Chapter 12: Zion

<>~<Rarity’s PoV>~<>

I was walking out the gate of Freeside, waving a hand slowly to the others as Raul and I began our journey towards our new destination, a place called Zion Valley.

I was wearing my duster coat once again, no helmet of any kind keeping my face or hair hidden, and carrying a medium sized backpack. Jamie had given me a map for navigating there and back, a compass, several caps, food, and a multitude of survival gear. I even had my Sequoia.

If the map was correct - and I hoped it was - our destination was a few days walk away. So as we walked I decided to start off a little time killing chit-chat with the ghoul who helped me see that I could beat going feral.

Sadly, my words began to jumble in my head. What I wanted to be an elegant stream of words in a heartfelt thank you came out as a simple, “Thanks.”

I tuttered in disappointment with myself and shook my head, clearing up the jumbled mess. “I really must thank you, darling,” I said loudly, but soon my voice dropped to a low whisper, “...I haven’t felt so alone or afraid for my life before. Even when I was captured by Diamond Dogs, I still felt like my friends could save me. But going feral, how would my friends save me from that?”

Raul chuckled, “It’s no big deal. You were in a spot of trouble, so I had to help. And you're friends helped you by trusting me to help you. Honestly, I would have done it for anybody.”

I smiled, “A true gentleman in this land of ruffians and degenerates.”

He burst that little bubble of thought, “Technically, I’m from a land two-hundred years before this one. Also, who are the Diamond Dogs? I’ve never heard of that gang.”

“A bunch of brutes, those lot. They kidnapped me and dragged me underground before forcing me to mine without a shovel or pick. It was dreadful, but in the end, my friends saved them from me.”

Raul looked over as we kept our steady pace, “So you’ve had a history of violence?”

“No, Raul,” I said, chuckling as a smile came across my lips, “I whined so much they did anything I wanted.”

I heard a thump and turned to see Raul as he began rolling on the ground laughing like a fool.

After he calmed down, he looked up at me, “You, a whiner? I cant see it after that poem you made up about death.”

“I can whine,” I said defiantly as I raised my voice to try and sound annoying, but the damage to my voice made it come out more of a growling rasp. That caused Raul to burst out into even louder laughter.

He stopped once more and leaned up, reaching out his right hand for me to help him up. I grabbed hold and pulled him up, both of us grunting and Raul’s joints creaked and popped a few times.

After Raul was back in the upright position he gave a small chuckle, “Dios mío, I haven’t laughed that hard in... well, two hundred or more years.”

“Don’t tell Pinkie. That naive girl will try and make up for all those years, and she will succeed one way or another.”

“I could tell from her practically radiating with energy,” Raul said, almost worried sounding.

We walked some more in silence until I spoke up again, “So Raul, tell me about yourself. For someone who claims to be as old as you are, you must have some dazzling stories.”

What followed was stories about his life and hardships. Raul used to live on a small ranch near a place called Mexico City - an obvious parallel to Mexicolt City.

When the war started and ended on the same day, refugees from the now vaporized city began to come to them for help. His family was kind and generous, taking in all they could, but he described so many people coming to them, their skin bubbling and black from radiation.

They had to stop taking people in, that’s when things turned violent. Men attacked and Raul and his father drove them off. Two dozen came back later that night, barring the door to the house from the outside before setting the house on fire. He only managed to save his little sister, Rafaela, by jumping out a window. The rest of his family, his parents, grandparents, and two sisters, were killed in the blaze.

I shook the thoughts of the story out my head. “That… Raul I-” I had nothing to say. He lost so much but he still kept on two-hundred years later. So with the both of us having nothing else to say, I reached into my pocket to get something.

What I retrieved was my lighter and cigarettes. Removing a cigarette from the red plastic package, I bit down on the brown filtered end. It was my last one, prompting me to carelessly discard the packaging then strike my lighter. I needed a smoke after a story like that.

I had taken the lighter from a Marked Man during my short stay in the Divide. He definitely didn’t need it after a close range shot from the anti-material rifle blowing a fist sized hole in his chest.

I took a few puffs of the cigarette, getting the end a nice glowing orange before closing the lighter’s metal lid, snuffing the dancing flame as the cigarette smoke filled my lungs. I considered ditching the cigarette, and the bad habit.

“Nope,” I whispered defiantly to myself as a puff of grey smoke wafted out the corner of my mouth as we walked.

I took another long drag, filling my lungs to the max, then exhaled through my nose. The greyish smoke rolling out in one long cloud from my nostrils.

If Spike ever saw me do that, the poor little guy’s tail would stay stiff for weeks. I knew Spike had a crush on me. Almost everypony could see the goo-goo eyes, the excessive drooling, and his tail locking straight out.

Maybe I should be a little less of a tease. I’m only hurting his feelings by exploiting him like I do. I thought.

And I had someone else to apologize to, “Raul, I’m sorry.”

“For what, miss?” he asked, looking at me with confusion.

“Back at the Mormon Fort, I used my looks to get you to do what I wanted.”

Raul chuckled, “What? Hauling a half busted sewing machine around for a fellow ghoul was nothing. If you need anything, I’ll be sure to help.”

I nodded, “That’s mighty generous of you.”

Raul and I kept our steady pace for a few more minutes before he decided to ask, “Tell me a bit about you. Jamie told me you and your friends weren’t from around here.”

“Is that all he said?” I asked raising my eyebrow while the cigarette danced lazily as I spoke.

“He was pretty vague when he told me you were a unique ghoul and weren’t from the Mojave, as well as your friends. Looking at some of your eye colors, especially the one who was stabbed, I guess you have some pretty interesting stories.”

“Well, this may sound crazy, but I’m not from this planet.”

Raul shrugged, “Meh, Deathclaws and Cazadores exist, so why not aliens,” he stated flatly.

“I used to be a pony-” I was cut off by Raul.

“Whoa miss, let me get this straight, you were a small horse? Now that’s hard to believe.”

I laughed, “Finally someone who doesn’t chalk it up as ‘I’ve seen and or heard of stranger things.’ Wait… how is that a good thing?”

I heard Raul let out a small laugh, “I don’t know, but I can’t imagine you as a small hooved animal I used to raise on the ranch.”

I stopped in place, “What?” I asked in a disbelieving tone.

“I used to raise all kinds of animals on the ranch; cows, donkeys, horses, you name it, I raised it at one point in my life.”

Then I remembered seeing that cows in this word were unintelligent, so naturally that could have meant that other animals that were smart in my world, were unintelligent here.

Raul fake coughed, pulling me out of my revelation, “So miss, shall we keep going or delay our quest further?”

He had a point, no need in slacking off while we're on a mission, “Come on, we mustn't delay.”

He grumbled as he began following me, “But I was the one that pointed out we stopped.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes in amusement and smile, “Point taken, you win.”

Raul let out a raspy chuckle, “What do I win?”

We continued our playful banter for most of the day, I occasionally pulled out my map and compass to keep us on course.

By the end of the day of crossing the desert with nothing really interesting happening, we reached a cave in the mountains surrounding New Vegas.

Looking up to the sky I saw the sun was going down, “Raul, I suggest we make camp in this cave. We actually need to head through it to get to the trails that lead to Zion.”

“I’m an old ghoul who’s just walked several miles across open desert, did you really have to ask?” He asked chuckling.

I chuckled, before taking on a fake whine, “I can’t believe my skin got drier than what it already was.”

Raul burst into snorts and dry laughs, prompting me to do as well.

With our little bout of fun over, we entered the cave and the heat from the day long walk was instantly washed away by the cool rock surrounded us. Further into the cave, I saw a lantern sitting on a white box, shedding light around the cave. Jamie told us that would be here.

There were also a few bedrolls scattered on the ground. I yawned as I turned to Raul, “I don't know about you, but after I finish the bottle of water and eat some of the sugar bombs we packed, I’m going to bed.”

“That sounds like a plan Rarity,” Raul said with a quick nod of agreement.

It didn’t take long for half a box of stale cereal to be consumed between the two of us, and I had the rest of the water in an old plastic bottle.

Taking off my pack so I could lay down on the bedroll, I rapidly fell asleep before Raul had even finished getting his pack off.

<>~<>~<>

Blood, so much blood. The life giving crimson liquid coated every inch of me and I tasted copper. Mutilated bodies were strewn around me as I yelled a throaty growl into the air, a large kitchen knife clutched in my thin, skinless fingers.

There was a sound behind me, a gasp to be exact. I turned to see my friends starring in opened mouthed horror at my rent clothing made from an amalgam of leather and license plates covered my skinless red body.

I couldn’t stop myself from screaming “Kill,” at the top of my lungs, charging with the gleaming knife.

They all just stood there. First to go was Rainbow Dash, I cut her throat with a swift swipe and watched as blood cascaded out the wound like a water hose. Next was Twilight, I rammed the knife through the side of her skull all the way to the hilt. Pulling it out with bits of brain I moved quickly to Pinkie Pie; I wasted no time in decapitating her with the oversized blade.

With three of my friends dead in under ten seconds, I turned to Fluttershy and Applejack, their stomachs bulging from their unborn children. I flipped the knife to hold it where it was pointing down and raised it high in the sky, yelling in a feral roar as I did so-

<>~<>~<>

I was catapulted from the nightmare, Raul shaking me hard yelling for me to wake up as I felt him hold down my arms.

I struggled and growled, all the while fighting like a pinned animal, snarling and biting at his arms before lucidity took over me.

I froze and stared up at Raul’s wide eyes in the dim light provided by the lantern with a horrified expression. He himself looked scared beyond belief, and had reason to be… I had just dreamt about killing my friends while covered in blood.

“Rarity, calm down, it’s just a dream!” Raul yelled, his voice echoing throughout the cave as his hands pressed down harder on my wrists.

I just lay on my back, out of breath and words as Raul pinned my arms and legs to the bedroll I lay upon.

It took only a few seconds for me to process what I was dreaming about, and what I was fixing to do in that dream. My eyes teared up in horror induced despair and grief.

My breakdown prompted Raul to get off of me, backing away with his arms and hands. I sat up on my haunches, crying into my knees like a filly would a pillow.

I heard Raul move to sit beside me, draping an arm over my shoulder, I felt his body heat wash over my cold and shaking body as he scooted beside me, pulling me into a hug like I would with Sweetie when she had nightmares about monsters. Only this time it was Raul and I, and I was the monster of childrens darkest nightmare.

“I was almost in bed when you began screaming in your sleep,” he paused for a brief second to think, “I beleive it was your friend's names you were calling out.”

“I-I I was?” I asked sobbing into the dirty and faded blue overalls that covered his chest.

“You were. I tried waking you up but I couldn’t seem to pull you out of it. But it’s okay miss, it was just a dream.”

“J-Just a dream, r-r-right,” I told myself, not really believing it.

“Do you want to talk about the dream? I’m not only good for shooting the pistol or fixing machines, I have ears that are open to your problems.”

That was generous of him, “T-thanks. Just give me- just give me a minute to calm d-d-down.”

I realized I was shaking like a leaf in the breeze. I never was this scared over a bad dream since I was a little filly, sans most of my childhood nightmares didn’t involve me killing most of my friends.

After I calmed down enough where I wasn’t sobbing every other second, I explained my dream up until the part where Raul managed to wake me up.

Raul nodded slowly as I finished, “I’ve dealt with nightmares about going feral before. It’s hard to get over them, but after a while it all gets sorted out. The dreams stop happening as often and you accept that going feral is a real danger.”

“They do?” I asked, my eyes still teary.

“I’ve been around the block, hermana, I should know. But on to a lighter subject. Since you obviously won’t be heading back to sleep anytime soon, how about we talk about where you’re from?”

I chuckled, “Okay, but as I said before I was indeed a pony.”

For the next few hour, I proceeded to tell him about Ponyville and my friends along with the Elements of Harmony. That lead to a long discussion about magic, which in turn lead to cutie marks somehow.

Raul chuckled, “So let me get this straight, when you earn your special talent, you get a tattoo on your rear?”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, “No, it’s not a tattoo. Cutie marks are actually part of our fur, but since I’m now human, it decided to change into three diamond tattoos,” I said before standing up and reaching for the button on my jeans, “Let me show you.”

I unbuttoned my pants and pulled them - as well as my underwear - down far enough to expose enough skin to display my cutie mark. The frigid cave air hit my skin after I remembered to brush my duster aside, allowing Raul to see the three perfect diamond shaped tattoos on my hips.

I then noticed he was blushing. How could a lady like myself forget that humans consider it immodest to show skin around that area?

Chuckling nervously as I blushed, I let my duster cover me again as I pulled my underwear and pants back over my exposed hip, “Sorry Raul, I stupidly forgot that humans considered it rude to show that part of their anatomy.”

The ghoul chuckled as he tried to find something else to look at that was interesting, before settling on a rock by my left boot.

He then looked back up with a humored chuckle and a cheesy smile, “To be honest, I didn’t mind the view.”

My cheek that wasn’t skint down to muscle blushed a bright pink as I ‘eeped’ like Fluttershy would. I gave him a playful slap, not hard enough to hurt him, and he just laughed and rolled his eyes.

After that, I went to bed with a smile on my face. Glad that I had a friend close to watch over me.

<>~<>~<>

It had been four days of grueling hiking and navigating, but we finally crested the final peak of rock that we needed to get over. Standing on a ledge, I basked in the beauty of Zion as the sun began to rise.

I could make out in the distance a bridge over a canyon, as well as a sparkling lake off farther below.

Raul stood beside me, out of breath and panting but I didn’t care, I was too entrapped by the splendor of the land.

“Fluttershy would love this place. The trees, the smell of fresh water, and to think of all the beautiful locations we can find.”

Raul wheezed out a laugh, “We’re not here to sight-see, we can do that after we get the gems. Right now, we need to find the chief of the Dead Horses.”

<>~<Raul’s PoV>~<>

Upon mentioning the Dead Horse tribe, Rarity decided to faint. She was lucky I was there to catch her, otherwise she would have tumbled off the ledge. It was a surreal sight to behold, a woman as tough looking as Rarity passing out at a simple name.

Rarity was shorter than I was, so I put her right arm over my shoulder and swept both of her legs up. From a distance, one could see me carrying her like grooms would their brides before the war.

With her weight, and the packs we both carried, my two hundred year old self creaked worse than an old house as I carried her down a gentle slope.

My ancient cracked lips smiled as I gave a quick look down at her. She was beautiful beyond ghoul standards. The only way one could tell she was a ghoul was from the damage the Divide had done to her body.

She had told me about how she became a ghoul, and now that I think back, technically isn’t she a Marked Woman? From what Rarity explained of them, they were as smart as regular humans, but hyper-aggressive to the point of appearing savage. That could explain her feral actions.

But those questions could be answered later. Looking down at her again, I couldn’t help but smile as I traced my gaze from the gentle curve in her purple hair, all the way to her beautiful face.

‘Dammit Raul Alfonso Tejada, you are over two hundred years older than her. A useless old man like you would only come off as creepy to her.’

My lips curled into a snarl as my own mind told me I had no chance with her. Looking down at how I was carrying her, I blushed and began to set her down.

But even before we made a move to set her down, Rarity awoke with a stretch, prompting me to freeze like I stepped on a Deathclaw egg. I could feel myself begin to nervously sweat, how would she react to this?

‘Silly old man, you just royally screwed up,’ my mind told me, dripping with sarcasm.

Then it was Rarity’s turn to deliver the sarcasm to me, “Well good morning, ‘husband’, would you kindly put me down?”

I may have blushed, and I may have dropped her. Well actually I did both.

<>~<Rarity’s PoV>~<>

Looking up from my spot on the ground after Raul dropped me, Raul instantly clammed up even worse. He was now babbling out sorry and other apologies.

I giggled as I got myself up off the ground. I dealt with Spike enough to know when someone was crushing on me. Leaning over to him, I gave him a quick peck on his cheek.

It didn’t even register in my mind that he looked like a walking corpse. When it did, however, I realized he didn’t stink like rotten flesh and his skin wasn’t slimy or decay-like only extremely dry like the few times I worked with true leather.

Backing away, I realized we both were blushing.

“We sh-should get moving,” Raul stuttered as he motioned with his hands to the rope bridge only a few meters away.

“Let’s,” I replied, equally as shaky as Raul.

‘You stupid, stupid mare; Raul is older than you by at least two centuries,’ my mind told myself.

After the little awkward teasing and blushing was over, we didn’t speak as we walked. As I used the map to guide the both of us to the Dead Horse’s camp, the only aggressive thing we found was a few coyotes and at least half a dozen giant praying mantises.

An hour of walking, and we were trudging through the water towards the Dead Horse camp, our weapons in their holsters.

As we walked through the river cut valley that lead to the camp, I couldn’t help but feel like I was being watched.

Looking behind me, I realized a male wearing a ball cap decorated with feathers and dirty tribal-esque clothing was matching our steps and silently following us.

“Rarity,” Raul whispered.

I looked forward, quickly forgetting about the one following us. Standing in the shallow river around six meters in front of us, was a male in a black vest, covered in white strips of cloth.

“Welcome to Zion, travelers,” He greeted us in a deep, entrancing voice, “I am Joshua Graham.”

I froze dead in my spot at the name. He was the commander of the Legion before Lanius.

On instinct and rage against the Legion, I reached for my pistol and drew it.

<>~<Raul’s PoV>~<>

It happened faster than I could blink. Rarity went for her gun and aimed it at Joshua, and Joshua aimed his own at her. They were locked in a staring contest with each other for the longest time.

There wasn’t a sound in the air as if the entire world had stopped just for them. It felt like a very tense eternity before Rarity decided to speak up, “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t send you to Hell, Legion bastard.”

I flinched as a bullet ripped out Joshua’s gun, causing Rarity’s pistol to fly out hand and splash in the water

I was stuck there in fright at Joshua’s marksmanship, but all he did was reply to Rarity, “God guides my bullets, does he yours?”

He then continued as Rarity stood stock still, “I give out greetings, and you threaten me. I should be the one that asks for a reason not to kill you. But as a man of God, I turn the other cheek and put it behind me. So, ghoul, what brings you to Zion?”

It took me a second to realize he was addressing me, and I instantly began stuttering, “W-we were look-” I shook my head rapidly, “We were looking for rare gems we needed, and came to ask for permission to be on this land from you. I had no idea she would try and kill you.”

“But she did try,” Joshua stated plainly, “I have every right to refuse your request to obtain the gems, but I think I know of the gems you speak of. Onyx mixed with Opalescence correct?”

I saw Rarity slowly nod her head yes.

“Luckily for you, my tribe faces a problem and it seems to be located where a rather large vein of the gems reside.”

I felt a sudden chill, “What’s the problem?”

Joshua chuckled, “Deathclaws have taken up residence in the valley where the White-Legs used to live. The stench of death from the valley has drawn them in, and they are too great even for the Dead Horses’ or Sorrows’ warriors to defeat.”

Well... shit.

“Is that it?” Rarity asked confidently while I stood beside her, “Mark it on the map and we’ll be on our way.”

“Rarity, are you sure you know what Deathclaws are?” I asked in a deeply concerned tone.

“No. I haven’t seen one before,” Rarity responded with a blank look.

I was about to speak, but the ex-Legion leader spoke in a low, grave tone, “Then may God be with you both.”

I hoped a Legion Commander wishing us luck wasn’t a bad sign.

<>~<Zion, a long and uneventful walk later, Rarity’s PoV>~<>

“Holy fucking shit, giant lizards with razors!” I yelled using the most vulgar language I knew as Raul and I ran like demons were chasing us.

Because demons really were chasing us; around five of them to be exact.

I didn’t believe Raul when he said Deathclaws were fifteen-feet tall and armed with razor sharp foot-long claws. Then when Raul decided to sneak close for us to get a good look at them, I may have caused an overly cliché loose rock to fall and get their attention.

Running with a sheer cliff on one side, and a dead drop on the other, we had no choice but to run as fast as our legs could carry us forward.

<>~<>~<>

“Raul *pant* how *pant* did we *pant* survive that?” I asked out of breath, my mind dizzy from the exertion. The Deathclaws that were following us were finally dead, trapped under piles of rocks.

Raul sat down on a rock to catch his own breath, but didn’t have the strength to answer. Luckily for me, I knew what had happened. Raul had shot a collection of boulders in the cliff wall above us, causing a miniature landslide to end our troubles as we passed quickly under the falling rocks, whereas the Deathclaws were trapped.

A few minutes of silence, we were ready to go claim the gems from the Deathclaw free valley.

<~-~>

After Raul had killed the Deathclaws and we finished catching our breaths, my knowledge of gems helped me find the gemstones we needed rather quickly. The rascals were firmly embedded in a large, almost spider web shaped vein in the canyon wall. I had to bash the canyon wall with a smaller rock, but in the end I was rewarded with a fair amount of gems. The few gems that weren’t covered in dirt and grime sparkled like miniature fireworks going off when the sun hit them.

Pocketing a handful of the gems each, Raul and I returned to Joshua then began our long journey back. It was strange, for one of the people that started the horrible Legion, he was generous. Our reward for clearing out the Deathclaws on top of the gems was plenty of food and fresh water to make our journey back without risk of starvation or dehydration.

<>~<A few days later>~<>

Raul and I triumphantly walked into the Mormon Fort. I could feel in the air that the day was going to be great.

Looking around amongst the multitude of doctors and patients, I spotted Rainbow, Twilight, and Pinkie in NCR uniforms talking with Fluttershy and AJ at a table. I had nearly forgotten half of our little group were now soldiers in the NCR. I also spotted Nolan, Jason, and Jamie talking with a blond haired doctor.

Then, almost as if our presence sent out a psychic signal, all of my friend’s heads turned in unison towards Raul and I.

Reaching for the bag of gems, I held it up and shook it. Twilight practically squeed before running over to me, snatching the bag of gems and disappearing in a flash of blue light.

My jaw hung slack… Did twilight just teleport?

Jamie chuckled as he walked over and closed my jaw with a single finger. “Don’t worry,” he said, crossing his arms, “She’s gone back to Big Mountain to get the gems added to her gauntlet. Dr. Mobius gave both of us teleporter guns.”

Oh, that explained it.

<>~<>~<>

We didn’t have to wait a day for Twilight to walk back, her improved gauntlet allowed her to teleport herself back to the Mormon Fort, now dressed in her power armor, with her helmet by her hip. Upon the time to leave drawing near, we all discussed what to do about their children.

We had a few options. One was to have Fluttershy and Applejack stay in the Mojave until the children were old enough to go through, but that would take years, and we didn’t know at what age they could survive going through. Another was to risk the children’s lives, but that was agreed to be unacceptable by everyone. And the last one I suggested was to have someone go through the portal back to Equestria, then return through if it worked in any way like the Crystal Mirror.

We agreed to that being the safest option, and Twilight explained in great detail that when she went through the crystal mirror, that her transformation was completely painless, to the point she didn’t realize she had changed.

Gathering around in a group in the center of the Mormon Fort, Twilight spoke to us, “Even though I haven’t had my magic at full strength for a while now, I’m sure I haven’t lost my touch. Since I had remembered who I was, I have been formulating a spell that should mimic the crystal mirror as long as I can keep feeding it energy, as well as allow us to return right back to the library. No getting scattered all over Equestria.”

I heard Rainbow Dash ‘pffft’ loudly and motion with her hand, “Get on with it, egghead… we’re almost home.”

Twilight nodded and took a deep breath. A soft lavender light enveloped her hand, making it look like it was on fire. Then she cast the spell onto the ground by her feet. A second later, a small lavender ball of light around the size of a golf ball floated off the ground and began to expand significantly. It grew and grew in size and brightness until it was the size of a human, making no noise as it illuminated every corner of the Mormon Fort with a muted purple hue.

The light had caused everyone in the Mormon Fort to stare at us, awestruck in amazement and curiosity, but keeping their distance as well.

Twilight’s face was screwed into a look of intense concentration as she focused on the spell coursing through the gauntlet.

It took only a fraction of a second for Rainbow to literally dive through the sphere. Everyone tensed up, hoping that nothing accidentally happened to our friend. A few seconds later, Rainbow jumped right back, startling us. The victorious smile on her face was evident that it had worked perfectly, but before anyone could ask or do anything, she jumped right back through again.

Pinkie and her dog, Chrome, as well as Nolan, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Jason went through after seeing it was safe.

Then I jumped through, magic taking hold of my body and transforming me, but I didn’t feel any sort of pain. In a flash, I was laying in the middle of the library, my friends standing around me with a lavender portal behind us.

I felt strange. My body felt different and I tried to stand to my feet, but nearly fell as I automatically tried to stand on two legs. I landed on my four hooves, and quickly discovered I was a pony again. After the confusion on how to stand was over, I gave a quick glance over to my friends, dressed in pony versions of what we were wearing as they stared at their coats and hooves in amazement before I turned towards the portal. It was almost no time before Raul came through with Twilight, the portal winking out of existence as they appeared out of the sphere. Twilight had a sad look on her face, and Jamie hadn’t appeared in the room with her. I could tell she really liked him.

I turned towards Twilight, but her sad expression kept me from speaking. After a silent second of Twilight staring at me with sad eyes, she let out a near silent sigh before trotting up the library stairs into her room. She didn’t even bother to speak to us or remove the weapons, armor, or gauntlet off of herself. The power armor she wore had changed to accommodate her wings and her weapons changed to be pony size.

Looking around, I noticed that almost nothing had changed since our departure, besides a lot of unsightly dust on the books.

Looking to my left, I gave a sigh of relief as Fluttershy was helping Jason – a well-built Legion red earth pony with a brown mane – stand on his new four hooves while Applejack and Pinkie watched. Rainbow also was trying to help Nolan - now a chocolate brown pegasus with a light black mane - onto his hooves.

I heard a grunt, and saw Raul, a light-blue unicorn with a few errant strands of a black tail, no mane. He was still a ghoul, and I could feel that I was still a ghoul or Marked Man or whatever I was supposed to be called, due to the feeling of the cool air in the unheated library on the massive scars on my face.

As I helped Raul onto his hooves, I looked back to Fluttershy and Applejack, their bellies distended from the unborn babi- foals… their foals.

We were finally home again. Safe and sound.

But is Equestria ready for us to be home again?