//------------------------------// // Short: Fillies return // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Pegalysium. The Sky Monarch. Day. Pegalysium. A place that was once thought to be nothing but a foal's tale or a fabled myth had been confirmed to be real by Princess Celestia and Passion. Not much is known about this grand nation in the sky as Celestia hadn't fully explored it yet. But one day, she wishes to, along with her little sister, Princess Luna. And perhaps Celestia and Passion could meet up with Garnet one more time. But, Garnet wasn't the only one aware of the existence of other ponies. Within the castle, a conversation was occurring between some pegasi. Or rather, highly important pegasi to be exact. This part of Pegalysium is where the royalty and nobility live and the pegasi inside are without a doubt royalty. And their conversation related to what had occurred just yesterday. "The Memoir Petal failed in erasing her memory it seems." The voice of a mare spoke. "Right. And the clouds from before seemed to have further given exposure to our door, haven't they?" And the voice of a stallion responded to her. "What should we do? We can't afford any interaction with Equestria at all." Another mare replied. "The one who visited here was a princess and the current ruler of Equestria, wasn't she? Then there's only one obvious answer to that." Kalos Region. Ninja Village. Day. One final training session for the five fillies. Something simple and small. And it was once again all about focus. But this time, they weren't doing it on an empty stomach thankfully. To see how much they've improved, they sat in a pool of nothing but cold water for minutes. Water so cold that drinking it might end up making your teeth freeze over. And they can thank the Wooper and Simipour of this village for that. However, despite how cold the water was, the five fillies weren't bothered by it. To everyone's surprise, they were in total focus despite sitting in what many would consider torture in a sense. In truth, the way they overcame this was by thinking of what they enjoyed the most. Scootaloo thought about becoming the number one Pokemon Trainer in Equestria and achieving the title of the Pokemon League Champion. Sweetie Belle thought about becoming a Top Coordinator all across Equestria, excelling at every Pokemon Contest that comes her way. The same went for Diamond Tiara, who was even shooting beyond the rank of a Top Coordinator. She was going for something greater and unseen. Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon don't exactly have the same high ambitions as their friends. Apple Bloom herself has been alternating what she wished to do with Pokemon involved. Right now, it's being a monotype trainer of Grass-Type Pokemon, which is a goal that was a bit harder than it sounded. But, she was thinking of something else that she could pursue in the future. Silver Spoon was the most ambiguous of them all. However, out of all her friends, she seems to be the most knowledgeable when it comes to Pokemon. Not on a grand scale like Ash, Twilight and Fluttershy, but she knows her stuff. If anything, Silver Spoon was thinking of pursuing knowledge from what she could tell. "Impressive. For forty minutes straight." Sanpei looked at a timer. "Not bad. Not bad at all you five. Alright, let's see how good they really are right now." To really test them, Greninja gave Sanpei some berries. He then held the berries out as he used his fingers to flick one of them towards Apple Bloom. The berry zoomed through the air at high speeds, but Apple Bloom suddenly opened her mouth, biting on the berry despite her eyes being closed. That was a sign of her being in full concentration. But to really test this out, Sanpei then flicked more berries at the young fillies at faster speeds. Each of them opened their mouths, biting on the berries and swallowing them. They even managed to avoid some of them by swaying their heads. Unfortunately, they were only able to dodge fr so long. Sanpei's flicking speed increased as the young fillies were being pelted and bombarded by colourful berries, unable to detect them all. Their focus was being thrown off as the cold water was getting to them. After flicking a certain amount, Sanpei figured that now was a good time to stop. They've already gone past the time limit by this point. "Okay. We're done here." "Really? Oh, thank goodness." Diamond Tiara grinned before jumping out of the pool of cold water with her friends. "You five are naturals for sure." Sanpei nodded. "You have the makings of ninjas. Just...not the usual kind." "We'll take any kind." Scootaloo smiled with her teeth full of berry juice. "Well. That does it for now. You've learned a lot even if you've been here for a little while. Concentration and teamwork. If you want, you can still learn some more here." "That'd be great but...We have to get going now. We promised our big sisters we'd be back. Don't wanna keep 'em worried, ya know." Apple Bloom stood up as Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement. "I got it. But you're all welcome back here at Ninja Village. Happy to have you any time." "Wait till we show everypony what we've learned. Oh! Maybe sneaking food over is gonna be easier this time!" Scootaloo gasped, thinking of the possibilities. "Oh yeah..." So did Apple Bloom. They were still children at the end of the day and they had obvious mischief and antics brewing in their mind 24/7, waiting for the opportunity to utilize those antics. "Don't get carried away though. That's not the ninja way." Sanpei warned them as they each gave unassuming smiles which just made Sanpei and Greninja nervous about what may come to the residents of Ponyville once the fillies return. Aside from that, it was time for them to leave. But this wouldn't be their last time here at Ninja Village. Now that they know of the location and are interested in ninjas themselves, they are sure to come back for some more training. And everyone in Ninja Village will welcome them with open arms. "Bye-Bye!" The five fillies waved goodbye to Sanpei, Greninja and most of the villagers here as they walked off into the distance. It wouldn't be a long walk home thanks to the detours Clemont and Bonnie had given them. They'll be home in no time and back on their soft comfortable beds. Equestria. Ponyville. Day. Once more, Rarity and Applejack were on the verge of losing it without their little sisters with them at the moment. They feared the worst every passing second. But that's just sisterly love oozing out. Rarity had her hooves together, praying to Arceus for Sweetie Belle's safety. Applejack was trying to calm herself down by smashing some strawberries with her hoof. Apparently, that soothes her nerves at times. Not all the time. Everyone else was casually going about their day. Some were even preparing for the Pokemon Dog Contest next week. Most noticeable, Mayor Mare. But it wasn't like Rarity and Applejack were the only worried ones. The parents of Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were just as nervous about the safety of their children. But just as Applejack was about to smash the next strawberry and Rarity was about to make another plea to Arceus up above, arriving over the horizon were the fillies that they worried so much about. "Apple Bloom!" "Sweetie Belle!" The two sisters cried out as they stopped everything they were doing, rushing to their little sisters. The two fillies were tackled and picked up by the two mares, receiving a powerful bear hug. "Ough!" They both gasped. "What happened?!" Applejack looked at her sister, beginning a flurry of questions. "Did those Unown hurt ya?! Where'd ya go?! Did the Ninja Village go well? Was it dangerous?!" "I'm fine, I'm fine, Applejack." Apple Bloom replied. "Oh, I know you're big enough to go on your own Pokemon journey, but I can't stand more than one day without you!" Rarity exclaimed, nuzzling with her sister while Sweetie Belle lowered her eyes. "I would've...I would've...not sure what I would've done, to be honest." "It's fine. Everything went pretty good, sis." Sweetie Belle reassured. "WE got to be ninjas and learn ninja tricks!" Scootaloo raised her hooves. "Really?!" Along came Rainbow Dash, zooming to the scene after hearing that. "Cool! Can you show us some of those tricks?!" "Take a look at this." Scootaloo cleared her throat as Silver Spoon walked up to her. The earth pony raised her hoof, giving Scootaloo a slight poke. And once she did that, right before Rainbow Dash's eyes, Scootaloo had vanished as a puff of smoke emerged. And out of that smoke came a log. That log had been swapped with Scootaloo's position as she was now behind Silver Spoon. "Ta-dah!" "Whoa! How'd you do that?!" "The Body Swap technique. Sanpei taught us." Silver Spoon spoke. "It's when we substitute ourselves for something else, mostly an object. It's really good for escaping anything harmful but we can't use it all the time." "In short, it's an optical illusion." Diamond Tiara shrugged. "But we have to carry something along with us to make it work or else it's just useless." "Well, I can see you've all certainly learned something." Rarity nodded. "But next time...would it be okay if we came along with you? I mean, for protection of course. Well, you have your Pokemon that's enough of protection but beyond that and..." Rarity was speaking rapidly still having her worried sisterly nature kicking in. "Yeah sure." But Sweetie Belle was fine with it. "You can come along any time you want sis!" "Really? Excellent!" Rarity gave out a nervous yet relieved laugh. Next time, she won't be freaking out as much but her sisterly instincts will still be prominent. Applejack also sat down, glad that next time she could be with Apple Bloom too on the next journey. "Oh, right. You have to prepare for your contest tomorrow. Both of you." Rarity faced Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara. "Already ahead of it. I stayed up last night at Ninja Village to practise for my upcoming contest. Diamond Tiara and I even learned some new tricks when we were at Ninja Village. Plus..." Sweetie Belle then took out her Poke Ball, sending her newly evolved partner out. "My Espurr evolved into a Meowstic finally." "Meowstic." "Aww...Look at her." Rarity gushed, leading down to face Meowstic. But when she did so, Meowstic crossed her arms, looking away from Rarity and giving her sass. "Meow." "Oh!" Rarity pulled back, feeling a bit insulted. "I suppose evolving gave her an attitude, did it?" "Hehe...Sorry about that." The little unicorn chuckled. "But her new style is going to get us through the contest tomorrow." "Better get some rest first." Applejack spoke. "Just a short hour rest will do before ya head on out tomorrow, don't you think?" "Yeah...Something softer would be nice." Apple Bloom was already getting comfortable just by being back home. And a softer bed beside the tents they were given would do. The five fillies went their separate ways, heading back to their homes for some perfect rejuvenation. Canterlot Gardens. Afternoon. Over at Canterlot, Premium Polish was also preparing herself for the Pokemon Contest over at Appleloosa tomorrow. She had just finished up for the afternoon with her Pokemon, developing new tricks. "Good, you two." She went up to her Flareon and Steenee. "Those judges won't be able to comprehend what they'll witness! I think so at least." "Oohoohoo!" Celestia clapped her hooves as she and Adagio had actually watched all of this take place. Adagio herself nodded her head in approval of Premium's tricks. "Well done, you all!" "Now I want to see these contests for myself. Are they that good?" said Adagio. "They sure are." Premium nodded in confirmation while petting Flareon. "You should come and see the one over at Appleloosa soon." "Your highness." Arriving at the scene was one of the Canterlot Guards, obviously here for something important as Celestia got off the bench. "The ponies from the otherworlds are here in response to your Universal Alliance idea." "Oh. Perfect timing." Celestia responded before turning to face Adagio and Premium. "I'll be a bit busy at the moment you two." She then took her leave via teleportation as Passion and Arcanine followed. Passion really just used her own teleportation by dragging Arcanine along. And just as the guard said, they had arrived. Well, four of them at least. Having practically almost everyone from every universe here would be impossible. But the ones they were able to reach were certainly available. And within the gateways opened up the Princess Celestia of Empress Twilight's world were other Celestia's Luna's and Cadence's from other worlds. Each having the same name but slightly different appearances from each other, making them stand out in their own way. However, these alternate variants weren't fully within this world. Instead, they were standing in front of the gateway with their faces being seen. But, this could work either way. After all, there is a possible interaction between two individuals on different sides of each world. Celestia and Luna arrived, witnessing their alternate selves and alternate Cadence's standing before them through the gateways. "Glad you could all make it." The first Celestia spoke as she sat down. "How are you all?" "We could be...better." One of the Luna's spoke, rubbing her hoof. "But we are hopeful right now after hearing what your universe had done." Another Celestia responded. "Defeating the Empress and allowing the word to spread was a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, many of our subjects are still terrified." "The Empress' forces still ruler over parts of our own world. Freeing those parts are not as easy as we hope them to be." Another Cadence sighed. "Well, that's where we can assist, can't we?" Luna responded to the alternate Cadence. "Oh yes. We have absolute faith that you can help us with this predicament, Universe One." "Universe One?" Celestia and Luna both said. "That is the name given to your universe after your accomplishment. We also found out that this universe came before our own, despite ours being in the future at this point." "Hm. Oh, I do quite like that." Luna grinned, looking to the side. "We know of ways we can help. But it won't be a cakewalk, that's for sure." Celestia shook her head before opening her mouth, thinking of her favourite food, cake. "Mmm...Cake." She then quickly snapped back to her senses at once. "Will you be utilizing that Magic Siphoning Jar once more?" Another Luna asked. "Well, we only used it on the Empress for the specific scenario. All of the weapons that the Empress' forces possess are filled with magic, aren't they?" Luna looked at Celestia. "They are," Celestia replied. "We actually haven't attempted to use the jar on those weapons. Perhaps that might actually work in our favour. But aside from that, we have other ways. I would say the Pokemon, but having them over at other worlds will take time as well. Perhaps not too much." "These Pokemon. Would it be acceptable if we could obtain some of them?" Another Celestia questioned. "We've heard great things about what they can accomplish. Having such power like that could free our worlds permanently from the Empress' rule." "Hm. We could." Celestia pondered. "The Infinity Energy would have to adjust itself to your worlds but other than that, it's possible and acceptable. I also recommend that if we are to free your worlds, we must perform this when the Empress is unavailable or present somewhere else. If we appear during the wrong time, a second invasion scenario could occur, worsening the predicaments." "Then in that case..." Pyrestar, who was also among this group had chimed in. "Leave that to us. My world has a spell that can do just the trick." Meanwhile, in another universe where the Empress resides. And speaking of the Empress, she was currently in another Canterlot castle that was not her own. She was still recovering from the major loss that she had suffered. A loss that will haunt her for years to come. At the moment, one of her allies, Daybreaker, was already setting off to perform her own plan to defeat Universe One and the Pokemon World along with Princess Starlight and Nightmare Rarity. The Empress herself wasn't doing much except for just sitting on the throne, contemplating everything that had just happened. And by her side was Skyblue shine who was eternally loyal to her. There was complete since for a while until the Empress brought up something. "Skyblue Shine." "Yes, Empress?" The android looked up at the alicorn. "The Magic Siphoning Jar. Who made it?" "Oh. U-Unfortunately, I'm not aware of who created it, Empress." "Then...find out who. I want you to head back to that world and search for any book or any source that shows records of the jar's creation and the original creator of it. Or...I might have to make my own." "Your own, Empress?" "Precisely. I already have the ability to absorb magic thanks to Tirek. But, I can go a step beyond that. I should be able to create my own Magic Siphoning Jar. At least something similar to it." "I suppose so." "But if I can't...then you must find out how it is possible, understood?" "I-I'll get right on it, Empress!" Skyblue Shine saluted. "My Umbrage Thieves will find any form of origin of where the jar came from!" "Good. Just you wait, Celestia." The Empress looked ahead with flaring red eyes. Only Celestia's world was on her mind. Now she no longer wanted to conquer it. Now, she wanted to destroy it. As the journey continues. Chapter 480 End.