— Devan —

The soft feeling of a bed met my body. There was muffled chatter in my ears. A very shallow pain entered my neck. The rest of my body was at ease, and it felt too heavy to move. A slow warmth was radiating throughout it.

My breaths were slow. My heartbeat was slow. My eyelids felt heavy.

Despite this, I used the last of my strength to slowly open them. My vision was blurred, and it struggled to unblur as my vision wavered. The chatter rose for a second as my eyes focused on the ceiling. My body was numb, but I still felt a bit of movement in my right arm. Somebody was messing with it, and I felt a poking sensation near my elbow.

Soon after, my vision allowed me to see a purple face leaning over me. I focused on it as Twilight’s face slowly appeared clearer. She was frowning, and there was evidence of tears welling up in her eyes as she looked down and tried to speak to me. Yet, my hearing was still muffled.

I tried to speak, but my energy was so drained that I found myself unable to do so. I then heard a muffled sound in my right ear, causing her to look across the bed I was in. I slowly turned my head on the pillow, noticing Nurse Redheart and Trixie on the other side. Redheart's mouth was moving as she looked between Twilight and Trixie, clearly telling them something as she fiddled with what looked like a red IV bag.

After a few seconds of her mouth moving, she looked down at me. Her lips moved again before stopping, waiting for a response. I blinked slowly, unable to give her one. She tried again, but I couldn’t talk. She nervously looked up across the bed before turning away to hang up the bag in her hoof. On the other side of the bed, I noticed Twilight's lips quiver. A pang of sadness rushed through me when I saw her start to cry.

While my energy was at a critically-low state, I still allocated everything I had to raise my left hand. I noticed through the amount of pressure I felt that there was a blanket sitting on top of it, but I pushed it up regardless. Trixie noticed this and reached across my body to pull down the blanket. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it briefly before hoofing it to Twilight. Tears welled in her eyes as well, but she graciously allowed Twilight to hold onto it.

I then heard a bit more commotion on the other side of the room, where my feet were pointed. The mares turned their heads briefly as a stallion's voice spoke. My hearing still vaguely muffled, I heard Trixie sigh. She exchanged a glance with Twilight before leaning over me. Finally, I could make out what she was saying.

"I'm so sorry, Devan ..."

She looked like she wanted to say more, but tears were winning the battle. She instead grabbed my other hand and squeezed it for a few seconds. Before she let go, she leaned down and kissed the back of it. She smiled through watery eyes before leaving the bedside and making her way toward the stallion's voice. I turned back to Twilight, who continued holding onto my left hand.

I felt her hoof squeeze it despite slowly losing the feeling throughout. She pushed her forehead against it, holding on tightly as she let more tears flow down on the bed. She kept this up for a minute as I kept my eyes focused on her face, in fear of them blurring again for good. Her purple irises gazed back into me, and I could feel a few tears rolling down my own numbing cheeks. It was then that I felt another warm wave roll through me, pausing the numbness in me briefly.

I opened my mouth, and I could feel my vocal cords wake up briefly. Yet, I could feel my heart slowing, along with my breaths. My lungs were growing weaker, and I knew the end was coming soon. So, I used every last bit of my energy to try and speak. At first, I only made weird, deep groans, but I eventually found the strength return in my vocal cords. I locked eyes with Twilight as she realized I was attempting to speak as well.

“Thank you, Twilight. This world … was ... beautiful ...”

My vision blurred, and with my heart and lungs working slowly, I felt myself drift unconscious.

Suddenly, in the dark, I felt waves rushing through my body. There was no bed. There was no pain. There was nothing appearing in my vision. My eyes were open … I think … but all I could see was black. I felt movement as my body rotated in what felt like zero gravity. However, there was a force acting on me. Bright blue and white lights flashed throughout my retinas, and I slowly began to feel as though I was falling. Where? It was unclear, as my body tumbled … down? I almost started feeling nauseous as I wondered what was happening to me.

The lights continued for another minute, growing in intensity. Then, streaks of white and yellow started surrounding me, as if I was falling through a large tube of nothingness. The streaks appeared to move faster, but it was hard to tell, as my body tumbled over and over on itself, offering me no clue of what direction I was moving in. As my heart started beating faster, and my body fell quicker and quicker, everything flashed brightly before disappearing. My body stopped moving, but I still felt it. It was as though I had hit the ground, but I felt no pain. I was somewhere, still in darkness, but now my eyes were closed. I slowly opened them as my senses returned.

My eyes were looking sideways, as if I was laying down on something. It was nighttime, and in the dark, I could see a street illuminated by streetlights in front of me, spanning vertically in my vision. The first thing I heard was the familiar sound of a car in the distance. Soon after, another car sound closed in as I laid still. I watched as a car passed by from top to bottom of my vision. I hesitantly uprighted my head, pushing down on what appeared to be a bench. As I sat up, I realized I was sitting at a bus stop.

This sudden realization hit me. This was the bus stop I had met Celestia, where she used her magic to pull me from Earth.

I was back. I had not died. However, my stay in Equestria was over. My recent memories and visions of Twilight and her friends sent a wave of emotions rushing over me as I slowly realized that it was all over. I would likely never see them again, and that thought stabbed me square in the heart.

In the dim light of the bus stop, I set my elbows on my knees and covered my face. As I did, I felt a strange, squishy object next to my thigh. When I sat back up and scooted over to see what it was, I was startled to see a muffin laying on the bench beside me. I reached down and picked it up, realizing it was a blueberry muffin with a small tag sticking out of the liner. I pulled it out slowly so as not to harm it, and something was written on the tag. I squinted to see the small, messy writing that read:

Thanks, Devan! Xoxo -Derpy

Tears forcefully left my eyes as I could not hold my emotions in any longer. For the next few minutes, I cried a good cry, letting my mental state recover from its burden. The sadness washed over me, before slowly seeping out as I grieved. The sound of a louder car entered my left ear, and when I wiped my eyes and looked up, I saw a bus approaching the curb. I listened as its squealing brakes brought it to a stop in front of me before the calm rumble of the engine took over.

The doors squeaked open, so I held Derpy’s muffin carefully cupped in my hands and stood up. My sadness slowly faded, and it was replaced by happiness as I realized everything was okay. I got the chance to say my last goodbyes, and the magical world of Equestria had its cure. Twilight and Trixie would lead the others, and Equestria would live to see another day.

My duties were complete.

With this in mind, I stepped forward, and got on the bus.

— • — • — 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓷𝓭 — • — • —

Author's Note

Wooo, what a journey! I've got more to say, but I'll include it after the epilogue.

That being said, I highly recommend reading the epilogue.

I'd debated making it the last chapter, but it was intended to be more of an epilogue, and it fits better as one. I'll see ya there!