//------------------------------// // Beyond the Clock Door // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// High in the skies. Outside Pegalysium. Nightfall. Outside Pegalysium, away from all the chaos occurring, Celestia, Twilight and Luna had found themselves here. Alongside Pheromosa, the 12 Leavanny, Raboot and some Pikachu from the Pikachu Highlands, the group were here to help Pegalysium in the midst of its disaster which could soon transfer to Equestria. Unfortunately, they would come to face this sudden surprise once Luna was the first to approach Pegalysium, spotting one of the first sky islands that held a rainforest. "Some of us should find Rarity and Fluttershy while the rest of us go for- Luna was cut off the moment she ended up hitting something physical. "GOUH!" She cried out with her face being pressed on the invisible forcefield made by the Destiny Magic. It felt like hitting glass and metal at the same time. "Ugh..." Luna groaned, siding off of the invisible forcefield as she also felt a shock through her body. Truly unpleasant. "Ah. I think we all know what this is." Celestia observed. "We might have been too late to arrive if a forcefield is already in our way. Are you alright, Luna?" "Hoh...My ears burn..." Luna whimpered, flying back to her sister. "Please tell me we can break it..." Twilight sighed. "Rarity and the others are trapped past it and there's no telling what the Unown can do in little time or ample time." "Enough to change whatever they see fit. Stand back." Celestia ordered everyone to stay behind her. The Pikachu that were on her back were already doing so, holding onto the Ruler of Equestria. Celestia would test out this forcefield, just to see how effective it seemed. With a buildup of her magic surrounding her horn, out of it came a radiant golden beam that lit up parts of the skies and clouds. It made direct contact with the forcefield, resulting in the beam reflecting right back at Celestia. "Oh!" Celestia gasped, quickly zooming out of the way. Everyone else moved out of the way as the beam pierced through various clouds, flying off into the distance before fading away. "Well...We shouldn't do that again." Luna uttered as everyone was in agreement. But with this revelation, it created new obstacles to try and overcome. And at the worst possible time too. "Alright then. Attacking it won't work. This can prove to be troublesome..." Celestia squinted. "Does anypony have an idea already?" "I was thinking of attacking it along with everyone else but..." Darkrai spoke, shaking his head. "Seems that won't end well for all of us." "Ah!" Luna had something. She held her Poke Ball out, sending one of her Pokemon into the fray. "You might be able to help us. Frillish. "Frillish. "Wait. Will Frillish work?" Twilight asked. "Surprisingly yes. Frillish can ignore forcefields with his intangibility. I hope that this forcefield counts." Luna, while confident in Frillish, was still worried that the forcefield that was able to deflect her sister's beam might ignore Frillish's intangibility. "Hopefully. Go, Frillish." "Frill-Frill." The Floating Pokemon turned intangible, approaching the forcefield as everyone held their breath. And the result? Failure. Frillish crashed into the forcefield, experiencing the same thing that Luna felt with an added shock. "Frillish!" Frillish cried out, floating away from the forcefield. "Not even intangibility works?!" Twilight gasped. "Then...what can work?" Their options were already looking thin despite only being 2 minutes since they had come across this forcefield. The efficiency of it was enough to make them realize how big of an obstacle this forcefield was. "There's no such thing as a perfect forcefield. Everything has imperfections," said Celestia as she had approached the forcefield. The Princess of the Sun had then covered her hooves in magic before then placing them on the forcefield. Her magic-coated hooves were being pushed onto the forcefield, trying to break right through or at least cause a dent to form. "Gardevoir!" Passion would do the same, joining her trainer. She used Psychic on the barrier, doing her best to also push through it. Celestia decided to try and tap into the power of the Boundless Cutie Mark as hundreds of little Cutie Marks were rotating around her main Cutie Mark. Celestia was already giving it her all, but even with her and Passion working together, the forcefield didn't even show a sign of breaking. Celestia and Passion then moved, feeling their hooves and arms tremble from the shock. "Neither does that work. Not a dent on it." "Pika!" PikaSupreme raised his arm, climbing onto Celestia's head as he would give it a shot. Not just him, but the other Pikachu as well. Altogether, they had built up electricity within their bodies, focusing on the forcefield. "Uh, the attempt is nice and all but the forcefield will just reflect it," said Celestia. "And wait, you're still on-" But she was soon cut off once the Pikachu unleash their Electric-Type attacks onto the forcefield. "Ghhhh!" Celestia felt the volts coarse through her body, shocking her, Luna, Darkrai and Passion as they struck the forcefield. As to b expected, they had been reflected. However, there was a twist. Once the reflection of the volts came their way, some of the Pikachu had absorbed it. This was because of their ability Volt Absorb and it helped greatly. Once returned, the volts were absorbed, only for the Pikachu to fire some more Electric-Type attacks at it. Twilight watched this, noticing how the constant back and forth of volts from the forcefield led to parts of it trembling. "Oh, that's it! That's one way to maybe make a dent! Returning all of that electricity back at it with enough volts! Great thinking, Pikachu!" "G-G-G-Great thinking, indeed!" Luna shuddered after having all the electricity affect her. But eventually, the Pikachu had stopped, seeing their combined efforts, while capable of making forcefield ripple, wasn't putting a dent in it. "Pika?!" "Hah...At least a tiny bit of progress was shown." Celestia sighed as her body was smoking. "Maybe hitting it faster than it can reflect could be the way to go." "Let me try." Luna flew ahead, aiming to give the Pikachu that pathway of making a dent. And to do so, she would use the power of Lunar Ire. A red streak formed across her mane with the dark blue and crimson aura that Lunar Ire carries showing itself. Afterwards, Luna used her magic to focus directly on the spot where all the Pikachu had concentrated their Electric attacks. She started telekinetically pushing against it. The forcefield would obviously reflect her own telekinesis back at her, only for Luna to send it back. Even the magic of Lunar Ire struggled to get past this forcefield made out of Destiny Magic. "Just what kind of magic is this made out of...?!" Luna growled. "Pikachu, now!" "Pikachu!" The Pikachu had used the same attacks once more, shooting it at the spot that Luna was concentrating on. Luna protected herself with magic coating while also focusing on the forcefield. The attacks struck the spot her magic was focused on as the rippling came through once more. "P-Passion! Do the same with Thunderbolt!" A shocked Celestia ordered. "Gardevoir!" Passion did just that. To negate the electricity that was affecting her, she summoned electricity of her own, giving her some resistance as the bolt of 100,000 volts went towards that specific spot. Darkrai, who was also a victim of these shocks, had also used Thunderbolt to try and break through. All of those attacks combined with Luna's magic were pressured on the forcefield with each of them giving everything they had to try and make a dent that could be exploited. "Let me try seeing if they're okay!" Twilight quickly took out her Xtransceiver, aiming to call her two friends. She went for Rarity's Trainer Number first, selecting it. However, not even a second and there was no ringing or sign of transmission. The Xtransceiver couldn't send a signal to Rarity's Xtransceiver. "It's not working! That forcefield must be blocking any communication!" Knowing this, it was pointless to use this device at the moment. Calling Fluttershy was also out of the picture. All Twilight could do now was wait for the dent to arrive. Feathercoast. Nightfall. Meanwhile, Feathercoast had been completely taken over by the Unown, reworked in Second Wind's image. Mayor Umbra Streak and many other ponies had been restrained by the red chain while also having their homes renovated and other structures reworked from the inside. The town hall of Mayor Umbra had been turned into another Indigo Alliance headquarters, removing the old design completely. A flag had been made representing the Indigo Alliance and their colours. Sunpuff and the other ponies who worked at the Feathercoast Kindergarten were kept at the kindergarten which had already undergone renovations. Indigo Alliance-based objects could be seen within the school for the little ones now. The museum here in Pegalysium also had some of its exhibits altered, reshaping history in the process. Everything was on full lockdown. Second Wind didn't see much importance with Feathercoast as a whole. Sure it was her home, but the Sky Monarch was the main prize that she was shooting for and her preferred place to reside in. She wanted to feel like a queen. Perhaps an empress. One that controls all of Pegalysium without having to be a secretive ruler of a secret society. And the addition of Indigo-Alliance thematic things being out in the open, plus the secret at the Sky Monarch were massive examples of that. Arriving here to see their reworked home town were Garnet, Kaleidoscope and Clear View, along with Fluttershy's Bayleef and the Pokemon from the Drifting Peaks grotto. "What happened here?!" Garnet gasped. "And what are those things?!" "Bay!" Bayleef gasped. She hoped that she wouldn't have to be near the Unown for a while but that wasn't the case. Stopping near Feathercoast meant that the Unown had been alerted to a nearby Rift presence. The Unown had also seen new individuals to restrain. No matter what, all ponies in Pegalysium were ordered to be restrained until the restructure of everything was completed. So said Second Wind to the Unown with the only exemption being Indigo Alliance members. And upon seeing Bayleef, they had targeted her. This area didn't have many Unown here. Mainly due to how small Feathercoast was and how little effort was needed for it. However, it was that small amount of Unown that presented a visible disadvantage. "Bay!" Bayleef quivered, holding onto Charizard tightly. Charizard and the other Pokemon were aware of the Unown that chased her down after she shared her story. Now they were coming face to face with them. "Rrr!" Charizard looked at the other Pokemon, knowing what needed to be done. They would protect Bayleef from being erased by the Unown. No questions asked. "Oh! They're coming this way!" Garnet screeched, closing her eyes. But she had nothing to worry about. Not when Charizard and the others were there to protect her. "Char!" Charizard opened its mouth, unleashing Fire Blast at the approaching Unown. Garnet, Kaleidoscope and Clear View watched as the same attack that managed to blow a Gyarados away had been seen for a second time. And it was just as impressive as the first time. It engulfed the Unown in front of them, creating a vicious paroxysm of flames with crimson and orange sparks flaring all over the place. The Unown struck by Fire Blast had fainted as a result. Everypony in Feathercoast were made aware of this explosion, gazing at the night skies. There, they saw not just three of their fellow neighbours, but also a giant lizard, a giant bug, some big birds, some sort of grass dinosaur and a few others in the mix. "Garnet?" Sunpuff noticed her fellow kindergarten teacher in the skies, riding on Charizard. "Amazing!" Kaleidoscope gawked. "We're with Pokemon, duh! Why are we scared?!" "Heracross!" Heracross then moved ahead alongside the Pidgeot towards the Unown. The Single Horn Pokemon swooped underneath a Hidden Power Flying, using Megahorn on the Symbol Pokemon. It proved to be super-effective against the Psychic-Types as it managed to hit three of them in a row, knocking them out. "Pidgeot!" Some of the Pidgeot either stayed back, using Gust or Air Cutter to fend off the Unown or got up close and physical with Aerial Ace, Peck and Drill Peck. Either way, the Unown were taken down. "Mantyke!" There were also the Mantyke, who took the sea lake that was found around Feathercoast, jumping out of it. They caught the Unown off guard with one of them using Confuse Ray to confuse the lot of them. After confusing the Unown, the rest of the Mantyke had used moves such as Water Pulse, Swift and Water Gun against the Symbol Pokemon. "Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur used its vines to latch onto some of the Unown, throwing them against each other whilst both Nidoran Male and Female were assisting the Pidgeot, while on their backs, tackling the Unown. The Unown were overwhelmed as Bayleef watched all of these Pokemon protect her. Bayleef was grateful for that. It made the Leaf Pokemon tear up, knowing that even in different nations on different levels, she had those that would protect her. Friend or not. Due to their overwhelming union against the Symbol Pokemon, instead of staying behind to try and fight back, the Unown chose to flee. Their numbers were minuscule compared to Charizard's group. They had been scared off, fleeing into the distance and departing from Feathercoast. Everypony cheered, happy that the Unown were fended off. Successfully and with no collateral damage too, despite the giant blast of fire. Charizard and the rest of them had descended once everything was said and done. Well, almost everything. There was still the red chain made by the Unown. Thankfully, it wasn't anything the Pokemon couldn't handle. "Oh! Many-many-many thanks!" Sunpuff chuckled, feeling relieved to the core as Heracross had broken off parts of the chain with its horn. "Those strange letters were terrifying! And look what they have done to our town! All the indigo here is awful!" "Thank you for this, Garnet. All of you." said Umbra. "I would've never thought you'd end up rescuing us. Especially with Pokemon." "Well, help comes in many forms, doesn't it?" Garnet laughed. "Even if it's from giant bugs and lizards." "Heracross." "What happened here by the way?" Kaleidoscope asked, curious about the renovation. They were only gone for a few hours and so much had changed. "Those strange Pokemon are to thank for this. They had some odd ability to reshape everything before our eyes." Umbra explained. "From how it appeared, they had the power to alter reality. And from what they brought, Second Wind is the one behind it no doubt." "It was her," Garnet confirmed. "You see she...kind of took control of Shooting Star." "She-" But before they could gasp in shock, all of a sudden, they could not finish their sentence. And then together, Sunpuff and Umbra said the same thing. "Who is Shooting Star?" "?!" Hearing this, Garnet was flabbergasted. But this meant only one thing. And Garnet feared this greatly. The Unown had truly mangled with his memories, making it so that it wasn't just ponies close to him that could soon forget his status, but eventually, everypony in Pegalysium. "No way..." "Is something wrong, Garnet?" Kaleidoscope asked. "Please tell me you at least know who the son of the King and Queen are!" Garnet grabbed the face of Mrs Sunpuff. "They have a son? Are you sure?" Sunpuff replied with a puckered face. Garnet couldn't believe what she was hearing. Very soon, all of Pegalysium would forget about the prince and instead, bear witness to another pony that was still Shooting Star. A loyal member of the Indigo Alliance. "Bay! Bay-Bay!" Bayleef then nudged Charizard, telling him and the others that they had to find Fluttershy as soon as possible. Bayleef feared for Fluttershy during this crucial time. Charizard understood clearly as it quickly grabbed everyone, placing them on its back once more. They had already dealt with Feathercoast, keeping it safe. All that was left was finding Shooting Star and Fluttershy. "Everypony, stay hidden inside." Umbra Streak ordered. "In case those Pokemon come back to restrain us." Out on a sky island jungle. In a jungle, Rarity could be found. She managed to leave Lulolum Island, evading any of the Unown that were nearby. But right now, the fashionista felt exhausted. Tired from all the running and the fact that it was late. "Hah..." She sighed as her Xtransceiver wasn't working either. She was unable to get in touch with any of her friends now, leaving her with just two of her Pokemon and Fluttershy's harmed Audino. "What rotten luck. No way to reach my friends and Fluttershy has been captured. How did it come to this." "A-Audino..." Audino groaned as she sat near a tree, even unable to hear her groans. She thought about Fluttershy, Raboot and Bayleef right now. She even wondered why her hearing wasn't as effective as before. She tried using Heal Pulse on herself to bring her hearing back. And while she managed to heal her injuries, her hearing was still mute along with her speech. Rarity had asked Audino if she would be alright, but what was the point if nothing could be registered. "Audino! Audino! Can you hear me?! Audino!" Rarity held the Hearing Pokemon, shaking her and hoping for a response. But Audino simply looked Rarity in the eyes, tearing up all of a sudden. Rarity pulled back, seeing Audino put her arms over her ears, breaking into tears. Some sniffling could already be heard as the Hearing Pokemon felt so weak and useless now. "Audino..." She mumbled. " Not even her tears could be heard by Rarity or herself. But even she couldn't hear her, Rarity could see the distress and sadness coming from Audino. "Oh, Audino." Rarity went to comfort Audino, hugging the Hearing Pokemon. Audino then hugged Rarity back, grateful that she had someone to lean on in this unfortunate time. Sounds and colours of the Unown changing reality continued in the distance, available for Rarity and Audino to see. Rarity then looked Audino in the eyes before changing her expression into a serious one. She then recalled a certain item that she had used last morning. If anything, that item is what prompted her to arrive at Pegalysium with Fluttershy. The communication shell for the Pegalysium Police. "Aha!" She took it out, seeing that it was still there even after all that running and jumping around. Still in one piece too. If there was one way to get help, it would be from the authorities no doubt. Rarity thought back to how this shell was used in the first place. It wasn't too complicated thankfully. One-touch of the clamp at the back and the communication shell worked its magic. "Hello?" She spoke into the shell, hoping to get a response. And she certainly did. "Uh...H-Hello." An officer spoke. "Thank Celestia! I'm calling you to report a missing pony case!" Rarity got to the point. "A friend of mine by the name of Fluttershy has been taken. By the Indigo Alliance." "Oh, about that...we're occupied right now." The officer replied as he and many others were all being restrained by the red chain and having everything be revamped by the Unown. "These letters have us too busy to do much so..." "Letters? Unown..." Rarity grumbled as she was now getting annoyed by the Unown at this point. "Your station is in Big Sky, as usual, right?" "R-Right!" "Then I'll be there." Rarity turned the shell off as she had a new destination to approach. She would end up helping a large authority such as the police force. Certainly a major step up from helping citizens. "Alright then...Enough sitting around." Rarity stood up. "Fluttershy is out there somewhere. So are Pheromosa, Leavanny and Raboot. Those Indigo Alliance ruffians and the Unown want to mess with me and my friends? That was their first mistake." She then held out one of her Poke Balls, sending out Milotic once more. "Milotic!" Milotic was mainly sent out to the river where she could already get comfortable with the environment. "Milotic!" Rarity hopped onto Milotic's back along with Audino. "Full speed ahead. Our first destination will be Big Sky. Once there, we won't hold back for a second against the Unown. Onwards!" "Milo!" Milotic was off, zooming through the river. Big Sky was up next and soon the rest of her friends that have yet to be found. Sky Monarch. At the Sky Monarch, the Unown kept King Paramount and Queen Luminary busy with Paramount trying to avoid being erased by the Symbol Pokemon. And while they were being kept busy, this gave Second Wind to chance to capitalize on something grand. Pegalysium's secret. The Clock Door that was the main entrance of the palace. The power to interact with time sat there out in the open. But, despite its visible appearance, only one force could open it. Not a physical one with extraordinary strength, but a magical one. And the magic that could do so was Destiny Magic. Belonging to the Pegasus of Destiny. Shooting Star, the current one, would be used to do so. He had woken up, facing the Clock Door with Second Wind helping him up from the ground. "Now, Shooting Star. Open it. Use the amazing power of Destiny Magic to unlock it." "I understand." Instantly complying, the Pegasus of Destiny stood firmly in front of the door, harnessing the power of Destiny Magic on the spot. And by doing so, the door reacted to this legendary magic as it would react to no other. The door opened up, emanating light from the inside that was unseen by many. Only those from a previous generation. The light resembled that of stars, flowing out of the door once opened as it prompted Second Wind to squint. Once it was fully opened, the light gave off an aura that was welcoming to them. The intensity of it died own, allowing for Second Wind to look into it. Paramount and Luminary noticed the light as it had illuminated the entire capital. "The door!" Paramount gasped before protecting himself from another ray from Unown. They surrounded him from all sides, preventing him from going anywhere. "Finally...Give a moment, will you, Shooting Star?" An excited Second Wind trotted inside. The light then enveloped her once she entered, making her seemingly invisible. Quickly approaching the entrance, avoiding any of the Unown was Tip-off. He was the first to see Second Wind going for the door. He didn't have to try too hard to avoid the Unown since they were so focused on King Paramount more than anything. The only thing standing before him to reach that door was Shooting Star who stood outside of it instead of following Second Wind inside. Meanwhile, inside, Second Wind was met with the full scope of what lay within the door. It was a sparkling aether filled with flowing images. Billions upon billions of them. Possibly trillions and beyond that. Quintillions. This was because everything that was flowing within this realm were moments in time. Second Wind felt a sense of great accomplishment within her spirit right now. She had made it this far. Granted, it took losing once to get here, but it is what it is. And during her grand accomplishment, she saw something right in front of her forming. Second Wind fell on her back after this strange force appeared before her, giving the Grand Judge a fright. She soon calmed down as the force soon revealed itself. Forming in front of her was a face. A face that looked far more defined than anypony's face here in Equestria. In fact, this face resembled something more of a Rapidash, but without the Pokemon-Esque details. This face looked like it came from another dimension. Another world. It had an amorphous mass with light and dark spots and is rooted into the aether. Countless wings grew out from its back, flapping majestically as Second Wind had no idea what she was looking at. "W-What are you?" She stuttered, still feeling somewhat overwhelmed by its appearance. "I am the Avus-Pegasus." It spoke with a dominant and sky-piercing voice. "The source of the overflowing Magic Power in this Dimension that you are standing in. The Time Dimension." "Ah..." Second Wind stood up. "You have come here for a reason. Do you wish to view time? Visit time? Or manipulate Time? Speak and I shall show you the time you desire to face." It asked her. "I'll visit it. And I'll also manipulate it. I do it better than anypony." chuckled the smaller pegasus. Her big chance was in front of her. She wasn't going to waste me. "Listen, Avus-Pegasus. This is the timeline that I wish to enter." Outside, Tip-off had appeared before Second Wind, alerting the Pegasus of Destiny. There wasn't any other way of getting around to the entrance. Thus, an out in the open approach was taken. Tip-off couldn't refer to him as the prince due to the Unown, but he certainly saw him as Shooting Star. Shooting Star spread his wings out, standing in front of the door and preventing any entrance. "Hah...I didn't think I'd face a Pegasus of Destiny." He spoke nervously with a trembling lip. "I know why you're here. You're not getting past the door." Shooting Star shook his head, showing Tip-off how minuscule he was by letting the Destiny Magic within him flow out. It terrified Tip-off. He trembled on the spot just feeling this overwhelming force that would stop any of his tracks. "I might regret this...I have no idea what's in there but...oh well!" Despite being fearful of this magic, Tip-off showed his true loyalty to the Royal Family and Pegalysium as a whole, taking flight while closing his eyes and putting his front hooves forward. "Wait, you're actually approaching me?!" Shooting Star didn't think he would after displaying his magic. But he wasn't going for him. Shooting Star believed he was, only for Tip-off to pass him. He was heading for the door. Shooting Star gasped, quickly biting onto Tip-off's tail to prevent him from advancing. Tip-off grimaced after his tail had been pulled on. He flapped his wings ferociously, but Shooting Star's Destiny Magic allowed him to easily pull him back. Seeing that he was weak to overpower Shooting Star, the last-ditch attempt had been made. He took off his robe, allowing it to fly in Shooting Star's face. However, the second he did that and with Shooting Star flinching, it was all too late. The intense light from before had returned, bringing out various rays to the outside. Tip-off was too mesmerized to move as the robe flew off of Shooting Star's face, allowing him to feel mesmerized as well once he set his eyes onto the door. Everyone was. Paramount, Luminary and all the residents of Pegalysium's capital couldn't help but gaze. They then saw clock hands fly within the lights as they could not look away. Even if they willingly wanted to. It was pointless. And the last thing they heard before the astral light coming from the Clock Door covered everything in white was the sound of someone laughing. The sound of Second Wind laughing. And after they heard her laughter, everything went to white. Not just for the capital, but for all of Pegalysium. All who were within this nation in the sky bared witness to this mesmerizing light as the laughter of Second Wind polluted the skies more than anything. Celestia and everyone on the outside backed away once they saw the light approaching. They were the only ones who were outside of Pegalysium. "I don't like the look of that." Celestia shook her head, already feeling something horrible as she and everyone closed their eyes, finishing their assault on the forcefield. None of them were ready for what was about to come next. As the journey continues. Chapter 714 End.