Opening theme:
The next day, Alice got up bright and early as she walked out of the hotel they were staying in. “Ready everyone?” she asked, as Shade walked after her, Charlotte and Spinner on her back.
“Anytime,” she grinned.
“Let’s go then,” she chuckled as she cloaked herself in an illusion, seemingly transforming into an Earth Pony with a blue coat and a brown mane, with a Cutie Mark depicting a cavalier hat behind a misty veil.
“Alright then, Misty Night,” Shade chuckled, remembering the name they had come up with to use while scouting for info.
It wasn’t long before they were exactly where they wanted. Amongst a tour group. Inside of Canterlot Castle.
Alice, or rather, Misty Night, half-listened as the tour guide droned on about the history of the castle. It was very clear to her that this group must have had bad luck to get a guide who was about as lively as a Metapod. Scratch that. Metapods were more lively than this. However, like any good Fox, she made sure to make full use of this, as with the guide AND the tour group utterly bored, it was easy for her to sneak glances and looks, committing key locations and guard points that she saw to memory. And naturally, being in a tour group worked as well as she expected, as any guards who might have noticed her simply chalked her up to being curious about the castle...and after they heard the tour guide drone on, some even offered her a look of sympathy.
Alice offered a polite wave/nod each time a guard noticed her, putting up the meek facade she often used as a civilian. However, even with things going so good so far, she was still on guard. The World Summit that had been held in the castle had only just ended about a day or two ago, meaning there could very well still be more than just the normal guards remaining. On top of that, the biggest issue she was worried about was the Legendary currently living in the castle.
That thought quickly went to the side, as she found an opening, and with a few quick gestures, Charlotte and Spinner crawled up the wall, and settled on the ceiling, before the two Spinarak got to work. Scurrying across the ceiling, they were searching around for their real target, while also taking note of any notable locations or points. However, remembering that there was someone they wanted to keep an eye out for, they made sure to keep their conscious thoughts geared towards the idea of ‘finding a home’, which hopefully would be enough to trick Mewtwo, if they passed him, into thinking they were just a pair of normal Spinaraks looking for a nice home.
Back with the tour group, Shade and Alice were both giving their best impressions of bored out of their minds...which wasn’t hard at all considering the Tour Guide was now droning on about some statues lining the hall. However, what they were really doing is taking note of the guards patrolling the halls, keeping track of their movements, and memorizing any points where the guards switch. Along the way, Alice would ask an odd misleading question every now and then, like why the guards looked the same, or if there were any known passages in the castle, making sure to ask in the tone of a curious person who simply wanted to know for the sake of knowing. It paid off, since it turns out, there were a couple of passages, though they didn’t really lead anywhere important, and more importantly, she found that the guards’ looked identical since the armor they wore had a special enchantment, making them literally look like an army of identical mooks.
The tour continued on relatively uneventfully...until Shade noticed a certain legendary coming their way. Acting quickly, the two focused on the Tour Guide’s explanation...and gave in to the mind numbing boredom that it was causing.
True enough, as Mewtwo floated by, he spared a glance at the tour group...and he actually mentally winced in sympathy. Even without reaching out, he could already FEEL the sheer boredom the tour group was giving off, and decided he had better things to do right now, and quickly left. Had he stayed a few more seconds longer, he might have heard the mental whisper of ‘sucker’ coming from the Tour Group.
Several hours passed, and before long the tour was over. When that was done, Alice and Shade quickly ducked into a corner, Alice dropping her ‘Misty Night’ guise, just as Charlotte and Spinner crawled along the wall.
“Did you find it?” Alice asked, earning a nod from the two Spinaraks.
“We-”
“-also left-”
“-a trail of breadcrumbs for you,” they said.
Alice nodded. “Perfect. Initial infiltration, successful,” she grinned, as they quickly headed back to the hotel.
“So the first step went without a hitch?” Rascal grinned.
“Yep, that tour worked like a charm. And the boring guide made it even better camouflage,” Shade chuckled.
“Well, if the guide was as boring as you say it was, then I can imagine how it would keep people out of your heads,” Sleight couldn’t help but sweatdrop as he and Storm listened.
“Now now you two, we’re not out of the woods yet. We still need to scout out the area at night,” Alice chidded.
“Right. So when do we do it?” Shade asked.
“Why, I think we ought to do it tonight,” Alice said without missing a beat.
“Eh?!” Sleight and Storm blanched. “But didn’t you just scout it out just now?”
“In the middle of a tour group. We only got to see the public sections of the castle, but none of the deeper areas. Charlotte and Spinner were able to locate the vault, but it would be better if I saw it for myself,” Alice started. “Furthermore, when the heist happens, we won’t have the luxury of cover, so its better we get a feel for it now.”
The old couple stared at her in disbelief, while her team just grinned. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Rascal grinned.
“Night time. Its still the middle of the day,” Alice deadpanned, before walking towards her bed. “Now in the meantime, I think I’ll get a bit more sleep,” she yawned. “Being a Fox is murder on the internal clock,” she sighed.
The night was quiet as sleep fell over the citizens of Canterlot, as only the gentle chirping of crickets could be heard. Likewise, in Canterlot castle, it was nearly completely quiet as only the guards were actually still awake, Celestia having gone to rest for the night, Luna off doing her duties in the dreamscape, and Discord...well, nobody actually knew WHAT he was up to...and none of the guards really cared to find out. As such, the night guards were keeping watch...even if they didn’t actually expect to see anything in particular. Too bad too, cause for once, something WAS happening.
Moving quickly, Fox easily darted from shadow to shadow, using the surrounding foliage as cover. Shortly after waking up, she had found that she had enough time for a quick stroll, which she did...and had gotten some more basic info on the castle from a few passing locals, adding to the info she had from the tour. As such, she knew that there were 2 sets of guards depending on the day, just as there were 2 Princesses that governed day and night. It helped too that some ponies seemed to see the Princesses as goddesses of sorts, and were more than happy to tell of their greatness. Of course, instead of making her chuckle, the stories brought a small smile to her face. “Equestria is certainly lucky to have such kind rulers,” she mentally mused. It almost made her feel bad for the trouble she was going to cause them. Almost, since she fully intended to make this into a statement.
Quickly ducking behind some cover, Fox made sure to keep an eye on the guards. Seeing an opening, she quickly darted past them, and leaped over the gate in a single fluid motion.
“Did you hear something?” one of the guards asked. The others looked around, and seeing nothing shrugged, before resuming their paths.
Fox lightly chuckled to herself at the close call, before resuming her path, and quickly sneaked into the castle. “I trust you didn’t find any issues sneaking in?” she chuckled.
“You kidding? These guys may be more alert than the other guys we’ve dealt with, but they’re still full of holes. And one hole is all that the Fox gang needs,” Rascal grinned as he stepped out of the shadows.
“Now then, shall we get going?” Fox chuckled, to which they both proceeded to move through the castle.
As expected, the guards had been shifted to the Night Guards, most of which consisted of Thestrals, or Bat-ponies as most liked to call them. They were about to pass a corner, when Fox suddenly held her arm out, stopping Rascal. “Something wrong?” he asked.
“Careful. I’m pretty sure Thestrals have better night vision than ponies. Shadows will only give us a limited amount of cover like this,” she said.
“Ah. Gotcha. Good thing the same can be said for us Dark-types,” Rascal nodded.
Fortunately, this didn’t prove to be too much of an issue. While the Night Guards did nullify some of their stealth, the guards still followed a formation that was mostly similar to the Solar Guards, giving them openings to slip through, and since at this time, most of the castle was asleep, and with with Princess Luna busy doing her duties, meant that there were few to no real obstacles in their way. However, one obstacle was the hallway leading towards the vault, with two guards standing watch at the entrance.
However, she already anticipated that. Taking out an item that looked like a web bomb, only light blue in color, she quickly clapped her paws around it, causing it to burst, and coating her paws in a sticky substance. Behind her, Rascal did the same. Nodding to each other, they quickly pressed their paws against the wall...and began to climb, the substance providing them with enough traction to scale the walls nearly silently. This of course presented a small problem, as they couldn’t exactly move fast, but if they took too long, they ran the risk of being found out too. As such, they had to time it well, inching closer to the entrance, they waited right as the guards looked away, and quickly went in, the sound catching their attention, yet when they turned, they saw nothing, making them shrug before resuming their posts.
“That was close,” Fox sighed slightly as they walked towards the vault. “Huh, so it really is practically impenetrable,” she mused as she lightly examined it. No key or dial for her to manipulate was present, and from the looks of it, there was no small opening for her to use. And when she used the glasses she got from Toichi, the amount of magic the door was giving off forced her to pull the glasses off before the light blinded her. “Okay...we...might have bitten off more than we can chew with this,” she admitted.
“Eh, we knew this wasn’t gonna be easy, so nothing new there,” Rascal shrugged.
“Yeah, that’s true,” Alice chuckled, as they quickly began looking around for openings. That’s when Alice remembered something. Putting on the glasses again, she winced at how bright the vault door looked...when she realized something. Only door itself gave off the bright aura. Everything else? Nothing. “Well well, what do you know, looks like they only enchanted the vault door itself, but nothing else.”
“Oh? Well then, I think we can exploit that,” Rascal grinned as he pulled out a calling card. However, Fox stopped him.
“Wait. Its too soon for that,” Alice stated.
“Then when?” he asked.
“Soon. We need to formulate a proper plan before we can do that. In the meantime, let’s get out of here first,” she said, before moving towards a nearby room that seemed to lead to a dead end. When she looked up at the entrance to the room, she smiled at the confirmation of a Spinarak web with a small jewel on it. Walking towards one of the suits of armor she grabbed hold, and turned the head around, causing a passageway to open. “Its a good thing Spinner likes zipping around with those webs of his. Otherwise he would never have found this passage,” Fox chuckled as they made their exit. Taking the passage, they soon came out in another room, one not far from one of the doors of the castle, and soon they were out of Canterlot Castle, and making their way back to the hotel.
The next few days passed by quickly. After the successful infiltration, the Fox Gang spent the next few days going over plans and details for their heist. Needless to say, this was their most dangerous attempt yet, particularly due to the presence of 4 Legendary class opponents in Canterlot Castle. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that for once, Alice was more focused on making as many contingency plans as she could rather than actually succeeding in the heist. One of the main issues though was the fact that they couldn’t easily breach the vault. However, the revelation that only the door was impenetrable gave rise to other possibilities, such as the use of a drill or something to get into the vault and steal the jewels from the inside. Before long, nearly a week passed and the Fox gang was as ready as ever for the heist. Making up their minds, a quick second infiltration into the castle was done, only this time Fox was sure to leave her notice. On the vault door itself.
Jonathan sighed as he and his team finally made it to Canterlot. The last few days had been spent making sure all loose ends regarding Medicine Bits were tied up. It was getting to the point where Jonathan was all but ready to start ripping hairs out of his head, when some idiots from Manehattan were still trying to get Medicine Bits off the hook. It was a good thing though that they had ended up getting the same sentence as her on accounts of being accomplices, or he’d probably have grabbed them and punched them so hard, they’d live the rest of their lives on the moon.
But that was a while ago, and now he honestly wanted nothing more than to put the issue behind him and move on. He had a thief to catch after all, and if he was honest with himself. He’d rather spend his nights chasing after Fox than having to deal with all the politics in the office.
“Nice place they got here,” Echo couldn’t help but comment.
“Well, it IS the capital city,” Jonathan pointed out with a chuckle. “Come on, let’s find a place to stay for the night first. We can worry about Fox tomorrow.”
“Right,” the others nodded in agreement.
Alice yawned as she woke up. Today was the day. All their time planning, preparing, and gathering information would all come to a head at the end of the day, so all that was left was to mentally prepare for the heist. Looking out the window, she noticed that it was still pretty early in the day, before she decided to go out for a bit. There weren’t many Ponies or Pokemon up yet, but despite that, she quickly put up the illusion of her being a pony. It might have just been her being paranoid, but considering she was about to pull one of the biggest heists ever, she felt the less people might connect to her, the better. The morning stroll was relaxing and helped her greatly. She soon passed a cafe called ‘The Daily Grind’, and noticing the enjoyable smells coming from within, decided that breakfast was in order.
“Welcome!” came the voice of the mare who apparently ran the restaurant, who fittingly enough, was named Mocha. “What can I get you?” she asked.
Looking at the menu, Alice nodded. “A cup of coffee sounds good for now,” she said.
“Coming right up,” Mocha smiled. “Oh, and sorry, but since I’m still cleaning up front, could you please take a seat in the back?”
“Of course,” Alice nodded as she went and took a seat. Shortly after, the coffee came while she browsed the food menu, and took a sip, sighing in enjoyment at the taste. She continued to browse for a moment, not too sure what she wanted to eat when she noticed another customer come in. A Luxray. A rather large Luxray at that. He seemed to chat with Mocha a little, and apparently his name is Seth. Like with her, Mocha asked him to take a seat in the back since she wasn’t done cleaning, so it wasn’t long before he got a seat that happened to be right behind hers.
“Phew, note to self, run more often,” he said as he got comfortable, before adding, “I certainly hope things calm down at least, the last thing I need is another incident like the last.”
At his choice of words, she inwardly chuckled at that, and for some reason, she decided to answer to it. “And now that you said it, it’ll probably happen,” she said, catching his attention. “Murphy’s law and all that.”
Seth turned around at her voice. “I suppose I just did, it’s somewhat of a habit of mine,” he chuckled. “Oh, my name is Seth Crescent, might I have yours?”
When he introduced himself it all came into place for her. It explained why the name sounded familiar. Seth Alexi Crescent. A rather well known name in both the public community, as well as the criminal underground. He is, or rather WAS a well known Pokemon rights speaker, particularly in the area of human/Pokemon relationships. Honestly, she only vaguely kept up to date about him back on Earth, especially after he seemed to get arrested every week, while also being charged with numerous charges that anyone with half a brain could tell were false charges, and utterly bogus, to the point she had once face palmed at the sheer stupidity of the law enforcers at times. Not only that, but his arguments were that of common sense, yet the public seemed so set in their ways, it was ridiculous...honestly not that different from her own research really. With that in mind, she decided she’d be a little honest with him. He seemed like a nice guy after all. “Alice,” she simply said. “And I’ve heard of you. Didn’t expect to see another former human here,” she said, smiling slightly.
“Another?” Seth blinked at this information, no doubt surprised by her choice of words. “Um... you’re a human too? But you’re a pony.”
At his words, she dropped the illusion, shedding the image of a pony, and revealing her real form. “I prefer it when ponies don’t stare,” she half-lied.
“Understandable,” Seth nodded, not suspecting anything at all.
“So Mr. Crescent, how is Equus treating you? Better than Earth I hope, considering humanity is more or less extinct...physically at least,” she asked, as she took a sip of her coffee.
“That’s a morbid way of looking at it Miss Alice,” Seth replied with a dry tone. “But yes, certain things have gone well, but I suppose a new set of problems simply replaced the old ones a the same time.”
“Considering what our ancestors pulled on Arceus and the other Legendaries, and not to mention the crap the bad parts of humanity have done over the years, I personally think humanity got off easy,” she shrugged. “As for problems, it's unavoidable. Especially since Arceus seems to have good intentions, but...well...he doesn’t think things through if this exodus was any indication,” she chuckled at that.
“Perhaps he lost his ‘Performing a Rapture’ instruction book?” Seth laughed. “Still, I am glad for one thing in particular. That those who could not find love in the old world, can finally have it in this new one.”
At his statement, Alice laughed cutely. “Maybe someone should write him a book called ‘Raptures for Dummies’, in case he tries again. As for love...I’m glad for them too. That was one law that I think went a BIT too far,” she chuckled.
“Understatement of the year right there,” Seth replied. he turned in his seat so he could talk more comfortably. “So what brings you to Canterlot Miss Alice? Seeing the sights?”
“Friends of mine. They have some business here, and since they’ve been so kind to me since I got here, I’m doing what I can to help them,” she said smoothly. “That’s another thing I like about this world. Aside from a few...unsavory spots, it’s a very beautiful world,” she said. Then a thought crossed her mind. He had asked her why she was here...and she had never said she was from out of town. “How did you know I was from out of town? I doubt you memorize EVERY Pokemon in this city.”
“Magic!” Seth replied, to which she gave him an amused, yet deadpan stare. At that, he tapped his nose and nodded. “This actually. The ponies and Pokemon living here all have a rather unique scent, one I noticed that ponies and Pokemon from Ponyville didn’t have, and one you do not have. It may sound silly, but my nose has never been wrong.”
In the split second that he had his eyes closed in a smile, she felt her smile drop into a frown, though she quickly reigned it in and asserted her Poker Face. This was bad. She had been talking around town, and during the time, she had heard that Seth Crescent had joined the Royal Guard, and even led the first Pokemon division of the guards. All things considered, that meant that he’d likely be one of the obstacles in her way later, so she couldn’t have him figuring her out by simply her scent. Forcing her smile back, she said, “Well then, maybe I should bathe in the scent a bit more so that I don’t give it away so easily,” she joked. “So, any recommendations? I’d have gone for the castle, but...I would think that’s not exactly a tourist spot.”
“The castle is generally open to the public, for those that wish an audience with the Princesses, or want to tour the Gardens. Other than that, I’ve had little time for sightseeing myself.” He paused for a moment as he thought. “We do have the Sundial that Arceus dumped here, and the Falls are quite nice as well, oh, and the Crystal Caves if the Carbink living there will let you.”
Hearing about the the sundial, she smiled. “Ah yes, the Sundial. Maybe I’ll visit it later. It would be nice to feel like I’m back home again,” she said as a slightly nostalgic look appeared on her face.
“You’re from Kalos?” Seth asked. “I visited the region a few times, but it was mostly to visit Diantha for training or simply to catch up... plus the odd hunt for a Mega Stone or two.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. You’re Diantha’s unofficial apprentice, weren’t you? As for me...I’m actually from Hoenn, but I moved to Kalos for my college degree a little over 5 years ago. I’m a little disappointed I never got to finish my degree before we were sent here, since it wasn’t easy working to be a researcher,” she sighed a little glumly. While she didn’t mind the transfer too much, it still bummed her a little that her degree was now going to waste.
“A researcher?” Seth asked. “And I wasnt aware I was known in the Kalos region...” He sighed, “At least not for that reason. I hope no one thought ill of Diantha because of it.”
“Don’t worry. It wasn’t common knowledge. Let’s just say I know a few people, and leave it at that, so I know a few things the public doesn’t usually know,” Alice laughed, since it was true. Seth Crescent’s status as an unofficial apprentice wasn’t something the general public knew about.
“So mysterious,” Seth chuckled. “But I’m glad. I would’ve hated to learn that I brought scorn upon yet another of my friends, simply because they were my friends.”
At his words she winced slightly, remembering how his name had somehow come to basically carry a stigma to anyone associating with him. “Honestly, I thought it was kinda dumb. I mean, your only real ‘crime’ was speaking out against what you thought was an unfair law. Last I heard, you never did anything illegal... except your supposed ‘abuse’ of your Pokemon, but if you really did do that, then you’d have been convicted long ago. Sides, its not like you did anything like those evil teams did,” she sighed in annoyance, remembering another thing about Earth that just made her shake her head incredulously all the time. “You would think the authorities had better things to do than chase people who LOVE their Pokemon. Last I checked, the crazy guy with the doomsday weapons is a bigger threat than the guy doing ‘it’ with his Pokemon,” she ranted, remembering how many times she felt like telling Shade to shoot the tv with a Hyper Beam when the news kept talking about the police arresting Pokephiles...when Teams like Team Rocket or something were causing bigger problems.
Seth blinked, but that didn’t stop the wide smile he was wearing. It was nice to see that someone else could see the skewed priorities that Earth law enforcement seemed to possess.
“Heh, I think the only person that liked to aggravate the law more that me was that ‘Phantom Fox’,” Seth replied. “Now there’s someone I’d happily share a drink with, though I doubt a thief would have passed Arceus’s little screening...” he sipped at his water and sighed. “Pity.”
“Not exactly,” Alice chuckled as she took another sip, inwardly chuckling at the irony of his statement. When he heard what she said, Seth coughed into his cup as he looked at her.
“W-what?” he spluttered.
“My friends are traveling magicians. We’ve been to a few towns, and some of them had one thing in common. Fox hit them,” she simply said, secretly enjoying the look on his face.
Seth blinked, before he chuckled... which turned into gut-busting laughter. He wiped a tear from his eyes as he beamed widely. “Well I’ll be damned, I may yet get that drink.” Mocha gave him an odd look as she brought out his breakfast.
“Someone tell a good joke?” she asked.
“Something like that,” Seth giggled. “I should read the paper more often from the sounds of it.” He took a sniff of his breakfast and hummed appreciatively. “This smells delicious Mocha~”
“I sure hope so,” she replied. “Would you like anything else Miss...? Huh? Where’d that pony from before go? She didn’t pay for her coffee yet.”
Alice just chuckled at her expression. “You’re looking at her. I’m a Pokemon known as Zoroark, the Illusion Fox Pokemon. I think you can guess the rest. And just to avoid a fuss, here ya go,” she said, before placing some bits on the table. “I promise they’re real.”
“So, you’re like a Changeling?” Mocha blinked as she took the Bits. “You Pokemon sure are full of surprises, next thing you know, you’ll tell me that there’s talking ice-cream and walking cupcakes.”
Seth and Alice remained conspicuously quiet, only for Mocha to facehoof. “Really?” she asked as the two nodded. “I need a drink...”
Seth munched on his hash brown and sipped at his latte while the two girls spoke. He was really getting the hang of gripping things with his paws now. He quickly inhaled his pancakes and his coffee, feeling the pleasant buzz from the caffeinated beverage.
“While you're at it, could I order something more. I’ll have a cheese omelette, with some hashbrowns on the side,” Alice ordered.
“Can do,” Mocha smiled. She noticed Alice’s sharp teeth and decided she’d at least ask. “Just an omelette? Or would you like some diced bacon added to it?”
“You serve bacon here? I’ll have some,” Alice smiled. It had been a while since she had some.
“I live in the most multicultural city in Equestria,” Mocha winked. “You gotta adapt if you want to succeed here. I’ll be back with your order soon.” She trotted off, whisking Seth’s empty plate away as well.
“Mmm, that was good,” Seth hummed happily. “Mocha makes the second-best food in Equestria, no doubt.”
“Oh? Is it really smart to say a chef’s food is second best in front of the chef?” Alice chuckled.
“Unfortunately, my lovely marefriend has to take precedence,” Seth smiled, the smallest of blushes gracing his cheeks.
“Fair enough,” Alice smiled, just as her food came...until she realized what he said. “Wait... marefriend?”
Seth nodded, “Her name is Apple Fritter, she owns the local orchards here in Canterlot and provides most of the city with them...” Seth trailed off as he thought about the cute, little mare. “Her desserts are nothing short of ammmmazzingg~”
Alice took a moment to process this. “Alright, I guess if humans can fall in love with Pokemon, Ponies shouldn’t be too much of a stretch,” she sighed, before deciding to take a bite of her food. When she did, she she smiled widely. “Delicious! One thing I love about this world is how delicious the food is.”
“It is pretty amazing,” Seth agreed. He probably shouldn’t mention he was also dating one of his Pokemon. “I try to remember the things I would eat back home... they pale in comparison.”
“Its true. My family was quite wealthy back home, yet even the food I was able to eat pales in comparison to this,” she smiled as she ate with gusto.
The distant bell tower chimed and Seth’s eyes widened as he realised the time. He was so bucking late! He jumped to his paws and hastily grabbed his bags.
“I’m really sorry Miss Alice, but I have a rather urgent appointment to get to... well, more like the pony I’m meeting is not one you want to keep waiting.” He bowed his head apologetically and ran from the cafe, leaving a small pile of Bits on the table for Mocha.
Said mare came out from the kitchen and blinked. “Wha? Where’d Seth go?”
“He ran off. He had some important meeting. Why?”
“Just wondering why he ran off like his tail was on fire,” Mocha replied. She scooped up the bits and then blinked. “Oh, he left his wallet behind.”
Alice blinked at that, before quickly scarfing up the remainder of her meal and placing some bits on the table. “I’ll bring it to him. I can still catch him if I hurry,” she said, picking up the bag.
“Thank you,” Mocha called out as the fox ran off and smiled. “Such a nice girl.”
Alice chased after the Luxray, glad that as a Pokemon, she didn’t have to worry about stomach problems from running after eating. It wasn’t long before she saw the Luxray’s form...approaching the castle. THAT made her pause...before she ducked behind some cover. By now she knew that the Princesses would have gotten her notice, and no doubt would be making plans. Pushing down a part of her that felt a little guilty about taking advantage of the situation, she casted an illusion that made her appear invisible, and followed after Seth, though she was careful to not get too close, knowing that the Luxray’s nose would find her if she did.
Walking inside the castle, she wasn’t surprised to see the increase in guards and quickly realized that Seth was headed towards the area where the Princesses live. However, another issue arose when she noticed that Seth had gone through a door...guarded by 2 guards. Normally she’d simply knock them out, but that was impossible at this point. Any hints that she was here would only increase the chances of her getting caught. Fortunately, she knew an alternative. Walking down another hall, she moved over to one of the air vents she had found the other night. Crawling in, she made her way through the vents. Remembering the rough location of the throne room, she quickly made her way through the vents, and finding the opening she was looking for, and started to listen in on the conversation.
“SO HOW DOES IT- WHOA!!” Seth’s voice boomed through the hall. “THIS IS LOUD!”
And she promptly recoiled from the sound of Seth’s voice suddenly gaining the strength of a thunderclap.
“HUZZAH!” The voice of one of the Princesses, Luna, if the dark coloration was any indication, thundered back with the same strength as Seth’s voice. “TIS GOOD TO SEE OUR SPELLCRAFT WORK THUSLY!”
At this point Alice had jammed earplugs into her ears, which were fortunately enough to keep most of the noise out, just enough that she could actually understand what was being said without going deaf.
“THIS IS PRETTY COOL,” Seth replied. “I WISH I HAD THIS BACK ON EARTH, WOULDA GIVEN MY SPEECHES MORE IMPACT!”
“WE ARE GLAD YOU LIKE IT,” Luna smiled. “I WAS WORRIED THAT THE ENCHANTMENT WOULD NOT WORK ON A POKEMON!”
“WELL, IT SEEMS TO WORK JUST FINE,” The windows rattled at this point as the throne room door flung open and another Princess, Celestia no doubt, stood there, looking very annoyed.
“FOR THE LOVE OF ME, WOULD THE TWO OF YOU SHUT UP!!” Her voice sent even Luna flying as the Solar Alicorn snorted and teleported from the room.
After that, there was a notable lack of sound, yet Alice noticed their mouths were still moving, so she took off her earplugs to listen in on more of the conversation. She was interested in the fact that Seth’s new accessory now gave him resistance to magic, in addition to giving him easy access to Mega Evolution again. As expected, the main issue they had called him to discuss was about her upcoming heist, and discussing possible counters for it. However, upon learning of her ‘method’, the batpony, Grissom, seemed to get an idea. After that, Princess Luna left the room, leaving Seth alone with Grissom.
However, when she listened for the plan...Grissom turned around and said that there was no plan, much to her surprise. “You’ve got some nerve,” she thought in annoyance when Grissom pretty much said he planned to use her as a method of discrediting this...Ironside, and the council. Though she did find it amusing when Seth pointed out the large holes in his plan...and quickly started to wonder who was the idiot who hired this ‘Council’...which quickly got an answer. “The rumors weren’t exaggerating. That ‘Prince’ really IS more of a problem than a help,” she sweat dropped. Deciding that she had heard enough, she quickly covered herself in her illusion, and snuck out of the castle. Good thing too, as not long after she got out, she saw Seth leaving as well.
She was about to leave unseen...when she remembered WHY she was following him in the first place. So quickly putting on her facade, she walked towards him. “There you are, I was waiting for a while here,” she said feigning annoyance, catching his attention.
“Alice? What are you doing here?” Seth asked in surprise.
“You ran off after leaving your money that you forgot your wallet. I figured I’d give it back to you, but I didn’t expect you to be going into the castle, and into the deeper parts at that,” she explained. She then added, “So...how was it? You seem to have friends in high places if you can go in there of all places.”
“Ah, well thank you for returning my money,” he took his money pouch and placed it back into his bag before shooting a glance at the castle. “As for having friends in high places, well it’s something like that,” Seth replied. “I work for the Princesses you see, as part of the Royal Guard that covers Pokemon-related incidents.” His gaze narrowed as he recalled what had just transpired. “Though I feel a little left out of the loop now...”
Unseen to him, Alice developed a sympathetic look, since she had seen it as well, but quickly changed it back to a normal expression. “I see...This is probably classified, but...wanna talk about it? Maybe I can give you some advice,” she offered sincerely. Even if they were going to be opponents, she still didn’t like seeing him depressed like that.
Seth smiled at that and nodded. “As long as you can keep it a secret, at least for now,” he said.
“Sure. Not like I know anyone who’d want to know about anything going on here. I’m only going to be here for a day or 2 more. Depending on how long Sleight’s show takes,” she shrugged.
Seth nodded and a small smile crossed his face. “Well, it looks like you were right about Fox being here in Equestria. She’s after the Crown Jewels here in the capitol... but the ponies here are convinced that they can handle it themselves, and I think they severely underestimate her skills. Their treating her like a common thug, not the skilled Phantom Thief that she is.”
Alice mentally chuckled at that. It seemed the difficulty of this heist might have started to decrease even more. However, she quickly put on a convincing look. “That IS a problem. As someone who’s lived in Kalos when she was active, I know how things usually go down. If they don’t take Fox seriously well...let’s just say they’re about to get the biggest serving of humble pie in their lives,” she idly commented. “Actually...considering its Fox...that might not be such a bad thing.”
“Yeah, we’re kinda banking on that actually,” Seth chuckled. “Though the way my luck’s been running lately, the Crown Jewels will either be damaged, failed to be stolen or she’ll decide to keep them...”
“Oh, don’t be so pessimistic. Just be careful. You won’t be able to go through life if you keep expecting the worst. Sure, you should plan for it, but don’t expect it to happen,” Alice said, patting him on the shoulder, though inwardly she was a little offended that he thought she’d actually keep the Crown Jewels. That went against the code her family had followed for centuries. “Sides, this is Fox we’re talking about. Her track records pretty good if you ask me.”
“I’m plenty optimistic,” Seth replied. “But Murphy has been quite active in pursuing to prove me wrong at every step. Between a power-mad Unicorn, Checkmate, the PLA and Arceus-knows what else...” Seth cut off his own rant and looked a little abashed. “Sorry, I’m kinda dumping all this on you and you’re just trying to help.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it,” she smiled. “I did ask after all,” she said. “Anyway, I think I’d better get going. I’ve got some stuff to do, not to mention I wanted to at least sightsee a little,” she said. “You take care now.”
“I will, and thanks for hanging out with me for a while,” Seth smiled. “Maybe next time you can meet my family? Rika will positively adore you... be warned, she's a hugger though.”
“Maybe I will next time. Next time I come to Canterlot that is,” she smiled, before walking off. She was happy that she managed to cheer him up a little. However, the time for the heist was approaching, and at that time, he wouldn’t be faced with Alice. He’d be up against Fox, and Fox didn’t intend to lose.
It was a relatively normal morning for Jonathan. Wake up, have breakfast, read the paper, find a headline showing Fox had left another notice, run to the police station. Yeah, normal. It was for that reason that he and his team were currently making a beeline for Canterlot Castle this afternoon (after the late night last night, he didn’t wake up till it was nearly 9).
When he got to the castle, as expected, the guards stopped them. However, when he showed them the badge he had earned in Tall Tale, and when he explained that he had info on Fox, the guards were willing to let them through. After a few directions from some of the servants, they found his way to the room where the Princesses were, but seeing as they WERE coming unannounced, they agreed that it was best if Jonathan go in alone first. However, when he stepped in…
“STATE THY NAME!” One of the Princesses, Luna, he guessed, bellowed with the intensity of a sonic boom, causing the Lucario to stumble back from it’s force.
Jonathan quickly regained his composure, and got back on his feet and saluted. “Officer Jonathan Trace, Baltimare Guard, and formerly of the Kalos Police Force,” he stated, his voice disciplined and respectful.
“Baltimare?” The other Princess, Celestia, echoed. “They always did enjoy not filing their paperwork correctly... or at all.” She looked at the Lucario and nodded. “Very well then Mr. Trace, what may we do for you today?”
“I heard that Fox is planning a heist on this castle. Requesting permission to join the defense,” he stated bluntly, deciding that being direct might be his best chance right now. The last thing he wanted to do was to sound flowery and risk the princesses not taking him seriously.
“That’s... quite abrupt,” Celestia said, while the batpony with them nodded as well.
“With all due respect, ma’am, sir. I was in charge of the Fox case back on Earth, and have been pursuing her for the last 5 years. I have a better idea of how she will likely act, and I am proud to say that I am one of the few officers to have come close to apprehending her,” Jonathan stated.
“And in five years, thou hath yet to catch her... even once?” Luna stated with a dry tone. “Your resume is less than impressive Officer.”
Jonathan’s stoic expression cracked a bit at the statement, her words feeling like a blow to the gut. However he didn’t falter. “Understood. However, I have intel on Fox’s likely movements, and have been tracking her since she resumed her crime spree on Equus. And for all its worth, I did manage to catch her once on Earth....unfortunately she had already planned for that too that time…” he groaned at the last part. The princesses and the bat pony seemed to discuss amongst themselves for a moment, before Princess Celestia stepped forward.
“Very well Officer Trace,” Celestia replied with her usual regal tone. “As a Princess of Equestria, not only do I recognise your station, I also grant you permission to assist with this case. You will need to find Captain Ironside, the stallion in charge of this endeavour.”
“Much appreciated, your highness,” Jonathan smiled and saluted, before adding, “If I may suggest, assuming you already have a perimeter secured, have guards ready to shift from location to location if necessary. Unfortunately, Fox’s Pokemon form, a Zoroark, has only made her more efficient in terms of her ability to sneak into locations. I wouldn’t put it past her to send out decoys and tricks to confuse the guards before she moves in on her target.”
“Those details are being left up to Ironside,” Celestia said, the smile disappearing from her face. “I’m afraid our hooves are tied this time.”
“Understood. I will report to Captain Ironside immediately,” Jonathan nodded.
“Also,” Grissom said with a small smile, his fangs glinting. “You will be working with our own Pokemon division on this case, do try and get along with them okay? They may be your best bet.”
“At this point, I’ll take anyone. We need as many able bodies as we can if we want even a CHANCE of catching Fox. We’re going up against 5 centuries worth of refined techniques,” Jonatan sighed.
“That’s quite the tall order, I do hope you succeed,” Grissom smiled a little too widely.
“Why do I get a bad feeling about this? Like I’m suddenly dancing to one of Fox’s scripts?” Jonathan mentally groaned when he saw the smile. However, he simply nodded, and went off to find Captain Ironside.
“This is going to be fun~” Grissom grinned as the Lucario left.
“I pray no-one gets injured tonight,” Celestia added.
“Should I bring popcorn?” Luna asked. The other two turned and looked at the Alicorn, looks of shock on their face.
“It’ll be buttered!” Luna defended.
Finding Captain Ironside proved to be easy enough. Talking to him however…
“Not if Tartarus freezes,” Ironside replied, once Jonathan had stated his request. “I’ve already said no to you creatures, and yet you keep asking. Is ‘no’ a word you simply do not understand, or is there nothing but air between your ears?”
Jonathan looked almost...stunned at the response, but quickly recomposed himself. “But sir, all I’m asking is that you arrange the guards to be able to quickly respond and adapt to the situation if needs be,” he explained. “Fox works via tricks and confusion. A rigid approach to her just won’t work.”
“A thief is a thief,” Ironside replied. “My guards have never failed and nor will they tonight.”
“Totally wish Shining was still here,” one of them whispered to another.
Jonathan for his part resisted the urge to groan. “Not every thief is the same, sir,” he tried to reason. “Fox...every Fox that ever appeared on Earth has never been caught before. And even now, after 5 CENTURIES of gathered knowledge and expertise, they still continue to evade the law.” he sincerely hoped that could make Ironside see reason…
“Then it simply goes to show how truly incompetent your law enforcement is,” Iron smirked. “If it were me, that thief would be rotting in a cell by now.” Ironside thumped his hoof on the table and the map that was on it. “Tell you what, you can help out. I kind of feel sorry for you at this point, and maybe seeing real stallions catch a thief might make you a better Officer.”
Jonathan REALLY wanted to groan at this point. This stallion was full of himself, and for all it was worth, he HOPED he could deliver. But after years of dealing with Fox, he had a pretty good idea how someone like him would end up, and it wasn’t with Fox behind bars. Despite that he forced himself to push down his ire. “Understood. Thank you very much, sir,” Jonathan said insincerely, though Ironside never noticed.
“Good,” he snorted as Jonathan walked outside. “Maybe there’s hope for your kind yet!” he grunted as Jonathan walked away. He didn’t once notice the glare the Pokemon were giving him.
Once he was outside, Jonathan slammed his fist into a nearby wall, cracking it. “Real stallion my ass. That idiot isn’t even taking her seriously. All he’s done is made this a whole lot easier for Fox,” he grumbled. “That moron is lucky Fox returns what she steals, or I’d hate to be in his shoes when this is over.”
“So now what do we do?” Heat groaned, exhaling a small blast of flame. He SO wanted to do that to Ironside, but he knew that would just cause more problems for them.
“What we’ve always been doing since we got here,” Jonathan sighed. “Work with what we’ve got.”
“Right,” the others nodded...right before they heard an explosion coming from the training fields.
“What the?! We’d better check that out!” Jonathan said, to which he ran towards the source, his team following behind him.
“Hey! Is everyone alright? I heard an explosion…” Jonathan shouted as he got to the location...then stopped when he saw the Mega Charizard Y. “...and suddenly I think I know where the explosion came from.” Looking around, he noticed that aside from the Mega Charizard, there was a large Luxray with some kind of cloth tied to his leg and wearing a torc with a Keystone, and an Absol wearing an Absolite.
“Yeah, just getting in a little practice,” the Charizard chuckled. He walked over to the Absol and scooped her up into his arms, and soon took off with her.
“Just be back soon okay?” the Luxray called out after them.
“No promises!” Ignis grinned as he took off. The Luxray turned back to Jonathan and offered a paw.
“My name is Seth Crescent, former trainer and current employee to the Princesses Guard.”
At this Jonathan blinked in surprise. He knew that name. It was the same name of the person who was wanted for allegedly trying to promote human/Pokemon relationships under the guise of a Pokemon rights activist just to justify his own alleged desires, and his supposed abuse of his Pokemon. Of course, while many seemed to eat it up for some reason, he wasn’t most people. He had actually taken a close look at the records, and honestly, he had never seen a bigger pile of bogus charges than this. Even more astounding was how nobody had ever bothered to pick through this, seemingly all too ready to see Seth Crescent as another villain, despite it being painfully obvious someone was framing him. Even after he brought this to his higher ups, nothing was done about it. Just another confirmation that there was something wrong with the system, and he had intended to fix that...eventually. Shaking his head slightly to bring himself back to the present, he took the paw and shook it. “Its a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Crescent. I’m Jonathan Trace, formerly of the Kalos Police and currently of the Baltimare Guard,” he said...before he got a mischievous idea, and grabbed Seth’s leg. “I’m afraid you’re also under arrest, for charges including Pokephilia, apparent abuse of your Pokemon, and a whole other pile of Taurus Crap charges,” he laughed, before letting go, getting a kick out of the look Seth had when he said he was under arrest.
It took Seth a few seconds to process what the Officer had said and powered down the Discharge he had been building.
“I am so very glad Selena wasn’t here to overhear that,” he sighed. “I would really hate to explain to Celestia why my Absol be-headed a Lucario on her lawn...”
“She probably wouldn’t have got far. Isn’t that right, Heat?” Jonathan simply said, as his team walked into the clearing.
“Of course not. If she even tried, she’d be kissing Quick Attack, followed by a Sky Uppercut to LEO,” Heat, chuckled.
“LEO?” the Earth Pony mare asked, confused by the term.
“Lower Earth Orbit... or Equus Orbit in this case,” Seth explained.
“You can tell when someone goes to LEO by the little ding in the sky that happens every time,” Jonathan chuckled. “Anyway, all jokes aside, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Crescent. I always like to see the so-called ‘Most wanted’ when it comes to cases like Pokephilia. You wouldn’t believe how many of those charges are just plain crap.” and it was no joke too. There’s a reason why Jonathan personally disliked dealing with Pokephilia cases, they were either often based on utterly overblown charges, or practically killed him on the inside when he made an arrest...with a few exceptions.
Seth scratched the back of his head while the Earth Pony looked away, blushing.
“Well... there might be some truth to those charges now...” he replied with a small smile. “Regardless, it’s nice to meet an Officer that doesn’t have a Braxien stick up his ass.”
“Well...dunno what to say about that. I mean, as long as it’s consensual, I don’t really see the problem,” Jonathan shrugged.
“It is, don’t worry about that... besides, we’re all Pokemon now. It’s not like we really have a choice.”
“Well, unless you go native,” the Earth Pony grinned.
“...Yeah...I think I’ll stick to my own kind,” Jonathan commented. “Anyway, seeing as you’re working for Princess Celestia, I assume you’re the Pokemon division that Grissom told me about,” Jonathan started.
“That’s right, well I am anyway. My Pokemon are included by default it seems.” Seth looked to the sky, but doubted Ignis would be back anytime soon. He then glanced at the trio of Pokemon that accompanied the officer. “So these are your partners I take it?”
“Yep. These guys have stuck with me through thick and thin for years now. Wouldn’t find any more loyal or dependable Pokemon anywhere,” Jonathan grinned. “Let me introduce you. This is Heat,” he motioned to the Combusken. “Howl,” he gestured to the Mightyena. “And Echo,” he pointed at the Noibat.
“Yo,” Heat greeted.
“Its nice to meet you,” Howl nodded.
“Let’s get along,” Echo smiled.
“Nice to meet all of you,” Seth nodded. “They look pretty strong too.” The trainer in him suddenly had the urge for a battle... except he had none of his Pokemon. “Wish I could introduce my team... they’re all a bit indisposed though. The Charizard from before was Ignis, and the Absol was Selena. I also have a Sylveon, Rika.”
“And I’m Apple Fritter,” the Earth Pony mare spoke up. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Though... do try and refrain from arresting my Seth again hmm?”
“As long as he doesn’t do anything that would force me to, we’re all good,” Jonathan waved her off. “So...not to be abrupt or anything, but...I do believe we have bigger things to worry about now.”
“Yeah... Fox.” Seth sighed. “And yet that idiot stallion is just going to let her take the Jewels from the way he’s carrying on... not to mention that my team and I can’t even help.”
“Yeah...that guy didn’t even listen to my when I was suggesting how to better anticipate Fox. Jerk even had the gall to call our world’s law enforcement incompetent when he doesn’t even KNOW how much we sometimes invest in trying to catch a Fox,” Jonathan grumbled.
“Well,” Seth replied. “I’m in no position to question the laws... priorities anymore,” he said. “But is there a specific reason you can’t catch her after all this time. One person surely can’t be that good. Even a Champion can be defeated...”
“Yeah. In a fight. But Fox just plain doesn’t work that way. Every Fox that has ever existed knows the tricks his or her predecessor knew, so they’ve been...refining their techniques over the centuries. What more, even though we know one is coming, there is no way to tell HOW they’ll do it. Especially with this Fox. She’s a frikkin magician. I have to second guess everything I saw whenever I chase her, and the one time I DID manage to catch her...well, let’s just say there was a puff of smoke, and suddenly I was handcuffed to the railings,” Jonathan groaned.
“That... sounds like tonight is going to be a massive pain in the ass,” Seth replied with a groan of his own. “Like I haven’t had enough of those already...”
“Well...if it's any consolation, at least Fox’s heists are usually entertaining...if you get to see what she does,” Jonathan said almost feebly.
“Maybe I’ll grab takeout,” Seth mused. “So at least we’ll get dinner and a show.”
“Do they have curry? That always helps me stay up,” Jonathan idly commented. It was one of his favorites, and oddly rare in Kalos.
“Get some for us too while you’re at it,” Howl chuckled.
“Curry for four,” Seth nodded. “I’ll remember.”
Grissom chose that moment to fly from the castle, landing neatly in front of them.
“Hey there Seth, I was hoping to find... you.. here?” He looked at the carnage that Ignis had wrought and sighed. “Well, guess where our tax dollars are going now...”
“Sorry bout that Griss,” Seth chuckled. “I did tell him to take it easy... and, well the castle is still standing sooo, silver lining?”
“...I don’t know how I’m to respond to that,” the Thestral sighed. “Anyway, I got you and your team on the case tonight. so here’s hoping for a successful mission hmm?”
“Sweet, I knew I could count on you,” Seth grinned.
“Oh and I see you’ve met Mr. Trace as well,” Grissom replied. “I hope you gentlestallions can get along.”
“I don’t think we have a problem here,” Seth smiled. “Unless Mr. Trace disagrees?”
“No problems here. I’d rather work with Mr. Crescent any day. At least we’d actually be able to get something done,” Jonathan snorted as he gave another glare at the castle where Ironside was.
“Amen to that,” Seth agreed. “I almost hope Fox wins at this point.”
“Crescent. With how the current person in control is acting...she’d be able to win with her hands tied behind her back,” Jonathan deadpanned.
“Well, paws in you wanna get technical,” Seth replied. “Still, Fox has never dealt with us before, that that should put a nice spin on things.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Still…” Jonathan sighed. “I had high hopes that in Canterlot, I’d be able to coordinate something that could finally catch her. Now though….” he shook his head. “Either way, if you don’t mind, I’d like us to go over the plans I had. I’ll have to adapt it, but I should be able to come up with something workable for us…” And with that the Lucario went to work thinking on how to proceed from here.
Ending theme:
