//------------------------------// // Six Degrees of Separation, Part 4 // Story: The World's Greatest Team of Six // by CassandraMyOCisBestpony //------------------------------// "Where'd they all go?" Spike asked himself, "I could swear I just heard them talking. Hey Owluicious, have you seen Twilight and the others?" "Who?" "You know, Twilight Sparkle, she's purple, about yay high, wings and horn." "Who?" "How on earth could you forget about Twilight?" demanded Spike, "unless... she got abducted by aliens and they wiped everypony's memory except mine!" He bolted out the door, hands in the air and screaming. In his blind panic, he ran right into Mrs Cake. "Oh my Spike, do be more careful" "Mrs. Cake, Mrs. Cake!" asked Spike, his heart still racing, "did you forget Twilight and Pinkie Pie and the others?" "Did I.. forget them?" asked Mrs. Cake bewildered "They're gone! The aliens got them, and now I'm the only one who remembers they were ever here!" "Don't be silly, Spike" laughed Mrs. Cake, "They're probably just out running errands. You don't really believe that aliens story, do you?" "I guess not" conceded Spike. "Pinkie disappears all the time, but whenever there's a cake fresh out of the oven, she'll be right there beside me. She's got a nose like a bloodhound, that one" quipped Mrs. Cake, "anyway, I have to get back to the shop. Will you be okay on your own?" "Yeah, no worries" said the dragon with an air of forced confidence, "I can take care of myself" "Ohh, you're growing up so fast! Twilight must be proud." gushed Mrs. Cake, as she departed. Left alone with his thoughts, Spike couldn't help but keep worrying about Twilight and her five friends. He pulled out his detective hat and bubble pipe, "I'll find you Twilight. No mystery's too tough when Detective Spike's on the case." ***** "CANNONBALL!!!" Pinkie Pie plunged from the waterfall into the pool below. She paddled around on her back, giggling as she rode the gentle current. She missed her friends, but her swim provided a nice little distraction. She spotted some curious-looking berries near the riverbank, and decided to investigate. She pulled herself out of the river and shook dry, instantly poofing up her hair. The berries on the bush looked just like strawberries from back home, only a deep shade of blue. Pinkie wondered why there weren't more blue foods in nature, it was such a tasty color on frosting. She popped a berry into her mouth and instantly regretted it, "Blech! Yucky!" she exclaimed, trying to wipe the bitter taste off her tongue, In desperation, she grabbed another nearby berry, this one a tiny red dot on a vine, and snarfed it down, "That's more like it!" she declared, smacking her lips. At that moment, she realized she wasn't alone. Wading in from the river was a small aqua-colored Pokemon with sharp-looking teeth and a highly pronounced jaw. It looked a whole lot like an alligator, but it was walking on two legs. "Totodile" it squawked, as it waddled over to the Rawst berry bush. "Don't eat those" cautioned Pinkie Pie, "they're super, SUPER gross! Have this instead." She tossed the Pokemon a piece of candy. Totodile looked up, briefly interested in the moving object, but then returned its attention to the Rawst Berries, chomping one right off the stem. To Pinkie's surprise, it didn't reflexively spit the berry out. Pinkie Pie snickered, "You're funny" she remarked, "you wanna come with me and be my friend?" Totodile grinned and nodded. "Allllllllllllll righty!!!!! Then our destination is..... thataway!" she said, cheerily pointing to a dissonantly-foreboding marsh. Totodile looked concerned. "Oh there's nothing to be scared of" she reassured, "even if we do run into some ghosties, I know a sure fire way to make sure they never, ever bother us." Totodile gave her a skeptical look. "I cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye" pledged Pinkie, "and I NEVER go back on a Pinkie Promise, that's a guar-ran-tee! Please stay out with me? It'll be super, super boring to be all by myself!" Finally, Totodile gave in "Yippee" cheered Pinkie Pie, "I'm gonna call you Gummy 2!" ***** Twilight walked through a dark forest, her horn providing some illumination. She was pretty sure the sun was still out, but the canopy was so thick that she couldn't confirm it for sure. Regardless, it was dark enough for the Hoothoot and Zubat to start their shifts Twilight avoided them though, she was on the hunt for a more prosperous quarry. Finally she spotted it; a disembodied head with a red beaded necklace and pink streaks in its mane. "Pokeball, go" whispered Twilight. She wound up for a fastball the way Rainbow Dash had taught her, and launched the ball at the target Pokemon. "Misdr-?" it uttered in a confused tone, but didn't have time to complete its thought before it got smacked by the ball and sucked in. The ball shook, but Twilight was far from being in suspense; by nature of the ball, the capture was guaranteed. A ping two seconds later confirmed this.