A Matter of Genetics

Chapters

A Rocky Beginning
A New Challenger Approaches: Mewtwo Strikes Back!
Rise of Castle Cerulean
Confrontations
What dreams are made of...
Training and Tribulations
The Cute. It Burns.
An Apple a Day
Friendship Report
The Calm Before
The Raging Storm
Mewtwo Gaiden: Ten's a Crowd
A Bad Joke
Excessive Growth

A Rocky Beginning

One would think that being turned to stone for over a thousand years and being perfectly aware of your surroundings would be a hellish existence. For me though, it was a mercy.

It all started when I found it. It being an old Halloween costume from when I was...six? ...Regardless, I found it in the back of my closet. I'm...not sure what possessed me to do so, but I tried on the gloves and balaclava-like hat. So my surprise, they fit. Perfectly.

Of course, I was just a tad suspicious, but before I could do anything, everything became pain.

I don't quite remember what happened, but I did catch a glimpse of green grass and pastel colors all around me before everything went to shit. As it turns out, suddenly hearing dozens--hundreds--of thoughts that aren't your own can drive a fellow completely and utterly insane. And when you suddenly command as much sheer power as my new form did, it leads to very, very bad things happening.

From what I've been able to piece together, I destroyed more than my fair share of real estate in my maddened state. That valley where Ponyville lies? Yeah, that used to be a mountain. And the one next to it. And most of the mountain range, actually. The Canterhorn, the mountain on which Canterlot rests? One of the only ones left standing--literally.

Inevitably, the sisters of Night and Day came to stop me. That was when the other half of the mountain range was...obliterated. And I got stoned.

I'm honestly not sure precisely how much time passed, I was quite insane. And then I wasn't. The closest thing I can come to a description of that occurrence was that I got bored with insanity and went sane.

As the centuries passed, I slowly and oh-so-painfully managed to bring my abilities under control. And so I watched and I waited.

But this isn't the story of my imprisonment. This is the story of my freedom and the new life that I forged for myself in this strange new world.

The little corner of the Royal Gardens that I called my own were peaceful, quiet. It usually was, small animals frolicking about and birdsong filling the air.

Unfortunately, there was something in the air today, something not quite right. The birds were silent, the animals absent. It set my fur on edge. Well, as much as it could, considering I was a statue. A certain malaise lingered in the air. It was subtle, though. I doubt I would have noticed it if not for the absence of the animals or the centuries I'd spent honing my mental abilities.

I was broken from my musing by a small commotion. I could not see it properly, the way my eyes were frozen forward, but I could sense it. A group of ponies, mostly colts and fillies.

Ah, I forgot to tell you, didn't I? This land I ended up in, this land of Equestria? The inhabitants are all pastel ponies that barely come up to my waist: earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. Like something out of a kids' show. Actually, come to think of it, I think it was something from a kids' show. Problem is, my early memories are somewhat patchy, what from the passage of time and my questionable sanity.

Soon, the group of ponies came into view. I was not wrong in saying that the group was mostly children: a gaggle of foals bouncing about around a single adult mare, magenta furred with a pink mane and tail and a cutie mark consisting of three white flowers.

Oh, the ponies around here get magical pictures on their flanks called cutie marks that represent what makes them special. A sort of magical puberty, if you will. I do believe I forgot to mention this earlier. Probably not the only thing, either.

At any rate, the group stopped to stare at my stony form. A quick peek at their surface thoughts revealed them to be a school group on a field trip. They seemed familiar, for some reason.

The one adult, I assumed she was the teacher, turned to address her students, only to sigh at the sight of three fillies who were in the middle of an argument. "Now, girls, I said no more fighting."

The three fillies pulled apart, scuffing their hooves against the dirt path. """Sorry Miss Cheerilee."""

The mare, Cheerilee, nodded in acceptance before lifting up a hoof to point at me. "Now this is a statue of one of the greatest calamities to ever befall Equestria: the Hellcat."

One of the three fillies from before, an orange pegasus with a magenta mane, shuddered. "It looks tough."

"Naw," retorted the cream, red-maned earth pony. "He looks like an ornery feller."

The white, purple-maned unicorn shrunk down a bit. "It looks scary."

Internally, I sighed. I had long gotten used to hearing such declarations from the visitors to the gardens, but it didn't make it any less...annoying.

To be fair though, I really couldn't blame them. You see, I'm not a pony. I'm not even human anymore.

I am Mewtwo.

Yes, you heard me right. I am the Genetic Pokemon, national pokedex entry #150, the imperfect clone of Mew. Puts my rampage in a bit of perspective, don't it?

But yeah, there I was, frozen mid-lunge for all of eternity, a snarl of insane rage curled upon my face. And once again listening to ponies shy away. Joy.

Well, at least this group didn't have any permanent markers. The scrubbing the gardener gave my stone skin had been unpleasant, to say the least.

Sighing once more, I metaphorically sat back and listened to Cheerilee give her lecture.

"Long ago, the Hellcat mysteriously appeared in the middle of the trading post that would become Ponyville. Immediately, it began a rampage of destruction, leveling the trading post and the surrounding countryside."

I listened as Cheerilee told her class of how the battle between myself and the diarchs of this land had shattered the Applachian mountains, turning the range into the Applachian plains, and how the survivors had settled down, founding Ponyville. I had to admit, the mare was quite the proficient storyteller.

"Now, can anypony tell me what good came out of this terrible event?"

"Ooh. Ooh, Ah know!" The red-maned earth pony jumped up and down, a hoof in the air.

"Go ahead, Applebloom," Cheerilee called.

"Mah sister told me that Ponyville has the best soil around," said the filly, Applebloom, I mean.

"Very good, Applebloom," Cheerilee smiled. "Anypony else?" The white-furred unicorn raised her hand. Cheerilee called on her. "Yes, Sweetie Belle?"

"I heard my sister say something about how Ponyville is richer in gemstones than anywhere else," the unicorn filly, Sweetie Belle, said. She scuffed her hooves against the ground awkwardly. "I don't remember why though."

"That's alright, Sweetie Belle," Cheerilee said reassuringly. She looked at the orange pegasus filly. "How about you, Scootaloo? Did you have anything to add."

The pegasus, Scootaloo, looked unsure for a moment before puffing out her barrel. "Rainbow Dash once told me that Ponyville has the wildest weather in Equestria, but that it's also the best weather in Equestria."

Cheerilee nodded approvingly. "Very good. Yes, these are all very good reasons. The calamity ended up being very good for Ponyville. The shattering of the mountains was very good for farming, creating fertile soils and allowing the wild storms of the Everfree Forest to bring more water. It was also a boon for gem mining, as gems naturally grow deep within the hearts of mountains, making mining them difficult. But in Ponyville, the calamity scattered the gems across the new valley, making it the only place a pony can consistently find gems on or near the surface."

Huh. That was rather interesting. The class seemed to think so too, as they were all oohing and ahhing.

"Now come along, my little ponies," Cheerilee gently commanded as she turned to lead the foals away. "We still have the rest of the Gardens to see."

As I watched the tour group leave, I sighed. I've been doing that a lot, lately. Still, that was one of the more pleasant visits from the populace I've received.

I saw a brown droplet splash on my stony muzzle. Great. Rain. I looked up at the pink clouds overhead. And it was turning out to be such a nice day, too.

...

Wait...brown rain and pink clouds. That...was not right. And yet, there was a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that this was important, somehow.

Oh. Right. Discord. Somehow, I had completely forgotten about the only other inmate residing at the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. He must have gotten free. Shit.

I wondered if I should do something. To tell the truth, I'm pretty sure that I could have broken free of my stone prison decades ago. But I never tried. I could say it was because there was no point to it, but, ah, if I'm being completely honest, I just did not feel like putting in the effort to get out. Call me lazy, but...I dunno, it just never felt like the right time. Also, I really am a bit lazy.

As I debated with myself, I remembered something. Discord was a problem that would fix itself...or something. I don't know. All I could remember for sure was that the Draconequus would be back in stone very soon. I didn't have to do anything. Breaking free during Discord's rampage was probably a cliche or something, too.

...Hmm. I might have a problem. Being encased in stone for so long seems to have engendered a serious case of apathy. I decided to break out before that problem grew worse.

Gathering my psychic might, I thrust outward, and I felt something crack.

The sculpture garden was washed in a blue, actinic light as the stone that imprisoned my body shattered. Stone shrapnel exploded outwards, only to freeze in midair, forming a perfect sphere around myself as I willed the shards of rock still. I floated there above the plinth I had been placed upon, eyes closed and unmoving. I did not stretch out my stiff muscles or roll my aching joints: it seemed inappropriate to do so. Instead, as I simply hovered there, I poured psychic energy through my body, willing muscles to relax and joints to loosen. I gave a small sigh of contentment at the sensation.

Opening my eyes, I found the school group not far away, the foals all huddled behind a determined shaking Cheerilee. I could feel how terrified they all were, and I couldn't blame them, not with the way my eyes were glowing an ominous blue. Putting aside thoughts of the ponies for the moment, I surveyed the garden. Already, I could see the changes being wrought by Discord: plants moving as if with a mind of their own, statues taking on a sinister visage, and birds flying backwards and upside-down. And this was only the beginning.

With but a thought, a blue shield sprung up around the school group. Satisfied that it would protect against the worst threats the chaos had to offer, I left.

Shooting into the sky on a pillar of blue light, I left behind the surly bonds of earth. I didn't go too high, though, stopping as soon as I could feel the cold through my short, purple fur. I could still remember how that one Mewtwo from that movie iced up a la Iron Man and crashed into the arctic.

The view was breathtaking. Mere words alone cannot describe the beauty that stretched below me, this pristine world, untouched by the ravages of technology and industry. And then it was ruined, the waving greens replaced with eye-watering plaid, the breathless sky blue with sickly purple. Night and day clashed as the sun and moon crossed the skies back and forth like demented yo-yos. I watched as the very laws of nature were violated, and it sickened me.

Discord had to be stopped. I didn't care that he would eventually be locked in stone again, he couldn't be allowed to spread his chaos. I would not allow him to spread his chaos.

As I went from a standstill to breaking the sound barrier in almost an instant, I couldn't help but feel a mad grin cross my felinoid face. Whatever happened, whatever outcome came from this, I knew that the coming battle would be one to remember.

Author's Note

So, this is a Displaced story, in which I become an amnesiac Mewtwo with mental issues. Anyone wants to crossover with me, drop me a line.

A New Challenger Approaches: Mewtwo Strikes Back!

Flying, especially under one's own power, is a sensation, a joy that cannot be properly explained, only experienced. It's also one that I am fully able to appreciate for the first time, considering my last time doing this was in the throes of mindless insanity. But, I digress.

I rocketed through the sky, a trail of blue light trailing behind me as I shot towards Ponyville. As the landscape blurred past below me, a thought struck me. I was actually looking forward to this coming confrontation with the incarnation (...god? Aspect? Embodiment? I honestly wasn't sure) of chaos, which honestly struck me as a little strange. I had never really enjoyed fighting. Even in videogames, I preferred pursuing the storyline over the combat sections. But now, my heart was racing in anticipation. Perhaps that theory that Pokemon are battle maniacs wasn't so far off the mark?

A bright flash of light from up ahead caught my attention. I knew that light. I knew it from the only coherent memory from my time of madness: a blinding light that preceded a rainbow of harmonic energies. But there was no rainbow accompanying this flash of light. The Elements of Harmony had failed.

I knew it was only a matter of time before the Elements of Harmony regrouped, a matter of time before Discord was cast back to the stone. But I knew not, remembered not, how that would come to pass. And I could not allow the possibility of Discord interfering with that process.

There he was. Dead ahead. My target. Discord the Draconequus. Vaguely serpentine in shape, there was little symmetry to his body. He had the body of a brown horse, the head of a gray goat, with an ivory deer antler on the right, a turquoise goat horn of the left, one long fang, yellow eyes with red pupils, an orange snake tongue, a black donkey mane, and a white goat beard. The rest of his body consisted of the right paw of a pale-yellow lion, the left yellow talon of a brown eagle, the right leg of a green lizard, the left leg with a sepia hoof of a chestnut deer, the right wing of a purple bat, the left wing of a blue bird, and a red dragon tail with a white tuft at the end. He sat there, gloating at a stricken lavender unicorn.

Adjusting my trajectory, I propelled myself even faster. Traveling at speeds unheard of in any creature alive, save perhaps one, I braced for impact.

As her friends, her dear, greyed-out friends abandoned her (It wasn't their fault!), the lavender unicorn mare known as Twilight Sparkle sat heavily upon her haunches, disbelief written in her purple eyes. A golden tiara with an amethyst, six-pointed star that matched her cutie mark sat heavily upon her head, perched over her purple, pink-streaked man. "I don't, I don't understand. Why didn't it work?"

"Hahahahaha!" Twilight looked up at the guffawing Draconequus. "Oh, my little Twilight. They're called the Elements of Harmony, not the Elements of..." Discord paused, tilting his head in confusion. "What's that sound?"

To Twilight's utter shock, the embodiment of chaos promptly exploded. As hundreds of minuscule Discords rained down from the sky, Twilight dropped the foreleg shielding her face and gasped. There, where Discord had been but a moment before, hovered a strange, purple felinoid, engulfed in an aura of actinic cyan light. Its thick, muscular tail thrashed angrily, short fur standing on end. It turned its head to consider Twilight over its shoulder, lilac eyes barely visible through the blue aurora burning within.

As it stared at her, gaze burrowing deep into her very soul, Twilight heard a voice, a single word, almost as if a stray thought from a dream.

Go.

I watched the lavender unicorn, Twilight, gallop away. Hopefully, she'd be able to figure out what went wrong with the Elements. That said, I dismissed her from my mind, for the moment. I had more pressing matters to attend to.

I watched dispassionately as the multitudes of tiny Discords flowed back together into a single entity.

PHWEEET! "Foul! Illegal bodycheck!" Discord cried, dressed as a soccer referee and waving a red card in the air.

A mental nudge and a telekinetic twist crushed the laminated card into dust. Discord blinked, then deadpanned at me. "Well, that wasn't very sporting." Vanishing the referee uniform, Discord glared at me. "I can tell, you're going to be no fun at all."

I didn't deign to grant him a response. Instead, I simply raised my arm and clenched my three-fingered paw. Discord let out a pleasing squawk of surprise as he was suddenly crushed into a small, brown ball the size of a melon. I reveled in the silence, but it was not to last.

A pair of eyes and a snaggle-toothed mouth popped into existence on the side, glaring at me with a scowl. "Of course, you realize: this means war."

The ball swirled up, becoming a swirling vortex akin to the Tasmanian Devil before resolving into Discord. With a flourish, he presented his eagle claw, two talons pressed together. "Let's see how you like being a kitten." He snapped his talons, a mad grin on his face.

I grimaced at the cold sensation that passed over me, but after a moment of waiting, I smirked. It seemed that the shield of psychic energy I was projecting protected me from chaos magics as well as the standard stuff.

Wild Discord used Chaos. But nothing happened.

Discord blinked in surprise, then turned the baseball cap he was wearing around. "Hmm, so, we do this the hard way then. Fine." Standing in midair, the mad creature took an exaggerated fighting stance, suddenly dressed up in a karate Gi with a black belt. "We settle this the old way." In response, I settled into my own stance, half-remembered from lifetimes ago.

For a long moment, we stood there in the madness that was Ponyville, both waiting for the other to make the first move. My patience was superior.

An insane grin crossed Discord's face. "FIGHT!"

Reality shifted, and a giant, Godzilla-esque Discord was bringing its cloven hoof down upon me. A simple thought summoned a radiant field of blue energy that stopped the hoof in its tracks. In retaliation, a regular-sized Discord popped out of the ground, twisting space itself in an attempt to crush me. A pulse of psychic energy shattered the rising earth and scattered the Draconequus' form as a flurry of soap bubbles. As Discord reformed in a whirlwind of leaves (wearing a kill-me orange jumpsuit and blue, steel-plated headband), our fight continued.

Enveloped in a bubble of cyan power, I flew at Discord, the chaos entity making an amusing splat sound against my shield. Letting him bounce off the shield, I darted above him and slammed myself down, crushing him into the plaid dirt.

A moment later, a crushing force crashed against the side of my bubble, sending me careening into the sky. I tumbled about, and just when I finally got myself under control, a shadow came over me. Spinning around, I was just in time to see Discord swinging a giant tennis racket: I plummeted to the ground. Everything went dark for a moment, then an explosion sent me skywards once more.

Snarling, I spun around, not bothering to slow down as I crushed the oversized cannon that I had just been fired from. That was a mistake.

"Hey, batter batter batter! SWING!"

Oh shit.

A horrendous crack sent me hurtling towards the ground, leaving Discord holding half a shattered baseball bat behind me. Slamming into the ground with a meteoric impact, I tumbled across the ground, leaving a deep trench in my wake. Somewhere along the way, my bubble popped, leaving me bruised and bloody as I finally came to a halt.

Groaning in pain, I began to haul myself to my feet, only for a distant shrieking to catch my ear. It was strangely familiar. I looked up.

"Yipe!" Telekinetically throwing myself to the side, I was just able to dodge the barrage of acidic green bolts of energy as the familiar, black form of a Star Wars TIE-fighter screamed overhead. As it came about for another pass, I grabbed myself with my telekinetics and launched myself at the anachronism. Roaring in defiance, I punched through the wing strut with a pulse of energy. Pulling myself up and to the side, I watched as the stricken craft plummeted from the sky and began bouncing across the ground: right towards the terrified colt standing in its path.

Immediately I fell forward, hurtling towards the petrified foal. Somehow, I knew I wouldn't make it in time, but at the same time I could not allow another death to come at my hands, er, paws. Desperately, I pushed as hard as I could, ignoring the building pressure in my head and the darkness creeping at the edge of my vision.

Streaking towards the foal, I brought my arms up to catch him. Time slowed to a crawl as the colt turned his head to look at me. I caught a glimpse of a yellow-eyed, snaggle-toothed smirk before the pony vanished in a flash of light.

Motherfu--!

CRASH!

Pain coursed through my body as I came to. Even my fur hurt. I opened my eyes, but all I could make out were blurry shapes, and there had to be brain damage of some sort, because I swear the small fires all around me were pink and yellow-polka-dotted and that there was green smoke pouring into the crumpled TIE-fighter.

I never really had a chance, did I?

A serpentine shadow fell over me. "Aw, he fainted. I wanted to catch him. Oh, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained."

I blinked blearily in confusion, and then the figure dropped something spherical on me. Something I recognized instantly.

Oh sunovab-

There was a flash of red light, then everything went dark.

Discord cackled madly as he watched the ball, a red and white sphere with a black ring interrupted by a white button separating the hemispheres, twitch violently. He waited with anticipation as the twitching slowed, slower and slower. Finally, it stopped, and the white button on the black ring blinked red. Discord leapt into the air with glee and stayed there as he celebrated. "Hooray! I caught a Legendary!" He threw out his arms, tossing fireworks into the air. "I win!"

"Not quite, Discord!"

Blinking in surprise, Discord turned to see Twilight Sparkle in her tiara standing there with five other ponies, all wearing ornate gold necklaces. "Oh, hello girls! You've got some color back in you." He blinked. "Wait. Color back in...?" Discord watched as the five necklaces and one tiara began to glow, engulfing the six ponies in a corona of white light and lifting them off the ground. "Oh, poo."

A massive rainbow erupted from the glowing ponies, spearing through Discord and swamping him in its radiance. The rainbow grew brighter and brighter until it became too radiant to look at, blotting out the world with its light.

As the light died down, it was revealed that all of Discord's machinations had been reversed, turning the world back to normal. Ponyville was in one piece again, Town Hall was upright and on the ground, the grass was green, the sky was blue, and the clouds weren't raining chocolate anymore.

And Discord? Well, he was turned back to stone, an expression of terror on his face and his arms outstretched as if to ward something away.

All was right with the world.

Save one thing, that is.

A strange red and white ball...

Oh, God, I feel like the Genie: ULTIMATE COSMIC POWER! Itty-bitty living space.

Yes, that's right. I was stuck in a Poke Ball. Not the Master Ball, or even an Ultra Ball. A Poke Ball. The bastard.

I sat there, seething, wondering when I would be released. And I had just got out, too.

Of course, that was when I started hearing the voices.

"What in tarnation do ya suppose this thingy is?"

"Oh, would you look at those colors. *Gasp!* Idea~"

"I don't trust it! What if it's a trick by Discord?"

"Hm...It appears to be a containment vessel of some kind."

"Oh dear. I saw Discord put an animal in there. I think it was hurt, the poor thing."

"Boop!"

There was a loud click, and I felt something shift before my tiny world lit up with a red flash of light. When the light faded, I was out of that accursed ball. Eyes closed, I took a deep breath of air. At that moment, it was the most beautiful thing in the world I had ever smelled. Of course, the moment was ruined by a small "eep" from behind me.

Sighing, I turned around and opened my eyes to see six mares. I stared down at them. I knew these ponies. Knew of them, at any rate. The six Elements of Harmony.

The leader was Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn mare with lavender fur and a purple mane streaked with two tones of pink. Her cutie mark was of a six-pointed star surrounded by five smaller stars. Purple eyes considered me with a scientific curiosity. She represented and bore the Element of Magic.

The next was Applejack, an earth pony mare with orange fur and a blonde mane done up in a loose ponytail. The orange gem cut in the shape of an apple matched her cutie mark of three red apples. Green eyes stared at me with caution from under an ever present cowboy hat. She bore the Element of Honesty.

Next to her was Rarity, another unicorn mare, this time with white fur and a luscious purple mane. Her three-diamond cutie mark matched the purple stone set in her golden necklace. Dark blue eyes looked up at me appraisingly. She represented the Element of Generosity.

Hovering just above the rest of the little group was Rainbow Dash, a cyan pegasus mare. Like her name implied, her mane was the color of a wild rainbow, and her rose eyes glared at me in suspicion. Her cutie mark of a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt was mimicked by the red lightning bolt gem set in her golden collar. She held the Element of Loyalty.

Standing right in front of me, practically vibrating from excitement, was Pinkamena "Pinkie" Diane Pie. An earth pony mare, she had pink fur, a pink poofy mane, and a cutie mark of three balloons that matched the balloon-cut gem in her collar. Big blue eyes stared up at me with wonder and excitement. She was the Element of Laughter.

Finally, hiding herself shyly behind her friends, was Fluttershy. A yellow pegasus with a long, pink mane, she had a talent with animals, as evident by her cutie mark of three pink butterflies. A pink butterfly gem shone from her necklace as she stared at me uncertainly with big, blue eyes. She was the very embodiment of the Element of Kindness.

Together, they were the Elements of Harmony.

I looked at them. They looked back up at me. They didn't move, but they seemed...ill at ease in my presence. I couldn't fathom why that would be, until I remembered. As a Mewtwo, I have the passive ability 'pressure,' which in the game translated into draining Power Points twice as fast. In reality, it probably translated into a sense of unease, at the very least, probably as a side effect of my psychic powers.

Something hit my foot, and I looked down to see the Poke Ball that Discord had trapped me in. I was a bit surprised that it was still...existing, but still... The six mares tensed as my eyes lit up, only to relax slightly as I simply picked up the Poke Ball in my telekinetic grip. No need to leave behind the only thing that could conceivably hold me outside of the Elements of Harmony, after all.

Giving the assembled ponies a brief nod, I turned and began to stalk away. Once I was a decent distance away from them, I enveloped myself in my power and took to the skies.

As the strange, purple felinoid vanished over the Everfree forest, the Elements of Harmony sagged in relief, taking in the deep breaths of one who had nearly drowned.

Applejack recovered the quickest. "What was that thing, Twi? It was like I couldn't move, could barely breathe."

"I don't know Applejack," Twilight replied, staring off at the sky above the distant forest. "I don't know."

Rise of Castle Cerulean

As I flew through the wild skies above the Everfree Forest, I pulled in a hissing breath. I hurt all over. A quick self-scan with my psychic abilities revealed no serious internal trauma--nothing that wouldn't heal, at least--but I was going to be a single mass of bruises beneath my fur for the foreseeable future.

My thoughts turned to my fight with Discord. For some reason, despite delaying Discord long enough for the Elements of Harmony to regroup, I felt a deep sense of shame at being so utterly outclassed. I had not made a good showing. Thinking back, I was pretty much played from beginning to end.

Discord was wily, to say the least. He was completely and utterly unpredictable, every action unexpected, every attack at an angle I couldn't predict. He was a creature that had spent millennia honing his chaotic craft, millennia of practice in using his magic to his own ends.

By contrast, I was very much an inexperienced fighter. I had never been in a true, no-holds-barred fight before, not one that I remembered, at any rate. And I had never before used my psychic abilities in anger. Insanity, yes. But anger? No. Beyond that, I had not been in the best of shape before my transformation, and I doubt a thousand or so years encased in stone had done me any favors.

My biggest mistake, I'm sure, had been jumping into a fight without a plan. Especially against one such as Discord. He was not one to be beaten by brute force alone.

Which brought me to the crux of my next problem. There were things out there that scared Discord, I was sure, and if I were to survive any such encounter, I needed to train. Oh sure, I had technically spent centuries practicing my psychic abilities, but I was encased in magical stone at the time. The vast majority of my powers were unavailable to me, and what I was able to access was mentally strenuous and taxing to use. While I had been able to hone my control to near perfect levels, that had been with using only a trickle of power. Freeing myself from the stone had turned that trickle into an ocean. Using my telekinesis now was akin to trying to ice a cake with a fire hose. I was lucky that my telepathy was largely unchanged.

Then there was the matter of Pokemon moves. I had been unable to learn any at all: during my rampage, I was in no state of mind to even try, and later, my mystical stone prison had barely allowed me to use my telekinesis and telepathy, let alone mold that strange inner energy that Pokemon used (Aura, I think it was called aura, if my memories aren't too fuzzled).

But that led me to another problem. I was strong. Like, retardedly so. If I were to train, I needed a place that could stand up to my abuse, or one that I wouldn't mind destroying utterly in my quest for better control.

Sighing, I looked down to see a series of ruins scattered across the forest floor below. A half-remembered memory came to the fore of my mind, and inspiration struck. Chuckling, I bled off my forward momentum and allowed myself to drift down into the ruins. Alighting gently upon the ground, I looked around.

I stood in the courtyard of a crumbling stone castle. It had been magnificent once, likely with tall walls, towering towers, and waving pennants. But now, it was just a pile of moldering stone.

This, if I wasn't mistaken, was the abandoned Castle of the Two Sisters. Or, at least, I think that's what the name was. Again, as I'm sure I don't need to remind you, my memory of things from Before were spotty at best. As I had said, this was magnificent once, though you could hardly know it to look at the overgrown stones lying about. But, as I walked about (well, less walked and more hovered just off the ground: my legs weren't quite positioned properly for comfortable bipedal locomotion) taking in the still intact foundations, I could see the potential. This place, it had a palpable history to it, a weight you could feel. For centuries, it had stood as a bastion, a bulwark from where power was levied. And soon, it would be so once again.

Setting my feet on the ground, I held out my arms before me, closed my eyes, and concentrated. I needed a place I could safely practice my stronger abilities, and I also needed to practice my fine control. And what better way to achieve both--

I opened my eyes to see a multitude of stone blocks rising from the forest around me.

--than to build my own castle?

Slowly, I began to move my arms, and as a conductor conducts a symphony, the stones followed my movements. I started slowly, carefully so as not to damage anything and to make sure all the pieces fit properly in place. But, as it turns out, I didn't need to do any of that. For centuries, perhaps even millennia, this castle had been exposed to, and in some cases enchanted with, untold amounts of unicorn, pegasus, earth pony, and alicorn magics. In addition to the wild magicks of the Everfree Forest, this place had been the resting place of the Elements of Harmony. And all of that had changed the Castle of the Two Sisters.

The stones were alive; perhaps, not in a manner you or I would understand, but they possessed a consciousness of sorts. Time and magicks unimaginable had transformed the citadel into a Genius loci.

And it wanted to be whole again. I was willing to oblige: if it would let me make a few changes. It agreed.

Great blocks of stone sped by at breakneck speeds, crisscrossing over and through the paths of other blocks in a massive storm of flying rock. And there, at the eye of that storm, wreathed in the blue flames of my very own St. Elmo's fire, I stood. Standing there at the center of it all, watching ancient walls rise anew. It was spectacular, and I hardly had to do a thing: the stones knew where they belonged, all I did was let them move on their own. As the walls rose high, massive trees from the Everfree and within the ruins themselves came floating in, some still dropping clumps of dirt from where they'd been uprooted.

Immediately, the trees were divested of limbs, roots, and bark: my psychic powers stripping the trunks down as the Genius loci showed me what to do. Concentrating, I split the bare trunks into planks and beams, while at the same time, the discarded branches and limbs were rendered down into bundles of wood fibers. Meanwhile, the different barks were all put aside for later processing and organizing.

With the beams and planks complete, I raised them into place, creating a framework for the roof. Then, following the Genius loci's instructions, I fused the wood together, mimicking the spells used to do so in the original castle so long ago.

Slowly but surely, the castle came into being at my own hands--paws, until it towered above the ancient trees of the Everfree Forest. Finally, the last piece slid into place, and the castle was complete...mostly. I didn't have the benefit of plundering the minds of various scientists and engineers like the original Mewtwo did, so the castle lacked any modern utilities, like electricity.

Lowering my arms, I let out a breath.

"That was exhausting."

That was what I meant to say. What came out of my mouth though, was this: "Mef mef mefme...Mef?"

Mef? I was baffled at the sounds that came out of my mouth for but a moment before the obvious made me press the heel of my paw against my forehead in exasperation. I was Pokemon. They...er, we can't talk. Well...I suppose we can, but learning to speak as a human--or pony, as the case may be--was a long and arduous process. Fortunately, I was a Mewtwo: I could cheat with telepathy. With that in mind, I turned my attention back to the castle.

It needed a name. It was no longer the Castle of the Two Sisters, left to rot in the wilds of the Everfree. Now, it was my castle, my fortress, my citadel. It deserved a new name. One befitting its new status. I reflected back on what I could remember of the original Mewtwo.

In the anime, Mewtwo-1 had been created on New Island, where upon reaching maturity, he had destroyed the lab there and left the island. Later, he had returned and built a castle on the island. Luring powerful trainers to the island, he had sought to replace all Pokemon with his own "superior" Pokemon clones, only to have a change of heart: thanks to a young boy, he came upon a revelation about the beauty of life. Abandoning the island, he had taken his clones to an unnamed caldera in the Johto region, where he later left to travel the world. There was at least one other Mewtwo created by a third party, but I don't believe they ever stuck to one place long enough to be associated with it.

In the manga...actually, the less said about the manga, the better. Gym Leader Blaine being a partial (after-the-fact) clone of Mewtwo was just a little too weird for me.

As for the game (and the much later Pokemon Origins anime), Mewtwo-1 had been created in a lab on Cinnabar Island, where he had then performed the standard destroy the lab and leave act. I don't know what he did after that, but once you beat the Elite Four, he is found in Cerulean Cave.

Hmm...Cerulean. I smiled. Yes, that would do. That would do nicely. I raised my arms to the high ceilings above. From now on, you shall be the Castle Cerulean.

Judging from sensations that lingered at the edge of my mind, I'd say the castle approved.

Still watching the sky where the strange felinoid had vanished, Twilight Sparkle's mind raced. That creature was something that wasn't in any of her zoology books, and yet, she was certain that she knew it from somewhere. But where?

"Well done, my little ponies."

Twilight and the other five members of the Elements of Harmony turned around to see a radiant pony who shone like the sun. Twilight cried out a gleeful greeting. "Princess Celestia!"

Princess Celestia, Solar Diarch of Equestria and immortal alicorn, smiled gently down at her six subjects. Her silken mane and tail waved as if a breeze, an ethereal aurora of pink, green, and blue. Great wings were tucked at her sides and her long horn glistened in the sun. She wore a gold tiara on her head, a gold mantle on her chest, and golden slippers on her hooves, but those all paled in comparison to the way her pure white fur gleamed, or the way the picture of a sun on her flanks seemed to glow.

Her radiant smile turned into a small frown as she took in her subjects' expressions. "Whatever is the matter? Did you not defeat Discord?"

"Oh, well we sure did, Princess," remarked Applejack honestly. "But we had a bit of help."

Celestia tilted her head, looking down at the six mares. "Help? What kind of help?"

"Well, Ah'm not rightly sure," Applejack responded quizzically. "Biggest darned cat Ah ever done seen, though."

A look of worry crossed Celestia's face. "Cat?"

"Oh yes Princess," Rarity interjected. "It was quite a fetching shade of purple."

Worry turned to dread.

"I've never seen anything like it in any of my books, but I could swear that I've seen it before..." Twilight trailed off as she caught the expression on her Princess' face. "Princess?"

Celestia took a deep breath. "We best take this inside. Twilight, is your home available?"

Twilight was taken aback at the shaky timber to Celestia's voice. "Well, yes...why?"

"I'll explain soon, Twilight," the Solar diarch promised. "Sergeant."

One of Celestia's guards, a group of identical alabaster pegasi stallions, stood to attention. "Ma'am!"

"Secure the town."

"Ma'am!"

As the pegasi guards scattered, Princess Celestia Turned back to Twilight and her friends. "When we get inside," she said to Twilight. "Tell me everything."

"And that's everything that happened, Princess." Finishing her story, Twilight took a deep breath. "What's this all about?"

With a grim set to her jaw, Celestia stood up and slowly trotted to look out the window of Golden Oaks Library, Twilight's home. "This creature that you encountered fighting Discord. It was the Hellcat."

Twilight gasped. "The Hellcat?"

"Okay!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in annoyance. "For those of us who have better things to do than read, what's a Hellcat!?"

"The Hellcat is a demon of immeasurable power," Celestia stated gravely.

"Now I remember," Twilight exclaimed. "From Lost Legends of Equestria." She turned to her friends to give them a bit of context. "It's the reason the Applachian Plains are not the Applachian Mountains."

"Dang!"

"Good heavens!"

"Wowie!"

"Lord a' mercy!"

"Oh my."

"Indeed," agreed Celestia grimly. "For those who know where to look, the history books will tell you that Hellcat was a creature of horrendous power, destroying all in its wake. But what those stories do not tell you, is that the Hellcat did not attack out of malice or greed, but out of madness."

The six friends shared a look before turning back to the somber alicorn. "Madness, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Madness," Celestia agreed. "When my sister and I confronted the beast, it was clear that something had driven it completely and utterly insane, to the point it lashed out at everything around it in a mindless rage. It could not be reasoned with, and so we were forced to fight it."

"I bet you kicked its flank, right Princess?" Dash exclaimed boisterously.

"We did not," Celestia simply replied. At the six mares' exclamations of shock and denial, Celestia turned from the window to face them. "Luna and I held back, as much as we could without endangering our subjects--it was fortunate that the Applachian Mountains were largely uninhabited."

"Forgive me for asking, Princess," interrupted Rarity. "But why on Equestria did you hold back?"

"Understand," explained Celestia. "That this was just after Discord's first reign of madness. We did not know if this was one of Discord's creations, or a victim forced to fight against his will."

"The poor thing," whispered Fluttershy.

Celestia continued on. "We were unable to free it from its madness, and so were forced to use the Elements of Harmony upon the creature, sealing it away in stone. That it broke free at the same time as Discord, is disturbing."

"Huh," Pinkie pondered. "It didn't seem very mad, but it was very angry at Discord. Ooh, maybe that's why Hellcat's a psychotic type!"

At that moment, before Celestia or anyone else could respond to that apparent non sequitur, one of the pegasi guards burst through the door. "Princess! A castle rises from the forest!"

Stiffening, Celestia pushed out the door past the guard and stared. Sure enough, tall, twisting towers were rising above the Everfree Forest treeline off in the distance. That was the direction her old castle once lay. She grit her teeth, before turning to address the six mares that had followed her outside.

"Girls, I have one more task for you this day," Celestia stated solemnly. "I must ask of you to investigate that castle. But be careful," she cautioned. "If what I fear is true, then that is where the Hellcat has made its lair. Do not draw its ire. If it is still caught in the throes of madness, then I must ask you to trap it in stone once more."

"We won't let you down, Princess," Twilight pledged. "Come on girls!"

As she watched the six mares gallop down the street, Celestia let out a deep sigh. "Be safe, my little ponies."

Author's Note

Through sheer, utter coincidence, the soundtrack from Pokemon: The First Movie has lined up almost perfectly with what I've been writing. Weird, huh?

Confrontations

"Well, this sure brings back memories, don't it?" Applejack exclaimed, looking around at the dark trees of the Everfree Forest.

"Ugh, I still don't like the place," Rainbow Dash scoffed from the air, eyeing a vine suspiciously. She fluttered back in surprise when the "vine" hissed at her and disappeared into the foliage.

"Indeed," Rarity remarked. "I just hope nothing happens to my beautiful tail this time around."

"I wonder how Mr. Snuggums is doing?" Fluttershy mused, idly thinking of the manticore from whose paw she had pulled a thorn.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, only to be left speechless as Pinkie bounced into the air.

"Ooh-ooh-ooh! I can't wait to throw a castle-warming party!"

The five mares stared incredulously at their friend for a moment before Twilight cleared her throat. "Let's...let's put a pin in that one for now Pinkie. We don't know if the Hellcat is friendly."

Pinkie thought about that before nodding bouncily. "Okie-dokie!"

Everypony present gave a sigh of relief at that, before they all continued through the wild jungle of a forest. They made good time, but were soon forced to stop at a familiar, collapsed cliff.

"I dunno 'bout y'all," stated Applejack. "But does anypony know how we're gettin' down? I don't rightly feel like tumblin' off a cliff again, if y'all catch mah drift."

Everypony looked at Applejack, then back at the cliff. Twilight rubbed the side of her head with a hoof. "That, is an excellent question."

Taking in the throne room, I frowned. It was too bare, too impersonal. Not me. I needed to spruce it up a bit. Receiving a sensation of happy anticipation, it appeared the castle's Genius loci was in agreement. But what to do, what to do?

As I looked around, my eyes caught sight of a pile of rock dust, and inspiration struck. I knew exactly what to do.

First, I would need to alter the foundation and floor for the room. With the Genius loci's help, it was a simple matter to drop the center of the room about a foot, leaving a perimeter about three feet wide around the walls. With that done, I began to pull stones in from the surrounding area, shaping them and forming two short walls inside the new depression in the center of the room, creating two concentric circles of stone. Once that was finished, I picked up the leftovers in my psychic grip. I brought my paws together and began to twist them back and forth, grinding the pieces of stone in my telekinetic grasp. Soon, I was left with a coarse sand, and I let it fall between the two new retaining walls, filling the space to the top. At the same time, I grabbed a large chunk of fertile soil from the still overgrown courtyard, placing it in the center circle to create a small hill, a small, gnarled tree off to the side (brought in completely unintentionally, but as the great Bob Ross once said, there are no mistakes, just happy accidents).

I took a deep breath. This next part was going to be a doozy. Reaching down deep beneath the earth, I found the castle's ancient aquifer. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to actually grasp the water down there (as it turns out, catching water with your mind is harder than catching smoke with your bare hands), but I did manage it eventually, and soon, there was a tube of water pouring out from the castle's ancient, but still intact well. In sheer defiance of gravity, the water floated into the throne room, filling in the outer portions of the room's sunken floor. With the main body of work done, I grabbed leftover rock, planks, and various other sundry and got to work filling up the details. It did not take long to finish at all.

Taking in my new throne room, I smiled. The outer perimeter of the room remained the same: a walkway of stone around the room's outer edges. Just inside that was my artificial pond. I was quite proud of it. Water lilies, bamboo, lily pads, and the like were dotted here and there, rooted in fertile soil pulled from my hill. There was even a waterfall water feature off to one side (Don't ask about the plumbing, I literally just uprooted a fountain from the courtyard and rebuilt the outer facade). The only thing missing was the fish. I idly wondered if it would be possible to import koi from somewhere. At the very least, I'd settle for goldfish.

A few small wooden footbridges connected the outer perimeter walkway to the island, which consisted of my little hill with a tree surrounded by my home-made sand. Large river stones were dotted here and there across the sand, some spherical, some just rock shaped, and others flat and smooth acting as stepping stones (arranged in small paths, of course). I even had natural lighting: a small hive of firebees, a strange, docile hybrid of bumblebee and firefly I had found living in one of the trees I processed, placed upon the ceiling. But my favorite part of the room was my throne, a massive, flat piece of river stone perched on the peak of my small hill. A nice, comfortable place to meditate and practice my psychic control.

With that done, I settled down on my rock and sighed with contentment. It was quite comfortable, but, unfortunately, I had things to do. For instance, the Poke Ball.

I grasped the offending red and white sphere in my psychic grip and held it before my face. I contemplated it carefully. Considering that it hadn't vanished along with everything else when Discord was put away, I wondered for a moment if the Draconequus hadn't pulled it from elsewhere instead of creating it. I shook my head. Regardless of its origins, I was bound to it now, and my ego hated it. It wouldn't have been so bad if that jerk hadn't added insult to injury by using a Poke Ball, but there it was.

I looked up sharply, before putting the Poke Ball aside. It would have to wait, unfortunately.

It would seem I had guests.

"Lord a' mercy." Applejack's uttered exclamation of incredulity was echoed by the other mares, in their own ways.

Their awe was well deserved. Where before was a moldering ruin now stood a massive castle. A stone bridge crossed the gorge that provided the castle with a natural moat, replacing the rickety rope bridge that had spanned the gap previously. At the end of the bridge was a gatehouse, leading directly into a bailey with several lofty towers. The structure seemed almost organic: though made of stone, it was reminiscent of a great sea creature's shell, the towers spiraling up into the sky. Strange, tri-helix sculptures rested at the peak of each tower, slowly rotating in the wind. Sweeping curtain walls connected two outlying towers with the main structure, and almost seemed to hold the towers in place.

The six mares stood there, staring at the somewhat foreboding structure before Fluttershy ventured a question. "So, um, how are we getting inside?"

"That is an excellent question Fluttershy," Twilight responded carefully.

"Oh that's easy," giggled Pinkie. Everypony looked at her as she pointed at the castle. "Through the front door, sillies."

"Now Pinkie, I don't think," Rarity began, only for her words to catch in her throat. "Oh my."

Oh my, indeed. For as the six mares watched, the two massive doors set in the gatehouse gateway began to grind inexorably open until they stood agape, like the maw of some great beast. The gates led into a dark hallway, but the most disturbing thing was the gates had opened on their own: not a soul was in sight.

"Well, come on!" Pinkie shouted with enthusiasm, bouncing across the bridge. "Let's go say hi!"

Reluctantly, the five ponies followed their pink companion across the bridge and into the gatehouse. However, the moment the last pony crossed the threshold, the heavy gates slammed shut, leaving the six friends in darkness. Fluttershy, the last pony to clear the gates, shrieked in surprise and terror, clinging tightly to Rainbow Dash. It took a moment to free the athletic mare from her terrified friend, but as they did so, several torches began to light themselves, in pairs, one at a time, starting next to the gates and trailing down the hall.

As they stared down the freshly lit corridor, Twilight couldn't help but voice a quip. "I suppose we go that way, then."

Applejack swallowed nervously. "Ah got a bad feelin' about this."

On the outside, I was serene, calm, and collected. On the inside, however, I was giggling like an idiot. Okay, perhaps slamming the gates on the Mane Six had been a bit mean, but dang it, I have been trapped in stone for I don't know how long, I am going to have fun!

I quickly schooled my features as the six mares cautiously made their way into my throne room/inner sanctum, grinning to myself as I heard their gasps and exclamations of wonder. I could almost imagine what they felt: actually, I'm psychic, I didn't have to!

But anyways, I knew exactly what the six were reacting to: a cavernous room dominated by a large water feature, filled with plants, the trickling of running water, and various insects and bugs that had wandered in through the open windows up high (my attempts at glass making had been...less than satisfactory). In the center, on a hill in the middle of an island of sand, was me. Floating serenely above my rock in a modified lotus position, I sat with my eyes closed, seemingly dead to the world. Around me orbited several stones, a ring of water in which a single fish swam (yeah, I don't know where it came from either, but there it was), while on the island, the sands shifted in ever-changing patterns.

I might not have very good control over my abilities, but I was going to milk what I did have for all it was worth. 'When weak, feign strength,' and all that. Wish I could remember who said that, but memories, you know? At the same time, I was restraining my psychic pressure as much as possible, so as not to spook them too soon.

Pinkie Pie was, predictably (ironically), the first pony to react, vanishing from where she was to reappear in front of me, somehow leaving the sand between undisturbed. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and - whoop!" Pinkie was interrupted as I picked her up with a gentle telekinetic grip and added her to my assortment of orbiting things. "Whee~!"

Just as predictably, Pinkie's friends reacted negatively.

"Hey! You put her down!" Rainbow shouted, dashing forward to strike at me, only to be grabbed by my mental grasp and promptly added to my orbiting collection. She was much less sanguine about it, her flailing and cursing a sharp contrast to Pinkie's giggling and gleeful tumbling.

"Hey, you let them down, right now, ya ornery varmint," Applejack demanded, teeth grit and hooves pawing at the ground. I promptly ignored her. Twilight and Rarity took up position next to her, horns lit in preparation. Outwardly, I ignored them too, but inwardly, I waited for Fluttershy to take her turn. Thanks to my abilities (thank you, mind reading), I knew exactly what to do.

"Um, could you...um, please put my friends down?" The yellow pegasus asked timidly.

Everything stopped, frozen in the air where I held them. All was quiet, save for Pinkie's disappointed "aww."

Twilight blinked in surprise. "Seriously? All we needed to do was say please?" She sounded a bit miffed.

Ignoring Twilight's revelation for now, I began putting everything back in place. The stones were put back into place, the water (and accompanying fish) flowed back into the pond, and Pinkie and Rainbow were floated back to their friends. Pinkie, I placed gently back on her hooves with a giggle (her, not me: I have an image to uphold right now), but Dash was still struggling and I ended up accidentally dropping her on her butt. Thankfully, a quick surface scan of their thoughts revealed they interpreted that as me being petty.

I took a deep breath. Showtime.

So. The six mares froze as they heard the baritone of my mental voice. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?

"It-it can talk!?"

I opened my eyes, glaring at Rainbow Dash and causing the cyan pegasus to jerk back. Yes, it can. I ask again: why are you here?

"Princess Celestia sent us," Twilight explained somewhat hesitantly. "She wanted us to-"

See if I was still a threat? I finished. And what if I was? I already knew the answer to that, but appearances had to be kept.

"Well, we would," Rarity started placatingly, but I interrupted.

Return me to my prison of stone? The six ponies shared an uncomfortable look as I took a breath. Don't screw up now, I thought to myself. Yes, I know how Celestia operates, I claimed. Indeed, I owe her much.

"Oh yeah?" I looked at Rainbow Dash. "Then why'd you attack Equestria, huh?"

Quiet, I snarled. Do not speak of things you do not understand. How dare they? How dare they question my actions? How dare-! I paused. Oh dear, I appear to be getting angry. Hoo-boy, okay, calm, calm, calm...reign in that pressure, calm...okay, there we go. Hoo, hell of a time to discover I might have anger issues

I took a deep breath. My apologies, I started. That time is somewhat of a sore topic for myself. Much as Nightmare Moon is for your Princess Luna, I suspect.

"Are you sayin' you weren't under control back then?" Applejack questioned.

Indeed, I replied. I was not myself.

"Wait wait wait," Twilight interrupted. "You were in stone, how did you know about Nightmare Moon?"

It was a fair question. Luna, Celestia's sister who controlled the moon and dreamscape, had, sometime after my internment, become infected or corrupted by some dark influence, becoming a dark alicorn called Nightmare Moon. She had been banished to the moon for a thousand years, and had promptly been defeated by the Elements of Harmony: purified of darkness and turned back into Luna. It was also something I should not have knowledge of. I decided to take a gamble.

I read your mind, I said simply. It wasn't really the truth, but not a lie, either: I had been reading her mind, all of their minds, just not for that information. The six ponies froze at my statement.

Twilight shook her head. "But--that's impossible," she denied.

Is it? I questioned. If that is so, then how am I speaking to you?

The lavender mare looked at me in awe and a little bit of horror, a look mirrored by her dumbstruck friends. "What...what are you?"

I? I am Mewtwo.

At this, the scientist part of Twilight's mind seemed to take control. "Wait. Is that your name, or your species?"

Well, time to be a troll. Yes. As she spluttered at my mathematician's answer, I moved from my lotus position, setting my feet upon the surface of my rock. Now, I believe it is time for you to go. Farewell. I raised a paw to point at the six mares.

A disk of white light spread underneath the six ponies' hooves. Shouts of surprise filled the throne room as the six mares flailed helplessly in the air, even the two pegasi. There was a blinding light, and then the disk was gone, and so were the ponies, leaving me alone in the throne room.

Whoo, I can't believe that worked. I hope I got the landing right.

Back in Ponyville, there was a flash of light, and six screaming mares promptly fell to the ground in a dazed heap in front of the Golden Oaks Library.

Eh, I'm sure they'll be fine.

As I discovered while waiting for my guests to arrive, I did in fact know a single Pokemon move: Teleport. It was rather simple to figure out (and thus why I suspect it is among the first moves psychic Pokemon learn): you simply visualized your destination and then willed yourself to be there. And the nice thing is, I somehow knew that it either works, or it doesn't; there's no horrible side effects if you fail, you simply just don't teleport. No telefragging, no losing body parts, and no anatomical rearrangement. The only difficulty one will ever have with Teleport (aside from actually pulling it off) is sticking the landing.

No, I'm not going into details.

At any rate, that was the only reason I even so much as attempted to Teleport Twilight and company. If there had been any question of Teleport hurting them, I would have simply picked them up and put them outside instead. At worst, the Teleport would have failed, and I found embarrassed. Thankfully my ego was spared the bruise.

Speaking of ego, why had I become so angry from such a simple question? I know I wasn't so...hair-trigger Before. So what happened? I held up a paw, flexing the three digits before my eyes. Was it this body? This form? I do recall that the first Mewtwo was prone to violent bursts of rage in the beginning, which were...quite destructive.

I took a deep breath. I needed to get a handle on this. I looked off to the side, where the Poke Ball sat inconspicuously among a cluster of stones. I'd have to deal with that later. For now, I needed to center myself. Figure out an outlet for if I get too angry.

Resuming my modified lotus position, I closed my eyes. Taking deep, cleansing breaths, I let the world fade away.

Author's Note

Holy cow! Featured on day 2! Number one on the list to boot! 2 days in a row as well. Thanks guys! I couldn't have done it without you.

What dreams are made of...

It was an exhausted and disquiet Celestia that returned to Canterlot that evening. All she wanted to do was lower the sun and go to bed. Her soft, comfortable bed with its warm, fluffy pillows. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

"TIA!"

Celestia sighed, before turning around to look down the hall. "Luna? What-?"

A dark blue alicorn, with teal eyes, a crescent moon cutie mark set in the black fur that covered her flanks, and a midnight blue mane and tail filled with nebulous stars came thundering down the hall towards her sister. Luna was, Celestia noted, wearing her old armor--the set from before her transformation into Nightmare Moon--and hefting a large battleaxe in her magical grip. Two armored, bat-winged thestrals, members of Luna's night guard, appeared careening around the corner down the hall, desperately trying in vain to catch up to their princess.

Luna slid to a halt, her warshoes kicking up sparks from the tiling. "SISTER! THE HELLCAT! IT DOTH-!"

Celestia held up a hoof, forestalling any further outbursts from her younger sister. "Calm, Luna. The Hellcat is...not an issue at this time." She put her hoof down, giving Luna a reproachful look. "And didn't I tell you that the Royal Voice had fallen out of use?"

Abashed, the princess of night scuffed an armored hoof against the tile, drawing more sparks. "Sorry Tia, We forgo--STOP TRYING TO DISTRACT US!" Luna thundered, before dropping her voice back down to normal levels. "What dost thou mean the Hellcat is no longer an issue?"

Celestia sighed. It had almost worked too, but her bed would have to wait just a little longer. "Come. I'll explain along the way."

At that moment, the two night guards staggered to a stop next to Luna as Celestia began to trot down the hall. Sighing, Luna turned to the two guards. "WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR DILIGENCE, GUARDSPONIES. DISMISSED." With that said, Luna turned on her hoof and followed after her sister, battleaxe floating along behind her.

One of the guards saluted, only to jerk away to the side as his partner keeled over with a wheeze.

"I first learned of the Hellcat's escape when I went to congratulate Twilight and her friends on stopping Discord," Celestia explained as her sister caught up.

"And thou didst not go to hunt the beast," Luna inquired incredulously.

"No," Celestia explained simply. "For one, had Twilight or her friends not said anything, I would have never known it was there. That alone required I reassess the situation, and what they told me further reinforced that notion." Celestia stopped, turning to face her sister fully. "Sister, it attacked Discord."

"And? If Discord twas controlling it as we thought so long ago, surely the beast would seek vengeance," reasoned Luna.

"Discord fought back," Celestia said, letting that tidbit sink in. "And when it was beaten, Discord restrained it."

Luna looked at her sister in worry, considering the implications. "That wouldst mean the beast was not under Discord's spell."

"Indeed," Celestia agreed. "But I believe our theory about its sanity was correct: when the Bearers accidentally released the Hellcat, it simply left for the Everfree, taking with it the orb Discord used to restrain it."

"Hmm, the Forest of the Everfree was treacherous in Our time, We can only assume it hath become more so. Finding the Hellcat will be tricky," Luna mused.

"We already know where it is," Celestia revealed, earning a raised brow from Luna. "It rebuilt our old castle."

Luna was thunderstruck. "Our old-? Tia, surely thou jest?"

"I do not," Celestia simply said. "I saw the towers in the distance rise before my very eyes." She took a steadying breath. "I sent Twilight and the other Element Bearers to investigate. We...they were lucky to return unharmed."

Luna looked at her sister with concern. "Tia, what happened?"

Celestia sighed, standing silently before beginning. "Twilight told me everything that happened," she explained as she continued down the hall. "When they arrived at the castle, the gates opened by themselves," the Solar diarch said, telling her sister what had been told to her not so long ago.

"And then they fell out of the air in front of me," Celestia finished as she walked down the hall with Luna.

"This doth be both gratifying and worrisome," Luna mused, clomping along heavily in her armor. "Gratifying, in that We now know the Hellcat be not a mindless beast, and worrisome in that We doth not know what it wants." She sighed, fluffing up her wings in agitation. "What was it your student called it? Mutu?"

"Mewtwo," Celestia corrected. "And she was unclear as to whether that was its name or species."

"Mewtwo," repeated Luna, running the name over her tongue in thought. "We doth believe We shall attempt to enter its dreams tonight. Perhaps We shall be able to better understand it."

Celestia frowned unhappily at that suggestion, but nevertheless did not go against it. "Just be careful," she cautioned. "We don't know everything its capable of."

Despite herself, Luna rolled her eyes. "Tia, I know what I doth do."

Still, it was nice to know that despite everything that had happened between them Celestia still cared.

There was a brief flash of light as Luna stepped into the dreamscape, her armor retired in favor of her own royal regalia, colored silver where her sister's was gold. Immediately, she recoiled in slight disgust at what she saw. "Strewth. Never before hath I seen a dreamscape in such disarray."

It was true. Throughout her career as the Mistress of Dreams, Luna had become intimately familiar with the ways and sundries dreams could take form. It varied from being to being of course, but she had learned that the dreams of each race tended to flow a certain way. Earth ponies tended to have dreams akin to the movements of the earth: slow and steady, but with the occasional jolt that led into a new dream. Pegasi were as the wind, their dreams flitting quickly from subject to subject, though none the less rich for doing so. Unicorns, on the other hoof, were interesting in that, though not as steady as those of an earth pony or as flighty as a pegasus, they were the most likely to be influenced by their memories, usually those fresh from the previous day. Of the other species that called Equus their home, there were many ways their dreams formed, and Luna had experienced them all.

But the dreamscape she stood in now was unlike anything Luna had ever seen before. The dream was broken, an otherwise featureless void scattered with uncountable crystal shards in all colors, not unlike a winter sea dotted with icebergs. As one of the crystals tumbled past at glacial speed, Luna reached out and pressed her hoof upon it.

A purple eye opens. Muffled voices can be heard beyond a glass partition. Everything is tinged orange, little bubbles floating serenely upwards. Those voices. They're outside. Where I must be. There is a series of images, the reflection of a mountain on a lake, ripples on the water, a blurry animal swimming past waving grass; the eye glows blue.

Glass shatters. Alarms blare.

"Radio Giovanni's helicopter, tell him what's happened!"

Luna jerked back, yanking her hoof away from the crystal shard. Breathing heavily, she looked at her hoof, then at the shard, before pressing her hoof against one close by.

Four giant insects stand on rocky ground, their purple shells and blue eyes glinting in the cold mountain air. Futuristic looking cannons rest on their backs. Their images are reflected in a purple eye. The Pokemon restored from fossils: Genesect. There was a flash, a memory of a feline creature in a tank, eyes opening as readouts flicker urgently. Created, like me...at the hands of people.

Luna pulled her hoof away from the shard, breaking the connection. She looked around at the mindscape, at the crystals in revelation. "These art not dreams," Luna realized. "They art memories." She looked at the shard in front of her carefully, taking note of the jagged edges. Scanning the other shards nearby revealed similar wear on the crystals. "They art broken, scattered," Luna concluded with a frown. "Twas strange, they doth appear to be from two different beings." She huffed in slight frustration, having never come across such an occurrence before. "I doth not understand."

You could always ask.

Staring at Luna with my arms crossed, I quickly came to the conclusion that we were in my head, or more accurately, my dreams. I'd have to be careful about this one. I hadn't even realized I had fallen asleep: my rock must have been more comfortable than I'd realized.

Luna spun around, staring at me in shock. "How? How doth thou control thy dream?"

I will admit, this comes as a surprise to me as well, I allowed, gesturing with one arm. But that doesn't explain why you are here.

"We are the Mistress of Dreams," Luna exclaimed proudly, quickly recovering from her earlier shock. "It is Our duty to attend to the dreams of all Our subjects."

I quirked an eyebrow. I am not one of your subjects, though, I pointed out lazily.

"Thou art in Equestria, though," Luna pointed out. "Thou still fall under Mine aegis."

I see. I gestured with an arm again. I'll wager you're here for a different reason than my well-being though: you want answers. I uncrossed my arms, holding my paws out in supplication. So, ask away.

Luna blinked in surprise. "Verily?"

I nodded. I'm feeling generous right now. I really was, too.

"Quite," Luna retorted. She stared at me in thought before voicing her question. "Thine attack upon the Applachian Mountains, why?"

I felt that indescribable, irrational rage boiling up: I ruthlessly quashed it back down. I was but as a newborn, I explained, technically telling the truth. My transformation into a Mewtwo could be considered a form of rebirth, after all. And my mind was fractured. As for the hows and the whys of how I came to be there, I cannot say, for I do not know. I hoped Luna would accept that answer, because the anger really didn't like that topic.

Thankfully, Luna did accept that answer, for now at least. "We see. Very well." She lapsed back into silent thought, before her eyes darted over to one of the massive crystal shards floating about my mind. "Those," she pointed. "Those hold memories from two different individuals. How?"

Frowning, I pulled mentally at the two shards indicated. They were indeed memories, but not quite in the way Luna thought they were. They were scenes from the Pokemon anime, one from my half-remembered childhood and one from my equally half-remembered adult life. As the scenes played in my head, I grimaced: how to explain these to Luna without revealing too much?

Those are memories of my predecessors, I carefully said, which wasn't technically a lie.

Luna's eyes narrowed. "And how, pray tell, doth thou haveth the memories of thine predecessors?"

Shit. My mind raced as I struggled to come up with an answer. Have you ever heard of genetic memory? Please buy it. Please buy it. Please buy it.

"Thou dost remember the memories of thine ancestors? We didst not know such a thing was possible."

Oh, thank God.

Luna looked at me with a bit of...awe? I think it was awe, but it could have just as easily been indigestion (I was never very good at reading human expressions Before, and I couldn't quite figure out how to mindread someone who was already in my mind...or dream, so...). "What art thou?"

I smirked. I knew the answer to this one. I am Mewtwo. I snickered internally at Luna's expression.

Now, you've asked your questions, I stated, dark storm clouds roiling overhead as thunder rumbled somewhere off in the distance. It is time you answer one of mine.

Luna swallowed nervously, even as she stood resolute against the darkness. "Very well. Ask." She braced herself for whatever answer I would demand.

Where can I get some koi? At my question, the atmosphere suddenly brightened, the storm gone.

Luna sputtered in surprise, and you could hear the record scratch (literally: it was a dreamscape, after all) as she tried to process the sudden change in tone and topic. "Koi?"

Yes, you know, koi? A type of colorful, decorative carp? I elaborated. I hear they're quite nice to look at.

"I," Luna looked at me in bafflement. "I...can ask?"

Splendid. Well, I started. I'm sure you have much work to do tonight, so I shan't keep you. Toodles! And with that, I promptly kicked Luna from the chat session that was my dreams.

I let out a great sigh. Oh, that was a bit more intense than I had anticipated. But, it had been fun to tweak Luna's proverbial tailfeathers at the end there. I smiled smugly. If you can't awe them with knowledge, baffle 'em with bullshit. Now where was I? ...Hmm, lucid dreaming, might as well enjoy it.

I flopped down into a deck lounge as a beach materialized before me. Sipping from a coconut filled with fruity drink via straw, I sat back and enjoyed the view.

In her chambers in Canterlot Palace, Princess Luna jerked awake, blinking blearily in confusion. "Forsooth, what just happened?"

Author's Note

Okay, so a few things. One, being as this is a Displaced story, I will be creating a token at some point. Fear not, that does not mean I'll be going crossovers galore. At most, My character will hear a call and deign to answer it at the end of a chapter (maybe). It won't have any effect on the plot, it will simply be an amusing side story of the Omake persuasion.

Two. I am fully aware the Poke Ball will potentially come back to bite me in the butt.

Three. Some of you need to stop reading my mind. I'm the psychic one around here!

And finally, a question. How do you destroy something when doing so doesn't even cross your mind?

Thanks to Sky Hooves for finding me this picture of Mewtwo at the beach. It just encapsulates that sense of carefree relaxation I was trying to convey at the end.

Training and Tribulations

The next few days after my dream encounter with Luna were spent productively. I furnished a good portion of the castle with homemade furniture (some of it was...better than others...), cleaned the grounds of errant vegetation that my reconstruction had missed (along with the bodies of several dead vermin), and cleared out the old courtyard of weeds, rocks, and assorted garbage and other refuse. I could have done without (re)discovering the fact that I do not like hornets, at all, and no, the fact that I momentarily forgot that I was psychic has nothing to do with it.

The rest of my time, that not spent cleaning the castle or looking for food (I miss bacon) was spent training. In my throne room, I practiced patience and control of my psychic abilities, as well as that of my emotions. In the forests around my castle, I hunted or simply wandered, relying solely on my psychic senses to sense my surroundings. And finally, using the freshly cleared courtyard as a makeshift Pokemon arena (something that I had forgotten to include in my castle renovation and really needed to rectify), I worked on and trained my Pokemon moves.

Just like I am right now.

A dead tree exploded into splinters as I punched it with Brick Breaking force. Spinning around, I let out a loud cry as I leapt at a large boulder, fist cocked back and enveloped in a raging aura of reddish energy.

"MEF!" Ka-crack!

Standing in the boulder's shattered remains, I brought my feet together and my fists to my sides. Opening my fists, I slowly extended my paws to my front, palms out at chest height as I slowly let out a breath. Dropping the stance, I took in the results of my training. Piles of matchwood and patches of gravel lay scattered across the courtyard, the remains of approximately a dozen dead trees, logs, and boulders that I had hauled in as practice dummies. I smiled and nodded sharply. I now had two attacks, Brick Break and Rock Smash, down pat.

It might surprise you to know this, but despite being a Psychic type, the Pokemon moves that came the easiest to me were all physical attacks, such as Fighting type moves (though Brutal Swing, being a Dark type attack and thus somewhat antithetical to myself, was still very much a work in progress). It's probably an artifact of the martial arts training I had in my old life. I don't remember which discipline it was, or how high I got, but I do remember that I was very proud of my achievement.

I have a feeling that if I were to unlock a Mega-Evolution, it will be the Psychic-Fighting MegaMewtwo X form. On the other hand, with my luck, it would end up being MegaMewtwo Y just to screw with me (In other words, its a toss-up).

Picking up all the debris in my telekinesis, I swept it out to the side, leaving me with a clear space to work with. Now came the hard part. Spreading my feet apart, I leaned forward to my left. I closed my eyes. Drawing my right paw back, I took a deep breath and focused. Eyes snapping open, I slammed my back foot forward and thrust my right paw forward. Psyshock!

A bolt of psychic energy shot forward from my paw, racing towards the last log standing in the courtyard. It screamed across space, rending the air with a crackling keening, only to dissipate a bare yard from my paw. I slumped in disappointment.

Of course, despite my success with more physical techniques, the purely energy based ones remained just out of reach. Yes, I could manipulate or attack through telekinesis and create shields. But they weren't moves, they weren't Psychic or Barrier or Reflect: they were just simple manipulations of psychic energy, pale imitations of what they should be. There was something, some unquantifiable factor that I was missing. I could drop as many boulders or use as many vine nooses as I wanted, but without that something, they would never be anything more than sad mockeries of Rock Slide or Grass Knot.

Giving it up as a bad job for the moment, I took note of the dust and wood chips caught in my fur. Grunting, I took to the air, heading for my private chambers. I needed a bath.

My chambers...weren't really as impressive as I would have liked. They mostly consisted of a simple, round room at the top of the bailey's central tower, with rows of windows around the circumference of the room to provide ample lighting. It was sparsely furnished, with just a simple wooden table and stool to eat at from stone plates (which were little more than stone disks, considering that I still hadn't mastered stone cutting without aid from the Genius loci). The bed was basically a primitive hammock woven from long grasses and fronds taken from the forest and hung from the ceiling.

The "door" to my chambers was a simple hole in the center of the room. A corresponding hole sat in the ceiling of the throne room: the short tower above little more than a vertical hallway. I had plans to add in a retractable spiral ramp that would let flightless visitors enter my chambers, should the need ever arise, but the application of such a thing was far beyond my current abilities and knowledge.

Then there was the master bathroom. It wasn't really a bathroom, per say: there weren't any walls separating it from the rest of my chambers...well, chamber, I suppose. I had tried putting some in, but they had just interfered with the lighting from the windows (besides, I lived in my castle alone, and my chambers were only accessible if you could fly). Still, I had a section of my bedroom designated as the bathroom, with simple, primitive fixtures that were little more than a raised basin, a hollow stone box with a small hole in the bottom, and a hole in the floor (my sink, bathtub, and toilet, respectively).

Of course, it wasn't until I had finished my primitive bathroom fixtures that I discovered something somewhat disturbing.

So, as it turns out, I uh...I don't defecate. Or urinate. In fact, I'm pretty sure I don't expel any sort of bodily waste at all. I still eat, and I still drink, but, uh, I don't know where it all goes. At all. And I'm not really sure I want to know.

...Moving on!

Currently, I sat submerged up to my muzzle in my tub, rather underwhelmed by the experience. I'd had to draw my own bath, had no way to heat the water, so it was rather cold, and I had no shampoo (didn't need soap, I'm covered in fur, remember?). I sighed, a flurry of bubbles frothing before my nose. At least it got the dust and wood bits out of my fur.

As I wallowed in the tepid water, I considered the problem I was having with my moves. Why was it that moves that a Mewtwo should learn naturally just would not work, while Brick Break and Rock Smash, two techniques that Mewtwo did not learn naturally, came as easily to me as breathing air? I sat back, looking at the ceiling as I considered what I remembered of Pokemon.

Pokemon learned moves as a result of leveling, mostly through winning fights with other Pokemon: the moves that could be learned this way were limited, though. However, there were ways for Pokemon to learn techniques outside their traditional moveset, such as the Technical Machine, which used a library of disks to teach a Pokemon a move. There were also Move Tutors, who, as the name implied, tutored a Pokemon in the use of a move.

I growled in frustration. I probably couldn't use the techniques I'd been trying because I wasn't "leveled" enough, i.e., hadn't won enough Pokemon battles. Which could be a problem, considering I was the only Pokemon around to my knowledge. Of course, that still left the conundrum of how I had learned Brick Break and Rock Smash without either a Technical Machine or a Move Tutor.

Hm. I did have previous experience in martial arts from Before. Perhaps that experience was enough to impart the potential to use those techniques. If that was truly the case, then I should be able to learn new moves from observing or experiencing certain natural phenomenon. Of course, until proven otherwise, it was still just a theory.

Sighing, I stood up, letting go of the grip keeping the water in the tub. As gravity and fluid dynamics asserted themselves (the water flowing down a channel leading to the head of what I had wanted to be a gargoyle, but was now just an abstract sculpture), I stood and lifted myself from the tub. Layering a field of telekinetic energy over my skin and pushing it outwards, I effectively wrung out my fur. I was still a bit damp, but I suspected further practice would rectify that little issue in the future. Mostly dry, I set myself down on the floor and looked about.

It was as I was looking at the now, mostly defunct bathroom (I say mostly, because while I had plugged up the toilet hole, I still needed to bathe and be able to wash my hands), that I realized I had a problem: you can't really build a quality, modern indoor bathroom without knowledge of plumbing. And, unfortunately, the Genius loci was of no help, having been abandoned before the advent of modern plumbing techniques. I'd have to go elsewhere for the information I needed.

Fortunately, I knew just the place.

The Golden Oaks library was aptly named, I thought, considering it was carved from a very old oak tree. I assume magic was involved, probably earth pony, considering the tree was still alive and thriving, despite missing most of the inside of its trunk.

I puttered around the shelves, looking for anything on construction, building, plumbing, electrical wiring, or what have you. I wasn't having much luck though. I'm pretty sure Spike was the one who reshelved these books, because the way they were arranged, I really couldn't see somepony as organized as Twilight being this sloppy. The shelf I was currently browsing was an excellent example of what I was talking about. Law Fence of Saddle Arabia, Anatomy of a Dragon, Daring Do and the Blue Monkey, How to... Oh dear Lord, what is wrong with these ponies? Brain bleach! I need brain bleach!

So, after I recovered from my...unfortunate discovery, I resumed browsing the shelves--as far away as I could get from that one. Still no luck. I'd go and ask someone for help, but nobody was home when I got here, so I was on my own.

Of course, shortly thereafter, the door slammed open and Twilight came in, her mane rather unkempt. To my surprise, she completely missed my presence (not sure how, I'm a bipedal cat as tall as Celestia is) and rushed upstairs. For some reason, I could clearly hear Twilight talking to herself, despite the distance and obstacles between us.

"Clock is ticking Twilight. Clock. Is. Ticking!"

I looked up at the ceiling in consternation.

"If I can't find a friendship problem, I'll make a friendship problem!"

With a mad cackle, Twilight came thundering down the stairs and out the door, once again completely missing my presence.

Um...

Slowly, I reached out with the tip of my tail and shut the door. I'm pretty sure that, whatever that was, I wanted nothing to do with it. So, without further ado, I promptly forgot that that ever happened, and returned to browsing the shelves.

Oh, hey! Dummies' guide to Plumbing! Sweet! Grabbing the book from the shelf, I cracked it open and began to read.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no." I didn't get very far before the door slammed open, admitting an admittedly panicked infant dragon. Seeing his purple scales and green frill elicited a spark of recognition. I believe this was Spike, the baby dragon hatched from an egg by Twilight's magic. I forget the exact circumstances, but I think he was adopted?

Of course, as what seemed to be the pattern, Spike ran by without noticing me, proceeding to run in circles around the library floor, expressing various exclamations of panic.

I stared at him in concern. Are...you alright?

Spike screamed, spinning around even as he jumped halfway to the ceiling. "AUGH! Don't scare me like that!" Of course, immediately after that, he realized who he was talking to. "Yo-you're the Hellcat!"

I sighed. I prefer Mewtwo, actually.

"M-Mewtwo?"

My name, I clarified.

"Oh, yeah. I think Twilight said something about that." Spike scratched his cheek, trying to act nonchalant. "So, uh, what brings you here?"

Well, I was looking something up, I started. It could wait though: I was a bit curious as to why Spike was so panicked. But what about you? You seemed a bit distressed.

"Twilight!" Spike gasped. "She's so worried about disappointing Princess Celestia she's gone crazy!"

And just like that, you've lost me. I started to turn back to my book. I don't do crazy: I've had enough of that myself to last a lifetime.

"Please," Spike plead piteously. "I don't know what to do."

Dang it, he's giving me the puppy eyes, and I don't think he even realizes it. I sighed. Have you tried asking someone for help?

Spike gasped. "Princess Celestia! She'll know what to do!" The little purple dragon promptly disappeared up the stairs.

Um...good talk?

"Mine!"

"It's mine!"

"I want it!"

"Gimmie!"

"MINE!"

A commotion outside drew my attention away from my book. Sighing, I snapped the book shut and looked out the window. There, rampaging through the town, was a mob of crazy ponies fighting over, of all things, a homemade, patchwork doll. I blinked at the commotion with bemusement.

Must be a Tuesday.

With a shrug, I returned to my book. It really wasn't my problem, and I had no desire in getting involved in...whatever that was.

Ponies be crazy, yo.

"Ack! What are you doing here!?"

I looked up from my book (would the interruptions never end!?) to see a bedraggled and slightly unhinged-looking Twilight standing in the doorway.

It's this little thing called 'reading,' I snarked. You should try it. You do live in a library, after all.

"Wha? I! You!" Twilight sputtered at my flippant answer.

Yes. Words. Use them. I watched with some fascination as Twilight's mane began to smolder. Perhaps I was laying it on a bit thick? I was a bit miffed at all the interruptions to my reading, but I'm not sure it was worth being attacked over.

Of course, Celestia chose that moment to walk in, which, fortunately doused the embers in her protege's hair. "Twilight? Is everything alright?" She paused in the doorway as she saw me. She regarded me coolly for a moment. "Hellcat."

I stared flatly at Celestia before returning my attention to my book. Not my name.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Celestia purse her lips as if she had just tasted something sour. "Apologies. Mewtwo. Might I ask the reason you are in my student's home?"

I again stared flatly at Celestia. This is a library. For what reason do most beings generally go to a library for? I lifted my book as emphasis, before returning my attention to it, again.

Celestia scrutinized me carefully before turning to Twilight, albeit not without keeping an eye on me. "Twilight, is there somewhere private we can talk?" Huh. I wondered what Twilight had been up to today, if dealing with that took precedence over dealing with me of all things.

There's tea in the kitchen, I offered. I noticed the looks the two mares were giving me. What? I was thirsty.

"Let us retire to the kitchen then," Celestia suggested, eyeing me carefully.

As the two ponies disappeared into the kitchen, I went back to my book. Maybe now I'd finally get to finish this page.

"WAIT!"

Oh goddammit. What now?

I turned to see the front door fly open, disgorging a passel of ponies into a pile. A moment later, Rainbow Dash flew through the door, coming to a stop with a somersault landing. "Wait Princess, it's not Twilight's...fault?"

"Dear heavens," Rarity exclaimed as she trotted daintily in. "They must already be on their way back to Canterlot."

At that, Pinkie popped out of the pony pile, wailing dramatically. "Noooo!"

I decided to pointedly ignore how Pinkie had extracted herself from the pile without shifting the other three with her. They're in the kitchen.

The ponies all started and spun to face me. Rainbow dropped into a low fighting stance. "You! What are you doing here?" she snarled.

I blinked. That was a...tad more aggressive than I expected from her. Was she still sore about using her as a meditation tool? I lifted my book. Reading, I answered, glaring at the book. Or trying to, at any rate.

"Now Rainbow, Ah know ya don't like him," Applejack interjected. "But Ah don't think he's here ta make trouble."

"He did say Princess Celestia and Twilight were still here," Fluttershy stated timidly.

"What?!" Rainbow shot up into the air, spinning around to face her friends. "Why didn't you say anything!?"

Pinkie bounced up into the air. "Twilight! I'm coming!" And with that, Pinkie shot forward, crashing through the wall. The other four ponies, quickly followed, heading to the kitchen through the provided door.

I stood there, frozen as I tried to comprehend what had just happened. Pinkie Pie had shot into the air, stayed there in sheer defiance to the forces of gravity, and had then proceeded to shoot forward on a flat trajectory--without any source of external force, I might add--going straight through a solid wooden wall and leaving a perfectly pony-shaped hole, complete with gaps shaped like a poofy mane and tail. I stared at it with incomprehension.

What!? How!? Why!? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!

I stared at the Pinkie Pie-shaped hole in the wall and took a deep breath. I took another one. And another one. But the hole was still there, still impossibly Pinkie-shaped.

Nope. Nope, I am not dealing with this. I am leaving, before I lose my mind (again) trying to comprehend what I have seen. I am going home, and I shall try again later. Preferably without anything pink in the vicinity.

I put the book back on its shelf, and, exiting via the still open front door, I took to the skies: within moments I was over the trees of the Everfree Forest. I was just going to go home, lie in my hammock, and forget today ever happened.

...

Shoot. I forgot to ask about the koi fish.

The Cute. It Burns.

It was a few weeks before I ventured into Ponyville during the day for fear of encountering the pink one. Of course, that's not to say I didn't go into Ponyville at all. I just simply waited until everyone was asleep. My reading progressed quite quickly without anyone awake to disturb me. Oh yes, I did indeed spend most of my nights at the Golden Oaks Library, while the hours away in the nice, comfy recliner there. While everyone was asleep.

...Is it technically breaking and entering if the door is unlocked and the domicile in question is also a public service building?

At any rate, once the first rays of the day began to shine over the horizon, I would put everything back where I found it and take my leave. Of course, like any decent guest, I'd also put on a pot of coffee for my hosts when they would eventually wake up.

I'm sure they thank me for it.

Twilight looked up from her newspaper as Spike stumbled blearily into the kitchen with a yawn. "Morning Spike."

Spike shuffled past the table, scratching his tail sleepily. "M'rn'n' Tw'l'ght."

"Hey, buck up," Twilight exclaimed, lifting Spike to his seat at the table with her magic. "Come on, you should be more awake than that. This coffee you made is amazing."

Pausing halfway to reaching for a bowl of cereal, Spike blinked slowly at his big sister figure. "Uh, Twi? I didn' make any coffee. I jus' woke up."

Twilight stared at Spike, before looking down at her mug of coffee in confusion. "Then where did I get this cup of coffee?"

Their thanks are likely profuse and...what was I talking about again? Oh, right, Ponyville. I didn't just spend all my time there: I did avoid it during the day, as I said before. Of course, considering I had been spending my nights in the library, I spent most of the days asleep. curled up in my hammock. Like I was right now.

Flopping out of the hammock, I flexed, stretching my arms out across the floor as I straightened my legs into something of a bastardized downward dog. Flicking my tail languidly, I floated upright, smacking my lips as I suppressed a yawn. Drinking a globule of water I pulled from the sink, I turned to look at the setting sun.

Wait...That's east. That's not the sunset.

...Well. It appears I have overslept. Good morning sunshine, and all that, then. Well, looks like I won't be going to Ponyville today.

On the bright side, I've pretty much read the entirety of the self-help section of the library. I think. Spike's been re-shelving the books as of late, so specific books have been somewhat difficult to find.

Unfortunately, sourcing the materials needed to actually implement what I've learned has been a bit more difficult. The Everfree Forest is not particularly rich in metals or minerals, you see, so my supplies of copper and other metals are rather lacking. I barely had enough to set up the plumbing in my quarters, not to mention I still haven't been able to find any rare earth magnets to make even a half a generator to install into the vertical windmills I have at the peak of each tower. Of course, I'm not even going to begin to explain the difficulties I've been having in finding the necessary materials to make the batteries for said generators.

My stomach rumbled, and I was forced to put my building issues aside for the moment. I'm hungry. Taking stock of the food I had at hand, I was rather disappointed at the selection: a handful of nuts and some berries that were questionable at best. I sighed in exasperation. I had forgotten to go foraging for food, hadn't I?

Staring at the slim pickings for breakfast, I was struck with a sudden and inexplicable craving. I sighed in resignation. Looks like I'd be going to Ponyville after all: I wanted apples.

Of course, considering I don't have any bits (the local currency), going to a store is out. Maybe I could go talk to Applejack directly, see if we can work something out. If not, I'll figure something out later.

Stepping out the window (it was more of a door, to be honest, but there was a sheer drop outside it, so I was calling it a window), I took to the skies. Hopefully, I wouldn't run into the pink thing while I was there.

...

Shit. I just taunted Murphy, didn't I?

It was fortuitous, in light of my challenge to the god of inevitability, that Sweet Apple Acres wasn't actually in Ponyville, per say, but rather was the agricultural equivalent of a suburb. Not only that, but one of the outlying orchards directly pushes up against the Everfree Forest on one side. It's actually not as dangerous as you'd think, either: true, the fence demarcating the line between Sweet Apple Orchards and the Everfree Forest is just a simple split rail fence, but the barbed wire wrapped around each post and rail seems to be effective against keeping the smaller predators out, judging by the dried blood and glowing sap smeared across several strands of wire. Of course, there's nothing stopping anything larger from getting in, but I assume that people-er, ponies would be having bigger problems if that were ever the case.

I entered the orchard just below tree level, carefully skirting the barbed wire. I could have just simply flown in, but I didn't even want to risk the possibility of the pink one catching wind of my presence.

As I floated through the heart of this particular orchard, I found myself slowing to a halt. There was...something about this place. I drifted over to one of the apple trees nearby, a particularly gnarled specimen with bark covered in moss. Reaching out, I placed a paw on the tree's trunk, and gasped in shock and amazement at what I felt.

This tree...this orchard, was alive in a way I had never experienced in my life, admittedly short though it was. These trees were among the first trees planted by the Apple family in Ponyville. They had been tended to, cared for, loved by their caretakers, and the trees had loved them back. I could feel the psychic imprints upon the trees: the spirits of every pony that had devoted their lives to caring for these trees. Love. Life. Death. These trees had seen all of it, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever experienced.

It drew me in, immersing me in the combined experiences of these great plants. I stood there, tears in my eyes at the light touching my mind, my heart, my soul. Something, some ancient, primordial presence was reaching out to me, using these beloved trees as a conduit. I reached out for it-

-only for it to be torn away as a noose pulled tight around my ankle, hauling me bodily into the air. The sudden surprise caused my mind to recoil. My chest heaved as I hyperventilated, the abrupt disconnection throwing my mind for a loop. I was once again alone with my thoughts.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: MONSTER HUNTERS! YAY!"

...Mostly alone with my thoughts.

As I slowly spun in place, suspended from my restrained ankle, three fillies came into view. An orange pegasus with a scruffy purple mane, a white unicorn with a carefully groomed purple mane, and a cream earth pony with a green ribbon in her apple red mane. I recognized them immediately: the three fillies from the school trip to the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. Their names were...their names were...

Sighing in exasperation as the memories failed to cooperate, I gently coaxed their names from their minds.

Their names were Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom. And together, they called themselves the-

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"

...Yes, that. Not sure why they shouted it a second time, though.

As I watched, the three fillies went from staring at me in giddiness (from having actually caught something, I believe) to twisting about to stare expectantly at their flanks. When nothing happened, the three fillies slumped in disappointment.

"Aw, shucks. Ah thought fer sure we'd get it that time," I heard Apple Bloom mutter.

Scootaloo scratched her chin. "Maybe we didn't do it right."

"Um, girls?" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom turned to face Sweetie Belle as their friend waved a hoof at me. "Doesn't he look...familiar?"

Scootaloo tilted her head as she stared at me. "Huh. Y'know, now that you mention it." The three foals stared at me, deep in thought. I could see the gears turning in their minds.

"Ah got nuthin'," Apple Bloom stated matter-of-factly after a long moment's thought. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle soon followed suite.

"Me neither." "Same."

I hung there in a deadpan manner, staring a deadpan stare at them while thinking deadpan thoughts. Seriously? Just...really? How on Earth...how in Equestria does one forget about a creature such as myself? I mean, I'm literally one of a kind around here. I'm feeling a little insulted, actually. I paused, remembering something from The First Movie. I didn't erase their memories, did I?

Sweetie Belle suddenly jerked, her legs stiffening like those of a myotonic goat as her eyes bulged. "Wait! Now I remember! He's the Hellcat!"

Oh, no I did not. Good to know.

I watched Scootaloo's and Apple Bloom's reactions. Yup, they remembered too. I'm glad. Means I'm not accidentally mind-wiping ponies without knowing it. That would be bad.

"That critter from the field trip," Apple Bloom questioned anxiously. "The one that trapped all of us in a bubble?"

Scootaloo's eyes were practically the size of saucers. "It's come back to eat us!"

The three fillies turned to look at me and, as one, let out a terrified scream.

"EEEEEK!"

Ears ringing, I swung back and forth from the sheer force of the scream. Good golly do those fillies have a set of lungs on 'em. I took a breath. I'd best nip this in the bud before it goes any further. Don't want them running off and bringing back an angry mob. I'm deathly allergic to torches and pitchforks.

I don't eat ponies.

Immediately, the three foals stopped screaming and stared at me with timid curiosity. If possible, I'm pretty sure their eyes had gotten even bigger.

Apple Bloom stepped forward cautiously. "You can talk?"

My deadpan knows no limits. Yes, I can.

"Wait." I shifted my attention to Scootaloo, whose face was scrunched up in thought. "His mouth ain't moving. How's he talking without, y'know, talking?"

Sweetie Belle gasped in realization. "I bet he's using telepathy!"

Apple Bloom looked at her unicorn friend strangely. "Tele-whatsit now?"

"Telepathy," Sweetie Belle reiterated. "It's talking with your mind."

Scootaloo rubbed her forehead. "Ugh, how do you know so many big words?"

"I live with my sister."

"...Fair enough."

While this exchange was going on, I quietly untied the noose around my ankle and simply rotated in place until I was upright. Lowering myself silently to the ground, I waited for the three fillies to notice, my tail lashing in anticipated amusement.

Apple Bloom was the first to notice I was free, letting out an adorable squeak as she saw me standing there. She poked blindly at her friends with a hoof. "Uh, girls?"

"What?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked up. "Oh."

Oh, indeed. I crossed my arms. Now, mind explaining why I was trussed up like a Christmas turkey?

Looks of confusion crossed the three fillies' faces. "Why would ya truss a turkey?" Apple Bloom questioned quizzically.

I blinked in bafflement before I realized they were being serious. Oh, right. Ponies. Herbivores.

Scootaloo had a different question, though. "What's a Christmas?"

That question threw me for a loop before I remembered that, again, these were ponies. They called Christmas something else here. I waved off their questions. Nevermind that. Why did I find myself being hung from a tree?

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat nervously. "Er, you see, Mr. Hellcat, sir."

Mewtwo, I interrupted. My name is Mewtwo.

"Oh, um, Mr. Mewtwo, sir, we were trying to get our cutie marks in monster hunting."

Monster hunting, I repeated incredulously. I see. I took a deep breath. Oh boy. Tread carefully there, Mewtwo. And what, precisely, is a 'cutie mark?' To tell the truth, I already knew what they were. I just wanted to hear what they thought a cutie mark was...and meant.

"How do you not know what a cutie mark is," Scootaloo demanded, completely flabbergasted.

Not a pony, I simply replied.

"A cutie mark is what makes a pony special," Apple Bloom explained. "They represent yer special talent." Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded their heads in agreement.

I mentally shook my head. I had a feeling that they were missing the point. I seem to recall that I held the opinion Before that it wasn't the mark that made the pony special, but the pony that made the mark special. I opened my metaphorical mouth to say as much, but stayed my hand. This was not something to force: it was a lesson that had to be learned firsthand for it to mean anything.

I see. I bit my lip as I thought of what to say next. Why monster hunting?

"It was next on the list," shrugged Sweetie Belle.

List?

"Yeah," Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly. "Since we don't know what our talents are, we're going to try everything!"

I see. I was saying that a lot, wasn't I? I considered giving them a hint, only to immediately reject that idea. As they say, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were having fun. Who was I to rob them of that? I shall leave you to it then.

Taking to a hover, I turned to leave. I still had to find Applejack and negotiate a supply of apples, after all.

However, as I made to leave, Sweetie Belle caught my attention.. "Um, Mr. Mewtwo, sir? Why did you stick us in a bubble if you weren't going to eat us?"

As her two friends stopped to look at me, I thought over my answer carefully. To tell the truth though, it really wasn't anything I needed to hide or be misleading about. I didn't want to see anyone get hurt, I answered truthfully. With that, I left, leaving behind the old orchard in search of a certain mare.

Hopefully I haven't done anything to alienate Applejack. I'm hungry.

In the old orchard, the Cutie Mark Crusaders stared in the direction Mewtwo had disappeared.

Sweetie Belle tilted her head in thought. "Hey, Apple Bloom?"

"Hm?"

"Doesn't that lead to the rest of the farm?"

Apple Bloom blinked, squinting at the trees suspiciously. "Yeah, it sure does. Wonder what he's doin' here."

The three fillies stared at the trees for a long moment before Scootaloo suddenly spoke up. "So, who's up to get their cutie mark in pony cannonballs?" She wilted under her two friends' stares. "Or, we can follow him and find out what he's doing."

The three fillies pulled out deerstalker hats and plopped them down on their heads.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: INVESTIGATORS!"

Author's Note

Comment and review guys. Your input is what fuels the fires of my muse.

An Apple a Day

As I floated languidly through the trees of Sweet Apple Acres, I couldn't help but think back on my encounter with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were adorable, that I cannot deny, but some of the ideas going through their minds honestly scared me somewhat. I count myself lucky that all they used for their "monster hunting cutie marks" was an ankle noose: it could have easily been a tiger pit or a dropped boulder. I paused. Come to think of it, how had they gotten the drop on me?

Let's see. I entered the orchard, looked at the trees, and then...and then... Hm...I can't remember. I must have spaced out. It would explain how those three managed to sneak up on me, but I can't help but feel I'm missing something...

I was distracted from my train of thought as I broke through the treeline. I had made it to the farm proper. The orchards were behind me, and to my front was a decent-sized farmhouse, on the other side of which was sprawling farmland sown with various crops. However, what drew my attention the most were the two ponies having an argument in front of the barn-like farmhouse. The mare I recognized as Applejack, but the other, a big, Clydesdale of a pony...I had a niggling feeling that I should recognize him, but I couldn't place it. He was, as I said before, a massive pony, his broad, muscular frame covered in apple-red fur, his mane and tail short shocks of straw-colored hair. I assume he was related to Applejack in some way: their eyes were the exact same shade of green. That, and his cutie mark was a cross-sectioned green apple. Peculiarly, he was wearing a harness around his neck, the kind a draft horse would wear to pull a plow or a wagon.

As I made my way closer to the pair, I was able to listen in on their argument.

"Dang it, Big Mac," I heard Applejack exclaim in irritation at the stallion. "Ah know what Ah'm doin'!"

"Now AJ," I heard Big Mac say calmly. "You remember what happened the last time?"

"Yes, Ah remember," Applejack replied testily. "Ah was there. Ah also remember that I let mah friends help in the end. Ah learned mah lesson," she ground out, poking Big Mac in the chest. "You, on the other hoof, need to get back inta bed. You remember what Doc Heart said: no exertin' yerself until after this bug y'all got has passed."

Big Mac sighed. "Eeyup." As the burly stallion turned to go inside, I noticed that there was a certain sickly pallor to his face. I resolved to stay away from him for the time being. I hate getting sick. Wait...can I still get sick?

I did not get the chance to ponder that possible revelation though, as Applejack chose that moment to turn in my direction, jumping in slight surprise as she took notice of me.

"Gah!" I'll give her credit, she does recover quickly from a shock. She looked at me warily, her surface thoughts revealing that, while she didn't trust me, she was willing to give me a chance. "Um, Mewtwo, waren't it?"

I preened slightly, please that someone had called me by name and not that ridiculous title at first sight. It was. I gestured towards the door Big Macintosh had just disappeared through. Might I ask what that was about?

"Oh, well uh," Applejack started. "Big Mac got hurt a while back, right before a monthly harvest, and I ended up workin' mahself into a right tizzy tryin' ta get all the apples in without help."

I see, I mused. I presume that there is another harvest coming up soon, and with your brother sick, he was worried about a repeat.

"Yeah," Applejack replied in surprise. "That's it exactly. Wait," she looked at me in suspicion. "How'd yah know Bic Mac was mah brother? I never told..." Applejack trailed off as something occurred to her. I knew exactly what she was about to say, too. "Yah read mah mind," she said accusingly.

I did. No point in lying, especially not to the bearer of the Element of Honesty (though it does raise the question of whether the lie detecting instinct was natural or bestowed by the Element). I had skimmed her surface thoughts for her relation to Big Mac, after all.

"Please don't."

I apologize. It is not something I have complete control over, I explained apologetically. To me, thoughts might as well be a conversation held at the next table over. I can cover my ears, so to speak, but some things still get through.

"Huh. That why yah live alone in the Everfree, then," the orange mare asked.

More or less. It was an unexpected bonus, I will admit. True, the Everfree had more creatures per square mile than Ponyville did, but the minds of animals are rather primitive compared to that of a sophont. Their simple thoughts were easy to tune out, much as one tunes out the sounds of nature.

"Alright." Applejack looked me over for a moment. "So, what brings yah to Sweet Apple Acres?"

When I awoke this morning, I found myself craving apples.

Applejack looked at me quizzically. "So, yah came here instead of the grocer's we sell to in town?"

I do not possess any currency. Applejack's mouth opened. At all. Her mouth closed. You can see my conundrum.

"Huh, that is a problem," Applejack mused, rubbing her chin in thought. I actively refrained from reading the hat-wearing pony's mind, so much so that I missed the person coming up behind me.

I jumped as something poked me in the back. "Applejack! The cat's got out!"

Applejack pulled the brim of her hat down over her face in embarrassment. "Granny Smith...we don't have a cat."

"Oh."

I turned around to see a very old and very wrinkly, granny smith green pony poking me with a knobby hoof. Everything about her spoke of age, even her cutie mark, an apple pie, looked old, if that was possible. She was gaunt, that kind of skinny old people get where their skin seems to stretch over their bones. Her hair was purest white, both tail and mane done up in a neat bun. She looked up at me, confusion in her squinting, orange eyes. "Whoo, yer a big kitty, ain't'cha?"

Yes, I am, I responded in bemusement. I was a bit intrigued: I couldn't make heads nor tails of the surface thoughts I was picking up from her, and to be honest, I'm not sure I want to.

"Well, you just stay right there," the old pony commanded, turning around to hobble inside. "And I'll have a nice saucer of milk for you in a jiffy!"

I cut off Applejack's protests by raising a finger. I'll take that in a cup, please. What? I like milk. Shut up.

Granny Smith waved a leg at me, still hobbling along. "You got it!"

I turned back to Applejack. So, what were you going to say before your grandmother came out?

"Oh, uh, well, Ah had an idea."

"What're they doin'?"

Scootaloo dropped her hooves away from her face and looked down from her perch in an apple tree. "What?"

"What're they doin'," Apple Bloom asked from the ground, repeating her question.

"They're talking," Scootaloo replied, bringing her hooves back up to her eyes. To be honest, she didn't really need the cardboard tube binoculars: she could see just fine, thanks to her superior pegasi eyesight, but all good investigators had binoculars to watch their targets with.

"Well, what're they sayin'?"

"I don't know," the orange pegasus filly replied testily. "I can't read lips."

"Well, what about when Granny Smith came out," Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

"She came out, they talked, and Granny Smith left," Scootaloo exclaimed. "All they're doing is talking! Why is this so boring?!" she cried, the frustration exploding out in a shout.

"The vast majority of detective work is doing stakeouts," Sweetie Belle pointed out.

Scootaloo pitched forward, thumping her head gently against the branch she was straddling. "Groan."

Sweetie Belle looked down, noticing something. "Oh, hey, Granny Smith is back. What's she doing?"

Lifting up her head and resting her chin on the branch, Scootaloo squinted at the goings-on. "She's giving him...a glass of milk?"

"Wait, really?" Apple Bloom's face scrunched up. "The hay?"

"Hey, they're leaving," Sweetie exclaimed, pointing a hoof at the departing figures down the hill.

"Well what're we waitin' fer," Apple Bloom inquired. "Let's follow 'em!"

"Hey," Scootaloo squawked indignantly as her two friends galloped down the hill. "Wait for me!" Jumping from the tree, Scootaloo flew after them, her little wings buzzing like a hummingbird's. She make it about a foot before she remembered that she couldn't quite fly yet, the world seeming to freeze in place as the young pegasus made that revelation. "Oh, ponyfeathers."

With a shriek, Scootaloo fell to the ground and bounced, rolling down the hill where she collided with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The three fillies let out shrieks of surprise as they tumbled down the hill, where they finally came to a rest in a pony pile at the bottom.

Apple Bloom waved a hoof weakly in the air. "Anypony get the number of that wagon?"

In the old orchard at the edge of the Everfree, four ghostly shapes prowled the underbrush, skirting the dead-tree barrier the colorful-prey had constructed, with its strands of metal thorns. As was custom, the phantasmal beings searched for gaps in the barrier. Today, they found one: a single strand of metal thorns that had been eaten by brown metal-rot, leaving a small hole in the defenses. Snarling in victory, four wooden jaws began to tear at the metal thorns, slowly widening the gap.

Soon, they would hunt.

Soon, the gnawing hunger would be sated.

...if only for a moment...

As it turns out, Applejack's idea was to have me earn my apples by helping her with the harvest. That is to say: go applebucking with her.

"Now, we prefer to harvest apples the ol' fashioned way here at Sweet Apple Acres, without using magic," the stetson-hatted pony explained. "But, ah, for you, we might make an exception,' she said, eyeing my scrawny arms.

I know she was being honest and didn't mean anything by it, but honestly, I couldn't help but be a little insulted. I assure you, I said, crossing my arms. I am far stronger than I look.

Applejack gave me a side-eyed look as she looked me over head to toe. "Well, if'n yah say so." She trotted over to stand next to an empty, pony-drawn cart by a barn. "Right, so, apple baskets are in the barn," Applejack said, pointing to the stacks of half-barrels standing in the open barn doorway. "Jus' grab a few baskets, fill 'em up, and stick 'em on the cart there before gettin' new ones."

Alright. Simple enough. Floating over to a tree surrounded by some empty baskets, I settled into a simple fighting stance. Taking a deep breath, I swung my fist, punching the tree.

As it turns out though, applebucking is more than just hitting a tree very hard. It is not so simple as to just hit or kick a tree, there's a certain art to it. True, a good whack will knock a number of apples out of the tree, but I am sure that there is a trick to it, a sweet spot to hit, something. Applejack had it down to where it was instinctual, divesting a tree of all apples with a single buck--though whether that was inherent or earned through experience was up in the air.

Looking down at the handful of apples in the baskets, I looked up. Staring up at the apples still hanging in the tree, I clenched my fist. It would seem that I was...lacking when it came to my physical prowess. Perhaps I had focused too much on honing my psychic abilities and trying to learn my Pokemon moves. I would treat this as my training then, putting my all into every action, every motion, every movement.

The next few hours were a blur of motion. I punched with my fists, kicked with my feet, and attacked with my tail. I even tried a headbutt at one point--suffice it to say, that was the only time I used a headbutt. Once a tree was denuded of apples, I moved on. I was relentless, only stopping to telekinetically transfer the full apple baskets to the carts and retrieve empty ones from the barn.

I had worked up quite a lather by the time Applejack approached me, a question on her mind.

I did not stop the rapid-fire punches I was shaking the tree with. Yes?

"Hey, uh, Mewtwo, there's sumthin' Ah've been meanin' to ask," Applejack explained. "When we met ya after fightin' Discord, well, Ah'm not rightly sure how to explain it, but it was like the air was so heavy we could barely even breathe. What was that?"

I paused mid-punch, before lowering my fist. I turned to face Applejack, my chest heaving as I breathed heavily. Fortunately, I did not need my mouth to talk. I am...very powerful, I said truthfully. Gosh, how do I explain this without bringing Pokemon into it? It's not that I was ashamed of or wanted to hide what I was, but...how would the ponies react if they knew I was a clone of what was essentially a god? A literal force of nature? I may be a mindreader, but I'm no seer.

Imagine, if you would, a furnace, I began slowly. Now, imagine that the fire inside that furnace is so hot that it fills the room it is in with an unbearable heat. So you close the furnace door, but there is no latch, so you have to hold the door closed yourself. But at the same time, you have to go on with your life, and sometimes, your grip on the furnace door slips. I held up a clenched paw and summoned up a psychic field, bathing my fist in an actinic glow. I am that furnace, Applejack, I stated, turning to the farmpony, glowing fist still clenched. And sometimes, my paw slips on the furnace door.

Applejack looked at me with some pity. "That, uh, that sounds..."

Burdensome? Perhaps, I allowed. Fortunately, my control over the furnace door, over my Pressure, is more or less instinctual. Unfortunately, I sighed. Anger and adrenaline seem to erode that control. It is something I am working on.

"Huh," Applejack muttered absently. "Well, that's, uh...that's sure somethin'."

Applejack stared at me. I stared at Applejack. There was silence. It was awkward.

A shrill scream of terror echoed through the orchards. Applejack spun around, dread wafting off her like the stench from a dumpster in summer. "APPLE BLOOM!"

Galloping off at breakneck speeds, Applejack charged through the trees in the direction of the old orchard, with myself flying close on her heels.

A few minutes earlier...

"Well, that was an unsuccessful venture," Sweetie Belle commented as the three friends trotted into their treehouse clubhouse.

"It was a bust, is what it was," Scootaloo exclaimed, flopping down in the middle of the floor and smushing her face against the floorboards. "I don't know how you do it, Apple Bloom. Watching them applebuck was boring!"

"Applebuckin's actually kinda fun," Apple Bloom corrected absently as she sat down at their small table. "But, Ah'll admit, watchin' it is kinda borin'."

"Well, it was..." Trailing off, Scootaloo lifted her head off the ground and sniffed the air. Her face contorted in disgust. "Urgh, what's that smell?"

Curiosity piqued, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle made their way over to Scootaloo to smell the air. As such, when the front half of a timberwolf tried to force its way through the clubhouse's front door, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were not caught completely off guard. As it was though, the three little ponies froze, staring at the slavering monster trying to claw its way towards them.

As one, the three fillies let out a scream of terror.

I quickly outstripped Applejack and left her far behind. Though I was unfamiliar with the layout of the farm, I was able to navigate by the terrified screaming coming from up ahead: a task only made easier when I began to hear the snarling.

Bursting out of the trees into a small clearing, I saw them. Timberwolves. Necromantic constructs of dead wood in the form of arboreal wolves, glowing, sickly green eyes full of hatred and a ravenous hunger. There were four of them: three were circling the base of a short, stunted tree, while the fourth, visibly larger than the rest, tried to force its way into a treehouse a few feet off the ground, wedged halfway through the doorway.

Th-thump.

Time slowed to a crawl and the world shrank down to the scene before me. These things' existence was unnatural, even more-so than mine. Their minds were nothing more than cruel cunning, hatred, and a need to consume.

Th-thump.

My breath grew harsh and ragged as darkness began to encroach on the corners of my vision. Blood pounded in my ears. I was filled with a dark, blinding rage at the scene before me.

Th-thump.

I wanted to tear them apart with my bare hands.

Th-thump.

Time resumed, and the timberwolf in the treehouse gave a confused yelp as it was grabbed by the tail and cast bodily across the clearing. Scrambling back to its paws, the timberwolf spun about to face me.

I stood there, between wolves and treehouse. The pounding in my head grew to a crescendo, my power seeking to escape. I held up a paw behind me, encasing the treehouse in a blue glowing bubble. Then, and only then, did I release my tenuous hold on my power.

I roared a challenge, the air taking on a shimmering haze under the influence of my Pressure.

The timberwolves, undaunted by my challenge and the oppressive weight in the air, attacked, springing forward with bloodcurdling howls. Three of them pealed off to the sides, while the largest one, the alpha that had attacked the treehouse, came straight at me.

Contemptuously, I conjured a pane of psychic energy in its path, but to my shock, rather than shatter or bounce off it, the alpha began to push through, as if struggling through a thick spiderweb. My shocked hesitation nearly cost me.

I roared in pain as a pair of wooden jaws crushed shut on my arm. Snarling, I ripped it free, a crescent of blood arcing through the air as its slavering jaws snapped at nothing. Twisting my body, I hurled the timberwolf, shattering it against a tree. Another timberwolf launched itself onto my back, teeth tearing at the natural armor that mantled my shoulder. Bellowing in anger, I tore the beast from my back and slammed it to the ground before crushing its head under my foot. I spun about to face the third timberwolf just in time to see it lunge at me with wooden teeth bared.

Of course, in the heat of the moment, I had forgotten about the Alpha. Agonizing pain shot through me as a pair of powerful arboreal jaws bit down on my secondary spinal cord, the tube of thick, armored cartilage that connected between my upper back and the base of my skull. I staggered, blinded by pain and unable to see the last timberwolf as it went for my leg, but I certainly felt it when the timberwolf ripped my leg out from under me, sending me crashing to the ground on my face.

It is only the fact that my secondary spinal cord has no bones and is independent of my spine that my neck was not broken. Regardless, the way the alpha timberwolf was jerking my secondary spinal cord back and forth was excruciatingly painful, and the timberwolf gnawing on my ankle didn't help. Fortunately, even pinned as I was, I was not limited to physical abilities alone.

With a burst of psychokinetic power, I flipped into the air and unleashed a pulse of energy. Though the timberwolves slipped through the wave of power, there was still enough resistance to forcibly blast the two ligneous beasts away from my body. Both timberwolves recovered quickly, but only the smaller one attacked immediately, springing at me with slavering jaws open wide. A backhanded Brick Break to the jaw served to shatter it to pieces.

It was just me and the alpha.

And then the motherbucker went and pulled a motherbucking Sephiroth on me.

As I watched in disbelief, the pieces of the slain timberwolves flew into the air at the alpha, as did several dead trees, logs, and bushes from the direction of the Everfree Forest. As the detritus and dead timberwolf bits hit the alpha, it began to glow a sickly green, swelling to gargantuan size. When the green aura dissipated, I was left staring up at a king timberwolf the size of a house. It let loose a deafening howl, its foul breath washing over me in a cloud of fetid and rancid exhalation.

No. No. You know what? I'm done. Buck this guy.

Raising a hand, I fired off a Psywave into the king timberwolf's gaping maw, straight down its throat. The king timberwolf's jaws slammed shut, its eyes bugging out. The elephantine timberwolf reared up, clutching at its throat with its forepaws as it gagged in a fruitless attempt to clear its throat. After a few moments of gagging, it promptly swelled up and exploded, sending bark, branches, leaves, and what-have-you raining down from the sky.

As wood debris tumbled down around me, I fell on my backside with a slump, utterly spent. I didn't even need to reign in my Pressure, that's how exhausted I was. Why was I so tired? It wasn't like I...oh, right. I spent all morning applebucking...and forgot to eat breakfast. Of course. That would do it, I think. That reminds me, I'm hungry.

In a twisted and convoluted thought process, that thought somehow reminded me of shooting a Psywave down the king timberwolf's gullet.

Oh, hey, I successfully used Psywave. How'd I do that?

"THAT WAS AWESOME!"

I was broken from my train of thought by three very exuberant fillies thundering down the treehouse ramp and gathering around me, all clamoring together as they excitedly expressed their gratitude and recounted the fight.

"That was so cool how you--and then how he--neyoom, crash, boom!"

"Ah can't believe you did that! That was amazin'!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! They way you decimated those timberwolves-!"

I hissed in pain as one of the three accidentally poked one of my open wounds.

"Oh gosh, you're hurt!" No, really, you think?

Of course, this just made me that much aware of the wounds I had accrued in the fight. Oh, gosh it stings.

"Oh golly." The sudden exclamation made me look to the side to see Applejack standing next to me. How long had she been standing there? She lifted up a hoof, but stopped just short of actually touching me. "Yer hurt."

You should see the other guy, I snarked faintly. It wasn't all that bad, actually. True, I was covered in blood and sap, and the various scrapes, gauges, and lacerations hurt like the dickens, but...actually, it'd be really nice to know Recover right about now. But still, it wasn't that bad.

"Girls, y'all stay here and make sure Mewtwo is comfortable. "Ah'ma go get Twilight."

Now hang on, I tried to protest, but Applejack was already galloping away.

Zrrt!

The sound of tape being pulled from its roll brought my attention back to the three fillies, and the rolls of gauze and medical tape held in their forehooves. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: MEDICS! YAY!"

Oh please, God no.

Author's Note

So, I'd like to thank you all for your advice, critiques, and general words of support. I am sorry that some of you think my chapters are too short, but I assure you, there is a very good reason for that: I really don't have the time to dedicate to churning out long epics of a chapter. Beyond that, it also helps me keep myself and my plot straight without accidentally going on tangents that are too big. There's also the issue that you guys think of things that I miss or forget about, so the smaller chapters make it easier to fix these little oopsies. So, thank you.

Friendship Report

Author's Note

This is the real thing, I promise!

So, I want to apologize, I accidentally hit the publish button earlier instead of the edit button that was right next to it. Though, somehow that was enough to briefly get me back up onto the featured top ten ...eh, I'll take it.

Friendship Report

The day started as most do in Ponyville. Luna's moon sank below the horizon as Celestia's sun rose into the sky, and the crowing of roosters from Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttershy's cabin heralded the coming of morning, awaking the sleepy little town. It's a quiet village, full of little ponies who go about their daily routines, and this Tuesday was no different. Of course, given that it was a Tuesday, it was inevitable that something was going to happen to break the peaceful monotony.

As it was, it wasn't until very late morning that anything out of the ordinary happened: if one can call a certain pink mare running about like a chicken with her head cut off unusual, that is. Pinkie Pie running about screaming, yelling, or singing about something was a daily occurrence in Ponyville. All the same, when Pinkie's Pinkie Sense was acting up, everypony payed attention.

"TWILIGHT!"

Twilight, startled by Pinkie Pie's sudden entrance via previously empty bookshelf, jumped back in shock, the magical aura around the purple unicorn's horn cutting out from the surprise. She was promptly buried under the pile of books that she had been in the midst of re-shelving. Pinkie, still half-in, half-out the bookshelf, reached in and pulled Twilight out of the book pile by the armpits.

"No time for books Twilight! I've got a pinchy knee, floppy ear, twitchy tail combo," the pink party pony shouted, shaking Twilight back and forth as she did so.

Shaking her head clear and straightening out her spinning eyes, Twilight focused on Pinkie's last words. "Wait, what's a pinchy knee, floppy ear, twitchy tail mean?" she asked, thinking back to the ill-fated attempts at quantifying Pinkie Pie. "I don't know that one."

"It means," Pinkie explained, popping out of the bookshelf while still somehow holding Twilight up in the air. "That something really scary is going to happen to some of our friends!"

Pinkie's declaration of doom and woe was punctuated by an explosion off in the distance.

"Oop! There it is!" Pinkie promptly dropped Twilight into the pile of books. "Wow, that was a doozy. Wonder what it was."

It was at that moment that Spike ran into the room. "Twilight! Explosion! Sweet Apple Acres! What's going on?!"

"That's what we're going to find out," Twilight declared. "Spike, stay here. Pinkie, let's go!" Rearing up on her hind legs, Twilight spun about and charged out the door.

Pinkie popped up into the air. "Coming, Twilight!" Racing out the front door, Pinkie's body momentarily stretched like a rubber band before her hindquarters rebounded out the door after her.

The denizens of Ponyville gave no notice to the members of the Elements of Harmony rushing towards Sweet Apple Acres. Indeed, they had hardly given the earlier explosion at Sweet Apple Acres any mind other than an initial gasp and panic. It was Tuesday, after all. So long as whatever it was stayed out of the town proper, it wasn't their problem.

Besides, the Elements of Harmony were on the case. Whatever it was would probably be solved within the hour.

As they galloped through the town (Well, Twilight was. Pinkie was Pepe LePew'ing), the pair was quickly joined by Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity.

"Twilight, dear," Rarity asked primly as she pulled up next to the lavender mare. "Would you be able to tell me what's happening? Half the town saw Pinkie having one of her moments, and, well, curiosity seems to have gotten the better of me."

"Well," Pinkie said thoughtfully as she bounced along. "It's something really scary and dangerous, but with nopony in danger."

"You didn't say anything about danger before," Twilight said to Pinkie with a bit of confusion and worry.

"I didn't?" Pulling out a sheaf of paper labeled "SCRIPT," Pinkie flipped through it. "Huh, so I didn't."

Twilight gawked as the ream of paper vanished back into Pinkie's mane, before deciding to preserve her sanity and not question 'Pinkie being Pinkie.' The lavender unicorn turned her attention to the alabaster fashionista on the other side of her. "We're not sure, Rarity, but Pinkie seems to think it had something to do with the explosion at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Well, duh," Dash replied condescendingly, swooping down from above. "That explosion was all wood, and Applejack doesn't have any more old barns to tear down."

"How do you know that, Rainbow dear," Rarity inquired curiously.

"Because she didn't ask me to help like she did with the last one," Rainbow stated matter-of-factly. A moment later she stumbled mid-flight as what Pinkie had said registered in her mind. "Wait," she demanded as she recovered from her near wipe-out. "How can something be dangerous but not a danger?"

"I dunno," Pinkie shrugged. "Never had that combo before."

"Oh, I hope everything is okay," Fluttershy worried quietly.

As the five reached the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, they ran into Applejack galloping the opposite way into town. "Twilight, girls, boy howdy am Ah glad tah see y'all."

"Applejack," Twilight exclaimed, skidding to a stop. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"It's the girls," Applejack exclaimed worriedly, referring to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Mewtwo, he-!"

"Mewtwo," Rainbow Dash interrupted heatedly. "I knew he couldn't be trusted. I'll take care of this!" And with that, the spectrum-haired mare zipped into the air and sped off into the orchards.

"Wait, Rainbow," Applejack shouted fruitlessly. "Consarnit, girl. C'mon, Twi, girls, we need ta make sure Dash doesn't do somethin' bullheaded."

"What? Applejack," Twilight exclaimed as she and the others raced to catch up with the farm mare. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way," Applejack promised over her shoulder. "Let's just hope Rainbow actually looks before she leaps, fer once," she muttered with skeptical hope.

"Stop right there, you...uh...you..." I could practically hear the record scratch as Rainbow Dash's 'heroic rescue' introduction monologue ground to a halt. Turning my head what little bit I was able to, I was just barely able to see the poly-chromatic mare hovering in the air with a stupefied look on her face.

I sighed. It wasn't hard to guess why she was acting that way. After all, the Cutie Mark Crusaders' enthusiasm had left me swaddled from head to toe in a thick layer of gauze and medical tape. With the only parts of me not covered by bandages being my eyes and the tip of my tail, the sight would have been humorous if not for the extensive bloodstains.

"BWA-HAHAHAHAHA!"

Or, I deadpanned, it was humorous despite the blood stains.

I glared impotently at the pegasus rolling around on the ground in her paroxysms of laughter. Next to me, the three fillies of the Cutie Mark Crusaders huffed at the adult pony's behavior.

"Not cool, RD," Scootaloo muttered, crossing her forelegs in disgruntlement at her idol's behavior.

"S-sorry, squirt," Rainbow apologized, somehow holding in the giggles. "It's just he...snrk...BWAHAHAHAHA, oh, he looks ridiculous! HAHAHAHA," she shrieked, the laughter returning with a vengeance as she looked at me again.

"Rainbow Dash, you ought to be ashamed of yourself! Laughing at somepony who's hurt."

I blinked. Was that Fluttershy? I couldn't quite turn enough to see for certain, but I think that was Fluttershy. Holy crap, Fluttershy's got a momma bear thing going. I'm feeling somewhat intimidated.

"But, Fluttershy, he looks-"

"That's no reason to laugh at anypony," Fluttershy scolded. "Especially after they got hurt protecting somepony from timberwolves."

I saw Rainbow look at me in shock. "Wait, he did what?"

"It was amazing," Scootaloo exclaimed. "The timberwoves were all like, grrrr, and he was all, rargh, and he clobbered 'em!"

Rainbow looked at me, a torn, confused expression on her face, before trotting over to Scootaloo and pulling her off to the side. After a short, but intense conversation, Dash jogged over to me, an inscrutable look on her face. "Look, I don't like you," she declared, poking me in the chest with a hoof. "Something about you just rubs me the wrong way. But you saved Scoots and her friends, and for some reason, they like you, so I'm gonna trust you." She drew in close with a snort. "Don't make me regret it." She turned around to see Fluttershy's disapproving stare. "...and I'm sorry for making fun of you."

Acknowledging the apology with a nod, I watched Rainbow Dash walk off to the side, keeping an eye on me until she was distracted by Scootaloo and the other Crusaders. Fluttershy tried to apologize for Dash's behavior, but I waved it off. I knew why she was acting that way. I had wounded her pride, I think, back at the castle, and in front of her friends no less. Although she didn't like to admit it, the chromatic weather mare was very self-conscious about her image, how she appeared to others. Between that, her brashness, and her competitiveness, I wasn't all that surprised she didn't like me. But her willingness to put up with me for the sake of her friends spoke well of her. Perhaps someday we'd be friends, or perhaps not, but for now, I will settle for mutual nonaggression.

I turned my attention elsewhere as Twilight trotted over to me, her horn lighting up with magic as she looked me over. "Well, the good news is he appears to have just a few flesh wounds, nothing too serious. However, I can't quite...huh," the unicorn muttered absently. "That's interesting..." From the thoughts going through her mind, it would appear that Twilight has been lost in, well, thought. Good lord, those are some headache inducing math formulae going through her head.

I pulled my attention away from Twilight to find Rarity inspecting me, or rather, the bandages covering me from head to tail.

"The quality of the dressings is quite impressive," Rarity observed. "Which is somewhat worrisome considering some of the things you three get up to," the fashionista noted dryly as she gave a knowing look to the suddenly bashful Cutie Mark crusaders.

Any further conversation was cut off by the sudden and horrendous roar that emanated from my empty stomach. All ponies were staring at me in surprise, while poor Fluttershy (who had been looking over my bandages with Rarity) looked like a deer in the headlights. Apologies. I forgot to eat breakfast this morning.

"Well, we've got plenty of apples harvested now," Applejack offered. "Ah'm sure we kin spare a few."

"I don't think apples alone will be enough for him, Applejack," Twilight explained suddenly, the glow dissipating from her horn as her scientific curiosity was apparently sated for now. "The diagnostic spell results are a bit fuzzy, given Mewtwo's not a pony, but it looks like he's suffering from something akin to magical exhaustion. He'll need carbohydrates to start with, simple carbs for quick energy recovery, complex sugars..."

I blinked as Twilight began to make a list of nutrients and vitamins that I'd need to recover from magical exhaustion, or psychic exhaustion in my case... At any rate, I was barely able to keep up with the machine gun listing the unicorn was going through. The others looked like they were getting maybe one word in three, but poor Dash was just standing there with a glazed look in her eye.

"-And judging by his dental structure, he'll probably need at least a portion of animal protein, though I'm sure nuts or soy might work in a pinch," Twilight finished. "I've never seen any biology like his before though, even in my more obscure textbooks, so I'm not quite sure how much he'd need to eat," she said, looking at me uncertainly.

A lot, Twilight, I eat a lot. Nuts, berries, mushrooms, wild bird eggs, copious amounts of fish (Mr. Fish is safe by dint of I have no idea where he came from or what species he is), and that one elderly manticore. Though, come to think of it, I only ever felt full once I'd eaten some meat. Which brings up the question of why was I craving apples? Apples aren't very heavy in essential nutrients from what I remember...maybe I needed the fiber? Though why I'd need fiber when I don't defecate is beyond me. ...Man, I am just a mess of contradictions, aren't I?

Well, dang it, now I want Starbursts. Curse you random tangents.

"It makes sense that he'd at least be an omnivore," I heard Fluttershy respond to Twilight with a murmur. "Cats are predators, after all, and he does look like a cat." Somehow, that statement makes me glad I did not inherit my mother's cat allergy. I'd never stop sneezing.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!" Oh, great. The Pink One is here. I'd been trying to ignore her. Damn you Murphy. "We should have a 'Thank You For Saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders' Party! My cupcakes have lots of sugars and carbs."

"You know, that's not a bad idea," Twilight said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with a hoof. "It would be a good way to present Mewtwo to Ponyville." She dropped her hoof and looked around at her friends. "You know, introduce him so that everypony doesn't freak out like they did with Zecora."

"Yay! I get to invite everypony!" Pinkie Pie threw an arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry, Mewtwo, I'll be with you the whole time! Well, until I have to go bake the cakes. Or greet the guests. Or ice the cupcakes. Or do the dishes. Or-"

I could feel my pupils dilate at the mere thought of spending any amount of time with this walking spacial anomaly. Quick! Abort! Abandon ship! Head 'em off at the pass!

Thank you, but I'm not... I looked down to see three certain fillies (and one, full-grown, pink mare) giving me the puppy eyes. I cringed, but I could not fight it. ...currently able to move under my own power. I shall need to be carried. The three fillies (and one overgrown pink child) squee'd at a happy pitch that left my ears ringing, before Pinkie pulled a red wagon out of her mane (DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!). I let out a sigh over my wounded pride (and a groan over my suppressed terror) as I allowed a pair of purple and baby blue auras to lift me into the wagon being hooked up to Scootaloo's scooter.

The things I do for children.

Those cupcakes better be worth it.

The cupcakes were, in fact, worth it.

Best damn cupcakes I've ever had in my life, in fact. How does that Pink abomination do it? ...Actually, best not to think about it. It probably has something to do with breaking the laws of nature or something.

"Silly Mewtwo, I don't do any of that~." Oh sweet salty Christ how did she get there? "I just use lots of love."

As I watched Pinkie bounce off to do...something, I decided to forget the last five seconds had ever happened. Much better for my sanity this way.

I reached out with a paw to grasp another cupcake; Fluttershy had redone my bandages so that I could actually move properly. As adorable as the CMC were, their enthusiasm did not make up for skill. Picking from the platter on the table next to me at random, I took a bite from my selected cupcake. Ooh, peanut butter. Yum.

A small shuffling in front of my seat made me look down to see a small pinto colt staring up at me. "Blimey, are you the 'Ellcat?"

I blinked slowly as I stared down at the small colt. I am. You may call me Mewtwo.

"Oim Pipsqueak," the colt replied with a smile and what I recognized as a cockney accent. " I 'eard yew fought a pack ov timberwolves."

I did indeed. Including a king timberwolf. Hey, it's not bragging if you actually did it.

I could practically see the stars in his eyes. "Blimey. I bet yew 'ave a lot ov stories."

Well... I said thoughtfully. I looked about, seeing that I had somehow gathered an audience, adults and foals alike, without noticing. Well, I'd always enjoyed reading to my mom's students, so...what the heck. There is one story I grew up with. Ah, but I sure you don't want to hear it.

"No, tell us!"

I smiled. Well...alright. I conjured up a mist of psychic energy: I may not have fully recovered yet, but I was strong enough to make minor illusions. Let me tell you about...the Trouble With Trolls.

Rainbow Dash was...conflicted. She didn't like Mewtwo, the way he acted, so...(what was that word Twilight used?)...aloof, so above it all. It reminded her too much of...of Gilda. Her...friend, or someone she'd thought as a friend, had seemed cool, especially to a younger Rainbow Dash, but...she'd ended up being a jerk, a bully. And, if Rainbow was being honest with herself, it scared her, because she could easily see herself becoming like that, had become like that for a time, thanks to Discord's man...manula...um...cheating.

So Rainbow Dash could not help but be rubbed the wrong way by Mewtwo. He was arrogant, a jerk, and self-assured...but he had gotten hurt protecting Scootaloo (who was Dash's little sister in all but name) and her friends from a pack of timberwolves. And now, there he was, telling a story to a bunch of foals and ponies, complete with glowing blue pictures. And he was being so nice to them. It confused the pegasus, and she didn't like it.

But then, she realized, she didn't need to like him for Mewtwo to be a good being.

With that revelation, Rainbow Dash pulled out paper and quill and began to write.

Dear Princess Celestia.

I learned today that you don't have to like somepony for them to be a good ~~pony~~ person. I've also ~~reilized~~ figured out that somepony you like can be a bad person. But sometimes, it's not a pony's fault that you don't like them. I think I can work around that, maybe make friends with somepony like that, but it'll take a while.

Your awesome subject,
Rainbow Dash

The Calm Before

The air was thick with the scent of pine and fresh snow. I breathed in deep through my nostrils, savoring the cold sting of the winter air. Exhaling through my mouth, I opened my eyes to take in my home for the past few months.

It was...strange, being at another being's complete and utter mercy after being my own master for so long (okay, granted, it was only a few months, but honestly it somehow felt much longer). If it was any other pony, I probably would have chaffed at best. But with Fluttershy, well...

Becoming Mewtwo amplified things, I believe. My emotions, my experiences, everything was...it was as if I'd been deaf, blind, and dumb my entire life, what I remembered of it. Unfortunately, this included how I felt pain. I've never handled pain well, I remember that much, but now, it was infuriating. Every ache, every throb as my body healed drove me mad; not in the way of insanity, but in the manner of having an itch, and being unable to scratch at it. It made me angry. So very, very angry.

But for all that, God, Fluttershy was an absolute saint. I was a horrible patient, constantly complaining and moaning, while at the same time inconveniencing her and her animal friends with inane demands and requests. And yet, each time, she would just give me that soft smile and gently acquiesce to my ... request.

I still feel a right sod about it. And the damn rabbit keeps giving me the eye. Still, Angel Bunny ain't got nothing on Fluttershy: I tried once to get up against Fluttershy's orders and ... I have never been so afraid in all my life. Those eyes still haunt me.

Anyways, it took a very, very long three weeks for my concussion to clear up. I'm pretty sure concussions don't usually take that long to heal, but then again, I don't think that's taking non-human brains or psychic powers into account. Of course, by the time Fluttershy deemed me healthy enough to leave her care, it was already deep Autumn, and Winter was just around the bend. Not enough time to prepare Castle Cerulean for the cold.

So, I remained Fluttershy's guest for the Winter.

A big, furry mass moved into the corner of my vision. Turning my head slightly, I gave a nod to Harry the Bear. A big, ol' brown bear, Harry was one of Fluttershy's animal companions (not a pet, no, he was far too intelligent for that). He was nominally Fluttershy's unofficial assistant, taking care of the other animals whenever Fluttershy went into town or left for extended periods. He was also the one to pick me up and bring me into the house when Spike-zilla clobbered me.

Grunting my thanks, I accepted the steaming mug of tea held between Harry's forepaws. As the gentle giant turned to go back into the house, I contemplated my stay at Casa del Fluttershy.

Winter had been...interesting, so far. One day, it had been crisp Fall air (no leaves on the trees though, the ponies had already brought those down during the Running of the Leaves, weird tradition), and then the next, fwoompth, snow everywhere. I'm not even joking: literally overnight, a foot of snow fell on Ponyville. Thank Arceus I had collected my cloak from Rarity the week before (worked like a charm, though I may need to invest in boots and gloves sometime in the future).

However interesting Winter was, though, it was ironically rather boring. Oh, sure, there was Hearth's Warming Eve, a quaint little equivalent to the family-centricity and gift-exchanges of Christmas, but beyond that, absolutely nothing of note happened.

Perhaps I'm being disingenuous by leaving out the town-wide snowball fight, but when you can't participate because the cold makes your joints feel rust-locked and cuts to the bone, it doesn't really count, now does it?

My cloak curled around my leg, snapping in the bitter Winter wind. I took a sip of my tea, savoring the heat that spread through my body: using my psychic powers, I had devised a method to trap warm air against my skin. Unfortunately, I had yet to figure out the mechanics behind heating the air myself, so I had to "recharge" the pocket of warm air every so often.

As I sipped from my tea, I took note of the frantic fluttering coming towards me. I flexed a mental muscle.

Good morning, Derpy. Still sipping from my tea, I looked up at the pony suspended in a blue aura just a foot in front of me.

Ditzy Doo, a grey, blonde haired pegasus mare with a bubbly personality to match her bubbles Cutie Mark, one of Ponyville's mailmares (who also had the nickname of Derpy Hooves for some reason, never did learn why), giggled at me, her golden, walleyed peepers gazing at me in amusement. "Mornin' Mewtwo. How ya doin'?"

Good, I replied absently. I lowered her to the ground. The eye bothering you today?

"Yeah," the mailmare replied wistfully, rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. "Some days the darn thing just won't stay still," she said, her lazy eye drifting to one side to punctuate the statement. "Anywho." She reached back with a hoof, rummaging around through the saddlebags she was wearing. "Here's the morning paper. Gotta go!"

Taking the proffered bundle of papers in a psychic grip, I wished the mare luck. Take care Ditzy.

As Ditzy fluttered off, I opened up the paper and browsed the headlines. In particular, the main headline caught my attention for some reason.

Artifacts Stolen From the Manehattan Museum of Natural History

Intrigued, I read through the article. Apparently, a set of three black crystals found at what was thought to be the former location of the vanished Crystal Empire had been stolen from the Manehattan Museum of Natural History the night before. No clues were reported, though of course, that could just be the Royal Guard (or whoever it is that does CSI around here) holding their cards close to the breast.

Interestingly, the article said that the Crystals had been found and donated to the museum some time ago by one Daring Do, an archaeologist and adventurer of some repute. Funny, I'd thought she was just the titular character from a book series.

Shrugging that fact off (it wasn't the weirdest thing I'd come across, though I was unfortunately drawing a blank on those particulars at the moment), I checked the forecast for the next day (Sunny, with highs in the mid-twenties, in case you were wondering). Finishing the last of my tea, I folded the paper back up and took it inside. Placing it on the kitchen table, I looked around the room. I turned to Harry, the only other being present at the moment. Fluttershy still asleep?

Harry nodded, pointing at the calendar on the wall by the refrigerator. Ah yes, it was Sunday wasn't it? Fluttershy slept in on Sundays, as did most of the other animals by mutual consent; that is to say, the animals all slept in so that Fluttershy wouldn't be compelled to get up. On the one occasion I'd seen Fluttershy try to get up early on a Sunday, she'd been promptly carried under one arm back to her bedroom by Harry and put back to bed. Sometimes I wonder who's taking care of whom around here.

Spontaneously, I came to a decision. Let Fluttershy know I've gone to check on my castle when she wakes up, will you? Getting an affirmative grunt from Harry, I went out once more into the snow.

Breath fogged before me as I floated into my frozen throne room. Honestly, it looked kind of like an ice palace from an RPG: the water features were frozen over, snow was piled here and there and in the corners, and everything else was covered in a crystalline layer of glittering frost. It was really quite tranquil.

Alighting upon a bare portion of the frozen pond, I knelt down to look through the ice. There, I saw Mr. Fish and Sprinkles, just sort of floating there beneath the surface, completely catatonic. They'd been like that all Winter. It was a bit of a shock at first, because the two fish had kept on going, business as usual throughout Fall, then the snows came, and they just sort of ... stopped. They were still alive, I can tell you that much, but...well, suffice it to say, the phrase 'the lights are on, but nobody's home' is quite apt in this instance.

Satisfied that Mr. Fish and Sprinkles were still alive and healthy, I stood up and made my way to my rock. Settling down, I began to meditate. It was time to try something...new.

Taking a deep breath, I reached out with my mind. I wanted to see if I could project my consciousness outwards, manifest it away from my body.

...I have just remembered that particular skill is called 'astral projection'... *Sigh.* What even is my life?

Reaching out with my mind, I first tried to shift my point of view elsewhere, specifically the frost-covered rock about 15 degrees to my left. When that didn't work, I instead tried to will myself elsewhere as if I was teleporting, but without actually moving my body. It didn't work, and I'm pretty sure I passed out, because the next thing I know, I'm buried face first in the snow next to my rock with my ass sticking out and up in the air.

The flailing and screaming from the cold snow on my short fur aside, I think I might be on the right track. Why else would I have passed out?

Of course, there was the uncomfortable possibility that I might have been something very wrong. Perhaps this is an experiment best performed under supervision. Which brings up the question of whose supervision I can trust. I sighed, taking a sitting position in midair and slowly floating back to my rock. Decisions, decisions...Bah! I'll figure it out later.

Right now... I looked around at the snow and ice surrounding me contemplatively. Perhaps it was time to try and learn a new Pokémon move or two. Icebeam and Blizzard were not outside my potential skill set, and it would be prudent to have a technique that could incapacitate without use of brute force. With Icebeam or Blizzard, I could freeze any opponent or target in their tracks, so to speak.

I nodded to myself. It was as good a plan as any, and I didn't have anything else better to do. Taking a deep breath, I drew my cloak in tight to retain as much warmth as I could before I stopped maintaining my heat-retaining aura. I must have looked like some sort of weird, lumpy Cascoon. Dropping the aura, I couldn't help but shiver despite the warmth of my cloak. I didn't dwell on the cold long, however. Putting such thoughts of discomfort aside, I focused on the task at hand.

Now, how to go about this? Perhaps I should begin by transforming a portion of my psychic energy into ice-type energy. Well, it's certainly worth a try. Reluctantly poking a paw out from my warm cloak, I held it before me palm up, manifesting a ball of psychic energy.

Taking a deep breath, I focused everything I had on turning the sphere of mental energy into a ball of ice.

Think cold thoughts...

Icy rain poured down on the docks as several ponies loaded cargo from a large ship. Above them, a griffon with white fur and crimson plumage watched, his bowler hat barely able to keep the driving rain out of his eyes. The meticulously sharpened talons of a zygodactyl claw clutched the curve of a white cane as the other claw kneaded at the cobblestone underfoot.

Remus Firelight sighed in irritation. He hated Manehattan, it was always raining: thanks to the wild storms that blew in from the ocean the weather ponies only had control over the weather about half the time, if one was being generous.

Right now, Remus was feeling far from generous. He was cold, wet, and those blasted underlings unloading the ship were taking their own sweet time!

Tossing his cane up into the air and catching it on the haft, Remus waved the head of the cane at the ponies on the docks below. "Get a move on, you louts! We don't have all night!"

Of course, it was at that very moment that two ponies dropped the wooden crate they were carrying. Striking the cobblestones of the docks, the crate shattered, releasing the straw packaging and scattering three black crystals across the ground.

Cursing, Remus spread his wings and took to the air, gliding down to the ponies gathering around the dropped box. Landing, the griffon took in the shattered crate before promptly boxing the nearest pony about the ears. "Now look what you idiots have done! What are we even paying you for?"

One of the ponies, a unicorn with a green coat and brown hair, snarled at the griffon. "Hey! Where'd you get off actin' like yer the boss? My boys are havin' a hard enough time in this squall without yeh yellin' at them to hurry up!"

Remus scoffed at the unicorn. "Well, maybe I wouldn't have to yell at them if they'd just do their job properly, you useless idiot!"

The unicorn was livid, his face growing red. "Call me that again, I dare you!"

The griffon leaned in close. "Useless. Idiot."

Snarling, the unicorn lit up his horn, pulling out a nasty-looking hooked fishing knife. Remus, for his part, simply twisted the head of his cane and pulled, unsheathing a gleaming sword.

Just as Remus and the unicorn were about to come to blows, a blood-curdling scream brought it all to a screeching halt. Woodenly, Remus and the unicorn turned to see one of the earth ponies had picked up one of the black crystals. To their horror, thick, blue ice was racing up his leg. All present could only watch helplessly as the ice spread like a wildfire, and the screams cut off abruptly as the ice engulfed the pony's head.

For a brief moment, the docks were deathly silent in the pouring rain, and then the frozen pony shattered, pieces falling in a heap like a broken ice sculpture. The black crystal hung in the air roughly where the unfortunate pony's hoof had been, and as all watched, it began to slowly spin with a crystalline ringing.

Staring at the floating crystal, Remus could only voice a single thought. "Well...that's not good."

Outside of Ponyville, a single snowflake fell to earth...

The Raging Storm

Sleep was nice. If there was one thing I enjoyed about becoming Mewtwo, aside from the phenomenal psychic powers (heh, alliteration), it was that I could sleep just about anywhere. I'd just sort of stretch out, and then bam, catnap. Finding sunbeams on the floor to flop on was always enjoyable. All warm and fuzzy and poking my nose...

Wait, no, there's something poking my nose. Repeatedly, and rather insistently at that. Blast it, was it too much to ask for my sleep to go uninterrupted?

Yawning cavernously, I sat up and stretched. Smacking my lips, I opened my eyes to see Angel Bunny standing imperiously upon the couch, the back of which I had draped myself upon (and had promptly went to sleep on) when I returned from Castle Cerulean late last night.

I glowered at the white rabbit blearily. I'd been planning to sleep in, dammit! You'd better have a good reason for waking me up, Hassenpfeffer.

Angel thumped a staccato beat upon the couch cushion with his hind leg and pointed out the window.

Fluttershy needs help with the blizzard, I repeated. The rabbit nodded. I leaned in close. What blizzard?

In response, Angel simply pointed out the window again. Groaning, I turned to look out the window and was met with an expanse of howling white. Oh. That blizzard.

Wait, what?

After double checking to make sure that yes, I was awake, and yes, that was a blizzard, I turned back to Angel Bunny. Yes, that's a good reason.

Groaning, I levered myself up and off the couch to float a few inches off the floor. Scrunching up my face in a yawn, I scratched at my cheek with a paw as I looked around. Where's Fluttershy?

Angel Bunny thumped his reply on the couch. Thumpa-thumpa thump.

Outside checking on the chickens?

Thup thump-thumpa!

I see. Thank you. Stifling another yawn, I held out my paw and plucked my cloak out of the air as it hurtled towards me. Let's see, if I hold it just so, I think I can...

With a mental twist, my cloak twisted around my body to fasten itself around my shoulders. I smirked. Sure, I had to adjust the collar where it bunched up somewhat, but I figure if I practice it enough, it'll make one heck of a party trick.

Ah, right, back to the matter at hand. Paw. Hoof. Whatever.

Floating over to the door, I opened it...

COLD!

...and immediately regretted it before slamming the door shut against the howling gale.

I stood there shaking for I don't know how long, just sort of shellshocked by the sheer cold and amount of snow that had barreled through the doorway. Finally, I got the wits about me to breath again. Giratina's left asscheek, that's a bit more than just a blizzard, I'd say.

Abruptly, I was aware of two things. One, I was covered in snow, and two, there was a little white shite sitting on the couch, laughing at me. Unamused, I gathered all the snow that had billowed into the living room, creating a ball that was bigger than a pumpkin but smaller than a really big pumpkin, and promptly dropped it onto a certain lagomorph.

Ignoring the sputtering and flailing behind me, I cracked my knuckles. Right, let's try that again.

I opened the door again, but this time a bubble of blue, psychic energy was holding back the raging elements. After a moment, satisfied that I would be able to hold up the psychic shield with little to no problem, I stepped outside and closed the door.

As I trudged through the snow (somehow, flying about in a blizzard didn't seem a very good idea), I was struck by just how eerie it was. The wind was...it was so prevalent that it was almost not there at all, but in a manner that you could not not know the wind was howling. And the snow, there was so much of it, that you could not see your nose at the end of your face. If it weren't for my ability to sense living minds, I'd very likely be horribly lost within seconds. As it was, it was like walking around in a muffling bubble (although, considering I was in fact walking about in a bubble made from psychic energy, that metaphor might not be quite right).

crunch...crunch...crunch... Oh, hello.

I stopped, the sounds of crunching snow stopping with me as my bubble passed over the chickenwire fence that surrounded the chicken coop. Opening the gate, I trudged into the pen until my bubble engulfed the front of the henhouse. Fluttershy, you there?

From inside the henhouse came a soft "eep," and a few moments later, Fluttershy poked her head out the chicken coop's door. She blinked up at me. "Mewtwo?"

I couldn't help but smirk in amusement as several chickens poked their heads out around Fluttershy. Angel woke me up, said you were checking on the chickens. Everything alright?

"Um, well...I, uh...no," Fluttershy finally replied. "I wanted to check on the girls, make sure they were alright, but then the storm got worse, and I couldn't see the house anymore." She looked around. "It still is, I think. Getting worse, that is."

The storm is getting worse? Cocking my head to one side and raising one ear to the sky, I listened carefully to the ubiquitous background howl.

...

Yes, yes I do believe it's getting louder. It's faint, but it's there. I turned back to Fluttershy. I think you're right. We should probably get you and the...girls, back to the house.

Fluttershy looked at me, then around at the almost solid wall of white outside our little bubble of calm and tranquility. "Are...are you sure we can make it? How will we get to the house?"

Don't worry. I tapped the side of my head. Just follow me, I'll get you back safely. Just stay close, and we'll be there in a jiffy.

"Well, okay." Stepping out of the henhouse, Fluttershy turned back to coax the chickens out into the snow. "Come on girls, let's get you out of the cold."

And that is how I found myself acting the mama duck to a line of chickens, with one butter-yellow pegasus bringing up the rear. Life is funny that way, isn't it?

It was rather amusing how the chickens made their way through the snow, jumping into the air and pumping their wings frantically before disappearing into the snow with a plop. Jump, flutter, plop. Jump, flutter, plop. It reminds me of when my dog would do the same thing...huh, I just remembered that I had a dog.

...dang it, now I've made myself sad.

Sighing, I came to a stop. We're here. Sure enough, Fluttershy's front door was poking through my psychic bubble. Standing aside, I opened the door, holding it for the chickens to march inside. It's strange, I said, as Fluttershy started inside.

Stopping short, Fluttershy looked up at me owlishly. "Um...I'm sorry?"

The weather, I elaborated, looking up at the blinding white obscuring the sky. It was forecast to be sunny and warm, and yet...

I trailed off. Fluttershy peered around me to look in the direction I was facing. "Mewtwo?"

I shushed her. Something was coming closer, approaching through the storm, though what it was, I could not tell through the storm. I tensed, prepared for anything.

Fwump fwump fwump THWACK! ... squeeeee

I blinked in bemusement at the spread-eagled, dark grey pegasus with a light grey mohawk slowly sliding down the side of my psychic bubble. I had not been expecting that at all.

A gasp came from behind me. "Thunderlane?" Ah, apparently Fluttershy knows this pony. I tweaked the shield, allowing the pegasus to fall through the bubble into the snow with a plop.

As the grey pegasus sat up with a groan, Fluttershy squeezed around me. "Thunderlane? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Thunderlane looked up. "Fluttershy! Oh thank goodness." He leapt to his hooves. "Listen, Rainbow Dash's sent all of us in the weather teams out to warn everypony outside of town to hunker down and stay indoors."

Fluttershy seemed to shrink in on herself. "It's that bad?"

Thunderlane nodded. "It is. The storm's getting worse, and nothing we do is working to calm it."

Excuse me, Thunderlane, was it, I interjected. The grey pegasus tensed up upon being addressed, but rallied with a nod. Perhaps you could explain something to me. I was under the impression that the weather today was to be sunny and mild. I leaned in. Would you mind telling me what happened to change that?

Thunderlane shrugged helplessly. "I dunno. Storm rolled in from the north last night, caught us all off guard. We haven't been able to contact anypony outside of town, but near as we can figure, the storm's covering a good portion of Equestria." He paused, shifting uncomfortably in the deep snow. "Look I got to get going: I've got to warn the ranger stations along the Everfree, and it's getting colder by the minute. Stay safe."

I had stopped paying him any attention, though. Instead, I was staring straight up at the dark clouds obscured by curtains of white up above. So the storm was unexpected, eh? Strange, considering the pegasi control the weather, but whatever. It doesn't concern me. Although...

I smirked, raising a paw into the air.

...this presents me with an excellent opportunity to show off.

As I began to twirl my paw in tight, concentric circles, I reached out with my mind to impose my will upon the clouds above. Closing my eyes, I felt around the storm clouds. There, at the top layer of clouds, I could feel the sun burning away at the moisture therein. If I could accelerate that process, I might be able to...no, it wasn't working. I dropped my paw. If anything, it was making it snow harder, now with little bits of hail added in. I should probably learn more about meteorology before attempting to manipulate the weather in the future.

No matter though, time for plan B. Bringing up both paws, I drew them apart, as if throwing open a curtain. Lo, and behold, the clouds above began to split apart, the cloud cover curling up on itself until there was a miles-wide patch of clear, sunny sky surrounded on all sides by walls of dark, ominous clouds. Dropping my arms to my sides, I allowed myself a smug smile.

The only thing that could have made this moment better was if the Sorcerer's Apprentice theme had been playing in the background. Actually, come to think of it, I am psychic.

Note to self: figure out how to broadcast my own background music.

Thunderlane, in his shock, had stalled out mid takeoff, and had promptly face-planted into the snow. Sputtering wildly, he shot to his hooves and stared up at the clear sky above, jaw hanging loosely. "H-how did...?"

I smiled smugly. Psychic.

Then, I heard it, carried on the wind. The sound of flat rocks skipping across a frozen pond, that eerie, warping sound that echoes off the trees into the distance, the sound of wind whistling across an icy lake, of ice shifting on a frostbitten river.

A cold chill went down my back. I knew that sound.

Slowly, woodenly, I turned to the north, to the roiling cloud wall there. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. Something dark, something evil was fast approaching. And it was angry.

Fluttershy, I ground out harshly. Get inside. Get inside right now.

Fluttershy shrunk back from me. "Mewtwo? What's going on?"

Still staring to the north, I ground my teeth. By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

"Wait, what," Thunderlane asked in confusion. "What's coming?"

I ignored Thunderlane, instead turning to Fluttershy with a soft voice. Fluttershy, I need you to go inside. I can't guarantee your safety, otherwise.

Fluttershy stared at me in confusion. "Mewtwo?"

DO IT! Out of patience, and out of time, I shot into the air on a ballistic course for Ponyville. I shall have to apologize to Fluttershy for my harshness later, but right now, if I don't stop what's coming, Ponyville will be put into the deep freeze.

I think Thunderlane tried to follow me, but my mind was elsewhere, thinking ahead to the conflict ahead. I prayed to Arceus that it wouldn't be as bad as I feared, but I knew in the back of my mind that Murphy was not so kind.

It was as I crossed the outskirts of Ponyville at altitude that my fears were proven true, as a dark, avian figure burst out of the clouds and into the sunshine.

Articuno, the Freeze Pokemon, had arrived.

Five and a half feet in height, Articuno was a large avian Pokemon, the first of the three Legendary Birds. The three rhombus-shaped feathers upon its head, the short beak, the thin legs, and the long, streamer like tail were iconic to the Pokemon, giving it a distinctive silhouette. It was said that Articuno chilled the very air just by flapping its wings, and that it would appear before doomed hikers lost in the mountains.

But there was something very, very wrong with this Articuno. It was not the icy blue that it should have been. Instead, it was the dark grey of shadows and the sickly purple of an infected bruise, its eyes a cruel yellow, and with each beat of its wings it let out a poisonous black miasma. However, most disturbing was its mind: it had none, not one that I could recognize. All there was, was a cauldron of rage, hatred, and a cold, predatory hunger.

For a short eternity, it was as if the world itself was frozen in place. Then, with a piercing cry, the moment was broken. Diving down towards Ponyville, the dark Articuno opened its beak and spat out a black Ice Beam, leaving a trail of jagged, dirty ice pillars in its wake.

Down below, in Ponyville, panic struck, as the ponies who had come out at the blizzard's sudden cessation saw the dark Articuno and the wave of blackened ice encroaching upon them.

Snarling, I drew up vertical and slammed my paws together, drawing them apart to unleash a barrage of spinning yellow stars that immediately arched after the Articuno. The Ice Beam cut off with a pained screech, the barrage of stars obscuring the corrupted Pokemon in a cloud of smoke.

...Wait, when did I learn Swift? Gah, not the time!

With a shriek of rage, the Articuno burst from the smoke, black miasma trailing from its pinions. Twisting in midair, I 'pushed' off the air, propelling myself downwards at a ninety-degree angle from my previous trajectory, barely avoiding the dark, icy blast of a gruesome-looking Blizzard. Pulling up, I flipped onto my back, spamming Psywave attacks at the corrupted Legendary.

Avoiding my Psywaves by juking from side to side, the Articuno retaliated by unleashing another Ice Beam at me. Flipping to one side, I avoided the attack with a half barrel roll. Fortunately, I was still outside of Ponyville proper: the only thing damaged was a small stream that was suddenly dammed by the Ice Beam.

Before I could respond, I was buffeted by Hurricane-force winds, knocking me from the sky. Thinking quickly, I threw up a bubble shield around myself, halting my plummeting descent just in time to catch a shotgun blast of Ice Shards against the blue mental energy. Snarling, I pulled the shield apart and collected it in my paw before firing it off at the Articuno. It tanked the attack, but to my surprise, the avian began flopping about in confusion.

Did I just use Confusion? Well, okay then. Didn't mean to do that, but I'll take it.

Unfortunately, the effect didn't last long, and the Articuno snapped out of its confusion, doing its best to glare me to death. Just then, the rogue Pokemon's head snapped to the side as a rainbow trail blitzed past it. A moment later, the avian's head snapped to the other side as the rainbow curved around and made another pass.

I snarled as Rainbow Dash flew by me. What the hell do you think you're doing!?

Dash slowed to a hover, her confidence giving way to confusion. "What d'you mean 'what am I doing?' I'm helping," she declared, more than slightly miffed.

No, I practically shouted. Get out of here, it's too... My eyes widened as Articuno spat out a barrage of Ice Shards. Look out!

Throwing myself between Rainbow Dash and the attack, I shot off an Ice Beam of my own. The two attacks collided.

I opened my eyes. Somehow, the two attacks had exploded. I think I lost consciousness for a moment, as I was currently hurtling towards the unforgiving ground, Articuno crying victoriously above. Growling, I shook my head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs from the explosion, and that's when I saw it out the corner of my eye.

There, on her own terminal trajectory towards the ground, was Rainbow Dash, eyes closed and trailing feathers. My eyes widened. She was completely out cold. If she didn't wake up soon...

With bated breath, I pulled the unconscious pegasus over to myself with my telekinesis. To my relief, she was largely unharmed, albeit knocked out by the explosion. I started arching down towards Ponyville when an Ice Beam shot by, my fur standing on end from how close the cold laser passed.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw the Articuno rear back. My eyes widened as a premonition of doom settled over me. Immediately, I threw up a bubble shield and shot downward as fast as I could, practically clawing for more speed.

I almost made it.

Just as I was pulling up to skim across the ground, the Legendary Bird unleashed its attack. The Sheer Cold took my breath away, and if it hadn't been for my shield and cloak, I would have surely passed out. As it was, the shock disrupted my concentration, sending me and the still unconscious Rainbow Dash towards the hard, unforgiving ground. With a cry of exertion, I spun myself around and braced for impact.

Pain shot through my back as I hit the ground. Through some sheer act of dumb luck, I came down on a large patch of smooth ice. Instead of the sudden, painful stop I was expecting, I instead hit the ground and slid what felt like several hundred yards before finally coming to a stop.

Snarling in pain and anger, I gingerly placed Rainbow Dash aside (still in one piece, thankfully) and got to my feet. Several ponies were already galloping towards us, but I paid them no attention. Instead, I was looking up, my Laser Focus on Articuno high above as it circled about for another pass. Roaring in defiance, I pushed off the ground as hard as I could, launching myself into the air.

This ended now.

Rocketing upwards, I brought my fist back. Squawking in surprise, the Articuno forced itself to a stop, pumping its wings frantically in an attempt to backpedal. But I would not miss.

The sound of the Articuno's beak breaking upon my fist was deafening, and as the dark Legendary reeled, I flipped over and grabbed the bird, pinning its wings to its sides. Screaming in exertion, I forced us downward, putting the two of us into a death spiral. The Legendary struggled to escape, but I would not let go.

The ground loomed close.

Off in the distance, the dark storm clouds surrounding Ponyville began to fade away.

Mewtwo Gaiden: Ten's a Crowd

Author's Note

This Gaiden, or canon Omake, is a crossover with shagohad12's story And Then There Were 10...Er...67 and its sequels. I'd like to thank shagohad12 for reaching out to me for this, as it gave me the opportunity for this story to enter the Displaced universe proper, as well as setting up a few proper Pokemon battles to level my Mewtwo up.

Rest assured, the only effects this crossover will have on the main story is that I have powered up slightly faster than I normally would have and the MacGuffin continues to mock me. So, Without further ado, enjoy.

Mewtwo Gaiden: Ten's a Crowd

My day started as most do. I woke up, flopping out of my hammock as I stretched languidly. Catching myself before I hit the ground, I rotated upright, smacking my lips as I suppressed a yawn. Scratching my ear, I pulled an apple from the table into my paw and took a bite.

Ooh, yeah. Let me tell you, when it comes to growing apples, the Apple family is second to none. Hmm’ing my pleasure at the taste, I finished the apple, core and all (I’m pretty sure I wasn’t able to do that Before, but darn me if it ain’t good). Several other apples joined the first, along with a smoked fish, before my appetite was satisfied.

With my, admittedly short, morning wake-up routine finished, I made my way over to the hole down and lowered myself down the shaft. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh: I still hadn’t quite figured out how to make a ramp there, or how to make it retractable. I did have an idea on how to do it, but without the appropriate materials, I wasn’t able to work it out for sure.

Dropping from the bottom of the tower into my throne room, I floated over to my rock and settled into my customary modified lotus position (how a rock can be so comfortable is beyond me, but I’m not complaining). Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and began the next portion of my morning routine.

With my first breath, the sand began to ripple, forming intricate and flowing patterns. In the past, I had only made spirals and the like, but today I was going to try my paw at mandalas (unfortunately, taking a peek revealed less than stellar results. ...We’ll work on that). Another breath had my various river rocks and stones levitate into the air and begin orbiting around me. I kept each rock in precisely the same position relative to the others in orbit (No, no round rock number two, get back in your spot). Finally one last breath pulled a ring of water from the pool to coil and swirl around and through the rings of rocks, along with the solitary fish that called my pool home (yes, hello Mr. Fish. Why are you in the flying water again?).

I sat there, calmly practising my control. All was right with the world. The sand was rippling in pleasing patterns, the rocks were following their orbits with barely any wobble, Mr. Fish was floating languidly through a ring of water suspended in air, and the shiney cylinder was falling towards my head.

…

Wait, what?

Bonk

Ow.

I would like to say that being suddenly brained by an unexpected falling object had no effect on my psychic control, but that would be a lie. As it was, Mr. Fish was lucky enough to land on the dividing wall next to the pool, quickly flopping into the water.

Groaning, I opened my eyes and took in the mess before me. Well, that’s going to be a pain to clean up. I looked around. What hit me anyways?

It didn’t take long to find. It was right next to the Poke Ball, which I’m pretty sure was somehow the universe having a laugh at my expense. Grabbing it with my telekinesis, I brought it before me.

It was...well, I’m not sure what it was precisely, but it was a cylinder of some sort.It was black, and it was green, and that was pretty much it, though it did have an interesting decal on one end that looked like an hourglass. Wait, that’s a button. What’s it do?

Having nothing better to do, I pushed the button.

With a blinding flash, the cylinder was gone, and in its place were...are those humans? Those are humans, why are they, where did they…?! Questions for later.

The two beings I tentatively identified as human appeared to be in the middle of a fight, with the taller human, an older man with ridiculously long hair, fending off punches from a smaller female. There was a calm air to the man, a sort of cool detachment from the fight, while the girl was absolutely radiating frustration. It was an impressive fight, kicking up sand and snapping the air from the force of their blows, with the old guy easily deflecting everything that the girl could throw at him, to her mounting frustration.

And they were completely ignoring me!

Excuse me.

The man ducked under the girl’s leg as she performed a spinning midair kick.

Excuse me!

Landing deftly on her feet, the girl was forced to dodge to the side as the man brought a foot down in a crushing axe-kick, sending up a plume of sand from the small crater his foot made.

OI!

The man caught the girl’s fist in the palm of his hand, the sharp smack of flesh meeting flesh echoing through the throne room. Outwardly, it wouldn’t appear that the man was paying me any attention, but then there was a shift in his mental focus and I promptly fell off the back of my rock as at least half a dozen voices suddenly began talking, yelling, or just generally making noise all at once in a cacophonous assault on my mind.

As I lay upside down at the bottom of my hill from going ass-over-teakettle, I could only think one thing.

Ow.

I could almost hear a door being shut, and the voices went quiet.

“Not a fan of being interrupted,” The man spoke. I assume he had just tossed the girl, given the splash and subsequent cursing off to one side. He came into view around the hill, crossing his arms.

Yes, well, I’m not all that fond of strange people showing up and fighting in my throne room out of nowhere either, but we don’t always get what we want, now do we, I replied snarkily. Picking myself up, I reoriented myself upright and faced him. So...who are you and why are you in my castle?

He sighed, brushing some hair out of his face. “You’re the one who summoned us. Did you have a reason, or are you a first timer?”

I blinked. I beg your pardon?

“You summoned us,” he repeated, giving me an annoyed look.

I stared at the man blankly before letting out an explosive sigh. Apologies. I am somewhat out of my depths here. I usually can get a read on a situation by skimming what comes off another being’s surface thoughts, but I’m not getting anything off of you or the girl. Thankfully. I’m not sure what was going on with those voices in his head, but I know for a fact I don’t want to experience that again. You have me at a disadvantage, Mr. …?

“Hughes, Jason Hughes. That's my daughter, Rita.”

I see. I glanced over to the girl as she climbed out of the pool, grimacing at the way her clothes were clinging to her. Of all the things I remembered from Before, it was that wet clothes really chafed.

Here, I said, extending a paw towards the soaking wet and rather irritated girl, covering her with a skintight field of telekinetic energy. Let me get that for you. I slowly expanded the field, essentially wringing Rita out, but before I could proceed to the actual wringing out, she glowed a deep purple, unleashing a blast of dark energy that knocked me on my ass.

I lay there on the ground, staring at my ceiling stupidly. That was...that was a Pokemon move. Dark Pulse, something deep in my core told me. Immediately I was upright and across the room, staring Rita in the eyes with a calculating and discerning eye. You are...not human. Not fully, at least. What are you?

“Names Rita.” She cracked her knuckles. “And you, are the creep that tried to cop a psychic feel.”

I blinked. Pardon?

The next thing I knew, I was in the courtyard at the end of a shallow trench, nursing a sore jaw. Sitting up, I saw a hole in the wall leading to the throneroom.

“Perv!” Rita called from the hole in the wall.

A cold rage came over me. That bitch! She Sucker Punched me! I sprung to my feet. Right! I’ll do ya fer that!

Rita jumped out into the courtyard, putting her hands in the pockets of her shorts. “Think you can, fetus-cat?”

Fetus-cat? Seriously? That was the best she could do?

Rising into the air, I unleashed my hold on my Pressure, letting the ungodly force of my psychic might saturate the air. My vision turned blue as I flexed my telekinesis, and though I couldn’t see it, I knew that the air behind me had been tinged an actinic blue as I picked up the boulders and dead tree trunks that had been piled along the back wall. Tell me, girl, I said as I idly spun a few of the boulders in place. Have you ever played Dodgeball?

I thrust my arm forward, heralding a barrage of hurtling rock and wood.

A smirk grew across Rita’s face as she deftly dodged the flying debris. “Bring it.” Leaping into the air, she opened her mouth wide, unleashing an icy blue laser. Ice Beam, I realized.

Holding out my paw, I summoned up a shield of psychic energy, stopping the Ice Beam dead in its tracks. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to reflect it back into Rita’s mouth like in the movies, and the sudden cold left my paw feeling numb. Impassively, I reached out to grab the girl, only for her to slip through my telekinetic grasp like a slippery fish.

My mind raced. Shit. She’s a Dark type. That’s going to make things rather harder. Then again, dark-types are weak against Fighting type moves. I deflected another Ice Beam. Hmm, looks like she’s also the ice type. That might make this a little easier.

Of course, that’s assuming I can get close to her.

“What? Can’t back up the talk?” Rita grinned, throwing her hands out and unleashing a beam of multicolored lights.

Ah, Aurora Beam. I corkscrewed around the coruscating laser, the supercooled air making my fur stand on end. I closed my paw into a fist, causing several boulders to slam together around Rita in a makeshift Rock Tomb.

A Dark Pulse shattered Rita’s prison and knocked me back, the dark energy painfully crackling across my skin. Hardening her gaze, Rita proceeded to do a strange dance. She finally struck a pose, a gem around her neck glowing. “Black Hole Eclipse!”

What is she…? Why is she dancing? Is she trying to...My eyes bulged as a massive black hole of Dark-type energy materialized in front of Kira and shot up into the sky above me. To my horror, it suddenly expanded, its overwhelming vacuum sucking in all the debris on the battlefield, and me. If I could, my ears would be flat against the back of my head right now.

Mother.

Desperately, I created a bubble of psychic energy in a last-ditch attempt to protect myself from the attack. I don’t think it worked, because I shortly found myself in the middle of a small crater, very much in pain.

Ow…

Slowly, painfully, I hauled myself to my feet. Swaying in place, I noticed that Rita was breathing heavily and covered in sweat, as if she had just run a marathon. Oh, good, the Pressure’s working: whatever crazy attack that was, it looks to have taken more out of her than it usually would have.

“Truce?” She asked, holding her hand out.

I stared at her for a moment, before knocking her feet out from under her with a swipe of my tail. Truce, I responded, holding out my hand to help her up. She snorted, grabbing it. I hauled her to her feet before lifting myself a few inches into the air.

I’d help you inside, but I can’t pick you up with my telekinesis, apparently, I noted as I reigned in my Pressure. Floating inside, I promptly flopped over onto my rock. Ow.

Jason walked over, placing his hand over me. He flicked his wrist, and a feeling of warmth flowed over me, my aches and bruises fading away. Ohh...oh, that feels good. Sitting up, I looked at the older man as Rita stumbled back in. Now that things had calmed down somewhat, I took the time to look the two over and take in their features.

Jason stood at about six feet tall, in his mid twenties. He had brown hair that reached his waist, and a well trimmed beard. He was clad in scuffed-up jeans and a t-shirt, emblazoned with a skeleton drinking vodka. His eyes were...actually, let’s not go into those, they scare me.

Rita, was much less menacing. She only reached about 5’4, and wore a pair of jean shorts, and a shirt that showed off her comparatively generous chest. She had red eyes and black hair.

I just realized something, I exclaimed. I never introduced myself. I floated to my feet and made a grandiose sweeping motion with my arm. I welcome you, to the Castle Cerulean. I am Mewtwo.

Jason shook his head. “No, you are a Mewtwo. I’m not going to call you that.”

I tilted my head. He was being strangely insistent about that, but I just couldn't bring myself to give a damn. Call me what you will then. Mewtwo is the only name I care for, as I do not remember who I was Before.

Jason pinched his nose. “Jesus, it’s like I’m meeting Medulla all over again.”

I do not know this “Medulla” you speak of.

“He’s another Mewtwo, didn’t remember his life before Equestria either.”

Yes, well a millennium in stone will do that to one. Another Mewtwo? Intriguing. This other Mewtwo...where are they? I needed to know, if only to be sure they didn’t become the threat I once was.

Jason sat down, pushing his hair over his shoulder. “Another universe. He’s been around longer than you have, comparatively.”

Another universe? Surely that… Something clicked in my mind. You mentioned before that I summoned you in some manner. Am I to assume you too came from a different universe?

Jason nodded in approval. “Yep. I’ve been to a lot. It’s how I met Rita’s mother.”

I assume there are other Equestria’s with people who don’t belong out there, then? Jason nodded again.

Huh, I muttered as I remembered my time locked away in stone. Well, that certainly explains some of the dreams I had during my imprisonment. I could not for the life of me figure out why I kept dreaming about a crazy samurai with a spear and his own soundtrack, amongst other things.

Jason raised his eyebrow. “That would be Gilgamesh, my adopted father.”

That… I paused. That actually raises more questions than answers, but I think I’ll go with: how the heck did that come about? I mean, how did you even meet in the first place if you are from different Equestrias like I am assuming? For that instance, how are you even here?

“Oh, he found my token and decided to pick a fight with me.” Jason smiled, lost in nostalgia. “Kicked my ass hard.”

I’m sorry. Token?

“That little thing you picked up. I made it and sent copies throughout the multiverse.”

I looked at Jason blankly before shaking my head. I still don’t follow.

Jason took in a deep breath, shaking his head. “Alright so, Displaced are people like us. Eldritch abominations that live out in the void between universes get bored and like to send people from one universe to another, usually altering them into something else.”

Okay?Well, that answered some questions, I think… But what are the tokens for? In fact, what even is a token?

“Tokens are calling cards. Displaced use items that represent them and send it out for other Displaced to find. You can summon another Displaced through their token.”

Oh~. Okay, that makes sense. That was...interesting. Are all of these...Displaced, as strong as she is, I asked, hiking a thumb over my shoulder at Rita.

Jason laughed. “No, Rita’s not Displaced. Not... technically. Her mom and I are though.”

Is that a yes?

“Depends on who they turned into.”

Hmm, now that was interesting. Perhaps some of these Displaced would be able to help me get stronger. How would I go about making one of these...tokens?

“Find an object that defines you and place a message inside it.”

I sighed, before picking up my Poke Ball, which was, miraculously, untouched by all the recent hullabaloo, and making it hover in front of me. Unfortunately, the only thing I have that remotely fits that description is this. I bobbled the red and white sphere as emphasis. I’d have prefered a Master Ball, but that bastard of a Draconequus decided to be cute and stuff me in a measly Poke Ball.

“Right.” He nodded, taking it from me. His eyes turned yellow, and it transformed into a Master Ball. “There.” He tossed it back, looking rather tired.

I blinked at the formerly half-red sphere as I took it in my paws. White bottom, purple top with two shallow, reddish-purple bulges and a white ‘M’ above the release button. Yup, it was a Master Ball all right. I could feel the difference, like it had a certain weight that it had lacked as a Poke Ball. I looked at Jason owlishly. How do?

“I can turn into a Draconequus. I didn’t feel like letting him out, so, I tapped into some of his power. Always a bit of a pain in the ass.”

I blinked at Jason slowly. Oh..kay? You know what, I’m not even going to question it. I held the Master Ball up in one paw. So how do I do this? How do I make this a token?

“Just put all your thought into it, and for the love of god, actually give yourself a name that isn’t Mewtwo.”

But I am Mewtwo, I pointed out. Giving a Pokemon a name is a human thing. True, I am only a Mewtwo, but I am also Mewtwo. There’s a subtle nuance to it that I’m pretty sure non-Pokemon cannot comprehend. Turning away from Jason, I thought long and hard what to do.

“Don’t give us that,” Rita spoke up. “Look, you know what. I’m just gonna call you Jung.”

If you must call me anything, then call me Hellcat, I replied, still contemplating the Master Ball. It is what the ponies here called me, it shall suffice as a name to my...peers. What is Jung even supposed to mean, anyways?

Rita smiled. “Carl Jung was a doctor who created Jung psychology. It’s a little complicated but, if you’ve ever played Persona, the series is actually based on that. The general idea is, humanity shares a sub conscious, and that people use masks, or personas, to interact with the world.”

That’s...rather interesting, I allowed. But I don’t believe Jung quite fits my idiom. I think I shall stick with Hellcat for the time being. I returned my attention to the Master Ball. I think I...

I found myself staring at the Master Ball, the purple and white orb drawing me in as the world seemed to fade away. Unbidden, words rose to the fore of my mind, and I spoke. I stand alone. But if you would seek to challenge your destiny, or just yourself, then I shall come. If your need is dire, then I shall aid you. However, if you seek to subjugate, you shall not live to regret it. Call upon me if you would behold my power.

Blinking, I jerked back, the world coming back into focus. What just happened?

“Congratulations,” Jason said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “You just made your token.”

Huh. That was...rather easier than I expected. I held out the Master Ball before me. So...now what?

Jason held his hand out. I blinked at him for a moment (good lord, I’m doing that a lot, aren’t I?) before handing him the Master Ball. His eyes turned yellow again, and he punched a hole in reality.

I stared blankly at the tear in space, an uncomfortable twitch in my eye. Who? What? Why? Error 404: Universe not found. Please reboot Mewtwo.OS.

The Master Ball was tossed into the void, where it shattered into innumerable copies before Jason sealed the rift shut. I blinked asynchronously as I tried and failed to comprehend what I had just seen before deciding I was better off forgetting about it.

Of course, before I could say anything, a Poke Ball fell into my lap. My Poke Ball. The self-same one that had just been tossed into the void as a Master Ball. I stared emotionlessly at the innocuous red and white ball sitting in my lap. I am never going to be rid of you, am I? The little orb just sat there, mocking me with its existence.

“Probably not...” Jason let himself fall back, breathing heavily.

I… I sighed. Thank you for your help, and the fight, I said, turning to Rita. I had fun. Perhaps we could do it again sometime, when we’re both stronger.

Rita laughed, a big grin on her face. “Actually, I was holding back. Anyway, why don’t we stick around. Dad could show you a thing or two about being a Mewtwo.”

I turned to stare at Jason before turning back to Rita. Somehow, I don’t doubt that. I’ll have to decline, though. I feel that this is something I have to learn on my own. It’s...I have a lot to think about.

“Really?” Jason pulled himself to his feet. “Omnitrix, Second Sight.” The large device on his arm flashed, and in his place stood... Another Mewtwo?

For some reason, I couldn’t help but bury my face in my paws. Oh dear God.

A Bad Joke

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day!

It is a beautiful morning, I have never felt so alive! Kaloo, kalay, oh happy day!

I woke up this morning feeling strangely energetic. Like nothing in the world could ever get me down. I just feel so happy!

Grabbing an apple, I quickly snarfed it down, and a moment later the rest of the bushel followed it down my gullet. I let out a small burp. 'Scuse me.

What to do, what to do. I think I'll go down the hole.

Positioning myself over the "door" to my room, I cut out my telekinesis and allowed myself to drop.

Wheeeee!

Just before I hit the ground, I caught myself in a bubble of pink telekinetic energy, giggling all the while. That was fun, Imma do it again!

Up the hole!

Wheeeee!

Up the hole!

Wheeeee!

Up the hole!

Wheeeee!

Up the h--

*Sploosh*

Immediately, I zipped over to the throne room's pond, where a series of ripples spread across the otherwise tranquil surface. Hi Mr. Fish! How...

I trailed off as the ripples smoothed out, revealing my reflection: or rather, the reflection of a small, pink cat.

AIEEEEE!

Twilight, help!

For a moment Twilight staggered, rightfully trying not to fall over as a ten pound ball of pink fur suddenly and meteorically attached itself to her right-foreleg. Blinking as she stared at the shaking kitten glomping her leg, Twilight belatedly registered the mental voice that had just spoken to her.

"Mewtwo?"

Taking a deep breath, I unlatched from Twilight's appendage and floated out of her personal space. It's actually Mew at the moment, but... I growled as my recently flighty attention wandered again. I wiggled my tiny forearms helplessly. Help! Perhaps I should have been more eloquent, but I was in panic mode.

"Mewtwo, er, Mew," Twilight asked concernedly. "What happened?"

I don't know, I exclaimed as I continued to wave my tiny, tiny arms. I went to bed normal and woke up like this! I have a big head and tiny arms! This was never part of any plan, and I don't think that such a plan would work in the first place!

You may be wondering why I am in such a tizzy right now. Well you'd be panicking too if you woke up to suddenly find yourself in a different body! Do you know how long it took me to get used to my new body the last time this happened?!

Actually, come to think about it, I don't know the answer to that...let's see, there was the insanity and then the stoning... Um, it was a long time, let's leave it at that.

Now where was I? Oh, right. Tiny arms! Big head! Panic!

It was at this point that Spike handed me a paper bag to hyperventilate in. I'm not sure how long he'd been standing there, but I was currently worried about other, more important things at the moment, such as the fact that I was barely a foot tall. Oh, did I mention that my control over my psychic abilities were shot all to hell? Yes! And the worst part of that is my telepathy keeps kicking in at the most inopportune of times. I did not need to know that Bulk Biceps likes to flex in front of a mirror screaming "YEAH!" or that Bon Bon is actually a retired secret agent named Sweetie Drops, nor of Lyra's not-so-secret obsession with hands. No, Spike being a ninja can wait until another day.

When I finally got my breathing under control, I tried to return the somewhat crumpled bag to Spike. Tried being the keyword there. Thank you for--Whoops! To my dismay, instead of gently floating the bag back to the baby dragon, my pink (PINK!) telekinetic aura instead sent the paper container careening into Spike's face at near-relativistic speeds (Okay, so that might be hyperbole, but it was really fast), leaving him with a perfectly formed paper mask stuck to his face. Sorry!

"Naw, it's okay," Spike assured, pulling the rigid paper off his face and giving it a strange look. "It wouldn't be the first high speed object to hit me in the face around here." I sensed there was a story there. "When Twilight gets into one of her science-y moods, well," he shrugged. "It pays to have armored scales instead of soft fur."

Oh...less story, more mad scientist's long-suffering assistant. Somehow not as exciting as I'd have thought. Wait, why am I so calm? I should be panicking!

However, it was at this point that Twilight interjected, distracting me from my re-mounting panic. "You didn't happen to come across any blue flowers recently, did you," she asked, giving me a careful look.

Um...

Get back here you little-! I cursed as my prey continued to mock me. Snarling, I bounded after it on all fours through a field of flowers, scattering blue petals to the wind.

You cannot escape the inevitable, you blasted butterfly!

Maybe?

Twilight's look turned into something that uncomfortably reminded me of the look I had once associated with my mother being unamused with whatever antics I was up to. I drew my paws behind my back and tried to look as innocent as possible: surprisingly difficult considering I was a pink kitten at the moment. "I'll take that as a yes." Pulling out a book with her magic, Twilight flipped through it until she found what she was looking for. Turning back to me, she showed me the picture of a familiar blue flower within the pages. "You've got Poison Joke."

Poison...Joke?

"It's a magical plant native to the Everfree Forest," the purple unicorn responded matter-of-factly. "Something about it (I haven't quite figured out what yet) causes magical mishaps in any wildlife, or sapient being, that touches it. The effects are different for every being that touches it, but in your case." Twilight gestured at me with a hoof. "It turned you into a pink kitten."

I blinked. I do believe I understood that. Something about this was niggling at my mind. Is...is it permanent?

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, only to pause. "You know, that's a very good question. We were all cured rather quickly, and I never did get around to applying the scientific method like I intended to...Maybe Zecora would know..."

I latched onto Twilight's words with the desperation of a drowning man clutching a flotation ring. But there is a cure, right?

"Hmm?" Twilight glanced at me distractedly, still deep in thought. "Oh, yes, you just need an herbal bath. They have the recipe for it over at the spa."

A weight lifted off my shoulders. I wouldn't be stuck like this anymore! I wouldn't have to endure fluctuating powers and accidental mind reading! A strange calm settled over me as my panic just floated away. Even better, I didn't have to worry about accidentally killing anybody anymore.

What? Oh, don't look at me like that. You do remember what happened the last time I woke up in a body not my own, right? Uh-huh, that's what I thought. Now where was I?

Oh, right. The cure. To the spa!

With a quick thanks, Twilight, I shot out the door and into the sky. Soon, the nightmare would be over. Soon, I'd be back to my normal self. Soon, I'd...I...I do not where the spa is.

...

Shit.

Well, I suppose I could go and ask for directions. Not like that could hurt. I'd just need to...What's that over there?

Back in the library, Spike stared at the open door that Mew had left through. "Uh, Twilight."

"Hm," Twilight responded absently, still lost in thought.

"Does, um, Mew know where the spa is?" Concern was etched on the small dragon's face.

Twilight looked up, blinking owlishly as the question worked its way past her previous train of thought. "I...don't know."

Spike looked at Twilight questioningly. "Should we...I dunno, do something?"

Twilight looked back at Spike quizzically. "Well, I suppose we should give him directions." She looked around the room. "Where is he?"

The baby dragon pointed at the open door. "He already left."

"Oh." Twilight stared at the open doorway. "Well...I...I'm sure he'll be fine. He's just a pink kitten right now, I doubt he's going to get into any trouble."

At that moment, a crash came from outside. "My cabbages!"

Twilight winced at the commotion outside. "Of course, I could be wrong."

I'm sorry!

"You'll be sorry alright! Hold still!"

It was just my luck that as I was passing a cart full of produce when I needed to sneeze. And it was also just my luck that said sneeze was accompanied by an accidental release of psychic energy, knocking over everything within three feet of my tiny, pink self. Which, of course, included a produce cart filled to the brim with cabbages.

The owner was not happy.

So now, here I am, running (floating?) for my life from an angry green-furred, grey-haired pony with a cabbage cutie mark. Who also had a surprisingly good throwing hoof.

AUGH! A cabbage bouncing off my skull, coupled with an unfortunately timed psychic hiccup, sent me careening through a flower stand. Coming to a rest upside down, my world stopped spinning just in time to see a trio of somewhat irritated mares.

Sorry! I shot into the air, forgetting about the cabbage pony for a moment. I can fix that, I declared, looking sheepishly at the broken stall. Gathering my psychic abilities, I took the booth and its contents in my grasp. Unfortunately, this also caused a cloud of pollen to puff into my face.

My muzzle screwed up. "Ah...ah...AHCHOO!"

Shaking my head clear, I looked at the scene with dismay. Upon sneezing, the booth and flowers in my grasp had shot onto ballistic trajectories. Pieces of booth were scattered everywhere, crushing stalls and impaling produce with various flowers. One pony was contorted into a painful looking position, an outline made of roses impaled into the wall behind him, while another had her mouth open in a silent scream of pain at the thorns lodged in her rump.

I could only shrink in on myself in embarrassment as everyone turned to look at me. Oops...

The pony with the thorns stuck in her flank finally found her voice, cracking with pain as she pointed at me. "Get 'im!"

With half the farmer's market chasing after me, I couldn't help but cry a little. I only wanted to see the shiny thing and go to the spa!

I just don't know what went wrong.

Elsewhere, a grey, blonde-haired pegasus sneezed, unfortunately dropping the anvil she was carrying in the process. Down below, two ponies whose meals had been interrupted by said anvil landing on their table looked up with a glare, pulverized bits of food dripping from their irritated faces.

Ditzy Doo could only wring her hooves in embarrassment. "I just don't know what went wrong!"

"So why are we checking the farmer's market," Spike questioned as he jogged after Twilight.

"Well," Twilight explained. "For one, this is the direction Mew went in. Secondly, if he's not there, hopefully somepony will have seen him."

"Huh, yeah, that makes sense," Spike agreed. A moment later, the baby dragon bumped into Twilight's leg as she ground to a halt. "Ow, What gives?"

Peering around Twilight's leg, Spike couldn't help but gape at the disarray the market was in. "Holy hay! What happened?"

"I don't know Spike," Twilight responded slowly.

At that moment, a screaming pink blur sped by, followed closely by a mob of ponies carrying torches, pitchforks, and other farming implements.

Whyyyyyy?!

Spike looked to Twilight quizzically, pointing a claw down the street. "Was that...?"

Twilight nodded, staring incredulously down the street where Mew and the mob had vanished around a corner. "Yup."

"Huh." Spike dropped his arm to his side with a nonplussed look. "Shouldn't...shouldn't we do something?"

The lavender unicorn jerked, eyes wide. "Oh my gosh, yes!" Taking a deep breath, Twilight quickly formulated a plan. "Spike! I need you to go to the spa and ask Aloe and Lotus Blossom to prepare a Poison Joke treatment bath."

Spike nodded, then paused. "What about you?"

Twilight drew herself up. "I'm going to try and calm the angry mob." With that, the mare reared up and galloped down the street.

Watching Twilight disappear around the corner after the mob, Spike turned his attention back to the wrecked farmer's market. "How'd this even happen?"

"Well, it started when the pink thing sneezed and knocked over a cart."

Spike looked up to see a red earth pony stallion with teal hair looking at him from a booth. "A sneeze," the baby dragon questioned.

"It kinda snowballed from there," the earth pony elaborated. He took on a bemused look. "Never seen anything like it. That sort of thing happen often here?"

"Constantly," Spike replied with a bit of exasperation. "Course, usually these things happen on Tuesday." He shrugged. "Anyways, I gotta get going. Gotta tell the spa ponies to make a Poison Joke cure." He turned to leave.

"You want a candy bar for the road?," the earth pony offered. "They're all the rage right now."

The purple dragon tilted his head in consideration. He was kind of hungry. "Sure. How much?"

"Eh, you know what? It's my last one," the vender-pony said. "Have it on the house." He tossed Spike a candy bar in a plastic wrapper.

"Huh, thanks." Waving over his shoulder, Spike waddled off, happily munching on his sweet treat as he headed for the spa.

"Well?"

The vendor-pony turned to see his partner, a black unicorn mare with an orange mane and tail, come up next to him. He smiled cruelly. "Phase one complete. Ready for phase two."

The unicorn's smile was just a cruel. "Excellent work Double Dutch."

"Thank you, Chastity."

It was with a foul demeanor that I left the spa, Twilight and Spike on my heels.

"So," Twilight began. "How exactly did you get half of the farmers in Ponyville angry with you?"

I grimaced. I don't want to talk about it. Today had not been fun. At all. Between the body change, the power fritz, and the angry mob, I was very, very tired.

Twilight opened her mouth.

No.

"But..."

No, I said forcefully. We shall never speak of this again.

"Okay, but what about..."

Ever!

Maybe I was being a bit uncharitable. Honestly, Twilight just wanted to inquire (interrogate more like, a dark part of my mind whispered) about the Mew form I had taken (I didn't even have to do an active mind-read, the questions were that loud). But dang it, I was tired and just wanted to go to bed. She can ask about it later. I'm going home.

As I gathered myself to take to the air, Spike voiced a thought.

"You know, I've been wondering. How come everypony got so mad with you?" Twilight and I looked at the baby dragon. Seeing our quizzical looks, Spike elaborated. "Well, I mean, Twilight and the others have accidentally destroyed booths at the farmer's market before, but nopony ever got angry enough to form an angry mob."

Twilight tilted her head. "Huh, you're right. Maybe everypony was having a bad day," she ventured.

I shook my head. Well, whatever the case is, I'm just happy they stopped chasing me. Especially since I didn't want to have to make them do it themselves. Kind of a slippery slope there. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home.

With that, I took to the air. My hammock was calling me.

As Mewtwo disappeared into the clouds over the Everfree, Spike's stomach let out a deafening growl. "I'm hungry," he declared, somewhat redundantly.

Twilight opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by a similar growl emanating from her own stomach. She blushed. "Well, it is past lunch time. Hayfries sound good?"

"Sure thing." Spike followed after Twilight as she trotted down the street, gnawing happily on a rock from one of the spa's saunas.

He always did like hayfries.

Author's Note

Hey all. Sorry this chapter took so long, but life happened. Sorry, not sorry.

As always, Read and Review.

Excessive Growth

Mr. Fish has multiplied. I don't know how, but when I woke up this morning, there were two of him. It's...a bit disconcerting, if I'm being honest, because there is literally no earthly way there could be one fish in my pond, let alone two. But no, there are two fish in my meditation pond now.

I...should maybe ask someone about this? Twilight or Fluttershy I think. One of them should know if this is something to be worried about.

But first, Mr. Fish's new friend needs a name. Hm. He looks like a Styx. I'm going to call him Styx, he is now Styx. Mr. Fish and Styx.

...Eugh...no, that's a terrible pun. I'll call him Sprinkles.

I feel a wobble in the air. I think the Genius loci is laughing at me. Well, shove it in your portcullis, you silly castle.

And now I'm trading insults with an inanimate object, however intelligent it may be. I'm just going to leave before I do something silly.

Ah, Ponyville is as lovely as ever. The birds, the clear blue skies, the smell of fresh cut grass, the screams of a panicking pony...

Wait. I took a look down the street.

"AIEEEE!"

There is indeed a pony staring at me and screaming her head off...no, no, now she's running away. Still screaming. Good lord, do all ponies have such impressive lung capacity?

I'm going to assume she was out of town for the party. The only other possibility I can think of is that ponies have distressingly short memories, which, considering my interactions with the other townsfolk, seems unlikely.

Although...there was that thing with the angry mob last Friday...

Right, so, I'm just going to put that Screaming Mimi over there out of my mind and go to...Twilight's, yes go to Twilight's. Her place is closer anyways. I mean, it's literally right over there, down at the end of the street.

The library is looking lovely today, though the leaves are looking somewhat...crispy, if that makes sense. Huh, looks like it'll be fall soon. Note to self: make sure the Castle has central heating.

Oh, I just realized something. Winter is going to be hell. Mew are a tropical species, with short fur and probably no down layer. And seeing how Mewtwo, and therefore myself, are an artificially induced evolution (in the Darwinian sense) of the Mew species, winter is...oh god winter is going to be cold.

Right. First things first: Carousel Boutique, then Twilight's. The fish can wait...I can't believe I just said that, but there you go.

Humming idly, I turned and floated down the street in the opposite direction from the library towards the colorful building shaped like a circus tent. Well, I assume it's supposed to be a circus tent: the building is literally shaped like a circular tent and is very colorful. There are only two things off the top of my head that I think it could be, but I am pretty sure that a merry-go-round isn't it. So...circus. No, wait, there's a pair of wooden ponies on a stick. Merry-go-round it is.

...goddamn it. The name's a pun.

Anyways, back to the Boutique. Entering the store, it was...well...frilly. Frilly curtains, frilly doilies, frilly furniture covers--even the bell hung over the door to announce visitors sounded frilly. It's ringing filled the frilly, purple showroom I found myself in.

"Just a minute," came the call from the back. "I'll be right with you!"

A few moments later, Rarity came trotting into the showroom through a curtained doorway, a necklace with a large, heart-shaped ruby hanging around her neck. "Welcome to--Oh, hello Mewtwo," Rarity welcomed me, interrupting her generic welcome in the process. "What brings you to Carousel Boutique?"

I have a bit of a problem, I confessed. You see, winter is coming. ...I think I just made a reference to something, but I can't quite place it.

"Oh, I just love winter," Rarity gushed. "The hats, the scarves, the boots, oh I just love accessorizing them to match my winter coat." Rarity paused, taking a moment to compose herself. "My apologies. I am so sorry for interrupting, it just...ahem, well..."

Quite alright, I assured. As I was saying, this is going to be my first winter here in Equestria where I'm not made of stone, so... I trailed off, parsing my thoughts into relative organization. I need to prepare for the cold.

"Oh, well, I still have a selection of hats and scarves from last winter in the back. I'd be happy to let you take a look or create a custom design if you are so inclined," the alabaster unicorn offered. "Something to compliment your winter coat once it comes in."

I lifted a finger. About that. My species' ancestors hail from tropical climes, so, I explained patiently. We don't have winter coats.

Rarity's face lit up with understanding. "Ah, yes, you'd need a bit more than just a scarf or a hat then. Did you have anything in mind?"

I was thinking something along the lines of an all weather cloak, I outlined. Something to keep me warm in winter, but that won't make me overheat if I were to wear it in summer. Simple, with a darker coloration. Something that can be removed quickly in an emergency, I added as an afterthought, remembering a short, bespectacled woman detailing several...avoidable cape-related accidents.

"Well, that's simple enough to make," Rarity considered. "But why that, if you don't mind me asking?"

An ancestor of mine wore something similar, I said by way of explanation, vaguely remembering the ending of Mewtwo Returns. Though he mostly used it to travel incognito.

"Ooh, ancestral traditions," Rarity oozed happily. "Oh I just love working with those. Some of my best ideas come from such commissions." She paused, and I could almost see the lightbulb going off in her head. "Speaking of which..."

Before you go off and do anything, we really should talk payment, I interjected. Okay, how do I explain I don't have any money without sounding like a leech? Maybe I should have thought about this sooner.

"Oh, there's no need for that, Mewtwo dear," Rarity demurred. "Consider it a thank-you: you did save the life of my little sister, after all."

Little sister? Oh, right, Sweetie Belle. Thank you. I honestly didn't know what to say beyond that.

"You are very welcome." Her horn lit up, levitating a series of measuring tapes. "Let's get your measurements, shall we?"

I gave off a hum as I left Carousel Boutique behind me. That was a fun diversion. Now, back to the mysteriously multiplying fish.

It didn't take long to reach the library. Hopefully Twilight was in, but if she wasn't, well, I could always go over to Fluttershy and see if she knows anything.

Setting myself down, I opened the library's front door and stepped inside. Hello? Twilight, are you available? I was hoping you could help me with...something... I trailed off at the sight before me.

The library was...well, warzone did not do it justice, at all. Books were everywhere, and I mean everywhere, while various nick-knacks and other random objects were scattered across the floor. In the center of the room was a veritable mountain of...stuff, on top of which was a hornless Nidoking with green spines that was taking swipes at a broom-wielding and incoherently screaming Twilight Sparkle.

Oh wait, that's not a Nidoking, that's Spike.

...

Wait, what!?

Taking a second look, I determined that yes, that was Twilight brandishing a broom like a bristled spear and, yes, that was an oversized, snarling Spike flopped atop a pile of books and other sundry items taking swipes at her.

I stared dumbly at the scene before me before belatedly coming to a decision. I'll just...come back later.

Slowly backing out of the library, I carefully closed the door. I think I shall go talk to Fluttershy first. That seems to be the safest course of action right now.

Fluttershy's cabin is a quaint little thing, almost adorable as its homeowner. There are a multitude of minds inside, but none that are complex or developed enough for higher sapience, so they most likely belong to Fluttershy's animal friends. However, on average, I'd have to say most of the animals here are at least as sentient as a dog (the regular kind, not the diamond dog variety). Makes me wonder if that sentience is ubiquitous throughout Equestria, or if it's just something in the water around here.

At any rate, Fluttershy is not inside the house. But I think I can sense a sapient mind on the other side of the cottage, along with a passel of smaller minds that feel like...a hamster hopped up on caffeine and obsessed with nuts...hm...must be squirrels. And a little bit off to the side is a group of simpler minds that feel like happiness, fluffy feathers, and...a deep well of seething hatred? What?

Wait, no, that's just broodiness. Are those chickens?

Turning the corner, I saw that they were indeed chickens. Note to self, do not do anything to piss those fowl off. I don't want to have to deal with unending swarms of enraged, unkillable poultry (okay, where the heck did that thought come from?).

Skirting around the chicken-wire surrounding the coop, I made my way around the rest of the house to see Fluttershy talking to a scurry of squirrels. I stopped some distance away to watch, waiting to see what happened next. I didn't have to wait long, because once she finished talking, Fluttershy popped a CD into a boombox that I had somehow not seen previously, and a moment later, the squirrels began to dance along to a somewhat familiar tune.

Huh. Squirrels doing Riverdance. Well, that's not something you see everyday.

They're rather good actually. The clicking their little claws are making on that log are particularly amusing, too. Sure, there are a few mistakes and mishaps (as evident by the mental stumble that a squirrel will occasionally make), but it's damn impressive.

All too soon, the music came to an end and the squirrels stomped to a halt. I could not help but to applaud.

The reactions were as sudden as they were amusing. At the unexpected sound of my clapping, the squirrels bolted, some making for the nearest tree, the rest taking shelter behind Fluttershy. Meanwhile, the gentle pegasus had jumped in shock, eyes wide and wings flared in surprise as she flopped over on her back.

I held up my paws to show I meant no harm. Apologies. I did not mean to frighten.

Fluttershy's breathing began to even out, the panic that was threatening to encroach on her psyche subsiding as she recognized me. Rolling onto her stomach, she looked at me from behind her mane, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "You scared me."

Sorry, I apologized again. I have a tendency to sneak up on p-onies. Well, nice to know that's still a thing. I used to accidentally sneak up on people back when...back Before (still do, apparently). I've startled people who knew I was in the room with them, that's how bad it was.

Anyways, I do apologize for interrupting. God, I hope Fluttershy doesn't start apologizing, or between the two of us, we're going to be here for a while. I looked at the squirrels, who had all congregated behind their caretaker. It was quite the performance, I rather enjoyed it.

"Oh, thank you," Fluttershy said brightly (though still rather softly). Just the mention of her animal friends was enough to perk her up. "It's something I've been helping my squirrel friends with," she demurred. "But I'm glad somepony enjoyed it."

You are quite welcome, I said. At any rate, I need some help.

"H-help," Fluttershy repeated softly. "With what?"

Well, it's quite peculiar, I began. You see, I have a fish, you might remember it from when you and your friends first visited my castle? Fluttershy nodded. Well, now I have two, and I don't know where either came from. I was hoping you might have an idea as to what's going on. A thought hit me. You wouldn't happen to know if there are any fish species that teleport, would you?

"No, I don't," Fluttershy answered after a moment's thinking. "But, I'm sure if you asked Twilight, I'm sure she could help."

I thought back to the scene I had left behind at the library. She's a bit tied up right now.

Having enlisted the help of Applejack, Twilight and the farm pony leapt into the air, a rope held tight between them to catch and tie up Spike before he could rampage any further. It was bad luck then, that Spike chose that moment to bend over to pick up an apple, causing the two mares to overshoot and get caught on a tree. Glaring, Spike roared in their faces before running off, leaving the two ponies tied to the tree.

"Oh," Fluttershy muttered. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, the only thing I can think of is that maybe a bird dropped it there."

Hm... I considered it carefully. It seems possible, but... I could see it happening once, but if a bird of prey had indeed dropped Sprinkles into my pond, then what about Mr. Fish? It was a conundrum. I looked down at Fluttershy. Thank you for your help, but it seems this might be a mystery that goes unsolved, for now, at least.

"Oh you're very welcome," Fluttershy demurred. "I'm just sorry I couldn't help more."

I made to leave, only for curiousity to get the best of me. Question. Why do squirrels learn to dance?

"Oh," Fluttershy's eyes lit passionately as she started to explain. "Well, you see, they...they..." I watched with concern as Fluttershy trailed off, her eyes slowly widening to terrified proportions. She let out a tiny squeak of fear.

It was at that moment that I became aware of something very large and avaricious behind me. I started to turn around, only catching a glimpse of dark purple scales and yellow eyes before I was sent flying by a crushing blow. I was dimly aware that my unexpected flight had ended in a bush, but I was swiftly losing consciousness. As everything went dark, I heard a scream.

As I opened my eyes, I was made aware of an acute, throbbing pain in my skull. Levering myself upright, I found I was no longer in the bush I had landed in, instead lying on a blanket next to it. What happened?

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay."

I turned my head to the side. Fluttershy? What hit me?

The butter-yellow mare wrung her hooves worriedly. "Spike, he..."

I blinked at Fluttershy incredulously. Spike? Itty-bitty little... I paused, remembering the scene from the library. Nevermind... After a moment, I looked around, maybe to look for Spike, I'm not sure. How'd he get so big anyways?

"He's going through greed growth," Fluttershy explained. "Twilight said that..."

I held up a paw to stop her. I know what greed growth is. Somehow. Blasted selective memory loss. Heaving myself to my feet, I was immediately overcome with a bought of nausea and dizziness. I might have fallen over if not for Fluttershy pushing up against me to support my not inconsiderable weight. Thank you.

Taking a few awkward, unsteady steps, I looked around, placing a paw against the side of my head (which I noticed had been bandaged). Greed growth...we need to stop Spike from taking things, right?

Fluttershy nodded.

Shouldn't be too hard, then. I immediately facepalmed (which I regretted instantly as a jolt of pain shot through my skull). I just jinxed myself, didn't I? Where is Spike, I asked, putting my taunt to Murphy aside.

Fluttershy pointed off towards the Ponyville town center. Looking in the direction she indicated, I was at a loss for words.

Just how exactly had I missed a purple Godzilla rampaging through Ponyville?

I blinked. Is that your henhouse, I asked, pointing at the small structure in the gargantuan not-so-baby dragon's claws. Fluttershy nodded. Huh.

He's got Rarity, I noticed, the alabaster mare wrapped up in prehensile end of Spike's tail.

Fluttershy nodded worriedly. "Is there anything you can do?"

Eyeing the rampaging Spike carefully, I raised my arm, reaching out towards the dragon's mind. I only managed to catch a glimpse before an agonizing spike of pain shot through my head. I collapsed to one knee, clutching at my skull.

After a long moment, I managed to look up again, meeting Fluttershy's worried eyes. No...I cannot. The pain... I screwed my eyes shut at another lance of pain behind my eyes.

"You have a concussion," the gentle mare explained worriedly.

Then I dare not use but the simplest of psychic abilities until it heals, I whispered. But even then, I would not be able to do anything. I looked to Spike to see him scaling a nearby mountain with the upturned top of a water tower in hand. His mind is in turmoil, overcome by instinct and raw emotion. Anything I try could cause him brain damage: I do not have the experience needed to do anything less. And I would not be able to stop him physically, he's grown too large: anything with the power to do more than tickle him right now would risk severely injuring him, or Rarity. I do not wish that.

"Then," Fluttershy looked at me in worry as three blue-suited pegasi buzzed Spike on the mountainside. "What do we do?'

Pray, I said, watching Spike catch the three pegasi in the water tower before proceeding to viciously beat it like a drum. And hope for a miracle. That's all we can do. I glanced at Fluttershy out of the corner of my eye: my statement didn't seem to reassure her. Trust in your friends. If anyone can get through to Spike, it's them.

Of course, Murphy chose that moment to strike. No sooner had the words left my metaphorical mouth did Spike shudder and suddenly shrink back down to baby-sized. This had the unfortunate side effect of leaving Spike and Rarity hanging hundreds of feet up in the air.

I thrust my arm out and cast out with my mind, arresting their fall with a psychic aura. Molten lightning poured into my skull, causing my psychic grip to flicker dangerously. I was vaguely aware of a small gasp sounding next to me, but between holding Spike and Rarity in the air and the agony tearing at my head, there was nothing else.

Finally, after a seeming eternity, several pegasi flew up to take Rarity and Spike in hoof. I gratefully let go, almost collapsing against Fluttershy at the throbbing pain pounding at my head.

The world seemed so very far away as I felt a pair of thick, furry limbs pick me up bridal style, my head supported against a furry shoulder.

"Thank you Harry. Let's get him inside. Angel, can you get my aid kit?"

I don't know if there was a reply, for everything went dark as I let unconsciousness take me and fell asleep.

In a dimly lit dining room, in an undisclosed location, was a pony. He sat impassively in the wing-back chair at the head of the long table, salad and soup untouched before him. A fire roared in the fireplace behind him, casting his features into shadow. His elbows rested on the table, hooves steepled before his muzzle.

A unicorn bearing a clipboard walked into the room. "Sir, results from the Ponyville experiment are in."

The shadowed pony's head turned slightly, prompting the unicorn to continue.

"The supplements were distributed as planned: observed effects were described as heightened irritability, short tempers, and a propensity to mob behavior. However..."

The shadowed pony tilted his head.

The unicorn took a deep breath. "There was an...unexpected variable." She placed a folder in front of the shadowed pony. "It seems the supplement has an unexpected effect on juvenile dragons, either triggering or at the very least enhancing a bout of greed growth. Unfortunately, the information on these effects is incomplete, as one of the Elements of Harmony somehow reversed the effects of the greed growth.

"There's more, sir," the unicorn continued. "The creature from the Discord incident was present in Ponyville during the experiment. The science team does not believe that it interfered in this particular phase of the testing, but they cannot be sure that it won't do so in the future."

After a long moment of silence spent looking through the folder, the shadowed pony spoke. "Have a thorough dossier on this creature prepared for my next daily brief. As for the science team, recall them. Ponyville is no longer a viable test site; we shall require a new location for pony trials."

The unicorn bowed her head. "I understand sir. I shall see to it personally."

As the unicorn took her leave, the shadowed pony turned his attention to his meal and nonchalantly began to eat, his yellow eyes glinting in the flickering firelight.

Author's Note

So, here is another chapter. As always, read and review.

EDIT: Holy cow, I'm back on the top 10. I love you guys!