The Monsters She Lost

by Lost Deep

Sunny Day

Liz and Princess Celestia walked through the royal flower garden. To say it was beautiful was quite an understatement, and Liz did her best to enjoy it. It helped her calm down, and prevented her from worrying too much about the giant magical princess pony next to her.

“How have you been?” Princess Celestia asked casually.

“Considering the circumstances?” Liz asked, “Quite well. Twilight and her friends have been better than gold to me.”

“You seem to be taking it well,” Celestia remarked, “But you seemed to be disturbed when I first saw you. Is there anything I can do to ease your mind?”

Liz shook her head. “No. But it’s not like ease of mind is what I need right now.”

“A world travel spell would not be simple,” Celestia said, looking over a group of particularly colorful blossoms, “but I feel that Twilight is better qualified to make one than anypony else. Unless… there is something more on your mind?”

“Yeah.”

Celestia was quiet a minute before speaking again. “I wasn’t simply being polite, you know. Even some ponies sputter and stumble when they first see me. You’re surprised and intimidated, but not letting that stop you, or even slow you down. Such resolve is to be lauded.”

Liz blinked. Such a compliment was not expected. “Oh. Well, thank you.” The pair came to a larger open area, a dais overlooking the city. It was a very nice view, Liz thought to herself.

“How long have you been in Equestria?” Celestia asked, coming to a stop and looking down at the city?

“This is the fourth day,” Liz answered simply.

“Oh? I would never have guessed; you seem right at home here,” Celestia replied. Of course, she knew that it hadn’t been long since Twilight had found Liz, but Liz did seem to be oddly at home.

“I’ve always liked exploration,” Liz told her, as she looked down at the busy streets. She idly identified a park and a marketplace. “I’ve always wondered what was over the horizon, and I like to think I’m fairly good at dealing with the troubles that come with curiosity.” That’s what Liz said, at least, but Liz’s mind wandered to something else.

Celestia noticed. It was small things, in Liz’s body language and voice, but she noticed. It didn’t seem to be that Liz didn’t want to talk about it, though, or at least not with Celestia. But at the same time, maybe she wanted to talk about it but was afraid to bring it up: that was a common enough trouble. Celestia pondered this for a moment, and then simply said, “Anything I can do to help.”

Liz blinked. Celestia knew she had an additional issue, it seemed. Liz turned and looked up at the princess. “You read people, don’t you? You hear what they say and how they act, and you read between the lines.”

“It is a gift, I admit,” Celestia said with a nod, “But I will not require any information from you, unless it is needed for the good of Equestria. The real good of Equestria, not just my own curiosity.”

Liz nodded. She took a moment to ponder the situation, and then she decided to speak. “Five days ago, I wasn’t a pony. I was a human. Do you know about humans?”

“More than most,” Celestia replied.

“And now here I am, a pony, suddenly quadrepedal, suddenly without hands, with more hair and all… and it hasn’t slowed me down. I can walk, I can talk, I can run and jump and turn pages in books like I grew up doing it. And what’s worse… I don’t know what having fingers was like anymore. I try to think of it… but I can’t. Like how you can’t really imagine what it would be like to have a body that isn’t yours. And… that disturbs me. It disturbs me, because it’s like a link to my past has been truncated. Because I’m afraid that it was done by design, so that I would be less motivated to leave.”

Celestia nodded. Quite a logical conclusion, especially if there was some intelligence behind whatever sent her. She quickly thought of a way to gauge the damage: “Close your eyes,” she said, “and picture yourself. Who do you see?”

Liz was confused by this answer, but nonetheless closed her eyes and thought. “A girl. Early twenties. She has a light tan, because she’s in the sun a bit. Especially on her arms, since she doesn’t wear long sleeves in the summer. She’s wearing a sun hat, this hat,” Liz touched her hat to communicate it clearly, “to keep the sun out of her eyes and because she’s had it for years now and it too attached to it to get rid of it.

“Her clothes are utilitarian, a T-shirt and jeans shorts in summer. The decent jeans shorts, not those things that are gym shorts made of denim. Cargo shorts, if that means anything to you. I’ve probably completely lost you with all this clothing but bear with me. She has a vest on, this vest. Or one similar to it; it seems like it was ponyfied, too. It’s durable, and has a lot of small pockets. She has on a small backpack, but a good-sized fanny pack. Apart from that, she has pokeballs around her waist.” Liz opened one eye to look at Celestia, who was listening intently. “I explained those to Twilight earlier, if you can have patience until she sends you a report I would appreciate it.” Celestia nodded, and Liz closed her eye again. “Nice, heavy, steel-toed boots. Kind of low tops, so I can run in them. I’m fairly fit, but not really shapely.”

Liz took a deep breath, thought a bit more, and then opened her eyes. “That’s it.”

Celestia was smiling, as the point she was hoping for had come through wonderfully. “You still see yourself as a human. That means that your self-image is intact. Good. That means that the only alterations are likely to your muscle memory. Whatever method of travel you used overwrote your muscle memory, so that you could live as a pony as normal.”

Liz thought for a moment, and then huffed. “Blast. Stupid Unown. They’re the things that portaled me, or whatever, and they have psychic powers so they could pull that kind of thing off.”

“It implies worry for your wellbeing,” Celestia said, “Which from the sound of it is quite curious.”

Liz nodded. “It’s still a disturbing thought.”

Celestia nodded back in agreement. There was a bit of silence before Celestia spoke again. “I am very curious about your world. What all do you expect Twilight to send me in her next report?”

“Life, history, civilization, ethics… you know, all the big questions compressed into simple terms. I’m not a cultural specialist or a philosopher, so it might not be the most accurate information. It all boils down to what I do, why it’s done in my world, and whether we think it’s wrong.”

“Well,” Celetia said with a nod, “I suppose it’s only fair then that I answer some of your questions about Equestria.”
Liz shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not really feeling curious right now. No offense to your kingdom or anything, but right now I really just want to gather my team together and head home. It’s all so different, even a Ratatta leaping out of the grass and mauling my ankles would be a reassuringly familiar experience.”

Celestia nodded, and almost immediately asked, “Are you sure you’re not hallucinating this all?”

Liz blinked several times. “What?” Hallucinating? She looked up at Celestia. “What? Why would you suggest that… what?” That would make sense. That would make so much sense. The Unown hot-wired her brain so that she would live a lie for a bit, for… reasons. Trying to find a reason behind the Unown was like trying to solve a puzzle where the pieces are always shifting, and at least half of them were in a different plane or something. Liz was simply boggled by this sudden turn of questioning, and just how much sense it made.

Celestia’s smile was a bit more mischievous now than it was a moment ago. “It hadn’t even occurred to you? Very interesting. I think that says a lot about you. You mental state seems to be unusually stable; a lesser man might have gone mad by now.”

Liz, after a moment, cracked a smile of her own. “Well, I have coffee as a crutch and already have the questionably sane habit of talking to myself when I’m alone, so make of that what you will.”

“If minor madness can be used to avoid major madness, then some sanity must be sacrificed. It’s a very obscure but important lesson, one that many people don’t grasp,” Celestia said sagely. She still had a grin on her face, and managed to push down the urge to laugh as she changed the topic. “But please, I would like to know more about you. About your history, about your team, about how you wound up here.”

“Why so curious?” Liz asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well,” Celestia said, “You’re the first complete outsider to wind up in Equestria. Curiosity is only natural.”

“Allright,” Liz said, “I’ll humor you. I was born in Goldenrod City. It’s a big city, a lot like this one now that I think about it. I was always too curious. I was always asking questions, and I loved stories about people who went out, explored places, and saved damsels heroically. My family was well-off, so I could have afforded a Pokémon at any time. But my parents were smart. They made me finish schooling before I was allowed to go on any big quests. That made sure that I knew what I was doing when I got my first Pokémon.” Liz sighed as she remembered her good friend. “I haven’t found her yet. I know she’s okay, she’s tough as nails, hardy as a tree, smart as a whip and can squeeze her way into any heart. I miss her. Anyway, there was a gym in Goldenrod, there are eight gym challenges in the region to beat, you see, but since I was brand-spanking-new I had to go out into the world first.

Liz thought a minute about what to talk about next, and then shook her head. “You know, I’ll skip most of this part. In retrospect I was a lot of young and eager and far, far too little actually thoughtful. I’ve grown a lot since then, both as a person and as a trainer. I went to the Pokémon League, by some miracle I got through all the gyms, and got stomped in the second round. I know this doesn’t make a lot of sense to you, but suffice to say it gave me a lot to think about… and a whole year until I could try again.

“I needed that, I think. That year was when I really grew up. Began to ponder things. You know, put things in perspective. Decided to go and see more of the world. Well, while going around and looking into things, I met a guy. He introduced me to some scientists. They were studying Pokemon, looking to put together enough data to give solid, useful information to the general public. Lots of grunt work. Lots of leg work. That’s where I come in. There would be a thing they wanted, ‘go try to find a moon stone,’ or ‘go take atmospheric readings on Mt. Silver,’ or ‘find a wild Macargo for us to put into this box with a Shuppet.’ I still tried to beat the league next time it came around, but it felt like I was doing more with my life, going new places, trying weird new things. Honestly exploring, instead of walking down a path that countless others had ‘explored’ before me.

“And that’s not even counting the issues I had against Team Rocket. Suffice to say I have some troublesome hero impulses.”

“And some equally troublesome creatures to help you out, hmm?” Celestia asked.

“Yeah,” Liz said with a nod. “I owe my life to every member of my team. My life isn’t in danger on a regular basis, but there have been multiple occasions. Anyway, now that I think about it, I’m kind of living the life. Not really the one I expected to live when I started, but a great life nonetheless.”

“Up until you were rudely whisked away to a land of magical talking ponies?” Celestia jokingly asked.

“Yyyeah,” Liz shrugged. “I’ll be honest. This hasn’t exactly been a high point in my life so far. Well, actually, that’s really unfair. I’m getting to hang out with a princess.”

Celestia finally gave in and laughed. “If nothing else, try to look at Equestria with your explorer’s eyes. It’s a very big place, and a very small amount of it is actually understood. If you can look past the detail that you were brought here against your will, I think you could find yourself having much more fun.”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ve been focusing on the negatives. In a way, this is completely virgin territory, you know? Bravely go where no man has gone before and all that.” Liz took a deep breath. “You know, it was nice to be able to talk about this all with you. It’s a lot off of my mind. Are you still willing to talk about Equestria?”

Celestia nodded. “I knew you would be curious, didn’t I? What would you like to know?”

Liz thought for a moment. “Well, most likely the best place to start is the beginning. I know my explanation started with history, so let’s start with that.”

“A very good place to start,” Celestia said with a nod. “In fact, inside we have a series of stained glass windows for this very purpose. They are officially made in honor of the various events, but they’re really nice to have around whenever I need to do some historic exposition, like when Equestria’s past comes back to haunt us. Which it has done several times in the last three years… we’re starting to run out of legends.”

Celestia led Liz into the main hall of the Castle, where the stain glass windows were. “The start of Equestria,” Celestia started, “Was in the Discordian era. The three tribes of ponies, earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, banded together to survive. This was the founding of Equestria. However, modern Equestria did not begin until my sister and I defeated Discord using the elements of harmony.”

“You defeated… is Discord a person?” Liz asked. “Or did you actually defeat a notion?”

“Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony,” Celestia answered. “So a person literally, and to a limited extent the notion itself. He was turned to stone, and my sister and I took up the duty of the day and night: I raised the sun, and she the moon.”

“You… wait, literally?” Liz asked with a blink.

“Yes,” Celestia stated, taking Liz’s doubt in stride. “It’s not as hard as you might think, given that we are princesses of the day and night, respectively.”

Liz shook her head. “No offense, but where I come from, such an idea would be considered… ridiculous.”

“Well,” Celestia said, “Maybe after I’m done with my little history lesson we can compare notes on how our worlds work.”

“Okay,” Liz said and looked up at the stain glass windows… and stopped in her tracks. “Is that Twilight and her friends there?” She asked as she pointed at one of the windows. There were the six ponies, firing some kind of beams at a larger, dark blue pony in armor.

“Ah, yes.” Celestia said. “The defeat of Nightmare Moon, in which the six elements of harmony found their bearers, and the bearers found their true strength.”

Liz looked around more, glancing between the various windows. “You know… now that I’m looking for them, Twilight and her friends appear in a lot of these… and is that Spike?”

Celestia nodded. “They are by far the greatest heroes Equestria has ever seen, even greater than myself, my sister, or any other alicorn. In some ways, I find it smugly satisfying that Twilight accomplished more as a unicorn in three years than some alicorns have in three hundred. Really, her changing into an alicorn and becoming a princess was only a technicality. A technicality laced with royal paperwork, but a technicality nonetheless.”

Liz blinked, making sense of that. “So… Twilight Sparkle and her friends are national heroes, wielders of some kind of great power, and Twilight used to be a unicorn, and was made an alicorn so that she could be a princess?”

“That last note is not the official story, of course, but basically!” Celestia said.

“So I was plopped into the laps of the six most notable ponies in the land?” Liz asked, still not believing.

“There would be some that would argue that those six are not the most notable ponies in the land… but they would be wrong, so yes. The only way you could have gotten luckier is if you had been plopped down in the throne room and made friends with myself and Luna. And even then, you likely would have wound up with Twilight and her friends, as Luna and I are too busy to really be of help to you.” Celestia sighed. “Between you and me, I’m hoping that Twilight can reform the government so that we princesses don’t have to do so much busywork.”

Liz shook her head. What she wasn’t saying was what she was really thinking: This was like someone suddenly making friends with the gym leaders, or the elite four, or legendary Pokemon. How did this happen? Either there was some mighty luck involved, or… there was some sort of reason behind it.

Liz wasn’t sure she wanted to attribute the Unkown that much power. It had disturbing connotations.

Celestia led Liz through the hall. Each window had a story. The defeat of discord, the defeat of the changelings, the defeat of king Sombra, the reformation of Discord, Twilight’s ascension… even highly paraphrased, it was a long story. By the end of it, Liz had come to the conclusion that she had no idea what to make of it and was just listening for the stories.
Celestia sat down on her throne in the end. “Those are the really notable events in Equestrian history. The rest of it has been slow change, over a great many years.”

“It’s kind of like fairy tales,” Liz mumbled to herself.

“I beg your pardon?” Celestia asked. She hadn’t quite caught what Liz had said.

“Uh,” Liz took a moment to figure out which of her thoughts she had accidentally orated. “Your history reminds me a lot of fairy tales from my world. Stories where the power of love and goodness overcomes all. No offense, but… to me, it just sounds fanciful.”

Celestia nodded. “Well… I would blame that on something that my world has that yours likely does not: here, friendship is magic. Literally.”

Liz blinked. “What? How does that work?”

“Quite well, all said and done,” Celestia replied, “but in a world where friendship and magic are unrelated, it’s likely that stories would be a bit darker.”

“As far as I know,” Liz said, “There isn’t magic like there is in this world. It seems like the more I learn about this world, the more different they are.”

“And yet there is nothing stopping us from making friends,” Celestia said. “I think that has been proven. Even if our worlds are so very different, they are still similar enough that the bond of friendship can be forged.”

Liz nodded. She certainly had to agree with that.

---

Twilight walked through the castle. The guards had said that Celestia had started by going into the gardens. The guards in the gardens then pointed her towards the main hall. The guards in the main hall then pointed her toward a side-room. Twilight opened the door, and saw that Celestia and Liz were talking over some piping hot cups. Tea for Celestia, and of course Coffee for Liz. She caught some of what Liz said: “…imagine ALL the colors, at the same time, every single hue and brightness, the whole color wheel, but most all of the colors, all infinite of them, aren’t next to colors that they’re similar to. Also, there are colors that do not exist, and, I saw them, and-”

Celestia placed a hoof on Liz’s shoulder. “There there… I didn’t realize how scarring it could have been. I can only imagine what-oh!” Celestia noticed Twilight and greeted her with a smile. “Hello, Twilight! How are you? Finally done with the royal paperwork?”

“Yes,” Twilight grumped. “That’s insane. Half of the papers are just nothing! Pointless things that I have to sign to get to one ones that do mean anything! And I’m sure this could all be done by some Canterlot noble!”

“If it makes you feel better,” Celestia said softly, “I have some books on the inner workings of the Equestrian government for you. I’m sure that given some time you’ll be navigating the bureaucracy deftly, and shaping it shortly after that.”

“Shaping?” Twilight blinked. “Are… uh… are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Twilight, I have every hope that you can help Equestria into its golden age,” Celestia stated, perfect honesty in her voice.

Twilight shook her head. “Princess… this is Equestria’s golden age.”

“Well,” Celestia said and sipped her tea, “The silver age of Equestria was called golden back when it was going on, too. In any case, I understand that I should be expecting a report on Liz’s homeworld from you?”

Twilight eyes lit up. That was a topic that she was looking forward to! “Yes! It’s a fascinating study in cultural differences caused by differing supernatural pressures and scientific progress due to differing universal variables! Um, in theory, anyway. I only have one source.” Twilight looked at Liz.

“And the source had trouble in both history and science classes,” Liz admitted sheepishly.

Celestia shrugged. “Well, just do the best you can, you two. I think that’s everything for now, I have duties to attend to. I wish you two a safe journey home, I wish the both of you luck in your endeavors, and… hmm. Actually, first, Liz, if you could write a list of your Pokémon and how to recognize them, I can watch for news of them.”

Liz nodded. “Of course! I should have thought of that. Can I borrow a piece of paper and a pen?”

---

Fluttershy and Ohm hid a short way outside of Canterlot. Fluttershy was hiding in a patch of flowers, and Ohm in a nearby tree.

Fluttershy looked around, and stood up. “Okay… looks like they gave up. Oh… how could I forget? All my biggest modeling fans were in Canterlot. How are we going to get on the train now?”

Ohm made a suggestion. Fluttershy frowned at it. “Ohm, that’s illegal. Not to mention dangerous! We would have to jump onto a moving train. That doesn’t seem a little foolish to you?”

Ohm shrugged with two of its magnets and made a different suggestion, and Fluttershy shook her head. “It’s at least a day’s walk, maybe two, and using wings can only cut that so much since I’m not a very fast flier.”

Ohm was quiet for a bit longer, before making a third suggestion.

Fluttershy thought about this one hard. “That would work, but I don’t have the styling nor coloring tools. I suppose we could find some simple dyes in nature, but I can’t really change my mane style or tail style that much.”

Ohm made an addition to the plan that almost made Fluttershy scoff. “What… how could you style hair with magnetism? I… I can’t think of any way that would be possible at all.”

The explanation was long, and Fluttershy found it confusing. “Well… I don’t actually use conditioner in my mane of tail; and I’m fairly sure that the conditioners in Equestria don’t have metal in them, much less ferrous metal! Still… maybe we can use your magnets as curlers? It’s worth a try, I guess. Okay… help me find some big, juicy berries or something.”

Comments

[zeusdemigod131]

Whatever method of travel you used overwrote your muscle memory,

Thats what I said

[Razalon The Lizardman]

Will Liz get to show off some of her Pokémon's moves in the near future?

[Lost Deep]

3264152
Going to reply to this for a reason.
YES, Yes she is! Next chapter. The trick is, next up is the reason: THE NEXT CHAPTER MIGHT TAKE LONGER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONES. I don't have any buffer right now, so this chapter will take the real amount of time it takes for me to write things, instead of the abbreviated amount from before due to having chapters written beforehand. Sorry, all! Thank you for your patience!