Rarity Gets Caught

by lord_steak

12 - Meanwhile, Back In The Great Marsh....

{Did everybody just hate the Safari Zones, and that's why they stopped doing them?}

The western skies beyond Mt. Coronet reddened as the sun sank toward the horizon. Safari-goers in The Great Marsh busily ran down the Pokémon they sought, or at least the ones they could find...some to their delight at catching something rare, others to their frustration at encountering yet another Wooper or Bibarel. Trainers hurried all around the place, except near the back corner of Area 2. Some watched this corner eagerly; most kept their distance. The newspaper reports about the two talking pony-Pokémon who showed up for all of two minutes a few days prior still buzzed about their heads. The commissioner left signs up near the corner in question:

In the event of another gateway opening and more dangerous pony Pokémon emerging, please retire from your game immediately. We will provide you with a full refund and you get to keep any Pokémon you caught. Your safety is of utmost importance to us.

A teenage couple stood near the sign nearest the Quick Tram. The young lady held a small box of chocolates, and took a bite of a savoy truffle. The young man regaled her with bravado of how he would not flinch before such a Pokémon, and would try to catch it anyway, pantomiming his would-be heroics. She giggled often during his boasting, shaking her head with a grin on her face once he finished. As they started back toward the tram, a flash of light made them turn back around.

{Bet these guys are hating their Safari game now....}

There was the gateway, freshly reopened. Instantly a pony emerged, flapping its wings. A semitransparent magenta hemisphere covered the portal and its surrounding area as this pony hovered. The teenagers could not tell if it was a mare or a stallion. All they could see was that it had a lavender coat, wings, a horn in the middle of its forehead, and it was wearing armour. Its spangenhelm appeared to have a crown attached, and was an off-gold in colour, with sleek curves, tight fit, holes for the ears and horn, and close-fitting chain mail of the same material around the neck and back of the head. The armour also appeared to be of an identical alloy, but of interlocking bands that wove together along the pony’s sides.

After a moment, a series of burly-looking pegasi came through, each carrying a large cubic stone. One by one they all set down their blocks in the muck beneath the portal and went back; the teenagers could not determine if they saw the same ones multiple times. In under two minutes they had a rectangular platform under the gateway, at least thirty metres on its long side. As the last of these returned, a little over a score of other armoured ponies came through, some with wings, some with horns, some with neither. Many of them had spears. Some were in golden armour, others in blue. All of them looked quite stern and intent, forming a perimeter around the portal. All except the first wore a crested barbute made for a pony’s head instead of a human’s, complete with ear holes, and horn holes for those who had them. Seven of the ponies did not fall in, but started their way as the magenta sphere evaporated. At the front was the first one they saw. Flanking this one were two that looked different from the rest. One was also a lavender colour, but lacked wings; it appeared to levitate in a phthalo green aura. The second had wings, a sky blue coat, and a prismatic tail, but no horn. The other four looked like winged uniformed soldiers, with no distinctive markings to separate them; each had a spear.

As the boy reached toward his bag of Safari Balls, four spears pointed towards him as the light blue one spoke in a raspy alto, “Just don’t. It will not work, and what comes next would not go well for you.”

The self-levitating one had a mezzo-soprano voice. She growled, “Throw that ball, and take a guess who’ll reach you first: whatever god you plea to for mercy, or me.”

“Settle down, both of you,” spoke the one wearing the crown, clearly female as well. She looked between the two teenagers, and asked, “Who is in charge around here, and where can he or she be found?”

The girl hesitantly pointed toward a building a ways to the south. With a curt nod from the centre one, seven ponies flew toward the entrance building, much quicker than it looked possible.

Moments later, Twilight touched down before a brick building with an open-ended hallway downstairs, and a rotunda for a second floor. Rainbow Dash, Starlight, and four of Celestia’s guards landed in formation. Twilight looked over at Starlight for a moment and said, “So far, it’s not been the hostile environment you described. I think they were afraid of us, not belligerently ready to capture.”

“There aren’t as many now as there were when Sunburst and I came last time,” Starlight said.

Rainbow Dash pounded on her chest plate as she said, “I don’t care how many of them there are! I’m ready to kick some flank!”

“Remember, Dash, we’re here to save Rarity and Trixie, not start a fight,” Twilight admonished. “I hope it doesn’t come to ‘flank-kicking;’ that will not spread friendship.”

“If they wanted friendship, there would have been no ponynapping. Of course we try it diplomatically, but if that doesn’t work...,” said Starlight grimly.

Dash said, “I agree with Starlight; they didn’t come looking for friendship. I still don’t think your usual methods will work with these ‘humans,’ Twi. They clearly only respond to force. You’ll have to be firm, and to-the-point. If they won’t listen, I’ll make them listen.”

“You will do no such thing,” Twilight said curtly. She sighed through her nose, then continued, “I don’t like it, but you’re right. I can’t give them any reason to think I’m a pushover. I have to be resolute. Steadfast. Determined. Assertive, but not aggressive.”

Dash said, “Let’s get going before you rattle off the entire thesaurus entry.”

She and Starlight laughed while Twilight grumbled to herself. The guardsponies remained as stoic as ever. All seven entered the building. The clamour of people trying to get their promised refunds fell silent as they entered. Twilight looked across their faces, and saw fear, not aggression. A smattering a frightened whimpering popped up. Twilight asked, “Who is in charge here?”

“I am,” answered a gravelly baritone. Rounding a corner was a tall, barrel-chested middle-aged man. He wore half-calf steel-toed boots, thick khaki work pants, tan button-down shirt, dark brown vest, and a bolo tie with an oval clasp sporting polished turquoise. He was a deeply tanned, clean-shaven man with graying black hair in a well-trimmed business cut. A pair of heavy work gloves stuck out from the right-front pocket of his trousers, and in his left hand was a clipboard with a full legal pad attached. He eyed the seven ponies suspiciously with a frown. “What do you want?”

“I am here to negotiate cessation of hostilities between our worlds, and I want my abducted subjects returned,” Twilight answered firmly.

The man gave her a hard look. “Who are you, exactly?”

Twilight met his gaze without blinking. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.”

“Roger Davidson, Commissioner and Warden of The Great Marsh, Your Highness,” said the man. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about, nor am I apt to believe your claims of my people abducting yours. Especially so after the trouble one of yours caused here three days ago, and this show of force you have now.”

Twilight said sharply, “The abductions took place five days ago, when two of your subjects pried opened a portal to Equestria, and forcefully took two of my subjects into this world against their wills! We had not seen such magic, but after two days’ analysis, we recreated the portal your people used. But those who checked the portal’s accuracy were attacked almost immediately upon setting hoof here! Your people didn’t wait to assault mine, thus did Starlight fend them off for her own safety!”

A murmur passed through the crowd. Davidson’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “What do you mean, ‘attacked?’ How?”

Starlight stepped forward and said, “One of your people threw one of those enslavement balls at me, just the same as that other did when he came through to Equestria!”

“Somebody threw a Safari Ball at you? They probably just mistook you for a rare Pokémon, miss,” said Davidson, just a touch flippant.

Starlight smarted off, “Oh, I should tell you not to try your ‘Safari Balls’ on us now; our armour has been enchanted to protect us from such capture.”

“What’s a Pokémon? And why do your people enslave them?” asked Twilight.

“We don’t enslave them; we train them!” shouted somebody in the crowd. The others voiced their agreements.

Davidson scoffed, “Pokémon are creatures that inhabit this world, who we befriend and train as companions, teammates, and competitors. They come in many shapes and sizes: some huge, some tiny, some like animals, some like men, some like plants, some like earthen materials, some like nothing in the natural world, and every point in-between.”

Twilight’s face soured. “Then why did your subjects come looking for them in our world?”

“Who knows? Look, it sounds like you need to talk to someone from the League, and I don’t have any ‘subjects.’ I’m in charge of The Great Marsh, not the whole town or beyond. If they’re not here, they’re not in my jurisdiction,” Davidson grumbled.

Dash frowned. “Your ‘jurisdiction’ is just this?”

Davidson scowled in return. “I hardly think of it as ‘just this.’ Managing the conservation efforts of a Pokémon and Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a natural environment, yet still allowing trainers to catch Pokémon, and financially balancing it all...it’s a big job.”

“While I certainly appreciate conservation of natural habitats, we’re no closer to finding our friends. I give my word that when we leave, we will leave no trace of us being here,” said Twilight.

Davidson nodded. “Thank you for that.”

A lady in the crowd said, “Excuse me, Your Highness? You said it was five days ago?”

Twilight turned to this person. She was demure, dressed in an attendant’s uniform, and shrank at all the eyes on her. Twilight said, “Five days ago, that’s right. Do you have any information?”

The lady squeaked, “Y-y-you wouldn’t happen to be looking for ponies named ‘Rarity’ and ‘Trixie,’ would you?”

Starlight shot forward to this lady, putting both her forehooves on the attendant’s shoulder. The attendant was wide-eyed in alarm; Starlight was wide-eyed in pleading. Twilight and Dash came up to her quickly as well, both keenly interested with looks of expectant relief. Starlight almost shouted, “You saw them!? Are they okay?! What happened?”

“Yes, I believe they’re okay. One was white with a curly mane, the other was blue and wore a cape and hat,” the attendant said quietly.

Someone else in the crowd said, “That’s right! It was upstairs in the Pokémon Centre! They were screaming at each other over what happened in the past! And there were some petty insults, too.”

Others in the crowd murmured in agreement, and a few chuckled. A tear slipped from Starlight’s eye as she begged, “Please tell me you know where they are!”

The attendant swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see which way their trainers went.”

Yet another person in the crowd chimed in, “I think I did. The red-haired man left town to the east, and the other went west.”

Twilight grumbled to herself as the crowd continued its smattering of indistinct comments. She shook her head, and returned toward the assembled guards. An outcry of surprise made her look up. Floating in from the northern entry was a very small light blue humanoid creature with a pear-shaped torso and two identical long tails. Its head was mostly a darker blue than the rest of its body, and it had a red oval inset over its sixth chakra. A similar red spot lay near the end of its tails. Its ochre eyes locked onto Twilight’s face in intrigue, lazily blinking as it slowly floated toward her. Twilight cocked her head to the left, and said, “Uh...hello?”

Davidson blurted, “Azelf...?”

“‘Azelf?’” Twilight asked.

“It’s a legendary Pokémon, said to inhabit Lake Valor...just over the hills east-by-northeast of here,” he answered in disbelief.

Azelf floated but a few centimetres from Twilight, still with its captivated gaze transfixed on the princess. It gingerly reached out with its left paw, and set it down on the end of Twilight’s nose. The crowd murmured yet again as Azelf floated there, touching Twilight. Starlight walked up to them, looking over the Pokémon with a curious face. Rainbow Dash shrugged. Davidson said in awe, “Azelf is said to be the being of willpower. That you got its attention, enough that it came to investigate...that’s something else.”

“Forget the ponies, that’s a Legendary!” shouted some tenor. There at the entryway stood the teenage couple from the sign; all eyes had looked up in time to see the boy throw a ball at Azelf.

{And PTSD kicks in}

“No!!” screamed Starlight. Her horn charged nearly instantly as she shot down the light blue and yellow Pokéball. In a flash she snatched a spear from one of the guards and rocketed toward the boy. He barely had time to inhale before she tackled him. His girlfriend shrieked and dropped her remaining three chocolates. Slamming his back to the ground with her left forehoof, Starlight wound up with the spear in her right, pounding it downward point-first. But the spearhead shattered; it broke upon a magenta shield, shaped like a round centre-boss targe, which appeared over the boy’s face in the nick of time.

“STARLIGHT GLIMMER!!” Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs, sounding like an angry parent rather than a disappointed mentor.

Starlight scowled at the broken spear, tossed it aside, and reared up. Before she could bring her hooves down, Rainbow Dash seized her in an aerial sprint, dragging her off of him. As they skidded to a stop, Dash pinned Starlight to the ground, hollering, “What the hell is wrong with you!?”

“I thought you wanted to kick some flank; why are you stopping me then?” Starlight grumbled, then teleported out from under Dash. As she rematerialised near the boy, she suddenly found herself trapped in crystal...the same spell she used during her time crisis. Twilight’s spell ray had also forced her back a good eight metres. The princess walked slowly up to Starlight, nostrils flared, eyes glaring, and ears flattened.

{Things are worse}

Twilight spat, “You are going back to the castle, and you will stay there until you learn how to control your temper. Rather than dole out punishment when you showed remorse, I took you as my student of friendship; if I have reason to suspect you’re reverting back to your old self, we will revisit that decision. Is that clear?”

“But—” began Starlight, and was immediately cut off.

“Yes or no; is that clear?!”

Starlight’s shoulders slumped and her eyes closed as she slowly nodded. Twilight released the spell. Still scolding, but softer and gentler, Twilight said, “Now go apologise, and hope and pray your overreacting didn’t wreck any friendships we could have had here.”

The girl helped her boyfriend to his feet, looking quite worried. His pants had a large wet spot that had spread radially from between his legs. Starlight’s eyes were on the ground as she trudged towards him. As she approached, he edged away from her. She began, “I’m sorry; I was—”

“Just stay away from me!” he shouted with his voice breaking as he turned to run. He whimpered as he pushed through the crowd and out the south exit, with his girlfriend running after him. One of the last three chocolates lay crushed from his sudden departure, oozing white crème upon the dirt. A whiff of peppermint followed a moment later.

Twilight sighed discontentedly as that guard retrieved what was left of his weapon. Starlight hung her head and departed toward the portal. Twilight said, “Starlight....”

Starlight looked at her mentor with wounded hope. Twilight hesitated, then sadly said, “I know you don’t want to see anything subjected to slavery, but trying to spear that human? Way too far. I know you’re better than that. You know you’re better than that. That was insanity, what you did. I still can’t believe you tried to kill him. There can’t be any more of that, ever. We need to have a very serious talk when this is all over.”

Starlight nodded weakly. Twilight continued, “Head home. Tell Sunburst I need him out here immediately.”

Starlight sniffled as she levitated herself over the marshland. Twilight watched her go for a moment, and sighed again. Dash frowned as she rubbed Twilight on the withers. Davidson approached as Twilight looked at Dash and asked, “What am I gonna do with her?”

“Uh, not bring her out here again?” Dash suggested, both her face and voice blunt about it.

Twilight looked around. The guards were behind Davidson; one watched their rear. She said unhappily, “Looks like she scared off Azelf. We were just starting to communicate.”

“Actually, Azelf zipped away when he, she, it, whatever saw that Quick Ball coming at its face,” said Davidson. He was not pleased. “I don’t like you ponies being here. I don’t like it at all. You’re dangerous.”

Twilight said, “I’m not making excuses for what she did, nor am I letting her return to this place.”

“Good,” barked Davidson. “From what I just saw I know we can’t force you to leave, but I want you gone as soon as possible.”

“I understand.”

“No, you don’t,” Davidson continued. “That was some crazy energy you threw around there, and from what I can see, you have plenty more where that came from. You watch yourself and how much of it you use. We don’t need any more surprise visitors.”

Twilight frowned. “I’ll be very selective who all I take and send on searches.”

Davidson glowered. “I’m not talking about you ponies. I’m talking about other legendary Pokémon showing up. Azelf is almost never seen away from Lake Valor, yet your presence alone got its attention enough for it to come here. That’s shocking; I’ve never heard of the like happening until now. At least Azelf is a pretty calm Pokémon. So are the other two who occupy the lakes, Mesprit and Uxie. Other legendary Pokémon, though, aren’t so nice, and some of those others are much, much stronger than the Lake Trio. You keep throwing power like that around, and I’ll bet the farm that sooner or later one of them big boys will come here, trying to ascertain who is this powerful being that they’ve never sensed before. We can’t have that, either one of us.”

“Maybe all this wouldn’t be necessary if you had just watched what other humans did in your marsh!” growled Rainbow Dash.

Davidson retorted, “Nothing close to that had ever happened before; there was no way to have predicted it. Regardless, here we are. Rumour has it after the last incident, high-ranking members of the World League took interest and are already on their way. What just happened here assured they will come. And sure I hope they can speed up your search.”

“That would be a great deal of help,” Twilight said curtly.

“Glad we have an understanding,” said Davidson. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I now have a ton of paperwork that cannot wait until tomorrow, thanks to you and your friend.”

Davidson turned on his heel and left. The guards let him pass, carefully watching his movements. Twilight growled to herself. The remaining six ponies returned to the portal. Twilight said nothing on the return trip, even though Dash kept looking at her. The guards who stayed behind were setting up a command post. As they landed, Twilight ambled toward the woods at the edge of the marsh. Dash walked up to her and said, “Penny.”

Twilight gave her a confused face. “What?”

“For your thoughts.”

Suspiring, Twilight lamented, “I failed. That was my first failure as the Princess of Friendship, and I don’t want another. I cannot hope to ever have good relations with this world after how things went this afternoon. I...I thought she could handle her anger. I thought she had grown enough. But I was wrong. Now, we can expect trouble the whole way.”

Twilight stopped to see Dash looking over her head with an intense gaze. After a moment, Dash frowned and said, “Sorry, thought I saw something or somepony in the woods.”

“It’s okay; I’d rather not have any surprises like any of those ‘Pokémon’ that Roger Davidson hinted at,” said Twilight. She shook her head again, and scoffed, “Forty hours of continuous intense magic, by the end of it I was trying and wanting just to stay awake so that the spell didn’t fizzle, and we get here to find out that wasn’t the worst of it, but just the start?”

Dash nodded and nickered. She stared off into the trees for a moment again, then said, “You know Rarity would do that and more, had it been us instead.”

“I know,” said Twilight. As the soldier ponies put the legs on a table, Twilight turned back toward the canopy tent. Dash followed while Twilight began, “There’s nothing to gain from delaying any longer, but we’ll need a map of the area before we can begin effective, organized searches. Owl Eyes, Dusk Breeze, I need you two to—”

{Another had foreseen the danger}

Past the tree line, the princess’s words were no longer distinct. There, carefully watching from behind a shrub was an equine figure about fourteen hands tall, almost like a yearling colt in appearance. He was off-white, with indigo hooves, and sky blue tail and long fur around his neck and chest, though it left a diamond-shaped patch on his chest of the off-white fur. He didn’t exactly have a mane; scarlet fluff came off his head in a way that looked far more like a human with a bushy hairdo than an equine mane. From the top of his head stuck up three tufts of different colours, one was pear green, the next about the shade of a ripe orange peel, and the third was cerulean. A long, thick horn of cobalt blue protruded from his forehead; it seemed to have grown in four chunks, leaving a trio of saw tooth-like edges on its top.

“Hmm...,” murmured this figure, staring intently at Twilight.

He closed his eyes, then took a deep breath and held it. He stood there, resolutely holding himself in the upright pose. Slowly he exhaled, and turned his head to the southeast. He said to himself, “Over the ocean? That means....”

He looked north...perhaps north-northwest, and said under his breath, “That one’s close, or at least close enough. But the other....”

He looked back southeast for a second, then carefully picked his way north, staying hidden from the marsh as the sun set. As the edge of the marsh turned west, so did he. He looked back toward the portal and command post for a moment. Seeing it fully obscured by foliage, he began to run, and reached a cantering speed far faster than any normal pony or horse could dream of achieving. Over dead logs, creeks, briar patches, and boulders he bounded, racing onward toward the west. He slowed as he heard what sounded like three different roars, each trying to drown out the other two, echo from atop Mt. Coronet.

Westward he pressed harder, muttering to himself, “Gotta get her back before all the others get here...can’t let this place become a warzone....”

Author's Note:

Starlight and her temper...she just made matters much worse. I'm pretty sure that, even with it being a Quick Ball, Azelf at full health would not have more than two shakes before busting loose. Just the same I can't fault the dude for trying; had it been me playing, I know I'd be throwing balls too. Now be honest, more with yourself than me...would you have tried to catch Azelf then, had it been you there?

It's great fun that Equestrian magic grabs the attention of high-end Pokémon. We know at least five have noticed: Azelf, a very special little guy, and three on the mountain...odds are, it's more than that. What was that little guy doing here, anyway? Sinnoh isn't his home region....

Ya got trouble, my friend, right here, I say, trouble right here in River City the Sinnoh Region. If Mr. Davidson is right, more will be coming. How many, who, and when...yet to be seen.

Secondary classic rock reference this time is courtesy of The Beatles; I'm sure at least one of you noticed. That actually is a real thing, by the way...never seen one m'self, but there ya' go.

Also...what kind of wildlife refuge okays common citizens to legally take whatever creatures they want out of it??

So then! The clock is ticking. But how much time remains? And what will happen if time runs out before Twilight and company get Rarity and Trixie home? Has Rarity found out anything else in the meantime? Stay tuned to find out, and thanks for reading.

Comments

[terrycloth]

Dash said, “I agree with Starlight; they didn’t come looking for friendship.

Technically, they did. Especially the little kids that tried to catch Starlight.

[lord_steak]

7795109
I know that, and you know that, but the ponies don't.

[Emtu]

...And the cliffhanger from the end of the last chapter remains unresolved.

[Seeking Dusk]

The humans are... kinda dumb. How hard is it to recognize a military operation when you see one? I mean, honestly, to them everything is either a human, a pokemon, or a rock/plant *shakes head slowly* Also, kid, legendary or not, you don't do something like that when some-entity that identified itself as a leader from another world is there... And Davidson... pissed off alien beings have made a beachhead in your safari. Legendaries shouldn't be your primary concern at the moment.

Starlight... I understand your trauma and all, but still... a spear? Why not pin him in crystal?

Anyway, run Keldeo, run.

[LinktheLazy]

7795109

I wouldn't call what the first guys did 'looking for friendship' their Pokemon are actually not treated all that well.

[Cadiefly]

Is that equine in the bushes staring at them at the end of the chapter a keldeo?

Thatd be pretty cool.

[gamerj14]

Also...what kind of wildlife refuge okays common citizens to legally take whatever creatures they want out of it??

sometimes real life can be more counterintuitive weird than fiction.

[ThatBadGuy]

C'mon girls! It's time to love and tolerate the shit out of 'em!
Facehoof

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

7795225
I absolutely agree with you.
Mr. Davidson, there are a TON of movies starting w Monsters vs Aliens & Mars Attacks to let you know how bad an alien invasion can be. League, HELL, I'd be screaming for the national government & the armed forces.

Kid, I sympathize with you wanting to capture a Legendary Pokémon, but there is a time & a place for everything. This was neither. Think of what happened to you as The Stupidity Tax.
Experience is a teacher
But here's what makes me burn
It's always teaching me
What I do not care to learn

[StarzGecko]

If the legends find them, it's all over for everyone.