Chapter 4: A Shy Way Home?
After spending the night and guided to the town close by thanks to Old Man Obee, Ash, May, Brock, another small raven-haired boy and their newly acquired friends Fluttershy and Bulbasaur known as Little Wonder were fascinated with the size of the town and the townspeople. Fluttershy couldn't believe all the humans walking around shopping, eating, conversing, playing with the Pokémon...she began feeling a little homesick at seeing the children with the Pokémon. 'Angel...' she thought of an animal friend back in Ponyville. Even if she did go back, how could Twilight and the other ponies accept her as she was now: a human? The boy saw the worried face of Fluttershy, quickly concerned.
"Is something wrong?" he wondered. Fluttershy hiccuped at the sound of the young boy.
"No, no. Just some friends I miss, Max." May had an idea to spruce around Fluttershy's frown.
"I know," she spoke. "How about some clothes shopping? You might need some new duds after being in that forest for some time." Maybe some new clothes would be a good way to cheer her up.
"Why not? This gown's stench isn't what I'd consider friendly." Sounded like a good idea. Even Brock thought that a new wardrobe for Fluttershy couldn't hurt.
"You guys can go on ahead," he assured. "We'll meet back up at the Pokémon Center." May and Fluttershy agreed before the boys and girls gone their separate ways. The girls found themselves in a fancy fashion boutique full of clothes for women from designer blouses to jean skirts to sexy shoes. The female store owner saw Fluttershy, awed by her appearance.
"Who do we have here?" she cooed as she jumped in front of Fluttershy and May. "A hair worthy of a movie superstar, a face of eternal youth and beauty...AH!" She's in heaven while the other two were in the clouds.
"We, uh...stopped by for some new clothes," Fluttershy tried to get her attention. Still in a really happy place, the owner ran off for some of her line of clothing.
"Of course! These are top of the line gowns that would no doubt go with the hairstyle! Come to the dressing room and try it out!" The green-haired owner dragged Fluttershy to her tiny dressing rooms for her to see what she'd look like in her wardrobe. She lifted her dirty gown off, revealing rather lacy lingerie and there were small bumps on her chest. If this was what Fluttershy looked like as a human, could you imagine what the other ponies would appear as should they come by here. Speaking of ponies, a piece of herself was found above her waist at her back: her cutie mark! She may be human but a piece of herself was still on her.
"I still have my cutie mark? I thought it might have disappeared when I became human." Apparently, that wasn't all. Peering down, there was what appeared to be a photo. She picked it up and nearly wept the fitting room with flowing tears. It was her...as her old self and along with the other ponies: Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow and...that other pony. What was her name? "My friends..." Let's let her reminisce while we check back with the ponies. A portal was opened by Twilight where the forest of Grass Pokémon could be viewed. The ponies got to maybe a few feet of the portal in Twilight's home but it abruptly closed and vanished. Twilight was exhausted.
"I'm sorry, every pony," she apologized weakly. "I'm out of... energy to..." The orange pony positioned her head in time to catch Twilight fainting. Poor Twilight wore herself out trying to find Fluttershy.
"Take it easy, Sally," she cautioned Twilight's condition. "We'll find our missing Pegasus but you need to rest." Twilight wanted to take her word for grant.
"Thanks, Applejack." An idea popped into Rainbow's head and had her turn to Rarity. Like Twilight, Rarity was a unicorn.
"Maybe you can do that portal opening-thing if Twilight's too exhausted," she suggested. Rarity acted disgusted with the plan. This was a good indication that Rarity wasn't as powerful with her horn than Twilight.
"Oh, please!" she spat. "Like I have the same talent as Twilight? I make dresses, not vortexes!" Sweetie Belle was looking at the book which helped Twilight create the portal in the first place.
"And besides, the spell to create the vortexes takes a lot of magic," she read. "Even combined with big sis won't be enough." So now what? Applejack saw the Pokémon in the portal, though not knowing what Pokémon are.
"There's been something that's been bugging my apples about those greenery creatures we saw," she observed. "You don't reckon she turned into one of them when that spell hit her." Fluttershy a Pokémon?
"We won't really know unless we actually locate her," Rarity summarized. Great concern painted the faces of the ponies, one of their own's fate uncertain.
"Fluttershy..." Twilight prayed for her safety. Moving on back to the Pokémon World, the boys were not only waiting for Pikachu and the other Pokémon to be healed at a vet-like building but waiting for May and Fluttershy. That wouldn't be long.
"Guys!" May called out. The boys turned to see May and Fluttershy decked out in some simple attire: a yellow floral summer blouse and a sparkling pink skirt that was knee-length. She also wore some shiny laced white shoes. For who was once a pony, she's not too shabby. The boys agreed with the new looking Fluttershy.
"The store owner believed I was a famous fashion model visiting the town," she explained. "Apparently, she gave me a discount for some of her line of clothes which, I would say, rivals Rarity's fashion designs." Hearing one of Fluttershy's friend's names had the boys scratching their heads. Realizing that her new friends were never informed about those in Ponyville, she wished that Rarity wasn't abruptly mentioned. "I guess I need to be more...specific about my friends."
"Yeah, that might help," Brock acknowledged. Suddenly, a chime forced those who heard it to look up.
"Ash Ketchum, your Pokémon are ready," a voice on a speaker called out. His Pokémon must be ready to go.
"I'll be right back," Ash promised before he darted to the front desk. Did Brock nor Max have Pokémon?
"I'm just making sure Brock doesn't try again with Nurse Joy," Max stood by voice, making Brock rather embarrassed.
"May did tell me about Brock's behavior around girls," Fluttershy remembered. "Though, why hasn't he tried it on me unless..." May and Max were starting to show nervousness from hearing the filly...uh, female friend.
"Are you saying that you have a crush on-" May began to question but Fluttershy answered quickly.
"No, no, I was just thinking that maybe Brock prefers girls who are more mature than you like Nurse Joy." Was she not mature enough for Brock?
"Well, you're on the right track but I don't wanna go too far into detail," Brock requested not to continue with him and want to go back to her but Ash came back with Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Sorry about that," he apologized...for what? "It's not easy making sure my Pokémon and Brock's are with the same tray." A delay. "By the way, I did manage to talk to Prof. Oak while you were getting new clothes and he let me have Bulbasaur for a while." He opened a ball which revealed another Bulbasaur without a heart mark like May's. Fluttershy knelt to meet the new Pokémon.
"So this is your Little Wonder," she studied as Ash handed Brock his Pokémon. "Hello there." Bulbasaur was a little startled to see Fluttershy, let alone be called a "Little Wonder." May came up with a ball in hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Bulbasaur," she greeted. Bulbasaur felt more eased with May than Fluttershy. "By the way, someone else would like to meet you." She opened the ball and released Little Wonder, her Bulbasaur. Both Bulbasaurs greeted each other and the development of friendship was quick with a vine shake.
"Look at that!" Ash awed. "They're both friends right off the bat." Both of the Bulbasaurs were chatting up a storm. Everyone but Fluttershy was interested to know what they were saying.
"These two are getting to know each one's background," she briefly translated. That's when she was interested with who else Ash and May have. "Say, is it all right if I see more of your Pokémon?" Ash and May looked at each other. Was it necessary for Fluttershy to be more exposed to more Pokémon?
"Sure!" they replied in unison. All filed out of the clinic and onto a field for an organized battle. At one end of the field was Ash while May stood right across. Max and Fluttershy sat on the sidelines with Pikachu on Fluttershy's lap and both Bulbasaurs between the youngest male and oldest female. Brock was on the side of the field.
"This will be a one-on-one Pokémon battle with no time limit," he announced. "Let the battle begin!" Ash and May threw their balls toward the center.
"Taillow, I choose you!" Ash summoned. His ball opened and out came a little black bird.
"Go, Skitty!" May called forth. Her ball opened to see a pink kitten. It was adorable! "Use Assist!" Skitty's paw was glowing where a white sticky thread flied out at Taillow.
"Dodge it, Taillow!" Taillow swooped under the thread. A perfect evasive maneuver. "Counter with Quick Attack!" Taillow swung low and made a beeline for Skitty. BAM! The strike knocked Skitty off its paws. As the two battled, Max saw the picture of Fluttershy as her old self with her friends. Pikachu saw the photo, curious about if the six were Pokémon.
("What are they?") he asked. Fluttershy decided to let the little one know about her origin.
"That's...suppose to be me," she confessed. Pikachu did a double-take, gawking between Fluttershy in the photo and Fluttershy in person, literally. "There's Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and myself." Seeing all these ponies on the picture began to question who Fluttershy really was.
("You're really a pony, not a human?") Pikachu looked hard at Fluttershy on the photo, noticing the wings. ("You can fly?") Fluttershy was a Pegasus pony.
"If I could turn back, I would be able to." Strong interests fueled Pikachu's mind, desiring to see Fluttershy and her pony friends. "Although when Ash protected me from the king landing on us, I felt a warmth from him that I never felt even as a Pegasus pony." Was there something about Ash that had her feel this warmth? Back at the battle, Taillow and Skitty had worn themselves out. One more attack could do either one in. The trainers chose unanimously to end the battle.
"How about we call this a draw?" Ash requested.
"Okay, that works for me and Skitty," May confirmed. So that's it? It was more like a practice battle than a real fight. "Taillow, you've gotten a lot faster and more precise with your attacks." Taillow cawed in delight.
"And Skitty, I noticed that your Blizzard attack's gotten stronger." Skitty meowed, happy to hear the compliment. Fluttershy wondered what Blizzard was. She was paying more attention to her photo and Pikachu.
"Blizzard?" she asked. Max spotted Fluttershy's photo, wondering himself who was on it.
"I'm gonna make something to eat," Brock offered. The others couldn't wait for food but Fluttershy had a special request on his menu.
"Can you make something without meat?" she asked. Fluttershy's a vegetarian? Formerly being a horse, it might not be too farfetched.
"Sure thing." And with that, Brock walked off. Max was ready to point out the photo, interested with who was on it. Unlike Fluttershy, he was paying attention to the practice battle than Fluttershy's conversation with Pikachu.
"Hey, Fluttershy?" he spoke. "What's that photo in your hand?" Fluttershy looked at the photo she showed Pikachu, wondering if they could believe where she was from. Heck, Ash was still trying to wonder where Ponyville was. With a deep breath, she was ready to speak.
"You all might find this hard to believe but the photo is me and my friends," she sighed as she offered the photo to Max with Ash and May hovering over his shoulders. Much to her word, no one could believe that these ponies were her and/or her friends.
"Uh, Fluttershy?" Ash questioned the photo. "Are you sure that these are you and your friends?" Fluttershy nodded. May looked at the photo, noticing the yellow pony had the same hairstyle as Fluttershy's.
"I have a feeling that the yellow one here is suppose to be you?" she guessed.
"That's right," Fluttershy answered. "The white unicorn is Rarity. She's a fashion designer with her own shop." Seeing Rarity, May had a question about the cutie marks by the tails.
"Before you continue, what are these tattoos on you and your friends?" Fluttershy had a bit of trouble understanding what May called the cutie marks.
"Actually, they're cutie marks. We ponies get our cutie mark once we discover our special talents like my ability to talk to animals...and apparently Pokémon." Hearing the explanation of cutie marks, Ash had an assumption to what May's would be if she was a pony.
"Well if May was one of your friends, I bet her cutie mark would be a baton or what those orchestra guides use to dictate instruments...you know what I mean." May thought about Ash's picture, viewing herself as a red pony with her headband over her brunette mane and a baton by her flank. She giggled at her mental picture of herself as a pony. Ash turned back to Fluttershy with more. "How about your other friends?"
"Well, the orange pony is Applejack who helps run Sweet Apple Acres. The pink pony is Pinkie Pie. She...pretty much does everything around Ponyville. The blue Pegasus pony is Rainbow Dash, out weather manager and lastly, the purple unicorn is Twilight Sparkle who came to Ponyville from Canterlot." Seeing the cast on the photo, Max sneered at Ash. Why?
"These are girls, right?" he asked. Fluttershy bobbed a nod. "Maybe one of them could fawn for Ash." That was terrible, Max. POW! And May cemented that with a punch to the crown. "OW!"
"Apparently, bad child comedians could do better than that," she groaned. Fluttershy picked Skitty up to pet while Taillow perched itself on Ash's head.
"I would like to meet your friends, Fluttershy," he said, somewhat willing to make new friends. Fluttershy giggled at Ash's curiosity.
"Trust me," she smiled. "They're some of the best friends a pony...or human could ever have." That's when a flash blasted behind them. The flash was a portal...from Ponyville! Twilight's horn from the other side of the portal was glowing. She, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack, Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders watched the portal open.
"Look at that!" The kids gasped at seeing the ponies.
"I told you some rest and a glass of apple cider would give her the strength to keep her portal open," Applejack grinned. Fluttershy was stunned. It was her friends. Holding Skitty, Fluttershy approached the portal.
"Twilight!" she gasped. "Applejack!" The ponies turned to what should be a reunion with a friend...only it didn't quite dawn on the ponies about one of their own.
"Who in tar-nations are you?" She didn't recognized Fluttershy. She had to help out.
"It's me, Applejack! It's Fluttershy!" Even Spike and Pinkie Pie didn't want to believe that this...whatever she was, was their friend Fluttershy. That's when she remembered that despite becoming human, she still had her cutie mark. "I can prove that it's me!" She turned around and hoisted her blouse, revealing the butterflies. Rainbow gawked at the butterflies, realizing that she was telling the truth.
"It is Fluttershy!" she gasped. "That's her cutie mark!" Other than Twilight, the ponies gathered around the portal to see their missed friend. The humans gathered around Fluttershy to see the ponies themselves.
"I bet that Dex wouldn't recognize these creatures," Max hypothesized. Heck, the ponies couldn't identify Fluttershy's new form.
"So what are you, Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie wondered. "Because that form is pretty weird." Fluttershy wasn't shy about her new form.
"Well, Pinkie Pie," she spoke. "I'm human. At least I'm not a manticore." Manticore?
"Human?" Applejack questioned to Twilight. Twilight looked equally confused.
"Never heard of humans, not even from Princess Celestia," Twilight sighed. So no history of humans were mentioned in Equestria. For the first time, humans, Pokémon and ponies were meeting altogether.
"So Twilight's spell that hit you, no thanks to Pinkie Pie," Rainbow assumed. "It turned you into human and removed your wings?" As a pony, Fluttershy had wings. As a human, not so much.
"It seems that way," Fluttershy replied. Skitty meowed like they were here to be friends. Rarity took note of the pink kitten.
"Aren't you just a gorgeous little kitty," she awed. Skitty meowed, a way to thank Rarity for the comment. "Opal would be so jealous of your cute face...and that adorable tail!" May smiled at the remarks of her Pokémon.
"You seemed to enjoy that, huh Skitty?" she asked. Ash and Max enjoyed that exchange of pony and Pokémon.
"Seeing Pokémon for the first time isn't something you wanna forget," Ash commented. Wise words.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Max agreed. Rainbow swooped to Ash's level and eyed the human.
"Let me get this straight," she pondered. "That giant mouse and the kitty in Fluttershy's arms are Pokémon?" Ash and Max nodded. This further heightened the curiosity of the creatures, even the crusaders.
"That is totally radical!" Scootaloo cheered. Rainbow was willing to disagree.
"I wouldn't say that Pokémon are amazing just by looks. Prove me otherwise." Pikachu was willing to please with pain. It fired a Thunderbolt which passed through the portal and zapping the arrogant pony. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched on as poor Rainbow collapsed.
"Does that count as proof, Rainbow Dash?" Apple Bloom teased. Rainbow realized that yep, she deserved that.
"Yeah...I'm convinced." The exchanges had all laughing but it worried Fluttershy. Pikachu's Thunderbolt passed without much alteration. Could she pass through the portal herself...but retain her human form?
"Fluttershy?" Twilight called out. Fluttershy turned to her unicorn friend. "Are you worried about coming back?" Fluttershy wasn't sure about answering. Applejack had a theory.
"I think she's worried that if she crosses, she'll retain her human form instead of returning to the winged wonder we love," she guessed. It would be heartbreaking to learn that Fluttershy would forever be human.
"Well, if that's what it takes," Apple Bloom neighed. "Then the Cutie Mark Crusaders will help Fluttershy across this!" Hearing that the Crusaders wanted to test Applejack's theory, some of the ponies...and humans and Pokémon got a little fearful.
"Wait, hold on!" Ash tried to get their attention but...
"Cutie Mark Crusaders, charge!" they yelled as they flew for the open gateway. A tense moment had come to fruit. With Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo ready to pass, will they forfeit their forms to become human or remain ponies?
TO BE CONTINUED...
(That fate is in your hands in my poll. Which choice gets the most will present the next chapter.)