A New World, A New Way: Deepground

Chapter Twelve

Expecting the Unexpected

[Manehattan]

“What on earth is this?” Arceus asked as he, Mewtwo, Latios, Latias, and Kyogre were currently watching Emerald Weapon standing motionless over the water's surface. From what the Alpha pokemon could gather, this thing was giving off the same strange energy that was currently engulfing Ponyville and Canterlot City. Over many years he explored the cosmos, met with other gods, and saw many things in his life. This would be the first he had met with something that he had never seen before…and that frightened him. “Have any of you made a psychic connection with it?”

“I have. All I got was an image of a human with dark skin, red hair, and wearing otherworldly clothes.” Latios said before showing a mental image of what he saw.

“You’re telling me that a human is in control of that….thing?” Mewtwo asked as Latios shrugged. “How is that even possible? Shouldn’t the humans that father brought here to this planet be turned into Pokemon?”

“Yes, I made sure of that…but there’s something odd about this human,” Arceus said as his children raised an eyebrow at him. “The clothes she has on. When have any of you seen a human from our world wear clothes like that?”

“Wouldn’t Neo Team Plasma wear something like that?” Mewtwo asked as the alpha pokemon shook his head.

“To my knowledge, no. But then again, humans do tend to wear weird stuff they would consider as clothing.” Kyogre spoke up while staring at the mental image of the human. “You don’t think she’s part of Neo Team Plasma, do you.?”

“Not unless you know of any that gives off the same glow as that emerald creature in front of us?” Arceus asked as he focused more on the image of the human. “Something is going on with this planet, and this human might be the key to figuring out what is going on. If any of you find this child, you must bring her to me at once.”

“What will you do father?” Latios asked as he noticed Arceus’s attention was focused on Emerald Weapon.

“I will see what this creature is. If Latios could read its mind, then perhaps I can communicate with it telepathically.” Just as Arceus was about to fly over to Emerald Weapon, the sound of an ear-piercing roar as it caused him along with the others to recoil backward in pain. In a matter of seconds, the roaring came to a stop as Emerald Weapon turned around and began making its way toward the direction of the Canterlot.

“Father, the creature is moving,” Mewtwo said as the alpha pokemon took notice of Emerald Weapon’s direction.

“Where is it going?” Kyogre asked before hearing Arceus speak.

“Canterlot Castle.” He answered as it took the others by surprise. “Latias and Latios, one of you will have to inform Celestia and Luna, while the other will need to inform the others back at the hall of legends.”

“What are you going to do?” Latios asked as he noticed Mewtwo and Kyogre rushing off to Emerald Weapon.

“As I said before, I’m going to see if I can communicate with it to see what it wants while keeping it from heading to Canterlot,” Arceus said before turning his focus on the weapon. “If we can get a means of communication, then I’ll have no choice but to use force to get it to submit,” he said before teleporting off to the weapon. The eon duo watches the alpha pokemon leave before looking at each other.

“You think father will be able to handle that creature?” Latias asked as her brother nodded.

“Father’s the strongest there is. Whatever that creature has up its sleeve, father will be able to take it down. Now let’s go. Father ordered us to inform the princesses and the others about this.”

“R-Right.” She said as they quickly flew off into the night and headed towards Canterlot and the Everfree Forest.

[Canterlot Castle, Morning]

The morning sun rose above the city of Canterlot as Celestia was out on the balcony raising the sun for the ponies and pokemon of Equestria. As she was raising the sun, the white alicorn smiled at her work before looking over at the nightstand next to her bed. Specifically, the book that was on it. Her horn began to glow as she levitated the book over to her and picked up from where she left off yesterday before meeting with Emma and the others.

“The deal was made. Discord somehow managed to bring the magic back to Equestria utilizing a pocket dimension that he keeps in case of emergencies. Within a matter of seconds, Equestria’s magic was restored but the damage from the monster and the army it created left a scar that will take time to heal. While I am grateful for his assistance, I still loathe the fact that I needed his assistance in this matter. The god of chaos filled his part of the deal, and so I must fill my part of the deal.” The book said as Celestia turned the page and continued reading. “Discord opened up a portal to a strange world, one similar to that of the mirror world, but different. The magic in this world…it's so clean and fresh, oddly shaped buildings, culture so bizarre that it was often weird, but fascinating. All this was truly amazing, but I couldn’t lose focus on the goal for the future of Equestria.”

“Note to self, bring Luna for when we have to confront Discord.” Celestia thought before turning and continuing to read.

“For the past couple of years, I lived out my days as a human within this strange world. During my time in this world, I’ve experienced a lot of things that this world has to offer, both the good, the bad, and the plain weirdness. During my tenth year of living on this planet, I made a name for myself. People in the village I lived in called me the angel of medicine. Guess knowing medicinal herbs and medical stuff came in handy. But even with all that, I was not prepared for the eventuality of meeting the man that would help save my home.”

“So mother did go through with the plan…” Celestia thought before continuing to read.

“The man didn’t tell me what his full name was, but he told me to call him Shinra.” The book said which caused Celestia to be taken by surprise by the name before reading. “I ended up meeting the young man near the entrance of the village. He was poisoned by a monster and was on the verge of death. Were it not for the fact that he unknowingly made his way to the village in his delirious state, he might’ve been dead within an hour. At first, he was a bit rude and on edge since he woke up in a strange place with all his belongings missing. But after feeding him and giving him more medicine to cure the poison, he began opening up to us for the most part. I feel like he was hiding something from us, but I choose not to press the matter.”

“....I’m hoping my suspicions aren't true about who this child they’re planning to make it.”

“A month had passed since Shinra had been in the village. So far, he can stand on his own for a while but does require help from time to time. He was reluctant at first in letting me help him, but over time he became accepting of the fact that he couldn’t do everything by himself. Or in his words as he put it, “hired” me to be his assistant-” Just as she was about to turn to the next page, there was a knock at her door. Upon hearing said knock, she quickly made the book vanish before turning her attention to the doorway.

“Come in,” Celestia said the doors to her chamber opened to reveal Luna entering her room. “Morning sister.”

“Morning Celestia. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything important?”

“Not at all, just getting myself prepared to meet the human and the others.” She said before levitating scrolls over to her for a second before making them disappear. “Let’s just hope Twilight and the others will be…accepting towards Emma.”

“That would depend on what was written on the letter…you did specify that she wasn’t from where the other humans were from…right?”

“.....I believe so…I think,” Celestia said as Luna raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m sure Twilight and the others will know what I meant.”

“Tia…”

“Don’t give me that tone. I’m not going to be perfect with everything. Like how you tend to skip out on your nightly duties~?”

“I set my hours for how long I will be away before going to sleep. It’s not my fault the ponies of Canterlot can’t read or pay attention to the sign on the castle door or the bulletin board.” Luna said as she deadpans at Celestia smirking at her. “My point being, I do hope you have a plan in case something bad were to happen?”

“As always, you should have some faith in me. I always have a plan in case things end up badly.”

“Really? You have a plan to deal with a superhuman that was made for combat, and war, and Faust knows what else?”

“I’ve ruled over the kingdom for one-thousand years Lulu, I’m sure I can manage something like this,” Celestia said as Luna stared at her for a few seconds before sighing.

“If you say so, but before things get out of hoof. I will say four words to you. I. Told. You. So.” Luna said as Celestia rolled her eyes at her comment. “I’ll meet you in Ponyville once I’m done making a few preparations for our foreign guest. Do try not to let things escalate to the point of having parts of the castle blown up…again.” She said before teleporting off to a different part of the castle.

“I’m sure this will turn out okay…I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?” Celestia said before teleporting off to the hotel.

[Canterlot Hotel]

“So let me get this straight,” Georgia asked as she looked at the Cactuar with interest. “This thing isn’t a pokemon, but a summoning?”

“I call them summon monsters, but yeah that’s what they are,” Emma said as she watched the Cactuar dancing around the room. “They’re powerful beings that would rival that of the legendary pokemon on this planet depending.”

“You mean that small thing can stand up against a legendary?” Burgundy asked in disbelief.

“Sort of. It mostly depends on the summon you have.” The soldier answered before seeing her summon monster hop onto her head. “Summon monsters are like your magical partners. As you grow, so do they. The difference between how you guys do think with your pokemon is that if you want to have them as your partner, you’ll have to fight them with everything you got. And I don’t mean using your pokemon to fight your battles, you’ll have to prove to said summon that you are worthy of their trust and power.”

“...You mean…you have to fight them…with your fist?”

“Well you can use weapons like swords or magic, but if you don’t have that then yeah,” Emma said as the Cactuar began to spin around like a top. “Though some will test you in strength, others will test you in other ways. It varies depending on the summoning you get.”

“...And you have how many?”

“Sixteen if I’m not mistaken. I rack up a lot so I can burn Shinra to the ground. Might get more just for safety measures~” Emma said with a smile on her face, though that sent chills down Georgia, Burgundy, Lyra, and Bob-Bon’s spines as they had worried expressions on their faces.

“What? It should be obvious that I would do anything within my power to see the people in charge of Shinra brought down. If I’m going to take on a large company, I’m going to need a lot of help and power.”

“W-While I can understand why you hate them…horrific images you made us watch. Might want to be careful and not let your rage and anger get the better of you?” Bon-Bon asked.

“...You make a valid point. I’ll save the summon monsters for when things go south.” The soldier said before making the Cactuar vanish into magical particles. “Which might happen if Mew-Two tries to attack me.”

“I still have my doubts about the Princess’s plan. I mean can she even be trusted?” Burgundy asked as Emma shrugged.

“So far we haven’t been attacked, nor has she sent any of her guards to capture us, and we haven’t seen the so-called legendaries or their god. Of course, I still have my guard up, but so far she doesn’t seem like the mare to betray us.” Emma said before walking over to Georgia and Burgundy. Once she was in front of the duo, she began to examine the trainers' injuries after reapplying bandages due to their new humanoid forms. “Hm, even with the new humanoid forms, you still retain the injuries from your pokemon forms. I’ll change your bandages and reapply them with a remedy so that it’ll kill off any infections you might’ve caught during your time in the streets before nighttime. For now, how are you two feeling?” She asked as Burgundy and Georgia moved their limbs a bit.

“Still sore, but it’s better than how we were when you first found us,” Georgia said as she winced a bit from a slight pain she felt in her leg. “Still weird that I look like this. But I’ll take having hands or paws any day.”

“I will have to agree with you on that,” Burgundy said while wiggling her fingers. “Oh, how I miss having the ability to use my hands instead of hooves…Um, no offense to Lyra and Bon-Bon.”
“None taken,” Lyra said while admiring her new appearance. “I still can’t believe I’m a human. I mean I always had dreams about being one, but never had I ever thought of being one….I am going to enjoy this.”

“Do try not to abuse it too much Lyra. Keep in mind that if Arceus or Mewtwo see you like this, they could try and attack you.” Bon-Bon said as Emma spoke up.

“Which would be breaking the summoner’s protection law,” Emma said as she noticed her friends raised eyebrows. “Page two-hundred seventy-seven, paragraph one. The person that summoned said object or being from another has to be the one that sends it, they, or them back to the world they come from. Thus it is important to keep them alive less they are doomed to remain in Equestria for the rest of their lives.”

“....Wow, you’ve been reading up on all the rules haven’t you?” Bon-Bon asked.

“Given what we’re dealing with, yes.” She said before hearing a knock at the door to the room they were in. “Who is it!?”

“It’s me, Celestia. May I come in?” She asked as Emma picked up her helmet to scan the doorway. The moment she was done, a small digital screen appeared to reveal that Celestia was the only one behind the door.

“You can enter,” Emma said as the solar princess entered the room. “Nice to see you’ve returned alone.”

“I figure you wouldn’t trust me if I came with the royal guards. Plus we did establish a bit of trust between us after what happened last night, no?”

“For now, yes.” She said as the human stood up from where she was sitting. “I assume we’ll be going to Ponyville?”

“That is the plan. Would you be willing to let me teleport us to Ponyville?” Celestia asked.

“Normally I would allow it, but I’m in the mood for some fresh air…question, does this place have a road or something along the line of that?”

“We do actually. Due to certain events involving a very territorial Rhyperior on the train tracks, we made a road for the pony to walk or take a carriage.” She said before noticing a grin appearing on the human’s face. “Is something wrong?”

“How would you all like to go for a ride in my car~?”