//------------------------------//
// Legend of Spiral 
// Story: The Disaster Pokemon 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

Absol was not a happy Pokemon.

'It was bad enough that Limestone somehow managed to convince me to allow her to continue coming along on these dangerous journeys with me, but for Marble to come along as well is simply insane,' Absol grumbled to himself, looking over his shoulder at the two Pie sisters that were talking to one another before Marble giggled slightly. Then he glanced over his other shoulder at the third pony that had decided to tag along as well.

'And then there is princess Twilight Sparkle. Why in the name of Arceus did she have to come along as well?' Absol continued to wonder. Twilight was walking slightly behind him, looking at the hills and trees around them as Absol glared at her. But her observations didn't fool him. He knew that she had been watching up right up until he looked at her. 'She is a psychic type, a type that is definitely weak to ghosts. Her coming out her has put her life in mortal danger. I don't care what kind of special, rainbow power she is supposed to have, ghosts beat psychic. That's how it goes.'

"You know if you keep looking at Twilight like that, we might start to get jealous," Limestone cut in. Her sudden voice in his ear caused him to break concentration and he swung his head around to look at Limestone once again. "Wow that's a look. You really aren't happy that we're coming along with you on this little journey, are you?"

"Of course not. You two have already risked your lives more than enough. You should not have to continue to endanger yourselves for my sake," Absol grumbled, before turning to look at Twilight. "As for you. I do not know how many times I must repeat this to you, but you are in the most danger out of all of us. Your psychic typing makes you especially vulnerable to the powers of the ghosts. You should not be here."

"But if I didn't come along I wouldn't get to learn more about you. Or see how your dark powers manage to destroy beings that are already dead," Twilight replied with a smile. Absol narrowed his eyes and knew that arguing would solve nothing. He didn't know much about royals, but from what little he had heard once they had set their minds to something it was impossible to change them. "Besides, you'll be here to protect us from the ghosts should anything happen."

"You all have too much faith in me," Absol muttered.

"You earned our faith by helping us even when you didn't need to," Marble reminded Absol. She flashed him a kind and appreciative smile, one that he couldn't help but smile back at. "And we owe the both of you our lives as well as the lives of, who we believe to be, our cousins."

"Yeah, I guess you've done some cool stuff. I'm just coming along to make sure you don't get in over your off balanced head," Limestone added on.

"Are you sure it's because you can't the thought of being away from me?"

"Please, if I had to stand any closer to you I think I'd let the ghosts take me when they show up. How long has it been since you last showered?"

"Are they...always like this?" Twilight whispered to Marble as Absol and Limestone began to bicker with one another.

"Yep. It actually amazes me that there's a being out there that has put up with my sister as long as Absol has, never mind actually enjoying her company," Marble whispered back. "I'm here family and even I have trouble tolerating her sometimes. But maybe on Absol's world, things are a little different."

"That's right. He is from another world, isn't he?" Twilight muttered with a nod of her head. "That would technically make him an alien in our lands. How fascinating that an alien would be a four legged beast and also speak our language. I wonder how he got here?"

Marble decided not to answer that question. Although Absol had told her and Limestone how he had gotten to Equestria, she still wasn't a hundred percent sure what a lot of what he said had meant. She assumed Palkia was a kind of Pokemon, but if it was she knew that it had to be pretty powerful to be able to send a being across reality.

"So who was this Prince Sol?" Absol asked, interrupting their respective thoughts.

Both Twilight and Marble looked at Absol with some surprise, having not expected him to take an interest in their history. "Um, well, Prince Sol was an Alicorn that used to rule over these lands long before either of the princesses came into being," Twilight began. "He, along with his brother King Solace, ruled over the lands and protected them from the far more prevalent forces of darkness that used to wander these parts. Solace was the one that originally sealed away Spiral and his ghost army long ago."

"I had heard that about Solace. But why is it whenever I hear ponies mention the ghosts rising and taking the land, they speak more of Sol than of Solace?"

"I guess that would be because between the two of them, Sol was the more beloved by his people," Twilight said. "Solace was a fair, but stern king and he could come off as cold at times. On the other hoof, Prince Sol was always kind and sunny, drawing others to him just with his persona alone. He was also a huge figurehead in helping unicorns discover hundreds of the spells that we use to this day. It's safe to say that without him our knowledge of magic would be far weaker than it is now."

"And yet he was the one that Spiral killed? Why?"

"That's...where we aren't too sure. There aren't many surviving records of that time, mostly because Discord ruined a great deal of the recordings of that time when he tried to take over the world...again. But what we do know is that Solace had Spiral trying to find a way to return a soul to the land of the living. We believe it is because he had a family member that had died, but we aren't sure."

"Honestly, I'd do the same thing if I lost any of my family. I'd try to find a way to bring em back," Limestone whispered and Absol couldn't help but agree.

"Well, Spiral wasn't able to do it on his own, so Sol decided to lend some help to the struggling unicorn," Twilight continued on. "Spiral didn't lack for anything that he needed. More equipment? It was his. More money? He was rich. More help? Every great mind in the nation was at his disposal. For years they were said to have worked, before Spiral finally did it."

"He revived the family member that was lost?" Absol asked in a soft, but almost wistful, voice.

"Well, no, but he found the key to bringing her back. At least, that's what we think. Again, the records aren't exactly in pristine condition," Twilight said with an apologetic smile. "All we know is that it's said he found the key...and then everything went wrong."

"The death of Sol," Marble whispered.

"Correct. Sol was betrayed by Spiral and his soul was used to turn Spiral into a being that could command the armies of the dead. Well, armies of specters, not the dead, or else we would be dealing with zombies. Hey Absol, how well do dark types match up against brainless zombies?"

"Well considering how well I handle Limestone, I would say fairly well."

"Brainless? You calling me brainless. Shall I remind you of who outsmarted who on that mountain?"

"You mean where you solved a problem with your hooves instead of your brain? I take it that's an average day for you."

"I used both my brain and my hooves to beat you. And I can do it again if you need more proof."

"Anyway," Twilight cut in, not wanting the pair to start arguing again. "Solace was horrified when he found that not only had Spiral betrayed him and summoned an army of ghosts to take over the world, but that he had used the soul of his brother to do it. Solace, in his fury and grief, wielded all six of the Elements of Harmony and used them to banish Spiral and his army into an eternal slumber, one beneath the very ground we walk on. And for well over ten thousand years, they remained down there. Until recently."

"That's a good deal of information despite having lost most of the records," Marble pointed out. "If we still know all of this, then I can only image what we lost."

"From what scientist can tell, we lost Spiral's motives for turning on the king, why Sol decided to work so closely with Spiral and what it was exactly that allowed a soul to return to the realm of the living. Because despite what Spiral did do with the power, he solved the secret on how to bring a soul back to our realm. That's how he has managed to amass such an army."

Absol seemed satisfied with what he had learned and eventually lost himself within his thoughts. Marble had walked up beside him, looking around at all of the different kinds of rocks that were in their path or scattered around them. Limestone hung back a bit and motioned for Twilight to do the same, waiting until the pair were a bit further ahead before she decided to ask her question.

"So, if you had to take a guess, how well liked do you believe that this Prince Sol was?" Limestone found herself asking.

"Honestly, Prince Sol was the most beloved royal of all time. Even Celestia and Luna, or myself, don't come close to the level of love and respect that the ponies of this land held for him. Hundreds of thousands of mares wanted to marry him, everypony want to be acknowledged by him and even royals of other lands would come to Equestria just to seek his approval. If he was alive today, I wouldn't be surprised if he had all of Equestria captivated by his persona within a few days."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Limestone whispered, getting Twilight to raise an eyebrow. "Spiral used Sols...well, soul to turn himself into that ghost monster and raise his army, right? But what if he was still holding onto the soul of Sol? Wouldn't he be able to bring him back to life as well...and maybe use him against us?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes and thought about what Limestone had said for a long time. After nearly half an hour, she shook her head and flashed a comforting smile to the Pie. "No, I don't believe so. If he was able to raise Sol back to life, I believe he would have done so already. And the souls of alicorns have great power, as Spiral's ghostly army is proof of. If he could draw more power from the soul of Sol, then we would have stood no chance against him. I think we're safe from any alicorns of the past showing up."

"I see," Limestone muttered, but she didn't look convinced.

"No problem. But maybe now you can answer a couple of questions for me?" Twilight asked, pulling out a quill and pad as she did so. "About Absol? Like, how does he move in battle? Does he just use his claws and horn or does he have any special attacks? And, what are those weaknesses of his that he simply refuses to tell me about?"

"He fights like a swan dancing on the lake if there's no danger, but if we're in trouble he fights like a demon from Tartarus itself," Limestone answered with a nod. "He used both his claws and horn, but he does have a special move that cloaks his horn in darkness, which he uses to rip apart ghosts. And for his weakness," Limestone began, motioning for Twilight to get in close.

"Yeah?" Twilight whispered, her ear right next to Limestone's mouth.

"Ya gotta sucker punch him."