Deep within the frozen north near the Crystal Empire.
A Honedge is floating about. But this Honedge was a bit on the rusty side, comparable to that of a normal average sword. The reason being? Honedge hasn't absorbed any life force for the longest now. Deep within every Honedge lies a departed spirit that the Honedge merged with whenever they inhabit the sword. Anyone who's life has been taken by any random sword forms the body of Honedge to appear. The blue eye on the sword's handguard is the true body of Honedge, while the cloth is what drains the life away.
The Sword Pokemon has been floating across the frozen north for months now without any luck of absorbing heaps of life force. This area was barren with no appearance of life anywhere. It needed more, or else the sword will rust to a point where it becomes dust and both the spirit and Honedge will fade away into nothingness. Hope for Honedge came in the form of what it saw beyond the hill that floated upon.
The Crystal Empire.
Finally, some sign of civilization. Honedge can now live once more...but it had to keep a low profile. It may have the power to absorb life force, but it was still fairly weak Pokemon in the stage that it was currently in at the moment. So if it was to absorb someone, it would have to pretend to be just an average sword. It made its way towards the Crystal Empire with haste, ready to claim another poor victim's life force.
Honedge had arrived at the Crystal Empire, seeing all the Crystal Ponies populating the area. It was its first time seeing ponies, but that didn't matter. Whether it be human, Pokemon or whatever creature is out there, their life force will be absorbed as well. The sword Pokemon laid there on the ground of the empire, waiting for the first poor sucker to get a grip on it.
Shining Armor stood atop the balcony, watching over to see if nothing was wrong. That's when he spotted the Honedge, just laying there on the ground. "Who left the sword just lying there?" Shining Armor used his magic to teleport down to the ground level towards Honedge, finding it too dangerous to just leave a sword lying there randomly on the streets. The Sword Pokemon was anticipating this. Finally, the first victim in a long time. All Shining Armor has to do is pick the sword up, and his life force will belong to Honedge. But...what Honedge didn't see coming, was magic. Shining Armor used magic from his horn to pick Honedge up, instead of his hooves or mouth. To the Sword Pokemon's surprise, Honedge couldn't absorb his life force, because Shining Armor isn't making physical contact with the sword.
Shining Armor went up to some of the guards to see if one of them owned this sword. Strangely enough, swords are rarely used in Equestria and even the Empire, so why was there one there? "Does this belong to any of you or some of the guards?" Shining Armor asked.
"Sorry, sir. But none of us ever carry swords with us." The guard shook his head.
"So nopony owns this?"
"No, sir. Swords have never been used by the Crystal Empire, even during Sombra's rule."
"Guess that means it's not really important then huh? Alright." Shining Armor saw the guards off as he placed Honedge inside a storage room. If no one owned it, then it didn't really matter to anypony.
Honedge had just realised that it had just been tossed out like it wasn't that important. Not only that, but it couldn't even get a single life force from anyone. The sudden inconvenience of magic was not what it was expecting. Seeing that it couldn't just sit around and wait for someone to pick it up, Honedge resulted in the second option. The one option that most Ghost-types go for if the first one doesn't work.
Possession.
Honedge flew out of the storage room, slashing the door in half as it set out to possess someone. And who better to possess than the one who put it in storage.
Shining Armor, who was just casually walking back to Cadence, had no idea what was lurking behind him. Honedge had used its ghost traits to make its bladed body transparent. Once Shining Armor's guard was down, Honedge can turn opaque and strike at the right moment.
"Just a few months left, Cadence." Shining Armor walked into the throne room. "I can't wait!"
"Neither can I." Cadence replied. "I hope nopony else has caught on to it already."
"Believe me, it's only us two. When it comes along, then everypony can know about i-" Shining Armor was chatting along, unaware of Honedge's presence. Cadence on the other hand noticed that there was something odd behind Shining Armor as she spotted Honedge who was slowly revealing its opaque body.
"Shining Armor look out!" She cried out, attempting to take action. But it was too late. Honedge moved much faster than her, plunging its bladed body into Shining Armor. And just like that, Honedge had finally gained a vessel to possess. Cadence and her Sylveon gasped as they saw a ghostly aura surround Shining Armor.
"Ah...finally." Shining Armor spoke, but with a warped voice. "After months, I finally have made some progress. Possessing this pony's body was a brilliant move!"
"Who are you? Get out of my Shining Armor!" Cadence stepped forward.
"You wish. With this body under my control, I can drain heaps of life force from everyone else. No more having to wait for someone to pick me up." The Honedge possessed Shining Armor spoke. But just then, Shining Armor's body began to twitch and vibrate. From the looks of it, he was actually fighting back against Honedge, gaining control back for a bit. "Ugh... my head feels hard as steel." His voice returned to normal.
"You're back!" Cadence smiled. But, Honedge managed to gain control once more.
"Curses. This body's resistant. Doesn't matter. I'll be able to slowly gain full control over it as time passes. In the meantime. I have some life forces to absorb if you don't mind."
"Like I'd let you. Shining Armor will eventually break free from you. And I'm still here, ya know."
"Pssh. What are you doing to do?" Honedge scoffed.
"This." Cadence's horn ignited. She wasn't aiming on harming Shining Armor, but instead, planning to release Honedge from his body. The blade possessed pony however, utilized its victim's magic by teleporting behind the alicorn princess. Honedge raised its hoof up, ready to absorb all that life force, but was quickly stopped by Cadence's Sylveon who had used Fairy Wind. This gave Cadence time to back away from Honedge, avoiding the inevitable life drain. Cadence used her magic to hold Honedge in place, making sure that it wouldn't try and escape to the outside and drain everypony's life force. "Good job Sylveon. Now. Out of my Shining Armor!"
"You think I'd just give this body up?!" Honedge exclaimed. Its body began to vibrate once more as Shining Armor returned again for a bit. It seems that Shining Armor can snap back to his senses every time a 1 or 2 minute passes. "Cadence. This thing's pretty resilient. I don't think-" Honedge took control once more. Cadence could see that the two of them were constantly taking control back and forth, but Shining Armor's time was shorter. "This is getting annoying!"
"You're going to stay there until my Shining Armor is free. Let's hope that this separation spell is as effective as it seems." Cadence was ready to pull off a seemingly difficult spell. The power to separate two entities from each other. This only works if it involves two souls in one, and thankfully, Honedge just happens to be that. A purple aura surrounded Honedge's possessed body as the spell was in motion. Cadence put all of her focus into this spell, slowly ripping Honedge out of Shining Armor's body.
Honedge realised that its plans were going to be cut short, so it had to retaliate, or else things could get worse from here on. The Sword Pokemon had utilized one of its many moves. It made Shining Armor's mouth use the move Metal Sound by emitting a horrible screech that sounded like scraping metal. This broke Cadence's focus and even made Sylveon lay on the floor with it feelers covering its ears. Honedge then realised that it can actually use its moves by having Shining Armor be a vessel for it. The magic that was holding it had vanished, making Honedge free. "This is perfect actually!" The Sword Pokemon then ended up summoning a ghostly sword that was beside Shining Armor. "Now. Hand over your life force." Honedge trotted over towards Cadence, ready to place its hoof on her. But once again, Shining Armor retained control of his body, pulling his hoof back. "Finally. I got even much better control this time!"
"Shining Armor. Can you gain control much longer this time?" Cadence asked.
"Yeah. I think I've figured out how to work around its possession. If I just keep on using my magic to restrain it, then it won't have enough time to absorb anypony's life force as long as I just keep on interrupting it."
"I still have to pull off the separation spell though. So please find a way to keep it from breaking my focus."
"You got it-" Shining Armor's time was cut short as Honedge returned. "This isn't working! I'm wasting my time with you! I'll just head out and absorb others!" Honede used Shining's magic to teleport out of the castle, leaving Cadence. The Sword Pokemon appeared out into the streets, taking a gander at all the victims it could not absorb. The possessed Shining Armor rubbed its hooves together, knowing that it was going to have a field day with this. But what it didn't take into account was Cadence also having the ability to teleport. Like any skilled unicorn can. Honedge gasped as it saw Cadence staring it down with narrowed eyes. "This lady's persistent!"
Everypony gathered around to see Cadence and Shining Armor. They noticed that the two of them were seemingly having some sort of argument. At least, that's their assumption from the way their eyes look right now.
"Are the prince and princess having an argument?" A pony said.
"I hope it's nothing too serious." Another commented.
"Ah. I'm sure it's nothing. It's natural for married couples to argue." One scoffed.
"You can't keep this, sword. If Shining Armor can resist you, and I can separate you, that means you've already lost in this situation." said Cadence.
"Pah! Who's to say that I can't work my way around it? How about I start off with...you!" Shining Armor quickly ran over to the nearest pony, placing its hoof on them. Cadence gasped as the pony could feel its life force being drained from it. Sylveon quickly used Fairy Wind once more to stop Honedge. It was successful, but the pony's life force had been diminished. Thankfully, Honedge didn't get everything due to Sylveon's interference. The Sword Pokemon ended up realising that it wasn't going to achieve its goal due to Cadence and Sylveon being a massive obstacle in the way. As such, it's options were looking slim. "I can't lose like this!" The possessed pony placed its hoof on its mane out of frustration. Nothing was going as it planned.
"Got you." Cadence had held Honedge in place once more, planning to use the separation spell again. But this time, she was sure that it was to be a success. Sylveon had placed its feelers on Cadence's ears, leaving its own unguarded. Cadence knew that in a few seconds, Shining Armor will gain control of its body, making the separation spell much quicker. The spell was put into motion as everypony was just spectating what was going on.
Honedge was about to use Metal Sound once more in hopes of getting everypony to the ground so that it can absorb their life forces quicker, but Shining Armor managed to regain control, preventing it from happening. This was Cadence's chance. With an adredaline rushing through her body, she managed to seperate Honedge from Shining Armor, freeing her husband from the Sword Pokemon's control. Everypony watched as they saw Honedge fly into the air, looking dizzy after the separation.
"Shining Armor!" Cadence ran over to her husband, giving him a hug. "Thank goodness. That could've been ugly."
"Yeah. Good thing its possession isn't that powerful."
"Hone..." The Sword Pokemon went back to speaking in its natural Pokemon voice. It was not happy in the slightest. Its plans were ruined so quickly by two ponies. But it still had other choices. Other ponies to possess. It turned its attention to Cadence. If it can possess her, then it'll be much more powerful. The Sword Pokemon thrusted itself downwards, ready to dive into Cadence.
Shining Armor however, stopped Honedge by putting his hoof on it. Just right before it could get to Cadence. "I think that's enough from you." And just to make sure that the Sword Pokemon doesn't use its intagibility, Shining Armor used its magic to hold it in place.
The short Honedge issue was quickly resolved thanks to both Shining Armor and Cadence. A potential problem was avoided. Now there was one other issue to deal with. What were they going to do with Honedge?
"What do we do with it now? We can't put it in a cage since it can cut through it easily... And its a ghost so..." Cadence said.
"Hmm... I don't really know how to restrain a Pokemon like this." Shining Armor pondered. "Anypony got any ideas?" He asked the crowd.
The chattered among each other, thinking of what they could do, until one pegasus flew up with an idea. "Oh! I've got an idea!" They were in luck. Since pegasi are the one pony species that love to Pokemon battle, they carry the most Pokeballs out of any other pony species. The pegasus flew over, having a Great Ball in her hoof. "You can use one of my Pokeballs. I've got more so it's fine."
"This'll do perfectly. Thank you." Shining Armor took the Great Ball. "Alright, Honedge. You're gonna stay in here and hopefully, you can at least learn your lesson by becoming my Pokemon. At least... I hope so. Oh well." Shining Armor dropped the ball on Honedge's eye, sending the Sword Pokemon inside of it.
1...2...3...Get!
Seeing the capture made Shining Armor realise something. Finally. Now he has a Pokemon. And he also has something to brag about to Twilight when they meet up again. He picked up the Great Ball, gazing at it as he raised it up.
"Happy to have your first Pokemon?" Cadence walked over.
"YES!" Shining Armor exclaimed, making everypony pull back. "Oh, sorry...Got a bit excited there." He chuckled.
Shining Armor's first Pokemon has been caught, and it ended up being one that possessed his body for a bit and threatened to absorb the life force of everypony here. From now on, Shining Armor will work on reforming Honedge now that it is his Pokemon and hopefully, he can change the Sword Pokemon for the better.
Chapter 118 End!