A New World, A New Way: Requiem from the Lostbelt

by Metroid Prime

The Day to contend with God(s)

Earlier…

Lucario stood in front of the Hall of Legends. The Aura Pokemon had made up his mind on what he was about to do.

He walked past the Regi Trio who were guarding the entrance. The Legendary Pokemon not moving to stop him.

Once inside he walked until he reached the foyer which was empty. He remembered coming here with Korrina and the others for the first time when they arrived on Equus.

He remembered how angry she was upon leaving the temple when Arceus told him how he and all the Pokemon were here to stay. The idea of being a Pokemon for the rest of her life did not sit well with her.

For that brief time, Lucario did not blame his trainer. She had every right to be mad at Arceus. But now, the god who had denied his trainer her former life was now the only one who could bring her killers to justice.

How ironic.

“Hello.”

The Pokemon was snapped out of his daydream and looked up to see Deoxys. He did not know when the Legendary Pokemon got here, but he assumed it was when he was lost in thought.

“Hello, Lord Deoxys. Is Arceus here?”

“Well, yes and no.”

“Huh?”

“If you mean that he is specifically in this temple then no he is not. He is currently in his personal realm. But said realm is connected to this place so it’s not like he is far away or unreachable.”

“Okay, I don’t need the finer details. I just want to know if I could deliver some vital information to him, or if you would tell him for me.”

“And what information would that be?”

“The whereabouts of Chaldea.”

Those four words alone were all Deoxys needed to hear. The Legendary Pokemon closed his eyes and spoke in an ethereal voice.

“Lord Arceus. Your presence is requested.”

-

Arceus sat in his pocket dimension as he contemplated things. Namely what he was going to if….no, when he captured Chaldea. Obviously, the first thing he was going to do was read their minds, find their “Wandering Sea” base that is seemingly located in an unknowable part of the world, and neutralize it.

But what about what comes after?

He initially planned to just keep them in his personal divine prison located in the Hall of Legends for the rest of their lives, Celestia’s opinion be damned. Given the threat they presented, he was not willing to let them out of his sight let alone allow Celestia to keep them in the Canterlot Dungeons. At least not without some modifications that he would make to it. Mortals always had the habit of surprising him with the unexpected. Just like when his priests unexpectedly sealed him away.

But the more he thought about it, the more he started to wonder if he was being too harsh. Despite his promise to Mew, he could not help but feel immense bitterness towards the Chaldeans he had never even met. And from an objective point of view, the reasons were childish.

To be honest, it was not Chaldea he was personally mad at. Arceus was more upset about the fact that Fate itself was insistent that humanity be a continuous problem for him in both his world and this one. It was a little paranoid of him to think like that but that’s just how he saw this situation.

“My people have suffered so much, I could not protect them, only watched as the world was ruined over the course of 5,000 years. My Pokemon are innocent victims in this conflict, why must they have to fight for their freedom and future?”

Arceus wanted to scream, it just wasn’t fair. This is not how it was supposed to be.

He blamed the humans for ruining his Earth. He blamed those priests for sealing him away. Part of him blamed Harmony for not telling him the truth of this world so that he might prepare for what would happen.

But most of all, Arceus blamed himself.

None of this would have happened if he just stayed on his world and fixed it. Sure there would be conflict and untold casualties. But at least both Pokemon and humans would survive. At least there would be a future for his world.

But instead, he ran away from his problems and in turn got him and his children into an even bigger and more dangerous predicament than had he just stayed home.

“I am sorry humans. I know this is your world, I know you have the right to it. But my Pokemon mean more to me than anything. So I will be taking your world and your future. I admit that the fact that I no longer care about humanity makes this easier for me. But if history judges me as an invader who took your planet from you, then so be it. I will gladly become a sinner to give my people a future.

As Arceus steeled his convictions, he heard a psychic message coming from Deoxys. Almost immediately the Alpha Pokemon stopped what he was doing and manifested before him.

“Yes, Deoxys? Do you require something?”

“Not me my Lord. But the Lucario who once belonged to Korrina has something to tell you.”

The Pokemon god looked down at Lucario with anticipation.

“Lucario, what is wrong?”

“Forgive my intrusion Lord Arceus, but I have something that I should tell you.”

“Of course, what is it?”

“We managed to capture a Chaldean last night. And she was being held in the Pokemon Ranger Union.”

Arceus blinked.

“Really? Perfect timing I was just thinking about the -...wait, what do you mean she was?”

Lucario without hesitation said, “Unfortunately, she is dead now.”

Arceus blinked twice.

“Dead!? Why? How?”

“The female Chaldean committed suicide. Shortly after Celestia had a discussion with her.”

“Suicide.” Arceus closed his eyes and mentally pinched his forehead. "I can’t say I’m surprised but-,” The god stopped in his tracks when he realized something.

“Wait, you said they captured this Chaldean last night correct?”

“Yes.”

“And how long ago was this interrogation?”

“Less than half an hour ago.”

Arceus’s expression then changed from confusion to anger.

“Why was I not informed of this sooner!? If I was there none of that would have happened. I would have stopped that human from taking their own life. Hell, I could have extracted the knowledge I needed from their heads without them realizing it! Whose bright idea was it to not inform me of any of this!?”

“You can ask Princess Celestia. Apparently, she thought it best not to tell you due to your disposition against humans I’m afraid.”

Arceus narrowed his eyes. “Is that so?” He then fully closed them as he expanded his mental state to see what was going on in the Ranger Union.

Lucario and Deoxys stared at their god for a few moments, only exchanging glances once. When Arceus opened his eyes, he seemed like he was in a much better mood.

“Well well well. It seems some things have happened while you were gone, Lucario.”

“What do you mean?”

Arceus closed his eyes again and spoke in an ethereal voice.

“Mewtwo, I need you to teleport to the Pokemon Ranger Union. The situation should be self-explanatory once you see it. Only make sure the ones you see don’t get away. I will handle the rest.”

Once he was done speaking, Arceus opened his eyes and looked back at the two Pokemon.

“Lord Arceus?”

“Tell me Lucario, what compelled you to come to here when Celestia did not want anyone to inform me of what was going on?”

“Well my Lord, I want justice for the death of Korrina. The Chaldeans are the ones who sent that servant to kill her, I'm sure of it.”

Arceus turned to Deoxys. “Wait here Deoxys, I’ll be back shortly. As for you Lucario,” The Alpha Pokemon grasped the Pokemon his teleportation field. “I think you will want to witness this.”

And then both Lucario and Arceus were gone.

---

Back to the present.

Princess Celestia, Luna, and Twilight finally caught up as they looked upon what had happened.

Arceus and Mewtwo were floating overhead. The Shadow Border was no longer in motion and was missing a wheel.

It was clear to the three of them what had happened and what was going to happen next. But one question was on Celestia’s mind.

“How did he know what was going on here?”

“I told him.”

The three of them recognized the voice next to them. Celestia turned to see Lucario. The Pokemon was not even looking at them, instead, focusing his attention on Arceus, Mewtwo, and the Shadow Border.

“Lucario...”

“You should not have kept him in the dark Princess, he deserves to know what is going on as well.”

The Princess was stunned. Part of her felt like she shouldn’t be surprised that he told Arceus what had occurred. And yet she was. She had hoped that Lucario would not say anything after she told him why she wished to keep Akuta’s capture a secret from Arceus. However, that was her decision. Lucario had no obligation not to inform the god of what was going on. Especially since he believed that Arceus would do a better job of avenging Korrina since he believed Celestia was not going to do it herself.

Revenge was an emotion that she knew of yet never experienced. As such Celestia could never understand the need one feels to get their own version of justice for the pain that was caused to them. She knew of loss of course, but not in the way Lucario had.

Celestia knew she was going to have a talk with the Aura Pokemon later, but for now, she had another problem to deal with.

“Arceus,” The god did not even turn his head to acknowledge her. “I think we should discuss what is going to happen here before you do it yourself.”

“Like you should have discussed with me the moment you captured a Chaldean?” He replied in a sarcastic voice.

Celestia opened her mouth but nothing came out. Despite her best intentions, she knew Arceus had every right to be upset with her.

“I shall have a talk with you later about your lack of communication skills Princess Celestia.” Arceus’s voice was laced with disappointment, and everyone knew why. “But for now I shall deal with these humans the way I see fit.”

Inside the Shadow Border, everyone was getting to their feet as well as gathering their bearings.

“Ugh, what happened?” Kadoc said.

“I think we got flipped over,” Ritsuka pointed out. “But unlike in Scandinavia, this one felt harder.”

“Well whatever it was, it must have been pretty powerful to throw the Border like that.” Mash stated.

Da Vinci, who was still rubbing her head, got up and checked the sensors. What she saw made her heart race.

“Oh no.”

Everyone looked at her as soon as they heard those words.

“What, what’s wrong?” Goredolf said worryingly.

“I think I know who, or what threw us. I’m picking up a very strong divine signature some several feet above us. Along with a powerful psychic nearby. There's no mistaking it, there is a god bearing down above us.”

Now it was everyone else's turn to have their hearts race.

“A-are you sure?”

“Either that or it’s a very powerful Divine Spirit. And I can take several good guesses as to who it is.”

As the realization dawned on everybody. Something even more terrifying happened next.

“Attention Chaldeans.”

Everyone grabbed their heads as they heard a deep and powerful voice speak into their minds.

“I am Lord Arceus, God of the Pokemon. Creator of my own universe. The Alpha Pokemon.”

It wasn’t just Chaldea Arceus was speaking to. He also was making the alicorns and Lucario listen in as well. He was waiting for this moment for a long time and wanted the audience to know exactly what he was gonna do.

“I know who you are and what you are trying to do. And obviously, I cannot allow you and your servants to carry out your plans of genocide upon my children and the native people of this Lostbelt. As if my divine presence was not enough, allow me to hammer home the point that there is no escape for you and no room for negotiations. All you can do is listen to what I am about to say. I am going to give you until the count of 10 to step out of your vehicle and surrender yourselves. Do that, and I may just reconsider erasing you from existence.”

The voice of Arceus ceased to sound in their heads. But the horror of the situation was still setting in. Eventually, Kadoc broke the long silence.

“Okay, what the hell was that?”

“Telepathy, a rare ability few have unless it happens to be your contracted servant or in this case, a Divine Spirit,” Holmes explained. “But that is not why we should be worried about right now.”

“10”

More panic started to set in as Arceus began his countdown.

“Da Vinci! Holmes! Tell me you two have some kind of plan to get us out of this!?” Goredolf exclaimed.

“9”

“Ok I’m sorry but I don’t have any kind of secret plan or backup plan for this kind of scenario. I mean normally when we go up against divine spirits at the very least it’s after strenuous planning and timing on our part. We were never prepared to deal with this guy right now, nor do we know anything about him that might help us fight him later!”

“8”

“What about all those servants waiting in the caves, I know some of you contracted with a few of them, call them now. Use a command spell to summon them here!”

“7. Also know that if you try any funny business like sending a servant to attack me. I will remove your souls from your bodies while I look through your minds for what I need.”

“.......Okay. I’m just gonna ask right now, does anyone have a cyanide pill we can share.”

Everyone just stared at Kadoc.

“Master, don’t even joke about that in front of me,” Anastasia said.

“It was a suggestion.”

“6”

“Ok, I’m gonna be completely honest with you guys. There is no way out of this situation. To put it simply, we’re screwed.”

“5, That you are.”

“Wait, is this guy still reading our minds or something?”

“Either that, or he is listening to what we are saying even though the walls of the Border. Although given that he spoke inside our heads, it is probably the former,” Kirschtaria said. As the Team A leader said this, he contemplated using his most powerful magecraft against Arceus. Although the option was null since he would very likely kill everyone with that attack. Plus it takes time to activate, which was more than enough for Arceus to sense what he was doing and intervene.

“4”

“Is there really no way out of this?” Ophelia said in a low voice.

“Looks that way,” Holmes said. “I’m afraid our best option is to surrender now and hope that maybe we can talk our way out of this.”

“Are you serious!?” Goredolf said. “Didn’t you hear what that god said? He is not interested in talking. At best he is gonna lock us away someplace where we’ll never see the light of day again or give us a quick painless death, worst case scenario he tortures us in a way only a god can.”

“3”

“And yet still, however small a chance it may be. If we can find a way out of this situation, we must first accept the reality of it.”

Akuta thought for a moment about how Celestia had offered to negotiate with Chaldea about how both sides should try and work together. Then she remembered how she traumatized the ponies by exploding and sucking their fox friend of her blood. So she’d doubt she would get the ponies’ vote of confidence now.

“2”

Everyone just stared at each other, the look of defeat and acceptance of their helplessness was on everybody’s faces. They were left with no choice, no alternative, and no way out other than what was in front of them.

Several nodded, while others sighed.

“1”

“Okay,” Ritsuka said. “We surrender.”

This was followed by a moment of silence.

“Good, now all of you step outside where I can see you. I’d rather not waste my power teleporting the lot of you out of that tank.”

Ritsuka, after a moment of hesitation, breathed in and out before he started walking to the right side hatch, Mash closely followed by. She did not want to let her senpai out of her sight.

The master of Chaldea gripped his hand on the handle, slowly he turned it, and opened the door. Sunlight flooded the room as he stepped outside.

There was a small sound of something like a rock hitting the armor of the Border

The sight that greeted him made his heart stop.

-

Mewtwo watched with a satisfying smirk as Arceus laid down the terms of surrender for Chaldea, after which he started to count down for them to make a decision. Needless to say, he was enjoying this.

He could feel the emotional anxiety coming from the Shadow Border as the Chaldeans panicked on what to do. The Legendary had to resist the temptation to just reach into their minds and pluck out the location of their base. But he could wait, after all, there was no way out of this for them, nor was anyone coming to their rescue. And even if some servants did show up, Arceus was more than enough to deal with them. Truly, this was the end of the line for these humans.

“As if you ever stood a chance against a god, mortals. Know that you will get no less than what you deserve, I and those who agree with me will see to it, I swear.”

“1,” Arceus listened as one of the humans spoke out loud that they surrender.

If Arceus had a mouth he’d be smiling, although not as smugly as Mewtwo was. Soon he would be rid of another threat to his Pokemon. While he did not expect to resolve this problem so fast and so easily, he was not about to complain. It seemed Fate didn’t hate him after all.

“Good,” he said. “Now all of you step outside where I can see you. I’d rather not waste my power teleporting the lot of you out of that tank.”

He heard footsteps as someone walked to the door on the left side of the vehicle, followed by someone turning the handle and opening the hatch.

Then…

Gate of Sky

All of a sudden the Shadow Border was surrounded by a large wall that one would normally find circling a castle. In fact, the entire area within the wall glowed purple as an actual large, decorated, castle rose from the ground and projected an equally purple force field around the entire area. It all happened so fast that neither Arceus nor Mewtwo tried to do anything before the Shadow Border was completely enveloped by the castle itself. But it would have mattered if it did, the moment the wall surrounded them was the moment a divine bounded field of protection was cast over the Chaldeans.

Once both Legendary Pokemon stopped gawking, they tried to psychically grab the Shadow Border but to no avail. Even Arceus with all this divine authority could not exert his will of the castle and its confines.

“What is this!?” Arceus shouted, his anger rising. “Where did this come from? Why is it resisting my power!?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said a calm and motherly voice. Arceus looked around for the owner before finally spotting a figure floating down and landing one of the castle spires that was close to the wall.

The person in question looked human, but the aura she radiated said she was anything but. She was dressed in purple with a lighter purple flowing hair, her eyes were a shade of red just like his. She had a queenly feel to her with a mix of a motherly presence. Arceus had met enough in his long life to know what she was. While she had the signature of a servant, this person was no doubt a god of some caliber.

“Did I step on your moment?”

-

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight were starting in awe as a giant caste that could rival the majesty of Canterlot’s castle manifested in the northern area just outside of Ponyville. What shocked them even more was the frustrated cries of Arceus as he ranted about something.

“What’s going on!?” Twilight said. “Where did this castle come from? Who does it belong to?”

“It seems that’s not the only issue,” Princess Luna said. “It appears Arceus has been cut off from the Chaldeans. But how? Such a thing should be trivial to him.”

“And yet we can’t deny what we are seeing. Whoever brought this castle here, it clearly has the magical capability and power to block Arceus from getting inside or doing anything to Chaldea.”

“But how?” Twilight tapped her chin. “I mean, the only thing that could possibly go up against Arceus is another go-”

“Whoa, what the heck!?” Twilight turned to see that Rainbow Dash was coming to after being knocked out by that servant with the shield. The pegasus was now having her turn gapping at the castle that appeared right next to her.

“Hey, Twilight!” The alicorn turned to see Pinkie Pie and Applejack running up to her. Apparently, the commotion had drawn them here.

“Woah,” The farmpony said as she got a closer look at the fortress. “Now when did this thing get here?”

“Ooo did someone new move into Ponyville!?” *Gasp* “Why didn’t nopony tell me!? I have yet to throw them a welcome party!”

“No one just moved in Pinkie and I don’t think you want to throw them a welcome party.”

“Oh, then who then does the castle belong to?”

“Our guess is as good as yours Pinkie Pie,” Celestia said. “What we do seem to know is that castle just formed around the humans of Chaldea.”

“Wait, the Chaldeans are in there!?” Applejack said.

“Yes.”

“Well then what are we waitin’ for!? Let’s get in there and teach them a lesson.”

“Applejack,” Twilight said as stopped her friend. “I don’t think we should go bargaining into a random castle that appeared out of nowhere until we have a plan of some kind.”

“And besides,” Luna stated. “I think Arceus may just beat us to the punch.”

Back at the castle, both Arceus and Mewtwo stared down at the servant who was currently standing behind the force field that protected her and her castle. The former two were not at all amused at the situation.

“You're a god”, Arceus stated.

The servant smiled back at him. “Indeed I am.”

The Alpha Pokemon narrowed his eyes. “Then state your divine name and what pantheon you belong to.”

“I am Skadi of the Norse Pantheon. Jötunn Goddess of Winter and daughter of Þjazi.”

“A Nordic deity? Ah yes, I remember, you were one of Odin’s wives.”

“Oh, I married Odin in Pan Human History? I see, but that’s beside the point.”

Arceus raised an eyebrow at her statement but decided to leave it for later. “Indeed, as a fellow god who persists in this world, I must ask: What are you doing?”

“Is it not obvious, I am protecting the Chaldeans. And it was actually a good thing I made it in time to save them before you were about to do something regrettable.”

“Regrettable!?” Mewtwo said. “Do you know who this is? This is Arceus! Creator of the universe, Lord of all Pokemon, and your superior in every way you minor god! Stand aside now before you feel the combined wrath of two of the most powerful Legendary Pokemon in existence!”

“My my, such temper. Did your mother not raise you right boy?”

“....That is none of your business. As I said, you may be a god but Arceus is stronger than you in every way imaginable. Hand over the Chaldeans and maybe my Lord will be generous enough to spare you.”

“Mewtwo, I understand how you feel, but I will handle this. Skadi, am I correct to assume that you are a god who is from this world?”

“If you mean I was born of this Earth and have authority while on it then yes.”

“I see, then I can understand that as a god of this world you will protect it and the human lives that live upon it. No doubt you were sent here by the Counter Force to protect Chaldea am I right? But even if that’s true, you must understand that I too am a god with a people and a world to protect. So I will only ask you once to surrender the Chaldeans before I take them from you.”

“I completely understand. I too was a lone god defending my people and what little they had. But that time has passed, and now I must do what the world requires of me and protect the last hope of mankind. I’m sorry Arceus, but you will have Chaldea over my dead body.”

“Goddess of Snow, I’m sure you can sense the difference in power between us. You may be able to put up a fight against me alone for a minute or two at least. But with Mewtwo at my side, we will make short work of you before we bust down that gate to your castle.”

Skadi stood there for a moment not saying anything. Both assumed she was weighing her options and chances of winning. They both knew that she did not have the power to fight both of them while they were at full strength.

“Very well, you have a point,” The wand in Skadi’s hand disappeared.

Both Legendaries were a bit surprised, they did not expect her to agree so quickly.

“You are right, I cannot defeat you both at full strength. You may pass through the gate into my territory.”

Arceus blinked but made a small mental smile nonetheless.

“Glad you are seeing reason Skadi of Jotunnheim. You made the right decision.”

Then all of a sudden a large set of ornate doors appeared between them and Skadi. They then opened to reveal a land of snow and shadow on the other side.

“What?”

A vortex emerged from the gate and started to suck them in.

“What is this?” Mewtwo screamed. “You said you’d surrender the humans to us!”

“I never said that, I said you could pass through the gate. Although I never said it was the gate into my castle.”

Arceus and Mewtwo resisted the howling winds. But the entire time they felt the pull of the gate growing stronger, or was it them growing weaker?

Finally, after about 10 seconds the doors closed and the gate disappeared. Both Mewtwo and Arceus were still here but they felt exhausted for some reason.

“What was that?”

“While I do not understand it much myself, that gate just drained a good portion of your energy.”

A shocked expression crossed Arceus’s face, before being replaced by anger.

“You're lucky though, if that gate had sucked you in, chances are you’d be dead by now.”

“Lucky!?” Arceus’s eyes glowed yellow. “You’ll be lucky if you survive once I get through that shield of yours!”

“While I would like to contend with you. I must attend to my children, so a friend of mine will keep you busy for now.”

Arceus’s eyes widened. And before he could react, something slammed into him from above and sent him smackdown to earth.

“Lord Arceus!” Mewtwo said.

As Arceus got up a voice spoke next to him. “Oh my. That didn’t hurt did it?”

He looked up to see another servant standing before him. She was dressed in what he recognized as Mesoamerican attire. She had a decorative shield plus a macana. Like Skadi, he could tell that she was a god.

“You dare strike the god of Pokemon you imputent-”

“Mewtwo, I can handle this, start assaulting that force field. Your top priority is capturing Chaldea, they CANNOT get away.”

Mewtwo looked at the assailant then back at Arceus.

“As you wish my Lord.”

Arceus then turned his attention back to the servant. “So which god are you supposed to be?”

“Oh, how nice of you to ask. I’m Quetzalcoatl, God of the Sun, the Morning Star. My children were the Aztec.”

Arceus recognized the name. In Aztec mythology, Quetzalcoatl was a Chief God just like him. Someone who was the ruling divine authority of their given Pantheon. Which made them more equal in terms of power, although Arceus was still clearly the more powerful one. But one thing stood out that confused him.

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be male?”

Quetz smiled.

“Maybe I was. Maybe this Quetzalcoatl before you is just one form of that god. But that doesn’t matter right now.”

She pointed her macana at him.

“What matters is that I’m about to teach you a lesson in pro wrestling. I hope you are prepared!”

Arceus stared down the god who was now a servant.

“I had no idea that gods could manifest as servants. But why though? I can tell that both Skadi and she are not as powerful as they should be. It seems that servant bodies limit the amount of power they can have. And to think they can be commanded by a human master. Hmph, just another example of humans trying to control the gods and their power.”

“Quetzalcoatl surely you don’t think you alone can best me in combat do you?”

“Well let’s find out shall we!”

The servant jumped forward and attempted to strike Arceus with her weapon. The god was able to parry it with his leg, however.

“I won’t admit it, but that sneak attack of hers did hurt me. Plus that hit just now had some real force behind it. And with my power drained from that gate, it appears this won’t be a simple win for me this time. At the very least, it will be interesting fighting a worthy opponent for the first time in millennia.”

Elsewhere, a certain Charizard who lived in Canterlot sneezed.

---

Inside the Castle of Shadows.

“Uh, what just happened?”

The words were spoken by Kadoc as he stepped out of the Shadow Border along with Fujimaru, Mash, and Kirschtaria Wodime.

The four of them beheld as they were now within the walls of a massive fortress that radiated with power. All of them could feel a sense of protection and safety within it. Like someone was shielding them from the outside world.

“Where did this come from?” Mash asked out loud.

“Perhaps it’s someone’s Noble Phantasm?” Kirschtaria pointed out. There were some Heroic Spirits who possessed Fortress or Bounded Field Noble Phantasms. He knew that Kadoc’s servant Anastasia possessed one, but this was clearly not it.

Goreolf then appeared on Ritsuka’s holo communicator. “Have you guys figured out what’s going on out there?”

“Well director, from the looks of it, we appear to be within some kind of castle. A very well-protected castle.”

“Wait really!?”

Da Vinci then chimed in. “Looks like it. According to these readings, this is someone’s Fortress type Noble Phantasm. And the bounded field its projecting is shielding us from outside interference and intruders.”

“Even that god Arceus?”

“Well since I can’t detect him within these walls it looks like it so far.”

“Oh thank god hallelujah!” Goredolf shouted, the four outside being able to hear him from within the Border as well as the communicator. “Just when I was about to lose hope. Whoever just saved us from certain doom has my eternal thanks!”

“Oh, well thank you,” said a female voice.

Everyone then looked up to see a certain familiar face descend down in front of them.

“Wait is that Skadi?” Mash said.

“Skadi? As in Scáthach Skadi? The same one from the Norse Lostbelt?” Kadoc said.

“The same one,” Da Vinci stated. “These readings show that she has the same spirit origin as the one we met back in the second Lostbelt.

“But wait,” Kirschtaria began. “How are you here? And why are you helping us?”

“All excellent questions my children. But for now, let’s focus on getting your vehicle further into the castle walls.”

With a flick of her wand, various runes were drawn in the air around the Shadow Border. The tank then was positioned upright and began rolling forward.

Kirschtaria, understanding the situation, asked Mash to grab the wheel that had been torn off and carry it. They then started to walk more into the castle towards its center. Along the way there was discussion.

“It will be a minute before we make it to the place. Now you said you have questions right?”

Now it was Sherlock’s turn to appear on the Ristuka’s wrist. “Indeed your highness. While I do have an educated guess it would be better for everyone else if we could hear it from your mouth.”

“Well, as you all know, you came to my Lostbelt and chopped down my Tree of Emptiness. Ending my kingdom and killing its 10,000 inhabitants.

There was a twinge of guilt throughout the whole party.

“But, what’s done is done. Only one world could live in the end. But even so, it appears my existence did not end there, no, the world had other plans for me. It’s like they say, the loser must serve the winner. And so, because of the connection I share with the true owner of this body, I was afforded a place in the Throne of Heroes, and given a new spirit origin and a duty to fight for the restoration of PHH as a servant.”

“Hmmm. I guess that makes sense,” Da Vinci said. “After all, since Scáthach is already a servant, manifesting as a pseudo servant through her body would be possible.”

“Indeed, although I must admit I am still not entirely used to this role. As a goddess, you all should be serving me.”

“Is that why you saved us?” Kadoc asked. “So we can be your servants.”

“Maybe.”

Everyone just stared at her.

“I jest. But I love humans, I really do. That was true while I was Queen of my Lostbelt. But now that that’s gone, the humanity of this world is all that’s left. I’m sure it’s what Odin would have wanted, given that it was his birds who guided you while you were in my land. So for now you have my full support, be grateful.”

“Oh yes,” Mash said.

“Very grateful indeed your highness,” Fujimaru added.

Kadoc blinked, then just shrugged his shoulders and went along with it. Kirschtaria just smiled and continued walking.

Eventually, the group along with the Shadow Border arrived in what appeared to be the central courtyard of the castle.

“Alright, I believe this will be a suitable place for you all to begin repairing that iron chariot of yours. I apologize for the lack of Valkyries to help you but I’m afraid none of them manifested with me.”

Fujimaru put his hand on the back of his head awkwardly “Well actually-”

As if on cue, Ophelia stepped out of the Shadow Border along with the rest of Team A and their servants. Skadi immediately locked eyes with one of them.

“Ortlinde?”

The Valkyrie servant of Ophelia saw the Divine Spirit and made a surprised face.

“Ah, to think I would see a familiar face in this world so soon.”

“Oh, are you the goddess Skadi? Oh yes, records from father mentioned you as one of his wives. But, you look different from what the description says.”

Skadi’s smile faded a little.

“Ah right, she is the Ortlinde of this world. I must remember that.”

Skadi was snapped out of her thoughts when a low boom was heard from where the force field was.

“What was that?” Anastasia exclaimed

“It sounds like Arceus or someone is trying to get in.”

“Ah, that reminds me. I’ll need one of you to form a contract with me. While Quetzalcoatl may be keeping Arceus busy, the shield around the castle that I am generating uses a lot of mana to keep his influence and authorities out.”

“Wait, Quetzalcoatl is here too!?” Mash exclaimed.

“Yes, we were both summoned together. But we can only do so much without a master to provide mana. So one of you will need to form a contract with me so we have a much longer window of opportunity to fix your vehicle before they inevitably break-in.”

Kirschtaria held out his hand without a second thought. While Fujimaru could hold multiple contracts. More than any of his fellow masters combined, the ancient magic crest of the Wodime family made it more ideal for Skadi to form a contract with someone with high-quality magic circuits like him.

“I will Lady Skadi.”

“Very well,” Skadi took his hand and within a few moments, the contract was formalized.

“I shall now begin the process of fortifying the inner walls. This will hopefully buy you all a little more time when the outer shield comes down."

Skadi then walked away, leaving Chaldea to begin repairs on the Border.

“Alright Da Vinci,” Goredolf said. “Aside from the obvious broken wheel, what’s the damage?”

“I've been running a self-diagnosis ever since Skadi saved us. The damage is not that bad, but I ran the numbers with Holmes and-”

“It will be possible to get the Shadow Border up and running very soon. But that all depends on how fast our enemies can take down that shield. From our calculations, it will take at most 20-30 minutes if everyone pulls their weight and nothing else breaks down or something goes wrong. And then there is the matter of preparing for another Zero Dive which will only be possible once the Shadow Border is fully repaired.”

“Hmmm alright everyone, you heard them," Goredolf shouted. "Everyone grab a wrench or something and start repairing this boat. Unless you want to know what that angry god has in store for us, I suggest you get this thing up and running as soon as possible!”

“Hopefully.”

-

Twilight and her group of friends just watched as Arceus fought against a servant that appeared out of nowhere. They were torn between helping him or trying to figure out how to get into the castle.

“So, what are we going to do?” Pinkie asked.

“Okay, I say Twilight and the Princesses should start pounding that shield until it comes down. Then go inside and take down Chaldea!” Rainbow Dash suggested.

Then all of a sudden Mewtwo appeared before them.

“Don’t waste your magic or the Princesses magic Miss Rainbow Dash. It will take more than just three alicorns to take down that shield.”

“Wait,” Luna said. “Why didn’t Arceus try anything? Since he is a god surely he could have taken down that shield in no time.”

“Even if he was not dealing with a servant who just so happens to be a god,” Mewtwo snapped. “The one who created that castle and force field is also a god herself.”

“Wait what!?” Twilight exclaimed. The rest of the group was also shocked. “That servant fighting Arceus and the one who made that castle are gods!?”

“Without question. It seems we are not the only ones with deities on their side. So while Arceus is occupied, it falls to us to destroy that force field.”

Celestia was a bit hesitant. If and when they got that barrier down, she still feared what Mewtwo might do to Chaldea once they have them. Then she remembered that the Pokemon could easily read her mind and just pushed those thoughts to the side for now. For better or worse, she had to work with him for now regardless of what might happen.

“Okay Mewtwo, what do you suggest?”

“I have already sent out a mental signal to all the Legendary Pokemon in the Hall of Legends, they will be here shortly. As for you Celestia, are there any forces in Canterlot that are on standby?”

“Well, we could ask Seth and his team to come down here. As well as the 1st-4th platoons of the Royal Guard. But it will take time for them to get down here-”

Without giving her time to finish Mewtwo closed his eyes, and after a few moments of concentrating, Seth, his team, and 4 platoons of the Royal Guard were standing in the middle of the field. Also teleported with them were various catapults and siege weapons.

“Or you could do that.” Celestia deadpanned. She wished Mewtwo could at least have given them time to prepare before teleporting them all down here, or at the very least a warning. This was evident by the fact that one unicorn guard was looking at a “certain” magazine before he realized where he was and put it away. But it was apparent Mewtwo wanted to get this over quickly.

The Legendary Pokemon however did not look so good. He was breathing heavily. Normally teleporting such a large group of people would not be as tiring for him. But after what that gate did to him, he had less power to work with.

"Hopefully I'll still have enough to see this through."

“Uh, weren’t we just in the bathroom?” Selena said.

“Yeah who spoiled the fun!?” Said Ingis. “It was just about to get good?”

“Wait, what were you two doing in the same bathroom?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Both Pokemon immediately went red before looking away. “Nothing.”

“Princess Celestia?” Seth said. “What is going on?”

“Hey Seth,” Rika said while tugging on his fur. “I think you should look at this.”

Everyone then turned around. And at that point, no one knew if they should be more surprised at Arceus fighting someone and not obviously winning given his power, or if they should be more surprised at the giant castle before them.

“Oh, so that’s what’s going on.”

“Seth, I am sorry to call you here so suddenly, but this is of the utmost importance. Currently, the humans of the Chaldea Security Organization are inside the castle. We need you and everyone to help Mewtwo and the Legendary Pokemon take down that shield ASAP so we can capture them.”

“Oh, so you found Chaldea. That makes sense why you called us here then. Don’t worry Princess, we’ll do what we can.”

“Oh yeah, so does this mean we get to finally fight servants now!? Yes! I've been waiting for this moment!” Ingis’s mouth seared with flames of anticipation.

“Attention Royal Guard!” Luna shouted in her Canterlot Royal voice so that all could hear. Immediately they all stood at attention.

“We apologize for bringing you all here on such short notice, but this mission is of the utmost importance,” Luna pointed to the castle. “Inside that castle are the highly sought-after enemies known as Chaldea. The dangerous human organization we were warned about. Your mission is to bring down that shield as quickly as you can, storm that castle, find Chaldea, and bring them to us alive. Do you understand?”

After a moment of confusion, the guards understood the situation and then readied their arms and saluted.

“YES YOUR HIGHNESS!”

“Very good, Platoon lieutenants come forth!”

Four ponies in distinctive armor approached the Princess and stood at the ready.

“Flippity Flop and Magnet Bolt. Take your platoons and assault the main gate. Sky Raid and Light Steed go around the back and see if you can find any entrances, if you can't find any, then come back and assist the front.”

“As you wish your Highness!”

“Captain Seth Crescent.”

The Luxray walked up with his team.

“Yes, your Highness?”

"Assist the 3rd and 4th platoons in finding another way in, I’m sure you and your team can find a way as you always have.”

“You can count on us, Princess Luna.”

“Good now move out!”

The army then scattered as they began to grab their spears and swords, some began to set up the siege weapons such as mangonels, and trebuchets. Soon the first and second platoons had loaded the catapults while the 3rd and 4th platoons were walking around the back.

“Princess Celestia, what can we do?”

“Twilight, I need you and your friends to stay here by my side and out of the line of fire.”

“Huh why?”

“Yeah we want to help, we wanna fight,” Rainbow Dash.

“Twilight, I do not doubt you and your friends, but in this situation, there is not much you can do, the Royal Guard and the Legendary Pokemon(once they get here) can handle this.”

“Hey, are you saying that we are not needed or something?”

"No. What I'm trying to say is that you might not be ready for a situation like this."

"What do you mean?"

“Twilight, while you have fought against villains who were very dangerous and deadly. If you really think about it, you have never fought against them while they were serious.”

“Huh?”

The alicorn sisters looked at each other. The looks on their faces said that what they were about to say may be a hard truth for them to hear.

“Princess Twilight,” Luna said. “You may not know this, but between my sister and I, I am the better alicorn when it comes to fighting. Why, if Celestia hadn’t used the Elements of Harmony on me, I could have beaten her.”

Twilight was about to protest, but then she remembered the vision shown to her by Zecora. How Nightmare Moon sent Celestia crashing through the roof of their old castle in a matter of seconds.

“So with that in mind, can you give an explanation as to how you were able to beat an experienced warrior like me when I was Nightmare Moon?”

Twilight didn’t need to think hard on that one.

“You underestimated us.”

“Indeed, when I met you on that day, I did not see a capable team that had the power to defeat me. I just saw six foolish ponies who were in over their heads, and ones who could lead me to the only weapon that could defeat me. In my eyes, you were not a threat to me at the time. Needless to say, if Nightmare Moon had foreseen her defeat on that day….you would not be standing here to hear this from me.”

Twilight felt a wound to her pride. Indeed, the only reason they did save Princess Luna was that Nightmare Moon did not use her full power on them.

“Okay but what about Discord?” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “He knew what kind of a threat we were, and he made us do a personality inversion to make sure the Elements of Harmony wouldn’t work.”

“Yes, Discord was smart enough to corrupt the 6 of you. But that’s all he did,” Celestia pointed out. “He did not anticipate Twilight regaining her hope and belief through the return letters I sent her. Nor did he think to hide the Elements away or destroy them so no one else could use them. He was ignorant on that day just as we had fought him 1,000 years ago. Discord is the kind of person who believes that he is invincible once he sees that the ones trying to stop him have given up.”

“Alright I guess you have a point, but what about King Sombra? That guy was more evil than Nightmare Moon and Discord put together.”

“King Sombra,” Luna said in a leveled voice. “Tell me, did you ever actually confront King Sombra? And I mean to his face, up close and personal. Hoof to hoof?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, but her mind drew a blank. As far as she and her friends were concerned, they never even got a good look at the guy. The first time they saw him was as a mass of black smoke. The next time he had broken into the Crystal Empire before being repelled shortly afterward by the Crystal Heart. In fact, Spike got most of the credit for defeating that monster.

“In short, you all have never actually had to fight a real fight. Not like the wars me and my sisters have, not like the battles Pokemon fight in all the time. You don’t have any experience or know what it’s like to fight like a warrior.”

“Wait wait wait,” Pinkie Pie said. “You're both forgetting one thing.”

“Forgetting what?”

“Remember when Canterlot was invaded by Changelings? I remember because I recall using Twilight like a magic machine gun to blast some Changelings into next week!”

“Oh yeah, we did do that!” Applejack said with a smile.

“That’s right! We totally took out like a hundred of them,” Rainbow recalled this as she punched and kicked the air. “So yeah, we totally have been in a physical fight before and won!”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other and back at the five of them.

“Touche.”

“But Twilight, my student, those were just Changelings. The thing that is waiting for you in there are probably servants with human masters. And if I recall correctly, just one of them was enough to put Rainbow Dash in a hospital. Not to mention that one human who may or may not be a vampire.”

“We know that Princess!” Twilight said in a forceful voice. Celestia was a bit taken back by her pupil’s tone.

“Uh sorry. But I get it, you’re worried about us. You think we might get killed or seriously hurt. But this isn’t just about Equestria, those humans in there pose a threat to the entire world as we know it. We can’t just stand by while something threatens all we hold dear, that’s not what we are, and that’s not what friends do.”

“Yeah, honestly I knew what I was getting into when we went after Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the rest. I had a feelin it would be dangerous, but I wasn’t afraid to back down when Equestria needed me.”

“Hey, I’m loyal to you and my friends. But you know what else, I’m loyal to this world. If some invaders can just come in here and take everything away from us like they own the place, they have to get past Rainbow Dash first!”

“I don’t usually like to get myself dirty or get into fights with ruffians. But I always do what I can for ponies and people who need me. That’s what being generous is all about.”

“I’ll be straight with you, I don’t want to fight, I want to throw parties and make friends with everypony! But if the world is gone, then there will be no one to make parties with anymore, and that’s sad. I want to bring a smile to everyone, even if it means-”

Pinkie Pie then pulled out her party cannon, which was now surprisingly stocked with various explosives.

“Bringing the pain every once in a while!”

Celestia blinked, before letting out a chuckle that evolved into a laugh.

“Alright, I see. You all have a courage and determination that has saved this kingdom time and time again. I guess I should have learned to trust you all right now to make your own decisions regardless of what might happen. Very well, the five of you can help however you see fit.”

“Thank you, Princess. And I think I have just the plan. One that you’ll want to hear.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes, because it involves you two.”

-

“Hyper Beam.”

A powerful blast of energy narrowly missed Quetz as it traced across the ground near her. The line of explosions that followed shortly afterward created a new trench next to Whitetail Woods.

“Impressive,” Arceus said. “No one has ever avoided my Hyper Beam. Then again I should have expected no less from the agile Winged Serpent.”

Their battle had taken them further and further away from Ponyville, they were now almost a mile away from the castle. This was a conscious decision on Arceus’s part since he did not want their battle to spill into the town and potentially cause casualties.

The god was more or less not surprised that Quetzalcoatl had lasted as long as she did. Even as a servant, her power and authority as a chief god were still evident by the way she fought and the power behind her hits. Even so, neither of them had managed to land a decisive blow

“My my. I am impressed as well, no one has given me this much trouble since I fought Tiamat.”

Arceus stopped attacking when she mentioned that name.

“Tiamat, you fought Tiamat?”

“Oh yes, I remember pulling out all the stops to beat that Beast. Bought just enough time for Chaldea and Gilgamesh to find a way to put her down for good.”

Those words are all that was needed to confirm his suspicions.

“Wait, Chaldea was there when Gilgamesh killed Tiamat? They helped him kill her!?”

“Yes, he couldn’t have done it without them.”

This was certainly news. The humans who were within that castle helped kill humanity’s mother. To think they were capable of doing that.

“Why!? She made humanity, she loved them! And you and those little monsters just threw her out like she never meant anything! Like all she had done didn’t matter!”

“Oh, but she did matter si. But that’s the thing about parents' señor.”

Quetzalcoatl looked at Arceus without changing a beat.

“Parents are necessary for growth, but they are undeeded for adulthood. Tiamat had fulfilled her purpose as a parent and creator. Her death was the necessary sacrifice for humanity to shake the shackles of childhood and move on.”

Arceus just floated there in silence with his head down. He remembered the words spoken by those Priests after they sealed him away.

“It is not a place for god to interfere with the affairs of mortals!”

“To be fair, Tiamat’s love would have rolled over the world and doomed it. What Chaldea did saved mankind.”

“I saved the world from a tyrant”

“The Age of Gods was over anyway, the Age of Man was gonna happen sooner or later.”

"A new age has dawned for mankind."

“And in my opinion, they haven’t royally screwed up yet.”

"Try not to mess it up.”

“So sorry about this, but I’m about to give to you what I gave to her.”

“.........They’re just like them.”

“Huh?”

“Chaldea, the humans of this world, they’re just like them.”

Arceus lifted his head, his face displaying tranquil fury.

“They are just like those priests who imprisoned me and my children. Thinking that they should be the ones in charge because they see us as overbearing parents.“

Arceus’s voice and the temperature around him were rising.

“Did any of you ever think that the reason we’re overbearing is that we were worried!? We loved our children, we really did. We wanted the best for you! I dreamt of a world of peace and harmony, not a planet where one race rules over all others!”

The Alpha Pokemon's aura was now becoming visible, Quetz just tilted her head.

“We gods, we ancient makers, and keepers of the world. Everything we do, we do because we have a responsibility. To both the world and the people who live upon it. Someone has the do it. The reason why we- why I didn’t trust them with it was because they had yet to PROVE they were worthy of being custodians of the world! But instead, they were too impatient. You humans, you see our love as hurt and slap our hands away when we try to help you ungrateful children.”

At this point, Quetzalcoatl could tell that Arceus was not talking to her. He was just ranting out loud, getting something off his chest that had been living there for thousands of years.

“You humans are not ready to care for this planet. You will exploit it and the others who live upon it for your own selfish gain. As the god who created humanity, as your father, I shall deliver the punishment that has been a long time coming.”

Arceus began to gather power in his facial area.

“You humans-”

Quetz got the sudden feeling that she should take a step back.

“Will be brought-”

She quickly dug her heels in and raised her wooden shield.

“To JUSTICE!”

Arceus unleashed a Hyper Voice that knocked Quetzalcoatl off her feet and sent her flying at least several more miles away from where the castle was. Once she got back up, Arceus was standing right in front of her.

“Once I deal with you, I shall tear apart that castle until I have those humans in my mental grasp. Then I will give them the punishment they deserve.”

“Oi, aren’t you being a little harsh? From that rant of yours earlier, it sounds like you were talking about someone else.”

“I was. But it does not matter, Chaldea’s sins are the same. Both they and those priests committed the same act of treason against their creators. Once I have them, I shall administer the same judgment on them that I would have saved for those traitors priest and their sages. I will not be satisfied until I have justice.”

“Well then,” Quetz got up, then she activated the skill that pertains to her benevolent wisdom. Increasing her attack power. Her aura began to flash.

“I’ll have to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening.”

“You will try.”

-

“Ready, aim, fire!”

Another volley of rocks was launched from the trebuchets and struck the force fields around the castles, the projectiles bounced harmlessly off the shield like a pebble hitting a brick wall.

“Load them again!”

“Hey Magnet Bolt, I’m not gonna lie, I don’t think we’re doing any damage.”

“Even if that’s true Flippity Flop, we can’t stop now, that Princesses are counting on us. The most dangerous terrorists in Equestrian history are inside those walls. And I intend to capture them no matter what!”

“I know that. What I’m saying is that we may need something bigger to break through.”

“Hey girls.”

“Sergeant Peachy Sweet, address your commanding officer properly.”

The yellow earth pony who had just walked up to them cleared her throat and corrected herself.

“Sorry, ma’am. I just wanted to say that, if we need something bigger to break through, then will that work?”

Both mares followed the Sergeant’s hoof behind them, they turned around and their mouths hung open.

Kyogre flew overhead along with Latios, Reshiram, Kyurem, Lugia, and several other Legendary Pokemon.

Mewtwo, who was floating overhead, smirked as his reinforcements finally arrived.

“Alright everyone, batter that shield with everything you have!”

“With pleasure," Yveltal said as he began to charge his signature move.

“Time to bring the Thunder!” Thunderous said as storm clouds began to form above him.

The rest of the legendaries readied their moves. Mewtwo himself decided it was time to pull out the big guns.

“Awaken, o power of mine!”

Energy began to coalesce around the Genetic Pokemon before he was encased in a sphere of energy. Upon shattering said sphere, Mewtwo’s appearance had changed. His muscles were now more pronounced, his tail had shrunk a bit while his shoulders turned the same hue of purple and his eyes were now blue.

“You Mega evolved,” Latios said. “Didn’t know you could do that.”

“I never had the need to. But for this situation, I won’t hold back any longer.”

Mewtwo then turned back to the castle and stretched out his hand.

“Legendaries, attack!”

A volley of powerful moves struck the force field. Causing vibrations throughout the castle which were felt by everyone in it.

“Woah what was that?” Fujimaru said as he felt the ground shake.

“It’s a sign that time is running out!” Da Vinci said. “Mash hand me that laser cutter. We need to get this broken piece out so we can replace it. The wheel axle won’t be able to go back on until we do.”

“Alright.”

“Hippolyta, keep holding up the Shadow Border steadily. I need this to be as still as possible so I don’t fumble anything.”

“Got it.”

Back outside Mewtwo’s hand began to glow before he flew straight into the force field.

“Mega Punch!”

The fist slammed into the force field, again and again, one Mega Punch after the other. A normal Pokemon would not be able to use such a powerful move over and over in such quick succession. But for someone of Mewtwo’s power level in his Mega Evolution form, it was easier.

“It won’t be long now, humans.”

Meanwhile, Giratina was standing back looking at his fellow Legendaries. The reason why he was not engaging was that he was looking around.

As one of the oldest of Arceus’s children, this also made him one of the smartest when it comes to tactics. Not to mention that his prison was the Distortion World for the last several thousand years, which due to its connection to the main dimension, allowed him to view Earth through its mirror portals just like Arceus. Which meant that like his father he was allowed to witness humanity change, shape, and ruin the Earth all that time.

So while Mewtwo and the others would attack the most obvious and guarded entrance point, he was looking for another way in.

The good news is, he found another way in. The bad news is….

“Hey, you’re Giratina right?”

The Renegade Pokemon looked to his side to see a purple alicorn flying beside him.

“Yes, that is me. You are Princess Twilight correct? I remember seeing you when you first arrived at our temple when we came here. Although I don’t believe we have been formally introduced.”

“Yes, I don’t believe we have. But I have something to ask of you, which will hopefully make us more acquainted.”

“Oh? And what would that be?”

“Follow me.”

The dragon Pokemon then followed the Princess back down to the ground where the other ponies were waiting for her and him.

“So what’s this about Princess?”

“Well, as you may or may not know, I was doing a book on Legendary Pokemon until my first copy was….misplaced. It was to be a book on the history and powers of the Legendary Pokemon so that ponies and people could learn more about you guys.”

“Ah yes, I think Mew mentioned that to me one time. You had apparently grilled my sister for many questions regarding Pokemon genetics and the origin of the species.”

Twilight blushed a little. “Yeah, I did do that. But while I never did get the chance to ask you any questions, I did hear from the others about how your powers work. Apparently, you live in another world that was some reverse dimension of Earth?”

“The Distortion World. Like you assume it is my personal realm that is...or rather was the reverse side of Earth. It was meant to act as a counterbalance to the main dimension in order to stabilize any time-space fluctuations.”

“Okay, so how do you travel from one dimension to the other?”

“Any still reflection in this world serves as a portal to my world Princess. But only I am able to access them and see through them. Anything that is a mirror be it a sheet of glass, a still puddle, or clear ice. As long as it is a reflection, it can be a mirror or portal from which I can view the normal world from mine.”

“Wait wait wait!” Pinkie Pie said. “So you’re saying that if I’m bathing myself you could just look through the mirror in my bathroom and see me naked! You creeper!”

Giratina’s eyes widened. “No no! I would never do such a thing. Understand that I only use the windows to view the world in general. Not spy on people, at least, not the innocent ones.”

“Ok we’re getting off-topic here,” Twilight stated. “So what you’re saying is that as long as it’s a mirrored surface, you can go basically anywhere in the world?”

“Indeed.”

“Okay, then this might work.”

The dragon Pokemon blinked before he realized what she wanted from him.

“Ah, you think there may be a mirrored surface in that castle that you could infiltrate to get inside right?”

“Yes, that's exactly what we need you to do. Help us Giratina.”

“Well, you’re in luck Princess. I was just looking at the castle from above and could see several things that could serve as a portal to get inside.”

“Really! That’s great!”

“The problem for me is that none of them look big enough for me to fit through, so I was stumped on what to do. You, on the other hand, the five of you could be small enough to fit through.”

“Good, you can count on us.”

“Very well, is everyone ready?”

No one except Pinkie Pie raised their hoof.

“Yes miss Pie?”

“I need to go use the bathroom.”

Twilight just hoofpalmed.

---

Back where Arceus and Quetzalcoatl were fighting, the area around them was starting to look like a warzone, more so because more and more craters and torn up landscape due to their fighting.

Arceus fired several Stone Edges that the Rider servant either dodged or knocked out of the way. She rode on her recently summoned pterosaur that allowed her better engagement in the air against the Pokemon god.

“Hydro Cannon!” A powerful jet stream of water was shot at the dinosaur riding god. Quetz jumped and cleaved it down the middle with her Macuahuitl. Using this opening she was able to grab onto Arceus’s neck and attempted to perform a stone-cold stunner. But Arceus then used the move Gravity to shake her off him and sent her plummeting back down until her pterosaur caught her.

“Give up already!” Arceus shouted in a commanding voice. “I am someone who has stood atop all of creation itself. I can destroy planets and moons with but a thought. So why won’t you die!?”

“I haven’t tapped out because I still have not accomplished what I was summoned here to do. And until I do that thing, this big sister will not yield to the likes of you!”

“You can’t even lay a finger on me! You have yet to even use your full power and we both know it.”

“Yes, my full power. You want to know why I have been holding back until now?”

Arceus raised an eyebrow.

“It so that I could get you out here. Where no one would be hurt by my full strength.”

Quetzalcoatl then began to gather power in her first.

“The Past is here. The Present is here. The Future is here.”

Then she reached for the sky, as a magical projection of the Aztec Sun Stone appeared spinning above her.

“Come winds, come lighting. When the morning star shines, let all know the sun’s light reaches every corner of the Earth.”

Arceus watched as energy and mana crackled around her as a ball of fire came from the stone which she caught in her hand. She then jumped from her mount into the air and made a dive at the Alpha Pokemon.

“Piedra-”

“Del-”

“-Sol!”

“Hmph, foolish.”

Arceus simply moved out of the way, causing Quetzalcoatl to hit the ground.

Piedra Del Sol!
The Sun Stone

Arceus looked down, expecting to see an explosion followed by a confused servant realizing she missed her target.

He did not expect the blast to still reach him, as well as vaporize everything within a 5-mile radius.

The back of the castle.

“You're kidding me there’s nothing here!”

Ignis was irritated as Seth, his team and the two other platoons had made it around the castle, only to find no back entrance, even 5 minutes of searching did not yield any results.

“This was a waste of time.”

“Calm down Ingis,” Seth said. “It’s not a big deal. Even if we didn’t find anything, there was no harm in looking.”

“I’ll be honest,” Light Steed said. “Not having a back entrance is bad architecture. Like if there is only one way in or out, then that means whoever lives here does not plan to escape if their castle ever gets invaded. Which will soon become a reality.”

“Well, I guess we better go back around and help-”

The Luxray was interrupted when there was a loud boom. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to see an explosion that was seen from Ponyville to Canterlot. Ponies and Pokemon in both settlements looked as the sky was lit up by something that radiated heat that they could feel from where they were standing. When the dust settled, the ground that was left had turned into lava.

Arceus started to shake off the effects of the explosion. But the Divine Spirit was not done yet.

Her hand still connected to the ground, she began to absorb all the head she had to unleash unto the Earth. Within moments, the molten ground began to rapidly cool until it was solid again. She took the returned heat and placed it within her chest.

“O divine creator of another world! We are both foreigners in this Lostbelt, neither of us has any right to be here!”

She then jumped into the air, going high and higher.

“So, allow me to be the one to take us both out of here. So that the people of this land may have two fewer gods to contend with!”

She passed the troposphere, then the stratosphere, and the mesosphere.

“Witness the power of my nation’s underworld! The cataclysmic impact which destroyed the land!"

Finally, she turned around and began to fall like a comet descending from the heavens.

“I shall burn everything away by becoming the comet that killed all life on this planet!”

The servant aimed herself at the dazed god, she would not miss this time.

“Último Tope Patada!”

Arceus finally looked up and saw the blazing meteor heading right for him. He could move or teleport, but the impact would devastate the surrounding area and possibly kill any Pokemon who were nearby.

Standing his ground instead, Arceus put up several layers of the move Protect. He hoped it would be enough to stop her.

Her impact shattered the first and second shields, two seconds later, the third layer was gone leaving only an inch of protection between Arceus and her.

“I could use my last Noble Phantasm. But that would overclock my spirit core.” Quetz thought to herself. “Ah, but I wanted to see that young master again...oh well.”

Gathering energy into her foot, the supreme divinity of the Aztec pantheon unleashed her final attack.

"Burning Fighting Spirit!"

Xiuhcoatl!
Flame Burn the Gods to Ashes

The Noble Phantasm broke through the final Protect barrier. Arceus is hit with such a force that the impact sends shockwaves that shatter glass and windows in houses and buildings closest to the edge of Canterlot.

-

The Distortion World.

The ground shook as Twilight and her friends walked along the otherworldly landscape of Giratina’s world.

“What was that?” Rarity asked.

“A sign that the real world is being visited by powerful forces that can affect even this world. Ignore it for now, keep moving.”

While the destination was not very far, Twilight could not help but be distracted and intrigued by this new realm she found herself in. The entire place was alien yet familiar to her. There were formations and pieces of floating land that didn’t look like how they should. Gravity was inconsistent as evidenced by waterfalls “falling” upward. There were also strange floating purple clouds that Giratina warned her not to approach. She then spotted some floating spheres that when she looked at, she saw a place or thing that she recognized from Equestria.

However, one group of spheres caught her attention in particular.

It showed a devastated city with streets littered with overturned strange-looking metal carriages, and a sky filled with dark clouds that thundered and flashed. In the center of said city was a large tower that looked disused.

Another window showed a city with two towers. The left tower was burned to the ground while the right one remained standing. Twilight then spotted someone shifting through the city, looking in trash cans and opening those strange metal carriages. Upon closer inspection, Twilight realized that the figure was a human.

“Hey, Giratina. Are these images of Ear-”

“Keep moving, the way through should be very close”

Twilight understood his interruption and decided to drop it. Apparently, he didn’t want to talk about things that should stay in the past.

”We’re here.”

The group arrived at a larger sphere which showed the inside of what appeared to be the castle that everyone was currently trying to break into.

“I shall open the portal, get ready.”

A vortex shot from Giratina's mouth and connected with the image. Soon the sphere transformed into a swirling portal.

“Alright, you know what to do, see if you can try and find a way to make the window on the other side bigger. Create a large sheet of ice or a giant mirror, something that will allow me and others to fit through.”

“I can take care of that. Meanwhile, you start getting everyone ready to go through the portal once we’re ready..”

“I will. Good luck Princess Twilight, and friends.”

They all nodded, and then one by one the ponies jumped through the portal. They tumbled through the time-space tunnel until they emerged through the other side. Twilight fell out and onto her rump followed by the rest of her friends.

The group looked around and beheld their surroundings. The place they had emerged from was a small pond with a fountain in the middle. On one side was the outer wall and the force field keeping everyone out, on the other was the castle itself.

“My my,” Rarity said. ”This place looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s like one of those fairy tale castles you read in a foals book.”

“Well, it’s not gonna be that way much longer. Soon Arceus and the Legendaries will turn it into rubble.”

“Ugh, Rainbow Dash, do you not have any appreciation for fine architecture?”

“Not when said architecture belongs to a group of mass murders.”

“Girls stop it, remember what we’re here for. Rainbow Dash, see if you can fly through the castle and locate where the Chaldeans are.”

“You got it Twilight!” The cyan Pegasus flew towards the citadel and was about to pass over the inner walls, before hitting an invisible barrier and was left dazed.

“Ooh, that’s gotta hurt,” Applejack stated.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. “Okay, looks like I’m getting past that.”

“It seems whoever made this place set up additional shields to protect the inner layers of the castle. I think even Shining Armor would be jealous of this level of fortification.”

“So what now Twi?”

“Now I guess I should just concentrate on making a big enough reflective surface so that Giratina can start sending everyone through.”

“Alright then, work your magic sugarcube.”

Twilight nodded before closing her eyes and concentrated. She grabbed the water from the fountain and began to float it into the air.

Within the inner walls of the Castle of Shadows, Chaldea was almost done repairing the Shadow Border.

“About 5 more minutes and we'll be ready to set sail here!” Da Vinci said. A wave of relief alleviated the Chaldeans as it looked like they might make it.

Skadi was watching from her tallest tower as the protectors of the Human Order nearly completed their repairs. But just then her magical sensors alerted her to intrusion within her castle. Looking down she spotted 5 ponies walking within her territory.

“Well well, it seems some unwanted guests have decided to enter my castle without permission.”

Skadi took out her wand as she began to form magical ice in her hands.

“Perhaps I should give you a proper welcome, little ones.”

Twilight finished applying a wall of water to the outer wall of the castle and then used another spell to freeze it. After some fine-tuning, the sheet of ice became a perfectly reflective surface.

“Nicely done darling.”

“Thanks, Rarity. Now, all we have to do is wait for Giratina to bring everyone here and-”

Twilight was interrupted as a large icicle was hurled from above and impacted the sheet of glass. Ice and snow scattered everywhere.

“Whoa, where did that come from!?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Ugh, I think I know,” Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight and everyone looked up to see Skadi up on the inner walls looking down upon them.

“Hello, and what might you 5 be doing in my castle?”

Everyone except Twilight took a step back, they could feel her icy gaze even if she was smiling. Only the princess dared to step forward with a brave face.

“My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. Who are you?”

“I am Queen Skadi, Goddess of Ice and Snow. And this is my castle of which you have just entered.”

“Oh, so this is your castle huh? Well, let me just say that as a Princess of this Kingdom, you have no power or authority to erect a castle in a foreign nation and claim Equestrian land as your own. By the power vested in me, I order you to take this thing down and surrender the Chaldean’s you are sheltering.”

“Yes, I am aware that I am unlawfully staking my castle in a foreign land little Princess. But you need not worry, I won’t be here for much longer.”

“Much longer?” Twilight thought. “Then the Chaldeans must be getting ready to escape. But how? It’s not like that metal transport of theirs can get very far on just wheels. No, something else must be up.”

“I’m afraid that is unsatisfactory Queen Skadi. I must request you surrender the Chaldeans right now. They are wanted terrorists who have already harmed citizens of Equestria, one of them being my friend who was savagely attacked and suffered major blood loss. If you turn them in now, I promise Celestia will give you a fair trial.”

“An interesting proposal Princess,” Skadi brought out her wand for all to see. “But I’m afraid I must decline.”

Before they could react, Skadi from her high ground managed to use her wand like a laser pointer, to inscribe a strange symbol none of them had seen before right on Pinkie Pie’s chest.

“Oh, what’s this do?”

The Earth Pony got her answer when her body suddenly became encased in ice. Only her head remained unfrozen.

“Oh shoot,” Applejack whispered.

“Scatter!” Rainbow Dash said.

The four remaining ponies tried tunning in various directions. But unfortunately, there weren’t many places to hide and take cover.

“Oh, we are playing hide and seek then?” Skadi then floated down as she looked around for her quarry. “Very well I shall do my best to play along.”

-

Back outside Mewtwo and the rest of the Legendary Pokemon had making to make a few cracks in the shields, but nothing to make it shatter completely. Yet none of them had thought of quitting now.

“Keep going!” Mewtwo said. Despite the fact that his Mega Evolution was nearing its time limit, the Psychic Legendary still kept hitting the barrier with everything he had.

On the ground, Celestia and Luna watched as the Legendary Pokemon and ponies continued their siege.

“You think they might make it in time sister?”

“That depends Luna.”

“On what?”

“Even if they do manage to get their vehicle up and running again. I have no idea how they might escape given there is no shortage of beings here who could purse them on their wheeled transport.”

“Are you saying they have another means of getting away?”

“Possibly. After all, they couldn’t have could have arrived in Equestria from wherever their secret base is.”

Luna became silent as she contemplated that possibility. Meanwhile, Celestia’s eyes scanned the battlefield until she spotted Lucario. The Aura Pokemon currently launching Focus Blasts at the force field. The Pokemon looked like he was getting tired, the time between each use the move becoming longer and longer. Celestia was worried about the Pokemon. He was starting to go to great lengths in order to avenge his partner. She just hoped the Pokemon wouldn’t do something foolish.

“Princess Celestia!”

The Solar Princess looked to see Seth and the rest of Platoons 3 and 4 walk up to her.

“Ah Seth, did you find anything?”

“I’m afraid not Princess, it seems that the front door is the only way in or out.”

“Hey, are we not gonna talk about the giant that happened a few clicks north?” Air Raid said. “It looked like it might be serious.”

“That explosion was Lord Arceus fighting another god.” Everyone looked up to see Giratina touch down next to them. “He’ll be fine, we must focus on what needs to be done here.”

“Ah Giratina,” Celestia said. “Has Twilight and her friends managed to find a way in?”

“Yes, Princess. I managed to escort them inside not a while ago.”

“Wait, they got in? How?” Seth said.

“Through my Distortion World. Right now, Twilight should be making the portal big enough on the other side for the rest of us to come through.”

“How will you know when they’ll be ready?”

Behind his mask, Giratina smiled.

“Why don’t you come with me and find out?”

-

“Well, this bites.”

Rainbow Dash, who was currently part of a giant ice cube along with the rest of her friends squirmed and wiggled to no avail. Each pony had one side to herself.

“That was a fun game I believe,” Skadi took a step back and beheld her work. “Now you five stay here like good children and behave.”

“Hey, you can’t just keep us here!” Twilight said. She tried to use her magic but stopped once Skadi saw what she was doing.

“Hmm, so that horn of yours is what allows you to use magic.” Skadi took a few steps closer to the alicorn. “Perhaps I should remove it just to be safe.”

Twilight's eyes widened in fear.

“No, please! Stay away from me! My magic means everything to me!”

“Is that so? Hmmm,” she studied the Princess for a moment before smiling. “I see, I can tell just by looking at you that you have great potential young lady.”

The Queen of Ice and Snow walked closer to Twilight until she was inches from her face.

“Tell me little one, what gives someone like you such great power?”

Twilight steeled herself, not wanting to show that she was scared. Despite the fact that she was at the mercy of a god.

“You really wanna know?”

“Yes.”

Twilight put on a determined face.

“It’s them.”

Skadi looked and realized she was referring to the other 4 ponies stuck in ice.

“Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy. They are the reason my magic is so strong.”

“Those are 5 names I count 4.”

“Fluttershy couldn’t be here today. But if she was, she would agree that it’s because of her and the bonds the 6 of us share that my, no, our magic is as strong as it is. Because together we have learned to master the strongest friendship in the history of the world. The Magic of Friendship!”

“So for you, friendship is magic?” Skadi tilted her head. “That’s something I never heard of until now.”

“Yeah, one of that Chaldean’s laughed in my face about the idea. It seems the idea of magic being powered by friendship does not exist in your world. Honestly, I feel bad for you guys.”

“You feel bad for us?”

“Yes. Because the magic of friendship is stronger than anything known to ponykind. It has saved this kingdom time and time again and it will save it from the likes of you.”

“Is that so? And pray tell, how will your magical friendship allow you to escape my ice?”

“That’s the thing about friends Queen Skadi. You can always count on them when your need is greatest!”

Before the divine spirit realized what she meant, she received an electrical shock that stunned her momentarily. Behind her, Seth powered down his Discharge, and the rest of his team emerged from the portal in the pond.

“Alright,” Ingis said as he touched the ground. “I’ve been dying for some action all day!”

Skadi got up and turned around to face the new arrivals.

“So Seth, you want us to take care of this one?” Selena said.

“Just keep her distracted long enough for Twilight to do what she needs to do.”

“Got it.” Both Pokemon said.

Seth put his paw on the keystone attached to his badge.

“Ignis and Selena, suppose your limits and go beyond! Mega Shinka!”

Both Pokemon were enveloped in light before they Mega Evolved in Mega Absol and Mega Charizard Y. The couple smiled as they face down their opponent.

“Alright lady, you like playing with ice? Then you’re gonna love my flames!”

Ingis breathed a Flamethrower at Skadi while Selena used Moonblast. The goddess quickly threw up a wall of ice that barely even melted against the heat.

“Alright, backup has arrived!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“They still have to get past her in order to free us Dash,” Applejack pointed out.

“Hey girls what up?” A voice said.

The ones who could turn their heads to see looked and saw a Slyveon staring at them.

“Rika is that you?”

“Hi Applejack, Apple Fritter said she wants to know how you’re doing lately.”

“Tell her I’m doing fine Rika, but right now we need your help.”

“Okay, but I don’t know how to free you guys without alerting ice queen over there.”

“Hey Rika over here.”

“Yes Twilight?”

“The ice cube, you think you can turn it?”

“Uh, sure why?”

“Get me to face that wall, the one with all the broken ice on the ground.”

“Sure thing sister!”

---

Arceus opened his eyes as he woke up.

The deity got to his feet and shook off the daze he was feeling...wait, daze?

Checking his internal clock, Arceus realized he had been knocked out for 5 seconds. No one had ever been able to do that to him before.

It almost made him forget how angry he was.

He looked around, he was in a crater. Flying into the air he tried to sense the spiritual presence of Quetzalcoatl. Nothing so far. But just to be sure he did a thorough divine scan of the area around him, looking for any traces of her divine core. After a few minutes of looking over and over, he concluded that there was no trace of the Aztec god.

“Hmph, so you burned yourself out trying to keep me occupied. I admire your willingness to sacrifice yourself in order to save them, but your efforts will be in vain.”

Arceus turned back to the castle, his Legendary Pokemon had arrived and were now apparently very close to breaking that force field.

“There is nowhere Chaldea can run now. They lost the moment I saw them.”

Back at the castle.

“Blast Burn!”

“Dark Pulse!”

Ingis and Selena fired off two more simultaneous attacks at Skadi, who blocked their attacks with shields generated by runes. She in turn created several large icicles above them which crashed down, the Pokemon would have skewered if they had not dodged in time.

Ingis attempted to flank her and used Giga Impact, but Skadi just created ice wall he just smashed into. Unfortunately, this left her open to a Quick Attack from Selena.

“Gotcha!”

Skadi felt something slash at this side which caused her to grunt in pain. She looked to see blood trickling from the Absol’s horn.

“You wounded me, I’ll give you marks for that. But it will take more than a few grazes to kill me.”

“And that would be true,” Seth said “If killing you is what we were trying to do.”

Skadi felt the wind pick up as she looked behind her, it was then she realized her mistake.

While she was distracted, Twilight had rebuilt the ice sheet and the outer wall which was now serving as a big enough portal for Giratina to come through.

The Renegade Pokemon bore down on Skadi, his red eyes glaring at the goddess. He then turned the five ponies trapped in ice.

“Well done Princess Twilight. Your actions have helped us win this day.”

“Your welcome Giratina. But uh, could you get us out of this popsicle.”

“In a moment, but for now,” The dragon turned his attention back to Skadi.

“Queen of this castle, watch as your bastion falls.”

Giratina then turned to the front gates and prepared a Hyper Beam.

“NO!” Skadi attempted to stop the dragon of antimatter but was tackled by Ingis via Giga Impact before she could do anything.

When it came to the force field around her castle, Skadi created it with the idea of keeping things out. So the shields prioritized maximum defense from outside attacks.

Attacks that came from the inside on the other hand…

Giratina unleashed his Hyper Beam, which was the last proverbial strike needed to take down the force field. All around the wall, the barrier shattered like glass, falling and dissipating into snow.

Almost immediately the front gates flung open and Mewtwo was the first one in, followed shortly by some Legendary Pokemon and the platoons of Royal Guards.

Mewtwo looked and saw the ponies encased in ice. With but a thought, the cube shattered, freeing the ponies.

“Ugh thank you darling, I was getting cramped in there,” Rarity said.

Mewtwo didn’t acknowledge her, instead, his Mega Evolution expired. Leaving him less powerful, but not any less determined. He was looking for something that clearly was not here.

“Where. Is. Chaldea?”

“Hey I know,” Ingis said. “Let’s ask the purple-haired lady, she must know-” Ingis then looked to see that Skadi was no longer pinned under him. “Hey, where’d she go?”

“Skadi must have fled when the force field came down,” Twilight suggested. “We can deal with her later, for now, we have to find Chaldea before they get away.”

Before anyone could do anything, Arceus appeared in the air above everyone.

“You don’t have to worry about them getting away Princess Twilight. There is nowhere the Chaldeans can run or hide from me any longer.”

Twilight was a bit confused. “What do you mean?”

“The moment I saw Chaldea, I made sure to lock onto their very existence. That way I will know where they are, when they are, or how they are. It doesn’t matter if that vehicle of theirs has cloaking or some other kind of camouflage, or if they can somehow travel through time. I will know exactly where they are until the day their existence ends. Which may be sooner rather than later.”

Twilight was a bit surprised at first, but then realized that Arceus was capable of doing something like that. Not to mention he had every motivation to try and make sure Chaldea couldn't get away. And while the tone in his voice was worrisome, she couldn’t complain right now.

“Okay, so where are they now?”

Arceus only needed to blink.

They are further inside the castle, behind several more barriers.

“Will you have any trouble getting through them my Lord?”

“Oh don’t worry Mewtwo, these shields won’t take as long as the last one.”

-

“I only need to screw in a few more bolts and then we’ll be ready to go!”

Everyone stood there in anticipation as Da Vinci finished the last of the repairs on the Shadow Border. Some were tempted to help her with the last few bits, but were afraid they might make her screw something up.

Then all of a sudden, Kirschtaria received a mental message from Skadi.

“I have done all I can, master of Chaldea. But I’m afraid our enemies have broken into my castle, at best, you all have three minutes to escape with your lives.”

“Guys, Skadi says they just infiltrated the castle.”

Kadoc, as well as other members of Team A, began to sweat a bit more.

“How long do we have?”

“I’d rather not distract you all by saying it.”

Just outside the final force field, everyone looked upon the door that was between them and their targets.

“This will not take long,” said Arceus who began to assault the barrier with Dragon Pulse.

“Hey Mewtwo,” Seth said. “Can you sense their minds through that wall?”

“Let me see….yes I can sense them, it looks like they’re getting ready to escape!”

“Can you tell how they’re planning to escape, Mewtwo?” Arceus asked

“Give me a moment my Lord.” Mewtwo then began to focus on a single human’s mind, the one with the weakest mental defenses.

“Aha!”

“All done! Everyone get inside, we’re leaving!”

Da Vinci packed up her tool kit and as everyone ran to the hatch of the Border.

“Alright folks we’re getting out of here!”

Then all of a sudden, Ritsuka let out a cry of pain as he clutched his head and fell to the floor.

“Senpai!”

“Fujimaru what’s wrong?”

Both Mash and Kirschtaria rushed to the master’s side, Ritsuka kept screaming as he felt his mind being invaded. He found himself being pulled into his own brain as his eyes closed.

Inside his mental landscape, Ritsuka was met with nothing but darkness. Then he heard a chuckle, before ground appeared beneath him.

“This is your mind?”

Ritsuka turned around to see a large bipedal creature. It was as he could best describe, feline-looking, but without any fur. It had a long purple tail, and an outer spinal cord connecting its head and back.

“Who are you?”

“I know humans have little if not any mental defenses. But it looks as if your mind is just wide open to mental invasion. It’s as if you're asking for something to just come in and mind control you.”

“Get out of my head!”

“Shut up.”

Ritsuka was suspended in mid-air as Mewtwo effortlessly held him in place.

“You are going to give me what I want human. And there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop me.”

Ritsuka once again screamed like he was having the worst migraine of his life. Mewtwo smirked as he began to bring up many of the human’s memories and knowledge to be laid before him.

“You are beneath me human, there is no one in this world who can stop me in a battle of minds.”

“Enough.”

Mewtwo was so lost in his own glee and satisfaction that he almost didn’t hear the voice behind him. He turned around but saw nothing.

“Who’s there?”

There was no verbal response, only the sound of footsteps and he heard someone, or something walk towards him.

“Who is there? Who dares interrupt me in my moment of victory!?”

Mewtwo then mentally caused the area to light up, but he was not prepared for what he saw.

The figure was now visible, but they were still covered in shadows. The only thing he could make out is a single red eye. They continued walking closer, unaware or uncaring of who they were approaching.

“Who are you? You dare to overstep your mortal authority!?”

The figure finally stopped walking, he was about five feet from Mewtwo and Ritsuka.

“Insolent mortal reveal yourself!”

“My name is not important intruder. The only thing you should do now is listen and listen well. Put that boy down and leave his mind at once, I won’t ask you a second time.”

Mewtwo went from angry to being furious. Who did this guy think he was!?

“YOU DARE!? Do you know who I am!? I am Mewtwo! The most powerful psychic in this entire world. I can create hurricanes with but a wave of my hand. I carry the blood of the progenitor of all Pokemon. A single mind is but putty in my hands. My mental reach can extend to cover an entire city. There is no one on this Earth who surpasses me in psyhic power short of Arceus himself.”

The figure didn’t even look like he heard or cared for half of what he just said. He just smiled, his white teeth visible through his shadows.

“Was that supposed to mean anything to me?”

Mewtwo snapped.

Dropping Ritsuka, he rushed at the shadowy figure with a Psycho Cut and slashed at him. A moment later he realized he had hit nothing but air.

“Oh please,” said a voice behind him. “I have seen mentally disabled people faster than you.”

Mewtwo fired a Shadow Ball behind him, but once again hit nothing. He then began to hear laughter all around him, from all sides. He looked but could not see anyone.

“Coward! You think cheap party tricks will work on me!? My mind is a storm! Tearing apart anything that gets in its way. I will have your mind in shreds when I am done with you. Your mental will is nothing to me!”

Mewtwo once again heard walking and then looked behind him. The shadowy figure was there. But now, the shadows were starting to dissipate, revealing the man behind them.

It was a human dress in green clothing and coat. He had a hat that matched his attire and a red tie hanging from his neck, his eyes were black. And his face betrayed no emotion.

“You cannot comprehend my will intruder. Nor could you ever break my mind of steel.”

“RAAAAHHHGG!” Mewtwo lunged at the human, but instead of dodging, he just fired a blast of fire and lighting that just knocked Mewtwo back and off his feet.

When he sat up, he looked at the man in confused horror. He had infiltrated minds before, been met with resistance and attacks to keep him out of their heads. But never before had someone managed to land a hit on him like that.

“Who are you?” he asked again.

“I. Am someone who follows a path beyond love and hate.”

The man then rushed Mewtwo, sticking him again and again with hit and runs that the Pokemon could not even think fast enough to counter or avoid.

“Begone intruder!”

Mewtwo opened his eyes to see multiple iterations of the man all around and above him. In their hands was the charging of some kind of blue energy.”

Enter Château d’if!
Tyger Burning Bright

Mewtwo was blasted with dozens of beams which caused him to scream as well as obliterate his entire presence from Ritsuka’s mind.

In the physical world, Mewtwo cried out in pain, which made everyone stop what they were doing and look at the Psychic Legendary. Then an invisible force created by the mental backlash caused him to be sent crashing into and through a wall.

“Mewtwo!” Seth exclaimed.

The Luxray along with several others rushed to the Legendary Pokemon's side. They checked him for any response. He was not dead, but completely knocked out.

“What could have done this to him?” Giratina said in horror.

After all, no one had ever beaten Mewtwo like this.

-

Ritsuka opened his eyes as he took a big gasp and sat back up. Looking at these surroundings, he realized he was back in the Shadow Border.

“Senpai! You're okay!” said Mash as she hugged him in relief.

“Welcome back to the land of the living kouhai,” Akuta said.

Ritsuka’s breathing returned to normal as he remembered what had happened to him. He smiled as he recalled what had happened in mind. He would have to find the opportunity to thank that Avenger for saving him once again.

Also, Mash’s hair smelled nice.

“Okay is Ritsuka awake? Good, now we can get this show on the road!”

Da Vinci over the intercom made several final checks.

“Alright, new tire in place. Systems are running normally. Logic plating is intact. Energy flow at 98%. Check check check! This Shadow Border is good to go!”

“Then let's not waste any more time!” Meuniere said. “We need to leave before they bust down that last barrier.”

“Alright, beginning final sequences before Zero Sail, everyone strap in!”

"Expanding Void-Reality observation device: Paper Moon. Expanding Logic formula on Shadow Border's external armor, removing exitance verification for Reality Space. Future Precdition hypothetically prove mirror world plane in ten seconds, relaxing space-time friction decomposition."

As everyone buckled their seatbelts, Kirschtaria communicated with Skadi one last time.

“Will you be alright, your highness?”

“I’ll be fine. I believe my purpose here has been served. I will disappear shortly after.”

“Farewell then Queen of the lost Scandinavia. Your help will not be forgotten.”

“Your welcome my children. May your journey be fruitful.”

Back outside, Arceus and the rest were almost through the last force field.

“Just a little more!”

“Are they still there father?” Giratina said.

“Yes, just a few more seconds.”

“Shadow Border untheather from reality! Void Space Dive, commencing Zero Sail unfurl in five, four, three, two…

“Got it!”

“One!”

Arceus and everyone burst into the inner chamber of the castle and whipped their heads around.

Nothing.

There was absolutely no trace of Chaldea.

“WHAT!?”

Rainbow Dash flew around the room a few times looking until she stooped right in the middle.

“Where are they!?” she shouted

Then before anyone could search in other places, the castle began to disappear. In less than 10 seconds, the entire area reverted to what it was before. Leaving the Royal Guard, Twilight’s friends, and several pissed off looking Legendary Pokemon in the middle of a field.

“Where did they go?” Twilight said, speaking for everyone.

“Father,” Giratina began. “You must know where they are. Tell us, where are they?”

Arceus did not speak, nor did he move.

Everyone looked at Arceus. Some were expecting an answer, others being worried at his sudden silence.

“Father?”

“I don’t know.”

Giratina, as well as every other Legendary Pokemon, could not believe their ears.

“What did you just say?”

“I don’t know.”

Arceus looked at this son, his face looked like he was about to go insane at any moment.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Yeah didn’t you say that you couldn’t track their very existence?”

“I can. But that's the thing. I can’t sense their existence.”

The people around him nearly did a double take.

“What?”

“I don’t know how, I don’t know why. But somehow, someway, Chaldea has managed to conceal or erase their very existence.”

“But, that's impossible," Reshiram said. "Only a god can erase something from existence.”

“And yet that is the only explanation I can think of.”

Arceus looked off into the distance.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to shout. He wanted to stomp his hooves like a child and throw a tantrum. But he didn’t. He could only just stand there.

No one dared to speak. No one attempted to talk with him for fear of what might happen if they derail his train of thought.

For the second time in his entire life, ever since he was sealed away, Arceus had been outsmarted, outplayed, by humans.

Comments

[Mitril]

For the second time in his entire life, ever since he was sealed away, Arceus had been outsmarted, outplayed, by humans.

And thankfully die by them

[Mitril]

So Arceus is more powerful than some gods.... but by what right?
Did he literally got spoiled and got a lollipop the whole god life?
He only was a god of one planet and universes and planets create themselves do he probably lies that he created them.
He never had to improve, he never fought against equals

I hope the Chaldea,etc will realize how annoying Arceus is and just send many gods at the same time go gangbang him and kill him for good, or at least greatly and permanently injure him
He doesn't have a respawn button

[Snow Fire]

Wow! This was a huge chapter...not that I'm complaining. I enjoyed the conflicts and struggles this chapter. And as much as Arceus says he cares, he has no idea what the other Gods of PHH were like. They were cruel and whimsical. Humans were just their playthings for the most part. Only a few cared for them. The Greek Pantheon is one such example.

The longer this story goes, the more I am rooting for Chaldea. I am also hoping all of the residents of Equestria, Equestrian and Pokemon alike, will learn the soul-crushing truth of how their entire world and existences are doomed from the start due to the Fantasy Tree.

I'm glad Ritsuka has Dantes. And the Count just yeeted Mewtwo from his head.

I'm also surprised that the Mane 6 learn that all the battles they faced, they either never faced the enemy directly or the enemy never fought them seriously. The exception was the Changelings, but they were just drones and not supped up beings like Sombra. They would've been dead from the get go had Nightmare Moon taken them seriously.

[Diokno44]

11018864
Agreed

[BlackHorus]

Not really happy on this chapter. It's like the FGO cast had multiple miracle that keeps on happening to just keep them safe. Two Gods appearing out of nowhere, Avenger somehow predicting and arriving at the exact time to help Ritsuka, and how apparently a single God is capable of holding the entire legendaries by herself. If a single God is capable of doing that much then the story can just be done and over with considering how many servant is in that cave.

And reading the comments on how apparently there is no hope on Equestria-Pokemon side and how they should just let the Chaldean just destroy their world just makes me pissed off more. I read the FGO lore and it still makes me unhappy as the story started with Equestria side so my narrative perspective is from them. So it's just very irritating and heart wrenching how they are apparently had already lost since the moment of existing.

Hell what I am hoping for is how Arceus and Harmony to figure something out from that tree to make it grow completely seperate from True Human History to become a world of it's own or have them Migrate to a safer world again. The point is if the ending is they all going to die while only the Chaldeans are the ones having the happy ending then I am going to SCREAM.

[Justalad 45]

11018957
Wow there,now let’s calm a little shall we?

Ok,I Do see your Point,and Honestly I doubt I could say anything that could make it better to you.

So,why don’t just Wait how things still Go around?So far,neither Chaldea or Equestria Know anything about the other that Can be Decisive for their Victories,and then there is also the others Factions That are doing their own things in the Shadows,so I say this Story is still Barely Starting.

[bystanderreader]

11018957
Remember this is a crossover with Fate in general where it's part of Nasuverse where it's going to be dark, full of suffering, and bittersweet endings.

[bystanderreader]

I just realized that this crossover between the original A New World, A New Way with Fate has given original fic that I read when I was still in highschool a bit more depth and give Arceus and the others consequences. I still remember the original A New World, A New Way story where a younger me always had this feeling and thought that "Wow the good characters are going to be happy, the bad characters are bullied and gets there just desserts, and they get away with it" or somewhere along those thoughts that I barely remembered. So after many years later and finding out about this fic that it is definitely an AU of the original A New World, A New Way darker with the involvement of Fate.

All I am saying that while you definitely need some editor or spell-checker cause I maybe dummy but I definitely can read and see some words are not spelled correctly or there's a typo within the past chapters too. But anyway keep up on the good work on writing this fic and see what's going to happen in the next chapter. To clarify this is just my own reflection on what I thought so far of the story so far.

[Mitril]

Wait is the god they met a couple of chapters back is alive or also a simulation? The one that contacted them after the bombings and in the meeting.
Wouldnt they are also practically dead if the tree was just making simulations from this dead universe?

Or stronger gods can escape that?

[Metroid Prime]

11018957

You have a right to be upset if you want, not everyone will like every chapter. But allow me to clarify some things.

Skadi and Quetz didn’t exactly appear out of nowhere ala Deus ex Machina. They cameoed a few chapters back were it was established they were looking for Chaldea. In fact Skadi used a tracking rune to find them, which if you payed attention was the rock that hit the side of the Shadow Border.

Dante’s appearance is consistent with how he shows up whenever Ritsuka’s mind is in serious trouble, examples include the Norse Lostbelt when Sitonai attempted to communicate with him. And the Olympus Lostbelt where Aphrodite used her psychic attacks on him

Skadi didn’t exactly hold back the entire Legendary Pokemon pantheon. I never exactly specified that they were all there. So my apologies if I didn’t communicate that well.

Also don’t be to dissuaded by the comments, that’s just people theorizing based on what they read in this story. It’s just discussion, nothing more. I won’t give away the ending of this story, but I ask that you don’t automatically assume Equestria will lose just because things look bad for them. But at the same time this is Nasuverse, so things will get dark as the story goes on.

By yeah, if you don’t like this chapter that’s your opinion, but I thought to just clarify some things you may have misinterpreted

[Metroid Prime]

11019391

Everyone is alive as of the time the tree of emptiness took root, which was some time ago but not like 1,000 years ago. So everyone stopped being in a simulation at that point.

A Lostbelt inhabitant can’t leave or live outside their Lostbelt for long. They can travel to another Lostbelt that borders on the one they’re on. But if the tree dies, they people living in said Lostbelt will die with them, be they god or mortal

[Ciphers]

In the physical world, Mewtwo cried out in pain, which made everyone stop what they were doing and look at the Psychic Legendary. Then an invisible force created by the mental backlash caused him to be sent crashing into and through a wall.

Finally, someone has wiped the smug off Mew2 face

[BlackHorus]

11019500
Thank you for clarifying your reasons to me. I am sorry if I came up as a flamers, but the reason I do is because your writing is that good. I am invested in this story and if I really hate it I would just leave without saying anything. The reason I am mad is because at first it's seem like the Chaldean just manages to escape a situation where they are entirely surrounded, their get away vehicle is disposed off, and facing the enemy leader all with the cost of Ritsuka having a headache. If one or two of them got captured then I will be satisfied, but to me it's just as if three characters just came out of nowhere to save them when it's the most convinient. A Plot Armor that I really loath. The fact that you already foreshadowing them as a secret party member is good. Thank you for listening to my rant.

[Mitril]

11019502

Everyone is alive as of the time the tree of emptiness took root, which was some time ago but not like 1,000 years ago. So everyone stopped being in a simulation at that point.

Im getting confused here
Someone wrote in previous chapters, that everyone in Equestria is dead and the tree is moving a lifeless puppets that are copies of the originals that generatae energy so after some time another alien god would come suck the energy and the world dry

[Metroid Prime]

11019569

No, that’s not how it works. They are alive in every sense of the word, but their existence is tied to the tree. Essentially their life is on a leash.

[Hellshooter]

11019391
Skati here is a servant. After the events of lostbelt 2 she got recorded into the throne of heroes, therefore, is eligible to be summoned as a servant.

[Hellshooter]

11018957

While I didn’t expect Skati and Quetz to pop in for the save. Anyone who plays FGO or read up on FGO lore knows that Avenger, aka Edmond Dantes, was there in Ritsuka’s mind the whole time. After his special event in the game, Edmond basically vows to always be there to protect Ritsuka, to be a guardian angel for them of sorts, especially if they are to suffer any mental attacks. And that’s exactly what they do in canon FGO, once in Scandinavia and another time in Atlantis/Olympus.
So for someone savy in the lore of FGO, it wasn’t too far fetched to expect the count to make an appearance if Mewtwo, or any psychic type for that matter, tried any of their Psychic shenanigans on Ritsuka.

As for your frustration with the story itself. One of the biggest story beats in FGO Cosmos of the lostbelt is that the lostbelts themselves were always an elaborate trap set up by the Alien god, they never had the intention of letting anyone on earth survive, weather they be from pan human history or a lostbelt, and only needed the lostbelts to grow the Fantasy Trees, since those trees are essentially cocoons for the Alien God’s physical avatar to manifest in. Once the lostbelts served their purpose, the beast would wipe everything else out and then begin Terraforming the earth for their own agenda. Though that doesn’t mean the Ponies and Pokémon have no chance of surviving, nor is anyone here suggesting they should just lie down and let themselves be killed off (save for Mitril for some odd reason), there are a few ways I can think of that can allow their world to survive without it being at the expense of PHH. It’s just that their current course of fighting and opposing Chaldea doesn’t seem like the best of ideas, because they would be playing right into the Alien God’s hands by doing so and tossing any chance they have of surviving away.

[Mitril]

11019803
I meant Harmony or what ever she called herself , I can't remember , the alicorn, I think

[Snow Fire]

11019702
That really isn't how it works? Well, I guess I must have greatly misinterpreted that. I apologize.

I just thought the simulation was the case as Lostbelt inhabitants were unable to survive outside of a Lostbelt for long.

Basically, they are alive, but they just spawned into existence because of the tree? Like, originally, their world was mapped out and simulated to see where it would be in modern day, and when the Tree took root, it all became real?

[Metroid Prime]

11019896

Basically, they are alive, but they just spawned into existence because of the tree? Like, originally, their world was mapped out and simulated to see where it would be in modern day, and when the Tree took root, it all became real?

That’s what we know from what was gleamed in LB5.

[Snow Fire]

11019917
Got it.

So it's a lot like with cartoons where everything is mapped out as storyboards, then brought to life via animation for the episode.

....why is that analogy so fitting?

[Reishin Amara]

5 seconds huh? Arceus seems to have lost his type weakness to meteorites.mostly.

[TheHumanWriter]

Another window showed a city with two towers. The left tower was burned to the ground while the right one remained standing. Twilight then spotted someone shifting through the city, looking in trash cans and opening those strange metal carriages. Upon closer inspection, Twilight realized that the figure was a human.

Quick question, is this a reference to New York's 9/11, or from some city with twin towers that has a similar event to it from a TV show/video game? Because the imagery of those "two towers" give me NYC's old World Trade Center.

designer-wallpaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Skyline_Twin_Towers.jpg

[Metroid Prime]

11021390

It’s the Bell Tower and Brass Tower from Ecruteak City.

[Guikoi]

Best chapter so far.

Best Onee-chan Quetz gets to fighy a strong opponent once more. Sad she died doing it, but she really left a mark on both Arceus and Equestria.

If Equestria does survive all this, I'm certain that crater is going to be famous. I mean, a GOD turned herself into a meteor and hit another God so hard it had the capability of wiping 95% of all life off the surface of the planet. No one's forgetting that shit.

I loved Skadi's role in this. I love Skadi in general. She needs more love. Thank you for giving her the love and attention she deserves.

Now I just have to wait for the inevitable Summer Skadi and I'll be able to die happy.

Arceus seems to be stronk as fuck. Resisted Gate of Sky (thank you for using both Skadi's, FGO's, and Scathach's, Extella's, versions) and then tanked both Noble Phantasms from Quetz. God DAMN he a thicc ass boy!

I'm starting to think the best way to get rid of him would be to somehow trick him into entering one of the other Lostbelts. India might be able to do it, as Arjuna Over Gods is pretty fucking stronk too. Olympus has a much better chance of beating him, as Zeus is all kinds of broken, plus there's Chaos.

Trick him into going into Fairy Britain for Best Queen Morgan or Totoro Alter to take him out. Or maybe South America AKA Brazil, and we can have Chadbit sem Chad take care of him, or possibly have Arceus wake up ORT-chan and immediately regret that decision.

I don't see any reliable ways to take him out other than those. Not saying it's impossible as there's plenty of other ways to do it, just that most of those methods aren't that reliable.

Oh boy, when Arceus figures out the Imaginary Number Space exists he is going to have a fucking aneurysm.

I wonder what Giratina would think? I mean, it's basically the Distortion World but Imaginary Numbers... and Outer Gods.

Thank you, Metroid Prime, for another great chapter! Every day that I do not awaken to see this chapter updated is another day I cry myself to sleep.

[Mitril]

11019943
11019917
11019896
Well that's what I found on the wiki
As opposed to the Greater History of Man, the history of 'winners' born from correct choices and proper prosperities leading to the "present", the history of 'losers' born from the wrong choices and mistaken prosperity is cut off. Considered "unnecessary" and cut off from becoming even parallel worlds, this history which has hit a dead end is known as a

It is unknown how exactly that the timelines selected by the Fantasy Trees managed to exist until the present day, as they would have ceased to have exist entirely within a century of being designated for culling due to Quantum Time-Locks. Ophelia Phamrsolone proposes the theory that the specific timelines that we see within the Alien God's Lostbelts are actually virtually simulated from their point of culling unto present day using the resources within the Tree; and then iterated without, unto the Tree's environs, the surrounding environment. This is abstractly akin to Emiya Shirou's Projections — rendering into the real world the product of a simulated history,^[13] then imposing that simulated history over the Greater History of Man in the hopes of replacing it with the Lostbelt's version of history. The events of the Shimousa Singularity and the Heian-kyō Lostbelt suggest that a Singularity becomes a Lostbelt after a Fantasy Tree Seed is planted within it and grows into a full Fantasy Tree. The Fantasy Tree then selects a Lostbelt King, a powerful figure who is given the ability to direct the Tree's growth and spread, making the Lostbelt more stable and expanding its scope. The Fantasy Tree also begins gathering energy, which is used to prepare for the descent of the Alien God.

Destroying the Fantasy Tree sustaining the Lostbelt will allow the culling process to resume, and a Holy Grail formed from the Fantasy Tree's remains can be collected. A Lostbelt without its Fantasy Tree can last no more than a few months (from its inhabitants' perspective- an outside observer will see it vanishing immediately) before the culling process is completed, at which point the Lostbelt and all of its surviving inhabitants will be erased from reality as if they never existed.

So in the end they are simulation?.....

[Hellshooter]

11024187
Let’s also remember Enkidu is currently just vibing in the woods with the local wildlife. If Chaldea needs a way to deal with Arceus, they can just go grab him and use his Chains if Heaven to bind him, his own divinity would be his undoing at that point.