Author's Notes:

This Epilogue might get a bit confusing. Since Ratchet moves through time decades at a time, there is a lot to cover. Each section of the Epilogue will be marked with what chapters it corresponds to. You'll figure it out!

Chapter 1 - Chapter 27 (35 years after the war)

“Good morning wasteland! It is time for the news! You may recall my mentioning the siege on Tenpony Tower by Grimoire and his Discordia gang. Well good news, they are no more. Labcoat herself came to our aid along with the Rangers of Stable 36 and a certain gang that guards a certain valley pass.

“Together these forces united to wipe out the Discordia force and their leader Grimoire? Well, let’s just say he won’t be a problem anymore. A major part of the fight was an artillery piece that obliterated hundreds of Discordia raiders in a single shot. Word has it that no one saw this artillery piece and the sound of it being fired was only barely audible, little more than the sound of a pin dropping.

“That’s interesting and all, but what does that mean, DJ Pon3? Well I’m glad you asked. That means that his artillery piece can hit its target from miles away. So if you are a raider and up to no good, you’d best be wary of the sound of falling pins.

“Now, with Grimoire gone, surely the threat of Discordia is gone, right? Not yet, my little ponies. They will always be raiders, that won’t stop. They might be slightly less organized, but they will still try to steal and kill. So watch yourselves out there.”

Elder Twinkle and the remaining Rangers of Stable 36 decided to stay in Ratchet’s lab, using it as a staging point for various operations against the remnants of Discordia. Elder Twinkle led the Rangers against their enemies ferociously, destroying many of the large groups of Discordia raiders.

However, with each battle fought their numbers grew smaller and smaller. Despite their better armor and technology, the Rangers were constantly outnumbered. One by one they fell. Elder Twinkle watched them drop and her only thought was to keep fighting. Her lord Eberron demanded sacrifice, repeated and constant. Even her own life was but a drop in the ocean for him. But Elder Twinkle knew, that without Eberron, she was nothing. After a few years of fighting, Elder Twinkle found herself alone. But despite this, Elder Twinkle continued to fight against raiders.

Tales of Elder Twinkle tell of her standing in the open with dozens of raiders firing upon her, but not a single bullet ever finding its mark. The raiders fear her as a bringer of death and the name Eberron sends chills down their spines. Elder Twinkle never stops her crusade against the raider threat, and the ponies of the towns she frequents hold her in high regard.

Without other Rangers, Elder Twinkle rarely visits Ratchet’s Lab anymore. She only goes back to drop off interesting salvage or to check in on her friend Cora. Elder Twinkle’s life is one of combat, blood, and death. And she wouldn’t want it any other way.

Rose, the daughter of one of the council in Friendship City began to seriously train with firearms and in the way of diplomacy. She knew that one day, she would replace her father on the council and she knew she needed to be ready.

Her training came in handy when one day the raiders of raider alley united in an attempt to take the city. Rose was instrumental in the defence of the city when the chief of security, Wrecker, was killed by a sniper’s bullet. She rallied the security forces and pushed back the raider threat.

Some say she had help from a strange looking pony who would pull weapons out of thin air. But when the smoke cleared and the threat was over, the strange pony was nowhere to be seen. This led many to disregard such accounts of the pony as a trick played by the eyes. But Rose herself swears by the pony’s existence. It is because of Rose that the strange pony isn’t disregarded altogether as a fantasy.

With Wrecker dead, Rose took his place as chief of security. Before that day, some would have raised doubts. But after seeing how she handled herself, they accepted her with open hooves. Crime in the city was at an all time low, and raider attacks decreased as well. It was a time of great expansion for the city.

Cygnus, the last living companion of Ratchet, aside from Cora, returned to his home in the MAS facility in raider alley. He spent the first part of his time there fixing the place up and getting over his past. He knew that he could never bring himself to forgive Static for what she did to him, but he accepted it and moved on. After all, she was long dead.

Cygnus frequently wandered around Raider Alley, fighting against the raiders in a never ending goal to make the area safe. It seemed that no matter how many he killed, more were always waiting for him. He also began to notice places he had looted before had new loot inside of them. He could never figure out if the raiders were using them as storage, or if something else was going on.

There were times when Cygnus met travelers who wandered into Raider Alley and he would escort them to safety. When they asked for his name, he never gave it. Because of this, ponies began to refer to him as the Conjurer of Raider Alley, due to his fighting style. He saved countless souls and even traveled with some groups for a time. But he would never leave Manehatten. Whenever his group came to the edge of the city, he would bid them farewell and return home.

True to his word, Cygnus kept Grimoire safe. He never welcomed anyone into the facility, and even if someone wandered into the factory above he would scare them off or ask them to leave.

Frequently, Cora would stop by to check up on him. The two would reminisce about their adventures with Ratchet and the others. When Cygnus first learned of the deaths of Arrow, Lightning, and Shrill, he blamed himself for not going with them. But Cora assured him that would have only led to his death as well.

It wasn’t long before twenty years had passed. Due to his accelerated aging, Cygnus was in the equivalent of his nineties. Cora stopped by more frequently around then, and even begged Cygnus to let her wake Ratchet up. Cygnus’s reply was always, “I’m not important enough to waste waking her up. She doesn’t need to witness another friend’s death.”

On Cora’s last visit to Cygnus before his death, he asked her to tell Ratchet one thing when she woke up. “Thank you, for waking me up.” When Cora left, Cygnus went down into the facility’s living quarters and sealed the elevator. Using his last moments, he summoned an explosive that sealed the hallway leading to the stairs.

Cygnus crawled onto a bed in one of the rooms and laid upon it peacefully. He had watched over Grimoire as long as he could, and he made sure that no one but Ratchet would ever stumble upon him. With that in mind, he smiled as he exhaled his final breath.

The Junk Rats, led by Madam Saber returned to their home at the railway checkpoint. They buried their dead and then continued life as usual. They built and repaired power armor, and would tax any travelers looking for easy passage into Manehatten.

Of course, inspired by the Rangers of Stable 36 and Ratchet, the Junk Rats also offered a new service. For a price, they would escort travelers through Manehatten. They helped many ponies safely cross the city and earned a good reputation. They even began getting contracts to protect trade caravans.

Elder Twinkle would occasionally stop by and see Madam Saber. The two shared a mindset, and after the first few meetings, Twinkle convinced Saber to follow Eberron as well. The two leaders would often team up to fight raider forces in the area, and together the raiders grew to fear the name Eberron as it was being shouted by the two. The raiders of the Manehatten area had a name for them. The Sisters of Eberron.

When Twinkle lost her Rangers, Saber offered Twinkle a place with them. Twinkle refused, stating she didn’t want to get any more innocent blood on her hooves. Death followed her, after all. Saber was saddened, but accepted her friends refusal. She knew they would meet again. Elder Twinkle was hard to kill. And Madam Saber was just an tenacious.

Cora, the AI based on Ratchet’s own mind. With Ratchet once again in statis, Cora watched over her. It was her duty, after all. Not as Ratchet’s assistant, but as Ratchet’s friend. She took Ratchet’s words to her hard drive though, and often left the lab.

Cora would visit Cygnus, help Elder Twinkle and the Rangers, and simply wander the wasteland. She had a goal in mind. Find something that would allow her to wake up Ratchet again. She searched for old ruins, references to Cryopods, and listened to rumors at inns and bars.

She even had frequent chats with her old spritebot friend and asked him for help. He called himself Watcher, and she told him Ratchet’s story. For some reason, she found it easy to talk to him. She left as if she could trust him, and he agreed to help her search out facilities. But despite years of searching neither Cora nor Watcher turned up any solid leads.

Of course, that was to be expected. The projects the Cryopods were used in were top secret. Not even all of the Ministry Mares knew about them. Perhaps not even Celestia or Luna. It would take time, but they would find something. They were sure of it.

Chapter 29 (66 Years after the war)

The town of Paradise found prosperity under the rule of Silver Tongue. As time went by, the ponies of the Wasteland grew indifferent with Silver's particular brand of slavery. He wasn't hurting anypony and they soon realized that. Ponies that found themselves under the rule of Silver led happy and fulfilling lives. Many former slaves became citizens of the town and as stories spread, more and more ponies decided the life of a slave under Silver's rule wasn't such a bad life.

The community gained an influx of ponies willing to be slaves and with them the town further expanded. For a time, things were peaceful and the future of the town looked bright. A few generations passed by after Silver Tongue passed away and his ideals were upheld. However, as things in the Wasteland began to break down and things were getting worse and worse, eventually the slavery the town of Paradise once knew became a thing of the past. It was replaced with the type of slavery everyone in the past feared. Slaves were mistreated, bought and sold, kidnapped. Since slavery had become a norm for the Wasteland, not many ponies spoke out about it and by the time they finally decided to speak up, it was too late.

Ratchet's worries became the reality of the Wasteland and slavery became a prosperous business for the slavers. It also resulted in the deaths of countless innocent ponies.

Graham Cracker and Marshmallow, the Paradise security guards that Ratchet met on her visit, married a few months after her visit. The two of them started a family three years later. They led happy lives together with their children, who became guards just like them. Graham continued to call Marshmallow, Mallow. Mallow continued to get flustered when Graham complimented her. When the two of them grew old, they would often think back to the mare who gave them that finally little push they needed to get together.

Chapter 30 - Chapter 32 (74 years after the war)

After Ratchet and the others left, the militia continued to hunt down the last remaining members of the Fallen Legion operating in Hoofington. It was a long struggle to draw them out, but eventually the zebras seemed to have disappeared from the region entirely, only whispers of them remained. Ponies told stories of seeing shimmers or the hint of a figure watching them. But the zebras ceased any obvious hostile action against pony settlements. However, over one hundred years later the zebras would become active in the area once again. Some say they were hunting a mare they called 'The Star Maiden'.

Wick and the remaining ponies of Ebon eventually returned to their destroyed down to sift through the rubble and bury their friends and family. However they decided against sticking around. Rebuilding a town with the few numbers they had would have proven difficult in the harsh region of Hoofington. Instead, they relocated to a nearby town where they settled back down.

However, Wick wasn't ever able to fully get over the death of his family. The horrors of what happened haunted him and he would often have night terrors. He was a guard in the town for a short time, but once handling weapons proved to be problematic for him, Wick began working for a store in town. This trauma got so bad that he couldn't stand to look at guns anymore. The mere sight of them causing him panic attacks.

Eventually, Wick's problems got so bad, he stopped leaving his house. The former members of Ebon tried to help him, but after a while Wick began to react to them with paranoia and fear. It wasn't long before they stopped trying all together. A few of them still left him food to eat, but they wouldn't enter the house.

This went on for a few weeks, until the food began to pile up. In concern, the ponies entered his house and found Wick dead, curled up on his bed and cradling his head. Cryptic messages were carved into his walls. It was clear that Wick had suffered a breakdown and stopped eating. He was buried in the town's graveyard.

Lance went back home with the other Junk Rats. His mother, Saber, was happy for his safe return, but at the same time she was upset by the loss of the others. Together, the Junk Rats gave their fallen a proper burial. Then, Lance told the others of the events that transpired. Even though Saber was saddened by the loss of friends, she was glad she made the decision to send Lance and the others. The Junk Rats continued their usual operations after that.

That is, until Saber passed away a few months later. Lance took over for her and things went decent enough for a while. But he lacked Saber's unique quality to bring in others. After a few generations, the Junk Rats' numbers dwindled and then the remaining members disbanded to go on their way. The spare suits of makeshift power armor were melted down so they couldn't be used by others and even the suits the final members wore were patchwork suits, barely worthy of begin called power armor.

The remaining members of the militia went their separate ways once they finished hunting down the Fallen Legion. Eclipse and Peppermint settled down in a town as engineers where they worked until they died of old age. Snowflake, Medkit, Hammer, and Sky, decided to stick together and travel around the Hoof. They became bounty hunters or caravan guards as needed, but they committed to helping the region.

But, only after a few years the group found themselves in over their heads. A raider ambush hit them hard and in the end, only Medkit survived. With his friends dead, he decided to travel between settlements and help ponies that needed it. Not ever town had a doctor, after all. He hired guards he could trust and stuck to safe routes, but in the end, as the Wasteland always does, it got him.

Medkit bled to death after a fight that got his guards and attackers killed. His healing supplies had run out and he was on the way to get more when it happened. As Medkit lay on the side of the highway staring up at the clouds as rain poured down atop him, he recalled the better times before finally closing his eyes for the last time.

Chapter 33 - Chapter 35 (109 years after the war)

After Ratchet and the others left Sickle, Marrow, and the others in the Snowfall facility, the cyberponies continued to work to make their former home more livable. They made sure the facility was running properly and continued to keep the entrance clear of the almost constant snowfall. Marrow solidified her position as leader, along with the other ponies who originated in the facility, including Sickle. The other occupants had no complaints, as they had no idea how to keep the facility running properly.

Sickle continued to hunt as the need arose, but once the Snowfall facility began growing their own crops again his hunts were rare occasions. Instead, he began to wander the Frozen North in search of other settlements they could trade with or help. A few settlements joined them in the Snowfall facility and things progressed well. Decades went by and the others died around Sickle, Marrow, and the other cyberponies. Deaths were always sad, no matter how many times they witnessed them.

Ratchet and Sickle never met again, but from time to time Cora would make a visit. Those were always welcome times, as Cora would bring supplies or gifts. She would also bring stories of her adventures, which always brought excitement. But, one day Cora left and never came back. Sickle and the others never knew what befell her. Did she die, forget about them, or was she simply busy? In the end, Cora and Ratchet became nothing but a story.

To this day, Sickle and the other cyberponies live in the Snowfall facility along with the other current occupants.

Overnight, the small town of Spark disappeared. The ponies of the town were missing, but the blood outside the town's door and behind the building was a morbid offering of what had taken place. But the building had not been looted and there was no blood inside. The only other clue as to what happened to the town was the large pile of ashes out back. Bones littered the ashes as well as a few melted caps.

The trader who stumbled upon the empty town told others of what he had seen, and some bounty hunters went to try and figure out what had happened. Did the ponies of Spark leave abruptly? Were their remains the ones in the ashes? Many theories seemed valid, but the number of bones found in the ashes was near triple the population of Spark. After weeks of searching and waiting to see if any survivors returned, Spark was finally abandoned and looted.

No one knows what actually happened in Spark. A barmare in New Appleloosa tells a tale of a bounty hunter mare who went to the town before the inhabitants disappeared. She says the mare went there to break a siege on the town. But such a siege was never observed or recorded and her suggestion that a sole bounty hunter mare had something to do with it is dismissed as fantasy.

As time went by, the small town of Spark was entire forgotten by the inhabitants of the Wasteland.

Chapter 37 - Chapter 38 (199 years after the war)

Grimoire, after having been woken up and his memories restored, he visited the grave of his sister, Spellbook. He wasn't sure what to say at first. He decided to tell her about everything that had happened, including his attempted world domination. When Grimoire concluded, he apologized and asked for his sister's forgiveness. It was the best that he could offer. Over the course of the rest of his life, Grimoire would religiously visit his sister's grave. He would tell her of his travels and the things that were happening in the Wasteland.

When Grimoire wasn't at his sister's grave, he was wandering the Wasteland. Of course, just one year later the entire Wasteland was engulfed in what would come to be known as The Wasteland Conflict. Grimoire did what he could to keep himself, and others around him, alive. Miraculously, he was able to survive to its conclusion and he continued his travels. He dedicated his life to helping others, in atonement for his actions involving Discordia. Very rarely did he bring himself to kill others, even raiders. When he did, he would always apologize in tears at Spellbook's grave.

In the end, Grimoire's magic ended up failing him when we was only sixty-three. Without the ability to travel rapidly across the Wasteland, Grimoire settled down in a town near Spellbook's grave. He lived there until the time of his death, and was then buried in a grave beside his sister.

Serendipity, the prototype Crusader Maneframe Mk.II, mostly pull the strings behind the scenes as things progressed. She helped ponies down the path that would lead to Equestria's happiness, even if the ponies she helped met with grim ends. In the end, she knew what the outcome would be. Every little thing she did was for that outcome.

Eventually, she made contact with Spike and assisted him in finding the elements. With her help, the Gardens of Equestria was eventually used. The Wasteland was transformed back into a lush and vibrant land.

When Ratchet left her lab, she wasn't sure where to go. But she eventually found her way to Tenpony Tower. Once there, she told the current DJ about her past and left him the memory orbs of the surrogate Ratchets. She told him to get the truth out there, to tell the Wasteland of the unsung heroes. The mares who had taken her place that no longer had a name of their own. She wanted no tales told of herself.

Ratchet wandered after that. From settlement to settlement. The Wasteland was a much better place. There were almost no raiders and no radiation. Ponies were once again able to grow crops and even the Pegasi were active on the ground. The sky was no longer covered and they controlled the weather once more. It was as though the horrors of the Wasteland had never existed.

With Ratchet's help, the technology of the past was once again reclaimed. Her intricate knowledge of even the simplest machines aided in the revival of many technologies. Of course, many of the complex machines were still out of her reach and the Wasteland never fully caught up to pre-war Equestria during Ratchet's lifetime.

Her past in the Wasteland was largely unmentioned as she continued her life. She would talk about old friends such as Twinkle, Lightning, Thunder, Cygnus, Arrow, and Shrill. But she never mentioned Cora or the other AI ever again. She still blamed herself for everything that they did, and even destroyed both the stasis and cryopod in her lab.

Eventually, once Canterlot was recolonized, Ratchet opened her lab to the public. Her lab became a sort of suburb to the city, and it had its own doctor who took up residence in her lab's clinic. Outside the shed entrance, houses were constructed and her lab provided a link between them and Canterlot.

Ratchet's life wasn't one of a hero. It was one of a normal pony, just trying to make the best out of a bad situation. The only thing she could claim to have done, was to stop Discordia. But even that was the work of many groups working together. She just happened to be there. But even as old age came to her, she never forgave herself for what her creations had done. It was her lasting regret that she took to her grave. But she tried to make up for it in anyway she could. And in the end, hundreds of ponies attended her funeral to say goodbye.