//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Fields of Fire 
// by Wheller 
//------------------------------//


Epilogue


'So there ya'll have it, that's the story of the founding of FutureTec', Apple Bloom said.

Twilight and company sat quietly, in awe of the Cutie Mark Crusader's story. Twilight herself wasn't even sure if she believed it in the slightest.

'Tha' can't be it!' Applejack cried out. 'What happened ta Ponyville?'

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other and grinned widely. 'Simple, we conned Xerxes! We told him we represented some ponies behind the scenes', Scootaloo said. 'We told him that we had a lot more than that single broken combot, which really was true though we didn't find out until later when we found Emerald Sparkle's reserve force, we told him it was in his best interest not to mess with us'.

'He agreed, and made a telephone call to some place called Vermilion Mesa, that's when he came to us and asked if our bosses would be willing to enter a partnership', Sweetie Belle added.

'What's at Vermillion Mesa?' Twilight asked, having never heard of such a place.

'The central authority for the entire Cultus Mechanius', Apple Bloom said. 'They ain't used ta having somepony around with technology like them, and the combots really scared them'.

'Doesn't that worry you more?' Rarity asked. 'If they see a threat...'

'We're all friends here', Apple Bloom said. 'And they're more worried about Fillydelphia than FutureTec'.

'So then', Twilight Sparkle said, rising from her seat and to her hooves. 'That begs the question, what's wrong with this Archimedes and Fillydelphia?'

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to answer, however, at that exact moment, the lights went dead, and a few seconds later, red emergency lights began to light up, giving the entire room an eerie red glow. Apple Bloom tapped at an intercom with her hoof. 'Station two, report in', she said.

She got no response.

'Station three, report in', she said. Again, there was no response. 'That ain't good'.

'Nope', Vinyl Scratch said, her saddlebags flipping open and levitating her revolver out, snapping open the breech and sliding in six rounds. Twilight did the same, pulling hers out and checking to see that it was in proper order.

Much to the surprise of the others, Rarity threw off her cloak and pulled out her cheval MAE-28 submachine gun. Pulling the trigger back slightly to release the safety catch.

'You... still have that?' Fluttershy asked nervously.

'The way the world is right now?' Rarity asked. 'I never leave home without it'.

'All right', Vinyl Scratch said. 'Let's see what's going on out there', she said as she trotted over to the door and pushed it open.