//------------------------------//
// I. Escape from the Other Realm 
// Story: A New Destiny: Wrath of the Elders 
// by Pen Dragon 
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I. Escape from the Other Realm







Suicune looked at the three little fillies, struggling to follow the instructions he laid out for them. Scootaloo, trying to carry two bricks on each wing to help strengthen their durability, and increase her stamina while she continued to run back and forth from one tree to another while Applebloom continued to try and experiment with different vials from her lesson with Twilight the other day, with Suicune instructing her to try and manipulate the colors and create a rainbow from scratch. To try and teach her how to make her own potions in Alchemy. It was a long and difficult road for the two fillies, but Suicune had a feeling this was the correct course of action to help the two grow.

Suicune still found it hard to believe that it had been six months since he crashed into the fillies club house. And here he was now, resting by the very same tree that held it, teaching three fillies the knowledge he possessed to help them gain an understanding of the craft they’ve studied from Princess Twilight Sparkle.

However, the one struggling the most currently was Sweetie Belle, seeing how she's been struggling to levitate several large stones at once, only managing to lift two of them which were about half her size. The longest time she was able to lift the two stones was around three minutes. Even then, she ended up putting too much strain on her magic, which he made sure to watch out for.

Seeing them exhaust themselves, Suicune's horn started to glow brightly, lifting the stones and bricks away from Scootaloo and Sweetie, causing the two fillies to collapse from exhaustion while Suicune made sure to close all the flasks that Applebloom had and levitated them away.

"That will be all for today, young ones. We don't want you all passing out or hurting yourselves." He explained, causing the three of them to sigh with relief. 

“FINALLY!!!” Scootaloo shouted, dropping the bricks she had on her wings. “My wings were starting to ache!”

“That’s a good thing Scootaloo, it means you are working hard.” Suicune explained, trotting up to three fillies. “The more you exercise your wings the stronger they will become.” 

“You three have all improved and will continue to grow as time moves on. I will not be able to teach you for much longer as my time here in Ponyville grows shorter and shorter with each passing day. So a week from today, I’ll leave all three of you a gift to help you along your journey to obtain you cutie marks.”

All three of them equally cheered in glee, before giving thanks to Suicune for his help.

“Really! Thank you Mr. Suicune!!!” Sweetie Belle shouted, quickly hugging the pokemon’s leg only to be followed by her fellow crusaders, surprising him.

“No need to thank me little ones, after all you are the ones putting the effort in to learn. And remember, a cutie mark doesn’t decide your destiny. You are the ones who can forge it with your own hooves.” He explained, patting the three fillies with his hoof, only for Applebloom to look up at him.

“But, what’ll happen ta you?” She asked.

“My time here in Ponyville has been wonderful, I can even say that for the short time I was here, I felt welcomed here. However, I’ll need to leave as my own destiny is still unclear at the moment.” He explained, making sure to leave out the dangers of his home world. The last thing he wants is for the crusaders to get hurt or worse. It was a risk he wasn’t willing to take. “Now listen to me, you three have learned plenty from me, but Twilight can help you go beyond your capabilities. A week from today, I’ll leave you three something special, but you must keep it amongst yourselves.”

“What is it you’re giving us?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head with her brow raised.

“Well, that would spoil the surprise now won’t it?” He said, winking at her. “For now, that’ll conclude today’s lesson. I do believe you three should get going, after all you don’t want to be late for the Cake Twin’s birthday party.”

With that, all three of the filly’s started to gallop over towards Sugarcube Corner. With the lesson for today complete and out of the way, Suicune was free to head back to his abode in the Everfree Forest. There was nothing else that he needed to do and the pokemon felt that some much needed rest was in order after the lesson he had to teach them.

‘I hope you three archive your goal in gaining cutie marks, I’ve grown very fond of this place and I’m glad that you three do not fear me like so many others have.’ And with that, the Pokemon soon teleported back into the Everfree Forest near his hut. Though, as Suicune arrived at his humble abode, something stood out to him. There was a rolled up note, with a crystal next to it as it sat on a tree stump. It looked rather ordinary at a glance, but upon opening the note, the message inside was anything but.

“It seems an old flame has now joined the hunt. Keep your eyes open and your wits about you. Though, if you don’t take me seriously, listen to the crystal. Until we meet again. -E.”

At first, Suicune just stood there with a puzzled look on his face. Though, when he touched the crystal with his paw, that was when he heard what was inside.

“Do you two think that this is just a game to you? A traitor to our cause runs rampant around this world and yet you sit here playing games! Your failures have not only let our quarry know that we’re looking for him, but have him on edge!”

Hearing that voice made Suicune’s blood freeze. He knew who that voice belonged to, there was no mistaking it, and yet somehow she was here in Equestria. Xerneas, the bringer of Life was here and was searching for him. He knew that there’d be powerful enemies coming for him, but Xerneas being here changed everything. Even though she was stripped of her title a long time ago, she was still considered to be the strongest and feared in his realm.

It also didn’t help that this was someone he knew, someone he once cared for, but now it was as if the universe was punishing him. However, he didn’t curse the universe, but the Elder’s themselves. This proved that just because the Elder’s couldn’t come, didn’t mean others close to their level of power couldn’t come to Equestria. Suicune had a few contingency plans just in case, but Xerneas was the last person he expected to come here and he wasn’t sure if he could face her again. After all it had been almost two thousand years since he last saw her.

“If Xerneas is here… I may need to take action soon.” Suicune said, snarling as he crushed the crystal Emet had left for him with his hoof, before transforming back to normal. “It seems I may need to leave sooner than I anticipated.”





Elsewhere

In the farthest depth of the infinite unknown that was the void, there was the outskirts. A stretch of barren wasteland and desert that only fools would try to navigate. Many had come and gone trying to navigate through the endless dunes, but none have said to survive. To come through here and expect to survive the harsh environment was seen by many as suicide. Yet, to one particular individual, it was the only choice they had, for they had come too far to turn back now.

For Exuberant Witness, the only chance she had to keep what Zsoltan left her out of the wrong hands was through the outskirts. After so many have tried to come through here and failed, Exuberant thought that this would be the last place where a displaced that was fleeing from the Elders would come to look. If anything, the outskirts would probably be seen by them as a graveyard of vessels that have crashed before. A perfect place for her to lay low and hide.

At least, that was what she thought. “Unidentified vessel. This is the Captain of the Ran from the Sozen Fleet. Your vessel is unauthorized for expeditions into the outskirts. Identify yourself or we will use force.”

‘Crap, that’s bad,’ she thought to herself. Though, instead of immediately trying to gun it, Exuberant thought that maybe she could try and convince them to leave her alone. Just fake her way through it. “T-this is Professor Glaceon. I was coming out here in order to research some of the fallen crafts out here.”

“Just a moment,” The captain replied back. For a few moments, there was a dreary silence over the communications line. Though, when a reply finally came in, it wasn’t exactly the reply that Exuberant was hoping for, “Ma’am, we have no records of either you or your work in our database, I’m afraid that-”

At that point, Exuberant knew that there were no other options. “Aw, screw it.” she cursed, before immediately accelerating her ship forward and disabling communications. If she were lucky, Exuberant could lose her pursuers in the wastes and be able to not have anyone follow her. Unfortunately for her, that did not go as planned either.

Warning… Two Vessels in pursuit. Early scans indicate they’re combat vessels.

That made things go from bad to worse. Even though Exuberant’s own vessel was fast, it did not have the capabilities to fight off any attackers. After all, the ship that she chose to make her escape on was considered a research vessel and did not have the capacity or specifications for weaponry. Which was not good as she heard the sound of machine gun fire hit the exterior hull.

Even though she tried to do evasive maneuvers, her pursuers were chipping away at her vessel as pieces began to fly off the exterior. At this rate, she was going to crash and needed to get out of there before they would capture her. So, as the ship was beginning to go down, she grabbed hold of a golden watch that she kept on her person. The very thing that Zsoltan wanted her to keep safe.

“W-Well, here goes nothing!”

As she held the watch close, Exuberant closed her eyes and prayed that this was going to work. She felt her body getting thrown around and crashing into the ground. Yet… when she opened them up again, Exuberant did not find herself in the outskirts. If anything, she wasn’t in a wasteland at all. She was in a forest, where nature was alive and blooming wherever she looked. 

However, it was also at this point that Exuberant realized that she wasn’t alone. “Well, what do we have here? Another unexpected surprise.”

When she looked up, she found herself at the feet of an oddly dressed man with what looked like a pearl on his forehead. Someone that she did not recognize… but she knew for a fact wasn’t part of this world.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Yet, the answer Exuberant got to such a simple was anything but that in return, “Who I am is of no importance. Yet, I know of who you seek… and in turn, I want you to bestow them a message,” the figure replied, “Tell them to be prepared, for the Final Days draw near.”

Before she could ask for clarification, the figure turned away and disappeared into the forest.