//------------------------------// // A Cold Past // Story: A New Dimension, A New Threat // by ZeroChill //------------------------------// Reine and Boreas both stood across an icy field glancing towards each other. Wearing a stalwart combination of a straight mouth and steeled eyes, Boreas raised her right pectoral fin into the air. Reine braced her muscles and leaped into the air. She fired an ice beam from the palm of her right claws. The Ice Beam struck the ground, creating spiky stalagmites of ice below. Her eyes widened and her mouth lifted open. She grabbed the tallest stalagmite she could reach with her claws, allowing her to slide down it and slow down her descent. Boreas looked upon Reine with a disappointed frown on her face. She shook her head with disproval. Leaping off of the stalagmite and onto stable ground, Reine frowned and let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m trying Boreas, but this isn’t exactly that easy to do.” She explained. Boreas tapped her right pectoral fin onto the ground, communicating with Reine in Morse Code. “‘You have been practicing this with me for about a month. You should have already gotten the hang of this technique by now.’ That’s true… but I just can’t seem to…” Reine stated with a mix of frustration and sorrow in her tone. Boreas glanced upon Reine’s eyes, detecting an obstructing glint of sadness within her soul. She slid her way towards Reine and stopped by her side. She initiated a series of taps along the ground, communicating once more with an inquiring tone. “I really don’t want to talk about it, Boreas. I don’t think I can trust you with this piece of information yet.” Reine responded. Boreas shrugged her pectoral fins and brought her face down towards Reine’s neck, nuzzling the brooding Weavile. Feeling an urge of tickling along her neck, a smile forced itself upon Reine’s face. An onset of giggling broke from her tone. “Okay, stop!” She said with a jovial tone. “Why do you want me to tell you so bad?” Boreas slid away from Reine and communicated through a series of taps. Reine glanced upon Boreas with narrowed eyes and dumbfounded frown. “You are saying that not being able to accept my past is what’s stopping me from mastering this particular method of using Ice Beam?” She asked. Boreas smiled and nodded. She slid back towards Reine and rubbed her over her left shoulder blade using her left pectoral fin. Reine felt comforting warmth radiate from Boreas’s chilly fin that loosened the constraints of her mind and heart. A genuine smile broke out over her mouth. “You know, you kind of remind me of my former trainer…” Boreas cocked her head and raised her right eyelid in confusion. Reine glanced around Boreas with a shaky posture. She rubbed her right upper arm with the palm of her left claws. “Yeah. You always try to get me to smile and somehow ease me into going with the most ridiculous ideas. I called him an idiot and a nimrod at points and even understood them despite not knowing what I said…” Boreas glanced upon Reine’s face and saw her smile break down into a narrow-eyed frown. She tapped her right pectoral fin onto the ground, garnering her attention. She blinked once and flashed a frown of concern in response. Reine glanced upon Boreas’s concerned form. “…I could tell you, actually. I trust that you couldn’t tell others except for those that know Morse Code.” Boreas cocked her head and moved it where her side faced Reine’s face. A smile of intrigue appeared on her face. “You see… my trainer and I both wanted to have an egg of our own back when I was a Sneasal.” Reine began. “I tried many times to conceive… but couldn’t. The thought that I was infertile was a real concern, and the both of us were saddened by this.” Reine stated. Boreas turned her eyes towards Reine’s face and detected warm, but bitter tears leaking from her cold eyes. “We were desperate to find a way to conceive… and that’s when we crossed paths with a criminal organization. They caught my trainer and forced me into prostitution.” Reine admitted with shame bellowing from her voice. Boreas’s mouth hung open from Reine’s revelation. She tapped the tip of her right pectoral fin on the ground, communicating through a series of noises. “I know Boreas, but there wasn’t much else I could do. They said they could help if I do this… and would hurt my trainer if I didn’t. They were disgusting, but I had no choice but to agree to their terms. All of that turmoil I’ve been through… all that suffering…. It all turned to naught.” Boreas blinked once, wanting to let out a curious whine from her voice. Reine shook her head and flashed a frustrated frown. “Forget I said anything, Boreas. I appreciate your understanding, but you wouldn’t want to know how this finishes.” She said with stinging regret uttered from her tone. Boreas stared into Reine’s eyes for an extended period, leaving no sound but the bitter winds howling around them. She nodded with a neutral air around her. “Thanks for understanding. I think I might have told you too much to begin with, unfortunately. But, that’s life. I can trust that you won’t communicate to anyone in regards to this, correct?” Boreas nodded and raised her left pectoral fin with a wide smile on her face. Seeing the honorable stance of the Lapras before her, Reine smirked. She glanced into the air and saw a yellow net drop from the sky above. Her smile flipped into a frown of concern. “Boreas!” Pointing towards the sky with her right front claws, She shouted. Boreas looked behind her and felt the sinews of fiber adhere themselves onto her flesh. A series of volts surged from the net, bringing forth a numbing fire into Boreas’s nerves. Boreas winced and turned her head away. Reine sprinted towards Boreas, but her eyes detected a squad of pegasi fly from the horizon and stand within a blockade formation. “Sorry, but we aren’t letting you take another step forwards.” A gray-coated pegasus stallion stated with a wicked tone. Reine glanced upon the suits of each of the pegasi and narrowed her eyes. She detected the symbol of Neo Canterlot embedded within their suits. A fierce scowl formed over her eyes. “You’re all H.O.R.S.E. operatives! What’s the big deal with trapping and hurting Boreas here?!” She shouted. From the northern sky, a white-coated pegasus stallion with a blond mane descended down onto the patch of ice towards Boreas’s right side. His blue eyes glared into the captured Pokémon. He turned his head and stared towards Reine’s direction. A low growl emanated from his tone. “What are you doing standing around there for? We can’t leave any witnesses alive, especially if it is a Pokémon.” He decreed. “Get your assault rifles and gun it down!” Each of the pegasi in the line pulled out assault rifles from their backs and aimed it towards Reine with the deadeye aim of a firing squad. Reine glanced towards the weapons poised towards her, and her heart flipped upside-down. “Hold on! Can’t we talk any of this out?” She asked. “Nope.” A pegasus mare within the firing squad stated. Reine’s body overclocked itself, giving her the speed and energy to sprint away from the area with a swift speed. Her ears picked up the sounds of bullets firing towards her direction in a spray-like spread. The head pegasus growled with a low voice. “Don’t just stand there! Chase after that thing!” Acting upon the word of the white-coated pegasus, the rest of the pegasi opened their wings and took towards the sky. Seeing Reine’s running’s speed overcome their flight speed, the squadron split up into small units and scattered into different directions. Reine glanced behind her and saw a cherry red-coated lone pegasus mare with a soft pink mane hanging on her tail. Hearing a spray of bullets hit the ground, her eyes lit up with fear and she rushed forwards. Reine leaped into the air and turned behind her. She opened her mouth and breathed out a boulder of ice that hung in front of her body. She slashed the ice boulder, sending its shards towards the mare. The mare smacked away the Ice Shard with her rifle. “Is that all?” She said with a diligent tone. Reine bit her lip and dropped towards the ground. She sprinted across the icy field. She looked around her and saw that pegasi came towards her in all directions. They fired their rifles towards the space around Reine, freezing her within her tracks. Reine looked around her, taking note of the pegasi surrounding her. They raised their rifles towards her. “Jig’s up, Pokémon. There is no escape. Accept your death like the filthy alien you are.” A gray-coated pegasus stallion within the squad threatened. A snow-covered mound shook in the distance from the firing squad. A pair of blue eyes opened with a stoic aura from the depths of the snow. The figure within the mound leaped out, revealing herself in the form of a gray-coated earth pony mare with a lavender mane and tail. She leaped towards the back of a silver-coated pegasus stallion and grabbed his head by the temple and chin. “Gah!” The stallion muttered out. The mare on his leaned her head towards the stallion’s face, where her blue eyes met with his magenta eyes. The stallion’s heart became heavy with primordial fear to the point where he dropped his rifle. The mare set her stone gaze towards the other pegasi in the group, filling them with her solid presence. “L-let him go!” An ice-blue pegasus mare with a yellow mane and tail demanded. A pink-coated pegasus stallion glanced towards the talking mare beside him with his eyes demanding her silence. “Do you not know who this is?! This is Maud Pie, the deadliest spy in all of H.O.R.S.E.! Get in her way, and she will kill us all within a blink of an eye.” He explained with a voice that trembled in fear. “Wait, that Pie? The one who can pulverize mountains with her bare hooves?” The mare asked with surprise. Maud Pie nodded in silence and tightened her grip on her victim’s head. A low whine emanated from the stallion’s voice. “Let this Pokémon go and I will let your partner here live.” She threatened with a stoic tone. Almost upon the act of a survival instinct, the horde of pegasi dropped their rifles and backed away from Reine. Their bodies wracked with cold blood flowing through them. “Y-y-you’re free to go.” The pegasus stallion in Maud Pie’s grip stated. With the gravity of the area holding her down, Reine complied with the words of the stallion and walked out of the circle with a calm demeanor. Maud Pie rushed towards the pink-coated pegasus and thrust her right front hoof into the stallion’s chest, breaking her ribs and bruising it. The stallion cried out in pain and fell onto the ground. He looked above him and saw Maud Pie’s form darkened by the surrounding sunlight glaring down upon her. She kicked his jaw with a tremendous force to the point where his spine let out a crack heard by everyone in the group. The stallion dropped towards the ground with his body limp from the strike. “You all bring shame to those uniforms you wear.” Maud Pie stated with a fierce, yet stoic tone. “This stallion dropped faster than a boulder, and I am more than willing to do the same with traitors such as your group.” “Please don’t kill us! We are all just commanded by our leading officer Light Ray! He paid us for this!” The ice-blue pegasus mare pleaded. “So your loyalty is with the gold ores you were paid and not by the diamonds of Neo Canterlot’s heart?” All of the pegasi hesitated upon hearing Maud Pie’s words; their bodies fidgeted and murmurs were heard from the crowd. Each of the pegasi opened the bags on their saddles and emptied them, bringing forth a storm of bits that clashed against the snow underneath them. “We don’t care about this money anymore! We just only want to live. Please, Maud Pie, look for mercy in that stoic heart of yours!” The pegasus mare requested. “We will never, never go against Neo Canterlot again.” Maud Pie turned towards Reine’s direction. “What do you think? Should we let them go?” She asked. Reine glanced towards the crowd of pegasi trembling before her. She shut her eyes and lowered her face. “No. They have already proven to be untrustworthy to the cause of Neo Canterlot by going along with this Light Ray’s plan. Even if we let them go, they will always be willing to betray anyone if paid well-enough. It’s better for us to finish them off here.” She explained. Upon hearing Reine’s words, all of the hearts of the pegasi sunk into their stomachs. Maud Pie moved with lightning speed and socked a nearby pegasus mare in her left temple. The force of the collision cracked the fragile chink in her skull’s defenses and drilled into her brain, knocking her onto the ground and rendering her mind dead. “Wise choice.” Maud Pie complimented. Light Ray and a host of other pegasi lifted Boreas into a cavern and tossed her on the ground. With her movement snared by the net on her body, Boreas turned around and glanced towards the pegasus that held her captive. Light Ray walked towards her with a satisfied smile on his face. “Well, well, well! I finally get the chance to have a Pokémon within my grasp. You don’t look very threatening, but that’s probably because of that electrical net on you.” He chided with a smug tone. Boreas glanced down towards Light Ray with a frigid stare directed into his soul. She initiated a series of taps through her right pectoral fin. An amused smile appeared on Light Ray’s face. “This beast is trying to communicate with me fellows. It thinks it’s intelligent!” He jeered. A storm of laughter bellowed from within the cavern. Light Ray flew up towards Boreas’s face and brought out his assault rifle. He smacked the metallic gun against Boreas’s face. Boreas winced, but retained her composure. Her frigid stare ignited on fire. The stallion kicked Boreas in her chest, eliciting a stronger wince from the Transport Pokémon. “Don’t think you can try to tap your way out of this. This will be the last place you will ever see. I have to make sure that you and your kind are all eliminated from this world.” Light Ray stated. “After all, your little friend had proven on Nightmare Night that your kind should never be trusted. All it takes is just one little outburst, and Neo Canterlot falls by the hand of the aliens we’ve invited to live in.” Boreas tapped out a phrase on the ice underneath her. Seeing this movement, Light Ray aimed his assault rifle down towards her right pectoral fin and unloaded a round of bullets into it. Boreas’s nerves lit ablaze with pain. Her eyes forced back the tears held within her soul. She glanced upon her flipper and saw it splashed within her own blood. “Do not even dare try to communicate with me, or else I will make sure you fall in that net you are staying in.” Light Ray threatened. Boreas frowned and dropped her body down to the ground. She glanced upon the cruel pegasi before her eyes and felt weakness wriggling into her heart. Reine lunged her claws into the central neck of the ice blue-coated pegasus mare. Feeling the Weavile’s claws obstructing her airway, the mare gagged and squirmed underneath her stab. Reine pulled out her claws and kicked the mare into the pile of pegasus corpses underneath Maud Pie. “That’s the last of them.” Reine stated. “Thank you for helping me, Maud Pie. Had you not been here, I would have been a dead Weavile.” Maud Pie slid down the mountain of corpses and walked towards Reine with her monotone stare directed towards her. “I happened to be returning from a mission. I heard a bunch of commotion and became one with the land so that I could have a better picture of what was happening.” Shaking her head, she explained. “Please, do not think that all Equusians are this cruel towards Pokémon.” “I know that there are always a few bad eggs hidden amongst a litter. I won’t hold it against your kind, lest I want to end up like that xenophobe Light Ray.” Reine stated. A small smile appeared on Maud Pie’s face. She took her steps towards the north. Reine glanced towards her direction. Maud Pie looked towards a lone stone amidst the desert of ice and snow. She crouched down towards it level and whispered to it. “What are you doing?” Reine asked with a dumbfounded tone. Maud Pie stood up from the ground and glanced towards Reine. “Talking with it. This stone gets intimidated easily, so I had to whisper.” She explained. “But…” Reine’s eyes widened with confounding and she shrugged her shoulders with disbelief. “Rocks are witnesses to everything that happens over millennia. They share a wealth of knowledge that is untainted by Equusian-kind. I’ve honed my skills to be able to speak with them, to understand them and to move them with my very presence.” “Okay then… so what did this stone have to say?” Maud Pie looked over the horizon, where a tall mountain surrounded by an impenetrable chasm stood. She pointed towards the cave within the peak. “He said that he saw a group of pegasi carry away a giant plesiosaur-like creature into that mountain’s cave.” “…He? Anyways, why would they work so hard with bringing Boreas into such a remote location?” Reine asked. “Well think about it; this Light Ray must hate Pokémon to the point where he would want to leave them to die. The more remote the location is, the higher the chance is that no one would ever look for that Pokémon.” Reine’s eyes focused on the chasm around the mountain. Her heart deflated. “How are we supposed to get to that cave? That chasm looks too wide for any Weavile to jump towards.” She asked. “I don’t know. I thought you would have some sort of special skill that would allow you to get there.” Maud Pie retorted. “Well… I do, but I always keep failing at that technique. I’m not sure if it would be any different.” With uncertainty wavering upon the frown on her face, Reine stated. Maud Pie walked up towards Reine and smacked her right front hoof across the Weavile’s face. Reine winced and rubbed her cheek. “Do not let your doubt get in the way of saving your friend. If you do, then you are only going to let your body distract itself into failure.” She instructed. “Alright… I’ll try.” Reine murmured with doubt present in her voice. Maud Pie shook her head and glanced into Reine’s eyes. “I need you to say it with more confidence in your voice Reine. You will never master this technique until you are one-hundred percent positive that you can master it.” She encouraged. “Now, is your will impenetrable like that mountain in front of us?” Reine glanced towards the mountain and back towards Maud Pie. A small smile made its way onto her face. “I have no choice but to be impenetrable like that mountain. Otherwise, a life would surely be lost.” Two pegasi stood outside of the cave on the mountain, keeping an eye on their surroundings. The mare of the two, who possessed a mint green-colored coat and a sea blue mane, glanced towards the deep blue-coated stallion with a silver mane. A confused frown formed on her face. “So… why are we exactly standing guard out here in this impenetrable location?” She asked. The stallion shrugged his shoulders. The two pegasi looked forwards, keeping a lazy sight on their surroundings. In the corner of their sights, they both saw two figures riding a trail of flying ice. Their sights focused, revealing Reine and Maud Pie flying towards the mountain. “Well… it seems like the boss was right with his judgment.” Unfolding his wings, the stallion stated. “Shall we?” Both pegasi leaped off of the cliff and soared towards Reine and Maud Pie. Maud Pie leaped off of the ice and towards the pegasi in the air. She slipped on gauntlets forged from heavy metals over her front hooves. Her hooves crackled with molten energy that ran through them. She struck the mare in the head with her rock-infused hoof, knocking her into the mountain and causing it to shake. The mare looked above her and saw an avalanche of snow run down from above her. The avalanche gripped her body and dragged her all the way towards the base of the mountain and into the chasm below. A bellowing scream of primal fear that echoed across the Glacial Drift became the last noise she would ever utter. Reine’s claws stopped firing ice. She leaped off of the ice trail and landed on the airborne stallion. The stallion glanced behind his back and flashed an annoyed frown. “Hey! Get off of me!” He stated. Reine planted her claws onto the scalp of the stallion. A massive chill overcame the stallion’s brain, bringing forth a pained shout. The creeping ice from Reine encased the entire stallion’s body, freezing him solid. She curled her claws into a fist and struck his back with all the force she could muster. Cracks appeared within the body of the frozen stallion. Reine leaped off of the frozen pegasus and shot out an Ice Beam from the palm of her claws, recreating a flying trail of ice and riding it. Maud Pie fell down from the sky and onto Reine and clambered onto her back. Reine and Maud Pie rode the wave of ice into the cave, garnering the attention of all of the pegasi within the cave. Reine’s claws flashed with a dark aura. She ran at the speed of sound, slashing all of the necks of the pegasi with her claws. The pegasi all dropped to the ground with their necks slashed open. Reine glanced ahead towards the darkness of the cave. Sounds of hard strikes rang out from the depths of the cavern, eliciting a twitch from the feather in Reine’s ear. Her stance shook and her head cringed. “I… I could only imagine what Light Ray is doing to Boreas down there.” Maud Pie walked forwards with apathetic eyes directed into the darkness. She turned towards Reine. “Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to save your friend?” She asked. Boreas pushed slid deeper into the net, breathing out a series of deep pants. Black bruises covered her body, giving the electricity deeper pathways in her body to strike from. She glanced towards Light Ray, who glanced upon her with an infernal stare. “Where is that killer instinct I heard you Pokémon love using? Are you too weak to fight from that net on you?!” Light Ray jeered. Boreas glanced down upon Light Ray with pools of pity forming within her pupils. She shut her eyes and turned her head to the left, revealing an area with few bruises. Light Ray glanced upon her with a head cocked in confusion. “Are you turning the other cheek? What makes you think that a killer alien such as yourself has the right to show off any sort of mercy?!” He screamed. He flew up towards Boreas’s head and smashed the handle of his assault rifle into the least-bruised area on her neck. Boreas clenched her teeth and winced. Her stance wobbled. Seeing Boreas stand before him with a sturdy stance, the rage in Light Ray’s eyes ignited into pillars. He pointed the barrel of his assault rifle into Boreas’s face. “You know what?! You’re pissing me off with your pacifistic crap! You are about to die, and you don’t try attacking back?! You should be prone to biting back and taking lives like any other stupid creature!” Walking into the chamber where Light Ray and Boreas existed within, Reine’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped to the ground. Maud Pie flashed a hard glare towards Light Ray. “Is this what this is all about?!” Reine shouted with an offended tone. “You think that we are just a bunch of stupid beasts whose only purpose is to end your kind?! Did you not even spend a minute of your time being around another Pokémon before enacting this disgusting plan?!” Light Ray’s body turned cold. He turned around, where his eyes met with Reine’s and Maud Pie’s eyes. Light Ray gritted his teeth. “How did you two get past my hired hands?!” He screamed with an attempt of hiding the fear in his voice. “Simple; we killed them.” With no sort of aggression or fear in her voice, Maud Pie responded. “All those pegasi sold their souls to a devil such as yourself! Why would you torment a sweetheart like Boreas here to the point of death?!” Reine demanded. “Why should I tell you anything, Pokémon? You’ve only proven my point that your kind couldn’t be trusted by killing off all of my hired henchponies! You’re all better off dead than living any second longer.” Light Ray stated. Reine sprinted up towards Light Ray and gripped her right claws around his neck. Light Ray’s eyes widened from the strong grip around his neck. Reine shoved him onto the ground and poised her left claws between Light Ray’s eyes. Maud Pie ran over towards Boreas and thrust her front hooves into a single cell of the net. With her mighty strength, she tore the net in half, freeing Boreas. Maud Pie glanced towards Boreas’s body, seeing all of the welts and wounds all over her body. Seeing the bullets penetrating Boreas’s right dorsal fin and its pained twitching, a wave of disgust befell her. “These are assault rifle rounds loaded into Boreas’s flipper!” Maud Pie stated with a voice with heightened aggression. “You hated her to the point where you disabled the use of her fin through firepower?! Reine is right; you are a devil!” Light Ray choked out a gasp of air from his squeezed esophagus. “Y-you sold out to these Pokémon, Maud! I was just doing the right thing and cleansing this infection before it began.” Reine tightened the grip around Light Ray’s neck, increasing the pressure to the point where he gagged. “If I were you, I would shut up right now. As it stands, you are not in a position to force your rotten views onto others. You’ve thrown yourself into a barrel of shit, and I will make you drown in it if you force me to!” Reine threatened with a quiet voice resonating with ferocity. Light Ray pushed out his upper mid tooth towards the right, revealing a blue and red capsule in his mouth. A confident grin appeared on his mouth. “Reine. That’s cyanide he has there.” Maud Pie warned. “That’s right. I’m not about to give a filthy Pokémon the satisfaction of ending my life. I'll take my own life instead!” Light Ray bit the capsule in half and swallowed its liquid contents. The mouths of Reine and Boreas dropped at the sight. Light Ray’s nerves went dead and his breathing became stunned. He lost his consciousness and his body became limp. Reine growled and slammed his body on the ground. Seeing Reine’s chest rise back and forth through strong huffs, Maud Pie placed her right front hoof on Reine’s left shoulder. “It’s alright Reine. Let your anger go.” She said. Reine glanced towards Boreas’s injured form, where her anger peaked rather than subdued itself. “How could I let it go when he caused so much pain and suffering to Boreas?! She already suffered at the hands of poachers, and now she has to deal with this?! It makes me so… so angry that I couldn’t kill this thing! I wanted to squeeze his brains out!” She lashed out. Boreas shook her head and placed her left pectoral fin on Reine’s right shoulder. She initiated a series of taps into Reine’s shoulder, communicating with her. Reine’s face lightened and allowed her to absorb Boreas’s words. “‘It’s true that I am in severe pain, but it’s alright. I allowed him to inflict these wounds upon myself because it would be better than proving him right about Pokémon by attacking him.’” Reine translated. “Boreas, this was a Class SSS asshole! You couldn’t have even frozen him with an Ice Beam?!” Boreas shook her head and wore a smile on her face. An epiphany overcame Reine, filling her heart with realization. She let go of her ghost’s aggression. “Boreas…” She murmured out. A soft smile appeared on her face. “I’m ashamed to say it, but you proved yourself to be a better Pokémon than me. If I was in your position, I would’ve ripped that stallion several new ones.” Boreas smiled and brought her head down towards Reine, nuzzling her right cheek with her mouth. Reine giggled and pushed Boreas away with a gentle movement. Boreas tapped Reine’s shoulder with another series of taps. “You are asking about how I got here, right? With Maud’s encouragement and my thoughts of you, I was able to be focused on doing anything to reach you. I was not going to let you die, because not only would I not hear the end of it from Rundas but I would also be wrought with the same amount of despair that I gained when I lost my trainer.” Maud Pie and Boreas exchanged eye glances and turned towards Reine’s direction. A smile appeared on Reine’s face. “You lost your trainer?” Maud Pie asked. “I guess I can finish up that story now. My trainer and I still saw each other as a part of our deal with the organization that we were held captive by. But… seeing my physical and mental wounds, my trainer was disgusted by the organization we were held captive by. He tried to get me out of selling my body, but he ended up getting shot dead before he even began.” Reine explained. “That’s pretty metal.” Maud Pie responded with a stoic tone. “Sorry that happened to you.” “I’m over it now, but I still feel its stings. He was my best friend, and he always made sure I was comfortable with an idea before going through with it. When I lost him, I lost my way of coping with the mess I was in. I actually thought that suicide wouldn’t be a bad option at that point. Then, I met Joker. And from there, he gave my life purpose again. Meeting up with the rest of the gang, Boreas, Rundas and now you Maud, I now feel like I don’t have to try hiding or running away from my past again.” Boreas grinned and rubbed Reine’s shoulder with her pectoral fin. A warm sensation overcame Reine’s body. Maud Pie walked over towards Reine and embraced her. Reine’s eyes shot open. “I know this is a bit sudden and I’m not into this whole mushiness of hugs, but it sounds like you’ve finally confronted the ghosts of your past. I’m proud of you, and you need a hug.” Maud Pie stated with a tone as straight as her eyes and frown. “Even if we just only met?” Reine asked. “You showed me that you can let go of your negativity and can think positive thoughts. That’s the kind of attitude we need for Neo Canterlot.” Reine smiled and brought her arms around Maud Pie’s torso. The two split from each other and shared a casual glance. “If you are coming back to Neo Canterlot, would you like to hang out?” “Sure. But, I have yet to ask for your name.” Maud Pie responded. “My name is Reine.” “Reine. Nice name. Maybe we can meet by my abode later. I have some awesome rock tunes we can listen to.” Boreas glanced towards Maud Pie with pleading eyes. Maud Pie glanced into Boreas’s eyes and nodded. “You are welcome to come too. I heard very much from my sister Pinkie Pie about Pokémon, but I’ve never actually had the chance to be with one before this. Maybe this will give me the insight that ponies like Light Ray failed to see?” Reine’s eyes lit up with surprise and her smile faltered into an unidentifiable puzzlement. “Wait, Pinkie Pie is your sister?!” She shouted. “I know what you are thinking Reine. We may not share the same types of expressions or personality, but we are definitely sisters. I’ll always look over her and protect her too despite her unique quirks.” Boreas glanced towards the ceiling and the urge of whistling overcame her. She rolled her lips and forced mangled-sounding air through her mouth. Maud Pie hummed. “I’ll take that as a compliment about my sister rather than a complaint. But, you are more important at this moment. We are going to get you treated right now Boreas.” Boreas glanced down towards her injured pectoral fin and then stared into Maud Pie's eyes. She smiled.