//------------------------------// // Holiday Happenings // Story: Chaos Descending // by Atheron //------------------------------// So...yeah, I had really really bad writer's block. Like, whatever I said I had earlier times like a million. I kept telling myself I'd finish my chapter for Christmas, then New Year, then just to get it done. So, although it's late, and it's kinda a Christmas chapter, here it is! Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Can't think of anything clever to say, so I'll say 'pineapple') Ash, Fluttershy and Twilight slowly began to back away from the oncoming crowd slowly pressing towards him with increasing urgency as Pikachu nervously began sparking electricity on Ash’s back. A spark leapt from his cheek and onto Ash, who then yelped in surprise. “Ouch Pikachu!” That effectively broke the dam holding the ponies back and releasing the floodwaters of questioning. “Who are you?” “How’d you learn to move like that?” “What’s that thing on your back?” “What’s your cutie mark mean?” “Muffin?” Questions flew over Ash’s head like arrows over the battlements; Ash actually ducked his head in an attempt to avoid the immensity of inquiries, the queues of queries, the- “ASH! Would you kindly be quiet! Despite your clever wordplay, you’re giving me a headache!” snapped an annoyed Twilight. Realizing he’d been narrating what he’d been thinking out loud for a while, he sheepishly apologized. “I didn’t say anything too dumb, did I?” “No, of course not!” said Twilight. “But there was that one thing about how cute Fluttershy was…” “Oh oka- wait I said what?” yelled Ash, slightly tinged red. “Well actually, you haven’t said anything…yet. I didn’t need any words to read that, however,” snickered Twilight, a smirk adorning her purple (and in Ash’s case, quite annoying) face. With a mock angry huff, Ash turned around and marched away with Pikachu on his back away from Twilight and Fluttershy, who had been hovering above them but had since disappeared with a squeak into the crowd after hearing Twilight and Ash talk. “Hey Twi! Where are we headed anyways?” yelled Ash behind him. “We’re heading to the store of a friend of mine!” yelled Twilight back. Strangely enough, she sounded quite far away from Ash, almost like…. Oh no. Ash turned around and swiftly ducked under the leg of a raucous berry colored pony with a bunch of grapes and a strawberry as her cutie mark wobbling dangerously around, only to see none of his friends anywhere near him. “Twilight? Fluttershy?” yelled Ash, only to receive silence as his answer. “Arceus, where are either of them? Great, I’ve lost both of my guides...” Pikachu agreed morosely and slumped onto Ash’s back as Ash walked into a nearby alley. “Well, at least all the ponies following us have left,” said Ash as he leaned against the wall of the alley. “But I’m still lost in a town where my only guides have disappeared, and I have no idea how I’m going to get anywh- wait, Starly!” Ash looked up and saw his bird Pokémon fluttering down towards him. He’d almost forgotten that he hadn’t had time to return Starly with the rest of his Pokémon before the crowd had gotten to him and had instead sent Starly flying because he’d be the least conspicuous of the group. After all, he was still a bird. The bird landed on his shoulder with a hoot and looked at him questioningly. “Good, you’re here. Starly, I need you to search around for the two ponies we were with earlier. Remember? A lavender purple one with a purple mane and a pink stripe down the middle, or a butter yellow one with a pink mane, got it?” asked Ash. The bird Pokémon nodded once and flew off into the sky in search of the ponies. Meanwhile, Ash sat back down next to a frustrated looking Pikachu. “Hey Pikachu, what’s up with you?” he asked, ruffling his head and earning a sigh. Pikachu sparked his cheeks angrily and pointed at the crowd outside the alley looking for them. “Look buddy, I know we may not be in the best situation, but we’ve gotta think this through. It’s not the best idea to go blasting ponies in a town where our best hope at ever getting back to Kanto lives,” Ash said, a sad look on his face. “Wow, I just realized….What about Mom? How is she doing right now? Does she even know I’m gone?” thought Ash aloud. “Or Dawn, or Brock, or May and Max, or Misty, or even Professor Oak? How are they doing now that I’m gone? Man…” Pikachu was reminiscing about things back home he missed too, like Ash’s mother giving him tummy rubs, and battling, and Dawn’s Buneary, and-wait what? Pikachu shook his head to get that thought out of his head. He may miss a lot of stuff, but no matter what Ash or Dawn say, he wouldn’t miss her. A lot, at least. He may miss her a little…. “Whoa Pikachu, what’s up with your head? You eat a fly or something? Trust me: it’s not a good idea to try. Stupid Gary with his stupid ideas…” muttered Ash. “You know what? Let’s go find our own way out! I’ll find Starly later, but I’m tired of sitting here doing nothing! Let’s go do something!” Pikachu leapt onto Ash’s back again, and Ash yelled out as he ran out of the alley into the street in front, pushing through the mass of pony bodies that…weren’t there? Ash fell with a “thump” to the ground, dazedly looking around only to see a lot of ponies looking at him strangely. “I guess the crowd after us didn’t feel like sticking around once we’d left,” said Ash. At least that made for easier visibility, and it made it easier for him to try to find his friends. Ash looked around for his colorful comrades, but saw neither one. He scanned the skies for Starly, but didn’t see him either. “Oh come on!” yelled Ash, earning himself another strange look. He turned to the nearest pony walking by, a green pony with a lyre as her cutie mark and asked, “Have you seen-” But he didn’t get to finish before she suddenly yelled “HANDS!” and walked away. “Ugh! Is everypony in this town crazy or something?!” Ash yelled in frustration as he kicked a nearby tree. Pikachu also decided to vent his annoyance into the tree as well. “Well, I don’t know about you Pikachu, but I’m feeling kinda better,” said Ash. “How about you?” Glancing down at Pikachu, he only saw the horrified look on his little friend. But he heard the buzzing. From the tree that they had just hit. “Arceus, no, even here?” whined Ash. Out of the tree poured hundreds of bees, all confused and dazed because of somepony hitting their tree and knocking around their hive. No one, pony or other animal, messes with a bee’s hive. Well, except for the honey badger. After discovering the annoyance was not a honey badger, they knew they had one objective: Catch the brown pony and his yellow companion. The swarm…well swarmed towards him and Pikachu, the first extending a leg, threw the second onto his back, and promptly turned around sprinting the other way. “Beedrill…they don’t even exist here, and yet they still manage to hunt me down!” screamed Ash as he raced down the streets of Ponyville, confused citizens looking on as they passed, with Pikachu holding on for dear life. “Arceus, oh Arceus, if you have any mercy at all, please save me from this torment!” prayed Ash as he sprinted, but he felt himself take each step slower than before, each bound closer than the previous. And, as Ash was about to throw Pikachu off and take the brunt of the bees by himself instead, a door opened up ahead and a voice screamed, “Get inside! Quickly!” Ash was quick to oblige and leapt inside with Pikachu, rolling onto the hardwood floor and seeing their host slam the door shut, thankfully locking the irate bees outside. With an angry buzz, the swarm flew off, vowing vengeance against the brown colt and strange other creature later. “Huff…Thank…you…for that…” panted Ash. Pikachu nodded his thanks as well. “Oh it’s absolutely no problem dear,” said their savior, a white unicorn with a startlingly well-kept purple mane and red glasses. “But if there is one thing that I have a problem with, it’s your clothes!” “What? I don’t even wear clothes!” said Ash, looking down at himself. All he was wearing was…well he wasn’t wearing anything! Except his hat at least, but…oh no… no way. “Your hat is just so not you, I mean, it clashes with your eyes and fur, and its dreadfully dirty, and- my word, what is that?” she squealed, pointing at a relaxing Pikachu while falling backwards into a couch that Ash could have sworn wasn’t there earlier. Pikachu stood up, gave a noncommittal grunt in her direction, and lay back down. “Oh him? That’s Pikachu!” “Him? What’s a Pikachu?” she asked, fanning herself slightly with her hoof. “Man, I’d do anything for a professor here! Heck, I’d even settle for Gary here! Well, I’ve explained it multiple times, but I think I gave a really good explanation to somepony around here…Hey, have you seen a purple unicorn with a purple mane and pink stripe down the middle? Or a yellow one with a pink mane?” Ash asked. “Huh, would their names happen to be Twilight and Fluttershy perhaps?” “Yeah, that’s it! Have you seen them?” “Seen them? Darling, they’re right behind you!” “What- Holy Arceus how long have you been standing there?” Ash yelped as he turned around and found himself face to face with Fluttershy and…Twilight with black scarves wrapped around her head and wearing all black. Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond, but then a giddy Twilight butted in. “Ever since you walked in. We’ve been stalking you from behind the whole time since we came from the kitchen after I got thirsty and drank this bottle!” Twilight said, levitating said bottle. The white pony showed shock on her face at Twilight’s antics, while Twilight continued. “We had Rarity distract you while we were busy being ninja ponies!” she said gleefully. “I even bought some black scarves we used to hide our faces! And noses!” Fluttershy closed her mouth with a sigh. “Uh, Twilight? Why are you so….not...uptight?” Ash asked. “Uptight! Who said I’m uptight?! I’ll show them uptight!” Twilight declared, stomping out of towards the door. A loud “thump” was soon heard, followed by a “I’m okay, but I think one of the Princesses is drinking, cause’ she’s making the world spin really really fast…” Followed by a quieter “thump” and light snoring. “Uh, okay then…” Ash said nervously. “So, hello?” “Rarity? Well, it’s nice to meet you!” “A pleasure to meet you as well Ash,” said Rarity. “So, how do you know Twilight and Fluttershy?” asked Ash. “Well, I knew Fluttershy from some of my forays in the forest to search for gems. As you can see, I run a boutique and my specialty is clothing, and gems always look good on clothing! Of course, it has to be the right size, and shape, and color…but moving on! I was walking in the forest one day to search, and I managed to get myself haplessly lost. I wandered about yelling for help, but I couldn’t see or hear anyone in response. But, right when I was about to give up, I saw Fluttershy walking through the trees, and thank Celestia she knew the way out and helped me. We became friends after that endeavor,” replied Rarity, smiling at the memory. After a little pause, Ash gave a motion for her to continue, and she began talking again. “I knew Twilight from when she first came to Ponyville and was working for Princess Celestia to set up the Summer Sun Celebration. I remember that day; she wanted to get through her tasks so fast, and didn’t want to talk to anypony. She wasn’t really the friend-making kind of person back then. But, I guess once you have a party and fight off an evil goddess bent on ruling a world shrouded in eternal darkness, you get some good friends out of it.” “Huh,” Ash said, nodding his head while secretly thinking how he didn’t understand any of that second story, and made a mental note to ask Twilight about it later. “Wait, shouldn’t we do something about Twilight? What happened to her anyways?” asked Ash after seeing Fluttershy prod her friend’s side for about the 100th time in the last minute. “Oh, Twilight? She….well she arrived at my boutique about 15 minutes before you did,” Rarity said. “She was waiting for a brown colt with a hat, which I presume is you, and then remembered she had to talk to Fluttershy about something in private. So, they went in the kitchen, where they talked. About what, I have no idea, but the last thing I heard was Twilight saying she needed something for her headache some annoying colt had given her earlier…I presume that was also you?” she said, tilting her glasses down to look sternly at him. “Er…well,” said Ash nervously, looking down. “Look, I can explain-“ He looked back up to see an amused Rarity and Fluttershy attempting to contain her giggles and ultimately fail. “Oh haha, I see how it is,” grumbled Ash, sitting down huffily. Fluttershy walked over to him and sat down next to him, saying “Oh Ash, it’s only in good fun. Don’t worry; I won’t let them say anything that might hurt your feelings.” Ash smiled and turned to his friend. “Thanks Fluttershy.” Fluttershy nodded, and the two lay down on the floor as Rarity heard the door ring and rushed to it while a dazed Twilight was slowly coming to. Twilight moaned in annoyance at many things, from the loud noises to the pain in her head from falling and her failure at treating her headache. “Whoo...how long was I out?” “About an hour or two. You went in my kitchen and came out all strange acting and pulling Fluttershy, telling her to ‘tell somepony something’…or something like that,” replied Rarity, writing down an order she had just received for a dress. “What exactly did you drink?” “I don’t exactly remember, but I do remember it was in a bluish bottle,” called Twilight from the bathroom where she had gone to wash her face. “This one?” Rarity asked, waving a blue bottle. “Yeah, that’s it. Wow, that must have been some strong stuff to knock me out,” commented Twilight. “Uh, Twilight? Are you sure you drank from this bottle?” “Yes I’m fairly sure. Why?” “Because it’s still almost full. There’s about half a cup missing…and it barely has any alcohol in it! You really can’t handle your drinks, huh?” “What?! No way, that’s manure,” said Twilight, walking over to the kitchen and examining the bottle. “Twilight, hush now, we have guests! Be careful with your words,” admonished Rarity. “Fine Mom,” said Twilight, sticking her tongue out and walking over to Ash and Fluttershy. “So, how are my two lovebirds doing?” Ash looked up lazily and said “What? Sorry I wasn’t paying attention,” while Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind her mane. Ash grinned, looked at Twilight and said, “Hey Twi, so…you’re a lightweight?” After which commenced angry splutters and yells from the purple unicorn. Eventually, Ash ended up in the corner quite dizzy and with a killer headache, Fluttershy hovering near the ceiling half-amused by her friend’s antics, and half- scared by those same antics. And Twilight was standing over Ash, looking straight into his eyes… And kissed him. (HAHA just kidding, that didn’t happen. But what if it did?) …and bonked him on the head with her hoof, saying “Never call me a lightweight, I just don’t drink a lot!” (Yeah, it didn’t) Ash moaned and vaguely said something which was roughly translated as “fine.” Fluttershy rushed to him and checked if he was okay. He was, but magically-induced headaches hurt. A lot. For about 2 hours. Fluttershy looked at Twilight, asking “Did you really have to do that?” “He called me a lightweight!” protested Twilight. “But…you are a lightweight,” said Fluttershy. “Yeah, it’s true darling,” put in Rarity. “You’re all against me now huh? I see how it is,” complained Twilight. “Yeah, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, that’s been you guys with me since….ever since I got here!” said Ash. “Fine, fine, truce?” offered Twilight, extending a hoof. Ash looked at the hoof suspiciously, then hesitantly extended his hoof and said “Truce.” They looked each other in the eyes and took each other’s hoof and shook. “If he thinks this is gonna stop me, he’s in for a surprise,” thought Twilight. “I have ammunition now, and what’s the point of having ammo if you’re not gonna shoot it?” thought Ash, imagining himself rubbing his hooves together in sadistic glee. “So, we good?” “We’re good.” Just then, Rarity called Twilight, saying they had to get ready for the Hearth’s Warming Eve play, whatever that was. Ash had asked Fluttershy, and she had said just to watch the play and find out. When evening hit, the trio of ponies and Ash left to the play, and he followed them, where he was promptly kicked out from backstage because the actors had to prepare. Muttering under his breath, he walked to his seat and sat down next to some fancy dressed ponies. Of course, before they had left, Rarity had given him a suit to wear, despite his insistence to pay for it, she refused to accept it, saying “A friend of Twilight and Fluttershy is a friend of mine, and this is how I help friends.” Ash wouldn’t have said this after she had said something so nice, but he didn’t really like wearing suits. He had worn them before of course, like during the Wallace Cup in Sinnoh, but he never really liked it. “Guess I have to deal with it. Wonder if she would’ve made Pikachu a suit?” Pikachu had randomly shown up with Starly at the boutique covered in something strange smelling and slightly smoky smelling as well. Ash found it better not to question, but sent him to Fluttershy’s place with the rest of his Pokémon and left them there while he left. “I hope they’re doing okay…” But before he could begin worrying, the play began, and Ash leaned forward and watched. XXXX He breathed in, and slowly breathed out. It was time. Through the scope, he saw the brown colt’s head, and focused the crosshairs. They found their mark. He held his breath, steadied his stance, and…. He got his head abruptly jerked back from the scope and hit on the wall behind him. “Ow, Celestia! What was that for?” complained Arceus, rubbing his head. “What was it for? You were pretending you were shooting him through that scope for the past hour since that play was going on!” said Celestia. “Well, I wasn’t bothering anyone!” “Anyone? There’s no one here but you and me! And you annoyed me! And you made these annoying “pew-pew” noises every time you pretended to shoot!” “Oh? Well…you know what? I’m a God, so shut up.” “You are? Well, I’m an immortal alicorn with powers beyond your wildest dreams!” Celestia countered. “Powers beyond my wildest dreams? Yeah right! If anything, my powers are so awesome, they’re actually in your dreams just so you can see how awesome they are!” said Arceus right back. “That doesn’t even make any sense!” “It doesn’t have to! I’m a God, so shut up.” Arceus said smugly and looked back through the scope. “But- Wha- Oh forget this, I’m not going through this again. I’m going to the play to thank my little ponies.” Celestia rose and flew off back into the realm of consciousness. Arceus looked around, and seeing no one there, raised his front legs and standing on his hind legs, yelled “Victory!” He then keeled over forwards, holding his front legs between his hind ones, and moaned in pain an octave higher than usual. Celestia walked out from behind a cloud and summoned her golden shoe back, smirking as she walked up to the moaning Arceus. “And that’s why you don’t annoy me Arcy,” she said brightly as she patted his head with her hoof and returned to consciousness, flying over to the theatre just as the play finished. “Wow, you guys were awesome!” praised Ash. “Thanks Ash!” said Fluttershy and Twilight. Twilight said, “Oh Ash! Have you met the others yet? This is Applejack-” A orange pony with three apples as her cutie mark, a blond mane and a nice hat waved to him cheerfully- “Rainbow Dash-” A cyan blue pegasus with a cloud and rainbow lightning bolt as her cutie mark and a rainbow colored mane nodded in acknowledgment- “And Pinkie Pie-” “Oh we’ve already met,” interrupted Ash. “You have? When?” “This morning!” “Well then, everypony, this is Ash!” said Twilight. “Nice ter meet ya Ash!” said Applejack in what sounded like a southern Johto accent to Ash. “Great time meetin’ you Ash, but I think I see some of the Wonderbolts over there!” said Rainbow Dash, shaking his hand and leaving just as fast, leaving a rainbow colored trail. “Wonderbolts?” asked Ash, turning to Fluttershy. “They’re a group of elite pegasus fliers that Dash adores. They’re the best, and her dream is to be one of them,” said Fluttershy. “Huh…wonder what it would be like to have wings…” thought Ash as he pretended he had wings on his sides and attempted to feel what flapping would feel like. Suddenly, a big pink pony leapt onto him and yelled “Ashy!” “Pinkie I think? Pinkie, get off me!” demanded Ash, trapped beneath her. “No!” “Yes!” “No!” “Yes!” “No!” “Ye- Forget it, I have enough arguments without ones like these.” Ash braced his forelegs and pushed Pinkie off of him with a squeal as she rolled into the crowd, knocking over a few ponies. Twilight then walked up to him with a tired looking Fluttershy and asked “Can you take her home? I know you’re bunking with her anyways, and since you’re probably headed over there eventually, would you mind-” “I got it Twilight, don’t worry,” said Ash reassuringly, propping up the half asleep Fluttershy next to him and slowly walked out the door. “Wait! Here are some bits for a chariot back home!” yelled Twilight, floating a few bits to him. “Got it!” he said, catching them and putting them in his pocket. He called for a pegasus chariot, and carefully placing the now-asleep Fluttershy in the seat, he walked up to the driver, hoofed him the bits, and said “To Ponyville please.” He clambered up to the seat and sat next to Fluttershy as they took off. She shivered slightly, so he took off his jacket and placed it on her. She surprised him by moving closer and lying on him for warmth as well. His face reddened and he looked away, asking the driver to go a little faster. From the ground, Twilight looked on, smiling and said “Mission accomplished.” After about half an hour, the chariot landed, and Fluttershy and Ash got off. Ash thanked the pegasus while supporting Fluttershy, and walked her to her cottage. Opening the door, he whispered, “Pikachu? Starly? Charmander? Anyone-” before he saw his six Pokémon huddled together and sleeping soundly, along with some of the other animals in the cottage. Ash smiled at the bonds his Pokémon had formed so soon after arriving here, but a small snore interrupted his train of thought. “Oh right, Fluttershy,” thought Ash as he walked her. He looked up at the stairs he would have to try to climb without waking Fluttershy up, and thought “I hope she doesn’t mind sleeping down here…I don’t want to wake her up.” So, Ash brought her to the couch in front of the fireplace, and set a cheery fire in the fireplace, warming the place up. He gently placed her on the couch, put a blanket on her, and stood up to leave when he heard Fluttershy call “Ash!” He turned to see Fluttershy looking at him with her blue eyes wide and asked “Can- Can you stay here?” Ash looked surprised, but nodded and sat down next to her, leaning back. Fluttershy sat up for a second and leaned her head on Ash’s shoulder, snuggling into his side. He was again surprised, but he didn’t say anything. He glanced at the clock in the corner, and noticed it was just past 12. He placed a foreleg around Fluttershy and murmured, “Merry Hearth’s Warming Fluttershy.” “We’re just friends, and this is what friends do…” he thought to himself. “I don’t like her any more than that.” “Merry Hearth’s Warming Ash,” whispered Fluttershy. The two closed their eyes as they sat together, dozing off into dreamland. And although Ash’s dreams were of feelings and confusion, to Fluttershy, she was already living a dream. And, that's it! To make up for this late chapter, I had a great idea (I think) for a short story crossover. I'm not telling you whose involved except for MLP:FiM, but I hope you'll like it. Look out for it, I'm almost done with it anyways. Well, hope you liked this chapter! Read and Review!