//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Introductions Pt. 3 // Story: Equestria, I Choose You! // by BronyDJ //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle was happily walked alongside her older brother, Shining Armor, back into the Throne Room of of Royal Canterlot Castle. Behind them, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity were reassuring and calming down Fluttershy, as it was her turn next to reach out and try to make nice with Stephen. "Don't worry your silly little head, Fluttershy," Pinkie smiled, remembering how Stephen acted around her. "He's a bit shy, too! You'll probably get along fine! Besides, who could get mad at you?" The yellow and pink pegasus blushed. "She's right, darling," Rarity added. "He's tall, but he did nothing to hurt me in anyway. Just remember about the creatures, and hopefully everything will be fine." The group of ponies reunited with Princess Celestia and Luna. There seemed to be an awkward air amongst them, as if something had happened while they were gone. The Solar Princess looked up and saw Twilight and greeted them. "Ah, welcome back, my little ponies," she said with a small smile. "Fluttershy, are you ready?" The pegasus nodded, and the ivory coated alicorn was about to speak up again when she was cut off by a guard bursting into the room. "Your Majesties!" he barged in, concern and fear displayed on his face. "The creature is gone!" The ponies in the room gasped, but only Luna reacted quickly enough. "Find him, but do not confront him." Luna ordered. "We do not want to provoke him or instigate any unwanted confrontation." The guard nodded, but was met with the sight of another guard running in. He rose an eyebrow at the approaching rookie. "Your Majesties!" All waited for this messenger's message. "We have found him walking around in the castle gardens. We do not know how he got out of his room, nor how he got past his guards, but we've confirmed that he's just walking around in the garden." Princess Celestia smiled, and turned to Fluttershy. "That's actually quite convenient. The garden scene does calm down most ponies." She turned to the Element of Kindness. "Go now, Fluttershy, and introduce yourself. See if you can learn a bit about those interesting creatures of his." Fluttershy nodded and made her way out, and headed to the Royal Gardens. ~~~~~~~Stephen's POV~~~~~~~ How did I sneak out of my room? Very quietly. Surprisingly, the security around my room was scarce. I just walked out of my room without making a sound and started wandering around. At some point I ended up outside, in some kind of hedge and trophy garden. I looked around at the sculptures, all ponies in some pose that displayed them in some heroic or dramatic way. I looked at the flora, and how it differed from the kind from my world. They were similar, yet so different. I don't know how to explain it. I'm sure I've seen it before, but I don't recall such a plant in my travels. I was about to keep walking when I heard an quiet sound behind me, almost like a squeak. I turned and saw yet another pony from the forest. "Um," I tried to start a vague conversation. "Hello there." The pegasus said nothing, it looked very nervous. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." It stopped shaking with fear and calmed down a bit, and let its gaze rest on my chest. I followed her gaze, it looked like a her, to one of my Pokeballs. "You like my Pokeballs?" Oh, God I thought. That sounded so wrong. She shook her head and squeaked something. "Excuse me?" I strained my ears to hear what she was saying. "I... wanted..." She was murmuring. "C'mon, I can't help you unless you speak up!" I tried to goad her into speaking up, but she ended up just blurting it all out. "I just wanted to see one of your pets!" She blurted out quickly, then looked down as if she were ashamed of speaking out. "If... if that's okay with you." The pink one was a handful to deal with, and the white unicorn was tolerable. But this one? I doubt I'd ever be able to get mad at her? I grabbed a Pokeball at random, to oblige her request, hoping it wasn't one of the scarier Pokemon on my team. I could see the Royal Guards watching from the skies, the balconies of the castle, the quiet gardener in the back of the garden observing the goings-on. I didn't want any unnecessary attention. Luckily, a smaller member of my team popped out and gave out a cry. "Leafeon!" she cried, happy to find herself in a garden. Maple looked at me happily and turned to see the yellow pegasus whose name I did not know yet. "Oh, hello little one!" she scooped Maple up in her hooves and cradled the Grass type as she flapped her wings and took to the air. She just cradled the Pokemon in her hooves as she flew around the garden, making small talk with Maple, who was apparently enjoying her company. After a few more moments of the two's bonding session, I speak up. "You seem to be having a lot of fun, miss...?" I press for a name. "Oh," she realized I was talking to her; she was engrossed by Maple's cute form. The latter didn't mind the attention. "My name is Fluttershy, and I must say this pet of your is so adorable!" "That's Maple, the Leafeon." I introduced, as the aforementioned Pokemon cried at the sound of her name. "And she's not exactly my pet." Fluttershy was confused. She's quiet and an animal lover, I can tell that much right now. I though, careful of what I should say next. How does one explain Pokemon battles in a peaceful way?... Aha! Time to Oak it up!... Never saying or thinking that ever again. "Well, my world is inhabited by various creatures of many shapes and sizes called Pokemon. Some people do consider them as pets or traveling companions, but many...like to compete with one another." I explain, trying to tread lightly on the upcoming concept of Pokemon battle. "In my world, we find these wild Pokemon, capture, tame and train them to do certain things. They could be capable of doing the dishes for you, cutting food or the lawn, even taking care of the little children, sick, and elderly." Fluttershy was paying complete attention to my speech, fascinated by my world. "The most popular kind of competition between those who catch these Pokemon is through battles." Here, Fluttershy gasped in horror. "What? How dare you subject these adorable creatures to such horrible acts!" She got in my face about it, and I swear her big blue eyes had grown large. If I didn't have experience with a Gyarados, I'd have been very intimidated. "Hear me out, Fluttershy." She calmed down and kept listening, still miffed at the thought of battles. "It's actually a natural thing for Pokemon to battle. They battle often in the wild, whether it be for food, territory, a mate, or some other odd reason." Fluttershy seemed to understand a bit more, she must have seen wild animals fighting over such things before. "Also, when we train them, they're much stronger than the Pokemon in the wild, so the only challenge is another trainer's Pokemon! They like to battle; it's like a sport to them! What's more, a good trainer knows when to stop a battle from going to far. No one wants to see their friend, not their pet, but their friend getting hurt. If they do get hurt, he heal the with medicine or bring them to a small healing center so they can be ready for a battle any other day." "I guess I understand now," Fluttershy took in the message I was trying to convey. "What kinds of Pokemon are there?" "Oh, there are plenty!" I responded, which was met with a pair of wide, curious eyes. "More than 600 kinds have been discovered. Would you like to see?" I pulled out my Pokedex. Then I remembered my encounter with Pinkie and Rarity. "Actually Fluttershy, could you stand still for a moment?" She did as she was told, and I brought my Pokedex's eye to her. "Name: Fluttershy." Dex's robotic voice spoke thus. "Species unknown. A Flying/Fairy type." "Hm, Flying type makes sense." I thought out loud. "You have wings. Fairy type, though..." I wondered before asking her. "Do you have a certain talent that goes unexplained?" Fluttershy thought for a moment before answering. "Um, I can more or less communicate with animals." I nodded; that's an interesting ability for one meant to be in the sky. "I also can do something called the Stare, which goes unexplained." "Was that the 'Stare' back then when I told you about the battling?" I asked. She nodded. "Because that didn't affect me in the slightest. I've seen a lot scarier things in my time. Heck, I have several giant dragons as Pokemon, and met and battled gigantic, rampaging Legendaries into submission." Fluttershy's pupil began to shrink in fear the moment I said, "dragons" and began shaking in fear again at the mention of the Legendaries. I realize that was a bad move. I approach her, my arm outstretched to try an comfort her." I'm sor-" I'm cut off by Nova coming out of her Pokeball. "Stephen, watch out!" She sets up a Light Screen around us just as a rainbow colored blur is seen speeding towards us. It collides with Nova's Light Screen, but it doesn't break. The rainbow blur was bounced back. Now that it was done moving at such high speeds, I saw that it was another pony. This one had a rainbow mane and tail, along with a cyan blue coat. "Get away from Fluttershy, you freak!" She had a gruff, tomboyish voice. She was also very persistent, as she kept dashing at and bouncing back from Nova's Light Screen. "I wasn't even doing anything! I was trying to apologize for scaring her!" I defended. Fluttershy was frozen in the moment, unable to take in the situation. I turned back to Fluttershy, but was not paying attention. My Psychic powered force field had dissipated, and I was left vulnerable. "Stephen!" I heard Nova call out before a blue and rainbow blur tackled me from behind. I tried to get up and defend myself, but before either one of us could do anything, The rainbow pony's mane suddenly jolted up, like a black cat on Halloween. She fell to the ground, paralyzed, but very much alive. I looked to Nova, who had approached the pony from behind and had her hand sparking with electricity; a Thunder Punch. I looked behind her and saw several Royal Guards running at us once more. "Get him! He attacked an Element of Harmony!" Were just two things I heard from the approaching guards. "Get ready, Nova." I prepared myself for the charge, timing their steps, and waiting for the right time for a command. Fluttershy was a little ball of fur shaking in fear behind me. Before the guards could reach me a lightning bolt hit the ground and a new voice overpowered all other sounds in the garden. "ENOUGH! THERE WILL BE NO MORE VIOLENCE HERE TODAY!" I found myself staring at Luna, somewhat amazed. Some kind of Hyper Voice, I guess. I thought. She turned to me, and saw the rainbow pony on the ground, her body sparking from electric paralysis. Luna spoke normally to me, "I saw what happened, and though I did not approve of the reaction, this is not your fault. Your pet, or companion, here came to protect you. It is understandable." She walked over to the rainbow pony. "Rainbow Dash," Seriously, that's her name? I thought, incredulous. "Are you okay?" Luna asked. "Y-yeah." Rainbow Dash said through the struggles of paralysis. "Once I'm out of this state, I'm gonna pummel that freak." She threatened me, but I felt no such thing. "I could heal her," I offered, which caught the Night Princess' attention. "I have the medicine for it." Her eyes pleaded yes, and so I took off my bad and searched through it to find a Paralyze Heal spray. Having found it, I brought it up to Rainbow Dash, who didn't trust me at all. Keep this up, you. I said in my head. This will get us nowhere. "Please, Rainbow Dash," Luna pleaded. "Let him heal you." It took a minute or so, but the lighter blue pony allowed me to spray the medicine on her. Luna and Fluttershy watched, fascinated, as the spray was able to dispel the sparks of electricity, and Rainbow Dash was eventually able to move. Before she could pounce on me in anger, Luna stepped in between us. "Thank you, Stephen." She looked to the guards. "You there! Escort Stephen back to his room. Not the dungeon, his room! He has done nothing wrong." At this, I smiled. "Thanks, Princess Luna." I gave a small but jerkish smile. "I might just forgive you for knocking me out and imprisoning me earlier." She did not see that joke and had the guards cart me away. ~~~~~Pony POV~~~~~~ "Why'd you do that, Princess?" Rainbow asked. "I was about to beat him to a pulp!" "Because Rainbow Dash," Luna responded, snapping at the pegasus. "We were trying to gain his trust, and Fluttershy was our best bet. If you hadn't though irrationally and charged in recklessly, this situation would have been avoided!" Rainbow's ears folded back, her head hung in shame. "I'm sorry, Princess Luna." Rainbow apologized. "I didn't know." "It's quite alright." Luna was in a hurry, beckoning the two pegasi to come with her "Come, you two. We must tell Celestia what has transpired here today."