Chapters Prologue-The Journey Begins...
Equestria
Midday
It was a sunny day, and most ponies would prefer to be outside at this time. The weather was nice, the day was new…
Twilight Sparkle was not like most ponies today.
As of now, she was in her new Castle's dedicated laboratory, laboring away at a project of hers. A project that would produce a spell, one that would allow her to artificially recreate the Mirror Portal without need for the portal itself. Right now, Twilight was knee-deep in scrolls and reagents, and she was buzzing about, as if she had one too many cups of coffee.
"And that should be there, and this...there…" she said, with an accomplished smile. "With this, I add the reagents, and finally…"
She fired a beam of magic at the assembled ingredients, and after a bright flash of white light…
And nothing happened.
"Tartarus!" Twilight cursed loudly. "That should've worked! Why didn't it work?"
Twilight was about to leave when she heard a faint noise, like a driving wind. She turned, and what she saw puzzled her. A crack in the air was present, small and circular in shape. It was almost as if the backdrop of a glass wall had been shattered by a thrown object.
"Huh…" Twilight mused. "Not what I was expecting…So, I don't think I factored in the variable of "Mysterious Portal appearing from nowhere" into my theory…Strange…"
Twilight then noticed the time.
"Sweet Celestia, it's three o'clock?" she gasped. "I'm late for lunch with the girls!"
She rushed upstairs in a panic, all thoughts of the mysterious portal forgotten.
"Twilight, where have you been?" Rarity admonished. "You're nearly thirty minutes late! And you're NEVER late!"
"Sorry, everypony." she sighed. "I got caught up in my research."
"That spell you're working on?" Rainbow groaned. "How long has it been?"
"I actually don't know." Twilight admitted. "I'm dead tired and super hungry, if that's any indicator."
"Well, it is Tuesday afternoon, and we last saw you Monday evening…" Fluttershy piped up. "It's been…"
"OVER TEN HOURS!?" Twilight screeched, doing the mental math. "Why didn't you get me?"
"Um, you put a shield up." Applejack said flatly. "Took us a while to get past."
"Ah, right…" Twilight said. "Sorry. Let's get down to business, shall we?"
While all this was happening, Spike was eyeing the Lab door with a curious eye. Twilight had caught him reading comics late past his bedtime, and she had confiscated them all. Spike had checked all her usual hiding spots (Which were phenomenally easy to figure out, even for the baby Dragon.), but so far, no luck. The laboratory was the one place left he hadn't checked. Slipping in, he smiled upon seeing his shoebox stuffed full of comics under the lab sink. Then, as soon as he picked them up, he dropped them and ran out.
"Twilight!" Spike cried, bursting into the room.
"What's up, Spike?" Twilight asked. "You don't need to yell."
"There's a GIANT PORTAL IN THE LAB!" he screamed. "And it's getting BIGGER!"
"I know about the Portal, Spike...Wait, GETTING BIGGER?" Twilight realized. She sped out of the room faster than anyone
Spike wasn't lying.
A much larger version of the portal Twilight had summoned was currently crackling with energy and growing larger by the second. Twilight was currently trying to seal it, with no success.
"Everypony get back!" she cried in panic. "I can't seal it!"
"Get away from that thing!" Rainbow yelled.
"I can't! It'll collapse and that'll end us all!" Twilight panicked. Realizing what she had to do, she used her magic to close and
lock the door, putting her friends out of harm's way. She then released her hold on the portal.
For many ponies in Ponyville, having weird or unexpecting things happen was part of the daily routine.
Having a giant explosion cave in half of Twilight's Castle, though...was not.
A crowd formed at the scene, and out of the wreckage came Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie,
There was no sign of Twilight, the Portal, or a good chunk of her Castle.
Twilight groaned and stood up shakily. Then, she dove to the side to dodge a piece of her castle wall that would've crushed her flat had she not moved. She scurried away from the falling debris and to the safety of a small hill. She took a few deep breaths and reoriented herself.
Then she noticed something she did not expect.
She was now in her human body, and in her school clothes. She hyperventilated for a few seconds, then she managed to calm down.
"Okay, so I'm in another human world, in my human body, and likely no way home." she said quietly. "I should get moving, see if I can find some help."
She stood up and started to walk away, only for a faint buzzing to stop her cold. She turned, and froze.
A large, bee-like creature was searching the area. Twilight would've said it was some kind of bee-monster, only bees didn't have lance-like blades on their limbs. The creature buzzed again, and several more of its kind appeared. Then, Twilight stepped backwards onto a stick, cracking it. The six creatures turned and spotted her, and they started to buzz angrily.
"AHH!" Twilight screamed as their blades glowed purple, and they fired several blasts of liquid at her. Twilight barely had time to dodge them as she dove behind a fallen tree. The leader of the creatures buzzed again, and the others began to pelt her hiding spot with more blasts of purple liquid. Twilight could see the liquid eating away at the wood bit by bit. Twilight, taking a gamble, screamed again.
"HELP!" she cried. The creatures stopped momentarily, then a second voice was heard.
"Torracat, use HEAT WAVE!"
Suddenly, Twilight saw a wave of red energy smash into the creatures. Twilight then realized it wasn't energy.
"It's safe now, come on out."
Twilight looked into the face of her rescuer, a human boy of about her age. He wore clothes suitable for the summer, and at his side was another creature. This one was like a young tiger, only colored blazing red and black. A fiery orb was on the creature's throat, and Twilight swore a small ball of flame was on the tip of its tail.
"You okay?" the boy asked. "It's not exactly safe to run straight into a horde of Beedrill, you know."
"I'm fine." Twilight said, not sure where the conversation was heading.
"I'm Corey." he boy said. "And this...is my partner Torracat."
The "Torracat" gave her a nod and an inquisitive look.
"I'm Twilight." she replied. "Where am I?"
"Well, you're in the Poni Wilds, on Poni Island in the Alola Region." Corey said. "You foreign?"
"Foreign?" Twilight asked, confused.
"What I meant was...where are you from?" Corey asked. "Kanto?"
"No."
"Johto? Hoenn?"
"No to both."
"Sinnoh? Unova? Kalos?"
"No again." Twilight said. "Look, it's a long story. Can we go somewhere private?"
"I guess." Corey said. "You owe me an explanation, though. Alright, I guess Hapu's is close enough."
"Hapu?" Twilight asked.
"A friend of mine." Corey said. "You'll like her."
Corey and Torracat set off, and Twilight sighed before following.
Author's Note
Yeah, I hope this one is better, at least it seems better to me. What do you think?
Next chapter-Twilight and Corey reach Hapu's house, where she explains herself, not knowing unfriendly eyes are watching them. Back in Equestria, the Elements deal with the problem of how to find Twilight.
Twilight, Corey, and Torracat walked through the forest in silence, Torracat leading the way. Twilight eyed the Fire-Type Pokemon with a mixed look of confusion and fascination, which Torracat answered with his own inquisitive eye. Corey, however, walked as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"Corey?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"How trustworthy is this "Hapu" that you're taking me to see?" Twilight asked.
"She's trustworthy, all right. I mean, she's the Poni Island Kahuna, chosen by Tapu Fini herself, so I guess it's part of the job description." Corey laughed. "Besides, she's just as faithful as her partner. You tell her something secret, her lips are sealed. Trust me."
"Alright." Twilight replied, still formulating a plan of how to break her story as best she could, then a plan on how to get home. Corey and Twilight were silent for the remainder of the journey, until they arrived at Hapu's farm. Twilight looked around with interest. The House was surrounded by areas of farmland, and various stone fences cordoned them off from the main path. Twilight looked around for any signs of life, and so far there was none to be seen.
Until the sound of heavy steps came clear, and a massive equine creature hurtled into Twilight's vision. She yelped and fell flat on the ground, looking at the creature in shock. It was almost as tall as Celestia, with a muddy coat and long, braided hair. Twilight could see clumps of mud on its hooves, and it looked at her as if sizing her up. Then, there was the sound of raucous laughter.
A small girl, wearing rather dirty clothing and a wide hat, came up clutching her stomach as she chortled.
"Well, you sure spooked her, Mudsdale." Hapu said. The Draft Horse Pokemon gave a whinny and returned to its trainer's side.
"Wha…" Twilight gaped.
"Eh, sorry about that." Hapu said, pulling her up. "Mudsdale doesn't get excited like that very often. Strange. Anyways, I'm Hapu, Kahuna of Poni Island."
"I'm Twilight." Twilight said, still eyeing Mudsdale. "You sure it won't do that again?"
"Mudsdale's a he, and he won't." Hapu replied. "He's normally as calm and collected as a Quagsire. Anyway, let's get you inside and something to eat. You look half-starved."
Twilight heard her stomach grumble, making the point clear. Corey, Hapu, and Twilight headed inside, while Mudsdale headed to his nest in the stable.
Twilight had to admit, Hapu was a good cook. After sitting down and cooking a lunch for the three of them, Twilight had devoured the plate she had been given.
"Easy there." Hapu said. "Seems you haven't eaten in a while."
"I guess." Twilight said. "So, Corey?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I should explain who I am now." she sighed. Torracat looked up at her from his bowl of food, and caught Twilight's
"That Torracat scares me." she whispered to the male trainer.
"Yeah, Torracat is only close towards me." Corey said. "He likes some other people, but he's kind of distrustful towards people he doesn't know. He's a really good judge of character, and frankly…"
"...He scares me too sometimes." Corey whispered. Twilight swore she saw Torracat roll his eyes before continuing to eat.
"So, shall I get started?" she said timidly. Corey crossed his arms as if saying "Go ahead, we're waiting."
Twilight took a deep breath and said with a clear voice,
"I'm not originally human."
Twilight expected there to be vast amounts of screaming. She expected Corey and Hapu to freak out and run for the hills.
She expected to be subjected to science experiments within the hour.
She didn't expect them to be clutching their stomachs laughing for the second time that day.
"What a relief!" Corey chuckled, his laughter fading away. "I honestly thought it was going to be something scary!"
"How are you acting so...cool about this?" Twilight said in disbelief. "Did you not even hear me?"
"We did." Hapu said. "And we understand."
"Yeah, listen." Corey said. "It's the longest story you'll ever hear, but I've been to other worlds and I met those world's inhabitants, so...yeah. Not the strangest thing I've heard in my life at all."
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"How old are you?" she asked cautiously.
"17." Corey said nonchalantly.
"And you've been to other worlds?" Twilight cried again. "That makes no sense!"
"Why's that?" Corey asked, sipping his juice.
"It's just...It took me YEARS of study to be able to travel to just ONE extra-dimensional world, and you, a seventeen year old human, are just throwing it out there like it's common knowledge?" Twilight cried.
"It is common knowledge." Corey replied flatly. "At least to a select group of people that I know. So, what else?"
"What...else?" Twilight asked, unsure of where this was heading.
"What else is there about your world?" Corey asked. "Like how did you get here, what's it like...that sort of thing.
Twilight sighed. This would take a while, that was certain.
And all the while Torracat continued to eat like nothing had happened.
As Twilight's friends headed out of the Hospital, they wouldn't admit it...
But they were all nervous. The Guards had finished their investigation at Twilight's castle, and they had concluded there was no way to find her from what remained.
"I'm scared." Fluttershy murmured.
"We're all scared, sugarcube." Applejack said. "I just wonder were she could be."
"Frankly, I can't imagine." Rarity replied. "And she could be anywhere at all!"
"I know!" Rainbow added. "It's so frustrating!"
"We need a good pick-me-up!" Pinkie said. "I can't think of one, though."
"It's all good, Pinkie." Applejack soothed. "Let's just head home, everypony. We can figure something out later."
"And besides, we know Twilight." Fluttershy said. "She'll be alright wherever she goes."
As the five of them went their separate ways, the bright blue sky seemed to dim slightly, then return to normal."
Author's Note
Update!
Next chapter-Twilight goes deeper and heads to Burnett's lab on Akala, while Blueblood makes a plot in the shadows...
Hapu, Twilight, and Corey spent the better part of two hours conversing about Equestria, and an additional hour explaining the World of Pokemon. Twilight found it fascinating that the Pokemon lived in relative peace with humans.
"Okay, moving on…" Corey said. "Now that we've all gotten acquainted, we should probably let Professor Burnett know what's going on."
"Agreed." Hapu said. "If anyone will know what to do, it's her."
"Who's Professor Burnett?" Twilight asked.
"Burnett studies alternate dimensions at her lab in Heahea City, on Akala Island." Corey said. "She's helped us out a lot in the past, and she knows more about dimensional travel than anyone else in Alola."
"How are we going to get to this lab, then?" Twilight asked.
"We swim." Corey said. Twilight paled in response.
"Just kidding. We can take a ferry or we could fly." Corey replied, earning a glare from Twilight. "I've got my Ride Pager with me, so we should be on our way soon."
"Who's flying us over to Akala?" Twilight asked as they headed for the door, and waved good-bye to Hapu.
"You'll see." Corey replied.
Stepping outside, Corey took a reflective, mirror-like orb and flashed it twice against the sky. A few minutes later, two large Pokemon set themselves down in front of them. If Twilight didn't know they were Pokemon of some kind, she could've sworn they were dragons. They were built like one, with orange skin and a fiery tail. The curious thing was the saddle, floodlight, and handlebars on their back.
"They're Charizard." Corey said. "And they've been trained to fly people around on their backs. Let's get moving, shall we?"
Corey handed Twilight a spare kit of Riding Gear, and mounted her Charizard. Corey stepped into the saddle of his, and with a nod from him and a scream from Twilight, the two Charizards took off towards Heahea City.
Equestria, Canterlot
Celestia sighed with exhaustion as she placed her head on her desk. Twilight's disappearance had caused a stir among the nobles. A few of them had tried to claim custody over Twilight's Kingdom and Castle, but Celestia and Luna had replied to those thoughts with these words.
"Then expect your banishment."
That sentence ended any discussion of the matter. Celestia looked out at the night sky, watching her sister's magic transform the sky. There had been no contact from Twilight since the accident, and Celestiaswas starting to believe she was gone for good. The press had been hounding her for more information during Day Court, and Celestia had used her Royal Canterlot Voice to order them to be silent. And that was rarely done.
"Sister?"
Celestia turned to see Luna walk in.
"We have a problem."
"Is it the press again?" Celestia moaned.
"No, it's worse." Luna sighed. "There is a coalition of nobles demanding that they receive joint custody of Twilight's Kingdom, in her and I quote, "Unlawful absence", if she does not return by the Summer solstice."
"Led by my nephew, I presume?" Celestia asked.
"Indeed." Luna sighed. "I wish you would disown him. He is no Prince."
"I made it clear, Luna, that it was not my choice." Celestia retorted miserably. "The council wanted more influence in Royal affairs. He was the only option I would agree to."
Luna rolled her eyes.
"And yet, he would attempt to steal the Kingdom of a Princess whose title was rightfully earned." Luna sighed. "I will have words with him yet. And if needed, decry them."
Celestia moaned in reply.
"They would have your head for that." she finally said.
"They've would have Twilight's KINGDOM!" Luna shouted. "Are you to stand aside and let them steal what Twilight has earned and ruled justly?"
"I WIILL NOT HAVE IT, LUNA!" Celesia cried in the Royal Voice. Luna flinched, as Celestia rarely raised her voice towards her sister.
"What is happening, Celestia?" Luna asked. Celestia composed herself and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened just then." she said. "I need sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
Luna watched as Celestia retired, only as she left, Luna sighed.
"That was most unusual, sister." said the Princess of the Moon as she herself departed.
Meanwhile, at the Manor of Prince Blueblood, several nobles and the lord of the house sat at a table.
"So, as you all know, Princess Twilight has vanished." Blueblood said. "And her kingdom is vacant."
"Yet we cannot claim it." said Lord Woodoak. "That would take the confidence of both sisters."
"And we do not have confidence in either." added Count Youngblood. "Unless they were declared unfit to rule, or unable, there is no way."
"Leave that to me." Blueblood said. "My aunt has lost her touch with us, so to speak. Tomorrow, I will raise a vote of fitness against the Solar Princess."
"What of Princess Luna?" Woodoak said.
"She is of no concern." Blueblood said. "I will depose her once I am Prince of Equestria. Now then, a toast to us!"
"To us!" cried the nobles as they drank. However, in the night sky above them, there was a flicker, and two human figures appeared.
"We have arrived, Zossie." said Dulse, of the Ultra Recon Squad.
"Yep!" said his partner, Zossie. "That wormhole came from this dimension, all right!"
"Let us make haste to find its origins." Dulse said, fingering his Naganadel's Beast Ball. "If the Ultra Beasts come here, there will be mass destruction."
"So let's go!" Zossie replied as they activated their camoflague systems, rendering them invisible. They blended into the night air, and they set off to gather information.
As the two Charizards landed in front of the Heahea City Pokemon Center, Corey helped a shaking Twilight disembark. She fell to her knees and coughed a few times, and Corey was sure she would vomit. Eventually, she staggered to her feet and took a few deep breaths.
"That was so scary." she managed to stammer.
"Yeah, you'll get used to it." Corey chuckled. "This way."
Corey led the way towards Burnett's lab as a Passenger Seaplane passed overhead, heading for the Hau'oli City Marina.
Author's Note
Update!
Next chapter-Burnett and Twilight talk business, and four new Trainers enter the field. Also, Blueblood lengthens his list of allies.
