Last Chapter
Last Chapter
Twilight Sparkle appeared directly in front of Celestia and Shining Armor with a flash of light. Star was beside her, but the... stallion simply whimpered. They were inside of what was clearly a military tent and there were several Crystal soldiers along with General Falchion standing around it.
“Twilight!” Celestia exclaimed, surprise and joy filling her voice as she rushed forward to pull the younger mare into a deep hug.
“Tia!” Twilight exclaimed by way of reply, barely managing it due to the immense strength of the mare’s forelegs. She nuzzled into the mare’s white furred chest and let out a satisfied sigh as she sniffed in the heady scent of vanilla, though at the moment it was mixed with that of blood and sweat. Her mind began to become fuzzy... magic and physical exhaustion started to set in and there was nothing that she wanted to do more than simply fall asleep within her love’s forelegs.
She was snapped out of it by a very surprised shout from her brother as Star suddenly leapt forward and wrapped his forelegs around his neck, sobbing his eyes out. Shining Armor stood petrified in shock... until Star began to whimper.
“Da-dad-daddy,” the stallion whimpered in Star’s voice as he clutched at Shining even tighter as several nearby Crystal ponies began to approach with weapons drawn.
“Sir, that’s Sombr-” Falchion began but was cut off by a harsh glare from Shining.
“I do not think that my Sister would have brought that monster here, so this is obviously not Sombra,” Shining said flatly. As he said the stallion’s name, Star clutched him tighter and buried his face in Shining’s mane, weeping heavily.
As this happened, Celestia released Twilight from her grip and gently set the mare back on the ground.
“Twilight... where’s Ethan?” the mare asked quietly.
“He’s.... he’s still down there Tia... the cave was seconds away from collapsing when I got Star and myself out of it... he’s...” she cut herself off and shook her head, not wanting to think the thought.
“Well then...we’ll just have to dig him out won’t we?” Celestia asked, a determined look on her face.
“Ho-how?” Twilight asked unsteadily. “There are at least a hundred tons of rock between us... and even if he wasn’t crushed he’ll run out of air soon!”
Celestia’s gaze simply hardened. “Ethan will make it out of this alive, you have my word Twilight.”
Of all the places that Ethan had expected to wake up, an apparently prewar waiting room for an office building was not what he’d been expecting. As he blearily blinked his eyes open he found himself sitting on a red leather couch in a white walled room. He looked around in confusion, not quite sure where... or when he was? He got up from the couch, still thoroughly confused.
“You know,” he began, mostly talking to himself. “I always thought that when I died I’d go to heaven... I mean I’m not exactly the religious type so to speak but I think I deserve a bit of credit for what I’ve done.” the man frowned. “But no, apparently I get to spend the rest of eternity in a fucking office... just my luck”
An amused chuckle from behind him made the man turn on a dime and his hand reached for his sword, which he only realized was missing from his side as he finished his turn and came face to face with a tall white alicorn mare. A long brown mane fell gracefully around her shoulders and she looked at him with a clearly amused smile.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be too negative about it,” the mare said. “In fact, you’re not exactly dead in the first place.”
“Okay... who in the fuck are you, and what the hell are you talking about?” Ethan asked her suspiciously.
“Me? I’m Faust, Celestia and Luna’s mother,” the alicorn answered with a small smile. “And I’m saying that you’re not dead. You’re only slowly dying of oxygen deprivation beneath about a hundred tons of stone and earth.”
Ethan stared at her for a moment before responding. “Well isn’t that nice... I feel so much better now.”
The alicorn rolled her eyes. “Well, you’re the one who asked, don’t get snippy with me if you don’t like the answer.”
“Fine...” Ethan let out a small sigh. “Look... you’re the mother of Celestia... you wouldn’t happen to be able to just oh... I don’t know, teleport me back to Twilight?”
Faust shook her head. “No, as much as I’d like to, I’m not able to do that,” she told him, a note of regret entering into her voice.
“Great,” Ethan muttered. “Then I guess this whole thing is just a figment of my imagination isn’t it?”
“Not in the least actually,” Faust answered. “Now, follow me, we can talk about things in a more comfortable place.” With that, she turned around and began to walk down what appeared to be a never ending hallway. Seeing no better alternative, Ethan shrugged his shoulders and followed her. Within a few seconds of walking they abruptly found themselves before a wooden door.
Faust pushed it open easily with her magic and walked inside Ethan followed and he found himself in a well appointed office, the back wall lined with bookshelves and a slew of wooden cabinets. Faust took a seat behind the large mahogany desk that took up the majority of the floor space and nodded him towards a comfy looking leather chair across from it.
On the desk was a picture of Celestia, and Luna along with the alicorn standing happily in front of an old castle that Ethan recognize as a non dilapidated version of the castle Twilight had taken him to after his little... freakout with the diamond dogs.
Beside that picture was one that took him by surprise. It featured a golden haired woman with almost catlike eyes and a pair of pointy ears along with a black dragon roughly the size of a normal pony, rounding it out was a much younger looking Faust. All three were sitting beneath a tree in what was obviously a mountain clearing leaning against each other.
The man shook his head, filing it away as irrelevant and turned his gaze back to the mare before him. She was waiting patiently, though there was an oddly sad look in her eyes as she nodded towards the picture.
“Old... friends of mine,” she explained simply.
Ethan nodded, sensing that it was a subject that she didn’t want to talk about. “Okay... so why am I here?” he asked, changing the topic.
Faust’s face lifted up into a smile. “For me to thank you,” she said.
“Wait, what?” Ethan asked in surprise. “Why would you want to thank me?”
The mare chuckled softly at his surprise. “But of course,” she said, still smiling at him. “You’re the one who kept my daughters’ kingdom from being destroyed by a war between the griffins and the hippogriffs, managed to expose Blueblood for what he truly is, and last but not least allowed Twilight Sparkle to defeat Sombra. Why wouldn’t I want to thank you?”
The man thought about that for a few seconds before he nodded slowly. “Okay, that makes sense but... you wouldn’t happen to be able to give me a thank you present would you? You know, I have saved your daughter’s fuckbuddy’s life a lot, I think you owe me something more than just a thank you.”
Faust simply raised an eyebrow at that.
“And what do you have in mind?” she asked after several seconds of thought.
“I’d say, that you make sure that I stay alive,” Ethan answered, raising an eyebrow at her. “After all, you do owe me right?”
The alicorn returned the raised eyebrow and a quiet snicker leaked out from between her lips. “Oh, I like you,” she said with a small smile. “Wanda really does have good taste.”
“Who?” Ethan asked, clearly mystified.
“Don’t worry about it,” Faust replied easily. “Anyways, unfortunately I’m not allowed to go around granting life, that’s my boss’s job and he’d get annoyed if I stole his thunder.”
“Wait... who’s your boss?” Ethan inquired.
“Don’t worry about it,” Faust said. “The point is, I can’t bring you back from the dead.”
“But you said that I’m not dead!” Ethan shouted.
“You’re not,” she replied.
“Then why are we having this conversation?!” Ethan roared, entirely not in the mood for this type of bullshit.
“Because, you’re the one who started it,” she answered with a chuckle. “by asking me for something you didn’t need.”
Ethan stared at her for a moment incredulously before exclaiming. “Oh, go fuck a duck!”
Faust snorted with laughter and simply shook her head. “No thank you, I’m not attracted to waterfowl. Too many oily feathers.” The man stared at her for another few seconds before he began to laugh as well at the sheer ridiculousness of the entire situation. After several minutes of combined laughter Ethan calmed back down.
“So... am I only here for you to thank me before I die?” he asked slowly.
“Could be,” Faust replied, her own amusement ending.
“Well... you’ve done it... and now I bet I get to meet the Grim Reaper don’t I? Is he nice? We’ve been good friends for a while but he doesn’t really talk to me...” Ethan asked her slowly, a dying smile on his face.
“She’s perfectly nice, though she has always been very quiet,” Faust answered.
“Great... well...” he trailed off. “Is it getting lighter in here, or is that just me?” he asked, noticing that the room was beginning to get a bit harder to see.
“Oh so it is, would you look at that?” Faust asked with a small grin. “I’ll see you around Ethan, take care of Twilight.”
With that the room vanished.
Ethan awoke gasping for breath that he just couldn’t seem to find as Celestia grabbed the last stone and pulled it off of his body with a mighty heave. The man’s winterized power armor, which he’d thought could survive anything, had finally given its last and was wrapped around his body like tinfoil. The man could barely breath within the ruined suit and the shards of obsidian still embedded in his skin tore at his insides.
“Hold on Ethan, I will get you out of there,” Celestia told him gently as her magical grip tightened around him and they vanished.
The next several hours were... a blur to him. When he finally came to, the man was in an unfamiliar medical ward wearing patient's gown and a crystal mare with a sparkling blue mane was gently refilling his IV.
At the sound of his moan, she turned and smiled. “Oh good, you’re awake. We were really worried about you Mister Smith. We’ve never had to remove obsidian from someone before, but let me tell you it was an incredibly difficult job.”
“Gr-” Ethan was cut off as his body convulsed forward and he started to cough heavily. The nurse looked on in concern, and once he’d finished passed him a glass of water. The man downed it in seconds. “Thanks, I needed that,” he informed her before pulling the IV out of his arm. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find Twilight.”
“What? No! You’re not leaving that bed for another week at the very least!” the mare replied sternly.
“Eh, fuck that noise,” Ethan grumbled as he moved his legs to the side of the bed. “I’ve had worse than this and gotten up and finished fighting a damned war hours after waking up.” He then slid himself forward off of the bed and landed easily on his feet. The man almost face planted, but managed to turn it into an awkward stride and began to move away from the protesting mare. “See, I’m fine.”
“I hardly think so,” the nurse shot back with a frown.
“Hey, I’m walking aren’t I?” he asked with a small smile as he exited the otherwise empty infirmary. “Now where is Twilight?”
The nurse let out a sigh. “Follow me, she warned us that this would happen...” The man just smiled and followed her through the twisting hallways to a wooden doorway. “Twilight Sparkle is right through that door.”
“Thanks nurse,” Ethan replied, not even bothering to wait long enough to hear her name as he barged through the door.
On the other side he found Twilight curled up beside Celestia on a couch with a book between her hooves. Shining Armor and Cadence were sitting on another couch, a less... wretched, though certainly far from perfect looking Star sleeping peacefully between them. As he entered the room, Twilight’s eyes lit up.Before Ethan knew what was happening he had a happy unicorn mare, who had jumped at him, wrapping her forelegs around his chest. Without reservation, he returned the hug and pulled Twilight close to him.
“Hey... Twilight,” he said softly.
“Hey... Ethan,” Twilight said just as softly. “You know... I was worried about you for a little while there.”
“I’m hard to kill Twilight,” Ethan replied. “You should know that by now.” He put the mare back to the ground to see Celestia looking at him, a small smile on her face.
“I’m glad to see that you’re alive an well as well, Ethan. It would’ve been a shame if I used all that magic to dig you out of there and you’d died in the hospital,” Celestia said jokingly.
“Don’t worry Sunny, I wouldn’t want to disappoint Sparky’s favorite fuckbuddy like that,” he told her with a wry smile. They exchanged a long look for a moment before Ethan broke it by turning to Star. “And... how is Star?”
“Damaged but alive,” Cadence said softly as she glanced down at the snoring stallion beside her. “He will likely never really be... whole again. But it is better than the alternative.”
“Thank you Ethan,” Shining added with a bittersweet smile.
“Happy to help...” Ethan replied before turning back to Twilight. “So... I think I’m ready to go home...”
The mare sighed but nodded. “I know... I’m sorry that your ‘vacation’ turned into... whatever it is that this was,” she told him regretfully.
“Eh, we had fun though right?” Ethan asked her with a smirk. “How many people can say that they’ve faced down an entire army of zombies and won?”
Twilight chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right. We did have fun,” she said.
“Yep, so, about sending me back... do you have all my gear? I don’t know what Cassie would do to me if I lost any of her stuff, probably castrate me,” he said, a small grin slipping onto his face.
“Faust forbid that,” Twilight said with a small grin of her own. “And yes, your weapons are all right over there.” she nodded towards a corner of the room where a large duffle bag was lying.
Ethan stared at her for a moment and then turned to Celestia. “Oh, and that reminds me, I met your mother. I can see where you get your sense of humor.”
The mare simply raised an eyebrow. “Yes, several ponies have said that...”
“Oh, and she said that I get to ride you around the castle one day in order to pay off her debt,” Ethan told her with a sly smile.
Celestia’s face paled but she shook her head. “So be it. You certainly deserve at least that much... I misjudged you when you first got here Ethan... and I apologize for that.”
He shrugged as he went over to the duffle bag and quickly checked to make sure that everything was in it, then with a nod he zipped it shut. “Don’t worry about it, Celestia.” Ethan turned back to Twilight. “Alright Sparky, send me home.”
Twilight walked up and gave him one last hug, before her horn flared and Ethan vanished.
“You know... I think I’m going to miss that man,” Celestia said with a faintly amused smile. “I may even let him ride me.”
“He’ll have to fight me for that right,” Twilight replied with a chuckle before she returned to her spot beside the mare and got back to her reading.
Cassandra Smith looked over her handiwork with a smile. Things had gone perfectly, the strike teams had all done their jobs to perfection and all across the Mojave the Tunneler nests had been cleared out via napalm and flamers. The woman continued to smile as the smoke rose out of the last nest, the one that she’d been responsible for clearing, then she nodded and turned away, Boone at her side.
“And... done,” she declared. “Hopefully, that’ll be enough of a message to tell the tunnelers to stay the hell out of my desart.”
“I hope so,” Boone agreed with a small nod.
“Oh, I’m sure they will,” she replied with a smile.
There was a sudden flash of light in front of her and to the woman’s surprise, Ethan appeared before her wearing nothing but a hospital gown.
“Cassie!” he shouted, rushing up to her and embracing her in a tight hug.
“Ethan? What are you doing here?” Cassandra asked with a raised eyebrow even as she returned the embrace.
“I’m home,” he replied simply. “And more importantly, you’re still alive!”
Cassandra looked at him worriedly for a moment but internally shrugged and pulled away from him enough to give him a kiss on the lips. “Of course I am Ethan,” she said once they’d broken the kiss. “Now, let’s get back home.”
The man smiled and wrapped one of his arms around her back. “Yeah, let’s.”
The three walked away into the sunset, heading for the tallest tower in the desert.
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good story
Wanda is the god of the wasteland we met in Dark Wanderings, right?
It's over! (sort of)
This was such a good read. Has to be the most excellent balance of mental turmoil and badass fight scenes that I've seen on this site, and that's saying something. I look forward to what you put out next. You have gained my respect.
And, after reading both stories in this series in about a week, there is one thing I can say.
reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/friends_regret_nothing.gif
Well, I'm sad to see it end. Maybe we get story with Ethans Kids, eh? I gotta say, this was a fun read.
*tips hat* I'll see you around the wasteland, partner.
4.bp.blogspot.com/-sqDLSzOiowY/Tnoe-h8HyjI/AAAAAAAAAUk/U1NKFCOqVis/s400/cowboy-sunset.jpg
Need a new editor/proofreader for your new one or are you set? Great ending by the way. I'd love to see the chapter where he goes back to Equestria to get that ride from Celestia.
10/10 would read again.
Keep being Awesome!
What? A soo many weird crossovers lately, it makes no sense, every time I see one, it makes me think it's bad, but I guess it is a comedy... whatever, I may read it if it's really well done, and if they don't mess up twilight's character.
So Cassie killed the tunnelers for getting into her dessert, it makes so much sense now. And yes, I'll get back to proof reading the "thing" I'm proofreading for you, right after I get some food.
What I'm listening to, perfect music to go with the ending, in my opinion.
I love(
) this story and series, but for now I just have to quote :
“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
- Dr. Seuss
Keep up the good work man!
3255257 yes and cosmo is her husband aka discord XD
Her mane is red...
This was probably one of the best stories I've read on this site. Thank you, Ed.
....This... really seems like a bit of a cop-out with the whole tunnelers thing, just a 'Oh we killed them all off camera lol'.
while the ending seems a bit.... lacking. it is still a good end to a fantastic series. there were a few times where i almost lost faith, but you always managed to reel me back in. fair winds and following seas.
i wold love it if i could turn this into a ebook format to read while im out at places insted of using the ones fimfiction gives with the missing chapters...
oh well...
any ways, this has been Fantastic, cant wait for wandering moon bro.
3255347 hell yes.
3255340
>:)
Hm... not a bad end after all. A bit short, but then again it's probably for the best...
And knowing you you've got another story in the works, not to mention Equestrian Wanderings to deal with.
And so we reach the end of this tale and now we await further stories.
Gold star.
bf2142.free-gfx.com/bf2142_awards/medals_bf2142/medal_big_05.png
You know that feeling you get when you finish a good book and don't know what to do with your life?
Yeah, you do now.
3255438
To my half colorblind eyes it looks brown
3255460
I know, but the story was long enough as it was and I didn't want to take away from Ethan's spotlight (I'll probably fill it out a bit in the suplimental material that I've got planned)
NO ONE steals the Courier's fudge sundae!
Maybe it was just me, but the ending seemed the slightest bit rushed.
He went from crawling out of bed to home at mach speed.
My hope was crushed.
Well, its over.
Well that was one HELL of a ride.
...And everyone behind them got a nice view of Ethan's ass.
Well at first I was expecting more words and I was having some doubts. Then you finish like that and I gotta say bravo that'll do and thanks for the awesome kick flank story.
Is it sane that Cass considered Ethan popping out of nowhere a noncommentable subject and just rolled with it?
One hell of a ride, my best compliments wouldn't do this story enough justice. I'll be watching.
3259292
Well, it is Ethan.
i like this very much had me laughing quite a bit good show
Going to the next story in this epic saga, though I don't know how you can top this.
3273905 that would probably cause her to run in fright
still confused, but in a goodish way
Its been one heck of a ride.....
Sir, you and this story have brought more smiles to my face than I can count.
Every time I saw a new chapter, I would be bouncing in my seat.
You have also inspired me to start writing.
I thank you, for the great times, and inspiration.
Thank you for this awesome experience, also known as Dark Wanderings, and the sequel, Light Wanderings. I await more of your stories, which I have grown fond of. Again, I give you all the thanks I can.
Dude, story completed and no blog solely regarding this? No sequel? You just completed a story that is a GOLDMINE, and no blog? I can bet you that "Wandering Moon" will not even get half the views of Dark&Light Wanderings.
What's your opinion in the possible game of Fallout 4?
And will it (or in this case the New Character) relate to Ethan's family? if so, how?
I don't know why (probably because of new story), But I remembered something and had to reread this chapter.
And Now I am sure, of that thought. You didn't told us (Or I had already forgotten) If star stayed in adult body, after all Trixie with alicorn amulet was practising ageing magic. So, with some research by Twilight and Celly, It may be possible to revert him, If not He just lost all his most of childhood, not only emotionally and mentally (I suspect PSD for some time after all that) but also his lifespan would be shorter. like 20 years shorter.
3521404
Tell me about it
3521630 Mm, gotta love the no notification. Sometimes man, sometimes...
Also, Death as a female. Well then!
Onwards to Labyrinth of Madness or whatever it is!
Why do I find it easier to see death as a girl then a guy?
3642832
Because you instinctively know that Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" is perfect.
To tell you the truth...I liked Dark Wandering better.
Still great story nonetheless!
And since I didn't say this is the previous story...
...I honestly expected Ethan to bone Twilight atleast once!!
3642832 deadpool
ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608014927914011141&w=243&h=185&c=7&rs=1&pid=1.7
4259054
Thank you for the completely honest criticism. I don't get enough of that. I agree with pretty much everything you said and it points out most of the major problems with this story. I like to think that I've improved in the year or so since I finished writing this and Dark Wanderings so hopefully you won't have to deliver another lecture like this to me.
The one worst thing about being an author is looking back at things that you thought were awesome/brilliant at the time and realizing that they aren't.
4259172
The improvement between this and wandering moon is rather large. The entertainment value is rather the same (very high) but the quality of your writing has improved hugely.
Nice to see that you were willing to 'give up' ethan. Some authors can be extremely possessive of their characters.
4599773
You merely feel the ardor of my disappointment shining through the words.
And I never said it wasn't greatly entertaining. Just overzealous and disappointing :c
Excellent story. I salute you good sir. i62.tinypic.com/2pzcm5u.jpg