Arms of Arceus

“The children are sleeping, now,” Luna said as she walked into the playroom of the Pokémon daycare.

“You put Juelz in a different room, right?” asked a short Raichu in a pink, sparkling skirt. A matching bow was attached to one of her ears, and on her chest was a larger bow.

“I did. He was… saddened,” Luna said as she held back a sob. “I sat with him and sang until he fell asleep.”

“I know that it’s sad to see a child so young cry, but we have our rules. Juelz never should have left to visit the frontline, and he never should have tried to tell the other children about his experiences. They’re all far too young to know of such things.”

“He was haunted, despite his strong front. I’ve cast a spell, though. He will only know sweet dreams during nap time.”

“He’ll be happier once his parents arrive to pick him up,” the Raichu said as she finished putting away the toys. “A short nap before its time to go always puts the children in good spirits for the ride home.”

“Piku, what do you think of our situation?” Luna asked. Despite her focus on the children, she hadn’t been able to keep from thinking about the violence outside. It was only through conscious effort that she didn’t show this.

“I think that my little brother and the other council members can handle whatever comes our way,” Piku replied. Her lightning bolt tail twitched a bit as she spoke, and there was a hint of a question in her voice. She put away the final toy, then turned to the princess.

“Is it really that bad out there?” she asked, fearfully.

“It is,” Luna replied. The normally stalwart Raichu slumped slightly as the words hit. Luna walked forward and smiled as she put a hoof on her shoulder. “Fear not, my friend. We will prevail, and the children will be safe. Of this, I have no doubt.”

“I know,” Piku said as she adjused the bow on her chest nervously. “Gil has always been the strong one. He’s trained me enough to hold my own against some of the other final evolutions, but… If these things get into the city…”

“I cannot promise that such a thing will not happen,” Luna said, carefully. She looked across the hallway at the sleeping baby Pokémon and smiled. “However, I will promise to post extra guards around all daycares.”

“The other daycare workers and I will die before letting these children come to harm,” Piku said, resolutely. “But thank you.”
A knock came to the door, disturbing the moment. A Lucario let himself in, followed by Harmony. The Mega Audino looked around at the daycare before bowing to the princess.

“Lady Lorna and her mate, Dorian, request the presence of the princesses,” Harmony said, softly. “They will meet you near the palace.”

“I understand,” Luna replied. She said her goodbyes to the daycare staff, and whispered a soft goodbye to the sleeping children. Then she left the building and took flight.

Celestia, Luna, and Cadance flew alongside Lorna and her mate, Dorian through the city’s vast underground. The ice-type leader was far smaller than the Yveltal, so much so that when the princesses had first met with the couple Lorna had been riding atop his back. They now flew side by side, slightly ahead of the alicorns. Dorian was grand, powerful, and according to the pokédex he was a living engine of destruction. Despite his reputation, he had a slightly nervous, overly cautious nature. Celestia could almost tell what he was thinking as she watched him looking all around, fearful of hitting others who were flying through the cave. The princess smiled as she watched him apologize to a Pidgeot and her flock for almost crashing into them as he struggled to keep an eye on everything at once. Celestia knew that he was terrified of his power and the prospect of hurting others, though his attitude meant that he was no true danger.

The group flew past large groups of Pokémon as they made their way to the Rock Pit. Like everything about the city, the tunnels of God’s Breath were full of life as rock-types and ground-types rearranged small portions of the landscape for fun, or built their homes in holes dug in the ground. Celestia had grown quite fond of the Pokémon. She and Joan had spent hours sharing stories and learning about each other’s worlds. The more she learned about the relationship Pokémon shared with humans, the more she realized where their wealth of kindness came from.
Certainly not all Pokémon were kind and loving, though neither were all of the ponies of Equestria. But the vast majority of Pokémon had good intentions, and they willingly partnered with humans to share in their friendship and experiences. Most humans, being greatly similar to Pokémon if less physically powerful, caught Pokémon out of a desire to be friends and learn about each other. This was how Joan had explained the Pokémon’s willingness to be captured in pokéballs, and it made Celestia feel even more determined to defend this city at any cost.

Luna had arrived with a Tyrogue and an Igglybuff on her back several hours after Celestia and Joan had begun planning for battle. She said that the children had woken without her knowing, and had snuck out of the daycare to follow her for several blocks until she had noticed them. She had chosen to take them with her, then. The princess claimed it was intuition, but she believed their presence would be beneficial to whatever Lorna had planned.

After she was introduced to the baby Pokémon a pair of Aegislash had arrived to pledge their services to the princesses. Celestia and Luna had been unsure of their oaths at first after reading their pokédex entries. But Joan had readily trusted them despite their ghostly resistance to mind reading. She had been moved by their oaths and the princesses had chosen to trust her judgment. It was a full minute after they linked spirits with the blades that Lorna had called on them with a plan for the coming battle. Reports from Dorris’s psychic circles claimed that billions upon billions of Orks and Tyranids were warring across the planet and within its orbit. Reports of the enemy’s horrible weapons had already reached her ears, and despite the power of the Pokémon of the city, she knew that they would be overwhelmed if they were drawn into a long-term conflict.

Loud, hardy laughter echoed through cave from a massive side tunnel on Celestia’s right. Many poison-types and steel-types played here, laughing and chasing each other at the mouth of the tunnel. A large cloud of noxious gas floated up from the depths of the tunnel, covering the entrance before exiting through vented holes in the ceiling. Another pair of hardy laughs came from the cavern beyond as the poison-types and steel-types continued to play.

“Beyond here is the Refuse Pit, your majesties,” Lorna said as she watched the Pokémon having fun. “Beyond here live two of our titans, Pestilence and Miasma. They have already agreed to take part in the coming fight.”

“Clearly, they’re poison-types,” Celestia said. “Are they friendly?”

“They’re quite friendly,” Dorian said. “Pestilence is a bit childish, but he is always good for a laugh. Miasma is the one laughing the loudest. She’s as strong and hardy as they come. The gas and sludge they normally expel aren’t exactly healthy, but they aren’t fatal either. It is a powerful natural resource that we can safely burn, and we use it to power parts of the city.”

“They seem to be having quite the jovial time,” Luna said as Juelz crawled over the Aegislash on the princess’s back. Zao sighed and rolled her eye as Juelz crawled through her body to point at the cave entrance.

“They gots a contest goin’ on pwincess!” Juelz said. “We’z done dat, hasn’t we Marli?”

“Uh-huh!” said the tiny Igglybuff perched atop Princess Celestia’s head. “We’z done dat loads! Like, two times even! It was fun!”

“I would love to see you both perform in a contest, sometime,” Celestia said as she turned from the cave entrance. “Let’s continue to the Rock Pit, Lorna. You still need to tell us what our purpose is there.”

“Of course, your majesty,” Lorna said as she and Dorian turned and led the way forward. “My plan is simple. Our scouts have seen monsters of horrific size battling mechanical beasts of equally horrific size nearby. According to our psychics the humans refer to these creatures as Titans. We have our own titans, but there are only six within God’s Breath as opposed to the thousands present within our enemy’s ranks. All of our titans have agreed to fight on behalf of the city, and now I take you to lair of King Sesha and Queen Serea. Along with their son, Prince Kalith, my plan is for you three to ride atop their mighty forms so that you may lead from a strong vantage point.”

“I see,” Celestia said as she followed the Articuno to the very bottom of the city’s cave system. The entire system extended fifteen miles beneath the city from top to bottom. It stretched to all corners of the territory, though many areas had been abandoned over the years. Several train rails had been built into the walls that reached certain points within the city, giving quick transportation for the citizens on several two-car trains. But it was too small for rapid troop deployment, forcing Celestia and Joan to spend hours debating troop placement within the city. Juelz and Marli waved to the Pokémon on the train as they passed it, and receiving a friendly wave from the Clefairy conductor and several of the passengers.

After several minutes of flight they came to the Rock Pit. It was an enormous cavern equaling the size of Father’s home. There was even a marble statue of the mighty Regigigas in the center, surrounded by an enormous clearing. Several Reigirock and Registeel sat near the statue peacefully, turning occasionally to look toward sounds as other Pokémon moved through the landscape. The land here extended five miles down, which Lorna explained gave plenty of room for the titans to move comfortably. A single Volcanora flew directly below the ceiling, illuminating the land.

The group landed next to the statue of Father. The Regis stood and left, walking through the cave entrance and out into the tunnel system. The moment they had moved out of sight the ground began to tremble, causing the group to fly upwards in surprise. The rumbling increased, though the Pokémon living among the rocks seemed not to be bothered. Instead, they gathered around the clearing and watched as three enormous Steelix broke through the ground to face the airborne group. Celestia guessed that the largest was at least forty-five meters in length, with their biggest section far larger than any boulder in the vicinity. The two largest had six massive dragon fangs set into their top jaws. The smallest only had four.

“I see where they get their size designation from,” Cadance said as she strained her neck to look them in the eyes. “Why don’t we fly higher to speak with them better?”

“Agreed,” Celestia said, smiling as she considered the damage these monsters could do to their foes.

Lorna explained her strategy to the titans, raising her voice to be heard over the distance. The largest of the Steelix rumbled, his voice shaking the air as his tail whipped back and forth. The other two added their voices to his; then they nodded toward the ponies.

“They say that it will be their honor to carry you into battle,” Lorna said. “Do you agree with my plans?”

“Yes,” Celestia said, excitement and anticipation in her voice. “They shall be fantastic engines of destruction. Together we will shatter the foe and destroy them utterly!”

“Sister,” Luna said, her brow creasing in worry. “That is not our goal. Our goal is survival, and nothing more. The beasts outside think only about ‘shattering’ each other, but that is not our way.”

“And?” Celestia said, raising an eyebrow at her sister’s assertion. “Should we whither and die? Should we fall over and let them devour us? Understanding may not be enough. We must destroy them utterly so that they cannot threaten the city again!”

“We have no hope of destroying them,” Cadance said as the group came back down to the ground. “We can hold them off, but our numbers are far too few to do anything else. If they should break through the shields…”

“They beat at our shields this very moment!” Celestia said, spreading her wings to their full length as she exerted her strong, commanding presence. “It is not a matter of ‘if’ they will break through the shields, it is a matter of ‘when’. And when they do, do you believe that they will have any sympathy? Any compassion? No! They will revel in our deaths as much as they revel in killing each other! There is no room for kindness here!”

“They may revel in our deaths, but we will not revel in theirs!” Luna said, spreading her own wings to match her sister. “I fear for you, sister. This is not like you! I know the horrors you have seen as we gazed across this galaxy. The Dream gave us both those visions. Eradication is not the pony way, nor is waging a war to slaughter our enemies, even if our enemies would slaughter us. Please, do not become like the abominations that rule this reality.”

“I will not be talked down to!”

The air shook with Celestia’s rage as powerful magic radiated off of her in waves. Even the titanic Steelix lowered their heads defensively as they slithered slowly backwards. The baby Pokémon ran to hide behind Lorna and Dorian, while the two birds gripped the ground with their talons to keep from being pushed back. Luna stood unmoved by her sister’s anger, but her face was a canvas of concern. Cadance spread her wings as well. The sudden hatred that poured off of Celestia was terrifying to her, not because she feared for her own safety, but because she feared for her kindhearted friend and mentor.

“Celestia,” Luna said, her voice perfectly calm as she lifted a piece of steel off the ground to hover before her sister. “Your eyes.”

Celestia looked at her reflection in the steel plate and saw the black and purple flames of hatred. For a moment she didn’t care. Then, slowly, she came to her senses and deep shame crashed down upon her once more.

“I… Forgive me…” she managed as the flames disappeared from her eyes and her face fell in humility. “These foes… they stir up something vile within my soul. I’ve already discussed this problem with Joan, but now I see that it’s far worse than I thought.”

“Perhaps it is better if you defend the center city,” Luna said as she put a comforting wing around her sister’s shoulders.

“It’s Ok, pwincess!” Marli said as she ran up and climbed atop Celestia’s back. The Igglybuff gave Celestia a hug as Juelz ran to hug her left front leg.

“Yeah, it’s Ok,” the Tyrogue said. “We still wuv you! Right Marli?”

“Yup!”

“Thank you both,” Celestia said, suddenly immensely grateful that Luna had insisted on bringing the children along. “I think I’ll return to the castle and reflect on my emotions. I will purge this hate from my heart, no matter what it takes.”

“I don’t think you should be alone,” Cadance said as she wrapped a wing around Celestia’s other shoulder. “Please stay with us.”

“You’re presence would be a great asset,” Dorian said, kindly. “I heard that Mistress Cloe has built a bonfire in the middle of the city and has called for a Council meeting. As our leaders, we need you with us.”

“Raaaraaa!” cried the largest of the Steelix.

“King Sesha says he would proudly carry you into battle himself, your majesty,” Lorna said, smiling.

“Then we shall fight together, not to destroy our enemies but to survive them.”

“Rawwwwwrrrr!” the three Steelix roared in approval, forcing the others to cover their ears. Then, with a smile of gratitude Celestia turned and led her friends back to the surface.