Zinnia stood in a wide open field, emerald green grass flowing gently in the breeze. She was dressed in a pair of form-fitting black yoga pants and a deep purple tube top, white flats on her feet and white bands on her wrists.

        “Are you sure about this, Zinnia?” Sonar asked from a distance, subconsciously wrapping a wing around Stryker. “This could be dangerous. We don’t know much about this ‘Void Dragon’.”

        “I say do it!” Bolan said from Sonar’s side, laughing uproariously at the noivern’s shocked face. “What good is a Void Dragon if we can’t call it?!”

        “But what of the little one!? He could be hurt!”

        “And? He’s a proud Dragon Warrior! A little pain never stopped one of us!”

        “You boorish barbarian!”

        “Scrawny egghead!”

        “Thick-skulled fool!”

        “ENOUGH!”

        Both drakes flinched, turning to Zinnia to see her disapproving eyes before looking away in shame.

        “I’m calling the Void Dragon,” the Draconid said, glaring at them. “And I’m doing it safely. Why do you think you two are here?” She sighed, shaking her head as she turned around. “Besides, the thing’s carried me across the Void so many times now I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to tame it or something. Just need to figure out how.”

        Silence fell as Zinnia lifted her anklet, the blue metal gleaming in the midday sun. She held it up unsurely, one thumb on her Keystone.

        “Hear me, noble Dragon of the Void!” Zinnia cried, and the Keystone flashed briefly. “I command you to appear before me!”

        A deafening roar rang out from seemingly nowhere, causing the wind to pick up, whipping Zinnia’s hair around.

        “Come to me!”

“Come on, Dash, keep your focus! If you start to rage, your Pokémon will fall into the same trap!” Ash called out. Once again he had taken Rainbow and Applejack to the Everfree Castle for training. It was going well, but as Applejack’s training started to best Rainbow’s, well that’s when the ever prideful pegasus got mad.

“I know already! Get off my back!” she angrily called out. “Kakuna! Use Poison Sting!”

“Kakun,” the cocoon Pokémon said as a purple orb appeared in front of it’s ‘face’. “Na!” he shouted, firing a multitude of purple needles towards his opponent.

“It ain’t gonna be that easy, Dashie!” Applejack called with a smirk. “Go Pupitar, take it like a champ with yer Iron Defense!”

“Pupitar!” the hard shell Pokémon cried, his body suddenly coating in pure steel. The needles harmlessly bounced off, not doing any damage at all.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow growled. “There is no way I’m losing to AJ like this!”

“You will if you keep letting your emotions get the better of you!” Ash reprimanded her. “You have to keep your anger managed if you want to win! You’re a Frontier Brain; act like it!”

“Pika pikachu!” Blue yelled out his own ‘encouragement’ from Ash’ side.

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

A moment of silence passed after Rainbow’s outburst, the world itself seeming to hold its breath before a deafening roar rang out from seemingly nowhere, causing a vortex of wind and dirt to swirl to life around the three. Ash stumbled back into a pillar, shielding his eyes against the winds and trying to keep the girls in his sight.

“What in th’ hay is THAT!?” he heard Applejack shout, whipping around to find her only to be greeted with the grinning visage of a massive, black-scaled dragon, easily the size of a steelix. Stars seemed to shine in the drake’s scales, captivating Ash until a prismatic blur rocketed into his vision, slamming into the dragon’s snout and causing it to stumble back slightly.

“Ash, what the hay is that thing!?” the pegasus asked, holding her forehooves up to protect herself from the winds.

“I don’t know!” the man replied, reaching for one of the balls on his belt as a sly grin formed on his face. “But I’m gonna battle it!”

Applejack appeared behind him as he pulled the ball, noting that it belonged to his charizard, arguably the most powerful of his choices.

“I choose you!”

Ash slung the ball forward, watching as red and white blurred together, adrenaline pumping as he awaited the burst of white light that would signify his old friend’s arrival.

That was snuffed out, replaced by a thin layer of tears when the dragon opened its maw and swallowed the ball.

“CHARIZARD!”

The dragon seemed to grin again, rearing back and opening its mouth wide to reveal a small, swirling energy in the back of it's throat, not unlike a black hole. Ash sneered in anger as it lunged, charging forward with his fist drawn back, both mares hot on his heels.

The winds died down, revealing the empty room. Nothing moved for a moment before something began to fall from above, a sparkling pink powder coating the floor.

The winds died down, leaving Zinnia stood with her arm raised. She waited for a minute before sighing, fastening the anklet to her leg once more.

“Well that was a bust,” she groaned, turning and walking towards the three drakes of her family. “Come on, let’s go. I need something to pick me up after that.”

“Uh…” Sonar replied, his ears twitching restlessly as he stared at the area behind Zinnia.

“Mama?” Stryker asked, poking his head out from behind Sonar’s wing and pointing behind her. “Who’re they?”

Zinnia frowned, turning slowly to see the massive spectral form of the Void Dragon, stood completely in the open. For the first time she was able to look upon it’s massive serpentine body, massive claws acting as its hands and feet while two wings sprouted from its back, splitting into four ribs each. The sharp, angular head resembled those of Eastern design, with long horns stretching back and a small ‘beard’ of shimmering pink Stardust hung from its chin, more of the powder flowing back along the drake’s neck in a magnificent mane. Zinnia stared for a moment longer before a grin split her face.

“Awesome!” she cried, doing a little victory dance on the spot. “I did it! I called the Void Dragon!”

A trio of groans echoed out from behind the dragon, causing Zinnia to try and look behind it. On the ground was a rainbow maned cyan pegasus, an orange earth pony with blonde hair and a Stetson, and a human male in a blue jacket and dark navy pants and wearing a red hat with a blue pikachu next to him.

“What in the hay jus’ happened?” the earth pony groaned.

“I don’t know, but I do know this: I hurt,” the pegasus said in response.

“Well, we certainly aren't at the castle anymore,” the guy said, slowly sitting up. He rubbed his head, his pikachu stretching and cracking a few joints. It saw Zinnia and pulled on the edge of its trainer’s shirt.

“Pika pi,” it said, giving Zinnia the thousand yard stare.

“Hmm? What’s up, bud?” He followed the pikachu’s eyes and saw Zinnia himself. “Oh… um, well then… that’s a thing.”

The ponies looked as well, their jaws dropping. “Am Ah seein’ things or is that a human over there?”

“Did… did it really happen?” the pegasus said, her voice slowly getting louder. “DID WE JUST GET DISPLACED BY A FREAKIN’ DRAGON?!”

“Eyup,” the guy said in response. He waved at Zinnia with a smile. “Hey there! How’s it goin’?”

Zinnia, for her part, stared at Ash with a mix of shock and anger. She whipped her gaze to the massive dragon before her, spreading her wings and rocketing up to eye level, shooting a glare at him.

“What the fuck?!” she cried. “What did you do!?” The dragon seemed to reply with a series of grunts and growls. “I can see that! Is this what you do, huh!? I call you to try and fuckin’ talk, and you bring me three living beings!?!?!” She paused, sighing and waving the dragon off. “Just… get out of here before I punch you.”

The dragon whimpered slightly before turning and diving into the ground, vanishing in a puff of pink Stardust. Zinnia sighed again, lowering herself and touching down in front of the visitors.

“Hey, sorry about that,” she said, holding her hand out. “The name’s Zinnia, Delta Guardian of Equestria and the only Draconid in this existence as far as I know. Who’re you?”

“Well, that’s Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Me? The name’s Ash, Ash Ketchum,” he said, taking Zinnia’s hand to help him up to a standing position. “Nice to meet ya.”

Zinnia stared at him for a moment, her eye twitching, before giving a strained smile. “You wouldn’t happen to know a Serena, would you?” she asked through clenched teeth, subconsciously squeezing Ash’s hand harder and harder.

“Ok, ow ow ow,” he said, trying to wrench his hand out of the death grip.

“Hey!” Rainbow said, getting in Zinnia’s face. “Stop hurting my friend before I kick your flank!”

“That goes double for me!” Applejack enforced.

Zinnia stared at the two ponies for a second before shaking her head, seeming to come out of a trance. “Oh Arceus, I’m so sorry!” she cried, quickly reaching into the crimson bag around her waist and pulling out a small roll of bandages. She grabbed Ash’s arm again, this time much more carefully, and began wrapping his hand up, being careful not to make it too tight. “Oh man, Serena’s gonna kill me if she finds out…”

“You got some grip, girl,” Ash said, wincing. Then what she had said finally clicked. “Wait, what?!” He suddenly grabbed her shoulders and started shaking. “What do you know? How do you know that name? Tell me!”

“I-I-I me-et yo-ou-u’re wi-i-ife!” Zinnia replied before reach up, grabbing Ash’s hands and pinning them to his sides. “She’s safe, okay? She’s made a few friends that are helping her with the Sirens, and even if she didn’t, that Gardevoir of hers packs a punch!”

“Mama?”

Zinnia looked down, seeing Stryker tugging at her leg, dressed in a pair of short grey jeans and a red shirt with white sleeves and collar, a red cap on his head. She let go of Ash and scooped the drake up, cuddling him close as she chuckled at the coincidence in his outfit. “Who they?” the drake asked, pointing at the newcomers adorably.

“Well howdy there, lil’ fella,” Applejack said with a tip of her hat. “Ah’m Applejack. This here’s Rainbow Dash an’ our good friend Ash Ketchum. We’re from another place an’ don’ really know where we are.”

“We’re in a field roughly halfway between Ponyville and Canterlot right now,” Zinnia provided, staring at Rainbow Dash. She set Stryker down, letting him waddle over to AJ and start playing with her before launching herself at the pegasus mare, wrapping her in a tight hug and crying into her chest. “Oh Arceus, I’m so sorry Rainbow!”

“Guh! What did I do? What did I do?!” Rainbow said, starting to freak out about the crying draconid.

“I’m sorry!” Zinnia cried again, squeezing her tighter. “I should have never let Darkrai take you away! Now the Elements won’t work, the girls lost their friend, and it’s all my fault!” She paused, sniffling slightly. “And I don’t even have the guts to tell them what really happened… Th-they think you ran off on your own...”

“What’s going on here?!” Rainbow said, pulling out a pokéball. “Nincada, help!” she tossed the ball, her little bug buddy coming out with a cry of,

“Nincada!”

“Use string shot and get me out of here!” Nincada shot out the sticky string, wrapping around Zinnia’s ankles and yanked, dropping her to the ground, but still holding Dash. “This isn’t going how I thought it would!”

The ground shook slightly as a massive shadow covered them, Dash’s eyes widening at the sight of the Tyrantrum stood over her. She began to panic as it leaned down, only to watch confused as it gently gripped Zinnia and pried her off, sitting back and cradling her in it’s arms.

“Okay… What?”

“I believe I can be of assistance explaining things.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Please tell me that Pokémon didn’t just talk.”

“No, you fool, I am speaking to you through your mind. And it is not Bolan talking, either. I am behind you.”

All heads whipped around to see a small green pixie with a head shaped vaguely like an onion, it’s bright, sky blue eyes narrowed and it's stubby, moss-green arms crossed.

“I’m even more confused,” Rainbow said, blinking slowly.

“Same,” AJ and Ash said, scratching their own heads at the sight.

“Pika,” Blue said, smacking Ash upside the head, “Pika pika pikachu!”

“Ow. I know it’s a celebi, the question is: why is it talking?! They’re not supposed to talk.”

Celebi turned to Blue, a single brow raised. “He is not too bright, is he?” she asked, shaking her head.

“Pika,” he sighed, patting Ash pathetically on the head.

“Hey! I’m right here, man! Not cool.”

“Ah hate to interrupt yer Pokéspeakin’, but what are ya doin’ here? More to tha point, why are we here?”

“You are here because Void Beings are uncouth.” Celebi said, shaking her head.  “I am here because of the disturbance caused by the Void Dragon, and to find assistance. The winds were strong enough to rip the trees of the Everfree from the earth from this distance, and Darkrai has taken the opportunity to spring an attack on my home in an attempt to convert me to his Nightmare forces. I fear that poor mare may not have made it out alive.”

“Someone’s in trouble?” Ash asked. “Tell us where and we’ll save her.”

“Pika!” Blue agreed.

“Heck yeah we will!” Rainbow said, hopping into the air.

“NO!”

All eyes turned to Zinnia as she dropped to the ground, eyes wide. “No, the ponies stay here! Darkrai can not get another world’s Elements.” She looked behind her, locking eyes with the Tyrantrum and the Noivern. “Bolan, Sonar, don’t let Rainbow or AJ follow us. We’ll take care of this.”

With that, Zinnia grabbed hold of Ash and flew off, Celebi sighing and teleporting to the edge of the forest ahead of them. Rainbow snorted, preparing to chase after them before a pair of large black claws grabbed her. Sonar sat back, letting Stryker crawl over his body as Rainbow struggled. AJ just shook her head and sat down, catching Rainbow’s eye and winking. Rainbow smiled back with a wink of her own.

Ash just looked behind him as they flew off. “Okay, I can get you’re a little protective, but AJ and Rainbow should have come with us. They’re Pokémon could really come in handy for something like this.”

“I’ve already lost my Rainbow Dash to this bastard,” Zinnia growled. “And I think I know who this mare Celebi mentioned is. I will not risk him taking Loyalty and Honesty from your Equestria.” She paused as they neared the edge of the forest, black vines with wicked-looking blue thorns lashing out at them. She breathed a plume of flame at them, watching as they burned to cinders. “And I don’t know about AJ, but I can almost guarantee Dash’s Pokemon are no match for what’s in here if Nincada was anything to go by.”

“Well, Dash is still relatively new with her Pokémon, but she’s got spirit of a battler. With a little more help, I have no doubt they’ll be great Frontier Brains. Just don’t count them out just yet,” he said with a slight smile. “They can surprise you, I know they have me, right bud?”

“Pika! Pika pikachu pipich!” Blue said with a nod of his head.

Zinnia just sighed, setting Ash on his feet and landing next to him. “Right, where to start…”

“The Castle of the Two Sisters,” Celebi chimed, popping into existence before them. “The yellow pegasus ran towards the castle when the attack began, so I suggest you look there first.”

“Castle it is then,” Zinnia growled,storming through the brush into the forest. She formed a Dragon Claw in her hand, using it to hack at the foliage in an attempt to make it easier to traverse. “I swear, if he touches Fluttershy…”

“Hey don’t worry,” Ash said, putting his hand on Zinnia’s shoulder, giving her a comforting smile. “Nothing bad is gonna happen and we’re gonna get Flutters safe.”

“Pikachu,” Blue enforced, looking battle-ready.

“That’s what I thought last time,” the Draconid spat. “And we lost Rainbow.”

They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds Zinnia’s grunts as she slashed through anything in her path. Before long, Zinnia stopped, holding her hand up to tell Ash to do the same.

“What is it?” the man whispered, a hand on his belt.

“Darkrai’s forces,” Zinnia replied, crouching down. Ash did the same, creeping closer to the edge. “See how all the Pokémon down there are shiny?” He followed her line of sight and nodded at seeing the many alternate colored Pokémon. “Well, we don’t get shiny Pokemon here. Not naturally. Those ones have been infected with the Nightmare, forced into Darkrai’s control.” She ducked as a green-furred Ursaring stopped and looked up in their direction, pulling Ash down with her.

“Great, mind controlled Pokémon,” Ash said with a roll of his eyes. “That stuff is so overdone. So, what’s the plan? Sneak or attack?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, we can’t set off any alarms,” Zinnia said, pointing up at a rope bridge spanning the chasm before them where a butter-yellow pegasus mare with a long pink mane was being carried across by a white Trevenant, bound in the silk of the purple Ariados in front of them and followed by a pink Drapion. “If we do, there’s no telling what they’ll do to Fluttershy. We need to get in as quickly and quietly as we can. Any ideas?”

Ash tapped a finger to his chin a few times, trying to think of the best way through. He snapped his fingers. “We go down. Come in from where they won’t expect. And I have just the ‘mon for the job.” He pulled out an ultra ball, holding it ready in his hands. “You in?”

“Do it,” the Draconid said, nodding. “Anything to get Flutters back…” she added quietly, clenching her fist tightly.

He nodded, releasing the Pokémon from the ball. Behind them, a powerful looking krookodile appeared. “Krookodile,” it said, looking at his trainer and Zinnia through a pair of black aviator sunglasses.

“Hey pal, we need to get into the castle unseen. Think you can recall your digging power to get us in?”

Krookodile nodded, beginning to dig into the ground at an amazing speed.

Ash looked at Zinnia with a smirk. “Zero to sixty in less than a second in digging. Now come on, we got a pony to save.”

Fluttershy didn’t know what was happening. One minute, she’s looking for little Angel Buneary, the next she’s being tied up by an Ariados and carried through the Everfree to her doom. Why was everyone so mean all the time? Why couldn’t she just sit down with one of the so-called ‘ancient evils’ and just… talk to them? Surely their problems could have been solved much easier if they had just been talked through, instead of jumping straight into violence.

The mare let out a muffled “Ooph” as she was dropped onto the hard stone, and a second later the threads covering her eyes fell away, revealing a pink-coloured Drapion that made her scream and try to get away. Her back hit something rough, and she looked up fearfully to see the stark white bark and orange leaves of the Trevenant that had been carrying her, promptly screaming in terror once again.

A dark, menacing chuckle filled the room, and seconds later the shadows converged in a single spot, Darkrai rising out of them.

“Ah, yes,” he cackled, his cloak-like body billowing in the non-existent breeze. “Your fear is so delicious! Don’t you think so, Shadow Blur?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and filled with tears when a pegasus mare stepped out from behind a pillar, her midnight blue fur blending with the monochrome rainbow mane. Gone were her tight shorts and tank top, replaced by a pair of black tights and matching cloak with a crimson collar in the style of a predator’s teeth. A simple white shirt sat under the cloak, and her eyes glowed light blue. Her katana rested on her back, the Element Gem normally set in the pommel missing.

“Yes Master,” ‘Shadow Blur’ purred, kneeling by Fluttershy’s prone form and pulling her up by the hair. The Nightmare Pegasus seemed to inspect her  for a moment before turning to Darkrai, a manic grin on her face. “Can I take her to my Factory, Master? I’ll make so many Darkbows with her!” She reached down, grabbing one of Shy’s breasts. “I mean, I’ll probably get at least three with just one of these!”

“Settle down, Shadow Blur,” Darkrai chastised, and the Nightmare Pegasus backed away as he walked toward the bound mare on his long, spindly legs. “I’ve told you already, you and your friends are going to be my Generals. Now then, shall we begin the change?”

“Ooh!” Shadow Blur said, grinning happily. “I’ll get the Dark Plunder Vines!”

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide.

As Krookodile continued digging with Ash and Zinnia following closely, they heard a high pitch scream coming from above. Both of them went wide eyed in fear. “That was Fluttershy,” Ash said, stating the obvious. “Krookodile, speed it up! She needs us!”

“Krook!” he nodded, scratching its claws through dirt even faster.

“Gah…” Zinnia muttered, clutching her head in pain. Ash looked back, eyes going even wider at the sight.

“Zinnia, you okay?” he asked, doing his best to reassure her.

“Just keep going…” the Draconid growled, looking up at him and revealing her slit-pupil eyes. “You don’t wanna be anywhere near me when I change…”

“R-right…”

Another minute was all it took before Krookodile punched through the stone floor of the castle’s throne room, bursting out of the ground with a mighty “DIIILE!!”

“Move it!” Ash called, following his Pokémon out of the whole.

“Pika!” Blue said, getting into a battle defense position.

Zinnia shot out of the hole, wings spread wide. Ash turned to look at her, eyes flying open as he watched a layer of purple and black scales grow over her her hands and forearms, creating a sort-of scaled gauntlet. Her nails extended into long, black claws, each one ready to tear into flesh. Zinnia took a deep breath before letting loose a chilling Roar that sent the pack of Mightyena in the room running like scared puppies with their tails between their legs.

“Z-Zinnia?!” Ash stammered, slowly backing away. A quick glance at Blue and Krookodile told him that they were struggling not to run too. “Y-you okay there?”

“DARKRAI!!!!” the Draconid Roared again, her new claws erupting with a mixture of blue and black flames white her hands glowed orange. “I’M GONNA RIP YOU TO SHREDS!!!!”

Ash blinked, several times. “Whoah...well, that’s a thing.”

“Pika,” Blue added, just as stunned.

“Yeah…” a third voice said, raspy with a slight echo.

Ash and Blue whipped around, spotting an anthropomorphic pegasus with black fur, glowing cyan eyes and a mane the colour of a monochrome rainbow. The pegasus turned to them, staring for a second before blinking, seeming to remember where she was.

“Oh, right,” she muttered before shooting back, a small gust of wind making Ash stagger back. She raised a hand and snapped her fingers, a red, purple and black feathered Hawlucha dropping from the ceiling seconds later, green accents on it’s mask. “Hawlucha, Karate Chop!”

The Wrestling Pokemon charged forwards, bringing down an orange-glowing hand on Krookodile’s head in a vicious chop.

“Dile!” the intimidation Pokémon cried, staggering back and holding his head. A small bump slowly rose, angering Krookodile even more. “Krookodile!” he shouted in rage at the bird.

“Rainbow?” Ash asked. “What on Earth happened to you? And why you attack Krookodile like dat? Not cool!”

“Not Rainbow!” Zinnia growled, dropping down next to Ash and glaring at the pegasus. “Nightmare. Shadow Blur. Where Darkrai!?”

“Like I’d tell you!” Shadow Blur sneered. “As if I’d tell you that Master has her in Luna’s old bedroom, having his fun with Fluttershy and the Dark Plunder Vines!” She laughed for a moment before stopping, eyes wide. “Oh… crap…”

Zinnia grinned, flashing a row of glittering, razor-sharp teeth even as they crackled with electricity, before shooting off down a hallway.

“Wow,” Ash said, he and his Pokémon left behind. “Rude much!” he called after her before looking at Blur. “The people in this world! No respect I tell ya, NO respect!”

“Whatever,” Shadow muttered, turning away. “Keep him busy, Hawlucha. I’ve got a pest to kill.”

“Hmm, yeah, no I don’t think so. Blue?” The pikachu looked at him. “Knock it out.”

“Pika,” Blue said, smiling darkly. Faster than Blur could blink, Blue’s electricity covered fist had slammed into Hawlucha’s gut and sent it flying against the far wall. Blue cracked his knuckles, electricity leaking out. “Pikachu pika.”

Ash looked at Shadow, no longer any mirth in his eyes. “You wanna go after her, then you gotta get through me, toots.”

Shadow Blur glared at him, snapping her fingers again. Within moments, Ash was surrounded by another five Pokemon, all of them shiny - a Drapion, a Bisharp, an Ariados, an Ursaring, the Hawlucha, and a Torterra. Shadow smirked, stepping onto the Torterra’s back and sitting, leaning back against the massive tree.

“Do your worst, little man,” she taunted, before tapping the tree. “Tank, make it quick, will ya?”

“Terra!” ‘Tank’ replied, slamming its foot into the ground and causing an Earthquake.

“Quick Krookodile, cancel it out with your own Earthquake!” Ash ordered.

“Krookodile!” he shouted, his left leg glowing with light brown energy before slamming down like Tank’s. The shockwave blasted outward, shaking Ash slightly while Blue had taken refuge on his trainer’s shoulder, striking out against the impending attack. The resounding impact created a minor explosion and released a large cloud of dust, obscuring Ash from Shadow’s view.

“Hawlucha!” Shadow cried, and seconds later a gust of wind cleared the cloud away. Shadow shot to her feet when she saw that Ash was nowhere to be found. “What! Where’d he go?!” she growled, stamping her foot on Tank’s back. “Find him! I want him in my factory, dammit!”

“Hey Nightmare Freak!” Ash’s voice came from above them. She looked up, seeing Ash and Blue riding on a very powerful looking charizard. His hand was clutching a necklace that was beginning to glow along with an adornment around Charizard’s neck. “This is the part where you say: ‘I dun goofed’.” A sphere of energy surrounded the fire type, breaking away after a moment, revealing a much more dragon-like creature. “Mega Charizard X… burn ‘em down!” The Pokémon roared as a massive burst of fire rained down and engulfed all of Shadow’s Pokémon.

Ash watched for a moment as the flames danced around the room before dying out. His jaw dropped when the room cleared, showing each of the Nightmare Pokemon still stood there, only slightly charred. Shadow Blur looked up at him with a cocky grin.

“Not gonna work, little man!” Shadow called out as she swept her arm forward, the Ariados spitting a massive orb of toxic resin at Ash and Charizard. “Nightmare biz makes us stronger!”

Mega Charizard was able to flap out of the way before impact, but Ash was more focused on the Pokémon below. Then he got a smirk. “Well then, if you’re not gonna burn. Maybe you’ll be better frozen. Blue! Give ‘em the cold shoulder with Sheer Cold!”

“Pika!” Blue shouted, putting his little hands together as the entire room began to grow colder and colder. An icy blue ball of energy formed in the pikachu’s palms before he chucked it down the middle of the room below.

“Everyone!” Shadow cried, taking to the air. “Behind Tank! Tank, Protect!”

Shadow’s team scrambled into action, Tank erecting a green wall of energy between himself and Blue’s attack as the other Nightmare Pokemon hid behind him. Ursaring, however, sneered at the attack and charged, it's entire left arm glowing orange. It swung at the orb, creating an explosion of snow and sleet that covered the room in white. When the room cleared and things became more visible, the Ursaring’s body could be seen under a layer of snow, out cold.

“Well, he certainly wasn’t smarter than the average bear,” Ash joked.

“Huh,” Shadow uttered, shrugging. “Oh well, he was just some random bear. Not that I care. Drapion?”

“Dra!” the large scorpion cried, it's claws glowing purple as it charged at the wall. To Ash’s surprise, it carried on running up the wall, it’s four clawed feet digging in with each step before it launched off, hitting Charizard with a Cross Poison with a “Pion!” and knocking it out of the air.

“Ha!” Shadow barked. “Not so smug now, are you? Ariados, tie him and the pikachu up! Tank, take the charizard out. Bisharp, bring them all to my factory. I wonder what Darkbow a blue pikachu will make!”

“Hyper Beam!” a southern voice shouted out. A dark purple beam shot of nowhere, striking Tank and pushing him up against the far wall.

“Nopony messes with our friend!” a tomboy voice shouted as well. Shadow looked and saw two quadrupedal ponies standing at the entrance hole Ash and Zinnia had used. The one that looked like Applejack had a Pupitar that was firing the hyper beam, while the one that looked like her old self had a Kakuna staring her down. “Kakuna, use Poison Sting on that faker!”

“Kakuna!” he shouted, firing the purple, poison filled needles at Shadow.

Shadow flinched, covering her face with her arm to try and lessen the pain. When nothing happened, however, she looked up and saw that Bisharp had slid in front of her, defending her from the poisonous needles with it's metallic body.

“Hah!” Shadow barked. “Nice try losers! Bisharp, carve them up!”

“Sharp!”it cried, becoming a blue blur as it shot forward, slamming its head into Kakuna’s body with a vicious Iron Head before spinning around and  draggin a Metal Claw across Pupitar’s face.

“Kakuna!”

“Pupitar!”

The ponies cried out as their Pokémon were sent flying, highly damaged. Slowly and painfully, the Pokémon forced themselves to stand, not willing to let their trainers down. And that’s when it happened. Suddenly, both of them were engulfed in bright blue-white light.

“Ah can’t believe it,” AJ gasped.

“Aw yeah!” Rainbow threw in.

Pupitar began to grow to several times his original size, morphing into what the humans would call a mini-godzilla. When his light died away, the now Tyranitar let out a roar of challenge.

Kakuna’s was much quicker, morphing into a sharp looking bee-like Pokémon. The Beedrill buzzed, feeling more powerful than ever.

“Ha!” Ash cheered. “Looks like we got some back up now! Hey Charizard; get off your lazy butt and start torching these lame-os!” Mega Charizard was quick to his feet, sending out a Flamethrower that completely engulfed Ariados and sent it flying, with the added effect of burning away the webs tying up Ash and Blue. “That’s more like it!” He and his Pokémon joined Applejack and Rainbow, looking smug at Shadow. “Well? Give up yet?”

Shadow Blur glared at them for a moment before pulling out a black Pokeball, using it to remove Tank from the field. “This isn’t the end!” she cried, flying out of a nearby window. Ash, Rainbow and AJ watched for a moment before turning to each other and shrugging. When they looked around again, all of the Pokemon Shadow was commanding had retreated, all except the Ursaring, still unconscious but now covered in water instead of snow.

“Coward!” Rainbow shouted after her. “Come back and fight like a mare!”

“Now hold on there, Dash,” Applejack said, dragging her back. “Let’s not look a gift rapidash in the mouth. We need ta find that Zinnia girl an’ make sure she’s alright.”

“AJ’s right,” Ash agreed. “Let’s go make sure she hasn’t caused any more trouble.” A skarmory crashed through the roof, landing in a heap on the ground with part of its metallic body melted away. “Oh no…”

Zinnia shot down hallway after hallway, either slashing the Pokemon in her way with her claws or roasting them with her fire breath. At one point, she heard Fluttershy screaming again, immediately veering upwards and smashing through the castle’s walls until she was in the open air. A tower in the corner of her eye caught her attention, if only because of the writhing mass of black vines wrapped around it, pouring into the windows of the top floor.

“Darkrai…” she growled, grabbing an attacking Skarmory without looking and mercilessly tearing into its metallic flesh with a scorching Fire Fang before tossing it away. She shot towards the tower, her body bursting into blue and purple flames as the wind parted before her.

“Aerial Rage!”

Zinnia burst through the vines with enough force to destroy the window around them, kicking up a cloud of dust. She threw her wings forward, sending a gust of wind that cleared the dust within seconds, revealing a scene that sent her rage into overdrive.

Fluttershy hung limply from a mass of vines, her clothes in tattered shreds with tears staining her cheeks. Blood dripped from a few of the vines, splattering the cold stone floor with drops of red. All while Darkrai lounged on an ancient bed with his arms behind his head.

“You bastard…” Zinnia growled, her body erupting into blue and purple flames again as her claws were coated in shadows and her forearms took on an orange glow. Lightning crackled across her teeth, and her wings took on a metallic sheen. “YOU FUCKING BASTARD!! I’LL KILL YOU!!!”

She shot forward, bringing a fist down on the spot where Darkrai had once been, the living shadow having melted into darkness and shot away along the ground.

“Now now dear,” he taunted, rematerializing behind Fluttershy, cupping her face in his hand. Even unconscious, Fluttershy flinched at his touch. “You must learn to control that temper of yours. Who knows who could get hurt?”

“FUCK YOU!!” Zinnia Roared, shooting forward and tearing into the vines. When Fluttershy began to drop, Zinnia grabbed her and burned the rest of the vines away with Embers. “I-I won’t… Hurt her…”

“Are you sure?” Darkrai whispered, his voice echoing from every wall. “I’m already gone, so who will bear the brunt of your rage?”

“Fuck…”

“Equestria may be my ultimate goal, Delta Guardian,” Darkrai continued, his voice getting quieter until Zinnia could barely hear it. “But your suffering shall be my prize.”

Zinnia ground her teeth, barely managing to keep herself from bursting into flames for the third time that day. With as much self control as she could muster, she pulled her cloak from her bag, wrapping it around Fluttershy’s body before laying her gently on the ancient bed. She then moved into the centre of the room, dropping to her knees, clutching her head in pain as her flames of Outrage fluctuated, slowly becoming bigger and bigger.

“C-can’t… lose… control!” the Draconid growled, grinding her teeth from the strain.

It was at that point where Ash, Applejack, Rainbow, and Blue burst into the room, immediately seeing Zinnia.

“Zinnia!” Ash called out.

“What in the hay happened in here?” AJ asked, looking at the destroyed room.

“Who cares, what about the dragon girl?” Rainbow said, pointing as Zinnia’s grip on reality began slipping even more.

“Well, I got an idea, but she won’t like it,” Ash said. “Blue, Thunderbolt!”

“Pikachu!” Blue cried, blasting Zinnia with a massive bolt of electricity.

“Gah!” the Draconid cried, and her flames flared for a moment before she managed to reign them in. Ash’s eyes went wide when he saw one of the old stone chairs in the corner look like it was melting. “Not… Helping!”

“Hey, it’s what I got, ok? Um… oh! What about a water type? That could work, right?”

“Just… get ‘Shy… and RUN!!!” Zinnia growled, slipping into another Roar at the end. “I can’t… hold back… much longer!” When no one moved, she glared at them, her crimson eyes boring into their own. “GO!!!!!”

“Ok, we’re goin’!” Ash said quickly. Applejack and Rainbow ran over to Fluttershy, picking her up together.

“Oof!” AJ said as Fluttershy was put on her back. “Hoo, Shy needs to lay off the cupcakes. It looks like her chest is about to fall off.”

“That’s, uh, you know what? I’m gonna leave that to Twilight to explain when we get back,” Ash sighed, pulling out Charizard’s ball and letting out the flying, flaming lizard. “All aboard!” Charizard took the ponies and started into the air, Ash and Blue flying behind him on his Pidgeot. They raced towards the ceiling, Charizard using his power and flames, bursting through to the outside.

Ash turned back once they were clear, just in time to see the pillar of blue and purple flames that engulfed the entire room, reducing it to molten slag in mere seconds as a blood-curdling Roar filled the air. Clouds began to gather overhead, faster than could be called natural, and soon after rain began to fall.

Applejack let out a long, low whistle. “Sweet apple pie,” she awed, hanging on to her hat.

“You can say that again,” Rainbow said similarly.

“Sweet appl-” Rainbow hushed the smirking AJ with a hoof into her mouth.

“I just hope she’s okay after that,” Ash muttered to himself, staring intently at the castle.

The trainer’s worries were appeased - if just a little - when the molten stone coating the remainder of the tower suddenly surged upwards, almost creating a fountain of slag and soot. A massive shockwave of energy almost blasted the flyers out of the sky, and when they turned to the source, their jaws dropped simultaneously.

Even from their current distance, each and every one of them could clearly see Zinnia, now standing at an almost amazonian height of eight feet tall rather than her usual five and sporting a pair of black-armoured, purple-skinned wings so sleek they looked as though they could cut the air like a hot knife through butter. The black and purple scales coating her forearms had spread upwards toward her shoulders, and if one were to look close enough, the image of a flaming heart encompassing a pair of women could be seen in the patterns painted by the black scales. Her clothes, understandably, had been torn to shreds in her transformation, but her modesty was saved by the materialisation of a simple black leotard with a flaming purple wisp on her chest. Scaled boots covered her feet, black heels raising her stature even higher.

The newly transformed Draconid reared back before spitting a colossal plume of pure white flames into the air, the heat from which sent another shockwave outwards from her position.

“Woah,” Ash gasped, Applejack and Rainbow both too slack jawed to say anything. Blue rubbed his eyes, trying to see if he was dreaming, but it was for naught. Ash shook himself from the stupor. “Zinnia! You back with us or what?” he shouted at her.

The amazonian woman whipped around to face him with surprising speed, crimson slitted eyes filled with rage. Her razor-sharp fangs glinted in the light left over from her fire before she Roared at them, the sheer power of her voice sending the flying Pokemon back a few feet.

“That’s a no!” Rainbow cried, righting herself in the air from where she’d fallen from Charizard’s back.

Zinnia made to lunge at them, onyx-black claws primed and burning blue, before she seemed to catch herself, grabbing her head in pain. She pointed frantically away from herself, Ash recognising the general direction as the way to Ponyville before she launched herself from  her perch in the opposite direction, rocketing away with a sudden burst of speed.

Ash was torn as he saw her rocket off into the Everfree, tempted to go after her.

“Pika,” Blue said slowly, patting his trainer’s cheek. This pulled Ash out of his staring to look at Blue and to see the ponies and Charizard looking him to make the next decision.

He sighed. “Let’s go to Ponyville.”

“Are ya sure?” Applejack asked. “Should we really leave that poor girl on her own out here?”

“With the way she is right now, she’s more monster than Zinnia. We need to get Fluttershy safe and sound. Let’s go to Ponyville and see if we can find Twilight or another of the counterparts here. We can work out what to do next from there.”

“If you’re sure, big guy,” Dash shrugged. Together, Charizard and Pidgeot took the heroes toward Ponyville.

“There’s the tree,” Ash called out as his Pokémon approached the library, sticking out like sore thumb amidst the thatched and wooden roofs of the small country town. “We’ll land just a bit from there so Charizard doesn’t spook any of the populous.”

Charizard huffed, but followed orders by flying into an alleyway. Rainbow helped the still unconscious Fluttershy off of the flame Pokémon, draping the mare across hers and Applejack’s backs. After Pidgeot landed, Ash returned both Pokémon to their respective pokéballs and clipped them to his belt. He looked out of the alley and gestured the ponies to follow him, thankfully not catching any of the busy anthropomorphic ponies’ attentions. The group quickly made their way up to the library door, knocking rather loudly on the front door.

“Hello? Is Miss Twilight home? We could really use her help!” Ash shouted as he knocked.

The door opened suddenly, and Ash was confused at the absence of a pony for a moment before someone coughed, drawing his attention downwards to see a miniature Dragonite dressed in purple slacks and a green button-down shirt, wings folded neatly behind his back.

“Can I help you?” the dragonite asked in perfect English, shocking Ash slightly.

“Woah… no way. Spike? You’re a talking dragonite. Out of things I’ve seen today, that’s probably weirdest. And I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff today.” Ash shook his head, putting his hand there to keep down a small headache. “Never mind that, is Twilight home?”

“Uh… yes?” Spike replied, his tone unsure. “Hey, Twi? Someone’s at the door for you!”

“Dammit Spike, this is a public library!” Twilight’s voice called from within. “You don’t have to run every visitor by me, just let them in!”

“Oh, right,” the drake muttered, stepping aside to let Ash in. He did a double-take when the quadrupedal versions of Rainbow and AJ trotted in behind him, carrying Fluttershy on their back. “Oh Faust!” he cried out, scrambling after them. “Twilight, Fluttershy’s hurt!”

“What!” the unicorn shrieked, charging into the room with an anthro Applejack on her tail. The farmer stopped dead upon seeing her double, reaching up to scratch at her head.

“What in tarnation is goin’ on in here?!” she demanded, eyeing the visitors suspiciously. “Are you a couple’a Changelings that don’t right know what yer doin’?”

“Uh, no,” AJ deadpanned. “Ah’m you, that’s Rainbow,” she pointed at said mare, “that’s Ash,” she pointed at the human who saluted with two fingers, “and that’s Blue.”

“Pika pika,” said blue pikachu waved.

“What happened to Fluttershy!?” Twilight shrieked again, her magic surging and lifting the unconscious pegasus onto the rapidly cleared centre table of the library, the bust of a stallion being flung to a random corner. She blushed as the cloak fell away, revealing Fluttershy’s bloodied and abused body to the room. “And where are her clothes?!”

“I… honestly have no idea,” Ash shrugged. “We were helping Zinnia rescue her from the Everfree castle. Miss Nightmare Rainbow separated us and when we caught up to Zinnia she exploded into a raging Amazonian dragon… thing. She flew off into the forest while we thought it best to bring Flutters back here.”

“Wait,” Anthro AJ stated, holding her hand up. “Whadd’ya mean, ‘Nightmare Rainbow’? Rainbow ain’t never been no Nightmare, an’ she’d never let ‘erself be one neither!”

“Tell that to the poison claw marks on my Charizard’s neck,” Ash replied.

“Wait a minute…” Rainbow Dash muttered, a hoof on her chin. “When we got here, didn’t Zinnia say something about not telling the girls about me when she broke down?”

“Yeah…” Ash’s AJ agreed. “She said ya’ll thought she’d ran off alone!” She paused, her head tilting. “Ta be fair though, Ah’d think th’ same if’n RD jus’ up’n disappeared like that.”

“What!?” Twilight cried, her horn glowing purple as various medical supplies floated around her, applying themselves to Fluttershy’s wounds. “She said that!? Ooh, I’m going to kill her!”

“I think she’s killing herself,” Ash so ‘tactfully’ said. “Like I said, she’s kinda an uncontrollable monster at the moment. She also glomped Rainbow when we got here and was begging for forgiveness while crying like a repentant murderer.”

“She was?” Anthro AJ asked, shocked. “But she seemed like th’ strong, confident type t’me. She don’t strike me as a cryer.”

“Everyone has a secret side, AJ,” Spike offered sagely. “Remember when we found out about how you got Winona?”

“Point taken,” Anthro AJ said quickly, her face going from orange to red in seconds.

Applejack turned her head in confusion. “Uh… Ah’m not sure Ah wanna know. Anyways, is your Flutters alright? She didn’t look so good when we picked up her up.”

“Yeah, she’s got those weird lumps on her barrel. They, like, tumors or something?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight looked to her as though she were talking to a child, before realising that she had a drastically different body structure. “No, those are her breasts,” she explained, sighing soon after. “What I’m worried about is the… internal cuts my magic found. Are you sure you don’t know anything about what happened to her?”

“Um…” Ash scratched his head, trying to think of something.

Blue face-palmed, jumping off his trainer’s shoulder. “Pika pika!” he scolded Ash. “Pika pikachu pika pichu!” He climbed up onto Twilight’s table and began to draw.

“Well you don’t have to be so rude about it!” Ash said back to the pikachu.

“Pikachu,” Blue returned. He set down the pencil he stole, showing Twilight the picture he’d drawn. To Twilight’s surprise, it was a very realistic sketch of a darkrai, with another one of a pile of shredded vines with vicious looking thorns.

“Darkrai did this?” the unicorn muttered, before looking at the second drawing. “What on Equus are those?” she asked, leaning in close. She gasped and jumped when a sudden *pop* sounded out, a strange-looking chimera in a mismatched suit appearing in the door.

“Where is she?!” Discord demanded, shoving past Ash and dropping to his knees at Fluttershy’s side. “Sweet Faust, what happened!? Who could do this to dear, sweet Fluttershy!?”

“Apparently, Darkrai,” Twilight provided, handing the draconequus the sketches. “Discord, do you recognise those vines? Darkrai apparently used them to hurt Fluttershy… intimately…” She trailed off at the end, shuffling awkwardly.

Discord took one look at the sketch before his eyes went wide, his whole body literally draining of colour before he fell backwards, rattling against the hardwood floor as though made of stone.

Rainbow looked over at the sketches before making a face of disgust. “Oh man, not those things. I hate those stupid vines.”

Applejack made the same expression. “Plunder Vines, dang rotten infections is what they are. But how did this darkrai get a hold over Discord’s plants?”

“You planted them!?” Twilight demanded, glaring at Discord’s prone form.

“I-I… Yes…” he relented, hanging his head in shame. “Back when Celestia and Luna first imprisoned me, I scattered them without them noticing. I thought they’d have died out by now, though!”

“Obviously not,” Anthro AJ deadpanned.

“Darkrai probably used his Nightmares to take control of them,” the draconequus continued, now shivering viciously. “They’re not like normal plants, after all. They’re sentient, so he could obviously Nightmare them.”

“Well, that’s not good,” AJ said, shaking her head. “It was already bad enough you’ve had them things suckin’ power from the Tree of Harmony. Who knows how powerful them things are now.”

“Way to think positive, Jackie,” Ash snarked.

“Oops, mah bad. Forget I said anything.”

“So… what did he make them do?” Anthro AJ asked cautiously, dreading the answer.

Discord tensed up, balling his fists in anger. “He... “ he growled. “He abused her… He won’t get away with that…”

“Wow, Evil Dead much,” Ash said humorlessly. “Yeesh, he really is the nightmare Pokémon to go that far. He’s got issues.”

Discord stood up wordlessly, stalking towards the door before launching it off it’s hinges with a wave of his hand, flying out not long after.

“Oh dear,” Twilight murmured. “I’ve never actually seen Discord angry. I hope he doesn’t do anything foolish.

“This is Discord we’re talking about,” the three visitors said in an unanimous deadpan.

“Hopefully Zinnia can snap out’a her funk to help’im,” Anthro AJ said. “Outside a’ Celestia, Ah don’ know of anyone else who could stand up ta him on a good day.”

Twilight sighed, standing and dismissing the medical supplies with a flash of purple magic. “The best we can do now is wait,” she said, shaking her head. “Spike, would you mind fetching Rarity and Pinkie Pie? I think we should all be here for Fluttershy when she wakes up.”

“Sure thing Twilight,” Spike replied sadly, saluting before jogging out the door.

“You’re welcome to stay here until Zinnia returns,” the lavender unicorn continued, turning to Ash and his group. “If you don’t have anywhere else to go, that is.”

“Zinnia’s probably the only one that can send us home,” Ash said, rubbing the back of his head. “Sure, it was a good bit of training for my friends here, but I’d much rather prefer being back in our own Equestria. No offense to yours, that is.”

“None taken,” Twilight said with a smile. “I completely understand, there’s no place I’d rather be after a long day than home. I’m sorry I can’t help with that.”

“Aw don’t be too upset, there Twi,” pony Applejack waved off. “This may not be home, but at least y’all ain’t trying to hurt us or run us out of town. Ah will admit Ah’ve been a bit curious about these other worlds we’ve been hearin’ ‘bout.”

“This place is kinda cool,” Rainbow admitted. “At least it’s still got Pokémon. That’s something familiar to start with.”

“You guys have Pokémon too?” Anthro AJ asked, surprised. “Ah didn’ expect that. Winona’s been itchin’ for a bit o’ exercise if’n you wanna come ‘round the farm later tonight.”

“Ah jus’ might take ya up on that offer, me,” Applejack smiled. “As to your question, yeah, we’re trainers. Ah’m a rock-type trainer an’ Rainbow here trains bug n’ flyin’ type Pokémon.”

“Ash here is training us to be Frontier Brains to turn Ponyville into the official Battle Frontier of Equestria. He’s the champion of Equestria, so who better, right?”

“Ah don’ rightly know what a ‘Battle Frontier’ is,” Anthro AJ laughed. “But it sure does sound interestin’.”

“The Battle Frontier is a league made up of the strongest Pokémon trainers around,” Ash explained. “There are seven in all, each the strongest you’d ever find in their respective fields. Any trainer is welcome to challenge the league to prove they can best the best of the best. Of course, first we have to make these ponies into the best of the best, right Blue?”

“Pika pikachu pika,” Blue snickered. Applejack and Rainbow glared at the pikachu, knowing whatever it was he said wasn’t nice.

“Stupid pikachu,” they said together.

Twilight managed a small chuckle at their expense, sitting solemnly by Fluttershy’s side.

Zinnia awoke with a groan, sitting up and holding her head in pain. She looked around in confusion for a moment, finding herself in a small cave with the night sky visible in the opening and wearing a strange black leotard with a flaming purple wisp on the chest. She groaned again, pulling herself to her feet and stumbling to the mouth of the cave, leaning heavily against the walls.

“Dammit…” she muttered, her eyes tired and bleary. “Where the fuck am I?” She shook her head again, stumbling out of the cave and into the woods. She looked up, attempting to spread her wings only to flinch at a sudden pain in her back. “Gah… No flying, I guess…”

She walked aimlessly for a time, her arms behind her head as she whistled a random tune. She had no idea where she was going, but she didn’t need to know. There was a strange feeling in her chest, and that feeling had told her to walk.

The Draconid ducked under a low hanging branch, smiling tiredly as a Caterpie wriggled along and sniffed at her hand.

“Hey there, little guy!” she cooed, giggling as it nudged her finger. “Do you know where I’m supposed to go?”

The Caterpie tilted its head slightly, seemingly thinking, before nodding and pointing it’s body in the general direction she’d been heading. Zinnia giggled lightly, thanking it before continuing on her way for a time before a thought crossed her mind.

“When did I become a Disney Princess?” she asked herself idly, before suddenly feeling something grip her ankle tightly and pull. She fell forward, catching herself on her hands and knees just before her face would have impacted with a random rock. “Whoa. Okay, what was that?”

Her question was answered when a mass of blue vines wrapped around her body, lifting her into the air and flipping her over to see a small creature that appeared to be made out of the vines themselves, though stood on a pair of red boot-like feet. “Tangela!” it cried, pure joy in it's voice.

“Well hi there little guy!” Zinnia called out pleasantly, hoping to avoid conflict. “Would you mind putting me down?” She gulped when the tangela shook its head, it's vines snaking across her body. “Oh, well then…”

Zinnia cried out when the tangela’s vines wrapped around her leotard, tearing it off easily and exposing her body to the open air. She shivered as it rubbed its vines across her opening, others wrapping around her breasts and squeezing roughly.

“Oh, alright then…” Zinnia sighed, shuddering when the vines at her folds pushed in slightly. “G-go ahead…”

Tangela didn’t waste any time, twisting three thick vines around each other and shoving them into Zinnia’s folds, opening them out again once inside and writhing them around inside of her.

“Gah!” Zinnia cried, her tongue lolling out as Tangela pounded into her. Another vine appeared in front of her face, quickly inviting itself into her open mouth and sliding down deep into her throat. She let out another muffled scream as Tangela pushed it's vines into her, squeezing her breasts tighter with every powerful thrust.

Two smaller vines reached up, wrapping around Zinnia’s rock-hard nipples and pulling roughly. The Draconid cried out in pleasure and pain even as her milk squirted out, shocking Tangela when it splashed across it’s face.

“Tang?” Tangela asked, a small pink tongue snaking out and tasting the milk before it let out a happy squeal. “Tangela! Tan tan!” it cried, bringing Zinnia closer and locking it’s invisible lips around her left nipple, suckling greedily.

“Mmph!” Zinnia cried, writhing under the grass-types ministrations even as more and more vines reached up, massaging more of her body. Two of them snaked around her waist, pulling her ass apart for another two that wrapped around each other before plunging in. “MMMM!!”

Tangela chirped happily, it's vines thrust more powerfully into the woman as it slurped up her milk, it’s movements becoming faster and more frantic as it went. Zinnia screwed her eyes shut, putting everything she could into pleasuring the invaders, wrapping her tongue around the vine in her throat and clenching her walls around the others.

“T-Tangela!” Tangela cried out, it’s grip on the Draconid loosening until it dropped her heavily on the forest floor. Zinnia sighed in relief as the vines retreated, noticing a small white splattering on the ground in front of the tangela.

“A-are…” she stammered, breathing heavily. “Are you d-done now?”

“T-Tangela…” Tangela replied, waving a vine at her dismissively.

“Good…”

Zinnia stood up, grabbing her bag from the ground and pulling out a copied set of the clothes she was wearing when Ash arrived and quickly dressing in them.

“Well,” she said, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. “This was fun and all, but I’ve got somewhere to be.” She paused, looking around briefly. “Now if only I knew how to get to Ponyville…”

Tangela’s eyes went wide, and he shot to his feet instantly, waving his vines about frantically. “Tan! Tangela tan!”

“You know the way, little guy?” Zinnia asked, crouching down.

“Tangela!” it replied, nodding furiously.

“You think you can lead me there?” She asked again, and Tangela nodded again. “Well let's go then.”

Zinnia turned around, walking through the forest once more, this time with the Tangela by her side. They walked in silence for a time, Tangela occasionally redirecting them. Eventually they came into a large clearing, a boulder covered in moss sat in it’s centre. Zinnia sighed, walking over to the boulder and climbing on top of it before lying down. Tangela followed her up, looking to her questioningly.

“I’m tired,” the Draconid said simply, closing her eyes. “And my wings hurt. I’ll rest here for the night and see if I can fly back tomorrow.” She paused for a second, cracking open one eye to look at Tangela. “You can come with me if you want, but no sex, okay Writher?”

“Tan?” Tangela asked, tilting its head to the left.

“What? I can’t give you a name?” Zinnia chuckled. “I’d think I earned the right after what you pulled back there. Not that I’m complaining.”

‘Writher’ formed a pair of arms with his vines, shrugging.

“Well, goodnight then.”

Ash woke the next morning to the sound of frantic banging at the library’s main door, sitting up with a groan. He sleepily stretched and scratched his back, cracking a joint in his neck. “This is why I don’t sleep on couches.” He winced as the banging returned even louder. “Yeah, yeah, I hear ya,” he moaned, getting up and dragging his way to the door. He wrenched open the door, “We don’t want any.”

“That’s charming, that is,” Zinnia huffed, crossing her arms. “And here I was expecting to be welcomed back with open arms!” she added, holding her arms open for emphasis.

“I don’t know you well enough for that and I’m pretty sure Serena would hit me for it,” he deadpanned.

“You can’t give me a hug!?” the Draconid cried. “Man, you are whipped!”

“I’m married, what do you think? Now get in here, it’s cold out, and I want to go back to bed.”

“Oh, okay,” Zinnia shrugged, stepping past Ash and into the library. “Come on Writher!”

“Tan!” Writher cried, following after Zinnia excitedly.

“Is that a tangela?” Ash asked. He shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t think I wanna know.” He closed the door behind her. “Hey, Twilight! Wake up! Zinnia’s here!”

A second passed before a loud crash was heard from the floor above, Twilight stumbling down the stairs not long after. “Zinnia?” she mumbled, rubbing at her bleary eyes before seeming to sober up. “Zinnia!? Oh, I have a few choice words for you, missy!”

Zinnia looked between Twilight and Ash for a moment, eventually settling on Ash. “Why do I get the feeling I’m back in high school?” she asked, raising a brow in confusion.

“You start shipping me with that thing, I’m outta here,” Ash deadpanned. “I’ll leave you to your chewing out. I’m going back to bed.” He dragged himself back over to the couch and plopped down, the sleepy Blue resuming his position of sleeping on Ash’s chest.

“...wut?”

“Never mind that!” Twilight barked, grabbing Zinnia by the arm and dragging her into the kitchen. Zinnia quickly found herself in a chair, Twilight standing over her in naught but her nighty and underwear.

“You know,” Zinnia stated. “You should really get dressed. That nighty doesn’t really hide much.”

“It’ll do for now,” Twilight huffed. “Why didn’t you tell us about Rainbow Dash!?”

Zinnia paled, sweat forming on her brow. “Uh… I forgot?” she tried, flinching at Twilight’s unamused expression. “Fine,” she sighed, hanging her head in shame. “I was afraid, okay? I didn’t want you guys to hate me because I couldn’t protect her.”

“We wouldn’t hate you because you failed at something,” Twilight said, her expression softening. “Sure we’d be upset that we lost Rainbow, but I’m sure we’d all just work harder to get her back!”

“Oh…”

“Look,” Twilight sighed, pinching the bridge of her muzzle. “I get that you’re from another world or something, but in Equestria, we try not to hold on to grudges. We talk things through instead.”

“Tell that to Sunset Shimmer,” Ash called back.

“Who?” Twilight and Zinnia asked as one, confused looks on their faces.

“Ask Celestia,” he sighed. “She hides a lot more than you know. You’re only her most recent student after all.”

“Celestia’s a bit preoccupied with the second loss of her sister to the Nightmare,” Twilight deadpanned, glaring at Ash slightly. “But I’ll note it down.”

“Yeah dude,” Zinnia chimed in, shaking her head. “Harsh. Tone it back a little, will ya? If Celestia’d heard you say that, well… I wouldn’t want to be you.”

“A leader that can’t take smack isn’t a real leader,” Ash boredly replied. “Star Swirl taught me that and literally hit Tia over the head with it. Luna was usually fine with it.”

“That’s it!” Twilight yelled. “Out of my house! I do not appreciate you talking about my mentor like that!”

“Twi, chill!” Zinnia tried. “Other worlds, remember!”

“I don’t care! I want you both out, right now!”

“Would you calm down, Twilight?” Ash said, finally sitting back up. “You’re gonna have an aneurysm. And to be fair, Celestia talks more smack about me than I do her. It’s how our friendship works. Here’s a new lesson for you: different friends have different ways of showing their friendship. Remember that, it might come in handy.”

Zinnia took one look at Twilight’s enraged face and began backing away. “Writher, go get pony Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Ash, we’re leaving, now,” Writher saluted with a vine and ran out of the room.

Ash groaned, Blue even more so. He pulled on his jacket, shoes, and hat, perfectly ready to get out. Except looking half-dead. “You ponies are way too wound up. I get you’re dealing with a nightmare, but if ya can’t relax a bit, he’s just walk right over ya.”

Twilight’s coat turned stark white, her mane and tail becoming pure flames.

“OOOOOUUUUUTTTT!!!!!!”

Zinnia scrambled back, grabbing Ash’s collar and dragging him out of the library with her. Writher and Ash’s AJ and Rainbow joined them soon after, all four of them running full-pelt away from Twilight, Ash just being dragged along.

“You know in hindsight, Serena always said I shouldn’t talk when half asleep. She’s says I’m rather rude.”

“Ya think!?” Zinnia growled, slowing to a stop at the edge of town. “Alright, I think we’ll be safe here.”

“Sorry, about that.”

“He ain’t the brightest candle, but Pokémon is sure something he knows,” Applejack said.

Zinnia sighed. “Yeah, I guess I can be the same sometimes. People say I flirt too much.”

“Thankfully I haven’t seen that yet. And I don’t want to. You’re really not my type.” He turned to Rainbow. “That came rude didn’t it? I’m being rude right now.”

“Eeyup,” both ponies responded.

“My bad.”

“Pikachu,” Blue said with a face palm.

“Eh,” Zinnia said with a shrug. “No biggie. The only reason I haven’t tried it on with you is ‘cuz I met Serena a while ago and she told me about you. She said no, so I guessed you would too.”

“Is she alright over there?” Ash asked, a little sadness in his voice. “Nothing bad has happened, has it?”

“You know who the Sirens are? They apparently want her dead or something.”

“Oh, them.” Ash sighed. “So those three cultists are still kicking, eh? I hate them.”

“Wow, never heard you actually use the ‘h’ word, big guy,” Rainbow said, a little taken back by it.

“Rainbow, they’re trying to kill his wife,” Zinnia deadpanned. “I hate them, and I don’t even know who they are. Mainly because I said I’d be like Serena’s big sister and protect her if she called me to, but still…”

“I’m not sure how to take that at the moment so I’ll process it later. The sirens are basically hippocampi, or seaponies as some call them. Those three are Yvangelists, the cult of Yveltal. Not nice people.”

“You have a cult dedicated to the Death Pokemon?” Zinnia asked. “Huh. I’ve got Pokemon Satan under Darkrai’s control, but I’ll have to keep an eye out for Yveltal and a few of the other more powerful Legendaries.” She paused, shuddering for a moment. “I do not want to know what he’ll do if he gets his hands on Dialga or Palkia. Or Arceus, for that matter.”

“Wait, arceus is real here too?”

“I assume so,” Zinnia shrugged. “I’ve been using him in place of God in my curses, haven’t you noticed? Ah well, what matters is I’m not taking any chances.”

“No, I haven’t noticed and I’m not sure how I feel about that. There’s no evidence to suggest arceus is real back home. No legends, no Pokémon know of it, nothin’. Speaking of home, any chance we can get back there soon?”

“Ash has a point. Mah family’s gotta be worried sick by now.”

“And I’ve got work tomorrow. The weather doesn’t move itself… well, outside of the Everfree forest anyway.”

Zinnia stared at Dash for a moment before rainclouds started to roll in overhead, a light drizzle falling. “You were saying?” she asked, a smug grin on her face.

“Her point still stands,” Ash said, holding his hands out and catching some of the rain. “I know you can use Pokemon moves yourself - you kinda showed me in the castle, and that transformation was probably something to note too.”

“O-oh, right,” Zinnia stammered, grabbing her arm nervously. “Th-that. You weren’t hurt, were you?”

“No. Highly confused, but not hurt. But I’m not one to question that kind of weird.”

“Oh, good,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Anyway, sending you home… wait. Do you have a Token yet?”

“Yep,” Ash said, flipping a coin. Only when it landed, Zinnia realized it wasn’t a coin, but an actual gym badge, made to look like a regular Pokeball with small gold parts.

“Huh, cool,” Zinnia muttered, pulling a small black case from her bag and placing the badge inside. She paused, her finger brushing against an orange ribbon before she snapped the case closed. “Anyway, I’m not sure if the normal way to send you home will work, since I didn’t actually summon you. Maybe if I call the Void Dragon again?”

“We have to get eaten again?” Rainbow blanched.

“It’s not so bad after a while,” the Draconid shrugged. “I get it every time I travel. Sometimes it can be quite pleasant, actually.” She paused, taking in the uncomfortable looks of the ponies. “I suppose I could try and convince him to carry you back instead…”

“Ah think Ah’d rather get eaten,” Applejack gulped.

“Just call the dragon before one of us decides to chicken out,” Ash sighed.

“What’s a chicken?” the two ponies asked.

Zinnia took a deep breath, taking her anklet from her leg and holding it up. She remained like that for a moment before the winds started to pick up, swirling around her and whipping her hair in all directions.

Seconds later, a familiar black, star-scaled dragon with flowing pink dust hair rose from the earth as though it were water, looking down at them expectantly.

“You need to take them home,” Zinnia stated bluntly, looking up into the drake’s eyes.

The dragon looked between the five of them for a moment before shrugging, diving at Ash, Rainbow and AJ a second later. Zinnia barely had time to turn around and wave goodbye before they were gone, the drake disappearing into the ground once more. Seconds later Sonar arrived, ready to take her home.

“Well that was easy enough,” Zinnia said with a smile. As soon as those words left her lips the Void Dragon appeared again, glaring at her. “I, uh… I don’t suppose I’m not in trouble for once?” she asked, and the drake shook his head slowly. “Oh…”

The drake dived again, and when he was gone, the clearing was empty save for a single, chocolate-brown furred colt with an orange mane. He wore a simple white polo shirt with green cargo shorts and a propeller hat, a JoyBoy in his hands.

“That,” the colt breathed, arms hanging limply at his sides. “Would make a sweet game.”

Next Chapter: Interlude 3: The Seed Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 24 Minutes