Disparate Flames

It was a warm summer afternoon in the Pokémon World. All types of Pokémon were freely roaming and fighting others in the tall grass. Somewhere at Island One, a ten-year-old boy named Ash Ketchum was walking through tall grass with his level twenty-eight Wartortle, searching for some Pokémon that he can battle, and maybe a certain one that he wanted to catch. After wandering through the tall grass, Ash encountered a flaming horse creature called a Ponyta.

"Aw, yes! Finally!" Ash Ketchum said with excitement as he faced the creature. Hmm, Wartortle is a water type, so I better be careful, he thought to himself.

"Wartortle! Use 'Rapid Spin!'" Ash commanded his Pokémon. Wartortle then pulled all of its limbs into its shell, spun like a disk, and attacked the enemy creature. The Ponyta's legs went weak, but it came back up. Then, flames started to surround it. The second that Ash knew, Wartortle got tackled by the Ponyta, leaving a few burnt marks on him.

        "Wartortle! Bite!" commanded Ash Ketchum once again. The Wartortle then charged at the enemy and bit it right in the foreleg. The Ponyta frantically shook its legs in order to get the Pokémon off. Wartortle tumbled back with a flip and ran back to its master. Ash noticed that the Ponyta was limping. Oh! Now's my chance! he thought to himself.

Ash Ketchum put his fingers into one of his pockets and began to feel out what he was looking for. Then, he pulled out a blue plastic ball with two red stripes surrounding it. A Great Ball! Hopefully, this works, Ash thought to himself as he was gripping on the sphere.

With all of his might, he threw the ball at Ponyta. The Great Ball hovered over the Pokémon for a second and opened. The Ponyta then turned into a bright red color and was captured in the Pokéball, making the object drop to the ground and its white center beeping red.

"Yes! Yeeessssss!" Ash cheered in delight. "You did a great job!" he said to Wartortle, "Now, I think we had a long day today. Why don't we go back to Pallet Town and meet Professor Oak there?" his Pokémon replied with a simple nod.

After almost two hours of walking, Ash Ketchum arrived at the Oak Pokémon Research Laboratory. He entered through the doors and met with an adult with gray hair and a labcoat. Next to him was a Pokémon named an 'Alakazam.'

"Professor Oak!" Ash called out. Oak turned around surprised to see who called his name.

"Greetings, Ash," Professor Oak answered back. Ash Ketchum took the Great Ball out of his pocket and waved it in the air.

"Professor Oak! Professor Oak! I caught a Ponyta!" Ash called out. The professor's head tilted up high in interest.

"A Ponyta, you say? That's wonderful news, young boy," Oak responded. Ash Ketchum noticed the Alakazam and the clipboard in the professor's hands.

"Professor, what are you doing?" asked the curious Ash.

"Oh, I'm just doing some research as usual," said Professor Oak.

"Well, what are you researching about?"

"You see, Ash, there has been a myth going around in Pallet Town that Alakazams can apparently summon portals. Crazy kids these days.... Anyways, so I'm researching this one Alakazam to prove this so-called theory incorrect," Professor Oak stated.

"Cool!" Ash said.

"Now, may you do the honors?" Oak said. Ash Ketchum nodded in agreement and stepped forward to the Pokémon.

"Alakazam! Use 'Portal Summon'!" With that command, the Alakazam twirled his spoons and out came a mystical gateway. Gusts of wind started to surround the laboratory and the portal seemed to be sucking both the professor and Ash. In a split second, the Alakazam teleported away.

"Where did it go?" Ash asked.

"Ash! That's the least of our problems here! That Pokémon seems to have summoned a black hole, not a portal! Ash, all you can do now is run before this laboratory or even we could be sucked in there!" The professor exclaimed, as he ran for his life. As Ash followed him, he lost his grip on the Great Ball, which was sucked toward the opening.

"Ponyta!" Ash cried out as he tried to rescue the ball.

"Ash?? Are you kidding me?! Come on, run before your life gets lost!" Professor Oak yelled out, frustrated out as he grabbed on Ash's arm and ran outside the lab. After both made it outside the laboratory, the Great Ball fell through the portal, which immediately closed.

"I-it's gone?!" Ash exclaimed, confused.

"I may not be a scientist on physics. But, it doesn't take that much for me to figure out that when an object falls into a black hole and it seemed to close it, that does not make any sense whatsoever!" Ignoring what Professor Oak stated, Ash gazed on the spot where the doorway was.

"M-my Ponyta...."

Meanwhile somewhere in Equestria, the mysterious portal appeared in a field near the Everfree Forest. The Great Ball shot out and released the Ponyta. Astounded, confused, and curious, it decided to explore the unfamiliar surroundings. The Ponyta started galloping near the edge of a nearby town. Not too far away, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were taking a stroll. Twilight looked up at the sky.

"Isn't it a beautiful day today in Ponyvil- Ah!"   Pinkie lightly giggled at her friend's sudden outburst.

"What's wrong, Twilight? Did the beautifulness stun your eyes?" Twilight Sparkle gave a smile.

"No, Pinkie. It's just that I got the sun in them."

"Silly Twily! If the sun were in your eyes, wouldn't they be burning right now?" at first, Twilight was annoyed. But, she realized that Pinkie Pie was just being her usual self and making jokes like that. Suddenly, Pinkie let out a huge gasp and ran towards the edge of Ponyviille. Twilight Sparkle sprinted after her. Now where is *she** going?* Twilight thought to herself.

After a few minutes of running, Twilight Sparkle finally found Pinkie Pie, standing with an agape mouth.

"Pinkie Pie, what was it that you were running towards?" with her mouth still wide-opened, Pinkie raised her trembling hoof. "Twilight, l-look!"

"Look at wha- Oh my gosh..." in front of the two ponies stood the wandering Ponyta, who continued to frolick in the open fields.

"We haven't had a new pony come to Ponyville in the last few weeks! This is one of the many happiest moments of my entire life!"

"But Pinkie... this pony doesn't look like it comes from Equestria, or even this world!"

"So? Any kind of pony is welcomed in Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie did a light gasp and slapped her cheek with a hoof. "Oh no! I forgot my "Welcome to Ponyville" fun cart! How am I supposed to welcome him...uh... her.. or whatever to Ponyville now?" she then grabbed on both Twilight's withers and shook her in agitation. After recovering from the shake, Twilight Sparkle came up a response.

"Why don't you just do the normal way of introducing yourself? You know, no random song outbursts?" Pinkie gave her a blank stare.

"I haven't done that in a long time!" Twilight gave her a skeptical look.  "Alright, I suppose I could..." She trotted over to the Ponyta, giving her usual bright smile. "Hi!" Ponyta turned around, seeing Pinkie and her excited grin.

"I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm just so happy to see you! We haven't had a new pony come to Ponyville in a while!" the Pokémon gazed in silence. "Say, what's your name?" the Ponyta whinnied in response. "That's an awesome name, Mr. NEIGH!" Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes but gave a smile at the same time. Pinkie Pie slowly reached her hoof onto the Ponyta's back.

"How about Twilight and I show you around- Aah! My hoof! It burns!" Pinkie Pie flailed her hoof in the air. Twilight trotted a few steps forward to the Pokémon and took a closer look.

"My gosh! This creature's mane and tail are made of actual fire!"

"Woah, what?" Pinkie Pie said. When her hoof finally cooled down, she gained a smug grin and a few giggles.

"Hey Twilight,"

"Yes, Pinkie?"

"You know what I realized?" Twilight Sparkle became skeptical, but curious.

"What is it?" more chortling came from Pinkie.

"This pony looks like somepony. In fact, somepony we know, am I right, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie said as she elbowed her friend. "Remember... at Froggy Bottom Bogg?"

"Oh yea- H-Hey!" Pinkie Pie laughed harder as Twilight's cheeks were blushing. After Pinkie Pie got ahold of herself, she walked back to Ponyta, still making a few giggles.

"Hehe, sorry Mr. NEIGH! I just- Haha!- had to bring that up to my friend," Pinkie said.

"So, where were you before you came to Ponyville, Mr. NEIGH?" the Ponyta simply gave a bray and started galloping towards the west. "Where's he going?"

"I don't know, but I think we should follow him to make sure he's safe," Twilight assured as she and Pinkie Pie ran after him.

After a few minutes of running, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie finally found the Ponyta, standing on a field near the Everfree Forest. Once they reached Ponyta, both of them (even Pinkie Pie) became confused.

"So... where did you come from, exactly?" Pinkie asked. The Ponyta stamped its hoof on the grass.

"I think he's trying to say that he came from ... here," Twilight said as she pointed her hoof on the grass. "But, that doesn't make any sense! If he came from 'here', then how does he look so different?"

"But, Twilight! You shouldn't just-" Pinkie Pie was interrupted by a roar coming from the forest.

"What was that?" Twilight Sparkle asked anxiously. Emerging from the forest were a pack of large wolves that were made of magical wood.

"Timberwolves?! Applejack warned us about these things!" the yellow eyes of the Timberwolves glowed in the darkness of the Everfree Forest. One of them gave another large growl. Twilight take a deep breath, lit up her horn, and got ready to charge as the Timberwolves came closer and stood on the field.

"Pinkie Pie, you go watch over this pony and make sure he doesn't get hurt. I'll go take care of them mys-" suddenly, the Ponyta leapt in front of Twilight and faced the Timberwolves.

"Mr. NEIGH, no!" Pinkie Pie shouted. Ponyta bounced towards one of the Timberwolves with a forceful tackle. In return, the Timberwolf bit him on the leg. Ponyta gave a whinny of pain as he ran around the pack, surrounding them with intense fire. The wood of the Timberwolves started to burn and turn to ash. The Ponyta stepped a few feet away and charged at the pack, leaving a trail of fire. The Timberwolves' wood and fell to the ground, still burning. Most of them already turned to wood ash. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie ran over to the Ponyta in excitement and joy.

"Mr. NEIGH, you did it!!" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced happily.

"I must say, that was pretty impressive!" Twilight said. Promptly, the Ponyta's body turned into light. Twilight and Pinkie shielded their eyes.

"What's happening to you, Mr. Neigh?" Pinkie asked. A few seconds later, Ponyta's body grew two feet and a unicorn horn. It was now in its evolved form, Rapidash. Both Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie's jaws were agape.

"Wow! You gotta teach me how to do that!" Pinkie said as she approached the Ponyta with a warm smile. "You're a great friend, you know that? You kicked those Timberwolves' flanks just for us!" Pinkie added.

Twilight Sparkle had a happy grin as well. Pinkie was right. It doesn't matter if 'Mr. Neigh' came from this world or not, Twilight thought to herself. Right in the corner of her eye, she spotted a hint of blue. Hmm, what's that? Twilight thought once again as she approached the object.

When Twilight Sparkle levitated the object, it turned out to be a blue ball with two red stripes and a black stripe surrounding it. She carefully examined this newfound entity.

"Pinkie Pie, come here!" Twilight called out. Pinkie ran straight to her.

"Yeah, Twilight?"

"Look what I've found," Twilight Sparkle hovered the blue sphere to Pinkie Pie, giving her a careful look. "I have absolutely no idea what this thing is or what it does, however," Twilight added. Pinkie Pie nudged the sphere with her muzzle, bounced it up, and made it land perfectly on her head.

"Neat!" she said. Pinkie turned her head towards the Rapidash, who was rubbing its forelegs. Mr. Neigh needs some fun time. He has been such a great friend by protecting us from those mean monsters! she thought.

"Mr. Neigh! Think fast!" Pinkie made the blue sphere go down her muzzle and bounced it over to Rapidash. With a light thud, it hit its forehead, right under the horn.

"Oh my gosh! Mr. Neigh! I'm so sorr-" Pinkie interrupted her apology with a heavy gasp. When the ball made an impact on Rapidash, the Pokémon turned into a body of light and got sucked into the blue sphere. The object landed on the ground with a thump. Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped even lower than when she discovered the Rapidash in the first place. Twilight Sparkle noticed what in Equestria happened and became distraught.

"Pinkie... what did you just do?!" Twilight asked.

"I-I don't know!" Pinkie Pie leapt toward the ball and urgently tried to split it open. "Don't worry there, Mr. Neigh! Twilight and I will get you outta' there somehow!"

Twilight Sparkle became concerned of not only the Rapidash being trapped, but also for Pinkie's happiness. She is my friend, so I have to help her, Twilight thought as she stepped closer to the struggling Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Pie, let me try and help you," Twilight Sparkle said. Pinkie let go of the ball and latched onto Twilight.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you Twilight!"

"Don't let your expectations get too high, Pinkie Pie," Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed the magenta aura once again and levitated the blue sphere up to her level. She made a determined smirk and started to crack open the ball with her magic. Twilight quickly struggled to unsecure the Pokéball and dropped the sphere in defeat. She panted for a few seconds.

"Pinkie, it's no use. We'll never be able to ope-"

"You don't have to worry, Twilight. I will work all day and night to open this ball myself!"

"Um, Pinkie Pie, I-" Pinkie ignored what Twilight Sparkle was about to say and attempted to open the Pokéball by gripping onto a half of it and pulling with one of her hooves. She's Pinkie Pie, so I don't know what she's fully capable of. I'll just let her be, Twilight thought to herself as she walked back a few steps and observed Pinkie Pie with her unusual antics until Luna's moon rose.