A Wilting Flower

by Terran34

Epilogue: The Hero

“I can’t make heads or tails of this,” I admit, running a hand along the side of one of the consoles. There are an inordinate amount of buttons, dials, knobs, and levers covering each of the work stations present in the control room. While they are labeled in english, the labels don’t make sense. “How would anyone know what ‘mK4’ or ‘nzk’ means?”

“You humans and your blocky letters. I can’t even read them,” Rainbow comments. She wasn’t even bothering to look at the consoles. Instead, she was wandering around the small room, looking at the various paraphernalia that decorated the room. I hear her pick something up behind me. “Hey, I found other humans!”

“You what?” I turn on my heel to see at what she’s looking. Rainbow was hovering just off of the ground, carrying a small framed photograph in her front hooves.

“Yeah, they’re all wearing fancy coats… except for these two in the front. Come take a look.” Rainbow ushers me over and gives the picture to me. I take it from her gingerly. It seems like the wood is in good shape, but considering nearly everything we’ve touched has broken, I can’t be too careful.

The picture is old, but I can make out a group of what look to be military men of some sort. Most of them are garbed relatively the same, but just like Rainbow said, there are two in the front that are dressed less formally.

One of them is an older man with greying hair wearing a simple set of cargo shorts and a t-shirt. The other is a similarly aged woman with an expression filled with mirth, dressed in a greasy set of slacks and a sleeveless shirt. She looks greasy, as though she’d just been working on heavy machinery. The both of them carry wrenches in one hand, and are holding one another with the other.

Curious, I turn the photograph over to see something scrawled on the back in untidy handwriting. “Niagara Falls Refugee Bunker: Engineering Team Founding Members,” I read off to Rainbow, even though she’s already moved on to poke around in the rest of the room. There were also a list of names corresponding to each of the people in the image. Two of them were marked with asterisks, however. “Aven and Avil. Odd names. I’m guessing they were siblings.”

I set the picture down where we found it, and then I look back to Rainbow, only to find her running her hooves all over the consoles, pressing every button and turning every dial she can find.

“Would you not touch anything!? We’ve no idea what anything here even does!” I snap at her, moving over to grab her hooves before she can hit anything vital. Rainbow jerks her hooves away from me, making it impossible to get a grip on her.

“So? Does it matter what they do? There’s no power, so none of them will even work!” Rainbow reminds me. When I don’t immediately answer, she adopts a smug expression. “See? Doofus.”

“But if there was power, then what if those settings you messed with causes some kind of chain-” In the middle of my indignant retort, Rainbow brings her hoof down on a silver lever with a red tip by the center console, flipping it easily. “Rainbow!”

“What? It’s fine; stop worrying so…” The room briefly shakes and then begins to resonate with a deep hum that steadily rises in magnitude as ancient machinery slowly stirs from its millennia long slumber. Rainbow looks at the lever she’d just flipped, looking dumbfounded. “I… uh… that… wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Dammit, Rainbow!” I snap, resting my hand on the wall to catch my balance. I rush to the window of the control room just in time to observe the results of her carelessness. “Whoa…”

After a short pause, structure outside the control room comes to life. The metal prongs within the crystalline chamber spark with power, feeding raw energy towards the tip of the cone, where a small burning orb starts to form. My eyes slowly widen when I realize what’s going on.

“No way… I didn’t think that humanity was that far along,” I gasp as the orb grows larger. Power suddenly returns all at once, flooding the once inky black room with bright light. The consoles around me beep and chime rapidly, indicator lights flash red and green, and their monitors hum to life to reveal complicated screens of statistics.

“That is so cool…” Rainbow can’t help but say as she watched the reactor power up. She flew out of the room and hovered close to the machinery, attempting to get a closer look at the burning orb. “Seth, are you sure humans didn’t have magic? Because that looks like a mini-sun.”

“The sad thing is that I can’t disagree with you. My first thought was fusion power, but this… I don’t even know what to call this,” I admit. I notice her getting ever closer, so I call out to her. “Don’t get too close! I don’t know this technology, so it could be incredibly dangerous!”

“Relax, I’m not gonna touch the bright burning sun thing,” Rainbow remarks dismissively, but she doesn’t get any closer to the reactor. Her head turns to follow all the lights on the ceiling. “You think this means we can open those doors now?”

“I hope so. I’m just amazed that this thing even works after three thousand years,” I reply. Before I can say anything else, I’m interrupted by a soft chime coming from the central monitor. The screen had turned a soft gray, and a white rectangular dialogue box had appeared in the center.

In the box was a blinking orange button that said “Tap here,” and a single line of text above it that displayed a variation of the message that any computer programmer would recognize. “Hello, Future World!”

“Rainbow, get over here. Seems like we’ve been left a message,” I deduce. It doesn’t take Rainbow long to zip back into the room, her curiosity readily apparent. She looks at the screen and blinks, unable to read what it says. “The fact that this came up right after we started the reactor… well, that can’t be a coincidence.”

“Maybe they’re going to tell us where they left all their cool tech! What if they have like, robot suits?” Rainbow’s imagination proceeds to go wild beside me. I ignore her and tap the button as directed. A loading circle appears for a brief moment, and then a larger window forms with the image of an balding man in a white coat and spectacles who looked to be in his late sixties. Judging from the background, he was in the same room as the one in which they currently stood. “Whoa, is that…?”

“Shut up, it’s a video!” I hiss at her, just as the image starts to move. At first, it’s nothing more than the man adjusting the camera and such, but eventually he sits down in the chair closest to the screen and clears his throat.

“Greetings!” the man begins cheerfully, putting on a weary smile. “If you’re watching this video, then luck was on my side and my plan to preserve this bunker and its technology was successful. If my ol’ Great Grandma Emmeline's tales are true, then you must be ponies, correct?”

“Well, he’s half right,” Rainbow remarked, nudging me. “How does he know that, though?”

“Your guess is as good as mine; I only told my family,” I admit with a shrug.

“As intriguing as that is and as many questions as that raises, that’s besides the point. I recorded this message to tell ponykind, or whoever finds this message, a little information about myself, as well as the bunker in which I’ve been trapped my whole life. My name is Dr. Lyle Kristen, lead programmer… or should I say, last programmer… of the Niagara Falls Refugee Bunker,” the man introduces himself with a polite dip of his head. “I was born and raised in this bunker, where we are safe from the monsters we call Oppressed. That being said, such safety has its drawbacks: I’ve never once in my whole life left this bunker. The warmth of the sunlight, the fragrance of flowers, the breaking of waves… everything that my grandma’s generation took for granted, I’ve never experienced except through media.”

“If you think that sounds awful, you would be right. Knowing that there’s a world of such beauty out there that I’d never be able to experience… well, to say that it’s been a challenge would be an understatement,” Lyle continues with a slight chuckle. “I’m not the only one who feels that way. The reason you’ll find the bunker abandoned is because not only did we not have a sustainable population to begin with, but as the years go by, our restlessness has grown. As our population dwindles, many of us have left, accepting the fact that we as a species are finished.”

“However, I also know that one day, ponies will come along, and it will be as though we’ve never existed. As an engineer… no, as a human myself, I would be remiss if I didn’t leave the future something to remember us by.” Lyle starts to look particularly proud of himself as he starts detail his plan. “Therefore, I left just enough fuel in the reactor to get the reactions started, and a stored program that will execute upon reactivation. That probably makes no sense to you, but suffice to say, the doors you haven’t been able to open… I’ve disabled the magnetic locks.”

“Aha, so the doors did open!” Rainbow exclaims.

“Furthermore, I’ve left a time capsule containing records of human civilization, culture, and history stored in my family’s room. The capsule also contains a family heirloom that supposedly belonged to a “true hero.” According to our family, without this hero’s sacrifice, I wouldn’t even exist… and neither would the safe haven that is this bunker.,” Lyle revealed. “You can find our room in the back of the living complex, sector D4, room two. The combination for the capsule’s lock is twenty-four, ninety-six, eighteen.”

The moment Lyle began to list numbers, I reach for my phone and rapidly type in everything he says. While I may have no use for human records, I know Flash and Opal certainly would. Though, if anything, I’m curious about this “true hero” Lyle mentioned.

“Well then. I do believe I’ve said my piece. I’m leaving everything we have to you, in the hopes that you will see and learn from our accomplishments… and our mistakes,” Lyle said with a heavy sigh. He stood up from the chair and fiddled with something off screen until a klaxon alarm began to sound in the background.

“Depressurization will begin in five minutes,” a voice sounded in the background.

“It was a pleasure speaking with you. Now, if you’ll excuse me… it’s time for those of us left to see the world that we’ve been missing out on for all our lives. Goodbye ponykind, and good luck.” With that, Lyle reached towards the screen, and the video ended.

I stare at the screen in silence for several moments. Now that I think about it, it was foolish of me to assume that Maka and her soldiers were the last of humanity. We’re stubborn creatures, so the idea that some of us bunkered up and withstood the undead storm isn’t so far-fetched at all. Granted, it didn’t do anything for us in the end, but it’s nice to know that some humans survived Sombra’s invasion and were able to live their lives out in peace.

“Do… you need a hug? You’ve got that face on again,” Rainbow asks awkwardly, looking anywhere but at me. When I turn to look at her, she colors. “Quit looking at me like that. You’re the one who needs it, not me!”

“This is just my face, thank you very much,” I retort wryly. “Thanks, but I’m okay. This is… I can be satisfied with seeing this. This means that Sombra didn’t kill everyone. It means that some people survived. It’s a relief, to be honest.”

“What I wanna know about is this ‘true hero’ he talked about!” Rainbow expressed, her curiosity giving way to excitement. “Also how he knew I was a pony. But mostly the hero.”

“That seems like you,” I deadpan. I turn away from the console and make my way towards the exit. “Come on, let’s get moving. Vinyl’s mom will kill me if I don’t find this time capsule for her.”

“How are we even going to find their room? Those numbers and letters made no sense,” Rainbow inquires while following me closely.

“Back this way. I remember seeing a map on one of the walls.”

With that, the two of us make our way to the living areas. Sure enough, every door that had once blocked us is now wide open. The entirety of the bunker was open to us now. However, unlike before, I was less interested in exploring. Instead, I follow Rainbow from room to room, lost in thought.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Rainbow eventually says after she finishes poking through what seems to be a lounge for bunker employees. “You’re sure you’re fine?”

“Yeah. I’m just re-evaluating my understanding of the events after I was sent to this era,” I answer, rubbing my temple with my thumb. “It’s hard to piece things together in my head. I’d thought that Sombra rendered humanity completely extinct, but I guess it wasn’t that easy.”

“Some of you managed to get away. Do you think there could be more humans out there?” Rainbow asks curiously.

“Honestly, I don’t know how to answer that. I would have said ‘absolutely not’ before, but… I just don’t know,” I reply with a sigh. “The world is a big place, and if one bunker managed to survive, that means it’s possible there are others. Still, three thousand years is a long time.”

Not knowing what else to say, I fall silent, and Rainbow says nothing more.

---

The living area of the bunker is separated into multiple blocks consisting of multiple rooms. These blocks, according to the map, are referred to as sectors, and consist of sixteen rooms each.

To make a better comparison, the living area reminds me of city blocks. The hallways are streets, and the rooms themselves are arranged in groups of four where the buildings would be. Peeking into one of the rooms reveals a cramped space with four beds set into both the left and right walls. The far wall holds a set of shelves and a desk, and the center of the room there is a single table. The beds are set atop one another, not leaving much room for movement. I suppose that makes sense; this is a refugee bunker, and space would inevitably be an issue.

“Well, this is it,” I say as the two of us approach the room to which Lyle had directed us. I can already tell that this room is different than the others we’ve been in. Not only is it more decorated, but there is a large cylindrical capsule protruding up from a hatch in the floor as though it had been waiting for us.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s open it up!” Rainbow zips over to the capsule immediately and begins tugging on it, despite the fact that it’s clearly too heavy for her alone.

“Not just yet. I want to look around the room first,” I tell her, much to her annoyance. When I see her give me an impatient stare, I huff. “There’s no rush. Besides, I want to see if any of these pictures tell me anything about that hero Lyle mentioned.”

“Well, hurry up! The suspense is killing me!” Rainbow sat down on the top of the cylinder, watching me walk around the room impatiently. “Are you done yet?”

“Rainbow, don’t you even start with me. I know where you sleep,” I retort as I near the desk at the far end of the room. I pick up one of the framed pictures resting atop its surface and bring it up to my eyes.

“Yeah, with you. Your point?” Rainbow returns without missing a beat. She looks at me with hooded eyes. “If you’re going to do something, make sure I’m awake. It’s no fun if I’m asleep for the good part.”

“I’m just going to ignore that,” I remark with a shudder, instead focusing on the five figures smiling up at me from the photo. I don’t recognize most of them, but I do notice the same two figures that had been in the engineering photo: Aven and Avil. Standing with them is a middle aged woman with brown hair, and old man with a scraggly grey beard, and a young girl no more than nine years old. Turning the photo over reveals their names to me. In addition to the two engineers, I read the names Kent Bernard, Mary Kristen, and Emma Kristen. Judging from the names, I’m guessing that Emma is Lyle’s great grandmother, Emelisse.

“Alright, let’s get this monster open.” After a quick look over the rest of the room, I join Rainbow by the cylinder and scan over the object until I find the combination lock keeping the lid shut. Inputting the code Lyle supplied me with results in a click, and then a loud hiss as air rushes into the vacuum sealed container. Rainbow and I work together to get the lid off, revealing the ancient contents inside. Then, we start to take objects out one at a time.

“Is this… a history textbook?” I emit with a wry expression on my face, holding the thick book in my hand. I’m mostly talking to myself, as I can clearly see from the cover that it’s a world history textbook from 2022. “Twilight would kill to get her hooves on this.”

“Gosh, there’s so much in here! But they’re mostly a lot of books. I was hoping for something more interesting,” Rainbow huffed as she lifted a children’s picture book from within the capsule. The next thing she lifted looked to be a fantasy book that I didn’t recognize. It had a picture of a human in a futuristic jumpsuit, riding in a small one seater ship that was fleeing from a much larger armada. Rainbow stared at the picture for a few seconds. “Seth… can you read this to me?”

“What, for real? I didn’t think you were the type for bedtime stories,” I poke fun at her without looking up from my perusal of the capsule’s contents. Rainbow’s reaction was immediate, the mare throwing a smaller book at my head. “Ow, what was that for?”

“I wasn’t asking for a bedtime story, you dummy! I can’t read your language!” Rainbow retorted, flushing and crossing her front hooves. “So you’d have to read it to me!”

“And when would we have the time or the will to do that? The evenings,” I point out to her with a hint of a grin forming on my face. I reach into the capsule once more and pull out a small lacquer box that stands out from the rest of the objects inside. It looks almost like a jewelry case. “I hate to break it to you, but that’s what the world calls a bedtime story.”

“Aaah, don’t say it like that! It makes me sound like some kind of foal!” Rainbow flushed further and covered her face with her hooves. She hears me snickering and growls. “Stop laughing! It’s not funny! I know where you sleep!”

I shake my head and look down at the box. On top of the lid is the inscription “Memories of the Hero.” This must be the heirloom that Lyle was talking about. I crack open the lid, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“Yeah, with me. What’s your…” in the middle of my retort, I see what lies within the box, and the sight hits me like a hammer blow. I cut off immediately, a surge of emotions filling me all at once. This… it can’t be. I know what this is. But then that means… the hero…

“Seth?” Rainbow isn’t oblivious to the sudden change in my demeanor. She moves to stand beside me, looking at me with concern as I slowly set the box on the ground. Rainbow peers up at me, her expression changing when she looks at me. “Are you alright? What is it?”

“That… that heirloom…” I managed to get out, my body starting to tremble. “I know what that is.”

“The hero heirloom? How could you know?” Rainbow glances at the box. She’s clueless at first, but then her eyes widen with recognition. She’s been through the pictures on my phone. There’s no way she wouldn’t know. “Isn’t that… no way...”

Rainbow looks around as if checking to see if anyone was around, and then she leaned forward and hugged me, her hooves wrapping around my chest. I accept her hug gratefully, my eyes never once leaving the object on the ground. I knew it. Somehow, I just knew that it was her.

Lying on a bed of soft velvet within the box was a silver emerald necklace.

Author's Note:

And it's over. Now that I'm this far, now that I'm done with this...allow me to say something. Fuck this story. Fuck everything about this story. And fuck you all for making me write it.

Kidding, I don't hold anything against my readers. To further explain, this story was hell for me. I knew going in that characters were going to die, but I didn't realize that I was going to like said characters.

Another reason I'm glad to be done is because this story got very little attention, and the view counts stayed rather low. As much fun as writing can be, it's not nearly as gratifying when people don't read what you write. That being said, I appreciate each and every one of you that have stuck with me up until this point. That goes double for those that take the time to leave a comment.

Thanks a lot to my two editors, Brave-Hooves, and ScootalooFTW, for helping me through this, and thanks again to those who read thus far. You all are the reason I bother putting my ideas into writing.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to snuggle my Dash pillow and write something happy. If you want to talk with me more about the story, come find me in my discord group at https://discord.gg/YzuSAEC

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

And so the story ends... But it raises more questions...

But that's for another time...

[Chillean]

This was a great companion to the original, and your action sequences are always great to visualize. I'm glad you finished it, and I hope to see more writing from you soon!

[Booster Spice]

The flower wilts,
And dies.
But, is remembered.

Its been a rough ride, but at long last, its come to an end.

Life goes on.

Thanks for all the fish.

[damnaion]

[BeardedRedMane]

Wow... I was just randomly looking through my favorites and I see that not only does this have updates but its finished. Somethings wrong with my browser cache or something. *starts over at chapter 1*

[mama13579]

I for one really enjoyed the story, and hope you will write more.

[BlueHurricane817]

I read Tales up to the day you finished it. I only Just found this story like, maybe a month ago. I have to say that these are amazing works of art up there with Diaries of a Madman. Thank you for writing these.

[IZ_LINKS]

TERAN WHERE’S THE SEQUEL!!!!!!

[hiddentiara]

9004490

You know, providing the author detailed criticism might help more than...whatever this is supposed to be.

[HoneyBadgerTheGhoul]

Dude.
Write more.
My broke ass wouldn't hesitate to pay for your work, seriously.

[Hairy Rainbowish Thingy]

ugh, kill me, my feelings are all fucked now. I knew what i was going into when i started to read this but it doesn't make it any easier...AND NOW there is no more stories in the Tales of the Oppressed universe ;-;

[Black Jack]

The Corona virus was actually made by sombra and we are all living out this world and are going to die

[HB_DS2013]

Of course Sombra made the coronavirus.