//------------------------------// // Paralogue 3 // Story: Sunset Shimmer and the Land of Pokémon // by The Skyrunner //------------------------------// Twilight trotted through the forest as best she could, trying to keep her hoofsteps steady. Her counterpart with wings was too busy coming up with plans and strategies to search the Everfree, but she and the other ponies of Equestria thought it would be best to check the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters first. Twilight was still a bit unnerved about the idea of this world having doppelgangers of herself and her newfound friends, but the more she spent time with them the more she came to understand them as friends. She did kind of already know them, after all. “Alright girls, here we are.” Princess Twilight spoke, gesturing to an old, decrepit castle with a fetlock. The lavender unicorn looked out upon it with a curious eye, spotting the signs of hundreds of years of wear and decay over time. Vines grew out of holes in the masonry, and windows were badly shattered or even nonexistent altogether. She could spot a few torn tapestries here and there, but most were in too much disrepair to make out what they had depicted in the past. “To search this place a little faster, let’s split into two teams.” “Applejack, you and the other ponies who are from this dimension go and search the lower floors.” The Applejack without a ribbon on her hoof nodded. “I’ll take my friends from Canterlot High and search the upper floors.” “Hey, Princess Twili- er, me… uh…” Twilight stuttered, before regaining her composure. “Perhaps it would be best if I went with the group of equestrians? It’s difficult enough trying to figure out which one of us we’re talking to at times, and if an emergency happens we don’t want to be confused.” The other ponies considered this for a second, before the Rarity wearing a ribbon nodded. “It seems only fair, darling. Even though I’ve had a wonderful time talking to somebody who shares my interests almost exactly, it does get a tad bit confusing.” A murmur of agreement went through the group, though for the two Pinkie Pies it was more of a resounding cheer than anything else. With that said, the unicorn wandered over to the other group of ponies, with a Rainbow Dash lazily flying above them. “Alright, girls, let’s go. Remember, we’re here to find Rainbow Dash, so keep your eyes and ears open for any signs of her.” Princess Twilight led the large group inside, only to branch off with the ribbon-wearing ponies and take a flight of stairs upwards. “Alright y’all, let’s go on down into the basement. C’mon, Sci-Twi.” Applejack said. “Uh, ‘Sci-Twi,’ Applejack?” Fluttershy asked, her voice a little less quiet with less ponies around. “’Course. Princess Twi, she said that this here Twi likes all them science-ey things and studies them. So, ‘Sci-Twi’ is a way to help tell them apart.” The farmpony continued down the staircase, not looking back. “The other me came up with the same idea already. Fact is, she’s already asked for herself to be called just ‘AJ,’ since that’s her nickname at school.” “Makes sense to me at least, Applejack.” Twi said, resulting in a small grin from the native Equestrians. Together they walked down the staircase into a lower hallway, torch scones lighting the place up with what little flame they still had. Twi was curious about them, as no fire should have lasted this long without someone (or somepony in this case, she mused) tending to them. Meanwhile, the other group of ponies headed towards the higher reaches of the castle. The Alicorn leading them was smiling to herself upon the success of the mingling that both groups of her friends enjoyed. The smaller entourage of ponies with her walked and looked around themselves, mostly looking for their friend but also taking in the sights of an ancient and, at least to them, alien castle. One alabaster unicorn in particular couldn’t help but gawk at the ancient tapestries that lined the walls. Up ahead, a small glow could be seen coming from one of the rooms. “Careful, everypony,” Princess Twilight said as they approached. “We don’t know what’s in here. It could be Rainbow, it could be a monster, it could even be…” They peeked their heads in, to see a peculiar sight. A small purple and gray zebra foal could be seen playing with a few gemstones. His neck and one of his legs was covered in gold bands, which jingled and clinked against each other as he tossed the gems up into the light of a window, watching the beautiful colors splash against the wall nearby. “…A foal?” At those two words, the little colt jumped in surprise, then smiled as he ran up to the group of ponies. “Oh, hi there!” His voice squeaked out. “Did all of you come up here to play too? The shiny stones are really cool!” He looked out over the group some more. “Whoa, and there’s all kinds of ponies here! Winged ponies, horned ponies… you even have both! You must be really special!” He said the last bit with a smile towards the resident purple pony princess. “Uhh… I bet they are… but what exactly are you doing here all by yourself? This isn’t exactly the safest place for foals…” Twilight cautioned. “Ugh, you big ponies are always like this!” The colt complained. “I’m a big kid! I can take care of myself, and I like to have fun. This place is fun, so I like to come here! I even met that cool rainbow-haired girl, but she had to leave.” “Y’all saw Rainbow Dash here?” AJ asked. “Where’d she get to? We’re trying to find her real quick, so we don’t have to worry none.” “She didn’t want to play with me anymore. So she went bye-bye.” The colt said, before trotting over to the jewels. “Do you all want to play with me?” He smiled innocently. The group of ponies came up from the basement, having found nothing of suspicion down there. They all also reasoned that Rainbow would not have been in the lowest floors due to there being no light and the girl’s tendency to keep moving. If she was down there they would have heard her, they all reasoned. “Twilight, darling, we’re done checking the basement. How’s things up here?” Rarity called out. There was no response. The six equine figures trotted up the stairs to the second floor, attempting to regroup with the others. They stopped at a corner, however, when they saw the scene before them in the hallway nearby. Five ponies lay down on the ground, the orange one and the lavender one seeming to be bruised a little. “How come whenever I ask, they all want to not play with me?!” A small voice shouted out. The zebra colt darted out of a room and jumped on top of the downed Fluttershy’s wings. “All I want is a pony to play with? But is there ever enough time? NO! It’s always, ‘I’m looking for someone else’ this and ‘On a tight schedule’ that!” The six eavesdroppers looked out in shock at what happened next. Five golden rings left the colt’s legs and suspended themselves over the five shapes. “Well, if you all want to go bye-bye too then go ahead!” The colt closed his eyes and the five rings sucked up the five shapes, taking the colt with Fluttershy into the ring. His voice echoed shortly before the rings disappeared. “I’m outta here! There’s nobody that’s fun here anyway.” Silence filled the corridor as the friends looked on the now-empty hallway. They could say nothing as they simply stood there, gawking at the scene the colt left behind. A man in a red-wine colored suit strode up into the barn doors. A ruffled cravat swayed gently as he walked, taking in the scene of the police officers combing every inch of the barn. Three white sheets lay in the center of the room, the bloodstains around them leaving no mystery as to what lay underneath them. The man walked over to another, who was wearing a ragged and old green jacket. “Detective, I take it you have a suspect, or did you call me out here for my own personal investigation?” The man jumped and turned, clutching his heart. “You can’t do that, Mr. Edgeworth. You’ll give me more gray hairs than I can afford to have.” “And if you don’t give me something you’ll be able to afford less, Gumshoe.” “Sorry, sir!” The man said. “We’ve already got a suspect, but there’s one problem. She doesn’t seem to have any memory of what happened. But the story and the evidence all match. Her fingerprints, her alibi is shot, and we think her blood will match up with some of the samples we have. I don’t think this is one you need to do much prosecuting on.” Edgeworth adjusted his glasses. “Knowing my colleague, we’ll see about that.” Fluttershy awoke to the sound of rushing water. She felt it, too. Before long she sat up, only to find herself in the shallows of a river. She saw that she was human again, but she had no idea where she was. The scenery around her was lush and green, and several trees up ahead looked wild and free. A low rumbling came form the forest within. A creature unlike any Fluttershy had ever seen brushed past smaller trees and bushes with ease. It looked like a large, red Wyvern with spikes lining each of its wings and its back. Its breath lingered with embers, and its claws glistened with venom. Fluttershy got up, in awe of the beast before her. She carefully approached it, as any other movement might provoke it into thinking she was prey. She knew how animals thought, after all. When she got close, the beast roared loudly, challenging her. Fluttershy smacked the Rathalos on its nose. Somehow, the beast then knew what it was doing was wrong and scary, and whimpered. Rarity was not having the best day she could be. After the event with the little colt, she woke up to find herself in a jail cell. What kind of people do that to a lady? The cell was pristine and clean, with a bed, a small desk, and a secluded alcove with a toilet. At least it wasn't a dirty cell, she thought. She ventured a look out of the bars. Several people in lab suits scurried around the room, looking at several screens and... specimens, for lack of better terms. Small gray people, purple bug-like things, and even mechanical torsos were dissected on tables. Rarity fought the urge to vomit. "So, the test subject is awake." A woman with a heavy German accent said. "Good. Let the interrogation begin." Confidently, the princess walked up the stairs to her father’s throne room. An uncertain frown was upon her face. “Father, I found something on the castle grounds that you might want to know about…” “My dear Zelda, you know you can tell me anything.” The king said, stepping down from his throne and kneeling next to her. “What did you find? Did you finally unlock those powers of yours?” “No, it was… someone. A girl, passed out on the front lawn.” “That is indeed troubling, Zelda. I’ll send out a few maids to bring her into the palace infirmary.” “Father, there are some strange things about her…” the king raised an eyebrow. “…She smells sweet, like candy. And she’s pink. Her hair, her clothing… it’s hard to look at her.” “Well, we’ll make sure she’s treated right. After all most of our champions aren't very regular either.” He and his daughter shared a laugh. Princess Twilight was barely conscious as she started to hear voices. They were talking about something above her, but she wasn’t really coherent until later in their conversation. She saw nothing, but she did make out a young girl’s voice. “…We have to do something…” A slightly older male voice talked back. It sounded as if he was her own age. “Well, what do you propose we do?” “I-I don’t know!” the second voice gasped, however, as Twilight opened her eyes. The girl was on her right, with cascading blond hair and a mustard-yellow dress. The boy on her left had royal blue hair and wore a blue tunic. Some sort of metal shoulder guard was on one side of him. He spoke. “I see you’re awake now.” `”Hey there,” The girl added in a clam tone. “There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know.” The boy reached out his arm. “Here, take my hand.”