//------------------------------//
// Epilogue: Another Story 
// Story: Fallout Equestria: Cursed Winter 
// by Ashley Natter 
//------------------------------//

The station and the Stable were left behind, soon being enclosed by the cold mists. Midnight Reverie watched it from her perch atop the last wagon, the speaker system crackling with news and postings for the day, but most ponies around seem more captivated by the spicy smell that now comes out of the kitchen.

Ivory Spark had managed to hack open a few of the boxes, especially needed had been the coal reserves and the medicine. Not so much needed, but much more appreciated had been the food stores, specially the seasoning. The new zebras working the kitchen also brought new and interesting recipes with them.

Who knew that manticore meat could become so tender?

The Guardian had decided to stay behind, he declared that he would never abandon his post without express orders from Stable-tech, and so the lone Guardian stood in the platform watching them go before going back to his post.

Led by Unathi, the wereponies and some of the zebras had chosen to try their luck going south, they were too weary of the cold and desolation, eager to find anything that wasn’t the unending whiteness. Dahlia presented them with a few hoof-drawn maps the Night Guard had done along their trip, so they would have some help to traverse the Wasteland and a small measure of supplies.

The stripes that decided to remain on the train were becoming a common sight around, they still mostly kept to themselves in their allotted wagons, but slowly they were intermingling with the other survivors, running through wagons, climbing the rope harnesses, and lending their accented voices to old pony songs.

Language was still a barrier between the two groups, the zebras were struggling to learn some of the pony language, but for some time yet most of the communications was being done through exasperated hoof gestures. The ponies had been catching a few words of the zebra’s language, especially for swearing.

Ivory Spark was still recovering from her wounds, her horn was growing back and even without coherent magic she continues commanding their small radio post. The ghost signal coming out of the Crystal Empire was still a constant presence with its automated message promising food and shelter for everypony that could make its way there. Besides that, she had managed to find a couple of faint signals, most of them were too garbled to understand, but strangely enough one of them seemed to be a constant repetition of numbers without reason or pattern to it.

Iron Sunrise still isn’t too comfortable close to the zebras, but he’s enough of a soldier to ignore his preferences and follow the orders.

Midnight Reverie was more than happy to have some help on their small clinic, and the old zebra doctor seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of herbs and medicinal plants that surpassed anything she had read on the book.

The thestral looks over the horizon, there will be at least one more week until they can finally catch any glimpse of the Crystal Empire.

But that’s another story.