//------------------------------//
// The Swords of Justice vs. The Knights of the Round Table 
// Story: A New World, A New Way: Requiem from the Lostbelt 
// by Metroid Prime 
//------------------------------//

Mordred gotta hand it to the 4 equines, they really did know how to use those swords of theirs. 

Their fight had since moved from the castle to the Everfree forest. Pokemon, creatures, and animals scattered and fled as the Knight of Rebellion and the Swords of Justice clashed their blades. The sound of their battle disturbing the quiet of Luna’s night.

The four legendary Swords did Mordred the favor of waiting until she had parried a blade from one of them before another one in waiting switched out. The Knight of the Round Table was only able to keep up due to her strong attacks, actually sending them back a few feet whenever they clashed blades.

Currently, they were fighting by a small creek. Terrakion charged at her only for Mordred to sidestep him and scratch his hide with Clarent. Keldeo then took the opening in order to perform a somersault spin attack down on her head, which would have connected if Mordred didn’t meet his sword with her own, the force of the impact creating a small shockwave. Pushing him off of her, she turned around just in time to quickly avoid a series of swift strikes from Virizion. The Grassland Pokemon eventually forced her into the water where Mordred summoned some lighting in an attempt to electrocute the Pokemon. 

Virizion saw this coming and got out quickly, unfortunately, this left Mordred open to a Surf attack from Keldeo who used the water from the creek to amplify his attack. 

Evidently, this left Mordred soaked...and angry. 

Getting up from the deluge of water, Mordred took a breather as she found herself surrounded by the four Pokemon once again.

“Hmph, normally I’d say four against one isn’t fair. But I’d make an exception in this case!”

“Does that mean you are ready to surrender?” Cobalion said. The Iron Will Pokemon looking over Mordred, as he himself looked in much better shape than her at the moment.

Behind her helmet, the knight narrowed her eyes. She herself was fully aware of the situation she was in. 

They’re trying to wear me down, Mordred thought to herself. And as much as I hate to admit, It’s working.

The Knight of Rebellion turned her head around, looking for any openings in which she could escape.

“If you’re thinking of fleeing, don’t. I’m pretty sure that we have tired you out to the point where even Virizion doesn’t need to be at full speed to catch up to you. I once again suggest you surrender and turn yourself in.”

“Oh yeah, are you sure about that?”

Before they could react, Mordred threw her sword behind her and straight at Keldeo’s head. The younger Pokemon barely had time to react before ducking, but not before Clarent shaved off a portion of his mane. Mordred then grabbed Keldeo and threw him at Cobalion who also ducked to avoid colliding with his student.

Mordred then quickly ran(grabbing her sword which had been embedded in the creak), the Sword’s of Justice recovered and ran after her.

“I gotta get out of this forest. Or at least find a clearing so I can better deal with these guys.”





Luna prodded the dreamscape once again. The Princess of the Moon spread her consciousness as she searched the entirety of her realm for something in particular. However, unlike the many times before the Pokemon came, where Luna alone shouldered the duty of managing the dreamscape, things were different now.

“Princess, would you please tell us why you invited me and Cresselia here again?” Darkrai said.

She had backup.

“I must agree with Darkrai, Princess,” Cresselia said. “You just told us that we would be searching for someone, but you have yet to tell us who this person is or what they look like.” 

Luna paused for a moment, trying to think of something to best explain the situation to the two Legendaries.

“To tell you both the truth, I don’t entirely know myself. I was just doing my regular duties yesterday when I came upon an entity that seemed to be feeding off dream energy. Although it would be more accurate to say that I heard them rather than meet them since they refused to show themselves.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a Pokemon using Dream Eater?” Darkrai suggested.

“No, after nine months of living with the Pokemon I know enough to recognize when the move Dream Eater is in use. This was not the work of a Pokemon.”

“If it’s not a Pokemon then what is it?” Cresselia asked.

“Well, I have a theory or at least the beginnings of one.” Luna then turned around to face the couple, a serious look in her eye. “Ancient legends and myths tell of creatures that existed before record history, these fiends would feed on dreams as a source of nourishment. However, depriving someone of dreams means also depriving them of much-needed sleep and rest. Without proper rest, people would eventually go insane from sleep deprivation. And so they were hunted to extinction as a result, so that they would never torment the world of dreams ever again. Starswirl the Bearded referred to these creatures as Incubi or dream eaters.”

“Hunted to extinction? That sounds harsh. They seemed to only be doing it to feed themselves.”

“Did I also mention that they were demons who delighted in leading people astray with sexual practices?” 

Cresselia and Darkrai were stunned for a moment.

“You see unlike the changelings, these creatures were actually harmful when feeding off their prey. They didn’t care what they did or who they hurt. These creatures had no real emotions or personality of their own, so they fed off the dreams of others in order to simulate personalities.” 

“And you know all this for a fact Princess?” Darkrai said. 

“Only from what Starswirl taught me. And since I have no reason to doubt his knowledge, I shall take it at face value.” Luna turned away from Darkrai and Cresselia and continued moving. “Now come, if we really are dealing with an Incubus, we must find this monster before it can feed again.”





Mordred was starting to become worried, her pursuers were catching up with her, and she knew she couldn’t keep running forever.

Just who the hell are these guys anyway? What kind of weird alternate timeline did the world cut off that somehow made 4 equines that have magic swords coming out of their heads?

Mordred remembered how they called themselves the Swords of Justice. If the name was any indication, they must have thought of themselves as a group of Knights. Although even in her timeline, horses and animals didn’t talk or display sentience.  

They must be some kind of phantasmal beasts that are capable of intelligence. Either that or maybe they’re divine spirits in animal form.

Mordred’s thoughts were interrupted when she spotted a clearing ahead of her. Her saint graph jumped with glee as she found the break she was looking for.

Unfortunately, because her focus was on what was in front of her, she did not see Virizion come from the side and trip her up. 

In a moment that she swore to never reveal to anyone for the entirety of her current manifestation, Mordred fell and rolled down until she stopped in the middle of the large clearing.

“Ah frack me.” The servant got up on her feet just in time to see her pursuers come out of the treeline and face her down. 

Modred looked down at her leg. It wasn’t badly cut, however, she wouldn’t be running anytime soon.

“Give up, you have nowhere to run,” Cobalion commanded.

From behind her helmet, Mordred eyed the stag with annoyance.

“What the hell are you guys even? I have never heard or seen of deers and horses that could talk and project lightsabers from their heads. No such phantasmal species existed back in my world.”

The four swords looked at each other and back at Mordred.

“We are not a type of ‘phantasmal species’. We are Pokemon, Legendary Pokemon to be exact. And as I said before, we are the Swords of Justice. Humble servants of Lord Arceus, the God of Pokemon.”

“Never heard of him. And believe me, the Throne of Heroes records every god who existed in Proper Human History. So any servant would know which god someone was talking about if they brought it up. So what is he, a new god that could only exist in this Lostbelt?”

“No, Lord Arceus and the Pokemon are not of this world.”

Mordred raised an eyebrow. “So is he some kind of Alien God?”

“Yes.. and no. Lord Arceus, came to this world along with the Pokemon. He brought them and all of us here to give us a fresh start.”

“Ah, so you guys are invaders huh. Did the people of this Lostbelt give you guys permission, or did God just dump you guys here just because he could?”

“Lord Arceus….I’ll admit he was rather rash and did not think things enough before bringing us here. But what’s done is done, the people of this world have accepted us as one of their own. And we shall repay that kindness by defending this world and its people. Even if our enemy is the world itself and the agents it sends to destroy us.”

“Wow, I bet there's some real sob story behind this great exodus or something. What happened, did you guys destroy your world on your own, or did a meteor smash it to bits? If Tristan were here I’d ask him to play despacito for you guys.”

“Shove it up your butthole servant!" Keldeo shouted, still upset about his hair loss and being thrown like a rag doll. "We wouldn't need to be here if it wasn’t for guys like you.”

Virizion stepped forward with her usually gentle smile. “Give up, please. This doesn’t have to go on any further. You are injured and weak. Come with us peacefully and I’m sure the Princesses will treat you fairly.”

Mordred didn’t back down, but she didn’t like her options at the moment.

“Ah, I really wish Lancelot were here. That guy may have taken the queen from father, but at least he put up a decent fight when he wanted to.”

Virizion heard what Mordred said, even if it was not loud enough for the others to hear. Her mind was racing as she started to pick up on the hints Mordred was dropping.

“Camelot, Tristan, Lancelot, a Queen stolen...don’t tell me that...”

“Ah sorry, but I’m not surrendering even if hell freezes over. I wouldn’t be the Knight of Rebellion if I didn’t fight to my last breath.”

“Ah. So that’s who you are.”

“Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea who we are? The Swords of Justice have fought battles for hundreds of lifetimes. We have existed since the world was new. I’ll admit that only joined some time ago, but whoever you are, you and whatever group of Knights you were a part of could never live up to our legend.”

“Now now Keldeo, what did I tell you about assuming things and underestimating your opponents. Besides, the group of Knights this person is a part of just might the only one among humanity worthy of fighting us.”

The other Swords looked at their female member in confusion.

“Virizion, what are you talking about?”

“Yeah Virizion, what are you talking about?” Terrakion repeated. “You know who this Knight is?”

“I do,” Virizion smiled confidently. “I didn’t want to believe it at first, but the names she was dropping. Camelot, Tristan, a man named Lancelot who stole the heart of a Queen from her King, and finally, this servant called themselves the Knight of Rebellion. There is only one group of Knights who are associated with a place called Camelot, that was destroyed by a Knight of Rebellion.”

Terrakion’s eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about. “No way, you're not saying that they’re..” 

“I am. This servant is a member of the Knights of the Round Table. Not only that, but his name is Mordred. Son of King Arthur, the traitours Knight who brought about the end of his reign.”

Keldeo’s jaw dropped to the floor. “That’s....That’s impossible! The Knights are just a myth! They were just tall tales told by humans to give them a group comparable to us. Theirs no way they can be real!”

“And yet here we are Keldeo. What was just a myth in our world is evidently real in this one.”

As the Colt Pokemon had to process the sheer revelation that the mythical Knights we somehow real in this version of Earth, he didn’t notice that Mordred was now laughing.

“AHahahahahaha! Wow, I didn’t think you lot would guess who I was. I shouldn’t have been running my mouth if I knew you would be able to figure out my true name.”

Cobalion narrowed his eyes. He knew of Mordred’s tale and how it went. The illegitimate son of King Arthur who rose up against his father in order to take his Kingdom from him. His name was spoken of in futures stories as a major example of how envy and hate would lead one down the path of darkness. He never thought that he would one day face that kind of disgrace to the name of chivalry.

“Mordred, if that really is your name. Then I now believe it when you said you will not surrounder. Furthermore, if the stories about you are true in this world as it was in mine, then you are a disgrace to the name of Knighthood that I cannot tolerate or allow to exist in this world.” Cobalion’s sword then glowed even brighter as he readied himself.

“Heh, so my very existence pisses you off? Good, ‘cause I really don’t give a rat’s @%$. But now that you know my true name, that means I can now do this.”

Mordred’s sword glowed, and this time her helmet came off long enough for the Swords of Justice to get a good look at her face.        

“Uh Virizion,” Terrakion said. “Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t Mordred suppose to be a boy and not a girl?”

Virizion was just as confused. This she did not expect.

So the Modred of this world is female...does that mean...

“I might only have enough mana left for one use of my Noble Phantasm. Buts it’s enough to deal with the four of you.”

Mordred brought the sword to her face, its blade glowing with red energy and lighting.

Virizion then remembered something else, just as King Arthur had a sword named Excalibur, so did some of his Knights had named swords. Lancelot had Arondight, Gawain wielded Galatine. 

“This is the evil blade that killed my beautiful father!” 

And that Mordred stole a sword that was used to kill King Arthur, and its name was…


Clarent Blood Arthur!
Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father


Mordred brought down the sword, a wave of crimson energy ripped through the forest, destroying everything in its path. Finally, the beam coalesced and shot into the sky, its light being seen from miles on end.





“I found something,” Cresselia said.

Luna immediately stopped what she was doing and pulled herself back together. “What is it?”

“It’s a dream signature of some kind, in Baltimare. I’m not sure who or what it is, but what I’m sensing is definitely another dream walker like us.”

“Very well then, let us see and hope that this is what we’re looking for.”

The Night Alicorn along with the Lunar duo sent their consciousness over to where the people of Baltimare were dreaming. Sure enough, they found something that was out of the ordinary.

Above the dream realm projection of the city, was a pink sphere that was absorbing all the nearby good dreams of the people sleeping in their beds.

The three looked on in a mix of curiosity and anger. None of them had ever seen something like this before in their longs lives, and yet their experience and nature allowed them to fully understand what was going on.

“So,” Darkrai began. “Is this was what an Incubus looks like?”

Luna narrowed her eyes as she studied the anomaly doing its work.

“I don’t know. This does not appear like what Starswirl described an Incubus to look like. That being said, it’s clear that this thing is feeding off of the dreams of Pokemon and Ponies.”

“Is it hurting them?”

“No,” Cresselia answered. “Those dreaming do not appear to be suffering in any visible way. But as we all know, the effects of dream eating come long after the victim awakes.”

“Indeed,” Luna said. “No matter what, this thing is a perversion of the dream realm, and as its guardians, it’s our duty to rid it of this thing.”

Luna then charged her horn with a spell meant to destroy other dream entities and fired it at the anomaly. Only for the shot to go right through it with no effect.  

“What!?”

Luna fired another shot again, even Darkrai lent a hand with a few moves, but nothing seemed to harm the dream-eating anomaly. 

“How can this be?! My spells should be able to affect anything that exists in the dream realm!”

“I don’t know, maybe we’re missing something here,” Darkrai said.

Cresselia meanwhile was pondering for a moment, until she came to a realization.

“I think I know what’s going on.”

“What? You know what doing on dear?”

“Yes, if our powers only affect things in the dream world, then whoever is doing this must be awake in the real one.”

“You mean, this person is siphoning dream energy while awake?” Luna asked.

“It’s not impossible Princess, Pokemon do not need to be asleep to use the move Dream Eater. So it would be possible that whoever or whatever this is must be stealing dreams in the real world.”

“I see. But if this is true, that this person is awake in the real world, then we do not have the time to go to Baltimare proper and search the city for them.”

Darkrai rubbed his chin for a moment, before getting an idea.

“I may have something that could help us. But you’re not gonna like it Princess.”  

“How so?”

“Well, from the looks of it, this thing only seems interested in eating good dreams. So, if I were to poison its food, aka give it bad dreams to eat, then it might back off.”

“Hmmm, I can see the logic, however..” Luna taught carefully, letting Darkrai unleash his nightmare powers would surely not be pleasant for her subjects. On the other hand, they had no other means of recourse at the moment.

“Very well Darkrai, but at the first sign of my subjects torments becoming too much, I’m waking them up.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way Princess.”

“Good, you may begin when ready.”

Luna and Cresselia took a few steps back as Darkrai took a deep breath. The Pitch Black Pokemon then relaxed and for the first time in months, he freely let his nightmare aura spread and infect the dreams of everyone in his radius. Immedleity residents began to squirm and whimper, but at the same time, the dark powers also began to infect the dreams that were being absorbed by the anomaly. It wasn’t long before it began to take in dark energy that began to turn it from bright pink to a dark shadow.

However, this did nothing to the anomaly, in fact, it seemed to be gorging on even more.

"What? It's feeding off of nightmares are well!?" Darkrai exclaimed

"It would seem that this thing prefers nightmares over good dreams. This does not bold well."

"We're not done yet," Cresselia said. "There is one more thing we can try."

"What?"

"If we wake up everyone that thing is feeding on it will have no dreams to eat."

"Hmmm, a sound idea. Very well I shall wake my citizens from their sleep."

Luna then immediately began to shoot specific spells meant to burst dreams and wake people up. One by one ponies and Pokemon awakened, and one by one the connections to the anomaly ceased.

“Gahh! What is this?” A voice said. "Who cut off the gravy train!?”

The anomaly then disappeared, and in its place, another image began to manifest. Finally, a person stood where the anomaly was.

The figure looked like a human male. His hair was white and his clothing attire was equally so aside from accents of pink and blue. In his hand, he carried a staff of unknown design and workmanship. The man had a handsome face the would put anyone at ease.

The man looked around until he spotted the trio not too far from him. 

“Oh, it’s you again. Ah and I see you brought friends this time, how very wise.”

Not wasting any time, Luna immediately closed the gap between her and this person, until she was but a few feet from him.

“Who are you!? Are you some kind of Incubus or…” Luna then realized that she was talking to what looked like a human, then came to the obvious answer. “You’re a servant aren’t you? Some kind of evil servant that feeds off dreams.”

The man only turned his frown into a smile as Darkrai and Cresselia caught up and looked over him.

“Well, to answer both questions of whether or not I am a servant or an Incubus. Yes, but actually no on both accounts.”

The three of them looked confused at the servant’s answer.

“It would take too long to explain, but to put it simply I am a servant. One who has been sent here to serve Proper Human History. That being said I currently mean you no harm, in fact, I was just enjoying a midnight snack until you guys decided to cut off my buffet so to speak.”

Luna was starting to become annoyed about how casually this servant was admitting to eating dreams as if there was nothing wrong with that.

“I see. So not only does thou admit to eating dreams which is forbidden in my realm, but thou also admits to being a servant and thus our enemy! To think that the Counter Force would send someone to upset my realm and domain which I protect. As the Princess of the Night and Dreams, I will not stand for this.”

Luna charged her horn and flared her wings.

“Prepare thyself, villain! You made a grave mistake ever coming here!”

Luna fired a powerful spell at the servant, which he narrowly dodged. 

“Hey watch where you’re firing that! I may not actually be here but it would still hurt if I get hit by dream spells.”

The servant felt a shiver up his back as Darkrai blew an Ominous Wind in this general direction. Which he managed to avoid, only to get hit with an Aurora Beam from Cresselia.

“Okay, I think I have had enough here. I apologize if I offended you all in any way, but I got other plans than just spending time with you all, later!”

The man's staff glowed and a swarm of pink flower petals surrounded the servant cutting him off from view.

Luna on her part just shot a spell that dispersed the flowers.

“You will not defy me! I am Princess Luna, and you will not-”

The servant was nowhere to be seen.

“Leave…”





The sky split as the light of Clarent was seen for miles before fading.

Mordred breathed heavily as she looked to behold her work. A path of destruction had been cut through the forest, but so far, there was no sign of those head sword-wielding equines.

Thinking she had vanquished them, Mordred rested her sword on her shoulder. “Heh that was easy, maybe I should have led out with that from the start.” Satisfied, Mordred turned around to walk away. 

Only for the servant to hear a twig snap. 

She barely had time to react before a blade was swung at her neck. Due to this, her sword was knocked out of her hand, and then she felt something tackle her to the ground.

Mordred quickly tried to crawl to her sword only for Cobalion to step on it.

“Normally, I would refrain from sneak attacks, it is not the honorable way to fight.”

Terrakion rolled the servant onto her back and pinned her down with his hoof.

“Hey! Get off me!”

The legendary Pokemon thought for a split second before saying. “Nah, I don’t think I will.”

Cobalion walked over until Mordred could see him and the rest of the Swords of Justice.

“But in your case, I’ll make an exception,” he continued. 

“Huh?”

“Because people like you are a disgrace to Knighthood and all it stands for. If you really are the Knight of Treachery that brought ruin to an entire kingdom out of petty reasons. Then a fair fight would be wasted on someone like you.”

Beneath her helmet, Mordred could only glare at the mighty Pokemon.

“Ah piss off you stupid horse or whatever. You know nothing about me.”

“Perhaps. But I do know this, you are someone who is a threat to this world. And you cannot be allowed to exist here any longer.”

“You should have just surrendered while you still could,” Keldeo boasted. “Now you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

Mordred sighed as she basically accepted her fate. “Ah well, I probably would’ve killed myself anyway rather than be taken, prisoner.”  

Cobalion raised his sword above her neck and then brought it down.

Mordred didn’t blink, she was never one to show weakness.


Ira Lupus!
Rampaging Maiden Wolf


A large shining spear burst out of the forest and nearly hit Terrakion if he hadn’t moved in time. All four Swords of Justice jumped back as another knight wielding said spear stood to defend Mordred.

“Wha? Whose-”

“Got here just in the nick of time didn’t I?”

Mordred looked up. The knight who just arrived was a bit shorter than her. She had a large shield to go with her equally heavy-looking spear, on her waist were several vials filled with some kind of magical power.   

The Legendary Pokemon readied themselves at this new unknown arrival, but Mordred knew who it was.

“Gareth?”

The one who held the seventh seat at the Round Table glanced down at her fellow knight.

“How you doin’ sis!”

Mordred made a small smile beneath her helmet as she got up and retrieved her sword.

“Gareth?” Keldeo said. “That’s another member of the Knights of the Round table right?!”

“Yep, that’s me!” the knight said beaming with pride. “And I didn’t come alone.”

Another voice came from behind the two female knights. 

“Glad to see you’re still standing Mordred.”

Out of the forest stepped another knight. But unlike his siblings, this one had no helmet. Instead, he had only a sword and cape to go along with his armor. He had golden blonde hair had a warm smile on his face.

Cobalion raised an eyebrow. “And who might you be?”

The third knight stood beside his fellow Round Table members and answered the Pokemon.

“Sir Gawain. Brother to Gareth and Mordred. Wielder of Excalibur Galatine and Knight of Midheaven.”

The name alone made the Swords tense up a bit. Gawain was spoken as one of the more powerful Knights among the Round Table.

“How did you guys find me?” Mordred asked.

“Your Noble Phantasm is hard to miss, plus we happened to be close by luckily. A good thing too cause you seemed to have bit off more than you could chew, speaking of which.” 

Gawain turned back and stared at the Pokemon. “Forgive me for asking, but isn’t four against one a little unfair?”

Cobalion was about to speak, but Keldeo beat him to it.

"That treacherous knight doesn’t deserve a fair fight! If the legends about her are true, she was responsible for the fall of a great kingdom all because she wanted the throne. And why are you guys defending her anyway!? She should be your enemy for what she's done to you guys.”

Gawain’s expression only became neutral.

“It is true that Mordred did some...things that greatly contributed to the fall of Britain. She even killed me at the battle of Camlann.”

Keldeo and others were surprised to hear this. Only just now recalling the stories that said Gawain fell to Mordred before she herself fell to King Arthur's spear.

“Then why?”

“Because no matter what she did in the past, that doesn’t matter now that our old kingdom is long gone. Mordred is summoned here now not as a traitor, but as a servant fighting for Proper Human History.”

Cobalion snorted. “Very well then.” His blue Sacred Sword shined once again, as well as his companions.

“Knights of the Round Table, Mordred, Gareth, and Gawain. Prepare yourselves. We, the Swords of Justice shall hold nothing back against King Arthur’s chosen warriors.”

Gawain nodded. “Very well,” He held out his sword as it became cloaked in flames. “We Knights of the Round Table accept your challenge!”

The 2 groups of warriors charged at each other, and a dance of blades followed.



    

Hall of Legends

Shaymin and Zygarde stood at the entrance to the temple as it was their turn on guard duty.

“So Zygarde, anything on your mind lately?”

The Order Pokemon didn’t even glance over to his friend before speaking, something which she took notice of.

“I think what’s on my mind lately is something that has been on everyone’s minds lately,” Zygarde responded sarcastically.

Ouch, he must really be in a bad mood “Okay, so do you wanna talk about it?”

The third member of the “Aura Trio” let out a tired sigh. 

“This entire situation reeks of disorder Shaymin. Multiple timelines existing in the same space at once, dead spirits walking the Earth, the threat to the peace we fought so hard to attain, and not mention the chaos that ensued when those heroic spirits from the Human Order bombed every city in Equestria.”

“Actually, we don’t really know if the ones from Proper Human History are really the ones that did that.”

“What do you mean? It has to be them! Who else is so eager to destroy us and knows about our existence? It certainly wasn’t the other Lostbelts, they didn't exist until those meteors came down from the sky.”

Shaymin was about to retort but stopped herself, Zygarde did have a point. None of the other Lostbelts came into existence until the meteors impacted the Earth, and it was only a minute later when the fires started. The only other hostile force on the planet at the time was Chaldea and Proper Human History’s Counter Force.

And yet, something didn’t add up. Chaldea had just finished destroying the Russian Lostbelt a few days before the Solstice. There was also the broadcast telling them to come to someplace called the “Wandering Sea”. So the Security Organization would be too busy looking for that place to be preoccupied with planning to commit mass murder.

This would then narrow it down to the Counter Force and the servants it was sending. But Shaymin had to wonder what kind of servant would have the power to plant bombs in people without them noticing or feeling it.

“Alright then, let's change the subject. I trust you still haven't gotten in a fight with Discord again.”

`Hmph, as much as I don’t like him, I still must obey the wishes of Lord Arceus. If he doesn't want me to fight him lest we destroy the surrounding area then so be it. Although I personally think the world would still be better off without him.”

“I think that's a little harsh. Think of it this way, you are a being of Order and Discord is a being of Chaos right. You may be from different worlds, but you two are essentially opposites of the same coin. You balance each other out.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I’m just saying. Now that this world has a being who embodies Order and Chaos, maybe the cosmic scales are now equal so to speak.”

“So you’re saying that Discord’s existence is a good thing? That people want a spirit that does nothing but cause problems and is a nuisance? Ridiculous, I think your time among the humans has filled your head with foolish ideas Shaymin.”

Now the Gratitude Pokemon was annoyed. Despite them being close friends, Zygarde always detested the human world for how chaotic and unpredictable it was. While Shaymin was always more understanding of human nature, the fact that she befriended that Pokemon Coordinator helped improve her opinion of mankind. But despite their differing opinion on humanity, Zygarde never berated Shaymin about it, until now.

She opened her mouth to retort until they were both blinded by a bright light.

“What the heck!? Did the Sun come up early and in 2 seconds!?”

“Impossible! That thing looks too small to be the sun!”

Shaymin wondered what she was talking about, then the light dimmed down enough for her to see what Zygarde was talking about.

There, in an area above the Everfree Forest, was a miniature sun.





The sound of clanging metal and flash of blade swipes filled the clearing in the Everfree, where two groups of chivalric warriors fought each other with every ounce of their skills.

Gareth jousted against Keldeo, the young knight thrusting her spear trying to get a hit in the blue colt. Keldeo for his part was trying and failing to use his sword to get a clean hit on the girl knight. As a sword user, he was supposed to have an advantage in close combat against a spear user. But her shield kept his blade at bay and prevented him from getting any good hits on her.

“So your name is Gareth huh?”

“That’s me, what's your name?”

“Keldeo, wielder of the Secret Sword.”

“Oh, is that what you're using against me?”

“Nah, I’d have to go all Resolute for that. And you're not that big of a deal for that.”

“Ah, so you're going easy on me huh, is that it? I’m flattered.”

Gareth and Keldeo’s weapons met and both tried to hold their ground, neither of them showing a lack of conviction.

Virizion and Mordred swung at each other in a repeating manner. While the Grassland Pokemon was faster, Mordred’s lighting made it dangerous for her to get close, and despite her injuries, Mordred was far from tired.

“I apologize for Cobalion’s remarks. While he is the most coolheaded of us, he does have little tolerance for traitors.”

“Meh I don’t care if people call me that or make a fuss about what I did at Calmalan, I did what I did, nothing will change that. I’m the Knight of Rebellion, it's what I do. Although I am curious.”

“About what?”

“The guy looks as stoic as my father, but mention traitors and he starts fighting dirty? What's the matter, did he get backstabbed at some point in his life?”

Memories flash in Virizion’s eyes for a brief moment, back to a time of Knights and King’s. When the world needed someone to be a leader who would lead humanity into a better future, a promising future.

Virizion pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, it would do no good to think about those days right now. Even if the person she fought against reminded her vividly about those days and that person.

Gawain surprisingly or unsurprisingly managed to hold his own against Cobalion and Terrakion. Although both Pokemon had the decency to not attack him at once, instead of switching out whenever the Knight blocked one of their blades.

“I’m impressed Knight of the Round Table,” Terrakion said. “Not many can block the sheer force of my swings. You work out or something?”

“Well, I have been strangely compared to a Gorilla at one point, but I forgot who it was that said it. Maybe it was my horse or something?”

“Still Sir Gawain, it is an honor to face you in battle,” Cobalion said. “In my world, you are just a myth and nothing more. A flight of fancy sung by human bards based on tales by other legends.”

“Oh really, while part of me is curious to know more, I’m afraid the current circumstances will not allow that.”

“Indeed, you are here to destroy this world which we have recently come to call home. You are here to preserve your world and its people. Both of us have noble and morally righteous reasons to fight, neither of us has done anything wrong.”

“And yet Fate itself decrees that we must fight, never before has it been so cruel. So it must be.”

Both sides continued to clash until they both regrouped with their brothers in arms, once again facing each other.

We can’t keep this up forever Cobalion, Virizion stated telepathically.

Indeed, despite our group having one more member, those knights look no worse for wear than us.

You think it's time we called for backup? Terrakion said.

...Perhaps.

“I don't know about you guys, but I’m starting to get tired,” Mordred said. 

“Me too, these guys are no pushovers,” Gareth added. “I can tell that they got years of experience under their belts. More than all of us combined perhaps.”

“You think it's time for a tactical retreat?”

“Yeah, too bad I don’t have anything flashy that could cover our escape.”

“I just used my Noble Phantasm, so I’m out of juice. Gawain?”

“...Very well, I understand.”

The eldest Orkney Sibling stepped forward.

“Swords of Justice! You four are indeed no ordinary swordsmen, not even men if we’re being technical. Your world is indeed lucky to have protectors like you guarding it.”

“Your words are much appreciated, Sir Gawain. But they will not save you.”

“I understand, but we both know this fight cannot go on forever.”

“Indeed, it seems our only options are for one of us to fall, or for you to surrender.”

“Yes, it would seem those are our options, however, there is one thing you are missing.”

Cobalion and the others narrowed their eyes, they knew Gawain was planning something.

“You know what my title is, and that name of my sword is correct?”

“Yes, you are the Knight of the Sun and your blade's name is Galatine.”

“Correct, so allow me to demonstrate my name here and now!”

Gawain threw his sword high up into the air, once high enough, a blinding light shined forth in the middle of the night.

The Swords of Justice had to look away, as the brightness was so great, Gawain may as well have raised the sun himself and brought it closer to Earth.

“This sacred Sword is a replica of the sun! A light the burns away and impurities of this world!”

A single beam of light went from the mini sun down to Gawain who grabbed it in his hands.

The sun itself shrunk into the new larger blade until it was just as bright as before.


Excalibur Galatine!
Sword of Revolving Victory


Gawain brought the 14-kilometer sword down, its fire burning everything in its path.






Luna, Darkrai, and Cresselia exited the dreamscape and woke up back in the Princesses room. It was notable that Luna checked out earlier than normal, although having two other dreamwalkers helped lighten the load so the work got done faster. However, this did nothing to help her mood as she walked out of the room with a sour look on her face.

“Princess, are you alright?” Cresselia asked.

Luna sighed as she kept on trotting. “No Cresselia, I am not alright.”

“I see, this is really bothering you isn’t it?”

“...As the Princess of the Night it is my duty to keep the dreams of my little ponies safe and undisturbed. But for 1,000 years, I was not able to perform that duty, so when I came back I sought to make up for lost time. I can only imagine what nightmares generations of ponies endured because I was not there to give them respite due to my mistake.”

Luna gazed out a window as she continued walking, the light of the moon illuminating the land below.

“Creatures that threaten the dreams of ponies are far and few between, so when I first sensed Darkrai’s presence I assumed the worst because of what he reminded me of.”

The Pitch Black Pokemon who was trailing behind her said nothing but had a look of sympathy nonetheless.

“And now we find ourselves against this servant who feeds of the dreams of the innocent. His very actions are an affront to my duties. Even though he is someone sent here to destroy us, his dream feeding has just made this personal, I will see him laid low.”

Luna felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Darkrai floating closer beside her. 

“And you won’t have to do it alone this time.”

Luna smiled and was about to offer the couple to join her for a midnight snack before a light outside the window caught their attention.

Cresselia had to turn away from the brightness before saying “What? Where is that coming from?”

“Did sister raise the sun early?”

The trio quickly found a balcony and got a better view of where that bright light was coming from. They arrived just in time to see a miniature sun glowing over the Everfree Forest before it collapsed into a beam of light and was brought down on the forest below. The explosion was heard even from where they were standing.

“By Lord Arceus.” Cresselia gasped. 

The glow from the explosion didn’t seem to die down, and they realized why. There was now a forest-fire in the Everfree.

Darkrai narrowed his eyes. “Luna, take us there now!”

The alicorn was way ahead of him as she teleported all three of them to the site of the fire.

Once there, they saw Pokemon running in several directions, but mostly away from the fire. The flames were quickly spreading as the dry air did nothing but help it along.

“Princess, do you have any spells for this?” Cresselia asked.

“I know a few water spells, but that will only do so much. And the clouds of the Everfree cannot be manipulated by ponies and pegasi, which means I cannot make them rain.”

“We need to get the Hall of Legends. Kyorge and Lugia can put this fire out.”  

“Darkrai wait, I can sense some other Legendaries nearby!”

“Wait really, who?”

Focusing her Psychic powers, Cresselia identified the Pokemon.

“The Swords of Justice, they’re this way.”

The three of them made their way through the burning flora until they came upon the fabled Swords doing what they did best.

Terrakion was creating ditches with his powers in order to halt the flames, this, in turn, gave the Pokemon safe passage to go through. Virizion protected the Pokemon from flames as Kedleo douse the sparks and embers with water from his hooves. Cobalion used his natural leadership and commanding voice to lead the Pokemon to safety.

Luna used a quick water spell to extinguish most of the surrounding flames, which got the four Pokemon’s attention.

“Princess Luna, Darkrai, Cresselia, I am glad to see you here.”

“Cobalion, what happened here?” The Crescent Pokemon asked.

“We were fighting a few servants, but one of them caused this fire in order to escape.”

Luna narrowed her eyes in anger, So these servants would be so low that they would endanger lives in order to escape, how deplorable.

“And while I appreciate the three of you coming here, I’m not sure all of us are gonna be able to put out this fire.”

“He’s right,” Virizion said as she walked up to them. “We need members of the Legendary Council who are adept in using water moves. Darkrai, go to the temple and get whoever you can to help put these flames out.”

“It shall be done.”

“No need everybody,” A new voice said. “Cause the calvary’s already here!”

Everyone looked up to see Shaymin in her Sky Forme looking down on them with a confident smile. She was soon eclipsed as a flying Kyogre and Lugia soared over her and used a powerful Hydro Pump while the latter combined it with Rain Dance. The move’s super effectiveness quickly killed the fires and made the air moist.

A rumbling was heard, then Zygarde burst up out of the ground using dig. Behind him was a line of Pokemon for who, he had dug a safe passage underneath the flames.

“Ah, good to see you all are here. With this many people, we shall make short work of these flames before they can spread into town.”

“Indeed Zygarde, your help is most appreciated.” Cobalion said.

“Wild Fires are in a way likened to chaos, as they consume everything with no regard to what it harms. So it is in a way, my enemy. So tell me, who is responsible for such unnecessary chaos?”

“It was the work of servants,” Luna answered.

“I see. They shall pay for this in time, but for now, let’s deal with this first.”

Everyone nodded and then got set to work dealing with the fire.





Later that day.



Fire in the Everfree forest!

A battle between Pokemon and Servants ends in flames

Last night, a forest fire erupted in the middle of the Everfree Forest. This is the first such forest fire to occur in the mysterious woods in its long storied history. The fire was thankfully dealt with before it would spread to other nearby settlements like Ponyville. This was thanks due to the joint efforts of the Princess of the Night, Luna, as well as the Legendary Pokemon: Kyogre, Lugia, Shaymin, Darkrai, Cresselia, as well as Cobalion, Virizion, Terrakion, and Keldeo of the Swords of Justice.

According to statements provided by the leader of the Swords of Justice, this fire was caused by a battle between servants and the aforementioned Swords.

“We have identified the enemy servants as Mordred, Gareth, and Gawain of the Knights of the Round table. While those names may not mean anything to you, the natives of this world, we as well as people from Earth know of them from myth. I was frankly quite surprised to learn that they exist in this world when they are nothing but tall tales from our planet. Extreme caution must be taken if you manage to find yourselves in a fight with them, their swordsmanship is comparable to ours, which is saying something.”

Along with these “Knights of the Round Table” servants, 4 more Heroic Spirit summonings occurred yesterday in Vale City, Vanhoover, Appleloosa, and Trottingham.


-

Alice finished reading the paper as her team and Toichi listened.

“So, the Knights of the Round Table huh?” Shade said.

“To think they exist in this world. That certainly makes things interesting.” Rascal added.

“Uh, excuse me, who are the Knights of the Round Table?” Toichi asked.

“Well Tochi,” Alice said putting down the paper. “In my world, the Knights of the Round Table are a mythical group of Knights who all sat around a….round table. They were said to have served a great King named King Arthur.”

“Wow, really?” While the little colt was more interested in magic than knights and swords, stories that involved them still fascinated him to a degree. Plus in every knight tale there was always a court magician that he imagined himself being.

“The story of King Arthur is one that is told in many forms today, although this has lead to the legend itself being mixed up and altered over the years, to the point where no one knows what the original source material is. But the basic premise is that King Arthur as a boy pulls a legendary sword called Caliburn or Excalibur out of a stone and goes on to form a great kingdom in the Galar Region. The sword Excalibur is called the Sword of Promised Victory, as it was believed that Victini himself blessed the sword with his power that whoever wields it may never lose a battle.”

“King Arthur was also said to have a scabbard called Avalon which healed his wounds in battle,” Shade added.

“That's correct, although legend says he lost the scabbard over time.”

“Ha!” Scep interrupted. “A scabbard that makes you invincible and a sword made by Victini? If Such things existed I probably would have found and stolen them a long time ago, either that or the Commander would have sent me to steal it for him.”

The gang shivered at the thought of Sev of all people wielding a powerful sword like that, or the fact that he would have an item that basically made him immortal.

“Ok, what other things about King Arthur do you guys know? Like what happens to him?”

“Well, that’s a big story in and of itself, which I never really had time to sit down and study. I’m a researcher, not a historian. That being said I do know how his story ends, but you may not like it.”

Toichi looked a little disappointed, but then Scep put a reassuring hand on him.

“Don’t sweat it, kid. Who knows, if the Knights of the Round Table exist in this world, then by default there must be a Heroic Spirit version of King Arthur somewhere. Maybe you can ask him about his history yourself.”

Alice rubbed her chin. That was true, if the Knights exist as servants, then by default so must King Arthur. And if he was anything like the legends make him out to be back on Earth, then she pitied anyone who would have to face him in battle.

“Hah,” Rascal said. “I think it’s less Toichi wanting to meet King Arthur than you wanting to fight him.”

“You bet I would you little imp! I could take on him and his gang of Knights if I wanted to and win.”

“Okay, I totally believe you. You who ran like a Zebstrika when that Charizard chased you during the heist at Canterlot.”

“What did you say you little imp!?”

Alice already saw where this was going, and used this as an opportunity to sneak out of the room, Toichi not far behind her.

“Where are you going, Miss Alice?”

“To get some brunch, and to get away from those two.”

“Oh, can I come with you? I’ll even pay for my meal.”

Alice looked down at Toichi who had “that” look cute face. Which ended up working.

“Okay you can come, also don’t worry about paying, food is on me this time for being such a big help during my heists.”

Toichi beamed with a big grin on his face. “Thank you, Miss Alice!”

After telling Quick and Sleight where they were going, Alice and the young unicorn left the mansion and went to a local popular diner that Tochi knew about.

As they walked, Toichi asked her a few more questions about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Alice answered them to the best of her ability which fueled the colt's curiosity about stories from her world.

But as the conversation went on, a different train of thought was running in Alice’s mind.

It was indeed true that the Legend of King Arthur was nothing but a myth back on Earth, but what none of them had told Tochi yet, was that the myth was derived from another ancient story that actually did happen at some point in history.

It was the Legend of the King of Virtus.

Myths and legends are often inspired or are exaggerated versions of events that may or may not have actually happened. The story of King Arthur is one of them, inspired by a fabled king of the region known as Virtus. 

Stories say that the king was raised by the Swords of Justice who propped him up to be a beacon of hope for the land. They say he wanted to create a kingdom where Pokemon and people would be equals, just like in the days before Arceus was sealed away. Similarly, King Arthur was prophesied to be a great king, the court mage Merlin being the one who foretold of his rise.

The King of Virtus, have the backing of the Swords of Justice, gained a following of loyal subjects, and established a great kingdom. And just like King Arthur had his Twelve Knights of the Round Table, the King of Virtus had his Twelve Virtuous Knights. Both kingdoms were thought to be able to endure forever as an example of what humanity could accomplish under a just rule.

However, both stories ended tragically the same way.

The King of Virtus was betrayed by one of his own knights, and with his death, his kingdom fell. His knights split off to do various things, such as save what was left or seek refuge elsewhere. Some of them however hunted another traitor knight who was said to have been involved with the fall of the kingdom. However, that last part was debatable, as the only reason he was hunted was due to him going to the Swords of Justice for help only for his pleas to be rejected. The other Knights used this as an excuse to hunt them down.

King Arthur’s fall was similarly the result of two Knights betraying their king. Mordred, the king’s illegitimate son, and Lancelot, who had an affair with the Queen.

Ultimately, both kingdoms fell due to human nature and infighting. Despite touting themselves as great kingdoms in a world of strife and hardships, they wasted their potential and would forever be remembered as hopeful tales going tragically wrong.

Alice came out of her deep thought as she and Toichi arrived at the restaurant. Alice put on her pony disguise and the pair quickly found a table and placed their orders. While they waited Tochi asked Alice about what heist she was planning next.

“I’m not sure this is the right place to be talking about that. Plus nothing has happened lately that would warrant such a heist, especially with this servant crisis going on.”

“You’re right. I mean, it’s not like our next target is gonna fall in our laps right?”

As Toichi said this, another pair of ponies entered the restaurant. Both of them were unicorns with one of them being a stallion with a gray coat and a white mane, a noticeable thing about him was his dull eyes. The second was a mare around his age with a blue coat and also had white hair. 

For a while, the pair kept to themselves, then one of them came over to where Alice and Tocihi were sitting.

“Um, excuse me, I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” The mare said.

Alice looked at a mare, finally noticing her. “Oh not at all, is there something you need?”

“Yes, do you live here in this city by any chance?”

“Yes, my name is Alice Maxillilion, this is my friend Toichi.” 

“Hi,” the little colt said. 

“Hello Alice, my name is Ana, and this is my boy...er..coltfriend Kody. We are out of town and are wondering if you could answer some questions about this place. Isn't that right Kody?”

The mare gestured for the stallion who was still sitting at the other table, he let out a sigh before coming over.

“I apologize for Ana, she can be..quite upfront.”

Hmmm, Ana and Kody? Those are some unusual names, for ponies at least.

“It’s no trouble at all, so what questions do you guys have?"

The couple grabbed two seats and sat with Alice and Toichi.

“Well, to put it simply, me and Kody are not from...around here, so we would like to ask you about some things.”

“Such as?”

“Who is the ruler of this land?”

Both Alice and Toichi blinked at the strange question.

“Wait, are you guys serious?” Toichi asked.

“Yes, like I said we’re not from around here.”

Alice looked at the two with suspicion but answered their question nonetheless.

“Well, depending on how you look at it, this Kingdom is ruled by the four Alicorn Princesses. But only the 2 royal sisters are considered the overall rulers of the country. That would be Celestia and Luna, the other two are Princess Cadence who rules the Equestrian territory of the Crystal Empire up north, and Princess Twilight Sparkle who resides in Ponyville a little down south.”

Ana blinked for a second be she smiled.

“Ah, thanks for clearing that up. We had heard that there were four Princesses but didn’t know their overall standing.”

Alice nearly tilted her head, despite the response she was given, she suspected Ana was freighting innocense. That being said, she decided to play along for now. 

“I see, anything else?”

“Well, we also wanted to know what are these creatures that seem to be everywhere? We know they’re not ponies, but we can also tell that they’re not all individual species. What are they?”

Now Alice looked like someone just asked her if the sky was blue or something. Thankfully Toichi beat her to the question.

“You mean you don’t know what the Pokemon are? Have you guys been living under a rock for the past 9 months?”

“Now now Toichi, where these people have been is none of our business. That being said I do have to wonder, the Pokemon have been here for almost a year and you don’t know what they are? Surely who must have heard Arceus’s broadcast by now, as well as the most recent one.”

Kody looked as if someone had caught him red-handed, but Ana kept her poker face.

“As I said, we are not...from around here.”

“...Well to answer your question, those creatures you see are called Pokemon. They are a race of aliens from a planet in another dimension Earth, they were brought here by a god called Arceus.”

The words “Earth” and “god” made Kody’s eyes widen, but he quickly tried to hide his reaction.

“Wow, that’s interesting, why did this Arceus bring them here?”

“Apparently from what I know, the planet they were from was not treating them well. The other race that lived there, called humans, basically treated them as second-class citizens. They didn’t even acknowledge their sapience at times. So when their god Arceus broke free of his prison he took them all to our little planet of Equus here.”

Ana hummed in curiosity, while Kody took over with questions.

“So, what happened to the humanity of that Earth? Are they ok?”

Alice noticed how Kody used the phrase “that Earth”, as well as his sudden interest in humanities status.

“Well to put it simply, the bad humans were left there to die. And by that, I mean that due to the lack of Pokemon as well as legendary Pokemon, their home planet will spiral out of control without the Pokemon to maintain the balance of nature. So it would be a matter of time before Earth is a dead world, if not already. As for the good humans, Arceus brought them here to Equus and turned them into Pokemon.”

“...I see. Do you know why?”

“Why what?”

“Why he turned them into Pokemon?”

“Well, I not 100% sure. But I do have a theory that's backed up by some rumors.”

“Which is?”

“Arceus might have thought that humans would continue treating Pokemon as lesser beings, so he made them Pokemon so that they would never see them as anything but equals. I heard that at the World Summit meeting that Arceus said he wanted to preserve that which was good about humanity while cutting of what made them evil.”

“But wait, there is a flaw in that logic. If this Arceus only brought the good ones with him, why did he make them Pokemon if he thought they were going to do bad things such as treating them as lesser beings?”

“That's true,” Ana added. “Not to mention that separating the good members of humanity from the evil ones won’t eliminate the “evil” in humanity. Although now that I say that, I believe he realized this. If Arceus really did bring the good members of the human race even, he must have known that some of their descendants might become evil.”

“Well even with that, there is also the fact that other people in this world might treat the Pokemon wrongly, not just humans. Hmph if this Arceus fella really is a god, then he must be a poor one when it comes to thinking.”

“That very much true,” Alice agreed. “One would think that though he might have just stayed in his world rather than just move most of the population to another planet in another universe. But what’s done is done. So, anything else you want to ask?”

The two ponies looked at each other before Kody continued.

“So where is this Arceus now?”

“He is holed up in the Hall of Legends in the Everfree forest down south, right next to Ponyville. He is open to visitors but I wouldn’t go there right now if I were you.”

Kody raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Well, I would imagine he is in a bad mode right now with the whole humanity and Lostbelt situation.”

Kody raised his eyebrow, but didn’t look too surprised at what she said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, apparently Arceus didn’t check that this planet which we call Equus is actually another Earth before coming here. And that its humanity still exists. There is also the matter of the Lostbelts which are apparently alternate timelines with humans in them as well. On top of that, there is also this group called Chaldea that's wandering around somewhere trying to destroy us to save their world.”

Kody gripped the table with his hoof in a reflexive manner but quickly relaxed himself.

“There is currently a worldwide manhunt for Chaldea and somethings called servants who are being sent by something called the Counter Force. I just hope that Arceus isn’t the one to catch them, cause I think at this point humans are at the bottom of his favorite list of species. I wouldn’t imagine him treating them well as prisoners for trying to destroy everything he worked so hard to achieve.”

Alice finished there and no one else spoke anything. There was only the noise of other customers talking and sounds from the kitchen.

Finally, Kody got up from his seat. “Thank you miss Alice. I believe you have answered most of the questions we had. Let’s go, Ana.”

Kody then walked out of the restaurant, not even waiting for Ana.

“It was a pleasure talking to you two. Have a nice day.” And with that, Ana walked out after Kody.

It was at this point that Alice and Toichi’s food came to their table, but before the colt could take a bite, Alice stopped him.

“Hey, Toichi?”

“Yes miss Alice?”

“You know your way home right?”

“Yes.”

“And your parents are fine if you go home alone?”

“Uh, yeah I think they are.”

“Good,” Alice handed him several bits. “You can have my meal, I gotta go.”

“What, where are you going?”

Alice turned back to the colt and smiled.

“To catch up with someone.” And with that Alice walked out of the restaurant, leaving Toichi to devour two plates of food.

Once outside, Alice put an illusion on herself and ran quickly until she found Kody and Ana walking fast. She then got as close as she could without them feeling her presence to catch what they were saying.

That was too close.

Do you think she suspected anything?

Maybe, but thankfully she doesn’t look like someone who would get up and follow us.

Yes, so what do we do now?

Let's just get back to the Border and inform the Director of what we’ve learned.

Very well, as you wish master.

This Lostbelt is something else. It will be a while before we can find the Tree of Emptiness and cut it down. Plus we also gotta deal with this god Arceus before he complicates things for everyone at Chaldea.

“I knew it,” Alice said to herself. She slowed down until she was a good distance from them but still following, she then put a communication gem in her ear and activated it.

“Alice?” Spinner said on the other end. “What is it?”

“Get the team and meet me on the edge of the town, near the forest, come quickly but keep yourselves hidden.”

“Why, what’s going on?”

“Just, hurry. I’ll explain when you guys get here.”

-

Soon the rest of Alice’s team rendezvoused with her outside of town, she then explained what she had happened and what she suspected.

“And you’re sure it's them?” Rascal asked.

“I’m positive,” Alice stated. “The lack of knowledge about the Pokemon and Princesses, the way they reacted to some of the answers I gave them, and then there was the conversation I overheard as I was tailing them.”

“So,” Shade began. “If those ponies are really people from Chaldea in disguise, and the fact that they are in hurry to leave and walk into the forest.”

“That means they must be heading back to their camp and meet up with the other members of their group, which means this is our chance to learn where they are and catch them off guard.”

Rascal once again spoke up. “But Alice, you said it yourself, if this really is Chaldea, then we have little chance of beating them in a fight.”

“We don’t need to beat them, Rascal, just keep them occupied and make sure they don’t go anywhere. Not until backup arrives.”

“Backup?”

Alice then turned to the twin Spinarks. “Spinner, I need you to find Johnathan and give him this message.” She pulled out a card and gave it to the spider, who nodded and crawled away.

“Alright, let's get moving. We don’t want them getting too far.”

-

Alice and her team wandered through the forest, all the while keeping an eye out for two suspicious-looking ponies as well as anything out of the ordinary.

“Wait I see someone.” Shade said pointing in a direction.


Everyone looked and for sure they saw two unicorn ponies walking all alone in the forest. Keeping the illusion up, Alice brought the group closer until they could hear what they were saying.

“Can’t say this Lostbelt is like Scandinavia or Russia,” Kody said.

“Yes, unlike the last two it’s not snowing here,” Ana said.

“Other that than it appears that humanity doesn’t exist here, at least not as humans anymore. But even that doesn’t add up since apparently this Arceus fella showed up nine months ago and brought humans with him, which is a little while after the Earth got bleached.”

“There is also the fact that this Lostbelt seems to cover 90% percent of the planet but has halted its growth. Why is that? All it has to do is expand a little further and this timeline fully replaces Proper Human History.”

“Yeah that is weird, why stop when it’s so close? Do you think it has something to do with why Its Tree of Emptiness is nowhere to be seen? Or maybe it has something to do with why 5 other Lostbelts have sprouted and stolen its territory.”

“....” 

“Somethings not right here, let's just get back to base.” 

Alice made sure to mentally write down everything they were saying. even if she didn’t fully understand what they were talking about, she knew what was being discussed may be important later.

“Alright, we’re not too far now Anastasia.”

Anastasia? Is that her real name?

“Stay close to me, I don’t want to lose you like last ti-”

“Master.”

That mare known as Anastasia stopped in her tracks.

“Huh, what is it, why’d you stop?”

“Were are being followed.”

Fox and her team all stopped in their tracks as well.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I cannot see them but I can sense five lifeforms that have been stalking us for a while.”

Alice mentally winched. Obviously, she didn’t know if servants could detect lifeforms hidden by illusions, but apparently, that was now the case. Although she was thankful that it seemed they couldn’t see through them.

“Shall I deal with them, master? Or do you wish for us to make a break for it?”

“....No, for all we know they may have someone fast enough to keep up with us and that would just lead them back to the border. Let’s get rid of them here.”

The two turned around and face the direction where Fox and her team were standing.

“We know you’re there, come out.” 

“Alice,” Shade said. “What do we do?”

“...We stick to the plan. We still need them to lead us back to their camp, so let's see if we can get them to retreat. And if not, keep them from escaping until Johnathan arrives so we can capture them and then he brings them back to town for interrogation.” 

“Alright, got it.”

“Were are about to fight a servant for the first time, be ready for anything.”

“Right!” All of them said.

“It’s Showtime!”

The area around them shimmered until, a blue Zoroark in a cape and cavalier along with a Sceptile, Liepard, and Weavile appeared in front of the duo.

The two “ponies” looked over the group before Kody tilted his head.

“And just who the hell are you guys?”

Fox smiled, and then tipped her hat until they could see her face.

“I am the Phantom Theif Fox. These are my assistants Sceptile, Liepard, and Weavile.”

“A Phantom Theif, are you going to rob us? Cause we got nothing to steal, trust me.”

“Oh, I’m not stealing anything from you guys today. Oh no, I’m more interested in who the two of you are. After all, your not really ponies are you?”

“...What do you mean?”

“ Well, first of all, two ponies walking alone through the forest are kinda suspicious. Secondly, you guys don’t have cutie marks, which is very odd for ponies of your age.”

The couple looked down at their flanks, mentally chastising themselves for missing that little detail.

“Finally I just happened to overhear you two talking while in the city, something about a Tree of Emptiness, dealing with Arceus, and you mentioning something about reporting to Chaldea.” A sly smile adorned Fox’s face.

Kody looked as if there was no point in trying to deny and just sighed.

“I’m not going to ask how you figured us out, I’m just going to get to the point. You're trying to get us to lead you to our friends so you can catch us and snitch to your god aren’t you?”

“Correct. Although since I consider myself a nice person, I’ll just tie you guys up and leave you at the doorsteps of the Princesses. Cause even though you’re trying to murder billions of lives I think they would treat you much nicer than Arceus would.”

“Is that so? Sorry but I have no intention of getting myself captured. And if you think you’ll be able to take us both, you’ve got another thing coming!”

“Oh yeah chump well just see about that!” Rascal said.

“Every well. But before we begin, could I ask you to drop whatever disguise is your wearing and introduce yourselves. After all, I did you the favor of dropping my illusion.”

Kody and Anastasia both looked at each other and nodded. Soon, their pony forms changed shape until the two unicorns were replaced by two caucasian young adult humans.

They both had silver hair, but “Kody” had a grey jacket and a plain set of modern clothing, while still retaining his dull eyes.

Anastasia, meanwhile we dressed in regal clothing that completely gave off the image of royalty. Her hair covered one of her eyes and she held a peculiar-looking doll in her arms.

“So,” Fox said looking them all over. “What should I call you lovebirds? Icy Princess and Brooding Boy?”

“Hmph, so you’re a troll huh? Do you annoy everyone you rob from?”

“Only the ones that deserve it. Which now that I think about it is basically everyone.”

“Well let me tell you right now thief, you have never faced the power of a servant before. As for my name-”

The human held up his hand, on the back of it was a red mark.

“My name is Kadoc Zemlupus. A Master of Chaldea here to restore Proper Human History.”

“My name is Anastasia Nikoaevna Romanova of Russia. Servant of Kadoc Zemlupus, my class container is Caster.”

Kadoc stood behind Anastasia as the temperature in the forest suddenly began to drop.

“Alright fox, let's see what you’ve got!”