20th Spell [Video/Action for Cianwood]

[friendyousohard]

Tower- Tower no!

[An enormous roar accompanies the sudden rush of sand by the lens of the Pokegear as an enormous Tyranitar begins stomping around, roaring at something that can't be seen through the sandstorm. Twilight backs up a few steps, holding her arm in front of her face as the sand threatens to blind her.]

Gah, it's everywhere... Tower, stop! It's just a-

[With another roar, the hulking monstrosity sends the object of its rage hurling over its shoulder past Twilight.]

... Tentacool.

[The hapless jellyfish is forgotten already, though, as Tower seems to have taken the opportunity to just start stomping around wildly, roaring challenges at what appears to be the world at large.]

Oh by Celestia's mane... When I get the sand out of my eyes you are going in your ball for a week!

Comments

[friendyousohard]

Worse. Megasoma is arrogant, but at least he listens. Ironically enough, he's also the best chance I have of keeping her under control...

[The idea of them bonding has yet to occur to her and would probably terrify her if it did.]

Thanks for the concern. I'll be fine, though, it's just a matter of staying prepared from here on out. I still don't have anything as bad as some of yours...

[A mental image of Terror pops into her head and she shudders.]

[islandshore]

It's the fighting type, right? That quadruple weakness would suck against a Heracross...

[As for hers not being as bad as some of his, that gets a sheepish laugh from Riku.]

Yeah, I wouldn't wish the likes of Terror and Quake on anybody. Still, I'm sorry you got stuck with an unruly sandstorm on two legs.

[friendyousohard]

Exactly. And given how strong he is, taking her down with one blow wouldn't really be that difficult. If I'd had him out when she evolved, there would have been no problem.

[Ah, the benefits of hindsight.]

Well, I'll live. Her being a sandstorm on two legs will be pretty useful, in fact... once I get her to start listening to what I tell her.

[islandshore]

Hmm. You could try rewards for good behavior, assuming she's not always stomping around like a showoff.

[Sometimes it's hard to tell with Pokémon.]

[friendyousohard]

Positive reinforcement does seem like the way to go, but I'm not entirely certain what she likes, aside from picking fights with opponents who are stronger than her.

Although as a Larvitar, she loved eating rocks... maybe that's been held over.

[islandshore]

Hey, maybe drag her off to one of the caves and let her snack on boulders. That might get her to listen.

[Plus, there are way too many geodudes and gravellers. She could probably beat them down for good measure.]

[friendyousohard]

Hmmm, not a bad plan. Have Megasoma deal with her when she gets problematic, let her eat the scenery when she cooperates. A bit basic, but I can figure out more nuanced ways once I have her under a little better control.

[And she can tank a few explosions quite nicely.]

Is this personal experience talking?

[islandshore]

A little bit. After all, I've got years of experience dealing with horrible death monsters.

[And not just Terror, heh.]

You've only just begun your rocky journey dealing with overeager reptiles. Think you've got what it takes?

[He feels kinda dorky saying this, but darn it, he's just in one of those moods.]

[friendyousohard]

Oh, you mean I never told you?

I've already raised one reptile from the egg, back home.

[Smug grin is smug, but mostly she's just playing along.]

[islandshore]

[You know what? That doesn't even surprise him. She is, after all, a talking pony under normal circumstances. Instead, he'll just chuckle.]

But did this other reptile generate sandstorms wherever they went?

[friendyousohard]

No... he did grow to the size of several houses and terrorize the town, but that only happened once.

[islandshore]

...Okay, you can't say something like that and not tell the whole story.

[Because, wow, that sounds like something right out of a movie.]

[friendyousohard]

[Amused by his incredulity and interest, she chuckles.]

I suppose you do have a point. Well, first of all I should probably explain who I'm talking about. My assistant, Spike, is a dragon, who I hatched from an egg as my examination into the school I went to. I named my Dragonite after him, as I'm sure you could guess.

Now, he's still quite a young dragon, and so is usually at a very manageable two feet tall or so. However, when dragons reach puberty, they begin to grow at a disturbingly rapid rate... spurred on by their greed, which also begins to grow.

On Spike's first birthday in Ponyville, he was so astounded to receive gifts from ponies besides me that it awakened those greedy instincts, and, well... things got out of hand pretty quickly. It started small enough, with him begging extra presents out of a few ponies in town, but soon enough he was so wrapped up in getting more things that he was running around stealing from people, and growing larger and larger the more he stole. Eventually, he grew so large that there was no way any of us could deal with him. If it weren't for Rarity, I don't know what would have happened.

[islandshore]

[It takes a few moments for all that to soak in. So... dragons hit puberty by getting presents? That's a new one. Then again, he's talking to someone who used to be a unicorn.]

So what you're saying is that he became a hoarder, turned giantic, and basically terrorized the town? How'd Rarity manage to stop him?

[friendyousohard]

Yep, that's exactly right. Rarity stopped him by reminding him of an act of great generosity he'd done earlier, just before his birthday, in fact. He'd been saving a heart-shaped lava ruby for himself for quite some time. Dragons eat gems in my world, you see. But when Rarity saw it, she wasn't... quite able to contain how much she wanted to use something that lovely in her designs. He noticed her want, and decided to give it to her, instead.

When he grew into a town-terrorizing monstrosity, he tried to take it back from her. She didn't recognize him at the time, having not been there to witness his metamorphosis, and berated him loudly for attempting to take something a friend had so generously given her. Her words penetrated the greed-haze around his mind and the shock actually reverted him mentally back to how he'd been before the incident.

Somehow, it reverted him physically as well. I still don't fully understand that part.