There are two things I am sorry for in this chapter-
One: How it’s so late.
Two: How it’s so random.
However, I shall post it anyways and deal with my self-esteem and dignity later.
Three weeks after Ash’s disappearance- Pallet Town, Kanto
While Ash was getting used to his new home, Professor Oak was getting used to a near-daily occurrence: having Delia Ketchum yell at him every second of every minute of every Arceus-forsaken day. After all, an esteemed Pokémon professor like him can’t stay out of the spotlight very long…especially if said professor managed to lose one of the Pokémon world’s best trainers, current Kanto champion, and according to Lance, a potential Johto Elite 4 candidate all at once.
“Joy,” muttered Oak.
“Yes Professor?” asked the red-haired nurse, striding into the room.
“Oh no, not you Joy, the phrase ‘Joy,’ you know….” Oak trailed off after seeing her blank look. “Ugh…What am I to do? I’ve managed to lose the Kanto champion, potential Elite, and one of the best upcoming trainers the world has yet to see. All in one day, in the same day, in this very laboratory! And I wasn’t even here!”
“Uh sir?” called a female assistant from the front of the lab.
“This is ridiculous! I’ve heard of Pokémon magic from Ghost Pokémon and the like, teleportation from the Psychic-types, but full-on disappearances? I’ve gotten almost the whole damn country searching for him, and no one’s spotted a hair of him!” raged Oak. “No one just up and disappears! It’s not scientifically possible! IT. CANNOT. HAPPEN!”
“Uh sir?”
“It has something to do with this book!” said a frustrated Oak, picking up the ‘Nightmare’ book and throwing it onto his desk. “This book is the root of all my problems! If I hadn’t invited Ash over to see the thing, he wouldn’t have
disappeared!”
“Wait….” thought Oak, rifling through the book. “If the book could take him away, then maybe it could bring him back!
Wait, I can’t make heads or tails of this book….”
“SIR!”
“WHAT?! What could possibly be more important than trying to get Ash back?”
“That’s just it sir, there’s a visitor that says they can help,” responded the assistant.
Oak looked up in surprise. “Someone who could help? I’ve called all the professors from every single known region….Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh…Heck, I even called in a few people from the Sevii Islands to check this book
out! And not a single one has found anything! Anything! What makes this person so confident about that they’re better than some of the most brilliant minds in the world?”
“I don’t know sir. They’re just very insistent on helping,” said the assistant apologetically.
Oak sighed resignedly. “Very well, let them in.”
The assistant turned to the door and motioned for the visitor to come in. The visitor strode in, and Oak took account of the man’s appearance. He was quite tall, almost six and a half feet, and well-built. What Oak found odd though was his
skin color, which was almost pure white, and his eyes, which glowed amber…with what though? Power? Oak wasn’t
sure whether to trust this stranger or not, but he had to admit to himself, he was left with no choice. He had no real leads, no possible suspects…nothing. This visit might be literally all he had left if he ever wanted to see Ash again.
“Good morning,” said Oak, extending his hand.
“Morning,” rumbled the man as he sat down next to Oak. Was it just Oak, or did his voice sound….powerful? It was like one of those voices that knew much more than they let on with wisdom beyond their years. But that was utter nonsense;
the man in front of him looked less than 30! Oak continued-
“So…I hear you have information for me, Mr…?”
“Archie” said the man promptly.
“Archie, okay. So, you have information on the whereabouts of Ash Ketchum?” Oak bluntly asked.
“Eeyup,” responded Archie.
“Well, are you going to tell me?”
“Nnope.”
“Nope? What do you mean, nope?” asked Oak angrily, his temper growing rather rapidly “You’ve come here from
Arceus-knows-where to give me information to help find Ash, and now that you’re here, you’re saying you won’t tell me? NOPE? And if you say ‘Eeyup’ in response, I swear I will get a dull knife and castrate your…”
“Sorry, it’s a habit I picked up from watching this guy,” replied Archie nonchalantly. Oak raised an eyebrow at the statement. One would think threats to be castrated were to be taken seriously, but apparently with this man, they
weren’t. “I meant on TV. Yeah, cause’ that’s what I do. Watch TV. About ponie- I mean people! Yeah…”
“Wait, did he just say ponies?” thought the professor. But before he could think about it more, he was interrupted with a slight cough.
Oak looked at him annoyingly, and Archie realized he was supposed to say something. “Well, I do know someone who can help you.”
“Really, who? Is it a professor? Cause’ they’ve all been soo helpful” asked Oak sardonically.
“No, but you’ve got to go to the Sevii Islands to find out,” replied the man coolly.
“I’ve been to the Sevii Islands! I’ve had people brought here! I’ve sent people there! They didn’t know anything!”
bellowed Oak, turning and kicking one of his chairs over. He turned again and yelled, “And you expect-“
But the man was gone. Not just hiding gone or walking out the door gone, but full-on…gone.
“What..? Where’d he go? He’s pulled an Ash Ketchum on me,” muttered Oak. “That man was an idiot…” he sighed. “But that’s the only lead I’ve got. Time to hit the road… or sea...”
As Oak walked out of the lab, the light near the fallen chair shimmered as Archie reappeared. “Time to shed this restrictive human body,” he muttered, and in a flash of light, he reappeared as none other than the majestic Arceus, rubbing his head where the chair had struck him. “Well, that should help Oak take his mind off things a little,” Arceus said. He walked into a secluded room away from the lab and summoned a mirror spell. Looking into it, he saw the throne room of the Royal Equestrian Princesses, with Celestia bored and sitting on her throne, playing with her magic.
He coughed, but it seemed Celestia didn’t seem to hear him. Arceus leaned around and noticed she seemed to be playing with two dolls, but he couldn’t quite make out the features. They were both white quadruped dolls though, and soon Celestia began to play and talk with them. Arceus, eager to avoid whatever awkwardness this could have led to, called “CELESTIA!”
She jumped in her seat and searched frantically for the source of the voice while simultaneously stowing her dolls away under her throne. She soon spotted Arceus waving at her from the spell, and trotted over to him. He began to talk-
“Hey, I got Oak to lay off Ash’s case. He should get better after he returns from the Sevii Islands.”
“Well that’s good. What’ll he find?” questioned Celestia.
“A 5-star hotel and the works waiting for him. I sent Delia on the way earlier as well. Least I could do…I don’t know why, but I feel that Ash isn’t meant to return until whatever sent him to your dimension chooses so. Hopefully, this can keep Oak and Delia from trying to find Ash and panicking. And possibly resolve all that sexual tension between them,” mused Arceus.
“Arceus!” shouted Celestia while blushing.
“Have you seen those two? What do you think they’re doing while Ash is always on his journeys? They talk all the time! It’s kinda inevitable.”
He then heard an abrupt noise in the room he’d left, and immediately changed into his human form. He muttered “But seriously, do you think we should send Ash back until whatever he was supposed to do is done?”
Celestia nodded her approval, and then stared at Arceus. Arceus stared back at her.
This went on for about 2 minutes before Arceus broke the silence. “Why are you staring at me, anyways?”
“Oh, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen humankind,” responded Celestia. “Of course, this was back when my
mother had taken Luna and me on a trip through some dimensions…”
“Hold on, you could take dimension trips? I thought we established that neither of us is able to do that!”
“Well, you must realize that my mother was one of the oldest beings in the known world,” said Celestia matter-of-factly.
“Well….I basically am of the oldest beings in my known world! And I should know, I was there when the world was being put in being! Why can’t I travel dimensions?” whined Arceus.
“Don’t ask me…maybe you’re doing it wrong?” Celestia contemplated. “For all you know, you could be able to, but you’re not doing it right. I however, know for a fact that I am unable to.”
“Darn…..well, its okay,” comforted Arceus. “I’m probably not able to either. But if it means anything, if it could, I’d take you dimension hopping.”
“Thanks,” she said as she smiled at him, leaving Arceus feeling strange. It was a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, seemingly spawned from Celestia’s reaction. Not knowing what it meant though, he cast it aside, and recalled a question he had meant to ask earlier. “Hey, can you tell me how to do that mass memory erasure spell again?”
“You’re going to try to wipe the whole country’s mind?” asked Celestia, shocked, immediately catching on to his thoughts.. “Are you mad?”
“Well, I was aiming for the world, but still…”
“Arceus, if I could slap you through this thing I would,” threatened Celestia, waving her golden-clad hoof for emphasis.
“Why would you do something that stupid? Do you realize how much power you’d need? You’d probably die!”
“No, it’s not what you’re thinking! It’d just be a temporary memory block simply to restrict thoughts of Ash being gone from entering people’s minds. I wouldn’t try to wipe everyone’s mind clean of anything to do with him…do you know how many people the boy has met?” protested Arceus. “It’s ridiculous! It’s like the boy is a people magnet!”
“I know, he’s managed to meet so many people here and become friends with them! It’s kind of absurd,” agreed Celestia. She then thought about what Arceus was planning to do. “Well, okay then,” she replied reluctantly. Arceus leaned towards the mirror as Celestia whispered how to do the spell, and Arceus nodded. Steadying himself, he harnessed the power of his elements. Sending his golden wheels spinning, he gathered all his energy and focused.
Light radiated throughout the god, and washed over the continents from Kanto to Sinnoh, and eventually went out, leaving an exhausted Arceus behind and citizens of each continent slightly dazed and confused about Ash Ketchum.
“Well, did it work?” asked Celestia skeptically.
“Well, let’s see,” responded Arceus. He transformed back into his human form and looked around for one of Oak’s assistants. “Excuse me, have you seen Ash Ketchum?”
“The Kanto Champion? I wish, all I’ve seen of him is on my TV. He’s probably at his mother’s house down the way over there.” said the female assistant, pointing out the window.
“Excellent!” said Arceus.
“What is?”
“What? Oh, nothing! I just happen to like knowing where Ash Ketchum is and who he lives with!” he said cheerily.
The assistant looked at him weirdly, her face expressing confusion and a bit of disgust. Finally, Arceus realized he sounded like a preteen stalker and hurriedly said “Gotta go, nice talking to you!” before rushing away.
“Well?” asked Celestia from her end.
He answered her question as he said, “Well, it worked! Complete success! Everyone from the mountains of Sinnoh to the deep oceans of Kanto knows nothing about Ash Ketchum even being gone. As far as they’re concerned, he’s spending time at his mother’s house in Pallet Town. Excellent spell to use Celestia, thanks!”
“Oh yay, it worked!” said Celestia. “So the assistant you talked to, she didn’t know anything? You didn’t talk?”
“Well we talked a little, and she thought Ash wasn’t missing. She also said-“ before Arceus cut himself off.
“Continue Arceus,” said Celestia, motioning a hoof. “What did she say? Did she say anything particular?”
“Well…..I may have accidentally given insinuations that I’m a crazy stalker after Ash, “ said Arceus hesitantly.
Celestia looked at him incredulously while Arceus stared at the floor, slowly shifting his weight and sliding his foot
across the ground. Eventually, he gathered up his courage to see if she was still staring at him when he heard Celestia’s laugh. His head whipped up and glared at her in the face for a few seconds, but seeing her face, he broke down and started laughing as well.
“Smooth Arceus…smooth,” giggled Celestia. “I’m surprised she’s not camping outside his house just watching for you!”
As he would later find out, she was.
“But I had to! She might have suspected me for-“
“What? A ponyrazzi? An assassin? Both?” listed Celestia. “Mind you, these are just off the top of my head.”
“What? No! She wouldn’t think I’m any of those! But I couldn’t compromise my identity! If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s-“
“Always put the toilet seat back down?”
“N-no! Shut up! It’s that your identity is the most important thing to protect! And the toilet thing? That’s only happened once. Do you realize how scary an annoyed (well, more annoyed than she is usually) Giratina when she confronts you about a toilet? Not only is it a ridiculous thing to get mad about, but it’s its freakin’ Giratina! As much as I hate to admit,
she sometimes can scare the hell out of a mon’. ”
Celestia retorted, “The toilet thing is common courtesy! Not everyone can stand and use the bathroom like males can!”
“That’s a stupid argument from the mare that plays with dolls,” countered Arceus. Celestia blushed and turned away
from Arceus to hide it, but Arceus caught it anyways. “Ha! I win!”
They eventually said their goodbyes, with Arceus teleporting to his home in the Hall, and Celestia closing the spell and walking back to her quarters. But before she left, she ducked under the throne and pulled out her dolls. Hiding them under her wing, she walked back to her room and shut the door. She sat down on her hindquarters and pulled them out from her wings, and once again began playing with the two dolls. This time she gave them voices.
“I love you Tia! I want to be with you forever!” she said in a low voice, shaking a four-legged figure with golden wheels along its back.
“I love you too Arcy,” said the other, an alicorn with an ethereal mane of colors.
“You two should get a room already,” said another voice into her ear.
Celestia whipped her head around and saw the source of the voice. “Who- Luna!” she yelled as she ran after her as Luna galloped down the hall, laughing hysterically all the while.
It had been three weeks since Ash had walked out of the Everfree forest and into Ponyville, and three weeks since his life had been completely changed. His Pokémon were all first stages, he was a pony, he could talk with other ponies… it was completely new and different.
And he loved every second of it.
That morning before he had read that book, he had reminisced about going on a new adventure just like he had back when he was ten. No ideas, no plan, just winging it and making the best of it. Well, here he was. He had gotten his wish.
Ash yawned as he got up from his bed and stretched his arms and neck, sighing in relief.
Although he must admit he did miss his family and friends….but it was just like a new journey. He had to leave some things behind to make way for the new. And he had found some new and wonderful things! Hopefully though, it was still possible to return home. Arceus had said that he had to stay there because something wanted him there, but what if this “something” didn’t want him to leave?
Muttering, he cast the thought away and rubbed his eyes.
“Morning guys,” he said, rubbing the half-asleep Pikachu with a hoof. Pikachu gave a contented sigh, and Ash stood up to pat his other sleeping Pokémon and went outside.
“Hey Ash!”
“Hey Fluttershy, morning! Beautiful day, huh?”
“It is a wonderful day,” said Fluttershy, glancing out the window and seeing the clear blue sky, not a single cloud and
feeling the warm sun. Dash had done well with her crew.
“Looks like Dash actually woke from her nap and felt guilty for all us lowly mortals,” said Ash jokingly. Fluttershy giggled, remembering when Ash and Rainbow first hung out.
Flashback- A week after the play
“Hey! Rainbow!”
“Huh?”
The cyan pegasus turned around on her cloud and saw a vaguely familiar earth pony rushing down the road towards her. She leapt off and swooped down to the pony.
“Now…who are you? You’re not a Wonderbolt, no wings. Not a fan…well maybe. I have way too many of those to keep track of… oh! You’re Ash! Right…that’s why you looked vaguely familiar!”
“Yeah, good job….well, Fluttershy’s busy with her animals, but she wanted me to give you this,” Ash said, pulling a box out of his saddlebag and holding it out to her in his teeth.
“Huh? Wonder what it is…” pondered Rainbow, hovering in thought.
“Uh, ethcuthe me?
“Can’t be money, Fluttershy never gambles…”
“Ethcuthe me?”
“Can’t be a book, I didn’t lend her one…”
“HEY!” yelled Ash, dropping the package onto the ground. Rainbow Dash whirled on him and yelled-
“WHAT! CAN’T YOU SEE I’M THINKING!”
“WELL, CAN’T YOU TAKE THE STUPID PACKAGE!”
“TAKE IT? YEAH I’LL TAKE IT! I’LL TAKE IT AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR-”
“YOU WANNA FINISH THAT SENTENCE TOUGH GUY! ER…GIRL?”
Rainbow Dash glared at Ash, who glared equally venomously back. There was only one way to solve this dispute…
“Race you to that tree!”
“Go!”
Leaping into the air, Dash…well dashed off to the tree, leaving a sprinting Ash not too far behind. She reached out her hoof and slapped the tree, hovering to a stop and turning to face Ash.
“Ha! What a slowpoke!” taunted Dash, despite the fact that Ash was on her tail almost the whole race. But that wasn’t important.
“A slowpoke huh?” said Ash, imagining the pink Pokémon, and taking slight offense. “Well let’s see how brave you are running on the ground!”
“No wings?”
“No wings.”
Rainbow mulled it over. On one hoof, she hated not being able to fly, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was a little slower on the ground. That race with Applejack had shown it. On the other hoof, she loved beating other ponies,
and if this guy was so slow earlier, how hard can it be?
“Let’s do this.”
“From here to Ponyville? Got it?” said Ash, pointing north to Ponyville. Rainbow nodded.
The two lined up side by side, Rainbow locking her wings to her side, and Ash bouncing in preparation, shaking his legs and loosening up.
“Float like a Beautifly, sting like a Beedrill,” muttered Ash to himself.
“Oh, excuse me?” he called to a passing brown pony with an hourglass cutie mark.
“Yes?”
“Would you mind saying ‘go’ for us?”
“But you’ve just said it! Why on Equestria would you need me to say it again?”
“Wha-? Forget it, just say go.”
“Fine then. Go!”
Ash and Rainbow bolted off the line as the brown pony turned and walked the other way, muttering “Derpy said she parked it somewhere around here…How hard can it be to lose a big blue police box? I mean, come on…I’m not even sure they have police in this dimension…”
Rainbow glanced to her side and noticed a determined Ash keeping up. “Wow, this guy’s fast! Better pick up the pace,” she thought, cranking up the speed.
Meanwhile, Ash looked and saw Dash speeding up. “Uh uh, no way am I losing to this filly! I’d normally let it slide, but she challenged me! Well, technically, we challenged each other at the same time, but- Arceus, I’m behind!” Ash pumped his legs furiously, catching up to the cyan pegasus and smirking at her apparent surprise.
Rainbow looked up and saw the outline of the entry to Ponyville, and smirked. “I got this,” she thought. Well, it was the last thing she thought before she saw a brown blur pass her and bolt into the town.
She skidded to a halt and fell over onto her side. Ash turned around after cheering and looked back at her. Rushing over to her, he pulled her up and asked concernedly “Hey, you okay?”
All he got in response was an open-mouthed look of shock and…awe?
“Uh, Rainbow? Rainbow? Anyone home?” said Ash, waving his hoof in front of her face. She shook her head and then glared at him fiercely.
“Whoa! Back off, what did I do?”
“There is no way you could run that fast ever! No one is faster than the Dash. My name is D-A-S-H. It’s the literal
definition of speed! How’d you do it?” demanded Rainbow, stepping closer to him and putting a hoof in his face.
“Well…”Ash said nervously backing away, “running from all the things I have to like giant robots and stampeding Tauros and Beedrill I suppose has to give me some speed….”
“Tauros and Beedrill?”
“Argh, I forgot! Here they’re called buffalo and bees.”
“You’re that fast from running away from those? Well…I can see the buffalo, but bees? Really?” asked Rainbow, shaking her head.
“Bees are scary when they’re almost as big as you,” Ash deadpanned. “And besides, I’m a Pokémon trainer; I have to train a lot with my Pokémon as well.”
“I suppose that makes it okay. So, although you cheated-”
“Yeah-wait, what?”
“-I will give you the win for this race because I feel sympathetic for you and your monumental slowness. And I demand a future rematch.”
“But- Wha- Argh, forget it!” yelled Ash, stomping away. Rainbow grinned and flew back up to her cloud, placing her forehooves behind her head and laying back.
“Haha, it’s gonna be fun messing with that kid…Rainbow, you sneaky mastermind!”
She looked at the package Ash had brought her. “Oh yeah, this thing? Wonder what it is?” Rainbow pulled off the paper and opened it. “Aww yeah, more awesome! Cookies!”
End Flashback
Ash smiled, remembering that day. Then frowned after remembering she had called him a cheater.
“If anything, she was the cheater, saying that I was the cheater…” Ash muttered. “Stupid cheating ponies….”
“Well, look at the two of you now! You’re both great friends!” consoled Fluttershy.
It was true. Ash and Rainbow’s competitive spirits, just like Rainbow and Applejack’s, had managed to click and the two became good friends and rivals.
Ash then did a double-take. “Wait, you gave her cookies?”
“Well…yes…she likes cookies. Is that a bad thing?”
“In a normal situation, no. But with what me and Rainbow have planned…” Ash thought.
“You’ve fraternized with the enemy!? Fluttershy …. Do you realize what you’ve done?” wailed Ash, on his knees and hooves raised.
“Um…give her cookies?” peeped Fluttershy nervously as she looked for a way to escape the room and figure out what she did.
“You’ve given Dash a reason to invade! She knows we have cookies!” exclaimed Ash. “Now, you have to listen to my next instructions to the letter. Do you understand? To the letter.”
“Squeak…um, invade?”
“Yes invade!”
“Eep…okay.”
“Okay! Private Fluttershy! Attention!” barked Ash. Fluttershy winced slightly at his change of tone. “I need you to procure as many pillows, blankets, and mattresses that you can find. Understand?”
“Um…yes Ash- I mean sir- I mean...”
She trailed off then, seeing Ash with an expectant look on his face.
After bringing back most of her bedroom as well as the pillows and blanket from the couch and basement, she looked at Ash and asked, “Why exactly do we need all this?”
He placed a hoof on her shoulder, making her blush from the contact. “The time has come when we must prepare, my little pink and yellow friend…for war.”
“W-War?”
“Yes Fluttershy, it is time. We must build……a fort.”
1200- Hostiles sighted
Multiple propped up mattresses, five pillows, seven blankets, and an epic bunker later, Ash and Fluttershy huddled around the peephole they had made, and looked to the outside.
“Private Fluttershy, we may be outnumbered here. The enemy has the upper hand, but we have the element. The element of-”
“Kindness?” quipped Fluttershy.
“What? No, not kindness. Where’d you get that from?”
“Oh…well you see…I’m the element of kindness…and well….*squeak*…”
“Oh I see,” nodded Ash in understanding. Twilight had explained this to him too. More or less at least about the Elements of Harmony. He’d have to ask more about that later, but he wasn’t looking forward to watching Twilight use a whole bunch of big words he didn’t understand. “Well, the element we have isn’t the element of kindness, although that’s a good element to have. No, what we have is the element of surprise!”
“Oh that element…” nodded Fluttershy understandingly. “Wait, who are we surprising? From a fort?”
“You’ll understand soon enough Private. Soon enough…”
He glanced through the window and spotted tangos approaching. “Private! Battle stations! Enemy incoming!” he yelled, hefting a pillow in his hoof.
Fluttershy cringed at his loud yell, but gripped a pillow anyways. “Wait, aren’t Twilight and the others coming over toda-”
“FIRE!” yelled Ash, flinging a pillow at the opening doorway and catching an unsuspecting purple unicorn in the face.
“What-!” was the last thing she said before spinning dizzily and falling to the floor.
“Haha! Boom, headshot!” crowed Ash.
“Ash, what are you doing?” panicked Fluttershy, fearing Ash had gone mad and hurt her friends. “I can’t let you throw those!” She reached out and yanked a pillow out from Ash’s hooves to find out it was nice and soft. She pulled it over
her head and curled up in the corner until it was over.
Ash turned towards her after having obliterated the weak offensive laid down by the five mares. He’d nailed Twilight on
the side, hit Applejack with one which proceeded to bounce and impale itself on Rarity’s horn, and threw one straight at Pinkie who managed to eat it. Quite literally, open her mouth and eat it. Rainbow hadn’t shown up. But Ash expected that, for what he and Rainbow had discussed earlier.
“Okay, don’t show up for the first part. I don’t want the others to suspect anything, so it’ll be a complete surprise. But do come for the rest.”
“How do you even know they’ll come back after that?”
“It’s Twilight. She wouldn’t let this slide.”
“….the egghead wouldn’t, would she? Okay then, I’ll be there.”
“Good.”
“Cowards! Run! The FaAFoA will stand forever!” cried Ash gleefully, watching the mares retreat and huddle, occasionally glaring back at Ash and muttering annoyingly.
“Um…Ash? What was that?” peeped Fluttershy cautiously as she moved from her corner.
“Oh, the acronym? It’s Fluttershy and Ash’s Fortress of Awesomeness!”
“No, I mean why’d you throw pillows at my friends?”
“You mean…you don’t know what that was?” asked Ash perplexed. “It was a pillow fight. From a pillow fort…You mean
you’ve never had one before? Or seen a pillow fort?”
“Um…no…”
“Private!” gasped Ash. “How…how could you let this happen? I can’t lead you into battle inexperienced! Today Shy’, I’m going to teach you how to live!”
Fluttershy went stock-still. Ash waved his hoof in front of her “Guess she’s just scared. Don’t worry Private, we’ll get through this!” he yelled, pulling her along to the back of the fort.
But, all that was running through Fluttershy’s mind: “He called me Shy’…”
1300- Three tangos spotted
“So Private, said Ash, marking the hastily paper. “You cover this area. I’ll cover here. Got it?”
Fluttershy saluted. “Yes Ash! I mean sir! I mean…what exactly do I mean?”
“Just Ash is good.”
“Okay Ash!”
Ash smiled and turned away, seeing Starly flutter back down. He’d sent the bird out scouting for the mares, since it was obvious that they would never let Ash get away with that, and Starly had returned with news of an imminent counter-attack. He fished out some binoculars and looked out the windows, seeing Twilight and Rarity scouting ahead as well.
It obviously wasn’t going so well, considering how Rarity was complaining about the dirt from the bushes they were
hiding in quite loudly. Almost too loudly…..
Ash turned around and thanked Starly, and returned the bird to the Pokéball. A battlefield was no place for a young Pokémon. Well, ignoring the fact that they had all not been so young for some years, but still…
“Private, we have an attack on its way. You ready to make our stand?” Ash said, pulling himself up.
“Yes Ash!” said Fluttershy, preparing herself for the battle and sending her animals outside the house for the moment.
And so they waited.
All of a sudden, the door burst open and a large box ran in, with four pairs of pink and blue legs underneath it. The pink legs then bumped into the blue ones, and both pairs went down.
“Geez Pinkie, watch it! We’re supposed to take down the fort, not each other!” complained the blue legs, Rainbow Dash.
“Sorry Dashie, but this is so fun!” squealed the pink pony, driving her legs forward and crashing again. “Look, even Twilight is having fun!”
“Drive me closer!” yelled Twilight from on top of the box, waving a foam sword. “I want to hit them with my sword!”
“Can do Twilight!”
“Okie dokie!”
The trio sped towards the fort, and Ash braced against the other side, holding off their penetration into the fortress while flinging pillows over the top.
“Fluttershy, a hand here?” Ash yelled. After hearing no response, he called again. “Fluttershy? Private?”
Just then, he felt a small filly leg pull his from the ground and trap his back legs, knocking him down with an “Oof!” Another trapped his forelegs, and another sat on his back. He counted three little ones holding him down. Weird, he never remembered meeting any fillies while he was here…except for the-
Ash’s eyes widened. “Oh no…”
“Cutie Mark Crusader Fortress Infiltrators!” the three fillies yelled, holding down Ash. He sighed, after remembering how he met the three. He’d met them after an awkward incident involving him, Fluttershy, the three fillies, some hay, carrots, and tree sap.
Four days before
“So Fluttershy, what do you want to do today?”
“Hmm…well, it is market day. You want to go down to Ponyville and just browse?”
“Cool. Let’s do it!”
Ash grabbed his backpack and Pokéballs, and he and Fluttershy walked in relative peace to the market, chatting amiably about the weather and their friends.
“So how’s Rainbow and Tank doing?” asked Ash.
“Oh, Tank adores his new home! Although I assume he may have had a tiny problem adjusting with, you know, living on a cloud. Good thing Twilight knew that spell for cloud-walking!” responded Fluttershy.
Ash nodded and then turned to see the market.
“Wow, we’re already here! That was fast.”
“It was! Well, they do say time flies when you’re having fun.”
“Agreed.”
Wandering around the market and browsing through the stalls, Ash noticed a small bonsai tree in the corner of one of the stalls specializing in plants. Leaving Fluttershy alone for the moment, he walked to the stall and began speaking with the owner, a fairly dark green unicorn with a watering can as a cutie mark.
“Excuse me, miss…Leafy Green,” asked Ash politely, glancing at the name tag. “How much is this tree?”
“Depends. Make me an offer,” she said.
“Hmm… how about 10 bits?”
“15.”
“12?” he asked.
“Deal,” she said, enveloping the tree in green magic and giving it to him.
“Great!” said Ash, slinging the tree over his shoulder into his bag. “This’ll be perfect for-“
As soon as he placed it in however, Fluttershy appeared, grabbed him, and began pushing him to the center of town.
“Whoa!” said Ash frantically as his hooves crossed and he tripped, with Fluttershy falling onto him. He blushed slightly, but Fluttershy kept moving, dragging him along through the dirt and dust.
After a few more painful minutes, they arrived in the town square, where Fluttershy finally released Ash, who rolled and came to a stop.
“Ooww….Fluttershy, was that really necessary?”
“Oh, are you okay? I’m sorry, but I really needed you to come with me, and I guess I didn’t notice how I brought you here! I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay,” responded Ash, dusting himself off. “So…why are we here?”
“Well this is Sugarcube Corner! You know, where Pinkie lives?”
“Oh yeah…Wait, why are we going inside?”
“Just go!” she said as she pushed him through the doors.
“SURPRISE! WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” yelled the crowd of ponies in the room. Ash leapt back in surprise and fell onto Fluttershy with an “Eep!” Then, a tub of tree sap tumbled down from the doorway and fell on the duo.
“Pfft!” spat Ash, trying to get the sap out of his mouth. “What was that for?” he said, glancing upwards.
“Scootaloo, you were supposed to dump the confetti!” said a small white and pink unicorn.
“Hey, sorry, but why is there even a bucket of tree sap here?” responded an orange pegasus (who Ash assumed was Scootaloo) with a purple mane.
“Ah dunno, but Ah guess we’re not ‘Cutie Mark Surprise Party Planners’ after all,” sighed the third sadly, a yellow and red earth filly.
“Well, we should be gettin’ down now,” said Scootaloo, stepping towards a nearby ladder “Come on Applebloom , Sweetie Belle.”
Sadly, the trio failed to notice where some things were, and managed to knock over a hay bale and a crate of carrots, which Ash swore fell in slow motion and covered him and Fluttershy.
“Oops….sorry,” said Applebloom.
“Yeah, real sorry!”
Ash got up and glared at the three fillies, but after seeing them with their wide and innocent eyes, he crumbled and excused himself to get clean. After issuing a hasty apology, Fluttershy followed, cleaned herself, and sat next to Ash while he wiped his face with a towel.
“You okay Ash?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he replied. “Hey, you still have a little tree sap there.”
He reached over with the towel and wiped her face gently. Fluttershy blushed and tried to turn away, but Ash firmly held her head and said “It’s still there, give me a second!”
Eventually, the sap came off, but not after some intensive towel rubbing and blushing on both parts. The two walked out and ran into Pinkie, who immediately said, “Why are you two blushing? And why’d you come out of the bathroom? Ooh, I bet you two were being naughty!”
Both of them that day had found out that their faces held a lot more blood than they realized as the implications hit them, and Ash wondered if he could sic Charmander on her and hide the body quickly enough so that no one would notice…
Finally, the two’s faces faded to their normal color, and the party went on, with Ash having an awesome time, Fluttershy chatting with her friends, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders lying on the ground spent after Ash put some spices on their food.
End Flashback
“Noooo…what have you done to the private?” moaned Ash.
“You mean Fluttershy? She’s right there!” smirked Scootaloo, pointing to the doorway behind the fort, where Fluttershy held it open and waved at Ash with a smile.
“Fluttershy? Help me out here!” Ash pleaded.
Fluttershy slowly shook her head, her wide blue eyes showing nothing but innocence. “I’m sorry. I can’t do that Ash.”
Ash knew better than to believe that…but her eyes! It was like they were staring into his very soul..
“But…what-”
“Fluttershy’s on the winning side now!” shouted Applebloom, raising her hoof in the air for Fluttershy. She smiled and hoofed her back.
“You evil mastermind...” muttered Ash.
The front of the Fortress of Awesomeness broke down, and the pony/tank crashed through in a heap. Twilight and Dash leapt up, leaving Pinkie to her own devices within the box. Twilight thought that was kind of strange, but as much
as she hated to admit it…boxes were fun. After studying of course. And reading. And talking to Princess Celestia about
studying and reading.
Twilight raised her sword and pointed it at Ash. “Ash Ketchum, do you surrender?”
“To you? Never!” shouted Ash, trying to leap up only to find the fillies and Fluttershy straddling his back.
Dash snickered at Fluttershy’s burning face from touching Ash, and Twilight looked at Ash again. “Are you sure? You are outnumbered, outponied, and outgunned from every single angle. Your fortress has been destroyed, your sergeant turned against you-”
“Private.”
“-your allies non- wait what?”
“She’s a private. I planned to promote her after the battle, assuming we survived the onslaught.” Ash clarified.
“Oh. Well, do you relinquish control of the fortress to the Twilight Team?”
“Twilight Team? Since when?” asked a surprised Rainbow Dash, turning to Twilight. “When did we name the team?”
“Just now,” Twilight answered smugly.
“Well, I’m thinking we should call ourselves Dash’s Destroyers! Sounds cooler than the Twilight Team at least!”
“But I coordinated the brilliantly successful counter-attack!” protested Twilight.
“After like an hour of drawing! And all you did in the actual attack was get on top of the box and wave your sword! I actually pushed us in!” retorted Rainbow.
“Not without my help!” called Pinkie from her box. She poked her head out of the box with a huge smile and looked at the reader. “Hey, maybe you can help!”
Twilight and Dash ceased their argument to look at Pinkie, then the direction she was looking at, and then back at Pinkie. “Who are you talking to?” asked Twilight.
“The readers silly!” laughed Pinkie. “So what do you think our team should be named? I’m thinking the Pie Squad! Or
the Cake-Eaters! Or the Cake-Eating Pie Squad! Or Fred!”
Again, Twilight and Rainbow stopped bickering to look at Pinkie. “Fred?” said Rainbow disbelievingly, raising her hoof to her face.
Pinkie raised her hooves in the air and shrugged. “Haters gonna hate,” she said as she retreated into her box.
Rainbow turned back to Twilight and was about to begin arguing again before stopping.
“Ah, so I’ve won?” asked Twilight. “Good, so the Twilight Team it is! Now Ash you cowardly knave, once again, do you renounce your dominion-”
That was all she got to before she felt another foam blade across her throat.
“I don’t think so.”
“But how’d you get free?” yelped Twilight. Dash was in a similar situation, held by an unknown assailant. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting on Pinkie’s box as the pony underneath protested loudly. “Also, where’d you get a sword?”
“Oh, it was elementary, my dear ponies,” said Ash. “Well first, I got the sword from you while you and Rainbow were arguing about something, but I wasn’t really listening. But you see, your plan revolved around Fluttershy’s betrayal and her double agent moves, correct?”
Twilight nodded glumly with Rainbow.
“Well, I bet you didn’t count on Fluttershy being a double-double agent!” said Ash.
As usual, Dash didn’t get it. “Wait, what?”
Twilight turned to Dash, still held under captive by Ash. “Fluttershy betrayed him to help us, and then betrayed us to help him. It was one elaborate scheme! We thought we were tricking them, and yet they were tricking us!”
Dash slowly understood as Pinkie rattled in her box and moved around like a turtle, giving the Crusaders a fun ride. Good thing she had thought of cutting holes in the box to see and breathe.
“So wait, where’s Fluttershy now?” asked Rainbow. Ash smiled and motioned towards Rainbow’s attacker. “Well?”
Revealing her pink mane and butter-yellow fur, Fluttershy looked at Dash and grinned sheepishly.
“Wow…who would’ve thought…” pondered Rainbow. “Twilight’s plan getting blown to bits, us getting captured by Ash and Fluttershy no less, and Pinkie’s stuck under a box by the Crusaders…”
“Actually, that last one seems kind of reasonable,” reasoned Twilight. The room collectively nodded. The box shook its approval as well.
“Yep…well, Twilight. Do you yield?” Ash asked.
“Sigh…yes Ash, I surrender,” Twilight said resignedly.
“And Rainbow?” Ash asked.
She nodded in agreement.
“Pinkie?”
A muffled “Mmmhmm” came from the box.
“I assume that is a yes. So….Fluttershy,” Ash said, motioning for her to come closer.
“Yes?” she said, trotting to him.
He leapt up and hugged her. “WE WIN! FLUTTERSHY AND ASH’S FORTRESS OF AWESOMENESS LIVES ON!” He glanced at the broken fort. “IN MEMORY!”
Fluttershy squealed silently in glee at the contact, and her face radiated more heat than Charmander on a diet of Tamato berries. Twilight and Rainbow saw their friend’s face and laughed outright, falling to the floor. The Crusaders saw them laughing and began as well, and soon everypony was laughing. Even Pinkie. Well, her box was kind of just shaking again, but everypony assumed it was laughing.
“I have a question though,” said Twilight. “What did you guys do with Applejack and Rarity? They were gonna storm you guys from the back with the Crusaders.”
“Applejack and Rarity? Nope, haven’t seen them. You?” Ash asked, looking towards Fluttershy, She shook her head no. “Huh, nopony in here’s seen them.”
“Where are they anyways?” thought Rainbow.
Meanwhile, outside
“You first!”
“No, you I insist!”
“Ladies first Rarity!”
“Well that logic works both ways Applejack! You may go first!”
They glared at each other and sighed.
“Neither o’ the two o’ us wants ta go in there, huh?”
Rarity shuddered. “Heavens no! Ever since that experience at Twilight’s with pillow fights, I’m not sure I’d ever want to be in one ever again!”
Applejack nodded in agreement. “Yep…a pillow is a gosh darn weapon o’ mass destruction, that’s what them things
are.”
Back inside the house- 1500 hours
“Well, whatever! We won! HA!” crowed Ash in victory, high-hoofing the Crusaders and Fluttershy.
“Yeah yeah, we know, don’t rub it in…” complained Dash as she and Twilight walked away, pulling Pinkie and the
Crusaders in their box. “But I’ve got to admit, that was the most fun I’ve had in a long time Ash!” Twilight’s gleeful face showed her approval as well. She nudged Fluttershy. “Try to keep him around, he’s awesome!”
Fluttershy blushed and Twilight trotted up to Rainbow and the two began talking animatedly. Pinkie just whooped and squealed as she was dragged in her box by the two mares. Fluttershy turned to Ash and asked “Well, now that that’s done…what now?”
“What now?” asked Ash. “Huh…I’m not actually sure. That was kinda my game plan for the day. And it’s only like 4! So what do you think we should do?”
“Well….would you like to…nevermind,” said Fluttershy, biting her lip.
“No, what Fluttershy?” Ash asked, tapping her shoulder.
“Well…wouldyouliketocomeupstairs?” said Fluttershy in a flash, then covered her mouth up.
Ash’s eyes widened, and then he nodded. “You sure?”
She nodded as well. “Please?”
Ash laid his Pokémon belt on a nearby chair, and then the two went upstairs to Fluttershy’s room.
“Okay, you know what? It doesn’t sound too bad. And it’s been about like an hour! It has to be over. They’re probably just talking now,” said Rarity.
“True Rar’, but should we go in?”
“Better now than later.”
“Ah suppose.”
Applejack pushed open the door and the two crept inside silently to a clean, warfare-free, and empty living room.
“Huh, who would’ve thought? Everypony’s gone,” muttered Applejack.
“Oh, looks like we missed the big battle…” said Rarity halfheartedly. “Well, I guess we should go home.”
“Yeah, I gue-” Rarity put a hoof to Applejack’s muzzle and motioned for her to be quiet. Applejack pulled her hoof off and muttered, “What’s with that? And why does your hoof taste like marshmallow?”
Rarity shushed her again, and said “I can hear somepony upstairs,” completely ignoring the second question.
Applejack began to hear murmurs as well, and strained her ears to hear. The duo climbed the stairs slowly and silently, and the talk became louder as well.
“You sure you want to do this Fluttershy?”
“Yes Ash I’m absolutely positive. And I’d rather do this with you than with any other pony.”
Rarity turned to Applejack with a surprised look on her face, but Applejack didn’t understand why. The two ponies in the
room continued talking.
“Okay, well…does this go in there?”
“No Ash, that goes in there! Wow, it’s like you’ve never seen one before…”
“Well in my defense, I didn’t do this often back where I’m from!”
“So is this is your first time?”
“Well more or less. I’ve never actually gone all the way through.”
“Wow, you’ve never done this before? You’re a male; I thought most of you thought about this all day!”
“Hey, that’s not what males think about all day! Though I will admit it takes up a fair bit.”
“So we’re gonna do it?”
“I suppose so.”
Rarity’s eyes widened to dramatic proportions, and Applejack finally understood the context of the conversation. Her
eyes narrowed as she thought of what she was going to do to Ash in a few seconds, and how he’d not only be screaming in pain, but also attracting the attention of opera singers all across Equestria. Applejack burst through the door and yelled-
“Ash, you’d better stop what yer doin’ right now or by Celestia Ah swear you’ll regret it! Fluttershy’s too innocent for that
kinda stuff!”
Leaping away in fright, Ash flung the game controller away and backed into the corner of the room.
Meanwhile, at the library
Spike was whistling as he tidied the books and dusted the tables, making sure everything was clean for Twilight and her friends. He was in the kitchen making a sandwich when he heard the door open and shut along with the raucous laughter of Twilight and her two friends.
Walking out to greet them, he asked “What’s gotten you three all happy?”
“The most awesome thing just happened!” squealed Rainbow Dash. “It was like….20% cooler than the coolest thing I know! Except the Wonderbolts, of course!”
“The most funnest amazingest exciting thing I’ve done too!”
“It was quite fun! Sorry Spike, but you kinda had to be there to really get how fun it was,” sighed Twilight.
“Humph….seems like I never see anything cool,” grumbled Spike as the mares walked upstairs for Twilight’s spontaneous suggestion for a slumber party. “Could it be….? Nah….” thought Spike as he decided he was going to turn in and headed for his basket.
Unbeknownst to him, a voice whispered softly as he left the room.
“Blitz……”
Then, the room with the mares erupted in cheers. Spike later found out that Pinkie had attempted to throw a hat with her hooves onto Rainbow’s head and had managed to land one. But once again, Spike had missed it. He moaned-
“Aww man….”
Cookie for anyone who gets that very last section and what TV show that’s from!
Cookie for anyone who gets that very last section and what TV show that’s from!