Fallout Equestria: Murky Number Seven
Epilogue
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It had been a long journey.
One filled with discovery, wonder, and excitement just as much it was with trials.
And while there was much enjoyment, creating memories that I would treasure from the people I met and the places I saw, there was disappointment and pain along the way. Rumours led to pointless chases back and forth across the wasteland. There were times when the rains fell and I was stuck in whatever town or shelter I could find. I would just sit and hug my journal, wishing to finally be granted one more clue, or for someone I knew to be there with me, who could remind me that they weren't gone forever.
But then there were the times when I would chase the sun, when I would run across the mountaintops until I could glide down valleys and plains and realise I hadn't seen every place they could be yet. True to her word, Homage travelled with me for some of it, meeting up as she sought out a few ponies of her own, providing me with good company. I met some of her friends, and the times we had lifted my spirits enough that I could carry on.
Eventually, I even met Doctor Weathervane, Sunny Days, and Blunderbuck again; and just as my spirit was about to crack, they rejuvenated it. The slaves that had gotten out had spread to various places, but those three had stuck together, traveling between damaged settlements and helping to rebuild them after the war. Sunny even had a new pet dog called Pepper. I had helped them for a few days before moving on.
There were nights of merriment, and there were times of danger and fear. Yet as time wore on, and as the number of places they could be began to dwindle, I could feel those uplifting times losing their glow inside me.
Every settlement brought its own stories, but none of them were from the ponies I wanted. Some, after hearing my story, told me to remember that I had never really known where that portal led to. They could be anywhere. There was always the possibility that they were just too far to reach. That in the end, I'd have to settle on my own.
The one thing I never did was the same thing I'd never done yet. I didn't give up hope.
* * *
Dropping off the side of the caravan onto the course track, I tossed a small bag of caps to the owner before waving goodbye to see them off.
Turning away, I saw the town now ahead of me. It was behind a forest, out near the hills approaching Equestria's border. The caravan owner had told me it had only sprung up this year. Entirely new. It didn’t even have an official name yet.
Nestled in the valley below three tall peaks, the village itself looked quite secluded, despite being only a short walk from this caravan route and only a few days by wagon from larger settlements like Manehattan or New Appleloosa in the Equestrian Heartlands. I could hear the rush of a waterfall somewhere nearby, likely hidden by the trees, but the river that came from it ran through the village itself, separating me from the houses via a small bridge. Oaken logs made up most of its buildings, all set in a partial circle around the clearing. I could see ponies running around within it and lines of tilled ground outside. A windmill lazily turned in the slow breeze, mounted on a wooden walkway that led up the side of the hill to a higher level.
Quietly, I trotted into the town itself, gazing around me to try and spot the sheriff. I normally went to them first to ask if they knew any-
My eyes caught a foal running across the middle of town. His two-tone blue mane bobbed wildly over his sandy brown coat. He was a little older, but I knew him.
Two ghoul fillies chased him, shrieking and laughing. They all stopped as soon as they saw me, letting the ball they'd been running after roll idly away. For a moment, my eyes met all of theirs as I felt my heart skip a beat at the recognition.
I turned on the spot, looking in every direction. In the fields, I immediately saw the enormous red shape of an earth pony standing up and squinting his single eye at me. From the front of what looked like an orphanage, a mare with two long braids in her mane began to rise from repairing a colt's jerkin with wonder on her face.
Could this be? Was I dreaming again?
It was-
An enormous shriek of utter joy from my left shattered the moment. With a thundering of hooves as my only warning, I was bowled over by a pink and white blur. Rolling over and over in the dirt, she drew me up and squeezed as tightly as she could, as though afraid I might just slip away again.
I grabbed my sister around the neck and did just the same. Already I could feel the tears running down my cheeks, this time, for the right reasons. Glimmerlight laughed and cried and told me again and again that she’d always known I'd find them. That she'd built a house for me already. That she'd never let anything make me feel alone again, so long as she was sheriff. I didn't know what else to do, other than to hold onto her.
Around us, the whole town dropped what they were doing and began to gallop over, many of them familiar as those who had escaped with us. Skidding into the dirt, Coral Eve threw her hooves around both Glimmer and myself, asking a thousand questions that I couldn't even begin to answer as I sobbed too hard to speak. Chirpy, Lilac, and Starshine galloped up behind her, screaming my name over and over as they bounced around and hugged one another. From the other side, the enormous figure of Brimstone Blitz knelt down and rested a hoof on my shoulder. I smiled up at his big silly-looking grin as he tried to remain stoic, and failed horribly.
Eventually, I found myself looking up and over Glimmer's shoulder to the town itself. Amongst the buildings, I could see everything we'd need. A shop, houses for everyone, a small barn, a caravan stop, and a workshop; all of it on the bottom level or built up on the hillside. Standing beside the orphanage though, I saw something that felt like it mended a hole in my heart.
A small library, marked above the doors with a stylised circle formed from Celestia and Luna.
I clutched on to my friends and smiled as I looked upon it. Yet as I stared, the creaky door opened, and I saw a cream unicorn emerge carrying a small pile of worn books. She stopped suddenly, and from behind her wavy orange and red-tinted mane, her eyes blinked and stared over at us.
My embrace loosened as I stared back. My heart began to race as I saw her blink and stare without an immediate reaction. Was she just shocked to see me or...
Yet then, in one swift motion, Unity's face exploded into an enormous, ear-to-ear smile.
As I forced myself out from the others to catch her galloping embrace, I felt myself lost in the well of relief and happiness that led us both to hold on tight, and to say nothing at all.
We were surrounded by those I cared about, and I could hear all of them talking at once about how we were going to celebrate the final end of our impossible escape. And in that one moment, I finally knew my reward for holding on all those years since I'd first been put in chains.
That after a lifetime of hardship and searching, of slavery and distant dreams, of horrors both past and present, of loss and heartbreak, I’d done it.
I had finally found my home.
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