My Little Pokémon: Hoop Hoppers

Chapters

Prologue: Hoop Hoppers
Chapter 1: Where are we?
Chapter 2: What are we doing?

Prologue: Hoop Hoppers

In the small town of Ponyville, the impressive, crystalline structure that is the Castle of Friendship stood glistening in the midday sun. Inside sat Princess Twilight Sparkle, along with three of her five closest friends: Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, though the last one was currently jumping between the few remaining unopened boxes of books that were still in Twilight’s study. All four of them were in the study, each having found a book to keep them interested while they had a break on one of Ponyville’s less eventful days.

It had been just over a month since Twilight’s last visit to the human world and her and Sunset Shimmer had been keeping in touch via Sunset’s old diary, which Twilight had since modified so she could write back to Sunset. She had been telling Twilight about all the things she had learned from her new friends, much like the friendship reports Twilight used to send Princess Celestia. One particular report concerned how Pinkie Pie had introduced Sunset to a ‘video game’ called Pokémon, a game in which you play a character who captures and battles many creatures known as Pokémon. It seemed an unusual game to the Princess of Friendship, originally finding the concept rather barbaric for a children’s game but Sunset cleared up the alicorn’s original confusion soon after, explaining how the creatures didn’t really get hurt.

The game seemed to be very popular with humans of all ages in that world, many fully grown humans also taking a strangely scientific approach to the games, or ‘forgetting how to really enjoy the games’ as Pinkie had supposedly put it. Pokémon seemed to make a second appearance in Sunset’s reports, with her saying she had made amends with some of the other students at Canterlot High School through the game. It’s amazing how such a simple thing could make up for what she had done to them, Twilight thought to herself as she put the diary down to take a look around at her friends.

Rarity and Fluttershy were sat together on a large sofa, flicking through the old fashion magazines Celestia had sent Rarity. Rarity had hoped she could find something vintage she may be able to bring back, and Fluttershy was happy to read the articles with her friend. Two of her other friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had gone home after finding books for themselves to read. Applejack had found some old farming books, one written by one of the original Apple family who first moved to Ponyville, so she had borrowed that to show everyone at the upcoming Apple Family reunion. Rainbow Dash had found an original Daring Doo book, but couldn’t get comfy enough to reread it in the castle, so she had flown home to her clouds. Pinkie Pie, however, was nowhere to be found, until Twilight looked back down at Sunset’s diary.

“Heeeeeey, Twilight,” Pinkie sang from between the diary and Twilight, who promptly jumped back and screamed, “what’s a ‘Pokémon’?”

“Pinkie Pie, don’t scare ponies like that,” Twilight scolded her, “why were you even there?”

“Duh, I was reading the diary, silly-filly,” the bubbly mare replied matter-of-factly.

“Of course,” Twilight deadpanned.

“So, what are they?” Pinkie asked again.

“From what Sunset’s told me,” Twilight began after straightening her mane to something respectable, “they’re creatures in a game that humans play. You, as the main character, have to catch and battle these creatures so they get stronger. Apparently the Pokémon aren’t hurt by the battles, at least not enough that they’re seriously injured. There are lots of species that all look very different and have different powers; I think Sunset said there were over 700 since the latest games came out.” Pinkie Pie looked more excited the more Twilight spoke, which Twilight noticed, “The Pinkie Pie in that world really likes these games, too,” Twilight finished with a smile.

“Well she must know what she’s on about then,” Pinkie beamed, “she must have a Pinkie sense like mine, only she found cool stuff, but I don’t think humans have tails so how would she know when it was a twitchy tail, double blink combo, or what abou-“

Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, “Thanks, Rarity.”

“My pleasure, darling,” Rarity said calmly as she extracted her hoof from Pinkie’s mouth, following up by wiping said hoof on said Pinkie, wrinkling her nose in disgust at what was on her hoof. “That ‘game’ sounds very odd, Twilight. Are you sure it’s filly-friendly?”

“I’m sure, Rarity,” Twilight reassured her, “I think you’d like it, Fluttershy,” she called over to her friend who had been listening in like Rarity had, “you get to make so many friends and look after them all.”

“Oh that would be lovely,” Fluttershy sighed, “I can’t imagine making that many new animal friends, I can see why Sunset said it is popular.”

“Imagine if we were Pokémon and all had to fight each other to see who the best was,” Pinkie blurted out, “then, when we were all done, I could throw a Pokémon party.”

“Of course, Pinkie,” Rarity smiled at her crazy friend, “whatever you say.”

Before Rarity could re-join Fluttershy at the magazines, Spike, Twilight’s number one assistant and dragon brother, ran into the room, panting heavily. Before he could catch his breath, he tried to blurt out his message, “Twilight… new room… magic hoop… quick…”

“Calm down, Spike,” Twilight said as she flew across the room to Spike, placing one of her forehooves on his shoulder, “deep breaths, and then you can tell us what’s happened.”

Doing as instructed, Spike took several deep – and dramatic – breaths before trying again, “I was in the basement-“

“-the dungeon!” Pinkie whispered, appearing next to him.

“Fine, the dungeon,” Spike decided not to question the pink mare, “and there was this hoop floating in the air, then colours were spinning in it and it sounded like somepony was laughing at me.”

“Come on, Spike, I’m sure it wasn't that bad,” Twilight comforted the baby dragon, “let’s go see, girls.”

Spike lead the way with the four mares walking – or bouncing in Pinkie’s case – behind him. It wasn’t long before they came to the stairs down into the ‘dungeon’, and before long they were staring into the strange hoop. From a distance, it just looked like a large golden hoop, about the height of Princess Celestia, but as they got closer the dark swirling colours could be seen. The inside was mostly black but with hints of purple and specks of gold.

“Extraordinary,” Twilight gasped, “how can this be? We’ve explored every inch of this castle and this has never been here before.” She thought to herself for a moment, “Spike, can you bring Sunset’s diary please, I need to see if anything like this has shown up in her world.”

“On it, Twi,” Spike saluted before running back to the study.

“Um, Twilight, wh-where do you think it came from?” Fluttershy stuttered.

“Indeed, dear,” Rarity was just as curious as her friend, “something like this doesn’t just appear.”

“Oh, oh oh oh, pick me!” Pinkie shouted, waving her hoof in the air like a student trying to get their teacher’s attention.

“Yes, Pinkie,” Twilight played along.

“Maybe it was Discord, he might be playing a prank on us,” Pinkie gasped at what she just said, as though she hadn’t thought of it.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy commented, “Discord promised me he wouldn’t, and besides, he’s staying in Canterlot for a while.”

Twilight and Rarity nodded, but Pinkie seemed disappointed that she wasn’t right.

As she looked into the hoop, Twilight thought she saw something, so she decided to get a closer look and took a couple of steps closer. The others followed too, also wanting to see what had intrigued Twilight. As they stepped closer, the mares started to make out a shape in the colours, the purples seeming to join together.

“Let me see,” Pinkie giggled as she pushed in front of the others, her head now inches away from the hoop.

“Pinkie Pie, be careful,” Twilight warned her, “we don’t know if it’s safe.”

“You worry too much, Twilight,” Pinkie stuck her tongue out at her friend, “what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Please don’t say that, Pinkie,” Rarity asked, “you might have jinxed yourself.”

“Nah, see, the face in the hoop is smiling,” she pointed to the colours where, somehow, a light blue face had formed and was indeed smiling. It had large purple hair and a long purple beard, with very sharp looking canine teeth lining its mouth, not to mention the gigantic spikes either side of its head.

As the face laughed at them, a deep booming laugh, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity all jumped back screaming, but Pinkie was still facing the mirror laughing back at the face, a much lighter laugh.

“Don’t you remember what Granny Pie told me?” Pinkie asked the girls light-heartedly, “You just have to-“

But before she could start singing, her head was pulled into the hoop, causing all the girls to cry out, “Pinkie!” Twilight reached out to grab Pinkie’s barrel, but she too started to get pulled in, so Rarity grabbed Twilight and Fluttershy grabbed hold of Rarity. It made little difference, though, even when Fluttershy flapped her wings in the opposite direction, they were still being pulled in behind Pinkie.

By the time they were pulled in as far as Twilight’s hooves on Pinkie’s back, Spike returned with Sunset’s diary. Still carrying the book in his claws, he ran over to the girls and tried to pull on Fluttershy with one hand while holding the book in his other. The unexpected sensation caused Fluttershy to flinch, stopping her wings from flapping and holding tighter to Rarity. A domino effect began, and soon no resistance was offered by anypony against the hoop, and soon they were all pulled in.

Before anypony could utter ‘Buck’, they were all floating in something that reminded Twilight and Spike of the rift between Equestria and the human world, only a lot darker and a lot more floating rings than they remembered. Twilight noticed that all of them seemed to be floating together and in the same direction, so that relieved a bit of worry that they would be split up.

“Is everypony okay?” Twilight shouted in the silence, a lot louder than she anticipated.

“You mean apart from being upside down and floating Celestia knows where,” Rarity moaned, “never better, darling.”

“Pinkie, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. Both mares nodded their confirmation.

Before she could check on Spike, he tapped her shoulder and pointed to the side of the mares, “What is THAT!?” he cried. The others followed Spike’s claw, gasping as they saw the face from earlier, only now it had a body to match. Six three-clawed arms floated at its sides, next to a blue and purple body with two blue legs growing out the bottom and a long dragon-like tail sprouting from the back, also the same light blue. In the middle of the body was a ring similar to the ones the girls could see around them, only much smaller.

The creature folded its three pairs of arms across its body and laughed the same deep laugh as before, causing Twilight to gather the others in her magic so they could huddle in fear.

“HOOOOOP!” the monster bellowed.

“I-I think he wants us out of his hoops, girls,” Rarity gulped as the monster began to approach them, bellowing again.

Twilight looked around her for the ring they fell through, but they all looked the same. Deciding anywhere would be better than this void with that thing, Twilight used her magic to pull the five of them to the nearest hoop, hoping it would take them home.

Seeing them move towards one of the hoops, the creature stopped closing in on them, laughing once more. The mares and Spike paid him no heed, opting to focus on their escape route. As they neared the exit, Twilight called out to her friends, “Hold tight, everypony!”

All five of them closed their eyes as they crossed the threshold of the portal, none knowing where they would be brought out.

Author's Note

Hey, my first ever crossover story. Let me know below if you like what you've read or if you've spotted something that shouldn't be there.

Chapter 1: Where are we?

Twilight woke up slowly, the light piercing through the veil of her eyelids. She brought a hand up to her head to shield her eyes. Wait, Twilight thought, hands! She opened her eyes quickly to confirm that, yes, she had hands. “I’m back in the human world!” Twilight exclaimed to the forest air around her.

The air replied, “Not exactly, Twilight.” It was Spike, and he seemed to be behind Twilight from what she could hear. She turned around expecting to see her little purple dog, but instead stood a small blue dragon with a yellow underbelly and what looked like grey hair, but turned out to be large hard scales on closer inspection. Unlike Spike, however, this dragon didn’t have a tail. It was about as big as Spike, and there was nothing else she thought could have spoken to her.

“Spike?” she tried the word cautiously.

“The one and only,” the dragon replied, “like the look?” He swept his stubby arms to the side in an attempt to show himself off.

“I… don’t know, what are you?”

“Beats me,” Spike shrugged, “but I’m guessing we’re not in the same alternate world, since you’re not purple.”

“What!?” Twilight cried. Spike pointed at a puddle at the side of the path and Twilight rushed over to examine her new form. Sure to Spike’s word, she wasn’t purple, she was more of a tan colour, like Applejack’s cousin Braeburn. Her hair remained as it had been in the other world and her clothes seemed similar, if a bit looser with a few more accessories. Her backpack was also bigger.

“Where are the others?” Twilight suddenly thought about her friends who also fell through the portal with her and Spike.

As if to answer her question, a very Rarity-like scream filled the air, shaking some of the leaves from the trees and causing many birds to fly from the trees. Twilight picked Spike up and ran towards the sound, hoping Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were also with Rarity.

What she found instead was that there were three small creatures sat looking at each other in between some of the trees. She put Spike on the ground and crouched down to observe the unusual animals. One was a very sleek looking grey cat with a spiral tail, ending in a puffy ball of white fur. It had small tufts of fur on the backs of its legs, which ended in white fur, making it look like it was wearing small socks. The second creature resembled a small brown rabbit, with long ears ending in pink tufts of fur. There was also pink fur around its waist, tail and legs, making it look like fluffy pants. Both the rabbit’s ears were fully extended, showing its shock at the cry. The last of the three was the oddest, looking like a second blue dragon, only this one was closer to an alligator than Spike’s new curvy form. It had large jaws with sharp looking teeth lining it, making it look very fierce. It had a yellow stripe across its chest and red fins going down its back and on to its tail.

“Spike, what are they?” Twilight asked, hoping Spike might have seen them before.

Before Spike had a chance to answer, the three creatures looked at Twilight before saying in unison, “Twilight?!” They all then turned to look at each other, hearing familiar voices from them.

“Girls, is that you?” Twilight still didn’t believe it but so far it was all she had to go on.

All three of the animals then ran towards where Twilight was crouched, again calling Twilight’s name. They jumped on Twilight, after having adapted rather well to their new forms surprisingly quickly. The cat spoke up first, “Oh darling, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.” Yep, definitely Rarity, Twilight thought.

“Which one of you is Fluttershy, and which is Pinkie?” Spike questioned the remaining creatures, all the while looking at Rarity’s new form.

“Well I think I’m still Pinkie,” the blue alligator began,” but I’m not sure, how will we know, what if I’m not real and I just think I am and really I’m just-“ Rarity wrapped her tail around the very Pinkie Pie-esque alligator’s mouth.

“Thanks Pinkie, and thanks again Rarity,” Twilight sighed.

“My pleasure,” Rarity bowed, slowly unwrapping her tail from Pinkie Pie.

“And then you must be Fluttershy, right?” Twilight softly asked the rabbit curled up in her lap, both ears having covered its eyes as soon as she thought she was safe.

“Uh-huh,” she nodded, “I feel so… soft.” Fluttershy curled up more in her ears and fluff.

Spike, meanwhile, was still staring slack-jawed at Rarity, while she had been lying on her back and playing with her tail. She soon snapped herself out of this, though, looking over at her friends, “You do look adorable, Fluttershy,” Rarity stood up and reached a paw out to stroke her friend, who was indeed very soft.

“I wanna pet Fluttershy, too!” Pinkie shouted, scaring Fluttershy as she saw Pinkie’s large teeth in front of her. Instead of eating her, as Fluttershy thought she would, Pinkie instead nuzzled into her fur, moaning in approval.

“I’m glad you’re not freaking out, girls,” Twilight commented.

“Um, I might have freaked out a little,” Fluttershy poked her head out of her fur before putting it back in once she finished speaking.

“And did you hear Rarity?!” Pinkie gasped, “I didn’t know she could shout that loud!”

“At least you seem fine, Pinkie,” Spike added, finally tearing his eyes off of Rarity.

“Meh, I’ve had worst,” Pinkie shrugged.

“But you changed species!” Twilight was shocked at how calm Pinkie was about this.

“Tis but a cosmetic scratch,” Pinkie waved her concerns off.

Twilight facepalmed, something she missed being able to do at home without it hurting too much, “Fine, but does anypony know where we are? It looks vaguely familiar here…”

Unbeknownst to the recently transformed ponies, a figure had appeared from the bushes, also intrigued by the unusual shout earlier. She heard Twilight ask and thought she should answer, sooner rather than later, “Duh, you’re in White Tail woods,” a familiar female voice shouted down from on top of a small rise in the land near where Twilight had hidden with Spike.

Everypony turned to look at the new addition, Twilight recognising the rainbow-coloured hair anywhere, “Rainbow Dash?!” she cried, not realising she had come through the hoops too.

“That’s me, soon to be the most awesome Pokémon trainer in the Equestria region,” Definitely Rainbow, they all thought as knowing smiles crossed their faces, “glad you know who I am.”

“Wait, did you say Pokémon, and what do you mean ‘Equestria region’?” Twilight asked in amazement, how had Rainbow known about the human game, and why was she also a human. Come to think of it, she didn’t look like the Rainbow Dash from the other world, her skin was more like Twilight’s except a bit paler and she looked more ready to go exploring than play sports, if the large cargo pants with lots of pockets on were anything to go by. Her top was like the one she wore in the other world, white with her cutie mark on it.

“Yeah, you know, like those things you’re cuddling,” her words lacked sympathy, as though she were talking to an idiot, “and yeah, that’s where we are. Did you hit your head or something?”

This must be another Rainbow Dash, and we’re in another world, I wonder how many other Equestrias there are, Twilight seemed to connect the dots, eyes sparkling at the research opportunities, but she realised that this Rainbow wouldn’t necessarily know who she was, so she had better introduce herself, “I’m sorry, my name’s Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.”

“Huh, those are some weird nicknames you’ve given your Pokémon, and why aren’t they in their Pokéballs?” the new Rainbow Dash questioned.

“You’re going to have to tell her, Twi,” Spike whispered into the human’s ear, “she might know how to help.”

Deep breath, Twilight, she told herself, you can do this. “Okay, this is going to sound really weird, but we’re not actually from this Equestria, and these aren’t actually Pokémon and I’m not really a human, we’re all ponies.” Spike coughed to interrupt Twilight’s rushed explanation, “Oh right, except Spike, he’s actually a dragon.” Another deep breath from Twilight followed, making her wonder how Pinkie spoke for longer than that back home.

Rainbow looked at the babbling girl for a moment in confusion, but soon came to a conclusion, “Yep, you definitely hit your head, I’m gonna let my friend look you over,” she reached a hand down towards Twilight, but Rarity spoke up.

“Actually, dear,” Rainbow jumped backwards at hearing the cat-Pokémon talk, “Twilight’s telling the truth, and we would greatly appreciate your help to get home.”

Over the next ten minutes, Twilight and the new Pokémon described their story to Rainbow Dash, who eventually seemed to believe what they were saying. Only one question remained on her mind, “So, what you’re saying is… there’s another me in your world?” she squeed, “Is she just as awesome as me?” Her face was now inches from Twilight’s, carrying a smile that would give Pinkie a sore mouth.

“That’s one of the… less important things here,” Twilight leant away from Rainbow, using one hand to put some distance between them, “but yes, there’s another you.”

Pinkie finished answering the question, “And she’s my best friend, and very awesome.”

“Yes, that’s what I like to hear,” she fist-pumped, “high five, Totodile!”

Pinkie looked at her confused, “Excuuuuse me? What did you just call me?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot, you’re not from round here,” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, “see, the Pokémon you got turned into is called a Totodile, a pretty cool one if you ask me.”

“Wait, so you know what all these are?” Twilight asked with her usual scientific curiosity, this time getting her face close to Rainbow’s.

“Uh, sure,” she replied, scared a little at Twilight’s sudden personality change, “that’s a Totodile, a water type,” pointing at Pinkie, “that’s a Glameow, a normal type,” she pointed at Rarity who chose to interrupt.

“I think you’ll find I am anything but normal, dear,” Rarity scoffed.

“No, that’s just what type you are, nothing personal,” Rainbow explained before continuing and pointing at Fluttershy, “that’s Buneary, also a normal type. Then you’ve got Bagon, a dragon type.” At this, Spike fist-pumped, though it wasn’t easy with his tiny arms.

“Thank you, Rainbow,” Twilight smiled at the girl, “but what were you saying about Pokéballs earlier?”

“Oh, they’re just what trainers keep their Pokémon in,” Rainbow replied with a wave of her hand, “it just makes it easier to travel with them. Yours are on your belt,” Rainbow pointed at said belt.

“Oh, I thought they were just buttons on my belt,” Twilight sounded surprised that she had been wrong in her assumption, “but aren’t they a bit small?” The balls in question seemed no bigger than a grape, but each looked different as though belonging to one of the Pokémon.

“Haha, I was like you when I started my journey,” Rainbow laughed, though not at Twilight, more at her memories of herself, “see, you press the button on the front-“ Rainbow demonstrated by leaning down and grabbing one of Twilight’s Pokéballs “-and it grows, see.” The ball Rainbow Dash had grabbed was red and white with a black line going along the middle horizontally with a button in the middle of the ball on what Twilight assumed to be the front, but it was still no bigger than a large apple. On the top of red half of the ball, the appeared to be three pink butterflies, much like Fluttershy’s cutie mare, “Oh cool, you personalised them, who’s is this?” Rainbow showed Twilight the ball.

“Um, Fluttershy’s, I mean, Buneary,” Twilight corrected, regardless of the fact that both statements were correct.

“Right, well watch this,” Rainbow pressed the button on the front of the Pokéball and a red beam of light shot out of it. The light touched Fluttershy, who was still sat in Twilight’s lap, and Fluttershy began to glow in the same light before returning with the rest of the light into the Pokéball.

“Fluttershy!?” the others shouted.

“Where did she go?” Twilight asked with genuine terror in her voice, standing up and getting close to shaking Rainbow Dash.

“Wow, easy, Twilight,” Rainbow sounded scared for her life now, “she’s right here.” She held up the Pokéball before pressing the button again, the same red light shooting out as before, only this time Fluttershy formed as the light faded.

“Oh my, how… strange,” Fluttershy checked her new body over, the energy from the Pokéball still on her body.

“Are you okay, ‘Shy?” Pinkie moved over to where Fluttershy had reappeared, tilting her head at her friend.

“Oh yes, it was very nice in there, surprisingly roomy,” Fluttershy commented.

“Huh, never had a Pokémon actually describe a Pokéball to me,” Rainbow thought out loud without realising.

“Me next, me next,” Pinkie jumped up and down, waving her stubby arms in the air manically.

“Do you want to do the honours, Twi?” Rainbow pointed to Twilight’s belt.

“I guess,” she looked down at the other three balls at her belt, returning Fluttershy’s to its previous place on the left. The was a mostly black ball with a yellow stripe and spot around the middle, a red stripe around the top and the diamonds on the very top, so Twilight guessed that was Rarity’s. Then there was a ball with a white lower half similar to Fluttershy’s but the top had a green and brown pattern similar to camouflage on it, with a scroll being engulfed in green fire on the very top. I guess that’s what Spike’s cutie mark would look like, Twilight mused. The last ball on the far right was dark blue on the bottom, fading into a lighter blue and finally white on the top, with a circle of light blue on the front of the top, making it look like the sea. On the very top of this ball there were three balloons, two blue and one yellow, making Twilight assume it to be Pinkie Pie’s Pokéball.

“Ready Pinkie?” Twilight asked after enlarging the ball the same way Rainbow had. A vigorous nod was Pinkie’s only reply, so Twilight pressed the button again as Rainbow had shown her, causing the red energy to shoot out and engulf Pinkie, which made her giggle like a school filly.

“You can’t leave us out of all this, Twilight,” Rarity whined, wanting to join in on the fun. Twilight released Pinkie, slotted her ball back into the belt and took out the remaining two balls. After enlarging them, she let Rarity and Spike in as she had with Pinkie. After a few moments, she let the last of her friends out of their holders.

“Oh darling, that was heaven,” Rarity moaned once she had finished materialising, “it was like a spa treatment in that wondrous device.”

“Mine reminded me of my egg, weird,” Spike shuddered slightly at that thought.

“Well, now we’re all cleared up, want to come back to my camp?” Rainbow asked Twilight, holding out a hand for Twilight to hold so she could follow her, “My friend might know more about helping you get home.”

“Sure thing, thank you, Rainbow,” Twilight smiled and accepted the hand, “come on everypony.”

Rainbow looked at Twilight with a raised eyebrow but didn’t question the odd statement, instead choosing to walk on through the bushes with her new friends in tow.

A few minutes of walking later, Rainbow held open a folded down branch, allowing Twilight and the Pokémon to walk through into a small clearing, two tents off to the side by a table with benches around it. Sat at the benches was a tall girl with a Stetson over her blonde ponytail.

When Twilight got closer, Rainbow called over to the girl, “Hey Applejack, I found a trainer in the woods.”

Now that she said it, the girl looked a lot like Applejack from the other human world, except over her shirt she wore a tanned leather jacket. Instead of her denim skirt, she wore denim jeans, but her brown leather boots went over the top of her jeans. When she turned around at Rainbow Dash’s shout, there was no mistaking Applejack’s honest smile.

“Howdy, always nice to meet new folks on our travels,” the same country drawl the others had grown to love over the years of knowing Applejack.

Twilight introduced herself and the others, then got straight down to business, reciting their story much like they had done with Rainbow. Thankfully, Applejack seemed more accepting of the girls’ story, not believing them to be liars like Rainbow had done.

“Ah reckon Professor Zecora should know what that thing you saw was,” Applejack concluded, leaning back in her part of the bench, “she usually knows all about weird happenings around here, though I doubt she’ll be able to tell you why your friends turned into Pokémon and you turned into a human.”

“’Professor’ Zecora? In our Equestria she’s just a doctor of sorts, she makes potions and things like that,” Spike told Applejack and Rainbow.

“That’s kind of how she became a Professor, makin’ potions, least that’s how she started” Applejack explained, “see, we use potions and such to make our Pokémon better when there ain’t a Pokémon centre nearby.” She pulled a purple spray bottle out of her bag which was on the table by some food, “This is one of hers, she made it so it still heals a Pokémon’s wounds but it doesn’t sting ‘em like they used to.”

“Fascinating,” Twilight took the bottle in her hands, examining the runny liquid in the transparent section of the bottle.

“This is all well and good, dears,” Rarity spoke up from under the table where she and the others had taken seats, “but where exactly is Zecora?”

“In her lab in Everfree city, inside the Everfree forest,” Applejack answered, “probably a couple of days walk from here, but Ah wouldn’t recommend going now, lots of wild Pokémon come out at night in these woods, not to mention the powerful ones in the Everfree.”

“So what will we do until tomorrow?” Fluttershy asked, uncurling one of her ears so she could see the girls sat around the table.

“Well, we could always do what other trainers do,” Rainbow offered cryptically.

“And that is?” Pinkie probed.

“Let’s battle!” Rainbow slammed her fist on the table and pointed at Twilight.

“What?!” Twilight cried, “But… I don’t know how.”

“It’s easy, sugarcube,” Applejack put her hand on Twilight’s shoulder comfortingly, “I’ll show you what moves your Pokémon know, and even though it’s your friends in there, their new bodies should know what to do.”

She reached into her pocket in her jeans and pulled out a strange red device, which looked a little bit like the mobile phones her friends had had in the other world. Applejack flipped the top half up and the screen turned on by itself, again much like the phones. “This here’s called a Pokédex,” Applejack stated, “I guess you could say it’s like an encyclopaedia of Pokémon, and you can also scan Pokémon with it to see what attacks they know.” This was all very impressive, and Twilight just couldn’t wait to use it.

“I’ll wait here, let me know when you two are ready,” Rainbow waved as Applejack lead Twilight over to the other side of the clearing.

“Why did we come over here?” Twilight asked as the last of the Pokémon caught up with her and Applejack.

“Wouldn’t want RD getting’ an unfair advantage now, would we?” Applejack winked, “now, let’s see…”

Applejack made Twilight’s friends stand in a line so she could scan them one at a time, while Twilight pulled out a pad a paper and a pen from her bag, ready to note down what Applejack told her. One by one, her friends were scanned and moves noted down. Applejack gave Twilight a brief rundown of what their types meant in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, which Twilight also wrote down, hoping she would have time to learn all this later. Applejack had told her it all came with experience but Twilight wasn’t going to take any chances.

“Darling, do I- we have to do this?” Rarity asked, sounding a little nervous.

“It’ll be fine, Rarity,” Twilight petted Rarity’s head, causing her to purr, “remember what Sunset said in her diary? Pokémon don’t actually get hurt, and they get better really quick after battles. If you don’t want to fight, I’m sure you can sit out.”

“Please, me, sit out, nonsense,” Rarity tried not to look flustered, “I was just worried… for… for Fluttershy, yes.” She pushed said rabbit Pokémon forward.

“Me?” she questioned innocently, “I don’t mind.”

“Oh you’re just being brave,” Rarity scoffed, “how sweet of you.”

“No, I really don’t mind, I’m actually looking forward to the exercise,” Fluttershy hopped from one foot to the other, looking up at Twilight with her big brown eyes.

“You guys ready yet?” Rainbow shouted from the bench, looking bored out of her mind from sitting still for so long.

“Sorry Rainbow!” Twilight shouted back, “We’re ready now!” she turned back to her friends, speaking at a normal level, “If you change your mind, Rarity, let me know.”

Applejack moved to stand in the middle of the clearing, which in itself was about ten metres wide in all directions, a natural battlefield, “Okay girls, this will be a two on two battle, meaning each of you can only use two Pokémon, and once both of your Pokémon are unable to battle, you lose. Ready?”

“Ready!” both girls shouted.

“Then let’s do this!”

Author's Note

Yes, Fluttershy is a shiny Buneary, I wanted at least one of them to have similar colours to what they used to have.

Chapter 2: What are we doing?

Chapter 2: What are we doing?!

Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood at opposite ends of the clearing, facing each other. Rainbow Dash had one of her Pokéballs in her hand, while all of Twilight’s friends stood behind her, ready to either be called or cheer on whoever else was called.

“Okay, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash calls from her side of the clearing, “let me show you how awesome Pokémon battles can be. Go, Tank!”

Rainbow enlarges one of her Pokéballs in her hand before throwing it in the air. As it travels up, it splits open to reveal the red energy Twilight had become familiar with. The energy condensed into a beam that shot towards the ground, forming a creature as it did. When the red light faded, a green turtle-like Pokémon stood in place with its head down. On its back was an orange shell with what looked like two shrubs growing out of it. The bottom of its legs and jaw were the same colour as the shell, looking just as sturdy. As the last of the Pokéball energy left the turtle, it raised its head and roared, “Grrrotle!”

Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie all ran for cover behind Twilight as Tank roared at them, leaving Spike as Twilight’s only option, “Spike, you ready?”

“Always,” Spike nodded, “Tank in our world has flown into me one too many times, time for some payback.” Spike began to march forward, rolling up imaginary sleeves as he went. Spike’s speed gave Twilight enough time to look over her notes, hoping she could work out the best strategy for taking down what looked like a grass-type, but at the same time she didn’t want to make Spike work too hard at first.

“You can have the first move, Twi!” Rainbow called, snapping Twilight’s eyes away from her notes and towards the battle. Spike was only a metre or so away from Tank, so with one last look at the notes she made her decision.

“Spike, use Headbutt!” she called at her assistant.

“A please would be nice,” Spike grumbled to himself, “but okay.” Doing what came naturally in his new body, Spike lowered his head, aiming for his opponent’s underbelly, and charged.

Before Spike could make contact, however, Rainbow Dash used her experience to her advantage, “Tank, Withdraw,” she called calmly to her Pokémon. With a smirk it had clearly picked up from its trainer, Tank spun so its back was facing Spike and curled into his shell, raising his defence against the oncoming attack. Unable to change his course, Spike ran straight into Tank’s shell and rebounded off harmlessly.

Much to Spike’s surprise, he didn’t feel any pain in his head as he landed on his feet a short distance from Tank. While Twilight was unaware of Spike’s momentary thanks for not being hurt by his own attack, she was confused as to why such a strong looking attack did little to no damage, “What happened, Applejack?” Twilight questioned the referee, “I thought you said Headbutt was a strong attack for Spike.”

“Ah did, but not when your opponent uses a move like Withdraw,” Applejack clarified, “y’see, that move raised Tank’s physical defence, so moves like Headbutt will do less damage for the time bein’.”

“Oh, so I should use a move that doesn’t touch Tank physically?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“Do what you think’s right, sugarcube,” Applejack did her best to remain impartial.

While the two of them discussed Dash’s last move, Rainbow was ready with her next one. She saw Spike would occasionally look back at Twilight, hoping for advice on how to act, so at her next opening, Rainbow called out to her Pokémon, “Alright, Tank, use Tackle.”

With a nod and a low ‘Gro!’, Tank began the charge towards Spike who was just now turning back to look at his trainer.

“Twilight!” his voice was frantic, “Any time you wanna, I dunno, tell me what to do!” But before Twilight could register what was happening, Tank was upon Spike in a surprising show of speed for such a bulky beast. With his head turned to the side, he spun it back to the centre as he rammed into Spike, sending the dragon flying off to the side.

“Spike!” all the Pokémon watching shouted, jolting Twilight from her daze.

“Spike, I’m so sorry,” Twilight shouted, “do you want to switch?”

“Not just yet, Twilight,” the dragon winced as he stood back up, “I’m still warming up.”

“That’s what I like in a challenger,” Rainbow cheered, “ready when you are, squirt.”

Not even needing to check the notes, Twilight knew what she had to do. Since there was a large gap between the two active Pokémon, there was no way Tank could reach Spike with a physical attack, so long distance attacks would be where Twilight won this fight, “Right, Spike, time to use Ember!”

Again, the instincts of his new body kicked in, spewing small, numerous flames from Spike’s open mouth. Unfortunately, the distance Twilight had hoped would help turned into Rainbow Dash’s advantage, as it gave her enough time to get Tank to counter the move.

“Tank, intercept the flames with Razor Leaf!” Rainbow pointed dramatically, seemingly lost in the thrills of the battle. The two shrubs on Tank’s shell glowed white before many leaves began to fly in the direction of Spike’s incoming Ember. Sadly for Rainbow, leaves catch fire easily so only most of the Ember was intercepted, stray wisps still making contact with Tank.

“Quick, Spike,” Twilight shouted desperately, also lost to the joys of Pokémon battles, “run towards Tank and use Ember again!”

Not even bothering with complaining about the lack of pleasantries, Spike nodded and ran as fast as his little legs would carry him, which turned out to be pretty quick. As he closed in on his opponent – who was still regaining composure after the light singeing – his mouth was close to erupting with the flurry of fireballs, but he still wasn’t close enough.

Closer.

Now!

With mere feet between Spike and Tank, Spike opened his mouth wide, the Ember spraying wide on and around Tank.

“Shake it off, buddy,” Rainbow cried in panic, wondering how a newbie could be doing so well. Well, I guess she has type advantage.

Ever the diligent Pokémon, Tank obeyed his trainer and shook away the flames to surprising effectiveness, leaving only mild burn marks across his shell. Before Twilight could finish the job, Rainbow used the only move in her arsenal that could help her here, “Time for Seed Bomb, Tank!” she smirked as she watched Spike’s eyes widen in fear.

After getting in close for his last attack, Spike had failed to retreat, meaning there was only a very small gap between the turtle and the dragon. With a cry of his name, the Grotle opened his mouth wide as glowing seeds formed in the opening. In rapid succession, five seeds were shot down at Spike’s feet, with one hitting his chest before exploding with ear splitting volume. None of the observers were surprised when Spike was shot backwards by the force of the explosion, landing just short of Twilight and the other Pokémon.

As Twilight rushed over to Spike and scooped him into her arms, he coughed out weakly, “I-I’m sorry, sis.”

“Don’t apologise, Spike,” she smiled down at him, before embracing him in a hug, “you deserve a diamond when we get home for that performance. Take a good rest in here,” Twilight held up his Pokéball before returning him.

“Spike is unable to battle, Tank is the winner,” Applejack announced from her position on the side-lines, “meaning Twilight is down to one Pokémon while Rainbow still has two. Who’s next, Twi?”

“Oh, me me me!” Pinkie was about to jump on the battlefield but Twilight stopped her.

“Sorry, Pinkie, but you wouldn’t do much against Tank, Applejack told me you’re weak against grass-types like him,” Twilight explained in her motherly tone usually reserved for Spike, but Pinkie Pie still looked gloomy even in her happy-looking form, “you’ll get the next battle, Pinkie promise.”

She looked up at Twilight with determination in her reptilian eyes, “You mean it?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” of course with the motions.

“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie happily skipped back to the others.

Twilight had made up her mind who would be next before Spike had even finished, but Pinkie was almost too eager for her, “Fluttershy, you’re up.”

“Good,” the normally docile caretaker leapt forward in long hops, a scowl present on her face, “I need to teach that big meanie a lesson!”

Leaping up onto Twilight’s shoulder, Rarity whispered into her ear, “Are you sure she’ll be okay, darling? She looks awfully angry.”

“Trust me, Rarity,” the trainer petted her cat Pokémon contently, “I know what I’m doing.”

After enjoying leaning into the affection, Rarity sighed, “If you say so, Twilight.”

On the battlefield, Fluttershy was still angrily hopping towards Tank, ready to give him a piece of her mind. As she got closer, Tank seemed a lot bigger than he had over in camp Twilight, and Fluttershy lost her nerve, “L-look he-here, mister,” she pointed an arm at Tank’s face, “that was not nice, and, if you wouldn’t mind, please don’t do it again, if it’s not too much trouble…” her voice got quieter and quieter as she went on, almost inaudible half way through. When Tank just stared down at her, Fluttershy decided hiding her eyes behind her fluffy ears would be best, so that’s what she did, her whole body visibly shaking as she stood there.

Rainbow and Twilight had been content to just watch what just happened happen, but now was time for action. At the same time, Twilight called to Fluttershy and Rainbow called to Tank.

“Use Baby-Doll Eyes, Fluttershy!”

“Tackle, Tank, you can do it!”

Except Tank couldn’t do it. As he lowered his head to begin charging, Fluttershy peeled her ears away from her face, revealing large shimmering eyes looking straight through Tank’s eyes and into his soul. He stood there as his will to attack was ripped out of him.

“Excellent, ‘Shy,” the elated Twilight cheered, joined by similar comments from Rarity and Pinkie Pie, “now use Sky Uppercut; Finish him!”

Blinking twice to return her eyes to their normal, smaller state, Fluttershy whispered, “I’m sorry,” before her curled up, right ear glowed white with energy. After a moment for the energy to charge, Fluttershy angled her head so her curled ear was below Tank’s jaw before extending her ear at full speed, knocking Tank flying through the air with his legs flailing uselessly.

Tank was unceremoniously dumped by gravity onto his back after a few moments of being airborne, crashing down with an almighty ‘THUD!’ and whipping up a cloud of dust.

As the dust cleared, everyone looked on, eagerly awaiting the results of Fluttershy’s attack. They were greeted by a lack-lustre sounding Tank, “Groooo…”, whose head raised for a split-second before dropping back to the ground, his eyes spiralling.

“Tank is unable to battle, the winner is Fluttershy,” Applejack announced, as shocked as most watching, while Fluttershy apologised to her ‘victim’. “This means both of you are down to one Pokémon, so who ya choosin’, Rainbow?”

Said trainer returned her Pokémon to his ball, whispering, “You did awesome, Tank,” when his ball had finished closing. “I’ve got to say, Twi, not bad for a beginner,” Rainbow winked at her opponent, “but here’s where I get awesome! Go, Phanpy!”

Rainbow threw a Pokéball into the air, her rainbow hair trailing behind her head as it swept from side to side with the motions. The ball opened mid-air and once more shot a beam of energy at the ground. The creature that formed this time was smaller than Tank had been, and once the energy dissipated, Twilight could see it was a light blue colour. It looked like a small elephant with a red ring on its tiny trunk and two red patches at the tips of each ear, and when it cried its name its voice was, to be expected, nasally, “Phanpy!” Phanpy finished its entrance with a long toot of its horn-like trunk.

“She’s pretty awesome, wouldn’t you say, Twilight?” Rainbow asked confidently.

“Actually,” Twilight bit her lip, “she’s kind of cute.”

At this, Phanpy blushed. Rainbow, on the other hand, felt her jaw hit the floor, “Cute?! My Pokémon aren’t meant to be cute, they’re fierce fighters!”

“Even Ah got to agree with Twi on this one, RD,” Applejack pitched in, “she is your cutest.”

“Uugh, let’s just battle,” Rainbow reminded everyone why they were there, “Phanpy, Defence Curl!”

“Fluttershy, use Pound,” Twilight was also eager to continue. Fluttershy nodded, feeling a familiar feeling of an attack brewing in her ears. She ran towards Phanpy who had curled into a ball, tucking her tail and trunk under her body, making it look like she was completely vulnerable to those watching.

For Fluttershy, this was quickly proven false when she tried to strike with her ears, as she barely managed to roll Phanpy backwards while remaining tucked in a ball.

“Oh come on!” Twilight groaned, “What now?”

“It’s like Withdraw, Twi,” Applejack confirmed Twilight’s suspicions, “Phanpy raised her defence by protecting her weaker areas.”

“And Fluttershy doesn’t know anything that isn’t physical,” Twilight said to no one in particular, “Except one. Use Baby-Doll Eyes!”

As Fluttershy tried her hardest to make Phanpy look at how adorable she was trying to be, Rainbow could only laugh out loud, “Come on, Twi, Phanpy isn’t going to see you while she’s tucked up like that. You’re wasting your time,” she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, “Phanpy, Rollout!”

While still curled in her ball, Phanpy began to spin on the spot, giving Fluttershy cause for concern. Before either her or Twilight could react, Phanpy rolled at high speeds towards Fluttershy, her ears looking like spikes on the side of her rolling form. Luckily, Fluttershy was quick on her feet so was able to hop out of the way, letting Phanpy roll past harmlessly.

All this accomplished, however, was to let Phanpy build up speed for a second run at Fluttershy, who once again dodged. This game of cat and mouse – or elephant and rabbit – last for several more passes, Phanpy getting closer and closer each time, as well as getting faster. Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie were all cheering for Fluttershy, hoping she could keep this up until Phanpy wore herself out or got dizzy.

These exchanges eventually carried the two of them over to where Spike and Tank finished their battle, where, unbeknownst to the still dodging Fluttershy, a shell from Tank’s Seed bomb lay wedged into the grassy floor. As Fluttershy made a dodge to her left, her paw caught on the shell and she lost her balance, rolling away and ending up on her back. The girls cried out as they saw her stumble, but Rainbow just cheered for her Pokémon to carry on after her downed opponent.

A quick turn in her path meant Phanpy was suddenly facing down Fluttershy and barrelling towards her at full speed. Twilight thought of one way she could make anything of this, “Fluttershy, use Sky Uppercut when Phanpy is on top of you!” Fluttershy was currently staring down her body at the incoming attack, but did as Twilight asked and curled her ears ready for a counter attack.

The blow was harder than Fluttershy had imagined, Phanpy’s body feeling like a boulder had crashed into her. But, as Twilight had requested, she still managed to use Sky Uppercut, though Phanpy had mostly passed overhead by then so she didn’t take too much damage.

From their attacks, Phanpy landed and skidded to a halt by Rainbow Dash’s feet, clearly eager for more, whereas Fluttershy had got caught on the ground as Phanpy had passed, so she had flipped through the air halfway between Rainbow and Twilight, landing on her chest this time.

“Okay, Phanpy,” Rainbow encouraged her Pokémon, “finish this with Slam.”

Phanpy looked up to her trainer, tooted her trunk, and then began to run towards her target. She built up speed over the distance, though nothing nearly as fast as she had just been going.

“Fluttershy, if you can stand up you have to get out of the way,” Twilight pleaded, and Fluttershy slowly got to her feet, stumbling a bit as she did. As she turned to look at Phanpy, Twilight called again, “Use Quick Attack to get out of the way!”

As much as Fluttershy wanted to avoid another attack, her legs were just too tired from her earlier dodging, so as soon as she tried to run her right leg gave way and she tripped.

“Phanpyyyyy!” Phanpy cried as she swung her trunk at Fluttershy, taking the opportunity to use Slam.

Fluttershy cried out in pain as she was struck, the trunk feeling heavy and muscular as it made contact.

“Now, Phanpy, sit on Fluttershy,” Rainbow commanded. Phanpy complied, straddling her fallen target. “Give up yet, Twi?”

Twilight shook her head, having full faith in her friend, “Fluttershy, get up, come on, I know you can do it!” She was sounding more and more desperate as she went on, but Fluttershy couldn’t move under Phanpy’s weight.

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Fluttershy was close to tears thanks to her exhaustion, “I just- I just… can’t.” Her head dropped, defeated.

Seeing the victor, Applejack called the match before Fluttershy got any more hurt, “And the winner is Phanpy, meaning the battle goes to Rainbow Dash! Unlucky Twilight, you done good, considerin’ that was your first try an’ all.”

As the match was ended, Phanpy stood up off of Fluttershy and offered her trunk so she could get up. Fluttershy accepted with a smile and thanked Phanpy for a good battle. Seeing that Fluttershy wasn’t mad at her, Phanpy wrapped her trunk around Fluttershy’s chest in a hug, one which Fluttershy happily returned by wrapping her ears around the elephant-Pokémon’s neck softly. Everyone else had gathered around the fighters, Twilight being followed closely at either side by Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

The hug soon stopped, but only because Fluttershy noticed the Pokémon she was holding had started glowing white, which she assumed meant Phanpy was about to attack, “Wha-what’s happening, Rainbow?” Fluttershy jumped into Twilight’s arms and spun in her grip to look at Phanpy’s trainer, “What’s she doing?”

“She’s evolving,” Rainbow replied excitedly, hopping on the spot, forgetting the newcomers didn’t know anything about this world or what 'evolving' meant.

Thankfully, Applejack was there to ease the confusion, “It’s what happens when a Pokémon gets stronger, they change shape and become a more powerful Pokémon,” she explained, showing herself to be the more knowledgeable – or at least the more understanding of others – of the two travellers, “lots of Pokémon can do it, and judging by how strong your friends are, Twi, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they evolved too.”

After Applejack had finished her short speech, Phanpy’s form had finished growing and the blinding glow receded, revealing her new form. Her body was now longer, taller and well-built, and the colour had faded to a light grey. The biggest change was the addition of tusks on her face and what looked like armour running from the tip of her tail to the tip of her trunk, covering a thick strip of her back. The armour was a darker grey than her body and also covered her now-smaller ears.

Rainbow fist-pumped in celebration as Phanpy called out her new name, “Donphan!”

“This… is so… awesome!” Rainbow cheered after Donphan had finished cheering for herself.

“But, is that still Phanpy?” Twilight asked, tilting her head adorably.

“Don,” Donphan nodded, then reached up and hugged Fluttershy with her stronger trunk, causing Fluttershy to gasp for air. Good thing she was used to Pinkie’s hugs so she recovered quickly.

“I wonder what I’ll evolve in to…” Pinkie pondered, “Maybe I’ll be huge with a massive mouth, then I can eat all the cake I want!”

“Pinkie, you eat like that anyway,” Rarity pointed out, “now if I were to evolve, I would be the most gorgeous creature in existence.” She twirled dramatically, swishing her tail in an exaggerated fashion as she would her mane back home.

“That is if we don’t find a way home before then, girls,” Twilight reminded them. All four of the transformed ponies sighed longingly at the thought of how far from home they all were.

“Now, now, no needed to get all glum,” Applejack slapped Twilight on the back in a friendly manner, “Ah’ve seen shorter faces on a Rapidash, so what’s say I cook us up some good ‘ol Apple family food. I’ll heal your Pokémon, too, girls.”

“Cheers, Applejack,” Rainbow thanked her friend before running in the direction of their tents, “all this being awesome really takes it out of me.”

“Well, at least some things stayed the same,” Twilight thought out loud, looking at Rainbow’s retreating figure.

“She this difficult as a pony, too?” Applejack sounded doubtful that anything, including another Dash, could be as bad as her travelling companion.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Rarity groaned, the others agreeing with their own friendly groans. The others proceeded to the tent at their own paces, none having the energy to run like Rainbow had.

On the way back, Applejack decided light conversation might help take Twilight’s mind off of not being at home, “Say, Twi, what’s in that backpack of yours?”

Her backpack was back at the tents, as she had had enough of carrying it by the time they arrived, so it hadn’t crossed Twilight’s mind in a while, “Huh, now that you mention it, I never checked,” Twilight looked into the sky as though in deep thought, “I think I’ll check it now.”

A few seconds later, they were at the bench where Twilight had tucked her bag under earlier. She lifted it onto the table, noting that it was much lighter than she had anticipated. There was one main pocket and two smaller pockets on either side of the bag. On the main pocket was Twilight’s cutie mark. Since she couldn’t feel much in the side pockets, Twilight decided to start with the main one. Unzipping it with Twilight’s usual level of care when she handled old books in her library, she soon saw that most of the bag was clothes for her new body, along with general beauty items such as a hair brush and several smaller items she assumed were for the Pokémon.

What stood out when she had worked her way through the other contents was a book. It took Twilight only a second to recognise it as Sunset’s diary. Of course! she thought, Spike had gone to get the diary before we got pulled through the hoop. I was going to see if any had appeared in the human world, but I guess we all got distracted. Besides the diary were writing equipment, a long quill pen and a corked vial of ink, thankfully undamaged from all Twilight’s movements.

“What’s the book, Twi?” Applejack glanced over as Twilight held the quill in her hand.

“It’s a diary, one from a friend of ours in another world,” Twilight was barely audible due to her excitement. She decided to leave out the fact that Pokémon was nothing more than a game in that world, unsure of how that information would go down here. “Can I use your tent, Applejack? I’d like to write something.”

“Sure thing, I’ll let you know when food’s ready.”

“Thanks, and could you look after Spike and the girls, please?” Twilight asked as she held up Spike’s Pokéball.

“No problem, have fun with your book.” Applejack accepted the Pokéball and returned to the bench where her ingredients awaited her.

This was perfect. Not only could she now check to see if anything had gone wrong in the human world, but she could also look back over Sunset’s notes on Pokémon, maybe even ask more about what she had seen so far here.

Sitting herself down on Applejack’s orange sleeping bag, Twilight set up her quill and ink ready to write:

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

Firstly, thank you for your most recent friendship report; I’m glad some more students are beginning to forgive you.

Now, I’m afraid I have some bad news. While exploring my castle, Spike discovered a golden floating hoop in the basement. It was filled with swirling colours, mainly black and dark purple, and was about as wide as Princess Celestia is tall. Has anything like this appeared in the human world as far as you know?

When Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and I examined it more closely, we saw a face. It looked vaguely human at first, with light blue skin, large purple hair and a purple beard. It had two horns on its head and sharp canine teeth, making me assume – later proven correct – that this wasn’t human.

We were dragged through the hoop and found a void-like space, not too dissimilar to the portal between our worlds, except much darker and with many rings like the one we entered it through. Then the creature appeared, with six floating arms and a smaller hoop built into its large body. Panicking, I took us through the nearest hoop and we found ourselves in a different world.

Now, this next part you may not believe, but I had been turned into a tan skinned human and the others have been turned into Pokémon. One of the locals, a girl named Rainbow Dash, much like the ones we know except she has light tan skin and she is a Pokémon trainer, found us and took us back to her camp. We have also encountered another Applejack, who appears to be very knowledgeable of the creatures of this world.

While your previous accounts of the Pokémon game have been very informative, I would like some more details regarding certain Pokémon, namely Bagon, Buneary, Glameow and Totodile, as these are what my friends have been transformed into. I’m sure the Pinkie in your world should know other things I may need to know in my time here, so please share this with her as soon as possible.

Many thanks and good luck with your new friends,

Twilight Sparkle.

Just as she was about to read through the notes Sunset had already imparted regarding Pokémon, Twilight was brought back to the here and now by Applejack poking her head in the tent, “Twi, grub’s up!”

I’ll just have to check later, the ever-studious Princess thought. The food smelled good, though, so for once research could wait.