> Friendship, magic and pokémon
>  by daniboyi
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"ARRGGHHH!" Sounded a scream of pain and surprise through the small house in Pallet town, as a 21 year old man fell hard to the wooden floor in his bedroom, smoking lightly as he recovered for the electrical charge from his most trusted and longest known friend, Pikachu, a small yellow rat looking creature with high red cheeks that can fire electrical charges as defense or attack- This creature is called a 'Pokémon'.

There are around 500 pokémon or more around the world and many more to discover. Each part of the world has its own pokémon and they all live in different elements or environment. Pokémon all over the world is friends with humans and they join together in small groups and battle against each other for fun and for competition. There is of course bad guys like Team Rocket, who uses pokémon for evil, but they are gone thanks to the man on the floor, the international pokémon champion and most known trainer through the world, Ash Ketchum.

He groaned as he got off the floor and sent an amused glare towards Pikachu, who was trying to look as innocent as possible, he smirked at his friend, not really caring that he just attacked him; he was literally immune of electricity by now. He got up and put his clothes on as he said "So what should we do today Pikachu?" He grabbed his belt, which held six pokéballs containing all of his best pokémon, his champion team. The pokémon was Charizard, Sceptile, Feraligator, which was his fully evolved Totodile, Pigeot, who he finally came back too, to get a good flying type for his pokémon league team, Glalie, his first ice type pokémon, which he got in the Hoenn region, and last but not least, Pikachu, his first pokémon, his best friend and the pokémon who always kept by his side no matter what.

In response to his question opened Pikachu his mouth and pointed with a finger inside it and rubbed his stomach. Ash laughed and said "You're right. Breakfast first, adventure later" Pikachu nodded happily in agreement and Ash laughed once again, as he let all of his pokémon out. Out came Charizard, who could barely stand straight in the room as tall as he was, 

Pigeot joined next to him and gave a happy chip as she nuzzled into Ash's chest, making him laugh and gently push the loving bird away. Glalie joined them with a happy look in his eyes as he flew around. Feraligator let out an excited growl and pulled Ash into a bone crushing hug. Ash laughed harder and returned the hug quickly, before he pushed him away playfully. He moved over to the kitchen began to make breakfast. He had learned from Brock a few years back when he realized that he couldn't always count on his friends to make dinner for him. He started to set up on the traditional beefs for Charizard and Feraligator, right now they pretended to be cool with Sceptile, but you could easily see the hungry looks they gave the beefs and the small smile, Sceptile got the normal fruit bowl with salad he enjoyed too much, even if he acted like he didn't. Pigeot got the bird foot Brock had special made for her and Pikachu got a dish same to Ash, which he happily enjoyed. Glalie was another case since he didn't eat, since he didn't have a mouth. Ash had researched with Oak a couple of years back about that and together they had discovered that Glalie sucked the nurturance out of the surroundings of him.

After half an hour, they all sat satisfied and Ash rubbed his now lightly expanded belly, he got quickly up and said happily "How about we got to the train in the mountains today guys?" He smirked as a collective groan came from his pokémon team, but they got up anyway and one by one they returned to their pokéballs and Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder. Soon after he was walking with Pikachu in the roads of the mountains, it had taken them nearly an hour to get to there and knew it would most likely take two more to get to the top of the mountain. When they reached to the top he was just about to let all his friends out, when he heard Pikachu cry "Pika Pi!"

Ash turned around and to his shock saw Pikachu standing, staring in wonder and a little fright, at a large glowing white circle hanging soundlessly in the middle of the air. Ash walked over to it, curious as ever before, and looked closely at it. It was a pure white dish hanging in midair and nothing more. It didn't remind Ash of anything he had seen before, and trust him when he says he had seen a lot.

He ignored the small tugging in his leg as Pikachu nervously tried to pull him back from the portal, Ash knew pokémon had some sort of special ability to feel when danger was near, but he couldn't help but fell this... Thing was not here to harm him. 

His eyes widened as he heard voices from the thing, and judged by Pikachu's yelp in surprise he heard them too "We got to stop Nightmare" Said a female voice from the portal. That was the only thing Ash could clearly hear, the rest was blurry with a few words such as 'forest' and 'eternal night' Now Ash was really curious, the voices behind the thing sounded like a female, it sounded like she were in trouble for the small amount of panic in her voice. Ash, always feeling like he should help people when needed, began to walk slowly towards the portal. Pikachu; not wanting to leave Ash on his own jumped onto his shoulder, still looking quite nervous, but knew there was no stopping Ash now that a person was in trouble. He slowly let his hand flow through the white surface of the circle and not surprised when it went right through. He slowly walked into the circle and the last thing he knew before darkness was pure pain.

:In Equestria:

Twilight and the other ponies, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy were walking towards the forest, all of them with a serious expression, except Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, the first looking very nervous and the latter bouncing happily around, excited for a new adventure. Twilight couldn't help, but have her eyebrow twitch in a little annoyance as Pinkie Pie began to talk about another random subject.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, did you know I found Gummy around here, completely lost and without teethes! He looked so lonely and sad that I couldn't resist taking him in!"

"Pinkie…" I'm trying to think here" She didn't notice Pinkie quickly lost her smile and she looked down at the ground sad.

Applejack smiled to the pink pony and whispered "Forgive Twilight, she's a little stressed and not used to being around ponies, just relax a little, will ya?" Pinkie Pie gave her a quick smile and nodded. Soon she was bouncing around again.

(Don't do that to Applejack, everyone reading this fic can read her lines in her southern twang without you spelling it, it can even get annoying for people who aren't fluent English speakers, to try and read it like that…)

They were all soon out of Ponyville and near the forest and Rarity was the first to notice some dark figure lying on the road near the forest "What may that be?" She said, pointing towards the dark figure.

The others looked and Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and said after a while "It's a pony or colt, I can't really tell gender, all I can say is that he has some kind of smaller creature next to him"

"How can you tell that?" Asked Twilight, a little surprised as she barely could see a few hooves in front of her.

"Pegasi have enchanted eyesight, it's a part of our nature. If we didn't we would just crash a lot more, when we flew very fast"

Twilight looked like she wanted to ask more into the subject, but was interrupted by Fluttershy to everyone's surprise who asked worried "Do you think he's hurt?"

"I'm not sure…" The others nodded in agreement and walked slowly towards the pony or colt at the ground. When they came over, they saw him fully, he had a light brown coat and a black short mane, his tail was as dark as his mane, but in opposite to other colts his was long as a pony and the hair of it looking rather thick and strong. Around each of his back legs he had a small belt strapped around them and on the belts hang three small red and white balls on each of them. His cutie mark confused them greatly as it was a ball identical to those he had around his back legs.

"What do you think his cutie mark can be?" Asked Twilight interested.

"Uhh, maybe he's a juggler!" Said an excited Pinkie Pie and only got weird looks in response.

"That is a possibility, but how would that explain that weird animal next to him" Said Rainbow Dash as she flew few inches over the yellow weird looking animal.

Fluttershy's eyes lit up in excitement and she said with an excited voice "Oh! It's so cute! I wonder what it is. Maybe he knows? Do you think he got it from another land?"

"That could be possible…" Said Twilight "But I think we get most answers if we wake him up" Again the others nodded in agreement as Fluttershy still looked at the creature with a light in her eyes.

Pinkie Pie moved over to the colt and puffed him in the side, saying "Hey! Wake up!"

The colt rolled over and continued to sleep as he said "Not now Pikachu…"

Pinkie gave a grin and said "Silly colt. My name is Pinkie Pie, not Pikachu!" Fluttershy was now looking at the colt too and no one noticed the yellow animal behind them slowly woke up and looked at them all before it let out a noise.

"Pikachu!" It said, making everyone turn towards it with a shocked look. The animal looked at them with a confused and slightly shocked look. He looked around and called "Pikachu!" It then noticed the colt on the ground and moved slightly confused over to it, it nuzzled at his chest and took a quick sniff at him, before crying out "PIKACHUU!" And fired, to everyone's shock a stream of pure electricity at him, making him cry out in pain and yell "I'm up! I'm up! Stop it Pikachu!"

"So… I guess it's a Pikachu…" said Pinkie Pie randomly. The others just looked shocked that the little creature had fired off electricity and at a sleeping colt.

They watched as the colt stood up on all fours and shook his head, before saying "Ok, so what happened Pikachu?" He said, looking at the little creature. The creature just shook his head and pointed towards the ponies. The colt looked the way Pikachu pointed and saw all of them, standing there with shocked looks.

He looked at them for a second, before blinking and said "Ok… So I hit my head harder than I thought… Now I'm seeing unicorns, flying ponies and normal ponies that look like they fell into a paint bucket…"

"Excuse me?" Said Rainbow Dash, a little offended "Flying ponies? To your information I'm a Pegasus!" She said and flew over to him "Besides it's not like you haven't seen anyone like us before!"

The colt looked at her and said "I haven't seen anything like you before… WAIT! YOU CAN TALK?" He suddenly shouted out.

"Of course I can talk" She replied with sarcasm and rolled her eyes "I mean you can, so why shouldn't I be able too?"

"B-But you a pon… Pegasus!" He cried out in a state of minor panic.

"So what," She asked annoyed, "you're a pony and you can talk"

In his shock he looked down at himself and let out a scream in fright and shock. He stopped screaming and sat there for a few seconds, before he started laughing. The other ponies looked at him and Pinkie Pie said with a small laughter herself "His gone loco!"

He soon stopped laughing and looked at Pikachu saying "So this is a new one right buddy? Being transported into a world full of talking ponies and Pegasus and what appears to be some kind of unicorn… Turns out I did get transformed into a pony too…" He turned towards the others and said "Sorry for my break out, but to explain it fast and easy. I'm not from this world. I'm not a pony. I walked through a white portal thing and ended up here unconscious apparently…"

The ponies looked at him with even more shocked looks before Twilight shook her head and said "Look. Whoever you are, lying or not, you really need to get away. We have to get going to defeat Nightmare Moon and we can't wait much longer!" With that she races past him and the others slowly followed, leaving him behind.

Only the pink pony looked back and said in a happy voice "I know you are not from this world! My Pinkie senses told me" With that she bounced in the direction the others had before.

Ash looked around and saw his friend Pikachu sitting on the ground with an impatient look. Ash smiled to him and said "Should we follow them?" Pikachu nodded and jumped onto his back and pulled in his mane for fun. Ash looked back annoyed and said "Very funny Pikachu" Before setting into motion and followed the others to stop whatever this Nightmare Moon was.

Soon he was surrounded by dark large trees and couldn't help but think 'You did it again Ash, wandered into a large forest without having a clue where you are going!' Pikachu stood on his back looked around to search for the others. He heard something huge rumble, like a huge rock just started to fall and a couple of screams, he knew instantly that was the others and raced towards the point where he heard them. When he jumped through the trees he saw to his shock the purple pony hanging on to dear life in the hooves of the orange pony with a cowboy hat, only few seconds from falling down the cliff as the orange pony didn't have enough ground to set her hooves on to get her up. He instantly, out of pure instinct, pulled out a pokéball from the belts around his legs and tossed it into the air, kicked it and called "GO PIGEOT!" Out in a flash of a light came a huge brown bird that was easily twice as tall as him, it had brown feathers all over its body and light brown feathers in its chest area and had long red and yellow feathers running down its back. It had huge claws that looked like it could tear apart any creature. It let out a loud cry "PIGEOOT!" and looked at Ash, ready to obey as it knew he was its trainer even if in another form.

"Go save the purple pony down there!" Pigeot turned around and saw the purple pony, who had just let go of the orange one and disappeared with a small, almost soundless, swish and appeared right over the pony, grapping her with its talons and began to fly back to Ash. Twilight began to panic and said "PUT ME DOWN! HELP!" but couldn't fight against the gigantic bird.

Pigeot flew lazily over to Ash and sat down a shaking Twilight, who looked around nervously and noticed Ash "Y-You? Did you order that bird to capture me?" She asked, anger growing in her.

Ash, able to see her growing anger, said quickly "N-No ma'am! I just said Pigeot should save you! You looked like you were in trouble and thought I could help! Sorry if I was causing any trouble!"

Twilight looked at him with a calculating look, before smiling weakly to him and said "Ok… I believe you saying you were trying to help, even if I don't believe you coming from another world… even if I never have seen such creatures before. What's your name and what are they called?"

Ash smiled to her, thankful for not awaking her anger, the last thing he needed was to let the creatures of this world be his enemy… "My name is Ash Ketchum, and these creatures are called pokémon"

Not really wanting to get into it more, and because they were kind of busy she said "Can you explain more about pokémon later? Right now we have to defeat Nightmare Moon and that can't wait"

"Ok" He answered "I can fly you down to the others, I can come with you to help defeat this Nightmare Moon or whoever it is…"

Twilight looked at him shocked at the bird gently laid its grip around them again and said "You don't know about Nightmare Moon? You really aren't from around here. Well in all basics is Nightmare Moon a mare that have returned after being captured on the moon for thousands of years thanks to our princess, but now she is back and will make the night eternal"

Ash nodded, understanding the main point, but wished he could understand more, as for example being captured on the moon… That sounded crazy to him, but he guessed that was maybe a punishment for evil people… ponies in this world. 

Guess he would just have to get a better explanation later. He felt Pigeot release them both, and not even a second later he was pinned to the ground by the light blue pony with wings who glared at him and said "Ok! Who are you and why are you following us?"

Twilight saw this and exclaimed "Rainbow Dash! Let him go! He's only here to help!"

She slowly let him go and said "Ok, if Twilight trusts you, I do… I think. But I keep my eye on you"

Instead of getting hurt or angry, he just smiled to her and said "Ok. I would probably do the same thing if someone I didn't know suddenly joined on one of my old adventures" Rainbow Dash gave him a weak smile, but it was quickly hidden again.

"So who in the hay are ya?" asked the orange pony with the cowboy hat and southern accent.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, a pokémon trainer and totally new to this world"

"And what in the hay is a 'pokémon'?" She asked again, even more confused.

Ash just smiled to her and suddenly Pikachu jumped down from his back, Ash looked at his pall and said "This is a pokémon. There are many pokémon around in my world and Pikachu here is just one of the five hundred kinds there is. I will explain more later, but right now you had to stop someone called 'Nightmare Moon' right?"

Everyone turned to Twilight, who nodded and said "I explained it quickly to him, he will help and I personally think he can be a help with these ´pokémon´ he have. That huge bird you saw before was one of them he has. If he can command such creatures around, we have a bigger chance of winning" The others saw the logic in this and nodded in agreement, before turning around and hurried deeper into the forest. Ash followed them with the pink pony bouncing next to him.

Ash secretly wondered how she could keep up with him running as she only jumped, but his thoughts were ended as she said "Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie! You are new here! I can't wait to get back to Ponyville after we beat this meanie pants so I can hold party for you! You will not know it, since you are new here, but I love to hold parties and love to have fun!" She said happily as she somehow managed to bounce around him excited and still keep up.

Ash just laughed in return and said "Well Pinkie. I would love to come to one of your parties later, but as you said we have to stop this Nightmare Moon" Pinkie smiled happily to him and suddenly disappeared, only to appear several meters in front of him, wondering how she did this, he set his speed up and caught up with the others.

It was not much later that Ash had caught up with them and they were all walking in between two large cliffs, Ash looked around, unable to stop feeling a little nervous, expecting an attack in a place like this. He was used to that kind of things with Team Rocket hunting him for all his life since he was ten. Pinkie noticed this and asked "Why the frown? Don't you think this is exciting? I think it's exciting!"

Ash smiled to her, really beginning to like the pink pony, she was always so happy and cheerful. He almost wished he had someone like her to travel with in his youth. There was quite some times when he needed to be cheered up, she would surely have been able to do it. He answered with a still small nervous tone "Nothing really. It's just in my world when I used to walk in areas like this with a cliff on each side, a trio of members from a criminal organization called Team Rocket would attack me or set up a trap for me, to try and steal Pikachu"

Pinkie's smiled vanished a little and she said "Those big meanies. You can't just steal somepony's friend from another pony" Ash smiled to her and she smiled in return.

However their conversation was interrupted by a loud scream from the other ponies, Ash turned around quickly and saw to his shock a lion with the wings of a bat and the tail of a scorpion. He heard Twilight yell "A manticore!"

That was all it took as the manticore let out a furious growl and jumped towards them with Rarity as its target. It swiped its claw at her, which she was just able to dodge and then jumped up and gave it a hard kick in the face while she yelled "Take that you ruffian!"

The manticore took a step back, growled in pain, before he looks furious at Rarity and let out a horrendous growl and showered Rarity in spit, she gulped and retreated easily. Just as the manticore was about to follow her, Ash jumped in and landed on its back, gave it a hard kick to the back of its head, before jumping off, giving Applejack the time she needed to throw a lasso around its neck and jump onto its back. The manticore began to jump around to get the pony off its back, but 

Applejack kept stubbornly stuck to its back, but it didn't last for long as she got thrown into the air, flew past Rainbow Dash and said "All yours partner" Ash couldn't help but snort at this.

Rainbow Dash gave a salute and flew over with ridiculous speed towards the manticore, just able to dodge a claw and began to circle around it with great speed, forming a rainbow colored twister around it. The manticore began to get annoyed and swung its tail against the twister, luckily hitting Rainbow Dash sending her to the ground with a dazed look.

Twilight and the others glared at the manticore, lowering their heads to prepare for charge. The manticore set itself in defense position to prepare for the upcoming attack, just as the ponies started to charge, the yellow coated pony with pink hair flew out and yelled "WAIT!" Each of them stopped in shock, looking at her as she walked closer to the manticore, which growled in annoyance at her, but didn't see her as a big threat or someone who would attack. To the ponies shock she just looked at the manticore with a soft smile and said with an even softer voice "It's ok…" and nuzzled his paw with her nose. 

The beast pulled back for a second, before his anger turned into a look of pain and sadness and he held out his claw, to everypony's shock, they saw a large black thorn sticking into his paw. Fluttershy looked at it with sadness and said "Aww you poor, poor little baby"

"Little?" Couldn't Rainbow Dash help but comment, making Ash snort in amusement.

"Now this might hurt for juust a second" She said with a soft voice and then proceeded to pull out the thorn with her mouth. The manticore gave a loud roar and lifted Fluttershy up with both his claws.

Everyone screamed "Fluttershy!" Before they heard her giggled and saw the manticore was licking her in affection for her help. She laughed and said "you're just a little old baby kitty aren't you? Yes you are. Yes you are!" Twilight stood and waited on her, her hair now stood wildly up thanks for the spit from the manticore.

Twilight asked her with a curious voice "How did you know about the thorn?"

She smiled back and said "I didn't. Sometimes we all need to be shown a little kindness" Twilight smiled softly and Ash, able to hear them, couldn't agree more, even if he didn't voice it.

It wasn't soon after they came to a more muddy area they had to travel through, Ash really didn't mind, being used to get dirty, but Rarity was another case as she said "Eww. My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck!" Not even a second later the trees blinding them from the moon light, leaving them in total darkness "Well… I didn't mean it that literally…"

They all began to talk over each other and Ash could barely make out Twilight saying "That ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even notice!"

Suddenly a voice in front of them said, and by the southern accent Ash knew it was Applejack "Ah think ah stepped in something…" Suddenly a frightened scream came from behind, it belonged to Fluttershy.

"It's just mud…" Applejack said and continued, only to let out a yelp in fright and backed away, Ash turned around and saw some kind of tree monster, it had sharp teethes and had long arms with sharp claws reaching out for them. Within a second they were surrounded by them and they all backed into a circle. Ash was preparing to summon a pokémon to attack them with, when they all heard a laugher and was surprised to see Pinkie Pie standing in front of the monster and making faces while laughing.

Twilight looked in horror and said "Pinkie are you crazy? Run!"

Pinkie Pie turned around and said with a smile "Oh girls. Don't you see?" Suddenly music started to appear and Pinkie began to slowly bounce up and down in the same place.

When I was a little filly
And the sun was going down

Twilight looked deadpanned and groaned "Tell me she's not…"

The darkness and the shadows
They would always make me frown

"She is…" said Rarity.

I'd hide under my pillow
From what I thought I saw
But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way
To deal with fears at all

"Then what is?" asked an impatient Rainbow Dash.

She said, "Pinkie, you've got to stand up tall
Learn to face your fears
You'll see that they can't hurt you
Just laugh and make them disappear."
Ha, ha, ha!

To everypony's shock the monster on the tree just disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke, leaving behind a normal tree.

So giggle at the ghosty,
Guffaw at the grossly,
Crack up at the creepy,
Whoop it up with the weepy,
Chortle at the *kooky*,
Snortle at the spooky

And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just make you want to...hahahaha...laugh!

Soon all the creepy tree's was gone and they all lay on the ground laughing their flanks off. Twilight turned to Ash and asked with a chuckle "Ash?"

Ash looked at her with a smile and said "Yes Twilight?"

"You're an ok guy" She said, looking up in the skies "I doubted you at first. But I actually believe you are not really from this world now… You just seem different than other ponies… Not that I mind"

Rainbow Dash looked at both of them and said "Yeah. I was suspicious too, but you really helped us out with that manticore and the cliff. So I guess you have earned some trust. Friends?"

Ash looked over at her and said with a smile "Friends. All of you. I may not know you well, but as I say. After fighting evil creatures and going on adventures, even two random people who never met can become the best friends"

All of them smiled and nodded in agreement. They all got up on their hooves and continued towards the ruins, ready to face everything they might meet. No one noticed Twilight smiled softly and let a tear run down her cheek to hit the ground.

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not even few minutes after all the scary trees was gone and they continued, still laughing loudly, Ash really enjoying his time in this place so far.

It took some moments, but after some while they reached a raging river. They all looked at it before Pinkie said "How are we gonna cross this?"

They heard a loud wail and Ash immediately looked up seeing a giant purple lizard with long arms, orange hair and half a mustache. It cried out and fell into the water, splashing water over all of them, soaking them to the skin. Ash was the one who got it easiest as he didn't have a long mane to dry like the ponies had.

"Oh what a world! What a world!" They heard him cry out.

Twilight stepped up and asked "Excuse me sir, but why are you crying?"

"Well I don't know!" He said "I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just wisp past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off! And now I look simply horrid!" With that he cried out louder and fell into the water, giving us a new wave of water.

"Oh give me a break" Sighed a soaked Rainbow Dash, as Applejack continued "That's what all the fuss is about?"

"Why of course it is!" Said a shocked Rarity as she walked over to the sea snake "How can you be so insensitive! Oh just look at him. Such lovely luminashing scales"

"I know..." The snake agreed, and Ash couldn't help but roll his eyes, this guy didn't need more ego as it was apparently.

"Your expertly quite mane" She continued, making Ash have a hard time choke back a snort in amusement.

"I know, I know" He continued, feeling a little better.

"Your fabulous manicure!" She said with a smile.

He smile and said "It's so true!" Making a face that made Ash and Dash silently gag behind Rarity, thankfully no one noticed.
"All ruined without your beautiful mustache"

"It's true! I'm hideous!" He cried.

"I simply can not let such a crime against fabulousity go uncorrected!" She said with a surprisingly fierce determination. With that she grabbed one of his scales and tore it off.  She lifted it like a sword and quickly cut of her tail, making the ponies gasp and Ash raise his eyebrow in surprise. She slowly lifted the cut off tail with her magic and levitated it over to him before binding it to the small stump of his lost mustache.

He looked at it shocked, before he raised his head into the air again and cried out "O-oh-oh-oh! My mustache! How wonderful!"

Rarity smiled and said "You look smashing" Just as Twilight came up from behind.

"Oh Rarity. Your beautiful tail!" She looked with sadness at the lump that used to be the magnificent tail.

Rarity smiled, through it wasn't a completely true smile "Oh. It's fine my dear. Short tails are in this season" She looked back with a little worry and continued "Besides... It will grow back"

Ash again heard Dash whisper "So would the mustache" and he and Applejack couldn't help but give a small laugh.
"Let's go!" Twilight said with a smile and began to walk out in the water, only to be lifted by the back of the sea serpent as he said

"Allow me" And dug his head into the water, making a small bridge over the water.

A few minutes or an hour later, it was really hard to keep track of time with eternal night and no watch at all. Arrived the group to the edge of the forest, Ash saw Twilight smile as she said "There it is! The ruins that holds the elements of harmony! We made it!" And looked towards the old broken ruins. She began to ran and I heard Applejack saying happily
"Twilight! Wait for us!"

Ash suddenly heard a "Whoa!" and noticed that Dash had to pull Twilight back from falling down the cliff in front of them, that missed a bridge "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" He heard Rainbow Dash say and smiled in amusement.

"Now what?" They all heard Pinkie Pie said and Rainbow Dash just raised her wings and said "Durh?"

"Oh yeah" Was her respond as Rainbow Dash flew down and grabbed the rope and flew over to the other side of the cliff. Just as she was about to tie the robe to the rock on the other side came a faint whisper "Rainboow..."

Dash turned around in shock and said quickly "Who's there? I ain't scared of you! Show yourself!"

Suddenly a mysterious voice rung in the fog in front of her, it was a female voice saying "We have eagerly been awaiting the best flier in all of Equestria"

"Who?" Asked Dash with a eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Why, you of course!"

"Really? I mean, Oh yeah! Me. Hey you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that wouldn't you? I have tried to come into that group for like ever!"

"No Rainbow Dash, we want you to join us. The Shadowbolts!" And out ran three dark coated ponies with dark blue mane and a creepy purple outfit and equally creepy cutie marks that resembled a bone and skull of some sort. "We are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree forest" She continued "And soon we'll be the greatest in all Equestria! But first we need a captain" Rainbow Dash felt excitement over the thought of being a captain of her own team.

"The most magnificent" She whispered as she flew by.

"Yep" Confirmed Dash proudly.

"Swiftest"

"Yes"

"Bravest flier in all land!"

"Yep it's all true" She said with a smile, feeling proud as ever.

She flew close to Dash and whispered "We need you"

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but jump up in excitement over the possibility and said "Wuhu! Sign me up! Let me just tie up this bridge real quick, and then we have a deal"

"No!" Said the black pony, immediately in front of her, blocking for the rope "It's them or us!" Dash looked a little worried now. This was her dream coming true, but her friends needed her and if there was one thing she knew it was that friends didn't leave each other hanging. That kind of things was just disgusting!

She looked at the Shadowbolts and said "You" The pony in the middle smiled brightly and had an evil beam in her eyes "Thank you for the offer I mean. But I'm afraid I have to say no" She had already tied the rope as she gave them the answer and flew back to the others clearing the fog on the way. She smiled to Twilight and said "See. I never leave me friends hanging!" Ash couldn't help but smile at the loyalty she gave away. She may be a little big headed, but she was a good friend indeed he thought.

They soon arrived inside the old ruins and all looked at the huge stones circled around another greater stone in the middle of the room, Ash faintly heard Dash saying "wow..." Followed by Applejack saying "Come on Twilight, isn't this what ya have been waiting for?"

Twilight walked up as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash slowly began to gather the stones in front of her and said "The elements of harmony, we found them!"

Pinkie counted them as they were gathered "One, two, three, four... There's only five!"
"Where's the six?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight leaned down and said "The books said when the five elements are gathered a spark will ignite, causing the six element to be revealed"

"What in tha hay is that suppose to mean?" Asked a confused Applejack.

"I'm not sure, but I have an idea... Stand back! I don't know what will happen!" They all moved a little back and slowly began to move out of the building, Applejack saying "Come one now ya'll. She needs to concentrate" They all nodded, but Ash standing in the doorway looking at Twilight work, not really feeling safe for her to be alone. Ash noticed something moving out in the corners of his vision and saw a dark blue smoke moving towards Twilight. He quickly looked to her and yelled "Twilight! Watch out!" She looked up frightened and saw Nightmare Moon standing in front of her. Nightmare's horn began to glow in a dark blue aura and the stones began to spin around in a tornado. Just before they all vanished in a dark flash, jumped Twilight into the twister and disappeared with them as the others entered the room.

"Twilight! Where are ya?" Applejack called out, Ash immediately saw the dark blue glow from the upper towers and said "She is in that tower with Nightmare Moon!" They all gasped in shock and immediately sat after the doors that lead to the tower entrances. 

Meanwhile in the tower was Twilight Looked at the Mare in front of her, readying herself for a head on attack. The name looked at her and said with a mockingly voice "You're kidding. You're kidding right?" Seeing she was not kidding, she too began to ready herself for an attack. Twilight was the first to begin running towards her opponent and Nightmare soon followed, they came closer and closer to each other, Twilight slowly gathering magic in her horn and just before she contacted with Nightmare, she teleported behind her, directly up to the stones.

Nightmare looked around confused for a second, before she saw Twilight with her horn on full glow, while she muttered "Just one spark. Come on!" She immediately changed into a dark blue smoke and flew over to in front of Twilight, ready to attack. But then a shock passed through Twilight, sending her flying back, she groaned and looked up to see a small amount of energy passing through each stone as the glowed a faint purple light. She smiled and Nightmare said "No!" Just before the stones again stopped glowing and Twilights grin fainted away.

Nightmare Moon let out a horrible laughed, raised her front hooves and brung them down to the earth sending a shock wave of magic through the floor and destroying all the elements around her. Twilight looked in shock as the remains of the stones fell to the ground and Nightmare Moon continued to laugh as she said "You little foal! Thinking you can defeat me?! Now you'll never see your princess or your sun! The night! Will last! FOREVER!" She smiled evilly to Twilight who shrunk away and her horn began to glow in a dark blue aura.

Twilight gulped awaiting whatever curse she was going to be shot by when she heard a familiar voice yelling "LEAVE HER ALONE!" Followed by a loud cry "PIKACHUUU!" And a flash of yellow, Twilight looked up and saw Nightmare Moon withering in pain as the lightning struck her head on.

She turned to the others and said faintly "Y-You came back?"

"Of course we did sugar cube. We weren't going to leave yer with that mean old mare to defeat for yer self" Applejack smiled to her and Twilight felt a sudden warmth inside and her eyes widened in a glint.

She smiled and turned towards Nightmare Moon who was still panting lightly over the sudden electrical attack and said "You think you can defeat the elements of harmony just like that? Well you're wrong! Cause the elements of harmony are right here!"

The others looked shocked as Twilight turned to Applejack with a smile and said "Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the element of honesty!" Suddenly the fragments of the stone of honesty began to glow and fly over to Applejack, circling around her.

"Fluttershy! Who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of kindness!" The same amount of shards flew around Fluttershy who looked a little nervous.

"Pinkie Pie, who vanished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of laughter!" The shards of laughter flew around Pinkie Pie who jumped excited.

"Rarity, who come to a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of generosity!" The shards flew around her two, she just had her eyes locked at the now worried Nightmare Moon.

"And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her owns hearths desire, represents the spirit of loyalty!" The shards flew around her to and she just smiled and looked with pride at Nightmare Moon, who was in a small state of panic.
"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!"

"You still don't have the six element! The spark didn't work!"

"Oh but it did. A different kind of spark" She turned towards the other ponies and said "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark that ignited inside me, when I realized you all are my friends!" With that a large light was above and to everyone's shock flew two giant stones down, one over Twilight and one over Ash.

Twilight who hadn't noticed the second rock continued "You'll see Nightmare Moon, when those elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the hearth of us all, it creates the six element. The element of magic!" With that all the shards flew into the ponies, each of them now wearing a necklace, Twilight a tiara and Ash a small crown. They all levitated up in the air and began to glow white, Pikachu standing under them looking with awe at his trainer Ash who was levitating with them.
"NOOO!" Cried out Nightmare Moon as Twilight opened her eyes, revealing blinding white eyes and out of them all shot a giant rainbow directly towards Nightmare Moon, surrounding her in a twister of colors.

Soon the whole room was filled in colours and a white light made them all pass out. They slowly regained their senses, and Applejack was the first one to ask "Is every pony ok?"

"Oh thank goodness!" They heard Rarity say and saw her hugging her tail forcefully as Fluttershy said "Oh Rarity it looks just lovely"

"I know! I never part with it again!"

"No. I meant your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark" She said softly. Rarity looked down and smiled, then she looked at Fluttershy and said "So does yours" Fluttershy looked down with a smile and gasped.

"Look at mine! Look at mine!" Said Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down.

"Aww yeah!" Cried Rainbow Dash out, happy for her awesome necklace.

"Gee Twilight. I thought yer was just sprouting a lot of hui, but I reckon we really do represents the elements of friendship, but what about Ash? Wasn't there only suppose' to be six?"

They all turned towards Ash who was blushing embarrassed as they stared at his crown in awe, it's gem looking just like his cutie mark too.

"I think I might can help explain that" Said a mysterious voice as the sun rose outside and a white light filled the room once again and suddenly stood there a large mare like Nightmare moon in front of them, except she had a friendly expression and was pure white with a glittering mane with many different beautiful colours. Ash noticed the other ponies bowed and did the same as Twilight said "Princess Celestia!" and ran over to her.

"Twilight Sparkle. My most faithful student!" She said with a smile as she moved her head down to greet Twilight "I knew you could do it"

"B-But you told me it was all and old pony tale?"

The princess smiled and said "I told you, you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you, who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your hearth"

"But what about Ash? I mean wasn't there only supposed to be six elements" She asked even more confused.
Celestia laughed and said "I will explain later today with your friends, but for now" She turned towards the place where Nightmare Moon had been before and instead of the scary mare was a fragile looking dark blue pony, who almost seemed afraid of them.

"Princess Luna" She began "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you last. time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together little sister"

"Sister?" All the smaller ponies repeated in shock.

"Will you accept my friendship?" She said to the dark pony lying on the ground in front of her. They all leaned a little forward, excited for her answer, Pinkie must have been a little to much excited as she fell forwards and landed on the ground.
Suddenly Luna stood up and said "I'm so sorry! I missed you so much big sister!"

Celestia smiled with a few tears in her eyes and said "I missed you too"

Suddenly they all heard a cry and saw Pinkie crying loudly, until she suddenly stopped and said "You know what this calls for? A party!" She said and all the sudden we were all in Ponyville. 

Ash looked around shocked, as did the rest of the group and Twilight asked Pinkie "How did you do that?!"

"There was a scene change" Said Pinkie Pie as she zoomed off towards the cupcake table, leaving a small pink cloud behind her. Twilight looked baffled and Ash just shook his head, laughing lightly.

After the party was done. Celestia couldn't help but noticed her most prized student looked a little unhappy and asked ""What's wrong Twilight? Aren't you happy your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"

"That's just it" She replied looked unhappy "Now that I realized how wonderful friends can be. I have to leave them again..." The other ponies looked sad and Ash couldn't help but also loose his smile, he might not know them so much yet but they were still his friends after what they had gone through together...

Celestia smiled and said "Spike. Take a note please" Ash looked shocked as a small purple dragon with green scales took out a paper and a pen, ready to write, he just assumed this was Spike.

"I, Princess Celestia, hereby declare that Twilight must take on a new mission, she must continue to study the magics of friendship from her new home in Ponyville!"

This was met by a loud cheer from them all as they gathered around Twilight, who looked up at princess Celestia with a smile and said "Thank you princess! I study harder than ever before!"

Ash smiled at the sight of his friends so happy and looked at the princess and asked "Excuse me princess. But would you mind if I held you to your promise about an explanation about my so far unknown element of harmony?"

The princess laughed and said "Not at all Ash. As long you tell me where you really are from and what magnificent creatures you have on your back" Ash smiled as Pikachu was on his back, looked curious at the princess.

The princess turned towards the others and said "Come with me to the library. I believe we will find peace enough there to get some explanations" They all nodded in agreement and soon they were in the library.

> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They all sat in the library as Celestia and conjured several comfortable carpets so they didn't have to lie on the cold wooden floor. They sat in a circle and all looked at Celestia, who smiled at them all and started "I think it is time to explain why there is one more element than the books said there should be. You see, the books left out one important detail. The detail that friendship always is on work, always finds new ways to bring friendship into the hearth of ponies. Like magic always works, becomes stronger for each passing day in a unicorns life. We learn more magic each day, discover new spells and ways to use this magic. The same is it with friendship, we begins to understand more about friendship and the elements of harmony takes this knowledge to them and becomes stronger..." She took a small pause to breathe.

"What happened today is a rare event even I haven't seen before. The birth of a new element. When Ash here" Ash felt a little uneasy as all eyes landed on him "came to our world he brought the spirit of a whole new element of friendship to us. Himself. He holds the new element inside him. Do any of your have an idea of what this new element could be?" All of them shock their head except Twilight who looked a little unsure. Celestia noticed this with a smile, knowing her students would be the one to figure it out. "Do you have an idea Twilight?"

"I-I think I might..." She said slowly, before looking up at me with a warm smile and a few tears in her eyes of happiness "Ash Ketchum, who was told to be gone, to run away, but came back to help the same ponies who told him to leave even though he could have left for safety, represents the element of support"

Again a flash filled the room and Ash was again wearing the crown with the gem looking like one of those small red and white balls strapped around his leg.  He looked surprised and said "I'm really the element of support?"

"Indeed you are" Celestia said with a smile "But Ash... I can sense this is not the real you. You are not from this world. Can you please explain that to me?"

Ash looked at all of them and said with a tired smile "Yeah. If anyone deserves to know it's all of you. My name is Ash Ketchum as you know and I'm from earth in a region called Kanto. My specie is called humans and is much different from your specie, first of all we walk on two legs and have hands and fingers, almost like Spike, but we don't have claws. We don't have fur over all of our body, so we have to wear clothes all the time for warmth and other things..."

"What other things?" Asked a confused Fluttershy as most ponies in the room had turned slightly red and some where giving her incredulously looks.

"Errhh... You'll see Fluttershy..." Ash began, feeling really awkward now "If I-I was human right now without clothes... My... Male part would not be as well hidden as they are in my pony form" Now it was Fluttershy's time to open her mouth in shock and blush furiously as she looked down in the grown at embarrassment.

"Well... Besides that... I don't really know about your eating styles here in this world, but humans are omnivorous" Their mouths opened in shock again.

"Y-Ya mean h-humans e-eats meat?" Asked, a now scared, Applejack, unconsciously taking a step away from Ash.
"Yes they do, but remember I'm not a human now and probably can't eat meat, besides humans eat fruits and vegetables too. It's really a choice we have to make. Some humans won't eat meat, because they think it is terrible to do to animals. And before you get offended you must understand that ponies and horses in our world is no where near your intelligent level. They can't talk, fly or use magic, they are unable to build anything" The others nodded, looked a little shocked, but understood "And as some of you know, there are another specie in my world called pokémons as my friend Pikachu here" Pikachu jumped down and said with a happy voice "Pika! Pi, Pikachu!"

Celestia looked at Pikachu and said "Magnificent! I have never seen such creatures before and for what I understood from Luna this creature was able to shoot a stream of electricity that could even make Nightmare Moon cry out in pain"
Ash nodded and looked at Pikachu "Give them a demonstration, but not too much" Pikachu smiled wickedly and jumped up on the table. The ponies backed a little away and Pikachu began faintly to sparkle in an electric glow and all the sudden it cried out "Pikachuu!" Before a struck of lightning shot upwards and hit the roof, leaving a light scorch mark.

Celestia had wide opened eyes at this and muttered "Fantastic. Never before have I seen such abilities... Ash how many of these pokémons do you have with you?"

"Around six including Pikachu here" He answered with a smile.

Celestia looked even more surprised at this and asked "But where are they?"

The rest of the group giggled and Ash let out a small laughter and said "As I said to the others, they are right here" With that he wrapped his tail around Pidgeot’s ball and threw it lightly up and gave it a light hit with his head, hitting the button and a white flash appeared and soon after stood the large bird again, looking happily at Ash.

"This girls name is Pidgeot, she is a flying type pokémon and fully evolved from Pidgey"

"Evolved?" Asked a confused Twilight.

"Yes. When a pokémon reaches a certain level of power he or she gets surrounded by a white light and their physical form begins to change, the normally grow bigger and better. Take Pidgeot for example. I caught her as a Pidgeotto, first evolution of Pidgey, at that time she was much smaller than me and could sit on my shoulder without any trouble, now I can ride her through the skies, I just wished I had my backpack. My pokédex is in it, and then I could just show you!" Ash said with bitterness.

"Is it this backpack?" Pinkie asked as she pulled a green backpack out of no where apparently.
Ash stood shocked and said "Yes, that's mine! How did you find it?"

"It lay next to you when we found you, so I kept it safe for you" She answered with a bright smile. The others looked at her with a confused look and Twilight said "Pinkie. You can't just take ponies stuff like that!"

"No it's ok Twilight" Ash said as he smiled and looked through his backpack "I would probably have lost it somewhere in the forest. Wouldn't be the first time I did that on my travels" They all gave a weak chuckle and soon Ash let out a breath in relief and took out a small box looked red device.

Twilight's ear perked up in interest and said "What is that?"

"It's a pokédex" Answered Ash as he opened it with his mouth "It can give me data on all kinds of pokémon and since I have captured many and have seen many more I got data from most around my world that are discovered. You can watch a small animation of all the evolvings of your pokémons as the data have been recorded to the pokédex. It was created by professor Oak, who also gave me my first pokémon and friend Pikachu"

Twilight moved closer to look at the pokédex and was utterly surprised when the small screen turned on and the pokédex said with a mechanical voice "Hello Ash Ketchum, how can I help you?"

"What kind of magic is this?!" She asked as she looked closer to the device.

Ash laughed and said "It's no magic, just pure technology. Humans like me don't have any magic at all, so we survive on our brain with creating many devices that makes our normal day easier as they do some of the work for us, we have for example cars, they are like your pony dragged carats, except they move on their own thanks to a machine"

Twilight looked up at this new found knowledge and said "That sounds really brilliant! Now I really want to meet this professor you're talking about!"

"If it is possible to bring him here, or you to our world and take you back to here I'm sure he would love to meet you too" Ash said as he gave up on the pokédex, it was harder to press buttons with no fingers. He pushed it over to Pikachu and said "Can you Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded and pressed a few buttons and soon the screen turned white and the mechanical voice said "You have chosen to watch the evolution of Pidgeotto to Pidgeot" and the screen suddenly flash and a small movie appeared, showing a Pidgeotto flying through the skies with a great amount of speed. Rainbow Dash smiled at this, liking this kind of pokémon already. Suddenly its whole body began to glow clear white and while it glowed it suddenly started to change form, it grew larger, longer, its wings began to grow longer too and it's red neck feathers grew longer too. The light faded away and there was a new bird. Pigeot who stopped in midair and let out a cry "PIDGEOT!" And gave a powerful bash with it wings.

The film ended and all the ponies from Equestria stood there with shock or smile on their faces. Celestia had a smile and said "This is a most impressive thing, I had never expected such a creature to ever exist and with such magnificent powers it is quite astounding. And I understand that there are many more of these creatures with each their own type of nature element?"

"That is correct princess" Ash said with a smile "There are quite a lot types for pokémon actually. So far known there are seventeen types, but there can be more. These types are normal, fire, water, electric, grass, ice, fighting, poisen, ground, flying, psychic, bug, rock, ghost, dragon, dark and steel. Many pokémon has a single type, but there are also many there is a combination between two like my Pidgeot is a flying/normal type"

They all looked quite surprised by his knowledge of the subject and Rainbow Dash asked "So what kind of pokémons do you have with you?"

"I have electric, flying, fire, water, grass, and ice" He said as he had revised it until he could it perfectly.
"And would you mind to show us the pokémon you have with you?"

"Not at all" He said with a smile and he slowly began to collect his pokéballs on the ground in a line. He walked over and pressed the first button and out jumped Sceptile, he let out a yawn and looked around in confusion and then looked down to Ash and face palmed, he looked at Ash again with a raised eyebrow and Ash smiled and said "Yeah. I know Sceptile, I don't really know what happened, but we'll have to do with it" The large grass reptile nodded and leaned back against the wall, not really giving knowledge to the other ponies in the room.

Ash looked at the others, some was having their mouth open again and looked with awe at the pokémon "This is Sceptile, my strongest grass pokémon as you can guess by his appearance"

"Fantastic..." Said Celestia and Twilight in unison as they looked at Sceptile with wonder.
Ash smiled and walked over to the next and said "Come out Glalie!"

The room was instantly filled with a sudden chill as the cold air from the ice type filled the room. The ponies shivered lightly and Celestia raised an eyebrow in interest. Ash walked over and petted Glalie who made a happy rasp in return "This is Glalie, he is an ice type pokémon and as you can feel, do ice types slightly affect the area they're in with making is a little colder. Ice type pokémon are one of the harder types to get in my world as they often lives in the colder areas of my world and it takes some time to find them" Twilight nodded, taking notes and looking interested.

Ash pushed to the next, releasing Feraligator who stood twice as tall as the normal ponies and even a little taller than Celestia. The ponies immediately backed away in fear as the large alligator looking pokémon looked around and saw Ash. He let out a happy growl and picked Ash up in a crushing hug, making Ash laugh and try to push him away "Feraligator!" He said through his laughs "Put me down! I have some new friends for you too meet!" The large blue pokémon put him down with a grin and Ash turned to the others and saw their small amount of fear in their eyes and even Celestia looked a little suspicious at the pokémon. He groaned and said "Don't be afraid of Feraligator, he may look a little scary, but trust me when I say he is the biggest child I have ever seen. He wouldn't hurt anyone... Anypony" He corrected himself "Unless they hurt me first or I told him too"

"So it's basically this way. Don't hurt ya or we get our flanks handed to us on a silver plate?" Applejack said with a grin.
Ash laughed and said "Pretty much. My friends get rather angry when someone hurts me"

"Ah have to remember that" She said with a laugh, but kept a nervous glance on Feraligator.

"The next pokémon is a fire pokémon named Charizard, I think its best made some area as one of the things about Charizard is that he has a tail with a small amount of fire in the end, just so we don't burn anything down or burn Anypony..." They all backed a little away and Ash was just about to push the button when he said "I don't know if you have dragons in this world, but I warn you. Charizard looks a lot like a dragon..."  He looked around to see if anypony had anything against this and saw or heard nopony making a comment, and with that he released it, not hearing Fluttershy's gasp in fright and out came a huge orange dragon, easily taller than Feraligator and almost reached the roof of the house. He looked around and saw Ash, he gave a short snort and looked amused.

Ash smiled back to him and said "Yeah I know I'm not in my normal form Charizard, weird things happens and new adventures we face" The dragon nodded in agreement and then looked at the ponies, who looked back at him with fright, especially Fluttershy who was hiding behind Pinkie Pie, whimpering lightly.

"These are my friends Charizard" Ash said "I just wanted you to meet them" Charizard nodded to the ponies.
Twilight was the first to talk "Is Charizard a dragon?"

"Nope" Ash answered with a smile "He is a fire/flying type even if he resembles a dragon in his form and can learn special dragon type moves"

They all heard a loud whimper and looked at Fluttershy, who was still hiding behind Pinkie Pie, who had a smile on her face. Twilight walked over to her and said softly “What’s wrong Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy whimpered a little and said “I-I’m s-s-s…” But couldn’t finish the sentence.

Applejack was now on her other side and said with a soft voice “Ya can tell us sugarcube, we won’t laugh”

With a voice, almost lower than a whisper she muttered “I-I’m s-scared of d-dragons…”

Then everyone heard Ash say “Charizard. Come back…” The tall dragon looking pokémon disappeared and he walked over to Fluttershy and said softly “Why didn’t you stop me when I said he looked like a dragon then Fluttershy?”

“I didn’t want to be a burden…” She said with a shy voice, looking at the ground.

“Aww Fluttershy you silly pony!” Said Pinkie Pie as she hugged Fluttershy “You could never be a burden! There’s nothing wrong with being afraid” Fluttershy smiled weakly and returned the hug with a embarrassed blush.

“She’s right sugar cube. Even ah’m afraid sometimes. Take for example me. Ah’m deathly afraid of snakes” Everyone looked at her shocked, but she just smiled and looked proud of the fact that she could admit her fears.

Twilight laid a hoof on her shoulder and said “And I’m afraid of failing. I have been since I started studying in Canterlot” Celestia raised an eyebrow on this one, this was something she really didn’t know about her student and secretly closest thing to a daughter.

“Yeah” Said Rainbow Dash, everypony looked at her with a raised eyebrow, almost daring her to say ‘I’m not afraid of anything!’ instead she made a pleasant surprise and said “Even through you’ll never hear me admit it in public I’ve a small amount of stage fright. I never handled large crowds watching me flying to well” Applejack smiled to her, glad she could swallow some pride and be a good friend in need.

“Well if we all have to admit our fear” Rarity began “I must admit I too have fears, fears of losing my dear sister Sweetie Bell” Everyone smiled to her with understanding. All of the ponies, except Twilight, Ash and Celestia, knowing even if they fought a lot, they still loved each other more than the world itself.

Everyone looked at Pinkie Pie, who swallowed nervously and said with a small and almost scared voice “M-My worst fear is a world without laughter or fun. A cold and grey world…” Without thinking over it, moved Ash over to her side and put a hoof around her shoulder.

Twilight looked at Ash and asked “What about you Ash? What’s your fear?”

Without looking up, answered Ash “To loose my friends. My worst fear must be to loose those I hold closest. To loose you or my pokémon…” Everypony looked at him with a smile of happiness. Glad he considered them a friend already.

Twilight looked back at Fluttershy, who now had stopped crying and said “See Fluttershy. Everypony has fears, even if we don’t admit them. You were strong to admit you are afraid of dragons and we do not blame you for that, nor are we disgusted or think lowly of you. Fear is a thing everypony has and it takes true courage to admit it, even to a dear friend”

Celestia, unable to stop smiling at the group of friends, said “I think you all just learned a valuable lesson in friendship. To accept each others fears and strengths and work together to overcome them” The ponies smiled at her and she looked out of the window before saying “As much as I want to stay. I sadly have duties to do. Ash, maybe another time you could show me the true powers of your pokémon friends. I would be most honored to watch such a demonstration” With that she walked out of the door and flew towards Canterlot again.

Twilight recovered from her shock over Celestia saying it would be an honor for her to do anything and then turned to Ash “Where should you sleep while you are here?”

Everypony looked a little uncertain and Rainbow Dash said “He can’t sleep at my place, unless he learns to fly”

“And as much as I would like to offer some room” Continued Rarity “I sadly do not have any spare rooms”

“He can sleep at my place!” Said a happy Pinkie Pie, recovered from the thought of a world without laughter.

Twilight looked at her uncertain and said “Are you sure Mr. and Mrs. Cake are ok with this?”

Pinkie Pie just nodded excited and said “They have always said if a friend of my needed a place to stay he or she would always be welcome there!”

“Well…” Said Twilight, still a little uncertain “It’s really a matter of what Ash wants. Are you ok with this?”

Ash looked at the excited Pinkie Pie and smiled to Twilight “I think I survive”

Twilight smiled to him, almost with a teasing smirk and said “Then it’s settled. Ash is going to sleep at Pinkie’s place” Ash smiled over to Pinkie, who was now bouncing up and down excited again.

She ran over and grabbed Ash by the leg and said “Come on! I show you the way!” and disappeared in a pink smoke.
Seconds after they appeared in front of a large shop with a huge fake cupcake on top, Ash looked at it as Pinkie said “This is here where I live with Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I moved from my family a long time ago and didn’t have enough bits to get a home for my self, so I live and work with them until I get enough!” Ash nodded, understanding. He was just lucky that pokémon championships gave money as a prize or he might still live with his mum.

They opened the door and Pinkie called “Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I’m home!”

“Welcome home Pinkie! We wondered why you weren’t at the party?”

“Oh I just met with my friends and said hello to a new friend of ours!” She called back with a smile.

“A new pony in town?” The female voice called back and soon she walked into the store from upstairs. Mrs. Cake, she was a light blue coated mare with a pink mane and three cupcakes as a cutie mark. She looked at Ash and smiled “You must be the new in town. What’s your name?”

“My name is Ash Ketchum, but my friends call me Ash” He answered with a smile “I’m new here and don’t really have a home yet, Pinkie invited me to sleep here. I hope that is ok”

She smiled brightly to him and said “Of course dear. It’s so rare Pinkie invites friends over and we always enjoy some more company”

“Thank you Mrs. Cake” He said and looked at Pinkie, asking “So where is the guest room?”

“It’s right upstairs” She said happily “Come on. I show you the way!” She took Ash by the hoof and pulled him upstairs, him laughing all the way at her never ending energy.

Soon he was in the average sized room with a light yellow color covering the room. He smiled already feeling home and quickly went for bed, just before he fell asleep he heard Pinkie say from the door “Sleep well Ash. Tomorrow is going to be a super duper fantastic day!” He chuckled in response and fell asleep after a long day.

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash woke up next morning with a growling stomach, realizing the last time he ate anything was at breakfast yesterday. He groaned in hunger, almost feeling too weak to get out of bed. He noticed Pikachu was too awake next to him and he said “Are you hungry too Pikachu?”

Pikachu nodded weakly and said “Pika…” The door suddenly slammed open and in walked Pinkie Pie, holding a plate with two sandwiches with her mouth. She placed them on the bed and said “Good morning Ash! I thought you were hungry since you didn’t got anything real to eat yesterday, except cupcakes and no pony can live of cupcakes all the time, even if it would be wonderful!”

Ash smiled to her and said “Thank you Pinkie!” and looked down at his sandwich, it was two pieces of bread with several flowers and grass between. In human form Ash had found this disgusting, but in pony form it actually surprised him that is looked quite delicious, maybe it was his instincts kicking in… He looked over at Pikachus plate and noticed his was fried bread with a fried egg on top. He smiled, glad Pinkie thought that Pikachu didn’t eat plants like they did… That reminded him of something. Charizard and Feraligator… How would people react when he had to tell them he had two meat eaters on his team? He sighed and began to eat his sandwich, which was surprisingly delicious as it looked. After he was done, he felt happy and full again, surprised over how much a single sandwich could fill him. Maybe ponies just eat a lot less than humans do? He thought as he walked out of the door with Pikachu on his back. He walked downstairs and saw Twilight and Pinkie talking happily, he smiled, walked over and said “Hi Twilight, how are you doing?”

Twilight turned to him and smiled “I’m fine thank you. How was your night? Did she keep you up for too long?”
Ash smiled and winked to Pinkie Pie who giggled “Actually not. She showed me right to bed and even gave me breakfast in bed this morning”

Twilight’s eyes opened in surprise and she turned to Pinkie Pie and said “Pinkie. I’m surprise. I didn’t know you could be so thoughtful”

“Oh there are many things you don’t know about me Twilight” She said with a teasing smile, and bounced out of the shop, leaving a shocked Twilight behind. Ash followed Pinkie Pie and just before he walked out of the shop he said “Are you coming or what?” Twilight shook her head quickly and followed them out of the shop.

Soon they were walking down the town main street, enjoying the good sunny weather and thanked Rainbow Dash in their minds for the good weather. They passed a small café and went it to get a quick snack and something to drink, as they sat down and Ash got his glass with crystal clear water and a bunch of flowers on a plate he looked at the two others and saw Twilight only had ordered a glass of apple juice and Pinkie had ordered a flower sandwich and a soda.

He smiled and took a sip of his water and said “So is there anything special planned for today or just a relaxing day?”

“Well. I promised Spike I would help him with something later” She looked up at the clock tower and gasped “Which is actually in a few minutes! I have to go now!” With that a flash appeared and she was gone.

Ash stared in shock at the spot where Twilight just was and shook his head with a laugh and asked Pinkie “How about you and me hang out today then?”

“Sure!” She said happily and quickly ate the last of her meal as Ash finished his, Pinkie paid for the meal, mainly because Ash didn’t have any bits yet and because she insisted, and they left. Pinkie began to show him around town and introduced him to many ponies. The first one they came past was a pony with a medium brown coat and a dark brown mane, his cutie mark was an hourglass. Pinkie walked over to him and said “Hello Dr. Whooves!”

“Why hello Pinkie. How are you today?” He greeted happily.

“I’m fine thank you. I’m just showing our new neighbor around town. His name is Ash Ketchum. Ash, this is Dr. Whooves. He is the one who makes and sells clocks around time and stands for managing the clock tower always shows the right time”
“Honor to meet you” Ash said with a smile.

Dr. Whooves laughed and said “The honor is mine Ash. Any friend of Pinkie is already proven good in my book” Dr. Whooves looked over Ash and saw Pikachu, his eyes opened in interest and said “Oh my. What kind of creature is this?”

Ash smiled and said “His name is Pikachu, but his specie is called a pokémon. He comes from a far away country and are fairly unknown, few books are written about them and those books are quite hard to find. I used to live in that country, before I moved here”

“Interesting…” He said with a smile and then looked at the clock tower and gasped “Sorry, but I have to get going! I have to finish a new flower shaped clock for Daisy before this afternoon and I still have much work to do!” With that he raced past them, with Pinkie yelling after him “Have a good day Doctor!”

Ash looked at the way he just ran and said “Wow… He must be really busy sometimes”

Pinkie giggled and said with her normal cheerful, excited voice “Sure he is! He is making all the clocks in town silly” Ash nodded in understanding, and let Pinkie lead him around Ponyville to meet new people. They met many different ponies like Daisy, who owned the flower shop in town, and Lyra, who surprised Ash, when she sat on a bench as any human would do, instead of lying down like a normal pony.

It didn’t take long, before Pinkie looked up in the skies and muttered “Where is she?”

“Who are you looking for Pinkie?” Ash asked confused and looked up in the skies. Not even a few seconds later a rather awkward voice came from behind him saying “Watch out!” He didn’t have time to react and felt the pony behind him crash into his back, sending him to the ground.

“Ops! Sorry, my bad! I lost control after I almost hit a tree…” Ash looked up and turned around, and gasped in shock as he saw a grayish light blue pony with a faint yellow many and a set of twisted eyes that pointed in each direction.
“H-Hey!” He said, a little nervous about her eyes.

Behind him smiled Pinkie brightly and said “Hey Derpy! This is Ash Ketchum, he is new in town and I wanted to show him every pony so he can get lots of new friends!” Ash smiled at this.

Derpy turned to Ash and said with a smile “Oh. I should have guessed you were new here. Hi my name is Ditzy Hooves, but all my friends call me Derpy because of my eyes and way to speak”

“Isn’t that a little rude?” Asked Ash concerned with a raised eyebrow.

“Nah!” she said with a happy smile “I really don’t mind, besides I know it’s in all good fun” Ash smiled to her, glad she wasn’t offended by it in any way.

Pinkie Pie smiled to Derpy and said “So what are you doing Derpy? You don’t look like one delivering mail right now” She turned to Ash and said “Derpy is the one who delivers all the mail in Ponyville. She is super duper fantastic at the job!”
Derpy blushed lightly at the praise and said “I’m just doing my job Pinkie, somehow I have to take care of Dinky” Her expression softened much, when she talked about Dinky.

“Dinky?” Asked Ash, feeling a little left out.

Derpy smiled to her and said “Dinky is my daughter. We live together, since her father… We really don’t want to talk about who he is, bad memories… left us. I manage fine to take care of us, even if it means we don’t have much time together as other families” Ash could easily see her small amount of sadness at this sentence, even if she tried to hide it, and silently promised himself that one day he would make sure she could spent more time with her daughter.

Derpy suddenly said “Oh look at the time! I’m behind my schedule! I must go! Cya Pinkie. See you Ash!” And she flew away.
“It’s kind of sad” Said Pinkie with a smile, even through you could hear her sadness “To not be able to see your daughter all the time you want, because you have to earn bits to live…” Ash nodded in agreement, only wishing he could help Derpy right now.

He patted Pinkie on the shoulder and said “We’ll find a way to help her…” Pinkie didn’t say anything and just nodded, Ash missing the small blush appearing on her already high pink mane. Suddenly she smiled brightly and said “Come on! I have to show you something at Applejack’s place!” With that she grabbed his hoof again and they disappeared in a small pink cloud.

Not even a few seconds later they both were outside the famous Sweet Apple Acres, looking at the big sign saying ‘Welcome’ Ash turned shocked to Pinkie Pie and said “How did we get here so fast?!”

Pinkie giggled and said with a small amount of mischievous in her voice “You’ll find out someday…” and began to bounce into the farm, leaving a confused and slightly disturbed Ash behind. After a few seconds he shook his head and followed Pinkie into the farm, she smiled to him and opened the barn door and jumped in. Ash sighed, sometimes not getting Pinkies logic, but decided he should follow her, he didn’t have anything better to do as all the others was apparently busy today. He slowly neared the barn and thought he heard small whispers from the inside but shook it off. Even if it was true, it would probably be Pinkie talking to her self, she does that a lot.

He slowly opened the barn door and was surprised to see total darkness. He walked in and closed the door behind him, as soon he did that the light turned on, surprising him and out of no where jumped a lot of ponies and yelled “SURPRISE!!” And down from the ceiling a banner hang and it spelled ‘Welcome to Ponyville Ash!’

Ash, after he came over his shock, smiled brightly and said “So this is why everypony was busy today!” He said happily “But didn’t we celebrate yesterday?”

Pinkie Pie, who appeared on his side randomly, giggled and said “No you silly colt! Yesterday we had a ‘Equestria-is-saved’ party and a ‘Welcome-back-Luna” Party! Today we celebrate you moving into Ponyville!” She stated happily and quickly bounced towards the snack table. Ash just laughed at her antics and looked around with a smile, most ponies dancing to the music by Vinyl and others sitting around, drinking their punch and eating a cupcake or muffin, Derpy had several muffins in her grip as she flew happily over the crowd with a gleam in her eyes as she excited ate a chocolate muffin. Ash noticed Fluttershy sitting alone over at a table and felt a little bad for her, so he moved through the crowd and joined her.

“Hey Fluttershy. Why are you sitting all alone?” He asked with a kind smile, trying not to be too loud as he knew she was very shy.

She looked at him and gave a shy smile and said “I just don’t want to get in any ponies way…”

Ash smile changed slowly into a look of comfort as he said “Fluttershy… Believe me when I say you won’t get in the way of any pony, how about you go over and talk to Twilight. She is standing alone too”

True to his words stood Twilight out on the floor and looked around for someone to talk too. Fluttershy smiled to Ash thankfully for saying that as she was most comfortable around her friends and quickly left to join Twilight. Soon they were happily chatting. Ash smiled, glad he could help in some way and began walking over to the punch. He saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack sitting at a table and decided he might as well join them. As he sat down, looked Rainbow Dash at him with a smile and said “Hey Ash! How’s it hanging?”

“I’m fine thank you. Enjoying the party and managed to get Fluttershy to go over and talk to Twilight”

“That’s mighty fine of ya!” Applejack said with a smile “Ah know Fluttershy may need a little push sometimes. She’s to darn shy for her own good sometimes”

Ash let out a small laugh in agreement, knowing she didn’t mean it in a bad way. Rainbow Dash looked at them with a smile, before taking another zip of her punch and saying “Well I’m off to the snack table before Pinkie and Derpy eats it all” With that she flew away, leaving Applejack and Ash for themselves.

“So what are yer plans for now?”

Ash looked at her surprised, he really hadn’t thought of that… He sighed and said “I don’t really know. I guess I have to get a job sooner or later. I can’t live as a burden for Pinkie and the cakes forever. Maybe in a few months I can get my own house”

Applejack smiled at him and then sent him a calculating look before asking “How are yer physical strength Ash?”

Ash looked at her curiously at the sudden question, but answered “I have a great fitness due to having traveled around the world for years in my own world and I work out daily so I can keep up with my pokémons training schedule”

“Yeah. Ah noticed that. You are no Big Macintosh, but you are fairly well built and have more muscle than normal stallions”
Ash couldn’t help but blush at the compliment. He had been told that by friends before, but never by a girl. Applejack, who didn’t notice continued “How woul’ ya like to come work at our farm to earn some bits?”

Ash looked at Applejack with clear surprise and asked “Are you sure? Work at your farm?”

“Ah’m quite sure we coul’ use some help from a fine working stallion like ya” She stated with a proud smile.

Ash smiled happily to her and shook her hoof saying “That’s a deal Applejack! So when do I meet tomorrow?”

Applejack let out a laugh and said “Right to the case heh? Ah like that. Ya meet tomorrow at seven. And just call me AJ. Most of ma friends does”

“What are you two talking about?!” Said Pinkie Pie, who suddenly popped out in between them. Ash jumped away in shock, before he let out a breath in relief.

“Pinkie. Please don’t scare me like that again! And AJ have just offered me a job at the Apple Acres to earn some bits”

Pinkie smiled brightly to him and said “That’s great!” She turned to AJ and said happily “Thank you for giving Ash a place to work!” With that she pulled AJ into a big hug. 

Applejack just laughed and said “No big deal! Besides we’ll need that extra help as the big harvest is near and it takes too long to do with only two workers”

Pinkie then released Applejack and hugged Ash, saying “I’m so happy for you! Just promise me you still have time to have some fun with me!”

Ash returned the hug happily and said “Nothing in the world would make me do that” Applejack looked at the two with a knowingly smirk and just walked away, leaving the two friends for their own.

The party was finally done later that night and Ash lied in his bed, thinking of his new friends and what adventures awaited him in this world.

> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week had passed since Ash had been officially accepted into Ponyville at the welcome party, he had earned quite a few bits for working at the farm and enjoyed his time with Pinkie Pie and the others, even through it was no secret he preferred to spent time with Pinkie as she was the funniest and one of his best friends. He woke up early that morning, around six o'clock, maybe a little later and walked down to the kitchen, leaving Pikachu to sleep in the bed, knowing it would not be good if he woke Pikachu up. He had tried it once and he swore he could still feel the electricity a week after. Of course no one believed him as Pikachu had put up his best 'I'm innocent' expression. Ash had just shook it off, unable to stay angry at Pikachu for more than a few minutes. However he did get him back one day when he pushed him into a large river filled with magikarps, making it really hard to get up while dodging splashing magikarps.

He looked around in the kitchen and noticed some bread, grass and flowers and decided to take a simple sandwich for breakfast, before he headed over to AJ.

He slowly devoured his sandwich as he heard someone walk down from the stairs, he turned around and saw a sleepy Pikachu walking down, sending him an accusing look. Ash grinned to him and said "Sorry Pikachu, but after last time I have learned not to wake you up again" Pikachu just hugged in response and jumped up next to Ash and took a piece of bread and began to eat it.

After a few minutes Ash sat back in the chair, how he sat in a chair as a pony he had no clue, and let out a satisfied sigh.

He looked at Pikachu and asked "Ready to go over to AJ?" Pikachu got up and nodded, he jumped over at Ash's back and he quickly wrote a note, stating he went over to AJ to work, before he left the house.

It took a few minutes, but soon they were in front of the famous Sweet Apple Acres and walked right in. They saw Twilight and Applejack standing and talking. He walked over to them and said "Hey AJ, how's it going? What are you doing here Twi?" He had a long time ago began to form nicknames out of their names, because he just couldn't get used to the long names. Twilight was Twi, Applejack is AJ. Pinkie Pie is Pinkie. Rarity is Rari. Fluttershy is Shy, short and good, and Rainbow Dash is named Dash.

Both smiled to him and AJ responded "I felt we could use an extra hand as Big Mac is busy elsewhere and Twilight was ready to help us"

Ash smiled to her teasingly and said "So you think you can handle manual work Twi?"

She sent him an annoyed look and said "Of course I can. I may not be an Applejack or Rainbow Dash, but I'm not helpless as you should know" Ash groaned at the reminded as AJ snickered, it had been a few days ago where Ash just had pushed Twi a little to hard with his teasing and ended up at the clock tower roof for a whole hour with no way of coming down, Shy had been busy and Rainbow Dash was to busy laughing at his expense.

He smiled to her, and suddenly remembered something he had completely shot out of his mind in the last week as he had spent so much fun time with his new friends and asked "Twilight. Do you know if the princess is working on a way to send me home to my own world?"

She looked a little sad down and answered "She haven't gotten any closer to the answer I'm afraid. I asked her yesterday and she has no clue why you are here, and how you got here in the first place..."

Ash and AJ smiled both to her and Ash said with a grin "Not that it really needs to get on that fast. I quite enjoy my time in Equestria. Nice time of change from all the things I did back in my own world. Let's not get all sad about that. I'm sure we find a way sooner of later."

AJ smiled to them both, happy to hear Ash enjoyed his time in their world and didn't worry about not being able to go home yet, and said "Come on now! We'll have to harvest those apples before it gets too late!" Both of the friends quickly followed.

After many hours of work they had finally finished the south field and was done for today. They all walked back towards the farm with a satisfied smile on their faces, Pikachu was happily eating an apple on his back, while Spike was trying to find the most perfect apple in the basket.

They all heard a growl behind them and looked at Twilight who blushed in embarrassment and said with a nervous smile "Guess all this work made me hungry…" AJ and Ash both laughed as Spike continued to pick out apples.

Soon he said with a smile "AH HA!" and picked out a bright red delicious looking apple.

Twilight looked at it with a smile and said hopefully "Oh Spike that look delicious!" Ash, who knew Spike well enough by now, saw what was coming and quickly used his tail to grab the apple before Spike sat his teethes in it.

He looked at him with a confused look and said "Hey! What gives?"

Ash grinned at him and said "Hey. It was Twi who had worked all morning, I think she deserves this more than you. Besides you can just wait or find another apple and stop being to picky" Spike just sat down and grumbled as Ash tossed the apple to Twi who grabbed it with her mouth and quickly ate it.

She gave a smile to Ash and said "Thanks Ash, nice to know someone around here have manners!" She said the last part with a clear look at Spike who had the decency to look down ashamed.

"No problem Twi. Glad I could help" He replied and continued to follow AJ. Suddenly a loud burp came from Spike and a green light flared up, he turned around and saw a flame appear and out of it came a letter. Ash sighed, remembering his first day he saw that and was clearly shocked to his bones about the sudden letter out of fire thing. It had taken him an hour to understand how it happened and Spike's abilities.

Spike took the letter as Twilight said "It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" Ash sighed, almost rolling his eyes as to say 'Thank you captain Obvious!'

Spike opened the letter and began to read up, it was basically about how a gala was coming up at Canterlot called 'The Grand Galloping Gala' and how Twilight had earned two tickets, one for herself and one for a friend. Ash narrowed his eyes at this one, thinking about how Twilight had five friends, seven if you counted him and Spike in, but it didn't really sound like something Ash would enjoy very much, he wasn't too up for all that high and fine princess things. That could cause some troubles if all of her female friends wanted to go. In the end of the letter both of the ponies in front of him exclaimed "The grand Galloping Gala!" in excitement. Ash groaned, this could cause some troubles…

He turned his look up again and began to listen to AJ as she started to look excited and talk about how she wished she could go to the Gala so she could sell her apples and get rich, to buy her self a new farm and all other things that could help her with harvesting and planting new vegetables. Ash sighed and began to walk towards the farm, leaving AJ and Twilight behind, not really caring for that weird gala they were talking about. He delivered the apples at the farm to Big Mac, who gave him his daily payment and walked towards the town. He looked around and saw several ponies he recognized, such as Daisy, Caramel, Doctor Whooves and up in the skies was Derpy flying around with the daily mail.

He heard a voice behind him call "Oh hey Ash!" He turned around and saw Pinkie walking, or rather bouncing, over to him with a smile plastered on her face. He felt the annoyance from before, because of the gala talk, leave and smiled to her.

She bounced over next to him and asked "So are you done working?"

He nodded with a smile and said "Sure am. I could use some lunch, want to join me?" Her smile brightened and she nodded quickly.

They quickly found a restaurant and sat down. They picked up the menu and began to look through it. After some time had Ash finally decided to take a nice looking salad, he looked at Pinkie and asked "Have you found out what you want?" She nodded and not even a few minutes after they both sat and gladly ate their lunch. It didn't take them long before they were done and satisfied with a full stomach and walked, and bounced, with a smile through the town. Suddenly a massive purple mass ran into Pinkie so they both fell to the ground. Ash noticed something golden land on Pinkies face and groaned when he saw it was the tickets.

"AHH! BATS ON MY FACE! BATS ON MY FACE!" Pinkie suddenly screamed and ran around until she took a closer looks at the tickets and said "Wait… These are not bats! They are tickets to the…" She took them up and looked closer at them "THE GRAND GALLOPING GALA!" She said with starts shining in her eyes. Ash groaned out louder and felt the annoyance coming back, together with a headache.

"Wait you want to go to the Gala?" Asked a surprised Twilight.

Again random background music appeared and Ash knew instantly what that meant. A Pinkie Pie song.

Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me

Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me

Hip hip

Hooray

It's the best place for me

For Pinkie

With decorations like streamers and fairy-lights and pinwheels and piñatas and pin-cushions. With goodies like sugar cubes and sugar canes and sundaes and sun-beams and sarsaparilla. And I get to play my favorite-est of favorite fantabulous games like Pin the Tail on the Pony!

Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me

Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me

'Cause it's the most galarrific superly-terrific gala ever

In the whole galaxy

Wheee!

Ash looked at Pinkie like she was crazy, which she probably was, he knew she liked parties, but she had to see that a Gala was much different from the normal crazy parties she attented, much less wild and more boring than anything else. Twilight just stood there with a sign and Ash felt a little pity for her, it must be hard to have five friends who wants to attend and only have two tickets, where one of them if for yourself.

Pinkie was in mean time bouncing around Twilight, chanting over and over "Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you Twilight! I always dreamed to go to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"What is all this racket about?" Came a voice with a clear accent and Ash groaned again, Rarity hearing about the Gala was the last thing Twilight or he needed.

"Twilight just invited me to the Grand Galloping Gala!" Pinkie exclaimed excited and right on that moment wished Ash just to leave.

"The Grand Galloping Gala? You mean you have tickets to the finest gala in all of Equestria!" She asked shocked. Twilight nodded unsurely and a little nervous.

"Twilight!" She exclaimed shocked again "I simply can't believe you would invite Pinkie to 'party'" She said the last part with a hint of disdain "And prevent my to meet my true love: Prince Blueblood!" She had a dreamy look on her face on the last part.

She then began to explain how it was her dream to meet prince Blueblood at the gala and how they would dance and he would fall in love with her and then ask her for marriage, which she would accept and then become a princess. Ash rolled his eyes at her, thinking she sounded like a creepy fangirl of all things, and trust him when he says he had to deal with those daily too since he became a international pokémon champion.

Then a new voice appeared out of no where, it was a shy, low and nervous voice "E-Excuse me Twilight…? If it w-was ok. Would you mind if I-I could go to the gala…?"

Ash looked at her shocked, not expeting her the kind of gala girl, but neither did he thought AJ was and she wanted to go too apparently.

"You want to go too the gala?" Asked a surprised Rarity.

"O-Oh no…" She said and looked down, but a white bunny, Angel, came and gave her a couple of kicks on the leg and nodded his head furiously. She looked up again and said "I-I mean yes…"

"What can you possible want to go to the gala for?" She asked with a small amount of suspecion in her voice.

"Oh it's not so much about the gala!" She said, new excitement in her voice "I just wants to be in the royal garden with all the animals living there. There are all kinds of cute animals in the royal garden that I would never be able too see out here, because they are so rare!"

Ash sighed and Twilight just looked more troubled than before. It didn't help that a fourth voice came to place "Now hold a horse shoe!" It was with a souther accent "Twilight already promised that ticket to me!"

"What do you mean by that!" Said another voice, rather tomboyish and rough, Rainbow Dash "She never said yes! Besides we all know she was going to give that ticket to me!"

"!" Twilight stopped thme all from a fight with a scream and said harshly "I haven't chosen anypony to go with me to the gala! So how about your just go away and wait until I have decided!"

Rejected the other ponies left the street in each their directions. Ash sighed in relief and walked over to Twilight and asked "How do you fell Twi?"

She looked shocked at me and asked "What? Aren't you going to ask for the ticket too?"

Ash smiled to her and shook his head "Nope. I never enjoyed those fine Gala's anyway and I have enough brain to know two tickets are not enough for five friends, seven if you count me and Spike in"

"Sometimes I wish the others thought a little more like you…" She sighed "It's just hard to choose between five friends, when you only have one extra ticket…"

"I know how you feel Twi. I will try to talk some sense into Pinkie, but I can't promise anything…" He said with an encouraging smile "Just try to ignore them and use that brilliant brain of yours to get a solution" She gave him a thankful smile as he left to Pinkie.

He entered Sugarcube Corner and went upstairs after greeting Mr. and Mrs. Cake, he walked into Pinkie's room and saw her walking around in circles, muttering to herself. He sighed a little and said with a smile "Hey Pinkie"

She looked up a little surprised, but smiled brightly and said "Hello Ash! Can you help me planning a surprise to get Twilight to get me the ticket!" She sounded very excited and with a bright light in her eyes.

Ash looked away from her, feeling a little bad for what he was going to say, but it had to be said… He took a deep breath and said calmy and friendly "Pinkie… I don't think it's such a good idea to make a party for Twilight or anything in the moment…"

She looked a little confused, tilted her head to the right and asked "Why not?"

"You have to understand that Twilight is quite stressed right now. She got five friends wanting a ticket, while she only have two…"

Before he could continue, he got interrupted by Pinkie saying happily "All the more reason for a party! Party always makes me all jappy-happy! Surely that makes her smile!"

"I don't think you understand Pink…" Again he was interrupted.

"Sure I understand!" She replied excited "Give Twilight a surprise, make her smile and get the ticket!"

Ash groaned on a frustration and said "Just forget it Pinkie… I have to find Twilight before someone does something stupid" With that he turned around and left the room, feeling mildly annoyed and bad for leaving Pinkie, but knew Twilight probably needed some help now. He wandered through the town, noticing the empty streets and wondered where most ponies were.

He finally arrived at the library and paled when he saw a crowd in front of it with Pinkie as the first in the line. He didn't even bother to ask how she got there before her and certainly didn't have time for it as Pinkie knocked at the door. Before Ash could stop or intervene. the door opened and Twilight was immediately pulled into the crowd, who began to throw the surprised unicorn into the air repeatedly as Pinkie sang for Twilight. Ash tried to push his way through the crowd, until he heard Twilight's voice yelling "PINKIE!" The crowd immediately moved away and let Twilight fall to the ground with a loud thud. Ash immediately ran over to her and helped her up as he said "Are you all right?"

"Yes. Thanks Ash" She answered, a little dizzy. She immediately came face to face with a brightly smiling Pinkie Pie, who had a twinkle of happiness in her eyes.

"Did you like it Twilight? Did you? Why aren't you smiling? Have you decided about the ticket yet?"

Ash's eyes immediately widened in fear as the crowd began to mutter, one pony with a pale yellow coat and blue mane asked curiously "What ticket?"

"Twilight has a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!" she said excited and without a second thought.

Ash immediately looked at Twilight and said "You better run. And fast" Twilight nodded, seeing where this was going and immediately set off before the words sank into the crowd. They immediately yelled "THE GRAND GALLOPING GALA?" And stormed after the direction Twilight had ran.

"So you think she liked my surprise?" Asked a curious Pinkie Pie, obvious to the chaos she had just caused.

Ash looked at her as if she was crazy and said "No Pinkie! She didn't like it! Now she has the whole town after her because of you!"

She looked at him confused with a little hurt and asked "Did I do something wrong?"

Ash sighed in annoyance and said "Other than being a bad friend who sets a ticket higher than her friends. No Pinkie you did nothing wrong" With that he turned around and left, not able to look at Pinkie, while he tried to ignore the guilty feeling forming in his stomach. Yes it was a harsh thing to say, but someone needed to say it before it grew out of hands. He never heard the deflating sound from behind him or the sounds of quite sobs begin as he ran out in the town, trying to find Twilight.

(Change of POV)

Pinkie sat in front of the library as Ash left to find Twilight, but it wasn't the normal Pinkie everyone knew. Her hair was not the normal puffy hair that looked like it had been through a storm. It was going straight down. Her normal bright pink colour had darkened, but the biggest change was the everlasting smile everyone loved to see. It was gone and in it's replacement was a sad look placed. One of hurt and regret, she sat there and cried silently, trying to silence her sobs so no one could see her in this way. She wanted to run and hide, sparing other ponies to see this side of her. Pinkinema Pie. The one she started as, the sad and depressed version of Pinkie Pie. She wanted to just hide away until her happy attitude and smile was back, but her strenght was gone with her good mood. Not able to run or even walk away, she just sat down and cried silently. Cried in regret over her actions and the hurt that had formed from Ash's words. As much she wanted to deny it and say it wasn't true she knew it was the whole truth. She had been a really bad friend, not caring for her friends feelings, only seeing the ticket and her expectations to the gala…

She sobbed again and looked away as she heard hoof steps coming close. She heard the familiar voice of Applejack "Are ya alright sugarcube?" Her voice was filled with worry, why shouldn't it be… Pinkie was suppose to be happy, not sad and crying…

Pinkie just tried to shy away, not wanting her to know this side of her, whimpering as she felt her hoof on her shoulder "Why are ya crying?" She asked, worry more evident in her voice than ever.

"I-It's nothing…" She replied, trying to make it sound like nothing, but her hiccups through her hidden tears completely ruined that.

"Doesn't sound like nothing to me" She said, forming a small smile "How about ya tell old Applejack about it?"

Pinkie looked away and let out a single tear again, before she sighed and said "I-It was just t-that Ash…" She didn't even continue as she was interrupted by an angry Applejack.

"Ash? Did Ash do something to ya? Just wait until I'll get ma hooves of that little runt!"

Pinkie quickly looked up at her and said with a little anger "No! Ash didn't do anything other than telling me the truth!"

"Truth? What truth?" She asked confused now.

"T-That I was a bad friend…" She said the last part in a whisper, but Applejack heard her perfectly.

"A bad friend? Why in the hay would he say something like that?"

"B-Because it's the truth… Even since that stupid ticket I have been so excited about getting to the gala that I didn't see how much I hurt… How much we hurt Twilight in the progress. We didn't care that she only had two tickets and five friends who each wanted the ticket…" By now understanding was evident in Applejacks expression and she too looked very ashamed for her actions towards Twilight and the fight she had with Rainbow Dash.

"Yer right… We have been awful friends… Ya think Twilight can forgive us?" She asked a little uncertain.

Pinkie looked up with a small tired smile and said "I don't know… But I know I will say sorry. Let's get the others, they need to say sorry too" Applejack nodded in agreement and they both ran off towards Rarity's place.

Half an hour later

Twilight was cornered in an alley, surrounded by the ponies of Ponyville who all wanted the extra ticket to the gala. They all kept offering to do things for her and compliemented everything about her as her frustration grew and grew. She had an headarche and was close to tears as a voice yelled through the crowd "LOOK! SHE DROPPED THE TICKET OVER HERE!" The crowd immediately turned around looking with glee for the ticket. Twilight looked confused as she knew the ticket was safe at her home, but used the temporary confusion to teleport back to her home.

With a flash she appeared in the middle of the library and Spike stood and swayed mildly, parts of his scales covered in burn marks and sod as he muttered "Wow… Warn me next time you do that…"

Without looking at him, she quickly said "Sorry! Quick! Close the doors, windows and turn off the light before they know we're here!" They quickly closed and locket the doors and turned off the light as planned and not long after they sat down in exhaustion and let out a sigh, happy for finally be alone.

Suddenly the light turned on again, Twilight looked up in shock and saw all of her friends, except Ash standing in front of her. She panicked and said "I can't decide! I'm sorry but each of you are my friends and I don't have enough tickets! I don't want to disappoint neither of you, but I just can't choose one of you over another! I just can't!" She landed on the ground and covered her eyes, tears stinging in her eyes.

She felt a hoof on her back and looked up at Applejack, who smiled sadly to her "Twilight. We're all mighty sorry for the way we have treated ye today. We should have seen we put a lot of weight on ya and if it helps. Ah don't want that ticket anymore. Yer friendship is much more worth"

"Certainly" Added Rarity "I feel awful for my behaviour. Can you ever forgive me?" She looked sorry.

Fluttershy scratched her hooves against the floor, not able to look Twilight in her eyes she just whispered "I-I'm sorry too… I don't know what got over me…"

Rainbow Dash flew down next to Twilight "I'm sorry too Twi. I have really been acting uncool today"

Twilight just nodded with a smile, happy that she got her normal friends back, she looked over at Pinkie Pie and was surprised to see her mane straight and her look haunted and with red eyes from tears "Are you ok Pinkie?"

Pinkie responded with throwing her forelegs around Twilight and pulled her into a hug as she sobbed into her shoulder and said "I'm sorry Twilight! I can't believe how much of a meanie I have been today! Can you forgive me?"

Twilight smiled to Pinkie and said "I forgive you Pinkie. I forgive all of you…" Her eyes shined with a new light and she said "Spike. Can you take a note?"

"Sure Twilight!" He said with a smile and quickly took out a letter and a quill.

Twilight smiled to him and began to direct the letter

"Dear Princess Celestia.

I'm happy for your offer to the gala, but I'm sorry to say I have to return the tickets. I have also learned a valuable lesson today: that sometimes you have more friends than what you have to offer them and it only ends up in hurting yourself and your friends.

Your faithful students Twilight Sparkle"

"You're returning the tickets?" Asked Rainbow Dash shocked.

"As she should have done from the start" A new voice sounded through the library, they all turned and saw Ash standing in the opened door with a tired smile. He smiled around to them all and as he passed each of them they looked a little ashamed and couldn't meet his eyes fully. Pinkie had completely shied away, almost afraid of what he would say if he saw her.

Ash noticed this and looked at her sadly, with a concerned voice he asked "Pinkie. Is there something wrong?"

She looked away, her mane slowly turning straight again as she grew more sad "N-No… I just got something in my eye…"

Ash sighed and walked slowly over to, knowing each of the others followed him concerned and not without a little suspecion, almost guessing he was the cause of Pinkie crying. He sat down next to Pinkie who still cried a little and to everyone's shock and almost his own surprise, he pulled her into a hug. It was all it took to make her break down crying as she threw her arms around him and cried into his shoulders as she continued to cry "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please don't be angry at me!"

Ash pulled a little back, making her whimper and cry a little more, and looked down at her shocked as he said "Pinkie. I was never and will never be angry at you. I may be a little disappointed but never angry" He pulled her into a comforting hug, ignoring the knowing smiles he got from his friends and the increasing blush that appeared on his cheeks. She continued to cry into his shoulder as he held her closely.

Suddenly a burp and a flash of green fire lit the room up and Spike was standing with a note flying above him. He grabbed it quickly and read. 

"To my dearest student Twilight
Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

That was all the note said and out fell seven golden tickets, Twilight smiled happily as she picked up the tickets from the floor and said "Gala tickets to each of us!" They all smiled happily, while Ash still comforting Pinkie on the floor.

He smiled sadly to her and said "Come one Pinkie. It's late. Let's get you to bed" She nodded with a small smile. He slowly let her of the library, smiling quickly back at his other friends who gave him a nod with a smile. Rainbow Dash winked teasingly to him and he blushed a little, but continued.

As they exited the library, couldn't Twilight help but say with a smile "They really have it for each other. Don't they?"

The others nodded in agreement.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat in a dark room, as I felt someone was watching me. I turned around slowly and looked out in the air and said with a cheerful voice “Oh hello! You probably already know me, but my name is Pinkamena Diana Pie! But you can call me Pinkie Pie! Or Pinkie Party Pie is also good now that I think of it. Maybe I should make a name change… Anyway how are you doing? Are you happy? Do you by any chance have any cupcakes?! IF you have one and I don’t get one I will find you!
So… You are probably wondering something a like with ‘how can she know we are here?’ or ‘Great! Another fourth wall break!’ For truth to be told. I always knew at some level you were there. Even if I can’t see you. My pinkie senses told me! So I can guess you are probably wondering why I would speak to you… Well to be honest I need to say something to someone without it getting revealed. I had one heck of a dosey week!

Let’s start from the start. Else it would be pretty confusing don’t you agree? It all started with this colt we found while me and my friends was following Twilight out to a forest to stop the meany Nightmare Moon, who wanted to erase the sun. Can you imagine that?! No sun means no corn, no corn means no flour and no flour means no cupcakes! Can you imagine a world without cupcakes?! It would be horrible! Well back to the story anyway…

It started as said with a colt, he is taller than me and have a light brown coat and a black mane, but in difference from other colts he have a long tale instead of a short one, which actually looked good on him, even if I’m not the fashion expert like Rarity. He also had a weird cutie mark and a weird looked animal next to him that looked funny. It was yellow large rat looking thing with red cheeks. The first thing I noticed was Fluttershy looking at the creature with interest.

The colt soon woke up and panicked when he saw us, it turns out he was from another world and not used to be a pony. The others were confused and Twilight didn’t believe him, but I did. My Pinkie senses told me he was speaking the truth.
Well, to make a quick summary since I know you might have a party to attend to and don’t want to keep your friends waiting. Ash returned, helped us defeating Nightmare Moon with his pokémons as he called them, which was a large eagle that could carry Twilight with one talon and that rat creature, which was named Pikachu by the way.

Later that night, after the giant party I held of course! Celebrating the return of princess Luna, who turned good thanks to the elements of harmony! Ash showed us his pokémon, one was a large dragon and scared poor Fluttershy. I liked them all, especially that big alligator looking thing! Maybe he and Gummy could become the bestes friends! Feraligator was he called?

Anyway! Ash needed a place to sleep and I offered instantly. I didn’t really know why and it was out of character to me. I just felt happy with him around, he made me feel good, like a warmth in my stommy. Like when you eat a nice warm cupcake or take a cup of warm chocolate! Yeah! Like that… That makes me think of his eyes… His dark brown chocolate eyes… I love chocolate you know that? All kinds of chocolate. Warm, cold, melted, frozen, light, dark. Chocolate is my favourite thing in the whole world! Except for parties of course, because they mainly brought chocolate and happiness.

Well… I was lucky the Cake family, my kind of adoptive family, gladly took him in and had sent him to the guest room.
That’s where the next day started.

I had planned to make a party for Ash, but also wanted to spent time with him that day… It just felt good to be near him for some reason my Pinkie senses didn’t tell me…

So I compromised and made a list for the others to do, while I offered to distract Ash. To say they were shocked would be an understatement, their expressions was hilarious! They all gaped like they had seen a ghostie. I just walked out of there with a smile, just ready to get back and wake up Ash. We had breakfast and wandered around town. I’m telling you all, he is very funny when you understand his jokes. Some are weird, but I like that. I’m weird too as you know by now.

Twilight joined us later and we had a good time, before Twilight had to leave to get the last part of the party ready. I lead Ash back to the barn at Sweet Apple Acres and as soon we walked in, we all jumped out and yelled surprise. He was happy and I felt happy for making him happy. We partied a long time and Ash managed to get a job at Sweet Apple Acres. I felt a little disappointed that I could not see him all day anymore, but smiled, knowing he needed a job to live.

Well… You probably want to hear the reason I tell you all of this of course. It all started five days ago, when I finally decided to confront someone with my warm feelings in my stommy. It was the pony who knew most about that kind of mushy stuff. Rarity. I wandered, or what ponies preferred to call ‘bouncing’ they’re so silly some times! Towards Rarity’s shop and didn’t even bother to knock as I entered. I quickly found her working on a dress and asked “Can I speak to you Rarity?”

She turned to me surprised, it wasn’t that we didn’t talk. It was just rare we did it without our other friends. She nodded with a smile and offered me some tea, which I happily accepted, and poured two spoon full sugar down in it, when she didn’t look, as she sat down again she smiled to me and said with a happy tone “So what did you want to talk about Pinkie?”

I looked at her with a grin, happy to see her smile and said “I have gotten this itchy weirdie feelings in my stommy lately”

Rarity looked a little worried and said “Maybe you should go see a doctor then Pinkie. You are not getting ill are you?”

“Nope!” I said with a smile “It’s not a bad feeling, it’s a good warm feeling! Like a small balloon of happiness if swelling inside me!”

Rarity took a sharp breath and looked at me with a gleam in her eyes as she asked carefully “Pinkie…? When do you get these feelings?”

I thought about it for a moment, before I smiled to her, not able to keep a little blush from appearing on my cheek as I said “I mostly get them around Ash…”

She immediately gasped and said with a new happy voice “Pinkie. Sounds like you have gotten a small crush on our dear friend Ash”

I tilted my head in confusion and said “Crush? Silly Rarity. I don’t want to crush Ash!”

She sighed and said “No I mean you like him in a romantic way”

I opened my eyes in shock and looked at Rarity as I thought ‘Can I really be in love with Ash? That will explain all this warmy feelings I have around him and why my knees turns all mushy each time he accidentally bumps into me or hugs me’
I looked at Rarity with a smile and said “I think your right Rari! Heh. Who would have thought I would turn all lovey dovey on Ash” I giggled a little. Suddenly a stray thought hit me and I asked a little nervous “Do you think he likes me to…?”

Rarity smiled to her and said “I can’t say for sure, but he certainly cares a lot about you and he also talks a lot about you when you aren’t here. So I think the chances are pretty good, that he likes you too. He just haven’t realized it yet”
I smiled brightly to her, thankful for her help and said with an excited voice “So how can we make him see that we like each other?!”

Rarity smiled and whispered something into my ear, that I instantly grinned at the idea.

Timelude

A week had gone for our hero and he wandered through the town after a hard day work on the farm with AJ as he thought back on the week before. There had been several adventures and troubles, he remembered with a fond smile. One of them involved AJ and her stubbornness, as she had to farm the whole farm alone as Big Mac was injured, Ash had been refused to work at that time as AJ declared she would do it all for herself, Twilight had tried several times to talk her out of it. It always ended with AJ saying "Ah can do this on my own! Ah don't need no help!"

Twilight had even said that she was stubborn as a mule, which amused Ash greatly as there was an actual mule behind her, without her noticing him. The adventure ended with Applejack was cornered by Twilight one day and just as she thought she had bucked the last tree, came Big Mac and revealed she had only bucked around 1/3 of the whole farm in three days. She broke down at that and finally admitted she needed help, with the combined help of them all they had the whole apple farm cleared by the end of that day, and they celebrated it all night, except Applejack who finally succumbed to the lack of sleep she had the last few days.

After that the rest of the week had gone relatively rested, maybe except for a shocking offer the day after the Applejack episode.

*Start Flashback*

It had been a normal day as Ash had walked down the town, towards Sugarcube Corner to spend some time with Pinkie and maybe get a cupcake or two, something he had quickly learned to love. That was another thing him and Pinkie had in common, they could eat cupcakes until they passed out. Pinkie was just defying logic as normal and Ash always had a huge appetite.

It was just as the famous bakery came into view he heard a voice behind him "Ash wait!"

Ash stopped immediately and turned around to see Cheerily running up to him, she was the teacher of the local school and had a bright mind and a even better personality to add to it. She was kind to Ash those few times he had met her, but they were friends to an extent.

He smiled to her and asked "Something I can help with?"

When she finally reached up to him, she shook her head and asked him with a smile returned "No help needed. I would rather ask you a favour Ash. Pretty much everyone knows about those creatures you have from a foreign country called pokémons. But not many knows about them in details. So I would like to ask you, if it would be to much of a bother to come to my school one of the days in the next week and give a lesson or two in pokémons?"

Ash was a little shocked, he had tried to teach before and it went well actually, people said he had a talent with kids, but to think to teach pokémons to a new world would be interesting. He smiled to her and said with a cheerful voice "It would be a pleasure. Just say when and I will talk to AJ to get a free day off to teach the children about pokémon. I'm sure she will understand"

"Then it's a deal?" She asked with a cheerful and hopeful voice as she extended her hoof to him.

"Deal" He confirmed and shook her hoof. She gave him one last smile and returned home.

Ash smiled at the thoughts of teaching pokémon to a whole new world, it was sure a hard task, but he would enjoy it much as he got a chance to show off his pokémon and maybe even hold a match between two of his team members, it was quite some time since they had any real matches and he could see Pikachu was getting a little bored, even if it meant he could play around constantly.

He entered the sugar cube corner was immediately met by Pinkie Pie smiling brightly to him as she said "Hey Ash! What are you doing? What was you speaking with Cheerily for?" The last part was asked with a little suspicion, which surprised Ash a little.

He looked at her with a confused look and said "She only asked me if I could offer a lesson in pokémons in the next week to the children at the school"

Her suspicion immediately faded away and her bright smile was back as she exclaimed "Oh! Silly me. How would you like some of my newest cupcakes? I haven't tested them yet, but would you like to be the first?"

Ash couldn't suppress a small laughter and said with a smile "Yes. I would like that very much Pinkie.

*End Flashback*

Right now he was walking towards the stone fields where he was expected to meet Cheerily and her students for a show off of his pokémon and explain of their natures and ways of living. He hummed happily and Pikachu was on his back, excited about the prospect of finally being able to train a little and maybe having a battle against of his fellow team members. They excited the town and quickly was at the edge of the fields, he looked around and saw no pony near them and smiled, a good time to release most of his pokémons. He would release Charizard later as he was most likely to scare the children away. He grabbed the pokéballs one after one with his tail and laid them of the ground, and pressed each of the after that. His pokémon was released from their balls and looked at Ash with a smile, except Sceptile who was still trying to look cool as ever, even if he did acknowledge Ash with a look at his way and a nod.

Ash turned towards them with a smile and said "Ok guys and girls! We have a small change of schedule today, a class of children is coming to watch us train and ask a few questions and study you, as you are quite the news around this area" He looked at Sceptile who rolled his eyes in annoyance and continued with a smile "I can understand some of you do not quite enjoy this, but please just go with it, you don't have to play with the children if you don't want too. Hell I even let you take a round against me if you want to after"

Sceptile looked up hopefully at this, it was a long time ago since he had a match against Ash and Ash knew them all so well, so even if he was human he could last a good fight against each of them, it did help with his secret weapon, though he rarely used it.

He just smiled to Sceptile and turned to them all again "So now we wait for the class to arrive, if you want you can start to train some of your moves at the rocks nearby, just don't wander far away" The team nodded and Sceptile moved at a rock and his leaves on his arms began to extend and glow white. He moved with incredible speed towards the rock and swiped his arms at it. No longer than a second after he was behind the rock, which was now parted in two pieces that slowly fell for each other.

Pikachu was on the other hand relaxing, so he could play with the children later, he knew he would be the main target, because of his small and cute appearance. He did eye Sceptile with a smile, almost hoping for a battle against the grass type just to prove his worth.

The other pokémon was too training, each of them targeting their own set of rocks, destroying them to particles. Pidgeot was probably having the hardest time as Flying types was not very affective against rocks, but even she destroyed the rocks with no trouble.

He distantly heard low hooves behind him, walking over the rocky ground through all the noises of his pokémon and turned around to see the class walking over to him, the children shocked over the pokémons destroying the rocks completely and Cheerily also quite taken back, she looked at Ash and asked "What are your pokémon doing?"

"We are training" He replied happily "I will explain to what later, but right now let's start with what they are. Come on over guys!" All the pokémons turned around instantly and walked over to him, each of them smiled to the children, except Sceptile, who gave them a look. The children looked nervously at them all, slightly frightened by their enormous size and their appearance. Other looked at them with wonder and excitement, Applebloom included in that group. Pikachu had gotten quite a lot of attention as well, mainly from the fillies as he was the smallest and cutest the in group. Ash chuckled as Pikachu sought retreat at his back and looked warily down at the group of children, who stared with adoration at him.

Ash smiled to them all and said "Hello, as your teacher Cheerily has told you, you are here today to learn about Pokémon, who is unknown to this land as they are from very far away. From where I come from, is pokémon in contact with ponies and stallions all over the land, we live in harmony with each other, help and seek friendship with each other and even lives together in small families. There are over five hundred known pokémons, but many more are to be discovered and there are several mysteries around pokémon in my land there are yet to be solved and studied. You may not believe this, but in my land Celestia is unknown"

This caused an outrage from the students and even a shocked look from Cheerily, who asked "If that is so, how do you explain how the sun and the moon raises?"

"Natural phenomenon" He answered with a smile "And we also have other believes, for example do we believe that a legendary pokémon named Arceus was the one to create the world with his thousand hands and that two pokémon named Palkia and Dialga is the ones to control time and space. There are other three pokémon named Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf who rules over something each. Uxie is known as the being of knowledge, Mesprit is famous for being the spirit of emotions and Azelf is the being of willpower. Two other pokémons named Groundon and Kyogre is the rulers of sea and land. A legendary pokémon in another words, a rare pokémon. A pokémon that only exist one of and is extreme strong, those I just spoke of, Groundon and Kyogre, is each immensely powerful. Groundon is able to destroy a mountain with a single punch and Kyogre is able to flood a whole land with his water powers"

"Water powers? What do you mean by that?" Asked a confused Pipsqueak, who was slightly shaken by hearing of the immense power from another land that could destroy mountains and flood whole lands.

Ash smiled to him and said "Ah, that's where the interesting comes in, as you maybe have seen can some of my friends here use different power and control of different elements. For example my buddy Pikachu here have a certain power to shoot electrical attacks and have great speed, unbelievable to many"

Cheerily looked very interested in this as she asked "Can you show us these 'powers'?"

"With pleasure!" He exclaimed excited, Pikachu looked also very happy to be able to show off and jumped down and ran around ten feets away from them all. Ash looked at Pikachu with a smile and yelled "Ok Pikachu! Show them what you got! Full power!"

Pikachu gave him a thump up, before moving down at all four paws, he got a pure look of concentration and control on his face and you could almost see his cheeks spark with electricity and the power that radiated from him. Ash who could easily feel Pikachus power, smiled proudly. He waited a few seconds, before he could feel over the bond with his pokémon that he had reached his limits of power collection and called "Pikachu! Release now!"

No one, except the pokémon and Ash was prepared for the next that happened, instead of an expected small release of electrical power, a gigantic tower of pure lightning and power shot directly up, the stream of electricity was at least five feets wide in every direction and the limit to it's highness was not able to be seen as it continue to shoot through the air. If you listened and looked closely you could hear the earth and stone around Pikachu crack out of the pure electrical power. Most of the students was watching the lightning storming tower with awe and open mouths, a few cowering in fear behind the others. Cheerily was in complete shock and awe over the demonstration of such raw power. After a minute the lightning storm ended and Pikachu stood in the middle of the place, earth around him laying in ruins and was cracked into a million pieces as a small earthquake had just been there. He stood there panting heavily, but not completely out of power, he walked over to a tree and lied down under the shadow as he fell asleep with a tired "Pika…" Ash laughed lightly and turned to the class.

"Well? What do you think?" He asked with a bright smile.

It took a few minutes of mouth gaping and repeatedly opening and closing of mouths, before Cheerily looked at him with a awe look and said "That was fantastic! How in Celestia's name can such small creatures contain such brilliant display of power and electricity?"

"I have trained him to that" He said as he looked at Pikachu with a smile "It took long, many years actually, but we managed, beat every opponent on our way and finally became champions"

"Opponents? What do you mean?" Asked another little colt that Ash didn't know the name of.

Ash just smiled to him and said "In my land we have these contest and tournament called the pokémon league. It's a place where pokémon trainers meet each other and with their pokémons fights each other to prove who is the strongest. I won that tournament when I was 20"

"You use pokémons to battle?" Asked a shocked filly, she looked a lot like Derpy and he remembered something about her having a daughter.

He smiled to her and asked "You are Ditzy's daughter aren't you?" She quickly nodded with a proud smile "Ok just wanted to check. As for your question, yes we do, it may sound barbaric, but ask any of my pokémon and I bet you a 100 bits they would say they are happy with this. They enjoy proving themselves and becoming stronger, besides I never let them fight a battle I know it lost. They are my friends, my family. We fight for each other and with each other, I have sacrificed myself for their health, threw myself in front of others attacks if there was a sign they were going to be hurt" The children looked at him with awe and Ditzy smiled brightly to him, glad he treated the creatures well. Ash looked at all of them with a teasing smile and said "But don't tell Fluttershy about this, if she ever hears about pokémon battles, she'll have my head" The students laughed, knowing Fluttershy's love for animals of all kind, since they once had a day at her place, learning about animals.

"So any other questions, before I show you each of my pokémons special attacks or powers?" A few raised their hooves, excited.

Ash smiled warmly to them all and pointed at a young filly with a rose as a cutie mark "Why are they all so big, except the yellow one?" she asked a little nervous as she looked at the giant form of Feraligator, who smiled to them all happily.

Ash laughed and said "It's because they are all fully evolved, evolving is a thing pokémons go through when they reach a certain level in their power, they gets surrounded in a bright white light and begins to grow rapidly and get new powers. Take for example Feraligator here, before he evolved two times, he was just a little Totodile, only half my size, and loved to dance around" The giant alligator smirked brightly at the memory of his time as a Totodile.

"Are there any way to show us this?" Asked a curious Cheerily. Ash nodded quickly and not even a few seconds later, walked Pikachu over to him with his pokedex ready.

Pikachu opened it and pressed a few buttons, Ash looked at the class and motioned them to get closer and they did, each of them able to see the screen.

"You have chosen the evolution of Charmeleon to Charizard" The screen turned on and revealed a middle sized red lizard with sharp claws and fangs that made the students shiver lightly. Suddenly it let out a roar and began to glow brightly, it changed it physics, grew taller and expanded, the biggest change was it suddenly started to grow wings and when the light faded a large orange red dragon stood there, it looked up in the skies and let out a roar and let out a blast of flames from it mouth.

Once the video ended the students looked in awe, some in a little fright over the pokémons appearance. Ash turned towards them with a smile and said "Any other questions?" They all shock their heads and Ash smiled brightly as he began to explain about every of his pokémons, just from Pidgeot and her hundreds of times she had flown him through the skies, to Feraligator and the millions of times he had carried Ash over large docents of water.

One student looks a little confused and asked quietly "Mr. Ketchum? You said a normal trainer had six pokémon right?" Ash nodded with a smile "I only see five here" He stated as a fact, the others also looked a little confused and Ash sighed.

He looked at them all and said "Ok… Before I release my last pokémon I want you all to stay calm, and I will also have to say that even through my pokémon will not harm any of you, two of my pokémon are meat eaters, those two are Feraligator" He pointed at the large alligator who smiled embarrassed, the children looked a little frightened and Cheerily looked a little disturbed that something could eat meat "The second is my last pokémon" He wrapped his tail around it and threw it up and gave it a swift kick and opened it "Say hello to Charizard!" Out with a bright white light popped the huge dragon looking, orange red pokémon. It let out a roar to make sure of its presence and looked around at the children and then looked at Ash with a raised eyebrow.

Ash smiled to the pokémon and said "Sorry for the surprise buddy, but we are here to teach some of the children about pokémon and I thought they would maybe like to see a battle between two of my pokémons?" Charizard smiled to him and nodded, happy to get some action "Ok Charizard, you are up against Pidgeot, at least try to keep it to a minimum, I don't want anyone hurt" He leaned in and whispered "But give them a show they can remember" Charizard growled in amusement and gave a quick nod, before he turned to Pidgeot and gave the female eagle a quick look that basically said 'let's dance'

Pidgeot gave a quick screech already in battle spirit and gave her strong wings a quick flap and was lifted at least twenty feet into the air. Ash just smiled and said "Begin!" The first move was made y Pidgeot and her incredible speed as she zoomed towards Charizard with a speed unlike anything seen by the ponies and several would have sworn it could out fly Rainbow Dash, even if Scootaloo would deny it to death. It gave a loud screech and was just about to slam into Charizard with a powerful tackle attack, before Charizard flew out of the way, making Pidgeot barely able to prevent slamming into the ground. She looked up in confusion and annoyance and was just able to dodge a large pillar of flames shot at her, now burning and slowly melting the smaller stones on the ground. His flame thrower was ended with Pidgeot suddenly appeared next to him and gave him a quick Air Slash to the side, making him grunt heavily in pain, the ground area where the flames hit where now glowing bright orange from the heat.

Charizard quickly revenged the attack with turning around, ignoring his pain, and give the gigantic bird a quick slash attack, sending it flying back wards a few feet. The students at the ground was silent in awe with open mouths, nearly forgetting to breath normally as they watched the intense battle up in the skies. Even Cheerily was too captured by the intense spirit of the battle high above them.

Charizard continued the attack with sending a strong blaze of fire against Pidgeot, making her screech in pain over the intense heat that surrounded her entire being. Some of the students looked a little worried, but Ash just smiled and called out "Come on Pidgeot! Show that overgrown lizard what the queen of the skies can do!" Pidgeot let out a large screech and with a single powerful flap with her enormous wings all the flames vanished and in the next second she vanished from sight.

One of the students looked around in shock and asked "Where did it go?"

"Extreme Speed" Ash said proudly "One of her most powerful moves, at this moment she is so fast it is impossible to see with the eyes"

Most students looked at him with a new kind of awe and Scootaloo couldn't help but mutter "Sweet Celestia… That thing is even faster than Rainbow Dash…"

Ash looked at her and said "First off, Pidgeot is a female, not a thing. And second Pidgeot is probably the fastest pokémon known in my land. Her speed is one of the biggest reasons I won the championship" The student nodded, understanding and completely awestruck over the speed of the bird.

The battle continued as Pidgeot was able to land quite a few hits on Charizard with her superior speed. Charizard, wounded and tired of the tries to hit the bird all the time, finally got enough and his whole body glowed orange and he sent a massive heat wave out in every angle around him, and sure enough was there a sudden screech in pain as Pidgeot was hit by the wave of fire, it quickly lost a little balance and was just able to come up again before she hit the ground.

"What was that?" Asked Sweetie Bell with wide eyes.

Ash frowned a little and said "That was Overheat, a very good move that causes a lot of damage, but it also weakens the pokémon that uses it, this means that Charizard either wants to end this quickly or is getting desperate…" She nodded understanding the basics of the attack.

It didn't take long before both pokémons was panting heavily and Pidgeot was having a hard time staying in the air, while Charizard had landed on the ground to save some energy. He looked up, sweating slightly and gave a smirk as he fired another flame towards the bird. Pidgeot responded with dodging it and fly down towards Charizard with high speed, letting the gravity help her to gain speed and power to the attack. Charizard looked at the incoming attack with a smile, and took an attack position, ready to take on the last challenge from the gigantic female eagle. He moved his claws up and his eyes narrowed in concentration. His fist began to glow in a yellow light and a small amount of sparkles and electricity could be seen from it, Pidgeot didn't notice this as she flew with incredible speed towards the target, believing she would hit him perfectly and win this match.

All the students held their breath as the eagle zoomed closer and closer, Ash smiled brightly, knowing Charizards last move and equally surprised that Charizard had learned it, he certainly hadn't told Ash about that one.

It was just as the last few feets between the two fighters closed in, noticed Pidgeot the glowing fist and widened her eyes in fear and realization. She had walked, or flied, right into a trap. The game was lost. She felt the punch suddenly hit her directly in the back and powerful electricity storm through her body, before darkness overtook her and she fell unconscious. Lowly muttering a weak "Pidgeot…"

Some of the students looked a little worried for the big beautiful bird and stepped forward, Ash just smiled and said "Don't worry, she is fine. A quick nights rest and she is back and ready to fly. So any more questions or are we done for today?"

"I think we have seen enough" Cheerily said with a kind smile "Thanks for your wonderful presentation Ash, I doubt any of us will forget this show in many years to come"

"What in the hay is going on out here?" Yelled a shaken voice from a distance, Ash turned around and saw a shocked Twilight standing with her friends and Fluttershy looked particular scared, mainly because of Charizard.

"Just showing of a little and teaching the children of pokémon on a request from Cheerily" Ash said with a smile.

"But what was that lightning tower that appeared from the ground?" Rainbow Dash asked bewildered, not able to understand since lightning came from the skies and down, not opposite.

"It was the start demonstration. Pikachu just showed his maximum powers off in one strike" He replied happily, looking proud at the pokémon sleeping peacefully under the tree.

"W-Was Pikachu able to summon so much electricity?" Asked Twilight, a little scared and shocked.

Ash nodded with a smile as he said "That he was, sorry if I caused any panic in Ponyville I just wanted to give the kids a full show. I will try to keep my training sections to a low level to prevent to much damage or panic"

Twilight let out a sigh and said with a tired smile "That would be wonderful…" She then looked annoyed "Now I only have to explain what made such a panic state in Canterlot. The Princess wrote me and asked and I quote 'Twilight Sparkle, can you please find out what was able to create so much power if sent the whole town into a panic attack?' She was quite upset"

Ash sweat dropped a little and smiled apologetic "Sorry for creating such a ruckus… Didn't really think…"

Twilight smiled to him and just shook her head as she walked away, her friends gave Ash an amused look before they followed her, except Pinkie who stayed behind, who smiled brightly to him. He smield back and asked "What's up Pinkie?"

She gave him a smile and said "Oh just wondering if you would like to go to a party with me!"

"Sure when" He replied happily, always enjoying Pinkie's party

"NOW!" She yelled excited and before he knew what was going on, he was pulled away, hearing his pokémons laughing behind him.
> chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash stood feeling dizzy after just having travelled in Pinkie Pie speed, a speed that could match or even beat Pidgeot’s speed and he had no idea how she was able to do that, Pinkie was just known to destroy every single piece of logic existing. As said he stood there, his thoughts swirling and his eyes spinning from the sudden fast travel, you could almost have called it some kind of teleportation. He finally regained some senses and looked around and saw they were alone in the Sugarcube Corner. He looked at Pinkie, who stood and smiled brightly and excited, her eyes filled with mirth and something else that Ash couldn’t tell what was. He looked warily around and saw they were indeed alone, no one hidden behind anything to jump out and yell surprise, not even the Cupcake family, who lived here. There wasn’t any party equipment or the normal party cannon Pinkie always had to a party if it got to boring or to quite. He looked with confusion at Pinkie and asked “Wasn’t there supposed to be a party?”

She let out a small giggle, making Ash feel a knot in his stomach as he was forcefully reminded of how sweet her giggles sounded, and her answer only reminded him of her angel voice “There is a party”

Ash was reminded of the last week, something had happened in the last week that he hadn’t expected with this adventure. He had began to think of Pinkie as more than a very good friend, he felt nervous everything she talked to him and was near fainting everything she gave him a close hug or they were alone together. More than that, he too found himself admiring her figure, her pink fluffy mane and her bright blue eyes, her personality and her constant smile and laugh. He couldn’t tell when these feelings started, but he had tried to deny it for some time, convincing himself he was not even a true pony and Pinkie would be disgusted with the idea of dating him, that she wouldn’t be his friend anymore and tell him to leave her alone and leave the Sugarcube Corner to go live somewhere else.

He never noticed Pinkie had moved from her spot, until he heard the sound of soft music passing through the room, he snapped back to reality and saw Pinkie had set some music on, but it wasn’t anything like her normal kind of music, the normal party music, the happy exciting music that brought the excitement to the room and make you feel like you just had to party all night.

This was a quiet and soft music, some would almost call it romantic, something very unlikely for Pinkie Pie and more likely to be put on by Rarity. Pinkie smiled warmly to him and said “Would you care for a dance while we wait for the others?”
Ash felt his hearth make a twist over and over, he felt the heat form in his face as he blushed a little and silently nodded. Pinkie walked casually over to him with a smile and took both his hoofs and pulled him closer. His hearth beat rapidly as he felt her rest her head against his shoulder as she lead him into a small quiet dance, no words was needed as they both moved in tact, or Ash tried as hard as possible, since he never learned to dance this way, and it certainly didn’t help he was barely able to keep concentration on his hooves with Pinkie’s soft warm breath running down his neck and to his back.
They kept dancing silently for minutes, maybe hours, Ash had lost track of time after a while that was for sure. All he could think about in his world now was the mare he was dancing with. Suddenly she silently pulled away from the dance, making Ash pout a little as he looked at her and asked “Why did you pull away?”

She let out a small giggle again and said “Because I wanted to say something to you silly”

Ash flashed a smile to her and said “Ok, what did you want to tell me?”

To his surprise she suddenly looked a little nervous and blushed a little as she looked down at the ground, she silently moved her hoof around on the floor, much like Fluttershy would do if she was nervous or very shy. She looked up at Ash again with a little hope, but mostly worry in her eyes as she began to speak “A-Ash… I have been feeling these warm feelings in my stomach each time I met you for at least a week now… I didn’t understand what it meant, so I went to ask Rarity” Ash was in shock, knowing what the feelings meant, but unable to believe it “She said it was something more than friendship, but not love… Ash I think I like you, like you…” She looked down, waiting for his answer as he stood there, feeling his hearth swell into incredible sizes and beat rapidly.

She really liked him in that way? He thought amazed. Apparently he had stayed silent for too long as Pinkie hung her head in sad rejection and said “I-I can understand if you don’t like me in that way… I just hoped…”

“Pinkie” Ash interrupted her with a smile, she looked up and he continued “I never said I didn’t like you. You are an incredible mare, you’re funny, smart when you want to be, possesses a calm mind I have never seen anything like before and to be quite blunt, I have fallen hard for you” She looked up shocked, almost with the question shining in her eyes.
“Are you serious?” He nodded as an answer to the unasked question and Pinkie immediately let out a squall of happiness and joy as she bounced on him, proceeding to kiss him with passion. At first froze Ash into the kiss, but his mind quickly came back to full power and he returned the kiss.

Ash really had no clue for how long they stayed like that, all he knew he was loving it with every particle of his body and that he didn’t even care if he was originally human, he was a pony now and then it was ok in his mind. Suddenly Pinkie pulled away again, making Ash pout harder than when she stopped dancing with her. Instead of asking he just looked questionable at her.

In response she giggled uncontrollably and looked at him with pure love in her eyes as she said “I’m tired Ash. Want to go sleep?”

Ash gulped and blushed furiously, something Pinkie noticed instantly and laughed “No you silly pony. I mean sleep!” He let out a light sigh in relief, he liked Pinkie but he was no where near that level of relationship. He followed her up to her room and they both lay down in her bed, snuggling against each other with a smile on their face.

XXXXXXX

Ash awoke next morning, still a little tired and took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent of cotton candy, unconsciously he smiled and felt a fluffy substance against his face, he opened his mouth and began to chew in the cotton candy like thing, but was instantly interrupted by a giggle and a sweet voice asking “Are you that hungry Ashy?” Ash opened his eyes and found, to his shock, himself with his mouth full of Pinkies mane. 

He instantly let go of it and yelped out in fright “Sorry Pinkie!”

She let out another bright giggle and said “It’s ok! Come on, let’s get some breakfast! The Cakes are back soon and I don’t think they will approve of you sleeping in my bed” She said the last part with a suggestive tone, that made Ash blush furiously and move out of the bed fast as possible.

“L-Let’s go get that breakfast!” He stuttered nervous over her boldness and walked down the stairs, shaking a little and leaving a laughing Pinkie behind.

Soon after they both sat and ate their breakfast, occasionally Pinkie let out a small laugh when she saw something she thought was funny, or leaned over to give Ash a light kiss on the cheek or lips. They heard the door open and the voice of Mr. Cake calling “We are home Pinkie!”

“Hello!” She called back with a bright smile “How have the trip been?”

“Fairly quiet” He sighed with a half tired smile “Just a long trip and a little lack of sleep, so how’s the day been around here?”

“Fairly quiet too, except Ashy here caused panic all the way to Canterlot when he trained with his pokémon!” She stated, excited as ever.

Mr. Cake gave him a surprised look and asked “How can that cause panic in Canterlot? It is miles from here”

Pinkie suddenly went wild as she answered with excitement and almost bouncing around “Imagine a gigantic yellow lightning tower striking towards the skies! Wider than the library and larger than any cloud could ever produce! Oh yeah me and Ash is dating now” She added, quickly making him forget about the lightning thing as he looked with narrowed eyes at Ash, who gulped nervously and looked for support at Pinkie, who hummed a happy melody.

“So… You are dating our Pinkie now?” He asked with a warning tone, making Ash shudder, knowing from other boys how much fathers could be protective over their daughters, and while Pinkie wasn’t their daughter by blood, she was like an adoptive daughter for them and they loved her like one.

Gathering his courage, he looked up and said “Yes sir, I am dating Pinkie and I’m quite ready to fight you if you have something against it” He returned the glare Mr. Cake sent him. They sat like that for a few moments, not noticing the suddenly nervous looks Pinkie sent them, she didn’t want them to fight and she didn’t know who she would side with if it ended with a fight.

Suddenly Mr. Cake smiled and let out a deep laugh as he said “Wow… Ash I must say I’m impressed, it has been a while since someone dared to talk to me like that, when it came to Pinkie’s coltfriends and look me in the eyes. I was just messing with you before, just so you know. I knew that you and my dear Pinkie was perfect for each other since I met you and to be quite honest. I prefer you than some of the other colts out there”

Ash let out a sigh of relief as Pinkie let out a squall and threw her arms around Mr. Cake and repeatedly cried “Thank you! Thank you thank you!” 

He hugged her tightly and said with a smile “No problem my girl. Just promise me we won’t see any small Pinkies running around for some time. I don’t think this town can handle more than one of you” In response he laughed as both Pinkie and Ash blushed deep red and he quickly left as a pillow just smacked into the place where he stood before.

There was an awkward silence from the embarrassing moment between the two and Ash was the first to speak as he said “So… How are we going to tell the others?” 

Pinkie looked up with a smile, not a happy or excited, but mysterious smile as she answered “I have an idea, just meet me at the library in an hour”

“No parties?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

She laughed a little and said “No parties. Pinkie Promise!”

“Pinkie what now?” He asked confused.

She just shook her head in respond and said “To soon to explain that Ash, might confuse the viewers”

“What viewers?!” He asked in total confusion, but Pinkie had already left the building. He sighed and left with a smile. At least life wasn’t boring with Pinkie around and it was bound to get more exciting when he dated her.

He walked out towards the stone fields near Ponyville to train for half an hour with his pokémon before he would get a bath and join Pinkie and his friends at the library to tell them the news with whatever Pinkie has planned.

He spent that half an hour training all his pokémon and giving them dinner, some food he had prepared with Fluttershy and some cooked fish he had made himself since Fluttershy wouldn’t be anywhere near food made of animals, which he understood perfectly as for her love to all living animals and beings.

After half an hour of constant and concentrated training was Ash walking back home, covered in dirt and sweat, panting lightly as he had just finished his promised fight with Sceptile, which he was just able to win, much to Sceptile’s displeasure. He took a semi quick shower, making sure he didn’t leave any dirt and at least got the smell of sweat away, before he began to wander towards the library with a smile on his face. He saw the light in the library and knew the others was already there, or at least some of them. He opened the door and said with a smile “Hello girls”

They all looked at him with a smile and said “Hello Ash!” Twilight continued saying “Pinkie called us together, saying you two had to tell us something?” He just smiled to her as he moved over to Pinkie who sad down in front of the girls with a mysterious smirk on her face, enjoying to tease the girls by not telling the secret. He grinned at her and said “Come now Pinkie, stop teasing the girls” With that he had sneakily moved a hoof around her head and had suddenly pulled her into a firm kiss. Pinkie was surprised to say at least, but quickly melted into the kiss and returned it. He silently let go and chuckled at her light pout and turned towards the others who gaped at them with wide eyes, not believing what they just had witnessed. Pinkie giggled at their faces, almost unable to keep from screaming in laughter. Ash gave a chuckled and said with fake surprise “What? Haven’t Pinkie told you we are together now?”

Rainbow Dash was the first to react as she rubbed her eyes and looked at Ash “You…” She turned to Pinkie “Her…” She looked at both of them and asked “Together?”

They both nodded, causing an eruptions of squalls as all the girls ran over and hugged them tightly all of them giving them their congratulations. Rarity smiled with tears in her eyes as she said “I’m so happy for you two! I knew the moment I saw how Ash cared for you at the night with the tickets that he was the one for you!”

“I’m so happy for you Pinkie!” Said a truly happy Fluttershy as she had Pinkie into a tight hug “I just knew you two would be good for each other!”

The others also gave their congratulations and hugs to each of them, the only thing that was different was that after Rainbow Dash had hugged Ash, she pulled away and looked him directly in the eyes with a serious expression as she said “Just be aware of if you hurt Pinkie. I hurt you ten times worse!” Ash gulped and nodded nervously as he noticed Pinkies smile and each of the girls nod in agreement and now knew that it wasn’t the parents of a girl you should be afraid of, but their best friends.

Pinkie giggled at his nervous expression and leaned in and whispered into his ear “Just wait until the whole city knows. Many ponies care for me and will be sad to see me hurt”

It took all of his will power to not faint instantly.

> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It only took two days before the news that Ash and Pinkie Pie was dating had spread through the entire town and through that time Ash had really began to fear for his own well being as it turned out Pinkie was a very famous and well liked pony through Ponyville and every time he wandered through town, some pony came over to him and warned about the things that could happen if he in any way harmed or hurt Pinkie.

Other things that made him watch his back was the not so well hidden glares and looks of jealousy from a few of the stallions around the town, who too had a certain attraction to the Pink manned pony. It was not all stallions who was jealous of him of course and they were still friends to a degree even if he had received the warning that if he ever left Pinkie the others wouldn't feel ashamed of trying to at least ask her out. Ash had just smiled to them and said he hadn't planned of leaving her anytime soon, but he wouldn't keep her against her will for sure.

This was one of those days where he received a couple of warning looks and he inwardly hoped he could find Pinkie as her presence reduced the looks and warning glares a lot as certain few ponies had learned the hard way that Pinkie was VERY protective about those she love and care for. It wasn't really a secret that it would take Daisy, who had tried to make some few moves on Ash, which he was obvious too, some time to get over her light fear of pink and fast moving objects. Ash inwardly smiled at the memory and looked at his friend Pikachu who walked next to him and asked "So where do you think Pinkie is?"

The yellow rat looked at him with a knowing smile before standing up on two legs and made kissing faces, earning a playful scowl from Ash "Yeah yeah, just laugh while you can. I know for certain it won't be other than a few years before you come in age of mating and will looks out for a nice little female Pikachu yourself" Pikachu's reaction to that comeback was to blush furiously at the mention of mating and glare harshly at Ash and fire a light bolt of electricity against him, which he dodged with a laugh.

"Come on buddy" He said with a smile as Pikachu turned his back on him with a light scowl "You know I was just teasing you. right?" Pikachu just huffed with a cheeky smile and jumped onto his back and laid down.

"Knew there was a reason you always forgave me..." Muttered Ash, even though it was with a smile.

The pokémon let out a faint "pika..." in agreement and smiled as he fell into a light sleep on his back. Ash just laughed and continued through town, looking for his loved one or some of his other friends.

He looked up as he walked past the library and saw a familiar rainbow blur zooming above him with ridiculus speed and into the leaves of the library, Ash chuckled lightly and began to climb up into the leaves where he saw Rainbow Dash sitting and looking around, searching for someone. He chuckled and asked "What are you looking for Dash?"

She jumped into the air in fright and when she landed again she looked at him annoyed and said "Ash! You surprised me! Anyway... I'm looking out for Pinkie Pie, she wants something of me and I don't really feel like meeting her today"

Ash made a slight frown and asked "Why not?"

She groaned and placed her hooves in her face as she said with a tired voice "I-I don't know really... It's just she has so much energy and I really can't stand her constant talking, no offense of course" She added quickly.

Ash smiled to her and said "None taken. I admit that Pinkie have quite the energy level, maybe too much for the most, but that's what I like about her"

She gave him a small smile in return and said "So what are you doing around here anyway?"

"I was just looking for Pinkie, but then I noticed you flying in here and wanted to know why" He answered with a smirk.

"HEYA!" A voice suddenly boomed behind them, making Rainbow Dash jump in fright once again and Ash's hearth to skip several beats. Rainbow Dash looked around in shock and saw Pinkie smiling widely to them both "Can I ask a favor of you Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash sighed, but smiled tiredly to her friend and said "Sure Pink, probably easier than being chased around in the town all the time..." Pinkie giggled at that comment as Ash regained his senses.

"What do you even want Pinkie?" He asked, not with a harsh tone, but more out of curiosity. She smiled widely and leaned in and whispered something into his ear, making him grin widely. He quickly pulled her into a hug and said "That's my devious little minx" and proceeded to kiss her.

They stayed like for a few minutes, before a cough came behind them and they turned and saw Rainbow Dash standing with a amused smirk, both of them blushed rapidly at the fact they had just kissed in such way in front of their friend. It took them a few minutes to regain them self, it didn't make it easier that Rainbow Dash was close to laughing her flank off, and they took off, following Pinkie who had a bright smile and still a little red from embarrassment.

They stopped outside the town hall and Dash wondered what they were doing here until Pinkie said "Ok. I want you to grap a cloud Dashie" Dash muttered in annoyance over the nickname, but knew there was no stopping Pinkie. She grapped the nearest cloud and began to move in the directions that Pinkie said, it took several minutes as Pinkie wanted it to be perfect, following several "A little more to the left" or "Just a tinie tiny bitsie up"

It ended with Dash throwing her hooves up in annoyance and yelled "Pinkie!"

"Perfect!" she said happily, not wanting a confrontation with her friend and she walked over and hid a large wooden pillar as she said "Ok on my signal do it!" Rainbow Dash nodded, still unsure where this was going, while Ash grinned in mirth.

They all watched as Spike wandered out of the building with a stack of parchments in his grip and Pinkie yelled "NOW!" RAinbow Dash followed by giving the cloud a hard kick, letting a charge of lightning strike down and scaring Spike, who dropped every parchment, and then began to hiccup. The first hiccup caused them all to smile slightly, even Rainbow Dash, and the next one caused Pinkie to fall to the ground laughing, making the rest of them laugh, even Spike.

"Haha good one Pinkie! You always pull one on me" he said as he picked up a roll of parchment and hiccupped again, sending a green flame out the roll disappeared with.

Ash couldn't help but smile and say "Celestia is in for a surprise"

"How's that?" Asked a slightly confused Rainbow Dash as Pinkie silently giggled, knowing what Ash meant.

"You'll have to remember that whenever Spike sets a paper into flames it gets sent to Celestia. Spike just send an empty parchment to Celestia, who would probably think it is a friendship report" This caused a new wave of laughter as Rainbow Dash couldn't help but explain.

"Oh sweet Celestia! We just pranked the princess of Equestria! We are awesome!" She turned to Pinkie and said with a smile "Pinkie. I didn't know you were a prankster"

"Are you kidding! Pranking is all in good fun! And I love to have lots of fun!" She said excited.

"Don't you tell me about it… Last prank she pulled on me, had me hanging in my back hooves from the ceiling and I couldn't get down before I had tried at least three of her new cupcakes…" Rainbow Dash laughed at this one and Pinkie just smiled cheekily and sent him a wink.

"I bet you didn't have much against the next treatment"

Ash blushed as he smiled and said with a dreamy look "I'll admit, kissing upside down is a whole new experiment…"

"Ok enough of the smoshy stuff already!" Said Rainbow Dash who smiled teasingly "It's time we go prank someone!"

"Oh oh! I have an idea!" Pinkie said with a devious smile that made Ash feel a little sorry for whoever she had in mind.

Some time later they found themselves outside Rarity's place and Ash had just placed a bunch of flowers in front of her front door, he knocked quickly and ran over to Pinkie and Dash and hid in the bushes.

They watched as Rarity opened the door and asked "Who's there?" She looked down and saw the flowers and smiled "Are those for me? Magnificent!" She leaned down and took a sniff at the flowers and when she pulled back her nose was covered in a faint pink powder and she began to sneeze uncontrollably, we all began to laugh loudly and Rarity looked over at us and smiled in good nature and walked back in, probably to get the sneezing powder of her nose. Rainbow Dash flew away, to their next target and Pinkie who was still laughing, accidentally dropped the powder, creating a cloud of sneeze powder and inhaled quite a lot, letting out a loud sneeze and slammed into Ash and they both flew towards the direction Rainbow Dash flew. Rarity let out a silently laugh at the sight.

They spent the rest of the day pranking several people, including Applejack and Twilight, with Applejack they had painted all of her apples, resulting in her throwing them after them as she chased them away from the farm, but they were all sure they could hear a chuckle from her as they ran. With Twilight that had simply exchanged her ink with invisibility ink that disappeared a few seconds after you had used it on a parchment, it resulted in one of her experiments exploded. Rainbow Dash had tried to prank Fluttershy, but both Ash and Pinkie immediately shut the idea down, knowing that Fluttershy was very sensitive and most likely wouldn't be able to take the prank in good nature like the rest of the group, and the fact that her revenge pranks was downright evil, Pinkie knew that from experience as she one time had pranked Fluttershy and next day she was tied to a chair in a dark room while Fluttershy got her animal friends, and not the cute type, to make howls and roars outside the room for an hour. By the time Fluttershy finally had let Pinkie get out, she was shivering in fear.

That afternoon they all went to bed with a smile on their faces and good memories of a day full on funny pranks.

*Nighttime*

Ash woke up next morning with a yawn and a smile as he saw his trusted pokémon Pikachu sleeping next to him, curled up in a ball. He gently woke him up saying "Pikachu wake up, we'll have to meet Pinkie and Dash. We promised to go pranking some more today" Pikachu let out a gruffled protest, but got anyway and left the room, but not before sending Ash a little annoyed look for waking him up.

Ash just chuckled in response and muttered "I swear that rat is getting lazier and lazier as time goes…" Suddenly a bolt of lightning zoomed down the hall and into the room, striking Ash directly. He fell to the ground, smoking lightly as he muttered "I guess he heard that… Should never have taught him Shock Wave"

He quickly got up and headed down, noticing Pinkie wasn't home and guessed she was so excited she forgot about him in the speed to meet Dash. Normally this would have hurt anyone else, but Ash didn't mind. Pinkie did that often and you kind of get used to it after a while. He quickly ate his breakfast with Pikachu and feed his other pokémons, mostly vegetables to them all, but fish to Charizard and Feraligator which they accepted, Feraligator with a smile and Charizard with a grunt as he missed a good normal bloody beef.

Ash left quickly after that, moving through the town and greeted several ponies who crossed his way as Big Macintosh, or Big Mac for short, Daisy and Ditzy, or Derpy if you will call her that. He heard a faint shriek above him and looked up curious and confused and saw a pink blur falling from the skies. His eyes widened and he quickly ran over to the place where it was going to land, he jumped the last part and on his back landed Pinkie Pie with such a force that it pummeled him to the ground, leaving a small hole. He looked up, glad he hadn't broken anything and was just quite sore and said "Are you ok Pinkie?"

She nodded weakly, still a little shocked over the fall and the rescue. Ash smiled in relief and asked "What were you doing up in the clouds anyway?"

Quickly her expression changed into on of annoyance and she said "I was with Dashie when I met her old friend a Griffin named Gilda, she was ok in the start, but after I tried to follow them up in the skies, she turned into a meanies pants and popped all my ballons that held me up and destroyed my flying machine to I fell to the ground and then you came and rescued me. Thanks by the way!" She leaned down and gave him a sweet and long lasting kiss, before she pulled back, leaving him with a goofy smile.

Though it only laster a few seconds as his face turned into one of outrage and anger and he yelled "What? She let you fall directly to the ground at such high? What in the name of Celestia was that idiot thinking? You could have been seriously hurt or worse! I swear to Celestia she will pay for this one way or another!"

Pinkie smiled uneasily, she too wanted her to pay a little, maybe a good prank or something, but she never wanted anypony hurt. Then again the meanies had tried to hurt her… An idea suddenly hit her and she turned to Ash and said "Let's go tell Twilight, she'll know what to do without some pony getting hurt" Ash agreed with a slight frown, wanting to hurt Gilda for almost hurting his Pinkie, but knew it was important for Pinkie that no pony was hurt. He nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. They immediately turned and headed towards the library, where they arrived a few moments later.

Pinkie walked up and knocked on the door and a voice came "This is a public library! There is no need to knock!" They both walked right and found, to no surprise, Twilight caught in her studies, she looked up and smiled to both of them and asked "So what brings you here? Need of a book?"

"No actually we wanted to talk to you about a new friend of Rainbow Dash" Ash said, trying to leave the anger out of his voice.

Twilight immediately noticed something was not right and asked in confusion "New friend? Who is this new friend?"

"A mean griffin named Gilda!" Pinkie cried out, throwing her hooves up in the air to prove her point.

Twilight looked up interested "A griffin? In Ponyville? It's really rare that Griffins leave their country and even rarer that they visit pony towers such as Ponyville! But how is she mean?" She asked confused.

"She popped all my ballons and told me to buzz off!" She replied with a little amount of anger "And she will not let me meet Rainbow Dash!"

Twilight's expression changed into a little frown and she sighed and said "Pinkie… Rainbow Dash has other friends than us and you must understand that. I really don't think getting jealous will help you"

"Jealous?" She cried out in disbelief.

"Yes. I think you are jealous…"

"B-But! She. What? ARRGGHH!" She cried out, unable to say anything out of anger. She stormed out of the library, leaving behind a frowning Ash and a surprised Twilight.

"I didn't think she would react that bad…" She said, now a little ashamed.

Ash looked at her with a frown and a little anger and said "Just so you know Twilight. It was in the skies that Gilda popped her ballon, letting her fall to the ground with no way of stopping her fall, she could have gotten seriously hurt or worse if I hadn't caught her in time. I really didn't think you would just override a friends problem like it was just a minor inconvenience. That's all I have to say" With that he turned around and left a pale Twilight, who looked close to tears.

He found Pinkie sitting at a table in front of a café, silently drinking her hayshake and had a little depressed look. He walked over to her and asked with concern "Something's wrong Pinkie?"

She sighed and looked at Ash with doubt and asked "What if Twilight is right Ashy? What is I really am just a meanies jealous pants?" You could her the self-doubt in her voice.

Ash looked at her with a comforting smile as he said "Pinkie you are the furthest thing from jealous. Gilda was a mean griffin who tried to hurt you both physically and emotionally and doesn't deserve any kindness from you"

She looked up at him with a slight smile and pulled him into a hug and whispered "Thanks for believing in me Ash… You always do that"

He just returned the hug and said "No problem Pink, I'm just happy to have you"

She sniffed, before she pulled back with a gleam in her eyes and said excited "I might know a way to improve Gilda's attitude!"

Ash frowned, secretly thinking she wouldn't improve unless some pony gave her a good hoof to the flank, but he smiled anyway and asked interested "What might that be my little Pink Party Pony"

She blushed in a pretty red colour that fit her pink coated fur at the private nickname he had given her and said "I think a party might make her happy! They always make me happy!"

Ash sighed, knowing there was no backing away now and just smiled and said "I'm in"

They began both to set up a party for Gilda at Sugarcube Corner, even if Ash was against it, and not even an hour later they were ready to party, or as Pinkie would say it 'PARTAY!' They had invited all of their closest friends and some of the citizens of Ponyville who had time to come, they all had fun until the door opened and in walked Gilda with Rainbow Dash behind her. Ash looked at Rainbow Dash and noticed a sparkle of mirth in her eyes as well as a hidden smirk and wondered what she is up too.

Pinkie immediately jumped over and greeted them both "Hi! I'm so happy you both could come to my party! I hope you have lots of fun and get many friends!"

The griffin had a slight grimace, but kept it cool and just smiled "Thanks" That was all she said as she moved past her and further into the room. All the ponies talked together and had fun for a few minutes, while Gilda just looked around awkwardly, not knowing what to do as the only pony she had ever met was Rainbow Dash.

"Hey Gilda want something to drink? The punch is right over there" Called Rainbow Dash out with a smile, Gilda nodded and flashed a smile in thanks and took a cup and immediately drank it. First she smiled, but then her face turned red all the sudden and her eyes began to leak in tears.

She jumped into the air and yelled out "HOT!" as she breathed fire and ran over to the water and took a glass and tried to drink it, except it all landed on her body as someone had made a whole in the glass that the water ran out off.

She looked around in panic as the burning in her mouth was still there and the ponies laughed in amusement. She ran over to another glass of water and immediately took it and drank it all in one try, letting out a satisfied sound as the burning sensation in her mouth was finally gone. She looked around and noticed the laughers of the ponies and gritted her teeth as she heard Pinkie said "Wonder who could have done that…"

"Yeah I wonder who" She said with a glare at Pinkie, which make Ash step a little closer to his mare friend as it really didn't give any good signs of Gilda changing personality.

"Time for presents!" Pinkie yelled, making Gilda smile and move over quickly to the table filled with presents in all sizes and shapes, the first one she took was a circular long present with a tube form. Ash couldn't help but wonder what it could be as Gilda opened it and out flew a bunch of fake snakes that ended over all the room and Gilda stood there, her feathers all puffed up from the shock she had gotte. She glared around in the room at all the laughing ponies, but quickly regained her posture and smiled "Haha. Good prank" She said with gritted teethes.

Ash smiled as he watched Gilda got what she deserved for what she did to Pinkie and the funniest thing is that she suspected Pinkie for doing it, while it surely wasn't her as Ash had been with her all the time they set up the party.

"Now some games to play!" A random filly said and Pinkie reacted immediately and pushed Gilda over to the poster of a pony without a tail, she quickly tied a scarf around her eyes so she was unable to see and spun her around as she protested, she stopped her and said happily "Now you just have to put the tail on the pony! It's right over there!"

She gently pushed Gilda towards the poster, but she stopped immediate and said "No way I'll fall for this prank! I know it's in the other direction!" Then she turned around and walked straight towards the cake.

"No wait!" Pinkie said, trying to warn her, but it was too late as she walked straight into the table, so it fell apart and the cake landed on top of her, she pulled the blindfold off and looked around with anger at the ponies who laughed at the mistake. She gritted her teeth in anger once again and it was easy to see she turned red in anger. She flew up and let a roar out, scaring them all, except the seven friends who stared at her in shock.

Gilda looked over them all in anger and cried out "That's it! I'm done here! Never have I met a lamer group of ponies in my life! Is this supposed to be a party! This is ridiculus! But what can I expect from something hosted by the biggest lamo in this town! Queen lamo Pinkie Pie!" She pointed at Pinkie Pie who looked hurt and shocked "And all those lame pranks you played on me at this party is just as lame as you!" She turned towards the door and began to walk as she said "Come on Dash! We are leaving!"

Instead of walking with her, Dash just glared at her and said "You know Gilda. I was the one who played all those 'lame' pranks on you! So I guess I'm queen lamo"

Súddenly Gilda looked nervous and said "Come on Dash! You joshing on me!"

"Nope. I thought it would be cool too see you again Gilda, but if you are going to act like that towards my friends I would like you to leave" It was clear that Rainbow Dash didn't accept anyone would mess with either Pinkie Pie or her other friends and she had chosen them over Gilda.

Gilda just snarled "It's so typical ponies like you Rainbow! Such a flip flop! Cool one minute, lame the next! I'm out of here!" With that she left and smacked the door after her.

"What a party pooper" Pinkie said with a raised eyebrow, making Ash chuckled a little.

"Girls I'm sorry I brought Gilda to town" Rainbow Dash said with a sad look "I never thought she would be so mean"

"Don't worry Rainbow" Said AJ with a smile "It ain't ya fault she had a bad attitude"

"Just glad she is gone" Muttered Ash, thinking they couldn't hear him "One minute more and I had probably spilled her guts over the floor" They all turned to him in shock over his threat.

"Ash! You can't just say something like that!" Said a shocked Fluttershy "I know she is mean, but that doesn't mean she deserves to be hurt!"

"Oh yeah?" Ash said with a raised eyebrow, he turned to Rainbow Dash and asked "How high in altitude were you and Gilda when Pinkie talked to you while she hang in those ballons?"

"Probably 25-30 feet, maybe more. Wasn't exactly counting. Why?"

"How much damage could it cause someone who fell and hit the ground from such altitude?" He asked again, gained curious looks and Pinkie paled a little.

"If not instant death, it is very close and that pony would most like be unable to walk again for a couple of years if not forever…" She answered deeply confused by this.

"Ok thanks..." He said with controlled anger "Now imagine Pinkie, Gilda and Dash talking, Gilda challenged Dash to a race to the next cloud, but instead of following her, she stayed behind and told Pinkie to leave them alone and proceeded to pop all the balloons that was the only thing Pinkie was hanging from in around 30 feet altitude. What would happen when all the balloons where popped and there was nothing to let Pinkie float in the air?" All of the friends paled rapidly at the thought and turned to Pinkie who was too pale.

Rainbow Dash spoke with a shaky voice "I-Is that true P-Pinkie?" She nodded slowly and this caused an outrage to form between the friends, Rainbow Dash looked ready to murder while Rarity cursed loudly, AJ was shaking with anger and Fluttershy had turned red in pure anger.

"Ok that griffin is dead meat!" Dash said loudly and just as she was about to fly after her former 'friend' she was pulled back by AJ who bit her tail "LET ME GO!" She yelled.

"No can do" She said "A'm just as angry as ya are, but it would do no good harming her, besides she is probably already gone over all mountains"

Rainbow Dash just sat down on the ground, still angry as hell. Ash moved over to Pinkie and pulled her into a hug and asked concerned "Tired?"

She leaned against him and said "Just a little" and closed her eyes with a smile.

He looked at the others and said "I think Pinkie had enough for one day. Party is over" All of the guest nodded, still angry that the griffin had almost killed one of their friends, and left quietly. Rainbow Dash and the others just stayed behind to thank Ash for saving Pinkie from that fall, before they each left to go home and get some sleep. Ash carried Pinkie upstairs and laid her on the bed, he looked at her sleeping form and gave her a soft kiss, before heading for his own room.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash slowly woke up next morning by Pikachu who tickled him with his tail with a teasing smile. Ash just grumbled lightly and made a weak attempt of a hit against Pikachu and failed miserably as the ray just jumped away and out of reach as he called "Pika!" and ran downstairs.

He followed the excited rat with a little frown, not happy being waken up against his will and on a free day none the less. He walked downstairs and saw the room empty, which confused him as Pinkie always seemed to wait for him to get breakfast before they left together. He noticed Mrs. Cake just walked inside the front door and asked "Hello Mrs. Cake. Do you know where Pinkie is by any chance?"

She looks at me with a smile and said "Yeah, she is doing a business trip for us to get some supplies in a town nearby. It's not a very long trip, but she will first be back by tomorrow I'm afraid."

Ash sighed, already feeling his stomach drop and the feeling of emptiness that began to fill him from the inside form. He gave her a smile and ate his breakfast quietly, while Pikachu gave him a worried look, knowing his best friend and trainer was missing what Pikachu saw as his possible future mate.

As Ash was done with his breakfast he decided he would visit Fluttershy, it had been some time since he last spoke to her and to be honest he quite liked the shy and silent pony, she was like a really cute little sister that needed protection.

He walked through the town with Pikachu walking calmly next to him with a smile. He exited the town and wandered towards the hut in the distance near the Everfree forest. He walked up to the house, which looked like a mix between a tree, a house and a small hill, and knocked the door gently, not wanting to disturb her as he knew how easily she got frightened or startled. He heard a small voice coming from inside the house "Come in…"

He gently opened the door and entered the house to see Fluttershy in full time making a very big plate of salad to all of her bunnies around the house and smiled at the sight. She had the biggest hearth out of all of his friends and was the most caring pony he knew.

"Hello Fluttershy, how's it going?"

She turned around in the air and gave a weak smile to him and said "I'm fine… What are you doing here? Where is Pinkie?" She looked around, as she was certain she would jump out from anywhere, any second.

He sighed and said "She is out of town to gather supplies for the Cakes, so I went down here to see how you are doing, it have been some time since we have spent some time together."

Fluttershy responded with a bright smile "That would be wonderful, but sadly I'm very busy today with my animal friends, they are very hungry and especially some of the females since it's just been mating season and quite a few of them are expecting babies." She had a little blush when she mentioned mating season, but it disappeared instantly again, while she would be mortified about talking of mating between two ponies, it didn't bother her if it was animals.

"How about I help you? I have really nothing better to do as it's my day off at Sweet Apples Acres and Pinkie is out of town. You get done faster and we could spent some time together. I even brought Pikachu." He added, which caused her eyes to light up in excitement, she had quickly found a love for the small yellow creature and while she cuddled or played with him, she always stroked his ego with stating how amazingly intelligent he was or how good in shape he was too.

She nodded eagerly and quickly gave him some instructions for him to do, while she prepared the salad. Such things as feed the chickens, or check for eggs in chicken house and all that stuff, he smiled at the list, not very different from normally taking care of his pokémon and happily started, looking forward to being done with the chores so he could spent some time with a good friend.

It took them around one to two hours before they were done, but as they finally had feed the last animal and checked the last bunny, they returned tired, but happy for a good work, to Fluttershy's house. She poured up some tea for both of them as she said "So anything planned for today?"

He shook his head and said "Not really, maybe I visit some of the others while I'm at it. Want to go to the town with me after we had our tea?"

She smiled to him and nodded as she poured up his tea "I would love to. I really have been busy lately and missed to see you and the others lately, it was only luck I was able to meet with Rarity at our weekly spa together yesterday…" She finished with a little sad tone. He smiled encouraging too her and drank his tea. She turned her attention to Pikachu, who was happily eating a couple of cookies she had to visitors, and said "So how are you doing Pikachu?" She had learned quickly that Pikachu didn't like all those sweet name and had intelligence on the same level as the rest of them.

He looked up at her with a mouth full of cookies and swallowed them all easily, before replying "Pika! Pi pika chu!" and took another bite of the cookie in his hands.

Fluttershy looked at Ash for a translation as they all knew by hand now, that Ash had such a bond with his pokémon that he could just as well understand what they said. He smiled at her too and said "He said his doing fine, but misses some of our friends at my world"

"Oh…" She replied looked a little sad, before she asked "Ash…? If it is possible for you, to get home to your own world as Princess Celestia is studying on. Would you go back?"

Ash looked shocked over the question and looked up at her, before he sighed and said "I really don't know. It's not that I fell homesick as I'm used to only see my mum once a year and have you as friends and Pinkie, but I just can't get over that if I can't get back no one would ever see me again, my mum, my friends, all of my pokémon… They would all think I have disappeared or are dead, it has already been over a week and I'm sure they have noticed something I'm gone by now… I just wish there was a way to contact them in any way, just to tell them I'm fine…" He looked up at Fluttershy, who had tears in her eyes as she listened to what have bothered him, since he came here, and asked "It is bad I want to go back, but still wants to stay with Pinkie and you girls? I don't want to hurt Pinkie by leaving, but I don't want to hurt my friends in my world or my other pokémon friends as they will miss me just as much…"

He suddenly felt himself gripped in a strong hug and tears mixed with his fur as Fluttershy cried as she held him "Oh Ash! T-That's so s-sad. I can't imagine having to c-choose between my friends and my family! I-I'm sure we find a resolution, the princess and Twilight is both working on it and if there is one thing I know about Twilight by now if that she doesn't give up for a friend!"

Ash smiled and gently pulled out of the hug "I know 'Shy, but that still doesn't solve my problem with staying or not… I guess I'll just have to think about it…" Trying to change the subject he said hopefully "I'm done with my tea, how about we go meet Twilight or some of the others?" She nodded, accepting he didn't want to talk about it right now and they both headed for the door. They walked towards the town and found the streets surprisingly empty, they walked through the town in confusion and finally saw a large crowd gathered before some kind of stage where a blue unicorn mare was standing with a cloak filled with stars, fireworks was exploding from her scene, making all sorts of stars and twisters and spirals in the air, as the crowd oohh'ed and ahh'ed at the impressive show.

Ash moved through the crowd with Fluttershy just behind him, he moved past the last ponies, who were Applejack and Rarity, who each gave him a quick greeting before turning their attention to the mare at the scene again. She stood up on her back hooves as sparks ignited on each side of her as she cried out "Behold the Great and Powerful Trixie! The most magical of all unicorns!" And she 'proved' it by producing a bunch of flowers, which made Ash roll his eyes in disbelief. He had literally seen Twilight done that in her sleep on day where she had fallen asleep in the park as they all had a picnic and she apparently had a dream about a lot of flowers, suddenly her horn started glowing and several flowers fell from the skies and appeared on the trees around them. It wasn't before they had woken her up she was able to make them disappear again with a heavy blush, while Dash had trouble stopping laughing and Fluttershy smiled as she looked at all the flowers.

He heard AJ distantly comment "Doesn't need to brag all about it."

Rarity voice her agreement with saying, loud enough to be heard "Yeah, most unpleasant!"

Trixie turned towards them with a small superior glare and said "Well it seems we have some me-e-easly ponies who aren't convinced that Trixie is the greatest of all!"

"Hey!" Called Rainbow Dash out as she flew over in front of Trixie, looked her directly in the eyes and said "We don't need anypony coming here and brag about being the best!" Ash looked at her with suspicion as she does that all the time "That's my job!" Suddenly he had trouble holding back a laughter, that comment was so Dash.

Trixie just stared at her with a raised eyebrow and answered "Let's see what the brute of a Pegasus can do against the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Dash was instantly flying towards a windmill and around it, making it spin rapidly around and sent herselv flying up with incredible speed, through several clouds. Suddenly, when she was very high up, she stopped and turned around, flying in the same route back through the same clouds, this time having a trail of water following her, because of the wind she created. She spun around the same windmill and a second later, she was standing on the stage again. The trail of rain hit her from behind, sending out a glitter and a rainbow appeared as the water mixed with the sunlight. The ponies near the stage began to applause her, she smirked and said confidently "They don't call me Rainbow and Dash for nothing!"

Ash got a little nervous as he saw Trixie smirk evilly and her horn shone in a blue light, the rainbow above Dash shone in the same colour and suddenly it rapidly surrounded Dash and spun her around with amazing speed as it pulled her into the air and straight into the ground.

Her eyes swirled as she was really dizzy and AJ looked angrily at Trixie as she moved up and said "Ok! Ya may have yer fancy magic, but can ya do this?" She then proceeded to pull out a rope with a lasso bound in the end, she swung it around and then began to jump through the loop as she spun it around, the crowd cheered at AJ and Trixie looked annoyed, before she smirked, something that Ash again noticed and worried him greatly.

Again her horn glowed in a blue light and the rope began to move forward like a snake towards AJ, she looked at it with big eyes as it swayed in front of her. Ash noticed the other end of the rope sneaking up on her from behind and was just about to warn her, when it swirled around her legs and bound the together, the front end of the rope took an apple and put it in her mouth, leaving her unable to say anything as she jumped off the scene with a embarrassed blush as the crowd laughed.

Ash felt very annoyed and said "Somepony needs to set her in her place!" and looked over at Twilight, who noticed his hint and looked away.

Spike caught his hint with a smirk and continued "Yeah. Somepony with a little magic of her own!" He nudged Twilights side, she looked at the ground in response, not saying no or yes. The others voices their agreement and looked at Twilight with a smile.

Suddenly a voice behind them came out "Ok! No need for this pressure! I will show her how a true unicorn should act without her brutish ways" She walked gracefully up at the scene "A unicorn needs to have style, class. She needs to be graceful!" With that her horn gloved in a blue light and some curtains from the scene flew down and surrounded her in a short twister, a bright flash filled the scene and after the light faded, stood Rarity on the scene with a dress that fitted her perfect and really showed of her beauty. Her mane was set up in a graceful way. The crowd let out a combined 'oohhh' that revealed their positive opinion of the dress she had made. Trixie just smiled and her horn shone once again, making Ash dread what she could possible do to Rarity. A bright flash again filled the stage with light for a second and Ash immediately paled when he saw Rarity.

"What did she do to my hair? I know she did something terrible to my hair!" She cried out in panic.

"No you're hair is perfect!" Twilight said with a false smile.

"Yeah!" AJ said in agreement, looking anywhere but Rarity.

"It's green…" Spike said, unable to stop himself. Ash groaned and hit Spike lightly over the head, making him blush in embarrassment.

"No! Not green!" She cried "Green is such an awful coloured!" She cried as she ran away from the crowd.

"Well excuse me!" A mare with a light green hair said, offended by Rarity's choice of words, and left too.

Ash turned and glared at Trixie who smiled over the crowd, obvious to the glares she got from at least 50% of the crowd as she had just offended their friends.

"Looks like no one can hold up to the power of the Great and Powerful Trixie! I am truly the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria!" She said, as Ash and his friends turned around and left annoyed. He noticed that Twilight was in a hurry to get home, and wondered what she was up too. He turned and walked after her, following her to the library. He walked over and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Twilight's voice called. He opened the door and walked too see Twilight reading a book, while Spike looked sour.

He walked over too her and asked curiously "What are you reading?"

"Just a book about Ursa Majors." She answered without looking up.

"Why are you reading that?" Asked Spike surprised.

"Just a thought… Trixie said she was able to vanquish an Ursa Major, I find that really hard to believe. Look at this sketch, it shows the average size of an Ursa Major compared too a normal pony, unicorn and Pegasus."

Ash looked over her shoulder to see the sketch and his jaw dropped as he saw the size of the Ursa Major. According to the book an Ursa Major could very well be the size of a mountain and could surely crush Canterlot with a few swipes of its enormous claws. There was also a drawn picture of it made from a pony that had seen one on sight. It was humongous with a deep purple fur, had a moon and a star mark on its forehead. Ash gulped at the thought of ever meeting one of those. Sure he had fought Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos with Lugia and almost got destroyed in the battle between Groundon and Kyogre, but still… This was one major bear and he had lots of help in all of those adventures.

"Ok…" He said "I could believe her if it was only a normal bear or at the size of a tree or something like that, but no way she could ever manage to vanquish such a beast. That would at minimum require the gathered magical power of all unicorns in Canterlot!"

"Most likely." State Twilight in agreement "So either Trixie most be more powerful that Celestia herself or she is a fake and I'm most likely to believe the last conclusion…"

Ash smirked and cheered teasingly "Go Twilight! Use logic attack!" She turned around and gave him an amused glare and a smirk. She just shook her head and then asked him "By the way, I haven't seen Pinkie around today, do you know where she is?"

Ash just gave her a smile and said "On a business trip for the Cakes to a nearby city to get some special ingredients. She'll be back by afternoon, or I will personally search for her myself."

She just gave me a smile and said "I have no doubt you will lover boy, but don't be surprised if she doesn't appear before tomorrow, because of a party she attended." He blushed at her nickname for him and just mumbled something unintelligent and turned around a left a chuckling Twilight.

He got home to The Sugarcube Corner rather quickly and went for bed, after taking a quick bath. He was very tired after a hard day of working with Fluttershy and the dealing with Trixie, even through she still was in Ponyville and annoyed people to no end. His last thoughts before he fell asleep was wondering how Pinkie was doing…

Ash looked around confused, he wasn't in his room anymore or for that matter in Ponyville or Equestria. He was in a large empty area, filled with a thick magical looking fog that gently moved around him. He looked around confused and slightly tense, not knowing where he was or how he got there, made him very vulnerable for an attack from every angle. He noticed he still was in his pony form and moved his tail down to get one of his most trusted companions, but to his horror and surprise found them all gone. He suddenly heard a faint whisper, a female if he heard correct, it was impossible to make out what the whisper said as it was very low. He looked around, almost in panic by now and yelled "Who are you? What do you want?"

The whisper came again, but this time with a little more volume and Ash was able to hear parts of what the female voice said "Remember… Qualities… Friends…" Just as Ash was about to ask what she meant, the world shone in a bright white light.

Ash woke up by a loud roar, he sat up in shock in his bed, thinking "What the hell was that?" Thinking of both the weird dream and the roar that woke him up, he quickly rolled out of bed, landing on all his four legs and with his mouth grabbed both his belts that had pokéballs around them. He attracted them to his legs and ran out of the shop. He looked around and saw everypony running around in panic, he wondered why for just a second, before he looked towards the place they all ran from and to his horror saw a large midnight blue bear with a light blue moon marked on its forehead.

Without a second thought he ran over towards the bear, ignoring the cries of horror as some of his friends, Rarity and Fluttershy, saw him running towards the dangerous animal. He quickly wrapped his tail around the pokéball containing his largest and one of the strongest he had. He tossed it into the air and gave it a swift, but easy kick so he didn't destroy it. A bright white light filled the dark night and suddenly the white was exchanged with a red light from a small fire, in between Ash and the giant bear, stood Charizard tall and proud. Ash did this process multiple times and soon his whole team stood in front of him, all sensing the serious situation they were in and all had frowns on their faces.

Ash looked at him seriously as he said "Ok guys and girls. I know this may seem like a hard task, but I need your help to stop this beast right behind you!" They all turned around and gaped in shock over the enormous bear in front of them, easily towering them by ten-twenty feets. They stood like that for a few seconds, before the bear roared in annoyance over the challengers he had just spotted and made a swipe for them. They all spread over the field, Pidgeot and Charizard flew into the air to attack from above, Glalie kept his distance firing many ice attacks with Pikachu next to him doing the same with electrical attacks. Sceptile had jumped onto its back and kept hitting it with bullet seeds and leaf blades time after time, while Feraligator had moved behind it, firing large water attacks at its back.

The bear roared in pain over the repeatedly attacks and made several swipes around it, trying to strike the pokémons who was too fast for it. It spotted Ash standing there and as the smallest and easiest target to get, it roared and charged towards him, it wasn't that fast but the drawback was for each step it took, Ash had to take twenty, making the bear easily catch up to him. The pokémon saw this threat against their master and quickly increased the power of their attacks and speed, making the bear wince in pain, as it had several burn marks and cuts into its skin around its body.

Ash looked over his back as he ran from the bear and gulped as he saw it came closer and closer. He closer his eyes in concentration and pulled himself to the limit, increasing his speed. He suddenly heard a voice yelling "WAIT! DON'T HURT IT!" It made him quickly loose his concentration as he turned and looked at Twilight shocked over her defence of the violent beast. To bad that this small distraction was all it took as Ash felt something large hit him by the side, sending him flying into the nearest building and through the wall, he groaned as the unbelievable pain hit him, blood running down his side and the cries yelling out his name. Blackness took over.
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash groaned as he opened his eyes, only to meet the blackest void. Total darkness. He looked around in panic, but suddenly a memory flashed through his mind, memories of the enormous bear, the fight between his pokémon team and the bear, the way he ran away from the bear as it charges to him. The distraction and the heavy blow, the blood and the pain. He looked around once again only to be met by darkness as he said sadly "Guess I'm dead… What a way to end. Being swatted aside by a overgrown bear… I just hope Pinkie or my mum won't be too sad with me gone…"

"No my friend." A voice said.

Ash turned around and was met by an enormous white creature with a golden circle around its middle. It looked down at him as he looked up at it with open mouth, before he muttered "Arceus…" He went down to kneel in front of the god pokémon, but was stopped as a white aura formed around him, making him stand up.

"Do not bow for me Ash Ketchum. You have saved my life. If anyone has earned the honour of calling me their friend, it would be you." Ash nodded with a smile, before he asked.

"Am I dead Arceus?"

Arceus smiled and chuckled "Not exactly, you are hanging between life and dead and you have a choice. Will you go on or stay with your beloved once, family and friends?"

Ash smiled brightly and said "I will go back sir, I have yet things to do in my life and I'm not planning on dying anytime soon."

Arceus gave out a laugh and said "Just as I thought you will answer oh Chosen One. Once again you show a great hearth to those who love you. I will allow your wounds to heal and bring you back to you friends in Equestria." Ash nodded and Arceus yellow eyes glowed in a bright light that blinded Ash.

As he had vanished, Arceus stayed back and thought "Go my chosen one. Explore this new world for me."

Ash groaned as he felt his lungs being filled with air as he opened his mouth. He opened his eyes and saw he was at a hospital, he looked around for anyone and saw the room was empty, except Pikachu who was sleeping on the table next to him, the pokémon had red areas under his eyes, showing the tears he had rubbed away. Ash felt a little guilty for making his best friend worry so much. He moved gently around in the bed, testing if it hurt to move any limbs or body parts. To his happiness and small amount of surprise he didn't fell any pain at all. He smiled and let out a satisfied sigh, before leaning back in his bed. He sat there for a few minutes before the door opened and a nurse with a pale brown fur and a light red mane entered the room, she looked directly at Ash's bed and gasped before she said "How long have you been awake Mr. Ketchum?"

"A few minutes." He answered quickly with a smile "And I feel good right now, no pain at all."

The nurse smiled and said "Good to know, but our doctor still needs to have a medical exam, just to be sure nothing is broken or damaged permanently. It was quite a scare you gave us there Mr. Ketchum, but I will thank you for trying to save us with that Ursa Minor."

"Nothing to worry about. I wouldn't even let my worst enemy face that beast alone." He answered, before he asked "How long have I been out by the way?"

The nurse looked a little nervous as she said "It was a week since the incident Mr. Ketchum…"

"A week!" He asked shocked, that meant he had been unconscious for a week… Oh dear Celestia! Pinkie! She must have been worried out of her mind! He looked at the nurse and said "Can you call my friends and say I'm alright and have them here as soon I can have visitors?"

The nurse smiled and nodded, before moving out to get one of the doctors of this hospital.

Some time later the doctor arrived with a smile and began to small exams, testing his fore and hind legs. His neck, back and other muscles around the body that would have impact on his life. He also checked small things like hearing and vision just to check that the major hit hadn't left anything permanently damaged, and he was pleasantly surprised when it turned out Ash was at perfect health and could leave tomorrow just to be sure that he didn't over excise himself after a week in the bed. He went to the door and said "We will call your friends Mr. Ketchum and they will arrive here by the next ten minutes." Ash nodded happy to meet his friends once again and lay back in his bed.

"Pika…?" A weak voice said, he turned around and saw Pikachu looking at him with tears in his eyes. Ash smiled gently and reached out to stroke Pikachus fur, at the second he made contact with the pokémon, jumped Pikachu right at him and hugged him, while snuggled closer to his trainer, happy to see him well and healthy again.

Ash just hugged Pikachu back with a smile and let the happy pokémon snuggled into his arms. He understood Pikachus need to be sure he was alright, he would have been the same way if Pikachu was out for a week without any signs of coming back. He just closed his eyes with a smile and enjoyed the peace before he could meet his friends again…

*SLAM*

He looked up in shock and saw the door slammed open and in the doorway stood Pinkie Pie, but not the normal Pinkie he knew. Her hair had deflated completely, hanging like curtains from her head, her normally bright pink colour had turned to a darker shade and her eyes were bloodshot as if she had cried her eyes out, her lower lip trembled uncontrollably as she looked at him, almost crying again. She muttered a single "Ash…" Before she flung herself at him, throwing her arms around him and sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder "I-I thought I-I had l-lost y-you!" She cried out as she tightened her grip, almost afraid as if she let go, he would disappear right in front of her.

In return Ash just wrapped his arms around her, Pikachu had magically managed to squish himself out under Pinkie and was now standing next to the bed with a smile, happy to see his trainer and his mate, in Pikachus thoughts, together again. Ash gently lifted her head with a hoof so she looked directly at him, with a soft voice he said "I will never leave you Pinkie, not now and not in the future. You are mine and I am yours." He lowered his voice a little and said "I love you Pinkie." Tears sprung in her eyes and he claimed her into a kiss.

After a few minutes he pulled away to get his breath and smiled brightly as he saw Pinkies mane had returned to its normal cotton candy like look. He gently moved a hoof through her mane as she laid next to him, her head resting on his shoulder, still a few tears in her eyes, but with a soft smile on her face. He gently kissed her forehead, and closed his eyes, enjoying her company, until he heard a voice saying "You owe me five bits Twilight. I know she would be the first one here." He looked up and saw his friends, Rainbow Dash, looking worried out of her mind, Applejack, who too looked worried, Fluttershy, who looked liked she had cried too, Rarity, who too had cried as her eyes was red, and Twilight, who for some reason looked away in shame.

He smiled to them all and said "Hey girls. How's Ponyville hanging?"

Applejack gave a weak chuckle and said "Not as good without ya Ash. The farm has been awfully quite without ya to lighten up the air, while we work."

He smiled thankfully too her and looked at Fluttershy, who was ready to cry once again "Come on 'Shy. As you can see I'm fine and soon ready to get up and run again."

She just looked at him with a horrified look and stuttered "H-How can y-you just say that! Y-You nearly died!"

"But I didn't." He said with a softening smile "I survived and that is what matters. But how did you manage to get the bear away anyway?"

Rainbow Dash suddenly smiled brightly and said "After you got hit Twilight used her magic to levitate that bear away and back into the Everfree forest!"

He turned to Twilight and smiled brightly, before saying "That's great! I didn't know you could perform so much magic!"

Twilight looked up shocked and said weakly "Y-You don't hate me?"

He raised an eyebrow in confusion and asked uncertainly "Why would I hate you?"

She cringed a little before saying "I-It was my fault you got hit… I was the one yelling for you to stop harming the Ursa, I didn't expect you to stop running and look over at me. I'm so sorry…"

"Don't mind it Twilight!" He interrupted her gently with a smile "You couldn't possibly have guessed that I would have stopped. If it was anyponys fault, it was mine. I could have kept running instead of stopping. All I want to know is why you told me to stop attacking the bear?"

Twilight smiled a little, before answered "I yelled for you to stop, because you were attacking a baby…"

"A baby?" Ash yelled out loudly in shock.

"Yes. A baby. He wasn't very old and had just been awoken from his sleep, of course he was a bit cranky."

Ash looked annoyed and muttered "He was more than a little cranky judging by that hit I got…" This only caused Pinkie to whimper a little and tighten her grip around him, he mentally scolded himself quickly and kissed her forehead, while he whispered "It's ok Pinkie. I'm here and soon up and running again." She just let out another small sob, but smiled weakly as she looked up at him with watery eyes. He smiled back to her and removed some of her mane that had fallen down on her face.

He held her close as the nurse once again walked into the room and looked sad as she said "Sorry to disrupt, but the visiting hours is over." All the girls looked sad and Pinkie quickly inhaled and looked at her with panic and terror. Not wanting to leave Ash out of her sight now that she finally had him in arms reach. Ash notices this and looked up at the nurse and asked gently "Excuse me… But would it be possible for Pinkie to be allowed to stay? I know it's against the rule, but is it possible to make an exception?"

The nurse bit her lip gently, before she sighed and said "I will ask the doctor if he is ok with it, but I will not promise anything. Understand that?" Ash nodded, while Pinkie just looked nervous at the nurse, silently begged to Celestia, Luna and any higher power out there that she would be allowed to stay.

After a few more minutes the doctor and the nurse returned, they looked in and saw Pinkie lying with Ash, looking nervous and her eyes pleading. Ash just looked at the doctor with a neutral face, not showing either happiness or anger towards him. The doctor looked at both of them with a stern face, before he sighed and said "I have heard of your request Mr. Ketchum and you must understand that it is highly improbable for us to allow this…" He noticed Pinkie's face fell and Ash looked sadly down, he smiled and continued "But none the less, we have agreed you deserve that much. Pinkie and only Pinkie will be allowed to stay, but you will have to rest. That means lay down and no funny business. Understood?" Pinkie and Ash both blushed, but nodded none the less. Pinkie looked happier than ever and Ash looked relived.

"Thank you doctor. You don't know how much this means to me!" Pinkie said with tears in her eyes. The doctor smiled and nodded, before they both left. Leaving Ash and Pinkie alone in the room. Ash laid down in the bed again, soon followed by Pinkie who snuggled closer to him. They both fell asleep later, exhausted after all those emotions and stress.

The next day woke Ash up, hearing the birds lightly sing outside the window in the trees nearby and he felt a pair of forelegs around his chest and smiled as he then felt Pinkies light breath against his fur. He opened his eyes and gently looked down at Pinkie, who was still sleeping peacefully, with beauty that could rival an angel. He gently pulled Pinkie a little closer to him, as for not to wake her up but at the same time feeling her near him. She stirred a little, but relaxed quickly again, happily burying her head in his fur on his shoulder. He just lied there for a few minutes, enjoying the peace that was only gently broken by the bird singing and the regular breath from Pinkie. Until a feminine voice next to him asked "How long have you been awake?"

He looked down and saw Pinkie looking up at him with bright blue eyes and a gentle smile. He smiled back and placed a quick kiss on her lips, before answering "A few minutes love. Don't worry I'm well rested and fells like I'm ready to take on Applebuck season all by my self." Pinkie giggled a little, and lay down against his chest again. They just laid there for another few minutes, before the doctor walked in and looked at them with a smile, before he cleared his throat.

They both looked at him as he said, still smiling "Sorry for disturbing Mr. Ketchum, but you are ready to leave the hospital if you wish, I will though advise to take it easy the next couple of days and not work too much or over exercise. Your muscles are still weakened after the damage and a whole week in bed." Ash nodded with a smile, understanding perfectly. He gently moved out of bed, after Pinkie had gotten off him, and stood there, already feeling a little tired in his legs for holding up his own weight, but was determent to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

He walked out of the hospital, with Pinkie next to him, ready to catch him if he lost balance or couldn't walk anymore. As soon they excited the hospital front door, they were pleasantly surprised to see Twilight and the others standing there, ready to meet him. What shocked Ash the most was that Princess Celestia also stood there, behind the rest with a gently smile on her face. He clumsily tried to bow to her, due to the lack of strength in his legs. Celestia just smiled and said "No need to bow Ash."

He nodded with a smile, before he looked up at her and asked uncertain "What are you doing here Princess? With no disrespect of course." He quickly added

Celestia just smiled again and said "First was to check if you are recovering nicely after that terrible accident with the Ursa Minor and secondly I wished to thank you for your heroic deed. You were really brave to try and fight an Ursa Minor to protect your fellow friends and ponies."

Ash blushed at the praise, but shook his head and said "Don't thank me your highness. Thank my pokémon team and Twilight. I wouldn't have been able to distract the Ursa Minor without my team and Twilight was the one to send it back to the Everfree forest…"

"None the less." Celestia interrupted him "It was very brave done and I would not even wish to think of what could have happened if, under your command, your team wouldn't have tried to fight the Ursa Minor. Ponyville and I owe you our thanks for possibly saving innocent ponies." Ash just looked down at the ground with a blush and a little grin. Pinkie kissed him lightly on the cheek, which caused him to smile a little more and the rest to chuckle lightly.

"Sorry if this may seem rude." Continued Celestia "But I will have to go for now. This was sadly only a quick visit and I have to attend the duties once again." The girls and Ash nodded understandingly, with a smile, and with that she turned around and flew away, towards the castle.

"So are ya sure ya're alright sugar cube?" Asked a slightly concerned Applejack, breaking the silence after Celestia left, Ash just smiled and nodded, but at the same time gave a quick drop in his knees as he felt his strength quickly leave him.

Fluttershy noticed this and instantly was on his other side and said with a concerned and kind voice "Poor dear, let's go get you some rest." Ash groaned, not liking to be mothered like that, but found no strength to fight it off and he was carried away by Fluttershy and Pinkie, who was giggling at his pout.

Some time later they arrived at the Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy and Pinkie sat Ash on the ground in front of the shop and the girls left them to go home. Slowly and steadily walked Ash, supported by Pinkie, inside. Only to be met by a furious hug from Mrs. Cake who cried out "Oh Ash! I'm so happy to see you well and healthy! The shop has been so awfully depressing without you here!"

Ash chuckled and returned the hug quickly as he said "It's good to see you again too Mrs. Cake. I'm sorry to hear that the shop hasn't been on the top."

She gave in return a small smile and stepped back. Mr. Cake also walked up and gave Ash a quick hug, to show he was happy for Ash was alright again. They sat and talked for a few minutes, before, with a yawn, Ash declared he was rather exhausted again and went to bed. He looked at Pinkie and said "Just go up Pinkie, I have something I have to ask Mrs. Cake about."

Pinkie nodded with a puzzled look, but went up anyway. After she left the room, turned Ash to Mrs. Cake with a stern expression and asked "How have Pinkie been coping with me in the hospital? She looked almost broken when she arrived and I was wondering if things were as bad as they were there. I would have asked some of my friends, but I'm a little afraid they might not tell me all the truth."

Mrs. Cake sighed and looked up at Ash, before she said "Pinkie reacted… strongly when she heard of your injury to say at least… Actually, to put it bluntly, was today the first time she have left her room in a week. She stayed inside, not wanting to go outside, you could hear her helpless cries in the whole house…" Ash felt his breath caught in his throat as he imagined that.

"W-Was it truly that b-bad?" He stuttered slightly, not able to believe the ever happy Pinkie Pie, the mare he fell in love with, was even able to show such depressing emotions and refuse to meet the day light.

"Worse…" She said with a hesitance "I once went up and asked why she wouldn't come down... I had nightmares that night about her answer. Instead of a voice filled with emotions, she answered with a stone cold voice, that held neither sadness or happiness 'I j-just can't… T-The only things that keep me sane is knowing Ash, my Ash, is still alive if just barely'." Ash didn't need to hear anymore, he quickly turned around and almost ran up to his room, where he found Pinkie wrapped in his bed sheds, whimpering slightly. She looked up at him as he entered the room and smiled gently.

Ash didn't say anything, or needed to, as he moved down next to her and wrapped one of his forelegs around her, assuring her he was ok. They both fell asleep together for the third time in two days.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash and Pinkie was walking towards the park, both with a smile on their face. It had been a few days since Ash had been released from the hospital and the words spread around quickly in the small town and everypony they met those days, wished Ash a good recovery or wanted to thank him for being so heroic against that Ursa Minor. It even happened that a few mares, possible new to Ponyville, tried to flirt with him, but they quickly found out that hard way, from both Pinkie, and the mane six, that Ash was no free stallion and taken by Pinkie, who clearly stated she intended to keep him.

On the other hand, even though Ash had been released a few days ago, it would be a lie to say he was fully recovered yet, his muscles was still not fully back to strength and he still got very tired after an easy work day at Sweet Apple Acres. There for it happened that he was in a bad mood now and then, but he quickly turned back into his normal happy and friendly mood thanks to Pinkie.

He had of course held a small, but steady training schedule as the doctors advised him to do, this meant each morning, before he went to work, he would run a kilometre and do five push ups.

Now was one of those days where Ash had time to relax, mostly because AJ had given him a free day to relax and have fun, Pinkie, of course, was the first to hear this and instantly insisted they went to the park to have some fun. Ash had agreed with a smile and followed Pinkie as she bounced a few hooves in front of him, excited and happy over a sunny, sky clear day.
They arrived in the park, happy to see the skies was still clear of all clouds and the sun shining as ever before, they saw ponies, both fillies and mares, running around having fun, or just lying on a blanket, enjoying the nice weather and happily devouring a daisy sandwich.

Ash laughed as Pinkie suddenly got all excited and said with a grin “Oh what a beautiful day! We have to celebrate this with a party! Come on Ash! Help me count ponies!” Ash laughed and began to count silently, while Pinkie ran around in full speed and counted every pony within a mile. Ash noticed Rainbow Dash bouncing a ball on top of her head, also counting each time it went into the air and grinned, knowing she probably tried to set a record. He stopped counting and watched as Pinkie got closer to Rainbow Dash and began to count, ending in Rainbow Dash loosing count and got confused, having to stop bouncing the ball.

“Arggh Pinkie Pie. I was trying to set a record here!” She said, annoyed over the sudden interruption “Now I have to start over!”

“Don’t have time! Got to keep counting!”

She turned to Ash with a surprisingly accusing look and said “Can’t you keep control over your mare friend for a second?”
Ash just smiled in response and shook his head slowly as he replied “Dash… You should know by now that not even I can control Pinkie. Besides I like her for what she is. Uncontrollably and always full of energy.”

“That’s so sweet!” Pinkie, who had suddenly appeared beside him, said with a big smile and kissed him briefly, before returning to her counting.

Rainbow Dash, who had been startled by Pinkies ability to show up anywhere without any logical explanation for how she got there, looked confused around for Pinkie, before she asked “How does she do that?!” Receiving no answer from Ash, she looked at him and asked “Hey lover boy! Snap out of it and answer!”

Ash, who had been in a minor trance because of the sudden kiss, shook his head and smiled apologetic to Dash as he said “Sorry. But I have no idea how she does it, I once asked and her answer was ‘Sorry it’s a family secret.’.” Rainbow Dash just looked disappointed, but shrugged quickly after and went back to bouncing the ball.

Ash smiled and looked around again, but this time he noticed Fluttershy had arrived too, he smiled and went over to talk to her, but as he got closer he noticed her worried expression and panicking look. He frowned a little and picked up his speed, as he met her he asked, wanting to know the reason for her worries “What’s wrong Fluttershy?”

She looked at Ash and smiled as she with a scared and low voice “Thank Celestia you’re here Ash, we got a huge problem. And with huge I mean tremendous.”

“What is the problem?” He asked again, wanting to get to the point without being rude. In response she just squeaked in fear and pointed up. Ash looked up and his eyes widened in surprise and horror as he saw a massive black cloud, hanging low over the park and were headed straight for Ponyville.

He turned around and was just about to tell the ponies about the cloud as Twilight appeared on the bridge and yelled “Listen everypony!” Everypony turned and looked at her, waiting for her to continue and Ash couldn’t help but smile as Twilight returned to her natural leader state. A certain air of leadership and power surrounded her, leaving no doubt she was one to follow if you wanted success. Twilight continued when she was sure everypony listened to her “We have a possible disaster at our hooves!” Everypony gasped and looked around in panic, as expecting a major beast to jump out any second “A black cloud of smoke is spreading over Equestria!” Everypony gasped once again and looked up to see the cloud of smoke that just grew bigger and bigger “But don’t worry! It’s not from a fire!” Ash noticed Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief, but he secretly wondered what could make such smoke if it wasn’t a fire. “It’s coming from a dragon!” 

Ash’s eyes widened in horror and he barely heard Fluttershy began to stutter “A-A d-dragon?”

An hour later

Ash and the group had met outside the library, Ash had wondered why Twilight had gathered them here, and even more confused, when he saw all of them dressed up. Rainbow Dash had two war stripes of rainbow colour on her cheeks. Rarity had some kind of hat and a scarf, the hat was like a army uniform with camouflage and the scarf was bright pink. Pinkie and Applejack had each two bags on their back and Fluttershy looked like she was about to join a rugby team with all the protective equipment she was wearing. He looked over at Twilight, who also had two bags and asked “Why are you girls looking like you are about to travel somewhere?”

Twilight looked nervously at him and said, not meeting his eyes “Because we are… We have been given the assignment from Princess Celestia to travel to the mountain and try to convince the dragon to leave and find another place to sleep…”
Ash sighed, not wanting to think why they should be doing it instead of some professionals and said “Ok. Just give me a minute to get dressed and I’m ready.”

Again Twilight didn’t look him directly in the eyes and said with an almost guilty voice “W-We had actually planned to only go as us six girls…”

“WHAT?!” Screamed Ash.

“Please don’t yell at us!” She quickly said “But you know you can’t climb up a mountain in your condition! You can barely handle a full out work day at the farm and no way would be able to climb a mountain. You are simply not in state to do it.” He still looked a little angry, but understood her point, he would probably only slow them down and there was too big a chance that he wouldn’t even make it to the top.

He sighed angrily and said with a determent voice “Ok. I’ll stay on two conditions!”

Twilight sighed in relief, not wanting to fight him and said “Ok. Name it.”

“First: I want each of you to take one of my pokémon with you. They will obey your order and fight for you. You can each choose one of the six I have.” She nodded, happy that they could still gain some extra help. Ash walked over to her and leaned in and whispered into her ear “And for the love of Celestia, take care of Pinkie. I hate to admit it, but she really doesn’t understand the danger of a full grown dragon and if I as much as find a scratch, I will slowly torture and kill whoever and whatever did that to her.” Twilight’s eyes widened in shock and she pulled back and looked at him in horror, only to see his eyes full of determination and seriousness. She gulped and nodded, not wanting to even dare being under his anger.
Ash gave a smile as he turned around and with a few quick movements stood the whole team in front of him, just from Glalie to Sceptile. He looked at them all and said “Ok team, we got a problem at our hands. A dragon has taken sleep in the mountain near Ponyville and is spreading a black smoke over the whole land. Our job is too make that dragon find another place to sleep, whether is it by talk or force. Sadly I can’t go with the girls as I’m still recovering from the accident with the Ursa Minor, but you can still go. Now each of my friends will choose one of you. You will obey their orders and fight with them. Understand that?” Everyone of his pokémon nodded, clearly understanding this was very serious business and not something to make fun of.

Ash turned around and faced the girls, who each looked at the pokémon team with a smile “Choose carefully, each of them had strength and weaknesses.”

“I choose the bird!” Dash quickly said with a smile towards Pidgeot, who gave a cry in offense.

Ash laughed and said “Better say sorry Rainbow. Her name is Pidgeot and she really doesn’t like being called ‘bird’.”

Dash looked at Pidgeot and quickly said “I’m sorry Pidgeot. I just forgot your name quickly…” Pidgeot smiled at Rainbow Dash, as a sign she was forgiven.

“Ah think ah take Sceptile.” AJ said with a smile, and Sceptile just gave the quickest hint of a smile back, each of them remembering the few times Sceptile helped at the farm and the mutual respect they had for each other.

“I-I think I-I take P-Pikachu i-if it’s o-ok of c-course…” Fluttershy stuttered nervously. Pikachu gave a happy cry and ran over and onto Fluttershy back and nuzzled against her. Clearly remembering her kind treatment when he was hurt or exhausted after a hard training session. Fluttershy smiled happily at Pikachu.

“I think I would like to take Glalie, if I remember his name correct.” Glalie let out a happy rasp and floated over to Rarity, who smiled at the ice type.

“Oh oh! Can I get the big Gummy! Big Gummy!” Pinkie cheered as she bounced around Feraligator, who laughed loudly, enjoying his temporarily partner.

Ash chuckled too and said “Ok Pinkie, just remember his name is Feraligator and can use water attacks.”
“Well duhh!” She said and rolled her eyes “He is blue! Of course he can use water!”
Ash chuckled softly and turned around to Twilight and smiled to her as he said “And that leaves Charizard too you Twilight. You are possibly both the luckiest and unluckiest with that. He is quite a handful and often has some minor obedience problems when he gets angry or has his mind set on something, but he is my main power house and probably the most powerful of all my pokémon.”

Twilight nodded and looked over at Charizard, who looked at Twilight and gave a quick nod. At least happy he got to be helping the leader of the group.

“Ok girls let’s go!” Twilight said and each of them nodded, confidence added as they had just gotten a lot stronger with a pokémon each. Even Fluttershy nodded nervously, and looked at Pikachu who nodded to her with a reassuring smile. Ash watched as they left towards the mountain, Dash, Pidgeot and Charizard flying over them and the rest running on the ground. Ash sighed, already feeling the worry building up inside him, and decided to visit somepony he could talk too Getting his mind off things.

With the girls

They had just arrived at the foot of the mountain an hour later and looked up at the steep cliff they had to climb up. They silently began to climb up and as they were up they slowly began to fall into talk “I have heard that a dragons cave should be filled with the most precious diamonds in the world.” Comment Rarity after some time.
Pinkie Pie, who never ceased to fail on a joke, quickly made a fake roar and said with a dragon like voice “Welcome to my cave Rarity! Care for a diamond?”

This caused all of them to laugh, until Twilight yelled “Girls! This is no laughing matter! We have to get this dragon away and I can’t figure out how to do it. What do you think Fluttershy?  Fluttershy?” She asked again, not receiving an answer first time. They all turned around and saw Fluttershy still standing at the foot of the mountain. Twilight looked at her and called “Fluttershy hurry up. We have to reach the cave before nightfall!”

“B-But it’s so steep…” she muttered with a very quiet voice.

“Well it is a cliff!” Rainbow Dash said while throwing her hooves up in the air “Besides can’t you just… You know. Fly?”

Fluttershy eyes widened a little and she quickly began to flap her wings, but as she went up in the air, a loud roar sounded through the air, she gave a quick meep and fell to the ground, her wings stiffly stuck against her side in fear. Rainbow Dash groaned and looked at Pidgeot and said “Pidgeot, would it be too much to ask if you could carry her?” The bird shook her head and went down and Fluttershy gently crawled onto her back and smiled slightly

With Ash

.He smiled as he finally reached Sweet Apple Acres. He entered the farm and saw, to his pleasantly surprise, Big Mac walking around, obviously nothing to do for now. He walked over and called “Hey Big Mac!”

The big red stallion turned around and smiled slightly when he saw Ash, they had encountered a few times before around Ponyville and had discovered they hit of quite well, and a friendship had formed between the two “Howdy Ash.” He said with a smile.

“So what are you doing?” Ash asked curiously.

“Nothing much. Nothing to work at and Ah have free the rest of the day.” He answered shortly, but then asked “Why aren’t ya with the girls? Weren’t ya supposed to drive some creature away.”

“Can’t go with them. The location is on the top of the mountain and I can’t possibly walk up there in my weakened state. I did give them my pokémon team as protection though.”

Big Mac raised an eyebrow and asked “What kind of creature did they have to chase away if they need protection?”

Ash looked at him with a surprised look and said “You mean Applejack hasn’t told you? The creature that makes that smoke over Equestria is a full grown dragon.”

This caused Big Mac to trip over his own two large hooves, he looked up, not even bothering to stand up as he asked in panic “Ya need to tell me mah sister and her friends is going against a full grown dragon? One of the biggest, most dangerous creatures in Equestria!? We need to help them!” He was just about to run to the mountain, when he felt somepony barely able to hold him back. He looked around and saw Ash pulling in his tail and asked, a little angry, but mostly because of fear “What are ya doing?! We have to help them!”

“Big Mac! Try to think! Even if we managed to catch up with them, what can we do against a dragon? Remember that those six are possibly our best bet against that thing as they are a perfect team and they got my pokémon team. A fully trainer elite warrior team that has been trained their whole life for combat and fights. I think they can handle it. Besides I’m pretty sure we will only manage to meet them on their way down as it will take a large amount of time, just to reach the mountain from here.”
Big Mac sighed and sat down on the ground, he groaned and said “Ah need a drink on this… Want to join me?” Ash nodded with a smile and they headed towards Ponyville, or more precisely, the pub called ‘The Left Hoof’

With the girls

“Be careful and quite girls. We are in the middle of an avalanche zone, even the smallest noise can cause an avalanche…” Twilight whispered as they all tiptoed across the valley. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Charizard and Pidgeot were in the air to reduce chances of making noise.

But as they were in the middle of the field, brushed Rainbow Dash accidentally against a branch on a nearby tree, causing a single small leaf to fall from it. Normally this wouldn’t have made any damage at all, but to their luck that single leaf landed on Fluttershy, who quickly fell to the ground in fear and yelled “AVALANCHE!!” All the girls quickly put their hooves in her mouth to stop her yelling, but the echo was quickly followed by a large rumble and the pokémons instantly went into action. 

Charizard flew around and used powerful Fire Blast’s to burn down the smaller rocks. Pidgeot used her gust attacks to blow away rocks that Charizard missed. Pikachu kept jumping into the air and use Iron Tail against larger rocks, causing them to split over or crumble into many smaller pieces. Feraligator used his most powerful Hydro Pump, personally taking care of his masters mate was safe as he blasted larger rocks into the air again or just out over the cliff. Glalie used powerful Blizzard attacks to freeze the remaining rocks on top of the cliff, so they wouldn’t fall down too. Sceptile was in mean while using his incredible speed to safe the ponies from whatever stones that, against all odds, managed to fell through the defences and down upon the mane six.

After a few more minutes the avalanche stopped and all the pokémons stood and panted tiredly at the ground. Twilight looked at them in wonder and awe and said “T-Thank you… You possibly saved our lives there.” The pokémons each gave her a quick grin and for those who had thumbs, a thumb up too. After a few minutes, as the pokémon regained their strength, they returned to their journey and walked once again up the mountain, towards the cave.

With Ash and Big Mac

Ash and Big Mac sat at the pub ‘The Left Hoof’ and enjoyed a strong cider as they let the alcoholic liquid wash away their worry and fear for their friends, sister and mare friend. Ash was on his fourth glass, while Big Mac, who could drink a little faster than Ash, was on his sixth glass, and to say the pub owner was in a good mood would be an understatement. He was willingly serving them before any other customer and didn’t even bother to say anything. Ash, who had discovered he was a light weight when he was at his first party containing alcohol at the age of 16, was beginning to feel a little light headed. He looked at Big Mac with half a smile and said “So how have it been hanging lately Big Mac? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Big Mac smiled to him, easily seeing the early signs of being drunk, and said “Nothing much Ash. Just been doing mah work on the farm, been a little around town, shopping. The usual.” He ended his answer with taking a big sip of his cider and put the empty cup down with a loud clonk. He gave a sigh and asked suddenly “So how’s it going between ya and Pinkie? Even Ah have heard yer two are quite close.”

Suddenly Ash began to smile dreamily and said as in a trance “Sweet Celestia I love that girl… She is the light of my life. The reason I choose to stay in this town. I would give my life and so much more if she even gave the smallest hint she wanted it!” it was quite easy to see the alcohol had finally began to affect his behavior.

Big Mac laughed, enjoying the company of Ash. Truthfully he had been quite lonely for some time before he met Ash. It was just there were few stallions in town and for those who were there, was not quite the type Big Mac could see a friend in, and even through he hated to admit it, he was too shy to try and befriend a mare. He may be big and looked quite rough, and that rumour didn’t help as he didn’t spoke very much, but he just couldn’t find himself the courage to talk more than a few sentences to strangers. Suddenly Ash looked up at him and asked with a grin “So Big Mac, any mares that have caught your interest? I mean there are plenty to pick off in this town.” 

Big Mac suddenly blushed horribly, not that it was very noticeable under his high red fur. He looked at Ash and stuttered “N-No… Ah d-don’t have i-interest in any m-mare…”

Ash grinned once again and said “Your voice is betraying you Big Mac. Come on. You can tell your friend Ash.”
Big Mac looked at Ash with a nervous look for a few moments, before he looked around and saw nopony was listening into their conversation. He sighed in relief as most of the tables closely around them was empty and he looked at Ash and said “Promise me ya won’t say this to anypony else.”

“I promise bro. Just tell me.” He said with a smile. Big Mac smiled too, knowing that even through Ash was drunk he would not tell a living soul about the secret he was about to say.

“Ok… Ah maybe got a minor interest in Miss Fluttershy…” He said with a blush.

Ash’s eyes widened in surprise and he stuttered “I-In Fluttershy? Shy little Fluttershy? As in Applejacks friend?”
Big Mac smiled amused to him and said “How many with the name Fluttershy do ya know?”

Ash shook his head and said “You’re right. Sorry… It’s just a surprise. I mean I know she has her own kind of beauty and she is certainly sweet… It’s just hard to imagine Fluttershy in a relationship… Her name includes the word shy for Celestias sake!”

Big Mac blushed quietly and said “Ah know that… That is what Ah like about her. She’s just so sweet and caring…” He said with a smile. Ash chuckled softly and nodded his head in agreement, thinking the exact same about his dear Pinkie, while he hoped she was safe and sound. Only Celestia knows how many heads will roll if she ended up hurt.

With the girls once again… Is this beginning to annoy you?

Twilight and the group finally stood on the top of the mountain, looking into a huge black cave with a pillar of pitch black smoke slowly sipping out of it. They all looked with a little amount of fear at it, while the pokémon team stood behind them, all their expressions cold as stone and neutral, except Charizard who smirked slightly, happy to get a challenge. Twilight looked nervously at the cave and began to speak “So this is the plan… First will me and Fluttershy try to go in a talk to the dragon and maybe get him to leave…If we can’t talk to him and only if he gets violent I want you and Rainbow Dash ready to distract him.” She added the last part, while looking at Applejack, who nodded determent and proved her style as she threw two apples into the air and quickly kicked them, sending them over and hit a tree perfect in the middle. Twilight smiled and nodded, happy she at least got back up if the first plan failed.

She began to walk towards the cave and then noticed the lack of company, she looked around and saw Fluttershy trembling as she hid her head under her hooves. She walked over and said “Come on Fluttershy. We’ll have to stop the dragon from covering Equestria in a thousand years smoke!”

“I-I c-can’t…” She said quietly.

“Why not?” Twilight asked, now a little confused.

Fluttershy made a squeak and said “I-I-I’m….” 

Unable to hear the rest of the sentence, walked Applejack over and placed a hoof on her back and said “It’s alright Sugarcube. Ya can tell us.”

“I-I’m s-sca…” Suddenly a loud roar from inside the cave penetrated the silence and made Fluttershy squeak in fear once again and she quickly said “I’m scared of dragons!”

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise and she said “But Fluttershy. You have a wonderful talent with all sorts of animals.”

“Yes.” Replied Fluttershy, now looked at Twilight with a calm look “Because they were not a dragon.”

“But what about that manticore!” Pointed Rainbow Dash out.

“It wasn’t a dragon.” She replied again as that sentence was the end of every argument.

“Spike is a dragon. You’re not scared of him.” Said Pinkie cheerfully.

“Yes… Because he’s not a huge, gigantic, terrible, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp scale-having, horn-wearing, smoke-
snoring, could-eat-a-pony-in-one-bite, totally-all-grown-up dragon.”

“B-But Fluttershy, we need your help!” Twilight said with a desperate look.

Fluttershy looked at her with guilt and said “I-I-I…” Everypony looked at her and she sighed and continued “Sorry… I just can’t…” With that she turned around and walked away, her head hanging low.

“Oh Fluttershy…” Twilight said with a sad look, not really disappointed in her. She turned around and faced the cave again, suddenly feeling very nervous as she didn’t have any real talent with animals and especially not dragons… How she wished 
Fluttershy was there right now… She gulped and walked into the cave, and her eyes widened in fear as she saw the enormous red dragon, lying on a huge pile of gold… She carefully coughed politely and said with a weak voice “E-Excuse me sir?” The dragon grunted and didn’t even move an inch. Twilight felt her hope drop slightly, but she continued anyway 

“Sir. Can you please listen? Would you be kind enough to find another place to sleep…? You see, your snoring is causing a lot of black smoke and pollution and has become a health hazard to ponies all over Equestria. So if you would be kind enough to find another place to take you nap, it would be much appreciated…” She looked at the dragon in a little amount of fear, and gulped as the dragon yawned loudly and stood up, towering over her and scratched his back lazily.

Twilight smiled slightly and said “Thank yo-“ She would have ended the sentence, but was cut off as the dragon fell to the grown again and continued to sleep and even let out a breath of black smoke at her, causing her to cough for fresh air. She turned around and walked out of the cave, only to be met by her friends who looked at her hopefully. She shook her head sadly and said “Didn’t work…” They all looked down sadly.

“Let me try.” Said Rarity with a sudden smile “If trying to talk him to leave won’t help, maybe a little flattery would work otherwise.”

Twilight watched as Rarity went into the cave, unable to stop feeling a little worried for her true motives behind her sudden courage against the dragon. She was a good friend indeed, but sometimes her love for diamonds and jewels… Could shadow her mind just a little bit and cloud her judgement… True to her thoughts was Rarity sitting out on a rock in front of the cave a few minutes later, angrily muttering about how close she was to getting that diamond. Twilight, even through she felt a little annoyed, couldn’t help but smile and roll her eyes, until she suddenly heard a loud noise behind her. She turned around and to her shock saw Pinkie Pie in a downright ridiculous outfit, it was consisting of a large gift covering her body, a pair of fake glasses with a moustache and one of those things where you blow in it and it makes a weird noise. She had several balloons attracted to her tail and mane.

“Pinkie. What in Equestria are you wearing?” Rarity asked shocked.
Pinkie smiled widely and said “I thought that dragon might need a little fun, so I’m going to bring a smile to his face! Everyone loves to smile!” 

With that she began to walk towards the cave, only to be lifted off the ground by Twilight who said tiredly “No way you are going in there Pinkie. I promised Ash, I would protect you, and if you get hurt by that dragon there is no way to tell if that dragon will survive for another day. Or me for that matter…” She added silently. Pinkie looked a little sad, but smiled and nodded anyway. At least happy that Ash made sure of her safety before they left. She moved back again and smiled to Twilight, who smiled back at her energetic friend. Happy that she had found somepony to look out for her.

“Ok!” Rainbow Dash suddenly said impatiently “We have tried to talk!” She pointed at Twilight “We have tried flattery!” She continued as she pointed at Rarity, who nodded “We tried… Whatever Pinkie Pie does!” She pointed at Pinkie Pie, who mysteriously had attained a balloon and was trying to blow it up. “It’s time to do something!” With that she flew into the cave, ignoring the cries for her to stop, she flew right up in front of the dragon, with a fierce look she yelled “GET OUT!” and gave the dragon a heavy kick on his nose. It opened its eyes and looked at Rainbow Dash, who repeated herself “Get out you overgrown reptile!”

Suddenly the dragon stood up once again, but this time it didn’t have the lazy look in its eyes or yawned. Instead the look was filled with anger and annoyance and it growled angrily at her. Her eyes widened in fear as she looked at the now angry towering dragon. Suddenly the dragon let out a loud roar. Rainbow Dash grinned nervously and said “Errhhh… See you!” 

With that she quickly flew out, but was forcefully pushed out as the dragon let out a loud roar, which caused a loud smoke explosion in the cave. It intense force shot Rainbow Dash out of the cave and she accidentally hit into the others, who waited outside the cave. They all got forced to the ground and could only watch in terror as the huge dragon stood up angrily and glared at them all for awaken him from his deep slumber. The dragon looked at them with narrowed eyes and let out a huge raw, blasting them with a huge cloud of black smoke. The pokémons immediately jumped into action, when they finally got over the shock of the size of the dragon alone. Pidgeot and Charizard immediately flew into the air and began to blast the dragon with several of different attacks, all from Rock Throw to Air Cutter. Feraligator stood from the ground and blasted with water and ice attacks at the dragon, who roared in pain and annoyance of the damage he was getting. Glalie was also floating around and using his most powerful ice attacks, all from Ice Beam to Blizzard. Sceptile, who didn’t think his grass attacks would work against the large dragon, used his speed to once again get the ponies to safety and out of reach from the dragon.

Pikachu probably had taken the most dangerous job of them all; he jumped around on the dragons’ body and continued to hit it with electricity and physical attacks as Iron Tail. The dragon once again growled in a fit of anger and in a violent movement he swung his arms and Pikachu was sent flying directly into a huge rock. He hit it and let out a cry of pain and the rock slowly began to crack and crumbled into smaller pieces that fell from each other. Suddenly Fluttershy’s head popped out behind the rock, she looked around in a small amount of confusion and looked down, she gasped as she saw Pikachu, lying on the ground unconscious. Her eyes flared a little and she looked up at the dragon and saw all Ash’s pokémons… All his friends fighting to protect her and her friends. She felt a spark ignite in her and a rare anger flow through her body, giving her courage she would never have imagined she had before.

“How dare you…? HOW DARE YOU!” She yelled angrily and quickly left the ground and flew up to the dragon, who had frozen in shock over the frightening and dangerously angered voice, even the pokémon team had stopped fighting the dragon and looked at Fluttershy surprised. “ Listen here, mister! Just because you're big, doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire... But you do not, I repeat, you do not! Hurt! My! Friends! ...You got that?” The dragon whimpered and lowered its head “Well...?”

“But that rainbow one kicked me…” He said gently, surprising everypony as they didn’t except him to be able to talk. Rainbow nodded her head proudly, but was stopped when Twilight quickly pushed her head down in the dirt with her left back hoof.

“And I am very sorry for that, but you are bigger and you should know better. You should also know better than to take you sleep a place, where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures.” She said gently and patted him.

“But I-“ He began, but got interrupted by Fluttershy.

“Don’t you ‘but I’ me mister.” She said with a warning tone. The dragon gave a little sniff and suddenly began to cry, making it seem like it rained upon the ponies on the ground, which they didn’t really notice as they all stared in awe at Fluttershy. Twilight had wide eyes and her jaw hanging, Applejack also looked a little surprised, but smiled proudly at her friend, 

Rainbow Dash was too in shock and she hadn’t even noticed she still had her head in the dirt as she looked at her quiet, shy friend, who just made a full grown dragon cry. Pinkie didn’t even look at Fluttershy as she jumped around in the rain, made by the dragons tears. Rarity was equally surprised as Twilight and wouldn’t believe what she just saw if she hadn’t seen it for herself.

The pokémon team was staring at Fluttershy with proud smiles and approving looks, even Charizard had one of his rare smiles and a shine in his eyes, looking at the yellow pony in a whole new light than a few minutes ago, where he would have seen her as the weaker link of the group.

After a few more minutes the dragon stopped crying, and gently sniffed. Fluttershy patted him once again and said “There there, you not a bad dragon. You just made a bad decision.” The dragon nodded and quickly left the mountain and flew away.

The rest of the ponies ran over to her and hugged the daylights out of her, each of them thanking her for saving them and asked how she could do that. She just meeped and blushed in returned, making them laugh as they now knew the old Fluttershy was back again.

A few hours later, the time it took to travel down the mountain and talk Rarity out of taking a few diamonds from the cave as it would surely mean Ponyville’s destruction, they all arrived, tired and ready for bed, in Ponyville. Twilight looked at the others and smiled tiredly and said “Good job today girls, especially you Fluttershy.” She blushed at the praise “How about we go find Ash? He must be worrying his flank off.” The girls snickered and nodded with a smile.

The task of finding Ash was actually proven harder than originally thought, they realized half an hour later. They had literally searched anywhere, just from the Cake’s house to Sweet Apple Acres. Not one of those places was he to be found and it was easy to see Pinkie was beginning to get worried. “You think he is ok girls?” She asked with a worried look in her eyes, and her lips formed a little pout.

Twilight nodded “I’m sure he is ok, I noticed Big Mac wasn’t at the farm either. Maybe they are hanging out together somewhere?” The girls nodded in agreement and Pinkie smiled a little, happy that he wasn’t alone at least.
“Pinkie! Applejack! Thank Celestia I found you girls!” A voice sounded from behind them, they turned and saw a stallion with a rough yellow colour and a brown mane. His cutie mark was a bottle filled with cider.
Applejack smiled and said “Howdy Cider Joe. What are ya looking for me for?"

“I need you and Pinkies help. We got a couple of passed out stallions at me pub and I think you are quite familiar with them.” He grinned with a gleam of amusement in his eyes. The girls groaned loudly, knowing exactly who the two stallions were, while Pinkie giggled, already excited to see a new side of her coltfriend, a drunken coltfriend.

They followed Cider Joe to his pub and true to his words, inside lay Big Mac and Ash over the table, surrounded by empty bottles, most of them still standing but a few of them had fallen to the floor. Twilight rolled her eyes as Pinkie walked, still giggling, over to Ash and gently pushed a little to him saying “Wakie wakie Ash.” He drunkenly grunted in annoyance and looked up with a tired expression.

His eyes widened as he looked at Pinkie who smiled amused to him and giggled a little. Before she could even say another word, he took her head with both his hooves and pressed his lips to hers in a passion filled kiss. Her eyes widened in surprise at first, but after a second she returned the kiss with just as much love. The other girls reactions were mixed, Twilight and Applejack smiled widely at the sight, while Rarity giggled madly with excitement. Rainbow Dash made a few gagging noises, while Fluttershy blushed furiously and looked away. After a few more seconds, pulled Ash away and looked at Pinkie and said “I love you Pinkie…” Before he fell down in front of her, unconscious once again.

She giggled and said “I think I like drunken Ash, he is a little more forward and taste of cider.” Fluttershy squeaked and blushed a little further.

Applejack gave a soft chuckle and turned to Big Mac, who was still asleep and couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t really angry at him for getting drunk, even Big Mac had the right to get some fun once in a while and truthfully she was very happy he had finally found a true friend. She had been a little worried over the months as he had spent all his time at the farm without hanging around in Ponyville and having fun.

She gave him a shake and said “Hey! Big Macintosh!”

His eyes snapped open immediately and looked up in shock, he stared directly at Applejack and before anypony could see what happened, he pulled her into a crushing hug. Applejack looked shocked and asked “What are ya doing?”

He pulled away as fast as he pulled her into the hug and glared at her with annoyance and growled “Don’t. Ya. Ever. Dare. Go. Fight. A. Dragon. Without. Telling. Me!” Applejacks eyes widened in shock and gulped, following by quickly nodded. True she was a brave pony, but she was not stupid and if Big Mac was this annoyed, it was best just to agree with him as quickly as possible.

He pulled her into a new and much easier hug and said “Ah was so worried about ya. Ah might have lost mah big little sister!”

In response, smiled Applejack a little and returned the hug. Happy to hear her brother was worried about her so much. She gently pulled away and said “Let’s go home Big Mac, ya tired and need sleep.”

“Right…” He said and swayed a little, following Applejack slowly, he slowly looked around and saw Fluttershy, looking at the ground, still blushing a little from the kiss Ash and Pinkie shared a minute ago. His eyes widened and he smiled gently and began to move towards her. Applejack turned around and looked at him a little confused.

Fluttershy looked up and saw Big Mac standing over her, her eyes widened a little and she couldn’t help but blush when she saw his kind smile. He looked down at her and smiled, before saying to everyponies shock “Ah always thought you were and still is the most beautiful and cutest mare Ah have ever seen.” He quickly gave a small kiss on the cheek and turned around and excited the pub, leaving behind a shocked group, except Ash who was sleeping at the hooves of Pinkie. Fluttershy was blushing furiously and tried to hide under her hooves, but if you looked closely you could see the small warm smile she had.
After a few awkward seconds, regained Twilight from her shock and said “I think I’ll help Pinkie get Ash home… Applejack, can you make sure Big Mac didn’t pass out somewhere in the streets?” She nodded with a smile and they all parted to go home.

> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash groaned in pain as he woke up next morning with a splitting hangover that felt like it was going to cut his head in two and crush the two pieces into crumbles. He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it as the bright light from the sun blinded him immediately and caused another wave of immense pain to go through his head. “Damn Celestia and her stupid bright sun…” He muttered angrily “Right now eternal night sounds like a blessing from the gods…”

He heard a soft giggle and opened his eyes and saw Pinkie standing in the entrance to his room, shaking with silent laugher and her eyes filled with mirth. “Not funny Pinkie…” He groaned “I feel like my head is going to split open…” Again he heard the familiar, yet still beautiful giggle, and despite his annoyance he smiled. He looked up and asked, ignoring the headache he had “So what happened yesterday? Last thing I remember was being at the pub with Big Mac. How did the dragon go?”

“Fluttershy managed to get him away.” She said with a bright smile and walked over to Ash.

“Fluttershy? You mean our little shy Fluttershy?” He asked, surprised.

“Yeah!” She said loudly, causing Ash to groan again as the headache hit him again “Ups… Sorry. Turns out she really don’t like her friends, or Pikachu getting hurt.”

Ash’s eyes widened and he immediately sat up in his bed, ignoring the jolt of pain that once again went through his head as he asked, slightly panicking over his best friend “Pikachu got hurt? Where is he?”

Pinkie immediately put two hooves on him and forced him down in the bed again as she said “He is over at Fluttershy’s house, she is taking care of all of your friends, except Pidgeot who wanted to stay with Rainbow Dash.” Ash let out a sigh in relief, happy that his best friends weren’t hurt or worse. 

He looked up at Pinkie who smiled to him. She gently moved into the bed, now laying besides Ash and rested next to him. He smiled and wrapped a hoof around her, holding her close and asked “So what cause of chaos could I possibly have pulled off, while drunk yesterday?”

To his amusement and suspicion, giggled Pinkie like a little filly and said in an innocent voice “Nothing much. You passed out on the pub and we came in and woke you up…”

“Sounds like nothing happened…” He said with a smile, glad he didn’t embarrass himself.

“Oh yeah, and you kissed me passionately in front of our friends and Big Mac said Fluttershy was the cutest and most beautiful mare he had ever seen.” She said quickly, a big grin plastered on her face.
It took a few moments for Ash to comprehend what she said, but when he did, he groaned out and said “Never going to hear the end of this, aren’t I?”

She shook her head and said “Nope. But I’m more interested in what Big Mac did, you’re his best friend. Does he really like Fluttershy as in the lovey dopey way or was it just drunk stallion talk?”

Ash grinned widely, even through he had promised not to tell the secret was kind of already out and he said “Big Mac said last night to me that he really liked Fluttershy and has a crush on her, but is to shy to say anything to her about it.”

“Wow…” Pinkie muttered, a little surprised “Never would have guessed Big Mac, the most humongous stallion in Ponyville, to be shy!” 

She ended up nearly yelling, causing Ash to groan and said.
“Headache Pinkie! Remember the headache!”

She blushed and muttered “Sorry…” She smiled to him and said “How about I kiss the meanies pain away?” And before Ash could protest, she had leaned over and giving him a huge kiss.
Suddenly, after a minute or two give your guess, Pinkie pulled back with a smile and said all out of the blue “So how are we going to bring Big Maccy and our dear Fluttershy together?”

Ash grinned evilly and said “And this is one of the reasons I love you Pinkie.”

At Sweet Apple Acres

A painful yelp sounded from Big Macs room as he woke up with a crazy headache. He looked around and realized he faintly remembered last afternoon. “Darn it…” He muttered, angry at himself for getting drunk. It was something that rarely happened, but when it did, he tended to break something and that never went all to well with his little sister Applejack or the family budget as they had to pay for whatever he broke. It was also at those times he wished he wasn’t such size as he was. 

True it came very handy when he worked at the farm and was a blessing when things needed to get moved, but when he was drunk it was a true curse as he got careless drunk and a careless Big Mac tended to forget his own size and break most things he got in his hooves. He looked around and was happy to discover he at least woke up in his own room.

He heard a short laugher from the doorway and looked up and saw his little sister Applejack standing with an amused smile. 

He groaned lightly and asked “What did Ah break this time?”

Her amused look got brighter as she said “Luckily you didn’t break anything this time Big Mac.” He let out a sigh in relief and lay back in his bed, not wanting to get up. He looked up again and glared mildly at Applejack, while ignoring the headache he had.

Applejack noticed the glare fairly quickly and asked with a minor frown “Why the glare Big Mac?”

“Why didn’t ya tell me yesterday about that darn dragon?” He asked a little harsher than intended, but it had worked well since Applejack looked down at the ground in a little shame and muttered.

“Ah just didn’t want ya to worry…”

He sighed, at least happy it wasn’t because she didn’t trust him that she didn’t tell him the whole truth and said “And what to ya think I was when I learned from Ash that ya and yer friends had gone off chasings dragon all on yer own?”

She lowered her head a little more and said in honesty “Ah’m sorry Big Mac… Ah just thought it was better that way… Can ya forgive me?”

He smiled gently to her and said “Always.” And she immediately went over and hugged him tightly with a smile. Happy that they had time for one of these rare sister brother moments. With all the work on the farm and with her spending time with her friends, they rarely had time to really talk like a brother and sister anymore.

After a few seconds pulled Big Mac and smiled to his little sister as he then asked “So what happened last night? Ah kind of can’t remember.” 

This earned him a chuckle from Applejack and she answered “Not much, found ya and Ash unconscious on the pub and took yer home after Ash had kissed the daylights out of Pinkie in front of us all.” She snickered at the memory and Big Mac couldn't help but laugh either, as he could picture the funny scene.

“Did ah do anything?” He asked with a hint of worry.

To his dismay laughed Applejack harder and said “Bet ya flank ya did. You must have been really drunk, because just before we left, ya walked over to Fluttershy…” She didn’t notice he paled at the name and continued “… And said ya haven’t seen a cuter and more beautiful mare in ya life and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Blushing beat red did the girl.” 

She looked at Big Mac and to her surprise saw him with his face buried in his hooves as he muttered “Me and ma big idiotic mouth…”

She wondered what he meant by that, when it suddenly hit her, she stared at him for a moment before she asked carefully “So ya really like Fluttershy in that way?” 

He groaned silently and nodded. Silence followed and he looked up, expecting to see disgust and disbelief in the expression of his sister, but was surprised when he saw a warm smile as she said “So when are ya going to tell her without being drunk?”

He felt his hearth drop into his stomach as he stuttered “A-Ah can’t… S-She will just laugh at me and A-Ah’m sure she hates me after what Ah did yesterday…”

Applejack chuckled softly and said kindly to him “Big Mac. I don’t think Fluttershy is even capable of the feeling hatred. Sure she can get angry if ya hurt her friends or animals, but never hate. That is just not Fluttershy. Ah am sure she will either accept those feelings ya have for her or kindly decline and still be the friendly mare she have always been towards ya.”

He looked up with a grateful smile and asked uncertain “Ya think she likes me too?”

Applejack smiled encouraging to him and said “Let me put it this way. If she didn’t even notice what fine stallion that have taken a liking to her, Ah would be slightly insulted on ya behalf.”

Big Mac smiled to his oldest younger sister and felt oddly encouraged in this whole thing. For the first time in many months he actually felt like he could tell Fluttershy of his feelings towards her…

At Fluttershy’s place

Fluttershy in her couch with a cup of steaming tea in front of her, while she thought over what happened last night with a small blush on her cheeks. She remembered that Big Mac had gone over to her and said she was both the cutest and most beautiful mare he had ever seen and even kissed her on the cheek. She blushed even more scarlet red as the realization hit her head on. A stallion had told her she was beautiful, a stallion had kissed her, even if it was on the cheek.

She sighed and lay on the couch once again and thought about the one secret she had held from everypony she ever knew. 
She hadn’t dared to tell anypony, she was scared they would laugh and say she was not worthy of such thing… Of course she knew she was being ridiculous and her friends would never do that, but the fear still lay there, just waiting to strike. There was a few time she had been close to telling Rarity about her secret, but she always ended in changing the sentence in the end…

Her secret was she had a huge crush on the big stallion named Big Macintosh. She attained that crush after her first week in Ponyville, where Big Mac arrived at her house to buy a pet for Applejack and after a while he found Winona, a small dog that was overly excited and happy all the time. In those few hours, even through he barely spoke, except with an ‘Eeyup’ or a ‘Noope’ she had gained her crush on him. It was just his gentle nature and his nice way to live and the fact that each time he smiled it sent a spark of electricity down her spine.

So of course now she was mortified over last night, but also very confused, slightly happy and also a little sad. Mortified because of the words he spoke to her and the peck on the cheek, confused over why he would say such thing to her, a simply pegasus who could barely fly, happy because she thought it might meant he liked her, like she liked him and sad because it might also just be words spoken of a drunken stallion who has barely any control over what he says.

She sighed and laid her head on her forelegs, deciding she would go for help to somepony and she knew just the right pony to help her.

A few minutes later

“S-So that is why I need your help Rarity…” Fluttershy ended nervously as she had just told her not so well big secret anymore. She looked up and saw Rarity looking at her surprised, before her eyes lit up in a spark and she let out a happy squall as a small filly who just had received her favourite pet.

“I’m so happy for you Fluttershy! You have finally found the stallion in your life!” She said with stars in her eyes and a wide smile.

Fluttershy blushed even further than she already did and stuttered “O-Of m-my l-l-life…?”

Rarity smiled and nodded excited “Trust me when I say Fluttershy. You have fallen deeply for Big Macintosh.” Fluttershy let out a tiny squeak and blushed again. 

Rarity smiled warmly to her friend and put a hoof around her shoulder and said “Come one here Fluttershy, I will tell you about what to do when you have fallen for somepony and how to get their attention.”

Fluttershy looked mortified as she was dragged away by Rarity.

A few days later

Ash woke up early morning, when the sun just had raised over the skies. He smiled and awoke Pikachu, who laid next to him as he said “Come on Pikachu. We have to get breakfast and then I have to tell the rest of the team something important.” Pikachu nodded, still very tired and yawned, before lifting his body of the bed and jumped down on the floor. He ran out of the room and down towards the kitchen. Ash heard a voice saying “Hello Pikachu. Is Ash up yet?”

Ash guessed Pikachu must have nodded, because not many seconds later, walked Pinkie in with a smile and over to him. She leaned down and kissed him lovingly on the lips. He kissed her briefly back and said “Good morning love.”
She smiled brightly as he called her that and kissed him again, this time a little longer. She pulled back and said “Let’s go down and have some breakfast.”

Ash nodded with a small dazed smile and followed Pinkie downstairs. They were met by Mrs. and Mr. Cake, who was sitting and eating their breakfast, Mrs. Cake with her normal morning tea and Mr. Cake with his strong morning coffee he needed to wake up too.

Ash walked through the town on a particular nice and warm day, with Pikachu running next to him. He smiled down to his friend and asked “So what are you up for today buddy?” Pikachu looked up at his best friend with a smile as he ran next to him and said “Pika pi. Pikachu! Piki pi!”

“Ok let’s go visit Dash for a change. Maybe she has something for us to do and then I can give Pidgeot a little needed air time, while I’m at it.” Pikachu nodded with a smile, before looking around, trying to spot some of there friends.
He suddenly frowned a little and cried out “Pika! Pi Pikachu!” Ash looked at Pikachu with a raised eyebrow, before looking around and said with a little surprise in his voice “You’re right Pikachu… Everypony is gone… Where do you think they could have gone on such a nice day?”

He then heard a voice behind him calling “Ash!” He turned around and saw Twilight walking towards him with a smile, he smiled back as she asked “Have you seen anypony today?” He shook his head in response and she sighed and said “I wonder where everypony could have gone on such a nice day as this…” And looked up in the sky clear heaven.

“Pssst! Twilight. Ash! Over here.” A voice whispered from the doorway. They turned and saw Pinkie had the door opened to Sugarcube Corner. They walked over to her a little confused why she was hiding indoors, but as soon they were in arms reach, she grabbed them both and forcefully pulled them inside the house.

Ash groaned lightly as he got up from the floor and asked out in the dark room “What are you doing Pinkie? It’s really not like you to be inside on a beautiful day as this?”

“Yeah.” Agreed Twilight “What are you doing hiding here alone?”

“Alone?” She asked with a confused look and said “I’m not alone.” And with that the darkness cleared a little and all of their friends were revealed.

Ash rolled his eyes in amusement and asked “Ok, then what are you all doing in here in the darkness on a beautiful day?”

“We were hiding from her!” Applejack said in a surprisingly scared voice and pointed out the window. Ash and Twilight curiously walked over to the window and looked out to see a hooded figure walking into the town. Suddenly they felt all of their friends had surrounded them tightly and looked out of the window with them. He frowned a little, wondering why they would hide from the stranger, but decided to wait and see.

They all watched as she walked into the town and looked around, before she gave a small sign and weirdly enough began to dig in the ground with her hooves.  All the girls, except Twilight, let out a gasp and Ash didn’t know if the stranger had noticed, because she looked directly in their direction and Ash must admit the hood had a scary effect as it made her eyes glow in a yellow light. She finally pushed the hood down and revealed her light and dark grey coloured fur and mane, her mane, unlike other ponies, went straight up into the air and was striped in a darker and lighter form of grey. Ash eyes went wide as he recognized the animal as a zebra. He looked around and saw his friends was looking scared as before and said “I don’t really see what is wrong here…”

Applejack looked at him, like he was crazy and said “How can ya not see it? She is not from around here. Ah have never seen a pony like her before.”

“Yeah. Just look at those stripes. Most unpleasant.”
Just as Ash was about to say it, interrupted Twilight him with saying “She’s a zebra.”

“A what?” They all asked, confused.

“A zebra. They come from a faraway place. I just wonder what she is doing her in Equestria… And her stripes aren’t a fashion choice Rarity. They are what she was born with.” This caused Rarity to faint and Ash to roll his eyes in slight annoyance over her antics.

“Still… That doesn’t explain why she lurks around the stores like that, and the creepy digging in the ground!” Pinkie said.

“Maybe she is just visiting town? Shopping?” Twilight said with a testing smile.

“What about the digging at the ground?”

“M-Maybe she is digging for innocent creatures…” Fluttershy mumbled, surprising Ash a little as she had kept quiet for so long.

“Yeah!” Stated Pinkie, who was somehow convinced she was as evil as said “She is so evil I even wrote a song about her!” Suddenly she began to jump around in the house as she sang.
“She’s an evil enchantress.
And she does evil dances.
And if you look into her eyes she will put you in trances! ...”

Ash didn’t hear the rest of the song, as he quietly left the room, wanting to speak with the mysterious and ‘oh so evil’ zebra, before judging her. He stepped outside in the refreshing sunlight again and let out a happy sigh and began to walk towards the zebra with Pikachu following right behind him. Never once had his friends noticed he had left and it was maybe for the better, as they all, except Twilight, would maybe attack her for no reason with their views about her.
He was a few feets behind the zebra, when she turned around and looked right at him with her sharp eyes. He didn’t move a nerve and smiled at her and said “Hello. My name is Ash Ketchum and I haven’t seen you before. What is your name?”

Suddenly the zebra smiled brightly to him and said in a rhyme, surprising Ash a little
“Ah. Finally somepony who is polite.
I was almost afraid, to get some help, I had to use might.
Zecora, for your question, is my name.
Herbs and natural healing is my game.”
Ash looked at her a little confused and asked “You’re looking for help? What can I help you with then?”

She smiled kindly back at him and continued her rhyming, answering his question 
“I need some herbs for my knowledge to be grown.
But sadly those herbs are only sold in this town.
And as you can see.
My appearance alone causes fear and panic to spree.”

Ash sighed and rubbed his forehead with a hoof and said “Then I apologize for my friends and town folks reactions. I really can’t see the logic in being afraid of somepony you don’t know, but I guess rumours can get to far sometimes…” He looked up and asked “Where do you live by the way? I haven’t seen you anywhere near Ponyville before?”

“That answer might be one of the causes to such rumour to spree.
You see. I live in the forest called Everfree.” She said with a smile.

Ash raised a slight eyebrow and said “That is slightly unusual… But I can see why you live there as you use herbs a lot and the forest got many of those…”

“A smart young mind I seem to have found.” She started her rhyming with a grin.
“And one who keeps his judges down on the ground.”
Ash shrugged and said of handily “Just never saw the reason to judge without facts.”
“Another smart trait to possess.
Sadly many ponies still need this kind of mind to access.” She shook her head and sighed. Ash couldn’t help but agree with Zecora, while he looked back at the house and saw, not to his surprise, each of his friends standing in the window looking at him talking to her with horror in their eyes, except Twilight who looked proud at him, Pinkie was the one who looked worst, she looked pale and her eyes was widened in terror and worry. Ash felt a little bad about bringing this kind of worry on her, but knew sometimes you had to do what was right, and not what was easy. This time it was right to prove that Zecora wasn’t evil or an enchanter, just a medical zebra who lived in the Everfree forest, because of the natural supplies of herbs and plants.

She looked up at him and smiled as she asked carefully “Would you like to visit my humble hut?
I swear the route I take is safe and creatures of danger, we meet will not.”

Ash looked at her with a smile and said “I would be honoured to be shown your home Zecora. You lead the way. If you can wait a second I will just inform my friends of this.” Zecora nodded with a smile and Ash turned and walked back towards the house.

He knocked on the door and it was immediately opened and once again he was dragged inside within a second by a pink blur. He was suddenly on his back against the floor with Pinkie sitting on top of him with panic in her eyes as she said “Ash! Are you ok?! Did she do anything to you? Why aren’t you answering! Did she enchant you!? OH NO! Ash has been encha…” She was silenced as Ash wrapped his hooves around her and pressed her into a forceful kiss, the only way he knew to shut her up for at least a few minutes.

As he released her and stood up again, leaving her sitting on the floor with a smile and a dazed look, he turned to the others, who looked at him with worry, or in Fluttershy’s case, blushing over the kiss he gave Pinkie. He cleared his throat and asked “Ready to listen?” The others nodded. He smiled and began to speak “First of all you have seriously misjudged Zecora. She is not evil or an enchantress or whatever rumour there goes around with her. She is not enchanting ponies and making soup out of them.” He looked clearly at Pinkie, who had snapped out of her daze as he began to explain, she looked a little surprised, but kept listening. “While it is true she lives in the Everfree forest, it is not because she is evil, but because of the herbs and plants that grows in the forest. Zecora works on potions who have medical purposes. She has invited me to visit her home. Any of you wants to come?” 

Pinkie stood immediately up and said “I’m coming with you!”

“I think I will join you too.” Added Twilight “These medical potions sounds interesting and maybe I can learn something new in there.”

“Ah think ah join ya.” Said Applejack, even through you could easily see the nervousness in her eyes.
The rest of the group politely declined. Rarity just didn’t want to go into the forest. Rainbow Dash was busy with her moves and her training and Fluttershy was scared of the forest and was also busy with her critters and animals. The group of four ponies nodded and left the building. Outside they found Zecora waiting with her travelling cloak hanging from her shoulder and down her body. She had a kind smile as she said “So you are the friends Ash spoke of so well.
It’s a delight to meet you. But let’s go, we shouldn’t stay to long and dwell.” The others nodded in agreement and followed her out of Ponyville, obvious to the many shocked stares they got from ponies inside their houses.

After a half an hour, they reached the edge of the forest. Twilight looked at it a little nervous and couldn’t help but ask 
Zecora “How do you even live in there? Most ponies are terrified to go in there even for a few minutes, let alone live in there all the time.”

Zecora smiled, not minding the question and answered in her typical rhyming “To live in the Everfree is not an easy life.
But for the herbs and plants in the forest. It is a task I will gladly strife.” Twilight smiled and nodded in understanding.

Just before they entered Zecora turned to them and asked with a serious expression “Now, before we enter I must know.
Is this your first time in Everfree or do you know the flow?”

Applejack looked confused by her choice of words and asked “Pardon me ma’m?”

“I think she means if we know how to deal with the forest and what can happen in there…” Twilight said thoughtfully.
Applejack smiled gratefully to Twilight and then turned to Zecora and said “We have been in here once or twice, but we aren’t all familiar with the forest at all.”

Zecora nodded and said in a voice that left no argument “Then follow me, I will lead us to my hut.
But remember, touch nothing of which I say you must not.
Many dangerous and poisonous plants of alarm.
Just lays and wait to bring ponies harm.” The group nodded, clearly not wanting to be poisoned. Ash wrapped a hoof around Pinkie, who happily leaned into his embrace. She wasn’t nervous, the forest didn’t scare her at all actually, but Ash was nervous for her well being and she knew it would help for his nerves if she just let him embrace her. They all walked into the forests debts.

In a matter of ten minutes they were deep into the forest, walking along with the many dark trees around them as Zecora went on and explained to the curious Twilight what different plants and herbs did.
“That one of there cures headache if brewed correct,
but will cause sore throat if eaten direct.” Ash heard Zecora said as she pointed towards a yellow and red flower that was gently standing on the forest ground, looking peaceful and innocent.

But Ash’ mind was somewhere else as he noticed a bright blue, beautiful flower patch near them. He looked at them and smiled a little, thinking he would give one of them to Pinkie. He noticed the others were a little ahead and went over and picked up one with his teeth. He then ran over to Pinkie. He lightly poked her on the side, she turned to look at him and saw the flower he held. He smiled to her and mumbled with the flower in his mouth “I thought you would like this flower.” 

She smiled to him and said “That’s sweet Ash.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek, before accepting the flower.

Suddenly a voice behind them yelled out “What are you two doing with that flower of blue!
Didn’t you listen when I told you not to touch anything unless I gave permission to?” Pinkie dropped the flower in surprise and looked at Zecora with wide eyes.

“What’s the harm…?” Asked Ash nervously “It’s just a flower.”

“Poison Joke is the name the plant goes by,
and I will not lie.
When touched by any living pony,
the pony will be offer of a prank most loony.
By tomorrow morning, you two will be offer from a prank,
I have the remedies for a cure, but two days it will take quite frank.”

Ash looked shocked, he understood what she basically meant to say was ‘Plant causes pranks to happen to ponies who touches it and I can only give a cure in two days.’ He turned to Pinkie and looked sad as he said “I’m sorry Pinkie… I didn’t know that it would be a prank flower I gave you…”

She smiled brightly and giggled as she said “No worries. I think it will be super duper fun to see what kind of prank the blue flower can pull on us! I can’t wait until tomorrow!” Ash smiled a little, happy that she wasn’t mad at him for practically causing a prank to fall on her, even if it was an accident.

Zecora sighed and said “I think I have to cut your visit for now,
To prepare a potion I need full concentration and a natural flow.
In two days I will give you the cure,
to end this prank you have to endure.”

Twilight nodded with a sigh and looked at Pinkie and Ash and said “Come on, let’s go back to Ponyville… It’s going to be a big day tomorrow if the poison joke is half as bad as Zecora says it is…” Ash and Pinkie nodded with a smile and followed Twilight on the patch towards their homes.

Later that day was Ash lying in his room at Sugarcube Corner, thinking about what could possibly happen to him and Pinkie tomorrow. He heard the door open and looked up to see Pinkie standing there, he looked at her and asked “Is there anything wrong Pinkie?”

She smiled gently to him and said “Nothing, just excited about tomorrow…” she looked a little nervous and asked “Can I sleep in here? I would like to wake up and see what prank you got first thing in the morning.”

Ash just smiled to her and removed the covers and let her slide down next to him. He put a foreleg around her and pulled her a little closer, she laid her head on his chest and quickly fell asleep. It didn’t take long, before Ash too was asleep.

> chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash woke up next morning, groaning as he felt very weird and strangely uncomfortable in the bed, which have gotten weirdly smaller during the night. He kept his eyes closed and ran his fingers through his hair… Fingers? Fingers?! His eyes snapped open as he looked in shock as he held his now normal human hand in front of his face. He stared at it for a while in shock, but then he remembered yesterday and the poison joke. He groaned and thought “So I’m a human now… What will Pinkie and the others think of this?” Then he remembered, as he felt a soft breath against his chest, that Pinkie had slept inside here this night, he looked down and to his larger shock saw a human woman with fluffy pink hair and a soft smile on her face. Ash blinked a few times, before he realized that Pinkie was too turned human as an offer from the plant.

He gently ran his fingers over her shoulders and whispered “Pinkie. Pinkie wake up.” She snuggled closer to him and let out a soft whine as if she didn’t want to wake up, it was with the sudden movement he realized to his horror they were both naked. This might not have been a problem when they were ponies, but human anatomy is very different and right now he could feel her against him.

He quickly shook her a little harder and whispered louder “Pinkie wake up. The prank have taken affect.” Her eyes shot up at the mention of pranks and she grinned at him, before her look changed to one of horror. 

She shot out of the bed and said in fear as she crawled away from him, completely obvious to her new form “W-Who are y-you and w-what have y-you done with A-Ash?!”

Ash sighed, he should have expected this of her as she had never seen a human before “It is me Pinkie. This is what the poison joke did to me. I have been turned into a human again. And so have you!” She looked at him with shock, before she smiled and looked down her own body with wonder. She looked at her hands as she held them up and moved her fingers, while she said “Wow… This feels so dozy! Like having small pieces of extra bones and skin on your hooves!”

Ash who blushing furiously, as Pinkie stood naked in front of him, muttered “Pinkie please get some clothes on…”

She looked at him with confusion and asked “Why?”

“Remember the first night I arrived here? About human anatomy and how certain gender related parts are clearly visible…” It took a moment, before she understood and then she blushed furiously and looked at the ground. Ash, who was luckily always prepared before he took out on his training section the day he found the portal, had an extra pair of clothes with him. 

They weren’t exactly fashionable, but it was better than going naked. He grabbed his backpack, which had been laid forgotten on the floor for many weeks. He grabbed it, still getting used to have his legs back and his full height, which left him only a few inches from hitting the ceiling. He then picked out a T-shirt and a pair of underwear and pants and threw them to 

Pinkie and said “Put these on. They will keep you covered until Rarity can manage to get your some better clothes.”
“T-Thank you…” She stuttered, still embarrassed. She quickly put her clothes on, as Ash did the same with his clothes, who had been laid next to his bed the day he arrived in this world.

Ash looked over at the door as he had put his clothes on and sighed, knowing it would most likely cause panic with him and 
Pinkie being humans instead of ponies. He suddenly heard a loud thud followed by an “Oww!” He looked over and saw Pinkie sitting on the ground with a big grin as she said “I think I have some trouble walking on two legs.”

Ash couldn’t help but smile at her happy nature and helped her on her legs, while holding one of her arms around his shoulder. She grinned to him and threw her other arm around him and held him closely. He smiled softly to her and kissed her.

“Ash. It’s time to wa…” They both heard a voice behind them, they turned and looked at Mrs. Cake who looked at them with a frightened look.

Pinkie grinned nervously and said “Hello Mrs. Cake…?”

Her eyes widened as she heard Pinkie and asked “P-Pinkie? Is that y-you? What happened?!”

Ash smiled to her and said “We ran into a plant called the poison joke yesterday and got turned into this creature.” He couldn't reveal he knew they were humans as some ponies might not be so accepting with him being from another world as his friends were.

She looked at Ash and said “And you must be Ash then…” She sighed and said “I go get Twilight, she might know what to do…” Ash nodded in agreement.

They sat down in the bed and waited for Twilight to arrive. Pinkie smiled to Ash and leaned against him, he smiled gently as he pulled an arm around her and held her close to him. She rested her head on his shoulders and closed her eyes with a small smile. Suddenly the door opened and Twilight stood in the door and looked at Ash and Pinkie with big eyes. After a minute she said “Ash… Pinkie is that you?”

Ash nodded and looked around in the room, happy that they were alone he said “Twilight, it might not be a good idea that this information gets out in public, but Pinkie and I have been turned into humans by the plant.”

Her eyes widened in shock and she said “So this is what humans look like? I was wondering about that for so long! Let’s get over to the library! I get the others and I think Celestia also wants to see this.” Ash and Pinkie nodded with a smile and with a quick teleportation spell, they were in the library. They landed in the middle of the library, actually right in front of Spike who jumped back in shock and looked at Ash and Pinkie and asked “W-Who are you?!”

“Shush Spike, its Pinkie and Ash who have been turned into humans by the poison joke! I need you to send a letter to Celestia, asking her to get here if she has time.” Spike nodded with a salute and went over to write the letter as Twilight teleported away again.

Ash and Pinkie sat down in the couch and Ash sighed, while Pinkie lay down and placed her head on his lap. He smiled gently down to her as she closed her eyes, still feeling a little tired, and began to run his fingers through his hair. She purred in approval and leaned closer into him.

After a few more minutes, or half an hour Ash had lost time of the clock by now, arrived his friends as the door opened. Ash looked up and saw Rainbow Dash walk in, she instantly noticed them and flew over and said “Wow! This is so cool! So this is what a human looks like. They look weird! How is it to have hands?”

Ash chuckled and pushed her away with a light shove and said “Can we wait with the questions until Celestia arrives?” 
The others nodded and Twilight asked “So are you hungry? You didn’t exactly have time for breakfast…”

Ash was about to answer as his stomach growled, he blushed embarrassed as the girls giggled “Y-Yeah I guess I am…” He mumbled as Pinkie continued to giggle at his misfortune.

After a few minutes Twilight returned with two plates of daisy sandwiches. Ash looked at it with a little distrust and was about to say something when Pinkie spat out “EEW! Why does it taste so bad! I like daisies!” She had apparently tried to eat the flowers.

Ash noticed Twilight’s mildly hurt look and quickly said “It’s not your faulth Twilight. It is just against human nature to eat flowers or grass. We can eat things like fruit, vegetables and bread, but we get easily sick of things like flowers. Our stomachs can’t take it.” Twilight nodded with a smile and went in to the kitchen again to get some apples. She returned a few seconds after with four apples, two to each Pinkie and Ash, who happily ate them.

As they were done eating the door opened and Celestia stood in the doorway with a smile and next to her stood Luna, who looked nervous around, almost afraid. Twilight smiled as she almost ran over to Celestia and said “Princess Celestia. It’s nice to see you again!”

Celestia smiled and said “It’s nice to see you again Twilight. I hope there is nothing wrong with I took Luna with me?”
Twilight shook her head and turned to Luna and said “It’s also nice to see you again princess Luna. I hope you are feeling well.”

She looked surprised at her and said “We art feeling well, thank you Twilight Sparkle. We hope thou art feeling good?”
“I’m fine, but its Ash and Pinkie who might have a minor problem.” She could barely contain a giggle, Celestia looked up and her jaw dropped as she now saw the two humans, who one of them was a pony and the other was a human, turned into a pony, then turned into a human again by accident.

Luna looked equally surprised and asked with a whisper to Celestia “Dear sister… What art those creatures?”

Celestia turned her head and smiled to her sister and said “This, Luna, is simply Ash and Pinkie who have been in contact with the poison joke. You remember how I told you that Ash is not from our world, but accidentally dropped in on that night.” Luna winced at the mention of the night where she returned and was cleansed by the elements. “Well. To be honest, before Ash came here he was not a pony, but a human, which is one of these creatures.”

Luna looked a little surprised, but then smiled softly and said “This human creature thou speakest of sounds most interesting. We would enjoy being a part of the research group.”

Celestia smiled brightly and said “Perfect. If Ash and Pinkie don’t mind of course, then Twilight and Luna will begin to make some research about humans.”

“I don’t mind at all your highness.” Ash said with a smile, while Pinkie nodded excited next to him, still holding support on him, since she wasn’t quite used to walking on two legs yet. He suddenly smirked and with one motion he swooped Pinkie up in his arms as he held her in bridal style.

She let out a surprised squeak and quickly threw her arms around his neck to balance her in his arms. She looked amused up at him and said “You don’t have to carry me.”

“I know.” Ash said with a mischievous smile “But I wanted to. Besides then I can do this.” With that he pulled her head up too a deep kiss. All his friends ‘d’aaawed’ and Celestia smiled, while Luna stood a little uncomfortable with the show of affection.

After a minute Ash pulled away from the kiss, leaving Pinkie lying in his arms with a goofy smile. He looked at his friends and asked “So did you want to research about humans?”

Twilight immediately smiled brightly and was in a second in front of him with a parchment and a ink covered quill, she looked up at him, as he was about as tall as Celestia, and began to ask so many questions so fast, that Ash found it impossible to keep up. He quickly brought his hand down and covered her mouth, preventing her from speaking as he said “Slow down a little Twilight. I will answer all questions, but I can barely hear what you’re saying.”

She blushed a little in embarrassment and took a deep breath, before she looked up and asked, still with excitement in her voice “What kind of food do humans eat? I figure that would be important, since you have to spend at least a day as human.”

Ash smiled to Twilight and answered “Well… If you remember the night after we met I told you that humans are mainly omnivorous, which you know means we can eat both meat and vegetables.” He noticed Luna’s distressed look and added quickly “But we don’t need meat to survive. So you don’t have to worry about that. Humans can do fine with vegetables and fruits. On the other hand we can’t eat things as flowers and grass without it being handled in a special matter, or else it makes us sick, well we can’t but it doesn’t really taste all that good.” He looked down at Pinkie and said “This means no daisy sandwiches Pinkie.” She pouted playfully, but grinned again soon after.

“Just as long I can still eat cupcakes!” She said without any room for argument. 

Ash laughed and said “Cupcakes are more than fine, even if they aren’t so healthy.” The girls giggled at Pinkie’s new pout over her coltfriends light, friendly scolding of her eating habits

“How long is a human’s normal lifetime?”

“A normal healthy human lives around 60-80 years, some reach up to around 90-100 years and I think the oldest human ever recorded was around 130 years old. Give or take a few years.”

Rainbow Dash let out a low whistle and said “That is sure old…” She winced instantly and added hastily “No offence princess’!” Ash chuckled, knowing she might have insulted them since they were well over 1000 of years old.

Celestia just smiled at Rainbow Dash and said “None taken.” Luna nodded in agreement, not saying anything. Celestia then looked at Ash with a curious look and asked curiously “I wonder. How does humans politic works? I assume you have some way of politics?”

Ash smiled to her and said “Yeah, but it is different compared to where you are in the world. Some places there are several people who have been chosen in agreement by the people to decide the things for the country, other places they have queens and kings who make all the major decisions and takes the rule alone, but that is rare in the human world these days.” Celestia nodded with a smile.

Then Luna broke into the conversation to everyponies, and temporarily humans, surprise and asked, still using her older language a little “Does humans possess any kind of magic?”

Ash shook his head with a smile, as Pinkie now had fallen into another sleep in his arms. He felt himself grow tired in his arms and sat down on the couch, which was a little so small for him, but would have to last for now. He smiled warmly as Pinkie curled closer to him and let out a soft breath. He looked at Luna and answered her question “No Princess Luna. Humans do not have any magic, but we have several things that can be called some kind of magic. We can put together several ingredients which will have magical affects, few trained humans have physic powers, which allow them to move things with their mind. I have even met a girl, which is what you call a human female, who was able to teleport like Twilight, just without the large flash of light. Then there is the even rarer aura users.”

“Aura users?” Asked Twilight confused, yet interested.

“Yeah. You see Twilight, I don’t know if this applies here, but in my world is every living being and every single life of the planet holder of an aura. Everyone have a different aura and no one really knows how humans got it. Few, and I mean very few, humans can control the aura and use them for their own needs. I am one of these people, but the most common excuse for magic humans use would be plain electronic and things we invent to make life easier.” They all looked at him shock, except Pinkie who was still sleeping with her head on his lap.

“Can you show us?” Asked Twilight excited, and even Celestia and Luna couldn’t help but look very interested too.

“Later Twilight.” He said, when she pouted a little he pointed down at Pinkie who was still sleeping and she nodded in understanding,

“What kind of inventions have humans made?” Celestia asked.

Ash looked at her with a bright smile and said “This is actually one of the more interesting answers. I know you have trains driven by electronic power. Now imagine a pony pulled cart, but instead of being pulled by ponies, they are gaining power from a motor and fuel like the trains.” Everypony looked at him with surprise and Celestia couldn’t help but mutter 

“Ingenious… Can’t believe we haven’t thought of that…” Twilight looked at the same thought line as her mentor.

“Other things we humans have invented will be advanced healing systems. We don’t have magical healing so we use medicine and other things.”

“What can humans heal compared to magic?” Asked Fluttershy all the sudden, interested in the subject of healing.

“Well…” Ash began in deep thoughts “Some of the major things a humans can do would be that, if you have a donor, you can receive an internal organ if one of your own is destroyed beyond repair.” He paused for a moment and then continued 

“Another thing humans are capable off would be X-rays.”

“X-rays?” Asked Twilight.

“Yeah.” Ash answered with a quick nod “X-rays are used to take a picture of your bones, it allows you to see through the skin and flesh on the picture and get a good look at the bones without having to remove anything.”

Celestia smiled and said “That sounds like the spells doctors uses, when ponies have broken a leg.”

Ash's eyes then widened, finally realizing that he had completely forgot about Pikachu and the rest of his team in the middle of all the confusion and quickly asked “Have anypony seen Pikachu?!” Just as he asked this question the door flew open and 

Pikachu stood in the doorway with a belt full of pokéballs in his mouth and a mildly annoyed look. He glared at Ash and ran over and on to his shoulder, before he whacked him over the head and said harshly “Pika! Pi pika pi chu!”

Ash grinned guiltily and said “Sorry buddy. Kind of got lost in the moment when I realized I was human again…” Pikachu just sighed and rolled his eyes, earning a light giggle from Fluttershy.

“How about ya let the other pokémon out Ash. I think they will need it, besides they might be happy to see ya like this again.” Pointed Applejack out with a raised eyebrow.

Ash smiled to her and said “Good idea AJ.” With no wasting more time, he took all the pokéballs at once and activated and released his team. Soon they all stood in the library again, tall and proud, sending of a radiation of power. Charizard looked around and then noticed Ash, again in his human form, he raised an eyebrow, before growling softly and making a perfect face palm motion with his claws.

Ash just laughed at his fire pokémon and said “Live with it Charizard. You should know by now that there is not a single moment of boredom with me around.” Charizard grunted annoyed, but unable to keep a smirk of amusement of his face.

Suddenly Ash felt something move and looked down at Pinkie, who looked sleepily up at him and asked with a sleepy voice “What is all the noise about?” Suddenly her eyes lit up excited and she jumped up on two legs and asked “Are we having a party! Why didn’t you girls wake me up? Why didn’t you wake me up Ash!?” She turned around and saw Luna, she let out a gasp ins surprise and suddenly the princess of the night found herself in one of Pinkie’s famous hugs as she said excited 

“Princess Luna! Whatareyoudoinghere? NotthatIdon’twantyouhere! We should hold a welcome party for Luna!” Princess Luna looked panicking at the silently laughing Celestia and silently begged for help.

Twilight, who had been in quite a shock over how Pinkie suddenly hugged the moon princess, decided to help and pulled 
Pinkie with her magic as she said “Pinkie the princesses are only here for a visit to study humans for a while. Besides we already help a party for Princess Luna. Remember?”

“Oh yeah…” She said with a thoughtful look, but then she pouted and sighed “Guess that means no party…”

Ash, unable to help feeling a little mischievous, said “How about a ‘Pinkie’s first time as a human-party’?” Her eyes lit up in excitement and all the girls groaned loudly and sent a few annoyed, but friendly, glares at Ash, who smiled cheekily back.

“That’s brilliant!” She cried out and gave him a quick kiss, before she bolted out of the door, completely forgetting she was a human and would most likely spread panic around Ponyville.

They all looked at the door, which still stood wide open and Twilight sighed and said “Guess we better catch her and inform the people in Ponyville before they go into to much panic…” Celestia nodded in agreement and they all ran outside.

They were shocked when they arrived outside, that instead of running ponies around in panic or a completely empty street, stood Pinkie in the middle of the street surrounded by ponies, who looked at her with wonder and awe over the new creature. They all turned as Celestia cleared her voice and noticed Ash immediately. One of the ponies, who had a teal fur and a mixed teal and darker blue mane and a golden lyre as a cutie mark, her name was Lyra. Ash had met her a few times around Ponyville, but not of those ponies he talked to everyday. She looked excited and said “There is another one of those creatures!”

Ash laughed at the excitement and said “We are not any new creatures sadly Lyra. It is just me and Pinkie, who ran into a couple of Poison Jokes in the forest. This is just a joke played on us.” They all turned to Princess Celestia who nodded, indicating his words were true and they let out a sigh of relief, but were still excited about this whole new creature thing.
“And the effect isn’t permanent. We got a specialist working on a cure for us at this very moment.” Ash continued, but was interrupted as a voice behind the crowd said.

“To that I may have a bad news to you,
To make the cure, I need some bark from a tree of blue.
But the trees of which I speak,
Does not grow around this peak. 
So this tree I have to find,
A few more days, this joke will be on your mind.”

Everypony turned around and saw Zecora standing at the edge of the town, most ponies that weren’t familiar with Zecora froze and a few panicked and ran into their homes. Celestia looked at the scared crowd and asked confused “What is all this about?”

Zecora looked at Celestia and bowed in respect and said “It’s good to meet you again, princess Celestia.
Ruler of Equestria.
To your question, my appearance and unusual home.
Have caused panic and terror in this town to prone.”

“Wait!” Said Twilight surprised “You met the princess before?”

Celestia turned to Twilight and smiled warmly and answered “Yes. I had the pleasure of meeting Zecora as she had a meeting with me personally, asking me for permission to move into Equestria to seek further knowledge on her subject of healing.” She turned to the ponies, who was still scared of Zecora and said “No need to be scared my little ponies. Zecora can be trusted and have earned my permission to seek around Equestria for intelligence on her work of natural healing.” 
The ponies now looked a little ashamed and nodded to their princess.

The major of Ponyville walked over to Zecora and said with a apologetic smile “We are sorry for the treatment we gave you Miss Zecora. We hope you can forgive us and Ponyville.”

“There is nothing to forgive Major of Ponyville.
If I had been smarter, I had been clear and told my intentions was nothing of ill.
But now I must leave to find the remedies for the cure to Pinkie and Ash,
In a few days I’ll be back, I promise it will be over in a dash.” With that she turned around and walked out of Ponyville with a smile as the ponies waved goodbye to her.

Just as she had left eyesight was Ash turned around forcefully and stood face to face with Pinkie who smiled brightly. He was about to ask what she was so happy about when she said with the same excitement that shone through her brilliant smile and clear blue eyes “Ash. I challenge you to a pokémon battle!” A deep silence followed.

> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

End of last chapter:
“Ash. I challenge you to a pokémon battle!” A deep silence followed.
------------------
Ash stood in the silence and looked shocked at Pinkie and he asked “What?”

She giggled amused and repeated “I said I wish to battle with you pokémon silly.”

“Are you sure Pinkie?” Ash asked, now all serious “Remember I’m the champion in my land and I will not go easy on you, because you’re my marefriend.”

She rolled her eyes and said “Of course you wouldn’t. That is why I want to battle you! It’s going to be so much fun and exciting! Plus I want to get to know your pokémon better. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine! And what better way to get to know a pony. Eerrgh pokémon than battling with it? You said yourself that a battle gives a major bond between pokémon and ponies!”

Ash sighed, but smiled. Then he faced the crowd, who had been watching the two discussing and said “What do you folks say? Would you like to see a real pokémon battle for once?” The crowd cheered immediately and Ash turned to the princess and said “And then I can keep my promise about showing you the true power of my team.” Celestia nodded with a smile. 

Pinkie was, behind him, bouncing happily up and down, while she gave small squeals of happiness. She immediately ran over and hugged Ash from behind as she chanted “Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!”

Ash laughed, clearly happy about her happiness. He looked over the crowd and asked “So anypony wants to help me set up a battlefield?” Most of the ponies nodded in eagerness and together most of the town followed Ash towards the rock fields outside the town.

An hour later stood Ash and Pinkie on each side of the battlefield, which had been created by the ponies under Ash’s instructions and guidance. Ash looked over at Pinkie and said with determination “Pinkie, since you don’t have any pokémon and I have six, I will let you choose three of my pokémons so it can be a three on three battle. The battle is first over when one of the pokémon is unable to battle or the trainer gives up. Do you agree on these terms?” Pinkie nodded happily, still bouncing up and down a little. Ash smiled at the sight, thinking that Pinkie was beautiful in both human and pony form. He shook his head and thought “Get in the game Ash. You can’t loose concentration.”

He looked serious up at Pinkie and asked “So who do you choose as your partners Pinkie?”
She smiled brightly to him and said with a bright voice “I choose Pikachu, Pigeot and Feraligator.” Ash rolled his eyes, again amused, as he thought that he should have guessed she would choose Feraligator as she has Gummy herself. He picked out the two pokéballs with the chosen pokémon and tossed them to her as Pikachu jumped down his shoulder and ran over to her. She sat down on her knees and petted Pikachu happily, as he pushed his head against her hand.
She noticed the now thrown pokéballs, caught them with ease, looked confused at them and asked “How do I know which one if which?”

Ash smiled and said “Pikachu can help you out with that one. He knows the team just as well as I do. Maybe even more since he can understand their language.” Pinkie nodded and again looked at Pikachu who jumped onto her shoulder and began to speak to her in his own language, and pointed towards the pokéballs and made several motions and body signs to communicate with her. After a few minutes looked Celestia, who stood at the place where the judge of the battle normally stood, at her and asked “Are you ready Pinkie?” She nodded happily and Celestia continued and spoke in a loud voice “The battle between Ash Ketchum and Pinkie Pie may begin. Each battler will use three pokémon and the first battler to loose all three have lost. Choose your first fighter!” As she ended, she shot a pink-purple beam in the air and encased the battlefield in a magic shield, so the battle couldn’t harm the watchers.

Inside the shield

Ash looked thoughtfully at Pinkie as she yelled “Pikachu! Let’s start this party!” He smiled, so she decided to throw the big guns first. He began to work a plan in his head “Ok… Pikachu is a electric, so Sceptile will have advantage over him with his grass type that only takes half damage, but I want to safe him for Feraligator and there is no way I sent Charizard in there. So it’s going to be…”

He picked up one of his pokéballs from his belt and yelled “I choose you! Glalie!” The sudden chill followed by the ice pokémon appearance immediately took effect and lowered the temperature by five degrees at least. 
Pinkie reacted quickly, to Ash’s surprise, and yelled “Pikachu! Use thunderbolt!”

Ash smiled at the predictable, yet still useful attack, and said “Counter with ice ball and then use hail.” Glalie obeyed immediately and shot a weak ice ball towards the thunderbolt, blocking it effectively and then his eyes glowed in a blue aura and small clouds suddenly appeared inside the dome and began to let small ice blocks fall onto the pokémon field. Pikachu let out a small cry in pain as the hail hit him hard, while Glalie appeared unaffected.

Pinkie looked a little nervous, as she blocked the hail with her arm and yelled uncertainly “Pikachu! Try use agility!” Pikachu obeyed her command and ran around in high speed, wincing as the hail only hit him harder then before, because of the increased speed. Ash felt a little bad for his pokémon, but really didn’t blame Pinkie for it. It was normal to make bad decisions under stress and Pinkie was new to all this pokémon battling. To his surprise, she immediately followed her command with “And now use Iron Tail!” Pikachus tail began to glow white the instant she said it, and he jumped towards Glalie, who had frozen in shock over the sudden attack. Pikachu made several loops in the air, before he crashed his tail down directly at Glalie, who took a full hit directly.

Glalie grunted in heavy pain as he crashed to the ground, leaving a pillar of dust standing in the air, Ash made a grimace, berating himself for underestimate Pikachu’s strength, even through he was with an inexperience trainer, and called out 
“Glalie! Use Blizzard!” Ash smiled as the wind began to pick up and heavy snow began to erupt behind Glalie and flew towards Pinkie and Pikachu, who both stood shaking, freezing to the bones.

“P-Pikachu. U-Use T-Thunder!” Pikachu grimaced and summoned power enough to blast through the blizzard combined with the hail and shot a huge wave of lightning directly at Glalie, who cried out in pain, making Pinkie wince in guilt. Glalie let out some slow breaths of exhaustion and pain, while Pikachu was exhausted and freezing to the bones. Suddenly Glalie let out a slow groan in pain and fell to the ground, his eyes swirling. Celestia noticed this and called “Glalie is unable to continue! Pinkie and Pikachu is the winners!”

Outside the dome

“I can’t believe Pinkie beat Ash’s first pokémon! I thought he was a champion back in his land!” Twilight gasped, shocked.
“But remember Sugarcube, that Ash always said Pikachu was his strongest team member. Pinkie made a really good choice with that pokémon.” Applejack reminded her, but her eyes also wide in shock.

“I don’t care who win! This is SO AWESOME!!” Cried Rainbow Dash out in glee as her wide eyes was fixed on the dome.

“I must admit, it certainly has its own excitement, even if it is quite brutish to make fights for entertainment like this…” Commented Rarity.

“I just hope they are ok!” Cried Fluttershy out, worried out of her mind “That last one looked like it hurt a lot…”

“I’m sure they ok Fluttershy. “ Assured Twilight her with a smile “Ash did said they can handle these kind of battles with ease and be up the next day.”

“Still… I don’t like it…” She said with a small frown.

“You don’t have to Fluttershy, just as long you accept it happens.” She said and turned back to the battle.

Inside the dome again

Ash grimaced as he recalled Glalie to his pokéball, he took a look at the pokéball and smiled warmly and said “I’m proud of you Glalie, you did good and there is no shame in loosing to Pikachu.” He looked up at Pinkie and said “I see you a better than I expected Pinkie. I’m proud, but sadly I can’t let you win this battle. I call Sceptile to battle!” He threw the pokéball up and in a bright flash of light stood the large green lizard with his two arms raised in a battle position. Ash, who didn’t want 
Pinkie to get a head start again, immediately called “Sceptile! Use agility followed by Leaf Blade!” Sceptile let out a hiss in eager and with incredible speed charge towards Pikachu, who was too tired and damage to dodge. Pinkie winced in regret and guilt as Pikachu was hit directly and sent flying into the energy shield. Pikachu slipped down and let out a groan in pain and exhaustion as his head fell down and his eyes swirled.

“This round goes to Ash Ketchum and Sceptile!” Celestia called out, as Pinkie picked up Pikachu, gave him a light kiss on the forehead and whispered “Sorry I wasn’t good enough Pikachu.”

She turned towards Ash and said “Ok… If I remember correctly grass was weak against flying, so I choose Pigeot!” With that she threw a pokéball in the air and out, in a flash of light, flew Pigeot. The huge eagle let out a cry and swayed slightly, before she stood still in the air. She sent a hard look down at Sceptile, who smirked cheekily back at her. Pinkie grabbed the silent opportunity and said loudly “Pigeot! Use a Wing Attack!” Pigeot let out another screech and with a sudden turn, blasted towards Sceptile with unbelievable speed as her wings shone in a bright white light.

Sceptile smirked as he watched the eagle approach with great haste and made a leap into the air just before the eagle hit him, he looked down at Pigeot and shot several lanes of Bullet Seeds towards the bird.
“Good job Sceptile! Now use Agility!” Sceptile smirked even more as he suddenly shot out of the air and towards the ground, as soon he hit the ground, he speeded up like a missile and left behind a green streak of light as he zoomed across the ground.

Pigeot, who had returned to the air after recovering from the hit she took from the bullet seeds, looked around in anger, she let out a screech and began to fire several air cutters towards the locations Sceptile passed. The battle was now between the pokémon, they needed no orders from their trainers to know

He managed to dodge each of them with unbelieving speed and jumped up in to the air, sending a direct Leaf Blade against Pigeot, which surprisingly enough hit dead on, making Pigeot screech in pain.
“Oh no. Oh no. Oh no!” Muttered Pinkie from the other side of the field. Normally she could handle stressful situations very well, but this was very different. Her friends was getting hurt from her bad decisions and suffered from her mistakes and that thought alone was enough to almost make her cry.

Ash, who was now fully absorbed into the battle, didn’t recognize his mare friend’s distress and yelled out “Ok Sceptile! Finish this off with well placed Solar Beam!” Sceptile gave a large grin, as his large seed looking things on his back began to glow in a bright light. He jumped into the air, so he was face to face with Pigeot, who had paled as she saw her defeat right in front of her. Sceptile gave a last smirk, before he fired the large beam, blasting Pigeot down from the skies and directly into the ground, giving a lot extra damage as the ground was literally made of rocks. As the dust cleared, the crowd saw Pigeot was out cold, as Sceptile stood, panting heavily, exhausted from the extra powerful Solar Beam, he just fired.

“Pigeot is unable to battle!” Yelled Celestia, so the crowd could hear her “Ash Ketchum and Sceptile is victorious for this round!” The crowd cheered, finally getting into the spirit of the intense battle.

Pinkie looked up nervously and called out weakly, afraid she would hurt another one of her friends “Come out Feraligator…”
The large alligator looking pokémon was instantly summoned to the battlefield and looked ready to fight. He smirked evilly to Sceptile, who was tired, but looked confident, knowing about the type advantage he had and the fact he still had a lot more energy and power. Without a warning called Ash out “Sceptile! Start with a Leaf Blade!” Sceptile was in immediately action, charging towards Feraligator, who smiled confident and was ready to take action on Pinkie’s command.
Pinkie, who saw the attack which would soon hit Feraligator, yells out “Dodge it and try a Mega Punch!” Feraligator, despise his large and normally slow nature on ground, dodged skilfully and sent a glowing fist down in Sceptile’s back, crashing him into the ground. Sceptile immediately responded with jumped up and away from Feraligator, snarling slightly at his own failure.

Feraligator snickered quietly at the reaction and heard Pinkie command “Use Ice Fang!” He smiled brightly and jumped towards Sceptile, who paled immediately at the sight of his large strong jaw that was glowing in an ice blue colour.

“EVADE IT SCEPTILE!” Yelled Ash quickly, knowing how devastating that jaw could be. Sceptile jumped quickly out of the way, leaving Feraligator to bite in a dust cloud. “Ok! Follow it by a bullet seed!” Giving Pinkie no time to react, Sceptile shoot several lanes of seeds in Feraligator’s side, making him wince in the pain of the effective grass move.

Ash grinned slightly and called out “Continue with a Quick Attack combined with a Leaf Blade!” Sceptile grinned evilly at Feraligator, who took a battle stance again and waited for a command from Pinkie.

She looked at Sceptile, who stormed with intense speed towards Feraligator, who looked mildly nervous from the super effective move approaching him. She gulped and called out “Try to dodge it!”

Feraligator tried desperately to move out of the way, and was damn close to doing it, but Sceptile was a little to fast and with one of his arms, he hit him directly in the stomach with a greatly powered Leaf Blade.

Feraligator grunted in pain, but fought through the pain and sent a powerful Hydro Pump into Sceptile’s side, sending him into the magical shield with a loud crash.

Sceptile sneered a little and got up and looked at Feraligator with a harsh look, while the alligator pokémon smiled back at him, even if you could see the grass attacks had taken their toll on him.
Ash, who could easily see that Sceptile was near his end, called out in a last try to take out his opponent “Sceptile! Use Solar Beam!”

“Try to block it with Ice Beam!” Yelled Pinkie at the same time. Sceptile and Feraligator locked eyes and smirked as a chill began to form around Feraligator and Sceptile’s bulbs on his back began to glow in a bright white light.

A few seconds later, they both opened their mouths and fired two incredible strong beams of pure white light and a light blue ice coloured one, they went against each other almost in an instant and crashed together in the middle of the field, creating a large explosion that sent both pokémon flying towards the shield walls. They clashed into the walls with a heavy grunt and both fell to the ground, their eyes swirling. The crowd was silenced in awe over the ending, until Celestia called out “Both battlers are unable to continue! And I hereby declare Ash Ketchum the winner of Equestrias first pokémon battle!” The crowd immediately went into a cheer that could easily be heard all the way down to Ponyville. The shield lowered instantly and Twilight and the other immediately jumped out of their seats to meet Pinkie and Ash, the latter walking over to Pinkie, who looked a little sad, but still smiled.

Ash, who had noticed Pinkie’s sad look, pulled her into a hug and said with a comforting voice “You did great Pinkie. Believe it or not, but managing to knock out one of my team members in a battle for one who just had her first battle is an incredible achievement.”

Her sad look immediately went away as she looked at him with a bright smile “You really think so?” As the others arrived to the two battlers.

“You guys were awesome!” Cried Rainbow Dash out “I mean you should have seen it from our view! It was like Wham! Pow! And BOOM! I knew your pokémon was awesome! But that was totally mega awesome! There is no discussion! I got to have a race with Pidgeot soon!”

Ash grins in return and says “Sure thing Dash, as long Pigeot agrees on it, but she have never said no to a challenge anyway.”

“Ah agree with Rainbow. Ya team sure packs a punch.” Commented Applejack with a grin. She then looked at Pinkie and said “And don’t feel bad about losing sugar cube. Ya did ya best and we couldn’t ask for more.”

Pinkie smiled back to her and said without the sadness “I know. I just wish Pikachu and the others wouldn’t have been hurt.”

Ash smiled gently to her and cupped her chin between two fingers and said “Trust me Pinkie. I had troubles too with watching my friends get hurt in the start too, but I learned that they can take that and so much more. But I have a question. How did you know about the attack names and how they worked? I never fully explained that to anypony here.”

Pinkie giggled a little and said with a slightly guilty smile “I… kind of spied on you when you trained with your pokémon each time and learned about the attacks that way.”

The others looked kind of surprised at Pinkie, while Ash began to smile, before laughing quietly and says “Should have known that.” He looks at Pinkie with a smile and continues “Well Pinkie as said before, be proud of yourself. You studied your opponent before you went into a battle with him and also studied the choices of pokémon and what they could. Hell if you had a little more experience I think you could make a fantastic trainer.”

Pinkie blushed red at this compliment, causing the group to laugh until they heard a voice behind them calling “Ash! Ash! Can I please speak with you for a moment?”

He turned around to meet the pony who would speak to him and came face to face with the major of Ponyville. He smiled in a friendly matter to her and said “Hello mrs. Major. What do you want to speak about?”

She smiled back to him as she said “Well, it is actually more of a request Ash. You see we are currently in work of a new building in Ponyville, but we lack behind schedule and are in need of extra workers, but sadly the company have nopony extra to lend in a helping hoof. You and your pokémon team have long time ago proven that you can be trusted, even if some of your pokémons are carnivores and I wondered if your pokémon would like to lend in a helping hand on the building, it would be most helpful and I promise you and your team will be paid good for your help.”

Ash looked shocked at the offer, but then began to think about it and after a few seconds he answered “I will personally love to help mrs. Major, but it is also my pokémons decision to make as I’m not their master and they can make their own decisions. I will ask them tomorrow, when they are rested and healed probably, then you will get a respond if that is ok with you?”

She smiled brightly and said “Of course it’s alright Ash. Just take you time. I can surely wait a few more days no problem.”

Ash smiled thankfully to her and turned around to his friends again, who all smiled brightly to him, happy that he had gained an extra job to increase his income of bits. Pinkie walked directly up to him and kissed him soundly and said “Thank you for the awesome battle! It was so exciting. I mean not as exciting as a party for my first pokémon battle would be. Wait… That’s a great idea! Let’s hold a party!” She had immediately zoomed off, leaving the others behind, some of them a little confused over what just happened, and Ash chuckling, knowing very well they could expect a party within the next few hours.

He quickly recalled his pokémon and said to the others “I go help Pinkie with this party of hers if it’s ok with you girls.” They all nodded silently and Ash was just about to walk towards the location Pinkie left too until he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Actually Ash, I would like to speak to you too for a minute if you don’t mind.” 

He smiled and turned around as he said “Of course Princess.”

“If you will follow me quickly, this is not something the rest of Ponyville should hear about.” Ash raised an eyebrow in confusion, but followed her anyway.

After a few minutes they were a good part away from all the others and Celestia turned to Ash and said “Ash, you remember I said that I knew you were from another world, because I felt the portal that brought you here in the first place right?” Ash nodded, and waited for her to continue. “While you and Pinkie had your contest, I once again felt this portal being used. 
There may very well be somepony from your world in ours now and I want you to go investigate it, so he or she will not panic and do something they may regret.”

Ash nodded immediately, understanding the weight of the situation and said “Where were the person sent?”

“Somewhere in the forest right outside Canterlot. I can’t explain why the portal suddenly changed place, but I know you can get there very fast with the help of one of your flying type pokémon.”

“I’m on it princess.” He quickly pulled out the pokéball containing Charizard, knowing Pidgeot was not able to make the flight after her battle with Sceptile and summoned him. He looked around and saw Ash and waited for command.

Ash looked at Charizard and said quickly, with a strong voice “There have been a new portal incident in a forest just outside Canterlot Charizard and I need you to fly me there as quickly as possible.”
Charizard nodded to his trainer and let him jump onto his back, and soon they were flying towards Canterlots forest in a neck breaking speed.

In another universe

“Enjoy your company oh Chosen One. I have still many things I want too see about this new world and maybe this friend will help you explore it for me.”

> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash was flying in high speed on Charizards back towards the Canterlot castle, or rather towards the large green forest near Canterlot. It was a huge forest, but not nearly as frightening or different as Everfree forest. There were few carnivores in there, but most of the animals were only smaller critters or animals as foxes or birds.

He soon flew over the forest, looking down from the back of Charizard as he flew in a low altitude over the crowns of the trees, making Ash able to see more and get a better view between the trees. Soon they both heard a louder roar from deeper inside the forest and Ash immediately called “That’s no normal animal! Charizard, fly towards the sound. I think we found our missing visitor.” Charizard growled in agreement, turned around and flew towards the sound.
It took a few minutes before they was near the sounds as they got louder and more clear and Ash’s eyes widened in shock at what he saw. A huge steel like snake was towering over the trees, thrashing into the ground. Ash immediately recognized the creature as a Steelix from his own world. He also knew that Steelix could easily be angered and this Steelix was very angered right now and with the force of such creature, it could and would easily tear all of Canterlot apart if it ever founds its way up to the city.

He quickly formed a plan, glad that Steelix is part steel type, made him vulnerable for Charizards fire based attacks. He looked at Charizard and said “Charizard, we need to calm that Steelix down and maybe incapacitate if needed. Are you up for the challenge?” Charizard grunted with a confident smile, never backing down from a real challenge and there defiantly was one here.

They both flew down towards the Steelix and Charizard fired a direct flamethrower at it, hitting it head on making it roar in pain. Ash grinned, thinking this would be an easier battle than thought if Charizard did so much damage against it with one of his weakest flame throwers.
He looked at Charizard and nodded, the fire lizard pokémon grinned and began to prepare one of his strongest flame throwers, one that was most of the time an one-hit KO against most pokémon.

Charizard was just about to fire when they both heard a voice yell at them from the ground “Hey! You on the Charizard! Stop attacking Steelix! We mean no harm!”

Ash looked at the ground in shock and saw a pony, unable to see if it was a mare or stallion from this height and said to Charizard “Please fly me down Charizard, I need to see this pony up close, he or she might be from our own world.” Charizard nodded to the kind order and began to fly down towards a small clearing and landed in the grass.

Ash jumped down from Charizards back and was immediately face to face with a brown stallion with short darker brown hair, but what shocked Ash most about him was his eyes, instead of wide big eyes as anypony else had, his eyes was two closed slits, reminding him dangerously much of an old friend of his. He quickly composed himself and asked “Who are you? I know you’re not from around here and you walked through some kind of portal and were not originally a pony.”

The stallion in front of him looked at him shocked for a moment, before he stuttered “A-Ash. Is that really you?”

Ash looked at him in surprise, before smiling and says “Good to see you again Brock.” He was immediately greeted in a massive hug, Ash returned the hug happily, greeting his old and best friend like they haven’t seen each other for years.

After a while, Brock finally let go and looked at Ash with a huge grin and said “Good to see you again buddy, but you got some serious explaining to do, like why you have disappeared for a whole month with no contact to anyone of your old friends and what’s with the portal. Where are we?!”

Ash chuckled and said “Calm down Brock. I will explain everything if you just let me. You see, we are not longer in our own world. That portal was a dimensional portal and have sent us to another dimension. Right now we are in a land called Equestria, where pokémon or humans don’t exist, the race that rules this land is actually ponies, which is also why you have been turned into a pony as you surely have discovered.”

Brock looked confused at him and asked “Then why are you human?”

“That is because I had an encounter with a plant called Poison Joke, which practically plays a joke on you, when you come in contact with it. It turned me into a human overnight together with one of my friends who also touched it. We both turned humans and we can first get the cure in a few days.” Ash answered and took a breath.

Brock face hoofed and sighed “That explains a little, but I still have a lot of questions, like is there a way to return to our own world and why ponies?!”

Ash grinned weakly and said “I don’t really know a way to return yet, but the princess of Equestria is working on it and getting closer as far as I can understand.”

Brock looked up shocked and said “They are able to work on portals between dimensions in this world? Wow they must be have a high level of technology here.”

Ash grinned again to Brock, looking forward to his friends expression when he told him about what ponies were capable of in this world, “Actually they are at a pretty low technology level in this world, such things as cars, phones and televisions isn’t invented here. So explain there is three kinds of ponies, you’re an earth pony and are skilled with earth related stuff as growing plants and that, there is pegasus who are capable of flight and can manipulate the weather and at last there is unicorns who are able to use the field of magic.”

Brock’s jaw dropped instantly and he said shocked “Magic? As in hocus pocus? Be able to summon things? That kind of magic?”

Ash smiled and said “Precisely that kind of magic.”

*Thumb* Ash sighed as Brock was now lying on the ground, unconscious. He looked at Steelix who was now looking at Ash and rolled his huge eyes. Ash smiled to the pokémon and took out Brock’s pokéball and said “Sorry Steelix, but it is much faster to travel on Charizard.” With that he recalled the pokémon.

He turned to Charizard and said “Ok, grab Brock and we bring him back to the others. It will be easier to explain from there.” 
Charizard grunted and picked up Brock and put him under his arm as Ash jumped onto his back and soon after they were flying through the air once again, towards Ponyville.

Meanwhile in Sugarcube Corner

“When do you think he will come back?” Asked Pinkie for what seemed like the tenth time as she looked slightly nervous out of the window.

Twilight groaned lightly and said “We don’t know Pinkie. The princess just told us, that another being from Ash’s world had entered ours and she had sent Ash out to investigate it. It can easily take a few hours.”

Pinkie sighed and said with an apologetic smile to Twilight “Sorry Twilight. I’m just worried. You know Ash said that some from his world is not nice and wishes harm. What if that kind of ponies came into our world and now Ash maybe alone with them!”

Suddenly she felt a light hoof on her shoulder and she looked down at Applejack, who was behind her as she said “Don’t worry Sugarcube. Remember Ash is capable of protecting himself and he has his pokémon friends with him too. Besides he’ll be back before we know it Pinkie. Just ya wait and see.”

She smiled to Applejack and said “Yeah. You’re right.” Suddenly she smiled excited and said “Maybe it is one Ash knows from his own world! It would be so exciting to meet new friends!” She immediately began to jump up and down in excitement. While the rest of the girls giggled amused.

“There’s the Pinkie we all now and love… Ya know except for the whole turned to human thingy and all.”

Twilight chuckled and was about to say something, when there was a knock on the door. She quickly opened it with her magic and revealed Ash standing in the doorway with an unconscious pony on his back. He looked at the girls with a smile and said “I think I found our new guest.” He ignored the gasps from the girls as he walked into the room and placed Brock on the couch, which Applejack and Pinkie had moved away from.

Fluttershy was instantly next to Ash with a worried look as she asked “Is he hurt?”

Ash smiled and said “Not at all ‘Shy, he just lost conscious when I told him about what kind of world this is and about what race that ruled and about magic. Was a bit too much for him to take in I guess.”

“Poor dear.” She said concerned as she placed a hoof on his forehead, checking if he by any chance was sick.

Twilight, in mean time, looked at Ash and asked “So do you know this pony by any chance?”

Ash grinned and said “Actually he is my best friend and the first person to join on my pokémon journey as a kid. I could never have made it without him. His name is Brock and he is a pokémon breeder?”

“A pokémon breeder?” Asked Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

Ash chuckled and said “Yeah, a pokémon breeder is close to what a nurse it, but not the same. A breeder studies pokémon and how they live, what they eat and what is healthy for them and also tries to make new food for pokémon. Brock is one of the best breeders I know and he is an cook without a match to spare. He can make the simplest ingredients to a meal worth royalty.”

Twilight looked at Ash with a smile “Glad you meet one of your friends, but why is he here?”

“He was actually looking for me when he found the portal, knowing me and my curiosity he guessed I had walked through it, so he did the same.”

“Mmhhh… I guess we have to explain about Equestria further when he wakes up and the princesses might want to talk to him too.”

“I guess that is tru-“ He was immediately cut out as Pinkie jumped on to him in a tight hug as she said excited “Is this new pony really your friend! And his name is Brock! I can’t wait to talk to him! Ohh! We should hold a party like we did for you! A welcome to Equestria party! Or at least a welcome to Ponyville party as the whole being from another world thing is secret!”
Ash grinned and pulled her into a light kiss and said “I’m sure he will love a party, but how about we let him wake up first Pinkie?”

She blushes a little as the other girls giggled, but gently returned the kiss. They all suddenly heard a groan from the couch and turned around and saw Brock slowly awakening. He sat up in an awkward position and mumbled under his breath and opened his eyes. Twilight smiled and walked over to him “Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I can understand you’re once of Ash’s friends?”

His eyes widened for a second, before he fell over again, completely unconscious once again. Ash groaned as Twilight said shocked “Was it something I said?”
> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

”This is all a dream. All a dream. When you wake up you will be back in a normal world with Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny’s all over the place.” Repeated Brock as he rocked back and forth in a rather pathetic position, looking down in his knees in shock.

Celestia, who had arrived an hour after this began, sighed and said “Well… I should have expected this would be a reaction that was possible… At least we can be sure he won’t go violent and attack innocent ponies, but we need him to accept what happened. I just have one question Ash, What or who is this ‘Nurse Joy’ and ‘Officer Jenny’ and why does he say their names like there is more of them?”

Ash chuckled at the memory and says “Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that… You see Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny is two women that Brock here got his sight on, sadly they don’t even know about it and if they do, it often becomes uncomfortable with him quickly.”

“Why is that?” Asked Rarity confused, but interested in this subject.

“Because Brock’s idea of a romantic was to say he like somepony is going in front of them on his knees the first time he meets them and confesses his eternal love for them. No matter if they are in public or not.” Ash explained while laughing a little.

Rarity looked uneasily at Brock as Celestia asks “That doesn’t answer why he mentions them as there are several of them.”

Ash grins and says “That is because over most of the regions in my world, each pokémon hospital is in charge of a Nurse Joy, who is also twins or sister to all the other Nurse Joy’s around the world. They all looks exactly alike and only Brock can tell the difference.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow and said “That sounds rather confusing, is that normal in your world?”

“Well…” Continued Ash “Not normal, but people have getting used to it. Took me some time to get the message in.”
Brock had by now stopped muttering and looked around uneasily and looked at Ash and asked “So this is real?”

Ash turned to Brock and answered “Sure is Brock, and you better get used to it, because you might have to be here for a while.” He turned to Celestia and asked “Might I ask how far you have come with the portal project?”

She smiled a little and said “Not very far I’m afraid. This portal is of a whole other kind of magic that I have ever seen and my best team of magic students have not even figured out how this magic works.”

Ash looks thoughtful and says silently “There must be a way…” Neither of them noticed Pinkie’s worried and sad look at Ash, except Applejack, who frowned and thought she would have to talk to Pinkie later about that.

Ash looked at Brock again, who still had not gone back to normal, and sighed before moving over to Brock and raises his hoof. Before anypony could object, as they knew what he was going to do, he knocked Brock in the side of his head, sending him to the floor. Brock looked around shocked as Twilight asked with a tired voice “Did you have to hit him Ash?”

Ash grins and says “Not really, but it was faster and funnier.”

Brock grumbled and gave Ash a light kick in the side and a light glare as he asked “So this is all real heh? Going to take some time to get my mind into…”

Ash grinned brightly and swung a front leg around his shoulders and says “Don’t worry about it Brock. At least we got each other now. I have missed you.”

Brock smiles to his best friend and replies “Yeah. I guess that is a good part of the whole thing. Would also be nice with a small vacation from the breeder business…”

Ash chuckles as the other girls looked at them curiously or with a smile. Twilight especially curious as they moved into another subject about Ash’s world. He looked at Brock and asked “Getting busy in the clinic?”

Brock rolls his eyes and says “Don’t even talk about it Ash. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t been on that TV show. People are coming from all over the world.”

“And you love every second of it. Don’t deny it Brock.”

In return Brock punched Ash in the side, making him chuckle again as they both heard Celestia clear her throat. All the ponies looked at her, Brock gaping lightly as he had never seen Celestia before, as she said “Now that the confusion have been cleared and Brock have been introduced I will take my leave. I trust you take good care of our new guest my little ponies.”

Twilight smiled and says “We wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise. A friend of Ash is a friend of ours.”

Celestia smiles one last time to Twilight, before she disappears in a flash. Leaving Brock gaping, looking at the place she just had been. The rest ignored him as Applejack asked “Where is he going to stay. Ah doubt the Cakes got another room to rend.”

Twilight looked thoughtful and says “That is correct. I know I got room for him, but so does Rarity, Fluttershy and you Applejack.”

Brock looked at them and says “Can I ask of a request please?”

Twilight looks at him with a smile and says “Of course you can.”

“I have to live near an open field that is not of use, as one of my team members is quite large and needs a place to be without destroying anything.”

Applejack looks up with a smile and says “Then ma place would be perfect, we have a huge unused area we bought many years back that trees can’t grow on for some reason. We have thought about selling it, but Ah guess it can be of use now.”

Brock smiled nervously to Applejack, who smiled kindly back, and says “Then it will be a good idea for me to move in with… Was is Applejack again?”

She chuckled and said “Don’t be so nervous partner. Ah don’t bite, unless ya are going to try to steal some of ma apples.”

Brock chuckled weakly, still nervous about the whole new world thing and about being a pony too “Don’t worry. I won’t try to steal anything…”

She laughed and hit him lightly on the shoulder “Ah’m kidding with ya partner. Just follow me. Ah show you the way to ma home.”

Brock grinned slightly, but quickly looked back at Ash with doubt. Ash just grinned and gave him a quick nod. Brock sighed and followed Applejack to her home.

After a while they arrived outside the large house in the middle of the farm and Brock couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Applejack apparently noticed this and said with a proud voice “Welcome to the Apple Orchard. Home of the Apple-family and Sweet Apple Acres and Ah will eat ma hat, if ya can manage to find a place more homy than this.”
Brock chuckled, quickly relaxing to her accent and says “It does look peaceful and very welcoming. I think I can quickly learn to enjoy this place.”

“Ah be damned if ya don’t.” Applejack said with a smile to him, which he returned before he entered with Applejack into the large house.

They both were immediately met by a smaller yellow filly with a mane as red as the clearest apple, who jumped up and down in excitement as she said “Applejack! Did ya see the Pokémon battle! It was the coolest thing ever! Pinkie and Ash was amazing!... Who is this Applejack?” She asked as she looked at Brock, who looked back at her with surprise, unbeknown to Applejack and Applebloom, his thoughts was “Must not die from cuteness.”

“Well Applebloom, our guest here is a friend of Ash and have travelled from far away to look after him. He will be staying here for time being.”

Applebloom gasped and looked excited up at Brock, who took a nervous step back “Are you really from the land Ash is from?! Do you have pokémons too? Can I see them? Please please please please!”

“Applebloom! What have ah told ya about pestering the guest of the house?” Applejack said with a frown.
Applebloom lowered her head and said “Ah’m sorry Mister Brock…”

Brock smiled to her and said with a caring tone “It’s ok Applebloom. I can understand your excitement. Right now it is late, but I promise to show them to you tomorrow. Now go to bed. It is late and the faster you sleep, the faster it turns into morning and I can show you my team.” She smiled brightly and rand upstairs to the bathroom to get ready to get to bed.

Applejack stood with an astounded look and said to Brock “How did ya do that? We always have trouble getting her to bed!”

Brock chuckled lightly and said with a tired smile “It is all about getting her ready to expect something from tomorrow. Trust me. Back in my world I have five younger siblings, who I had to take care of myself.”

“Five by yerself? Must have been quite the task.” She commented with a raised eyebrow.

Brock laughed “Oh it was. Making food, cleaning the house, washing the dishes, sewing the new clothes and on top of that almost not having enough money to make a decent living.”

Applejack looked at him surprise and asked “But where were ya parents?”

Brock growled lightly, still feeling a certain bitterness towards his father and answered “My mother died after her last birth to my youngest brother and my father left me, when I was 15…”

Applejack looked sadly at him and all of the sudden, gave him a hug and says “Ah know how ya feel. Ma papa and mama also died when Ah was a young filly. Leaving me and ma brother with ma granny and little Applebloom, not much older than a few months… They didn’t even get to see me get ma cutie mark.”

Brock found himself accepting the hug and smiled as he returned it. He yawned lightly, causing Applejack to laugh lightly and say “We better get to bed too. It has been a long day. Ah’ll show ya where ya will sleep.”

Brock nodded with a smile and followed her upstairs to a room that looked very homely and had a certain charm over it. He smiled as Applejack went outside and let him sleep.
Next morning

Brock woke up early at the sound of a loud bell ringing and Applejack’s voice yelling “EVERYPONY UP! WE GOT WORK TO DO AND APPLES TO BUCK!” He groaned loudly and placed the pillow over his head, not wanting to get up yet, as he had spent most of the night thinking about what happened and what he should do with the situation.
He heard a knock on the door and an unfamiliar male voice saying shortly “Wake up partner. Apples to harvest and work to do.”

Brock mumbled tired and got up of the bed, having forgotten how it was to get to early up after all those years of Pokémon care.

He walked heavy eyed down the stairs and was met by the whole Apple family who sat around the table. Applejack grinned and said “Tired partner? Don’t worry. We’ll teach ya to get up early and ready.”

Brock glared lightly at her, not meaning any harm, but really annoyed by her cheerful attitude, that he personally thought should be forbidden by law at this time in the morning. He sat down and pulled the nearest apple to him and tired grunted in response and began to eat it.

She chuckled in good nature and began her own breakfast happily. Big Macintosh did the same as Brock and pulled a few apples to him and didn’t make a sound as he began to eat. Granny Smith was still asleep and Applebloom was looking at 
Brock with interest. He noticed this after a few moments and looked at her and asked “Something to say Applebloom?”
She blushes embarrassed and smiled a little as she looked hopefully up at him “Can ya show me ya Pokémon after we finished morning work? Please?”

Brock smiled, unable to say no to her, and replied “Sure, but how about we wait until the afternoon and invite all of our friends? That way we won’t have to show them all again.”

She nodded eagerly and happily began her breakfast too. They all finished after a few more minutes and went outside. 
Brock followed Applejack out to the apple trees and was quickly set to work with the applebucking. He was fairly good at it, but nothing like Applejack. He secretly wondered if they needed any house help, and noted to himself to ask her that later.
Many hours of hard work later and a friendship that had formed between Applejack and Brock. The group met out in the empty fields behind the farm. Ash and Pinkie standing close to each other, while the rest of the group looked at Brock, Celestia and Luna had also arrived, after Twilight sent them a note, stating Brock would reveal his team.

He smiled and placed his pokéballs on the ground, and opened the first one. The group quickly shielded their eyes from the flash, and when they looked again, a lightly blue dragon with red wings was standing in front of them. Fluttershy gasped and moved a step back, while Luna looked with big eyes at the dragon. Brock walked up with a smile and says “How are you doing Salamance? Ready to stretch your wings a little?”

Salamance looked at him, sensing and smelling the pony was his trainer and growled in approval and with a quickly flap he was in the air, flying around as Brock turned back and explained “This is Salamance, a dragon flying type and one of my strongest pokémons.”

He went over to the next pokéball and clicked it, calling “Come out Steelix!” In another flash, the huge steel snake was towering above all the ponies on the ground and Applejack dropped her jaw with Rainbow Dash who stared in awe.

Celestia smiled, also surprised by the size and said “I believe, by the name and look, that this is one of the steel type you spoke of Ash?”

Ash nodded and walked over to Steelix and said cheerfully “How are you doing buddy? Still feeling strong?”  Steelix growled in approval, while Applebloom looked at it with big eyes, not afraid as she walked over and carefully placed a hoof on the snake.

Applejack looked worried a bit her lips slightly, unable to not feeling unease for her little sister. Steelix looked down at 

Applebloom and made a friendly growl, lowering his tail down to the little filly and picked her up, careful not to hurt her. She laughed in response and held tightly to the tail. Celestia smiled at the sight, while Applejack still looked worried, but not as much as before.

While Steelix was still playing with Applebloom, went Brock over and opened the next pokéball, revealing a pink and white Blissey. She happily smiled and said “Blissey!”

Fluttershy, who previously had been terrified by Salamance and Steelix, perked up and looked interested at Blissey as Brock said with a smile “This is Blissey, her kind of Pokémon are mainly used for healing purposes and in Pokémon hospitals. Say hello Blissey.”

Blissey looked curiously over at the group, before smiling brightly to them and waved happily “Blissey Blissey!”

Fluttershy was immediately over by her side and smiled as she said to the healing Pokémon “H-Hello Blissey. My name is Fluttershy and are you really a healing Pokémon?”
Blissey nodded with a smile and the two proceeded to have an talk about healing of animals and pokémon.

In mean time had Brock released his fourth pokémon, a huge golem that grunted at the sight of Brock and face palmed with his rocky hand and rolled his eyes. Brock chuckled as Ash said “Charizard had similar reaction. I think I will let them out after Brock have released the rest of his team. I believe they will be happy to get some time with some old friends.”

Brock looked at Ash and said “Good idea Ash. Steelix is getting rather slack lately and I’m sure Charizard will be more than happy to set him back in shape.” This caused Steelix to sweat drop and look rather nervously at Brock and Ash, forgetting about the filly that was lying on his back.

Twilight had, while the two friends talked, wandered over to Golem with wide eyes and gently placed a hoof on his shell and said “Looks very solid and have a stone texture. If I am not wrong, this is one of the rock types that Ash spoke about…”

“Actually he is a Rock/Ground type.” Commented Brock, who stood next to her, making her jump in shock and Golem snicker in amusement.

She sent him a amused glare and said “So I guess you specialize in rock and ground types?”

Brock nodded with a fond smile “Yeah or I used to. But after meeting Ash I have learned that many different types of pokémon makes a stronger team.”
Twilight nodded, understanding the logic behind it and takes a quick note and asks “So what kind of pokémon do you have?”

Brock grinned and answered with ease “All kinds, but mostly rock and ground types. Rock types are known to be really defensive and can takes a lot of hits, but they are weak against both water, grass, steel and fighting types and therefor fairly easy to take down if trained wrongly.”

“I see…” Said Twilight, taking more notes about the different yet interesting specie.

Brock nodded and walked over to the fifth pokéball and released the pokémon inside, in a quick flash of white light, a magnificent tall fox looking creature with a pale blond fur and nine long tails sat on the ground, her head raised lightly and looking around curiously. She laid her eyes on Brock and let out a happy “Niiine!” Before her eyes glowed blue and Brock was lifted in a blue aura, laughing and calling “Ninetails! Let me down please.”

Ninetails just ignored him and pulled him closer and nuzzled against him happily, he laughed and gently pushed her head away as she lowered him to the ground. He looked at the others again with a smile and said “I present my favourite fire pokémon. Ninetails.”

Rarity looked at her with a gleam in her eyes as she said “She is just gorgeous! That fine fur and those beautiful tales.” 

She moved closer and moved her hoof towards the tails to stroke them, but Brock quickly swatted her hoof away and said quickly “Bad idea miss. While never proven, it is a well-known legend that Ninetails tails is going to curse anyone who touches them without her approval.”

She looked a little shocked at Brock, before turning to Ninetail, who nodded to what Brock said. She looked back at Brock with a small smile and said “Then I thank you for warning me. If you ever need some clothes just say it.”

He nodded, acknowledging her words, and moved over to the last pokémon. He sighed and looked pleadingly at Ash and asked “Do I have too?”

Ash looked a little confused, before he grinned, holding back a laugh as he realized who the pokémon was, and said “Of 
course Brock. Do you really want to disappoint the girls and the princesses?”

He grumbled and sent an annoyed look at Ash, before opening the last pokéball. A bright flash once again filled the area and a second later, stood a deep blue toad looking creature, that stood on two legs and had two red spikes on its hands and a swelled red area just below its chin, placed on its neck. It looked around as Brock said with a nervous look at it “This is Toxicroak. He is a poison/fighting type and one of my main pokémo-UHG” His speech ended as Toxicroak drove his spiked 
hand into his side, knocking him out instantly as it let out a croaky laugh.

“Wha?” Asked Applejack confused, as Ash laughed.
“D-Don’t worry. T-That is v-very common. H-He will be ok, just give him a few minutes.”

The group just sighed, not understanding how somepony could just shrug something like that off, but accepting they might have different ways of doing things from their world.
A/N I hate the ending, but people have been asking for a new chapter…

> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry it took so long for new chapter and you can hate me all you want, because I deserve it fully. I only got the excuse that I ended in a bad writers block, but got helped through it from a friend on fanfiction.net. So here it is!



Brock groans as he wakes up with a light pain in his side and mutters  ”Damn that pokémon…” He hears a chuckle and turns and sees Ash grinning at him.

“Slept well Brock?” He asked with an amused voice.

He glared at him lightly and moved out of the bed “Smartass.” He looked around, noticing this wasn’t the room he had slept in at Applejack’s farm and asked “Where am I?”

“Sugarcube Corner. Home of the Cakes and Pinkie Pie.” He answered with a smile “I thought you might wanted to know where I live in this world, if you ever needed to talk.” The last part was more added as partly concern for his friend, while Ash had always run directly into adventures and new things, was Brock more of a thinker and sometimes thought too much of a situation and tended to overreact a little.

Brock smiled to Ash and said “Yeah that would be nice… This is rather weird for me and takes some time to accept. I still have trouble believing it actually, but I will accept it at some point I guess…”

Ash laughed and said “That’s more like it pal! By the way, the girls have a request. You, me and a pokémon battle. They want to see a full powered battle, between two professionals and Fluttershy are rather curious about your line of work as pokémon breeder, so we have a busy schedule in front of us today.”

Brock groaned again, but got up and looked around and asked “Where are my pokéballs?”

“Right here buddy.” Ash answered and handed him the two lether strips to put around his leg, each had three pokéballs attracted. He nodded with a smile and took them around his legs, before headed out with Ash.

As they walked through Ponyville, got Brock many surprised and curious looks, some because he was new, other because he had the same thing as Ash did and a few because of his unusual eyes. Something that no one had ever seen in Equestria. Brock looked around curiously and asked Ash “So how did the city react to your pokémon the first time you showed them?”

Ash smiled and said “They react well enough, took some good explanations and a promise that Charizard would not eat them, to make them trust him in particularly as he is the scariest of them all from an outside, but they trust them now... 
Speaking of Charizard and the gang, we should go check how they do on their new work.” 

Brock looked surprised, as Ash had never mentioned that. A few days ago he and the Major met and discussed it, and made a deal, that the pokémons could work on a construction site, as long they wanted, but they could also help in other places, if they wanted too, as long they didn’t do anything of harm to the city.

They both walked towards the place where a new building was being constructed and he walked over to the pony in charge, as Brock watched the pokémon team walk around, either carrying large plants, blocks of stone or wood, while Pikachu, being a smaller pokémon, ran around with tools to the workers. Ash met the pony and asked with a grin “Hey Sarge! How’s it going with the building?”

The pony in question, Builder Sarge, turned around and grinned to Ash and said “Better than ever before thanks to your pokémon friends. The working speed has improved by at least thrice, and one of your pokémon is at least two ponies in working value, they just seem to never tire out. I thank you for offering their help, we could never have finished in time without them!”

Ash smiled and shook his head “Thank them. I do not force them if they don’t want too, but I personally think they are just as happy with this, as they got quickly bored of just sitting around all day with nothing to do and no one to fight.”

Sarge nodded, not needing to answer and turned back to his work, as Ash turned to Charizard, who was carrying over a bunch of wooden planks as he said “Hey Charizard! Enjoy work?”

Charizard grinned and growled lightly, giving him a thumb up, before continuing with his work. Ash just shook his head amused and walked back to Brock, who nodded and continued towards Twilight’s place, hoping the girls was there, as they hadn’t seen them around town yet.

Few minutes later they arrived in the library and true to their suspicions, were the whole group gathered there, chatting and enjoying themselves as Applejack and Rainbow was hoof-wrestling and Pinkie was chatting happily with Fluttershy, Rarity was being admired by Spike as she drew sketches to new dresses and Twilight was curled together with a large book. Ash grinned and said “Hey girls. How are you doing?”

“ASH!” Cried Pinkie out, as she happily jumped over and tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly, as he laughed at her greeting, while Brock looked confused, but with a smile.

“Pinkie, stop crushing your colt-friend and let him get up.” Said Twilight bemused, making Brock look at Ash surprised.

“Ash. Does coltfriend mean what I think it means?” He asked with a raised eyebrow and a hidden smirk.

Ash blushed lightly, never liked being teased about this, but smiled and nodded, as he kissed Pinkie’s forehead. Brock laughed and said “Good for you buddy, even if it weird you’re dating a pony, but I have seen weirder things for sure on our travels. Besides it wouldn’t be your first time, a creature of different specie fell in love with you right?”

Pinkie narrowed her eyes lightly and looked at Ash “What is he talking about?”

Ash gulped nervously and said “Well… In one of my adventures, I met two legendaries that was siblings and I one of the legendaries was a female and could change into a human. I spent much time with her in her human form without knowing it was her, and she kind of kissed me by surprise. I didn’t kiss back I promise!” He brought his hands up before his face, having knowledge of how hard a mad girl could hit, she giggled and kissed him again.

“I forgive you Ash.” He let out a sigh in relief and relaxed under her as Brock rolled his eyes and turned to Fluttershy and asked with a mild tone.
“So you wanted to know more about my profession?”

She nodded with a smile as she said “Oh yeah. I love helping all kinds of creatures and I want to know more about healing pokémons and help them too!”

Twilight looked up interested and said “I think I join you too, I am too interested. If you will allow this of course Brock?” He nodded with a smile and they left to another part of the library, leaving the rest of the friends for their own.

As the three friends entered the second room, they sat down in some chairs and Fluttershy was surprisingly the first to speak as she asked with a lightly excited smile “Do pokémon breeders help pokémons like doctors and nurses?”

Brock nodded with a smile to the normally shy Pegasus and said “You can say that, but it is also a Breeders job to learn about pokémon, how they live and what they eat, how to make the perfect food for each and every single pokémon and make sure they live in a good environment and stay healthy. We also heal the hurt pokémon and help them get back at top shape.”

Fluttershy looked impressed and happy at his description, while Twilight eagerly took notes as she asked “How long have you been a breeder?”

Brock turned to Twilight and answered with a thoughtful look “Well… I would say 11 years officially, but I have taken care of my many brothers for many years, which gave me experience for taking care of other living beings and what to do to have them live healthy…”

She took another note and asked again, eager about a whole new subject to study “So what would you say is the main thing to understand with being a breeder?”

“Hmm…” Began Brock again “I would say it is patience and kindness…” He didn’t notice Fluttershy perked up with a smile at this “It can take much time to get the trust of a pokémon that was hurt by other humans or even hurt in general and you can’t let your frustrations get the best of you, no matter how hard it might seem, as a hurt pokémon might refuse help or even try to attack you, besides that it also takes a long time to even begin understanding a pokémon and many believes it impossible to even fully understand them, but I don’t believe this true with so many years of Ash and Pikachu…” He smiled fondly at the end of that sentence, thinking about the past.

“Yeah.” Agreed Fluttershy with a brilliant smile, happy to have somepony that shared her interest for creatures and care for them “I feel the same about animals and other critters.”

Twilight looked at her surprised and said “Really? I thought all creatures just naturally trusted.”

Fluttershy shook her head in response and said “Oh no Twilight. Not at all. All of my animal friends have lived there for years, they all took time to learn to trust me, some harder than others. Actually it took a whole year for Angel to even decided to let me near him, he is a stubborn and proud little bunny.” 

Brock smiled to her and couldn’t help but comment “Ah. A fellow caretaker I see.” Her eyes widened a little and she blushed, mumbling something he didn’t hear.

Twilight looked up at Brock again, as she inked the quill again and asked “What is your opinion of battles, when your job is to take care of pokémons health and well being?”

He smiled to her, as Fluttershy grimaced a little, not liking battling very much herself “I’m ok with it actually. It might be because I was a former gym leader, but I find out that many pokémon likes to prove their strength and with battles they learn their weaknesses and can work with them and then become stronger and healthier. Of course there are some trainers that take it way too far and hurts their companions. I disapprove of this way and will react strongly to them.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement again, as Twilight smiled to him.

Suddenly Ash called through the door “Are you done in there? There are quite a few ponies outside the library that is anxious to see Brock and me battle. Apparently the rumor about our planned battle have been spread through the town, there even are a few from Canterlot including Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!”

Twilight gasped in shock, as Brock lost his jaw, while Fluttershy looked surprised as well “T-The battle is going to be watched by both the princesses?!” Cried Twilight out as Brock said loudly “Royalties will watch the battle?!”

“Exactly, so get your fat ass out here Brock and prepare to let my kick it to the moon!” He said excited, while Brock got a look of fire in his eyes and he smirked.

“Not if I defeat you first! I have been training much since we last met!” Brock shoots back with a grin, as he walks out of the door, closely followed by Twilight and Fluttershy. As they entered the main room again, Celestia and Luna stood in the entrance, having been let in by Spike and Celestia was the first to speak as she greeted.

“Hello again my young ponies, I have heard of the planned battle and wished to watch it again, it is most unusual sport of fighting and interesting.” She smiled to Brock, who smiled back nervously.

“Yes, we agree with our sister.” Said Luna with a carefully low tone, having been informed from her sister she had to be careful about her royal canterlot voice. “We wishes to witness this different event as well and if thou allows it, be the power of judge in the battle.”

Ash looked at brock, who nodded with a smile, before he turned to Luna and said with a short bow “It would be an honor Princess Luna.”

One could almost feel the happiness from Luna as he bowed for her in respect and not in fear, as she said, with a lightly warm voice, that made Celestia smile “W-We thank thou for not fearing us Ash Ketchum, it will be a pleasure to be the fair judge of your oncoming battle between friends.”

Ash smiled to her, as Brock patted him on the back, and he said “I see no reason to fear you princess. What happened in the past stays in the past and to be honest. I have faced worse and scarier things than Nightmare Moon.”

She raised an eyebrow, repressing a shutter as he mentioned the name, and Twilight looked confused at him as well as she asked “What kind of things have you faced?”

He smiled sadly as Brock said “Ash here have fought against several large criminal organizations and saved our world several time. In many places Ash also goes under the name ‘The Chosen One’. He have also faced a lot of evil through his adventures and I dare to say, if the world knew about half of the things he have done, they would all be in deep debt to him.”

Ash blushed furiously, as Luna looked with a mix of surprise and respect at him and Twilight gaped lightly and he said “Come on Brock, I just did the right thing to do, I’m sure anyone would have done the same.”

“Ah don’t believe so  sugarcube.” Applejack said behind him with a kind smile “Many would have just sought in hiding and that just shows that ya one of the kind and guy one can depend on.” He smiled thankfully to her and nodded.

“I agree with miss. Applejack.” Stated Celestia with a warm smile “From what I just heard you  had the choice to save yourself or save others and you always choose the latter. That is what makes you a hero.”

Rainbow, who easily got impatient, said excited “As much as I like this chit-chat, don’t we have a pokémon battle to do?!”

He looked at Brock who nodded and was about to say something, when Applebloom stormed inside the room and cried out “It’s Zecora! She’s back!”

Meanwhile in the Hall of Origin:

Arceus sat and watched the whole day through his dimensional portal, unnoticed by the ponies and the goddess, as he smiled mentally and thought “It was unexpected that his friend joined, but most welcome… I believe they are ready for the next part of the plan. I just hope they won’t react to strongly or bad. I will do it the day after the battle.”

> chapter 18
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash and the group were heading towards Zecora’s house, followed by Celestia and Luna who were both interested in the foreign zebra’s line of work as it was fairly unknown and unused in Equestria. Ash was sitting on the back of Luna, while 
Pinkie was on Celestia, riding on them as it went faster this way. They dodged a few poison jokes, not wanting another transformation or prank performed on them, as Ash was weirdly enough eager to return to his pony form, same was Pinkie as she smiled brightly.

They were soon gathered in front of her house, as Ash knocked on the door and a slightly tired, but cheerful voice said “Come in my friends, come in with cheer. The brew I made to cure you is finally clear!”

Ash shook his head in amusement as Luna looked surprised at her way of speech in rhymes and Celestia just smiled fondly. He opened the door and was greeted by Zecora who had a large brew of hot water ready in a huge barrel, she smiled to them all and her eyes widened, before she bowed and said “Princess Celestia and Luna, the legendary sister duo. It is truly an honor to meet the two of you.”

Celestia nodded respectfully to the zebra as Luna looked surprised at another show of respect, not used to this in comparing to the fear and doubt she got in Canterlot and Celestia said “I understand Miss. Zecora, that you have big understanding under the nursery skills of certain plants and effects of others, that do not bring good with them?”

Zecora nodded with a smile and said “What you hear is true, not to brag. Understanding of plants and their effects is not something I lack. Many diseases that ponies find impossible to cure. Are well known in zebra history and culture.”

She looked at her with a raised eyebrow, not in doubt, but in interest as she asks “And what kind of diseases would that be?”

“I believe the infamous ‘Cutie pox’ that many ponies fear. Is a good way to send my message clear. The cure to this disease to end you must acquire, a seed from a plant called ‘Hearts Desire’. Many eons ago the ponies suffered from the snooze. 
A legendary zebra went in and with skill and stealth cured the ponies without letting the secret go loose.”

The ponies all looked shocked as Ash and Brock looked confused and Celestia said, lightly breath taken “I don’t think you know how big of a favor you have just done Equestria Miss. Zecora. That disease may have been gone for many years, but it can still come back and when it will, we will be ready to cure it, before it spreads too much. If you ever need something done or a favor, feel free to call me via Twilight and I will do what it is my power to help you.” Luna nodded in agreement.

Zecora bowed once again “I thank you then Princess of the day. But on to cure Ash and Pinkie, let us not further delay. The brew is ready, just jump in. Let the remedies erase the poison joke’s sin.”

Pinkie immediately jumped into the bath, followed be Ash who stepped into it, both sighing as they felt the warm water around them and slowly they began to transform in front of their friends. Their bodies shrinking and the fingers growing into their flesh and their hands being replaced by hoofs as fur began to cover their once clothed bodies.

After a few more seconds they both sat down in the tub, fully pony again and enjoyed the bath, as Pinkie giggled and moved her front hooves and said “Hooves feels weird after having hands for so long!”

The girls laughed as Celestia said with an amused smile “I can imagine, even if I have never tried having fingers myself.” Even Luna looked at the sight with an amused.

Pinkie looked at Ash with a huge grin, before she pounced on him and gave him a sounding kiss, causing most of the girls to giggle and Fluttershy to blush and she muttered “Oh my…” While Brock laughed and gave a wolf whistle to his friend, as he returned the kiss.

Zecora, after a few minutes, laughed and said “As happy as this reunion might be. Don’t you have a pokémon battle to see?”

Ash nodded and got up, shaking a little, as he had to get used to hooves again as he looked at Brock, who looked back, and said “Sounds like an idea. Can’t wait to whoop your ass.”

“It will be over my dead body.” He joked back, as the rest rolled their eyes in amusement.

Ash turned back to Zecora and said with a grin “You’re welcome to join and watch us battle. I can guarantee you that it is worth the watch.”

Zecora looked thoughtful for a moment, before she smiled and replied, as she walked towards the door “Then in watching the battle I will join you. Besides my abilities as healer might come useful too.” Celestia nodded in agreement and began to lead the group back to Ponyville, as no creature would dare to attack one of the most powerful beings in Equestria.

What met them back in Ponyville was mildly said shocking for the group of ponies, except Celestia and Luna, who already knew of it. In the normally small village was now filled to the brim with a huge gathering of ponies from all over Equestria that had wanted to see the battle, even a few griffons had showed up, interested in the rumors about foreign powerful creatures with abilities to destroy buildings with a single hit. They were all chatting and talking in a huge group in the main street, buying food and drinks from the local shops who looked like they had a field day with all the increase of wares they have sold already and Big Mac had taken the place of shopkeeper from Applejack with Granny Smith, so they didn’t lose any of the profit from this.

Ash looked shocked at Celestia, who grinned, and he said “Are all these ponies going to watch?”

She nodded in response and said “I believe the rumors might have gotten around more than I expected. I hope this is not a problem?”

He smiled and said “Not at all, I’m used to battle in front of large crowds by now. So how about me and Brock go get ready, while all of you tries to get this gathering out to the stadium?”

Celestia nodded and said with a loud, yet calm voice as Ash and Brock left, walking around the large crowd “Everypony. The battle that has been spoken of it about to commence, me and my sister will lead you to the stadium where the two contestants will battle with each a group of six pokémon. I will have to warn you that this is a serious battle, which means there is chances that some of the pokémon will get hurt seriously. Do not interfere wit this, if it happens. It is a part of their traditions from the land they are from and should be respected. I will also put up shield that will block any attack that might miss and puts the crowd in danger. Do everypony understand?”

Everypony nodded in understanding, some of them looked a little uneasy, but followed the princess anyway as she walked out towards the stadium.

Half an hour later sat over three hundred ponies in the stands of the stadium, the air filled with excitement as many was down towards the dome, waiting for each contestant to walk into the arena to begin the battle, Luna standing in the judge box as she began to speak with her royal canterlot voice, a perfect use as it was needed for everypony to hear “We now declare the pokémon battle between Ash Ketchum and Brock begun! Will the two contesters please come into the stadium?”

The crowd cheered wildly, the loudest part being them from Ponyville who had watched the last battle and knew the power they were about to watch. Ash looked at Brock with a grin and nodded to him, as he returned the nod with a smile. Luna looked at both and said “Ash Ketchum has volunteered to be the one that first sends out his pokémon. So if thou will start Ash?”

Ash grinned and nodded “As you wish your highness.” He picked up a pokéball with his tail and threw it quickly into the air and gave it his trademark kick, as he yells “You’re on Glalie!” The stadium froze as the ice pokémon entered the arena and gave out a chilling wind in the air. His look causing a few ponies to tremble lightly in coldness and a small amount of fear, while the griffons eyed it interested.

Brock smiled and said “So we go with the ice type today Ash? Fine, then let’s battle. I call Ninetails to battle!” He simply placed the pokéball on the ground and lightly pressed the button, as the nine tailed fox pokémon was released into the arena, her appearance alone caused several mares to gasp at the beauty. Brock ignored this as he swiftly called “Ninetails fire a Flame Thrower quick!”

Ninetails nodded with a fire in her eyes as she opened her mouth, revealing several sharp teeth and a large bust of flames shot out and headed quickly towards Glalie. The crowd cried out in shock from the sudden intense heat from the flames and cheered loudly already. Ash just grinned and shook his head “Glalie. Use Icy Wind to counter and then follow by Hail.”

Glalie made a happy rasp and his body glowed in an icy blue light, before a wind suddenly picked up inside the stadium and the crowd shuttered in the coldness that surrounded them as the flames slowly died out in the lack of heat and sudden change of degrees. Glalie let out another raps the glow brightened and suddenly dark skies formed in the top of the shield dome and a storm of hail began to fall down upon both of the pokémon, causing Ninetails to wince in pain and Glalie to power up, because he is an ice-type.

Brock grimaced, realized he foolishly thought he could surprise Ash, who happened to be the champion, and said “Ninetails use dig to get away from the hail!” Ninetails held no restrain in getting away from the offending attack and dug quickly into the ground, leaving Ash clueless of how he would know where to attack.

Ash grimaced lightly, having expected this, but with no plan of countering it with Glalie…Except if he… “Glalie! Use Ice Beam on the ground under you!” Glalie nodded as some from the crowd looked confused, while others of the more strategy stronger minded saw what he was doing and nodded in approval and with a hint of a smile.

Brock smiled and said mentally, as he knew Ninetails always kept a mental link between them, but had never told anyone of it “Dig up right under the ice and fire your strongest flame thrower up against Glalie. Do it fast Ninetails.” He heard a happy purr of approval through the link, smiled and watched as the ice began to glow in a red light.

Ash noticed the ice color too and was shocked as Brock had given Ninetails an order without saying it and he quickly called “Quick Glalie! Fire an Ice Beam down!” Glalie did as told, just as the ice broke from the Flame Thrower and the two attacks collided, causing an enormous explosion in the middle of the dome and several from the crowd cried out in terror, while 

Fluttershy whimpered, as she hates the sight of any creature getting hurt.
Soon the smoke cleared away and in the middle lied both Ninetails and Glalie unconscious, eyes swirling. There was a moment of silence at the stadium, before the crowd cheered loudly and Luna raised both flags with her magic and said “Both trainers pokémon are unable to battle! We hereby declare first match a draw!”

Brock recalled Ninetails and whispered to the pokéball “You did well my friend, rest and heal.” He took another pokéball out and summoned as he yelled “If you want it tough I get you tough! Steelix! Rock the stadium!” As the huge steel snake was summoned and let out a huge roar the crowd gasped and shrunk in sheer terror and even the Griffons looked dropped they jaw (Lower beak?) when they saw the sheer size of it.

Ash grinned and said “Already pulling the big guns Brock? Fine, Pikachu! Get ready to shock the world!” Pikachu let out a cry in excitement and jumped into the stadium and the crowd looked with disbelief as the small rat looking creature was about to face a steel snake large enough to level Canterlot to the ground.

Ash and Pikachu just ignored the looks of disbelief as he yelled “Ok Pikachu. He might be bigger, but remember. You’re the faster and the harder one to hit! Don’t let him get you! Use Agility!” Pikachu gave him a thumb up, before disappearing from sight, just dodging a crushing hit from the steel tail of Steelix. The crowd gasped, thinking that Pikachu had been crushed and killed before Ash said with a grin “Now use Iron Tail.”

The crowd looked at the ground shocked as Pikachu suddenly appeared as he ran towards Steelix with incredible speed as his tail began to glow brightly white, even Rainbow Dash looked surprised by the speed, as Pikachu jumped swiftly into the air and made a twist, before storming down towards Steelix. Brock immediately saw the danger and called “Steelix use Iron Defense!” Steelix growled and his body shone quickly in a white light, before he prepared himself for the impact of the Iron Tail attack.

As Pikachu tail hit directly on Steelix tail, it caused a huge shockwave to pass through the stadium, pushing dust away from the sheer force of the impact. The crowd cheered wildly as Celestia and Luna looked into the dust filled dome, before the dust cleared and revealing both pokémon, still standing and not even looking tired.

Brock grimaced and said “Steelix use Rock Throw!” Steelix let out a roar, as he slammed his enormous tail into the ground and the shockwave brought up several large rocks that he immediately picked up with his tail and threw them at Pikachu, who cried out in shock and dodged the large rock that just made a small crater where Pikachu just stood. 

Pikachu didn’t even need an order as he dodged the rocks skillfully, until Ash called out in panic “Pikachu! Behind you!” 

Pikachu turned around in midair and was just able to see the heavy glowing tail slam into him as it sends him across the field and slams into the shield with full force, a few cracks appeared where Pikachu hit it.

Ash cried out as Pikachu was slammed away by the heavy hit and said “Pikachu! Use Quick Attack, followed by Iron Tail!” 

Pikachu obeyed immediately as it stormed over towards Steelix, immediately making impact with him, followed by a stronger 
Iron Tail attack.

Steelix grunted in pain and immediately reacted as Brock said, now that Pikachu was closer  “Quick Steelix! Use Wrap!”

Ash’s eyes widened in shock, as Steelix wrapped his huge tail around Pikachu, squeezing him tightly and causing Pikachu to cry out in pain. Ash immediately remembered this scene and knew what he had to do, even if he didn’t like it.
“Pikachu. Come back.”

Everypony looked at Ash shocked, most of all the mane six and Pinkie, as Brock nodded and said “Fine choice Ash. Steelix, release him.” Steelix did as commanded and Pikachu immediately jumped away from Steelix and over to Ash as he let out an apologetic whine.

“Chhaaa….”

Ash smiled and leaned down and scratched him behind his ear “Don’t worry about it pal, I was stupid and forgot the main thing about Steelix and Onix, watch out for the tail. We get another chance someday.” 

He turned back to Brock, who still had Steelix out on the field as Luna said clearly “Trainer Ash Ketchum has forfeited this round. Bring out thine next pokémon!” 

He nodded and took a pokéball and said with a grin “Want to play tough? We let you feel tough.”

Evil cliffhanger is evil :3

> Chapter 19
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry it took long to update, long than I promised to some, but weekend was filled and I had trouble concentrating.

He nodded and took a pokéball and said with a grin “Want to play tough? We let you feel tough.”

Ash grinned as he opened the pokéball and cried out, as his strongest pokémon was released from the object and into the arena “Come out and take the stadium Charizard!” A flash of white appeared and the crowd gasped in shock as in the middle stood the familiar tall orange dragon, glaring with a smirk at the Steelix that was standing many feet over him.

Ash reacted quickly and said “Charizard. Use Flame Thrower and give that snake the taste of fire!” Charizard let out a victory roar and opened his jaw and a massive flame shot out of his mouth, at least three times larger than the one Ninetails had made, and made the audience cry out in panic and shock.

Brock’s eyes widened in shock as he called out in panic “Steelix! Dive underground quickly!” Steelix showed no hesitation and dived right into the ground, leaving a massive crater there, as the flames sailed through the air and hit the shields with full power, making both Celestia and Luna grunt at the mere power it took to maintain the shields against the attack.

Ash just grinned, ignoring the cracks the attack had brought on the shields, as they quickly disappeared when Celestia restored the shield, and said “Your mistake Brock. Charizard use Flame Thrower into the hole!”

Brock looked into shock as the dragon pokémon fired a huge burst of scorching hot flames into the hole, with no way or commanding Steelix underground, he could only wince as he heard a roar of pain from underground and Steelix soon shoot out of the ground, badly burnt but still standing with a glare. He smiled brightly and said “Good going Steelix! Use Sandstorm!” Steelix grinned as he began to spin around in an amazingly quick pace, while sand shot out of his body, causing a mini sandstorm in the dome, making the audience barely able to see what was happening.

“Now use Rock Throw!” Brock quickly continued, wanting to take advantage of Ash as he was mildly blinded and out of control with the heavy sandstorm. Steelix immediately complied and send a group of rocks flying towards Charizard, who was unable to see them until the last second because of the sandstorm.

Ash grimaced as he heard Charizard’s roars of pain and called out “Relax Charizard! Try to see if you can use your wings to get the sand away!” He heard a growl in agreement from the sandstorm and soon sounds of flapping wings was heard and the sandstorm began to get thinner and made the audience and Ash able to see again, only to discover the arena was filled with large holes as Steelix had used Dig several times all over the place and makes Ash unable to know what hole Steelix was inside.

“Get into the air Charizard and don’t stay near the ground!” He yelled quickly, Charizard nodded and flew up in the air quickly, keeping an eye down towards the ground to look out for his opponent. Suddenly Brock’s voice called out “Steelix! Hyper Beam now!” Both Ash and Charizard was shocked as the large orange power beam was sent towards Charizard, who was luckily just able to dodge it, before it clashed into the shield and blaster right through it, shocking the audience into silence as that single attack just overpowered a shield made by the two princesses themselves and Twilight just stared in disbelief as her mentors shield just had been smashed through like nothing.

Ash cried out in triumph and said excited “Charizard! Use your strongest Flame Thrower towards the place the Hyper Beam came from!”

Charizard grinned and inhaled loudly, before sending an enormous wave of fire towards the ground, just as Luna was able to cast a strong shield over the arena again. The flames licked the ground as the heat from the fire and molten rocks spread, many of the ponies looked at it in awe and a few was using their wings to make a cool breeze. As the fire ended, the arena ground was glowing orange in heat and small fumes and damps raised from it and those few rocks that had been in there, was now a pool of lava, and Steelix lay in the middle of it all, unconscious and badly burned. Brock recalled him quickly and said sadly “You’ll get better my friend. I promise.”

He looked back over at Ash, as the rock cooled down quickly to the air and he said, as Charizard landed with a confident smirk at the battle field “You may have been able to defeat Steelix, but now you will face the unbeatable defense of Golem!” He called out his rock pokémon that smiled challenging to Charizard and let out a breath as it said “Golem…”

Charizard’s eyes flared and he let out a roar in anger and reacted instantly as Ash said “Get in the air, where he can’t hit you!”
Brock just smiled and laughed as he said “You think I haven’t learned to take down air types by my years as Rock trainer? Golem, shoot him down with Stone Edge.” Golem grinned as thousands of small sharp pieces of rock began to fly around him in circles, as he held up his hands, and suddenly he brought them forward, sending them all towards Charizard in large waves.

Ash quickly called out “Counter with Flame Thrower!” Charizard panted by now, as he fired a flame towards the stones, melted several of them, until the flames died out and the rest of the pieces connected harshly with Charizard, as he roared in pain and was sent unconsciously to the ground.

Ash grimaced and quickly recalled his strongest pokémon as he said “So you taught him Stone Edge? Smart move, but won’t save you from my next pokémon. Sceptile you’re on!”

With another flash of light, released Ash his fourth pokémon against Brock’s fourth pokémon. Sceptile stood up with a cool smirk at Golem, his yellow eyes piercing through the air directly at Golem, who grunted in return. Ash grinned as Brock started this match and called “Golem use Magnitude!”

“Jump into the air to dodge it Sceptile!” Ash quickly countered  “And follow by Bullet Seed!” Sceptile jumped into the air, as Golem performed his Magnitude, sending shockwaves through the ground, making the whole stadium shakes in its foundation and several ponies to cling onto each other in fright of the whole thing would break down under them. Rainbow Dash had reacted out of pure instinct and held Twilight and Pinkie at least five feet in the air, before grumbling, setting them down again.
Sceptile looked down at Golem with a grin, as Golem looked up at him surprised, shocked that he was able to dodge the move with a jump, and Sceptile began to fire waves of small golden glowing seeds down at the rock/ground type pokémon, doing incredible damage.

Golem was now lightly panting, both in tiredness from performing two very powerful moves, but also from the damage he had just received and glared at Sceptile who was still unhurt. Brock grimaced, knowing Golem could not take much more and was barely standing as he was now and said, as he held the pokéball with his mouth towards Golem “Come back Golem, you have done enough.” 

The red beam called the rock pokémon back as Luna said “Brock has recalled Golem! Please send out thy next pokémon!” Brock grinned and said “I got just the treat for him. Come out Toxicroak!” With a white flash the poison fighting pokémon was standing in the field with a lopsided grin and a pair of emotionless yellow eyes.

Sceptile raised an eyebrow and looked at Ash, who grinned and commanded “Try out a Agility Sceptile, but be careful that Toxicroak got a powerful punch and is poison and super effective against you.” Sceptile nodded in understanding and disappeared from eye sight of the normal eye, going too fast to be seen.

Toxicroak just took in a deep breath, as he kept still, while Brock just stood there. Grinning as he knew Toxicroak worked best like this and not forced to attack, just waiting and act when required. He smiled as Ash looked slightly confused and Ash commanded “Sceptile! Quick Attack!”

Brock just bowed his head with a smile and said “Toxicroak. Do what you do.” Toxicroak just made a light croak in agreement, still looking into the air as Sceptile appeared with amazing speed, heading directly towards him. Toxicroak just smiled and with a sudden movement dodged the Quick Attack and slammed his purple glowing hand into Sceptile’s neck, doing incredible damage due to type advantage and that he hit a weaker point. Sceptile was slammed into the ground, was quickly got up, rubbing his neck in pain as he grimaced and looked angrily at Toxicroak, who had resumed to his normal sitting position, staring into the air.

Up in the audience stands was Twilight watching confused and asked to nopony in particularly “What is he doing…? He looks more bored than ready to fight…”

As an answer, said Celestia next to her with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes “He is anything but bored my student, he is analyzing and waiting… A truly brilliant strategy against an attacker like Sceptile… Who knows what kind of mental brilliance and thoughts that is currently going through him right now…” Twilight nodded understanding and lightly surprised by the mental capacities of the pokémon on the battle field, as she looked back to watch the battle.

Toxicroak had just dodged another attack from the now really frustrated Sceptile, who was glaring angrily at the lightly mocking pokémon, several bruises over his body from the repeated poison attacks that hit him in already weak spots. He launched a power Bullet Seed attack on his opponents, who took it head on, only taking half damage due to type advantage again. Toxicroak let out another croak, before he lifted his hands and shot out a series of sharp Poison Stings that made direct contact with Sceptile, as he cried out in pain.

Ash grimaced, not knowing how Toxicroak was able to dodge Sceptile’s fast attack like it was nothing and was getting desperate, as Sceptile had not laid a single hit on the toad, and he knew that Sceptile could not last must longer. Sceptile looked back at him and smiled weakly, before Ash grinned and said “Ok. If you’re sure my friend. Sceptile! Use Leech Seed!”

“What?!” Asked Brock shocked, as the bulges on Sceptiles back lit up and fired a group of seeds directly at Toxicroak, who croaked with wide eyes as he was unable to dodge this last attack and he was quicky wrapped in vines all over his body, before the red electricity looking field appearing around him, slowly draining him from his health. Brock sighed and recalled Toxicroak, knowing this was a lost battle by now as he was tightly wrapped in the vines, unable to fight it.

Ash did the same with a smile, realized that it was just harming Sceptile to let him fight the next pokémon Brock had and said 
“So it's soon over Brock. Both on our second last pokémon."

Brock nodded with a grin and says “And I’m not going to lose this one. Prepare to battle my second strongest pokémon. Salamence! Come out for battle!”

“Same goes for you Feraligator! Take the stance!” Ash cried as he called out his water type pokémon. The crowd cheered as the two last pokémons took the scene, the dragon and the two legged alligator standing in front of each other, each of them grinning with their teeth showing.

“Salamence! Fly into the air where he can’t hit you physically and use Sunny Day!” Salamence let out a roar and looked up in the skies and shot a ball of bright light into the heavens, before it exploded and the sun somehow intensified and the shine over the whole area brightened up. Some of the ponies in the stands shielded their eyes and groaned while Celestia just smiled amused, weirdly enough feeling her connection to the sun growing and getting stronger by the attack.

Ash just smiled amused and said “You really think I can’t counter that attack after so long? Feraligator, use Rain Dance.” Feraligator grinned and his eyes glowed blue for a second, before clouds began to form around them inside the dome and rain started to pour down upon the two pokémon and the trainers. Brock grimaced at this, hoping Ash wouldn’t have learned any of his pokémon that move, but knew it had been a daring risk that now only had served the purpose of drawing time.

“Use Aerial Ace!” He quickly cried out. Salamence smiled and disappeared from view, before he appeared many meters in front of Feraligator, as he got closer by the second.

Ash just smiled again and said calmly “Feraligator, counter with Protect and follow by Ice Punch if possible to hit him.” Feraligator grinned and nodded, showing his toothy smile and sharp teeth as a shield appeared around him, Salamence and Brock’s eyes both widened in shock, as Salamence slammed into the shield the next second and howled in pain as Feraligator quickly followed with an ice attack, doing incredible damage to the dragon/flying type.

Ash and Feraligator both smiled as Salamence flew up into the air again and Brock grimaced, realizing his mistake in just charging in, but not having any distance attacks on Salamence, except fire types or hyper beam, both of them a bad idea to use and he said “Salamence. Use Double Team and Agility!”

Salamence grunted, still in pain from the previous attack and he disappeared from view, as several images appeared in the air all over the dome. All of them looking down at Feraligator with a smirk, as the water pokémon looked around bewildered, not able to locate the real Salamence. 

Ash grimaced lightly, but said “Use Surf!” Feraligator grinned as ponies leaned over the stands to look closer to the upcoming battle. Feraligator slammed his fist into the ground, as the earth shook lightly and suddenly several large sprouts of water into the air. Brock paled lightly, as the water began to collect and form in a wave behind Feraligator as it towered in the dome and could almost fill it to the brim. Suddenly the wave, as Feraligator rode it, crashed forward and struck every single fake image of Salamence and Brock cried out in panic “Counter with Fire Blast! Full Power!”

In a second Salamence appeared in front of the large wave, not more than a few meters and immediately fired a huge wave of fire towards the oncoming thread and they clashed together and created a huge mist that made it impossible to see inside the dome. The crowd was silent in anticipation, eager and wished for the mist to disappear, so they could see how the battle went, the only things that gave them a hint was the growls and huge clash of the battle inside the dome.

Suddenly Luna’s horn lit up and the mist disappeared from the dome and the crowd cheered wildly as the winner was revealed.

> 20
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Few minutes before the mist were cleared.

Ash cursed as he now was unable to see through the mist and yelled “Feraligator! I can’t see, you’re on your own now! Fight with all you got and keep it smart!”

He distantly heard Brock yell from the other side of the field “Same goes for you Salamence! Don’t let him fool you!” Two growls was heard from inside the mist and suddenly loud clashes of close combat and heavy attacks could be heard and Ash smiled and cried out in shock as a powerful Ice Beam blasted right next to him and formed several cracks into the shield from the pure power. Ash ducked as a large flame blasted right over him and cried out in surprise, hoped that Brock didn’t have as many trouble as he did with the wild attacks from the mist.

He heard Feraligator roar in anger and pain and cried out “Feraligator! Relax or you will lose!” He heard someone growl back followed by a howl in surprise and pain. After that there was silence in a few seconds, before Luna lit up her horn, the light shining through the mist and the fog slowly cleared and in the middle of the field lay Salamence deeply slammed into the ground and over the hole stood Feraligator with a grin, his left arm had a deep cut into it as he was bleeding and he fell backwards into the ground, loosing conscious again as Ash cried out “FERALIGATOR!”

The crowd gasped as the look of the injured pokémon and Fluttershy flew instantly down, as she ignored the cries of her friends, who told her to stay, and ran towards Feraligator, all thoughts of fear towards the battle gone as an animal was injured and in a matter of seconds, she was standing by the side of Feraligator, as Ash ran over to them and said “Fluttershy, get off the arena. It is not safe for you to be here!”

She let out a whimper as she hugged Feraligator closer “I will not leave, until he has been healed! He is hurt and more will get hurt if you continue this!”

Ash smiled gently and looked at Feraligator, who grinned to him and he said “I know he is hurt, but he have been through worse and he can handl…”

“DON’T YOU DARE SAY HE CAN HANDLE IT!” She yelled, shocking everypony in the arena and made her friends gulp as Ash was now cowering like a child being scolded as he received the infamous stare that he never had witnessed, but knew the power of now. He was shaking in fear as Fluttershy glared at him with her wide determent eyes “Your pokémon have been hurt and all you can think of is this stupid match! You’re going to stop this match right now and go home and think about what you have done to your friend and don’t even think about making another battle before you have apologized!” Her stare only got more  intense as she continued her rant and Ash was now pale as a ghost as he stuttered out.

“Y-Yes Ma’m!” He immediately turned around and ran out of the stadium, tail between his legs in fear as Pikachu followed him, just as scared of the Stare, if it made his trainer and best friend act like that.

Luna was now a bit annoyed as the match had been interrupted and did the mistake as she walked over to Fluttershy and said “Miss. Fluttershy. Stop with thy foolishness and begone from the arena.”

This was defiantly the wrong thing to do as Twilight and the group winced, as Fluttershy immediately turned to Luna and said 
“And you! It’s your job to protect all creatures in Equestria. You should be ashamed to help in making animals fight like this towards each other!” 

Luna was now shocked out of her mind, as she stared directly into the teal eyes of Fluttershy and whimpered, as her ears lowered and she took a step back “W-We are s-sorry.”

“You better be! Now stop this madness and get this poor creature some help. NOW!” She yelled the last part.

Luna immediately turned in fear and said “T-This match has been cancelled! Everypony go home and enjoy thine day, while we get some m-medical help for this p-poor creature!”

Up in the stands was the group of six friends staring in shock at the stadium, and Celestia was equally surprised by the power the young shy pony just showed as she asked Twilight “Twilight… What just happened?”

Twilight gulped and said “T-That was the Stare Princess… It is something that Fluttershy can do, but only when she is very protective or very angry about something, the only time I have seen it, was when we was getting rid of that dragon. She literally made a full grown dragon cry in shame over what he did…”

Celestia’s eyes widened a little and said “That is truly an admirable ability to have… And you said this is called the Stare?”

“Yes Princess… And personally I do not envy Ash right now… Must be a terrible thing to be put under.” She muttered, the group let out a light shiver in fear and Rainbow looked around.

“Where did Pinkie go?” She asked confused.

Applejack rolled her eyes and said “She probably went after Ash.”

The group groaned and said “And then the healing and cleaning is on our duty…” and Celestia couldn’t help but laugh.
With Pinkie

Pinkie was running through the empty town towards the Cake’s house, as she knew after what Fluttershy yelled, it was there 

Ash went, unless he had the guts to not obey under the Stare. She opened the door and bounced up the stairs with a grin, and she entered Ash’s room and saw him hiding under his blanket and this made her giggle amused as she said “Ashy. Come on out.”

There was a yelp in fright under the blanket and Ash asked with a scared voice “I-Is she s-still here?”

“Nope!” She answered with an amused smile, as she sat down next to him and she yelped before she giggled as he wrapped her into a tight hug.

“G-Good. That was scary… W-What was that? I could never imagine Fluttershy could be that scary.”

She patted him on the head gently, as he lied with his head on her legs “Relax and let Pinkie tell you a little story.” He smiled softly and closed his eyes, relaxing with her.

He smiled as she told one of her random stories, something she often did to the goal of making ponies smile, but this time she had another goal and achieved it as she heard him sleep lightly. She smiled softly and softly gave him a short kiss, before she laid down next to him and fell into a light sleep too.
At the stadium.

As the large group of ponies finally had cleaned up several hours after the match had ended and Fluttershy had taken all the pokémon home to herself for an extra care and healing, especially Feraligator and Steelix, and Twilight had stopped arguing with Fluttershy about the lack of place she had around her house for all the pokémon. They all headed towards Sugarcube Corner to check on Ash and Pinkie, in case they needed any help or like that.

As they entered the empty shop, went Twilight, Rarity and Applejack upstairs, while Rainbow stayed down in the shop, in case they may have went for a walk and came back. Twilight slowly opened the door to Pinkies room but found it empty, as she heard a gasp from Rarity a second later and she whispered “Twilight. Applejack! Come and see this.” Twilight and Applejack walked down to Rarity quietly, not wanting to make too much noise in case Rarity found them sleeping. As they looked into the room, Twilight had to hold back a squeal at the pure cuteness of the scene as Pinkie and Ash was cuddled together, both asleep and with small smiles on their expressions. 

Rarity slowly closed and said with a smile “They are truly cute together, and who would have thought it impossible for anypony to get Pinkie to sleep in the middle of the day?”

Applejack and Twilight nodded in agreement with both a gentle smile, Twilight had a little blush, but nothing much else and 
Applejack said as she walked towards the stairs “Come on now, let them have some peace. Celestia knows they deserve it.” Both of the girls nodded and followed her downstairs. They quickly told Dash they found them, but they were asleep and all of them headed out of the shop. Each of them bid each other goodbye as they headed home to take care of their duties, jobs or in Twilight’s case, cleaning in the library.

Later that day, as Luna raised the moon over the night skies, everypony fell asleep and dreamed peacefully.

Halls of Origin

Arceus smiled as he watched over the silent night in Equestria. Admiring the skies and the masterpiece that the princess 

Luna had created, wondering about the scene that had just occurred a few hours ago, and thought silently “Maybe they are ready? The pony known as Fluttershy have truly shown her value. She will indeed be a worthy being of those few I will choose… Yes… It is time.” With that he teleported away, headed out to make the last few errands before he will continue with his plan.

XXX

Next morning woke Ash up slowly with a smile, snuggling into the warm fur of his Pinkie as he heard a light giggle and a sweet voice said “Good morning to you too Ash.”

He smiled to her and kisses her lightly as he said “Good morning Pinkie.” She returned the kiss with a smile, before she moved out of bed.

“Come on! It’s time for b-b-b-b-b-r-reakf-fast!” She began to shake violently and expand and inflate, before returning to her normal size, as she still gave a light shake now and then “A-A-A D-Doozy!”

“A what?” Asked Ash confused.

“N-Not now A-Ash! T-That s-spoil everything! Follow me!” She ran out of the room in an incredible speed, as Ash followed her outside of the house while he yelled after her 

“Pinkie! Pinkie! Wait!”

She turned back and yelled “Not the time! Something big is going to happen and soon!” Ash sighed and followed her, getting closer as she ran towards Twilight’s library, he looked up and judged by the suns placing it was about in the middle of the way, happy that they weren’t about to storm into Twilight’s home early in the morning.

He grimaced as Pinkie slammed the door open violently and yelled “T-TWILIGHT! COME QUICKLY!”

Twilight was immediately downstairs and looked at Pinkie shocked, as Ash stood lightly breathing from the run next to her and she asked “What is wrong Pinkie!? Why are you shaking like that?”

“S-Something big and unnatural is about to happen! D-Don’t ask how I-I know, I just do! Call C-Celestia and Luna! T-They need to be here! Quick!”

She looked shocked for a few seconds, before she sighed and said “Pinkie. I can’t just call the princesses here for every little 
reason you might ha-”

“Just do it please! J-Just trust me!” She cried out, as she was still shaking violently.

Twilight looked at her for a few seconds, before she sighed and said “Ok, but if this is just one of your normal things I will not take the blame.” She quickly wrote a letter that explained what was happening with Pinkie and called “Spike! We got a letter to Celestia!” They all heard a groan from upstairs as the dragon walked downstairs with a sleepy expression, obviously just woken up, as he took the letter from Twilight and send it. Twilight looked at Pinkie and said “Ok. It is sent, now what?”

“W-We have to get the others and meet near the Everfree forest! I-It is very important. Trust me!” She yelled the last part, as she ran out of the house and made Twilight groan and Ash chuckle softly as they followed her towards Rarity’s home.

It took less than half an hour with Pinkie’s speed to gather the rest of the ground and now they waited in Twilight’s home for the princesses, each of them sent Pinkie odd looks, except Ash who tried to keep her from shaking to terrible. It didn’t take long, before the door opened and Celestia and Luna both walked in, both with curious expressions as Celestia asked Twilight “Why have you called us here of such great importance my student?”

Twilight shrugged and said, as she pointed at Pinkie “She has shaken like that all morning, it can’t stop and she keeps yelling about something weird is about to happen, she wouldn’t leave me, until I sent the letter to you.”

Celestia looked over at Pinkie and asked kindly “What is it of such important my little pony?”

Pinkie smiled up at Celestia, before a new wave of shakes went through her and she stuttered “I-It’s just outside the E-Everfree forest! T-The same place where Brock and Ash appeared! W-We need to go there fast! I-It is happening v-very soon!”

Everyponies eyes widened in shock and Celestia asked again with a more curious and serious tone “You think it may be another human?”

Pinkie shook her head “N-No! S-Something bigger!”

Ash frowned a little, but had no clue of what it could be as Celestia said “We better get out there and fast. No telling if this being is friendly or hostile, especially after such a dimensionally transportation.” The group nodded in agreement and left the library immediately, headed towards the location Ash and Brock had appeared.

It wasn’t long before they stood at the exact same place, and Pinkie’s shaking had only gone worse by now as she looked like someone had filled her with ice and placed her in an ice desert. They all looked around for a good ten-twenty minutes, before 
Twilight groaned and said “There is nothing here! Pinkie are you sure you’re right about this?”

“V-V-Very s-s-sure!” She said as Rarity noticed something and cried out.

“Look over there!” They all turned and saw a clear white portal gate open in midair, much larger than the one Ash had walked through at his travel to here and he gasped in shock as he saw the huge creature that stepped out, easily thrice as tall as Celestia herself, with a clear white skin and a golden yellow dish around it’s stomach forming patterns.

Ash was the first to react, as he gently bowed to the being and he said, partly out of respect, but also to inform his friends “Welcome to Equestria Arceus, creator of the pokémon world.”

> Chapter 21
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight looked confused at Ash as he bowed before Arceus and whispered ”Why are you bowing Ash?” Everypony else looked at the creature with either awe or curiosity.

Ash looked shocked up at her and whispered quickly back “He is the god of my world. He is Arceus. The one that created my world and everything living in it!” Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, before she quickly moved down and bowed as well, it seemed that their friends got the hint, as each of them moved down and bowed gently to Arceus. 

Celestia and Luna looked at him closely, as he suddenly let out a deep laugh and said with an omnipotent voice “Rise Ash. You have no reason to bow for me my friend.”

Ash got up slowly and looked from Celestia and Luna and said “Princesses, may I introduce you to the almighty Arceus. Creator of my world and everything living in it.”

Celestia eyes widened slightly, while Luna was surprised as well. Celestia gave a short nod to Arceus as she said “It is an honor.”

They all felt a wave of positive emotions from him as his voice sounded again “The pleasure is mine Princess. I have looked forward to this day.”

She raised an eyebrow as Luna asked confused “Looked forward to this? Does thou mean, thou knew this day would come?”

He gave a mental chuckle and said “I admit, I have watched this world for a long time, studied it and the ponies that lived here. 
You see, in the world I created it takes a lot of power for me to keep the pokémon in line and hold them alive, but lately I have felt my power grow immensely and I decided it was time to have another world share the wonders of pokémon. I have looked over many worlds, but never have I seen one as this. The love and peace in this world is breath taking and I decided I needed a test subject to study this world for me and the citizens’ reactions to pokémon. Ash here became my subject, as he is the friendliest and human with the purest heart I know. For many months I have studied his progress and how his team of pokémon has adapted to this familiar, yet different world. I have long since decided that it is now the time to go further.” He took a breath and studied their reactions, most of them was very shocked, while Celestia held back a smirk and Luna looked a little uncertain.

He looked at the ponies in front of him and said with a warm voice “Each of you ponies have shown incredible value and compassion. Each of you hold respect for any living creature you come across and therefor I have decided each of you get your own team of pokémon. Each unique to your personality and talents and each of them holding a very special pokémon.” 

As he said this, nine boxes was levitated out of the portal and placed in front each of them, also Celestia and Luna who couldn't hold back a smile of excitement.

“Feel free to open them.” He said with a warm tone, as he noticed their nervousness or, in Pinkie’s case, eager to reveal their pokémon.

Pinkie immediately opened her box and pulled out the five pokéballs and she opened them all at once with eager as she grinned excited and bounced up and down. A huge flash appeared and most had to shield their eyes and a second later a group of pokémon.

The first Ash noticed was a Sandile, a small light brown crocodile pokémon with dark stripes. A ground/dark type if he remembered correct from his adventures. The Sandile looked around with a bored look, knew from what the great Arceus had told him, that his new trainer was supposed to be around here and suddenly he yelped as he was brought into a tight embrace by Pinkie, who squealed loudly and cried out “A new playmate for Gummy!!” The group just laughed as the Sandile looked shocked up at the pink pony and let out a questionable growl.

Pinkie looked down at the pokémon and said with a huge grin “Hello! My name is Pinkie Pie and I’m your new best friend! Oh we are going to have so much fun and all!” She looked over at the other pokémon and her eyes fell on the fire monkey, also known as Chimchar and said “THE MONKEY IS ON FIRE!!”

Chimchar looked at her offended, while Ash laughed and said “Pinkie, it is normal. Chimchar is a fire type and later will evolve into a fire/fighting type.”

“Ohhh…” Said Pinkie, before she grinned again “Cool! A fire pokémon! I’m sure he can help me bake my cupcakes!”

“What could you need such fire power for, for some simple cupcakes?” Asked Twilight confused.

Pinkie just smiled widely to her and said “Maybe I could invite you over sometimes and give you a proper… introduction to how cupcakes are made…” Ash didn't know why he just had a shiver down his back and decided to ignore whatever just happened.

Then Pinkie felt something tug in her fur, on her leg and looked down curious and gasped at what she saw, it was a little pink pokémon that looked like it wore a black gnome hat. It looked up at her with its black and white eyes as it asked “Mime?” 

Pinkie immediately gathered the pokémon into a tight embrace it returned with a happy grin and she said “You’re so tiny!” She looked over at Ash and asked “What it its name?!”

Ash shook his head and answered with a smile, happy to see Pinkie so happy and excited “Her name is Mime Jr. and she is a girl”

“She is adorable!” She said as she still hugged her and somehow in the progress manages to pull both Chimchar and Sandile into the same hug. Chimchar just laughed and returned the hug, while Sandile sighed and gave up, not able to fight her off.

Ash smiled at the sight, but knew it would take hours if they continued at this pace with introducing the pokémon teams to their new partners and quickly said “Well, from what I remember is Mime Jr. a psychic type. Chimchar is a fire, while Sandile is a Ground/Dark type. All three of them are quite powerful if trained and cared for the right way. Pinkie, let out your two last pokémon please, then I will explain.”

She did so with an eager grin, the three other pokémon also looked curious for who their new friends and partners might be. Out of the two last pokéballs sprung a little green turtle with a leaf poking out of its head. It looked curious at Pinkie and said 
“Turtwig?” 

The second pokémon was smaller blue pokémon with a water lily looking plant on top of its head. The blue pokémon just looked lazily up at Pinkie and said with a little bored voice “Lotad…”

Ash grinned and said “That my friends, is a Turtwig and Lotad. Both very good pokémon and I believe you have a fully evolved Lotad back at home right Brock?” He nodded with a fond smile and Ash continued “Turtwig is a grass type, but will evolve into a grass/ground type, while Lotad is a water/grass type and will stay that way through all its evolutions.” Pinkie was too busy introducing herself to her new friends, as Celestia and Twilight nodded with a smile.

Luna, who had been very excited about this, couldn’t hold back any longer as she said “Can we possibly be the next to reveal our new team?” Ash just grinned as Celestia nodded to her sister. Luna smiled gently and nodded in thanks to her sister and Ash, before she turned to Arceus and said “We thank thou for this.”

He chuckled and said “Do not thank me my dear Luna. It is a mere gift and well deserved.” She blushed a little at the ‘dear’ part, but hid it well as she turned to the pokéballs and opened them one after one with her magic.
In a matter of few seconds stood a team of five different, yet to Ash very familiar pokémon and he smiled as Luna looked amazed at her new team. Ash chuckled as he went over to the first pokémon, which was a moon looking rock levitating in midair and with dark red eyes. It let out a rattling noise as it looked at Luna and he said “Looks like you received the pokémon known as Lunatone, quite fitting for the moon princess indeed. He is a Rock/Psychic and can be a very powerful pokémon. 

Luna gently moved a hoof over to the meteorite pokémon and softly ran his cold surface and she smiled. “What wonderful specie…” Celestia smiled as her sister admired the pokémon, happy to see her gain some friends and someone she can relate to with her night.

Ash in the meantime looked at the other pokémon and said quietly “Mostly night or moon related pokémon I see…” He raised his voice to normal tone as he said “The next pokémon is the Eevee evolution Umbreon.” He said this as he petted Umbreon gently, making it purr in delight “Umbreon is a dark type and can only be achieved by evolving Eevee doing the nighttime.”

Luna looked over at him with a surprised, but happy look “Thou speak the truth? Does certain pokémon species only evolve during the nighttime?”

“Indeed there is.” Answered Ash as he let Umbreon walk carefully over to the princess, before it smiled happily and nuzzled against her leg and she smiled softly to the pokémon.

She lifted Umbreon onto her back with a soft smile and said as Umbreon curled together in a ball on her back “It is truly a beautiful pokémon.” Twilight looked at Lunatone with interest as he levitated Pinkie up in the air with an amused look as Pinkie squealed in excitement and cried out.

“Look at me Ash! I’m flying!” Ash just smiled amused and gave a short laugh as he turned towards the three other pokémon who awaited him to introduce him, having figured out what was going on.

He walked up to the next pokémon in the line. It was a cat looking pokémon with a pale yellow looking skin and a purple ball on its tail, a bunch of fur around its neck of same color and a couple of purple cat like ears. Ash smiled as the pokémon looked at him with a smile and he said “And this little cutie is Delcatty, evolved form of Skitty, when it comes in contact with a moonstone. She is a normal type.”

Luna looked up as he said ‘moonstone’ while Twilight looked interested as well and Celestia just listened with a smile. The others in the group looked at the pokémon that Luna and Pinkie had received with interest “Do thou mean that humans hast received stones from the surface of the moon?”

“Indeed we have.” Answered Ash “Both because some meteorites, falling rocks from space, contains pieces of stones from outer space, but also because humans have been able to travel to the moon for many years now with advanced technology.”

Twilight looked shocked as Luna gaped lightly, never believed it would be possible to reach the moon and she said with a whisper “I can learn to love this human race… To think that any creature would travel to the moon willingly.”

Ash shrugs “What can I say? Humans are curious by nature and wish to learn everything they possibly can.” He returned to the next pokémon, a yellow and brown one that stands on two legs and had what looked like a tapir snout. Ash smiled as the pokémon looked dully at him and he said “Well Luna. It looks like you got yourself a Drowzee, the hypnosis pokémon. Psychic type and very good at putting all kinds of creatures to sleep, control their minds and even eat their dreams.” Luna and Celestia looked a little interested by this, and went to greet Drowzee, who lazily greeted his new trainer.

Ash yawned, feeling this whole thing taking its toll on him and turned to Luna’s last pokémon “And this is Musharna. Another Psychic type and also evolved by Moon Stone from Munna. This girl can be incredibly powerful.”

Luna looked at the pokémon as it floated in midair in a state that looked like sleep “Is she sleeping?”

Ash shook his head “Not sleeping. In a deep medical state. She can sense the world around her perfectly.” Luna smiled and petted the pokémon and it glowed briefly in a pink aura. Ash turned towards the other six ponies who needed to be introduced to their pokémon team and groaned as he thought “This is going to be a looong day…”

After two hours everyone was introduced to their pokémon and either chatting, studying or playing with them. Celestia admired her new team, before she frowned lightly and turned to Arceus “Mind if I ask, why we only received a team of five pokémon, when I know for fact that a full team stands out of six pokémon?”

Arceus grinned and said with a light mysterious tone “Tests will come to you all to prove if you’re worthy of your last pokémon.” Celestia looked surprised and narrowed her eyes lightly and he added quickly “Do not worry. These tests will not cause any harm, but only prove if you’re worth of their power. For now I must leave Celestia. We will see each other again sooner than you think.” She nods in understanding and with a flash was Arceus gone. Leaving the ponies with their new friends and partners.
______________________________________________________________

Team List: (I do this because it would take forever to write an introduction to each team and each pokémon and I almost fell asleep during writing this chapter alone)

Celestia’s current team: Solrock, Espeon, Volcarona, Cottonee, Bellossom.

Luna’s current team: Lunatone, Umbreon, Drowsee, Delcatty, Musharna.

Pinkie’s current team: Sandile, Lotad, Turtwig, Chimchar, Mime Jr.

Twilight’s current team: Flareon, Ponyta, Abra, Spoink, Kricketot.

Rarity’s current team: Vaporeon, Feebas, Sableye, Mareep, Swablu.

Applejack’s current team: Leafeon, Drilbur, Wooper, Gligar, Miltank.

Fluttershy’s current team: Glaceon, Ralts, Chikorita, Snubull, Alomomola.

And Rainbow’s current team: Jolteon, Tailow, Aerodactyl, Sneasel, Bagon.

Each will get a last pokémon with the test mentioned, if they pass.

Special thanks to The Boost We All Need for the ideas to each team.

> Chapter 22
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

OH YEAH! Little change in Fluttershy’s team because of people given suggestions there are good.

Fluttershy's team: Eevee (glaceon), Ralts, Chikorita, Snubull, Chansey. (Instead of Alomomola I took the Chansey suggestion.

Also sorry I died for so long. I was busy with school mainly and also got distracted a lot with things to do and stuff, that had to be finished. I know this is no real excuse and you must all hate me as pest for letting you wait so long.
Also: FEATURE BOX!! Thank you guys so much! Love you all!
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:With Twilight Sparkle:

Twilight was in her room, looking at the group of pokémon in front of her with an excited expression, but also a bit of curiosity from the different species. Just from the fire type Ponyta who tilted her head and looked at Twilight curiously, to the Psychic type Abra who seemed to be in a meditating state of sleep, hovering lightly in the midair, once in a while letting out a light snooze. Spike was next to her, watching carefully and a paper to write notes down ready with a quill. She stepped towards the first pokémon, who was Ponyta, and said nervously “H-Hello? My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Ponyta let out a happy neigh and nuzzles her happily, Twilight was a little shocked, but returned the nuzzle with a smile as Spike asked shocked “D-Don’t you get burned by the fire?”

Twilight shakes her head with a smile “Not at all Spike. Ash mentioned yesterday that somepony Ponyta trusts and likes won’t get burned by the fire, while the ones she dislikes, or fell threatened by, will be burned by it.” Spike nods in understanding with an understanding look “Like that magical fire you can summon?”

Twilight grins to her assistant and adoptive-little brother and says “Not completely like it, but very alike. My magical fire can’t harm anypony, only bring warmth, while Ponyta can easily harm those she wants. Can’t you big girl.” She ran a hoof through her fire mane, which was replied with a happy whinny. Spike just rolled his eyes amused and headed upstairs as Twilight looked to her other pokémon, one of them captured her eyes particular as she looked at the yellow and brow pokémon that looked like it was asleep at the current moment, but according to what Ash had told her, it was in a deep meditative state of psychic concentration. She walked over to it and tried to put a hoof on its shoulder, only to watch it disappear in a blue blur out of thin air. She looked shocked around and groaned as she found it on top of the tallest shelf in the library and groaned, while the small pig like pokémon with a huge pearl on its head jumped up and down amused while it says “Spoink! Spoink Spoink!”

She looked fondly at the Abra and just shook her head “I will get back to you later.” She turned towards the small hopping pokémon and smiled “You are Spoink right? The psychic pokémon?” The pokémon nodded with a happy look and demonstrated as he lifted several books into the air and made them swirl around Twilight as she smiled, impressed with the ease the pokémon had to do this task.

She shook her head amused again and continued through the group of pokémon. Next she moved to the fire looking fox, that had an orange fur and a fire like yellow bush of fur around its neck. She smiled at the pokémon as it looked up and cried out “Flareon!” She smiled and gently moved her hoof through the fire like hair.

She turned to her last of the five pokémon. A small bug looking creature that was red, yellow and on some areas black. It had two long black feelers on its head and looked up at her with a tilted her as it said “Kricke?”
She smiled down to it and said “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I believe we are going to become very good friends.”

:With Rainbow Dash:

She looked over her pokémon with a smile as most of them, mainly the ground stuck pokémon, were a little nervous about standing on a cloud. Twilight had helped with the spell and she was very grateful for that. She looked over them and some of them looked quite like her style, even if the huge grey dragon like pokémon unnerved her a little due to its sharp claws and teeth. She turned her look to the small black pokémon with two long white claws. She smirked and said “Ok. My name is 
Rainbow Dash and as I have understood it is now under my duty to train and fight with you against others like Ash, when we get good enough. And trust me. We will get good enough.”

Tailow and Sneasel, who was standing on Aerodactyl’s shoulder, nodded in agreement. Jolteon and Bagon were standing on the clouds, thanks for a spell from Twilight, as they looked at Rainbow Dash with a neutral look, but a light smirk, as they liked her determination. Rainbow turned to the large grey dinosaur like pokémon and eyed him as she asked again “Do I make myself clear?” The pokémon nodded with a growl, as he showed her all of his sharp teeth in a grin, trying to see if she was scared of him as so many others would be.

Rainbow looked a little nervous at the show of the sharp fangs, but gulped and said with a light, but still friendly glare “You have to do more to scare me. I have basically kicked a dragon that was ten times your size right in the head. Not one of my brightest ideas, but damn brave.’’ The Aerodactyl let out an amused grunt of a laugher and gave her a grin, a silent pact of respect between the two formed.

She grinned and turned to the rest of the gang excited “So tonight we get some rest and tomorrow, we will train harder than anypony have ever done before!” They all gave sounds and growls of approval, all eager and determinated to prove them worthy against any opponent, while Rainbow Dash only had one special colt in mind she wanted to be stronger than.

As she returned to her room, leaving the pokémon to find a resting place themself, as she wanted them to keep out of the pokéballs and be more happy with the fresh air, she called “Be ready to get up at six in the morning tomorrow guys!” She snickered as she heard cries or groans of disbelief and protest from the pokémon, but ignored them and went to bed quickly.

:With Applejack:

Applejack smiled as she and her family looked at the new arrivals to their small, but happy, family as they look over the pokémon, each of them looking back at them with a small smile or a careful neutral expression as she pets Leafeon, who was standing right next to her and Applebloom standing on her other side with an excited look, still remembering the fun she had with the Onix and other of Ash’s pokémon friends.

Big Mac and Granny Smith was looking over the pokémon as well, interested with the new creatures and species on their farm and hoping they could provide some help, that would make it easier for them all to live on the farm and afford new equipment. 

Granny Smith was looking at the Milktank with interest, hoping this pokémon could provide milk as it would make a huge help, since they had lacked a few cows lately. Big Mac was looking at Drilbur with a raised eyebrow, thinking this pokémon could provide a huge help with making the ground ready to plant the seeds and other things that required the huge claw like hands he had as he stared right back at Big Mac.

Applejack was in the meantime grinning at the large bat like pokémon with the scorpion tail and the small water pokémon without any arms as they both looked back at her with grins, Gligar had a more manically and amused grin and the Wooper just had the small wide goofy smile it was known for. Applejack smiled at said to them all “Ah believed this can be the start to a wonderful partnership. Ya all look like someone who can do a lot of help on the farm and fits right into our family, if ya do yer duties and work for the food ya are given.” They all nodded in understanding with a grin, liking the spirit of their new trainer, as they sensed while she was kind and honest, she was also hard working and had a strong will.

Granny Smith smiled kindly at her granddaughter and says with a cheerful voice “How are we all get some dinner, before we start the afternoon chores?”

All the pokémon perked up and smiled as Applejack grinned and said with a smile “That sounds like a nice idea.” Big Mac and Applebloom nodded in agreement with a smile.

:With Fluttershy:

Fluttershy was looking nervously over the group of pokémon in front of her with an supportive, yet lightly annoyed Angel on her back as it tapped its foot on her back, telling her to say something, as she gulped and gave a small kind smile and she said “H-Hello? My name is Fluttershy and I would really like to be your friend, if you want too.” She looked down nervously, until the slighty big, roundish pink pokémon walked over to her with a caring smile and stroked her mane softly “Chansey.” Fluttershy smiled up at the pokémon, liking it as Brock also had one himself.

As she did this, more of the pokémon became a little more eager to meet their new caring, albeit nervous, trainer as they got closer and surrounded her, making her smile happily at her new adorable friends and she picked up the small white pokémon, Ralts, and asked “What is your name?”

It looked up at her with an easy smile, sensing her kindness and caring emotions and cries out “Ralts!” as it hugged her neck and she cooed “Aren’t you just adorable.” She was flying still in the air as she held the young and small feeling pokémon and the others smiled at her, and gave a light squeak as the Snubull bit down on her tail, she giggled, landed again and petted the Snubull, making it smile happily as it leaned into her gentle touch. Chikorita was nuzzling her right front leg and happy that her new trainer was kind and caring as it moved its head leaf over her body.

She smiled to the grass pokémon and turned to the ice pokémon as it was curled together on the floor, a little sleepy and bored as it let out a light yawn “Glaaceon…” as Fluttershy smiled softly, moved closer and stroked its head, making it look up in surprise, but purrs in affection in return. Fluttershy took a look around her new pokémon friends, and couldn’t help but instantly fall in love with them all, as Angel rolled his eyes, watching the scene, but a light smirk as he was happy for his caretaker, and knew these new strange creatures would give her a huge help to get a little confidence.

:With Celestia:

Celestia was in her private quarters, smiling as she had planned to finally view over the pokémon, who Arceus, one she had come to respect, as he held control over a world much more aggressive than hers, and yet managed to keep a peaceful mind when needed, had given her.

She lifted the pokéball into the air, amused and interested by the simple, yet genius design. From what she understood from 
Ash, as human had fingers, and would be perfect to hold such round objects. She finally opened the pokéball and released one of the majestic and fantastic creatures that awaited her.

As the light dimmed, in front of her was a rock light pokémon, but with the shape of a sun like on a drawing of a foal with spike like rocks forming out to represent the rays of the sun. She smiled as she admired the pokémon, enjoying the warmth that came out of it as an aura of heat. The pokémon looked at her for a second with its almost closed black eyed with a red pupil and said with a slow, but powerful voice “Soolrock.” She smiled to her new companion, as Ash called the term, and said with a hint of kindness “Hello Solrock. My name is Celestia, and I believe by the words of your god, Arceus, you have been chosen to be my companion and friend.” The pokémon nodded with a light hint of amuse on its neutral expressionless face.

She smiled and opened the next pokéball and summoned a big moth like creature with a white fur around the neck and big orange red wings. It looked at her and made a bug like noise and she smiled at the obviously powerful bug/fire type, the power and desire to show it radiating from it, as it stayed flying in midair with slow and gentle strokes with it wings in the air.

She nodded not to say anything, the pact between them made with a single eye glance, a promise to from the pokémon to become stronger and honor her, and a promise from Celestia to guide and be kind towards it, but also push where needed to be pushed.

She opened the next, and third, pokéball to reveal a small cat like, purple pokémon with a long tail that ended in a split and parted into two, a ominous glow in its eyes and a red gem in the middle of its forehead. It looked at Celestia for a few seconds, before it called out “Eespeon!” and moved over and rubbed itself against her leg. Celestia smiled in return and let a small wave of her magic run through the fur of the pokémon, making it purr in affection to the strong being in front of it.

She turned to the two last pokéballs and opened them, wanting to see the rest of her companions, before getting to know them better and form a bond with them. She sought out a bond like the one Ash had with his pokémon. She could easily see they were more than mere friends or team members. They were a family, a powerful and loving family. As the light dimmed from the white flash, in front of her was a small grass type, given away by the green skin, the two red flowers on its head and the leaf like skirt around the waist of the pokémon, it looked at her and said happily “Bellossom!” and did a small twirl, making her smile amused as she looked at the other pokémon. A small pokémon, she was first a little surprised as all she saw was a ball of wool, but smiled at the pokémon turned to her, revealing the yellow eyes and the leafs on the side of it as two small arms. 

She looked over all her pokémon with a smile. All of them looked at her with a smile or a curious look as she whispers “Again I thank you for this Arceus.” As she began to tell them about herself.

:with Rarity:

Rarity looked over her pokémon with a judging look, most of them was already with a perfect grace and beauty and she was ready to start a fashion trend for them, to create and use her passion for fashion, to make these pokémon shine and make the world tremble from their beauty. She looked over the pokémon group, a few of them capturing her eyes especially, the graceful Vaporeon, who stood calm and proud, its clean skin shining in the light.

The other she noticed was the slightly creepy, but yet very interested dark/ghost type Sableye, its gem like eyes were, in her opinion, just to die for, and its dark skin would make room for so many ideas and things to create.

The next she noticed was the flying pigeon like pokémon with clouds on its body instead of the normal wings. It had a grace and a cuteness, that almost made her squeal the first time she saw it.

She noticed the sheep like pokémon again, but instead of the white wool, it was bright yellow and sparkling with electricity, something she had found interesting, she had felt it close and immediately fell in love with the wool and the pokémon, the softness unlike anything she had ever felt and the electricity sending sparks through her body that made her feel alive.

She finally turned to the last pokémon. The small fish like pokémon with a dirt brown and darker brown spotted skin and unmatching blue fins. At her reaction to this pokémon, she had almost shrieked in disgust, but Ash, in his usual kindness and wisdom, silenced her and reminded her of the beauty within and also gave her a subtle, but noticed hint, that a pokémon changes a lot when evolving. She had sworn from that second to make the Feebas shine like no other Feebas ever and she smiled to the pokémon as it was inside a water filled glass tank “You my dear. Will be my hardest work to days, but I swear to every ounce of skill I have for fashion. I will make you shine!” The Feebas just blinked, not sure what to think of the new trainer, but liking her for not judging by its look.

:With Ash:

Ash was sitting with Brock, Pikachu, Spike and Big Macintosh around a table at the farm, having just finished a very important discussion with them, a plan for the future as they all nodded, having liked the idea, albeit nervous and a little rejecting at start. He grinned as he asks “So it is a deal? Remember, no backing out, once you have said yes.” They all nod with a grin, Spike looked excited, while Big Mac and Brock looked amused. Big Machintosh smiled and said “Eeyup.” As Ash grinned to him and said “Excellent! We meet a few hours a week to train. Remember don’t tell the girls. It will be a total surprise.” 

They all nod in understanding, knowing this was to be kept secret. As they all shook hooves, did the farm door burst open and an excited Pinkie stood there and looked at Ash, as he looked at her in shock “Ash! Something amazing just happened! I was sitting in my room with my new friends and suddenly this weird machine popped out of nowhere with a wushing sound!” Ash looked confused and replied with a nervous smile.

“How about you just show it to me Pinkie?” She nodded eagerly and immediately dragged him with her, leaving the rest of the stallions with a confused and slightly dumbfounded look.

No more than a minute later they appeared in Pinkie’s room, and Ash looked at the machine she mentioned, and his eyes widened as he knew the machine. A telephone from his world. He stepped over to it, as he noticed a note and Pinkie commented “Weird. That wasn’t there before. What does it say Ash?”

He took it up and began to read “A little gift form me to you Ash. Will make it easier for your homesickness.” As he finished this, the phone began to call someone, and in a few seconds the screen turned on, and on it stood Ash’s mother with a yawn, only half awake as it was obviously night in her world and she yawned out, not having noticed who called and what specie “W-Who is it?”

Ash paled a little as Pinkie looked excited and asked “Who is she?!”

Ash just shook his head and says, in a response to the phone “Hello mum…”
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Uhhh Cliffhanger! Next time Pinkie meets mama Ketchum! And we will see what Delia says about her precious baby dating a pony from another world >:3
> chapter 23
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING THIS LONG! I was on vacation for two weeks and stuff and then I had to catch up with school, which is getting harder as we get closer to exams and then I got into a small writers block again! But I am back, happy and with new ideas! Also already begun on the next chapter, which will be out within two weeks! Promise and shit!
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Outside the awkward silence of Pinkie’s room in Sugarcube Corner, were ponies walking happily around, enjoying another bright day in the paradise of Equestria, where danger was rare and quickly dealt with thanks to the elements of harmony and the princesses. That was until they discovered a danger like no other in this world, an unbound rage of total destruction and chaos, worse than Discord and more terrifying than King Sombra and crueler than Queen Chrysalis. The rage of Delia Ketchum.

The scream could be heard through all of Ponyville and even into the depths of Everfree, where a shocked Zecora looked up as her potion exploded in the middle of a brewing. The scream was that of a woman and she yelled. 
“ASH KETCHUM! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THE LAST MONTH! WHO ARE YOU TO THINK YOU CAN CALL HOME AFTER A WHOLE MONTH OF DISAPPEARING!? YOU ARE GETTING HOME RIGHT NOW YOUNG MAN! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I HAVE BEEN?! YOU MIGHT BE AN ADULT, BUT I AM STILL YOUR MOTHER AND YOU WILL NEVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS AGAIN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” 
As she finished yelling, her whole face red from lack of air, Ash and Pinkie being scared into silence, she looks much happier and says with a confused look “And why are you a pony?”

Ash was still a little nervous as he answered with a light grin, Pikachu on his back to prove it was Ash for real and Pinkie peaking over his shoulder, curious, but also slightly startled, something that is in a surprise itself, from the sudden screaming, as Ash said “Errhh… You see… This is actually quite a long story, but it basically starts like this…” He was just about to start the story, when the door was shut open and Mrs. Cake stood in the door with wide eyes “What was with the yelling from here?”

Ash grinned a little embarrassed as he said “I just called my mother… She wasn’t happy with me not having called for a whole month after disappearing without a trace…” Mrs. Cake send him a brief look of disapproval and just rolled her eyes amused, before she walked out of the room.

Ash turned back to his mum and smiled sheepishly, as she raised an eyebrow “Ok Ash Ketchum. Where are you? Why did that pony just talk and why are you a pony?”

He grinned nervously again and said “You might want to sit down… this is a very long story…” She sighs and nods “Ok, but let me get Professor Oak first. He is very worried. I can guess Brock is with you, since he also went lost last week?” Ash nodded quickly, knowing not to make it worse for himself than it already was.

Just before Ash could start to explain the whole story, as Oak had arrived, of how he got to Equestria and why he hadn’t returned home yet, did Pinkie had enough of waiting for her turn to speak out, and she jumped in front of Ash with an excited smile. She looked directly at Delia and the retired professor and began to speak rapidly.

“Hello! My name is Pinkie Pie! Are you Ash’s mom? Because if you are it is so super-duper fantastic to finally meet you! Or at least talk to you, since you aren’t really here, but it is still awesome! Ash has told me so much about you! I’m Ash’s best friend in all of Equestria and his marefriend! Ash is so nice and his Pokémon are so awesome! I really like Feraligator! He is like a big Gummy, who is my pet alligator by the way!”

Pinkie didn’t get much of a chance to say much more, as Ash stepped in front of her again and said nervously “Pinkie sweetheart. Do you mind if I speak with my mum alone for a second?” She looked confused, but nodded with a smile and bounced out of the room happily.

As she had left the room, he turned a bit tired back to his mother and his mentor and said “Ok. What do you want to know?”
Delia looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and just asked “Where are you? Why are you there and why are you a pony?”

Ash grimaced and said “This will take some time to answer, but I try my best. This land I am in is in fact a whole other world or reality. This country is called Equestria and is inhabited by a species of sentient ponies and is ruled by two immortal goddesses, who control the sun and the moon. The ponies are all divided into three groups. The unicorns, who can control magic and cast spells, the pegasis, who have wings and can fly and control the weather and the earth ponies, like me, who lack of horn and wings, but have enchanted strength and stamina, they also make the food of Equestria.” He took a deep breath and continued.

“I was sent here by Arceus, you know him, because he wanted a champion to introduce this world to Pokémon and wanted see how the ponies reacted to the new specie and he choose me, because of my pure heart and clean soul. And to your last question, I am a pony to fit in with the others.”

Delia and the professor looked shocked as they nodded silently, and after a minute asked professor Oak a little curious and with a hint of excitement “So how did the ponies react? To the Pokémon I mean.”

Ash gave a happy smile and answered “Quite good actually. They were very interested in their powers. The only small problem we had was the diet of Charizard and Feraligator, as all ponies are vegetarians and eating meat is frowned upon. We managed to learn that fish is ok to eat and luckily Charizard is not very picky and Feraligator loves fish like no other.”

Professor Oak grinned to Ash and was about to continue asking, until he was interrupted by Delia, who asked a question that sent a shiver of fright and dread down Ash’s spine and make him snow pale.
“What did Pinkie mean with ‘Marefriend’?” Ash and Pikachu both looked nervous now, while Oak looked at Ash with a knowing grin, and Delia had a raised eyebrow.

“Eerrgghh…. You see…. She and her friends was some of the first ponies I met.” He answered with a scared voice “She offered me a home and was my best friend from this world. After some time we sort of got a crush for each other, and we are now dating each other…”

He looked up, and against all of his dreads, she smiled happily and said with a happy voice with a hint of amusement “Ohh! I am so happy for you finally found someone you are happy with Ash! I hope you treat her well, as I had raised you to do!” she gave him a warning glance, and he gulped and nodded quickly, as Pinkie appeared out of nowhere behind Ash and said excited and happily as always “Of course he does silly head! Ash is the sweetest, most understanding pony I know! Or human. He doesn’t think I’m weird or crazy at all!”

Delia smiled kindly to the pink pony, which captured her son’s heart and said “Glad to hear he is behaving well Miss Pinkie.” She smiled as she turned to Ash and said “Now Ash, would you mind if me and Pinkie had a little girl chat alone?”

He smiled to his mother as he said “Not at all mum. I had to meet the guys anyway soon. Have fun you two!” as he turned and left with Pikachu on his back and he walked out of the sweet shop, after greeting Mrs. Cake who was in the living room downstairs and he went outside, first to get Spike in the library.

He arrives to the library after a few minutes. Pikachu now resting on his back, as he knocked on the door and he heard a voice calling “Just a minute!” as he heard some noises from the inside and soon the door opened and revealed Twilight with a smile “Hello Ash! What can I do for you?”

He smiled to the librarian and said “I was just here to get Spike, if he has time of course?” He looked at Twilight, who turned around and looked inside, she looks back at him and says “Give it a minute, he just has to place the last few books, and he can go.” He nodded and waited patiently outside the library as Spike walked outside with a smile to his friend and one of his only male friends as he says “Hey Ash. Is it time for our meeting with the guys again?”

Ash nodded with a grin as Spike cheered silently, not to let Twilight hear, as they both began to walk towards Sweet Apple Acres. They quickly met up with Big Mac and he was allowed to leave, as he had done the duties for today, or most of them, but AJ figured he deserved a reward now and then for good work. She, herself, had left him with the duties alone a few times, because she went to see her friends.

They all together walked towards an old left barn from a former farmer family in the town, unused and left alone without nopony living nearby and as they enter, summoned Ash Feraligator and grinned to the large alligator Pokémon and said “you know the drill my friend. Let nopony inside, besides us.” The Pokémon nodded with a mocking salute, and Ash rolled his eyes as he entered the barn.

:with Pinkie:

Pinkie grinned as she finished her talk with Delia, who smiled brightly back to the energized pony and she said “Well. It was really fun to talk to you Pinkie, promise me that we do this again someday and I will try the tip of smiling more and enjoy my life. It certainly seems to help you a lot. I have to go now, but make Ash promise he will call me again at some point. I am still worried about him.”

Pinkie smiled to her coltfriends mother and said “I will look out after him Mrs. Ketchum! In fact I wonder where he went. I think I go look for him!” as she bounced off, leaving Delia, as she chuckled amused and ended the call and the screen turned off.

Pinkie bounced through the town, looking around for Ash as she smiled happily to anypony who she met on her way and she noticed Applejack walked through the street and went over to her “Heya Applejack! Have you seen Ash? I have been looking anywhere, but can’t find him at all!”

She smiled to the ever happy party pony and said “Ah think he talked about meeting with Spike and Big Macintosh about something, don’t ask me what, Ah ain’t got a clue. Big Mac won’t tell me.” Pinkie looked interested and grinned widely all the sudden as she stormed off with a yell “THANKS APPLEJACK!”

She grinned, as she ran towards the Sweet Apple Acres to find Ash and talk to him. She was soon at the farm and looked around excited for Ash as she sees Granny Smith and ran over to her instead and asked “Hey! Have you seen Ash or Big Mac?”

The elder mare smiled to the young excited pony and said “They went to the old forgotten barn outside the town. Easy to find ma dear.”

“Thanks Granny Smith!” as she ran towards the location spoken off.

She arrived a few minutes later, even if she had to go through the entire town again, and looked at the huge barn with a brilliant smile, as she noticed Feraligator standing outside the door, guarding it as he spotted Pinkie and let out a growl against the door, warning Ash of Pinkie’s arrival.

She walked up to Feraligator, as she heard a lot of voices and a bit of noise inside, like somepony was packing something away, and asked Feraligator “Is Ash here?” The large Pokémon let out a growl and nodded with a smile to the pink Pony.
Pinkie grinned happily and asked “Can I see him?”

Feraligator held up a hand and one finger and Ash walked out of the barn one second later and asked Pinkie nervously “What are you doing here Pinkie?”

She grinned and said excited “I just wanted to know what you are doing! What are you doing with the guys and all?” Ash sighed relieved and smiled to his marefriend and said.

“Nothing special Pinkie. Just a little guy time. Like you have some girl time with the others.” She nodded in understanding, but still asked, as she tried to look into the barn.

“What are you doing?” as she looked over his shoulder.

He immediately pushed her back in front of him gently and kissed her shortly “That will be a surprise Pinkie. Just be patient. I promise you will like it.” She looked now very excited and bounced on the spot as she said.

“A surprise! I love surprises! Surprises are the best thing in the world next to parties! But surprise parties are the very very best!” she gasped loudly and said “I SHOULD TOTALLY MAKE A SURPRISE PARTY NOW! Wait… Now I have told you, it won’t be a surprise party…. I make it an anti-surprise party!” She stormed away leaving a dusk cloud behind as Ash blinked for a few seconds and sighed.

“I do love her… but sometimes she confuses me really.”
> chapter 24
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry for long waiting time again. School is crazy with exams and semi bad grades...
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A few days had passed, since Ash for the first time in months had gotten contact with his old family in his own world and he had introduced his friends to his mum one by one, most of them hitting off quite well and being friendly with each other. Ash was just getting home towards the city after having another meeting with the boys, as in Spike, Big Macintosh, Pikachu and Charizard.

He wandered through town, as he greeted a few of the passing ponies with a smile as Pikachu was on his back as usual. He met a few ponies he talked with at times, including Derpy Hooves and the always disappearing and appearing Time Turner, or Doctor Whooves as he preferred to be called all through Ash never saw why.

His attention was then altered as he noticed Pinkie zooming across the ground with something that looking like a Umbrella attached to a ring around her head to keep her head covered and he frowned confused, but walked closer and asked, just as Twilight also got closer, apparently wanted to ask the same thing.

“Pinkie. Why are you hiding and wearing that umbrella hat?” She looked up confused and gasped as she saw her two friends standing outside cower and immediately pulled them under the table with her. 

Ash just rolled his eyes, used to this behavior as Twilight groaned, having fallen into the ground roughly as Pinkie said with a scared tone “Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!”

Ash and Twilight both looked confused at her even more unusual behavior and Twilight asked “What are you talking about?”

She looked at her like she was asking the dumbest question in the world and she explained, looking up in the skies “When I get a twitchy tail it means that something will fall down from the skies!”

Twilight looked dumbfounded, while Ash looked at her with wide eyes, few memories from his times with Pinkie going through his mind, where Pinkie would have a shake or a twitch at random spots of her body and suddenly something unusual happened around them. He nodded after a few seconds, as Twilight said “Pinkie. That is just ridiculous. You mean to tell me that you can predict the future with a twitching tail?” She asked.

Pinkie looked at her with a smile “Of course not silly head! It is not just my tail, but all kinds of parts of my body! Like when my hoof trembles it means somepony is going to be sad, and when my tongue twists it means you should watch out for dogs.”

“Watch out for dogs…?” Twilight repeated with a disbelieving look as Ash shuddered, guessing Pinkie’s tongue had twisted, once he was with Fluttershy at her place. It took him several hours to get the smell and stains off his leg.

Pinkie nodded and Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes “This is not possible Pinkie. I am sure whatever happened with those episodes was coincidences and nothing more!” and she walked out from under the table, and Ash winced hard as a large pot with a flow fell down and hit Twilight right in the head, knocked her out instantly. Pinkie just sighed and said “Let us get her fixed up. I really wish someponies just would listen to me instead of not believing me. Would make everything easier.”

Ash snorted amused and said “Well. I have seen enough weird stuff to believe you fully. Just warn me if something like the dogs happens again please.” She blushed and nodded quickly, remembering that special episode.

He smiled to her as they both carried Twilight to get home with some trouble, a few ponies send them worried looks, but all Pinkie had to say was “Twitchy Tail.” And they understood with a nod and an amused smile. Ash looked at her and said 
“Looks like most ponies believe you.” He stated with a sly grin.

She nodded happily “Yeah. They learned. From experience.” Ash gulped again, winced at the thought of what kind of things that happened to the ponies. They entered the library and laid Twilight on the couch, as Ash sighed with a tired smile and said “I think I go make some tea. Want a cup Pinkie?” She nodded happily as Ash left the room, as Twilight gave a small groan in her sleep.

He returned into the room a few minutes later, and saw Twilight with bandages around her head and Pinkie smiled happily, 
as Twilight looked annoyed by it all as she obviously still denied the whole Pinkie-being-able-to-predict-future thing, as Pinkie continued to talk to her without any hesitation “See Twilight. I told you it was really real. I have always been able to get these small twitches or trembles that predict the future. I call it the Pinkie-senses!”

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” Twilight groaned frustrated and winced as a new wave of headache got to her “Nopony should be able to predict the future with just twitches and feelings! It is not logical!”

Ash smiled to her easily and said, as he put down the plates with the cups of tea “Not everything can be explained by logic Twilight, take it from me.” She looked curiously up at him, and he continued “I have seen many things in my journeys like ghost, ancient evils and other dimensions. Many of those thought to be only legends and rumors.” 

Twilight looked shocked at him, as Pinkie tilted her head, a bit confused, as she asked “You have seen ghosts?” He nodded slowly, and she grinned widely and asked, suddenly up in his face with a huge grin.

“How were they like?! What were they doing?! Why did they contact you?” He backed up nervously and said.

“Mostly they were not the good kind of ghost and often tried to do evil things.” She pouted and he continued to mention.
“But not all ghosts are bad. I have met good ghost as well. I even tried to be a ghost myself once.” This just spurted out of his mouth and he looked quickly at the shocked Pinkie and Twilight.

“Y-You have been a ghost?” Twilight asked shocked, as Pinkie gulped hard, whimpering as she couldn’t even imagine Ash being dead and gone from her.

He hugged Pinkie lightly and said to them both “Don’t worry, I wasn’t harmed at all. It is the ghost pokémon of my world who has the ability to pull the soul out of a living body and even put it back in, if the body is unharmed and it doesn’t take too long before that.” Pinkie looked at him with a smile, as Twilight sighed relieved and said “That still doesn’t prove that the Pinkie-senses is real.” Ash bit his lip to stop himself from groan and nodded in agreement “It doesn’t. But coincidences can only happen so often. I say we watch Pinkie here.” He held her closer “and watches if she has more of these episodes.” 

Twilight thought for a second, as Pinkie looked excited about spending the whole day with one of her friends and her coltfriend as she grinned happily, and Twilight said “Sure we can do that. Sounds reasonable enough I guess.”

Pinkie smiled happily at the prospect of her having two friends, who would follow her around all day and keep her company, and she began to bounce excited up and down as she said rapidly “Ohmygosh! Two friends who will be with me today! We are going to have so much fun!” Twilight and Ash both smiled amused at the sight, albeit Twilight let out a small sigh, still not quite used to Pinkie’s everlasting energy source and knew it would get on her nerves by the end of the day.

After Twilight had recovered, she took both Ash and Pinkie down in her basement where, to Ash’s surprise and shock, were a small laboratory like in the movies with a crazy doctor or something like that. As she lead Pinkie over to one of her devices and hooked her to it, Ash couldn’t help but ask nervously “Are you sure this is safe Twilight?”

Twilight nodded without looking back at him as she said “Completely safe Ash. Tested it on myself a few days ago with no negative effects. I would never let a friend test it out without knowing it is safe.” Ash sighed in a bit of relief, while trusting 
Twilight with his entire heart, he never was quite easy with technology, as he had seen what kind of evil that stuff could be used for.

He watched as Twilight began to research Pinkie’s physical and mental readings, for when she had a reaction to her senses. Except it never happened, as they sat there in a few hours with no reaction at all, Pikachu was by now asleep on Ash’s back and Pinkie was also bored as she let out a huge yawn, Twilight suddenly groaned in frustration and shut down the machine “Nothing! I get nothing! Why don’t your so called Pinkie-senses work now?” She asked Pinkie frustrated, who looked at her innocently with a small smile.

Ash walked over to her and said “Maybe it is the location Twilight? Pinkie said it was when something happened, that her Pinkie senses were activated. I just say that, what could possibly happen down in this basement?” 

Twilight looked at him a bit shocked, before she groaned and facehoofed as she said “Why didn’t I think of that first?!” and she began to walk towards the door to the library again, after she had unplugged Pinkie from the strange machine.

Pinkie grinned as she jumped out of the machine and said “This is so exciting! I can’t believe Twilight let me try one of her machines! She never let me do that!” Ash grinned amused, but secretly thought Twilight with good reason forbid Pinkie from using her machines as they all walked out of the basement and upstairs.

Just as they were about to walk into the main room of the library, began Pinkie to shiver and her ears flapped three times and two times she blinked and she said “Three flaps and two blinks! That means watch out for fire!”

Twilight looked at her with a bit of disbelief and said with a sigh “Pinkie. I have this library 100 % fire secured. Nothing short of the sun itself, could set this tree on fire…” as she walked out of the door into the library, as she walked through the open door, she let out a cry in shock as a massive green flame was shoot right in her face, frying a bit of her mane.
Spike, who was the one that made the fire, was pale as he looked frightened at Twilight, who twitched her left eye in annoyance and a bit of anger, as she took a deep breath and forced a bit of a restrained smile “Spike. Why?”

He grinned nervously, as Pinkie peaked over Twilight’s shoulder and Ash winced at the sight of her charred face “Sorry Twi! I got a bit of dust in my nose and sneezed!” as he looked nervous.

Twilight looked at him for a few seconds, before she sighed and smiled a little to him “It’s ok Spike. Just be careful next time. You could hurt somepony with your fire breath.” He smiled to her and hugged her briefly, before he returned into the library to dust off the books as one of his duties.

Soon after left Ash, Pinkie and Twilight the library, after Twilight had done her mane back to normal with a swift little spell, and were walking in the park, enjoying the weather happily, as Twilight kept a note block and a pencil ready to document if Pinkie got any new cases of ‘Pinkie senses’.

Ash was very amused by the small thing between Pinkie and Twilight, as Pinkie was just happy and eager to prove her senses, while Twilight was dead-set on disproving them as scientific impossible and against all kinds of logic, as the future could not be predicted by weird body shakes and movements, so he decided to follow silently and only interfere is something bad was about to happen.

The day continued like that for a good part, Ash had tons of fun watching the two, while Twilight got into all sorts of accidents and it was first when Pinkie stopped in the middle of a bounce things got serious.

“What is wrong Pinkie?” Ash asked concerned, never having seen Pinkie stop like that, so suddenly.

“A doozy!” she cries out in a bit of excitement and begins to shake and tremble hard at the spot.

“A doozy?” asked Twilight skeptically with a raised eyebrow “What does that mean? That the sky will fall down?”

Pinkie was immediately in her face and said “NO! A doozy is something you never expect! It is the most powerful and exciting of all my senses. It never fails to surprise me!” as she grinned and bounced around, with an occasionally twitch or shake.

Ash smiled amused and said “Can you feel where it comes from or where it will happen?”

“Froggy Bottom Bogg! There is where the doozy will happen!” she said excited before her eyes and Twilight eyes widened in shock “That is the place Fluttershy is right now!” they both yelled and Ash said with a wide look “Oh shit.”

They all ran towards the Froggy Bottom to see if anything bad happened to the sweet innocent pegasi, who is their friend. They arrive not more than twenty minutes later, as they looked around for Fluttershy, but unable to find her as they yell out “FLUTTERSHY!”

They keep yelling for a few minutes, before a voice behind them said curiously “Twilight? Pinkie? Ash? What are you doing here?”

They all turn around and sighed in relief as Ash grinned and said “We were just worried about you, you had been out here for a while, and Pinkie got what she called a doozy that something will happen out here.”

She looked surprised and said “But it is rather calm out here…” it looked like she was about to continue, but was interrupted as Twilight yelled out.

“AHA! This proves it!” she said with a grin as Ash gave a small groan ‘not the right time Twilight’ he thought as she continued “You told us there would be something unexpected out here, but there is nothing! This proves that I was right about your 

Pinkie-senses just being weird coincidences and lucky timing!” she grinned proudly, not having noticed the large hydra appearing behind her, raising from the swamp as Fluttershy shrieked in fear and hid behind Ash as Pinkie said with a nervous look “You might want to turn around Twilight…”

She did as she said, a bit in disbelief and she shrieked loudly as she saw the huge hydra, with all three heads glaring at them hungrily as it let out a fierce roar and Ash yelled “RUN!” the girls didn’t need to be told twice and immediately ran in the other direction of the hydra, as Ash ran with them, but a bit behind to stop if he needed to keep the hydra at check if it came to close.

Eventually they reached a cliff side, where there only was a deep fall into a pit filled with spike shaped rocks and boiling sump water. The girls all paled and looked down at the fall and back at the hydra, Ash kept his eyes on the beast, waiting for it to move as he said to the girls “Get across that cliff now!”

Pinkie immediately bounced over on the small platform of a pillar in the middle, and jumped from that over to the other side. 

Fluttershy simply flew over easily, albeit scared, and just as Twilight bit her lip, but jumped over to the pillar as well and onto the other side easily. Ash turned around and was just about to jump, when a bobble of acid gas exploded near the pillar and it crumbled into the pit. The girls gasped loudly and looked at Ash in panic as the hydra gets closer.

“ASH!” Pinkie screamed in worry, looking actually afraid for Ash as he turned around and looked at the hydra, who grinned down at the snack of a pony in front of it. Ash just grinned and looked back at Twilight “You asked me about the power of Aura, Twilight? Better get a good look, because I am about to show you.” Twilights eyes widened in surprise over what he said, and she grinned excited.

Suddenly his whole body tensed, as if he released some sort of pent up energy and with a blink of an eye a blue aura flared around his body, as it covered his whole body. He grinned and looked back at Fluttershy and said “Sorry for this, but I have to hurt this hydra to get it to understand and stop attacking.” She whimpered a little, looked sad, but nodded and looked away. With that Ash went into action, with his speed and strength enchanted by the aura in his body, he charged at the beast, jumped up and gave it a circle kick right in the throat. It roared loudly in pain as it was hammered into the ground and Ash looked at the beast, which glared back at him and tried to strike him with one of its three huge heads.

He grinned, not noticed Pinkie’s and Twilight’s gaping looks at him as they were unable to believe, what he was doing. He jumped away from the head as it hit into the ground with a loud dust cloud. Pikachu finally took action and ran over to Ash and sent a large thunderbolt against the hydra, as it made it roar out in pain and glared hard at the two offenders. Ash gritted his teeth, as he felt his energy run from his body rapidly and he looked at Pikachu and grinned “Double attack?” the rodent nodded with a grin, a shine in his eyes, as they both turned back towards the beast, Pikachu began to load a large storage of electricity, while Ash aura began to flare and a sphere of pure aura energy formed in front of him. He grinned and yelled “NOW!” and his did a backflip, kicking the sphere towards the hydra head on as Pikachu released thunder attack. The two attacks mixed with each other halfway as they turned into a sphere of aura in the middle of a sideways twister of thunder as the attack headed towards the beast. When the attack collided with the beast and it exploded with a heavy dust cloud and as soon it was cleared, the hydra had been knocked unconscious and was on the ground. He grinned to Pikachu, as the mouse pokémon jumped onto his back, and he jumped back over the cliff with an aura enchanted jumped.

He landed safely on the other side and immediately found himself in the largest and tightest hug to date as Pinkie cried out, both excited and worried at the same time as she said loudly “OHMYGASH! That was so totally awesomely cool! You went all boom and pow on that meany hydra! While Pikachu went all ZAAAP!” Ash chuckled amused and hugged her back gently.

Twilight sighed in the background and said “At least we discovered what was causing the doozy.”

Pinkie grinned and turned to her, as in on cue, she began to shake heavily and bounce up and down hard “T-T-T-That w-w-w-wasssn’t the d-d-dooozzzzyyy!”

Twilight turned to look at her “W-What?”

“It wasn’t the doozy!” Pinkie said louder this time as she was shaking hard and bounced up and down on the spot

Ash looked back at Twilight worried, as he knew she got a bit of a temper when pushed too far, and this could be one of those times where she was pushed way too much, as he watched her eye twitch and repeat “T-That wasn’t the doozy…? W-Wasn’t the doozy?! WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA COULD BE A BIGGER DOOZY THAN A FRIGGEN HYDRA ATTACKING US?!” as she said this she had jumped into the air and turned into an inferno pony of death and destruction, like an very angry mini-Celestia as Ash stepped back in shock, seeing the fire in her eyes and the inferno mane from her head, but not able to believe what he saw.

Suddenly she fell to the ground again and said defeated “I give up….”

“What?” asked Pinkie confused.

“I give up.” She repeated. “I can’t explain why you are right in your predictions and how they work. All I know is that, they do work and is true… So what I said is… I guess I believe you.”

Suddenly Pinkie began to twist, inflate and bounce rapidly, doing all sorts of things as she stopped as fast as she started and she said with a smile “THAT WAS THE DOOZY!”

“What?!” both Ash and Twilight asked confused.

“It was the doozy that you believed in me! I never saw that one coming! The dooziest doozy of all the doozies.” She grinned and walked off happily, both Twilight and Ash letting out a small groan and follows her.

Ash grinned to Twilight and said with an amused smiled “I didn’t know you could turn into a Rapidash?” The last thing Ash saw that day was a hoof against his face.

> Chapter 25
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally! so sry for taking so long! my computer suddenly went dead and it took some time to repair it, only to discover it had deleted my windows office pack and windows words included. So I had to go out and get a new one at that. Also a smaller vacation got in the way.
_________________________________________________________________

It was the day of the Grand Galloping Gala and five mares in the small town of Ponyville were making the last preparations before they all would take the train to Canterlot, the guys all ready and just waiting for the mares as Ash was waiting for Pinkie to get in her dress for the Gala, unable to not smile a bit amused as he asked “Are you soon done Pinkie?”

He heard a voice call back, a bit annoyed but also sounded amused “Patient Ash! I am done in a second!”

He pouted and sat back in the chair, needing a shower before he could get into his smoking that Rarity had made for him, one that Pinkie hadn’t seen yet. In the same way he hadn’t seen her dress yet, a deal between the two that they would first see each other, when they were both dressed and ready for the gala. He smiled at the thought of the gala, the plan between him and the guys all set and ready to take Equestria, and the girls especially, by storm. He grinned even more as he remembered Big Macintosh’s plan for the sweet animal caretaker, one he approved of generally and thought would be perfect.

“I’m done! Look away while I get to my room!” Pinkie said loudly through the door and he closed his eyes as told and heard the door open and her running to her room and as he heard the door to her room open, close and lock rapidly and he opened his eyes and went into the bathroom, gagging a bit as he was merely surprised by the amount of perfume in the air, figuring that was the work of Pinkie. As he got over the surprise he smiled, liking the scent of the perfume generally, unsure what it was kind of smell as he went into the shower to bath. He heard the washbasin getting turned on and laughed, figuring Pikachu was also taking bath for the night as he would join them, together with a few more, uninvited yet permitted guests.

After he was done showering, he excited the bathroom and went for his own room to get into his own tuxedo and get ready for the gala, as he got the tuxedo on he heard Pinkie call from outside his door “Are you done yet Ashy?” he pouted a bit at the nickname, he had tried to tell Pinkie that he really didn’t like it, but she just kept it on and on and after a while he just learned he had to accept the nickname as he called back “Soon Pinkie!” He heard a giggle outside the door and rolled his eyes amused.

He smiled to his mirror reflection as he had the tuxedo set right on, it was a traditional black tuxedo with a nice white shirt underneath, a mix that really brought forth his pale skin with his contrasting black ruffled hair he had let stay this way, much to the protest of Rarity.

He walked out of the room and met Pinkie as he drew in a breath at the first sight of her standing there in her gala dress, and he had to admire how Rarity brought forth her inner beauty, her bubbling cheery attitude and her happiness was shining in the dress and showing ponies exactly what kind of pony Pinkie was in general. A happy pony that did what she could to make others smile. He smiled to her and moved over, gave her a short peck on the lips and said “You look beautiful.”

She blushed a bit, but smiled and looked up and down him and said “You look rather handsome yourself as Rarity would have said it.” She giggled a bit and said again “But we really should get to the train station. Twilight and the others are waiting.”  

He smiled and nodded and walked with her downstairs, where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were waiting with fond smiles as Mrs. Cake said “Now have fun and promise me to be safe.” As she hugged Pinkie, who gladly accepted the hug and grinned “Oh I promise I will have fun!”

Mrs. Cake smiled as she pulled back from the hug and nodded “Now away with you. You are already a bit late and the train arrives soon.” Pinkie nodded with a happy grin and looked at Ash, who was already ready at the door with a fond smile as she walked over to him and out of the door he held for her.

They soon met with the rest of the girls and Spike, who were all waiting for them at the train station and Twilight sighed in relief as the two finally arrived and asked “Where were you? We promised to meet 5 minutes back.” More concerned than angry or distressed.

Ash rolled his eyes as he smiled fondly to his marefriend and said, giving Pinkie a loving nuzzle “Pinkie took a bit longer than expected to get ready.” As she blushed, while Rainbow gave a fake gag, but did smile to them both. It was at that moment they all heard a loud sound and grinned as they saw the train coming towards the train station.

Soon they were all aboard the train and going with high speed towards the capital of Equestria, Canterlot, Ash and Pinkie was lying on the seats, Pinkie resting her head on Ash’s side as they both smiled softly, while Twilight looked out the window towards the castle, Rainbow and Applejack were both talking and everyday things and Rarity was making some final touches on Fluttershys mane, who was blushing a bit embarrassed, but had a small smile.

Twilight looked over at Ash and Pinkie with a small smile and thought about how Pinkie would have been all around the train in excitement for this gala, but now that she had Ash, she was relaxing nicely with her coltfriend instead of talking like a waterfall and running like she had two cups of pure sugar.

There went another twenty peaceful minutes, which was really a surprised compared to they had Pinkie in the same train, and smiled as they were now in Canterlot train station. Most of them smiled as they looked over the street that led in a clear way right to the gates to the castle and Rainbow Dash yawned and said “Should we get going or stand here all day?”

Most of them smiled amused and Ash said “Relax RD. We can’t all fly in supersonic speed all the time.” She smiled smugly at this, but grinned to Ash also and says “Don’t I know that.” As she hit him on the shoulder with a grin.

They all grinned as they began to walk towards the castle and suddenly Twilight smiled and broke out in a song and Ash turned and looked shocked at her.

“I can't believe we're finally here. With all that we've imagined, the reality of this night is sure to make this... The Best Night Ever! At the Gala.”

“At the Gala” the rest repeated in a chorus and Ash smiled heavily amused as Fluttershy continued onto her verse.

“At the Gala
In the garden.
I'm going to see them all
All the creatures
I'll befriend them at the Gala.” She ended the part and the rest again repeated, this time Ash joined them for the fun of it and he noticed they got a few looks and many smiles.

“At the Gala” And Fluttershy continued with a smile.

“All the birdies
And the critters
They will love me big and small
We'll become good friends forever
Right here at the Gala!” and once more the rest of the group said at the same time, with the few additions of other ponies who went to the gala as well.

“All our dreams will come true
Right here at the Gala
At the Gala” It was here Applejack took over with her own part.

“At the Gala (It's amazing)
I will sell them (Better hurry)
All my appletastic treats (Yummy yummy)
Hungry ponies (They'll be snacking)
They will buy them (Bring your money)
Caramel apples, apple sweets (Gimme some)
And I'll earn a lot of money
For the Apple family!” And a new chorus sounded.

“All our dreams and our hopes from now until hereafter
All that we've been wishing for will happen at the Gala
At the Gala” Rarity smiled and began to sing herself as Ash grinned happily as he looked over all his friends.

“At the Gala
All the royals
They will meet fair Rarity
They will see I'm just as regal at the Gala” and the rest of the now large group sang together.

“At the Gala” And Rarity continued to sing happily.

“I will find him
My Prince Charming
And how gallant he will be
He will treat me like a lady
Tonight at the Gala!” and the rest of the now large group of ponies, all ready for the gala, sang.

“This is what we've waited for to have the best night ever
Each of us will live our dreams
Tonight at the Gala
At the Gala” To Ash’s surprise was Rainbow the next who began to sing.

“Been dreamin'
I've been waitin'
To fly with those great ponies
The Wonderbolts, their daring tricks
Spinning round and having kicks
Perform for crowds of thousands
They'll shower us with diamonds
The Wonderbolts will see me right here at the Gala!” Once more the whole group broke out in song.

“All we've longed for
All we've dreamed
Our happy ever after
Finally will all come true
Right here at the Grand Gala
At the Gala” Ash looked over at Pinkie, who grinned and broke out in a song as Ash smiled lovingly to her.

“I am here at the Grand Gala
For it is the best party
But the one thing it was missing was a pony named Pinkie
For I am the best at parties, all the ponies will agree
Ponies playing
Ponies dancing
With me at the Grand Gala!” and again broke the rest out in a chorus.

“Happiness and laughter at the Gala
At the Gala” Ash looked around as Twilight again began to sing happily.

"At the Gala (At the Gala)
With the Princess (With the Princess)
Is where I'm going to be (She will be)
We will talk all about magic and what I've learned and seen (She will see)
It is going to be so special
As she takes time just for me (This will be the best night ever!)” The gang broke out in another loud chorus, all smiling happily.

“Into the Gala we must go
We're ready now, we're all aglow
Into the Gala, let's go in and have the best night ever
Into the Gala, now's the time
We're ready and we look divine!” 

All of his friends looked at Ash, waiting for him to start his verse and he just laughed and said calmly “Not this time. Maybe I join another.” They all grinned and nodded as they began to sing again.

Fluttershy and the crowd sang “Into the Gala” And Fluttershy continued alone “Meet new friends”

Same as before started both Applejack and the crowd in the choir “Into the Gala” 
and Applejack continue alone as Fluttershy did “Sell some apples”

This time it was Rarity and the crowd who sang “Into the Gala” 
And Rarity kept going “Find my Prince"

The crowd and Rainbow sang happily “Prove I'm great” And she kept going on her own “As a Wonderbolt is”

Fluttershy started “To meet!”

Applejack continued “To sell!”

“To find!” Rarity kept on

“To prove!” Continued Rainbow

“To whoop!” Sang Pinkie happily

“To talk!” Twilight sang

And the song ended with the whole crowd sang
“Into the Gala
Into the Gala
And we'll have the best night ever!
At the Gala!”

As the song finally ended, they all looked up as the gates that finally opened and Twilight smiled and says “We are here.”

“Let’s get this party started!” Pinkie yelled out excited and ran inside, dragging Ash, who laughed loudly, with her inside at insane speeds.

It was not even five minutes after the whole gala started and the group was already spread out over the entire place. Rarity had quickly found her ‘prince’ as in Prince Blueblood and began to follow him to ‘woo’ him into loving her, so they could get married and she would get her ‘prince charming’, to which Ash just shook his head amused, knowing by now that the idea of a prince charming was only a fairy tale and was something that never, if only rarely happened.

He saw Twilight already by Princess Celestias side with Princess Luna on the other side and he smiled to her, which she didn’t notice as she kept trying to get the princess attention from the visitors she greeted. He noticed Applejack and Fluttershy had already disappeared, probably to set up an small shop to sell some apples or visit the animals of the Canterlot Garden.

He noticed Rainbow Dash as well as she walked through the crowd, doing her best to look cool and collected, while secretly looking for the wonderbolts.

He smiled to himself and couldn’t not help himself and say, as Pinkie kept on leading him through the crowd to random places “This is sure to be the best night ever.”

> Gala and pegasi pride
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash grinned as he watched Pinkie in the best of moods, as she ran around with obvious intend to party to the max as he smiled amused and knew he should have expected this as he walked over and pulled Pinkie away from a pair of high standard ponies that she apparently was starting to annoy and said “Pinkie, relax a little. The party will be great I know. Would you like some punch?”

She nodded with an eager grin and followed him with her usual light bounces as he led her to the table with the drinks. They both sat down as some ponies eyed them with a smile, obvious to anypony at the gala that they were a couple and quiet fond of each other.

Ash smiled to her and got up to get some punch for them both. He noticed a few ponies he had heard about due to Rarity talking about everything she wanted to talk about, when she was taking measures for the suit he was wearing. One of the ponies that caught his eye was the well-known stallion Fancy Pants, who weirdly enough in Ash’s opinion, didn’t wear any pants at all. He noticed that Fancy Pants walked over to him and smiled to him as he said “Hello. If I don’t mistake you must be the young Ash Ketchum everypony is talking about, the pony who introduced Pokémon to Equestria?”

Ash nodded with a smile and grinned “That is true sir.”

He held out a hoof to Ash and said “Then it is a pleasure to meet you my boy. I am Fancy Pants. I must say your culture is quite different, but I can’t deny that those Pokémon battles are quite entertaining and exciting to watch. I was there, when you held your first battle.”

Ash smiled a bit proudly, still unable to be a bit hotheaded when he heard someone liked his skills as a trainer and recognized him for his battles. He stuck out his hoof to Fancy Pants and shook it in a friendly, but mannered way, as he said “While it is always nice to be recognized for hard work, I don’t want to sound too confident or brag too much. There are still many things I have yet to learn about Pokémon.”

“I think we will get along just fine Mister Ketchum.” He replied with a friendly smile.

Ash nodded and said “I don’t want to be rude, but my marefriend is waiting for some punch if you don’t mind.” Fancy Pants just nodded with an understanding smile and turned around and let Ash get the punch as he returned to the table where Pinkie was still sitting and waiting for him, while she tapped her hoof in the ground and groaned “This is soooo boring! I could party and have fun right now!”

Ash chuckled and kisses her briefly on the forehead and said “Just relax a little. Enjoy the party with watching the others.” As she took her punch drink with a small blush, but smiled happily and nodded as she looked around excited, first watching Rarity, who was getting a bit flustered with trying to get attention from Prince Blueblood and Twilight who was also trying to get attention from Celestia, who looked like she was getting tired of the ponies she was constantly greeting. Eventually she whispered something to her sister, who smiled understandingly and nodded as she smiled to Twilight, who grinned widely back and they left the room to speak together like they so often did before Twilight left for Ponyville.

Ash looked up at Luna, who was looking a bit uncomfortable with saying hello to so many strangers, and he rolled his eyes, wondering why so many ponies were coming so late for a gala of this importance.

Ash smiled gently and asked Pinkie as she was done with her punch “Want to go and see the others? Might find some fun while we do that?” she grinned back happily and easily got up and said “It would be my honor Mister Ketchum.” She said with an amused voice. Ash chuckled with a grin and walked up to her and nuzzled her as they began to walk together through the gala, quite a few of the ponies smiled at the affection shared between the couple, while others were too busy with their own talk or dancing with their partners.

They walked through the gala and headed outdoors, where they were met with many ponies, just as many as there were indoors. They were all walking around and talking, a few sharing a bit of food or a drink. Mostly it was mares and mares talking together and stallions and stallions, but sometimes it was a mare and a stallion that talked together quite friendly. They finally noticed Applejack’s stall where she was selling apples of all kinds and Pinkie hopped happily towards her, Ash right behind her with a walk as he smiled gently. When they arrived was Ash the first to speak as he asked “How is the sale going Applejack?”

They were surprised when she groaned a bit a glares into the air “None to good Ash. These Canterlot ponies think they’re too good for my apples. Ah haven’t sold a single thing, except a pie to some blue pegasi.”

He frowned a bit, not really hungry and unable to help, until he heard a growl from his back and saw Pikachu blushing as he rubbed his small stomach, Pinkie giggled at the timing as he smirked and said “Then I take two apples. Pikachu seems to be a bit hungry.” She looked surprised at him, before she smiled to him happily and said “Thanks Ash. Ah am sure when the words get out, Ah will get more customers.” As he handed her four bits, two for each apple, and accepted the apples and handed them to his trusted friend and said to Applejack.

“No problem Applejack. And I will be sure to spread the message.”

She smiled and nodded, as Pikachu let out a burp from his back and rubbed his stomach, already done with the two apples as he threw them into a nearby bush. Ash shook his head amused and looked at Pinkie and said “Mind if I go for a few minutes? I want to say hello to Princess Luna.”

She smiled and said “It’s ok. I stay here and help Applejack with her stall! It will be fun!” as Applejack both gulped and looked grateful.

Ash walked off with Pikachu on his back, not noticed the knowing grins Applejack and Pinkie shared as they watched him walking off. He went inside as Pikachu was looking around curiously, searching for Luna and he yelled out “Pika-pii!” as he pointed towards the dark blue alicorn and ponies turned towards him in shock and a few looked affronted that somepony would bring a pet here to this grand and important gala.

“Urrgg!” He heard a voice say loudly as a white unicorn with some kind of uniform or dress up walked up to him and looked at him with disdain “I will have to ask you to leave ‘sir’.” He added the last part sarcastic and Ash frowned “You are not allowed to bring… pets.” He said this with a mocking smirk at Pikachu “Especially not misfit rats.”

This made Ash angry as he frowned deeply and said “Pikachu is not a rat. He is a pokémon and my best friend. So mind your own business and we won’t bother you.” He had never one for fighting needlessly.

The unicorn frowned even more and said “I said you will have to leave. I am prince Blueblood and I demand that you leave this gala now!” he said with a weak authority that made Ash raise an eyebrow.

“Prince? But you are not an alicorn.” He said as a matter of fact, which made Blueblood grow red in anger and huff out.
“I don’t need a pair of useless wings to be a prince.” This was really the wrong thing to say as he got many dirty looks from all around the hall, the conversation listened too and even Luna frowned at her nephew. Many pegasi glared at him with rage and anger and even quite a bit of unicorns looked at him shocked and offended that he could talk like that about some of their dear friends in that manner.

Ash, who had two best friends with wings, glared and said “Take that back now or I make you.” and he gritted his teeth.

Blueblood looked shocked and said “You dare threaten a prince?! Guards I command you to kick this stallion and his… thing, out of Canterlot!” none of the guards moved, some of them pegasi and looked annoyed at him “What? You disobey! This is revolution against the throne!” he yelled out “I will have you fired!”

Ash groaned in annoyance over his stupidity and said to Pikachu “Would you?” Pikachu nodded with an evil glare and a smirk towards Blueblood and released a wave of electricity and Blueblood froze in place, unable to move and when he tried he struggled greatly. Ash walked over to him and glared down at him, most ponies silent as he said “You will not insult my friends again Blueblood. You might think you are better than me, but I don’t need horn or wings to beat the snot out of you.” 
Blueblood was trembling in fear, his eyes wide as Ash looked at the guards and said “He will return to normal in ten or fifteen minutes.“ The guards nodded with some respect and smirked as they dragged Blueblood out of the hall. He looked around at the crowd, confused as to why so many ponies watched him. Suddenly Fancy Pants, who was in the front row, began to stomp his hoof into the ground with a smirk, doing what was equal to clapping for a human. It was not long after more ponies began to stomp and smile, a few cheering with a grin as Ash blushed and Luna walked down to him with a proud smile as he looked up confused “Why is everypony cheering princess?” once again showing his lack of knowledge for Equestrian customs.

“Because you stood up and defended the whole pegasi race, even if you didn’t know it at that time. With you standing up 
Blueblood and went against his cruel words, you became a friend of the pegasi race as a whole. As a princess I can be sure and say you will always be welcome in Cloudsdale after this day. To call pegasi wings, their whole life and everything they stand for, useless is to insult their very race and all pegasi over Equestria.” 

He nodded, unsure what to say, as a pegasi with a fiery mane and a yellow fur landed in front of him and said “Thank you man. I would personally have knocked him down for what that jerk said, but I liked your way better. Nopony got hurt and you still scared the crap out of him.” As she hit Ash’s shoulder with a grin “So why did you, an earth pony, get so angry for him insulting pegasi?”

He smiled and said “Two of my best friends are pegasi. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. You may know them?”

She grinned suddenly and said “Rainbow Dash?  Yeah I know her, great girl, good wonderbolt material even if a bit hotheaded, but she got the skills down to a ‘T’ and even more than that. Problem is that there are no current positions empty for her or she would get the part instantly. Actually… you can tell her that when the next wonderbolt retire is forced to leave, she can report to the canterlot flying dome to a try out for the part.” And with that she flew off, leaving Ash with wide eyes and totally shocked, but happy for his friend.

He smiled to Luna, who smirked amused and proudly, her eyes shining in mirth as he said “Well… that was interesting… If you don’t mind me, I will go and find Rainbow Dash with the good news.”

She smiled and said “It is ok. You can leave young Ash.” He nodded with a grin and left to find his flying best friend, looking around with a smile as Pikachu was on his back, searching as well with a smug grin, quite pleased with himself after what he did to Blueblood.

Ash found her after a good few minutes as she was sitting at a table with a glass of punch in her hoofs as she smirked, leaning back and relaxing, something she really loved to do. He walked over to her and said “Hey Rainbow.”

She looked up surprised at him and grinned as she raised her glass and said “Hey Ash! Come and join me. How is the party swinging?”

He smirked and said “Nothing special, been a bit with Pinkie, gave Prince Blueblood a good talking down too.”

Her eyes widened, she smirked and asked curiously “And why would you do that?”

He frowned a bit and said “He called pegasi wings ‘useless’.” He looked at Rainbow who suddenly growled and looked angry as she said with anger.

“I hope you gave him a good kick!” He smirked and said “Not really, but Pikachu paralyzed him for about ten minutes and he was thrown out of the gala. Also got to talk a bit to Spitfire I think. She wanted to thank me for defending pegasi honor.”
Her eyes widened even more than before in shock and she whispered “Y-You talked to Spitfire…? That is so awesome! What did she say!? Did you mention me?! Did she mention me?!” She asked excited.

He laughed and said “Don’t worry. I did mention you when she asked who my pegasi friends were and I got a message to you from her.” She grinned in excitement, wings trembling as she grinned, waiting for the message “She told me to inform you that the current wonderbolts are filled and can’t take members, but when somepony on the team becomes unable to perform anymore, she would like to see you at the try outs for the position.”

He heard the sound of a pony hitting the floor and looked down and saw Rainbow Dash had hit the floor, now unconscious in the shock he gave her and groaned “Can somepony get something?” he asked, half amused half annoyed.

As a pony got a bag of ice and some water, Ash walked away with a smirk as he thought, Now would be the time to get the surprise up. I just hope the boys are ready. As he silently left the room.

> Gala music.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

”YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE MEE!!”

It had been a few minutes after Ash had left and in that time the party had gone into chaos. Pinkie who had gone restless with Ash not coming back distracted herself with trying to party hard, while Fluttershy finally appeared, but instead of having befriended all the animals, she had terrified them with her eagerness and had tried to capture them all against their will, only to end by storming through the front gates to the castle, slamming them open and yelling as critters ran into the room in terror of her.

Celestia and Twilight both ran back into the room, Celestia with wide eyes as she asked “What is this?!” as she gasped, seeing the huge statue about to fall over several ponies until Dash caught it with her back, somehow able to hold it up even if it was around ten times heavier than her.

But after a few seconds it proved too much for her, as she began to sway and stagger in off balance and she fell over with a yelp in shock and surprise as the statue rammed into a pillar, which rammed into another pillar and that continued until the whole gala room was in ruins and Twilight was standing with an open mouth in shock, unable to believe what just happened, while Celestia was smiling amused and knowingly and Twilight said “I-I think we better leave… now.” as she looked at Celestia in panic.

The sun princess just smiled to her student and said “Just wait a second… I believe you want to stay for the next part.” Twilight looked confused, but nodded none the less, understanding that she could trust the Princess to have come up with something good.

As ponies were about to leave the gala for good, thinking it was over and done with all the destruction, walked a pony up to the stage nearby, where the orchestra had been before and. He grabbed a microphone and began to speak out in the hall 

“Dear ladies and gentlecolts, we have one last entrance to the entertainment program for tonight. They are a new band, but got the skills and the heart. One you already know, one is unknown and one is not even a pony. I give it up for the Poké-champions!” The six friends we all know turned their heads towards the stage in shock as they saw Ash walk out of the stage with a grin as he takes the microphone and began to talk as well.

“Hello Canterlot. My name is Ash Ketchum, but you probably already know that.” He smirked “But that is not why my friends and I are here today. We are here to entertain you guys, so give it up for my friends! The first one is the farmer, the silent type, you won’t find a bigger stallion on this side of Equestria! Give a hoof for my friend Big Macintosh!” Applejack gaped as Big Macintosh walked into the stage and sat behind a drum-set and several mares looked over him, liking the sight of the strong, obviously fit stallion in front of them.

Ash continued with a grin “The next one is a friend of mine. Don’t let his size betray his spirit! He gives a major punch to anypony who dares to touch his friends and has one nasty bite! I say welcome to Spike the Dragon!” with that Spike walked into the stage and Twilight gasped in shock, while Rarity looked at the clothes Spike had chosen to wear with a gleam in her eyes. Spike was wearing a long black jacket with a pair of sunglasses (Matrix style) and had a guitar in his hands.

“The next stallion is my best friend, my brother in all but blood! He is a pervert and can take a good kick! I give you Brock! The side singer!” Brock walked onto the stage and grinned to the crowd, who all laughed at Ash’s description.

“And for the last, but certainly not least!” Ash yelled, more ponies getting a bit excited and looked eagerly “You will fear him! You will not defy him! You can call him the lord of fire! I call you Charizard!” and with a flash, the dragon like pokémon flies out of the pokéball with a roar, making a few ponies scream out in shock and fear, until he landed in front of a keyboard and smirked amused at the terrified looks he received from quite a few ponies.

“And my faithful friend is in charge of the special effects! I give you Pikachu!” he pointed up and ponies looked up and saw Pikachu standing on the top of the stage with a grin, ready to do what he had agreed too.

Ash looked over the ponies and asked into the microphone “And I will sing. Now should we get this started?” ponies cheered a bit “I asked should we get this started?” he asked louder, making more ponies cheer “I can’t hear you! Do you want this to start?!” as ponies yelled out in agreement and he smirked as he said “HIT IT SPIKE!” With that began Charizard to play the keyboard as Spike made an entrance to the song with his guitar and Ash began to sing.

“I wanna be the very best!
Like no one ever was!”

Ponies looked on amazed as he sang, his voice brilliant and Pinkie had stopped her party to listen, Rarity and Twilight both amazed of Spike being able to play the guitar and the hall was in silence, nopony cheered yet, but was in awe.

“To catch them is my real test!
To train them is my cause!”

He grinned to Pinkie who smiled back with a huge grin.

“I will travel across the land!
Searching far and wide!”

As Spike and Macintosh played on guitar and drums, the six friends could do nothing but be amazed, the most shocked being Applejack as she never imagined her brother being able to play drums.

“Each pokémon to understand!
The power that’s inside!”

Ponies began to cheer and step their hooves to the music, smiling as the six friends and the princesses was enjoying the music just as much. Ash grinned and reached a hoof to Pinkie, who took it with a blush and he pulled her onto the stage, making most mares squeal at the loving moment. Ash and Brock began to sing together.

“Pokémon! It’s you and me.”

He gave her a short kiss on the cheek, and she blushed a bit and made more mares giggle at the adorable pair as he continues to sing.

"I know it’s my destiny!
Pokémon!
Ooohhh! You’re my best friends!”

He smiled to his friends, who smiled back, Twilight and Rarity with tears of happiness in their eyes. Applejack and Rainbow smiled back proudly and Fluttershy, who was blushing a bit. Celestia smiled to him and nodded, and Luna did the same.

“In a world we must defend!”

His friends all laughed gently, all remembering their adventure with Nightmare Moon and how they got to be the elements of harmony. Ponies around the hall began to step into the ground in tact with the music, enjoying the song and were smiling happily as a few stallions smirked.

“Pokémon! Gotta catch them all!
That’s so true!
Our courage will pull us through!”

He smiled to Fluttershy, surprising her great as she blushed hard at the compliment. Twilight and the rest, except Pinkie who was next to him, all smiled to him deeply.

“You teach me and I teach you!
Pokémooonnn!
Gotta catch them all!
Gotta catch them all! 
.
.
.
Yeeeahhh...”

Twilight couldn’t help but feel proud as Spike played the guitar like a professional and vowed to let him play as often as he liked, as long it was not while she studied, but to waste that talent was stupid beyond reasoning.

“Every challenge along the way!
With courage I will face!”

As he sang this he looked directly at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, one blushed and one looked proud.

“I will battle every day!
To claim my rightful place!”

Ponies began to cheer loudly as they continued the song, Spike doing an awesome job with the guitar, while Big Mac ruled the drums like he had trained his entire life. Ash looked at Pinkie with a soft smile as he began to sing the next part

“Come with me, the time is right.
There’s no better team.”

Pinkie blushed hard, quite embarrassed to be sung to like this in front of a lot of ponies, thinking he was the sweetest colt ever.

“Arm in arm we win this fight.
It’s always been our dreeeaamm.”

He kissed her quickly as Brock prepared himself for another duet, this time Pinkie joined with tears in her eyes of happiness.

“Pokémon! Gotta catch them all!
It’s you and it’s me!”

Ponies cheered wildly as Pikachu began the special effects, shooting lightning down at the stage without hitting anypony, but creating an amazing sight to behold.

“I know it’s my destiny!”

Ponies cheered happily as the show continued with great success and Ash smiled over the whole stage, looking briefly as he noticed the princesses and they nodded to him with a grin, Celestia looking very happy for some reason.

“Ohhh you’re my best friend!
In a world we must defend!”

He looked at the elements of harmony again and nodded as they all grinned, although Fluttershy blushing and a bit unwilling, as they walked into the stage next to him, but not blocking out the view of the rest of the band.

“Pokémon! Gotta catch them all!
A heart so true!
Our courage will pull us through!
You’ll teach me and I’ll teach you!
Pokémon! Gotta catch them all
Gotta catch them all….
.
.
.
Gotta catch them all…
.
.
.
GOTTA CATCH THEM ALL!! YEAAHH!”

That was when Ash stopped singing for now and to Ponies, and mostly Twilights surprise, stepped Spike up and began to play an awesome guitar play with the drums rocking in the background “SING WITH US!!” Ash yelled to the ponies and suddenly the whole crowd sang in one giant.

“POKÉMON! Gotta catch them all!!
It’s you and meee!”

The ponies sang with them, even Luna had joined the sing along with a great smile as Celestia could finally enjoy a gala.

“I know it’s my destiny!
Pokémon!
Ooohhh you’re my best friends!
In a world we must defend!!”

The main six smiled, some proud as Rainbow, others humble or shy as Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight.

“Pokémon!
A heart so true!
Our courage will pull us through!”

The ponies of the hall cheered, even the snobby nobles who had tried to dislike the music, could not help but find it encouraging and be taken by the tune and meaning of the song. Ash grinned as he looked back at Pinkie with a soft smile and sang.

“You teach me and I teach you.
Pokémooon.
Gotta catch them all. Gotta catch them all.
Pokémon!”

The whole group and the hall finished the song as Ash kissed Pinkie deeply on the stage, making her blush deeply, but lean into the kiss lovingly as most mares looked with pure adoration at the couple and Rarity fainted on a nearby couch.

Ash grinned and turned back to the ponies in the hall and said “Thank you Canterlot! It has been an honor playing for you all!” and with that the group left the scene to the backstage as ponies cheered. It was 15 minutes later they returned to the gala, Pinkie sat  next to Ash and Big Mac, who had been allowed inside as well, who immediately blushed as Fluttershy smiled with a sweet blush and walked over to her slowly.

It was then Celestia looked over the hall and coughed to get the attention of the ponies, who all immediately stopped talking and looked at her as she said with a smile “With the brilliant entertainment out of the way. I have a big announcement to those who desire and has the time to stay after the Gala.

After the gala has Princess Luna, The elements of Harmony and me agreed that we shall for the first time in Equestrian history have the first Pokémon tournament.”

Ash’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at Pinkie, who giggled knowingly and lifted her dress, revealing the pokéballs strapped around her legs.

> tournament starts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many of the ponies were shocked into silence at Celestia's announcement, including Ash as well as he stood there, staring shocked at Pinkie and Celestia, who smiled knowingly at him and he grinned back and shook his head amused.

Celestia smiled and looked over the ponies "The tournament will be held out in the labyrinth, which have been removed briefly for the purpose of this event. The contestants will be me, my sister Luna and the six elements of harmony. We shall all battle for the right to battle Ash as he is the best and therefor the champion of Pokémon in Equestria." Ponies listened rapidly and interested, most looked a bit eager to watch this event, having heard of the battle in Ponyville, while other more proper nobles looked a bit uninterested an quite shocked that the princesses could enjoy such barbaric behaviour as battles. Yet they followed the princesses and the elements of harmony out to the battlefield, very curious about this even if some ponies went home, not willing to watch this.

They soon reached the large area that had been cleared and many seats had been placed around the arena where the Pokémon should fight. Ash grinned at the sight of it all, feeling excited and happy that this was happening as the lack of Pokémon battles was going on his nerves a bit. Ponies began to find seats as Celestia moved into the middle and said with a grin "We will soon begin! First I would like to welcome the judge of these battles, who is a good friend of Ash Ketchum. I present to you Brock." As he stepped up with a smirk and many ponies clapped politely.

Celestia smiled over the ponies who had gathered, mainly ponies from the Gala, but also a few ponies, who had noticed the commotion and had joined the large group of observers "Now let the games start. We will have the fights in an order, starting by four matches with one against one. The next part will be two matches with one against one again. The semi-final will be the last fight with the endings winners of these matches and the winner of the semi-final will meet Ash in battle in the final."

Ponies were very excited as they looked forward to the first match between either the elements or the princesses and Celestia smiled once more over her ponies and subjects and said "To ensure a fair and honest choosing of opponents, I will cast a spell that will choose randomly between the names. This way will nopony be chosen to battle another on purpose. Do everypony agree to these terms?" The mane six and Luna nodded in agreements, eager to continue and start the matches and Celestia cast the spell and a random collection of letters began to change in the middle of the air and suddenly they stopped, spelling out the names 'Rainbow Dash' and 'Rarity' and Celestia, while feeling disappointed she would sit the first match out, grinned and said "Looks like the first match is between the elements of loyalty and the element of generosity." The ponies cheered loudly, a good part for Rarity because of her reputation for her dresses and the major part of the pegasi for their fellow pegasi.

A few minutes later was Rarity and Rainbow Dash standing in the arena, smirking at each other as Rarity said "I will not hold back Rainbow, even if you are my friend." To which Rainbow grinned and said "Bring it on."

Rainbow Dash was the first, and the fastest, to call out her pokémon, throwing the pokéball out into the field and yelled "Let's make it quick! Go Swellow!" as, with a white flash of light, the black big bird appeared with a serious look. Rarity smirked and collected her own pokéball with a smile and said "Please assist me my friend. I call you Flaaffy." As she called the pink pokémon with a white wool.

Twilight frowned at the scene from the contestant area and said "Rarity called an electric pokémon. Things don't look good for Rainbow at this point…" to which Ash smirked knowingly and commented calmly.

"Don't call defeat yet Twilight. Rainbow got spirit and that is something her pokémon will share with her."

"Start with agility! Make sure she can't get a hit on you!" as Swellow disappeared in the speed alone, now unable to be seen as Rarity looked around carefully, frowning gently as she was waiting for the moment to strike.

Suddenly Rainbow cried out with a grin "NOW SWELLOW! Hit her where it hurts! Use Aerial Ace!" as Swellow suddenly appeared and rammed hard into Flaaffy, making the pokémon cry out in pain as Rarity was shocked by the speed at first, but quickly recovered and called "USE THUNDERBOLT!" Flaaffy obeyed, shooting a powerful bolt of lightning towards where the flying pokémon was last seen, only to miss and hit the shield that protected the ponies.

"Use gust! Don't give her a chance to counter!" as Swellow suddenly appeared, flapping its large wings rapidly and suddenly a tornado was created, creating a harsh wind inside the dome as the entire group of wonderbolts was in shock. Spitfire herself gaping as making a tornado all by one creature alone was unheard of.

Flaaffy had trouble staying at the ground, clinging onto the ground as Rarity was trying to think of something, before she grinned and said "Idea!" as she smirked to Flaaffy and said "Fire a thunderbolt into the tornado!"

Flaaffy looked confused, but was not one to disobey at a moment like this and let out a cry as it fired a thick bolt of electricity into the twister, that immediately absorbed the electricity and began to crackly with the same thunder-power, shooting low sparks of electricity everywhere, something that caused Swellow to flinch and Rainbow yelled "SWELLOW! Get away from there!" but it was too late as Swellow lost control and was sucked into the tornado of electricity, causing it to screech in pain.

Rainbow gritted her teeth, trying to think of something as she yelled "HOLD ON SWELLOW! ENDURE IT! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!" hoping that her faithful pokémon would hear her as Twilight, who was watching confused, asked "W-What is she doing?! Shouldn't she try to help Swellow out of there?!"

Ash shook his head "No. That is impossible in a twister like that. Rainbow is doing what is best. Encouraging her pokémon to fight on and endure."

"Come on Swellow!" Rainbow yelled, a bit nervous for her pokémon as Rarity looked a bit guilty for doing this to a living creature, but knew it would not be majorly hurt.

Rainbow finally had enough of this and yelled out "DAMN IT SWELLOW! I TRAINED YOU TO NEVER GIVE UP AND YOU BETTER NOT FAIL ME NOW!" there was a shocked silence, before a loud screech was heard from the tornado, before it explode from the inside out in a loud shower of electric sparks and in the middle was Swellow flying, sparks of electricity coming from its body as it looked down at Flaaffy and smirked. Rainbow grinned as well and said "Get him." With a blast of speed made from a quick attack, rammed Swellow into the stomach of Flaaffy, making the sheep pokémon cry out in pain and send backwards into the shield. Not yet out, but was close as it was breathing heavily.

"End it with a Take Down!" Swellow obeyed immediately and Ash raised an eyebrow as the bird flew down and rammed hard into the stomach of the sheep, making it cry out one last time in pain, before passing out instantly. Swellow was panting heavily, swaying on the spot as Brock called out "Flaaffy is unable to battle! Swellow is the winner!" the bird gave one last screech in victory, before falling over, unconscious as Flaaffy was.

Pinkie looked confused and asked Ash "but doesn't Take Down hurt your own pokémon a little? Why would Rainbow use that?"

"Because she knew Swellow could not endure more. So she made sure that she could get Flaaffy down, while getting the victory and at the same time make sure that Swellow would get the rest it deserved without having to battle again. She really cares for her pokémon it seems…"

Twilight nodded and asked as well "But how could Swellow win? It had a disadvantage with the type. Electricity is strong against flying as you told me."

Ash smirked and said "That is because Swellow is a higher level and the fact I believe that Rainbow have taught it to endure the pain of electricity, to overcome a weakness." Twilight looked a bit uneasy at this and Fluttershy was horrified of the tactic, yet not able to deny it worked wonders in the match and Ash continued to talk "If she hadn't done that, then Swellow would have been knocked out in the tornado."

"Would the two trainers please send out there next pokémon?" as the crowd was cheering loudly, excited to see more as they had been deeply impressed by now.

"Show your beauty!/Take her down! Sableye/Sneasel!" both of them called at the same time as Rainbow called Sneasel and Rarity had called upon Sableye, both of them bipedal small creatures with a black skin. Sableye was covered in diamonds and with rubies for eyes with a wicked grin, while Sneasel just looked cool with two long claws for hands as he smirked and got into a fighting stance.

"This could be interesting…" Ash said with a grin "Sableye. A ghost/dark type with no type disadvantage. Its only weakness is its lack of strength or defence, but that can be worked over with the right trainer. Sneasel is a dark/ice type and have type weaknesses, but it can pack a powerful punch."

The mares and the two princesses turned towards the match with new look at it, eager to see the outcome. Rainbow grinned as she said "Want the first move Rarity? Or am I too fast for you?" teasing her as Rarity smirked and said "We see about that won't we dear. Sableye! Use Fake Out!" Sableye grinned and disappeared, appearing again before Sneasel, who cried out in pain as he got hit on both sides of his head with the two powerful palms.

Rainbow yelled out "SNEASEL! USE SLASH!" But Sneasel flinched hard, making Rainbow ask "What is wrong Sneasel?!"

Rarity grinned and explained "Fake Out. A move that can only be used first time in match and makes the victim flinch. Allowing my pokémon to attack again. Sableye, be a darling and use Shadow Claw." Sableye grinned and ran for Sneasel, who glared but was unable to do anything as it cried out in pain. Sableye had hit it directly on the knee with the Shadow Claw, making Ash's eyes widen.

"She goes for weak spots!" Ash said with a grin and as he noticed the confused looks he explained "To make up for the lack of strength, have Rarity taught him to hit the weak spots and make every attack count. A brilliant strategy!" as the looked back at the fight, only to see the two pokémon furiously dodging and parrying the blows of the other pokémon.
Hits and kicks were exchanged as they didn't even use attacks anymore. Sparks were flying every time one of Sneasel's claws hit one of Sableye's diamonds on its body. The crowd were holding their breaths, in awe over the furious fight. The speed was incredible and the force was enough to blow away dust around the two pokémon as each blow found a place, both pokémon panting and sweating as they were determent not to lose. With one blow they were holding each other's hands and claws over their heads, glaring at each other as they nod and suddenly jumps away from each other. Sneasel's claws began to glow in a bright white light as Sableye's began to glow in a dark purple light.

They suddenly jumped towards each other, letting out a battle-cry as this was the last hit and the ponies knew it, nopony dared to breathe or make a single sound as the two pokémon met in the middle and clashed together. There was a flash of light and as it disappeared, were the two pokémon back to back, panting hard.

Time seemed to have stopped, not even Ash was taking his eyes off the pokémon. Celestia and Luna had eyes narrowed and Fluttershy was worried about the pokémon, but knew this was not the time. This was more than a fight of a simple tournament between the two. This was a fight to see who was the superior dark type.

Then the two flinched hard and fell to the ground and it took Brock a good few seconds to say "Both Sableye and Sneasel are unable to battle! This match is a tie!" and the crowd erupted in sheer yells in delight over the battle. They had just watched a battle that had more excitement to it than most battles between the guards of Canterlot.

"Now have Rarity lost two pokémon and the same have Rainbow Dash! After next battle, we will take a small break! Send out your third choice!"

Rainbow grinned excited, the adrenaline pushing through her like it did when she raced as she threw the next pokéball "KICK SOME FLANK SHELGON!" as the large endurance pokémon appeared, a pokémon that looked like a rock with four legs and confused many ponies.

Ash grinned as Twilight asked "That doesn't look very fast… Not a type Rainbow Dash would normally choose."

Ash replied instantly, again explaining some things to the ponies, who were desperate to learn about pokémon "Shelgon have a thing that Rainbow likes. He can take a punch like no other. He can take a large hit and can do well in a battle with a little thought of what you are doing."

Twilight nods with a serious look as Rarity called out her pokémon "Arrive to battle my beautiful lady." As she called upon a long beautiful snake like creature and Ash whistled as Fluttershy said "Whoa. It's beautiful. What is that pokémon?"

He smiled and said "The evolution of Feebas. The fish Rarity received from Arceus. For a Feebas to evolve, it had to feel truly beautiful. Rarity has done a good job with it."

Celestia smiled a bit, admiring the pokémon as the two battlers glared at each other. Both of them judging and silently waiting for orders. Suddenly, and predictable, called Rainbow Dash the first order and yelled out "Shelgon! Use Swagger and quickly follow by Leer!"

The pokémon obeyed instantly, albeit being a slow pokémon in this state of evolution he got the chance to attack and made his first move and attacked Milotic with a swagger, increasing her attack, but confusing her pokémon at the same time. This attack was followed by a sharp glare that lowered the pokémons defence while she was swaying back and forth on the top, dazed and confused.

Rarity looked worried at her beloved pokémon, the one she had worked so hard with and spent so much time with as she called "Please darling! Snap out of it!" but it was no help as Milotic kept being confused and Dash took this opportunity to call out with a grin "Use Dragon Breath!" the dragon pokémon obeyed and fired the purple flame towards the water pokémon, making it cry out in pain at a direct neutral hit. Rarity grinned as she saw it had been cured from the confusion from the attack and yelled "Use Water Pulse!"

Milotic obeyed instantly, firing a large ring of water towards Shelgon with a heavy power and Shelgon, who was rather slow, was unable to dodge it and Rainbow yelled "USE PROTECT!" to which Shelgon obeyed instantly, shielding himself in the small green energy shield which was hit by the water blast and Rarity gritted her teeth in annoyance "Again my lady!" and the water blast was fired again with a greater speed, showing Milotic was also frustrated.

This time the attack hit before Rainbow had a chance to call out Shelgon, blasting him back into the force field as he cried out in pain and glaring at the pokémon through the hole in the shell and Rainbow yelled "Use Dragon Breath again!" and the purple flame was fired instantly, heading towards Milotic who dodged in last second and Rarity smirked and said "Time to end this match my lady. Use Hail." It gave out a beautiful cry and fired an ice-blue beam into the air, before blasting against the top of the shield, forming dark clouds and suddenly it began to hail inside the dome, making Pegasi shocked that they could control weather as they could.

Rainbow gritted her teeth as Shelgon flinched every time hail hit him, being weak against ice and taking double damage from the hail as Rainbow said ""Try to stop with Ember!" worried about her pokémon as Shelgon fires a the flames in the air, melting some of the ice but not nearly enough to stop the hail in total and Rarity used this opportunity to finally call out "Let's end this! Use Ice Beam!" Milotic looked at the pokémon that was hurting from the hail and began to charge the large light-blue energy ball in front of her mouth, before she shot it towards the dragon pokémon and hit it directly, making it cry out in pain and sent flying back into the barrier with a loud slam and fell to the ground unconscious.

The ponies were silent for a second, before they erupted in loud cheers, excited and unable to believe the spirit these kinds of things brought upon them, when they first had thought it would be a barbaric thing to do. Brock grinned and yelled out "The winner of this round is Milotic and Rarity! We will hold a short break and return after that!"
> End of first match. Second revealed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow and Rarity smirked to each other, both waited for the match to start once more. Brock looked at both contestants and asked seriously “Are you both ready?” they nodded, and he smirked. He turned and yelled out to the crowd “Welcome back to the second part of the match between the trainers Rarity and Rainbow Dash!” The ponies cheered, albeit a few nobles were still a bit unnerved about the whole fighting with powerful creatures, but in the end could not deny the excitement it brought.

As Brock turned back towards the two trainers, he smirked and said loudly, for everypony to hear clearly “Since Rarity holds the leading part, she will send out her Pokémon first!” to which Rarity smiled and nodded as she levitated a pokéball out and called calmly “Grace the field with your beauty Lady Milotic.” And the same long beautiful water snake appeared on the arena, to the awe of many ponies who thought the creature a work of art itself.

Rainbow smirked and said confidently “I knew you would do that. I CALL YOU JOLTEON! SHOCK THE CROWD!” with that the small yellow sharp-furred lightning Pokémon appeared with a sharp cry “Jolt jolt!”

Rainbow, fast as always, was the quickest and called out instantly “USE SHOCKWAVE!” to which Rarity yelled, as the lightning came closer to her precious Pokémon “Dodge it!”

Milotic obeyed, but was shocked, as was Rarity, when the lightning just followed her after she dodged it and hit her in the back. She let out a cry in pain, making many ponies wince, as the electricity worked through her entire being and Rarity called “Counter with a Twister!” a bit of panic in her voice from seeing her Pokémon suffer.

Milotic obeyed quickly, snapped free from the electricity, and threw her tail towards Jolteon, releasing a twister that picked up rubble and stones from the ground. Jolteon gritted his teeth with a glare, as he stood his ground without beating a sweat. 
Rainbow smirked and said “That trick again? Jolteon! Shoot lightning into the middle!” Jolteon obeyed instantly again, standing in front of the rapidly approaching twister, before he released a thick lightning strike into the middle. Rarity opened her eyes in shock and called out “USE PROTECT!” The lightning hit a green shield that appeared in the last second, saving Milotic as she was panting lightly, Jolteon was smirking in victory, not even out of breath yet.

Rarity was biting her lip nervously, not seeing many options, but could not change a pokémon due to the rules. She suddenly looked at Rainbow and called “Milotic. Use surf.” Suddenly Milotics eyes glowed blue and a massive wave of water formed under her. The wave began to storm towards Jolteon, who growled in anger. Rainbow smirked and said “Your loss.” As she called out “USE THUNDER!”

Jolteon grinned and stood its ground, his body began to glow in a yellow light, the air cracking with electricity and the ponies could feel the static in their manes as they shivered from the power. Suddenly the pokémon let out a loud cry “JOOL!”

The ponies nearly screamed out as a lightning strike the size of a house stormed towards the tsunami inside the dome. The lightning hit the wave and filled the water with electricity, making the pokémon on top of it scream out in pain. The water kept sparking with electricity as it continued, before it rammed into Jolteon. Jolteon was hit back harshly against the shield, before he stood up again, soaked for the skin, but smirked as Milotic was lying on the ground unconscious. Brock grinned and called “MILOTIC IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! JOLTEON IS THE WINNER!”

Rarity was quick and yelled “TAKE THE STAGE VAPOREON!” as the water evolution of Eevee arrived at the arena, the grace and style of the pokémon was very impressive “Use Water Pulse before he can recover!” as Jolteon was still dizzy from the earlier hit. The pulse of water soon hit the lightning pokémon, slammed it hard into the shield again with a cry in pain, before it fell to the ground with a growl in anger. He got up quickly and glared at his sister as she smirked back.

“Use Thundershock!” Rainbow ordered with a grimace, causing the pokémon fired a bolt of lightning towards the water Pokémon. The Vaporeon dodged the attack with a graceful jump, before it runs towards the offending attacker with great speed as Rarity had ordered it to use Quick Attack just before that.

“Dodge it!” but it was too late. Jolteon had taken too much damage to manage to dodge that and was slammed hard into, making it cry out in pain as it was sent across the field and Rainbow glared hard “Return with a Discharge!” as the lightning pokémon obeyed and send a charge of electricity towards the water pokémon, hitting it directly and made it scream in pain from the double damage. The attack soon ended as Rarity grimaced in anger and said “End this with an ice beam!” The water pokémon started the ice beam, which caused Rainbow to widen her eyes in shock and yell “DODGE IT!”

Yet again was Jolteon too tired and stood there, trembling and shaking in exhaustion, before the ice attack hit him directly and sent him flying back into the shield with a blast, before he rolled onto the ground, unconscious.

“And Jolteon is unable to battle! Vaporeon is the winner! Rainbow, call out your last pokémon!” Brock called, as Rainbow recalled the tired electric type, and instantly sent out the last “Let’s rock! GO AERODACTYL!” With a loud roar the huge rock/flying type appeared on the field with a dark, sharp toothed grin as he expanded his wings and roared again in victory, making Rarity back away lightly with a gulp, while a few ponies screamed and/or fainted. Rainbow grinned and said “Use Agility! Get into the air!” The pokémon obeyed instantly once more, shooting into the air with amazing speed as it increased its general speed for the match and Rarity glared with gritted teeth “Try to get it down with Water Pulse!” 

A series of water rings was fired towards the flying ancient pokémon who dodged them all, albeit the last one was a close call, as Rainbow called with a grin “Use Wing Attack! Followed by Crunch!” The wings of the large reptile began to glow white, as he flew towards the water pokémon who waited for command from her trained as Rarity called out “Try to slow him down with a Water Pulse!”

The pokémon obeyed again, shooting the powerful water attack on the rock-type as it hit directly, but he just glared harder, angered from the pain, and rammed a wing into the small pokémon, before quickly he quickly followed the second command and rammed his sharp teeth down over Vaporeons tale. The water type let out a scream in pain, trying to get away and get her tail to safety, before Rarity called “USE WATER PULSE CLOSE RANGE!” at the same time Rainbow called out “USE ANCIENT POWER!” the huge rocks collided with the water attack, making a huge explosion and the silence hung in the hall.
Suddenly a large figure flew out of the cloud with a roar in victory, as the smoke cleared and Vaporeon was lying on the ground, unconscious. Aerodactyl landed with a tired pant, obviously a bit hurt, but still got fight in him.

Brock called out with an excited yell “AND VAPOREON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! RARITY! Send out your last pokémon!” to which Rarity obeyed with a grin “prepare for my pride and joy of my team! I call upon you Altaria!” as she summoned the dragon-type.

The cloud-pokémon appeared on the field, a blue swan-like bird with a soft cloud surrounding its body as it let out a soft bird-song, which caused the ponies to smile. Rainbow grinned and said “Aerodactyl! Start with Ancient Power!” to which the stone-flying type fired several huge rocks towards the dragon-bird.

“Dodge it my dear.” Rarity said with a calm smile, to which Rainbow gritted her teeth in frustration as the pokémon dodged the stones with grace and beauty.

“Return with a graceful Round attack.” Rarity called out, and Altaria obeyed with letting out a beautiful cry as a few visible sound notes flew towards Aerodactyl and hit him hard, making him growl in pain, but otherwise ignore the damage. He was still part rock and a normal attack had reduced damage.

He growled angrily and glared at the pokémon, as Rainbow yelled with equal irritation “Use Super Sonic!” as he fired a sound wave towards the pokémon, nearly hitting her, but she managed to dodge in the last second, and she called again quickly “Continue with Ancient Power!”

The large prehistoric Pokémon quickly fired several stones towards Altaria, who dodged a few off them, before she got hit by the rest and let out a cry in pain. The aerial Pokémon glared at the large Pokémon and Rarity called out “USE DRAGONBREATH!” and it instantly fired a purple fire towards the Pokémon, making it cry out in pain as it dodged too late and was hit on the wing.

Aerodactyl was still in the air, but flying unsteadily due to the hurt wing, as he growled angrily. He glared at the dragon-Pokémon and was ready to attack, when Rainbow yelled, knowing he was hurt and would have a hard time doing aerial attacks “Use another Ancient Power!” She grimaced, hating using this attack over and over, but her Aerodactyl was not high enough in power to have learned more prominent attacks, and she was forced to do this. Aerodactyl tried to obey and blasted many stones towards Altaria, who dodged them all as Rarity called “Use Agility to dodge and follow by another Dragonbreath!”

The Pokémon vanished from sight in an incredible show of speed and agility as it dodged every single rock and appeared right in front of Aerodactyl, its beak burning in purple fire as Rainbow muttered “Oh...” and Aerodactyl let out a roar in pain as it was blasted point blank and was sent to the ground in a burning fire, howling in pain. As he crashed into the ground a pillar of dusk and smoke appeared.

It cleared after a few strokes of wind from Rainbow Dash, who was worried for her friend and Pokémon, and in the middle laid Aerodactyl unconscious and with swirling eyes and Brock yelled out “AND THERE WE HAVE IT PONIES! AERODACTYL IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! RARITY IS THE WINNER!” causing ponies to cheer loudly.

Rarity blushed a bit, but smiled proudly as she shook hooves with Rainbow Dash and said “thanks for a good battle.” And Rainbow nodded with a smirk “You too Rarity. Now be sure to win! I don’t want to lose to you, only for you to loose next round!” Rarity smirked and nodded.

They both exited the arena, where they were met by their friends, who greeted them with a tight hug, and Twilight said happily, as Ash observed them all “That was amazing girls! It was so intense how you battled and I honestly said I was not even sure who would win!” To which Pinkie continued.

“Yeah! It was like Pow! And the SWISH! And ROOARR! AND KABLOOW!” As she made hoof movements to each sound effect. 

They all looked at Ash, waiting for his comment. He stepped up and said “I can honestly said, that it was quite the match. 
You have both trained your Pokémon very well, and you should both be proud of the battle you just fought. I can give a few hints. Rainbow, you need to think about your attacks, before you attack. Strategy is a big part of the battle and brute strength won’t win much in the end. Rarity, you got excellent strategy, but I can also see you put more focus into certain 

Pokémon, such as Milotic, and that can be a big mistake. You can’t depend on one Pokémon alone and needs to give all of them equal attention.” They both nodded, showing their understanding, and smiled happily.

He grinned and said “Now let to see who the next are to battle!”

They all turned towards the screen and were shocked, when they saw the names: Twilight Sparkle vs. Fluttershy, the first one looked a bit nervous of battling the shy pegasi, who looked equally horrified.

> Twi vs. Shy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N.. I kind of hate how I portrayed Fluttershy in this chapter, but I hope it is acceptable. Also sorry for the long wait, will try to not make it happen again!
Now let's go!

Twilight and Fluttershy were currently standing in the arena, ready to battle. Or at least Twilight was, as she looked ready and determined. Fluttershy was currently looking very nervous, near panic, as she was breathing quickly, her wings were folded tightly to her sides, and her ears were hanging low as well.

Ash watched this with a smirk. He had a pretty good guess of how this battle would go, and he was quite eager to see the fight.
He watched as Brock finally stepped up to the platform, where the judge was supposed to stand, and said loudly “This is the second battle in the Equestrian tournament! This battle will be between Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy! Begin!”

Twilight was calm as she levitated a pokéball out a opened it and with a flash a medium sized light and darker-brown bipedal pokémon with a spoon in his hand appeared as she called “Get ready to battle Kadabra.”

The crowd looked at the pokémon with an eager smile, as Ash said with a grin “Looks like Twilight starts hard and head-on.”
“P-Please come out Bayleef…” Fluttershy muttered nervously, the crowd and Twilight unable to hear, as the large grass type appeared and cried out happily “BAAY!”

Twilight was immediately in the match and yelled “Use Confusion!” starting with a weaker attack, which Ash noticed immediately.
“O-Oh dear! Please dodge if you want too?” Fluttershy muttered nervously, and Ash groaned.
“What?” Asked Rainbow confused.
“You… can’t dodge confusion or psychic attacks. They are not a projectile, they are a force, like levitation.” Ash said, as the blue aura wrapped around Bayleef and made her cry out in shock as she was lifted into the air.

She was immediately launched into the air and gave a cry in shock, before another cry in pain as she rammed against the top of the shield and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“W-Would you mind if you used... S-Sleep powder?”

“Teleport out of the way!” As Bayleef waved its leaf, spraying the powder over the field and towards Kadabra, he teleported away and behind Bayleef, and Twilight yelled again “PSYBEAM!”

Kadabra lifted his spoon and spoke “Kadabra!” before the light blue beam shoot out of the spoon and hit Bayleef point blank, making her cry out in pain as she was blasted across the field and stood up weakly, trembling a bit.

Ash bit his lip and said “Unless Fluttershy doesn’t do anything, this match will be a victory for Twilight without even taking damage…” Rarity looked concerned at her spa-friend.

Fluttershy was biting her lip, tears formed in her eyes in shame of her lack of action, but she didn’t want to attack another being “P-Please use Vine Whip. T-Try to wrap him!”

Twilight sighed and said “End this with Psychic.” Kadabras eyes glowed dangerously blue, before Bayleef was wrapped in another, more powerful, blue light and thrown hard against the shield. It knocked her out instantly and Fluttershy released a whimper and recalled the pokémon. Not wanting to fight, but not wanting to disappoint her friend. Brock called out “This match goes to Kadabra! Please send out your next pokémon!”

“P-Please come out Kirlia…” the small psychic pokémon arrived at the field and Fluttershy whimpered again “D-Don’t hurt her…. Please?”

Twilight sighed again, feeling a bit sorry for her friend and thought she might as well try to get it over with quickly, as she called “Use Shadow ball!”

“Shadow ball?” Ash stated with widened eyes “Looks like Twi taught her pokémon some moves they don’t learn naturally.”, and nodded in agreement to the decision.

Kadabra let out a cry as it fired the ball of shadows towards Kirlia, who dodged it at the last second as Fluttershy called out in panic “Dodge it with teleport and try to restrain him with confusion!” Kirlia obeyed, her eyes glowing blue as Kadabra felt the restrain on his movements and cried out in annoyance.

Twilight bit her lip, before she called out “Use protect and follow with another psybeam.” Again obeyed Kadabra at the spot, creating the shield and blocked the attack, before he fired his own against the small psychic Pokémon. Fluttershy whimpered hard as the attack hit directly, sending Kirlia flying through the field with a cry in pain. She gave another whine as she heard the slam against the shield once more and her ears lowered in shame of her defeat, and how she was betraying her Pokémon. She was just about to give up, when she felt a little touch on her leg. She looked down and saw Kirlia, who smiled softly to her, a fire in her eyes. Kirlia smiled a little, before Fluttershy nodded, a smile forming on her lips. She looked up at Twilight and said, a fire starting inside her and spreading out, “You want to play Twilight? Then let’s play!” She pulled out a pokéball and said “Kirlia come back! Come out and play Granbull!”

The crowd gasped in shock as the large normal-type Pokémon appeared, giving a loud growl in determination as Fluttershy called, before Twilight had time to react “Use quick attack! Follow up with Bite and end with Headbutt!”

The attack was instantaneous, the Pokémon running up to the psychic type, leaving a white streak of light behind him, and knocked into Kadabra, who let out a cry in pain. The attack was immediately followed by Granbull biting down hard on Kadabras arm, making him yell out in another wave of pain, as the attack was super effective, and he was sent flying by Granbull ramming his head into Kadabras head. He was rammed hard against the shield and fell to the ground unconscious. Ash grinned at the show and said “Now the real fight can begin.”

Twilight looked shocked at her fallen Pokémon, before she said “Wow… I guess Fluttershy got some fight in her.” She smirked and looked at Fluttershy “Are you ready for the real battle to begin?” she got a nod in return and called out “I summon you Flareon!” out of the flash, an orange dog wit a cream mane was called out.Twilight smirked and said “Flareon! Use flamethrower!” The fire dog Pokémon moved on command, as he fired a huge flame towards the offending Pokémon, who glared hard at the incoming attack, waiting for orders.

Fluttershy did not disappoint this time and said quickly “Dodge and use scary face.” The Granbull dodged with a jump to the side and made a fierce expression towards the Flareon, making it shiver fearfully and its speed lowers.
“Continue with a Bite attack please.” She frowned a bit, as Fluttershy didn’t like having to order the attack on another Pokémon, but didn’t want to disappoint her Pokémon either. Granbull charged towards Flareon, who was not too slow to dodge and Twilight said instantly, with wide eyes from the actually planned tactic from Fluttershy.

“Flareon! When he gets close, use Fire Fang!” as Flareon cried out in obedience, waiting patiently for the large Pokémon to get close enough, glaring hard.

As the large dog Pokémon was right in front of the fire Pokémon, he immediately rammed his teeth into the large normal type’s leg, fire erupting from the fangs, as Granbull roared in pain and tried to get the Pokémon off him.

“Use Mega Punch!” Fluttershy called out in fear, her Pokémon was hurting.

He obeyed instantly, grimacing in pain, as he rammed his glowing fist down at Flareon, making the fire type scream out in pain from the hard hit, causing Fluttershy to wince again, feeling down right horrible for causing this much pain, but forced herself to continue, her confidence from before rapidly fading as she continued with the battle.

“C-Continue with crunch!” The large pitbull-pokémon bit down on the fire type, making it scream out in panic and Twilight yelled out in return to the powerful biting attack “Fight back Flareon! Hit him with close range flame thrower!” it was instantly obeyed as a fire blasted point blank into the Pokémon, making it howl in pain. It jumped back, releasing Flareon in the process, and get down on one knee in a grimace in pain. Flareon herself was also looking quite painful and was obviously in discomfort just by staying conscious.
Fluttershy and Twilight both looked, Twilight having a smirk, while Fluttershy was shivering lightly and they called out at the same time “Use Take Down! / P-Please use t-take down is you want to…” as the two Pokémon stormed towards each other.

Ash looked at the battle intense as Rainbow said “Granbull should have the advantage right? Because of his weight and larger body.”
Ash nodded and said “That is true, but I wouldn’t count Twilight out yet, she seems to have a plan for whatever happens to her.”

True to his words and prediction, did Twilight really have a plan as she called out as soon they got close to each other “Jump into the air and use Flame Thrower!” Flareon obeyed instantly, leaping into the air and released a torrent of flames down upon the normal-type Pokémon, who was howling in pain.

The flames soon vanished as Flareon hit the ground again and in the scorched area laid Granbull, unconscious and panting lightly. Fluttershy whimpered hard at the sight of her Pokémon hurt.

Twilight smirked and said “come back Flareon.” She turned to Fluttershy and said “Call out your next Pokémon Fluttershy.” It was not a harsh tone, but a gentle one as she tried to encourage her friend.

Little did it help as Fluttershy whimpered and shook her head as she said “I-I won’t hurt anymore of my Pokémon!”

“But if you don’t send one out, then you are going to lose!” she said concerned and a bit surprised.

“FINE!” She yelled with tears in her eyes “I'd rather lose this stupid battle than hurt more innocent creatures!” as she turned around and took off, running out of the battlefield as Twilight looked ashamed, never even thought about Fluttershy and how she must feel doing the match.

Rarity muttered “Oh dear… Maybe I should go talk to her…?” She was about to get up, but Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, shook her head and said.

“I'll talk to her. I know I am not good with all these feelings and stuff, but I have known her for longer. We were friends at flight school and I think it might be best that I talk to her.” The others looked a bit hesitant, but nodded as Rainbow flew off to talk to her shy friend.

> Luna vs Pink-i-Pie!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

”Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Where are you?!” Rainbow cried out, worried for her friends emotional state of mind as she flew through Ponyville. She looked around rapidly, trying to spot her longtime friend as she knew the shy pegasi could not have gone very far. 

She gritted her teeth in frustration as she reached the end of the city and turned around, flying around and trying to spot her friend. She could be very good at hiding, if she wanted to be alone. That was one thing Rainbow Dash knew very well of her friend.
As she flew through Ponyville she heard a faint whimper, just as she passed the town hall. She looked up with a grin and almost laughed as she saw the cloud with a pink tail poking out of the end and flew up. She landed on the cloud, which brought a whimper from the pony inside and she said “Come on Fluttershy. Wanna talk about it?”

“N-No…” she said with a little voice “I-I just ran… I-I was so scared…” she said with an ashamed voice.

Rainbow looked around, checking to see if there was anypony else, before she smiled as nopony was there and said “Come on Fluttershy. Nopony is around.” Fluttershys head poked out gently and looked at Rainbow with a small hopeful smile 
“R-Really?”

Rainbow Dash nodded, and was instantly tackled into the cloud as Fluttershy hugged her tightly and said “I’m so sorry I left! I know I shouldn’t have run away, but I was so scared of the ponies being angry at me for stopping the match!” she began to tremble slightly as Rainbow hugged her back and slowly rubbed her back.

You see. Rainbow Dash always had a soft spot for her pegasi friend. In a friendly way of course! They had been friends since flight school and Fluttershy was her longest friend from her childhood and same was Rainbow Dash for Fluttershy. They shared a bond that was stronger than the others. True they became annoyed at each other at times, but in the end they were the best of friends. Rainbow only truly allowed herself to go soft around Fluttershy or in other special situations.

Rainbow smiled, hugging her shy and nervous friend, rubbing her back “There, there Flutter. It’s going to be ok and if anypony is angry with you, then they have to get through me.” Fluttershy smiled up at her closest friend, despite sometimes she was a bit scary or mean, and hugged her tighter as she mumbles.
“Do I have to go back…?”

Rainbow laughed softly and said “Sadly yes. You can’t just leave. You can give up when we get back if you want to. I support any decision you make. Now remember our deal about me being soft like this?” she added with an amused grin.

Fluttershy giggled and said “Never tell anypony. I know I know.” She said amused and hugged her a bit more, before releasing her 
“I’m ready. Let’s go back… You stay with me right…?” Rainbow nodded to her friend willing to stay with her through it all, if she needed her.
They both smiled and nodded to each other, before they took off, heading back towards the stadium.

The crowd looked as Fluttershy flew into the arena, Rainbow right next to her. She looked around nervously and said in a loud voice “I-I…. I give up!” the crowd gasped, but didn’t seem to react that badly “I am no fighter. I just prefer to take care and heal animal and Pokémon alike.” There were a few smiles from the crowd, mainly from her friends.

“Then I declare Twilight Sparkle the winner!” Brock called out and the crowd cheered out as Twilight teleported over and hugged Fluttershy.

“I’m so sorry Fluttershy.” She said with a sad smile “It was not fair of us to just pull you into this without asking. Can you ever forgive us?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded “Of course Twilight. You’re my friend.”
The crowd cheered even as the ponies left the stadium.

Brock smiled and looked around “Time to pick our next contestants!” as Celestia again performed the spell to pick two battlers randomly and out came the face of Pinkie Pie with a happy grin and the image of Princess Luna, looking high and regal as ever. The crowd gasped as Brock called out “Will Pinkie Pie and Princess Luna take the field!”

The crowd was still surprised that a mere earth pony had to battle against the princess herself, most of them already believing to know who will win this match.

It didn’t take long before the bouncing Pinkie was standing on one side, while Luna, who was completely serious about this situation, was standing at the other “Let’s have some fun!” Pinkie called out excitedly.

Luna nodded and said regally “Yes. We shall make sure this battle shall be of our both best enjoyment,” as she looked at Brock, who nodded and called out loudly.

“The match between Princess Luna and Pinkie Pie shall begin! Luna. You start with calling out the first Pokémon!”

“We call upon thee, Hypno. Take the stage!” The large psychic Pokémon appeared, yellow with a white fur around his neck. The ring swaying back and forth as it looked directly at Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie giggled and said “He looks funny!” Hypno looked mildly offended, “GO Krokorok! Time for a paarrtyyy!”

Ash grinned and said, as the crocodile Pokémon appeared on the field “She made a good choice. Krokorok is a ground and dark type combo. Immune to psychic attacks. Now we see if Luna remembers this.”

Luna smirked and said calmly “Start this battle with using Calm mind!” Hypno obeyed, closing his eyes and a blue field of psychic powers began to form around him as Pinkie grinned and said as a comeback.

“Let’s play some hide and seek Kroko! Use Dig!”

Luna’s eyes widened in surprised, but soon narrowed in annoyance and said “stay calm Hypno. Soon she will have to reveal herself and then we attack.” Hypno nodded in understanding, accepting the plan from his trained.

Pinkie giggled again and said to Luna “ohh silly pants! Why should I go up there? The point with hide and seek is for you to find me! Use Magnitude while underground!”

Luna gasped in shock as Twilight said “Can one do that?!” in surprise.

“Oh yes they can. A brilliant strategy and while many think it is a cowards way, I disagree. I think it is clever and a tricky thing to do.”

As Ash stopped explaining the whole stadium began to tremble from the power of the attack of the ground-type. The tremors began to make Hypno stand unsteady, before he fell to the ground and cried out in pain as another piece of earth shook loose from the ground and hit him in the head. He grimaced and Luna said quickly “Use Psychic to hold you steady!” Hypno obeyed and used his telekinesis to stop himself from falling, causing Pinkie to frown.

“Hmmm so Luna is being a smarty-mac-smart-pant.” She suddenly grinned and said happily “I know! Dig up under him!” The ground beneath Hypno instantly began to crumble as Krokorok blasted out of the ground and hit Hypno hard in the jaw, making him fall back in shock as he cried out in pain, glaring at the dark type as he growled amused, smiling.

Luna frowned and was about to call an attack, as Pinkie yells “USE THE PARTY TRICK!” with a grin.

“Party trick?!” Luna repeated shocked “Is that even a real attack?!”

Twilight looked at Ash, expecting him to answer, as he grinned and said “No it isn’t, but battles don’t have to be done with official attacks. This should be fun!” As Krokorok took the arms of Hypno and pulled him underground, as the psychic cried in protest.
“HYPNO!” Luna cried worried as the stadium was silenced, suddenly a yellow blur shot out of a hole and Hypno landed on the ground, eyes swirling as he was unconscious, groaning lightly.

“Erghh… Hypno is unable to battle. Krokorok is the winner!”  Brock called out after a moment of confusion, before Luna gritted her teeth and called out “Lunatone! Take battle position and levitate into the air!”

The moon-shaped pokémon appeared in a white flash as Pinkie said “Pretty!” while it began to levitate into the air. Its red eyes focused on Krokorok.

“Lunatone use Rock Throw!” Luna called to her pokémon, which began to levitate several thick and huge pieces of the ground that had broken free from the magnitude. It threw one big piece down at Krokorok, who barely dodged.

Pinkie looked a tad worried for her pokémon, but easily called out with a grin “Use Swagger!” as she giggled out randomly, making Luna frown more as she thought Pinkie wasn’t taking this seriously yet. In the meantime had Krokorok performed the attack, making Lunatone physically stronger, but also horribly confused. The moon-Pokémon began to fly and float around in unsteady movements as Luna called out in worry.

“Snap out of it Lunatone! Use Rock Polish!”

Lunatone was too confused to hear its trainer and randomly charged out towards a wall in a state of confusion and mild panic attack from the random yell and it hit the wall hard with a grunt in pain, damaging it a small amount.

Pinkie was too busy giggling at the sight, so she didn’t notice Lunatone getting back to normal, as Luna called out “Use Stone Edge and then Future Sight!” Lunatone obeyed, hundreds of sharp small rocks began to spin around him, before its eyes glowed blue and they were all shot towards Krokorok at an incredibly and dangerous speed.

“No! Krokorok!” Pinkie cried out as she snapped out of her amused behavior as her Pokémon was hammered into the ground by hundreds of rocks raining upon him. The audience could hear with a gasp as the ground Pokémon cried out in pain, before he fell silent. As the smoke cleared the Pokémon was unconscious on the ground and Luna smirked victoriously.

“Grr!” Pinkie growled frustrated “You hurt my kroko! Teach her what Pinkie does to party-poopers!” as she threw a pokéball into the air and released Torterra into the field, as the grass Pokémon landed with a heavy thud on the field with a deep growl.
“And Pinkie Pie has called upon Torterra for the battle!” Brock called for the whole stadium to hear and quite a few ponies cheered.

“Start this battle with a Razor Leaf attack!”

Torterra immediately blasted the hundreds of leaves towards the moon-rock Pokémon, who immediately formed a barrier on Luna’s order, which blocked the attacks. Pinkie pouted and began to rapidly try to think of a way to defeat the Pokémon she had been challenged with.

“Use Psychic!”

Lunatone’s eyes began to glow in a blue light, which confined Torterra in its snare and began to try and lift it. It soon became apparent that Torterra was too heavy for the powers of Lunatone’s mind as the ground/grass Pokémon refused to move, despite the effort put into it.

“Time for a different approach…” Luna muttered, before grinning “USE barrier and then use reflect!”

The Pokémon put up the two shields, lowering both special and physical attacks from any source of power, to which Pinkie grinned and said happily “Use sunny-funny day!” to which Ash rolled his eyes amused.

Torterra immediately blasted the golden orb into the air, and it exploded and suddenly the sun began to shine more brightly over the field and the surrounding area. A few ponies began to sweat and get really warm. Luna raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was planning. She was about to call out another attack, when a source of energy was heard, and she smiled and says “Looks like my surprise of my own is here! Prepare for future sight!”

Pinkie turned surprised towards the source of the noise and saw a powerful wheel of pure psychic power spin towards Torterra.
“Torterra!!” she cries out, but it was too late as the attack hits the slow grass Pokémon head on and creates an explosion of dust and small rocks that flies around. 

The crowd gasped and watched as the dust slowly began to lower and it reveals Torterra in the middle, looking a bit hurt, but nothing majorly due to he’s major defense. Pinkie grinned and says “Good boy Torterra! Now use Solar Beam!”

“Solar what?!” Luna cries out in shock, as the grass Pokémon began to form an orb of pure energy from the sunlight in front of his mouth, before releasing it towards the Pokémon levitating in the air “Try to dodge!” Luna cries out, but again the attack was too fast and it hits the Pokémon directly, blasting through the barrier and reflection shields as Lunatone cries out in pain from the super-effective hit.

As the beam stopped, the crowd, Luna and Pinkie saw Lunatone hanging in the air, swaying lightly and looking weak and hurt as Luna frowns and calls out “Use Hypnosis!”

“Counter with Razor Leaf,” Pinkie yelled instantly, as the Torterra got up, "and use Mega Drain!” Torterra obeyed instantly, sending a wave of sharp leaves against the hypnosis attack, deflecting it effectively, and the Pokémon began to glow in a green light as several strings of the green energy shot against Lunatone and began to drain the life from the Pokémon.

“Get out of the attack!” Luna yelled worried “Try using Psychic!” but it was too late, as Lunatone, which finally succumbed to the power of the Mega Drain, fell to the ground unconscious. Luna growled angrily and returned her Pokémon “You fought well Lunatone. Have sweet dreams.” As she pulled out another pokéball and said “Come on out Umbreon!” as the black cat-like Pokémon with the yellow marked circles around her body appeared in the field. 

“Start quickly! USE FEINT ATTACK!” changing to the royal canterlot voice on accident, making a few ponies wince at the loud noise.

“Take it and give him a nice tight hug.” Pinkie said with a grin, as Torterra merely stood there as Umbreon appeared behind him and slammed into his back with the dark-type attack. He grunted and glared, suddenly the tree on his back fired a few seeds into the air, which Umbreon dodged skill-fully and quickly, before jumping back into place in front of Torterra, smirking. Torterra glared annoyed, but waited for command, which Pinkie was happy to give.

“EARTHQUAKE!”

“WHAT?!” Luna cried as Torterra raised itself up and suddenly slammed full weight down into the ground, creating a shockwave of pure energy through the ground that caused the earth to shake and crack heavily, several large chunks of earth was ripped free and sprung up directly under Umbreon and hit her in the jaw, sending her flying backwards with a cry in pain.

“Umbreon!” Luna yelled worried for her Moonlight-Pokémon, as she gritted her teeth in frustration and said loudly “Use confuse ray and then Quick Attack!” Umbreon nodded in midair and did a twist, landing on all four and her eyes began to glow in a blue light as the golden rings over her body lightened up as well and a blue circle was shot towards Torterra.

“No! Try to dodge it!” but with the speed of the attack and the slow speed of Torterra, it was impossible as the attack hit perfectly and  Torterra began to stumble around heavily, creating small trembles with each step as it was confused and couldn’t get a thought straight.

He grunted in pain as the quick attack hit perfectly against his chin, a place he was not armored, and he stumbled back and growled angrily, shaking his head. Still confused but not fighting it at least.

“continue attacking with Feint Attack!” knowing it didn’t do much damage, but more than Quick attack. Umbreon obeyed and disappeared into the darkness and reappeared behind Torterra, slashing against his back and making him cry out in pain and try harder to get rid of the confusion.

After about three more attacks, all inflicting damage upon him, his eyes suddenly sharpened and Pinkie yelled “GOOD BOY! Finally you are not confused!” she grined as Luna paled a bit “USE WOOD HAMMER!”

“TRY TO DODGE!” Luna yelled rapidly, but it was impossible, as Umbreon was right in front of Torterra and found herself slammed away by a physical attack from the huge Contienent-pokémon. She cried out in pain, before she was slammed into the shield with another cry in pain. She fell to the ground unconscious.

“AND THAT CONCLUDES THE FIRST PART OF THE MATCH BETWEEN LUNA AND PINKIE, WITH PINKIE TAKING A LEAD! We will have a pause and then continue the battle!” Brock yelled out, as the ponies cheered, amazed and excited about the fight, barely believing that their Princess was losing.

> Luna vs. Pinkie 2!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Pinkie! I can't actually believe you are beating Princess Luna of all ponies!" Rainbow Dash cried excited as she flew into the waiting room for the pokémon battlers and grinned, as she punched Pinkie in the side excited.

Pinkie grinned in return as she saw her friends walk into the room, all except Ash, as she said, with a minor blush "Oh come on Dashie! I might have the lead, but she can still beat me. I am sure she got some super-secret plan already!" she said with a grin, as if the idea excited her more than made her nervous.

Twilight smiled, as Applejack rolled her eyes in amusement, and she said "It is still impressive work Pinkie. I personally never thought about creating my own commands for special combinations of moves and tactics. That part surprise Luna much I could see." the other nodded as Twilight said this, agreeing with her. Pinkie smiled happily to her friends and was just about to hug them tightly, as a voice behind the others interrupted the action.

"I agree with Twilight. You certainly have learned much and trained well." The other girls turned around and saw Ash in the entrance, as Pinkie grinned happily and ran over and hugged her coltfriend, giving him a quick peck on the cheek and asked excited.

"So what did you think Ashy?! Did I do well?"

He chuckled and said with a grin, as he wrapped a hoof around her waist "You certainly have improved a lot. I can tell you are very serious about your training. I am so proud of you." As he kisses her gently, making Rarity sigh at the display of affection in front of her.

She giggled and happily hugged him, as he said with a smirk "but don't go light on Luna now. A battle can turn quickly and I don't want you loosing, because you are too confident." She nodded and grinned, still hugging him, as a Brock's voice called out loudly.

"Will the contestants return to the field for the next round?" To which Pinkie grinned and bounced out towards the battlefield excited, her friends and Ash wishing her luck.

A minute later stood the princess of the night and the element of laughter again in the field, both smiling, as Pinkie said "Ready to be served some looser cake Lulu?" to which the audience gasped gently, not believing she just said that to the princess of the night.

Luna merely grinned in return and said in a comeback "It will be you, who may eat the looser-cake Pinkie Pie! I call upon you Delcatty! Show her how the power of the night and moon!" and with a flash from the thrown pokéball, a cat-like pokémon with a brown skin and purple fur placed at parts of it body appeared, crying out her name and stalked gently on the battlefield with a grace.

"My my." Rarity couldn't help but comment as she watched it "What a majestic pokémon!" as Pinkie merely grinned and said "Come back to the party my friend!" Summoning the strong, robust Torterra again that growled loudly and slowly.

Luna frowned lightly, scanning her opponent for a weakness or a hole in the defense that Torterra provided. She suddenly called out "Use double team!"

Delcatty disappeared in a blur of speed and suddenly there were 8 illusion-clones of her circling around Torterra, all smirked as Torterra looked around annoyed, trying to spot which was the real one.

Pinkie smirked and said "That would normally work Princess Luna. But you forgot that Torterra can make an attack that can hit all around him!" as she yelled out "Use Earthquake again! Follow with Mega Drain, when you spot the real one!"

Luna's eyes widened in surprise and using her quick mind, she yelled out in a counter tactic "Quick! Get onto his back and stay there!" Delcatty obeyed and ran towards Torterra, the same did its clones, as they soon were on Torterra's back and was secured from the Earthquake attack and the grass-pokémon yelled out angrily and stomped around, trying to get them off.

"Use attract!" Luna yelled out with a grin, as Pinkie yelled at the same time "Shake them off!" But it ended with Torterra being unsuccessful, being hit by the attract-move and falls madly in love with Delcatty, as he smirked dumbly and gained hearts on his eyes. Delcatty poured and smirked amused.

"Good job! Use Faint Attack and try to finish him off!" Delcatty growled in obedience and vanished from sight, before appearing being Torterra and slashed him hard with her claws, making the large Pokémon grunt in pain and annoyance, but the Attract-attack still having effect on him, as Pinkie yelled out.

"Torterra! Get back to yourself! Stop being all silly-headed!" As she tried to encourage her Pokémon to concentrate and get back to battling.

"Keep attacking while he is effected!" Luna yelled out, and Delcatty obeyed, attacking without mercy for the next many minutes, until Torterra finally let out a heavy grunt and fell to the ground, unconscious. Delcatty on the other hand was also very exhausted, panting and standing tired.

"And Torterra is out for the count! The winner is Delcatty!"

Pinkie growled and said "That was a super cheap move! I show her how this mare makes a party end!" and she threw out her third Pokémon and out came the fire/fighting type Monferno and it let out a yell in fierce eagerness to fight, pounding its chest and glared with burning spirit at Delcatty, who growled right back at the fire-type, despite being at a disadvantage with typing and that she was exhausted already.

"Start with growl!" Luna yelled out, planning ahead already. Delcatty went into action instantly, letting out the yell that lowered the attack of Monferno. Pinkie grimaced, watching her pokémon getting a bit weaker, and commanded right after.

"Use Ember on the ground around Delcatty and watch out for her attract attack!" Monferno nodded with a smirk and instantly spit out a volley of flames that lit the ground around the normal-type on fire. She let out a yelp in shock and backed away from the fire around her.

"Use dig!" Luna commanded and Delcatty went into business, jumping into the air and dug underground, causing Monferno to look around with a growl, angry that his target was missing and he was unaware of where she was.

Pinkie suddenly felt her leg twitch and yelled out "Move to the left and jump!" Monferno obeyed without questioning, all of Pinkie's Pokémon having learnt of the pinkie-sense early on and had accepted it rather instantly, because it helped them in combat quite a few times, unknown to Ash, she and the other girls, minus the princesses, had met in secret and trained their pokémon or just spent some quality time with them, earning their trust and friendship to bond with them and understand their new life-partners. Monferno dodged Delcatty as she shot out of the ground right where he had been the previous second and Pinkie yelled out once more.

"Use Scratch!" Monferno leaped towards Delcatty and successfully delivered several scratches across her body, making her cry out in pain each time and wince from the damage she takes from the powerful pokémon.

"Counter with headbutt!"

This caused Pinkie to giggle shortly, all the while Monferno got rammed back hard, as he was hit in the stomach hard and growled out in annoyance from the pain he felt and flames flared from his mouth.

"Use Flamethrower!" Pinkie yelled, the same fire in her eyes, as Monferno spewed out a hot flame towards Delcatty, who barely got time to move, before the attack hit dead-on target and she was sent backwards with a cry in pain from the hot flames and burning sensation of pain.

"Avoid the flames with Agility!" Luna countered quickly, Delcatty quickly moving into a run of speed unmatched by most pegasi, as she was just a purple blur running around the battlefield.

Pinkie growled, looking around and eyes focused, until she felt her neck itch and her ears tremble and she yelled out "Move to the right and use Flamethrower around you!"

Monferno dodged just in the last second, making Luna grimace in annoyance and he fired a flamethrower while in a spin, burning the area around him quick effectively and Delcatty had to stop her run, as she had nearly run into the flames.

"Continue with Karate Chop!" Pinkie yelled instantly, and with a quick jump was Monferno above Delcatty, who was standing there, tired and panting softly. The attack hit perfectly on her back, making the normal-type cry out in pain as the super-effective move hit with critical strength. She growled loudly, trying to ignore the pain, as Monferno jumped back, but slumped to the floor and was unconscious.

"Monferno won this round! Luna is now down to her last pokémon!" Brock yelled, and the audience cheered loudly, some eager to see if the princess manages to pull through and win, others cheering for Pinkie.

Luna grimaced and levitated her last pokéball up and said calmly "You are my last hope Musharna, I have no doubt you will make me proud." With a flash of white energy, the psychic type appeared in midair, appearing to be sleeping or in a very deep trance. Pinkie looked confused and said to herself mostly.

"Is that pokémon sleeping…? Oh well. Use flamethrower." She ordered Monferno. The fire/Fighting type instantly spewed out a hot flame of burning fire, which nearly hit Musharna, until Luna said with a smirk.

"Teleport." Musharna disappeared in midair, vanishing from the battlefield and appeared a bit to the left, just enough to dodge the flames and the heat from the flames, as Pinkie's eyes widened and she grinned "So it is awake! Now we can have fun!"

"Confusion." Luna ordered, while Pinkie was distracted, and a glow surrounded Musharna. The same glow surrounded Monferno instantly and he was pulled into the air by an invisible force of the mind, him struggling hard and crying out in pain as the super-effective psychic took hold of his body.

Pinkie gasped and yelled "Use Flame Thrower!" The command was obeyed and a hot flame was shot against Musharna.

"Protect." A shield surrounded Musharna, the attack not hurting her at all and Luna smirked, keeping the commands going "Upgrade the attack to Psychic and finish off with Psybeam."

Pinkie and Monferno got wide eyes, before Monferno screamed out in pain, as the psychic attack took its toll on his body and was finally hit with the powerful beam of pure psychic energy, send flying backwards and into the ground, unconscious in a matter of seconds, due to his disadvantage with typing.

Pinkie frowned and recalled him, saying softly "You did a good job. You are sure to get a big party, when we get home." She looked up at Luna and smirked "Seems like we are both on our last pokémon. Let's see how you can handle Mister Mime!"

Pinkie called upon the mime-pokémon, who stood there with her hands in the air and a goofy grin, as she stood ready to battle.

Luna frowned, looking at the weird clown-like pokémon, as she began to wonder if this one was even meant for battling, and she called out, starting carefully "Start with Calm Mind!"

There was a mysterious soft glow around Musharna, as both her special defense and special attack was raised with the one move. Pinkie smirked and said, having spent a lot of time of fun with this pokémon "Use Light Barrier!" a barrier of energy formed in front of Mr. Mime, a barrier that would lower any special attack-move with half strength if shot through it or at it.

"Use Shadow Ball!" Pinkie called with a grin, as Mr. Mime formed the ball of pure shadow-energy, a ghost-type move that many psychic types could learn, and shot it towards Musharna. Luna's eyes widens in shock from the dangerous approaching ball and called out "Teleport away!"

Musharna went into action the moment the ball was inches in front of her, teleporting out of the way and the ball splashed against the shield protecting the audience, disappearing harmlessly. Luna called out "Fire a psybeam and keep dodging those attacks!" cursing herself silently for not having thought of asking Ash for moves that were not of the psychic-type. This could and surely would work against her.

The psybeam hit against the barrier, but didn't even put a scratch on the shield, as it was not very effective and weakened at the same time.

Pinkie giggled as Mr. Mime chuckled at the same time as her trainer, and she called out "Use Shadow Ball psychic to hold Musharna down and then use psychic to hold Musharna down!" Mr. Mime obeyed and fired the shadow ball, grinning as she reached out with her mental-psychic powers and held down Musharna, trying to keep her from teleporting away from the danger of the Shadow Ball.

Musharna visibly struggled in the hold, needing no guidance to see the danger, as Luna called out "Try to get out of the hold with your strongest Psychic-attack!" Musharna obeyed and with a quick switch in power, she overpowered Mr. Mime and broke free with a cry in struggle, but not before the move hit right on target, making the psychic type cry again, this time in pain, as she was thrown backwards from the super-effective move. Luna appeared worried as she looked at her now bruised and slightly hurt pokémon and called out "Can you still battle my friend?"

Musharna nodded, a glint in her eyes, as she charges another psybeam and fires it, this time with greater power, which made Pinkie gasp and call out "Try to dodge!" Mime was too slow, unable to teleport and not trained to be fast, as the psybeam hit hard on the shield, breaking it apart and a weakened beam hit Mr. Mime hard, making her grit her teeth on pain.

Pinkie gasped as her pokémon was hit by the psybeam, yet she was relieved it didn't hurt more than it did as she called out "Use light barrier again!"

"Don't let her!" Luna yelled as a counter "Teleport close range and use psybeam again!" knowing that using the same move over and over was a bad idea, but it was the only thing that could cause just a moderate amount of pain and damage to Mr. Mime.

Pinkie grinned as Musharna was finally in close range of Mr. Mime and yelled out "Double-slap!" Causing Luna to widen her eyes and quickly curse at her mistake.

Mr. Mime began to hit Musharna over and over again with repetitive slaps that made the Pokémon cry out in pain. Luna gritted her teeth and yelled out, trying to get her Pokémon out of this situation "Use Hypnosis!"

Musharna instantly opened her eyes and a soft glow surrounded both the Pokémon, Mr. Mime slowly falling asleep, until Pinkie yelled "Protect!"

A shield instantly shot up between the two psychic types, causing the hypnosis to break instantly, but Mr. Mime was still left dazed and tired. Luna grinned as she saw her chance to get a good hit on the opponent and yelled out, shocking Pinkie "Use Shadow Ball! Full Power!" Musharna began to power up the shadow ball, ponies watching the blob of ghost-like energies form in front of the Pokémon, before it was shot directly at Mr. Mime.

Pinkie yelled out, trying to make Mr. Mime focus on dodging, but it was too late as Mr. Mime was hit directly in the stomach with the powerful Shadow Ball, making him cry out in pain as he was sent backwards, flying towards the shield of the arena.

Mr. Mime finally hit the wall with a huge cry in pain, before falling to the ground, trembling as he tried to stand up, his body shaking in the pain. Luna smirked to the Pokémon, who finally fell to the ground and was unconscious.

Pinkie's jaw dropped as Brock yelled out "And after a major turn in the battle! Princess Luna of Equestria is the winner of the fight!"
> apologize and cancellation.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To all who read this, I would like to apologize.

To all readers who have written to me about this story and hoped to continue. I would like to give an explanation to why it has taken so long for me to update or even given some news to what will happen to this story.

It has been over a year ago this story have last been updated and I can honestly say I have no real excuse to leaving this story behind for so long and not give any news. I had trouble in school and I mean major trouble. I was close to failing my whole graduation and I needed to study had and stop all forms of distractions and things that caused me to go away from my studies.

I managed to graduate, but it was nearly a failure.

After that… well I have no excuse. I just failed as a writer and I failed all of you, who hoped for new updates and new chapters
The main reason I stopped writing for this story and just sort of forgot about it was that I re-read through it and realized that I had no actual plan for where it were headed and what I would be doing with it in the future. Another reason is my dislike towards how I handled the characters and their personalities. I got a few of them right, but many of them was left behind and barely were mentioned and did not get the time and effort they truly deserved.

So from now on, you can consider this story cancelled. Not due to you or any lack of positive reviews, but because I feel like I failed the story and what kind of vision I had of it, when I first started writing it.

I want to thank all of you for the amazing positive feedback. You gave positive reviews that made me happy and gave me the spirit to write through the harder times. You said what was wrong with my writing and helped me improve massively through it all. You pointed out mistakes I missed, when I wrote the chapters and I could not have asked for better readers and reviews of my story.

I just feel like this story is lacking on a personal level, but I will take this as an experience and hope I will be able to write better stories in the future, because my head is full of ideas and plot-bunnies, that I just desire to put out in work.
Daniboyi. Signing off.