Canterlot Day 1
"Hey Dawn?"
"Yes Vulpix, what is it?" The Umbreon looked behind her to the young little Fox Pokemon. They were laying on flattened grass in the shade of a small group of five trees that had wide leafy ferns planted around them. It was actually the centerpiece of a park but the armoured ponies had done well trying to keep their own away from the Pokemon, so at the moment the place was abandoned.
"I'm hungry."
The Umbreon sighed; truth be told, she was quite hungry too, having not eaten since the night before Allen's battle with the Celadon Gym leader. She had been awoken at the Pokemon Center for a routine check up, but had been too tired to eat then and now she was regretting it. "I am too." She poked her head out of their cover and checked the park; being out in the daytime had rubbed her the wrong way ever since her evolution, but the the coast seemed clear. Dawn took a delicate sniff of the air, it just smelled so... clean. However, her sensitive nose picked up the tantalizing scent of something cooking and her stomach gurgled out its protest at having been left empty for so long. 'I'm not sure what that is but it smells delicious.' She turned back to Vulpix, "I smell something, stay close to me okay?"
The small Fire-type did just that as Dawn lead them into the open park and toward a shadowy alley, where they both felt a little more comfortable moving around. Dawn pointed her nose towards the sky again and began to track the scent. Her nose wasn't as good as a Growlithe’s or an Arcanine’s, but in a place where the air was so fresh she easily found its source: the back end of a restaurant. Vulpix cheered and ran forward, knocking over a trash can and rummaging through it before backing out with a half a loaf of bread that looked to have pasta sauce on it.
Dawn did her best not to act disgusted and remind herself that Vulpix was a wild Pokemon without a trainer, but she still found the notion of eating what was considered trash... well, it didn't sit well. Halfway through the loaf, Vulpix looked up at Dawn and smiled. "Don't you want some?"
Dawn just put on a fake smile, “I think I'll wait for something that hasn't been festering in a metal can for Arceus knows how long."
"Suit yourself," Vulpix shrugged before taking another bite of the bread she had found while Dawn began to look over the building whose shadow they stood in.
It was difficult for her to be certain but based on the smells and how shockingly clean the alley itself was, she imagined it must be one of those stuffy upper-class places that didn't serve Pokemon. As much as she hated playing to the stereotype of thieving Dark-types, she was probably going to have to steal something to eat from inside. Especially since she wouldn't be caught dead eating from the trash. That also meant sneaking in, finding some food, and then getting out unseen. "Stay here, Vulpix. I’m going inside to see what I can find."
She looked from the Dark-type to the building that loomed over them, "Okay, but be careful."
Dawn grinned down at her, "Oh don't worry, I'll be fine." With that she crouched low and slunk her way to the door gently testing it with her paw. Much to her surprise the door swung open a few inches on smooth, well-greased hinges. "It's not even locked," she muttered to herself before cautiously pushing her head into the building’s interior. The door led directly into a noisy kitchen with brightly coloured ponies dressed as cooks, all of whom seemed to be busy with one task or another and didn't notice as the Umbreon slipped into the shadow of a cart loaded with soiled dishes.
From her cover she was nearly invisible and observed as a shorter mare with a grey mane shouted out orders to the different ponies who worked the different stations. Dawn assumed she was the head chef as she was now tearing into a young stallion who had apparently under-cooked his potatoes and over-salted his sauce. The mare then threw the whole dish into the trash, plate and all, and told the stallion to do it again. With a sad sigh, the young cook walked towards Dawn, but stopped short and pulled open a large metal door which swung shut behind him. A few moments later, he returned to the kitchen with the ingredients he needed and Dawn grinned to herself as she realized he had just unintentionally showed her where the pantry was. "Jackpot."
Vulpix had finished her bread and had taken to waiting for Dawn to return. The back alley was shady and the cobblestone cool to the touch; that coupled with the relative quiet and her full stomach were all making her drowsy. With a contented sigh, she laid her head on her paws wishing she was back in her own den on route 38 in Johto, or at the very least the small hideout she and Dawn had established earlier that day. Laying there in the quiet, she struggled to keep her eyes open as the cooing of a small flock of Pidove flew over head.
"STOP THIEF!!!" CRASH!!!
Vulpix’s eyes shot open as she saw the shadowy figure of Dawn come smashing through a window with a half a wheel of cheese in her mouth. The Dark-type had just landed on the cobblestone when the door flew open and a half-dozen angry-looking ponies came thundering out. Dawn's eyes met Vulpix's.
"Un, oopid!"
That was enough of a motivator; she was up and running along side the Dark-type as fast as her little legs could carry her, but the angry ponies were hot on their heels.
Dawn twisted and turned, doing her best to try to lose them without abandoning Vulpix. She had a feeling that the ponies were mad enough that they didn't care what Pokemon they caught as long as they caught one of them, especially with the peculiar curse words they spat at them whenever they made a sharp turn. The problem was they were getting close to the hideout in the park and if the ponies found it they would be as good as gone then. So Dawn made a call.
At the next alley they came to, the last before the park, Dawn (and by extension Vulpix) made a sharp right and ran out into the open streets. The pair of Pokemon weaved through the streets, ducking under and around any obstacle they encountered and upending it as they went to slow their pursuers. It was beginning to work too; the angry ponies seemed to be running out of steam and were pulling back, apparently deciding that half a wheel of Swiss cheese wasn't worth this much effort.
There was, however, one thing about Canterlot that Dawn had forgotten in her noisy attempt to lose the chef ponies: it was home to the Royal Guard, and some of these ponies had wings.
"Halt!" Just as they started to slow, two armoured pegasi dropped out of the sky and landed with in front of the two Pokemon, blocking their path to the closest alleyway. They fanned their wings and began to speak in a commanding tone, "It’s no use running. We can out-fly you easily, so hoof over the stolen property and come along peacefully."
"Confuse Ray!"
Dawn went wide-eyed as Vulpix’s eyes began to glow a bright violet colour and the two guards fell under the effect of the move. One went completely cross-eyed and fell over, unable to get his hooves under him no matter how hard he tried. The other tried to step forward only to have his right wing flap weakly, flailing about like a Pidgey trying to fly with one broken wing. "Wha!? What is this!? What did you do? I can't move right!"
"That won't last long, we need to go," Vulpix said, pushing on Dawn to get her moving. It took her a moment to start running again as they went down the alley that the two guards had blocked. "We should go back to the hideout."
"THIS ISN'T OVER!" The two Pokemon started as they saw the one guard whose movements had been inverted leaning against a wall. "MORE OF US ARE ALREADY ON THE WAY!" The pair ran, leaving the screaming Pegasus behind.
Hall of Legends, Day 2 of World Summit
"How does Trotankhamun put up with that annoying Seviper?" Arceus asked Uxie as they reappeared in a golden flash of light.
Uxie for her part just sighed. "I have no idea," she admitted. "To be honest, I'm surprised that a ‘mon like him made it to Equus. Maybe we were too loose with our parameters?"
The Alpha Pokemon sighed to himself, "No point fretting over it now. I guess I will have to find a way to disillusion Sev if he becomes too zealous in his little crusade. And a Moon Cannon!?" He chuckled, "Really?" The pair laughed briefly at the absurdity of it before Arceus sighed again, "I’m still concerned about Golden Horn. I cannot believe how adamant he is about opposing us."
"I wouldn't worry too much, Dad. He'll come around eventually." Uxie smiled at her father.
"I can only ho-" He was interrupted as the fabric of Space-Time began to destabilize, forming a portal through which Dialga stepped out with something truly peculiar clamped in his jaws.
"What in Harmony is that!?" Arceus asked aloud, using the euphemism he had picked up. It was a box that, had it been standing upright, would have stood nearly eight feet tall and vaguely resembled a phonebooth from Earth. However, it was not a phonebooth; it was made of wood and had small windows at the upper end of long rectangular panels. Along a narrow band near the top of the object, he could read the words "Police Public Call Box". Though perhaps its most striking feature was the colour; it was the most captivating shade of blue he had ever seen.
The temporal rift closed behind Dialga as he dropped the box which smashed into the marble floor with so much force that it dug several inches into the stone, grinding it to dust. Everymon in the room stared in shock at the box now wedged into the floor.(1)
"I did not know it possessed that much mass," Dialga said as he poked at the box. "There is a great temporal distortion locked away inside."
Stepping forward, Arceus told hold of the box with is power and lifted it from its crater and set it up right where it rest perfectly without smashing anything else. The side that had had hit the ground was crumpled and shredded with a large gash that folded inward yet when he lowered his head to peek inside. He was baffled to find only a small pinprick of light coming from much deeper inside than should have been possible.
"Where did you find it?" Uxie asked as she placed a hand on it.
"It was in-transit through the Time Stream," the Deity of Time answered.
"Curious," Arceus said as he once again picked up the strange blue box and began probing it with his power, only to nearly drop in in shock. "Xerneas!" he called into the temple as he set the box back down.
"Dad? What's wrong?" Uxie asked.
"There are Ponies and Pokemon inside, and they are hurt!" the Alpha Pokemon answered as he reached inside with his power and took hold of its occupants, teleporting them outside the confines of the cramped space. Only to be shocked for a third time in brief span since the oddity had been brought to his attention as he pulled four ponies and five Pokemon from the box. He stared for a moment confused as to how they had all fit inside. "How did-"
"You called for me, Lord Arceus?" Xerneas asked as she walked into the room, taking a moment to ponder how so many Pokemon and ponies had gotten into the Hall of Legends, nevermind the the tall box set to one side.
"Yes, these few require healing," he gestured to the unconscious group he had just plucked from the box. "While you take care of them, I shall unravel this mystery," he said as he picked up the box once again and gingerly probing it. What he found astounded him; it was a pocket dimension not unlike the one that he had been trapped in for the last five millennium. It contained a living ship in a state of trans-temporal flux. As he looked from one layer to another, he saw varying layouts of the same ship design, some twenty-six in all. However, he was also aware that each layer was set in a different fixed point in time. The thing that truly intrigued him was the conscience that blazed at the heart of the ship that acted as its power source and anchored it to the very existence of time. He was able to perceive only one word as he gazed at it. "TARDIS," he said to himself. "Incredible."
"Ugh, my aching noggin..." Arceus turned his head and saw that one of the ponies was awake, a brown Earth pony stallion with a windswept mane.
"Where does it hurt?" Xerneas asked gently stepping closer to him.
He jumped and snapped his eyes to the Life Pokemon. "Wha- I? ... Oh, look at you! Aren't you lovely?" he smiled as he looked over the Legendary, his peculiar accent adding to his awed tone. Arceus was also certain he saw Xerneas blush as the stallion groaned and rubbed a hoof on his temple. "Well that's unpleasant." He pulled his hoof away and stared hard at it for a moment. "Looks like I've got a concussion."
Xerneas stepped closer and smiled, "I believe I can help with that. Heal Pulse.”
When the pink glow of the move faded the stallion gently shook his head before grinning and jumping to his hooves. "Oh, that is briliant!" His good mood evaporated as he looked to his left and saw the state of the rest of the group. "Derpy! Oh no, Derpy please be okay!" He began to frantically search for signs of life and gave a small sigh when he felt her heart beating. "Oh thank goodness."
"Fear not I shall tend to your friends." Xerneas stepped past him and lowered her head to the pegasus. "Heal Pulse."
The stallion watched her work for a moment before he noticed Arceus and turned to look the Alpha Pokemon over. It was when their eyes met that Arceus had to fight the urge to step back from the stallion, he a saw a agedness in them that spoke of suffering and loss and righteous fury. ‘He is not mortal,’ Arceus realized. The stallion looked around the room giving Dialga a hard look, then paused briefly on Uxie (giving her just a small smile) before fixing a stern glare upon the Alpha Pokemon, who could’ve sworn he heard the faint sound of music playing.
The stallion continued to stare with a completely neutral expression that turned to a cold hard stare. “Lord Arceus I presume?” his curious accent somehow grabbed Arceus' attention.
“Yes I am Arceus,” he answered looking the stallion over curiously. He looked like any other pony he had met so far, yet he clearly was not. “And who exactly are you?” he asked as he cocked his head slightly; where was that damn music coming from?
"I am the Doctor," the Earth stallion replied.
"Doctor who?"(2) he asked glancing around the room as the music changed tempo, becoming more upbeat.
“Just the Doctor,” he said with a little smile as he fixed a penetrating look on the Alpha Pokemon who stared back unflinching. “And I warn you, if you make me your enemy I will be forced to destroy you.”
"How dare you!" barked Dialga.
“Dialga.” Arceus stopped his son with a sideways look that told him to stop.
The Doctor turned another hard look on the Temporal Pokemon, he looked back to Arceus and took another step. "I’m the Doctor. I'm nine hundred and three years old. I’m a Time Lord from the planet Gallopfrey in the constellation of Kasterbuckus, and I have sworn to keep the people of this world safe from alien threats. I've routed armies with nothing but my voice and my name, I stood at the heart of the Time War while whole worlds burned. I am the the Oncoming Storm! I am the one who drives the monsters back into the nightmares that spawned them!"
"I…" Arceus just stared at the stallion as a little voice started nagging at him. ‘Wait a moment I didn’t think there were any inhabited worlds close to this one.’ He decided to check this part of the galaxy when things started to slow down.
"I have stared into the eyes of gods and demons and sent them screaming into the pits of madness!" The music shifted again as a choir began to harmonize. "I’ve stopped the collapse of reality itself, and if you mean these people any harm I will send you to Hell just like all the rest!" He looked back and saw that Ditzy and Dinky were conscious watching him with small smiles. "So Arceus? What is it you want?"
The God of Pokemon sighed, “I believe I have already made myself quite clear on that.” He returned the stallions hard look, “I only want a place where my Pokemon can live in peace. However cannot help but wonder if you are not from this world, why do you care so much?”
The Doctor grinned, ”Said the being of another dimension calling himself a God.”
Arceus chuckled at that, “Point taken.”
“No,” the Doctor said, “I am not from Equus, but I’ve put a lot of of effort into it. And I don’t take kindly to would-be gods muscling their way onto a peaceful planet.” His tone became harsher and there was an accusatory edge to his voice.
The Doctor’s hard glare never faltered as he stared Arceus down, “My friend Allen said you were a God, but I’ve met beings that called themselves that before. They usually tend to get big heads and think they can oppress and enslave whomever they please.”
Now Arceus glared right back at the Doctor, “Slavery is exactly what I was protecting them from!”
“Who’s to say your not just trading one kind of slavery for another!” The Doctor restored. “What about the Humans you brought with you? You’ve pulled them away from their homes and scattered their families to the wind You just decided that they would be better off as Pokemon.” His expression darkened, “Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to wake up in a new body?”
“I can’t say that I do,” Arceus answered.
“Then why change them?” the Doctor snapped. “If you preserved the best of the species, then what does it matter if they’re Humans or Pokemon? What are you so afraid of Arceus?”
“It is not out of fear that I have done this Doctor!” Arceus’s own expression became grim, he was getting tired of explaining this. “The Human race had become arrogant, believing that pokemon were lower beasts without souls or true emotions. Instead of treating the Pokemon as equals they subjugated them and trapped them in capsules that forced their obedience. And when I came to correct this injustice they betrayed and imprisoned me in another dimension, where I could do nothing but observe as they continued to discriminate against them.”
Arceus took a deep breath, “You know what it is like Doctor, I have seen it in your eyes. You have stood against unimaginable horrors in the name of protecting the innocent. Now imagine that you were tied down and forced to watch those horrors, unable to do anything but scream at your own powerlessness. For so long I was ready to destroy them, but Then I saw their capacity for compassion and realized that if I unmade them I would be no better. So I brought them and sought to preserve that in them while stamping out their misplaced sense of superiority.” The Alpha Pokemon’s expression softened, ”While hasty and poorly planned out, I stand by my decision.”
The Doctor said nothing for a long time, his gaze had fallen to the stone floor. "Well then," the Doctor said in a somber tone, "I have just one more question for you, Arceus God of the Pokemon."
"Yes?"
"Would you like a muffin?"
End Music
Arceus stared at the Doctor for a few seconds, "I... What?"
"A muffin," the Doctor said cheerfully. "It's my wife's recipe. The stuff myths are made of, we always keep a few on..." His face fell when he spotted the massive gash that folded deep into the machine, "Who smashed up my TARDIS!?"
Allen could hear something; like two people yelling at each other in a closed room some distance away. The words were muffled so he could not make out what they were saying; it was annoying though; it was distracting him making it difficult to keep sleeping. So he lifted his head and and opened his eyes, his vision was blurry and there was a deep throbbing that pulsed in his skull. He could see the vague out line of something big and mostly magenta and two large amethyst orbs. 'What am I seeing?" he wondered in his cloudy mind.
"--len! -llen!" The blur called out to him. "--len ---ase --lk -- -e!"
"Wha?" He asked aloud though he didn't hear his own voice.
The blur lunged forward and wrapped it blurry limbs around in a hug, it was soft and warm and squeezed him tight, he felt happy in that hug and hugged the pinkish thing back with a smile. "-ow -re -ou ---ling?"
"MY EARS ARE RINGING!" The pink thing flinched back as he yelled, unaware he was doing so. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
The soft magenta thing moved away quickly as something else moved into is hazy line of sight. He had no time to take it this new blurred shape as almost as soon as he saw it he was blinded by a bright pink light. Almost as quickly as he was blinded, his vision came back to crystal clarity and Allen found himself muzzle to muzzle the the Life Pokemon herself. "Xerneas," he gawked as he took in the sight of the Legendary.
She smiled down at him, "Are you feeling better now?"
Allen could only nod dumbly as he stared at her, he had only ever seen one other Legendary in his life, and that had been Rayquaza (though no one had believed him). Xerneas smiled and stepped away as two forelegs wrapped around Allen's neck. "Oh thank Celestia, you looked like you were dead!" Sparkler gasped as she hugged him.
Had he really been in that bad of shape? He felt great now. "Nova!" he gasped and jumped onto his hooves, Sparkler gasped again and grasped at his neck tighter having found herself hanging on the Fire-types back.
"I'm fine Allen," the Volcano Pokemon reassured him as he stepped up; he looked haggard and worn down, the fur on his back thin, and bare skin in place of where the deep gouges had been earlier. All in all, he looked a hell of a lot better than when he had first been at Yveltal's door. "I won't be up to battling for a few days, but I'll be alright."
Allen smiled and nodded, just happy his friend was out of danger, as a hoof poked at his neck. "Um, Allen? Could you let me down now?"
"Oh, sorry Sparkler." He leaned down and her hooves clopped onto the stone floor as Tally fluttered down and perched on her horn. How had he forgotten she was up there that quickly?
"I have already apologized once for damaging your capsule!" Dialga barked. "I shall not continue to do so!"
"Well it’s still your fault! Grabbing a TARDIS in mid-flight! And the poor girl was being held together with safety pins and chewing gum to begin with!" Allen saw the Doctor poking at a large crumpled-in hole in the side of the box with some kind of tool and he seemed to be giving the Temporal Pokemon an earful. He leaned over to the open door. "How does it look in there Derpy!?" After a moment he nodded; the pegasus must have been somewhere deep inside the box. "Well, it looks like she’s grounded until I can patch this hole. Just great."
"Doctor, I believe I can repair your vehicle with little effort," Arceus offered as he leaned down to examine the hole. "I would need a short time to study it, but mending this should not be difficult."
A hard scowl formed on Allen's muzzle and his ear were pinned flat to his head when he saw the Alpha Pokemon; his fiery mane and tail blazed with greater intensity. Allen's hard hooves cracked the stone floor as he stomped his way across the room, halfway there, Arceus took notice of him. The instant their eyes met, there was a loud crackling sound as flashing sapphire plasma engulfed the former human who ran forward as fast as his strong legs could carry him.(3) "Flare Blitz!"