Chapters Chapter 1: Attack on the Apple
A groan echoed through the near-silent forest. The only other sound was that of a nearby stream and the wind blowing through the leaves. The groan continued for a few moments before a rustle of grass was heard. A small, turtle-like creature stood, glancing around. She was tan, with a dark brown shell. A small twig grew from atop her head, branching out to a few leaves.
"Where in the hay am I?" She asked, her voice thick with a country accent. "And why do I feel so... weird?"
She looked at herself and nearly panicked. "W-What happened to me?!"
A groan sounded from the nearby stream, echoing her own. The turtle looked over and saw a... diamond dog? It was greenish-blue, with strange black feelers comming from its head. The tips of the feelers faded to purple, and black marking stretched across its face in the shape of a mask.
"Ugh... What happened to me?" The dog asked, its voice that of a young male. He glanced up at the tan turtle, his eyes wideing in shock. "W-What are you?"
"Spike? I-Is that... you?" The tan turtle asked nervously.
The dog, Spike, took a step backwards. "A-Applejack?"
Applejack ran forward happily. "Boy, am I glad to see you here... wherever we are. Whitetail woods, maybe?"
Spike frowned. "Maybe... But this doesn't look like any of the areas of the woods that Twilight and I mapped out."
Applejack sighed. "Well, we need to find a way out of here."
Spike didn't respond.
"Spike? Whats wrong?" Applejack questioned.
"W-What's that?" Spike asked, his voice cracking.
Applejack followed where his blue paw extended to. A trio of strange creatures sat there. They were light brown with black stripes atop their large, round heads. Their small body ended in a part that flared out, not unlike a dress. On the end of each of their pear shaped arms were a trio of lights, each one red, green, and yellow.
The creatures turned to each other and flashed the light a few times.
"A-Are they... ALIENS?!" Spike asked nervously.
"Maybe." Applejack said. "Are they communicating?"
The creatures turned back to the duo and floated ("Floating?!" Spike exclaimed.) over to them. The lights on their hand flashed a few more times before one of them launched forward, swiping a hand at Applejack. The hand, which Applejack then learned was made of some kind of metal, made contact with Applejack. It was only by sheer force of will that she remained standing.
"How dare 'yall vermin come here and hit me like that!" Applejack screamed. She launched forward and delivered a kick to the attackers head, which put a small dent in the metal it was made of. The other two came up from behind, one grabbing spike while the other shot a purple beam of light at Applejack. The beam bounced off of her shell and hit the creature in the face.
"Ha!" Applejack smirked, doing a backflip and preparing another kick. A flurry of razor sharp leaves flew from her head twig, hitting the creature holding Spike, while Applejack drop-kicked the one who had attacked her second, putting a dent in that ones head as well. She landed on all fours, highly confused as to where the leaves had come from.
Spike lept forward and grabbed Applejack by the shell, snapping her out of her stupor. "We gotta get out of here! We can't fight those things!"
Applejack lept to the side as a purple beam landed where she had been standing moments before. "You're right. Let's go!"
Applejack and Spike turned and ran, taking off in to the woods where the creatures hopefully wouldn't follow.
Are you sure these are the ones who can help, Father?
No... no I am not. But they had the most open link to their world. I can only do so much, Palkia. I sent power in to that spell to ensure they would end up here. Now we just have to hope it was the right decision.
Or what?
...
Or what, father?
Or we could all be doomed.
Chapter 2: Rainbows of (Not so much) Hope
Yelling could be heard over the sound of a creek.
"Rarity is not some kind of fox, you phony!"
"Rainbow, you've changed too! Don't you think it makes sense that the portal did something to us?"
Rainbow was silent as she looked down at her new body. Somehow, she had become an orange lizard with a rainbow-colored flame at the end of her tail. Her stomach was the same color as her fur had been before she went through the portal. Maybe a few shades lighter.
"Please, Rainbow." A cream colored fox, Rarity, said. "It's shocking, but we've both changed. Can we focus on finding the others? Please?"
Rainbow looked down in shame. "Sorry Rarity. I was... Worried." She admitted.
Rarity smiled and sat down, opening her arms for a hug. Rainbow accepted, but couldn't help touching the purple fur that came from her ears. It was so soft...
Rarity laughed and pulled back. "Now. Lets find the others, shall we?"
"Lets go!" Rainbow said, spreading her wings to fly... only to remember that she didn't have any. "Well, horseapples..."
"We go on hoof! Or... paw? Nevermind, lets go." Rarity said, walking along the creek. It began to widen until it became a river.
"What's that?" Rainbow asked, pointing in the direction of what looked to be a group pointed roofs.
"A town! Maybe the others landed there. Lets go!" Rarity said, bounding gracefully to the houses.
Rainbow ran forward, easily keeping pace, and they eventually stopped at the front gate of a small village. The duo walked in, hoping to see some ponies, but found that the town seemed to be empty.
"Um... Hello?" Rainbow called out.
A head poked out of one of the buildings. "Hey! Never seen you around before." The creature said, walking forward. A small group of other animals followed after it. "We say that big thing appear in the sky, so we all decided to hide until it was gone. Did you see it?"
"See it?" Rainbow asked.
"Did it happen to be blue and purple?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah!" One of the animals said.
"We came from it." Rainbow said. "Our friend was casting a spell and we got sent here. We're... kinda lost."
The animals were quiet for a second, before one in the back spoke up.
"A-Are you... Aliens?"
"What? No!" Rarity shouted as the town began to panic. They looked at the duo fearfully, as if expecting them to turn in to giant hydra and eat them all in one bite,
"We just need to find our friends and figure out how to get home." Rainbow said. "We aren't here to eat anyone, or anything."
"Well, what do these friends look like?" Asked another animal.
"We... umm... We normally look different than this, but..." Rarity started.
"The portal somehow changed what we are. It probably did the same to our friends, too." Rainbow finished.
"Portal? From where?" One animal spoke up.
"Equestria. Speaking of which, where are we?"
"Oh, so sorry about that." The lead animal spoke up. "Welcome to Serene Village, on the Water Continent! My name is Drench the Simipour, principal of the local school. And, what are your names?"
After introducing themselves, Rarity and Rainbow proceeded to tell the tale of what had happened, starting from being invited to test the spell to their meet with the creatures, now revealed to be called "Pokemon", while Drench shared information on the inner workings of pokemon, including types, attacks, and matchups.
"Quite a tale, indeed." Drench nodded as they finished. "However, I see one problem."
"What's that?" Rarity asked.
"Well, the 'spell' seemed to transform you into pokemon. However, you don't look like normal pokemon. For instance, Rainbow Dash's species, Charmander, normally has a cream belly and a normal, red or orange flame on its tail. And Fennekin is usually yellow, with red-orange fur in place of your purple. Only a few pokemon have different color patterns, which we call Shiny Pokemon, but your colors don't match up to a shiny pokemon's color scheme. A Charmander would turn yellow, while a Fennekin would be silver."
Rarity nodded. "Well, these colors match more closely to our old forms. Rainbow was light blue with a rainbow mane and tail, and i was white, with my mane and tail being the same purple as my ear tufts."
"Well, that makes sense." Drench nodded. "Well, if you don't have any idea what to do now, you're welcome to enroll in the local school, if you'd like to learn more about your new selves. Until then, we can help you search for your friends. Anything you can tell us to help find them?"
Rainbow nodded. "Well, if we're anything to go by, they will probably be different colors than the normal Pokemon versions of them. That would probably be a dead giveaway."
"Of course." Drench nodded. "So, will you be enrolling in the school in the meantime?"
Rainbow muttered to herself. "School? Ugh. That's EGGHEAD stuff."
Rarity sighed. "We both will enroll, mister Drench. Thank you for the invitation."
Drench nodded and stood up. "I'll get you enrolled right now, then. School starts in about a week. I'll see you soon."
Once Drench was out of hearing range, Rainbow turned to Rarity. "Why the hay did you do that? I don't wanna go to some school!"
"Rainbow, darling," Rarity said. "We need to learn about this place if we are to do anything here. A school is the best way to do that."
Rainbow let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Fine. I'll go to the stupid school."
Rarity nodded. "Now, lets see about us getting a place to stay."
They're alive, Father.
Good. Ensure it stays that way, but do not interfere. We must let this play out as destiny has foretold We may have tampered too much already.
I understand, Father.
Chapter 3: Mind of an Explorer
"Umm... Hello? A-Are you okay?"
The voice stirred Twilight out of her sleep. She looked up and saw some kind of blue... salamander? Fish? She didn't know what it was. It had little cheek pouches that were a cream yellow, with a light pink tail. Cream... and light pink... and a gentle, caring voice...
"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, pushing herself in to a sitting position.
"T-Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, startled. "Oh thank goodness. It IS you!"
"What do you mean? Of course its me!"
"Umm... well..." Fluttershy said, looking just above Twilight.
"What? Is there something in my mane?" Twilight asked, reaching up a hoof to feel her mane... only to see that she didnt have a hoof.
"Gahhh!" She screamed, falling backwards. She stood quickly and looked at herself. "What am I, some kind of green dinosaur?" She exclaimed.
"I... think so?" Fluttershy said, worried. "Twilight... theres a leaf... on your head..."
Twilight flipped her head around to face Fluttershy, resulting on a giant leaf bigger than twilight herself falling into her view. Twilight tried to swat it off, but it stayed there.
"I think its attached to you." Fluttershy said, reaching up on her hind legs and batting at the leaf. It stayed firmly atop Twilights head.
"Yeah, seems like it." Twilight said, taking a look around and accidently smacking fluttershy with the leaf. "Where are we?"
Fluttershy dropped down to all fours and looked around as well. "I have no idea..."
A large city could be seen in the distance, with lots of blurry figures moving around in it.
"Should we go see what's over there?" Fluttershy asked.
"YEAH! Lets go!" A familiar high pitched voice said from behind them.
The two turned around and saw a yellow mouse, with a lightning bolt shaped tail. Its cheeks, ear tips, back stripes, and tail base were all varying shades of pink, and its eyes had light blue highlights.
"Pinkie? Is that you?" Twilight asked.
"Yuppedy yupers! Its me, all right! At least... I think so. What if I'm not me? I could be a spyyyyyy!"
Twilight face... pawd? "Yeah, its you alright, Pinkie."
Pinkie Pie smiled and bounced up before floating down as if she was paper in a breeze. "Lets go to that town!"
Twilight shook her head, but raced after Pinkie Pie all the same, leaving Fluttershy to run at the end of the pack.
When the trio arrived at the town, they saw dozens of strange creatures wandering the streets and doing normal things such as shopping and caring for children. Twilight approached what appeared to be a shop, but found that the tent was empty.
"Hawlucha is out, a the moment." A voice spoke up.
Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all turned towards the voice at the same moment. Standing there was a small, orange rodent with a long black tail and large black ears. Fluttershy rushed forward, grabbing the little mouse in her paws.
""Oh, aren't you just the cutest thing!" She squeed.
The mouse seemed to not like the treatment at all, and squirmed out of Fluttershy's grasp.
"Why does everyone always do that..." He muttered. "Anyways, Hawlucha is out right now, if you were looking for him."
"Oh no, we weren't." Twilight answered, stepping forward. "See, we've... never been to this part of the world before. We're a little lost. Do you know of a way we can get a map or something of the sort?"
"Of corse I do! Follow me, I'll show you." The mouse said, turning around. "I'm Chief the Dedenne, by the way. What about you?"
"I'm Twilight. And these are my friends, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie." Twilight introduced.
"Nice to meet you three. Ah, here we are." Chief said, approaching a large building at the end of a side road.
"What is this place?" Pinkie asked.
"Welcome to the Expedition Society HQ! Where we work to make a map of the world and help pokemon in need!" Chief said.
"We?" Twilight said with a tilt of her head.
"Follow me. I'll show you to the map." Chief said, walking in to the building. "You'll probably meet the others on the way there, anyways."
They entered in to a main lobby, where an orange otter and a multicolored bird were talking.
"Ah, Jet, Razor. Hello there." Dedenne greeted. "These are Jet and Razor, the Buizel and Archen." Chief said to the group.
"Hi, Chief! Who's the newcomers?" Asked the orange otter, Jet.
"They're visiting the area for the first time, and were a bit lost. I'm letting them check out the map." Chief answered.
Jet nodded. "Welcome to Lively Town, folks. What are your names?"
The rest of the walk through the base continued in much the same manner, and soon the trio had met the whole Expedition Society. Chief led the three to the center room, where a large, holographic map sat in the center.
"And here is the map. Its not a complete map of the world, but our job is to help others and make a map of the world in the process. So, where are you from?"
At this point, Twilight knew that Equestria wasn't on this map. The world seemed so... different. There was no way that this was Eqqus. She sighed. She knew she had to tell the truth.
"We're not on this map."
Chief frowned. "An incomplete portion of the map, perhaps?"
Twilight shook her head. "No. We're not from this world. We're, in all senses of the word, aliens to this place."
Chief sighed and looked up one of the staircases. "Star!" He called out.
Down came a small... goblin? It was floating in the air, and had three points on its large yellow head. Two yellow capes(?) flowed out from behind it, and it had three blue rectangles hanging from its head.
Twilight wished she had her notebook to write down everything she saw.
"Whaaaaaaat do you need, Chief?" Star asked mid-yawn.
"Mind read. See if this one is telling the truth. She says she and her friends are actual aliens. You're a psychic, and an expert in stars and planets, so I'll leave this to you."
Chief turned and walked off, headed to the left where she smell of food wafted from.
"Aliens, huh?" Star asked. "Okay then. I'll have to read your mind. Please, don't resist. It will make it painful."
Twilight stepped back cautiously. "Will it hurt if I don't resist?"
Star shook its head. "Nope. It will hardly be noticeable if you allow access."
Twilight sat down and gave a small nod. "Alright then... go ahead."
They're seperated, Father. They will need guidance to come together again.
No. They can come together on their own. Destiny will bring them to meet.
Are you sure it is safe, Father?
Palkia, I've already told you. I don't know. I was desperate...
I'm sorry, Father. I understand. Shall I leave you for now?
Yes, please do, son.
As you wish.
Chapter 5: Dungeon of Danger
Rainbow and Rarity sat in the clearing of the town as the crowd of pokemon dispersed. A green lizard went to his shop, a large brown kangaroo-dinosaur went in to a cafe, and Drench followed a path north, presumably to the school. Rainbow sighed and looked around the town. "Well... I'm bored." She sighed.
"We can always try to get used to our new bodies. Didn't Drench mention pokemon having special abilities? We can try to get the hang of those." Rarity suggested.
"Where would we start?" Rainbow asked. "Unless my new dinosaur body can breath fire, i don't have much of an idea of what to do."
Rarity looked at Dash curiously. "Did you not hear what Mr. Drench was saying? We're both fire types. Meaning we control the element of fire. I wouldn't be surprised if we could breathe fire."
"I wasn't really listening." Rainbow stated bluntly. "Anyways... How should we try this? I don't wanna go burning down the village."
"Well, let's ask around and see if there's somewhere safe to practice." Rarity said. The two stood and approached what seemed to be a pink deer, a panda, and some kind of teapot snail. They heard the tail end of their conversation as she approached.
"I can't believe you sent Glub into the forest like that! He could be in danger!" The deer stomped.
The panda laughed. "Ha! I doubt he'd make it very far. He's too weak to get through the school forest!"
Rainbow growled and stepped forward. "So you sent someone in to a dangerous forest for nothing but your own amusement?"
The panda and snail turned and glared at Rainbow. "Hey look, Shell. Its those aliens. What are you gonna do, abduct us?"
Rainbow laughed. "No. I'm gonna go save this Glub kid, whoever he is."
The deer smiled. "Really? Oh thank you so much! What are your names?"
Rarity stepped forward and cleared her throat. "I am Rarity, and this is Rainbow Dash." She said. "And we'd be happy to help save this Glub character. The forest can't be nearly as bad as the Everfree back home."
The deer cheered and pranced around a bit. "Oh, thank you so much!" She said. "My name's Lilac. Thats Shell and Bamboo. Thanks for helping us." She gave a glare to the panda. "Tell them where Glub is." She said, giving him a little kick.
Bamboo grumbled and looked at Rainbow. "He'll be in the Foreboding Forest, just past the last floor. There's 4 floors total, so he'll be just past the fourth one, in the deepest part of the woods. We told him to go write his name on a piece of paper we left there a while back. He was the one bragging about how easy it'd be for him!" He said defensively.
"What does Glub look like?" Rainbow asked.
"A purple blob, light purple on the bottom, two antennas, and green on his cheeks." Shell answered.
Rarity nodded and turned to walk out into the forest before Rainbow suddenly ran ahead, leaving a trail of dirt in her wake. Rarity sighed and picked up the pace.
"We'll bring Glub back, we promise!" She called before following Rainbow out of the gate and into the woods.
Rarity finally caught up to Rainbow as the edge of the forest.
"Took you long enough!" Rainbow called. "Now, lets go save Glub!"
Rarity sighed. "Come on. I'll lead, you stay with me. We don't want to get separated in an unknown forest."
Rainbow let out an exasperated breath. "Fine. But try to pick up the pace."
Rarity nodded and led the way into the forest, squinting her eyes until they adjusted to the dimmer light of the trees. The leaves blocked most of the light, so that only little bits made their way through. The sunlight dotted the floor, but it wasn't enough to make the scene beautiful. It was just creepy.
"I really wish I could fly..." Dash frowned. "I could just fly up and know exactly where we have to go."
"Well, we'll just have to make do with what we have." Rarity replied, stepping over a few puddles. "Though i do hope we get out of this forest soon."
"What, you scared?" Rainbow teased.
"No, I simply wish to save Glub quickly." Rarity replied unconvincingly.
"What kind of name is 'Glub', anyway?" Rainbow asked. "I've heard some weird names, but 'Glub' has to top them all."
"Now Rainbow, you don't want to go judging somepony before you even know them!" Rarity scolded.
Rainbow grumbled incoherently and followed quietly. She grabbed her tail and examined the tail flame, swishing her hand through it. "This is so cool... It doesn't even hurt. It's like sticking my hoof in warm water." She said.
"Well, make sure you don't burn yourself, Rainbow. We have no means to fix you up out here." Rarity replied.
"Fine, fine." Rainbow said, holding out her tail to use it as a light source in the dark forest. Rainbow-colored light was cast in a circle around them, bathing the grass in all shades of color.
"You know, that tail of your's is quiet beautiful." Rarity commented. "The rainbow flame, the way it moves and the color shifts. I think i have an idea for a dress when we get home!"
Rainbow scoffed. "You get ideas from everything." She laughed. "Even hotel items!"
Rarity chuckled. "Art of the dress, dear. I have to keep my eyes open for inspiration."
Rainbow nodded. "Eh, i guess it ma- AHH!" She yelped as she was suddenly attacked. Razor-sharp leaves dug in to her back, and a purple needle shot in to the wound. Rainbow fell on to her stomach, but quickly lept up and faced her attackers... only to see a yellow caterpillar and a blue raddish. "Are those... pokemon?" Rainbow asked.
"No idea, but get ready. They look mad!" Rarity said. Rainbow nodded and prepared to leap away in case they attacked again.
"Oddish!" The raddish growled, shooting another flurry of leaves. Rainbow managed to move out of the way in time, but Rarity wasn't so lucky. She braced herself for the pain... but none came. Only a wave of heat. Opening her eyes, Rarity saw a stream of fire had intersected the leaves, burning them to a crisp. The flames weren't normal, though. They were rainbow colored.
Rarity glanced at Rainbow and saw the fire pouring from her maw.
"Take that!" Rainbow smirked at the pokemon as the flames died down. "Looks like I CAN breath fire!" She said to Rarity over her shoulder. Rarity smiled and glared at the two pokemon. "Don't you know..." She growled. "That it is considered impolite..." A purple glow lined her eyes. "To harm..." Purple energy formed in front of her muzzle. "A LADY!"
The beam shot forward, exploding on the two pokemon and rendering them out of commission. The glow in her eyes died down and she looked in horror at what she had done. "I... I attacked two innocent creatures!" She screamed. Rainbow grabbed her shoulders and shook her.
"Snap out of it, Rares!" She said. "They attacked us! Remember what Drench said? Battling is normal in the pokemon world."
Rarity sighed, still looking quiet shaken. "Its just... It came so naturally... Rainbow, what if we become monsters? Mindless machines living for battling?"
Rainbow facepalmed. "Rarity, did any of the pokemon back in town look like mindless battle machines to you?"
"Well... no..." Rarity sighed. "I'm being dramatic again, aren't I?"
Rainbow shook her head. "Nah, its a reasonable fear. Equestria was much more peaceful than this place. We just have to adapt for now, at least until we can get home."
Rarity nodded and looked ahead at the forest. "Come on... Lets find Glub."
A purple dragon with green frills approached a purple unicorn with wings, an alicorn, who was holding a potion in her magical grasp. "Twilight?" He asked, catching her attention. "The next shipment of books came in. Where should I put them?"
The alicorn, Twilight, grabbed the books in her magic after setting down the potion. "Thanks Spike." She looked them over before grabbing one and sending the others to their appropriate shelves. "I took care of that. Now." She looked down at the book she had kept in her grasp. "I've been waiting for this one. Celestia and Starswirl did lots of experiments with interdimensional travel, and now it's time I try."
Spike frowned. "Twilight, Celestia nearly destroyed both worlds when she did that. Don't you think its a bad idea?"
Twilight shook her head. "I've done the math. I can stay in the worlds for a maximum of 3 minutes and 47 seconds a day without messing with the balance. I think i'll be safe." She bent down and patted the dragon. "And you're welcome to come with me."
Spike smiled, eagerness all to evident on his face. Twilights own face mimicked it. However, a knock on the door interrupted it. Twilight stood up and went to open the door. In walked a white unicorn with a styled, purple mane. Spike's eyes instantly became little hearts, and Twilight giggled. "Hey, Rarity. Come in."
Rarity took a step in and looked about the slight mess of the room.
"Sorry about that..." Twilight said as she closed the door. "I've been working on a project for a while."
"What project?" Rarity asked as she straightened some papers.
"Well, tell me what you came here for first." Twilight said, giving Rarity a quizzical look.
Rarity stared in mock offense. "What? Can't a friend visit another?"
Twilight laughed. "I know, I'm kidding."
Rarity nodded. "I know. But there is one thing I needed, actually. Do you happen to have an extra pair of scissors anywhere? I can't seem to find mine and i need it to cut some fabric."
"Of course! Let me go get it." Twilight said, vanishing from the room in a teleport. Rarity turned to Spike. "So, what is her little project anyways, Spike?"
"Interdimensional Travel." Spike said. When Rarity gave him a quizzical look, he explained. "Remember how you went to that alternate universe where Sombra was good and Celestia and Luna were evil?"
Rarity nodded. "I don't know how anypony could forget THAT experience." Rarity said.
Spike continued. "Well, Twilight wants to find a way to safely travel between this world and other worlds without upsetting the balance. Shes going to start experimenting today. Wanna join us?"
Rarity smiled. "I'd love to! As long as Twilight's okay with it, of course. I don't want to get in her way."
At that moment, Twilight teleported back in and levitated some scissors to Rarity. "Here you go!" She said with a smile. "Now, about my project-"
"No need, darling. Spike explained it to me already. I'd like to join you in the tests, if that's alright."
"Of course! That would be great! In fact, lets get the rest of our friends! We can all do the tests together!"
Rarity frowned. "I dont know, darling. Applejack is watching the CMC as of now."
"They can come too." Twilight said, but she sounded a little less sure.
"Are you positive, darling? They do tend to be quite messy, even if they do have their cutie marks now."
Twilight shook her head and a smile appeared on her face once more. "Nah, they haven't been nearly as bad as they used to be. I think we should be fine. I'll get Fluttershy and Pinkie, you get Rainbow and Applejack."
"Alright, darling." Rarity said with a nod, walking out of the tree-like castle. Twilight spread her wings and followed her, taking flight and cruising to Fluttershy's house.
A few minutes later, nine ponies and a baby dragon gathered in the center of a large, open room.
"Okay, ready?" Twilight asked.
"Yee haw!" Applejack said, crossing her legs. "Lets do this!"
"I'm ready!" Rainbow Dash smirked.
"Umm... maybe?" Fluttershy whimpered.
"Ooooh, i'm so nervouscited!" Pinkie said with a bounce.
"Ready when you are, darling." Rarity said with a flip of her hair.
"Here we go!" Spike smiled.
Twilight nodded, glancing over at the three fillies in the corner of the room, watching with interest. "If we're not back in five minutes, go get Discord and have him get the princesses, okay?"
The girls nodded, smiling brightly. "We will. Promise." Sweetie Belle said, doing the pinkie promise motions. Her friends followed, finishing with all three of them poking a hoof in their eyes at the same time. As they rubbed their hurt eyes, Twilight turned back to her friends, "Here we go..."
Her horn light up a bright magenta, bathing the room in a soft glow. The glow increased in intensity, eventually making the area surrounding Twilight unbearable to look at. A small, purple and blue hole appeared above them, growing slowly in size. A strong wind began blowing in to it, as if something was sucking them in. Fluttershy held meekly on to Rainbow Dash as her mane blew through her face.
"T-Twi? Is this supposed to be happenin'?" Applejack shouted over the wind.
"I don't think so!" Twilight yelled back. "I must have overestimated the power i needed to put in to it! It's too strong!"
"Girls!" Rainbow yelled. "Get out of here and get Discord!"
The fillies nodded and tried to rush out, but a sudden burst of wind threw them up in to the air and in to the swirling mass above.
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity shrieked, leaping into the vortex.
"Scoots!"
"Apple Bloom!"
The respective sisters leapt into the portal a moment after, and it began to waver.
"Rarity!" Spike yelled, leaping in after his crush.
"Girls!" Twilight shouted. "Come on, you two! We gotta go after them!"
Pinkie Pie lept into the vortex, doing a cannonball, while Fluttershy shrunk back. Twilight squinted her eyes, head hurting from the power she was pouring into the spell. "Fluttershy! The CMC need you! The girls need you! We have to go help!"
Fluttershy looked between Twilight and the vortex before standing and taking a small leap into the air. The wind did the rest, carrying her into the vortex and out of Twilight's sight. Twilight held up the spell for a moment longer before cutting off the magic. The wind stopped and everything was silent for a split second, in which Twilight leapt into the portal, before the vortex collapsed in on itself, creating a resounding boom that could be heard throughout Ponyville and possibly to Canterlot. The portal disappeared, leaving behind a small, glowing dot floating in the air, which disappeared a few seconds after, leaving no trace that anything had happened besides some papers left lying on the floor.
Chapter 4: Running from Mysteries
Applejack and Spike charged through the woods, leaves whipping their faces as they ran blindly from the monsters chasing them. As such, they didnt notice when they had hit a path and ran straight in to someone else.
"Gah! What in tarnation!" Applejack said as she tripped up. Spike helped her up and turned to see who they tripped over.
At first glance, it looked like an oddly shaped root. Until it moved. And spoke.
"What in the world? I reckon that'll hurt in the morning. Just what was that for, huh?" It said in a masculine voice, with an accent comparable to Applejacks. He stood and looked over at the two with a glare.
"S-Sorry!" Spike stammered. "We were being chased by these wierd creatures. They had big dome heads and light on their fingers, and they were attacking us!"
The creature looked shocked. "Sounds a lot like a Beeheym to me." He nodded. "Well, if you were attacked, you'd be safer in the village. I was actually out looking for someone like you two."
"Us?" Applejack asked. "Why?"
"Well, we ran in to two pokemon named Rarity and Rainbow. Oddly colored pokemon, they were. Said that their friends would be around, and probably oddly colored too, and you two have abnormal colors for your species."
"You found Rarity and Rainbow?" Applejack said happily.
"Can you take us to them?" Spike asked.
"'Course I can!" The creature said. He held his hand out to the two. "Names Vine, the Nuzleaf. What about yourselves?"
"I'm Applejack." Applejack said. "And this is Spike."
Spike nodded ad shook Vine's hand. "Nice to meet you, mister Vine."
"You too, youngn's. Now, lets get goin'. Before them Beeheym show up again."
"Alright!" Applejack cheered, following in step behind the Nuzleaf.
"If you woudnt mind telling us, Vine, what is a pokemon?" Spike asked. "You mentioned it before. Is it out species or something?"
Nuzleaf shook his head. "Pokemon is the name given to the race of creatures who live on this planet. I'm a pokemon, you two are pokemon, those Beeheym are pokemon, etcetera. You're a Riolu, and Applejack there is a Turtwig."
Applejack nodded. "And, what about the odd colors?" She questioned.
"Well, Spikes species normally has full black sensors, and are pure blue rather than blue-green. And Turtwigs tend to be totally green, with yellow eyes." The Nuzleaf informed them.
Applejack nodded. "And what about our friends? What hav-"
"Shhh!" Vine suddenly hissed. He crouched and looked around warily.
"Whats wrong?" Spike whispered.
"The areas changed. I can feel it. We're in a mystery dungeon."
"A what?" Applejack asked.
"Mystery Dungeon. Random feats of nature. Layout's different every time you go in to one. You can find items, money, and all sorts of other things here. But there's danger, too. Wild pokemon live in them, and attack upon sight. They're very territorial."
Applejack shuddered. "Well, what do we do?"
"Find the stairs." Vine said. "Years ago, old explorers came through the dungeons and build stairs to find exits. Despite the format changing, the stairs always stayed somewhere in the dungeon."
He turned to the two of them. "Do you two know any attacks?"
"Attacks? Well, eariler i shot leaves from my shell. Is that one?"
"Razor Leaf." The Nuzleaf nodded. "I know that one too. What about you, Spike?"
"Um... I'm not sure." Spike sighed.
"Riolu tend to be physical fighters. You probably know something like Bite or Vacuum Wave. It will come naturally when you're in battle. Follow my lead."
Vine led the two through oddly neat paths and clearings in the dungeon. The stairs were in sight just across the room. "Come on!" He said. "Lets hurry!"
Applejack and Spike ran after him, but were stopped by a fierce growl. Looking over, they saw a two headded, wingless bird had blocked the path.
"Darn it! A Doduo. None of us have an advantage over it." Vine sighed.
"Advantage?" Spike asked, but was drowned out by the Doduo growling and charging the group. Applejack lept out of the way, then charged the bird at full speed. She slammed the full weight of her body against it, causing it to fall and become unresponsive.
"Did i beat it?" She asked.
"Nice Tackle!" Vine cheered. "You knocked it out! Come on, lets go, before it wakes up."
Spike followed behind the two, thinking. "How would i use a move?" He thought. "Maybe I should try to battle..." He nodded and looked as they approached the stairs. "I'll take on the next pokemon we find!" He thought proudly.
And find they did. After reaching the next floor, the trio took a random path and began searching again for the stairs to the next floor of the dungeon. Applejack called out to Vine and pointed to something on the ground. "What's that?" She asked.
Vine took a step back. "A hoard of oran berries... Meaning that this is a wild pokemon's home. Be careful." He said, looking around. He turned to leave, but came face to face with a fluffy white bat. He fell backwards with a yelp. Applejack turned around and gasped when she saw the bat. She lept to attack it, but stopped when a large tornado whipped up behind it. The bat turned and saw the tornado get condenced to one place, specifically, Spike, then shot out in a blast of energy. The energy struck the bat and knocked it out cold. It dropped a blue berry it had been holding, letting it roll to a stop at Spikes feet.
"Wow..." Applejack said in awe. "What was that?"
"Vaccum Wave." Vine provided. "Nice job. You guys are good at this."
Spike blushed. "Thanks." He said proudly. "Come on, lets get going!"
And the dragon-turned-pokemon led the way through the dungeon until they found the exit.