Dusk woke up, the bright sun just starting to rise over the horizon. He yawned, wiping his eyes and opening them, blinking. He groaned, all of his muscles ached from the usage he had done the past few days. He let himself lay there, contemplating what he would do. What I have to do is first try to find out where I am... and then- He thought for a few moments, Then I will find some other Pokemon to help get my mother back!
He nodded, clutching the soft grass with new found determination. Over all, he did feel refreshed from the long sleep he had. With that, he sighed, forcing himself upon his own two legs. He winced as his wound throbbed, he had to find some Oran Berries for this wound, or he wouldn't be able to fully protect himself.
Even though Pokemon did heal fast, he felt vulnerable in the unknown land he was in. Dusk looked around to scan his surroundings. Maybe there is some Oran Berries around here.
Unfortunately, there weren't any berries in sight. He sighed, and looked up at the bright red fruit growing from the tree. It didn't look ripe, so he looked in the distance, and saw that all the trees ahead of him has the same fruit, and he let himself smile a little bit. At least he wouldn't be hungry.
He walked through the rows of trees, scanning the fruit for ripeness. It seemed hotter than usual, maybe here is was actually Summer instead of Spring. He blinked at that thought. How far did I go? He pondered, his tail slowly wagging back in forth in slight relief. Maybe he was too far for the human to find him.
With that, he felt a little bit of weight lift from him. Maybe he was actually safe here, and he would be able to gather other Pokemon to help him on his plan to save his mother! I'll think of that later, right now, I have to find something to eat!
He once again examined the fruit above him and was intrigued by the diversity. Some where red, green, or yellow, some where small, and some where big. With so many choices, it took him a while to find a tree that was perfect.
He chose a small tree with medium sized red fruit, it looked like the fruit was perfectly ripe, and it made his mouth water and his stomach growl. He stretched his muscles, preparing his good arm. Being a fighting type had its pros and cons, and being able to punch a tree was definitely a pro. He punched the tree as hard as he could, making most of the fruit fall to the ground.
He smiled, feeling quite accomplished as he picked up all the fruit one by one, setting them all next to the tree he punched. He sighed, sitting down with his back laying on the trunk. This was a very comfortable position, he admitted, and he reached out and took one of the fruit, looking up at the cloud patched sky and took a bite, lost once more in his thoughts.
The sun had risen to its peak before Dusk was interrupted from his thoughts. His red eyes flashed to a stranded bush that seemed to be rustling. He strained his muscles in case he had to make a quick escape, but what came out of the bush surprised him. Three small creatures hopped out into the open, and that instant they reminded him of a Buneary. He blinked in surprise, they kind of looked like a Buneary, but they looked more- plain. He cocked his head to the side, examining the critters curiously.
These three critters where really small, just a bit bigger than the largest apple he had seen so far. One was grey, the other was brown, and the last was white. They all were not as fluffy as a Buneary, bit they still had the long ears, large eyes, and a fluffy tail.
He watched as the trio hopped into the open, the white one pointing at him and squeaking something he didn't understand. The brown one gestured to the red fruit, half of them eaten. They all stopped and looked at them hungrily, and then to Dusk fearfully. He was many times larger than them, and they couldn't get the courage to go and try to ask.
He looked at them, noticing what they where looking at, and giggled, tossing his eaten apple away. They flinched as he did that, and backed up a little bit, murmuring to themselves fearfully.
The Riolu blinked, saying in a soft voice. "Oh, I am not going to hurt you three. Er... would you like some fruit? I am to full already anyways." He gestured to the uneaten fruit and picked one up, letting his arm out for one of the critters to get it.
They all looked at the Riolu wonderingly, obviously not understanding what he said, but the grey one, cautiously eyeing him, hopped slowly toward him and the fruit. Once close, it slowly let out it's paws, and quickly grabbed the fruit. He laid back on the trunk, smiling at the grey critter looked at him like it almost didn't believe this was happening. Soon, the others joined in, picking up a fruit and eating it, their eyes now flooded with curiosity as they looked at him every once in a while.
After they eaten their fill, they looked to him with curiosity, they hopped over to him and squeaked excitedly. Even though he didn't understand them, be got the point that they were thanking him. "Y-Your welcome!" He yipped, surprised at their antics.
Soon they looked to the last remaining fruit, and smiled. They picked it up and went a few paces away, playing some rolling game with it. He simply smiled and watched them, relaxing in the shade at the hottest part of the day.
Hm... He thought to himself, They do look like Pokemon, so why can't I understand them... or the other creatures... at all? It was a very odd thing indeed. For all the things that could of happened, he had to get to a place where he couldn't communicate with Pokemon. Well, at least he thought they were Pokemon...
He shook his head, this was no time to just think of questions he couldn't answer! I need to at least know where I am. He thought, nodding and closing his eyes. He had only done this a few times in his life, but he knew it was necessary. He let his consciousness flow with the aura around him, expanding for as far as his consciousness could go. There were these fruit trees stretching miles across the terrain, and it awed him. What confused him, was that he couldn't sense any souls around here. Wouldn't there be many Pokemon here with all this food around? He decided to let that question go as he examined the outskirts of his abilities. He thought he could see a large building of some sort, and maybe a smaller one next to it. That may be the signs of life he needed!
---
Applejack trotted out of the barn and smiled, stretching her strained muscles from yesterdays run. She breathed in the fresh morning air, a determined smile appearing on her face, She had a lot of work to do today, that was why she woke up early in the morning. "What ah' good day to buck some apples!" she said cheerfully.
She trotted into the orchard, going to go to the section of apples that were ready to be bucked. While she was doing that, she sighed, her thoughts going to the things that happened yesterday. She couldn't stop thinking of the glowing red eyes, unnerving as it examined them. She shook her head, no thoughts about creepy creatures right now, all she needed to think about was apples.
She stopped her trotting as she looked to the ground, her smile turning into a frown. Rabbit tracks, the ones that liked to steal the apples perhaps? AJ sighed, and grumbled to herself as she followed the tracks. She was going to have to teach them a lesson once and for all.
It took her a while till she could see the rabbit trio through the rows of apple trees. She scowled as she saw them playing around with one of her apples, tossing it around as if it was a toy. Nope! This wasn't going to happen on apple territory!
With that he barged into the clearing, her focus right on the three rabbits. She was so angry, she didn't even notice the certain Pokemon in the shadow of one of the apple trees. "Hey!" She yelled, "What the hay are yah' doing?!"
When she usually came in like that, the rabbits would of ran away as fast as they could, but this time, to her surprise, they didn't. They stopped what they were doing, nervously squeaking to each other and looking to where Dusk was resting.
---
Dusk was interrupted by the sound of steps, very similar to the ones he heard yesterday. His heart stopped for a moment, cold fear growing in his soul again. He opened his eyes quick, his ears pricked in alarm. The steps where coming towards them in an alarming rate, and he could feel the aura in this creature, it was angry.
Before he could call out to the three strange critters, one of the odd Ponyta creatures burst into sight, yelling something he didn't understand. He gasped and scrambled into a stranded bush, biting back a scream if pain as his wound reopened. He looked to the critters with narrowed eyes, grimacing as he rode the waves of pain, his wound throbbing.
He panted, scanning the trio. Why aren't you running away? That creature will destroy you all! He thought with terror as they stayed where they were, chattering nervously and looking over to- where he was. He growled in understanding, they wouldn't leave him here to face this creature alone, and he wouldn't either!
He clutched his wounded shoulder with his good arm, limping over to the side so he could get a better look at the creature. It was an orange Ponyta looking creature that had a cream mane and tail that was locked by straps, her green eyes shone with anger at the three critters and was strongly built. Even though they were a bit smaller than him, she would be very hard to defeat in his condition.
---
Applejack went closer to the rabbits, making sure her stern frown was noticed. "Ah've had enough of your little raids!" AJ said with a low voice, "Y'ah know what, ah' should go tell Fluttershy about this! Then y'ah outta stay away from our lands!"
The rabbits huddled closer, shivering in fear at that. That couldn't happen! Fluttershy would be so mad, they winced at the thought, they definitely couldn't think about what would happen after that.
---
Dusk's eyes widened as fear flooded their eyes. His fear of the unknown creature left him, and was replaced with anger. That anger fueled him, and he rose, ignoring his pain. No one was going to threaten anyone when he was around. "No more running away." He growled to himself, "I have to protect them!" Suddenly, before he knew it, he was between the trio and the attacker, blocking the hostile creature's way.
He bent down in a defensive stance, giving the orange creature a glare with his glowing red eyes. He ignored the blood that was slowly dripping onto the ground, staining it. "Why don't you pick on someone you own size?!" He howled, feeling the aura around him shift furiously.
His once fear turned to anger, fueling his stance. He had been running away to save his own pelt for too long, and it had cost him way to much for his liking. He was going to protect these critters, and his new friends, no matter what the cost! His fur bristled furiously, and his paws were shaking.
---
Applejack looked up in shock as the creature loomed over her, making her back up a few paces. This creature was just like the one in the crater, a large, canine-ish creature that stood up on two legs and has the same blood red eyes that stared at her unnervingly. This time, she could describe what it looked like perfectly, and it was furious. Even though, by the looks of it, the creature was really injured, she could see determination in it's eyes, and it wouldn't be forced out of there easily.
AJ, even though scared, wouldn't let herself look like it. She stood there proudly, giving back the same stern glare it was giving her. "Ri rio ri ri!" It howled, and she could almost feel the air around her turn cold. She didn't understand a word it said, or was it speaking at all?
Deciding this fight might be unnecessary, the orange farm pony spoke to the unknown animal in a stern tone, but with no hint of aggression. "Whoa there Sugarcube! No need tah' start ah fight for nothin'." She eyed the creature up and down, looking for signs of aggression or any signs of a start of an attack.
The rabbit trio, had plans for the Riolu. They squeaked in horror as they saw blood trickling down his back from the shoulder wound. and chattered furiously to find a plan. Only one was obvious. For one, they had to make the canine creature flee with them, and to them, that would probably be very hard. No matter, they knew they needed it away from the orange pony as fast as possible.
The gray and brown rabbits tugged at the creature's black leg fur, while the white one waved his arms frantically, trying to signal for them to leave this place.
---
Dusk looked back in alarm, what there they doing? He kept a close eye an the hostile Ponyta creature as he tried to decifer what the white critter wanted.
He watched as the critter pointed to every one of them, except for the orange pony.
We.
He then observed as the white one ran in place.
Run.
His heart sunk as he saw him point to a section of forest.
Away...
He sighed, once again he had to flee from the ones who opposed his loved ones and friends. At least I will still be saving them from whatever this orange creature threatened them by. He thought sullenly, looking back at the attacker once again. The creature seemed to have read what the rabbit said, because it was giving him a 'Don't you dare run away from me!' face. He scowled, knowing it would most likely pursue them. Well, no you won't.
Dusk closed his eyes, letting him feel the aura within himself. He puts his paws together, and a blue orb appears between them. "Aura..." He growled, fueling the Aura Sphere with his own energy, making it larger and more powerful. "Sphere!" He howled, putting one hand out towards the area below the hostile one, sending the ball of energy to fly right below it, making it explode and creating a large dust cloud over the creature.
With that, he swung himself around, scooping the utterly surprised critters up into his arms, and ran as fast as he could muster once again towards the patch of forest the white one was still pointing to.
With that, he followed the white critters heavy directions, slowing down from exhaustion after a while. Finally, they stopped for the night, the sun dipping down into the horizon once more. Laying down under a large clump of ferns, his eyes heavy at the thought of having a good night's rest.
He touched his shoulder wound carefully, sighing in relief that is was closed in again. He had went through a stream on his small journey over here, and his blood was washed off his blue and black pelt. He curled up into a ball of fur, his eyes, half open, gazed into the distance, where dim lights of distant houses where flickering about like stars.
He sighed, closing his eyes and quickly drifted into sleep, the last thing he thought was, I wonder where they are taking me... Before he embraced his waking dreams once more.
---
"Ah!' Applejack yelled as a large blue ball of unknown magic was thrown at her. "Rio....lu!" The creature called, before her whole world disappeared in a large cloud of dust. She closed her eyes immediately, Coughing plenty of times as she flailed around. Then, after a long while, the dust cleared, and she could see again. The attacking creature and the rabbit trio were all gone.
She cursed under her breath, stubbornly racing after them along the trail of paws that seemed to go on forever. She forced herself through brush and fern, bypassing trees, and hopping over trenches. Suddenly, in the middle of her search, now already Night Time, she lost the tracks over a large stream. She went up and down the stream many times, but couldn't find the rest of the train. "Oh pony feathers...." She grumbled, this was the same thing that happened to Rainbowdash. How could such an animal escape them so easily?
With a sigh of angered defeat, she finally trotted tiredly back home, deciding to tell this to Twilight Sparkle tomorrow.