//------------------------------//
// 11: Found 
// Story: Super Smash Bros: Harmony Rising 
// by Lance Skyes 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight woke up to the feeling of a wave of water crashing into her face. Quickly, she sat up  and shook the water off of her. “Ah!” she shouted as she tried to get the water out of her eyes and look around. She noticed first that she was on the beach of a lake on the edge of a forest. Everything that had happened before quickly came back to her. “King Dedede and Captain Falcon... did they make it?” The princess scanned the skies and saw no sign of the Falcon Flyer, nor any more Banzai Bills. “I need to go look for them.” Twilight was about to get up and take off flying, but she stopped when she looked at the ground before her to see a small blue creature staring up at her with what looked like a startled expression. “Um... hello there?” Twilight was about to reach out towards the creature when a loud whistle sounded through the air. This hardly affected Twilight, but the small creature immediately snapped to attention before running off at high speed. Twilight watched the creature run away to find that it was running towards another character who looked almost like Captain Falcon, only much shorter, with a larger nose, and wearing a space suit. He was also accompanied by two creatures who looked similar to the blue one, except these two were red and yellow, neither had a visible mouth, the red one had a long nose, and the yellow one had large pointy ears.
“It would seem Blue found something quite interesting today,” the character said as he walked towards Twilight, the little creatures following behind him in a perfect line. Once he got close to Twilight, he asked, “Mind if I ask who you are?”
Twilight looked down at the character. He was about half her height, though still taller than the creatures he had with him. “My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she replied. “And you are?”
“The name's Alph,” he replied. “I'm a retired pilot for Hocotate Freight. Though I doubt you care much about that. You're probably more curious about these guys.” Alph turned around to indicate the three creatures he had with him, who all waved politely at Twilight. “At least, I'm assuming you're not familiar with them. I didn't see you at opening ceremonies the other day. Are you a newcomer?”
“You could say that...” Twilight replied.
“Okay, just wanted to make sure,” Alph said. “Anyway, these three are Pikmin, my allies in battle. Say hi to Red,” Alph indicated the Red Pikmin, “Blue you've met already, and this is Yellow.” Alph indicated the Yellow Pikmin.
“Pikmin, huh?” Twilight asked as she eyed the three creatures. “They're... actually kinda cute.”
“Aren't they?” Alph replied. “But that's what catches most of their first-time foes off guard. Then, when they're distracted, BAM!” Alph threw his hand forward, and immediately, Red leapt forward and tried to tackle Twilight. The unicorn quickly threw up a magical barrier that the Pikmin harmlessly bounced off of.
“Are you picking a fight with me?” Twilight asked as she summoned her book while Red ran back to Alph.
“With Overlord V out and about and my best friend in his clutches, I can't take any chances,” Alph replied as he and his Pikmin assumed battle-ready stances. “I don't know you, Twilight Sparkle, but I vowed to let nothing stand in my way until I was reunited with Olimar, so that's what I'm going to do.”
”This is one messed-up world,” Twilight thought to herself. ”Whether he's friend or foe, I can't let him get in the way of finding Dedede, Falcon, or Marth.”
“If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get,” Twilight said as she readied herself for battle.
However, both fighters stopped when they noticed Blue tugging frantically at Alph's leg. “What is it, Blue?” Alph asked as he looked down at the Pikmin, who was pointing away from where the two fighters were about to have their confrontation. Sure enough, in the direction Blue indicated, several hostile-looking creatures were running out of the trees.
“What are those things?” Twilight asked.
“Koopas, Goombas, Shy Guys... looks like the Koopa King is really after one of us,” Alph replied.
“You mean Bowser?” Twilight asked. “He did try to shoot me and my friends out of the sky before.”
“Oh really?” Alph asked. “Well if Bowser is after you, then it would seem I've misjudged you. Apologies are for later, though. These guys might not be that powerful individually, but when there's a lot of them like this, they can do some serious damage. Be on your guard, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Alright,” Twilight replied. ”I don't get this guy,” she thought to herself. ”One second he's about to fight me, and the next he's on my side? What kind of world is this?” The alicorn shook her head at this. “No time for questions. If Bowser wants to get his hooves—or… whatever he has—on me, he's in for a fight.”
“Now that's the spirit, Twilight Sparkle,” Alph said with a smile and a nod. “Now let's go!” Both fighters then charged towards the advancing creatures.
[Battlefield (Brawl)]
Twilight reached a trio of charging Goombas first, all of which she noticed were about Alph's height. Despite this, she quickly lashed out with her book, taking all three of them down in one swipe and causing them to go flying off. She then looked up to see that there were a group of green- and red-shelled Koopas coming after her. Twilight struck the first one, and it instantly retreated into its shell. She was about to attack the next one, but her leg nudged the already downed Koopa, causing it to go spinning towards its comrades and sweeping about eight of them off their feet. “Well that was strange,” Twilight said to herself, which kept her distracted just long enough for one more Koopa, this one in a blue shell, to try to attack her. However, just as Twilight turned around and noticed this Koopa, Alph's Yellow Pikmin went flying into the Koopa's face, knocking it off balance and shocking it a couple of times before it retreated into its shell and Yellow bounced off, quickly returning to Alph.
“Watch your back, Twilight Sparkle,” Alph said as Red ran over, picked up the Koopa shell, and hurled it at a group of incoming Goombas. “Oh, and about the Goombas, you jump on their heads and they'll instantly flatten. Then you just saw what Red did with the Koopas.”
“Thanks,” Twilight said with a nod. It was right then that she suddenly felt something hit her from behind, causing her to fall forwards. She turned around just in time to see that there were several hammers being thrown at her and Alph. Both of them dove out of the way as best they could and looked up to find two Hammer Bros lobbing hammer after hammer. “Any tips against them?”
“Hammer Bros?” Alph asked as he threw up an energy shield the second a hammer was about to hit him, causing a flash as the hammer bounced off. “Reflect their hammers if you can. If not, just dodge 'em. Watch and learn.” The spaceman then began running towards the two Hammer Bros, his Pikmin following close behind. Easily, the four managed to dodge every single hammer that came at them. Once Alph was close enough, he grabbed Blue by the stem, leapt into the air, and used Blue to deliver a powerful downward strike right on the Hammer Bro's head, which caused it to get knocked backwards, though not KO'd. Alph then turned around to the other Hammer Bro, picked up Yellow, and hurled him at the armored Koopa. However, the Hammer Bro was quick on the draw and threw a hammer right at Yellow, not only stopping him in mid-flight, but causing the Pikmin to scream in pain before suddenly turning into a yellow vapor and vanishing.
“Oh my Celesita...” Twilight said as she watched the scene. “That Pikmin just...”
“Better at this than I thought you were,” Alph grumbled as he watched Yellow die. “Then let's see how you like this.” The spaceman then reached into the ground and pulled up what seemed to be another Pikmin, except this one was purple and was evidently far bulkier. “Block this!” Alph grabbed Purple and hurled him at the Hammer Bro. Though the armored Koopa managed to hit Purple with another hammer, the Pikmin's flight was uninterrupted and he crashed right into his intended target, knocking the Hammer Bro onto its shell. “Now take this!” Alph shouted as he charged forward, grabbed both Red and Blue by the stems, and brought them both down hard upon the Hammer Bro, sending it flying backwards and KO-ing it. However, this attack left Alph open to the other Hammer Bro from before sending another barrage of hammers towards the spaceman.
“Alph! Look out!” Twilight called as she charged at the Hammer Bro and dashed horn-first into it, causing it to go flying. However, this hit didn't save Alph and Red from getting hit by hammers that were already sent flying. The spaceman was knocked backwards, and Red met the same fate as Yellow did a moment before. Twilight quickly galloped over and helped Alph back to his feet. “Are you alright?”
“I'm fine,” Alph replied as he got up. “My Pikmin are taking a beating, though.” Both fighters then looked up to see that there were several Big Goombas and Koopa Paratroopas coming at them. Alph reached into the ground and pulled up another Pikmin, this one white with red eyes. “The Big Goombas will not flinch if they are struck, but if you can bounce on their heads, they will take massive damage like a normal Goomba does. As for the Paratroopas, one hit will clip their wings, and they will be ordinary Koopas from there.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Twilight said with a nod. Both fighters then charged towards their incoming adversaries. Twilight first reached one of the Big Goombas, which was running at her at high speed. Despite this, Twilight leapt over it and delivered a power back air attack as it passed. The Big Goomba was unfazed, however, and quickly tried to switch direction. Reading her foe's movements, Twilight leapt into the air once again, this time trying to land perfectly on the Goomba's head, which she managed to do, causing the Goomba to flatten and vanish. Twilight then turned around just in time to get rammed by another Big Goomba. The alicorn was sent flying, but she was able to right herself in mid-air and was about to charge back at the Big Goomba, but she stopped when she saw two small creatures who she quickly recognized as Alph's Blue and White Pikmin fly through the air and latch onto the Goomba, each one striking several times as they clung to their foe.
“And the finishing blow!” Alph shouted as he ran up to the Big Goomba, Purple held by the stem, before using the Pikmin he held to deliver a powerful strike that sent the Big Goomba flying backwards and into a group of three Paratroopas, causing all three of them to go flying. Alph then turned to Twilight as his Pikmin returned. “You feeling alright?”
“Believe me, getting run over by a giant rotten mushroom is far from the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me,” Twilight replied. “I can still fight.”
“Good,” Alph said. “Because it looks like we're just getting started.” He turned around to indicate that there was a second, larger wave of Bowser's minions advancing towards the two. “Okay, let's get ready to- huh?” Alph stopped suddenly when he felt the ground beneath him tremble. He, his Pikmin, and Twilight looked behind them to see the source of the trembling: a massive hoard of what looked like tiny orange spherical creatures with bright orange faces, black eyes, and no mouths. “Oh no, not them too!”
“What are they?” Twilight asked as the creatures came closer.
“Waddle Dees,” Alph replied. “King Dedede's foot soldiers.”
“King Dedede?” Twilight asked. “Wait a second, I don't think those Waddle Dees are here to attack us.”
“What makes you say that?” Alph asked. Right at that moment, the Waddle Dees had made it to the two fighters, but rather than attack them, they made a clear circle around the two and continued charging towards Bowser's army. “Okay, so that may have been-”
“Princess Twilight Sparkle!” a voice called. Both she and Alph turned around to see King Dedede and Captain Falcon running towards the two. “Thank goodness we found you!”
“King Dedede! Captain Falcon!” Twilight called. She ran over to meet the two, Alph following close behind.
“Man, I was starting to get worried,” Captain Falcon said. “Glad we found you when we did.”
“Twilight Sparkle, do you know these two?” Alph asked.
“Yeah, they're… allies of sorts,” Twilight replied.
“Hey, I know you,” Dedede said. “Ain't you that tiny dude who fights with walking carrots or something? Olimar, right?”
“No, Olimar is my friend,” Alph replied, “and he's been captured by Overlord V. My name's Alph.”
“Alph, eh?” Dedede asked. “Well, nice to meet you, Alph.”
“Same to you,” Alph said. “And thank you for sending your Waddle Dees after Bowser's forces.”
“I was just trying to bail Princess Twilight here out of her situation,” Dedede replied. He then turned to Twilight. “You're welcome.”
“Thank you, both of you,” Twilight said. She then turned around to see that the Goombas and Koopas were being beaten back by the sheer number of Waddle Dees. “I guess now's as good a time as any to continue our search for Marth, is it?”
“Looks like it,” Captain Falcon replied. “Come on. The mountain he's supposed to be around isn't too far away.”
“Okay,” Twilight said with a nod. “What about you, Alph? Are you gonna come with us?”
“Are you three working against Overlord V?” Alph asked. “If yes, then count us in.” Alph's Pikmin each added to their master's words with a salute.
“Alright… does anyone know which way to head?” King Dedede asked.
“Why not that mountain in the distance?” Twilight asked as she pointed towards an icy mountain on the horizon that stretched above the treeline.
“Oh...” Dedede said before chuckling sheepishly. “Yeah, that… would probably our best bet, yeah.”
“We're gonna have to walk, though,” Captain Falcon said. “That Magikoopa did a number on the Falcon Flyer.”
“Wonderful,” Dedede griped.
“Now Dedede, complaining won't get us anywhere,” Falcon said. “Besides, you know you could use the exercise.”
“I get all the exercise I need helping Kirby save Dreamland,” Dedede replied proudly. “Seriously, you wouldn't believe how many times I've bailed him out of battles he couldn't win. Like this one time when I tried to stop a Nightmare that tried to destroy Dreamland, but then Kirby-”
“Alright, enough about the past,” Alph interrupted. “Shouldn't we get moving?”
“Alph's right,” Twilight said. “We should get moving if we wanna get to Marth before V does.”
“Right there with ya, Princess,” Dedede agreed. “Alright all, let's move.” The four combatants and three Pikmin then began their trek towards the icy mountain in the distance.