Author's Note

Warning: M/M fantasizing from the main character in this chapter.

Writing this chapter felt very good for me. It's some of the best work I've ever produced, in my opinion. A day in the life of four very interesting people.

Thanks as usual to my editor Firesight as well as my usual prereaders, Silentwoodfire, Shakespearacles, Patches in Equestria, SleepingCobrox and my newest prereader, PeerImagination. Your time is as appreciated as always.

2/22/2024: The great editing pass continues. This chapter looked so good, I barely had to change anything! Three was awful. Just awful. I am so sorry to whoever had to read that scuffed effort back in the day.

The Duelist

There was a knock at the door to Ebon’s room. “Sorry to be a bother, but Cadance wishes you all to join her upstairs. It’s about the mission to Equestria,” the feminine voice on the other end called into their room. “The sooner the better. Those poffins go pretty fast and I’d hate for you to miss out!”

Ebon had stirred immediately awake at the sound of the knocking and called back. “We’ll be there!”

Ebon pressed his paws against his eyes and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Wake up, sis! The ponies are going to feed us poffins!”

Edelweiss grunted in response to her brother, but her eyes stayed shut. Ebon could feel her grassy tendrils clutch tighter around his barrel as they lay facing each other. There was something of a grin playing upon her lips.

“I know you’re in there, sis… You never could fake sleeping to save your life.”

In seeming response, Edelweiss’ breathing slowed down, her breaths becoming uncharacteristically deeper.

“Not bad. Not bad. But your cover is already blown, little lady.” Ebon pressed his lips against hers. Edelweiss cooed softly and unexpectedly, she rolled herself up and on top of him, finally opening her eyes.

“We’re not going.” Edelweiss shook her head, frowning.

“Oh? And you think you’re going to spoil my appetite for poffins?” Ebon replied, giving her a happy flash of his teeth.

She stood up and turned on the spot, her leafy tail exposing her wet, quivering canine spade. Wet drips splashed across his muzzle, carrying the scent of aloe vera. In a near instant, his erection was fully filled out and the familiar feeling of lightheadedness had washed over him again. “You’re going to be eating your breakfast in bed, brother!”

Before he could think up something clever to reply with, his sister’s succulent spade was within tongue’s reach. He inhaled the scent of his sister’s bounty and gave silent thanks to Arceus that a lover so devoted could be found in his immediate family.

With practiced touch, he massaged her buttocks; the sound of grass crunching softly underpaw greeted his ears. Still deeper beneath layers of her beige-colored grassy coat, he could feel warm, undulating flesh beneath, wrapped in dense muscle. The strength of a hardy adventurer concealed beneath the soft exterior of an alluring leafeon form.

“I have waited too long for this.” Ebon licked the aloe clean from Edelweiss’ bearded iris before plunging his wriggling pink intruder further inside.

“That’s my Ebon…” Edelweiss cooed. “You’re always ready to perform. You’re going to put an eevee in me eventually, you know.”

Ebon gave the only reply he could, licking her ever more sloppily, filling the air with the squelching sounds of intense sexual greed.

“S-Sike isn’t going to fight anymore,” Edelweiss said. "She won’t risk harm to the egg now growing inside of her. When this is all over…hah!” She cried out in pleasure as her fluid began to overflow from Ebon’s mouth onto the crisp, formerly-clean sheets beneath him. “When this is over — when I’m in season… you will give me an eevee of my own. Won’t you, Ebon?”

It should have been my sister first, Ebon thought as he felt a stab of guilt in his chest.He hadn’t even been thinking about Sike’s reaction to possibly being impregnated, but only how good it made both of them know that they were bringing a new life into the world.

Edelweiss stood back up and turned to face Ebon once more, who was wiping his mouth with the back of his paw.

“We don’t know for sure she’s pregnant.” Ebon scratched the side of his head nervously as his sister’s smile began to slump. “But… you’re right. We will be a happy family together. I just know it!”

Edelweiss licked his face, dragging her tongue from the bridge of his muzzle up to the gold ring at the center of his forehead. “We must succeed in our mission, Ebon. Our ten future eevees are counting on us!”

Ebon felt his face begin to warm. “T-ten eevees?”

Edelweiss brought a thoughtful paw to her chin. “Well… I mean, I don’t want to come up with an unrealistic number here. Just spitballing. Personally, I’d shoot for twenty if we had the money…”

“Twenty!?” Ebon could feel the hair on his back begin to stand up. “Are you sure Glassie and Sike are going to be okay with caring for so many eggs?”

Edelweiss looked blankly down at Ebon. “Glassie and Sike? I haven’t asked them how many eevees they want to have with you yet. Ooo! I can ask at breakfast this morning!”

Ebon brought both of his paws to the side of his head, his mouth open as if silently screaming. “Sis, this is escalating a bit fast, isn’t it?”

“Imagine, if the ponies lay eggs too!” Edelweiss’s smile grew even more fanatical. “I’ve run the calculations in my head and if you maximize your mating ability usage for each day while we’re there and we stay for only a week, you could impregnate one-hundred-sixty-eight of their mares without using a single elixir!”

“This is getting a little scary, Edelweiss! Check that, a lot scary! It sounds like you want me to start my own village or something!”

“What a fantastic idea!” Edelweiss drove on top of her brother, causing him to grunt loudly, and gripped him tightly as she buried her muzzle into his fluffy chest. “You're still the mon I fell in love with, even after all these years!”

Ebon thought about all the reasons that it wouldn’t work and discarded them immediately as he returned the hug. “You’re going to make a wonderful mother of one-hundred and sixty-eight, Edelweiss," he replied, his voice thick with irony.

Edelweiss emerged from his chest fluff and gave him a sharp nibble to one of his long ears. “And you're gonna teach them all to mate and fight like arena champions!"

“Ouch!” Ebon rubbed the spot she’d bitten, the searing pain making him cringe slightly. How Sike ever got into being bitten on the ear, I’ll never know! "I will but please, don't bite my babies so hard! There isn't enough physical damage resistance in the world to make that feel good."

"Are you saying I should have fallen in love with another leafeon or that you'd rather I shoved your ear into my pokénest?" Edelweiss whispered in Ebon's ear before kissing it at the base. "That'd probably feel amazing, to be honest!"

"Deal, but you better not awaken anything inside me, by Arceus!" Ebon said before nuzzling his sister's face.

“Oi!” A harsh female voice could be heard between the heavy thwack of a ribbony tail smacking the door to their room. “You’re forgetting about our breakfast right now! I hear those poffins calling my name. They’re saying, ‘Glassie! Glassie! Glassie!’”

“Glassie, I don’t think it’s such a good idea to eat all the poffins. What would our hosts think?” Sike’s forked tail appeared beneath their door and having quickly found the handle to their door, actuated the handle and opened the door. It seemed the espeon had learned a new trick she would not soon forget!

“Hope I didn’t spoil your breakfast too badly, stud.” Edelweiss gave Ebon’s still-stiff erection a flick with the blunt part of her tail before hopping out of bed and joining her two teammates at the door.

Ebon licked his chops slowly before climbing out of bed. “Yeah, right. We’ll see how confident you are after our tenth poffin!"

Sike looked at Ebon with a quiet “hmph!” and turned up her nose, lifting her tail importantly while exiting stage right down the hallway.

"Guess that's our cue to leave," Ebon started to walk out into the hallway.

"Ebon, don't forget the Explorer's Bag, ya big goof!" Edelweiss picked it up off the floor with one of her vines and slipped it around Ebon's neck.

"Oh right! Though I don't think I'll need the food just yet..."

Ebon’s erection was still throbbing beneath him as his sister followed him through the door. “I wonder if Sike would be okay with having twenty eevees too?”

I heard that! Ebon stopped to clutch his head at Sike’s sudden and unexpected intrusion of his mind. He was silent for the rest of the walk with his tail between his legs as the four began walking up to the dining hall, almost all thoughts of sex and pregnancy driven from his mind.

“You look better than you’ve looked in days, Sike. Have a good snooze?” Ebon asked.

“I did! I even got up early so I could soak up some solar power.” The orb on her forehead which had appeared so dull the night before was now filled with pearly light.

“You’ll be pleased to know I spent most of the night in the freezer so I could be ready for action as well.” Glassie gave one of her rime-covered head ribbons a flick with her paw.

“How about you, Edelweiss? Think you can still fight after all this time in the shade?” Ebon shot his sister a playful wink, nudging her slightly on the barrel.

“My synthesis is spectacular and my energy ball is as exciting as ever,” Edelweiss replied, poking him in the back of the head with one of her tendrils. She started laughing when he turned around to face behind him.

“You got me. You got me…” Ebon made a barklike laugh. “Very funny. Save some of those tricks for the enemy, next time, eh?”

A furry creature striped with white, black, and gray fur walked out of one of the side rooms. The unfamiliar animal caused the four of them to halt immediately.

“Meow!” it said, holding its ground.

“Whoa!” the four pokémon exclaimed.

“I wasn’t expecting a random encounter against an enemy after Cadance’s guarantees of our safety. Perhaps this is a test?” Glassie speculated, watching their new foe carefully.

“Doesn’t look very formidable to me. It doesn’t seem to want us to pass, though.” Edelweiss turned to Ebon. “Orders?”

“I’ll handle this!” Ebon took a step in front of the other three and looked down at the creature. “Do you have a name, creature?”

Ebon figured if it did, it was with the ponies and if it didn’t, it must be a feral pokémon. But hadn’t Cadance said she sent them all away?”

“Meow!” the cat repeated.

The four continued staring the creature down.

“It must be feral. Why doesn’t it attack? Maybe we’re too high level for it,” Ebon said, thinking out loud.

“I can’t take this suspense, Ebon! I’m going to try reading its mind.” Ebon turned to face Sike as the orb on her forehead began to glow.

“Rrrreeeeeeaaar!” The cat looked at Sike and hissed.

“Aaaah!” Sike jumped behind Ebon; by the feel of her ear tips rubbing up against his pokéballs, it would seem she’d ducked her head as well. “It didn’t like that, Ebon!”

Glassie stepped forward in front of Ebon, gently pushing him back with her tail. “Let me handle this!”

“Don’t attack it, Glassie!” Edelweiss exclaimed as Glassie turned to face the pair.

“This feral must belong to one of the ponies.” Ebon gestured to the animal. Glassie nodded her understanding. “Let’s just walk around it. The creature would have attacked us already if it was strong enough to threaten us. We probably just startled it.”

Glassie chuckled. “You’re probably right.” She turned back to face the creature, kneeling down to speak face-to-face with the catlike beast. “Your bravery is commendable, creature. Perhaps you might one day evolve to challen- Argh!”

The creature struck without warning, causing Glassie to leap back into Ebon, knocking him to the floor. When she stood back up, blue blood began leaking from three slash marks across her muzzle. Within seconds, the wounds closed up, flash-frozen by her command of ice.

“Oh my goodness!” Another one of Ponyta Pass’s unicorn guards arrived and the cat scampered back into the room it had come out of in full retreat. “I’m so sorry, Miss Glassie!”

Glassie cackled, apparently quite pleased about something. “Don’t mention it, pony. Your pokémon showed remarkable courage in striking me. Were it not apparently feral, I would challenge it to a proper duel!”

“Battle? Battle… with my cat?” The unicorn looked confused. “Oh, silly me! That isn’t a pokémon, Miss. Mister Fluffykins is a domesticated cat or just ‘cat’ for short. We keep him as a pet. A companion to keep our spirits up.”

“Huh. A companion that doesn’t fight.” Kinda sounds a bit like Sike. I can’t imagine wanting to have sex with that cat, though — much less succeeding! Ebon grinned, his imagination going to places he hoped Sike wasn’t actively monitoring, lest she’d think he’d gone crazy.

“Fluffykins is really quite a gentle boy most of the time. But he’s never met pokémon who can talk before. Why, he usually greets me by rolling on his belly. That’s how you know a cat feels safe. It bears its weakest point to you.” The guard looked intently at Glassie’s face. “Did you freeze that injury with your magic? That must be super helpful! But you’ll want to clean that injury. Cat claws are quite infectious.”

“Infectious? Have I been poisoned!?” The tips of Glassie’s fine, blue coat began to sheath itself in a coat of fine, powdered snow. Ebon could feel a chill breeze roll past him through the narrow hallway, causing him to shiver.

“Glassie, no!” Sike cried out.

The guard took a step back. “You’re not poisoned, I swear!”

“Not poisoned…” The cold breeze stopped. “Oh… well, why did you have to go and scare me like that?” She touched her face, wincing.

Ebon, Sike and Edelweiss breathed a sigh of relief.

“Follow me, Glassie. Let’s get that cleaned up. There’s a bathroom you can use a little ways from us you can use.” The pony smiled down at Glassie who wagged her tail in return, a shower of snow falling to the stone floor below.

“Why don’t you three head on up to breakfast?” The guard gestured down the corridor ahead.

Ebon gave Sike a knowing look before looking up at the guard. "We'll do that."

I’ll keep watch over Glassie’s mind, Ebon. Don’t worry. I sense no duplicity from the unicorn. It will be fine. Sike nodded, wordlessly back at him.

Thank you, Sike. Ebon kissed her on the tip of her ear and the trio continued on without their duelist companion until they reached an archway set with alternating pink, yellow and blue stones and walked through it.

The trio gasped at the sight.

Ebon’s first impression was that they were situated in what appeared to be a valley surrounded by the mountains they’d spent so much time walking their way through. That impression soon changed as he walked over the sturdy, steel bridge lined with pale blue crystal railings and was able to see they were approaching yet another mountain peak, set apart like an island from the castle they’d been exploring.

Larger mountains loomed over the disc-shaped grassy clearing, dotted with many exotic-looking flowers on the opposite end of the bridge like the shadow of Giratina; their waters rolling down hundreds of feet into the valley below.

“Ebon… look at the water!” Sike said in awe.

Ebon looked down and saw it was tinged with pink. “This is finally starting to make sense to me. Let’s keep going,” he shouted over the roar of rushing water. Having left the bridge, his paws were met with smooth, blue crystal that he couldn’t help but notice felt warm to the touch.

Ebon’s eyes took in more of the unusual details surrounding him. The path they were walking along was but one of eight spokes in a wheel that met in the middle around a similarly blue ornate crystal castle. Streams of light poured from the glowing pink crystal spire at its pinnacle, gushing ribbons of blue, pink and green jets of color into the clear, sunny sky.

“The ponies weren’t kidding about being here for a while. It must have taken them years to construct such wonders!” Sike clutched at the crystal buried deep in her chest fur. “I think the stone is reacting to the energy here!”

The three stopped to watch as Sike showed it to them. It was pulsing occasionally with a radiant glow.

“I like these ponies, Ebon.” Sike hid the stone away again and continued walking forward. “I just can’t help but trust them.”

“If nothing else, they’ve certainly proven themselves powerful,” Ebon replied. “I can’t decide if they’re trying to be nice or just trying to intimidate us.”

“So negative!” Sike shook her head, her large ears waggling cutely.

“Trust us, Sike. Ebon’s got a point,” Edelweiss interjected. “Once you’ve witnessed an evil pokémon you thought was a hero kidnap some of your friends and bring them to a world of your worst nightmares, you won’t ever trust ‘nice’ pokémon ever again.”

“But you’re nice, Ebon…” Sike muttered, hanging her head as she walked.

“Which is why I’m keeping an eye on him at all times for you, Sike.” Edelweiss wrapped a leafy tendril around his midsection; her powerful grip stopping him dead in his tracks. A second, smaller vine teased at his pokéballs until his only recently receded erection was back in full force. “Any sign of evil and I’ll give the signal to strike!”

“Not if I strike first!” Sike threw her forelegs around Edelweiss’s shoulders and drew her into deep kiss. Ebon felt his sister release him.

“I always took you for a traitor, sis, but even I, the dark-type mastermind of Team Allure, couldn’t have imagined your fellow traitor would end up being my double agent!”

“Uh oh. Cadance is coming, girls!” Ebon managed to say before Cadance flew out to greet them.

“My, my! You three are quite sensitive to the effects of the Crystal Heart. Though, as much as I love the sight of mutual affection, now is the time for eating. Please, come join us!”

“Yes, Miss Cadance,” Ebon replied with a bow and the four started walking towards the clump of tables.

“Still carrying your love stone, I see.” Cadance smiled at Sike. “The members of my exploration group sometimes go into the lower caves to collect those stones when they have nothing else to do. Keepsakes for the foals back home and objects of study for the universities.”

“Is the Crystal Heart what’s creating all these stones, Princess?” Sike asked.

“Yes. Though, I’ve never seen anything like this phenomenon where I’m from,” Cadance replied.

“So you don’t put them there just for fun? You seem like the kind of sweet-natured poké- er, pony, who would do something like that.”

“Aww, thank you, Miss Sike!” Cadance nickered, the corners of her mouth turned upward. “That was very nice of you to say but I won’t take credit where it isn’t due. I think something about your world causes magical elements to manifest in the form of crystals.”

Edelweiss arched an eyebrow at Cadance. “They don’t where you’re from?”

Cadance shook her head. “They don’t. While physical objects can conduct magical power, store magical power or even take the form of certain colors when channeled, conjuration doesn’t manifest in the physical realm, save for cases that would require a great deal of time and a more appropriate teacher to explain. If you go to Equestria, I’m just sure Twilight Sparkle would love~ to give you all a detailed lecture about it.

Sike’s eyes gleamed like those of an awestruck eevee.

“I would love to hear it! Mmm~!” Sike stopped walking and brought a paw to her midsection, gently massaging her belly.

“What’s up, Sike?” Ebon asked.

“My… e-egg just moved.” Sike took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

Ebon took her front-right paw in both of his and kissed it. “Your team is behind you, Sike. We will raise him to be both great and good.”

“Miss Sike. Are you expecting so soon?” Cadance looked delighted. “Congratulations!”

Sike gave a weak laugh. “Yeah… I guess from a certain perspective, it doesn’t take very long. In a couple more days, I’ll be ready to lay my egg and… and…” Sike sniffled, the corners of her eyes becoming wet. “...I’m going to have a baby!”

Cadance and Edelweiss both squealed with delight as they nuzzled the espeon affectionately, the sole male in the group feeling his masculinity draining away like the Crystal Heart meltwater tumbling down the mountain. He vaguely wondered if it’d crystalize somewhere in the Ponyta Passage basement to be stolen away by a crafty nickit.

“Oh, Ebon! You’re going to be a daddy too!” Edelweiss squeezed him tightly enough to make breathing a taxing affair. “Oh, I hope it’s a male so he can make all the eevees happy!”

“Edelweiss! This really isn’t the ti-” Ebon’s jaw gaped open when he saw Cadance start laughing.

Cadance sized up Ebon with her eyes. It was the last thing he saw before closing his own. “So I see! But we’ve embarrassed him long enough. Congratulations to you all!”

“You can open your eyes now, Ebon,” Edelweiss said before gently nipping one of his ears. Thankfully not as hard as earlier that morning.

The redness from his face hadn’t completely subsided as the four walked past the row of tables adorned with seeds, berries, and the much-heralded poffins — the famed ‘pokémon muffin’ that resembled neither a pokémon nor a muffin but was instead a glazed, fruit-filled sweet roll baked in a stone oven, coated with a sugary glaze and covered with sprinkles. But the sight of those delicacies was not what drew the ponies’ attention.

They were all staring at them. Words like ‘adorable’, ‘cute’, and ‘terrifying’ stood out among the whispers of the candy-colored equines present. He supposed the ponies didn’t know how acute eevee hearing was as he could hear everything they said. While Ebon found the ponies very pleasant on the eye and strangely almost all female, the sight of so many alien creatures in one place filled him with a sense of unease.

To his surprise, the chairs sitting in front of the table were straight-backed — designed for bipedal pokémon. Ebon scanned the assembled group; all present were quadrupeds. Maybe it’s a sanitation thing. The ponies just want to keep their food well above the ground to keep dirt from being kicked on it. Ebon speculated internally. The ponies themselves seemed to have no issue at all sitting in them despite how little sense it made from an ergonomic standpoint.

But before he could dwell too much on how he would situate himself into one, they found four eevee-friendly cushioned platforms they could lay on top of. At about neck height to an umbreon, they’d let the four eeveelutions reach the table easily once they’d clambered on top of them.
“For you, of course!” Cadance gestured at the pokémon chairs.

“Don’t mind if we do!” Ebon said briskly, the three climbing into position. Cadance sat opposite of them in the biggest of the chairs, naturally patterned in the familiar yellow, pink, green and blue motif of the castle. The head of the chair was adorned with an odd symbol - a blue crystal love heart flanked with gold filigree.

If the ponies were one thing, it was color coordinated. Ebon supposed the eeveelutions at least had that in common with their interdimensional neighbors.

Hey Sike! Come in, Sike! Can you hear me? Ebon thought to himself.

After a moment of blankly staring off into space, Ebon heard Sike reply. Oh hey, Ebon. What’s up? Sorry, I was just checking in on Glassie. I felt a sting of pain on her face earlier from some potion that pony put on her scratch but she feels better now. She just told me she’ll be back soon.

That’s a relief! I’m sure Glassie is disappointed, though! She looked like she was ready to rumble with that guard back there, Ebon thought.

I should probably give her my love stone so she won’t get us all thrown into the dungeon! It’s not like we’re in any position to resist these ponies. I’ve been looking into every one of them I meet and they’re really tough! Ebon silently agreed with Sike’s opinion. But, I suppose you wanted to talk about something else. What’s up?

Sike, check out that symbol on her chair. Do you think that’s the Crystal Heart?

Probably. I mean it looks like a heart-shaped crystal, right? Sorry, that sounded sarcastic… I mean, it likely is, Ebon.

Ebon supposed he had sounded kind of daft the way he’d phrased it.

What’s interesting is the way that symbol seems to be… I dunno how to put it… Like it’s brushed into the fur on her flank. It looks like some sort of watermark. Sike’s thought continued.

Ebon thought back to seeing Cadance the previous night. He hadn’t been able to see her flank at all. The ornamental armor she was wearing covered that part of her anatomy, even if it didn’t quite manage to hide her very large and gaping vagina. I didn’t see anything like that on her flank.

You just weren’t standing in the right place. From where I was standing, I could see it. Another thing to make note of. Oh, and Ebon, you should probably say something out loud. You’re looking kind of spaced out right now…

Crap! The ponies were all looking at Ebon as if expecting him to say something. At least those not reaching for the plates and bowls to grab food out of.

“You’ll have to excuse Ebon. He’s not really him when he’s hungry,” Edelweiss told Cadance who was eying him suspiciously.

“Sorry. I missed what you said, Princess.” Note to self; no psych calls during breakfast with royalty. Ebon mentally kicked himself.

“I was just saying it was really great to finally meet you and your team at last. I’m sure you have a lot of questions as do I. But for now, do try some of our pokémon cuisine!”

“I think I will, Princess. Thanks!”

“Waaaaaait!” Glassie came sprinting down the path at full speed, her hind legs kicking out behind her in a laughably exaggerated way Ebon always found very amusing. It was like she had something glued to her hind paws she was trying to throw off. “Whew! Hey everyone, I can have poffins?”

“You can have as many as you’d like, Glassie,” Cadance replied with a smile.

“Aw heck, if I’d have known we had enough for everyone, I’d have slept in a bit!” Glassie grinned wickedly. She appeared to be expecting laughter because the grin slowly faded from her face as the stony faces from dozens of ponies stared back at her, clearly affronted. “Kidding! Kidding!”

Ebon couldn’t help but wonder how she was able to pick up so many sexual partners over the years while being so bad at reading a room. But then, Ebon found her curious anti-charisma had a charm all its own. Glassie was always so candid about everything, he found she made an excellent sounding board in any discussion. And on a hot day, there was no better friend to snuggle up with than an ice-type.

Ebon and his team piled up their bowls with as much food as they could carry and ate directly from their bowls. Looking up, he could see the curious faces of many ponies looking at them. Each had an eating utensil somehow attached to their hooves. Looking around him, he noticed he had similar utensils sitting on napkins next to where he was lying.

“We don’t use utensils, Cadance.” Sike smiled awkwardly at the pony Princess. “Too hard for our paws to grip for very long. How are you able to do it?”

“Hold out your paw, Sike.” Cadance reached out her hoof to the espeon. “Touch my hoof. It won’t bite!”

Sike spent some time rubbing the visibly hard exterior shell capping her leg, finally feeling around on the inside. “It’s soft and stretchy!”

“Yep! We can suction onto objects and even stick them between the gap in our toes.” She showed the bottom of one of her hooves where the handle of the fork was hopelessly immobilized in her grip as firmly as if it were being grasped by a hand. “Our grip is very strong.”

“We can sort of grip things with our paws but they’re no replacement for hands, sadly,” Ebon replied between mouthfuls of peanut butter and banana-filled poffin. “We rely on our fellow pokémon with hands to craft a lot of what we use to survive.”

“You are doing quite well at it, from what I’ve seen,” Cadance replied. “And I and many other ponies have really been enjoying your amazing food!”

A number of ponies nodded eagerly, happily munching down their breakfast. In the formerly empty seat next to him, Glassie had one leg wrapped around her bowl, aggressively rooting around in her dish as the tablecloth beneath her bunched itself up into a mess of creased fabric and food stains.

Ebon couldn’t take his eyes off of her as she bit into a fully laden poffin, this one strawberry, the filling gushing from the crust as if Glassie had severed its carotid artery.

“Oh?” Sike asked.

Cadance cringed ever-so-slightly at Glassie before continuing. “As strange as it is you say, having only just met you, ponies by now already have an extensive history of cultivating plants native to your world and experimenting with different recipes. Why, don’t be surprised if you see shops in our dimensions selling the same fruits, seeds and nuts you’re already used to once you’ve arrived in Ponyville!”

“By Arceus!” Ebon exclaimed. “Princess Cadance, you told us you’ve been living in our world for years, yesterday. I must ask, how many years have you been here?”

“Fifteen years next month.” Cadance daintily nibbled at the large plain seed on her plate. “Delicious! But I know what you’re thinking and replicating the flora of Pokémon World wasn’t particularly difficult — at least, not in Equestria.”

“Without the guidance of Arceus’ wisdom?” Ebon’s paw slammed the table, hard enough to launch his spoon into the air. The pony Princess obligingly caught it and carefully placed it back on the napkin next to his plate. “I refuse to believe it without seeing it!”

“That’s the spirit!” Cadance punched at the air with her hoof, apparently enjoying herself. “Please, do help yourself to more, Ebon. I haven’t had any of it poisoned, you know.” Cadance arched an eyebrow at Glassie. “If Glassie is any indication, that is. Dear, you have something on your face.”

“Oh, sorry, Princess!” Glassie lifted the tablecloth with her paw and wiped her muzzle with it. With uncharacteristic meekness, she muffled the enormous belch that followed. “My compliments to the pony chef!”

A few of the gathered unicorns in their colorful clothes looked horrified. The steel-clad ponies without horns mostly looked amused, exchanging glances and grins as if they were sharing an unspoken joke.

Ebon nodded and helped himself to a pair of grape poffins, seed meal and dried oran berries. “Princess, my team stands ready to visit Equestria with the consent of all members present.”

“I’m dying to know how you’ve grown trees so quickly in your world, Princess. As a grass pokémon, this certainly piques my interest. I stand with my leader, Ebon!” Edelweiss announced, before whispering into Ebon’s ear and kissing it. “I love you, brother!”

The platform beneath Ebon’s belly suddenly became uncomfortably confining.

“You’ve certainly gained the confidence of your leafeon friend, Ebon!” Cadance clopped her forehooves together. “How about you, Sike?”

Sike dramatically rose onto all fours as if on cue. “I stand with my leader, Ebon, too! There is power in your world that I simply must understand. Power you have already brought here!”

Sike displayed the stone she’d collected the previous day and held it up over her head for all the assembled ponies to see. The stone’s presence seemed to have stirred them greatly; nickers, whinnies, and even a snort or two joined a cacophony of fresh whispers from the equine assembly. Sike saw that most of them had put their right forehoof over their breasts and bowed their heads ever-so-slightly.

“You won’t even have to see Equestria to learn more about our magic, Miss Sike!” Cadance gestured towards the nearby tower. “After breakfast, you’re going to encounter the source of that power for yourself and see the portal we used to get here.”

The building. It houses unspeakable power! Sike’s voice cut into Ebon’s mind. Don’t forget what we talked about yesterday.

The mailbox. I won’t let you down, Sike! Ebon replied.

“And how about you, Miss Glassie?” Cadance was looking at Glassie, perhaps with a hint of concern that Glassie might try to eat her next.

Glassie patted her belly and sighed. “If there are battles to fight, then count me in! I relish the opportunity to show off my skills to the greatest champions of your realm in honorable combat!”

The reaction of the assembled ponies was much the same as before, with the softer-looking ponies looking on with disapproval as the smiles of the steel ponies made themselves known.

“In that case, perhaps you’d honor me with a friendly spar, Miss Glassie?” A female voice called. A peach-furred unicorn with a long, flowing mane of brown hair stood up for her seat. “With your blessing, of course, Princess.”

It was bound to happen sooner or later, Ebon supposed. It might even be a good show!

Cadance nodded. “You have my blessing, Aura Edge, with Glassie’s consent.”

Glassie looked up at the challenger, smiling nefariously, before giving the slightest of nods — black-flipping from her seat and landing on all fours in the grass. “I accept!”

All eyes were on Glassie and the lovely pony who Ebon now had an obstructed view of as she rounded all three rows of tables to join the glaceon on the field. She was not covered with flashy, Cadance-themed colorful armor as the other soldiers were but slate-gray steel. A gold-trimmed handle stuck out from a scabbard attached to her flank that rattled slightly with each step.

“As the challenged has accepted the duel, and by my authority as the Princess of the Crystal Kingdom and leader of this expedition, I will officiate this duel with Ebon’s blessing.”

“Granted, by the sole condition that the winner be declared by fainting, rather than death.” Ebon knew the duel was friendly but stating the rules aloud was a formality.

“Naturally,” Cadance replied airily. “Alright, everypony! Those who wish to view the match, follow me.”

Most of the tables cleared out immediately and followed, Team Allure joining the throng of ponies. Seeing so many of them up close and all at once, it was obvious these were not pokémon as he understood them. The stallions of their race had a squared-off look to their muzzles that made them look much tougher.

I guess they’re expected to do most of the fighting in case they’re attacked; the Legendaries of ponykind. But then what does that make Cadance? Ebon wondered. Maybe there are so few so they don’t hurt the females. That has to be it! Clever ponies…

And the stallions were so much taller than the mares who were about the same height as an umbreon. Ebon noticed his muzzle was about level with the bulging pokéballs on the male just in front of him and idly wondered why it was such a hardened figure of masculinity appeared to be so pent up or why Ponyta Pass wasn’t filled to overflowing with the young he sired. I knew it. The females really are holding them hostage!

And the musk coming off of him was indescribable. It poured down his throat like the rivers on all sides of them. Ebon’s tongue watered as the salty yet bitter tang touched his tongue. He began to breathe deeper, savoring the sensation. This unnamed stallion and he had one thing in common at that moment; they both needed relief.

His sister had left him without release and this pony had been without release for days, perhaps even weeks. They each had what they needed. What they desired most. He was sheathed up so there was no telling how big he was but if stallions from his world were anything like the ponyta in his, then he would grow to magnificent size if given the proper stimulation.

And he wouldn’t be Ebon’s first stallion, that much was certain. The umbreon licked his slickened chops as his eyes lingered northwards to the pink, tightened hole beneath his tail. The stallion had certainly never felt a tapered penis buried eleven inches in his backside before. But there was plenty of time for him to learn…

Um, Ebon? I hate to interrupt your fantasy but we’re standing in front of the arena ready to watch our friend possibly get beat up.

Aw, crap! Sorry, you had to witness that, Sike. Ebon’s ears splayed back like a scolded eevee caught with his paw in the cookie jar as he pondered on the great truth that no matter male or female, an eevee’s bisexuality was a given. Though, he admitted to himself that most eevees weren’t as strident about it. You know, I could learn from Sike about keeping a lower profile.

Without even thinking about where he was going, Ebon now found himself standing on the outside of a large, pink dome looking in at Glassie and the unicorn Aura Edge — the latter having removed both her armor and sword. The two were talking but the background noise of so many bantering ponies, also ringed around the entire circle looking in, meant even the keen-eared umbreon couldn’t make out a word.

“While you were distracted, that pony removed the armor from her body!” Edelweiss pointed at the discarded armor lying in the grass just outside the dome of light.

“The sword, too!” Sike chimed in. In fact, that pony is completely normal-typed now. I can’t even imagine… removing your own armor…”

“Maybe she changes form based on the weather,” Ebon thought aloud. “Good thing I told Glassie not to use hail. That would have been a nasty shock if she played into the unicorn's strategy.”

Edelweiss frowned at Ebon. “I don’t think this is going to end well for Glassie. Think of how many pokémon the ponies have already seen fight if they know how to just conjure up an arena. How much do we really know about Cadance’s research on us?”

“We’ll just have to use this battle as our first piece of field research on them, Edelweiss.” Ebon looked at Sike and began to think. Sike, our friend had a lot of pride and a lot of previous experience with fighting but you need to feed her all the information you can about this pony’s magical effects and status. You must make her listen! Threaten her with abstinence if you have to!

Will do, Ebon!

“Combatants, prepare yourselves for battle on my word!” Cadance called out. The ponies began to cheer the name of their champion, sitting on their haunches and pumping their right forehooves in the air.

“The pony champion has the support of their kin. We must do the same for ours! Both of you climb up on my back. Edelweiss, you’re grass so you can stand on top! We’re going to be the tallest creature in this audience and make ourselves heard over even their biggest stallions!”

“Yeah!” Sike climbed up onto Ebon’s back, the latter feeling a degree of regret once the factor of Sike’s ample rump fat began pressing down on his hindquarters.

“Yeah!” Edelweiss being not much lighter than Sike, was at least a more evenly distributed mass of sexual allure. But his plan had worked. They towered over the ponies standing next to them.

“Glassie! Glassie! Glassie!” The three began to chant, though the glaceon herself did not shift her gaze from the sight of her foe standing five yards from her but Ebon knew she could see their display and was drawing courage and strength from them.

“FIGHT!” Cadance finally shouted, beginning the battle.

The pony did not immediately act but the horn on top of her head began to glow. Perhaps she’d been expecting a ranged special attack from the ice-typed glaceon and thought she had time to act. She was wrong.

Glassie, her limbs tensed like coiled steel — tail curled in her traditional skorupi stance, leaped forward with her fangs bared and raked the mare across her flank with her razor-sharp claws. The crowd gasped as the pony stumbled in retreat, trying to distance herself from her enemy.

“Glassie sure is murderous today! Edelweiss called over the noise of the crowd. “Using a Quick Attack instead of an Ice Beam!”

“That’s our Glassie! Keep her guessing!” Ebon shouted.

But the pony had apparently bought all the time she needed and she unleashed Flamethrower; a wave of searing flames from the top of her horn. Glassie tried to leap aside but had been caught by surprise; the flames striking the glaceon across her right flank and sending her to the ground.

She cried out in pain and frustration as she stood back up on four wobbly limbs, the tips of her azure-blue fur smoldering. Ebon thought it a miracle she had gotten up at all from such a powerful attack.

Even the ponies had stopped cheering when they saw the look of duress on Glassie’s face.

“Flamethrower was super effective!” Cadance announced to the crowd. “I don’t think she’ll last if she takes another hit from that. Aura Edge is a highly adept magus with over a decade’s worth of military experience.”

“I have as many years in the arena!” Glassie roared savagely before pouncing the mare again, unleashing another Quick Attack.

Glassie’s body rebounded off the invisible wall of force the pony had erected around herself with a reverberating clash of concussive force. Though thwarted by Aura's Protect move, the glaceon gracefully arched her back, pushing off the barrier to flip over twice before landing on all fours.

Flamethrower!

Glassie anticipated the unicorn’s countermove this time, leaping out of the way of the wall of flames that scorched a swath of seething destruction where she’d just vacated. Landing wrongly, Glassie slipped on the grass and landed on her side. She gave an agonizing shriek as she hit the ground.

“Oh, no! That pony must have burned Glassie with that first attack!” Ebon punched at the arena barrier. “She’s going to faint if she doesn’t end this fight — and fast!”

“Don’t give up, Glassie! Make her pay for that burn!” Edelweiss shouted at the wounded glaceon, who was struggling back on all fours with a streak of smoking green grass stuck to a shiny red blister covering the right side of her barrel.

“Have you considered surrender? I’d surrender about now!” Sike contributed, drawing reproachful looks from the nearby pony soldiers.

“Your espeon friend is wise, cub.” The mare said as she circled Glassie. It’s not a question that you have some skill, Glassie, and a lot of nerve. There is no dishonor in conceding defeat.”

“I agree… Aura. So… are you…” Glassie gritted through clenched teeth. “...conceding defeat?”

Aura laughed. “You have some snark, too! Have it your way then…” Her horn began to glow dangerously red once more.

Glassie grinned evilly and said something quietly that Ebon couldn’t hear but was able to read her lips quite easily. "Water Spout!"

Glassie's mouth opened wide and a highly pressurized jet of water struck Aura all across her front. It hit with such force that she was hurled no fewer than fifteen yards back, nearly slamming up against the magical barricade, before striking the ground hard. Her horn glow quickly dissipated and she did not get back up.

“Aura Edge is incapacitated. Glassie wins!” Cadance called out with a raised hoof as the pink barrier separating the ponies from the onlookers disappeared.

The two females leaped off of Ebon and ran up to Glassie with Ebon close behind.

“Eh heh. I won!” Glassie coughed, waving away the smoke emanating from her singed fur before collapsing forward onto her belly with a crunch on the grass. She was smiling but her jaw was set tightly and her whole body was trembling as her tail lay limp and motionless behind her.

“With a water spell, no less!” Sike checked her fluffy chest for a berry to heal Glassie but she didn’t have one.

“Don’t worry, Sike. I planned ahead!” Edelweiss opened Glassie’s jaws and placed a large, blue berry with a lime-green stem into her mouth. “That must have been some hit you took!”

Glassie chomped and slurped, the juice gushing from her mouth and down her chin. Swallowing she looked up at Edelweiss. “One more hit like that, and I’d probably have needed to recover in the hospital. That pony was a lot tougher than I expected.”

A flash of light from Cadance’s horn caught all four of the Pokémon’s attention and Aura Edge slowly picked herself off of the grass.

“An ability that can recover fainted Pokémon without seeds?” Glassie, perhaps not wanting to face her adversary from a position of weakness, forced herself back onto all fours herself. “You weren’t kidding, Sike. That alicorn is not to be messed with.”

Sike gave a sorrowful espeon cry as she looked down at Glassie. “And neither was that unicorn! Don’t tell us you didn’t get burned by that attack; I see how much you’re hurting.”

“It would have been worse if you hadn’t given me the Water Spout idea. I’d have never guess her type changed to fire while she was casting her ability! Sike, you really saved my rump out there!”

“You say her typing changed, Sike? That’s very interesting… and useful!” Ebon turned to see Cadance walking her way.

“Sike, Glassie. Great job, girls! But let’s keep this new bit of info secret. And get Glassie a cheri berry to treat her burns.” Ebon bowed in greeting at Cadance who had just arrived and used some sort of spell on Glassie.

“There! That should help you feel a little better. Congratulations on your win!” Cadance smiled warmly at Glassie who, looking surprised but delighted, repeated Ebon’s respectful bow.

“Thanks, Princess. But how are you reviving others without seeds?” Glassie asked.

“Through careful studying of its effects so I can recreate its effects with magic,” Cadance replied. “It’s a costly spell though and my unicorn assistants still find it more useful to just extract the magic from the seeds themselves the way pokémon do. I do like to save the taxpayer back home funding this expedition whenever I can, so I help when possible!”

“I appreciate that you do not take from the land more than that is required as well, Princess,” Edelweiss wrapped a pair of tendrils around Cadance’s leg and hugged it.

“Well fought, Glassie.”

Cadance and Team Allure turned to see Aura Edge standing there, soaked through to her fur — splayed back comically across her body from the intensity of Glassie’s attack, she looked as though she’d been standing in front of a dam that had just burst. “You’re a peculiar and dangerous foe. Your ice is strong and yet you never employed it on me.”

“Subtlety to the point of typelessness. That is how I direct my opponent’s fate.” Glassie nodded in acknowledgment to her vanquished foe before making her way silently back towards the distant breakfast tables.

Aura Edge gathered up her armor in a field of blue levitation and strapped herself back into it in a marvelous display of tactile aptitude no hands could ever achieve. “Quite a mysterious one, that glaceon. And hungry too. I underestimated her resourcefulness. I pray I never have to face such an enemy in battle. Best of luck to you in Equestria, honored guests!”

And with a loud pop, the unicorn disappeared.

The four pokémon gasped.

“Oh, don’t worry about her, Team Allure. She’s just gone back to breakfast.” Cadance directed the four to follow her back to the tables. “She’s right, you know. You fought quite well. But now seems a good time for me to tell you what I need.”

Ebon bore his teeth, cheerfully. “I’m an eeveelution, Miss. I’m all ears!”

Cadance giggled. “You are all quite blessed in that regard! And you’ll be meeting a pony who is of the same mold. In Ponyville, there is a beautiful if somewhat skittish mare who sells flowers to the other ponies in the village. She has a mark of a red rose on her flank but her ears are the first thing you’ll notice. Procure from this mare a single red rose and bring it back to me.”

“That’s… it?” Sike tilted her head at Cadance. “What’s the challenge? Oh! Is she inside of a Mystery Dungeon? Ebon, we’ll need to bring a ton of reviver seeds!”

Cadance shook her head. “Ponyville is filled with the friendliest ponies you’re ever likely to meet, though suspicious to outsiders when you first meet them.”

“We won’t have to fight any of them? I’m with Sike here; this sounds really easy.”

“The ponies won’t attack, though they may run away if you startle them,” Cadance continued, her tone sounding evasive, even teasing, to Ebon. “So your first mission is to gain their trust. Walk among them as friends and gather a single rose from the pretty, large-eared earth pony at the counter.

They really are interdimensional ponyta if they’re all liable to run away at any second. I’d best be on my best behavior and try not to look too scary! Ebon nodded in understanding at Cadance. “So the trick is to not scare the ponies? That shouldn’t be too difficult. Everyone knows an eevee is the cutest, fluffiest, most inviting presence any pokémon could ask for. We’re naturally lovable!”

“Which is precisely why I asked for your team, Ebon,” Cadance replied. “Your reputation as a good-natured helpful team with a kind and… alluring disposition was pivotal in my decision to go with you.

“Hah! You hear that, Ebon? We truly live up to our name!” Edelweiss puffed out of her chest, her tail held high in the air. “But I have to ask, what’s an earth pony?”

“So, you’ve met our group here in Ponyta Pass. They’re unicorns — they have horns and use magic. Pegasi are… flying-type ponies with wings. Earth ponies possess neither horns nor wings but possess a connection with the earth, or ‘ground’ that manifests in several fascinating and useful ways: powerful self-regeneration, immense strength and athleticism, an affinity to growing plants faster, larger and more plentiful than other races. They get overlooked a lot but the pegasi and unicorns are very powerful in their own right.”

Regeneration, strength, fertility. It sounded to Ebon like these ‘earth’ ponies possessed a connection with either rock, ground, or even grass typing but said nothing. “You mentioned a mark on her flank like a rose and noticed you had a mark on your flank too.”

“Ah, yes. They’re called cutie marks. We gain them as we grow up. They’re connected with our talents and interests. You can consider them a visual representation of what we most identify with,” Cadance explained with a nod at hers.

“It’s gained when we discover what that talent is and is a coming-of-age event for all ponies. Though, it’s not always entirely certain what the image on a pony’s flank is supposed to represent. I heard of a filly who discovered a pony skull on her flank one day. Her Mom nearly panicked, thinking her filly’s special talent was murdering other ponies. But as it turned out, it was just an interest in archeology.”

Ebon made a note to himself not to explain how cubone pokémon wear the skulls of their dead mothers on their heads. Or to any other pony for that matter. “I see…”

“Well, I think that explains the basics of the mission. Are you willing to visit Equestria today after breakfast?” Cadance asked.

Ebon nodded. “Sounds good. I have one request though.”

“Of course. What is it?” Cadance asked.

“I’d like to be returned to the entrance of the dungeon. I have some business to deal with at the camp before I go.” Ebon felt like explaining the mailbox was need-to-know information and Cadance didn’t need to know.

“You built a camp? Huh. You concealed it well, Ebon. I do not know its location. Certainly, you can tend to any affairs you feel appropriate. I can fly you all down and carry you back up here if you please, though if at least one of you can stay behind, we won’t all have to completely rewrite our maps for each floor again. We’d all really appreciate it!” Cadance made a horse-tooth smile that couldn’t help but make him laugh.

“Certainly!” This was going to be easier than he thought. “Sike, how about you go and… take care of business for us?”

“Can do, Ebon!” The espeon saluted him with her tail.

And so it’s settled. Team Allure’s first real test is about to begin, Ebon thought as she departed. Though our first mission may seem easy, it takes place in a realm we’ve never visited and can only scarcely imagine, filled with powerful creatures that may very well rival ourselves. Our actions will not only define how these ponies see pokémon as a group, but they may even ultimately determine the fate of us both. It’s only a matter of time before the Creators learn of the ponies' presence in our realm and do something about it. If we upset the ponies and any harm come our way, then Arceus will surely demand just retribution for their offense.

I must not falter in my quest and see to it we succeed with honor. And maybe even meet a few new lovers along the way!

And with that thought, he curled up next to Glassie in her seat back at the breakfast table and kissed her on the ear. “Tonight, us!”

Glassie turned to face Ebon and kissed him on the muzzle. “Business before pleasure, Ebon! Consider my egg as a reward should we succeed.”

“Everyone loves a winner,” Ebon wrapped his tail around hers, enjoying the touch of cool against his sweaty coat of fur. It had really warmed up since the night before.

“I love you too, Ebon.” Glassie slipped her tongue into his mouth briefly, before returning her attention to her bowl full of food. The contact lit a fire beneath his hind legs, but he knew it was not the time to indulge it.

Maybe later, once we get to this ‘Ponyville’. And all to find a single mare bearing a single rose? I still don’t entirely believe it’s that simple, but whatever awaits us, by Arceus, we will not fail. Ebon vowed before diving his own muzzle into her bowl, exchanging the occasional bumps and nuzzles with her sister as they ate.