A New World, And A Better Way

by Recteik Shade

Chapter 26: No Time To Say,"Hello, Goodbye."

Chapter 26: No Time To Say,"Hello, Goodbye."

"Thank you Cheerilee. Dinky will be here on time on Monday." Ditzy smiled as she walked towards the door.

Cheerilee sighed but smiled,"I wasn't sure about starting up again so soon." She explained,"When Discord broke out they froze everything for almost a week!"

"Are you gonna be okay with Veevee being in class too?" Ditzy asked. Cheerilee giggled at this, which cast aspersions on whether or not she was as overwhelmed as she seemed. 'Why is nopony ever just whelmed?'

"Please Ditzy, if she's anything like Dinky I'm sure she'll be a delight!"

She smiled and glanced at the clock on the wall,'Seeing the Mayor will have to wait. I've got to make my rounds.' She pushed the door open and adjusted her bag,"I've got to get going Cheerilee, I still have a few deliveries to make."

Cheerilee stepped out behind her,"Okay! Bye Ditzy!" She called as Ditzy took to the sky.

She would have replied but was distracted as she saw a beam of green light on the other side of town. "Wonder what that is?" It lasted another few seconds and end faded upwards into the sky, there was no big explosion, the sky wasn't falling down on their heads. Nopony was screaming... must not be a problem. She shrugged and began to hum to herself as she flew off.

---

"What do you suppose that is?" Electrike asked as the group stared at the fading green pillar of light.

"It was a Solar Beam." Dawn answered she'd been hit with the move enough times to recognize it even at a distance.

"Is that a Pokemon move?" Pip asked still only understanding Dawns part in the conversation.

Dawn nodded,"Yes it's a strong Grass-type move." She raised her head higher and twisted her ears listening intently. "I don't hear any kind of panic so I'm gonna guess someone was practicing. Probably a human trying to learn how to be a mon."

"That's actually true!?" Electrike asked dumbfounded. "I thought that Magmar was just crazy!"

"Yeah, what is a human exactly?" Pip asked, this had been bugging him. "How is it different from a Pokemon?"

"You know I was raised by a human and I've never really understood that either." Dawn answered and began to scratch at the dirt road with a claw. She drew a vaguely human shaped outline and added rough details like the eyes mouth and nose. After clawing at the ground to add the detail of hair to her masterpiece she stepped back,"This is more or less accurate."

Electrike leaned over to Veevee and whispered,"Closer to less." Which made Veevee giggle. Pip and Dinky examined the image with bright curious eyes, their imaginations building comically inaccurate pictures of humans from Dawn's poor attempt at art. The outline was horribly disproportioned, one leg came out at a weird angle while the second leg ended short and seemed to be missing a shin. The arms where each different lengths and had only three fingers and no thumbs. "This almost feels racist." He muttered. "Like one of those posters from the PLA."

"The what?" Veevee asked.

"Humans are weird looking." Pip blurted out. "These thing took over the world where your from!?"

“That's not really what humans were like." Veevee sighed.

"AAAAHH!" A pony yelped loudly drawing all eyes to her. It was Daisy one of the mares who grew flowers in Ponyville, she was shaking like a leaf. Opposite her was her table full of flowers and a long green snake looking sheepish as he continued to smell the tulips. "B-b-big sn-sna-snake!" Daisy squeaked.

The Serperior sighed,"Yes I'm very large, I guess, and am apparently quite terrifying. Please stay calm I was just stopping to enjoy the aroma."

Sadly all Daisy got was a lot of the syllables for Serperior,"Please don't eat me!"

He sighed again,"Well at least this one didn't run away." He then slithered off trying to give the petrified mare a little room. He flicked his tongue out trying to get a scent, there were so many new things it was tough to figure out what was what. Distracted as he was tasting the air, he failed to notice the Dark-type creeping towards him, or her sinister grin. He lifted his head up a little more and tasted again and paused when something familiar came in,"Wait..." He tasted the air,"It is. I'd know that charcoal smell anywhere!" He grinned,"Nova's nearby!"

"He's not the only one!" Dawn cried as she pounced on the end of the Grass-types tail with Shadow Claw.

The Serperior then screamed like a little girl falling himself about wildly for about five or six seconds. Then twisted himself around with his fangs bared, stopping nose to nose with an Umbreon who was trying hard not to laugh. He closed and worked his mouth for several seconds, taking a moment to fold his fangs back. "Hello Dawn, may I have my tail back now?"

Dawn was getting her giggles under control as she let go of his tail,"Hi Kvistr."

---

"So?" The Doctor asked as he lead Nova back to the house the vase still cradled in one foreleg. "Why were you so shocked about that Quilava being a clone?"

Nova was silent for a few moments,"...What!? Oh! Yes the Quilava. Uh, it was mostly due to the fact that clones weren't looked on very well on earth. The laws concerning them were barbarous to say the least."

"A lot of cultures in the universe don't take to them either." The Doctor nodded as he slowed and stepped over a larger rock in the road, being careful not to trip. "Many view cloning as sick and unnatural."

"Most humans had a similar opinion on earth." Nova chuckled,"Ironic considering Grandad developed the way to Vivify fossils, not sure if that's really any different from a clone."

The Doctor stopped dead and stared wide eyed at Nova,"Humans knew who to reanimate an extinct animal!?"

"Yes. Allen's grandad developed the technique in his youth."

"Is there any chance of meeting this gentlecolt?" He asked eager to know how that worked.

Nova's expression soured,"Not unless your TARDIS can reach the afterlife Doctor. He was murdered by a thief less than a year after Allen began his journey."

"I'm sorry." The Doctor said as he resumed walking.

"The man responsible was tried and convicted for his crime." Nova explained,"You have nothing to apologize for my friend. It was a long time ago."

The Doctor clutched the vase a little closer to his chest,"I know that."

"Doctor? If I might ask." Nova began,"You're holding onto that vase like it's the only keeping you alive. Why?"

"This vase is the only thing that Derpy has left that belonged to her parents. You see her and Sparkler were orphaned after a fire."

"Yes Sparkler told us a little about it." Nova explained.

This seemed to catch the Doctor off guard,"Really!? She usually won't talk about it to anypony!"

"She shared with us after Allen had told her the fate of his family." Nova grinned,"They seem to be quite close."

The Doctor chuckled,"Do I hear wedding bells?"

"I wouldn't know if they're that close, but they are definitely fast friends. Personally I'm hoping Dawn can tough it out and tell Allen how she feels about him." Nova said while smiling,"It would be nice to see Allen that happy again." 'Especially after last time.'

"Dawn has feelings for Allen?" The Doctor asked managing to sound surprised.

"For several years now, the only reason she didn't confess on earth was because she was afraid of what would happen to Allen. We had friends who were labeled as criminals because they fell in love. " Nova scratched at his abdomen,"By the by, don't tell her I told you that."

"My lips are sealed." He promised but stopped to stare off in the distance,"Hello?" The Doctor said,"What have we here?"

Nova followed his gaze and caught the fading light of a Solar Beam. "Just a Grass-type move Doctor. Likely someone practicing."

"Ah!" The Doctor resumed walking,"Anyway this vase was one of the only things to survive the fire. It wasn't hard to get for her, just a quick trip back to that day and I popped back with it."
"Couldn't you have just stopped the fire or warned all the ponies and gotten them out? You know saved her parents too?" Nova asked.

"I really wanted to do that for her." The Doctor sighed. "I still do; but some things just have to be." Nova raised an eyebrow and gave him a curious look. He sighed again,"A lot of people don't understand how time works. They assume it's like a straight line, one thing leading into another."

Nova nodded,"I'm with you so far."

"The fact is that time is more like a...." He paused, the last time he tried to explain this it hadn't really sunk in. "Picture it like a piece of fabric, made up of many threads. With in this fabric there are points that are key to holding it together. Like knots that keep it woven together. Many of these points, these knots, have been created in this universe's distant future."

Nova's eyes widened as he grasped what the Doctor was saying,"Our arrival has unknotted those key points and pulled loose the threads of fate!"

The Doctor smiled and nodded,"Exactly, and now the threads are being rewoven into new history. But every fixed point from before the Pokemon is still a fixed point and has to stay that way."

"So the death of Derpy's parents is a fixed point?"

The Doctor flinched,"... Yes. Yes it is."

Nova raised his eyebrow again, there was clearly more to this than he wanted to say. "Does she know this?"

The Doctor sighed managing to look happy and sad at the same time,"No she doesn't. And not once has she asked me if I could." He pressed his lips into a thin line and glanced at the heirloom cradled in his foreleg. 'Sometimes I wonder if she knows what really happened.'

"NOVA!" Cried a voice from the right. Nova turned just in time to see a Serperior only a short distance away and closing faster than he could react. The Regal Pokemon launched itself the last few yards and Tackled the Fire-type and coiled into a serpentine hug that quickly forced the air out of his lungs. "Ah my dear old friend it's been far too long. How have you been? Is Allen about? Don't tell me you haven't found him yet!"

Nova wanted to respond but talking took air and he was fresh out. He began to you beat on the Grass-type's side trying to get his attention,"Air...'

"Oh Arceus! I'm sorry Nova!" The grass snake apologized as he loosened his grip,"I was just so excited to see you after all these years."

Nova gasped in a few breathes as the Serperior moved back to the ground and dropped to all fours. He felt a weight on his back and glanced up to see Dawn smiling sweetly,"Hi big brother. Look who I found."

Nova chuckled and looked back at the Grass-type,"Good to see you again Kvistr. I take it Brandon is nearby, you two are virtually inseparable."

---

"What do you mean he's not here!?" Star Shine demanded.

The clerk behind the desk checked the papers again,"I'm sorry miss. According to this he was bailed out earlier this morning."

"By who!?" She asked flabbergasted, Storm didn't have many friends and even fewer who would bail him out.

The clerk glanced at the papers again and frowned,"That's not right. It doesn't say." He quickly looked over the rest of the packet and his frown deepened,"What the? Excuse me a moment ma'am." He stood unlocked the security door and stepped through locking it behind him.

Star saw him approach the mare who was the warden and whisper something in her ear. He then held up the packet to her and she flipped through it. The warden jumped to her hooves and ran further into the jail while the clerk walked back to Star at a subdued pace. When he was back on her side of the door and seated in his desk she asked,"What's going on?"

The clerk sighed and pushed the packet to her,"For some reason the paperwork is mostly blank. Which means we wouldn't have realised him. And it appears that the warden has no memory of him or the pony who he left with."

"Well what does that mean?" Star asked exacerbated.

Just then the warden came stomping back into the office and quickly sat at her desk scribbling on a piece of parchment. The clerk cleared his throat,"It means that legally, Feather Storm has escaped."

---

"Pppffffffft! Hahaha whahahaha!" Brandon hit the dirt clutching at his ribs as he laughed uncontrollably.

"What the hell are you laughing at!?" Allen demanded.

While still on the ground Brandon tried to reign in his glee,"Haha come on bro, hahaha. It's been what seven years, hehe. Why the long face!?" He then fell back laughing like a lunatic.

Allen sighed,"Aaand the horse jokes begin."

"Why are you a Rapidash!?" He laughed picking himself up and dusting himself off. "Or blue for that matter!?"

"Arceus said the colour was some kind of mutation." He explained,"And I choose to blame Arceus for making me like this." He answered matter of factly.

"Aw don't be like that man. Arceus seems like a pretty chill guy." He paused,"... I mean yeah he has that whole 'holier than thou' thing going on but he is god. He's kinda earned it."

"Eh." Allen shrugged and turned to Sparkler who looked confused. "Right introductions! Sparkler this is my friend from Castelia, Brandon Mills."

Brandon stood a little straighter and smiled,"Nice to meet ya."

"B, this is Sparkler. She helped us when we first got here and helped us find Dawn."

Sparkler smiled and nodded as well,"Hello!"

Brandon looked between to two of them for a second before a mischievous grin spread across his beaked face. "Oooh! I see! Don't let me interrupt." He held his hands up and turned around,"I gotta find someone anyway. I'll catch up with you later man! ~Have fun you twooo~!" He then ran off and jumped up into a tree using that to jump to one after another.

"What was that about?" Sparkler asked still confused.

Allen was dragging a hoof across his face and sighed, B was a good friend but his whole brain was a red light district. "Remember that one mare at the station in Canterlot?"

"In Canter-oh... Oh!" Her face flushed the most adorable shade of red and she promptly looked anywhere other than at him. "That's that's... I mean!"

Allen couldn't stop himself from chuckling, she was cute when she got embarrassed. "Hehe, yeah B's been like that since I met him. But he has a really dirty mind, I shudder to think what a Psychic might find if they actually got into his head."

---

At that exact moment in Canterlot, Mewtwo felt a chill run up his spine. As though the threads of fate and just twisted around his neck. After a second the sensation passed and he chose to shrug it off. (1)

---

"So uh, what should we do now?" Sparkler asked as her blush started to fade, still not looking directly at him.

He had to fight the urge to make a dirty remark, it was a battle worthy to be remembered in song. "Your place or mine?" However he ultimately lost, Sparkler's reaction was worth it though.

"What!?" She gasped as her whole face turned a shade of red that could normally only be seen by bees and art students. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "But I- you- and he!" She stammered and began shifting her weight from on hoof to another.

Allen lost it,"Hahaha hahaha! Oh your face! I wish I had a camera!"

"That's not funny!" Sparkler huffed and stomped a hoof.

"Yeah it was!" Allen laughed again.

"It's kinda funny." Agreed Tally from the branch of a tree drawing their attention.

"Oh Tally! There you are!" Sparkler said clearly eager to change the subject. "Did you have fun flying?"

"Hi Sparkler, Yes I had a very nice time flying." There was a smug tone. "How about you? What have you been up to?" He wagled his birdie eyebrows. Sparkler flushed again and he sighed,"I actually saw the Solar Beam and came to check things out."

---

"Are you gonna tell me who you are!?" Feather Storm demanded. After bailing him out the cream coloured pegasus had told him he had a business offer and then lead him to a nearby cafe.

"Hmmm?" He glanced over his sunglasses briefly showing his fiery orange eyes, and sipped a cup of tea he had ordered,"Are you sure you don't want something. The tea is luvly."

"No!" Storm snapped and slammed his hoof on the table. "What I want are some Celestia damned answers!"

"Language." He gasped in mock shock,"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"My mother is dead!" Storm snapped already done with the stallions casual attitude. "A Griffin killed her when I was a colt!"

This got the stallions attention,"Ahh, now I see why you were one of the first Diabolos picked up."

"What?"

The stallion sighed,"I was hoping to be a little more civil with this one." He muttered," But very well! I am called The Master. I'm a Time Lord from the future. And I and some associates have made the jump, which was extremely dangerous by the way, to this time to address the Pokemon threat."

"...You're a time traveler?" Storm deadpanned.

"An alien time traveler." The Master corrected.

"And that is officially more Minotaur crap than I can sit through." Storm sighed and stood,"Listen, Master or whatever the Tartarus your name is, thanks for bailing me out but I have more important things to do than listen to some science fiction story."

"Oh I didn't bail you out!" The Master laughed as he sipped his tea. "All I did was hypnotize the clerk's and the Warden so they would let me take you. When my deception is discovered there will likely be quite the marehunt to find you."

"You did what!?" Storm demanded. "You broke me out!? Do you know what their gonna do to me because of you!?"

"Well don't quote me on this." The Master replied casually,"But if memory serves the minimum sentence for escaping a detention facility is somewhere around 15 years." He took another sip of tea. "So shall we speak like civilized stallions, or will you continue to make an ass out of yourself?" He glanced to his left at the serving staff and other customers who were all staring at them.

Storm glared at the other ponies but took a seat,"Why?"

"To guarantee your cooperation." The Master answered with a completely indifferent tone. "I've come to find most ponies are open to new idea's when they believe their life is spiraling out of control. So welcome to your life, out of control." He gave Storm a smug grin. "There are two options in front of you, one: you can walk away and go back to that jail with the tasteless food and bitter coffee. You can try to convince them you're the victim of circumstance and hope they go easy on you. However you will spend the rest of you natural life marked as a felonious criminal."

Storm scowled at the cocky stallion,"And door number two?"

"Come with me, help us save Equus and forever be remembered as a hero." The Master finished his tea and gave a contented sigh. "You could finally have the notoriety to get your opinions heard as well. The choice is your Feather Storm."

"Some bucking choice!" He snapped and looked away from the stallion. "What would I have to do?"

He didn't see the Master's dark grin,"All you would have to do is step into a room and fall asleep. When you wake up, you will have the power to rival gods. Then turn your fury on these invading monsters until your world is cleansed of their ilk."

"Power to rival gods?" Storm asked clearly intrigued. "You could make me as powerful as Celestia?"

The Master laughed,"Celestia!? When we're done with you she'll have to abdicate the throne to you!"

"That's blasphemy!" Storm hissed. "Nopony is more powerful than she is?"

"No pony perhaps." The Master nodded. "However the power of Pokemon is in a whole other order of magnitude. Celestia's power is insignificant compared to Arceus."

"Celestia is the daughter of the mare who made the world." Storm hissed,"There is nothing insignificant about her and I should clobber you for even implying it."

The Master just smiled,"Perhaps abdicate was the wrong word. More like share it with you." He saw Storm pause at this,'Got ya.' "The power I offer will bring you their recognition. With recognition come influence and from that comes change. The natural order has been disturbed and I need the help of ponies like you to set it right." The Master removed his sunglasses and locked his blazing orange eyes with Storm's green eyes,what I did was underhoofed but it should show just how desperate I am. The whole of the universe is at stake."

"Storm!?" Cried a shrill voice. "What are you doing here!? What did you do!?"

Feather Storm pinned his ears back and spun to the all too familiar voice,"Hi Star." He said nervously.

"Hi!? HI!?!?" She yelled then snorted,"They're saying you escaped Storm!"

"Oh." The Master groaned dejectedly,"Found out already did they? Well that cuts a few hours off my schedule. Looks like it's choosing time Storm."

Star then looked to the Master,"Who are you!?" She demanded.

"Sorry you don't get an introduction." He replied, it wouldn't do if the wrong ponies knew he was here.

"Star calm down I'm gonna make this right." Storm said standing and stepping towards her.

"Happi?" A small pink creature peeked over the top of Star Shine's head. "Pinny pinny?"

Storm stopped dead,"St-Star?" He asked as he began to breathe heavier. "W- what's that thing doing on you?"

The Master quirked an eyebrow at this, he like all Time Lords was psychic, it wasn't nearly as developed as a Psychic-types abilities, but was pronounced enough that he felt a rage brewing in him. He leaned forward and whispered into Storm's ear,"This is what they do. They don't conquer through force they make you think they're your friends. No matter how small and weak they seem they are all deadly dangerous."

Storm pulled his head back and glanced at the Master, who felt a storm begin to rage in the stallion. "Star you need to get away from that thing. It's dangerous."

"It's an infant Storm." She deadpanned,"And she's lost her family."

"Oh isn't that sweet." The Master cooed in disgust, as he felt the raging Storm in his potential recruit build into a typhoon.

"GET AWAY FROM IT NOW!" Feather Storm roared.

"Storm you're being ridiculous again." Star said calmly,"Just relax."

'Oh poor choice of words.' The Master grinned to himself as he felt the typhoon peak into a hurricane.

Storm's eye twitched and he stalked forward,"I SAID GET AWAY FROM HER!" He lunged forward and swung at the pink abomination, but his movement was reckless and when his hoof struck it wasn't the Pokemon that felt it. Star Shine cried out as Storm punched her shoulder with all his rage fuelled might. It sent her rolling onto her side, making her hit the side of her head on the cobblestone. The Happiny tumbled off of her as well, it's soft squishy body allowed it to bounce harmlessly to a stop beside her stomach.

The onlookers, who until now weren't sure what was going on, gasped and two of the serving staff rushed forward to help. Storm was faster, and charged forward swinging his curled hoof again. "Happi!" SMACK SMACK

Storm groaned and reeled back the sides of his muzzle sore,"What the b-" At that moment one of the wait staff, another stallion, tackled him. "GET OFF ME YOU DIRT EATER!" He raged.

Star whimpered as a waitress galloped up to her,"Miss! Are you okay?" Star pulled her hooves under her and tried to stand, however her right foreleg gave out and she dropped. The waitress could see a large purple bruise forming under her off white coat. "Somepony call the guard!" One of the cafes patrons galloped off.

"STAR!" Storm raged,"STAR GET AWAY FROM IT! IT'S A MONSTER!"

"You're the only monster here Feather Storm." She replied,"Sparkler was right about you!" Her eyes began to water and tears poured down her cheeks,"I thought you were a good pony. Confused, angry, but a good pony." She sniffed and fixed him with a hard hurt glare,"It's over Storm, I don't ever want to see you again."

"Star?" He asked as though he hadn't understood her.

The Master stepped up and bucked the waiter in the face knocking him out. "Time to make a choice Feather Storm." He said flaring his wings ready to take to the skies.

Storm just stared at Star Shine, the waitress and Happiny positioned defensively between him and her. All he saw was the look of contempt in her eyes, and then he stood and spread his own wings,"Let's go." The Master grinned victoriously and they winged their way into the sky and away from Fillydelphia.

With Storm gone Star let out a pent up breath and began to cry, not the crying of someone in physical pain, but that of the truly heart broken. The Waitress gingerly placed a hoof on her uninjured shoulder in an attempt to console her. As she cried Happiny looked at the weeping mare and stepped up to the large and swollen bruise. She delicately place her hands on the bruise and a moment later a green light flashed out over the blemish. After a moment it was gone, looking as though it had never even been there. "Happi?"

Star stared at the Pokemon, then at the place where she had been hurt. Slowly, she stood testing the leg and finding that it was like she had never been harmed at all. She looked down to the baby Pokemon,"T-thank you Happiny."

"Happi!" She cheered and hugged her foreleg as to Guards came galloping up.

---

"Last one!" Ditzy sighed as she rolled the last hulking bag of mail off her back. The trains postmaster grabbed up the canvas sack and hurled it into the train car. Until recently Ponyville had been nowhere special but it was on its way to everywhere special. As such, a lot of the mail that was coming or going inevitably went through the sleepy little town. Since Princess Luna's return and Twilight's ascension Ponyville had become a lot more important and that only meant more post passed through the junction.

With her hardest job done for today Ditzy leaned on a post a took a moment to catch her breathe. “Excuse me, miss?”

Ditzy looked down to see a aqua blue Pokemon, she looked like Dawn if she were a fish. “Hello!” She chirped happily.

The Eeveelution smiled back. “Hi, just wanted to make sure that you could understand me.”

She giggled such a sIlly thing since the TARDIS translated every language for her. “Of course I do, I understand everyone.” She offered a hoof which the Water-type took. “I’m Derpy.”

“Hi Derpy, I’m Misty.” She grinned seeming happy to just have a conversation with someone, then she glanced over her shoulder to Fluttershy and a few other Pokemon. “Well, I gotta go.”

Ditzy waved as Misty trotted off. “Bye, Misty.” As she returned to her friends an idea came to Ditzy and she quickly fumbled around in her bag until she found a small note pad. Then she eyed to fleeting Pokemon scrutinizing their details and scribbling them down. “Blue fish-fox, yellow and blue Diamond Dog like creatures, white, red and blue speckled egg...” She mumbled to herself as she jotted down the notes. Yesterday she had seen the PokeDex Allen gave Dinky had information on Pokemon. Ditzy stowed the notes, wondering what new things she would learn.

She smiled at the group now walking g off to Fluttershy's cottage,'I wonder if they like muffins?' She pondered as she flew off to make the last of her rounds noon was fast approaching.

Flying back to the post office Ditzy quickly gathered up the mail she needed to deliver sorting it as she placed it in the bag. As she stepped outside she glanced at the building, it was made like many of the homes in Ponyville though a far bit larger. She was going to miss working here, the ponies were nice and she got to meet and chat with so many of her friends. She glanced towards the clear blue sky, but she would still get to see all her friends once her bake shop was ready. It was still a long ways off, they likely wouldn't break ground until after Winter wrap up so there was still time to enjoy the sky.

As she spread her wings she paused seeing a familiar orange filly talking to a Pokemon. It was tall and thin, with spindly arms and legs. It was mostly brown and had large red boxing gloves attached over its hands. However it's most striking feature was the turban wrapped around the top of its head, the winding headpiece seemed to held together by a very large and bright blue sapphire.

"So I'm supposed to hoof out theses invitations to as many ponies and Pokemon as I can." Scootaloo explained passing the colourful piece of paper to the Fighting-type. "You haven't lived till you've been to a Pinkie Pie Party!"

The Fighting-type accepted the slip and scanned it quickly before smiling and giving a quick bow,"Thank you this sounds delightful. While I have you here, I do not suppose you have seen a Heracross around here have you?"

Scootaloo stared up at him blankly,"...What?"

The Punching Pokemon slumped and sighed,"Yes I suppose that's my own fault."

Ditzy giggled and stepped up,"You're looking for your friend?" She looked at Scootaloo,"I can help here Scootaloo, you should keep passing out those invitations."

"Okay Miss Derpy! See Ya at the party!" She buzzed her wings and whizzed off.

"You can understand me?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

Ditzy giggled,"Yup." She said doing an impression of Big Macintosh then she offered a hoof," Call me Derpy."

The Fighting-type smiled and shook their hoof,"I am called Ali. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Ditzy smiled and nodded in the direction she was going, Ali nodded and fell into step with her,"So you're a Pokemon I take it and you're trying to find your friends?"

Ali nodded,"Indeed, only one of your immediate group is still lost. But I believe my trainer will also seek out his close human friend." He explained as they walked.

"So what does she look like?" Ditzy asked. "Cuz I've never heard of a Heracross before."

Ali gave a small smile,"A Heracross is a large Bug-type Pokemon with a blue-green carapace." He held his gloved hand at eye level beside her,"He is this tall with an axe shaped horn that is taller still." He finished his description and looked at Ditzy waiting patiently for her answer.

Ditzy bit her lip and wracked her brain trying to recall if she had seen any Pokemon that resembled the description. She had noticed several Pokemon that anypony could tell were bugs, particularly around Sweet Apple Acres, but she could recall none. "I'm sorry." She apologized as her ears dropped,"I don't think I have seen him."

"No need to be sorry Miss Derpy." Ali said with a small smile,"You were willing to take time out of your day to help a stranger." He bowed,"Kindness such as that was rare in my old world."

"It was no trouble. I just wish I could help you more." She paused before an idea struck her,"Have you checked the orchard? I've seen lots of bugs out there since the Pokemon got here."

An Orchard?" The Hitmonchan deadpanned all of his previous poise gone,"I would not be surprised to find him there stuffing his face." He sounded annoyed as though this was common for the bug,"Such a glutton, which way is the orchard?"

Ditzy pointed with a hoof to the far side of town and towards the Everfree,"You should know it when you see the barn."

The Fighting-type thanked her and made to leave but stopped as his gaze fell on an azure maned Rapidash that walked towards them on the street. He was more surprised to see a shiny than anything else, variations in colour were quite rare. What was curious though was the grin the Fire Horse Pokemon was giving him. "Do I know you?"

"I used to be human." The Fire-type answered with a knowing smile.

Ali smiled as well,'How curious the universe is?"' After years in hiding who should he meet but an old friend and, for all of twenty-four seconds, pupil. "Then I would name you Allen Swans."

"Good to see you Ali." Allen greeted and turned to a magenta coloured mare beside him. He gestured towards him,"Sparkler this is Ali, part of Brandon's team."

"How do you do?" Sparkler nodded causing Tally to flare his wings for balance. "Whoops! Sorry Tally!"

"S'okay." He chipped. "Don't forget I'm up here."

Allen chuckled,"Ali this is Sparkler and Tally, Good friends we met when we arrived."

The Fighting-type looked her over seeing a similar build in the face of this mare as Derpy,'Sister's perhaps?' He smiled and bowed,"Nice to meet you. Any friend to Allen is a friend to me."

"You know him Allen?" Ditzy asked surprised.

Allen laughed,"He broke my jaw once. I had to eat through a straw for three weeks."

"That's awful!" Sparkler cried.

"It was my own fault." Allen shrugged,"I challenged him."

"I believed you would duck." Ali explained. "You do not bare a grudge do you?"

"Of course not. I was a novice and I challenged you." Allen shrugged,"More than anything it was for Nova's sake."

Ali grinned at this,"Is he somewhere nearby? I am curious how he has improved. Though your performances in the Hoehn Legue already speaks to his strength.

"You guys had to leave before I got to Hoehn. How do you know how we did?"

"Brandon found a way to disable the emergency tracker in his Xtransceiver. After that he was able to use the internet as long as we could find a hotspot." Ali explained. "He watched every one of your league battles. May I say that top four, three years in a row is most impressive."

Allen chuckled,"I guess, would have rather gone all the way."

"It was a considerable improvement over your bout with the Unova League." Ali offered.

Allen frowned and laid his ears back,"Dont remind me. Though how he got passed the Preliminary Round was beyond me."

Ali chuckled,"A more even match up I think."

"Okay I'm lost again." Sparkler piped in.

"Remember when I first told you about gyms and badges?" Allen asked referring to the hour or so they had spent exchanging information in Fillydelphia. "The league is the next step after you get all eight badges."

"~Oooh~!" Sparkler nodded. "So the first time you tried you didn't make it?"

Allen sighed,"I couldn't even beat his first Pokemon. Damn Charizard" He muttered the last bit to himself.

---

Author's Note:

1. Laughs maniacally,"Sooooooon."

I'm Not Dead!!!

So I'd like to start by apologizing its been almost a year since i've done anything on FIM and there are several good reasons. for starters I've moved three times in the last four months because of a job that had me traveling. in addition I'm a single Father now and that takes up so much of what little remains of my freetime. But I haven't forgotten you guys and I'm still trying to write when I can. The mediocrity of my job lets my mind wonder and I've come up with a lot of other ideas for fan fiction too, sadly it allows not times to put those thoughts to text for you guys. So updates will be infrequent and not always for this story as i had another universe of my own I was working on when I found Zeus's story to begin with. PLZ bare with me as I try to finish this in some timely fashion FYI, Natasha (My Daughter) already likes MLP and she's only 6 months old.

Comments

[HolyCross9]

Did you name Ali after the famous and now-late boxer?

[Fresnor]

Hi Doctor Nick! What? Someone had to do it.

[Frostgear]

New chapter

[Midknight Defender]

Totally tracked. Rapidash are awesome (gee, I wonder if that's why I like mlp nowadays...20 years of Rapidash fandom??) and this story has a lot of funny moments.

A lot of typos, too, but them's the breaks.