//------------------------------// // Chapter the Twelfth // Story: Looking Through the Pokeball // by Magical Trevor //------------------------------// “And so I said ‘Oatmeal? Are you crazy?! This is porridge!’” Everypony laughed as Pinkie Pie finished telling her joke, bouncing along the hallways. Blueblood snorted, laughing quietly as he followed along. Princess Celestia was currently escorting the Elements to a guest suite for them to share. Pinkie Pie started telling another story happily; while Applejack and Rainbow Dash were clearly engaged in the story, Fluttershy had her attention on the two Pokemon that were being carried by guards, making sure that they were fine and comfortable. What worried Blueblood was how Rarity had yet to say anything to him. She had warned him at his airship christening that the next time they met, she would really give him a piece of her mind. But instead, she looked calm, serene even. Thoughtful. And that scared Blueblood to death. If there was one thing he had learned growing up, it was to be afraid of a mare who was abnormally calm and collected, because that could only mean trouble for him later. “So, Blue, what have you been up to?” Twilight inquired, trotting next to Blueblood. “Haven’t talked to you in forever! First the Gala was a mess, and then the wedding, and then the coronation hassle...” “O-oh, well,” Blueblood stammered for a second, caught off-guard. “I’ve been trying to keep busy, you know. Charting maps, taking care of negotiations for the borders, same old same old,” Blueblood sighed. “Things have certainly been more... sedate in Canterlot, with you being down in Ponyville the past couple of years. But lo and behold, you stay in Canterlot for something non-emergency related, and a catastrophe occurs! You’re a trotting trouble magnet, Lady Sparkle.” Twilight was taken aback by the serious, chiding tone in Blueblood’s voice. “W-well I didn’t, I mean I-” Twilight blushed as Blueblood started to laugh at her, the quiet, deep laugh with which she was familiar. Twilight blushed harder as she smacked Blueblood, huffing, “I thought I told you not to tease me like that anymore, Blue!” “M-my apologies, Lady Twilight, I could not resist,” Blueblood guffawed. “Besides, you know how boring it gets-” “Like I know, right? Everypony in Canterlot are super snooty and don’t know how to have fun, and-” “P-please get away from me,” Blueblood stammered out, shying away from the pink mare that had wrapped her foreleg around his withers. “Girls, come on, leave Blue alone,” Twilight chided sternly, frowning at her friends. “Aww, come on, it’s all in good fun!” Pinkie retorted, sticking her tongue out playfully. “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed, flying on her back. “Besides, it’s not like we’re-” As Rainbow Dash’s hoof touched Blueblood, his pupils shrunk, his mind collapsing as he tried his best to ignore what was happening, but failed. “Get away from me!” Blueblood’s horn lit up brightly for less than a second before he disappeared entirely, leaving five surprised mares gaping at the space that used to contain Blueblood. “What... just happened, Twilight?” The five friends turned to Twilight, only to find their friend glaring at them with narrowed eyes. “... Excuse me, will you Celestia? I need to go calm down Blue before he has another panic attack like last time.” Twilight disappeared as she used a teleportation spell, leaving the others standing in the hall. Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs, huffing, “What’s their problem? It’s not like we were picking on him or pranking him or anything. I mean, seriously.” Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes. “You mean aside from blatantly ignoring both of their requests for you to give him some space? You’re right, Darling, I just don’t know what could have possibly went wrong.” .o.O.o. Luna sighed as she checked up on her sleeping guest, a ‘Pokemon’. “We would greatly wish to talk to thee in the waking world,” she murmured, moving a small blanket over the albino Umbreon. “We shall simply have to visit thee in the dreaming world instead, along with those newcomers.” Luna laid down on her bed, next to the self-claimed pony-turned-Pokemon, and allowed her magic to channel, weaving her way into the dream world. She landed softly in a dream, looking around to find out which Pokemon’s dream she had landed in. “Eeeee!” Luna turned around to see a small pink ball of fluff running around, dashing around bushes, trees, and small puddles of water. It was small, about half the size of her guest, pinkish-brown fur coat, and small bundle of- “Oof!” Energy. “Hai! You’re a pretty purple princess pony Pokemon! Can I catch you? Can you talk? You have wings! Can you fly? What’s your name? Why are you so big? Wh-” The little one’s eyes went wide as her mouth suddenly turned into a zipper, closed shut as Luna massaged her head. “Thou art an energetic, inquisitive youngling, aren’t thou?” Luna took a deep breath, calming herself, watching in amusement as the small pink furball pawed at the zipper of her mouth, her eyes wide open in amazement. “Now, firstly, no, thou canst catch me, young one; I am, as you said, a princess, not a Pokemon. Yes, I can fly. Now, little one, my name is Luna Nightwatch, but you may call me Luna. What is your name?” “Hai Luna!” the small Pokemon exclaimed cheerfully, having unzipped her mouth to great amusement. “I’m Kaye! I love love love ponies! And you, yous is a magic pony! I like you! You is best pony Pokemon eber!” Luna blinked, and ‘Kaye’ somehow moved from sitting on the floor to nestled between Luna’s wings. “I likes you,” Kaye murmured, settling down to sleep in the soft feathers of Luna’s wings. “You can bees my friend?” As Kaye began to snore, Luna’s eyes softened. She turned back to face the small one ‘sleeping’ on her back and nuzzled her, glad that her mind was finally at rest. While it had seemed that Kaye was enjoying herself, Luna knew better. Her magic aura betrayed her true thoughts, and showed that she had been just moments from her ‘happy’ and ‘cheerful’ dream turn into a horrible nightmare. As soon as she agreed to be her friend, however, everything was fine again. “Don’t worry, little one. We will watch over thee,” Luna promised quietly, nuzzling the small Eevee. “We will protect thee and care for thee so long as you are in Our care...” What sort of monster did this thing, that they even drag the innocence of foals into this? Our rage shall know no limits if We find who did such a thing! Luna concentrated once more, taking longer than normal to channel her magic, as she now had a passenger to worry about. Luckily, it helped that her passenger was dreaming of nothing, however, reducing the strain for molding Kaye’s dream into that of the next guest. As soon as she landed, however, that changed... Luna found herself falling through the sky. There was no wind, however, so Kaye didn’t move from her place on Luna’s back. “What in the-” “Aughhhhhh!” Luna turned to her right, and saw the black, white, and red bird that had fallen with Kaye and the third one. Confused, Luna asked, calmly, “Excuse me, but... why are you screaming? You have wings. Even if you can’t fly, you can at least glide, can’t-” “I’m a friggin bird, what the hell do you think is the problem you-” Luna was then half-deafened from the raw scream the bird let loose as he started to freak out even further. “You’re a friggin’ talking horse?! Okay, this is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream, I’m going to be fine. I’m going to hit the ground, I’m going to wake up, and then I’m going to be just fine.” “Thou shouldst be grateful thou didst not awaken the little one, or I would be most upset with thee,” Luna warned, growling. “Now thou art going to answer mine questions, and stop behaving like such a-” The Pokemon blinked, then said slowly, “Hey, so, um, how come there isn’t a ground? Normally there’s ground that I can see, that I’m about to plummet straight into and die, but there’s only sky... What gives?” “We are the princess of the night. We do what We want in your dreams,” Luna deadpanned. “What is thine name?” “M-Meis.” “Mice? Thou art talented in dealing with small rodents? Interesting,” Luna mused, thinking. “And mice are afraid of birds, who prey upon them, so if you’re afraid of birds, who fly and are high up... Yes, that makes sense,” Luna said, nodding. “Thine fear is understandable, considering, but thou shouldst not worry! We wilt take care of thee whilst thou art in our world.” “Uh-huh... Excuse me if I don’t care what you say, since you’re just a figment of my imagination, and I’ll wake up in my bed any second now,” the bird deadpanned. Luna blinked and sighed, slowly counting to ten as she reminded herself that she had a small package onboard, and that awakening it in her wrath would most likely not be a good thing. “We shall see thee upon thine awakening, then, Mice.” “It’s Meis, not mice!” ... That’s what I said. This human is a most odd one indeed. Luna channeled her magic once again, having to focus to a much greater extent than before. Why do I get the feeling that this last Pokemon is going to be the biggest problem of them all?