Prologue
Somewhere in Equestria, in an undisclosed location, a dozen ponies gathered in a dark room.
One pony, a pegasus, spoke up as the last pony arrived. "Is everything ready?"
"Of course," a male unicorn stated, "the room's prepared, the supplies haven been acquired, everything's accounted for."
"Good," A third pony, an Earth pony, nodded his head. "Everything's going according to plan. Now, there's just one last matter we need to settle."
"Where to start?" The pegasus that had spoken first inquired.
"Yes."
Another pegasus in the room smirked smugly. "Already figured out my first target. I've found a location so small that it should work as a perfect starting point for our plan." Bringing out a map, he set it onto the table in the center of the room. He pointed to a spot on the map between Cloudsdale and the Crystal Empire, near the Galloping Gorge with his hoof. "That's where we can start. It's out in the middle of nowhere, not occupied by royalty, and it's not very big. If word does get out about our actions, the town is so small nopony will care what happened there."
The Earth pony looked at the map, and bobbed his head in approval. "Yes... that'll do very nicely." He looked at the pegasus. "And you're sure nopony will make a scene about it?"
The pegasus nodded. "Affirmative."
The Earth pony glanced at the map, and smiled deviously. "Very good. And what is this town called, exactly?"
"Herd Valley."
Meanwhile, in Herd Valley...
The griffon hurriedly dashed through the castle, the bag of loot secured tightly in his beak. He rounded a corner. Dead end. Great, his wing was injured, and the guards were hot on his tail. Now what was he supposed to do?
"No, no, no. That doesn't sound right." The unicorn complained to himself as he trotted through town. He paused in his stride, and focused his horn. Zapping the parchment hovering in front of his face, he watched as the words disappeared from the page. It was nice to have an erasing spell. It certainly saved time and parchment since quill ink didn't erase in a normal way. Using his horn, he touched the quill to the page again, and scribbled where he left off as he continued on his way. "Okay, it can't be a dead end. That's too cliche. Maybe if I add..."
"Somepony stop that wagon!" A middle-aged feminine voice called out.
His concentration broken, Noodle Tale looked away from the parchment, and quickly stepped to one side with practiced ease right when a green wagon carrying no less than eight foals raced by. The foals giggled and cheered madly as they cruised by him. Noodle watched them zip through town, and turned his head once again as a middle-aged pony came huffing and puffing up to him.
"Hey, Dote. Foals getting away again?" Noodle asked.
"Yes," she confirmed while catching her breath, "Sweet Celestia, how do they keep doing that every time?"
Noodle grinned, "I like to think they have special magic of their own that gets you distracted the moment they seek out adventure."
The mare rolled her eyes. "Haven't heard that theory before."
"Look, it's no big deal. Whatever magic that conveniently distracts you is probably the same magic that makes sure they don't hurt themselves in the process. It's like some sort of infant immortality," Noodle said.
"Thanks for the words of reassurance, Noodle. Now if you'll excuse me," she looked past the younger stallion, "I need to keep after them before they get out of my eyesight." Stepping around him, she set off at a brisk gallop.
Noodle hollered after her, "You shouldn't let it stress you out so much!" Shaking his head, he turned back to his parchment as he started trotting again. "They always seem to find their way home or something by luck. Okay, the griffon hurriedly dashed through the castle, the bag of loot secured tightly in his beak. He rounded a corner..."
"Hey, Noodle!" A much younger voice, this one male, shouted. Noodle sighed, levitating his parchment and quill into his saddlebag. A colt with a blue coat, blue eyes, brown mane and tail, big buck teeth, and a silly pink hat rushed up to him. "Have you seen Purple?"
"Lost your brother again, Blue?" Noodle inquired straightly.
"What?" The young colt named Blue nervously laughed. "No, we're just... playing hide-and-seek. Yeah, that's it. I did not lose him on accident; I lost him on purpose. Hehe, have you seen him or not?"
"Can't say that I have," Noodle replied before throwing a hoof back in the direction he had come from, "but you may want to check a wagon full of foals that raced by a minute ago. I didn't see him in it in the moment it passed by, but he could have been on it."
Blue's eyes took on a haze of exasperation. "They're going on a wagon joy ride again?!"
"Oh yeah."
"Ugh, Green and Pink are going to kill me... I'm coming, Purple!" The colt hurried in the same direction that Dote had.
Noodle Tale shook his head at the colt. Continuing on his way, he passed Guzzle's Grill, a few other shops in town, and then a few houses including Blue's.
A green pegasus stallion with green eyes and a green mane wearing a black tie nonchalantly whistled as he came outside with a plate of beets. Checking around in case anyone was watching, he quickly dug a hole that he dumped the beets in. Hastily covering up the hole, the stallion noticed Noodle passing by just in time.
"Hi, Noodle! Look at my clean plate, I ate all my beets!" The stallion greeted, holding out the empty plate for evidence.
Noodle smirked at the stallion. "Sure, Green, whatever you say."
The stallion named Green watched Noodle wander past, and then smiled to himself. "I think he bought that."
After a few more minutes of walking, Noodle reached his home. Upon arrival, he gasped in delight. "It's here!" He eagerly scooped up a delivery box sitting on his doorstep. "I've been waiting for this for weeks!" He let himself in, locking the front door behind him, and went straight for his bedroom. Placing the box on his bed, he magically removed his saddlebags from his back, and ran through the house, pulling down all the shades he had. Nobody could see what was in his box. The moment he was sure of his privacy, he opened the box.
Meanwhile, on Earth...
Butler finished shoveling the last scoop, and then planting his shovel into the ground so it would stand upright by itself. He wiped the sweat off his brow. "That's done," he huffed. It was a lot of work, but the payoff was worth it all. Especially considering...
"Need any help?" Butler looked up, and saw his wife sitting on the porch. On the table beside her was a pitcher of lemonade.
Butler waved a hand at the question. "No, I'm fine. I'm done. Could use a drink though." He made his way over to the porch, and his wife poured him a cup of lemonade. "Diane, in your condition, you really shouldn't be doing tasks like this with heavy pitchers like that. You could spill something."
Diane frowned at him, handing him the cup. "I'm pregnant, not helpless. Besides, you and the Pokemon have been doing all the work. It's nice to be able to do something."
"I just want you to be well-rested for when the baby comes," Butler responded after taking a swallow. He gave his wife's bulging stomach a gentle rub. "This is our first, and I want you to be ready to endure the pain that comes with the process."
"I know, I know," Diane reminded as she placed a hand over his extended one. "I just feel like I have to do a little thing here and there, or I'll go crazy. You have no idea how much I crave to assist you on stage while you perform the show. I just don't feel like sitting around and not helping while the people I love do all the work and have all the fun."
"I wouldn't call farm work fun," Butler chuckled, taking a sip. "Now, practicing for a magic show, that's fun. Speaking of which, I should probably get around to that. There is that show this afternoon. You going to stay here?"
Diane smiled softly. "What do you think?"
Butler threw his head back, his voice attracting the attention of Mightyena, Kirlia, Dusknoir, and Salemence. They all, except Salemence, were working on various farm chores when they heard their trainer's laugh.
"I should've expected that," The magician-farmer said, nodding to his wife. His gaze lowered to Diane's stomach. "Can you believe in a few more weeks, we'll have a new fan? I hope he or she will like magic tricks."
"With how wonderful you are at magic, I don't see why they wouldn't be."
Butler chugged down the rest of his lemonade. "Not everyone is a fan of magic, my love." Putting the cup on the table, he started heading inside. "I'm going to go change into my outfit. Would you like your coat?"
His wife inclined her head. "Yes, please." Diane poured herself a cup of lemonade as her husband went inside, and took a sip. She took a moment to glance over their small farm. "You all should finish soon," she informed the four Pokemon still working, "he'll be back out soon to practice before we go." Kirlia, Mightyena, and Dusknoir voiced their agreement while Salemence grumbled in an attempt to resume his sleep. Watching the Pokemon as she drank her beverage, she ran her free hand over her belly.
Just a few more weeks...
After another ten minutes, Butler emerged from the house, dressed in his magician's outfit with Diane's sleek, red coat in one hand and the case containing all of his show equipment in the other. Though they were not yet going, Diane put on her coat regardless when her husband handed it to her. Kirlia, Mightyena, and Dusknoir gathered around as Butler joined them in the yard.
"Alright," Butler began to say. "Let's start practice with seeing if we've finally nailed-" He abruptly stopped speaking mid-sentence, not-quite-falling over, along with his Pokemon. They all fell unconscious.
Diane was on her feet immediately. "Butler! What's wro-?" The same happened to her not a moment later.
All at once, the two humans and the four Pokemon began to physically fade. As they did, a voice simultaneously rang through their heads.
"Rest now my children, for when you awake, a whole new world shall be your home."