//------------------------------// // Hope Rekindled // Story: Pokemon Alola Journey - Trials of Sarah: Journey for the Royal Family Arc 1 - MLP: A New Generation // by Zipp Storm //------------------------------// Arriving back at Maretime Bay, the dejected Sunny and her guardians came back along the path leading to the quartet's lighthouse home while Hitch prepared to head back to the town. "I'm right here if you need to talk, Sunny," Hitch told her gently. But, his encouragement was all for naught as she just looked at him, still feeling depressed while her guardians gave her an angry glare, a shared dejected frown, and a headshake from Siren, Shortcake, and Sugarcoat, mentally telling him that now's not the time for him to comfort her and that he shared part of the blame for what's been going on and for Scarlet's return. Sighing in defeat and realizing that the three Galarian Rapidashes were right, Hitch turned away and left the quartet alone since he knew that they needed time to themselves. Entering their home, Sunny and her Rapidash Guardians looked around and thought about everything that had happened on their adventure as well as the ramifications that came out of it. Sunny was still dejected that everything had gone wrong since she, her new friends, and everyone else had helped in the evil Alicorn's return to her full glory but she also made several mistakes that compromised everything and accelerated her return. No longer convinced in doing what she feels is right in accordance with everything she heard from her late father, she decided not to bother anymore, still unsure of what to do with Scarlet ready to enact her revenge in full force. Going into her room, she decided to leave the past behind as she put away her Mane Six figures and the lamp her father made for her into an open drawer while her guardians sadly watched, unsure of what to say first. Sighing in defeat, she turned to the large stand where the lightbulb was along with the multiple drawings she did from her childhood. However, when she pulled out the drawing Izzy got from her and looked at another one like it, she suddenly noticed that an object in the center looked awfully familiar to her. She looked at the object between both drawings and after rubbing her hoof on the drawing, a small beam of light shone through and hit the top of her father's lamp showing her the pictures of Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and Pegasi living happily together; a sight that her father showed her when she was a filly before and after she got her Rapidashes. Looking back at the lamp after thinking back to the Wings of Loyalty and the Unicorn's Eye along with the flashback of Ryu's final memories and the moment when he and Helioseon first created the Equestrian Crystals, she gasped as she then noticed something about the top of the lamp. Pulling it out and looking at it, she saw that it was a crystal that looked like a disc. Then, looking back at an odd shape of the stand which looked like the Wings and the Eye together, she placed it on the center circle, causing it to and the other two pieces to sink and it was in the very same shape that Sarah had noticed. Sunny's eyes widened in awe and amazement as she realized what the crystal actually was, it was the third and final Equestria Crystal she was missing: the Earth Pony Hope. Her father had it with them all along and she didn't even know about it, until now. With her hope renewed, after telling an equally amazed Siren, Shortcake, and Sugarcoat about the Earth Pony Hope, they quickly galloped back into the streets of Maretime Bay. But, as they galloped to find Hitch and show him the Earth Pony Hope, Sunny Starscout slowed down and stopped as she noticed that the town was empty and devoid of life. "Sunny!" Hitch cried, coming out of his station frantically. "Hitch, Hitch! I figured it out, I found the Earth Pony Hope! It was right with us-!" Sunny began, the sound of fireworks catching their attention as they saw some going off at a large building that's actually Sprout and Phyllis' home. Sensing trouble afoot, they all hurried over, only to see all of the townsfolk wearing helmets on them and marching down the streets. "Huh? Hey, w-wait! What is going on here?" Hitch asked an Earth Pony named Toots. "We can't tell you, Sheriff Hitch. We've signed the Official Sprout Act," Toots replied, much to Hitch's bewilderment. "Official Sprout what?" "What could that Momma's Boy be doing while we were gone?" asked Siren. "Why would you put him in charge of the town while you were looking for us and Sunny?" quizzed Sugarcoat to Hitch, having a bad feeling about what's going to happen. "I don't know...... What in the name of Faust did he even do?" pondered Hitch worriedly. "I don't know but we have to find out what's going on," Sunny replied before she turned to her guardians. "Siren, Shortcake, Sugarcoat, until we find out what's going on, please stay hidden and keep out of trouble." Despite their reluctance to leave their charge alone, her three Galarian Rapidashes agreed as they went off to hide while Sunny and Hitch went off to the building known as Canterlogic, finding all of the citizens in line and wearing helmets called Anti-Mind Reading Helmets and Sprout being escorted by a few of them acting as his subjects and slaves with Phyllis standing beside him as he took to a podium. "The Stallion-in-Chief!" another Earth Pony, Sweets, announced. "Sprout?" Sunny and Hitch quipped in surprise. "Sprout! What are you doing?" Hitch called, not knowing what their childhood friend is doing, a nearby crab and two chickens seeing him and coming to his side. "Awwww, Little Sheriff Hitchy came trotting back, waaaah. I'm glad you and Sunny made it back, really. You're just in time to see me do what you couldn't – ATTACK OUR ENEMIES!" Sprout snapped, his jealousy taking over. "Ugh! No, wait! Wait, wait, no! Sprout, please, listen to me! What you're doing is wrong, we were all wrong from the start! The Pegasi and the Unicorns along with the Pokemon and dragons can be our friends again. There's no need to be afraid of them. Besides, they don't even have magic!" "Please, Sprout! You don't understand what's really going on and you need to stop this now!" Sunny added, also aghast by what Sprout had done and what he had become in her, her guardians, and Hitch's absence. "Scarlet Nightmare has just returned along with her Shadow Pokemon and Shadow Dragons! They're all coming to take over Equestria and unless we join forces with them and stop her, we're all doomed!" ".....What?" Phyllis gawked in silent bewilderment. "No magic, HA! That makes it even better!" cackled Sprout mockingly. "And you must've gotten your heads in the clouds too much, guys! Scarlet Nightmare? She's nothing more than an old mare's tale, it's nothing but a bunch of baloney!" She then turned to the rest of her fellow ponies, desperate to get them to realize the danger they're all in, "We can still bring magic back, bring friendships back! And, with Scarlet's return, we have to come together! To try and fix everything since King Doug and Queen Delilah first sealed her away! But, we have to join forces and do the right thing because we saw Scarlet Nightmare! She's back and her demons nearly attacked us before we were saved by some REAL Pokemon belonging to our friend, Sarah, after she was kidnapped! With their help along with the Unicorns and the Pegasi and even the dragons and the Pokemon, we can still save this world!" The citizens seemed to be convinced as they started to take off their helmets until Sprout used his new power to force them to think twice before he brought in what looked to be a giant and automized version of Hitch's Splat-a-Pult, a machine that's built to kill ponies. "Say hello.......to Sprouticus Maximus!" he cackled, horrifying the ponies around him including his own mother, Sunny, and Hitch. "Baby! This is a bit too much, dear!" cried Phyllis, realizing his mistake. "Troops, on to Bridlewood!" Sprout demanded. But, as he activated his machine, a shadowy blur swooped in and destroyed it, revealing itself to be a Shadow Braivary. The citizens screamed in shock and terror as they immediately recognized what it was, suggesting that they've heard the legend before and truly believed it between them while denying it on the surface. Even Phyllis and Sprout couldn't handle seeing the evil Pokemon copycat. "What is that?" "It-it's-!" "Oh! Oh my goodness, NO!" "It's a Shadow Braivary!" "What's it doing here?!" "The spawn of Scarlet Nightmare!" "I thought she and her demons were dead!" some of the citizens cried out in horror as they stepped back and held each other in fear. "That's impossible......!" breathed Phyllis in terrified silence. "No, no! Y-You can't be real! You're just one of that Sarah's Pokemon coming to destroy us!" screamed Sprout, being the cowardly pony he always had been. "We are indeed real and so is our mistress, little pony," the Shadow Braivary smirked as an entire flock of Shadow Braivary (100, in total) emerged in the sky, giving the Earth Ponies reason to fully know that Scarlet Nightmare is indeed back with a vengeance. "And, now, we bid you all farewell. Attack! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!!!" Some of the ponies took the initiative to run as they attacked but just before they could be turned to stone as the Shadow Braivary divebombed them, they were thrown back by a powerful Moongiest Beam and deflected by a strong Protect, followed by three Moonblasts that knocked some of them away. The Pokemon that had emerged to protect them were Nebula and Nebby as they growled and screeched at Scarlet's minions. "Get away from our new Auntie Sunny and Uncle Hitch!" Nebby roared. "Nebby! Nebula!" gasped Sunny in shock, seeing Sarah's Sunne and Moone Pokemon protecting them. "But, where did those Moonblasts come from?" asked Hitch, wondering who also saved them. "Sunny!" called a familiar voice, the two of them turning to find Zipp, Pipp, Izzy, Sunny's guardians (the ones responsible for the previous Moonblasts), and the rest of Sarah's family coming towards them. "W-what are you all doing here?" Sunny asked, aghast at them returning to her and Hitch. "It's too dangerous for you all to stay here!" Hitch replied, still knowing the danger at hand. "We don't care what anypony says!" "We've been through too much to leave you alone without knowing how to deal with Scarlet Nightmare and save everypony and Equestria!" "Yeah, we just wanna stay friends! For the sake of the Pokemon and dragons, and our family!" the three ponies told them. "You didn't think you could be rid of us that easily, did you?" smirked Siren, nudging her playfully. "I thought we agreed to be friends forever and stick together no matter what happens! Especially when we still have to save Sarah and protect you," replied Sugarcoat incredulously to Sunny, knowing that the Earth Pony was crazy to give up so easily and keep them hidden for their own safety as she did before. "Yeah, but-!" Sunny tried to explain. "Uh-Uh! Sorry, but don't think you're the only ones who need to fix this," interrupted Hydro, smirking at her. "Besides, we still got a job to do and that's to bring back your magic, save this world, and welcome back the Pokemon and dragons living here with open arms!" "Sunny Starscout, you and our new friends along with Hitch aren't the only ones who can make a difference. We all can," reassured Reshiram with a knowing nod and smile. "And, we choose to come back, stay with you all, and fight!" "Yeah! No way are we missing out on all of this!" smirked Mist and Spark, nodding their heads in agreement. "But, where are Nikki, James, and Tsukumaro, and the rest of you guys? What happened to them?" she asked again, seeing that a quarter of Sarah's family is missing. "They're off to get some reinforcements to help us!” replied Nebula. "And, they better hurry 'cause here comes trouble!" added Nebby, seeing the Shadow Pokemon preparing to attack while more hoof steps can be heard galloping towards the group as they turned. The heroes' party turned and they saw Nikki, James, Tsukumaro, and their own party from Sarah's family joined by Alphabittle, Queen Haven, Cloudpuff, and all of the other Unicorns and Pegasi behind them. Their presence suggested to the Mane Five that Sarah's adopted parents and godfather were successful in their mission to get reinforcements after Scarlet made her attack on everywhere else including Zephyr Heights and after some convincing, the Unicorns and Pegasi all agreed to unite with them, the Mane Five, and the Earth Ponies to fight back against them and take a stand. "Mom!" "Alphabittle!" Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy gasped in delight. "All soldiers, ATTACK!!!!!!!!!" Tsukumaro bellowed, the reinforcements with him, Nikki, James, and their party charging forward with renewed vigor as the Shadow Braivary flock divebombed again and turned into other different Pokemon and dragons before they brawled with all of the ponies, Sarah's family, and the Mane Five along with Sunny's guardians. As they fought, Phyllis, Sprout, and the Earth Ponies looked on in shock as the other two pony tribes had come to their home to do the very thing they least expected upon Scarlet Nightmare's return: to help them, with the assistance of some REAL Pokemon and REAL dragons, of all creatures. With Thunder and Zoom, they led the charge with the other Pegasi in Queen Haven's royal guard along with a handful of Sarah's dragons covering them from above as they flew. Voltage and Hurricane ran some blockers for the ponies, blasting the Shadow Braivary with their lightning and water blast attacks while Glastrier and Calyrex (having changed to his Ice Rider Form) catapulted Glacial Lance, freezing a number of the Shadow Pokemon charging from the ground before blasting them. Oshawott, Vaporeon, Keldeo, and Suicune got together as they unleashed a Water Gun and Hydro Pump frenzy on some of the Shadow Pokemon and the Shadow Braivary attacking them and everyone else from ground level. Azul and Azula quickly leapt off of Aurorus's back and landed on Thunder and Zoom's backs as the two Pegasi galloped through the street, becoming their Pokemon gattling guns as they fired Water Gun at the Shadow Braviary, Bewear, Beartic, Pidgeot, Trumbeak, Gumshoos, Kantonian Persian, and Ariados. Alphabittle and the Unicorns all bucked and kicked the Shadow Pokemon coming at their as hard as they could while making use of their horns, swinging and thrusting them like swords while Sarah's Rapidash and Ponyta assisted them with their move sets, using attacks like Psycho Cut and Moonblast. Mudsdale even used Mud Slap to make them go blind before Terrakion, Cobalion, and Virizion blasted them on both ground level and on the air using Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Magical Leaf. Then, with a few others, they used High Horsepower and Sacred Sword to bash and slice and dice a Shadow Houndoom platoon coming at them. From the air, Phoenix and Nova had Queen Haven and some of the Pegasi joining her on their backs for aerial combat along with Winter, Shadow, Rubble, Starfire, Skystorm, Flystorm, Rosa, and Lilac. With everybody now on board with "Okay, dragons, dive in and do your thing!" the Pegasus Queen called. "Yes, M'am!" the pair carrying her and her party answered. Divebombing at high speed while the Pegasi hung onto their backs and their fellow dragons with them giving them cover, blasting a majority of their common enemies, they've blasted any stragglers from Scarlet's forces coming at them, making them screech and cry out in pain. The battle took a while until the current fleet they're all dealing with was finally gone. "That's it for these guys!" called Zorua after she and Zeraora had finished their their lot. "Good thing we got here while we did," Zipp replied. "No kidding, I think we might just survive this until we find Scarlet and Sarah," noted Whiplash. "Hashi, Star, and I'll check on the Earth Ponies," said Ching Wan. "Okay," Zarude replied. As everybody else regrouped to prepare for what would be the next stage of their rebellion against Scarlet, Star and the Wushu Brothers quickly rushed over to the Earth Ponies. None of them, not even Phyllis and Sprout, could muster up a response as they saw the other two pony tribes, Sunny, Hitch, their friends, and Sarah's family fighting against her forces to save their homeworld and them as well. For years ever since Ponykind lost their magic after she was first sealed away and they banished the dragons and Pokemon that used to live with and protect them, they've always thought of both species as enemies and they've used them as scapegoats for their own grievances. But now, with Scarlet Nightmare's return and the arrival of their unexpected reinforcements, that all seemed to change with said army fighting back against their common enemy while the Earth Ponies all cowered in the face of danger as Scarlet's return became a reality. They were soon snapped out of their own stupor when Star, Hashimoto, and Ching Wan arrived as they exited Canterlogic and came face to face with them. ".......I-I don't understand," Phyllis started, she and her own son finding it difficult to speak with the three Pokemon diplomatically after what everybody just went through right now. "Trust us, we're not as thrilled about all of this given the circumstances and your first impressions about us and our family," Ching Wan replied knowingly. "But, since our master was taken by your kind's old enemy and since she wants to kill you all and us to take back what she lost years ago, you can say that we're all on the same side now." "We're glad that you're all okay, really. At least those Shadow Pokemon and Shadow Dragons didn't do you any harm," added Star, looking at the Earth Ponies with a hard look but with gentle, motherly eyes. "We know you may have some misgivings about us, the Unicorns, and the Pegasi before but if we don't do something now, you won't have any magic to get back." "We don't expect you to trust us right away but you should know that no matter what happens, we'll fight to protect all of you and everyone else Scarlet Nightmare's planning to attack once she's finished with Equestria," nodded Hashimoto just as Alphabittle, Queen Haven, and the Mane Five arrived to check on the Earth Ponies as well. "Unless we come together and fight as one to end her wrath before she kills us all including Master Sarah, there won't be a Maretime Bay, a Bridlewood, or a Zephyr Heights for you all to return to, no Equestria for you to defend, and not while you're alone." "Sprout! Thank Faust you're safe!" Hitch said to his and Sunny's childhood friend, hugging him in relief. "Are you crazy?! Becoming emperor and causing war as a joke, building a war machine and causing everypony to fight in a pointless war as soldiers, using them as weapons because you're paranoid and afraid of our fellow ponies when we're actually helping the real enemy that's been under our noses the whole time? You almost got yourself and your mother killed as well!" Sprout didn't know what to think as the Earth Ponies took off their helmets and looked down in shame as he did, he didn't know what to say since he went back on his promise to Hitch to keep everyone else safe before Scarlet's forces attacking opened his and their eyes. "We're so glad you're alright but you have no idea what's going on and what you're really fighting for!" Sunny added in relief. "Look, I know it doesn't look like much but what you're seeing is the truth. The Pegasi, the Unicorns, the Pokemon and dragons in Sarah's care, every last one of them wants to help us and be our friends. With their help, we can stop Scarlet Nightmare, get our friend back, and save Equestria while bringing back the Pokemon and dragons that used to live with and protect us before she was first sealed away moons ago. But, we can't do that unless we work together. Please, Sprout, you all have to trust us!" "...........After everything that's happened, how can you be sure that we can possibly trust them?" Sprout questioned, geuninely guilty for his actions and still wondering if what Sunny told him is the truth. "It may feel impossible but sometimes, you just have to take the first step. Even if you're not ready," replied Nebby, coming over to the group and looking at Sprout gently. "That's what Mama believed in.” "And now, we have to do whatever it takes to get her back and take down Scarlet Nightmare" Sunny stated to all of the ponies gathered along with her friends. "To bring friendship and magic back to Equestria, once and for all!" "But, Scarlet took her to a place that we don't know about and they could be anywhere in Equestria," stated Zipp doubtfully. "How would we know where they are?" "My species are well known feeling the aura of our masters and friends, I can lead you all to where Mom is if her aura's still strong," suggested Star. ".......Can you do that?" Phyllis asked in surprise. "I'm not an Aura Pokemon for nothing; that's literally what we Lucario can do, even Aunt Nikki's Lucario can track down his master's aura. I am a Guardian of the Aura, after all. Actually, I really need to think about having Mom finally take me to the Sinnoh Region to see Lucario Kingdom when we're done.” "Then, you can find out where Sarah is judging by her aura, Star?" asked Pipp. "If she's still alive and somewhere in Equestria, she's bound to be fighting back somehow. Honestly, I hope she is still fighting back after being captured," nodded Star, before concentrating her own aura. "Aura is with me.......” Through her aura connection, she looked throughout all of Equestria for Sarah and her aura until, after a few tense moments from everyone else around her as they waited for an answer, she came across what looked to be an old temple at the base of the mountains leading to Zephyr Heights. "I found her, at an old temple at the base of Zephyr Heights!" "Let's go!" shouted Sunny, getting knowing nods from everybody as they quickly rushed off to the mountains.