor after floor as the stairs were mostly crowded with ponies. This building seemed to have nine levels, maybe ponies on the upper floors needed her help?

Her prediction had proven true as the flames started to spread across the hallway, cutting off all escape paths.

Walking on her rear paws, occasionally performing tiny leaps, she bypassed the spreading flames, only to end up trapped between them. Gritting her teeth, she ran through the fire as her spotless fur now received a few burns. Her mind provided her with reminders of each time she was hit by fire attacks while being a Pichu.

“Is anypony there?”

Nica ran towards the source of voice.

“I need help… please!”

Nica tackled the door with her body, finding herself in a kitchen which was mostly on fire.

She yelped and leaped to the side. Her right eye closed and she bit her lip as she felt a massive amount of pain still present on her right leg, as if it was making contact with a pokemon made of lava. She looked down, noticing how her right foot was stuck against a melting pan. Forget lava. This hurts so much more! Get off, get off! She shook the melted metal from her foot and focused her attention on the pleading voice. Now was no time to be bothered by pain.

“Help! Somepony! Please!”

She ran through another portion of flames while limping on three legs, her right leg raised above the floor. She broke into the bathroom, finding a pegasus hiding in his bathtub which was filled with water. The most noticeable feature about the pony was a badly burned right wing.

“W-who… what are you?”

Nica looked at the ceiling, noticing gathering smoke. Even if the water seemed to keep the fire at bay, it was only a matter of time before the toxic gas would end this pony’s life.

“Whatever you are, hide inside this bathtub. It’s better than burning alive,” the pegasus said in terrified voice, struggling to hide his pain as he occasionally glanced as his burned wing. “Oh, just my stupid luck. If I had noticed the flames earlier… ugh...”

Nica looked around. The only way out seemed to be through the kitchen and the hallway, which were already on fire. She wrapped her tail around the belly of the confused pegasus and bent her legs, preparing to run. She grit her teeth the moment her right foot touched the floor, but ignored the pain.

“Hey… w-what are you doing, release me!”

Repeating her name over and over, she ran. Electricity formed around her and the pegasus, keeping the flames at bay as she dashed through the kitchen and the hallway. Tackling the wall, she pierced through, now falling from the seventh floor with the pegasus wrapped by her tail.

Her legs bent upon the impact as she struggled to keep her head and the pegasus from crashing into the street. While on her own, she had no trouble falling from hundreds of meters, doing so with additional weight was anything but easy. With the pegasus wrapped by her tail, her weight increased four times, making her fall harder to endure. Having burned legs only made the fall more painful.

Standing on her trembling legs, she lowered the pegasus to the street whose eyes were wide as plates, his breathing quick.

The pegasus tried to speak, to yell, but words were stuck in his throat.

As much as she wished to stay with the pegasus and calm him down, she was far from being done. With a calculated jump, she reached the eighth floor by a window, her forepaws raised protectively to her face as the flames were stronger than before. The entire hallway was now on fire. Whatever sweat formed on Nica evaporated in an instant. Her senses picked an aura of fear coming from behind the nearby door. With a slam of her tail, she forced the door open, unintentionally inviting the fire inside. The scream of panic reached her ears.

Stepping into the room, she lowered her burnt paws as no fire blocked her vision. In the corner of the room was as a curled and trembling colt, an earth pony.

“M-mom… d-dad… please… d-don’t leave me…” the earth pony said, sobbing between words while his bronze mane wore a few burned marks. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that his mane had caught on fire and was extinguished with hasty stomping or rolling.

Nica bit her lip. It was one thing to use ‘Volt Tackle’ while pulling a grown up pony, but would a terrified colt endure the experience?

With slow steps, she approached the young pony and gently nuzzled him, yet the trembling and aura of fear remained.

She carefully picked up the colt onto her back and wrapped her tail around them both for stability, her attention now focused upon a wall. With help of a weakened ‘Thunderbolt’ she pierced a few holes, creating a path. she said before jumping forward. With a long jump, she flew above the flames quick enough to keep them from burning her passenger, only to start falling from an even greater height than before.

She straightened her less-burned rear leg downwards, preparing her foot for the landing. As she’d hoped for, the landing proved softer, due to her passenger only doubling her weight. She gently placed the traumatised colt on the street and embraced, stroking his back while pressing his face into the fur on her chest.

“Nica, you’re safe!”

Nica turned towards the source of voice, recognizing Coco. Not wasting a moment, she released the colt from her embrace and pointed at him, and next ran and jumped back to the eighth floor. My boss is very kind. I’m sure she can cheer up the poor pony.

Despite her obvious durability, the continuous contact with fire started to hurt more and more as the atmosphere became unbearable. Each step across the flames became a struggle on its own. If I remain too long in the fire, it will wear me down. I have to hurry. With the pain becoming harder to ignore, she once again used ‘Volt Tackle’, piercing wall after wall while protecting herself from the flames, yet most rooms on this floor were abandoned. Upon hearing screams of pain coming from above, she stopped herself and jumped, piercing the ceiling with ‘Iron tail'.

Now finding herself inside another burning room, she walked towards the source of voice, noticing three ponies trapped under flaming rubble. One quick glance at the hole on the ceiling was enough to let her see the red sky.

Gritting her teeth, Nica slammed the burning rubble away. Two grown up earth ponies held a young filly in their embrace, most likely a desperate attempt to protect her when the ceiling itself started to fall on their heads.

Nica wanted nothing but to help, but couldn't move an inch, a memory of her past flashed before her eyes.

She was in another building filled with flames, and she was a Raichu as well, staring at two burned humans protecting their child. Despite her attempts to help them and get outside, the father didn’t survive, while the mother’s face was never the same. Only their daughter remained unharmed, though afraid of fire and fire pokemon ever since.

Nica shook her head, now was not the time to remember her failure. The ponies before her were conscious and struggled to stand up, showing impressive durability.

“I… I don’t know who you are…” He coughed. “But thank you…”

The mare ignored her own burns, examining her daughter. “Are you alright? Please, speak to me.”

“I am…” the filly coughed. “What… what will happen to us?”

The mare looked around, seeing nothing but fire from all sides and even the roof. She embraced her daughter, covering her line of sight and stroke her gently. “It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay.”

Nica felt tears sliding down her face, which evaporated upon making contact with the heated floor. Even though she no longer stood in flames, she felt heated air from all around. The smoke on the ceiling kept escaping through the hole.

Feeling a surge of confidence, she approached the family and spread her forepaws in direction of the scared filly.

“You want to hold her?” the mare asked.

Nica nodded.

“But why?”

Nica pointed at the hole in the ceiling, begging in her mind that the ponies would trust her enough.

“You think you can save her?” she asked, receiving a nod of confirmation.

“But how can you do that?” the stallion asked while looking at the approaching flames. “Nevermind that… we’re going to burn anyway!” He looked at his wife and shouted, “If there’s even a slight chance, we should take it, honey, please!”

The mare slowly placed the filly in Nica’s embrace, her forelegs shaking. “Please, get her to safety if you can. I beg you!”

Nica nodded before turning around. She pressed the filly into her fur and wrapped them both with her tail. With a quick jump, she flew through the hole in the roof before falling onto the roof of a nearby building, gently placing the filly on the cold stone.

The filly stared back at her with terrified eyes, yet she could sense more than just aura of fear. A powerful aura of gratefulness and trust.

With no time to waste, she repeated her trick with the other ponies. While it worked with the mare, the stallion proved heavier than she thought.

Weighed down by her heavy passenger and not strong enough to reach the roof of another building, she fell down to the street. In desperation, she sent power into her tail, keeping it above her head. Her paws slammed into the street with great force, causing cracks to spread as her own face was now stuck in it. The stallion was spared the unpleasant crashing, still raised centimeters above the hard ground. Deeply inside she felt like screaming in pain from the non-stop abuse, but kept her mouth shut.

The Chief of the Police stationed nearby Coco’s store with a small group of his subordinates as he awaited Coco’s response. It didn’t come up as a surprise that the mare and her bodyguard needed some time to consider their plea, and Miss Pommel promised to give him the answer after closing her store today. It was only a matter of time before the mob would find the behavior of the police to be suspicious, so the sooner he could get his answer, the better.

What came as a surprise was smoke coming from the mafia’s territory.

Not wasting a moment, he organized his squad and galloped towards the burning building, passing street after street. The firefighters seemed to be heading in the same direction, pulling large containers with water.

The biggest surprise however was what was awaiting them. Beside a panicked crowd of ponies gathered around the burning building, Miss Nica, the bodyguard he needed for a special mission, was now standing in the middle of the street covered in burns. Coco by her side.

With firm steps and an impassive stare, he approached the large critter who seemed to notice him.

Nica approached in his direction as they now stared at each other in silence.

“Where are those responsible?” Nica asked, her eyes narrowed while the collar was present on her neck.

“I take it you’re willing to cooperate in taking them down?” Blue Cross asked, doing his best to keep his emotions in check. The critter before him looked as if it had been running through hell and deserved his pity and respect, but now was not the time to show it.

“Where are they?” Nica asked again.

“They are most likely in their headquarters. I would advise not going after them until you recover,” Blue Cross suggested, only for the critter to jump towards his head. Burned rear paws anchored themselves against his chest, burned forepaws were on his cheeks and a tiny black nose was pressed against his muzzle. The oval eyes of the critter were filled with rage and determination. She wasn’t going to step down.

“I’ll be battle ready in ten minutes! Now, where are they?”

Blue Cross sighed and pointed at the tallest building in this part of town. “Pyrocasters, lieutenants and the boss himself reside in that building, guarded by their most brutal enforcers.”

Nica released his face, landing on the street before sitting. Her breathing heavy, eyes closed, ears drooped and her tail lying motionlessly. “I’ll stop them… I swear.”

Blue Cross nodded before looking back at his subordinates. “Don’t stand in place like foals, call for reinforcements.”

Each officer saluted before running away, following their order.

Blue Cross glanced at the burning building, examined the gathered ponies and next looked at the burns covering her fur. There were more than enough clues as to what this brave being was doing all this time. It seems that Princess Twilight Sparkle has a good eye for talents. I hope our little mercenary is as skilled and powerful as she is brave.

A tall orange unicorn in a grey suit eyed the city from the top of his building, which would be considered as a skyscraper by some due to it having no less than thirty levels. Only a few constructions in Manehattan surpassed his own personal fortress.

His attention focused upon a burning building in distance, a fine example for fools what defying him would cost them. Between him and the outside was a reinforced glass window, hard enough to stop even the strongest pegasi from assaulting him from the air. One of the perks of being the top dog in this big apple called Manehattan was a nice view and very competent security.

He massaged his forehead and groaned upon experiencing yet another headache, a sore reminder that maybe he wasn’t the top dog after all. He approached his comfortable armchair and sat in it, his eyes now staring at a single note.

“Either live in a blissful ignorance, or your life is forfeit,” he read it aloud in angered tone. For a unicorn, he was not a fool, possessing both powerful magic, vast knowledge and street smart. Ever since his headaches started a few days ago, he investigated them, finding out that part of his memories were sealed by dark magic while some mysterious curse was regularly draining a small portion of his magic, like a parasite feeding off his power.

Sealing someone's memories wasn’t new in the world of crime, a useful and more merciful method of dealing with someone who knew too much. It didn’t take a genius to find a connection between memory loss, headaches and his magic being drained. “Stupid curse,” he said to himself and unleashed his anger on a pony statuette of himself, shattering the marble stone into tiny pebbles. Someone powerful cursed him with dark magic while sealing his memories of the event.

Not long after researching a spell to remove the curse from himself and his pyrocasters, a mysterious note appeared in his very room. Someone way above him in power and cunning was warning him, and he knew better than to ignore it.

He sighed before once again looking at the burning building in the distance, the very sight improved his mood.

“Sir, it’s an emergency!”

The unicorn looked towards his door, which were slammed open as his trusty subordinate rushed in, his forehead covered in sweat and his breathing heavy.

“Calm yourself this instant, Tombstone. You’re shaming our family by panicking like that.”

“S-sorry boss.” Tombstone took a moment to catch a breath before saluting. “Our family is under assault. You need to escape before it is too late!”

The boss stared at his subordinate as if he went insane. Tombstone was one of his toughest earth ponies, always wearing a grey suit with black stripes sitting on his back, which often got dirty whenever he was assigned to beat someone into submission. This time however his suit was covered by burns, and so was his face.

Taking a deep calming breath, he asked, “How many attackers? Are they from the police, or a bunch of rival gangs gathered together? How much progress have they made into my fortress?” He placed his forehooves on the desk before him, staring at his subordinate with a calm and collected posture.

“J-just one and small, sir, but insanely dangerous. This beast use its own tail like a sword and blasts room after room with electricity.” He took a few quick breaths. “The police arrived later and started cleaning after it, taking the unconscious enforcers into custody with no resistance.”

The boss raised an eyebrow. Merely joking like this would earn his subordinate a tombstone of his own, so as ridiculous as it sounded, it couldn’t be a prank.

“The pyrocasters tried to burn it with no effect. That creature must be fireproof or something. One of your lieutenants was defeated already while another one formed a defensive line on the twelfth floor.” Suddenly, both stallions felt weak trembling under their hooves and heard noise of breaking glass. “Well… I think his line has been breached just now.”

The boss lowered his head and held it on both of his forelegs, which were supported against the desk. “One bad thing after another,” he said to himself before glancing at the note. Whoever was coming couldn’t be sent by this mysterious figure who did mess up with his memories, but was probably someone of the same league.

He raised his head and glanced at his subordinate. “Our family doesn’t run away with our tail between our legs. If we’re fated to fall today, we’ll do so in combat.”

Tombstone nodded before approaching his boss, sitting next to him. “If this is your wish boss, I will fight by your side.” His panicking voice was now filled with determination while breathing returned to normal.

The boss gave his subordinate a satisfied smile. This kind of attitude is what he expected from his family.

Seconds felt like minutes as noises of battle became louder and louder, only to turn into a dead silence. Half a minute later, a shining thunder-shaped tail cut the door in half and next pushed it aside. A small pear-shaped creature with a long tail and rabbit-like legs walked inside. Despite bruises and burns covering nearly the entirety of its body, it didn’t show any sign of weakness.

The boss facehooved before laughing in a creepy way. “So… the powerful Del Gambino family is fated to fall… to such a tiny being. The fates truly couldn’t play a more cruel joke on me on this very day.”

The critter approached, staring back with narrowed eyes filled with rage.

“Boss… Sir Gambino, please be wary. When it arrived at our doorstep, we were fooled by its innocent appearance. Before we knew it, a third of our forces were knocked out by electricity.”

Gambino chuckled. “I see. Size isn’t always the symbol of strength, or else the dragons would have burned down Equestria a long time ago.” He shook his head. “Still, I can’t let everything end this way. What’s your name, intruder?” As he awaited the answer, his attention focused on a small saddlebag attached to the critter’s shoulder. The intruder opened it and picked up a collar, only to put it on its neck.

“My name’s Nica and I am a Raichu.”

“I wish I could say it is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Nica, but it would be a lie. Despite your meekly appearance, you managed to defeat my strongest subordinates and overpowered my entire family by yourself. I feel a great respect towards your strength and great sadness that we are on opposite sides.” He stood up from his armchair and rounded his table, now staring at his opponent with an even look. “Before we exchange blows, may I ask what reason you have to fight us? If we offended you in anyway, I would be willing to apologize and repay in return for your neutrality.”

“It’s not about me, it’s about all the ponies you hurt. Criminal organizations grow in strength at the expense of weak and innocent, which is why I’m more than willing to take them down!” She pointed at what was left of the burning building out the window. “So many lives would have been lost if I wasn’t there to help, and I fear that not everypony made it out safely.” She pointed at him accusingly. “I’ll use all of my power to take away yours so you can’t ruin any more lives.”

Gambino raised an eyebrow. “While I find your motivation to be a bit of a cliche and over-idealistic, I can’t deny the determination and willpower I see in your eyes. You’re not somepony trying to play hero. I can tell that you’re emotionally invested in taking me down.” Gambino crossed his forearms. “Still, defeating me wouldn’t bring you any benefits. Would you agree to remain neutral or side up with me? I can give you riches and a position of pow–” He failed to finish as the critter’s tail slammed into the floor with great force and a loud thump. His attempt of negotiation did little but enrage the intruder further.

Tombstone approached his boss and took a fighting stance in front of him, ready to defend him with his life.

Gambino rubbed his cheek and said, “I see how it is, but before I unleash my power against you, would you tell me what kind of being are you. I have studied the royal archives in Canterlot quite intensively, so I know numerous species that live in Equestria and on the borders. You, a being called Raichu, don’t seem to be from around here.”

Nica stomped. “I see no reason to tell you anything, and even if I wanted too, I am still recovering my memories. There’s much I still don’t know about where I come from and myself.”

“Wait… recovering memories?” His horn lit as he performed a quick scan of the critter in front of him, who took a fighting stance in response but didn’t attack. “So your memories were also tampered with…”

“What do you mean, also?” Nica asked, blinking in confusion. Her tail raised threateningly.

“It matters not. Maybe I will tell you if you defeat me,” Gambino said before vanishing in a flash of teleportation, reappearing behind the critter. He shot a beam of magic towards the back of Nica’s neck, damaging the collar by accident as it fell onto the floor. He smirked before grabbing the creature with his levitation and throwing her against the reinforced glass. He grit his teeth, putting all his power into his horn before unleashing a powerful beam, which pinned Nica against the glass while continuously burning her belly. A loud painful "chuuuuuu..." filled the room.

One crack, a second crack, the reinforced glass broke as the long-tailed creature fell from the thirtieth floor. Despite the long distance, a thudding noise reached his ears. As he approached the window to see if the intruder was flattened, his ears picked up an odd noise, as if “Rai” was being repeated over and over, followed by the noise of broken walls.

He flinched out of reflex as Nica pierced the floor before him, and he could see an aura of electricity surrounding the intruder. He raised a barrier, yet it broke the moment his opponent tackled it. A bright explosion blinded him as he felt electricity go through his bones and muscles, only for him to be pinned to the floor by a much smaller being.

Tombstone ran closer and turned around, delivering a series of kicks in attempt to get Nica off his boss, each blocked by the long shining tail.

With a quick swing, Nica hit the earth pony with her tail, pushing him across the room. Her attention focused on the unicorn boss.

Gambino stood up on his shaking legs, still feeling the side-effects of being shocked by electricity as his muscles rebelled against him. He shot several beams of magic at Nica, who evaded three shots, deflected two with her metallic tail while the last one left a bruise on her cheek. His focus on a teleportation spell was interrupted by the metallic tail slamming against his horn. Another portion of electricity went through his body a moment later.

Nica picked up the collar from the floor and held it on her neck with her paw before speaking, “You’re much faster and more battle-experienced than Princess Twilight, I’ll give you that.” She narrowed her eyes and pinned him against the wall with her tail. “But you still have a long way from reaching her in terms of raw power. It is over.”

The boss chuckled, a satisfied smile present on his face. “It is over indeed, and despite being hurt, you fought with skills and might. It makes sense why Princess Twilight Sparkle would send someone as competent as you to deal with my family.” He chuckled again. “I’ll find solace knowing that we lost to a subordinate of the vanquisher of Tirek herself.”

The pokemon groaned. “If you used your powers and talents to help those weaker than you instead of exploiting them, you wouldn’t end up as my enemy. You can only blame yourself and the choices you made.”

“Speaking of choices,” the boss said, looking at the critter in pity. “If your memories were sealed by the same dark magic that cursed and weakened me, you’ll no doubt encounter this powerful being again. For your own sake, don’t stand up against it.”

“What are you talking about?” Nica asked, still holding her collar against her neck while pinning the stallion with her tail against the wall.

The boss pointed at the note on the table and said, “Either live in a blissful ignorance, or your life is forfeit.” He shook his head. “My memories and the memories of my strongest family members were tampered with, and curses were placed upon us. As a reward for defeating me, I’ll give you this one warning. If you’re given a choice, do not fight against this powerful being.”

“Twilight, Twilight, where are you!?”

“Over here!” Twilight shouted from her spot behind the table in her library, an open book levitated in front of her face. It didn’t take long before Pinkie Pie and Starlight ran inside.

“You really really really need to read this!” Pinkie shouted before throwing a newspaper onto the table.

“You won’t believe what happened!” Starlight shouted as she clapped her forehooves, her face filled with excitement.

Twilight lowered her book and started reading the newspaper before pointing at the numerous pictures. “You mean Rarity’s punk mane’s style? I already knew about it since yesterday.”

“No, turn the page,” Pinkie suggested, turning the page for the princess before once again bouncing in place from excitement.

Twilight’s neutral face turned into one of shock while her eyes became wide like plates.

“A small but brave bodyguard protected a clothing store from a gang.”

“The long-tailed critter called Raichu rushed into a burning building and saved numerous lives.”

“Miss Nica assisted the police in fight against the mob by defeating and arresting leaders of the Del Gambino family, ending their reign of terror!”

Twilight’s mouth opened agape, suddenly out of words.

“Isn’t this the coolest news you’ve ever read?” Pinkie asked.

“I must say, it is certainly a very strong way to start her career as a mercenary, don’t you think?” Starlight asked. She wiped liquid pride from her eyes a moment later. “Just a week ago she solved a friendship problem in the changeling’s hive, and now she’s up there kicking flanks and taking names. So proud…”

Pinkie stopped bouncing and waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s eyes, and then poked her in the side, making the alicorn fall. “Well… that’s certainly one way to react.”

Ch.8 - Legends and Dreams

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 8
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Legends and Dreams

A long-range teleportation spell wasn’t something difficult for Twilight Sparkle to perform, while her alicorn magic proved strong enough to fuel the spell. After traveling from Ponyville to Manehattan with a single spell, she followed up with several short-range teleportations, asking the local press and authorities about whereabouts of the local hero.

After finally arriving in front of Coco’s clothing store, she gave herself several seconds to catch a breath, her mane messed up while her face showed signs of insanity. She wiped sweat from her forehead and approached the entrance, knocking at it. She glanced at the sky, staring at the stars. Now that I think about it, maybe waking up ponies so late just to talk to Nica may not be the best idea. I can just stay in a hotel room and wait for tomorrow…

“Who’s there?”

She flinched, awakened from her thoughts. “T-Twilight, Twilight Sparkle. I came to talk with Nica.” The door opened, revealing the face of the fashionista she didn’t see for months. “I apologize for coming so late at night, but after I read the newsp–” She failed to finish as the large critter tackled her, pinning against the street while hugging her neck. She felt affection in the living form squeezing her neck with soft paws. She looked at the pokemon’s face, seeing sunglasses, a small blush, and a wide smile.

“I did it, I did it! I helped, I was useful!”

Twilight smiled sheepishly while standing up. Nica kept clinging to her neck like a scarf.

“Are you proud of me? Please, tell me you’re proud!”

“Well… I think surprised is a more suitable word…”

Nica’s radiating smile vanished as her ears drooped. “You…. you’re not proud? Wasn’t I good enough?” She released her neck and looked down at the street in depression. “I’m sorry…”

“N-no, of course I’m proud of you!” Twilight shouted in panic, embracing Nica with her wing. There seemed to be something familiar in Nica’s desire for praise. Her mind provided her with image of her younger self with test score in her mouth, hopping around Princess Celestia’s hooves in excitement. I still remember how hard I worked to make my mentor proud, and how happy I was upon hearing a single world of praise. The way Nica acts makes me feel very nostalgic.

Nica’s smile returned as she started nuzzling the princess chest.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. I swear, her desire to be helpful is out of this world.

“I’ll leave you both alone. I’m sure you have a lot to talk about,” Miss Pommel said before performing a full bow. “It’s an honor, Princess.” She walked inside, leaving the door slightly open.

“No, wait–” Twilight said, but the earth pony was already too far to hear her. She sat and looked Nica in the eyes, speaking in a patient voice, “May I ask you three questions?”

“Sure. I always love satisfying your curiosity,” Nica said, sitting as well.

Twilight took a deep breath and asked, “What’s your first instinct when you see a crumbling building that is on fire?”

“I fear that lives are in danger and run inside, hoping to save as many lives as possible,” Nica answered.

“Even at risk of burning yourself?” Twilight asked.

Nica nodded. “I still don’t know much about myself, but I know that I can endure what others can’t. If I need to jump into flames to save lives, so be it.”

Twilight smiled proudly for a moment before asking, “And what’s your reaction to organized crime?”

“Defeat them of course, and protect the innocent. This is what I have been doing while being Pichu and Pikachu, side by side with my trainer.” She gestured at herself while presenting her tail. “I’m a Raichu now, I have even greater power, so it’s my responsibility to work even harder for the sake of others.”

Twilight nodded before asking her third question, “And let’s say, hypothetically,” she held forehoof on her chest, “that I would bring you into a volcano and ask you to swim for a minute in the hot body-melting lava? Would you do it?”

Nica tapped her forepaws together, speaking hesitantly, “Well… if you asked nicely. I mean, it most likely wouldn’t kill me, and enduring it would probably improve my resistance to fire.”

Twilight facehooved. “It’s hopeless, just hopeless.” She lowered her forehoof and asked, “One last question, I promise. If I asked you to watch after half-a-year old fillies and colts at the hospital, would you agree?”

“Oh… ummm… I’m not sure. I would certainly suggest to find someone more competent,” Nica said, rubbing back of her neck. “The fear that I would harm such innocent tiny beings… It would be too much for me.”

“Of course,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes, now understanding Nica better than before.

“Oh, I just remembered. You’re just in time.”

“In time? Whatever for?” Twilight asked.

“For your self-defense lessons!”

Twilight stood up and took a step back. “Oh…” She lowered her head and sighed. “I walked into it, didn’t I?” She looked at her saddlebag as it started moving, only for the head of a white rat to peek out. “Oh, I almost forgot. Mr. Patrick was missing you and got in for the ride.”

The white ran jumped to the street and ran towards Nica, climbing onto her shoulder before nuzzling her cheek. Nica returned the gesture by nuzzling the rat with her nose.

“So, what will my training be about tonight?”

“Tonight we’ll start working on your reflexes.”

“Reflexes?” Twilight asked, only for Nica to grab the closest stone and throw it up as it fell and bounced against the pokemon's head. “Ummm… why did you do that?”

“The better question is, why didn’t you stop it. You had three seconds to stop the stone with your levitation. What if something sharp or very heavy was falling on your friend’s head and you had a few seconds to react?”

“Oh…”

Nica’s tail started shining brightly as she aimed it at her own forehead, ready to strike it.

“Nica, stop!” Twilight shouted as the pokemon fell over with a bruise now present on her forehead.

Nica pointed accusingly at the alicorn and asked, “You had two seconds, why didn’t you stop my tail?”

“Because it caught me off guard,” Twilight commented.

“Do Chrysalis or other villains give you a fair warning before trying to hurt you or those you care about? When your mentor was fighting with Chrysalis during the royal wedding, you had plenty of time to attack the queen when she was distracted. Only practice will help you react to such situations in time.”

Twilight bit her lip. Now that she thought about it, there were quite a few situations when she could use magic to solve the problem, but didn’t react in time.

“Defend yourself!” Nica shouted.

Twilight took a step back as the shining edge of Nica’s tail was now but a centimeter away from her neck. She gulped.

“Half a second,” Nica said before withdrawing her tail.

Twilight whimpered. At this point, she was simply embarrassing herself. She observed the large critter who ran into the store and next pushed outside a dummy.

“What are you up to?” Twilight asked, already expecting something unexpected, her senses sharpened and magic charged into her horn.

“Imagine that this dummy is your friend, ummm… Rarity…” Nica said before untying her collar. She jumped up and summoned a weakened ‘Thunderbolt.’

Twilight’s tail and mane jumped up in shock as she grit her teeth. She summoned a barrier around the dummy as electricity scattered against it.

Nica placed forepaws on her sides and gave the princess a proud glance. “Finally, some progress.”

Twilight smiled in satisfaction, only to bite her lip and use her magic, immobilizing Nica’s tail before it could strike against her belly.

The pokemon held her forepaws on her hips. “I think it’s enough for the warm up.” She stomped and grinned. “Now let’s get serious.”

Twilight chuckled nervously, not liking in the least where this was going.

Exhausted yet happy, Nica made her way to the stack of materials prepared for her by Miss Pommel. Curling herself into a ball while placing her tired head on her own legs. Despite her body enduring flames and even making contact with melted metal for a long period of time, not a single burn or bruise remained after a few hours of break.

Falling asleep took longer as her thoughts still lingered on her self-satisfaction.

Ever since she ended up in Equestria, today she felt happier than ever before, proud of what she accomplished. While eating delicious sweets or spending time in company of amazing ponies like Twilight, Starlight, Fluttershy and Miss Pommel made her happy, it also left a void of unfulfillment, like receiving something precious without giving anything in return, something she couldn’t stand for. Today however was different, instead of being gifted by the generous ponies with food and affection, she protected their lives, saved Rarity’s friend business and stopped organized crime from terrorizing the innocent.

It was a feeling she desired all this time. Fulfillment, pride in herself. After so much time, she finally didn’t feel worthless.

After half an hour of wriggling on her temporary bed, Nica fell asleep, experiencing yet another part of her past.

Being a Pikachu again while in a company of the newest team member, Eevee, Nica followed her trainer into a Pokemon Center. With the necessary number of badges gathered by their combined efforts, it was only a matter of weeks before they would fight in the Hoenn League, at least, that’s what she had expected was going to happen.

“Trainer Astra.”

Nica jumped onto her trainer's shoulder and looked towards the source of voice, noticing a tall boy with black hair and a black jacket, feeling as if she had seen him before.

“Yes, that’s me, do I know you?”

The boy nodded. “Kind of. I’m the assistant of Lt. Surge from the Kanto gym,” he said before looking at Astra’s shoulder. “I see your Pichu evolved already. She must be insanely powerful now, considering how strict you are with evolutions.”

Astra chuckled. “Oh, she’s very powerful, but we’re still no match for the Elite Four, though we’re getting there.”

Eevee who walked next to Astra’s leg started growling.

Nica looked down from her trainer’s shoulder and scolded,

Eevee whimpered apologetically.

Nica rolled her eyes. With Eevee’s overprotective nature, it was up to her to keep him from biting any stranger that ended up in less than a meter distance from their trainer.

“You’re far away from your gym. I doubt you would go all this way just for a small talk,” Astra said, giving the taller boy a suspicious stare.

“I’m here to deliver the intel. Do you remember how Lt. Surge said he would call in a few favors?”

Astra nodded while Nica listened with full attention, her eyes now on a few letters in the human’s hand.

“Turns out it is bigger than we expected. Lt. Surge as a gym leader can’t leave his gym for long to make a move, but you’re more than welcome to try.” He turned around and waved his hand. “See ya in Kanto, I’m sure you’ll go there after reading this.”

After her trainer took a private spot under a tree near the Pokemon Center, making sure they were alone, she opened one letter after another.

The first letter was filled with congratulations. Apparently, Team Rocket in Johto region tried to start a search for Lugia in order to catch it. Astra’s raids against their outposts greatly slowed down their efforts.

The second letter however brought some dire news. Team Rocket in Kanto recovered from their war against the Guardians and was performing a full-scale search for three legendary pokemon: Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. The reason why three of Team Rocket’s most elite members stopped robbing skilled trainers form their pokemon was because the boss wanted them on standby.

“So that’s why I wasn’t targeted,” Astra said to herself.

Nica glanced at her trainer, thinking, Since we achieved first place during the Johto League tournament, Astra expected that they would try to capture me and the rest of the team, so we prepared a trap. So this is why the attack didn’t come.

The third letter had even more bad news. Apparently, Team Rocket and their allies put a massive amount of money into corrupting higher ups at the Kanto and Johto police in order to take the Guardians down. Not long after, the police started suspecting the Guardians of going rogue while the fake evidence that the Guardians assassinated their own leaders was fabricated in advance. All that was left was for Team Rocket’s elite hitman to eliminate Astra’s parents, and the police took down the entire organization base on fake evidence.

“It seems one of Lt. Surge friends from the army reached a high rank at the police department before receiving a massive amount of money from suspicious individuals,” Astra said while reading a side note attached to the letter. “He feels guilty that he allowed money to blind his sense of duty, but he can’t take it back. Since the corruption reached many of the high ranking members in the police, one cannot just simply report it without others shutting him down.” Astra sighed. “Now I see why the police force don’t take action against the organized crime. They would be taking down their biggest source of income.”

Nica picked up a notepad and pen before writing in it. She showed the message to her trainer.

“I fear we can’t trust the police. Even if most of them have a sense of duty and want to fight crime, there’s always a risk that someone from the top will turn their efforts against us,” Astra said, looking her in the eyes.

Nica nodded. With Astra’s parents eliminated, their organization taken down on false charges and corruption reaching higher-ups in the police, the criminal teams had plenty of space to grow. It seems only humans who aren’t part of the police can now stand up against them. I feel pokemon trainers will soon need to make a stand of their own.

The last letter brought a wide smile on their faces as they looked up at each other.

Nica asked.

“It seems Team Rocket may have a mole in their ranks. If we hurry up, we may slow down their plans.” Astra picked up one of her luxury balls, sending Ninetales into the field. “On our way here we passed an airport, I need you to get us there as quickly as possible. The time to strike back against our enemies has finally come.”

Ninetales howled and nodded, a wide grin present on his face.

Nica jumped down to grab Eevee, only to pull him onto her trainer’s shoulder before they both held Astra’s neck.

Astra grabbed Ninetales neck and held on tight.

A frozen cave filled with crystals. Not the most original location to hide, but certainly a fitting place for the legendary Articuno, a flying pokemon ruling over the power of ice.

Luckily for Nica and her trainer, walking on slippery surfaces wasn’t new to them.

Nica and Eevee walked side by side ahead of their trainer, scanning the area for possible traps or Team Rocket Grunts.

“That’s odd,” Astra said while wearing a warm white coat on top of her usual clothing.

Nica asked, glancing at her trainer for a moment. Eevee took her example.

“According to the mole in Team Rocket, one of three elite hitmen was tasked with the capture of Articuno. Since its location was discovered recently and we timed our arrival perfectly, I expected to encounter the enemy already, yet all we found were explosives planted at the entrance and a weird device filled with poisonous gas. I expected traps or guards in our way.”

Nica said, not expecting her trainer to understand her without help of their trusty notepad.

“Quick, hide,” Astra commanded before hiding behind the closest ice-covered structure.

Nica and Eevee followed their trainer and peeked from behind their cover. One human was standing at the entrance into a tunnel while wearing a purple coat and gasmask. Suspicious grey and purple smoke seemed to be escaping from the chamber ahead.

Suddenly, a silvery beam escaped from the chamber, creating ice on a crystal wall. The noise of battle became louder and louder.

The human at the entrance sent out four pokemon. One looking like two merged heads filled with holes.

“Weezing, you funny goofball. The moment Articuno leaves its little gas chamber, hit it with ‘Sludge Bomb.’ Hit fast and hard for your mommy,” the female voice commanded.

The second one looked like a blue shell covered by spikes, this one Nica remembered encountering in the Alola region.

“Toxapex, my dear rose with thorns, ready your ‘Venoshock’ and show no mercy.”

The third one looked like a large snake.

“Arbok, my little sweaty, ready your sludge wave, show no pity and don’t let Articuno escape.”

The last one looked like a large stock of toxins in three colors; pink, green and yellow. This one no doubt being an Alolan Muk.

Nica shivered. The last time she encountered such a beast, it tried to hug her. This one would no doubt do far worse than that.

“Muk, my pearl among the toxins, be a dear and unleash a ‘Gunk Shot’ at the legendary pokemon the moment you see its face.”

Nica narrowed her eyes. The noise of screeching pokemon became louder, and she could hear pain present in those screeches.

“Three, two, one, now,” Astra said before quietly sending her own pokemon into battle.

“Venusaur, use ‘Sleep Power,’ Starmie, use ‘Psychic’ to move the sleeping powder towards those pokemon at greater speed,” Astra commanded quietly, pointing at the pokemon in distance. “Gligar, use ‘Earthquake’ to trap them. Keep the amount of surface they can use to evade to minimum. Ninetales, keep an eye on that trainer, if she tries to send out more pokemon, to use dirty tricks or try to escape, use ‘Flamethrower’ or ‘Psychic to keep her pinned.”

Ninetales growled and nodded.

“Blissey, share your vitality with the legendary pokemon the moment you get an opening. Nica, protect Articuno and Blissey from attacks until the healing is done.”

Nica nodded before bending her legs, ready to run at any moment.

“Eevee, I know I released you, but if you can protect me from possible attacks, it would be really nice.”

Eevee nodded with narrowed eyes.

Nica smiled sheepishly. The idea of releasing one pokemon so Astra could use seven of them against the criminals was certainly a unique one. Free or not, there was no way this Eevee was going to leave his human mother figure for even for a moment.

The well timed attack from behind against the mysterious female criminal and her team proved successful. Muk fell asleep while Arbok failed to endure the ‘Earthquake’ and ‘Psychic,’ leaving the hostile trainer with two pokemon.

Articuno crashed into the ground while breathing heavily, covered by toxins.

Astra ran towards the legendary bird, using what she’d learned from the tan Nurse Joy when applying an antidote. Blissey’s vitality filled Articuno, recovering its strength with each passing second.

“Well, well, well, a sneaky attack from behind. You’re stealing my style,” the female trainer said before taking off her gasmask. “Do you have any idea who you are dealing with?”

“Enlighten me,” Astra said, shooting the criminal a challenging glare.

“I will keep my real name to myself, but for allies and my victims, I am known as Adenium, one of Giovanni’s three elites,” Adenium introduced herself, standing on the tips of her shoes before performing an elegant bow, only to grab a tranquiliser rifle from her back and aim at Astra. “And here’s my business card.”

Astra took a step back and braced herself, yet the poisonous dart hit Eevee’s neck instead as he intercepted the attack.

Before Adenium could shoot again, a stream of flames burned her weapon to crisp, forcing her to flinch and yelp, yet still maintaining balance. “Wait a moment, five… six… seven… You have more than six pokemon? First a dirty ambush and now you go around the system. Would you be interested in becoming a Team Rocket member? You could rise up the ranks in no time just like I did.”

Astra looked at her Ninetales and snapped her fingers. “Here’s my answer. Ninetales.”

The fire-breathing fox raised his tails, using 'Psychic' to throw the criminal against the rock.

Astra pulled the poisonous dart from Eevee’s neck before digging through her bag in search for another antidote.

“I like you,” Adenium said before pushing the rubble from her damaged uniform. A big ‘R’ became visible with no cape in the way. “How about you leave this cave and let me take care of this legendary pokemon, and in return, I won’t activate the device that will fill this cave with toxic gas while detonating explosives, blocking the only way out.” She picked up a gas mask from her backpage, now holding it in her right hand.

“I already got rid of the explosives and deactivated your device,” Astra pointed out. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear the explosions as my pokemon were throwing the explosives into the air one after another, detonating them with a fire attack.”

Adenium narrowed her eyes, her attitude suddenly serious. “You know what is my favorite part of my job? Trapping my enemies in small rooms filled with toxic gas, or sending expendable grunts as they badly poison my prey. It doesn’t matter how insanely powerful their pokemon are. The poison will wear them down eventually.” She pointed at Team Rocket Grunts coming out from the Articuno’s chamber, and next at more Grunts coming from the tunnel connected with the main entrance, all equipped with gas masks. “I wonder how long you’re going to last.”

Nica narrowed her eyes. So Adenium advanced in the ranks by using her own followers as stepping stones, using them to weaken her targets so she can take the credit. She glanced at Ninetales who was standing on top of a frozen rock with his sight focused on the enemy hitman. She deserves every bit of the beating that’s coming to her.

Astra glanced at Articuno and said, “I know you have no reason to trust humans, especially after your home was raided by them, but I swear, we’re on your side.” She gestured over to her team, and next pointed at the numerous poison pokemon that were being summoned into the cave, surrounding them from all sides. “This is going to be our final stand. We won’t leave you no matter what, but we need your aid to emerge victorious.”

Articuno unleashed a battle cry before spreading its wings and placing them on the ground, one in front of Blissey, and one in front of Pikachu.

Nica looked at the majestic pokemon and nodded. Fighting from back of a legendary pokemon was a great honor. Not to mention, exciting.

Twelve empty bottles of antidote were lying on a pile next to at least forty unconscious Grunts. Adenium and Ninetales were nowhere to be seen.

Covered in bruises, Astra and her team stood in front of the majestic shining blue bird, whose body wore several battle-scars as well.

“This place is no longer safe for you, you’ll need to find another home,” Astra said, maintaining a respective distance from the legendary pokemon.

Nica said from her spot on Articuno’s neck.

Articuno shoot Astra a suspicious glare, and next pointed at trainer’s belt with its wing.

“You can put your worries at ease, I’m not interested in capturing you, nor any other legendaries. A power of legendary pokemon shouldn’t be wielded by a human,” She held hand on her chest, “more or less an inexperienced youth.”

Articuno lowered its wing, no longer as wary as before. It screeched,

Nica leaped from Articuno and ran towards Astra, using a pen and notepad to translate Articuno’s words.

“I’m honored you view me as worthy, but I wish to accomplish my goal with my knowledge, the strength of my loyal team, and the aid of my trusty partner, Nica.” Astra said and next approached, raising her hand towards the large bird. “However, I’ll gladly become your friend and ally. Should any of us end up in trouble, let’s help one another.”

Articuno held its wing against its beak, chuckling. It spread its wings and flapped with great force, spreading wind through the cave before flying away, leaving behind a single blue feather which landed in Astra’s hands.

Astra waved a farewell before glancing at the unconscious Team Rocket members, and next looking at her bat-like pokemon in pride. After a moment of securing the precious feather and searching her saddlebag, she picked up a ‘Razor Fang', and next placed in Gligar’s claws. “While outnumbered, you fought against the odds with all your might and emerged victorious, watching for your allies. You used Earthquake only when no member of the team was close enough to be hurt by it. You deserve to evolve.”

Gligar looked at the item before his eyes started watering. He closed his eyes, stood tall and saluted.

Nica looked at the ground/flying type pokemon in pride, only for her ears to pick up the noise of footsteps. Turning around, she noticed Ninetales walking towards them with Adenium unconscious on his back.

Nica said, running towards Ninetales and staring in satisfaction.

Ninetales spoke in a serious tone, his eyes narrowed and his sharp teeth displayed.

Nica massaged her forehead. And everything was going sooo well…

Ch.9 - Explosive Mining

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 9
-

Explosive Mining

There were many ways to gain fame and popularity. In Nica’s case all it took it was rescuing ponies from a burning building and taking down the mob, combined with Manehattan’s press trying to increase sales with hot topics.

The very next morning numerous ponies visited Coco’s shops in hopes of talking with the little star, many of them interested in hiring Nica to use her popularity to their advantage.

With an overwhelming number of offers, it was up to Nica to choose her next employer very carefully. Would she become a mascot for numerous sporting events? Join a construction company? Or maybe advertise a few products? Nooo… those would be too easy and too superficial. Her goal was to use her powers to help ponies while profit was just a bonus.

Nica smiled at one specific offer. Working in a dark, dangerous, unstable mine filled with explosive gas, now that was a job for someone of her qualifications.

Equipped with a shoulder-bag and helmet, all customized by Coco herself, Nica took some bits with herself and went towards the train station, followed by Coco and her young assistant.

“Please, take care of yourself,” Coco said with a warm smile before gently embracing the large critter, stroking her back.

“And show them what you’re made of,” Leaf said and hoof-bump her paw.

Nica nodded before poking her fixed collar and her shoulder-bag. The head of a white rat emerged from the bag and squeaked at her.

“Thank you for everything you have done for me and the city,” Coco said, holding a forehoof on her chest. “You have no idea how much I owe to your kindness and bravery. I wish I could, but I can’t even express how grateful I am with words.” She placed the forehoof on Leaf and gave him a cheerful smile.

“I should be thanking you. An opportunity to be helpful and use my powers for good is a reward in itself. I never felt so accomplished ever since I woke up in the Everfree Forest.” She waved a farewell before turning around and running away.

“W-wait… you’re not going to take the train?” Coco asked.

“I’ll just run there, following the railroad tracks. It will be faster this way,” Nica answered before speeding up.

Coco’s mouth opened agape. “B-b-but… the mine is in the mountain between Manehattan and Canterlot… It’s two hours worth of a train ride!”

Nica smirked. “In that case, I’ll reach it in one.”

Mr. Patrick peeked outside from the shoulder-bag, enjoying the pleasant breeze on his face.

“Alright everypony. Say hello to the newest and quite unique member of the team. A Raichu named Nica,” announced a tall unicorn with a headlamp as his cutie mark. His face pale and covered by three scars.

A group of ponies wearing helmets and protective clothing waved at the critter, however, she could also hear whispers ‘run away while you still can', or ‘this job isn’t worth it'.

The unicorn chief cleared his throat and said, “My name’s Dark Lantern, and I’m responsible for ensuring that everything here runs smoothly. The assistance of someone as brave and combat-skilled as you is precisely what we need.”

Nica puffed her chest and raised her head in pride. “I’m ready for any task, no matter how dangerous.” She looked at the unicorn with puppy eyes, holding her paws in a pleading gesture. “Actually, can I have the most dangerous work, please?”

Lantern raised an eyebrow. “S-sure..”

“Yay!” Nica shouted in excitement before jumping up, head-slamming into the ceiling. With the rocky surface being much more durable and dense than most ceilings, she bounced back to the ground and shook her head. Her helmet having received a dent. “That’s some hard stone.”

“We’re mining mostly common iron ore and cheap gold ore from this mine, occasionally encountering more valuable gems with magical properties,” Lantern explained while gesturing at his surroundings. Illuminating gems attached to walls lit the cave. The color of the surrounding walls proved difficult to figure out under the assault of multicolored light. “This part of the mine is stable so we have no need to build any kind of support here. The walls and ceiling are very solid.” He pointed at the darkened tunnel behind him. “While digging with pickaxes, hooves and magical beams, we reached a big pocket of natural gas, and sadly, some of it exploded and trapped our workers. We tried to organize a rescue, but with the explosive gas still spreading in those tunnels, making a move is too risky.” He pointed at Nica. “And that is where you come in.”

Nica looked at the darkened tunnel in worry and next nodded, feeling the heavy weight of responsibility on her little back.

Lantern approached a box filled with some sort of sticks. Holding one wooden object with his hoof, he set it on fire with his magic and presented in front of her. “When dealing with flammable gas, our unicorn specialists levitate such a flaming torch far ahead of them and burn away the gas at a safe distance. However, in this case we’re dealing with gas in higher density which can explode, which may cause rocks from the ceiling to crumble in less stable areas.”

“Is my task to protect others from falling rocks?” She glanced at her own tail and added, “I’m perfectly capable of that.”

“That’s great. When I read the article about how you rushed into a building which was on fire, and how you defeated the mob, I was hoping you had skills necessary to keep us safe.”

Nica saluted. “Just leave it to me.”

“Alright, everypony, move out,” Lantern commanded, yet his subordinates showed none of his enthusiasm.

“Incoming,” shouted a unicorn worker, pointing at the ceiling as rubble started falling down, alongside a few loose stones in a variety of sizes.

A worker with a shovel as a cutie mark tripped over and covered his head. “Heeeelp!”

With a quick jump, Nica shot herself towards the falling stone twice the size of a large stallion, spinning in mid air before slamming the boulder to the side. She flew backward from the recoil, her legs pressed against the rocky ground as she pulled herself to a full stop. The earth trembled under her paws the moment the boulder crashed next to the terrified pony.

She looked around and sighed in relief. None of the workers ended up injured after the last explosion. She glanced at her shoulder-bag, ensuring the good health of her tiny friend.

“You just pushed that large boulder away. You have some serious strength in that tail of yours,” Lantern said with an impressed expression, studying the long tail with full interest.

Nica smiled in return. “If I put all of my power into my ‘Iron Tail’ attack, I could probably shatter this boulder into pebbles, but it would be a waste of energy. I just needed one fifth of that to push it aside.”

“So you favor precision over brute force. I like the way you think,” Lantern said before patting Nica on the back. He turned around and lit another torch, levitating it further ahead into the darkness.

Nica kept walking on her rear feet, once again focusing on using her senses, only to stop next to a stonewall made of several gathered boulders. A weak aura filled with negative emotions came from the other side, as if emitted by someone depressed and devoid of hope. “I think I found someone.”

The group stopped in their tracks and approached Nica, now staring at the indicated wall.

An earth pony worker with a horseshoe as a cutie mark started poking small spot between three large boulders, creating a tiny hole before peeking through it. “There seems to be empty space on the other side.”

Nica took a deep breath of dusty air and concentrated, her tail now shining brightly in the darkened area. With a careful movement of her tail, she pierced spaces between the stones, as if trying to cut parts of the puzzle. Each boulder was carefully pulled away by ponies while an aura of magic kept other stones from crumbling like a house of cards.

With a small open passage ahead of her, Nica lowered herself and squeezed through the hole, finding herself in tight space. Her breathing became slow and heavy as there seemed to be very little oxygen left in this area. Putting more power into her tail, she used it as if a lantern, finding an lying unicorn covered in bruises.

“W-who… l-light…” the pony murmured before taking a few seconds to turn his head, now glancing at Nica with tired sleepy eyes. “A m-m-mir-miracle… Am I s-sav-saved?"

The moment more stones were moved away from behind, she wrapped her tail around the dehydrated pony and pulled.

“Hurry up and bring him some water, move, move, move,” Lantern commanded as his subordinates aided the unicorn before two workers escorted the him towards the exit.

“Is he going to be okay?” Nica asked, staring at her boss in worry.

“He’ll be fine. He’s a bit dehydrated, but a breath of fresh air and some fresh water will get him in shape.”

Nica wiped sweat from her forehead. The atmosphere seemed to become hotter and breathing harder the further they went.

The search continued for hours as three more workers were found and rescued, with more than ten explosions and five cases of falling boulders in between.

The moment the group reached a massive gathering of loose stones blocking their path, Latten lowered his head, so did his subordinates.

“It seems this is as far as we can go. There’s nothing more we can do to save them.”

Nica blinked in confusion and ran towards her boss, now staring him in the eyes. “What do you mean?“

The stallion shook his head. “This place is where the gas leak took place and followed up with a chain of explosions that sealed the area. We already checked all tunnels except this one, which means that the rest of missing workers are trapped on the other side, separated by thousands of tons of stone.”

“We can break through,” Nica suggested.

“Weren’t you listening?!” Lantern groaned. “Thousands tons of stone with a high possibility of explosive gas being between cracks. It would take too long and would be way too dangerous to dig in it.”

Nica’s ears drooped as she observed the depressed group walking in the opposite direction. She glanced at the boulders ahead of her before narrowing her eyes.

“Alright, is everypony safe? Or do we need to make an attendance check?” Lantern asked as he studied his fellow workers, making sure his rescue party wasn’t missing anypony.

“Miss Nica is missing,” said one of the unicorns before pointing at a shoulder-bag and collar in his levitation. “She asked me to hold these for her four minutes ago and now she’s gone.”

“What… but where could she…” he felt trembling under his hooves while the noise of an explosion echoed through the cave, “... be? Oh, ponyfeathers!”

Nica rolled against the rocky ground, her body covered in bruises, burns and dust. After hitting the wall, she stood up on her trembling legs and coughed. Turns out… even ‘Volt Tackle’... doesn’t fully protect from explosions. She kept coughing for a moment before gasping for air while feeling pain in her every bone.

A few moments ago she started using one ‘Thunderbolt’ after another, occasionally hitting the boulders with ‘Iron Tail’ in attempt to create a passage. Displeased with her slow progress, she put the entirety of her power to maintain a long-lasting ‘Volt Tackle’, charging at the large gathering of small stones and large boulders while surrounded by electricity, her body started cruising the obstacles one after another, piercing through while accumulating more and more injuries with each passing second.

A scratch on a forehead, bruise on her forepaw, cut on her leg, and soon her fur looked as if it had been brutally beaten after a hard battle.

The good part about explosive gas being trapped in between stones and boulder was that it greatly slowed down its spread. The bad part however was the extreme force which struck Nica’s already bruised body in a massive explosion.

With a bit of struggle, Nica raised her trembling head to look at the ceiling. Most of the loose stones long gone, leaving only a stable layer of granite.

She pushed herself to stand on her four legs and started walking, and next grit her teeth upon feeling growing pain in her legs, each step causing her agony. My trainer did mention that ‘Volt Tackle’ require a lot of durability, how it can become a double-edged sword. It seems that even though a barrier of electricity partially protects me from harm, it can’t fully protect me whenever I hit very solid obstacles. She whimpered as she forced herself to keep walking. The force of explosion combined with her hitting several large boulders in a row proved too much even for her extreme durability.

With the tunnel ahead of her splitting into a few different paths, she stopped herself at the crossroad and examined each one, only for pupils in her eyes to shrink. Several ponies were scattered all over the place. Some lightly bruises, some bandaged by their own protective clothing, each barely breathing and showing dehydration.

Nica sighed before pushing herself to action, checking one pony after another for heart-beats. To her relief, everypony were still alive, even if barely. Using what left she had of her strength, she wrapped her tail around the closest stallion and raised him above the ground, only to lose balance.

She looked at her own bruised forepaws and rear legs, which were too damaged and not strong enough to support the weight of a grown pony. Heh… it seems I took a step closer in figuring out my limits. Too tired to move, she lay flat against the cold stone, each of her little limbs felt like being directly hit by a ‘Hyper Beam'. Even if her legs were significantly bigger and tougher when compared to the tiny ones she had on her previous evolutions, they were still too small to pull anypony to safety in her current condition.

Suddenly, a view of a white rat running in her direction caught her attention. she spoke, yet without her trusty collar, her words were nothing but repeats of her own name for everyone around her.

The white rat licked a bruise on Nica’s cheek and next stared at her in pity, whimpering sadly.

“There you are you brave stupid heroic risk-taking critter!” Lantern said as he approached with firm steps. “I don’t know if I should yell at you for nearly killing yourself due to your recklessness, or hug you for opening the way to our fellow ponies."

Nica would chuckle at this remark, if it wouldn’t add even more pain into the pile. She found herself being gently levitated onto Lantern’s back.

“Alright everypony, you know the drill.”

Each worker saluted with determined stares, their attitudes and self-confidence so much different than from before.

Part of Nica wanted to keep her eyes open to watch how ponies are being rescued, yet another demanded for her to take a nap.

“Hey Twilight, you’ll never guess what happened,” Starlight said as she trotted in place, now staring at her mentor who was sitting on her throne with a half-eaten hay sandwich in her magical hold.

“Let me guess. Nica did something brave that got her headline in the newspaper.”

“Well… yes, but what’s important is that she saved many lives at the iron mine between Manehattan and Canterlot. We should prepare a long range teleportation spell and congratulate her personally.”

“I’ll pass…”

Starlight blinked in confusion. “What… but why?”

“The last time I visited her, she convinced me into more of her self-defense lessons. I have been wary of every shadow as if expecting an attack ever since,” Twilight explained before taking another bite of her hay sandwich.

“Are you sure you don’t want to check on her. According to the news, she’s being nursed back to health in a Manehattan hospital due to her heavy injuries.”

Twilight spat crumbles of her sandwich and shouted, “She’s what!”

One long-range teleportation and a few short-range teleportations later, she stood in front of the hospital, feeling as if her heart was trying to escape her chest. Her quick breathing and messed-up mane being a proof of her panic-mode. She was about to take step forward, only to see Nica running outside by the main entrance, not a single bandage on her entire body.

“Twilight! I did it, I was useful again. Truly the second happiest day of my life!” Nica shouted before tackling the alicorn to the ground, her paws wrapped around her neck. “And your timing couldn’t be better. Today we’ll focus on improving your aim. Basically, shoot me with magic while I play the role of a moving target.”

Twilight levitated the enthusiastic critter off her neck before standing up. She stood on her rear legs, spread her forelegs and shouted, “Oh come on!”

Ch.10 How to Train your Royal Guard

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 10
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How to Train your Royal Guard

Being a Royal Guard… was certainly not what one expected when signing in. Instead of a thrilling and important duty to the crown, it was the most boring and safe job in the world. Standing still for hours or patroling the same area over and over, day after day quickly became a repetitive routine for every armored pony in Canterlot.

What skills were most important in this line of work? Was it combat-related? Great senses to see or hear a potential assassin or thief? Good reflexes? Determination to rush into danger to protect the citizens, princesses and their country?

After a few years of work, each guard quickly learned that none of those qualities were worth a thing. As long as you looked like a tall strong stallion, hid every bit of emotion behind a stoic unchanged stare and managed to endure boredom, you were in.

A pegasus Royal Guard held a spear in his wing, staring at a white wall ahead of him while standing next to the royal kitchen. His partner was standing at the door as well on the opposite side, while magical enhancements on their golden armor made them look identical, changing the color of their fur to white while masking their real faces. A red dust-free carpet lay across shining marble floor. Only tall supporting pillars across the hallway kept them company with two stained glass windows filling the hallway with sunlight.

The pegasus sighed, thinking back to his roots. His days in the barracks at academy for the Royal Guards were filled with diligent training, combat practices with fake swords and fake spears. Running and jumping over obstacles, aerial maneuvering while under fire from unicorn spellcasters. Once the training was over, he and others who graduated had muscles, willpower and skills, ready to take down not only a large beast, but also smaller and numerous monsters.

One would expect for a veteran to be more experienced and skilled than a rookie, yet years after years of patrolling safe streets or standing still in one spot turned excellent defenders of Equestria into intimidating figures with no skills in a single bone.

It was his tenth year of service, followed with failure during the changeling’s invasion, vanishing of the princesses, Tirek’s attack and so on. Ironically, a group of recruits and rookies form the academy lasted longer and defeated more changelings than the entirety of the Royal Guard combined.

His nose twitched, catching the smell of a freshly baked cake. Curious, he turned towards the source and approached to investigate, his partner followed his example. After looking at the cream covering the cake, he licked his lip and looked at his partner. “It seems someone left us a present. It would be impolite not to eat such a tasty gift.”

“I absolutely agree.”

Bite after bite, he felt the delicious mass fill his cheeks and stomach. His eyes closed in pure satisfaction. His moment of bliss was interrupted as something poked his shoulder. Turning around, he was greeted by the narrowed oval eyes of a pear-shaped critter. “Whatever you are, can’t you see that we’re busy here. We’re performing our duties and stuff.” His words seemed to only annoy the large critter who now held its paws on its hips.

“Duties, you say?” The critter raised her head proudly and pointed at herself. “For your information, I was hired by the new Captain of the Royal Guard, Iron Hammer, to personally test and train the Royal Guards on active duty.” She pointed at the opened door leading into the kitchen. “Just a moment ago I left this cake here, and while you both were busy eating it, I snuck into the kitchen and sat in there for five minutes, and none of you even bothered to look behind.” She facepawed. “There were two of you. Shouldn’t at least one stay and guard?”

The Royal Guard gulped what left of the cake was still in his mouth and started laughing, so did his partner. “You’re funny.”

“Isn’t it a bit odd that it can speak, looks like a housepet to me.”

Nica frowned before opening her shoulder-bag, picking up a scroll with officer’s stamp.

As both guards read the scroll, their eyes became wide and their faces pale.

“First of all, I’m not a typical housepet. I am a Raichu and my name is Nica. Secondly, it is now my duty to test how competent you are and improve your abilities.” She groaned. “Captain Iron Hammer was right. It’s no wonder Twilight and her friends need to protect their country if incompetent ponies like you are guarding it.”

Drops of sweat formed on guard’s forehead. Great, just great… Not only did I screw up in the worst way possible, now I’m being lectured by a large rat who has authority over me. Such humiliation!

“Lesson number one, don’t look in one direction all the time. You need to look up and around from time to time, make sure no one is sneaking across the hallway or above it,” Nica lectured before sitting on a red carpet with golden marks of the sun.

Both guards nodded.

“Next lesson, if you want to investigate something, one of you needs to stay behind and keep guard.”

They nodded again.

“I’ll now test your combat abilities. I want both of you to attack me with your spears.”

Both pegasi looked at sharp edge of their weapons and smiled nervously. “B-but… we don’t want to… pierce you…”

Nica shook her forepaw in a taunting gesture, “Fight me!”

The pegasus guard lowered his spear and aimed at the critter’s leg as drops of sweat started falling down his forehead. Still, how was he supposed to push his sharp weapon into this cute little rabbit-leg? Pushing the sharp metal into this cute little bronze edge… It was a cruelty towards animals on the highest level.

Nica groaned before grabbing the spear with her tail, pulling it away from the guard’s hold and pushed it into her exposed paw.

“Nooooo!” the pegasus screamed, only to stare in disbelief. There was certainly some serious force used when the spear was pushed into the soft flesh, yet the metal failed to leave a single bruise.

“See, nothing to worry about. Now, hit me with your best shot,” Nica said before returning the spear to the dumbfounded guard.

After a few seconds to gather his thoughts, the guard pricked his foreleg lightly with the spear while biting his lip. It certainly wasn’t a dream.

“Attack me, not yourself,” Nica commanded as she crossed her forearms impatiently. “Hurry up. I have hundreds of other guards to inspect.”

The pegasus guard nodded before wrapping his wing around the wooden part of his spear, pushing it offensively against the smaller creature.

In a split second, the sharp edge of the spear was pushed aside by the metallic part of the critter’s tail, and next spear of his partner was pushed away as well. He took a step back and closed his eyes as the shining tail shot in the direction of his neck. After a few seconds of not feeling his neck being pierced, he opened his eyes, seeing a disapproving shake of critter’s head.

“Pick up your spears and try again. This time expect a counterattack and react accordingly,” Nica suggested as she picked up a spear from the ground with her paws and placed it in the guard’s wings.

The pegasus gulped and pushed his spear towards the critters left leg, only for Nica to leap up, land on both spears with her feet and move her tail towards guard’s muzzle, stopping a centimeter in front of it.

Nica withdrew her tail, lowered her head and sighed. “It is worse than I thought. Plan B it is."

“Listen up you pathetic worms. My name’s Pharynx, Chief of Patrol in the Changeling’s Hive and brother of its new ruler,” spoke a tall dark-green changeling with two red horns and a red armored chest. His eyes narrowed and filled with authority.

Both pegasi trembled in fear, barely holding their spears raised at the suspicious intruder. The name ‘Changeling’ bringing back memories of their failure.

“After finding out how pathetic your bunch is, Warrior Nica suggested your captain to ask your new allies, the Changeling race, for support in getting you weaklings in shape, on which he agreed, and we’re more than willing to assist.”

“You… you can’t be serious! Your race invaded our capital!”

“Yes, we did, and we kicked your flanks into submission in only a few minutes. You expected an attack and prepared for it, only to display how pathetic your defenses were. Six smaller mares put up more resistance than your entire armed force.” Pharynx stomped, causing both guards to flinch. “I chose nine of my best warriors, and we’re going to teach you how to properly defend your capital. We’ll spar with you, ambush you, and fool you with our disguises until you become competent warriors. Am I clear?”

The pegasus nodded and gulped as drops of sweat fell from his head at a rapid pace. For years since graduating from the training grounds in the academy, he was performing the most boring job in the whole Equestria, only to end up lectured by a small critter and two days later be trained by the former invader. Should he be grateful that some excitement was finally introduced into his life, or curse the small critter for…

“You’re both very tall. Let’s make sure there’s some strength and durability behind your size,” Pharynx said before tackling the pegasus to the ground, grabbing his rear leg and pulling it. “Wrestling time!”

He yelped, slamming his forehoof against the carpet before yelling, “Curse you Nica!”

Princess Celestia walked towards the royal kitchen with the sunrise visible from the nearby window. The time to prepare some morning pancakes for herself and Luna was upon her.

“P-Princess Celestia…” said a pegasus guard with a salute.

“Good morning Princess,” the other pegasus said as he opened the door into the kitchen with his wing.

Celestia eyed her guards curiously, who looked back at her as if she was going to attack them at any second. Their always stoic faces being suspiciously expressive. She stopped in her tracks upon noticing a few bruises on her loyal guard from the corner of her eye. She lowered her long neck to take a closer look.

“Is something wrong, Your Highness?”

“That is what I wish to know.” She raised her clad hoof and pointed it at the bruises on the guard’s legs and chest, her eyes filled with worry.

“Not at all, Your Highness. Our Captain hired a critter who use its tail like a sword to train us in combat, and next asked our Changeling allies to further improve our skills.” He raised his head proudly and added with confidence in his voice, “It is only a matter of time before our skills improve and we will become somewhat competent at our job.”

Celestia blinked in confusion before turning towards the kitchen, slowly stepping inside and closing the door behind her. On second thought, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the details.

Shining Armor walked through the hallway for a morning stroll, clearing his thoughts between his duties and taking care of his daughter. While Cadence held most of the power over the Crystal Empire, she still valued his advice and support.

He bypassed two saluting Crystal Guards. Their spears sharp and presentable, their blue armor shining almost as much as their bruised bodies…

He stopped in his tracks and turned to the crystal guards, examining their features. “Your injuries. Report, now!” he commanded, pointing his hoof at his bruised guards.

“The Crystal Empress Cadence hired a Raichu to improve our combat skills, Sir.”

“Raichu? I need more details, officer. Speak,” Shining commanded.

“Her name’s Nica. She’s pear-shaped and slightly smaller than Spike the Great and Glorious, she has a wide belly and use her very long tail either like a sword or shield. Sir.”

“Cadence hired who now?” Shining Armor frowned before turning away from his guards. “I understand that officially she’s in charge, but I was once Captain of the Royal Guard. She should at least discuss security related decisions with me.”

“If you wish to talk with the Crystal Empress, Sir, she took young miss Flurry Heart outside the Empire to play in the snow. She asked us to tell you in case you overslept.”

Shining rolled his eyes. Taking care of Flurry was unpredictable and tiring, especially whenever she woke up late at night while crying loudly. A few extra hours of sleep were necessary to recover.

Shining Armor walked through the white scenery, his hooves sinking into the snow. With favorable snow-less weather and a weaker wind than usual, it didn’t take long to find his wife. A small red puffy hat and yellow scarf were present on Cadence instead of her usual golden regalia.

“Cadence, I finally found you!” He ran over to his wife and nuzzled her cheek as she returned the gesture.

“You’re finally awake, Shiny, took you long enough,” Cadence said with a smug face.

“Well, excuuuseee meeee… It was my turn to attend to Flurry late at night, I needed more time to recharge my batteries,” Shining said before looking around. “Where’s Flurry Heart?”

“She’s over there, playing with Nica,” Cadence said, pointing at the field ahead.

Shining Armor looked at the pointed direction. “Playing with who? Wait, is she the one you hired to train our guards?” He bit his lip and flinched, his tail shot upward. “What are they doing?!”

“Having a snow fight. I must say, it’s adorable.”

“Adorable? That’s certainly not a word I would use,” Shining said as he observed the scene before him. Some kind of orange critter with a long tail was playfully throwing very tiny snowballs towards his flying daughter, who in return was sending a beam of destructive magic at them. With his overprotective nature taking control, he ran towards the playing duo. I need to rescue… but who should I rescue? he thought. As a father, it was his duty to protect his daughter from dangers, and an animal capable of overpowering his guards and using tail like a sword was certainly a threat. On the other hoof, the worst the critter did was lightly throw tiny balls of snow, probably even missing on purpose, while his daughter tried to hit it with beams strong enough to leave holes in walls.

“Now now, Flurry, I think you have had enough playing for today,” he said, trying to get attention from his daughter by waving at her.

The little alicorn turned around and flew into his embrace, hugging his neck.

“Now that’s a good daughter.” While holding Flurry with a single hoof in a gentle embrace, his attention focused on the critter herself.

“You’re overreacting, Shining,” Cadence said as she approached him and levitated Flurry from his embrace onto her own back. “Twilight told me about her in her letters. She has been harboring this Raichu for more than two weeks and praised her quite a lot. How caring, tough, hardworking and innocent she is.”

Shining glanced at Cadence with a stare filled with confusion.

“You didn’t read her letters, did you?” Cadence asked.

Shining blushed, which was visible on his white fur. “I might…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Fine, I forgot.”

Cadence rolled her eyes. “I swear, Shining, you and letters are like fire and water. You always forget to write them and almost never read them.” She turned around and added, “I’ll take Flurry to the other side of the barrier and warm her up. Feel free to talk with Nica about her training duties.” She chuckled before walking away, her long legs leaving visible hoofsteps in the snow. “She’s a real sweetheart. I’m sure you’ll get along just fine.”

Shining groaned, feeling as if his wife had started to tease him with her authority.

“Excuse me. Are you Shining Armor by any chance?”

Shining looked down at the critter whose hind legs and half of its belly were now hidden in snow. Her smile cheerful and genuine. How could a being like this be capable of defeating his guards, more or less train them in self-defense?

“So you’re that incompetent and former Captain of the Guards that Iron Hammer told me about.”

“Incompetent? Excuse me?” Shining narrowed his eyes and stomped, his hoof splashing the snow.

Nica nodded. “He told me that you got your promotions thanks to your massive raw power and ability to protect the entire city with your shielding spell. According to him, your leadership skills are greatly lacking and your training methods for the Royal Guard were nearly non-existent. When he took over, he wasn’t even sure if the veterans were even salvageable.”

“Oh, that arrogant snob!” Shining Armor said, his face becoming red while snow started to melt around his legs.

“He also asked me to tell you –in case you called him a snob– that unlike a unicorn like you born with incredible power in a city dominated by unicorn nobles, he had to earn his rank,” Nica said before crossing her arms. “I’m not sure how things work in Equestria, but if earth ponies are being looked down upon by unicorns in Canterlot, he must have it harder than you.”

“Well… it’s not really a dispute between races, and more of how some of the nobility interact with those from the lower class. It just happened that Canterlot is mostly populated by unicorns. When Iron Hammer moved to Canterlot from Vanhoover, he was looked down upon for not being a noble himself.” Shining Armor lowered his head and sighed. Being an earth pony in guard that mostly recruited tall unicorns and pegasi wasn’t easy, more or less advance in the ranks to a lieutenant. As disrespectful and bitter as Iron Hammer was towards him, he couldn’t deny that he often made valid points in his arguments.

“There’s nothing I can do to help you become a competent leader, but I can train you in terms of combat,” Nica said with a proudly raised head. “It seems I’m really good at training others, so I’m trying to do it as often as possible.”

“Training? I don’t need any training,” Shining said, his brow furrowed.

Nica rubbed her chin. “Well, Iron Hammer did call you a one-pony army. Still, even the most powerful can’t accomplish much if they don’t have the skills to match their powers. I need to test your reflexes.”

“Wait, what?” Shining asked before raising a barrier, stopping the critter’s shining tail from hitting his chest. He lowered his shield and took a fighting stance, his horn now aimed at the hostile animal.

“Congratulations, your reflexes are quite good,” Nica said while clapping with her forepaws. “Your sister could learn a thing or two from you. I’m still working on her reflexes, reaction time to danger and evading abilities.”

“W-wait… you’re training my sister as well?”

“Of course I do, why shouldn’t I?” Nica asked before giving him an angered glare. “The better question is, why didn’t you train her in self-defense?”

“Huh, and why should I. I needed to learn how to fight to fulfil my duties. Twilight was more of a scholar, and now she’s a Princess of Friendship. There’s was no need to teach her how to defend herself.”

Nica crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Right… because why should your sister know self-defense. It’s not like she need to know how to evade dangers and traps, how to protect those she cares about when facing Nightmare Moon, beasts of the Everfree Forest, the evil Queen, army of changelings or some sort of beast called Tirek.” She took a few calming breaths before continuing, “Listen, I understand that you most likely didn’t predict that your sister would get involved in so many dangers when she was younger, but after she became the Element Bearer, didn’t it raise any red flags for you? Didn’t you think that she and her friends being able to wield powerful artifacts would make them targets for those who wish Equestria harm? Even being a student of the princess capable to levitate extreme amount of weight alone brought a risk that she would sooner or later be given a dangerous task.”

“Okay… I see your point,” Shining Armor said.

Nica turned her back to the stallion and continued, “Now that I think about it. Where were you when Twilight and her friends were facing Nightmare Moon and Spirit of Chaos? From the stories I heard, unless you’re teaming up with Cadence, you’re not exactly the most useful at protecting others.”

“Okay, now you trying to anger me on purpose,” Shining asked, stomping with both of his hooves.

“No. I’m just trying to find out why I’m the one teaching your sister how to defend herself and those she cares about. Why am I the only one who fears that the the evil Queen may hurt her or her student out of vengeance?” She turned around and pointed at him accusingly. “I heard that you have powerful magic, and alongside Cadence, you saved Canterlot and the Crystal Empire. So why weren’t you supporting your sister whenever she and her friends were facing great dangers? Why didn’t you consider her feelings when she was warning you about fake Cadence?”

“How do you know that?” Shining asked, now staring back in shock.

Nica crossed her arms. “Thorax’s brother was very detailed when describing the events that took place during the invasion of Canterlot.”

“If he did, he should also mention that I was exposed to a lot of mind manipulations and brainwashing. If anything, Twilight’s friends and the princess herself had less excuses to ignore her warnings.” Shining Armor approached the critter and looked at her with suspicious glare. “Why are you so interested in training my guards, me and my sister?” He kept staring at Nica, thinking. What was the catch? What was this creature’s hidden agenda? For the sake of his family, he had to know.

“Because I believe that those possessing great powers should use it to protect those weaker than them. If they don’t use their powers correctly, they don’t deserve it.” Nica sat and lowered her head, her nose nearly touching the rich snow. “According to the stories I heard, every time a danger arise, the princesses, Royal Guard and others who possess great power failed, pushing all the burden onto a smaller and weaker group.” She whimpered. “I just want to make sure that this won’t happen again.”

Shining Armor looked to the side, now staring at the mountains on the horizon. Damn… this creature does have a point. My sister and her friends had to put themselves in danger so many times for us. When Twilight and Celestia went to Ponyville, I should have been there as well to ensure their safety, not leaving this duty to three royal guards. When Discord escaped from his prison, I should have at least tried to distract him so Twilight and her friends could search for the Elements. He massaged his forehead. I was so confident in my power that I didn’t put much effort in training my own guards. It’s no wonder the Changelings overan us so quickly.

“This is the only thing I can do anyway.”

Shining looked back at the critter, whose head was still lowered while her ears were dropped. There also seemed to be a hint of sadness in this critter’s voice.

“Hundreds, no, thousands of battles toughened me up, and I still don’t remember all of them. I have the skills to fight, lots of stamina and durability. I can use my tail to cut or shield, and I can use electricity. Fighting and training others how to fight is what I seem to be good at.” She stood up and looked Shining Armor in the eyes. “You, your wife, your sister, her student and their friends, they accomplished so much, they saved so many lives. I’m worthless when compared to them. I just want to be useful…” She wiped her watering eyes, preventing herself from crying before forcing a smile. “S-sorry. I’m talking nonsense. I’ll return to my duties.” She saluted before running away.

Shining Armor kept watching the critter dashing through the snow, creating a tiny path while pushing snow aside, as if fish swimming through water. As annoying as this Raichu creature was from the start, he could tell that she meant well. Feeling worthless, desire to be useful. It’s kind of sad. He turned towards his Empire and walked. Suddenly, he stopped and gritted his teeth. “Not again…” He sat and massaged his forehead. “Stupid headaches, they just won’t let go.” He took several breaths of cold air, waiting for the headache to end before standing up and resuming his walk.

Ch.11 - Precious Memories

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 11
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Precious Memories

Just like before, Nica was experiencing her past in her dream through the eyes of a Pikachu, being her smaller self.

With Articuno safe and one of three Team Rocket elites in prison, her and her trainer’s attention focused on protecting the other two legendary birds. Unlike the last time, however, the enemy was aware of their intentions and prepared accordingly.

She soon discovered that the second hitman was known by the codename ‘Phantom', a name which was going to haunt her memories for days to come. An expert at using ghost type pokemon and master of illusions, a cunning and formidable foe.

The assassin with help from Team Rocket scientists apparently studied the powers of ghost pokemon, creating a device that allowed him to go through walls and turn invisible. His stealth combined with paralysis grenades that discharge electricity and paralyze his opponent proved to be a very dangerous combo.

In an attempt to save Moltres from this unpredictable criminal, Nica and her trainer were ambushed instead. Despite having a better team, Astra proved herself unable to improvise in the heat of the moment, allowing the weaker trainer to overpower her with an unpredictable strategy.

Gliscor being a main threat for the enemy ending up targeted and defeated first by the assassin's ambush.

With Nica being resistant to paralysis and electricity due to her being an electric pokemon, she was the last standing, outnumbered four to one. When everything seemed to be lost, Articuno itself flew into the battlefield, freeing the legendary ruler of fire from its shackles before rescuing Astra and her paralyzed team.

After sending a few ‘Thunderbolts’ towards the ground to slow down their pursuers, Nica ran towards Articuno’s neck and hugged it. Her trainer was perched on Articuno’s back while holding the badly-bruised Eevee in her embrace. The downside of freeing one team member being a lack of pokeball to carry him in.

Articuno asked, screeching from its lungs. With a strong flap of its majestic wings, Articuno increased its speed.

Nica nodded and sighed in relief. The hitman targeting Zapdos was known by codename “Deathblow,” and his strength relied in brainwashing pokemon stolen from the strongest trainers to do his bidding. When saving the third legendary bird, they would most likely be outnumbered twenty to nine. Having Articuno on their side certainly improved their odds.

Thanks to information from the mole, they found out that Zapdos was caught already and relocated into Team Rocket research facility for a brainwashing procedure. The very facility that ‘Deathblow’ was fond of as he quite often used its services.

Astra and Nica knew that extremely well trained pokemon had enough power and skills to give the legendaries a hard time, so an army of them would be enough to defeat two legendary birds with ease. Direct confrontation was out of question. Yet, there was one hope. Articuno and Zapdos were quite quick fliers after all, and their attacks were especially effective against flying pokemon. As big as ‘Deathblow’s‘ arsenal was, there was a high chance that most of his pokemon were unable to fly and too big to fight from atop of a flying pokemon, and any pursuing air force would be easily shot down from the sky.

With Lt. Surge and his friends volunteering to create a diversion with a few explosions and a power shutdown of the enemy facility, Astra’s squad snuck in under Nica’s command, freeing the legendary pokemon from under ‘Deathblow’’s very nose among the created chaos. It didn’t come as a surprise how any pokemon capable of flight were sent to chase the escapees, only to be grounded by Articuno’s ‘Ice Beams’ and ‘Blizzard’ attacks.

Astra’s plan worked… too well for her own good.

With Moltres and Zapdos rescued and their new location unknown, it no doubt enraged the Boss. It was only a matter of time before she would become a target. One thing both Astra and Nica were certain of, they weren't ready for a main confrontation against ‘Deathblow’ just yet. Staying in Kanto was a suicude.

Nica, Eevee and their trainer were perched on Articuno’s back, retreating from the Kanto region with Sinnoh being their next destination.

Apparently, thanks to his connection to the police, the boss of Team Rocket discovered the mole in his organization and also freed his female hitman from prison, sending his three most elite subordinates after the trainer who dared to mess up his plans. In the best case scenario, they would steal all pokemon and lock the trainer up somewhere. In the worst case they would take away their lives.

Why retreat to Sinnoh? Nica soon found out the reasons:

Being far away from Kanto, Sinnoh was free of Team Rocket’s influence and its police free from their corruption. And according to rumors, an organization called Team Galactic was slowly growing in numbers and power in this region, and they would no doubt want to keep Team Rocket away from their territory.

Articuno screeched calmly, lowering its long wing to the ground for its passengers to slide on.

Nica said with a salute. She had to admit, Articuno was a really cool and dependable ally, though maybe a little bit too serious at times. It appears that being centuries or even millenia years old makes one forget how to chill. She received a silent nod in response.

Eevee pushed himself from Astra’s embrace and ran towards Articuno’s leg, nuzzling it.

Nica blushed and hid it behind her paws. She couldn’t deny it anymore, her role as big sis was established by the Eevee himself, not something she could simply refuse when looking into those cute little eyes.

With the Hoenn League already over as they failed to participate due to their… detour in Kanto… what was left was to register for the Sinnoh League. Despite Gym Leaders in Sinnoh going all out, none proved a challenge for Astra’s team and she acquired all necessary badges in only a month, leaving her with nine months before the League would start.

Being too powerful for Gym Leaders, yet too weak to face the Elite Four or Team Rocket elites, Astra and her team needed to find a way to grow stronger while avoiding unnecessary attention.

Their search for such way led them to a secret village filled with monks who, for most of their lives, trained side by side with their pokemon. Was it to master their aura side by side with pokemon like Lucario, or was it to unleash psychic power and telekinesis with pokemon like Alakazam.

Trials of fire, ice, water and electricity awaited them before Astra and her team could prove themselves worthy of their teachings.

After a few weeks of continuous training, Astra showed no potential, nor did any of her pokemon except one. Her Pikachu.

When meditating and training under the monk’s guidance, Nica had no idea she would start sensing the aura of other creatures. The wisest monk, Sindel, came to a conclusion that by facing stronger opponents hundreds of times, almost never having a fair fight, Nica’s body started to improve in unique ways to compensate, and this hidden potential finally came to light during a deep meditation.

With each day of training, the aura of others became easier to sense and more clear. Whether her eyes were closed or she was turned away, she could still sense the presence of other living creatures, recognizing their sadness, happiness, anger, jealousy, compassion, admiration. A new experience which was both helpful and distracting at the same time.

It didn’t take long before she was approached by a Riolu, a pokemon whose master died during their training a few years ago. According to Sindel, this pokemon remained in the local shrine, waiting… What was he waiting for? No one knew, but now he willingly followed Nica, training with her, teaching how to use a powerful fighting move ‘Focus Blast’ while also guiding her in sensing the auras of pokemon and humans.

Even though a long-range and powerful fighting move like ‘Focus Blast’ improved Nica’s offensive arsenal, while her ability to sense aura and emotions of others helped her defensively, it wasn’t enough. Even a friendly battle with an Articuno from time to time didn’t do the trick.

Then they heard rumors about the Hoenn Battle Frontier. According to the rumors, there were specific facilities in Hoenn, each with an extremely powerful trainer. They weren’t as tough as Elite Four members, but certainly above Gym Leaders.

This was it, the challenge that Astra was looking for.

With Articuno kindly providing transportation to the Hoenn region, as well as transporting Astra and Nica from one facility to another, the team grew stronger and gained skills with each challenge.

With eight pokemon at her disposal while allowed to use only six, Astra swapped her team, allowing Eevee and Riolu to gain experience and prove themselves worthy of an evolution. The overprotective Eevee one night evolved into a brave Umbreon, a true nightmare for psychic pokemon, while his ‘Toxic’ and ‘Protect’ proved a dangerous combo against foes with durability and stamina. Now even more powerful than before, Nica needed to keep his aggressive personality in check, or else medical assistance for innocent bystanders would be required.

Riolu became a Lucario, a fighting and steel type with powerful offense and plenty of resistances. While still lacking combat experience when compared to the rest of the team, his role as Nica’s personal sensei and sparring partner remained unmatched.

As the adventure continued, Nica quickly became the only Pokemon who still hadn’t earned her final evolution, despite fighting the hardest.

The last battle facility to challenge was the Battle Pyramid, a place Nica was going to remember for the rest of her life.

Three mighty legendary pokemon were displayed in the field: A sturdy and powerful Regirock, indestructible Registeel, and shining Regice.

Nica looked up at her trainer before taking a step back, finding Astra’s grin to be very creepy.

“Nica… this is it… this is what I was searching and waiting for all this time,” Astra said before looking down at her with a wide smile. “An opportunity for you to fight against impossible odds, an opportunity for you to finally earn your evolution has come. I don’t care if it will take weeks or months, but once we’re done here, we’ll be ready to face every challenge the world can throw at us.”

Nica nodded before looking at the three massive giants. If each of them was as powerful as Articuno, facing them as a Pikachu was going to become the biggest challenge of her life.

Nica pushed herself to a sitting position and rubbed her sleepy eyes, and next examined her surroundings.

She was sitting on a bed with two pillows, big enough to accomodate two ponies. Unlike the simple bed in Twilight’s castle, this one seemed… more ornate… for lack of better words. Even now she still wondered what was the purpose of four curtains and small roof in the shape of a dome above her head. This bed was inside a room after all, so why anyone would ever want to turn it into a tent?

Two big windows and two smaller ones invited the sunlight into the room.

On her right she could see a green shelf with one tall mirror.

One quick glance at the floor allowed her to see her own reflection, while the floor itself was made of white and blue squares.

The most outstanding feature seemed to be crystals decorating the room in various spots, especially on the lower part of each window.

While Twilight’s castle and the castle in the crystal empire seemed similar when it came to construction materials and crystals as the main decoration theme, Cadence’s castle certainly stood out more in the case of elegance and creativity.

Nica stepped from her bed and approached the window, opening it with her tail. Upon looking down, it became clear that this castle was very very tall, like a gigantic tower. The distance between this window and the solid ground was reaching a hundred meters, give or take several.

With a small leap, she jumped from the window, stretching her left leg towards the ground as she prepared herself for the landing. As she had expected, her hind leg touched the crystal street softly, easily supporting her whole weight despite her long fall.

The ground type attacks are my only weakness, so it make sense why my trainer trained my jumping so often. Still, when comparing how high I could jump as a Pikachu in my dreams, and what I am capable of now… I think there was a lot more jump-related training involved, Nica thought before looking around as no pony seemed nearby. It seems I woke up very early today. There’s still some time before training of the guard.

Using all four paws, she ran across the shining street, bypassing homes made of crystals, and next going through the protective barrier. The pleasant temperature of the city instantly changed to a freezing one as her paws now sank into the deep snow. A strong blizzard waved her tail and ears while assaulting her face.

After reaching the closest hill not far from the barrier, she looked over the white landscape before raising her paws, holding them close to each other. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Her ears drooped. Her lips started to tremble. Using what she remembered from her dream, she focused energy into her paws, trying to gather enough for the ‘Focus Blast.’

After several seconds of intense concentration, she opened her eyes, only to find nothing between her paws. She lowered her head, dropped her forepaws and sighed as white vapour formed in front of her mouth. I can use ‘Thunderbolt,’ ‘Iron Tail’ and ‘Volt Tackle,’ but all other moves I used in my dreams seem out of my reach. She raised her head and rubbed her chin while ignoring the strong wind. “I can’t shake the feeling that this is not my entire arsenal. There must be more… but I can’t put my mind on it.”

“Excuse me little one!”

Nica placed a forepaw above her eyes protectively and looked up, noticing a flying creature heading in her direction.

“Are you lost, do you need help?” the creature asked in a female tone before landing in front of Nica with a solid splash of snow. “I have seen you standing on this hill half covered in snow, freezing in this strong blizzard, while the warmness of the city is only a hundred meters away. You poor, poor dear. I’m sure the kind Crystal Ponies will be more than happy to let you stay in their empire.”

Nica listened with full attention while examining this creature’s features. She had a yellow beak similar to many of flying pokemon she encountered, and was staring back at her with wide black-green eyes. It’s fur was… greenish… bluish… greyish… well, whatever color it was, it certainly became brighter on her fluffy neck. On left and right side Nica could see two large featherly wings, far bigger than wings of a pegasus, maybe even bigger than wings of an alicorn.

“You must be cold, sad and lonely. Nothing warms up and cures loneliness better than a warm hug,” the creature said before picking up Nica with her talons and pressing it against her fluffy chest, only to embrace her with both of her wings.

Nica felt her heart racing and her eyes became wide. The softness, the affection. She didn’t feel like this since her cuddling and hugging session with Fluttershy. The fluffy chest surpassing pony’s fur in its softness, while wings were warm and pleasant on touch. What caught her attention the most wasn’t the softness of this creature, but rather its aura. Excitement, compassion, pity, happiness and so much more. A rain of emotions descended upon her, surpassing even the compassion of Fluttershy and enthusiasm of Pinkie Pie combined. Whatever this creature was, Nica wouldn’t mind falling asleep in its pleasant embrace.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name’s Gabriella the Griffon, but friends call me Gabby,” Gabby said as she released Nica and held her in front of her beak. “I’m just a little mailgriffon who likes helping a lot. I was making a delivery to the Crystal Empire and just happened to notice you with my sharp sight.”

“Ummm… my name’s Nica and I’m a Raichu.”

“I have no idea what a Raichu is, but it sounds neat, and Nica is such a nice name. Also, love your ears, they’re so funny, and your long tail is even funnier.” She poked her ears and tail with her talons, and next started holding Nica like she would hold a baby and gently scratched her belly. “You’re such an adorable white-orange cutiepie. I’m sure plenty of Crystal Ponies will love to give you a warm home and plenty of affection.”

Nica was lost for words, the excitement she sensed was overwhelming her on every level. Her eyes quickly focused on the saddlebag on the griffon’s side, recognizing the mark on it. She looked Gabby in the eyes and asked, “May I ask you a question?”

“Sure, shoot, I’ll do my best to answer, you cutie cutie cutie you,” she said before playfully scratching the wide belly again.

Resisting urge to giggle, Nica asked, “That mark on your saddlebag looks similar to the tattoo… I mean, cutie mark of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, do you know them?”

“Do I know them?!” Gabby shouted, pressing her beak against the tiny black nose of Nica. “They are the C.M.Cs, Cutie Mark Crusaders, and I’m part of the C.M.Cs as well. They helped me find my destiny and are the best, cutest, most helpful fillies I have ever seen!” She pushed Nica up in excitement.

Nica performed a backflip before landing in the snow.

“Sorry!”

“I’m fine. I fell from greater heights without a scratch,” Nica said with a smile, rubbing the back of her head. She approached and grabbed Gabby’s talon, shaking it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Gabby. A friend of the C.M.Cs is a friend of mine.” She yelped upon receiving a paw-shake of the highest calibre as her entire body was shaken instead. She was wrapped into another warm hug, this one having greater force behind it.

“I would love to be your friend. Oh, we’re going to become besties!”

With a bit of struggle, Nica pushed herself upward, freeing her head from the warm hug. With her head standing up from between two wings, she nuzzled Gabby’s neck.

Ch.12 - Master Gabriella

Raichu for Hire

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Chapter 12
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Master Gabriella

“Hello sweetheart, have you seen Nica by any chance,” Shining Armor asked as he approached Cadence who was sitting on the throne. In five minutes his wife was going to hold a court and talk with her subjects, just enough time to ask a question or two without interruptions. “She didn’t show up at work today.”

“Oh, about that, she quit her job an hour ago.” Cadence rubbed her foreleg as she looked to the side. “Apparently, a mail-delivering griffon named Gabriella, Gabby for short, gave her a much better job offer, and she took it instead. She’s riding her back to the Griffon Kingdom as we speak.”

“Wait… she did what?” Shining ran over, taking a few steps up the small stairs towards the throne and looked his wife in the eyes. “But the amount of bits you offered her for this job was very generous. How could a griffon delivering mail earn enough bits to offer her more.”

“Actually, she will not pay her in bits.”

“Not in bits?” Shining asked.

Cadence nodded before spreading her left wing as she pointed at it. “Nica asked Gabby if she could be paid with wing-hugs.”

“Wing-hugs?” Shining raised a forehoof and facehooved. “So this crazy critter gave up on a well paying and stable job in a peaceful empire, only to be paid with hugs while working in what’s left of a kingdom filled with greedy mercenaries.” He groaned. “I can’t even fathom what’s going on in that creature’s head.”

“To be fair, Nica doesn’t look like someone interested in profit. I get the impression that she just wants to be as helpful as possible while earning bits is just an excuse.” Cadence glanced at her own wing and rubbed it with a hoof. “She may also really like wing-hugs, and that overly enthusiastic super talkative energetic griffon looked very happy to give them. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company a lot.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t offer your own wing-hugs to convince her not to quit?”

“Oh, I did offer them, but Nica told me that Gabby’s wings are softer and her hugs are way more genuine and enthusiastic.” Cadence’s ears drooped, “To be honest, it hurt my pride a little bit.”

“Wait… you hugged her with your wing before?”

“Of course I did,” Cadence said with a nod, smiling widely once again. “Who wouldn’t want to hug and cuddle her. For a powerful critter raised for combat… according to what Twilight wrote about her in letters… she’s so sweet and innocent.”

Upon hearing a noise coming from the other side of the door to the throne room, he turned around and walked away, “First Twilight and now you. I don’t get what everyone sees in that furball.”

An old griffon groaned, staring at his dusty house, both showing the passage of time. Just like his feathers fell from his wings with every flap, a few loose planks and thatch were falling from his house.

“Excuse me, good sir, may I have your attention?”

He turned around, now staring at the well known, loud, energetic and obnoxious griffon, Gabby. “What do you want, featherbrain?”

“To help you, Mr. Snubby. Your home is in a terrible shape and only days from crumbling, but we can help with that.”

The griffon waved his cane aggressively, forcing Gabby to flinch. “I got no more bits to spare to pay for renovation. Leave me be.”

“There’s no need for bits. I’ll do it for free,” Gabby said with a wide smile.

The griffon raised an eyebrow. If any other griffon offered something for free, it would be obvious there was a hidden motive, a catch of sort, yet Gabriella was a special case. She was often doing services without demanding any bits in return, out of some garbage called kindness. What was going in that foolish bird’s head was beyond his comprehension. He lowered his head and sighed. There was no way this stupid excuse of a griffon had a cunning bone in her body.

Snubby blinked in confusion, his attention on another creature he just noticed. Orange-white fur, long-tail, stupid-looking ears. Either my old eyes are playing tricks on me, or rats and bunnies started growing quite a lot lately. Why is it holding a giant paint brush?

“I forgot to introduce my assistant. Mr Snubby, meet a Raichu named Nica. Nica, meet Mr. Snubby,” Gilda said while looking between him and her little companion.

“Hello, Mr. Snubby. I’ll be happy to help!” Nica shouted, waving her large brush with her little paws enthusiastically.

A rat’s head emerged from Nica’s shoulder-bag and hissed at him before hiding back in.

Snubby rolled his eyes. “So not only do you offer services without demanding payment. You also hire a large walking meat-bag who has a tiny meat-bag as a pet.” He massaged his forehead. “I swear, you’re an embarrassment to griffons everywhere, Gabby. We’re mercenaries and hunters, and you collaborate with your own food.”

“Mercenaries?” Nica frowned and murmured to herself, “And here I thought mercs had higher standards and did a more professional job.”

“You finally called me by name, thank you,” Gabby said, standing on her rear legs while holding talons under her neck.

“Wait… hunters… tiny meat-bag...” Nica looked between both griffons before raising her tail protectively over her shoulder-bag.

“So, can we help? Pretty pleaseee!”

“Ugh… fine… I would be an even bigger fool than you to refuse a free service.” He walked to the side and crossed his arms, now staring at the ruin of his home. “I’ll stay here and make sure you renovate it properly.”

The pokemon narrowed her eyes, glaring at him in annoyance. “Would it hurt you to show some gratitude? A single thanks means the world to Gabby.”

Snubby looked to the side and huffed.

“Give him a break, Nica, the old Mr. Snubby had his share of bad experiences in his life. We should forgive him a bit of gruffness,” Gabby said before pointing at the damaged house. “Less talking, more helping.” She grabbed hammer with one talon, a bunch of planks with the other while holding two nails in her beak. In a great spread of her wings which created a wind strong enough to push leaves, feathers and rubble aside, Gabby started fixing the house. The noise of hammer strikes, tearing of wood and drilling filled the air.

“Yaaaay!” Nica shouted before putting her large brush into a container of green paint. She leaped forward, paining the renovated wall.

“Need more nails!” Gabby shouted.

Nica dashed away, leaving a cloud of dust behind, only to return with a box of nails wrapped by her tail. With quick movements of her paws, she placed the nails against the wood, letting the griffon hit them with a hammer.

Sending bits of power into her tail, she used the metallic edge like a hammer of her own.

“I had no idea your tail could do that, it’s so cool!” Gabby shouted enthusiastically, trotting on her rear legs.

“Thank you. I can make it harder and stronger with my power whenever I want to,” Nica said with a proud smile. “It proved to be the most useful of my powers.”

“Neat!” Gabby said before spreading her wings, taking hay from the roof.

Nica started running inside and outside, transporting the furniture. Her legs trembled with each step she made the moment she balanced the bed above her head with her tail. The wardrobe provided more resistance as she pressed her forepaws against it, pushing it, as a few drops of sweat fell down her face.

“Let me help!” Gabby shouted before grabbing the wardrobe, placing it outside in mere two seconds. “I will take a bucket of water and mop and start cleaning. Would you be so kind and use duster or wet rubber…”

“Already ahead of you!” Nica shouted as she leaped towards a stack of materials before pulling out duster and rubber, using it to clean the wardrobe.

“Thank you!” Gabby shouted.

After falling asleep for an hour or two, Snubby was shaken, opening his tired eyes while looking around in confusion. “Huh, what, where? You can’t have my tiger fang trophy, you dirty thief!” He blinked in confusion, staring at Gabby and Nica, both looking at him with cheerful smiles, though their fur was anything but clean.

“We’re done!” Gabby shouted before flying to the side and presenting the renovated house.

Snubby’s unimpressed face turned into one of shock, his beak agape. A few tears started sliding down his eyes. Instead of a ruined house, he stared at a solid structure with one extra floor. Green paint on the walls, shining windows without sharp leftovers of glass, a red doormat with yellow thunder inscribed to it lying in front of the wooden door.

A week and thousands of bits worth of reconstruction had been done in a mere two hours for free.

“Oh, you are happy!” Nica shouted, pointing at him while glancing at Gabby.

“It’s… acceptable,” Snubby said while struggling to hide his enthusiasm. His heart was beating quickly for the first time in years.

Nica stood on her rear paws, holding one forepaw on her hip while other pointed at Gabby. “You aren’t fooling anyone, I can sense your excitement and happiness with ease. Just be honest and make Gabby happy with words of praise. Come on.”

Snubby looked at the smug face of the critter, and next at the young griffon who was hovering above the ground, staring back expectantly.

“Gabby… you… did a fine job,” he said, each word pushed from his throat with great struggle. “Thank… you.”

In a wild scream, Gabby flew up and started dancing in mid-air, only to grab Nica, now dancing in mid-air with her confused assistant.

Snubby observed the scene with a growing smile. What was that warm feeling in his chest? Whatever it was, it felt very nice.

“Sorry, I got a bit too excited up there,” Gabby said as she walked side by side with her trusty assistant.

“Don’t apologize, it was fun… I mean, dancing with you without having wings of my own was… weird… but still fun.” Nica massaged her forelegs and murmured quietly. “You sure are strong.”

“Oh, than I’m happy you had fun,” Gabby said with closed eyes and a cheerful smile.

“And I’m happy that you’re happy,” Nica responded, returning the smile with one of her own. The white rat walked out from the shoulder-bag and sat on her shoulder.

“Oh, and who’s that cute little tasty-looking critter you have there?” Gabby asked.

Nica stopped, took a step back and wrapped her paws around the rat protectively. “Miss Gabby, please, don’t try to eat my little friend.”

Gabby gasped. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry I made you think that, I was just joking.” She giggled. “I wouldn’t dare to eat a friend of a friend.”

Nica lowered her guard and looked at the griffon with puppy eyes. “You… you promise?”

Gabby raised a talon up to her chest and answered, “I promise.”

Nica approached the griffon and raised her rat up to her. “Mr. Patrick, say hello to Miss Gabby and nuzzle her. She’s very nice and promised she won’t eat you, so there’s nothing to fear.”

Sweat started to fall down Gabby’s forehead as she resisted the urge to hug. “A large critter holding a tiny one like that… you both look so adorable.”

The white rat examined the griffon from top to bottom before looking at Nica with a ‘You can’t be serious’ expression.

“Come on, don’t be shy.”

Mr. Patrick hissed at Nica before jumping onto Griffon’s chest, climbing up to her shoulder and next nuzzled her cheek. He jumped back onto Nica’s paws and squeaked at her angrily.

Gabby giggled and lowered her beak to the white rat. “You’re just a precious little cutie. I hope we can become great friend, and I swear, I won’t let any griffon lay a talon on you.”

The rat rolled his eyes before diving into Nica’s bag.

“You sure make interesting friends. You totally need to tell me how you befriended the C.M.Cs. Did they help you find your special talent as well?” Gabby asked as she resumed her walk, passing by numerous ruined houses and arguing griffons. One griffon in the background however nuzzled another one while standing next to some sort of large baking device.

Nica shook her head and next lowered it. “They tried to befriend me, and even brought to their school so I could play with other innocent fillies, and… and…” She gulped. “And I hurt them by accident.”

“You hurt them?” She chuckled nervously. “Don’t even joke like that… it’s not funny.”

Nica untied her collar for a moment, sending a little bolt of electricity towards nearby rock before putting it on again. The rock now in small fragments lay on a scorched ground. “I can use electricity to attack and defend myself, but with my memories sealed, I didn’t remember I could do that. When they started to play with me, pull my ears and limbs, and hug me, I had no idea… no idea that my body would shock them with electricity. It reacted on its own.” She looked to the side, not daring to look into Gabby’s judging eyes. “Princess Twilight and her student Starlight, with Rarity’s help, they made me this collar.” She touched collar on her neck as if searching for comfort in it. “It not only translates my words, but also absorbs my electricity, preventing any similar accidents from happening.”

“You poor little thing! You deserve a cheer-up hug.”

Nica yelped as she was snatched into a wing-hug, once again experiencing the softness and warmth of the griffon. “B-but… you’re not angry at me?”

“Why would I be? You did it by accident and must’ve been extremely sad about it. If anything, I feel sorry for you!”

Nica sighed. “Why is everyone I meet is so extremely forgiving? I feel like I’m the only one still angry at myself for what I did.” The moment she was released, she looked up at the griffon with a pout and spoke up, “When I was in trouble and lost, ponies helped and took care of me, and I caused a lot trouble in return. After getting a grip on my powers, I tried to be useful, to help, to repay their kindness.” She turned around and tapped her forepaws, her tail shook left and right nervously. “I believe that the more power one has, the more one should do to be worth it. With each dream that reminds me of my past, with each day, I discover how powerful and durable I am. Whenever I don’t use my abilities to help… I feel worthless…”

“And when you help others the best you can, you feel pleasant warmth and self-fulfilment, ready to explode from happiness and excitement, right?”

Nica turned around and nodded. “Y-yes… how did you know.”

“Because that’s what I felt so many times. The Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to help me find my special talent, so they made me help ponies in plenty of tasks, and I was very happy doing them.” She pointed at herself and raised her beak proudly. “It turned out that helping is my special talent.”

Nica approached the griffon, stood up on the tips of her rear paws, placed her forepaws on Gabby’s chest and looked at her with sparkling eyes. “Sensei… teach me your ways.”

“It seems I found a familiar spirit in you.” Gabby giggled before placing her wing under Raichu’s feet, pushing onto her back. “I can already tell today will be tons of fun for the both of us. Helping duo away!” She flew up, searching for next target in need of help.

“I can’t believe it…” said one griffon from the gathered group, staring at the scene before them.

“You tell me. I thought no one in existence could keep up with Gabby’s excitement, but here we’re proven wrong.”

“Speaking of which, you owe me twenty bits. A bet is a bet.”

Snubby groaned before handing over his bits. “Fine. I should’ve known that there’s a first time for everything.” With the sun descending on the horizon, two specific figures walked between homes. A few of them already renovated by them. For several hours the enthusiastic duo has been working restlessly while helping everyone they could, from small tasks like the delivery of goods, to big renovations. The creature called Nica was running in excitement around Gabby, who seemed out of breath after her helping spree.

Snubby smiled lightly. He could tell that Gabby did most of the heavy lifting, yet the fact that Nica somehow managed to keep up with her and still have energy to spare was a true miracle. Maybe losing twenty bits was worth seeing Gabby being beaten at her own game.

Gabby sat and rubbed her stomach, hearing growling coming from it.

“You’re hungry? Wait here, I’ll go buy some food and water,” Nica said before running away, searching for the closest food-store.

“Pst…”

Gabby looked around, searching for the source of noise.

“May I bother you for a moment.”

Standing on all of her legs, Gabby approached the free space between four homes, spotting an old unicorn. Its legs thin as if devoid of muscles, barely supporting his weight. “Oh dear. Do you want something to eat? You’re skin and bones.”

“Offering food to an old stranger, truly, you’re an exception of your kind,” the unicorn spoke in a tired tone. “However, food will not do for me. If you’re willing to help me, young lady, there’s another way.”

“Whatever it is, you can count on me,” Gabby said with a cheerful smile. Despite feeling tired, her spirit still burned strong. She approached, only for the old pony to walk backward.

“I would appreciate respect for my personal space, please.”

Gabby nodded and sat.

The stallion raised his foreleg, pointing at his horn. “You see, young lady. You may not know this, but this world is filled with wonderful magic. It may be strong, it may be weak, but it is present in many living beings. Those with magic in themselves are tougher, stronger or posses outstanding abilities. For unicorns it mostly allows spell-casting, yet it still strengthens our bodies.”

Gabby nodded, listening with full attention. “I always love listening to wise words of the elderly, but please don’t make me wait with helping you.”

He chuckled. “I will get to the point. You see, I have been traveling in search for being with such powerful magic and ask them to share a tiny bit of it with me. Earth ponies with immense strength, unicorns with unimaginable rawpower, pegasi capable of amazing feats. With help of their magic I can research a cure for my illness.” He coughed, his legs trembling as if ready to break. After a moment of breathing heavily, he continued, “I sensed incredibly powerful magic in you. Even at your age, your strength surpass that of the average griffon. You have massive amounts of durability and stamina, and posses talents to help, no matter how challenging the task. Your magic may one day rival the one of a princess.”

Gabby blushed. “You really think so?” The moment she saw a nod of agreement, she spoke, “If my magic can help you heal your illness, than take as much as you want.”

The old unicorn bowed lightly. “Thank you, young lady.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Gabby glanced at Nica who approached from behind the house with a bag of snacks in her paws. “Oh, I was just talking to this kind old gentle-pony.”

Nica approached the stallion who stepped backward the closer she got, examining him with a suspicious stare. “Why I can’t sense your aura? I can’t sense a single bit of life in you.”

“What? What are you talking about,” Gabby asked, now blinking in confusion.

Nica looked at her and pointed at the unicorn. “I possess the ability to sense auras of living creatures. Until now, everyone had one, even a little mouse. Everyone except this one.”

Gabby looked at the old pony, talon raised up to her beak. “Ummm… what does this mean. Would you please explain?”

The stallion’s eyes closed before he tripped to the side. Nica’s tail stopped his fall, only for his body to turn into dust.

Both Nica and Gabby gasped and gazed in shock, poking the dust in confusion before deciding to leave and clear their heads.

What a pity… and here I was looking forward to making it easy for her. It seems I’ll need to do it the hard way, thought a dark figure, its large blue eye staring from the shadow of a damaged house before vanishing into the darkness.

Author's Note

Just a quick note to all readers. This is the last chapter of this side-story. All there's left is an epilogue and the main story will continue after that.

Prologue

Raichu for Hire

-

Prologue

Mayor Mare looked between the Raichu’s resume and the Princess of Friendship herself, gazing at her in confusion. “So, if I understand you correctly, a representative of a pokemon species called ‘Raichu’ somehow migrated over the ocean and ended up in the Everfree Forest, someone sealed her memories with dark magic, and now she’s living with you under your care.” After receiving a nod of confirmation, she asked, “And you want to register her as a mercenary and want to find her a job?”

“Correct. I even suggested her that ‘Help for Hire’ or ‘Hero for Hire; would be more appropriate, but she decided that the title ‘Mercenary’ sounds cooler and have more weight to it…” Twilight chuckled nervously. “Now, I know it may sounds insane, but…” She was cut off.

“This is Ponyville, it is hardly the weirdest thing I have heard, but I need to confirm if the data and abilities listed here are accurate,” Mayor Mare said and poked the paper, her eyes on the picture of a smiling long-tailed critter standing on one rear paw with her forpaws spread out. Not the most professional picture, but certainly filled with enthusiasm. “Your friend’s name is ‘Nica’, her weight is around 25 kilograms and she is 0.67 meters tall.”

“Exactly,” Twilight said with a nod. “I checked her parameters today personally.”

“The list of her abilities is as follow:

Ability to produce and unleash powerful electricity without the need of a stormcloud.

Ability to reach three hundred twenty five meters of height with a single jump.

Ability to sense the aura of emotions of other creatures.”

Receiving a nod, Mayor continued. “As for Strengths:

Advanced Combat skills, Extreme Stamina, Durability and Reflexes.”

“It’s the truth,” Starlight said before smirking. “Yesterday Nica started training Twilight in the art of self-defense. If you doubt our words, we can invite you to one of their combat exercises. Miss Mayor.”

“Starlight, this is personal,” Twilight commented.

Mayor Mare sighed. “I’ll take your word for it.” She kept looking at the picture. How did something this small and innocent-looking have the ability to train an alicorn in self-defense? Certainly something worth looking into in her spare time. “And if I read it correctly, she has a very calm and friendly personality and loves helping.”

“I can vouch for that,” Starlight said with a firm nod.

“According to her weekly reports, Nica has been trained in combat by a human trainer so they can defeat and arrest those who abuse pokemon powers. Even if she didn’t recover all of her memories yet, it was her idea to become a mercenary so she can be as helpful as possible,” Twilight said and next pointed to the Raichu’s picture on the resume. “We made a collar for her to absorb electricity so she wouldn’t cause any painful accidents. I also recently visited the royal archives in Canterlot in search for translation spells, and improved her collar with them. She can now communicate with us as long as she wears it.”

Mayor Mare nodded. “On the scale of how unbelievable it sounds from one to ten, I give it seven. To be honest, if it was somepony else, I wouldn’t give this a second thought, but since Miss Nica is under your care, Princess Twilight, I’ll register her as a mercenary.” She stamped the document and next lead the two ponies into a room surrounded by shelves from all sides. “I heard Miss Ditzy was trying to hire somepony to help her for a while, but no one was brave enough to take the job. If your friend is really durable, it would be a good place to start her career.”

“What kind of job exactly?” Starlight asked.

“For example; keeping her from causing accidents during her visit to stores selling antiques and porcelain.”

Twilight’s wings spread and waved. “Stores with antiques are my favorite. I had no idea Ditzy was into it.”

Starlight asked, “Is there anything else?”

“Not at the moment I’m afraid,” Mayor Mare said. “Your friend would have better chances in a big city.”

Twilight grinned. “Thank you, Mayor Mare, I appreciate your help.” She levitated over the stamped document and went outside with Starlight by her side.

“Goodbye, Princess Twilight, and Starlight Glimmer, I wish you luck.” The moment the door closed shut, Mayor Mare lowered her head and massaged her forehead. This headache really gets annoying. I can hardly stay focused on the job.

“What do you have in mind?” Starlight asked.

“A long-range teleportation spell of-course. Canterlot, Las Pegasus, Baltimare, Fillydelphia and Manehattan. If Nica wants a job that ponies are afraid to do, I’m sure she can find it there.”

Starlight rubbed he foreleg. “That’s ambitious. I think I’ll stick with Ponyville and ask Maud and Applejack if they could give her a job.”

“Huh? It’s not like you to be so cautious,” Twilight commented.

“I was really worried about Nica this past week. Let’s just say I don’t want her to leave me again.”

Twilight embraced her student with a comforting wing. “I know how you feel, but if she’s your friend, you need to trust her more. I still remember how hard it was for me to let you go, and you decided to stay.”

“I suppose you’re right.” She looked her mentor in the eyes as smile formed on her lips. “We should hurry up. I don’t want to leave Trixie in the castle for too long.”

“Come on Starlight, I’m sure they’re doing just fine.”

“Trixie requires assistance!” the mare shouted, struggling against the chains.

Nica was sitting on a pillow in the library next to the rounded table. Just a moment ago the Great and Powerful unicorn was showing her so called ‘breathtaking spectacle’, only to end up shackled in chains a minute later. So much for the Great Unicorn Escape, Nica thought as she stepped from her pillow and approached the mare. “Are sure you need my help? Can’t you teleport free or blast the chains with your magic? Starlight could do it with ease.”

The mare growled. “Don’t tease Trixie and help her!”

The long-tailed pokemon rolled her eyes. If she was asked for help by any other pony or creature, she would have jumped at the opportunity. Yet, after listening to Trixie’s story, her unfair accusations and use of a dangerous artifact for revenge against Twilight, who saved her life by stopping a rampaging Ursa, and overall arrogance in her voice, she didn’t feel the urgency to help her right away.

“What are you waiting for, help Trixie this instant!”

She sighed. It seems a simple ‘please’ is outside of her vocabulary. She raised her long tail towards the chains, thinking back to her last dream. If her returning memories were accurate, a gigantic worm-like metallic monster called ‘Steelix’ was teaching her how to turn her own tail into a boulder cutting weapon.

Nica bit her bottom lip and focused, mimicking the technique she used as a Pikachu. As she’d hoped for, her tail flashed brightly, suddenly becoming heavier, stronger, and looked to be covered by metal. With a careful and slow swing, she struck the chains, cutting a few of them with ease while leaving a small cut in the crystal floor. She took a step back and gulped. One false move and her tail would sink into this pony’s flesh.

Drops of sweat started to fall down her forehead as she was striking each chain as carefully as she could, freeing Trixie several half a minute later.

“Ah, much better,” Trixie said and stretched herself. “That’s an interesting trick you got there. Starlight told Trixie that you can use electricity, but she didn’t mention your tail could cut metal.”

Nica focused on releasing power from her tail, waiting for it to return to normal before she shot Trixie a sheepish smile. Using electricity to destroy the chains crossed her mind, if not for the risk of shocking the pony as a side-effect. “I learned how to do this from my dream last night. My memories are still recovering.”

“W-wait… are you saying you improvised?” Trixie’s face turned pale and she chuckled nervously. “W-well, it worked…”

Feeling growing awkwardness in the air, Nica asked, “Why do you keep lying about yourself?”

“W-what?”

She returned to her pillow, gesturing for Trixie to sit on the other side. The mare did so hesitantly. “Why do you keep calling yourself great and powerful? Why such arrogance? Instead of thanking the pony who saved your life, you started threatening her like a rival, even though she’s superior to you in magic a hundred times over.”

“W-what… Trixie’s not inferior to Twilight when it comes to magic!”

“Another lie, why do you keep lying?”

The unicorn slammed her hoof against the table. “Trixie doesn’t like where this is going.”

Nica took a deep breath, regretting that she didn’t know how to prepare tea as having two teacups would certainly help in the coming conversation. She climbed onto the table and sat on it, now looking directly at the unicorn mare. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just humbly accept your limitations and celebrate what you accomplished?”

Trixie raised her head arrogantly and held forehoof on her neck. “Trixie is a great and powerful magician who saved ponykind from their ultimate doom… with some small help from Starlight, Thorax, and Discord… that’s the truth.”

“If you’re great and powerful, shouldn't you have saved ponykind many times over like Twilight and her friends did? This is what powerful beings like yourself should do after all, they should protect those who can’t defend themselves and use their powers to their limits,” Nica pointed out.

“W-well…”

“What I’m trying to say is that; if you were just a normal illusionist who doesn’t possess great magic or superpowers, but managed to play an important role in saving a country, it would make you amazing.”

“Huh?” Trixie asked, her mouth agape. “What?”

“But if you’re a super powerful unicorn as you claim to be, helping Starlight to save everypony isn’t anything special.”

Trixie kept staring at the large critter in confusion, her mind a mess. I would be amazing… if I saved the day while not being great and powerful? What does she mean by that?

“What’s a more impressive feat? A powerful warrior saving a village by easily defeating a large monster? Or a normal pony who ran into a burning building to save one life while putting himself in peril?”

Trixie rubbed top of her head. “Defeating a monster… I suppose? I mean… it’s more spectacular.”

Nica shook her head. “Even if said experienced warrior defeated the beast with little risk? The pony running into the building could end up burned alive or have permanent burns.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Trixie said. “Even if it wouldn't be as spectacular, it would still require a lot of courage.”

“For Twilight and her friends who possess great powers and wield powerful artifacts, saving Equestria is something they’re used too, but for you, a pony with plenty of skills but without powerful magic…”

“It was something special?” Trixie asked, receiving a nod of confirmation. “Actually, the fact that our magic couldn’t work inside the hive meant that Trixie’s skills were even more helpful.”

Nica smiled and approached, step by step until she reached the edge of the table and embraced the unicorn’s neck. “I think what you did was really brave and heroic. The fact that you entered the changeling hive and did your best while being defenseless was incredibly brave and noble. You don’t need to be great and powerful to be great.” She whimpered. “To be honest, my powers are stronger than yours, yet I wish I was half as useful and great as you were.”

Trixie’s eyes watered as she immediately embraced the Raichu, her heart melting like a block of ice in the middle of the desert.

“Nica, Trixie, I’m back!” Starlight said as she walked through the hallway, wondering what her favorite duo was up to.

In a cloud of smoke, Trixie appeared in the middle of the hallway with Nica emerging from under her cape. She took off her hat and performed a polite bow. “The not Powerful but still a little Great Trixie welcomes you back, Starlight Glimmer. How was your day?”

“T-Trixie… are you feeling okay?”

“Better than okay. Thanks to meeting with your skilled companion, Trixie has seen the errors of her ways.” She rubbed the top of Nica’s head, who returned the gesture by rubbing Trixie behind her ear with her tail, which the mare clearly enjoyed while showing a pleasant smile. “Trixie can’t wait for Twilight to come back so that Trixie can apologize, thank her for saving Trixie’s life, and publicly admit that Princess Twilight Sparkle is the most talented and powerful scholar in the land.”

“What have you done!?” In a rush of panic, Starlight levitated over the Raichu, her muzzle touching Nica’s nose. “I leave you for half a day,” she took a quick breath, “half a day! And you already broke Trixie!"

“Is that a good or bad thing?” Nica asked.

“Certainly good,” Trixie said with a wide smile.

“Certainly bad!” Starlight shouted with an expression of pure terror on her face.

Author's Note

This story takes place in between chapter 18 and 19 of "Little Lost Raichu"

It is more of a side-story rather than a sequel. (It stand out from the main story enough to be its own story as it shows events that took place off-screen. The focus of this side-story and its tone stand out too much for it to be part of the main story).

I plan on continuing the main story once this one is finished.

Ch.6 - Bodyguard Career pt.1

Raichu for Hire

-

Chapter 6
-

Bodyguard Career pt.1

Rarity trotted nervously between numerous houses, searching for the long-tailed creature. With a few citizens telling her that Raichu was working for Derpy today, and that they were visiting numerous shops, she spent half an hour checking store after store in search for her.

A wide smile formed on her the moment she noticed familiar faces at the entrance into ‘Antique shop’. The grey pegasus pulled a covered cart filled with who know what kind of artifacts, while Raichu walked by her side, carrying a small saddlebag supported on her shoulder. Both smiled cheerfully while looking at each other.

“Raichu, I was looking everywhere for you,” Rarity said as she approached at a quick pace.

“Oh, hello Rarity, is something wrong?” Nica asked. “Also, my name’s Nica. It turned out Raichu is just a name of my species.”

“I see, I will make sure to address you properly from now on.” Rarity took a quick glance at the collar with five gems and metal attachment present on Nica’s neck. Twilight mentioned that she improved my collar with a translation spell. It will make things so much easier. After taking a deep breathe, she spoke, “My friend from Manehattan, Miss Coco Pommel, is in need of assistance, but nopony is brave enough to work for her.”

Rarity grabbed the pokemon between her hooves. “Twilight told me that you’re very brave and looking for random jobs.” She lowered Nica to the ground and placed a forehoof on her own forehead in a dramatic fashion. “Without the help of a brave strong little knight like you, Miss Pommel will be left at the mercy of thugs in the most dirty and poor part of the big city where no law reaches far enough to help its citizens.”

Nica looked at the pegasus with a worried look.

Derpy kept smiling and said in a happy tone, “It’s okay, you helped me a bunch. Thanks to you I was able to visit so many shops I was always afraid of visiting.” Using her wing, she wrapped Nica’s shoulder and pulled to her side. “You were the bestest, and I loved your tail-tricks. Hope we can meet again.”

Nica allowed herself a moment of pleasure in Derpy’s wing-hug before answering, “I’d love to show you more tricks. Making you happy makes me happy.”

Derpy unzipped her saddlebag with her teeth and grabbed numerous bits with her hooves, only for Nica to gently return them into the pegasus’ saddlebag.

“There’s no need to pay me, helping you was a pleasure.”

Derpy blushed and hid it behind her wing. “Oh jeez… you’re too kind.”

“No, you’re too kind, and you make really tasty muffins, I really enjoyed them,” Nica said before embracing Derpy’s neck and next approaching Rarity. She waved at the pegasus who waved back, their smiles warm.

Rarity looked down at Nica in confusion. “You know you’ll never earn any bits if you do charity work all the time.”

Nica shook her head and poked her saddlebag, causing numerous bits to make noise. “Oh, but I was paid, not by Ditzy, though.”

“Huh? Then by who?”

“The shop owners.”

“Why?”

“Well…”

After paying the shop owner for the numerous porcelain plates and vases, Derpy turned around and started trotting cheerfully, only to slam into a five meter tall shelf filled with fragile porcelain, tilting it over.

The stallion yelled in terror. In a few seconds the shelves were going to crash into each other with a domino effect. His heart was about to escape through his throat.

Out of reflex, Nica leaped towards the shelf, pressing her forepaws and tail against the floor while her rear paws pressed against the large shelf. She stabilized the structure before the damage could be done. Upon hearing the noise of falling vases, she wrapped her long tail around them, catching them centimeters above the floor.

She lowered her trembling legs to the floor and wiped sweat from her forehead, sighing in relief.

“...And then the stallion stood on his rear hooves, forced me to dance with him, and next gave me a small bag of bits. I got similar rewards for preventing Ditzy from causing damage on numerous occasions.” She lowered her head and tapped her paws together. “It was my job to protect Ditzy and keep her from having accidents, yet I didn’t expect to be paid this much by so many ponies. I wanted to return their bits, but they refused…”

Rarity chuckled. “Oh, sweetie, you worry too much. Ponies of Ponyville are very kind and they always forgive Ditzy for her accidents… though some call her Derpy as a tease. In turn, Miss Ditzy was afraid to visit many shops, which is why she hired you in the first place. You should just accept payment for a job well done.”

“If you say so,” Nica said before her ears perked up, her mod shifting immediately. “You were saying something about helping a pony in trouble. Whatever it is about, I’m in!”

“Splendid.” She levitated Nica onto her back and started walking towards the train station. “Manehattan, here we come!”

Perched on the double seat inside the train, Nica looked out the window, watching as the trees, buildings and hills were moving on the horizon. I seem to have a lot of stamina and I am quite fast. I wonder…

“You seem deep in thought, what are you thinking about, dear?” Rarity asked, sitting next to the pokemon with her forehooves placed between her hind legs.

Nica turned away from the view and looked up at Rarity. “I’m just wondering. If I ran towards Manehattan, would I arrive there faster than this train?”

Rarity raised a forehoof up to her mouth and laughed. “You, reach Manehattan first while running? You have an interesting sense of humor.” After she stopped laughing, noticing Nica’s serious stare, she asked, “You weren’t joking, were you?”

She shook her head.

“Well… Earth ponies pull the train between Ponyville and Appaloosa nearly as fast coal-powered or magic-powered trains, but the road to Manehattan is way longer. I certainly do not question your speed, but you would need to have more stamina than those earth ponies to win the race to Manehattan.”

Nica smiled cheerfully. “Sounds like a challenge. I’m so racing the train once I come back to Ponyville.”

“Your love for challenge reminds me of Rainbow Dash. She’s our friend. Have you two met yet?” Rarity asked.

“Not really,” Nica said with a shake of her head. “Is she nice? What is she like?”

“Well... “ Rarity said, looking at the ceiling while tapping her chin. “She is very athletic, competitive and easy to provoke. Usually, she was the first to rush into a fight and take action, but she matured quite a bit and is now much better at teamwork and more level headed than before.” She lowered her head and looked at Nica. “I suppose she is kind, but a bit rough around the edges if you annoy her.”

“Oh… sounds like many pokemon from my dream. They were also athletic, competitive and easy to provoke, all willing to act and battle on the spot. I feel Rainbow Dash would have fun wherever I came from.”

“Speaking of which,” Rarity said, “I still don’t know much about your home and your past. The only thing I know about you is that you don’t speak our language, possess powerful abilities, electrocuted my sister by accident and felt very guilty about it. Would you tell me something about yourself while we ride this train?” She smiled warmly. “It will help us pass the time.”

Nica nodded and smiled sheepishly. The day she hurt young ponies being the worst day of her life.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to bring back sad memories.”

“It’s okay.” Nica forced a smile. “Still, before I tell you about my past, can you tell me more about my job and the pony that needs my help?”

“Oh, but of course,” Rarity said. She waited for the service to place two cups with tea on the table before them, levitating over a cup and taking a sip. “Miss Coco Pommel is a friend of mine who once worked for my rival. She revealed that her boss was cheating and gave up her job, and we became friends ever since.” She took another sip and lowered the cup, waiting for Nica to drink some tea as well. “Recently, Miss Pommel found out about a part of Manehattan which lacked clothing stores, and there was a building with storage for sale very cheaply, which she could turn into a shop of her own.”

Nica nodded.

“Sadly, while my friend has a very good heart, she is a bit naive. The police in Manehattan do not have enough staff to patrol the entire city, and this part of Manehattan is considered to be very dangerous, filled with thugs and gangs.” She sighed, her ears drooped. “It did not take long before Coco found out why her new accommodation was so cheap.”

“Sounds like a criminal organization is involved. My trainer dedicated her life to fight crime.” Nica narrowed her eyes and clench bronze edge of her forepaw. “Just lead the way and I’ll defend Miss Coco Pommel with my life!”

Rarity looked around nervously, her friend’s shouting caught the attention of nearby passengers, giving them disapproving glares.

“How uncouth that pets are now allowed to ride a train, for shame,” spoke an arrogant looking unicorn mare wearing a white dress. “Miss Rarity, oh, my deepest apologies? If this creature is with you, it must be of great importance.” She lowered her head apologetically and looked away.

Rarity rolled her eyes, recognizing the unicorn as one of Canterlot ponies she meet on Twilight’s birthday party while in presence of Fancy Pants. Once the numerous eyes were no longer on them, she looked at Nica and said, “It’s not exactly a criminal organization. According to the letter, a group of thugs formed a gang and even thought they could become a mafia family. They started terrorizing shops and homes, demanding money for protection. They are small fry, but finding a bodyguard proved problematic.”

“Problematic, why?” Nica asked, taking another sip from her teacup.

“Most ponies were not interested in working at this part of Manehattan, or were too afraid to face thugs. A few shady individuals offered their services, but the payment they demanded was even worse than simply paying the protection money.” She gave Nica a trustful smile. “I showed Coco’s letter to Twilight, and when she told me about your talents and that you are looking for a job, I thought you were perfect for this task.”

“You can count on me,” Nica said enthusiastically. It was the chance she was hoping for, an opportunity to help a friend of her friend. She could use her skills to defend a pony in trouble against a bunch of thugs.

Could her day get any better?

Coco Pommel observed the city from the window of her store, seeing nothing but dirt and graffiti covering the walls of nearby homes, or a group of angry and arguing ponies wearing dirty and damaged clothes. Fashion crime probably not being their only offence.

Whatever she earned from her hard work went to pay the thugs, which kept her stressed and on high alert. A white-bordered lavender sailor collar with a scarlet tie decorated her neck, which she rubbed over and over out of stress.

“How… how could I end up in this mess?” She struggled to resist bursting into tears. Her career and well-being were at risk due to her hasty decision. All of her bits and resources she had became this very shop. She couldn’t sell it, and leaving it would leave her sleeping on the street.

Her ears perked upward and she flinched, screaming in panic upon hearing knocking at her door. She raised a forehoof up to her chest, hyperventilating. She approached her glass counter and asked, “W-who’s t-t-there?”

“It is me, your friend Rarity.”

Coco Pommel smiled with an open mouth, dashing towards the door. She opened it quickly and embraced her friend. “Rarity, I’m so happy to see a friendly face!” She released her friend and started walking back and forth. “It was terrible, Rarity, just terrible. I thought I was making the best decision of my life, opening my own little store, only for it to turn into a nightmare.” She sat and held her forelegs near her chest under her neck like a pleading puppy. “Those mean ponies… they were so scary.”

“Now, now,” Rarity said, patting her on the shoulder. “You do not need to worry any longer. When I heard about your trouble, I could not leave you to those savages.” She pointed at the long-tailed critter sitting patiently in front of them. “I brought a solution to all of your problems.”

Coco blinked in confusion, gazing at the pear-shaped creature who smiled cheerfully and waved at her. She looked Rarity in the eyes and asked, “Ummm… do not get me wrong, I appreciate any help… but how can this cute little animal help me?”

“Oh darling, I know her appearance may be deceiving, but trust me.” She punched the air with her forehoof. “Under her soft appearance lies a powerful warrior with a heart of gold.”

“R-really?”

The critter stood on her rear paws swung her tail like a sword. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, I swear.”

Coco looked between the critter and Rarity’s smiling face before gesturing for them to enter. “Please come in and make yourselves at home.”

Nica stepped into the shop, walking on her two feet while examining her surroundings. At the other end of the room in front of the entrance was a glass counter with a door behind it. The left side of the room was filled with dummies wearing clothes in a variety of colors and shapes. Some having holes for wings. They were not on the quality level of Rarity’s work and certainly not as over-the-top. On the right side were similar dummies, but were wearing dresses and skirts instead.

Aside from the dummies, she noticed a few glass counters with some sort of shoes which would fit on pony hooves. In the left and right corner of the room were small platforms with curtains, most likely if a pony needed some privacy while testing different outfits. Wait… ponies are naked most of the time, so what’s the point of having these? she thought, finding ponies culture to be overly complicated.

“Please, come this way.”

Nica looked towards the source of the voice, approaching the door behind main glass counter. The room they were now in was even bigger, filled with random machinery, numerous rolled materials with a diversity of colors and numerous identical clothes being stacked atop one another.

“This is my storage and workplace,” Coco explained before pointing at a sofa in front of square table, poking the sofa in an invitation for her quests to sit on.

Accepting the invitation, Nica ran closer and climbed up onto the sofa, sitting in the middle. Rarity sat on her right while Coco sat on her left. Her ears drooped, the aura of worry and depression she sensed before once again grew in strength. She raised her paw and gently stroked Coco’s side.

“Would you like… some tea?” Coco asked.

Rarity shook her head. “We already drank tea in the train. While I do not want to act impolite, I need to return to Ponyville as quickly as possible.”

“Huh, but why?” Coco asked.

Rarity flapped her mane with a hoof. “Let’s just say that Miss Photo Finish is interested in making my mane a big hit. I need to make preparations for the shoot.”

“Oh… I’m sorry,” Coco said and lowered her head, rubbing her arm nervously.

“Oh, no no no, do not feel sad, your problems are way more important.” She stepped from the sofa and pointed at the critter. “Coco, meet my friend and Twilight’s newest care, Nica. She’s a pokemon traveler from a distant unknown land and she is still recovering from her magically forced amnesia.” She walked towards the earth pony and turned around. “Miss Nica, meet Miss Coco Pommel, my friend and a fellow very talented fashion designer.”

The earth pony raised her forehoof towards the critter. “Nice to meet you, Miss Nica.”

The pokemon took a deep breath and performed a graceful bow. “The pleasure is all my, Miss Pommel.” She grabbed the hoof and shook it. “I must say, your tie looks so elegant.”

Coco blushed. “Oh… thank you sweetie.” She lowered her head. “Your collar is elegant as well, a true masterpiece that fits your colors perfectly.”

“It is so elegant thanks to Rarity’s hard work and Maud’s generosity,” Nica said, poking the gems on her collar. “Maud Pie shared her collection of gems, Twilight and Starlight magically made them absorb my electricity so I wouldn’t hurt anyone by accident, and Rarity turned it into this precious collar.” She pointed at the metallic tag with ‘Raichu’ written on it. “Twilight improved it recently to translate my language. I can talk with you as long as I wear it.”

“Translate? Absorb electricity?” Coco asked.

“My species name’s Raichu and I’m capable of using electricity, so I need something to restrain my power so I wouldn’t hurt you or any other innocent creature. Also, according to ponies, when I speak, all they hear are words made of the name of my own species, but Twilight’s improvement changed that.”

“Oh, I see…” Coco said, her face showing growing interest. “You look a bit chubby, but you’re definitely incredibly cute. I love those cute funny ears of yours, and your tail is very impressive. I find it hard to believe that someone with your adorable features is capable of hurting anypony with electricity.”

Nica blushed. “Thank you, I get that a lot.” She chuckled. “I must say, you look adorable yourself. Your blue-teal mane, your blue eyes, the color of your fur…”

Rarity cleared her throat, breaking the discussion. “I apologize for interrupting, but I need to take my leave very soon and I would like to say something before that.”

Coco raised forehoof to her mouth and looked to the side. “Oh, but of course. Please, do speak Lady Rarity.”

The unicorn pointed at the large critter and explained, “Miss Nica may look adorable, but she is battle-hardened and possesses the ability to use electricity for combat. She was looking for a job, and when I learned of your terrible situation, I thought she could become your bodyguard.”

“Oh…” Coco said, taking her eyes away from Rarity to look at Nica. “You want to work for me as a bodyguard? But you are so small…” she poked her belly, “...and soft.”

“Don’t let my size deceive you, Miss Pommel, I assure you that I can protect you from any danger.” She puffed her chest proudly. “Lately, I started teaching Princess Twilight self-defense. I can evade her incredibly powerful spells, and I even managed to break her barrier recently. Furthermore, according to my memories, I fought a few hundreds battles while being way smaller than I am now.”

“R-really?” Coco said, her eyes wide.

“R-really?” Rarity said and gasped. “You held your ground against Twilight Sparkle?” The moment Nica nodded, Rarity walked towards the exit. “I believe that settles it. I will be leaving back to Ponyville. I wish you both the best of luck, farewell.”

The moment the door closed, Nica looked Coco in the eyes and asked, “So… ummm… can I…”

“You’re hired.”

Nica displayed her teeth in a wide smile. The aura of fear and depression she sensed weakened substantially. In a rush of excitement, she leaped towards Coco, tackling her from the sofa onto the floor as she embraced her neck in a hug. “I swear, I’ll be the best bodyguard, I won’t fail you.”

“T-t-that’s g-great… b-but… could you… release my neck… c-can’t b-breath.”

Nica flinched and held her forepaws together apologetically. “Sorry!” She approached, helping the earth pony stand up. She took a few steps backward and saluted. “As your bodyguard, I’m awaiting your orders. Is there anything you want me to do?”

Coco blushed and tapped her forehooves together. “W-well…”

“Yes?”

Coco’s ears dropped and blush on her face became even stronger. “Ummm… Lately, I have been under alot of stress… Will you allow me… to rub your cute white belly? It would relax me.” She looked to the side in panic. “I mean… if you don’t want to.”

“Sure,” Nica said, approaching on her two feet before wrapping her tail around Coco’s belly, lifting her up. Walking on four legs with a bit of struggle, she approached the sofa, perching the confused pony on it. She climbed up, perched herself on Coco’s legs and exposed her belly. “I love nuzzling, cuddling and belly rubs, and I have gained a few hours of experience in this field under Fluttershy’s guidance. In other words, my fluffiness is at your disposal.”

Coco blinked in confusion. After explaining her embarrassing request, this was certainly not an answer she’d expected. She carefully touched the fluffy white belly with a tip of her hoof, gently rubbing against it, her nerves calming down. The creature on her legs had closed eyes and bit her tongue, radiating in satisfaction. Coco exhaled and smiled warmly. Not only had she gotten herself a bodyguard who –in theory– was going to save her business and protect her from mean thugs, but her bodyguard was the cutest and most cuddly creature she could’ve wished for, surpassing even her most pleasant dreams.

Could her day get any better?

Epilogue

Raichu for Hire

-

Epilogue

Nica rolled from a nest made of sticks and hay, crashing on the soft floor. Her eyes watered and her face radiated in fear. Taking a moment to stand and calm her nerves, she looked around over Gabby’s home.

For a creature with so many talents and the ability to renovate near-ruined homes, her home was certainly on the humble side. Instead of bed and chairs, Nica could see nests in a diversity of sizes. Two small nests were present around a rounded wooden table. One wardrobe filled with small bags and scarfs stood tall in the corner. Even fruits and vegetables seemed gathered on a small nest with no refrigerator to be seen.

One glance out the window at the moon told her that it was still middle of the night.

She wiped sweat from her forehead and climbed up onto the nest, perching herself on it while pressing her cheek and side into Gabby’s wing, nuzzling it. It was just a nightmare… no biggie, she thought to herself. All this time her dreams provided her with information about her past, something she eagerly looked forward too whenever closing her eyes.

This time however, her dream was filled with one repetitive scenario. Astra challenged Brandon from the Battle Pyramid to a six on six battle, and whenever one of the legendary pokemon was sent into the field, she was the one sent to face it.

Despite knowing how to use a Z-move, which would provide Nica with extreme firepower against the legendary giants, Astra refused to use it. After the battle was lost, Astra took her team for intense training, testing new strategies or making her team fight with each other to sharpen their skills. One week of training later, Astra once again challenged Brandon, sending Nica to face against one of the legendaries. Week after week, Nica experienced the incredibly strong power of Regice, Registeel or Regirock on her weaker body.

Despite growing tougher and performing better with each rematch, the painful losing continued, turning the dream into a nightmare.

Nica opened her eyes and pushed herself to a sitting position upon hearing a scream. She looked around in confusion, her friend was nowhere to be seen.

“Gabby, Gabby!?” She leaped from the nest and ran towards the door, opening it with her tail before rushing outside. She was about to search for her friend, only for three griffons to descend in front of her, each armed with weapon.

“You’re not going anywhere,” one griffon said, holding a plank with one sharp nail raised in his talon.

“Don’t take it personally, it’s just business,” another griffon spoke up, a baseball bat supported on his shoulder.

“We have been paid by some old rich folk to keep you from leaving. Just stay here five-ten minutes and no one will get hurt,” said the third griffon, this one the tallest while wearing an eyepatch. Metallic gloves with sharp claws were present on his talons.

Upon closer examination, Nica noticed at least ten unconscious griffons scattered around. Some sort of battle had to take place with the high possibility of Gabby’s involvement.

Nica narrowed her eyes, took a fighting stance and raised her tail threateningly, sending power into it. “Where’s Gabby? What did you do with her?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Be a nice little pet and wait for your master inside her home. She’ll come back in several minutes.”

“We just needed to… borrow her… for a few moments. She proved impressively strong and agile for someone smaller and outnumbered, but we had the element of surprise,” said the griffon with eyepatch before raising his metal claws. “Our employer isn’t interested in harming her, I can guarantee.”

“I don’t believe you,” Nica said and hissed. “Now, where is she?” She ran towards the griffons and swung her tail several times in one second, cutting each weapon into smaller parts before her opponents could ever react. She followed up by stopping the edge of her tail in front of griffon’s neck. After facing the mob as Raichu and fighting a legendary pokemon as a Pikachu, a few greedy griffons won’t scare me.

Two griffons looked at each other before dropping what was left of their weapons and flying away.

“He didn’t pay me enough to be cut to pieces.”

“Tell me about it. I’m outta here.”

“Hey, don’t leave me behind you cowards,” the tallest griffon spoke, not daring to move an inch with the destructive tail millimeters from stroking his neck.

“So much for the loyalty of those who work for bits. Unlike them, I won’t leave a friend, no matter if I’m being burned alive, hit with beams or crushed under tons of pressure,” Nica said, her glare showing no happiness, nor compassion. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will to protect my friend. So, where’s Gabby?”

“I… I won’t tell. I may be greedy, but unlike other pathetic griffons, I didn’t forget about our roots. I was paid for my service and I’ll carry it to the end.” He gulped as sweat started dropping from his forehead. “I won’t sell out my employer.”

Nica groaned. Of all the greedy griffons that lived here, she just had to capture the mercenary with a sense of honor. As much as she wished to help Gabby, the idea of torturing anyone for information went against her nature. She withdrew her tail, her bluff busted.

Upon feeling a weak bite and hearing a squeaking noise, she looked down at her left rear leg, noticing Mr. Patrick next to it. “Do you know where they took Gabby?” she asked, receiving a nod and a few squeaky responses before he ran away.

Nica ran, following her little friend while adjusting her speed to the one of the rat. Now that I think about it, that weird unicorn tried to pull off something on Gabby before turning into dust. Is someone targeting her or something? She grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes in anger. Gabby was a friend, and she was going to fight to the last bit of her stamina to–

Nica pulled herself to a full stop, seeing her friend sitting in front of a house, supported against the wall. “Gabby!” she shouted, running and tackling her friend’s neck with enough force to create a few cracks on the wall behind Gabby’s head.

“Hey, careful there,” Gabby said, returning the hug before looking around. “Where are we? Why am I not in my bed?”

“You were abducted by a bunch of griffons, I think... did they do something to you?” Nica looked around and swung her tail against the air as if trying to cut an invisible foe. “If they did hurt you, I’ll… well… I’ll captured them and deliver them to the authorities… if griffons have any police and prison that is.”

“What are you talking about. I don’t remember… ouch…” Gabby massaged her forehead with her talon.

“Does it hurt?” Nica asked, staring at her friend in worry.

“Just a headache, probably from overworking myself yesterday,” Gabby said before examining her surroundings. “But seriously, how did I end up here. Was I sleepwalking?”

Nica took a step back. What’s going on? She sat next to Gabby and rubbed her chin, now deep in thought. When that mean mob boss warned me of some mysterious being, I thought he either went crazy or was making things up, but now I’m not so sure. She glanced at Gabby with Mr. Patrick doing the same from the spot on her shoulder.

“What? What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“So you don’t remember what happened a moment ago,” Nica asked, receiving a head-shake in response. She stood up and pulled Gabby to a standing position before climbing her back. “We need to go to Ponyville immediately and warn Twilight.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Gabby, please, just trust me on this. When I defeated the mob in Manehattan, their boss told me about some creature who puts curses on ponies while erasing their memories of the event. I fear the same happened to you.”

“Well… while what you say sounds crazy… you’re my friendly friend. Of course I’ll trust you.” She spread her large wings and bent her legs. “Hang on tightly. We’ll get to Ponyville in no time.”

Nica nodded before grabbing the griffon’s neck with her paws, holding it strongly. "Can we pick up my bag first?"

"Will do."

Nica wrapped her rat friend with black part of her tail, only to slid him into her shoulder-bag half a minute later. She felt strong wind pushing against her which was flapping her ears. Gabby’s speed proved not to be underestimated.

If what was happening was related to what happened to the mob boss and his best subordinates, more or less was related to dark magic which sealed her memories, the ponies she cared about could be in grave danger.

Author's Note

This story took place in between chapters 18-19 of "Lost Little Raichu"

To find out what happens next on Nica's adventures, here's link - chapter 19