• Published 27th Jul 2011
  • 13,821 Views, 357 Comments

Hoennshy - Fenix



After an ancient spell from Twilight goes awry, Fluttershy finds herself in a new world of powerful creatures. Whilst Fluttershy struggles in the new found world, Twilight is forced to leave Equestria to find the spell to bring her back.

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Chapter 8: Analogue

Alerce stood at the ready, staring down his feathered rival. It was his first real fight, and Fluttershy tried hard to keep her nerves under control. They stood in the middle of the crowded city with ponies in business suits passing by without question. She still wasn't used to the frantic nature of the place, but while she was here she felt she had to get used to it. "Uh, use Tackle," Fluttershy commanded weakly, prompting Alerce to run at a full sprint. Igni swiftly dodged and slapped Alerce with his wing. The Turtwig struck the ground but then popped back to his feet.

“Alright, try scratching him,” Rainbow commanded, still trying to get her bearings. Igni jumped onto Alerce and scratched at his head. Alerce withdrew into his shell and spun, launching Ingi back towards Rainbow Dash. Igni started coughing and hacking; Rainbow bent down to check on him. "Are you alright, guy?" After a few more coughs, small embers flew from his mouth, catching Rainbow in the snout. She frantically rubbed her nose, trying to alleviate herself from the singeing embers. “Ow, what was that?” Igni slunk back and continued coughing.

“Uh, let me check.” Fluttershy dug through her bag and whipped out her Pokédex. She had never used it to check information without desperation, so now was good a time as any. It lit up automatically, showing a screen with several options. She clicked the button next to “Move List”. It beeped at her, saying to point it at a pokémon. She tilted it down and lined it up with Igni; it flashed white and showed a text file of available league recognized moves. “It looks like that’s ‘Ember’. Igni is apparently a fire type, so he creates fire in his body I’m sure.”

“That sounds... awesome!” Rainbow said, pushing Igni back into the fray. “Now, use that Ember attack on Alerce, not me.” Igni smiled and nodded, then turned and stared her opponent down. With a quick lunge forward, she fired a spray of small embers at Alerce. Some caught him on the face and legs, making him run and yelp in pain. With a worried glance, Fluttershy took the Pokédex and scanned over Alerce, revealing him to be a grass type. A type that’s weak to fire.

“Uh... uh,” Fluttershy stammered. She tried coming up with a strategy, but the type and power disadvantage between the two was overwhelming. In desperation, she scanned the tablet again, looking ahead on Alerce’s move set. The only attack ahead in the list was Absorb, but it was still a ways off. “Tackle him!” she finally commanded. After shaking off the embers, Alerce charged and buried his head into Igni’s chest. The both flew towards Pinkie Pie, rolling and stumbling in the grass.

As the fight went on, Fluttershy felt excited. She didn’t want to think it was May’s personality resurfacing, but it reminded her of the time she fought Brendan. No memories surfaced, which put her at ease. The endorphins that ran through her body was something she hadn’t felt since she saw Rainbow Dash pull off the fabled Sonic Rainboom. The gym fight couldn’t come fast enough; she shook with giddy anticipation.

A few minutes later, her Pokédex’s alarm went off. “Alright, that’s enough,” she said, alerting Rainbow. Alerce bolted back to Fluttershy, rubbing the burn marks on his head and legs. “It’s 2:30. I need Alerce at full strength to fight this gym leader.”

“So, are we just going to wait in front of the gym like last time?” Rainbow asked as she scooped Igni off of the grass.

“Yeah. We might as well.” Fluttershy placed Alerce on her back and began making her way to the east side of the city as she looked down at her PokéNav. The map on this PokéNav is handy after all. Pinkie leaped from the grass and bounced along side Rainbow Dash.

The gym stood next to two towering buildings, making it feel small and cramped. It was designed like any other building that wasn’t a glass behemoth: It was small and rectangular with a brown brick outside. A few windows were etched in the front just to the side of the sliding glass doors. A line of ponies extended from the entrance. Fluttershy couldn’t understand why there was a line if the fights were scheduled, but she took her place in the back to not stand out.

“So why didn’t I get a call for a gym fight? I’m registered,” Rainbow complained as she approached the line.

“Maybe it just hasn’t finished registering yet,” Fluttershy responded as the line shortened.

“I wonder what this gym leader looks like! I bet they look like all those other ponies in suits,” Pinkie exclaimed. “Maybe one of these ponies in line know something!” She hopped out of line and began talking to a young stallion. Fluttershy couldn’t make out what he said, but his face became bright red as he talked, making Pinkie giggle. His eyes darted as he talked, then he looked down at the pavement. Giggling, Pinkie hopped back and stared at Fluttershy.

“So, what did you find out? He seemed a little embarrassed,” Rainbow said.

“Oh, he was going on about how pretty she was, and how refined and cultured, too. He was so red when he started talking! Apparently she has a really good fashion sense as well. I think Rarity might like her,” Pinkie snorted as she continued her giggling fit.

“What about her pokémon? Did you find anything out about that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nope! All he did was stammer about the gym leader. It’ll be more fun if we find out when we get in; that way it’ll be a surprise!”

As the clock ticked towards Fluttershy’s fight, her patience began to wear thin. Even after her existential crisis a day ago, she couldn’t help but be excited. She didn’t want to think that May’s personality was rubbing off on her, but she couldn’t come up with any other explanation. Rainbow and Pinkie broke that part of her, didn’t they? Her body shook as the line dwindled down to one pony. She checked the time, trying her hardest to keep her cool. It was 3:15, only fifteen minutes away from her second gym fight. She hoped that because there was such a long line that this was the first gym. Either that, or these were ponies who wanted to court her. All her trails of thought dissipated as the final pony entered the gym.

“This is it...” Fluttershy said, trailing off. Self-defense, it’s just self-defense, she repeated to herself.

“You’ll do fine. Norman was the fifth leader, maybe she’s the first,” Rainbow assured her, placing her hoof on Fluttershy’s back.

“I hope so.” She felt a knot in her stomach form as she waited, her head pained and her vision blurred slightly. Her anxiety got the better of her, but she ignored it as she stared at her PokéNav. 3:29. The last pony to enter finally left with a disappointed face. He trotted past them slowly as the three made their way through the glass doors.

The inside was much different than that of Norman’s; much more refined and cultured. Beautiful banners hung and sparkled with the midday sun. Elegant tapestry lined the gym floor, leaving a polished wood arena in the center. There were no bleachers and no seats for spectators as well. It was only the three and the gym leader alone in the building. At the other end of the gym stood the silhouette of a young mare unicorn with her head held up high. After the lights dimmed, the mare gracefully trotted her way to the center of the gym, allowing her purple and red dress to shine with the sun’s light that poured in from the ceiling. She was a white unicorn with a swirled purple mane with eyes of azure. On her shawl were three small blue diamonds. Fluttershy gasped as she stared.

“R....R...Rarity?” Fluttershy gasped, her mouth hung agape.

“What’s Rarity doing here? I thought she was back in Ponyville!” Rainbow whispered. Fluttershy didn’t understand. Her best friend stood right in front of her, but the air around her had changed. Why would she follow me here? I thought she’s with Twilight!

“Welcome to the Rustboro Gym. My name is Roxanne,” the mare stated as she approached the three. Her voice was Rarity’s, but she acted as if nothing was wrong. Fluttershy couldn’t even look at her friends when she was conditioned without having pains of resurfacing memories. Maybe Rarity went with her friends without their knowledge and landed elsewhere. Maybe she had fully succumbed to those incessant voices. “Which one of you is my 3:30 appointment, hmm?”

“I am,” Fluttershy said with a huff of confidence. “C-could I ask you something, miss?”

The unicorn formed her mouth to a pout and placed her hoof under her chin. “I don’t see why not.”

“Do you remember anything about yourself before two days ago?”

Roxanne recoiled and stared blankly at Fluttershy. “W-what do you mean? Of course I do. What kind of silly question is that?” She turned away and strode to her side of the arena. “It’s been a pleasure, unknown pony, but I can assure you that this will be the only gym you will ever attend.

“But, I’ve already been in another one,” Fluttershy retorted.

“Yeah, the fifth one in fact. She’s not afraid of you,” Rainbow yelled out.

“Norman’s? Hmm...” she scratched under her chin again. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t get into how that’s impossible, so I’ll simply get started.” Roxanne’s horn glowed, causing the perimeter lines of the arena to harshly glow in a blue light. “I am Roxanne, the first gym leader of Hoenn’s Pokémon League. I will show you the true nature of pokémon.” With her horn, she gracefully tossed a Poké Ball out onto the field, revealing a large rock with arms. It was polished, leaving Fluttershy unsurprised, but she hadn’t a clue on what to make of it. She whipped out her Pokédex and scanned the creature for information.

“Weak to grass, huh?” Fluttershy muttered under her breath. Alerce didn’t have a grass attack yet, but maybe after taking a few attacks he can—”

She stopped and stared down at Alerce who growled at the rock. After shutting her eyes, she placed one of her hooves on her forehead. This was the same Pokémon whom she cried over after the last fight, and yet at the moment she wanted to throw him back into the ring. W-what’s wrong with me? Am I really going to do this?

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow approached her, hearing small sobs from the yellow pegasus. “Fluttershy, what’s wrong? You haven’t even sent out Alerce.”

“I... I don’t know.” Fluttershy looked up at her friend. “Just a minute ago I knew why I had to fight, but I... was getting excited for this, and... I... ”

Rainbow grabbed the pegasi’s head and made her stare straight into her eyes. “You’re the Element of Kindness, I know that. A pony was just mauled by a wolf sent by a trainer, and he’s part of a team of ponies who will do the same. There are probably many more ponies with even more powerful pokémon that could come for us. You aren’t fighting for sport, you’re doing it to survive.” She let go of Fluttershy’s head and looked over at the Rarity look alike. “Alerce is ready for this, and he knows this world better than you. Trust him.”

Fluttershy gulped. Her friend was right. The whole world it seemed was based around fighting, and she knew it for days. For all she saw, she wasn’t ready to accept it alone. If the girl really was influencing her, maybe she could let it fight for her as she contemplated her stance. She concentrated on May’s personality and mannerisms, letting take her take over as she mentally went blank. It wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?



Rainbow could only watch as Fluttershy opened her eyes, with a new found fire and intensity. Her timid demeanor seemed to melt away as she stood with her head held high. “Alerce, go out there and withdraw until you can use Absorb. Take as many hits as you can; I have potions ready.” Alerce nodded his head and calmly entered the field.

“Oh, are we starting? Very well, you know what to do, Geodude.” The rock lunged forward, hitting Alerce in the shell. Its fist bounced off as a blue light enveloped his shell. “Keep at it!” Roxanne yelled, prompting Geodude to unleash a series of volleys at the turtwig. Fluttershy only stood, a small teeth-filled grin formed on her face, putting Rainbow on edge. Just a second ago she cried about even letting Alerce onto the field, then suddenly she smiled as he was pummeled into the earth.

“What are you doing? You can’t win with pure defense,” Roxanne stated as she flipped her mane. “You’ll have to lower your defense at some point.” Fluttershy’s mischievous smile grew as he held up her Pokédex.

“Alerce. Use Absorb, now!” She commanded in an authoritative tone. The Turtwig glowed in a green aura that enveloped him and the geodude. Suddenly a crack appeared on the rock, and green tendrils of energy coiled around Alerce. It absorbed into his skin, making all his bruises and cuts disappear. The geodude rocked back and lay on the ground, unmoving.

“What was that?” Rainbow demanded. Fluttershy cocked her head towards the pewter blue pegasus and grinned. With her wings unfolded, Rainbow took a step back. “Y-you’re starting to creep me out.”

“That was Absorb, a grass attack that steals a pokémon’s energy. Simple stuff, really.”

“L... like a v-vampire!?” Pinkie jumped.

“What’s going on with you!? One second you’re acting like the Element of Kindness, then you steal some animal’s energy like it’s some plaything? What happened to you!?”

Fluttershy huffed. “I only did what you told me to do. You wanted me to fight, so I made the necessary steps to do it.” Her voice changed between every sentence, delving deeper and deeper into something unrecognizable to Rainbow. She turned back to Alerce who sat waiting patiently for Roxanne’s next Pokémon.

“You’re smiling!” Rainbow snapped. “We aren’t doing this for fun!”

“Maybe you aren’t,” Fluttershy stated coldly.

Roxanne held her Poké Ball in the air and a red beam of light enveloped Geodude, turning it into a wisp of energy as it entered the sphere. “You know the type advantage, that’s good. You’re already better than 95 percent of trainers I have to face. Fillies these days never put in the research.” She took another Poké Ball from her dress and threw it to the field, revealing another Geodude. “I hope your Turtwig isn’t too exhausted.”

“Alerce, finish it.” Fluttershy commanded, leaving Alerce to his work. His body glowed green as he released more energy absorbing coils. They struck the Geodude with terrible force, creating a gut-wrenching crack as energy flew through the air back to Alerce. Just as the Geodude came to battle, it fell where it stood. “I didn’t know gym leaders were going to be so easy,” she smiled.

Rainbow could feel a knot forming in her throat. Her friend was gone, replaced by some pink-haired monster. “Hey! What have you done with Fluttershy?!” Rainbow screamed, catching Fluttershy’s attention. “No matter how much we need to defend ourselves, the Fluttershy I know would never take joy in this!”

“While we’re here, why not have some fun?” Fluttershy approached Rainbow whose wings stood erect. Fluttershy’s pupils were half the size, giving her a violent look. “I couldn’t do it alone, so I let May take over as I thought over things.”

“You... you let this happen!? You’re hiding behind this monster as you think about things?” Rainbow grabbed Fluttershy and stared into her eyes with fury.

“Of course. It only seemed logical. Alerce was a strong, quick and loyal Pokémon. I guess the world knew better and changed him into something more fitting. A cowardly Pokémon for a cowardly pegasus. Maybe if I keep this up he’ll change back.”

Rainbow couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Why Fluttershy would ever let this personality take over baffled her, but she had to take action. “Bring. Fluttershy. Back.” Rainbow commanded as she took her right hoof off her friend and reared it back.

Fluttershy stared back at her, giving Rainbow horrible chills. As much as she tried, she couldn’t look away from her icy gaze. Fluttery’s pupils disappeared, leaving only her teal irises. Rainbow’s hooves were stuck in place as a wave of panic washed over her face. “If you would kindly step out of the way so I can finish this, that would be helpful. You always told me to be more assertive and confident.” Rainbow shook from rage as Fluttershy’s stare became more intense. She snapped her eyes shut and quickly mulled over her options. After one last shake, she gritted her teeth and smacked Fluttershy across the face. Fluttershy let out a small scream and fell over as her body went limp; her head bounced as it struck the ground.

Both Roxanne and Pinkie gasped as Rainbow lurched over with tears in her eyes and her mouth hung open. She panted. She never wanted to hurt her friend, but Fluttershy left her no choice. “Dashie? Are you alright?” Pinkie asked, grabbing hold of the shaking pegasus. “Why did you do that?”

“I had to. I pushed her too far...” Rainbow watched as Fluttershy grimaced, attempting to get up from the assault. She wiped the tears from her eyes and lent a hoof to the struggling pony. Fluttershy’s eyes jolted open, her eyes as large as normal.

“W-what happened? Did I fall over?” Fluttershy asked, rubbing her cheek.

“I’ll explain later. Are you doing alright, Fluttershy?” Rainbow pulled her friend off of the ground, letting her stand on her own hooves.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. A-are you... crying?”

Rainbow wiped her eyes. “No, of course not.” She looked over to Roxanne who sent back her other Geodude. “Just finish this and let’s get out of here.”

“You know, I’ve never had guests like this before,” Roxanne yelled over. “As much as I’d love for you to stay, I do have more appointments for today and I would hate to be late.” She tossed her final Poké Ball out onto the field, revealing a strange rock creature with a giant red nose. It stood with closed eyes and no emotion, shimmering in the sun light. “Alright Nosepass, be a dear and use Rock Tomb. That Turtwig rubs me the wrong way.”



Fluttershy snapped to attention. As rocks floated in the air around Nosepass, she looked down at Alerce who appeared untouched. She shook her head, trying to alleviate herself from her dizziness. Her head was ringing and her cheek and the side of her head burned, but she had to focus. Everything between when the Geodude appeared and now was a giant blur, but she had to make a decision before Alerce was pummeled. “Use Withdraw. Hold it off.” Alerce nodded and waited out the barrage of rocks that struck his shell. She turned to Rainbow and Pinkie, “What happened? I don’t remember defeating that rock. All I remember is that it was weak to grass, and Alerce didn’t have a skill yet for that.”

“He has Absorb now. You used it twice.” Rainbow stated.

“He does? Well... alright.” After the flurry of rocks ceased, Alerce popped his head out from his shell and awaited an order. “Try Absorb. That should work.” Without hesitation Alerce performed the skill, cracking through the Nosepass’ body. Fluttershy recoiled in horror. “W-what?” The energy absorbed into Alerce’s shell, healing it to a polished shine. The Nosepass stumbled, trying to keep its footing.

“Go for it again!” Roxanne yelled. Without Fluttershy’s command, Alerce used Absorb again, letting his opponent fall face first into the floor. As Fluttershy panted from the drop off of adrenaline, she heard Roxanne clopping on the floor.

“That was marvelous! It’s been a while since anyone has been able to defeat me so thoroughly. Also that performance in the middle was simply divine and masterfully crafted.” She walked to her Nosepass and placed it back inside its capsule. “I wish more of my opponents were as much of a firebrand and entertainer as you were.” Fluttershy wanted to ask about the state of Roxanne’s Pokémon, but thought better of it. She repeated her mantra in her head as she made her way to the middle of the arena.

Self-defense, it’s just self-defense.

Roxanne scratched her chin, her eyes scanned over the pegasus. “You’re from Littleroot, aren’t you? The clothes look like their style.”

“Yes,” she stated, as she wondered what Roxanne tried to imply.

“You’re the second trainer from there to defeat me within the past two days.” She glanced down at Alerce. “You’re also the second to abandon your Hoenn starter for another region’s.”

“I- I didn’t abandon my starter. One morning I woke up and he turned into this. He was a treecko before!” She stopped. “Wait, Brendan’s already gone through here?”

“Yes he did. Quite feisty I might add. About your turtwig... Frankly, with all I’ve seen today, I’d believe anything.” Roxanne’s horn glowed, lifting a small golden thin badge from her dress. Two arrows pointed outwards away from each other, slightly off kilter from being lined up. Both were connected by gold bars that ran across the middle. “This is the Stone Badge. It proves you are worthy of starting your journey.” She placed the badge in Fluttershy’s hoof. “The next gym is in Dewford Town. Just south of the Petalburg Woods, there’s a ship that brings trainers to Dewford. If it’s full, there’s always Mr. Briney. He’s a salty old pony, but he’ll help if you know what to say.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy took the badge and placed it in her bag. “So, you don’t recognize me at all... and you remember things from your past?” She shuffled her forehoof. “I’m sorry for prying, but you look and sound exactly like one of my friends.”

“Hmm, I’m sorry. I’m pretty sure I remember everything from my past quite vividly. You are such an odd bunch of ponies.” She turned around gracefully as her dress swayed back and forth. She walked back to her side of the arena and glanced back at the three “Thank you for such a wonderful battle. Good luck miss. You might want to get your head checked though. That impact looked like it hurt.”

Fluttershy turned away and exited the gym, weaving her way through the new line of ponies that congregated outside. A cool breeze whisked through the buildings, clanging the wind chimes that hung on the buildings down the street. The light, somber tone calmed Fluttershy as she watched her friends keep their distance. Pinkie’s eyes simply wandered, trying desperately to avoid eye-contact as she walked. Walking and a straight face was never a good sign with Pinkie. Rainbow simply stared ahead as she followed Fluttershy south. She rubbed her face; her skin was still quite raw, so much so it was as if she didn’t simply fall over. After the pep talk from Rainbow Dash, she had no recollection of what happened until she woke up on the gym floor.

“What happened to me in the gym?” she asked as she turned to her friends. “Why did I wake up on the floor with a bruise on my face?” A small twinge coursed through her cheek. She rubbed it as she waited for their response.

“That was my fault,” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “You were acting so... mental. You said something about letting May take over. Did you really do that?”

“I don’t remember doing that, but I must’ve forgotten. Why, what did I, or she, do?”

“You were smiling! Not like a good smile, but like an evil, evil smile,” Pinkie blurted. “Then you used your stare against Rainbow Dash and she smacked you in the face and got teary-eyed.”

Fluttershy’s pupils shrank. “I... I couldn’t have used the stare. I would never use it on my friends.” She looked down at the pavement, ashamed. She didn’t want to believe them, but they were her friends. Why would they lie to me? “I thought that she was only excited for fighting. I didn’t know she was so ruthless. I-I’m so sorry.”

“You know what, let’s forget about it.” Rainbow said as she hovered above the ground. “Since Absorb took care of all of Alerce’s injuries, we should be good to go through the forest again. It’s good that you’re back, Fluttershy.”

“Great idea! I would love to see what the boats look like here. Everything is so new and shiny here, so it must be amazing!” Pinkie hollered as she bounced around the group.

Fluttershy nodded and continued down the road. “Do we have enough supplies for the trip? We haven’t really stopped to get anything lately.”

“We just ate, so we should be fine. Once I do my flight training today I might run through all our food though,” Rainbow said, doing a somersault over the two. “By the way Pinkie, you still need a pokémon. We can’t have you running around without one of your own.”

“Maybe I’ll find something on that boat! We haven’t seen any cool water ones yet, so maybe I’ll...” Fluttershy’s concentration moved elsewhere as she caught a glance of a pony out the corner of her eye. It stood near a park bench with an orange lizard with a flame on its tail. All she heard from her friends were mumbles as the pony caught her peeking. He motioned to his lizard and they both came straight at her. Fluttershy stopped and grabbed Alerce, setting him down on the pavement. She squinted, trying to get a better view of the pony. The silhouette of a flowing jacket and strange hat gave way to color and detail as he came closer. Brendan?

“Hey!” the pony yelled, stopping in front of the three. “It’s been a while, girl.”

“Who’s that, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, staring at the strange pony.

“The name’s Brendan.” He gritted his teeth and locked eyes with Fluttershy. “So, what have you been up to? Laugh at anymore ponies lately?”

“W-what?” Fluttershy asked. I don’t remember laughing at anypony. “I just got finished with a gym fight.

“Oh, so you’ll fight gym leaders, but not me. It’s a good thing I get rid of that torchic, he couldn’t even beat Norman, let alone get any respect from you.”

“Uh, about that.” Rainbow chimed in, grabbing Igni off from her back. “Is this yours?”

“Y-yeah,” he stammered irritably. “Whatever, I’m challenging you here, filly.” He looked down at Alerce, who growled at the fire lizard. “What happened to my father’s treecko?”

“Oh, well... he just...”

“So you won’t even fight me with my father’s pokémon? I see how it is.” Brendan cut Fluttershy off. “It doesn’t matter, my charmander will burn that stupid turtle to crisp.”

“I’ll fight you!” Rainbow flew in Brendan’s face, staring him down. “I’ll take your old torchic and take you out with him!” With that she moved away, giving Igni space to move. Igni jumped up and down with glee as he fluttered his wings. Brendan stepped back as the moving crowd formed a perimeter around the two fighters. Fluttershy stepped back near the crowd, hoping May’s personality didn’t rear its head. Thinking of May, Rarity came to her mind. Maybe Twilight knew if Rarity followed the two in. She wasn’t a unicorn, so she had no access to magic. Even though, she had to try.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on Twilight. Her conversation with her last time was still clearly etched into her head. With her lower lip clenched in her teeth, she focused on Twilight, hoping that somehow they could talk.

A few seconds later, she heard a small echo reverberating through her head. With all her mental anguish, she couldn’t tell if it was Twilight or just May’s memories trying to resurface. “H-hello? Twilight?” she said, as she fell into deep concentration

“Hey Fluttershy! What are you doing in my head?” Pinkie’s voice echoed through Fluttershy’s mind.

“Pinkie? How are you... I mean how are we doing this? Neither of us are unicorns.”

“Pinkie? Fluttershy? Is that you?” Twilight asked with a somber tone.

“Twilight! I’m so glad to finally hear from you! I’m so sorry about last time... Things were a little out of my control...” Fluttershy apologized.

“Oh, it’s alright. Is Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie with you? I never got the chance to talk to you, and things are pretty hectic where I am,” Twilight asked, her voice lightening up.

“Yeah! We found Fluttershy only a few hours after we landed. Things are crazy here! There are animal fights, and tall glass buildings, and crazy ponies, and—”

“Wait, animal fighting?” Twilight interrupted Pinkie. “Like cockfighting? Everywhere we go seems to be completely different than Equestria.”

“Everywhere? Like more than one place?” Fluttershy wondered.

“Yes. The counter-spell that could bring you three back was stolen from the royal archives in Canterlot. Apparently the only other known location of the spell is in the country of Ventia. So far in the day we’ve been out, we’ve already been attacked by a pack of griffons.”

Packs of feral griffons? Is it really that dangerous out there? They eat ponies.” Fluttershy shuddered, remembering the assault from Rainbow’s old griffon friend, Gilda.

“We are able to fend them off, but Rarity was injured. We have the necklaces we got at Luna’s old castle, and it gives us more power in times of crisis it seems. Rarity’s already set off once, and she’s lying in bed at the moment, recovering. I’m just watching her as Applejack gets supplies.”

Fluttershy opened her eyes and saw Rainbow flying in the air, throwing gusts just above Igni’s head. The gale slammed into the charmander and Brendan, forcing them to turn and shield their eyes. “Stop that! You’re cheating!”

“Who me? I’m just relaxing up here.” Rainbow closed her eyes and put her forehooves behind her head as her wings continued their assault.

Fluttershy jumped back into the conversation, “Wait, Rarity is over with you? She didn’t come with Rainbow or Pinkie? We just saw a pony who looked and sounded exactly like her!”

“She’s right here next to me. Only Rainbow and Pinkie went through.”

“How can we all talk to each other like this? I mean, we aren’t unicorns. This is just strange!” Pinkie asked.

“Maybe the spell wasn’t just a way to talk. We may all be linked subconsciously. This is great, now if anything happens you can talk to me at anytime.” She paused for a second. “Hold on, I hear somepony coming up the stairs. I’ll talk to you two later. I’m so relieved to hear from you two.”

“Please be careful, Twilight,” Fluttershy said as her mind grew quiet. She opened her eyes and saw the charmander lying on the road unconscious. Rainbow flew down to the ground, swooped up and planted her hooves to the ground. She picked up Igni, whose only damage was some ruffled feathers.

Brendan only scowled as he sent back his charmander. Without a word, he bolted past Rainbow and Fluttershy, rushing back into the city. “That was easy,” Rainbow remarked.

“We contacted Twilight; Rarity is still with her,” Fluttershy said as the crowd closed in on the three.

“You did? How? You aren’t unicorns.”

“Apparently Pinkie, Twilight and I are linked somehow. I can’t really explain it, but we can talk to her any time now.”

“That’s great!” Rainbow said as she folded her wings. “That pony was weird; why was he all in your face like that?”

“I ran away from him last time I met him. He must’ve been really hurt by it.” Fluttershy said, looking north into the city.

Rainbow lowered her head in thought, then looked up at Pinkie. “So, Rarity is still with Twilight, and wasn’t accidentally sent here?”

“Yeah, that’s what I just said,” Fluttershy explained. She thought for a moment, “You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a pony I recognized. It was a brown pony with spiked back brown mane and an hourglass cutie mark. I thought maybe it was my imagination.”

“I know that pony!” Rainbow exclaimed. “He normally works with Applejack during Winter Wrap Up, right?” She paused and looked up in thought. “So, if there’s a pony running around that looks like Rarity, and another that looks like a citizen of Ponyville...” Rainbow pondered, looking back at the forest. “What about ponies that look and act like us?”