Light poured into her vision as her eyes opened. She cringed, trying to tilt her head away. It was blinding, and frankly she had enough of a headache already. Her brain ached as she started to process the sound going into her ears. It was speech of some sort. She lay there for sever moments, getting her bearings. A pony appeared before her, and she tried to make out who the pony was.
"Please, you mustn't expend all of your energy on me, Twilight. Lay down, and when your friends are up, we can have a talk about our findings." That voice... It was familiar, comforting... Her eyes focused.
Of course, it was Celestia.
...her friends? What happened to her friends? ...the ring, that journey... Were they attacked? Were they all alright? What was that cry she had heard? What had come out of that ring?
A gentle giggle broke her out of her thoughts.
"I can see you're worried, Twilight. They're all fine, though I think they need a good, long rest. Not everypony can march through peril like us, Twilight. Luckily, our scholars did not need to go through such an ordeal. Now rest up, princess."
"So, if the reports are all correct, no activity was found in any ring by the scholars before Discord called for their immediate retrieval?" Twilight asked, looking through her copy of the various reports. It contained written notes from various group leaders that were searching for rings. The Princesses and Twilight's friends were standing around a table in Celestia and Luna's throne room, along with Discord idly floating behind Celestia and Shining Armor standing beside Cadance. Her friends weren't reading through the stacks of paper, deciding to listen in on the resulting discussion instead.
"Fortunately, no. It seems that only the 5 we inspected gave any sort of reaction." Princess Luna gave the reply, and Celestia continued.
"Though, in the month that has passed, it is highly likely something may have transgressed. As it were, I would like to applaud Discord's quick judgement in seeing the possible danger ponies were in, and enacting measures to ensure their safety." She smiled to Discord, almost as if proud of him. He scoffed, summoning some wine glasses.
“Oh, pish posh, Celestia. Did you see the looks on their faces when all the ponies went from investigating magical disturbances under the crown to waking up in their pajamas at home? Delightfully hilarious!” He put on a pair of glasses, before unclipping an earring. Tossing it in front of him, it expanded to resemble the rings they had been discussing. He prepared to speak, but Cadance quickly interrupted.
“Was that my wedding ring?” Discord froze, and a telltale snap could be heard.
“No, it’s Twilight’s.”
…
“So anyway, these knackers, as you’ve all probably guessed, are portals. I mean, I’m certain even that donut baker down the street could’ve guessed it.” He stopped, peering over his book to glance at each of the ponies. As he did, his glasses suddenly lost form and splashed onto his face. Twilight nodded; she was eager to hear what her peers had gathered. Others did the same, and Discord looked back to his book.
“So, the-“
“Oh, so that’s what they were!”
…
“So, the problem we have here is that however they’re made, they’re not of this world’s design. It seems they were intended to transport items or living beings through hyperspace, like your teleportation spells. But some-”
“Halt, you say that these rings are not of this world? Do you imply they’re extraequestrial?” Luna had suddenly interrupted, a skeptical look on her face. It had been the question that immediately came up in Twilight as well. She looked around and sure enough, she could tell it was what caught everyone’s attention.
“Wait, what does extra Equestria cheerios mean? Is it some kind of icing?” Pinkie gasped in excitement at the possibility, and everypony else - excluding the Alicorns, voiced their confusion as well, looking to Luna. Celestia spoke up.
“It is old Equestrian, I believe the modern term is alien?” The ponies nodded. Discord cleared his throat, regaining everypony’s attention.
“No, they’re not aliens. They’re from another universe entirely. Now please, I know your little brains are melting from all the questions, but I’m sure we can get through this without another interruption. Unless, that is, you’d prefer a riddle?” He glanced about, seeing no objection, and happily continued. Twilight suddenly found it strange. Why hadn’t Discord given them a riddle? It was unlike Discord to be so directly helpful, if past events were anything to go by. She quickly pushed the thoughts aside, however, as Discord started to speak.
“But somehow, these rings have found their way into our little nation. Which should prove impossible under normal circumstances. Sure, it could be possible that having a ring on each world could connect them, but there’s no answer as to how any ring first came to this world. However, that’s not what’s important anymore. The fact is, the other world? Oh boy, you do not want to mess with their inhabitants. The locals call them Pokémon. They’re awfully curious, too, so expect them to have stumble don the rings on their side and hop through. We’re dealing with an invasive species. Ecosystem? Invasive hospitable planet? Why aren’t you all panicking? I expected a show.” Discord frowned, crossing his arms in confusion. Another universe connected to theirs, the rings as the crossover. The gathered ponies took the time to process the information. So, that’s what it boiled down to. They had to get rid of the rings so the worlds would be disconnected.
“Hold on, Discord. The tear in the sky had disappeared, what exactly happened on your end?” Shining asked. Right, what had happened with that thing? The giant gouge in the sky had been a scary sight. Discord seemed to consider the question, stroking his beard.
“The Subspace Tear? It’s nothing to be concerned of for now, some friends of mine were such a dear and closed it for me. Really, you should be concerned about keeping those critters that come through from wreaking havoc.”
“You have more friends?!” Fluttershy burst out suddenly, surprising the ponies beside her. The pony could be so surprisingly loud when provoked.by the right things. All eyes turned to her, and she caught her outburst. She blushed, quietly adding to her sentence. “I mean… that can… you know, do that kind of thing…” She let out a squeak as everyone’s attention was still fixed on her.
“Well, I do now!” Discord chuckled, before disappearing. Well, that was an entertaining thought. Discord had more friends, who had a considerable amount of magic. Huh. Or perhaps a worrying one. But not now; there’s a time and place for everything. There was something off, and Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on it. What were they forgetting? They had to make sure whatever Pokémon was on the other side didn’t wreak havoc…
Flashes of freezing air, scattered embers, and lightning bolts surfaced in her memory.
“Wait, why did we all fall unconscious?”
“…”
The question left dead silence in the air. All of them had fell unconscious before Discord had brought them back to the castle. Did the others see what she had?
“I remember before I fell, there was an incredible force, like a blazing, electrifying pressure, a power which could scorch the world with fire and lightning,” Luna shifted uncomfortably. “What followed was a cold emptiness that left me unaware.” Was it the same creature… Pokémon they had seen? There were the same elements: fire, electricity, and perhaps ice. But the way Luna described it sounded even worse than what she had felt. She shuddered, imagining such a power. Celestia spoke up next.
“I was blinded by incredible light and heat, as if I had confronted my sun on the hottest of summers. Despite that, I was on an island surrounded by torrential rain and towering tidal waves. What confuses me is that at the last moments, I couldn’t feel the rain nor heat, yet the skies continued to pour and light still shone harshly.” That sounded a bit different, What if they had all encountered different Pokémon? The thought scared her even more. Just how much power did these things have, and how many were there?
“Well, um, excuse me if I’m not as poetic as everyone else, but I suddenly felt really lively, before I got really tired and fell asleep. That’s pretty much it.” Shining looked around, confusion apparent on his face. Twilight turned to Cadance, who spoke up.
“Well, I saw this rainbow, which kind of distracted me, and then I was blown off the mountain by this huge gust. Think I hit my head on something along the way.” Eyes turned to Twilight, prompting her to share. She took a breath.
“Well, I swear I saw a bunch of weird images in the ring, but when I turned to ask the girls, they were already out cold. I saw and felt flashes of fire, ice, and lightning, and that’s it.” A brilliant flash caught their eye.
“Oh, I forgot to mention. You see, there are certain species on the other world, of which there are only one, or such a small amount that the humans there can’t be certain if they’re seeing the same one or not.” Discord had come back, a huge grin on his face. So he had more information. Where had he gotten it, anyway? “They’re legendary Pokémon, and believe me, these things are No joke. They're what all their legends, myths, and history talk about.” Legendary Pokémon, the subject of myths and legends?
“So, if I understand correctly, you’re implying that these are our true problem. For what beings should be made legend but the most influential and powerful of them all?” Celestia spoke seriously. But just how would the strength of the Pokémon compare to the magic in Equestria? If the Pokémon were weaker than the average pony, then something as strong as the Royal Guard could be considered a Pantheon of Gods to the Pokémon. But if the average Pokémon proved stronger than ponies… what unimaginable power could their Legends hold? Twilight saw the gears turning in everypony’s heads. They were all coming to the same hypothesis; the Legends could be what they encountered in the rings.
“Indeed, the most influential and powerful, but more troubling, dear sister, the most notorious and wicked.” Luna faced a stain glass window to the left, depicting the second defeat of Nightmare Moon. To the opposite wall stood a window of Discord, with his scheming smile and sharpened claws.
If these Legendary Pokémon were indeed malevolent, Equestria could be seeing an invasion. These ponies around her, they were some of the strongest in the nation, yet they had all been disabled one way or another. Once again, the comparison of power came to mind. What abilities did these Pokémon hold, and how would it fare against pony magic? What about the Rainbow Power? Yes, the Tree of Harmony had shown the force to surpass titans of magic and power. The Elements had been the strongest magic known to ponydom, and it was widely accepted that harmony was the greatest force in existence.
Twilight knew it wasn’t safe to assume. While she was a mare of magic, science was definitely one of her biggest interests aside, and if science had taught her anything, it was to never mix expectations and reality. There were so many variables to the situation! What if harmony wasn’t the strongest force in their world, and subsequently, the Pokémon weren’t affected by Harmony’s power like beings who had originated from this world were? But perhaps being in this world would give Harmony power over them. What if they had power that rivaled Harmony? It was entirely possible they had a governing power of their own.
“What has you so worried, Princess?” She jumped as Discord appeared, floating right in front of her.
“Discord!” she tried to compose herself before continuing. “I was simply… thinking. About the Legendary Pokémon. Do you think they would come to Equestria?” It was a legitimate concern. She tensed as Discord fell to his back, bouts of laughter catching everypony’s attention.
“Oh, dear Twilight. Most, if not all of the Legendary Pokémon, are already here!” Everypony froze. Twilight immediately followed up.
“Wait, how do you know? Can you tell where they are?” If Discord could track them, it would prove wonders for Equestria. The princesses could study them from afar, seeing if they were disagreeable to Equestria, as well as learning of their skills.
“Unfortunately for you, no. I’m really guessing, as I’ve seen telltale signs in the other world that leads me to believe they’re here. But they might not! For all we know, they might have quite a journey travelling through the worlds. They could get lost, or perhaps fall in the Underground during the NWC, or some DLC could have them end up as some Gym Leader’s Pokémon for no reason! Who knows?” Discord was now grinning maniacally. She considered this. So, he had been to the other world, and…
“You’ve been to the other world?!” Realizing her outburst, she took a breath. “What signs do you mean? How do you know they weren’t something else?” Discord gave a contemplating look, before shrugging.
“Oh, I don’t know. It was really small at first, and I hadn’t even connected the dots. But if you know the land well enough, which I most definitely do, you’d see it too. A few frozen wastelands become habitable, a thunderstorm season with no thunderstorms, winter lasting longer in some areas. I actually noticed when I tried to look for some Legends that by all means should have been easy to find. They supposedly just run around like crazy, but I couldn’t see them anywhere! That was when I started hunting for signs.” He pulled out a diary from his mouth.
“Let’s see… Ah yes, it became pretty obvious. The water level started receding, landmasses started crumbling, the ozone started melting, the humans got duller and duller, more weather discrepancies… By the way, the legends tend to have a lot of influence on weather. Might want to warn your team, Rainbow Dash!” Discord called to Rainbow, who seemingly zoned out.
“I’ll send the proper instructions to any parties that should be made immediately aware,” Shining Armor stood up to leave. “The Guard needs to be ready, as well as mayors and weather teams across the land. You all got this handled, right?” Cadance nodded to him, which he took as permission to leave.
“So that sort of thing. It was apparent to me something important had been changed in some way, so I took the leap in logic. I mean, when time freezes, space scrambles, and you can’t feel anything’s life energy, and you just read a book about how Legendary Pokémon were governors of these aspects of the world, you literally can’t jump to any other conclusion. Unless you were me. My first thought was that King Sombra ascended to a Super Alicorn God Super Alicorn.”
…
“You just said the legendary Pokémon were connected to the atmosphere, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the biosphere, space, and TIME?!” Twilight’s eye was twitching, she could feel it. Discord didn’t seemed fazed, however, and lifted his arms up in defence.
“Hey, I didn’t say that. I said that those things suddenly and massively broke and there just so happens to have been a bunch of evidence that the Legendary Pokémon were the reason. I really wasn’t expecting it, either! I think I had to send a spell back to Equestria just to create an exact copy of me! I’m still looking for the real me, by the way.”
What.