The Pokemon King of Griffinstone

by Cookie_Girl

Let a smile be your shield

Author's Note:

This was originally going to be a big chapter that had Joker meeting several characters, but I find myself needing motivation. So, read, enjoy, and comment!

Thanks again to Zeus for once again writing Princess Luna Luna.

Surrounded by night's gloom, a young boy climbed the front steps of a house. Inside he went, and walked to the living room, and he waited for a moment. Just a moment, before he reached for something on the table.

Fire sprang from the cigarette lighter. It caught the walls and the floor, it spread like a hungry thing that had been without sustenance. The boy ran.

“Momma! Daddy!” yelled the boy. But he had no voice.

Up the stairs he saw them, mother, father. Still as statues, eyes closed, sleeping. He watched as the fire claimed them. They burned and melted into naught but flame.

The flames glew gold, and took shape. Round and smooth and flat, a coin. The coin flipped into the air, spinning end over end, one side reflecting the fire, the other side showing a man with a surgeon’s scalpel.

As the coin fell, flipping over again and again, the images shifted. The fire growing closer, with the boy’s parents burning behind him as he watched. The man lowering the scalpel ever closer.

Luna slowed the dream to a crawl as she tried to piece it together. She’d been stretched thin these past few months, and it was starting to get harder to personally intervene in every nightmare that caught her attention.

And yet...

“Very well,” she blasted the ‘surgeon’ across the room, dispersing the apparition into the aether, then quelled the flames in the house and removed the images of the child’s parents. “Tis alright young one,” Luna said, appearing before the child.

She found it interesting, some of the humans had adapted their new bodies into the dream selves, their subconscious, rather quickly. Gene, Abby, Seth, yet some, perhaps the majority, still dreamt in their human body. Just an interesting thing she had noted.

“I am Princess Luna, and these nightmares shall bother you no more this night.”

Turning his gaze on her, the boy had a look of wonder in his eyes. He raised his hands before him and made some quick patterned movements, as if attempting to cast a spell or use some silent signal.

“I... do not understand,” Luna said. “What is... what are you doing?”

The boy blinked, looked at his hands then at her, as if realizing that she would of course not know his sign language, and slapped a palm to his forehead. He held up one finger and motioned for her to wait.

After a short moment, the boy’s form began to melt, shifting and sliding, and growing, before settling into the form of an adult man. His age slightly indeterminate, his features obscure and bland, as if he could not decide what he should look like. “Sorry, my inner child doesn't talk.” his voice, however, was very familiar.

“Oh dear Harmony,” Luna facehooved. “It’s you…” she looked around again. She’d expected something like Discord’s chaotic, demented dreams, or at least the nonsense that was Pinkie Pie’s subconscious. “So... might I hazard this event is part of the reason you’re so... unique?”

He laughed, ironically amused. “The same recurring night terror for over two decades? Yes, I'd say that's part of it…”

Luna ‘hmm’ed’ at that. “Well... glad I could be of service, but I must be going,” Luna didn’t like spending time in more... disturbed minds, it never ended well for her.

“No therapy for me? Fine, I'll just sit here and wait for it to come back, probably dwell on how I only started speaking after what I did so I could tell myself jokes in an attempt to not feel bad about it.” He lay down and curled his knees up into his chest, and obvious attempt to guilt her into staying. “Not like I feel depression when I'm awake, nope, I'm all smiles and laughter out there….”

“... Harmony this is Discord all over again,” Luna sat down across from him. “Fine, what do you want to discuss?”

He sat and looked at her, his face not a hint of laughter on it, “I played with fire, and my parents got burned instead of me. I don't even know what their names were, it was so long ago…. I'm a jerk, I know, it's on purpose mostly, but...I just can't talk about this in the real world.”

“... how much of how you act is a charade?” Luna asked, she felt like this was a totally different person from the one she’d met earlier today. “How much armor do you wear?”

“Back on Earth I ran a mercenary guild, they were with me for years before coming here, closest thing I have to family now. I love them, but not one of all sixteen know about this.” He thought a moment, “As for how much armor I wear,” he pulled a tasseled rope that wasn't there before, and a dozen different suits of armor fell in a heap to his left. “...I'd say about half, i do genuinely like some comedy!” his smile, though small, was genuine.

Luna wasn’t sure what to say, again, this was like Discord, hurt but hidden behind comedy. “Joker...” She began. “I’m not a therapist, I help ponies get over their fears, deal with day to day problems that seep into their dreams, insecurities... You clearly have some deep seated psychological issues, and I would really suggest a professional... that being said, you shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened as a child, you didn’t know. And I suppose their are worse coping mechanisms than humor.”

“True, all too true. But emotions rarely bow down to logic, as you know first hoof I hear.” He winked, “The bad ass night goddess look is pretty hot, in my opinion.”

He continued past her confused and embarrassed look, “As for fears an such that bug us on a day-to-day basis…” an image of the surgeon from his nightmare appeared, and Joker's face became much clearer to see, beneath the humor and despair was unrepentant rage. “Dr. Rupert Nurem…”

Luna made a sound of disgust. “Him again? Is there anyone that bastard didn’t violate?”

“God?” Joker suggested.

“I’d be surprised if there wasn’t at least an ancestral connection,” Luna said under her breath.

“Well….there is that one alternate universe.”

“What?” Luna asked.

“Hmm?” Joker needed a moment to understand her question. “Oh, I can see past the wall of reality, like Pinkie Pie!”

“... riiight,” Luna had no idea what that meant, but it probably meant she should leave before something crept into her brain.

“Just ask her about ‘The wall’ sometime.” then he thought about it, “Or don't. It's one of those ‘you can't unsee it’ things.”

“... I should probably go,” Luna said. “Lot’s of dreams to get to...”

“Yeah, you're a busy mare….can I have a hug first?” Joker actually managed to look embarrassed.

Slowly and unsurely, Luna wrapped her wings around the man in a, albeit awkward, hug.

He returned the hug, “Thanks, I- OH, LOOK, NOSTALGIA!” and then ran off to a corner of his subconscious that had what even Luna could recognize as those new electronic games and moving art plays that foals enjoy nowadays. “Hehehehe!”

Luna just sighed and vanished.

Comments

[V-Oblivion]

I would have preffer it if this was kept with the larger chapter, but seen as is more of a short thing, it makes sence is apart.

[Cookie_Girl]

8430692
That's what I wanted it to be, but I also really need some motivation right now.

[Tigonpony6]

Where & When does this take place?