Author's Note

This chapter's original title was a line from "The Mind Electric" by Miracle Musical, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to use it here due to Fimfiction's rules about song lyrics.

Chapter 9: Dissociation

Arven awoke to someone tapping him on the shoulder.

"Who are you?" she asked. She wasn't speaking any language Arven knew, but he understood her just fine.

"My name's Arven," he said. He heard the girl gasp faintly. "Who're you?"

"I... it's me, Penny," she stammered.

Arven was laying face-down, so he sat up and turned to look at the girl. What he saw made him do a double-take: a Sylveon with heterochromia. He'd heard of Pokémon learning to speak human languages, but he never thought he'd meet one. He stared at her for a solid few seconds, lost for words.

"Um, hello?" The Sylveon — Penny, apparently — poked him in the face with a ribbon.

"What?" was all Arven could say. He stared cross-eyed at the place she'd poked him: the bridge of his nose. His nose, which was now part of a snout covered in white bone that felt smooth to touch. His hands were in his field of vision... his brown, scaly hands. He reached down to his belt to feel for his Poké Balls, but they weren't there.

As he stood up, the world felt like it was spinning around him — and not just because of the purple vortex. He was at eye-level with the Sylveon and felt his tail touching the ground... his tail... whose tail? When did he have a tail? He turned around to look at it, but everything seemed blurry and he couldn't co-ordinate his movements. The next thing he knew, the street was rising upwards, and then Penny wrapped a ribbon around his chest to steady him.

"You went to the academy in Mesagoza, right?" she asked, snapping him back to reality.

"Yes, but... Penny, what's going on?!" he pleaded.

"You're a Marowak."

Meanwhile, the ponies were watching the scene from the safety of the palace, crowded around the window.

Misty's eyes widened when she saw the brown figure almost fall over. "We have to help them!"

"My dear Misty, are you sure that's a good idea? It's far too dangerous," said Queen Haven.

Misty took her front hooves off the window and stepped away. "Are you sure? I've stood up to Opaline, and we've all fought her. I'm sure we can survive this!"

"Misty's right," said Sunny. "We can't just stand here while our friend is in trouble!" As she spoke, she was surrounded by a golden glow, and her spectral horn and wings burst forth. "Let's go!"

Sunny lead the charge out into the street, with Misty, Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp close behind. The Spewpa was still riding on Misty's back. The strong wind rustled their manes, yet it didn't feel cold. Misty approached Penny, who was talking to the brown figure at the heart of the vortex.

"Excuse me," said Misty.

Penny turned to look at her. "This is Arven. He went to the same school as me and Nemona, but... he's not doing great." Then, she turned to Arven and said, "She's Misty. She can't understand you right now, so she'll cast a translation spell. It won't hurt, promise."

Misty took this as her cue to use the translation spell on Arven, who currently looked very interested in his hands. It was hard to focus; there were small flashes of light every few seconds that made her wince. Afterwards, she heard Sunny fly towards her.

"Misty! Is everything okay?" asked Sunny.

"Penny is," replied Misty. "The other one is her friend... I think."

"You think?" Arven sounded offended.

Then, they all heard another set of wingbeats.

"Hey, girls!" exclaimed Pipp, who was carrying a treasure chest's worth of rough gemstones in her forelegs. "Guess what I found~!"

"Those are evolution stones," said Penny quickly.

Izzy bounded up to them, with Zipp flying overhead. "Ooh! Can I have some?"

"Now's not the time for this," said Zipp with a frown. "Let's head back."

But before they could do so, there was another flash of light. It was so bright that it seemed to swallow everything, and seared through everyone's squeezed-shut eyelids. And then, a shadow loomed overhead.

Pipp dropped her evolution stones in surprise. "Zipp, is that the S-Salamence you saw yesterday?"

Zipp tilted her head. "Sorta... But it's much too big."

The Pokémon looming above was a light-blue dragon with red wings, but unlike a Salamence, it had a black fan of feathers around its tail and sharp claws. It let out a deafening roar that paralysed all the ponies with fear.

"Is that Roaring Moon?" Arven wondered.

The Roaring Moon looked around with its piercing yellow eyes like a predator choosing which prey to pursue. Then, it body was engulfed by a blue glow that rippled like fire as it tucked it wings in and dive-bombed towards Arven. He tried to get away, but tripped over his own tail and fell face-down. He struggled to get back up, but couldn't in time...

With only a fraction of a second to spare, Penny shoved him out of the way.

"PENNY!" Misty screamed at the top of her lungs.

As the dust settled, Misty saw that the Roaring Moon had carved out a huge gash where it had crashed into the street, scattering chunks of rubble in every direction. Penny squirmed her way out from underneath it... without even a scratch. Misty stared at her for several seconds, her mouth agape.

"Thanks," said Arven.

"Okay... what just happened?" asked Zipp, who had flown a safe distance away from the flying debris.

"Fairy is immune to Dragon," said Penny, as if that made any sense to the ponies. Seeing their confused reactions, she quickly added, "Long story."

The Roaring Moon was still conscious, though; its eyes darted around, then it stood up again. If anything, it looked even more furious. In the blink of an eye, it lunged towards Penny and gripped her ear between its teeth. She yelped in pain.

Arven seemed to hesitate for a moment. He glanced between the Roaring Moon and a bone in his hand, then quickly threw it at its neck. The impact forced its jaws to let go, and it glared at Arven. Before it had a chance to attack him, though, Sunny swooped in and protected the other two Pokémon with a magical shield. Penny's mouth widened in amazement, and even Arven had a hint of a smile.

"Izzy, quick!" exclaimed Sunny.

Izzy leaped to her side and cast a translation spell on Roaring Moon. "What's the matter?" she asked.

The Roaring Moon said nothing. Its eyes locked onto Izzy, and it tried to swipe her with its claws. Fortunately, it was blocked by the shield, but it flickered for a moment...

"I can't... keep this up... forever," Sunny panted. "We all need to fight!"

"I know what to do," said Penny, "but I need to concentrate." She held up a pair of ribbons in front of her face, and a pinkish-white orb appeared between them. It started out the size of a grape, but grew gradually.

Pipp and Zipp winked at each other, then flew around in circles to distract the Roaring Moon. Izzy found the biggest piece of rubble she could find and threw it at its wing. It shrieked in pain and tried to flap, but couldn't get off the ground.

Misty, meanwhile, was paralysed by indecision. She turned to face the Spewpa on her back and asked, "What can I do?"

The Roaring Moon's claws glowed with a silvery sheen, and it swiped at the barrier over and over again. Sunny closed her eyes as she strained herself to keep it up, but it flickered over and over again until she couldn't. Her magic faltered, her wings and horn faded away, and she fell onto the ground behind Arven.

"I think she's almost ready," he said. By now, the glowing orb was the size of Penny's head. The Roaring Moon clawed at her again...

Misty felt like she was moving in slow motion as she rushed to protect Penny with her body. Just before the claw could make an impact, though, the Spewpa hopped off her back and scattered confetti-like powder from its cloak. It covered the Roaring Moon's face, and its legs became limp. It fell to the ground, numb.

Finally, Penny launched the glowing orb at the Roaring Moon. The force of impact sent it skidding back as it shrunk, much like the Sableye yesterday.

"We did it!" the ponies cheered.

"Spewpa, you're a lifesaver!" exclaimed Misty as she let it hop onto her back.

"I think we're all each others' lifesavers," said Arven.

Finally, the vortex dissipated.

The group headed back into the palace. Misty cast the translation spell on the Spewpa, but to her disappointment, it still didn't say anything.

"Very well done, my dear ponies... and otherwise," said Queen Haven. "Except... you've caused quite a bit of property damage, haven't you? Street repairs don't come cheap, you know."

"Who is she?" Arven whispered to Penny.

"She's the queen of Zephyr Heights," replied Penny. "That's what this city is called."

"Next question: what is she?"

"She's a pony. I'll tell you more later."

Sunny grinned sheepishly. "Sorry... but we can help you fix this up in no time!" she said to Queen Haven.

"Maybe we could make it even prettier!" exclaimed Izzy. "Uh, not that Zephyr Heights isn't already pretty."

The ponies headed outside. Pipp and Zipp flew overheard, pointing out all the damages. Izzy and Zipp levitated pieces of rubble back to where they came from, while the Spewpa used its string to stick structures back together. Sunny was too exhausted to become an alicorn again, so she regrew damaged plants with her flora magic.

Meanwhile, Penny and Arven stayed in the throne room. After Penny explained what she knew about ponies, she asked, "How do you feel now?"

Arven sighed. "Still not great. I miss Mabosstiff, and my other Pokémon, and me. Do you know why we're—"

"No. Um, sorry. Maybe that purple vortex thingy has something to do with it?" Penny tilted her head.

"I guess," said Arven with a shrug. His shoulders were closer to his neck than he was used to, so it felt wrong.

Queen Haven trotted up to them. "I apologise for interrupting your conversation, dear Pokémon, but do you happen to know why that dragon thing was attacking?"

"If I had to guess, I think it was as scared and confused as the rest of us," said Arven. "Especially since it's a Paradox Pokémon." Queen Haven waved her hoof, motioning for him to explain. "Uh, that means it was from the distant past, or maybe what people imagine the past looked like, or an alternate timeline, or something. No-one's sure about the details. My mom was researching them... Was." He looked down sadly. "But come to think about it, I can remember my dad doing something similar... but I don't remember ever seeing them together..." He shook his head. "Agh, this is all so confusing!"

Queen Haven nodded. "I see. Your knowledge could be a valuable asset to my kingdom."

"Eh... no thanks."

The other ponies burst through the door.

"We're finished!" exclaimed Sunny. "Time to go home, everypony!" She noticed Arven and Penny. "And Pokémon, too."

Just then, Arven felt his stomach rumble. "Shouldn't we eat first?"

"I would love to, but my staff cannot prepare a banquet on such short notice," said Queen Haven.

Arven shook his head. "They don't need to. I'll do the cooking!"

"Can you wait until we get home?" asked Sunny. Arven nodded. "Alright. To the Marestream!"