When the sun rose in the morning, the weary ponies made the mile and a half trek back to Appleoosa. Their stomachs roared in protest, as they had not eaten since lunchtime the previous day. Twilight tried desperately to steer her thoughts to anything but food, but try as she might, she could not stop herself from daydreaming about pancakes.
As they crested a hill, the sprawled out town of Appleoosa stretched out before them. Their eyes lit up like stars with relief, ecstatic to have finally made it back.
Immediately, Rainbow's eyes snapped to the inn. It was still early enough in the day for them to still be serving breakfast, and Rainbow Dash burst out running towards it, hunger putting a mad look in her eyes. The other five immediately followed her, letting the surge of adrenaline carry them to the inn, hoping they wouldn’t crash before they got there.
The six of them stumbled through the door of the inn all at once, collapsing in the middle of the floor. "Six orders of blueberry pancakes." Twilight asked, panting. "And a round of coffee please."
The innkeeper nodded, shouting their order back to the kitchen. Soon after, they were seated around a table, all devouring their breakfast. Even Rarity had abandoned the pretense of table manners and wolfed down her meal in a ravenous frenzy.
Applejack thumped her stomach. "Whew. That'd just about be the best darn meal I ever ate." She laughed.
"I don't think I've ever been so hungry." Fluttershy added. "But now I feel so much better." They passed around mugs and each helped themselves to a cup of strong Appleoosa coffee.
The rest of their morning was spent travelling around town, making it known that they were alive and well. Twilight apologized to Braeburn for his broken rod and for causing him worry, but he was just happy to see they were safe. Their next stop was the sheriff's office, to alert Silverstar of their return. Braeburn had filed a missing ponies report the previous afternoon when he had found the site of their picnic abandoned, and the Sheriff and his posse had spent much of the day combing the badlands for any signs of the missing mares.
The sheriff's office was a tiny headquarters for law enforcement, only featuring a small office for the sheriff, a jail block consisting of two currently vacant cells, and a small foyer separating the two, with a desk and chairs for the other officers. Silverstar was filling out paperwork at his desk when Twilight knocked on his door.
"Twilight Sparkle?" He gasped, letting out a relieved laugh. "Well you're a sight for sore eyes missy. What in tarnation happened to y'all?"
"We got dragged into a sinkhole when we were sand fishing." She explained. "We spent a few hours wandering around down there before we got shot out by a geyser."
"Geyser? You're tellin' me you got shot out of Bridleback Geyser?" He laughed. "You six sure are an adventuresome lot, let me tell ya."
"Speakin' of which, we found somethin' down there maybe y'all might know a thing or two about." Applejack interjected.
Silverstar raised an eyebrow. "If it's from the ground 'round these parts, darn tootin' I know what it is." Pinkie Pie produced the mysterious stone. Like Twilight and Rainbow Dash's, it had attuned itself to Pinkie's bubblegum colored coat. The stone was a bright pink, with a pale yellow and blue on the catseye pattern within.
The stallion stroked his moustache as he inspected the marble-like stone. "Well boil my britches." He sighed. "I could tell ya darn near everything about any sort of rock in this here town. But I ain't never seen nothin' like this."
Disappointment was evident on Twilight's face. "Are you sure Sheriff? We found them in a spring at the bottom of the geyser."
"I'm positive." He affirmed. "Although I will say that crystals ain't my area of expertise. That'd be the Gym Leader of the Crystal Empire's specialty."
"Well, thanks anyway for your help." Rainbow sighed. "Hey Twi, maybe you could ask your professor friend next time we can get to a video phone."
Twilight nodded. "Good plan. Thank you again Sheriff." She started toward the door of the sheriff's office when Rainbow Dash and Applejack blocked her way.
"Forgettin' something, sugarcube?" AJ asked.
"I think the sheriff and you still have some unfinished business." Rainbow added.
Twilight's eyes lit up with recollection. "That's right! Sheriff Silverstar, I would like to challenge you to a battle!"
Excitement was evident on the older stallion's face. "I accept your challenge. Tell ya what, let me finish some business here and I'll meet you in town in an hour."
* * *
Twilight and company stood anxiously in the middle of the town's main road, under the shadow of its clock tower. The bell began tolling, causing all the townsponies to quickly flee from the streets. Twilight looked at the clock. High noon.
Silverstar stepped out from within the sheriff's office, hat tilted over his eyes, moving silently save for the jangling of the spurs on his boots. He walked a good distance down the street, turning back towards Twilight, finally making eye contact. "Welcome to the Appleoosa gym." He grinned, spitting into a pot off to his right. "Battle here is a mano y mano affair, ya hear? First pokémon down is the loser." A small crowd of ponies had gathered to watch, either standing on the porches of buildings or staring out through windows. A lone tumbleweed rolled across the makeshift field, as both trainers stared each other down, locked in a dead silence save for the tolling of the clock's bell.
"Draw!" Silverstar yelled. This was the cue for both trainers to release their pokémon. Twilight had meant to reach for Ivysaur's pokéball, but in a panic had grabbed the wrong one by mistake. She swallowed hard as Eevee's tiny form took shape before her. This would not bode well for her.
At the same time, Silverstar's pokéball opened, releasing a huge pokémon onto the dirt road. Rhyhorn pawed at the ground, lining up its horn with Eevee. Eevee let out a frightened yip, but nonetheless, out of devotion to her trainer, steeled itself to face the opponent.
I'm not going to win this one with brute force. Twilight thought to herself. One clean hit from Rhyhorn and Eevee is done for. Eevee did have one thing over Rhyhorn- innate agility. Eevee's small size and quick feet would make it hard for a large, clumsy pokémon like Rhyhorn to land a hit. She thought back to her looking through her pokédex's entries on ground-types yesterday. It mentioned how Rhyhorn could not turn and could barely stop after it began to charge. If Eevee could just keep poking at Rhyhorn, they would eventually be able to win by attrition.
"Eevee, open up with sand attack!" Twilight commanded. Her first priority was to make sure Rhyhorn wouldn't be able to land a hit. Eevee flung a good heap of sand into its eyes, causing Rhyhorn to cry out in irritation.
"That's no good! Takedown, let's go!" Silverstar ordered. Rhyhorn flung itself into a headlong charge, causing the ground to tremor beneath its feet. Twilight and Eevee held their ground, both trusting in each other to make the proper move at the right time.
"Now! Dodge!" Twilight shouted. Eevee sprung out of the way effortlessly, causing Rhyhorn to let out a surprised cry. It kept charging, running past Twilight and slamming headfirst into a load of wooden crates. It was dazed from the impact, but still healthy.
"Let's keep this up Eevee!" Twilight yelled encouragingly, "Tail whip!" Eevee gave her fluffy tail a quiver, trying to make Rhyhorn drop its guard. It came stampeding again, but Eevee effortlessly jumped out of the way, causing it to crash again, this time into the brick front of the jailhouse.
This kept going for a few minutes. Eevee would keep taunting Rhyhorn, and each time he would miss. With each missed attack, Rhyhorn would crash into something else, and this eventually began to wear Rhyhorn down. His charges had gotten slower over time, and it was clear Silverstar wouldn't be able to keep this going for long.
"You've done a good job this far, missy." Silverstar conceded with a growl. "But we aren't finished yet. Bulldoze, let's go!" Rhyhorn began another charge, but this time the earth shattered beneath his feet. Where Rhyhorn ran, the ground erupted in a spray of dirt and rock.
"Eevee, dodge!" Twilight ordered. Eevee jumped out of the way of Rhyhorn, but was caught in its side by a flying shard of earth. Eevee was knocked to the ground, nearly finished by one brutal attack.
Rhyhorn forcibly stopped its charge, dragging its feet in the ripped earth, turning itself towards its downed opponent. "Let's finish this Rhyhorn. Bulldoze, again!"
"Eevee, get up! Please!" Twilight pleaded. If Eevee got run over by this, losing the gym battle would be the least of Twilight's worries.
"Ee…" It faintly whimpered.
"Please Eevee, get up! Don't let them hit you anymore!" She cried. "Come on, get up! I believe in you!"
Eevee's eyes snapped open, and with a second wind, she hopped to her feet. "Vee! Eevee!" She barked.
"That's the way!" Twilight cheered. "Now, let's put our plan into effect! Take down, now!" Eevee began making a headlong charge towards Rhyhorn, despite the rock type being several times larger.
From the sidelines, her friends were watching in suspense. "What is she doing?" Rainbow shouted aloud. "There's no way Eevee can beat Rhyhorn in a straight out charge!"
Fluttershy leaned over to Rainbow's ear. "Maybe that isn't what she's thinking?" She offered.
Twilight stared intensely at the two charging pokémon. True, Eevee couldn't beat Rhyhorn in a direct charge. Good thing that isn't what we're thinking. "Eevee, dodge to the left!" Eevee instantly reacted, hopping off to the left as Rhyhorn came stampeding past.
"What in tarnation?" Silverstar was caught offguard, and had no idea what was coming.
"Now, use take down again, right into his side!" Eevee resumed her charge, using the momentum already gained from the previous charge. Eevee pulled a perfect T-bone, slamming headfirst into Rhyhorn's flank. All of the previous tail whips had dropped Rhyhorn's defenses to next to nothing, and even an ineffective attack like take down would do massive damage.
Rhyhorn was knocked off its feet by the hit, and landed several feet away on its side. It weakly waved its legs in the air, but after a few moments, it ceased. Rhyhorn was unconscious.
"Well done girlie." Silverstar chuckled, tipping his hat to Twilight. "I can tell your outstanding performance in that tournament wasn't no fluke. You're the real deal. As the gym leader of this fine town, it's my honor to present you with this here badge; Appleoosa's own Ranger Badge." He gave Twilight the star-shaped pin, which she placed proudly next to the Sprout Badge and the Gemini Badge. That made three.
Silverstar looked at the rest of the mares. "So, any of you want to give ol' Silverstar a challenge?"
"No thanks." Rainbow sighed. "One thing I learned from that tournament is I have a long way to go before I'm ready to call myself a pokémon master."
"Same here." Applejack admitted. "For now, I'll be taggin' along with Twilight. Out of all of us, she's got the best shot at the pokémon league."
Twilight blushed. "Don't give up on your dreams girls. You're every bit as strong as I am."
Applejack and Rainbow Dash both laughed. "We ain't givin' up on nothin'," Applejack assured.
"We're going to keep getting stronger along with you." Dash added. "And eventually we'll be going back out to get our badges ourselves. Don't worry Twi, we'll be gunning for you once you become the Champion."
"That's a long way off." Twilight laughed. "But it would be my honor to face you as challengers."
Siverstar interrupted their fantasies with a chuckle. "Well 'afore you can go challengin' the Pokémon League, yer gonna need a few more badges. I'd reckon the next place you'll be wantin' to visit is Hive Omega, the city of Changelings."
"Will do Sheriff." Twilight smiled with a small bow. "Well girls?" Shall we?"
"Um, Twilight? Eevee looks… um…" Fluttershy said, pointing a hoof at Eevee.
Eevee shuddered. Twilight couldn't fathom what was wrong with her. True she had taken a few hits in the battle, but this didn't look like an injury. Sunlight began to swirl around the small brown pokémon as its eyes lit up bright. Twilight and everypony stepped back as a white aura cloaked Eevee's body. Her form slimmed out. Her tail became longer, less bushy, and split in two. Her ears shifted downwards and grew out. And a bright red glow began to emanate from her forehead. The light cleared with a flash, leaving a new, pink pokémon in Eevee's place. She had evolved into Espeon.
"Espi!" She happily yipped.
"Congrats Twi!" Rainbow smiled.
"Looks like that there pokémon puts a lot of trust in you." Silverstar commented. "Eevee can only take this form during the day, and only when the bond of friendship with its trainer is deep enough.
"Friendship?" They had certainly had a good relationship, but Twilight didn't think it was deep enough to trigger an evolution. Then again, she reminisced about some of their experiences together. She had saved Eevee from the woods, spent plenty of time playing with her, and had won no less than two gym badges now with her help. Twilight smiled. "I guess friendship is magic, after all."