Equestria, Ponyville, About 7 AM
Castle of Friendship
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Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, looked herself over in the mirror for the seventh time that morning, wanting to be absolutely sure that her attire was in order and presentable.
It wasn’t a formal event she was going to, otherwise Rarity would’ve been present, and she would be wearing a gown instead of her current outfit. Currently, it was a simple shirt of light gray and a medium-length lilac skirt, a pair of tan casual-looking boots, a white jacket, and a large saddlebag, it would seem to one unfamiliar with the circumstances that she was departing on a long adventure in the countryside.
Except she wasn't going to the countryside, or anywhere known in Equestria, or the world of Equis, for that matter. She was taking a trip that was six months in waiting to the world of humanity and the mysterious creatures known as Pokemon.
Twilight still found it hard to believe at times, because for all of Equestria's recorded history, the existence of humanity had been written off as a fairytale used by scholars to explain something not known to Equestria. Yet, six months ago, the entire historical community of Equestria suffered a collective heart attack when Twilight and the Elements of Harmony entered the Everfree forest…and changed the course of history with only a single meeting.
Twilight slipped out of her room as quietly as possible in order to not wake Spike, and sat down at the kitchen table to think about what she would like for breakfast. She knew she had time to eat, as Twilight knew she was scheduled to arrive in the human world at 10AM sharp.
Despite the fact that both the human Pokemon League and the Equestrian Diarchy had assured each other, and Twilight, that if anything should happen, it would be taken care of immediately. It was quite a promise, but Twilight wasn't totally convinced just yet.
After fixing herself a plate of hay bacon, toast, and eggs, Twilight began to eat, trying to keep her mind off of the fateful meeting she had six months ago. However, her nerves led her to replay the events in her mind, as she had countless times before…
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Everfree Forest, Six Months Prior
About Ten AM
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"Are ya certain that those three came this way?" Applejack asked Twilight, as the six Element Bearers continued to walk along the path that led to the Castle of the Royal Sisters. "Because I swear I've told Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo at least fifty times to stay out of this Celestia-forsaken forest by now."
"It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was more like a hundred and fifty times, Applejack." Rarity added. "Those three are always cooking up some harebrained scheme to get their Cutie Marks. It's a miracle none of them have been seriously hurt."
"Well, you can't blame 'em for trying." Rainbow Dash replied, lazily hovering above them. "I've tried to talk to Scootaloo about being less reckless, but she won't listen."
"Less reckless...as compared to who?" Twilight smirked, and there was a brief round of laughter.
"Yeah, yeah…" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though, it's strange we haven't found them by now."
"I agree." Fluttershy added, quiet as ever. "Wait…does anypony else smell that?"
Pinkie was going to ask what exactly Fluttershy had caught a whiff of, when she began to smell the sound of burning wood, and hear the crackling of logs.
"There's a fire in the Everfree?" She gasped. "I'll head back to Ponyville and get the Fire Crew!"
Just as she was about to speed off, Twilight snagged her friend with her magic and sat her down next to her, confusing the other Element Bearers.
"Just wait a second." Twilight said. "If there was a forest fire, where's all the smoke? We would've noticed it earlier if there was one."
"Yeah, and who would've set it?" Rarity added. "The Weather Ponies didn't schedule any thunderstorms for today, did they, Rainbow Dash?"
"Nope." Rainbow Dash said. "It may be summer, but we're not in storm season just yet."
"So who's out there?" Fluttershy thought out loud. Before anypony else could speak, Pinkie Pie pulled a lightbulb attached to a pull string out of her mane, zipped into the views of all that were present, and turned the lightbulb on.
"I've got it, somepony's camping out here!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, feeling as if she'd solved an impossible math equation.
"Who'd be crazy enough to camp out in the Everfree…except…" Twilight mused, and then she and the other Elements came to the same conclusion instantly.
"Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo." they said not only in unison, but in a very frustrated tone.
"Let's just follow the smoke trail, it should lead us right to them." Twilight took the lead, and as the Elements did just that, they could hear the voices of the Cutie Mark Crusaders through the trees, along with another voice they didn't recognize. It was feminine, and slightly aged, but it still rang true with experience and confidence.
"Wow, miss, that's just amazing!" said Applebloom. "You think we could get our Cutie Marks in Pokemon training?"
"What exactly is Pokemon training?" Twilight asked the other Elements, who shrugged. Then, the female voice spoke again.
"While I do admire your enthusiasm, training a Pokemon requires a lot of hard work, effort, and dare I say, age and maturity. Pokemon are more than just simple creatures, they have hearts and minds of their own. It takes more than just wanting to be a Trainer to actually, truly understand the bond one can have with their partner Pokemon, and it can't be forced to happen just like "that"."
The female voice accented her final words with a snapping sound.
"Also, as I understand it, you're all still quite young." the voice added. "The Pokemon League only allows Trainers to start their journeys at the age of ten at the earliest, and that's with a regional Professor's approval. The normal age most aspiring trainers begin at is at thirteen years old."
"And even so, a Pokemon trainer often travels quite a lot across the regions of the world, and that can be quite difficult at times. From jungles, deserts, city streets, open plains…it's not an easy thing to do."
"Aww…" the three Cutie Mark Crusaders chorused in disappointment.
"Don't let me discourage you, however. You've all got potential to become a trainer at some point, but there'll need to be a lot of maturing between then and now." the voice finished. "Besides, I'm almost forty, and I still haven't seen some parts of the world I come from."
As Twilight and the other Elements pushed aside some underbrush and entered a clearing, they finally glimpsed the source of the unknown voice.
It was a tall, feminine being, wearing black robes with gold highlights and a fur lined collar, cuffs, and coattail. She had long blonde hair that cascaded down to her waist, and intelligent gray eyes.
Before Twilight and the Elements could speak, the being motioned for them to come closer.
"Oh, hello." the being said in a calm, kind voice. "I presume you're the Elements of Harmony my new friends here told me about?"
"That's us." Twilight said. "Who are you, and what are you?"
"Well, my name is Cynthia." the being replied. "I'm a human, and rest assured I'm here in peace. As a matter of fact, I'm doing a favor for a friend of mine by coming to this world."
"Wait, human?" Twilight gasped. "Humans are a myth! All the best historians and scholars in Equestria have said so over hundreds of years of research!"
"Well, they can't exactly say that anymore, now can they?" Cynthia smirked. "I can very much say with confidence that I am one hundred percent human…Would you like some of my herbal tea? You seem rather dizzy all of a sudden."
Twilight, who was in fact feeling rather dizzy, accepted a cup from the kettle that lay at a boil over a campfire, and drank. To her surprise, she felt immediately refreshed and quite perked-up with only a few sips.
"This is really good." Twilight said, as the rest of her friends sat down. "Well, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. This is Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. If you don't mind, would you like to come back to Ponyville with us? It's not that far, and I'd love to hear more about the world you come from."
"Oh, that sounds wonderful." Cynthia smiled, as she extinguished the campfire. "Just give me a moment here to pack up my things."
"Let me take care of that." Twilight nodded, as she used her magic to pack up the campsite and nearly place everything into a black backpack that lay nearby in only a few seconds.
"Fascinating." Cynthia mused. "Was that the magic that your siblings here told me about?"
"Yes it was. Simple telekinesis is kind of a simple application though." Twilight said, about to slip into what was called "lecture mode", when Applejack wisely interrupted that they should get moving.
"Right, my apologies." Twilight blushed in slight embarrassment. "Shall we be off?"
"Lead the way." Cynthia replied.
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As the group of ten exited the forest, and reentered the town of Ponyville, all activity came to a sudden halt at the sight of Cynthia. However, once Twilight called out that she was friendly and here in peace, the air around the residents calmed considerably.
A few of the locals waved to Cynthia, who waved back casually and kindly. One mint-green mare, however, seemed quite enamored by their visitor's hands, and was quickly shown away by another.
"This is quite a pleasant town." Cynthia noted. "Reminds me of another place I've been to back in my own world. I own a vacation home there."
"Where might that be?" Applejack asked. "If it's like Ponyville, I wouldn't mind going there myself sometime."
"It's called Undella Town, located by the eastern seaside in the Unova region." Cynthia replied. "I usually take a seaplane from my home region of Sinnoh, and I get there within a day if I plan things right."
"How many other regions are there?" Twilight asked.
"In the current Pokemon League, besides Sinnoh and Unova, there's Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Kalos, Alola, Galar, Paldea, and now, the Urobos and Eldiw regions as well." Cynthia said, as they arrived at and entered Twilight's castle. "I can get my world map out if you'd like."
"Sounds great!" Twilight said with some glee in her voice. "Shall we get started?"
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Twilight blinked her eyes open, and upon realizing that she had fallen asleep again, she quickly checked the grandfather clock nearby. She breathed a sigh of relief at seeing it hadn't been too long since she had woken up, and moved to clear her dishes.
As she composed herself and headed towards the castle doors, she heard steps coming from behind her.
"You're heading out, Twilight?" Spike asked.
"Yes, just about." she replied. "Hey, Spike? You know what to do if anything happens, right?"
"Yeah. I also know that the other Elements will check on me every so often, and I'll remember to feed Owlicious." the dragon replied. "Hey, Twilight…stay safe."
"I will, Spike." Twilight nodded, giving a grateful smile as she embraced her number-one assistant. "I'll see you in six months."
As she exited her castle, and Spike closed the doors behind her, she began to walk towards the train station. There, an express train would take her to Canterlot, where a new world would await her.
"Here goes." she murmured to herself as she boarded and settled down onto a couch in one of the lounge cars. "Let's see what the world of Pokemon has to offer."
The train was soon moving at a steady pace to the capital, and as Princess Celestia bid the sun to rise over Equestria, Twilight fell asleep again to the steady rumbling of the train wheels.