Chapter Two: Knowledge is Power; Power is Key
Chapter Two: Knowledge is Power; Power is Key
Knowledge is Power; Power is Key
In a matter of minutes, Cyrus was facing towers of books, sitting in front of him on a reading table.
“There’s a lot of information that you need to take in to understand Equestria, so I picked some of these so you could get started!” the lavender filly said with a smile.
The man looked took one of the books, flipping through the pages. Only the occasional nod or a quiet “Hmm” could be displayed by him. Twilight looked on with glee as the man was enraptured with the books, reading through them intently. She also noticed him shuffling through a pocket and writing into a small, black notepad, brandishing a peculiar “G” design, and writing something down with a pen of the same coloration and design.
He stopped reading, turning to the pony. “Magic.”
“Magic? Yeah, what about it?” she asked in response.
“The way you operate, your entire lifestyle is practically dictated by magic. At least, for these ‘Unicorns’ you speak of. But it seems that these other creatures; Earth Ponies and Pegasi, they do not have it.” he declared, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “How can you live in harmony when your friends have discrepancies and differences that force them to operate differently?”
Twilight giggled a little. “Surprisingly enough; I’m not sure myself, Cyrus,” she started, “it’s just been like that for thousands of years.”
“Hm.” was all that he responded with. He leaned back slightly, when his eyes widened in realization. “This may be a bit of a foolish question...”
“Yes?” the unicorn asked.
“Well...is there a nearby Pokemon Center, or somewhere similar to heal my Pokemon?”
“Poe-kay-mon?” the young creature asked, sounding out each syllable. “I’m not quite sure I know what that is.”
“Hmph! I figured as much.” he stood up, pushing the chair backwards. “I want you to follow me, outside.”
Cyrus ducked and walked out the doorway, Twilight Sparkle following right behind him. He walked around the tree, scanning the area around him and craning his neck around the opposite side. “Good, no one can see us.”
“Cyrus...what are you doing?” she asked. Without another word, he reached for his waist, grabbing and producing a small orb, red on one half and white on the other; with a black equator and a white button on it. He pressed this button, and the initially tiny ball multiplied several times in size.
“Observe.” he stated, and pressed the button, tossing the sphere into the air. “Houndoom, come out!”
The ball seemed to explode. It projected a white field of energy onto the ground, which began to materialize into a quadruped, doglike shape. Once it completed this, it dissipated and revealed a black-and-orange hound, with bone-like extensions around its back and neck, forming a skull in the front. It brandished two, large, curved horns, and a long tail with a spiked tip. It had bands around its ankles, and it brandished a menacing grimace, with red eyes that seemed to have a hellish fire burning in them.
The unicorn backed away with shaky steps. “This,” Cyrus started, “is a Pokemon.”
The dog took a step towards Twilight, teeth barred, growling intimidatingly, before quivering and crashing to the ground. Cyrus took the ball again, yelling, “Houndoom, return!”
A red energy deployed, encircling the creature in a red energy before returning it to the ball. He huffed. “See, Twilight Sparkle, my Pokemon are very hurt, and I need to get them healed soon.”
The filly was awestruck and entranced, still staring at the orb. “I-I...I don’t know what to say...”
She remained, staring at the spot where the dog once stood. “I’ve never seen this in any of my books.”
“Hmph...that explains it, then.” Cyrus said. Twilight retorted with a quizzical “Huh?”
“I suppose it’s time I teach you where I am from. Come, follow me back inside.”
Once they were inside and situated at the previous table, Cyrus began shuffling in his pocket, and pulled out a folded, brown piece of paper. He reached over the stack of books, where the filly telekinetically grabbed it from him. Using her magic, she unfolded it and looked on to it.
It was an antiquated, rudimentary drawing of seven entities. Around the outermost ring were three, small creatures. One with a blue, three-stared crest, one with a magenta, hairlike crest, and the other with a bowl-like shape, parted several times.
Inside were three other creatures. Massive, draconic beasts. One was elongated and blue, with metal-esque adornments on its body, with a massive, singular metal wing on its back. One that was white and pink, now standing on its hindlegs. It had large disc-like areas where its shoulders were, where rays of wings lay. Finally, there was a massive creature with six legs, with wings made of shadow with red claws.
The centerpiece of the picture was a goatlike creature, with a golden ring around its body.
“These seven creatures, Twilight Sparkle, were responsible for keeping my world; possibly even others, in balance.”
He moved his finger clockwise around the edge. “These are Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit. They represent willpower, knowledge and emotion respectively-” he stopped. The unicorn look at him and noticed him grimacing. “...they gave those three powers to man, and gave him power. But with being given great power, they revealed a great weakness.”
“What weakness is that?” Twilight asked.
He beamed at her, smirking slightly. “Hm...you’ll find out soon enough.”
She looked on in fright. Those words were foreboding, but she had no idea of what he meant outside of that.
“Inside of this are the three dragons. Their impacts...their impacts were much more substantial.”
He pointed to the white-and-pinkish dragon. “This is Palkia, the Ruler of Space and Dimensions. It’s able to take something as massive as a city...” he paused and grabbed one of the parchment-bound tomes, “...and fit it inside of something as small as this book.”
He moved to the metallic, blue creature. “This is Dialga, the Master of Time. Its ferocious roar is able to reverse the effects of time, and is able to travel through it at its own whim without any restrictions.”
He stopped slightly, and very slowly dragged his hand to the third dragon. “This is...this is Giratina, the Renegade-”
“What do you mean by ‘Renegade,’ Cyrus?” the filly cut off.
The man sighed. “It was once banished for the way it behaved. Giratina is the representation of antimatter and chaos. It resides in its own dimension, a reverse of our own, perhaps even yours, known as the Distortion World.”
“Finally, in the middle, is Arceus.”
“Arceus? With all these...’Pokemon,’ as you call them, with such tremendous jobs, what could this ‘Arss-ee-uss’ be?” she asked, sounding out the name.
“Arceus, Twilight, is the Original One. It is Alpha...and Omega. While those six are thought to be gods, they all came from the Original One. Its power, tremendous. Its control, everywhere.”
He looked up, his stone-cut face in what seemed to be a frown. “Such power should not be underestimated...keep this in mind.”
He looked back at the picture. “Only after a recent encounter with these mighty beasts had I later realized that they came from this being, this one being.”
He reached into his vest, and pulled out a tablet of a dark, sickly, grey hue, about a half-foot long and three inches across. He read off of an inscription on the back. And muttered off of it, “The Original One breathed alone before the universe came.”
“Had I not been so foolish and careless with my plan, I would ha-” he stopped mid-sentence. “Can you please take me to wherever you can heal my Pokemon? I had forgotten about them.”
Twilight raised an eye in suspicion. “Um...yeah! Lemme just get my things real quick.”
She walked over to a small closet, looking behind her. Something doesn’t seem right... she thought.
She opened it, using her magic to withdraw a small book and closing the doors. “Follow me.” she said.
After a while, they ended up deep within the woods out of town, and nearby a small brook. Twilight was manipulating some objects at the edge, flipping through her book. Cyrus remained silent, towering over her, casting a large shadow that crossed the water like a transparent bridge.
After a few moments of labor, Twilight Sparkle turned around. “So...can I see your...’Pok-ee-mon?’” she asked.
He rolled his head downwards, leering at her intimidatingly. “Excuse me?” he asked.
“Well, I’m going to perform a healing spell, I thought I could see your Pokemon to fix ‘em up.”
“I’m afraid it won’t be that easy, Miss Sparkle.” he said, his voice oozing disbelief. “One of my Pokemon is actually quite massive.” he pointed to a large boulder about four or five meters away from them. “A bit longer than the distance from here to that rock.”
“Oh...hm...” she began rubbing her hoof on her chin. “Let’s just see. If it’s too big we’ll just do it somewhere else.”
“Very well.”
Cyrus withdrew another Pokeball, and shouted, “Gyarados, come out!”
The red field deployed was significantly larger. Soon what approached was a gargantuan, serpentine creature. As blue as the water and about the length Cyrus mentioned. It coiled around, revealing a large, square mouth with four, massive fangs. On the sides of its maw were two long, yellow barbels and below its massive, three-pointed crest was two, small, narrowed eyes.
Twilight yelped and jumped back, as the creature arced back and roared a pounding, explosive roar. Birds and other animals flew in the sky, squawking.
“I was telling you, it’s massive.”
“I-I see, Mr. Cyrus...” Twilight stuttered.
She retracted for a moment, recollected herself, and approached the beast, her horn glowing. “I just want to help you.” she said.
But without warning, the Gyarados arched, its fangs extended and glew a bright white.
Suddenly, the Gyarados lunged at Twilight.
Author's Note
Oi vey! I'm so sorry this took so long. Unfortunately, it ain't so long in content, either.
I was taking a while to do this and I realized that I might as well get something up, and something of length.
I'll try to be more consistent in the future. But I can't guarantee it.
Chapter One: Enter Cyrus
NOTE: I do not own either franchises pertaining to the story. Pokemon is copyright to Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures Inc.; My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright to Hasbro. Also, for the sake of adding atmosphere, you can click here for some music. Links will also be put in for different songs as the story progresses. Enjoy!
Enter Cyrus
Click!
A boy, wearing a blue jacket, jeans, beret and scarf walked across the gray-and-purple floating platform to its edge, where the purple-and-yellow sphere laid. His Torterra followed him slowly, panting heavily and struggling with each step.
He picked up the ball, turning to the turtle-esque creature and showed it to it..
“We did it, buddy. It was tough, but you pulled through.” The boy observed with a gleaming smile.
He drew another one of these spheres. This one, however, was more simple; half-red and half-white. “Torterra, return!” he called, pressing a white button on the ball’s equator to deploy a red beam of energy, drawing in the creature.
He turned around, where two adults were standing. One was a woman, donning a black suit and overcoat, with long, flowing blonde hair, gray eyes, and with black extensions in her hair. She was smiling; a subtle grin that gave off a glow of astoundment. The other was a tall man, with a face that seemed to be carved from stone, with blue, spiked hair and blue eyes. He wore a gray, strapped vest, with a banded shirt-and-pants combination that seemed to form a jumpsuit. His face brandished a frown; a look of scorn and sheer rage.
The latter of the two walked towards the boy, hands balled up into two fists.
"That Pokémon...” he stifled in a low, emotionless voice. He felt a swarm of anger surge through him, pumping through his veins. “That shadowy Pokémon was captured?!” he screamed.
“Your doing so means that this irrational world will remain in existence!” he stamped his foot in agitation, trying to restrain himself from throwing a tantrum.
He began to stomp towards the kid, bombarding him with questions. “Does that make it impossible for me to create a new world? Even if I made new Red Chains, the new world can't be made! Why?! What compels you to protect the two worlds? Is spirit, a vague and incomplete thing, so important to you?!"
The woman began to run towards the two, shouting, “Cyrus! He’s just a child! Leave him alone!”
“Silence!” he yelled back, holding his hand towards her. “Do you not realize what this...’child’ just accomplished?!”
She held back, glaring at him.
The boy, frightened, but also retaining a glare towards Cyrus, suddenly felt something begin to tug from behind him. He turned around to see what appeared to be a window, surrounded by a purple vortex. It showed a lake, and a small, blue-and-black, cat-like creature was staring through it with a quizzical look.
“That must be the way back!” the woman stated. She walked over, moving around Cyrus and to the side of the boy. She faced the man again, who was beaming a cold stare.
“The emotions roiling inside me... Rage, hatred, frustration...” he muttered; his lips trembling, his fists shaking.
“These ugly emotions arise because of my own incomplete spirit!” He stomped his feet down, threw his arms out and let loose a barbaric scream.
“Cyrus, you’re mad!” the suited woman shouted. She was about to speak again when the man cut her off.
“Enough...” the man stood up as he regained his composure; his hand again in a “Halt” position. He turned to face the boy as well. “We will never see eye to eye. This, I promise you.”
He smirked, a black fire burned in his eyes. “I will break the secrets of the world.” he started, “With that knowledge, I will create my own complete and perfect world. One day, you will awaken to a world of my creation. A world without spirit."
The woman paused, staring at Cyrus with disbelief and scorn. “Come on, Lucas, it is time for us to go.
She put her hand on the Lucas’ back, and directed him to the portal. Hesitantly, they crawled both crawled through it simultaneously. After that, the vortex sealed itself shut.
Cyrus turned and began to look around him. The “Sky” in the shadowy realm began to darken and become a foreboding maroon color.
He dropped to his knees, and began to smash his hands into the ground. He arched up, letting out another ferocious shout. He continued to hit the rocky platform with his fists. He stopped as he cooled down, looking at his bruised, bloody knuckles. His head slumped.
Even prison would have been better than this place. He thought to himself, watching as platforms far away from him broke apart, pieces of rock flying in all directions.
He turned around, and fell on his back. He looked up as an endless vortex swirled above him. His anger began to fade away after a while, and he got back to his feet. He took one more glance to where the massive beast once remained, then turned around and began to walk away.
As he continued, hopping between platforms, thoughts flew through his head like crazy. Thoughts of everything that had happened in the Distortion World, thoughts of his early life, thoughts of his subordinates, or pawns, really, in Team Galactic, whom willingly sacrificed their time and ability to help him to achieve his goal, everything that ever happened to him.
With his ponderance came another flurry of emotions. Naturally, he blocked these out, and continued walking.
He had no idea how long he had been walking, he had lost track of time. He stopped. Oh, right, time doesn’t exist here. he thought. Unexpectedly, he stepped and didn’t have a chance to realize that his foot was stuck in a crater before tripping and falling forward.
Cursing himself, he stumbled back up, and suddenly saw something. It was another one of the portals, but not to the lake he had seen before.
It was most likely not back to Sinnoh, the man thought, but he was certain it would be much better than where he was now.
He peered through it, but unlike the other portal he had seen before, all that he could see in the entryway was a murky haze.
Without a second thought, he jumped into it.
Blackness. All that was around him was blackness; as if it consumed him like some voracious beast. It took him a few moments to realize that his eyes were closed, but he couldn’t open them. He felt that he had become frozen without being frozen; he felt like he was paralyzed by nothing.
All of a sudden, his sense of touch came back. It felt like something was nudging him in his hip-area; a solid object. Then, his hearing kicked in.
“Uh...hello?” he heard. It was very faint, but he could determine that it was feminine; probably pertaining to a little girl.
“Are you...all right?” the voice asked.
Cyrus wanted to speak, but it seemed that his lips, too, were fused shut. After a few moments of nudging, he managed to flutter his eyes open to see a sight he was not expecting. All he saw was a large, orange-and-fuschia blur before rolling out of the way and springing up into an attack stance, his hand placed on one of the aforementioned spheres slung onto his waist.
However he began to strain under his weight, shaking before crashing to the ground with a painful grunt.
He looked back up, and saw that the blur was...a creature?
Yes, a creature. It as a living organism, but what was it? It was the first thing that went through the man’s mind as he stared at it. It beared traits to a Ponyta, yet was colored differently, did not have a flaming mane, and was certainly shaped differently, including small, avian-esque wings attached to its sides.
“Hey, are you all right?” it asked. Cyrus was shocked to see such a thing talk. He was completely frozen, which drew an odd look from the creature.
“Huh...guess you’re not so ‘all right,’ then.” she then took notice at his battered knuckles. Chuckling slightly, she asked, “What, did you hit a building or something?”
The foreign creature simply continued to stare. Nervously, she walked up to him, holding a hoof out in greeting. “I’m Scootaloo, what’s your name?”
More silence. Cyrus was awestruck by such a creature.
“Is there something wrong?” she asked. All of the sudden, Cyrus snapped back into reality. “Oh...um...yes...I’m sorry.” he stammered.
Cautiously, he held out his hand and shook with “Scootaloo.” “My name is Cyrus.” he said in a businesslike tone.
“Well, ‘Cyrus,’” she started, whispering “That’s a funny name,” “Do you need help? It looks like you fell pretty hard.”
“N-no...I am fine...I don’t need medical attention...but I do want to know where I ended up.” he struggled.
“Well...welcome to Equestria, Mr. Cyrus!” Scootaloo said with glee.
“‘Equestria?’ Hm...now I’m certain that this isn’t Sinnoh.” he said plainly.
“Sin...noe?” the orange equine asked.
“I’m certain you won’t know what it is. But, right now, all I need is information as to where I have ended up. If you have any sort of archive, please guide me to it.”
“Well...I still think that’s a bit of a dumb idea, but, okay, lemme’ show you the way!”
The two left the clearing where the filly had found Cyrus, and were now on their way through a small town. Several commuters; more of these “ponies,” as Scootaloo calls them, directed stares of fright and astonishment as this giant walked amongst them.
Cyrus began to take note of his surroundings. He observed that the air was much different from the Sinnoh Region. It was very clean; no smoke or polluted stench from the Fuego Ironworks or bustling Jubilife City. He took note that it was also significantly warmer; of course, it was in the middle of winter before the previous events had happened.
He also noted that the architecture of the town was very dated; nothing like the modern metropolis of Sunyshore City he grew up in. It contained a bright variance of colors across the spectrum. Many blues, yellows, reds, browns, and so on.
Speaking of colors, the variations amongst the ponies was astounding. No two were the same color; he also noticed that each one had either a horn, a set of wings, or nothing at all. The organization leader, too, noted that each one had a basic design, a sketch of some sort, on their hindquarters. Scootaloo, however, lacked one of these.
They continued walking until they reached what appeared to be a massive tree. However, several windows, a low doorway, a balcony up in its canopy, and other adornments surrounded the structure.
“This is the library. Twilight should be here, but she’s probably studying. Knock real hard, and she’ll come out eventually.” the filly suggested.
“Thank you.” Cyrus answered blandly.
With a small smile, Scootaloo turned around, and walked the other way. He walked up to the door, and, very subtly, knocked.
Nothing.
Cyrus knocked again; using slightly more power.
Still nothing.
Frustrated, he raised his fist, and smashed onto the door with terrifying force, drawing frightened looks from already-gawking pedestrians trotting around him.
“Is somepony there?” he heard from the other side of the door. Suddenly, he heard a faint, repeated Trop! noise; gaining more volume after every repetition. He then heard what sounded like a knob turning, and the halved-door swung open.
What emerged was a but a lavender-colored variant of these equines, brandishing a horn. All that escaped its lips was a short gasp before it dashed back inside; not even giving Cyrus a moment to say anything.
With the door left open, he shrugged, and walked inside.
It was just what he needed. A library.
Books in red and brown shelves lined the walls to the ceiling. There were plenty of alcoves and tables to read at, and Cyrus could already take note at several large, old, informational tomes. However, at a pair of stairs in the back was the same purple pony who was shaking at its base.
Once it noticed that the giant did not seem to be destroying anything, she shakily rose up and trotted towards him.
“May I...help you?” the unicorn asked.
“Yes. My name is Cyrus,” he started, a hand out in greeting, “I recently came here from a debacle that I would...not like to disclose...and was guided to your humble abode by another member of your Ponyta-esque species. I was wondering if you had any, say...geographical and historical documents relating to this region of your world, so-named ‘Equestria.’ Do you have any on-hand?”
She was still staring at the man. “Why...yes! I have a few...” she noticed his hand out, “I’m Twilight Sparkle, by the way.”
“Twilight Sparkle? Quite a peculiar name...but I suppose I cannot justify that.” he said while shaking. "I presume this will be an interesting experience for both of us."
Author's Note
This is simply a little side-project for Of Earth, Sea and Sky, but I still want this to be a fully fleshed-out story; given Cyrus' material to work with.
I also have to give credit to DerpingDoo and Toothless the Night Fury for helping with editorial work on this story.
Also, I know that it seems cut-off at the end, but this was on purpose.
Enjoy!
