Contrary to popular belief, Applejack did not solely harvest apples. In order to be a productive farm, the Apple family property housed all manner of crops, such as corn, carrots, and…
“Potato harvestin’ day!” Applejack said cheerily, stepping into the field which was littered with potatoes. “Lookit dem spuds! Perfect for pluckin’!”
She began to pluck them out and put them in the wagon she’d brought along for the task, but then she spotted it: the most perfect, spotless potato she’d ever seen, half-buried in the ground. “Whoo boy! You’ll fetch a mighty fine price on the market, li’l fella.” Applejack said as she reached down to pluck out the spud with her teeth.
“Dig!”
Applejack reared back. “Come again?” She said slowly.
“Litt!” said the small spud. Then, to Applejack’s astonishment, the potato straightened up, and turned around. This was no potato; it had black, beady eyes, and a round pink nose.
“Litt! Diglett!” the not-potato cried indignantly.
“Oh, uh… sorry mister mole. Didn’t mean to wake you.” Applejack said amiably.
The mole shrugged, or it would have if it had shoulders. “Diggle dig.”
“Although I must say,” Applejack continued, leaning down again and squinting at the mole, “you don’t look like no kinda mole I’ve ever seen ‘round these parts.”
“Diglett!” The mole cried, bouncing up and down. “Diglett! Diglett!”
“What? Oh, is that your name? Diglett?” Applejack asked. Diglett nodded enthusiastically. “Well, bumble mah buttons, aren’t you just an adorable little critter.” She rubbed a hoof on Diglett’s head affectionately.
“Diggle diggle!” Diglett cried. He then dug away – he crawled through the earth, though his head was still above ground. The ground closed up spotlessly in his wake.
Applejack shrugged. Potato harvesting could wait. “Wait up, li’l guy!” she called, rushing after Digglett.
She watched as Diglett rounded a large tree. She followed him around the trunk, then stopped, shocked.
Lying under the tree was a large creature, roughly the size of one of Applejack’s pigs. It also walked on four legs, but that was where the pig comparisons stopped.
Steel plates covered the beast’s back, similar to an armadillo. The frontmost plate covered most of the creature’s head, and had black spots on it. Its legs and lower body was covered with a similar metal. Smooth metal rings covered the joints of the legs, and each foot had three spiky claws.
“Digga dig-dig!” Diglett called, nudging the big fellow with its head.
“Lerrr…” The creature groaned, slowly getting up to its feet. Each step it took caused a small rumble; it must have been even heavier then it looked. “Lairon…” It said sleepily as it opened its eyes, which were sky blue. “Lair.” It grunted, glaring at Diglett.
Applejack watched as the Diglett and the creature (apparently named Lairon) went into a conversation which she could not understand. She could see Diglett occasionally jerking its head to gesture at her, and Lairon occasionally giving her a glance. Then Lairon nodded, and grunted again. Diglett gestured to the potato field. Lairon began to tromp off in the direction of the potato field.
“Whoa, big fella! Whatcha doin’?” Applejack asked, not wanting her crop to be damaged. She tried to pull Lairon back, but he shrugged her off.
“Dig-dig.” Diglett said to Applejack in a soothing tone. Applejack looked at him, then back at Lairon.
“Well… as long as he doesn’t hurt anything.” Applejack said, sitting on her haunches.
“Diglett digga.” Diglett stated.
Meanwhile, Lairon had finally reached the nearby potato field – Rainbow Dash, the big guy was not. He grunted. “Lair.” Applejack could see the big guy’s muscles tensing.
“Lairrr…” Lairon reared onto his hind legs. “RON!” He brought his forelegs crashing down, causing a shockwave. The dirt began to shiver and rumble. Applejack could see Lairon tensing, focused. She then realized: this maintained rumbling wasn’t just a shockwave; it was an earthquake.
Then she gasped – all the potatoes in the ground were wiggling. First one popped out of the ground. Then another. Then they all came out in a chain reaction, as fast as popcorn kernels popping. By the time Lairon had stopped his earthquake, every potato in the field had come out of the earth.
“Goodness gravy!” Applejack said. “That’ll make things a whole lot easier!” She turned to Lairon. “You happen to be looking for a job, good buddy?”
“Laironnn…” Lairon grunted, his metal cheeks turning pale in a blush.
“C’mon, I’ll treat the both of you to some apples.” Applejack said, walking back towards the farmhouse. The two Pokemon eagerly followed.
XXXXXXXX
“Done!” Rarity said, fixing a last gem onto her latest dress. “Phew. I’m exhausted.” She said to herself, relaxing on her bed. Her head was turned to one side, staring at her dress.
“Meow.” Came a small cry from next to her.
“Oh, hello, Opalescence.” She said without turning around, reaching a hoof and scratching her cat on the ear.
Calmly staring at the dress, she watched Opalescence hop onto the bed right in front of her face. It laid down and took a nap.
“Hello again, darling.” Rarity said to Opalescence, still stroking Opalescence’s ear.
Then Rarity paused, and her hoof froze. If Opalescence was right in front of her…
…then what cat was she scratching?
“YEEEK!” Rarity cried, leaping off of the bed. “What in Equestria?!” she cried, staring at the bed.
Along with Opalescence, a second cat sat on the bed. It had a grey coat, and large, pointy ears. Its tail was long and curled like a spring. It had yellow eyes, and wore a smug grin on its face, as if saying “Yeah, this is my bed now. What’re you going to do about it?”
“Glameow.” Said the cat, licking its paw.
Rarity was about to push this… “Glameow” off of her bed, when she noticed something. Opalescence was sleeping peacefully next to Glameow. Normally, Opal was incredibly jealous and hostile to pets who competed for her master’s attention, but she couldn’t possibly be any more docile.
“Well… if Opal trusts you, I guess that’s good enough for me.” Rarity said, crawling back onto the bed. Then she noticed another oddity. “You don’t have a collar, so I guess you don’t have an owner… yet your fur is so immaculately groomed, darling.”
“Glam.” The cat said proudly.
“A cat with a natural sense of fashion?! This is perfect!” Rarity hugged the cat, careful not to muss the perfect fur. “Why, if you could only find gems like my Spikey wikey, then you’d be even more perfect.”
Then she hear a rustle. She looked towards her closet; the doors were shaking. “What in the world…” She said quietly, walking towards the closet. Glameow followed; Opalescence continued napping.
Rarity opened the door. She didn’t keep much in this closet; just a few dozen dresses and a basket of gems for fashion emergencies.
Sure enough, the basket was shaking and wobbling. Then, to Rarity’s astonishment, another strange creature popped out of the basket. It was rather small, and had purple fur. It also was wearing large sapphires over its eyes like goggles. It had claws similar to her Spikey-wikey, and clutched in one claw was a rather large ruby.
“Sable.” The creature stated as it casually took a bite out of the ruby.
Rarity shrieked so loudly, it nearly shattered her windows. “OUT! Get out of there, you repulsive little gremlin!”
The little purple thing flinched, dropping the ruby and scampering from the basket.
“And give me THOSE!” Rarity growled, gripping the sapphires which covered the creature’s eyes with her magic, and pulled firmly.
“EEEYYYYYYYYEEEE!!!” The purple gremlin wailed. Its shriek was so loud and filled with pain, Rarity flinched and stopped pulling. The little guy grasped the gems on its eyes and sunk to his knees. “eyyye… sableyyye…” It mumbled.
Rarity couldn’t help but feel sorry for the little guy. She knelt down, taking a closer look at the gems which covered its eyes, and finally understood. “Those gems are your eyes, aren’t they?” she said quietly. The purple creature nodded.
“Look, mister… Sableye, was it?” Rarity said kindly. “I’m sorry that I hurt you. I guess I sort of overreacted; it’s not like you cleaned out the entire basket of gems.”
The Sableye straightened up. “Eye! Sabel!” it said, rushing to Rarity’s window. Rarity followed it curiously.
Rarity looked out her window. “Yes, that’s my lawn.” She said. She watched as Sableye put its claws to its head, and gritted its teeth. It quivered slightly. Then Rarity saw a glint from the window; she looked out and gasped; hundreds of gems were spontaneously emerging from the grass of her yard.
“Why… that many gems would take me a month to find on my own!” Rarity cried. She looked at Sableye with new eyes. “You could be quite a business investment… and I admit, you are a little cute.”
“Sableye.” Said Sableye, nuzzling Rarity’s fetlock.
“Glameow?” questioned Glameow, from Rarity’s other side.
“Yes, you can stay too, darling.” Rarity said sweetly, and the cat rubbed sides with her, purring. “Come, you two!” Rarity said. “Let us collect the gems, and then perhaps I’ll teach you how to do a proper backstitch...”
XXXXXXXX
A bright rainbow blur streaked through the sky, caused by none other than Rainbow Dash, Ponyville’s premier weatherpony. “Woo!” she cried.
She then came to a stop near the edge of the Everfree forest. “Fifty laps!” she said proudly. “Howd’ya like THAT workout?”
She wasn’t honestly expecting any sort of response; she was more talking to herself. To her surprise, though, there was a noise from the forest.
“Ja.”
“What?” Rainbow asked, but the noise did not sound again. Her curiosity peaked, she wandered into the forest. “Is there a new critter around here?” She asked.
She walked past a beehive clumped on a branch, then paused, and backtracked. That beehive… it was shrouded in shadow, but upon closer inspection, was definitely not a beehive.
“Oh, hey! There you are! Never seen you ‘round here before, guy!” Rainbow said cheerily. She wasn’t as big an animal enthusiast as Fluttershy, but still enjoyed breaks from her regular routine. Besides, it wasn’t often she had an audience.
“Ninjask.” Said the creature in a clicking voice as it crawled further along the branch, into the light. Now Rainbow could see it was an insect; a beetle as large as her forearm. Wings lay folded on its back, but its most noticeable feature was the plating on its neck and head, which appeared to be solid gold. Two pieces of carapace covered its mouth almost seamlessly, making it look a little like it was wearing a mask.
“Hey, is that your name? Ninjask?” Rainbow questioned, tilting her head. When the beetle nodded, she added, “wow, clever li’l guy, ain’tcha. Well, nice meeting you, Ninjask, but I have another fifty laps to do before lunch.”
Rainbow Dash flew off in a rather lazy flight. Of course, while slower than normal, this flight was still far faster than any regular Pegasus; this was Rainbow Dash, after all.
She glanced to her right. “Oh, hello again, Ninjask.” She said, looking forward again. Then she did a double take. The insect was easily matching her current speed, flying along while looking at her.
“Wow, you’re pretty fast! You up for a race?” She asked the bug; she always had time for a good race. The little creature nodded, and Rainbow braced herself. “One-two-three-GO!” she cried abruptly, flying forward at a much faster speed.
Then she blinked; Ninjask was still by her side. Even now, it flew in front of her face, flying backwards while easily keeping ahead of her.
“Damn, I’m impressed! Kid gloves are off, buddy!” Rainbow said happily; it had been a long time since anyone gave her a decent race. She stopped going easy on the little insect, and rushed forward at her maximum speed, just short of creating a rainboom. No way Ninjask could keep up with her now!
Then she glanced around, and her jaw dropped. Ninjask was still on her tail; while it was definitely struggling to keep up, it was maintaining a distance a few feet behind her. Rainbow watched as the little guy expended the last of his energy. Ninjask began to fall to the ground; at this speed, he’d be obliterated when he hit the dirt.
“Hangon, Ninjask!” Rainbow called, turning into a dive. She caught Ninjask, and brought him safely to the ground. “That was close.” She commented.
She noticed that Ninjask’s eyes were dull, and it wasn’t looking at her. “Hey, lil guy. Don’t feel down that you lost.” Rainbow said. “I mean, for starters, I’m so awesome that I’m faster than anything on the continent.
“Secondly, you’re the first pony – er, creature – I’ve met that could match my max speed, even for a few seconds! You’re really damn fast, guy!” Rainbow smiled at the bug perched on her foreleg. Its eyes shimmered, and it hugged her leg tightly.
“I guess I have room for a second pet; Tank doesn’t eat that much, and he doesn’t get jealous easily.” Rainbow said, flying back into the air. Seeing NInjask’s questioning glance, she added, “Oh yeah, you don’t know Tank, do you? He’s a tortoise.”
Hearing the word tortoise, Ninjask twitched. Then he flew into the air and off in one direction. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Rainbow called, following.
She wasn’t flying long; Ninjask slowed down over a grassy clearing filled with rocks. She watched as it landed on a spotted, cracked rock with a hole in the middle. “Ni-ji-nin.” It mumbled and clicked to the rock, as Rainbow landed next to it.
Then, to Rainbow’s surprise, a jet of steam blew out of the hole in the rock. A head and four legs extended, and Rainbow realized that it wasn’t a rock at all, but a tortoise-like creature with a rock shell. Its skin was an orange-ish red, and it had a sleepy look in its eyes.
“Coal.” The tortoise stated to Ninjask. It appeared to be a little irritated from being woken from its nap. “Torkoal.”
Ninjask and the tortoise (Torkoal?) talked for a few minutes. Then Torkoal turned to Rainbow Dash, and Ninjask hung on to its head.
The message was clear. “Well, I guess I could make room for three pets…” Rainbow mentioned. “But first, he has to prove himself worthy of being my pet, and do something totally awesome.”
Torkoal grunted, and then inhaled. It exhaled through its nostrils, and long jets of white steam erupted from its nostrils.
“Cool, but you’ll have to do better than that.” Rainbow commented.
Torkoal nodded, then inhaled even more deeply. Ninjask flew off Torkoal’s head, and pushed Rainbow in the chest. Obligingly, the Pegasus stepped back a few paces.
Torkoal then released an intense stream of flame from its mouth. It was like a flamethrower; Torkoal waved its head slowly from side to side, breathing the fire around. Then the fire stream abruptly shut off. The tortoise’s lips weren’t even scorched.
“Now THAT is awesome!” Rainbow cried, smiling. “You’re in, Torkoal!”
“Tork.” The tortoise said slowly. While it still had a sleepy tone, there was also a happy tone to its grunt.
Rainbow picked up Torkoal (the big guy was lighter than he looked) and began to fly in the direction of her cloud-house, Ninjask following.
XXXXXXXX
“All right, four books down!” Twilight said, flipping her book shut. “I’d say that calls for a break.” She added, walking downstairs. “Chai tea, here I come!”
When she got downstairs, she spotted something odd: a collection of scraps of metal, just lying on the floor. Twilight had plenty of scrap metal and such down in the basement, for experimental purposes, but she’d never seen them just sitting out on the library floor before.
Twilight shrugged; Spike was out for the day, so she’d have to put the metal back in the basement herself. As she prepared to levitate it, she noted three metal balls in the heap of scrap, as well as several magnets.
She cast a field of magic around the pile, and was about to levitate it when it happened. There was a beep and a buzz from the pile. Twilight, startled, dropped her magic field.
To her astonishment, the pile of metal began to lift from the ground. The three balls gathered in an upside-down triangle, and two magnets were suddenly attatched to each ball, resulting in six magnets total. Several screws also levitated in several places around the floating mass.
Twilight’s jaw dropped when the eyes opened. Three eyes, one on each ball, opened as one and stared at each other, then at Twilight.
“Magneton.” Came a buzzing call from the metal being.
Twilight’s dropped jaw gradually morphed into a grin. She began to vibrate with excitement, then exclaimed with happiness and hopped around the creature. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! This has to be the most incredible thing in all of science!” She cheered. “Spontaneous levitation, spontaneous magnetic attraction, spontaneous SENTIENCE!! And I can study it all as much as I want!”
Charged with glee, Twilight levitated some tools all the way out of the basement. “Hold still; I only want to dissect you!” she said, her eye twitching.
The floating lump of metal quivered, beginning to back away from her. Then it fled, Twilight chasing it for a moment before thinking to envelope it in a magic field. The creature struggled, but Twilight tightened her grip so that it couldn’t move a millimeter. The creature could only watch in horror as Twilight lowered a screwdriver into the screw on top of its head, and twisted.
“MAAAAAAAAAAAAGGG!!” The creature wailed, causing Twilight to drop everything out of shock. It sounded like a cross between microphone feedback and a child’s screaming. Twilight watched as the screw on its head twisted back into its regular position.
The three eyes then looked at Twilight, glaring. “Um… sorry?” Twilight said slowly, realizing she’d caused the creature pain. It wasn’t enough for the metal being, though.
The magnets on the creature began to rotate rapidly. “Mag….” It began, before crying out “TONNN!!” and pointing the magnets directly at Twilight. The metal being glowed yellow, and a lightning bolt shot out at Twilight.
Twilight couldn’t dodge; she was hit with the bolt of electricity. She was gripped with a wracking pain, and her fur stood on end.
After a second, the shock stopped, and Twilight gasped, able to breathe again. “Okay… I suppose I earned that.” She said quietly. “I did try to dissect you, after all.”
Then she noticed something: the creature was rolling on the floor, making a squealing noise like pieces of metal scraping together. It took Twilight a few seconds to realize it was laughing. She then glanced at the mirror across the room. All of her fur was all poofed out, and her mane looked like it was crossed with a porcupine.
Twilight snickered. Then giggled. Then she was laughing too, quite hard.
The two eventually calmed down. “Listen, Magneton… That was what you called yourself, wasn’t it?” Twilight said.
“Magneton.” The creature affirmed.
“Listen, I’m really sorry about earlier… I guess I got carried away… You’re a living being, who can feel pain and emotions, not a scientific anomaly to be locked up and studied.” Twilight looked at the floor, feeling rather guilty.
Then she felt sort of a static charge on her fur, and she looked up to see Magneton brushing her with one of its magnets. “Neton.” It said peacefully.
“Thanks.” Twilight said, smiling. She was about to continue, when there was a crash from the kitchen. “What in the world?” she wondered out loud, looking towards that direction. Magneton buzzed, trying to get her attention, but Twilight ignored him, and walked towards the kitchen.
In the doorframe, Twilight stopped and stared. All around the kitchen was chaos. Spoons, pots and pans flew around like birds. Salt and pepper shakers danced on the table. Rythmically, the refrigerator door would open, and a random article of food would come out. Virtually everything in the kitchen that wasn’t nailed down was dancing around.
In the center of it all was a most curious creature, which had its back turned to Twilight. She could make out that, for starters, it was yellow, with brown plating covering its chest, knees and elbows. Its three-toed feet had claws at each tip. Its hands also had three fingers and claws, and were waving in the air, like a symphony conductor directing his orchestra. Its head was similar to that of a fox, though it was also yellow.
“Um…” Twilight said, at a loss for words. At this, the creature turned around. Now she could see cunning eyes with small pupils, and a long, magnificent moustache. The creature blushed, and all the utensils and food quickly flew back to their original spots, in flawless formation. It then turned to her, hands behind its back in a sheepish gesture.
“Magne-mag.” Magneton stated, flying into the room, and circling the creature.
“You two…” Twilight shook her head. “You two are both marvels of science and magic. I’d be honored if I could learn more about what makes you guys tick.”
The two Pokemon nodded. “Bzzrt.” Magneton buzzed, revolving one of its screws.
“Yes, yes, no more dissection, Magneton.” Twilight added, and Magneton rotated its magnets in glee. “Speaking of which, what’s your name, stranger?” She turned to the yellow psychic being.
The creature shrugged. It held out its hands, and two spoons popped out of thin air, landing one in each hand. It held the spoons in a pose not unlike a ninja would hold his Sai daggers. “Alakazam!” the creature stated.
“All right, then, Alakazam… you mind if I call you Ally?” Twilight questioned. Alakazam frowned, crossing its arms and shaking its head. “Oh, all right, mister picky… Now come on, it’s time to teach you two how to really communicate with me.”
XXXXXXXX
“Ah, my garden’s looking so beautiful!” Fluttershy sang, flying around her garden with a watering can. She gently watered the flowers in her little garden, all of which were in full bloom.
“Hmm?” Fluttershy asked. “This one flower hasn’t bloomed yet.” She leaned closer to look at a green bulb; it was quite large. “In fact, I don’t even remember planting this flower.”
“Bulb.”
“Yes, my mistake; it’s a bulb, not a flower.” Fluttershy replied. Then she paused, and stepped back. “Did… did you just talk?” She said slowly.
Then a head popped out of the flowers, just in front of a bulb; it looked like that of a frog. “Oh, silly me. My ears must be playing tricks on me.” Fluttershy said to herself. “C’mon, little guy, let’s get you back to the water.”
The frog hopped out of the flowers, and three things instantly became clear to Fluttershy.
- The mysterious bulb had moved when the frog moved.
- The bulb was attatched to the frog’s back.
- The bulb was attatched to the frog’s back.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy said, staring at the creature in front of her. It wasn’t exactly small; with the bulb and the main body combined, it was actually a little taller than Fluttershy. Its skin was light green, with some darker green patches in patterns here and there. It walked on four legs. Its mouth was wide and stretched in a smile. Its eyes were a fiery red, but filled with kindness.
“Bulbasaur!” The creature chirped, looking at Fluttershy.
“Oh my goodness…” Fluttershy said. “You are…
“Adorable!”
Fluttershy dove and hugged the creature. “Who’s a cute little Bulbasaur? You are! You are!”
“Saur…” the creature stated shyly, brushing its foot on the ground.
“I’ve never seen a creature like you before.” Fluttershy straightened up, and then took a closer look at the bulb on Bulbasaur’s back. “This plant is actually part of your body, as far as I can tell… doesn’t appear to be artificial, or a parasite.”
“Bulbasaur.” Bulbasaur said rather indignantly.
“Oh, sorry. You must be very proud of your… bulb.” Fluttershy added. Bulbasaur nodded.
Then there was a bright blue flash. “What in the world?!” Fluttershy exclaimed, backing away from a blue oval which had appeared in midair. Then, just as suddenly as the light had appeared, it was gone. A small creature fell to the ground.
Fluttershy stepped closer. The little thing was even more curious than the Bulbasaur. Its basic body structure was similar to that of Spike; it was even the same height. It wore what appeared to be boots, though, and its skin was a light green. Its eyes were blue and ringed with black, and it had wings like a dragonfly. It had stubby little arms.
“Cell?” The creature said confusedly, looking around. “Celebi?” It looked around, then at Fluttershy. “Celi celibi!” It scampered into the bushes, frightened.
“Oh, no!” Fluttershy said gently. “I won’t hurt you, li’l fella. Please come out. I only want to be your friend.”
“Celebi?” The green creature asked, peeping out of the bushes.
“It’s okay.” Fluttershy said, slowly reaching into the bush and pulling out this “Celebi”. “Mama Fluttershy only wants to be friends.” She cradled little Celebi in her hooves; the little thing was tiny.
Celebi stared at Fluttershy with its blue eyes. Then it stretched, and yawned, and fell asleep in Fluttershy’s arms.
Fluttershy was about to carry Celebi inside so it could rest properly, when she heard leaves rustling. She looked to see a deer prancing out of the forest.
“Oh hello, Mrs. Swifthoof! You’re looking healthy-“ Fluttershy said, but was cut off by the deer. The animal was in a panic, skittishly trotting in place, pupils dilated. Fluttershy gasped. “Injured deer?! Why didn’t you say so?!” The deer led Fluttershy into the Everfree forest. The Bulbasaur followed them, obliviously cheerful.
Fluttershy and the deer soon reached a clearing. On the opposite side of the clearing, shrouded in shadow, was a stag, its antlers enormous. It was lying on the ground, not moving. A few other deer were crowded around it, nudging at it with their noses.
Fluttershy rushed over. Even though the sunlight would make it easier to see, she dared not move the creature. She’d had plenty of experience treating nocturnal creatures anyways, so she was good at working in the dark.
Soon, the diagnosis was in: dislocated leg. “You must’ve taken a hard fall.” Fluttershy murmured into the stag’s ear. There was a light moan in response.
“Now, I’m going to set the leg back in place. This will hurt quite a bit, but only for a second…” Fluttershy gripped the faulty leg firmly in just the right place, and then pushed sharply in just the right angle. A loud cry came from the stag, but faded away a few seconds later.
“There you go. As long as you don’t exert yourself too much or take any more nasty spills, you should be fine.” Fluttershy said, smiling. The stag shifted, then slowly got back to its feet, with some help from Fluttershy. “C’mon into the light, big fella; I want to take a last good look at that leg, to make absolutely sure it’s okay.” Fluttershy said in a soothing voice to the stag. She walked into the light in the center of the clearing, and gestured to the stag. “It’s alright… don’t be afraid…”
Shakily at first, then smoothly, the stag trotted forwards into the sunlight. Fluttershy gasped; it was one of the most majestic and beautiful animals she’d ever seen. Dangling from its antlers were diamond-shaped crystals, of all colors of the rainbow. Its coat was a lustrous blue, and its delicate legs walked with immaculate precision. There was something just in the way the stag held itself that astonished Fluttershy.
“You’re… beautiful.” Fluttershy whispered.
The stag raised its head. “Xerneas.” It stated.
“I’m guessing that’s your name?” Fluttershy said, inferring from the other two pokemon she’d met that day. Xerneas nodded, then turned. “What? Oh, right, the leg.” Fluttershy said, shaking her head and stepping forward. She felt the creature’s smooth blue fur, feeling the bones underneath. “Everything feels fine. Again, just don’t go putting any stress on it, and you’ll be dandy.” Fluttershy continued.
The two stared at each other: Fluttershy and Xerneas. “I won’t keep you. You probably have a family to get back to.” Fluttershy said, smiling.
Xerneas looked at the little Pegasus for a few more seconds. Then it raised a hoof, up, up, up, into the forest that was its antlers. It laid its small hoof delicately on a light blue gem, hanging from one of the antlers. Then it plucked the gem off, as easily as one would pluck fruit from a tree.
Xerneas lowered its hoof once more; even now, Fluttershy could see a new blue gem rapidly growing back to replace the old one. Xerneas held out the gem to Fluttershy. “Oh… thank you… it’s beautiful…” Fluttershy breathed, taking the blue gem and staring at it in wonder.
Xerneas waved its hoof a bit to get Fluttershy’s attention. It pointed to the gem, then to itself, then to Fluttershy.
It took Fluttershy a few seconds to figure out what that meant. “You mean I can use this… to summon you?” Fluttershy asked.
Xerneas nodded. It pointed at its previously injured leg, and then at Fluttershy again, then back to the crystal. “I should summon you if I’m injured or in trouble, like you were with your rib.” Fluttershy inferred. Xerneas nodded again.
Fluttershy watched as the majestic stag knelt to her once more. Then it turned, and bounded off into the woods, leaving Fluttershy staring after it.
“Bulba bulbasaur?” Bulbasaur asked, poking her with its foreleg. It and the sleeping Celebi had both arrived at some point, but hadn’t interfered until now. Celebi was curled up on Bulbasaur’s head.
“Yes, okay. Let’s go home.” Fluttershy said, leading the two out of the forest with a final glance in the direction Xerneas had gone.
XXXXXXXX
“Pinkie, we ever tell you just how hard a worker you are?” Mr Cake asked the pink pony standing behind the counter.
“Oh, all the time, Mr Cake!” Pinkie chirped back, pushing a bag of cupcakes over the counter.
“Really, though, we can’t thank you enough. You always have enough energy for any task we ask of you, and even if you often eat our supplies, you’re always careful to bake replacements as soon as possible; you even pay for the extra needed supplies for it. You’re the best damn baker a pony could ask for.”
“Thanks a bunch for that exposition, Mr Cake!” Pinkie said, winking at him as she served the last customer his order (two chocolate eclairs). The lunch rush had just ended; Pinkie promptly rushed to the kitchen to whip up some more supplies. “Mr Cake? Sorry, but we’re running low on the flour and eggs.”
“Oh, shoot! Pinkie, hold down the fort while I run to the market, will you?” Mr Cake asked.
“Yes sir!” Pinkie saluted as the big-chinned pony ran out the door. Then she looked in the cabinet; there were just enough supplies left for a few rounds of pastries.
As she was setting things on the counter, Pinkie’s right ear flopped twice. “Whoops! Looks like there’s a customer!” Pinkie cried. She rushed to the counter. “Welcome to… Sugarcube… Corner?”
Pinkie looked around, but the establishment was currently barren of any customers. She poked her ear with her hoof. “Silly thing must be getting faulty.” Then she noticed something: the cake tray at the edge of the counter. It was missing one cake, even though Pinkie was certain there’d been one there before.
“What on Earth? Good thing I’ve got a spare.” Pinkie said, pulling a cake out from under the counter and placing it on the stand.
It happened so fast, Pinkie barely had time to blink: a long, massive pink tongue swept under the cake, and carried it back under the counter from whence it had come. “Oh, a trickster, eh?” Pinkie said, smiling. “All right, c’mon out li’l fella.” She looked over the counter, expecting a sweets-hungry foal.
What she did not expect was a fat pink lizard with a long, drooping tongue.
“Lickitung.” The creature stated, staring up at Pinkie with black eyes. It had some white stripes on its back, and its claws were short and stubby.
“Oh, that’s your name?” Pinkie questioned. Seeing it nod, she giggled. “That’s a funny name! I like it!”
“I like the looks of you, lil guy.” Pinkie continued, rounding the counter. “Not only is your name hilarious, but you’re my favorite color, and you eat almost as much as I do! How about you hang out with me for a while?”
“LickiTUNG!” Lickitung said enthusiastically.
“All right… Tongue stretching contest, GO!” Pinkie said, stretching her own formidable tongue out.
Lickitung glared, and stuck out its own tongue, easily reaching past Pinkie’s.
“Oh yeah?” Said Pinkie, her voice muffled because of her tongue. “Well how about this!” She stretched her tongue even farther, so it was four feet long. Lickitung stretched its own tongue to about five feet.
“Allright, buster, you asked for it!” Pinkie said, and strained visibly, stretching her tongue as far as it would go. It reached halfway across the room. “Howd’ya like them apples?” She asked smugly.
Lickitung shrugged, and to Pinkie’s astonishment, it easily stretched its tongue across the entire length of the room, actually licking the paint on the opposite wall.
“Wow, you’re good!” Pinkie said. The two looked at each other, their overstretched tongues flopped out on the floor.
Then they both toppled over laughing at how silly they looked.
“You’re awesome, you know that?” Pinkie said, hugging her new friend (after she’d rewound her tongue into her mouth).
“Lickitung!” The little lizard said cheerfully. Then it glanced over Pinkie’s shoulder as she hugged it, and its eyes widened.”Liiii…” It said in an astonished tone. Pinkie turned around to see what it was looking at.
Hovering in the center of the room was a most curious creature; it was difficult to find words for its appearance. The closest likeness it had was to a pink fetus, only the head was enlarged and shaped somewhat like that of a cat, and a long tail sprouted from its behind. It was looking at Pinkie curiously, with big blue eyes.
“Hello there!” Pinkie said cheerfully to the floating creature. “You want to be my friend too?”
The creature paused for a moment. Then it nodded enthusiastically. “Great! I’m Pinkie Pie, and this is Lickitung. What’s your name?”
There was another pause, then Pinkie heard a voice that was not her own speak inside her head.
“Mew.”
The sun was slowly rising over Canterlot, in a beautiful sunrise. The sky turned orange, the birds sang…
And Princess Luna was going to sleep.
“Mornin’, Tia.” Luna said as she passed her sister on the way to her bedchambers. She had bags under her eyes, and her mane had a few stray strands sticking out.
“Have a good day’s sleep, Lu-lu.” Celestia said, kissing her sister on the cheek. “How was last night’s work?”
“Eh, the usual.” Luna grunted in a most un-princess-like manner. While the two may have been regal in public, they were comfortable enough around each other to act like normal ponies.
Luna rounded the corner as her sister began to talk to a guard (something about a stray dog on the palace grounds) and walked down the corridor leading to her bedchambers. She finally reached the massive, dark blue door, emblazoned with two silver moons. She pushed it open unceremoniously, and entered her room.
Flopping down on her four-poster bed, she sighed. She turned her head, and saw her pet opossum, Tiberius, on her nightstand. “Have a nice nap, little one.” She said, scratching the possum behind his ear. He cooed with appreciation. Then Luna closed her eyes, and entered her domain.
XXXXXXXX
“Good evening, secretary snugglekins.” Luna said, walking past the front desk of her office.
“G’day, Luna.” The giant teddy bear said happily. He was typing at his keyboard with arms way too big for the keys.
Luna entered her office. Smiling, she sat at the desk. “Bring in the first sample!” She called.
A small bat arrived, carrying a plate of cake. Luna licked her lips. “Will there be anything else, Mrs Cake Tester, ma’am?” the bat asked.
“No, that will be all for now, thank you.” Luna said, waving the bat away.
Luna sighed with ecstasy as she bit into the cake; she loved the “official cake tester” dream. Being the mistress of dreams, she could control her sleeping experiences with impeccable accuracy. Her dreams varied according to her command; sometimes she was playing a video game tournament, other times she was snuggling with some cute stallion.
As Luna was about to finish off the cake, something odd happened. Her fork passed through the cake, like it was an illusion. “What?” Luna muttered; she stabbed the cake a few more times, but it refused to be stuck on the fork. She even leaned down to eat it with her mouth, but it was like trying to eat air.
Then, suddenly, Luna fell through her chair, phasing through it as if she were a ghost. Then she phased through the floor itself.
Luna began to fall endlessly through a pitch-black void. Her wings refused to budge an inch.
Normally, Luna could see impeccably in the dark, being princess of the night. This darkness, though, was impossible to pierce, no matter how hard Luna tried. This… wasn’t natural. She commanded the dream to go back to the cake testing, but for the first time she couldn’t remember, she wasn’t in control of the dream.
She was afraid.
Eventually, Luna felt her fall slowing, until she was sort of hovering in midair. She wasn’t using her wings; she had simply stopped falling. She looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt your dream.” Came a low, deep voice. “It looked quite… delicious.”
“What… who are you? WHAT are you?” Luna asked, twirling around, looking for the speaker, but the voice seemed to come from everywhere.
Then, right in front of her, the darkness began to shift, like ripples in a pond. The ripples grew, and converged, and solidified, until eventually, a figure began to form. A large blue spot appeared, followed by a trail of steam. Then an entire body became visible.
The creature was unlike anything Luna had ever seen before. It appeared to almost be wearing some sort of black dress. Long trails of smoke poured from each of the shoulders. The lower part of the dress ended around the knees, but Luna couldn’t make out any legs beneath that, so the creature appeared to just be hovering in the air. The arms below the shoulders were simple: pure black, with claws that had two fingers and a thumb.
The thing’s head… well, there wasn’t really a head. A trail of white steam poured from where the hair might be, but where the face should be, there was only a blue circle; some sort of eye? Luna couldn’t make out anything connecting the steam, the eye, and the red ring of spikes around the creature’s neck, but they all moved as though they were in one piece.
“My humble greetings, your majesty.” The being’s voice was deep and menacing, but also very polite. “I am Darkrai, god of nightmares.” It bowed and placed a hand to its chest, then straightened back up.
“What – what are you? Why are you here?” Luna asked Darkrai in a slightly stuttering voice.
“I am what is known as a Pokemon. I’d explain more about what a Pokemon is, but… you’ll find out soon enough. As for why I am here…” Darkrai’s eye darkened. “I come with a warning, princess.
“Even as I speak, thousands, if not millions of other Pokemon, are appearing all over your country. Many are harmless, but more than a few are quite troublesome. They are being summoned here by a being whose name I dare not speak; all Pokemon fear him immensely, even powerful ones such as I.”
“So… so what do we do? How do we stop this malevolent being? How do we stop this… invasion?” Luna said to Darkrai, struggling to find the words to articulate her thoughts.
“I do not know.” Darkrai said. “However, I know that the key to solving it all, lies in these ones.” Darkrai drew outlines of six cutie marks in the air. “I trust you recognize these.”
“Why – why yes, those belong to the bearers of harmony. But… they no longer have the elements; how can they help?” Luna asked.
Darkrai made a gesture that might have been a shrug if he had true shoulders. “As I said, I do not know. However, I do know that these six are the key to all this.”
“But… but how do you know all this?” Luna questioned.
Darkrai was about to answer, but he rapidly turned. “It is too late. I have no more time. He has found us; he comes. Find these six ‘bearers’, Princess Luna. I will be watching.”
“No, wait!” Luna said, but Darkrai had melted back into the darkness. At the same time, a pink-purple light bloomed in the distance, enveloping Luna, blinding her…
XXXXXXXX
Luna jolted up in bed. She was covered in sweat, and breathing heavily.
“What the hell was that…” Luna whispered to herself.
A knock at the door. “Princess, sorry to – oh good, you’re awake.” A solar guard stepped into the room. “Princess Celestia requests your immediate presence in the throne room.”
“Yes… yes, I’m coming.” Luna said, shaking her head, but she couldn’t get the round blue eye out of her mind. She followed the Solar guard to the throne room.
XXXXXXXX
Twenty minutes earlier…
XXXXXXXX
“Princess Celestia?” The guard said to Celestia. “Sorry to bother you, but there’s an issue in the front gardens.”
“What is it?” Celestia asked.
“A dog, your highness. The guards cannot catch it.” The guard responded.
“Well, then use magic to capture it.” Said Celestia.
“We’ve tried, your majesty; it just sort of…. Slips out of the magic field.” The solar guard said.
Celestria raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. Lead me to it.”
Before long, Celestia and the guard had reached the front lawn. Sure enough, several guards were chasing a dog covered in long, shaggy white hair.
“Hangon!” A unicorn guard called as he put up a magic field around the dog. This only stopped the canine for a moment, though: he suddenly slipped through the field like a greased weasel. “It keeps happening!” The guard wailed as the dog continued its flight.
Then the dog saw Princess Celestia. “Furf! Furf!” It cried, bounding towards her. The guards made to intercept it, but Celestia waved at them to stand down.
The dog pulled up short at Celestia’s hooves, and panted, sitting on its haunches. “Hello, there, little fellow.” Celestia said, smiling and rubbing the dog’s shaggy head. Now that she could see closer, she could see a black snout and two eyes peeking out of the mass of hair.
“Furfrou!” The dog barked. Then it twisted its neck and nosed around in its fur. Finding something, it looked back at Celestia, now with some sort of blue machine in its mouth.
“What’s this then?” Celestia asked, peering closer at the blue device. Suddenly, a voice rang out, tinny but clear.
“Hello! Hello? Can you hear me?”
Celestia looked surprised, but she said, “Yes, I can hear you.”
“Ah, perfect! I take it you are the monarch of this land, then?” The voice continued. “We would like to request permission to speak with you.”
“Well, of course! Everypony’s allowed to speak to me.” Celestia replied, smiling.
“Well, your majesty… we aren’t exactly ponies.” Said the voice. “That’s why we sent this messenger: so that you wouldn’t attack us when we land.”
“Land?” Celestia thought to herself, but said “Have no fear; you may land safely, as long as you do no harm.”
“We wouldn’t dream of it, your majesty. We’ll arrive shortly.” Said the voice, and the speaker cut off. The dog dropped the communicator and started nuzzling Celestia’s foreleg.
Celestia smiled at the dog, not moving. She looked to the nearest guard. “Tell Captain Armor to place all Canterlot guards on high alert. I’m still not entirely sure this isn’t a surprise attack of some sort. Tell him it’s a code bluejay; he’ll understand.”
“Yes, ma’am!” The guard said, rushing off. Celestia turned to the rest of the guards in the courtyard. “All pegasi, give us some bird-eye views; I think they’ll be coming by air. Everyone else, ready weapons. I’m not taking any chances.” The guards saluted, and rushed off to their respective duties.
Celestia looked back down at the dog, still nuzzling her leg. “I can’t help but have a bad feeling about this.” She mumbled.
XXXXXXXX
“Your highness!”
Celestia looked up; she’d been anxiously waiting in the throne room for the past ten minutes now. A guard rushed in.
“They have arrived.” The guard said simply.
Celestia nodded. “Are they actively hostile?”
“No, your majesty.”
“Then they may enter; with armed guard, of course.” Celestia ordered. The guard saluted, and raced off.
“You.” Celestia said, referring to a guard off to the side of the throne room. “Wake my sister and bring her here; tell her it’s urgent.”
“Yes, Princess.” The guard said, rushing off. Celestia sighed, straigtening her posture. First impressions were always important.
“Well now. We finally meet, Princess.” Celestia looked up, expecting a regal pony, perhaps with an armed guard.
Instead, only an old man with white hair stood in the doorway.
Celestia blinked. “You’re… you’re a-“
“A human, yes.” The man said. He walked into the room with a slight limp; he wore a white lab coat. “I know we may be the stuff of fairytales to your people, your highness, but to be frank, we preferred it that way.”
Celestia’s head was spinning with questions, but she managed to maintain her regal atmosphere. “What are you doing here, human? And what do you mean, ‘we meet at last’? I’m confident I’ve never seen you before.”
The old man smiled. “Of course you haven’t seen us before, princess. We’ve seen you, however.”
Celestia raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean?” She questioned.
The old man made as if to answer, but then there was a yawn. The two turned to see Princess Luna enter through a side door. “Sister, I just had the strangest-“ She paused, seeing the new arrival. “dream.”
“Ah, I take it she’s of some blood relation to you, princess?” The old man asked.
“Sister.” Celestia said, her eyes narrowing; this human knew too much about her for comfort. She maintained a polite tone, though: “How again do you know us?”
The old man took a deep breath, exhaling through his nostrils. “Well, the thing is, Princess… It could take a while to answer that question.”
“We have time.” Celestia said patiently, as her sister sat on the slightly smaller throne next to her.
“Well, then.” The old man cleared his throat. “I suppose we should start with introductions. My name is Professor Oak. What’s your name?”
“I am Celestia, and this is Luna.” Celestia said, gesturing to her sister who gave a sleepy wave.
“Celestia… an ornate, regal name. Fitting.” Professor Oak said. Celestia blushed lightly under her fur. “Princess, there’s no easy way to put this…” he scratched his head. “Do you have a global map I could borrow?”
Celestia nodded to a guard at the side of the room; he ran off and returned a few seconds later with a map. “Here you are. What do you need it for?” Celestia asked, levitating the map to Oak.
The professor didn’t answer right away; he was looking at the map. “Mmm-hmm. As I expected.” Oak flipped over the map. “This is Equestria, correct?” he questioned, pointing to the large continent in the center of the map.
“Of course.” Celestia said, nodding.
“And what’s over here?” Oak said, gesturing to a good portion of the map that was devoid of anything except blue water.
“That’s the great sea; Sailors have charted it, but there’s nothing there except water.” Celestia replied.
“Well, I’m afraid that’s where you’re wrong, Princess.” Oak stepped forward, then paused. “Permission to approach the throne?”
“Of course.” Celestia said, nodding. Oak walked forward, pulling out something as he did so.
“Princess, this is a map of the world as we humans know it.” Oak said, showing her a device. He pressed a button, and an image was projected into the air: the planet.
“Yes, and?” The princess questioned, seeing nothing out of the ordinary; just Equestria.
Wordlessly, Oak turned the globe with his finger. Celestia’s jaw dropped when she saw the other side. “But… but this can’t be.” She mumbled, looking closer.
“Oh, it is, Princess.” Oak said, pointing to the many small continents covering the opposite side of the globe in long chains of land. “I’m afraid that a little joke’s been played upon your civilization.”
“Explain.” Celestia said.
“You see, Princess: We humans have used… methods… to manipulate the boats which try to enter our side of the planet.” Oak said. He traced a finger along the globe, off the coast of Equestria into the ocean. “The sailors may think they’re sailing in one direction, but we’re subtly changing the water currents… perhaps some small manipulations of the sky so they don’t notice the stars’ positions changing… maybe even a little mental manipulation so no one gets suspicious…” Oak’s traced a line that led around the continents, and eventually back to the other side of Equestria. “And so, while the sailors think they sailed over open ocean, they were really sailing around the land of the humans.” Oak finished. “You see what I’m getting at?”
Celestia nodded. “A couple questions, though.” She added. “First of all, why did you not want us discovering you, and why have you revealed your presence now.”
Oak shrugged. “Your civilization is innocent, virgin, pure. If we came in contact with you, nothing would ever be the same for either of us. That isn’t necessarily a good thing.” Seeing Celestia’s confused expression, he continued. “Our civilization isn’t nearly as peaceful as yours, Princess. If we came in contact, certain human organizations would wreak havoc on your lands. As for why we’ve revealed ourselves… well, I’ll come back to that in a bit.”
Celestia nodded. “Second question,” she asked, her gaze narrowing. “Why, exactly, should I believe this tale of yours? Have you any proof that the continents exist?”
“Well, for starters, I’m a human.” Oak said, spreading his arms. “You’ve thought we were just the stuff of legends, like some sort of lost ape civilization. Now I’m standing in front of you, living and breathing; I think that’s worth something.” Oak reached back into the pocket of his lab coat. “In addition, I brought these.”
Oak passed Celestia a series of photographs. Celestia’s eyebrows raised; the pictures showed in detail structures that couldn’t possibly be made by equestrian hooves, or even magic; in fact, she’d never seen anything like them. There were tall metal structures, and ones made entirely of glass. There were even statues of humans. Nothing in Equestria, not even magic, was capable of faking such advanced, detailed photographs of wonders like these.
“I see. Very well, for the sake of argument, let’s say your tale is true.” Celestia levitated the pictures back to Oak. “How do you know so much about us?”
“Oh, that’s easy.” Oak said. “We have more advanced technology then you do, Princess; we’re capable of taking pictures of things on the other side of the globe, with cameras positioned in outer space. They can even zoom in, to where they could even read the pages of a book, thousands of miles below. We could easily take pictures of your civilization, and work out a few things, such as that you and your sister are the leaders.”
“I see.” Celestia said. She was about to ask something else, when Luna cleared her throat. “May I ask a question?” she requested politely.
“Oh, by all means, Luna. Go right ahead.” Celestia said, gesturing.
“Thank you.” Luna said, turning to Oak. “I was just curious; how exactly did you change the currents of the ocean itself? For that matter, how did you alter the sky, or ponies’ perception?”
Oak tapped the side of his nose. “Ah, I was hoping you’d ask that, for that’s where this tale truly begins.”
Oak stepped back, and reached into his pocket once more. He pulled out a sphere of some kind; Half of it was red, and half of it was white. A button of some kind was aligned between the two halves. Oak threw the ball at the ground, and it clicked open. Red light poured out of the open ball, and solidified, forming a most curious creature.
It had a round body, and its coat was blue. Its underbelly was white, and it stood on its stubby hind legs. It had a face like a mouse, and its arms were also stubby. A crooked tail with a blue sphere on the end sprouted from its behind.
“The human continents are filled to the brim with creatures like these, called Pokemon.” Oak began. (Celestia noticed Luna inhaled sharply at the word “Pokemon”, but the younger sister didn’t say anything.) “Pokemon come in all shapes and sizes, such as this Marill.” Oak nodded at the little creature, which had begun hopping around the room, and trying to say hello to the guards. “The Furfrou you encountered earlier was another Pokemon.” Seeing Celestia’s brow furrow, he clarified, “The messenger dog.”
Seeing Celestia’s face clear, he continued. “By using the powers of specific Pokemon, we’re able to perform incredible feats, like flight, mind control, even changing ocean currents.” He nodded to Luna. “Pokemon and humans have lived together for as long as human civilization can remember, working together in peace and harmony.” Oak’s expression darkened. “Well, almost harmony.
“You see, Princess, our land is littered with the occasional group of people who wish to use Pokemon to meet their own selfish gains. Teams Rocket, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, and Flare, just to name some of them.” Oak explained. “While these groups have been troublesome, they’ve always been thwarted, and justice has prevailed.
“One horrible man, though, did something that could not be forgiven. We’ll come back to him in just a bit.
“There are many Pokemon in our land, Princess. The most rare, elusive, and powerful of these Pokemon, though, are the legendary Pokemon. These legendaries, as they tend to be called, are few in number, and most are completely unique. There’s one legendary, though, which actually is able to reproduce. That legendary Pokemon is named Mew.
“Many years back, a pregnant Mew was found in a jungle, injured and weak. The one who found it was none other than that despicable individual I just mentioned. No one is sure of his name, only that his acts could not be forgiven.
“This awful man took the Mew back to his mansion, deep in the jungle. There, he successfully gave birth to the mew’s child. The mother expired soon after, and the man took it upon himself to… ‘take care’ of the little one.” Oak’s voice now held an undertone of disgust and fear to it, almost as though referring to a traumatic childhood event.
“The man preformed horrific, abominable gene-splicing experiments on the poor baby Mew. These experiments were excruciatingly painful, and for years, the young mew knew nothing but misery and pain at the hands of its master.
“after eight years, the master achieved his goal: create the ultimate Pokemon. Bred only for war, hate and destruction. Invincible and unstoppable. The power of a mew, combined with the advancement of modern technology. He called this pseudo-pokemon…
“Mewtwo.”
Celestia almost instantly felt a spike of pain in her forehead as soon as she heard the name. She placed a hoof to her head, but it had gone as soon as it had come.
“Yes, that’s another thing: his psychic powers are unfathomably powerful. Whenever his name’s mentioned, he knows it.” Oak mentioned. “Sorry, I should have warned you.”
“It’s fine.” Celestia said, putting her hoof back down. “Will he come for us, now that we’ve said his name?”
“Oh, no, I imagine he’s too busy with… other things.” Oak said.
“As I was saying earlier, the horrible man perfected his creation, but he did his job too well. He was unable to control Mewtwo, and it escaped its containment, destroying the mansion it had been imprisoned in, along with its previous master. It escaped into the wild.”
“If it escaped, then how do you know it existed?” Celestia asked.
“Well, I’m not quite finished yet, Princess. You see, a good few years ago, a Pokemon trainer – an individual who is able to tame and befriend Pokemon – encountered Mewtwo, in caves deep underground. He was an experienced, brave explorer, though, and managed to capture Mewtwo, in one of these.” Oak held up the red-and-white ball the marill had come out of. “This is a pokeball, princess; It’s capable of capturing one pokemon for an indefinite period of time.”
“How does it fit in there?” Princess Luna asked, leaning forward to look at the Pokeball.
Oak smiled. “I won’t bore you with details; let’s just say it’s an artificial pocket dimension.
“Anyways, the trainer fought valiantly, but Mewtwo was incredibly strong. As an absolute last resort, when all hope was lost, the trainer resorted to one of these.” Oak held up another pokeball. This one was purple where the other was red, and had two pink spots, as well as an “M” emblazoned on it. “This is a master ball; while other pokeballs may fail at capturing a pokemon, the master ball will, without fail, capture a pokemon. Period.”
“Why not just always use the master balls, then?” Luna asked.
“A good question. They’re extremely rare, and incredibly expensive to manufacture.” Oak explained. “And so, the trainer successfully captured Mewtwo, and for a long time, he used the Mewtwo in pokemon battles and tournaments, but that’s a whole other story.
“And now we finally come to the relevant part.” Oak said, his face darkening. “Barely a week ago, Mewtwo performed an act previously thought impossible: He broke out of a pokeball – a master ball, no less – and murdered his trainer in cold blood.”
“And now he’s here.” Celestia inferred. Oak’s look told her she was right.
“Mewtwo knew he wouldn’t be safe as long as he was on our side of the planet; he escaped to your continent instead. Nobody would have known where he’d gone, but just a couple days ago, when Pokemon started popping up all over your land, we knew he was hidden somewhere on this continent.”
“But what’s he planning? Why reveal himself by summoning these Pokemon?” Luna asked.
Oak shook his head. “Alas, this is where my knowledge ends, Princess. I have no idea where on the continent Mewtwo is, nor do I know why he’s summoning the pokemon here, both revealing his location, and forcing human civilization to reveal themselves to you in order to recapture him.
“All I am certain of is that Mewtwo is planning something… something big.
“And at long last, we come to the rub.” Oak bowed. “Princesses, I would like your permission to send out a legion of pokemon rangers and trainers all over Equestria, in a mass-scale attempt to capture Mewtwo.”
“You have my blessing.” Celestia said without hesitation; Luna nodded with her. “If this Mewtwo is really as dangerous as you imply him to be, we will gladly accept any help we can get. The Equestrian army will also be mobilized as soon as possible, to find this threat.”
“My greatest thanks.” Oak said, bowing. “I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time; I just wanted to inform you of the full severity of the situation.”
“It’s okay; it was either this, or just wait for Mewtwo to unleash his plot.” Celestia said. When she said the name, she felt the spike of pain again, but by now she was expecting it.
“I shall summon for our own forces as soon as I can.” Oak sighed. “To be honest, though, Princess, I don’t have very much hope for either of our armies finding Mewtwo. He’s incredibly smart; he won’t be easy to find.
“Not only that, but even if we do find him, the monster’s power is unfathomable; he once took down an entire army. The only one known to defeat him was the trainer I mentioned earlier. Even the master ball probably won’t hold him; he knows how to escape it, after all.” Oak sighed again. “I only wish there was a foolproof way of defeating Mewtwo…”
“Well,” Luna said, the others turning toward her, “while it may not be foolproof, I definitely have an idea…”
