Pokémon and Ponies

#75-The Pokemon Festival 2 Part 3

Manehattan, the Pokemon Festival, day.

With the Pokeathlon on a short break, other attractions are active right about now with trainers and their Pokemon finding fresh discoveries.

One of which being Rarity and Fluttershy who went over to the Pokemon Musical since it really caught their eye.

The Pokemon Musical. Much like the Pokemon Contests and Pokeathlon, this also acts as a perfect alternative to battling in case the trainers end up getting exhausted alongside their Pokemon.

"Hm." Rarity looked over at the rules of the Pokemon Musical. "Seems simple enough. Just dress up our Pokemon and dance away."

"I thought the Pokemon actually sang." Fluttershy looked at the rules. "Oh, well. It still seems enjoyable! Let's get you two dressed up."

"Oh!" An employee slid in. "Sorry. Only one Pokemon is allowed for each trainer, sadly."

"Oh." Fluttershy's ears dropped down. "That's a shame. Then...Which one of you would like to try it?"

"Chiko." Chikorita insisted that Audino should try.

"Dino?" Audino pointed at herself.

"Good thinking, Chikorita." Fluttershy flew up. "It'll be like us being in stardom! Oh, but...smaller stardom. That's a bit better."

"Why on earth would you want smaller stardom?" Someone replied to Fluttershy's words, prompting her and Rarity to turn around.

The one who replied to Fluttershy was none other than the Pokemon Coordinator and the rival of Dawn, Ursula, alongside her Plusle, but not her Minun since only one Pokemon was allowed.

"You should be aiming for top stardom," Ursula spoke.

"Oh, um. It's just not for me. Sorry." Fluttershy whimpered.

"Hmph. Odd." Ursula dressed her Plusle up in a Straw Hat. "Hold this, Plusle." She gave her Plusle a Colourful parasol.

"Plus!"

"Hm." Rarity looked at a scarlet cape that was fairly long. "This cape could look good on anypony. "Which one of you would like to try it out?"

"Pharos..." Ampharos shook his head. He wasn't exactly the show business type. But he was interested in the Pokeathlon and other attractions that involved action. Which he hoped that Rarity would take him too. "Ampharos."

"Ampharos, darling. If you're not interested, you can go off and do your own thing." Rarity said.

"Ampha?" He turned around. Did she really mean it?

"Mhm." Rarity nodded, insisting that her Pokemon go along and have the time of their life. "You should enjoy what you want after all."

"Ampharos!" The Light Pokemon bolted off with excitement as he thanked Rarity.

"Leavanny. Pheromosa. Do any of you wish to go along or stay here?"

"Leavan..." All of Rarity's Leavanny's looked at each other, trying to decide what they wanted to do. Some Leavanny's decided to stay here while others chose to go along and do whatever they want.

Since there were 12 of them in total, 6 of them split up while the other 6 stayed behind.

"Mosa!" Pheromosa was a sucker for something like this so she decided to stay along and volunteer for the musical as she placed the scarlet cape on.

"Nice cape." A random trainer said as they were passing by.

"Hmmm..." Ursula grumbled as she looked at Pheromosa. She saw how her beautiful appearance was complimented by the cape. Made her look like a superhero which made Ursula a tad bit jealous.

She wanted to 1UP her competitors by making her Pokemon out best Pheromosa's appearance. So she snatched the Straw Hat off of Plusle's head and replaced it with a Horned helm.

"Plus!"

"This'll do! And some of these!" She gathered some black wings, sticking them on the Cheering Pokemon's hat with vigour, forcing Plusle to hold a toy sword as she also added a black cape, just to mimic Pheromosa.

"Plusle?!"

"Aha! How's this?! Ursula crossed her arms. "My Plusle looks like a real threat now, don't you agree?!"

"That look is too busy." Rarity dismissed it.

"Too busy?!" Ursula screeched.

"It's all about simplicity. Normal may be basic but simple is best after all." Rarity nodded as Pheromosa nodded along.

"Phero."

"Kh! We'll let the musical decide." Ursula scoffed as she already found Rarity to be a massive threat. "My Plusle will surely beat out this...thing..." Ursula was having a hard time describing Pheromosa.

"Ah!" Rarity gasped as she and Ursula clashed heads, creating a mini-shockwave. "She has a name and a species, excuse you!"

As they both growled at each other, Fluttershy, Chikorita and Audino huddled together, witnessing the sparks beginning to build up and fly.

"Oh my." Fluttershy gulped.

Fluttershy, Ursula and Rarity were the main competitors with one extra pony in the mix as the 4 competitors prepare themselves.


Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, the Pokeathlon has finished its break and the next event is about to happen.

Ring Drop.

This event requires only four Pokemon to be on a fighting ring at all times instead of every single one of them. If all of them joined, then it would be a problem.

The rules for this were simple. It was a lot like the Hariyama Wrestling attraction, minus being strapped onto a Hariyama. In which the Pokémon compete by tackling each other, trying to knock opponents out of the ring while staying in the ring themselves.

And the best part is that the Pokemon can actually be in teams of three so it's not a solo act with one Pokemon and one Pokeathlete.

Stamina was key in this event. Fatigue was sort of the be all end all in for the Ring Drop as the Pokémon can get fatigued when they are hit by tackles, which decreases their resistance to launching.

A Pokémon who is very fatigued will start to sweat, and a Pokémon who is extremely fatigued will faint, becoming immobile and losing a great deal of launch resistance for a few seconds.

Pokémon can be switched out, but only when the Pokémon is near the team's starting corner. Pokémon who are switched out can rest up and restore their stamina with whatever method they can find. When a Pokémon falls off the ring or is switched out, the next Pokémon takes its place.

It was a straightforward knockout event that any Pokemon could do. Ash and the others looked at the Recommended Pokemon list which told them which Pokemon would work best in this event.

The Top Six Pokemon chosen were Quagsire, Slowbro, Vileplume, Wobbuffet, Shuckle and Ursaring. Weirdly enough, only one of them looked intimidating and that was Ursaring. The rest were a bit unexpected.

"Aren't like 5 of these pretty goofy..?" Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes.

"You'd think there'd be heavier Pokemon in this." Applejack replied.

"They've got pretty good stamina so it makes sense." Ash nodded.

"Pikachu."

"Well, we don't have any of those but we can still manage without the recommended Pokemon. Ninetales. Eve. Absol. Let's have a go on this one." Twilight said to her Ninetales, Absol and Espeon.

"Ninetales!"

"Esp."

"Sol."

"Wait, three Pokemon?!" Gilda groaned. "Ugh...Are you kidding me? I only have one Pokemon...This is getting frustrating."

"Uh...Maybe the next event then?" Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"Yeah...sure." Gilda sighed.

"Count me out. I only got Sceptile." Applejack wouldn't be taking part in this event. "And this uh...Golett that's tagging along too."

"Gol!"

"Dragonite, Lucario. Gengar. I'm counting on the three of you." Ash said to his Pokemon.

"Dra!"

"Luca!"

"Gengar!"

Obviously, with all these Pokeathletes, some of them will get their turn in packs of 4. The first ones up were Ash, Rainbow Dash, Goh and Twilight for this one.

Rainbow Dash chose Mienfoo, Whirlipede and Altaria since she believes that Altaria's fluffy wings could be of great use in this tackling competition. Whirlipede would work great since his rolling could come in handy and Mienfoo was just here for some satisfaction after losing the Hurdle Dash.

They all have their own plans of winning this while Gilda watched, disappointed that she couldn't join due to her having only one Pokemon, Staraptor.

"Alright. Which one of you three has the longest stamina?" Twilight asked her partners.

"Esp..." Eve thought for a moment. "Espeon." She pointed at Ninetales, believing his stamina is greater than hers.

"Nine? Tales. Ninetales." Ninetales chose Absol since he pointed out how Absol was constantly on the move during the Dynamax Crisis and the Darkest Day.

"Sol?"

"Hm...Absol does run for a long time..." Twilight nodded. "Okay! Here's the plan. We'll start with you Eve. Then Ninetales and then finally Absol. We'll build up and take them by surprise. We've only got 60 seconds in this event anyway so we gotta move fast."

"If anyone's great at building speed, it's your Whirlipede. Just do what you do best and it'll be a cinch, okay?" Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Whirl!"

"Cinderace. Darmanitan. Scyther. No pressure on this okay?" Goh spoke.

"Cinder!"

"Dar!"

"Scyther!"

Four Pokemon in total got on the ring, each belonging to one trainer. The first ones up were Dragonite, Eve, Scyther and Mienfoo. The stage had been set as the countdown started.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Go!"

Without having their trainers say anything, the Pokemon all moved the moment the sound of GO had been uttered since it was all dependent on the Pokemon in this event.

The first one to get a move on was Whirlipede since his rolling capabilities were his greatest asset here. The Curlipede Pokemon rolled towards Scyther as his first target.

"Scyther?" Scyther gasped as he was the first to be tackled by the Bug-Poison-Type. "Scyt!" Scyther nearly fell on its back as the other Pokemon got a move on.

"Esp!" Eve tackled Dragonite but soon came to find out that it barely did anything. The moment she tackled the Dragon Pokemon, she bounced back unexpectedly. "Eon?!"

"Dra!"

"She bounced back?!" Twilight screeched.

"Hehe." Ash cackled. "No way you're getting past Dragonite that easily!"

"Using Dragonite's rotund belly as a way to push anyone back. Ash, you crafty little..." Twilight grizzled her teeth. "We'll just hit Dragonite over and over again then!"

"Esp!" So that's what she did. Eve continuously tackled herself into the Dragon Pokemon, trying to make it budge at least once. All the while, Dragonite stood there, bouncing Eve back with its round stomach.

As for Whirlipede and Scyther. Scyther was at a disadvantage. Not because of its type, but because Whirlipede seemed to be getting stronger each time he and Scyther tackled each other.

Sadly, the same does not apply to Scyther. The trainers couldn't give commands since it was up to the Pokemon themselves so all they could do was stand by and cheer for their Pokemon.

"Gonite!" Dragonite let out a single tackle which sent Eve flying out of the ring with ease, eliminating the Sun Pokemon from the ring.

"Esp!"

"Ah! Eve!" Twilight gasped.

"Espeon! Out!" The announcer said. "20 points to Ash!"

"Nice, Dragonite!" Ash gave a thumbs-up as he and Pikachu cheered Dragonite on.

"Pikachu!"

As for Scyther and Whirlipede, the Curlipede Pokemon put so much pressure on Scyther that the Mantis Pokemon accidentally slipped, falling off the ring.

"Ther?!"

"Scyther! Out! 20 points to Rainbow Dash!"

"Aw...!" Goh groaned.

"Worked like a charm!" Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Return...Scyther." Goh sighed, returning Scyther to its ball.

"We don't have much time left...Ninetales go!" Twilight chose Ninetales next.

"Nine!" The Fox Pokemon jumped into the ring, immediately going after Dragonite. "Tales!" Like Eve, Ninetales smashed into Dragonite's belly.

But, Ninetales was able to slightly budge Dragonite thanks to him being bigger than Eve herself.

"Dra?" Dragonite decided to take things a bit seriously with how Ninetales budged it. The Dragon Pokemon tackled Ninetales, pushing him back but he wasn't out yet as the Fox Pokemon charged back in.

Goh chose Darmanitan next as the Blazing Pokemon ended up clashing with Whirlipede, who was getting faster each time he tackled into Darmanitan.

Only 35 seconds remain and the points were in Ash and Rainbow Dash's favour. Ninetales decided to switch things up by attacking Whirlipede instead.

"Nine!"

"Dra?"

The Fox Pokemon tackled Whirlipede's blindside as the Curlipede Pokemon didn't see it coming at all. "Pede!" Whirlipede had been launched by Ninetales who attacked him from the side.

"Oh! Whirlipede!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she saw her partner fly out of the ring at such a high height. "Urgh! Ninetales you...!"

"Whirlipede! Out! 20 points to Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

"Smart thinking, Ninetales!" Twilight squeed.

"Tales!"

"Don't get too distracted." Ash grinned. The reason why he grinned was that Dragonite pulled a sneak attack on Ninetales and Darmanitan, tackling them both.

"Ninetales!"

"Dar!"

The sheer weight of Dragonite was something to be intimidated by as a single tackle almost knocked both Fire-Types off the ring as they were struggling to keep their balance.

"Here's your chance. Get in there, Altaria!" Rainbow Dash went with Altaria next.

"Taria!" Altaria hopped in, going straight for Dragonite who was the biggest threat here. Once she and Dragonite tackled each other, Altaria's soft and fluffy wings ended up cushioning the blow, allowing her to only move back a bit.

"Gonite?!"

"Huh..." Gilda watched as she saw all the Pokemon tackle each other with only 20 seconds left on the clock. She found this whole event to be highly entertaining as she also saw how much fun the others were having with smiles on their faces.

It was a shame that she only had Staraptor. Gilda was hoping that the next event would allow her and Staraptor to finally do something.

"Dragon!" Dragonite tackled Altaria who kept using her wings to cushion the impact. Unfortunately, that wouldn't work forever since Dragonite could keep putting the pressure.

"Darman!" Darmanitan almost knocked Ninetales off the ring by adding its own pressure to the Fox Pokemon.

"Tales! Tales!" Ninetales was being pushed back by Darmanitan's aggressive approach as he was close to falling off. Until he came up with the brilliant idea of using his tails to cushion the blow, just like Altaria.

"Dar?" Darmanitan's eyes widened as it got a face full of tails. Nine of them to be exact.

"Nine!" Ninetales caught Darmanitan off guard as he performed a full-force tackle which almost knocked his fellow Fire-Type off.

"D-Darmanitan...!"

"Time!" Those 60 seconds were up as the Pokemon came to a screeching halt with Altaria crashing into Dragonite's belly.

"Alta!"

"Darman." Darmanitan sat down, letting out a great sigh of relief.

"Let's see those points." The announcer looked up to see the total tally. The total was 20 points for Ash, Twilight and Rainbow Dash while Goh, unfortunately, received zero.

"Aw! Zero?!" Goh sighed.

"Tough break." Applejack patted him on the back. "Better luck in the next event."

"That was a bit stressful..." Twilight sighed as she sat down. "What's next?"

"Next?" Ash slid over. "Block Smash!"

"Pikachu!"

"Dragonite!"

"Block Smash? Do you like the sound of that, Mienfoo?" Rainbow Dash asked her.

"Foo!"

"We'll get the next one for sure!" Goh kept his spirit up despite gaining no points in this event. The other Pokeathletes were still here so their turn was up next. So Ash, Twilight, Goh and Rainbow Dash took a break until this event ends.

This was also a good time to snack on something in the meanwhile. Gilda was getting impatient as she was waiting for her turn already. She couldn't take part in the previous two events since Staraptor wasn't allowed in the Hurdle Dash and she only had one Pokemon for Ring Drop.

But the Block Smash is without a doubt something her Staraptor can do. No problem. Every Pokemon is capable of joining this. Even the ones that don't have limbs.


Meanwhile, The CMC, alongside Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had just returned to the festival after seeing Hunter J for the first time without knowing her true intentions. J ended up lying to all five of them, saying that the petrified ponies and Pokemon were just statues she was coming to pick up. And they believed it.

All except for Diamond Tiara who was very unsure. She still remembered hearing the cries of a Ribombee from the Ribombee statue she saw.

Diamond Tiara was so judgemental that she used her Xtransceiver to take a picture of J. J didn't have a Trainer ID since she's a Pokemon Hunter but her face had been captured.

Diamond Tiara was a bit nervous. She felt like she should've probably gone after J. But it was too late now. She was long gone from here.

"Diamond Tiara? Hey. Hello?" Sweetie Belle waved her hoof in front of the earth pony's face.

"Hm?" Diamond Tiara snapped back to reality. "What?"

"Are you alright? You looked pretty dazed there. Is this festival a bit too much?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"No, it's not the festival." She shook her head, "Hey um...did you girls find that lady back there a bit odd."

"Who? You mean the lady with the awesome arm cannon and visor?" Scootaloo grinned. "If how cool she looked counts as odd then yeah, she's pretty odd."

"Yeah her. Something about her doesn't sit right with me..."

"Like?" Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon both said.

"I don't know...I can't describe it." Diamond Tiara shuddered. "I still think that Ribombee and all those other statues weren't statues at all."

"Then what were they?" Scootaloo wondered as she and the others stopped walking.

"Well...do you think they might just be petrified ponies and Pokemon?"

"You mean they've been turned to stone?" Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow.

"Mhm." Diamond Tiara nodded. "Something about it just makes me think that..."

"You think she's a villain?!" Scootaloo screeched.

"I don't know..." Diamond Tiara grumbled. "I just have a gut feeling you know."

"Well, she's long gone now." Silver Spoon shrugged. "We're probably never gonna see her face ever again."

"Actually," Diamond Tiara took out her Xtransceiver. "I took this picture before she left." She showed her friends the picture of J as they now had a permanent view of what she looked like.

"Those eyes are pretty sharp and menacing..." Apple Bloom nodded.

"But Diamond Tiara...Do you really think she's a bad person?" Sweetie Belle asked. "We don't know anything about her at all."

"I know I can't say anything since we just met her but it's a feeling I can't describe. Purrloin felt it too." Diamond Tiara held out her Poke Ball. "I could feel Purrloin shaking in fear. It was like she knew something horrible was close to us. And when she left, the shaking stopped."

"Shaking? Inside of the Poke Ball?" Silver Spoon leaned forward at the Poke Ball.

"You sound pretty serious about it Diamond Tiara. Maybe it's a good idea you took a picture of her. If what you're saying is true then we have this as a backup of her." said Scootaloo.

"Yeah. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite us..." Diamond Tiara shuddered.

"No need to worry!" Sweetie Belle slid over. "We've got a bunch more days left till the Pokemon Festival ends so let's have fun and forget about it for now. Oh, look! Rarity's over at the Pokemon Musical! I wanna see that!" She dashed over.

"Cheer up, it'll be fine." Apple Bloom grinned as she walked off, following Sweetie Belle as Scootaloo and Silver Spoon did the same.

Despite her the reassuring and hopeful words of her friends, the young earth pony was still very anxious about all of this. She turned off the Xtransceiver as she was going to let the thought of what J possibly is, escape her mind.

But she had every reason to be worried.

Somewhere near Manehattan near a calm and quiet lake, there lived a few smaller buildings in a secluded grassy area that was away from the bustling metropolis that is Manehattan.

It was peaceful and silent and had a lot of Grass-Type Pokemon here who enjoyed the tranquillity of this small area with very few buildings.

But unfortunately, yesterday, that tranquillity was disturbed.

By Hunter J.

She had made this secluded area her base of operations for the meantime. She did this by using her arm cannon on the ponies that lived here, turning them into stone.

That way, none of them could interfere with her plans. And if the Pokemon tried to stop her, she would just turn them into stone as well, making them apart of her collection. This entire town now belonged to her as she placed the statues inside of the home of the pegasus living here in each house.

"That settles that." She dusted herself. "How fortunate that my luck is turning around this effectively. I don't know how I returned, but I'll take it."

J had plans in this world. But of course, she couldn't forget about her own world since she had plans for that as well. She was aware of the gateways being the link between this world and her own.

J may have her gadgets and Pokemon back but she was still missing her original means of transportation. Right now, all she could rely on were horse carriages that her Pokemon pulled.

But J was smart enough to start from the ground up. These gadgets are her creation after all. She may not be on the intellectual level of Colress or most Pokemon scientists but she knew how to build something to benefit her.

It will take a while, but it will all pay off for her. Right now, with this collection of ponies and Pokemon at her disposal, J was obviously going to continue her Pokemon collecting spree but she was also planning on selling some of them for a profit. Including the ponies.

Back at the Pokemon Festival, Ash felt another odd chill run through his body. "Ugh..."

"Pika?"

"Meloetta?" Meloetta flew over to Ash, asking him what was wrong.

"I felt that chill again..." Ash shuddered. "Weird."

"Chill? In sunlight this bright?" Rainbow Dash looked up. "That's a bit weird."

"If you're feeling a chill like that, Ash, then is something wrong?" Twilight asked.

"It's like that chill's telling me something bad's coming our way."

"Pika..."

"Is it Ghetsis?!" Goh shot up.

"No idea." Ash shook his head. "Mrrgh...I can't really describe it!"

"What are you on about...?" Gilda squinted her eyes.

"You could just relax, Ash." Applejack suggested. "The next event ain't gonna happen for a while."

"Nah, it's fine. Just gotta keep myself sharp, ya know."

"Pikachu!"

Manehattan, Pokemon Festival. 14:30

The third day of the Pokemon Festival continues with the Pokeathlon still undergoing its events along with the Pokemon Musical.

And with so little time left too.

Over at the Pokemon Musical attraction, Fluttershy, Rarity, Ursula and a random pony were about to compete as both Rarity and Ursula were at odds with each other.

They would have to settle their little feud in the Pokemon Musical as they both aimed to come out on top while Fluttershy just watched the sparks fly.

Sweetie Belle and her friends came over to see Rarity's part in the musical even if it hadn't started yet. But they did see how she and Ursula were at odds with each other.

"Sis, who's this?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Oh, hey that rhymed."

"Just someone I can't wait to defeat." Rarity answered.

"Hah!" Ursula scoffed. "In your dreams!"

"D-Did we come at a bad time?" Scootaloo stuttered.

"Ahem." The employee in charge of this attraction slid in. "It's time to head on the stage, competitors."

"Perfect timing! Pheromosa! Let's go!"

"Mosa!"

"We'll show them up, Plusle!" Ursula picked her Plusle up.

"Plusle."

"Oh, dear." Fluttershy gulped. "Let's try our best Audi."

"Audino." As Fluttershy, Rarity, Ursula and the 4th competitor with their Inkay went on stage, tensions were high between the two competitors.

They went through a curtain that had a small audience of humans and ponies, waiting to see the musical take place. One of them being Cilan who was a big fan of the Pokemon Musical much like Pokestar Studios. He seems to just enjoy anything that involves flair.

Their Pokemon were sent out since they were the main stars of all of this. Despite it being a Pokemon Musical, very few singing is involved to a point where it is non-existent. It isn't even in the rules, but at times the Pokemon do decide to sing if they choose.

All they had to do was perform stunning dance moves, maybe sing in harmony and let the audience awe with spectacle. And sometimes, the trainers can join in.

Pheromosa had her own way of dancing due to her destructive and rapid legs. Plusle too for being an Electric-Type which are always bursting with hyperactive energy. Audino has little dancing experience apart from being at the Gala once and Inkay is just a mystery.

With the music starting up and the spotlight being on all four of them, the musical could begin. The small audience began to watch these Pokemon perform for the first time, especially Pheromosa and Audino, who were thankfully not nervous in this situation. Pheromosa craved stardom while Audino is just here for fun.

Sweetie Belle and the others watched the dance moves take place with Pheromosa and Plusle trying to 1UP each other. They were enjoying the view, all except for Diamond Tiara who was still stuck on J. Not even this happy-go-lucky music could get her mind off it.

And that look on her face really grabbed the attention of Rarity who was at first focusing on the musical, admiring Pheromosa ballerina-style dancing, prioritizing the feelings of somepony else.

"Diamond Tiara, darling. What's wrong?" Rarity went up to the distraught earth pony.

"Oh, Rarity." Diamond Tiara shot up. "Guess this face draws everypony in, huh?"

"Seems that way You seem distraught. Did something happen?"

"Well..."

"I can say it!" Sweetie Belle slid in. "I'll speak for Diamond Tiara."

"Thanks, Sweetie Belle."

"It's about this lady we saw earlier and living statues!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"I beg your pardon?" Rarity raised an eyebrow.

Sweetie Belle began explaining everything that she nad her friends saw and what Diamond Tiara felt. She mentioned how Diamond Tiara believed those random statues in the alley weren't normal every day statues.

Instead, Diamond Tiara believed they were alive and they had been turned to stone. And she suspects that the mysterious lady is the reason why. She also mentioned how Diamond Tiara took a picture of J, keeping her permanently on the Xtransceiver.

After that quick rundown, Rarity understood the situation and understood why Diamond Tiara would be so worried especially considering the threats that are lurking around Equestria nowadays with Pokemon involved.

All the while the musical was going on with Plusle and Pheromosa trying to out best each other while Audino just mimics their movements since she's lacking in dancing skills. No one can really tell what Inkay was doing but it was interesting to look at.

"I see..." Rarity nodded. "I can understand your fear, Diamond Tiara. So you truly did hear the Ribombee statue speak?"

"Positive. I know it sounds crazy but-"

"It's not crazy at all, darling." Rarity shook her head. "After all, we all live in a Pokemon World now. Nothing seems impossible nowadays."

"Pretty true." Scootaloo and the others nodded in agreement.

"It was clever of you to take a picture of this lady. That way, we can show it to Officer Jenny if she's really suspicious. Good on you for having sharp attention."

"Thanks for understanding, Rarity!" Diamond Tiara squeed as she ran over to Rarity, giving her a surprise hug.

"Oh!" Rarity was shocked by that. "Y-You're welcome." She patted her on the head. Just as the explanation had been finished, the musical had come to an end.

"This has to be my victory for sure!" Ursula grinned.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Rarity screeched as she dashed over, peeking her head through the curtains. She saw the crowd clap as she had missed the rest of the musical.

Pheromosa and the other Pokemon took a bow from the applause. Now it was time for them to head back through the curtains and to their trainers.

"Phero."

"Pheromosa! I'm so sorry I missed the rest of it! I was just talking to-"

"Mosa." Pheromosa interrupted, shaking her head as she was essentially telling Rarity that it was alright.

"Oh..." Rarity let out a sigh of relief. "Bless you for being so sweet, Pheromosa."

"So! Did we win?!" Ursula dashed over to her Plusle.

"Even if I didn't see it, I know that my Pheromosa performed perfectly." Rarity looked up at her partner.

"Mosa-Mosa." Pheromosa picked Rarity up, hugging her.

"Hah! You weren't even watching! You should've seen how graceful Plusle was. I haven't even shown off my other Pokemon." Ursula scoffed.

"Oh, um actually," Fluttershy spoke. "I looked at the rules one more time and saw how it doesn't have winners like most other attractions."

"It doesn't?!" Rarity and Ursula both exclaimed.

"Not at all. It seems like it's only made for fun with the only sort of victory being crowd appeal."

"Audino!"

"I could've sworn there was a reward in all of this..." Ursula was flabbergasted.

"There is an award!" The employee popped in. "This Prop Box!" She showed off a pink prop box each for all four competitors. "The judges rated each of your styles too. Pheromosa was Elegant, Plusle and Audino were cute and Inkay was Quirky. So congrats!"

"Ah." Rarity scrunched her face as she used her magic to take the prop box. "Well, at least it was enjoyable even if I didn't see it all. Plus we have this nice prop box."

"Phero."

"But there is a major benefit in all of this." The employee raised her finger. "Since you've gained a target audience from your musical, you'll be offered roles in more Pokemon business."

"Go on!" Rarity and Ursula dashed up, getting in the employee's face.

"W-Well...If you've been to Pokestar Studios, for example, you'll have premium options due to your reputation."

"Oh! I've been to Pokestar Studios! My friends and I have made movies. Does that apply to me as well?" Rarity asked.

"Yes." She nodded

"What about me?!" Ursula shoved Rarity to the side. "What does it mean for a coordinator such as myself?!"

"Well...Nothing really changes with the Pokemon Contests but you do get to be a judge like Fantina."

"Kh." Ursula pulled back. "Bit anti-climactic but I'll take it."

"That's great, Rarity!" Fluttershy flew over. "You're slowly becoming a popular Pokemon celebrity for the Pokemon world."

"Looks that way. This and Pokestar Studios can be highly addictive."

"Wait, hold on..." Ursula paused for a moment. "You're Rarity?" She scrunched her eyes, getting a good look at Rarity and to an extent Fluttershy. "And you look like that Fluttershy pony."

"Oh, um yes. That's us." Fluttershy nodded.

"Oh...Oh!" Ursula suddenly became energized. "I had no idea! Forgive me for being so rude!" She bowed as an apology.

"What's with the tone shift?" Scootaloo whispered.

"I had no idea they were you! You look so much more different than your human fan arts!"

"Hm? Oh yes, those little things." Rarity recalled how she and her friends had marketing merchandise about themselves.

"I get to meet them here...!" Ursula got all giddy as she screeched.

"I take it you're a big fan?" The employee asked.

"Of course I am!" Ursula bellowed at her. "I have all the merchandise about the Mane 6 back at home. I had to go through so much effort to collect them if you didn't know!"

"D-Did you now...?" Rarity stuttered.

"I'm such a huge fan of you especially, Rarity! I have the most merchandise of you specifically."

"Oh." Rarity made a poker face.

"I'm so sorry! I should've recognized your hairstyle!" Yet again, she bowed as an apology, this time at an aggressive pace.

"I-It's fine." Rarity chuckled nervously.

"I didn't think about what every human thinks of merchandise based on us." Fluttershy looked up.

"Audino..."

"Chiko..."

"I'm Ursula by the way! Major fan!"

"Ursula. Pleasant name." Rarity smiled.

"So, what now sis?" Sweetie Belle asked as she was picked up by Pheromosa.

"Oh! This is your little sister?! How adorable!" Ursula screeched as she dashed over to Sweetie Belle, placing her hands on her face.

"Eeugh..." Sweetie Belle winced as her face as being mushed.

"Pip!" Sweetie Belle's Piplup came out of his Poke Ball, using Aerial Ace to slap Ursula''s hand away. "Lup!"

"Ow!" Ursula held her hand. "Rude!"

"Piplup!" Piplup crossed his arms together, acting as Sweetie Belle's bodyguard.

"Kh." Ursula scoffed. "That Piplup reminds me too much of DD..."

"Well, Ursula. It's been a pleasure meeting you. Especially a fan. And I'm sure our Pokemon enjoyed themselves."

"Phero."

"Sure did. Right, Plusle?" Ursula asked the Cheering Pokemon.

"Plus?" Plusle had just processed her words. "Plusle!"

"Oh, before we go. A quick question." Rarity had one thing to say.

"Hm"?

"Do you know where we can find the nearest Officer Jenny?"

"Nearest Officer Jenny? Oh, they're everywhere." Ursula chuckled as she flailed her hands.

"Everywhere?!" The fillies exclaimed.

"Right. No matter where you go, you'll always find an Officer Jenny. Just like how there's always a Nurse Joy out there."

"I see. So any gateway we pass, we'll eventually find one guaranteed." Rarity nodded. "It's quite fortunate that the Pokemon World has so many benefits..."

"You think the Jenny's are even gonna notice one cool looking lady?" Scootaloo wondered. "I mean, I would for sure."

"Cool looking lady?" Fluttershy tilted her head.

"Oh, right." Rarity turned to Fluttershy. "You aren't aware of Diamond Tiara's little find. One of you can make a quick breakdown if you will."

"I got it!" Apple Bloom slid in, offering to explain everything as she cleared her throat. Just like Sweetie Belle, she gave Fluttershy a quick and easy rundown of what she and her friends discovered in the alley. From statues to the image Diamond Tiara took of the woman.

It was quick and simple for Fluttershy to follow as she understood where Diamond Tiara was coming from. In fact, something caught her attention.

"Wait. Diamond Tiara." Fluttershy spoke. "You said you heard the voices and felt Purrloin's Poke Ball shake?"

"Right. That's what I experienced." Diamond Tiara nodded.

It was at this moment that Fluttershy could 100% believe Diamond Tiara's suspicion of this mysterious lady. Much like how Fluttershy can understand Pokemon and will soon have the same hearing capabilities as her Audino one day and the ability to sense feelings instantly, the pegasus was able to see what Diamond Tiara had experienced.

"Hm. And nopony else heard it?"

"Nope." Scootaloo popped up, as she and the others shook their heads. "Didn't hear a thing."

"Well, I think you've got a talent that involves Pokemon, Diamond Tiara. Maybe you can feel things others can't. Maybe."

"You think so, Fluttershy?"

"It could just be a hunch. But it's wonderful that you kept something this important in mind. Anything involving Pokemon is possible after all."

"We'll keep this Cool looking lady in mind. Come along, my little ponies." Rarity spoke. "There's still much left to do at this festival."

Now the thought of J had been spread out further to Rarity and Fluttershy. With the knowledge of there being Officer Jenny's in every part of the world minus Equestria, it wouldn't be that hard to find a Jenny at all. With a police force as gigantic as the Officer Jenny's and the technology of the Pokemon World, they might be able to find J with facial recognition or mugshots.

But right now, they weren't 100% sure if this mysterious woman was some sort of criminal since she's brand new territory to all of them or even if the statues were actual living ponies and Pokemon.

But with what Diamond Tiara felt and how wild anything involved with Pokemon can get, it's not out of the realm of possibility. They were going to continue enjoying the festival while still thinking about J and the statues. And when they find a Jenny, they'll see if they can get anything.


With, Eventide, Sunlight, Celestia and Luna.

The alicorn family had decided to sit and have something to eat while they continue to catch up with each other. Well, the only ones who were doing any actual catchup were Celestia and Luna since Sunlight and Eventide had been watching them all this time.

"So, my little Luna!" Eventide bellowed. "I know you're working hard to emerge as the victor in the Equestria League, correct?"

"Right. That's correct, father." Luna nodded. "I'm aiming to be the first champion of Equestria. My love for Pokemon plays a huge part in that."

"It certainly does." Sunlight ate some cake. "It seems like a hard road. But nothing you can't tackle. When you finally reach the league, we'll be cheering for you along the way."

"Thank you. To be honest, the Equestria League and Pokemon itself have really changed my life in pleasant ways." Luna smiled.

"How so?" Eventide asked.

"Well...Being a Pokemon trainer, catching Pokemon and battling are just a treat in general. I've never felt so much excitement before! But more than that, the simple things about Pokemon is something that I really admire as well. You understand what I mean, sister?"

"I do," Celestia replied. "The battles are fun and exciting but the Pokemon themselves and their entire lifestyle just add their own enjoyment." She rubbed Arcanine's belly.

"Arca! Arcanine!"

"Hm." Luna nodded. "No better way to describe it. Which is why I can't afford to let this link between our worlds come to an end. Ever."

"Luna?" Eventide and Sunlight both said.

"Both worlds returning to normal is something I can never accept. I've made friends with the Pokemon I've caught so far. The thought of just forgetting about them entirely and their existence is just..." Luna's thoughts were starting to bring out her fears.

"Oh, Luna." Sunlight got close to her daughter, putting her hoof around her neck.

"Darkrai and everyone will just go back to their own world. And all of this would've never happened if the Rift decides to leave when satisfied..." Luna looked down. "I'll never be able to see them again."

"Don't say that, dear. After all, there's hope isn't there?" Sunlight let out a soft smile.

"But of course!" Eventide exclaimed. "We heard about that Jirachi Pokemon and how it can grant any wish. Wishing for the worlds to stay connected is the best-case scenario in our eyes."

"Yes but...can we even find Jirachi in time? And we're still not sure when the Rift will decide to leave. There is just so much to worry about..."

"I'm sure you can." Sunlight reassured. "Your friend Ash has already sparked that hope up in you. In everypony even. From what we've seen of what he's done so far, he'll make it possible for sure."

"Along with Twilight Sparkle's many books on the Pokemon World!" Eventide raised his hoof. "She has many potentially great leads!"

"I believe that," Celestia replied. "I don't want to say goodbye to Passion and Arcanine either. There's nothing pleasant about friendships that will cease to exist."

"Garde..."

"Ah. I should've expected answers like that." Luna giggled. "I must say, it's truly wonderful that there is a Pokemon for everything." After that, Luna gained some high spirits as she stood up from the bench, holding a Poke Ball out. "I'm feeling the mood to catch another friend!"

"Right now?" Sunlight leaned back.

"Mhm!" She nodded. "I know you've seen me catch some Pokemon from your presence all over Equestria, but how does witnessing it in physical form sound, mother, father?"

"Splendid!" Eventide roared as he almost broke the bench. "I've been looking forward to this!"

"If you don't mind...Would you be so kind to lend us some Poke Balls of our own?" Sunlight grinned. "We wish to catch our own Pokemon if possible."

"Oh. Certainly." Luna gave her mother and father some Great Balls to use. "Sister. Do you want one as well?"

"No, I'm fine." Celestia shook her head. "I'm not exactly planning on catching another Pokemon yet anyway."

"Suit yourself. Another friend means more opportunities to become the champion!"

With Luna having a sudden surge of excitement in her spirits, she and her family went along to find some Pokemon to catch. Didn't matter which type, honestly. Luna already has a bunch of Pokemon of various types after all.


The sun was starting to set. A sign that the third day was slowly coming to an end. The second event of the Pokeathlon had finally ended meaning that the third event could finally begin and one that Gilda and her Staraptor could actually participate in.

Block Smash.

An event that sets four Pokéathletes, one from each team, against a stack of ten cement blocks. The Pokémon must demonstrate its might by breaking through them as quickly as possible. Straightforward and a personal favourite amongst Fighting-Type Pokemon. It was yet another test of a Pokemon's stamina but it also involved power and skill as well. This event lasts for 30 seconds, making it shorter than the rest.

The score is determined directly by the number of blocks broken. Breaking 80 blocks will earn the Pokeathles the 1st place event record, and breaking 130 blocks earns the trainer a Potential trophy. Athlete Points for the event are simply equal to the number of blocks broken.

This was one that Mienfoo was looking very forward too. She was built for something like this as she aimed to out best everyone here including Ash's Lucario.

This might be the last event of the day if there's enough time left that is.

"Finally...I've been waiting for this." Gilda grinned as her Staraptor was upfront. "This'll be easy, right Staraptor?"

"Star!"

"How's Staraptor gonna break blocks with wings?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow as she wasn't sure about this being possible.

"Staraptor's got some pretty heavy wings, Dash," Ash replied. "They're really tough!"

The four Pokeathletes were Ash, Rainbow Dash, Gilda and a trainer with a Croconaw. The blocks were already placed in front of them as the Pokemon were tightening their focus for this one. The only downside was that no moves were allowed but that was understandable since some moves are just downright overwhelming and unfair.

"Ready...?" The announcer prepared them all as the Pokemon narrowed their eyes. "3...2...1...Start!"

Already, the four Pokemon got started by raising their arms and wings as they channelled all the strength into these flurry of smashes.

"Mien!" Mienfoo looked like she would have the best advantage since Mienfoo's are known for their fast strikes. One strike from Mienfoo wouldn't destroy the blocks but continuous strikes could do the trick. Her rapid strikes were cracking the blocks bit by bit at high speeds.

"Luca!" As for Lucario, he also had an amazing advantage. He was both fast and strong at striking. A perfect mixture of two skills. Lucario easily broke through the first bricks in one single smash.

"Nice, nice, Lucario!" Ash gave a thumbs up.

"Pikachu!"

"Star!" Gilda's Staraptor, at first, may not seem like it can break through the blocks since she was wings. However, Staraptor's have incredibly sturdy wings. Wings so sturdy that they can potentially smash through steel. And these blocks were no exception as three strikes and Staraptor was able to shatter them with the next pile coming in.

"Yeah, that's the stuff! Go, Staraptor!" Gilda cheered her partner on.

"Croco!" The Croconoaw belonging to the trainer actually used their chin to smash the blocks. There were no limitations to what limb a Pokemon could use since some of them have either tentacles, scythes for hands and some don't even have limbs at all. So the Pokemon could use anything as long as they can break the blocks.

Being only 30 seconds, the Pokemon were a bit under pressure as they had to destroy as many blocks as they could in a short amount of time.

Mienfoo was especially feeling the pressure. Her fast strikes were enough to break the first blocks in under 8 seconds. Meanwhile, Lucario could break them in under 1 second while Staraptor can go for 3 and Croconaw can go for 5 thanks to its strong jaw.

"Foo...!" A frustrated Mienfoo knew that her competitors were besting her. Being a hot-headed and short-tempered Pokemon, this did not sit well with the Martial Arts Pokemon at all.

No matter how fast she moved, it wasn't enough to keep up with the others. She had just finished the first blocks and was now onto the second one. And her competitors were racking up points based on how many blocks they've broken so far without showing any signs of stopping in the little amount of time they all have.

"Come on, Mienfoo..." Rainbow Dash bit her hoof.

"Foo! Mien!" Mienfoo's eyes were lighting up as her body was surrounded in a blazing gold aura, putting her in a state of high tension as she was pushing herself to come out on top.

Mienfoo let out a mighty warcry as her stamina wasn't actually decreasing but increasing. Normally, Mienfoo can chop with its arms more than 100 times. Now it was going above and beyond. Potentially reaching the thousands as her chops were now nothing but a blur.

10 seconds remain and they were each amping things up. Mostly Mienfoo, who refused to lose this. Her aura was growing larger as she was finally managing to break the blocks in under 5 seconds. Equal to Croconaw. The display of speed was impressive to the eyes but it didn't last forever as time was up.

"Time!" The announcer exclaimed as the Pokemon all stopped with their limbs or jaw almost hitting the last block. "Yikes. That got a bit aggressive in the end."

"I'll say. You okay, Mienfoo?" Rainbow Dash flew over.

"Mien!" An energized Mienfoo nodded as she raised her paw, showing it to Rainbow Dash. From how fast she was striking, her paws were smoking as they looked red from all those consecutive hits.

"Let's see those points!"

The points began to show as it revealed who came out on top. Normally, the recommended blocks to break were around 130 which gives the winner a trophy. But these Pokemon went above and beyond the 100's and broke into the 1000's.

Lucario has broken 4800 blocks giving him 4800 Points. Staraptor broke 2400 and Croconaw and Mienfoo tied with 1200. Overall, Lucario emerged as the winner, granting Ash the trophy.

"Nice!" Ash jumped up.

"Second place. I'll take it." Gilda nodded. "Good, job Staraptor."

"Starap!"

"Tied..." Rainbow Dash grumbled. "At least we managed to catch up. You're not taking it too badly, are ya, Mienfoo?"

"Mien." Mienfoo shook her head. She was a bit bummed out that she tied and didn't reach first place. But, she was able to improve in that short amount of time, so it wasn't too bad.

"Nice go, Croconaw." The trainer got down, petting her Croconaw.

"Naw!" The Strong Jaw Pokemon responded by gnawing on her head out of love.

"Here you go." With Ash coming in first place, he was rewarded the winner's trophy as he held it high.

"Awesome!" Ash grinned.

"Pikachu!"

"Cario!"

"Hmph. I got to do something finally...and it was pretty worth it." Gilda nodded. "Can't believe us griffons were missing out on fun stuff like this!"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it!" Rainbow replied. "With Pokemon, we get a lot of awesome stuff. Stuff I didn't know I needed so much until I got it."

"Looks like it. A bit late but whatever. At least we have Pokemon battles back at Griffonstone."

"Oh! You battle too?!" Rainbow Dash gasped. "That's great! How good are you?"

"How good am I?" Gilda smirked. "The best in Griffonstone obviously. Not many griffons are good at battling with their Pokemon except for me. Well...there are some exceptions."

"The best you say? In that case." Rainbow Dash went up to Gilda. "Wanna prove it?"

"You wanna battle me? Sure. I've been looking forward to something like this ever since I got Staraptor."

"Star!"

"Great! I'll take you with Braviary and-"

"Mien!" Mienfoo suddenly interrupted Rainbow Dash.

"Huh? Mienfoo?" She looked down at the Martial Arts Pokemon.

"Mien-Mienfoo!" She pointed her paw at herself, indicating that she wanted to battle instead.

"Huh? You wanna battle Staraptor? But you're like at a type disadvantage."

"Foo!" She didn't care about type matchups whatsoever. She wanted a fight no matter what. And Rainbow Dash knew how stubborn Mienfoo can get.

"Alright..." She sighed."You'll battle Staraptor."

"Mien!"

So it was. These two friends would battle each other for the first time. Rainbow Dash was curious about how strong Gilda was since she says she's the strongest back in Griffonstone.

But they couldn't battle here in Manehattan. They would have to go somewhere else where they could spread less destruction. So they chose the outskirts of Manehattan to battle.

Ash, Twilight and the others wanted to see this for themselves as they came along. Ash especially since he always enjoyed seeing how different species battle with Pokemon. Even if so far, he's only seen ponies battle alongside a single dragon. So this was going to be something new.

"I gotta say, it's kinda a good thing that we don't have any Fighting moves right now, right, Mienfoo?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Mien."

"You done talking? Staraptor here's getting impatient and she wants a go already." Gilda and Staraptor tapped their talons on the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Twilight. Can you make the call?" Rainbow asked.

"Sure thing!" Twilight slid in between them. "Battle Start!"

"Mienfoo! Run in and use Mega Punch!"

"Mien!" Mienfoo made the first move. By bolting forward with a white light around her paws, the Martial Arts Pokemon approached the Predator Pokemon as she jumped up.

"Staraptor! Close Combat!"

"Raptor!" Staraptor retaliated with her own physical move. Staraptor stood there as her wings connected with Mienfoo's paws which had been thrown at the Normal-Flying-Type.

Once they met, Staraptor and Mienfoo both started to repeatedly throw consecutive strikes with their paws and wings as sparks were flying from the clashes.

"Mien-Mien-Mien!" Mienfoo was surprisingly throwing over 1000 Mega Punches in a few seconds, going above her usual 100 or more count. That moment in the Block Smash had really increased her speed.

"Star-Star!" But Staraptor was no slouch either. She was fast enough to keep up with this highly nimble Pokemon.

"Hah! Speed is Mienfoo's thing! No way you're beating her in that!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "Combine Mega Punch with Agility!"

"Foo!" As Mienfoo kept clashing her paws with Staraptor's wings, the Martial Arts Pokemon's body emanated a silver aura as her speed was increasing. Her paws were already a blur but now they were harder to keep up with, even for Staraptor.

"S-Star?!"

"Mienfoo!" Eventually, Mienfoo found an opening as she smashed her paw on Staraptor's beak.

"Raptor!" The Predator Pokemon had been pushed back by that Mega Punch but it wasn't enough to knock her off her talons.

"Not bad." Gilda nodded. Staraptor! Use Brave Bird!"

"Star...!" Staraptor pulled in her wings as she dived down at her opponent like a missile. Her body burst into flames as she pulled out her wings with her body becoming surrounded by a blue aura. "Raptor!"

"Not good! Dodge it with Agility!"

"Foo!" Knowing that there was absolutely no way they were going to counter Brave Bird up close considering Mienfoo's typing, the decision to evade it was made as the Martial Arts Pokemon used Agility once more.

"Fly to the side, Staraptor!"

"Staraptor!" Staraptor saw how Mienfoo dashed over to the side, prompting her to change directions as Brave Bird as Staraptor zigzagged over to Mienfoo.

"Foo?!" Mienfoo's eyes widened as she saw how Staraptor changed directions. Before Rainbow Dash could make the command, Staraptor smashed into Mienfoo with full force, causing the Martial Arts Pokemon's eyes to widen. "M-Mien...!"

"Carry her up!" Gilda raised her claw to the air.

"Star!" But Staraptor didn't stop there. She used Brave Bird to carry Mienfoo up into the sky as a trail of aura flew behind her.

"Ah! Mienfoo!" Rainbow Dash gasped.

"M-Mien...Mienfoo!" Mienfoo aggressively beat her paws on Staraptor's back, trying to get her off.

"Now slam her down!"

"Star!" But that wouldn't make Staraptor budge. Instead, now that she was high up in the air with her, Staraptor was going to smash Mienfoo down on the ground by diving like a missile.

"Not good! Try using Mega Punch! Or Fury Swipes!"

"Mien! Mien!" She kept on beating on the Predator Pokemon's back, using Mega Punch and Fury Swipes desperately. All the while, Staraptor was diving down at high speeds with both her and Mienfoo catching on fire.

"This doesn't look good!" Twilight gulped.

"I can't watch." Applejack put her hat over her eyes.

"What do I do...?!" Rainbow Dash was starting to panic. Mega Punch and Fury Swipes weren't working as Mienfoo was essentially in Staraptor's hold.

"Foo...!" Mienfoo closed her eyes as she was bracing herself for impact.

"Staraptor!" Brave Bird finally came to an end as Staraptor smashed Mienfoo onto the ground with devastating force, creating a crater as Staraptor bounced back by her own move. She took heavy recoil damage from it.

"Mienfoo!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Mien...Mienfoo!" Mienfoo took a lot of damage from that. She slowly sat up as there was a bruise on her stomach. Her body in tatters with scratches as she looked like she was on the verge of fainting.

"Nice, Staraptor." Gilda praised her partner.

"Mienfoo! Can you keep going?"

"Foo..." The Martial Arts Pokemon stood back up but she got on one knee. "Mien..." She looked up at Staraptor, seeing how much of a disadvantage she was at right now.

"Starap."

"Mienfoo!" Mienfoo wanted to win this battle at all costs, despite the matchup. Just like back at the Block Smash, she was reaching a state of high-tension. "Mien!"

"Oh! You've pumped up again, Mienfoo? Alright! Then use Mega Punch!"

"Mien...!" Mienfoo was about to do something better. That drive to win as her high-tension aura was growing had given Mienfoo something new.

She had learned a new move.

Reversal.

A wave of orange energy burst out of the ground around Mienfoo as her fists became covered in orange energy. With amazing speed, she dashed forward, leaving an orange trail behind.

"Use Brave Bird one more time!"

Again, Staraptor was about to use Brave Bird. And this next Brave Bird might take Mienfoo out for good as Staraptor dived down like a missile with a fiery blue aura around her body.

"Mienfoo!" But Mienfoo wasn't going to let herself get hit by that move again. So when Staraptor got close enough, Mienfoo front flipped over Staraptor, juking the Predator Pokemon out.

"Star?"

"Foo!" With Mienfoo being above the Normal-Flying-Type, she smashed her paw onto Staraptor's back, landing Reversal for the first time. Reversal always gets stronger depending on how much damage the user has taken and that Brave Bird from before really powered it up.

"S-Staraptor!" Staraptor's eyes widened as she was smashed down on the ground by Mienfoo who had returned the favour to her. There was even a crater as well like the one Mienfoo had been formed in.

"Foo!" Mienfoo backflipped away as she looked at the large smoke cloud formed from her own impact.

"Yes! That's a sure-fire hit!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "And you learned Reversal too!"

"Mien!"

"She learned Reversal? Excellent!" Twilight clapped her hooves together.

But it wasn't over yet.

"Giga Impact!"

"Star!" Staraptor recovered from the ground at an alarmingly fast rate as her body became surrounded with invisible energy as she bolted forward with spiralling light yellow streaks around her.

"Here she comes! Use Reversal one more time!"

"Foo!" Both Pokemon rushed at each other with their strongest attacks. Mienfoo was going to put everything she had into this one attack as a sort of counter.

Mienfoo's paw connected with Staraptor's beak as the two moves collided. But only one of them was able to breakthrough.

And that was Staraptor, who easily charged through Reversal as she slammed into Mienfoo with great force, creating an explosion from the impact.

Rainbow Dash was almost blown back by the impact along with Gilda as Ash and Applejack held their hats, protecting them from the flowing wind.

Staraptor flew out of the smoke as she breathed in and out after using a move as powerful as Giga Impact. If Mienfoo withstood this, then she would get a free hit on Staraptor who needed to rest after using a move that powerful.

Luckily for Starptor, that didn't happen. The smoke cleared as Mienfoo had fainted.

"Foo..."

"Mienfoo is unable to battle! Staraptor wins! Which means the victor is Gilda!"

"That's how it's done," Gilda smirked as Staraptor flew back to her. "Awesome job, Star."

"Staraptor!" Staraptor and Gilda ended up bumping their talons together.

"Aw...!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "Just when I thought we had it." She flew over to the Martial Arts Pokemon picking her up.

"Mienfoo..."

"Mienfoo. Sorry that you've been kinda falling behind today. I'm gonna go my bad on that one."

"Foo." Mienfoo accepted that it wasn't Rainbow Dash's fault. It was her own since she insisted on taking on a Flying-Type which was a major disadvantage to her.

"But you learned, Reversal! Your first Fighting-Type move!" She hugged Mienfoo. "Now we've got something extra to work with!"

"Mien?!" Mienfoo wasn't a huge fan of hugs.

"Nice battle, Dash." Gilda and Staraptor came over. "Your Mienfoo kinda reminds me a bit of you."

"Yeah. She's pretty hot-headed, that's for sure." Rainbow Dash rubbed Mienfoo's head. "Aren't ya, Mienfoo?"

"Foo..." Mienfoo crossed her arms as her temper was rising.

"Seeing a battle always gets me pumped...Twilight, let's battle!" Ash exclaimed.

"Huh?!" Twilight jerked back. "No way! M-Maybe another time."

"Aw..." Ash sighed.

"Pikachu."

"All these battle skills are really gonna pay off when we get to the Equestria League. Right Staraptor?"

"Star!"

"Wait..." A frozen Rainbow Dash made a poker face. "Y-You're joining the Equestria League...?"

"Well, yeah. Other griffons are. Like we'd miss out on this chance."

"Staraptor."

"Oh no..." Rainbow Dash turned around. "I didn't even think about other species taking part! This is gonna make things tougher...but more awesome!"

"That's the spirit, Dash." Ash slid over, giving a thumbs up. "I kinda wish I could join it..." He lowered his head.

"When I catch some more Pokemon, I'll have a team that's all kinds of strong. That way nothing's gonna stop me at all." Gilda patted Staraptor on the back.

"Yeah well!" Rainbow Dash zoomed over. "You ain't seen nothing from my entire team yet! We're getting stronger together and we'll knock the socks off of anypony in our way!"

"We'll see," Gilda smirked. "We'll have another battle sometime, Dash!"

"You bet! And next time, I'm winning!" The two of them gave each other a hoof-to-claw shake like they always used to do. A new rivalry had been established.

With the revelation that other species are taking part in the Equestria, not just ponies, Rainbow Dash has even more reasons to train and get stronger.

Outskirts of Manehattan. 16:50

"There..." Luna's head popped out of a bush along with her sister and parents. Currently, they were on the search for a new Pokemon for Luna to catch. And to an extent, Eventide and Sunlight.

They had come across their first Pocket Monster in the form of a Karrablast.

"Karra. Karrablast." The Clamping Pokemon was waddling along the grass as Luna observed it. She already had a Poke Ball out and ready.

"Is sneaking up on the poor little thing the best option?" Sunlight asked. "Wouldn't it be better to just go up to it?"

"Probably...But!" Luna jumped out of the bush. "Some of them like to play hard to get!"

"Blast?!" The Bug-Type turned around, spotting Luna.

"Karrablast! You're mine!" Luna declared.

"Karra! Karrablast!" Karrablast knew that someone was going to try and catch it one day. And that day is now. So in order for Luna to prove herself, Karrablast was about to test Luna with a battle.

"Go! Gligar!" She sent out her Gligar to battle.

"Gli-Gli!"

"I still think the peaceful approach is the best option..." Sunlight pouted.

"Gligar! Acrobatics!"

"Gligar!" Gligar went first with his body glowing light-blue, as he quickly zipped through the air multiple times, moving so fast that he seems to leave behind two afterimages.

He was too fast for Karrablast to follow as the Clamping Pokemon had been smashed by Gilgar's claws at blinding speeds, dealing super-effective damage. "Blast!"

Karrablast went flying after being hit by Acrobatics, tumbling on the ground as Gligar ascended to the sky. Karrablast looked like it was in a good position for a catch.

"Here's my opportunity!" Luna raised the Poke Ball with her magic. "Go! Poke Ball!" By using her magic to launch the ball, Karrablast had been hit with the Poke Ball absorbing the Clamping Pokemon inside.

As the ball landed on the ground, it began to shake with the four alicorns leaning in to see the result.

1...2...3...Gotcha! Karrablast was caught.

"Hmph. Simple as that." Luna flew over, picking up the Poke Ball as she gained herself a new Pokemon. "Come on out now, Karrablast."

With Karrablast caught, she sent the Clamping Pokemon out of its PokeBall as Gligar descended to greet his new teammate.

"Karra?"

"Welcome to the team, Karrablast." Luna looked down at the Bug-Type. "It's wonderful to have you."

"Gligar!"

"Karra!" Karrablast was in for the ride. Luna outclassed it anyway with just one single hit from Gligar's Acrobatics. Plus, he knew this day was coming eventually so why not go along with it.

"She makes it seem so easy..." said Sunlight.

"Bahaha! That's our girl!" Eventide chuckled. "There's nothing she can't accomplish, I tell ya! Now! Let us do the same and find our own Pokemon, dear!"

"Where exactly?" Sunlight looked around the area, searching for some Pokemon.

"Oh, I should've mentioned," Celestia spoke. "From what we've found out, highly-populated areas don't exactly have that many Wild Pokemon nearby. It's usually the smaller areas such as Ponyville that have many Wild Pokemon near."

"Ah. So we're limited here..." Eventide sighed.

"Who cares about limitations?" Sunlight scoffed. "If there is a Pokemon nearby, we'll catch it."

"Karra. Karrablast." Karrablast went over to the alicorns, deciding to help them find a Pokemon to catch. "Blast."

"Garde?" Passion kneeled to face Karrablast.

"Karrablast. Karra." The Clamp Pokemon was giving Passion information so that she can pass it over to Celestia.

"Voir." Passion nodded in understanding. She stood up, using her telepathy to communicate with Celestia as she said these words. "Karrablast knows of an area where we can find more Pokemon, apparently."

"Really now? An area with more Pokemon, you say?" Celestia said. "Many thanks, Karrablast."

"Blast."

"How lucky." Sunlight puffed her cheeks. "Having telepathy with your own partner. Now, this just makes me want a Psychic-Type Pokemon first!"

"Lead the way then, Karrablast," Luna spoke.

"Karra!" Karrablast would be their guide to catching more Pocket Monsters. At least for Eventide and Sunlight, Luna was fine with the current capture she made today.

While they were following Karrablast, Celestia was thinking about how Adagio was doing back in Canterlot. She was obviously with her sisters now, but without Celestia herself being there, she feared that something horrible might be happening at the moment.

In truth, that wasn't the case.


Canterlot, The Pokemon Festival, 17:20.

The orange sunset was beaming across Equestria. Very soon the third day of the festival will end. But not until some more fun is had before some head to another location or just clock out for the night.

Although, one group has been doing the same thing over and over again since the first day and it had transitioned into the third day too.

Of course, they were the sirens. The three sisters who were still here in Canterlot. Adagio had been teaching her younger sisters to sing better since the first day and she has barely given them any rest besides night time.

"Mrrgh..." Sonata yawned as she rubbed her eye. "Adagio. Can we finish now?"

"We haven't even had the chance to enjoy most of the festival..." Aria laid on a bench. "And we've got like...how many days left?"

"You two want to get your expert singing back, don't you?" Adagio raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Sonata nodded slowly. "But my throat's sore..."

"Come on, Adagio. Can we at least enjoy the festival, please?" Aria groaned.

"Hm..." Adagio looked at her sisters, seeing that they were tuckered out and exhausted. "Do you two even have the energy to go on for the night?"

"Totally." Sonata grinned.

"Living in Ponyville with all the Pokemon shenanigans going on kinda gives you more energy," Aria explained. "We can go through the night, no problem."

"Alright. If you say so." Adagio chose their decision.

"Great!" Sonata jumped up as she grabbed both Aria and Adagio, dragging them close to her. "I've already got a lot of plans for us to do before the day ends!"

"Y-You're not dragging me into this are you?!" Adagio winced.

"Totally am! Isn't that right, Aria?"

"There is some pretty fun stuff here, Adagio. You should try it." Aria nodded.

"There is absolutely no way you're forcing me to take part in this festival."

"You forced us to practice singing. All's fair in love and war! Let's go!" With hyperactive speed, Sonata dragged her older sisters along for the sake of having fun together as a family.

Aria was up for it but Adagio not so much. But if it made her sisters happy, she would go along with it either way. Unfortunately, due to the day almost coming to an end, many of the attractions here were closed until tomorrow. So their options were very limited at the moment.

But there was one big attraction that only happens in the late afternoon and can be considered a lucky break for Pokemon trainers and their Pokemon.

A Pokemon massage parlour.

Free massages will be given out to trainers and their Pokemon, courtesy of the Pokemon Groomers who have many years of experience. Although they can get a bit painful out of nowhere it's scarce.

"Massages...?" Adagio raised an eyebrow. "That actually sounds a bit pleasing."

"I've always wanted a massage! Come out, you two." Sonata sent out her Buneary and Eevee.

"Bunear!"

"Eevee!"

"How about you get one too." Aria sent out her Popplio.

"Pop!"

"Not sure how it works on creatures with no fur but...Kricketot, you can have one too." Adagio offered Kricketot a massage.

"Krick!"

"Say, Adagio," Sonata spoke. "Where's that Pheromosa thing you had during the Canterlot Tournament? Aren't you gonna bring it out too?"

"That thing? No way." Adagio shook her head. "It's way too violent to keep out."

"But I thought you tamed it," Aria said. "So aren't you in charge?"

"Pssh. I wish. I never tamed Pheromosa in the first place."

"Huh?" Sonata jerked back. "Then...how did you command it?"

"It was caught by Ghetsis. If anything, he ended up taming it. And other Ultra Beasts that he's captured. That Pheromosa's only listening to me because Ghetsis said so."

"Oh..." Sonata nodded slowly. "About that...are you still working with that Ghetsis guy?"

"Yeah, Adagio." Aria followed. "You heard how dangerous he is, right? They keep saying that he's like Equestria's biggest threat or something. Totally pure evil."

"Duh. Of course, I know. He's not exactly secretive about it anyway." Adagio answered.

"But you're still working with him?" Sonata said.

"Huh?" Adagio grumbled as she looked to the side. "I stopped following him long ago."

"Really? When?" Sonata asked.

"It happened a few months ago. I ended up coming across Chrysalis..." Adagio began reminiscing about a fairly important point in time that she witnessed.


This happened weeks after Empress Twilight revealed the horrible truth about the sirens and how this terrifying fate only existed in her world and nowhere else and before her battle with Rarity.

Naturally, Adagio was very heartbroken and devastated by it. The young siren was clueless about what she could do now that she knows the truth.

She ended up wandering the land with low spirits. But during her travel, she ended up reaching the changeling hive which Adagio constantly tries to avoid but seems to always end up in by some strange coincidence.

"Ugh...here again?" Adagio sighed as she sat down on the ground. She was already tired and upset from all that walking so she figured rest was needed.

Through her mind, she could only think about what Empress Twilight revealed to her. Those words have now been ingrained in her head.

"The siren's unfortunate fate is only present here. If you were to look everywhere else, other versions of yourself do not share that fate."

"It's not fair..." Adagio whimpered. "Why is it only my world?" The thought of that devasted her. If all other Adagio's across different worlds can continue living their life without magic then what does that make this world's Adagio? Or even her sisters.

However, despite all of this, Adagio's stubborn nature was somehow a great positive. Because it allowed her to bounce back from something like this.

"Forget it!" Adagio stood up. "I'll keep on living like my other-selves. No matter what." A semi-confident Adagio wasn't about to let those words knock her down at all.

But, something else grabbed Adagio's attention other than Empress Twilight's words. She turned around as she noticed that something was off with the Changeling hive.

Usually, they're all rabid and making constant hissing noises that make Adagio want to smash her hoof through the ground itself.

But right now, most, if not all of them were in a silent state at the moment. In fact, they all looked like they were down in the dumps. Just as much as Adagio herself.

Many of the changelings were on the floor, feeling ill from what Adagio could tell. Perhaps they've come under some sickness that affects them all.

A curious Adagio walked deeper into the hive, wanting to know what was going on.

"Hey. What's going on here?" Adagio asked a changeling on the ground.

"Urgh..." The changeling groaned. "There..." He pointed his hoof north from here as he seemed to be in unbearable pain. This was more than just some sickness.

Adagio went North, seeing how each changeling was suffering from seemingly no reason whatsoever. But there might be a reason if Adagio finds it.

She saw how the changelings had this dark green aura around them. Very different from the usual green they're posses. Almost as if their magic was being corrupted in a way.

Adagio had never seen the changelings like this ever. Usually, they always have a mean look on their face like they're trying to pick a fight with someone. But not this time.

Eventually, going North led Adagio to where Chrysalis mainly resides. Her throne room. And entering the throne room, that same dark green glow was there.

But instead of it being small like how it is on the changelings, this glow was large. So large that it filled up the entire throne room to a point where it could be seen from outside.

"What...is this?" A confused Adagio looked around the throne room. What really caught her eye was the throne that Chrysalis sat on.

Chrysalis herself was the one emanating this powerful glow. She was the main source of it, unsurprisingly. But from how she had her head down, quietly whimpering with her ears dropped, it looked like she wasn't doing this on purpose.

"Chrysalis?" Adagio spoke.

Hearing Adagio made Chrysalis raise her head, spotting the siren who stood in front of her. "What do you want, Adagio Dazzle?"

"What's with all of this?" She raised her hoof, moving it across the room. "Your subjects are acting all weird because of this glow. Coming from you from what I can see."

"I see it. But I can't stop it..." She lowered her head back down.

"You can't? How come?"

"I don't know..." Chrysalis shook her head. "I've never experienced this before." She then looked at her hooves. "What is this feeling?"

"Magic you've never experienced before?" Adagio raised an eyebrow.

"I can't control it. No matter what I try the magic won't stop growing..." Chrysalis shuddered.

"When did this even happen?" Adagio was curious about when this glow occurred.

"...When?" Chrysalis thought back to how this all began. And her memories led her to a certain point in time. A fairly important one.

The day she had seen the true colours of Ghetsis. She remembered how Ghetsis essentially revealed that he was using them this entire time. Honestly, Ghetsis wasn't subtle about it since he's very straightforward with what he does. She remembered the words he said to her that left her truly terrified of Ghetsis.

"Listen here you...The only reason why I have kept you and your subjects around is that I find your ability to shapeshift slightly more useful than Ditto but less obvious than Zoroark. I do not care about your wellbeing or lives whatsoever. If I wanted to, I could destroy all of your subjects and you in a flash with my Hydreigon if I so willed it. Whatever happens to them is none of my concern. You should've known this from the very beginning."

After that one moment, when Ghetsis returned to Pyrestar's world, Chrysalis went over to the Pixie Plains where the Fairy Pokemon healed her subjects who were injured greatly by the Max Ooze from Team Plasma.

But more importantly, once her subjects were healed and she returned to her hive, one day later, that's when the glow began.

Overnight, Chrysalis couldn't sleep at all. The words of Ghetsis, much like the words of Empress Twilight had stuck to her, just like how the same had happened to Adagio before.

Knowing that at any point in time, Ghetsis can just dispose of Chrysalis and her subjects in an instant with his Hydreigon or any of his Pokemon really, terrified the changeling Queen.

She was already terrified of Ghetsis after trying to absorb his love but soon finding out that his love is highly toxic and essentially a hazard. But that moment just made it worse for Chrysalis.

Because of this, she couldn't sleep at all. And that's when the dark green glow occurred. Different from her usual magic, this mysterious magic had first appeared and spread across the changeling hive.

Ever since then, the changelings have been suffering from this horrible magic that was unidentified. But what they could tell was that it essentially acted as the opposite of how they feed on love. It was draining all the love they had instead.

With that, Chrysalis raised her head once more, realizing why this was happening. If Adagio hadn't asked, she would've taken longer to realize.

"...Ghetsis." Chrysalis gave her answer. "We're expendable to him."

"Ghetsis? Expendable?"

"I should've known. How could I not see that he will just toss us away when he's accomplished his goal?"

"Wait...Are you referring to just your changeling hive and you or-"

"I am referring to all of us, Adagio Dazzle. Including you. Don't you see? Ghetsis's goal, if he accomplishes it, he'll have no use for us. Our alliance is only temporary to him. And if we even go against him and Team Plasma..."

"Wait...do you mean he'll-" Adagio stepped back.

"Right. He'll destroy us. Every last one of us. He might even do it once he succeeds but..."

"That can't happen! What about my goal to-" But then, Adagio quickly realized that her goal was almost impossible after what Empress Twilight revealed to her. "Oh. Nevermind. But you're not going to let him control you are you? You can just break off the alliance easily."

"I could but...What if he comes after us? If we break off the alliance, will he see us as an enemy?" Fears were starting to swirl in Chrysalis thoughts. "Ghetsis is too powerful to betray." She shook her head. "Him and Team Plasma"

"Well, that-" Adagio couldn't argue against that. It was true. Ghetsis is on a league of his own. The only one who can compare to him is possibly Empress Twilight with the heaps of alicorn magic she has stolen.

If any of them even dared go against those two, there is a 100% chance they would be obliterated. The grunts of Team Plasma are powerful enough to destroy the changelings and Adagio along with Empress Twilight's overwhelming empire that she has at her disposal.

"I can't argue at that." Adagio stomped her hoof.

"It's best to just follow him, Adagio Dazzle. And nothing more. As long as he achieves his goal and we show no signs of betrayal, then perhaps we'll li-"

"No way!" Adagio exclaimed, startling Chrysalis. "I'm not gonna forever follow that guy, are you crazy?! And why should you? If he sees us as trash waiting to be thrown out after he succeeds then there's no way I'm listening to him."

"Adagio?"

"So what? He's not even from our world in the first place. I'm already separating myself from this alliance because of this. And I'll do things on my own and-"

Adagio couldn't finish her sentence since she was slowly starting to realize that at this point, she was reaching the lowest point in her life.

Being defeated constantly by Twilight and her friends, learning the truth about her fate, the approaching and inevitable doom of her sisters and the lurking threat of Ghetsis who could wipe her out made Adagio feel weaker than she has ever been. All she could do now was continue feeding on negativity.

But strangely enough, the negativity coming from Chrysalis and the changelings weren't suitable for Adagio at all as she rejected it.

"Oh...who am I kidding?" Adagio sighed.

"If you wish to absorb all of our negativity, go ahead. It might be enough to give you all the magic you need."

Adagio raised her amulet, looking at it. It wasn't absorbing the negative vibes at all. Adagio then took a moment to look at Chrysalis who was scared of what Ghetsis could do to them all.

If Ghetsis does decide to destroy them all, there is no chance of them surviving due to Ghetsis's ruthless and cruel nature. One that has never been seen before throughout Equestria.

For once, Adagio saw true emotion flow through Chrysalis. She could feel genuine fear from her. And for the first time, Adagio felt empathy for her.

At this moment, she and Chrysalis were on the same wavelength together. She understood Chrysalis fears. The fear of her and her changelings perishing. Adagio experienced something similar. The loss of her entire species when she and her sisters were still young.

"Good luck," Adagio said. Those were her last words to Chrysalis before deciding to leave the hive. There was nothing she could do about this at all. Chrysalis's dark green magic would continue harming every changeling here.

That is until Kricketot jumped out of Adagio's mane all of a sudden. "Tot."

"Hm? Kricketot?" Adagio looked down at her partner.

"Tot. Kricketot." Kricketot much like most Pokemon, have a powerful sense of compassion for others. Usually, the smaller Pokemon seem to be the ones willing to help others.

The Cricket Pokemon went up to Chrysalis with the music device in his hands, still to this very day. Chrysalis watched the Bug-Type come up to her as she wondered what Kricketot was up to.

"Kricketot." Kricketot decided to cheer Chrysalis up by putting the music device up to her face. She was able to hear the music coming from the device for the first time. AKA, the same song that has been playing for a year now. But it was catchy.

Chrysalis listened to this song as she saw Kricketot get on top of her head, bobbing back and forth. The song Under our Spell reminded Chrysalis of how she put Shining Armor into a spell herself. It was bringing back somewhat nostalgic memories.

Plus, the lyrics were obviously manipulative which Chrysalis very much enjoyed. So much so that she smiled from the song, also bobbing her head back and forth. A song about manipulating and controlling others was her interest.

"Hm." Chrysalis smiled a bit. "This song is a bit catchy...This is your voice, Adagio?"

"It was a one time song." Adagio scoffed. "A song that he won't stop playing...Where's the off button on this thing?" Adagio went over to Chrysalis and Kricketot.

"Kricke!"

"Come on, Kricketot. Let's go." Adagio grabbed the Cricket Pokemon.

But before they left, Kricketot did one final thing. He decided to give up his music device, lending it to Chrysalis instead. "Tot."

"Hm?" Chrysalis looked down at the device. "You're giving this to me?"

"Kricketot." Kricketot nodded. He was insisting that she kept it so that Chrysalis and the entire hive could hear it.

"You're seriously giving this up?" Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Of all times?"

"Krick!"

"Well, thank you, I suppose." Chrysalis took the device.

"Well. I'll somewhat miss listening to that sound. Alright, Kricketot. We're leaving now."

"Tot!" The Kricket Pokemon hopped back into Adagio's mane as the two of them finally made their leave. They left the hive but not without leaving something behind for Chrysalis.

Even if it was somewhat small and insignificant to Chrysalis, being gifted something by someone is a new experience. It made her feel a bit grateful even. Being given something to cheer herself up is definitely new to her.

Because of this, the dark green glow around Chrysalis was starting to diminish. It had shrunk, retracting back into Chrysalis's body as the changelings lost the dark green glow as well. They no longer felt that horrible pain because of its disappearance. Nothing was draining them anymore thankfully.

Adagio looked around to see that the glow had just up and vanished with the changelings being back to normal and healthy once more.

"Hm. Odd." She said as she kept on walking.

But Chrysalis didn't find it odd at all. This small experience with Kricketot and even that one moment with the Fairy-Type Pokemon in the Pixie Plains had given Chrysalis the realization that there are those out there who will show her compassion despite being a changeling. This made Chrysalis have polarizing thoughts as all she could think about was the future and nothing more.


"So yeah. I'm not working with a guy that dangerous." Adagio shook her head.

"Good on ya, sis" Sonata hugged Adagio. "I knew you were smart enough to know that!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Adagio growled, shoving Sonata off.

"Well, it's great that you're not following him anymore," Aria said. "But what about that Chrysalis lady?"

"Her? No clue what she's doing right now. And I don't really care. I'm just wandering the world right now."

"Oh! Are you like an adventurer?!" Sonata squeed.

"Sure. Whatever." Adagio shrugged. "But...I am kinda worried a bit about something..."

"About what?" Both Sonata and Aria asked.

"Ghetsis, of course. He's definitely gonna find out about my departure from that alliance of his. I could be in hot water right now. Real hot water."

"Don't say that!" Sonata screeched. "You're away from that guy now aren't you?"

"Yeah, but he's still a big threat, duh." Adagio knocked Sonata on the head. "If he wanted to, he could destroy me on the spot, weren't you paying attention? He might come after me or enslave all of us if he succeeds in his goal."

"That's not going to happen." Aria shook her head. "Ash and everyone won't let that happen, no matter what."

"Mhm!" Sonata nodded.

"You two...Do you really trust them that much? These humans and ponies?"

"Sure do. They're not as bad as we thought them to be, ya know." Aria walked up to Adagio. "I thought that all ponies were the same until well...we came to Ponyville for the first time."

"They're really great to be around. Especially when you have a Pokemon with you!" Sonata picked up her Pokemon.

"Vee!"

"Bun!"

"Yeah...I guess you'd think that." Adagio sighed. "Let's just get this massage already. I'm getting tired of feeling moody right about now."

And so they went off to get a massage to cool themselves off. Especially Adagio. With what she had told her sisters, Adagio herself was fearing what Ghetsis might end up doing in the future.

If he succeeds, then there is a strong chance that he'll enslave Adagio and her sisters as well. A very strong chance. For now, Adagio was being more cautious than she's ever been. Not only that but Chrysalis was here and in disguise.

Manehattan. 00:00

Midnight has arrived. Meaning the fourth day is here. And right on time. The festival calmed down during this time but it was still active with many ponies still being up and awake.

One of them being Rarity who was at the moment enjoying some midnight delicacies with her Pokemon alongside her little sister, Sweetie Belle and her own Pokemon.

"Ampha." Ampharos dug his face into some Spicy Pasta Curry, getting his face all dirty with stew. "Pharos?"

"Oh, Ampharos. Try moving your face gently instead." Rarity used her magic to grab a tissue, cleaning Ampharos's face. "You too, Sweetie Belle."

"Hm?" Sweetie Belle looked up as her face was covered with curry as well. "Sorry!"

"Piplup." Her Piplup helped clean off her face of the curry.

"Thanks, Piplup." Sweetie Belle patted Piplup on the head. "Say. Where are we headed next, Rarity?"

"Next? Not too sure honestly. I haven't really discussed our next destination with my friends. Perhaps maybe...Las Pegasus probably?"

"Oooh..." Sweetie Belle gawked. "Can we go there?! It sounds so much fun!" She squeed.

"Hm..." Rarity thought for a moment. "I suppose so. I'll have to tell the others I'll be separating from them. Would you like to bring your friends along too?"

"Sure if they want to." Sweetie Belle picked up Espurr. "I wonder if there's a Pokemon Contest there too."

"Pheromosa..." Pheromosa yawned as she was feeling tired herself, laying on her back. Leavanny helped make a string blanket to keep her warm and cosy, thankfully.

Most of Rarity's Pokemon were feeling tired, especially after eating a midnight meal. Sweetie Belle's Teddiursa had already fallen asleep on one of the many Leavanny's laps.

Over at the corner of her eye, Rarity noticed a familiar face who would obviously be here in Manehattan. None other than her friend Coco Pommel and her loyal Glaceon.

"Coco!" Rarity called out for her.

"Hm?" Coco had been alerted, turning around to face her friend from Ponyville. "Oh, hello, Rarity."

"Glaceon!" Glaceon rushed over to them with Coco just casually walking.

"I would've thought you were asleep at this time, Coco dear."

"Oh, yes." Coco nodded. "But Glaceon enjoys the midnight because of the chill it brings. So recently, I take her out for midnight strolls."

"Ceon!"

"Oh! A Glaceon!" Sweetie Belle dashed over.

"Sweetie Belle. This is my friend from Manehattan that I had mentioned. Coco Pommel. And her Glaceon, of course."

"Oh. So, you're Rarity's little sister that she mentioned?" Coco looked down at Sweetie Belle. "Nice to meet you, Sweetie Belle."

"Hi-Hi!" Sweetie Belle greeted.

"Are you enjoying Manehattan's attractions so far?" Coco asked.

"Yes. But unfortunately, we'll be heading off to another location once morning arrives." Rarity answered. "But so far, everything here has been enjoyable. Actually, I'd say the entire festival has been enjoyable. Much like last year."

"Sure is!" Sweetie Belle nodded aggressively.

"Oh, about that. I was wondering...if I ever bumped into you here, I'd be able to ask you something, Rarity."

"Hm? Yes, what is it?"

"If you're going all over Equestria for the Pokemon Festival, do you think Glaceon and I could tag along maybe?"

"Tagalong?" Rarity shot up.

"Oh yes! It'd be nice to spend time at the festival with more friends if that's okay with you. Um, I hope I won't be a bother to you though."

"Oh, ridiculous. You won't be a bother at all, Coco. If you wish to tag along with us then sure. Nothing is stopping you after all. More friends are a pleasure anyway."

"So I can really come along?" Coco had a wide smile on her face. "Yes! I can't wait! But um...will we run into danger? I mean, I know that things tend to get hazardous on your adventures with your friends."

"No need to worry. If anypony threatens you and Glaceon, My Pokemon and I will make sure they get an absolute thrashing!"

"Ampharos!"

"Leavan!"

"That's great. But where are we going in the morning?" Coco asked.

"Ah. Well, we've decided on Las Pegasus next." Rarity answered.

"Las Pegasus?!" Coco's eyes widened as she let out a fairly long gasp. "What a place to be!" She pranced on the spot. "It's so flashy and extravagant but too exciting to pass up!"

"Las Pegasus it is." Rarity nodded. "Come Coco. Sit with us." She tapped her hoof on the bench.

As Coco came over, she had a lot of things to say to Rarity until the morning. "So I heard you have a second boutique over at the Pokemon World, right?"

"Mhm. Lumiose City. I should actually check up on all of them more often. If you want I could-" They continued to chat the night away as Sweetie Belle ended up falling asleep on top of Glaceon.

Only 6 minutes into midnight. That was a clear indication that the fourth day would be slower than the rest and possibly the upcoming days as well. This festival is most likely going to burn them all out in more ways than one.


Canterlot. 00:17

Over at the guest rooms, the three siren sisters had already gone to sleep long ago after having a very comfortable massage.

They haven't slept together for months now so this was a nostalgic feeling to each of them. And the positions were still the same always. With Sonata's hoof hitting Aria's face, snoring obnoxiously and Aria's tail over Adagio's face, they slept chaotically.

Like sisters.

Their Pokemon also slept on top of them, seeing their trainers as the best form of pillows there are.

Total silence is all they needed together. Despite their positions, they could sleep surprisingly easy since they've gotten used to this over the years.

Although, there is one difference. Due to Adagio being separated from her sister for a while now, her sleep schedule has been altered drastically.

To a point where she has essentially become nocturnal along with her Kricketot. She only managed to sleep for 3 hours at maximum. But for now, she was enjoying her sleep with her sisters.

At least, that was the case, until a very familiar green glow shined through the room, prompting Adagio to wake up. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Aria's tail covering her face.

"Mrrgh..." Adagio grumbled as she flipped Aria's tail off, focusing on the green light. From first glance, she could tell that this glow belonged to Chrysalis, of course. "Chrysalis?"

Indeed, Chrysalis was here. After all, she did disguise herself as a random pony just to sneak into the festival. But she wasn't here to cause trouble for once. She was here for something bigger.

She came out of the shadows, letting down her green glow as she transformed back into her normal form. "Good. You're awake."

"You're here of all times?" Adagio rubbed her eye. "You'd better not be trying to ruin this for me..."

"I'm not here for that. I'm here for something. Something that can benefit both of us?"

"What?" Adagio teleported out of the bed and in front of Chrysalis. "What do you mean?"

"When you were at my hive, I told you that Ghetsis was too powerful to betray. Him and Team Plasma."

"Yes, I remember. What of it?"

"Well...I believe I may have found a solution to our little problem. This solution can help us against Ghetsis. Most likely?"

"...Huh." Adagio narrowed her eyes. "You've come with a spell to deal with this?"

"Not exactly a spell that can defeat Ghetsis. No-no." Chrysalis shook her head. "It involves Empress Twilight mostly."

"Her?" Adagio pulled back. "She's just as dangerous and-"

"I know." Chrysalis interrupted. "She has countless amounts of alicorn magic within her that she has stolen. Perhaps she may be the strongest alicorn there is. But...that is exactly why we need her."

"We're going to make her turn on Ghetsis? Won't she do that herself?" Adagio raised an eyebrow.

"Correction. We're going to steal her magic."

"...Oh." Adagio's eyes widened. Hearing that idea sparked some energy within her. "Oh, that might actually work now that I think about it. Urgh! But the jar that siphons magic is back in the parallel world with Sunset Shimmer!"

"We won't need some pathetic jar for this. All we need is-" Chrysalis paused for a moment. "Did you say it siphons up magic?"

"Sure does." Adagio nodded. "Just open it and the jar will do all the hard work for you. But I lost it in the other world." Adagio stomped her hoof.

"Hm..." Chrysalis took that in mind. "Well...We'll keep that jar in mind. Just for backup."

"I can just sneak over and get it now. But what's your original plan anyway? Gonna use a spell to absorb her magic probably?"

"Are you insane? Her magic is on a completely different level. She'd overwhelm me with ease. I could only dream of casually absorbing her magic right in front of her. Instead, we'll take a different approach."

"Alright, I'm listening."

"Excellent. Now, this plan isn't fully complete. It only has an end goal but everything else is a vague void that needs to be filled. So here is what we could do."

Chrysalis began explaining the plan, or at least, the end goal, to Adagio while the others were somehow still asleep during all of this chatter. Although, Aria's ears were picking up on the noise.

Aria opened up her eye to see Adagio speaking with Chrysalis. She made sure not to make a single sound as she stayed in one position, keeping one eye open.

Her ears were able to tell that Adagio and Chrysalis were forming a plan. However, Aria was surprised to hear that it was a plan involving defeating Empress Twilight and Ghetsis both.

Hearing this made Aria a bit relieved that her sister was aiming at taking a greater evil out. But alongside Chrysalis was still a red flag since she couldn't really trust her at all.

"Sounds risky but...it's not impossible." Adagio shook her head. "I'll make sure to get the jar as soon as I can."

That's when Aria heard words that gave her a clear insight on what is coming in the near future as these words came out of Chrysalis's mouth.

"Good. Remember. Empress Twilight will invade this world in 2 months as part of her endless conquest. We need to be ready for when that day comes."

An invasion was clearly coming as Aria's eyes widened. She knew it would happen but not in 2 months. Not at all.

"The plan isn't perfect. Not at all." Chrysalis shook her head. "It may change over time. But the end goal is still the same. She and Ghetsis are too dangerous to roam in our world."

"Tell me about it..." Adagio scoffed. "Just leave the magic stealing to me. That jar will suck it all up in seconds."

"I hope so. I'll be waiting for that day, Adagio Dazzle. In the meantime, stay cautious." Chrysalis said her last words as she used her magic to transform into a random pony. She left the guest room without acting too suspicious to anypony.

"I'd best get going then." Adagio was planning on heading to the other world to retrieve the jar. That was her main priority and her greatest asset.

She believed that she would leave this room and world without being noticed but in truth, Aria noticed for sure as she kept her eye open the entire time.

Adagio exited the room, prompting Aria to get off the bed, planning on going after her. But before she did so, she looked back at Sonata who was fast asleep, hugging her Buneary as they both grumbled.

She knew that hiding something important from her sister was never a wise decision. So Aria decided to wake her younger sister up by nudging her.

"Sonata...Sonata. Wake up."

"Mmm...Aah..." Sonata wriggled in her bed. "Tacos..."

"Ugh." Aria groaned. She had alternatives to waking Sonata up.

One alternative involved Aria's Popplio which always worked. She picked up her Popplio, squeezing the Sea Lion Pokemon's tail which prompted Popplio to wake up.

"Pop!" Popplio's eyes widened as she instinctively sprayed water on Sonata and her Pokemon.

"A-AH!" Sonata screamed alongside her Pokemon. She was now awake due to the cold water over her. "I'm awake..."

"Good. We're getting a move on now."

"What? Why?" Sonata groaned.

"It's Adagio. She's heading to the other world."

"Right now? Is she leaving us?! But I thought she was going to stay behind and-"

"I'll explain everything along the way." Aria grabbed Sonata as she didn't want to lag behind. Her Pokemon jumped off the bed, wondering what on earth was going on right now.

If they don't catch up to Adagio, they could lose her in the human world. Adagio herself was unaware of her sisters following her at all. She was only focused on getting to the portal and finding the jar which was in the custody of Sunset Shimmer.

The room that held the mirror portal was locked but it was no problem for Adagio since she can just use her magic to open it up.

But it wasn't just Aria and Sonata following their big sister. Darkrai was lurking in the shadows, spying on all of them. He was already cautious of Adagio from the beginning as he had been watching her every moment when she entered the castle into the guest room.

He was essentially Equestria's greatest night watch. Alongside another pony who is always awake at night. That pony was none other than Queen Pyrestar, who was eyeing their movements down.

Adagio used her magic to open the locked door, unlocking it and granting her access to the room. Aria and Sonata hid behind a wall, making sure that Adagio wouldn't notice them.

She did in fact turn around, thinking that the coast was clear since nopony else was in sight. At least, that's what she thought. With the door open, she entered the room with her sisters quietly following her.

Adagio was ready to return to the human world. The same world where her magic had disappeared in the first place. In fact, this was the one world Adagio hated the most since that is where everything started going downhill for her.

But that didn't matter right now. She took a deep breath, looking over at the mirror in front of her. With Kricketot waking up, noticing that the background was different, Adagio entered the portal with her body vanishing once she passed through. She was no longer in this world anymore.

"A portal?" Sonata gasped. "Where does it even go?"

"I think...it leads to the human world. The same world where we lost our magic." Aria answered.

"That world?!" Sonata screeched before shoving her hoof in her own mouth. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

"So do I. But Adagio's up to something. We can't ignore it. Let's go." Aria went ahead with Sonata shaking in fear. The two of them pursued their sister as this would be their first time passing through the portal instead of how they originally ended up in the human world in the first place.

Darkrai watched from the shadows as he observed everything occur. He was tempted to go after them by passing through the portal. He knew that if he did, he would be leaving this world behind unguarded. But he was willing to take the risk.

Once Aria, Sonata and their Pokemon passed through, Darkrai did the same by emerging from the shadows. He didn't have the opportunity to tell Luna but she was far away from here and there was no time at all.


Canterlot High. Night.

Just like its parallel world, this world is undergoing its midnight phase. Mostly everyone here was asleep with a few of them being awake with their lights on.

Adagio set foot onto the grass as she shuddered, resenting that she was back in this world she despised so much. She was back as a human yet again.

"Ugh..." She winced. "Everything about this place..." She quickly slapped herself. "Focus. I just need to find Sunset Shimmer's home and get the jar back. That's all."

"Kricke?" The Cricket Pokemon popped out of Adagio's hair.

"Go back to sleep, Kricketot. This doesn't concern you."

"Tot..." The Kricketot Pokemon sunk back into Adagio's large hair, going back to sleep.

"Where does she even live...?" That was one major issue. Adagio doesn't exactly know where Sunset Shimmer's home is. At all.

Even though Adagio has been here before with her sisters as they were trapped here until the Rift brought them back to Equestria, she only knew a few places in this entire area. Canterlot high being the biggest of them all.

Everything else was a mystery. But, Adagio figured that Sunset Shimmer's home couldn't be too far if she could make it to school. Sunset's home was actually located in an urban neighbourhood in this world's Canterlot. Which was just a suburban city at the end of the day.

It could be a long trip, but Adagio was willing to take it. She was hoping that she could return to her own world, back in the guest room before Aria and Sonata notice that she's gone.

But they already knew.

As Adagio started making her way to the suburban city, Aria and Sonata had come through the portal. Just like their big sister, they were in their human forms once more after so long.

"W-Woah..!" Sonata felt wobbly as she was trying to remember how to walk with these types of legs while Aria figured it out since it hasn't really been that long to her. "I miss hooves already."

"Gonna have to get used to this again. Let's get a move on." Aria helped Sonata up from the ground. The two of them would have to be stealthy in all of this as they returned their Pokemon to their Poke Balls.

Adagio was still clueless about her sisters following her here. Even Kricketot hadn't noticed at all. But, Aria and Sonata themselves weren't aware that another had passed through the portal after them.

Darkrai.

This was his first time being here but that didn't matter to him. He's used to appearing in odd places, even before the worlds crossed over. Even in this brand new world, the shadows were completely under his control as he submerged in them, blending with the night.

There were now three objectives from different groups.

Adagio, who is currently searching for Sunset Shimmer to retrieve the jar. Aria and Sonata pursuing their older sister. And Darkrai who was pursuing all of them at once.

Truly, the 4th day was going to be a long one. And the night wasn't even close to ending.


Sunset Shimmer's home. 2:15.

Fast asleep and in peace. Sunset Shimmer was in a state of relaxation. Nothing could ruin this serene and cosy silence. Sunset actually sleeps with her Pokemon, much like the Dazzlings.

She held her Litleo tight, Fletchinder rested on her head and Braxien hugged Sunset from behind. Before the worlds crossed over, Sunset used to live alone. But with her Pokemon, she essentially had a family with her at all times now. A wonderful feeling that Sunset was missing from her life.

But unbeknownst to Sunset Shimmer, her night was about to be interrupted without any warning whatsoever from an unexpected return of an old foe.

It took 2 hours, but Adagio had finally found Sunset Shimmer's home after walking through the suburbs of Canterlot during the cold night.

Adagio stood outside with her face looking through the window, spotting Sunset sleeping up at her bed which was always high up.

"Finally," Adagio spoke. "Let's get this over with."

The plan was simple. Sneak into Sunset Shimmer's home, retrieve the jar, high-tail it out of this world and mission accomplished.

Disappointingly, Adagio knew that the simple plans always somehow in someway end up wayward and wild. They always do. So she was going to play this extra carefully.

Opening the door to Sunset Shimmer's home was just the first step. She held her hand out as a golden glow of magic emanated from her hand, circling the door handle.

Meanwhile, Aria and Sonata had caught up to their older sister as they were hiding behind the buildings from across the street, peeking over at Adagio as they saw her use magic.

"So...that's the house..." Aria scrunched her eyes.

"W-Why? What's in that house?" Sonata whispered.

"My guess is this is where Sunset Shimmer lives. And if she's there that jar must be there as well."

"Oooh..." Sonata nodded. "But should we breaking in someone's home."

"If she's doing it then we'll do it too." Aria watched Adagio enter the house as she and Sonata crept over, making sure not to make any sudden sounds.

All the while, Darkrai was moving through the shadows, already catching up to them with ease.

Adagio had finally entered Sunset Shimmer's home for the first time. She made sure her footsteps were silent and practically non-existent.

The lights were off, giving this room total and complete darkness. Adagio heard the sounds of Pokemon snoring as she looked up to see Sunset resting with her partners.

"Where's that jar...?" Searching for the jar would be a large task on its own. It could be anywhere in this house. So Adagio got searching.

She started by searching Sunset Shimmer's overly-sized wardrobe that she had. She opened it up, only to find clothes and nothing more. No one is obviously putting a magical siphoning jar inside of here. It's too spacious after all.

Adagio gently closed the wardrobe as she continued searching. Sunset's table with her computer and spears, her drawers, cabinets, none of them had the jar anywhere.

Adagio decided to try and search in the cardboard boxes laid out across her room. Perhaps they have the jar inside. Adagio used her magic to bring the cardboard boxes over, opening them up and taking a look inside. But they were just more clothes and trinkets.

"Come on..." Adagio growled as she was getting a bit frustrated. She dug her hand into the plants themselves, getting soil on her hands. But as she dug in, no jar was found.

She looked behind the TV, but nothing there. Her options were very limited right now. Sunset Shimmer didn't exactly have the largest house. In fact, it was somewhat small in comparison to everywhere else.

Eventually, Adagio's movements were enough to alert Litleo who was the first to hear random noise echo throughout the house.

"Lit...Leo?" The Lion Cub Pokemon sat up, rubbing its ears and eyes with its paw.

The first thing he saw was the sight of Adagio Dazzle rummaging through Sunset Shimmer's home. Naturally, this put him on high alert.

"Leo! Litleo!" The Fire-Normal-Type roared.

That roar startled Adagio who quickly turned around, spotting Litleo being awake. "No...Not now...! Shut up..! Shut up...!"

And that prompted Sunset Shimmer herself to wake up. Litleo's roaring made her jump out of the bed instead of a normal and slow waking-up sequence.

"Urgh...What is it Litleo?" Sunset grumbled with her hair being an absolute mess.

"Leo! Leo!"

Litleo drove Sunset Shimmer's attention to the intruder of the night, Adagio. Those eyes locked on to her immediately. It took a while for Sunset to process who she was seeing since she had just woken up from all that roaring.

But eventually, in a short amount of time, Sunset recognized it was Adagio Dazzle herself. And of course, her reaction was as followed.

"Adagio?!" She bellowed with her pupils expanding and her jaw-dropping.

"Stupid lion..." Adagio growled.

"You!" Sunset hopped off her bed. "What are you doing here?!"

"None of your business!" Adagio scoffed.

"It is my business...Cause it's my house!"

"Litleo!"

"Alright fine. I guess I can tell you since you know where it is. I need that jar. Give back what is rightfully mine." Adagio answered.

"The magic siphoning jar? Yeah, right. As if I'd let you have that back. You've got a lot of nerve coming here and causing a ruckus." Sunset's hands were starting to glow with magic.

"Ugh." Adagio winced. "This is what I was hoping I'd end up avoiding..." Her arms started to glow with magic as well as she knew this was going south rapidly.

Retrieving the jar is going to be a lot harder than was to be expected. With Sunset Shimmer awake, Adagio is in a rough spot right about now. Her sisters quietly watch as Darkrai observes from the shadows themselves.

Sunset Shimmer's home. 2:21.

Currently, a standoff was taking place.

Between Adagio Dazzle and Sunset Shimmer. Adagio came here searching for the jar that siphons magic and unfortunately, Litleo had woken up, alerting Sunset about Adagio's presence and how she has intruded.

Naturally, this sparked up some conflict. The two of them are not fond of each other at all. There's a high possibility that Adagio's hate for Sunset is on par with her hate for Twilight. Possibly.

"You tell me where the jar is and we don't have to do this," Adagio spoke.

"No way. I know how powerful you can become with that." Sunset responded.

"Litleo!"

"Tch. It'd be so wonderful to have all that magic pouring in me...but that's not why I'm here for it."

"Whatever the reason is, I know it can't be good!" Sunset raised her arm, ready to blast Adagio with her magic as Adagio did the same.

Aria and Sonata noticed that this could get ugly fast if someone doesn't stop this. Plus, the house is very small and condensed so the destruction won't be pretty. And if the house is destroyed, there's a good chance the jar itself will be obliterated in the chaos. Wherever it may be.

"Wait!" Aria rushed in as she had the instinct to stop this. She ran in between Adagio and Sunset, sliding on the floor as she almost tripped over.

"Aria?" Adagio gasped as she let her magic down instinctively so that she doesn't harm her own sister.

"Huh?" Sunset raised an eyebrow.

"Don't fire!" Aria put her arms out to both of them.

"What are you doing here?!" Adagio exclaimed. "Did you follow me here?!"

"Uh...no!" Sonata spoke. Now her presence was known by Adagio and Sunset. "We didn't! We uh...got here before you, yeah!" She grinned.

"You two..." Adagio facepalmed. "Stay out of this! This doesn't concern you two!"

"It totally does!" Aria went up to Adagio. "I heard you back at the guest room. You were with Chrysalis, speaking about a plan, weren't you?"

"So you heard everything back there?"

"Sure did. You want to siphon up Empress Twilight's magic, don't you? That's why you need the jar."

"Empress Twilight?" Sunset tilted her head.

"Okay, sure you figured it out. But you shouldn't be here." Adagio poked Aria. "And if you heard us speak back there, you should also know that this is way too dangerous for you two to get involved!"

"I don't care!" Aria whacked Adagio's hand away. "It's a danger to you as well! This is Empress Twilight and Ghetsis we're talking about here. The same ones who you said could wipe us out with ease?"

"I know I said that!" Adagio snapped back at Aria. "That's why I'm going through with this plan! It's the only possible way we can prevent what's coming soon!"

"Wait? What's coming soon?" Sonata scratched her hair.

"An invasion," Aria answered. "In 2 months, Empress Twilight will come to our world and add it to her many world's that she's conquered. Isn't that right, Adagio."

"Hmph. Guess you really did hear everything." Adagio scoffed.

"Uh..." Sunset paused. "H-Hold on a sec. Invasion? 2 months? Empress Twilight? W-What are you talking about?"

"Leo?"

"This is a larger than life threat you're going against, Adagio. Let us help you." Aria put her hands on Adagio's shoulders. "Cause there's no way you and the changelings are gonna stand a chance, let's face it."

"I know that..." Adagio groaned. "But-"

"We're your sisters, ya know. We always stick together and help each other out at the end of the day." Aria reassured.

"Yeah!" Sonata slid in. "Even if we haven't been hanging out as much recently." She squeed.

"You two...You don't even have any magic left." Adagio shook her head. If you get involved in any way, I won't be strong enough to save you two."

"Uhh...she's actually got a point there." Sonata nodded. "We don't have any magic left, Aria."

"Even if we don't have magic, we can still help you. In any way, we can." Aria's eyes did all the real talking. She's certainly a different siren when she's not her cynical self.

"Mmmm..." Adagio growled. She knew that Aria was just as stubborn as her in many ways. Saying no is futile since Aria will most likely involve herself either way. "Fine. Just make sure you never make direct contact with Ghetsis and Empress Twilight, got it?"

"We're not that dumb," Aria smirked.

"Yeah! Wait-" Sonata paused.

"Hold on a second!" Sunset shouted, grabbing their attention as she had some questions that needed to be answered. "What are you three on about? What's this about an invasion? When did Twilight become an Empress?!"

"...Should we tell her?" Aria nudged Adagio.

"I don't know. Should we?" Adagio narrowed her eyes at Sunset.

"There's a Twilight Sparkle from another universe who's working with this Ghetsis guy and they're gonna invade our world like they did with every other world in just 2 months!" Sonata ended up spilling everything to Sunset which made Adagio and Aria facepalm.

"...Huh?" Sunset was a bit perplexed. But she was able to process it all. "You're joking...right? You're just trying to catch me off guard aren't you?"

"They're not joking at all." A voice replied to Sunset. Of course, the final member who had passed through the portal when he spotted Adagio and the others sneaking towards it.

Darkrai, of course.

He emerged from the shadows, startling everyone inside of the house as they all fell on their back, looking up at the Pitch Black Pokemon who towered over them.

"Darkrai?!" The three sisters exclaimed.

"W-W-W-What is that?!" Sunset Shimmer was freaking over the sight of Darkrai. But, priorities came first as she pulled out her Pokedex, raising it to scan Darkrai.

"Darkrai. The Pitch Black Pokemon. It can lull people to sleep and make them dream. It is active during nights of the new moon. Folklore has it that on moonless nights, this Pokémon will make people see horrific nightmares. To protect itself, it afflicts those around it with nightmares. However, it means no harm."

"Darkrai...Is this the Pokemon that Princess Luna owns?" Sunset gawked.

"Oh, you tagged along with us as well?!" Sonata stood up, dashing over to the Pitch Black Pokemon.

"You could say that," Darkrai replied. "Anyway. Sunset Shimmer. What they're saying is true. Every last bit of it."

"I-It is...?" Sunset stuttered. "There's really an invasion coming to Equestria?!"

"Oh yeah!" Sonata nodded. "Straight from the comics."

"Empress Twilight could take over our world in...I don't know a few seconds maybe?" Adagio shrugged. "From what I can tell, she's the strongest alicorn in existence by a mile."

"And she's working alongside Ghetsis. You know of him, don't you?" Darkrai questioned.

"I heard words about him when coming to Manehattan as a Gym Leader. He injured Princess Celestia greatly that it almost ended her life and he conquered Saddle Arabia right?"

"Right you are on that. With him and Empress Twilight joining forces as one large alliance-" Darkrai was about to finish his sentence.

"Then we're all done for." Sonata finished it for him.

"Get it now? I...we need that jar." Adagio held her hand out. "If we're gonna stop an alicorn that powerful, the strongest alicorn from what I can tell, we need the jar to siphon up her magic. All of it."

"How do I know you're not gonna keep all of her magic for yourself once you siphon it all up?" Sunset was still cautious about Adagio and even her sisters.

"No way." Adagio crossed her arms. "That's too much power, even for me to handle. We're keeping it locked up in that jar forever."

"Okay..." Sunset said slowly, still a bit cautious. "But, if that's the case, then I'll be there as well."

"Hm?" They all collectively said.

"Even if I've chosen to live in the human world, Equestria is still my home at the end of the day. I can't let anyone just come over and invade it for some conquering nonsense. I'm sticking with you Adagio, just in case you don't try anything funny."

"Tch. I don't need your company." Adagio scoffed.

"Don't you have like school stuff here? That principal Celestia's gonna be pretty ticked off if she finds out you aren't showing up." Sonata chuckled.

"She'll understand. I'll get the jar now." Sunset went over to her bed as she was about to reveal where she hid the jar. By climbing up her bed, Sunset dug her hand into Braixen's tail which made the Fox Pokemon giggle in her sleep.

"Braixen..."

Sunset then pulled the jar out of Braixen's tail, holding it high.

"Huh." Adagio's eyes widened. "That's actually pretty clever..."

"Alright, I've got it. But can you like, wait until morning when I've told everyone I'm leaving? Plus I'm tired..." Sunset yawned.

"Huh? Wait?!" Adagio jerked back.

"Like I'd let you just run off with the jar right now." Sunset narrowed her eyes as she and Adagio were eyeing each other down with sparks flying.

"What do we do...?" Sonata gulped, asking Aria.

"I can fix this." Darkrai had a solution to this problem. It was simple. Use Dark Void on them both. And that's what he did. Two black orbs consumed Adagio and Sunset Shimmer, placing them into a state of sleep in an instant as they dropped on the floor, lying flat on their faces while snoring.

"Oh. Okay, that works." Sonata nodded.

"So much for a peaceful festival..." Aria sighed. "We can never catch a huge break can we?"

"As long as we stop Empress Twilight and Ghetsis then we can have all the peace in the world," Darkrai said as he watched the two of them snore. "

"Lit?" Litleo nudged Sunset Shimmer's face. Surprisingly, Fletchinder and Braixen hadn't woken up despite all this ongoing noise. Truly they were heavy sleepers.

"So...now what do we do?" Aria kicked the floor.

"Hm...Oh!" Sonata noticed the TV and game console next to them. "I've heard about these! I've always wanted to experience them! Come on! Sit right here, you guys!" She patted the floor. "We can pass the time with this!"

"Right now?" Aria and Darkrai both said.

"Oh yeah! We're still in the festival spirit after all!"

"Pass. My claws won't work with those." Darkrai denied.

"Isn't it kind of illegal to do this in her own home?" Aria wasn't so sure about this.

"Is it?" Sonata's pupils shrunk. "Oh, well." She turned on the console, wanting to try it out herself. Darkrai would keep watch while Aria just stood by, waiting for time to pass.


Darkrai's Dream Realm.

Both Sunset Shimmer and Adagio were in the same realm together since Darkrai hit both of them at the same time. Now they shared one dream. The area they were in was a recreation of Canterlot High.

"He could've just asked..." Sunset crossed her arms.

"Great. Now I'm stuck here with you." Adagio sat down on a bench.

"At least I can keep a good eye on you now." Sunset grinned. "I still don't trust you with that jar. Even if you say you won't use it."

"Of course you don't trust me." Adagio turned around. "Not many do anyway. I can't blame them honestly. Not after what I did to Equestria and the Pokemon World."

"What did you do there?" Sunset was curious. She knew of what Adagio did in the human world with the siphoning jar but not what she did in Equestria or the Pokemon World.

"Let's see I..." Adagio raised her fingers, counting what she has done so far. "Stole the Alicorn Amulet and tied Twilight Sparkle up and imprisoned her, enslaved the humans of Castelia City along with the ponies who came to visit there and caused some destruction there as well, mercilessly beat down a trainer and their Breloom with an Ultra Beast and...actually, I think that's about it."

"Yeesh..." Sunset grimaced at that.

"Yeah I know it's bad," Adagio growled. "Not many trust me because of what I've done. The only reason I haven't been locked up yet is because of her."

"Who?"

"Celestia. She's the one pony I tolerate the most."

"Princess Celestia tolerates you? How?"

"Family stuff. Her mom knew my mom way back then." Adagio looked up at the dream sky.

"Oh, so they were friends?"

"No way!" Adagio shouted. "They were not friends! Just...two species who knew each other and had a short talk that's all. Like my mom would ever make friends. Or any siren really."

"What makes you think you can't make friends?"

"Do you have to keep asking so many questions?" Adagio groaned. "I just can't. But...I guess that doesn't hold up since Aria and Sonata don't have a problem with it."

"Your sisters have friends?" Sunset's eyes widened as a huge smile appeared on her face. "That's wonderful!"

"Yeah...of course you'd find it wonderful..." Adagio sighed. "Everyone thinks that friendship is wonderful."

"Well, it is wonderful, ya know." Sunset sat next to Adagio. "Why wouldn't it be? Having a friend is an amazing feeling that would make anyone feel good. I never knew I needed a friend until I made some of my own."

"Ugh...This really is a nightmare world..." Adagio facepalmed.

"Now that you mention it...?" Sunset looked around. "Where are the nightmares? Everything looks fine to me."

Spoke too soon.

The moment they brought it up, a nightmare sequence had occurred. It seems that the nightmares can also be triggered on command, surprisingly. Although most of the time, Darkrai is the one who activates it.

However, Darkrai's nightmares follow a simple pattern. They always focus on the most important thing going through the victim's mind. In this case, it was Empress Twilight Sparkle and Ghetsis. Both of them at the same time.

The skies themselves were shattering which immediately startled them both. They stood up from the bench, watching the azure skies turn grey and dark as sky shards were falling from above. Adagio moved back as a shard of the sky stabbed into the ground. It was raining shards as they were sharp enough to pierce through anything. Sunset and Adagio instinctively evaded the raining shards as they were plastered everywhere, going through buildings.

Soon, out of the shattered skies themselves, a gigantic ship or rather multiple ships, millions, possibly billions of them broke through, turning the once beautiful azure skies into a distorted and fractured black space.

That gigantic ship with the purple aesthetic was the one that stuck out the most. It was larger than the rest. And perhaps, it might be Empress Twilight's ship since it's the most glaring one there.

Billions of ships covered the sky, casting synchronized shadows over Canterlot High and practically the entire town and beyond. They were all representing the coming invasion.

This entire nightmare sequence was a prophetic dream of what was potentially coming soon in just 2 months. Along with the ships came dark purple shadows that flew past Adagio and Sunset, letting out horrible screams as they caused mighty wind pressures.

They sounded like ponies screaming each time they flew by. But more importantly, the screams were identical to Celestia, Luna, Cadence and even another Twilight. It sounded like all four of them were suffering. That just worsened the mood for the duo.

What's worse, millions of them could be heard. It wasn't just four of them. Instead, it was 4 million and possibly even more inside. And they all kept screaming without end.

"Oh my..." Sunset Shimmer gawked as she almost tripped on the bench. "I know this isn't real but..." She ducked as a purple shadow flew over her head, blowing the bench away as it was devoured by another shadow. The bench no longer existed.

The shadows flew over to Canterlot High, devouring the entire building in mere seconds. It was as if these shadows consume everything in their path while those horrifying and uneasy screams continued to echo across the land to no end.

"That mark..." Adagio noticed how all the ships had Twilight's Cutie Mark on them. It was a clear red flag that this was indeed Empress Twilight's fleet.

And from the largest ship here, the purple one, the hatch from above had opened up as they both stared at that one ship. Out of the hatch, they were expecting to see Empress Twilight herself.

But instead, they got somepony different. It was a silhouette that was hard to see. But it was clearly a pony. Since this world was just the Dream Real, the effects of the real world didn't apply either, meaning that the pony didn't transform into a human at all.

This silhouette was unknown to Sunset, but Adagio was able to recognize it. It was none other than Empress Twilight's protege and her best student.

Luster Dawn.

The pony that Empress Twilight said that Adagio should team up with. Obviously, that wasn't happening anymore since Adagio separated herself from the alliance already.

"W-Who is that?" Sunset gawked.

"Luster Dawn," Adagio answered.

What followed next was Luster Dawn looking down at both of them with a snarky and cocky look on her face. Fitting since she is Empress Twilight's student after all.

But then something else happened. The hatches of the other ships began to open up. They were expecting soldiers since they were the ones piloting the ships with Luster Dawn having the more extravagant and flashy one.

And they certainly did get soldiers emerging from the hatches. But the ships that were in the front of every other ship and beside Luster Dawn's ship revealed something new and unknown but yet somehow familiar to Adagio and Sunset.

New silhouettes of three new ponies. Or rather, familiar ponies. But in a completely different way.

One of them looked like Rarity but she was taller and her mane was slightly different and longer. In fact, she had the same height as an alicorn even her mane had the ethereal look to it.

Another one looked a lot like Princess Celestia. Only, her ethereal mane was on fire from the looks of it. A fire that matched the sun itself.

And there was one other silhouette that matched Starlight Glimmer. She was also the same height as an alicorn. Identical to the Rarity silhouette. And of course, she had the ethereal mane as well.

These three mysterious ponies naturally confused Adagio and Sunset. They looked like the ponies they knew but there was something off about them. Almost as if they had been corrupted. Just like Nightmare Moon.

This was more than just a nightmare. This was a prophetic nightmare. A nightmare that was essentially showing Adagio and Sunset the possible future. It was going to be more than just Ghetsis and Empress Twilight. There were potentially more members of their alliance that weren't limited to Chrysalis and formerly Adagio.

What's worse is that Adagio could see that two of them were alicorns and one was just a unicorn. But the thought of there being two extra alicorns other than Empress Twilight was uneasy.

The silhouettes didn't say anything at all. This was just a prophetic nightmare after all. But at the same time, all of their horns suddenly lit up with magic in unison.

"Uh..." Sunset stammered.

"M-More..." Adagio was the one who was the most surprised about this. "There's more of them...?" She wasn't predicting anything like this. Allies to Ghetsis and Empress Twilight that she had no idea existed and they were potentially from alternate universes as well.

A mixture of three lights flashed across the area. Lights so bright they could blind anyone at first glance. Naturally, Adagio and Sunset covered their eyes to look away from the blinding light, even if it couldn't actually blind them in the Dream Realm.

And that was the last thing that they saw in Darkrai's Dream Realm.


Reality. 6:30.

"There's more of them!" Adagio gasped as she woke up from the nightmare, startling everyone there. Sonata was thrown off balance whilst playing on Sunset Shimer's console.

"Ah!" Sunset Shimmer had also woken up, returning to reality and out of Darkrai's realm.

"You're finally awake," Darkrai said. "Perfect timing as well."

"Whuh..." Adagio and Sunset groaned as they looked outside. They saw the bright blinding rays of the sun pierce through the windows. Despite them being in the Dream Realm for a short amount of time, it was day already. It felt like it had only been 10 minutes at best.

After waking up from Darkrai's Dream World, their bodies felt cold and uneasy. Just one of the many side effects of Darkrai's nightmares. They have a high probability of occurring.

"...I-It's morning?" Sunset stuttered. "Were we there for that long?"

"Doesn't feel like it." Adagio looked at her hands.

"Boy, those nightmares must've been rough." Sonata slid over, putting the controller down. You were going all crazy, wriggling in your sleep."

"They weren't that rough..." Adagio stood up. "It didn't even feel like a nightmare. Just a nuisance."

"Hold on, Adagio." Aria went over to them. "When you woke up, you said something about how there was more. What do you mean by that?"

"We saw something in our dreams," said Sunset. "A huge fleet of spaceships I think. It looked like there were...I couldn't really tell how many ships there were. But we saw-"

"More alliance members." Adagio interrupted. "I thought that it was just limited to me, Ghetsis, Twilight and Chrysalis but...There's more. What's worse is that two of them were alicorns."

Adagio didn't want to think of alicorns anymore. One alicorn was powerful enough for her to handle. Empress Twilight is just on a whole completely different level. But these two other alicorns were a problem. Because even though it was a nightmare, Adagio could feel the intense and malicious magic pouring out of them.

The fact that they were apart of the alliance made things much more complicated. Three alicorns is a massive red flag. But not only that, Luster Dawn and the unicorn that looked like Rarity also had huge amounts of magic that could be felt. And they were just unicorns.

The horrifying screams from those purple shadows and how they sounded like millions of alicorns trapped inside of them was just uncomfortable and a bad omen.

"Uh...s-should we be worried?" Sonata twiddled her fingers together.

"You had a prophetic nightmare," Darkrai said. "At times, my nightmares are capable of giving warnings to those I affect."

"Give me that." Adagio snatched the jar from Sunset's hands. "Now I need this more than ever."

"Hey! Rude!" Sunset crossed her arms. "But yeah...I can see what you meant by an invasion...there were so many of them. And they're all going to invade Equestria?"

"Probably. I've been to her world before. She's got ships all over space. As far as the eye can see." Adagio nodded. "And if they all come here and invade, then there's a good chance we'll all lose. Miserably."

"You underestimate what we're capable of." Darkrai suddenly countered Adagio. "It's going to take more than an entire empire to stop us Pokemon.

"Litleo!" Litleo agreed.

"Whatever. If you're that confident then sure. But with this..." Adagio looked at the jar. "We can stop our world from being conquered. And maybe, we can stand up to Ghetsis."

"That's gonna be a lot of magic..." Sonata gulped. "Can the jar even contain it all?"

"It has to." She placed the jar in her large mane. "We're leaving you two. We can't afford to waste time at all. I know it's 2 months but-"

"Slow down! Let me get ready first!" Sunset dashed off.

"Get ready?" Adagio scrunched her eyes. "You can change out of your pyjamas later!"

"2 months is still far away from now." Sunset opened up her wardrobe. "I know how serious this looks, yeah. But we've got a lot of time to plan and prepare."

"She's right you know." Aria nodded. "They won't be showing up for a while, ya know. Take it easy, Adagio. Besides. We still have the festival to enjoy together."

"Ugh." Adagio groaned as she facepalmed. "Fine. But after the festival ends, we're jumping straight into the plan."

"Oh, right!" Sunset put her jacket on. "This means I get to join in the festival too! Lucky!" Sunset grinned.

"Oh, brother..." Adagio sighed. "You know you can just trust me with the jar anyway."

"I still have my doubts about you. But...You do sound pretty genuine about trying to stop a larger threat so..." Sunset went up to Adagio. "I guess this'll be my first time teaming up with you."

"We're not teaming up." Adagio shook her head. "You're just acting as a nuisance and deadweight."

"But it'd be great to have a new friend tag along!" Sonata slid over.

"Hm?" Sunset turned to her. "Wait...you see me as a friend?"

"Sure!" Sonata nodded aggressively. "Any opportunity to make a new friend is a steal in my book! Plus you've got some neat stuff here!"

"Wow. Thanks, Sonata I-" That's when Sunset noticed her TV was on. "Wait. Did you touch my stuff while I was asleep?" Her tone shifted.

"Uhh..." Sonata froze.

"Tried to warn you." Aria shook her head.

"Let's just get going already." Adagio made her way towards the door whilst Sunset returned her Pokemon to their Poke Balls.

Darkrai submerged himself back into the shadows while Sunset turned everything off since she was going to be gone for a while. But before that, she had to say goodbye to her friends and that she would be leaving for something important. She couldn't just leave them all behind without saying a word after all.

But Sunset was also nervous about something important. Normally, she returns to her original world to act as the Gym Leader there but she mostly does it while hiding from Princess Celestia since the two of them have a somewhat shaky history.

And now that she would be in her original world more often for 2 months until the invasion her fears were starting to build up on what Celestia would do to her. But she was willing to take that risk.

Canterlot High, the other world.

"You're leaving?" The human Fluttershy spoke. This was regarding Sunset's departure to her original world. She was going to keep an eye on Adagio who had the magic siphoning jar with her to make sure that she doesn't use the magic for herself.

"Yeah, I know it's sudden," Sunset replied. "But it's for something really important. For 2 months."

"2 months is pretty long but...not that long." Applejack thought.

"I'll be back once this whole situation is sorted out. But I'm gonna really miss you all."

"We're gonna miss you too, ya know." Rainbow Dash went over. "But uh...Are you sure it's safe to stick around with them?" She pointed over at the Dazzlings.

"Aria and Sonata are...fine from what I can tell. But Adagio's the one I'm really cautious about. She's the reason why I'm leaving. I have to make sure she doesn't use all that magic she takes from the jar for herself."

"Makes sense." Rarity. "But might I ask? What is...that in the shadows?" Rarity was referring to Darkrai who could be seen blending in with any shadows nearby.

"Oh, that's Darkrai. Don't worry about him, he's harmless...Mostly." Sunset thought to when Darkrai put her to sleep. "Tell Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna that'll I'll be gone for a while."

"Take us with you!" Pinkie Pie grabbed Sunset's leg. "I've always wanted to go to the other world! Please!"

"Sorry Pinkie! It's too risky!" Sunset winced. "It's best that you stay here with everyone."

"Aw..." Pinkie let go as she fell flat on her face.

While Sunset was saying her goodbyes to her friends, Adagio watched as she kept tapping her feet, waiting for them to get going already.

"Ugh...I don't see why she has to come along. All because of what? Trust issues?"

"You do have a pretty shady track record, Adagio," Aria said.

"Mhm." Sonata agreed.

"Yeah, I know." Adagio sighed. "I just don't want her being next to me 24/7."

"Well, it won't be just you and her. We're helping you too, remember?" Aria pointed at herself and Sonata.

"Yeah!" Sonata nodded. "We'll be sticking with you a lot more now! Isn't that exciting?!"

"Hmph. In that case, you're aware that you'll have to come with me to Chrysalis's hive eventually, won't you?"

"We do?" Sonata shot up.

"Did you really expect me to just continue the festival without thinking about what's coming our way soon? We need to go through the plan, obviously. Chrysalis and I already agreed that the jar is our ace in all of this."

"We'll go." Aria agreed. "Who cares about some hive anyway?"

"With all those changelings in one spot?" Sonata gulped.

Finally, Sunset finished saying her goodbyes as she walked over to Adagio and the others. "Alright. I'm ready to go."

"About time." Adagio turned around. "Alright, enough standing around. I was already tired of this human body anyway."

"It's gonna be so weird being back for so long..." Sunset muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, whatever." Adagio grabbed Sunset's arm as she didn't have all day. She dragged her along, passing through the portal as Sonata wave goodbye to everyone there.

Finally, they had left and returned to their original world, leaving the human world behind.


By entering their original world, their bodies transformed back into ponies with Adagio remaining a siren-pony-hybrid. Sonata's hooves felt wobbly but Aria was there to help her up.

"I'm actually glad to be back in this form..." Adagio sighed as she looked at her hooves and scales.

"It's the fourth day, right?" Sonata stood up. "We don't have too long until the festival ends."

"And only 2 months left until the big day." Aria shook her head. "You know...we should tell Princess Celestia and Luna about this. But they're kinda far away from here."

"I'll tell them," Darkrai said. "Pyrestar's here as well so she'll inform all of Canterlot."

"You do that. I have the jar now. That's all that matters." Adagio took the jar out of her mane. "Now all we have to do is wait for that day to come and we'll siphon it all up."

"Why not just do it sooner?" Sonata asked.

"Hm?" Adagio turned to her.

"You've met with this Empress Twilight lady before. Why don't you just go to her or let her come to you so that you can suck up all her magic?"

"Good point. Why don't you just do that?" Aria raised an eyebrow. "It would save us a bunch of time, ya know."

"Hah! Do you think I'd be stupid enough to do it right in front of her face? No way. Chrysalis and I have agreed on how we'll siphon it. When she never sees it coming."

"So...From behind?!" Sonata exclaimed.

"Wrong. Outnumbering her, of course."

"Uh, she has like...how many soldiers? You said her empire was massive. How are you gonna outnumber that? With Chrysalis and her changelings?" Aria questioned. "They're not enough...at least I don't think they are."

"Or..." Sunset thought for a moment. "Are you planning on having her be on her lonesome so that you and the changelings can surround her and then you can siphon her magic."

"You're smarter than you look, Sunset Shimmer," Adagio smirked. "When the invasion happens, everyone's going to be too busy focusing on fighting each other. While that goes on, Chrysalis, the changelings and I will head for Empress Twilight. She's always in her throne room by herself so we'll outnumber her with ease."

"That doesn't sound too bad. But isn't she super powerful? What if she blows you all away?" Sonata asked.

"Kh!" Adagio winced. "It's a work in progress plan, okay?! I know she's strong but...if we act unassuming she won't suspect a thing..."

"And if she catches you?" Aria raised an eyebrow.

"Then...I don't know! Look! Point is! This jar is gonna depower her! Okay?! I know she's strong. Stupid strong even. But we can't afford to let someone that dangerous have all that magic especially when she's teaming up with a human just as dangerous as her!"

"Yeah..." Sunset scratched her mane. "But if this is Twilight we're talking about then-"

"Then acting unassuming will just cause her to be cautious and on guard at all times." Suddenly, Pyrestar walked into the room, interrupting Sunset Shimmer.

And speaking of Sunset, this was her first time seeing Queen Pyrestar. The fusion of Celestia and Luna from another universe. Right in front of her.

Naturally, her reaction was that of shock and confusion. She didn't expect to see another princess Although, she wasn't aware that Pyrestar was a Queen instead.

From her crimson appearance, she seemed like somepony completely new even though she was two recognizable and familiar individuals in one.

"A Princess..." Sunset gawked. "Princess Celestia? No, wait, Princess Luna?"

"She caught us!" Sonata hid behind Aria. "I was only following Aria cause she was following Adagio!"

"Hey!" Aria snapped at Sonata.

"You need not worry." Pyrestar walked up to them. "I was already aware of your journey to the otherworld." She then saw that Sunset Shimmer was here. An old student to the Celestia inside of Pyrestar. "Sunset Shimmer."

"Oh..." Sunset gulped. "I-I don't recognize you. But I mean, I do but-Who are you?"

"I look familiar because I am two in one. My name is Queen Pyrestar. The fusion of Celestia and Luna."

"Fusion?!" Sunset screeched as her mane spiked up. She quickly put her hooves in her mouth. "Oh sorry...Fusion?"

"Right. I too come from another world that is identical to this Equestria. A world that is unfortunately ruled by Ghetsis. All under his complete control while it struggles as well."

"Oh." Sunset shifted her eyes. "I...I've missed a lot haven't I?"

"Darkrai. Adagio Dazzle. Explain to me everything that you two have learned, will you?" Pyrestar requested.

"Right." Darkrai nodded. "This is what we've learned so far." Darkrai and Adagio were ready to give Pyrestar all the information she needed. Mostly Adagio since she had the nightmare with Sunset Shimmer.

They explained everything. From the invasion, the mysterious ponies who were apart of the alliance as two of them were other alicorns that looked like Celestia and Starlight Glimmer and one extra who was a unicorn that resembled Rarity but taller.

They even mentioned that they will arrive in 2 months and Chrysalis and Adagio have already made plans that are in the works. The jar being their trump card in all of this and the ultimate weapon that'll stop Empress Twilight and possibly be enough to stop Ghetsis too.

"I see..." Pyrestar nodded.

"I was a bit overwhelmed by it too." Sunset chuckled.

"Celestia and Luna will know of this as well," said Pyrestar. "Of the invasion coming in 2 months. I also heard you before I entered the room. Outnumbering her will not work. Not for an alicorn as powerful as her." Pyrestar shook her head.

"Then what else can we do huh?" Adagio scoffed.

"I will deal with her." Pyrestar declared. That shocked everyone.

"Y-You?!" Adagio exclaimed.

"Kricketot?!"

"I cannot let this world go through any more hardships such as mine. I will be the one to handle Empress Twilight when I get to her."

"Uh...T-That sounds..." Aria stuttered.

"My world has already suffered and is currently under the control of another. It is already in a poor state. No longer the beautiful and vibrant Equestria I used to know. Which is why... I promised Celestia, Luna and everypony else that I would not let the same thing happen to this world. And I shall not let a Twilight Sparkle from another universe who has gone crazy with power conquer it."

Pyrestar stamped her hoof, startling the little ponies as Sonata squealed. She was serious about finishing this soon before it evolves into a disaster.

Adagio took a moment to think. Pyrestar is an alicorn at the end of the day. But she is two alicorns in one. More importantly, she has been around longer than this world's Celestia and Luna, making her a more experienced alicorn.

Adagio then thought that if Pyrestar were to go up against Empress Twilight then perhaps there might be a better chance due to her years of experience. But then again, Empress Twilight has stolen a plethora of alicorn magic. She was most likely stronger than Pyrestar by light-years.

But considering how dangerous this was, it was probably best that an alicorn should be the one to deal with an alicorn. Adagio certainly can't do it.

"Are you sure? She's stolen from so many Celestia's Luna's, C-"

"I'm sure." Pyrestar didn't care about the power gap at all. She made her decision final.

"Alright...I can take you to her. But I can't activate the gateways on my own. Only she and Ghetsis can do that. And I can't just call for her."

"Then...how are we gonna get there?" Sunset asked.

"Hm," Pyrestar grumbled. "That is a bit of an obstacle. Is there by a chance a time when either Ghetsis or Empress Twilight will show up in this world again?"

"They only show up if they have something important to do. But other than the invasion, I don't know when they're going to make their next move in this world."

"We're hitting a ton of brick walls here." Sonata sighed.

"But..." Adagio thought of something that could work. "The Team Plasma grunts show up here the most under Ghetsis's orders. The gateways always open for them. And I was also told to work with a unicorn by the name of Luster Dawn too. So there's still a chance of the gateways showing up. And Ghetsis seems to come over to the changeling hive to clear his mind sometimes."

"Excellent." Pyrestar turned to Adagio. "We shall use that to our advantage."

"But like...right away?" Sonata winced.

"Of course not. She will arrive in 2 months, correct? Then we shall prepare ourselves in a span of 2 months as well. Twilight is already an exceptional planner. So we will just have to best her in her own game."

"Is that even possible?" Sunset asked. "Outplanning Twilight?"

"Do you not remember? Half of me is Celestia. I've been teaching Twilight for years now. I know how she can be."

"Good point." Sunset nodded.

"Adagio Dazzle. I request this of you. Are Ghetsis and Empress Twilight aware of your departure from the alliance?"

"Not at all.." She shook her head.

"Then, here is what you shall do." Pyrestar had a plan laid out for Adagio. One that involved even Chrysalis herself since she was still apart of the alliance. Sunset was obviously going to stick around for this since this is still her homeworld at the end of the day despite her liking to the human world.

But more importantly, since Adagio told Pyrestar about Luster Dawn and how she was meant to be working with her, Pyrestar was going to use that to her advantage. Luster Dawn is without a doubt coming to this world as a teammate to Adagio under Empress Twilight's orders. And since she is Empress Twilight's protege and number one student, Adagio knew that Empress Twilight would open up gateways exclusively for her. The plan was being laid out.


Manehattan, 7:30.

A new day for the festival.

Rarity was speaking to her friends about heading to Las Pegasus with Sweetie Belle alongside the new tagalong Coco Pommel.

"Sorry if this is an inconvenience." Rarity said.

"No need to worry." Ash shook his head. "It's all good."

"Pikachu!"

"Have fun at Las Pegasus! We're gonna stick around in Manehattan for a little longer!" Pinkie grinned.

"Many thanks, all of you. How about we all meet up back in 2 days at let's say..." Rarity bit her lip. "Dodge City?"

"Sounds good to us." Applejack nodded. "We'll be there before ya know it."

"Excellent. Right." Rarity turned around. "Sweetie Belle! Time to go!"

"Hm?" Sweetie Belle turned around as she was chatting with her friends. "Okay! So yeah, I'll be back soon. See you, girls, later!" She dashed off

"Catch ya later!" said Scootaloo as she and the others waved goodbye. "Bring us back some neat stuff from Las Pegasus, okay?!"

"Alright!" Sweetie Belle shouted back as she slid over to Rarity and Coco. "I'm ready!"

"Mind if I come along?" Spike slid in with a cheesy grin on his face. Rarity rolled her eyes as she saw this coming from a mile away, but went with anyway.

"Indeed you can, Spikey-wikey."

"Yes!" Spike pumped his fists.

"Let's get rolling!" Rarity whistled as she returned all her Pokemon to their Poke Balls. By saying goodbye to their friends, they made their way towards the train station which would lead them to Las Pegasus.

"Boy..." Ash yawned. "Last night still drained me a bit."

"Need some more rest?" Applejack asked.

"Meloetta?"

"Nah. I'm good." Ash stretched. "But I'm gonna take it easy for today. Something about this 4th day feels pretty slow."

"Mhm." Pinkie nodded.

"There's a wonderful place where you can rest up, Ash." Twilight flew up to him. "It's just on the outskirts of Manehattan. I can take you there if you want."

"Melo?!"

"Really? Thanks, Twilight." Ash thanked her. " I really need it."

"Then let's get a move on." Twilight grabbed Ash's arm, grinning deviously at Meloetta while Applejack and the others watched the sparks of rivals fly.

"Eugh..." Applejack winced as they watched Twilight drag Ash along to the outskirts. "You know. I was thinking of heading back to Ponyville."

"Huh?" Pinkie tilted her head. "You're leaving the festival so soon!?"

"What? No." She shook her head. "I just wanna enjoy the attractions that Ponyville has. Plus, there's an attraction that Cold wants me to do with him back home."

"Oh...okay!" Pinkie squeed. "What about everypony else?"

"We'll stay here in Manehattan for now. I think Audi and Chikorita might be able to take part in the next Pokeathlon events." Fluttershy said.

"Chiko!"

"Audino!"

"I'm gonna go train with my Pokemon. We've got a lot of work to do if we wanna beat Soarin." Rainbow made her decision.

"You know what I'm off to do." Goh held out a Poke Ball.

"Everypony's got something they want to do. Great! Oh! I wanna see if I can make a Pokestar Studios movie of my own!" Pinkie dashed off, going after the movie attraction while everyone else scattered to focus on their own personal enjoyments.

None of them were aware of what was going on in Canterlot right about now. Way too focused on the festival after all. That goes for everypony else including the dragons, yaks and other species since they weren't even aware of there being an Empress Twilight at all. But they certainly knew about Ghetsis, that's for sure.

Especially the invasion that was coming their way in just 2 months.

But even still, horrible chills were lurking within the wind. And one individual who could feel these uneasy chills was Passion who was currently with Celestia and her family.

"Garde...?" She looked up in the sky, curious as to what caused that chill.

Speaking of Celestia, she watched as her parents had fallen asleep completely. Eventide laid on a bush while Sunlight laid on top of a tree.

"All that hard work and not a single Pokemon was caught." Luna shook her head. "What a shame."

"You do have to give them credit. They are masters at putting in a ton of effort.." Celestia giggled. "Right, Passion?"

By turning to her partner, Celestia noticed that her Gardevoir was zoned out, gazing into the azure sky as she was trying to figure out why she was sensing this unusual chills. "Voir..."

"Passion?" Celestia called her name.

"Garde? Gardevoir." Passion snapped out of it as she laughed awkwardly.

"I worry about you sometimes." Celestia walked up to her partner. "Come on. Let's wake them up."

Passion quickly forgot about it as the chill suddenly disappeared. But it wasn't to be ignored. It was an indication that something was about to happen somewhere.


Pyrestar's world. Ghetsis's throne room.

"Hm. Did she now?" Currently, Ghetsis was having a chat with Colress at the moment.

"You can have a look for yourself." Colress showed him what his hidden spy cameras had captured. He obviously had them plastered across Equestria but there were also cameras hidden in the changeling hive that Chrysalis herself hadn't found yet.

The cameras have been capturing everything that the changelings have been doing ever since they became apart of the alliance. They have a plethora of information to view.

And one of them was very critical. This information happened 5 days after Adagio and Kricketot showed up to the changeling hive, wondering what that dark green magic was. This was the aftermath and what Chrysalis said.

"The only way I can stop Ghetsis is by fighting him with a greater force. If I can somehow steal Empress Twilight's magic...then maybe..."

"How disappointing." Ghetsis shook his head. "It's more disappointing that it is happening so soon."

"What should we do?" Colress asked.

"Hmph." Ghetsis stood up from his throne. "I'm still keeping them for the shape-shifting capabilities they have. But it seems that...I'll have to set an example."

"An example?" Colress raised an eyebrow.

"Hydreigon. We're going." Ghetsis turned to his ace.

"Hy!"

"Colress. All of you will stay here. I'll deal with this myself." Ghetsis put his only arm out. He used the rift energy within to open up a gateway that led to Equestria.

"Again?" Colress sighed. "I need to explore and improve my scientific capabilities eventually, Ghetsis."

"You'll have your chance one day." Ghetsis smirked. "But now is my chance to strike once more." With a lot going through his mind, Ghetsis and his Hydreigon passed through the gateway, leaving Pyrestar's world.

After learning about Chrysalis's betrayal, Ghetsis has decided to take matters into his own, well, only hand. He was going to continue using Chrysalis and her changelings for his own means as they were all still his pawns.

Once Ghetsis set foot into Equestria, he arrived at the one area he seems to show up the most. The outside of the hive.

He stood on a cliff, looking down at the changeling hive with his Hydreigon already itching to have a go at some horrifying destruction.

"Dreigon..."

"Calm down, Hydreigon. You'll get your destruction. Just not up close." Ghetsis chuckled gently.

He was obviously aiming at setting an example to Chrysalis. Ghetsis knows that someone will obviously betray him. He's betrayed others in the past before and he's not apologetic about it one bit.

Chrysalis was just another one of those individuals. And to an extent, the entire changeling hive as well. Ghetsis knew that they weren't a fan of him. Every time he showed up to the hive, they would all cower in fear over his imposing aura and presence. Which Ghetsis greatly enjoyed.

And there was one other kind of fear he enjoyed the most. And that was about to show with this one single command he gave to the Brutal Pokemon.

"Draco Meteor."

"Hy...DREI...GON!" A sphere of dark purple energy formed inside of Hydreigon's mouth as it was fired into the sky. This purple sphere was large enough to block out the sun.

In fact, this was a Draco Meteor larger than a normal Draco Meteor. This was one was filled with destructive and malicious intent. Which meant only one thing.

The changelings were unaware of what was hovering above them. Neither was Chrysalis. No one in the changeling hive could've predicted what would happen next.

The sphere exploded, releasing countless spheres of energy. that were all the size of meteors. The sound of the explosion was like thunder booming through the sky as that startled all the changelings.

That's when the meteors fell.

"W-What was that?!" Chrysalis gasped as she looked around. She was about to get up from her throne to see where the sound came from.

But it was too late.

The first meteor cast a large shadow over the hive along with the malicious dark energy flowing inside of it. The meteors rained down from above, bombarding the entire hive in mere seconds as the changelings immediately started panicking and screaming.

The first meteor was enough to blow away a huge portion of the hive as the changelings had scattered in fear. They were confused and afraid as they never saw this coming at all.

It wasn't just the hive, but the land itself was being obliterated by Draco Meteor. Each time there was an explosion, it sounded like a dragon roaring afterwards.

Changelings were being caught up in the explosions as some of them had either been engulfed by them or had meteors drop onto them.

Some of the changelings watched their fellow species get hit over and over again as purple explosions covered the hive completely.

Chrysalis was the most worried about this. She believed that Ghetsis had found out about her plan to betray him. Indeed, she was right.

She could hear the sounds of changelings screaming and explosions going off as her entire hive was being obliterated at a hyperactive pace.

"W-What's happening?!" She looked around her throne room in fear. Where she was right now, she couldn't see the explosions. But it wouldn't take long for a meteor to reach her.

One Draco Meteor crashed near her throne room, creating an explosion that wiped most of it away. Chrysalis gasped as she moved back. The explosion almost caught her as most of her room and even the eggs that she placed had been obliterated. Most of the destruction was happening out of her throne room. The moment she came out of her throne room, she saw the explosions continuously combust without any sight at the end.

The meteors kept falling, changelings kept getting caught up in the explosions as it was nigh-impossible to escape from destruction this horrifying.

All the while, Ghetsis watched with a cold look on his face. He watched the land being covered by these explosions. His Hydreigon was about to fire another Draco Meteor just to make things worse.

"Leave it, Hydreigon. One is enough." He stopped him.

One truly was enough. Any more would just be the end of the changelings in general. But at this rate, from how violent the destruction was, it might as well be.

The skies were turning grey from the destructive aura of Draco Meteor as the shockwaves were so potent that they affected anything from 50 miles away, scaring off any nearby Pokemon.

Chrysalis lowered her head as she covered her ears. She had never been so terrified before in her life as the sounds she was hearing were so unpleasant to her.

One meteor caused an explosion that was able to reach Chrysalis as the last thing she saw was a dark purple blast coming her way.

And just like that, the changeling hive had been engulfed by one final explosion.


The dust was settling. The meteors had come to an end. Ghetsis wasn't even planning on wiping them out. Just setting an example to them.

But, even for that example, the result was catastrophic.

Many changelings were disturbingly injured. The destructive malice of Draco Meteor had managed to perform horrifying feats.

Some changelings had their horns blown off or even their wings or ears. Many of them were on the floor, unconscious or writhing in pain.

But what's worse is that some were more unfortunate than others. The changelings that had been engulfed by the Draco Meteor or crushed by the meteors had lost their life. Those changelings, unfortunately, met their end from this cataclysmic event.

Chrysalis groaned as her eyes opened up. Miraculously, she was still alive. It looked like the explosion would've consumed her whole but it didn't.

But even then, her body was injured as well. Her wings were horribly damaged but they weren't as bad as her subjects who had lost their wings instead. Her horn was still fine but it had been chipped with a horrible twitching pain going through it that made Chrysalis wince. And the final result was her crown which had been destroyed in the process.

Once she saw the dust settle and everything clear, the changeling Queen saw how her subjects had suffered from this horrible meteor strike. Never before had she seen them in a state this dreadful before. So many of them had been lost by the explosions with their bodies ceasing to exist while others were downed.

Chrysalis couldn't get up at all. Not from something that chaotic.

Ghetsis walked over as his shadow cast of Chrysalis. His Hydreigon was beside him, ready to tear Chrysalis apart but Ghetsis held him back.

"G-G-Ghetsis..." She groaned with a weak voice.

"You should've known better." Ghetsis said as he grabbed Chrysalis by her hair, lifting her from the ground. Chrysalis tried to flail her hooves but she was too weak at the moment to do so.

"U-Ugh..." Chrysalis whimpered.

"Even when you knew just how powerful I was you still decided to try and betray me. I'll admit. That's some bravery."

Chrysalis couldn't say anything back. She was too beaten to do anything and her twitching horn made it hard to use her magic. "S-Sorry. I-I will never do it again, I promise."

"Save it." Ghetsis tossed her to the ground like a ragdoll as she tumbled. "I've made up my mind. Once this is all over and I've conquered Equestria, I'll make sure your entire race is wiped out by the end. But for now, I will continue using you. Understood?"

"I...I understand."

"For your sake, I hope you do." Ghetsis opened up a gateway to Pyrestar's world. He noticed that Hydreigon was about to tear apart a changeling while he wasn't looking.

"Hydrei." Hydreigon grabbed the changeling up with his right head as the sharp teeth of the Brutal Pokemon dug into the changeling's skin as they cried out in pain.

"Hydreigon. Drop it."

"Drei." Listening to Ghetsis, he dropped the changeling as a huge bite mark was left on them.

Ghetsis had proven his point and made an example. He had shown Chrysalis and the changelings just how dangerous he truly was as he passed through the gateway.

Chrysalis curled up into a ball as all that she could do now in this obliterated wasteland was cry. Her hive was gone. Many of her changelings had been lost to the Draco Meteor assault.

All of this destruction and despair was enough to make Chrysalis faint out of shock and horror. The changeling hive was no more. Just a desolate wasteland. The future of the changelings looks bleak. Only 2 months remain until that fateful invasion as the journey continues.