The Dark of Midnight

by TaiKetchem

First published 14th of December, 2022

Two heroes have an evil inside that needs to be quelled

After Ash's journey in the Kalos Region, he returns home to hopefully relax and maybe think about his next journey. However, something inside his mind attempts to corrupt him and take control. But he's not the only one who needs help with such. How will Ash and his new friends fair against this evil?

Evil Finds A Way

Author's Notes:

Heya, I'm a bit new to Fimfiction. I originally just wrote on FanFiction.net so I hope that you like this fanfic. I'm also a little new to MLP but so far, it has grown on me so much already and I'm already loving it.

This stories mainly gonna be focused on the Pokemon side of the universe, though will still include things from the Equestria Girls side.

Also, this is my first MLP-based story so if I mess anything up, please let me know.

If anyone has any criticisms let me know down in the comments and if you wanna see more, be sure to follow.

Welcome to the world of Pokemon. A place that you might be familiar with. Filled with many creatures of many shapes and sizes, with many great powers that make each unique from one another. When a child turns ten years old, they are allowed to receive their very first Pokemon and begin their journey across the land

On his tenth birthday, Ash Ketchum received his first Pokemon: Pikachu, and began his journey to become a Pokemon Master. Unfortunately, as he left his home: Pallet Town, things weren’t the greatest, but he and his partner pulled through, and soon other adventures would follow over the years. Traveling from region to region, catching many Pokemon, and making lots of friends along the way.

Unfortunately, not everything was all good as he had experienced evil that he had to face and defeat. Even then, it wasn’t anything he wasn’t able to overcome. The forces of evil tried to break him down, but he didn’t allow such a thing and in the end, he was able to become a hero that would protect those in need.

However, what’ll happen when the hero who helps those in need is himself needing help…?

Chapter 1: Evil Finds A Way

… You’ll pay… I will make you PAY!!!

Ash awoke from his sleep in a panic, springing into a sitting position while gasping for air. His heart was racing as his vision started to clear and he was met with the sight of his hands clutching his blanket. His breathing started to steady before letting go of the blanket, looking at his shaky fingers. He took his time, staring at each finger as if to make sure he wasn’t missing any before he settled them down in his lap.

He slowly turned his head up and began examining his bedroom. Nothing seemed out of place. He began recalling all that had changed since he first started his journey. His bed was long since he wasn’t a little boy anymore, was no longer a bunk bed, his dresser was shorter because of such, and his closet was much full with his old outfits and hats that he had gathered over the seven years of his life. Other than that, it was mostly the same.

Some relief began to wash over his face before he turned to his side. And there laid his little friend, Pikachu, curled up by his side, sleeping peacefully. With a heavy sigh, he rubbed the mouse’s back, hearing a coo from him as he snuggled his head against his trainer.

Ash smiled before he laid back down, relaxed. Then he brushed his arm over his forehead, stopping as he felt something moist. Sweat. Checking his arm, he was surprised. He didn’t feel hot, especially with his head against his pillow or the blanket over him.

As unusual as it had seemed, he didn’t think too much about it and got up to go to the bathroom. After cleaning his face, he returned to his bed and returned to his slumber, brushing off what happened as nothing more than a dream and safely relaxing into the comforts of his mattress.

(The next day)

Ash woke up completely refreshed from last night and full of energy. He opened the curtains and his window as Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder and together they stared outside, the cool breeze against their faces brightening up their day before they were called down by the boy’s mother for breakfast which they could not wait for.

After chowing down on their meals, the phone rings and Delia goes to answer it.

“Ash, it’s for you!” She says as he turned to her.

“Whath is iff?” He asked, mouth still full.

“Ash, first, don’t talk with your mouth full. Second, it’s Professor Oak. He wants to speak to you.”

“Really?” The boy says before swallowing then dashing out of his chair, taking the phone from her. “Professor, it’s me. Something up?” He asked before he listened closely… then his eyes widened.

Not long after the call, he was running out his door in his Kalos outfit with Pikachu following close behind. The two were running down the road to the laboratory of the one and only Professor Samual Oak. He passed by the town and the many people who greeted him with smiles on their faces as he returned the favor with his own, slowing down at some points to make small talk before running again.

With the lab coming closer and closer into view, he spotted something that caused his smile to widen brightly before speeding up. In the distance, he saw the old man standing out in front of his lawn with a large orange dragon-like creature also coming into view.

“Charizard!” He called out as the dragon turned, then looked happy before he started doing his best to run over to the boy.

As they got close, the boy jumped at the Pokemon and was caught in his arms as they nuzzled against each other with Pikachu also joining in on the snuggling.

“Oh, man! I missed you buddy!” The boy says as the dragon roared in glee before they pulled back from the hug. “Look at you, you’ve gotten so big.” He says before he was hit with a Flamethrower, leaving him coughing with a bit of sot. “And strong too.”

“Charizard came over not too long ago.” Oak says while walking up to him. “I figured you’d be happy to see him.”

“Figured? Of course, I’m happy to see him. You’re a real sight for sore eyes.” Ash says before Charizard rubbed his head against the boy.

“Well, would you look at that.” They then heard as they turned to the sound of the voice, seeing a brunette boy who looked Ash’s age walk up. “If it isn’t ol’ Ash Ketchum.”

“Gary?” The boy says.

“Long time no see, Ashy-boy.” The brunette says back as he walked up to face him. “Heard about what happened after your journey in Kalos. Surprised to hear that you didn’t win the league though.”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

“What, does nothing get you down? I wouldn’t have expected you to be so happy-go-lucky after that.”

“I get that, but it’s nothing to get angry over.”

“Eh, forget about it.” Gary then looked at Charizard. “Ya know what speak of the devil, since Charizard’s back, how about a little one on one? Make sure you’re not rusty and all.” He then says as the black-haired boy looked surprised to hear him say that. “What? Scared that I might win?”

Ash chuckled while adjusting his hat. “You’re on!”

Que Gotta Catch’em All: XY Version

And just like that they all made their way to the battlegrounds as other people appeared and crowded to see the two rivals face each other. Gary brushed his nose before taking out a Pokeball and tossing it, releasing Blastoise onto the field. Ash looked to Charizard, nodding to each other as the dragon made his way onto the field.

“Blastoise, start with Rain Dance!” Gary called as the turtle fired a ball of water into the sky and then clouds formed around the field, letting out rain.

“Starting off with that, huh? Smart.” Ash says with a smirk.

“I may have learned a few things since our last encounter.” The brunette says, returning the smirk.

“Alright, suit yourself. Charizard, use Leer!” The dragon had a glint in his eye before a glow emitted from the large turtle.

“Not starting with an attack?”

“Well you didn’t, so I’m taking advantage of it.”

“Classic Ash. Blastoise, use Skull Bash!” At that command, the turtle bounced at his opponent.

“Return it with your own, Skull Bash!” The dragon proceeded to do the same.

Charizard and Blastoise both clashed heads against each other, causing dust to fly up.

The two bounced back as their attacks were cancelled out.

“Use Rapid Spin!” Blastoise then charged before withdrawing into his shell, flying at his opponent.

“Counter it with Wing Attack!” Charizard’s wing glew as he swiped it at the incoming attack, sending the shell flying into the air.

“Now, use Hydro Pump!” Blastoise stopped hiding and his canons popped out before firing large streams of water which hit his opponent head-on.

“You okay, Charizard?” Ash asked as the attack died down. Charizrd huffed, but stayed standing. “Okay then, hit him with a Mega Punch!” The dragon listened and flew at his opponent.

“Quick, use Iron Defense!” Gary called out as Blastoise went into his shell, taking the hit.

“That’s not gonna stop us. Use Dragon Breath!” Charizard then released a breath of fire at the shelled turtle.

“Hang in there, Blastoise!”

The crowd watched in awe and amazement as the professor’s grandson’s and one of the most popular trainer’s Pokemon duking it out with one another. The turtle grunting in pain as he felt the attack of his opponent before he had enough. He popped out of his shell, slamming his head into the dragon’s which cancelled the attack out.

“Alright, now use Hydro Pump again!” Gary commanded.

Blastoise didn’t hold back and fired large streams of water at Charizard sending him back as he used his wings to block the attack. That made Ash worried as the attack began to die down, seeing his Pokemon huff.

“Charizard, are you still okay?” The boy asked as he got a nod in return. “Then let’s take to the skies. Use Fly!” He called before the dragon flew into the air.

“Keep using Hydro Pump! Get him back down here!” Gary yelled as Blastoise listened, blasting more water at his opponent.

Charizard gracious flew through the sky, avoiding the blasts with ease, much to the crowd’s excitement. However, Ash suddenly grunted as he gripped the side of his head. Though it went away quickly so he brushed it off and went back to focusing on the battle.

“Charizard, finish it with Seismic Toss!”

Charizard took his chance and flew behind Blastoise, grabbing him by his shell, throwing the turtle off guard as they flew into the air.

They flew around the air in a circular formation as everyone watched in anticipation.

After a bit more spinning, they stopped.

Then they flew straight down to the ground.

Then Charizard flung Blastoise and he crashed into the ground, hard before landing.

As the dust began to clear, Blastoise was seen trying to get off the ground, only to slip and fall down as the rainclouds disappeared.

“Blastoise is unable to battle! The winners are Ash and Charizard!” Tracy called out.

“Yes! We did it!” Ash cheered as he and Pikachu ran to the dragon. “Good job, Charizard!” The boy says while petting his Pokemon.

“You good, Blastoise.” Gary asked while rubbing his head, getting a nod in return. “Alright, you did well. Get some rest.” He then says, returning him to his Pokeball before getting up and walking to his opponent. “I gotta say, I expected this guy to be a little rusty. Guess you still got some fight in ya.”

“Well, he has been training in the Charizard Valley. So, he’s already ready for a battle. Right, bud.” Ash says as Charizard he responded he rubbing against his trainer.

“Heh, probably shouldn’t be surprised to say the least.”

It won’t be much longer…

Ash suddenly gripped his head, grunting.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked, concerned.

“Yeah, just… a small headache. Nothing to worry about.” Ash explains as his Pokemon looked worried for their trainer. “It’s fine, guys. Really.”

Gary and the Pokemon still had a look of concern on their faces, but the black-haired boy continued to brush it off as nothing.

(A few hours later)

Nightime had set in and Ash was in the bathroom washing his hands. After rinsing the soap off, he splashed water on his face. He thought those small headaches were nothing to worry about, but he was completely wrong. They kept recurring ever so often throughout the day and though they only lasted for so long, it was irritating for him.

He couldn’t put his finger on what it was that was causing these small headaches and he could’ve sworn they were getting more painful the more it continued to go on. He stopped splashing his face and turned off the water before drying off with the towel. Then he looked into the mirror, seeing his tired. With a sigh, he opened the mirror, taking out his toothbrush and toothpaste.

It’s not over…

But as soon as he closed it, he jumped back, frightened. He panted before he went back to look at the mirror. He saw his normalself, nothing out of the ordinary. But he could’ve sworn he saw something else. Something completely off and dare he say, sinister.

“Geez, come on, Ash. Get yourself together!” He says while rubbing the sides of his head.

With a sigh, he went on to brush his teeth, hoping that it was just a lack of sleep on his part. After he was done, he went to his room, finding Pikachu bouncing on his bed before running up to his trainer and jumping into his arms.

“Hey, buddy. See you’re still full of energy.” Ash says while petting him.

“Pika, Pika.” The mouse says, looking concerned.

“Really, I’m fine. I just need some sleep.” The boy says while placing him on the bed before petting him. “We’ll go see Charizard tomorrow and maybe go meet some of our old friends while we’re at it. Sound good?”

“Pikachu.”

“Right, so get some rest for tomorrow.”

Ash then turned the lights off and was just about ready to go to bed, until something caught his eye. He looked to his window and saw some kind of floating light outside. His face scrunched a bit as he was ready to ignore it before looking at his Pokemon and seeing him looking at the light as well.

“Pikachu, can you see that?” He asked, getting a nod in response. “Then, does that mean…?” He says before approaching the window.

As soon as he was close, the light floated away and into the field. Pikachu ran up to the window, getting a look as well. The two looked at each other before back to the light. It clearly wanted them to follow them, surely.

The boy decided to follow along and left the house with his partner. He got to the light and it floated away as they gave chase. They were hoping that maybe it wouldn’t take long as it was still night and past their bedtime, but then the light floated above the trees, ascending higher and higher.

“Wait! Wait! We can’t follow you from there!” Ash called out to no avail.

He stopped in his tracks and watched as the light did the same.

“Wha… how are we supposed to…” He sighed before he some other light made contact with him, and he heard a roar by his side as he turned to see his other Pokemon. “Charizard? You’re still up too?” He says getting a roar as a response.

He looked back at the light, which had remained in the same part of the sky as if taunting him. He figured that this might be longer than expected and that he might need to prepare.

After making up his mind, Ash ran back to his house and quickly yet quietly packed his gear, rations and many other things while changing back into his Kalos outfit. Then he wrote a note that he left in the kitchen before he was out the door with Pikachu on his shoulder, ready to follow the light.

He took one more look back at his house one. “Sorry to leave like this, mom. I’ll be back soon.” He says while adjusting his hat before taking off.

Now prepared for a new journey, Ash took off on Charizard, following the light throught night sky. He wasn’t sure what might come, but he needed to know what it needed him for. So far, it seems to have sped up thanks to how fast the dragon was and they were now flying over seas which did concern the boy, but like his headaches, he ignored it.

“I’m sorry to get you two involved in this.” He says.

“Pika/*Roar*.” The two Pokemon said, telling him not to worry.

“Heh, you two are the best.” He chuckled.

Then he looked forward before narrowing his eyes. An island was beginning to come into view of where the light was leading them. He tried to think if he had seen it before, but nothing rung a bell. Well, looks like it was a new place for him to explore. The light then floated down to the ground of the island as the trio followed. Then it became dimmer, dimmer, and dimmer.

“Wait, wait! No, no!” Ash called out, but the light was gone. “Oh, great. Okay, Charizard, let’s land and stay the night here. Hopefully we’ll find that light again tomorrow.”

Hearing his trainer, the dragon Pokemon flew down to the ground and landed as his trainer got off of him. After a bit of stretching, he took his backpack off and laid it on the ground, he was about to unzip it when another headache came over him.

Give me control!

“Pika!” He heard as he turned to Pikachu who looked worried.

“It’s fine, I’m sure it’s just lack of sleep or something.” He reassured his partner.

Don’t deny it!

Then Ash suddenly gripped his head and started groaning in pain as his Pokemon called out to him in worry. He stood up, stumbling as he started to yell out in agony, shaking his head trying to free himself of whatever was attacking his mind.

“What’s happening?!” He screamed.

His Pokemon stood back, not knowing what to do. Then they looked horrified as they saw strings of darkness begin to wrap around their trainer. The boy opened his eyes and was shocked to see it. He tried to grab the strings, but his hands passed right throught, making his attempt futile.

Do not resist…

“What… what are you?” Ash says in fright.

Someone you won’t need to remember…

Then his eyes shot wide open before he stumbled forward, his head hanging forward from his torso as he kept his footing. The dark strings seemed to have disappeared which made the two Pokemon hopeful that their trainer might be okay… that was until he started to emit a dark an sinister aura from his body.

Then they heard a chuckle, that slowly turned into a laugh… and then a full on cackle as Ash looked up into the sky. The Pokemon were frightened to see what their trainer was doing.

He stopped cackling, then looked at them, the once cheery boy with chocolate brown eyes now having a wide and wicked smile and glowing red eyes. It was at that point they knew he wasn’t their trainer anymore.

“Oh, what’s the matter? Come now, don’t you recognize your own master?” He then says with a deep, eerie voice that didn’t match the boy’s by any means. “Come on you beasts. You serve me now.”

Pikachu stepped back, fearful of whoever this was that had replaced his best friend, but Charizard on the otherhand was furious that it happened. Almost in an instant, the dragon breathed fire at the faker, hitting him and hoping to have defeated this spiritual freak.

However, after his attack stopped, they saw a red barrier around the boy’s form as he kept the wicked smile amongst his face. Seeing how easily he had blocked his attack turned the dragon’s fury into fear once more.

“Wow, so this is what power this boy failed to use.” He laughed as he suddenly created a red aura sphere in his hand.

The two Pokemon quickly retreated at a distance before they saw what was controlling their trainer fire a red beam that went across the island. A delayed explosion soon followed afterwards. The evil being then laughed to himself before forming another red aura sphere and then firing that at a distant mountain, causing it to explode as he continued laughing.

“All this power that this brat didn’t even attempt to put to use. It’s amazing. I could actually rule the world with this.” He says before forming two spheres in his hands. “Now who’s gonna stop me!” He then yelled out into the night as the Pokemon could only watch from a distance.

Though it seemed as though his welcome to the world was interrupted as a crackle was heard in the sky which made him stop his laughter. He then turned in the direction of a crack forming in the sky. The crack spread which made him puzzled, wondering what it was.

Then, a burst of light flashed, nearly blinding those in sight for a second. When looking back, they saw what seemed to be a rift opened in the sky before they watched as a being began to fly through then down towards the island.

The being took on a female appearance, with a purple dress and boots, her hair flaring up as if it were flames mixed with the colors of pink, purple and black, a horse-like tail to follow up along with long feathery wings of the same color, and bright glowing blue eyes with red pupils that shined off of her magnetta skin.

“Well, this is certainly different from what I was expecting of Equestria to say the least. Not very popularated as I thought.” She says while looking around before her eyes fell on the boy’s form and she smiled widely. “So, you’re the one radiating all that power, are you?”

The being inside of the boy turned to fully face her, still confused. “And just who are you?”

To his question, she merely giggled before making ful eye contact. “Someone who requires your powers.”

To be continued…

Midnight Strikes

This time, our story starts somewhere different. Here we are now on planet Earth. A place where there are no Pokemon and only powerless creatures that made the world less mythical… For the most part.

Here we begin in the town of Canterlot: a place where you can go to get a job… and go to school… yeah, seems boring on the outside, but on the inside, you'll find somewhere that'll blow your mind. And that somewhere is known as Canterlot High School.

While CHS looks like your typical high school with many teenagers attending class, this school holds a secret that is unknown to most others. You might find one student working on outfits for special events, another ready to bring laughter whenever needed, or even one running through the school at high speeds while leaving a rainbow trail behind… did I get your attention now?

Upon her arrival, Twilight Sparkle, originally at the time being a student at the rival school: Crystal Prep, and her little dog: Spike were visiting to attend the special event known as the Friendship Games. However, her inventions rather than winning against the rival school were to investigate its mysteries of what kind of magic it held.

Although, the magic did overwhelm her, causing her to lose control which almost caused a tragedy to the world. Thankfully though, she had her friends there to help save her and the world from such an atrocity.

Unfortunately, after such an event, Twilight was unfortunately removed from Crystal Prep. It wasn't really a loss as she got to attend Canterlot High and was welcomed with open arms.

As for Crystal Prep, I'm not spreading rumors or anything, but I heard that the principal got fired and blacklisted from working at any school in the area and the dean had become the new principal… I just heard.

But anyway, after being given the right to attend CHS, Twilight never suffered through any more tragedies that-Okay, this is getting long. Let's get straight to the point.

Chapter 2: Midnight Strikes

We start the day with Twilight waking up in her bed groggily. She sat up and stretched before slumping over while groaning.

Her dog: Spike arose from his doggy bed, stretching while yawning before shaking from his head to his tail as his owner stood up. She rubbed her eyes before putting on her glasses. With her sight now clear she made her way to the bathroom.

"Morning, Spike." She says while petting the dog.

"Morning, Twilight." He responds as she froze in place.

"Oh man, I am not gonna get used to that, anytime soon." She says, uneasy.

Nonetheless, the lavender-haired girl continued to the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she saw that her hair was a mess. Unkept and basically all over the place. She sighed before removing her glasses and splashing water on her face before putting them back on. Then she took her hair straightener and started to fix her hair… only to remember she hadn't let it heat up yet.

So, she decided to brush her teeth first, then floss afterward, straighten her hair now that the straightener was heated up, give it a little brush after, and finally put it in a ponytail.

Then she went through her closet trying to find some new clothes. Now that she wasn't attending Crystal Prep, there was no need for her to wear her old uniform, though she never imagined she would be allowed to wear, 'anything'.

While looking through, she just closed her eyes and reached for whatever she could grasp, pulling two out before opening her eyes. She walked to the mirror and held the two outfits she picked in front of her. One was a cyan button-up dress shirt with puffy sleeves, a pink bow, and a purple skirt with a sparkling symbol. The other was basically the same, only it had a dress shirt of the same color and pink stripes. She compared them over and over before looking at her dog.

"Uh, on a personal note, which one do you think is better?" She asked.

Spike looked at the two outfits, his face scrunching as he tried to think of what to choose, only having one thing to say. "I dunno."

"UGGGHH!" Twilight groaned at his response. "Hmmm…" She looked back at the mirror, comparing outfits again. "Maybe this one." She picked the one with the striped shirt while putting the other away before she changed into it, looking back into the mirror. "Yeah, looks fine."

She decided to get a view from a few angles, making sure it looked good. Then as she turned to face the mirror, her eyes widened. She screamed as she spun around, jumping back as she fell onto her butt and started panting.

"Twilight!" Spike says as he jumped down, running to her side. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

She looked around the room at every corner looking for something out of place. So far, nothing appeared wrong. She felt relief as she rubbed her face under her glasses.

"I'm sorry, I…" She says before groaning into her hands.

"Why'd you freak out like that?" The dog asked.

"I…" She tried to think of how to put what she saw into words. "Y-you know what, it's nothing." She says as she got up before grabbing her bag.

"Really? I may be a dog, but I know that saying 'It's nothing' means it's 'something'." Spike says before picking up one of her books with his mouth and giving it to her. "Come on, you can trust me you know."

Twilight looked at him before checking the time. "Again, I'm sorry. I'll tell you after school." She then continues to pack her things.

Spike still seemed unsure but didn't know how to question it further. All he could do was jump into her bag and travel with her to begin another day at their new school. She didn't have to go far to reach said school, and arrived a little time before it started.

"Hey, Twi." She jumped before turning, only to see her redhead friend: Sunset behind her. "Woah, jumpy much?"

"H-hi, Sunset, uh…" Twilight says before rubbing her arm. "Just… a little nervous is all."

"Still shaken up about… well, the thing that happened?" Her friend asked as Spike in her bag caught on to what she asked.

"Uh, well… y-yeah kinda." She says, still rubbing her arm.

"Don't let it get to you." Sunset says while putting her hand on her shoulder as she began to lead the girl into the school. "You won't have to worry about any more of that… hopefully."

Twilight just simply nodded as they went through the halls. Though she couldn't help but feel uneasy as she looked around.

"I don't like the looks everyone is giving me." She says, referring to some of the glaring students.

"Oh, that's that you that they're giving those looks at." Sunset reassured her before they stopped in front of a classroom. "Like I said, don't worry. I know how hard it is to adjust, but trust me, you're gonna love it here."

"Eh, I don't know if I'll get used to a school full of magic."

"Not really full of magic just… ya know, us and all."

"Right, right, uh… so, I'll see you after lunch?"

"Yeah, see ya."

Sunset waved as she left while Twilight waved back. She sighed and went into class and sat in her seat as the bell rang, signaling classes would begin. With one more look into the window, straightening out her bangs, then turned back to face the teacher and listen.

Classes went on as usual, nothing special happened. Math was nothing to her, English seemed to be a breeze, and that only left a few other classes for the day which she hoped would get through without worry after lunch.

"Hey, Twilight!" She stopped right in front of the cafeteria doors before turning and spotting a blue-haired boy run up to her. "Hey, it's uh, been a while, huh? I haven't seen you around lately."

"Uh, h-hi… um…" She says as his smile drops. "Sorry. It's Flash, right?" She says, trying to remember.

"Y-yeah, that's me. Ya know?" He then says regaining his smile in hope. "I was just wondering if maybe we could hang out during lunch? Catch up on what's going on lately since you were away."

She immediately got weirded out by what he was saying and started to back up to the doors. "W-well, uh… sorry, but I promised to hang out with my friends, so… I should get going." She then went through the doors, leaving the boy standing where he was.

"Oh, alright then." He sighed before covering his face as a blonde girl with wall eyes walked up and patted him on the back.

Twilight shook her head before grabbing a tray and going down the line. With a full tray, she looked around, not needing to look for long as she saw a rose-color-haired bubbly girl: Pinkie Pie bouncing in the air while waving. Well, that made things easy for her.

"Yo nerd, over here!" And her rainbow-haired friend: Rainbow Dash calling at her. "Come on, there's still a seat open."

She sighed and walked over, sitting between Sunset and Pinkie. "Doing better?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah, starting to." Twilight then let Spike out of her bag and Fluttershy started cuddling with him while giving him a treat.

"Doing better for what?" Rainbow asked.

"Just still getting used to the new school." She says before taking a bite.

"Oh, gotcha."

"Are you still feeling awkward knowing that everyone around the school acts like you've been here before because you have but it wasn't you but another you from another world who is a princess who came to this school before you and spread magic all around the school?" Pinkie says all in one breath.

The others all stared at her in shock.

"Yes… kinda?" Twilight says while looking uncomfortable. "Actually, no not kinda, that's exactly it. As much as I'm glad to feel welcome here, it just feels so weird knowing people actually think that… well, Pinkie already kinda pointed out what."

"Don't blame ya for that, I'd probably be the same way if I were in your position." Her blonde friend: Applejack says while adjusting her hat.

"Yeah, knowing there was a lookalike of me around saying she was me does sound kinda creepy the more I think about it." Rainbow says.

Twilight then turned and saw Flash talking to his friends while looking sad. "What was the story with him?" She then says gesturing to him.

Sunset looked in his direction. "Oh, Flash?" She asked while getting a nod in return. "Eh, funny story. You see, the other Twilight she uh… kinda had a thing for him."

"Thing as in?"

"In short, he kinda… how do put it? Swoon her? Something like that." The redhead says before scratching the back of her head. "I think you get the idea."

"Great, nice to know." Twilight sighed.

"I feel bad for the poor boy. It's not really his fault if doesn't know." Her purple-haired friend: Rarity says while looking back at the blue-haired boy.

Sunset then looked at him and looked sad herself. "Yeah, me too."

"Do you think you might be into him?" Her pink-haired friend: Fluttershy asked. "Maybe thinking of giving him a chance?"

"I mean, uh… I don't know to be honest." Twilight answered. "I mean, maybe I could, but to be honest, he doesn't seem my type."

"Well, so much for that." Rainbow says.

Twilight gave the boy another glance. The topic of romance wasn't something that she put any thought into, but she did have some thoughts on possibly finding a soulmate of her own. Though, she wasn't lying when she said about Flash not being her type. Plus, she didn't know about starting a relationship with a guy that had a thing for 'another' her.

Now she was in science class. She was following a formula, mixing some serums together before she accidentally elbowed one of the bottles and jumped back as the liquid in it splattered on the floor, just barely missing her. She groaned in annoyance before grabbing a cloth and was about to wipe it up.

As she bent down to clean it, a hand reached out and she jumped back screaming, falling onto her back.

"Woah, woah, woah! Back up!" The science teacher says while running up and getting in front of her.

The liquid was smoking before it evaporated, leaving the floor it splat on seared. The teacher sighed before offering a hand and helping the girl up.

"Did any get on you?" He asked as she looked around, not seeing any damage. "Good. Some of these chemicals can be extremely deadly to the touch. I asked that you be more cautious next time." He says before patting her on the shoulder and walking back to the front of the class.

She looked back at the burnt floor and rubbed her face, believing that she was seeing things, and stood back in front of her table. She heard a crash that made her jump as she turned in the direction of the noise. A blonde had dropped and broken one of her own glass bottles and was getting a scolding from the teacher that she didn't listen to, though was relieved to find it wasn't anything else.

After the day was over, Twilight went home and was already getting started on her homework. Spike had seemingly forgotten about what he heard that day and hopped into his bed. She had gotten through her homework and studying with no problem and had dinner, made sure Spike was well-fed and walked, then headed to the bathroom to finish up for the night.

As she passed the mirror, she stopped before stepping back and turning to face the mirror. Her reflection looked normal, nothing seemed out of the ordinary and all seemed fine. She turned on the sink and splashed water on her face before looking back up at her reflection.

"Geez, come on, Twilight. Get yourself together!" She says while rubbing the sides of her head.

She sighed before taking her toothbrush and began brushing her teeth.

Now she was lying in bed in her pajamas, not even bothering to go under her covers. She looked at her phone and then dialed the number. She listened to it ring for a few minutes before someone answered the phone.

"H-hello?" She heard the groggy voice of Sunset on the other side.

"Sorry, Sunset. I know it's late." She first says.

"No, it's fine. What do you need?"

She inhaled before she spoke again. "I just… I can't sleep."

"..." There was a yawn heard on the other end. "Sorry. What's bothering you?"

"Well… you know that other me? Not the princess but the one I turned into during the Friendship Games."

"You mean, Midnight."

"I still don't like that name, but yeah."

"What about her?"

"I…" Twilight turned to lie on her back. "I just feel worried that I might turn into her again."

"I doubt that'll ever be the case. She's not like a separate sentient being you know. She's not real or anything."

"You say that, but… I just… I don't know."

"Hey, I know it's hard. I've felt the same way as you before. It'll pass and sure enough, you'll be over it. Just try not to think too much about it."

"I hope you're right."

"Don't worry. If something like this does happen again, you've got us to help you. Rainbow, Pinkie, AJ, Rarity, Fluttershy, we'll all be there for you no matter what."

"Thanks, Sunset."

"No problem. Get some rest now, unless you wanna get caught snoozing in class."

"Alright, see you tomorrow."

She hung up and set her phone down. Twilight felt better after hearing how she had friends to look to for support. She got under the covers and laid against her pillow, finally letting sleep take over, feeling better than before.

… Is this really how your world works?

She was awoken by the sound of a familiar voice. She proceeded to look around the room for the source of the noise but couldn't. As much as she wanted to go back to sleep she started to get paranoid and looked around again, but there didn't seem to be anything out of place. With a sigh and some light smacks on her face, she was about to sleep again.

Then it hit here. It wasn't an object or anything that was missing. She looked at the dog bed, finding it barren with no dog in it.

"Spike?" She says as she looked around. "Spike!" She called while getting out of bed. "Spike!" She calls as she wanders around the room, looking worried. "Spike!" She called once more.

You won't find him here.

She jumped and looked around the room, scared out of her mind. The sight of her room still empty of anything only rose her paranoia further.

Behind you.

She then turned around and froze in place when she saw who it was. What she saw didn't disappear in an instant. All she felt was dread as she stared at the lookalike, floating right in front of her. Midnight Sparkle.

"Surprised to see me?" She says with a smile as wicked as the day she made her appearance.

Twilight stammered unintelligible words as she started to step back, stumbling over her feet before holding onto the bed frame for support.

"Y-you're…" She says before shaking her head. "No, no you're not here. You're not here right now, because you're not real. You don't-"

"Oh, but I do." Without missing a beat the doppelganger flew over and floated over her. "You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily did you?"

"No, no, no, no! You're not real!" Twilight continued to deny as she crawled back to her pillow. "Wake up, wake up, wake up, please wake up!" She tells herself.

"Wake up from what? Certainly seems like you need to wake up to reality dear." Midnight continued to taunt her while floating around as her room slowly started to fall apart into a black void. "I exist as a part of you and will always be a part of you."

"No…"

"Face it-"

"No…"

"You can't get rid of me."

"No!"

"And you can't get rid of me."

"No!"

"I will come back!"

"NOOOOOO!"

It was at then Twilight shot up from her bed into a sitting position while gasping for air. Her heart was racing as she clenched the bedsheets. Her breathing started to steady before letting go of the blanket, reaching for her chest, and feeling her beating heart.

She slowly turned his head up and began examining his bedroom. Nothing seemed out of place. She looked at the doggy bed and Spike was thankfully still there. She got up from her bed and ran over to check on him, seeing he was fine, sighing in relief afterward. However, she wasn't fully relieved yet.

She rubbed her forehead finding the sweat that had trickled down her face. At this point, she didn't feel like getting sleep that night. Whatever was messing with her head, dream or not she couldn't fall asleep after what she experienced. She looked at her phone on the bed, then out the window, only thinking of one person that could help her at that moment.

With her mind made up, Twilight put her glasses on and got to change out of her pajamas and into the outfit she wore that day with her hair done in a ponytail and a green sweater. The shuffling of close woke Spike up from his sleep.

He seemed annoyed at first, but then he noticed his owner putting on her sweater as she headed for the bedroom door. He looked worried before he began to follow her.

She left her house and started speedwalking down the street into the night, the only source of light being the streetlights. As she entered the city, she grabbed the strings of the sweater and pulled them tightening the hood.

The air felt cold, cold enough to make her regret wearing a skirt. Her hands and face felt the same chill in the wind, but nonetheless, she continued forward. She was bumping into many people, ignoring their stares as she went past them. Those stares weren't important to her and she could care less what they thought of her.

There was only one thing on her mind and it was to get to Sunset to get help with whatever problem she had. She took her phone out and went to her contacts, about to call her, though for some reason was hesitating just to press the call button. She could swear she could hear something calling out to her, calling her name.

Then she suddenly felt her yanked back by the bottom of her sweater causing her to stumble back, avoiding an oncoming car that came down the street. She fell on her bottom, completely snapped out of her daze as she looked up, recalling where she was in the city.

"Twilight!" She finally registered what she was hearing as she looked down, finding her dog right next to her.

"Spike?" She says as she stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking what you're doing." Spike says. "You left the house this late, walking down the street without looking, and almost got hit by a car just now."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't… I… I don't-"

"This isn't like you at all. What is going on?"

"I… I…" Twilight stammered, unable to think of an excuse.

"It's because of what happened during the Friendship Games, right?" Spike asked as she looked surprised. "I was in your bag when Sunset asked that. You should forget about it."

"I know, but it's so hard." She explains.

It wouldn't be if you let me control you.

Twilight suddenly grabbed her head, groaning in pain. It was only for a second, but it caught her off guard and she hunched over a bit.

"Twilight?" Spike asked.

She was about to say something before she suddenly saw Midnight's arm around her waist and her other hand resting on her own.

"You're not gonna fight it are you?" She heard her voice ask. "What am I saying? You don't have the strength to fight me." She laughed.

"Hey, Twilight! You there?" Spike called out to her.

"Allow me to take it from here."

"No… No… please." Twilight pleaded.

"Too late!"

Then Twilight suddenly started stumbling about holding her head in pain. Spike called out to her, but his calls were nothing more than silence as she stumbled out into the street, her eyes starting to flash as sparks emitted suddenly emitted from her body.

"No…" She muttered trying to fight off the pain. "No!" She says, continuing to resist as much as she could, but it proved to be futile as her eyes flashed light blue. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

And just like that, a beacon of blue light flashed where she stood, enveloping her. The wind flowing from it was powerful enough to push Spike back and cause nearby cars to skid to a halt as they saw it. Inside the light, Twilight's form began altering.

Her hair flared up, and her outfit turned into a purple dress. Large angel-like wings sprouted from her back, a long horse-like tail sprouting from her back, a long glowing horn from her forehead, her glasses turning into flames around her eyes, and finally bearing a glowing blue sclera before the light enveloping her disappeared.

As Spike recovered, he got to see her and he along with others looked scared at the sight. The people didn't know who or what she was, but he knew all too well that it was the evil side that his owner never wanted to become again: Midnight Sparkle.

Midnight opened her eyes and examined herself before snorting, being she began to laugh. Her laughter slowly turned maniacal which only spread fear across the faces of all those around her.

"Oh, it feels so good to be back!" She laughed as she hugged herself before looking down at the crowd. "And an audience? I think I might've picked the best timing." She giggled before showing her hand which emitted a blue flame. "Now, watch and be amazed, peasants, as I bring your planet to ruin!"

Then without missing a beat she fired off a beam that stopped in the middle of the sky before a burst was heard as a crack formed, revealing a grassy field that showed some horses that freaked out when looking through. Seeing such, the people screamed and ran or drove away before she began cackling to herself, firing more beams and opening more tears that revealed different parts of the other world.

Some of the horses viewed through the tears could be seen flying through the skies, stopping to look through in shock. Spike was looking back and forth, watching as cracks in reality start to open on their own, and feared for his owner's life.

"Twilight!" He called out. "Twilight, snap out of it! Come on, you gotta fight it!" He called out again, trying to get to her to no avail.

"What? No one here to stop me this time? No one to argue with me?" Midnight called out in a mocking tone as she looked around. "No? Oh, what a shame. Guess there won't be anyone to even give me a challenge." She laughed while shooting another beam, creating another crack in the sky. "Again, a shame." She says before shooting again and creating another crack in front of her.

She turned away, ready to fire another blast. But she stopped as her smile dropped and the flame in her hand disappeared. She turned to face the crack that she had just created, feeling a serge of power radiating from it. Through the crack, she saw an island filled with trees which didn't look anything out of the ordinary, but she knew there was something there giving off the power she felt. And she wanted it.

Spike had avoided a crack forming in the sky, then looked back up at Midnight. His eyes then widened as he saw her approaching the portal.

"Twilight, no!" He called out but to no avail. "Don't go!" He called again. "Twilight!" He called one last time, but it was too late, she had fully entered. "No… No… no… no…" He says before looking around, then finding her phone and looking at the screen, seeing who she tried to call, looked at the glasses that belonged to his owner. "Sunset." Then he picked them up with his mouth and took off down the street.

To be continued…

Author's Notes:

So once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm trying to get these out as best as I can, tho I can't guarantee anything. Again though, if you have any criticisms you'd like to address, please leave them in the comments below as well.

The next chapter is gonna be a while, so stay tuned until then.

Dark Ash vs Midnight Sparkle

A man with black hair and a blue hat, a blue jacket with brown pants, grey shoes, and a golden necklace was sitting in the forest, under a tree by a campfire with a tall blue jackal at his side and a smaller one that was having bandages wrapped around its arm by the man himself.

“There.” He says and while he finishes patching, the small jackal moves his arm a bit. “You shouldn’t move it too much otherwise it will take longer to heal. Just take it easy with that arm for the time.” He advised, getting a nod in return.

With a hefty sigh, he got to his feet and took some dead branches, throwing them into the fire so that it would last longer. He then went back to the tree and sat against the trunk before the two jackals proceeded to do the same on the other sides, however, the smaller’s ears suddenly twitched.

It stood back up and looked around, catching the man and the taller jackal’s attention. Before the man could ask, he suddenly felt something that caused his eyes to widen before he stood up as well, looking around as well. He stopped in one direction and squinted his eyes as he saw something glowing very far from where he stood.

He took a step forward but then gasped. “Get down!” He called while jumping to the side.

The jackals looked and quickly follow his example as a red beam suddenly flew past them, a delayed explosion soon followed afterward which caused them to cover their eyes. The man sat up, seeing a sizeable burnt trail where the beam had hit which was a frightening sight to see.

Then they heard a distant boom as he and the jackals looked at the source and found that a nearby mountain had blown up. He got to his feet and looked worried before looking in the direction where the last attack had been fired.

“Lucario, Riolu, prepare yourselves.” He says before going over to the campfire and waving his hand, causing a gust of wind that put it out. “We might be dealing with a powerful enemy.”

Then they heard a crackle in the sky as they turned back to the source of the noise. A crack formed in the sky spreading like a spiderweb before a burst of light flashed, nearly blinding those in sight for a second. Looking back, they saw what seemed to be a rift opening in the sky before they watched as a being began to fly through.

“Well, perhaps two.” He says before he and the other two run off to the source.

Chapter 3: Dark Ash vs Midnight Sparkle

The two beings stood before each other, both emitting fearful auras that only affected those around them. The one that inhabited Ash’s body glared at Midnight as she gave him a smug grin in return. Pikachu and Charizard were watching from a distance, not knowing what to do, if they should go approach either of them or not. Much less, afraid of what either of them was capable of.

“My powers?” ‘Ash’ says with an eyebrow raised.

“Yes. I sensed how powerful you were from the world I have just come from, and I want the power you have.” Midnight tells him.

“Really? And you expect me to just give it all to you?” He explains before he began walking, circling around her.

“I require it to defeat the one who defeated and delayed my plans of destruction. I am not able to fight her with the power I have on my own, but with yours, I would become unstoppable and be able to be rid of her once and for all.”

“Really?” ‘Ash’ says as he appeared uninterested. “Let me ask again and be more clear, why would I give you this power to begin with? What would I gain from it? Surely you’re not thinking of giving this power back once you’ve conquered this world of yours.”

“Oh you’re most inclined to not let me have it, but I have to say that the consequences ‘will’ make you regret it.” Midnight then says as the ‘boy’ stopped in his tracks.

“Is that a threat I heard?”

“No… just a warning.” She flashed a grin at him.

He just stared back at her before snorting then lightly chuckling to himself before he turned around to fully face her.

“You think you have the power to fight me?” He laughed.

“And you think I don’t?”

‘Ash’ kept his smile before raising his hands. “You won’t last very long.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.”

Then before she said another word, she fired a beam out of her hand straight at him. It collided and caused an explosion which caused a gust of wind to blow her hair back before it returned to its fiery state.

“Quite a sight, I must say.” Her eyes widened as the boy stood behind her. “But not enough.”

Before she could react, he hit her with the back of his hand with a blast of red, sending her crashing straight into the ground far from them. Seeing his power, he chuckled to himself in amusement before the woman burst from the ground, looking angry as she gritted her teeth before she held her hand out, sending out another blast, only for him to disappear before it hit, destroying more of the ground.

The next thing Midnight knew, she was hit with a kick that sent her flying across the sky. ‘Ash’ laughed as he landed before he disappeared once more and appeared right in front of her and brought his hands together in a single fist. Midnight reacted quickly this time and dodged the incoming attack before enveloping her fist in a blue flame and she slammed into his face, sending him down to the ground.

However, ‘Ash’ flipped and landed on his feet, still causing a crash that leveled the ground where he stood. He barely seemed affected, laughing off the attack before looking at her. She scowled and fired another beam in his direction, which he jumped away from, letting it hit the ground and creating dust. She chased him around the island, trying to blast him but he was avoiding each blast.

“Stand still and accept your fate!” She yells in frustration.

“Okay.” He says as he stops and turns to face her.

Without hesitation, she shot another blast at him. However as it was just about to hit him, a barrier of red aura blocked it off as he stood. His smug face made her furious and scream in rage as her blast became larger. The barrier then started to slowly crack which made the possessed boy shocked to see before thinking quickly and jumping out of the way as his barrier was destroyed.

The beam continued past him before stopping in the air as if hitting another barrier and then causing a crack before causing an explosion that caused a tear to open, revealing the world that his opponent came from. People on the other side practically freaked out at the sight, however one remained with his phone out.

Speaking of which, Spike was running down a street, stopping to catch his breath before looking around. When he found one house in particular he ran for it, stopping at the door and started hopping. He tried to grab the doorknob, but his paws couldn’t even reach it.

“Dang it. Of all the times to not have a doggy door.” He says, muffled by his owner’s glasses in his mouth.

He ran around the house trying to find any way of entry, but everything was out of reach. He growled before looking around again and looking up at the fence. As much of a risk as it was, it was the only choice he had.

With no other option, he backed up, got a running start, jumped, managed to get grip on the fence, pulled himself up, and then looked at the window that led to the bedroom. The ledge under the window was just big enough to fit his size and lowered his front before taking another leap, latching onto the ledge and pulling himself up.

He then looked into the window, spotting the sleeping redhead, and quickly started scratching at the glass. That didn’t seem to help, so he opted to shout through.

“Sunset!” He called, getting nowhere. “Sunset, get up!” He called once again. “Twilight needs help! Wake up!”

He kept on calling her name, but all that seemed to happen was her rubbing her eyes before turning over. He growled before hearing a crackle as he looked back, seeing another tear open up.

“SUNSET! SUNSET! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!” He then starts frantically scratching, trying to get her to wake up, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the fight in the other world continued. ‘Ash’ was now being more cautious as he was dodging every blast from Midnight. Some of her blasts were opening up more tears in reality, revealing the other world more and more.

Pikachu and Charizard had avoided one of the blasts, though were plenty concerned about how much destruction the fight was causing. One blast, in particular, they had to duck to avoid, opening a tear right above them.

“Sunset!” Spike was still shouting trying to get the redhead’s attention before another crackle made him jump.

He slipped and grabbed the edge as his owner’s glasses fell. His grip didn’t hold and he ended up falling while yelling in fear as he fell right through one of the tears and into the unknown. The sound finally seemed to wake Sunset up as she groaned while groggily turning to the window.

“What the…?” She says before looking closer before her eyes widen. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” She says before hopping out of bed.

She didn’t bother to change, grabbed her jacket, her keys, her shoes, and ran out of her house before getting on her motorcycle and driving off.

“Dang it, why so soon.” She mutters to herself before looking scared as she saw more rifts around the town she was in. “For the love, what’s causing this now?”

As for Spike’s case, he groaned before he managed to get his eyes open. His vision like any was blurry, though he could make out the nightly sky anywhere. He shook his head and then turned to his side, finding Twilight’s glasses in the grass.

He reached to grab them before stopping. His arm didn’t look normal, it looked more skinny now, black and with two fingers. Seeing this, he jumped to his legs stumbling a bit before hearing a buzzing noise. He looked behind, seeing two flat diamond-shaped wings attached to his back and his legs the same as his arms. His body was more roundish and yellowish-green, and his tail was long with two smaller wings at the end.

“Oooooookay…” He says while cringing. “When I was told I’d become a dragon in Equestria, I was expecting something more intimidating.” He says while still looking at himself before seeing the glasses. “Right, gotta find Twilight.” He then picked up the glasses and put them in his mouth.

As he was about to take off, he was suddenly stopped when he saw Pikachu and Charizard in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. Pikachu didn’t give him much of a scare, but he was frightened by Charizard’s size and froze in place.

“Are you okay?” He heard from the yellow mouse, making eye contact with him.

“What?” He said while taking the glasses out of his mouth.

“Did you fall from that thing?” He says while pointing at the portal above them.

“Uh…” He says before looking up at it. “Pretty much yeah.”

“Are you with that woman?” Charizard then asked him.

“Uh…” Spike looks at the glasses. “Which woman are you talking about?”

“Well, like… what does your trainer look like?” Pikachu asked.

“Trainer?”

“Yeah, like who caught a Vibrava like you?”

“Vibrava? I-is that what I’m supposed to be?”

“Wait? You didn’t know?” Charizard asked.

Before he could answer, there was a booming that shook the ground, causing all three of them to stumble. They then looked to the source and saw the battle between the boy and girl ensue. They saw Midnight block a red Aura Sphere as ‘Ash’ appeared behind her, then kicked her, causing her to be hit and get enveloped in an explosion that made them cover their eyes.

“What? What is going on?” Spike says, wide-eyed.

“That’s what we’re here to find out.” The three all turned and saw the man in blue with the two jackals.

The sight seemed to brighten Pikachu’s face. “It’s Riley!”

“Who?” Charizard asked.

“We met him in the Sinnoh region. It’s a long story that I’ll tell you later.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re Ash’s Pikachu, right?” The man asked.

“That’s me.” Pikachu smiled.

“I figured as much.” He says before turning to the other two Pokemon.

“Yeah, I’m with him too.” Charizard spoke up.

“I’m not. I’m… actually I’m lost here.”

“I see.” Riley says before walking up and seeing the fight. “So, it was Ash that was causing this amount of destruction here.” He says before turning to the Vibrava. “Hey, you think you can ask Pikachu or Charizard here what happened?”

“Huh?” Spike looked confused. “Uh, can’t they just tell you themselves?” He asked.

“Wait… can you speak human?” Pikachu asked while causing some more confusion.

“What are you talking about? We’re all speaking perfect English.”

“I don’t think you notice this, but Pikachu and Charizard here aren’t speaking my language. Seems as though you can understand both humans and Pokemon and it sounds like we’re speaking the same language to you.” Riley explained.

“Really?” Spike says before looking back and forth. “Uh… okay can you explain then?” He then asks while looking at Pikachu.

“Well, we don’t know what happened. We just followed this weird light to this island, then our trainer started screaming before… well, he became that.” The mouse explained before pointing towards the possessed trainer and girl.

Spike seemed surprised to hear it before looking down. “Just like her.” He says under his breath before turning to Riley and repeating everything he was told.

“So that’s it then.” He says before sighing and looking back to the fight. “To think we’d meet again like this.”

“Okay, well, is there anything you can do to help either of them?” Spike asked.

“Unfortunately at this rate, it’d be suicide to try and intervene. The best we can do is wait for one to wear the other down.”

Spike looked worried but didn’t know if he could do anything. He felt so ashamed that he was practically useless, especially at a time like this when his owner needed help the most.

Speak of the devil, Twilight awoke from her slumber… or sort of. As she opened her eyes, she saw herself in some kind of space-like void, floating in mid-air. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail and her glasses were absent from her face, yet her sight was hindered. She tried to move but was stopped, the sounds of chains rattling filling her ears.

Looking down, she found that her wrists and ankles were bound in chains. She looked scared and tried desperately to free her hands to no avail. She was confused and didn’t catch on to what had happened or why she was in this position.

Then she suddenly grunted in pain. For some reason, her body ached as if it had just been run over. It hurt like hell and she would’ve struggled to stand if she were to. Then she looked up, seeing a window that seemed to lead to outside. She tried to shake herself free again but failed to do so.

“Help!” She screamed out. “Please! Somebody! Anybody! Help!” She continued to scream again and again. “Please!” When it seemed fruitless, she stopped trying.

Then something caught her eye. As she saw the window shake, she saw a familiar hand gripping a shoulder. It was then that she remembered what happened. It was Midnight. She was the one controlling her and that’s why she was in this position, to begin with. She had taken over and was now doing who knows what with her body.

It was then that the window showed her looking up at the boy with a dark aura around him. She seemed confused and began to wonder who that was.

Well, speaking of which, Ash was starting to awaken himself. He found himself in a void as well, though he wasn’t bound by chains and seemed to just be floating aimlessly.

“What? Where am I?” He says before looking around. “What is this?”

He was confused until he saw the window that gave him a view of the world outside. He tried to reach out for the window, but he was out of reach. Then something hit him.

“Why does this look so familiar?” He says before continuing to look out the window into the world.

Then he saw the other girl outside in front of whoever this was hunched over as if in pain. He narrowed his eyes and tried to think if it was anyone he’d seen before, but he couldn’t recognize who it was. Then a voice spoke up.

“Oh, what’s the matter? Don’t tell me, you’re tired already?” He heard a sinister voice say which perked his head up. “I expected more from you. Honestly, I’ve had so much fun bringing pain to you constantly.”

“That voice.” He says to himself. “Where have I heard that before.”

Outside, Midnight was huffing as she held her shoulder, legs shaking in pain. She glared at the possessed boy, furious, especially knowing that she was losing. ‘Ash’ stared at her before chuckling.

“Well, this has been fun, but now I’m bored.” He says before creating a sphere in his hand. “I’ll do you a favor and make it quick since you’ve entertained me on my return to this world.”

“You bastard.” Midnight says before managing to stand up, catching her breath. “I can’t let this happen… not after I finally got control again.”

“Well, that just seems unfortunate on your part, doesn’t it?” The boy laughed before approaching her then held his hand and the sphere in front of her. “Sayanora.” And so the sphere began to glow brightly.

“STOP!”

Then suddenly his eyes widened as the Aura Sphere dissipated. He stumbled backward before gripping his head in pain.

“NO!” He screamed out as Midnight looked at him in confusion. “NO! Your body belongs to me!”

“No! It doesn’t! I don’t know who you are, but I won’t-”

She saw this as her chance and quickly rushed him, punching him directly in the stomach as he flinched in pain before getting blasted back into the ground, creating another large crater. The group that watched from a distance watched in shock at what just occurred before Riley decided to make a break for it.

Midnight quickly began stumbling her way over to the crater, not wanting to take chances. ‘Ash’ groaned in pain before grabbing a nearby ledge to shakily get up.

“Y-you fool.” He groaned. “You’re gonna get us both hurt-” He was saying before being picked up by the scruff of his collar.

“Finally got you.” Midnight says smugly.

Riley got close enough to see them. “Damnit.”

Twilight saw what was happening before she began focusing on trying to break free once again. Ash was clutching his stomach in pain, unable to see what had just occurred.

“To think, it only took one hit with full power to take you down.” The girl says with a smile.

“Shut it.” ‘Ash’ says while struggling to lift his head. “That was… a lucky shot.” He then spots Riley sneaking up and raises his hand. “You wouldn’t-”

“Oh hush!” Midnight says as she slaps his hand away. “I’m done wasting my time with you. Let’s just get this over with.”

Then she grabbed him by the head and mashed her lips against his which caused his eyes to widen. The sudden act caught Riley off guard before a sudden burst of dark energy sent him back, falling onto the ground.

Ash finally got over the pain and looked up before he suddenly noticed something. Some white cracks were appearing around him. He looked through the window, seeing the woman with her face against it. Before he could process what happened the cracks spread before a burst of light blinded him.

Twilight was still desperately trying to break the chains that bound her to no avail. Unfortunately for her, darkness suddenly began to surround her as she looked around in fear. Dark energy soon began to slither around her and envelop her body.

“Help!” She screamed in fear as she continued to flail around. “Please!” She called out as she soon started to sob. “Please!” She called again through her tears before the darkness reached her shoulders. “Sunset… please help…” She says one last time before the darkness had fully consumed her.

Outside, the dark aura completely left the boy’s body and then formed around Midnight. As it did, she separated their lips before dropping him on the ground. She then floated up into the air as Riley watched in shock at what just happened.

As Ash was beginning to regain consciousness, his vision was blurry and he was still groaning from the pain in his stomach. When he seemed to recover enough, he looked up and saw the girl that he saw through the eyes of whoever was controlling him.

She lifted her head… then opened her eyes… which glowed bright red… then she smiled wickedly.

“This…” She says in a voice that sounded like two were speaking at once. “This… power…” She laughed.

Slowly her laughter turned into a cackle of insanity, shaking as she did so. The Pokemon that were still at a distance watched in fear, except for Spike who seemed to be more horrified than the rest of them. Ash and Riley had no different reactions when they saw the insane woman.

Midnight stopped before letting her laughter die down to psychotic giggles as she held her head. Then she slowly straightened up. Then she looked at her hands, curling and uncurling her fingers before she held them out to the sides of her. Red aura began to form in her fingertips before they unleashed beams that fired everywhere.

Every spot that was hit caused a blast that would open a tear in reality, revealing the other worlds of Earth and Equestria. The blasts caused more shaking to the island which alerted Pokemon both trained and wild to fear for their lives.

As Sunset was riding into town, the whole place started shaking which forced her to stop and almost crash before she grabbed a nearby pole to keep herself steady. As the shaking stopped and she looked up, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped to the disaster.

Multiple portals were opening up around and scaring off more folk in the process.

“No, no, no, this can’t be happening!” She says before stumbling a bit.

Regaining balance, she pulled out her phone and was about to do something before she stopped, looked through one of the cracks, and spotted a familiar face, much to her horror.

“Twilight?” She says. “Oh, not again.”

Ash struggled to get himself to his feet, still holding his stomach looking up at the horror as more tears in reality began to open around the island. While he had seen so much destruction in his past, he never thought he’d wake up to find something like this out of nowhere.

“Why is this-?” He started to ask himself as he tried to walk, only to trip and almost fall into the ground.

“Easy now.” Riley quickly caught him and kept him up.

“Wha?”

“Let me help.”

The man then held his hand above his stomach and emitted a blue glow. The pain he felt started to slowly go away and Ash was starting finally able to stand and glance up at him.

“Riley?” He asked. “What’re-?” Another shake cut him off.

“As much as I’d love to explain, now’s not the best of times.” The man says before looking up. “Right now, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

As he says that, Midnight points then started to draw a smiley face with rifts. She laughed at her work.

“But… what is… h-how are-” Ash started to say.

“Well, I was planning on doing this on my own, but I might need some help.” Riley states.

“Okay, but how?” The boy asked.

“It’s an aura technique that is supposed to remove darkness from one’s body.” The man then says as he looked shocked. “What is it?”

‘Aura? I haven’t used that in…’ Ash thought to himself before looking back at the girl. ‘Well, here goes nothing.’ He looked back. “Alright, how do I do this?”

Midnight fired some more beams, opening more rifts while laughing to herself. “I’d like to see that girl try to stop me again.” She says to herself before looking down and seeing the two talking. “If that boy has any more…”

“Do you understand everything I said?” Riley finishes explaining to the boy.

“Yeah, I mean… I’m still lost as to what’s going on, but-” Ash was saying.

“Again, I’ll explain later. Right now…” The man looked up. “Ready yourself.”

Once he finished, Midnight rushed in front of the boy, causing the man to stumble back.

“Ya know, I wanted to go to Equestria ever since I was brought to life in hopes of obtaining the power that came from it, but you…” She says while floating closer to the boy who stepped back. “Combine that with your power and I’ll…” She stopped midway to laugh, not noticing the man sneaking up behind her. “I’d be unstoppable. That girl Sunset wouldn’t be able to do anything, those other girls would be rendered useless, I don’t know if they’d be able to stop me even now.” She cackled on.

Ash looked freaked out, not knowing what she was spouting on about, but knowing her intentions, he glared at her. “That’s not gonna happen.” He says as she tilts her head in a mocking matter. “Whatever you’re planning to do, you won’t get away with it.”

“Really? Hmmm…” She then says before putting a finger to her lips, mockingly. “Well…” She then looked back and flew up into his face. “I beg to differ.” She then says, oblivious to his hands.

‘Here goes nothing.’ He thought to himself. “I don’t.”

Before she could make any more snarky replies, he grabbed her by the forehead. She seemed puzzled at first before she felt another pair of hands grab her head from behind, then suddenly a bright aura emitted from her as she screeched in agony. The Pokemon had to cover their ears as they could hear her even at the distance they were, unfortunate for their trainers who couldn’t do the same.

Spike could only cover parts where his ears would be, but it still worked the same way. He looked out, seeing his owner screaming in pain, there was some panic that began to unwind within him as he was worried about her condition.

“Hey.” He heard and turned to Pikachu. “I know it might be dangerous, but I’m heading over there.”

“What?” The bug-like Pokemon says.

“Even if I’m not able to do anything, if there’s a chance I can help my friend, I’m taking that chance.” The electric mouse says. “You’d do the same for your trainer too, right?”

Spike looked back out. “Yeah, I… but I really can’t do anything. I don’t even know if I have any special… powers or anything.”

“I get it, but as much as it sucks, I wanna at least try.”

“Yeah, me too.” Charizard says as well. “Useless or not… I’m not abandoning my trainer.” He says while standing tall.

“Me too.” They then turn to see Lucario who seemed to be talking through telepathy. “I might actually be able to assist your trainers and my own. I just need to get close enough to them to help.”

“Wait, really?” Spike says, surprised.

“Well, what’re we waiting for!? Hop on!” Charizard says as he knelt down to allow them aboard.

Without hesitation, Pikachu quickly hopped on. Spike started to climb, but then his wings suddenly started flapping, lifting him up, he was caught off guard at first, but landed on the dragon’s back as if it was natural. Riolu was about to do the same but was stopped by the taller jackal.

“I suggest you stay behind. It’s best to wait until your arm is fully healed.” Lucario then hops onto the dragon’s back as the smaller jackal sighs in disappointment. “We’ll come back once the situation is fully taken care of. Until then, rest as best as you can.”

And so, Charizard took off, flying to the source of the light. He landed, seeing Midnight struggling to fend off whatever the boy and the man were attempting to do. Spike seemed even more worried from the sight alone as did Pikachu and Charizard.

“We cannot distract them.” Lucario says as he hops off of the dragon’s back. “If we try to interact with them, it’ll interrupt the process. And I highly doubt that they’d get another chance to do this.” He then began to make his way towards. “Just let me do what I can.”

“I-isn’t what he’s doing count as distracting and interrupting them?” Spike asked.

“I mean, he’s the professional.” Pikachu answers.

Riley caught sight of Lucario approaching and nodded to him. The jackal followed suit by standing in the middle and holding his palms out at her head as well, adding his aura to the mix. She screamed again and seemed to be less resistant to the three that were overpowering her, however, she still tried, despite it appearing futile.

The dark aura around her appeared to be dissipating which was starting to bring some hope to the Pokemon that watched, believing that they had nothing to worry about, however, Ash was starting to struggle a bit.

“Just a bit longer!” Riley says through his grunts. “Don’t lose focus!”

The boy held his ground, doing the best he could to follow through with stopping whoever this was. As he blinked, suddenly it was like the world had changed in that second. He was shocked before straightening up and looking around. He found himself floating in a void of darkness.

“What is this place?” He says to himself.

His eyes stopped on landed on what appeared to be a cocoon of darkness in front of him that stood out from the rest of the void. He squinted his eyes before looking behind him, then back before he reached out. He grabbed and pulled a bit of the darkness away like it was paper as it faded away.

The part he had removed revealed a bit of a purple-skinned closed eye. Not knowing what was inside, he continued to pull more of the darkness away until the face of a purple-skinned girl had a full view. He rose an eyebrow at the sight and leaned forward, inspecting and wondering if she was still alive. Then got the scare of a lifetime as her eyes opened wide and she gasped before he jumped back.

“Get me out of here! Get me out of here, please!” She pleaded. “Please, you have to help-MMPH!” Her cries were cut off as darkness immediately covered her face.

Ash immediately had become worried and quickly reached back out again, grabbing at and ripping the darkness away, however, the cocoon seemed to be reforming each time he ripped a piece off the girl. Then he was interrupted as he was grabbed by a tendril of darkness. He tried to remove it, but another came and grabbed his hands, then his legs.

“Let go of me!” He yelled, attempting to resist, however, was slowly being pulled away. “No! No! No!” He yelled as he reached out to no avail.

Then as he blinked, it was like he was suddenly pulled back to reality. In front of him was Midnight who was done screaming in pain and appeared to be growling in frustration. Then her fists rose before she spread her arms, and a shockwave propelled him, Riley, and Lucario back.

He landed in the dirt, causing some dust to fly up. He coughed a bit before groaning in pain as he tried to sit up. Before he could recover though, he was met with Midnight tackling him, ramming him into the dirt before flying high up into the air, holding him up by his throat as he had his hands on hers, attempting to ease the strain.

As they did, they were in front of a portal that gave Sunset a view into the world, seeing her possessed friend holding an unknown boy. She was now even more worried and began running up to portals, jumping up at them, trying to get in one, however, proving it to be again, no more than fruitless, but she didn’t give up.

“I had plenty of patience before, but now I am absolutely tired of all this nonsensical bullcrap! So you know what?” Midnight says as she raises a hand up, forming a flaming sphere. “Maybe I won’t be requiring any more of your power.” She giggled maniacally.

Ash lifted his head up as best as he could, seeing her move her hand to his head. Before she could do what he assumed to be her annihilating him, her hand suddenly twitched as the energy disappeared. Then he heard her grunting before her body began to shake and she began to grit her teeth.

“NO! NO!” She screamed as she gripped her head and arched her back. “I CAN’T! I WON’T! I WON’T LET YOU RUIN THIS… FOR ME!!!” She continued to scream before she bent forward.

He stared at her as he put the pieces together. “She’s still in there.”

With his regained confidence, he removed one of his hands from hers and placed it and wrapped his fingers around her forehead. His hand then began to glow and he reentered the girl’s mind, finding the darkness freaking out, he couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

He heard some muffled screaming from the cocoon which was flailing about. Without hesitation, he reached and began tearing away at the darkness as fast as he could. He managed to free her shoulders, then her hair and her face as she gasped for nonexistent air. The darkness continued to try and envelop her again, but the boy was tearing it off faster than it could.

“What’s going on?! What is happening?!” She said, scared.

“Don’t exactly have the full story either.” He answered her. “I can’t do this on my own. I need you to fight this too.”

She looked down, then tried to pull herself free. “I-I can’t!”

“I need you to try. Don’t give up.”

She seemed to take his advice as she continued to try and free her body from the darkness. Then he pulled away some by her stomach, revealing her hands bounded by chains. Seeing this, he quickly ripped away some darkness that tried to reform around her and then grabbed the chains and ripped them apart with ease.

With her hands now free she seemed to be having an easier time getting out of it. However, the darkness seemed to have regained its previous strength. Outside, the dark aura began to envelop both of their bodies. Back into the void, tendrils grasped his arms once again, trying to pull him back.

“No!” The girl called out as the darkness began to envelop her.

She reached out as the darkness was already beginning to reach her head. Fortunately, Ash had gained enough resistance to grab her hand and hold on tightly to it. The boy used whatever strength he had to pull himself forward. The darkness began to falter and break away from him as he reached the girl again and placed his hands on her shoulder.

Outside again, the dark aura appeared to have stopped whatever it was planning to do. Sunset, Riley, and the Pokemon all watched in anticipation, however, were holding out hope for the better.

In the mind, the girl was hyperventilating as the darkness came to a halt, Ash’s hands still gripping her shoulders.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Calm down. Breath.” He tells her in a soft tone as her breathing started to slowly steady. “Whatever this is, it’s feeding off your fear. Don’t let it overcome you.” He continues to say as her freakout seemed to subside.

As she began to calm down, the darkness around her and the void of such began to disappear at a painfully slow rate.

Outside, the dark aura around both of them began to fade, being replaced with a bright blue aura that seemed to bring relief to Riley and the Pokemon’s faces. Then the portals created by Midnight began to slowly close and repair themselves, which only further brought relief to them… except for one.

“Wait, wait!” Sunset called as she to one of the closing portals. “Hold on! Not yet!” She yelled while waving her arms. “Twilight!” She called out, but it was too late as the last portal had sealed up.

Back inside the girl’s mind, Ash had eased his grip on her shoulders as the darkness was still fading away, revealing a bright void. She looked up at him, making eye contact with him.

“Who…” She started to say. “Who are you?”

The darkness had now completely faded away and a light started to envelop them. “My name is…”

And just light that, a bright flash filled the nightly sky around the island. As the light faded out, Ash began to open his eyes, seeing that he seemed to be falling somewhere, however it wasn’t his primary focus. What was, was the girl that was below him falling as well. Seeing this, he reached out to grab her hand to grasp hers. His eyelids started to fall heavy but he didn’t care. He wasn’t about to lose consciousness before ensuring this girl was safe.

Her eyes opened as well, her sight blurry and she wasn’t able to make out who was above her, reaching towards her, but she had a feeling that it was someone she could trust. As she felt his fingers begin to touch hers she reached out for him as well, their fingers intertwining with each other.

He pulled her in and wrapped his other arm around her waste, pulling her into a tight hug before turning so that he could at least try to break her fall. The last thing he saw was an orange blur flying towards them, before they both fell into a deep slumber.

To be continued…

Author's Notes:

Well, hope you all enjoy this little, long chap right there. The next chapter will… probably be longer, but hey, ain’t nothin’ wrong with that, right? Right? Right.

Stay tuned peps.

Ash meets Twilight

Author's Notes:

Alright, let’s try to make this chapter a little shorter… just a little bit. Happy Late New Year everyone.

And with that out of the way, I wanna point out how I messed up. I added the story to a group that only accepts crossovers with Acceleracers and had to have it removed, so there’s some embarrassment on my part.

Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Gary was lying in his bed, tossing a Pokeball into the air before catching it and repeating again. He sighed before stopping and looking at his window, he saw his Pokemon: Umbreon staring outside at the starry night. He got up, walked over to the Pokemon, and rested his elbow on the windowsill, staring out with him.

(Flashback, earlier that day)

“And, done.” A man with a bandana named Tracy says as he puts his pencil down. “What do you think?” He says while showing off a drawing.

“That looks awesome.” Ash says.

“Pika!” Pikachu also says.

“I’ve had some time to make a few others. I gotta say, you’ve caught a lot of Pokemon over the years. I’m surprised you haven’t overloaded this place with your own.” Tracy continues to explain.

“Yeah, save some Pokemon for the rest of us.” Gary laughed as he and his Alakazam placed down a few bowls full of kibble. “Alright, dinner’s ready!” He then called out as many Pokemon came out and began eating.

“No can do. Can’t end a habit.” Ash laughed back.

“He’s not wrong about that.” Tracy states.

“What can I say? I’m next in line to becoming a Pokemon Master, aren’t I?”

“Right, right.” Gary chuckles. “Don’t you have another journey to go on or something?”

“Hey, I just got back from one. I wanna relax a bit before I do another.”

“Relax? That didn’t seem to stop you when you wanted to go to Kalos.”

“Uh…” Ash then scratched his face before laughing nervously. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, ya did.”

“Well, this time, It’s different. After what I just went through in Kalos, I think the next region I travel to can wait.” The boy simply laughed before suddenly gripping his head and groaning in pain.

“Woah, woah! Ash, are you okay?” Tracy says as he, Gary, and Pikachu came to his aid.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Ngh.” Ash says as he straightened himself. “Just a small headache is all.”

“My butt that was a small headache! It’s been happening all day.” Gary spoke out.

“Pika, pika!” Pikachu also spoke up.

“I really think you should see a doctor or something. This can’t be a good sign.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t-” Ash began to say before getting cut off.

“Ash, maybe Gary is right. It’s pretty concerning.” Tracy tells him.

Ash hummed a bit in thought. “Alright, I’ll go get it checked out if it keeps happening.”

“Thank you.”

Despite his protest, Gary continued to look on with concern.

(Flashback over)

“Still so stubborn.” Gary says before sighing. “I wish he would just settle down. Someone like him needs a break for once.”

“Umbreon.” Umbreon spoke up.

“Hopefully he doesn’t do anything brass.” The boy says while scratching his Pokemon’s head. “At the very least, hope he doesn’t do anything stupid.” He heard Umbreon yawn before seeing him hop off the windowsill and over to his Pokeball. “Yeah, maybe I should save it for the morning.” He says as he goes and picks it up. “Rest well, bud.”

And so, he returned the Pokemon to the ball. With a yawn of his own, he placed the ball on the desk before getting back in his bed. With one more look outside, he turned and laid his head on the pillow before letting sleep overtake him.

Chapter 4: Ash meets Twilight

Gary was awoken by a loud, boom. Frightened, he shot up from his pillow before hearing a crackling outside and looked out his window, seeing a fading flash. He then looked a little annoyed.

“Great. A thunderstorm. What are the odds?” He says sarcastically to himself as he was about to lie down.

Then he heard screaming as he looked back at the window, before hearing more crackling and getting out of his bed and going over to the sill. He looked out and his eyes widened at the sight.

“Or… not.”

After getting changed, Gary ran out of his house, and the sight that beholds him brought the fear back to him. All around town, there were some kind of vortexes bursting open in the sky, some revealing some kind of land with some Ponyta-looking creatures, some revealing a city he didn’t recognize. Many of the townsfolk shared his reaction, some more fearful upon seeing such.

Another crackling was heard, and more vortexes burst open.

“Everyone!” He heard as he turned and found his grandpa was the one calling out. “Whatever is happening, I ask that you please return to your homes-”

He stops listening to his grandfather trying to direct the people and calm them down in spite of the situation at hand. A loud caused him to jump forward and turn around, looking up and seeing one of the vortexes open just next to his house. Now he didn’t want to go back inside.

“Ash!” He turned his head and spotted Delia running around. “Ash! Where are you?!” She called out as he ran over to her. “Ash! Ash!”

“Mrs. Ketchum, what are you doing?!” He asked, concerned.

“My son! I can’t find him anywhere!” She yelled.

“Wha…?” He says before looking around, noting that his former rival was nowhere in sight. “The hell? Where is he? He’d be the first one on this case.”

“Gary, Mrs. Ketchum, please, get back indoors-” Professor Oak starts to tell them.

“Professor, my son is missing.” Delia cut him off.

“What?!” He says in disbelief.

“One hell of a time to run off.” Gary says before another crackling made them jump.

“Okay, okay, wherever he is, I’m sure he’s fine. This shouldn’t be anything new to him.” The professor says.

“How do you know?!” Delia shouted, tears forming in her eyes.

“Well, I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to be reckless at this time.” Gary says again. “I mean, he’s gotta at least be cautious, right?”

Then suddenly, the crackling stopped. They looked puzzled before looking up, then the vortexes suddenly started closing up. As they did, sighs of relief filled the town. Now it was like everything was back to a normal starry night.

“Okay, that’s anti-climatic.” Gary says, directed at no one.

Delia then looked around before running off as the boy and his grandpa followed her to her house. As she went inside, they could hear her calling for her son. The brunette sighed, about to go inside after her before she comes out, with a look of fear and worry.

“Wha-What? What’s-” He was about to ask before she handed him a letter she found. He took it, and read it before his eyes widened. “Oh, you cannot be serious.”

(Meanwhile)

Sunset looked freaked out of her mind. She stared into the starry night sky for about a minute, contemplating what she had just witnessed before her. She didn’t want to believe it, wanted to believe that what she saw wasn’t real and maybe this was some kind of dream.

“Dream… dream…” Sunset says to herself before she turned and started walking away. “No, that’s the excuse everyone uses. Maybe… maybe that wasn’t Twilight. Maybe that was just someone else.” She says as she took out her phone. “And she’s still at home right now.” She then dialed her friend’s number.

She held it up to her ear, hoping she’d answer. But then she heard a ringing and turned around before running to the source. She crouched and found a phone in the street. Twilight’s phone, just next to her ponytail accessory.

“No…” She says as her call went to voicemail. “No, no…” She fell to her knees. “Why?”

(The next day)

The girls gathered around at Twilight’s front yard and- “SHE WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash had screamed out. “Are you kidding me right now?!” She then says before grunting in frustration before stomping around in a circle.

“I know.” Sunset says with her hands covering her face.

“Ain’t she in Equestria or somethin’? Can’t we just, ya know, go through the portal and get her?” Applejack asked.

“If it were that simple, I could’ve just done it easily without anyone knowing. But… I don’t think she’s in Equestria.” The redhead explained. “The portals that Midnight created, I saw what was on the other side. It’d be one thing if it was a place in Equestria where I haven’t been, but the creatures I saw… those weren’t creatures from Equestria.”

“Can we go for a month-no a year, A YEAR, without dealing with some magical crisis?!” Rainbow yelled in annoyance. “We had to deal with Sirens not that long ago, a week ago we had to deal with Midnight Sparkle, and now not even a week of peace before she just pops up, and Twilight is stuck in some other world we have no access to!”

“Spike isn’t here!” Fluttershy cried out as she ran out of their friend’s house. “I looked everywhere, in every room, everywhere he could be hiding, but I can’t find him!” She says worriedly.

“Twilight and Spike.” Rainbow then says holding up a finger. “Twilight and Spike are stuck in a world we can’t get to.”

Sunset sighed. “At least she isn’t alone.”

“Still stuck in a world we can’t get to-”

“Rainbow, ya really ain’t helpin’ right now.” Applejack says.

“Oh, they must be scared out of their minds right now.” Rarity says with just as much worry.

“But what if they’re not in danger? What if it’s a cotton candy land full of happy gingerbread men and-” Pinkie was starting to go off.

“Okay, it definitely ain’t that.” Applejack interrupted her imagination. “Then again, she might be right about not being in danger or anythin’. Maybe she found someone there to help her.”

“Yeah, as much as it sounds awesome having a week off of school, I’d rather have it any other week.” Rainbow says.

“Girls!” They heard as they turned and saw a familiar boy running up to them.

“Flash? What are you doing here?” Sunset asked as he stopped in front of them.

“Well uh, I don’t know if I can do anything to help with this magic stuff but…” Flash then pulls out his phone before showing the screen. “You might wanna see this.” He then plays a video.

“Oh man, oh this is so crazy!” The guy recording the video yells before showing the vortexes in the sky. “I don’t know what’s going on. These… things started popping out of nowhere, I don’t-I think this may be the end of the world or some kind of apocalypse or something.” He continues to say while showing more of the torn-up sky.

“Ugh, so much for keeping on the down-low.” Sunset groaned while covering her face.

“There’s definitely gonna be questions now.” Fluttershy says.

“It’s not just that. There’re news articles about this happening in other cities other than Canterlot.” Flash continues as he shows them the sites.

“Oh, you cannot be serious.” Rainbow groaned.

“Wait…” Flash says before looking around. “Where’s Twilight?” He says worriedly.

“Uh…” Sunset started to say.

“Should we tell him that last night Twilight turned into Midnight Sparkle and started creating all these portals around the city which freaked a ton of people out, and then left the world into another and is now stuck in that world that we don’t have any way of getting to?” Pinkie says in one breath again as everyone stared at her, mouths agape. “What?” She says, clueless as Rainbow facepalmed.

“So, where is she now?” Flash asked.

“I don’t know.” Sunset says before looking up. “But wherever she is… I hope she’s okay.”

(Meanwhile)

Twilight groaned as she shifted in her sleep. Sunrays in her face as she shielded her eyes as best as she could. Though, as irritated as she was from the light, she felt something off. Her bed felt way more prickly than she remembered and her pillow felt much furrier than she recalled, not to mention, she felt the weight of several small objects atop of her.

As she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry, though she could make out at least that there was something lying not that far from her face. Her other arm seemed to be held down by more of… whatever was on her. She attempted to pick one up but as soon as she touched one… it moved.

It was then that her eyes widened and she screamed as she sat up and all the things a top of her jumped off.

“WHAT?! What is-Wha-!?” She says while looking around before frantically searching the ground and coming across something furry. “Spike?! Spike?!” She says as she picked up what she thought was her pet. “Spike what is going on?!” She says while holding it up to her face.

“Eevee?” She then heard which puzzled her.

“It’s a long story.” She then heard his voice behind her as she put down whatever she was holding and turned to him.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here.” She reached and felt him give her her glasses which she put on. “I was so worried, I thought-” She then was about to reach out to embrace him, but stopped when seeing his new form. “Uh… S-Spike?” She asked, eyes wide.

“Like the new look?” Spike asked while raising one foreleg.

“W-w-w…” She stuttered before seeing that he was wearing the same collar she got him. “W-what happened to you?... What are you?”

“Like, I said, long story.” He says again.

Seeing her friend the way he was, Twilight then took a look around her. She saw several small creatures that she could only assume to be the ones on top of her. A pair of gray doves with lighter feathers in the shape of a heart on their stomachs, some little blue lion cubs with black forelegs and what looked like a star at the end of their tails and what looked like some purple rats with curled up tails.

She looked behind her and saw what looked like a large hound with navy blue fur, brown fur on its head and paws, and what looked like beige fur on its forehead and seemed to be making a large mustache. It lifted its head and turned to face her as she leaned away before feeling something furry rub against her wrist and she turned around, seeing what looked like a small brown fox with a beige main rubbing against her.

“Eevee.” It cooed.

“Yeah, the locals are actually pretty friendly once you get to know them.” Spike says before she looked at him.

“W-why are you acting so calm right now?” Twilight asked him.

“I mean, I did have some to adjust to this new look… well, not exactly the new look, but I did get to know some of these guys.”

“... Right, um…” She says before looking at the creatures again. “What are these things?”

“Apparently they’re called, ‘Pokemon’ from what I was told. Which is what I am too.”

“Poke… uh… hi, little… Pokemon.” She says while looking a bit uneasy.

The Pokemon then gave Twilight their best smile which relieved her to see. Then she finally took notice of her surroundings. As she began to look around, she not only realized that she had found herself sitting in grass but that she was in a small field surrounded by trees around her. She rubbed her eyes under her glasses, hoping she was imagining things, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Where… where are we?” She asked.

Before she could say anymore, she heard a loud huff before they looked to the source and was frightened to discover an orange dragon lying not that far from her, asleep. He huffed some steam out of his nostrils before shifting a bit into a more comfortable position.

“Ya see, that’s what I expected to become when coming here.” Spike says while pointing at the dragon Pokemon. “This is disappointing.”

“Y-you’re not afraid of that thing?” Twilight whisper yelled.

“I mean, I was before, but like I said, he’s actually pretty friendly once you get to know him.”

“Uh-huh…” She says before looking at the tail and seeing the flame. “Isn’t that… concerning.”

“Actually, that’s kinda normal for him. From what I heard anyway.”

She scratched her head before rubbing her templates. Then she remembered all that happened the night before. She felt around each part of her body that she remembered feeling pain, checking for any kind of bruising, but she couldn’t find any result.

Then she heard some groaning before turning back to the dragon and seeing something lying on top of his stomach. She thought maybe it was another Pokemon, but it appeared to be another person. Whoever was on top of the dragon then shifted and turned his head to face her, still asleep.

When she saw his face it was then that she recognized what he was. It was the boy that freed her from… whatever place she was in. She pulled herself to her feet nearly stumbling a bit before she started to walk up to him.

“Scuse me, sorry.” She says while trying to make her way through the small crowd of Pokemon.

They got out of her way as she finally got to him as she heard another grunt before the boy’s eyes opened. His vision cleared up quickly as they made eye contact with each other. They stared for a bit before his memories seemed to kick in.

“Hey, it’s you.” He says, recognizing her instantly.

“Uh… y-yeah. I…” She stammered out.

He then started to push himself up before he heard a yawn next to him and turned to his side. She saw what seemed to be some kind of yellow rabbit with red cheeks and a tail in the shape of a thunderbolt stirring awake. As he and the boy saw each other they both looked happy.

“Pikachu!” The boy says happily as he pulled the Pokemon into a hug.

“Chaaaa!” The Pokemon says while returning it.

“Oh, I’m so happy to see you buddy.”

Then there was a bit of a growl before they turned their attention and found the dragon rising his head. Twilight stood back, a bit afraid, but not the boy.

“Charizard.” He says before the dragon looked happy and reached its arm around to hug the boy while nuzzling its head against his. “Aha, I’m happy to see you too.” He laughed.

Seeing how he acted around them, she started to understand that maybe she didn’t need to worry too much. She then heard a buzzing, turned and saw Spike fly up next to her, he went and nuzzled against her as she giggled a bit before hugging him. When done, the boy remembered about her, then slid off of the dragon as the one called Pikachu got hopped onto the ground before he got in front of her.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, getting her attention.

“Yeah, I think so.” Twilight answered.

“Good, I was hoping I didn’t mess up.” He sighed.

Spike then made his way up on the girl’s shoulder before speaking up. “Yeah, he really did a lot to help out.”

“Really?” She says before the boy’s eyes bugged out.

“Hold on, you can talk?” He says, shocked.

“Yeah, not the first time I’ve heard that.” Spike says while raising a hand… paw?... “Stick around with me long enough and you’ll get used to it.”

“Well, not the first time I’ve seen a talking Pokemon before.” The boy says before Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder while Charizard placed a hat on his head. “Thank you.” He says as the dragon growled with glee.

As he adjusted his hat, Twilight recalled the looks he gave while rescuing her before running up to him and grabbing his hands. “I just wanna say thank you! I-I didn’t know if I could’ve gotten out of… whatever that was. I was so scared I didn’t think I was gonna get out of that!”

“H-hey, it was nothing. You needed help and I just did that.” He tells her.

“You do not know how happy I am to finally get out of that nightmare.” She says while letting go of his hands.

“You should be thanking the big guy here. You two would’ve been pancakes if it weren’t for him.” Spike says, referring to Charizard who growled while blushing a bit.

“Haha, yeah, thank you, buddy.” The boy then scratched the dragon on the chin.

Twilight started to smile at the sight.

The boy then turned back to her. “Oh, right. My name is Ash Ash Ketchum, and these are my buddies, Pikachu and Charizard.” He tells her as said Pokemon happily waved. “What about you? What’s your name?”

“Huh?” Twilight says before realizing. “O-oh, right. Sorry. Uh…” She says before adjusting her glasses. “My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my do-” She was saying before realizing. “P-Pokemon, Spike. Nice to meet you.” She corrects herself before looking around. “So, uh… do you… know where we are?” She asked.

“I’m not sure.” Ash says as he took a step away. “I don’t remember seeing this place before.” As he said that, he then recalls something. “Yeah, now that I think about it, I don’t really get why I’m here. Me and Pokemon followed a light that led us to this island without an explanation. I don’t know anything about this place.”

“I could provide you with some details.” They heard as they turned and saw a man in blue walk into view with a tall anthropomorphic jackal by his side.

“Riley?” Ash says, recognizing him.

“It’s good to see you’re back to normal, Ash. Maybe now we can have a proper reunion.” The man says with a smile as the jackal next to him nodded his head.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.” The boy says, happy as well.

“Oh yeah, he also helped with the whole, you know.” Spike then mentions.

“Really?” Twilight says, astonished before going up to him and bowing. “Thank you for saving me from that, I am… uh… what’s the word?” She mumbles to herself.

“There’s no need to bow. A simple thank you is enough.” The man says while holding his hand up.

“Okay, then… thank you.” Twilight stood up straight again.

“You're welcome.” Riley says before clearing. “I’m sure you have many questions-”

“Yeah, no kidding I have questions.” She interrupted him. “Where am I? What happened to me? What is with this place? And what is a Pokemon?!” She practically yelled the last question.

“Okay, okay, calm down. I can answer them, one at a time.” Riley explained with his hands up.

“I just wanna know! I’m so lost on what is going on here.” She says as one of Ash’s eyebrows rose.

“Wait, wait, wait, did you ask what Pokemon are?” The boy asked her, confused.

“Because I don’t know what they are!” She says while turning to him.

“You…” He shook his head for a moment, dumbfounded. “Y-you don’t know what Pokemon are?”

Twilight stared at him, thinking for a moment. “No, I don’t.”

“But… isn’t Spike your…” Ash trailed off.

“Well, maybe we should start with where we are.” Riley states. “This here island is unmarked and unnamed. As far as we know, this island has been inhabited by Pokemon for the longest time and only few humans find this place which you can see.” He then refers to the Pokemon.

“Okay, so that explains where I am… but what about the other three questions?” Twilight asked, still a little freaked out.

“Well, for what Pokemon are, I can tell you what they are.” The man says before looking towards Ash. “Would you like to help a bit with explaining.”

“Me?” The boy says, getting a nod in return before smiling. “Alright!” He says while adjusting his hat and going up to Twilight.

“Get ready. This explanation is probably gonna go for a long time.” Spike whispered to his partner as her mouth fell agape.

“Okay, now where do I begin.” Ash started. “For the most part, Pokemon don’t really need much of an explanation. There are many different types out there. Flying through the skies, swimming through the waters and running through the fields. Some live in-”

“I-I’m sorry, could you… give me like… the short version?” Twilight interrupted while tapping her fingertips.

“Um… well, that’s kinda the basis for the most part. I’ll try to shorten it.” The boy put his hand to his chin, thinking for a moment. “Well, there’s only more is needed to be explained. For the most part, Pokemon are creatures that can do so much amazing things.”

“Like… magic?”

“I guess you could say that, but I wouldn’t put it that way.” The boy explained as the girl rose an eyebrow. “We have Pokemon battles to test their abilities and even compete in tournaments.”

“Wait, I’m sorry, you make these things fight each other?” She asked, astonished.

“Wha-No! We don’t make them fight each other. It’s natural to them. They like battling. Ya know it’s kinda like a sport and all.” The boy quickly cleared up. “The point is, while there is the fun of Pokemon battles, Pokemon are also treated as family. What really makes them more powerful than anything is the love they get from their trainers.”

“So, like the power of friendship then?”

“Exactly.” He finishes.

“T-then this has to be Equstria right? I-I mean, mythical super powered animals, the power of friendship, this has to be it, right?” Twilight asked having a look of hope.

Hearing that, the boy and the Pokemon all looked dumbfounded, confused even. She looked back and forth between the only two humans before her face started to drop.

“Um… actually not the case.” Spike states.

“B-but, but, but, but, but…” She stuttered before stepping back.

“I’m afraid this place isn’t what you call Equestria.” Riley spoke up. “Much less, this world.”

“Huh?” Ash asked, confused.

“What, what are you talking about?” Twilight asks, getting worried.

“Oh boy.” Spike says before he starts flying in front of her. “Okay, whatever you do, don’t. Freak. Out.”

“Why? Why? Why are you telling me not to freak out?” She says only getting even more worried.

“Listen. We might be in… a different world.” He tells her.

Her eyes widened after he said that.

“Wait, what?” Ash asked, shocked.

“Yeah, I kinda had a talk with your pals about this last night.” The little Pokemon continued to explain.

“Wha-” Ash then looked at Pikachu before looking at Charizard, both of which scratched their heads a bit. “Wait a second.”

(Flashback)

Ash struggled to get himself to his feet, still holding his stomach looking up at the horror as more tears in reality began to open around the island. While he had seen so much destruction in his past, he never thought he’d wake up to find something like this out of nowhere.

“Why is this-?” He started to ask himself as he tried to walk, only to trip and almost fall into the ground.

(Flashback Over)

He gasped as he remembered. “What a sec, you…” He pauses before recalling what he saw through the portals. “Last night, I… I saw that other world.”

“Finally starting to catch on.” Spike says.

“Through those portals right?” Riley asked as the boy nodded. “Figured as much.” He says before approaching the girl. “Listen I know this may sound unbelievable, but I believe something mustive happened to you that brought you here in the first place.”

“What is it then?!” Twilight practically yelled.

“Uh, Twilight…” Spike says, getting her attention. “Ya remember what I said about not freaking out?”

“Spike, just tell me already!”

“Okay!” He says, hands up. “You see uh… the reason you’re here… it’s because of Midnight Sparkle.” The mention of the name made Twilight her gasp.

Twilight was still desperately trying to break the chains.

“She sorta took over and did the whole, you know-”

Dark energy soon began to slither around her and envelop her body.

“Opened a few portals here and there-”

“Help!”

“And well, went through one of them, which led us here.”

“Please, you have to help-MMPH!”

Suddenly, Twilight’s legs felt weak and she fell to her knees which made the others worried at the sight.

“Twilight!” Spike flew to her side.

“Hey!” Ash says as he ran over to her.

“No… no… no…” She starts muttering to herself as darkness was starting to emit from her. “It can’t… she’s… she’s not real, no… she’s…”

“Twilight, snap out of it!” The boy says while crouching down to her and grabbing her arms.

“She can’t-she can’t do anything! There’s no way!” Her voice was suddenly starting to rise.

“Calm down!”

Suddenly, Ash’s hands started to glow blue which surprised him at first, until he noticed that the darkness was starting to slowly fade and Twilight started to calm down. Once it was gone, the glow from his hands faded. She then looked up and made eye contact with him and started to feel more relaxed.

“Just as I expected.” Riley says as they turned to him, seeing his now stoic face. “I think it’s safe to say that you two are in the same situation.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ash asked while helping Twilight to her feet.

“What I mean is that you two seem to have some kind of dark entity continued within your bodies. I can sense it easily.” The man explained.

“What?”

“You don’t remember? You were like… this evil version of yourself.” Spike states while gesturing with his hands. “You had this like, glow to you, your eyes were red and your voice was… so deep and… really frightening.”

“Oh, what’s the matter? Don’t tell me, you’re tired already?”

Ash put a hand on his head as recalled more memories. “Was… was that what was happening to me?”

“Seemed like it. You seemed like your own version of Midnight or something.” The little Pokemon continued.

“Ash, I don’t think that light that led you here to this island led you here for no reason.” Riley starts to explain again.

“What reason then?” Ash asked again.

“It’s just a hunch, but I think that it might’ve known of the darkness in you and possibly led you here to avoid causing destruction.” The man says before walking up and putting a finger up to the boy’s chest. “And whatever dark entity you hold is clearly after your aura, and gaining access to it is what caused so much destruction in the first place.”

Ash rested his hand on his chest, recalling even more of the damage he saw last night. He opened his mouth, but no words formed.

“As for your case, Twilight-” Riley then said, looking over to said girl. “I don’t know if this has anything to do with you or if your involvement is pure coincidence, but it’s clear that whatever darkness inside you is also just as dangerous.” He then took a step back to face both of them.

“So, what now?” Ash asked.

“Considering the circumstances, I believe that they’re both after one thing. Your aura’s power was what brought the darkness to you to begin with, so training you to use it is probably the best.” The man states before turning to Twilight. “And while I don’t know if aura is something you have in your world, maybe it’s best I teach you how to use it as well.”

“What?!” She says in shock. “But… b-but if it’s from your world, how could I use it?”

“It’s worth a shot, but teaching you how to use it will help you. Once you learn how to use the better of aura you might just be able to overpower whatever this evil energy is within both of you and be rid of it.”

Ash looked at Twilight who seemed to be nervous. Then again, what wasn’t nerve-racking about what they were just told? He then looked down at his hands and clenched one fist before putting a hand on her shoulder to assure her.

“I’ll do it.” He says, which caught her attention. “Where do we start?”

Before any answer could be given, a loud growl interrupted them. The whole tone was broken in just an instant and everyone looked at the boy. He had sheepish look on his face before putting a hand on his stomach.

“Sorry.” He nervously laughed.

Riley simply chuckled before speaking. “We’ll start with breakfast, then step one. Come on.”

With that he turned around and started walking away, gesturing for them to follow. Ash adjusted his hat and started to follow with his Pokemon just behind. Twilight stayed though, looking at her own hands before looking uneasy.

“You okay?” Spike asked, still on her shoulder.

“I… I don’t know.” She answered. “I mean… the fact that Midnight had…” She sighed. “If she was still here then… will this ‘aura’ really stop her?”

“Like the guy said, it’s worth a shot.” The small Pokemon says.

“I hope so.”

To be continued

Aura 101

Author's Notes:

Alright guys, I’m back after a while. To be honest, I might be becoming a brony myself. Not a cringy one, but… yeah, MLP’s really growing on me.
Also if you think this is gonna be a boring chapter, you’d be right.

“Man, that smells so good.” Ash says with a wide smile while watching Riley stir a ladle in a pot.

“No kidding.” Spike says while drooling.

“Pika, Pika.” Pikachu says doing the same.

“Don’t drool too much.” Riley states.

Twilight was sitting on a log, looking around at the green field around her, seeing the trees and seeing many caterpillar-looking Pokemon crawling around them. She was a little grossed out by the sight, but other than that, still was in disbelief. Just last week she had encountered a magical force that turned her into an evil villain, nearly destroying Canterlot High, now she was in this mysterious world full of these mythical-looking creatures.

As fascinating as they were to her, she was still uneasy about the whole thing. The fact that Midnight was behind this and the idea that she was actually a real… whatever she was, just living inside of her and trying to take over her still didn’t settle in.

“Alright, breakfast is served.” Riley says as Ash pumps his fist in the air.

He and the Pokemon went up and got bowls for themselves. Spike inspected the soup before turning to Pikachu and seeing him eat a bit.

“Is it good?” He asked.

“Pikachu! ~” The mouse says happily.

He turned back to the soup, then gave it a lick before smiling and began chowing down.

“Oh, man, Riley. This is awesome!” Ash says with glee. “Man, I could learn a lot from you and Brock.”

“Slow down, don’t choke yourself before we get to training.” The man tells him.

The boy smiled before turning to Twilight and realizing she didn’t have a bowl. He decided to grab one and walk over to her.

“Hey, Twilight.” He asks before seeing her still looking down, not saying anything. “Twilight?” He says again before placing his bowl down. “Twilight-?” He then reached out to tap her shoulder.

She squealed a bit, flinching back before looking up at him with a frightened face. The sudden shout startled him a bit and took him aback. They stared into each other’s eyes for a bit before seeing her bowl in his hand. He looked down, then held it out to her.

“T-the soup’s done.” He says, still bewildered.

She stared for another second before straightening herself up. “Thank you.” She says while taking it from him.

She looked down at her soup for a second before looking at the rest. They all had looks of sympathy plastered on their faces. She felt a little uneasy as she turned away before she began eating. The boy sat on the log next to her.

“You okay?” He asked as she looked back at him.

“Y-yeah, sorry.” She says before awkwardly laughing. “‘This’ is good.” She then says, trying to brush it off.

“If you’re thinking about Midnight Sparkle, I believe you don’t have to worry. At least not right now.” Riley explains before giving the other Pokemon a bowl as well. “As I said, we’ll start with the basics after breakfast we’ll start with the basics on aura.”

“Thanks, but… it’s not really that… well, actually it kinda is, but it’s more of…” She says while looking around at the Pokemon. “Uh… this… world and… all.”

“Hey, it’s no trouble really. It’s actually understandable.” Ash tells her. “I bet you don’t have much amazement in your world, huh?”

“I mean… I… well, I don’t really know how I would put it.”

“Still, a world without Pokemon. Who could imagine something like that?”

“Easy for you to say. You weren’t dragged out of your world and dropped into a strange place full of strange creatures and… all that other stuff.”

“Well, I can’t say I haven’t been in another world before.” The boy then says which caused her to perk up.

“Unfortunately, I’m not experienced in such a thing.” Riley says.

“Is this your first time?” Spike asked Pikachu.

“Pika.” The yellow mouse shook his head in response.

“Huh, go figure.”

Chapter 5: Aura 101

Once they were done with breakfast, they went out in the field. Ash and Twilight sat in the grass with Riley sitting in front of them, all three with their legs crossed. Spike, Pikachu, and Charizard sat on the side, watching them.

“Are you two ready?” Riley asked.

“I’m ready, alright!” Ash says with enthusiasm.

“Um…” Twilight says, looking back and forth. “I-I think so.”

“Good. Now before we begin, there is one thing you must know.” The man began explaining. “The most important part you must remember is to control aura you must have a clear mind. More or less, you must relax your body more than anything else.”

Hearing that, Ash straightened himself up and let himself relax like he was said. Twilight watched and followed his example.

“The second most important part is to relinquish any negative thoughts. They will hinder you the most while using your aura. This also tends to be the hardest part about it.” The man continued to explain.

“Got it.” Ash says.

“Uh… is there a third thing we need to remember?” Twilight asked.

“Just one more. It’s to use it wisely and preserve it. Overuse of it could cause some unintended consequences.” Riley states. “Do you understand now?”

“Yeah, got it.” Ash says.

Twilight looked at him before turning back. “I… I guess…”

“It’s okay to admit if you understand or not.” Riley asked.

“No, no, I understand most of what you said… some… a bit…” She says, looking unsure.

“Don’t worry. There’s no need to rush this training.” Riley says before moving his hands up as if holding something. “Let’s start by forming a normal aura sphere. To do this, you’ll need to channel energy through your body and into your hands.” He explains before Twilight raises her hand. “Yes?”

“Uh… how do you ‘channel’ energy exactly?” She asked.

“It’s not hard to do. As I said, all you have to do is relax and focus.”

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion before looking left and right. Spike looked at Pikachu in confusion who just shrugged.

Riley then proceeded to create an aura sphere without effort, much to the other two’s amazement. He held it out in one hand as it floated above his palm before it dissolved.

“Once you successfully create one, you’ll be ready for the next step.” He explained. “Ash, would you like to start?”

“Sure thing.” Ash says with a thumbs up.

He started by putting his hands together as if he was holding something, then closed his eyes. They waited, nothing happened for a while. Twilight looked back and forth between them, opened her mouth about to say something before a flash filled the boy’s hands. When he opened his eyes, he looked at his hands and smiled widely before holding up an aura sphere in one hand.

“Sweet! Look at that.” He says all giddy. “Hey, Pikachu, Charizard! Look at this!” He says while tossing the sphere around like a ball.

“Pika, Pika!” The little mouse cheers happily while the aforementioned dragon roars in the same tone.

“Good job. I think you’re ready for the next step.” Riley says before looking at the girl. “And Twilight.”

“Huh? O-oh, right. Um…” She says before looking at Ash. “S-so, I just do what he did?” She asked, getting a nod in return. “Okay… okay I can do this. I can do this.” She says while shifting a bit.

“Remember, don’t force yourself. Just relax your mind and release the tension in your muscles.”

“Right, right.” She says before breathing in, then out, getting her hands in position, and closing her eyes.

“Good. Now focus your mind on channeling energy to your hands.”

“Got it, got it.”

She did what he said… well, did what she thought it was supposed to be. She breathed out before focusing hard. Her eyes squinted a bit and her body tensed for a moment, but she did as she was told and calmed down, continuing on the mindset to create an aura sphere.

She waited a bit… then a little longer… then longer… then opened her eyes and looked at her hands to see… nothing. Nothing was there. She didn’t see anything in her hands.

“I-it’s not working. A-am I doing something wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Easy, I didn’t say you had to get it done on your first try.” Riley states. “Just keep trying until you do.”

“A-are you sure that I can do this? He did it so easily.” She says referring to Ash.

“Well, it’s not exactly the first time I used aura.” Ash states.

“The likes of what?” Riley asked.

“Well, there was one time in Sinnoh when a Riolu was in trouble and he used his aura to talk to me and I used my own to keep track of where he was going.”

“S-see? He’s done this before. I haven’t.” Twilight tries to explain.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you’re incapable. As I said, there’s no need to rush this.” Riley tells her. “For now, we’ll focus on Ash’s training. If we can’t get you to learn to use aura, then… well-”

“We’ll find another to get rid of these evil things in us.” Ash says. “No matter what.”

Twilight still felt unsure, but held onto his word. Riley smiled at the boy’s determination as his Lucario went up and patted him on the back. Riolu sat by, watching with interest.

“So, how long do you think it’s gonna take?” Spike asked, looking at Pikachu.

“Pika, Pika. Pikachu.” The mouse tells him.

“Do they?” He says with a raised eyebrow, before humming. “Well, never been on one of your little adventures before.”

“Okay, but like… off topic.” Twilight says while standing up. “I-is there a bathroom somewhere around here?” She asked and they all stared at her.

Ash looked away before nervously scratching his head. “Uh…” He says which made her look nervous.

“Uh… outhouse?” She then asked.

“Pikachu.” Pikachu sighed.

“Yeah, I don’t think so, either.” Spike responds as Charizard huffs with a hand on his head.

“Y-you’re saying there…” Twilight gulped. “I-isn’t even a toilet nearby or anything?”

“Well, as I said, there isn’t really any civilization here other than the Pokemon.” Riley explained.

She stared for a moment, eyes slowly widening in fear. “S-so I’d have to… go in the woods?”

“It seems that way.”

“A-a-a-a-” She stumbled over her words before shaking her head. “You cannot be serious!”

“I mean, it more or less happens with traveling.” Ash says before going over to his bag and digging through it. “I got supplies to help.”

She paused for a second before hunching over with a groan. “And I thought Midnight would’ve been the worst thing I’d be dealing with.”

(Later)

Ash was throwing his backpack on as Twilight came back, soap, water bottle, and toilet paper in hand. She looked horrified as she handed the supplies back.

“That was horrible.” She says before seeing the boy start walking. “Wait… where are you going?”

“I’m just gonna go for a walk around the island for a bit. Ya know, see what it has to offer and everything.” He tells her.

“W-what about the… ya know… training to use… aura…?”

“Well, one of the parts about training is to have a clear and calm mind, right?” He asked while adjusting his backpack straps. “Taking a walk could help.”

“Pika.” Pikachu says while jumping onto his shoulder.

“We won’t be gone for too long.” He then says as he walks down a dirt road.

She stood dumbfounded before Spike flew up and landed on her shoulder. “He may have a point. You should try it too.” He says.

“I should?” She asked.

“Hey, he’s the expert here.”

She looked back at the campsite, watching the orange dragon start stretching while Riley and Lucario came back with more firewood. She looked up in thought before sighing.

“What the heck. Hey! Wait up for me!” She called out as she ran in the direction of the boy.

Riolu watched, still seeming interested. Lucario noticed as he turned to face him. The older jackal just gave a shrug, which the younger seemed to take an acceptable answer and hopped onto its feet before trotting off in the duo’s direction.

Charizard saw and gave Lucario a questioning look with a raised brow, only getting a shrug in return before he did the same.

(Meanwhile)

“Okay, so uh…” Twilight says while following the boy. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell me? Maybe something I should be concerned about… like any kind of dangers?”

“Not much really. There are some places you’ll need to watch for like territories that have some dangerous Pokemon, but other than that, I don’t think there’s much more.” Ash explains to her.

“Is there any way to tell if we’re anywhere dangerous?”

“Yeah, stuff like claw marks on trees, there might be some webs done by Bug Type Pokemon, sometimes there are young ones that the parent Pokemon can be extremely protective over.”

“And uh… how often do you travel?” She asks.

“I’ve been doing it ever since I was ten.”

“Oh, I see… wait what?”

“Yeah, I first started my journey around my home region Kanto. It was a real blast. I got to see a lot of different Pokemon.”

“You traveled an entire region on your own at ten years old?”

“Not on my own. I had my friends with me and that made everything awesome.”

“Pika, Pika.” Pikachu chimed in.

“Still, ten years old. How could your parents allow that?” Twilight asked as they came to a stop.

“It’s just a thing. Every kid ten or older can get a license to become a Pokemon Trainer.” Ash explains. “It felt like a dream when I finally became a trainer. That was my first step to becoming a Pokemon Master.”

“Pokemon Master?”

“Yeah. It’s always been my dream.” Ash says while he started scratching Pikachu’s chin before he continued walking.

Twilight was still a little astonished when hearing about how kids become Pokemon Trainers at so young… well, a little was an understatement. She still had tons of questions to ask, though wasn’t sure what to ask next.

Her thoughts were suddenly cut short when she felt something land on her head. She looked up and saw what looked like a round owl-like creature looking down at her with curious red eyes.

“H-hello?” She says with a hand up, a little nervous.

All it did was hoot in response. She looked at Spike who just shrugged with a shake of his head, not knowing what to do either. It then hopped off her head and onto the ground, pecking at it.

“That’s a Hoothoot.” Ash says while walking up to her.

“A what now?”

“Well, uh…” He says before thinking for a moment. “Here, maybe this will explain better.”

He took off his backpack and looked through it. As he was, the owl turned up, making eye contact with her and staring with a tilt of its head. It made her feel uncomfortable before it turned back to peck at the ground, before catching a worm.

“Here we are.” Ash then pulled out some kind of device that intrigued Twilight.

“Cool, but what is it?” Spike asked with a brow raised.

“It’s a Pokedex. It tells you what Pokemon you come across.” He says before showing them the screen which scanned the Pokemon, then started talking.

“Hoothoot: the Owl Pokémon. Hoothoot has a perfect sense of time. Whatever happens, it keeps rhythm by precisely tilting its head in time. It always stands on one foot. It changes feet so fast, the movement can rarely be seen.” It explained to them.

“Oh, my gosh, that is so cool.” Twilight says with a cheery smile.

“I actually had one of these back then. If you think this is cool, you should see what it evolves into.” Ash says before putting his Pokedex away. “If you want I could help you catch it.”

“Ah, no. I-I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Um, well.” She looked at the owl. “I-I think Spike is enough for me.”

“Yeah, I’m not looking to have a roommate.” Spike also says

“Alright, suit yourself.” Ash says before the two of them continued walking, not much longer into their walk, they then come to a stop and stare in awe as their partners jumped off their shoulders. “Woah.”

Right in front of them was a field with a long and burnt crater across from them. Following that were several burnt trees and a few more craters as some of the Pokemon were staring, either in shock, fear, or curiosity.

“Did… D-Did we do all this?” Twilight asked in astonishment.

“I think so.” Ash responded. “I can’t believe I even have the power to cause this much destruction at all.” He says before he turns and sees the girl stepping back. “Twilight? Where’re you going?”

“I-I’m sorry, I…” She stuttered while rubbing her arms. “I-I need a minute. I’ll see you back at the campsite.” She says before turning and walking away.

“Um… okay. Don’t get lost.” He tells her.

As she left, he had a worried look on his face before turning back to the destruction. He then got a sudden sting in his head, grunting as he rubbed his temple before looking back.

“Pikachu.” Pikachu says.

“I think we might be here for a while too.” Spike says.

(Canterlot High)

“Wait, wait, wait.” Flash says as the group all stood in front of the statue. “So, let me get this straight, the Twilight that currently goes to our school right now is not the Twilight that I met, but the one I did meet came from another world where she’s a princess?”

“Yep, that’s the long and short of it.” Rainbow tells him.

The boy put a hand on his head. “Honestly, this is kinda hard to take in.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to say that.” AJ tells him.

“So, what are we doing here?” Rainbow asked.

“I thought it’d be obvious by now.” Sunset says. “As much as she might be dealing with some things in Equestria, we’re gonna need Princess Twilight’s help. I don’t think this is something we do on our own.”

“You sure about that?” Flash asked.

“She’s helped us out a lot before. If there’s anypony that could help us figure out how Midnight’s magic works, it’s Twilight. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Sunset then went into the statue and disappeared.

The group stared for a minute… before Flash spoke up. “So, do we just… sit here.”

“Yeah, this is the part that gets boring.” Rainbow says.

“I brought cupcakes!” Pinkie then says as she pulled out a tray of cupcakes surprising the others.

To be continued…