Sunset Shimmer's home. 2:21.
Currently, a standoff was taking place.
Between Adagio Dazzle and Sunset Shimmer. Adagio came here searching for the jar that siphons magic and unfortunately, Litleo had woken up, alerting Sunset about Adagio's presence and how she has intruded.
Naturally, this sparked up some conflict. The two of them are not fond of each other at all. There's a high possibility that Adagio's hate for Sunset is on par with her hate for Twilight. Possibly.
"You tell me where the jar is and we don't have to do this," Adagio spoke.
"No way. I know how powerful you can become with that." Sunset responded.
"Litleo!"
"Tch. It'd be so wonderful to have all that magic pouring in me...but that's not why I'm here for it."
"Whatever the reason is, I know it can't be good!" Sunset raised her arm, ready to blast Adagio with her magic as Adagio did the same.
Aria and Sonata noticed that this could get ugly fast if someone doesn't stop this. Plus, the house is very small and condensed so the destruction won't be pretty. And if the house is destroyed, there's a good chance the jar itself will be obliterated in the chaos. Wherever it may be.
"Wait!" Aria rushed in as she had the instinct to stop this. She ran in between Adagio and Sunset, sliding on the floor as she almost tripped over.
"Aria?" Adagio gasped as she let her magic down instinctively so that she doesn't harm her own sister.
"Huh?" Sunset raised an eyebrow.
"Don't fire!" Aria put her arms out to both of them.
"What are you doing here?!" Adagio exclaimed. "Did you follow me here?!"
"Uh...no!" Sonata spoke. Now her presence was known by Adagio and Sunset. "We didn't! We uh...got here before you, yeah!" She grinned.
"You two..." Adagio facepalmed. "Stay out of this! This doesn't concern you two!"
"It totally does!" Aria went up to Adagio. "I heard you back at the guest room. You were with Chrysalis, speaking about a plan, weren't you?"
"So you heard everything back there?"
"Sure did. You want to siphon up Empress Twilight's magic, don't you? That's why you need the jar."
"Empress Twilight?" Sunset tilted her head.
"Okay, sure you figured it out. But you shouldn't be here." Adagio poked Aria. "And if you heard us speak back there, you should also know that this is way too dangerous for you two to get involved!"
"I don't care!" Aria whacked Adagio's hand away. "It's a danger to you as well! This is Empress Twilight and Ghetsis we're talking about here. The same ones who you said could wipe us out with ease?"
"I know I said that!" Adagio snapped back at Aria. "That's why I'm going through with this plan! It's the only possible way we can prevent what's coming soon!"
"Wait? What's coming soon?" Sonata scratched her hair.
"An invasion," Aria answered. "In 2 months, Empress Twilight will come to our world and add it to her many world's that she's conquered. Isn't that right, Adagio."
"Hmph. Guess you really did hear everything." Adagio scoffed.
"Uh..." Sunset paused. "H-Hold on a sec. Invasion? 2 months? Empress Twilight? W-What are you talking about?"
"Leo?"
"This is a larger than life threat you're going against, Adagio. Let us help you." Aria put her hands on Adagio's shoulders. "Cause there's no way you and the changelings are gonna stand a chance, let's face it."
"I know that..." Adagio groaned. "But-"
"We're your sisters, ya know. We always stick together and help each other out at the end of the day." Aria reassured.
"Yeah!" Sonata slid in. "Even if we haven't been hanging out as much recently." She squeed.
"You two...You don't even have any magic left." Adagio shook her head. If you get involved in any way, I won't be strong enough to save you two."
"Uhh...she's actually got a point there." Sonata nodded. "We don't have any magic left, Aria."
"Even if we don't have magic, we can still help you. In any way, we can." Aria's eyes did all the real talking. She's certainly a different siren when she's not her cynical self.
"Mmmm..." Adagio growled. She knew that Aria was just as stubborn as her in many ways. Saying no is futile since Aria will most likely involve herself either way. "Fine. Just make sure you never make direct contact with Ghetsis and Empress Twilight, got it?"
"We're not that dumb," Aria smirked.
"Yeah! Wait-" Sonata paused.
"Hold on a second!" Sunset shouted, grabbing their attention as she had some questions that needed to be answered. "What are you three on about? What's this about an invasion? When did Twilight become an Empress?!"
"...Should we tell her?" Aria nudged Adagio.
"I don't know. Should we?" Adagio narrowed her eyes at Sunset.
"There's a Twilight Sparkle from another universe who's working with this Ghetsis guy and they're gonna invade our world like they did with every other world in just 2 months!" Sonata ended up spilling everything to Sunset which made Adagio and Aria facepalm.
"...Huh?" Sunset was a bit perplexed. But she was able to process it all. "You're joking...right? You're just trying to catch me off guard aren't you?"
"They're not joking at all." A voice replied to Sunset. Of course, the final member who had passed through the portal when he spotted Adagio and the others sneaking towards it.
Darkrai, of course.
He emerged from the shadows, startling everyone inside of the house as they all fell on their back, looking up at the Pitch Black Pokemon who towered over them.
"Darkrai?!" The three sisters exclaimed.
"W-W-W-What is that?!" Sunset Shimmer was freaking over the sight of Darkrai. But, priorities came first as she pulled out her Pokedex, raising it to scan Darkrai.
"Darkrai. The Pitch Black Pokemon. It can lull people to sleep and make them dream. It is active during nights of the new moon. Folklore has it that on moonless nights, this Pokémon will make people see horrific nightmares. To protect itself, it afflicts those around it with nightmares. However, it means no harm."
"Darkrai...Is this the Pokemon that Princess Luna owns?" Sunset gawked.
"Oh, you tagged along with us as well?!" Sonata stood up, dashing over to the Pitch Black Pokemon.
"You could say that," Darkrai replied. "Anyway. Sunset Shimmer. What they're saying is true. Every last bit of it."
"I-It is...?" Sunset stuttered. "There's really an invasion coming to Equestria?!"
"Oh yeah!" Sonata nodded. "Straight from the comics."
"Empress Twilight could take over our world in...I don't know a few seconds maybe?" Adagio shrugged. "From what I can tell, she's the strongest alicorn in existence by a mile."
"And she's working alongside Ghetsis. You know of him, don't you?" Darkrai questioned.
"I heard words about him when coming to Manehattan as a Gym Leader. He injured Princess Celestia greatly that it almost ended her life and he conquered Saddle Arabia right?"
"Right you are on that. With him and Empress Twilight joining forces as one large alliance-" Darkrai was about to finish his sentence.
"Then we're all done for." Sonata finished it for him.
"Get it now? I...we need that jar." Adagio held her hand out. "If we're gonna stop an alicorn that powerful, the strongest alicorn from what I can tell, we need the jar to siphon up her magic. All of it."
"How do I know you're not gonna keep all of her magic for yourself once you siphon it all up?" Sunset was still cautious about Adagio and even her sisters.
"No way." Adagio crossed her arms. "That's too much power, even for me to handle. We're keeping it locked up in that jar forever."
"Okay..." Sunset said slowly, still a bit cautious. "But, if that's the case, then I'll be there as well."
"Hm?" They all collectively said.
"Even if I've chosen to live in the human world, Equestria is still my home at the end of the day. I can't let anyone just come over and invade it for some conquering nonsense. I'm sticking with you Adagio, just in case you don't try anything funny."
"Tch. I don't need your company." Adagio scoffed.
"Don't you have like school stuff here? That principal Celestia's gonna be pretty ticked off if she finds out you aren't showing up." Sonata chuckled.
"She'll understand. I'll get the jar now." Sunset went over to her bed as she was about to reveal where she hid the jar. By climbing up her bed, Sunset dug her hand into Braixen's tail which made the Fox Pokemon giggle in her sleep.
"Braixen..."
Sunset then pulled the jar out of Braixen's tail, holding it high.
"Huh." Adagio's eyes widened. "That's actually pretty clever..."
"Alright, I've got it. But can you like, wait until morning when I've told everyone I'm leaving? Plus I'm tired..." Sunset yawned.
"Huh? Wait?!" Adagio jerked back.
"Like I'd let you just run off with the jar right now." Sunset narrowed her eyes as she and Adagio were eyeing each other down with sparks flying.
"What do we do...?" Sonata gulped, asking Aria.
"I can fix this." Darkrai had a solution to this problem. It was simple. Use Dark Void on them both. And that's what he did. Two black orbs consumed Adagio and Sunset Shimmer, placing them into a state of sleep in an instant as they dropped on the floor, lying flat on their faces while snoring.
"Oh. Okay, that works." Sonata nodded.
"So much for a peaceful festival..." Aria sighed. "We can never catch a huge break can we?"
"As long as we stop Empress Twilight and Ghetsis then we can have all the peace in the world," Darkrai said as he watched the two of them snore. "
"Lit?" Litleo nudged Sunset Shimmer's face. Surprisingly, Fletchinder and Braixen hadn't woken up despite all this ongoing noise. Truly they were heavy sleepers.
"So...now what do we do?" Aria kicked the floor.
"Hm...Oh!" Sonata noticed the TV and game console next to them. "I've heard about these! I've always wanted to experience them! Come on! Sit right here, you guys!" She patted the floor. "We can pass the time with this!"
"Right now?" Aria and Darkrai both said.
"Oh yeah! We're still in the festival spirit after all!"
"Pass. My claws won't work with those." Darkrai denied.
"Isn't it kind of illegal to do this in her own home?" Aria wasn't so sure about this.
"Is it?" Sonata's pupils shrunk. "Oh, well." She turned on the console, wanting to try it out herself. Darkrai would keep watch while Aria just stood by, waiting for time to pass.
Darkrai's Dream Realm.
Both Sunset Shimmer and Adagio were in the same realm together since Darkrai hit both of them at the same time. Now they shared one dream. The area they were in was a recreation of Canterlot High.
"He could've just asked..." Sunset crossed her arms.
"Great. Now I'm stuck here with you." Adagio sat down on a bench.
"At least I can keep a good eye on you now." Sunset grinned. "I still don't trust you with that jar. Even if you say you won't use it."
"Of course you don't trust me." Adagio turned around. "Not many do anyway. I can't blame them honestly. Not after what I did to Equestria and the Pokemon World."
"What did you do there?" Sunset was curious. She knew of what Adagio did in the human world with the siphoning jar but not what she did in Equestria or the Pokemon World.
"Let's see I..." Adagio raised her fingers, counting what she has done so far. "Stole the Alicorn Amulet and tied Twilight Sparkle up and imprisoned her, enslaved the humans of Castelia City along with the ponies who came to visit there and caused some destruction there as well, mercilessly beat down a trainer and their Breloom with an Ultra Beast and...actually, I think that's about it."
"Yeesh..." Sunset grimaced at that.
"Yeah I know it's bad," Adagio growled. "Not many trust me because of what I've done. The only reason I haven't been locked up yet is because of her."
"Who?"
"Celestia. She's the one pony I tolerate the most."
"Princess Celestia tolerates you? How?"
"Family stuff. Her mom knew my mom way back then." Adagio looked up at the dream sky.
"Oh, so they were friends?"
"No way!" Adagio shouted. "They were not friends! Just...two species who knew each other and had a short talk that's all. Like my mom would ever make friends. Or any siren really."
"What makes you think you can't make friends?"
"Do you have to keep asking so many questions?" Adagio groaned. "I just can't. But...I guess that doesn't hold up since Aria and Sonata don't have a problem with it."
"Your sisters have friends?" Sunset's eyes widened as a huge smile appeared on her face. "That's wonderful!"
"Yeah...of course you'd find it wonderful..." Adagio sighed. "Everyone thinks that friendship is wonderful."
"Well, it is wonderful, ya know." Sunset sat next to Adagio. "Why wouldn't it be? Having a friend is an amazing feeling that would make anyone feel good. I never knew I needed a friend until I made some of my own."
"Ugh...This really is a nightmare world..." Adagio facepalmed.
"Now that you mention it...?" Sunset looked around. "Where are the nightmares? Everything looks fine to me."
Spoke too soon.
The moment they brought it up, a nightmare sequence had occurred. It seems that the nightmares can also be triggered on command, surprisingly. Although most of the time, Darkrai is the one who activates it.
However, Darkrai's nightmares follow a simple pattern. They always focus on the most important thing going through the victim's mind. In this case, it was Empress Twilight Sparkle and Ghetsis. Both of them at the same time.
The skies themselves were shattering which immediately startled them both. They stood up from the bench, watching the azure skies turn grey and dark as sky shards were falling from above. Adagio moved back as a shard of the sky stabbed into the ground. It was raining shards as they were sharp enough to pierce through anything. Sunset and Adagio instinctively evaded the raining shards as they were plastered everywhere, going through buildings.
Soon, out of the shattered skies themselves, a gigantic ship or rather multiple ships, millions, possibly billions of them broke through, turning the once beautiful azure skies into a distorted and fractured black space.
That gigantic ship with the purple aesthetic was the one that stuck out the most. It was larger than the rest. And perhaps, it might be Empress Twilight's ship since it's the most glaring one there.
Billions of ships covered the sky, casting synchronized shadows over Canterlot High and practically the entire town and beyond. They were all representing the coming invasion.
This entire nightmare sequence was a prophetic dream of what was potentially coming soon in just 2 months. Along with the ships came dark purple shadows that flew past Adagio and Sunset, letting out horrible screams as they caused mighty wind pressures.
They sounded like ponies screaming each time they flew by. But more importantly, the screams were identical to Celestia, Luna, Cadence and even another Twilight. It sounded like all four of them were suffering. That just worsened the mood for the duo.
What's worse, millions of them could be heard. It wasn't just four of them. Instead, it was 4 million and possibly even more inside. And they all kept screaming without end.
"Oh my..." Sunset Shimmer gawked as she almost tripped on the bench. "I know this isn't real but..." She ducked as a purple shadow flew over her head, blowing the bench away as it was devoured by another shadow. The bench no longer existed.
The shadows flew over to Canterlot High, devouring the entire building in mere seconds. It was as if these shadows consume everything in their path while those horrifying and uneasy screams continued to echo across the land to no end.
"That mark..." Adagio noticed how all the ships had Twilight's Cutie Mark on them. It was a clear red flag that this was indeed Empress Twilight's fleet.
And from the largest ship here, the purple one, the hatch from above had opened up as they both stared at that one ship. Out of the hatch, they were expecting to see Empress Twilight herself.
But instead, they got somepony different. It was a silhouette that was hard to see. But it was clearly a pony. Since this world was just the Dream Real, the effects of the real world didn't apply either, meaning that the pony didn't transform into a human at all.
This silhouette was unknown to Sunset, but Adagio was able to recognize it. It was none other than Empress Twilight's protege and her best student.
Luster Dawn.
The pony that Empress Twilight said that Adagio should team up with. Obviously, that wasn't happening anymore since Adagio separated herself from the alliance already.
"W-Who is that?" Sunset gawked.
"Luster Dawn," Adagio answered.
What followed next was Luster Dawn looking down at both of them with a snarky and cocky look on her face. Fitting since she is Empress Twilight's student after all.
But then something else happened. The hatches of the other ships began to open up. They were expecting soldiers since they were the ones piloting the ships with Luster Dawn having the more extravagant and flashy one.
And they certainly did get soldiers emerging from the hatches. But the ships that were in the front of every other ship and beside Luster Dawn's ship revealed something new and unknown but yet somehow familiar to Adagio and Sunset.
New silhouettes of three new ponies. Or rather, familiar ponies. But in a completely different way.
One of them looked like Rarity but she was taller and her mane was slightly different and longer. In fact, she had the same height as an alicorn even her mane had the ethereal look to it.
Another one looked a lot like Princess Celestia. Only, her ethereal mane was on fire from the looks of it. A fire that matched the sun itself.
And there was one other silhouette that matched Starlight Glimmer. She was also the same height as an alicorn. Identical to the Rarity silhouette. And of course, she had the ethereal mane as well.
These three mysterious ponies naturally confused Adagio and Sunset. They looked like the ponies they knew but there was something off about them. Almost as if they had been corrupted. Just like Nightmare Moon.
This was more than just a nightmare. This was a prophetic nightmare. A nightmare that was essentially showing Adagio and Sunset the possible future. It was going to be more than just Ghetsis and Empress Twilight. There were potentially more members of their alliance that weren't limited to Chrysalis and formerly Adagio.
What's worse is that Adagio could see that two of them were alicorns and one was just a unicorn. But the thought of there being two extra alicorns other than Empress Twilight was uneasy.
The silhouettes didn't say anything at all. This was just a prophetic nightmare after all. But at the same time, all of their horns suddenly lit up with magic in unison.
"Uh..." Sunset stammered.
"M-More..." Adagio was the one who was the most surprised about this. "There's more of them...?" She wasn't predicting anything like this. Allies to Ghetsis and Empress Twilight that she had no idea existed and they were potentially from alternate universes as well.
A mixture of three lights flashed across the area. Lights so bright they could blind anyone at first glance. Naturally, Adagio and Sunset covered their eyes to look away from the blinding light, even if it couldn't actually blind them in the Dream Realm.
And that was the last thing that they saw in Darkrai's Dream Realm.
Reality. 6:30.
"There's more of them!" Adagio gasped as she woke up from the nightmare, startling everyone there. Sonata was thrown off balance whilst playing on Sunset Shimer's console.
"Ah!" Sunset Shimmer had also woken up, returning to reality and out of Darkrai's realm.
"You're finally awake," Darkrai said. "Perfect timing as well."
"Whuh..." Adagio and Sunset groaned as they looked outside. They saw the bright blinding rays of the sun pierce through the windows. Despite them being in the Dream Realm for a short amount of time, it was day already. It felt like it had only been 10 minutes at best.
After waking up from Darkrai's Dream World, their bodies felt cold and uneasy. Just one of the many side effects of Darkrai's nightmares. They have a high probability of occurring.
"...I-It's morning?" Sunset stuttered. "Were we there for that long?"
"Doesn't feel like it." Adagio looked at her hands.
"Boy, those nightmares must've been rough." Sonata slid over, putting the controller down. You were going all crazy, wriggling in your sleep."
"They weren't that rough..." Adagio stood up. "It didn't even feel like a nightmare. Just a nuisance."
"Hold on, Adagio." Aria went over to them. "When you woke up, you said something about how there was more. What do you mean by that?"
"We saw something in our dreams," said Sunset. "A huge fleet of spaceships I think. It looked like there were...I couldn't really tell how many ships there were. But we saw-"
"More alliance members." Adagio interrupted. "I thought that it was just limited to me, Ghetsis, Twilight and Chrysalis but...There's more. What's worse is that two of them were alicorns."
Adagio didn't want to think of alicorns anymore. One alicorn was powerful enough for her to handle. Empress Twilight is just on a whole completely different level. But these two other alicorns were a problem. Because even though it was a nightmare, Adagio could feel the intense and malicious magic pouring out of them.
The fact that they were apart of the alliance made things much more complicated. Three alicorns is a massive red flag. But not only that, Luster Dawn and the unicorn that looked like Rarity also had huge amounts of magic that could be felt. And they were just unicorns.
The horrifying screams from those purple shadows and how they sounded like millions of alicorns trapped inside of them was just uncomfortable and a bad omen.
"Uh...s-should we be worried?" Sonata twiddled her fingers together.
"You had a prophetic nightmare," Darkrai said. "At times, my nightmares are capable of giving warnings to those I affect."
"Give me that." Adagio snatched the jar from Sunset's hands. "Now I need this more than ever."
"Hey! Rude!" Sunset crossed her arms. "But yeah...I can see what you meant by an invasion...there were so many of them. And they're all going to invade Equestria?"
"Probably. I've been to her world before. She's got ships all over space. As far as the eye can see." Adagio nodded. "And if they all come here and invade, then there's a good chance we'll all lose. Miserably."
"You underestimate what we're capable of." Darkrai suddenly countered Adagio. "It's going to take more than an entire empire to stop us Pokemon.
"Litleo!" Litleo agreed.
"Whatever. If you're that confident then sure. But with this..." Adagio looked at the jar. "We can stop our world from being conquered. And maybe, we can stand up to Ghetsis."
"That's gonna be a lot of magic..." Sonata gulped. "Can the jar even contain it all?"
"It has to." She placed the jar in her large mane. "We're leaving you two. We can't afford to waste time at all. I know it's 2 months but-"
"Slow down! Let me get ready first!" Sunset dashed off.
"Get ready?" Adagio scrunched her eyes. "You can change out of your pyjamas later!"
"2 months is still far away from now." Sunset opened up her wardrobe. "I know how serious this looks, yeah. But we've got a lot of time to plan and prepare."
"She's right you know." Aria nodded. "They won't be showing up for a while, ya know. Take it easy, Adagio. Besides. We still have the festival to enjoy together."
"Ugh." Adagio groaned as she facepalmed. "Fine. But after the festival ends, we're jumping straight into the plan."
"Oh, right!" Sunset put her jacket on. "This means I get to join in the festival too! Lucky!" Sunset grinned.
"Oh, brother..." Adagio sighed. "You know you can just trust me with the jar anyway."
"I still have my doubts about you. But...You do sound pretty genuine about trying to stop a larger threat so..." Sunset went up to Adagio. "I guess this'll be my first time teaming up with you."
"We're not teaming up." Adagio shook her head. "You're just acting as a nuisance and deadweight."
"But it'd be great to have a new friend tag along!" Sonata slid over.
"Hm?" Sunset turned to her. "Wait...you see me as a friend?"
"Sure!" Sonata nodded aggressively. "Any opportunity to make a new friend is a steal in my book! Plus you've got some neat stuff here!"
"Wow. Thanks, Sonata I-" That's when Sunset noticed her TV was on. "Wait. Did you touch my stuff while I was asleep?" Her tone shifted.
"Uhh..." Sonata froze.
"Tried to warn you." Aria shook her head.
"Let's just get going already." Adagio made her way towards the door whilst Sunset returned her Pokemon to their Poke Balls.
Darkrai submerged himself back into the shadows while Sunset turned everything off since she was going to be gone for a while. But before that, she had to say goodbye to her friends and that she would be leaving for something important. She couldn't just leave them all behind without saying a word after all.
But Sunset was also nervous about something important. Normally, she returns to her original world to act as the Gym Leader there but she mostly does it while hiding from Princess Celestia since the two of them have a somewhat shaky history.
And now that she would be in her original world more often for 2 months until the invasion her fears were starting to build up on what Celestia would do to her. But she was willing to take that risk.
With the fourth day going into full swing, that meant the Pokemon Festival was active once more. But unbeknownst to them all, they would have to face an inevitable invasion. Luckily, Darkrai will be there to tell them everything he's gathered as the journey continues.
Chapter 315 End.