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A New World, Burning an Old Way
Written by: xBUBBA1995x
Edited by: zeusdemigod131
Edited by: tdnpony
Pre-Reader: Dragaen (Not Yet Pre-read)
Chapter 14: The not so bad Hangover
I, sadly, did not have a good night sleep.
It was plain and simple. If you drink two hundred year old wine, you’re going to get drunk. I’m just lucky that I don’t feel the pain part of a hangover. I still have to deal with the damned headache, but for me it came in the form of irritability, a shorten temper, and dizziness from light.
I could only imagine what Holly Heart was going through, since she could not handle her alcohol as well as I could. Lucky for her she gets to sleep in, but I don’t really mind. I rather enjoyed the night before, and hate to bother her about getting up. It is her day off after all. Let her sleep the hangover off.
As for myself, I was awoken by Flash Sentry, who apparently was appointed as my personal guard at a drop of a hat, which isn’t that much different from before. When he was tasked with watching me like a hawk. But I guess now I can tell him what to do, which is kind of a pluss. Considering how I wasn’t really willing to get my own breakfast, since I can’t really stand straight.
“Here you go, John.” I glanced up from my seat to see Flash Sentry smiling at me. My plate of food, as well as one for himself, balanced on his wings.
“Thanks…” Thanking Flash Sentry, I took my plate from him and started to eat. I didn’t really look at what I was eating, but I can tell you it tasted like blueberry. Kind of reminded me of Oran Berries, but remembering I can no longer eat my favorite food just made me annoyed.
“So other then coming home drink, and accusing me of being drunk, what happened last night with you and Holly?” He asked.
I glanced up at him, my eyes drooping at the lack of good sleep showed throughout my body. Taking a deep breath, I let out a barrage of words. “After we got there, we ate some really expensive dinners that tasted great, and drank some really expensive wine. Other than that, we made everypony in the restaurant get annoyed at us, and were asked to leave by the staff after I clearly stated that all those ponies complaining should shove it because I was on a date with a mare I like…”
“That’s…” He started.
“Something?”
“Yeah. That’s something…” He smiled. “So how much did it cost anyways?”
“More than ten-thousands bits...” I informed him, before chugging my apple juice. (I don’t really understand how I always get at least one thing apple when I eat breakfast, but It keeps happening.) His mouth dropped open.
“Ten… Thousand… Bits...?”
“Don’t get to slack jawed. Other than the wine, the food was that great. Well above average, but if it wasn’t free I wouldn’t go back.”
“Right… Anyways. After breakfast Princess Cadance wishes to see you, and Sir Shining Armor want you to fight him again. Though the latter of the two can wait.”
“Well Shining can go do that with Eclipse.” I grumbled. “I’m too hungover to think of a battle strategy…”
“Sir Shining Armor won't be to happy about that. He really liked your last fight, not including Princess Cadance getting mad at him.”
My head drooped as I finished of the last of my meal. All I really want is to go back to bed, but when have I ever let that stop me from doing something? I was almost dead and I got up and told off a pair of stallions. So how is it that a simple hangover be so damned annoying?
“Well… Best not to let the Princess wait any longer.” I said, as I stood up and placed the plastic tray away. Flash quickly followed suit, as we made our way out of the dining hall.
-:-:-
As we stepped through the castle, I couldn't help but get annoyed at all the windows. For each time I would walk past one, the light blasting in would blind my eyes. Generally making my headache worse. It didn’t help that almost everypony we walked passed said something jolly. Though that was more of a two way street. I would normally enjoy seeing smiles everywhere I go, but the none stop sounds made my ears ring. It’s times like this that I am reminded why drinking is bad, but I normally don’t get drunk to the point where I have a hangover.
“Are you alright, John?” Flash asked me.
“No.” I answered, as we turned the corner and entered the throne room.
Sitting at her throne was Cadance, while around her where ponies brushing about. Several armed guards stood near her, while even more stood around the room. Much more than normal I might add. As for the room, most of it was cleaned up. Some of the windows were missing, and the floor was crashed in most places, but at least it looked better then when it was filled with Crystals trying to impale me.
As for Cadance herself, she sat slumped over in her thrown. I could tell she was bored just from her body language. Around her the Noble ponies other where trying to get her attention, and when they got to close the guards would push them back. But as I approached her, her demeanor changed appone seeing me.
“John,” She started happily, right before she trotted over to me and gave me a hug, which surprised me. “Just the Pokemon I wanted to see!”
“Good morning to you too…” I gave her a small smile. “Now, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes,” Stepping back to her thrown, Cadance grabbed a letter and floated it over to me. “Celestia sent me a letter informing me about a world summit that is going to be hosted by the end of the week, and I want you to be the advisor!”
“Alright then…” I answered her, appone reading over the letter from Princess Celestia. “But I do have some questions. Like, as to why you want me to be your advisor, and to whom are the other world leaders?”
“Well for starters Shining and I trust you, John, and after saving my life from King Sombra, not to mention helping stop him on multiple occasions, we’ve decided that anything to do with Pokemon that you should be involved. And seeing as this world summit is all about Pokemon, it would be simple to say we need you there.”
“That’s a good point…”
“And as for the leaders,” She waved over one of the Noble ponies. Who held a large pile of books on his back. “I’ve arranged a pile of books for you to read up on. To learn about them so that when we get there, you’ll have an idea about how to handle them in conversation.”
“What does, Handle them in Conversation, mean Cadance?” I asked.
“Well… Since we are going to be defending Pokemon in this meeting, I am hoping to see you throw out one of your speeches…” She answered, a smile on her face. “The last two were great, and I really want to see the looks of Celestia and Luna when you throw one out.”
“Very well Cadance, I’ll start them right away.” Stepping over to the stallion, I grabbed the ten or so books from him.
“Not so fast, John. I have some questions as to how your date went. So… How’d your date with Holly go?”
“Considering they were smiling and laughing the entire time, I would say good.” Turning to the side, I saw Sir Clay standinding with a smile. “Tell me John, how goes the hangover?”
“How do you know…”
“You and Holly drank a whole bottle of Celestia’s Sun spice wine. I would assume so.”
“Really? A whole bottle of Celestia’s Sun spice wine! Wow John, I didn’t know you to be the connoisseur type… You won't trying to impress Holly where you?” Cadance teased.
I let out a long sigh, but smiled. “I’ll tell you about it once the headache goes away, Cadance. I promise, but for now, I am going to find myself a nice and quiet place to read, and a get to work…”
“Alright then, John, Just come and find me when you are ready. I have to get back to all this…” She waved her hoof around the throne room. “What a mess…”
-:-:-
Leaning against a tree in the body of a Snorlax, King Sombra watched as a group cowered in fear of Yveltal. For the past day or so, he had been doing this. Simple watching. Staying still, and watching Pokemon around him.
Thus far, he learned of two things. The first is that Pokemon feared Yveltal for being the incarnation of death. Something that made him both worried and happy. For Death himself is after King Sombra, but the possibilities of taking over such a creature invigorated him. The second was that there was a surprising lack of distrust between Pokemon. They would other group up in the cold snow, or have short conversations before parting ways.
Yet this whole time, King Somra waited.
He did not yet know the power of Yveltal, so he waited. When the Pokemon would leave his sights, he would move. When he could sense the dark presence of the Death Pokemon, he would go to sleep, or at least fake sleep. As to not being attention to himself. He didn’t want another failure to postpone his victory over the Crystal Empire. He was willing to wait, and to attack when he saw fit, but going out and losing every encounterment was getting old.
It was then that Yveltal let an annoyed growl, and took off. Leaving the Pokemon to quiver where they stood. And though the sight of the Pokemon quivering in fear made King Sombra smile, he had work to do. Out of the group, only one looked strong. And that was a Beartic. A mother to be exact. She was the largest Pokemon in the group, and clutching to her leg was a small Cubchoo. But he didn’t care for the cub… He wanted the mother… Standing up, King Sombra waited a moment for the Pokemon to separate then made his move.
The two Pokemon moved out of sight of the others, then he attacked. Crystals shot out of the ground around them, stopping them from making a sound, just before he reached out with his magic...
-:-:-
“Come on John! Can’t you take a break from those books?! You’ve been reading for hours!” Snow wined, as she grabbed on to my leg. “We’ve haven't done anything fun since we got here, and Lex and I have had so many staring contest that I’ve gone cross eyed! We even tried to play poker! And do you know how hard it is to play Poker with these pawn?”
I let an an annoyed sigh. Snow had been at this for the last ten minutes, and though I was able to ignore her for most of that time, things started to get out of hand. Snapping the book I was reading closed, I turned to her.
“Snow…”
“Yes?” She said, popping up with a smile on her face.
“You know I love you right?”
She blinked. “Um… yes. I know you love me…”
“Well sometimes love hurts,” I then flipped her on the nost. “And as for doing something fun, I’ll throw it on the list of things I need to do… Right above Eclipse shows me how to be a real Pokemon, and just below getting over this hangover.”
“Wait, you have a hangover? You went out drinking again?! Come on! How hard is it to say Hey, I’m going out drinking! Want to come? You know I like the taste of Orange just mixed with Whiskey! Why John? Why wont you let me have my Orange Whiskey?!”
“First off, that’s called a Whisky Sour. And secondly, I was on a date with Holly Heart.”
“Wait, you were on a date? With a girl? And you weren't undercover? OH! How as it? Did you get to third-base? Did you finally become a man?” She asked, with a twinkle in her eyes.
Pulling my head back, I then face planted the table I was sitting at. “You’re unbearable sometimes, you know that?” I muttered, as my face kissed table.
“Well John, love hurts sometimes... Oh, by the way, you lit a book on fire.”
I glanced up, and frowned as the book I was reading quickly burned apart. Grabbing the chard book, I knocked it to the floor, before the fire could spread, and stomped out the flames.
“That’s it! I need a break…” I stated. Throwing my arms into the air.
“Does that mean you’ll come and do something with Lex and I?”
Before I could tell her no, Flash Sentry rounded the corner. “Ah, there you are John!” He started.
I let out a very annoyed sigh. “Yes, Flash. What is it?”
“Weavile wishes to see you.”
-:-:-
“Princess, we have him.” A guard stated, as he entered the throne room. Floating behind him in a pink magical glow was Volt.
“No! Let me go! Whatever you think I did this time, you are wrong! You got the wrong bug! I didn’t do a thing! Not today at least! Come on! Let me go, please?” Volt cried out, yet same as always, nopony could understand him.
Glancing up from some paper work, Cadance smiled. “Ah! Good! Thank you, sirs,” Reaching out with her magic, Cadance grabbed Volt, and gently lifted him over to her hoof. “So cutie how are you doing today?”
“I’m not a cutie! I am Volt! The Lord of the Butter! Master of Excalibur! And you’re guards interrupted my food-raid of the Royal bakery! I haven't had breakfast yet! I had a whole plan too! Even drew it up in crayon, and your guards stopped me… I mean… I’m good. Had a nice breakfast, and was not stealing sweets in anyway, shape, or form!”
Cadance chuckled. “Slow down, Volt. You know I can’t understand you right?”
“Oh… right…” Volt muttered to himself…
“But don’t worry, I have something for you that will change that!” Cadance smiled, as she grabbed a small cloth from a near by desk. It was a light blue, and had a Crystal Heart image stitched on it. “Now hold still, so I can put this on you.”
With that, the cloth was folded in half before drifting over to Volt’s neck. “Alright! Say something.” Cadance smiled.
Glancing down at the cloth, Volt held part of the fabric up to see. “So… what’s this then?”
“It’s to let you talk.”
“Wait, so you can understand me now?”
“Yep. Now what where you squeaking on about earlier?”
“Oh… um… I was trying to get breakfast, before your guards snached me up.” Volt’s eyes then shifted left and right, before landing back on Cadance.
“Well then, you enjoy that bandana Volt. I’ll have the guards take you back to the cafeteria so you can eat. Come and find me when you’re finished, Okay cutie?”
“How many times to I have to say I am not a cutie? Do I look cute to you? I am a fearsome Pokemon, who will one day be stronger than John, and will be feared by all who hear my name,” Volt’s stomach then growled at him… “Right after breakfast…”
Cadance laughed. And boy did she need to. She knew that Volt was an exciting one, and rather odd. But John never said he was funny. “Oh, thank you Volt for the laugh. I am sure you will find your mighty sword, but go ahead and get something to eat. A mighty warrior can’t fight evil without something in his belly.”
“Bye for now Princess, I must slay the hunger in my gut! Until we meet again!” With that, Volt jumped off Cadance’s hoof, and sprinted his way out of the Throne room.
-:-:-
Today just didn’t seem to be looking that bright. It was a good day thus far, but everything just seemed gray. It could be because it was cloudy outside, and a light snowfall was blocking out the sun. Or it could be that I am just depressed because of that hangover. But really, I really should not be complaining. King Sombra was not attacking, and though I hate to think of what he is doing, I can’t help but feel good when he is not around.
“Weavile,” I started, as I knocked on her door in the hospital. “May I come in?”
It took her a moment to answer. “Yeah… Come in…”
Opening the door, I found Weavile in her bed. And… she looked like a mess... Her eyes were red, as if she was crying. Large bags hung under her eyes, from a lack of sleep. Her cheeks where wet, as the remains of her tears have yet to go away. And when she looked at me, I could not help but feel sorry for her, and angry at myself.
Why am I complaining about a hangover when there are those around me who are dealing with much worse?
“Please, close the door…” I did so. Any worries about myself drained away as I did. I can’t go around feeling angry or annoyed. I needed to keep myself together, and help those who really needed it.
“Weavile…” I started. “You… You called for me?”
“Yeah… I did…”
I didn’t really know what to say to her. What could I say? That it will be alright? King Sombra is still alive, so how could it be?
“I’ve… I’ve… John, how do you deal... with all the bad?” she asked.
“I… I don’t understand your question…”
She gulped. “Lex… told me about you. How you… fought Team Rocket… So… with all the bad they did, how do you… deal with it?” So that’s what she was asking. How did I deal with all the evil and dark things Team Rocket did. She was asking me for advice, so that she can deal with the evil that King Sombra brought upon her.
“Oh…” The question was a surprise. Simple as that. How did I deal with it? Yet even with the question being simple, the answer was somewhat hard. “What did I do when dealing with Team Rocket got to hard? Well… I would fight. Whenever Team Rocket would do something horrible. I would get angry and fight. Whenever they did something monstrous, I would fight... But when I got tired of fighting…” I trailed off. I didn’t really know what I did when I got tired of fighting. For over ten years of my life, I’ve been fighting an uphill battle. Shut down a Team Rocket facility, two more would spawn. Arrest those who do wrong, and more will show up to help them. “I… I don’t know.”
“Weren't you… human?” She asked.
“Yes, why do you ask?”
“Because it sounds like you fought more often than Pokemon…” She smiled. “No wonder you were able to stop me…” She then snift. “But… I don’t think fighting will help me… When he… when I attacked him… He stopped me. Without even trying!” She vented. “I always took pride in my ability to fight! But he just… stopped me! Not hours before Yveltal was flying around asking us all about some dark Ponyta like monster, but did I listen to his warnings? No! And now I can’t get him out of my head! His laugh! Damn his laugh!” She practically screamed.
I… knew in times like this from past experience dealing with those who lost something to Team Rocket, that now would be the time for a loved one to hug the victim. But Weavile and I were alone. Stepping forward, I placed my hand on her shoulder and pulled her forward some. She didn’t resist, but shoved her face into my chest and started to cry.
Seeing her like this… made me angry. Seeing her like this reminded me of all the times I’ve seen humans back on Earth crying over their lost Pokemon. Gritting my teeth, I grew angry. Before King Sombra showed up, I though life in Equus would be somewhat more relaxing then back on Earth. But no. I am still dealing with the same monsters as before, only this time they have a different face. “Don’t worry, Weavile. I promise you, that King Sombra will die for what he has done to you. And not just you, I promise that he will pay for all that he has done. For every Pokemon he harms... For everypony he has killed… He will die…”
-:-:-
As I closed the door to Weaviles room, I found a ghost smiling at me. It was Agatha, and she looked teary eyed. A smile strewed across her face. “I’m holding you to those words, young man. I’m holding you responsible for taking care of King Sombra. For… Gengar’s sake…” She didn’t say another word, only nodded at me and floated off.
And there it was. A burden. A task I had given to myself. Take care of King Sombra. I promised Weavile this, and now Agatha is holding me to it. But the burden was something I am willing to carry. To help those around me, I will do what must be done. I know that there are those around me that will help. Eclipse... Snow… Lex… Even Yveltal wanted him dead. Shining Armor would even help. Anyone in the Crystal Empire would help, really… But this burden was a heavy one… And I knew it was going to take all of us to carry it.
“Get back here!” My train of thought was cut, as the voice of a nurse yelled out. Then Volt came running past me, a jar candy on his back.
“You’ll never take me alive!” Volt yelled back, as a nurse then ran passed me.
“Watch me!” The nurse yelled as she rounded the corner after Volt.
I let out an annoyed sigh. At least he’s happy, right? I told myself. No matter how bad the world around you gets, the children always have a smile on their face...