//------------------------------//
// Shine Bright Like A Crystal 
// Story: Pokémon: Equestrian Champions 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

With Flash's seventh Equestria League Badge in hand, the group was now back on the road due to a message Twilight had received from her sister-in-law, Cadance. Now two days after leaving Manehatten, the four and their Pokémon found themselves staring down at a small town.

"There it is!" Twilight cheered with the biggest smile any of them had ever seen her wear. "Cadance said she'd meet us at the Pokémon Center!"

Spike chuckled at this, "You're clearly excited to see her again."

"Of course!" Twilight replied. "I haven't gotten to see her in over a year. I can't wait to tell her about everything we've been doing since we last saw her."

With that, she began to run down the hill, the boys following as Flash commented, "I've never seen her this giddy before. I'm guessing the two are close?"

Spike nodded back. "Before she and Shining started dating, Cadance used to babysit Twilight whenever she had time off from working as Celestia's assistant. They practically became sisters before becoming legal sisters."

"Heh. Sounds like Twilight."

And as they continued to head toward the town, a black pickup rolled along the trail before coming to a stop. A man in a black shirt under a black combat vest and grey pants jumped out and stared at the town. "There it is," he whispered before taking out a device and hitting a button. Doing so caused a hologram of a pink women with pink, yellow and purple hair to appear. "Once I find you, I'll be in for the payday of a life time."





Twilight and the others had now arrived at the Pokémon Center, Twilight rushing inside while looking like a kid at Christmas. Her eyes darted around, only to find no sign of her sister-in-law. "Cadance?" She asked, but nobody replied. The others walked in after this, seeing a frown on Twilight's face. "Where is she?! She's not here!"

"Maybe she's running late," Flash replied as Twilight let out a sigh, walking over to a nearby bench to sit down. She put her chin into her hands and pouted, the others grimacing at the face was giving. That is, till her eyes were suddenly covered, somebody now speaking up.

"Guess who?" Twilight gasped and pulled the hands that were covering her eyes, getting up before staring at the person she had been looking for.

The pink skinned woman smiled at her, Twilight now seeing she was dressed in a dark blue jacket that was open to reveal a light blue shirt. She was also wearing a light blue skirt and boots that went halfway up to her knees with long white socks going all the way to her knees.

"Cadance!" She immediately hugged her, "Its so good to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too," Cadance giggled as she embraced her back before pulling away, "Look at you. You look almost exactly the same, but you feel...different from the last time I saw you. More mature." Twilight shined a big grin at this as Spike walked over to them, "Spike!" The two hugged as well, "How you been? Have you grown?"

"Maybe a little," Spike replied as Cadance pulled away, now noticing the Terragon on his shoulder, giving him a scratch under the chin. "This is Peewee."

"Awww...he's adorable," she said as Peewee let out a hum from the scratching as Cadance turned to Flash and Doc, "And these must be the travelling companions Shining told me about."

"Name's Flash," the teen replied as Springer waved at her.

"Riolu!"

"You can call me Doc. It's nice to meet you."

"You as well," Cadance responded before turning to Twilight. "It's so good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too," Twilight nodded before tilting her head, "But...what are you doing here? Does this have something to do with that project you were telling me about the last time I saw you?"

Cadance shined a big grin at this, "Oh, it just might. Follow me." She began to walk out of the center, the five going into the garden and taking seats around a table next to the battlefield. Once they sat down, Cadance reached into her bag and took out an old looking book. "A colleague of mine managed to locate this book on ancient Equestrian languages. I came here hoping it would help me in deciphering some text I found during my latest discovery, which is why I contacted you Twilight." She turned to the teen, "You remember those stories I told you of the Crystal Empire?"

Twilight gasped while Doc and even Spike's eyes went wide. "You found it?" She asked, getting a nod from Cadance. This made her squeal before she hugged Cadance again. "I can't believe it!"

"Uh...does somebody wanna fill me in here?" They turned to Flash, "What's the Crystal Empire?"

"You've never heard of it?" Spike asked. "It's famous in the Equestria Region!"

Cadance nodded as she began to explain, "It was a great kingdom located in the most northern part of Equestria at the time. Centuries before, a meteor almost crashed into the region. If it had landed, it would have destroyed the entire region. But a lone hero, chosen by three of Equestria's legendary Pokémon, stood against it and was able to summon their master."

"You're talking about Horsearth and the other two," Doc chimed in, "And their master was Alicormony?"

"Exactly," Cadance replied with a firm nod, "The hero gave their life in order to awaken Alicormony, giving it the power needed to once again enter our world. Once here, Alicormony destroyed the meteor almost entirely. Only a small chunk survived and crashed into earth, doing very little damage thanks to Alicormony managing to slow it down. You see, the meteor was made out of a special crystal." She pulled out a piece of paper and began to draw, "And its shape was quite unusual." She drew an upside-down semicircle and then drew a triangle on top of the flat part. The base became embedded in the ground while the spike remained pointed to the sky.

"What does this have to do with the empire?" Flash asked, Cadance laughing before she took out another book and showed him a page. This page showed what looked like a castle made out of some kind of rock.

"The son of the hero chose to honor his father's brave sacrifice by building a city in his honor. He carved the crystal spire and created a castle, then he and those that followed him began to build houses on the flat crystal base. But this couldn't have been accomplished if not for a gift from Alicormony." The others raised an eyebrow at this, "The area the city was built upon is constantly snowing. Had they attempted to build the city without Alicormony's help, many of them would have froze to death."

"So what did Alicormony do?" Twilight asked next, "You've never said anything about that in any of your stories."

"That's because I didn't know about it until now," Cadance replied, "For you see, the Crystal Empire is actually located inside a mountain. A mountain made entirely of ice." The others gasped at this. "The mountain protected the city from the blizzards and allowed them to build their paradise, with the hero's son being crowned as its king."

"Wow..." Flash whispered, "That does sound cool. How have I not heard of this place before?"

"Because a thousand years ago, the empire was lost." This made Flash go wide-eyed, Cadance nodding back, "It's unsure what caused it, but something made the king of the time evacuate the city. And when they tried to return, they seemed unable to find the entrance into the ice mountain."

"So they just forgot where they put a city made entirely of crystal?" Flash asked, "That's...hard to believe."

Cadance shrugged at this, "There aren't many records of the time. Maybe there's other factors we don't know about, but we won't know until we explore the city. And that's exactly what I've been doing."

"So you were able to find it?" Spike gasped, getting another nod from Cadance.

"I found it a couple of months ago. And it's all true. A city made entirely of crystal, shielded from the elements by a mountain of ice."

"Amazing..." Twilight whispered, "That's incredible. All your hard work's finally payed off!" She turned to Flash, "Cadance has been interested in the Crystal Empire since she was very young. She's been searching for it for almost as long."

"Well of course! It is my home after all." Flash, Doc and Spike all tilted their heads at this, making her giggle. "My ancestor was the crystal king himself. It's been a well known fact about my family for a long time. When I was told that, I made it my mission to find out as much as I can about the place."

"And now you've actually found it," Doc finished.

"So what else can you tell us?" Twilight asked. "Come on! I wanna know everything you've learned!" Cadence giggled before tapping Twilight's head.

"There'll be plenty of time for that later. Right now, I wanna hear what you've been up to. Shining's told me a bit, but I rather hear it from the Horsea's mouth. Caught any new Pokémon?"

"Sure have," she took out her Pokeballs. "Peewee's one of mine until Spike's older, and I also have these two." She threw the balls into the air and in a flash, her Ponyta and Owlolar appeared.

Owlicious flew over to Cadance first, "Owlicious!" She ruffled his feathers, "I was told you had evolved, but seeing you like this in person...you look good!"

"Owl!" he happily hooted.

"Yup. And this is Shine."

Cadance turned to Shine, who just stared at her, "Hello little one. Aren't you cute?"

"Nee," Shine replied as Cadance began to pet her.

"I never thought I'd see a Galarian Ponyta in Equestria." She turned to Twilight, "What do you say to a battle?" Twilight's eyes went wide. "I've never seen you battle before, and I heard you've done well in the Hoof Cup and Battle Tournament. So how about it?"

Twilight instantly smiled, "I'd love too." She turned to Shine, "You ready?" Shine neighed in agreement before galloping over to the battlefield, Cadance moving over to the area as well, "So what are you going to use?"

Cadance walked onto her battle square, smirking as she took out a strange looking Pokeball. It had pink in place of red and had a heart shape above the button. "Something very special. You see, the Crystal Empire isn't the only discovery I've made. There was a special Pokémon that could only be found in the Empire. When it was lost, these Pokémon vanished as well. But now, I've managed to catch what might be the very last member of its species." The whole group went wide-eyed at this, stars in their eyes as she giggled at their expressions. "Crystardian!" She threw the ball, "Come on out!"

The ball flew through the air, opening to reveal a new Pokémon. The creature was a strange assortment of crystals and rocks that was floating through the air. The main body was a large round boulder that was as large as Cadance was tall. The top and bottom of this boulder had large pink crystal spikes sticking out, the one on top twice as big as the one of the bottom. Its sides and back also had smaller crystals coming out, but these ones were each connected to a smaller round rock that had a single crystal spike sticking out of it. The front of the main body was a hole in it that was filled with a pink crystal bowl. Inside the bowl was a red dot that was moving all over the bowl, everyone seeing it thinking that was its eye.

The Pokémon made a strangely robotic sound, the crystal spikes on its smaller boulders now glowing. They then extracted themselves from the rocks and began to float around the Pokémon, giving it the appearance of an atom.

"Whoa..." Spike whispered, "That thing looks so cool!"

Flash, Twilight and Doc had to agree, but drawing a blank at the Pokémon. Cadance chuckled at this before turning to Flash, "Get your Pokedex. There was an update to the database a little while ago, so the info will be in there." Flash pulled out the device in response, scanning the creature.

Name: Crystardian
Category: Protector Pokémon
Type: Rock/Psychic
Info: An ancient Pokémon, it lives to protect the royal family that lived in a lost city long ago. It wields three crystal-like constructs that it battles with using its psychic powers.

Cadance smiled. "When we first found the Crystal Empire, this thing came out of nowhere and started attacking my team. But when it saw me, it suddenly stopped and knelt down before me. At least...it think it was kneeling. Hard to tell." She then turned to her sister-in-law. "Get ready Twilight. You're about to be the first person in a thousand years to battle against one of these."

Twilight could feel her eyes shrink at this, gulping before her eyes narrowed, "And I'll be the first to beat it in a thousand years."

"We'll see," Cadance giggled before turning to Doc. "If you would do the honors."

Doc nodded and walked up between them. "Are both trainers ready?" They nodded, "Then battle...BEGIN!"

As soon as he said that, Twilight gave Shine a command. "Psybeam!" Shine's horn quickly glowed before firing a burst of rainbow light at Crystardian, the creature not moving.

"Protect." The crystals floating around it came together to form a triangular shield, the gems glowing white before a force-field appeared around Crystardian, blocking the attack. Twilight gasped at the sight, Shine's attack bouncing off the shield with ease. "Now, Power Gem!" The force field disappeared as the gems split apart.

Crystardian let out another robotic cry as the crystals began to glow their normal color, soon flying toward Shine, "Dodge it!" Twilight yelled as Shine tried to jump away, evading the first gem, only for another to slam into her.

"Nee!" She yelped as she was hit, the crystals then flying back over to their controller.

"You okay?" Twilight asked, Shine letting out a grunt as she picked herself back up and nodded. "Alright, then let's try Fairy Wind!" Shine raised her tail before it spinning around, firing out a glitter-filled wind.

"Protect!" Once again, the gems came together and created another force-field around Crystardian. The wind struck the field, leaving the Protector Pokémon completely unharmed as it flew past it.

"We gotta get past that shield! Mystical Fire!" Shine drew the fire ring before shooting a fireball through, Cadance telling her Pokémon to use Protect again. The flames hit the shield, only for Twilight to yell, "Again!" Shine fired again, Crystardian still shielding herself. "Multiple Mystical Fires, keep firing!"

The others watched as Shine shot fireball after fireball at Crystardian, all of them bouncing off the shield. "What's she doing?" Spike asked, "There's no way she's gonna get through that Protect."

"Don't be so sure," Flash added.

And after the tenth Mystical Fire, the force-field began to flicker. "Clever. Quite clever." Finally, the Mystical Fire shattered the forcefield, the flames now striking Crystardian. It let out another weird sound as it was knocked back, but was able to remain floating.

"Quickly! Before it has time to recover, use Psybeam!" Shine let out a neigh before launching another psychic beam, this one heading straight for Crystardian.

"Flame Burst!" This order made everyone go wide-eyed, Crystardian's eye now glowing before a fireball shot out of it. It struck the Psybeam, an explosion happening next as embers from the Flame Burst now rained down on the battlefield, hitting Shine.

"Nee!" She flinched at this, staggering back from the flames.

"Power Gem!" Crystardian's gems glowed before shooting toward Shine, ready to bash her again.

"Fairy Wind!" Twilight yelled, Shine spinning around to unleash the gust of wind. It struck the three gems, slowing them down just enough for Shine to dodge two, only for the third to hit her.

"Nee-taa!" She cried as she was knocked back, stumbling on her hooves.

"Mystical Fire!" Twilight ordered, expecting her to counter with protect.

But when Shine unleashed the fire rocket, Cadance called out a different command, "Psychic!" The gem on Crystardian's head glowed pink and the fireball glowed the same color, Twilight and Shine gasping when it suddenly curved upward and did a complete U-turn.

"Get out of there!" Twilight told Shine as she leapt to the side in order to avoid the fireball.

"Again." Cadance countered as the fireball hit the ground, Crystardian turning its attention to Shine as its crystal horn glowed once more. This time, Shine's body glowed along with it, now finding itself being lifted up.

"Nee?" She asked as she tried to move, only to find she couldn't. All she could do was struggle, only to be shifted around so her horn wasn't pointing at Crystardian. She tried to move her tail, but it was stiff as a board.

"Shine!" Twilight cried as her Ponyta was lifted a good twenty feet into the air, then turned to Cadance while Crystardian glanced back to wait for its next order.

"Do it!" The professor told Crystardian, who turned back to Shine before pulling her back toward the ground at high speed.

Twilight gasped and flinched away, closing her eyes. But as she did this...nothing happened. No sound of impact or Shine's cry of pain. She then looked back at Shine, now seeing she was hovering inches from the ground, Crystardian now dropping her. The teen turned back to Cadance as the woman smiled, "Why did-"

"There was no point in causing her more pain than needed. It was clear you two weren't going to win." Twilight opened her mouth at this, only to look down as Shine slumped over.

"I...I see." She muttered out, only for Cadance to walk over and pat Twilight on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. You've become a strong trainer Twilight, much more compared to back then." She then turned to Shine, "But...well, something is holding this little one back."

"Nee?"

"Holding her back?" Twilight added, "What do you mean?"

Cadance leaned down to pat Shine on the head, "I could tell when she fought that there's something keeping her from reaching her full potential. I don't know what exactly it is, but she'll need to get past it if she wants to become stronger." Twilight frowned at this before picking Shine up as Cadance asked, "Has Shine ever sustained any kind of trauma or suffered a particularly scarring injury that might have had an effect on her?"

The group all exchanged glances at this, unable to think of any incident it could be. There were too many, Cadance then saying, "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure she'll be able to overcome it eventually. As long as you're there for her." Twilight nodded before Cadance shined a big grin, "Say, I was thinking..." they all turned to her. "If you're all really interested in the Crystal Empire, why not come back with me to it? I can give you all a behind-the-scenes tour of the place. You could be the first person in a thousand years to step on a particular part of the city."

The four all gasped at the thought of seeing a long lost city. But before any of them could agree, Twilight turned to Flash and shined a big frown. Cadance saw this, raising an eyebrow as Twilight replied, "Sorry Cadance, but I don't think we can go with you."

"What?! Why not?! I would have thought you'd jump at the chance to see such an interesting place."

"I would, but it sounds like the Crystal Empire is a long ways off. And we can't take such a long detour, especially since Flash is only one badge away from entering the Equestria League."

The boys all frowned at this, knowing she was right. Cadance also looked disappointed, only to turn to Flash, "Wait...you're going for your eighth badge?"

Flash nodded back, "Once I decide which gym to take on, yeah."

"Well, then this is perfect." Everyone raised an eyebrow at this, "You can come to the Crystal Empire because it's right on the way to the toughest gym in all of Equestria."

This made Flash go wide-eyed, "The toughest gym?!"

"Oh yeah. Just north of the Crystal Empire is a snowy mountain range. And passed that mountain range is a place called Mount Tartarus, a massive mountain range. And on the other side of that mountain is Dragonia City." This caught everyone's attention, their minds flashing back to when they met Kaida. She had told them about that city, which had been first founded by a splinter group of draconids. "That city has a gym leader so strong, he's only ever been beaten by trainers who have already defeated seven other gym leaders." This made Flash shine a huge grin, "In fact, Shining battled against him to get his final badge, and it actually took him three attempts before he managed to finally beat the guy."

"Even Shining lost to this guy?!" Flash whispered, then turning to Springer. The two nodded to each other before glancing back at Cadance, "Alright! We're going to the Crystal Empire, then we're heading to Dragonia City to in order to take on Equestria's most powerful Gym Leader!" He turned to the others, "You guys with me?"

"YEAH!" The three cheered as Cadance giggled at their happiness.

And as the group began to talk about their upcoming journey, they didn't notice a man watching the garden from behind a nearby tree. A small smile was on his face, "Crystal Empire, huh? I can work with that."





That night...

In one of the center's rooms, Cadance and Twilight were sharing it with Shine as she stayed out of her Pokeball. The two girls talked for hours until they grew tired, both falling asleep as Shine remained awake. She couldn't stop thinking about what Cadance had said.

The statement followed her into the realm of sleep, drifting off with the words still on her mind. And when she opened her eyes, she suddenly found herself in a forest in the dead of night. Walking through the trees there, she found herself at a clearing with a flight of stairs in front of her. She walked up them, soon reaching the top as she found it to be someplace she remembered all too well.

It was the shrine near Camp Everfree. The place that brought the most terror into her heart.

And before she could run away, a roar of laughter filled the air, making her go wide-eyed. She looked back at the shrine, now seeing a portal of darkness open before the subject of her greatest fear walked out of it. Piedoom.

The Phantom Clown Pokémon chuckled before floating down, Shine now trying to backpedal. But as she did this, she bumped into something, making her spin around and see another Piedoom staring down at her. She let out a whimper as she tried to run away, only for another to appear in front of her. Then another formed beside her, making her gasp.

Eventually, she was surrounded by Piedoom as they all began to get closer. And as they got within inches of her, Shine let out a loud scream.





"NEETAA!" She cried before flinching up, her eyes shooting open, breath now heavy as she stood up from the bed. Gasping for air, she now saw she back in the room.

Tears began to form in her eyes at this, turning to her sleeping trainer. The girl was the closest thing she had to a mother, making Shine shuffle up to her. She snuggled against the teen, the sleeping girl unconsciously putting an arm around her.

"Nee..." she whispered as she tried to hug Twilight back, closing her eyes as she drifted off to sleep. But as she did this, another nightmare began to appear in her dreams, haunting her yet again.





The next day...

As soon as the sun was up the next morning, the group were up and ready to set out on their biggest adventure yet, Cadance now with them. The five headed out of the Pokémon Center, Springer, Peewee and Shine moving alongside them. They were soon on the road as Flash and Doc started to get to know Cadance better.

"So you're the boy Shining gave that Riolu too?" She asked Flash while the teen nodded back.

"That's right. I didn't even recognize him when we met again, but I soon realized it was him when we battled."

Cadance then looked down at Springer, "So you absorbed the energy of a giant Everstone and can't evolve?" Springer nodded back with a big frown on his face. "I'm sorry. That must have been hard for you."

"It was," Flash replied before patting the Riolu, "But we've proven we're just as strong without Springer evolving."

"Ri!" Springer added as they walked down a dirt road with a grassy meadow on either side of them that had large rocks and clusters of trees. They continued to talk about their adventures so far, only to suddenly hear a voice.

"Help!" It called out, "Is somebody up there?!" They glanced around, the voice now saying, "I'm over here!" It was here that Flash spotted something a ways off. A hole.

"Over there!" He ran over to the hole, the group soon looking down it. They saw it was a good twenty feet deep and very narrow. And at the bottom of it was a man sat limply as he looked up.

"Oh thank Arceus. You have to help me!"

"How did you get down there?" Cadance asked.

"I don't know," he replied, "I was just walking when suddenly, the ground fell out below me." He flinched in pain as he tried to move, the group now seeing his arms were still. "I think I broke both my arms. I can't climb up."

"Just hold on," Doc responded, "We'll get you up."

"How?" Spike asked, "This hole's way to small for any Flying-type strong enough to lift him. And I doubt you've got enough rope."

The others exchanged glances at this, only for the man to call out, "Do any of you have a Psychic-type? Or something that can use that move? Then you can just lift me up."

"Not a bad idea," Twilight took out her Pokeball, but Cadance stopped her from bringing out Owlicious.

"Hold it Twilight. Probably better to have another Pokémon do it. Let him save his energy for transporting him back to town." Twilight nodded and Cadance took out the pink Pokeball. "Crystardian," the ball opened, revealing the Pokémon. "Use Psychic and lift him out of the hole."

Crystardian let out its unusual noise as the top crystal began to glow, the man now glowing before he was slowly lifted into the air. "That's it," he said while flinching as his arms moved. "Thank you."

The others smiled as he reached the top of the hole. But as soon as he got out, Flash noticed he had two somethings in his hands. And as a smile appeared on his lips, he pressed down on one of them. "Suckers!" He laughed as the ground around the hole suddenly disappeared.

Flash quickly shoved Twilight to the side, pushing her away as Shine, Springer and Peewee reacted and hopped back. But the others cried out as they fell into the hole, which was a good ten feet deep, and merged with the first hole. They all screamed before hitting the ground, Spike almost landing in the second hole until Doc grabbed him.

The man just kept laughing at this, ticking off against Crystardian. Doing so allowed him to be released from the Psychic and propel him to the side of the hole. "You're mine!" He yelled as he pressed the button in his other hand.

Before Twilight could stop him, two things exploded out of the ground on either side of Crystardian. Two halves of a round metal cage appeared, slamming together around the Protector Pokémon before it could do anything.

"What?!" Twilight yelped as Crystardian and its cage fell to the ground, Crystardian looking like it was in pain. "What did you do?!"

The man chuckled back, "That cage is made of a special material that blocks the psychic abilities of whatever's in it. As long as that thing's inside there, it's powerless."

"What?!" Twilight yelped as the Pokémon got into a fighting stance. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Because people will pay big bucks for a possibly one of a kind Pokémon like that thing. Selling it off is gonna get me a big bonus."

Twilight growled at this, "So you're just a thief."

"I prefer devilishly rogue obtainer of rare items. And nothing screams rarer that that thing."

"Well you're not gonna get away with it," Twilight pointed at him. "Go!" The three charged as the man pulled out a Pokeball.

"Go!" He threw the ball and the red energy flew out, hitting the ground with a force that caused a cloud of dust. The three stopped in front of this fog, only for the man to yell, "Night Shade!" From out of the cloud, two bolts of black and red lightning exploded out, striking Springer and Peewee before either could react.

"RI/TERRA!" They cried as they were thrown back, Peewee slamming into the ground while Springer slammed into a rock that had been behind him. Springer cried out again as his head hit it before falling over, the impact doing serious damage.

"Springer!" Twilight screamed, Shine turning to glare at the Pokémon in the cloud. But as the dust began to fade, the sight within made her heart stop.

"Pied..." the Pokémon was a Piedoom, and it was smiling a vicious grin. Shine's eyes went wide and her ears fell, her entire body going ridged at the sight.

"Shine?" Twilight asked, only to stare up at the Pokémon. "Of course." She thought back to their last confrontation with Score and his men, then back to the first time they saw a Piedoom. Cadance's words from yesterday now rang in her head, remembering Shine had only been a few days old before that first experience. "Shine, get away!"

Shine vaguely heard this, but Piedoom was faster. "Night Slash!" Before Shine could move, Piedoom swung its sword.

"Pied!" It roared as it glowing black blade struck the Galarian Ponyta.

"NEE!" She screamed as she was thrown back, Twilight running over to her.

"Shine! Are you okay?!" She asked before the poacher called out another attack.

"Night Shade!" She looked up as Piedoom unleashed a bolt of dark lightning from each of its eyes, both heading straight for them. Twilight barely managed to pick Shine up and leap to the side before the bolts hit the ground, causing it explode. The force sent both flying, knocking Twilight's Pokeballs to fall out of her side, the girl hitting the ground with a thud. "Ha!" The poacher laughed before holding up another remote, "With that taken care of." He hit the button and the sound of an engine filled the air.

Seconds later, his pickup flew out of the trees and swerved around so the back was pointed at Crystardian's cage. He pressed another button and a cable flew out of the truck and wrapped around the cage's bars. It then retracted, pulling the cage in as he turned to Twilight, "Hand the Ponyta over." Twilight's eyes went wide, "I'm sure that thing will fetch a hefty price."

Twilight glared at him and held Shine tightly, making the poacher sigh, "Alright," he pressed a button, "We'll do this the hard way." The pickup shot out another rope that wrapped around Twilight and Shine, tying them both up before the two could react. He then grabbed her by the rope and pulled her toward the truck, throwing her into the back.

"You'll regret this!" She screamed.

"I doubt it," the poacher replied before turning to the unconscious Riolu and Terragon. "Might as well take these too. More money for me! HA!"

But as he was about to grab them, a voice yelled out, "Doc, give me a boost!" The poacher turned to the hole, now seeing Flash getting thrown out. He growled at the sight, quickly returning Piedoom before running up to the driver seat. And as Flash turned to the vehicle, he saw Twilight and Shine held captive on the back. "TWILIGHT!" He screamed, only for the truck to drive off, running right into some trees before vanishing in sight.

"NO!" He yelled before spinning around and helping his friends out of the hole while telling them what happened, "Come on! We gotta help Twilight!"

And as they got out, Spike held up Peewee before exclaiming, "We have to find them!"

"We will," Cadance replied, "We just have to be smart about this. That guy's clearly well armed, so we can't just attack him without a plan."

Spike nodded as Flash moved over to pick up Springer. "Come on bud," he held him tightly. "Please be okay."

"Ri," he heard him moan, "Rio..." he then flinched and held his head.

"I think he's got a concussion," Cadance commented as she looked him over, "You should return him to his Pokeball." Springer let out a moan at this, shaking his head before flinching. "What's wrong?"

"Springer hates being in his Pokeball."

"Oh. Well, stressing him out isn't gonna do him any good. Just keep holding him and make sure he doesn't move his head and neck too much." She then reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, "Light stimulates the brain and isn't good for a concussion." She placed them on the Riolu, "That should work. Feeling better?" Springer barely nodded. "Good. Now let's go find Twilight."

"They can't have gotten too far," Doc added before taking out a Pokeball and calling out Flitanium. Flash carefully brought out Skyler and Spike, after finding Owlicious' Pokeball, brought him out too.

"Go find Twilight!" Flash ordered before the three nodded and flew off, the humans running in the direction the truck had gone.





Twilight let out a long groan as she felt herself coming around, only to feel something tight wrapped around her with her back against something hard. Her eyes slowly opened, looking down to see she had been tied to a tree. Gasping at the sight, she began to squirm, trying to get free but to no avail. But as she did this, she then saw Shine and Crystardian a few feet away. Shine had been thrown in her own cage, the Ponyta also unconscious while Crystardian could only lay with its face on the ground due to not having its psychic abilities.

"Shine!" she called out, trying to get her Ponyta to wake up.

"Oh?" The poacher and Piedoom turned to her, the man now eating out of a can of beans, "Awake, are we? That's too bad. I was hoping you'd stay asleep until we left."

"Left?!" Twilight asked, "Wait...what are you going to do with them?"

The man laughed as he threw the can to the ground. "I already put the two's information online and started an auction. When the timers hit zero, I'll be sending those two to the highest bidder. And with how rare Crystardian is, selling them will put me on easy street."

Twilight grit her teeth at this, "You're despicable! Treating Pokémon like trading cards that can just be sold off. Don't you have any shame?!"

"Surprisingly...no," he guffawed before turning to Piedoom, "Keep an eye on things. If you see anyone coming, warn me. And If any of them do anything that looks like trouble, do whatever you want to keep them in line." Piedoom nodded and almost looked giddy at that prospect, the man walking off while Piedoom began to float around.

Twilight glared at the phantom clown, now squirming against the bonds again. And as she did this, she stared at Shine and Crystardian, "Don't worry," she told them. "I'll find a way out of here....I hope."





Back with the others...

The group were now running through a large clusters of trees the pickup could have driven into, only to find nothing. "Anything?" Flash asked Doc as he checked the ground, the gym leader shaking his head.

"Nothing. No tracks. You'd think a truck that heavy would dig into the ground and leave some kind of trail."

"Well we've gotta do something," Spike yelled before they heard a cry and looked up. The Flying-types all flew down, landing as the others gathered around.

"See anything?" Flash asked, getting a shake of the head from each of them.

"Then please expand your search perimeter," Cadance asked, all nodding and taking to the air again. Peewee joined them as well, Cadance then hearing Flash let out a sigh as she saw him hold his Riolu close.

"If only Springer wasn't hurt. He could probably track Twilight down in ten seconds." He heard Springer let out a long moan, "Don't worry bud. It's not your fault. We'll find them, promise."

Cadance smiled at this, "You care a great deal about Twilight, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Flash replied as he turned to her, "She's my friend, and she's helped me a lot since we've met. I wouldn't be half the trainer I am if it wasn't for her." He then looked away, "That's why I'm gonna find her no matter what."

He got up next up, walking away while Cadance to raise an eyebrow. A smirk appeared on her lips, only to be replaced with a frown. "Don't lose focus Cadance." She told herself before walking around, trying to find any evidence of the truck, "Hold on Twilight."





Meanwhile...

Twilight was still struggling against her bonds as Piedoom floated around, only for the teen to hear a quiet moan. Looking up, she saw her Ponyta waking up. "Shine..." she whispered, "You're awake." Shine neighed as she pushed her head up, seeing the predicament they were in. And before she could ask what was happening, her eyes caught sight of the Piedoom.

"Nee!" she cried as she tried to shuffle away, only to hit the back of the cage.

"Shine," she turned to Twilight, "Ignore it. We've got to get out of here." Shine tilted her head at this, only for Twilight to stare at Crystardian. Shine turned to the Protector Pokémon, remembering how strong it was. "But first, we have to get out of here."

Shine nodded and tried to use her Psychic powers to undo the lock, but found she couldn't access them, the cage the same as Crystardian's. "Nee..." she moaned and slumped over.

Twilight grimaced at this, only to ask, "Do you think you can use your other attacks?" Shine looked up at her, "If you use Mystical Fire, you can burn through my ropes and I can get you out of there." Shine nodded and moved up to the edge of the cage, igniting her horn.

She was about to fire, only to cut the flames before laying down, pretending she was knocked out. Seconds later, Piedoom flew passed by and smiled at them. Shine's heart raced as the phantom clown drew closer, staring into her cage. She wanted to cry out and scream, but kept silent. Piedoom continued to stare at her, Shine doing everything to not shake in pure terror, only for it float away. Once he was back out of sight, Shine sighed in relief and turned back to Twilight with tears in her eyes.

"It's alright," Twilight whispered, "I know you're scared, but I'm here. And no matter what, I will never let them or anyone hurt you." Shine let out a whimper before lighting her horn, firing a fireball that hit Twilight's ropes.

She shined a big grin as the ropes began to weaken, soon getting free before stomping on the flames to put it out. Twilight ran up to the cage next, pulling out a hairpin from her pocket and after a minute, Shine's cage was open and she leapt into Twilight's arms. "It's okay," she whispered while hugging her, "It's okay." She then turned to Crystardian's cage. "Don't worry," she put Shine down, "I'll get you out of there." She started picking the lock, but found this one wasn't as agreeable as Shine's cage. "Come on..."

"Nee," Shine looked around, trying to make sure nothing was around, only to backpedal into the bean can. A clang rang out as it clattered along the ground and hit her cage, causing the noise to fill the air.

"What was that?" They heard the man say, causing the girls to gasp. Twilight began to fiddle with the cage's lock even more, only for the thief and Piedoom walk into view. "HEY!" He yelled as she saw Twilight, "How did you escape?!"

Twilight gasped, only to turn to her Pokémon, "Shine! Use Mystical Fire and burn the lock!" But Shine did nothing, making her look down and see Shine was completely petrified. "Shine!" However, Ponyta's entire body stayed still, frozen in terror as Piedoom got closer.

The thief laughed as he watched Twilight try and pick the lock again. "Aw, too bad. Your little escape attempt failed." He turned to the Phantom Clown, "Get them." Piedoom nodded as it shined a big grin, ready to play with its food.

"Come on!" Twilight cried as she jiggled at the lock, but it refused to give. She looked back in time to see Piedoom now getting closer, stalking toward them like a cat playing with its food. It knew Shine wouldn't fight back, so it wasn't trying to be quick. It was enjoying the terror she was feeling.

"Stay back!" Twilight screamed as she jumped between her and Piedoom, holding out her arms. "I won't let you hurt Shine!"

"Pied?" It asked before laughing, the poacher doing the same.

"What can you do? If your Ponyta won't fight, so how can you possibly stop us?" He pointed at the girl, "Night Shade!" Piedoom's eyes shot out the dark bolts, flying straight at Twilight. The two expected her to jump away, but Twilight remained where she was and braced herself.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" She screeched as she was struck by both bolts, the sound of her cries shocking Shine out of her petrification. She looked up to see Twilight's body going slightly limp as the Night Shade vanished. But she remained standing, protective of Shine. "I...won't-augh...let you near Shine."

The poacher growled, "What are you, stupid?! Its just a Pokémon. Give up and let me have my payday."

"No!" Twilight barked back, "I'm Shine's trainer. And as long as I breathe, I won't let you hurt her."

"Well that's an easy fix," the thief replied before Piedoom took out one of its swords and held it up. "Get rid of her."

The Ponyta saw the blade, feeling her shrinking back as she then saw Twilight wasn't moving. Seeing what this meant, something happened. A new fear appeared in her heart, one she feared far more than Piedoom. She feared living the rest of her life without Twilight in it. Whether it was by being taken away and sold to someone else, or having her taken away by something she couldn't do anything to stop. This fear consumed her, the pony watching the sword now swing down.

"NEE!" She screamed before suddenly charge, using her psychic abilities to help her jump straight up so that she could fly over Twilight's shoulder and get between her and Piedoom. Both Twilight and Piedoom gasped at the sight, only for Shine to swing around and fired a Fairy Wind attack. It struck Piedoom, knocking it back while making it drop its sword.

"What?" The poacher yelped as he saw his Pokémon fall back.

Twilight just stared at her Ponyta. "Shine?" She watched as Shine glare at Piedoom, all her fear appearing to be completely gone.

"Nee," she stomped on the ground, "Nee taa!" No matter what, she wouldn't let anything take Twilight out of her life. No matter how terrifying the situation, Shine feared losing her more. And she wouldn't allow that fear to become a reality. "NEETAA!" She screamed before he entire body suddenly exploded with light.

Twilight and the thief gasped as they saw Shine's body begin to grow, soon becoming bigger then her trainer. And as the light faded, it revealed her new form. "RAAAAP!" The newly evolved Galarian Rapidash neighed as she jumped onto her back legs and kicked her front ones forward.

"Shine," Twilight whispered, "You...evolved." Shine looked back at her and smiled, the poacher growling at this.

"It'll take more than evolving to save you!" he yelled as Piedoom picked itself up. "Show these two why they shouldn't mess with us!" Piedoom pulled out its other two swords as Shine turned to it, feeling a little intimidated, but refusing to let herself be paralyzed.

It was then that a rainbow colored sphere of light appeared at the tip of Shine's horn, which exploded into a beam of light that shot for Piedoom, slamming into the Phantom Clown. "Pied!" It cried as it was knocked back.





A ways off...

Twilight's friends were still doing their search when they suddenly noticed a bright light coming from a cluster of trees.

"What's that?" Spike asked, Cadance knowing the answer.

"It's Dazzling Gleam. A powerful Fairy-type attack...and there's only one Pokémon around that could learn that." With that, she started running toward it, the boys following behind her.

"We're coming Twilight!"





When the light faded, Twilight and the thief saw that Piedoom had been blasted off its feet, its body crashing through a tree. Twilight smirked before moving over to pat Shine on the side of the head. "Fairy-type, the one type that can do super effective damage against a Ghost Dark-type."

Shine let out a happy neigh before turning to the cage holding Crystardian, her horn igniting as she fired a Mystical Fire attack, destroying the lock in one blow. The cage fell apart, allowing Crystardian to use its ability and float back into the air. It moved over to the two and gave what they thought was a happy and thankful sound, only to hear a roar from Piedoom as it started to pick itself up. "You'll pay for this," the poacher yelled. "Night Shade!" Piedoom unleashed more dark bolts, but Crystardian was ready. It flew in front of the two, bringing its crystals up as it used Protect, blocking the dark bolts.

"You won't beat us!" Twilight yelled as she pointed at Piedoom, "Mystical Fire!" Shine unleashed the powerful fire blast at the Phantom Clown, which tried to shield itself with its swords. "Crystardian, use Power Gem!" The crystals glowed before firing at Piedoom, all three flying behind the clown and slamming into its back.

"Pied!" It cried as it was thrown forward, the poacher growling as he began to put his hand in his pocket.

"Oh no you-" Twilight tried to say before a voice called out.

"Twilight!" They turned to the voice, smiling as she saw her friends, smiles on their faces as well until they saw the Rapidash. "Wait, is that..."

"Yup," Twilight nodded, "Shine evolved." She patted her Rapidash, who neighed happily before they all turned back to the thief and his Piedoom. Skyler, Peewee, Owlicious and Flitanium all landed beside her, all glaring at the two, "This is your one warning. Give up, or else."

"Never! I won't be beaten by a bunch of kids!" The man yelled and he pulled Piedoom to its feet. "Night Slash!"

They all sighed as Piedoom charged, "You had your chance," Twilight turned to her Pokémon. "Sky Attack and Dazzling Gleam!"

"Iron Head!" Doc yelled as Flitanium flew up to meet Owlicious.

"Dragon Rage!" Spike ordered.

"Flame Burst!" Cadance told Crystardian.

"And Giga Impact!" Flash finished, Skyler flying right up. Shine, Peewee and Crystardian unleashed their ranged attacks, Piedoom now trying to block all three of them. And while it did this, the Flying-types all shot down. And as Piedoom destroyed the ranged attacks, the three birds slammed into him

"PIED!" It screamed as it was struck by the Flying, Steel and Scrappy powered Normal-type attacks, getting knocked back and slamming into the poacher.

"RAAAH!" He cried as the two was thrown back, both slamming into a tree. They slumped out, Piedoom now showing swirls in his eyes, the trainer doing the same. The group all smiled at the sight before turning back to Twilight, Cadance moving over to hug her.

"Thank Arceus you're alright!"

"I wouldn't have been if not for Shine," Twilight pulled away and moved over to her Rapidash. The Unique Horn Pokémon then leaned down as Twilight petted her on the face.

Cadance giggled at this, "Looks to me like she managed to push through what was holding her back."

Twilight nodded at this, "When she was newly hatched, we were attacked by another Piedoom. That experience made her terrified of Piedoom, so she kept freezing up." She hugged Shine, "But now she's managed to push past that fear."

"It's more than that," Cadance added, "Shine clearly wanted to protect you and that desire allowed her to not only push past her fear, but evolving in order to have the power needed to keep you safe." She moved over and patted Shine on the head. "You've done well." Shine let out a neigh at this while the others cheered for Shine, happy she had gotten over her fear and new gained strength.





Very soon, officer Hard Case and his Umbreon arrived after Cadance contacted them. He quickly had the criminal and his Piedoom carted off, the two having multiple warrants out on them. Twilight also showed him the auction site he was using, and Hard Case promised to find everyone who bid for their stolen Pokémon.

"You've done Equestria a great service," he told them outside the tree cluster. "I and the entire police force thank you all."

"It was our pleasure sir," Cadance replied before he tipped his hat and headed off on his bike. Once he was gone, Cadance turned to the others, "Is this what travelling with the four of you is normally like?"

They all nodded back in unison, "Pretty much."

Cadance let out a laugh, "Sounds like fun. Well then," she began to walk off. "Shall we get going? The Crystal Empire awaits."

They all began to follow her, but Twilight was stopped when Shine nudged her. "What is it?" She asked when she turned to the Rapidash, only to be picked up in her psychic abilities. "Shine!" She yelped before getting dropped onto the Rapidash's back, the horse neighing for her to hold on. Twilight was able to grab her mane before Shine kicked up onto her back hooves, neighing loudly before charging.

The others turned back to them, just in time to see her gallop past with Twilight on her back. They saw her laughing and laughed themselves before running after them. Their meeting with Cadance had certainly been an interesting one, and now that Shine had evolved, they were sure to be in for many great adventures during their travels to the Crystal Empire and Dragonia City. As the journey continues.