A New World, A New Way: Deepground

Chapter Twenty

Test Run

Within an hour or so, Emma along with her group of friends would be outside of the hospital near an open field that was across from the room they were in. On the field, two dummies were depicted as Arceus and Mewtwo. The group of both trainers and ponies would stare at the dummies with deadpanned expressions before looking at Emma as their expression deepened even more upon seeing Emma in a team Plasma outfit. However, it would resemble a bit of the deepground given the glowing parts on her body and the bunny-like bow ribbon on her head.

“What? Don’t give me that look.” Emma said before hearing Burgundy speak up.

“We kind of have too given the way you look…again why are you dressed like this?”

“What can I say, I like the knight's attire from Team Plasma.”

“You’re pretty much painting yourself as a target for Pokemon who have…unfavorable feelings towards the group,” Georgia mentioned as the soldier shrugged.

“Don’t care, I’m keeping the design and taking it as my own. If they do attack me because of that, then expect an unwelcoming surprise from me.” Emma said as shivers ran down their spines. As a means to change the subject, Lyra spoke while pointing a finger at the dummies.

“Is there a reason why you made dummies of Mewtwo and Arceus?”

“Because I don’t like them, plus they’re easy targets,” Emma answered before noticing Lyra raising a hand.

“Is there a reason why we’re outside with dummies?” The unicorn asked as she noticed a grin on Emma's face as she pulled out her laptop.

“While I am a bit annoyed at the fact that Georgia, Burgundy, and Lyra perform the same magic spells I can use without years of practice. I would like to know how much you learned from the materia you absorb inside yourselves.” She said before hooking her helmet to the laptop. “This is a whole new territory of science and magic. You can’t expect me not to record data like this before anyone else.”

“I…suppose that makes sense…This won’t hurt them or anything will it?” Bon-Bon asked as the human shook her head.

“So long as you don’t hit each other with your spells, or use them at close range, they’ll be safe.” She answered before typing on her laptop. “I am going to ask for some blood samples afterward, but for now, just focus on trying to hit the dummies placed in front of you. What spells do you three know so far?”

“Fire,” Georgia answered as she made a ball of fire appear floating in her hand. “You would think it would be ice considering I’m an ice-type Pokemon.

“Gravity and water,” Burgundy answered as a ball of compressed gravity appeared in one hand and a ball of water in the other.

“Fire, ice, thunder, and earth,” Lyra said as she made four balls of said elements appear on her fingertips as she smirked at her accomplishment.

“Hm, interesting,” Emma said while typing on her laptop as the trio made their respective spells disappear. “I can only assume that Lyra can use four spells due to her being a unicorn and having some basic practice in magic to a certain degree. It’s understandable why Georgia and Burgundy would only know a spell or two given how they don’t know magic.” She said before looking over at Georgia and Burgundy. “I want you two to hit the dummies with your fire and water.”

“You sure? I mean, we don’t even know if we’ll hit it or not.” Burgundy said as Emma nodded.

“All you have to do is lock eyes with the target. Once you do that, think of the magic spell you want to use and you’ll hit them.” She said before watching the two trainers look at each other for a moment before focusing their attention on the dummies. The two raised their hands at the dummies of Mewtwo and Arceus as they closed their eyes. Particles of magic started to form around their hands as a ball of fire appeared in Georgia’s hand and a ball of water appeared in Burgundy’s hand. The two opened their eyes as they fired off their elemental magic attacks at the dummies. Upon making contact, the Mewtwo dummy was set ablaze while the Arceus dummy was doused in water. “See, simple as if you’re tying your shoes or breathing.”

“Wow…I…don’t know if I should be excited or not about this,” Burgundy said before noticing a grin on Georgia’s face.

“Oh, I am going to have so much fun knocking Iris down a peg or two.” She said before looking over at Emma. “Got any more of that materia stuff?”

“You’re only getting that one materia for now. This is mainly because I wanted to test a slight theory if my hunch is correct.” The soldier said before noticing a slight pouty expression on Georgia’s face. “Don’t give me that look. This is a new field of science and magic that has never happened before. You want to end up with a missing arm or something?”

“Wait, that can happen?” Lyra asked before noticing the soldier raising her arm and pulling her sleeve back to reveal the scars on her arm, which in turn caused her to flinch a bit.

“Listen to your elders. Never rush something that you’re excited about, because the outcome will not work in your favor like it happened to me.” She said before rolling her sleeve down and returning to her work. “Now, as I was saying. I have a slight theory that I want to try out if it’s similar to how it is back on my planet.”

“What do you mean by that?” Bon-Bon asked as she noticed a digital screen appear with an image of some kind of dark crystal flower with small orbs around it. “What is that?”

“Something I’ve been researching in my spare time. From what I’ve gathered from the deepground, certain people who can use materia to the fullest have what I’ll be calling, a skill tree as I would call it.” She said before showing the different branches sprouting from the crystal flower. “My theory is that upon having said materia within oneself, one can acquire a skill tree of their own that’s unique to themself, and grows through training.”

“Huh, so it’s like Pokemon training, but with…magic?” Burgundy asked as Emma waved her hand sideways.

“To a certain degree, there’s also the physical and mental aspect of it. But like I said, this is just a theory until I can gather more data from you all if this is true with other people. Now it’s up to you three if you want me to teach you combat training via magic, but if you don’t and want to do it yourself or not bother with it, then that’s fine by me.”

“Wait, you’re not going to take the materia you gave us back if we choose to live normally or something?” Georgia asked as the soldier shook her head.

“What you do with the knowledge and magic is up to you. If you want to use it for fame to make money, that's my guess. If you want to use it to help others or want to join a group or something, then I’m fine with that. Should you even go against me and use it to assist Arceus, then I’m okay with that…just know that it won’t end in your favor should you do that. I gave you the materia for research, seeing if there was a way to turn you back into a human, and because I’m a doctor.”

“....You are way too kind, you know that?” Bon-Bon said which caused the human to roll her eyes.

“I’m not nice…it's more of a…logical sense when you think about it.” Emma answered as she noticed her friends' unconvinced facial expressions. “Just continue casting spells until you can’t cast them anymore. Remember not to put too much energy into them, less you damage the area around us.”

“Sure, it’s very logical~,” Lyra said before continuing to cast different elemental spells upon the dummies along with Georgia and Burgundy.

“I’m not kind. It’s only logical that I would give them something that would keep them healthy and live longer…nothing more.”

“If you say so~,” said a small female voice whispering into her ear. The soldier paused upon hearing this as she slowly looked over her shoulder to see who it was that was saying that, only to see nothing. She stared off into space for a moment before shrugging and returning to her laptop. As the group was busy conducting Emma’s experiment, Celestia and Luna would appear in the lobby room of the hospital. Upon appearing in the lobby, they were taken by surprise by the large amount of ponies and Pokemon in the room. From what they could tell, it looked like they were either having their bandages removed, being released from the hospital, or with friends and family members hugging each other.

“This is a …surprise,” Celestia said as she felt Luna making her way through the lobby. “Normally it wouldn’t be this crowded, did something happen?”

“Judging by their happy expression and the nurse removing bandages from their patients, I can only assume Arcuse has something to do with this.”

“You would think that, but that’s not the case.” said a voice from beside them as they looked over to their right to see Dr. Horse making their way over to them. Though he was taken by surprise by Celestia’s human appearance. “Oh…I didn’t know you found another human. Is she related to Emma?”

“No, this is my sister, Celestia,” Luna said, which took the doctor by surprise. “I know, it’s a long story, but this is my sister. Despite her having a different form similar to Emma.”

“Um…O-Okay…A-Anyway, I’m going to assume you’re wondering about the crowd of ponies and Pokemon in the lobby room, correct?”

“Yes, I would assume Arceus would be the one behind it, but I get the feeling that it wasn’t him,” Celestia said as she looked over at some of the patients. “Normally he would heal them up completely without so much of a scratch on them. But from the looks of it. It looks like somepony was able to heal without the old-fashioned way of medical tools and magic.”

“You’re not wrong about that. It was mind-boggling when the nurses informed me about what happened.” He said before looking at a filly slowly walking towards her parents. “We tried to repair the damage caused by a mudslide that made that filly unable to move her back legs, but after examining her again. Somepony was able to repair the damage done to her spinal cord without further damaging it.”

“That’s an amazing feat.”

“That’s not all.” He said before motioning to other ponies and Pokemon in the room. “That Treecko over there was treated for third-degree burns from a dragon-type Pokemon, yet his burns were practically healing at an alarming rate when one of the nurses was changing his bandages. The stallion with the patch of mane missing was supposed to go into surgery within a week because of a life-threatening tumor in his brain, but now the tumor is gone. I can keep going on, but you get what I’m saying, right?”

“Hm, interesting. Do you know who helped the patients without anypony noticing?” Celestia asked as Dr. Horse shook his head.

“No ponies know who did it, only that they saw a dark figure with glowing blue eyes. We chalked it up as either a sleep paralysis demon or some kind of Pokemon with some kind of healing ability. But we doubt any Pokemon has that kind of medical knowledge to that degree.” He said as Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a moment before returning their attention to the stallion.

“We might know who it was that was behind all this, but we need to have a little chat with Emma, if you don’t mind us seeing her,” Celestia asked as Dr. Horse pointed behind himself down the hallway.

“She along with the others that were with her are currently outside in the back. We were planning on doing some examinations on them, but given the death glare she was giving me, I just decided to do it on a later date.”

“I’m sure she’d be willing to after some time, but for now we will have a talk with her about the current situation. We thank you for your time, Dr. Horse.” Luna said as she and Celestia walked past the doctor and began making their way down the hallway. “You think our little sister has something to do with what’s happening in the lobby?”

“She did that. I’m surprised she could do something like that within that time frame and without anypony noticing her. What would have driven her to do something like that? A favor from us? An apology to Arceus?” Upon saying that last part, Luna noticed Celestia giving her a deadpan expression as the blue alicorn rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe not that last part, but you get what I’m saying?”

“I’m pretty sure she did it out of the kindness of her heart. Keep in mind, she is a medical doctor after all.”

“A medical doctor made by an evil corporation bent on taking over her world.” She said before noticing Celestia’s deadpan expression again. “You know it’s true.”

“Forgetting that, we’ll just focus on making Emma’s life here in Equestria as comfortable as possible.”

“By comfortable, you mean to make sure Arceus doesn’t try to hurt our little sister to the point where she would wage war upon a god?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” She said before hearing the sound of magic being cast echoing down the hallway. The two continue to make their way to the double doors as they take notice through the small window of Lyra, Georgia, and Burgundy casting spells on the dummies. “I’m going to assume Emma is training them on how to use her magic,” She said before blinking in surprise upon seeing the soldier’s new attire.

“Isn’t that the attire that those humans called Team Plasma wear back on their earth?” Luna asked as Celestia let out a slight groan of annoyance. “You think she knows about Team Plasma’s past?”
“Either she does and doesn’t care, or she does and just loves their attire,” Celestia said as she eyed Emma up and down. “I won’t deny…she does look cute in that outfit.”

“Perhaps you should go to them and talk about today’s agenda. I’ll have to leave you here to inform Twilight and the others about this and your transformation.”

“That would be best.” She said before looking behind herself to see a few ponies and Pokemon eyeing Celestia’s new form. “Plus I get the feeling I’ll be drawing more attention should I go with you through town.”

“Indeed, plus I prefer not to have Mewtwo attack you like he did with Emma….or is that your plan as well?”

“While I don’t trust Mewtwo or Arceus, even I wouldn’t put myself in danger like that…not without protection at least,” Celestia said as the pair made their way outside where Emma and the others were. The moment they were within sight of the group, their eyes widened upon seeing Luna and Celestia. More specifically, Celestia’s new form.

“...Is that…no, it couldn’t be,” Bon-Bon said as Emma looked up from her laptop to see Celestia’s human form.

“Given the hair color, pony features, and flowing hair similar to Luna. That is indeed Princess Celestia. I’m going to assume you decided to implant the materia I gave you?” Emma asked as Celestia nodded. “Alright, so I can assume you did it out of curiosity or you needed the magic in the materia for something?”

“I needed to get a certain god of chaos to assist me with something. Though calling for him was difficult to do seeing how he kept ignoring my letters, so using foreign magic was needed. Needless to say, it worked, though I will need some assistance in figuring out how to work this new body.” She answered before sighing and looking over at Lyra, who was grinning in excitement. “Much to my dislike…I will need your…assistance in this matter…Lyra.”

“Finally! My time to shine! For years I’ve been made fun of, ridiculed, looked upon as if I was crazy, but no more! Now my knowledge of human anatomy and culture can finally pay off.” Lyra yelled before appearing in front of Celestia and carrying her off her feet. “Come Princess, together we shall learn the secrets of humans and their very being!”

“I change my mind, Luna help!” Celestia yelled as she noticed Luna slowly tip-toeing away from them. “Luna!”

“Don’t worry! I have a plan…I’m gonna go.”

“I hate this plan!”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just going to get Twilight and her friends like we talked about. I’m sure Lyra will not do anything that would hurt you…” Luna looked over at Lyra who was currently breathing heavily with a manic expression on her face. “...You’re in good hands.”

“No! Luna, no! Don’t you dare! Don’t you leave me with this crazy mare!” Celestia yelled as she noticed Luna’s horn glowing.

“I have total faith in you sister, farewell!” Luna yelled as she teleported to Twilight’s Castle, leaving Celestia in the unfortunate hands of Lyra.

“Huh, I guess even royal siblings can be comedic when they want to,” Emma said Before noticing Bon-Bon’s dumbfounded expression. “Something wrong?”

“Other than the fact that I’ve never seen them act this way around other ponies. They always act so…so….how do I put it?”

“Proper, regal, and royal?”

“Yes…yes that? Seeing them act like siblings is something I’ve never seen before.”

“Well given how they’re around a bunch of uptight ponies, can you blame them for being a bit relaxed around us?” Emma asked. “I mean, I know I got on Celestia about how she ruled the kingdom, but I can understand what it means to put on a facade while around others who aren’t family.”

“I…can see what you mean by that…but what makes us special to see something like that?” Bon-Bon asked before hearing Georgia speak.

“In case you forgot. You have a human from a different planet, two humans who were turned into humanoid versions of the Pokemon Arceus turned us into, and Lyra who’s obsessed with humans and their culture. Do you think anyone other than humans who were turned into Pokemon would be willing to be near us without freaking out or worse?

“...Fair point…suppose that would make sense.”

“It’s also that fact that we’re not the type to judge,” Emma added. “No offense to you, both ponies and Pokemon, but we’re more open-minded to certain things compared to others. Which is a good thing because it shows how we’re more developed in a sense.” She said which caused Bon-Bon to tilt her head in confusion.

“She means we’re friends, no matter the good or bad aspects that we have,” Burgundy stated before noticing Celestia trying to crawl away from Lyra, only for the mare to grab her by the legs as a means to prevent her. “Should we do something about this?”

“Normally I would, but I would like to see how this will go,” Emma answered as she pressed the recording on her helmet. “Mainly due to information reasons.”

“...Okay that’s a bold lie,” Georgia said with an unconvinced expression on her face.

“You can’t prove that, now sit back and watch the fireworks.”