//------------------------------// // The one greater than the Empress // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Equestria. Ponyville. Late Afternoon. The Twilight Sparkles of multiple universes had spent most of their time here, looking at all of the Pokemon. Ash and Fluttershy and to an extent Mayor Mare had done a splendid job at doing so. Naturally, over the course of them visiting this universe, AKA, universe one, they managed to spend some time around the trainers and their Pokemon. All of which were familiar to the various Twilight Sparkles as every resident here, minus a few exceptions, had counterparts in other universes. Each of these variations had also met up with the closest friends to every known Twilight Sparkle. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Starlight Rainbow Dash. "Is that real?" Rarity asked a Twilight who had a glowing horn and a pair of glowing wings that looked somewhat transparent. "I know it's different from everypony else's but it's 100% real. Think of me as a Pseudo-Alicorn." The pseudo-alicorn Twilight replied. "A Pseudocorn. How does that sound?" "Fine by me." Rarity nodded as this Pseudocorn Twilight was currently surrounded by Rarity's Pokemon after wanting to see them. Her reactions varied from admiring and being intimidated by Pheromosa's beautiful and overwhelming tall appearance to also seeing some beauty in Milotic, the Leavanny and to an extent Ampharos. Even without his Mega Evolved hair. Meanwhile, the Dragon Twilight, who already showed great interest in Dragon-Types, was obviously drawn to Spike's Pokemon but also Spike himself. "So if you're a dragon back at your universe...doest that mean...?" Spike questioned as the Dragon Twilight was currently holding Equestrian Axew and Deino in her arms. Deino gnawed on her arms, but not a single trace of damage was made. "That's right, Spike. You are a pony. This universe is a complete reverse of mine." She replied while looking down at Deino's pointless yet adorable effort. "I can guarantee you that there are many reverse universes out there with certain scenarios and certain characters. Doesn't that make it all the more exciting?" "Yeah. But if that's the case..." Spike thought for a moment about his pony counterpart. He then realized that being a pony meant that he might have a better shot at getting with Rarity. Not only that, but he also saw that since he and Twilight swapped places, that meant that he was possibly an alicorn himself. "Nice..." "What are you thinking about?" Twilight noticed Spike's dumbfounded face. "Nothing..." While all of them communicated with practically everypony here, the Twilight Sparkle of this universe had already gone around, meeting with her counterparts. She saw how so many of them were different yet similar to her. Whether it be by the way they act, how they spoke and even their magic. Speaking of magic, most of them had something different to offer. Each magic, no matter how different they were, all originated from Equestria. Twilight could already feel the abundance of Equestrian Magic from different universes in the air. "It's a bit of a weird day for us, Twilight." Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders went over. "Uh...You are our Twilight, right?" "I am. Don't worry. And I suppose this sight is a bit overwhelming. I'm surprised there hasn't been mass panic with so many of myself going around. If this was right after the time Pinkie Pie copied herself, I'd be freaking out." "I saw one Twilight that looked like a rabbit. A super big one! Can we keep her?" Apple Bloom asked her big sister. "Uh...Nope." Applejack greatly shook her head in denial towards that request. Twilight simply laughed at that brief exchange. "Wish I had the whole day to see more of them. I heard they were across Equestria. Plus...they should be heading back to their respective universes by now which is a shame." Twilight sighed. "Oh well, if there's one thing I know about myself, it's that I'll come back for more." "Really?" Scootaloo questioned. "Mmm. We're all the same no matter what. I know I'll see them again. And hey, they might be lucky and come back just in time for an incoming event." "Oooh. What event?" The three of them were ow greatly curious, leaning in. "Well, it's on a smaller scale compared to the others but it'll be enjoyable to watch. It's something that BigTime Ben put up as always but also, Princess Celestia was involved in. Do you know, Applejack?" "Nope. Haven't heard about anything yet." The farm pony shrugged. "Uh, what's going on soon?" "We're heaving another Pokemon Tournament. But this time, it's a junior one. Exclusively for children." "Just for us?!" The trio bellowed with excitement. "That's right. The Canterlot Junior Cup as it's about to be known as. It'll be available just 3 days from now. The arena's already been chosen. This time, it's the old arena we once used for the first Pokemon Tournament we had here. All that's left are decorations." "A competition just for us. Do you know what this means?!" Scootaloo grabbed Sweetie Belle, shaking her as her eyes lit up with stars appearing. "I finally have a chance to come out on top." "S-S-S-Same here." Sweetie Belle agreed while stammering from all that shaking. "Not exactly a Pokemon Contest but it'll be fun either way." "I can win this for sure." Scootaloo couldn't contain her excitement. "Three days, right?" "That's right. Technically soon to be two since midnight will come." Twilight replied. "So, you'd best get ready training up your Pokemon for the eventual. day. I know you always stay up late at night to practice contest moves, Sweetie Belle." "Sure do." Sweetie Belle giggled with a cheeky tone. "It'll be fair game going up against trainers as young as you. Ages 10 and down. Now, you won't have to be nervous about Ash being there as the biggest roadblock." Twilight joked around, knowing that if ASh was there, the chances of anyone would be diminished greatly. The young ones rushed off to prepare themselves for that incoming tournament. The moon could be seen rising as the sun set beautifully, leaving the view of the earth for a few hours. Thanks to summer closing in, daytime lasted longer. Once the moon had been seen, the other Twilight Sparkles realized that they should probably be heading back by now. They spent their time well in this universe. As for this universe's Twilight Sparkle, she figured that now would be the best time to check up on Zero and see how the device was coming along before he could leave. As to be expected, once she showed up back inside her, castle, it had already been completed long ago. Zero was just lounging around alongside the Shadow Twilight who was still here. The device itself could be seen lying on the table, brand new. "About time," Zero spoke as he had been waiting for a while now. "I finished just two hours ago. "Oh, Zero!" Twilight went over to the device. "This is great! What did you change?" "I made it so that now it only detects new gateways that open up from other universes or even a familiar one. It's up to you to decide which one belongs to Team Plasma and such. Though...we can always rework it and make it sense only gateways they open up." "That would be nice. But right now, it's fine just the way it is." "My time to leave then." Zero got up, finally leaving the castle. "I'll be back another time." "And what about you my shadowy counterpart?" Twilight asked the Shadow Twilight. "Hm? Oh!" Truth is, she lost track of time. The moment her counterpart called her name, she was now fully alert, realizing that the Sun was gone. But once the moon arose, she blended in perfectly with the shadows with only her eyes sticking out and nothing else. "That's my cue. Um...thanks for letting me browse by the way. I learned so much." "Enough for you to come back?" "You know it. I guess you would since you're me. How about one more surprise before I leave?" "Oh? What's that?" "This." Just then, the Shadow Twilight chose the best way to exit the caste. By descending into the shadows themselves as her eyes also vanished as well. Just like that, she was gone as it looked like she was never here in the first place. Truly, a nice surprise. "Well, that's that. We'd best start sleeping soon, Eve." "Espeon." "But that's another one for the memory book. It'll only get bigger once we start visiting their universes too." "Esp?" "That's right." Twilight used her magic to place the books back where they originally were. "I'm a Pokemon Trainer after all. And even before I became that, I am interested in adventures. Becoming a trainer only boosted my love for it. Are you looking forward to it?" "....Espeon." Espeon simply yawned before walking away. "Okay then. Goodnight, Eve." Nightfall. "Rapidash, use Flame Charge! Horsea, Twister!" To prepare for the Canterlot Junior Cup, Scootaloo decided to get some late-night practice while she was at it. She and her Pokemon were ready to train vigorously as Rapidash charged right into a draconic twister. Rapidash managed to overpower the twister, running straight through it, proving to have legs strong enough to even most past the winds. But then again, these were fairly tame winds. However, these winds could be made stronger to surpass even the natural ones of nature and that's exactly what Scootaloo was aiming for. Also practising hard was Sweetie Belle as to be expected. She stays up late whenever a new Pokemon Contest is nearby and the same went for this Junior Cup. Her Pokemon already knew how to work hard during the night. As for Apple Bloom, not so much. She chose to sleep despite having an abundance of Grass-Types and the most number of Pokemon out of her friend group. But Apple Bloom was not worried at all. After all, she only saw this upcoming Junior Cup as one thing. Fun. Universe 6. Equestria. Canterlot. Nightfall. And once the visits of the various Twilight Sparkles came to an end, the Twilight Sparkle of this universe had also returned. She showed up back home at a time when everypony was currently asleep. Twilight still had a fear of facing everypony here in Canterlot after the effects the Empress left behind, but since so many of them were now asleep, the streets of Canterlot were empty. Twilight stepped forward as she was the only pony there now. Nightfall was the only time when she could step outside and not have to fear anyone, albeit briefly. She took some time to stay out here, but even Twilight knew that not everypony would be asleep. There would be some exceptions. And one of those exceptions showed herself in the form of Princess Celestia. "It's nice out here, isn't it?" Celestia spoke, grabbing Twilight's attention. "Mm." The former Princess of Friendship nodded in response. "It's a bit of a shame that I have to wait until nightfall to step out into Canterlot...It truly is." "Ah, but nightfall is beautiful. Luna can testify that. And so can your friend next to you." "My friend next to-" Twilight repeated before then realizing that she didn't come alone. Right beside her, the Deerling from Deerling Forest had shown up. "Gah!" "Deerling." "You followed me here? Uh, that's nice and all...but you should get back to your universe right now. Thanks for sticking by me by the way." "Deer." Deerling nodded as he just wanted to spook Twilight. Fitting as the Moon was out. Once he got that scare out of her, the Season Pokemon galloped away, heading back to his universe as Celestia kept the gateway open. "Did you enjoy yourself?" Celestia asked. "I did. And I got the chance to meet with another version of myself. And now, I want to do more than just sit around in my room all sad. Princess Celestia. I want to help the Midnight in me. And a few other things. "The Midnight in you? Oh, right. Midnight Sparkle is who the Empress is. But why help her?" "I'll tell you everything. One other thing I know for sure is that I won't feel so coupled up anymore." She approached her fellow alicorn who had centuries of years over her. "But just out of curiosity, I'd like to know more about what happened to this world while I was locked up. I even locked myself in this room." "You're too tired right now to hear it all. But I'll share a few things with you before you sleep." Celestia was ready to drop some information that Twilight missed out of all these years. "Well, ever since the Empress rose to power after the Battle of the Bell, many alliances with the races we all came to know and love ended up being shattered. The first were the Changelings." "W-What happened with the changelings!?" "The Empress or I suppose Midnight robbed them of their love. She had already defeated Chrysalis and viewed all the other changelings as a posable threat such as her. Thus, not only did she take away their love through her own cruel actions, but she left the changelings to starve. Now, there are no more changelings." "They're all gone?!" A haunting reveal had been made to Twilight. From what Celestia shared, all of the changelings in this world were no more. Left to starve and without any form of love, good or bad, they were no more after all these years. Some good friends were gone too. "So that means Thorax and Ocellus too..." "The changelings went back to their wicked ways, but thanks to the overpowering force of the Empress, they were too terrified to even try and steal love from here. Thorax tried fixing things, but it was no use. As for the dragons, well, they went into hiding in the same lands that Tirek once came from. Spike is the only dragon we've seen around." "But that means we can still find them and talk to them, right?" "If they don't have the urge to burn us down. The dragons hid from Midnight's overwhelming magical power and one day vowed to come back and take their revenge. That's the one thing I'm terrified about. They've yet to show up. And as for the Hippogriffs, Griffons and Yaks, some of them still sided with the Empress, so that relationship is still intact. We have some of them that are now glad the Empress is gone. Not all alliances went away." "Oh thank goodness..." That was the only form of good news so far that Celestia had shared. "Either way, a massive collapse happened from all of this. And once she discovered other universes that had similar species, the Empress sought to do something about them as well. But, they were stopped. She wanted to destroy some of them as well, but that didn't come to fruition. In fact, some of the other species that work for the Empress are a result of that plan being discarded. Someone stopped her plans instead of her own will to do so." "Really? By who?" "Daybreaker." Another reveal had been made. This time, it was about Celestia's alter-ego. "Daybreaker was the one who stopped the Empress. She prevented the Empress from destroying and absorbing the magic from other races while also being the one to suggest that they take on new roles such as scientists and such." "Daybreaker did that? But...shouldn't Midnight be far stronger than her?" "You'd think." Celestia shrugged. "Especially considering that Midnight took magic from Grogar's bell. I'm not sure how, but without even needing outside magic, Daybreaker had the superior edge. Midnight at first declined Daybreaker's offer and so they ended up clashing." "Daybreaker won, didn't she?" "Oh, she did. The result of Daybreaker and Midnight battling left a shocking effect. In this massive collection of universes we call a multiverse, there exists a massive flame somewhere in the cosmos. An Astral Fire so fierce that it lights up the universe and resonates with the stars while it burns planets in its way. Needless to say, Midnight lost. And once she lost, she took Daybreaker's offer." "So, Daybreaker's the one who started it all?" "Midnight wanted that empire in the beginning. But it was Daybreaker who steered her away from a path that would've resulted in only ponies existing. If it were not for her, some of the alternate universes might not even exist. Either way, Daybreaker seems to be the superior force in all of this. And with most f the Empress' magic gone, Daybreaker is now the strongest of the alliance." "How do you know all of this? You were demoted to being a maid, right? How were you able to get so much information when being stuck cleaning the palace and ships. "I was. But truthfully, even after the Empress had complete control of everything, I still had one pony I could count on. My old secretary Raven Inkwell. She's the one who shared all of this information with me as Midnight kept her as a secretary still. She's retired now, but I'm glad she was able to pass on all of this valuable information." "Oh. I see. Well..." Twilight suddenly blinked a few times before lowering her head. "I'm exhausted...I think now's a good time for me to head to bed." "Sleep well, Twilight. I know for a fact that many ponies here enjoy having a peaceful sleep now that the tyranny is over." Celestia replied as Twilight walked back to her home, ready to feel the warmth of her bed once more. But, she already had some warmth within the cold night. Celestia's warmth, that is. But, right as Twilight went home, something came up in Celestia's mind. It was about Daybreaker once more. Now that she brought her up, her thoughts were fixated on that alter-ego. "Twilight already knows about her alter-ego. Daybreaker may already exist as a force out there, but she's also inside me." Celestia then put her hoof on her chest. "I'm rather glad I don't have any immense rage inside of me. But...the one I'm worried about the most is Universe One." Universe 6's Celestia was most worried about Universe 1'S Princess Celestia. She was currently the only known Celestia that has not had a harder time as this universe's, other universes and even Daybreaker herself who has already experienced a tragic loss that led to her fiery birth. Thre was this looming sense of destruction. Universe 1's Celestia, much like every other Celestia, had Daybreaker inside of her, that was undeniable. Just like how there was a Midnight in every Twilight. Considering that Universe 1's Celestia was the strongest Celestia with only Daybreaker being equal to her, the alter-ego resting within her could potentially emerge. And with the threats she has to deal with from Team Plasma, the Solar Empire, Twilight Imperium and more existing, Universe 6's Celestia knew that there could be that one instance where everything pushes her counterpart to the edge. "Ah. But I have faith in her." Despite this barrage of fears, she had faith in her counterpart. After all, Universe 1 was the universe to defeat the Empress and push her back while also starting an alliance to free other universes. That Celestia was a shining beacon of hope. But even this Celestia, from all her years of watching over Equestria, and seeing what Twilight had accomplished, knew that all of that can be tampered with. She shook her head, dismissing it all before then heading back to her castle. It was about time she got some sleep herself. As the journey continues. Chapter 810 End.