Pokémon Eclipse

by moviemaster8510

Chapter 86 – Life and Death

Sam’s eyes slowly came open, feeling himself swaddled underneath a sheet as he was laid on his back. As he shifted himself to sit up, he felt his left upper arm was also locked down, glancing down to find a hospital gown replacing his black Team Skull tank top. Over that, he noticed a black brace strapped over his chest that covered his shoulder and arm.

“Sam…” He turned and looked straight ahead, suddenly noticing Alice sitting up from her chair in the corner of the hospital room he realized he was in.

Walking to her brother, she gently bent over to give him a hug.

“Alice…” Sam sighed in relief, glad to see his sister so up and about after such an intense battle. “What time is it?”

Fully turning her body to face the clock above the door, she and Sam looked to see that it was already 2:43. “It’s about quarter to three.”

Sam frowned. “Thanks.”

“Man, you were out like a light! Nurse said you were one of the easiest patients she’s had to deal with all day.”

“Yeah, well…” Sam wiggled himself in to rest further against the backboard, groaning at the soreness covering the rest of his body. “Other than that power nap we took on the train, we’ve been pretty much running non-stop for twenty-four hours. What about you, you get some sleep in?”

“Yeah. After they patched you up, they let me chill in here, and I just slept on the chair for a few hours. Definitely going to get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

“You can say that again…” Sam then looked to the door, feeling that something was missing. “Mom and Dad, they aren’t still–”

“In Equestria?” Alice shrugged forlornly. “Probably, but I’m certain they’re being taken great care of, and Mage Meadowbrook I’m sure stopped most of it. Plus, I’m sure Starswirl and Celestia will be able to send them back home. Heck, they can probably use one of their memories to get back here considering Ten Karat Hill is pretty much Ten Karat Landfill now.”

“Yeah, right… What about our Pokémon?”

“They’re with the staff; they’ve been getting taken care of all day. I’m actually quite surprised it’s taken them this long, but hopefully it won’t be much longer now.”

Sam forcibly breathed any nervousness he felt out of his nose. “How’s everyone else holding up?”

“I dunno, wanna’ go check?”

“I dunno, can I get out of this gown?” As he sat himself up again, his stomach violently gurgled, Alice’s eyes widening in fright by the growl’s volume. “…and maybe something to eat first?”

A male nurse observed as Alice pulled up on the fastening strap before laying it across the one hugging Sam’s chest and his nicked and tattered tank-top, the small velcro hooks keeping it on. Sam sadly took a look at the jacket that he had once kept around his waist, now hanging completely ripped and ruined on the back of the chair Alice sat on, his hospital gown crumpled on the seat cushion. After patting him on the chest, Sam himself gave a gentle tug at the brace’s strap to ensure that it was comfortably snug.

“Pretty self-explanatory, right?” Alice asked.

Sam nodded and stood up from the side of the bed, tensing his stiff and overworked joints and muscles that had gone idle for too long.

“Is there someone you’d like to see first?” the nurse asked them both.

“They didn’t look injured when I saw them,” Sam said, “but where are Fluttershy and Starlight? Yellow pink-haired pegasus, pink unicorn with long purple-and-green hair?”

The nurse nodded in reaction. “I believe they’re actually just down the hall. They’re seeing to… my apologies, I’m still getting used to them myself… I think Trixie was one?”

Alice nodded in confirmation. “Thorax or Chrysalis ring any bells?”

The nurse clapped his hands, content. “Those are them! Follow me, I’ll show you to them.”

The nurse exited the room, followed by Sam and Alice. As he looked down at his legs as he stepped forward, he happened upon a few scuffs on his shoes and a couple rugged patches on his jeans. Sam nonchalantly looked on ahead. They were still usable, and if he really wanted to, he could just replace them. What mattered more than anything now were the well-beings of his friends. After passing several doors, the nurse stood on the far side of the next door to their right. As Sam and Alice stopped to make room, the nurse knocked on its door.

“Come in,” they heard Fluttershy call.

With a nod of approval from the nurse, Sam opened the door and slipped in with his sister. Though all five of the mentioned Equestrians were in the room, each of them turned to see them except for Chrysalis, whose head kept low as her sobs were reduced to short huffs. Thorax laid upon a cot, holding a small cup of Payapa Juice in between its forelegs.

“Sam, you’re up!” Fluttershy sprung from her chair to hug her friend, only to stop and recoil as hard as she could upon seeing his brace. “Ah! What happened to you?! I didn’t realize you got hurt!”

“It’s not that bad, honestly,” Sam replied with a casual downward flick of his hand. “I just sprained my shoulder in the battle. Just a couple weeks of taking it easy and I should be back to normal in no time.”

Chrysalis sniffled especially loudly, getting Sam and Alice’s fuller attention.

Alice was quick to pick up, frowning sympathetically. “What happened to Chrysalis? Did Cocoon…?” Glancing between Thorax and Trixie, the two solemnly nodded, Alice’s eyes suddenly felt wet. “Oh no, Chrysalis… I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t apologize,” she softly hissed. “There’s not a single soul on either of our worlds to blame for her demise except for me.”

“Chrysalis… how could you say that?”

The face of the lone changeling queen’s face squirmed, insulted such an obvious question had to be asked. “I was the one who brought her into this. If I had just let her and her hive be and attempted my takeover myself, she’d still be alive right now!”

Thorax lifted his cup of juice off his bed and set it down at the foot of it, sliding off to walk up to Chrysalis, picking her chin up by the edge of his hoof. “Chrysalis, there may be quite a few things here that you’re responsible for, but I can tell you that Cocoon’s death was not one of them.” Chrysalis bared her teeth, but kept silent as Thorax continued.

“Whether you would have conspired with her or not, Necrozma still would have won and given us all a fate worse than anything we could imagine. But it’s because of her, and because of you especially, that Necrozma didn’t win. It’s because of you two that our hives will survive and thrive, yours, mine, and Cocoon’s”

Chrysalis sniffed and blinked, two tears rolling down her already red eyes. “I no longer have a hive to return to.”

“Of course you do! Do you really think I would just abandon my queen like that?”

“Queen?!” Starlight, Fluttershy, and Trixie gasped at once.

“Yes.” Thorax turned back to Chrysalis, who now looked to him with hopeful astonishment. “Sure I mean, I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about how to lead the hive since you left, but I’m more than happy to give credit where credit’s due; you were one heck of a ruler to us. I’m more than willing to let you take charge of the hive again, and once they see the new you, the other changelings will be certain to let you back in with open arms!”

Chrysalis began to lower her head again, held up this time by the full surface of Thorax’s hoof. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough…”

“Oh, don’t be so modest, Chryssy!” Sam suddenly felt a chin rest on his head, making him freeze still in shock as its long white beard draped over his face. “You and your hive did nearly take Equestria over… twice.”

Sam and Alice jerked back and turned around, Discord smiling slyly at the two as his body wrapped itself inside the doorframe. He then seemed to melt instantaneously onto the floor and reformed to stand complete in the doorway.

“Discord!” Fluttershy ran past Sam and Alice to the Draconequus, the two hugging tightly as Fluttershy nuzzled her face into his chest. “Your powers came back!”

“To be fair, they never left, but I can hardly begin to describe how happy I am to use them again!” Discord’s body stretched out again and transformed into a brown quilt patched with patterns matching the colors of its other body parts, though its head still remained.

As Discord snuggled Fluttershy in its blanket form, Alice walked over to him and stroked her hand down the length of his neck. “Glad to have you back, Discord.”

As Alice continued petting, she was unaware as Discord untucked himself from around Fluttershy and began to weave his form around her from behind. “Oh, how rude of me to never thank you for keeping my dear, darling Fluttershy safe while she’s been stuck here, Alice! Let’s fix that!”

She suddenly felt her entire body from the neck down pulled toward him with Fluttershy, smooshing the two together in his group embrace. While Fluttershy rested her head on Alice’s chest, happy to have her close too, Alice felt her entire body tense up as a pressure inside the fabric rubbed and patted up and down her back.

“This is weird. This is really weird!” Alice leaned her head as far back as she could to see her brother. “Sam? Help?”

“I uh, sorry sis, there’s nothing I can do for you.” Sam grinned, Trixie, Starlight, and Thorax giggling as he backed away and waved his hands warily. “I’ll be sure to sing the song of your brave sacrifice to the next generation.”

“You’re such a dick!” More delighted laughter.

Sam spun back around to see Chrysalis, still unable to laugh with them, softening his own joyful expression. Sitting beside her on the empty chair to her right, he reached across with his right arm and slowly petted her neck as gently as his uncomfortable position would allow.

Turning to him, Sam refused to stop, making her feel slightly more guilty. “I’m sorry for any pain I’ve caused you and your sister.”

“Shhshsh.” Sam shook his head, continuing his strokes. “That’s all behind us now. Right now, just focus on how much better you’re going to make your world when you get back home.”

Finally, she turned her entire head to look directly at him, Sam shifting his hand to the other side, an act that brought the slightest of smiles to her lips. “Thank you, Sam. When you and Alice returned from Equestria with Cocoon, I knew it was because of you two that she transformed, much like Twilight and my Pokémon transformed me. If she were still here, I’m sure she’d be eternally grateful for saving…”

Chrysalis began to choke on her tears, prompting Sam to lean in and reach past her neck. “That’s okay,” he cooed, “come here…”

Chrysalis dropped her head on Sam’s right shoulder as he wrapped his arm over her neck, picking his left forearm up to place his hand on the other side of it just behind her cheekbone, which he stroked on with his thumb. Sam held on tight to Chrysalis as her crying continued, but he suddenly felt an increase in warmth where his bare skin touched hers, looking at his left hand as an orange glow outlined his fingers and slowly dispersed across her body. Keeping the side of his face against hers, Sam closed his eyes as he continued to feed her his love, feeling the muscles in her neck begin to loosen and become soft as stress completely left her body.

“Thank you again,” Chrysalis whispered.

“Thank you right back,” he hushed back. “This actually feels wonderful.”

Thorax turned back to look at the two, smiling in appreciation for Sam’s willing affection. Another knock on the door shattered Sam and Alice’s tender moments, a poof of smoke exploding off of Discord before he, now returned to his normal state, Fluttershy, and Alice were now standing side by side facing the door to await whoever was on the other side. As the door opened, Sam leaned back away to allow Chrysalis to see a female nurse stepping in.

“Hey guys!” Her inviting, chipper grin filled the rooms’ occupants with warmth and anticipation. “I was also told that Sam and Alice Brier were in here with you guys, so I’d just like to say that all of your Pokémon have been healed and they’re ready to see you now!”

Sam and Chrysalis both shot off their chairs, the news indeed incredibly wonderful. “Are they outside?” he asked.

The nurse shook her head. “They’re up in the rehab center gymnasium. It’s the biggest room in the building; big enough that you can all see them at once. Follow me, I’ll lead you to the storage elevators!”

Upon her exiting the room, Discord, Fluttershy, and Alice followed her out first, followed by Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and then Sam and Chrysalis last. As they entered the hall, Sam walked along Chrysalis’s left side, putting his hand on her back below the base of her wing. Turning back to him, Sam gave her another assuring nod, one that promised her that everything after that point would be okay.

Kaj and Grubber sat beside Fizzlepop’s bed as she lay sleeping on her back, the former kicking the back of her foot against the floor impatiently to the beat of the heart-rate monitor’s beeps as she hoped against hope that the unicorn would finally awaken. Grubber, however, had his eyes completely locked on Fizzlepop’s closed eyelids, waiting for the instant they would twitch and then open soon after. Finally, they did twitch, and Grubber immediately began pulling and pushing on Kaj’s arm.

“Hey, she’s finally getting up!” Kaj yelped as she was surprised out of her trance by the excited hedgehog.

Groaning, Fizzlepop slowly opened her eyes, Kaj and Grubber immediately coming to her bedside. Just then, a doctor opened the door and peeked his head in before walking in the rest of the way.

“Please, you two,” he calmly warned, “you need to be very careful. The operation may have been a success, but she may still be very groggy and her horn still needs to set.”

Fizzlepop willed herself to become as lucid as possible as she failed to wiggle herself to a more upright position. “Operation, wha…?”

The doctor rushed to the other side of the bed, grabbing hold of the supports attached to it. “Please refrain from getting up yourself for the time being. Do you need to sit up?”

“Yes, please.” Looking between the doctor and Kaj, who held her by her arm as well as underneath it, she couldn’t drop her confused expression as they both tenderly pushed her more against the headrest. “Someone please tell me what’s going on.”

“We won, Fizz!” Grubber climbed up on the front end of the bed and faced her, something the doctor looked on warily until he stayed just a few inches from Fizzlepop’s back hooves. “It was so awesome! Apparently, the Kahunas made this giant four-headed snake thing out of light, and it hit Necrozma like *PCHH* *PCHH*, and then they blasted each other like *BWCCCHH*, and then after a bunch of the trainers attacked it with their Pokémon, the snake-thing’s beam hit Necrozma and it blew up like *PSSZZEEW*!”

Fizzlepop and Kaj chuckled at his animated retelling. “After that,” Kaj concluded, “Sun ended up capturing Necrozma with a Master Ball. I don’t know where he got such a thing, but it’s a good thing he did, because Necrozma’s officially bitten the dust, and we never have to worry about him again!”

Fizzlepop then frowned. “I wish I could have been there to see it and help through the rest. I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about?! You were a tremendous help! The way you kicked all those hybrid-things’ asses without magic? That was incredible!”

“I’ve learned to get by.” The thought resurfaced. “And, hold on, what did the doctor say about my horn?”

As she reached up to touch it, Kaj grabbed a hold of her arm, keeping it still much to her sudden dismay.

“I have a mirror if you wish to see,” the doctor said.

“Mirror? See what?” Kaj put her hand on Fizzlepop’s chest to keep her from moving, as the doctor reached into a cabinet and pulled out a hand mirror with a large, rectangular frame from one of the lower shelves.

The doctor held it in front of her face so that her entire head was in frame, and upon seeing the difference in her appearance, Fizzlepop became paralyzed with shock save for her mouth with opened wider as she realized what had been done to her. Above the top of what used to be the top of the stub that was her broken horn was a tightly wrapped and sealed bandage, the smooth, but nonetheless pointed tip of a horn peeking above the bandage as well.

“That’s my…” Her mouth opened and closed, but nothing could come out as she struggled to gather her thoughts. “Why do I have a…”

“Well…” Grubber coyly traced a circle with his toe. “…when the doctors brought you in, they asked us if you broke your horn battling Necrozma. I explained that you broke it as a filly, but they offered to still fix it if it caused you any problems, and to be fair, it’s not like your magic is still incredibly stable, and plus, I really thought you earned yourself a new horn these past few days, so… surprise?”

Fizzlepop put her hand to her cheek, still unable to believe it was herself she was looking at. “How did you even…”

The doctor chuckled, humored by her reaction. “We took a very small sample of your horn, the DNA of which we replicated and duplicated in a 3D printer, and then we welded the prosthetic horn onto the base of your actual horn before polishing and smoothing it flush together.”

“I…” Fizzlepop let out a couple dry sobs. “I don’t believe it… Can I still wield magic?”

“I honestly couldn’t say; I’m not exactly an expert on your kind or your abilities, but I would highly recommend not using any… *ahem* magic for at least a few days while your horn is still settling in, and especially refrain from bumping or hitting it; in fact, just try to make contact with it as little as possible for the time being.”

“That’s just fine…” Finally, two tears rolled down FIzzlepop’s cheeks, eternally grateful. “This world and its inhabitants truly are amazing. Thank you so much, you have no idea how long I’ve dreamed about having a whole horn again.”

“It’s actually a very common procedure for Pokémon with broken horns, blades, or other protrusions, so doing the same for a unicorn much like yourself was hardly any different. Now, your friend in the other room, on the other hand; we had a much more difficult time fixing him up.”

The unicorn blinked, her intrigue now outweighing her joy. “Friend? Which one are you talking about?”

“I, uh… Dexio was his name, I believe, and we had to–”

“Dexio’s alive?!” Fizzlepop threw the covers off of her body as she tried to swing around to the edge of her bed.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Kaj grabbed FIzzlepop’s shoulders as Grubber embraced her in place. “You can’t just spring out of bed like that after having done surgery!”

“What are you talking about? Just as long as I don’t touch my horn, I should be fine, right?”

“We still had to administer an anesthesia to keep you under for the surgery,” the doctor explained. “If you’re going to be going anywhere to visit anyone, you’ll need to be supervised.”

“I feel just fine. Now please, take me to him.” Upon her hooves hitting the floor, her legs were too weak and her balance was too thrown off, making her collapse forwards, only for the doctor to catch her before her face could hit the hard tile floor.

Grubber covered his eyes, peeking only to find his close friend held back up by the doctor.

Kaj slid her feet toward the door. “I’ll… just get a wheelchair.”

Kaj wheeled Fizzlepop down the hallway with Grubber sitting in her lap. The doctor came to a door in the hallway and stood outside of it, signaling this as Dexio’s room.

Upon knocking the door, another male doctor answered inside. “Who is it?”

“It’s Jeff,” he answered. “We have some friends of Dexio who’d like to see him if he’d like.”

After a moment of silence, Kaj, Fizzlepop, and Grubber looked up at each other, unsure what would happen.

“He says yes please,” the doctor inside responded.

With an eager cock of the head, Jeff reached over and opened the door, pulling it out for the three friends to enter. As Kaj turned the wheelchair in, Fizzlepop and Grubber were stunned to see Dexio sitting up in bed under the covers, almost completely normal and himself. It was then that they noticed the bandages covering the entirety of his right forearm, wrapped over a rounded stub where a hand once belonged. Despite the injury, Fizzlepop and Grubber burst into tears, elated to see Dexio alive and well again.

“Fizz,” Dexio mumbled, “Grubber. You’re okay.”

“We’re okay?!” Grubber blubbered. “What happened to your hand, dude? Where even is your hand?”

Dexio weakly lifted it up to look at the stump himself. “I guess when that fake Z-Ring activated to fuse me with my Pokémon, it scorched my hand pretty bad. I mean, that thing did burn pretty hot, and so they had to amputate it.”

“How?” Fizzlepop croaked. “How did you get back out?”

“Marshadow saved him.” Hearing another voice in the doorway, Fizzlepop and Grubber glanced around the back of the wheelchair to find Hau standing there, his face stoic and melancholy.

“Hau!” Grubber hopped off Fizzlepop’s chest and ran over to hug his legs. “You’re alive too!”

Hau couldn’t help but smile, thankful for him and his friend to still be with him, kneeling down to pet his head. Kaj turned the wheelchair to face Dexio’s latest guest.

“What do you mean Marshadow saved him?” Fizzlepop wondered. “I don’t understand.”

“From what I saw,” Kaj answered, “Marshadow jumped inside Dexio and did something to break him and his Pokémon apart. But… he sacrificed himself to do so.”

“Sac…” Fizzlepop’s lips parted open in somber shock as she softly shook her head. “Oh Hau, I’m so sorry.”

Dexio, upon hearing this, looked into Hau’s face, his lip quivering as he could almost feel his guilt growing inside his chest, weighing him into the bed.

“Yeah, I am too,” Hau could only think to answer. “I really wish there had been another way, a way to save both of them.”

“Hau, please.” The three humans and two Equestrians in the room looked to Dexio now, whose tears had already run down his face. “Not a single thing about this is your fault. I could hardly forgive myself for hurting you and Marshadow the first time, but to take him away from you forever like that…”

As Dexio broke down into soft sobs that he refused to hold in, Hau looked to him reflectively for a few moments. After rubbing the top of Grubber’s head and standing up, the hedgehog stepped aside for Hau to approach Dexio’s bedside, standing over him.

“Dexio…” Hau gripped the bars beside the bed, a flurry of emotions clouding the words he wanted to use. “As sad and upset as I am for all of this, I can’t bring myself to blame you for any of this either. You did what you did to help us take Team Prism down, and it’s because of you that we realized what we were up against, and it weren’t for your help, Sam and Alice would have never made it back to our world with Fizz and the others to continue helping us in the end.

“And for what it’s worth, I’m almost certain Marshadow wouldn’t blame you either. He sacrificed himself to save you and your Pokémon because he knew what you meant to Sun, to Lillie, Gladion, Sam, Alice… and to me.”

Dexio let out a small gasp, unable to believe what he was hearing. “Hau, I don’t know what to say…”

Hau huffed, sporting a curious grin. “Dex, man, don’t sweat it! Your efforts cost you an arm and a leg! Well, I mean, just your arm, but I think that’s good enough.”

Dexio let out a laugh, Fizzlepop, Grubber, and Kaj also comfortable to do so.

“So what’s next then?” Kaj asked. “Are you planning on getting a prosthetic soon?”

“Of course,” Dexio responded, “but I know a guy in Kalos who can make me a really nice one, so I’ll probably head over there once I check out. And speaking of prosthetics, Fizz! You have a horn now!”

Fizzlepop glanced upwards, her forgetfulness making her chuckle. “It won’t be of much good to me for the time being, but it’s still surprising to have one again…”

Hau nodded, glad to see his and his friends’ troubles mostly sorted out. “I was just checking in. I’m going to see how Sun and the others are doing.”

“You take care.” Dexio lifted his right arm before switching over to his left, saluting the Kahuna with two fingers.

Fizzlepop and Grubber watched him leave the room before the unicorn looked back to Dexio. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to see to some other friends as well.”

“You go right ahead. I’m pretty much cooped up in her until the anesthesia wears off.”

The doctor in the room turned to face them. “Where would you like to go?”

“You wouldn’t happen to know who Twilight Sparkle is, do you?”

“The purple unicorn with wings?” Fizzlepop stood straighter to pay attention. “She’s in the rehab center gym with her Pokémon. I believe she’s up there with several others, and more have been cleared to arrive to see their Pokémon as well.”

“Thank you very much.” Fizzlepop smiled warmly at this news and as Kaj began to swivel her toward the door, Grubber quickly hopped back onto the unicorn’s lap as Kaj carted the two away.

Dexio kept his eyes on them, staring out at the doorway even long after they already left.

Acerola stared down on Nanu’s corpse as it lay covered from chest to ankle in a white sheet on a long metal drawer pulled out from the small chamber against the wall. His skin had already begun to lose much of its color, something that Acerola couldn’t draw her eyes away from. A door opened up from behind her, and as the person stepped in, Acerola could identify them from the sounds their shoes on the hard floors.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be back up soon.” Acerola didn’t look back, even as Plumeria stepped up beside her to look upon Nanu’s body.

She crossed her arms as she studied the sorry state the late Kahuna was in. “You know, they’re going to need to put him back in eventually so that he doesn’t–”

“Don’t say it…” Acerola’s voice was filled with pent-up rage as her lips twitched uncontrollably. “Don’t you dare say it.”

Plumeria sighed and closed her eyes, putting her hand on Acerola’s shoulder. “Look, I get how close you two were and what he meant to you in his final hours, but don’t mistake my deadpan as not giving a shit. That man gave me and my Skull grunts a new life when no one else would. Guzma and I owe everything to him, and even for how badly he hurt you, you owe just as much to him too.”

Acerola bent over the body, shutting her eyes as tight as she could. “I know that… I just wish I could have told him that before he died!”

As Acerola began to cry, Plumeria pulled her in by the chest, wrapping her arms over her shoulder and holding her close. “You didn’t need to say anything; he told you that much. What he wants for you now is to live the way he died; without regrets. Now, come on. Twilight and Spike are missing you already.”

Acerola gently swayed in Plumeria’s arms, slowly calmed by her friend’s caring embrace. After wiping her eyes on her coat’s sleeve, she found the strength to look on Nanu once again.

Acerola nodded and she pulled herself out of Acerola’s arms. “Alright. Just let me do one last thing…”

Standing over him again, she ran her fingers over her hair, sobbing a couple of times as she did. She then leaned down with her face over his forehead and pecked her lips against it. Getting back up, she straightened his hair out to appear nicer than she found him.

“See you later, Nanu.” With the thought of her alicorn and dragon friends upstairs waiting for her, Acerola felt more confident than ever to step away from him and walk toward the exit doors. “Alright, let’s go.”

As Acerola passed her, Plumeria looked back one last time at the Kahuna and gave him a respectable nod and salute before walking to the doors to leave. With a coroner standing by the exit doors, Plumeria gave him a nod to allow him to resume with his work, following Acerola outside and down the hall to the nearest elevators.

Sun, Lillie, and Gladion sat in a mostly empty waiting room. As Gladion sat arms folded and one leg crossed over the other, Sun sat wide-legged with his hands clasped together and his head hung low. Lillie sat beside him with her hand on his back, trying her best to console him over the loss they both endured. A sliding glass door opened before them and as they looked up, they spotted Mohn, Twilight, and Spike walking toward them.

Mohn held two paper cups of coffee in his hands, while Spike held one with both hands and Twilight, her broken wing tightly wrapped in thick bandages, held three cups in her magic. Twilight floated two of them toward Sun and Lillie while Mohn gave one of his cups to Gladion. Sun sat up straighter and leaned back into his chair, instantly taking a sip of his drink.

“Feeling any better?” Spike asked.

Sun took another swig. “Hardly.”

“Sun,” Twilight spoke up, “I’m truly sorry for what happened with Solgaleo and Lunala, but you guys… we have all done something great here, and at least for that, you should all feel very proud.”

Gladion switched to his other leg. “That’s nice to hear and all, but those fluffy words aren’t going to bring everyone we lost back.”

“They were never meant to. I understand that Solgaleo, Lunala, even Lusamine have all left a void inside each of you that can never be fully filled again, and while it’s certainly far easier for me to say this, I’m certain that Lusamine would want you all to move on from this.”

“Easy for…” Sun straightened himself, only to catch himself and relax once again. “It hardly matters now. If I had just done what I needed to back at the House, none of this would have happened. Lusamine, Nanu, and Kukui would all still be alive if I hadn’t acted like such an indignant child!”

“Sun, please!” Lillie put her hand back on Sun’s shoulder. “Twilight’s absolutely right, and trust me when I say that it’s harder for no one except me to admit this. You did what you did for Solgaleo and Lunala’s sake, and no one, not even yourself, should blame you for that. Yes, it’s true that so many of our friends lost their lives to save this world, but they did. The only thing that matters right now, at this very moment, is what we do with our lives from this point on, and knowing Mother, she’d hate to see us keep crying over it.”

Twilight and Spike managed to smile, feeling slightly inspired by her condolences. As Sun put his hand over his eyes, he let out a few sobs, Lillie unable to help but run her hand down the back of his neck. Mohn motioned his cup by Twilight’s face, signaling her to take it from him. As she did, he walked over to his two children and knelt down between them. As they looked at him, they were surprised to find his eyes soon to burst as well.

“Please forgive me,” he choked, putting a hand on each of their knees. “I failed as a father to you both. Even after remembering who I was, I still refused to return. Maybe if I had, Lusy would still be here, and so would–”

Mohn suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, stopping his speech and looking up to see Sun standing up beside him, reaching down. “You had nothing to do with this, Mohn. I was the one who refused to end it when I could have.”

“I could have too, Sun!” Lillie stood up as well. “I’ve been with one of them for longer than any of you, and I was too scared to do it.”

Gladion put his coffee down on the chair beside him, standing up as he touched Mohn’s other shoulder. “I think it’s safe to say that we’re all partly to blame for this, but Twilight is absolutely right about one thing. We need to continue living our lives the way we always have. But today… we can grieve.”

The four of them leaned into each other and threw their arms around each other’s backs in a massive group hug. Spike, overcome with his own emotions, dropped his cup to the floor and lunged himself onto Twilight, holding her tight and crying into her neck. Twilight put a foreleg over Spike’s back as two tears rolled down her cheeks.

The glass door opened up again, the people and Equestrians inside slow to respond. Walking in, Hau, Kaj, Fizzlepop, and Grubber came inside to observe the scene happening in front of them. Twilight, upon her eyes meeting Fizzlepop’s, suddenly felt them drift upwards noticing her new unblemished horn.

“Tempest!” The alicorn sprung to her, putting her front hooves onto the unused armrests. “You have your horn back!”

“More or less,” she responded with a mild shrug.

“Just be careful there!” Grubber butted in, pushing his arms out to keep her back. “The doctor doesn’t want anyone touching it.”

“Oh, I have to imagine so!” Twilight put her hooves back onto the floor. “In any case, I’m so incredibly happy for you!”

Kaj then looked to Gladion, who spotted her behind Fizzlepop’s wheelchair, giving her a smile and nod that she quickly returned. Hau and Sun approached each other, the former slapping his hand onto the latter’s shoulder.

“So, uh…” Hau gave the most genuine grin he could muster. “We’re still buddies, right?”

Sun, after stretching an awkward frown across his face, fell onto Hau, hugging him with one arm around the shoulder. Hau hugged Sun back, his chin pressing against Sun’s shoulder, happy to have his oldest friend back. At the same moment, the door opened up again, Acerola and Plumeria walking inside, their eyes widening over how crowded the room quickly became.

Peeking around Fizzlepop, Twilight maintained her smile as she and Spike approached Acerola. “Are you feeling any better?”

Acerola rubbed her own arms and nodded. Seeing the trouble on her face, Twilight came closer and stood on her hind legs, her and Acerola clutching each other tight. Spike came to Acerola’s leg and hugged it just as tight, the tension in Acerola’s arms loosening as the warmth and fuzziness of Twilight’s hug and the affection she received from Spike’s.

Finally, another nurse walked into the room, everyone suddenly stopping what they were doing to turn to him to hear what he might have to say.

“Sun, Lillie, Gladion,” he reported, “your Pokémon are all healed up and awaiting you in the physical therapy gym. They’re chomping at the bit to see you!”

Sam, Alice, and their Equestrian friends were escorted out of the uncommonly large elevator by the nurse and into a massive two-story room with various exercise machines and weights lining the sides, the domed atrium above providing plenty of natural light and warmth. Standing in the center of a basketball court placed at the gym’s center were all of Sam and Alice’s Pokémon, who hopped, bounced, and twirled in place as they were finally able to see their trainers. Sam and Alice couldn’t help but giggle as they jogged forward at them, signaling them to all rush their trainers at once.

As Alice crashed into the bosom of her Noivern, the rest of her Pokémon surrounded her, hugging, nuzzling, and cuddling their faces and bodies all around her. As Sam stopped to squeeze his arms around Salazzle, the first Pokémon to reach him, Drampa slammed the front of its head into him, knocking him to the ground and digging its nose into his face. Sam sat up as the rest of his Pokémon surrounded him, working to give as many affectionate pets and scratches as his hands could allow.

Starlight and Fluttershy beamed as Lady and Comfey zipped around Sam, Alice, and their Pokémon and into the arms of their Equestrian trainers. Starlight fell to her shins upon catching Lady, getting down to its level as it pushed its way further into Starlight’s embrace. Comfey went snugly around Fluttershy’s neck as she gently pressed Comfey’s tiny body closer to her own, tears appearing from the corner of her eyes.

Alice laughed as she tried to scoot closer to the edge of the court. “Alright guys, let Chrysalis have a turn!”

Seeing Alice’s Pokémon following her, Drampa helped pick Sam up onto his feet as he and the rest of the Pokémon stepped aside with his sister. As Chrysalis came forward, she was finally able to see her five Pokémon, who looked just as elated and enthusiastic to see her as Sam and Alice’s Pokémon were. Unable to hold back a wobbly-lipped smile, she scooped both tears hanging from her eyes with her hoof before galloping at them. As she hugged her Heidreigon, who embraced her back with its two headed arms, her Gourgeist, Vespiquen, Claydol, and Mawile all hugged her at her sides or her legs, wherever they had room.

As Alice watched Chrysalis’s reunion, she suddenly felt an arm wrap around her neck while a balled fist nuggied her hair. “Hey, don’t you be ignorin’ your old pal, Capper!”

Quickly letting her go, Alice giggled in glee to see that Capper was indeed behind her, throwing his arms up to welcome her to him. Alice nonetheless hopped into the cat’s embrace, resting her head against a set of bandages wrapped around the whole of his chest. Rarity, who was standing by him with Applejack, walked over to Alice and hugged her from behind. Sam was then spun around by his good shoulder, turning to face Celaeno, who groped him at the waist and twirled him around as she laughed.

“Celaeno!” To Sam’s added surprise, Rainbow Dash swooped down from the upper level to join her avian chum. “Rainbow Dash! You guys are okay!”

“And look at you!” Celaeno lightly backhanded Sam’s left shoulder, making him jolt slightly at the sharp pain that went as quickly as it came. “You don’t look too worse for wear yourself!”

Skystar and Pinkie Pie leapt up on either side of Celaeno and held their arms up in presentation. “And that’s not all!” they both squealed.

Looking in the space their arms created, Sam looked down at Celaeno’s once-crystalline peg leg, his eyes widening and his lips pursing in pleasant surprise to find a sleek, bladed prosthetic in its place. “Woah, sweet new kicks! Or should that be just ‘kick?’”

“It feels so incredibly close to how I walk on my good leg, it’s unbelieveable! I can hardly wait to show the crew! Or heck, maybe they can give Boyle a hand! Eh, eh?!” Though Celaeno laughed heartily as she nudged Sam’s chest with her elbow, Sam could only force out his chuckles, not as amused with her pun as she was.

The elevator door opened once again, Sun and his combined group stepping out to see their Pokémon. Sun’s Decidueye unfurled a single wing and brushed it against Chrysalis’s Hydreigon. As the dragon looked behind itself, it noticed Decidueye, Incineroar, as well as Lillie’s Starmie, and Gladion’s Silvally among others looking up at it expectantly. With a loud low-pitched mew, Hydreigon motioned Chrysalis and the rest of her Pokémon off to the side to unveil Sun, Lillie, and Gladion’s Pokémon to them.

With a happy caw and roar from Decidueye and Incineroar upon spotting him, Sun breathed a naturally contented sigh as he ran up to them. Catching him in their wings and arms, Incineroar purred as its entire hand rubbed Sun’s hair. Lillie only got a few steps in before she fell to her knees, her Starmie, Blissey, Rapidash, and Nidoqueen meeting her the rest of the way, surrounding her and squeezing in on all sides so that each one could give her their affection. Gladion walked up to his Silvally and Lucario, who were also patient in their strides. Upon coming together, Silvally pushed its head against Gladion’s chest, loudly moaning in its excitement to be back with its trainer. Lucario kept itself at a repectable distance, also gladdened with its trainer’s return in its own way.

Alice then spotted Fizzlepop and Grubber in the wheelchair, but upon seeing her new horn poking from the top of her bandages, she squealed in delight and ran from Capper and Rarity to see her. “Fizz!”

Seeing her dear human friend run to her, Fizzlepop felt compelled to stand up off her seat, her stance suddenly firm and stable as Grubber was forced to hop down. “Alice!”

“Fizz, oh my god, your horn!” In a quick motion, Alice scooped up Fizzlepop from under her arms and wrapped her arms all the way around her back. “How did you even get it back?”

Alice let Fizzlepop down, giving her plenty of room to speak comfortably. “The doctors created a new one for me! I can hardly wait to start using it.”

“Yeah, as happy as I am for you, I think you should ease up a bit on the magic for a while.”

“That’s what I’m hearing. Either way, I can only imagine how much easier lessons with Starswirl will be once we get back home!”

“Right. Home…” Alice glanced off to the side. Now came the unfortunately worst part of their victory, and it slipped her mind only until now.

Looking back, she watched as Sam continued socializing with Celaeno, Rainbow Dash, Skystar, and Pinkie Pie, the thought of their inevitably soon return dawning fast on her.

A wave of sadness began to flood her heart until… “Alice!”

Kaj hopped onto Alice’s back and piggybacked on, Alice reacting just barely fast to keep the young woman from toppling them both. Letting her back down, Alice spun around just for Kaj to hug her from the front.

“Oh my gosh, this is crazy!” she exclaimed. “We literally stopped an apocalypse! Isn’t that crazy?!”

“Yeah,” Alice wheezed, Kaj’s hold getting tighter with each moment. “Super crazy!”

“Whoops, sorry!” Alice was let go, allowing her to gulp for air. “Come on, you have to introduce me to those new friends you came in with this morning!”

As Alice was led toward Capper, Celaeno, and Skystar, the elevator doors opened up yet again, this time letting Guzma, Olivia, and Hapu in. Walking further inside, they spotted Kaj butting herself and Alice in between Sam and Celaeno, Kaj eagerly reaching for the parrot’s talon hand for a shake.

Guzma bit down lightly on his lip and blew, producing an uncannily loud whistle that immediately got the group’s attention. “Yo, Sam, Alice! We wanna’ talk to you for a second!”

Sam looked to Celaeno and Capper, the latter of whom put their paws to their side. “You two go on ahead. I’ve got a lovely little lady who’s apparently dying to meet me!”

Kaj looked away, blushing, but nonetheless extended her hand for Capper’s paw to take. Sam and Alice quickly looked away as they approached the three Kahunas, Hau mingling himself among them.

“Hot damn,” Olivia muttered aloud, “just look at these two.”

“Mhmm,” Hau agreed. “They sure look like heroes to me.”

“Well, I mean…” Sam scratched the back of his head, “we had help…”

“Oh, sure,” Guzma guffawed, “but for the lengths you two in particular went through to help save all our skins, we just had to give you both mad props for that.”

“And to think,” Hapu added, “they still haven’t finished their Island Trials yet. I can easily see one of you becoming our next champion with strength like yours.”

“Thank you very much,” Alice replied with a short bow. “Where are the others? I haven’t had a chance to see them yet.”

“Well,” Olivia said, “Sophocles and Molayne are staying the night with Zeraora. He got beat up pretty bad, so he’s not going anywhere quite yet. I think Luna’s going to help out too.”

“Crews are already out fixing the damage to the city,” Hau explained. “Ilima and the Akala Captains are out assisting them. It’s going to take quite a while before this place gets cleaned up, but hey, at least we got through the hard part, right?” Hau smiled as he put his hands behind his head.

“So what’s the plan for you two?” Guzma asked. “Looks like you and your Pokémon are all patched up, so you don’t really need to stay here.”

“Yeah, I think that goes for quite a few of us.” Sam looked back at his friends both human, Pokémon, and Equestrian, smiling at the clear camaraderie between them. “We probably only have a little bit more time with them before they go back home. Maybe I’ll ask a few if they want to crash at our apartment tonight.”

Sam suddenly felt each strand of hair on his head pull itself upward, growing out and spiraling into a gigantic shape before it transformed into a full sized Discord, sitting in a perfect coil atop his head. “I’ll take that as an invitation! Hey everyone, slumber party at Sam and Alice’s!”

Many of the people and Equestrians inside the room cheered, mostly in jest. Sam reached up to snatch the draconequus, only for him to break apart into more long hair that formed a thick curtain over Sam’s body before it receded back in to its normal length. Sam breathed out through his teeth, unsure if he’d ever get used to Discord’s tricks.

Alice gripped onto her brother’s shoulder and shook it. “Well, at least he knows how to get the word out.”

As the two walked back toward their numerous friends, several creatures, including Skystar and Pinkie Pie, approached them, prepared to take them up on Discord’s offer. The four Kahunas smiled as they watched Sam and Alice continue to make merry conversation, certain of the bright futures ahead of both of them.