Unova Region. Near the port of Virbank City. Out in the sea. Late Afternoon.
Appearing in Virbank City under the winter moon during a late afternoon was Nightmare Rarity. Here for Manaphy and quicker way to the Sea Temple, the nightmare variant of the Fashionista knew it wouldn't be so easy. Even distracting Ash and the others would not guarantee absolute success. But it was worth a shot anyway.
With the magic she spread, humans and Pokemon had been affected by an unknown form of magic that they had yet to know about. Their bodies became the same colour as Nightmare Rarity, including having stars within them. However, despite this change in their appearances, so far, nothing looked off.
"That should do. Poor Luna won't even know what kind of pointless issue she'll be chasing." Nightmare Rarity chuckled before approaching the Seafaring Pokemon. She knew something that no one else did. Not even Luna, who was once in the same hooves as Nightmare Rarity.
"Now, how should I do this?" She pondered. "You don't seem to be resisting my control. Or are you just toying with me?"
"Manaphy..." Manaphy uttered with a zoned-out expression. Nightmare Rarity shrugged, unsure of how to respond to that.
"Hm. So much for being a Mythical Pokemon. I expected more. Anyway. It's time for us to go." With the usage of her horn, Nightmare Rarity had summoned a gateway below the water. While she showed up here without a gateway via the magic that was inside of Manaphy, she couldn't return the same way.
"Manaphy..." Manaphy uttered as she was starting to resist this control. Nightmare Rarity's magic was unexpectedly potent. Potent enough to put the Seafaring Pokemon in a nigh-unbreakable trance. But being a Mythical Pokemon and having a strong bond with Flurry Heart, Manaphy could just barely resist.
"Hm?" Nightmare Rarity could feel this as Manaphy had used Psychic around her body to pull herself upwards. Manaphy was still in a controlled state due to the night but her heart was a great counter. "You're a resilient one." Nightmare Rarity spoke, trying to descend into the gateway. "But how resilient are you, that's the question?"
Nightmare Rarity then entered a struggle with Manaphy. She used her magic for a telekinetic hold as well, covering herself in a magical aura. She then tried pushing herself downwards while Manaphy pushed upwards. Manaphy was aiming to use Heart Swap on Nightmare Rarity as her antennae were moving towards the corrupted fashionista.
"Oh!" Realizing how big of a problem that could cause, Nightmare Rarity let go of Manaphy, just barely avoiding her antennae and Heart Swap. Nightmare Rarity wanted no one to know about her attempt to capture Manaphy. She preferred to be secretive. As for Manaphy, the control on her was starting to diminish with how much she resisted it.
"Such resistance. Well, there are other options. If I can't have you, I'll just take half of you via dreams. Like so." Aiming to put an end to this, Nightmare Rarity had used her magic once more. And this time it was on Manaphy.
Manaphy stood there, feeling an unusual strain moving through her. Before she knew it, something was being ripped out of her. Her dream half. The part of Maaphy that dreams had been ripped directly out of Manaphy's body while having a transparent appearance. "M-Mana...!" Manaphy cried out after having her dream-self ripped out.
"This'll work better." Nightmare Rarity then held the dream variant of Rarity. "You don't have to worry anymore." She then descended to the gateway. "I ended up choosing a safer option in the long run. Anyway, goodbye~!"
"Mana..." A dazed Manaphy uttered before shaking her head, finally snapping out of the mind control once Nightmare Rarity had left through to another world. "Mana?!" Manaphy looked around, seeing if she could spot Nightmare Rarity. But the gateway had already been closed, plus the departure of Nightmare Rarity had been made.
Manaphy was confused, She had just barely managed to fight back this alarming control. And at the moment, she sensed nothing else wrong with her. The Seafaring Pokemon believed that she had managed to push Nightmare Rarity away without being captured.
But in reality, Nightmare Rarity, in a cosmic sense, did capture her.
Unova Region. Virbank City. Late Afternoon.
Back at the city, Luna, sensing Nightmare Rarity's magic since she was connected to this kind of magic for obvious reasons, rushed to the scene. And with Ash and Pikachu by her side, they had witnessed this nightly sight.
"By my sister..." Luna gawked, witnessing how everyone here had the night within them. "They're all infected by it...I've never seen it happen in this way?
"I-Is that bad?" Ash asked.
"When I was Nightmare Moon, just 2 years ago, I could affect various things with a wisp of magic. Such as creating illusions, forming random issues and so on. But I've never seen this. You there!"
"Hm?" A Trainer responded to Luna's call.
"Are you alright?! Do you feel anything?! Any injuries or potential illnesses?!" The Princess of the Moon bombarded the Pokemon Trainer with questions of worry from a genuine heart.
"Uh...N-No. I mean I look weird but..." The Trainer looked at her arms and flipped her nightly hair. "I actually look pretty fabulous like this!" She spun around, truly gazing at her astral-like appearance. "Maybe this will boost us in the Pokemon Contest over at Hoenn, right, Whimsicott?"
"Whimsi!" Whimsicott agreed as the cotton it had around it was also covered with a night sky appearance. As Whimsicott flew around, leaving puffs of cotton, even the cotton had the night sky within it, giving a beautiful blending view.
The same went for everyone else. Ash, Pikachu and Luna looked at the city, witnessing how everyone was just casually getting along with their day while also wondering why they had a night sky look. No one seemed to be in any real danger. Not even a bit.
The only alarming thing was that they all felt a sting right before their bodies transformed into this colour. Some Pokemon and children enjoyed this new look, running around in it and pretending to blend in with the sky. Although, they didn't need to pretend due to how they looked right now.
"They all look fine to me." Ash scratched his hair.
"No, this can't be right..." Luna pondered. "Whatever this form of magic it may be...I sense a horrible outcome that is slowly approaching us. And something that is unaware of all of them. Nightmare Rarity being here could be in conjunction with Daybreaker and Empress Twilight, seeing as they are in an alliance."
Appearing out of the shadows in his usual creepy manner was Darkrai after moving across the shadows of Virbank to see if something was amiss. But even Darkrai, the Master of Nightmares could not find a fault so far. "Nothing unusual yet, Luna. It's strange. None of this magic has done much except change appearances."
"We can't be safe." Luna took a deep breath. "Just what is she planning with this...?"
PokeStar Studios.
"What is this?!" Adagio roared while holding a massive mirror, looking at herself. The wisp had grazed her and everyone within PokeStarStudios, giving them all the appearance of the night sky.
"Um...Miss Adagio." A guard spoke, removing his helmet with a nervous gulp. "If you want, we can just postpone this movie and come back at another time when we've finished with the Sea Temple journey."
"Yeah I mean...we've also been here for hours now." Flash Sentry spoke. "And I'm not sure this looks safe. Come to think of it, isn't this Night-"
"Are you crazy?!" Adagio soon interrupted with another bellow. But this one was of joy. "This is perfect! I was hoping for a space-like story! And how accurate is this? Now we look like cosmic beings! Perfect!"
"Uh...It is?" The guards all said.
"Most of you aren't in the film so you can stay away from the camera, okay?" Adagio shooed some of the guards. "But as for those who are, this'll make everyone who watches it amazed. Points for authenticity."
"But should we be alarmed by this? This looks like Nightmare Moon's magic. Or maybe Nightmare Rarity now that I think about it?"
"Hmm...As much as I love this you might be right." Adagio grumbled, sitting down. "How many hours have we been here for exactly?"
"About 9 or 8 hours." The guard looked at the clock. "The ship might be repaired at this point. We could leave now but we wouldn't be able to finish the film at all."
"Fine. We'll postpone it." She then stood up with an exclamation. "We won't publish it. I'll take what you said about finishing it after the Sea Temple into consideration. For now, just save it and keep it somewhere safe on the ship. I don't want to lose my progress."
"Yes ma'am!"
Unova. Out in the far seas. The Sunstorm.
Opening a gateway to her universe and all the way back to the Pokemon World was a tiring process for Nightmare Rarity as she was not a fan of long process activities.
But after getting through that process, she appeared before the Empress' forces and Daybreaker's forces via the Sunstorm, holding the other part of Manaphy.
"Ta-da~!" She made a fanfare with her magic, showing off the dream-half of Manaphy. "Not exactly the Manaphy, but enough to suffice for your journey."
"What is that...?" Tempest Shadow wondered.
"Ah. You see, I can interact with dreams. But I and to an extent, my two Tantubuses can rip out the Dream variant of whatever target I chose. Right now, this Manaphy has the same mindset as the original but flows with various dreams. And within one of those dreams has to be the path to the Sea Temple."
"H-How does that work?" Spitfire shrugged.
"Yes. How does it work?" Appearing as a magical projection within the Sunstorm was Daybreaker. She was curious as to what Nightmare Rarity had planned. "I was expecting you to do something more simple when you arrived there."
"Oh, Daybreaker!" Nightmare Rarity was alarmed by the appearance of Empress Daybreaker. "Ahem. Just my own way of doing things. You don't mind, do you?"
"Hm...I suppose not." Daybreaker shrugged. "So, how does this Dream variant work exactly?"
"Ah, right. Here is an example." Nightmare Rarity used her magic on the Transparent Manaphy, forming a visage that emerged out of its body. WIthin that visage, it showed a dream of Manaphy playing with Flurry Heart, having a good time at the Crystal Empire. The others gawked with impression afterwards. "Whatever they dream, I can show it."
"Okay..." Daybreaker slowly nodded.
"That involves altering their dreams. Meaning I can force them to dream a specific scenario. Like so." And for the next example, she showed a dream of Manaphy guiding the Grand Equestria towards the Sea Temple. Now everyone was hooked.
"That's amazing...!" Daybreaker gawked as Spitfire removed her magical glasses for amazement. "You could do this the entire time?!"
"Oh certainly. I'm capable of so much more. And I can thank Lunar Ire for giving me that boost." The fashionista chuckled.
"But how are we sure this one is going to work?" Tempest questioned. "I mean...it's not the true Manaphy and this is just a dream after all."
"Tempest has a point," Daybreaker said. "Manaphy all have homing instincts that guide them to the Sea Temple, even though it has a cloaking device. I would assume that a dream can only go so far without being actually there. Especially considering that you've ripped it out of Manaphy's body."
"Oh, right. That would complicate things, wouldn't it? Not to worry. This Manaphy and the real Manaphy are connected. I wouldn't be as foolish as to get rid of all of her dreaming capabilities." She then held the Dream variant Seafaring Pokemon out.
A new visage appeared. And this time, it was of Virbank City. There, Manaphy was still befuddled, confused as to what was going exactly. They could all see Manaphy via this Dream variant.
"Think of it as Crystal Ball. Now, we can follow Manaphy thoroughly. Works far better than your Grand Eye Spell, doesn't it Daybreaker?" Nightmare Rarity chuckled, teasing Daybreaker. "No cost of magic at all."
"Hmph. Mine's better still." Daybreaker just shrugged it off. "But I expect you to return the Dream Variant to the real Manaphy once the temple is found. After all, since you ripped it out of her, she can't dream anymore can she?"
"Never again. Without this, Manaphy will have no dreams to experience." The fashionista circled the Dream variant. "But why would I return it exactly? Wouldn't it be best to keep it around?"
"That Manaphy is close to my niece Flurry Heart." Daybreaker's eyes narrowed with flames spurting out, powerful enough to reach this universe as Nightmare Rarity trembled. "If the Dream part of her isn't returned-"
"I know, I know. I'll return it." She interrupted Daybreaker, knowing that she would feel her wrath if this was not done. Daybreaker does care for who she sees close to her. "Would've been fun to keep it anyway. Besides, Luna and the others will be so occupied with something so false, we'll have a greater land than them."
"And that is...?" Daybreaker was waiting for the answer.
"I created a false sense of danger." Nightmare Rarity opened a gateway behind her, having a devious laugh along the way. Afterwards, she left this world.
"Well, send this to Team Plasma. They can put an end to their Manaphy hunt now. Let's move and get a head start, all of you." Tempest commanded as they were ready to keep sailing onwards to the Sea Temple.
Virbank City. Late afternoon.
Soon, everyone had been struck by these wisps that multiplied each time they hit their target. The whole city was infested with Nightmare appearances. And so far, Luna had no clue as to what this meant.
They had then shown up at the Grand Equestria to see if Manaphy and the others were in any trouble. But once they arrived, Manaphy just stood there, confused.
"Mana?"
"Manapahy? You're alright?" Luna uttered.
"Mana. Mana-Mana." Manaphy hopped over to her. This just further confused Luna as she was clueless in all of this. But she was A-OK. Manaphy was not harmed.
"She's alright." Luna held Manaphy in her hooves. "That's odd...Everything is fine."
"Are you okay, Luna?" Darkrai appeared out of the shadows. "You look more perplexed than usual."
"I'm fine...Just trying to wrap my head around all of this. Am I missing something? I sensed Nightmare Rarity's magic, didn't I? Is this an illusion? Maybe it is?! Is it?!" This was all getting to Luna. Her fears were getting the better of her in this scenario. Even though everything seemed, fine, the memories she had of this kind of magic plus Nightmare Rarity could only spark worry.
"Luna?!" Darkrai's tone was raised after seeing his trainer in such a state.
"I should know this!" Luna closed her eyes. "But I don't!"
Ash could see that Luna was beginning to feel some form of stress. To calm her down, Ash kneeled to get on her level. He then calmed Luna's nerves once the Princess of the Night looked at him. "No need to worry, Luna. You've got this. Whatever this stuff is, I know you'll find out somehow. You're the nighttime master after all. No one knows it better than you. Well, plus Darkrai."
"Pikachu."
"Right. Thank you. Ash. Pikachu." Luna took a deep breath before standing up tall. "I can do this. I just need to take everything that's happened in. All of their bodies are covered in the same ethereal mane as Nightmare Moon and Nightmare Rarity. Which means..." She then thought long and hard. "...that it can be dispelled from them."
"Dispelled? How?" Ash asked.
"For me, it was the Elements of Harmony that dispelled this magic from my body. And from what I also found out, this magic also applies not just to anypony in the night, but the day as well. Daybreaker seems to have the magic in her that transformed her from Celestia to Daybreaker."
"Does it have a name?" Darkrai questioned.
"In reality, it's just magic. You see, Nightmare Moon was the result of our magic being untamed and fully released. The same went for Daybreaker in her world. We alicorns keep our magic in check for a reason. We are free to use it to the fullest. but if that magic is tampered with via emotions then not only does it force the full power of our magic out, it alters it. That is how Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker come to be."
"Wait a sec...Nightmare Rarity's not an alicorn..." Ash scratched his hair, remembering the description for Nightmare Rarity.
"No. She's not." Luna shook her head in response. "But as a unicorn, the tribe that has the second-highest amount of magic only surpassed by alicorns, their emotions can correlate with their magic. It's also why the Elements of Harmony exist in the first place. All of our magic ties with our emotions. It's identical to a move like Return, Outrage or Frustration."
"Pika..." An amazed Pikachu and Manaphy were agape after learning this fact.
"But, we don't have the Elements of Harmony with us right now. But I have another method I could try." Luna then banked on the one thing she constantly promised not to continuously come back to over and over again. Lunar Ire.
"A wise choice." Lunar Ire spoke through Luna's head. "I'm so glad that you're starting to see just how much I can offer you."
"Zip it..." Luna scoffed before borrowing a fraction of Lunar Ire's magic. This time, the magic went to just her horn and eyes. Luna's eyes flashed blue while the tip of her horn became red.
Luna was choosing to use more of Lunar Ire's capabilities. Luna, with her glowing eyes, observed the nightmare-influenced area around her, seeing if there was some sort of illusion nearby. Luna had found a new neat trick with Lunar Ire, being able to have advanced eyesight similar to Luxray.
However, as she scanned the city, Luna then came to a shocking realization that made her glowing eyes fade away. The alicorn was thrown back as she found out why there was no issue at all.
"There's no danger..." Luna uttered under her breath. "There never was..."
"No danger?" Both Ash and Darkrai said in unison.
"It's all fake!" Luna spread her hooves out. "All a ruse! There's no illusion with this either. Nightmare Rarity did this on purpose. This was her way of giving a distraction. One that doesn't involve any danger at all. Because she knew that we would most definitely catch on without a second to spare."
"So then if there was no danger with her distraction, what was she distracting us from?" Darkrai wondered.
"The best and clearest answer in this is Manaphy. She's the only way to reach the Sea Temple. But Manaphy is unharmed and unaffected by the looks of it." Luna turned to Manaphy. "There is no other reason for her to come here. Manaphy. Tell me. Did something happen to you earlier?"
"Mana...?" Manaphy dug deep, seeing if she could recall anything. All she could remember was barely pushing Nightmare Rarity away and that was it. "Mana-Mana."
"She says that Nightmare Rarity did show up here unexpectedly. But she managed to push her away." Darkrai translated. "That's all Manaphy can recall. Seems as if Nightmare Rarity did try and come for her after all."
"That's all I needed to hear, Manaphy. I can't play it too safe either. She has the power to invade dreams as well. No doubt that she'll take that route as well. When you all fall asleep, Darkrai and I will enter the Dream World as always. There, we'll wait for Nightmare Rarity."
"You got it." Ash and Pikachu gave a thumbs up to that. "We'll be out before you know it."
"Pikachu!"
"Now to do one other thing..." Luna wasn't quite finished yet. The appearance of everyone needed to be reversed. Luckily, as Lunar Ire, that could be done.
By the power of Sorrowful Rage Magic, just a fraction of it, Luna was able to interact with every single individual in Virbank, far beyond what she could do before.
No one could exactly feel Luna's magic. But they could see it. A mixture of light blue and red magic had coated their night sky bodies. The magic acted as a sort of fan that would blow away any dust that it came by. And just like a fan, it dispersed the night sky appearances whenever it moved.
Everyone watched as their original colours returned to them with the night sky being eradicated. Some were surprisingly upset by this, actually preferring the appearance. But there wasn't much they could do about them anyway. The nightmare appearances were all taken out by this city-encompassing spell. And as a bonus, thanks to the power of Lunar Ire, it barely cost Luna that much magic.
Luna took a deep breath, surprised that she wasn't exhausted. But every time she used Lunar Ire, even for a bit, her head stung. But not a large degree thankfully. "There...Honestly, it wasn't too difficult. Since there was no encroaching danger in the first place."
"Do you think she'll pull the same trick again? Something that we'll overthink?" The Pitch Black Pokemon asked.
"We'll see. But I'll be ready for her. The ship could be repaired by now." Luna carried Manaphy towards the ship. "Hurry. We can't allow them to even get one major step ahead of us."
The Grand Equestria. Nightfall.
Repaired and ready to sail on, everyone got back on the Grand Equestria. Adagio was fairly bummed out about the postponing of her movie plus the disappearance of the nightmare body added to that.
Aside from that, nightfall had arrived and the Grand Equestria was moving once more. Manaphy, even after having her Dream variant ripped out, still felt fine, able to guide her friends towards the Sea Temple.
But Manaphy would still need to rest. But just exactly what Luna needed. Mostly everyone was ready to sleep. "Rest for now, Manaphy. The ship will continue onwards either way." Luna said.
"Manaphy..." Manaphy would take it. She had a regular sleep pattern due to living with Flurry Heart. 18 hours was her limit for a day. Her yawn was a good sign of her ready to clock out.
"If any of you see something off, alert Darkrai and I." She spoke to them. But some had already fallen asleep. Mostly the guards, who were fairly fatigued after helping Adagio with her movie.
After her speech, she had already gone into the Dream World with Darkrai, specifically for those that were already asleep. But her eyes were all on Manaphy as she was the key to everything in this.
Ash and Pikachu were still awake, but they would try their best to fall asleep. While the Grand Equestria was seemingly sailing blind without Manaphy to guide them, it would stay safe out there.
The Dream Realm.
But the moment they entered the Dream Realm, Luna and Darkrai turned their attention to just Manaphy's Dream first. And once they turned her dream, they saw a startling sight.
Manaphy had no dream. Due to her Dream Variant being stolen, Manaphy could not dream of anything at all. And this wasn't just a lack of vivid dreams. Luna could sense the influence of Nightmare Rarity's magic.
"Her dreams! They're gone!" Luna gasped. "What did she do...?"
"I can see everyone else's but not hers," Darkrai observed. "Did she snatch it from under our noses?"
"She did..." Luna said with a quieter tone. "That only correlated with her distraction. This is what she was truly going for when she distracted us."
Darkrai tried seeing if he could find anything, by ripping through the Dream Realm with his bare claws. However, he couldn't find anything, just the dreams of others that weren't Manaphy. "No use. Must've been one of Nightmare Rarity's Tantabuses."
"If only we were quicker...Now what?!" Luna shuddered in agitation, unsure of what to do now. She has always done her best to prevent dreams from being stolen and has succeeded. But now, a dream has finally been stolen for the first time in Luna's life.
Something that she had tried so hard to prevent. And now, there was no other option available that could help her solve this seemingly. Except for one. Lunar Ire decided to show herself once more, this time, appearing in the Dream Realm as a full body instead of ahead.
"Hit a roadblock once more, Luna. But don't fret. That roadblock can vanish with me."
"You...You can somehow fix this? I know you're powerful but how exactly?" Luna asked.
"Trust me. I told you I can do oh-so-amazing things that you could never dream of. If you want to save your friend and her dreams, if you want to get past anything that seems impossible, then you can always rely on me. After all, today and even yesterday, you've been using my power more frequently. That makes me fairly happy, Luna."
"You are the only option I have now. Very well. But I still won't use all of you." Luna accepted the power of Lunar Ire once more.
"Oh. You'll come around one day, Luna. One day." Lunar Ire chuckled before entering Luna once more. Half of Luna's body had then become part Lunar Ire as the magic needed for this type of scenario had been bumped up.
Darkrai backed away, allowing Luna to work her magic. Luna, assisted by Lunar Ire, affected the Dream Realm. But only the nothingness, leaving everyone's dream out of it. Her only goal was Manaphy. Lunar Ire had already proved that her magic was far greater in the Dream Realm so far.
And it would show once more.
With amazing magical prowess, a crack had formed in the Dream Realm by Luna's control. After it had formed, Darkrai flew over to it, using his large claws to rip it open. By riping the crack in the Dream Realm, Darkrai had found a surprising sight.
"Luna...Come and take a look at this."
As the journey continues.
Chapter 608 End.