Grey clouds still blanketed the sky as we drove down the highway, passing by vehicles that were abandoned by people when the war started. We had been on the road for about an hour now, though it felt like more to some of us. It wouldn't normally take this long to get to my hometown, Lakeville, but with the highway backed up with abandoned cars, we’d almost decided to take the backroads which would've taken us longer to get there. But, thanks to our pony friends and their magic, they were able to levitate and move any vehicles out of the way.
I was in a seat closest to the door at the front of the bus, looking out the window with my chin resting in my hand. Luna, who was not sitting with me, sat with Twilight and Celestia. I had looked over my seat a while ago to see them talking with William, probably discussing what power the Remnants had or what our country’s military was like before the war. She insisted that she spend some with her sister since her leg was still healing and I had no problem with it then, but now, not having her next to me, it was kinda lonely. I mean, she understands me and if it weren't for her, I wouldn’t be returning to my home.
Home. It was that one word that would make me feel depressed, remind me of the life I had lost so long ago. I still felt a bit uncomfortable about it, visiting my old home again after five years of surviving from changelings and living in a basement of a school. In truth, I just wanted to change my mind about it. But Luna was right, I need to stop feeling depressed about what I’ve lost and what fate that befell on my parents and revisit the one place where my happy memories were.
“Excuse me, Morgan?” I turned my head to see Twilight standing in the middle of the walkway of the bus.
“Hm? Oh, hey Twi.” I greeted with a smile as she hopped up on my seat and sat next to me. “What brings you up here?”
“Well I noticed that you were all by yourself up here, so I thought you could use some company.” She replied with soft eyes.
“Well, thank you for thinking of me, Twilight. So, did you learn anything new about our world?” I asked.
“William explained some knowledge of your government, the history of your country and the many positive events that happened. Though just before I left to check on you, he had just started talking about some type of organization your country is part of, Something called… Nathan?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as she mispronounced the word. “I think you mean NATO: The
“Fascinating.” She commented. “But then, if that’s what NATO’s for, why haven't they done anything to help you?”
“Well,” I started as I rubbed my forehead. They had to know about this story sooner or later. “This back when we brought Chris into our group, which was like two and a half months after the Changelings invaded. When we met him, we were kinda thrilled that he was a hacker since we had very little knowledge of what was happening outside of Minnesota. So, we helped him hookup his equipment and he started getting to work. He proved himself a week later as he was able to hack into a military satellite which stealthy connected him into the Pentagon.”
“The… Pentagon?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.
“It’s
“On the following day, Chrysalis made an announcement to the entire world about the attack in Boston, explaining how NATO made a very poor choice and that it would not be ignored. She threatened the other countries, said and quote. ‘We are not just some alien species, we are superior, magical creatures, capable of devastating cities, capable of draining love from anyone we want, where ever we want, capable of infiltrating and devastating your insolent countries from the inside out until there is nothing but chaos in the streets. So, just remember who controls this pathetic nation that neighbors your very own, for if you cross us again with your foolish attempts at liberating this country, taking away our new home from us, then it will mean war.’ Obviously, they bought her threat as they haven't made another move since.”
“So, it was either abandon America and leave the Changelings alone… or be destroyed.” Twilight said, now fully understanding.
“Them abandoning us was the best and only option for all of us to live. If they continued to fight back, Chrysalis would only retaliate and make things much, much worse for the human race.” I replied solemnly.
“Morgan, I know I already said this before, but I’m sorry we weren't there for you when Chrysalis took over. But we’re here now and we’ll do whatever it takes to help you take back your home.” She said as she placed a hoof in my lap reassuringly
“That means a lot, Twilight. Thank you.” I replied with a smile.
“Attention passengers,” Kenny’s voice announced of the bus’ PA system. “We will be arriving in the town of Lakeville in the next few minutes where we will be stopping for a while. When we get there, please feel free to stretch your legs and check out the area… Oh, and Morgan,” He looked at me with kind eyes through the rearview mirror.
“Welcome home.”
*******
Our bus came to a slow stop on Lakeville’s main street, Holyoke Avenue. The entire town was just like the inside of Minneapolis, boarded up windows on shops, vehicles left abandoned on the street and not one single soul in sight. At least there aren’t any Changed here, I've had enough Changeling Zombies for one day. I was the first one to step off the bus and following me off, escorted by Brandon and Sarah, were our two zip tied hostages, Andre and Xander, who had tried to mugged Kenny and I while we were in the mall.
“Tie them to that light post,” I ordered as they guided our Jamaicans prisoners to a light post only a few feet from where we parked, forcing them to sit down facing away from the post as they bound their hands to the post.
“So this is where you lived?” Fluttershy asked, looking around as she stepped off the bus. “It must have been a very beautiful town.”
“It was, Fluttershy. You should have seen this place back in the day.” I replied with a sigh as looked around at my once beloved hometown. Lakeville wasn’t special, it wasn’t a resort town nor a farming town, but it was home to me. I had a lot of happy memories growing up here, but now, it’s just another deserted town thanks to the Changelings.
“Well kid, what’s the plan?” Will asked as stepped off the bus and walked up next to me.
“Well, from the looks of this place, I don’t think anyone has stepped foot here in a long time, so there still might be some loot for us. Will, you and your team and patrol the area, best to make sure we’re the only ones here. Markus, you take Jacob and Chris and check the nearby gun store, see if you can’t find some more weapons. Evan, Shift, Kenny, stay here and watch our ‘friends’, make sure they don’t try to escape. As for the rest of you, stay close to the bus. It's best we don’t stay here too long.” With that said, everyone walked off to do their tasks.
“Now for why I came here.” I thought as I had started walking off.
“Morgan,” Celestia spoke up as I turned around. “You’re not gonna leave us here while you go visit your old house, are you?”
“With all due respect, Celestia, this is a personal matter. I haven’t been here for half a century and… look, it’s just best that I do this alone, okay?” I replied.
“Morgan, if you honestly think you can leave us here then you are highly mistaken. I speak for everypony when I say that it would be nice for all of us to see where you grew up. Besides, I was the one who convinced you to visit your home all while in your dream.” Luna stated with a smirk. I was about to protest when Twilight and her friends started speaking up.
“Come now, darling. You don’t expect us to stay here do you?” Rarity asked.
“Ah agree with Rarity, ah refuse to stay here while you go visit your home without us!” Applejack exclaimed.
“I, umm, I’d also like to come, if that’s alright?” Fluttershy asked in a timid voice.
“Ooh, ooh, I wanna come too, I wanna come too!” Pinkie Pie begged with a joyful tone, jumping up and down all the while.
Come on Morgan, you can't force us all to stay here, it'll be boring with you gone!” Rainbow Dash whined.
“Morgan, Is it that hard for you to allow us to come with? We’re your friends after all.” Twilight said, stepping forward.
All I could do was sigh as they pleaded to come with me. I loved these ponies, but sometimes they were a little unbearable. Though I knew there was no other option not to bring them. I mean, come on, how could I not say no to them after how much they've helped us, especially since that Luna is now my girlfriend, or marefriend as they call it in Equestria.
“Alright, alright, you can tag along,” I replied, finally giving in to their begging before turning my attention to Evan, Shift, and Kenny.
“Watch these two carefully,” I ordered, mentioning to our captives. As they nodded in response, I turned and mentioned for the ponies to follow. “I know of a pathway that’ll get us into the neighborhood quicker,” I explained as we began our trip with everypony following close behind me.
*******
We’ve been walking for about twenty minutes, but we weren’t too far from my house. I lived here for so long that I knew that it would take about twenty-five minutes to walk from town to my house. As we walked, we passed by multiple houses that had been burnt to the ground long ago, only very few houses were still standing. This worried me, I hadn't returned here in five years, so I had no idea if my home was still there or not. My family and I have lived in Lakeville for as long as I can remember, but I’m afraid that when we get there, nothing would be left but the charred remains of my old home. I didn’t realize that I had a troubled look on my face from thinking about it until Twilight spoke up.
“Morgan, are you alright?” she asked with a concerned tone.
“Hmm? Yeah, yeah I'm fine,” I quickly replied before making something up. “I was just thinking of everything that’s happened to us within the last forty-eight hours. I mean, we've snuck in and out of a changeling controlled city, survived the horrors that were in the Dead Zone and met up with a group of remnants. So far these past few days have been amazing, if not scary.”
“I agree, Morgan.” Celestia agreed. “I doubt that any other human would be willing to do so much like you have given the circumstances. Your friends on the other hand, I have a feeling they would not do as well as you. For you, Morgan Grey, are our a one of a kind guardian”
“Aww, now that warms this young soul’s heart.” I joked, earning a few giggles from everypony. I didn't want to lie to them, but I only did it because I didn't want them to worry about me. The last thing I wanted them to see was a depressed, crying man mourning the lose his entire life. I had to make sure I did not show any weakness. We kept on walking down the street when Rarity spoke up.
“Morgan, darling, may I ask you something?”
“Sure, ask away,” I replied.
“Well, so far we have learned about what everyone's past was. Markus owned a weapon shop with father, Will used to be in your nation's army, Evan was a doctor in training, but we don’t know anything about Chris’ past.”
“That’s true,” Applejack joined in. “Come to think of it, all you told us about him was how you first met him when he came walking up the road carrying his bag of technical whatnots.”
“I really wish I could tell you guys, but I’m afraid I can’t,” I replied
“Why not?” Twilight asked.
“Because he wouldn’t even tell us… all I can tell you is that Chris has a past that he doesn’t like to share with anyone. He’s never brought it up with me, Jacob or Markus and he is not changing his mind about it. I tried asking him about his past, but he looked at me with fury in his eyes as if I just insulted him. He backs me up against the wall and threatens to kill me if I ever asked about it again. Course, he didn’t mean it and later apologized, but it was decided that it be best if it never brought it up again.”
“Do you think something happened to him in his past, when Chrysalis took over?” Luna questioned.
“That’s what we seem to think,” I replied plainly before releasing a sigh. “Look, guys, I know that you’re all very friendly and come from a world where friendship is magic and all that, but it would be best if you don’t ask Chris about his past. Whatever he's hiding must've traumatized him very badly, so it would be better if it were left alone.”
“Do not worry, Morgan, if Chris doesn't want to share his past, then we will not bother him about it. You have our word.” Twilight reassured as everypony nodded in agreement.
“Still, makes you wonder what happened to him.” Rainbow Dash stated.
“Who knows, there are multiple things the could have happened to him. He could’ve lost a loved one, maybe a girlfriend or a family member or he could’ve lost his-” I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes staring ahead at a sight that made my heart skip a beat. There on the corner of the street was my house, burnt to the ground. It was my worst fear come true. I figured that everypony saw what exactly I was looking at as none of them said a word, that is until Twilight spoke
“Morgan... is that-”
“M-my home,” I said softly, finishing her sentence. I started walking at a fast pace towards my house until it turned into a full jog. I could hear behind me the hoofsteps of everypony as they galloped after me. I heard both Twilight, Celestia, and Luna calling after me, wanting me to slow down, but I ignored them as I was focused on reaching my home.
My pace finally slowed down once I stepped onto the property. There were no words to how I felt, seeing the one place where I grew up reduced to ash and charcoal. I stopped walking until I was in the middle of my burned home, more specifically, where my family and I usually had breakfast. I slowly looked around, seeing every inch of my house gone, our living room, gone, our kitchen, gone, my mom’s sewing room, big shocker, also gone!
“Morgan,” Celestia spoke up with concern as I could hear her taking a few steps across the lawn. “Are you alright?”
“I always had a feeling that this is what I would return to, that there would be nothing left for me here,” I explained, no emotion visible in my voice. “I actually thought that coming back here would bring me closure, just like Luna said… but now, seeing all of this, it just opens up old wounds. I had a perfect life before all of this happened, I had the perfect family… but in the blink of an eye, all of it turned to dust right before me. I lost everything to the changeling race, everything that I ever cared about, my home, my parents, my life.” My hand clenched into a fist as rage built up in my system. A single tear ran down my face as I fought hard trying to keep my emotions in check, but in the end, I failed to contain them.
“It’s all their GODDAMN FAULT!” I screamed as I grabbed my machete and started swinging it at pieces of burnt wood standing near me. Tears were now running down my cheeks as I took my anger out on any object that I saw.
“Morgan, stop it!” Twilight yelled. I knew she along with everypony else were worried that I would hurt myself, but I was too enraged to give a damn. I was about to take another swing at the charred wood when something grabbed hold of my blade. I turned my head to see that Luna's magic was all around my blade as she walked up to me with sad eyes.
“Morgan, calm yourself,” she said. “We know that you're deeply upset with all that you've lost, but this isn't the way to express it. Think of your family, do you think they would want to see you like this?”
“They… I-I-I…” I couldn't hold in anymore. My arm dropped down, letting go of my machete as I fell to my knees and started to sob like a lost child. Luna took a few steps closer and sat down in front of me. I looked up to also see that everypony else stood behind her, all showing sadness in their eyes.
“Why us?” I questioned, my eyes wet with tears. “America has made bad choices in the past, but what did we ever do to deserve this type of punishment? To be treated like cattle to the slaughter so they can drain us dry of our love. For them to murder us whenever they want when we've done nothing wrong. Why must we be forced to live like this?”
As I started to cry again, I could feel Luna's feathery wings wrap around me and pull me close her warm body to hug me. Seconds later, Twilight and her friends walked up to us and one by one, they all joined in on the hug, especially Celestia. I'm supposed the brave guardian to these kind ponies, to be there for them when they were in danger, but it felt like they were becoming my guardians in a way. We hugged for a full ten minutes until I had finally calmed down, my sobs reduced to sniffles.
“I-I'm sorry y-you have to see me like this. I-”
“Shhh.” Luna hushed, placing a hoof over my lips as she spoke softly to me. “We understand your pain, Morgan, no one should go through this amount of trauma. We're all sorry that you lost everything that you've loved, but you still have us. You mean everything to us, and we will always be there for you, Morgan, through good or bad.”
“T-thank you,” I replied with a sad smile. “If I'd come here without all of you, I-I'd probably wouldn't be the same.”
“Think nothing of it, Morgan,” Celestia said sweetly before she rose back to her hooves. “Now, I believe we should be returning to the others.”
“Of course.” I agreed as I was helped up off the ground by Applejack. “But before we leave, I would like a moment to myself, if you may.” Celestia and Luna nodded as they along with everypony else walked away to give me space. I turned around to face my house as I closed my eyes and spoke softly to myself
“Mom, Dad, wherever you are, I want to thank you for taking care of me, you've raised me well, and while it's still not the same without you being there for me, I have special friends who will watch over me for you. I miss you very much, and hopefully, when the time comes, we will meet again.”
Once I had finished saying my peace, I turn around and walked back to the others who were standing at the edge of the lawn, waiting for me. These ponies, after the love and kindness they showed towards me, they mean everything to me now. I would have regretted it if I didn't let them be there for me, but from now on, I was going to make sure that I would always be there for them. I was given one more tender hug by Luna before we started walking back to town.
*******
I was starting to feel much better after my outburst as we headed back into town. Everypony walked very close to me, including Luna, as I knew they were doing this in case I ended up crying again. I reassured them that I would be fine and started telling them stories about my family during our walk back, some were funny, memorable, or heartwarming, all of them gave smiles to my pony friend's faces. My parents are dead, there's no changing that, but their memories would live on and again never will I let their deaths affect me.
We rounded the corner of the street we parked on, I could see everyone standing around the bus. Will and his group were gathered around, Jacob, Chris, and Markus were looking over some weapons, possibly from the gun store, and Kenny, Evan, and Shift were talking with each other while Carol played with Noah. I had also noticed that our two prisoners still tied to the light post, guess they knew there was no use escaping from a group like us. We were fifteen feet away when Kenny and Aunt Carol noticed us and walked up.
“Welcome back, kid.” Kenny greeted before a look of concern appeared on his face. “So, I take it your house is…” his voice trailed, unsure to finished his sentence, but I finished it for him
“Yeah, it's gone.”
“Oh, honey.” Carol cooed as she pulled me into a hug which I accepted. “I'm so sorry.”
“It's fine, Carol,” I reassured with a sad smile. “I was a mess when I laid eyes upon it, but luckily I had friends there for me.” I looked back at everypony, smiles on their faces as I mentioned them.
“Hey, Morgan!” Jacob called out as he and Markus walked up to us.
“What did you find at the gun store?” I asked, hoping there was at least some items that hadn’t been taken.
“Not much,” Markus replied. “All we could find was a Remington ADL, a Mossberg
, and some .308 and .22LR rounds.
“We also found this,” Jacob spoke up as he reached into his pocket and handed me a small handgun, a Beretta Pico.
“A Pico? Been a long time since I fired one of these.” I said aloud as Twilight walked to take a closer look.
“It looks so small compared to your pistol.” She pointed out.
“It’s considered a conceal and carry weapon,” Jacob stated. “People would carry these types of guns in their pants and purses as a means for protection.”
“You carried your guns in your purses! Those are supposed to be for fashion, not for storing your weapons!” Rarity exclaimed with an insulted look.
“It’s America, Rarity, and Americans like us can carry our guns however we want,” Markus replied matter of factly as Rarity gave him an eye roll.
“Kid,” Kenny spoke softly as I turned to look at him, a concerned look still on his face. “You sure you’ll be fine, I mean your house-”
“Kenny,” I spoke up, interrupting him as I gave him a reassuring look. “I’ll be fine. Besides, I still have you, Carol and Noah as family, nothing will change that.” He gave me a smile before my attention was diverted when I saw Will and his group walking our way.
“We’re ready to head out whenever you are son.” He said. I gave him an affirming nod as I turned back to everyone behind me.
“Alright everyone, we still have a long road ahead of us!” I announced as I placed the pico in my pocket. “Next stop, Daryl’s!”
With that said, everyone started piling back onto the bus while Brandon and Sarah untied the two Jamaicans and escorted them back onto the bus. Jacob and Markus collected the guns they found and placed them into the infinity bag, as Markus now calls it, before walking to the bus with Jacob carrying the bag. I was about to board as well before I took one last look at my hometown. I could remember every fun thing that I did here, buying ice-cream at the Dairy Delite, listening to musicians at the music bar, this place brought me joy. But with the enemies I have made now, I have no idea if this will be the last time I would see this place.
“Morgan,” I turned my head to see Luna standing next to me, looking at me with her soft eyes and a sad smile. “Everything will be alright, you still have us, and we will not be leaving you anytime soon.”
“I know, Luna, I know,” I replied with a sigh.
“Come, Morgan, as you said yourself, we still have a long road ahead of us.” She said as she stretched out her wing and guided me toward the bus as Kenny started up the engine.
Once we boarded onto the bus, I took my seat by the door and leaned my chin into my hand as I looked out the window, staring at boarded up shops. I had expected Luna to sit with her sister on the way to Daryl's farm, but instead, she took a seat next to me, her feathered wing brushing up against my arm as she smiled at me, making me smile back in return. The bus shifted as we started to slowly drive away from the town of Lakeville, continuing our trip south. I will miss this place, yes, but hopefully, once this war is over, I will return to rebuild it back to the way it was before, the way I remember it.