Prologue
By Scale Burner
It is a quiet night in the city of Canterlot. The once crowded streets now lay empty of any forms of activity. The moon high above glows a brilliant hue of bright colors from blues to high resolute whites. Ponies of all three races rest without a hint of disturbance that would keep them from their needed sleep. Some of them are actually having pleasant dreams, or sadly, haunting nightmares. One pony in particular cannot sleep at all. Surprisingly, she is the very princess of the country that the city dwells in. She is Princess Celestia Solaris, goddess of the sun.
From the first sight of the Princess, one would think she is unbelievably beautiful beyond recognition. She bears golden jewelry covering her hooves and one adorning her neck. Beneath it, her coat is a majestic Ivory-white palette that is partially covered by her aurora-like mane flowing in a nonexistent wind. Her wings, though tucked, have an amazing span which is longer than her own body itself. The horn atop her head is long as well; being the one of the perks of an almighty Alicorn. Even if her horn shows attention, her tiara-like crown fits comfortably on her head.
She now lies restless in her bedchambers, silently listening to the cries of an outside source. As a goddess, she has the power to hear all forces beyond the range of mortal hearing, but this far off source is apparently beyond her enhanced abilities; making it barely audible to her ears. Princess Celestia tries in vain to better grasp this source’s calls, but fails when she continues to listen while lying in her large bed.
Giving an actual interest, the Princess lifts herself off her bed, and trots towards her closed windows before opening them with her magic. Settling at the edge of her balcony, Princess Celestia tries again to comprehend the far off cry.
"Why am I having such a difficult time listening to this voice," she questioned to herself. "How far off is this entity?"
Princess Celestia then decides to close her eyes to further focus on the aforementioned sound. Unfortunately, doing this only assisted her just barely, causing her to mutter silently, "I do not know why, but I need to know what this... disturbance is. Surely it has an importance that grabbed my attention."
"You are correct, your highness… What's reaching to you is indeed important."
The Princess whips her head in multitudes of directions from hearing a strong voice. The mere presence of this voice makes her nervous just ever so slightly. How did it get in here without alerting the guards, and how did it pass through her magically sealed walls? But more importantly, why is it here?
"Show yourself now!" She demanded. "You are trespassing on royal territory."
"My sincere apologies, my dear Princess… Give me a moment to ease your worries."
After those spoken words, a bright light show’s at the epicenter of Princess Celestia’s bedchambers. The light soon forms a figure that most likely resembles an equine, although it’s appearance somewhat disregards this assumption. The being’s coat is as pristine as the goddess of the sun’s, but abruptly stops at certain points of its body – mainly the chest and underside. Golden, pointed hooves are noticed along with the unique styling of the creature’s coat. However, the most distinguishing feature of this being is the large ring-like apparatus attached to the body.
Staring with a slight agape muzzle, Princess Celestia whisper’s to no one in particular, "What are you?"
The being before her takes a moment for the sun goddess to regain her composure before answering. "I am Arceus, creator of worlds… And you are the Princess of Equestria, Celestia Solaris."
Celestia quickly became distasteful as her name was heard by this unknown creature, she had never introduced herself to it.
She scornfully asked, "How do you know of me? You don’t seem to be a natural creature of Equis."
"That is because I’m from another realm entirely, Princess," the being answered, "My species are referred to as Pokemon. I know of you because I have been watching you for quite some time from the Celestial Plains."
Celestia’s retort was abruptly stopped before surfacing. The thought of sentient life forms beyond the stars were uncanny, but the ancient studies of Starswirl the Bearded supported the realization that the implications of such claims are possibly true. Also, there’s evidence shown just inside her bedchamber ten feet away from her.
She tries to stay perturbed from her home invasion, but she cannot. Arceus’ demeanor expresses nothing; only calm.
"I… see. Well then, I am deeply sorry for any disrespect to you earlier. I… wasn't expecting guests at this time."
Arceus accepted her apology. "There's no need to apologize. I understand completely. I too go through such annoyances from my children of space and time."
The Princess only nods from paying respectful attention to the creature, even if the subject it mentioned passes above her head. Although, she has one question that has the out most importance.
"Why are you here exactly," she asked.
"To brief you of the upcoming struggle that will take place soon. You do remember the banishment of your sister?"
Celestia gazed upon Arceus with surprise and suspicion from the mention of her sister. How did it know about her sister?
No matter the questioning, the Princess has to keep this matter from taking a different turn. "Yes, I do; I banished her myself. I had no other choice… The safety of my little ponies comes first."
Her answer causes the Pokemon to raise a nonexistent eyebrow. "Are you sure that was the case?"
Princess Celestia slightly cringed from Arceus’ changed tone, of which changed from being calm and collective to strict as if he is scolding a child for making a shameful decision.
"Was your final decision from the mind," It continued rhetorically, "or was it from the heart? Please excuse myself for being blunt, but there are no excuses for what you have done."
The mere comment from the Pokemon has hit the mark in the sun goddess' heart, she knew the cause of the banishment had no logical reason. It was her mentality of responsibility for her ponies that chose that path, and that path had lost her sister.
From this, a lone, stray tear trailed down the Alicorn’s face, the buried memories resurfaced inside the Princess. From the looks of it, she had and is still regretting her actions. She quickly, but with practiced grace, shook her head to avoid showing such sorrow in front the powerful being before her.
Feeling sympathetic for the Alicorn, Arceus proposed, "What if I told you that I could set everything you lost right, returning the long and forgotten happiness to you?"
This definitely caught Celestia’s attention. All of her raging suspicions and depressing thoughts were bucked out of existence from her mind as her interest was peaked.
She decided to push the subject forward. "I'm listening."
"The Elements you used to defeat your sister have another function. Instead of functioning for one’s goals as a neutral, they can purge the hate and jealousy out of the tainted body… Only when the Elements are in possession of their true symbolism in living form."
This seems... fortunately promising. The older sibling can actually have a solution that could restore her young sister from her corrupted mind. There’s one problem though… How can she perform such a task?
Without knowing what’s happening in the outside world, Celestia failed to notice that the Pokemon slowly trotted towards her. It bowed it’s head on hers until her horn is mere centimeters away from his forehead. The close proximity snapped the Alicorn’s thoughts from festering any longer.
"Allow me show you how you will accomplish such tasks ahead…"
Suddenly, a magical surge soared its way through the Princess’s body, causing her to gasp ever so gently. Images of next month’s events played in her mind, showing six unique ponies and their exploits all throughout the next couple of years.
However, two things stuck out the most. One was a particular pony that Celestia knows all too well of, but the other… is another creature she has never seen.
“He is the kindred spirit that will take part and assist your subject’s journey," Arceus spoke during the mental link. "Coincidentally, he is the voice that you heard not so long ago." The Pokemon lifted it’s head away from the Princess so she can regain her bearings. "Before I release the Nightmare from her lunar tomb, I will bring him here when the time is right…”
Arceus then passed Celestia, and continued to trot before stopping at the end of the balcony. Turning one last time at the Alicorn, the Pokemon appeared to… smile?
"Good luck to you, Princess Celestia Solaris. May we cross paths again."
The Princess is utterly speechless of what just occurred in front of her. A creature not from this world came to her with splendorous news that her sister can return to her, and gaining the knowledge of freeing her sister from the Nightmare. She is filled with a large abundance of joy that she almost completely destroyed her royal demeanor. She can't hardly wait.
Before turning away from her, he felt a gentle nuzzle a split second later from the same being he conversed with. Looking down, he witnesses a strong thankful expression on her face; tears running down on both sides of her face accompanied by a sweet smile.
"Thank you so much… You have no idea how much this means to me..."
Arceus did nothing more but returned her nuzzle with his own and jumped out into the air. When he reached a certain altitude in the beautiful night sky, a portal opened for Arceus, later engulfing him to parts unknown.
Now no longer in her sight, Princess Celestia returned to her bed and went back to sleep. However, unlike her first attempt in slumber, her features are a lot more calm and relaxed. Upon closer inspection, a thankful and happy smile is plastered on her muzzle.
Author's Note
This isn't dead!
~ Scale Burner
In the story, Arceus mentions two fellow Pokemon. Readers! Who are those Pokemon!
The Arceus Banner is created by ShinyEeveee at deviantART.com
From One World to Another
Author's Note
Fixed! Have fun!
From One World to Another
From One World to Another
By Scale Burner
Earth's bright sun burns high above the landscape, basking its warm glow upon luscious trees and rough terrain. Every living soul that inhabits the area is very much enjoying the vibrancy given from the luxurious afternoon. Creatures of all shapes and sizes are milling about, going throughout their day without a care in the world. Bird-Pokemon of different types remain singing, land-base of the same caliber are scavenging for food, and other’s are just enjoying the sun’s relaxing rays.
In one of the forest dwellings, a Charmander that goes by Prince Nihon walks along the path with no destination in mind. Unlike the other Pokemon - who are expressing enjoyment on this glorious day - this one in particular is not doing so well. His head hangs low while trekking in a slow and steady pace, not even paying full attention towards the vibrant surroundings. He seems to be mulling over the past events in his head.
After a brief moment of mindlessly standing in utter silence, he shook the horrid memories away and resumed his pace, but with quickened gusto. He doesn't want replay the unfortunate past the umpteenth time - even it was slightly fuzzy to remember. The Charmander endured too much pain to begin with, especially what happened after that encounter.
Not long though, briefly ending his saddened thoughts, Nihon stumbled across a very interesting sight. Through the assortment of trees, a human boy is walking along an adjacent path, showing nothing but a confident smile on his face. Normally, Pokemon who come across a human either challenge them, or run away before becoming one of their slaves from those red and white spheres.
Again, unlike the other Pokemon, the lizard-like Pokemon who saw him didn't care at all. Reasons why is because of the human boy’s appearance.
The human is wearing a blue jacket with a white collar and sleeves. His black undershirt is noticeable from the jacket being worn open. The hat that adorns his head is red and white, but with a somewhat green decal imprinted on the white portion. His small, spiky hair is distinguishable as well. However, the main attention grabber from this human is the small, yellow mouse resting on his green backpack he wears.
Spiked with curiosity, the Charmander follows this creature. It’s not like Nihon has anything better to do besides wallow in his own misery. That is the last thing he wants to do today... or any other day for that matter.
Following the human while remaining hidden, effectively roaming about within nearby bushes and shrubbery, the intrigued Pokemon ponders plentiful reasons why a human is wandering this far into to the forest.
Nihon thought to himself, "What’s it- uh he… doing here? There’s nothing amazing here besides trees… Unless he finds them amazing." He abruptly shook his head from that ridiculous notion. "Nah... That's just plain stupid. Why did I even think of that?"
Explanations continue to flood Nihon’s mind. Does this boy have a place to go, or is he attempting to capture and enslave more of Nihon’s kind like the rest of the humans?
Not really coming up with an answer, the lizard Pokemon ends his thought processes and just continued on following the unsuspecting human boy and company. His stalking seized as well when the human is face to face with a large blue-green Pokemon. This new creature is quite intimidating if viewed at first glance. An actual bud of some kind blooms on the beast’s back, sprouting pink petals from the top and large green fronds that covers its blue amphibious skin. The sheer size of it is tremendous, probably the size of a militant tank. One would think this creature is a large toad when given an opportunity to imply animal relations, or comparisons.
While trying to remain hidden, Nihon - more or less - listened to the upcoming conversation.
"Saur… Venu-saur," the large beast responded to the human's presence.
"Oh wow! A Venusaur," exclaims the human in amazement.Calming himself, he then asked, "Um... Excuse me. Do you know where the next town is? We need to get to a Pokemon Center."
"Saur," Venusaur says to him, pointing in a random direction with an extended vine.
"Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!" The boy turns his head to the little mouse on his back. "Let's go, Pikachu! After we get rested, we are going to train hard and get are next gym badge!"
His companion looked at him, giving the same confident expression. "Pika!"
Without hesitation, they sprinted on towards their destination - leaving the Venusaur behind. What a very fascinating duo those two are; they seem to have a set goal for the future and will not stop until they complete it. That's dedication...
... or complete idiocy.
Nihon mutters to himself, "Maybe I should ask Venusaur directions too... I'm getting tired from all this walking, and I am feeling a little hungry."
Exiting out of his hiding place, the Charmander walks up to the Venusaur. By making his presence known, Nihon brings his inquiry with a respectful and gentle tone. "Pardon me sir... Do you happen to know an area where I could stop at? I really need the R&R."
Glancing away from the far away human, Venusaur greets his new arrival. "Saur-saur. Venu-saur."
"Really? He is still doing it?"
"OK buddy, enough of the speech thing. The human is gone now." There goes the respectful and gentle tone. He really hated unnecessary name-speech when humans aren't around. Even if its on accident, Nihon can't help it; Pokemon who do this to other Pokemon pisses him the hell off. The language barrier is only meant for humans.
Venusaur cringes from the tone change. "He-he, sorry... Got carried away again."
"Yea don't worry about it. Can you guide me please?"
"Anything for a... friend?," He says with a hint of slight confusion. Venusaur extends another vine from his tree-like bud and points northwest of their current position. "Just go that way and you will see a clearing filled with Oranberry trees. Avoid the ones with Beedrill nests. That could get nasty real quick - unless you have Pechaberries on your person."
Nihon nods for understanding the possible danger. "Thanks... It's been a long time since I took a break."
"No problem. Stay safe; you don't want to get accidentally stung from a Beedr-"
"Oh cool! A talking Venusaur!"
Both Pokemon look towards the high pitched voice of a new human. Venusaur's blue face just turned pale. This situation made a complete u-turn. No one breaks the first rule of Poke-code; results could end horrendously.
"Ah shit... Sorry little one, but I got to go. Remember what I said about the trees!" Venusaur rushed his fear induced speech before waddling - at a quicker pace of course - into the fray of trees. Possibility of being caught by human is now at 100%. Just imagine what a human can do with a talking Pokemon: Commercials, movies... Breakfast cereals!
"Come back here!" The human yelled while pulling out a purple and white ball, "You are going to make me famous!"
"Fuck you! I-I- mean- Venusaur!"
Both parties became less visible in the distance later on. Nihon just stands there, contemplating on what the hell happened. A mere moment of confusion sets itself on his stature.
After that moment passed, he slowly shook his head to recover himself. "Well... that sucks... For him I mean."
Continuing his trek towards the location that Venusaur ever so gladly directed him to, he couldn't stop thinking about the poor Pokemon. He is going to miss that big lug. Humans could deal a lot of stress to a 'Mon. How unfortunate...
The path to the 'Oranberry' area was very quiet. Trees are swaying gently against the breeze, small Pokemon remain undisturbed, and silence was so thick that you need a blowtorch to cut it. So very quiet... Too quiet.
"Well this doesn't bode well..."
"Hey, Lizard!"
Checking to his left, Nihon lays his eyes on two odd specimens. They both look the same, but one is most noticeably larger than the other. The larger one seems to be wearing pants of some kind, reaching at it's mid-thigh. The other creature is indeed smaller, but has an actual tail. When viewed upon, these characters spark resemblance to humans.
It was Strangle and Hold, the Knucklehead Brothers. They have a reputation to handle certain business offers - mainly paid hunting. Which means... If they're here, then Nihon is their target.
Thinking it's his cue to speak, the Machoke dubbed Hold repeated the last said sentence. "Yea, Lizard!"
"Shadup!" Strangle scolded, punching his partner in crime in the gut. Probably to punish the large one's stupidity.
"Ow... What I do Boss?"
Giving his co-worker an annoyed glance, he answered, "You spoke without asking to speak... That's what. Now be quiet unless I tell you to."
Hold nods his head vigorously like a complete imbecile at his so called 'boss'. "Oh. OK, Boss."
Nihon could do nothing but stand there, watching the two idiots bicker with each other. What he should do right now is find a means of escape. On his left is a steep cliff going downwards and to his right is another cliff, but goes upwards. Behind him is a very conveniently placed boulder. What are the odds of a boulder being placed there at a time like this? The Charmander sadly has one, painful escape route.
Ever so quietly, and with the grace of an overstuffed Snorlax, Nihon tries to sneak towards the downward cliff.
"Hold on there, prince," Strangle said. "We have unfinished business to take care of here."
"Hehe, Yea, business!" *PUNCH* "Ow... What I do, Boss?"
"I said button yer lip!"
"Oh. OK, Boss," responded Hold, who now has a very amusing smug decorating his face. Nothing can put this guy down at all. How very quaint.
Still going through his plan, Nihon decides to stall time by prolonging the conversation. "What's wrong there tubby? Having Pipsqueak over there pushing you around like that. That's bullying y'know."
The result was unbelievably unexpected. "Hey! No one insults Boss like that and gets away with it!"
The Machoke runs at the Charmander, surprisingly moving at an alarming speed while spouting every foul language he could think of.
'Boss' wasn't expecting the action either. "Get back here, Shit-for-brains!"
It was too late though. At a two second window, and a quick Machoke, Nihon get's punched in the face. It must have been 'Power-Up Punch' by the looks of it. Fortunately, he gets knocked off the spot by three or so feet; now being closer to the cliff. It's time to drive it on home...
"You punch like a bitch!" He taunted.
Machoke gives a hurt and confused look. "I'm no Bitch! I'm Machoke!"
"Really? This is what I have to do deal with?"
Winding his arm to his back, Machoke charges his 'Focus Punch'. The move can deal tremendous damage when used properly or up-close. Regretting his plan already, Nihon tries to back out of this skirmish. "Listen, Buddy, I'm sorry alright? We all make mistakes-"
"Eat fist, Fucker!" The move finally meets its mark; Nihon's face.
Phase 1: Escape, sorta check. Phase 2: Survive... we'll see.
When he got hit straight in the face, he was flung outside the cliff - now falling down said cliff. Nihon somewhat prepares for his painful fate by locking up his limbs, forming a curled ball. His life flashes before his eyes at a speed that could rival the fastest Pokemon. Each memory portrays his accomplishments and failures. His friends... Family... the curse. He mentally cries out for help.
Not receiving any of those forms immediately, the Prince awaits his destiny.
A powerful voice speaks through his head, "No... Your destiny does not begin here."
The Charmander slowly opens one of his closed eyes from hearing that powerful voice. "What?"
Suddenly, a bright light flashed below him; consuming him when he passed through. Inside it, he felt like he was falling for eternity. It was reasonable to understand that he passed out from all the given suspense. He was surely surprised by this new development.
"Ugh... My head." The Charmander groans from this God forsaken pain in his head. Nihon did not know that this was going to happen.
Being gentle with his aching head, he lifts himself up to observe his new environment. He seems to be in a... castle? Laying on what seems to be a long red, carpet, Nihon gazes upon the very colorful yet complicated windows on both his sides. This layout reminds him of a Throne Room.
"Where am I?"
"You are in Canterlot Castle," answered a melodic voice. "More specifically, my Throne Room,"
Nihon silently congratulates himself, "Nailed it."
After giving himself a mental prize for his 'skills', the Prince looks up to his new arrival. He gasped when he realized it's a Pokemon he hasn't seen before. From the tone of it's voice, it is a she. Her body resembles an equine like a Rapidash, but there's several key differences. Her mane is not on fire; only flowing at an non-existent wind in aurora-like colors. Are those wings he sees as well? He is completely baffled beyond comprehension.
Giving him a moment to compose himself, the new creature greeted him first. Trotting up to him and lowering her head she says, "Hello there, I am Princess Celestia. And welcome to Equestria."
