“And there it is,” said Jessie. “Beautiful Laverre City!”
The sun was just in the middle of setting when Team Rocket’s balloon crested the horizon, at last coming within visual distance of their destination. Below them, the team could just make out the oncoming city in the fading sun’s light. The shadows cast by artfully-designed building mingled with the faint glow of street lamps to produce a scene reminiscent of a swarm of fireflies flitting through the night. For Celestia, the experience was far more than that.
“So,” she thought from her position atop the balloon. “This is how the civilized inhabitants live here.”
The city below lacked, she noted, the towering skyscrapers of bustling places like Manehatten back home. The buildings were, for the most part, two or three stories tall at most, and tended to be spaced out between patches of green. Trees, young and old, grew everywhere, and Celestia even spotted a small stream or two running through the town. Almost of the construction had an artful, personalized quality to it that suggested a general lack of mass-production. Tiny dots that were people and Pokemon of many species were wandering through the streets, markets, outdoor restaurants, and what were presumably parklands. Flocks of birdlike Pokemon and other floating species flitted around from place to place. Near the center of everything was what appeared to be the largest building in town, one that instantly put the princess in the mind of her student’s old domicile back home: a half-dozen story structure built around, and almost into, what had to be the largest tree Celestia had seen since ancient times.
On the whole, Laverre City reminded Celestia a little bit of some of the more upscale, homey towns that littered Equestria’s countryside. These were homes not to the wealthiest of the elite, and to the poorest of the poor, but rather to those with some money who sought a quiet, peaceful life closer to nature. She wondered idly how the demographics here compared.
More importantly, Celestia thought as the balloon made its slow, steady way down to the earth, this was her first chance to acquire a broader knowledge base in a civilized environment. Since arriving here, she had had no real chance to do proper research on the state of interdimensional travel in this world, and she would be a fool to miss this opportunity to do so. From the way Team Rocket had scoffed at the idea of her being such a traveler, she was not optimistic about the chances, but she had to try.
And of course, Laverre also represented a chance to ditch Team Rocket, if she chose to do so. They had been mostly accommodating, true, but they were also irritating, overly aggressive, and none-too-bright. They had tricked her into joining them. Granted, by the rules of their world it wasn’t trickery and she probably would have traveled with them this far voluntarily, but that still didn’t make it alright, did it? Yes, James had healed her injuries and fed her, but he had placed her in the battle where she had gotten many of them. Besides, she had saved his life. Surely that was repayment enough. She was perfectly at liberty to leave them any time she wanted and make her own way through this crazy world. No one could fault her for it.
So why did she feel a slight twinge of guilt when she thought about it?
Some moments later, Team Rocket’s balloon touched down in a forest clearing slightly outside the city. Celestia jumped nimbly down to ground, watching the trio set the burner to slowly die away before climbing out of the basket themselves. The Meowth balloon would deflate before too long, and Jessie, James, and Meowth busied themselves with setting up a camp. The princess used her newfound Psychic move to assist, getting some practice using it for finer manipulation in the process.
“Ow!” yelled Meowth as he was smacked in the face with a hovering bedroll. He made a fist at Celestia. “Watch where you’re aimin’ dat thing, lady!”
“I apologize,” said Celestia with a completely straight face. “I am still learning to control this power fully.”
“Don’t think ya got me fooled! I know just what you’re up to, horsie!”
“Do you now?” Celestia smiled pleasantly as the two stared one another down. She held it perfectly, unerringly, as a dozen large objects lifted themselves up behind her head.
Meowth hesitated. “Uh… I tink I need ta go… do a ting! Bye!”
The small catlike Pokemon ran over to Jessie and James, and remained there for the remainder of the setup. It took a few minutes to get everything into place, set up tents, and get a fire going, but they managed with a practiced ease that suggested a good deal of experience in roughing it. Finally, they took out their rather small cooking pot again, poured some water and some brown thing in a can into it, and set it to cooking.
Celestia watched the sun’s orange rays slowly fade away beneath the tree cover before turning back to the trio and sitting herself down beside the fire. As daylight waned, it seemed to grow brighter and brighter. In contrast, the princess herself felt less lively, weaker than before. She brushed off the unfamiliar sensation as a simple failure to fully adapt to this world’s conditions.
“Can I ask,” she said. “Why you are choosing to make camp outside of the city rather than go in? For secrecy’s sake, I assume?”
“Dat’s right,” Meowth answered. “We don’t want no one knowin’ we’re here yet. It’ll be easier springin’ a trap on those Team Flare guys if they don’t see us first, see?”
“We’ll be going into town for supplies tomorrow, once everything’s open,” James added.
“Your stores close at night?”
“A lot of ‘em,” Meowth said. “Especially da ones we want!”
“Luna wouldn’t like that,” Celestia mused. “But this does mean night would be a good time to slip away into the city, if I wish to.”
“I’m coming with you,” she said aloud. “I want to see this place, up close and personal.”
A good few miles back down Route 14, Ash, Pikachu, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie were gathered around their own campfire. With their only form of transport being their own two feet, they couldn’t cover ground as quickly as Team Rocket, but they were certainly enjoying their journey more. They had set up camp inside a forest clearing of their own and were presently watching Clemont present his latest invention. Holding up a small box greatly resembling a microwave with a trio of metal sticks going through from one side to the other, the Lumiose City gym leader elaborated on its function.
“I call it my Perfect Marshmallow Maker,” he explained. “It takes an ordinary marshmallow,” he held up one of the puffy white treats in one hand. “And cooks it ever so gently into a flawless, uniform golden brown in less than thirty seconds. Perfect for eating alone, with friends, or on a smore. Never again will your camping trip be marred by burnt or undercooked dessert!” his large glasses seemed to flash as he grinned broadly. “The future is now, thanks to science!”
“That’s great, Clemont!” said Ash with a smile of his own.
“But does it work?” asked a rather more skeptical Bonnie.
“Of course!” her big brother answered. “Allow me to demonstrate.” Clemont opened the machine and placed a marshmallow along one of the sticks, which promptly started to rotate slowly. “Now we just activate the burners, and…” he pressed a button, and the inside of the machine began to glow a soft orange. Within seconds, the white dessert inside began to turn brown.
“Wow, Clemont,” Serena leaned in close to get a better look at the device’s inside, smiling. “Good job.”
“Thank you. Thank you,” he waved, looking proud. “As you can see, the Perfect Marshmallow Maker will revolutionize our camping trips and render cooking over campfires obsolete!”
“Uh, you might wanna check again,” Bonnie pointed.
“Huh?” Clemont looked down. “Yowch!” he suddenly dropped the machine into the dirt. “Hot! Hot! Hot!”
“How well did you insulate that thing?”
“Insulate?”
The machine exploded.
When the resulting massive cloud of smoke cleared away around thirty seconds later, both Clemont and Serena sported ashy black faces and impromptu afros. The inventor sank to his knees and moaned.
“Not again,” he sighed wearily. “Why does this always happen to me?”
“What did you do to my hair?!” Serena yelped when she spotted her reflection.
“Ah, it’s okay,” Ash scratched the back of his head. “Making smores with friends over a campfire is half the fun of having them. I wouldn’t want a machine to replace that.”
Pikachu put a paw to his mouth and snickered. Then, suddenly, he stood up straight, one long ear twitching visibly. He rushed over to Ash on all fours.
“Pika pi!” he said, tugging on his trainer’s vest to get his attention. “Pikachu! Pika pika!”
“Huh? What is it, buddy?” Ash asked. “What’s the matter?”
By way of answer, Pikachu turned and pointed towards some bushes at the other end of the clearing. “Pi Pikachu.”
“There’s something there?”
“Pika,” Pikachu nodded.
As if on cue, the bushes began to rustle, attracting everyone’s attention very quickly. Even Clemont looked up from wiping his face off and Serena took a moment away from trying to beat her hair back into submission. A medium-sized, quadrupedal creature exploded from the shrubs in a burst of speed, but almost immediately slowed down. The lavender creature’s eyes were squeezed shut, its face a mask of pain. Its gait featured a notable limp on one of its rear legs, and a secondary one on a foreleg.
“Whoa!” Bonnie exclaimed. “What’s that?”
Ash pulled out his Pokedex and held it up.
“Pokemon unknown,” it said. “No data.”
“Look, the poor thing is injured!” Serena said.
“What happened to it?” wondered Clemont.
“Pika pika Pikachu!”
Perhaps in some twisted form of answer to Clemont’s question, eerie, high-pitched howls rang out in rapid succession from very nearby. The Pokemon’s eyes opened up, looking wide and terrified. But it only managed to stagger forward a few more steps before three more shapes leapt out of the forest. These, Ash recognized instantly.
“Watch out! Houndoom!”
“Houndoom,” the Pokedex said as it scanned the newcomers, oblivious to the larger situation. “The Dark Pokemon. The evolved form of Houndour, Houndoom hunt in packs, working together to bring down their prey. It is said that if you are burned by the fires it produces in its belly, the injury will never fully heal.”
As one, the three red and black, horned Pokemon opened their jaws and unleashed three streams of red-white fire. All three shots found their target, and the lavender Pokemon went flying across the clearing, where it smacked into and rolled across the ground. It attempted to rise, legs quivering underneath it… and then they gave out, and the mysterious creature collapsed in a heap and lay still. The three Houndoom advanced, jaws wide and fangs bared.
“Pika pika!” Pikachu leapt over the fallen Pokemon, placing himself between the predators and their would-be meal. His cheeks sparked dangerously.
“You’re right, Pikachu!” Ash stood up, fist clenched. “There’s no way we’re letting you have this Pokemon!” he shouted at the Houndoom.
The three clenched their teeth and growled. For a moment, everything was still as the two groups sized one another up and postured. Then the Houndoom glanced at one another and opened their mouths again. Fire poured forth.
“Use Quick Attack to dodge!” Ash commanded.
Pikachu darted across the clearing at lightning speed, such that he appeared to be in multiple places at once. The streams of fire struck the ground and scorched away small saplings and grasses, but they did not manage to touch Ash’s Pokemon.
When Pikachu got close, one of the Houndoom ceased firing and leapt towards Pikachu instead, its fangs bared and suddenly coming aflame themselves.
“Look out, that’s Fire Fang!” Clemont shouted.
“Counter with Iron Tail!” Ash yelled.
“Pika,” Pikachu’s tail lit up with a bright silver glow. “Chu!” He jumped nimbly into the air, passing straight over Houndoom’s open jaws and even its horned head. Just as he reached the back of the Pokemon’s skull, Pikachu whirled himself around and smashed his tail directly into the back of Houndoom’s head, sending the powerful predator sprawling into the dirt.
“Now, Thunderbolt!”
“Chuuuu!”
Pikachu’s cheeks crackled violently, and the next instant he unleashed a spectacular arc of electrical energy that crashed down right on top of the two other Houndoom. They howled in obvious pain.
“Now, let’s make this a fair fight!” Ash grabbed two Poke Balls from his waist and tossed them upwards. “Frogadier, use Water Pulse! Hawlucha, Karate Chop!”
The two Pokemon burst onto the scene in twin flashes of white light, and moved at once to do as their master bid. Frogadier formed a blue-white sphere between its arms and hurled it, while Hawlucha’s wing and claw shone with a white light of their own. The sphere burst against one of the Houndoom, while Hawlucha smashed its claw into another. Both attacks were super effective against the Dark/Fire Pokemon.
Now themselves on shaky legs, the small Houndoom pack rose to its collective feat and took stock of the situation. Where they had expected to find easy prey there was instead a ferocious battle that they were presently losing. They were clever enough to see when things were unlikely to go their way, and wise enough to understand when to cut their losses. Howling angrily at their opponents, they turned around and ran back the way that they had come.
Ash waited a minute to see if they would return, and when they did not extended two Poke Balls. “You were great out there, guys! Return!”
After Frogadier and Hawlucha had vanished back to their balls, he turned around to see Clemont, Serena, and Bonnie clustered over the downed lavender Pokemon. As he got closer, Ash spotted a horn and a pair of short wings on its body, as well as slight streaks of other colors in its purple mane. On the whole, it bore a surprising degree of similarity to the other unknown Pokemon that Team Rocket had sent out the other day.
“This Pokemon is hurt very badly,” Clemont said as he went over its unconscious form with both hands. “It looks to have suffered several burns of the second and third degrees, more than a few deep cuts, some of which appear infected, and at least two factures that I can see,” he looked up. “It needs full-scale medical attention right away!”
“But the nearest Pokemon Center is still almost two days out, in Laverre!” Serena said, looking worried. “Will it make it that long?”
“I… don’t know…”
The whole group gasped as one.
“Poor Pokemon,” Bonnie laid a gentle hand on the creature’s head.
“Pika,” Pikachu’s ears and face were drooping.
Of the group, Ash alone wasn’t looking sad or frightened. Instead, he looked thoughtful. Then, a determined expression made its way up his face.
“Leave it to me,” he said, pulling out a red and white orb.
“Ash, what are you doing?!” gasped Serena.
“Poke Ball, go!” Ash tossed it at the prone Pokemon. It sucked the creature inside in a flash of white. The lavender Pokemon was in no position to put up resistance – the ball shook once, then flashed a successful capture.
“Ash!” Bonnie’s fists were balled. “Do you really think now is a good time for a capture?!”
“Just watch,” he said, with a slight smile.
As if waiting for its cue, Ash’s Poke Ball itself lit up with silver, and then vanished from the clearing.
“Of course!” Clemont put one finger up. “Whenever a league trainer has six Pokemon on hand, and captures another…”
“The Poke Ball is instantly teleported back to their home Professor,” Ash finished.
Serena clasped her hands together. “Ash, that’s genius!”
“I know for a fact that Professor Oak always checks out the Pokemon he receives from me right away,” Ash continued. “And if there’s anyone in world who can treat an unknown species of Pokemon, Professor Oak is your man!”
“Pikachu!” Pikachu agreed, smiling again.
“But…” Clemont looked at Ash’s waist. “I thought you didn’t have six Pokemon with you right now.”
“Well…” Ash smiled. “I may have asked the Professor to send up a few old friends before we left Lumiose,” he looked down at where the Pokemon had been.
“Good thing too.”
If Team Rocket has Celestia, and Ash's party has Twilight, this won't end well.
Well, I believe that Twily will have an interesting conversation with the Professor, I don't think Ash (grumbles, this is going to get confusing) has any sense to use her.
6106753 It might not end as badly as you think. Maybe the two of them will ditch their Trainers and figure out a way to get home. Or perhaps Sunbutt will just join Twilight...
I was thinking that this chapter was going to be about Twilight, never guessed she was going to join it!
Ah! And now Luna and Cady will split the world between them! Eternal night for all lovers! Muhahaha!
Twilight is in the pokemon world, horray! Now this is going to be fun, when they finally meet. I cannot wait for her to find Celestia. I bet, Twilight realized, something was wrong.
6106818 I love your idea already.
This is a neat concept... but it's fairly annoying watching Celestia brought down to the level of magical preschooler easily harmed by dog-sized creatures. She's still hundreds of pounds of muscle and mass. The millennial monarch has no way at all to defend herself without magic? At all? Never picked up some sort of horse martial arts in all her centuries? Immediately goes along with being a glorified pet to a bunch of teenagers? Eh..
6106818 I have to agree with you. When else can you binge watch Netflix with someone and not get yelled at for staying inside all day?
Interesting, waiting for the reaction between Celestia and Twilight.
6106836
Assuming that the Pokemon universe translates basic telekinesis into a psychic attack, the Houndoom would be immune to most of Twilight's initial responses. Especially as she was probably just as disoriented and weakened by the transition as Celestia was.
I'd guess that Fairy is the base type for all ponies, and that Twilight is probably a Fairy/Psychic. She may be capable of direct mental communication once she figures things out. Are there any ways other than that or talking to Meowth for Pokemon to communicate? I would assume the Professor is capable of realizing she is not truly a Pokemon, and that she works with him on a way to return home, rather than getting involved with the main storyline. Still, I had not expected her to show up and I am interested to see where things will go from here.
Celestia's getting that Stockholm Syndrome at a gradual pace
And now Twilight enters the stage. It'll be funny if she manages a good moveset with the help of Professor Oak before Celestia learns her next move
Hm, twilight vs celsetia will not go welll....
You know, unless you force the issue, Celestia won't fight Twilight and Twilight won't fight Celestia. So as soon as they meet up she is going to find out that rocket is a bunch of criminals and I can not for one moment beleave that she will continue to help them, especially if they start to commit crimes again.
So, when the two equestrians meet unless there is actually a super weapon involved I can't see any way for Celestias rocket adventure to continue.
Again, unless you have Twilight go off the deep end and wildly attack her mentor without listening to anything she says or worse Celestia go about explaining her reasoning in the worst possible manner so that everyone can get the wrong idea and cause conflict.
So yeah, that is my fear with this story. But, thet is just my fear. So far this has been quite the enjoyable story. Keep up the good work.
Oh and you could make up some new moves for the equestrians. After all they are classified as unknown so there is no reason to limit them to only known abilities. Just food for thought.
Awwww shit. Prof Oak gonna flip out with Twi.
6107050
Riiiight...
Because everyone always trusts something a friend of yours hears from someone who beat you up. And you see the part with she COULD leave them, but feels a small bit of pain while doing so?
She doesn't want to leave James, because he was nice. She would more likely try to reform him like Discord, if she gives Discord a chance...
Then I can't see why she wouldn't do that with Team Rocket.
6106928
Or she nerds out on all the lab equipment.
6106928 pokeworld, not human = Pokemon. Gods, ghosts, creatures, animals, humanoids, = Pokemon.
Couldn't celestia try writing as a form of communication?
I imagine after just capturing Twilight that Ash is officially on Celestia's 'SEND TO THE MOON ASAP' list.
6107329
What about the "Pikachu saves Twilight from the 3 Houndoom" part, and the "Ash gets Twilight in a pokeball as the only way to have her healed swiftly" part? Celestia wouldn't ignore that.
6107345 Of course, but I imagine when they actually meet, explanations will be at the minimal, and what is Celestia to think seeing her student captured?
This is gonna be awesome! Ash throws out Twilight, James throws out Celestia, they recognize each other, hilarity ensues.
Okay, I'm a little torn on Ash and his posse capturing Twilight, because it pretty much creates an enormous conflict for both Celestia and Twilight. The only way I can reasonably see this ending, is either one of them switch over to the others group, or they leave both groups to travel together almost immediately upon discovering their fellow princess. They will certainly not fight one another, nor will either of them sit around and watch as the other is set upon by other pokemon. I'm very curious as to how this will be handled. Nice chapter though.
This is going to be good. I think it's odd that Celestia is being brought down to this level, you have to wonder when the legendary status will kick in there, but at the same time, it's nice to read a crossover where the character doing the transition (Celestia) isn't immediately the most powerful and important member of the story.
Ooh things are gonna get intense when she has to battle Celestia!
6106836
Well, I think I've made it pretty clear by now where I stand on this. Celestia doesn't have any of her Equestrian magic, and mundane kicking isn't going to cut it against the likes of Ash's Pikachu. The best she could do without learning any Pokemon moves would be to fly away. I also argue that her combat prowess is vastly overstated by some segments of the fandom: you'll note that every times she's engaged any enemy 1v1 under her own power in the show, she's lost. She's a princess of a country at peace, her warrior days are far behind her.
As to going along with being a glorified pet, I would have thought that this chapter amply demonstrated just how correct her speculation that wandering through the Poke-wilds on her own would be hazardous truly was. If Ash hadn't been there, Twilight would have been ripped apart and eaten by Houndoom. A weakened mon that doesn't know how to use its own attacks is easy prey.
Ok. OK. you got me hooked,
I just need some clerification;
After Frogadier and Hawlucha had vanished back to their balls, he turned around to see Clemont, Serena, and Bonnie clustered over the downed lavender Pokemon. As he got closer, Ash spotted horns and a pair of short wings on its body, as well as slight streaks of other colors in its purple mane. On the whole, it bore a surprising degree of similarity to the other unknown Pokemon that Team Rocket had sent out the other day.
is this a typo or not?
6107410
A sample size of two isn't much to base a conclusion on, especially when one is her sister and Celestia refused to attack until she broke out the E of H.
I'm fine with Celestia having to adjust to this new world and not having her magic, but she should have Legendary or pseudo-legendary status once she figures things out. She has enough power to move the sun and hold a throne for one thousand years; she shouldn't be a chump in a fight once she's running on all cylinders.
6107452
That is indeed a typo and will be corrected posthaste.
And just in case there is any remaining unintended ambiguity: Ash just caught Princess Twilight Sparkle, and no one else.
6107497
Well, she isn't on all four cylinders. This is the sunset of her third day in that world, and she's just today learned how to use one of her attacks at will. The only battle she's been in so far she had no idea what was going on and was still weak from being flung across dimensions. She will grow stronger in time.
6107591
At current she only knows one attack, and the treatment has been thus far fair.
I just interpreted your 'I also argue that her combat prowess is vastly overstated by some segments of the fandom' as a statement indicating she would never have any substantial power in this story.
Imagine if Team's Flavor secret project is another equestrian, a villian like Sombra or Tirek. Imagine the chaos with that.
Or well maybe i'm saying this as an excuse to want other equestrians in this story, haha.
I bet Chrysalis would be the biggest Ditto to ever walk in the Pokemon world.
Or what about Discord in this world? What would happen? (Maybe you guys discuted about this, but I just want to see answers for curiosity, it's been like 4 years since I last watched Pokemon).
Something tells me that this will not end well
Some small suggestions/typo:
but he had placed her
too
is half of a reason(?) having them
there's a slight spelling mistake at the end with 'your man'
isn't it meant to be 'the man'?
6107591 In short, she'll gain Magikarp Power.
I imagine that their meeting will go like this.
Team Rocket and Ash's group meet, they throw out Celestia and Twilight. Hugs ensue, then Celestia goes full Mama Bear on Ash before Twilight calms her down. During this, both groups are confused as all hell, and Meowth is starting to give Celestia's story some credit.
6107702 It might end stupidly, if Snake Staff does a "Let's you and him fight" between Twilight and Celestia.
6107977 Teacher vs. Student... Great... Like THAT is going to end well *gets popcorn*
Honestly... I was expecting Luna to show up before Twilight. Wow, nearly getting eaten is NOT the best way to be introduced to a new universe is it?
Personally, I like stories like these where a normally powerful character is nerfed to the point of harmlessness and have to use wits to survive. In fact, fics like these are like geodes among rocks. Easily mixed up to the casual eye, but you break in a little and you can enjoy an awesome treat. I wish there were more stories like this.
Having powerful characters being weakened to this point allows them to grow and develop since they can't simply blast themselves out of a problem. Naturally, I would expect Luna to have the most trouble with this, but she isn't in the story yet. Although I can't say Celestia is one of my top ten favorite characters in MLP, I'm interested to know what she'll learn from her less than pleasant experience.
Dear Prof Oak,
I sent you an undiscovered Pokemon. Take good care of it, it's hurt really badly.
Impulsive as always,
-Ash Ketchum
P.S. No I didn't do it. Seriously, how long have you known me?
If only Ash could've sent a note like this with the pokeball. Oh well.
CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT CHAPTER!
all I am thing now, Professor oak and Ash get an award for discovering a new pokemon, Twilight is stuck in pallet town for the rest of Karlos league, and Celestia would never know Twilight was so close to finding her.
Well... I can certainly say that I have mixed feelings about this chapter.
6107397 Why do i feel that will happen in like 50 chapters from now.... (estimating)
P.S. hello clone of me
I can just imagine if Team Rocket and Ash try and use Twilight and Celestia against each other. As soon as they spot each other they're gonna instantly stop and, like, hug or something. Meanwhile, Ash and James will be frantically yelling at their Pokemon with no response.
6102569 It's a fighting move where you do... something. Something so awesome it drops your attack and defense.
I just have no idea what it is, and apparently the manga and anime can't decide either.
Sending Twily to Oak was genius! That way it's assured she and her mentor won't meet each other so easily. Also, a laboratory with a professor is the perfect place for Twilight to be
Also, maybe many of you already know it, but "Pika Pi" means Satoshi/Ash (when pikachu is tugging Ash's vest). Those are the kind of details that prove this author knows his trivia and puts care for his story.
6107987
6108298
What Hiwani said.
6108162
Why should a good guy ever be nerfed? It doesn't entertain me to see good guys be powerless. Granted, I think that curb stomp battles should be reserved for characters that truly deserve them, and that position reversals are great, but I'd like a clue that the right side is going to win! I hate moral grey areas and struggles that end with both sides taking little and losing more.
I dislike the idea of Twilight being a Pokemon in this story, an amnesiac Luna would be more fun.
6106808
While neither would necessarily be a bad story, this story is called "Celestia's Rocket Adventures." We're not leaving those three behind any time soon.
I am enjoying this. When I realized Celestia was just saying parts of her name over and over I had to stop and laugh.
I will be disappointed if she doesn't figure out how to breach the language barrier, though. Her or Twilight; if anyone could, it would be the mare with thousands of years of experience or the prodigal sciencey-type.