It quickly occurred to April that she had no idea how to follow the cyan thing. She had no idea how to walk, let alone fly; her previous attempts to crawl on all fours had proved unsuccessful. On the other hand, the cyan thing didn’t look too far away…

April suddenly got an idea. She dropped down onto all fours, tried to imitate the pose professional sprinters did before they started running, then quickly leaped off the cage. The air was still, but momentum would let her glide far enough to reach the cyan thing, right?

…Right?

Instead, all that happened is that she fell for a couple of metres. She desperately tried to flap those unreliable wings, but they felt surprisingly heavy, like she was trying to row through treacle using oars that were strapped to her back. Landing flat on her face didn’t hurt at all, but when she looked up, she realised that the cyan thing was a lot further away than she’d expected.

The Budew quickly waddled to her side. “Are you okay?” she asked. April stood up and nodded.

April quickly realised that since she couldn’t fly, she only had one other option: she’d walk. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to do that, either. She’d already figured out that she just couldn’t crawl on all fours, so she had to make do with the alternative: walking the way she was used to, on two legs like any sensible human being.

It wasn’t as difficult as she thought. She carefully stood on one foot and placed the other one down opposite it, as if she was walking on two tightropes at once. While the long wing-tips still dragged against the ground, she didn’t feel nearly as weighed down by them anymore. Unfortunately, it was impossible for her to walk anything resembling a decent pace with those flat, stubby legs; she managed half a metre in a minute.

The Budew, meanwhile, had other ideas. April watched as she ran as fast as her tiny little legs could carry her (ie: not very)... and then she tripped over.

There were still a few of the colourful, hooved creatures out and about, and April could just about make out that the Budew was receiving some stares from various directions. (Were there glasses in this world? She needed those.) Then, she heard one of them gallop in the direction they were headed. About a minute later, he trotted back, alongside a familiar cyan and yellow shape.

April realised that she really needed to stop calling her a “thing”. She seemed like a perfectly respectable… person? Was that the right word? April had only just learned that PokéSpeak was real, after all, so she was beginning to reconsider what “personhood” actually meant. She needed to come up with a better nickname for her. Maybe… Cyantha? Yeah, that sounded good.

“Are these yours?” he asked.

“Oh!” Cyantha gasped. “Sorry about that. I rescued these two, and I was going to take them home, but then Princess Cadence said they would be best left alone..”

“Really?” the male one replied. “I think they might want to come home with you… Where do you live?”

“Ponyville,” Cyantha replied. “Come to think of it, these two would look right at home in the Everfree Forest, and-”

Everfree Forest? That doesn’t sound so bad, April thought as she inched closer.

“Oh, I just remembered!” exclaimed Cyantha, facepalming. With a hoof. That must have hurt. A lot. “There’s a librarian in Ponyville who’s studying the Moonkind, who we really need to come up with a better name for.”

“Like Pokémon!” exclaimed the Budew, but the others ignored her.

“Now that you mention it, I think it’d be best if I showed them to her, and she’d know what to do with them. Thanks for reminding me!” Cyantha waved.

“You’re welcome!” The male one waved back, before trotting away.

Cyantha was about to pick up the Budew, when the Budew ran back towards April.

“Don’t forget about my friend!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down in front of April. “She can’t fly for some reason. Please can you help her?”

At the same time, Cyantha approached April and picked her up between both of her forelegs, before tucking her under one, and then placing her on her back. It was embarrassing, really, having to be carried around like that, but she didn’t have any choice. April sincerely hoped, from the bottom of her heart, that this whole ordeal was temporary, and she’d wake up as a human again, and continue her everyday life and see Digit again… but the more she thought about it, the less likely that seemed.

“And away we go!” exclaimed Cyantha.

Gingerbread. That was all April could think about. They had finally arrived at a wooden train platform - Cyantha had trotted at a pace slow enough for the Budew to keep up with her - and they were about to board a train made of gingerbread, covered in various colours of icing sugar. Okay, so it probably wasn’t, but it wouldn’t have been the strangest thing she’d seen today.

April noticed that Cyantha seemed to be gaining a lot of odd looks, which was probably why she quickly boarded the otherwise-empty carriage at the very end of the train. The journey was… uneventful. April had chosen a seat next to the window, and watched frozen mountains change to temperate forest change to open fields as the sky turned from blue to a lovely reddish-pink colour. The monotony almost lulled her to sleep.

Along the way, she heard the Budew try to strike up a conversation with Cyantha; they were sat opposite each other. “So, what’s your name?” she asked, in the most endearingly polite voice April had ever heard… to no response. She asked a few other questions - “What are you?” “Where are we?” “Have you seen a human named Crawford anywhere?” - but they were all met with the same response: silence. What about this Budew made her so ignorable, and why was April immune to it?

When she jumped out of the train and onto the platform, April looked up in awe to see that the horizon was now fringed with purple. They had arrived in a town consisting of beige buildings connected by dirt paths, and… that was all she could make out. The stars weren’t out yet, but she could see the distinctive orange glow of fire shining from several of the windows.

Cyantha’s home was… ordinary. Despite being a quadruped, it looked just like an old-fashioned, two-storey human house. It reminded her of Celestic Town, where she’d grown up. The only thing unusual about it was the two-piece door.

Cyantha yawned as she trotted up the wooden stairs. April thought at first that she had left her and the Budew in the living room, marked by a green rug with a yellow border, until she realised it was the only room on this floor. Was that a kitchen in the corner? The glassless window was open, allowing the cool night air into the room. It was completely silent, completely still… it was lonely, yet serene. April wished she could take a deep breath, savour it, and reflect upon all that had happened today.

...Well, she could still do that last thing.

Her top priority tomorrow would be to look for a telepathic Pokémon. Even if she couldn’t get answers on what was going on, at least she would have a way to explain who she was. But wait, would she need to explain that, or would a telepath instantly pick up what was on her mind? And why had that never occurred to her before?

On the other hand, she may be completely helpless now, but she was still a grown adult who could cope with being on her own. But this Budew… wasn’t. That poor child was desperate to find Crawford, who she could only assume was her trainer. April had wanted to be a trainer when she was a kid, but she'd never gotten around to it, and then she’d grown up. She should concentrate on finding him first.

And… Digit. Digit was always there for April at the end of the day, but it rarely met anyone else. Was Digit even advanced enough to understand what had happened? Or would it forever be upset that April had just "abandoned" it one day?

But she could worry about all of that tomorrow. Right now, she needed to get some sleep. She looked up at the pale green sofa; while it seemed to be smaller than a human sofa, it looked so daunting, like she was going to climb a mountain. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. It was more like a hill.

Suddenly, she got an idea.

She staggered towards the pale green sofa, noticing that the Budew was sat down, asleep, by the side closest to the window. She touched the sofa; its hand-woven cover felt coarse, yet what lay underneath felt so soft! She tried to pull this body's… hand - that was what she was going to call it - away, but it felt stuck, like velcro. Yes! She used her newfound power to climb up the sofa, which took so much effort that it felt like climbing to the top of a rock-climbing wall for the first time. Still, it was an accomplishment - she could move on her own!

Here April was, getting excited over a sofa. What a time to be alive.

April was glad to wake up. She'd had the strangest nightmare last night - okay, it'd been more like a cheese dream. She'd been a Beautifly, lost and helpless in an unfamiliar world, and she was going to wake up in her apartment and Digit would be there and everything would be ordinary and fine and-

"Good morning," a familiar, gentle voice said. The reminder that everything that happened yesterday was real hit April in the chest like a sack of bricks, opening a chasm in her heart and non-existent lungs; she really was a Beautifly, she really was in a kind stranger's house, and there really was a Budew talking to her. Or rather, at her.

The morning sun was streaming through the window, filling the room with warmth. It was the only thing that anchored April to this strange reality. The sun would always feel real. It stood out more than ever in this blurry world.

"What do you think that librarian is like?" asked the Budew. "Come to think of it, what is a library?"

April looked around the room for some books so she could demonstrate what a library was, but she couldn't make out any. Even if she could, there was no way she could be able to carry one. Come to think about it, why would Cyantha have books? How would a creature with hooves open a book, let alone get one off a shelf? Was this librarian any different?

Instead, she decided to jump off the arm of the sofa. Those unreliable wings flicked open as she glided towards the windowsill… and she missed, smacking flat against the wall below, and then fell backwards.

“Are you alright?” asked the Budew, looking over April like she’d just woken up from a coma. April shook her head. She wondered if she’d every figure out how to talk. Even if PokéSpeak was universal like all the hippies said, would Beautifly need to talk? What would they talk about in the wild? They didn’t seem like the most talkative Pokémon. I can’t believe I’m thinking about this.

April heard hooves coming down the stairs.

“Good morning!” Cyantha said, a hint of tiredness in her perky voice. It sounded like she was on the other side of the room. Soon afterwards, April saw was Cyantha’s head directly above her, golden eyes staring into her soul. “Oh… What’s happened here?” she asked, in a rhetorical kind of tone.

“She’s fine. I hope…” said the Budew, but Cyantha ignored her. April struggled to stand up to show that she was okay, but she quickly discovered that she was stuck, like a Squirtle that’d been flipped over. Cyantha reached out her hooves, picked up April between them, and put her down again… on all fours. In response, April stood up on two legs.

"Alright, to the library!" exclaimed Cyantha. April stubbornly tried to walk towards her, but tripped over a gap between floorboards.

April wished she could sigh. She was relegated to being carried, again, even though she was perfectly capable of walking on someone else’s two legs, thank you very much. This time, Cyantha hovering a foot or so above the ground, and instead of being on her back, Cyantha was holding her between her forelegs, thank you very much. She still couldn’t get used to that.

While Cyantha looked around, the Budew following close behind, April tried to get an impression of this town - Ponyville, was it called? First of all, it was a blur during the day. The pale-coloured buildings stood out at night, but now, everything was so bright, she could barely tell where buildings ended and the sky began. Maybe I should've been a Dustox instead? She could smell an entire bouquet of flowers from down the street - where those lilies, daisies, and roses? She was never a plant expert, but it seemed like she could instinctively distinguish flowers now. So there was at least one upside to being a Beautifly.

Besides the sound of running water nearby, which April assumed came from a fountain, the town was oddly quiet. Sure, it was early in the morning, but there were no murmurs of idle chit-chat, no bird Pokémon’s songs that would probably sound like idle chit-chat now... nothing.

Cyantha must have figured out where this mysterious library was, because she started to fly, quite slowly… but then suddenly stopped. “Oh! I just remembered! I was going to meet Sea Swirl at the Clover Café!” She dropped April and then flew off to… wherever. As soon as April reached the ground, she looked up, but couldn’t see any sign of Cyantha, until she returned a few seconds later. “I can’t believe I almost forgot you!”

The café stood out to April, partly because it was the greenest building in town and smelled strongly of straw, but mainly because of how popular it was. This was the least deserted place in Ponyville she’d seen so far.

“Have you seen Roseluck lately? I’m getting worried about her,” asked a pink and yellow being at one of the purple and white tables. April needed something to call their species, too - hoofkind? She had no idea what the singular would be, but she couldn’t think of anything better.

“She’s probably gone off with that Time Turner again,” replied a pink and green hoofkind who was sat opposite her, a hint of frustration in her voice.

Cyantha plonked April and the Budew next to a table, where a lilac and dark blue hoofkind stood waiting. That must be Sea Swirl.

“What took you so long, Sassaflash?” asked Sea Swirl. Sassaflash. That must be Cyantha’s name. Better than anything I could ever come up with.

“These two!” Sassaflash proudly exclaimed in response, picking up the Budew and placing her on top of the table. “The other one’s a lot heavier than it looks.” It?!

“S-Sassaflash, is that one of the Moonkind?” Sea Swirl stammered. The Budew quickly jumped off the table again.

“Oh - sorry! I found them yesterday at the Rainbow Falls trade fair, and it’s a long and complicated story involving pineapples and Princess Cadence,” Sassaflash said in one breath.

“PRINCESS CADENCE? What in Equestria did you do there?” Sea Swirl sounded like Sassaflash’s concerned mother.

“Point is, I’m going to show them to that librarian later. Hopefully, she’ll be able to return them to the Everfree Forest or wherever they came from. There’s just one problem…”

Sassaflash was interrupted by a yellow and orange hoofkind who asked for their orders, not even taking notice of April. They both ordered “carrot juice”, whatever that was.

“As I was saying, this one -” Sassaflash pointed to April “- I think he called it a colossal swallowtail? Anyway, it can’t fly.”

“Are you sure? Let me take a look,” said Sea Swirl. Suddenly, the strangest thing happened. April was surrounded by an eye-searingly bright, indigo glow from all directions, and felt herself being dragged upwards. She felt like she was going to be sick. So this is what being on the receiving end of telekinesis felt like. She was starting to feel sorry for the window. Wait - why am I feeling sorry for a window? But was this Sea Swirl a telepath? April decided to try something.

Hello! My name is April Hunter. Sorry I can’t talk to you right now, but I only became a Beautifly yesterday, so have no idea how to use most of my body. Have you seen a Porygon2 anywhere? Or a human named Crawford? Thanks!

April realised how stupid that sounded. Whatever the case, Sea Swirl’s response was to drop April from a couple of metres above the ground and complain about her being too heavy. This time, April was at least able to maneuver herself so that she landed on the surprisingly spongy table.

“That is strange…” Sea Swirl said absentmindedly. “I’m still not convinced that Princess Luna has nothing to do with the Moonkind, though.”

“Howcome?” asked Sassaflash as their carrot juices arrived.

"Think about it. Nightmare Moon appears, and then a bunch of highly magical creatures nopony has ever seen appear,and they insist it was a coincidence?" As Sea Swirl said this, Sassaflash took a sip of her carrot juice. "Sounds like a coverup to me."

"I didn't know you were into conspiracy theories," replied Sassaflash.

"So what do you think?"

"I think it's safest to assume that they came from the Everfree Forest… BUT!" Sassaflash stomped a hoof on the table, almost knocking over the glasses. "Call me crazy, but I think that the so-called Moonkind have come to teach us something. "

"Teach us what?"

"How to become better ponies, of course! Think about it. Soon after the BIGGEST crisis in living memory, a bunch of monsters come out of the Everfree Forest - but they don't want to hurt us. Instead, they silently observe us. Don't you understand? It's a test of character!" Sassaflash leaned across the table, practically staring Sea Swirl down. So they're called ponies.

"And you think I'm into conspiracy theories?" retorted Sea Swirl.

At this point, April noticed that Sea Swirl hadn't drunk any of her carrot juice yet, so she decided to take a sip when she wasn't looking. The orange liquid tasted like… nothing. Literally. It wasn't bland, it was just that April didn't have taste buds any more. At least, not in her mouth. It was one of those things you'd read about in a trivia book, but it'd go to the back of your mind because it wasn't important.

As for the ponies' conversation, Sassaflash's theory sounded like even more hippy nonsense. It was clear that her heart was in the right place, but if there was a test of character, Sassaflash hadn’t been doing a good job at passing it. She was constantly forgetting about or ignoring Pokémon, and dragged them around like toys. She couldn't blame Sea Swirl for doubting her, even if her theory was loaded with assumptions. April wished she could correct both of them, but she didn't have all the answers either.

"Anyway... I think it’s time for me to go," Sassaflash said sheepishly.

“Where are you going?” asked Sea Swirl.

“To the library,” replied Sassaflash. “Wait… do you know where it is?”

“It’s on the other end town, not far from the Everfree Forest.”

“Okay. Do you want to come with me?”

“No thanks. I need to finish my carrot juice-” Sea Swirl looked down at her glass. “Hey, where did half of it go?”

Author's Note

Click here to read the commentary for this chapter.

18/Jul/2019: I changed the last few sentences of the chapter because I wasn’t happy with where the plot thread I set up was going.