//------------------------------// // Unown Prince // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Pegalysium. Pegalysium Captital. Afternoon. The obelisk that resided underground at the very centre of the capital was starting to shake. Out of it, a pillar of light erupted as it pierced through the ground, reaching the surface of the city. This pillar of light had been noticed by King Paramount and Queen Luminary, who were currently searching for their son to comfort him after a humiliating display this morning. Paramount and Luminary rushed to the obelisk without a second thought after witnessing it. That same ethereal aura that it gave off earlier had shown itself as well. And appearing from it was the spiritual face of the previous Pegasi of Destiny. The very first one. Windkiss. "Windkiss? You're back? But...it's just you." said Luminary, noticing that it was only her. "Why are you here?" Paramount asked. "Forgive my resurgence. But I had to return after what happened this morning. Your son, Shooting Star." "Our son?" Luminary gasped before narrowing her eyes. "Here to try and berate him again, are you?!" Immediately, her tone had changed as she still showed issues with what happened this morning. "I swear if you are, I am going to-" "Hold on there!" Paramount held her back. "I'm sorry. I should've said something back there." However, Windkiss showed a different response to what Luminary was expecting, causing her to calm down. "I didn't mean to leave your son in such a state. Please forgive the others and their strictness if you could." "Oh...Well, alright then." Luminary calmed down. Thankfully, her emotions and her motherly rage didn't get the best of her. "I understand what you all meant but...is that it? Coming here for an apology doesn't mean much when Shooting isn't around right now." "That isn't all. I came here to speak with him. Even if the others have made up their mind, I haven't." Windkiss hovered over to them both. "Just like what was said before, there's some potential in your son. It just hasn't been brought out." "They said that he's not capable of using Destiny Magic. It needs to be flooded with nothing but a serene aura. But, it was said that he can't give off that feeling..." Luminary sighed. "As much as it pains me to admit it, my son can't bring that out either. A shame that one single thing is capable of breaking this fulfilment to be a Pegasus of Destiny." Paramount growled, showing visible frustration. "It is difficult and also somewhat of a miracle that the previous pegasi had managed to find that serene body and mind. However...there's a way around it." "There is?!" Paramount and Luminary gasped. "That's right. But only the current Pegasus of Destiny, your son, can make it happen. You see, there is a reason why I was the first. And especially the first to hold Destiny Magic." Windkiss then used a spiritual-like majestic form a projection of herself that was made clearer to Paramount and Luminary. They would now see what Windkiss, the first Pegasus of Destiny, looked like a generation ago along with the residents who took notice of Windkiss' emergence. "I was the one who made it. From what it could do and how it could be attained. The serene nature of Destiny Magic came from an experience in my life that birthed it. It was all by accident." "The magic was by accident? How?" Paramount asked. "It was a horrible event that caused it. All of my closest friends were in grave danger. At that moment, I felt so many things. Whether it'd be fear, hesitation or panic. All of it to try and find safety for my friends. "Windkiss closed her eyes, reminiscing of the past as many were listening to her speech. "So, I chose to keep myself in the most serene state possible." "You became calm from something so dangerous? What led to that?" Now Luminary had more questions that she wanted to be answered. "Unrestrained by the walls of thought and concerns for my friends and the terrifying threat that we faced on that day. And once it all came to me, something consumed all of those emotions into flames and all I felt was myself. I knew that I was capable enough to protect those I loved and turned all of my focus towards what was threatening them. And myself. And then it appeared. The Destiny Magic. Right in front of me and within me at the same time. Ever since then, that became the basis and the perfect way to unlock this magic and has remained that way ever since." "I suppose that is the way to achieve serenity." Paramount couldn't argue against that. "But, what does that have to do with our son?" "Since I'm the creator of it, I know everything that it's capable of. Your son can still hold Destiny Magic. Not by changing who he is. But by reshaping his destiny itself." The two of them gasped in unison along with others that had heard Windkiss' words. To them, reshaping destiny was an oddity and a rarity bundled into one impossible ball. "Shocked, aren't you?" Windkiss giggled. "That's right. He has to be the one to reshape destiny just to hold that magic. Much like how I did in the past. I have faith in each generation of destined pegasi. I'd hate to see it all go to waste because of a few flaws. Nopony's perfect after all." "Thank you!" Lunging at Windkiss was Luminary with tears flowing through her eyes. Unfortunately, Windkiss and the projection of her were simply just astral projections, unable to be touched. Thus, Luminar phased right through her, falling over. "Ough!" She grunted, sliding on the ground as the guards rushed over to her. But she was fine, thankfully. "Ugh...if I could hug you right now, I would." "Thank you for this, Windkiss. As to be expected from the first Pegasus of Destiny." Paramount thanked her. He was truly grateful for this as it rekindled a spark within this issue. "You're welcome. Well, this is the only day in a generation that I can return to this realm. I'll be leaving now." Windkiss bowed her head. "Pass my message on to your son and I and the others will be watching him closely. I'm looking forward to what happens next." This would be her last visit until another generation where the same event would come up. Essentially 25-30 years from now as a generation usually goes. She left as a dispersion of ethereal aura, leaving for good. "He needs to know this." Paramount continued searching for Shooting Star, utilizing Rift Magic to do so until he could find a sweet spot for this comic power. "Oh, how I can only imagine the look on his face when we tell him this." "I need to do something myself! Maybe..." Luminary thought for a moment before shooting her eyes through the window of the palace. She could see that the mural, which was now empty, was sitting there. "Aha! This time, we won't need magic to make this mural vibrant! We'll paint it physically!" Luminary pranced along, aiming to restore the mural with a fresh new image. All for Shooting Star's incoming restoration as the current and 10th Pegasus of Destiny. Equestria. The Pokemon House. Afternoon. "Take me up there, will you?" Over at the Pokemon House, Rarity was currently speaking to Team Rocket, who were still residing here at this location. Mainly due to Zecora still being their mentor and the Everfree Forest undergoing repairs via Rift influence. It was annoyingly a long process as Zecora was feeling the length. While tending to some Pokemon and healing them with her own unique remedies, she wished that the Rift Energy could act like its all-powerful self and speed up. "Take you up there?" Jessie repeated. Their ship, Rocketship was one of the best ways to head to Pegalysium unless an alicorn was involved. "Pssh. We're not your chaperone, okay?" "Do I really get to pick what I want up there, Rarity?" Fluttershy flew over, asking about Pegalysium and how all forms of rewards are choice-related. "That's right. When we get there, the options are up to us. It might end up being just us that show up there. Everypony else is busy but...a reward is a red." Rarity shrugged. "Plus, Team Rocket...I'd say you owe me fr what happened back in Holon. Come to think of it, what were you doing there?" "We were curious about those Delta Pokemon but...they avoided us so well. And they were too unpredictable..." James lowered his head in disappointment. "You weren't trying to steal them, were you?" Rarity narrowed her eyes. "Hah! We're Zecora's students now and certified helpers in that invasion. We would never!" Jessie laughed pompously, lying within her soul despite the fact that she, James and Meowth attempted to steal all the Pokemon whilst everyone was within the 18 Realms. "Reformed as we can be right here." "Hm...Well, okay then. We still need to head up there either way. There could be some more hidden treasure up there considering that you don't end up accidentally spending it all this time. Plus...I can choose a reward for you~" Rarity persuaded them with the concept of more hidden treasure in Pegalysium. Team Rocket looked at each other, thinking about how they could utilize the treasure more sensibly and not blow it all in a short amount of time. "Deal." The trio said before rushing over to the Rocketship. It would be Rarity and Fluttershy who would head to Pegalysium while the rest of their friends would be busy with their own tasks. Those rewards were waiting for them. Two of them, at least. The ship had started up a wind pressure kicking up from the engines. They blew near Zecora's direction, causing her mane to flow. She squinted her eyes as the Rocketship took flight. Thankfully, Zecora didn't feel alone with all of the Pokemon here. If anything, staying at the Pokemon House has given her so much more time to bond with many others as opposed to just being in her hut with some company. But, she would personally prefer the Everfree Forest and her hut back more than anything. Pegalysium. Drifting Peaks. Afternoon. The Drifting Peaks. Home to an abandoned pirate ship, the monument of a pegasus known Morning Style, flowing stardust and glowing butterflies along with the nearby location of a Pokemon Grotto with a gateway that led to the Battle Pyramid. Arriving here were Garnet, Shooting Star and Cloudflare, with the goal of cheering Shooting Star up. And that would be done with his favourite past-time. Viewing Pokemon. Shooting Star still had the expression of sadness and disappointment within. Their main objective was the grotto. Thanks to some easy flight patterns that Garnet had guided them both with due to her previous arrival here, the grotto of Pokemon could be seen in the distance. "Have a look at that, young prince!" Garnet aimed her hoof at the first batch of Pokemon that could be found there. One of them, the biggest so far, was Charizard. "How do you like the look of that Pokemon? That dragon over there?" "Charizard's not a Dragon..." Shooting Star mumbled with a low tone. "It's not?!" Garnet was taken aback by this as she stopped flying in the air for a bit, causing Shooting Star to fly past her despite his slow wingbeats. "Hey, Garnet. Thank you for helping my cousin," said Cloudflare, flying over to Garnet. "Not many ponies help him out like this. It's only ever his family." "Just his family?" She repeated. "What about some of his friends?" "Ah, not quite." Cloudflare shook her head, sighing afterwards. "It was just me, Grandpa Amberbass and his mom and dad more than anypony else. Guess everypony thought that they couldn't help much with royalty or something. But you're the first to do this and you're not that important. N-No offence." "None taken. But it's the least I can do. I mean, he allowed me to head to Equestria to see some Pokemon with his family. I also had to pay him back since our first Pokemon Watching session. Even though I tried to get some Quillbits from him and stuff." She chuckled, reminiscing some moments. "I still-" "You what?!" Cloudflare took notice of that last sentence as she got extra close to Garnet with seething eyes, startling and intimidating the teacher. "And you'd still 'what?' I swear if you try and take advantage of my cousin...!" Caring for her cousin, she poked Garnet in the chase, giving off a warning. "I-I didn't go through it completely!" Garnet gulped as she didn't want to feel the wrath of Cloudflare. Especially from somepony who was technically royalty. "Honest!" "What's going on?" Shooting Star asked. "N-Nothing!" Garnet nervously laughed, feeling as if she could be struck down by Cloudflare at any moment. Shooting Star turned away as Garnet was safe for now. "Seriously...I felt bad for trying to do that. Even if he didn't know about it" "Hah...Fine." Kaleidoscope pulled back. Garnet lowered her head, fearing that she could've caused tension at the worst time when her friend was down. "At least you're there for him. But it's a bummer what happened back there. I didn't those pegasi were so strict." "Hm?" Just then Shooting Star and Cloudflare's feathers started rustling. They equally felt something except for Garnet Shooting Star and Cloudflare descended to a nearby sky platform together with their feathers continuously rustling. "Uh...What's going on?" Garnet asked, following the to the platform. "It's a royalty thing. Our wings can sometimes pick up on things nearby. Usually, they're never pleasant at all." Cloudflare explained. "What could it be?" "Maybe it's that Gyarados that lives around here!" Garnet gasped, fearing that Gyarados could be approaching them once more. However, it was something else. It was indeed a Pokemon, just not one they were expecting. Shooting Star and Cloudflare's feathers kept acting up as their heads navigated for any spot that this feeling was coming from. And soon, they had witnessed something shocking. Garnet included. With their heads raised up, they saw how the skies were being distorted right in front of them. Space itself, to be exact. As if the skies themselves were being grabbed and twisted around. They looked in awe at this bizarre sight but they would soon find out the origin of this anomaly. The Unown. In the distance, hidden right beside two spear-shape mounds that led to the outskirts of Drifting Peaks, Second Wind was present. Tracking mainly Shooting Star down, she had used the power of the Unown to do so by harnessing their amazing power. "Oh..." The power of the Unown gave her enhanced vision, making her eyes glow with a golden light. The feeling of it was perplexing to Second Wind, but she could handle it. "What an odd feeling...but I can get used to this. Not having to worry about myself with these Unown is amazing. Don't you worry, young prince. I can make you forget all about today. Go, Unown. Change his reality." The Unown, ordered by Second Wind and under some influence had flown off, heading in Shooting Star's location. Second Wind couldn't do much herself. The Unown already found Shooting Star with little effort. And with them distorting space, they alerted his attention to nothing but the skies. The Unown had spotted the young prince before deciding to stop midair. Once they discovered him, the 15 Unown that had been unleashed started merging their powers to do what they do best. Alter reality. The sky platform below the trio received a crack from this space distortion. Out of the crack, the golden light from the Unown had erupted, consuming only Shooting Star. The gold then turned to red as Garnet fell over from the loud sound and sudden emergence that consumed her friend. "Cousin!" Cloudflare shouted. Deep within the pillar, Shooting Star's voice could not be heard. It had all been blocked out by the power of the Unown. Cloudflare resorted to her magic without a single shred of hesitation. However, once her magic was thrown in the direction of this pillar, it had done nothing. Not a single effect had been made. It was as if her magic was rejected and fizzled out by the power of the Unown. Cloudflare tried again, only for her magic to vanish once more. "Nothing's working!" She gasped. "Cousin! Can you hear me in there?!" No response. Mainly due to the sound blockage. But within this pillar, Shooting Star was spouting out a flurry of words, confused about what was surrounding him. He also tried using his magic to break free, but it proved to be just as useless as Cloudflare's. The pillar of light had a greater purpose than just engulfing him. The true power of the Unown would itself as Shooting Star's mind then went numb. His eyes stayed in one haunting and wide-eyed position permanently as his perception and view had been altered. Everything went silent for the young prince. His ears couldn't pick up on anything else. Not even the sound of the pillar that surrounded him. His vision of the red pillar changed to become nothing but darkness. He couldn't hear himself gasp or anything else. And then, after a moment of silence, Shooting Star had been shown a barrage of images. Memories to be exact. While he saw darkness and heard nothing, that all changed once he saw and heard the memories of his past leading up to today. He saw his birth, his road trip with his grandfather, moments where he was happy, sad or another emotion when he first made friends, meeting Pokemon and so much more over the years. All of it was flying by him with familiar words that he had spoken or heard others speak to him. But all of these memories, good or bad, had soon frozen. And upon their halt, they had been replaced. Materializing into existence were new memories, overlaying the current ones. Shooting Star's mind was being reworked. His entire reality was being changed. Every memory that he had had quickly been swapped out for memories that never existed, but thanks to the reality-changing powers of the Unown, could happen. And part of those memories was Second Wind. His new memories ended up keeping things that were already established. But the one major change was where he would be. Afterwards, the pillar faded away as Shooting Star was still in one place. He blinked for a bit as Garnet and Cloudflare were thrilled to see that he was okay. The Unown then flew back to Second Wind as the cracks and distortion in space disappeared. "Hoh...Thank the Alta-Pegasus." Cloudflare sighed. "You're okay." "What was that? Where'd it come from?" Garnet asked. "Or, was that just some fancy light show on the spot? Cause it did look kinda pretty there for a bit." "I don't think so." Cloudflare shook her head. "But I don't care. How are you doing, Shooting?" Shooting Star's eyes then turned to them both as he didn't say much in the beginning. He then looked in the distance, prompting Cloudflare and Garnet to do the same. While Shooting Star kept a blank expression, the two mares had their faces change to astonishment. With another massive curve being thrown their way, they saw Second Wind approaching. She didn't approach with her wings. Not at all. Her swift arrival was helped by the Unown who were now under her command. They brought her here faster than she ever could. "Second Wind!" Garnet and Cloudflare both shouted. "Good to see you again, Garnet." Second Wind waved as Cloudflare stood in front of Shooting Star and Garnet. "You've been doing well." "All of that light...was that you?!" Cloudflare shrieked at Second Wind, already having her guard completely up. "I thought you would've stayed out of Pegalyisum after all that happened with you." "Pah. As if I'd just leave it all entirely." Second Wind scoffed. "I'm terrified, not desperate." "Whatever. Not the best idea to show yourself here, don't you think?" Cloudflare smirked. "Even with your uh..."She paused, trying to figure out what Unown were. "Um...W-What are those Pokemon?" "Hold on!" Garnet quickly went for Shooting Star's Pokedex which was located in his saddlebag. Shooting Star was completely silent and unresponsive to even grab and use his Pokedex. "Unown. The Symbol Pokemon. This Pokémon is shaped like ancient writing. It is a mystery as to which came first, the ancient writings or the various Unown. Research into this topic is ongoing but nothing is known. When alone, nothing happens. However, if there are two or more, an odd power is said to emerge." "You'd love the Unown." Second Wind chuckled. "I know I certainly do. The best part is that I don't need to worry about my own health as opposed to Rift Magic. Pokemon are wonderful, aren't they?" "In any case, I may not be a guard or anything like that, but I think I'm qualified enough to bring you in." Cloudflare ascended, reaching the same height as Second Wind and the Unown. "Why? Because you're royalty?" "Not just me. But..." Shockingly and unexpectedly, Cloudflare couldn't finish her sentence. She knew what she wanted to say but the words wouldn't come out. "But..." She tried again, trying to refer to her cousin. "W-What's going on?" "Ah, Shooting Star? About him. I think me and him will be leaving now. Not really here for conflict if I'm being honest." "Pssh. What makes you think Shooting Star's gonna come with-" Garnet scoffed, thinking that Second Wind was playing a joke. Only to be cut off once Shooting Star flew past her. Garnet's eyes followed the young prince as did Cloudflare. And instead of floating next to his cousin, Shooting Star had stopped right next to Second Wind. So casually too. A wide-eyed Cloudflare soon had one of her eyes twitch with an eyebrow being raised. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Garnet wiped her eyes with wings to see if her vision was immaculate right about now. Their eyes didn't deceive them both. "Shooting...What are you doing?" Cloudflare uttered. "I'm heading back with her." Shooting Star finally spoke. And it wasn't the response that either Garnet or Cloudflare would prefer. "Back with the Indigo Alliance too." "Say what?!" Normally, they would be tired of surprises by now. But they were only elevating and having greater impacts than the last. Shooting Star declared himself part of the Indigo Alliance with such a calm and somewhat haunting tone. Second Wind let out a little chuckle, knowing that one of the few objectives that she aimed to accomplish had been done. Getting Shooting Star to become a member of the Indigo Alliance. And all it took was a part of Arceus. "What are you saying?!" Cloudflare furiously flapped towards her cousin, wanting a word with him. But the moment she got close, a powerful forcefield made by the Unown had been formed. Cloudflare crashed into the forcefield with her face pressing onto it. She then fell to the platform, hurling with red electricity crackling from her body. Garnet quickly caught her before a hard impact could be made. "Cloudflare! Are you okay?!" "Well, I've done my part and I'm satisfied right now~" Second Wind whistled before nudging her head over at the Unown. The Unown knew what to do next. With the usage of their amazing combined powers, without needing to take a trip via a flight through the skies of this pegasus-exclusive location, the benefit of teleportation came to them. Then again, Second Wind could've always used teleportation, but having someone else do it for her was up her alley. They had left as Shooting Star's Pokedex had also been left behind with Garnet. Cloudflare stood up, shaking her head as she still felt some of the effects of the forcefield. The cousin of Shooting Star had to collect her thoughts. Everything happened both so fast and slow at the same time. "W-What just happened...?" Garnet uttered. Soon, her thoughts realized that it could be that would have to explain things to King Paramount and Queen Luminary. Their son just went off with a criminal. Garnet directed all of that to her possible punishment "Gah! I brought him along here! I think I messed up big time! I'm gonna lose my job of this! What if they put me in the dungeon?! What if they say that I'm put under-" "Calm down!" Cloudflare held her by the face. "We didn't see Second Wind coming, okay?! It was totally out of the blue! But...I can't believe he would say that. That's not like my cousin at all." Cloudflare's tone had been lowered. A visible expression of sadness was starting to morph her expression. But it quickly faded away. "Quickly. It's back to the palace with us." "But I don't live at the capital..." "Doesn't matter!" Cloudflare grabbed Garnet's hoof, dragging her along. It was back to the Sky Monarch and the capital to spread this new and unfortunate news. Out of nowhere, Shooting Star was now a part of the Indigo Alliance. At first, not an intimidating thing to think about, but anything involved with Indigo Alliance can result in unpleasant outcomes and a series of unfortunate events. Meanwhile, approaching Pegalysium were Fluttershy, Rarity and Team Rocket. The Rocketship that they took had pierced through the clouds, reaching the right height for Pegalysium. Pegalysium, as always, changes locations based on the trajectory of the wind, so finding the Sky Monarch would take some time as always. However, the moment they entered the skies of Pegalysium, far-off in the distance, the Unown that were being kept by the Indigo Alliance felt something familiar. Something that all of them sought to get rid of. Rift Energy. A nearby sky island with a city could be seen as the Rocketship was near it. While Rarity and Fluttershy admired it, the Unown could sense an individual brimming with Rift Energy. Specifically, Fluttershy's Bayleef. As the journey continues. Chapter 709 End.