Contrary to popular belief, Applejack did not solely harvest apples. In order to be a productive farm, the Apple family property housed all manner of crops, such as corn, carrots, and…

“Potato harvestin’ day!” Applejack said cheerily, stepping into the field which was littered with potatoes. “Lookit dem spuds! Perfect for pluckin’!”

She began to pluck them out and put them in the wagon she’d brought along for the task, but then she spotted it: the most perfect, spotless potato she’d ever seen, half-buried in the ground. “Whoo boy! You’ll fetch a mighty fine price on the market, li’l fella.” Applejack said as she reached down to pluck out the spud with her teeth.

“Dig!”

Applejack reared back. “Come again?” She said slowly.

“Litt!” said the small spud. Then, to Applejack’s astonishment, the potato straightened up, and turned around. This was no potato; it had black, beady eyes, and a round pink nose.

“Litt! Diglett!” the not-potato cried indignantly.

“Oh, uh… sorry mister mole. Didn’t mean to wake you.” Applejack said amiably.

The mole shrugged, or it would have if it had shoulders. “Diggle dig.”

“Although I must say,” Applejack continued, leaning down again and squinting at the mole, “you don’t look like no kinda mole I’ve ever seen ‘round these parts.”

“Diglett!” The mole cried, bouncing up and down. “Diglett! Diglett!”

“What? Oh, is that your name? Diglett?” Applejack asked. Diglett nodded enthusiastically. “Well, bumble mah buttons, aren’t you just an adorable little critter.” She rubbed a hoof on Diglett’s head affectionately.

“Diggle diggle!” Diglett cried. He then dug away – he crawled through the earth, though his head was still above ground. The ground closed up spotlessly in his wake.

Applejack shrugged. Potato harvesting could wait. “Wait up, li’l guy!” she called, rushing after Digglett.

She watched as Diglett rounded a large tree. She followed him around the trunk, then stopped, shocked.

Lying under the tree was a large creature, roughly the size of one of Applejack’s pigs. It also walked on four legs, but that was where the pig comparisons stopped.

Steel plates covered the beast’s back, similar to an armadillo. The frontmost plate covered most of the creature’s head, and had black spots on it. Its legs and lower body was covered with a similar metal. Smooth metal rings covered the joints of the legs, and each foot had three spiky claws.

“Digga dig-dig!” Diglett called, nudging the big fellow with its head.

“Lerrr…” The creature groaned, slowly getting up to its feet. Each step it took caused a small rumble; it must have been even heavier then it looked. “Lairon…” It said sleepily as it opened its eyes, which were sky blue. “Lair.” It grunted, glaring at Diglett.

Applejack watched as the Diglett and the creature (apparently named Lairon) went into a conversation which she could not understand. She could see Diglett occasionally jerking its head to gesture at her, and Lairon occasionally giving her a glance. Then Lairon nodded, and grunted again. Diglett gestured to the potato field. Lairon began to tromp off in the direction of the potato field.

“Whoa, big fella! Whatcha doin’?” Applejack asked, not wanting her crop to be damaged. She tried to pull Lairon back, but he shrugged her off.

“Dig-dig.” Diglett said to Applejack in a soothing tone. Applejack looked at him, then back at Lairon.

“Well… as long as he doesn’t hurt anything.” Applejack said, sitting on her haunches.

“Diglett digga.” Diglett stated.

Meanwhile, Lairon had finally reached the nearby potato field – Rainbow Dash, the big guy was not. He grunted. “Lair.” Applejack could see the big guy’s muscles tensing.

“Lairrr…” Lairon reared onto his hind legs. “RON!” He brought his forelegs crashing down, causing a shockwave. The dirt began to shiver and rumble. Applejack could see Lairon tensing, focused. She then realized: this maintained rumbling wasn’t just a shockwave; it was an earthquake.

Then she gasped – all the potatoes in the ground were wiggling. First one popped out of the ground. Then another. Then they all came out in a chain reaction, as fast as popcorn kernels popping. By the time Lairon had stopped his earthquake, every potato in the field had come out of the earth.

“Goodness gravy!” Applejack said. “That’ll make things a whole lot easier!” She turned to Lairon. “You happen to be looking for a job, good buddy?”

“Laironnn…” Lairon grunted, his metal cheeks turning pale in a blush.

“C’mon, I’ll treat the both of you to some apples.” Applejack said, walking back towards the farmhouse. The two Pokemon eagerly followed.

XXXXXXXX

“Done!” Rarity said, fixing a last gem onto her latest dress. “Phew. I’m exhausted.” She said to herself, relaxing on her bed. Her head was turned to one side, staring at her dress.

“Meow.” Came a small cry from next to her.

“Oh, hello, Opalescence.” She said without turning around, reaching a hoof and scratching her cat on the ear.

Calmly staring at the dress, she watched Opalescence hop onto the bed right in front of her face. It laid down and took a nap.

“Hello again, darling.” Rarity said to Opalescence, still stroking Opalescence’s ear.

Then Rarity paused, and her hoof froze. If Opalescence was right in front of her…

…then what cat was she scratching?

“YEEEK!” Rarity cried, leaping off of the bed. “What in Equestria?!” she cried, staring at the bed.

Along with Opalescence, a second cat sat on the bed. It had a grey coat, and large, pointy ears. Its tail was long and curled like a spring. It had yellow eyes, and wore a smug grin on its face, as if saying “Yeah, this is my bed now. What’re you going to do about it?”

“Glameow.” Said the cat, licking its paw.

Rarity was about to push this… “Glameow” off of her bed, when she noticed something. Opalescence was sleeping peacefully next to Glameow. Normally, Opal was incredibly jealous and hostile to pets who competed for her master’s attention, but she couldn’t possibly be any more docile.

“Well… if Opal trusts you, I guess that’s good enough for me.” Rarity said, crawling back onto the bed. Then she noticed another oddity. “You don’t have a collar, so I guess you don’t have an owner… yet your fur is so immaculately groomed, darling.”

“Glam.” The cat said proudly.

“A cat with a natural sense of fashion?! This is perfect!” Rarity hugged the cat, careful not to muss the perfect fur. “Why, if you could only find gems like my Spikey wikey, then you’d be even more perfect.”

Then she hear a rustle. She looked towards her closet; the doors were shaking. “What in the world…” She said quietly, walking towards the closet. Glameow followed; Opalescence continued napping.

Rarity opened the door. She didn’t keep much in this closet; just a few dozen dresses and a basket of gems for fashion emergencies.

Sure enough, the basket was shaking and wobbling. Then, to Rarity’s astonishment, another strange creature popped out of the basket. It was rather small, and had purple fur. It also was wearing large sapphires over its eyes like goggles. It had claws similar to her Spikey-wikey, and clutched in one claw was a rather large ruby.

“Sable.” The creature stated as it casually took a bite out of the ruby.

Rarity shrieked so loudly, it nearly shattered her windows. “OUT! Get out of there, you repulsive little gremlin!”

The little purple thing flinched, dropping the ruby and scampering from the basket.

“And give me THOSE!” Rarity growled, gripping the sapphires which covered the creature’s eyes with her magic, and pulled firmly.

“EEEYYYYYYYYEEEE!!!” The purple gremlin wailed. Its shriek was so loud and filled with pain, Rarity flinched and stopped pulling. The little guy grasped the gems on its eyes and sunk to his knees. “eyyye… sableyyye…” It mumbled.

Rarity couldn’t help but feel sorry for the little guy. She knelt down, taking a closer look at the gems which covered its eyes, and finally understood. “Those gems are your eyes, aren’t they?” she said quietly. The purple creature nodded.

“Look, mister… Sableye, was it?” Rarity said kindly. “I’m sorry that I hurt you. I guess I sort of overreacted; it’s not like you cleaned out the entire basket of gems.”

The Sableye straightened up. “Eye! Sabel!” it said, rushing to Rarity’s window. Rarity followed it curiously.

Rarity looked out her window. “Yes, that’s my lawn.” She said. She watched as Sableye put its claws to its head, and gritted its teeth. It quivered slightly. Then Rarity saw a glint from the window; she looked out and gasped; hundreds of gems were spontaneously emerging from the grass of her yard.

“Why… that many gems would take me a month to find on my own!” Rarity cried. She looked at Sableye with new eyes. “You could be quite a business investment… and I admit, you are a little cute.”

“Sableye.” Said Sableye, nuzzling Rarity’s fetlock.

“Glameow?” questioned Glameow, from Rarity’s other side.

“Yes, you can stay too, darling.” Rarity said sweetly, and the cat rubbed sides with her, purring. “Come, you two!” Rarity said. “Let us collect the gems, and then perhaps I’ll teach you how to do a proper backstitch...”

XXXXXXXX

A bright rainbow blur streaked through the sky, caused by none other than Rainbow Dash, Ponyville’s premier weatherpony. “Woo!” she cried.

She then came to a stop near the edge of the Everfree forest. “Fifty laps!” she said proudly. “Howd’ya like THAT workout?”

She wasn’t honestly expecting any sort of response; she was more talking to herself. To her surprise, though, there was a noise from the forest.

“Ja.”

“What?” Rainbow asked, but the noise did not sound again. Her curiosity peaked, she wandered into the forest. “Is there a new critter around here?” She asked.

She walked past a beehive clumped on a branch, then paused, and backtracked. That beehive… it was shrouded in shadow, but upon closer inspection, was definitely not a beehive.

“Oh, hey! There you are! Never seen you ‘round here before, guy!” Rainbow said cheerily. She wasn’t as big an animal enthusiast as Fluttershy, but still enjoyed breaks from her regular routine. Besides, it wasn’t often she had an audience.

“Ninjask.” Said the creature in a clicking voice as it crawled further along the branch, into the light. Now Rainbow could see it was an insect; a beetle as large as her forearm. Wings lay folded on its back, but its most noticeable feature was the plating on its neck and head, which appeared to be solid gold. Two pieces of carapace covered its mouth almost seamlessly, making it look a little like it was wearing a mask.

“Hey, is that your name? Ninjask?” Rainbow questioned, tilting her head. When the beetle nodded, she added, “wow, clever li’l guy, ain’tcha. Well, nice meeting you, Ninjask, but I have another fifty laps to do before lunch.”

Rainbow Dash flew off in a rather lazy flight. Of course, while slower than normal, this flight was still far faster than any regular Pegasus; this was Rainbow Dash, after all.

She glanced to her right. “Oh, hello again, Ninjask.” She said, looking forward again. Then she did a double take. The insect was easily matching her current speed, flying along while looking at her.

“Wow, you’re pretty fast! You up for a race?” She asked the bug; she always had time for a good race. The little creature nodded, and Rainbow braced herself. “One-two-three-GO!” she cried abruptly, flying forward at a much faster speed.

Then she blinked; Ninjask was still by her side. Even now, it flew in front of her face, flying backwards while easily keeping ahead of her.

“Damn, I’m impressed! Kid gloves are off, buddy!” Rainbow said happily; it had been a long time since anyone gave her a decent race. She stopped going easy on the little insect, and rushed forward at her maximum speed, just short of creating a rainboom. No way Ninjask could keep up with her now!

Then she glanced around, and her jaw dropped. Ninjask was still on her tail; while it was definitely struggling to keep up, it was maintaining a distance a few feet behind her. Rainbow watched as the little guy expended the last of his energy. Ninjask began to fall to the ground; at this speed, he’d be obliterated when he hit the dirt.

“Hangon, Ninjask!” Rainbow called, turning into a dive. She caught Ninjask, and brought him safely to the ground. “That was close.” She commented.

She noticed that Ninjask’s eyes were dull, and it wasn’t looking at her. “Hey, lil guy. Don’t feel down that you lost.” Rainbow said. “I mean, for starters, I’m so awesome that I’m faster than anything on the continent.

“Secondly, you’re the first pony – er, creature – I’ve met that could match my max speed, even for a few seconds! You’re really damn fast, guy!” Rainbow smiled at the bug perched on her foreleg. Its eyes shimmered, and it hugged her leg tightly.

“I guess I have room for a second pet; Tank doesn’t eat that much, and he doesn’t get jealous easily.” Rainbow said, flying back into the air. Seeing NInjask’s questioning glance, she added, “Oh yeah, you don’t know Tank, do you? He’s a tortoise.”

Hearing the word tortoise, Ninjask twitched. Then he flew into the air and off in one direction. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Rainbow called, following.

She wasn’t flying long; Ninjask slowed down over a grassy clearing filled with rocks. She watched as it landed on a spotted, cracked rock with a hole in the middle. “Ni-ji-nin.” It mumbled and clicked to the rock, as Rainbow landed next to it.

Then, to Rainbow’s surprise, a jet of steam blew out of the hole in the rock. A head and four legs extended, and Rainbow realized that it wasn’t a rock at all, but a tortoise-like creature with a rock shell. Its skin was an orange-ish red, and it had a sleepy look in its eyes.

“Coal.” The tortoise stated to Ninjask. It appeared to be a little irritated from being woken from its nap. “Torkoal.”

Ninjask and the tortoise (Torkoal?) talked for a few minutes. Then Torkoal turned to Rainbow Dash, and Ninjask hung on to its head.

The message was clear. “Well, I guess I could make room for three pets…” Rainbow mentioned. “But first, he has to prove himself worthy of being my pet, and do something totally awesome.”

Torkoal grunted, and then inhaled. It exhaled through its nostrils, and long jets of white steam erupted from its nostrils.

“Cool, but you’ll have to do better than that.” Rainbow commented.

Torkoal nodded, then inhaled even more deeply. Ninjask flew off Torkoal’s head, and pushed Rainbow in the chest. Obligingly, the Pegasus stepped back a few paces.

Torkoal then released an intense stream of flame from its mouth. It was like a flamethrower; Torkoal waved its head slowly from side to side, breathing the fire around. Then the fire stream abruptly shut off. The tortoise’s lips weren’t even scorched.

“Now THAT is awesome!” Rainbow cried, smiling. “You’re in, Torkoal!”

“Tork.” The tortoise said slowly. While it still had a sleepy tone, there was also a happy tone to its grunt.

Rainbow picked up Torkoal (the big guy was lighter than he looked) and began to fly in the direction of her cloud-house, Ninjask following.

XXXXXXXX

“All right, four books down!” Twilight said, flipping her book shut. “I’d say that calls for a break.” She added, walking downstairs. “Chai tea, here I come!”

When she got downstairs, she spotted something odd: a collection of scraps of metal, just lying on the floor. Twilight had plenty of scrap metal and such down in the basement, for experimental purposes, but she’d never seen them just sitting out on the library floor before.

Twilight shrugged; Spike was out for the day, so she’d have to put the metal back in the basement herself. As she prepared to levitate it, she noted three metal balls in the heap of scrap, as well as several magnets.

She cast a field of magic around the pile, and was about to levitate it when it happened. There was a beep and a buzz from the pile. Twilight, startled, dropped her magic field.

To her astonishment, the pile of metal began to lift from the ground. The three balls gathered in an upside-down triangle, and two magnets were suddenly attatched to each ball, resulting in six magnets total. Several screws also levitated in several places around the floating mass.

Twilight’s jaw dropped when the eyes opened. Three eyes, one on each ball, opened as one and stared at each other, then at Twilight.

“Magneton.” Came a buzzing call from the metal being.

Twilight’s dropped jaw gradually morphed into a grin. She began to vibrate with excitement, then exclaimed with happiness and hopped around the creature. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! This has to be the most incredible thing in all of science!” She cheered. “Spontaneous levitation, spontaneous magnetic attraction, spontaneous SENTIENCE!! And I can study it all as much as I want!”

Charged with glee, Twilight levitated some tools all the way out of the basement. “Hold still; I only want to dissect you!” she said, her eye twitching.

The floating lump of metal quivered, beginning to back away from her. Then it fled, Twilight chasing it for a moment before thinking to envelope it in a magic field. The creature struggled, but Twilight tightened her grip so that it couldn’t move a millimeter. The creature could only watch in horror as Twilight lowered a screwdriver into the screw on top of its head, and twisted.

“MAAAAAAAAAAAAGGG!!” The creature wailed, causing Twilight to drop everything out of shock. It sounded like a cross between microphone feedback and a child’s screaming. Twilight watched as the screw on its head twisted back into its regular position.

The three eyes then looked at Twilight, glaring. “Um… sorry?” Twilight said slowly, realizing she’d caused the creature pain. It wasn’t enough for the metal being, though.

The magnets on the creature began to rotate rapidly. “Mag….” It began, before crying out “TONNN!!” and pointing the magnets directly at Twilight. The metal being glowed yellow, and a lightning bolt shot out at Twilight.

Twilight couldn’t dodge; she was hit with the bolt of electricity. She was gripped with a wracking pain, and her fur stood on end.

After a second, the shock stopped, and Twilight gasped, able to breathe again. “Okay… I suppose I earned that.” She said quietly. “I did try to dissect you, after all.”

Then she noticed something: the creature was rolling on the floor, making a squealing noise like pieces of metal scraping together. It took Twilight a few seconds to realize it was laughing. She then glanced at the mirror across the room. All of her fur was all poofed out, and her mane looked like it was crossed with a porcupine.

Twilight snickered. Then giggled. Then she was laughing too, quite hard.

The two eventually calmed down. “Listen, Magneton… That was what you called yourself, wasn’t it?” Twilight said.

“Magneton.” The creature affirmed.

“Listen, I’m really sorry about earlier… I guess I got carried away… You’re a living being, who can feel pain and emotions, not a scientific anomaly to be locked up and studied.” Twilight looked at the floor, feeling rather guilty.

Then she felt sort of a static charge on her fur, and she looked up to see Magneton brushing her with one of its magnets. “Neton.” It said peacefully.

“Thanks.” Twilight said, smiling. She was about to continue, when there was a crash from the kitchen. “What in the world?” she wondered out loud, looking towards that direction. Magneton buzzed, trying to get her attention, but Twilight ignored him, and walked towards the kitchen.

In the doorframe, Twilight stopped and stared. All around the kitchen was chaos. Spoons, pots and pans flew around like birds. Salt and pepper shakers danced on the table. Rythmically, the refrigerator door would open, and a random article of food would come out. Virtually everything in the kitchen that wasn’t nailed down was dancing around.

In the center of it all was a most curious creature, which had its back turned to Twilight. She could make out that, for starters, it was yellow, with brown plating covering its chest, knees and elbows. Its three-toed feet had claws at each tip. Its hands also had three fingers and claws, and were waving in the air, like a symphony conductor directing his orchestra. Its head was similar to that of a fox, though it was also yellow.

“Um…” Twilight said, at a loss for words. At this, the creature turned around. Now she could see cunning eyes with small pupils, and a long, magnificent moustache. The creature blushed, and all the utensils and food quickly flew back to their original spots, in flawless formation. It then turned to her, hands behind its back in a sheepish gesture.

“Magne-mag.” Magneton stated, flying into the room, and circling the creature.

“You two…” Twilight shook her head. “You two are both marvels of science and magic. I’d be honored if I could learn more about what makes you guys tick.”

The two Pokemon nodded. “Bzzrt.” Magneton buzzed, revolving one of its screws.

“Yes, yes, no more dissection, Magneton.” Twilight added, and Magneton rotated its magnets in glee. “Speaking of which, what’s your name, stranger?” She turned to the yellow psychic being.

The creature shrugged. It held out its hands, and two spoons popped out of thin air, landing one in each hand. It held the spoons in a pose not unlike a ninja would hold his Sai daggers. “Alakazam!” the creature stated.

“All right, then, Alakazam… you mind if I call you Ally?” Twilight questioned. Alakazam frowned, crossing its arms and shaking its head. “Oh, all right, mister picky… Now come on, it’s time to teach you two how to really communicate with me.”

XXXXXXXX

“Ah, my garden’s looking so beautiful!” Fluttershy sang, flying around her garden with a watering can. She gently watered the flowers in her little garden, all of which were in full bloom.

“Hmm?” Fluttershy asked. “This one flower hasn’t bloomed yet.” She leaned closer to look at a green bulb; it was quite large. “In fact, I don’t even remember planting this flower.”

“Bulb.”

“Yes, my mistake; it’s a bulb, not a flower.” Fluttershy replied. Then she paused, and stepped back. “Did… did you just talk?” She said slowly.

Then a head popped out of the flowers, just in front of a bulb; it looked like that of a frog. “Oh, silly me. My ears must be playing tricks on me.” Fluttershy said to herself. “C’mon, little guy, let’s get you back to the water.”

The frog hopped out of the flowers, and three things instantly became clear to Fluttershy.

1. The mysterious bulb had moved when the frog moved.
2. The bulb was attatched to the frog’s back.
3. The bulb was attatched to the frog’s back.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy said, staring at the creature in front of her. It wasn’t exactly small; with the bulb and the main body combined, it was actually a little taller than Fluttershy. Its skin was light green, with some darker green patches in patterns here and there. It walked on four legs. Its mouth was wide and stretched in a smile. Its eyes were a fiery red, but filled with kindness.

“Bulbasaur!” The creature chirped, looking at Fluttershy.

“Oh my goodness…” Fluttershy said. “You are…

“Adorable!”

Fluttershy dove and hugged the creature. “Who’s a cute little Bulbasaur? You are! You are!”

“Saur…” the creature stated shyly, brushing its foot on the ground.

“I’ve never seen a creature like you before.” Fluttershy straightened up, and then took a closer look at the bulb on Bulbasaur’s back. “This plant is actually part of your body, as far as I can tell… doesn’t appear to be artificial, or a parasite.”

“Bulbasaur.” Bulbasaur said rather indignantly.

“Oh, sorry. You must be very proud of your… bulb.” Fluttershy added. Bulbasaur nodded.

Then there was a bright blue flash. “What in the world?!” Fluttershy exclaimed, backing away from a blue oval which had appeared in midair. Then, just as suddenly as the light had appeared, it was gone. A small creature fell to the ground.

Fluttershy stepped closer. The little thing was even more curious than the Bulbasaur. Its basic body structure was similar to that of Spike; it was even the same height. It wore what appeared to be boots, though, and its skin was a light green. Its eyes were blue and ringed with black, and it had wings like a dragonfly. It had stubby little arms.

“Cell?” The creature said confusedly, looking around. “Celebi?” It looked around, then at Fluttershy. “Celi celibi!” It scampered into the bushes, frightened.

“Oh, no!” Fluttershy said gently. “I won’t hurt you, li’l fella. Please come out. I only want to be your friend.”

“Celebi?” The green creature asked, peeping out of the bushes.

“It’s okay.” Fluttershy said, slowly reaching into the bush and pulling out this “Celebi”. “Mama Fluttershy only wants to be friends.” She cradled little Celebi in her hooves; the little thing was tiny.

Celebi stared at Fluttershy with its blue eyes. Then it stretched, and yawned, and fell asleep in Fluttershy’s arms.

Fluttershy was about to carry Celebi inside so it could rest properly, when she heard leaves rustling. She looked to see a deer prancing out of the forest.

“Oh hello, Mrs. Swifthoof! You’re looking healthy-“ Fluttershy said, but was cut off by the deer. The animal was in a panic, skittishly trotting in place, pupils dilated. Fluttershy gasped. “Injured deer?! Why didn’t you say so?!” The deer led Fluttershy into the Everfree forest. The Bulbasaur followed them, obliviously cheerful.

Fluttershy and the deer soon reached a clearing. On the opposite side of the clearing, shrouded in shadow, was a stag, its antlers enormous. It was lying on the ground, not moving. A few other deer were crowded around it, nudging at it with their noses.
Fluttershy rushed over. Even though the sunlight would make it easier to see, she dared not move the creature. She’d had plenty of experience treating nocturnal creatures anyways, so she was good at working in the dark.

Soon, the diagnosis was in: dislocated leg. “You must’ve taken a hard fall.” Fluttershy murmured into the stag’s ear. There was a light moan in response.

“Now, I’m going to set the leg back in place. This will hurt quite a bit, but only for a second…” Fluttershy gripped the faulty leg firmly in just the right place, and then pushed sharply in just the right angle. A loud cry came from the stag, but faded away a few seconds later.

“There you go. As long as you don’t exert yourself too much or take any more nasty spills, you should be fine.” Fluttershy said, smiling. The stag shifted, then slowly got back to its feet, with some help from Fluttershy. “C’mon into the light, big fella; I want to take a last good look at that leg, to make absolutely sure it’s okay.” Fluttershy said in a soothing voice to the stag. She walked into the light in the center of the clearing, and gestured to the stag. “It’s alright… don’t be afraid…”

Shakily at first, then smoothly, the stag trotted forwards into the sunlight. Fluttershy gasped; it was one of the most majestic and beautiful animals she’d ever seen. Dangling from its antlers were diamond-shaped crystals, of all colors of the rainbow. Its coat was a lustrous blue, and its delicate legs walked with immaculate precision. There was something just in the way the stag held itself that astonished Fluttershy.

“You’re… beautiful.” Fluttershy whispered.

The stag raised its head. “Xerneas.” It stated.

“I’m guessing that’s your name?” Fluttershy said, inferring from the other two pokemon she’d met that day. Xerneas nodded, then turned. “What? Oh, right, the leg.” Fluttershy said, shaking her head and stepping forward. She felt the creature’s smooth blue fur, feeling the bones underneath. “Everything feels fine. Again, just don’t go putting any stress on it, and you’ll be dandy.” Fluttershy continued.

The two stared at each other: Fluttershy and Xerneas. “I won’t keep you. You probably have a family to get back to.” Fluttershy said, smiling.

Xerneas looked at the little Pegasus for a few more seconds. Then it raised a hoof, up, up, up, into the forest that was its antlers. It laid its small hoof delicately on a light blue gem, hanging from one of the antlers. Then it plucked the gem off, as easily as one would pluck fruit from a tree.

Xerneas lowered its hoof once more; even now, Fluttershy could see a new blue gem rapidly growing back to replace the old one. Xerneas held out the gem to Fluttershy. “Oh… thank you… it’s beautiful…” Fluttershy breathed, taking the blue gem and staring at it in wonder.

Xerneas waved its hoof a bit to get Fluttershy’s attention. It pointed to the gem, then to itself, then to Fluttershy.

It took Fluttershy a few seconds to figure out what that meant. “You mean I can use this… to summon you?” Fluttershy asked.

Xerneas nodded. It pointed at its previously injured leg, and then at Fluttershy again, then back to the crystal. “I should summon you if I’m injured or in trouble, like you were with your rib.” Fluttershy inferred. Xerneas nodded again.

Fluttershy watched as the majestic stag knelt to her once more. Then it turned, and bounded off into the woods, leaving Fluttershy staring after it.

“Bulba bulbasaur?” Bulbasaur asked, poking her with its foreleg. It and the sleeping Celebi had both arrived at some point, but hadn’t interfered until now. Celebi was curled up on Bulbasaur’s head.

“Yes, okay. Let’s go home.” Fluttershy said, leading the two out of the forest with a final glance in the direction Xerneas had gone.

XXXXXXXX

“Pinkie, we ever tell you just how hard a worker you are?” Mr Cake asked the pink pony standing behind the counter.

“Oh, all the time, Mr Cake!” Pinkie chirped back, pushing a bag of cupcakes over the counter.

“Really, though, we can’t thank you enough. You always have enough energy for any task we ask of you, and even if you often eat our supplies, you’re always careful to bake replacements as soon as possible; you even pay for the extra needed supplies for it. You’re the best damn baker a pony could ask for.”

“Thanks a bunch for that exposition, Mr Cake!” Pinkie said, winking at him as she served the last customer his order (two chocolate eclairs). The lunch rush had just ended; Pinkie promptly rushed to the kitchen to whip up some more supplies. “Mr Cake? Sorry, but we’re running low on the flour and eggs.”

“Oh, shoot! Pinkie, hold down the fort while I run to the market, will you?” Mr Cake asked.

“Yes sir!” Pinkie saluted as the big-chinned pony ran out the door. Then she looked in the cabinet; there were just enough supplies left for a few rounds of pastries.

As she was setting things on the counter, Pinkie’s right ear flopped twice. “Whoops! Looks like there’s a customer!” Pinkie cried. She rushed to the counter. “Welcome to… Sugarcube… Corner?”

Pinkie looked around, but the establishment was currently barren of any customers. She poked her ear with her hoof. “Silly thing must be getting faulty.” Then she noticed something: the cake tray at the edge of the counter. It was missing one cake, even though Pinkie was certain there’d been one there before.

“What on Earth? Good thing I’ve got a spare.” Pinkie said, pulling a cake out from under the counter and placing it on the stand.

It happened so fast, Pinkie barely had time to blink: a long, massive pink tongue swept under the cake, and carried it back under the counter from whence it had come. “Oh, a trickster, eh?” Pinkie said, smiling. “All right, c’mon out li’l fella.” She looked over the counter, expecting a sweets-hungry foal.

What she did not expect was a fat pink lizard with a long, drooping tongue.

“Lickitung.” The creature stated, staring up at Pinkie with black eyes. It had some white stripes on its back, and its claws were short and stubby.

“Oh, that’s your name?” Pinkie questioned. Seeing it nod, she giggled. “That’s a funny name! I like it!”

“I like the looks of you, lil guy.” Pinkie continued, rounding the counter. “Not only is your name hilarious, but you’re my favorite color, and you eat almost as much as I do! How about you hang out with me for a while?”

“LickiTUNG!” Lickitung said enthusiastically.

“All right… Tongue stretching contest, GO!” Pinkie said, stretching her own formidable tongue out.

Lickitung glared, and stuck out its own tongue, easily reaching past Pinkie’s.

“Oh yeah?” Said Pinkie, her voice muffled because of her tongue. “Well how about this!” She stretched her tongue even farther, so it was four feet long. Lickitung stretched its own tongue to about five feet.

“Allright, buster, you asked for it!” Pinkie said, and strained visibly, stretching her tongue as far as it would go. It reached halfway across the room. “Howd’ya like them apples?” She asked smugly.

Lickitung shrugged, and to Pinkie’s astonishment, it easily stretched its tongue across the entire length of the room, actually licking the paint on the opposite wall.

“Wow, you’re good!” Pinkie said. The two looked at each other, their overstretched tongues flopped out on the floor.

Then they both toppled over laughing at how silly they looked.

“You’re awesome, you know that?” Pinkie said, hugging her new friend (after she’d rewound her tongue into her mouth).

“Lickitung!” The little lizard said cheerfully. Then it glanced over Pinkie’s shoulder as she hugged it, and its eyes widened.”Liiii…” It said in an astonished tone. Pinkie turned around to see what it was looking at.

Hovering in the center of the room was a most curious creature; it was difficult to find words for its appearance. The closest likeness it had was to a pink fetus, only the head was enlarged and shaped somewhat like that of a cat, and a long tail sprouted from its behind. It was looking at Pinkie curiously, with big blue eyes.

“Hello there!” Pinkie said cheerfully to the floating creature. “You want to be my friend too?”

The creature paused for a moment. Then it nodded enthusiastically. “Great! I’m Pinkie Pie, and this is Lickitung. What’s your name?”

There was another pause, then Pinkie heard a voice that was not her own speak inside her head.

“Mew.”