The Pokemon King of Griffinstoneby Warrior_PrincessChaptersIntroducing part 1Introducing part 2Introducing part 3MeetingThe story startsTakes a promise to heartAnnoys a PrincessLet a smile be your shieldIntroducing part 1Twilight finished reading the reports that Celestia had given her for the seventh time since they had got on the train. If she could say one thing about the reports it was that they were something alright. One said that the king had officially renamed Tuesday, Taco Tuesday. It sounded like something that Pinkie Pie would do, which explained why the perpetually peppy pink party pony had come along with them. Pinkie was bouncing back and forth along the train, occasionally popping up in a seat to stare out of a window. She had appeared just as they were getting on the train by climbing out of a suitcase. When asked what she was doing Pinkie had told Twilight that her Pinkie sense was telling her that there was going to be a super duper party where they were going. "And I can't miss a party like that!" Pinkie had shouted. Blueblood was being his normal self. Which means that he was bossing the train staff around like they were his personal servants. Though there did seem to be a very small improvement in his attitude towards pokemon if how he treated the one helping the ponies was any indication. He was still a royal pain as Rarity would put it, and he kept giving the Slurpuff any ridiculous order he could think of for his own amusement, but he was careful to not call it an animal. Twilight glanced across the train car at the other stallion that had come with them. She looked him up and down from his white mane and brown coat, to his DNA helix cutie mark. She kept looking at his cutie mark as she thought about him. They had been classmates and science partners in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns or PCSGU for short, which he was able to attend despite being an earth pony because of him being a legitimate genius like herself. Also like her he had a tendency to experiment and invent in his lab. Unlike Twilight however Bio Chem's experiments and inventions often resulted in explosions, which was bad for PCSGU as he was the professor of genetics. He was coming with them because of his most recent explosion, which happened when he attempted to put a Voltorb into his special x-ray machine. Twilight had been meaning to reestablish their friendship over the past month ever since they had met back up in Canterlot to help Celestia with the pokemon, but stuff kept happening to prevent her from doing that. Bio Chem was currently going through his notes on pokemon biology at a near ravenous pace as he had been banned from studying pokemon while in Canterlot until the repairs were finished, but they were not in Canterlot. Celestia had personally asked Twilight to get him out of her hair, and the city, for a while and to keep him out of trouble while in Griffinstone, or at least keep him from blowing it up. "What are you looking at Twilight?" asked Pinkie Pie who had popped up in the seat in front of Twilight and was watching her watch the stallion. Twilight was about to answer, but suddenly realized that she had basically been staring at a stallion's flank for at least a minute or two. "Nothing!" she said nervously. Pinkie looked her in the eye with a rather intense expression for a moment, before she bounced away saying "Okie dokie lokie." Twilight sighed in relief. When the train reached its destination the four ponies stepped off and walked towards the towering city as the day reached noon. They were stopped at the gate by a pokemon that was apparently acting as a city guard. It was a large quadruped with blue skin, a vaguely frog like appearance, and an enormous flower growing out of its back. It spoke to them with an accent similar to the ponies of the Coltic highlands. "Stop where ye stand ye wee ponyta." it ordered them in a gravelly voice. "Speak yer purpose here in Griffinstone." Twilight started to answer but was interrupted by Blueblood. The prince walked right by her and stomped a hoof down in front of the pokemon. "You are speaking to royalty, and shall address us as such you brute. Now step aside and let us through, that is a royal order." The pokemon blinked, and then he grinned in amusement. "Aye ye be royals do ye? Then I guess ye will be wanting the royal treatment?" "Well obviously." the unicorn stallion rolled his eyes. The Venusaur guard walked into the throne room with the four ponies held in his vines. Pinkie Pie and Twilight were in the left vine while Bio Chem and an upside down Blueblood were in the right vine. The Venusaur walked on in right up to the center of the room and dropped them. Twilight, Bio Chem, and Blueblood all rubbed the sore spots from where they landed, while Pinkie Pie bounced a few times. "And there ye have the royal treatment. Do let me know if ye need anything else." said the large Grass type. Bio Chem leaned over and whispered to Twilight and pointed at Blueblood. "Do I have permission to blow him up your highness? They are sure to have some combustible chemicals around here somewhere." "....hmm, maybe later." she told him. Twilight took a look around the throne room. Princess Celestia had told her that Griffinstone had been a...well a dump for quite some time ever since its great treasure was stolen from the last king. You couldn't tell by looking at the throne room, and right in the middle on a stump of wood was the treasure. "That explains it. The new king must have returned it, therefore returning the griffins of Griffinstone to their former glory, and then they named him king." "That is correct." The ponies looked to the new speaker as he entered. The Dragon was not very large compared to a fully grown dragon of Equus, but he strode in confidently with a calm and patient attitude, and he still stood well over the heads of the ponies. He was orange with a tan belly, wings with green insides that looked a little small for his size, and in his head was a small spike like horn with an antenna on either side. He spoke politely with a simple voice that was not deep but strong, giving the impression that he was a dependable and brave person. "You're the first ponies we've seen other than a single thestral. I hope I'm not the first to properly welcome you Griffinstone." "Unfortunately you are, though that is mostly because someone..." Twilight pointedly looked at Blueblood. "...was rude to the guard at the gate." "Oh him, sorry about that. He's used to being in charge so he can be a little testy now. So what can I do for all of you?" Twilight stepped forward and greeted him with a bow, fanning her wings out to the side as she did. "Your highness, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, and it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance and to congratulate you on your new position as the king of Griffinstone." "Oh, I'm not the king." he told her with a smile. "I'm just a farmer. My name is Christopher, and it is my pleasure to meet you Princess Twilight Sparkle." He then bowed to her. "Oh! My goodness that is embarrassing." Twilight said sheepishly. "Um, thank you. So is the king around here somewhere?" "He'll be here in a minute or so. In the meantime you can introduce me to your friends." Christopher waved at the other three ponies. "Of course." Twilight smiled and waved at each of her companions as she introduced them. "This is one of my best friends Pinkie Pie, my friend and old classmate Bio Chem, and Prince Blueblood." Christopher felt a dull thus as Pinkie Pie collided with his chest and hugged him, somehow making it feel like she had wrapped her hooves all the way around him even though she hadn't. "It's so great to meet a new friend who just so happens to also be a farmer! My friend/possible cousin Applejack is an apple farmer, and I even grew up on a farm, but we farmed rocks not food, except for the special rocks that my sister Maud discovered which we make into rock candy, here have some." Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out two pieces of rock candy, one red the other blue, and shoved them in his mouth. Christopher had to wait for everything she had said to process in his mind before he could respond. When he was caught up he chewed up the candy with a lot of loud crunching and swallowed before speaking. "Nice flavor. Reminds me of my Ma's homemade candy. It's nice to meet you Pinkie Pie." He then hugged her. "Wow...you're strong...too tight...too tight!" she said in gasping breaths, and when he let go her body had dents where his arms had been. Pinkie took a deep breath and blew it into her hoof to puff herself back up. "Sorry about that." the Dragon said. Bio Chem introduced himself next. "It is nice to meet you Christopher, but please don't hug me. I don't think I would fare as vell as Pinkie Pie." "No problem." Christopher scratched his head as he smiled down at the stallion. "Do you have any questions? You look like the inquisitive type." If Bio Chem had been a unicorn, or Pinkie Pie, he would have produced a notepad and a writing quill with no problem, but instead he fumbled as he tried to hold them in his front hooves while balancing on his hind legs. He decided after the third stumble to simply memorize the answers to his questions, and tossed the items away narrowly missing hitting Blueblood in the head. "Mein Freund, I have many questions indeed." the stallion said to the Dragon. "To start with, what kind of pokemon are you exactly?" Introducing part 2Christopher finished answering another of Bio Chem's many questions. He was very patient with the science pony, and even elaborated on a few subjects that he had not actually asked about. As a result they were standing there for quite a few minutes with the other ponies just waiting. Twilight was okay with that as she got to learn about a species of pokemon that she had not seen before, Pinkie Pie kept getting bored and then finding little things to amuse herself like the paper airplanes she was currently throwing at Blueblood. The prince however had lost his patience with everyone. "Oh for the love of Auntie Celestia!" Blueblood yelled. He took Bio Chem by the shoulders and shook him. "Stop asking so many questions! If you ask one more question so help me I'll introduce you to that Muk pokemon that hugged me!" Christopher winced at that. Getting hugged by a Muk was probably the worst possible nonviolent thing that could happen to a royal. "Ahem, right well as much as I would like to continue with the questions myself, Blueblood has a bit of a point." Twilight pointed out. "We aren't here to learn about you Christopher, no offense, but we are here to meet the king." "Yeah, if this were a story that someone was writing we would have been here for like a whole chapter, well more like part of a chapter." Pinkie said to everyone causing them much confusion. "Uh, okay then." Twilight decided to just accept it because it was Pinkie. "Will the king be out soon?" "He should be. He just had a small civil matter to settle for a couple of griffins." Christopher assured them. After he said that a big male griffin ran through the throne room yelling about a she-demon, and quickly ran out the main door. From where he had come there came the sound of hoof steps. A doorway to the left of the throne seemed to grow darker than the rest of the room as a bat pony stepped out of it. She had the usual slitted eyes of her kind colored orange, silvery hair that flowed freely for an elegantly chaotic mane and tail style, and her coat was the same midnight black as Nightmare Moon's. "The king will see you now." she told the other ponies, her voice was a bit growly but still the voice of a young mare. When she trotted away from the door and moved across the room to stand beside the throne, the shadows moved with her. Using her wings she took out a notepad and a writing quill. "Who is visiting and what is there purpose?" "Finally!" Blueblood exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how long we have been waiting out here? What was so important that your king wouldn't come to see visiting royalty?" The bat pony mare just looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "I'm sorry. Now please state your name and purpose." Twilight spoke up before Blueblood could. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria and this is Prince Blueblood of Equestria. We and our friends are here to welcome the new king of Griffinstone to Equus and to check out how much has changed." The bat pony mare just looked at her with her eyebrow raised again before speaking. "Let me save you some time and trouble with your investigation Princess Twilight Sparkle. Griffinstone was left to its own devices for centuries, longer actually. Neither Equestria, which Griffinstone is supposed to be a part of, nor Griffinheim the ancestral home of the Griffin people ever gave any kind of assistance or aid when this place was at its loest. The King has, in one month mind you, done more for the folks here than anyone of you Canterlot nobles. The broken down library has been rebuilt and will eventually serve as a schoolhouse when there are enough children. The chasm that no-one can fly across now has tunnel bridges built across to let us walk to the other side without falling in. There is a bucking grove of trees growing nearby that will start providing fresh fruit next year, for free. So I'm sure you can go back to Princess Celestia and tell her that we are just fine with our king." When Twilight didn't respond right away the bat pony waved a hoof in front of her face. "Uhh, are you okay?" "B-broken down library... The books..." Twilight tilted slightly to her right side. She would have fell if a pink hoof had not stopped her. "Now why did you go and do that for? She's broke." said Pinkie Pie as she propped up her friend. After a few minutes, and a splash of water to the face, Twilight was better and ready to continue with the meeting. "I don't know what happened to me. I mean yeah a broken down library is a terrible thing, but it isn't bad enough to make my brain break." "That was my fault." said the bat pony mare. The other ponies all looked at her in confusion so she elaborated. "My name is Scary Story, resident bat pony, though I prefer thestral, of Griffinstone. If you take a look at my cutie mark..." she pointed at her flank. "...you will see that it is a lit candle with the wax dripping down into the shape of a pony skull." They got a good look at her cutie mark, although Pinkie thought a different word than cute should be used, and shivered a little bit. "I was gifted with a talent in fear, and can do things like manipulate shadows and generate an aura of fear. That last one is what got to you when I mentioned the broken down library. ...you aren't going to break again are you?" "Ah...no I'm good. Not breaking." Twilight said sheepishly and tapped her head to prove it. "So, getting back on track. Is the king ready to see us?" Scary Story sighed. "I don't know. He just sent me out here to annoy you for a few minutes." "You mean you have been keeping us here for the sake of your own amusement!" Blueblood yelled and stomped up to her. "If you think that I will stand for this insult you are wrong! Do you hear me you little wench? Now if it isn't your job to go find the king then go find whoever's job it is!" "... Well you're right about one thing." Scary Story said in a much different voice than she had been talking with before. The now demonic sounding voice filled Prince Blueblood's ears. "I am not a messenger, and it is not my job to go find anything for you. I am a trusted member of His Royal Highness' personal guard." As the thestral's fear magic touched the air the shadows around her began to come to life. Blueblood was smart enough to take a few steps back from her. "Meep..." he said. The others in the room backed away from her as well, in a different direction from Blueblood. Twilight wanted to step in and prevent Celestia's nephew from being mauled or possibly killed but... Scary Story reached a wing behind her back and pulled out an ax. ...Twilight decided to stay out of it. The thestral stalked towards Prince Blueblood. "Now what was that word you called me?" she asked while smiling widely. "I believe that it started with a W." Introducing part 3Christopher held a screaming Blueblood up and safely away from Scary Story. She of course could fly, but her intention was to frighten him to the point of mental scarring, not to actually hurt him. But the only one that knew that was Christopher so Blueblood had nearly wet himself, and the other three were not willing to risk it. Under any other circumstances Twilight and Pinkie Pie would at least try to help him, though they would never tell Rarity, but the fear aura that Scary Story was putting out kept them from doing anything. This continued for another minute or two until Christopher finally snatched the ax away from her. The thestral pouted and trotted back over to the throne. The fear aura immediately vanished from the room, and the other ponies visibly relaxed. "Well that was disappointing." said a man who was sitting on the throne. He was dressed in classic stereotypical king's attire including a purple robe embroidered with gold patterns, a big crown with a fuzzy white rim, and severa. rings on his fingers. He was currently pouting as he rested his head in his left palm as he leaned to the side. "I was hoping for a show." The ponies all looked at this pasty pale white skinned bipedal creature that was apparently the king of Griffinstone. "What kind of pokemon are you supposed to be?" Pinkie asked the question for them. "Oh, this?" he asked, pointing at himself. "This is just because reasons. I'm currently in the form that I had for most of my life as a human. But this is what I look like now!" They all watched as he began to glow and his body changed shape and shrunk down. When it was over he said "I'm sexy and I know it." Twilight normally did not pay attention to such things, but even she had to agree with the others' thoughts on his sexiness. It was nonexistent. The gelatinous pink blob that sat upon the throne of Griffinstone was definitely not what she would consider sexy. "I can't believe it took this long for me to get out here!" he complained. "I know right!?" Pinkie agreed with him. "Almost three chapters! And it's about how you became king of Griffinstone!" "Yeah, talk about lazy writing." he replied. "Hmmm, not really lazy, more like quick and easy." Pinkie corrected him. "Wait...can you see it?" He asked, genuinely surprised to find out that she could in fact see it, but he had to be sure. "You mean the fourth wall? Yep I sure can!" she said, smiling brightly. "Are... Are you my soul mate?" asked the king. Pinkie tilted her head in thought, first one way and then the other. Nopony had ever asked her that before. She had never thought about it before either. Did she have a soul mate? She did not know how to find out. She thought about it for a while and came to a conclusion. "Nah. I don't think so." "Okie dokie then." the pink blob king said, apparently he had come to the same conclusion. "So what can I do for all of you ponies?" Twilight, Bio Chem, and Blueblood all exhaled a sigh of relief. The thought that Pinkie Pie might possibly be this crazy king's soul mate was terrifying, and the powers that be apparently shared that opinion. There would be no Pinkie King ship setting sail from here. "Well your majesty, we were sent by Princess Celestia to find out what the story is behind you becoming the king of Griffinstone." Twilight explained. Before anything else could be said the Venusaur guard from before entered the room again and stood between them and the main door. He spoke, "Ah ye majesty will be wanting to know about this lot. They tried to force their way inta the city." "Hey! You big fat liar!" Pinkie yelled at him. THOOM! The king had transformed himself into a gigantic one-eyed goat monster, and SLAMMED his now pony sized fist into the floor causing the throne room to quake. "You attack us in the disguise of peaceful dignitaries?!" he asked in the same voice as before...which sounded odd coming from a monster. "Explain yourselves!" "Now-but-we..." Twilight really wished that this was a nightmare. She had been sent on a simple mission to greet a new royal and to investigate his quick rise to the throne, which took only a month, and now she was being accused of assaulting the city of Griffinstone. She was going to be arrested like a criminal, thrown in jail, possibly executed, or WORSE they might send a letter to Celestia who would be very disappointed in her!. "What do ye wish be done with them?" asked the guard. The king transformed into an old partially bald man who was hunched over in green robes. "Throw them..." he paused, causing them to sweat. "...a feast!" As random as the king's decision to throw them a feast was it was much better than the alternative of being punished for a crime that they had not committed. Twilight, Pinkie, Bio Chem, and Blueblood were all led into the dining hall and seated on one end of a long table. On the other end of the table set the king, Scary Story, and Christopher. It was only noon and the food had yet to be cooked so the group had plenty of time to talk. "So, you want to know how it all happened do you?" asked the king as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. He was shaped like had been when they had first seen him. "Where should I start?" "How about you just introduce yourself first, and we can go from there." Twilight suggested. Sitting on her right side was Pinkie Pie who was frantically waving a hoof in the air. "Yes pink one?" the king asked and pointed at her. "Were you a human or a pokemon back on Earth, if you were a human were you a trainer, if you were a pokemon what did you do, where did you live, what did you do for a living, what's your favorite color, what's your favorite food, what's your name, and can we be friends?" Pinkie Pie asked him all in one breath. "Uhh, what she said." Twilight said with a slightly sheepish smile. The king thought about it for a moment and nodded his head. "Those are all perfectly good and random questions." he told them. "That I shall answer one at a time and completely out of order." Twilight was fighting the urge to groan and smack her hoof into her face. Bio Chem chuckled to himself as he remembered that feeling from school where he had to constantly put up with the unicorns who thought that having a horn made you smarter. He found it quite funny to see somepony else in a similar situation. Twilight settled for sending a glare his way. "Can you at least introduce yourself?" Twilight begged the king. "Calling you King all the time is a little uncomfortable for me because the last king I met tried to kill my friends." The king stood up and bowed to her in a proper manner of one who is meeting with royalty for the first time. "Young Princess, Lady Pinkie Pie, good scientist Bio Chem...and Blueblood. I am Joker, comedian, mercenary, butt kicker, most awesome guy alive, breaker of the wall, and the pokemon king of Griffinstone." Meeting“The answer is yes.” Joker told them as he waved a hand to get someone's attention. The ponies all looked at each other in confusion, even Pinkie Pie. “The answer to what?” Twilight asked. A female griffin fluttered in with a menu which she gave to Joker. “She asked if we could be friends, and the answer is yes. We'll have the southwestern appetizers.” Pinkie Pie took out her party cannon, and blasted confetti and ribbons all over the room. She then got very very serious. “This calls for THE biggest party ever in the history of parties that take place in Griffinstone.” “Already taken care of.” Joker leaned back in his king’s chair, and propped his feet up on the table again. “We've got welcome party planned for tomorrow.” “You're throwing us a welcome party?” Blueblood asked with his eyes squinting in suspicion. “Nah. Just a general welcome party.” Scary told them. “Welcome to Equus. Welcome to Griffinstone. You're welcome for saving the city that you live in.” “You saved the kingdom?” Twilight asked. “Yes, but that part of the story can wait.” Joker sat up, and rubbed his hands together as several griffin waitresses brought in serving trays loaded with various kinds of Mexican snack foods. Joker was drooling just a little. “Oh boy! Gordo really outdid himself this time!” Being spread across the table were many baskets of tortilla chips, and bowls of guacamole, melted cheese, and salsa. Jalapenos stuffed with cheese were stacked high, and grilled vegetables were fresh as could be. Each of the ponies’ sheepishly grinned as their stomachs growled. “Ahem. We haven't ate since this morning.” Twilight said sheepishly. “Well don't mind us, and dig in.” Joker said as he held up a plate. “I call this a chimicherry.” “Oh, I love cherrychangas!” Pinkie Pie said, and popped up between him and Christopher. “Chimicherries are pretty good.” Joker put the plate down on the table. “Especially with whipped cream!” Pinkie’s eyes unfocused, and she drooled a little. “Whipped cream~” she shook her head. “Uhh, are you going to eat that cherrychanga?” “...Yes, I am going to eat this chimicherry.” He told her, and he pulled the plate slightly away from her. Pinkie Pie’s eyes narrowed at him as she reached for the plate. “I would like some of your cherrychanga please.” Scary Story rolled her eyes, picked up a knife in her mouth, and cut the pastry in two. “Better?” she asked after spitting out the knife. “Yes!” they both said before swallowing their treats in one gulp. “That hit the spot.” Joker leaned back in content. He then morphed into an air horn and let out a blast that nearly sent Pinkie flying across the room. After he was done, Joker changed back to his human form with the king's robes and big crown. “They should be here in a minute.” Twilight took her hooves away from her ears. “Was that really necessary? And who will be here in a minute?” She was a little nervous about what might happen next. Joker did not bother to answer, and just looked at the door. Soon enough a parade of pokemon came through the door, along with two familiar unicorn brothers. “Hey! What are you two doing here?” Pinkie asked them. “Well look here brother Flim, it appears to be somepony that we know.” Flam said to his twin with a brilliant smile. “Yes indeed brother, and here is another it would seem so.” Flim said to his mustachioed sibling as he smiled at Twilight. “Let's not be rude. We'll tell you about my brother, and me.” Flam told them as he gestured from Flim to himself. “A good idea, but where to begin?. Flim tapped a hoof on his chin. “Why, the beginning is usually best you see.” They both posed to start a song. “Weeee- “No singing. It's against the law.” one of the griffin waitresses told them, and she pointed at a sign for emphasis. “...Oh…” Flim and Flam settled back down, and took their seats since everyone else was at the table already. Joker stood up and whistled. “Ok! Time for introductions. Everyone, these are the ponies, Twilight, Pinkie, Biochem, and Blueblood. Ponies, these are my friends and family.” Joker took an impossibly long breath, and introduced everyone. He cycled through the members of the Royal Flush mercenaries, which was a fairly long list for such a short introduction. “And these three are Jimmy Wobbuffet, Melissa the Deerling, Rai the crotchety old Raichu, and Harley the Cacturne. Well say hello already!” They all spent a few moments greeting each other. Though, Blueblood got bored and decided to sample some of the food. “Blech! What is this abominable food?” he shuttered at the taste. The big, very big, blue pokemon that was practically all stomach glared at the unicorn beside him with his squinted eyes. “It's refried beans on a tortilla chip. Why? Do you not like my cooking, buro?” “...Um?” Gordo saved Blueblood the trouble of answering by belching in his face. Blueblood fell over onto his back with his legs in the air, and one of his hooves twitched. “Nice one!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “All of my friends.” Joker got everyone's attention. “The Princess, Twilight Sparkle has come to Griffinstone to see its progress after my crowning. However I think it more wise to hear my story in full, as we have only been here for a little over a month. Since many of you are my friends from before who I have known for many years, and you still don't know my past, I have invited all of you here to hear it.” “So like my momma used to say.” the pokemon king of Griffinstone raised a glass to all of his guests. “Life is like a box of poffins, you never know what you're going to get.” “Copyright infringement!” Pinkie Pie yelled as her Pinkie sense acted up. Then she sat upright and glanced around suspiciously. “I get the feeling that I we're being watched.” Deep underground beneath the Abysmal Abyss, in a cave unknown to the griffins above a sinister being gazes upon the gathering with red eyes. If not for his eyes, and his sharp teeth he could walk the land above without notice. He sneers when he sees Pinkie Pie notice his spying. “Hmm. It seems that the pink pony has the sense. I haven't met one with that power since...that white pegasus. No matter, she can only sense what is happening, and if nothing is happening then she senses nothing.” the speaker turned his horned head away from the crystal that showed him the vision, and the ringing of bells sounded from his movements. His cloven hooves clicked on the stone floor of the deep cavern that was his lair, and he addressed his minions without bothering to look at them. “Have the workers sleep until I say to awaken them.” Arimaspi grunted and did as he was told. The cyclopic goat monster grasped the mystic talisman that hung from his neck, and waved his free hand at the thralls that his master uses in place of living slaves. Sleep. The undead ponies, griffins, diamond dogs, and even a few undead arimaspi all stopped what they were doing to obey. They all lay down simultaneously, and spoke three words. “We obey, Grogar.” The story starts“Now it's a little hard for me to remember everything because, you know, crazy. But I can remember enough to give you a good look at who I am. Be warned though, I didn't start out crazy, so at some point this will become a very sad story.” the man told all of those present before he sat down. A few seats down from Christopher a pokemon that looked like an orange lizard with loose partially shed skin hanging from his shoulders and waist, and a mohawk of red scales on his head chuckled. He propped his arms behind his head, and looked up at Joker. “Another origin story, Joker? Which one will it be zis time, eh? Abducted by aliens, or cloned from a ninja?” The king threw his arms wide, and smiled widely. “What can I say, Roi? If I have to have an origin, I want it to be multiple choice!” at this, Roi and the rest of the Royal Flush mercenaries shared a laugh for the old joke. “But this is how it really happened.” “Hehe, sure it's, Joker. Sure it is.” Roi waved him off at first, but then he saw that his friend was not smiling. “Wait...you're actually going to tell us.” It was not a question, but a spoken fact. Roi knew when the man was joking, and when he was not. “I feel as if ve are missing something.” Biochem rubbed his chin. “Could someone perhaps fill us in.” “Joker enjoys telling a different version of his past every time someone asks about it.” Roi explained to the ponies. “But now...I think we will hear the real thing.” Joker smiled again, but it was not his usual madman’s smile. It was the smile of a man who finally knew it was ok. “This is my story, and it all started when I ran away to join the circus.” A collective smack filled the dining hall as everyone applied a hand, hoof, paw, wing, or other appendage to their faces. “What?” Joker looked at them in confusion. When nobody responded he eventually shrugged and moved on. “I don't think you need to hear every detail about my life...or want to… “Most kids go to the local Professor after their tenth birthday to get their pokedex and trainer's license so they can begin the journey of discovery that is the life of a pokemon trainer. I on the other hand, did not have a desire to be a professional trainer, so after my tenth birthday I ran away to join the circus.” Joker explained, mostly for the ponies who may not know how things worked on Earth. “Lucky for me there actually was a circus in town that day, but it was packed up to leave, so I hid in one of their train cars and travelled with them to the next town. And it was on that train that I met my first pokemon friend.” The air in the dining hall became very wavy, signaling a flashback. A young boy of ten sat alone in a dark train car as it rumbled along the tracks towards its next destination. He had no money, no spare clothes, and no idea where he was going. But he was on his way, somewhere, to join the circus. He could not wait to be a clown. His stomach growled. “Food?” He got up and stumbled around in the dark, trying to find a light to turn on. Click. “Well that's lucky.” He was in the snack car, surrounded by popcorn, cotton candy, peanuts, and hotdogs. Not having any way to cook anything, he opened a bag of peanuts and set out some hotdogs for later. After a few minutes he heard something that was not his stomach growling. He grabbed a stick of cotton candy as a weapon and advanced through the train car in search of the sound. He found it; a small pokemon was chewing at the hotdogs he had set out, but the plastic wrapper kept getting stuck in its teeth. “Meowth! Meowth meowth meowth.” It was a cream colored cat with patches of brown on its ears, hind paws, and the curled end of its tail. It had whiskers growing from around where it should have had a nose (two on either side and two above its eyes), and a gold medallion rested on its forehead. It was a Meowth. “Here, let me help.” the boy reached for the food when he saw the cat pokemon spit out some plastic. “Meowth!” the feline complained about the human taking its food. “Here ya go!” he pulled out a hotdog and gave it to the pokemon. “Meowth?” the cat took it and ate it, and smiled at the human. “Meowth!” “You're welcome.” The boy remembered his cotton candy and decided to take a bite that was a little too big. He started to cough as a lot of the sugar went down the wrong way. “Meowth?!” The pokemon rammed into him with a Tackle, knocking him to the floor and making him successfully cough up the junk food. “...ow…” “Meowth?” The cat lightly slapped a paw on his face. “Meowth?” “I'm ok.” He blinked at the pokemon sitting on his chest, and suddenly hugged it. “You saved my life! Thank you!” “WHAT THE HELL!?” They looked around to see a man in a red dress coat and a big top hat, with a large mustache, and a rather angry frown. They were not able to see him for long before he threw them off the train. They both rolled down a hill, tumbling head over heels the whole way down, and only stopped when they splashed into a creek. “Turned out we were there for a few hours and the ringmaster didn't appreciate us eating a bunch of the food for free.” Joker clarified for everyone. “So he threw us off the train. Perfectly logical.” Twilight Sparkle balked at him. “Two questions. First; WHAT JUST HAPPENED!? Second; He threw you off of a moving train!?” “I have four Psychic types sitting...floating right there.” he pointed to the beheeyem, starmie, solrock, and lunatone. “Between the four of them there's enough Psychic power here to make you actually remember that you were there without it seeming like the normal illusions of a Psychic pokemon. Seamlessly.” Roi whispered to one of his teammates, a large black crocodile pokemon. “I was wondering why he kept those nerds around.” “They can just do that vhenever they vant?” Biochem asked. “Well...no.” Several of the other pokemon and ponies around the table visibly relaxed. “They have to be in a trance state that lets their minds work in perfect sync.” The air got wavy again. “Oh, another flashback.” Pinkie Pie announced. “I've got popcorn!” Takes a promise to heartSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Annoys a PrincessSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Let a smile be your shieldSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Introducing part 1Twilight finished reading the reports that Celestia had given her for the seventh time since they had got on the train. If she could say one thing about the reports it was that they were something alright. One said that the king had officially renamed Tuesday, Taco Tuesday. It sounded like something that Pinkie Pie would do, which explained why the perpetually peppy pink party pony had come along with them. Pinkie was bouncing back and forth along the train, occasionally popping up in a seat to stare out of a window. She had appeared just as they were getting on the train by climbing out of a suitcase. When asked what she was doing Pinkie had told Twilight that her Pinkie sense was telling her that there was going to be a super duper party where they were going. "And I can't miss a party like that!" Pinkie had shouted. Blueblood was being his normal self. Which means that he was bossing the train staff around like they were his personal servants. Though there did seem to be a very small improvement in his attitude towards pokemon if how he treated the one helping the ponies was any indication. He was still a royal pain as Rarity would put it, and he kept giving the Slurpuff any ridiculous order he could think of for his own amusement, but he was careful to not call it an animal. Twilight glanced across the train car at the other stallion that had come with them. She looked him up and down from his white mane and brown coat, to his DNA helix cutie mark. She kept looking at his cutie mark as she thought about him. They had been classmates and science partners in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns or PCSGU for short, which he was able to attend despite being an earth pony because of him being a legitimate genius like herself. Also like her he had a tendency to experiment and invent in his lab. Unlike Twilight however Bio Chem's experiments and inventions often resulted in explosions, which was bad for PCSGU as he was the professor of genetics. He was coming with them because of his most recent explosion, which happened when he attempted to put a Voltorb into his special x-ray machine. Twilight had been meaning to reestablish their friendship over the past month ever since they had met back up in Canterlot to help Celestia with the pokemon, but stuff kept happening to prevent her from doing that. Bio Chem was currently going through his notes on pokemon biology at a near ravenous pace as he had been banned from studying pokemon while in Canterlot until the repairs were finished, but they were not in Canterlot. Celestia had personally asked Twilight to get him out of her hair, and the city, for a while and to keep him out of trouble while in Griffinstone, or at least keep him from blowing it up. "What are you looking at Twilight?" asked Pinkie Pie who had popped up in the seat in front of Twilight and was watching her watch the stallion. Twilight was about to answer, but suddenly realized that she had basically been staring at a stallion's flank for at least a minute or two. "Nothing!" she said nervously. Pinkie looked her in the eye with a rather intense expression for a moment, before she bounced away saying "Okie dokie lokie." Twilight sighed in relief. When the train reached its destination the four ponies stepped off and walked towards the towering city as the day reached noon. They were stopped at the gate by a pokemon that was apparently acting as a city guard. It was a large quadruped with blue skin, a vaguely frog like appearance, and an enormous flower growing out of its back. It spoke to them with an accent similar to the ponies of the Coltic highlands. "Stop where ye stand ye wee ponyta." it ordered them in a gravelly voice. "Speak yer purpose here in Griffinstone." Twilight started to answer but was interrupted by Blueblood. The prince walked right by her and stomped a hoof down in front of the pokemon. "You are speaking to royalty, and shall address us as such you brute. Now step aside and let us through, that is a royal order." The pokemon blinked, and then he grinned in amusement. "Aye ye be royals do ye? Then I guess ye will be wanting the royal treatment?" "Well obviously." the unicorn stallion rolled his eyes. The Venusaur guard walked into the throne room with the four ponies held in his vines. Pinkie Pie and Twilight were in the left vine while Bio Chem and an upside down Blueblood were in the right vine. The Venusaur walked on in right up to the center of the room and dropped them. Twilight, Bio Chem, and Blueblood all rubbed the sore spots from where they landed, while Pinkie Pie bounced a few times. "And there ye have the royal treatment. Do let me know if ye need anything else." said the large Grass type. Bio Chem leaned over and whispered to Twilight and pointed at Blueblood. "Do I have permission to blow him up your highness? They are sure to have some combustible chemicals around here somewhere." "....hmm, maybe later." she told him. Twilight took a look around the throne room. Princess Celestia had told her that Griffinstone had been a...well a dump for quite some time ever since its great treasure was stolen from the last king. You couldn't tell by looking at the throne room, and right in the middle on a stump of wood was the treasure. "That explains it. The new king must have returned it, therefore returning the griffins of Griffinstone to their former glory, and then they named him king." "That is correct." The ponies looked to the new speaker as he entered. The Dragon was not very large compared to a fully grown dragon of Equus, but he strode in confidently with a calm and patient attitude, and he still stood well over the heads of the ponies. He was orange with a tan belly, wings with green insides that looked a little small for his size, and in his head was a small spike like horn with an antenna on either side. He spoke politely with a simple voice that was not deep but strong, giving the impression that he was a dependable and brave person. "You're the first ponies we've seen other than a single thestral. I hope I'm not the first to properly welcome you Griffinstone." "Unfortunately you are, though that is mostly because someone..." Twilight pointedly looked at Blueblood. "...was rude to the guard at the gate." "Oh him, sorry about that. He's used to being in charge so he can be a little testy now. So what can I do for all of you?" Twilight stepped forward and greeted him with a bow, fanning her wings out to the side as she did. "Your highness, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, and it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance and to congratulate you on your new position as the king of Griffinstone." "Oh, I'm not the king." he told her with a smile. "I'm just a farmer. My name is Christopher, and it is my pleasure to meet you Princess Twilight Sparkle." He then bowed to her. "Oh! My goodness that is embarrassing." Twilight said sheepishly. "Um, thank you. So is the king around here somewhere?" "He'll be here in a minute or so. In the meantime you can introduce me to your friends." Christopher waved at the other three ponies. "Of course." Twilight smiled and waved at each of her companions as she introduced them. "This is one of my best friends Pinkie Pie, my friend and old classmate Bio Chem, and Prince Blueblood." Christopher felt a dull thus as Pinkie Pie collided with his chest and hugged him, somehow making it feel like she had wrapped her hooves all the way around him even though she hadn't. "It's so great to meet a new friend who just so happens to also be a farmer! My friend/possible cousin Applejack is an apple farmer, and I even grew up on a farm, but we farmed rocks not food, except for the special rocks that my sister Maud discovered which we make into rock candy, here have some." Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out two pieces of rock candy, one red the other blue, and shoved them in his mouth. Christopher had to wait for everything she had said to process in his mind before he could respond. When he was caught up he chewed up the candy with a lot of loud crunching and swallowed before speaking. "Nice flavor. Reminds me of my Ma's homemade candy. It's nice to meet you Pinkie Pie." He then hugged her. "Wow...you're strong...too tight...too tight!" she said in gasping breaths, and when he let go her body had dents where his arms had been. Pinkie took a deep breath and blew it into her hoof to puff herself back up. "Sorry about that." the Dragon said. Bio Chem introduced himself next. "It is nice to meet you Christopher, but please don't hug me. I don't think I would fare as vell as Pinkie Pie." "No problem." Christopher scratched his head as he smiled down at the stallion. "Do you have any questions? You look like the inquisitive type." If Bio Chem had been a unicorn, or Pinkie Pie, he would have produced a notepad and a writing quill with no problem, but instead he fumbled as he tried to hold them in his front hooves while balancing on his hind legs. He decided after the third stumble to simply memorize the answers to his questions, and tossed the items away narrowly missing hitting Blueblood in the head. "Mein Freund, I have many questions indeed." the stallion said to the Dragon. "To start with, what kind of pokemon are you exactly?"
Introducing part 2Christopher finished answering another of Bio Chem's many questions. He was very patient with the science pony, and even elaborated on a few subjects that he had not actually asked about. As a result they were standing there for quite a few minutes with the other ponies just waiting. Twilight was okay with that as she got to learn about a species of pokemon that she had not seen before, Pinkie Pie kept getting bored and then finding little things to amuse herself like the paper airplanes she was currently throwing at Blueblood. The prince however had lost his patience with everyone. "Oh for the love of Auntie Celestia!" Blueblood yelled. He took Bio Chem by the shoulders and shook him. "Stop asking so many questions! If you ask one more question so help me I'll introduce you to that Muk pokemon that hugged me!" Christopher winced at that. Getting hugged by a Muk was probably the worst possible nonviolent thing that could happen to a royal. "Ahem, right well as much as I would like to continue with the questions myself, Blueblood has a bit of a point." Twilight pointed out. "We aren't here to learn about you Christopher, no offense, but we are here to meet the king." "Yeah, if this were a story that someone was writing we would have been here for like a whole chapter, well more like part of a chapter." Pinkie said to everyone causing them much confusion. "Uh, okay then." Twilight decided to just accept it because it was Pinkie. "Will the king be out soon?" "He should be. He just had a small civil matter to settle for a couple of griffins." Christopher assured them. After he said that a big male griffin ran through the throne room yelling about a she-demon, and quickly ran out the main door. From where he had come there came the sound of hoof steps. A doorway to the left of the throne seemed to grow darker than the rest of the room as a bat pony stepped out of it. She had the usual slitted eyes of her kind colored orange, silvery hair that flowed freely for an elegantly chaotic mane and tail style, and her coat was the same midnight black as Nightmare Moon's. "The king will see you now." she told the other ponies, her voice was a bit growly but still the voice of a young mare. When she trotted away from the door and moved across the room to stand beside the throne, the shadows moved with her. Using her wings she took out a notepad and a writing quill. "Who is visiting and what is there purpose?" "Finally!" Blueblood exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how long we have been waiting out here? What was so important that your king wouldn't come to see visiting royalty?" The bat pony mare just looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "I'm sorry. Now please state your name and purpose." Twilight spoke up before Blueblood could. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria and this is Prince Blueblood of Equestria. We and our friends are here to welcome the new king of Griffinstone to Equus and to check out how much has changed." The bat pony mare just looked at her with her eyebrow raised again before speaking. "Let me save you some time and trouble with your investigation Princess Twilight Sparkle. Griffinstone was left to its own devices for centuries, longer actually. Neither Equestria, which Griffinstone is supposed to be a part of, nor Griffinheim the ancestral home of the Griffin people ever gave any kind of assistance or aid when this place was at its loest. The King has, in one month mind you, done more for the folks here than anyone of you Canterlot nobles. The broken down library has been rebuilt and will eventually serve as a schoolhouse when there are enough children. The chasm that no-one can fly across now has tunnel bridges built across to let us walk to the other side without falling in. There is a bucking grove of trees growing nearby that will start providing fresh fruit next year, for free. So I'm sure you can go back to Princess Celestia and tell her that we are just fine with our king." When Twilight didn't respond right away the bat pony waved a hoof in front of her face. "Uhh, are you okay?" "B-broken down library... The books..." Twilight tilted slightly to her right side. She would have fell if a pink hoof had not stopped her. "Now why did you go and do that for? She's broke." said Pinkie Pie as she propped up her friend. After a few minutes, and a splash of water to the face, Twilight was better and ready to continue with the meeting. "I don't know what happened to me. I mean yeah a broken down library is a terrible thing, but it isn't bad enough to make my brain break." "That was my fault." said the bat pony mare. The other ponies all looked at her in confusion so she elaborated. "My name is Scary Story, resident bat pony, though I prefer thestral, of Griffinstone. If you take a look at my cutie mark..." she pointed at her flank. "...you will see that it is a lit candle with the wax dripping down into the shape of a pony skull." They got a good look at her cutie mark, although Pinkie thought a different word than cute should be used, and shivered a little bit. "I was gifted with a talent in fear, and can do things like manipulate shadows and generate an aura of fear. That last one is what got to you when I mentioned the broken down library. ...you aren't going to break again are you?" "Ah...no I'm good. Not breaking." Twilight said sheepishly and tapped her head to prove it. "So, getting back on track. Is the king ready to see us?" Scary Story sighed. "I don't know. He just sent me out here to annoy you for a few minutes." "You mean you have been keeping us here for the sake of your own amusement!" Blueblood yelled and stomped up to her. "If you think that I will stand for this insult you are wrong! Do you hear me you little wench? Now if it isn't your job to go find the king then go find whoever's job it is!" "... Well you're right about one thing." Scary Story said in a much different voice than she had been talking with before. The now demonic sounding voice filled Prince Blueblood's ears. "I am not a messenger, and it is not my job to go find anything for you. I am a trusted member of His Royal Highness' personal guard." As the thestral's fear magic touched the air the shadows around her began to come to life. Blueblood was smart enough to take a few steps back from her. "Meep..." he said. The others in the room backed away from her as well, in a different direction from Blueblood. Twilight wanted to step in and prevent Celestia's nephew from being mauled or possibly killed but... Scary Story reached a wing behind her back and pulled out an ax. ...Twilight decided to stay out of it. The thestral stalked towards Prince Blueblood. "Now what was that word you called me?" she asked while smiling widely. "I believe that it started with a W."
Introducing part 3Christopher held a screaming Blueblood up and safely away from Scary Story. She of course could fly, but her intention was to frighten him to the point of mental scarring, not to actually hurt him. But the only one that knew that was Christopher so Blueblood had nearly wet himself, and the other three were not willing to risk it. Under any other circumstances Twilight and Pinkie Pie would at least try to help him, though they would never tell Rarity, but the fear aura that Scary Story was putting out kept them from doing anything. This continued for another minute or two until Christopher finally snatched the ax away from her. The thestral pouted and trotted back over to the throne. The fear aura immediately vanished from the room, and the other ponies visibly relaxed. "Well that was disappointing." said a man who was sitting on the throne. He was dressed in classic stereotypical king's attire including a purple robe embroidered with gold patterns, a big crown with a fuzzy white rim, and severa. rings on his fingers. He was currently pouting as he rested his head in his left palm as he leaned to the side. "I was hoping for a show." The ponies all looked at this pasty pale white skinned bipedal creature that was apparently the king of Griffinstone. "What kind of pokemon are you supposed to be?" Pinkie asked the question for them. "Oh, this?" he asked, pointing at himself. "This is just because reasons. I'm currently in the form that I had for most of my life as a human. But this is what I look like now!" They all watched as he began to glow and his body changed shape and shrunk down. When it was over he said "I'm sexy and I know it." Twilight normally did not pay attention to such things, but even she had to agree with the others' thoughts on his sexiness. It was nonexistent. The gelatinous pink blob that sat upon the throne of Griffinstone was definitely not what she would consider sexy. "I can't believe it took this long for me to get out here!" he complained. "I know right!?" Pinkie agreed with him. "Almost three chapters! And it's about how you became king of Griffinstone!" "Yeah, talk about lazy writing." he replied. "Hmmm, not really lazy, more like quick and easy." Pinkie corrected him. "Wait...can you see it?" He asked, genuinely surprised to find out that she could in fact see it, but he had to be sure. "You mean the fourth wall? Yep I sure can!" she said, smiling brightly. "Are... Are you my soul mate?" asked the king. Pinkie tilted her head in thought, first one way and then the other. Nopony had ever asked her that before. She had never thought about it before either. Did she have a soul mate? She did not know how to find out. She thought about it for a while and came to a conclusion. "Nah. I don't think so." "Okie dokie then." the pink blob king said, apparently he had come to the same conclusion. "So what can I do for all of you ponies?" Twilight, Bio Chem, and Blueblood all exhaled a sigh of relief. The thought that Pinkie Pie might possibly be this crazy king's soul mate was terrifying, and the powers that be apparently shared that opinion. There would be no Pinkie King ship setting sail from here. "Well your majesty, we were sent by Princess Celestia to find out what the story is behind you becoming the king of Griffinstone." Twilight explained. Before anything else could be said the Venusaur guard from before entered the room again and stood between them and the main door. He spoke, "Ah ye majesty will be wanting to know about this lot. They tried to force their way inta the city." "Hey! You big fat liar!" Pinkie yelled at him. THOOM! The king had transformed himself into a gigantic one-eyed goat monster, and SLAMMED his now pony sized fist into the floor causing the throne room to quake. "You attack us in the disguise of peaceful dignitaries?!" he asked in the same voice as before...which sounded odd coming from a monster. "Explain yourselves!" "Now-but-we..." Twilight really wished that this was a nightmare. She had been sent on a simple mission to greet a new royal and to investigate his quick rise to the throne, which took only a month, and now she was being accused of assaulting the city of Griffinstone. She was going to be arrested like a criminal, thrown in jail, possibly executed, or WORSE they might send a letter to Celestia who would be very disappointed in her!. "What do ye wish be done with them?" asked the guard. The king transformed into an old partially bald man who was hunched over in green robes. "Throw them..." he paused, causing them to sweat. "...a feast!" As random as the king's decision to throw them a feast was it was much better than the alternative of being punished for a crime that they had not committed. Twilight, Pinkie, Bio Chem, and Blueblood were all led into the dining hall and seated on one end of a long table. On the other end of the table set the king, Scary Story, and Christopher. It was only noon and the food had yet to be cooked so the group had plenty of time to talk. "So, you want to know how it all happened do you?" asked the king as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. He was shaped like had been when they had first seen him. "Where should I start?" "How about you just introduce yourself first, and we can go from there." Twilight suggested. Sitting on her right side was Pinkie Pie who was frantically waving a hoof in the air. "Yes pink one?" the king asked and pointed at her. "Were you a human or a pokemon back on Earth, if you were a human were you a trainer, if you were a pokemon what did you do, where did you live, what did you do for a living, what's your favorite color, what's your favorite food, what's your name, and can we be friends?" Pinkie Pie asked him all in one breath. "Uhh, what she said." Twilight said with a slightly sheepish smile. The king thought about it for a moment and nodded his head. "Those are all perfectly good and random questions." he told them. "That I shall answer one at a time and completely out of order." Twilight was fighting the urge to groan and smack her hoof into her face. Bio Chem chuckled to himself as he remembered that feeling from school where he had to constantly put up with the unicorns who thought that having a horn made you smarter. He found it quite funny to see somepony else in a similar situation. Twilight settled for sending a glare his way. "Can you at least introduce yourself?" Twilight begged the king. "Calling you King all the time is a little uncomfortable for me because the last king I met tried to kill my friends." The king stood up and bowed to her in a proper manner of one who is meeting with royalty for the first time. "Young Princess, Lady Pinkie Pie, good scientist Bio Chem...and Blueblood. I am Joker, comedian, mercenary, butt kicker, most awesome guy alive, breaker of the wall, and the pokemon king of Griffinstone."
Meeting“The answer is yes.” Joker told them as he waved a hand to get someone's attention. The ponies all looked at each other in confusion, even Pinkie Pie. “The answer to what?” Twilight asked. A female griffin fluttered in with a menu which she gave to Joker. “She asked if we could be friends, and the answer is yes. We'll have the southwestern appetizers.” Pinkie Pie took out her party cannon, and blasted confetti and ribbons all over the room. She then got very very serious. “This calls for THE biggest party ever in the history of parties that take place in Griffinstone.” “Already taken care of.” Joker leaned back in his king’s chair, and propped his feet up on the table again. “We've got welcome party planned for tomorrow.” “You're throwing us a welcome party?” Blueblood asked with his eyes squinting in suspicion. “Nah. Just a general welcome party.” Scary told them. “Welcome to Equus. Welcome to Griffinstone. You're welcome for saving the city that you live in.” “You saved the kingdom?” Twilight asked. “Yes, but that part of the story can wait.” Joker sat up, and rubbed his hands together as several griffin waitresses brought in serving trays loaded with various kinds of Mexican snack foods. Joker was drooling just a little. “Oh boy! Gordo really outdid himself this time!” Being spread across the table were many baskets of tortilla chips, and bowls of guacamole, melted cheese, and salsa. Jalapenos stuffed with cheese were stacked high, and grilled vegetables were fresh as could be. Each of the ponies’ sheepishly grinned as their stomachs growled. “Ahem. We haven't ate since this morning.” Twilight said sheepishly. “Well don't mind us, and dig in.” Joker said as he held up a plate. “I call this a chimicherry.” “Oh, I love cherrychangas!” Pinkie Pie said, and popped up between him and Christopher. “Chimicherries are pretty good.” Joker put the plate down on the table. “Especially with whipped cream!” Pinkie’s eyes unfocused, and she drooled a little. “Whipped cream~” she shook her head. “Uhh, are you going to eat that cherrychanga?” “...Yes, I am going to eat this chimicherry.” He told her, and he pulled the plate slightly away from her. Pinkie Pie’s eyes narrowed at him as she reached for the plate. “I would like some of your cherrychanga please.” Scary Story rolled her eyes, picked up a knife in her mouth, and cut the pastry in two. “Better?” she asked after spitting out the knife. “Yes!” they both said before swallowing their treats in one gulp. “That hit the spot.” Joker leaned back in content. He then morphed into an air horn and let out a blast that nearly sent Pinkie flying across the room. After he was done, Joker changed back to his human form with the king's robes and big crown. “They should be here in a minute.” Twilight took her hooves away from her ears. “Was that really necessary? And who will be here in a minute?” She was a little nervous about what might happen next. Joker did not bother to answer, and just looked at the door. Soon enough a parade of pokemon came through the door, along with two familiar unicorn brothers. “Hey! What are you two doing here?” Pinkie asked them. “Well look here brother Flim, it appears to be somepony that we know.” Flam said to his twin with a brilliant smile. “Yes indeed brother, and here is another it would seem so.” Flim said to his mustachioed sibling as he smiled at Twilight. “Let's not be rude. We'll tell you about my brother, and me.” Flam told them as he gestured from Flim to himself. “A good idea, but where to begin?. Flim tapped a hoof on his chin. “Why, the beginning is usually best you see.” They both posed to start a song. “Weeee- “No singing. It's against the law.” one of the griffin waitresses told them, and she pointed at a sign for emphasis. “...Oh…” Flim and Flam settled back down, and took their seats since everyone else was at the table already. Joker stood up and whistled. “Ok! Time for introductions. Everyone, these are the ponies, Twilight, Pinkie, Biochem, and Blueblood. Ponies, these are my friends and family.” Joker took an impossibly long breath, and introduced everyone. He cycled through the members of the Royal Flush mercenaries, which was a fairly long list for such a short introduction. “And these three are Jimmy Wobbuffet, Melissa the Deerling, Rai the crotchety old Raichu, and Harley the Cacturne. Well say hello already!” They all spent a few moments greeting each other. Though, Blueblood got bored and decided to sample some of the food. “Blech! What is this abominable food?” he shuttered at the taste. The big, very big, blue pokemon that was practically all stomach glared at the unicorn beside him with his squinted eyes. “It's refried beans on a tortilla chip. Why? Do you not like my cooking, buro?” “...Um?” Gordo saved Blueblood the trouble of answering by belching in his face. Blueblood fell over onto his back with his legs in the air, and one of his hooves twitched. “Nice one!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “All of my friends.” Joker got everyone's attention. “The Princess, Twilight Sparkle has come to Griffinstone to see its progress after my crowning. However I think it more wise to hear my story in full, as we have only been here for a little over a month. Since many of you are my friends from before who I have known for many years, and you still don't know my past, I have invited all of you here to hear it.” “So like my momma used to say.” the pokemon king of Griffinstone raised a glass to all of his guests. “Life is like a box of poffins, you never know what you're going to get.” “Copyright infringement!” Pinkie Pie yelled as her Pinkie sense acted up. Then she sat upright and glanced around suspiciously. “I get the feeling that I we're being watched.” Deep underground beneath the Abysmal Abyss, in a cave unknown to the griffins above a sinister being gazes upon the gathering with red eyes. If not for his eyes, and his sharp teeth he could walk the land above without notice. He sneers when he sees Pinkie Pie notice his spying. “Hmm. It seems that the pink pony has the sense. I haven't met one with that power since...that white pegasus. No matter, she can only sense what is happening, and if nothing is happening then she senses nothing.” the speaker turned his horned head away from the crystal that showed him the vision, and the ringing of bells sounded from his movements. His cloven hooves clicked on the stone floor of the deep cavern that was his lair, and he addressed his minions without bothering to look at them. “Have the workers sleep until I say to awaken them.” Arimaspi grunted and did as he was told. The cyclopic goat monster grasped the mystic talisman that hung from his neck, and waved his free hand at the thralls that his master uses in place of living slaves. Sleep. The undead ponies, griffins, diamond dogs, and even a few undead arimaspi all stopped what they were doing to obey. They all lay down simultaneously, and spoke three words. “We obey, Grogar.”
The story starts“Now it's a little hard for me to remember everything because, you know, crazy. But I can remember enough to give you a good look at who I am. Be warned though, I didn't start out crazy, so at some point this will become a very sad story.” the man told all of those present before he sat down. A few seats down from Christopher a pokemon that looked like an orange lizard with loose partially shed skin hanging from his shoulders and waist, and a mohawk of red scales on his head chuckled. He propped his arms behind his head, and looked up at Joker. “Another origin story, Joker? Which one will it be zis time, eh? Abducted by aliens, or cloned from a ninja?” The king threw his arms wide, and smiled widely. “What can I say, Roi? If I have to have an origin, I want it to be multiple choice!” at this, Roi and the rest of the Royal Flush mercenaries shared a laugh for the old joke. “But this is how it really happened.” “Hehe, sure it's, Joker. Sure it is.” Roi waved him off at first, but then he saw that his friend was not smiling. “Wait...you're actually going to tell us.” It was not a question, but a spoken fact. Roi knew when the man was joking, and when he was not. “I feel as if ve are missing something.” Biochem rubbed his chin. “Could someone perhaps fill us in.” “Joker enjoys telling a different version of his past every time someone asks about it.” Roi explained to the ponies. “But now...I think we will hear the real thing.” Joker smiled again, but it was not his usual madman’s smile. It was the smile of a man who finally knew it was ok. “This is my story, and it all started when I ran away to join the circus.” A collective smack filled the dining hall as everyone applied a hand, hoof, paw, wing, or other appendage to their faces. “What?” Joker looked at them in confusion. When nobody responded he eventually shrugged and moved on. “I don't think you need to hear every detail about my life...or want to… “Most kids go to the local Professor after their tenth birthday to get their pokedex and trainer's license so they can begin the journey of discovery that is the life of a pokemon trainer. I on the other hand, did not have a desire to be a professional trainer, so after my tenth birthday I ran away to join the circus.” Joker explained, mostly for the ponies who may not know how things worked on Earth. “Lucky for me there actually was a circus in town that day, but it was packed up to leave, so I hid in one of their train cars and travelled with them to the next town. And it was on that train that I met my first pokemon friend.” The air in the dining hall became very wavy, signaling a flashback. A young boy of ten sat alone in a dark train car as it rumbled along the tracks towards its next destination. He had no money, no spare clothes, and no idea where he was going. But he was on his way, somewhere, to join the circus. He could not wait to be a clown. His stomach growled. “Food?” He got up and stumbled around in the dark, trying to find a light to turn on. Click. “Well that's lucky.” He was in the snack car, surrounded by popcorn, cotton candy, peanuts, and hotdogs. Not having any way to cook anything, he opened a bag of peanuts and set out some hotdogs for later. After a few minutes he heard something that was not his stomach growling. He grabbed a stick of cotton candy as a weapon and advanced through the train car in search of the sound. He found it; a small pokemon was chewing at the hotdogs he had set out, but the plastic wrapper kept getting stuck in its teeth. “Meowth! Meowth meowth meowth.” It was a cream colored cat with patches of brown on its ears, hind paws, and the curled end of its tail. It had whiskers growing from around where it should have had a nose (two on either side and two above its eyes), and a gold medallion rested on its forehead. It was a Meowth. “Here, let me help.” the boy reached for the food when he saw the cat pokemon spit out some plastic. “Meowth!” the feline complained about the human taking its food. “Here ya go!” he pulled out a hotdog and gave it to the pokemon. “Meowth?” the cat took it and ate it, and smiled at the human. “Meowth!” “You're welcome.” The boy remembered his cotton candy and decided to take a bite that was a little too big. He started to cough as a lot of the sugar went down the wrong way. “Meowth?!” The pokemon rammed into him with a Tackle, knocking him to the floor and making him successfully cough up the junk food. “...ow…” “Meowth?” The cat lightly slapped a paw on his face. “Meowth?” “I'm ok.” He blinked at the pokemon sitting on his chest, and suddenly hugged it. “You saved my life! Thank you!” “WHAT THE HELL!?” They looked around to see a man in a red dress coat and a big top hat, with a large mustache, and a rather angry frown. They were not able to see him for long before he threw them off the train. They both rolled down a hill, tumbling head over heels the whole way down, and only stopped when they splashed into a creek. “Turned out we were there for a few hours and the ringmaster didn't appreciate us eating a bunch of the food for free.” Joker clarified for everyone. “So he threw us off the train. Perfectly logical.” Twilight Sparkle balked at him. “Two questions. First; WHAT JUST HAPPENED!? Second; He threw you off of a moving train!?” “I have four Psychic types sitting...floating right there.” he pointed to the beheeyem, starmie, solrock, and lunatone. “Between the four of them there's enough Psychic power here to make you actually remember that you were there without it seeming like the normal illusions of a Psychic pokemon. Seamlessly.” Roi whispered to one of his teammates, a large black crocodile pokemon. “I was wondering why he kept those nerds around.” “They can just do that vhenever they vant?” Biochem asked. “Well...no.” Several of the other pokemon and ponies around the table visibly relaxed. “They have to be in a trance state that lets their minds work in perfect sync.” The air got wavy again. “Oh, another flashback.” Pinkie Pie announced. “I've got popcorn!”
Takes a promise to heartSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Let a smile be your shieldSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
