A New World, Burning an Old Way
Written by: xBUBBA1995x
Edited by: zeusdemigod131
Edited by: tdnpony
Pre-Reader: Dragaen
Chapter 9: Old Faces
As I lay on my bed, the day slowly ticked to an end. I could not help but think of what has occurred in the short week that I have been here. I was no longer a human, I was a Pokémon now, and I was now living in a world full of Ponies. It was… a strange concept to think about, but it’s better than dealing with Team Rocket. When I first arrived I had started to freak out, but I haven't really thought about my change since then… I was no longer a tall human, but an Infernape. Most people would ball up and cry, but other then being able to speak to Pokémon, I don’t see a real big difference with it. I still have my hands and legs. I don’t have twelve eyes, and I am still remotely similar to a human… Really the only thing that’s bothering me about this new body is my head. I don’t necessarily like my head being on fire, but it wasn’t so bad, especially since I haven’t accidentally set anything on fire...lately.
I glanced up at my forehead as Volt let out a cute snore. He had been laying there for the past three hours sleeping softly. Occasionally he would mutter to himself, but it didn’t bother me. I found it rather adorable. The little guy just seemed to put a smile on my face. Well… a lot of things seem to put a smile on my face since I arrived in Equus. Arceus’ message was clear in the fact that he loved his Pokémon… Though I had doubts that he was strong enough to bring all living Pokémon, and some humans, to another world, the proof is right in front of me! And because of that, no Pokémon was in danger from Team Rocket. No… no Pokémon was in danger from any madman that wanted to use them. And that put a smile on my face. Though I don’t necessary agree with his decision, I do approve of it. I have spent most of my life fighting, and now I can just relax… well. Kind of. Still have to deal with King Sombra...
There was then a shimmer in the corner of the room. I turned my head to see what it was, just as Agatha appeared. She looked… happy, yet sad. “You know young man, when I saw you go into that conference hall I didn’t know what to expect,” She started, before a smile formed on her features. “I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! You have a way with words, John. I did not want to be that pony fellow on the other end of that debate!”
“Thank you, Agatha…”
“You’re welcome, young man. Now, I have a question for you, regarding my Gengar,” She started. From the tone of her voice I could tell that she was rather angry at something. With everything that has happened, I would be angry too if I was in her position. “I’ve been able to learn some things over the two days I’ve been here, but I don’t quite know what happened to my Gengar. If you would be a gentleman and tell me what happened, I would be rather grateful.”
I started to tell her of the day in question. Of how King Sombra was once the ruler of the land. To how he was slain with the help of some Dragon, only to return within the body of her Gengar. Though I did not know the details of how he did it, I explained that he attacked and killed ponies. She was angry about this, but did her best not to scream. I would have. She had a lot more self control then I did. “...and… that is when I lost consciousness. I am sorry, but if you wish to know more, then you will have to ask one of my Pokémon... After I introduce you to them…”
“Honestly, I just wish I can find that stallion so I can give him a piece of my mind!” Agatha growled. Yep, I did NOT envy Sombra right now, cause Agatha was more than ready to tear him a new one then I was.
I didn’t respond right away. Placing a finger on my lips, I pointed at Volt. If we were going to have a little chat she would have to be quiet. Didn’t want to wake up Volt. “Tell me Agatha, why did you disappear earlier?” I whispered.
Agatha frowned. “Oh that. Well it’s kind of a force of habit now. I’ve been hiding from the ponies for the past two days that I kind of did it without thinking. I do apologize for it.”
“It’s fine, but… I would rather introduce you to the ponies than have you running off,” I let out a relaxed breath. The bed was rather comfortable, even if I couldn’t get to sleep. “You don’t have to hide from the ponies. Especially after today.”
Agatha nodded. “Yes well… that will come in time. For now you just get some sleep! Don’t need you kickin’ the bucket after what you did today.” With that Agatha moved towards the wall, before phasing through it.
“No Snow… I am not going to go scare Holly Heart again… John will get mad at me…” Volt muttered in his sleep. I looked up at him. He had flipped over and was sleeping on his back.
“At least you can sleep,” I whispered, before closing my eyes. “I just need to get some rest…”
-:-:-
Princess Cadence awoke with a yawn. Celestia's sun blinding her through the window. “Morning already?” She asked herself, as she stretched her back. She didn’t get much sleep the night before, but even if she didn’t, she still felt better since she knew that her friend John was alive and well… Well… alive at least.
Glancing over at her husband, Cadence could not help but smile. Shining Armor was always strong and heroic, but when he slipped he always looked so… relaxed. No matter what happened in the days to come, knowing that every morning she would wake up next to him, she knew she could face them. Even if death himself were to show up. Though some ponies would say King Sombra was Death himself…
Stepping over to the door, Cadence cracked it slightly to speak to the guards on the other side. “Can one of you go inform the morning staff to prepare something to eat… and some coffee,” Cadence brought a hoof to her face to rub out some sleep. “Today it is going to be a coffee day…”
“Yes, your Highness!” One of the guards answered.
Cadence smiled as she stepped over to the bathroom to take a shower. The warm water that splashed over her body was enough to wake her up from what little sleep clung to her. The cold air of the Crystal Empire made warm showers like this always enjoyable.
“I wonder what crazy thing will happen today…?” Princess Cadence asked herself.
From John’s amazing speeches, to all the stress about Sombra, Princess Cadence didn’t really know what to expect. As the water ran over her body, she could not help but imagine some of the Pokémon that she might learn about. There might be a Manticore like Pokémon. Now that would be scary. John did say he was a Infernape, and that there were three forms of that species of Pokémon… I wonder what they would be like…? She thought. Oh, it doesn't matter. I am sure John will let me know sooner or latter.
Finishing up, Cadence wrapped a towel around her mane & tail, and stepped out of the bathroom to see two plates of food waiting for her and her husband. Eggs, pancakes, and hash browns! Not to mention the large cup of coffee that she asked for!
Reaching out with her magic, Princess Cadence took of sip out of the now floating coffee. “Aaaahhhh….” Princess Cadence liked her coffee hot. With a shot of espresso. And extra cream. And extra sugar. Really it was the only thing that she ‘spoiled’ herself with. She would always eat healthy, but she always liked her coffee to be rather…. excessive.
Leaning in to take another sip, something wet and slimy slid across Princess Cadence’s face. Cadence blinked. She then stared down at her coffee. Uuuummm…. Tilting the cup around, Cadence was looking at her cup of coffee to see what the hell just happened. Only for a tongue to appear. Cadence’s eyes widened at the tongue moved forward and licked her again.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” She screamed, dropping the cup of Coffee. It somehow landed perfectly, and none of the coffee spilled out. In that same moment, Shining jumped out of his bed. His eyes were wide in surprise, but he moved as if he knew what he was doing. The door also was blasted open and the two guards outside ran in.
At the same time, all three of them asked. “What’s wrong? Princess/Cadence what’s going on?!”
“The cup! The cup is alive!” She screeched.
The three stallions blinked. Only to look down at the cup. It just sat there. Doing nothing. After all, it was just a cup. “Cadence, are you alright? Did you get any sleep?” Shining asked, somewhat concerned.
“Of Course I got some sleep,” Cadence yelled. “But that,” She pointed at the cup. “Just licked me!”
“...” Shining didn’t say anything.
Cadence stared at him. Then turned her attention to the cup. She knew she wasn’t going crazy. Leaning forward, Princess Cadence picked up the glass and moved it close to her face. Like before, it licked her. Shining’s eyes, as well as the two guards’ eyes, widened. “I told you I wasn’t crazy!”
It was then that her cup turned pink. The coffee slowly being drained from it. A quiet slurping sound echoed through the room as they watched. The four ponies starred in a rather dumb fashion as the pink cup drank it’s own contents.
“Um… Cadence. What is going on?” Shining asked, only for the cup to ‘burp.’
It then turned into a small pink helicopter. Sadly the ponies didn’t know what that was, but when it started to fly around they started to freak out. Cadence swung her hoof in the air to try and knock it away from her. Shining used his magic to try and blast the thing out of the air. The two guards however just swung their spears around, trying to hit the thing as if they were playing baseball.
“Aaaahhhh! Get it, get it, get it!” Cadence yelled out, before one of her hoof swipes smacked pink helicopter, making it spin out of control and crash into her dresser. They thought it was over, until the thing changed back into a pink ball. The guards readied themselves for it to attack… well they readied themselves for it to do anything really.
It then changed shape and color into a jet-black race car. The size of a children's toy. They just stared at it. To them, it looked like a toy chariot, but to their surprise it kicked into action. Driving it’s way between their hooves, the little car made it’s way under the royal bed. Only for it to fly out as a small grey and orange bird, heading for the open door.
“Don’t let it escape!” Shining yelled as it flew out the door.
-:-:-
Lex and Snow stared intently at each others eyes. Around them, ponies were getting their breakfast. Some of them watching the two in confusion, others watched with wonder. What are those two doing? Some of them thought. The only sound coming from the two was their breathing. It was then that Snow’s eyes started to water, and Lex smiled because of it. Some of the ponies in the room smiled. While others started to look worried.
For the last five minutes these two had just been staring at each other, and somehow ponies around them started taking bets to see who would win the staring contest. Most wanted Snow to win, but others went with Lex. Most of the ponies didn’t have anything better to do, and it just so happened that Lex and Snow had been bored out of there minds, so they started their little staring contest. Strange as it sounded, it seemed that a simple way to relieve boredom had become a small gambling game.
Snow then blinked.
“Aaaaahhhhhhh!” Most of the ponies in the room yelled, while the other half started to cheer.
“I just won one-hundred bits!” A guard yell. The Noblestallion next to her pouted silently.
“Damn,” Snow started. “I can never win that!”
Lex just let out a small laugh. “Ya well, you did your best,” He told her with a smile.
It was then that something small wiggled it’s way into the room by crawling under the door. No one saw it, because no one was looking at it. The small bug then shifted and grew into full grown pony guards. One with a black coat, and blue eyes. Whose mane was a dark brown. Within seconds, he was able to hide in the crowd of ponies in the room.
And then the doors flew open. Shining Armor stood there. eyes roaming over the crowed. Two stallions trailing along behind him. He didn’t speak, but instead stared intently at everything in the room.
“Um… Sir, are you alright?” One of the generic castle guards asked.
“Unfortunately no,” Shining Armor answered. His horn then glowed as a shield blocked the door behind him as well as the windows. “Everypony, we have a small problem,” Shining started, as he started to walk around the room. Lex and Snow gave eachother a confused look. “Some...thing is in the castle. I don’t know if it’s dangerous, but I can’t take any chances. Last I saw of it, it ran into this room.”
“Sir, you were the last one to open those doors, sir!” Another generic castle guard spoke up.
“This is true. If this thing somehow got in then you all would have saw it, right? Wrong! It can change it shape, and last I saw it. It was a small bug that crawled under the door. Yes it’s in here, and yes we are going to find it. It can change into things, ponies. So keep your eyes out. Anything that is out of place can be it!”
Lex and Snow blinked. “Was it pink?” Lex asked. His hopes slowly starting to rise.
“Yes,” Shining answered. “Don’t tell me that it was a Pokémon.”
“Maybe,” Snow answered. “Did it change into a bunch of different things, and eat something, or licked someone?”
“Yes, yes, and yes. It kept changing into things I’ve never seen, and drank Cadence’s morning coffee. Not to mention licked her… You know what it is, don’t you?” He asked suspiciously.
“Well…” Lex smiled. His golden eyes started to look around. “Said thing is called Ditto. But the real question is… Do we know it… him… her… Ditto’s don’t have a gender.” He seemed very energetic about something, and Shining couldn’t tell why.
“Let’s see…” Snow started to move around the crowed. Her nose sniffing the air. “Dittos always smell like clay. Not that one stallion mind you, he smells like shit,” Some ponies smiled at this, while others frowned. “I’m talking about…” She stopped. Her nose picked up on the rocky smell. Her eyes lingered for a moment, only to lock onto a tall stallion in the back. He was giving her a knowing smile. “I found him!” She stated. Everypony looked at the stallion that Snow was looking at.
Moving forward, Shining glared at the stallion questioningly. “Are you sure?” Shining asked. “He looks like a normal stallion to me.” It was then that the stallion started to melt, as if he was made of water.
Everypony around him moved back in shock. Only to see the glob that was the stallion shift forms. Changing into a tall and strange looking creature. Shining would have described it as a hairless ape. Yet it wore a lot of clothing.
“Wh...what is it?!” Shining asked.
“That would be John,” Lex answered. “Well… that would be what John used to look like.” Standing before them was a tall white human. Though John was in his twenties, the man standing before them looked much older. His hair was black, and his eyes were blue. He wore a long black trench coat, and what looked like a suit underneath.
He then pointed at himself.
“I’ll explain in a second,” Snow said, placing a paw forward at the ‘Not John’ replica. “Shining Armor, say hello to Flubber! He’s a Ditto that, like Lex and I, are John’s Pokémon. Now Flubber,” Snow turned to the ‘Not John.’ “You’ve heard the message Arceus said, right?”
Flubber nodded.
“Then we have some strange knews,” Lex strapped in. “John’s changed into an Infernape.”
The ‘Not John’ blinked. Then started to change shape again only to form into an Infernape. He then pointed at himself again.
“Ya, that,” Snow smiled. “That’s what John looks like. Only… you make him always seem much prettier than he actually is.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down,” Shining Armor moved closer. It was obvious that he was confused. “So this Ditto,” He gestured at the Infernape. “Can change into anything, and you know him?”
“Yep.”
“And that was what John looked like?” He asked.
“Yep.”
Placing a hoof to his head, he let out a sigh. “And I thought that Volt was strange…” His spell popped, and Shining frowned. “Look, can you just keep an eye on him for me? I’ve got a bad feeling about him.”
“Naaa, don’t worry about it~,” Snow waved her paw in the air. “Flubber’s a nice guy. Besides, if he really wanted to do something bad, then you would probably know.”
“And what does that mean?”
“It means that John is going to have a smile on his face! Come Flubber! I shall show you to our master!” Snow said in an oddly chipper tone. She then started to prance off. Literally… Shining Armor watched as Snow left the room. Followed by the one known as Flubber.
Lex let out a sigh. “Sorry about how ominous she made that sound, Shining Armor. What she means is that Flubber is kind off… well stronger than the both of us. If he really wanted to do something bad, then the Crystal Castle would probably end up a pile of rubble,” Shining Armor’s eyes widened. “Don’t worry, don’t worry! Flubber loves John too much to do anything crazy. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go keep an eye on them for you.” With that Lex then ran off.
“Seems like today is going to be one of those days…” Shining told himself.
-:-:-
I awoke to the sounds of an opening door. I lifted my head slightly to see Holly Heart. Her horn was glowing white, and there were two food trays floating next to her. She had yet to notice me, and I decided not to speak up and startle her. She hummed softly as she placed the food on a table next to my bed.
I let out a yawn, that caught her attention. “Oh, good morning, John.” She said to me.
“Good morning, Holly. How are you doing today?” I asked.
She smiled. “Better, now that you’re awake.”
I sniffed at the air. “Something smells good. What do you have there?”
“I have fruit yogurt and a milkshake,” She started. “And for you, I brought oatmeal, some fruit, and some milk.”
I stared at her. “Really, a milkshake for breakfast?”
Her eyes shifted to the side. “What? It’s part of a balanced breakfast…” I chuckled.
“Thanks, Holly. Can you help prop me up, so we can eat?” I asked.
Reaching forward, Holly helped prop myself up. This caused Volt to fall off my forehead onto my lap, and somehow he was still asleep. Picking him up, I placed him on my shoulder. So that he would not be in my way of eating.
“...Um…” I glanced over at Holly Heart. She was just looking at Volt with an uneasy expression. “He’s not going to bother me, is he?”
“I’ll tell him not to.” I then scratched volts head with a finger.
“Alright then… Here’s your breakfast.” Lifting one of the trays over to me, I looked down to see that I did have oatmeal, milk, and some fruit. All in all it was a healthy breakfast.
Reaching out with the fork, I skewered a slice of an apple. Reaching up to place it in my mouth, I stopped. I had an idea… Moving the fork up to my head, I started to roast the apple with my head. I couldn’t help but laugh at myself for doing this. Holly Heart just looked at me strangely. “What?” I asked. Popping the slightly-burned apple in my mouth. “It’s part of a balanced breakfast…” I mimicked her from earlier. She started to laugh.
“I smell something good!” I jumped slightly as Volt’s voice rang out in my ear.
“Oh, good morning Volt,” I skewered a grape this time and lifted it to Volt. “Here, have a grape.”
“Breakfast in bed? Sweet! You need to get hurt more often John.” Reaching forward, Volt grabbed the grape and started to eat.
I turned to Holly. “So, anything planned for today?”
“Well today I have to go clean the library. Help reshelve the books and all that.”
“Anything good to read? Since I have to stay here I might want something to read.”
“Oh, there are a lot of good stories. What type of you looking for?”
“I can read anything. Whether it’s for fun or learning. Just no romantic books,” I started to eat my oatmeal. “Probably something that will help me learn about Equus would be-”
I was cut off by the door being slammed open. Standing there was Snow. A massive grin on her face. “Ggggggoooooooooodddddd mmmmooooorrrrrnnnnniiiiinnnnngggg!” She yelled out.
“Snow! What are doing?” Holly asked. She was rather taken back at Snow’s behavior.
“Just dropping in and saying hi, and seeing how John’s doing,” She strolled into the room swaying back and forth as if she was drunk. “Oh, did I… say… interrupt something?” She asked, staring at Holly Heart.
Holly’s face went red. “W-what?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Holly. Say John, you would not believe who I met today!”
“...and that would be?” I asked. Like Holly, I was rather taken back at Snow at the moment. Mostly because it was too damn early to deal with her….
“Introducing the one, the only, the taller and even better looking John!” Snow called out.
Then, standing at the door, was an Infernape. He did look like me, and, like Snow pointed out, was taller than me... Though I could not tell if he was better looking than me… kind of hard to know how good you look as a Pokémon when you spend your life as a human. Not to mention that before I became a Infernape, I’d never even seen one in person. All I really knew about them was what types of moves they knew, and how they all walk on all fours most of the time. As a side note, I never once walked on all fours. It just feels wrong to do so.
“So what do you think? He looks good don’t he?” Snow asked, as she slithered her way to my bed. “Well?”
“I… I don’t get what you’re asking, Snow.”
“Oh, I wasn’t asking you, John. I was asking Flubber!” I blinked. Then turned to the Infernape at the door. He smiled at me, then his body started to shrink. The color started to fade. Then standing before we was a pink blob. It was Flubber… and he had a smile on his face. His eyes stared at me, and I was a lost for words.
“Flubber...?” I started. He then leaped forward and landed at the foot of the bed. Only to give my foot a hug. “Flubber! It is you!”
“Um… What, I mean, who is Flubber?” Holly asked confused. I turned to her with a big grin.
“Holly Heart, say hello to Flubber. He’s a Ditto. Well… He doesn't have a gender really, but he likes to be called a he and not a she,” I turned to my foot to see Flubber sitting patiently. “And Flubber, this is Holly Heart. She’s a Unicorn that has been helping me with… well a lot of things since we ended up on Equus.” Flubber just smiled at Holly and waved.
“Um… John. How did he turn into that pink blob? Wasn’t he a Infernape? Like you.”
“Oh well… Dittos can transform into anything really. They can grow and shrink, and take almost any shape and size. They can become an exact replica of you or me, but normally they can’t change their face. This is how you would learn that something is a Ditto. However if trained well, like Flubber here, he can hid his face.” I explained.
“Alright… well… It’s nice to meet you, Flubber. I hope you’re not as crazy as Snow is.”
“So… does this mean I have someone to play with? Because I have a great game idea!” Volt asked.
“Oh, right. Flubber, this is Volt. Volt, this is Flubber.” I added.
Flubber just looked at Volt, then changed shape into a Joltik. Volt's eyes widened. “You look just like me,” Volt said, as he scampered over to Flubber. “Ya! The Voltage has been doubled!”
“Oh Celestia/Arceus, there are two of them now!” Snow and Holly Heart said at the same time. I could not but smile at the two. Yes, it was going to be trouble dealing with the both of them, but at least their antics could make me laugh.
I looked down at my plate of food and threw a grape into my mouth.
“Errr, so he can be anything?” Holly asked.
“Yep! Everything and anything! As long as he knows what it is,” Snow took on a huge evil grin. “Oh the fun things we can do...”
“Slow down Snow. I don’t want you to get into any kind of trouble now.” I commented, before taking a drink of my milk.
“So he could… technically become me?” Holly asked. In response to this, Flubber jumped off of the table and started to shift around. Then standing there was another Holly Heart. Flubber really was a master of transformation. He was one of the only Ditto’s able to change his face after all. His light green eyes matched Holly’s. His dark green coat was the same as Holly’s. Even Flubber’s mane and tail was the same as Holly’s
“Wow… It’s like looking in a mirror,” Holly commented. “Um, Can you do me a favor and not go around as me? Please?”
Flubber tilted his head to the side, then he glanced at me. I just shook my head at him and he frowned. Turning to Holly, Flubber nodded and changed himself into a copy of Snow. Only his coat was more grey then white. He smiled at Holly, showing his fangs.
“Um, thank you, then.” Holly didn’t really know what else to say to the strange Pokémon.
I placed my hand on my stomach, and let out a slight yawn. “That was rather good. Thank you, Holly.”
“Oh, you’re welcome, John.”
“Ya,” I leaned back. “Now if only I could walk around… then today would start looking up,” I leaned back in my bed. Snow’s and Holly’s expression saddened. They knew I didn’t want to spend my time in this bed, but we all must do that which we do not want to do sometimes.
Flubber tapped his paw on my foot. I looked over at the Ditto-Absol. He looked confused, and I suspected that Snow hadn’t told him that I was Injured. In response to this, I picked the tray up off of my stomach, and moved it so that Holly Heart could grab it from me. Then I lowered the blanket around my stomach so that Flubber could see my bandaged chest. His eyes widened at the slightly pink bandages. My wound must not be closed yet, and I suspected that my antics yesterday was the reason behind that…
“Ya, John got hurt real bad when he fought that Sombra/Gengar thing.” Volt commented, as he finished off the grape I gave him. It seemed anything he ate that wasn’t sugar he would eat slower.
Flubber glanced at Volt for a moment, then back to my stomach. His ears folded back and he stared at me. He blinked, and after a moment he slowly smiled. Yet again, his body turned pink, but this time it stayed pink as he changed himself into a Chansey. I stared at him for a moment, wondering what on Equus he was doing, only for that question to be answered as a soft glow started to pulsate through his new body. Are you using what I think you are using?
A blast of energy shot out of Flubber. It washed over me, it’s warm glow penetrating my body. Holly Heart gasped. My body glowing slightly, but the glow was starting to fade, just as fast as it came.
“John… why do I feel fuzzy on the inside?” Volt asked.
I could help but feel happy, as the energy of the Healing Pulse faded away. “Well…” I placed my hand on my stomach, and smiled. I couldn’t feel the wound anymore… It… it was gone! “Flubber, you… healed me.” I then threw the blanket to the side and jumped out of bed. Literally
“John, what are you doing?!” Holly yelled. To answer her question, I reached down to my stomach and started to pull off the bandages. Her eyes widened as I revealed my now healed stomach to her. There was something of a scar left behind, and I have to point out that I didn’t have any fur around said scar.
“I’m healed!” I cheered, only to then wrap Flubber in a hug. In response to this, he started to melt around me. Giving me one strange squishy hug. Only then his body shifted into black silk. Forming a long black trench coat.
“Oh right, I forgot he does that.” Snow commented.
“So, Holly, how do I look?”
She looked baffled, or was that concern. Stuned might be a good word to describe the odd look on her face. “What…” She stammered. “What d-do you mean, how do you look? How do you feel, John? What just happened? How come you’re all healed?”
“The answer to that would be Healing Pulse,” I started. Only to stop when I felt something nudge my cheek. I glanced down at Volt. He looked at me with puppy dog eyes. “Oh, what is it Volt?”
“Can I have some more to eat?” He begged in the cutest voice.
I let out a sigh, and turned to Holly Heart. “I’ll tell you on our way to the cafeteria....”