Chapter Six – Home Sweet Home!?
The sound of the ocean liner’s horn filled the air as humans and Pokémon alike were bustling about. Three Pokémon slipped off of the S.S. Anne and onto Vermillion docks unnoticed.
“So, we’re finally in Kanto, then?” Lucy, the young Pikachu, asked her friends.
“It would seem so,” Velvet, the eccentric Espeon, replied. “It was what was announced over the ship’s loudspeakers.”
“I’m just glad you can understand human speech.” Lucy brushed some dust from her fur and stretched. “But it’s such a pain to come all the way here from Sinnoh.”
“We owe it to Flare,” Sapphira, a powerful Garchomp, said. “We have to tell his folks what happened to him.”
“But we barely know what happened to him!” Lucy argued. “Just that he decided to stay in some other world with a bunch of weird creatures.”
Sapphira frowned and clenched her jaw. She knew that Lucy was right; they knew nothing about what had happened, other than the brief messages on the crystal that they had been given. Arceus had appeared, given them the crystal, and told them that their friend was alright.
And it had pissed Sapphira off to no end.
So much so that Gallade had told them to leave Alamos Town before the raging dragon destroyed it completely. The crystal had messages for both Flare’s parents and Virizion, though Sapphira was loathe to speak to that stupid legendary. It was a unanimous decision to go and see Flare’s parents in the Kanto region. So the three Pokémon had snuck aboard the S.S. Anne, a world-touring cruise liner.
And now, several months later, they stood in Vermilion City.
“So how do we get to Fuchsia City from here?” Lucy asked. “That’s where Flare’s parents live, right?”
Sapphira nodded. She had known Flare the longest out of the three of them, and the Ponyta had spent hours telling her about his home. “The Laramie Ranch is close to some place called the ‘Safari Zone.’”
Velvet was busy looking at a signpost, gauging the quickest way to get there. “If we follow this route along the ocean, we should be able to get there in a few days.”
Lucy and Sapphira nodded, and the three Pokémon began their quest towards Fuchsia City.
***
Sunlight streamed through the large windows of Twilight’s observatory. Two ponies, who had finally succumbed to the realm of sleep, stirred and grumbled as the bright light dragged them back to the waking world.
“Make it go awayyy~” Flare groaned, pulling the covers over his head.
“Can’t,” Twilight mumbled back. “Sun’s too big to blow up…”
The two lay in blissful silence for a few more minutes before somepony threatened to beat down the door. Or Sunshine might have been gently knocking to rouse the occupants within; same difference.
Flare groaned once more and slowly dragged himself out of bed. It took a lot of effort and a few minutes, but he eventually made the epic quest down the stairs. He opened the door to reveal the smiling maid on the other side.
“Good morning, Lord Flare!” Sunshine chirped happily, and then took note of the stallion’s dishevelled appearance. “Oh, my… did you have a rough night?”
“You… could say that,” Flare rubbed at his eyes and yawned. After an all-night gaming session with Luna, followed by some ‘romantic’ time with Twilight, he’d only gotten about two hours of sleep.
“Well, I’ve come to tell you that breakfast will be served soon, and you and Lady Twilight have an appointment, no?”
Flare blinked as his mind slowly became aware, “Oh?... ooohhh-“ He ran back upstairs to wake his marefriend. “Twilight, wake up!” Flare’s body began to glow with magenta light, and with a bright flash, he soon found himself teleported outside.
Flare frowned and sighed, “Seriously not cool, Fairy.” He walked past a surprised Sunshine and back upstairs. Standing back from the bed, he pulled back the covers with his magic and cleared his throat.
“It’s time to get up, Lady Twilight!” He said sternly, prodding at her with his horn.
She waved a hoof to bat him away, but the flail had no effect. She stretched and slowly sat up, tilting her head left and right until she heard a satisfying crack.
“We only just went to bed; remind me why we are getting up so early?” Twilight wasn’t a morning pony at the best of times, and the lack of sleep only made her more irritable.
“Sparkler.” Flare’s reply was short and sweet, but it did the trick.
Twilight’s half-lidded eyes shot open, and she almost fell out of bed. “We’re late!?” She went to race downstairs, but found herself being stopped by Flare’s magic. “What the-?”
“Calm down, hon, it’s only breakfast.” He put her down and smiled. “Now, why don’t we go take a nice, hot shower and have some breakfast with Celestia and Luna.”
“Alright,” Twilight’s smile suddenly changed and she gave him a look that really lit his fire. “So we should save time and shower together, hmm?”
“You are utterly insatiable,” Flare chuckled, but he certainly wasn’t about to disagree.
***
“Flare?” Celestia looked over the stallion after the couple had turned up to breakfast. “You look absolutely exhausted. Are you alright?”
Flare gave her a hollow stare as a whispered moan escaped his lips.
“Apparently there are limits to even Flare’s legendary stamina,” Twilight blushed slightly as she sipped her orange juice.
“Really?” Luna was surprised; even after the gruelling training she put him through, he never looked this beat down. “May I ask what sort of training he was doing?”
Twilight paused as she thought about how to answer that.
Should she?
Could she?
Twilight gave Luna her most sincere smile. Oh she most certainly would.
“Just some repetitive-motion exercises,” Celestia suddenly coughed into her teacup as Flare just continued to moan like a zombie. Spike blinked and looked around the table at the various reactions. Had he missed something?
The chefs brought out a fresh pot of coffee, and once Flare smelled its delicious aroma, he perked right up. “Good morning, everypony!” he chirped happily.
“Well, look who’s finally awake,” Celestia chuckled. “Do my faithful students have their day planned?”
Twilight nodded and her horn flashed, summoning forth a long checklist. “After breakfast I have some time allotted for some sightseeing around Canterlot. I want to get some gifts for Shining and Cadence too.”
Flare sipped his coffee before wrinkling his nose and pushing the mug aside. The coffee smelled good, but its taste didn’t match. “Guess I’ll head over to Mocha’s place later,” he muttered, craving some of her amazing blend.
Celestia dabbed at her mouth with a napkin and looked at Twilight, “Do you think you could spare a few moments for your teacher? There are some things I’d like to discuss with you.”
Twilight paused and nodded excitedly. “Of course I do, we aren’t scheduled to leave until later this afternoon, anyhow.”
Flare got up after downing a glass of water. “Then I think I’ll go and visit a friend in the meantime… and get some real coffee.” That last remark earned him a glare from the chef in charge of breakfast.
“Bring some back for me,” Luna yawned. “I could use a good cup after last night.”
Flare nodded, and after giving Twilight a goodbye kiss, he headed for his preferred place for all things caffeinated, The Daily Grind.
“Come, Twilight, let’s go to my study.” Celestia also excused herself from the table. “We can talk there.”
Twilight followed her, leaving Spike and Luna alone at the massive dining table.
“Do you ever get the feeling that everypony forgets you are even here?” Luna voiced her thoughts out loud.
“All the time,” Spike sighed. “All the time…”
***
Flare whistled cheerfully as he strode through the streets of Canterlot. He made his way through the crowded streets of the Cloud District, the home of the noble families and the Palace itself, and towards the Artisan District, which housed both Mocha’s café and Silvermane’s forge.
“I sure hope that Mocha is open this early,” Flare said to himself as he turned into a large park that separated the Districts. The sun shone through the trees, bathing the ground in speckled light. The birds chirped merrily, and Flare found himself slowing his pace and enjoying the scenery.
The birds suddenly fled, screeching loudly before the park plunged into an unsettling silence.
As Flare looked around, wondering what caused the disturbance, a voice called out to him.
“Enjoying ourselves?” The voice made Flare’s blood run cold. Something about it felt… dark.
“Who’s there?” Flare ignited his horn, continuing to glance around.
The shadow of a nearby tree shifted and warped, and a creature that Flare thought he would never see again emerged. Its dark body shifted slowly, like a living shadow, as its blue eyes stared right through him.
“Darkrai…” Flare’s voice was a barely audible whisper as the Pokémon rose from the ground and hovered in front him.
“So we finally meet face to face,” Darkrai spoke. “I’ve heard so much about you… defeating the great Arceus, harnessing the power of Magic. It’s quite impressive.”
Flare wasn’t sure how to respond, Darkrai sounded impressed, but every fibre in Flare’s being was screaming at him to run like hell. “W-what do you want?” he choked out, wondering where his voice had gone.
Darkrai chuckled, and his gaze continued to bore into the unicorn. “Oh, nothing much. But I have plans, wonderful plans, and you are in my way.”
“In your way?” Flare shook his head, trying to clear it. “I don’t think we’ve ever met, aside from that one time in Alamos Town.”
“I’m afraid that Darkrai was not me… I have spent the better part of a millennium sealed away.”
Clouds began to gather and darken as Darkrai remembered spending a thousand years in the dark, cold void. “My plan was flawless, until that bitch alicorn betrayed me!” His rage began to build, and Flare took a step back, only to have a tendril of darkness snag his leg. “But things will be different this time. This time, those stupid ponies will never see it coming… until it’s too late!”
A scorching Flamethrower struck the nightmare Pokémon, who simply chuckled in response. “Ooh, that almost hurt.”
“You touch one hair on anypony here,” Flare’s eyes were filled with rage, “and I will kill you!”
“You’re quite welcome to try,” Darkrai sneered and slammed Flare with a Shadow Claw, sending the ponymon spiralling through the air. Before Flare even hit the ground, Darkrai snared him with a Psychic attack and slammed him into the earth.
Flare coughed from the ferocity of the attacks and tried to retaliate with a Solarbeam, but Darkrai appeared in front of him and grabbed his horn, yanking down hard and smashing Flare’s face into the dirt. “How on earth did you beat Arceus? I mean, I know he let you win, but still…” He phased back a few feet as Flare’s body exploded with flames.
“You want to see how I did it? Fine by me!” Flare poured all his power into his Twilight Blaze attack and launched himself at Darkrai.
“Noooo!” Darkrai screamed at his oncoming defeat… or not. He phased into a nearby shadow, avoiding the attack, before re-appearing and slamming Flare once more.
“Why do you bother?” Darkrai asked, genuinely curious. “You have no chance against me, and your death is imminent. Just give up, and maybe I’ll make it painless.”
“Go suck a Muk!” Flare Blitz returned and began to charge a Solar Beam, but something was blocking the sunlight.
“I have a barrier around this whole area,” Darkrai said. “No one will hear as I tear off your limbs.”
Flare charged at him with Quick Attack, but Darkrai raised a hand and stopped Flare in midair with a Time Freeze spell. “Do you think you’re the only Pokémon that knows magic?”
Darkrai’s other hand began to glow with pink light as he focused a Spacial Rend attack. “Now prepare to be scattered across space/time… in the most painful of ways of course!”
Flare tried to break free of the spell that bound him, but it was futile. Darkrai’s magic was powerful, and there was nopony around to help him.
“It’s a pity, really,” Darkrai suddenly said, pausing his attack. “I could use some good help like you. Pokémon that can safely use magic are quite rare… but alas, I know that you would never sink to my level.”
The magic even bound Flare’s voice, so his torrent of curses went unheard. Darkrai pitched his arm back, like he was ready to throw a ball, and aimed at Flare. “Goodbye, Flare Blitz.”
“So this is it? I go down as simple as that?” Flare closed his eyes and waited. “I’m sorry, Twilight, I’m so sorry…”
Darkrai used the Spacial Rend, and as it travelled towards Flare, the unicorn could feel a pair of hooves wrap around him.
“Just hold on,” a familiar voice said to him, “I’ll get you out of here…”
There was a sound that caused Flare to scream in pain, like a million panes of glass shattering. And in an instant, Flare was plunged into a world of frozen silence.
Darkrai floated there; a smouldering crater was all that remained of Flare Blitz and the other pony that had appeared. “Too bad I can’t kill Arceus or the Alicorns that easily... at least not yet, anyhow.”
***
Twilight Sparkle paced around the entrance to Canterlot Castle, where she was supposed to be meeting Flare.
“Where is he?” she muttered irritably. Flare was supposed to be there almost twenty minutes ago. Was he running late?
Then she got a good idea. “I’ve never got to use this spell before.”
She focused her magic and cast ‘Dusk Shine’s Fast Friend Finder Spell,’ a spell used to get the location of someone the caster considers a friend.
After a moment or two, Twilight’s eyes shot open and she took an uneasy step back. She had gotten a fix on him for just a moment, right before he vanished from her magical sight. “Wait, where did he go?”
***
It was dark. Cold... Really cold.
Flare’s breaths became shallow and laboured as he struggled to take in what little oxygen he could. It was like trying to breathe while under a thick blanket, and with the pain he was in and the fear that he might die... it was not a good combination.
“What is this? Where am I?” He fought off unconsciousness for as long as he could, maybe a few seconds, before the darkness claimed him once more.
***
Celestia settled onto her throne, and she was about to let the first of her visitors in when the large double doors burst open and a distraught Twilight ran in.
“Twilight!?” Celestia was caught off guard for a second. “Whatever is the matter?”
“It’s Flare! I can’t find him!” Twilight almost yelled, her voice echoing around the empty room.
“Well, Canterlot is a big city, perhaps he is simply-“
“I used a tracing spell to find him, but he vanished!” Twilight cut her off. Celestia was about to admonish her for doing that, when another pony ran into the room in tears: Princess Luna.
“Lulu? What-?”
“I felt it again, only stronger this time!” Luna’s eyes were wide and her whole body was visibly shaking. “That darkness…”
Celestia fell silent as the pieces fell into place. “I think Day Court is cancelled…” One of her guards turned to her.
“Are you sure, Your Highness? There are a lot of-“
Celestia’s wings flared, and for the briefest of moments, anger flashed in her eyes. “Court is cancelled. Apologise to our guests and then send them home!”
The guard paused and then saluted. “By your orders, Your Highness!”
“Princess?” Twilight was confused now. Where was Flare? And what was wrong with Luna?
Celestia’s horn lit up, and with a flash of golden light, the trio of mares was whisked away to the princess’s chambers. “We have much to talk about, but first we must find a way to get Flare Blitz back!”
She placed a blanket over Luna and laid her on the bed. “Rest, little sister; the darkness will not claim you again. Of that, I promise!” Celestia turned to her student and summoned a quill and paper. “I need to know everything you saw with that tracing spell.”
Twilight nodded and began to recite what she had sensed: the feeling of Flare’s magic vanishing with an explosion of unknown power, along with another’s, a mare close to her heart…
***
A pained groan escaped the unicorn mare’s lips as Sparkler slowly opened her eyes. Wherever she was, it was dark, and a soft rain fell on them. She raised a hoof and gently rubbed the base of her horn, trying to ease the painful throb in her head. She looked around, trying to get her bearings, and saw the crumpled form of Flare lying a few feet from her. His body was covered in wounds, and he looked like he wasn’t waking up.
“Flare…” A failed attempt to get up resulted in Sparkler crawling on her belly towards him. “Hey… Flare?” She poked at him with a hoof, and a pained groan indicated that he was at least alive.
“Well, I feel about as great as he looks.” Sparkler flinched as a beam of light waved in the distance. A voice could be heard, but Sparkler couldn’t understand it. She could feel unconsciousness claiming her again. “Just freakin’ great.”
When Sparkler awoke again, the scenery had changed drastically. Instead of waking in the dirt and the rain, she was now in a comfortable bed. Several wires attached her to a machine, but a quick burst of magic detached them. The machine let out long, continuous beep, and Sparkler soon silenced that as well.
“Where am I this time?” she wondered aloud. She slid off the bed and headed towards the door, but just as she reached it, it let out a little hiss and opened, revealing a creature that scared poor Sparkler out of her wits. She lashed out with magic once more and lifted the creature off of the floor, pinning it to the wall.
“Where am I?” she shouted. “What is this place? And where’s Flare Blitz?”
***
The day had started out normal enough for Nurse Joy. Trainers brought in their Pokémon to be healed, some wanting a place to stay for the night. But it was the night when things had gotten strange. Late last night, a powerful flash of light had caught her attention while she tended to the sick Pokémon in her care. It had been raining all evening, and she thought that the light was from a lightning strike.
She headed up the small mountain to see if any Pokémon had gotten injured and stumbled across a sight like none other. Two Pokémon that she had never seen, or even read about, lay in the small clearing, covered in wounds. She had brought them back to the Pokémon Center for recovery, but things had only gotten stranger.
Their biology was like nothing she had ever seen, but it was similar enough to that of a Pokémon that they seemed to respond well to treatments. Their shape was similar to that of a Ponyta or a Blitzle, and after an all-night study session, she still had more questions than answers.
She had entered the room with the purple Pokémon to check up on it, only to find that it was awake and even walking around. The Pokémon now had the startled nurse pinned against a wall with what appeared to be Confusion or Psychic and was looking quite angry.
“Shh, it’s okay,” she said soothingly, keeping her composure. It was not the first time that a wild Pokémon had awoken confused and scared of its surroundings. Medical School even taught Pokémon Nurses how to deal with such an event. Remain calm and try to soothe the Pokémon with soft words and a closed smile. Don’t show teeth or make direct eye contact, nothing that could be interpreted as a challenge.
“Shh, it’s okay,” she said again. “Calm down, little one; it’s alright. No one is going to hurt you.”
Sparkler asked the creature a barrage of questions, but when it opened its mouth to speak, the unicorn couldn’t understand a word. “It doesn’t seem to understand me either… Maybe I should just put it down and try to find Flare... Wait! I have an idea!”
Joy was lowered to the ground, but before she could breathe a sigh of relief, Sparkler placed her horn near Joy’s head and cast the translation spell that Twilight taught her. A bright light erupted in the room but died down shortly after.
“I wonder if that worked?” Sparkler asked aloud and the dizzy nurse scowled at her.
“I’m not sure what you were trying to do, but perhaps a little warning would be appropriate!”
Sparkler blinked and then grinned. “I think it did, say something else.”
Nurse Joy was confused... again. Now the odd Pokémon could talk? Just what did it do to her?
Before she had time to ask, the door opened up as the white Pokémon she had found shuffled inside, with Joy’s assistant nurse draped across its back. “I’m sorry, Joy,” she wailed. “This one is really strong; I couldn’t stop it.”
“Flare!?” Sparkler ran over and hugged the stallion, knocking the intern off of his back. “I was worried. Are you alright?”
Flare nodded slowly, but his eyes remained cast down at the ground. “Yeah… I’m okay.” He glanced at the nurses and blinked. “I can’t believe that we’re here, though… how did it happen?”
“What do you mean? Do you know where we are?” Sparkler let him go, dropping back down onto all four hooves.
“Yeah… I know where we are.” He took a breath and coughed slightly. His entire body hurt, but it was nothing compared to the worry that plagued his mind and heart. “We’re in my world, the world of Pokémon.”
Nurse Joy and her assistant watched the one-sided conversation. While they looked similar to other Pokemon, but they spoke an odd language. The purple one was talking in Kantonese now, but the cream one didn’t seem to be able to talk.
“Do you think you could do that light thing again?” Joy asked. “I could probably help you two out once we all understand one another.”
Sparkler nodded, eliciting a look from Flare. He could understand what the humans were saying, but couldn’t answer back… until Sparkler touched his horn with hers and used the translation spell again.
“There! That should do it.” Sparkler smiled.
“Do what?” Flare replied, but Nurse Joy answered instead.
“Whatever that trick is, we can understand you now… Flare was it?”
Flare nodded, “That’s right, my name is Flare Blitz.” He motioned towards Sparkler, “And this is Sparkler, a friend of mine.”
Sparkler bowed her head politely, but now wasn’t the time for idle chatter. “Flare, how did we get here? I remember trying to teleport you away, back to Twilight… but then-“
“It must have had something to do with the attack Darkrai used.” Now that Flare thought about it, it was pretty similar to how he wound up in Equestria.
Thinking about Twilight brought back the thrashing he got from Darkrai and the knowledge that the Pokémon was still in Equestria, ready to do Arceus-knows-what.
“We have to get home as soon as possible!” he said. “Where are we, anyhow? Sinnoh? Unova?”
“The Kanto region; Fuchsia City, to be precise…”
The words had barely left her mouth when the stallion gasped and fled the room. Sparkler paused for just a second, and then followed after him. He had bolted out to the main foyer, eliciting some shrieks of surprise from several trainers there. The front door gave a small hiss as it opened up and he raced outside into the bright sunlight.
“I don’t believe it… it’s really…” Flare’s whispered tones could barely be heard.
Sparkler caught up to him once he stopped. “Flare? What is it?” She puffed slightly, still feeling fatigued. “What makes this place so special?”
Flare was silent as he took in his surroundings. It had been many years, but one never forgets the place they were born and raised.
“This is Fuchsia City,” he explained. “It’s close to the ranch where I was born.”
This was his home? Sparkler looked around and saw creatures that defied explanation. Tall, pale-skinned creatures, wearing a variety of clothing, walked about, chattering away. Other creatures were there too. A small, purple rat ran past her, leaping into the arms of one of the bipedal creatures. There were more around, all of them as different as night and day.
“Just what are they?” Sparkler asked out loud.
“The tall ones that all look similar are called ‘humans.’ They can be found all over the world, and most of them are friends to us Pokémon.” When he said that it made him feel somewhat odd. It had been a while since he had thought of himself as more Pokémon than pony. Pushing that thought, along with many others, to the back of his mind, he continued his explanation.
“The rest are Pokémon of all different kinds.” He pointed to the rat that Sparkler was watching. “That one is called a Rattata, and the one over there is a Pidgey.”
He motioned towards another one and suddenly stopped. “And that is… actually, I have no idea what that Pokémon is.” The one he pointed to reminded him vaguely of Vulpix and Ninetales. It walked upright on two legs and had yellow and white fur, with large red tufts protruding from its ears.
For some reason, it also had a large stick sticking out of its tail.
And Flare thought it was kind of cute…
Shaking his head, he looked towards the eastern exit of the city. “Maybe I should visit home while I’m here?” The comment was said so casually that Sparkler finally snapped out of her haze and looked alarmed.
“Flare? What about getting home? How did we even get here!?”
Flare was already bolting for the gate. “I have to see them!”
Now Sparkler knew something was wrong. A dark creature had attacked him in the middle of Canterlot, a creature that could still be there, with all of their friends and their loved ones!
“Flare! I really don’t think that this is the time to…” Her words went unheard, Flare was already in the distance. “W-wait for me!” she called out and ran after him. The last thing she needed was to be stranded alone in a strange world filled with stranger creatures.
***
“And that’s everything,” Twilight explained. The tracing spell had detected both Flare’s and Sparkler’s magical signatures right before vanishing into thin air. Twilight knew that Flare didn’t know how to teleport, and Sparkler could only teleport a mile or two on her own. With another pony, that distance was considerably shorter.
Celestia wrote every detail down and gave her notes a second read over. “Along with what Luna felt, this is shaping up to be a dire situation.”
“And there’s that,” Twilight said. “What is wrong with Princess Luna? What’s this ‘darkness’ that she spoke of?”
If this was truly the work of that creature, then Celestia could not afford to be enigmatic about this. “It’s a tale that I purposely left out of the history tomes.”
Twilight’s mouth hung open. Princess Celestia, her mentor, just admitted to re-writing written history!?
“What I am going to tell you must never leave this room, for it could cause quite a few problems for a particular stallion we all love.”
Twilight nodded and listened intently as Celestia told her beloved student a tale of darkness unlike any other and the real story behind Nightmare Moon.
***
Sparkler panted heavily as she tried to keep pace with Flare Blitz. But resistance was futile, and she soon found herself lagging behind.
Flare didn’t even notice, or did and simply didn’t care. Sparkler was trying to decide which it was, but her train of thought derailed as she ploughed straight into his behind.
“Oof! Flare? Why did we stop?” She turned her attention to whatever it was that Flare was staring at, only to see a large, wooden sign arching over the entrance to what appeared to be some kind of farm.
“This is Laramie Ranch,” he said. “It’s where I was born.”
Flare walked inside, following the winding dirt path deeper into the farm. Sparkler followed, but his attitude was still bugging her. Twilight meant everything to Flare; he had given up this world just to be with her. So why was he acting like this? Why was he avoiding the topic of going home?
Looking around the farm, she saw more Pokémon, and Flare mentioned their names as they walked past them.
“Those are Tauros, and those are Dodrio.” His pace quickened slightly, but once they got closer to a field a little south of the farmhouse, he slowed down again.
“Is something wrong?” Sparkler asked, but didn’t honestly expect him to answer.
“I… I don’t know,” Flare actually responded!? “I don’t know if I can face them.”
“Your parents?” Was this was he was so antsy about?
Flare nodded his head. “I’m not exactly the Ponyta they brought into this world anymore.”
“You’re still Flare Blitz, right?” Sparkler placed a hoof on his shoulder and gave him a sincere smile. “If your parents are any kind of parents at all, then they’ll love you no matter what!”
Sparkler knew that better than anypony. Ditzy had taken her from that horrible orphanage and loved her like her own child. Sparkler initially repaid that love with distrust and horrible behaviour, but the pegasus didn’t give up, and Sparkler saw that she wasn’t like other foster parents, that she loved her, no matter what!
The moment was broken, however, by a surprised gasp that startled both ponies. They spun around to see a human girl with long blue hair staring at them.
“Well now, jus’ whut in the heck Pokémon are you two?”
“Lady Laramie?” Upon hearing the strange-looking Pokémon speak her name, the poor farmer passed out.
“Well… that happened,” Flare said, standing over the unconscious human.
***
Celestia knew it would provide few results, but she had sent several search parties out regardless, hoping it was just a misfired teleport.
But her fears were confirmed when the search parties returned empty-hoofed.
“So is it really him, then?” Twilight asked her. “This ‘Darkrai’ is responsible?”
Celestia nodded slightly, “Given Luna’s reaction, it is a strong possibility.” She had thought the seal she had put upon him would last forever, but as all things she had used the Elements of Harmony for, Discord, Nightmare Moon, it would seemed that Darkrai’s seal had faded too.
Sure, Nightmare’s was intentionally set to a thousand years, but the rest were meant to be permanent.
“All powerful seal, my flank,” Celestia muttered into her teacup. She looked around the room and a thought occurred to her. “Twilight, I need you to send for the Elements of Harmony at once. I’ve sent word to the Crystal Empire for assistance, and Discord still refuses to answer my summons...”
“Discord!?” Twilight was still dubious about the crafty Draconequus. “Are you sure that’s really necessary?”
Celestia nodded, looking out towards the calm city. “If it truly is Darkrai… it still may not be enough.”
***
“Do you have healing magic?” Flare asked Sparkler, who simply huffed.
“Oh? So now you talk to me? Now that you actually want something from me?”
Flare snorted, “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Sparkler’s voice rose as she got angrier. “What do you think? You’re acting like a mule!”
Flare’s own temper began to rise. “A mule!?”
“You heard me!” Sparkler yelled. “Ever since we left that city, you’ve been cold, and frankly… you’ve been acting like an asshole!”
Flare’s eyes flashed and his horn lit up, right before he realised what he was doing and backed down almost instantly. “I-I’m sorry, Sparkler…” What was he doing? Was he actually about to attack Sparkler? Just because she called him out and was right!
Sparkler said nothing and looked at the human. “She seems to have just fainted; a simple rejuvenation spell should fix that.” Her horn lit up, and she prepared to cast, only to have a stream of flame shoot just over her, singing the fur on her back.
“AAH! Flare, what the!?” She turned to find out what the hell was wrong this time, but her voice got caught in her throat. A large Rapidash stood nearby, flames lingering around its mouth.
“Step away from Lady Lara!” he demanded with a gruff voice, as the flames on his back intensified.
“Wait! We’re trying to help-” Sparkler was cut off as the Rapidash used Flamethrower again, only to have it stopped by Flare’s shield.
“I said get away from Lady Laramie!” The Rapidash growled again, and Flare Blitz placed himself between it and Sparkler.
“If you would stop and listen, maybe you’d see that we are trying to help her, not harm her!” Flare said back. “I thought you were more patient than this, Supernova!”
The Rapidash, apparently named Supernova, paused and gave Flare a hard stare. “How do you know my name, boy? I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Oh, we’ve met alright,” Flare replied. He turned back to Sparkler. “Can you please heal Lady Lara while I talk with this dunderhead?” He started to walk off, but stopped and turned back to her. “Also, cast that Translation Spell again. You can’t understand Pokemon here yet, can you?”
Sparkler nodded and lit up her horn again, tapping into Flare memory and pulling the necessary information. After a few awkward glances between the Pokémon and the unicorn, she went back to using the rejuvenation spell on the human girl.
“Who are you?” Nova looked at the slightly smaller stallion; there was something about him, something… familiar.
“Can we find Ashley first? Then we’ll talk.”
“You know my wife as well?” Nova was getting more puzzled by the minute.
Flare on the other hoof, sighed mentally. “I guess they didn’t get my message crystal. Did Arceus not give it to them?”
The two stallions walked off, leaving Sparkler, who was currently freaking out over what to do when the girl woke up, behind.
“So you won’t even tell me your name? Despite knowing mine?” Supernova was getting nowhere with the stoic unicorn, and it was frustrating him to no end.
“Sorry, not until we find Ash.”
“So what about your friend? What’s her name?”
“The one you tried to kill? Her name is Sparkler.”
Nova snorted, “I wasn’t gonna kill her. What kind of Pokémon do you take me for?”
“…Sorry,” Flare replied. “I’m just having doubts as to what lengths a Pokémon will go to in order to get what it wants.”
“Sounds like you’ve had it rough,” Nova said. “Need any advice? I used to be good at giving it.”
“Used to be?”
Nova sighed and looked at the clouds rolling slowly across the sky. “My son, he’s my pride and joy… but I haven’t seen him in a long time now. Last I heard, he was in the Sinnoh region… doing Arceus-knows what.”
Flare felt a stab of pain go through his heart. “Maybe your son found a place that makes him happy?” Flare said. “A place he truly belongs?”
“I hope so,” Nova said. “Well, enough of this sappy crap, let’s find Ash so you can get explaining!”
Flare nodded and they headed for the stables, where the female Rapidash could be found.
***
Lara Laramie awoke to see the strange purple Pokémon looking down at her, its horn shining lightly.
“Good to see you’re alright.” Sparkler smiled and Lara backed up, stumbling over herself.
“Now, ah dun want any trouble… wait a berry-picking minute, ya’ll can talk?”
Sparkler smiled; the human’s accent instantly reminded her of Applejack, only slightly more nasal.
“My name is Sparkler. Miss Lara, was it?”
Lara nodded. Was this Pokémon like that Meowth that she had seen all those years ago? “Tha’s right, mah name is Lara Laramie, owner of the Laramie Ranch.” She picked herself up and brushed some dust off of her overalls. “Now ah gotta question fer you. What the heck kinda Pokémon are you?”
“A Pokémon?” Sparkler wondered how best to answer this. She was certainly no Pokémon, but she didn’t know how the human would react to that knowledge. Second choice, play along and pretend she was a Pokémon. “I’m a… Unicorn. Yes, my species is Unicorn.”
Well, it wasn’t a total lie.
“So whut about the other one?” Lara asked, looking around to see where it had gone. “Is he a Unicorn too?”
Sparkler nodded, “Yes, and he’s wandered off with a Rapidash named… Supernova was it?”
“Nova!?” Lara headed off to the stables, “The old stallion’s had a bit of a temper ever since his boy left the ranch… not that ah’d blame him.”
Sparkler tilted her head. “His son? Did something happen?”
Lara nodded; she remembered that day like it was just yesterday. “We had a request fer a Ponyta that excelled in battle and at racin’. The buyer offered an absurd amount o’ money and ah didn’t quite trust ‘im.” Lara played with one of the straps on her overalls as she continued the tale.
“I let the Ponyta leave the ranch, ta git away from that man… but ah didn’t expect whut would happen next…”
“What happened?” Sparkler asked.
Lara sighed, “That man came back, with a bunch o’ crooks no less, an’ attacked the ranch. He was gonna take all of mah Pokémon.” She looked out the field at the herds of Pokémon grazing there. “If it weren’t fer all of ‘em fightin’ back so hard, ah reckon he woulda gotten away with it.”
“So this villain was defeated, then?”
“Eeyup, but that Ponyta never did come back.” Lara looked down and sighed again. “Ah do hope Flare Blitz is doin’ okay.”
“Flare Blitz?” All this time, they had been talking about Flare? Sparkler felt a little bad that she had found out about a part of Flare’s life like this. It felt like she was intruding on his privacy.
But on the other hoof, she could at least give this girl some peace of mind.
“I think he’s doing alright; I’d bet my horn on it, actually!”
“Y’all really think so?”
Sparkler smiled, “I know so!”
Lara returned the smile, and they continued their trek to the stables where Nova and Flare had gone.
***
Flare Blitz’s heart was beating a mile a minute. It had been a little over a decade since he had seen his family, and ever since he had decided to stay in Equestria, he thought he’d never see them again.
“You alright, boy?” Nova asked him. “You look like yer gonna be sick.”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine!” Flare responded. “Let’s do this!”
Nova raised an eye. Was this odd Pokémon nervous about meeting Ashley? And just how did he know them? Nova was sure as hell he had never seen him before, and was equally as sure that Ash hadn’t either.
The Rapidash nudged the stable door open and stepped inside. “Ash? You in here?”
A voice responded. It sounded a little like Applejack’s, only it was more mature and had a honey-like richness to it. “Ah’m in here, Nova.”
The female Rapidash stepped out from one of the alcoves and looked in their direction. Her red eyes sparkled like Fire Rubies, and her mane shimmered like the sunset. She walked towards them, her gaze never leaving Flare’s.
“It… it has been so long,” she whispered, a stream of tears falling from her eyes as she wrapped her forehooves around Flare. “But I never once gave up. I knew that one day, I would see you again.”
“I missed you so much!” Flare replied, his own tears falling to the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
Nova blinked a few times, trying to process what was happening. “Wait! WHAT!?” He looked outright pissed that his wife was hugging another stallion. “Care to share, anyone?”
There was a moment of silence, and Ashley burst out laughing. “Oh, Nova, you still don’t see it?”
“See what?”
Ash looked back to Flare and smiled warmly. “He’s changed so much, and I’ll expect that he will explain why…” Flare smiled sheepishly. “But you really don’t recognise your own son?”
“My… son?” Nova looked at the unicorn, right as Sparkler and Lara walked into the barn.
Flare Blitz nodded and looked at his parents. “It’s been a while, but I’m home…”
Lara looked just as confused as Nova. “What do y’all mean, ‘Ah’m home’?”
Flare walked over to the human and nuzzled her. “My name is Flare Blitz, Lady Laramie.”
Lara’s eyes widened as she stared at the unicorn. “T-that’s… is it really you?” He looked nothing like a Ponyta, but there were his eyes and his fiery, red mane…
“It’s a long story, so y’all might want to take a seat…”
***
Darkrai floated in the night sky; the city of Canterlot was far below him.
It looked so defenceless, so utterly pathetic.
“Is it time?” the dark creature asked the night sky. “Are all preparations set?”
A pair of red and green eyes stared back at the Pokémon. “Infiltration is complete, and the ponies don’t suspect a thing. But we have other things to discuss…”
“And what of our other partner?” Darkrai asked, ignoring that last part. “What is her current standing?”
“Her forces are in route as we speak, and infiltration of that settlement is almost complete,” Sombra replied. “But what of our deal? What of the Crystal Empire?”
Darkrai turned his cold gaze to the unicorn, “The Empire and its inhabitants will be yours, to do with as you please… provided you are able to prove yourself worthy.”
“Fret not, Nightmare Lord, our combined might will not be stopped. Not by the
Princesses, nor by the Elements… you have my word.”
Darkrai looked back at Canterlot and smiled. “Then let us begin… The morning to come shall be their last!”