//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Absolution // by ed2481 //------------------------------// Edited by distortedtruth92 I stirred slowly, feeling more refreshed than I had in... well to be honest, several years. I’d forgotten what it was like to sleep in a real house. A house with a real heated fireplace and beneath actual bedding. I was lying upon what I’d assume was a Mightyena or possibly an Arcanine bed, the nice kind and Fluttershy had even included an incredibly lovely blanket. The only thing that could possibly have been missing was Belle’s scent in my nose... but I had grown accustomed to lacking that. I pushed the blanket off of myself and let out a luxurious stretch/yawn combo as only a feline could, and then got off of the bed, suddenly hungry. I lifted my nose to the air, my mouth beginning to water as the overpowering scents of prey filled my nostrils. I frowned and shook my head as I remembered where I was. This was not a place to be hunting. Discouraged, I shook my head again and headed for the door. As I did so, my blade began to vibrate wildly like it never had done before. My eyes widened in surprise and terror, something that set my blade off this badly would mean death for miles! The last time anything like this had happened had been when the Ultimate Weapon had been about to go off. A bright flash of light emitted in the room along with a loud, cheery voice speaking. “Fluttershy, I’m HOME!” My eyes readjusted and I gazed upon the creature that just teleported into the room. My first instinct was to... run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. If it was doing that much to my blade then I wanted nothing to do with it. My second reaction, and perhaps the stronger for that’s what I did, was to stand my ground and gather a Shadow Ball to my blade, just in case. Who knew what the strange being wanted with Fluttershy. The being looked down at me with its yellow, red eyes and a peculiar expression crossed its face. “My, my. What do we have here? Is Fluttershy spending her bits on getting extoic animals again? Tch, I thought she’d gotten over than spending crave.” “Excuse me? Who are you and what are you doing trespassing in Fluttershy’s house?” I demanded with a low growl. The being looked mild surprised at me. “Oh my, it speaks,” he said before gesturing a Pyroar like paw towards its chest. “And me a trespasser? I’ll have you know I live here too young man.” “Where? In the kennel?” I asked as my eyes glanced over him and his disturbing body. “For you are most certainly a mutt of some kind or another.” The creature eyes widen in at the statement before he slyly smiled back down at me. “Not as much as you look like an oversized kitty,” he said before snapping his other talon arm. A flash of light washed over me, and once it passed I felt... different... dramatically different. “There now, much cuter if you do ask me,” the being said with an amused chuckle as his tail waved in front of me, leaving a mirror behind. I looked into it and my jaw dropped in horror as I saw that my wondrous fur had been... snipped. I had been pruned! A ball of rage formed in my stomach and I unleashed my Shadow Ball at the being before I launched myself for it’s stomach, my blade angled downwards for a perfect slice. The being caught my Shadow Ball, but stood still as I sliced through and landed on the other side. He merely glanced down where I made the slice before his bottom simply walked off by its own, leaving the top floating harmlessly in the air. “Hmm... not bad, but I’ve seen better,” he told me as he inspected the ‘cut’ and took a bite of the Shadow Ball. “Also, this needs a bit more spice to it. A bit too plain for my taste,” he added as he took another bite. It... must be a ghost type, I thought to myself. Then I smiled darkly and my horn glowed black. Before the creature could react, I pivoted from where I was standing and threw myself at it, Nightslash tearing through its torso with a satisfying swish. I landed flawlessly a foot away and turned back to see the creature blinking blankly. His head popped off and it looked at my cut once more. “Better, but you technique still needs a bit of work,” he said, unphased at all by my attack. Then his body parts all flash at once, disappearing for a second before his voice spoke right over me. “Or you balde needs a bit of sharpening,” he added. I glanced up to see him casually leaning on nothing with... my blade in his paw and his talon finger running up and down its edge. “It’s a bit dull, dontcha think?” he asked glancing down. “AHHHHHH!” I screamed! He had my blade! My Blade! That-that was impossible! He couldn’t have gotten my blade! “Oh zip it,” with a roll of his eyes as he lowered his paw down and snapped my horn back in place. “You’re acting as if you’ve never seen some simple magic tricks before.” “I-I-I-” my mind died and I fainted. I awoke to the sensation of a bucket of ice water being upended on my face. I let out a roar of surprise and came up swinging. “Oh pipe down will ya? You’re making a racket as loud as an Ursa Minor when it stubs its toe,” the familiar voice of the mix match creature told me flatly. “You-you-you took my blade!” I shouted at it. “How dare you touch something so blessed by Father Arceus in such a manner!” “And how dare you call me a mutt,” he remarked. “I’ll have you know I’m a draconequus, not some canine sniffing at others’ butts.” “You defiled the holy blade!” I retorted stubbornly, not allowing it to drive me mad with its inane babble. “I don’t even know how you did it!” “Why like this of course,” he simply said, and before I knew it he reached down and snapped my blade off again like it was nothing. “See?” he asked, twirling my blade up in the air. “Sto-stop that!” I shouted at him. “You-you can’t do that! If you damage it then I won’t even be able to claim to be an Absol!” “Oh calm down, I got deft hands like a keen eagle,” he said as he caught my blade in mid air and flung it towards me. I flinched slightly before I felt it snapped once more onto my head. “I also have a good throwing arm,” the draconequus said with pride. I bent my head down to make sure that my blade was still attached and then stared at the being. “You... you’re a Legendary...” “Well, legendary yes, though I prefer master of chaos more thank you very much,” he replied. My nerves threatened to fail me again, but I closed my eyes and let out a long breath. Yesterday I’d cried twice, today I would make sure that I only fainted once. “Do you have a name?” I asked slowly. “Well, I was wondering when you were going to ask that. My name Discord, Spirit/Master of Chaos,” he said with a introductory bow. “And yours?” he asked, glancing down at me. “Cres,” I said, suddenly feeling very inconsequential. “Herald of Father Arceus,” I added, mostly for my own benefit, I doubted Father Arceus wanted anything to do with me. “Father Arceus huh? Hmm... never heard of him,” Discord said with a dismissive shrug. “He is the maker of all Pokemon,” I stated before shaking my head. “At any rate, I am one of his many heralds.” “Pokemon?” Discord muttered before his ears perked up a bit as he glanced at me. “Ah, now it makes a bit more sense,” he continued with a small smile. “Funny, I thought he hated Arceus...” he mused. “Who?” I asked with a frown. “Bah, no one in particular,” Discord said with another dismissive gesture. “So, what’s a little Pokemon like you doing on our side of the universe?” he asked, bending down with an inquisitive look. “Seeking absolution,” I stated, not wanting to tell the... Seviper... anything else. “Ah I see... and I guess my dear friend Fluttershy is helping you out? Isn’t she?” Discord asked, though already seeming to know the answer. “What do you think?” I asked blandly. Discord chuckled lightly in agreement. “Well then, I guess I should leave you too it then. I think I punished you enough for calling me a mutt,” he said as he bent upwards. “Where is Fluttershy anyways?” I asked with a small frown. “Oh probably out in the back feeding the small zoo of animals she has,” he replied, meekly pointing to the back door. “She should be finished in ooo,” he looked at his bare pyroar wrist, “half an hour or so.” I let out a small sigh and then nodded. “Well then, tell her that I’m off to hunt,” I told him, heading for the door. “Will do, have fun,” Discord said with a wave of his talon hand. I didn’t reply back as I walked out he door and into the... rather rainy day. Great... I hated rain. I savored the taste of the Stantler like creature’s liver as I finished off my meal, leaving the rest for the scavengers which I’m sure were closing in. While yes taking down a Stantler for myself was rather wasteful in and off itself... after the morning I’d had I felt the need to treat myself a little. Licking my lips I set off in no direction in particular. The constant drip, drip, drip of the rain rustling through the trees filled the air and my breath came out in little puffs of fog. The rain must have come with a cold front because it was at least ten degrees colder than it had been the day before. I shook myself again in a futile attempt to free myself of the rain. I knew it was pointless, but I’d been out in the shower for several hours now stalking that Stantler and I felt that I should at least try to continue looking presentable. It was at that point I realized I’d left the forest and ended up on the fringe of Applejack’s farm. I sighed, my paws seemed determined to bring me here didn’t they? I shook my head and scanned around for an apple tree with enough leaves to provide me with some sort of cover. I could probably have gone up to the barn, but honestly I’d rather not do that, it smelled. I was in luck and spotted a tree with... a strange tree house sitting within its limbs. That tree house would provide a perfect place to rest! I smiled and ran over to it, shaking off my fur for a final time and relishing the feeling of being dry once more. With a contented sigh I lay down and sprawled on my side, a thing that I’d taken to do quite a bit here in Equestria, after a year of spending all my time on a mountain it felt great to simply lie in the grass. As I did so, I pondered what had happened yesterday evening. Fluttershy had been... understanding I suppose but she was in the same camp as my dear Belle. They both believed it wasn’t my fault when it clearly was, it had been I who had rushed in like an idiot, knocked over the can, and then run out before I’d rescued Henry... why couldn’t anyone see it that way? A sigh left my body and I closed my eyes, determined to sleep through the rain. “What is it?” “I don’t know...” “Let’s poke it with a stick!” Three rather high pitched voices were speaking around my head, disturbing my sleep. I then felt the pointed end of a twig touching the tip of my nose. I wrinkled said nose, and then moved my head in a smooth motion, bringing my blade easily through the twig. “Ah!” the three voices yelp in surprise and remained momently silent. “That... was... AWESOME!” the voice who suggested pointing me with a stick exclaimed. “Let’s see if it can do it again!” “I don’t know Scoots, maybe we should just leave it alone,” one of them interjected in a familiar southern accent. “It is sleeping after all, and I would hate to get it made at us.” Children. Poking me with sticks. Surprisingly, this wasn’t new. Instead of reacting otherwise I gathered a small bit of fire in my jaws and let it seep out the side of my lips, confident that the children were too far away to be affected and that the grass was too wet to be set aflame. “Ah!” the three of them yelp again from the spurt of flame. “Cool...” ‘Scoots’ mused in wonder. “HE’S A DRAGON!” The other two remain silent before the first voice spoke up. “I don’t think so... I never seen a dragon with fur before.” “That’s because we’ve only seen Spike, this could be a new species of dragon!” Scoots exclaimed. “I don’t think you’re using that word right...” the southern one muttered. “We could bring it to Fluttershy and be... be... Species Finders!” “Can that even be a Cutie Mark?” the first one inquired. “We won’t know till we tried it,” Scoots replied with eagerness in her voice. Having had quite enough of that, I opened my eyes. “If you’re all quite done, I was enjoying a rather nice nap and would like to continue it now.” The three ‘children’ all stiffened as I spoke and opened my eyes. I found myself looking at three ‘fillies’. One had a bow in her red mane, one was a white unicorn, and the other was a orange pegasus with surprisingly small wings. I looked between the three of them for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “What’s the matter? Meowth got your tongues?” All three shook their heads before the one with the bow spoke up. “Sorry mister, we just got...” “Distracted by you,” the white unicorn picked up. “Sleeping under our clubhouse and all,” Scoots, the orange pegasus, finished. “Oh, I apologize,” I said with a small yawn as I looked up at the ‘clubhouse’. “It was raining and I was looking for a dry place to rest.” “That’s okay,” the bow one said. “We didn’t really mean to disturb ya anyways,” she said, giving Scoots a quick flat glare before continuing. “If you want to go back to your nap, you can go right ahead. I promise we won’t disturb you again.” “But didn’t we plan on trying to make loud-” Scoots began to say before the bow one put a hoof over her muzzle. I sighed and rolled to my paws. “It makes no real difference I suppose. I have been spending too much of my time here sleeping. I would not want my Belle to think that I had grown fat during my stay here,” I told them with a dry chuckle. “Your bell?” the white unicorn asked with a puzzled frown. “Why would a bell think of that?” “Not ‘bell’,” I said. “Belle, with an e at the end, my mate’s name is Belle.” “Oh...” the unicorn said with a small noded. “Anyways... you got a name mister?” the bow one asked. “Indeed I do, it is Cres,” I said, shaking out my mane a little and running a paw through my fairly tangled fur. “And I assume you have them as well?” She nodded her head. “My name is Apple Bloom,” she said. "I’m Sweetie Belle,” the unicorn added in, I gave her a raised eyebrow. “And I’m Scootaloo,” the pegasus stated proudly. “And we three are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” they all exclaimed in unison. “Cutie Mark Crusaders?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Do I want to ask what that means?” “Well, it’s means we’re on a hunt to discovered our Cutie Marks, duh,” Scootaloo replied. “Yeah, we do hundred of tasks in search for the one that’s our special talent! That way we are no longer blank flanks.” Apple Bloom added while wiggling the side of her flank at me. It was then I did notice there were blank, and lacking the mark I’d been seeing on the others. I frowned for a moment. “That seems rather stupid,” I said plainly and without venom. “You will never ‘find’ a special talent, you are most likely born with it. The longer you search, the more dejected you will become by the failure.” The three of them looked at me blankly. “Well, that can’t be true,” Scootaloo remarked. “Beside, if we sit around and do nothing we’ll be blank flanks forever!” “Yeah, and no pony wants that,” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “Plus each failure just beings a new task and adventure with it,” Apple Bloom stated. “Do as you like then,” I said with a small shrug. “Considering how I have spent the last two years of my life, I suppose I have no real reason to judge.” I frowned for a moment before adding. “I suppose I should get going. Fluttershy is probably looking for me and I should go before Applejack arrives to shout at me again.” Apple Bloom looked at me with a puzzled look. “Why would my big sis yell at ya?” “We have a disagreement on my choice of diet,” I stated as I shook a bit of dirt and loose grass out of my fur. “That, and she thinks I’m dangerous.” “Why would she think that?” the filly asked. "I eat meat,” I stated, fully expecting some form of negative reaction. "And?” the filly asked inquisitively. “And I hunt,” I stated, rather surprised at how simply she was reacting. “Apparently she is worried that I will kill one of you, which I would not.” I shook my head and shrugged. “But why would she think that?” Apple Bloom asked. “You’re following the laws? Aren't ya?” “Indeed I am,” I replied with a small shrug. “Though when I first arrived here I was unaware of them. I believe that colored her view of me rather badly.” With that said I shook my head. “I’m sure that Fluttershy is missing me at this point, goodbye children.” I took off at a light trot, heading for Fluttershy’s house.