There had been another night of waiting in the trees. Followed by most of another day of flying. But as the sun slowly settled in the distance, I saw the river close to Nocturnis glitter in the light of the setting sun.
“It’ll be good to be back home,” Twilight said next to me, putting her hooves onto the railing of the carriage as she looked forward.
“Mmm,” I agreed, “Sleep in our own bed again.”
“That too,” Twilight said and then smiled at me, “...I missed the sounds too.”
I nodded. I knew exactly what she meant. The birds, the monkey things, the howls of the pony eating monsters…
“Well, I for one just look forward to not sleeping on a treebranch,” Sunset said and then shivered slightly, “Seriously, I’m going to develop a phobia about being on the ground or something.”
I frowned, “Is it even a phobia if it’s just common sense?”
Twilight nodded, “Phobias are specified as-”
Before she was able to fill us in she broke off as the carriage went down for a landing and we had a bit of a surprise. Everypony seemed to be awake and gathered around the small square of the town. On the bridges, on the roofs, on branches and on the platforms.
“Well,” I said as we circled down towards the middle of the square with the rest of the carriages, “I don’t see torches or pitchforks.”
Sunset suppressed a small smile, “Page, they are happy to see you.”
“I’m sure they are just happy to get their friends and family members back,” I told her as we landed before I jumped out of the carriage and down on the platform.
I almost stumbled at the landing as it seemed like the entire village cheered, the sound loud enough to make me press my ears against my head as I looked around.
They… they really were here to welcome us back.
Two carriages didn’t land, they continued on to the small hospital with the injured ponies, but the rest settled down on the platform.
Taking a deep breath, I looked towards the two pegasi that pulled our carriage. Sudden Flash and Dapper Bolt.
They looked tired but happy as they looked around. I held my hoof out and hoof bumped both of them, “Good work,” I told them with a smile before I turned towards the still cheering crowd. Everytime a new pony disembarked they seemed to get a second wind.
Sunset moved up next to me, nosing in beneath my chin, “Speech, Page,” she said quietly.
I pulled her close with my wing, “Do I have to?”
“Yes.”
Fair enough.
Spreading my wings, I waited until everypony had disembarked before I flew up to land ontop on the railing on the closest carriage, balancing easily on the front and side railings as I looked around as the crowd drew quiet.
I smiled at them, “What are all of you doing up this early!? Crazy ponies!”
Laughter.
I folded my wings again and shook my head, raising one hoof off the railing while keeping my balance and I looked out over the crowd as they got quiet again,
“It’s good to be back home again,” I continued, igniting my horn and using a spell to make sure that everypony could hear me, “What happened was a horrible accident and one that will affect us all, whether we knew the ponies that lost their lives in the crash or not. I have some names I want you to remember.”
“Ivory Comet.”
“Nimble Force.”
“Steel Haze.”
Silence.
I raised my wings and sighed, “They had only seconds to realize what was happening. Maybe they could have had time to escape the locomotive before the crash, maybe not. I don’t think we’ll ever know. But what we do know is that they didn’t even try. Instead they engaged the brakes… and saved the lives of several more ponies. It is by their actions, their bravery that the crash was not worse than it was. They kept ponies safe, they kept others from dying at the cost of their own lives.”
Silence.
“Their actions will be remembered. Their sacrifice will be remembered. They will be remembered!”
I looked towards Sparks and Sunny before I sighed and looked towards the crowd again, “But it is not all over yet,” I continued, “The train tracks are ruined. There is a broken train laying across them. There is a team of engineers heading down from Canterlot to investigate, but it may be months before we even have a chance at another train. Things will be even harder for a while.”
“We don’t need them!”
I looked towards the voice in the crowd and shook my head, “Do you have an iron mine I don’t know about?” I asked, “Or a grain farm? We’ll be fine, but we will have some shortages for a bit.”
What was that sentiment? We’re part of Equestria, there isn’t any us and them. That was the entire point of this place!
We need more non-thestrals. That sort of sentiment could absolutely not be allowed to become ingrained under any circumstances.
A mare I didn’t recognize at the moment took a step forward and raised her voice, “We can figure it out, your highness,” she said loudly and reared up on her rear hooves. She had a grey coat and darker mane with a flame cutiemark, her bat wings half spread as she looked around as she yelled, “We can gather more fruit and hunt more, we don’t need clothes and we can make our own tools if we need them! We can reuse whatever we need. Right!? We’ll last as long as necessary!”
The crowd yelled their agreement.
Wait, I do know her! I recognize her now! She runs the noodle stand! Not being able to import flour or spices is going to directly affect her business and she still stood up and said that, first of all. Amazing.
What’s her name, what’s her name! Damn it, what-
Spicy Pepper. That’s it.
“Thank you, Spicy Pepper,” I told her with a smile before I looked across the gathered ponies, “She’s right, isn’t she!? This jungle has thrown everything it has at us, this is just one more obstacle! But after all we've been through, after all that’s gone wrong or gone against us… we’re still here!”
The answering cheer almost knocked me off the railing.