Chapter Five
The Buster and The Connoisseur
The morning sun rose above the city of Canterlot as everypony began either opening shops or going to their jobs to start the new day. Though word about last night’s explosion could be heard being talked about by everypony in the city. From what somepony heard as they were apprehending the houndours, a human clad in blue and black armor and clothes with the ability to copy pokemon moves had taken them down and that all Pokemon should be careful because the humans have found us. Of course, nobody or the pokemon didn’t pay attention to what they said, mainly because they couldn’t understand them, or because they were criminals and wanted to get a rise out of the royal guards. Though Emma and Lyra knew that what the houndours said was true…considering Emma did save Lyra from them. Thank god the human had the technology to make herself invisible, otherwise, things will become problematic for the trio making their way through Canterlot.
“You know I should kick your ass for giving me sleeping pills last night in my drink.” Emma as she, Lyra, and Bon-Bon were making their way to the Canterlot.
“I know, and I’m sorry for that. But given what you told us last night, I figure the pills and the tea would help you relax and get a good night’s sleep.” Bon-Bon said with a nervous expression on her face.
“...While I appreciate a good night's sleep, just don’t do that again, otherwise I will have to throw you off a cliff if not worse.”
“Noted and I will never do that again.”
“Good,” The soldier said as she reached into her bag to pull out a medium box-like container. She soon opens it as it gives off the smell of cooked food that Bon-Bon and Lyra picked up. Upon picking up the smell of cooked food, both mares turn their attention to the invisible human as Lyra spoke up.
“What are you eating?”
“Rations from when I couldn’t make a proper meal on the battlefield. Kind of had to make these before going into a fight. Can’t fight on an empty stomach…I mean, you can, but I prefer not to be killed while eating.”
“It smells nice, what kind of food is it?” Bon-Bon asked.
“Fried fish, covered in barbecue sauce, hot potato, and a small piece of apple pie,” Emma answered before quickly presenting the mares with her food. Upon seeing the food, they were taken by surprise at how nicely packed and the way it looked. It didn’t look like slop thrown together but like a meal in a restaurant. “What? Something wrong?”
“This looks like a five-star course meal. How is this a quick meal!?” Lyra asked. “Plus, wouldn’t a secret government project not be able to provide good food?”
“...Never said I got the food from The Deepground…Well for the most part.” She said in between bites of her food. “My missions were either to gather information on Wutai, spy on the people in Corel Prison, gather mako energy from the former Nibelheim reactor, etc, etc. As I traveled the world, I mostly gathered food from the wild or bought the ingredients from the stores in that continent.”
“And you weren’t worried that you would’ve been punished for doing something like that?” Bon-Bon asked.
“As long as I get the mission done or try to escape, then they don’t care what I do outside of the mission I was given. I was more worried about not being killed by the Tsviets.”
“The Tsviets?”
“They’re an elite group of soldiers that lead the Deepground Army. I was…part of the group because I can make materia, and I didn’t have a brain chip that would allow the Restrictors to control.” She said before noticing Lyra and Bon-Bon’s confused expressions on their faces. “You see, the Tsviets are the strongest in the deepground, but because of the experimentation performed on them, they went…insane for the most part. So, the restrictors were made to keep them in check. Prevent them from going on a killing spree or revolt against Shinra.”
“Okay, that makes sense. But what makes you special that you weren’t controlled by the restrictors?” Lyra asked.
“Because the brain chip they put in me would short circuit the moment about a day later. So as a means to keep me from leaving, they placed me in the Tsviets. Of course, they couldn’t kill me less Shinra would lose their second mains of making materia, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t make my life a living hell to the point where I would kill myself.”
“...I’m sorry what?”
“Yeah, they would do stuff to me to lead me to kill myself. Physical to the point where they would impale me with swords, shoot me in non-vital areas, and a bunch of other things. Mentally…I prefer not to go into detail, but if the term mind rape isn’t a thing here…then I think it should be a thing.” She said before noticing the color of the mare’s coat turning sickly pale, which caused her to worry about them. “You two okay?”
“We’re okay? Are you okay!?” Bon-Bon asked. “How can somepony do something like that to you? I mean if I was in your shoes I would possibly go insane or worse!”
“I mean I know humans aren’t perfect, but holy Celestia did I not expect something like that,” Lyra said before walking up to Emma and placing a hoof on her leg as a means of comfort. “I wouldn’t blame you if you hated your kind because of it.”
“...Honestly, I don’t hate my kind because of that,” Emma said as the mare blinked in surprise at this. “Hear me out. Taking my anger out on other people wouldn’t help me. Sure it might quell the anger I was feeling at the time, but how would that help me feel better?”
“I mean…you’re not wrong…But don’t you feel a little bit angry at them for what they did?” Bon-Bon said before hearing Emma speak up.
“I’m more pissed at the people in charge of Shinra than I am with the soldiers of Deepground. I mean they are the reason why the deepground was made the way it is now. If I had the opportunity to kill them, then I would. But other than that, I think I prefer to keep my distance from certain members of the deepground.” She said before finishing up her meal. “Besides, if I blame every human for my problems, then I’ll be no better than the ones that wronged me…that or makes me a…what is the term for racist against their kind in Equestria?”
“Speciest,” Lyra answered.
“Yeah, I would be that and not caring for my kind just because of a few bad apples in the bunch. I mean you would have to be pretty immature to let something like that happen. But that’s just me, I can’t change a person’s mindset like I’m some kind of self-righteous hero of justice or something.”
“You… are an odd human,” Bon-Bon said as Emma shrugged.
“You wouldn’t be the first to say that about me.” She said before noticing that they were stopping in front of a building. From what she could tell by looking through the window of said building, it looks to be some kind of pastry shop of some kind. “What’s this place?”
“Donut Joe’s donut shop,” Lyra said as Emma examined the building up and down. “I figure we get something to snack on seeing how we’ll be looking through a lot of books on teleportation.”
“If that’s the case, then we’ll need more than just donuts to snack on. We’ll need actual food.”
“Then we’ll stop by the stores and get something that you can eat as well,” Bon-Bon said. “Um, what do humans eat?”
“Well, humans are omnivores. So they can eat certain meats, fruits, and vegetables. We’ll pick up some tofu and fry it for Emma to eat.” Lyra said before looking over at Emma. “You can eat tofu, right?”
“Ironically I have some rations with tofu in them, but you shouldn’t worry about me on my account. I can just eat the rations I have saved for emergencies.”
“Yeah, no. You’re going to eat a proper meal. I mean the ration you made may have some nutritional value, but you can’t just eat those.” Bon-Bon said as Lyra nodded.
“Not to mention what will you do if you run out?” Lyra added as it caused the soldier to ponder that question. Sure she could just sneak around and steal food when no one’s looking. But that never sat well in her stomach. Even when she needed to eat, she couldn’t steal from others.
“I…suppose trying some Equestrian dishes wouldn’t hurt,” Emma said as the mares smiled for a moment before heading into the store. “I’ll wait out here until you guys are done.”
“You sure? Won’t you be lonely out here?” Bon-Bon asked as she noticed the human handing her and Lyra a strange small device. “What’s this?”
“Communication device. It allows us to talk and listen to each other from a distance, so long as there isn’t any electrical disturbance like a thunderstorm or something along the lines of that.”
“Wow, you humans make a lot of interesting things,” Lyra said before she and Bon-Bon placed the devices in their ears.
“With this, I’ll be able to keep in touch with you two when I need to keep myself hidden or have to hide someplace else,” Emma said as she leaned against the wall of the shop the mares were going into. “Head inside, I’ll be out here waiting and checking on the information I gathered last night.”
“Okay, try not to get into trouble while we’re gone~,” The mare said before she and Bon-Bon entered the store.
“What kind of trouble could I get in the next couple of seconds or so?” Emma asked as she turned her attention onto the ponies walking by her. It was weird seeing a town full of ponies walking around without a care in the world. Mainly given how she’s been in the deepground for the past nine years, it was rare to see something as peaceful as this. She possibly wouldn’t mind coming back to this world from time to time once Shinra is no longer an issue in her world…which she hopes is soon, mainly because being the only human in this world of ponies and possibly other beings on this planet…will be awkward. As the deepground soldier watched the ponies walk by her, she soon picked up the sound of something rustling off behind the store. Upon hearing this, she slowly began to make her way around the building. The moment she looked around the corner, she saw what appeared to be some kind of deer with a flower on its head, and…was that a blue cat digging around in a dumpster?
“Find anything?” The Deerling asked as the Glaceon pulled herself out of the dumpster and hopped in front of the Deerling.
“Not unless you want stale old crusty donuts with a side order of mold for frosting?” The Glaceon said as the deerling huffed in annoyance.
“This stinks. It’s bad enough that we were taken from our planet, but now we’re on a strange planet stuck as pokemon. Stupid Arceus. I didn’t ask to be turned into a pokemon!”
“Not to mention we can’t find our pokemon seeing how we got separated from them,” Glaceon said as she heard her stomach growl. “It doesn’t help that we can’t communicate with these ponies on account of the language barrier. I haven’t eaten anything but half-eaten food for the past month.”
“Must be humans that were turned into pokemon that Lyra mentioned last night.” Emma thought as she slowly made her way over to the two pokemon while still being invisible.
“There has to be a way to get someone to help us out. Maybe one of the pokemon in this city?” Glaceon said as the deerling shook her head.
“Not unless you want them to attack us again, like that pack of houndours two days ago. What I wouldn’t give for a home-cooked meal.” She said before flopping onto the ground. The moment she said that they heard the sound of something being dropped off near them. The smell of cooked food entered their noses as they looked over to their right to see medium size boxes. The two looked at each other for a moment before walking over to the boxes. Once in front of the boxes, their eyes widen upon seeing them filled with pork fried rice and a well-done stack with a special meat-like sauce on it. “...This can’t be real….can it?”
“It…it looks real.” The glaceon said as she sniffed the food. “And it smells real.”
“I’ll see how it tastes~,” The deerling said as she was about to dig into the meal, only for the glaceon to stop her with her tail.
“Hold it, this might be a trap of some kind. I mean, think about it? Why would food just magically appear out of nowhere like that?”
“Does it matter?” The deerling asked as the glaceon deadpans.
“Yes, it does. For all we know, it could be those ponies in that underground ring that we escaped from in this city.”
“Underground fighting ring huh?” Emma said as it caused the two pokemon to yelp in surprise upon hearing her voice. “And here I thought this place was supposed to be peaceful.”
“W-Who’s there?” asked the deerling as she quickly moved beside the glaceon for protection.
“Relax, I’m not here to hurt you or anything. I just figured you two were hungry and wanted to help.”
“And you expect us to believe that? This might be a trap you set up for us.” The glaceon said as she looked around to see where the voice was coming from.
“Hm, well you make a valid point. But how do I know you’re not going to attack me if I reveal myself to you?” Emma asked as the two pokemon looked at each other for a moment before returning to looking around the alleyway they were in.
“...Alright, fine. We won’t attack you if you reveal yourself to us.” The glaceon said as it caused the deerling to stare at her in disbelief.
“Are you crazy!?”
“Relax, I know how to use an ice beam attack on them. The moment they make themselves visible, I’ll blast them in the face and we can escape.” The glaceon whispered as it caused the deerling to grin.
“Oh, I see. Lure them in to make it seem like we’re defenseless and then strike them down. Not a bad idea.”
“Yeah, that would be a good idea,” Emma said as she made herself visible behind the two pokemon. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I can hear you two whispering from behind.” The two pokemon gulped upon hearing this as they slowly turned themselves around. Upon doing so, their eyes widen upon seeing Emma. Though more so of the fact that she’s a human. “Hello~”
“...Georgia.” The deerling said as she looked at Emma up and down before hearing the glaceon speak.
“Yeah, Burgundy.”
“I’m I seeing a human standing in front of us…not a Zoroark or Zorua by any chance?” She asked as Georgia walked behind the human to examine her back to see if there was a tail or anything that would give off that she was a pokemon. To her surprise, there wasn’t anything as she shook her head. “Okay, so I’m not hallucinating or anything?”
“N-Nope,” Georgia said as she looked at Emma up and down. “You're human…right?”
“Yep…though not from your world mind you,” Emma answered as she soon noticed the two pokemon pass out in front of her. “Oh crap, this is not good.” She said before hearing Lyra’s voice speak coming from her communicator.
“Hey, Emma. We got the donuts. Where are you?”
“In an alleyway behind Donut Joe’s shop.”
“Okay…wait why are you hiding out there?”
“Because I found two pokemon who were once human…and I kind of revealed myself to them.” She said as there was silence on the other end for a moment before Bon-Bon spoke up.
“You did what!?”
“It’s not like I had much of a choice. They were looking through trash trying to find something to eat. So I figure why not give them something to eat like my rations. Of course, they wouldn’t eat it seeing how it appeared out of nowhere, so I had no choice but to show myself to them.”
“...How bad are they? Condition wise?”
“They don’t look like skin and bones, but they smell like trash and rust,” Emma said before kneeling and examining them more. “Bruises around their necks indicating that they’ve had collars on them for some time.” She said before examining their eyes. “And it looks like they haven’t slept in days, or they have just not long.”
“If that’s the case, then we need to take them to Canterlot Hospital.”
“We can’t do that. They saw Emma. If they take them to the hospital, then they’ll blab about their being a human in Canterlot.” Lyra said as Emma nodded.
“She’s right. It would be best that we take them to the room we’re staying in. That way I can heal them and get some answers about their situation.”
“Fine, Lyra, you’ll go with Emma. I’ll head over to the library to get the books we need.” Bon-Bon said as Emma spoke up.
“Need my device to make yourself invisible?”
“No need, I’m sure I’ll be able to get the information that we need from the public library. You and Lyra just get the pokemon back to the room so you can heal them.” She said as Emma quickly made herself invisible and picked up the glaceon and deerling. The moment she picked them up, they both turned invisible just as Lyra made her way to where she was.
“Psst! Emma, you’re here?” Lyra asks as she jumps and yelps upon feeling the human touch her. She quickly turns around to see a faint silhouette of the human. “Geez, that ability to make yourself invisible is really good.”
“Shrina tech in a nutshell for you.” She said before turning completely invisible. “Pick up the boxes of rations, we’re gonna need them because the pokemon I have with me are gonna be hungry.” Lyra nodded as her horn glowed causing the boxes to levitate off the ground and over to them. Once she did that, she quickly took the lead and began to lead Emma back to their room in the hotel Bon-Bon and Lyra were in. The moment they left, a familiar psychic legendary pokemon appeared in the alleyway Emma and the others were in. He scanned the area for a moment before picking up a trail of footsteps leading out of the alleyway. Mewtwo slowly began to follow the trail for a moment before disappearing.
“Darnit, the trail vanished again,” he said before looking around to see if he could find it again. So far, it was hard to find the trail. Mainly because of the strange energy blocking his ability to see where they were. “Another dead-end trail. I’ll have to look somewhere else where the energy isn’t so dense.” The psychic pokemon closed his eyes as he soon teleported off to another section of Canterlot.