Universe 50. Mirados. Nightfall.

Ash had escaped, thanks to the efforts of Harmony and a surprise action from Hilbert. By extension, Sombra was to thank as well. Harmony used a powerful spell to distance her and everyone else from Flawless, guaranteeing an escape. A spell known as Light Cataclysm.

Once it ended, the damage caused in its wake was a massive canyon that separated Flawless and Mirados itself, preventing the BlueLight sister from crossing over. The whole city of Mirados suffered in the aftermath of this spell, causing buildings and other infrastructure to crumble and fall apart. Some sections of the city had crumbled and were sent into the ocean.

"Kh!" Flawless glared out into the distance. Her targets had long since escaped from her view, unable to be caught or captured this time around. Flawless could not get to them with this obstacle in her path now, but that didn't change the fact of how powerful she was with that Aura at her disposal.

She tried flying off, attempting to pursue them, but this destruction was more than just levelling the land. There was a grandiose magical forcefield that was invisible but very much there as Flawless bumped into it, being knocked back down to the ground with the slightest touch. Even the might of the BlueLight's Flawless Aura could not surpass this magical forcefield.

This made the Elder BlueLight sister grit her teeth in frustration, snarling angrily. It was clear she was enraged. "Aw, but it was supposed to be my victory! This is so not fair!" She cursed, stamping her hooves into the ground furiously.

Delilah led them away from Flawless. Away from most of the chaos. With her was Hilbert, Sombra, Raleigh, Emboar, Ash and Harmony. They all managed to escape thanks to Harmony's efforts. After finding the ideal place, they stopped.

This ideal place was a location Delilah knew how to access. A building that was in the lower sections of Mirados. There were plenty of floors they could make their way up. The room she led them to was the first. It was an well-furnished room that could house all of them. The only problem was that it didn't have any windows. However, that wasn't really an issue.

The reason why Delilah led them there was because the entire building was cloaked in a stealth field. Powered by Quantum Energy. They'd never be found here. It was here where the group decided to rest for the time being.

"You'll be fine in here. My little brother and I usually come here for vacations." She explained. "The whole building is cloaked in Quantum Energy. No one will find you in here, not even her."

"Alright..." Raleigh fell on his back, landing on a nearby couch. "That was too much to take in."

"I know, right?" Hilbert said as he was still flying around as a spirit. He then had his gaze set on Harmony and then he did what came to him. The boy gave a salute to Harmony. "Nice work back there, Princess!"

"Princess?" Harmony asked. She'd been addressed in many ways, but she was never once referred to as a Princess. Not even in her universe. "I'm no princess."

"You sure look like one to me. What's with that royal-lookin' thing you're wearing? Plus you're an alicorn."

"I'm just 5 ponies fused into one." She corrected him, making a face.

"5 in 1, huh? Awesome..."

"Thanks for the save, Sombra. Saving Hlbert was great. I didn't even know you could do that." Ash said to the former King of the Crystal Empire, who manifested into his physical form immediately. The dark king stood in the corner, smiling at Ash. He had no regrets about what he did to Hilbert, nor did he feel bad for doing what he had to do to keep his life in check.

"You are most welcome. It is my job to ensure that everyone is safe, as your Guardian Spirit. And that means protecting anyone close to you, too."

"Good looking out, shady guy!" Hilbert would try and nudge Sombra, only to go right through him.

"It's all getting out of control. That Arcane Institute you told me about, Prince Raleigh, are serious business." Delilah said with a nod. "That BlueLight girl... She's the most dangerous thing we've faced yet."

"Does Mirados not get threats like these that often?" Raleigh asked.

"Not really. Most threats, we handle with effective and efficient speed. But this Arcane Institute, they're unlike anything we've ever seen or dealt with. The last threat to be this dangerous or at least close were the Brotherhood of Curses, but they've long since been defeated. And they're all coming for you two?"

"Well, they got one of us. But I'm totally fine. Being a spirit ain't so bad." Hilbert shrugged. "Plus, I'm like, a ghost or something. That's pretty cool."

"What is the plan now?" Sombra asked, looking to the group. "It seems like the Institute is targeting Ash Ketchum and all of his counterparts across different universes and multiverses. They will undoubtedly be sending more after you."

"Well, no way I'm giving up. I still wanna save Twilight and I'm not gonna let them win. Seeing Hilbert fall like that took me out. I wish I could've done something to save him too. But I'm tired of running." Ash said to himself.

"But you have to run, Ash." Harmony flew over to him. "No matter what, they can't capture you. If they do, then the entire multiverse will be in jeopardy. You can't just risk your safety like that."

"Harmony, please." But Ash wished to go through with it. He looked at Harmony deeply, seeing all five of his friends within her. Even if she was all five of his friends in one being, he still considered her to be just one single pony. And more importantly, a friend.

"Ash..." Harmony wanted to tell Ash no. But she could not deny the look in Ash's eyes. The words he spoke. She could not say no to him, not with those eyes. "Alright, fine. We'll do it your way."

"Awesome. Thanks, Harmony." Ash smiled to her and Harmony returned the smile, albeit with some concern.

"Let me just call the chief and the rest of the officers. If I had to guess the situation right now..." Delilah had to inform her fellow officers, taking out a diamond-shaped device that would glow. It brought out a projection, ready to show Delilah what had happened.

Unfortunately, it was not good news. The BlueLights and the Arcane Institute were still at large, and had now expanded their attack. The projection showed a live feed of the current state of the city, where the BlueLights were causing havoc. But more importantly, Alpha had defeated the officers who tried to stop her, standing over their unconscious bodies, along with their Pokemon.

Alpha looked directly at Delilah, holding one of the communication devices.

"Listen well. I have ordered a complete hostage situation of your own police force." Alpha began to speak, her words sending shivers down Delilah's spine. "I have already captured the majority of the officers in the Mirados City Police Force."

Delilah gasped at the sight of the many officers that had been taken hostage, including the chief of police. Alpha continued, her tone becoming more threatening. "If you want to save your police force, then we demand that you surrender the boy Ash Ketchum. If you don't, you will witness the total destruction of the entire city as you know it." Alpha's voice was cold, and the threat was clear. They needed to hand over Ash or risk losing their entire force.

And to show that she was serious, it had appeared behind her in the background. The Soul Crystal. This Ultimate Weapon had yet to be used, but Ash and everyone knew what it was capable of. The power to erase the minds and souls of anyone who would be caught up in its attack.

"Give us Ash Ketchum, and we will not destroy the city with this weapon. You have 24 hours." With that final warning, the transmission abruptly ended, leaving Delilah feeling helpless and uncertain.

"Was that...Kimia?" Ash uttered, confused by who she had just seen.

"There's no way that was my sister!" Raleigh objected. "She was definitely not my sister! I thought she was but..."

"Then who...?" Ash was confused, but Hilbert had already figured out who it was.

"Well, I saw a bunch of 'em who looked like Kimia. A whole bunch. From the looks of it, your sister got cloned or somethin'." Hilbert answered, having already figured it all out. "So yeah, there's a bunch of her. But none of them are her, I think."

"She got cloned..." That struck Raleigh in the heart. The thought of his sister's DNA being replicated and her clones now attacking everyone in the city was terrifying and upsetting at the same time.

"Kimia would never... Her clone or whoever that is, there's no way she'd even think about that doing that. Even if she's aclone." Raleigh didn't want to accept that she was involved.

"Nate's still out there. They're gonna be going after him next." Hilbert spoke. "He's taking care of Hilda right now. I just hope Hilda's okay..."

"What do we do now? Do we try and bring everyone else here?" Raleigh asked, wondering what the next move was. Delilah certainly didn't have anything. While she was a part of the police force, she was an interrogator. Not someone who would normally take part in the field unless things were really bad.

"There is something we can do." Sombra had something that came to mind. "If they want to keep the police hostage and by extent, the entire city with that Soul Crystal, then we have to meet them at their level. Give them a stalemate to worry about."

"What do you mean by that?" Harmony asked.

"For now, I suggest a momentary halt to all of this. Do something that will slow things down while also giving us a chance to make a comeback. I would suggest ruining their resources like with before, but they might be prepared for that." Sombra continued before looking at Harmony. "Harmony. You have access to many spells of so many kinds. Can I expect a great catalogue of spells to fulfil that role?"

"Well...depends on how you want to go through with this plan." Harmony said to the former King of the Crystal Empire.

"Shut them off from leaving this universe. Ensure that no gateways can open for them. Use a spell that will allow that." Sombra answered, looking back at the others. "We can't have them go anywhere and return back to whatever this Arcane Insitute place is, or worse, they capture Nate. He is still out there, isn't he? Vulnerable to be captured. If they are going to capture him, don't give them the opportunity to even return back. Do you know any such spell?"

Harmony was suddenly put on the spot and she was confused for a second. Then, it clicked. She remembered something she read once.

"There is one! It's powerful enough to do the tricK and I would have used it back at the Nebel Plateau, but there was just so much to worry about back there." Harmony answered. "But...it does come at a great risk."

"I see." Sombra gave her his full attention.

"If I use that spell, then everyone in the world would be trapped in this universe for at least 200 hours." Harmony answered. "Once we hit that mark, the spell breaks and they'll all be able to go through the multiverse as they normally would. But the problem is that... It's such a long time. Everyone would be stuck. They'd have no choice."

"That's better than allowing them to move through worlds freely." Sombra assured her. "You should use that spell."

"If everyone else is okay with it..." Harmony said to Ash, Delilah, Hilbert, Raleigh and the other Pokemon. "Is it okay with you? I know how it can be to use a powerful spell, but that's all I have at this point. And there's no way out of it either, so...there's no time to come up with another one." She was hesitant on using a spell of such magnitude.

Ash was on the fence at first, until realizing the opportunity to help his friends, save Hilda and potentially save Nate. Granted, this meant that any help from his universe might be blocked off, but he was willing to go through with it. However, before it could be enacted, Ash took out his Harmony Badge to inform Celestia of what was about to happen.

Despite this fear for Nate, the Arcane Institute were actually struggling to find him, unaware that Nate was using one of Prisma's specialities. Or rather, Prisma himself was doing it for Nate. A way to conceal himself, mainly hiding his soul since that is how the Institute constantly finds him and his counterparts.

Prisma himself has already sensed the danger that awaits for Nate, having already helped hide his Soul away in order to avoid the worst from happening. But this wasn't his doing. It was Twilight Moonlight and her three other counterparts that was behind this. The fact that there was another entity as well as a massive weapon was worrying.

But, that was all Prisma could do for Nate right now. His soul went back to rest as Nate's eyes returned to normal, causing him to groan. "Ugh..."

"What was that...?" He uttered. Hilda was also unconscious right beside him.

With the two of them alone in an apartment where Nate found a spare room he could use. But this one was empty, clearly belonging to no one. Just some room left alone. Nate was safe, for now. Out of sight and hard to detect for the time being. Prisma gave him this chance to safe. Now, it was all up to Nate to figure out what to do next.

Back at the location, they all agreed with Harmony. As much as they knew that 200 hours would keep them there for too long, but there wasn't really a better time than right now. This could slow things down for them immensely and it could allow them to figure something out, or get any kind of support that would come through this situation.

So Harmony began to conjure up a massive amount of magic in the sky, the magic spread out across the city. No one knew that a spell of great power was being cast upon everyone. Anyone who could travel through universes would find themselves trapped within this dimension, not just Mirados City, for the next 200 hours, starting at this very second.

The students of the Arcane Institute never detected it or even saw it. Not even the BlueLight Sisters. Phantasia and Violety were too busy struggling to find Ash while Flawless was too busy being infuriated that she lost them. For the most part, the city had been blocked off from any universal travel. The same cannot be said for other locations outside of this city, but it didn't matter. Everyone in this dimension that could travel between worlds were not able to, unless Harmony said otherwise. As long as they were still in this world.

"Ugh! We lost him!" Violet groaned, unable to find Ash in that location. They were looking for his location, having lost track of him for only a little while and now suddenly, it seemed that he vanished out of nowhere.

"I swear... This is getting annoying now!" Phantasia complained. "Let's meet up with Flawless and the others. Maybe they've gotten better luck."

"Don't bother!" Flawless suddenly appeared, descending from the skies. She had her eyes set on the Soul Clones. "They like, vanished from my sights! A stupid spell is in my way." She was fuming. The BlueLight Sisters could see it. "We lost him, but don't think it'll be for long. I can at least report to the Professor that I almost took out Hilbert. But some Sobra guy saved him and made him some kind of spirit."

"That just means you got close, huh?" Violet nudged her big sister.

"Yeah. I got a perfect shot. You should've seen it." Flawless smirked, glad to boast about it to her sister. "It was like, sooooo dead-on. Right through the middle and into the soul. Like, poof!"

Phantasia smiled and chuckled, though she felt some anger herself that she missed the chance to see it happen.

"Anyways, let's regroup. We need new plans pronto." Flawless took off with her sisters. It was time for them to regroup and think of their next gameplan, unaware of the lock within this city.

As for the Machines Phantasia and Violet brought to life, they had been defeated, completely crushed and on the side. It was a hard-fought battle but Spike, Applejack and Rainbow Dash managed to succeed, taking heavy breaths as they fell on their backs. Their Pokemon felt a bit exhausted but nothing that couldn't be recovered with enough rest.

"D'oh. I feel wiped out." Applejack said. "Ah never knew how tired we'd get fightin' a couple of big ol' robots like these..."

"Sceptile..." Sceptile agreed, his hand over Mienshao's shoulder as the two of them helped each other stay balance. To rest, Haxorus transformed back into Axew, falling flat on his face.

"Xew..."

Spike yelped in exhaustion, breathing heavily. Rainbow Dash also breathed. She was just about to say something until a figure approached, one they didn't expect to come. Who they saw caught them off guard and quickly broke apart their exhaustion. Hovering above them and slowly descending was none other than Twilight Sparkle herself.

"...T-Twilight...!" Spike said as his exhaustion and pain began to settle in. Rainbow Dash was taken aback and so was Applejack. She was actually here instead of being captured. She had Horizon Storm and Skyblue Shine to thank for those golden opportunities.

"TWILIGHT!" The three of them said as they rushed over to her, quickly wrapping their friend into a huge, relieved hug. One she was able to feel, especially coming from Spike, despite the fact that she had two physically strong ponies hugging her.

"We missed you! We ended up in the wrong world and were so worried." Spike exclaimed.

"You broke out by yourself?! I thought we messed up and had to travel to another world again!" Rainbow Dash cried out.

"I had help." Twilight smiled. "Sorry to worry you all. Glad I wasn't captured for more than a day or two. Or even months."

"I don't wanna think about that." Rainbow Dash shuddered. "But anyways, now that you're here, we can turn tail and get outta here! Head home and leave it all behind!"

"I don't think it will be that easy, Rainbow Dash." Twilight shook her head. "Not until the Arcane Institute can stop pursuing us. Reaching Princess Celestia and telling her what happened should be first up, because I saw something shocking back there."

"What did you see?" Spike asked.

"It's Kimia. And everyone else. I thought they were just using those souls as a way to keep them hostage, but it was for something else." Twilight knew the truth and was ready to spout it out. "They cloned her, creating something known as Soul Clones and by extension, Soul Trainers.

"Soul...What?" The three of them uttered with confusion on their faces and in their tones of voices. Twilight gave it her best effort to explain while also thinking of her next approach. As for the latter, her eyes shifted to something that caught her attention. Something that could be rather beneficial to her coming plan.

Twilight Sparkle had the same idea as Sombra. Give the Institute a stalemate, but by extension, take their mind off what they're focused on and draw it somewhere else. And right now, Twilight saw something that could work.

The Mirados Circuit.

As the journey continues.

Chapter 682 End.

Author's Note

Had Harmony done this earlier, then Twilight would've been stuck for sure.