“Hey Spike, Twilight told me you were in here,” Sweetie Belle’s voice came from the other side of the door, leading to Spike’s room.
“Door’s open,” Spike said, “you can come in.”
Sweetie Belle creaked the door open, and peered inside. Spike did not look at her as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. One week ago, he said goodbye to Mimi. Ever since then, no pony had seen him in town. Twilight said he would never stop missing Mimi, and Sweetie Belle started to worry Twilight might be right.
Sweetie Belle trotted to him, and opened her saddlebag’s zipper with magic.
“I have something for you,” she said. “It’s been on my camera for a while, but I finally got it printed.”
Sweetie pulled out a photograph from her bag and handed it to Spike. He rose up from the bed and looked at the picture, which showed him and Mimi hugging. He fought against both tears and a smile. Mimi looked so happy to be held, and he looked so peaceful. Spike wiped his eyes and nodded his thanks to Sweetie. She walked over and sat next to him. She tried to think of something reassuring she could say, but her mind drew a blank.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sure wherever she is, Mimi misses you too.”
Spike sighed.
“But if she were here right now, she wouldn’t want to see you sad. She’d want to know that you could get on with your life. She’d want you to keep smiling.”
“I’m not sure I can,” Spike sniffed. “I feel like,” his hand rose to his heart, “I’ve lost a piece of myself.”
“We’ve all been feeling down since we said bye to our partners. I miss Buttercup all the time. If you need someone to talk to, we’re all here for you.”
“Thanks, Sweetie,” Spike wiped away his tears and managed a smile.
“Applebloom, Scootaloo, and I were going to the movies later today to see that new Power Ponies movie. Do you want to come?”
“Maybe.”
“Or we could just stay here and I don’t know, talk about our feelings, learn how much we have in common which drives us together, make out, have a few babies,” Sweetie Belle said sarcastically with a playful smile.
Spike chuckled, “Sounds legit.”
“I know right?” Sweetie snickered. “That’s totally the way everyone should get together.”
“And then we could go all Romeo and Juliet and die for each other cause we didn’t take two seconds to check for a pulse.”
“Meh,” Sweetie shrugged, “I’d prefer a little song and dance number or lovey-dovey duet.”
“Well, ponies here break out into song and dance whenever they want. It could happen.”
“Only ever seems to happen for Pinkie and Twilight,” Sweetie said. “If you ask me, Twilight’s secretly a diva, or she bribes everyone to sing and dance.”
“Oh, I bet she has a little cult thing going all over town. Everyone sings because they’re secretly her cult followers.”
“And in her initiation, they all sing to the new recruits ‘One of us, One of us,’” Sweetie sang the “One of Us” with a melodramatic voice. They both burst out laughing.
Spike smiled at Sweetie Belle, “Thanks for coming. I really needed a laugh.”
“It’s what I do,” Sweetie saluted him. “Sargent Sweetie Belle, Professional Spike Cheerer-upper.”
“Very professional,” Spike nodded. He took on a serious tone, “Hey, if you ever want to talk about Buttercup, I’m here for you too.”
“Thanks,” Sweetie said. She tapped her fore hooves together absentmindedly. “Hey, um, I was wondering.”
“Sweetie Belle, last week, we risked our lives for each other. We fought giant spiders, walking mushrooms, and a bunch of dragons. Every second of it was amazing, and not just cause of the giant spiders, walking mushrooms, or the dragons. It was amazing because I finally realized how awesome you are, and how fun you are to be with. And thanks to our game of twenty questions that we played on the train, I think I know exactly what you want to ask me. So to answer your question,” Spike placed his claws on her hooves and smiled, “I would love to be your special some dragon.”
“Well, uh, actually I was going to ask if you could teach me piano,” she said.
Spike blushed and buried his hands in his face, “Oh. Oh. Oh my gosh. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, why am I so stupid, please kill me and burry me, why am I such a blabber mouth, Celestia darn it.”
“Kidding,” Sweetie Belle laughed before grabbing Spike’s face, “Now come here, cutie.”
She smooched his face. Spike stifled his sigh and smooched back.
The door burst open. The two jolted apart as Twilight entered the room.
“Yeesh, you want to try knocking?” Spike folded his arms.
“Spike, you’ve got to come to the Cutie Mark Map right now,” she grabbed Spike and teleported back to the map.
The entire map shined white. Mewtwo’s head floated above Celestia’s palace, shining blue and blurring like static on a television. He nodded at Spike and Twilight.
“Mewtwo?” Spike exclaimed, “What are you doing on the map?”
“I found a way to contact you from our world, thanks to Pokémon who govern time and space.” Mewtwo’s voice came through the holograph, clear and strong. “I have some news for you about Mimi.”
Spike tensed, his body leaned forward, “Is she hurt? Did someone take her? Do you know where she is? Is she dead?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” Mewtwo shook his head. “She found a trainer. A human searched for hours, looking for her. When they finally found her, they asked Mimi to join their team. She was reluctant, given her loyalty to you, and initially refused. But the trainer stayed all day, begging her to be his friend. She finally agreed, and they’ve been traveling through the Alola region ever since.”
“Mimi has a partner?” Spike’s eyes welled up with tears. He rubbed his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I was afraid you might be jealous or—.”
“No, that’s not it,” Spike smiled with genuine amity, “I’m happy. I’m so glad Mimi found a family.”
Mewtwo smiled, “As am I. Mimi still misses you, but she thinks of you whenever she battles. When her trainer is strong enough to find me, I will tell them about you and Mimi. Humans are resourceful. I’m sure they can find a way to break the barriers between our worlds so you two can see each other again.”
“You really think her trainer would do that?” Spike asked
“I gazed into the trainer’s mind. They care about their Pokémon. They want only the best for them. I’m certain when they learn Mimi’s history with you, they will do everything in their power to bring you two back together. Even if they have to catch every Pokémon in the world to do it.”
“Do you think they can?”
“I have no doubt. Would you like to know this trainer’s name?”
Spike nodded.
Mimi rushed forward. She landed a final play rough on Incineroar. The fire Pokémon fell to the ground and fainted. As Incineroar returned to his Pokéball, Professor Kukui gave a rich laugh.
“You sure showed me some sweet moves, cuz,” the professor smiled. He took a step towards the green-haired trainer. “Even when I went all-out, I didn’t stand a chance. Of course you didn’t do it alone. You couldn’t have done any of it without Mimikyu and the rest of your team.”
He smiled, “Congratulations Spike. Or should I say Champion Spike. You are Alola’s first Pokémon Champion!”
Tears poured from Spike’s eyes, “I have a counterpart in your world? And he caught Mimi?”
“It amazed me too,” Mewtwo chuckled. “But it seems you two truly do have a bond that transcends all boundaries of time and space.”
“I found her again. The other me found her.” Spike grinned, “So we’re still partners, no matter what world we’re on.”
“That’s why Mimi agreed to be his partner. Even as a human, she recognized you with ease. Whenever she fights for him, she fights for you.”
“Thank you,” Spike said. “Thank you.”
Mewtwo smiled, “You’re welcome.”
Mewtwo’s head turned to the right. Another smile crossed his face. A chuckle escaped his mouth. He turned back to Spike and Twilight.
“Stay strong. I have no doubt that you will see Mimi again someday. And then, maybe the rest of your friends will see their partners again. After all, Spike's human counterpart befriended all of them.”
“Seriously?” Twilight exclaimed, “So I could be seeing Wiz again real soon?”
“Once this Spike finds a way to cross barriers, I believe you will. Now, I must ask you to excuse me. I have a guest.”
“Hello Spike,” Mewtwo’s voice rang in the trainer’s ears as the Pokémon descended from the cave ceiling. “I’ve been expecting you for quite some time. You might not know me, but I know you and all the Pokémon you have befriended, especially Mimikyu. Catch me, and I will tell you about her home.”
Spike took a Pokéball off his belt and opened it, releasing a beam of light onto the cave floor. The light dissipated to reveal a familiar ghost in her beloved rag. Mewtwo unfolded his arms and readied himself. Mimikyu sharpened her claws, and turned to glance back at Spike. They exchanged a nod and then turned to face Mewtwo together.
The End