The Journey Beyond

by Derpyditzydoobubbles

First published 9th of March, 2014

Riolu has lived a harsh life that has been guided by a greedy trainer. Unfortunately for him, his world is about to get even more challenging.

Riolu has had a harsh life being with a greedy Pokemon trainer who tells him to do the dirty work, and one day when his master tells him to do some hunting, he discovers an intriguing statuette that he shows to his stingy master that soon after transports him to a peculiar dimension with even more peculiar creatures. He thought he had it bad then, but now he must deal with an even greater hardship as he is put to the test.
Note: this fic has been created and worked on with the help of my friend Abstract Thought. Many thanks as well to Erockertorres for the image.

Prologue

"Riolu, where are you? RIOLU!" A husky man shouted angrily in the dense forest.

The man waited impatiently for a few moments, cuffing his ear and listening to a fast paced rustling that intertwined itself with the wind. He then looked over and saw a small black and blue creature with yellow fur around his neck run swiftly out of a nearby bramble thicket while carrying a arrowhead in his mouth. He strolled up to the man and released the arrowhead from his mouth and into the man's palms.

"Good, a ruin is nearby. Come on, Get off your butt and lead the way riolu!" The man screamed.

Riolu whimpered as he lead the way through the dense undergrowth. Riolu loved the man. He trusted him, and he respected him, but he knew that the man trained him and nurtured him just for collecting money. Unlike most trainers, he wanted to earn fame through riches instead of skillful practice, and that is exactly what he was helping his master find as they marched through the forest. He leaded his master softly over the undergrowth of the trees until finally they reached a small clearing with a large ruin in the center.

"Perfect, almost every ruin in this bloody region has had some valuables laying in it. Go on Riolu, lead the way. I need you just in case there are some small holes that only you can crawl through. Now, go!" The man shouted.

Riolu then continued leading at a slow pace and lead the man into the ruin. It was drafty in there with the stone walls arching over there heads, looking as if they were ready to fall on them and kill them for trespassing. Riolu could sense the cold chills that ran up his trainer's spine. Once they got to a dead end of the ruin, riolu started taking in the scenery. He started padding around softly and sniffed the rocks and rubles. He noticed that his trainer was examining the dead end's wall very carefully. It looked as if his trainer was taking into mind every detail of the dead end. He then started looking at the walls that were on the dead end's sides. An expression of satisfaction crept on his face as he turned his head to examine the right wall that joined with the dead end.

"Aha! A hole in the wall just for you. I told you that I might needed you for this part of the mission. Now, get in there and don't come back until you found something useful to my taste!" The man shouted.

Riolu then stopped sniffing the rocks and padded slowly and melancholically toward the hole. As he passed by his trainer, he felt the sharp kick of his trainer's boot land straight into his rump, which caused Riolu to whimper in pain.

"Come on, you slacker! Time is money, and it's time you moved faster so I can have more of both!" The fat guy shouted even louder as he rubbed his index finger and his thumb together as a recognition for cash. "Plus, don't forget. Find me the things that would acquire perfectly to my taste. Surprise me if you have too. Now, hurry up and get a move on Riolu!" His master demanded.

Riolu nodded his head to his master and fastened his pace as he entered the hole. The hole was long and had yielded many labyrinth-like twists and turns. The further he went on the darker it got, until a few moments later the passage started to get brighter. It got brighter and brighter until Riolu finally exited the hole and came into a small room. The room itself was jammed pack with boatloads of gold and beautiful sapphire jewels, but what impressed him the most was a peculiar statuette that was placed on a flat ruby encrusted pedestal. Riolu padded slowly up to the item and examined it in wonder. It was a carving of two horselike creatures with wings and horns mounted on them. They looked as if they were bowing there heads at each other in greeting. Both their eyes were closed shut, but looked rather as if they were just sleeping, as if they looked ready to wake up. Riolu remembered what his master said to him before he journeyed into the tunnel, and decided to take this artifact to him. So, with a quick swift of his paw, he took up the item and placed it in his mouth and padded triumphantly out of the room. He padded slowly and carefully through the narrow tunnel and emerged back at the main part of the ruin. His master gave a disappointed look to him.

"So, this is all you could find? Not a stash of gold or gems at the end of that tunnel?" His master questioned madly.

Riolu thought back about the gold and the gems that were scattered everywhere in that room. He just wanted to please his master. He realized that his master did not deserve this undesirable and unacceptable object.

"Well give it here, you disappointment!" His master shouted as he leaned in to grab it.

Once his master got a grip on the artifact, Riolu lurched it back from him, thinking that he himself could simply exchange it for the desirable objects his master wanted, but he was so worried about the angered look that had come upon his master's face that he lay frozen with confusion and fear.

"I think you had misheard me, Riolu. I said give it here and that is exactly what I want you to do!" His master shouted as he got a grip on the artifact once more.

Riolu awoke from his fears and got a good grip again on the artifact as he and his master started tugging at the artifact viciously. Riolu growled through his teeth while his master started sweating great beads of angered sweat. He too was growling. As Riolu was gripping a hold of the statuette through his jaws and daring not to see his angry trainer directly, he looked at the statuette and saw the eyes of the two horselike creatures. It looked as if there eyes were squinting at him, but he ignored it and started tugging even harder against his greedy and confused master. Riolu's saliva was now pouring on the statue while his master's rage was steaming over it.

"You know riolu, sometimes I wish you would just die. I really don't need you! I never did need you! I only needed you for money and protection from people that would want to give me a good slap in the face! If you think that I'm the only bad greedy person out there in the world then think again! No one will ever love you in this world, or any other world for that matter. They will only want to use you, just like I did. So, why don't you go and die already you dumb disappointing animal!" His master shouted hatefully at the very top of his lungs.

Suddenly, the eyes of the two horse like creatures flung open, causing his master to let go of the statuette in a fearful shock. The force of his master's release on the statuette sent riolu to the ground with a thud. Riolu opened his eyes just a crack to see the statuette glow a bright red in his jaws. Not caring anymore about himself or his master, he closed his eyes tight once more. The statuette then flashed a blinding light at his master, making him fall onto the floor and cover his eyes in pain. He then looked up, and saw nothing but a small faint shimmer of red light.

* * *

Riolu never thought about life throughly until his master had told him about what he felt toward him. He felt hated. He felt as if he had felled being a worthy Pokemon for his master. He knew that no matter what he did, he would always fail at it. He was not worthy to have a friend.

Not caring anymore, riolu opened his eyes to see the fierce rage of his master. Instead, he opened his eyes and saw ruins, but something was different with these ruins. They were a lot bigger, and in front of him were two big chairs with a tapestry above each one. One of them had a blue horse like creature with a huge moon behind it, and the other had a white horse like creature with a bright sun behind it. It had look as if a fight had happened here a long time ago, as if the ruin was left here on purpose to decompose. Riolu got up and studied the tapestries closely. The two horses on the statuette were in the same form of the two tapestry horses. Shrugging, riolu calmly walked down the hall and toward two metal doors. With his might, he pushed them open and gazed outside, seeing nothing but a dark forest that glowed in the eerie light of the moon.

Author's Notes:

This is a collaborated fic. Give thanks as well to my friend abstract thought for helping me.

Chapter 1

Riolu gulped one last gulp of fear as he stood at the metal doors of the old castle, staring out at the massive forest that shone an eerie look with the moon cascading down onto the darkness of the melancholic forests. He listened closely to the howls of the night time creatures that inhabited this strange world.

"Come on, Riolu. You can do this. Just walk outside and travel through the forest in hopes for civilization. There's gotta be something around here." Riolu spoke to himself telepathically.

So, with a reluctant pause, Riolu steadily padded out of the doorway and down the moonlit steps. His body trembling with cold chills he received from the cold darkness that loomed ahead of him. As he padded on, he finally came to an old bridge that looked as if it were treaded upon for thousands of years. Riolu then leaned out one of his feet slowly on to the bridge. He then placed his entire foot on the plank, and doing so added pressure to ensure that it was safe to stand on. The plank didn't even creak. He then reached out his other foot and placed it on the next one. It didn't creak either. He did this several times until he realized that he had successfully crossed over, but before he had the chance for a sigh of relief he looked up and saw the dark forest that towered as a giant over him.

"Of course." Riolu whispered to himself.

So, with a patter of his feet, riolu pressed on towards the ominous forest, and as he padded, he listened to a peculiar sound and smell that was not very far from where he was. It was a low grumbling noise, no, it was multiple low grumbling noises, and they seemed to be getting deeper and louder, and a strange and awful smell grew stronger as well as riolu trekked deeper into the forest.

He kept on walking until he stopped to listen to the noises while covering up his nose. It seemed as if the entire forest had gone silent. Riolu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, good thing that's over for..."

Suddenly, a shadow lunged from the bushes and nailed riolu to the ground. His arms and legs where spread apart and each were held onto the ground by a strong set of paws. Riolu looked at the creature, and noticed something odd about it. The creature was made of timber, and had sharp wooden fangs that strangely glistened in the moonlight. Suddenly, riolu heard the slow beating of multiple paw steps on the ground and saw the same creatures surrounding him. They, including the one on top of riolu, gave off a blood curdling howl at the moon that gave riolu shivers up his spine.

"stand back!" Riolu shouted.

He tried to lift up his paw to use force palm, but the clutches of the wolf were held tightly. Riolu closed his eyes, and waited for the teeth of the beast to enclose on his head. Suddenly, a vicious roar arose out of the nearby bushes. All the wolves froze dead in there tracks, and looked toward where the noise was coming from. Out of the bushes rose a gigantic shadow with vicious claws that swept at the wolves. Frightened by the size of the beast, they scattered off in all directions, and ran as far away as possible. Including the one that held riolu captive on the ground. Riolu got up, dusted his legs off, and got a better look at the shadowy figure that stood boldly before him.
The beast was huge. It was certainly one riolu had never seen before. It had sleek golden fur, and it had a long and hairy red mane that looked ruffled and matted. It also had thick long fangs coming from its upper lip, and its tail looked like that of a scorpion. The very image of the beastly creature made riolu freeze in shock.

"Great, now I'm dead." He mumbled to himself in fear.

The creature then gave a stern glance at Riolu as if the beast were looking into his soul. It then started padding slowly toward him. The very sight of which made Riolu have cold chills up his spine. The creature then finally came up to him and started sniffing riolu. A long and silent pause followed. Riolu then felt the warm and sticky tongue and of the creature on his face along with a hug of two arms wrapped around him. He was being smothered with love by an affectionate predator! Riolu at first did not know what to say, but he quickly and politely excused himself from the beast's hug as soon as possible. Once he got out, he looked at the predator with great awe and formally bowed his head

"Thank you for sparing my life, but please don't do that to me. It's super gross." He whispered.

The creature stared at him for a long time. Then bowed his head in acceptance. Riolu smiled. He was strangely grateful for the creature's understanding. He then shook his head in denial.

"What are you thinking, Riolu? It's just a dumb animal. It's not like it knows too much." He thought to himself.

He then looked at the beast and saw as it perked its ears up while tilting them to an angle. It's tail started wagging in a happy fashion as if it were being reminded of an old friend. He then leapt and spun around in a wild fashion with his tongue hanging out as if he was engulfing himself in all of the kind memories of his past.

"Whoa. What's the matter? Do you smell food near by, or something like that?" Riolu questioned eagerly.

The creature stopped in his tracks and stared at riolu. He then turned around and sped straight into the forest.

"Hey! Come back! What if those weird things come after me? Then who will protect me?" Riolu shouted after him.

Without hesitation, Riolu ran swiftly after him. His paws treading like air on the old beaten path of the ancient forest. He then was able to catch up with the fast paced creature to where they were both neck and neck. There feet were now treading in a synchronized fashion as they dodged tree branches and leapt over thick and heavy undergrowth. Riolu could feel the wind engulf his feet as he tried to keep up with the creature. The beast looked as if it could go on forever. As if something was driving it to keep going. Riolu though simply tried his best to keep himself from being left behind with the demonic creatures that haunted the moonlit forest. He then realized that the beast was starting to slow down. Riolu squinted ahead of him and could see an opening that seemed to lead to the outside. He could hear a voice, but it was too faint to decipher.
The creature seemed to start picking up speed again, and Riolu simply did the same alongside him. Riolu could now understand the words coming from the edge of the forest in which they were quickly approaching. The sound sounded high pitch and fragile as if it were scared.

"Where are you, my kind manticore? I came to see how you were doing. I'm sorry I haven't visited you recently. I just don't like coming here often. Especially at night were its dark and scary." The voice spoke.

As they finally reached the end of the forest, riolu saw a small yellow horse-like creature with wings and a pink mane and tail stare at them as they came to the edge. Riolu thought wether or not he should hide, but he presumed that it would be okay to come up against this creature as the brave Pokemon he was. He could take on the creature anyways if it tried to attack. So, with a final step, he and the manticore came to a screeching halt and presented themselves to the equine. The horse-like creature smiled at the so called "manticore" as if it were an old friend, but stood in utter shock as she glanced at riolu.

"What in the name of celestia are you!?" The horse-like creature shouted at the top of its lungs.

Riolu flinched and stood frozen in fear from the loud voice of the strange equine.

"Oh, crud. I should of hid behind the bushes." Riolu thought to himself.

Author's Notes:

Here's chapter 1 to the riolu and spike fic! Hope you guys like it!

Chapter 2

Riolu scratched nervously behind his ears. Never had he been in a situation like this. The horse-like creature nervously started trotting its way toward Riolu until she was a paw length away from his face. She then reached out one of her shaking hooves and patted his head.

"You are not from here, are you?" She whispered.

Riolu started sweating. How could he explain to her about his land? How could he explain about what he had been through without her freaking out? Riolu thought for a few seconds and realized what he should say.

"No." He replied calmly.

The creature squealed with terror as if riolu threatened to hurt her. It certainly was threatening to his ears.

"You talk! Oh my goodness! You just talked!" It squealed.

Riolu then cuffed his ears. He could not stand it any longer.

"Please stop shouting. You are hurting my ears!" Riolu pleaded.

The small horse stopped for a second and blushed red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled.

Riolu nodded in forgiveness and stood silent once again. The quietness had shrouded the two and the still manticore in an ominous vile.

"Where is your home?" The small horse whispered.

Riolu stood quiet. He realized that this creature wanted to know about him, and that was something that he was not fond of, but who would not want to know about a strange creature they never saw?

"I do not have a home." He answered finally.

Suddenly, the small horse ran up to him and threw her hooves around him. Her grasp on riolu's neck had caused his face to turn a slight shade of purple.

"Don't worry then, little critter. I'll take you in." She cooed.

Riolu's face had now turned to a dark shade of purple. The creature's grip was oddly strong to him.

"Please stop choking me." He gasped in reply.

The creature heard his plea and immediately released its grip on him and blushed red. Riolu was shocked. He just met her! By the looks of it, this creature had an oddly large amount of kindness to him as well as strength.

"Thank you for the kindness, but where exactly are you going to take me?" Riolu questioned.

A cheerful grin had fallen upon the small horse.

"Follow me." She smiled.

Riolu watched as she turned around and started galloping down the dirt path.
She stopped suddenly and turned her head where she saw riolu still standing with the silent manticore. She gestured her hoof at riolu to come with her. The manticore then nudged riolu softly toward the small horse. Following there unspoken orders, riolu padded softly over to the small horse. He then took one final look back and saw the manticore that helped him through the first part of his journey. He took out his paw and waved it softly in the air as a final goodbye to the friendly beast. The beast nodded in reply and headed into the everfree. Riolu felt a strange connection with the creature. It was as if riolu had a trustful bond with him. He blew this feeling off and directed his attention toward the small horse who was patiently standing next to him.

"Ready to go?" She whispered as she pulled out a pair of yellow wings from her midsection

Riolu stood in wonder as the small horse flapped her wings around joyfully.

"You can fly?" Riolu questioned.

"Only on a few occasion, and this does seem like one of them. Climb on, and will be at my place in no time." The small horse cooed.

Riolu edged toward the horse's back. He never flew before, and he was not so sure if he could trust her. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he then reluctantly got on top of her. He grasped at her neck softly and felt her back. It felt like he was sitting on a cloud!

"I'm ready." Riolu said boldly.

"Sure thing. Here we go!" The small horse said quietly.

Riolu then felt the sudden hoofbeats of the small horse as she ran through the dirt. He then closed his eyes and clutched her pink mane in fear as she took off from the ground and flew up in the air. He opened his eyes to find himself soaring in the sky with clouds that were surrounding him.

"Wow!, I'm flying! I'm actually flying!" Riolu whispered to himself as he bounced up and down with glee.

"Do be careful back there. I'm not an expert on flying so I do not want you falling off. You fall really fast when your up this high. I know from experience." The small horse shouted to riolu.

"Sorry about that." Riolu replied.

"It's all right. By the way, I believe I did not hear you say your name. What is it?" The small horse questioned.

Riolu thought about it. It was as if he had forgotten everything ever since take off. He pounded softly at his head until everything had come rushing back.

"Riolu is my name. How about you?" He replied as he waved his fingers joyfully in the breeze.

"My name is Fluttershy, and I'm a Pegasus that usually likes keeping her hooves on the ground so I can take care of my animals." The small horse replied confidently.

A strong wind blew through the sky as the two became silent once again. Riolu felt a strong, cool, gust of wind blow through his feet as they flew through the night sky.

"So, fluttershy." Riolu spoke. "Are there others like you?"

"Of course!" Fluttershy spoke happily. "There are winged ponies like me, and then there are earth ponies, unicorn ponies, and even ponies with both wings and horns, but those are very rare."

"Ponies? Is that what your kind is called?" Riolu questioned curiously.

"Precisely! You are one smart creature, riolu. What are you, by the way?"

Riolu thought about this question for a second. It was okay to tell her what he was as long as she did not know of how he got here. It was worth the shot.

"I am a Pokemon." He spoke boldly.

A puzzled look had fallen upon Fluttershy's face.

"Is that it? You don't want to tell me anything else?" Fluttershy questioned curiously.

"Nah, I'm good." Riolu said politely.

Fluttershy nodded her head in respect and flew on. As they were flying, riolu noticed a small cottage below. It seemed that they were going straight toward it.

"Um, is that your home?" Riolu questioned.

"Yep, we are going to sleep there for the night. You don't mind sleeping on the couch, do you?" Fluttershy questioned nicely.

"Not at all!" Riolu said joyfully. Even though he hardly knew what a couch was.

A soft and delicate wind passed over Fluttershy and riolu as they landed safely near the wooden entrance of the cottage. There flying voyage was finally complete.

"Alright, riolu. When we go in, you need to be quiet. There are other animals that are in there sleeping." Fluttershy whispered.

"Sure thing, fluttershy." Riolu grumbled as he got off of her back and headed toward the door.

Riolu then grabbed the door by the handle and opened it gently all the way. He peered inside to see utter darkness with three shafts of moonlight at the very end of the house that were lying down on a green couch.

"That's where you will be sleeping. Do you want me to kiss you goodnight before I go to bed?" Fluttershy questioned sincerely.

Riolu then stared at fluttershy. He was flabbergasted. Riolu never remembered anyone saying that to him!

"Um, no thanks. I'll just sneak over there and fall asleep. You don't have to do anything." Riolu said with a blushed face.

"Oh, okay. Well, goodnight." Fluttershy cooed as she trotted into the darkness and stepped onto what sounded like a flight of steps. "Be sure to be up and ready in the morning. I'll have a surprise for you."

Riolu then stood still and listened quietly to the patter of the pony's hoofsteps on the stairs until they died down completely. He felt a strange tinge of melancholy pluck softly at his heart as if he had a strange longing for her to come back. He then immediately shook the feeling off and crept silently through the darkness and toward the couch. As he was approaching the couch, he felt as if many sleeping creatures were surrounding him in the darkness as if they were watching him. He hoped they were friendly. He then quickly picked up his pace and made safely it to the couch. He then slowly laid himself down and looked out the window that provided the light from the moon that had poured onto the couch. Riolu noticed on how the stars next to the celestial satellite twinkled. Riolu had never had seen the stars so bright. It acted like a beacon of hope to him.

"Goodnight." He whispered to the stars.

Riolu then closed his eyes, and yawned as he fell fast asleep.

Chapter 3

Shafts of sunlight stroke softly at the closed eyes of Riolu, causing him to be aroused from his slumber. He opened his eyes wide and looked around from the couch that he was sleeping upon. Morning had finally come, and it seemed like he was correct. There were animals all around him. Some of them were in cages, and some laid around lazily on the floor as if they too had just woken up. He then perked his ears up as he heard a small knock outside of the entrance to Fluttershy's cabin.

"Riolu! It's me, fluttershy. I woke up early to bring you your gift! May I come in?" A voice behind the door spoke.

Riolu slowly got off of the couch and lazily walked toward the door.

"Coming!" He yawned.

Once he finally made it, he opened the door to find himself staring at Fluttershy and two other creatures. One was a purple pony and had wings just like Fluttershy's, but had a horn on top of its head. The other was a purple, chubby, dragon with green spikes coming from his head to his tail. Riolu hid his body behind the door in fear, but peered his head outside to see what the new creatures might do. Fluttershy noticed this and smiled.

"Don't be afraid, Riolu. These are just my friends. This one's princess twilight sparkle. She's an alicorn." Fluttershy said as she pointed her hoof to the purple pony.

"Salutations." Twilight spoke with a grin.

"And this one right here is spike. He's a dragon." Fluttershy spoke as she hovered her hoof over to the other one.

"Hey!" Spike yawned as he waved at Riolu.

Riolu got a closer look at the two new creatures. They didn't look as kind as fluttershy, and they seemed a little bit too happy. Riolu bit at his bottom lip in fear.

"Fluttershy, can I see you in private?" Riolu spoke as he gestured his paw at her to come in.

Fluttershy stared at Riolu in confusion for a second, and started galloping toward the door where riolu was. When her entire body was completly inside the cabin, Riolu immediately shut the door behind her and stared at her in annoyance.

"Who are they?" Riolu questioned in a soft yet angered tone.

"They're my friends." Fluttershy mumbled softly.

Riolu continued staring at her with an annoyed look on his face. A frown had appeared slowly and was now noticeable.

"I can see that, but what are they doing here?" He questioned curiously.

Fluttershy poked her hoof at the floor and started dragging it shyly across its wooden surface.

"They were supposed to be your present." Fluttershy whined.

Riolu bit at his bottom lip. He's temper was slightly heating up.

"Fluttershy, I don't want creatures like that as a present. I can handle one creature like you on my own, but three? I'm not so sure about that." Riolu said sternly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fluttershy questioned shyly.

Riolu bit at his bottom lip even more. He was getting even more worried about this.

"Well, your not all that strong looking, and I could easily handle you by yourself. I'm not a total wimp, you know." Riolu said with a blushed face.

"Are you saying that I am weak?" Fluttershy questioned with a sadden face.

Before Riolu could answer, another knock had come at the door.

"Fluttershy, can we come in now?" A voice behind the door asked.

"Yes, you guys can come in now." Fluttershy shouted softly.

Riolu stepped back in fear as he heard the door creak all the way open. He looked in slight horror as he saw twilight and spike step into the cabin an walk toward him.

"Hello there, little one. Is your name Riolu?" Twilight questioned as she held out a hoof at him in greeting.

"Yes, but I am anything from little." Riolu scoffed.

"So I see. Tell me, Riolu. Where do you come from?" Twilight asked curiously.

Riolu stared hard at twilight with his paws now crossed in a bold fashion. He then leaned in closer to her with his gaze locking with onto her eyes.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you anything about childbirth?" He smirked.

A gasp of horror had come out of Twilight's and Fluttershy's mouth. The room had suddenly fallen into an awkward silence. Twilight was then able to muster enough courage to break the veil.

"So, Riolu. What are you?" She questioned.

Riolu stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I am a Pokemon." He spoke boldly.

Twilight stared at him with a definite gaze.

"Okay, what is a Pokemon then?" Twilight questioned.

An infuriating expression had now been forged upon Riolu's face. This pony wouldn't stop asking so many questions! She was like Fluttershy, but more curious!

"A Pokemon is me!" He answered rudely with a smile on his face.

An angered expression had fallen upon twilight's face. She could not take the annoyance any longer.

"Twilight, are you sure you still want to do this?" Fluttershy piped up.

Twilight looked up from her stare off with Riolu and nodded her head at Fluttershy.

"Yes, Fluttershy. I am determined to learn more about this creature. I'll take him to my place as soon as possible. Just like you said I could." Twilight said coolly.

Riolu woke up from his state of moxie and stood in horror at fluttershy.

"You want to get rid of me?" Riolu asked pensively.

Fluttershy looked away from the three visitors and dipped her head down low.

"Well, I did promised her while we were coming to meet you that she could run some tests on you at her place. She promised me that she wouldn't hurt you if she did, so I agreed. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience." She squealed.

Riolu stared at fluttershy in sadness.Tears were welling in his eyes. He thought that this place would protect him from things like this.

"Come on Riolu. I think you will enjoy ponyville!" Twilight smiled.

Riolu didn't respond. He was frozen in place due to the betrayal that he had now endured. He felt a strange magical grip surround him as he was lifted up from the ground and placed upon twilight's back. The magic seemed to have come from twilight's horn, which had glowed a bright purple.

"Alright, spike. Let's go!" Twilight whispered to the dragon as they walked out of Fluttershy's home.

Riolu still stood frozen in shock as he was carried down the dirt path that lead out from Fluttershy's place. He almost thought he heard a mere whisper of apology come out from inside of the cabin. Still, he considered himself to have been betrayed by the likes of a meek creature.

"I really should of stayed behind those bushes." Riolu whispered to himself.

Chapter 4

"You know riolu," Twilight spoke as they were trotting upon the ground. "Ponyville is not that bad when you get used to it."

Riolu awoke suddenly from the confused shock and looked around him. It seemed as if now they had teleported from Fluttershy's cottage to a dirt path that had houses on each side.

"Where am I?" He spoke out loud.

Twilight looked behind her and smiled at Riolu as she was galloping. A look of elation had been painted upon her face.

"Oh goody! You're awake! Now my conversations with you will have you actually in them!" Twilight spoke with an uplifting tone.

"What do you mean? I've been awake the whole time, and where am I!?" Riolu shouted in twilight's ear.

"You're in ponyville!" Spike shouted enthusiastically as he followed behind them.

Riolu turned his head and shot a menacing glance at the small dragon. A fire of annoyance had been sparked in his eyes.

"What?" Spike replied sincerely.

"Quiet!” Riolu shouted.

"Hey, settle down back there. We're almost home, and I don't want to tell fluttershy about both of you fighting the whole entire time." Twilight scolded.

"We weren't fighting." Spike directed quickly.

"Yeah, and do you really have to tell Fluttershy about this?" Riolu questioned.

A long and awkward silence fell upon the three travelers. the silence to past for a few seconds until Twilight started breathing words from under her breath.

"Oh, it'll be more than just Fluttershy. That's for sure." Twilight thought out loud.

Riolu's face had now turned red with anger. Why wouldn't she just get off his case?

"Jerk." He whispered under his breath.

"What did you just say?" Twilight shouted as she turned around to face him.

"Nothing." Riolu quickly replied with a blushed face.

Twilight stared deep into Riolu's eyes, causing him to sweat anxiously. It was if she was going to run right through him.

"Good," Twilight mumbled. "Cause we are already here."

Riolu looked up from where he was and stared at the treehouse before him. The sun striking the beautiful leaves at the very top gave Riolu a sort of chill.

"That's where you live?" Riolu asked in awe.

Twilight looked at Riolu with an amused expression on her face as if she had won a small percentage of him over.

"Yep! It sure is a lovely place, huh?" Twilight questioned happily.

Riolu continued to stare silently in curiosity. He then got off of twilight's back and headed toward the door. It looked like a cool place to live, but riolu still preferred the isolated cabin of Fluttershy's.

"Do you get a lot of visits?" Riolu questioned as he set his paws on the doorstep.

"Well, not excessively. Although, are friends tend to sometimes visit." Twilight answered happily.

Riolu turned around with a look of disappointment and stared at the princess.

"Please don't tell me there's more of you." Riolu whined.

"Of course there's more," spike spoke up. "In fact, you just might like them."

Riolu turned his gaze and stared at the dragon with a smirk on his face.

"I doubt it. I could stand Fluttershy due to her personality, but if your saying that their's more of you guys out there, then you're sadly mistaken.” Riolu said boldly as he opened the door.

Spike huffed in annoyance. He then walked frustratingly over to where twilight was standing and leaned in her ear.

"You sure about this, twilight?" Spike whispered.

Twilight stared at riolu as he walked into their house. She noticed a small glimmer of amazement in his eyes, but saw a hint of unexplainable fear along with it.

"I'm positive." Twilight replied quietly.

"Hey, are you guys coming in?" Riolu shouted at them.

"Coming." Twilight spoke softly as she and spike trotted toward the door.

Once they were finally reached the inside of their home, spike silently shut the door behind him and twilight.

"Okay, riolu. I need you to sit down for me." Twilight commanded as she galloped toward the center of the room

"Why?" Riolu questioned as he faced twilight.

"Just find a seat and I'll explain." Twilight spoke softly.

Riolu stared at twilight in confusion and started looking around the room. He suddenly spotted a stool in a nearby corner and pulled it out. He then sat down upon the stool and whispered quietly to himself.

"I wonder what she wants now." Riolu breathed.

"Spike, give me some parchment, an ink bottle, and a quill." Twilight commanded to her assistant.

"Sure thing, twilight!" Spike replied gladly.

Spike then went to one of the nearby bookshelves and pulled out a small piece of paper that was lodged in between two books. He then scampered up stairs and came back down with a bottle of ink and a small quill.

"Perfect! Thanks, Spike!" Twilight praised as she levitated the three objects out of spike's hands and toward her.

"Alright, Riolu," Twilight spoke as she dipped the quill in the ink bottle while placing the quill tip on the parchment. "Tell me something about your species."

Riolu sighed a sigh of sorrow. He had been through this already.

"Didn't I already tell you?" Riolu questioned softly.

Twilight stared Riolu in the eyes with a soft, menacing stare.

"Sarcasm doesn't count, Riolu," Twilight replied deeply. "Tell me something really detailed and sincere."

"Like what?" Riolu snapped quickly.

Twilight looked around in deep thought, and bit her bottom lip in concentration.

"Like…what do Pokemon do?" Twilight asked curiously.

Riolu looked at Twilight with an embarrassed expression on his face. He really didn't know how to respond to that. He hardly ever interacted with any other Pokemons. Most of his activities involved doing his master's bidding. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration had ignited in his eyes.

"Pokemon love to be Pokemon!" Riolu spoke nervously.

Twilight looked up from her parchment and stared at Riolu coldly. A frown had now replaced her smile.

"Really?" She questioned sternly.

Riolu gulped in fear. She obviously wasn't going to buy his answer.

"Yes." He whispered loudly.

A soft angered expression had fallen upon Twilight's face. Redness was starting to appear on her forehead.

"Fine. That'll be the first thing to write down." She said in an angered tone.

Twilight then dipped the quill again in the ink bottle maddeningly with her magic, and pulled it out to find that no ink was on the quill. She looked inside the ink bottle and grew even madder when she saw that all the ink was already used up.

"Spike!, Do we have anymore ink!" Twilight shouted out loud.

"That was the only one I saw up there, and I checked everywhere." Spike replied as he sat casually on the bottom step.

Twilight's eyes glowed with anger and impatience. She then started galloping in place, took a deep breath, and gave a sigh of relief.

"That's okay. There might be some at the quills and sofas shop. If they have quills, then they might have ink." Twilight spoke reassuringly.

"This place has a town that sells quills and sofas?” Riolu spoke in bewilderment.

Twilight looked over in Riolu's direction. A sudden shimmer in her eyes told that a new idea had been created.

"Yes,” Twilight smirked. “And be sure to remember that name, cause that's where you and spike are going as of now."

Riolu's eyes opened wide with fear. He was not expecting something like this at such an early time.

"Wait, what? Why?" Riolu questioned quickly.

Twilight smiled with joy at his frantic questions. She had gotten to him, and she wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away.

"Don't fret, Riolu. All I need you to do is for you and spike to go to the sofas and quills store to see if they have any ink there. It's something that you should do." Twilight commanded.

Riolu thought about the command for a second. A smirky grin had suddenly appeared on his face.

"And what happens if I don't do this?" Riolu snapped in reply.

Suddenly, Riolu was levitated out of his stool and was carried all the way to the front door where he was then dropped.

"You're doing it, Riolu. No objections or suggestions." Twilight spoke rhythmically.

"Good one, Twilight." Spike laughed.

Twilight blushed softly with a cheeky expression on her face, causing riolu to roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Thank you, spike," Twilight praised. "By the way, will you please come over here for a second? There's something I need to tell you that's really important."

Riolu watched as spike got up and walked over to twilight. He then watched as twilight slowly moved her head toward spike's ear and started whispering words softly to him. Spike then nodded his head at twilight and started walking toward the door where riolu stood.

“Alright, Riolu. Let's go." Spike grinned as he pushed the door to the outside world open.

"What were you guys talking about?" Riolu questioned curiously.

A slight grin of amusement appeared on Spike's face followed by a small hint of snickering.

"Nothing important." He chuckled softly.

Riolu's expression turned sour. He hated it on how twilight and spike were sharing something secret. He hoped it was not something about him.

"This is going to be one long day." Riolu breathed.

Spike then closed the door behind them as he and Riolu took there first steps on the trodden ground that would soon lead them to their destination.

Chapter 5

A soft and lone wind blew through the streets of ponyville as Spike and Riolu trotted softly upon the dirt path. Riolu looked around cautiously with anxiety building up inside him, hoping that no one was watching them stroll down the street.

"So, Spike," Riolu whispered as they walked silently. "Where exactly is this place?"

Spike looked at Riolu and pointed his finger at a white house-like building that stood about a couple of blocks away.

"Right over there." He replied happily.

Riolu squinted at the building as he walked. It seemed to be somewhat small height-wise, but it did look to be somewhat roomy.
Riolu and Spike then continued to walk toward the shop, their feet pressing up against the hot path. Riolu perked his ears up in attention as he heard the sound of dry lip smacking come from spike.

"Riolu, are you somewhat parched?" Spike questioned.

"Not really," Riolu answered with his gaze still on the shop, "Why are you so thirsty all of a sudden?"

"No reason," Spike mumbled. "It's just getting a little hot outside so I thought maybe…Riolu, look over there!"

Riolu turned his gaze as spike pointed his claw to a nearby small, blue stand that stood on the opposite side of the street where the shop was. A picture of a yellow looking fruit was placed right on top of the stand.

"It's a lemonade stand!" Spike cheered.

Riolu looked at the stand in confusion. He then stared at spike who now had his tongue lolled lazily at the edge of his lips.

"Don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're going to do." Riolu sighed.

Spike looked straight at Riolu with a small grin that had now forged itself on his face. A twinkle of excitement glimmered in eyes.

"Come on, Riolu," spike whispered as he gave him a friendly hit on the shoulder, "You know it's been a long day for the both of us, and twilight wouldn't mind if we took a break."

Riolu gave spike a stern look. A shade of doubt had shone in his gaze.

"Are you sure about this? I'd hate to make her even more mad. Believe me, she seems to be very over reactive." Riolu stated.

"Hmm...I wonder where I've seen that before." Spike breathed.

Riolu gasped with shock and looked at spike with utter annoyance in his eyes.

"Hey, at least I don't tell people what to do!" He shouted out loud.

Spike rolled his eyes lazily at Riolu. He had already heard enough from him.

"Look, Riolu. Let's just go get some lemonade and then go get some ink. We can discuss you and Twilight's flaws later." Spike spoke as he ran toward the stand.

Riolu stared at spike's running back in disbelief. He then reluctantly padded over to the lemon stand where spike stood lolling on its counter. Behind the counter, was a stubby, brown-maned, white mare with a green visor on top of her head. She stared at spike with a worried look on her face and looked over at Riolu in total shock.

"W-what can I get for the both of you?" She stuttered in bafflement.

"I'll have a large cup of your finest lemonade!," spike spoke happily. "Riolu, what do you want from here?"

Riolu shrugged with indifference. He really wasn't all that thirsty, but then again, he was curious about the taste of the lemonade.

"I guess you can give me a small." Riolu answered softly.

The mare stared in even greater amazement at the sound of Riolu's reply. It was as if she was astonished at the fact that Riolu could speak words.

"Sure thing, sirs." The mare replied in awe as she grabbed a small and a large cup from underneath the counter.

Riolu and spike watched as the mare got out a pitcher of ice cold lemonade from the back, and gazed with curiosity as she poured the contents into the two cups that were sat out, and then softly shove the two cups toward them.

"That'll be two bits." The mare directed.

"Of course! I have some extra change right here." Spike replied happily as he took two bits right out from under his scales.

"You keep change under your scales?" Riolu questioned as spike handed the change to the mare.

"Only when I'm running some errands. Like this one." Spike replied as they quickly drank their lemonade while they walked.

Riolu nodded in agreement. He then directed his attention to the quills and sofas shop that now stood just a few feet from them. The roof resembled green grass, and the exterior walls was a pearly white. It reminded Riolu of something familiar. As if he had seen these distinct colors before.

"Riolu, are you coming in?" Spike questioned as he opened the door to the shop.

Riolu awoke from his thoughts. He stuttered and started slowly walking into the shop, giving spike a nod of thanks while he handed him his cup.

"Weird." Spike mumbled to himself as he threw their cups into a nearby trash bin and closed the door behind him.

Riolu stood calmly on the carpet floor of the shop as he looked around in curiosity. The building was quite roomy with customers eyeing at the merchandise. He looked over to his left and gazed at a large row of mattresses placed in an organized fashion. He then squinted his eyes to look at an assortment of black bottles on a shelf at the very end of the row.

"See anything you like?" A gruff voice behind him spoke.

Riolu turned around and gazed at the white beard of an old looking gray-maned gray stallion.

"My, I haven't seen something like you around here." The stallion laughed happily.

Riolu raised an eye at the stallion. Of course he hasn't seen anything like him around here.

"He's new around here, sir," spike spoke up as he stood next to Riolu,"We were just stopping buy to see if we could buy some ink."

The stallion chuckled with a gleam of joy in his eyes.

"Of course! We have a fresh stock right over there in the back!" The stallion smiled as he pointed to the shelf of black bottles at the end of the room.

"Alright, thank you, sir!" Spike grinned as he and Riolu started walking toward the end of the room.

"Anytime." The old stallion replied.

Spike nodded back to the stallion in acceptance and started walking again with Riolu. As they were walking, Riolu eyed at the fellow customers. They all seemed more intent in looking at the wares than at a peculiar creature like him, but he could sense a few intrigued gazes upon him.
Once they finally got to the shelf, spike started analyzing the bottles of ink from top to bottom, and feeling the texture of the jars.

"You need to be sure that there are no chips or cracks, or else twilight will be furious." Spike explained as he picked up a nearby bottle.

"That's believable." Riolu mumbled to himself.

Spike kept his gaze on the bottles. He picked one up and started rotating it in his hand. He even gave it a small lick on the lid, causing his tongue to retract in disgust.

"Nah, this won't do," spike spoke as he laid the bottle back down. "I need to think on this for just a minute."

Riolu watched as spike walked backwards into a nearby mattress and sat down upon it. He then started bouncing up and down as he had a sudden excitable look spread across his face.

"Wow, this is fun to bounce on!" Spike cried quietly.

A sudden face of disbelief had been created on Riolu's face.

"Are you serious? We're here to get ink, and now your bouncing on a mattress?" Riolu snapped.

"Calm down, Riolu. I do stuff like this so I can think better! Hey, why don't you come and bounce along with me?" Spike suggested gleefully.

Riolu's face had turned to total shock. One minute he was helping spike get ink, and the next minute he was invited to a bounce session!

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" A voice behind them spoke.

Spike and Riolu lifted their heads to see the mare that had served them their lemonade at the lemonade stand just a few minutes ago.

"What are you doing here?" Riolu spoke up.

"Oh, I'm off break. You two were actually there at the last minute of my shift. I just decided to come see you guys since you came into the quills and sofas shop. It's where I go to chill." The mare replied sheepishly.

Riolu stood in confusion with a look of bewilderment filling his gaze.

"Whoa, wait. You go to a shop that sells quills and sofas to relax?" He questioned sincerely.

"Yes." The mare replied solemnly.

A long and awkward silence fell upon the three, until the veil of quietness was broken by the sound of springs bouncing up and down.

"Hey, you wanna bounce with me!" Spike asked the mare happily.

"Sure! I love bouncing! It helps me think better." The mare squeaked happily as she sprang onto the mattress and started bouncing.

"You don't say." Spike mumbled out loud as he directed his attention toward Riolu.

Riolu caught spike's gaze and scoffed while he rolled his eyes.

"Your getting nowhere with that activity of yours." Riolu replied as he looked away.

"Except up in the air!" Spike cheered as he got on his back legs and started bouncing even higher with the mare.

Riolu rolled his eyes again at the scene. A somewhat upward curve of his lips appeared visible on his face, but vanished quickly and undetected. He then directed his attention back to the mattress, and noticed a small crowd of equines forming around spike and the mare.

"Hey, can I join?" One of the ponies shouted from the group.

"Sure!" Spike replied happily.

"You better hope the manger doesn't see you!" An old stallion grumbled from the crowd.

"Don't worry, were not hurting no pony." The lemonade stand mare replied with a grin.

Riolu watched with curiosity as the number of ponies on the mattress grew slightly, though their were still some that were a little unsure about the idea. Just like Riolu.

“Hey, Riolu! This is your last chance to join us!" Spike shouted as he hopped on top of the mattress.

Riolu looked at the jumpers on the mattress. They did seem to be having a good time, but it all seemed a little bit too quick. Riolu started nearing himself slowly toward the crowd, nervousness building up inside of his head. He then slowly reached a paw out toward the frame of the mattress. He felt at it's smooth and comfortable surface, causing the temptation to bounce on it rise. As he was about to set foot on it's surface, he heard the shout of an old gruff stallion.

"Stop hopping or get out!" The voice boomed.

Riolu retracted his foot in fear and slammed it back onto the solid ground. Not a single word was uttered as all of the ponies on the bed climbed down from the mattress, including spike.

"Now, who's responsible for the creation of this calamity?" The stallion shouted.

The room went into an even sinister shade of silence as spike started walking toward the front of the crowd. Suddenly, he was pushed away by Riolu who ran all the way up to the front and showed himself to the stallion.

"I told them to do it, sir." He spoke softly.

An angered look fell upon the aged stallion. His nostrils started flaring up in annoyance, but were calmed quickly with a simple sigh.

"Buy something or get out, please." The stallion whispered.

Riolu nodded in acceptance and started walking toward the back of the room that was now cleared of every pony except a shocked and motionless dragon. Riolu then grabbed an ink bottle from the shelf and dragged spike toward the counter where the old stallion stood.

"That'll be five bits, sir." The stallion coughed.

"Sure thing. Um, spike. Can I have five bits?" Riolu questioned.

Spike suddenly awoke from his shock and plucked five bits from under his scales. He then gave them to Riolu who had a confident expression on his face.

"Here you go, sir." Riolu spoke quickly as he handed the five bits to the stallion and grabbed the ink bottle.

"Thank you! Come again!" The stallion smiled with an anxious face.

"Thanks!" Riolu replied as he and Spike walked out the door.

As soon as the door to the shop closed, a series of astonished gasps came from spike's mouth.

"I can't believe you took the wrap!" Spike praised as he and Riolu walked toward home.

"Quiet! At least I wasn't the one who was jumping on the mattress like a complete lunatic." Riolu snapped.

Spike blushed softly with embarrassment. A look of sheepishness filled his gaze.

"Heh, sorry about that." Spike mumbled.

A long silence fell upon the two as they continued their homeward journey. A cool breeze blew through the streets causing a little bit of stress to leave Riolu. Suddenly, Riolu perked his ears up as if he could hear the faint sound of a kazoo just a few meters away from them, but it seemed to die down suddenly as if it were hushed. Riolu scratched his head in confusion at the incident he just endured.

"Hey, spike," Riolu spoke up. "Did you happen to hear that?"

Spike's eyes shrunk suddenly. His cheeks started turning a simple shade of red.

"How should I know? I can't hear anything with these bad ears of mine." Spike replied quickly.

Riolu stared at Spike in confusion. He sure was acting weird all of a suddenly. Riolu then directed his attention toward the front of the road were the tree library was now in full view.

"There it is, Spike. Just a few more steps and will be back at Twilight's place." Riolu spoke with determination.

Spike nodded in shy agreement as he and Riolu walked until they finally placed there foots on the first step of the tree library. As Riolu was reaching for the door, his arm was suddenly caught by the grasp of spike's claw.

"Riolu, wait! Don't open it yet!" Spike commanded.

"Oh, what now?" Riolu sighed as he rolled his eyes.

Spike stood in deep thought with a single bead of sweat flowing lazily down his forehead.

"Um, remember early today where twilight told you and me to go out and get some ink, and twilight was whispering something to me?" Spike gulped.

Riolu stared at spike with curiosity. He wasn't sure how to feel about where this was going.

"Yeah, what about that?" Riolu questioned curiously.

Spike poked his foot at the ground and tried to avoid eye contact with Riolu. A few more beads of sweat were starting to form on his head.

"There's something behind all that, actually." He coughed.

"Like what?" Riolu asked quickly.

Spike rolled his eyes in worry. His cheeks now were a slight cherry red.

"Just open up the door." Spike spoke at last.

Riolu looked at spike with worry and turned his gaze toward the door. He then with his shaking paw pressed on the frame of the door, causing it to open wide with a creaking sound, revealing nothing but inky blackness.

"It's dark." Riolu stated.

"It is? Oh, silly me. I forgot to switch on the lights." A high pitched voice laughed from the darkness.

"Who said that?" Riolu spoke in fear.

Suddenly, light had filled the room, revealing six equines including the recognizable Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. All of which were wearing party hats. Riolu stood in utter confusion as a pink-maned pink pony appeared in front of him and blew a kazoo in his face.

"Surprise!" The pony shouted with a high pitched voice.

Chapter 6

Riolu closed his ears as the shouts from the pink pony in front of him rang through his ear drums. He rubbed at his left ear in pain, and stared at the blue eyes of the grinning pony in annoyance.

"Was it really necessary for you to do that?" Riolu yowled in pain.

"Well, of course it was," The pink mare replied happily. "You've been here for almost a day now, and this welcome party was long overdue."

Riolu looked at the pink pony with a confused gaze.

"Welcome party?" He said questioningly.

"Indeed, Riolu," Twilight spoke up as she galloped over to them. "I planned this party since the very beginning. Well, with the help of Fluttershy, of course. We invited our friends to this party while you were asleep in her cottage."

Riolu looked at Twilight with an even more confusing look. He then looked over the body of the pink mare and gazed at the four other ponies that stood together. One was a well groomed white, purple-maned unicorn. Another was a multicolored blue Pegasus with wings stretched outward. The other one was a yellow-maned, orange, regular pony with three white freckles on each cheek and tied up hair that had a brown hat sitting on top of it, and the final one was none other than his old, animal-loving caretaker, fluttershy.

"Why don't you go and meet our other friends, Riolu?" Twilight spoke as she gestured her hoof toward the others.

Riolu turned his head around in worry and looked at spike who was leaning against the doorway in calmness. He looked at Riolu and gave him a thumbs up with his left claw. Riolu gulped in nervousness and turned his attention back to the nearby equines. He then softly inched closer and closer to them while he sighed with the anxiety of meeting the new guests.

"What's taking you so long to go over there?" The pink pony questioned behind him.

Riolu looked at the pink pony behind him and blushed with soft embarrassment.

"Alright, I'm going." He mumbled softly.

Riolu then took a deep breath and walked in a copacetic fashion toward the group of ponies. He glanced at Fluttershy who averted her eyes from his in a worried fashion. She was probably afraid that Riolu would shout at her for giving him away unexpectedly. Riolu opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly interrupted by the pink pony who now smiled from ear to ear in front of him.

"Ooh, can I introduce myself first?" She smiled happily.

Riolu stared at the blue eyes of the energetic equine, her energy seeming so light and happy.

"Sure, why not?" Riolu asked apprehensively.

"Wonderful," The pink pony shouted. "Well, first of all, my name is Pinkie Pie. You can call me Pinkie, and I live in Sugarcube Corner. The corner isn't made of sugar, by the way. Second of all, I love to make others laugh. I do so by throwing them parties and doing practical jokes, though there was this one time where I played a few jokes on this griffon, and she got really mad. Then there was this other time where I copied myself over and over, and a lot of other ponies didn't like it, but enough about me, how about you?"

Riolu stared at the pony in confusion. He wasn't so sure what to say after all of that.

"Well," Riolu coughed. "If you must all know, I am, well, a Pokemon. Yes, that's it. My name is Riolu, and I am a Pokemon."

"Ooh, what's that?" Pinkie questioned enthusiastically.

"It's kinda hard for me to explain," Riolu stated. "I'm basically a creature with a specific abnormal power."

Riolu perked his ears up as he heard a gasping noise coming from twilight from behind.

"You have powers, and yet, you never told me?" She squeaked.

"I was waiting for the right moment," Riolu snapped. "Or rather, when I had no choice but to tell you, like this situation for example."

A long and awkward silence followed. Riolu could feel a small gaze from twilight burn softly at his head.

"Moving on!" Pinkie shouted all of a sudden as she pushed Riolu over to the white unicorn.

Once he arrived, Riolu stared up at the pale equine. She seemed to have long eyelashes and a curled mane, a lot different from the styles of the others.

"Um, hello?" Riolu said nervously.

"Salutations." The unicorn greeted softly.

Suddenly, Riolu felt the touch of her hoof underneath his arm as she raised it up in interest. She then did a full scan of his head by turning it around softly with her magic.

"My, you are one peculiar creature." She cooed.

Riolu stared at the unicorn in confusion, causing her to blush softly with embarrassment.

"Where are my manners," the unicorn gasped. "My name is rarity, and I am ponyville's number one top fashion designer. I love making clothing for ponies that are all over Equestria. Retro, formal, anything that is worth calling fashion, I'll try my best to make it the best. It is a pleasure to meet you, Riolu."

"Um, thank you," Riolu said calmly. "but, why were you looking at my arm and scanning my head?"

"Oh that," Rarity giggled. "I was just analyzing your fur. It's simply creative and rare to me."

Riolu blushed softly on the inside. He had rarely heard a compliment before, especially one like that.

"Moving on, again!" Pinkie shouted as she pushed Riolu suddenly to the orange, normal pony.

Once pinkie had ceased her pushing, Riolu stared at the orange pony in curiosity. He had never seen a pony with a hat before, let alone a mare having a pony tail tied up in a pony tail, which seemed ironic.

"Why howdy, Mr. Riolu. It sure is pleasing to meet a new creature like you." The pony greeted as she took ahold of Riolu's hand and shook it wildly.

Riolu's body bounced up and down frantically at the very shaking of his arm.

"Yeah, though I'm not that good when it comes to pleasing, Ms…what is your name?" Riolu questioned in a vibrated voice.

"My name is Applejack," the orange pony replied as she ceased shaking. "And I work as a farm pony at sweet apple acres. We're always open to guest, and we promise to show the finest of hospitality you will ever find, and that ain't no lie."

Riolu massaged his shaken paw and looked at applejack once more. Her face seemed to tell that she was honest about that statement. It was sort of bold.

"Thanks, I guess." Riolu mumbled.

Applejack smiled a smile of happiness with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Anytime, sugarcube." She grinned.

"Moving on, another time!" Pinkie shouted gleefully as she pushed Riolu over to the blue Pegasus.

Once pinkie had stopped pushing again, she galloped over and stood in between Riolu and the rainbow-maned equine.

"Alright, Riolu. That was the last push I was going to give you. Anymore will have to be done by somepony else. Anyways, enjoy!" Pinkie shouted in happiness as she trotted away.

Riolu stared at pinkie pie as she trotted away from them. He then looked at the blue Pegasus who now had a smirk on her face.

"You gotta love that pinkie pie. She sure does get things going." The Pegasus chuckled.

Riolu shrugged his shoulders softly. He then watched silently as the blue equine threw out her left hoof in greeting.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria. My goal is to one day become apart of an amazing flying squadron called the Wonderbolts, but until then, I maintain ponyville's skies." She spoke proudly.

Riolu looked at Rainbow Dash in wonder. He was slightly impressed by the way she introduced herself. She seemed to be very confident. Riolu then gripped the tip of her hoof softly with his paw and shook it in greeting.

"Nice to meet you all." Riolu coughed.

"So, Riolu," Fluttershy piped up as galloped over to him and Rainbow Dash. "Are y-you still mad at me?"

Riolu stood motionless for a few seconds at seeing the yellow Pegasus. He blushed with mild embarrassment as he tried his best to avoid eye contact with her sad gaze.

"Well, Fluttershy," Riolu mumbled. "I believe that…"

"Hey, Riolu!" Pinkie pie interrupted as she trotted toward them, "Can we see your powers now, please?"

Riolu directed his attention toward the direction of Pinkie's voice, and watched in astonishment as he saw her carry a statuette of a horse head toward him. He then flinched in surprise as the horse head landed with a thud in front of him.

"See if you can do something with this thing, whatever it is." Pinkie commanded joyfully.

Riolu looked at the statuette in curiosity, pondering what he could do with it, or at least if he should do something with it.

"You guys really want me to show you my powers?" Riolu questioned bashfully.

"Yes!" Twilight spoke happily as she dipped her quill in fresh ink and placed it's tip on a piece of parchment.

Riolu paused for a moment, thinking about his decision. If he followed up, he could probably earn their respect, letting them know that he was a force to be reckoned with. So, liking the idea of that, Riolu threw out his palm at the stone figure, generating a force palm that caused it to scatter into tiny pieces. Riolu then turned his head from his accomplished deed and looked around to see the aghast faces of all six of the ponies, including spike's.

"That was amazing!" Spike shouted as he stood up from the doorway.

"Indeed." Twilight agreed as she put down her quill and parchment from where she sat and galloped over to Riolu.

Riolu stood proud as he received shouts of praise from the others. He even thought that he heard a small cheer from Fluttershy, causing his spirits to be raised slightly at the thought of that.

"So, we'll be seeing you guys later, ya hear?" Applejack spoke up as she and the others started trotting toward the direction of the door.

Riolu stared suddenly at the leaving guests in confusion, forgetting all about the theory of his reckoning.

"They're already leaving?" Riolu questioned softly.

"Of course, they're leaving." spike spoke as he walked up to Riolu. "Take a look outside."

Riolu turned his attention to the opened door of the library and gazed at the last evening light. A whole day had already gone by. From going to Twilight's house, to meeting four new equines, and everything in between. It all happened so quick to him.

"Good night, Riolu." A voice whispered from the entrance.

Riolu awoke from his thoughts and caught a glimpse of Fluttershy's tail as she shut the door behind her softly, referencing herself as the last guest to leave. The sight of that gave Riolu a cold feeling. He wasn't sure on how to feel about that.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm going to bed." Spike yawned as he went toward the staircase.

"Agreed." Twilight nodded sleepily. "Riolu, are you coming?"

Riolu looked to the staircase where Twilight and Spike stood at. He then nodded his head slowly in assent, and joined his fellow housemates at the staircase.

"You can sleep with me, Riolu. My bed is the most comfortable in all of equestria!" Spike grinned happily as they all walked up the steps and entered the room.

Riolu looked around the room quickly and laid his eyes on a large, blue bed. He then ran up to it in haste and planted himself hard onto it, the warm fluffiness surrounding him in greeting.

"This isn't comfortable. It's legendary! Ah, yes. After all of the stuff I've been through today, this is what I need." Riolu praised.

"Um, Riolu." Spike spoke up.

"Yes, spike?" Riolu asked in a relaxed tone.

"That's not my bed." Spike squeaked.

Riolu paused in a calm shock. He then rose up from the bed silently and stared at spike.

"Then what is?" Riolu questioned sternly.

Riolu gazed at Spike's finger as he pointed it toward a small circular basket with a small wall that dipped down at one end as if it were for entry.

"That is." Spike sighed.

Author's Notes:

I'm not biased toward applejack. I gave her a longer description, cause well, she has a hat! (Please don't hate me for this)

Chapter 7

The evening had grown a darker shade as Riolu continued to stare at spike's basket in disappointment.

"That's your real bed?" Riolu sighed questioningly.

"Hey, it's not that bad," Spike directed. "It's actually quite comfortable."

"That is very true, spike." Twilight spoke up as she galloped toward her bed. "I made sure of it at the store where I got it. It is supposed to be very comfy."

"Yeah, for one." Riolu mumbled as he approached spike's bed.

Riolu's paws touched the floor softly as he padded toward spike's basket, the creaking of wood coming from underneath them. Once he finally reached the basket, he began to analyze it's edges and it's interior. It looked okay, though it would seem quite uncomfortable for him and spike.

"Seriously, do you actually think this could hold two?" Riolu questioned in bewilderment.

A long silence followed as spike too started staring at the basket in an analyzing fashion.

"Eh, wouldn't hurt to try, right?" Spike spoke with a shrug of his shoulders.

Riolu rolled his eyes in disbelief as he watched spike climb into the basket and scrunch up his body as close as possible to one of the basket's side.

"See, plenty of room for you, Riolu." Spike breathed uncomfortably.

Riolu blushed with a slow nod of his head as he padded slowly toward the rim of the basket. He then placed his foot into the basket and quickly turned his back so it would be facing spike's. He then lied down softly and squeezed his body in between spike and the basket.

"Quick question, Spike. Do you snore?" Riolu asked with his face turned away from spike's.

"Uh, if I'm in a deep sleep." Spike spoke in a muffled voice with his mouth pressing up against the basket's side.

"Well, I'm glad you two are settled in," Twilight spoke up from her bed. "Good night!"

Riolu stared in silence at the basket's inner wall, hearing nothing but the sudden sound of ruffled sheets from twilight's bed that had died down after a few seconds had passed. Riolu then listened closely to the sound of spike's heavy breathing. It had seemed quite silent and quick, almost as if he was faking it. Riolu then closed his eyes for a second as he felt a shadow leap slowly over his body. He then opened them back up after the mysterious shadow disappeared and heard the sound of paper being flipped cautiously.

"What on earth is he doing?" Riolu whispered to himself.

Riolu then turned his head around slowly and stared in peculiarity at spike who was now looking at pictures from a meager looking book.

"What are you doing?" Riolu snapped at Spike in a whispering fashion.

Spike flinched in surprise as he saw Riolu's curious gaze land on his book.

"Oh, well, um, just this." Spike spoke in a scared tone as he showed Riolu the cover.

"Power ponies, the unenchanted series." Riolu read aloud.

"Shh! Keep your voice down! I'm basically not aloud to have stuff like this here due to an…incident." Spike whispered quickly.

Riolu raised an eyebrow in surprise at spike.

"Incident? What kind?" Riolu asked curiously.

"It's a long story." Spike cooed. "Basically, it has to do with the enchanted version of this issue. Wanna read it?"

Riolu stared at the book in inquisitiveness as he reached out to grab it. Once his paw had finally taken ahold of the cover, he then pulled it out of spike's claw and held the book in front of him with his two front paws.

"Alright, so tell me about it." Riolu commanded softly as he stared at the front picture.

Spike slightly grinned with elation as he took ahold of the first few pages and flipped them, revealing two pages that were filled with boxes of words and art. The very sight of which slightly intrigued Riolu.

"Okay, so our story begins in a city called maretropolis." Spike whispered softly to Riolu. "And in the city, there is this hairspray factory…"

Riolu sat patiently for a long time as Spike told him the story of the power ponies and their heroic adventure. Spike flipped through the pages of the book and explained to Riolu in detail about every hero and their abilities. He then told him about their arch nemesis, Maneiac, who almost got away with her plans if it weren't for the power ponies' trusted sidekick, Humdrum, who saved the day as well as the power ponies.

"So, what do you think?" Spike asked as he politely grabbed the book out of Riolu's grasp and shoved it under the basket's pillow.

"It was okay, I guess." Riolu whispered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Okay?" Spike shouted with a raised brow. "It is more than just okay, Riolu. It's amazing!"

"Will you two please be quiet? I'm trying to get some sleep here!" Twilight yawned in annoyance.

Spike blushed with embarrassment as he ducked his head low, his face glowing a bright.

"Why do you think it's bad?" Spike whispered in slight annoyance.

"I never said it was bad." Riolu whispered in reply. "I just didn't like it as much. Especially that part about that hairspray factory. What kind of joker would go to a place like that?"

"The Maneiac, of course!" Spike peeped.

"Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I just didn't find that all realistic." Riolu explained silently.

"Realistic?" Spike cooed in bewilderment. "Says the guy who can destroy stuff without touching it."

A long silence followed as Riolu stared at spike with sternness in his gaze.

"Do we even know what hairspray is to begin with?" Riolu questioned with sincerity.

"Guys!," Twilight shouted from her bed. "I'm not mad at you two or anything, but today was a really exhausting day. So, can we just turn in for the night? Thank you!"

Riolu and Spike blushed with embarrassment as they returned to their sleeping positions, their backs facing each others. A long moment of silence followed until Riolu heard the sound of Spike's voice enter his ears.

"Yeah, you're kinda right on that, Riolu." He chuckled softly. "I hardly know what hairspray is myself."

Riolu grinned with triumph as he laid silently in the basket.

"Good night, Riolu." Spike whispered softly.

"Yeah, good night." Riolu yawned in a mumbling fashion.

Silence had then followed soon afterwards. Riolu had moved his eyes to where he could see part of the window, where he then gazed quietly at the stars that had now filled the night sky. He caught a glimpse of a shooting star, which sparked some excitement in him for a few short seconds. He had always wondered about things like that. It was such an oddity for something like that to be up there alone in the unknown with a bunch of different things. Just like Riolu was with being here.

"I know how you feel." Riolu whispered softly as he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

Author's Notes:

There was a reference to a certain famous villain in here, hehe.

Chapter 8

Riolu awoke to the shaft of sun light that glistened across his face. He reluctantly opened his eyes wide as he yawned a deep yawn of sleepiness. Twilight was right. Yesterday was a big day. Especially for him.

"You awake, Spike?" Riolu yawned as he turned his head to Spike's side of the basket.

Riolu stared in blankly as he gazed at the basket. Spike was gone. Riolu then looked up to where Twilight's slept and raised his eyebrow in question at who he saw on it: No one.

"They must have gone downstairs." Riolu spoke to himself with a shrug of his shoulders.

Riolu then softly stepped out of the basket and padded toward the stairs.

"Hey, Twilight! Do you know how to cook breakfast?" Riolu shouted as he began walking downstairs.

Riolu stared at the bottom floor in bewilderment as he reached the last step. It seemed that he was the only one in the house.

"Is anyone here?" Riolu yelled questioningly.

Riolu perked his ears up as he listened closely to the environment around him. Not a single sound came to him. Riolu then walked onward from the steps and gazed around as he neared the front door.

"They must be outside." Riolu spoke out loud as he reached for the doorknob.

Riolu then grabbed ahold of the knob and opened the door to come face to face with an extraordinary surprise: There was nothing but white space for miles and miles, with the sun and Twilight's library being the only things that were seeming to be in existence.

"What on earth is going on here?!" Riolu shouted in confusion.

"This is no earth." A voice spoke.

Riolu moved his head in all directions to find where that sound came from.

"Who's there?" Riolu shouted into the white space.

There was no reply. Riolu then took a deep breath and made his first step into the colorless world. He could feel the ground even though there was none to be identified by his eyes.

"Okay, now this just doesn't make any sense." Riolu shouted as he padded across the whiteness.

The sun seemed to beat down upon Riolu even less than before as he walked around Twilight's library, hoping if he could find the owner of the voice. The sun felt weird to Riolu. He was wondering how it was the only thing up there, and if it was closer than he expected it to be.

"Hope that thing stays where it is." Riolu whispered to himself.

"That thing is what brings us light." The voice spoke up again.

Riolu perked his ears up in attention to find the location the voice. It seemed to have come from the northern part of the void.

"Hey! Is anyone out there!" Riolu shouted into the void.

Silence. Riolu had now sighed in annoyance.

"If they won't come to me, then I'll come to them." Riolu huffed to himself as he padded into the northern direction.

Riolu trekked into the white beyond with his face staring back at the sun. Worry was now in his eyes as if it would crash down on him at any moment. Riolu took a gulp of fear as he turned his face back around and continued walking.

"Where are you going?" The voice spoke again.

Riolu looked up and stared in bewilderment at what he saw: A moon had seemed to have been placed in the sky along with the sun. Riolu then stood back in amazement as the sun was blocked by the moon in an eclipse, causing the light of the sun to turn the moon into an inky ball of darkness. Riolu then watched as the inky ball shimmered and faded, revealing a blue-maned blue equine that floated down softly and landed in front of Riolu.

"A warm welcome to you, traveler." The equine cooed with a flutter of her wings.

"Who are you?" Riolu questioned in shock.

"I am princess Luna, and I am here to greet you." She answered softly.

Riolu scratched his head in confusion.

"You're here to greet me? What does that even mean?" Riolu asked.

Luna smiled at Riolu with a sparkle in her eyes.

"I am the princess of the night, whereas it is my duty to come into everyone's dreams here in Equestria. Anyone who is asleep in this realm is visited by me from time to time." She spoke boldly.

"It's your duty to visit other's dreams?" Riolu asked in disbelief. "Wait, if you're here, then does that mean that I'm asleep?"

"Indeed." Luna answered with a nod of her head.

"Whew, that's a relief." Riolu chuckled. "Wait a second, why didn't you come last night when I was asleep at Fluttershy's cottage?

"That's because I was in Fluttershy's dreams the whole night. Apparently, she was so scared of my arrival that it took me five hours to unhinge her hooves from the tree she was holding onto in fear." Luna stated with a huff.

"Really?" Riolu asked. "How did you arrive?"

"By doing the same thing that you just saw." Luna replied. "It's a new arrival tactic I'm working on. At least, I think it's new."

An awkward silence had then followed as Riolu coughed to damper the noiseless atmosphere.

"So, anything important you would like to say." Riolu asked at last.

"Why, yes, Riolu. There was one thing." Luna responded in a somewhat solemn tone.

Suddenly, the atmosphere had gotten colder. Riolu had now started shivering as cold chills went up his spine.

"Well, what is it?" Riolu questioned. "I'm getting shivers up my spine so you might want to be qui…hey, wait a second. How do you know my…"

Just then, an unusually cold and strong blast of arctic air threw Luna off balance and shoved Riolu to the ground.

"What's happening?" Luna asked in bewilderment.

"You don't know?" Riolu shouted over the sound of the wind.

"Never have me or my sister endured a wind such as this. It feels…different." Luna yelled in a confused tone.

"You have a sister?" Riolu shouted.

Suddenly, the wind had picked up, causing Riolu's voice to be thrown into the strong current.

"I must leave now!" Luna shouted strongly enough over the wind. "Worry not, Riolu, for this is just a dream. This current can not hurt you here, nor what might be creating it, and when you awaken, you will be fine."

Riolu breathed a sigh of relief and stared in wonder as Luna faded into the moon that now rested next to the sun in the white sky, but as she leaving, Riolu noticed a gleam of light of her eyes. A gleam that reminded him of something he had seen before.

"Where have I seen you?" Riolu whispered as Luna disappeared.

Suddenly, the wind had picked up even more, causing Riolu's body to be lifted up and slammed back down on the floor face first. Riolu then looked up from where he was and stood in fear at what he saw: an unidentifiable creature with soulless eyes was staring down at him with hatred in it's gaze.

"Dumb animal." The creature spoke in Riolu's mind.

Riolu then shivered in horror as the creature lunged at him, when suddenly Riolu woke up at the last second.

"What was that?" Riolu shouted as he stood up in the basket in a cold sweat.

"What was what?" Spike yawned as he stood up from his side of the basket.

Riolu sighed a sigh of relief at seeing Spike's face. He was now free from that horrific nightmare.

"Nothing." Riolu breathed quickly.

"Hey, guys! Come down here! I got a special visitor for you two!" Twilight's voice shouted from downstairs.

"Let's go see what she wants, Riolu." Spike suggested as he hopped out of the basket and headed toward the stairs.

Riolu looked at Twilight's bed and the ruffled sheets in curiosity. It seemed that she had gotten up early.

"Might as well." Riolu whispered as he got out of the basket and followed Spike down the steps.

Spike and Riolu looked toward the door of the the library as they walked down the flight of steps. Twilight had seemed to be smiling with much joy as she stood in front of the door.

"You two are going to love on who decided to drop by." Twilight grinned as they approached her.

"Ooh, is it Rarity?" Spike guessed.

"Nope." Twilight chuckled.

"Is it that party pony Pinkie Pie?" Riolu questioned.

"Not even close!" Twilight smiled.

"Then who is it?" Spike asked.

"It's the one who taught me everything!" Twilight squealed.

"She's here?" Spike gasped.

"Yes! She's here, and I'm sure that she would just love to see you, Riolu!" Twilight praised.

Riolu stared back at Twilight in confusion. He was unsure about what was going on.

"A visitor is here? Well then, who was the one that called her over?" Riolu asked sternly.

"That's the best part!" Twilight squeaked. "Nopony called her over! She sent me a letter and told me that she was coming this morning! So I got an early head start and greeted her when she got here and now she's standing right outside for me to the open the door, and I'm going to open it!"

A small weight of worry was lifted off Riolu at hearing that. At least this visit wasn't intended for something about him. Suddenly, Riolu felt the pressure of Spike's claw on his shoulder as he was pushed to the ground and into a bowing position.

"This is a very important somepony." Spike explained in his ear. "We need to show her respect."

Riolu shrugged his shoulders and followed along with Spike and Twilight as Twilight opened the door to reveal the visitor. Riolu looked up in curiosity with his body bowing and gazed in wonder at the white, multicolored-mane equine before him. Suddenly, a shaft of sunlight hit at the face of the pony, causing her eyes to glow. The very site of which gave Riolu a shocking revelation.

"Sorry it took so long, Twilight. Raising the sun took longer than usual this morning." The pony stated.

"Well, her sister was easier to find then I expected." Riolu whispered to himself.

Chapter 9

"Riolu, why are you staring at Celestia?" A voice beside Riolu spoke.

Riolu directed his gaze from the white pony and turned his head to see Spike.

"What? Oh, sorry. I was…whispering to myself." Riolu mumbled.

"Um, may I come in?" Celestia spoke up from the doorway.

"Of course, Princess Celestia. Please forgive me for the wait. You may come in." Twilight spoke quickly as she gestured her hoof to the inside.

"Thank you, Twilight." Celestia smiled as she softly galloped into the house.

"You're welcome." Twilight grinned happily as she bowed her head low.

"Well, Twilight," Celestia spoke as she neared a bowing Riolu, "It seems that you have a new addition to your house. What is your name, little one?"

Riolu looked up at the Princess and stared once again at her in awe. Her mane was long and flowing, and her eyes looked as if they had the sun raging inside them.

"Uh, my name is…Riolu." He finally answered.

"Riolu? That's a nice name. Tell me, Riolu. How has Twilight been treating you?

A part of Riolu suddenly awoke with a despicable grin. This had started to get very interesting.

"Well, if you must know," Riolu smiled, "Twilight here has been a great host, and a brilliant caretaker."

"Thank you, Riolu." Twilight grinned.

"But," Riolu added, "There are a few how you say, flaws, in her care taking. Now, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but the basket me and Spike slept in was too cramped, and she could of at least given us a few more blankets to keep us from shivering in the cold."

Twilight blushed in embarrassment as Celestia's eyes locked onto her gaze.

"Really," Celestia stated, "Is this true, Princess Twilight?"

"Yes, Princess Celestia." Twilight sighed.

"Twilight, you know you should of thought about that. Be aware of your friends, and don't leave them out in the cold." Celestia spoke softly.

"You're right," Twilight mumbled sadly, "I guess it was my tiredness that got the best of me. I was planning so much on throwing Riolu a party to welcome him to Ponyville, that I was sleep deprived."

"You were planning on throwing him a party?" Celestia questioned.

"Yes, Princess, and it was quite a fun party if I might add. Wouldn't you agree, Riolu?" Twilight replied as she turned her head to Riolu.

Riolu stared at Twilight with a hint of guilt in his gaze. He really did not put that much thought into it before.

"Yeah, it was pretty good." Riolu replied with a bit of sheepishness.

"Well then," Celestia spoke up, "That's good to hear. Thank you Twilight for throwing that for Riolu. Now, is it alright if I ask a few questions?"

"Thank you, Celestia," Twilight grinned, "And sure!"

"Wonderful," Celestia whispered loudly, "Now Riolu, where exactly did you come from?"

Riolu stared at Celestia with a tinge of anxiety in his eyes. He was still unsure about answering that question.

"Give me an example." He coughed.

"An example? Okay, have you come from anyplace that seems a bit odd in comparison to this place?" Celestia questioned.

Riolu's inner being had smiled with cleverness. There was a loop hole this time.

"As a matter of fact, I have. There's a forest just on the outskirts of this town. It seemed odd enough for me." Riolu directed.

"You mean, the Everfree?" Celestia asked promptly.

"If that's what you guys call it, then yes." Riolu answered respectfully.

"I see now," Celestia whispered, "Care to take us to the place that you remembered going to?"

Riolu gulped in fear at hearing those words.

"You sure? There are some creatures in there that you may not want to tangle with." He stated.

"No need to fear about that," Celestia smiled, "My chariot will make sure that we all have a safe journey."

"We all?" Spike interjected nervously.

"Of course," Celestia replied, "You two are his caretakers as of now. It would be the responsible thing to do, Spike."

"Well…okay then." Spike sighed.

"So, Riolu. What do you say? Are you up for a little journey?" Twilight asked happily.

Riolu thought to himself as the concept floated in his mind. There was nothing else to do as of now, and he seemed to not have that much of a choice.

"Sure, why not?" He spoke at last.

"Excellent choice, my little Riolu. We can leave right now if that is okay with the three of you." Celestia smiled.

"Just hold on for a minute, Celestia. We need to get a few things before we go." Twilight spoke politely.

"I understand. I will be waiting outside in the chariot." Celestia nodded empathetically.

"What do you need?" Riolu questioned once the front door had closed behind Celestia.

"Just a map in case we get lost." Twilight replied smoothly.

"Okay then," Riolu stated, "Where exactly is the map?"

"Upstairs," Twilight replied as she galloped toward the steps, "You and Spike stay down here, while I go retrieve it."

"Sure thing." Riolu nodded in acceptance.

An awkward quietness had then followed once Twilight's hoof steps vanished from Riolu's ears. Riolu now listened to the breeze that blew outside as well as Spike's breathing. It was quiet, but not silent.

"So, Riolu. Did you sleep well last night?" Spike spoke out loud all of a sudden.

Riolu stared at Spike with peculiarity in his gaze.

"Not really. Why do you ask?" Riolu questioned.

"No reason." Spike coughed.

Another awkward quietness had followed that was now filled with the breeze from the outside, and an odd breathing sound from Spike. It was as if he was pondering something that was making him worry.

"Riolu, did you happened to hear anything out of the ordinary last night?" Spike questioned.

"No, though I did have a weird dream." Riolu replied calmly.

"Oh, alright then," Spike whispered, "what was the dream abou…"

"Hey, guys! I got the map!" Twilight's voice erupted from the top of the stairs.

"Awesome," Spike grinned, "So, are we all set?"

"Yep! We're all set!" Twilight grinned as she trotted down the steps with the map held in victory.

"You ready to go, Riolu?" Twilight and Spike questioned as they started heading toward the front door.

"Yeah, I guess so." Riolu mumbled as he headed toward the door along with them.

"Perfect! Alright, guys. Celestia is a very formal pony. So be on your best behavior on this trip to the Everfree." Twilight notified.

"No worries, Twilight." Spike reassured as he grabbed ahold of the handle and opened the door to the outside world.

"Alright, Riolu. You can do this. Just try your best to not let any of them know about your old world." Riolu whispered to himself.

And with that said, Riolu took a deep breath, and made his first step into the journey back to the Everfree.

Chapter 10

The dirt felt soft under Riolu's paws as he slowly padded toward the carriage where Celestia sat. Twilight and Spike were following behind him with a much similar approach, but with a different attitude.

"This will be so fun, Riolu," Twilight stated as she galloped next to him, "Going into the Everfree with Princess Celestia. This will surely be an enjoyable experience for you…and me!"

"Wow, you must really like her." Riolu said.

"Of course! She was my teacher! I had to know everything that she taught to me." Twilight smiled.

Riolu looked at Twilight with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"I can understand that, but…what does that have to do with liking her so much?" Riolu questioned.

"Oh, Riolu," Twilight grinned, "You don't have to have a big reason to love somepony. You just love them the way they are. Celestia has helped me become the pony I am today. Doesn't that deserve a bit of love and respect for her?"

"I guess so." Riolu replied softly.

"Perfect, now let's hurry along." Twilight said eagerly as the three of them approached Celestia's carriage.

"Is everything alright?" Celestia said politely as Riolu and the others sat behind Celestia.

"It's a little bit cramped." Riolu said as he was squeezed in between Twilight and Spike.

"Don't worry, Riolu. It'll be alright. Besides, the trip there will be very short." Spike comforted.

"I hope so." Riolu mumbled.

"No need to have worry. The royal guards are swift and agile. They have always reached the destination in good timing. Now, let us travel to the Everfree." Celestia spoke confidently.

Suddenly, Celestia's carriage was lifted into the air as the four white Pegasi flapped their wings with great gusto.

"Riolu, have you ever flown before?" Spike questioned as Riolu felt the carriage fly away from the ground.

"Once, though I don't remember being in a carriage." Riolu replied with a hint of anxiety.

"No need to worry, Riolu. It starts to grow on you when you are flying high in the air so many times." Twilight said calmly.

"Thank you, Twilight," Riolu replied, "I guess."

"Alright, everypony," Celestia spoke up, "We are crossing over into the Everfree. The guards are telling me that they have spotted a clearing up ahead. We're going to land there."

"Whoa, wait. We're already crossing over?" Riolu questioned.

"When she says they're fast, they're fast." Spike whispered to him.

Suddenly, the carriage had started to slow down, it's altitude was beginning to decrease. Riolu tried to look to see where they were landing, but the body of Celestia in front of him had seemed to of blocked his vision of it.

"Well, I certainly haven't been here in a while." Celestia said with a hint of uneasiness.

Curiosity biting him, Riolu nudged his way past Spike to get out of the carriage to catch a view of what Celestia had commented on. Once he got out of the carriage and onto the ground, he stared in uneasiness as well at what he saw: It was the castle.

"Hey, I know this place," Spike spoke as he jumped out of the chariot, "This place is really fun to go to. Sure, it has a few oddities, but it's way better than tangling with any of those forest creatures."

"You know this place?" Riolu questioned nervously.

"Well of course we do, Riolu," Twilight grinned as she placed her hooves on solid ground, "This was Celestia and Luna's old castle. It's also the place where Celestia banished Luna to the mo…"

Twilight looked over to where Celestia stood and stared at her uneasy face, a shade of red had started to glow around Twilight's cheeks.

"You know what? I think we should just go and check the place out." Twilight suggested.

"Excellent decision, Twilight." Celestia praised as she climbed out of her chariot.

"Wait, you mean…we're going in there?" Riolu asked.

"I don't see why not. It wouldn't hurt to try," Spike replied, "Besides, we didn't have to go across that old rope bridge behind us."

Riolu turned his head around and looked back to see the old rope bridge. Spike was right. It was a good thing that they didn't need to cross that bridge. So, with a calm perambulation, Riolu padded alongside with the others to the humongous doors of the castle.

"Believe me, Riolu. You will be fascinated by a lot of things in here," Twilight grinned as they padded up the stairs, "There are old tapestries, legendary books, secret hallways, and much more!"

"I believe you." Riolu whispered nervously as they finally reached the door.

Suddenly, the doors to the castle had starting glowing a bright yellow as Celestia opened them with her magic. Riolu gulped down a knot in his throat as he looked up and down at the interior of the castle, avoiding eye contact with the front of the room.

"Well, it certainly is…a refreshing atmosphere in this place," Riolu chuckled, "but we really should be goi…"

"What is that thing?" Spike interrupted as he pointed his claw to the very middle of the room.

Riolu reluctantly gazed at where Spike's outward claw gestured and cringed as he laid his eyes on a statuette that stood in between two chairs.

"I don't remember putting it there!" Riolu screamed in his mind.

"It looks like a statue of some sort. A statuette to be exact." Twilight replied as they walked closer toward the object.

"Can we please turn back?" Riolu whispered to himself as they were now just a few feet away from the miniature statue.

"Strange, it seems that there are two Alicorns on this artifact," Twilight analyzed as they finally reached the stone relic, "Celestia, you don't think that this might be…you and your sister?"

Riolu quietly slapped his paw into his face at hearing this.

"Now I know where I've seen this from before." Riolu whispered softly.

"It's a possibility that it could be," Celestia stated as she stared at the artifact in deep concentration, "Though the stone crafted to make this is not found around here. One might say that this could be…other worldly."

"Really?," Twilight questioned, "Well, if that's the case, then maybe we could do something with it? Perhaps I could study it for you!?"

"That would be an extraordinary thing for you to do for me, Twilight. I would highly appreciate that." Celestia smiled.

"What?!!" Riolu shouted out loud.

A long silence had followed as Twilight, Spike, and Celestia stared at Riolu with confusion in their eyes.

"What do you mean, Riolu?" Spike questioned.

Sweat had started to form at the base of Riolu's head as he thought of what he was going to say next.

"Uh…you know, what as in what will we do next? " Riolu lied with anxiousness in his gaze.

"Ah, I get it. Well, I guess we will be going now. There's really nothing else out of the ordinary to inspect. Sound good, Riolu?" Twilight replied.

"Sounds good to me!" Riolu smiled with nervous sweat pouring down his face.

"Perfect! Come on, Spike." Twilight smiled as she and Celestia started galloping toward the doors.

"Will we be taking Celestia's chariot back home?" Spike shouted from behind her.

"Of course!" Twilight replied quickly.

"Awesome! Come on, Riolu." Spike spoke in elation.

"Coming." Riolu gulped as he started padding behind Spike.

Riolu looked over the body of Spike as he was walking and gazed at the statuette that was now being held by Twilight's magic. He caught a glimpse of the eyes and noticed that they were sealed shut, but it was as if for a split second of the glimpse he had caught, it had blinked at him.

"I hate that thing." Riolu sighed.

Chapter 11

The commute back to the library was short for Riolu. Once he and the others had entered Celestia's chariot, he kept silent and dared to not look in the direction of where the statuette was. He waited patiently to head back home, and when the Pegasi that were carrying them had finally landed next to the library, Riolu happily got out of the chariot and ran to the doorstep.

"Whoa, where are you going Riolu?" Spike questioned as he watched him fly out of the chariot and toward the door.

"Where does it look like I'm going? I'm just eager to go lie down." Riolu spoke quickly.

"Lie down? Why now? We're going to bring the statuette in now, and we may need your help getting it in." Spike said.

"Fine." Riolu sighed as he walked over to the carriage and approached Twilight. "So Twilight, you need help getting the statuette in?"

"Maybe, just let me say farewell to Celestia first." Twilight whispered.

"Alright then." Riolu sighed as he leaned up against the carriage.

"Thank you," Twilight whispered to Riolu. "Princess Celestia, I'll be on my way now. Thank you for taking us. It was an honor."

"You are quite welcome, Twilight. It was also very nice to of met your friend, Riolu. He certainly is a vigorous young fellow."

"Vigorous?," Riolu questioned. "Umm, but of course! Thank you very much for the compliment."

"Do you even know what vigorous means?" Spike's voice whispered in his ear.

"Nope. Just go with it." Riolu replied through closed teeth.

"You're quite welcome, Riolu," Celestia replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way back to Canterlot."

"Canterlot? What is that?" Riolu questioned.

"You could basically say that it is the capital of Equestria." Spike answered softly in his ear.

"Ah, alright then." Riolu whispered back as he watched Twilight climb out of the carriage and wave goodbye to Celestia.

"I hope to see you later, Princess Celestia!" Twilight smiled respectfully as she levitated the statuette out of the carriage and watched the carriage take off from the ground.

"Same here, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Celestia smiled with a bow of her head as her carriage flew off into the sky.

Riolu watched as Princess Celestia was carried off into the blue afternoon. She seemed to have had a glow of wisdom when she was around him. As if she knew more than she lead on to.

"So, you guys gonna help me get this sculpture in?" Twilight asked as she interrupted Riolu's thoughts.

"Why? You seemed to have lifted it out of the carriage with ease," Riolu stated. "Just stating the obvious."

Twilight looked at Riolu with a contemplating look in her eyes.

"I have other stuff to carry too, though." Twilight directed as she showed him her satchel, "So…you wouldn't mind if you carried it in for…"

"Fine." Riolu interrupted as he padded over to the statuette and grabbed it with his mouth.

Suddenly, thoughts of the past had started flowing through his mind. He remembered picking up the statuette like this before, and the very thought of him doing it again had made him want to shake in fear. He could just hear the voice of his old master.

"Dumb, stupid, disappointing animal!" The voice shouted in his head.

"Riolu, are you alright?" A voice asked next to him.

Riolu looked up from where he was and gazed at the curious eyes of Twilight.

"Uh, yeah, everything is fine. Just, taking this out of my jaws, and…putting it in my hands. No need to grab it with my mouth since I'm bipedal, right?" Riolu asked nervously.

"I guess so." Twilight replied with a hint of confusion.

"Exactly," Riolu chuckled. "So…I'll be on my way with carrying this thing inside."

"Sure thing." Twilight said with a hint of confusion in her tone as she watched Riolu walk to the treehouse with the statuette in his hands.

"Are you alright, Riolu?" Spike whispered as Riolu approached him.

"I'm assuming that I am." Riolu said with a grunt as he carried the statuette.

"Oh, okay then…want me to get that door for you?" Spike asked as he politely opened the door in front of Riolu.

"Thanks." Riolu said as he walked into the treehouse and quickly placed the statuette in the center of the room.

"Anytime." Spike replied with a grin.

"Alright, everyone. Time to go to work!" Twilight shouted as she suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Sure thing, Twilight." Spike spoke as he padded over to the statuette with his hand to his ear in discomfort from her sudden shout.

"So…what exactly are we going to examine this statuette for?" Riolu questioned as he looked at the stone wings of the two mystical creatures.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Stuff like spells, specimen that lead to an ancient history, you know, that stuff." Twilight smiled as she padded over to the statuette.

"Oh, I see now. T-that makes since." Riolu stuttered.

"Something wrong, Riolu?" Twilight asked in a concerned tone.

"Oh, no. Everything is fine. Nothing wrong or out of the ordinary here. Especially that…statuette." Riolu answered.

"That's good to hear, though we'll see about that statuette part." Twilight stated as she lowered herself to the statuette's height and stared at the eyes of the two horses.

Twilight's face had scrunched up in concentration as she looked at the statuette, eyeing every single detail. Even the very specks of stone that combined to make the eyes were carefully analyzed by her.

"This really is a peculiar oddity," Twilight noted. "In fact, I believe what Celestia said about this object being other worldly is now a high possibility of being the only logical outcome. Although, there is something about this statuette. It is a reference to Celestia and Luna after all."

"So, what are you trying to say?" Riolu questioned.

"What I'm saying is, is that it is too coincidental," Twilight explained. "It doesn't seem right on how this could come from a distant world without the inhabitants of said world knowing about Luna and Celestia. This is in fact a sculpture of them, but the theory of someone or something from a different world crafting this is just…too coincidental!"

"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike spoke up.

"No, Spike. I am not feeling okay at the time. I just got so many ideas swirling around in my head right now…it's a bit too much!" Twilight sighed.

"Anything you may want Riolu and me to do?" Spike asked politely.

A sudden look of horror fell upon Riolu. Doing something was the least thing he wanted to do at the moment. He wanted to stay here and watch Twilight do her analysis on the statuette, just in case something odd happened. He didn't want to keep his eyes a second away from that sculpture.

"Sure," Twilight spoke at last. "Umm…what I really want right now is…something to eat!"

"Something to eat?," Spike questioned. "Why?"

"It would really help get my brain working. Besides, I haven't eaten anything in almost an entire day!" Twilight answered softly.

"Yeah, same here," Spike frowned as he rubbed his tummy. "Tell you what, Riolu and me will go down to the restaurant and order some take out for all three of us. Sound good?"

"That sounds brilliant, Spike! Thank you!" Twilight smiled.

"Wait, what?" Riolu interrupted.

"No need to be waiting, Riolu. It'll be fun," Spike smiled as he threw his arm around Riolu and directed him toward the front door. "Come on, you'll see. The restaurant serves really good hayburgers. Honest."

Riolu looked back at the statuette as Spike lead him toward the entrance. The eyes were still closed, and he was now hoping that it would stay like that while he was gone.

"Thanks for the worrying, Spike." Riolu grumbled as his feet were involuntarily pushed outside by him.

Chapter 12

Riolu felt at the warm dirt ground under his paws as he and Spike trekked into town. The cool glow of the afternoon sun had rested upon their heads, although it caused Riolu to shiver a bit.

"When did it get so cool all of a sudden?" Riolu questioned.

"Probably something to do with the weather, I guess." Spike shrugged as he kicked at some dirt.

"Weather? What weather? It's been sunny all the time here." Riolu chuckled.

"Heh, yeah. That's what it usually is around here, though better than rain, right?" Spike chuckled back.

"Eh, I guess so." Riolu shrugged.

An awkward veil of silence fell upon the two as they continued walking into town, tough spike had enough courage to muster a peculiar statement:

"You say that a good bit." Spike spoke.

"I say what a good bit?" Riolu said.

"I guess so. You tend to say it a good bit." Spike remarked.

"Really now?," Riolu said with a raised eyebrow. "Speak for yourself! You just said it just a few moments ago as well."

"True, but you tend to say it a lot of times. No offense, by the way." Spike said.

"I do not say it a lot of times!," Riolu snapped. "And none taken…I guess."

"Gotcha!" Spike chuckled.

"…be quiet." Riolu sighed with a paw over his eyes.

"Heh, sorry about that," Spike grinned cheekily. "You'll thank me once we make it to the…"

Suddenly, Spike's face had rammed up against a glass door. Riolu smirked at the sight of Spike rubbing his nose after coming in contact with the door.

"I can't believe you did not warn me about the door." Spike growled.

"I can't believe that you did not see the door!" Riolu objected.

"Touché." Spike said as he got up from where he laid and looked at the door.

"Well, it looks like we are already here. Come on in, Riolu. You are going to love it in here." Spike smiled as he opened the door for Riolu.

"I doubt it," Riolu mumbled as he walked in, catching a whiff of the damp atmosphere that was permeating the room. "It feels warm in here."

"Yep! It's the fryers," Spike explained as he closed the door behind him. "It's a fast food place, so they heat things up really quickly through frying…"

Suddenly, Spike stared silently at the front of the room. Riolu turned directed his head to where Spike was staring and laid eyes on the back of a slender creature with two different types of horns, a tail, and two different types of wings.

"What is he doing here?" Spike whispered aloud.

"You know that guy?" Riolu asked as he pointed at the creature.

"Shh! Keep your voice down. Now, let's just walk up to the front, ask for our food, and pretend that he is not there, okay?" Spike whispered quickly.

"Okay then! Don't sass me." Riolu snapped back in a whisper.

"…did you really just say what I think you just said?" Spike sighed.

"Spike? Is that you?!" A voice spoke from the front of the room.

"Oh no. Too late!" Spike groaned as he looked up at the red eyes of the creature.

"It seems you have brought a friend here. Come over and introduce me to him!" The creature smiled.

"Get ready." Spike whispered to Riolu as they padded slowly to the front of the room.

Riolu looked on in curiosity as he and Spike approached the creature. The creature had seemed quite bizarre, as well as having disproportionate eye pupils. His grin was cheeky, but the white-tipped beard at the end of his chin had made it seem as more of a light-hearted, cunning smile.

"Greetings, little one," The creature had spoked as Riolu came face to face with him. "My name is Discord. I am known as the master of chaos! I am available on Tuesdays and Thursdays for any occasion. Parties, weddings, graduations, and the occasional event where a certain princess I know of tries to raise the sun. If you ever need any help, come and find me. I'll make sure that your problems will get even worse. Now, what about you?"

Riolu stared at Discord with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Uh, I'm not sure how to respond to that. My name is Riolu, I will tell you that. I am what you would call a Pokemon." Riolu answered.

"Pokemon? What an intriguing name. I do believe that I have experienced something that had something to do with something similar to that." Discord contemplated as he held up a magnifying glass up to Riolu's face.

"Hey! Where did that come from?! Get it out of my face!" Riolu demanded as he pushed the magnifying glass away.

"Well! How rude! Spike, I can not believe you are letting him do this to me." Discord huffed as he stared at Spike.

"I think it would be best if you left us alone, Discord." Spike said boldly.

"Well! How rude! Again! I think I'll just be on my way then! Cashier, where is my food?!" Discord questioned as he directed his attention to a pony behind a counter.

"It has been right in front of you for the past five minutes!" The pony replied as she showed Discord a large bag of popcorn.

"Oh, my apologies, miss. I must have been daydreaming. I shall be on my way then," Discord grinned as he picked up the popcorn and headed for the door. "Bye bye, everypony! Until we meet again! Especially you,…Riolu."

"What a weirdo," Riolu stated as he watched Discord head out of the restaurant. "What was he going to do with that large bucket of popcorn anyway?"

"Beats me. Let's just order our food and get back to Twilight." Spike spoke as he neared the cashier.

"What can I get you?" The cashier pony replied.

"Six hayburgers to go, please." Spike smiled as he placed six bits on the counter.

"Thank you!" The cashier pony smiled as she grabbed the bits, placed them in the register, and galloped into the kitchen shouting: "Okay, I'm gonna need six hayburgers to go!"

"You sure we can eat that much?" Riolu questioned.

"Of course we can! It'll be two for each," Spike replied as he turned around to face Riolu. "Two for you, two for me, and two for…discord."

Riolu suddenly turned his head around in confusion and looked out the window to see a dragon-like tail vanish suddenly from site.

"What was he doing?" Riolu questioned.

"I'm sure that it's not something good." Spike sighed.

"Here you fellas are! Six hayburgers. Enjoy!" The cashier pony spoke as she placed a bag on the counter.

"Thank you, miss!," Spike grinned as he turned around and grabbed the bag. "Come on, Riolu. Let's head out!"

Suddenly, Riolu had taken off from where he stood and raced toward the exit. He pushed the doors open with great vigor and looked down the street to find any remain of Discord. All there was left was just a few popcorn kernels in the place Riolu had seen part of his tail.

"Whoa! Slow down, Riolu!," Spike shouted as he opened the doors to the restaurant and ran outside with the bag in his left arm. "What was the point in all that?"

"I was just trying to see if I Discord was still lurking around. He really did creep me out with what he said." Riolu breathed heavily.

"You're getting all worked up over nothing. He just says stuff like that so he can get on your nerves. Come on, we need to get home before Twilight gets worried." Spike said as he lead the way back home.

"You're probably right, Spike." Riolu mumbled as he followed him back home.

Riolu turned his head back as he was walking to get a good look at the restaurant that was now behind him. It seemed pretty calm now, though there was something wrong. Riolu squinted his eyes a bit to get a closer look, and noticed something glimmering in the sun on top of the roof. It had looked like it was pile of popcorn kernels.

Chapter 13

A soft breeze ruffled the fur of Riolu as he and Spike made their way to Twilight's library. The day had grown to an even lighter shade, and Riolu's stomach had started to growl.

"Feels like I haven't eaten anything in hours!" Riolu complained as he trudged along.

"That's probably because you haven't, Riolu," Spike spoke as he raised the bag of food he was carrying as a sign of hope. "But do not worry, because as soon we get to Twilight's, we can eat."

"That sounds like a good idea." Riolu said as he hugged his stomach in hunger.

"It sounds like a great idea." Spike corrected playfully.

"If you say so," Riolu grumbled as he looked at his own stomach. "Either way, I hope that weirdo doesn't show up anytime soon again."

"What weirdo?" Spike asked.

"Don't pretend you don't know who I am talking about." Riolu stated.

"Oh, you mean Discord? Don't get so hanged up over him. He's supposed to act like that." Spike said as he opened the bag to check out the contents.

"He's supposed to act like that?!," Riolu snapped. "So what you're saying is, he has to be a jerk? He has to involuntarily act rude?"

"Well, not exactly," Spike said as he closed up the bag and continued walking. "Discord was originally a foe who got turned to stone. From what Twilight has told me, he was first vanquished by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Then he escaped, so Twilight and her friends had to vanquish him. I didn't partake in the beat down, but I tell ya, I would of kicked some serious flank! Anyways, when he got turn to stone a second time, Celestia had the idea to reform him. Therefore, about a year later, she gave the mission of reforming Discord to Fluttershy who, in the end, became best friends with him. So, to answer your question, Yes, he is a jerk, but a reformed one!"

Riolu looked at spike with confusion in his eyes as if he had just seen spike turn himself inside out.

"It seems he has a good history of being…bad." Riolu thought out loud.

"Yes, that is true, but that is over…for now at least. There's no telling what that guy has planned next. Even if the plan is something that he thought up thousands of years ago, it could still be going on today." Spike replied.

"Heh, well, good luck with that." Riolu chuckled.

"What that's supposed to mean?" Spike said as he squinted his eyes to see Twilight's library just a few yards away.

"Well, I'm not going to be here forever, right? I gotta leave sometime." Riolu said calmly.

"Eh, I guess so. Though what about your old world? You still haven't told me how you got here in the first place." Spike replied.

Riolu scratched nervously behind his head. A look of shyness was n his face. Suddenly, he saw himself at the very door of Twilight's library just in time.

"Hey, we better get this food inside the library before it gets cold," Riolu spoke as he snatched the bag from Spike's grip and quickly opened up the door. "Twilight, we're back home!"

Twilight Sparkle looked up from where she sat on the floor and smiled at the site of seeing Spike and Riolu.

"Come on in, guys! I was just inspecting some more details about this statuette." Twilight grinned as she patted the head of the statuette next to her.

"Awesome! What have you found out about it while we were gone, Twilight?" Spike questioned as he and Riolu sat down next to her as well as opening the bag and passing out two hayburgers for each of them.

"Well, for one thing, the statuette is very…old." Twilight grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, it does look a bit old. Anything else?" Spike asked as he took a bite out of one of his hayburgers.

"Umm…it's made out of stone." Twilight mumbled.

"Twilight! Come on! You got to know more than just that." Spike said with a mouth full of food.

"I know that Spike," Twilight sighed as she unraveled one of the wrapping of her hayburger. "It's just that I couldn't find any clues that would help me with this oddity. There are no books whatsoever that have any useful information. Like we stated earlier, this statuette could in fact be other worldly."

Riolu ate in silence as he watched Spike and Twilight talk back in forth about the statuette. The bickering had caused a bit of tension inside him.

"Yeah, but what about the two Alicorns on there that resemble Celestia and Luna? How would you explain that?" Spike questioned softly.

"That still remains a mystery," Twilight mumbled with a mouth full of hayburger. "I still have yet to figure out how it got here, where it came from, who made it, and most importantly, why it exists."

"Why don't we ask Riolu," Spike suggested happily. "Riolu, do you think you have any concept about this statuette? Where it came from, who made it, why it's here, stuff like that."

Riolu sat with a worried glance at Twilight and Spike. He painfully swallowed his food in a single gulp and began to speak.

"Well, I do know that it is…sculpted really professionally." Riolu said.

"Indeed. You know, you may be onto something right there, Riolu," Twilight praised. "This does in fact look like it was carved by a professional. Something with steady hooves, or perhaps claws."

"Hey, you think it's weird on how Riolu showed up around the time this statuette showed up?" Spike questioned as he took a big bite out of his hayburger.

A long and awkward silence followed as Twilight looked at Riolu with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Yeah, that is kind of weird now that you mention it, Spike." Twilight whispered out loud.

Sweat had begun to form around Riolu's forehead. They were getting closer.

"Heh, yeah, that is weird. Quite the coincidence, huh?" Riolu chuckled.

Twilight looked at Riolu with a serious gaze as if she were looking deep into his soul. It was as if she was starting to realize something. Something that Riolu would want to keep as a secret.

"Very true. It is quite coincidental for something like that to happen. Especially the fact that you and the statuette appeared around the Everfree." Twilight stated.

"How did you know I came from the Everfree?" Riolu snapped.

"Fluttershy told me. How did you know it was named the Everfree?" Twilight snapped back.

"You guys were saying it back and forth. How could I of not known what its name was?" Riolu questioned.

"Fair point." Twilight whispered as she slowly took a bite out of her hayburger.

Another awkward silence had commenced as Riolu stared at the eyes of Twilight. The white circles within her eyes twinkling in the most darkest of ways.

"…Well, I think it would be best if I took a nap. I've been walking so much today, and that encounter with that Discord guy really put some tension on me, so, I best be going upstairs now." Riolu said as he stood up from where he was and headed toward the steps.

"Hold it. You met Discord?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, we met him at the restaurant. Apparently, he ordered a huge bucket of popcorn. We thought he was going to go watch something cruel and unusual somewhere." Spike answered.

"Huh, well that's weird. It's not like him to do something like that nowadays. Although he enjoys chaos, he usually loves watching events that were caused by him to begin with." Twilight pondered.

"Yeah, it's weird. He probably just wanted to grab refreshments before he pushed an old lady down. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go nap." Riolu said with a huff as he charged upstairs.

"I wonder what's gotten into him." Spike whispered to Twilight.

Riolu padded over to Spike's basket and landed with a thud. The soft, warm blanket covering his back in comfort. He looked out the window and saw a couple of birds perched on a limb. They looked happy and cheerful as they sang their tune.

"Life must be easy for those guys." Riolu sighed as he slowly closed his eyes.

Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle had appeared in the shadow of the doorway that led to the upstairs. She watched the body of Riolu rise up and down in a rhythmic pace.

"You don't think he has something to do with the statuette, do you Twilight?" Spike whispered behind her.

"I don't know for sure Spike, but whatever it is, it is more than just a coincidence. They both came from somewhere, and I believe that pretty soon we will know why they are here." Twilight cooed.

"Alright, Twilight. Don't go all cryptic on me." Spike chuckled.

"Yeah, you're right, Spike," Twilight giggled. "Come on, let's go finish our lunch."

With that said, Twilight and Spike retreated from the doorway and headed back downstairs to finish their lunch, leaving Riolu in the comfort of the sunlight with the birds singing their afternoon song.

Chapter 14

Twilight and Spike were slowly padding down the steps of their library's staircase as the glow of the afternoon sun filled the oak tree. Even though it was the middle of the day, Spike yawned with tiredness.

"Going into the Everfree, having a close encounter of the chaotic kind, experiencing something coincidental that may be just more than coincidental, and all before noon? This is killing me!" Spike sighed.

"These events that we are experiencing are crucial for us to figure out about Riolu, Spike." Twilight explained as they finally reached the bottom floor.

"Really? Even when Riolu and I went out to go get hayburgers?" Spike said as he leaned up against a book shelf.

"Well, not as much, but Discord was there. I'm pretty sure that we can get a few things out of him. Anything weird that he said besides ordering a bucket of popcorn?" Twilight questioned as she sat down to analyze the statuette again.

"Well, now that you mention it, there was this one part where he said that he had experienced something similar to something that involved something about Pokemons, or something like that." Spike grumbled.

"Really? Interesting," Twilight stated as she took out a quill and a parchment and begin writing this down. "Any actions, gestures, or other words that might of linked to that statement?"

"Not that I know of," Spike spoke as he casually shuffled around. "Although, he was peering in the window at us when he had left. It may have had nothing to do with Pokemons, but it sure was creepy of him to do that."

"Yeah, you're right. That is a bit creepy. Anything else?" Twilight asked as she continued writing.

"Not that I know of. Heh, unless we ask him ourselves." Spike chuckled.

"Brilliant idea!" A voice from behind them spoke.

Spike turned his head and looked up in surprise to see Discord himself tower over him.

"Discord! What in the wide world of Equestria are you doing here?" Twilight questioned.

"Why, I just thought I would pay you guys a visit. I couldn't help but "overhear" every word you guys were saying about me." Discord said as he took off his ears and placed them over his head.

"You were eavesdropping on us?!" Twilight questioned sternly.

"Heavens no. I was just walking on by and happened to hear you guys talking about me, so I decided to drop by to see what was going on. You know, I may be over a thousand years old, Twilight, but that doesn't mean I am hard of hearing!" Discord huffed as he crossed his arms and tilted his face upwards.

"Alright, then maybe you could tell us why exactly you were acting all weird at the restaurant that Riolu and I were at?" Spike questioned as he causally walked away from Discord and over to Twilight.

"I was just ordering some popcorn!" Discord said with a cheeky grin.

"What for?" Twilight asked sincerely as she positioned her quill to begin writing.

"So I can eat it." Discord laughed with a sarcastic smile.

"Uh huh, okay then. Were you planning on doing anything while you were consuming the popcorn?" Spike questioned.

"Why, yes!" Discord said happily as he sat down with his legs crossed.

"Really? Like what?" Twilight asked quickly.

Suddenly, Discord placed his paw and his claw over is mouth and began smirking uncontrollably. His grin getting wider and wider.

"I was planning on…I was planning on…watching random ponies falling down! I threw popcorn kernels at them from the roof so they can be freaked out. You would be surprised how many ponies are scared of just a few kernels falling on their face." Discord laughed.

"Ah, okay then. A bit random of you to do such a thing, but that is in your nature. What about you saying that you had experienced something similar to that of a Pokemon? Spike said to me that you had said something like that." Twilight asked.

An awkward moment of silence occurred as Discord looked at Twilight and Spike with confusion in his eyes, though his facial expression told that he was still in a sarcastic mood.

"That? Oh, yeah, that. I was referring to the time I battled Celestia and Luna. The day they imprisoned me in stone, they looked so weird when they were shooting magic out of their horns. Although you could say, I did a little something weird myself." Discord finished with a cunning grin.

"You planting the blunder seeds, right?" Twilight asked as she stopped writing down the new information.

"…Yeah, that too." Discord whispered with a chuckle.

"What did you say?" Spike said with a hint of tension in his voice.

"Oh, nothing, my dear Spike. It was just a bit of a cough," Discord said as he started making coughing noises. "Wow, this weather is really getting to me. I think I should be on my way now, Twilight. Ta Ta!"

"Wait, Discord. One more thing. Can you tell us about this thing?" Twilight asked as she showed Discord the statuette.

Discord looked at the statuette in curiosity once he had laid eyes on it. A pondering look was on his face as well as a hint of wonder crossing over his eyes, that of which rarely ever happened.

"It is quite an amazing sculpture, I will admit. Plus, it is quite old. However, I do not recall having seen a non-magical horse statuette before," Discord commented with a fake cough. "I really need to go now, Twilight. I shall see you later!"

"Bye, Discord. Thank you for being of assistance." Twilight grumbled as she watched Discord vanish in a puff of smoke.

"Well, Twilight. Anything new?" Spike said as he leaned over Twilight's notes.

"Just updated material, Spike. That is all. Although, at least some tensions have been resolved between Discord, for now," Twilight said as she placed the parchment down and stared at the statuette. "Now, if only we could of gotten some more information on this thing."

"I'm sure that the answer will sooner or later come to us, Twilight." Spike said with a reassuring claw over Twilight's shoulder.

"It has to, Spike," Twilight whispered as she looked upstairs to where Riolu was sleeping. "It has to."

§

Discord was roaming the streets of Ponyville, eyeing everything that he passed. He maneuvered slowly through many streets and houses until he finally came to a small alley where he stood with his back up against the wall.

"Such a busy day it has been," Discord whispered as he looked around to see if anypony was watching him.

The coast had seemed clear for Discord. So, with a small snap of his fingers, a small, silver coin appeared on his paw. He then started looking at it in admiration, a cunning look was in his eyes.

"Soon, you will be of great significance." Discord chuckled as he flipped the coin in the air and caught it with his paw.

Chapter 15: The Finale

Riolu woke up from his slumber with a yawn. He scratched at his back and looked to his left and to his right to see if anyone was watching him doing so. He listened in on the probable sounds around him. Total silence.

"It's quiet," Riolu observed. "Too quiet…"

Riolu then slowly lifted the sheet that covered his body and slowly crept out of the basket. He tip-toed softly toward the exit that lead to the stairs and peered down at the first floor of the library. There he saw Twilight Sparkle and Spike sitting face-to-face with the statuette in the middle.

"Maybe we're doing something wrong." Spike suggested.

"That could be it." Twilight mumbled in reply.

"Heh, you didn't sound too happy when I said that." Spike chuckled.

"I'm just not feeling so well about all this, Spike. We're getting nowhere fast!" Twilight grumbled.

Riolu scratched behind his head in confusion at hearing this. They were acting so intense about it. Couldn't they just drop it and let it be for awhile?

"Well, look who's up!" Twilight's voice spoke suddenly in a happy tone.

Riolu looked at where Twilight was sitting and made direct eye contact with her. A sparkly gaze was in her eyes as if she was nervous, but strangely calm.

"Good afternoon, Riolu." She said happily.

"Good afternoon." Riolu said as he climbed down the steps.

"Did you have a good nap?" Twilight asked.

"That's an odd question for you to ask." Riolu spoke as he criss-crossed his legs and sat down next to Twilight and Spike.

"How so? Is it because I've never asked you something like that?" Twilight said.

"Yeah…how about you? Are you okay? Did something fall on your head?" Riolu chuckled.

"It feels like it. We're getting nowhere with this statuette." Twilight sighed.

Riolu scratched his head nervously. It kinda looked sad to see Twilight like this, and he did have the ability to tell her that he was the one who found it, but he wasn't going to tell her that easily about his world. There had to be a way to work around it.

"Hey, Twilight. I got an idea." Spike spoke up suddenly.

"What is it?" Twilight said as she kept her gaze on the statuette.

"There may be one last option with this, but it's a good option: let's ask Zecora!"

Twilight had a blank gaze for a second, and quickly face-hoofed.

"Of course! Why didn't we think of this to begin with?! Zecora knows everything about creepy stuff like this!"

"Who the heck is Zecora?" Riolu asked.

"A wise zebra that lives in the Everfree!" Twilight exclaimed as she rounded up her satchel and opened the door to her library, taking in the fresh air of the afternoon with a smile.

"And I'm assuming we're heading back there…" Riolu said with a sigh, not wanting to head back to that forest again.

"Indeed. Come on you two," Twilight said as she levitated Spike and Riolu and put them on her back, and placed the statuette in her satchel. "Back to the Everfree!"

"If you insist." Riolu said with a sigh, not wanting to go back to the Everfree, but it seemed pointless to argue with Twilight about it now.

The fresh smell of afternoon air smacked Riolu across the face as they charged out of library and toward the forest.

"Man, it feels like I haven't been out here in months!" Spike said as he took in a deep breath, but quickly choked on account of inhaling loose hairs from Twilight's flowing mane.

"We were out here just a few hours ago." Riolu replied.

"I dunno," Spike said. "It feels like I've been standing in the same spot for…"

"Can you two keep quiet back there? I'm trying to concentrate on the mission at hand." Twilight interrupted as they entered the Everfree.

"Don't you mean the mission at hoof? Honestly, Twilight. You and I made a silent agreement to not speak of hands in this world." Spike teased playfully.

"Hey, what's that tree we're approaching?" Riolu said as he pointed to a tree with a door, windows, and odd looking masks hanging around it.

"That's Zecora's hut! Come on, guys. This may be our only chance." Twilight said she came to a halt and let Spike and Riolu off her back.

"Whatever you say, Twilight." Riolu said as he walked up to Zecora's door and knocked on it.

The three of them waited for a response from the knocks. Silence…Riolu then knocked again.

"I'm coming, don't rush me. I am only fast when I flee." a voice responded.

The door then opened to reveal a zebra with gold rings around her neck and one of her hooves.

"Greetings, Zecora," Twilight smiled. "May we come in?"

"Sure you may come in. You, Spike, and your new friend." Zecora rhymed as she gestured her hoof to the inside.

Riolu looked at the Zebra as he walked inside. She seemed friendly, though he was a bit curious on why she made that rhyme.

"Have a sip from my cauldron in front of you. It's filled with a nice stew." Zecora said as she closed the door behind them and pointed to the bubbly cauldron.

"Thanks, but I ate a hayburger a couple of hours ago. Also, can you stop rhyming? It's kinda creepy." Riolu asked.

"My apologies for coming off as weird, but you should be sorry too for coming in here. For I am creeped out simply by the sight of you. It's not everyday I see a creature such as you." Zecora replied.

"Ouch, Zecora just chomped you off. You gonna take that, Riolu?" Spike teased.

"She didn't chomp me off. She's just never seen a creature like me before." Riolu snapped.

"Seen, I may have not, but read about, I have a lot. For I may know a thing or two about you, Riolu." Zecora smiled as she pulled out some books from her shelf and began to skim them.

"If you want to know about me, then I'll let you know that I'm a Pokemon. Pretty much everyone knows that by now." Riolu said.

"Really? Well to me that's quite new! Tell me, what do Pokemon do?" Zecora asked.

"Good luck getting that out of him, Zecora. Riolu hardly wants to tell us anything about his past." Twilight said with a gaze at Riolu.

"If you say I can not gain his past, anything else I can do for you besides that?" Zecora questioned.

"We want you to tell us about this." Spike said as he reached into Twilight's satchel and pulled out the statuette.

Zecora eyed the statuette with curiosity for a bit, and slowly turned back to her books, which she began to skim over again.

"That work of art I have seen before. I'm sure to have something in here that could tell us more." Zecora said as she flipped through the pages.

Eventually, she stopped flipping the pages. She was eyeing at the picture of the statuette with the article next to it titled "A Present From Chaos Itself".

"Present from chaos itself? Why would it be called that?" Spike said as he looked over Zecora's head.

"Well let's see," Twilight spoke as she levitated the book over to herself and began to read aloud. "A thousand years ago, before Celestia and Luna reigned as rulers, Discord was in charge. He would cause mischief of all types of sorts, but he was aware that he would be overthrown by the likes of Celestia and Luna. So, before he was turn to stone, he made a statuette of them crafted from stone that he got from another world, and with it he casted a dark creature from our world into it. He placed the statuette in their castle, and hoped that it would do the task that he hoped it would do. Fortunately, the beast inside the statuette never woke up……at least before Discord was turned to stone. It had awoken after Celestia banished her sister to the moon. It secretly fed on Celestia's sadness and anger that she had gained from her sister's betrayal. One day the beast had gained enough, and unleashed itself upon her. Celestia however was powerful enough to overtake the beast, and in doing so casted it into the statuette, and sent it back to where the stone artifact came from."

"Wait a minute. If Celestia did all that, then why didn't she say something when we took her to see it?!" Riolu shouted.

"Well, Discord did craft the artifact. Knowing him, he probably enchanted it to where it would suck out Celestia's memories as well as her emotions, just so he can cover his own tracks." Twilight replied.

"Well now that we got that cleared up. There is only one thing left to do…DIE YOU DEMON!!!" Riolu shouted as he took ahold of the statuette and raised it above his head, preparing to smash it.

"Stop, for you do not know what's inside. For all you know, that monster could still be alive!" Zecora warned.

"Alright then…but we gotta get rid of it as soon as possible." Spike said as he grabbed it from Riolu's grasp and carefully placed it on the floor.

Twilight looked at the statuette, and then at Riolu. Her eyes narrowed, and she spoke:

"Riolu, I believe it's time for you to come clean, whether you like it or not. You and the statuette appeared around the same time. Be honest…do you have anything to do with it?" Twilight asked.

Riolu gulped in fear. The time had come. He had a feeling in the back of his mind that eventually he would have to tell them about where he came from, that he had a master which abused him.

"If I tell them, they'll just treat me the same way. I gotta keep acting the way I am…but I can't escape from the truth now that Twilight has caught on…there may be one more option." Riolu whispered to himself.

"What did you say?" Twilight said.

Suddenly, Riolu grabbed a hold of the statuette and bolted outside, his steps being lighter then air as he maneuvered through the forest and in to Ponyville.

"Riolu! Come back! Quickly, Spike. No telling what he's going to do." Twilight said as she placed Spike on her back and chased after Riolu.

Riolu looked behind him and saw Twilight trotting quickly up behind him. He fastened his pace and tightened his grasp around the statuette. He started panting heavily, but kept running. As he was approaching Twilight's house, He saw her five pony friends gathered around it, knocking at the door.

"Twily, Spike, Riolu, are you guys in there?" Applejack asked in her country twang.

"Look! Here they come now!" Pinkie said as she pointed to Riolu who looked like he was going to run right through them.

"Get out of my way!" Riolu shouted as he pushed them over and sped into town.

"Well, how rude!" Rarity said in an appalled tone.

"Girls! We gotta stop Riolu! After him!" Twilight said quickly as she began to speed off again toward Riolu.

Riolu was almost out of breath. He could hear the sound of multiple hoof beats behind him. He was in bigger trouble now then he was before, but it didn't matter now. All he wanted was to find someone, and he had an idea of where to find them. Suddendly, two voices filled the nearby streets.

"Haha! Oh this is rich! Too good for me!" A familiar voice sounded from on top of a building, followed by the sound of multiple kernels bonking on a random pony's head.

"Where are these coming from?" The dismayed pony cried as it looked around here and there.

"They're coming from me, of course. You Ponyville civilians are so fun to toy with!" The familiar voice replied.

Riolu stopped in his tracks and looked up at the nearby rooftops. His gaze met with that of the one he was searching for: Discord.

"You!! Come down here at once, or I'm gonna make you come down here!" Riolu shouted as he arched his arm back, signifying that he was about to force palm Discord to the ground.

"Temperamental, are we?" Discord said as he teleported from his spot on the rooftops to Riolu, where they came face to face.

"I think you know exactly why I'm ticked off!" Riolu growled as he took the statuette and shoved it into Discord's chest.

"Oof!!…so, this is the reason why?" Discord said as he held the statuette in his grasp.

"Discord!!" Twilight said in disbelief as she and her friends stopped in their tracks."

"The one and only! Say, Twilight. Do you remember this," Discord said with a sly grin as he held the statuette high above his head. "I most certainly do."

"I thought you said you didn't know anything about it!" Twilight snapped.

"Well, when you're the creature of chaos, you tell a few things here and there that you don't really mean. Besides, I might as well come clean. It seems your little Riolu here caught me red handed." Discord said as he made his hands turn red.

Riolu's face had madden with anger.

"I want you to destroy this thing of yours, Discord! I want nothing to do with it!" He demanded.

"Oh, but Riolu! If I were to destroy it, how would you ever be able to head back home? That is……if you didn't mind being abused by your master." Discord said with a sly grin.

Riolu stood in shock at what he just heard. All of this time, Discord knew about his secret, and it was spilled.

"You have a lot of fear inside of you, Riolu. I can see through that emotional mask of yours. Trying to be a tough guy or something, just so nopony here can take advantage of you, and treat you like he did! Poor Celestia. She had to deal with anger from her sister. Living with the fear that her sister would do it all over again when she came back, hence, releasing the monster inside of this." Discord said as he showed Riolu the statuette.

Riolu eyed the statuette. His anger had begun to boil. He dared not look at Twilight or her friends, and see their responses to all of this. Everything he wanted to keep secret had come crashing down in an instant.

"GET THAT THING OUT OF MY FACE!!!" Riolu shouted as he force palmed Discord to the ground, sending the statuette flying up into the air, and breaking in half when it had hit the ground with a thud.

The statuette had laid broken. It seemed everything was fine, but suddenly, a cold wind swept through Ponyville. A blood curdling roar rang in Riolu's ears, and they all gazed in horror as a huge, ghostly stallion raised upwards into the sky and incased the world around them in ice.

"A windigo! A creature that feeds off of bad emotions!," Twilight said as she blasted it with her magic. "Riolu, do something!"

"What can I do?! There's nothing left for me to do here. You're probably all going to treat me the same way as my master now that you know my past." Riolu said as he sat down in hopelessness as the cold winds of the Windigo mockingly danced around him.

"That's not true," Spike said as he tried breathing fire at the Windigo. "Just because you were with someone that mistreated you, doesn't mean that everyone else is the same!"

Suddenly, the Windigo blew a gale-force wind at Spike and his friends, incasing them in ice. Riolu gazed in horror at their frozen states, and looked at the Windigo. The Windigo looked at Riolu with a heartless gaze. It then lowered it's head to Riolu, and whispered the words that he heard in his dream.

"Dumb animal." It said.

Riolu felt at his heart. It felt like it was cut in two. He wanted to just fall on the ground and cry…but an oddly warm sensation flowed through him. He felt it in his mind. It felt like…those words…didn't matter.

"That's what you think." Riolu said as he looked back into the eyes of the Windigo.

Riolu then made an impressive bound as he jumped onto the head of the Windigo and started pounding deep into its ghostly figure. His paws felt hotter then the sun, and could melt anything, no matter how cold. The Windigo turned around and shot a gale-force wind at Riolu, but Riolu's body acted like a mountain, and the wind went around him. Riolu then punched the Windigo with his fiery paws, throwing it across the icy town.

"One more thing before I send your butt into oblivion," Riolu said as he began charging a fiery force palm. "You are not the boss of me! You can not dictate ANY of my emotions! My past should not tell me on how to treat other's today. I am my own master! Now get out, you dumb animal."

With that said, Riolu threw a huge, fiery ball at the Windigo. The fiery ball hit the Windgio, causing a huge explosion that engulfed the entire town. Riolu covered his eyes up from the radiant light, and uncovered them to see the entire town back to the way it was.

"Thank goodness." He said with a sigh of relief.

"Riolu!!!!!" Spike's voice sounded behind him as he ran over to him and gave him a big hug.

Riolu smiled in comfort, happy to see Spike.

"Hehe, while I was trapped in that ice, I heard what you said to the Windigo. Does this mean we're truly friends now?" Spike said with a smile.

"Of course! I'm not gonna let my past dictate the words I say or don't say today. I'm glad to be your friend." Riolu said as he returned the hug.

"This…this moment is making me so happy!" Pinkie said as she came up behind them and hugged them really tightly.

"I'm glad yer turnin' over the new leaf, Riolu." Applejack said as she ruffled his fur.

"It is indeed quite the accomplishment, and I hope this includes not bumping into ponies like us from now on." Rarity said with a giggle.

"Ya did good, kid!" Rainbow Dash praised as she gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Indeed he did." Fluttershy smiled as she gave him a warm hug.

Riolu smiled with joy from the new friendships he had gained. It felt like all the stress he had was gone.

"Wait a minute, where's Twilight?" Riolu asked.

"Right here," Twilight's voice spoke from behind him as she gave him a hug as well, "Boy, being incased in ice sure does take a number on you, heh."

"Hey, it beats being turned to stone." Discord's voice spoke in front of them.

Riolu looked up an frowned in disappointment at Discord, though he smiled a bit in relief when he saw the pony standing next to him: Celestia.

"I saw what was going on, so I transported Discord to me so he wouldn't do any more harm, and I came down here to see if I could help out with the matter, though it seems Riolu here has it all under control." She spoke softly.

"Yes, ma'am. The Windigo has been defeated, and the statuette has been destroyed." Riolu said as he pointed to the stone figure that now lied in a pile of dust.

"Excellent. In the mean time, is there something you would like to say, Discord?"

"I'm……I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you and Celestia, Riolu. I shouldn't of toiled with your emotions like I did with Celestia back then." Discord said with a sigh.

"Bah, no worries. If anything, I should be thanking you. Without you being a heartless jerk, I wouldn't of become a better creature." Riolu said with a smile.

"Excellent! In that case, I'm off the hook!" Discord said as he flipped a coin up in the air.

"What exactly is that thing for?" Spike asked.

"What? This? Oh, I'm just going to buy myself a new bag of popcorn! I'm thinking of asking them for extra kernels this time. It's just so fun seeing ponies getting freaked about by random kernels falling on their head! Well, ta ta!" Discord said as he teleported out of there in a flash.

"Good riddance!" Applejack said in a huff.

"Indeed," Celestia giggled. "By the way, Riolu. There is something I've been meaning to tell you."

"What is it, princess?" Riolu asked in curiosity.

"Would you like it if you stayed in Ponyville? Do you want to make it your new home with Twilight and Spike?" Celestia asked.

Riolu paused for a moment and looked at the gleeful eyes of Twilight and Spike, and smiled back.

"You know the answer, of course I'll stay!" Riolu said happily.

Cheers and whoops of joy came from Twilight and her friends, as well as a smile from Celestia.

"Very well then. Take care of him, Twilight. I know very well that he is in good hooves." She said.

"You can count on me, Princess Celestia!" Twilight said happily as she hugged him again.

"And me too!," Spike said with joy. "This is gonna be so fun, Riolu! We can stay up late, read comics, eat amazing food together, and all sorts of things!"

"Sounds good!" Riolu said with a smile as he and his seven new friends ventured back to Twilight's home for the evening.

It was the end of a journey for Riolu. He had started out as a creature who was a slave to his master's bidding, and lived in fear that the same would happen to him in the other world that he had stepped into. Fortunately for him, the world that he had stepped into was full of creatures that were kind and friendly, and stood by him in his darkest hour. Even though this journey has ended, a new life has started.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to all the wonderful people who helped me with this story, both indirectly and directly. I couldn't of done it without all of you guys.

It really has been a journey beyond. (And I will not apologize for that pun! )