"Maud, I have retrieved a rock-based Pokemon for you. Its species is Minior." I pressed the button on the Poke Ball, causing a neon purple, asteroid-shaped Pokemon to emerge. "Be careful, for it cannot survive long outside a Poke Ball without its shell. I also suggest forming a strong bond with it. That will improve the efficiency of its devastating attack I mentioned yesterday. If you wish to use said attack, you must have the Rockium Z secured in the notch on the Z-Ring while you perform a specific pose. Shall I demonstrate the pose?"
"No, but thanks anyway. The Rockies have told me how to pose."
"Very well. In that case, I bid you good luck as you train with Minior." Transmitting Poke Ball to Maud.
Objective completed. Time to seek new--query? Unidentified object flying towards Ponyville Square.
Twilight rushed to the scene from her castle. "What is that?!"
"Identifying... It appears to be a flying boat, not unlike--*gasp* it's the Lor Starcutter!"
"You know about it?"
"Correct. The alien Magolor stole it from the guardian dragon Landia and escaped to Pop Star. Kirby and his friends found the Lor and Magolor, the ship missing parts. Kirby's team helped fix it, and together they went to the planet the Lor was excavated from. Magolor convinced Kirby and his friends to battle and defeat Landia, only for him to betray them, putting on Landia's Master Crown to rule the universe. It's a good thing Kirby was still able to stop Magolor's mad plan."
The Lor touched down in the square. The door on the side opened, and out came Magolor and a group of bipedal mice.
"Who are they?"
I explained, "That group of mice is known as the Squeaks. They are a group of treasure-hunting thieves who were reformed when Kirby saved their fedora-wearing leader, Daroach, from being possessed by Dark Nebula. The obese one is Storo, the one in the small spacecraft is Doc, and the yellow one is Spinni. On the other hoof, the stout blue thing is Magolor."
"That little dude is the one who betrayed Kirby?" Rainbow Dash had appeared. "I was expecting something bigger." Well, Magolor was bigger when he had the Master Crown. "Anyway, get ready for a beating!"
...! I tried to grab Rainbow by the tail, but to no avail. She sped to Magolor in a flash and struck him in the face with her front hooves. He was sent flying into the side of the Lor. "Ow, you're strong! We're not here for a fight! ...Then again, I haven't had a good fight since I was taken over by the Parallel Master Crown."
"As could we," Daroach added. "I haven't fought since Kirby rescued me from Dark Nebula's influence."
I sighed. "Very well, you can have your battle. I was going to say that Magolor is reformed, but since they said they could use a battle, fine. Go ahead." Engaging recording mode. This should be interesting.
Magolor opened with a volley of magic orbs, which Rainbow easily dodged with her speed. Magolor followed up with a dash attack, countered with Rainbow's dash. (I may be a robot, but I still have a sense of humor!) Daroach joined the fray with a swing of the Triple Star Cane. While Rainbow was distracted by the three stars bouncing around, Magolor poked her with Deadly Needles.
"Ouch, right in the flank!" Rainbow Dash used her wings to increase her altitude. "You won't get me with that when I'm up here! Hey Twilight, want to join the fight?"
"I might as well. It'll give me a chance to learn the fighting styles of the Squeaks and Magolor."
Twilight attacked Daroach with a laser, but he fought back with his ice laser. Ultimately, Daroach won the laser duel, and he put Twilight on ice. Rainbow cried, "Twilight, no!"
Daroach grinned. "Magolor, follow my lead. Storo, raise your hammer." Storo raised his wooden hammer in the air, and Magolor infused it with flame. "Now, attack Twilight while she's frozen!"
Storo bellowed, "Purple pony, eat fire hammer!"
"Oh, no you don't!" Rainbow flew into the sky and dove towards Storo at a breakneck pace.
Magolor floated between Rainbow and Storo before forming a star-shaped shield. "I'll hold him off."
Rainbow's anger levels elevated. Just before Rainbow Dash made contact, a circular rainbow that expanded outwards formed alongside an explosion sound. Her signature move. The Sonic Rainboom simultaneously shattered Magolor's barrier, broke Twilight free of her subzero prison, and knocked Storo's fire hammer out of his hand. "Listen, I may like cool stuff like Daring Do and sweet aerial tricks, but that doesn't mean you can call me a guy. I'm a GIRL!"
Sonic rushed to the scene, his shoes having a windy effect. "Awesome Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow Dash! Am I late to the party?"
"Oh, no, the party's just getting started." Magolor formed a massive, purple sword out of thin air and held it above his head. Wait, this was just supposed to be a sparring match, not a fight to the death! "Get a load of Ultra Sword!" Twilight formed a shield to protect her.
"We won't let you hurt Twilight." Maud had showed up alongside Minior, who was as radiant as ever. "No creature hurts Pinkie Pie's friends on my watch."
Magolor dramatically cowered in mock fear. "Oh, what are you going to do, kick me?"
"No." Maud flashed her Z-Ring, which was equipped with the Rockium Z. This was going to be--oh, I never told her how specifically to pose. Hopefully the Rockies gave her enough advice. "Do you see this? I can unleash Minior's full power at will. Minior, are you ready?"
Minior replied, "Mini Minior! (Translation: Ready as I'll ever be!)"
Meta Knight tapped Maud's shoulder. "I am the one who originally caught Minior, so it belongs to both of us. Therefore, I will assist you with my own Z-Power."
Maud nodded. "Then we will perform the Z-Move together. Let's go."
The pair crossed their arms/hooves in front of themselves before bringing them to the side, then in front of their body again, one arm/hoof on top of the other. As they struck two muscular poses, Maud said, "A stone heart meets a stellar body. The result is an astral bond feared by villainy." Energy formed around Maud and Meta Knight, and it rushed from them into and around Minior's body. Minior rocketed into the sky, where it formed a colossal boulder from the surrounding rocks. Maud's coolness and lack of expressed emotion only added to the air of sheer awe as she said, "...Use World's End Fall." Oh? She used the Japanese translation of Continental Crush, which I found quite appropriate, for World's End Fall sounds more dramatic spoken calmly than Continental Crush.
"Too slow, bud!" Magolor swung the Ultra Sword and broke Twilight's barrier, leaving her open to attack.
I warned, "Get away from the rock's blast zone, Twilight!"
But Twilight didn't have to; something had stopped the boulder from crashing into the ground, with feet to spare. I detected two black and red shoes with yellow lacing supporting a diminutive, grayish-green torso. The being appeared to be struggling greatly. I detected a male voice coming from the being: "I need help getting this away from the square. Otherwise, the explosion will decimate our only chances of getting back home safely!" It was Pummel Fist!
"Ah'll help ya out!" Applejack hurried beneath the rock and supported it with her hind legs. "Ah gotta admit, this here rock is mighty heavy! We'll need all the help we can get!"
"I'll help." Maud went under the rock and pushed up with her front hooves.
Even with three powerful characters lifting, the rock seemed to be too much. That is, until I noticed Pummel stomping the ground rhythmically. "Are you trying to summon Meloetta?" I asked.
"Yes. Her musical powers are unparalleled, even by a giant rock. She answers to rhythm, for the ponies' information."
Sure enough, Meloetta came to the rescue. "Trying to lift a massive boulder, huh? I've got just the song to overcome its burdening weight!" Meloetta played a fast-paced, upbeat tune that required little to no research for me to recognize.
Hearing the heroic song, the trio was able to lift the boulder with ease. Pummel exclaimed, "Aw, yeah! Gotta love that Rocky theme! ...Also, who knows of a barren place to crush a giant rock?"
Meta Knight stepped forward. "I just came from the Dragon Lands, which are to the far southeast. You'll have to fly or swim across Celestial Sea to get there, though. And I highly doubt that any of you could do that while carrying a large boulder."
Pummel was quiet for a moment. "...Maud, I have an idea. But first, I must know the extent of your rock-handling strength..."
He whispered something to Maud, who replied, "That might work. But how strong is Applejack?"
Applejack answered, "Don't y'all go doubtin' mah strength. Ah'm strong enough to launch a boulder a quarter the size of this one!"
His face wasn't visible from beneath the rock, but I'm certain Pummel grinned. "...Then this just might be able to do the trick. Meta Knight, lead us to the coastline separating us from the Dragon Lands."
"Of course, Pummel."
Magolor and the Squeaks came with us out of curiosity, although the latter were distracted by a jungle not long before we found ourselves at the coastline next to said jungle.
Pummel asked, "Is everypony ready?"
Maud answered, "I'm ready."
Applejack added, "So am I!"
"Then we're ready. On the count of three: One, two... THREE!" Pummel, Maud, and Applejack pulled off the amazing feat of launching the boulder into the air. They then pulled back their fist/hooves, ready to strike. The boulder began to fall back down. "...NOW!" The trio simultaneously punched the massive boulder, sending it clear across the Celestial Sea.
Without a second of delay, Pummel boarded Keldeo and sped across the sea himself, quickly followed by the others (who were holding on to Sonic), and they ended up on a volcanic island, the Dragon Lands.
Upon seeing Meta Knight, Dragon Lord Ember asked, "Might these be your acquaintances, Meta Knight?"
The Star Warrior replied, "Indeed. I'd be fine with staying to speak with you, but we've got a giant boulder heading this way. Before you ask, it was about to crash into and demolish our only way of returning home, so Pummel Fist, the muscular one, had the idea of launching it here to crash instead. Hope you don't mind."
"I suppose that's okay."
Pummel looked around at the barren landscape. "Say, Magolor, does this remind you of Halcandra?"
"Actually, yeah. There's volcanoes and lava everywhere, and there's even a dragon guardian! Man, this brings back memories..."
"How about Roborygon takes a commemorative picture of you here to remind you of Halcandra?"
Magolor nodded. "That sounds like a great idea! How should I pose? Like this? Or this?"
I caught on to what Pummel was thinking. I positioned myself so that Magolor was between me and Celestial Sea. "Okay, move a little over to the left. Now back up three feet. No, that's 2 3/4 feet! Move back three more inches. Good! Now hold your hands over your head, as if you're holding something. Bigger. A little bigger... Excellent! Finally, I want you to say, 'Minior used Rock Tomb!'"
"Minior used Rock--wait, what?" The giant boulder fell on Magolor, then it exploded, leaving behind Minior and a flattened Magolor. And I caught it all on tape.
Pummel put on a big smile. "Feeling depressed? You should visit Pinkie Pie for the cure."
We all burst into laughter, except for Magolor and Maud. Maud merely smiled at Minior's true potential. "That felt nice. Did you like it, Minior?"
"Mini mini Minior! (Boy, that sure was fun!)" Suddenly, Minior began to glow.
Meta Knight's eyes turned green, indicating thougtfulness. "Minior's about to return to outer space. You have to choose now: watch Minior return to its home in space, or keep it safe in its Poke Ball."
Maud looked at her Poke Ball, then back at Minior. At the Poke Ball, then at Minior. "...There's a third option, actually. And I'm taking that instead of the two options you suggested." Maud returned Minior to its Poke Ball, but then she gave it to Meta Knight. "Take good care of Minior for me. It will always be in my heart, five-ever. That's even longer than forever."
"But without a Pokemon, you won't need your Rockium Z and Z-Ring. What will you do with them?"
"I'll keep them somewhere safe, as a memento of Minior and you, its original Trainer."
Meta Knight's eyes turned blue, signifying happiness at this remark. "Very well. I will take care of Minior as if it was a fellow Star Warrior."
Pummel took a breath and sighed. "Well, our work here is done. Should we return home?"
I replied, "It seems a bit too early to head home. Let's instead return to our activities before the battle happened."
Pummel returned Magolor to his original shape with a flick of his wrist, quite literally. (He was holding Magolor like a magician's sheet or a matador's cape.) "That's... what I meant," Pummel deadpanned.