My Little Pixelmon: Friendship is a Warmonger

Princess Cadance stumbled back from the spiked purple mass that filled the doorway before her.  She thought she heard the citizen say "Sitzo!"  She backed up against the wall of the chamber and tried not to let fear completely consume her.  She wasn't doing a very good job.

She babbled and stumbled over her words as the horror leaned onto all fours and crept through the doorway.  Its eyes narrowed at the pony, and he started to produce clicks and a hiss from his gnarled mouth.  She did notice that confusion and suspicion emanated from it, surprisingly sentient emotions for so base a creature.  The pony sitting at the other end of the interrogation table smiled at it.

"This is Princess of the crystal empire, Miah Amoray Cadenza."  He said incorrectly.

The creature took a single step towards Cadence as its confusion became rage.  It hissed again.

"No," that citizen said.  "In fact, i probably hurt her a little."

It gave him a sideways glance, confused again.

"Emotionally, not physically,"  He specified.

Cadance took a step forward.  "What is going on here?"  She asked.

The citizen suddenly grew cold and bored with the situation.

"Sitzo," he said, "let's get out of here.  Kill my captor."

At that, Cadance realized she needed to take control of the situation. She took a defiant step forward. "Nopony is killing anypony!"  She declared.

The purple monster, Sitzo, hesitated.  When Cadance felt its apathy to her, it hissed.

"Weakling!"  The citizen said indignantly.  "You'll do as I say!"

Sitzo turned away from Cadence, facing its master.  It grunted and started to walk over to him.

"What's it doing?" Cadance asked.  "What's it saying?"

The citizen wrapped his hooves around Sitzo's outstretched arms.

"He's taking me and I have no say in the matter.  Neither do you."

Cadence took a step forward as the citizen climbed on Sitzo's shoulder, clinging tight to him.

"You need help" she pleaded, "This will only make things worse for you."

He let out a long breath.  "Chase us and we'll kill you.  My friends are being called off as we speak.  Next time, they won't be so restrained.  Goodbye, Princess."

Then they marched out the door and down the hall.  The only sound was the groaning of a few dispatched guards.

...

Celestia and Luna argued back and forth in the throne room, not an hour later.   A clearly shaken Cadence started wide eyed at the wall.

"We hath been attacked!"  Declared Luna.

"Sister, your actions could have easily caused serious harm and damage to Equestria.  You were reckless and foolish,"  Reasoned Celestia.

Luna's face tensed.  "Our citizen was accosted by powers unknown.  Warmongers are back in equestria.  If anything, we should at this moment be attempting to hunt down the party and deal with them.  This is simply too extreme to wait for Twilight and the Elements, again.  They still haven't finished basic preparations for Castle Friendship, and they know nothing of war!"

Celestia relaxed suddenly, gave her sister a warm look.  "Luna, there is always time to empower others, rather than do everything for them."

Luna remembered the first time she had heard that.  It was long ago.   "We are seeing that once again thou art determined to see ponies grow from even the darkest darkness.  Thou art pushing commoners too far in too short a time.  Thou knoweth nothing of darkness."

"Sister, there is one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance," said Celestia softly.

Both alicorns turned towards the door as several guards allowed Princess Twilight and her friends to enter the throne room.  Each rushed into as Twilight and Cadence did their little handshake, Cadence devoid of energy.

Celestia watched for a moment before she spoke up.  "My little ponies, thank you for coming."

The others gathered before the princess and bowed low, as Twilight stepped up towards her mentor.

"What's happening Celestia?"  She said.  "All we heard were roars and all we saw was light from the mountain.

Luna shuffled slightly, a drawing a few glances.

"All we know for sure is that unknown entities attacked Luna, the castle, and several platoons of guards, before entering the castle for a few minuets and departing.  Details themselves are scarce and contradictory."

"Fascinating!"  Uttered Twilight.

"Oh dear," murmured Rarity.

"Counterattack!"  Offered Rainbow Dash.

"Darn."  Applejack said simply.

"Horrible," said Fluttershy.

"Moral Party!"  Beamed Pinkie Pie.

Luna gave Celestia a cheeky look as the sun princess started to speak.  "We need you all to launch a full investigation.  Ask questions.  Make determinations.  Do some reaserch.  I want you to determine what exactly happened, where these creatures came from, how many there were,  what they wanted, and mostly, where they went and if there is a chance they will return."

Twilight's mind quickly computed how best to attack the situation, then she took her best regal pose and turned towards her friends.

"Rainbow, talk to the guard platoons who saw the most action-"

When rainbow tried to take off in the direction of the closest few, Applejack yanked her back by her tail.  "She wah-din finished."  Applejack said sternly.

Twilight gave Rainbow a look and continued.  "Only yes or no questions, some of them may have stories of their own to tell."  Rainbow again lept up, and again Applejack restrained her.  "She didn't dismiss ya!"  She continued.

Twiligjt and Rainbow shared a gaze before she continued.

"Pinkie, gather material evidence, making no conclusions of your own. We've done it before."

"Okey dokie lokie!"

"Applejack, ask the servants and nobles how they managed to be so overwhelmingly unhurt."

"Yup!"

"Fluttershy, ask the animals what they saw and felt, if anything."

"If you think it'll help..."

"Rarity, examine collateral damage on the outside of the castle.  Determine how powerful the entities are and where the initial assault came from - perhaps the top of the mountain, perhaps the direction of Ponyville.  It may be helpful to ask a few guards, if you deem it necessary.  Any questions girls?"

There was silence for a moment before Rainbow asked "can I involve the wonder colts?"

Twilight looked incredably unsurprised.  "No."  Then she turned around to face Celestia.  "I, however, do have a question.  Shouldn't a royal contingent be handling investigation rather than a princess of friendship?"

Celestia staightened up a little.  "Yes."

Twilight's eyebrow slowly rose but she said nothing.  "Um... Girls, go ahead.  I guess."

Each element besides Twilight uttered a formality before taking off in different directions towards their own tasks.

Twilight watched her friends go, hoping she had done the right thing.  She turned to Celestia.

"I am a princess before I am a security force.  Therefore, I'm afraid I must inquire into the mental fortitude of my step-sister before I spend time in the care of the castle."  She said.

"I agree."  Celestia said casually.

Luna looked between the two.  "Aught we to disagree?  Celestia and I are too busy catering to the public with speeches and reassurances and increased patrols despite a weakening of the guard, plus a growing doubt in their abilities since the departure of Shining Armor.  You are the only one unaffected by this travesty, and therefore are the one who must take charge of the investigation and response."

Twilight's eyes went wide with self doubt.  She had done the wrong thing!  She had messed up, now she's lost her chance completely!  This was a huge blow to her authority, her credibility, and her intellegence.

"Oh.  Um, Sorry..." She said weakly.  "I'll go collect the girls..."

Celestia's head very slowly rotated to give her sister a blank look.  Luna shrank back a little.

"Wait!"  Interrupted Cadence.  Twilight froze.

Cadence slowly approached her, her footsteps ringing out through the scarcely populated throne room.  The lights of the morning through the windows along the floor crept forward faster than Cadence did.  She gave up on movement and tried to project her voice.

"Twilight, it has to be you. Let me explain why.  I was there, and I want you to take my testimony first.  Then, I will have a task for you."

Twilight looked at Celestia.  "That would have been useful information."

Celestia betrayed the faintest smile.

"Very well," She said, "Please, go on."

Cadence took a moment to fortify herself.

"I was here in Canterlot for a simple report to my Auntie.  I didn't even have the chance to give it before I was alerted to the fact that Luna had given orders for a citizen to be debriefed in the castle while she took off without a word.  Then there was word of reinforcements needed outside the castle, so I relieved the guards myself and went to talk to him."

"On your own?"  Twilight asked.

Cadence paused.

"But I'm not sure what happened... I was so happy and exited to help... I wanted to spread love and understanding.  Then I got there and faced that pony... Before he said anything, I just felt so sad and beaten and helpless and worthless and useless...

Twilight grimaced.

"It's so unlike me to think that, but I had a job to do.  So I talked to the pony.  He is horribly depressed, maybe suicidal.  He showed all the signs of no treatment.  He stopped cooperating.  Then... Well...

"Well what?" Asked Twilight.

"A giant purple reptile showed up, hissed at me, then took the citizen and left after threatening to kill me!"  Cadence spilled.

Each princess in the room had the same expression of fear.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"  Whispered Celestia.

Cadence shed a single tear.  "It was horrible..."

Luna snorted.  "It would be best if you were to return to the Crystal Empire and Shining Armor as soon as you can.  We'll arrange a carriage." Luna thought for a moment.  "A very protected carriage."

"No!"  Said Cadence suddenly.  "That pony needs me!  Only I can treat him, or he will only get worse."

Twilight and Celestia looked at each other.  "Princess, you were personally threatened by an unknown enemy," Celestia said, "while I'm all for empowerment and personal forgiveness, you want to wait until we know more about the situation for you to make such a drastic choice."

Cadence shook her head.  "You weren't there, you don't know how much pain he was in.  I'm Princesses of love.   Treatment under me would quick, cheap, and certain."

Celestia looked at her sister.  "Should we again have him in custody, you will be in charge of his interrogation and treatment."  She seemed to say to no one.

Twilight looked confused.  "Interrogation?  That's for enemies, not ponies who need help and treatment."

"Yes.  Until I'm certain of the safety of my subjects, he is to be treated as an enemy of the crown."  Celestia said sternly.

"Yes Princess."  Said Twilight faithfully.

Cadence smiled.  "I can do that."

"Good,"  finished Celestia.

...

"Master, get down from there!"  Shouted a disgruntled Sitzo.

"Ah, it feels so good to be back!"  Shouted Gregory.

After the rampaging escape from Canterlot castle, Gregory and his friends had regrouped on the way into the badlands north of Canterlot. On the way, he had heard Veados' troubling report that the princess of the night had challenged Veados to a duel in the sky.  He was winning until the lost by default: he had no protection from alicorn magic, while Luna had potentially eons of experience with simple kinesis and levitation.  So, Veados said with shame, I burned away everything in sight.  Flare blitz was just so fun to use.

On the eve of a loss, the others arrived just as a new regiment of guards attacked Gregory's pokemon.  It was a war zone, with each pokemon using all their power to rend the earth and flood the sky.  Luna retreated, barely hurt, while most guards were incapacitated at most.  Gregory had asked them if they even considering trying to solve a problem without violence.  Veados just about laid an egg.  Now they were refugees, Gregory was sure that there was now a massive manhunt for him led by a pride-wounded princess of the night.

From now on, Gregory and the others would have to sleep by day, and flee by night.  Unless those chose to return to Odpur, their birth-land.  None of them had even suggested that.

"Oh, pipe down."  Said Gregory from atop a dangerously high tree.  "Your still in trouble for going on a rampage."

"We talked about this Master," Sitzo pleaded, "things got out of control.  You should have known to tell us more about Equestrian society before you became a recluse!"

"That's the understatement of the century!"  Retorted Gregory.  "I was doing fine until you vagabonds tracked me down."

Sitzo reeled from that.  "Master..."  He said gently.

Gregory looked away, into the evening sky.  "I don't want to talk about it, Sitzo."

"Master, why couldn't any pony hear us?"

"They could hear you fine."

"Okay.  Why could they not understand our language communication?"

"They don't have the bound with you that I do.  Only a few ponies are born with the power to talk to pokemon.  I had to earn my power to do so with only my closest friends.  Even if I wish I couldn't."

"Master, don't say that.  Our time back in the desert?  The masa?  In Hecate?  They were the happiest of my life.  I wouldn't trade our bound for anything."  Sitzo smiled warmly, a terrible sight coming from a tank like him.

Gregory fought off a small smirk.  "Sitzo, it's over.  We failed, and that's how the story ends.  Let some young hero figure it all out."

Sitzo shook his head as his smile faded.  "Nothing is over."

Gregory was silent.

Sitzo walked closer to the trunk of the tree and placed a hand on it.  "Time to move on, master."

Gregory perked up a little.  "Wait, from the past, or this tree?"

Sitzo smiled again.  "Let's start with the tree."

Gregory returned the smile as he looked down on his old friend.  "Catch me!"

"Master, you were a colt, then."

Gregory lept from the tree, and Sitzo races to catch him, the pony crashing into his unprotected belly and Sitzo letting out a thick grunt.

Gregory climbed onto Sitzo's shoulder in just the way they had practiced, in what seemed for both of them a lifetime away.  Gregory wrapped his hooves around a thick arm and rested his head against the cool armor of Sitzo's neck.  The two walked back to camp in silence, both of them contemplating the events of the pervious few nights.

Together, they returned to camp.  It was in a small wooded clearing where not more than a small campfire and two sleeping pokemon lay.  Leopard and Meltdown snoozed away on either side of the fire.  Veados, Garathon, and Sunfar were nowhere to be seen.

Sitzo looked down on them in disgust.  Gregory snickered, he knew what was coming.  He put his hooves over his ears, almost falling off.  Sitzo stomped up to the duo and screamed an ear-tearing wave of sound.

Each pokemon bounded up and dashed into the woods, yelling about the return of the whismer.  Gregory snickered again as the two slowly poked their heads out of the woods in fear, before meeting the horrific gaze of Sitzo.

"And what," he asked them, "do you think that you two are doing?!"

Meltdown and Lepard exchanged a glance before Lepard said "um... cooking?"

Sitzo's voice became deathly quiet.  "In your sleep?"

"Um... Uh... Yes?"

Sitzo swatted him in the back of his lizard head.  "Get back to work."

Gregory walked over the reeling Lepard and whispered "what were you doing?"

He whispered back "well, I got tired."

"I said get back to work!"  Shouted Sitzo from the other side of the clearing.

Gregory ignored him.  "I volunteer for first watch!"  He said cheerily.

Lepard sudden drew up, serious.  "I don't think so, master."

"No way!"  Blurted Meltdown.

Sitzo looked up from across the way.  "Now what?"

"Gregory wants first watch," said Lepard simply.

Sitzo seemed thoughtful for a moment.  "Yes."

Lepard and Meltdown together blurted, "What?"  At different volumes.

Gregory gave them a triumphant smile.

"Gregory will never get better unless we start to trust him.  Disdain will earn us nothing in this fight,"  explained Sitzo.

Lepard and Meltdown exchanged glances before they approached him and leaned close to his ears.

"You'd better be here when we wake up,"  whispered Lepard.

"If you think what we did to the castle was over the top, well, there's no restraint here."

Gregory leaned away as they spoke but did not low his feet.  "Guys?  I honestly feel better now than I have in two years."

A goofy smile grew about his features as he took a battle pose, his hooves splayed on the ground.  With one hoof he scratched the dirt.  "It's a dark time for us, boys.  For years we've been separate and useless, toiling under cold suburban life where power and magic mean nothing!"

Lepard looked at Sitzo.  "Suburban?"

"Our foes have gotten stronger while they ruled unjust against the masses and the few climbed the backs of the many!"

Meltdown looked at Veados.  "Has he been drinking?"

"But we are back!  I am grey-gore-ee!  Mighty Gregory!"

Gregory bounced slightly in place.

"Our foes at this very moment gather to hunt us down!  Even Veados cannot light this darkness!  Even Sitzo barely rampaged through a castle while guards and insidious psychics chased him and me!  Sunfar and Garathon fought against night herself, Lepard and Meltdown-"

"Actually," interrupted Veados, "that was me."

"Why does he always group me and you?"  asked Meltdown to Lepard.

"Dunno," said Sunfar from out of nowhere.

"-could barely scale the heights of pain and apathy to fortify the escape of us all!"

Gregory walked up to a tree and slammed a hoof into it, causing leaves to fall around him.

Garathon slithered from around the other side of the tree, his bulk taking up most of the space around it.

"Nothing is over!  We are still a team, still friends, and even alone we are the most powerful things on the nation!"  Continued Gregory.

Gregory wheeled around and jumped in an arc, landing close to the fire where he stared, suddenly quiet and melancholy.

"Maybe we all said things we regret."

Six pokemon standing obliviously behind him exchanged glances.

"The time has come for action, to once again train and grow strong.  There's nothing wrong with me."  Gregory's eyes went wide.  "Uh, with any of us."

Gregory sat down on his rump.  "If we must sleep by day, we must sleep by day.  If we must keep watch, we must keep watch.  If we must eat stew and leaves, we'll eat stew and leaves!  If we have to wander to the end of the world just for refuge and sanctuary, then wander we shall!"

Gregory took a long breath.  "My vigilance will never waver!"  Then he slumped backwards and started snoring.

Veados blinked.

Garathon slithered forward, filling most of the clearing, and wordlessly scooped Gregory up.

"What's our next move?"  Asked Sunfar.

Sitzo stomped out the fire.  "The night is young.  I say we put more distance between us and the Capitol."  He stomped off northward, without waiting for the others.

"Those things were a lot more inspirational when they're based on reality,"  said Meltdown.

Veados walked after Sitzo, his tail flame casting shadows and figures on the trees and ground.  "Were all getting older."  He muttered to himself.

..,

Gregory watched as the city of Canterlot was blasted apart.  He fell to his knees and recited the immortal words "Fallen!  Fallen is Canterlot the great!"  Above him, lights flashed and magic blasts exchanged back and forth between a great black alicorn and Celestia.  Skeleton soldiers marched towards the city as screams rang out.  Somewhere, something roared.

"Destroyed in an hour!"  Came a voice from behind him.

Gregory wheeled around.  A brown earth pony marched forward, covered in scars, burns, and even a few bite marks.  His black mane was mangled and messy, one eye permanently closed, one leg a little shorter than another.  His tail dragged on the ground, and he was missing teeth.  Despite the injuries, it was unmistakably an older and beaten Gregory.

"Everything leads to me."  Older Gregory said.

Gregory looked down as a wave of self doubt him.  "I know."

"What will you choose?  Will you stand with the moon, with the sun, or alone?  The path may be bright and safe, but your journey ends with me.  When I will find you, and when I consume your friendship, you'll be alone.  A servant of the darkness.  It's all your good for."

The body of princess Celestia crashed to the ground next to the them.  Gregory screamed.

Suddenly the moon' s light consumed everything.  Gregory's older self stepped back from it and the flames died down.  The field he was in vanished.

"Thine work is done,"  said Luna.

Gregory looked around through the grey light.  "Princess?  You should not be here."

Luna stepped forward from where the older Gregory had been standing.  "We could beareth thou suffering no longer.  Thou aught to consider thine infection of Princess Cadence.  Depression pumps through her veins."

Gregory looked down.  "Just making good on a promise."

"Where doth the plague originate?  There must be a cure at the temple."

Gregory smiled at her.   "There is no cure, because there is no infection.  We are just being realistic."

Luna shook her head.  "What symptoms did thou first notice?"

Gregory sighed.  "I was sad when I was born.  I looked over the world, saw its lies and pain, and wept.  Now I have run out of6 tears to shed."

"Hath your relationship with your mother run it's course?"

"There isn't one.  I haven't spoken to her since I turned ten.

"How old art thou?"

"I do not know.  I haven't used a calendar since I turned ten."

"Doth thou require a stronger parental relationship?"

Gregory stomped a foot.  "What is this?"

Luna smiled sweetly.  "Cadence says it is cognitive behavioral therapy.  Since thou has escaped our treatment, we have brought treatment to thou.  We will practice and learn during the day and speak at night while thou sleeps, inist the dreams."

Gregory leaned away from her.  "Tried it.  It didn't work."

"Cadence says it takes six weeks to start making a diffrence."

"That's the antidepressants."

"Oh. Well, we are not convinced.  The princess of love herself now supports the well being of thou."

Gregory caught himself starting to feel relived.  "No, Princess.  Stop hunting me and my friends, or we will get serious about defending ourselves."

Luna's eyes narrowed.  "Your friends caused sizable damage to our society and commited high crimes against the crown.  They will not go unpunished."

Gregory could feel another speech building.  "Princess, they were just trying to help me.  They wanted you to treat me, because I told them that the princesses could do anything.  That's the only reason Veados the fire lizard restrained himself from killing you.  They look up to you, and you hunt them like common criminals."

Luna thought for a moment.  "Our actions seem to have been hasty, but we would have been nicer had thou spoken to us about all this before thine ally dropped thou here and flew off.  What were we to think?"

"Do you always respond to the unknown and scary with violence?"  Charged Gregory.

"Of course not."

Gregory rolled his eyes.  "If we're going to get anywhere here, you have to be honest with me.  Answer the question."

Luna reared, indignant.  "We are not to be commanded by a commoner!"

Gregory's face contorted with rage.  "And let me tell you something, Princess!  While you sit on your rump barking orders and blasting magic, the rest of us toil in violence and pain!  You build your world on the backs of commoners and the weak, growing fat while you order us around!  Revenge is coming, and I will be the one that screams fallen  when Canterlot crumbles.  All roads lead to me, Princess, and you have done nothing to stem the coming tide.  I look forward to crippling you in every way imaginable.

Gregory heaved, the only sound in the stillness.

Luna's mouth opened and closed several times, not because she gave any attention to his misplaced blame, but because she didn't know how best to proceed.  Cadence hasent prepared her for this.  Should she just leave?

Finally, she said "thou rages against higher powers."

"Everybody gets one."

Luna laughed.  "Hath thou explained such to Princess Cadence?"

"I threatened her in every way I could think of.  It wasn't hard considering the powerhouse I had on my side."

"Not surprising. Thou hath incurred her pain."

"I refer you to my last speech."

Luna shook her head "Thou friends and thou relationships are toxic.  It may seem difficult, but we promise thou that if they are shed, thou will improve."

Gregory smiled.  "You know nothing about me."

Luna smiled back.  "Then enlighten us."

Gregory lowered his head.  "Where do I begin?"

"The beginning."  Luna said simply.

"It rained the day I was born, far across the sea.  Fire and lightning battled for supremacy while ice brought its ire on the villagers."

"Thy symbolism is lost on us."

Gregory shook his head.  "I'm being literal.  Fire rained down as lightning sprang up from craters in the ground.  Ice covered everything else.  My father died protecting Hecate village, his only reward for heroism and love being a consolation prize.  My mother gave birth while fleeing on the back of her only friend, Tauros.  Everything was destroyed by the legendary elements of fire lightning and ice.

Luna wrinkled her nose.  "Why?"

"No pony knows why they do what they do.  Destroy is all they seem to be able to do.  I find that they are no different from any other authority."

Luna sniffed but said nothing.

"We lived as nomads for awile.  Never staying in one place.  Never eating the same thing, when we could find food at all.  Villages turned us away when they didn't throw rocks at us."

"You must have had some friends." Luna said hopefully.

Gregory shook his head.  "Everypony was an adult.  We simply couldn't feed any more mouths.  We settled in the sands of acid, where bugs and pigs thrive."

Luna wrinkled her nose again.

Gregory ignored her this time.  "We built a few wooden shacks from pieces of the carts, then sent teams on long journeys through sandstorms and trapinch lairs to get wood at the edge of the desert, in lightning range.  Most of us died.  Those who didn't wished they had. Brent was scarred for the rest of his short life..."

Gregory paused.

"Most of died again from disease and adjusting to the desert life.  I quickly adapted, sharing my water and food.  My mother was so proud of me...

Luna reached out a put a hoof on his shoulder.  "I'm sure she still is..."

Gregory flushed for a moment.  He was quite sure he had never been touched by a mare in supportive companionship.  He wasn't sure he liked it.

Luna smiled at him, suddenly much closer.  "Art we making thou shiver?"  She said quietly.  He rolled his shoulders and she removed her hoof and stepped back.

"Things got better.  We got hold of money from passers by.  Started farming carrots and potatoes in the sand.   Somehow.  I was never quite sure how they did it.  Our houses grew larger.  We built a watchtower.  Started having weddings and ceremonies again.  But it wasn't to last.  Tauros died.  He taught me everything I know about pokemon, the creatures who thrive on warfare and killing.

Luna shivered.  "Why would you want to learn about such awful creatures?"

Gregory shuffled a little.  "My friends?  Veados, fire lizard.  Garathon, water dragon.  Lepard, grass ninja.  Meltdown, lightning cat.  Sunfar the desert dragon.  And Sitzo, the poison rhino.  They are pokemon- some of the most powerful that have ever existed.

Luna's smile returned.  "Their strength was underwhelming."

Gregory sniffed at her.  "There are rules where I come from.  Ponies don't have to play by them.  Pokemon fight one move at a time until one drops dead or fainted - there is no retreat.  Ponies have no power where I come from.  Pokemon must fight for them.  Ponies train their pokemon as friends, and become rivals.  Not enemies, rivals.  The relationship is complicated, but all as Arceus wishes.

"Semantics,"  She said cheerily.

"The only way to know is to experience it for yourself.  When Tauros died we needed a new sage, a sort of leader.  Somepony had to link with a pokemon, and as the child of the previous leader, the duty fell to me.  An unprepared child.  I failed to speak with the pokemon of the desert.  I was banished for damning the village.  So I  wandered the edge of the desert for years.  When I turned ten, I found and linked with Lepard, my oldest friend,"  Gregory remembered foundry.

"We took to the forest by storm, fighting and destroying.  He grew more powerful by the day.  At first he could barely strike forth with a fist, but he learned to wield leaves and grass as weapons against rocks and servants of purity.  He could drain away life.  He even practiced the dark arts.

Luna's eyes were wide.  "Thou hath battled and destroyed life as but a child?!"

It was Gregory's turn to smile.  "Yes. It was the best times of my life.  At times I fell down rocky shafts and spent weeks in recovery, barely holding onto life.   At times I lived off the rotten flesh-"

Luna gasped.  "Your kind eat meat?"

"We don't have much a choice.  Living with pokemon changes you, and you change them."

"I see..."

"Finally, Lepard spoke to me.  It seems I have the rare ability to speak with only my closest friends."

Luna looked at Gregory with pleading eyes.  "That must have been so hard for you..."

Gregory backed away.  "Awful."

Luna suddenly giggled.  "A little excitable, are we?"

Gregory allowed a small smile.  "If you have to touch me, give me a warning first.  Me and a full grown Lepard just had our first hug a few days ago.  Only my friend Sitzo gets to poke me."

Luna looked sad.  "To be deprived of touch is a horrible fate.  Much negativity can be alleviated with simple comforting touch."

Gregory trembled slightly.  "I've never really been touched... At all."

"We can work on that,"  said Luna bluntly.

"I'll keep that in mind."  Gregory continued, ignoring the slight tension in the air.

"I also spent a lot of time at the edge of starvation.  Dehydration,  sickness and in fear of ambush in the dead of night.  I went all the way through a very tough puberty.  I was definatly older than eighteen by then.  I'm pretty sure it stunted my growth and my development.  Haha, you should see me when I... Anyway Lepard wasn't too good at fighting bugs, so we realized we needed a new ally.  Somepony resilient and bright.  We headed up into the mountains to link with Veados the fallen.  A horrible dragon ruled the mountain back then, so we had to dodge the monster while searching for food water and shelter, while tracking down Charmander.  We needed a pokemon young enough to link, which are rare in such rugged mountains.  But we did it and fled the dragons wrath with a young Veados in tow."

"Life was a little harder with two pokemon to feed and train.  Veados could barely wield a spark, let alone fend off giant bugs. I also had bad altitude sickness."

"Most foul," said Luna.

"It got easier when we discovered Epothos Villiage in the base of the mountain.  They lived in fear of the mountain dragon, but hailed us as heroes.  Suddenly, we got all the best training and food, a huge room, plenty of drink.  Freedom to roam around, ponies praising us, mares especially-"

Gregory paused and blushed.

"What?"  Asked Luna, interested.

"It's just, there were a lot of mares there.  Lonely, bored mares.  Im preety sure there day consisted of farming and talking to the same few ponies.  I mean, there were stallions too, but they didn't have trained pokemon at their beck and call.  A few had weak birds or bugs as friends, but that's boring to a mares in those parts.  At least I think.  They lived very gentle lives, though fit and healthy from fruit of the forest and the earth.  They had never seen a desert dweller like me.  I was in much better shape back then too."

Luna gave him a very strange look.

"They wanted to stay up all night and hear my stories.  I never disappointed.  In any way."  Gregory added gently.

"Hadist thou..."

Gregory gave her a cheeky smile.  "In.  Any.  Way."

Luna seemed unsure of what to think.

"Of course, the day came when the dragon wanted a sacrifice.  A show of submission.  They begged me to fight it off.  I was young, I was stupid.   I was overconfident.  So I accepted, and ambushed the dragon in its cave.  It was a young and rash dragon pokemon, chased from his original territory and forced to abandon its family and freinds.  We battled it.  We caused rockslides and filled the cave with water.   To this day, there are marks where we dueled... But we won.  The dragon lay down and gave me it's fang, that I presented to the villagers.  They were overjoyed.  Offered me a permanent evidence.  I remember looking around at the villiage, offered safety and security, food and drink, other pleasures, a way out of all the fighting and pain... And I said no."

Luna looked aghast, "What!?"

Gregory smiled.  "I liked being a hero... Being dotted on.  Being cared about.  But I had no future there.  Eventually they would get sick of me.  And I would always be an outsider with a bunch of foals running around.  There was no real truth there.  I had no chance for love there.  So I left."

Luna spoke gently.  "Is that what thou seeketh?  Love?"

Gregory thought for a moment.  "I dunno."  He said honestly.  "Should I start to experience stronger feelings I would pursue them, but I never have felt anything beyond simple lust.  Should those feelings arise, I would accept them, explore them instead of the violence and power i now seek, but... They have been never been revealed to me.  I guess I just never met the right mare."

"We can work on that, too," said Luna, her expression unreadable.

"Right.  Well after I left I think a took a part of Epothos with me.  I felt the need for a new friend.  But I was also fascinated with powers of dragons.  So we headed towards the dry air and the sands of the acid.  I even saw the skyline of Hecate village.  There we recruited Sunfar of the earth.  His training was-"

"Wait," said Luna, "what hath occurred within your home?"

"I have no home."

"The village,"  said Luna with exaggerated patience.

"I simply left.  Banishments are forever."

"But thou could have-"

"What?"  Said Gregory, suddenly angry.  "Faced the new elder?  My mother?  Oh hi guys, you were wrong and I spent my childhood fending for my life!  How are you?"

Luna appeared thoughtful.  "Hmm.  Avoidance of social situations?  Intentional isolation?  Signs of depression from an early age."

"Sunfar's training was difficult, to say the least.  We spent a lot of time dragging a half dead shell around all day.  He ate a lot of food and slowed is down a lot.  He spoke to me early on, though.  He always had something interesting to say.  He didn't evolve for a long time..."

"Evolve?"

"As a link increases between a pony and a pokemon, the pokemon can suddenly experience a surge of elemental power, experiencing a rang of effects from simple growth, to mutation, to complete metomorphosis.  This is what starts to path of rivalry between trainer and pokemon.  Most change from cute and small to giant, gnarled, hardened monsters.  Sunfar ended up completely changing, but well get to that."

"We spend a long time in that desert.  Veados and Lepard grew much stronger as Sunfar struggled against his old foes.  When I almost suffocated in a sandstorm, I was more or less forced to move on.  We crossed a river and I met the fish Garathon.  I simply couldn't resist his link and friendship.  I carried him around for a long time, and it wasn't long before he became a dragon.  Sunfar always resented him for that...

"Him? Again?  Thou hath none mare friends?"

Gregory stared at her for a long time.  "Your... Teasing me."

She leaned close to him and Gregory froze.  She whispered right into his ear.  "Yes."

He looked right at the side of her head, his gaze at her ear.  The strangest excitement built in him.  It would be so easy to lick it, to nibble it so slightly.  What would that feel like?  Would she do the same for him?  Or, was she just trying to stimulate his depressed and lonely system?  She had, after all, gotten her orders from the beautiful (and married) Princess of Lover herself.

It seemed to be forever before she pulled away, and Gregory felt the slightest disappointment.  He buried his feelings, but for a long moment he met her gaze with his own, her expression unreadable but her ears flicked back in - something.

"It's quite common for colts to more easily make friends with colts, and then for fillies to do so with fillies.  The same is true for pokemon.  Pokemon have long since accepted that linking with a pony means no children and little contact with their own kind.  Me and Lepard had lots of time to talk about all kinds of stuff."

Luna licked her lips.  "Why doth thou suppose that is?"

Gregory froze again at the gesture.  "Um... Biology?"

"Mm."  Luna hummed.

"Anyway, we entered Thunder Plain at four pokemon strong.  Food was scarce, the wind made everypony irritable, and at two fresh evolutions emotions and rivalry were running high-"

"Dealing with emotions are not thine strength,"  Interrupted Luna.

"Am I that obvious?  Or are you teasing me again?"

Luna stuck her tongue out at him.

He smiled suddenly.  "Imagine if we were a team of girls!"

Luna took a serious step forward, ice in her eyes.

"I mean, it would have been a good thing, because, um..."

She smiled at him.  "Mm."

Gregory's eyes narrowed.  "You'll love the next part.  Compromises were rare in team Gregory."

Luna had no discernible reaction whatsoever.

"We agreed that we needed a rational, cool headed, developed, mature, easy going peace keeper among the team."

Gregory waited a moment for a jest or a comment, but Luna kept quiet.

"Instead we got Sitzo.  He was controlling, emotional, adaptable, quick to strike and get angry, and above all, steadfast and dependable.  He was exactly what we needed.  We cut our way through the land, Garathon evolved, Sunfar evolved, Lepard learned his signature move the leaf sword, Veados gained new fire powers, and I felt almost as good as at Epothos village.  Then I fell off a cliff and broke a leg."

Luna took in a sharp breath and rubbed her own leg.

"We needed more permanent residence.  I didn't want them to dig me a cave, we couldn't go far, so we had make do with a gigantic, creepy stone temple."

Gregory closed his eyes.  "Yea.  Not our best move.  We fought against lightning pokemon for days getting no food and no rest.  We fought nonstop, nopony got any stronger..  I was getting sick with bone marrow issues and in increasingly bad shape, I stopped sleeping, and eating.  It wasn't long before Garathon had to carry me most of the day.  I honestly thought that I should have just ended it myself..."

"Thoughts of death have pervaded thine mind in the past?"

Gregory paused.  He suddenly felt like lying.  "I have always held a fascination with death."

Luna perked an eyebrow.  "Thou resists the question."

"The answer is yes."

Luna looked disturbed, but satisfied.

"We fought our way into the heart of the stone building.   There were no enemies there, so we decided to try and make camp.  The light was blinding from the center... Sitzo decided to investigate.  He didn't come back.  We sent Veados.  There was a roar.  Me and Sunfar and Garathon went forth to find the lightning shrine: an object sacred in these lands.  It was protected by the strongest luxray I had ever seen.  Sunfar and Garathon were quickly beaten and fell to the ground, fainted.  I was going to be trapped in the temple for eons as a slave.  It spoke to me, then.  It was going to sacrifice me to bring forth the legendary of thunder, and he got close enough to me so I linked with the luxray.  Named him Meltdown."

"But it was too late, lightning itself was on the way to protect its legion.  So we prepared.  Meltdown showed me the orb of static souls, an ancient weapon to be used against the legendary elements.  We fortified the temple, wiped out the remaining pokemon the power up the orb.  Gathered food.  I got plenty of rest. Meltdown coordinated our resistance.  He stood watch atop the temple for days on end, cleaving the sky in anticipation."

"Sometimes we sat together when I could make it up there.  During one of those talks-"

"What had thou discussed?"  Luna asked.

"The lore of the area."

"Continued lack of treatment, no emotional support, unresolved feelings of abandonment and inappropriate guilt, tragic losses at an early age, lacking critical family ties, fascination with death, lifelong lack of proper nourishment, both psychically and mentally."  Luna sighed, "unrealistic expectations of love, rampant sex life or no sex life..."

"During one of our talks, Lightning himself arrived.  Meltdown attacked without hesitation.  The battle tore the temple apart and scorched the area for miles.  The storm that resulted still hasn't dissipated.  But Meltdown fell, Zapahdos was simply too powerful.  So Garathon used ice, but fell as well.  Veados fought and only did more damage to the area, but Zapahdos seemed unaffected.  Veados fainted.  Finally, Lepard could resist the lightning.  Leaf blade was simply no use.  Zapahdos changed his fighting style to defeat forest pokemon, and it was all up to Sitzo.  The winds had broken loose a piece of the moon itself..."

"We should think not!"  Luna said, disgruntled.

"This was a while ago.  I used the power of the moon..."

"Blasphemy."  Luna pouted.

"...to change Sitzo into the beast you see today.  Hide of steel, horn of diamond, and powers granted by the moon-"

"The moon is mine!"

"Pokemon don't play by the same rules ponies do."

There was silence between them as the light shifted.  Gregory thought he heard the sound of something crumble.

"Sitzo became immune to thunder and pretty much immune to flying attacks.  It was glorious Princess, one creature fighting against all odds.  Finally, Zapahdos fell.  And I... Well, I linked with it.  I took all its power for myself.  Lightning itself, became my ally."

"That's possible?"

"Its a little different than linking with normal pokemon.  Only six may join you, but legendaries dont count.  They cant fight for you, but they can do pretty much anything else.  So yea, very.  That was the first time I flew... Atop the wings of storms.  We stopped at the top of a great mountain and regrouped, got to know Yismiir.  He had two brothers-"

"Of course.  Still no female characters."

"Hmm.  I'm noticing that Odpur is full of men and Equestria, women.  Interesting isn't it?"

"We shall have to look further.  What happened next?"

"Fire was the next target.  Lightning fire and ice ruled these lands with a iron fist.  They were cause of all the destruction, the changing tides and the inability of the land to get better. All is as the elements wished.  As soon as I could walk we trained harder than we ever had.  We covered land by night and fought by day.  We ate roots and herbs.  We barely slept.  All of us gained so much strength to face down fire.  Zapahdos said that fire lived the great land of the red sands.  We found an epic colored red and yellow cliff, where metal foes gathered.  We conquered it, learning about metals and the psychic foes that lived there."

"Veados transformed into the form you see today, and learned the mastery of fire that he now has.  Lepard did too, learning to wield leaves and grass like a hurricane does lightning.  Garathon could breath pure power.  So could Sunfar.  Sitzo learned to wield the power of the earth itself.  Even meltdown got stronger."

"These pokemon could get even stronger?"

"Actually, they reached their potential.  They would never learn any new powers.  I thought we were ready..."

"Thought?"

"We failed, Luna.  Moltres beat us.  Everything got worse."