The Human and His Lopunny

by Burningbloom78

It's as Simple as it Seems

Author's Note:

Took a while for this chapter to come out mainly because I've been a little burnt out. I am sorry for making y'all wait, but the chapter, I think, came out fine. Honestly, I lean more towards the slice of life in this story.

Also, you guys will find that one Pokémon move in this chapter functions a little bit differently than what y'all are used to, and that is the move Power-up Punch. I hope that doesn't irk any of you.

And since we've seen Nian perform most of her moves, I might as well just write them out here.

Nian knows the following: Mega Kick, Hyper Voice, Power-up Punch, and Drain Punch.

Of the past a tale of solemnity.

Once upon a time, there once was an avian who made the skies his domain. He soared through the clouds, feeling the wind whisk through his lofty feathers; he loved the thrill, the pure adrenaline coursing through his body. He was strong, he was skilled, he was free: more than anyone else; the avian was untouchable.

Unbarred by fate and left to burden his uncertain destiny, the avian challenged other Pokémon without reason; there was no true sense for his challenge, no true goal to attain, he just wanted to flex his power by any means necessary.

Day by day for years since he was a fledgling, he fought against others and won every fight. His strength was special, his conviction unmatched, and for as long as he could remember, the avian considered himself a rogue: an unnamed warrior whose life was filled with nothing but fighting.

However, even when he was free and almighty, he didn't have friends or a family. His upbringing was that he fended for himself. He didn't truly have a home to call his own. He ate alone, slept alone... flew alone. He was always alone, left to his own devices. As the avian flew to nowhere important, his mind was stricken with this outlook of his life and a question constantly gnawed at his mind: "What else is there to do with my life?"

Brought from his musings, the rogue spotted a human and his Lopunny traveling down a well-trodden road. There was something about those two, and the avian had to see what. And what better way than to fight? So, he flew down in front of the two travelers, landing with a mighty crash and challenging them to a battle. The human wasn't too privy to fight a large bird, but his Lopunny was nothing but willing to crack a skull, so the two friends accepted the avian's challenge.

The first round was the Lopunny against the avian, and what a doozy of a fight it was because it was the first time that the avian lost. He lost. He lost to someone else. He lost to someone stronger than him, who had more conviction and strength. He lost for the first time in his entire life. No one else came close.

It took some time to recover from this new revelation and after the avian accepted his loss, it was time for the human to face him, and the fight that took place was tamer, ending in a tie. The bird couldn't believe it. A human and his Lopunny were able to hold their own against him. He was shocked, yet something he rarely felt coursed through him. It was happiness... excitement, and dread. He loved their fight, he admired the duo, most notably the human.

He felt something deep within his battle-ready heart. He never felt this way before, and he wanted to feel it over and over again. Suddenly, the human proclaimed that he would make camp so he and his rabbit friend could spend more time with the avian. The bird was positively ecstatic. They stayed with him, even if it was just for the night, they stayed. A connection was quickly formed between the human and the avian. He has friends, something he never thought he'd have; for once in his life, he lives not only for himself but now for others, and it felt good.

When the dawn of the next day hit their rejuvenated bodies, the avian desperately desired to journey with the human. Coincidentally, the human wanted the avian to join him. Without hesitation, the bird joined the human's family.

---

It was time; the next night rolled around, and Joey, packed with the Poké Balls of his family and next to his partner for life, flew in a chariot that took them to the near-empty streets of Canterlot City. The city is usually bustling with ponies going to and from places, but when night falls over the city, just about everypony turns to rest until the dawn of the next day.

While Joey waited for the two royal guards to show, he noticed Nian's large ears twitching. He paid close attention to Nian's disposition as her eyes scanned the darkened streets. Eventually, the rabbit turns her head to an old, shaded alleyway where she spots two black figures slowly cantering towards her and Joey.

The rabbit cracked her bones and braced herself to fend off whatever was approaching, but as she waited in anticipation, Nian's propensity for violence was, unfortunately, not met with equal enthusiasm. Two unicorns: a mare with a black mane wearing a white cloak, and another mare with a white mane wearing a black cloak appeared in view.

"I am Karla, you must be the human we were informed of," the mare with the white mane said with a smile.

"Indola," the mare with the black mane muttered. "We were briefed that you would enlist your services to my sister and me in regard to investigating the warehouse."

Joey rubbed the back of his head as he glanced back and forth from the mares. "I'm Joeshur Riverside, but you can call me Joey for short. And this my partner, Nian."

"Lop," the brown rabbit said gaily.

Something was intriguing about the two unicorns; the mares shared the same physical appearance down to their blackish-white eyes. The only way he could tell them apart is from their attire and manes.

Curious, Joey just had to ask. "Twins?" Karla and Indola nodded their heads in unison, bumping their flanks against each other. "I haven't seen another pair of twins in a very long time. It's... nice to see it. So, what's the plan?"

Indola approaches Joey and fishes something out from the inside of her cloak. It was a small black sphere she levitated towards the human.

"This is a Magi-link Communicator; you put it in your ear so that we can speak to one another from a distance," she explained plainly. "New tech is quite advantageous in our line of work, and now it is yours, for the time provided in this mission and future operations."

"I understand," Joey says, taking the black sphere and lodging it in his right ear. It was smooth and fit perfectly around the inside of his ear. "So, where is this warehouse?"

Karla, followed by her sister, exited the alleyway and on the barren streets before pointing to a large building in the near distance. "That's the supposed 'abandoned warehouse'," Karla told the human. "Indola will give you a run-down on our mission. Before that, however, we need to tell you what exactly these tainted tonics are. Sister?"

"Understood," Indola coldly replied. She steps forward and faces the human and his Lopunny, using her horn to conjure an image of the tonic. "Princess Celestia might have given you the most basic knowledge of this concoction, but she didn't delve too deep into its inner workings. Lucky for you, I and my sister have.

"The name of this vile vial is the Fool's Poison, a concoction that is used to boost the magic of ponies by an ample amount. As you no doubt heard from Her Highness, this potion will eventually cause sharp stomach pain and brutal nausea; we have ponies holed up in the hospital because this concoction screwed up their system. The only way to alleviate or even cure ponies of this tonic is a ton of bed rest and medical potions, but the process has been quite slow."

"All the more reason to put an end to this operation," Joey said.

Indola nodded. "Now I will tell you of our mission. There is an empty building scheduled for renovation near the warehouse. Karla will stay in that building to be the eyes of the group and silently snipe with focused magic. You and I will sneak around the warehouse to find where the magical tonics are located.

"When we find and identify the tonics, I will signal Karla from a nearby window to cast a spell into the sky that tells all the guards on standby to come to rush to the warehouse and procure the illegal tonics. After, we must make sure none of the smugglers leave the building."

"These criminals are elusive and quick on their hooves," Karla chimed in.

"Right," Indola said before continuing. "If we get spotted at any point during this operation, the smugglers will attempt to escape. Remember: we must identify what we're looking for before calling the guards and taking these criminals down."

Joey nodded. "Got it. And what do you mean by 'snipe'?"

Karla chuckled. "We got a few minutes so let me explain. See, Indola and I are mages, unicorns whose cutie marks specialize in magic specifically, like Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"I have extreme magical control, which allows me to use something I call 'Snipe Magic'. When I harness this magic, I can conjure small, condensed, non-lethal magical rays that are shot from my horn over long distances," she deftly explained.

Indola chimes in, saying, "Karla also can use her magic to enhance her eyesight and see through walls, allowing her to have greater accuracy when firing her magical ray. In operations like these, she is quite valuable."

"Oooooh," Joey let out, somewhat enthralled. He was quite intrigued by magic. "What about you?" he says to Indola. "What can you do?"

"Indola's magic is a bit more... spread out than mine," Karla began to explain. "Instead of focusing her magic on one thing, Indola can spread her magic around her body, allowing her to float, climb on walls, that sort of thing. The reason Indola is going inside the warehouse with you and your furry friend is that she can use her magic to silence her hoofsteps."

"Enough idle chatter," Indola said, walking towards the warehouse. "Let's go and get this done. These smugglers have been quite the headache for Princess Celestia; The faster we do this, the faster Her Highness can rest."

Joey was confused. "Rest?"

"You may not have noticed since Princess Celestia has a good poker face, but she hasn't slept in four weeks."

Joey's eyes widened from shock. "She's been awake for four weeks...? Why hasn't she rested?"

Karla sighed and said, "Because these ponies are running amuck in her city giving unsuspecting ponies a drink that screws up their body. These punks lurk in the many corners of this city. It has been a very stressful experience for her. Princess Celestia has been too troubled; she cares about her ponies more than her well-being. As Indola says, the sooner we do this, the sooner our princess can finally rest."

When the group neared the abandoned building, Karla used her magic to teleport to the highest floor. She signals to Joey and the rest with a hoof waving out one of the windows.

"Joey, touch the device in your ear and it'll activate," Indola ordered.

"Got it." Quickly, Joey turned on the device. A low droning sound vibrated in his ear before it stabilized. "Alright, it's on," he tells the unicorn. "How does it work? And are there more of these?"

Indola turns hers on before answering, "By using magic. It establishes a magical link between yours, mine, and Karla's. It transmits through the air to locate any others within the vicinity and links to them. That's where the 'Magi-Link' stems from. To sever the connection, simply turn off the device by touching it again.

"And to answer your other question, no. There were only two created for me and Karla, but since you came along, Princess Celestia decided to authorize another one for this very mission."

"Why does Celestia have to approve it?" Joey asked, confused.

Indola pointed to her device, saying, "This is a powerful technology, Joey, and there are ponies and creatures out there who would love to use these things or even how to make them for their gains. Princess Celestia has a personal loyal team of mechanical engineers for stuff like these. This ensures that nothing they make will ever get into the clutches of those whose morals are less than Princess Celestia's."

Suddenly, the device in Joey's ear vibrates and he began to hear a voice in his head. It was Karla's. "Guys, get in the warehouse by using an open window located at the far right of the building," she bade seriously. "From what I can see with my magic, the FP could be on the third floor, but I'm not completely sure; It is hard to properly discern what's on these floors."

Quickly, and silently, Joey, Nian, and Indola reached the open window, and, one by one, entered the building. Three muffled thumps hit the floor and six eyes hastily scanned their surroundings carefully. The base of the building is as Joey would've thought to expect it from what he had been told. It was empty; nothing but dust covering silver blankets over large crates, rubble from the building lay scattered about, and light barely filtered through the grimy windows around the first floor.

"The first floor is clear, as you said," Indola whispered.

"Do you see anything of interest?" Karla asks.

"Nothing's caught my eye, sis," Indola replied.

"Alright. There should be a flight of stairs leading further up the building near your position. When you both climb up, you'll encounter some trouble. I'm looking at three; lucky for us. Take them out silently and then proceed onward," Karla ordered.

Carefully, the trio made their way to the stairs and ascended. They reach the second floor and looked around and saw three stallions in heavy clothing with masks over their faces. One was pacing in a circle, another was sitting on one of the draped crates, and the last one is sharpening his knife over some metal.

Quickly, Indola, Joey, and Nian all set their sights on each of their targets and sprang into action. Indola used her magic to quiet her hoofsteps, sneaking up on one of the stallions and grabbing them. One hoof over the captive's mouth and another against his side. With one quick motion, the stallion became limp and silent.

Next was Joey's turn. He stalked his target and with one sharp leap, he pounced onto the stallion's head, knocking him out cold.

Nian's approach, though quiet, wasn't without her usual flare; The rabbit dashed at the stallion tending to his knife and clutched her hands around his neck, and slammed the stallion so hard into the floor, that his head broke through.

Although Joey and Indola would've preferred a less... barbaric approach, the deed was done, and they still retained the element of surprise. After taking out the smugglers on the second floor, the trio located the next flight of stairs leading up to the third floor. On that floor is where their objective is.

Entering the third floor, the trio scanned the floor and saw a small group of ten smugglers lumbering about the center of the room; none of them doing anything of interest to warrant any caution. Some were unicorns and others with earth ponies. Silently, like shadows, the trio skulked the room searching for any signs of the Fool's Poison.

Suddenly, Joey's device vibrates in his ear as a hushed voice began to speak within his head. "It's Indola," the speaker says. Joey carefully browsed the floor for his ally, and out of the corner of his eye he sees Indola waving at him from the opposite side of the room; She was the closest to the smugglers than he or Nian was.

"What's up?" Joey asks the unicorn. He sees Indola pointing her hoof at a few small crates draped over long black cloths located in the far right corner of the room.

After Joey sees the crates, Indola says, "Those may be what we're looking for. You and your furry friend need to identify the contents within those crates. If that truly is what the tonics are stored in, I'll give the signal."

Joey nods. "Got it," he says quietly. He turns to Nian. "Alright, let's go."

"Lop," she said, ready to move.

Light in step yet quick as a fox, Joey, and Nian avoid all scrutiny by staying in the shadows, making their way to the crates suspected to contain the tonics. Once they reached them, Joey takes another look over the room and made sure no pony was watching. Acting quickly, Joey investigates the crates: lifting the black cloth slightly to reveal a symbol he could not discern; It is an illustration of a pony surrounded by jagged, wavy lines.

Muddled by the symbol, Joey reluctantly ignores it and pops one of the containers open with little effort. He lifted his head and peeked inside, peering his eyes inside the container to find large bottles with an odd liquid inside.

"What the heck?"

The one Celestia showed was only half the size of these bottles. At closer observation, the liquid in the large bottles appeared purple, similar to the one from before. This is clearly what he was ordered to find, but what reason would there be to have these bigger? Just to perhaps sell them at a higher price. Joey thought that only this crate and the ones next to it only had this variant. Princess Celestia didn't mention anything about these.

Whilst pondering, Joey continues to study the bottles. There were so many of them, and these, from what he was told, can make the magic of ponies more potent. So, it's an illegal elixir made with a less-than-moral intention than Her Highness.

"Interesting," Joey muttered.

For what reason could these criminals possibly have to supply this "taint" to gullible bystanders susceptible to this ill-advised elixir? Perhaps to those who are weak to the lulls of power? Or maybe to those who feel frail and desperate? Or maybe simply for those who need an extra boost to overcome some trial or problem, or even to possibly take revenge on those who wronged them in the past? The possibilities swim through Joey's mind, but one thing is for certain: it isn't worth the drawback.

Joey closed the container and looked toward Indola's position. "I found the tonics," he whispered. "These are a little bigger than the one Princess Celestia showed, but it is what we're looking for."

"Good," Indola said. "I'll perform the-"

"Hold on," Joey interjected. "These bottles are much bigger than what I was shown by Her Highness. Indola, are there any others the guards could have confiscated?"

The mare was silent for a moment, but then says, "None that I know of. Sister and I have been working with the guards since the beginning of this mission, and we've seen every single bottle up to this point. The bottles the tonics come in are the ones Princess Celestia has already shown you. Anything else?"

"No," Joey answered. "Anyway, it's safe to say the rest of the crates are the same. Signal to your sister."

"Understood," Indola says. Indola hastily makes her way to a window without being noticed by the smugglers. She opens it silently and looked out to see the street and the building across from it. With a deft eye, Indola spots her sister and discretely flashed her horn three times.

Karla, noticing the signal, charges up her horn and shoots a pink ray into the sky that made a small popping sound. Royal guards stationed around the city saw the blast and immediately sprang into action, forming groups before making their way to the building.

"Now what?" Joey said through the device.

Indola glares at the unsuspecting smugglers and smirks. "Now for the best part of the job. We know the Fool's Poison are certainly here, and the guards are on their way. We make sure these punks don't leave. Take these colts down and the guards will put them through the wringer."

"So... reveal ourselves?" Joey asked.

"Yep," Indola simply says.

Joey turns his gaze at Nian who was practically shaking with excitement; her quaking fervor for some violence was only being held back by Joey's loose lips. Nian needed to punch and kick something ever since she talked to Narros, and with each passing second, her mettle whittled away while her passion mounted.

Though Joey did not know of this, he knew he couldn't deny his rabbit the sublime opportunity to elicit some good old-fashioned justice; she wanted to flex her limbs and who is Joey to not allow his rabbit such desire?

"You up for some action?" he asks his pumped-up rabbit. She only nodded. "Then let the feast commence."

Joey and Nian jumped from behind the crates, landing with a boom on the floor, drawing the surprised ire of the smugglers. Indola joined them, leaping into the air and landing next to her allies.

"What the hay?" said one of the smugglers. He looked at the human and his Lopunny, but then his gaze locked onto Indola and his eyes became widened in terror. "Ponyfeathers, it's Indola!"

"It's one of the Mage Sisters!" another stallion shouted in panic.

"Wait. If you're here, then your sister is- ACK!"

A smuggler was shot at the back of his head by a pink ray of magic, knocking him out. The other smugglers turned to the windows and saw a faint twinkle coming from an adjacent building.

Another smuggler clicked his tongue and yells, "Get away from the windows! Karla's gone fishing!"

The smugglers began to scatter like the disease-ridden, misbegotten cockroaches that they are, retreating hurriedly from the windows that which the light bleeds through for fear of Karla's harmful magic, but sadly, they were misinformed by their fellow roach-in-crime.

---

Outside, Karla chucked to herself. She held a magically conjured crossbow with bolts coated in a purplish-pink aura. "For all the time I've been in this city, I thought the cretins of Canterlot would at least figure out that my magic can go through walls. Oh well, maybe one day a smart goon will have the brains to realize what's obvious."

---

Inside the building, Joey, Nian, and Indola had engaged in combat with the smugglers and held their own quite well. With Indola's powerful magic and the teamwork of Joey and Nian, most of the stallions were dispatched quite quickly and shoved towards the stairs.

Of the ten smugglers, only one was left awake. "No!" he exclaimed vehemently. "If you think I'm going to the slammer, then you pansies got another thing coming!"

Indola stamped on the floor and boldly stepped forward. "We're taking you and this entire operation down," she declared. "Stand down or get a hoof full of magic against your skull!"

"Ha!" the stallion yelled as he scrambled to the crates containing the tonics. "You may have gotten most of us, but as long as I'm still around, you and that petulant princess will never stop us!" The stallion drank some of the bottles without hesitation and roared, slamming the empty bottles against the floor, shattering them. "Come get some!!!"

"Those bottles are huge!" Indola spat. "Are you completely insane?! A full cup of that garbage is enough to knock out a stallion!"

"That isn't good," Joey uttered. "He just downed five bottles." He turns to Indola. "What's the verdict?"

Indola groaned. "Ponyfeathers," she cursed. "The idiotic lout just dug his grave downing that gunk!"

Then, the trio witnessed a purplish aura beat within the lone stallion, and the unicorn charged up his horn and blast forth a ray so powerful it destroyed an entire wall, leaving a gaping void that viewed the streets of Canterlot City.

The stallion laughed. "That's magical power right there! I feel as if I could take on anypony!"

"Holy hay," Indola said in shock.

"Indola, Joey, what the hay just happened?!" Karla demanded over the device. "That was a large amount of magic!"

Indola lifted her hoof to her ear and said, "One of the smugglers just killed himself; he drank five bottles of the Fool's Poison! Tell the guards outside to be on standby. They are not allowed in until we deal with this idiot!"

"I have the guards surround the building, so this stallion won't be able to escape," Karla said. "And hurry up and finish this; the guards are getting antsy."

Indola sighed. "Don't worry, we'll get this done quickly." Indola turns to Joey. "Alright, human, we're on borrowed time. Knock this dumb colt out!"

"Alright," Joey told the mare and turned to his Lopunny. "Nian, it's time to take it up a few notches; crank it up to eleven! Mega evolve!"

Like before, Nian punched her left palm with her right fist as a bright flash of light burst forward before settling down to reveal the rabbit in her Mega Evolution.

Nian took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled before a devilish grin etched itself across her mouth. "Lopunny!" the rabbit shouted as she began to adopt an eager stance; She balanced on her right leg, lifted and tucked her left leg, and then placed her arms in front of her and bawled her fists.

"Now that we have the swagger, it's time to cause an uproar," Joey whispered. "Nian, use Hyper Voice!!!"

Nian snorted out steam and pounded her chest as she rears her head back and takes in a large amount of air.

"Indola, cover your ears!" Joey asserted.

Although the mare didn't know why Joey ordered her to cover her ears, Indola assumes that something big was about to be unleashed, so she did what Joey said. It wasn't long before Nian let loose a terrifying, echoing shout that whiplashed and warped the air around everyone, causing the entire building to tremble and shake. It was louder than an Ursa Major and stronger than a full-on smack from an adult hydra.

---

Outside, Karla and the royal guards witnessed the Hyper Voice rattle not only the building but the very streets. They shook with intense vibration before being knocked to the ground.

"What in the hay was that?!" she shouted. The device in her ears short-circuits, causing Karla to yelp in pain. "Come on, come on... work already!" Karla touches the comm device, and though she can get through, it was mostly static. "Ponyfeathers! What in the burning hay of Tartarus was that feathering thing?"

---

Nian's Hyper Voice was so strong that Indola was knocked to the floor, short-circuiting her communication device, and it wasn't even directed at her. The jacked-up stallion caught that full blast and then some. Hyper Voice blasted him against a wall so hard it cracked on impact. The stallion yelled in pain before conjuring a magical barrier to desperately attempt to stave off Nian's attack, and it worked. A few moments later, Nian's Hyper Voice ended.

"Whoop!" Joey exclaimed, massaging his ears. Luckily for the human, his comm device remained functional. "Haven't done that in a while!"

The stallion groaned and stumbled to his hooves trying to steady his balance. His ears rang constantly, and his vision darkened and blurred. The stallion was muddled. How could that creature deliver such a horrible blast? He bit his lip as blood was drawn. His hearing returned to him, and his vision cleared up.

Joey stepped forward. "Tell me your name," he demanded. "And just so you know there isn't a way out for you; this is the end of the line however this turns out. You might as well come clean."

As much as the stallion hated it, Joey was right. He knew he didn't have much time to do almost anything before his body shuts down.

"Fine," the stallion said. "Roady. That's my name."

"Okay, Roady. Tell me why you and your band of misfits thought it would be wise to poison your fellow ponies."

"We just wanted to make a quick bit," Roady answered truthfully. "'Our fellow ponies' are nothing but gullible mooks that take little to no effort in swindling. You should've seen how easy it was; all it took was a few fancy words and their fates were sealed."

Joey narrowed his eyes. He didn't like Roady's motive or the vilipending of his fellow ponies. "Is that truly the intention of this entire operation?" the human asks, striving to find anything momentous. "Fool others and make money? There isn't some deeper meaning behind your actions?"

Roady merely shook his head. "It's as simple as murder, freak," the stallion snarled. "I was raised on the streets and found that the only way to get up in life is to make sure others fall. It was a good idea..."

"Until you were found out and hunted," Joey pointed out shrewdly. "How did you make these tainted tonics?"

The stallion smiled. "A bit of basic knowledge of potion-brewing and magic goes a long way. When I knew I could mass produce this stuff, I quickly got to work."

"So, you are the leader of this operation? Why wouldn't you just stay in your little lab instead of being out in the open with the rest of your grunts?"

"Princess Celestia's royal hound dogs," -gesturing a hoof to Indola, which got the mare to scowl- "love sticking their noses in all the nooks and crannies of this city; It was better to always be on the move. When the city went into heavy lockdown, there wasn't much I could do at that point anymore. It became too hard to relocate."

Joey stretched his arms out wide. "And here we are." He lowered his arms and placed a hand on his hip. "And we know what comes next. I wish it didn't go down like this. You could've been something more, with what you applied yourself. Sadly, this is what you did for yourself, and I understand growing up or living by yourself, as an orphan. The family I made would show you honest sympathy and understanding, even if they saw what you have unfortunately turned into."

Roady knew this was the end for him, but he couldn't just lie down and give up. Oh no, that wouldn't do at all, not after he juiced himself up. He charged up his horn as a stunningly red glow illuminated it. He lowered himself to the ground and glared at his opposition.

Joey sighed sadly, saying, "Nian, time to rev it up; Power-up Punch!"

Nian's smashed her fists together creating a red spark. Then she did it again, and again, and again until her fists were coated in daunting crimson lightning. "Lopunny!" she announced vehemently, amped and ready to go.

It must've been perfect timing as Roady finished charging up his horn. With a little bit of aiming, the stallion locks onto the rabbit and blast forth a ray of magic. As the beam nears Nian, Joey jumps in front of her, crosses his arms, and uses his bracers to clash against Roady's magical beam.

Steeling the death-dealing beam; Joey grunted and struggled to keep his balance. He could feel the heat the spell was giving off; the attack is heavy and strong; and with great struggle, Joey deflects the spell which rebounds from wall to wall, cracking the building's interior before the beam obliterates one wall, causing the building to shake again.

Taking the opportunity during Roady's recharge, Nian dashes at him with her fists fully powered up and attempted to sock the stallion in the jaw, however, the stallion quickly conjured another barrier to shield him from the rabbit's lightning-coated fists, but he did not anticipate the sheer destructive force behind Nian's vigorously unfettered attack.

It demolished his barrier with such a devastating impact that Roady was violently impelled against a wall; he rebounds off of it and crashed into the crates containing the Fool's Poison. The violent burst of Roady's barrier sent Nian and Joey flinging back to a wall.

Luckily for Indola, she had gripped the floorboards and was able to stay in place after Roady's barrier exploded. Opening her eyes, Indola saw the countless bottles of the taint were broken and scattered around Roady, spilling copious amounts of the purple liquid as it began to soak into the floorboards. Turning her attention to the left, she saw that the aftermath of Nian's attack had shattered the windows. As the mare tried to regain her footing, the building's structure suddenly buckled and split; the building had begun to destabilize.

To her right, huddled against a wall, are Joey and Nian slowly recovering. And with everything happening inside the building, outside the must be looking worse with all the debris from the broken walls. That means, for the time being, Indola was on her own; Joey and Nian are currently out of commission, and Karla has to be busy on the outside seeing that her sister hasn't made any attempt to assist.

"Flying feather," Indola hissed under her lips with venom.

She sees Roady, depleted hopefully of magic, and beaten, laying limply around the broken bottles of FP. She canters to him and notices he was still awake and alive, albeit struggling to move.

"Good, he's still alive," she muttered. She lightly kicks his side, jolting Roady's eyes open. "Wake up, you idiot; rest doesn't come to the wicked."

"Argh..." Roady attempted to stand, but his body refused to comply. "Ah, son of a hydra..."

"It seems your body is already shutting down, rejecting your commands," Indola spoke coldly, but the icy glare in her eyes softened, and her face shifted to a sullen expression. "You are going to die soon, but you might have a few hours left. That would be enough to put you through the wringer."

Roady began to sweat; the thought of being interrogated, and by the royal guards no less, was quick to induce fear in his eyes. "Y-you wouldn't subject a pony through torment just for information, w-would you?" he asked shakily. "That would be cruel!"

Indola scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What? Do you think we'd strap you down and jam scorching hot metal pipes into your flesh? Or cut your ears or break off your horn just to get you to sing? We aren't evil. If anything, we'll put you in a cell and ask you questions. After that? Prison."

"I won't let it end this way, not by your hooves!"

Indola was bewildered and taken slightly aback by Roady's outburst. "Wh-what do you mean? There's nothing else you can do to escape; you've damaged your body drinking FIVE bottles of that revolting gunk! What can you do?!"

Roady chuckled, coughing up a bit of that purple liquid. "There is always a way out, for every single one of us, and it's that only way that we have complete and total control over. I've gone and grown into a stallion who takes from and fools others to survive." His horn began to flicker. "Look there."

Indola saw Roady's hoof point to a damaged crate inundated in the Fool's Poison. The mare squinted and saw a symbol of a pony surrounded by jagged lines.

"Everything you confiscated up to this point was the mild stuff," Roady weakly uttered. "However, these bottles of the supposed 'Fool's Poison' are of a stronger variant I was planning on selling. This is all I have left, and it shall be the last thing you'll see."

"What're you-"

Suddenly, magic coated Indola's hooves, catching the mare off guard. Surprised by Roady's ability to still cast magic, Indola attempted to break from his hold but found that she was unsuccessful.

"I go on my terms; you don't get to pick that, nor do your princess; no one does, but me!"

Roady shot a weak ray of magic that hit the floor around the crate and instantly a fire sparked to life. Indola's eyes widened as she realized what just happened, and what the symbol means. The symbol conveys a warning: that the contents inside the crate are liable to explode.

Speechless, Indola turned to Roady, who was grinning. "That..."

Roady nodded. "If the liquid comes into contact with fire, it will ignite and explode. A bottle is nothing but a spark, however, with three crates? Well, it'll blow like fireworks."

At this point, Indola was understandably shaken. Roady was planning to blow himself up along with not only Indola but also Joey and Nian. Indola grunted and struggled against Roady's magic, but it was too strong. She couldn't use magic to break free; Roady's magic was too powerful.

"If I'm going down, I might as well take you with me!"

"Ponyfeathers," she cursed.

Just as the fire was nearing the crates, Joey jolted awake along with Nian and surveyed his surroundings. He looked forward and witnessed Indola desperately struggling to break free of Roady's magic.

"Indola!" Joey called out.

The mare turned to him with fear in her eyes and sweat barreling down her disturbed countenance. "Joey, the crates are about to explode! Get everypony out of here now!"

The human's eyes became wide in shock. "What?! What about you?!"

"Listen to me: I can't break free of this magic. Don't worry about me, get those stallions and the ones on the second floor out of the building, that's an order!"

Joey merely shook his head and turned his gaze to Nian. "Nian, fling me towards Indola; I'll save her."

"Lopunny?!" she questioned. "Lop, Lopunny!"

Joey chuckled at Nian's concern. "Don't worry about them, we got just the Pokémon for the job."

Quickly, Joey fished out of his belt Mechan's Poké Ball and summoned the robot forth.

"Meta!" it cried.

"Good to see you, but we got a situation. Mechan, perform a psychic barrier around the stallions next to those stairs. Understood?"

Mechan nodded without hesitation and used its psychic powers to shield the unconscious stallions.

Joey smiled. "Good job," he praised his Pokémon. "Now do the same for you and Nian on my call. Got it?"

Again, Mechan nods in understanding.

"Nian, you ready?"

Nian didn't like this plan, but she trusted Joey to come out relatively unscathed, so, reluctantly, she agreed. She grabs Joey's arms and spins him around before flinging the human toward Indola with his bracers glowing a brilliant blue just before the explosion went off.

Time seemed to slow. Indola watched as her eyes witnessed the explosion coating everything in a large fiery white flash. As her eyes reflected the fiery brimstone quickly approaching her, the mare's peripheral vision caught something closing in on her. She couldn't see what it was as she was paralyzed with terror.

---

Outside, Karla and the rest of the guards have been ducking and dodging fallen pieces of the building. Civilians that lived extremely close to the abandoned warehouse have been evacuated swiftly from their homes. The explosions have caused multiple residents in Canterlot to be curious about what's been going on outside.

With all the rumbles and big booms, ponies started exiting their homes to look at the disturbance. Karla and a few guards have tried to calm down the residents, and though they have been slightly successful in this endeavor, all of their efforts were sadly in vain.

It was loud and scary, with slabs of burning chaos plummeting onto the streets below. Karla looked up in horror as a flash of white overcame her vision. A violent rumble knocked everypony flat on their flanks, but they couldn't be bothered to even react. When the light subsided, the warehouse was in a sorry state: large split cracks appeared on the sides of the building, and every single window shattered.

The eyes of those outside the warehouse saw the building begin to crumble.

Karla uses her magic to see inside the building, but she couldn't see anything; the smoke had obscured her vision. Cursing, the white-maned mare thought about rushing inside but she quickly abandoned that idea immediately. It was foolish and rash, but her sister, Joey, and his furry friend were in that mess.

As the mare worried for her sister and friends, she sees the doors of the warehouse forced open, revealing a white creature with a curved horn carrying three stallions, a blue creature hauling two, and a brown creature, Nian, carrying three. From one of the holes Roady made, Karla saw a large bird descending to the streets with four stallions on its back.

Karla rushed to Nian as she and the rest of the Pokémon carefully laid the unconscious stallions in a pile.

"Nian," Karla frantically said, "where's my sister?! Where's Joey?!"

Nian stomped the ground to quiet Karla and then pointed to the warehouse. "Lopunny, Lopunny," the rabbit calmly said.

"I don't understand, but we need to get them out! They might-"

"Lopunny!" the rabbit shouted. She puts a hand on Karla's withers. "Lop, Lopunny."

Though Karla could not figure out what Nian was telling her, the tone did well to convey her message. "Alright," she sighed. "I'll calm down. I just hope they get out of there soon..."

---

Inside, Joey cradles an injured Indola. The entire left side of her face had terrible burn marks, and her comm device was destroyed.

"Lena, what's the call?" Joey asked his pink buddy.

With Lena examining Indola's injuries, the cheerful Pokémon told Joey that Indola will heal with tons of medicine and rest. With his fears abated by his Pokémon, Joey returns Lena to her Poké Ball.

Jenny was sent out after, and Joey ordered the Jinx to quell the flames using Blizzard. Jenny complies, taking the icicle from her mouth and blowing forth a powerful tempest of ice and snow that takes the flames out quite quickly.

Grateful, Joey kissed Jenny on her hand again and returns the Pokémon to her Poké Ball.

Next up was making sure the warehouse didn't cause any damage by crumbling to the ground, Joey sent Mechan to the roof of the building. Using its powerful psychic powers, Mechan hovered above the roof of the abandoned warehouse and stabilized it with little to no effort. With the building stable, the rest of the criminals were rescued, and the flames were put out, Joey calls out to Mechan as it appeared in front of him and told the Pokémon to teleport it and him outside, to which the robotic Pokémon happily consented.

Appearing outside, Joey was met with a frantic Karla looking over her sister. "Relax, she's fine," Joey assured the stressed mare. "The fur around the left side of her face has been scorched pretty badly, but with tons of care and attention, it'll grow back."

A hefty breath of relief escaped Karla's lips, carefully taking Indola in with her magic. "Thanks for not only saving her but the criminals as well. If you weren't here, I wouldn't have a sister."

"I'm just glad I was able to think of a plan fast enough," the human said as he returned the rest of his Pokémon, excluding Nian, into their respective Poké Balls.

With everything calming down, Indola was taken by some of the royal guards to the hospital while Karla and Joey stayed behind. Eventually, Princess Celestia arrived on the scene and told the human and Karla that she and the rest of the royal guards that have stayed behind will take over.

Before leaving, Karla and Joey informed the princess of what's been going on up to this point. Relieved to have her sister alive and well, Karla chose to be with her, leaving Joey and Nian alone with Princess Celestia.

This is the first time Nian gazed upon Princess Celestia's heavenly visage and lightly scowled, gripping Joey's right arm around her own tightly. The rabbit wasn't particularly averse to the alicorn's majestic presence, she just didn't like the air around her.

"Joey," Celestia began, "I would like to thank you and your friend for assisting me." With a warm shine from her long horn, Princess Celestia summoned a golden bag full of bits and handed it to Joey. "Since you are quite new here, I would like you to get a head start. This bag full of bits is more than enough for you for the time being."

Joey's eyes nearly bulged as he struggled to casually carry the bag of bits Princess Celestia graciously gave. "Celestia, I do appreciate this, really I do, but I think this is a little bit too much," Joey said meekly.

Celestia chuckled, saying, "You are quite modest, but you deserve this. From what I've heard from you and Karla, you did more than enough, and I will not accept your refusal of this well-earned compensation. Go home and rest. And by the way, there's a chance I might call upon your aid. Also, keep the Magi-link Communicator."

Though it was kind of difficult trying to carry a bag full of golden coins, Joey managed a bow. "No problem, I and my family would like to work with you again. Have a nice night."

Princess Celestia bowed. "And to you as well."

With that over and done with, Joey summoned Nils from his Poké Ball as he and Nian got on the avian's back and flew towards home.

Comments

[ShortCaveman]

I'm loving the story so far hope the next one is out soon!