Pegalysium. Ethereal Pavilion. Inside the UFO. Afternoon.
Inside this large UFO was an even larger city, surprisingly. The size certainly didn't match the ufo as something like this was hard to believe. More importantly, this was a destroyed futuristic city. It looked to be in shambles from how the buildings appeared and all these chariots lying everywhere along with the rubble. Another impressive thing was the fact that this part of the ship had a sky. Granted, they were dark and ominous, fitting the atmosphere.
The network of roads that led to this city was torn to pieces by the elements. Strange gold and red grass filled the labyrinth of cracks and sand covered whatever was left. Random pieces of long-forgotten and otherworldly possessions littered the roads and wild, overgrown gardens within this town. Alien technology to be exact.
Some doors were shut tightly, others were broken down. Clothing, home appliances and other belongings were left lost and broken outside some of the homes. This place had been forsaken and left to rot alone. If the Pokemon could enter here, they would've filled it up by now.
"What happened here...?" Ash spoke as he and his friends began wandering the destroyed city, taking a step into it for the first time. "And how come the throne rooms and everything else on the outside look completely fine?"
"Pikachu..."
"No clue. The diary doesn't even say anything about it." Twilight looked at Windkiss' diary, trying to see if she can find something about this destroyed city and the throne room. But alas, none of them connected in any way. Only mentions of how they were different to each other. "Judging by what Windkiss wrote down here, this city was already destroyed the moment she arrived. So we're looking at an even older destroyed city."
"But how far back does this go exactly?" Celestia wondered. "And is there anyone here?"
"Nothing here seems used." Luna used her magic to pick up some chariot rubble. "It's truly dead. But this is as far as it goes. There aren't even any holes in this ship."
"What's this?" When hovering through the skies, Rainbow Dash spotted a peculiar object. It resembled a cannon of some sort but was made manageable to be held by a pony. Or in this case, an alien that has the stature of a pony. This was confirmed the moment she picked it up. The cannon was rusted, as to be expected, yet it was still smooth. She noticed how there was a handle at the side, perfect for a hoof to go through. It felt somewhat satisfying despite how rusted it was. The texture was unusually nice to feel. Age was somehow both kind and cruel to this cannon.
Once the hoof went through the handle, Rainbow Dash triggered something. Despite its age, it was still functioning. Out of it, a rainbow beam was shot out. "Woah!" Rainbow Dash cried out as the force of this beam pushed her back with some recoil. Her friends gasped as the beam went flying past some rubble before crashing into a building, making some more rubble.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Uh...Sorry! Didn't mean to trigger it! I only put my hoof through it! Geez, it's responsive..."
"A cannon?! An arm cannon no less!" Hilbert gasped. "And it shoots rainbows too? How fitting." Hilbert would soon discover another one of these cannons that were lying on the ground.
"Don't just pick it up!" Hilda roared but it was too late. He already had it in his hands. That's when the cannon had another surprise. The second Hilbert picked it up, it changed size. Everyone marvelled as the cannon grew to a new size. The handle even altered itself. Noticeably, it was large enough now to fit on Hilbert's arm.
"Did it just change size?" Applejack rubbed her eyes. "What's up with that? Ain't these old?"
"They could be the same as the ship we're in." Sci-Twi could only chalk it up to how the ship was still active and functioning even after all these years. It seemed these cannons were also active, still possessing energy. "Old but functioning. How Amazing!"
"Perfect for me!" Hilbert would put his hand through the handle too as it now adjusted itself to hit human arms.
"It even changed itself just for Hilbert's own stature," Bertha observed. "Is that science or magic?"
"Magic." Twilight went for magic. That's what she believed in the most as magic was such a central part of her world to the point where she could even believe the aliens having access to magic. After all, the Ultra Beasts and otherworldly Pokemon exist.
"Science." Sci-Twi chose science. She was all about science, seeing it as a way to answer most things in existence with how varied it can be. The cannons were certainly scientific along with many parts of this ship. She wasn't sure about the rainbow beam though.
Just then, when Hilbert put his hand through the handle, it triggered once more, proving to be extremely sensitive. And this time, it didn't fire a rainbow beam. Instead, an aqua blue beam was shot out, having a different colour that greatly resembled his jacket.
"...Both." Twilight and Sci-Twi soon agreed that it was a case of both Magic and Science.
"This thing is pretty sick!" Hilbert chuckled, already loving this cannon. There were a few more of them lying around. Seeing the way they functioned, Ash, Pikachu, Hoopa and Pinkie Pie got involved.
"So if we hold it..." Ash picked up one of these cannons as it immediately changed shape to fit him. Pikachu got one that also changed shape and so did Hoopa as his was the smallest by far. "It changes to fit us!"
"Hoopa can hold something else other than rings!" Hoop giggled as this was the second weapon he's ever held. Only his rings were his weapons. He was the third to trigger the cannon and as to be expected, it changed colours yet again. This time, for Hoopa, it resembled his pink appearance. Pinkie Pie had a much lighter pink compared to Hoopa when she triggered it. This confirmed a theory for them.
These cannons would change sizes and colours depending on who was holding them. Thankfully, everyone was careful with them. In unison, Twilight, Sci-Twi and even Cynthia wrote this down, wanting to keep records of this and whatever else happens here.
"Well, usually the weapons aren't what we start out with then exploring places but these are certainly interesting," Cynthia spoke. "And...now that I look at this place, could these weapons have been involved in this destruction?"
"Maybe. This doesn't look like the cause of time affecting the city. Instead, this looks more like some sort of conflict did this. A large battle must have happened that led to this mess." Celestia observed, chalking it up to a battle. Everyone believed that. It wouldn't be farfetched to think that at all.
After all, the way the city appeared made it clear that only a destructive force could cause. Time was destructive for sure but not to this level at all. External and less but still mighty forces were the answer.
"But where's that language that Windkiss spoke about? Maybe we can take a crack at it since it's so hard to read."
"We can check out these buildings," Ash suggested that they try the buildings left. Despite how ruined they were, nothing was stopping the from going inside. He figured that if the cannons still worked along with the ship then surely whatever is inside the buildings is functional.
Before that, they passed by not just the chariot but other vehicles that could be spotted. These vehicles had sleeker designs while also resembling pods. Most were circular with open hatches that had rooms inside. Comfortable seats were spotted along with a control panel, implying that the aliens would sit inside of them to not only get around but feel relaxed. Not anymore it seems.
As for the buildings, despite how they appeared, they were still futuristic and fairly stylish. Each of the buildings, mainly the smaller ones, had dome-shaped appearances, similar to the ship itself. They looked like cups even. Very mechanical and digital cups as there were data lines running all over them. Those were still active despite their old age. The group had to wonder if this city ran out of some sort of power. After all the cannons still worked after all and produced light energy.
"Hmm..." Applejack approached one of these pods, wondering if it was still usable. She immediately took a seat, already sinking and feeling comfortable. "Aah...Nice..." A satisfied earth pony said as it felt like being held by multiple cuddly cushions. Pure bliss. She wanted to stay in this for a while before she would enter the buildings.
"Ooh. This is interesting." Finally entering one of the rooms, Cynthia was the first to marvel at the interior designs of these buildings. In front of her stood a room that was once organized but now was hard to even observe. But that wasn't what interested her. She was the first to find it. The special language.
Inside this building, symbols could be found. This was to be expected as a civilization from the stars would most definitely use their language inside buildings. Whether it be signs, posters, notes, etc. When looking at this language, she immediately saw how confusing the symbols were.
They had unique shapes that were a bit hard to describe. Cynthia tilted her head as she tried to imagine what each of these symbols would resemble since it was difficult to know what they meant.
"A gemstone on top of a spire that had four arms while also seeming like it was holding yo-yos. That doesn't exactly make sense." Cynthia sighed as it sounded ridiculous once she described what it looked like to her. Twilight and Sci-Twi would soon enter, trying to read it out themselves as they imagined the same thing Cynthia did.
"Well, it's certainly unique." Twilight twirled her mane, laughing. "That one right there looks like five different animals hugging while also sitting on top of a pendulum. "These could mean anything. Probably just store names now that I think bout it."
"But is there anything that'll tell us about what happened here?" Sci-Twi asked. "Oh! What about Pheromosa? You said she could potentially read it."
"Yeah but...now that I think out it, it doesn't make any logical sense," Twilight asked. "Sure she's an alien but she's from a completely different universe and a whole different alien entirely. There's no way she can read it."
"Pheromosa figured it out!" Fluttershy called out as right on time, they were proven wrong yet somewhat right at the same time. Twilight and Sci-Twi collectively had their eyes expand, flabbergasted by what they just heard.
"What?!" They equally said before rushing over. Pheromosa, Fluttershy and the others could be found in what looked to be a shop. Other bizarre items lay around here, unpurchased and ruined. Pheromosa had her finger on one of the items which had symbols below it, telling what object it was as if she was a store clerk.
"Did Pheromosa really do it?!" Twilight asked. "She can actually read it?!"
"Mosa." Pheromosa gave a thumbs-up to Twilight.
"Pheromosa here says that it's not uncommon for Ultra Beasts to learn languages. Kartana can mimic human language perfectly. Even if it's backwards." Fluttershy translated. "And because there's another part to her."
"Another part to her?" Rainbow Dash repeated. None of them were aware of Pheromosa's other half who was also Froslass. There was a strong duality between Rarity's team as the two spirits inhabiting Pheromosa and Froslass were also not from Earth.
"Is that why Kartana can speak like us? Cool. Ultra Beasts are super smart then, huh." Ash nodded in approval.
"Ahem! W-Well... it looks like I made the right call to suggest Pheromosa." Twilight cleared her throat, bragging a bit. This came as a surprise, even to her. "So, what does it say?"
"Pheromo. Pheromosa." Pheromosa read it out as Fluttershy would soon translate it.
"It says here that you can buy a Cipher Kit for only 450 Union Crowns. This is their currency, maybe." Fluttershy looked around for any Union Crowns but nothing here looked like it would match that description. "Not sure where it is or what it looks like."
"Pheromosa, darling. Do you think you could help us know more about this place since you're already catching up to it?" Rarity asked. Pheromosa was the best way for them to know what this language was all about.
"Phero!" Pheromosa saluted. She would be right on it. And thanks to her amazing speed, she could travel around this massive city effortlessly. Of course, not yet. There were other buildings to explore and experience. But before they could do that, a noise came from outside the shop.
"Woah!" That noise was from Applejack who was still inside the pod. And after relaxing in it for a bit, the pod closed on its own before then suddenly taking off. "Hey! Hey!"
"Applejack?! What's going on?!" Ash questioned once he ran outside
"I only put my hooves up to get more comfortable! It started moving on its own!" Applejack screeched, looking at the control panel. It was currently going off with multiple neon lights flashing. The pod took to the skies, hovering there for a bit. After that, it would suddenly boost through the air, firing purple flames from the back. Applejack immediately felt a great sense of speed and adrenaline as she held onto her hat. Her teeth were even showing from all this speed.
"Not good!" Twilight gulped.
"I got it!" Rainbow Dash would take it from here. Using her own amazing speed, the pegasus zoomed through the air, pursuing the alien pod. Rarity nodded at Pheromosa who would soon do the same. The Lissome Pokemon would try and catch the pod as well.
Applejack zoomed through the city, barely able to catch any sights from how fast it was moving. She tried seeing if any of these buttons would slow it down. Unfortunately, these were not traditional buttons. They were moving constantly, shifting from place to place with advanced technology. Applejack couldn't solve this even if she tried.
But when in doubt, hitting random parts will always do something. She flailed her hooves around, hitting everything she could to try and stop this vehicle. Alas, that didn't stop the pod. Instead, it duplicated it. Rainbow Dash and Pheromosa watched as the pod ended up splitting with two new pods appearing.
"What the...?"
"Phero?" Now that there were three, which one could they follow? Rainbow Dash and Pheromosa focused on the middle one. They could only cover two of them instead of three. Rainbow Dash would focus on the middle pod while Pheromosa went for the left pod.
As for Applejack, she was indeed in the middle as she felt like passing out from all this speed. Rainbow Dash would up her speed, almost creating a Sonic Rainboom in the process. But the pod wasn't that fast to warrant a Sonic Rainboom. With this increased speed, she managed to outpace the pod, appearing in front of it.
"There you are! I got you AJ!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed before realizing that she had no way to physically stop the pod. Sure, she had her hooves, but no matter the vehicle, she would not be strong enough to stop it unless she used her speed to crash into it. And considering her friend was inside, that was the worst option. "Uh oh!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack groaned, knowing Rainbow Dash screwed up by getting in front of the pod. Now she endangered herself as well.
"Gyah!" By instinct, Rainbow Dash flew out of the way, evading the incoming pod as it nearly crashed into her. Back to square one, it looked like. However, the more the pod travelled, the more danger Applejack was in. There were buildings in the way that were massive threats too. Applejack and the pod were approaching a floating circular building with no signs of slowing down. "Applejack no!"
"Not like this!" Applejack bellowed. She was hoping that this special vehicle was at least durable enough to protect her. Lo and behold, it did protect her. But not in the way she expected. Instead of tanking a hit from this seemingly eventual crash, the pod instead flashed red, instantly zooming to the side. On its own it avoided the building, preventing any destruction. She blinked for a moment, realizing she was still in one piece, only to see another building in the way.
Yet again, with another crimson flash, the pod would evade the building on its own, guaranteeing Applejack some safety yet again. Applejack's eyes shifted around, stunned that she hadn't come to a devastating halt yet.
"Woah..." Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. It was amazing to see how the pod was just evading any potentially disastrous result with such immaculate movements. And it wasn't that it was moving so fast to do so. That was the surprising and perplexing part that threw Rainbow Dash off guard. Her eyes could easily track the vehicle and she could move and evade it faster than it ever could.
Yet, despite how close these moments were, the pod was moving slowly yet evading them so perfectly at the same time. Rainbow Dash grimaced, almost having the wind knocked out of her from just trying to process this. How could it do something like this? Rainbow Dash herself would have to be hyper-reactive just to make these close evasions. In some way, Rainbow Dash was the slower one. Only when it came to reaction time that is. "Alien tech is too much for me..."
"Just make it stop..." Applejack sighed. Just then, with those words, the pod stopped. By mentioning that word, the pod came to an abrupt halt. It didn't seem to just stop on its own this time. After all, it was reactive in its own way for the most part. "Eh?" Applejack blinked, realizing that one whimpering request made it halt in place. It wouldn't even land at all as if it was waiting for some traffic to end. "Uh...go back?"
She figured it out. It responded to her voice. Applejack did have some control over it but not all of it. The pod would then reverse itself, listening to Applejack as it backed up slowly. She could relax as it moved at a pace she preferred. Nothing intense as it was also evading the buildings at the same time.
"Great...Now go down, please." By Applejack's command, the pod would descend gently. A gentle touch was made to the ground as she was fully safe without a single injury anywhere.
As for Pheromosa, after seeing that Applejack was safely down, she could stop pursuing the other pod. In fact, the other pod fizzled out of existence with a holographic effect.
"That was awesome!" Immediately, Rainbow Dash found that to be spectacular. "I thought it was all bad but...that was great! Did you see the way it dodged stuff?!"
"Could've been the same colour as my apples right there." Applejack sighed as the pod opened up. "But...this thing ain't so bad. I told it to stop and then it just stopped for me. Told it to go back and down and here I am."
"This alien tech is so cool! Confusing, but cool!" Rainbow Dash gawked as Applejack crawled out of the pod, feeling a bit perplexed. "Hey. Let me have a go next, Applejack."
"Ya sure? It's pretty surprising. No clue what else it can do."
"Bah. It's fast and that's what I'm all about." Rainbow Dash could care less. She hopped into the pod, being the next to utilize it. The comfortable nature of it was already sucking her in. This entire conversation was heard by Audino and Fluttershy even from afar. From what they heard, they could confirm that Applejack was completely fine.
Rainbow Dash triggered the pod next, surprisingly much faster than Applejack. The pod would ascend as Rainbow Dash then put on her Mega Evolution Aerial Goggles just to fit the mood.
"They're fine," Fluttershy confirmed to everyone else as the pod could be seen dazing through the air with that trail of purple fire. "That could've gone completely wrong."
"Mmm. We don't know what to expect from this technology. It's so advanced." Twilight nodded before having her eyes flare up. "All the more to keep exploring! And learn the language of this place! This is so exciting!"
"Then how about we try that floating building? The one that looks like a doughnut." Cynthia focused on the building that was floating and was also shaped like a doughnut.
"Mmm...I could go for a doughnut right about now." Pinkie Pie held her tongue out, already feeling hungry just by looking at it.
"Hoopa's on it!" Hoopa would grant Pinkie Pie her wish, holding one of his rings out. By digging his hand through the ring, Hoopa already found himself a box of random doughnuts. The box dropped in front of Pinkie Pie' alerting her eyes as they cartoonishly extended.
"Many thanks, Hoopa!" Thankful for the box, Pinkie Pie was about to go to town on this box. At the same time, everyone would advance and could potentially find more functioning items in this city.
The one thing most of them wanted to know is what happened here exactly. There had to be some history books here. Granted, the history books probably wouldn't tell them about this destruction but it would at least give them hints. The cannons were a good start.
The floating building spun constantly, also being active and less damaged compared to every other building. It was amazing how there were still functioning objects around. When flying through the air in the pod, Rainbow Dash admired the amazing scenery. But while admiring it, she saw something that stuck out. Underneath a majority of these buildings was a crater. A stupendously gigantic crater. A plethora of buildings were within this crater, showing that the destruction was truly something else to leave such a mark. She could only think of a potential weapon being the cause of this.
When venturing through the city, they stopped by to look at more of the buildings to see what else they could read. Pheromosa would be their translator while Fluttershy was the sub-translator. There, they found more objects that had names under them as they were all for sale. Not anymore anyway.
Twilight and Sci-Twi would write down these symbols once Pheromosa and Fluttershy translated them. This was their major chance to try and understand this language. If there was a chance they would meet these aliens somewhere else, speaking their language would be beneficial. Thanks to the translations, they already learned the names of various objects.
And so much more. If they had the current,y some of them would certainly purchase these items out of curiosity. Then again, nothing was stopping them from just grabbing the items.
"How's about we experiment on them when we get back?" Twilight suggested to Sci-Twi. "It'll be fun, right?"
"Me and yu? Well, that would mean I'd have to come to your world for that." Sci-Twi chuckled. It was just then that Twilight noticed something that was off. Very off. It took her a while to even realize this.
"Wait a sec..." Twilight stopped in her tracks, prompting Sci-Twi to also stop. "You're in my world now...Why are you still a human?!"
"I-is that strange?"
"Very strange! Judging by how both worlds look, you should've become a pony by now! Probably just like how I look right about now! What's up with that?" Twilight questioned.
"Oh. That's because, before the Pokemon Festival, Sunset gave this to me." Sci-Twi revealed that she had another important item in her possession. Not just the Arceus pendant. Out of her pocket, she revealed a Shift Stone. One of the few ways to alter appearances and biology. "I used this Shift Stone on myself to make sure I always appeared as my human self. I'm uh...not ready to be a pony just yet. "
"Oh...Yeah, that makes sense." Twilight nodded in approval. "Well, I'll be waiting for that day when I can see you as a pony. It wouldn't b the first time I'd be seeing double. But don't worry. We'll experiment on these things back at your world instead of mine. Sound good?"
"Mhm! I'd like that very much! Thank you, princess!"
"We're the same character and we're friends too. Just call me Twilight, okay?"
"Sure. Twilight." Sci-Twi giggled.
"OMG! What is that?!" But interrupting this peaceful moment was Pinkie Pie. She spotted something that caught everyone's attention. Something that wasn't there before and now all of a sudden, it appeared.
Through the fog of the dark clouds, a figure appeared. It scaled to great heights, surpassing all of these buildings easily. It was so high that the head was about to touch the clouds themselves. This figure resembled that of a centaur, much like Tirek. But there was one difference. It wasn't organic.
Appearing unexpectedly without anyone even seeing it prior to this was a gigantic Mechanical Centaur that was rusted and covered in moss, kneeling with broken metal parts. Ash held onto his hat before deducing what this Mechanical Centaur could be.
"Is that...a robot?! A mech?!"
"Pikachu?!"
As the journey continues.
Chapter 947 End.