//------------------------------// // Rift Bonding // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Ponyville, Twilight's Castle. Night. Urgent news had arrived. Emerald Aura had finally appeared in Twilight's Castle. The pony who could greatly help with the whole Ghetsis and Empress Twilight situation that is lingering over Equestria. However, her response is yet to be revealed. "She's really here?!" Twilight exclaimed as she came bursting through the door with Ash behind her. "Right here. In full cosmic form." Sunset said, moving to the side as Emerald Aura could be seen standing near the wall, staying away from everyone else as it was clear the Rift Pony wasn't exactly ecstatic about being here. Also in this castle were Sunlight and Eventide. The two individuals who set out to find Emerald in the first place. Although, it took them a while to find her and there was definitely a story on how they got her here. "Can't believe I actually showed up here..." Emerald sighed. "Great place, right?" Cold, the only one Emerald was fine with interacting with, said. "Meh. Even when being here, it still feels average." "So, you're really here to help us?" Twilight went over. "That's great!" "I'm not helping you because I feel like it." Emerald quickly shut Twilight down. "I'm helping to make Cold happy, of course. Not for any of you." "Oh." Twilight put on a poker face. "Yeah. That's to be expected." "Let's make this quick. I have places to be. Well...not really actually." "So, since you're a Rift Pony, you could help solve a lot of our problems," said Starlight. "Like maybe keeping both worlds connected?" "I can't do that." "You can't?" Starlight pulled back. "But I thought-" "We Rift ponies have limits. We can do many things but some things aren't within our power. Only the Rift itself can do everything. So if you're thinking about keeping both worlds together forever, I'm not the one you want." "Oh...Okay." Starlight scrunched her face. "But you can open up gateways, right?" Sunset asked. "That I can do. I can connect gateways between worlds by making new ones or even changing their positions and more. So, what do you want?" "We were hoping that you could help connect a gateway to this world and Queen Pyrestar's world. Where Ghetsis and Team Plasma are." Twilight requested. "Just one and nothing more." "You want to connect to that world?" Emerald narrowed her eyes. "It's practically a wasteland. Not to mention, you'll be giving Ghetsis a large chance to come through here and mess everything up for you." "She's right. It is very risky, actually." Sunlight spoke. "If it connects to Pyrestar's world, all of Team Plasma will come through here." "Yeah. That's a good point." Twilight nodded. "I was thinking of having there be an easier way to access Pyrestar's world but...Maybe we should try something else." "Like what?" Starlight questioned. "That world's the most important one after all. Is there another important world?" "Oh!" Cold gasped, gaining an idea. "Emerald. Maybe you can summon a gateway at a secret place in Pyrestar' world." "What do you mean, squirt?" Emerald turned to face her fellow Rift pony. "Doesn't have to be out in the open. Maybe we can go through this world and Pyrestar's world via something secluded cave or something. Any place where Ghetsis and the others can't find us, ya know. Or even the gateway." "Oh! Now you're using your noggin, kid." Sunset nudged Cold's head. "I can do that." Emerald walked forward. "But it'll have to be somewhere far that Ghetsis can't find. Especially Colress and all his spycams." "Spycams?" Twilight and Starlight each said. "You didn't know? Colress has been spying on Equestria for a long time now. He put spy cams all over the place to make sure that everywhere, except for the inside is within his sights. Right now, we're all safe from his view in this castle. The same goes for every other building. But, outside? You're all being watched by him." Emerald explained. "You mean-" Twilight's mane froze along with everyone else. "We've been-" "All this time?!" Starlight looked outside. "B-But I don't see anything! Are they really small?!" "They certainly are." Eventide suddenly spoke." But you won't have to worry about those anymore. Ever since the Darkest Day and all those Dynamaxed Pokemon showing up, many of the spycams have been destroyed. A few of them are left. We've seen them after all." "Indeed. They were so littered across the world. We actually had no idea what they were until Emerald Aura brought them up just now." Sunlight spoke. "We thought we were the only ones watching over Equestria, honestly." "How much do you think Colress knows about us now?" Twilight asked Ash. "No idea." Ash shook his head. "Let's hope it's not too much." "Pika." "Hm." Emerald closed her eyes as she was tapping into Pyrestar's world as cosmic energy started appearing around her body. Emerald was now gaining 4th-dimensional vision as she was able to see through dimensional barriers and other universes. There were many worlds within her sights. Each were all alternate universes with different outcomes. However, most of them all shared one major thing in common. Ghetsis and Empress Twilight had ruined them. There were still other universes that hadn't been affected by the dangerous duo yet. In just a few minutes, she was able to find the world where Ghetsis and Team Plasma ruled supreme. "There's the universe," She said as she was now searching for the perfect place to summon the gateway. A place that would be so secluded that Ghetsis and Team Plasma won't even think of entering. Besides, Pyrestar's world is a bit of a mess right now. After searching the ruined and less-than-healthy land of Pyrestar's world, Emerald Aura had found a place that could work perfectly. A run-down fort that once belonged to a group of ponies that are long gone now from this world. This fort was millions of years old and abandoned. And it was located right below a now barely stable Manehattan, in an underground area no less. After finding the place, Emerald used a majority of her magic once more to open up a gateway that would connect to the underground area of Pyrestar's world. "Alright. I've found a perfect place. An underground fort that's super old. Ghetsis and his goons won't think to look there at all." "Great! That'll be perfect to travel in and out of!" Twilight grinned. "Thank you so much, Emerald Aura!" "Whatever. As long as you keep this little guy out of harm's way. All of this is too dangerous for Cold, after all." "Dangerous? Pssh! I'll be fine." Cold tried to play it cool. "Besides...I'm not going through there. That place is a mess." "Whatever you say, squirt," "So...now what? Do we go through?" Starlight gazed at the gateway. "We should be safe from any danger considering what part of the world this gateway leads to," said Eventide. "Our daughter Celestia will be informed of this immediately. Your castle might have more visitors than usual, Princess Twilight." "Yeah, I figured so. It'll be full of guards by this point. But, now that's it's here and we can go through whenever we want, what should we do in that world?" "I say we head in there and bring Team Plasma down for good!" Ash was already eager to put an end to this. "Pikachu!" "It won't be like Saddle Arabia, Ash." Emerald suddenly halted him. "Huh?" "Pika?" "You see, Saddle Arabia was the only place in Equestria that Ghetsis managed to conquer. This world is different. He's practically made the world his entire kingdom or empire by this point. Everything he has is on a much larger scale now compared to how small it was back at Saddle Arabia. He even took the time to recruit more Team Plasma members. If you were to go and tackle him now, you'd be a goner, that's for sure." "Aw. I guess so." Ash nodded. "Fear not, Ash, my boy." Eventide put his hoof around Ash's neck. "We can do the next best thing before taking a pre-emptive strike is setting up a base of operations there." "Base of operations?" Ash turned to face Eventide. "We'll lurk and work in the shadows without Ghetsis and Team Plasma suspecting a thing. A perfect way to improvise while in enemy territory!" Eventide bellowed. "Oh...I gotcha." Ash raised a finger. "Nice thinking, Eventide!" "Pikachu." "I'll let our daughters know right away." Sunlight offered to tell Celestia and Luna as she immediately teleported out of the castle. "Yeah, well. It's great and all that we have the gateway to Pyrestar's world but...I'm kinda tuckered out. Taking care of Togekiss was one thing..." Sunset yawned. "Can we do this tomorrow?" "Sure. Gateway's not going anywhere after all." Emerald turned around as she was ready to leave. "I've done what I needed to do." "You're leaving now?" Cold Colt went up to his fellow Rift Pony. "Yeah. I didn't want to come back here anyway. It's a quick and simple gateway opening and that's all. You get it, don't you, Cold?" "Yeah, I got it. I got it. You don't want to be here cause there's no point if we cease to exist later and all that. But, could you stay for a while longer? Like how you did before? It's been a while since we've seen each other anyway." "Hmm..." Emerald looked at Cold's eyes. She knew that this was the usual puppy-dog pleading face that most young individuals use to enchant older individuals. And it was always effective as Cold intensified his expression to the emerald-coloured unicorn. And just like before, Cold's pleading got to Emerald's secretly soft heart. "Fine..." Emerald sighed. "I can stay for a while. Nighttime fits me anyway." "Yes! You won't regret it!" Cold jumped up and down. "Well now. I'll be off myself." Eventide was starting to return to the Ambrosial Plane. "If you need any advice on how to make a base of operations there, you can count on me for certain. Or Pinkie Pie as well. I hear she's amazing at making secret bases." "I'd better clock out myself as well." Starlight walked off. "If you need a place to stay for the night, you're welcome to relax in my castle." Twilight suggested. "No thanks. I'll stay outside instead of being in this place." Emerald scoffed. "Emerald! They're my friends. At least be a bit nice to them, ya know," Cold said. "Fine." Emerald sighed. "Sorry. I've just been a bit down and out of it recently. Living on my own in some abandoned house and all. Plus I really didn't want to come back here." "I hear ya. But it's always nice to see you again." Cold hugged Emerald. "You can tell me what you've been doing so far alone." "Whatever I want. I've transformed that entire house into a mansion." "Really?!" Cold gawked. "I can do anything, duh. If I want a mansion, I'll make a mansion. Simple as that. That's one major thing I got over you, squirt." "Well...Maybe not anymore." Cold let out a cheesy grin as Emerald squinted her eyes while raising an eyebrow. "Just recently, my magic's gone up by a bunch. More than you can imagine. I've been pulling off stuff that you could probably do But uh...by accident." "He's right, you know." Twilight went over to her student. "Out of nowhere, Cold's Rift magic suddenly amplified without warning. I'm not sure if it's the major effects of Togetic's joy dust or that he's just a late-bloomer, but he's certainly improved. Even if it means mastering his magic increases in difficulty." "I haven't really been able to use my magic that often because of it. I'm only allowed to do small things like opening doors and stuff." Cold whimpered. "But at least I'm getting good at it. Pretty soon, I might be on your level or even better." "Huh. So...you just got better out of nowhere?" Emerald was finding it hard to believe. "Mhm. I can show you if you want." Cold was about to use his magic. "No!" Twilight panicked, promptly stopping Cold by lifting him in the air. "Not inside the castle, at least!" "Oh, sorry." Cold squeed. "If you say so. I wanna see this for myself." "I'll leave you two alone. You like being around Cold the most anyway." Twilight backed away. "Also, nopony go through the gateway yet until we're ready." One by one, everyone was leaving the area. Mostly for Cold Colt and Emerald Aura so that they can have their privacy. Twilight, Sunset and Starlight would obviously head into their bedrooms for some sleep while Ash and Pikachu were already heading back home to Pallet Town. Very soon, Twilight's castle fell silent as it was just Cold and Emerald inside together. The last one to leave this room was Togekiss who followed Twilight to her room. The only other noise now was the outside as mostly everypony was still awake. It was precisely 20:30 so there was still some time left to spare before everyone, apart from those that don't sleep, clocks out. And speaking of outside, that's where Cold and Emerald went as they walked through the streets of Ponyville, ready to have some Rift Pony bonding time. "So. What have you done with all your amplified magic?" Emerald asked. "Well...I sorta messed up by teleporting some of my friends to a badlands. I turned most of Ponyville's ground and floors into soap which was pretty fun. Oh! And even before my magic was amplified, I split Ash into 6 different versions of himself. You should've seen it!" "Sounds like you've had your own wonderful journeys, haven't you, squirt?" "Sure have. I never thought I would get to have this much fun. I thought I would just be stuck causing problems with all the little magic I had. You know, since that's why we were made. To stir up trouble." "Yeah. But it looks like you've dodged that rule, haven't you? Now your magic can do good. And I'm happy for you, kid." "Thanks. I also made a lot of new friends here. Like Jade over there!" Cold pointed his hoof at Jade who was currently sitting outside SugarCube Corner. "Hey, Jade!" "Hm? Hi, Cold." A deadpan and emotionless Jade waved at Cold as she also noticed Emerald Aura. "Oh, it's you again." "Ah-" Emerald froze after seeing Jade a second time, knowing who she really was and what her true purpose is. "Should've known she'd be here...But nothing major's happened to her yet." "You know Emerald, right?" Cold said to Jade. "Mhm." Jade nodded. "You're the one I still feel like I know. And you look a bit like me still." "You're still on that, huh?" Emerald let out a nervous grin. Similar to Cold, Jade is somepony that Emerald could talk to since they're each cut-from-the-same cloth. AKA Rift energy. "I just have a feeling. Among other things." Jade sat up. "So what brings you back here? Are you visiting?" "Ah, it's nothing much. Came here to do something important. Now I'm just hanging around with Cold here. Kinda wanna head back home to my mansion soon though." "You have a mansion?" Jade was impressed even if her face didn't show it. "Indeed. Rift energy has so many benefits and perks." She said with a confident grin smile being displayed on her face. "Made it in the way I like it." "Lucky. I wanna make my own home but my magic's too crazy right now." Cold tapped his horn. "Hm. Do you think you could join us for a night watch for the night?" Jade suggested. "Night Watch?" Emerald narrowed her eyes. "Jade, Absol, Krookodile and I are a part of Ponyville's Night Watch. And a bunch of other nocturnal Pokemon. We keep a really sharp eye at night and watch out for any danger and trouble. Since I never get tired, it's perfect for me. Although, Jade doesn't get tired too which is weird." "I don't get it myself either," Jade replied. "But, we've earned some nice looking badges from Mayor Mare for doing a good job every night." "You could say we're kinda heroes in our own way." Cold nudged Jade. "Whaddya think of that? I've come a long way, ya know." "You sure have. I barely recognize you as the same kid now. You've really grown up, squirt. Proud of you. Really." "Aw, gee!" Cold rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, Emerald!" "Oh and uh, sorry. But I'll pass on that Night Watch thing. You can keep doing a good job with it though." "Okay. You can always just do whatever you want at night since you can't get tired. Would you like something from SugarCube corner?" Jade asked in a monotone voice. "No thanks." Emerald shook her head as she navigated her eyes throughout Ponyville. She then spotted something that really caught her eye. One of the homes here belonged to the Dazzlings. Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. Emerald already knew about Sonata and Aria being here, but Adagio threw her off as she could see the older siren inside the house, still awake. "Adagio Dazzle?" Emerald's eyes widened. "Here? Of all places?" "Hm? Oh yeah. Adagio's now living here in Ponyville." Cold nodded. "At least, she says she's only gonna be here until the whole invasion thing keels over and they stop Ghetsis and stuff. After that, she's gonna keep on doing her own thing." "I'm sorry, invasion?" Emerald had even more questions. "Very soon. In just 1 month, our world is going to be invaded by an alternate universe Twilight named Empress Twilight." Jade explained. "And everyone's ready to work alongside each other to make sure that this world isn't taken. This world is Adagio's home too after all. So she wants to protect it as well. "Is that why Sunset Shimmer was here too? I thought she would've stayed in the human world..." Emerald looked at Twilight's castle. "This timeline is certainly having its turns." "Oh! You don't even know half of it! Get this! But Queen Chrysalis and all those Changelings are on our side now." Cold dropped some more info on Emerald. "Huh?!" Emerald pulled back. "Since when?!" "Since Ghetsis destroyed their old hive. So then they had to find a new one somewhere else. And now they're not so scary and evil anymore. It's pretty neat." Cold squeed. "Ash and Pikachu got to befriend them the most though." "Oh my..." Emerald looked at the ground, holding her head as she began to think to herself. "Ghetsis has drastically changed the timeline by doing that. If Chrysalis and the changelings aren't their usual cruel self...then those two important events won't even happen. Especially that alliance..." "Uh...Emerald?" Cold looked at his friend's pondering face. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking of how different everything is going to be later on. I know the Rift is definitely enjoying all of this." "I hope so. I want the Rift to enjoy it longer. Long enough for Ash and everyone to find Jirachi. That way, we can keep all of this. And I won't have to fade away! Neither will you!" "Yeah. That'd actually be nice." Emerald looked up as she sat down. "Honestly, I make it sound straightforward and all but...I'm kinda scared of fading away too." "You are? But you were so calm and cool about it." Cold walked over. "You could say I was playing it calm and cool. Truth is, I'm just as scared as you are, squirt. I don't want to disappear when this is all over. Especially you. You're so happy here. More than I thought you would be. You've made some great friends here after all. I'd hate to see you leave it all and never remember it. I can't say the same for me, though." "Why not? You've made yourself a mansion and everything. Won't you miss it too?" Cold questioned. "Nah. I don't have that same attachment to this world like you do." Emerald brought over a nearby empty Poke Ball that had just missed a Pokemon earlier. "Guess, that's just natural really. The Rift made us in specific ways and everything. You were made to have everything a child has. All that energy, excitement, happiness and hope. Just great feelings all around." "I guess so..." "Out of all the Rift creations, you're the luckiest one for sure. Having this new life and totally moving away from what the Rift planned for you in the beginning. Guess that Togetic Joy Dust really does change things around." "No, I don't think it was the dust." Cold Colt went over to Jade. "I think spending time here with everyone is what changed things around for me. They accepted me even if I'm not a full-on pony and I even got myself a family at Sweet Apple Acres and a pretty great teacher too. It's a pretty great feeling, ya know and I have all my friends to thank for that." "Wow...That was so cheesy and lame." Emerald winced. "But, yeah. I guess that makes sense. This place does have that feeling, doesn't it?" "Sure does. I know for sure Jade can feel it too. Even if her face doesn't show it." "I feel it. It's a nice place. With great friends by my side too." Jade almost cracked a smile. "Hm." Emerald nodded as that's all she needed to hear. "Well, anyway...Mind if I try some of that food from SugarCube Corner you mentioned?" "Sure. I have some right here." Jade brought out some food that Pinkie Pie lent her for the night. She gave out some to both Emerald and Cold respectively as the trio of Rift ponies were ready to dig in. Emerald took the first bite as she could already feel the wonderful taste coming from the cupcake she had just bitten down on. "Mmm! I've been missing out!" "I know right?" Cold replied, scarfing down some macarons. "So, Emerald. Since you're a Rift pony and you can do almost anything, do you think you could take me to where I came from?" Jade asked a highly important question which prompted Emerald to almost choke on her food. "Mmm?!" Emerald turned to Jade. "I've been wondering where I came from for the longest time now. Nopony seems to have any major leads on my home or even potential relatives. So, since you can do so many things, I was hoping you would help me with that. Like, taking me to my home or even bringing my relatives here. You can do that, right?" "Uh..." Emerald slowly ate her food as she was sweating. "Oh yeah. That would solve that problem, wouldn't it?" Cold noticed. "Yeah...That would, wouldn't it?" Emerald's eyes shifted. "So can you do it?" Jade asked. "Um...!" Emerald scrunched her face as she began to think to herself. "Can't let her know who she really is. Not until she accomplishes her goal. But boy, is she taking a long time. I would've thought Obsidian's plan would've worked by now. Unless...being here with all her friends changed that?" "Emerald?" Cold grabbed her attention. "Can you do it?" "Well..." Jade slowly devoured her food. "I can't." "You can't? Why not?" Jade leaned forward. "Because..." Emerald was trying to figure how to respond. "I don't know who you really are! That's it!" "That's the reason?" Cold pulled back. "Look, I have my limits okay? Besides...Jade's a massive mystery to me like she is to everyone else." "I am?" "Sorry if that sounded pretty harsh but..." Emerald looked away. "It's fine. I didn't expect many if not all to know who I really am." Jade replied as she didn't take Emerald's response too badly. But then again, her emotionless face and personality make it hard to tell. "If you don't know, then you don't know. That's alright." "Really? Wow, uh...You took that pretty well." Emerald was impressed. "I learned it from Ash and Pinkie Pie. It really helps." Jade nodded. "But..." Jade's body was suddenly letting out a very faint and hard-to-see cosmic aura. "Something tells me you're not being fully honest..." "Oh wow. So it randomly pops up?" Emerald was the only one who noticed Jade's cosmic aura rising. It was a good indicator that Jade could unconsciously show her aura, but very little of it. "Maybe, but who knows?" Emerald shrugged as she laughed nervously while continuing to eat her food. The trio continued to bond as the night went on with everypony else finally closing their doors and heading to bed while Ponyville's Night Watch takes over. Morning. Along came the morning with Celestia raising the sun. Speaking of which, Celestia had just been informed by her mother about the new gateway in Twilight's castle. But, she won't exactly be arriving today. Plans were being made. Although the secret base of operations idea from Eventide wasn't such a bad idea. But besides that, Emerald felt like she had enough time staying here in Ponyville as she finished the last food of the day. This entire time, through the whole night, transitioning to the morning, she had bonded with Cold more and even with Jade. "Well. I should be off now." Emerald stood up. "Thanks for the time, kid. And you too, Jade." "Aww, okay." Cold pouted. "But, you'll still let us come to your mansion, right?" "Of course I will. You're both more than welcome there. I made it in the middle of nowhere so it might be tough to find. But I'll come for you myself from time to time." "That sounds nice. It's been fun getting to know you, Emerald. Even if you're just a creation with not much going for you." "Ah!" Emerald felt a bit of a sting from Jade's words. "T-Thanks. But yeah, good luck to all of you. And have as much fun as you want here, okay?" "Sure will!" Cold jumped up. "And Jade." Emerald walked up to Jade. "Cold seems very happy here. Will you, Ash, Twilight and the others promise to make sure that stays that way?" "Hm?" "By the end of this, I want you to beat out the Rift and get Jirachi's wish to keep everything together. I would do something but the Rift won't allow me. So, do you promise to do it?" "I promise." Jade gave her promise to Emerald with a certified nod. "You can count on me." "Great. Alright. Bye now. Stay away from that gateway, squirt." Emerald gave her final goodbyes as she was slowly fading away, heading off to her mansion in the middle of nowhere. And that was the end of that. Emerald Aura will return for certain. But, most of it would just be for Cold and now Jade. Rift ponies have to stick together according to Emerald. A promise was made between her and Jade. And it's a promise that Jade and her friends will certainly keep as it will surely make everyone on both sides of each world happy as the journey continues. Chapter 388 End.