Episode 4: Separation
*Payapa Village Outskirts*
Mortimer scowled as he strode out of the forest, Twilight scuttling like mad to keep up with him.
“Mortimer! Wait!” She cried out to him, “you can’t just leave us behind!”
Much to her surprise, he did as she requested and turned back to her with a deadpan look. Twilight tensed and closed her eyes as she tried to skid herself to a halt. She thought for certain she was going to bowl him over, but when she felt no impact come, she reopened her eyes to find she was sitting almost nose to nose with the pokemon in front of her. She backed away quickly to give him some space.
If he had been shaken by their near collision, Mortimer showed no signs of it. Instead, he responded to her by pointing his bone club towards the distant side of the grove behind him. “My village is in that direction.” He explained, “there you’ll be able to find food and lodging. As for me leading you there per our agreement? That’s been officially dissolved. After hearing that ridiculous story, I’m more inclined to believe you two are rookie thieves. That, or you both desperately need to get your heads checked at the local doctor.”
Luna walked up beside Twilight, “Mortimer, please, I’ve told you the truth. We are not of your world. We can not remember how it transpired, but somehow we were brought here and turned into these forms.” She gestured her paw between Twilight and herself, “why will you not believe us?”
Mortimer’s brow arched at that question, “I think you already have your answer.”
Twilight raised her front paws and waved them back and forth, hoping the gesture would be enough to ease the tension between them and Mortimer, “okay, okay. I will admit our story may sound a little far fetched-”
“Far fetched?” A dry chuckle passed Mortimer's lips upon hearing that, “you two were making up words.” He tapped his bone against his opposite hand as if listing off the problems with their story on his nonexistent fingers. “Tartarus, alicorns, equestria...” he stopped tapping his palm to briefly let what he listed off sink in, “I have never heard any of these words used before in my life. And on top of that you expect me to believe that you come from another world? Who in their right mind do you think would fall for this?” He began to massage his left temple, clearly annoyed. “You both want to keep insisting your story is true? Fine. Then go see Tapu Bulu at the Ranger Station. He’s the chief in charge of all the rangers on this island. As for me? I’m done with this. You two can see yourselves to the village without me. You’ll find no other dangers out here in the payapa grove.” With that explained, Mortimer turned and began walking away.
Luna stood there in disbelief as she watched the marowak make his leave. He was treating them like a joke. She knew their story sounded ridiculous, but that didn’t mean he had to be so close minded about it.
She rose to her full height and marched after Mortimer with determination. Catching up to him quickly, she then placed her paw upon his shoulder in a friendly but stern gesture, “Mortimer, I must insist, see reason. If you but stop and think this over, you’ll see that our story isn’t as implausible as you may have first thought.”
Mortimer shrugged off her paw, “Luna, don’t test me.” He warned. She was surprised to hear him say her real name. So far he had only addressed Twilight by name, and only ever referred to her as “kid”. This told her just how straight he was going to be with her. “Many would consider your actions thus far to be the bumblings of rookie thieves, but you both seem too naïve and kindhearted to be anything of the sort.” While Luna did not appreciate being called naïve, she did smile a little bit at being called kind. He closed his eyes as his expression became more thoughtful. When they reopened he spoke steadfast, “I want to make this clear. I'm not leaving you behind because I think you're bad pokemon. I’m leaving you because I can’t read who you are...and that makes me wary. I don’t trust anyone who isn’t upfront with me, especially when I’m meeting them for the first time.” Resting his bone over his shoulder he begins to walk off again, but far more at ease this time. “I wish you both luck in whatever your endeavors are, but I think it’s best that we split ways for the time being. When you’re ready to tell me the truth, find me in the village. I might be willing to help you out then.”
Luna clenched her jaw in frustration. It irked her greatly that he still refused to trust them. But on a certain level, she could understand where he was coming from. After returning to Celestia’s side, she had learned through many experiences that trust needed to be earned rather than demanded. She could tell through their conversations that Mortimer was a closed off individual. He preferred to keep to himself and didn’t trust others easily. He was also polite, but very blunt, enough so that others would not likely want to speak with him for very long. Yet, despite this, he still possessed a desire to see others safe. He did not have to help them back in the dungeon, yet his first action towards them was to push them out of a dangerous creature’s line of sight. Had he not grown suspicious of them and forced Twilight and herself to reveal their origins, she was certain he may have yet stayed true to their agreement and would have led them all the way to his home.
Luna’s paw wandered down to her stomach where a slight twinge of pain made itself known. She recalled Mortimer’s offer of his homemade salve and knew now that his wariness towards them didn’t mean he was mean-spirited, there was just no trust between them. Asking him for anything more than what he had already given them would have made her appear rude and petty, and she didn’t want Mortimer to have that opinion of her. She agreed that it was best for them to part ways here, and perhaps later mend things, assuming they ever met again.
Unfortunately for them all, Twilight thought differently.
She had dealt with many difficult and stubborn creatures before on her adventures, but Mortimer seemed to be on a whole different level compared to her prior experiences. Right off the bat from their first conversation, Mortimer seemed to have an air about him that suggested he was angry or at least extremely displeased with everything in the world around him. This bitter attitude he held onto suggested that he likely had very few friends. By this logic, Twilight surmised that he would greatly benefit from a few lessons in the magic of friendship.
A cheshire smile spread across Twilight’s muzzle and a confident nod to herself finalized her decision to help. Mortimer was suffering from a friendship problem and she was going to be the one to help him fix it.
Copying what little she knew of Pinkie Pie’s antics, she managed to sneak in front of Mortimer without his or Luna’s notice. The marowak immediately jumped backwards in shock when he realized Twilight had somehow appeared in front of him. He briefly looked back at Luna in confusion before turning back to blink at Twilight in disbelief, “how did you do that?”
Twilight only shook her head, “trust me, I couldn’t explain how if I tried. And I have tried.”
Mortimer’s brows furrowed at that, “another secret, I suppose? Why am I not surprised?” He pushed past her. “Leave me alone and stay out of my way. I am not going to warn you a third time.”
At this point, Twilight was growing desperate and resorted to something reckless, “Mortimer please! You have to understand. We don't know anything about your world. We have no money nor do we even understand how the concept of currency works here. We don’t even know what it’s called!” Mortimer didn’t turn around, but she could tell he was listening. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but at the moment, she felt only by guilting or annoying him into compliance could she ensure he’d stay. “We won’t be able to afford food or shelter in your village.” She emphasized, “you can’t possibly be willing to shoo us away when you know we have absolutely no means of supporting ourselves! No creature in this world or any other could be that heartless!”
Mortimer finally paused and turned to address the younger princess. An exasperated sigh escaped his throat, “I’ve told you already where you can get help. The rangers are the ones who handle missing pokemon cases, not me. So take my advice or leave it. I don’t care which.” His voice was stern and matter-of-fact. He started to walk away from her, only to find Twilight standing in his path again. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer. The marowak snorted at her stubbornness, “I thought I made this clear. LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Twilight folded her forelegs and turned her face upwards as if she were a defiant child, “not until you ask us politely.” She stated.
The momentary silence that followed was so thick one could attempt to swim through it. Mortimer’s brow began to twitch, “excuse me?” His voice was oddly soft when compared to how it was only a moment ago, a foreboding sign of just how angry the marowak was becoming. A small part of Twilight’s mind sparked with growing worry. She was barely able to ignore it even despite it practically screaming at her to run. She suddenly found herself being lifted by the scruff of her chest and brought nose to nose with Mortimer. His voice took on a ghastly tone, “I can hurt you severely, Twilight. I suggest you stop this nonsense. Now.”
Twilight felt a deluge of sweat run down the back of her neck. She was beginning to seriously reconsider her plan to annoy Mortimer into submission. Pinkie Pie had regaled her with how this had worked with Cranky Doodle Donkey. She had hypothesized, given their similar personalities, the same thing would occur for her with Mortimer, but only now after implementing this method did she realize she may have chosen the wrong subject to test its credibility on. It was only thanks to Luna speaking up that she didn’t find out how severe her consequences would be.
“Mortimer, please, let Twilight go. I promise I will ensure that neither she nor I will seek to bother you any further.” Luna said with calm authority.
Mortimer glanced back at her and considered her offer. In the next moment, he dropped Twilight to the ground. “See to it that you keep to your word, Luna. And educate this one so she doesn’t do something like this again. Successful or not, manipulation is dangerous and it can be even more so when coupled with arrogance and stupidity.” He turned around and strode off, but this time the girls did not attempt to follow him.
Once they were sure he was out of earshot, Twilight spoke up again, “t-thanks Princess Luna, I thought for a second he was actually going t-“ Twilight’s words caught in her throat once she saw the expression Luna was giving her, “t-to hit me…”
Luna looked at Twilight with neither joy nor relief. Instead her expression was one of blunt anger and displeasure. It was reminiscent of how Celestia would look at her whenever she abused her magic in the past.
“Twilight, what was that just now?” Luna asked her in a flat tone.
“I-I’m not certain what you mean, Princess Luna.” Twilight stammered. Luna’s expression and tone were far more terrifying than any time Celestia had ever been upset with her.
Luna’s brow cocked at that, “oh?…Is that so? Then let me tell you. You just attempted to force another creature to help us beyond what he was willing to do because he felt he could not trust us. We who are strangers to him and who revealed a story he could not believe. Trust must be earned, Twilight, not demanded. And you recklessly ignored his words to us and kept pushing his patience until you were threatened with being hit. Had I not interceded when I did, you would have received injuries almost as bad as what those crazed pokemon from the dungeon would have inflicted.”
Luna’s words hit Twilight hard, but whether or not they sunk in was difficult for Luna to determine. In the past, she had read many of the reports that had been shared between Twilight and her sister. More often than not these tended to illustrate some mistake Twilight or her friends had made while trying to understand friendship. She already knew the young mare had much growing to do as both an adult and princess, but now she was beginning to suspect that Celestia had been hiding much more about her former student. In particular, the young mare's mental state, if her recent act of reckless self-endangerment was anything to go off of.
Luna returned her attention to the matter at present and glared at Twilight sternly, “we will be discussing this later in length, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” There was no room for debate in her statement, “now, let us find this ranger station and speak with the one called Tapa Bulu.”
Twilight nodded silently and followed her senior, now soberly aware that Princess Luna was extremely upset with her.
*Payapa Village*
Almost an hour had passed by the time the girls reached the entrance to Mortimer’s village, at least, according to what they could tell by the rising sun.
Their walk from the forest’s edge had been long and uncomfortably silent; their spirits were low; and without the benefit of adrenalin, feelings like hunger and exhaustion were starting to set in.
There was nothing either princess wanted to do more than grab a platter of breakfast foods, gorge themselves into a slumber, and take a second crack at this pokemon world the next day.
Unfortunately for them, this was not an option. Their friends and families were likely already aware of their absence following their disappearance last night and without a doubt they were all fraught with worry. If they had any chance to return home expediently then they needed to take it or risk becoming more involved with this world’s inner workings then they already were.
It was for this reason that Luna led Twilight into the village with nary a word. She was focused on their goal, urged forward only slightly more by the frustration she felt from arguing with Moritmer and annoyance she’d come to hold thanks to her fellow princess’ actions.
She paid little mind to the buildings and pokemon that passed them by. Her younger ally however was immediately enamored. Almost like stepping into an amusement park, Twilight stared at the village’s bizarre architecture with all the delight of an archeologist discovering a lost tomb. Unlike the square or rectangular shapes she was familiar with in common construction, every structure in the village oddly resembled the heads of what she assumed were different kinds of pokemon, or at least had one incorporated somewhere in each building’s design.
The inhabitants of the village were no less bizarre. They took on all manner of forms, some of which Twilight couldn’t even begin to describe. There were a few that resembled animals she was familiar with, but possessed features so exaggerated one could only describe them as cartoonish; others looked like elements of the earth that had been given life and form by some unknown powerful magic; and then there were a few that looked just plain weird. One of them, a large mustachioed creature with an equally large nose, nearly made Twilight jump out of her skin as it floated past her. Its presence made her fur stand on end, almost like her body had just been run over by a powerful magnet.
She turned to Luna, trying to get her attention, but silenced herself once she noticed the task her elder princess was in the middle of. Luna was currently observing a standing sign in front of a building Twilight assumed was a bakery, if the fresh made bread in the window was any indication. She appeared to be trying to read it, but was failing miserably thanks to the strange rune-like shapes that were sketched on the poster.
Looking at the shapes herself, Twilight found it odd that each possessed one constant feature, an eyeball that was present somewhere in each rune’s design.
Unable to read the sign herself, Twilight once again turned to Luna with the idea of possibly asking a local for directions. The elder princess was already moving by the time she did so, apparently already having the same idea in mind. Twilight scampered after her immediately.
Luna led Twilight off the main town road that they had been following into a closed off cul-de-sac like area that was filled with stalls and tents. Much like the buildings, the stalls resembled the faces of the pokemon who ran them, some either down right being shaped like their heads or at minimum possessing a sign that had their image plastered on it.
Many of the stalls were unmanned, likely due to it still being in the early hours of the morning. But from what they could see, the girls were quick to surmise that this area had to be some form of bizarre or marketplace, similar to the ones that populated the more rural areas of Equestria.
Luna’s eyes scanned the stalls for anyone currently passed the stage of setting up. She and Twilight may be in a hurry, but that didn’t mean she was going to excuse her manners and bother someone before their store was open for business. Her eyes soon found a stall that was covered by a tent. The tent resembled a chameleon in shape, but was colored two different hues straight down the middle, one side green with yellow stripes and other side purple with light green stripes. Matching the green side, a kecleon was standing behind the counter with its back turned towards them. Without further hesitation, Luna marched up to the stall.
“Alouette, gentille alouette, alouette, je te plumerai…”
Luna lightly slapped her paw against the counter in order to garner the kecleon’s attention. It turned away from the wooden shelving rack that sat at the back of the tent. It appeared to have been straightening the items on its shelves before they had arrived.
Having recognized the language in its song, Luna greeted the pokemon properly, “bonjour monsieur, je suis désolé de vous interrompre, mais mon ami et moi avons besoin d'aide.”(1)
The kecleon tilted its head, a look of utter surprised delight stretched wide across its face, “you speak the native language of the Nation of Aura?! Oh mon dieu(2), what a pleasant surprise!~ And here I thought my dear brother and I were the only Auraian immigrants in this part of the continent. I guess it’s true what they say, it really is a small world.” His eyes widened suddenly, “my dear brother..? Mon dieu, my dear brother! I’ve completely forgotten! Please madame pardonne-moi(3), I must collect the co-owner of my store.”
He ducked behind the counter before popping back up seconds later with a purple kecleon held firmly in his hand. A small snot bubble was growing and shrinking on the tip of his nostril and light snoring could be heard coming out of the purple one’s mouth. The green kecleon moved his hand from the nap of his brother’s neck to within his left armpit, then began slapping the other kecleon awake with quick repeated strikes.
“Wakey, wakey, Clark! We have customers. I know you prefer to sleep in at this point of the day, but asserting my dominance as your older brother, I must tell now is not the time.” After losing count of how many slaps he delivered, the bubble finally popped on Clark’s nose. Much to the princesses’ surprise he looked absolutely no worse for wear and seemed only mildly put off by the punishment he received.
“Zut Louise, je suis debout, je suis debout…”(4) He stood on his own and turned his gaze over the counter. He then scratched his lower back in a non-attractive way, letting out a loud yawn as he did so, “alors qui sont nos pidoves aujourd'hui?”(5)
Louise giggled nervously, “oui(6), pidoves. Such cute little birds, those pidoves.” Both Twilight and Luna raise an eyebrow in confusion. Lousie straightened up immediately, “he’s paying you a complement, madames. Pidove is a common term used within our family that started back as far as our great, great, great, great, grandmother. She always thought pidoves were adorable, so she adopted the habit of calling all cute things pidove. Isn't that right, Clark? …Clark?”
The purple kecleon didn’t respond because his jaw had already hit the countertop. He was staring intently at Twilight, a stare his brother knew all too well.
“Sacre bleu, non!(7) Clark, please, we’ve only just met, at least give them a little time before you-”
His request went unheeded as Clark suddenly vaulted over the counter and wrapped Twilight up in his arms. He then spun her in a full circle and dipped her away from the stand as if they were ending a waltz. He ran his fingers through the hair on Twilight’s head, “ah, ma petite chérie, c'est le coup de foudre, n'est-ce pas? Non?”(8) He moved the hand that was caressing her and placed it against his chest, “oh, mais pardonnez-moi, permettez-moi de me présenter. Je suis Clark Le Kecleon, ton amant!”(9)
Unlike her fellow princess, Twilight did not understand a good deal of what Clark was saying, but the language he was using did sound familiar. In fact, it sounded almost word for word similar to Prench if not for his accent. She had been studying Prench alongside many other languages in Equestria as means to better address the diversity of the kingdom, but had yet to master any due to the other responsibilities of said title. That being said, she could tell by the tone in his voice he was trying to flirt with her, an action that almost immediately caused her to sweat.
Her cupped her chin and moved it so their eyes could meet, “maintenant ma douce crêpe suzette, dis-moi ton nom pour que je sache comment m'adresser à la déesse qui est devant moi.”(10)
Again Twilight was uncertain how to respond. She roughly pulled out that he wanted to know her name? To avoid being rude, she decided to answer his request, “T-Twilight. M-My name is Twilight.”
“Ah, un nom si approprié. Car qu'est-ce qui pourrait se comparer à votre beauté alors le scintillement des étoiles du soir elles-mêmes.”(11) He ran a finger down Twilight’s cheek, “très bien mon violet pidove. Nous avons brisé la glace. La parade nuptiale peut maintenant…”(12) He grasped her right paw and brought it up to his snout. He kissed it twice, “maintenant commence la période des regards timides…”(13) He kissed it again, “paupières flottantes…”(14) Two more times, “toucher le bout des doigts…”(15) Then a final three.
By this point, Twilight looked about ready to pass out from heat exhaustion, her face now redder than any produce being sold here at the market. And yet the purple kecleon seemed oblivious to these feelings, that or he was flat out ignoring them.
Whatever the case, Luna had seen more than enough.
She raised her paws and got ready to pull the kecleon away from her frazzled friend, only to suddenly be beaten to the punch when a massive tongue shot outwards and slapped Clark across the back of the head. The purple kecleon clutched the now aching mark and swiveled on the spot to address his brother, leaving Twilight to fall on her haunches with no one there to support her, “c'était pour quoi?!”(16)
Louise now had a scowl on his face, “we have lost far too many customers because of your spontaneous acts of “romance.” I will not lose anymore.” He pointed to the ground beside him for emphasis, “now get back here and let’s do our job right!”
Luna and Twilight watched as the younger kecleon begrudgingly trudged back toward his brother’s side. Lousie adopted an apologetic look once they were back together, “my apologies madames. Please forgive my brother, he is--how you say--the hopeless romantic.” Clark shot Louise a sideways stink eye. “Please, do not take his foolish behavior as reflecting the standard of our work and products.” He bowed his head before the girls, Clark following suit after receiving an elbow to the ribs.
Luna’s brows furrowed even despite their apology. She raised her paw and opened her mouth to scold them, but immediately grew silent when she felt Twilight move her arm back downwards.
“Apology accepted.” Twilight stated.
Luna looked down at her fellow princess with an expression of bewilderment and faded fury, “Twilight, have thou lost thine senses? This…male just harassed you in the most unbecoming manner any lady could receive! Do you have any inkling as to what he just said?!”
Before answering, Twilight glanced back towards the kecleons and noticed the worried look Louise was giving his brother and that Clark was currently sweating bullets. He must have now realized that Luna could understand his native language. She looked back up at her elder princess, “not entirely, but I’m not hurt. Look…” She walked around in a circle so Luna could get a full view of her body. A blush formed on her cheeks as her next words came out of her mouth, “Clark did nothing to hurt me. If anything he handled me very gently. I was just surprised and got nervous because I'm not used to being flirted with. I should have told him that I wasn’t interested before things had gone too far.” She gave Luna a pleading look, “so please, can we just let this go?”
Luna’s stern expression refused to leave, “though I appreciate thine maturity in this situation, Twilight, we still don’t believe this was thou’s fault.”
“But Luna, this is the same exact thing as what happened to Mortimer, only this time I’m the one in his position. Yes, he was extremely obtuse with his intentions, and yes, he put me in a very uncomfortable position, but I said nothing that would tell him I didn’t enjoy that kind of attention.”
Luna growled, “but he should have noticed-”
“Mortimer was upfront with me the moment I began to pester him. I didn’t give Clark that same courtesy, so we don’t know for certain what he would have done if I had asked him to stop. I don’t think it’s fair to judge him so harshly because I was too flustered to react.”
Luna found herself with no argument to make. Her fury began to cool as she gave Twilight’s words some deeper thought. She recalled what she had told Twilight a long while ago after she pushed Mortimer too far, only now she was the one who needed to follow through on the lesson. She sighed, “very well. Apology accepted. I also apologize for my own outburst. We just arrived in this village after an argument with someone we considered a friend, unfortunately it seems my emotions from then have bled into my attitude just now. We shall be on our way and not hamper you-”
Luna was interrupted when she noticed a folded piece of paper being shoved into her face, “all is well, mon chéri.(17) Please, have this free of charge.”
Luna blanched at the suddenness of the kecleon’s proposal. She took the paper and unfolded it, “wha-what is this?”
Louise chuckled at the question, “it’s a map of our lovely Payapa Village, madame. We normally sell them to tourists for two poké a piece, but in this case I felt we owe you.”
She blinked in surprise, “how did you know we were going to ask for directions?”
The kecleon too blinked, “I didn’t.” He said in befuddlement. “I wanted to give you that map so you could find another store to shop at, since our service has proven unsatisfactory. It felt like the courteous thing to do, not waste your time any further that is.”
A weight appeared in the pit of Luna’s stomach, “t-thank you for this gift. We really were in need of this.” She suddenly found it hard to keep eye contact with the shopkeeper, “if it isn’t too much trouble, could I also ask you to show us where this village’s ranger station is on this map?”
Louise nodded and drew his finger across the map towards a picture of a rectangular building with a pair of large horns attached to its sides. Luna memorized the path his finger had taken and smiled appreciatively for his help, “thank you, sir.”
“You’re very welcome, madame.” The kecleon replied, “And please, despite the unpleasantries that have happened between us, do feel free to come visit the Kecleon Shop again anytime. We'd adore another chance to improve your opinion of our humble establishment.”
Luna grimaced. She didn’t want to make a promise she couldn’t keep, but in the interest of ending hostilities, simply replied, “we will try.” Twilight was happy she chose this as her reply. The girls soon shared a few final farewells before heading back towards the market's entrance.
Louise and Clark waited until the two princesses were completely out of view before speaking up again. Clark rested his elbow on the counter then placed his chin in his hand in a forlorn slump, "eh bien, il y a une autre chance de séduire une beauté."(18)
Louise rolled his eyes at his brother’s moping, “oh, don’t start with that again. Your romantics have caused enough trouble for us today. Besides, I’m sure we’ll see them again. The ink on those maps melts after a while unless you keep them chilled, remember?” Clark stared at his brother like had just grown a second head, then began to smile when he remembered their collection of trick maps. “That's the way we get all the tourists to come back.”
*Payapa Village Ranger Station*
The girls’ search for the ranger station went much quicker once they knew what to look for. Within minutes of leaving the marketplace and heading in the direction opposite the village entrance they came in from, Twilight and Luna found themselves at the foot of a building that matched the image on the kecleon brothers’ map exactly.
Like the picture, it was a large carved wood building with massive black horns that vaguely resembled the head of a steer, if that steer had been designed by the artisans of Zecora's homeland. Two large stone bowls sat on either side of a short staircase that led up to the station's entrance, a large opening in the building's with a massive log gate hanging above it.
The girls ascended the stairs without hesitation, both exuding an eagerness to finally get home. Their feet crunched across a wide gravel floor as they entered the building, each noise more then loud enough to draw the attention of the pokemon sitting at the desk in front of them.
The receptionist, a lilligant who had been in the middle of sorting papers for the coming work day, subtly moved her files aside as the girls approached, “Good morning wahines(19) and welcome to the Payapa Village Ranger Station. My name is Kealoha and I am the building secretary. How may I help you today?”
She received no response, for Twilight and Luna were too preoccupied by the building’s utter lack of décor. Save for a set of stairs that led up to the building's second floor and the front desk before them, the entire room was completely bare of any furniture, decorations, or even paint. It almost felt like they had just stepped into an oversized tool shed that had yet to be filled with any tools.
Kealoha cleared her throat loudly, regaining the girls’ attention, “wahines?” They turned back towards the lilligant, “is there anything I can do for you today?”
“Yes, sorry.” Luna said, bowing her head in apology, “we are looking for the one you call, “Tapu Bulu.” We were told he could be found here?”
The lilligant secretary nodded, “yes, but he normally doesn’t see anyone who hasn’t first scheduled a meeting. Can I help you set up an appointment?”
Luna scowled, Mortimer had failed to give them that information, even still she remained cordial, “I’m afraid we don’t have that kind of time. You see, we’re dealing with a rather… peculiar issue, and it is of great importance that we see him right away to address it.”
Kealoha raised an eyebrow, "I understand miss, but regulation purely dictates that-" she paused, almost as if lost in thought. Her eyes suddenly widened, "wait are you..?" She paused again, "have you spoken with the Mōʻī(20) and Mōʻī Wahine(21)?"
Luna looked to Twilight, who returned an unsure expression. The lunar monarch considered lying and claiming they had had an audience with this Mōʻī and Mōʻī Wahine, but ultimately cast away the idea for fear of being asked questions she could not answer.
"We have not, miss." Luna replied, her head sinking towards the ground in dismay. "We were not even aware we needed to ask permission from..." Luna took a moment to choose her words, she not being familiar with what Mōʻī and Mōʻī Wahine translated to, "such officials."
The lilligant nodded her head, and to Luna's surprise, leapt down from her seat to address them personally. Gravel crunched beneath the secretary's feet as she walk around the desk, her journey taking a oddly long time despite the short distance between them. When she finally arrived, the princesses were shocked to discover that the lilligant secretary was only half Twilight's height on all fours.
“This does sound very important and since it is very early the morning..." Kealoha explain, "...I will try and see if Chief Tapu Bulu can squeeze you in for a quick meeting. Does this sound alright?"
Both princesses beamed, “that would be most appreciated, Ms. Kealoha.” Luna replied, "we can't thank you enough!"
Kealoha placed a hand over her mouth and giggled awfully loudly, “please miss, I’m barely twenty three. Just call me Kealoha.”
“And I am over a millennium in age." She said jokingly, "but I too would much prefer that you just call me, Luna.”
This time Kealoha broke out into a full on guffaw. It took her a moment to recompose herself, “I-I promise I will be back with you in a minute. Please don't go anywhere.”
The girls each took a seat on the floor as Kealoha walked back around her desk. “She can raise her voice awfully loud for someone so small.” Twilight whispered.
Luna nodded in agreement, “indeed. These pokemon are truly full of surprises.”
Their ears suddenly perked up when they noticed the sounds of crunching gravel disappear. It now sounded like Kelaloha was stepping onto pieces of worned wood. Twilight and Luna curiously leaned around the corner of the desk, just in time to see the secretary disappear down a large hole in the floor as she descended a ladder. Both girls’ eyes widened in surprise.
“As is this building, it would seem.”
For a good while Twilight and Luna waited for Kealoha to return. Neither were quite certain how much time had passed, the building didn’t possess any windows that allowed them to look at the sky for answers and the view outside the door was blocked by the buildings across the street. However long it was, it had to be decently lengthy because they had managed to complete six rounds of tic-tac-toe and several full games of twenty questions by the time the secretary returned. A good thing too, because Luna was starting to grow impatient with her streak of losses.
“Good news! Tapu Bulu has just enough time to set aside for a meeting. Please follow me.”
The girls followed Kealoha towards the back of the room and down the ladder, which dove down quite a number of feet. Five minutes at least surely had to have passed by the time they reached the bottom, revealing to the two a long tunnel that stretched in both directions with multiple openings on either wall.
“Just this way, please.” She led the girls down the tunnel stretching to their left, before turning quickly down a corridor to her right. Besides a number of torches lining the walls, the tunnels looked identically similar. It made the girls wonder just how any creature was supposed to navigate this underground maze.
Twilight, not being one to let her curiosity go unchecked, was the first to voice a question, “Um… Kealoha?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Twilight, if you please. How exactly do you know where you're going?” They turned down another identical tunnel, “all these tunnels look practically the same to me.”
“Oh, that’s because I studied the maps of these tunnels. A necessary part of the job for a secretary, just in case I need to find one of the rangers who work here or pick up a file from storage.” She looked around at the walls of the tunnel they were in, “but I don’t blame you for getting confused, it is very easy to get lost down here if you don’t know what to look for. That’s why we employ the digletts.”
“Hello yes, that is my species!” Twilight and Luna shrieked in terror as a rounded pokemon with three blond hairs on its head popped out of the ground between them. “Do you have needence of Doug?”
Kealoha briefly chuckled and shook her, “no Doug, we're fine.”
“Very well. Doug will leave you then. But not for very long.”
The mole pokemon shot back underground refilling the hole it came out of as it went. Luna was quick to voice her stupefaction once he was fully gone, “what was that?”
“That was a diglett. They’re the ones who dug these tunnels, at our request of course. I can understand if you’ve never seen one before, they very rarely come above ground. If he ever comes back I’ll introduce you. His name is Doug.”
“I heard.” Luna replied. She shook her head in annoyance, almost as if responding to a corny joke, “is that really his name?”
“Well I’m told they’re all named Doug actually. Though I’m not completely sure if that’s true. It’s the only name they respond to, but I’ve heard tell that they only do that because they think it’s funny.”
Doug again popped out of the earth, this time from the right side wall. “Digletts live their entire lives underground. We dig holes to survive, so digging is a sacred word to our kind. Doug thusly is a name of great renown. So much so that every diglett wishes they could own the title. So we do.” He slowly began to sink back into the wall, “we are all Doug down here.”
The three pokemon watched Doug in awkward silence as his new hole was once again refilled. A full minute passed before any of them felt comfortable enough to speak again. “They also act as guides down here.” Kealoha continued, “they know these tunnels better than anyone else. In fact, if you prefer I can call him back and-”
“No!” Twilight and Luna shouted in unison.
Kealoha let another hearty laugh, “most pokemon give that response.” She bowed her head at them, “forgive me, it was only a joke.” She turned back towards the end of the tunnel and led the two the rest of the way down. They only stopped when they reached an opening with two red curtains covering it, “this is Chief Tapu Bulu’s office. He’s expecting you, so please feel free to step inside.” She began walking past the girls, “now if you’ll excuse me, I must return to the front desk. We aren’t so busy this early in the morning, but as your own presence will tell you, you never can quite tell when someone may choose to show up.”
The girls nodded in agreement, “we understand completely. Thank you so much for your assistance, Kelaloha.” Luna expressed.
The lilligant gave them a quick curtsy before heading off on her way, leaving the girls to face the village’s head of law enforcement on their own. Luna straightened her posture and took up a stance that exuded a sense of nobility and professionalism, a pose she had much practice in performing thanks to her many years of entertaining high class individuals. She nudged Twilight in the shoulder and wordlessly told her to do the same.
“Allow me to do most of the talking once we’re inside, Twilight.” Luna requested, “I do not doubt that this Chief Tapu Bulu will be willing to aid us as soon as he hears of our plight, but matters such as these need to be dealt with in a serious and straightforward manner. As you’ve seen in conversation with Mortimer, our story does sound quite ridiculous, so it may take some additional convincing before he’s fully willing to believe us. We will need to act on our best behavior and remember though we are royalty, he is the one of higher authority here.”
Twilight puffed out her chest and adopted a similar pose to Luna’s own, “of course, Princess Luna.” She gave a mock salute for emphasis, “I promise to be on my best behavior.”
Luna chuckled at the display, but quickly retook her previous stance. She led Twilight into the room, fully expecting to find a professional looking pokemon who would fit the title they had been presented. What they found instead was a bovine looking pokemon laid sideways across the top of his desk, eyes closed and noticeably snoring.
Both girls deflated in response, their upright postures dropping to express their feelings of disbelief. They glanced at each other briefly before returning to more relaxed poses. Luna stepped forwards and knocked on the front of the desk.
“Um… Mr. Tapu Bulu? We come to seek an audience with you? Your secretary just set up this meeting?”
The chief stirred on top of his desk but did not awaken immediately. Instead his eyes fluttered open slowly, taking a full minute to completely lift as if he were trying to keep himself asleep. His snoring abruptly stopped when he got a full view of the girls.
“Wha- Oh! That’s right!” He rose off his desk, literally taking flight so he could soar a good foot above the girls. He slapped his hoof-like appendages against his cheeks, “Wakey! Wakey!” and floated back behind his desk. The girls watched as he took a seat without actual need of a chair.
“Apologies, wahines. I was aware you were coming, but I lost myself to the caress of slumber while I was waiting.” He placed his hooves on the desk and bowed to them in apology, “please forgive me, I have this terrible condition that makes me fall asleep rather easily?”
Twilight’s ears perked up, instantly curious, “oh, do you suffer from narcolepsy?”
The chief scratched his chin in thought, “no that’s not what it was called.”
Twilight tilted her head, “perhaps then some form of insomnia?”
“Boredom…that’s it!” He exclaimed suddenly, “I get really sleepy when I’m bored.” Both girls fell face first to the floor in response. “I really need to get myself a desk toy or something to occupy my time. All the paperwork I do helps to keep me busy, but when it’s done, then what? I’m asleep at my desk. Very unprofessional.” He shook his head in disappointment for his own actions.
Both girls picked themselves up from the floor, “yes well, that aside we thank you for meeting with us Mr. Tapu Bulu.” Luna extended her paw for the chief to shake, “my name is Luna and this is my young associate, Twilight.”
The chief let loose a deep belly laugh before grasping her in a hearty shake, “delighted, miss! But please just call me, Bulu. No need for formalities here. After all, I’m the one who’s supposed to be helping you.”
He reached down and grasped Twilight’s paw after Luna’s and shook her so violently she actually lifted off the ground. Once finished, he began speaking again, “now I hear from Kealoha that you two are dealing with a... "peculiar issue?" Of course, she didn’t give specifics, but I have a feeling I might already know what's going on.”
Luna scratched the back of her head, "if only." She wanted to respond with. Instead she said, “yes and peculiar is putting it mildly. You see we’ve already tried to ask someone for help with this problem, but the explanation we gave for our issue left them thinking we were less than reputable.”
“But we promise it’s all completely true!” Twilight added.
Tapu Bulu tapped his hooves together with slight apprehension, “I see. Well I can’t lie and say that doesn’t make me feel the least bit dubious, but I wouldn’t be a very good ranger chief if I didn’t give you the courtesy of hearing you out.” He leaned forwards on his desk, almost excitedly so, “so please go ahead... enthrall me.”
Luna wasted no time and explained everything that had happened to them up to this point. They expected to get another confused or disbelieving look, but instead were surprised to see nothing but curiosity on Tapu Bulu’s face. He leaned on one hoof and pointed at the girls with the other, “so you say you're both from another world and you need help figuring out a way to get yourselves back?” He tapped his hooves together again in thought, “hmmm..?”
Silence filled the room and for that moment the girls were afraid they’d once again would be shooed away with no direction to head in. That is until Tapu Bulu spoke again, “I’m going to need to call in a professional, if that’s alright? Just to make sure what you're saying is one hundred percent true.”
The girls looked at each other. They had made it this far without scaring away the chief, what did they really have to lose? “Of course, sir. Whatever you think is necessary.”
Tapu Bulu nodded at Luna then turned towards the wall behind him, “Doug! Could one of you come in here for a second?! Doug!”
“Yes, do you have needance of Doug?” A diglett popped out of the soil between both Twilight and Luna once again, making both princesses jump.
“Oh, there you are. Could you be a sport go see if Beckham is in the station right now? I require her services.” Tapu Bulu glanced at the girls briefly, “also did anyone offer you a coffee? Or at least water? I feel like I’m being a bad host.”
The girls shook their heads, but declined his offer. Though it was appreciated, neither one of them wanted to make the station’s rangers work any harder than they already were.
Doug left the room quickly after receiving his orders. Several minutes passed, forcing the three still in the room to pass the time with idle conversation. Twilight and Luna asked the chief about the history and purpose of the rangers on this island, a question Tapu Bulu was all too happy to answer. His words were boisterous and his story long winded, but in essence he told them what they already surmised. The rangers were the primary source of law enforcement on the island as well as on every other continent in world. The rangers themselves came in three ranks: officers, those who handled the enforcement of laws and criminal investigations; managers, those who oversaw the operations of ranger stations and delegated work to their officers; and chiefs, who held the highest rank in the organization and were responsible for the operations of all ranger stations within a given area. Tapu Bulu was one of these and was tasked with monitoring the productivity of all stations located on the island.
Before any more questions could be asked, Doug’s voice rang out from down the hall. In fact, if Twilight and Luna didn’t know any better, they could have sworn several copies of Doug’s voice were ringing out from down the hall.
The girls were shocked backwards into Tapu Bulu’s desk when several digletts came into the room with a cross-legged medicham sat atop their heads. The pokemon looked to be lost in a meditative state, one so deep it appeared that she didn’t even respond when the digletts tossed her unceremoniously onto the floor.
Like a flock of chickens at feeding time, every diglett then turned their eyes towards Tapu Bulu, “do you have further needence of Doug?” They all shouted in unison.
Twilight and Luna could feel their ears ringing, “no thank you, boys.” Tapu Bulu replied. “You're free to go.”
“Very well.” The Dougs replied. “We Dougs will leave you then. But not for very long.” They all sank slowly into the floor before refilling their holes, each never breaking eye contact with the three pokemon in front of them. Twilight and Luna very quickly decided they did not care very much for the Dougs.
Tapu Bulu floated past the girls and helped the medicham to her feet. “I know they're creepy, but they get the job done, and do excellent work too. Have you seen the craftsmanship on those tunnels? They are masterful.” He floated back past them and behind his desk. The girls did not respond, for they were too busy staring in confusion at pokemon wobbling in front of them, clearly still in a trance.
“You are also probably wondering what’s up with Beckham. Yeah, don’t worry too much about her.” He dug through a drawer until he found an item the girls thought was rather odd, a handbell. “She's originally from the Nation of Philosophy and the pokemon over there are known to be interested in a lot of strange stuff.” He flew back over to Beckham and held the bell next to the side of her head, “Beckham here for instance likes to meditate for a couple hours before starting her shift. She says she does it to expand her mind and senses to better become one with the universe, but personally I just find that all to be a lot of gobbledygook. I tried it once before with her to see what she was getting at, but I ended up just falling asleep.” He moved his wrist, ready to shake the bell, then paused, “also don’t tell her I told you any of that. I’d hate for her to think I’m the kind of boss who makes fun of his employees behind their backs.”
He shook the bell and the medicham awoke, almost instantly regaining her clarity. The first thing she noticed was the chief, “Chief Bulu? Is it time for my shift already? Major bummer. I was riding on some mondo vibes, bro. Me and the universe were getting to know each other in an intimate way, you know what I’m saying?”
Tapu Bulu adopted a flat expression, “no and I don’t think I want to?” He turned his eyes towards the girls, urging Beckham to do the same, “Beckham, this is Twilight and Luna, they’ve come here to ask for help with a peculiar issue. They say they're from another world?”
Beckhem raised an eyebrow, “oh?” Her posture suddenly changed from a relaxed slouch to an almost militaristic upright stance, “and do you think they might be lying to you, sir?”
“Not so much, no.” His voice carried an odd seriousness despite the subject matter, “but that’s why I’ve requested to have you verify their story's credibility, just in case my gut feeling is wrong.”
Beckham’s eyes met Luna’s, “very well then.” She marched over towards the two princesses. Instinctively, Luna stepped in front of Twilight as if expecting the other pokemon to attack.
Beckham raised her hand for Luna to take, “shall we begin?”
Hesitantly, Luna replied, “of course.” She took Beckham’s hand in her own, “do you need me to start from the beginning, Ms. Beckham?”
Beckham shook her head, “no need. I am already reading your mind.”
“Wait what?!” Twilight exclaimed.
Luna brows lowered into a displeased expression. With everything she and Twilight had seen today, she wasn’t at all surprised. That still didn’t mean she had to enjoy the information that had just been given to her, “you aren’t searching too deeply with this power of yours are you?”
Tapu Bulu chuckled, “if she was, shouldn’t be working here, I can tell you that much.” He followed this statement with a wave of his hoof to ward away any more of Luna’s worries, “despite what outward appearances may say when you first meet her, Beckham here is actually one of our most professional rangers. She’s dutiful, task oriented, and stern but to the point. We like to call it her work face when she’s on the clock.”
Beckham suddenly let go of Luna’s paw, regaining everyone’s attention, “she’s telling the truth, sir. Ms. Luna and her friend are from another world.”
“Hmm!” Tapu Bulu sounded happy about this. He then began to speak softly, “I guess that news I received was correct.” He readdressed the girls, “well then, I guess all that there is to do now is set you up with a place to stay while I run this through the proper channels.”
Twilight and Luna grew excited. They were one step closer to finally getting home!
Tapu Bulu pulled out a large book from the drawers in his desk, “now where to send you?” He scratched his chin with his hoof, “I do believe the museum was looking for a few new caretakers? Tell me, do you girls have any experience with musty old tomes and/or historical artifacts?”
Credits Theme:
- (French) Bonjour monsieur, je suis désolé de vous interrompre, mais mon ami et moi avons besoin d'aide / Hello sir, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but my friend and I require some assistance
- (French) Mon dieu / My gosh
- (French) Pardonne-moi / Pardon me
- (French) Zut Louise, je suis debout, je suis debout… / Geez Louise, I'm up, I'm up...
- (French) Alors qui sont nos pidoves aujourd'hui? / So who are our pidoves today?
- (French) Oui / Yes
- (French) Sacre bleu, non! / Oh gosh, no!
- (French) Ah, ma petite chérie, c'est le coup de foudre, n'est-ce pas? Non? / Ah, my little darling, it is love at first sight, is it not? No?
- (French) Oh, mais pardonnez-moi, permettez-moi de me présenter. Je suis Clark Le Kecleon, ton amant! / Oh, but pardon me, please permit me to introduce myself. I am Clark the Kecleon, your lover!
- (French) Maintenant ma douce crêpe suzette, dis-moi ton nom pour que je sache comment m'adresser à la déesse qui est devant moi. / Now my sweet crepe suzette, tell me your name so that I may know how to address the goddess who is in front of me.
- (French) Ah, un nom si approprié. Car qu'est-ce qui pourrait se comparer à votre beauté alors le scintillement des étoiles du soir elles-mêmes. / Ah, such an fitting name. For what could compare to your beauty then the twinkling of the evening stars themselves.
- (French) Très bien mon violet pidove. Nous avons brisé la glace. La parade nuptiale peut maintenant… / All right my Violet Pidove. We have broken the ice. The courtship can now begin…
- (French) Maintenant commence la période des regards timides… / Now begins the period of shy looks...
- (French) Paupières flottantes… / Fluttering eyelids...
- (French) Toucher le bout des doigts… / Touching fingertips…
- (French) C'était pour quoi?! / What was that for?!
- (French) Mon chéri. / My Dear
- (French) Eh bien, il y a une autre chance de séduire une beauté. / Well, there goes another chance to woo a beauty.
- (Hawaiian) Aloha wahines / Hello ladies
- (Hawaiian)Mōʻī / King
- (Hawaiian)Mōʻī Wahine / Queen
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Hey there folks and sorry this took so long.
It took me a while to get back into the right headspace before I could finish this chapter after the long hiatus. It also didn't help that parts of this chapter needed to be rewritten a few times during production. I hope you guys enjoy and are looking forwards to more chapters coming out in the future. Hopefully they'll be coming out sooner rather then later now that this is my sole project. Thanks for sticking with Adamastos and me for such a long time, we very much appreciate it. 
You guys are awesome. 
Wait, what Pokemon was Luna?
11353966
I think Luna is an Umbreon and Twilight is an Espeon. I can't remember
so based on what i've read up to this point is this Pokémon Mystery Dungeon story with MLP will take place in the Alola Region. Which might be in the same vain as the "Gates to Infinity" & "Explores of time\darknes\sky" though i'm not sure. Pls confirm or deny author
11353966
11354297
Twilight had been turned into an Espeon and Luna has been turned into a shiny variant of a Midnight Lycanroc (basically a midnight lycanroc with blue fur). Sorry that I didn't bring that up again in this chapter after the hiatus, but it's difficult to put that into a sentence without it sounding forced.
11354311
This story is actually going to take place in several continents, some of which were mentioned in this chapter (the Nation of Aura and the Nation of Philosophy). Right now we're on the Nation of Light, which as you guested, is largely based upon the Alola Region in the mainline Pokémon games. If I have to make a comparison, we based our version of the Pokemon World on Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon where players are given the ability to travel to different lands on a Lapris and explore different types of mystery dungeons. Hopes this helps explain things.
11354783
cool ok thnx for the clarification. I look forward to your next chapter
11354772
ok thanks again for clearing that up. Lol, at least i was half-right and Twilight is indeed an Espeon
I wonder if this Doug is comfortable, because it's clear that Twilight and Luna aren't.
11414449
I was afraid Centaurworld may have been too obscure a show. 
I am glad someone got this reference.
Good pace and character...
My only issue with that story is... MOAR!!