Chapter 25/Final: My Little Human

Misty, Brock and Togepi returned to the spot where Ash and Pikachu vanished, along the path that wasn't used in a very long time. "It's been about a month, Brock!" groaned Misty.

"I know, and I can't help but think that Ash is in some new plain of existence," Brock guessed. Togepi became increasingly worried about the morale of the humans. Misty firmly held Togepi, not wanting to part with her Pokémon.

"He'd better not have gone away from me. After all, he still owes me a bike." The claim made Brock nearly lose his balance from his walking. He looked at Misty, upset at her words.

"MISTY!" Her name shouted, Misty jumped back a step from Brock, startled. "How could you say that!?" Regaining her composure, Misty snapped her strength back.

"Easy! If not for Ash taking my bike-"

"Which is more important: your bike or his well-being!?" Forced back, Misty began to question herself. Before she could, a flash emerged from behind. Misty and Brock turned to find the crystals that took Ash and Pikachu forming. Suddenly, the crystals shattered, Ash and Pikachu emerging in one piece. Misty and Brock gawked to Ash and Pikachu reappearing after being gone for so long. Ash regained his footing and his human friends realized the return of their friend.

"ASH!" they cheered. Ash adjusted his cap to see his friends.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted.

("We missed you!") squeaked Pikachu. Misty handed Togepi to Brock before plucking Pikachu from Ash's shoulder.

"Oh, I missed you, Pikachu!" she cooed as she hugged and nuzzled Pikachu's cheek.

("Oh, Misty!") he laughed. Ash crossed his arms with a smug.

"At least Misty's happy to see you," he huffed. Smiling, Misty turned to Ash while Brock and Togepi reached the others.

"Ash, I'm glad that you're okay," Brock sighed in relief.

"Yeah, sorry about what happened," Ash apologized. Togepi spotted the basket Pinkie gave Ash and chirped to alert the others.

"So, what happened to you two?" wondered Misty. Unsure on how to explain himself being a pony, Ash nervously laughed and itched his head, thankfully with fingers and not hooves.

"I'm not sure where to start," he giggled. "All I know is that we had quite an adventure." Brock eyed the engagement bracelet on Ash's left wrist. "I didn't miss the Silver Conference, right? There's still time?"

"Yeah, still a couple of weeks for you to register as long as you still have the Badges," Brock pointed out. Ash snapped his fingers, dug into his pocket and revealed his badges. "Good… by the way, is that an engagement bracelet?" Ash and Misty gasped to Brock's squinted eyes finding the engagement bracelet. Ash twisted his body away, grasping his bracelet.

"NOSY~!" he shouted. Brock backed away while Misty reclaimed Togepi and Pikachu boarded her shoulder.

"Okay, okay!" irked Brock. "But that is an engagement bracelet. I should know, I've seen some while I was helping Mrs. Ketchum." Ash sighed and softly shook his head.

"Believe me, it's a long story," he gulped. "I thought we'd share it with a Dreamsicle loaf." He presented the basket. "There's even some snacks for Togepi if he's hungry." The Spike Ball Pokémon cheered wildly to food.

"I've never heard of a Dreamsicle loaf but I'm interested," Misty pondered.

"And I even have the recipe," Ash added. Brock sneered, anxious to try it out.

"Oh, I know what I'm gonna be doing!" he laughed. As Ash was ready to resume his journey, he stopped and turned. Something was here and Ash became defensive. He caught a giant rubber claw coming right at them. Remembering that he could summon his Blade of Courage, Ash cocked his left arm across his body before swinging it back out as if he was drawing his sword. In a flash, Ash brought forth the Blade of Courage before he swung a flurry of strikes. The claw ceased movement before it crumbled to pieces. Scrap metal littered the ground. Ash stood and swung the Blade of Courage down. A multitude of reactions came from Misty and Brock. "Don't tell me Team Rocket were waiting for Ash to get back!"

"Never mind that!" gulped Misty while pointing to the Blade of Courage in Ash's hand. "Where did he pull that sword from!?" Looking up, Ash spotted Team Rocket in a tank. Jessie, James and Meowth leaped up from their seats.

"Hey!" the redhead snapped. "You know the rules: No weapons involved in any Pokémon Battles!" Ash scoffed, ready to point out her idiocy.

"Oh, so it's okay if you use a weapon to attack us, Jessie?" he countered. "But I can't?" The insight made James think.

"Besides, we're not even in a Pokémon Battle!" he pointed out. Jessie bashed James on the crown, upset that her partner was ignoring a law that was violated.

"Why are you siding with the twerp!?" she bellowed. "He has a sword!" Ash crossed his arms at the argument.

"So, is it always like this with you three?" he started. "I disappear and you guys wait instead of coming after me? At least you're patient before you cause trouble." Jessie seemed ready to spout the motto.

"Then I can welcome you back for the trouble," she rambled.

"Our patience will offer the price double!" added James. Every member of Team Rocket had their eyes closed.

"To protect the world from devastation…"

"To unite all peoples within our nation…"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love…"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!" Now, the Rockets opened their eyes while staring at the sky.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light…"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"

"Meowth, dat's right!" mewed Meowth. When he saw Ash and Pikachu were not in front, he panicked. "But dis ain't!" Jessie and James gawked, looking around for Ash and Pikachu who was behind them.

"Speaking of light!" he teased loudly. Team Rocket turned around to find Ash and Pikachu sneering back. "Look down…" Jessie and James blinked in confusion while Meowth spotted the crystal ball between his human teammates. He shrieked as the others looked. This gave Ash the opportunity as he flung an open hand toward the crystal ball. "Teleport to Canterlot!" Team Rocket watched the crystal ball flash, consuming the trio before they vanished. Ash and Pikachu sighed in relief. "Mother Celestia, Mother Luna… they're all yours." Misty and Brock ran to Ash and Pikachu, baffled to what happened.

"Ash, what's going on?" asked Misty. Ash spun his Blade of Courage before it vanished back into his arm. "Okay, I've… never seen a sword do that." Brock nodded to Misty's notice.

"Like I said, it's a long story," Ash shrugged. "When we get to the Pokémon Center, I'll explain." Surrendering, Misty sighed as if she wouldn't accept any answer.

"Fine, and you might as well tell us about who you're engaged to," she muttered. Ash nodded, ready to explain his adventure in Equestria. Meanwhile, Team Rocket seemed… different.

"James, I can't move my arms right!" complained Jessie.

"I can't move my arms either, Jessie!" whined James. Meowth looked terrified at what he saw. "Meowth?" Before Meowth could reply, taps of the glass above echoed inside. Team Rocket looked up to find Celestia and Luna above. Looking up at giant ponies, they saw the sisters. Smiling down, they couldn't help but snicker at Team Rocket's misfortune.

"Welcome to Equestria, Team Rocket," Celestia sneered. Team Rocket became terrified, as if their bodies not becoming two pasty white ponies wasn't enough, their hair became manes and the sisters shook their heads.

"Hey, get us out of here!" demanded Jessie.

"What have we done!?" pleaded Meowth. Luna sneered down to Team Rocket.

"Unfortunately, it's an eternally locked cell," she mocked. "Once used, it's locked forever, and we cannot do anything." The Rockets became frantic and lashed out at everything inside in vain while Celestia and Luna watched in pleasure. Jessie cursed at the sisters while behind them were a series of murals on a wall in a line, all containing Ash as a pony and some of them as a human. One window showed Ash and Pikachu being brought from the Pokemon world to Equestria with the large crystal and Ash transforming into his pony form. Another was Ash with each of the Mane 6 and the Elements of Harmony. Another had Ash pulling out the Blade of Courage to fight Tirek and the Storm King when they invaded Ponyville. The next had the struggling battle between human Ash and Storm Tirek while he rescued the Mane 6. Another was Ash and Twilight together to show their true love. The next mural became Ash with Celestia and Luna adopting him, becoming their son. The last mural revealed Pony Ash holding the sword high above his head with Twilight by his side and Celestia, Luna and the rest of the Mane 6 nearby. A transparent image of Ash as a human stood behind his pony self and holding the sword as well.

A month had passed since Ash returned from Equestria. He participated in the Silver Conference and was victorious, taking the gold. However, he, Misty and Brock broke up on the fork back in Kanto: Brock returned to his home in Pewter City and Misty and Togepi to Cerulean City. Ash and Pikachu returned to Pallet Town where he presented a gold trophy with the PokéBall design held up. He even told his mother about being adopted and his engagement to Twilight. His mother was downright shocked after learning about Celestia and Luna who adopted him after he and Pikachu were displaced. Soon, the mahogany-haired woman in a pink blouse and blue skirt praised Ash, wishing to meet Celestia and Luna soon. After a week returning to Pallet Town, Ash and Pikachu were in the ranch. Ash was without his jacket or cap.

"Whew, after a week of celebration," Ash huffed. "I'm more than ready to go to Hoenn." Pikachu sensed his tired body.

("To the victor go the spoils,") he squeaked. Ash saw and sat under a tree.

"After seeing that Blaziken and where Harrison's from, I'm anxious… but the professor said it'll be about a week before we can go."

("Right? But what can we do?") For now, Ash felt like laying down and relaxing.

"Right now, I'm gonna catch some sleep."

("Good idea. I'll join you.") Crossing his ankles and holding the back of his head as if his hands were pillows, Ash closed his eyes and Pikachu laid by him, also tired from the celebrations. It didn't take long for the two to crash. Not long after Ash and Pikachu shut their eyes, someone approached. Whoever it was reached Ash. Suddenly, he felt something on his face. His lips were being moistened and rubbed, his tongue coiled and secreted by another. Quickly, Ash opened his eyes, awakened to this sensation. When he did, he was staring into purple eyes, familiar alluring purple eyes from before. He looked up to see a young woman with hair similar to Twilight's mane. She wore a purple dress and stiletto heels. As soon as they parted lips, Ash got a great look to see a young woman who looked familiar.

"I finally found you, My Little Pony of Courage," she cooed. Ash snickered to the woman.

"Twilight?" he laughed. Pikachu woke and turned to see the two go back to their kissing.

("Twilight?") he repeated. After the kissing, Ash had an abundance of questions.

"What's been going on?" he asked. "And how long have you been human?"

"Come on, Ash," Twilight laughed as her pen pal arrived to see him getting up and awed Ash.

"Oh… my… gosh!" she squealed in amazement as she clenched Ash's cheeks and softly butted heads. She wore a purple long-sleeve shirt, orange skirt to black leather boots. "Twilight, I totally believed you when you said your fiancé's handsome, but this is beyond what I had in mind!" She hugged Ash to greet him lovingly. Twilight giggled to the sight.

"Sunset…" she muttered.

"I can't help it, Twilight…" snapped Sunset with a smile. "You're so lucky and I'm really happy for you!" Breaking from the hug, Ash had a better look to Sunset.

"I don't recall you being in Equestria," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I've been elsewhere," Sunset admitted. Twilight chose to introduce the two.

"Darling, this is Sunset Shimmer," she presented. "She was like me under Princess Celestia's tutelage but she retreated and lived as a human in a different world I visited." To prove her enjoyment of Ash, she kissed him near the eye.

"Wow, I wish I knew you when I was in Equestria as well," he pondered.

"Same here!" agreed Sunset. "But I did see you in the Victory Tournament, as well as Twilight's friends and family." This surprised Ash and Pikachu.

"You did?" gulped Ash. "There's no way I would've heard you through the crowd cheering, let alone seen you."

"I wish you did, especially how loud Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were cheering for you in the Final," Twilight laughed. "Normally, Pinkie's the loudest among everypony, but it's the first time I heard the two louder than her." The thought of Ash's adopted mothers had even Pikachu cackle.

"Really?" laughed Ash.

"Definitely!" giggled Twilight. "I've never seen them get so excited and amplified… and if you think that was something, they blew up joyously when you became the champion! They danced all over, even in the throne room. It was like seeing two more Pinkies!" Everyone laughed as Sunset held Pikachu. "I guess that comes in the motherly package, huh?"

"It does," Ash agreed.

"You told me about that, and I'm still surprised that it happened," Sunset admired. "I missed out on a lot!" Ash knew of a way to relieve Sunset on missing out.

"They're my moms, so that's a lot of support right there," he pointed out. "My birth mom was the same way in the stadium. You should see the pictures she snapped." Twilight felt the support Ash mentioned.

"Of course," she voiced. "I was no less supportive of you during your tournament run and happy that you're a champion." Ash knew his fiancée's love helped.

"I figured you'd be," he smiled before they kissed once again. In the background, a blond woman in an orange button-down shirt and denim pants approached with the same hat as Applejack.

"Well, there ya are!" she voiced. Those by the tree turned to see a group of young women joining up. One with Pinkie's fluffy mane wore a blue and yellow striped t-shirt and blue skirt but also white sneakers. One with Fluttershy's mane wore a long yellow dress and sandals. One with Rarity's mane had on a white v-neck t-shirt and purple skirt to match her boots. One with Rainbow's mane had a red basketball jersey and shorts with high-tops.

"I barely recognize you guys," Ash chuckled. Pikachu ran to the young woman with the long skirt.

("It's you, Fluttershy!") he declared. Tickled, the girl hoisted Pikachu up.

"You missed me, huh?" she guessed as she embraced Pikachu with a hug. Behind them was Ash's mother with two tall women in different gowns. One woman with Celestia's mane wore a glimmering pearl white gown while the one with Luna's mane wore onyx black.

"Mother Celestia!" he recognized the the white gown. "Mother Luna!" The two reunited with Ash and shared an embracing and tender hug while kissing each cheek.

"Ash, we're so proud of you becoming the champion of the Silver Conference," Celestia praised.

"You did exceptionally well representing Equestria," Luna added as a little girl ran up to Ash.

"Uncle!" cheered what sounded like Flurry Heart. She wore a little fuchsia dress and her hair was similar to Flurry Heart's mane.

"Flurry Heart!" he realized. They shared a hug as well.

"Being a human is hard because I can't fly," she whimpered after breaking the hug to see each other.

"I know, but I bet running around and petting Pokémon with your hands would feel good, right?" he sensed. Flurry Heart laughed. Also joining seemed to be Shining Armor and Cadance. Shining Armor wore a white suit while Cadance had a peach-colored gown on.

"We're all glad to see you again, Sir Ash," Shining Armor praised.

"So am I, especially Flurry Heart and my mothers," Ash admitted.

"It's also a good thing that we found you again, son," Celestia praised. The mahogany-haired woman, Ash's birth mother, also nodded.

"By the way, what about Jessie and James?" asked Ash.

"We… underestimated Discord's magic," Luna confessed. "Luckily, he found a good place in Tartarus, the same place where Tirek was sent." Fluttershy had more.

"I'm also taking care of their Arbok and Wobbuffet while I released Weezing back out to the wild," she offered. "Meowth is… missing, but he'll be back when he's hungry. I can be certain." Ash and Pikachu sighed in relief, Jessie and James no longer a problem. That night, gushes, squeals, coos and adoring shrieks burst from the Ketchum household as everyone saw a scrapbook. Inside were pictures of baby Ash. Some had different pajama outfits like Pokémon.

"Ash was one who wanted Charmander ever since he wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer," his birth mother pointed out. "He tried his best to 'burn' me with his tail and I played along." Other pictures included Ash helping his birth mother in a garden, his messes with food and other cute pictures, but while everyone else had their chortles, Ash was meek, embarrassed with the revelation of himself when he was little. It was hard that even his fiancée's laughter brought him pain. He walked out, Shining Armor behind. Ash sat on a hill that overlooked Pallet Town.

"Believe me, I'm no fan of scrapbooking either," Shining Armor sympathized. Ash turned to Shining Armor, sensing the pain he felt.

"I feel so embarrassed," he moaned. "And in front of my fiancée. I just… I just want to think about the next step, not the steps before." Placing a hand on Ash's shoulder, Shining Armor supported his soon-to-be brother-in-law.

"You overcame a lot to earn the Blade of Courage," he briefed. "Being Twilight's husband, being King of Friendship… No one can do what you've done, and that's the brother-in-law I like." Ash turned then hugged Shining Armor.

"Thanks, man," he hushed as Twilight came by with Flurry Heart. Applejack stood by a young man wearing a teal t-shirt, red shorts and headband. They held hands.

"Contemplating about our families coming together?" asked Twilight. Ash turned to his fiancée.

"Kinda," he replied. "Sorry for walking out like that."

"Hey, my parents did the same thing." Seeing the hill, Twilight had an idea. "Let's get a better look at the moon."

"Okay!" The excited trainer joined a small sprint to the top of the hill. They reached the peak.

"You know, I've been wondering how everypony made it here?"

"You'll have to thank Cadance for it since her geologists that she had understand the crystals that brought you here were found in some deep minds."

"Really? I'd like to see it personally to understand. Hopefully, it works both ways."

"Well, how else did everypony get here and back to celebrate?" The two had a chuckle before they gazed at the moon. "I'm surprised everything that has gone on in the past few months: the Blade of Courage, Tirek, the Storm King… only for us to stand alone in the end."

"So much so, I feel as if the Elements of Harmony have an addition…" He faced his fiancée as their hands were held. "Or rather two: one I own and one we share." Twilight began to list the ways.

"Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness and Magic are the original six."

"…And now, Courage… and Love." Ash and Twilight faced each other one last time.

"Then, I can safely say that you are My Little Pony… where Courage is the real Magic." Ash giggled while he softly shook his head.

"Courage is the combined Elements of Harmony… but you are My Little Pony… where Love is the Magic of all." They locked their lips in front of the full moon, their tongues wanting each other as much as the body they're sharing as everyone watched in awe. Sunset shed a joyous tear, her friend not finding a better person, a better pony to be with.

"That's what makes you two Sparkle… and Shimmer," she smiled. The magic that Ash was given brought the courage to smite the evils. With their love among the twilight, all they can see is the Courage of two youths ready to become one, the Element of Love.

THE END
(Thank you for giving me a chance to do this and boy was this one a ride, probably my best MLP story. Anyway, the polls will be switched out and refreshed after I begin the next story, one I haven't tried yet. When it does come up, it'll be on the Sunrise.)