“So you’re saying that that pony, wasn’t a pony at all, but a Pony-ta?” inquired Rainbow Dash, “And it’s one of these Pokemon?”
“In a nutshell” said Twilight.
“Can we go home now?” asked Fluttershy, “I don’t want to see animals fighting.”
“I suppose” said Twilight reluctantly. Truth be told, she wanted to stay longer. She conjured up a transportation spell, and the six disappeared in a flash of light, only to reappear moments later.
“Whee! Do it again!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
“I don’t understand” said a bewildered Twilight, “That felt… weak somehow, as if there’s less magic to draw from.”
“So how do we get home, sugarcube?” asked Applejack
“I wish I knew” said Twilight solemnly. She fished desperately for something to say. If their morale got low, they might start assigning blame, and she was pretty sure she knew who would bear the brunt. After a moment, she spoke again,
“We’re trapped in a game. I suppose we could try playing it.”
“Hang on,” interjected Rainbow Dash, suddenly remembering a trivium, “didn’t you say this game starts out in a town or something? How did we end up on a beach?”
An extremely abashed look spread across Twilight’s face, “I wanted to make the game more interesting, let the player get more choices than the three starter Pokemon. I added an area called Starter Island to the south of Pallet Town, it’s a bunch of different terrains side-by-side to get the maximum amount of variety. Pretty much everything except the city.”
“Just how far are we from this Pallet Town?” inquired Rarity.
“I don’t know” admitted Twilight, “In the game it’s about 300 steps, but clearly…” she motioned at the vast landscape before them, with nary a man made structure as far as the eye could see, “...it’s going to be a lot more for us.”
A wave of dread was washed over them, visible on all their faces.
“Hey come on, look on the bright side” encouraged Twilight, “We didn’t get turned into humans this time. Trust me when I say that that was NOT a fun acclimation period.”
“And on the less bright side, we’re lost in the middle of nowhere with nothing!” Rarity lashed back.
It was just like Rarity to whine in the face of adversity. But she had a point. They were in a dire strait, with no supplies, and no idea how far they were from civilization. Actually, the former wasn’t true, observed Twilight. A few odds and ends from the lab had gotten sucked in with them and were scattered about the landing site. One thing in particular caught her eye. It was a jar, one of the few that had not shattered, and its label read “saltpeter.” A few feet away she found a couple boxes of matches. Perfect. With these, they may just survive yet. Twilight was so lost in thought that she hadn’t noticed how far she’d wandered from the gang. She called them over with a sharp whistle
“I have a plan” she said to them, “It’s not ideal, and it’s certainly not safe, but we need to cover as much ground as we can. But I think I can marginally shift the odds in our favor. Applejack, would you get me some bamboo rods?” she requested, pointing towards a nearby bamboo field.
“Ah’m on it!” said Applejack, and she hurried over.
“And Pinkie Pie, do you by any chance have some powdered sugar?” Twilight asked her party loving friend.
“What a silly question!” replied Pinkie Pie, “of course I do!” She handed over a small sack labelled “confectioner’s sugar”.
“Ah got the bam- WHOA!” exclaimed Applejack, as she tripped over the two bamboo stalks she was carrying. She fell on the bamboo, snapping it in half
“Ah nuts” she said, “ah’m mighty sorry Twilight”
“That’s all right, I needed to break it.” With her magic, Twilight snapped the bamboo near each of the seams, making ten-inch tubes that were closed at one end. Into the open end of each, she poured some saltpeter and powdered sugar.
“Mind fillin’ the rest of us in on what yer doin’?” asked Applejack
“Emergency flares” said Twilight, handing one to each pony along with a couple of matches “Our best chance of getting out of here is to signal a passing aircraft. I figure if we spread out, we can increase our chances of being seen.” With her hoof, she drew a triangle in the sand, with an "S" at the base and an "N" at the point.
"Starter Island is shaped like a triangle, to represent that many paths lead to the same destiny. Even if we don't flag down a rescue team, if we all just head north, and we'll meet up at the edge, maybe sooner" she said with a nod to Fluttershy, who was a clear "nay" vote on the splitting up idea.
“Goodie bags!” interrupted Pinkie Pie,
The rest of the ponies walked quizzically over to where Pinkie Pie was standing.
Arranged in a perfect circle were six saddlebags, looking fresh and pristine, each with a buckle shaped like one of the Six’s cutie marks.
“This looks like mine” said Applejack examining the bag emblazoned with an orange apple, “but ah din’t have it with me at Twilight’s house.”
“Me neither” added Fluttershy, “I don’t think any of us did.”
“What’d I get? What’d I get?” squealed Pinkie Pie. She turned it upside down, and a red and white sphere rolled out onto the sand. The others reached inside their bags to discover that they had the same contents.
“This is a Pokeball, isn’t it?” asked Fluttershy, examining hers, “for capturing?”
“It’s the Starter Ball, another one of my inventions” replied Twilight proudly, “It can catch any sufficiently low-level Pokemon without fail, which becomes your starter Pokemon. This is a pretty dangerous environment to go through unprotected, so I suggest you use it.”
“This is starting to sound like a real delightful holiday,” groaned Rarity
“Well excuse me for not designing the entire game to account for six idiots getting trapped inside!” yelled Twilight
ENOUGH! All o’ y’all!” shouted Applejack, stomping her hoof on the ground, “Maybe it is fer th’ best if everypony went their own sepr’ate way for a hwile. We got our flares, we’ll get back together later. In th' menatime ah want everypont ta CHILL OUT! Savvy?”
“Umm,” whispered Fluttershy in a barely intelligible voice, “can I, maybe tag along with somepony, I mean, if it’s not too much trouble?”
“Ah think we all need some alone time, Fluttershy.” said Applejack in a soft sober tone.
“Alright.” muttered Fluttershy forlornly.
“Well, good luck everypony” said Twilight wistfully. They gave her an acknowledging nod, and each of the six headed off in their own direction, taking the first step on their journey, alone.