//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Old Scars, New Chances // by Arcticbrony //------------------------------// Mary Care sighed as she slumped down behind her desk, where stacks of paperwork were reaching critical proportions. She really needed to get a secretary. She had a hard enough time, taking care of all of it before, but after the Pokémon had appeared… what she wouldn't give for just one normal day. Just the day before, the mayor’s wife, miss Buttercup, had come by her clinic with her pet dog. The dog itself had just a minor scratch on its leg, but Buttercup had been in hysteria and Mary was not sure if she should believe her story, or even is she should ask Ethan about it. Apparently, the dog had been rummaging in some trash cans outside their house when… the trash itself had attacked her dog and skurried off…. Ethan had told her about all the Pokémon types and that they came in all shapes and sizes… but she thought that it would be a little too far fetched to think that a pile of trash could be a Pokémon. Though it was also possible that miss Buttercup has just thought that she was seeing things. There had certainly been enough of that those last few days But it hadn't just been a few days, had it? She couldn't believe that it had been seven days in total since a whole new species had simply popped out of thin air. Seven days… so much had happened during those days that she had a hard time believing it herself. But she had gotten a bunch of new friends. Good friends too, if she was a good judge of character. Mary was so caught up in her own thoughts that she failed to notice that the door opened up and a pony stepped in. “Hello? Mary Care?” At the mention of her name, Mary sat up immediately. “Oh… Hello, Flora. What can I do for you?” Mary greeted the earth pony foal that now stood in her office. “I wanted to check up on Mr Bubbles.” Mary mentally slapped herself from forgetting that she was supposed to pick up that pet that day. “Yeah she is fine, in fact you can take her home right now if you want to.” Mary smiled as she hopped down from her chair and walked out from her office towards the area where they kept animals when they stayed overnight. Mr Bubbles had been one of the few normal cases she had had in the past few days. Just a stray cat that someone had found and wanted to adopt. Mary was the town veterinarian; she could not understand why ponies still came to her and expected her to be able to solve most of their Pokémon-related problems. She forwarded those problems to Ethan and Zoey if it was anything important or something like that, of course… but most of the cases it was just ponies that was freaking out over nothing. “Oh really? Thank you so much, miss Mary!” The foal lunged forward and caught Mary off-guard with the sudden hug. “You are welcome, Flora. Just be sure to give her a good home and come to me should anything happen!” Mary smiled as she patted the foal’s head. “Okay, thank you so much, Mary!” The foal exclaimed with a huge smile before she picked up the cat cage in her mouth and trotted out of the clinic. It warmed Mary’s heart to see such a scene and the fact that the stray cat now had gotten a new home. But before she could enjoy the feeling for too long, the doors opened and another problem presented itself. A problem that she had been dealing with for most of the days since the Pokémon had arrived. “Good day, what can I help you with?” Mary said with a smile as she was still unaware of the question that the mare would ask of her. “Hello Mary, you see I was looking for a new pet!” An innocent question in itself, one that she got quite frequently. She was the pony that most ponies in town went to when they wanted to get a pet after all. “I should be able to help with that.” Mary answered with a kind smile. “What exactly were you looking for? A cat? Dog? Or maybe something else?” “Oh no, I was hoping for something a little more exotic.” That was when the warning bells started going off within Mary`s head. “I was wondering if you had some Pokémon that would make for a lovely pet? I just adore how some of them look!” And there it was. That was the one question that Mary was getting sick and tired off above all else. It seemed that a lot of ponies had a really hard time understanding that Pokémon were intelligent creatures, just like them. And not just mindless critters that could be owned. Truly… it took all of Mary`s patience and even then some to remain calm and civil when talking to those ponies. “It… does not work like that, miss.” Mary started. “They are sentient just like you and me. They are not pets.” “Oh… but what about that bunny friend of yours? Can't I speak to him about it? I heard that he arranged for some families around here to get a Pokémon of their own.” And once more Mary could feel the stupidity of that mare leaking into her own head. She tried to be as patient and kind as possible with those ponies but even she had an end to that patience. It seemed like some ponies just ignored her words when she tried to explain things. “You are… partially correct.” She said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with her hoof. “He helped Pokémon that had taken a liking to the ponies and wanted a new family so to speak.” Mary explained to her. “You can talk with him if you like and I’ll even take you. But a Pokémon needs to like you and decide for its own whenever or not it wants to live with you. They are our equals, not pets.” “Oh, I see… but surely something can be arranged? I saw one of those lovely bird Pokémon and I just must have one! And I’ll pay whatever it takes.” At that moment. If one would look really closely, one could possibly see Mary Care`s last bit of patience snapping. Her left eye started to switch slightly. “Why wont you just LISTEN to what I’m telling you?! You can't buy them? They are not pets and they are to be treated with as much respect as one would a fellow pony! There was a huge public speech where their GOD told us about all of this, or did that too just pass through your empty head like all of my words? You seriously need to change your attitude towards Pokémon, because as you are now, I can't see any one of them wanting to have anything to do with you!” Mary stood there panting slightly from her sudden outburst. And the mare she was speaking too just stood there gaping at her for a moment before she shook her head and huffed angrily. “Why I never… don’t expect me to set hoof in this clinic of your’s ever again, miss Care! Good day!” And with that she left, slamming the door behind her on the way out, leaving Mary behind to let herself fall down to the floor and cover her face with her hooves as she realized everything that she had said. “Oh Celestia, why?” She groaned. She had meant every single word of course, but she could have caused so many better ways of saying them. She was not afraid of her reputation that much… that mare was known for being a little unpleasant and high strung so her words would not carry that much weight in the town. But her own ego had taken quite the blow. She never blew on somepony like that… never. “I guess I'm a little more stressed out then I thought.” Mary mused to herself as she got back up again and wiped off her coat. “Then again… who wouldn't be after such a week… I think I'll close early today. I… I need some me time.” It was not too late in the day, but she did not have any other appointments… at least she did not think so. She had forgotten the last one in any case so she thought she should double check. Just to be sure. “No… no more appointments for today.” She smiled as she checked off the calendar. She grabbed her saddle bags before she left the clinic, locking the door behind her before she set off in a light trot towards her house. She would just go by for a short trip to leave her saddle bags there before she would take some much needed time to herself. She contemplated if she should go visit Ethan and the others, but she pushed those plans to a little later that day. As much as she liked spending time with them, what she needed most was just some quiet time with nopony else around. It took a small while for her to get to her home, it was midday so the town was at its busiest and a lot of ponies stopped her along the way. Either just to say hello or to have a small chat with her. And Mary thought that it would have been too rude of her to ignore them or push them away so she was really happy when she finally got home and put her saddlebags away. “Just a little more, Mary.” She sighed out as she left her home and walked into the forest behind her house, leaving the town behind. She liked the forest and all the small sounds that came with it. Not the same chatter or noise that came along with other ponies, but just the nice natural sounds of nature. But as much as she enjoyed simply walking in the forest, she did have a destination in mind. Years back, before she had even gotten her cutie mark, she had found what she considered to be the most perfect and beautiful little spot. “Finally.” Mary sighed out as she could see the trees starting to thin out; she was getting closer. It was a small hill, free of any trees, allowing for a perfect view of both the town below and the waterfall in the distance. The quiet, but constant rumble that it provided made for the perfect background noise as she laid down near the edge and closed her eyes. At that moment, Mary did not have another care in the world, for that moment, everything was… perfect. Sadly, good things usually come to an end, and that moment ended a lot sooner than Mary would have liked as a loud crash sounded in the forest just by her. Mary stood up in a flash, spooked by the sudden and loud sound. “W-who is there?” She called out as she looked around. She was not sure what she had heard but she did know that she had not heard anything like it before, and that along with the volume of it was enough to scare her. “Sorry, I did not think anyone else was around here.” A familiar voice spoke as a figure walked out from between the trees. Mary relaxed and let out the breath she had been holding at the sight of who it was. “Sorry if I surprised ya, Mary.” “No… no, it’s alright, Brawly.” Mary answered as she slumped back down. “So what are you doing up here? Just like you said, I was not expecting to see anypony else up here.” Brawly slowly walked up to her and sat down next to her as the both of them looked out over the village. “Well, it’s a nice spot ya got.” Brawly commented as he took in the view. “I was just doing some training, got to keep in shape, ya know! That and I want to master this new body of mine.” “I guess I can understand that. So that loud noise that was you?” Mary asked. “Yeah, I was getting used to these little things.” Brawly said as he held forth the whip like fur that he had on both of his arms. “Move the, just right and fast enough and you get…” Brawly reared back his arm and launched it out towards a nearby tree branch, creating a loud snapping sound as the branch fell to the ground. “Something like that. I’m starting to get the hang of it, but I still got a ways to go.” Brawly told her before he wrapped the fur around his arms again. He did not like the day it just hung there when he was not actively using it. “What about you? This is quite the ways away from town.” “I just needed a small break.” Mary smiled. “Ponies seemed to have named me the go-to gal for any Pokémon-related questions because of all the time I have been spending with Ethan and you guys. I wouldn't mind it, it’s just…” “A little too much for you to deal with alone?” Mary looked up as Brawly had taken the words right out of her mouth. “Y-yeah… how did you know?” Mary asked as both of them closed their eyes from an extra strong gust of wind. “Because I felt much the same when I started as a Gym Leader.” Mary had heard both him and Ethan use that word before, but neither of them had actually explained to her what it meant. “And what exactly is a Gym Leader, if you don't mind me asking?” Mary inquired. “Hmm… we are… Ethan explained Pokémon Trainers to you, right?” Mary nodded. “Then I suppose it would not be wrong to look at us as stepping stones. Our job is to judge if the trainers have what it takes, in both strength, spirit, and character at times. Other people would most likely explain it differently, but that how I have always seen it.” Brawly smiled. “But when I started out, it was a bit overwhelming at times… everyone expected that I was supposed to know everything.” “I see… so how did you deal with it?” “I got help! Just as you should. Friend of mine named Bruno who showed me the ropes. Dealing with stuff on your own might seem like a good idea, but just send those ponies to us. Ethan will be more than happy to help you, especially since you have helped him that much.” Mary had to agree that Brawly had a point. She had been sending some of the ponies to Ethan when it was about Pokémon or going to ask him, herself. But a lot of the times, she had tried to solve things herself first. “Thanks…” Mary smiled as she looked up at the sky, the sun currently hidden behind a couple of clouds. “Anytime, we all need some advice from time to time.” A silence settled in between the two of them as Mary thought about what he had said and Brawly simply closed his eyes, almost nodding off in the fine weather. Both of them ignored the sound of a yell that could just be heard since they knew what it was about. It had been the same routine the last couple of days. At the bottom of the waterfall, Scylla had just had another fit of anger while on one of her sessions with Ethan. It had been more than one time he had returned with his fur and ears full of twigs. Since Scylla`s shout were loud enough and carried enough force to throw him into the nearby forest. “...There was something that I wanted to ask you.” Brawly opened his eyes and looked towards her. “Hmm?” “You must have had Pokémon as well since you were a Gym Leader, right?” Mary let the question hang in the air for a moment before she continued. “Do you miss any of them? I mean… I haven't seen any other of them and… I’m sorry!” Mary apologized as she realized that she may have brung up a sore topic. To Ethan, the Pokémon were like his family and she assumed that it was a similar case for Brawly. But she was surprised when he just waved it off. “It’s alright, no need to make a fuss about it.” Brawly smiled with his usual lazy smile. “But yeah, you are right… I do miss ‘em… most of ‘em. I woke up alongside a member of my team.” “Oh? What happened then?” Mary asked since Brawly had basically shown up alone, only with Scylla. “We decided to go each our ways… at least for the time being.” Brawly told her as he looked out across the horizon. “Hariyama is the Pokémon that has been with me the longest… he is practically my brother. But after what happened… I am no longer a Gym Leader. He enjoyed the constant stream of challenges that we got there. So with me not being a Gym Leader any longer, we decided that it was probably for the best, since he wanted to continue to strengthen himself and seek new challenges… that and now that I'm a Pokémon too, he wanted to fight me when I had grown strong enough. So he decided to give me a little time to get ready before that challenge happens. Dont get me wrong, I miss him too, but I know that we will meet again eventually. That goes for most of my Pokémon. None of them are weaklings, they will be alright on their own no matter what happens or where they ended up.” Mary smiled as she listened to Brawly. It was obvious that he cared about his Pokémon, and she thought that it was refreshing to listen to. He not only cared for them, but he trusted them a great deal too. “Well, I hope to meet them someday then.” Mary smiled. “Oh, and there was something that Jenny wanted to speak to you about.” Brawly said, remembering what Jenny had explained after she got back the day before. “Oh, she is back then? How did everything go?” Mary asked. Ethan had filled her in on the details after Jenny had left. “She got the Pokémon that had been bought and held captive back.” Mary could not help but give a small victory cheer. “That is great! But do you know what she wanted to talk to me about? And for that matter… I thought that she was just supposed to gather some information and come back to get help afterwards.” “Complications came up, the important thing is that she succeeded… and I’m not really sure, something about a weird black pony.” Brawly told her. It was not incorrect, but he had not been paying too much attention last night when Jenny had spoken about what had happened to her. He had other things on his mind. “Hmm… well I think I'm ready to head back down again. I feel much better… thanks.” She thanked Brawly with a nod, which he happily returned. “It’s what friends are for.” Brawly had not known her for that long, but any friend of Ethan was a friend of his. It did not take long for Mary and Brawly to walk back down again. Brawly told her about what had happened last night and how Ethan had chewed Jenny out for acting on her own again. He had understood why she had done it, after she had explained what had transpired, but the two of them still butted heads on the subject for a while until they came to the agreement that Jenny would not go alone the next time. “And I say that you are not well enough for that yet.” Mary and Brawly looked at eachother. They were outside the warehouse and by the sound of it, Ethan was arguing with someone on the inside. “Taillow! Tail, Taillow!” Mary blinked as she heard what she supposed was the Taillow what they had operated on yell back in a loud voice. She could not understand what he was saying as the spell had not been cast on him yet. “Um… should we wait?” Mary asked as she hesitated to approach the door, she did not want to interrupt anything after all. “Nah, should be fine.” Brawly answered as he went forth and walked inside, Mary following closely after. “Tone down on that… you are scaring some of the other bug Pokémon… Look, I know what you are getting at, but I'm not letting you hunt in the town park!” Mary could see Ethan and the Taillow arguing in the middle of the room. “What’s going on?” Mary asked after she had closed the door behind her. Ethan and the Taillow looked in her direction, the latter who simply huffed and waddled away from Ethan. “Oh hello there, Mary, and you too, Brawly.” Ethan greeted them as he noticed that she and Brawly had entered. “It’s nothing major. He just wants to be able to hunt again. It’s strange for a wild Pokémon to be living like this when it’s used to something different.” Ethan said as he walked over to the two of them. Ethan had already told Mary about the fact that Pokemon ate other Pokémon. Being a veterinarian, she understood that some creatures needs to eat others, albit she saw it as a bit strange with how intelligent most of the Pokémon seemed. “Oh… Brawly said that Jenny wanted to speak to me?” Mary asked, letting the subject drop. “Yeah, that’s right. We went over to your clinic a little earlier, but it was closed.” Mary rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah… I closed up early, I just needed a small break. So is Jenny here?” “She is just over with Zoey there.” Mary looked over to where Zoey was sitting and squinted as she tried to spot Jenny. She could see… something orange behind her, but it had been almost impossible to see. “Come on, let’s go talk to her.” “Yeah, I’ll grab a shower while you do that.” Brawly said as he started walking away from the two of them. “Okay, see you later Brawly.” Mary waved him off. When she turned back she noticed Ethan who was looking after Brawly with a weird look in his face. “Um.. Ethan?” She waved a hoof in front of his eyes, which seemed to snap him out of it. Though she could have swore that she saw the fur around his cheeks redden a little… “Hmm? Oh I’m sorry, here let’s go.” Ethan said a little hurried as he started walking towards Zoey and Jenny. Mary thought about what that could have been about for a moment before she shrugged and followed after. “Hello, Jenny.” Mary smiled as she saw the familiar fox head pop out from behind where Zoey was sitting. “Ah, good evening, Mary.” Jenny said as she walked around to the side of the couch and sat down properly. “So I heard that yesterdays rescue went well.” “For the most part it did..” Jenny started as she told Mary about everything that had happened the day before. She left out most of the parts about how rough she had been with Rigid Paper and other things, and instead focused on the important parts. “... And then he transformed into this… black bug like pony… do you know what that was?” “A-a-a changeling? Y-you met a changeling, really?” Mary blinked surprised. She had heard about them of course. Everypony had heard about them after the incident in Canterlot. “I… guess, he did not say anything about what he was but he did change appearance, sort of like a Ditto. Why, are they not that common?” Zoey had been listening in on the conversation but was now much more interested. “Wait really? He could change what he looked like?” She asked getting a nod from Jenny. “That sounds weird…” “N-no they are not that common… at least not from what we know. Did you report him or get him arrested?” Jenny smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. “No… I… from what he told me, it sounded like he had several members of the police on his payroll… I did not want to risk getting arrested in his stead.” Jenny said, remembering that she had gone a bit over the line when it came to the force she used to take him down. “Should I report him to the local police here?” “Yes, you should. They might not be able to take care of anything themselves, but they can contact Canterlot to get a proper investigation underway. Especially since he was doing illegal things, harming those Pokémon like that.” Mary told them. “So what exactly is a Changeling?” Zoey inquired. “You seemed pretty surprised after all.” Mary took a few moments to remember what she knew about them. Knowledge about them had become more common after the attack on Canterlot. “They are shape-changing, bug-like ponies. They can use magic, much like a unicorn can and they can fly as well with their insect-like wings. But what is most dangerous about them is that they feed on emotions.” Both Zoey and Jenny blinked at that. They had expected something else or more gruesome, but nothing like that. “Their emotions?” Jenny asked, slightly confused. “Thats right, as love for example. They can put their victims in a hypnotic-like state and positively drain them dry, sapping their strength… possibly killing the victim if it goes on for too long.” A small pause settled over the group as Jenny and Zoey thought about what Mary had told them. “B-but don't get me wrong… not all of them are bad ponies. I actually know one that functions normally in pony society without harming anyone… but they have a horrible reputation as a whole.” Ethan who had stayed quiet for the entire conversation spoke up. “That actually sounds really interesting. I would love to meet one of them sometime.” At that Mary began to panic slightly as she realized the mistake she had made. “I.. N-no, I… The one that I know wants to remain anonymous. In fact, I really should not have mentioned anything at all…” Mary stammered. “I promised him that I would not tell anypony.” She let out a surprised shriek as she felt a paw on her shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. If it’s important to you then we won't tell anyone… or anypony.” Ethan smiled as he reassured her. “R-really?” Mary sniffed, getting nods from everyone. “That’s right.” Jenny added. “Yeah, we will keep it a secret.” Zoey chipped in as she patted Mary on the back too. “T-thanks, guys.” She smiled in relief. “So… did you find anything else in Hollow Shades? Any signs of Shady?” Mary inquired after she had gotten a moment to gather herself again. “Not that much… only thing I have is a seemingly meaningless letter with this strange symbol on it.” Jenny said as she fished the Letter out from in between her tails. The symbol itself was a large feather with a unicorn horn going through it. It was a simple design and Mary had seen many that looked similar. But there was something about that one that tickled her memory. “I have seen that before…” She muttered almost unconsciously. She knew that symbol, she was sure that she did. But there was like a black shroud was covering that same symbol, blocking out the memory of it. “What? Where?” Jenny said immediately as she leaned forward. Everyone present practically held their breaths as they waited for Mary`s answer. “I… I can't remember… I’m so sorry, I should not have said anything in the first place.” Mary said as she hung her head. “Don't worry about it.” Ethan reassured her. “We still got that journal now that you managed to work out how to read it. We will catch these guys. But if you do remember something about it-” “I’ll be sure to tell you, of course.” Mary smiled. “Great! I was just about to start cooking, would you like to stay for dinner?” Ethan asked of her as he stood up and stretched. “I would love that.” Mary answered happily. She did not want to be a bother, but she felt like it would be alright. Apart from Zephyr and Mignon, she felt like she could really be herself around her newly found friends and their weird and amazing family. To her, Arceus had made the right choice with moving them to their world.