Twilight Sparkle has a Pokemon Journey

by Darkmetroidz

Chapter 34- Ambush

Spirits were high as Twilight and company made their way down onto the shoreline. So far the walk had been rather pleasant. But Twilight knew she had to be on guard. Even with her previous victories, Twilight knew better than to underestimate Team Umbra. Arrogance could get her into a serious jam with them.

She had become even more suspicious upon seeing the tire tracks along the shore. They weren't even trying to be subtle about hiding their movements. This has to be a trap. Twilight concluded. "Hold on girls!" Twilight held up a hoof to stop everypony else. "Team Umbra is trying to lead us into a trap. We need to be careful when we go into that cave."

"Hey Twilight?" Pinkie asked, "Why didn't we just call the police? Like, if we know where Team Umbra is, we could have just got the Manehattan police to come and take care of the hideout."

Twilight had no good answer for that. It was uncharacteristic of her to miss something so obvious. Maybe I'm just feeling confident that I can deal with this myself. Deep down she knew she wanted one of the Mega Stones Trottingsworth had promised her, but that was hardly a good enough reason to run blindly into Team Umbra's lair.

"I have a suggestion," Rarity announced, "Perhaps if we track down the cave they are hiding in, we could send somepony back to the city to alert the authorities. The rest of us can keep watch at the entrance to make sure nopony leaves. That way, none of us are in any sort of danger."

"Dang Rares, that's a pretty solid idea," Applejack commended, "I'm for it. If this is a setup like Twi's sayin, no reason to let ourselves get hurt."

With that plan in mind, the six continued down the coastline, following the tire tracks for another half-mile or so until they swerved off into the mouth of a cave. The mares snuck up to the entrance to get a closer look. "Look," Rainbow whispered, pointing her hoof toward the opposite side of the entrance. Surely enough, an identical set of tire marks came out of the cave, turning out and continuing further down the coastline. "Think they hightailed it out of here?"

"Maybe," Twilight answered back, "It's possible they knew they had been discovered and they got away while they still could."

"Think so?" Applejack asked. Truthfully, Twilight wasn't sure. It seemed to go against her theory that the cave was a trap set for them. Had Team Umbra lost their nerve and elected to flee? Or had they simply moved out the Mega Stones and left the trap in place? Whatever the possibility, Twilight was unsure if she wanted to find out.

Maybe it was time that they took Rarity's advice and sent somepony back to find the police. It would be so much easier to send a police squadron in, who were better trained and equipped to deal with this kind of situation than they were. A pegasus flying could probably make it to the nearest police station in twenty minutes. "Fluttershy, can you go?" Twilight half asked, half ordered. "We need somepony who can fly, and we need Rainbow Dash's pokémon here in case something goes wrong. Do you think you can go get the police and bring them back here?"

She nodded yes. "Sure thing. Stay safe, okay? I don’t want anypony to get hurt."

"We'll be fine sugarcube," Applejack reassured sweetly, "Now get that flank in gear. We'll keep 'em holed up in there until you get back."

Fluttershy took off back towards town while the others took up positions around the entrance. Pinkie and Applejack stayed on the near side while Twilight, Rainbow and Rarity crossed to the other side to keep the cave flanked on all angles. If any Team Umbra goons came out of that cave, they would be the ones getting ambushed.

Twilight nervously fiddled with one of her pokéballs and could sense Rainbow doing the same thing next to her. "Doing okay?" She whispered in a raspy voice.

"Yeah. Just nervous." She admitted, "Kinda wish we had a way to get a look around inside."

"I believe I know a way we could!" Rarity announced, keeping her voice down as low as she could in her excitement, "Zorua, I need you." The pokémon she had won from the Appleoosa cup sprung from its pokéball with a yip, landing in the coarse sand on all fours.

Rarity knelt down to speak to her pokémon. "Zorua, I need you to transform and have a look around the cave, alright? Turn into a Krabby for me." Zorua barked before jumping into the air in a spin. Using its illusion ability, Zorua transformed itself to look like a Krabby. She scuttled off into the cave, mimicking the bubbling noises made by the crustacean pokémon.

Applejack gave an approving nod from the other side of the wall. "You're full of good ideas today, huh Rarity? That was pretty swift, I gotta say."

"The recognition is appreciated Applejack. I suppose today is just especially good for me." There was an arrogant air in Rarity's voice, but her tone made it clear that it was only a joke. "Let's give her some time to see what she can find in there."

Minutes passed, and Twilight began to wonder how deep the cave went. Zorua could see perfectly well in the dark, but it was a question of how far back the hollow went. She knew there were some sea caves that extended hundreds of feet or longer. If this cave was that large, it might take awhile for Rarity's pokémon to fully explore it all.

Zorua returned a few minutes later. Still disguised as a Krabby, she sidestepped back to her master and began bubbling excitedly.

"Excellent job my dear," Rarity praised, rubbing Zorua's false crustacean shell, "Did you see anything?" Zorua crossed its claws into an X to signify an answer of no.

"If it's clear in there, think we should take a look ourselves?" Rainbow asked, "I mean, if it's empty we don’t really have anything to worry about, right?"

Twilight stiffened at the idea. She felt like it was an unnecessary risk, and that they were better off waiting for the police. But if Rarity's Zorua said it was empty, she had no reason to doubt it. "Alright, but stay together. We should still be careful." Twilight turned her attention back to Rarity, "Maybe we should leave one or two of us at the entrance to keep watch. That way we can guide the police here when they arrive. Rarity and Pinkie, would you two keep watch?"

Pinkie agreed enthusiastically. Rarity conceded, but only when Twilight reminded her she wouldn't have to go into the dark, dank and probably slimy cave. With two of their number on watch, the remaining three took their first uneasy steps into the cave.

Light quickly grew scarce. As visibility got worse, Applejack let Flaafy out to provide light with her tail. True to Zorua's report, the cave was empty. They could see clear impressions in the sand where boxes and equipment had been placed just recently, but had been hurriedly removed. Twilight felt the cold wetness of the sand in her hooves. This cave probably flooded every once and awhile, filling it with sediment. Whatever Team Umbra had been doing in here, they had probably only meant to stay for a brief while.

"Jeez. Nothing." Rainbow Dash sighed. She stopped for a minute to stretch and crack her joints. "I tell you guys, I kinda feel cheated. I guess I just wanted to beat on Team Umbra again."

"Not today sugarcube," Applejack laughed, slapping Rainbow on the back, "Honestly, I'm sad we didn't get a crack at those Mega Stones. Didja know Flaafy can use one when it evolves?"

"Really? So can Pidgeotto." Rainbow and Applejack went back and forth about Mega Evolution for a moment while Twilight and Flaafy continued to around the cave. There wasn’t much space left to explore, so it might just be easier to turn back and leave… But then a glimmer at the corner of her eye caught Twilight's gaze.

A military-style plastic case. It laid facedown in the sand, its contents spilled haphazardly on the ground, as if it had been dropped and forgotten in a scurry to get out. Several small stones shined like starlight in the sand. There was no mistaking it. Those were the Mega Stones.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash saw them too. "What in tarnation?"

"Team Umbra must have dropped them when they were leaving. This must be our lucky day." Twilight smiled. Today was a good day. Retrieving the Mega Stones without a fight was the biggest stroke of luck they'd had in quite a long time. Throwing all caution to the wind, all three mares galloped toward the abandoned case...

And promptly fell through the false floor covering the pitfall trap in front of it.

"Oww…" Twilight groaned. She craned her neck to see what had become of her friends. Rainbow had landed face-first onto the sand-padded trap, and Applejack had Flaafy drop right on top of her. The pit was at least fifteen feet deep, and dug into the sheer bedrock of the cave. Wait, what's giving me light to see that? Flaafy's tail glow had gone out when they had landed, but somehow Twilight could still see well enough to assess her surroundings.

"What did I tell you? The pitfall works every time," Laughed a familiar voice. Twilight moaned in defeat. There was no mistaking it, it was Adagio Dazzle, and she had played them like a violin. Without warning, a weighted rope net dropped down onto them, pinning the mares in place.

"I was worried for a minute this was going to fail," She smiled sweetly, shining a bright flashlight onto them while jeering from the top of the pit. "I was afraid that Krabby of yours would accidentally set off the trap. But thankfully it was too light to cause the floor to collapse." Twilight groaned as she saw Sonata Dusk and Sunset Shimmer's faces appear at the top of the pit. How had she been so careless?

The radio receiver clipped to Sunset's belt began to buzz, producing the distinct angry tone of Aria's voice. "This is Big Sky to Treasure Chest, do you copy? You guys need to hurry up in there. There's a squad of Manehattan police cruisers closing on your position. Do you have the package?"

"Affirmative." Sunset answered. She switched the receiver off and turned to her two other companions, "Come on, let's get them out of here right away."

"What about the others? Won't the boss get angry if we only have the three?" Sonata asked as they prepared to capture their prizes.

Adagio reassured her as she prepared a pokéball. "Don't worry about the others. These three are the only decent trainers among them. Besides, it's the purple one the boss wants."

"Lilac!" Twilight snapped. Now was not the time for sass, but she could not stand it when people called her purple.

Adagio chose to ignore her. "Vileplume. Sleep powder." Her Vileplume doused the three mares and Flaafy in a noxious spray of pollen that put them all to sleep instantly. With their targets incapacitated, Sunset and Sonata leapt down into the hole to begin tying them up and hoisting them out of the pit while Adagio threw their unconscious bodies into the back of their van. They had been fortunate enough to have two, one of which they had used to send Aria off to trick them into thinking the cave had been abandoned. The other one had been hidden behind a pile of rocks crammed in the corner of the cavern, which both Twilight and her friends had completely ignored. They had hidden themselves under a second, smaller false floor that had been dug by one of their underling's Excadrill. Once they heard screaming, the Umbra Admins jumped out of their hiding place, net in hoof, ready to capture their quarry.

At the bottom of the hole, Sunset put the sleeping Flaafy back into its pokéball and climbed a rope out of the pit. She followed her fellow officers into the back of their vehicle and began to strip their targets of their pokéballs and tossed them into a cardboard box. She doubled back to collect the Mega Stones, not realizing that one pokéball had slipped out and fallen onto the ground as they carried Twilight into the van. The one pokéball that had not been on Twilight's belt while she had been exploring the cave.

---

"Do you think we should check on them?" Rarity asked, pacing back and forth anxiously. "The cave isn't especially big. Surely they should be back by now."

Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I hope they're okay." Her ears perked up as she finished speaking. She turned her head either which way to find the source of the sound. "Hey, do you hear something? Like, an engine?"

No sooner did Pinkie Pie finish her sentence than did a white van race out of the cave and swerve off down the shore, following the set of tire tracks they thought were the ones left by Team Umbra. Pinkie and Rarity watched in horrified astonishment as the vehicle sped away, spraying sand out from under its tires as it drove away.

Rarity cursed under her breath. Neither she nor Pinkie had a flashlight with them. Without any sort of light or a pokémon that could make it, they were left to sit in the sand while they waited for the police to arrive and figure out what had happened.

A few minutes later a group of squad cars pulled up. Fluttershy exited from the back seat of one, along with a rugged old police stallion who had probably been on the force longer than Rarity had been alive. "We got a call about some Team Umbra goons hiding in these caves. What's happened here?"

In her panicked state, Rarity tried her best to describe what had happened. The stallion motioned for one of his deputies to come over with a notepad and began to scribble down everything Rarity said. She told them how they had come to check out the Umbra Base, their plan to call the police, Rarity sending Zorua to scout, Twilight going in to look and finally the van speeding away. Once she had stopped, the deputy closed his notebook and the senior officer adjusted his belt. "Give us a minute, we'll go have a look." The stallion got a flashlight from his trunk and several of his deputies did the same. A squad of four went into the cave, their lights fading as they went deeper inside.

Several minutes later, the older stallion came back with a saddened scowl on his face. "Your friends got nabbed by Team Umbra, it looks like. It looks like those goons were really gunning for somepony. They had a trap hole dug and everything. From the look of things, they got out of there in a hurry too. I found this sitting in the sand over by where their van had been parked. Did this belong to one of your friends?" Rarity took the pokéball in her hoof. It was one of theirs, no doubt. She tossed the ball onto the ground, releasing one very angry Gible onto the beach. It immediately began growling and snapping at the air, forcing Rarity to put it back before it could hurt her or one of the officers.

A deputy approached Rarity, hat held shamefully in his hoof. "I'm sorry ma'am. If we'd been here a bit quicker we might have caught 'em."

A tear welled up in Rarity's eye. "It's quite alright. The blame is ours on this matter. We shouldn't have gone in there. Do you think you will be able to do anything to save them?"

"We'll be giving it everything the department has," The deputy reassured, "If they come within sight of Manehattan, they'll be in cuffs faster than you can say salsa verde." The southernism broke the dam for Rarity, prompting her to cry at the reminder of Applejack. Flutteshy came over to comfort her and help her into the back of the squad car. She, Rarity and Pinkie squeezed into the back seat with the older stallion and his deputy up front. The formation of squad cars broke off in all directions, some pursuing Team Umbra down the beack, and others returning back to the city.

---

Twilight awoke with an awful discomfort in her forehooves. He remembered falling, and laughing… then somepony called her purple, and it was all a blur after that. She struggled to make out her surroundings. She could feel that she was moving, in what looked like the back of a car of some kind. She felt the rough texture of rope wrapped around her limbs, preventing her from moving. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were in similar states, with the latter having an extra-tight bond wrapped around her torso to hold her wings in place. "You're awake," Sunset Shimmer whispered, seemingly relieved.

Twilight gasped. It all returned to her now. She had been fillynapped by Team Umbra.

"Look, I'm sorry about this. I guess it doesn't mean much, but this isn't personal."

"Where are you taking us?" Twilight asked, the fear evident in her voice.

"Northeast HQ," Sunset answered curtly, "The boss was getting angry with you interfering in his plans, so he wants you out of the way."

Adagio's voice rang from the front seat to scold Sunset. "Sunset, don't talk to the prisoners."

"Again, I'm sorry," She whispered. Sunset climbed out of the trunk of the van and into the back seat. The gravity of the situation hit her like a bus. This was beyond anything she had ever feared would happen to her. I have to do something. Otherwise there's no telling what they'll do to us. Twilight could feel her pokéball belt was missing. What Team Umbra had done with them was not immediately apparent, leaving Twilight without options. Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy… she thought. They're our only hope.

Author's Note:

From having to force myself to write to making progress at a rate unmatched since I started, it's kind of crazy what some inspiration can do. I had a bunch of jokes I was going to make here, but I couldn't pick one so here's all of them.

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen has a mechanic called Inspiration, where circumstances can cause your research team to be able to finish projects significantly faster than they otherwise would be able to, if you decide to devote to that project at that exact time.

The reason I mention this is that a certain song sung by a certain broken-horned Unicorn has had me working in overdrive for the last couple of days. I actually have a buffer of chapters that I can filter out over the next few weeks. As tempted as I am to dump them all out at once, I am going to be smart about this and try to do about once a week, just so that I can actually publish something once and awhile when my semester gets harder and I need to devote more time to research projects.

To see if Inspiration is right for you, talk to your doctor. If you experience yourself writing about magical horses fighting each other with other magical creatures for more than four hours, seek immediate psychological attention.

I also realized just now that this story is officially longer than either of the first two Harry Potter books...

WAT.

Comments

[Marauder15]

Really?

[SonicStreak5344]

I wish Sonic was in this and he somehow brings Sunset and Tempest to the side of good and defeats Sombra with Super Sonic or has Arceus to punish him.