//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Knowledge is Power; Power is Key // Story: A New Universe, No Matter What! // by Jewbacca //------------------------------// 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.