Fallout: Equestria - Group Anthology - 2016

Immortal Memories

by Mnador the Changeling

Deep in the wastes, there exists a legend. A legend of a meadow that has never seen rainfall.
This meadow has said to been around for over two hundred years, and yet knowledge of it’s existence has fallen into obscurity. The path is said to be shrouded in mystery, deep in the woods of the treacherous Everfree forest.
I visit regularly, paying respects to those who tried to make the world better. Have been off and on since it was first created. How I’ve lived this long isn’t important; what is important is the most recent visit I made to it.

As I walked down the path, past a castle long ago destroyed, I noticed a figure ahead on the path, a pony. Now, it has been a long time indeed since I saw anypony venture down this path again, so I decided to shadow them, see where they were headed.

Sure enough, this pony continued down this path, leaving the ruined castle in the dust and walking further into the everfree. This pony, a mare from what I could tell, was moving unusually slow. She did not seem too terribly old, yet the her hooffalls spoke volumes about her; it was as if she carried a great weight, but she only had on light saddlebags.

It is quite difficult to shadow someone whilst wearing a bright red duster, yet I followed her to the secluded hilltop without incident, barely even an acknowledgement I was there. I knew she knew, though. I’m not the greatest at stealth, but the way she changed her pace after I had showed up, and the way she paused at one point lead me to believe she knew right where I was. I did manage to stay out of range of her pipbuck, though. I guessed she was just waiting to see if I would attack her or not, and was too focused on her own task at hoof to care otherwise.

She didn’t wear much, an old tattered jumpsuit from a stable long gone, and the aforementioned saddlebags and pipbuck. There was something in the saddlebags, judging from the bulge they made, but it seemed quite light from how she walked.

The road was a long one, cutting a winding road through the entire forest that lead to a mountain on the far side of it. Through the side of the mountain was a cave tunnel, cut through long ago by magic. It lead a winding say up to a small outcropping, on which there was a circular meadow, secluded between rocks on 3 sides, with the last side overlooking most of Equestria. In the middle of the meadow were 15 stones arranged in one large circle of 6, and one circle of 6 within that one, and having 3 stones in the middle of both, two of which stood tall above the rest while the third was smaller than the others. They stood as a monument to those long passed, in remembrance. The sun shone low over the far horizon, casting the ground in an almost golden glow. It was a sight to behold, and one I always enjoyed by sitting on the edge and gazing upon our world. It was a wondrous sight, and it paid great respect to those who were laid to rest here.

This time however, I stayed at the back of the cave, watching the mare as she quickly made her way to specific graves. She navigated the clearing like she had been here many times, but I would have noticed her at least once if that were the case.
Opening her saddlebag, she levitated out fresh flowers, setting them atop the stone slabs, carved with unicorn magic long long ago. I despite being far away, I knew each grave’s location by heart. The grave with the Dashite Symbol, element bearer of loyalty Calamity. The grave with a singing songbird, element bearer of kindness Velvet Remedy. The grave with 3 bubbles, element bearer of laughter Ditzy Doo. Each grave signified one of each generation of Element bearers, with the inner circle representing the original 6 former ministry mares and the outer 6 representing the bearers who saved the wasteland. The other 3 representing Princess’ Celestia and Luna, with the last saved for the spark, the lightbringer Littlepip.

The mare set one bouquet down on the grave for Fluttershy, the original element of kindness, before walking and setting down two bouquets and a bottle of ash down in front of another grave. Instead of going for the rest, however, she sat in front of this grave and stared at it for the longest time. The sun eventually set, taking with it the golden glow that had accented her brown mane and grey coat.
She stared at the grave for a long while, reaching out and touching it slightly, trying to reach someone long gone. Clouds were beginning to move in as I turned to leave her. As I walked away though, I glanced back and noticed the drops of rain beginning to fall. The spell that had been cast over the meadow was now gone as it saw the makings of its first rainfall. The S.P.P. shut down, there was nothing keeping this place dry anymore. But the light drizzle could not compare with the tears that came from the mare herself. Walking away once more, I left her to grieve at the grave of element bearer of honesty, Homage.

Not even two hundred years could dissuade the Lightbringer from loving her.