A Pokemon Problem

by Solecism

(25) - Train-ing Day

A Pokemon Problem

(25) - Train-ing Day

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With Seth, Miranda, Caleb, and Philomena happily eating their fill of apples, greenery, and in the case of Caleb, some sort of meat jerky that was only being shipped by Jack Daniels because of the few gryphon emissaries living in Canterlot (apparently, to him, apples tasted like 'peppered asscheeks.' No comment), I had a chance to ask the pony some the questions that had been burning inside.

"Why the hell are you shipping dynamite to Canterlot?" I might've put a bit too much venom in my thoughts, but to Jack's credit, he answered calmly.

"Those gems deep within Canterlot Mountain aren't going to reveal themselves." When I asked him what he meant by that, he replied, "There's a massive amount of undiscovered gems there, and there's no other way to get to them besides blasting your way through."

"Don't unicorns have some sort of spell to find gems?"

Jack laughed. "They wished that they did. I'm sure that there's a whole bunch of them trying to make one, but to my knowledge, they haven't yet."

Fair enough. Rarity would probably faint if she knew that explosives were once the only way to mine for gems.

"And the apple cider?"

"Ponies gotta get their booze from somewhere. In fact," Jack lowered his voice, "half of this shipment is going to the Royal Castle, of all places."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Rumour has it that Celestia herself drinks most of it, but hey, I'm not one to judge. It must've been hard for her to lose her sister, and if the stuff I bring helps ease the pain, then I'm happy to be of service."

"That reminds me: how long ago was Princess Luna banished?"

Jack tipped his Stetson that he recovered in solemnity. "I'm not a superstitious fellow, but speaking the old princess' name brings bad luck. If I were you, I'd refrain from speaking her name in public."

"Funny... you aren't the first pony to tell me that."

I saw a sparkle in Jack's eye. "Then what we say must have some sort of merit, hmm? Anyway, in regards to how long ago the Banishment (it certainly sounded like a first-letter-capital type word) was..." He rubbed his chin with a hoof. "Had to have been a couple hundred years ago, at least."

Well, at least we weren't too far back in Equestria-time. If there was one thing that terrified me more than anything else, it was an angry and/or pissed off Celestia.

"Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Shoot." When the earth pony cocked his head in confusion, I clarified, "Go ahead."

"Why are you on my train in the first place?"

"We're going to Canterlot to get an audience with Celestia, and your train happened to be in the right place at the right time. Or the wrong place at the wrong time, depending on how you look at it."

Jack frowned. "Why do you need an audience with Celestia?"

"Well, as you probably already guess, my friends and I—with the exception of Philomena, the phoenix—aren't from Equestria, and Celestia is our only way back home."

He grunted. "That's a tall order, Little Guy. There aren't a whole lot of ponies that Celestia allows an audience with—and no offense, but you aren't a pony."

"Oh, I know that. In fact, I'm counting on me not being a pony to affect her judgement." I checked my internal compass, and it told me that we were going south-west. "How long should it take for us to get to Canterlot?"

Jack Daniels excused himself for a moment while he passed through the coal carriage and went into the front car. There were two earth ponies shovelling coal into the ever-hungry furnace, and a single earth pony acting as conductor. Jack returned fairly quickly and said, "We should be heading into the Canterlot tunnels by nightfall, and the city proper by daybreak, if all goes well."

I thanked Jack and began making my way back to one of the earlier carts where everyone was holed up in. The whiskey-coloured earth pony wasn't too pleased with the three-pronged holes I was leaving in his train floor, but he didn't bother me about it.

It was less than a day until I found out whether we would escape from this past-Equestria and return to Earth, preferably in our own bodies... or be stuck here forever.

I wasn't a religious person, but I was praying for the former.

Author's Note:

Very short chapter is very short. But hey, two chapters in a day means you can't complain! :P

Comments

[GoG ToXiC]

See this? This is me complaining.

...

..

But in all seriousness, two chapters in a day is pretty sick, even if they are short chapters. I'm seven months overdue on the chapter I'm supposed to be writing, so you won't get complaints from me XD

[Multiversity]

Y'know, I'm half-expecting something to go horribly wrong, and then cutting several centuries forward to Rarity and Twilight digging up a deactivated Metagross.

Maybe I just want an excuse for you to meet the Mane 6.

[MC BR0N3]

2514755
The moment he sees the Mane 6:
ALL OF MY FRIENDS ARE DEAAAAD!!
Except Ryder

[Multiversity]

2514798 Yeah, except Ryder. Ryder's just insane from years and years of loneliness.

[MC BR0N3]

2514812
The terror of the Everfree: Gengar.

[NightmareKnight]

Wow. Two chapters in a day. You've outdone yourself madam.

[werewolf435]

2514798nope, Ryder's dead... but he's a ghost, so he'll be fine...ish....

[Fallen_Stargazer]

two chapters in a day? nice. also feel better.....I still vote they uncover cindy as a steelix or something really big in canterlot......lets see so types they've got are steel/psychic james, ghost ryder, electric/bug caleb, ice/ground seth, fire/fighting miranda....I vote that cindy be a dragon type or dragon like pokemon. something big maybe like a garchomp or steelix, or maybe a water type, since that way she'd be the opposite type to miranda. (still voting for big dragon like gyrados, or maybe more beauty based milotic)

[shirotora]

Wrong, I CAN COMPLAIN !!! but I won't

[KingOfTheMuffins]

He should offer Celestia a portent as it'd be mutual for both parties. She'd learn her sister would be coming back (or have added confirmation) and he'd gain favor with her.

[Fiery Knight]

LOL can't complain.......Guess you never met me!! *Trollface*

[Buckshot2825]

Jack daniels....
YES!!!!

[keaton-furman-prower]

And that's how Applejack Daniels came to be