//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: A New World, a New Way // by zeusdemigod131 //------------------------------// There were very few things that Princess Luna hated. Ponies who thought her Night Guards were vampires? Pity. The technological advancements made in her absence? Interested. Night clubs? LOVE! Prince Blueblood... alright, him, she hated. But Luna begrudgingly accepted the tedious political dealings that came with running a country. What Luna had never thought would happen was that she would actually be interested in a disaster report that came from somewhere other than Ponyville. “...And Trottingham is reporting heavy damage done by what they described as a “Steel plated Dragon” And that the attack could have been a lot worse had the monster not been stopped by a, and I’m quoting this. “Six foot tall fire breathing bird and a bipedal fox in a dress that also shot fire from its fingers. Both of which are currently in town hall, trying to communicate with the mayor.” The stallion reading the report looked up at the Lunar Princess, worried that she might think he had gone insane. Luna just nodded. Normally she might have thought the pegasus had indeed lost his mind, or that Discord had visited Trottingham, but today was different, and judging by how things were going, they might remain different indefinitely. Luna wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. “Continue.” She said, looking at the Swablu perched on her shoulder and considering the Pokémon. The stallion gulped. “Umm, the lightning factory in Cloudsdale, is reporting mechanical difficulties in the machines used to create electricity and charge the clouds; the scientists say there’s something producing an electromagnetic field around the building and is draining the energy but have been unable to figure out what’s causing it.” Luna considered sending Bio Chem to check this one out, the stallion was surprisingly adept at dealing with technology of all kinds, plus Luna was beginning to worry he would do something rash if left to study the Pokémon by himself. “Manehattan has sent reports of several Sea Serpent type creatures that have appeared in the bay and attacked a few boats, no real damage though, as well as a flock of steel birds that are attempting to make a nest in the statue of Harmony.” If these kind of problems are normal in the Pokémon world, Luna thought to herself. Then I wonder how the humans ever got past huts and covered wagons. Indeed Luna was confused as to how a species with no powers themselves came to be dominant on a planet with beings of greater power, all of which had some kind of magical abilities, and in some cases, greater intelligence. The stallion, ignorant to the Princess’ thoughts, continued down the list. “Appeloosa has been experiencing an abnormally severe sand storm and the locals claim some kinda Dra-” “AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” The messenger was interrupted when a white unicorn stallion with a blond mane ran into the room, shoving the doors open. “KILL IT! KILL IT! SEND IT TO THE MOON! AUNTY!” Blueblood cried as the “stallion” saw Luna sitting at the throne. Before Luna could even ask what was going on, the Houndoom from earlier. Fang Luna thought he was called, rushed into the room, growling, his eyes locked on Blueblood. “Grrrr…” The Pokémon growled as he ran after the Prince, closing the distance rather quickly and knocking him to the ground. “Ahh!” Blueblood screamed as Fang stared down at the Unicorn with hatred in his eyes, and was then blasted with energy from his horn. Fang yelped and flew halfway across the room but landed on his feet, he silently thanked Arceus for his immunity to Psychic-types before running after Blueblood once more. The unicorn’s blasts still hurt, but nowhere near as much as they should have. As Luna watched the scenario before her unfold, she sighed. “We will continue this later.” She nodded to the messenger, and he saluted and quickly left the room. Luna turned to Blueblood, who was now hiding behind the throne, then looked to Fang, who looked to pounce but was hesitant because of his proximity to Luna. “Would someone please explain to me what is going on here?” Luna asked aloud. Blueblood looked at Luna like she’d gone crazy. “Aunty, one of those… monsters got into the castle!” Luna winced when Blueblood called her “Aunty”; she had no idea if she was actually related to him, but she would sooner announce to Equestria that Discord was her uncle, not that he was, but the point still stood. “Blueblood,” Luna began. “What have you been up to for the past two days?” She was now officially worried that her “nephew” had caused an international incident… again. “Well, after that dreadful explosion yesterday, I sequestered myself in the safety of my abode,” Luna counted how many of the words Blueblood used could be easily replaced, so far she was at three, it always helped her pass the time when she had to talk with him. “Then I learned about these disgusting monsters that have infested the city.” “Grrrr...” “Swa?” “And when I raced here to acquire some guards to... take care of them, I found that beast!” He pointed to Fang, who cocked his head. “It was wandering the halls, so I did the only thing I could.” “And what, pray tell, was that?” Luna asked. Blueblood blinked once, then smiled. He lit up his horn and fired a magic blast at Fang. Unfortunately for him, the canine saw the blast coming and leapt out of the way, landing and barking angrily at the prince. Luna gaped at what she had just seen, then turned to Blueblood, that cocky smile of his still on his face. “Now, where is Aunty Celestia, as I said I wish to acquire some guards to – ahhh!” Blueblood was suddenly surrounded by a dark blue aura and throw to the front of the throne, he landed in front of Luna, who stared down at him. Fang smiled as he saw his target clear of the nice pony and licked his chops. “One moment, Fang.” Luna said to the Pokémon as he prepared to pounce. Fang whined but sat obediently and waited, Gene had told him he should listen to the ponies from the meeting, but only those ponies. Luna turned back to Blueblood, who was brushing himself off indignantly. “Aunty! What has–?” “Quiet, you pompous little ingrate.” Luna snapped. “And stop calling me Aunty.” Blueblood stood there, mouth agape, as Luna continued. “I don’t care what my sister says, if this is how you are going to act then I will not tolerate any relations between the two of us.” Luna took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Now, I’m going to explain what is going on with these creatures,” She gestured to Fang, who was still staring at Blueblood, almost hungrily at this point. “And you are going to listen.” Blueblood didn’t speak, which Luna took as a good sign, and began to explain. “First off, these creatures are members of a race called Pokémon, and they are just as intelligent as a normal pony,” Which makes them about ten times smarter than you. She thought to herself. “And I am not going to allow you to start some of crusade to round them all up and do harmony knows what to them.” Luna paused for a moment. “In fact, if I hear about any such thing and find that you are at all involved, I will personally throw you in the dungeon.” Blueblood took a step back, he couldn’t believe that the Princess had just spoken to him like that. “But-but they’re just animals!” Blueblood shouted. “That beast is nothing more than some kind of mangy mutt!” Fang’s head swiveled around to glare at the stallion. “Mutt.” He growled, his mind jumping back to before Gene had found him. “Beast.” His eyes lit with fire as he stood up and turned to the unicorn. “Houndooom!” He roared, simultaneously using the attack by the same name. Blueblood’s false bravado dropped and he felt the sudden urge to flee. He took off running, but Fang followed, snapping at his heels. “Aaaaaaahhhhhh!” Blueblood screamed as he ran around the room, somehow remaining ahead of the Fire-type. Fang was however, slowly gaining ground, but when Blueblood turned back he saw flames licking at the dog’s maw, Fang lost some ground as Blueblood pushed himself harder than he ever had before. Luna was considering what to do. Assuming Fang is in fact carnivorous, this situation might clean itself up. Luna wasn’t actually going to let Fang kill Blueblood and eat him, she didn’t want the dog to eat anything so spoiled. Maybe she’d just let him bite the brat, teach him a lesson. It was then that Gene and Belle entered the room. “Princess, have you seen Fang? I-” Gene stopped when he saw his dog chasing Blueblood around the room like a frightened Pidgey. This was actually normal; Fang had a habit of chasing smaller Pokémon for fun. It had gotten him in trouble a few times, mostly when he tried it with something along the lines of a Teddiursa, but he had never actually hurt any Pokémon. The thing that presented the problem were the flames coming from the canine’s mouth. “Fang!” Gene shouted sternly, causing the Dark Pokémon to stop and wince at his Trainer’s – Former Trainer’s – he thought glumly, tone of voice. Gene had his arms crossed and had a no-joke expression on his face. “You stop chasing that stallion and get over here right now!” Fang whined and slunk over to Gene’s side. The Gallade looked at his Houndoom disapprovingly. “I’ll talk to you later.” He then turned to the unicorn Fang had been chasing and looked at him apologetically and was about to apologize for his Pokémon’s actions when Blueblood interrupted him. “My word, it can speak!” Blueblood said, astounded. “Just what manner of creature are they?” He turned to Luna, completely forgetting what had just occurred as his mind latched onto something new. Normally even Blueblood wouldn’t be this stupid, but this time… this time he wanted something. Blueblood trotted up to the Psychic-Types and stopped in front of Belle, who was currently examining Fang’s memories. “And what are you?” He said, flashing his teeth in a grin that had fooled many a mare. Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for the female population of Equus, none of those mares had been high level telepaths that Belle was. Her eyes glowed blue as she turned to glare at the stallion, that cocky grin still on his face. Remembering what Gene had told her, she decided not to turn the prince into a vegetable; instead, she dumped Fang’s recent memories into Gene’s head and waited. It took about ten seconds for Gene to realize what Blueblood had intended to do, what he had done to Fang, and what his was thinking. “Fang,” He said calmly. “Yes?” Gene looked to the Houndoom. “Just don’t burn him, ok?” Fang was confused for a moment, then realized what he meant. He nodded in understanding, then arched his back, and glared at Blueblood once more. Gene turned to Blueblood and gave him a devilish grin. “You have five seconds.” It took three seconds for Blueblood to get the message, and another one for him to turn and run, meaning that he was only a few feet away from Fang when he pounced. Houndooms have very strong legs. Luna sighed as she watched Blueblood roll helplessly on the ground as Fang tried to pin him. She was about to stop the attack before it went too far when the door was again flung open, this time by Discord, who flew into the room crying. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Lulu!” Discord hid behind the throne. “Make her stop! I already apologized!” Again, before Luna could ask what was wrong the answer came in the door, in the form of a pink maned, butter yellow pegasus, holding a small red and white sphere in her hoof. “Discord get over here, I’m not done yet!” As Fluttershy flew into the room Belle noticed what she was holding and froze. Her eyes went wide and she put a force field around herself and her mate. “What is happening?” Luna asked, regarding the situation in general. Discord shuttered from behind the throne and explained. “IwastryingtothinkofnewwaystostopZygardeandImadeaPokéballbutIwasn’tgonnauseitIswearandnowFluttershyisreallyreallyreallymad.” Luna paused as she worked over what the chaos lord had just said, only being able to understand it thanks to spending time around Pinkie Pie, then turned to Fluttershy. “You have merely been berating him to the point of a breakdown, yes?” “Oh of course, Your Highness, I would never actually hurt anyone.” Fluttershy said with a smile. Luna nodded. “In that case.” She teleported Discord in front of Fluttershy, then watched as a berating so powerful commenced she considered using Fluttershy against Arceus. It in itself was amusing, but after a while Discord began running again, and Prince Blueblood and Fang were still fighting… if a Houndoom scaring the living daylights out of a unicorn who knew one attack spell could be considered fighting. Gene and Belle were still within their protective bubble, watching Fluttershy closely. Luna sighed and turned to Swablu. “I suggest you cover your ears, little one.” Swablu darted into Luna’s mane again. Luna then cleared her throat. “SILENCE!” She shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Everyone stopped moving and looked at her. “Thank you," She began to address the problems. “Fluttershy, I believe that Discord has had enough...” She looked to Gene and Belle. “And as for this abomination,” She lifted the Pokéball off the ground and placed it at the foot of the throne. She then got up, walked down the steps, and stomped on it, luckily she had placed it so the capture button was pointing down, the device shattered under the Alicorn’s strength, fragments surrounding the button, then she stomped again, and again, and again, until naught but dust remained. Well, dust and a very damaged capture button. “I believe that takes care of that, now Gene, while I find your logic for sicking Fang on Prince Blueblood sound, I believe it is time to call him off.” Gene sighed and nodded despite his instincts telling him that Blueblood deserved much worse. “Come here, Fang,” He called, patting the side of his leg. “Come on, boy.” Fang lopped over to Gene, a devious grin on his muzzle. Luna surveyed the now quiet throne room. “Now then, I believe-” Luna was once again interrupted when the doors again swung open and a guard came in, panting heavily. “A thousand apologies, your highness, but Princess Celestia is back, along with some odd being, and they are currently on their way to the meeting room, she asked we gather-” He couldn’t continue, as the Lunar Princess, chaos lord, former Element of Kindness, Houndoom, Gardevoir, and Gallade, all ran past him. He paused for a moment, then went to find the rest of the beings the guards were searching for. He did not realize he had left Prince Blueblood alone in the throne room. Blueblood just stood there for a moment. Then he looked to the throne. “Hmm,” Blueblood walked over to the shattered remains of the Pokéball, examining the button. “I may know somepony who can salvage this.” Blueblood trotted down a familiar hallway of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and up to a set of doors that were closed, but various sounds of griping and shouting could be heard from inside. Blueblood gulped, he was always careful around Bio Chem, not for any reason in particular, he was just a slightly unstable stallion. “H-hello?” He called as he entered the room. “DUCK!” Blueblood looked toward the shout and was struck by something blue and purple that cried. “ZZZZZZ!” Before rushing out the door. “Damn it!” Bio Chem shouted, watching as the creature disappeared. “These things just don’t like me.” “Ohhh...” Bio Chem turned to the prince. “Oh, right, ‘ello Blueblood.” The prince stood up and brushed himself off. “Do I even want to know?” He asked irritably. Bio Chem tapped his chin, thinking. “Knowing you? Probably not.” The geneticist trotted over to one of his machines. “So Blueblood, to what do I owe this… vexation?” He said, knowing Blueblood wouldn’t understand the word. The Prince ignored him and pulled the cracked capture button from his suits pocket. “I… found this object and I believe it is related to those creatures that have been appearing, b-” “Eee!” Bio Chem squealed and snatched the button from Blueblood before plugging it into one of his sensors. “Goody, goody, the princesses won’t let me experiment on the Pokémon.” He read some lines on a screen and smiled. “Oh, genetically coded laser device.” He grabbed the device and placed it in another device. “Let’s see, amp up the power, override genetic lock keys, reroute from damaged circuits and...” Zap! A red laser shot from the machine, and right towards Prince Blueblood, Bio Chem watched in horror as the laser hit the unicorn, and he spasmed as if he were being shot with electricity. “Gahahahahaha!” Then the capture button, broken beyond repair, began to short circuit. Then exploded in a “spectacular blast of scientific light!” As Bio Chem would explain it to the head of the school when the explosion was investigated. Once the smoke cleared a soot covered geneticist and an extra crispy prince sat up and surveyed the damage, well, Bio Chem got up, Blueblood was unconscious. After a moment Bio Chem winced and turned to Blueblood. “Umm... I think I broke it.” Blueblood twitched in his sleep, this was why Bio Chem was an “Unstable stallion.” Twilight Sparkle shifted nervously in her seat, and she had a very good reason, actually several. First she and Professor Juniper had been yanked from the library by a castle guard telling her Celestia was back, then halfway to the meeting hall something had exploded over in her old school, and finally she had arrived to find that Princess Celestia had returned, along with Lord Arceus. Luna, Discord and all her friends, along with Gene, Belle, Korrina, Lucario, Misty, Fang, and, to her surprise and alarm, Mewtwo, also sat in the room. In short, Twilight Sparkle had a lot of reasons to be stressed. “Uh, don’t worry Twi,” Spike said from her side. “I’m sure everything’s gonna be just fine.” The little dragon thoroughly wished he could believe that. Arceus and Celestia sat on opposite ends of the table, with Luna, Discord and Twilight sitting on either side of the Solar Princess while Mewtwo sat at Arceus’ side. Spike was sitting next to Twilight and the other ponies and Pokémon were on either side of the table, every one of them looking rather nervous. For a moment, no one spoke. Then another minute ticked by, and another, at this point everyone was beginning to wonder just what was going on. Arceus and Princess Celestia, however, had no idea why they hadn’t thought up a better plan. ”Um, Discord?” Arceus began, breaking the silence. “I would like to formally apologize to you for what occurred in the Everfree, I promise I’ll sort something out with Zygarde.” The Draconequus smiled. “Oh, don’t trouble yourself,” He grinned deviously. “I have a plan.” That’s what I was afraid of. Arceus thought to himself. “No matter, now on to business. As some of you may already be aware, Princess Celestia and I have recently had an impromptu meeting to discuss matters involving the Pokémon... and the former humans.” Korrina smiled. She knew the princess would come through for her, now she could go home, and run her Gym and- “After Arceus and Mewtwo shared information with me about Earth, I decided that I could not in good conscious force the Pokémon back there." “What?” Korrina deadpanned. Celestia frowned. “I realize that this comes as a disappointment to some of you but,” She choked. “I’m sorry, but I will not allow innocent beings to be mistreated and discriminated against due to their species, especially one that are sapient.” Luna, Twilight, the other ponies and Spike all stared at Celestia. Not because they outright disagreed with her, but because they were surprised that she had gone from wanting the Pokémon gone to not letting them leave. Pokémon’s reactions were mixed. Korrina looked like she was about to explode, and Misty wasn’t faring any better. Lucario was half upset, because he wanted Korrina to be happy, and half excited, because... he looked at Korrina, slumping in her chair now. But quickly looked away. It’s never going to happen, He told himself. She’s not interested in Pokémon. Well, her only alternative here is a pony. Another part of him argued. And she knows you better than anyone we’ve met in this world so far, even if some of the others from Kalos are here. He referred to the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, Diantha, and a few others. Gene and Belle’s reaction was expected. Gene leaned in and kissed his mate lovingly, Belle smiled and thought of the future, including what Gene had done back in their room. Fang smiled and wagged his tail. Professor Juniper was the most conflicted. She was happy for Gene and Belle, but missed her home. She was glad she had met Twilight, but worried for her friends back in Unova, granted, many of them had probably been dragged along as well. She terribly missed her old body but she was excited because she was now a Psychic-type. Mewtwo just smirked. Suddenly something clicked in Korrina’s mind. “Well, can you at least make us human again? Just cause we’re stuck here doesn’t mean we have to be Pokémon.” “Yeah,” Misty said in agreement. “As much as I love Water-types, I preferred having hands.” Luna looked to Gene, he held one hand on Belle’s arm soothingly and was staring into her eyes. The Gardevoir was either holding back tears at this point or a psychic attack, possibly both. Arceus shook his head. “I will not be changing anyone’s genetic structure again. And besides,” He looked to Gene and smiled. “Not everyone is entirely displeased with this change.” Korrina was now utterly and completely pissed, not only was she stuck Arceus knew how far from home, but now that little, that little… pervert had ruined her chances of being human again. She wanted to scream, but she didn’t. Partially because she wasn’t going to make a fool of herself in front of three princess and two legendaries, partially because she was saving it all for its intended target, but mostly because a sense of calm emanated through her body. She quickly realized that Lucario was using his aura power to keep her from doing anything stupid. It wasn’t the first time he had done this. “T-thank you.” She whispered silently to him. Lucario smiled. Arceus spoke again. “Now, I have come to the realization that the way in which I performed my actions was, for lack of a better word, inexcusable. I do plan to right them with time, but for now I believe it would be good for any who wishes to speak, about anything regarding the recent events, to come forth,” No one spoke for a moment, then to the surprise of all, Fluttershy spoke up. “Um,’ I’d like to say something, if that’s alright.” “But of course, miss Fluttershy.” Arceus said with a nod. “Thank you, um, I know you’re really smart and powerful and I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, it’s just... with all the Pokémon here, what about the animals native to Equestria? I mean, a lot of them probably share the same ecological niche, or maybe they don’t, I didn’t mean to say anything offensive, I’m just worried about my animal friends.” Arceus’ eyes widened. He hadn’t really thought this one our very much, theoretically given enough time the Pokémon would outcompete most of the native wildlife, save for some of the creatures from the Everfree, but he couldn’t tell the ponies he was causing a mass extinction event via invasive species, the princess’ would get mad. For the love of the universe, please let something cause a distraction, Arceus prayed. Nothing happened. “Well, miss Fluttershy,” Arceus finally began. “Equus and Earth are very similar geographically, the Pokémon and your animals evolved to better suit environments found on both planets.” He tried to think of a way to word the next part, failing he went with a partial truth. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I’ll look into it.” Arceus hadn’t actually examined this aspect of the future yet, so he wasn’t being completely false. Fluttershy sighed, but accepted the answer. “Oh, oh, pick me, pick me!” Pinkie Pie unnecessarily waved her hoof in the air. “Yes, miss Pie?” Arceus asked with a smile. “Do you like parties?” Arceus thought for a moment, he hadn't been to a party since… what was it? He thought Mew had thrown a party for when he created Jirachi, the last legendary made before he was imprisoned. “It has been a very long time since I last attended any kind of party, a very long time.” Arceus answered. Pinkie Pie gasped. “That is terrible, everybody–! NO, wait!” She tapped her chin and smiled. “That. Is. Perfect!” She jumped in the air and somehow hovered there as she explained. “I can throw you a ‘Congrats on Getting out of an Inter-Dimensional Prison” party, and a. ‘Welcome to Equus’ Party for you, and you, and you, and you, and… all the Pokémon!” Pinkie was beginning to vibrate. Her excitement was reaching critical mass. Readers, please duck. “And I can throw you two,” she pointed to Belle and Gene. “An engagement party, or whatever Pokémon call it. And a big ‘Welcome to Ponyville’, party extravaganza for all the Pokémon living around Ponyville. This is gonna be so AWESOME!” Pinkie Pie exploded in a burst of confetti, causing the Pokémon present to recoil, yelp, and in Korrina’s case, topple backwards. “Oh, sweet Arceus!” Misty cried, ignoring the fact that she had invoked someone in the room. “She just-” Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up in her chair, a very confused looking Rotom jumping out of her mane. “Sorry for doing this, but I gotta go!” Pinkie excused herself. “I have some serious party planning to do! Come on, Zap!” Zap grinned and bolted after Pinkie, actually turning into a bolt of electricity as he shot out of the room. Discord turned to Celestia. “Can I-?” “No!” She answered sternly, causing the chaos lord to slump in his seat and pout. Arceus turned to Mewtwo. “Mewtwo?” He said calmly. “Yes my lord?” The Genetic Pokémon answered. “Make a note: Keep Pinkamena Diane Pie as far from Mew, and Hoopa, as physically possible at all times.” Arceus was no longer calm. Again he turned to Celestia and asked the one question everyone continually asked themselves when they knew Pinkie. “Seriously, what is with her?” This time, Twilight answered. “I tried to figure that out once. I broke nearly every bone in my body.” Arceus winced. “Ok, moving on. Any more questions?” Korrina grunted and set her chair back up, but on one spoke. “In that case,” Arceus rose from the ground, his entire body surrounded by a golden aura. “I have an announcement to make.” He disappeared in a flash of golden light, leaving everyone wondering the same thing. “Sister,” Luna spoke up. “What does he mean?” They didn’t have to wait long for an answer as not a second later a voice resonated throughout the city, and the world. "Attention citizens of Equus, both old and new.”