A Legendary Issue
(5) - Best Laid Plans
"I'm torn between deciding whether the gathering of myself and your student was orchestrated so perfectly as to not leave any down time, or that it was rushed and everything fell into place coincidently." I snorted. "Either way, nicely done: controlled chaos is the most finicky, yet the most rewarding if pulled off correctly."
Celestia raised a majestic eyebrow. "Have you been conversing with Discord?" she asked.
I immediately felt like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Maybe," I answered, stretching out the middle of the word. Upon seeing Celestia and Luna's concerned expressions, I added, "Should I not have been?"
"That depends on what you two discussed, James. Discord hasn't tried to coerce you into freeing him, has he?"
I shook my body in a negative. "Not once. I stop by every once in a blue moon to have a little chat, but he's never asked for or even referenced his freedom. Today was the first time he mentioned it, saying that he escaped a short while ago. Or something. Hard to say with Discord."
"Then there is no reason why you should not be able to speak him," said Celestia. "There is great knowledge to be found in Discord's demented mind, but only if you are willing to delve deep enough into the madness to find it. Older beings than yourself have been driven insane simply by bridging a mental connection with Discord, let alone trying to peer into the inner machinations of his psyche. Promise me you'll show the utmost care in communicating with him."
"I promise," I quickly replied, having gained a whole new level of weariness for Discord. If he was truly that dangerous, then why hadn't I been reduced to a gibbering pile of smoking electronics? I seriously doubted that the reason my mind was more resilient to Discord's influence happened to be chance. "So," I began, changing topics slightly, "did Discord actually escape, or was he just being Discord?"
"He did escape not a month ago," Luna answered. "The only reason he is not free and wreaking havoc at this very moment is due to Twilight and the Elements of Harmony." Luna paused. "Dost thou know of the Elements and what they represent?"
Even though I knew practically all there was to know, I didn't want to reveal that fact quite yet. "No," I lied. "Do enlighten me."
/\/\/
By the time Celestia and Luna had finished discussing the exact implications of what the Elements of Harmony did and why Twilight Sparkle and Co. were currently in possession of them, I could hear the latter's hoofsteps thundering down the hallway.
This was going to be interesting.
"They're here," I announced a few seconds before a knock-knock came from the door.
"How did you know that?" Celestia whispered to me before raising her voice and saying, "Come in!"
"I may not have ears, but that doesn't mean my hearing capabilities aren't up to snuff," I replied. "If you listen closely, you'll hear the curse of a waiter that just dropped an expensive-sounding glass."
As the door opened, an unprintable swear word echoed down the hallway.
"See?"
"Know-it-all," ribbed Philomena.
"Oh, be quiet, you..."
"Princess Celestia, what's—?"
I stopped my cross-eyed glaring at the phoenix perched on my torso and turned to see several familiar ponies looking at me with confusion, surprise, and in one case, undisguised fear.
"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia addressed warmly. She turned to Shining Armour, who was waiting outside the door. "Thank you again, Guard Captain. You may return to your duties." Shining nodded and closed the door. "Please be seated, everypony," she continued, motioning to the table. "We have much to discuss."
"Okay, I know this is probably really rude, but I'm just going to say it anyway because it looks like nobody else will," said Rainbow Dash. "What the hay is that thing?" Obviously, she was referring to me.
"'That thing' has feelings, y'know," I responded, doing my best to sound emotionally hurt. "My name is James, and I'm a Metagross."
Their reactions were so good that I wished I had a built-in camera.
Twilight had a look of pure disbelief even as she took a step closer to get a better look; Applejack muttered, "Ah must be seein' things," as she rubbed her eyes with her hooves; Fluttershy cowered behind Rainbow Dash and peeked out with only her eyes up visible; Rarity said something along the lines of my colour scheme being not as good as it could've been; Rainbow Dash was slack-jawed in disbelief; and Pinkie Pie broke out into a smile so wide that I was afraid it would eclipse her head.
At once, I was bombarded with more questions than Berlin was with bombs during the Second World War.
"How do you—?"
"What are you—?"
"How can you—?"
"Why are you—?"
"Hi-my-name's-Pinkie-Pie-nice-to-meet-you-do-you-like-cake?"
I sent Celestia a 'please help me' look. Luna smiled and sipped her tea like nothing was out of the ordinary.
"I can see that there are burning questions that you all want answered; I understand that," Celestia said. "I advise everypony to save your questions until after our meeting, as there is a chance that I will answer them myself during the process of explaining why you are all here today. Now please, sit so we can begin with the debriefing. James, if you would be so kind as to slide over to make some room..."
3307231
files.sharenator.com/memes_indeed1_Top_Hat_Explosion_s500x428_278960_580_Post_of_Reposts-s500x428-285520-580.jpg
Hey, late or not, an update's an update!
This is something that I look forward to every day, and I'm glad you can manage a daily update at least most of the time.
I can't wait to see which Legendary they go after first. It should be interesting to see them just doing their thing in Equestria.
Five bits says that Groudon and Kyogre are fighting on some coast somewhere. They might need to get Rayquaza to help break it up!
Write on,
Legion
Okay, this is good, getting to know each other is the first part of becoming friends.
Also James is hilarious, I love this guy.
Am I the only one who laughed his ass off at the 'maybe' comment?
3307263
I would like to see that...
If the next chapter doesn't have much action, a poll for next legendary would be cool, since there's so many. Nothing unreasonable, of course, like that Legendary Bird chimera that I may/may not recall from somewhere...
I'd hoped that perhaps Jame/Metagross would surprise them with his "Future Sight" but maybe he'll use it later, just to throw them off.
Anyways, really enjoying the story so far. I wonder how the Legendary Birds, Dogs and Dragons will play out.
3307231 yes but this is all so getting shorter and shorter.
Amazing job! Your Pokemon stories are some of the best ones I've read! Keep up the good work!
Wait, how does he slide? He's still floating, isn't he?
I actually want to watch the ponies faces when he touches down and breaks the marble floor, that's be cool.
I also REALLY can't wait till they find out that he knows about everything, and I mean EVERYTHING that has happened and maybe will happen in the future.
I mean, I'm not sure the Canterlot wedding has happened yet.
I just really want to see the reaction, kinda hoping he'd just greet them by name right there and sound all knowledgeable and stuff (When he really isn't...).
Anyway, awesome chapter and I can't wait for the next one! :D
3307263 Speaking of Rayquaza I used to have an awesome picture of Twilight flying around on one's head.
... I wonder if I can find it again.
Quickly, to Google!
3307823
You may be cool, but you'll never be Twilight-Sparkle-riding-a-shiny-Rayquaza-through-the-stratosphere-cool.
Day=made.
With you and 3307297, I think this is the most replies I've ever gotten on a single comment...
Write on,
Legion
3307863 I found it! and since I want other people to see it I shall post it...
Now!
th07.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/255/9/a/twilight__s_steed_by_ryuukiba-d49pcso.jpg
3307872
For real this time?
Still awesome. I actually have a shiny Rayquaza that I got from a cousin on my Pokemon HeartGold. Pretty sure he hacked it in, but that doesn't make it any less cool.
It's still not as cool as Twilight riding a shiny Rayquaza, though...
Write on,
Legion
Hah, either Discord really likes James, or James is more insane than he realizes. I'd say a combination of the two.
Then again, perhaps being a Metagross and having 4 brains working together has its sanity benefits.
Now we're going to get to see some genuine character interaction with the Mane 6 from here on out; I'm curious how you will develop their relationship with James and his companions.
I like that you update frequently, but I don't like that I read the chapters in 5 minutes
3307426 The wedding hasn't happen yet begrüße Shining is still in Canterlot and not in the Crystal Empire.
As whiny as I may sound, the chapters aren't long enough. I just read through that in 30 seconds. I read fast, but that's ridiculous. Not sure what your stance is, but to me, a good chapter is around 2,000 minimum.
3307410 If his are the best there is, remind me to never ever read the others, no offence to the writer, your story if lovely , its just that ime used to longer stories, seeing as i read the chapter in about 33 seconds flat. Huhhhhhhhh... the troubles of being a read-o-holic
This is just me being a whiny fan, but I'd like to see some longer chapters. I read this in about a minute, and honestly it's just not satisfying. Really, a 2.5k word minimum would be good. That being said, it is your story.
3308512 The way I deal with is by by reading massive spanning stories like Pony Point of View (It is amazing starts with the mental scars (of discord mind raping everything in equestria) getting worked through, then makes its own story even making the best villains I've every seen with the dark world arc just adding to it)
[/fan love]
haha slide over James xD
I like this
3308512 I read it just as fast.
3308512 You like Length, huh? As a fellow read-a-holic, I found Six Spirit over on FanFiction.net to be really worth the time reading. A more traditional pokemon adventure (Trainer and Pokemon) with an engaging plot, it runs at about 190K words, so it should keep your attention for a day or two.
3307922 Discord's levity might also have been the result of Twilight and Co. using their giant reality-warping harmony powers. Given how badly Celestia reacted to his first escape (hiding away and sending young mares to fight) his original M.O before petrification must have been super scary. 1st release Discord wasn't all THAT bad though, and he was even less scary after the second petrification. It can't be too healthy (relatively speaking) for a personification of chaos to get repeatedly harmonized like that. He's probably less crazy now, and therefore easier to link with.
3310283
Hmmm... interesting theory about the constant exposure to harmony making Discord less insane. Hadn't thought about that.
Still, I must disagree with you that Celestia hid away during his first escape. In my opinion, it was more the fact that she couldn't really do anything, seeing as she was no longer attuned to the Elements of Harmony and that traditional magic has little-to-no effect on Discord. Remember, she and Luna sealed him away the first time and she couldn't have done that if she ran away from their encounter.
Perhaps she instead was trying to keep Canterlot and Equestria together during the 1st escape? I mean, ponies look up to her after all, and by coordinating everything from the capital while Discord was focusing his efforts in Ponyville, she could help reduce the amount of chaos across the land or something. At least that's what I think.
3308054>>3308211>>3308512>>3308535
I'll hold a poll in the Author's Note of the next chapter on whether I should do daily, tri-weekly, or bi-weekly updates. I aim to write 1k a day, but that doesn't mean it has to be in one chapter.
3310966 That's a pretty good bench mark. 1K per day is good, and if you wait, say, four to five days, even accounting for interruptions and the story flow, it'll be around 4K words. That's a pretty good place for a chapter. So I'd vote for weekly at best, bi-weekly at worst. That gives you time to work and edit, while still putting out chapters at a respectable pace.
THE CAKE IS A LIE
3310283 You're a read-o-holic too? Same with me!