Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie followed Shulk (who was now fully clothed) through the woods. As they were walking, Shulk was explaining the situation that was going on in the world they were in.
“Overlord V, huh?” Pinkie Pie asked. “He sounds like a pretty bad guy.”
“He really is,” Shulk replied. “No one knows exactly what his plans are, but we do know is that he's hunting down heroes who represent their world most, like Mario for the Mushroom Kingdom or me for the Bionis.”
“Is there anything being done to stop this guy?” Rainbow asked.
“There's one effort being made...” Shulk replied with an ominous tone. “They're called the Renegade Alliance, and they're comprised of mostly villains. They're likely just trying to get V out of the way so they can have the world for themselves.”
“The Renegade Alliance...” Rainbow Dash said. “Are there members of that thing called Dark Pit and Meta Knight?”
“You know them, then?” Shulk asked.
“They kidnapped one of our friends, Twilight Sparkle,” Pinkie replied. “Rainbow Dash and I are here to try to get her back.”
“Really?” Shulk asked. He then looked up at the forest canopy above them and said with a thoughtful tone, “I know what it feels like to go against the odds to save those you love...”
Without warning, there were two loud shouts, followed by two swordsman suddenly appearing from the treetops and attacking Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, hitting them both with strikes powerful enough to send them flying.
“Watch out!” Shulk shouted as he stepped backwards and readied the Monado to defend the ponies.
“What's going on?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I just had a vision,” Shulk replied. “We've got company.”
“Friendly?” Pinkie asked.
“Yes, actually,” Shulk replied. “But they don't know you are. Just stay close to me.” The Homs then scanned the trees above them. “Ike! Link! Don't attack! These two are with me!”
There was a moment's pause before two creatures who looked like they were the same race as Shulk dropped from the treetops before the group of three. One was dressed in mostly green and wielded a sword and shield, both with a design of three yellow triangles on it. The other one wore a flowing red cape with blue and brown armor, and wielded a huge golden sword.
“You were gone for quite a while, Shulk,” the one with the cape said as he brought his sword up to his shoulder and rested it there while the one in green returned his sword to a sheath on his back and hooking his shield to the sheath as well. “We were just about to come looking for you. Who are those two?”
“Their names are Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie,” Shulk explained. “They're ponies from the land of Equestria, and they're here to save a friend who's been kidnapped and brought to this world.” Shulk then turned around to the ponies. “Dash, Pinkie, meet the Hero of Time, Link, and the Radiant Hero, Ike. Two swordsmen from different worlds, though the three of us have come together to aid in the effort against Overlord V.”
“That is, once an actual effort gets started,” Ike added. “All that's working against V is that Renegade Alliance. But we're working towards getting the heroes together to fight this guy.”
“And the first step is to get some divine intervention,” Shulk finished. “Namely, intervention from the Goddess of Light, Palutena. She's the only tangible deity around, and therefore the only one who can help us save this world.”
“Paulu... poly... WHO?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Palutena,” Pinkie corrected. “Seriously, how can you not say that name but still be able to pronounce superultrawesomemazing?'
“Whatever,” Rainbow said while rolling her eyes. “Could this Poly-tini or whatever her name is help us find Twilight?”
“I'd guess so,” Shulk said with a shrug. “There aren't any real tangible deities in my world, so I don't know how they work.” Right then, a thought occurred to Shulk and he turned to Ike and Link. “Hold on a second... where are Kirby and Jigglypuff? I just now noticed that they aren't with you guys.”
“Kirby?” Pinkie Pie asked while cocking her head to the side curiously. This went unnoticed by the others, however.
“Kirby saw one of Overlord V's fighters making his way through the forest with a Trophy in his possession,” Ike replied. “Jigglypuff went with Kirby in case things got dangerous.”
“WE HAVE TO SAVE THEM!” Pinkie suddenly shouted, startling everyone there and causing them all to begin staring at the party pony.
“Pinkie... what are you shouting about?” Rainbow asked.
“I... I don't know,” Pinkie replied. “I don't know why I know anything about this world, and I don't know why I know these Kirby and Jigglypuff characters are in danger right now... but the point is that I know what I know, and what I know is that they're in trouble and they need us to find and save them!”
Everyone around Pinkie Pie was silently staring at the pony for a long time before Link finally spoke up.
Okay, Link didn't actually speak since that's just not something he does, but he did walk forward and stand by Pinkie before turning around towards the others. “Link, you believe this pony?” Shulk asked. The Hero of Time replied with a nod. Shulk then began rubbing his chin. “Well, I can see why you'd trust her. I've got my visions, you've had your fair share of prophetic dreams, maybe Pinkie Pie can predict the future somehow as well.” Shulk then turned to look down at Pinkie. “Why don't we give her the benefit of the doubt?”
Rainbow Dash and Ike, seeming to be the only two in the group who had no power of foresight whatsoever, exchanged confused glances for a moment. “You're the one who's known Pinkie Pie the longest,” Ike said. “What's your call? In terms of who to believe, I mean.”
Rainbow Dash thought for a few seconds before replying. “Pinkie has been able to predict some future events... sort of,” she said. “Usually it's just knowing when something's going to fall or if a door is about to hit someone, but she's never had this sort of specific knowledge of the future before.” The pegasus was quiet for a moment longer before finally making her decision. “Pinkie Pie...”
“Rainbow Dash...” Pinkie replied with a look of curiosity.
After one more pause, this one for dramatic effect, “Let's go save Kirby and Jigglypuff.”
Somewhere else in the forest, a brown dog with a white snout, a black nose, long black ears, and a black collar was plodding through the forest. Following close behind the dog was a duck with blue and white feathers on its body and a purple head, flying while carrying a Trophy. This one depicted a character similar to Link, except he was shorter and more adorable. The dog looked behind him towards the duck and barked once.
“Hey, this Trophy is heavy,” the duck replied with an annoyed tone. “If you want me to hurry up, why don't you carry him? I could use the weight off my shoulders.”
Unbeknownst to the duo, two creatures were watching them from a tree branch above. The only real way to describe both creatures was “small round pink puffs”. The only difference was that one of them was a darker shade of pink than the other and had more defined arms and legs, while the other one had larger eyes, ears, and an odd pink swirl that was probably hair on its forehead. The lighter one looked over to her companion.
“Jiggly?” she asked in a hushed tone.
“Poyo,” the other one replied with a nod. At that, both of them leapt out of their hiding spot towards the duck and dog below them.
The darker one landed first right in front of the duo, quickly striking a combat-ready stance. “Kirby!” the duck shouted. He and the dog looked behind them to see Kirby's companion slowly float to the ground, quickly striking a combative stance of her own once she landed. “And Jigglypuff!”
“Jiggly Jiggly,” Jigglypuff said in a serious tone.
The dog growled and barked in reply, while the duck said, “No way we're letting Toon Link go. He's a very important part of our master's plan, and Duck and I aren't about to let you stand in his way.” The duck (whose name was apparently Hunt) quickly dropped the Toon Link trophy and flew onto his companion's back, both readying themselves for combat.
(Boss Battle)
Kirby was the first to charge forward towards Duck Hunt, quickly flipping forward and delivering a powerful tornado kick that Duck Hunt... blocked. Each hit simply bounced off a sphere of gray light that suddenly appeared as the duo ducked under it. The sphere shrunk slightly with each hit, but Kirby lost balance and stopped his attack before Duck Hunt's shield shrunk very much. They then dropped their shield before Duck reached forward and grabbed hold of Kirby's arm with his mouth. Hunt then struck Kirby on the forehead once with his bill before Duck spun around and threw Kirby into the air. However, this left Duck Hunt open to a fully charged Rollout attack from Jigglypuff that she was charging while Kirby distracted the duo. The Balloon Pokemon slammed into Duck Hunt at high speed, launching them backwards. After recovering, Jigglypuff leapt forwards and upwards, puffing herself up with air a couple of times to gain altitude and distance, before moving in and delivering a powerful Pound attack that sent Duck Hunt flying skyward. Jigglypuff couldn't gain any more altitude in order to continue the combo, but this was quickly resolved by Kirby quickly leaping up towards Duck Hunt and readying a Hammer Flip. Before Kirby could get the attack off, however, the two righted themselves and Hunt lunged forward to knock Kirby back with a powerful beak strike that knocked the Star Warrior backwards. Kirby fell, and Duck landed on all fours, Hunt quickly returning to his companion's back.
“Is that all you've got?” Hunt taunted as Kirby got back to his feet. “Duck and I can still fight.”
“PUFF!” the duo heard behind them. They turned around just in time to see Jigglypuff delivering a powerful fully-charged forward kick that sent the duck and dog flying backwards... right into a fully-charged Hammer Flip attack from Kirby that sent the duo flying upwards. Duck Hunt wasn't cleared, however, and they quickly descended before landing in front of Kirby and Jigglypuff.
“TAKE THIS!” Hunt shouted as Duck flipped around and tossed a clay pigeon at his opponents. Before the clay pigeon could hit its mark, however, Kirby leapt forward and inhaled it, quickly swallowing and nullifying the attack.
“Right...” Hunt said as Duck whined quietly. “Forgot he could do that.... No matter, let's just give 'em an attack that'll be difficult to digest.” Duck Hunt then ran forward towards Kirby and Jigglypuff. The latter tried to charge forward to intercept Duck Hunt's attack, but Hunt was quicker on the draw and leapt forward to strike Jigglypuff with his beak, sending the Balloon Pokemon flying backwards. Duck then rose to his hind legs and pointed in dramatic fashion towards Kirby with both paws. Before the Star Warrior could react, a red cross hair appeared over him, quickly followed by a shot that sent Kirby flying backwards. This was followed by another cross hair appearing as he flew, shooting him a second time and sending him further into the air. The same thing happened one more time, except this shot had enough launching power to send Kirby flying into a tree.
“Nice shooting,” Hunt complimented while looking off in the distance behind him. “Now, let's hit him with a-”
KREEENG!
Before Hunt could finish his sentence, both he and Duck were suddenly launched upwards at high speed, leaving behind Jigglypuff, who was sleeping right where Duck Hunt was standing not a second before.
(End song)
Kirby quickly got back to his feet and walked over to Jigglypuff, who was still sleeping. The Star Warrior would have let his friend nap, but she was standing right where Duck Hunt was about to fall at high speed. With that in mind, Kirby tapped Jigglypuff on the shoulder, startling the Balloon Pokemon awake.
“Puff?” Jigglypuff asked as she shook the sleep off of her. She then looked up to see Duck Hunt falling towards her at a high velocity. Kirby quickly pulled his friend out of the way merely a second before Duck Hunt, now a trophy, fell. “Jiggly,” Jigglypuff thanked. The two pink puffs then walked towards Duck Hunt, who were frozen in a position with Duck running forward while looking up at Hunt, who was flying above his companion. “Jigglypuff Jiggly.” The Balloon Pokemon pointed behind her towards Toon Link.
“Poyo,” Kirby replied with a nod. He then turned around and walked over to where the Toon Link Trophy stood. Kirby was about to release the Younger Hero of Time when a familiar voice stopped him.
“Kirby! Jigglypuff!” Shulk's voice called. Both puffs turned around to see Shulk, Link, Ike, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie walk out of the woods towards them.
“Jigglypuff!” the Balloon Pokemon called with a happy expression. She then ran over to the group, Kirby following while carrying Toon Link.
“Are you two ok?” Ike asked.
“Jigglypuff...” The Balloon Pokemon indicated the Duck Hunt Trophy behind her.
“Duck Hunt, huh?” Shulk asked. “I can't believe they sided with Overlord V. I kinda liked them the first time I battled them. Thought they were a bit adorable. But I'm getting off topic. Kirby, Jigglypuff, I'd like you two to meet Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.” The Homs indicated the two ponies. “They're ponies from the land of Equestria. They're here to save their friend who's been kidnapped.”
“Nice to meet you two,” Rainbow Dash said as she extended her hoof to shake with Jigglypuff. The Balloon Pokemon approached the pony with caution, but managed to work up enough courage to shake Dash's hoof.
Kirby and Pinkie Pie, however, just stared at each other for the longest time. Both of them locked eyes, both looking on with confusion, neither believing who was standing in front of them at the moment.
“Are you...?” Pinkie Pie asked as she reached her hoof towards Kirby, who slowly reached his arm out towards the pony. Before they could come into contact with one another, however, there was an explosion went off next to the two that sent both flying backwards.
“PINKIE PIE!” Rainbow Dash shouted. She tried to gallop over to help her friend, but she was stopped by several more explosions that went off around the group. Everyone looked up to see small red flying ships with silver skull designs on the front flying towards them while firing pink balls of energy that exploded once they hit the ground.
“What the hell are those things?” Ike asked as he readied his blade. Right as he asked that, the red ships retreated to make way for a huge black and gold ship with two small devices surrounding it.
“Looks like trouble to me,” Rainbow Dash said as all seven fighters regrouped.
(Play me)
“Well well well, look what we have here,” a voice said from what sounded like a loudspeaker on the black ship. “A grand total of nine trophies to take back to The Emperor. Ooh, I'm gonna get a raise for sure.”
“Who are you?” Shulk shouted. “And what do you want with us?”
An evil cackle came from the ship. “If you must know, I'm First Mate Skully of the Gold Bone Gang, who's currently recruited to serve under Emperor Fynalle. I'm not personally a fan of the guy, but the Gold Bone Gang's raking in dough like this faster than we ever did with piracy. But enough about me. Let's get down to business.” Skully then aimed the cannon at the end of his ship, as well as the two floating devices which apparently were cannons themselves, at the group. “Surrender yourselves now, and we won't hurt you... much.”
“Fat chance of that happening!” Rainbow Dash shouted. She then leapt up and tried to fly towards Skully's ship, but she once more forgot that her wing was injured and she fell to the ground.
“Such brave words for a horse who can't fly,” Skully laughed. “At least, I'm assuming you're a horse... Seriously, what in the Streetpass Galaxy are you? Ah, it doesn't matter what you are. I'm gonna blow you and your friends away and bring you all back to the Captain and Emperor as Trophies.” Skully's weapons then began charging energy.
“EVERYONE TAKE COVER!” Shulk shouted. Everyone in the group dived out of the way of the incoming attack, but Kirby, Jigglypuff, and Ike were unable to move swiftly enough before Skully unleashed a volley of explosive rounds that exploded all around them, quickly clouding where the three stood in dust. When the dust finally cleared, Rainbow, Pinkie, Shulk, and Link looked up from their cover to see their three friends still standing, but now as Trophies.
“Shoot, I missed most of 'em,” Skully complained. “Oh well. Five Trophies out of nine isn't bad. Round 'em up, boys!” Upon Skully's command, five of the red ships from before flew in and picked up Toon Link, Duck Hunt, Kirby, Ike, and Jigglypuff before turning and flying back the way they came.
“Come back here, you cowards!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she leapt up and started galloping after the Gold Bone ships.
“Another horse?” Skully asked. “Eh, looks like you can't fly, so I'll leave you alone... for now. But I'm coming back for the rest of you soon.” With an evil laugh, Skully turned his ship around and flew off in the same direction as the smaller ships.
“GET BACK HERE!” Pinkie shouted. But it was no use. Skully was long gone.
“Pinkie!” Rainbow called as she galloped after her friend. “Pinkie, we're not gonna catch them by hoof! Stop!”
Pinkie skidded to a stop and turned around to Rainbow Dash, who just barely stopped herself before she crashed into her friend. “Rainbow Dash, you don't get it,” Pinkie said. “And neither did I for the longest time. But now I know why it's so important that we save those guys who were captured!”
Right at this moment, Shulk and Link caught up with the ponies. “Of course we have to save them,” Shulk said. “Most of those guys are our friends. And if I've learned anything from Ike, it's that we have to fight for-”
“That's not it,” Pinkie interrupted. “There's something else... I'm one of the fighters Skully just captured.”
“Huh?” everyone, including Link, asked at the same time.
“But you're right here,” Rainbow Dash asked. “You didn't get-”
“No, not me right now,” Pinkie said. “Me from the past. Kirby... he's me from the distant past!”