30 - Father and Daughter Reunited
{A mare who has been through Hell and back awaits on the other side of the wall.}
Grinning, Twilight called, “One, two, three!”
A bright pulse erupted from both Twilight and Starlight, slamming into the wall where the projected dots overlapped. Instantly the wall went to pieces, spraying bits of rock sized everywhere between clay grains to baseball-sized misshapen shards. Mystical barriers lit up like noiseless magenta and teal fireworks, shining brightly through a rapidly expanding and rushing brownish cloud. As the cloud began to settle, a fireball exploded from where they blasted the wall, quickly followed by a second, then a third. Twilight and Starlight were forced backwards, hooves sliding against the stone floor.
As a shriek accompanied a fourth, Starlight muttered, “Had warmer welcomes.”
They started forward, but had to brace themselves against a lightning burst. Starlight’s barrier wavered briefly, but she reinforced it. Soon broken chunks of stone the size of barrels launched from the opening, knocking both of them around even with the magical shields up. Twilight yelled, “Trixie! Calm down! It’s—”
Another fireball cut her off. More lightning followed suit. Starlight winced, then advanced. Indiscernible screeching issued, along with more thrown stones and a burst of ice. Twilight continued to advance with Starlight behind her. Two more fireballs came in. Starlight begrudgingly said, “Perhaps dealing with the wall like that was hasty.”
“Yeah, should’ve thought that one through. Just never had the chance to try that spell before,” Twilight sighed, beginning to make way against the heavy fire coming from the opening.
A few words came through from Trixie amid the blasting, nestled deeply between enraged and terrified, “You will not—”
And another fireball erupted. Twilight’s barrier held firm as she pressed forward, entering a small cavern room. There were several large boulders in here, along with a small table with chairs, and a sidebar-like furnishing with a small computer sporting a pennant flag. Trixie stood there with an overcharged horn, tears streaking her face, gritted teeth, and a bloodshot death glare in her eyes. Upon seeing Twilight, her face eased, and her horn’s charge eased off, exposing that it was glowing orange-yellow from heat, and indeed smoldered and singed her coat around her horn. Starlight stepped out from behind Twilight, and jokingly said, “Happy to see you too, Trix.”
Trixie dropped to the floor and sobbed. Starlight rushed over to her as Twilight raised an eyebrow, frowning with empathetic sadness. Here she saw a mare that was not at all as she remembered. Trixie lay here without her pride, without her swagger, broken and crushed, laying there defeated, hapless, and miserable, undone by the goings-on endured in the past two weeks or so. Twilight hesitated, then joined Starlight in consoling Trixie. Minutes passed before Trixie settled. Twilight softly said, “Come on, Trixie. Let’s go home. Your father, Presto, is waiting at the castle.”
Waterworks resumed as Trixie squawked, “Daddy’s there!?”
Another several minutes later, as Trixie calmed down again, Starlight said, “Hey. Let’s get out of here.”
“You said you needed guaranteed safe passage?” asked Twilight. “I can do that. And we entered the Underground about where you did, so we can teleport immediately.”
“Okay...okay, good,” Trixie said, nodding slowly. She turned to Starlight and pled, “Starlight...please don’t freak out at this. I still can’t believe this is possible.”
Twilight nodded to Starlight, who returned the gesture, then said to Trixie, “So...what’s this impossible thing?”
Trixie turned toward the table by the boulders, and gently commanded, “Zauber...come out. It’s okay.”
Slowly around the side of a boulder peered a small foal, staring in distrust and apprehension. As the head came fully into view, the foal clearly was a colt, a deeper cornflower blue with an off-white mane and tail. And those eyes...there was no mistaking the lineage. Every colour, the shape of his head, face, and body, and even the underlying cockiness swimming just below his suspicion, the little guy was a dead-ringer for his mother.
Twilight whispered to herself, “And there we are.”
“‘There we are’...what?” Trixie asked.
Zauber stayed partway out from behind the boulder, watching on uneasily. Twilight said, “Number ten. The last of the hybrids.”
Trixie looked away briefly and nervously asked, “Ten?”
“Your ten eggs that hatched into pony-Pokémon hybrids?” Twilight asked.
A bead a sweat rolled down the side of Trixie’s face. “Um...eggs??”
Twilight sighed with a sad, guilty expression. “From...that time, in the daycare, when...the unspeakable happened to you, against your will?”
Sweat drops on Trixie’s face were fruitful and multiplied. “Oh...that. Yeah. It, uh, was horrible. Miserable. It’s not like that’s something Trixie would want to experience again anytime soon, or that she thought it was the greatest and most powerful exhilaration she ever felt, more than she dreamed she could and would jump back there in a heartbeat or something like that. Yeah, it’s...it’s a bad thing. Yeah.” Starlight cast Trixie a sideways glance as she heard the claim. Seeing Twilight about to speak again, Trixie pressed, “How did you know there were ten? And what do you mean the ‘last’ of them?”
Twilight said, “I cast a world-covering divination spell, looking for Equestrian magic, and found ten more sources than what there should have been. Eight of them we had rounded up, with some help of the humans here. That Paddy fellow who put you through that horrible experience still has one, and this little guy makes ten.”
“Mama, who are they, and what are they talking about?” Zauber asked, still half-hidden.
Trixie smiled back at Zauber, and sweetly said, “These are friends from mama’s homeland, Honey-Pumpkin. This is Starlight Glimmer, the best friend mama has ever had, and that other one is...is Twilight Sparkle. She’s a princess, and...well, she’s a princess. Let’s leave it at that.”
Twilight scoffed as Starlight said, “We’re here to get you two home. I hope we didn’t freak you out too much, little guy.”
“Right, like the wall exploding is part of the day-to-day humdrum!” Zauber snapped, stepping out. “Why did you blow up the wall? And how did you make it all go out from us? You could’ve just knocked.”
Trixie sighed and said, “Not really. The door seals up tight, remember?”
Zauber walked into his mother’s awaiting embrace. After a moment he said, “That still doesn’t explain how the detritus exploded at them and not us.”
Twilight raised her eyebrows as a delighted smile broke over her face. “Ooh, he’s a smart one! Part of the effect of Chalcitis’s Mine-Maker is material excavated in the way exits perpendicular to the face whence it comes, to prevent material loss in case of an unseen cavern, lava tube, or other subterranean structure.”
“Maximise ore recovery while minimising risk? Makes economic sense,” said Zauber.
“He has a bright tomorrow ahead,” Twilight beamed. “Are you ready to come to Equestria, your mother’s homeland?”
“So it’s finally time to leave, then, mama?” Zauber asked.
“It is.”
“Good. Let’s be off,” he said.
As they started out, Starlight sidled alongside of Trixie. Before she could speak, Trixie pulled her close and raspily whispered in her ear, “Yes, I know you noticed I lied about my time in the daycare. But that is the story I will tell: Trixie was subjected to the unspeakable. Don’t say anything about the ruse to Twilight. And don’t you dare say anything to the contrary around Trixie’s father. Okay?”
Starlight hesitated, and answered, “O...kay, then, Trix...sure thing. If it means that much to you.”
The four left the smaller room, each of the adults pulling out their Explorer Kits. Trixie held tight onto Zauber as they all spun upward. A moment later they all popped out of the ground at the barn where Pinkie had taken two for the team. Twilight’s horn was already charged as their spins halted, and they immediately disappeared in a magenta flash. Coalescing back at The Great Marsh, shots were ringing out. A number of human men had gathered with firearms, and shot at the encampment. Their bullets, shotgun slugs, and buckshot pinged against the unicorns’ barriers. Others were engaged with Pokémon. A pegasus soldier staggered and struggled to stand after a Magnezone doled out a Thunderbolt. A different pegasus took a spear and skewered a multicoloured monkey with fire for its hairdo, which collapsed spitting blood. Trixie began to hyperventilate, while Zauber merely scoffed. Twilight stood agape while Starlight hollered, “Get to the portal! Do it! Do it now!”
By the portal they met Princess Luna, who appeared nonplussed at the battle going on in front of her. Looking across the friendly lines, Twilight gasped. Both Red and Blue had their Pokémon engaged against the other humans. Hearing some scared sobbing, Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie all turned, and each nearly yelped. There in a bound cage sat Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, each terrified and clinging to each other. Twilight squawked, “Princess Luna!! Why are they here!?!”
“Ask them,” said Luna coolly. “Go on. Ask the bold ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ what less-than-brilliant plan they cooked up.”
Starlight barked, “What did you girls do!?”
Sweetie blubbered, “W-w-w-wee-e just wa-anted to help Rarity ge-et hoooome!”
Twilight gawked at them incredulously. “And a military encampment wasn’t enough to dissuade you!?”
“Sorry, Twahlahght,” Applebloom sniffled. Behind them the human line was retreating. “We...we really ploughed the neighbour’s field this time....”
Zauber frowned. “Is that even a saying?”
Starlight whispered, “It’s an ‘Apple-ism,’ little guy. Their whole family says things nopony else does.”
“Or use completely the wrong one...,” Trixie muttered under her breath. Her son scrunched his eyebrows at the comment, questioning his mother with his eyes.
Twilight sighed, “Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash will all have a field day with you three for this. I’ll leave it in their hooves. Now come on.”
“No.”
Twilight blinked, stunned like she had never felt stunned before at Luna’s firm response. She sputtered, “No, what? No...why??”
“That shall be their punishment for their transgression,” Luna spat bitterly. “When asked why, they said they were brave enough, and strong enough, to face what this world could throw at them, so they shall stay. Five minutes later this skirmish began, and they learned how wrong they were. We’ve received reports that other patrols have been attacked as well. I have kept these three out of harm’s way, and shall continue to do so until we all leave here, when they shall return.”
Twilight broke her just-set record for feeling stunned, standing there stupefied with a slight twitch. Starlight all-but-shrieked, “But that ‘Mewtwo’ thing will be here in...not very long!”
“Thirty-five to forty-five minutes, or something close to that, Starlight,” Luna corrected her calmly.
“Why are you doing this?” Twilight demanded, her face and voice laden with disappointment as in recovering from the shock she took a step forward.
Luna sighed and shook her head. She walked up to Twilight, and spoke quietly enough the three fillies could not hear her, “While I could say they’re too reckless, or that they need to learn from their mistakes by seeing them through to the end, the truth is they’re safer with me than they are in the brig in the Everfree.”
Twilight snapped, “What’s that supposed to mean!?”
“Those are three little fillies!” Luna hissed. “Twilight, do you know why we allow mares to serve as officers in the army and navy, but not as common enlisted soldiers or sailors?”
Twilight tapped her chin, then her eyes widened with horror. She breathed, “No...! That’s happened among our ponies!?”
Luna said to Trixie, “Cover his ears. He is too young to hear this.” Zauber pouted, but complied willingly with his mother’s hooves and Starlight’s muffling spell. Luna continued, “It sure has, Twilight Sparkle, over, and over, and over. At Basic Training, at specialised trainings, field camps, routine drills, and so on. Just because a pony is a good soldier doesn’t mean he is also a good pony. There are too many unsavoury appetites in the armies of the world, unfortunately including ours. I’ll not risk a pigheaded sergeant or two, or three, see them locked up where they could have their ways with them, taking advantage of young ones too small to defend themselves against grown war-stallions.”
“You could just send them home with repercussions to follow at a later date,” said Twilight irritably.
“That’s not how it works in a military camp. Surely your brother explained that to you?” Luna countered.
“Then just send them home, on your orders.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Twilight, they trespassed into an active military operation without identification, permission, clearance, or orders, and they knew better than that. They actively planned out their approach. I cannot in good conscience pardon them. And neither can you. To do so would show partiality, a permanent label we royals can ill-afford.”
Twilight nodded sadly, as one does when an unpleasant point cannot be refuted. She quietly asked, “How did they slip past so many soldiers?”
Scootaloo looked down as she murmured, “Applebloom whipped up an extended invisibility potion for each of us.”
“And then they did not realise the portal flashes every time something steps through. They were caught on this side nearly instantaneously,” Luna said.
Twilight sighed, “I see. Honestly, we shouldn’t linger. I have work to do at the castle, and really it shouldn’t wait.”
“Yes, of course. Oh, and Trixie?” Luna said. Trixie looked up to see the Princess of the Night pull her into a tight, warm embrace. She blinked, stupefied that Princess Luna would do such a thing, before timidly returning the hug. Luna quietly but with earnest cheer said, “I am so happy, and so relieved, to see you are alive and well, and returning home. We have all been very worried about you.”
“Th-thank you, Princess Luna,” said Trixie, bowing low.
Twilight and Starlight led Trixie and Zauber to the portal, and sent them through after Starlight and before Twilight. Upon returning to the Everfree Encampment, Twilight found Trixie quaking with fear, looking around at the siege weapons pointed at the portal. Zauber dismissively said, “Gee, you make it look like you expect something dangerous or whatever to come through.”
“Zauber, knock it off!” Trixie ordered as only a mother could.
{A young colt has to make a choice.}
Twilight powered up her horn and the three teleported to the Castle of Friendship’s foyer. As Twilight and Starlight led Trixie and Zauber for the basement lab door, Zauber looked on around him. With a slight grin he said, “Nice digs.”
“Uh, thanks?” Twilight answered, her tone belying her uncertainty of whether or not the colt was sincere. She opened the door and led them in. Princess Celestia was still there, watching. As they began down the stairs, her voice took a serious tone as she said, “You have a decision to make, Zauber.”
“Yes?”
“You are a foal of two worlds. Half of you is Equestrian, the other, Pokémon. This, unfortunately, presents a conflict,” Twilight said sadly.
Zauber scoffed, “You’re about to make me decide which half I am to embrace, and which to discard.”
“...yes. I’m sorry,” Twilight said, closing her eyes.
Zauber grumped, “No.”
“No??”
“I refuse,” Zauber said. “I see no reason I should be made to relinquish half of my identity.”
Princess Celestia spoke up. “Our deepest apologies, my little colt, but it’s for the safety of both worlds.”
Zauber looked over at Princess Celestia as he descended the stairs to the lab floor with an eyebrow raised. He stopped in front of her with his mouth slightly parted, then bowed. Politely he said, “You are stronger than the others, but carry yourself with dignified grace. I can only presume you are the Queen.”
Celestia chuckled, and said, “No, I am not my mother. I am Princess Celestia. There has not been a king or queen in Equestria since my parents.”
Zauber’s head jolted back. “We...live in a principality, then?”
“Kingdom, Principality, Duchy, Commonwealth, it makes little difference what title technically applies,” Celestia answered with a shrug. “Ours is a land of peace and friendship, raising our hooves to build one another up and rush to each other’s defence.”
“That’s all well and good, Your Highness,” Zauber said defiantly, “but what exactly does that have to do with coercing me into deciding what half of me shall remain?”
Celestia hesitated. Zauber noticed and smirked half-triumphantly, half-goadingly. Twilight inserted, “You’re not...really thinking of telling him the whole truth, are you?”
“Showing him, not telling,” Celestia answered unhappily. “Despite his age, both physical and apparent.”
Only a comically-stunned Pinkie’s jaw could have hung lower. Twilight scoffed, “Celestia, he’s just a foal!”
“And a foal more stubborn than most. He’s already made up his mind; nothing short of showing him all of that will convince him,” Celestia said.
“What you say is right, Your Highness,” Zauber smirked.
Twilight muttered under her breath, “What is with these two today...??”
Starlight stepped forward. “Then, may the rest of us see as well?”
Celestia sighed, closing her eyes. A moment later, she opened them, much firmer in her expression and tone as she answered, “So be it. Let me show you what Princess Luna and I scryed!”
{See you now why Celestia and Luna told Twilight it was okay to kill ten foals...to prevent this.}
Celestia’s horn powered up, and the lab around them disappeared, leaving each of them in a mostly-transparent state. Around them all was black, but for points of light like the night sky. The star field turned and flowed, rushing towards one in particular as Celestia narrated, “The Farsight spell, with special tinkering Starswirl himself wrote, bolstered by an intricate magic circle, cast by the both of us, is how we saw this far and this accurately.”
The scene overtook the one point of light and switched to an aerial view of dense woodland, made of very, very tall trees. Their viewpoint lazily drifted to the right. There was an ocean beyond the forest, taking up the horizon. One especially tall tree had some artificial structure built on it. The scene started panning and quickly zooming its direction as Celestia said, “We do not know what they call themselves, nor their motivations. But this much is clear: if a link is left between the two worlds for too long, they will find us. And such a theft of Equestrian magic will surely leave an overt link.”
Through the wall they went. The scene now was a dim room with three-dimensional projected images from different ring-like structures. The largest by far of these projections was in the middle of the room. This one was mostly dark blue, blobbish, with brighter points scattered almost at random around its interior. There were humans in the room...well, not quite human. The general body shape was nearly identical, but for a few unmistakable differences. They were markedly shorter, about three-quarters the height of an average adult human male, sleeker, and with much longer and more pointed ears, rigid enough to hold shape. These ears pointed mostly backwards, with their tips past the back side of the skull. Their faces appeared to be that of adolescent humans who should never be in want of suitors, except the skin showed some aging, and most of these people had crow’s feet and some laugh lines. Men outnumbered the women by about three to two. Most of them had lean builds, fair to medium complexions, eyes of brown, blue, or green, and particularly shiny light brown to dark brown hair worn long. Each wore a light blue robe of some kind, except one woman, who wore dark blue. Unlike the others, she had a petite build, stood maybe twelve and a half hands, pale complexion, violet eyes, and fiery red hair worn in long curly pigtails. Each busied themselves with computer-like devices, except the one in dark blue, who kept talking to others. Twilight asked, “Is this an astral cartography lab?”
“It seems so,” answered Celestia as the scene continued. On the large projection, red pulses jumped back and forth between two non-adjacent bright points. The one in dark blue looked, triumphantly pumped both fists, and began issuing orders. The language was indiscernible, and sounded as though their throats produced two sounds at once. The tone, though, was jovial with a sense of urgency. Their smiles showed mouths full of strictly-carnivorous teeth. Celestia said, “This is how they’d find us. Stolen Equestrian magic and the energy from Pokémon, jumping back and forth between our respective planes of existence, trying to return to their origin. That would give them something worth taking. They would send one of their number to scout each world. When that happens, our days are numbered.”
The scene zoomed in on one of the two indicated brighter points quickly, as Celestia said, “And this is what will happen if one such scout comes. Where and when it’s ideal for them, they’ll open a portal to their world, and...”
They saw Canterlot, or rather, what was left of it. Many of those short human-like creatures swarmed in military uniforms of hunter green long coats, black boots, trousers, gambeson under the coats, gloves, and berets. All the enemy soldiers were women, each quite young, or at least appeared so judging from the humans they had encountered. Their hair was not nearly as shiny as those in the lab, except the higher-ranking ones. Most of them had polearms or bows. All the officers carried one-and-a-half handed swords. Dead Equestrian soldiers and civilians lay everywhere, but the enemy appeared to have not lost a single one of their army...until in the image Twilight showed up. As she cut through the enemy line, she found the woman in dark blue from the previous scene. Twilight rushed with an overcharged horn. She fired a ray at the woman, who slapped it aside as though it were nothing. Then with a commanding gesture, a paper-thin wave erupted from her right hand at Twilight. Twilight’s barrier shattered immediately and off went her head. Twilight, the one watching the scene, shrieked as with the woman flicked her wrist, causing the Twilight in the image’s severed head to burst in a bloody explosion as her body went up in flames. A high school-aged Flurry Heart blasted at this woman on the wing, but to no avail. A yellow beam lanced from the woman’s left hand into Flurry Heart as though her barrier did not exist, and she went stiff. She crashed to the ground, shattering like a ceramic figurine whose shards twinkled away into tiny flecks of light and disappeared completely. Cadance screamed and charged on foot, but was slashed through the throat by a sword-carrying officer long before she reached the woman in blue. She lay dying beside her struck-down husband. Celestia sadly said, “...we would not last long against them.”
The scene turned to a different point in the battle, where a male of these creatures walked wearing purple vestments with equilateral triangle-themed embroidery in silver, black boots, a black miter with silver ornamentation, no gloves, and a black priest’s stole with red and gold embroidery. In his left hand he walked with a pitch black staff, topped with a blade-like hollow-centred equilateral triangle made from well-polished silver pointing upward. He walked at a leisurely pace while nearby, Lyra Heartstrings battled and held off two of their infantry. This priestly fellow took his free hand and flexed his bicep while clenching his fist. A huge disembodied hand erupted from the ground and grabbed Lyra, crushing her into goo. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both armed and armoured for battle, rushed him together. He dodged Celestia and knocked Luna to the ground with his staff. As Luna got back to her feet, he pointed his staff at Celestia, and a white aura surrounded him. The glow quickly condensed into the hollow triangle, then it shot a sphere that spiraled into Celestia. She disappeared, like her body was erased in one clean swipe of a squeegee starting at her head and ending with her tail, completely gone without a trace. Luna screamed and charged. He stabbed his staff into the ground, and flicked his hands toward her, fingers upward and palms forward, producing a purple pulse. This struck Luna in the centre of her chest, and she simply detonated, bits of her landing all over the place. Celestia sadly and wearily said, “We would not even have a prayer.”
The scene zoomed back, showing all of Equestria. Smoke rose from every city, town, village, and farmstead. Nowhere where ponies lived was there not ruin. As the view continued panning backwards, they could see it was not just Equestria. Celestia explained, “They would wipe us out, and every trace of our existence except our libraries. They’ll move out all the books and then destroy the buildings. And then they’ll do the same to the rest of the world. Every sentient species, annihilated. And then they would eradicate every selectively bred plant and animal, down to the last shaft of wheat.”
The scene turned away from the world and rushed through another star field as Celestia said, “And they would not stop with us.”
Soon the found themselves looking upon what once was an elegant city with a unique metal-beam tower at its centre. Now most of it was a smoldering ruin as the same soldiers massacred Pokémon, trainers, and ordinary people without a second thought. One soldier, however, wore a waistcoat instead of the long coat, and hers was not green, but red, such a red that even Rarity would just call it “red.” She had a very dark complexion, jet black hair, and soul-piercing teal eyes. From her horse she carved anyone and anymon unfortunate enough to be in sword’s reach with a single swipe, including a mega-evolved Steelix. The woman in dark blue was here, too, still with her pigtails, standing on the lifeless body of the slashed-to-ribbons Arceus. With a harsh swipe of her arm, a row of buildings at least two-hundred metres away collapsed into piles of rubble. As the view zoomed away, Celestia said, “They would do the same to the Pokémon world, except they would send every species of Pokémon into extinction. And then they will use our world and the Pokémon world as muster points to attack and conquer the surrounding planes of existence in the same fashion.”
The scene returned to the astral cartography lab, but this time, there were no red pulses jumping around the large projection. Celestia said, “But if we sever all connections between our two worlds, only Equestrians in Equestria, and only Pokémon and their things in their world, this race of destroyers will not find either of us. We will both be safe.”
The scene faded, resuming normal reality around them. Zauber was sobbing, clinging tightly to Trixie, who herself was shaking terribly and breathing heavily, holding her foal close and stroking his back. Twilight, too, was hyperventilating. Starlight, however, looked deeply disturbed, but no further than that. Celestia looked at Twilight, then Trixie, then Starlight, and said, “I see you don’t know the veritas spell, but Twilight and Trixie both cast one.”
Zauber cried, “Mama...mama say it’s not true! Please say it’s not true!”
“Honey-Pumpkin,” Trixie began with a terrified, trembling voice, “mama would be lying if she did.”
Zauber bawled. Trixie teetered on the verge of tears herself, rocking him slowly. Starlight quickly pulled them both into a hug. Twilight took physical comfort from Celestia, who swiftly welcomed and returned the embrace. Celestia’s horn powered up, and a yellow light shone all around. Each of the other four eased and calmed down fairly quickly. Soothingly she said, “Allay your fears, my little ponies, for we will not allow them to find us.”
“That first letter, the one where you and Luna told me to separate the pony from the Pokémon at any cost...I thought you two were angry, and said ‘extenuating circumstances’ as a cover,” Twilight said with a much more normal voice, though the disturbed tones leaked through. “But those...I wish they weren’t real. I see now that order was out of fear, and calling it ‘extenuating circumstances’ was to prevent me from feeling the same.”
“You felt the same terror we did. And in our terror, Luna and I wrote some rash words in a foolish attempt to see that terror prevented,” Celestia corrected her. As Zauber’s sobbing slowed and ceased, she turned to him. Gently she said, “You have a decision to make, young stallion.”
“You’re not taking me away from mama!” he yelled.
Trixie kissed her son on the forehead and said, “Honey-Pumpkin, nopony will take you away from me. Be my little pony, and let go of the Pokémon half of you.”
Zauber nodded and wiped away another tear. He let go of Trixie, and turned to Celestia. Firmly he said, “Make me a pony.”
“Everypony else needs to step back,” Twilight said as Celestia levitated one of the entropic jars to just in front of Zauber. The others did as they were told. Both princesses fired up their horns, etching a circle in the floor around Zauber. Twilight said, “This process doesn’t take very long, now that we got the hang of it.”
{It’s just...liquid pride. That’s all.}
Twilight and Celestia worked at Zauber for three and a half minutes. Markings on the entropic jar glowed once as the lid was set. As the spell released, Zauber took a deep breath. There was a brightness to his eyes that was not there before the spell. He ran into his mother’s awaiting hug. The lab door opened. Presto stood at the entrance. Waterworks started on both sides as his and Trixie’s eyes met. She squawked something unintelligible and ran, meeting him halfway. A good minute or two passed. Presto quietly said, “It’s okay, my little bunny-in-a-hat. Daddy’s gotcha, and that’s what matters. Save the story for another time.”
As the tears got under control, a little filly’s voice asked, “Mama?”
Trixie looked up to see an inquisitive little face, just like hers when she was a wee lass, except the eye colour was different. Seven others had the same face down to a T, each with different coloured eyes. Then smiles brought across their faces as eight little fillies in almost-unison cheered, “Mama!? Yaaaay!!”
Trixie found herself buried under a pile of affection as Zauber came to join his sisters.
{Heading back, but there is an obstacle.}
An indeterminate amount of time later, Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie emerged from a teleport at the Everfree Encampment. They started toward the ballistae as Starlight said, “You really don’t have to do this.”
“Trixie respectfully disagrees. My case is solid, and Princess Celestia agreed emphatically. Besides, I would dearly love to give that guy a piece of my mind, and maybe a piece of my hooves, too,” Trixie spat.
“Yes, this ‘Padraíg Seamus Gideon Meagher.’ How would you describe him?” Twilight asked.
Trixie sighed and said, “Trixie did not have many interactions with her so-called ‘trainer.’ From what I did see, he’s very intelligent, driven, unyielding, and has a poor sense of humour.”
“That’s not a good starting combo,” Starlight muttered. “Seriously, how can you be sure the last ‘Twixie’ will respond to you like the others did, especially after all the handling done by this Padraíg fellow?”
“There’s no way to know for sure, but I have to try,” Trixie said, shaking her head with a frown. “It doesn’t matter that’s she’s been around Paddy all this time, or a champion fighter, or that she’s a phony Alicorn, or any of that! None of that changes that she’s my daughter. I have to try.”
“Maternal instincts really kick in quick, huh?” Twilight asked.
Trixie grunted and half-heartedly smirked. “You have no idea.”
They rounded the corner and walked past the ballistae and a springald. The portal was not there. In its place stood General Merry Weather. Twilight trotted in quickly and demanded, “Report.”
The general saluted and stated, “Princess Luna ordered me back and closed the portal behind me. He’s there.”
“Mewtwo?” Twilight asked.
The general nodded. “And the worry was well-founded.”
Starlight frowned and muttered, “Let me guess, Princess Luna ordered it not to be reopened until she did so herself.”
“Affirmative,” Merry Weather answered.
Twilight sighed, and looked back at the other two. “Well, girls, I suppose we should check on Pinkie Pie.”
“She’s sleeping, Twi,” Rainbow Dash called from behind them. She, Applejack, and Fluttershy joined them. “Zecora really, really knows her stuff. Pinkie should be back to bouncing everywhere by this time next week!”
“Um, where’s the portal?” Fluttershy asked as Twilight took the longest sigh of relief in her life.
Starlight said, “Princess Luna closed it, ordering that it was not to be reopened until she did so herself.”
“Well, looky here!” Applejack said brightly. “We joined literally thousands of soldiers on hundreds of patrols ev’ry day, trahin’ to fish you outta that pigsty of a world they got, and here yer fixin’ to go raht back!”
“She has her reasons,” Starlight swiftly said, stepping between Trixie and Applejack.
“Now, now, Starlahght, no hard feelin’s meant. Jes’ a neighbourly thing, pokin’ fun,” Applejack said with a touch of apology.
“It’s okay, Starlight,” Trixie said. She looked at AJ and asked, “Were there really that many looking and patrolling, just for me?”
“Ee-yup,” Applejack said. “Day and night, all over that Sinnoh-place. Us too, out there from day one.”
“Your sister, too,” Trixie muttered under her breath.
“What ‘bout Applebloom!?” Applejack said with sudden fierceness.
“She didn’t tell you? Wait, of course she didn’t tell you. She’s the little sister,” Trixie said ambivalently. “Apparently she and her two little friends made an invisibility potion to slip past the guards here, only to get caught by Princess Luna as soon as they stepped through the portal.”
Applejack’s face turned a magnificent puce before moving on to a deadly scarlet. She threw her hat down, stomped around as tears of fury leaked from her eyes, her body shaking with her lower jaw most pronouncedly so. Rainbow Dash burst, “Why, when I get my hooves on Scootaloo, she’s so gonna get it!!”
There was no indication that Applejack would halt her livid pacing anytime soon. Twilight cautiously asked, “Applejack...are you gonna be okay?”
No answer. The same behaviours continued. Fluttershy meekly offered, “I think she’s too mad to speak.”
Twilight interjected, “Look, girls, we all have reason to go, and two of you just got another, but right now, we can’t. We’ll just have to wait.”
“I hate waiting,” Dash huffed.
Thought maybe it'd look terrible with this chapter's title if I marked it with roman numerals. 
Can't fault Trixie for going all "mama bear" at Twi and Starlight for blowing up her outer wall. She may have badly drained her power, but ran on pure epinephrine for a few moments. Parenthood does something to a person, let me tell ya'. Nothing is ever quite the same again. The child's presence completely alters one's thought patterns, and I'm not the one who directly had m' brain chemistry scrambled by pregnancy hormones. 
Whole lot happening here. Zauber's...an interesting lad. The vision of what destruction comes if they are seen...it's unlikely any of you know who or what those things are. And Trixie means to talk to green-eyed Trixie. We'll just have to wait and see how that goes.
Next week, we return to following Rarity for a pair of chapters. What happened at the Daycare? How will they try to break out, and will they succeed? Be back next week to find out!
Thanks for reading. 
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What the fuck, Luna?
Twilight was right, send them home and then give them adequate punishment at a later date. You gave them a small taste of fear now send them back and make a slight exception. Traumatizing children works for no one.
8107412 Not to mention, since when have Equestrian Princesses not shown favoritism? That's like their entire deal.
I havent had much interaction with teh various RPGs, Mmorpgs, console games, but one version that springs to mind is Unselie, except Planes walker class. Thing about the catastrophe scenes though were just how high level they were, throwing around city killers without a thought, though Lyra seemed to be taken out by a high power variation of Bigbys Grasping Hand? Im also very suprised at Celestia and Luna going down so easily, as some versions of thought suggest that Celestia is so tightly bound with the local sun, that it would immediately go screaming off into the depths of space, or go out, quite definitely noticable in seconds, or head towards the last position of Celestia, making these guys be annoyed at having no planet at all but a formless mass of solar plasma?
Maybe between Red and CMC they might just make MewTwo remember Tears?
Hmm. An entire race of techmages that can walk over local deities but are not gods, and have not been dealt with by gods? Must mean they can be dealt with by lesser beings, just, how?
I think the Dark tag would apply to this story. The Pokémon world, the Pony world, even these mysterious hunter things, yep there's a lot here that qualifies for dark since we're not in the mane canon verse for either of these worlds.
So all hell is breaking loose now because the leaders on both sides have cement for brains. If both the league and the princesses had cooperated toward a common goal instead of jumping strait to war protocols things wouldn't be hitting the fan now.
For starters the league needs to retrain its staff to pay attention and not take lightly the kind of argument Aengus and Rarity had. The details they released were enough to set off diplomatic red flags and it is Poke'mon cannon that some nations are not league friendly, or place capture restrictions on rare poke'mon. Next why did the league not close the ports of entry after the safari zone director made his reports of dangerous creatures. His subordinates should have fully briefed him of rarity and trixie as creatures not legal for league participation considering the other pony contact. Three is their poor commitment to the safety of their citizens. The world chumps should have used their contacts to help in the search or at least order a trainer curfew to reduce pony contact, most importantly during Twilight's incursion and the farm incident. Hell if Red was conscripted to deal with the farm owners Pinkie would not have been hurt in a stupid stealth op she could not do.
As for the ponies Starlight and Rainbow can both loose their tongs if they believe their actions are perfect and didn't contribute to the conflicts. Trying to kill a trainer during Twilight's Incursion, the safari ball skeet shooting, and the threatening almost killing the farmer. $#% Luna's and Celestia's wisdom in returning these 2 ponies to action and Starlight's own Strawman to justify dismissing the value of people who she basically drags into the conflict. Luna also needs a beat down for her own act of involving the innocent in a punishment only a few deserve. Don't be surprised if Mewtwo makes her pay for that show of arrogance.
Best case MewTwo disarms both warring sides and disables all poke'mon and pony abilities until Aengus and Patty are caught.
a vary good chapter, Trixie is home for now but she is still missing one of her doters.
I do know of 3 filly's that if I hade my hands on them would be in for a real hide tanning that is after princess Luna was finished with them.
8107734
Having the protagonist stuck with someone disreputable, unlikable, or even evil, forced to work with this person to accomplish what they want/need to do? It's a time-honoured source of tension. Worked well for Ishmael and Ahab in Moby Dick, and surrounding Captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or Frodo and Sam stuck with Gollum as their only guide.
Question, what was the gender ratio of the Twixie's? I lost track of all of them. I think it was more females to males but how much I'm not sure
8107412
I certainly agree, but Luna outranks Twilight. And I suspect she's peeved at three little fillies she had personally mentored and taught making the rashest decision of their young lives.
8107451
Well...let's, uh, not speak against the Crown. Tends to be a little rough on necks that keep heads attached.
8107452
)
Epically-cast rendition of Bigby's Crushing Hand witha few other boosters slapped on as well, actually.
No need to worry about those destroyers; we're not gonna see them again (wouldn't be much left to say if they showed up, except "That's how Equestria was unmade!"
And about MewTwo...soon.
8107654
Fair enough. I can apply it.
8107688
Excellent. You nailed it, what happens when communications are never established and assumptions lead the charge with tempers as their lieutenants (of course, then we wouldn't have much of a story).
8107763
Thanks. Horsewhippings all around.
8108470
Trixie laid ten eggs. Of those, Zauber was the only boy.
8114655
Just a helpful suggestion, there's a lot of dark elements in this, and dark doesn't automatically mean torture, evil, blood, gore or whatever else it means.
I just had a really odd question/thought. If the girls are Twixies what the heck is Zauber? I mean obviously Trixie named him, unless she didn't, but is he still a Twixie? And with the Pokémon removed does this mean ordinary humans could hear actual words now or are they still talking with Twixie, Twixie, Twixie because of their 'unique' origins?
I guess I'm curious, is Twixie being a hybrid species named Twixie Female Symbol/Male Symbol like Nidoran? Or is it just like any other gender introduced in gen II later Pokémon?
8114671
Zauber was just a male Twixie, named by Trixie when she found him out in the wild. With his Pokémon half siphoned off, they can hear him normally.
ok, kinda call bull on the "wiped out part" since, oh i don't know discord would be utterly furious if they captured or harmed fluttershy, and well, he could probably kill every human in a blink of an eye or drive them mad, and then there's also that they've faced stuff that would "wipe them out" multiple times and beat it(3 times without the elements since this takes place after the season 6 finale i'm guessing) either way, still like the story
Okay... I am officially calling this Celestia a jerk and Luna an idiot.
Like seriously? Giving a kid graphic picture of decapitation and death, just to change his mind? He would have nightmares for weeks! And not even taking about the psychological trauma for the rest of his life!
And Luna? I don't get it. What did she mean by “They will be safe with me”? There is overpowered badass Pokémon about to attack them and guess who have at least a chance to defeat it? That's right Luna. Leaving alone three scared fillies in the middle of brutal battlefield. Why didn't she send CMC with Twilight?
8258863
Weeeell... If they have taken out Celestia so quickly. Surely they have some kind of tech that shield them from chaos magic and take out Restaurants.