Arms of Arceus

“If only we had more time,” Celestia lamented as she and her sister finished explaining their newest spell to others. “Our magic is failing to mesh with the spell that the Pokémon king used. The two forces are similar in emotion, but completely alien to one another in design.”

“This spell is the closest replication of King Siebold’s spell that we have been able to create,” Luna said as she attempted to console her sister. “It must work! Cadance, as leader of this group, do you understand what you must do?”

“Yes. I will lead our elements in the weaving of this spell, forging it onto the seal that is already present. I…”

Cadance paused a moment, fear and doubt in her eyes as she struggled to keep her composure.

“It’ll be alright,” Twilight said as she put a comforting hoof on her sister-in-law’s wing. “We’ll get it this time, I know we will.”

“Yes, of course we will,” Cadance said, pushing her hesitation aside and forcing herself into a state of calm. She took a deep breath, turned and stepped toward the pulsating ball of hate. Dark Arceus shuddered as she approached, sending off waves of palpable enjoyment as it watched the group struggling to keep their confidence.

“You will not be alone this time,” Joan said as she and the rest of the council stepped forward.

“We will add our power to yours,” Dorris said. “We psychics within the council will help you weave the spell. With our teamwork, we will create a perfect union between your magic and the final blessing of our king.”

“Thank you,” Cadance said, smiling gratefully at the council.

The ponies took their place before the prison of Dark Arceus, circling the hateful orb with as much confidence as they could muster. The high council seemed more hopeful, though Celestia had talked to some of them at length the day before. She knew that they were determined to find a way to defeat this evil, but they had been greatly disappointed by the pony’s lack of success. Joan was easily the most hopeful, but Celestia had caught her crying in fear after the failure of the second attempt. Joan never realized that Celestia had seen her, but the princess knew that the brave faces of her new friends were hiding deep concerns. She sighed as she watched Cadence step forward and begin the spell. Despite the powerful magic they had imbued in their armor, Celestia had a feeling that it wouldn’t be enough should this monstrosity break free.

As the others took up Cadance’s chant the air filled with magic. Feelings of love and friendship filled the hearts of the entire city, but a cold, bitter wind cut through those feelings almost as soon as they manifested. Celestia shivered as she felt it. Luna nestled next to her sister, wrapping a wing around Celestia’s neck. Celestia embraced her in return, and together they watched as the spell began to take hold.
Magic wrapped around the dark ball of energy, covering it as its hatred intensified. The Pokémon of the high council added the weight of their strength to the spell, launching a diverse array of attacks at the prison while Gallah, Joan, Hal and Dorris began forming them into a seal of their own. Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf cooed and hummed as they willed their allies to succeed. Celestia marveled at their power as her mind became sharper, her willpower became stronger, and she felt the love and friendship in her heart more deeply. But as the spell was woven the cold wind blew through their bones, undeniable and ever present.

“They’re not going to make it,” Luna said, her voice full of dread. Despite Cadance’s spellwork, the dark god’s prison continued to pulsate. It showed no signs of stopping, and no matter how much Celestia wished it weren’t true, she had to agree with her sister. As the minutes dragged into the first hour, ponies and Pokémon alike were showing signs of exhaustion, and as they began to falter the pulsating light of Dark Arceus gained strength.

“Luna, we have to help them,” Celestia said, urgently.

“Agreed,” Luna replied.

Together, the Royal Pony Sisters stepped behind the high council and added their own magical power to the spell. They balanced out the group as they struggled to force the seal of King Siebold to meld with the spell being cast by the inner circle of ponies. The wind picked up, blowing cold dread and sorrow through God’s Breath and its surroundings. It sounded like moaning and the rattling of dry bones, rocks, and rusted metal.

“What is that noise?” Celestia yelled, her voice barely audible above the driving wind.

“It is not of the world of the living,” Joan’s voice said in her mind.

Suddenly, Celestia was aware of the presence of the entire council, as well as the circle of friends in their center. She felt their minds, and knew that they could feel hers. She gave her sister a sideways glance, and was met with the same look of amazement that she felt.
“Are these the ‘undead’ you spoke of?” Celestia said through the psychic link.

“They must be, your majesty. Though something seems different. No portals have opened, but…”

Before Joan could finish her sentence, the cutting wind brought roars of pain and rage to their ears. Celestia risked a glance behind her and saw an army of ghostly, skeletal Pokémon attacking the line of defense that surrounded the palace.

“What are those things?” Luna asked, her voice awestruck and horrified.

“They are weaker versions of the creatures we normally fight when the god awakens,” Hal said, his voice calm and methodical. “Our forces can handle them. The Alakazam Enclave reports that your forces will soon be under assault as well, your majesty.”
“Have they been warned?”

Hal paused for a moment, and through the psychic link Celestia could tell he was having a separate conversation. It felt like a small tickling of her mind, and despite the situation they were in, she couldn’t help but marvel at this new experience.

“Prince Shining Armor is being warned as we speak,” Hal replied after a moment. Celestia felt a stab of fear from the center of the group, and knew that Cadance and Twilight were worried sick.

“Cadance, Twilight, you must continue to focus,” she said. “The spell isn’t finished yet!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Cadance replied. “Can’t you feel it, Celestia? No matter how hard we try, we can’t get these two powers to meld together properly. It’s like poorly done patchwork on a broken dam; it won’t keep this thing sealed permanently, if at all!”

“That doesn’t mean we can give up hope!”

“But this thing…” Twilight cried.

“It can be defeated!” Luna said, her voice steely and determined. “It will be defeated!”

“Our forces report that the enemy has vanished from the city,” Gallah said. “The monsters are charging the Equestrian forces now.”
“What in the world…” Cadance said, the struggle against her fear evident in her voice. The ball of energy had begun to swirl, its pulsating hatred intensifying despite the powerful magic surrounding it. The earth beneath their feet began to shudder, and the sky above them shimmered in and out of view.

“Stay strong!” Celestia yelled.

“No,” Joan said. “I didn’t want to believe it but…”

“What is it doing, Joan?”

“It is dragging us through dimensions, your majesty. But this time, I feel its mind making precise calculations, like it is giving me some small insight into its plans. It knows we cannot stop it. I can only dread what the god has in store for us.”

“Oh, Shining,” Cadance said as she closed her eyes and wept. “Please stay safe.”

“What in the world is going on, commander?” Spitfire asked as she stood behind the barricade.

“I… I’m not sure,” Shining Armor said as he watched the phantasmal, shambling, skeletal creatures moving across the plane toward his forces.
They vaguely resembled Equestria’s new Pokémon allies, but they looked as if they had crawled from the pages of a horror novel. Their skin was pallid and translucent, hanging tightly to exposed bone. Their cries were distorted, broken, and filled with pain. Shining Armor closed his eyes for a moment, trying to shake off this new nightmare, but when he opened them again he saw the things still making their way for his lines. With a deep breath and a determined stare, he turned toward his second in command.

“Spitfire, take your flyers and begin making twisters. There’s a horde of monsters coming our way. I want them torn apart before they ever reach us.”

“Understood,” Spitfire said with a smart salute.

She soared off into the sky with thousands of pegasi following her lead, their riot gear reflecting the early morning sunlight. All around the perimeter, pegasi began forming tornados in the midst of the shambling horrors. The undead were ripped apart by the gales, their bodies scattering across the plane like torn paper, and their remains turning to spectral dust as they landed on the ground. But for each one that fell, two more appeared out of thin air. Hyper beams tore down magical force fields and ripped the steel barriers around the perimeter to shreds, followed closely by raging flamethrowers and torrential hydro pumps. Thunderclouds were stationed just above the battlefield as pegasi kicked lightning out of them to tear into the enemy ranks. As his soldiers began their first engagement, Prince Shining Armor gave a fearsome battle cry as he charged forward. The other guards took up his call, and together they engaged in a battle unlike any Equestria had ever seen before.

Discord lay in his thinking tree, tossing and turning as he slept. He had been shocked and hurt when he had been told that he couldn’t help deal with this new threat to the kingdom. Though his friends had assured him that it wasn’t because they didn’t trust him, the strange new creatures had asked that he not be included. They feared that his chaotic nature would only agitate the so-called “dark god” and possibly aid in its escape. Discord had taken to his thinking tree for the last six days in an effort to devise a way in which he could help his friends without causing harm to their latest heroic endeavor. He had fallen asleep after the fourth day of thinking, and his exhaustion and frustration had kept him from leaving the tree. Now he tossed and turned, his dreams filled with visions of the events unfolding in and around God’s Breath.

“Stupid…” he murmured in his sleep. “Nooo, I can help… No, don’t… leave… me.”

He spoke these words, even as the city began to pulsate in time with the prison of Dark Arceus. Slowly it began to fade as the god divided its efforts between transporting its enemies and fighting against their sealing spell. Discord saw where this was going, and though he was unaware that he was dreaming, his subconscious knew that he didn’t want to see his friends leave. He kicked in his sleep and cried out for them to stay.

Twilight Sparkle stood next to Cadance as she continued chanting her spell. Despite her fears, the princess led the incantation, refusing to back down. Twilight smiled as she admired her sister-in-law’s bravery, though her heart was filled with doubt. She felt the pulsating of Dark Arceus grow stronger. She felt her body leaving Equestria as it was being dragged through time and space along with the city, and her eyes watered as the cold wind blew through the circle. As she closed her eyes to blink away the tears something seemed to pull her away from the group, but something stronger willed her to stay. When her eyes opened again, she stood in the field just outside the gates of God’s Breath, her five friends standing close by. They were still in their circle, though Cadance’s spot was empty, and they all had the same sort of strange, bewildered look on their faces. The Pokémon standing guard over the perimeter inside of the city stared at them in shock.

“How in the world…” Rarity began before they were pulled through dimensions.

“They… they left me…” Discord said as he sat up on his tree branch, his face sad and dejected. “Stupid god.”