Canterlot. Afternoon.
Ash and Hollow had just returned from their rescue mission, which was a success. They were exhausted and a well-deserved rest was needed for them.
"Ash. Hollow. I knew you two would be able to do it." Celestia walked up to the tired humans. "Thanks to you, not only did you rescue a friend, but you've also managed to give the Saddle-Arabians their home back. And even drove Ghetsis and his team away. You two have proven to be the most dependable of all Eq-" Celestia's words were halted when she noticed that the two of them were close to falling asleep along with their Pokemon. "Oh. I suppose you need some rest first" Celestia giggled.
"Huh? No way. Champions and heroes don't rest..." Ash responded with a drowsy voice.
"Pikachu..." Pikachu raised his arms in the air, dozing off on Ash's shoulder.
"It was no big...deal..." Hollow fell on the ground, laying next to Ash's Dragonite. They were both asleep finally.
"A much-needed rest is what these two deserve." Celestia used her magic to carry Ash, Pikachu and Dragonite whilst Luna carried Hollow. They led the sleeping heroes to the nearest room in Canterlot that was used during the Pokemon Festival. They gently placed them on the beds as they were completely knocked out. All you could hear was constant snoring from them.
"To think that only these two managed to not only rescue Cold Colt from the kingdom but even freed the ponies as well. It's vastly impressive." Luna commented.
"It's more than impressive." Pyrestar walked up to them. "Both of them exceed expectations. These humans...from first glance they seem so unsure and empty-headed, but when they put their mind to something their minds move at lightning speeds. I now have even more faith that my world can be saved and restored."
"We should announce their victory immediately. Don't you think?" Luna said.
"Right. Everypony needs to hear this. Let's let them rest up." Celestia nodded as they left the group to rest away. Cold Colt sat on the floor with Emerald beside him, still unconscious. He saw Celestia, Luna and Pyrestar all walk in, staring at him. "As for you, young Cold Colt. We hope you're doing well and recovering."
"Me? I'm doing fine. Just a bit shaken up after what happened back there, ya know." Cold nervously replied. That's not the only reason he's shaken up. He's also still terrified of the thought of him ceasing to exist once everything returns to normal. Celestia could see that fear as well.
"Are you worried about your inevitable disappearance?" She asked.
"Yeah...Even if I got saved...does it even matter? I'm gonna vanish along with the memories as well. And so will you all." He sighed.
"There's no need to worry, young Cold Colt. You're safe now. You can thank Ash, Hollow and the Swords of Justice for saving you. And you still have many memories to experience before it all comes to an end." Celestia walked up to him. Speaking of the Swords of Justice, they had arrived here with Cobalion leading in the front as always. Celestia froze in place, attempting to keep her composure in front of Cobalion. Luna shook her head as Pyrestar was just confused. "C-Cobalion! G-Glad to see you here!" She said with a wide smile.
"Pleasure as well, Princess Celestia. We came here to see if everything is alright."
"It's alright as it can be." Celestia chuckled. "We were just about to announce the news to all of Equestria. You'll be immortalized as heroes, actually."
"Immortalized? As heroes? I like the sound of that!" Keldeo said with glee.
"We appreciate the offer, Princess Celestia. But we will have to decline." Cobalion replied, shattering Keldeo's dreams in an instant. "We have had our fair share of hero-worship before. For once, we'd prefer to step out of the hero light for once."
"Cobalion raises a good point. We already have all the ponies in Equestria coming towards us, praising us constantly. Especially Cobalion here." Virizion walked up to Cobalion nudging him. This sparked something in Celestia. Something that she had never felt before due to her always being at the top. Jealously. Seeing Virizion stand next to Cobalion and make contact with her made Celestia a bit uneasy as she clenched her teeth together, trying not to lose it. Virizion on the other hoof knew what she was doing. She and Terrakion already knew about Celestia's affection towards Cobalion, so the Grassland Pokemon decided to tease the sun princess in that one instance.
"We'll be taking our leave now. We will return to help once this world is in danger once more." Cobalion turned around with the other swords, ready to leave.
"Wait, Cobalion." Celestia walked towards him. "I was wondering...if it's not too much of a bother...perhaps we can...spend sometime together again. Just you and me."
"Very well. I will remember." Cobalion turned around, smirking. Celestia let out a sigh of relief, glad that she got all of that out.
"When are you going to eventually just accept her love?" Virizion whispered to him.
"Love takes time to build between two individuals between bonds. You can't rush it. Even if it is love at first sight."He answered. The Swords had exited Canterlot, now leaving Celestia, Luna and Pyrestar to begin their announcement.
3 hours had passed and the news got out quick, spreading across Equestria. Not only was Ash's recognition boosted even more, but Hollow has also now been deemed a hero as well. Not only that, but they even got their own stain glass window, specifically for them and their Pokemon.
All the way over at Ponyville, the citizens there were ecstatic to hear about the news. Not only that, but a huge sigh of relief came to all of them.
"They did it! Woohoo! This calls for a celebration!" Pinkie jumped for joy as Rarity was relieved. She almost fainted from her constant worrying.
"Told you he'd be able to do it. I wasn't worried for a second." Scootaloo nervously chuckled.
"I'm just glad they managed to rescue him. But when are they getting back?" Applejack said.
"No idea. But when they do, we're gonna have to let Cold Colt have a nice long rest, doncha think sis?" Apple Bloom looked up at her sister.
"You're right on that, sugarplum."
"And maybe then, Cold Colt's family can take him back. All of Equestria's heard the news right?" Apple Bloom replied. Hearing that made Applejack come to a conclusion. For a while she's been keeping the truth of Cold Colt a secret, not wanting to reveal him as a Rift Pony. But now she felt as if she had to speak the truth. All of Ponyville sees him as a fellow resident and hopefully, even with his identity revealed, they'll accept him.
"Ya'll. I got something I have to confess." Applejack turned to everypony, holding her breath. They all turned to her, ready to hear what the farm pony has to say. "You have to hear this too Apple Bloom. You see. The thing about Cold Colt. He ain't really a pony. I mean he is but...he's... a Rift Pony." She finally spoke the truth. And the reaction she expected came true. Everypony aside from the rest of the Mane 6 were shocked. They had no idea what to think. A Rift Pony was living amongst them this whole time? They don't even know that there's a second one here in the form of Jade Skies, even the Mane 6 don't know that Jade is a Rift Pony as well.
"Wait..so..he's...not even from Equestria...at all?" Lyra spoke.
"Not at all." Applejack shook her head. Everypony, especially Apple Bloom was perplexed. They were gossiping and talking about this new revelation. Now all Applejack and her friends had to hope for was that they'd end up accepting him, despite their not-so-pleasant history with Rift Ponies. That's when after a few seconds of discussion...they came to a conclusion. After spending time with Cold Colt, despite him being similar to Emerald Aura and Obsidian, they grew to like him. Very much. And if they can somewhat get along with Discord, they can get along with him as well.
"That's fine with us." said Mayor Mare.
"Y-You're okay with it?" Applejack stuttered.
"Mhm. Even if he's not a real pony...he's still one of us and apart of this town. And that is all we care about." She nodded.
"Plus, he's really nice to have around. Even if he's super-stubborn about it." Mr Cake said.
"When he gets back, we'll let him know that we really like him here, ya know." Derpy commented.
"And I like him as a brother. Really feels like family." Apple Bloom walked up to her sister.
"Aww..." Applejack was touched by the positive reaction. She pulled her little sister closer to her, giving her a hug. And speaking of such, Ash and Pikachu had returned with Cold Colt by his side. Not only that, but Ash was carrying Emerald on his back as well. "Look who's back already."
"Ash! Pikachu! Cold Colt!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Heya!" He waved back at them all.
"Pika!"
"You're back! How did it go?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"It's was tough. There was a pretty close-call in one part, but we did it." Ash nodded.
"Pika-Pika-Pika!"
"Cold here's all safe and sound. And in good health too."
"Cold?" The Mane 6 all said.
"It's a neat nickname I gave to him." Ash explained.
"Oh." The nodded in understanding.
"Well, we're glad you're okay and safe, Cold." Applejack walked up to him. "Had us worried there." She couldn't help but notice that he had lowered his head, feeling gloomy. "What's wrong."
"Nothing...it's just that...will you guys even remember me forever?" He suddenly spouted. Everypony knew why he said that. Now that they know he's a Rift Pony, they understand his feelings now.
"Cold. Everypony now knows you're a Rift Pony...and that's okay."
"R-Really?" He looked up at her.
"Really. You've become apart of this town. You're one of us and you're even family. Who cares what you're made out of? You're still a pony to us." Applejack finished her speech as everypony nodded. Hearing this made the young unicorn feel something that he's never felt before.
In fact, since he's made of cosmic energy, he's never sleepy, never hungry and he never has to worry about running out of stamina. But the one thing that he can feel along with the others, are emotions. Since cosmic energy fills everything, emotions are a natural part of it. And he felt an emotion indeed. Tears ran through the young unicorn's eyes. He was trying to act tough by putting his hooves over his eyes.
"Are you...crying?" Derpy asked.
"I'm not crying...it's liquid pride." He kept trying to act tough, but they could see right through him. They all went up to him to comfort him.
"Pikachu." Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder, landing on the young pony's back to pet him on the head. "Pika-Pika." He was basically saying it was alright now.
"Thank you, guys. Guess I haven't been too respectful to everypony here."
"No need to worry. If it makes you feel any better, we can sing you a song." Twilight spoke.
"Uh. No. I'm not really a song pon-" He shook his head, denying any songs but it was too late. They were too happy as they were already prepared to sing. And what they were going to sing was the same song they sang earlier today, but a different variant of it that Twilight heard a while back.
One world
One world
Now and forever, best friends
Best friends
Loyal and true, one dream
One dream
Side by side,
There's nothing we can't do
One hoof
One hoof
Helping the other
Each heart
Each heart
Beating as one,
We live
We live
Always together
Sharing the same bright sun
You and me and Pokemon!
Till the end, I will be with you
We will go where our dreams come true.
All the times that we have been through
You will always be my best friend!
Till the end, I will be with you
We will go where our dreams come true
All the time, that we have been through
You will always be my best friend!
One world
A magic feeling
Best friends
It's grown so strong
One dream
Always leads me to the place where I belong
One hoof
Won't go away
Each heart
Never let me down!
Best Friends
We got the greatest friends that ever could be found
Across every river, behind every tree, You & Me & Pokémon, Pokémon!
One world, one world
Now and forever
Best friends, best friends
Loyal and true
One dream, one dream
Side by side, there's nothing we can't do!
One hand, one hand
Helping the other
Each heart, each heart
Beating as one!
We live, we live, always together
Sharing the same bright sun
You & Me & Pokémon, You & Me & Pokémon, You & Me & Pokémon, You & Me & Pokémon
One world!
"...Alright that was actually pretty awesome." Cold nodded. They all chuckled as they went on with their day in Ponyville.
"I'm still pretty beat. I need another nap." Ash yawned. "Wanna clock out again, buddy?"
"Pikachu..." His partner nodded in response.
"By the way, Ash. Why did you bring her along?" Rainbow Dash referred to Emerald who was on Ash's back.
"Oh? Emerald Aura? She's actually a really good friend of Cold. So if she's a friend of him, then she's a friend of mine."
"That's right. Emerald actually really cares for me." Cold said. "Even if she doesn't show it. And she even helped get me away from Ghetsis. Can we please let her live here too?"
"Hmm...she did mind control Darkrai though..." Rarity wasn't sure about this.
"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll become good friends with her too. If she's against Ghetsis, then there's some good in her." Twilight spoke.
"Yes! Thank you so much, Twilight!" Cold lunged forward, hugging her. He quickly pulled back though. "Uh..sorry."
The day carried on with everypony living their lives casually once more. Twilight's Pokemon Lab, which she thought was going to be ruined by Adagio was actually fine. The Pokemon of PokePark had actually driven her away, saving the lab. It was nearing night and Ash couldn't help but look into the skies, sitting next to a tree and still thinking about what happened back there.
The image of someone who looked like Gary and an alternate version of himself couldn't escape his mind It was embedded there. He then came to the conclusion that it had to be an alternate universe. And this mysterious trainer who looked like him had to be his other-self. The only difference between him and the mysterious trainer was that he wore all red and didn't have his signature thunderbolt birthmark. Then Ash's curiosity got the best of him. He now wanted to see the other Pokemon worlds now and what they could possibly hold.
But he wasn't the only one who was thinking of this. The Rift had actually felt this. When Ash and Ghetsis's aura's both collided, the pulse they sent through the gateway managed to even affect the Rift itself. Feeling this, the Rift now had a marvellous idea. An idea that Ash actually created.
"Not bad, Ketchum. I wonder what would happen...if I included those worlds as well?"
Chapter 129 End!