Author's Note

Not to be confused with the ability As One

As One

Universe 50. Mirados. Nightfall.

Precisely 12 seconds after Harmony flew off with Ash, the rest of his friends were left to deal with Phantasia, Violet and the Arcane Institute students. But, despite facing off against them, Rarity and everyone else opted not to engage in battle. Not in a crowded area like this. Much like Hilbert, they wanted to avoid as much destruction as possible.

This was not like the Nebel Plateau at all, being far more populated with buildings that will topple and collapse upon each other.

"Oh, you feel that?" Violet paused for a moment, detecting all the Aura in the air. She and Phantasia closed their eyes, putting on proud smirks. "Mhm...That means something good is about to happen."

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Our Aura gives us an extra step compared to all of yours. We can tell if something beneficial might happen. And right now, we're like, feeling something so, so lucky for us. I think things are gonna swing our way." Phantasia confidently said.

"Well, I don't feel a thing like that. Not one bit." Applejack shook her head.

"Duh. That's why I said our Aura gives an extra step." Phantasia said with a snarky tone, making Applejack growl lowly.

"Can't we all just talk about this!" Fluttershy spoke up, getting in front of her friends and holding her hooves out. "We all want to prevent Prisma's destruction! We all want to stop them! We don't need to fight!" Fluttershy cried out.

"Mmm...No thanks." Phantasia shrugged.

"Yeah, sorry, we're good." Violet also said with a nonchalant attitude, making Fluttershy whimper at this. Even after everything, they still want to go through with it.

"Let's make it easy for you. Get a good look at what else our Aura can do." Phantasia grinned as she and Vilet both had their eyes flare with Aura. Fluttershy and the others had no choice but to prepare themselves, unaware of what was coming next. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash have already experienced what their Flawless Aura could do, but they've never seen the other capabilities.

The Flawless Aura manifested, suddenly zooming through the air as it would ly elsewhere. Their eyes followed this Aura, confused as to why it was flying in a different direction. They expected it to attack them. But it would, however, by taking a different approach. The Flawless Aura would fly right into one of the vehicles, otherwise known as Quantum Bikes. The energy that they were all so familiar with possessed the vehicle and made it stand straight up and then move on its own.

Suddenly, the Bike roared, manifesting an altered form, being much larger, taller and having a new form that looked more monstrous than vehicle. The same could be said for all the other Quantum Bikes, as well as Sky Runners, which were vehicles used primarily for intercity travel and were often used in races as well. These vehicles, powered by the Flawless Aura, were transformed into towering metal beasts, each roaring with an intimidating presence.

"Oh, that's so cool..." Spike was amazed by the sight but also rather intimidated. These Mechanical Manifestations loomed over them, even grabbing the attention of the officers around here. The police and the students would both back up, not expecting these cars and vehicles to suddenly be possessed and brought to life.

"We don't really feel like doing most of the hard work right now, so we'll let these beauties handle it all for us." Phantasia chuckled. "Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way."

Phantasia and Violet soon departed, continuing their mission, leaving these machines to do all the work for them. The machines attacked, bringing their newly-formed weapons down on them. Promptly, Spike's Equestrian Axew would transform into Haxorus, the Golden Light erupting out of him as always. In the nick of time, he managed to catch and hold up one of the attacks, protecting everyone from the blow. But his feet were sinking into the concrete from how heavy the blow was.

"H-Haxo...!" Haxorus, gave the up enough time to start running or flying away from these machines. Haxorus would move back, successfully holding the attacks back and running off. However, escaping would not be so simple. The Quantum Bike would take action, using all that Quantum Energy within it to suddenly teleport in front of everyone.

After being surprised by its sudden teleport, the Quantum Bike would then proceed to manipulate the ground itself. By interacting with all the atoms and molecules in the ground, the bike would make it rise and then fall. By doing so, the Quantum Bike would cause them to lose their footing, making them stumble and fall on the uneven, wobbly, unbalanced concrete.

"Waaaaagh!" Pinkie Pie held onto Applejack as they felt their balance go out of control in seconds.

These machines would not give them time to recover or regain their composure, as they would immediately attempt to follow up and finish them off with another attack. But it wouldn't come to pass.

"H-Haxorus! Use C-Close Combat!" Spike stuttered while trying to regain his balance.

With his trainer's command, Haxorus unleashed Close Combat. He would dodge one of the Machine's blows and strike them back with a series of punches and kicks, knocking the Mechanical Manifestation away with his Dragon-Type moves.

But then, a Sky Runner would appear, using the speed to charge right towards Haxorus and Spike, hoping to hit them and take them down for the count. But the two would not allow that to happen. Before it could reach them, Spike and Haxorus jumped out of the way at the last moment.

As the machine crashed, Spike quickly noticed that another was charging at them. Using Haxorus's speed, he managed to grab onto it before it crashed into the wall, and with a single punch to the engine, the mechanical beast's engine sputtered and stopped, the machine falling apart and the Flawless Aura leaving the machine as Haxorus and Spike leaped away.

"Nice one!" Pinkie Pie grinned, watching as Haxorus and Spike took care of two of the machines.

However, the remaining Machines would begin to move, and they would attempt to get the upper hand, as the two remaining would strike from above and behind. With their heavy forms, they were aiming to crush Haxorus.

"X-Xo!" Haxorus was snuck up on by this attack, his body being launched promptly. The Equestrian Variant managed to recover, sliding on the ground as his claws dug into ground.

"Oohh...!" Rainbow Dash wished to pursue after Phantasia and Violet, but she refused to let her friends be left behind with this mess. "Go, Mienshao!" Throwing a Poke Ball out, she brought out her Mienshao for assistance.

"Mienshao!" The Fighting-Type Pokemon cried out, jumping out and immediately using Acrobatics the second she appeared. In a blur, the Martial Arts Pokemon would smash her foot against a Sky Runner, causing the machine to be knocked back, but it was able to remain in the air. Mienshao was ready, landing on her feet as the machine attempted to come at her again.

Mienshao had to quickly adapt to the machine's attack patterns, and after a few moments of studying its movements, she was able to anticipate and counter its blows. As the Sky Runner would charge, she'd leap into the air and use High Jump Kick on it. This attack would be enough to cause the Sky Runner's aura to fade and the machine would return to its original form, falling to the ground, now damaged from the fight.

Equestrian Haxorus proved to be good enough to handle these machines. His tough scales and sharp claws were more than a match for its metallic hide, and his powerful Dragon-Type attacks would do exquisite damage.

The machine was not going to make it easy for Haxorus, though, as it fought back with all its might, trying to bring the dragon Pokemon down with its crushing weight. But Haxorus was not going to back down, he dodged and weaved, striking with precise, calculated strikes.

With a mighty roar, Haxorus charged at the mechanical creature, his claws slashing and his powerful jaws clamping down on it, while the machine would attempt to push back, trying to use its superior weight and size to overwhelm him.

"Xorus!" But the Dragon-Type's sheer power and ferocity were too much, and the machine eventually buckled under the onslaught. With a final roar, Haxorus would then grab its head, lifting the entire machine off the ground, before using a final Close Combat to slam the Machine down to the ground.

"Alright Haxorus!" Spike cheered, watching as the machine's aura would fade and the vehicle would return to its original state, now damaged beyond repair. "That was awesome!"

"Hax!" He grinned, giving a thumbs-up to Spike. But it was far from over.

One of the Sky Runners took it a step further, using all that Quantum Energy from within. A Quantum Beam shot out, breaking down the molecules within the air itself. The energy would cause everything to tear itself apart, and everyone knew that it would do the same to them, even their Pokemon.

By attacking the air itself, this led to the nearby oxygen combusting, sending out explosions made out of thin air. Haxorous and Mienshao would both be blown up by the exploding air, knocking them down as their trainers were blown away by the shockwaves.

"Castform, Hurricane!"

"Cast!" Flying out of Rainbow Dash's saddlebag to prevent the destruction of the oxygen, Castform used his move to manipulate the winds to contain and stop the explosive air from spreading any further, but this would require a lot of focus, as he couldn't risk the city getting blown apart.

The winds aggressively moved across the area, lifting debris and the vehicles themselves, with Castform's body spinning and twirling. As it did so, it seemed to become a whirlwind of its own, the air swirling and spinning around him. The winds were strong enough to lift the vehicles and blow them around like leaves, and even the heaviest ones were caught up in the gales.

Thankfully, Castform managed to push them back, preventing further Oxygen loss.

"Phereomosa! I need you to get me to Ash, quickly!" Rarity needed speed to outpace Phantasia and Violet. By throwing out her Poke Ball, out came Pheromosa.

"Pheromosa!" Upon entry, Pheromosa grabbed whoever she could at the moment. The Lissome Pokemon picked up Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and jumped into the sky. With Pheromosa being so swift, she could easily travel across the city at great speeds, her long legs moving so quickly it would appear that they were a blur to the naked eye.

With her great agility and grace, she could avoid any obstacles that would get in their way and easily navigate through tight spaces, allowing them to get to wherever they needed to be.

Pheromosa was off, prompting Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Spike to start being on their way as well. But of course, this would not stop the Vehicles from pursuing them, with the Sky Runners shooting out a flurry of beams of Quantum Energy.

Pheremosa quickly reacted to these beams, her speed allowing her to dodge them with ease, jumping from one rooftop to another. However, she wasn't fast enough to dodge the beams that were shot at her by one of the other machines. They would collide into her side, knocking Pheromosa to the side as her grip would be released. Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy were sent falling down towards the streets below.

"Pheremo...!" But she quickly reacted, using her long legs to reach down, grabbing them by the hand and preventing them from falling to the ground. This was a struggle for the Lissome Pokemon, but her determination to keep them from getting hurt kept her going.

After those minutes had passed, a gutted Ash continued to hit the ground, frustrated by what had happened to Hilbert. Emboar, who had snapped out of that state, looked onwards at Ash, confused as to where his Trainer had gone.

Prisma's awakened state was largely over, his soul returning to rest once more. But Ash was already feeling the drive to unleash that soul again, not on purpose, of course. Harmony wanted to pursue Flawless BlueLight for what she had done, but the Fluttershy part within her couldn't ignore Ash's pain.

"Ash!" Harmony flew over to him, a worried expression plastered on her face.

"A-Ash?" Pikachu ran over to him too.

Emboar simply watched him, with nothing to say.

"I can't believe..." Ash spoke softly, keeping his head down. "I should've... I could've...!"

"Oh, Ash..." Harmony put her wings over him, pulling him into a hug. It was now that Harmony wondered if she was of any help right no. Despite being Fused Pony, having the magic of an alicorn and coming from a universe with so much vast magical capabilities and so on, she felt rather helpless when it came to actually comforting someone in need.

Harmony wondered if she was of any help right now. All that magic and for what? She was too late to save Hilbert, to prevent the BlueLight Sisters from harming their target and now she had a human being hurting just like those she witnessed hurt during Twilight Moonlight's battle.

Perhaps all that magic was nothing. Nothing in comparison to Ash, who was only just a human and not a Unicorn or Alicorn. Yet here he is, facing bigger challenges than she had ever faced before, losing one of his friends.

Emboar soon realized what had happened. His Trainer was gone, nowhere to be found. But as Ash kept kneeling, Flawless was coming back around for a second time. She already got Hilbert and wanted to follow up by getting rid of Ash next. The Eldest BlueLight sister had a cocky smirk, being right around the corner without him knowing.

Flawless was more than eager to succeed for a second time and after this, a third time. She already thought about taking out Nate next. And with that, she would've dealt with three Prisma reincarnations in just one day. Her horn started glowing intensely.

With this intense glow, Emboar could see her before anyone else could. The Mega Fire Pig Pokemon clenched his fist and walked off, following Flawless while still being invisible to the eyes. If there was something he could do for his Master and Ash, it would be defeating Flawless.

"Emboar!"

"Oh? You see me? Well, think fast!" Flawless jumped out of the corner, going for a quick shot that would travel at high speeds, heading straight for Ash. Emboar couldn't strike the beam in time. But Harmony could. Her senses saw the beam coming, prompting her to deflect it with a telekinetic shield around them.

"You!" Harmony and Flawless stared at one another, knowing full well of what each other were.

"Lucky deflect. A shame you couldn't do the same for Hilbert." Flawless taunted. "I'm here to finish things. Next, Ash over there. And then after this, straight to Nate. We'll be done here, get some rest and then focus on the remaining reincarnations."

"I refuse to let you do that! You and the Institute...I first thought that Ash would be the biggest problem I had to worry about, being that he is connected to Prisa. But I guess not. You're the enemy I should be worrying about!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared..." Flawless taunted once more, shaking her head and laughing at Harmony. "Again, it's nothing personal. To ensure absolute peace, Prisma's gotta go. So like, getting in the way of that, means you gotta go too. Plus, you don't scare me since you're an alicorn."

"Being an alicorn doesn't change anything. But I can tell that I'm older than you. By great leagues." Harmony replied.

"Mhm. In that case...beat it, Grandma!" Flawless attacked, released an azure beam from her horn. Harmony pushed Ash out of the way, putting up a shield in time. Harmony may have failed to save Hilbert, but she was going to do what she could to defend Ash.

With that, Harmony glared. No more words, time for action. Both released beams of energy which collided in the center. Their powers struggled against one another as the two battled for supremacy, but it was clear that Flawless BlueLight's experience in the field gave her an advantage. Harmony could barely keep up, feeling Flawless's power pushing her back.

And yet, Harmony did have the magical advantage, knowing plenty and plenty of spells. The Harmonized Fused Pony unleashed a burst of violet-colored magic, creating an intense shockwave that sent Flawless flying backwards. Harmony continued with her assault, teleporting above and behind Flawless to catch her by surprise with a lightning bolt. The power caused her aura to spark slightly, Flawless landed on her hooves, releasing a spell known as Arcane Bolt.

A violet bolt was shot out from the ground, launching upwards into the sky. Harmony looked up at the violet bolt in question. She knew how the spell worked, and thusly jumped out of the way to avoid the worst possible outcomes. The Arcane Bolt landed back onto the ground, but this caused a large explosion on impact that threatened to engulf Harmony in a cloud of magical smoke.

Flawless had other ideas, reappearing right in front of Harmony with her body surrounded by fire, to knock her aside and down onto the ground. Flawless reappeared overhead Harmony and dove down with a powerful stomp, knocking Harmony away. Harmony tried to respond in kind by using a Vibration Spell that would release sonic waves, only for Flawless to resist thanks to the aura around her.

"Heh! It feels good having Aura!" Flawless boasted before manipulating her Aura in a new way. More of the capabilities of her Flawless Aura showed. She made the Aura itself take form in front of Harmony, before slamming the Harmonizer with a massive pillar of pure Aura, smashing her through the ground.

But Harmony fought back with an instant barrage of magical projectiles and lasers, overwhelming Flawless and forcing her to the ground as she attempted to dodge. Though this only brought temporary success. Flawless pushed her Aura forwards and slammed it into Harmony, bringing them both up into the sky once again as they clashed beams once more.

Their battle caused collateral damage around the vicinity, causing rubble and debris to fall around the area as Emboar covered Ash from the damage. Flawless would turn her beam into an Aura Vortex, which swirled and gathered together to the point that Harmony's barrier would shatter by its force and leave her wide open.

Only for a moment.

Harmony was able to react fast enough, using her magic to dissassemble the Aura Vortex piece-by-piece. It required a lot of concentration, but she was successful in destroying the vortex before it consumed her completely. Afterwards, she used another spell.

This time, a complex sigil appeared beneath Flawless, trapping her within. Magical rings formed around her body, paralyzing her and weakening her strength. "Gh! What?!"

Harmony aimed to deliver the final blow. As Flawless remained trapped and unable to move, Harmony summoned a large sphere of violet energy, raising it overhead, preparing to swing it downwards to envelop the Elder BlueLight sister.

"Lucario! I need help here!" Flawless cried out, her Poke Ball flying out of her clothes. From it, her Lucario emerged, leaping out of the Poke Ball and shattering the attack before it could do anything, causing a massive shockwave to erupt from the area as the two clashing forces collided.

This freed Flawless and allowed her to continue with the battle.

"Attack! Aura Sphere!"

"Rrrr! Ca!" Lucario went on the offensive, shooting out of a sphere of concentrated Aura that Harmony had to block with a barrier. This barrier held strong for a bit, until Lucario released another two aura spheres. The extra power forced Harmony to take cover behind rubble for defense, watching as the explosions took place. These explosions knocked away nearby cars, damaged the surrounding buildings, and left craters on the roads.

Flawless started realizing that Harmony was beginning to outpace here. In seconds, the Fused Pony was gaining the upper hoof due to having so much magic at her disposal and having access to a plethora of different spells and abilities to use in battle.

Lucario wasn't having an easier time either. Harmony proved to fly far too quickly for Lucario to keep up with, especially with the way she moved around swiftly. Aura Spheres the dozen would miss constantly or even be deflected straight back at Flawless and Lucario. Forcefields blocked every attempt to land an attack, and a psychic blast caught both Lucario and Flawless off-guard, sending them sprawling across the ground.

"Ash! Over here!" Showing up to the scene at last was none other than Raleigh. When trying to reach Hlbert's group, he and Delilah came across Ash instead, unaware of what had happened to Hilbert. Raleigh waved his hands, alerting Ash to come with him and Delilah.

Soon, he took off, rushing to their side.

"Hm?" Flawless spotted this, promptly locking onto Ash's sudden movements. "You're not escaping, Prisma!" Flawless, refusing to have Ash escaped, put her all into this next attack.

Combining her natural magic with her Aura, she would fire a beam straight at Ash while Lucario distracted Harmony, making sure she wouldn't intercept. This Aura Beam flew swiftly, tearing through the sky and focusing right on the Champion of Alola. It was so rather wide, being able to envelop all of Ash if it were to land. Delilah saw this beam, holding her hoof out to try and reach Ash, but it didn't seem like she would do it in time.

It looked like the beam would land and Ash would be struck inevitably. No one was quick enough to stop it. That is until, the unthinkable happened. Something that caught everyone off guard. The beam did land, but something was amiss. As an azure explosion went off on the spot that Ash stood while everyone looked onwards, the dust started settling and clearing...

Held between Ash and Flawless BlueLight, stopping the beam with his bare hand, was Hilbert. Everyone was bewildered, looking on at the Trainer who stood in front of Ash. However, he looked to be some kind of spirit, completely transparent while radiating a Red and Blue Aura.

"No...way..." Harmony was astounded, flapping her wings frantically. She had to do a triple-take just to process the whole image before her eyes.

"W-WHAT?!" Flawless exclaimed loudly. "That's impossible!! HOW?!"

Flawless wasn't the only one to be surprised. Just about everyone present was surprised. Ash couldn't find the words to say.

"Hilbert?!"

"E-Emboar?!" Emboar cried upon seeing his Trainer.

"Hehe! Surprised? No one can keep the Number One Trainer in the world down! Even in this state!" As always, he was boasting about being the supposed Number One, even in this spirit-like state. But that was beside the matter.

The real matter was, why hadn't Hilbert perished? Why was he alive and okay? Was this some kind of a miracle or something?

"What?! How are you alive?!" Flawless shouted with a growl. "You should've died when Lucario hit you! My Lucario destroyed your soul!"

"That is where you're wrong." Hilbert pointed out, dispelling the Aura Beam entirely before putting his hand back down. "I never kicked the bucket. Y'see, I just became my Spirit Self! And I've got that shady-looking guy to thank for it."

"Shady-looking guy? Oh, you mean...!" Ash knew exactly who he meant.

Sombra. King Sombra emerged from Ash's body as a shadow, being the one who saved Hilbert from imminent doom. The Former King of the Crystal Empire smirked, looking right at Flawless.

"Foolish girl." He said to the unicorn. "Before his body perished, I noticed that there Red and Blue particles exuding out of him weren't a sign of him perishing. However, if action were not to have been taken, something else would have happened. Knowing this, I grabbed Hilbert's soul and preserved it. Right when that final attack hit. And by doing so, I merged his soul with Ash Ketchum's, unifying them, in the same way I am unified with the boy."

"That's not fair!" Flawless stomped her hoof in the air.

"Haha! No matter what, you weren't gonna get rid of me!" Hilbert taunted, flying around as a spirit. "Plus, I get the free perk of flying! Ain't this sweet?!"

"It is not sweet! You have no physical body!" Raleigh bellowed at him.

"Boy. Hurry and go with the others. This will be our chance to fall back for now." Sombra ordered Ash, telling him to go ahead with Raleigh, Delilah and Emboar. He did just that while Hilbert flew off with his hands behind his head, grinning from ear to tear. Harmony saw this as a good time to call it off, aming to go with them as well. But she wanted to make sure Flawless wouldn't pursue them again.

Right as Flawless BlueLight and her Lucario were about to make her next move, Harmony cast a grand spell. With the help of the sigils that were still attached, she was able to draw forth a tremendous amount of magical energy to unleash the powerful Spell known only as Light Cataclysm.

Light Cataclysm, the spell, caused massive fissures and rifts in the ground, creating a chasm that stretched from the street all the way down towards the sea. Flawless watched as everything was shattered apart with an enormous tremor, the entire ground around the vicinity quaked and shook.

Soon, a magic outburst blinded and engulfed her and Lucario, causing her to grunt as Harmony flew off to catch the others while Lucario did his best to cover her. Flawless held on to Lucario, both being thrown across the area as she roared out in anger. All the time they needed to flee was given, courtesy of Harmony as the journey continues.

Chapter 681 End.