//------------------------------// // Unity // Story: A New Dimension, A New Threat // by ZeroChill //------------------------------// The guns of the aliens whirred to life and a red light flashed from the barrel. Rondo gazed at Mono, flapping his wings to the point where feathers were falling off. “Mono, you got to use another Psychic attack!” “I would, but I don’t know how to use it. The previous attack was just done at the spur of the moment.” Mono admitted. The lasers from the guns fired, releasing a barrage of serrated beams aiming towards the group. Everyone shut their eyes from the world and held out their paws, wings and hooves in front of their faces. The beams exploded in a veil of smoke. Behind it, a red barrier pulsated around Mono, Rondo and the pony. Upon opening their eyes, the barrier disappeared, revealing the trio to be unscathed by the pullets. “We’re safe? But… how?” “Looks like that Quick Guard came in time, Mono!” Rondo called out. The aliens tightened the grip on their guns once more. The beams within the barrel charged up. “Oh no! You don’t think you can pull up that shield again, do you?” The pony asked. From the right, a beam of electricity shot down in a downwards diagonal line. The claws held a death grip on the guns from the electrocution, shattering their handles. Mono and Rondo eyed towards the source of the direction where the electricity fired. Upon a hill, they saw an Aromatisse and a bipedal cat with yellow eyes, two curved tails, ears and hair on her head. Her body's colors were opposite to that of Mono's; a white body with dark blue ends. Her fur frilled at her hips, and her paw was extended. “Jasmine, strike those foes with a Dazzling Gleam!” The Aromatisse jumped down from the hill. With a blinding flash, white beams fired from her body and shot the aliens, knocking them back. The Meowstic rushed over towards Mono, Rondo and the pony with her wide with concern. “Lith, is that you?!” Mono called out with a shocked tone. “…Mono?! You’re a Pokémon as well?” Lith asked. “Hey, I’m here too you know.” Jasmine stated, hovering over towards the group. “ I’m just glad that we found some of the others transported here.” “Ummm, I really hate breaking up reunions, but those aliens are really mad at us.” The pony stated, pointing to the aliens unsheathing their claws. “Lith, can you tell me how you used your moves so freely?” Mono asked. “Just let go of your own emotional restraints and let them flow to wherever you want. It’s how I was able to use my Charge Beam.” Lith explained. Mono glanced towards Rondo and Jasmine, each of whom shivered with excitement. “Lith, Rondo, Jasmine, let us neutralize this threat together.” All the Pokémon nodded and turned towards the aliens. Rondo flew into the face of the aliens, unleashing a series of loud sonic waves directed towards the aliens. With their sharp claws, the aliens tore through the sonic waves. Behind Rondo, Jasmine’s body crackled with volts. A stream of electricity pulsed from her body, striking one of the aliens with a wicked thunderbolt. Mono’s eyes flashed in a blue color. Several nearby boulders were lifted from the ground in a blue aura and were then tossed towards the standing alien. Each boulder smashed against its head. Lith’s ears unfolded, her eyes flashed a yellow color and her right paw stretched towards the dazed behemoth. A brilliant beam of pink, light blue and yellow fired towards it, exploding in smoke on contact. The alien hopped back, holding its arm near its mouth. A black screen upon its wrist lit up in a white color. “Mission failed! Requesting permission to evacuate!” It shouted. The screen flashed a green color. Staring at the Pokémon in front of it, a slasher’s smile came upon its face. The alien picked up its downed partner and vanished in a race of white lines. “They got away!” Lith shouted, running towards the spot they vanished from. “It’s alright, Lith. We did our job here. We found Mono and protected a native.” Jasmine assured, placing her paw upon Lith’s right shoulder. “Fluttershy!” A voice from the sky called out. A vermillion-coated pegasus mare with a mane colored in the layers of fire and intense orange eyes flew down to the scene. She was garbed in a navy blue vest. Armed with dual silver cannons on her shoulders and the image of a tongue of fire on her flank, her presence brought a thick air of intimidation onto the scene. “Spitfire!” Fluttershy cried out with a smile, running up to her and embracing her. “I’m so glad you’re here.” “I knew something was up when the squad dispatched to protect you suddenly stopped communicating with me. Now that I see their dead bodies here, it all makes sense; they were overpowered by the Van'Goth.” Spitfire explained. “Ummm… Van’Goth?” Mono voiced. “And who do we have here?” Turning around and focusing her attention on the Pokémon in front of her, Spitfire asked. “They saved my life. I don’t know how, but they’re apparently able to command very powerful forces under their whim.” Fluttershy responded. “And how come all I hear is squeaks and noises coming from them? Surely beings that can do what they did are intelligent enough to communicate with us.” “I don’t think they’re of this world. Maybe that’s why we have difficulty communicating with them.” “Is that so? I know just the thing that will alleviate that issue.” With these words, Spitfire turned towards the group of Pokémon and made a firm smile on her face. “You four are coming with us to Neo Canterlot, whether you like it or not.” Mono, Lith, Rondo and Jasmine all gave nervous glances towards each other. The four Pokémon sat within the benches of the deployment truck. Mono twiddled with his paws with an anxious glint in his eyes, Lith looked through the small window on the opposite side where sunlight poured out, and Jasmine and Rondo gazed at each other with their respective right arm and left wing extended. “So you woke up in a nearby cave along with Lith, huh? Meanwhile, I woke up in the middle of the wilderness with Mono. Seeing as how aliens such as those exist, I am lucky to still even be alive!” Rondo exclaimed. “Well, you did a good job distracting them for Lith and me to come in.” Jasmine stated. Rondo frowned, shying his head away from Jasmine. “Is that all what I am? Just an annoying distraction? I used my best moves on those aliens and all it served was just that; a distraction. It’s disheartening, really.” “But, I never said that you were merely a distraction, Rondo. In fact, you are very important to the team, and as a family member. Had it not been for you, who knows what those aliens would have done to Fluttershy and Mono?” “Yeah… actually, yeah. If it weren’t for me, then we wouldn’t be safe! Thanks, Jasmine.” Rondo replied with a content smile. “Any time, Rondo.” Lith directed a smile towards Jasmine and Rondo and then faced Mono. Her smile turned into a straight frown, seeing her brother move back and forth with his eyes and paws twitching. She placed her left paw on Mono’s paw, caressing it in a comforting motion. “You don’t look like you’re alright, Mono. Do you mind telling me what’s wrong?” Mono turned his face towards his sister, flashing a ghost of a smile to her. “Sorry, Lith. It’s just that being here reminds me of that one time when I was taken in for questioning as a child.” “Oh… that.” All of the talking on the back of the truck stopped. Jasmine and Rondo looked towards Mono and Lith with sympathetic frowns. “Being a witness scarred my life. Not only did I have to see a brutal murder, but the attorneys and prosecutors pressured me until I broke down in tears. This continued for five straight days until the defendant got the Guilty verdict. If they said I was fine, then why do I always feel horrible?” “It was hard for all of us, Mono. Just seeing you break down after everything you endured was one of the saddest things I witnessed. Mom and dad were quick to tend to your emotional needs and Rondo always followed you to make sure you wouldn’t feel alone when no one wasn’t around.” “I know, Lith. But, I just want to know how my life would feel like if I never witnessed that murder take place. I want to know what it is like to not have to go have received night terrors from that experience, or even be admitted to emergency counseling at the age of eight.” “I could tell you how it wouldn’t be like; we would have never been able to meet Professor Pasque, which means we would have never been adopted by him once mom and dad… passed on shortly after.” Lith stated, tilting her head downwards. “I guess you’re right. If it wasn’t for Professor Pasque, I wouldn’t know where we would be today.” The truck stopped moving. The metal doors opened, basking the interior of the deployment benches in florescent lights. Mono, Lith, Rondo and Jasmine all narrowed and covered their eyes at the sight. With the light dimming, metal crates and a concrete walkway within a building could be made out. “Well, aren’t you four going to step out?” Spitfire asked, standing towards the double doors of the back with Fluttershy. One after one, each of the Pokémon stepped out of the truck. Glades of air spread the chilly temperature throughout the group’s fur and feathers. The road in front of them was guided by light pink lights. Walking down the path, Lith eyed a group of ponies and griffons garbed in clothing and walking around the enormous bay. Noises of stomping and whirring of mechanical joints reverberated through the complex. Deer with lights on their hooves waved their heads back and forth, leading titanic quadruped mechas down the designated path. “Lith, may I please have permission to filter out this odor of industry? It’s not leaving a good impression of the air here.” Jasmine asked, wafting her left hand with her eyes squinted in disgust. “Not now, Jasmine. We were brought here as a forced invitation. We do not want to impose ourselves upon their land.” “We’ll get your translators soon enough so that I may actually start understanding you four and your insane chatter.” Spitfire responded with an irritated tone. “Now, Spitfire; though we forced them to come along with us, that does not give you the right to be rude to them.” Fluttershy noted with closed eyes and a tilted head. “I already like this Fluttershy with us! She treats us better than Miss Drill Sargent here.” With a gleeful smile, Rondo stated. Spitfire shook her head and mumbled underneath her breath. The group of six stumbled beyond a set of double doors, revealing a room with plush blue carpets and a metal desk. Several images depicting bipedal and quadruped mechas, ponies, griffons, donkeys, deer and changelings littered its walls. Spitfire placed her hoof on a black sensor, bringing up a crate full of silver bracelets with red lights on them. Spitfire grabbed four of the necklaces and handed each one to the Pokémon. “Here. Wear them however you like. Then, try speaking.” Following her instructions, Mono and Lith tightened the bracelets on their paws. Jasmine extended the cord of the bracelet and hung it around her neck. Using his beak, Rondo tossed the bracelet over his head, letting it hang onto his neck. Each of the pieces of jewelry flashed a red light. “Hello? Hello? Is this on?” Mono stated. “I don’t sound any different.” Lith noted. “But I can hear your words plain as day.” Spitfire responded. “Wow! Cool tech.” Rondo said. “Well, at least it complements my colors.” Looking down on her necklace, Jasmine stated with a smile. “Now that we got any potential language barriers out of the way, let’s get this briefing out of the way.” Saying these words, Spitfire walked over to a firm chair behind the desk and sat upon it. Fluttershy walked by her side, smiling and bowing her head to the Pokémon. “First of all, I wish to thank you all for saving my life. My name is Fluttershy, wildlife researcher of Equestria.” “And my name is Spitfire, general of H.O.R.S.E., or Hostile Ousting Regiment of Specialized Equusians. First order of business; just what the heck are you four?” “My name is Mono, and I am what known as a Pokémon. More specifically, I am a Meowstic.” Mono introduced. “My name is Lith, also a Meowstic by the look of things.” “The name’s Rondo, Chatot extraordinaire!” “And I am Jasmine, an Aromatisse under Lith’s care.” Spitfire focused her sight on Mono and Lith, studying and humming them. “If you both are known as ‘Meowstic’, then why do you two look so different?” “Meowstics happen to have the highest amount of sexual dimorphisms among all Pokémon. I’m a Male Meowstic, meaning that I am more specialized in defensive moves.” “As a female Meowstic, I specialize more in offensive moves.” “So… are you two like a breeding pair or something along those lines?” Lifting her eye and moving her hoof in a circular motion, Spitfire asked. “We’re twins.” Mono stated in an unamused tone. “Oh…” Spitfire vocalized, pulling on her caller. Sweat poured down from her face to her neck. “Ignoring that awkward question, what exactly is a Pokémon?” “There were many definitions that many professors across my world discussed over what actually makes a Pokémon a Pokémon. There are common traits among those definitions, though. A Pokémon would be a sort of creature with supernatural abilities beyond the scope of other beings. They are intelligent beings with their own personalities and hearts.” Mono responded. “These supernatural abilities can be broken down into eighteen types, but we cannot explain them all in depth given the limited time we have. But, we can at least discuss the types present here.” Lith added. “Mono and I are both Psychic-type Pokémon. Psychic-types often use their mental prowess in order to overpower their opponent. Their moves are strong against Poison and Fighting-types, but are weak against Dark, Bug and Ghost-types. Rondo here is a dual type of Normal and Flying. Normal-types have next to no weaknesses, but next to no immunities either. They’re the most vanilla type. Flying-types are capable of flight. Because of this, their moves are strong against Grass-types, Bug-types and Fighting-types, but they are weak to Electric, Ice and Rock-type moves. Finally, we have Jasmine here who is among the relatively new Fairy-types. Fairy-type Pokémon were previously thought to have been mythological until their discovery nine years ago. Fairy-types are completely immune to Dragon-type moves and their moves are strong against them as well. Though Fairy-type moves hit hard against Fighting-types and Dark-types as well, they are weak against Poison-types and Steel-types.” Fluttershy was scribbling down all of the details all of the details heard. She glanced towards Lith. “I hope this isn’t asking too much, but can you talk more about the resistances of your types? It’s important to my field of research to see nature’s interactions.” “Certainly. Psychic-type Pokémon resist Fighting-type and other Psychic-type moves. Normal-type Pokémon are immune to Ghost-type moves. Flying-type Pokémon resist Grass-type, Bug-type and Fighting-types moves. They are also immune to Ground-type moves. Finally, Fairy-type Pokémon resist Dark-type and Fighting-type moves.” Fluttershy hummed and wrote down the details. A smile came upon her face. “I didn’t think Pokémon could be so fascinating when it comes to their physical typing. My friend in the Scholarly and Research Department would just love to study you four.” “Enough, Fluttershy. We still need to finish this meeting before we jump ahead with plans.” Spitfire commanded. “Right.” Fluttershy uttered out. Spitfire walked towards a set of dark blue curtains at the end of the room. Pulling on a white string, the curtain pulled away and revealed a brilliant light. With the light fading, a very wide cityscape surrounded by a silver-colored wall and an aqua-colored barrier above greeted everyone’s eyes. Quadrupeds walked along the sidewalks and into buildings, laughing and smiling. Carriages forged from black metal levitated along the concrete streets, moving from one place to another. “Wow! Beautiful sight!” Rondo noted. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Spitfire asked aloud. “Those aliens you saw, the Van’Goths, wish for nothing more than the complete and utter annihilation of all of the Equusian races of the planet. What you see here is the only city left on Equus with any sort of society in it.” “Seriously?!” Jasmine noted out loud. “But you are all so advanced. How is it that these aliens drove your people onto the verge of extinction?!” Spitfire turned around, letting loose a melancholic stare directed towards Jasmine. “It started ten long years ago. Back when all of our social issues have finally resolved, Equus entered into a golden age where magic, technology and nature can peacefully coexist with each other. Then, they came. The Van’Goth appeared into our stratosphere one day, declaring that they would annihilate us all. At first, we laughed at their threat because we could handle pretty much anything that came against us, or so we believed. The alien assault was sudden and unrelenting. Many great cities, including the original Canterlot, were all destroyed and left in ruins. They killed fleeing lives in cold blood, leaving only a small fraction of us Equusians alive. Neo Canterlot was in the works for some time, but the city became a reality once the aliens struck. As the Van’Goth continued destroying city after city, Neo Canterlot quickly became a refuge for those who were lucky enough to escape their brutal onslaught. Here, we try to keep life the way it was like before the aliens attacked.” “Okay… so what does that have to do with us?” Rondo asked. “There is no easy way to say this, but I’m seriously considering letting you four into our organization of H.O.R.S.E. agents. Anyone who could dispatch Ambush Van’Goths like that would be a great help to us.” Spitfire responded. “Ummm… isn’t that a bit sudden? From what you made this organization sound like, it seems like this is an organization that only citizens are allowed to partake in.” Lith said. “Which is why the move would be so controversial. I know that my own troops within H.O.R.S.E. walls would not be so trusting of aliens like you, but Neo Canterlot’s walls cannot last forever. We’re playing a defensive game here, and I know that we will all die if we do not get a power boost.” “So how do you propose we would rectify this situation, Spitfire?” Mono asked. “It’s simple, we-“ A blaring noise echoed throughout the complex. Spitfire’s face turned a pale color. “What’s going on?!” Rondo asked. “It can’t be! Neo Canterlot’s wall has been breached!” Fluttershy shouted. Down within the city, a diamond drill bore its way through the metal that made up the wall. A black bipedal mecha burst through the walls and its triangle-shaped visor flashed a bright red. It walked beyond the wall. A storm airplane-shaped black crafts blasted out of the hole, transforming into similar-shaped mechas. Everyone in the command room did nothing but stare at the impending storm of doom before them.