Chapter 14/Final: Hoofed on the Return

The morning rose once more in the Pokémon Center. Fluttershy was in the kitchen with her Sentret, Totodile and Pidgey. It wasn't that long ago that she was rescued by Ash when held captive by Rayquaza. Her mission complete, all that awaited her was home in Ponyville. She distributed the Pokémon food to her partners. As they scarfed the food, Fluttershy thought about the homecoming she'd get. Eve scampered in the kitchen, hungry and impatient for Twilight. Fortunately, Totodile was more than willing to share its food. Just her holding Ash in her arms felt more gratifying than when a Whiscash named Nero tried to soak her or the night after Celestia's party. Perhaps it was Rayquaza that brought the bond together. "Today, we'll arrive in Pallet Town," she announced. "It's been awhile since we saw the Dragon Holy Land." To her Pokémon, it could be the last time they're together.

"What about us?" wondered Sentret in fear. To the Pokémon, Fluttershy would throw them out to the wild.

"Now don't you worry. Professor Oak will keep an eye on you. Besides, Applejack, Twilight and I will be in touch." Relief. Twilight came the kitchen with a glass of apple juice in hand.

"Excited about heading back?" she asked. Either she kept her excitement of returning to cottage bottled up or...

"Nervous, actually... I hope Discord hasn't turned the cottage upside-down." Twilight shared that discomforting feeling about what Discord could do.

"I know what you mean." However, there wasn't anything they could do until they entered Ponyville again. "We'll get out of New Bark Town, through the forest that got us here in the first place, and enter Pallet Town. Then on, we can give our Pokémon to Professor Oak before going through Ash's room and back home." But first, they needed some breakfast. Once Applejack awoke and ate, the ponies departed from New Bark Town, notably the Johto Region. The forest that connected Johto and Kanto regions and supposed to host a Suicune. The second trip through this forest wasn't as unsettling for the ponies, now anticipating who or what.

"So what are the chances we'll see Suicune before we reach Pallet?" guessed Applejack.

"Probably not as good," Fluttershy replied. Twilight thought back to what the plans were for the Pokémon, gazing at Eve still having a good time.

"Fluttershy?" she called. The ponies stopped and turned to Twilight. "I know we had plans about giving Professor Oak our Pokémon... But I can't just leave Eve alone." Eve whimpered in thought that Twilight was leaving her. Applejack felt the same way.

"Twilight's right," she agreed. "We can at least have one be a permanent member of the families. I'd rather have Little Chicky help me at the Acres." The other ponies visualized Chikorita using Bullet Seed to knock apples from the trees and Secret Power to ward off stampedes.

"Totodile wanted to check out the moat around my cottage," Fluttershy remembered. To the threesome, they wanted to take home a piece of the adventure.

"It's safe to say that we all want a Pokémon as part of the family," Twilight concluded. Just then, a glowing blue. Fluttershy's thoughts seeing the shining blue was coming across Suicune again.

"Can it be?" She dashed over to check the veil. Much like before, the creature with the blue veil appeared, drinking from a pond. This time, Twilight and Applejack found it.

"Oh my apples," whispered Applejack, trying not to disturb. A little light shone through some of the leaves and branches, revealing Suicune in the shade of blue and purple. Suicune looked up, eying the trio. Once again, it left without a word said... except for one good look back. "So that was Suicune..." The other ponies found a legend, not wanting to forget it. A little while later, all three made it back to Ash's home: Pallet Town.

"We're back!" cheered Twilight. "And soon, back to our homes." They proceeded into Pallet Town and their first stop was the Ketchum household. Delia's Mimey was working on the front yard walkway when it spotted the threesome approaching.

("Welcome back!") it excitedly greeted before turning to the house. ("Master, they're back!") Hearing the Mime Pokémon, Delia came out with the town's professor and the Pokémon Watcher.

"Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy," she named. "Welcome... nearly home!" The ponies giggled at the joke. They knew Delia was trying to be funny. They entered the Ketchum home where tea was served.

"So I heard you had that chance to meet Clair and the Dragon Holy Land," Tracey reported, Applejack draping her arms around his shoulders.

"We did," Fluttershy answered. "Clair gave me pointers about what to do around dragons and her Dragonair and Lance's Dragonite aided on some tactics... though that was after I was caught by Rayquaza and rescued by Ash." To Delia, this was common for Ash, even if he wasn't in his traveling region.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from my son, always helpful," Delia smiled. "He's had his run-ins with dragons so he's got a good track." If Ash returned, he could introduce Fluttershy to more dragons, one who got jealous quickly.

"Really?" sounded Spike who crossed over. He tried to walk down the steps but had a little trouble navigating a step and fell down the entire case. On the bottom, he saw stars as Twilight came over to see if he's okay. Eve leaped down and checked the non-Pokémon dragon.

"Spike, what are you doing here and not back home?" she asked. Spike shook his head, trying to recover from the spill. Oak also came over to see this dragon.

"Sorry, Twilight. I got really worried about you so I came here to wonder how long you were gone for. I'm actually happy that you're finally back." Oak studied the baby dragon with awe.

"Fascinating!" he learned. "Is this dragon yours?" Twilight nodded.

"That's Spike," she identified. "He's been with me since he hatched from his egg and serves as my connection to Princess Celestia." To learn where Spike came from, Oak wondered why he didn't change like the other ponies.

"I find it upsetting that little Spike didn't change to a human. Could he still contact the princess from here?" Spike could try to answer but another voice helped out.

"There's no need for right now," a familiar voice replied. Twilight and Oak glared to the top of the staircase and found a young woman with same hair as the princess in question. She also wore pearl high heels to go with a strapless white gown and a tiara that also belonged to the royal. To Twilight, she knew who it was but couldn't gather her appearance.

"Princess Celestia?" she gasped. The nod from the tall woman confirmed her identity.

"I must say, I don't look bad for being over a thousand years of age." She had an easier time reaching the bottom of the steps than Spike did. That's when Celestia found Eve who got frightened and hid behind Twilight's leg. The princess thought her size might have been the reason Eve was scared.

"It's okay, Eve," Twilight tried to ease as she picked her Pokémon from the floor. "Princess Celestia is kind." To prove, Celestia gently palmed Eve on the head. A glowing white veil surrounded Eve for a minute before Celestia removed her hand.

"Eve, you've been blessed." Eve looked up, a soft smile shown. A few happy barks followed. Now she looked toward Fluttershy who knelt to greet Celestia with Applejack.

"Your return from finding a dragon master means it's complete?"

"Yes, Princess Celestia," Fluttershy confirmed. "In fact, I met two at the same time." The bonus put a smile on Celestia's face.

"This means your journey was worth the effort. Are you ready to return?" Fluttershy was ready but wondered if perhaps her human colt would arrive soon.

"I want to come back but I want to do something before I return to my cottage." That's when she turned to Oak holding two Pokéballs. "Professor, can you watch over Sentret and Pidgey?" Oak grabbed her Pokéballs with a smile.

"I'd be happy to," he accepted. That's when Twilight and Applejack offered their Pokémon to Oak who accepted to keep them in his ranch. The ponies gave their farewells to the humans but not before a final kiss from Applejack to Tracey. The ponies, along with Eve and Spike, came to Ash's room and through the door. Spike never changed form but when the ponies did, they transformed from humans to ponies, scaring Eve. Twilight saw the retreating Eevee, realizing that she didn't warn her baby Pokémon about the door.

"It's okay, Eve!" she explained. "It's still me. This is just my true form." Eve wasn't sure to trust Twilight now that she clarified who or what she was. Just knowing her voice helped the Evolution Pokémon regroup with the ponies. Surprising to her, Eve didn't transform to anything. Fluttershy closed the door, hoping Team Rocket doesn't follow. They hoofed around the cottage where Fluttershy released Totodile who didn't recognize the new land.

"Totodile?" she called to. "Welcome to my home." That's when Totodile remembered back at Elm's lab from its question and found the moat. It jumped in the moat and swam around, finding otters and fish to which it greeted. With Celestia, Twilight and Applejack reached the village where Rainbow first spotted them.

"You're back!" she shouted before flying to those three. Seeing Celestia, Rainbow bowed to greet her.

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash. I'll be returning to Canterlot. You continue your weather management." That's when she spread her wings wide before flying off like a rocket, not Team Rocket, and disappeared to Eve's amazement.

"Isn't Princess Celestia awesome to look at?" questioned Twilight. Eve barked in awe to knowing more about the princess. That bark got Rainbow to see who Twilight picked up.

"Who's this cute little guy?" she asked. Eve took offense, barking angrily up at Rainbow.

"Eve's a girl, Rainbow." Eve barked some more to side with Twilight, much to Rainbow's shy mistake.

"Sorry. I'll choose my words better, especially around the egghead." Eve looked confused about Rainbow calling Twilight an egghead. Twilight chose to introduce the two.

"Eve, this is Rainbow Dash. She helps control the weather, like Clair's Dragonair." More awed barks from Eve, a great welcome to Rainbow's delight.

"I know. Pretty cool, right?" Suddenly, Pinkie and Rarity entered the scene and met up with the two and Fluttershy who had Totodile with her.

"Yay, you're back, guys!" yelled Pinkie. "Did you bring some Pokémon with you? And did you see Max?" The Eevee looked on Twilight's head at the new ponies.

"Most of them are back with Professor Oak," Applejack notified. "But Eve is the one who came with us after you visited Charicific Valley." Eve peeked out to the cooing of Pinkie and Rarity.

"So little, so young..." Rarity awed. Her horn aglow and Eve soon after, Rarity "lifted" Eve from Twilight and landed it by her hooves. "This calls for a celebration on your return." Twilight laughed, feeling almost too welcomed.

"It's okay, Rarity. A celebration isn't necessary." Finding Fluttershy back with the group, Twilight believed her cottage was spotless. "I take it your cottage is neat and clean?" A nod from Fluttershy confirmed Twilight's suspicions.

"Totodile's enjoying the moat and the little otters accepted him as a new creature I can have around... well, except for Angel." There's always someone or something that won't approve another creature within their confines.

"Speaking of, Applejack's family never has had better service and work thanks to Apple Bloom and the Pichu the crusaders adopted," Rarity reported.

"That's good to know," Applejack sighed in relief. "Pichu's ripe for helping out Sweet Apple Acres, almost like it was meant to be part of the family." The Mane 6 talked to the close evening. Applejack introduced the family back home to Chikorita and Pichu helped greet the Leaf Pokémon to Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. Fluttershy went back to work, healing sick animals back to health as Totodile helped protect her cottage. Twilight was amused after she, Spike and Eve returned to their tree house which Eve pawed books like it wanted to read. Spike helped Eve retrieve a book from the shelf, the book reading Daring Do: the Trap of Auizotl. Who knew a Pokémon that could read?

"I thought animals couldn't read anything," sounded Spike in shock.

"Goes to show that not everything you see is what you expect," Twilight shrugged. It would be something if Eve could read. Luckily, it was a picture book. Perhaps that could help out. The night came down on Ponyville as Luna risen the moon. Most of the animals in Fluttershy's cottage fell asleep and she was about to join them.

"I wish I had more time with Ash after he saved me from Rayquaza," she yawned. "At least a night." That's when there was a knock on the door.

"Fluttershy?" sounded her dream voice. Opening, there was Ash in pony form, his cutie mark as well.

"Ash, it's you." She lunged and hugged her special some-pony. "Did you complete your journey?" A shake told Fluttershy that he wasn't done.

"Home was along the way of where I needed to go, so I stopped by for a visit." How convenient...

"You're also probably tired after going around the region for a pit stop, huh?" Both entered the cottage which Discord watched, not sure whether or not to get involved.

"So that's Fluttershy's special some-pony," he studied. "I find it surprising that she prefers some-pony younger than her but... I do see the chemistry." He vanished while Ash and Fluttershy got comfortable under some blankets. Only time will tell should a dragon stop by, would Fluttershy be ready.

THE END