Brotherhood Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Cold refrigerated air blew gently from a vent above Neo and Adam. Their rumps sank in the cushions of an old, worn couch -- used to its limit decades ago. The glow from a working Stable-Tech terminal, sitting on a table, resonated its haunting green glow on Neo's face as he typed away on the keyboard.

Big Lot impatiently paced in front of them, frowning in the way fillies do, "It's been over an hour now! Are you close to finishing it yet?"

Neo's tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth, as he leaned toward the screen, the speed of the clacking keys increasing, "I'm almost there... this is pretty important, I don't want to have to come back to it later to clean it up."

She stopped at the table's end, "Well, I can't leave until you finish."

Adam peeled his eyes away from the terminal to answer her, "Nobody's telling you to stay. You're just keeping Lucy and Wester waiting at the gunship."

The filly's little cheeks inflated into reddened balloons, "Yeah well-" her voice trailed off along with her gaze.

She opened her mouth to say something, but reconsidered at the last instance, scuffing the ground like she’d been caught, "I... I... don't want them to take off without either of you there to say goodbye."

Adam smiled dearly, "Well, you don't have to worry then, my brother's almost done."

Ally wandered in through a door at the end of the room poking her head inside, "Hey, are you guys close to finishing?"

Neo stopped typing for a moment to shoot her a look, "I’m... I’m close..."

He returned to typing at a frantic rate, inaudibly grumbling to himself, "If some ponies would just stop asking that..."

Ally sauntered to a vacant cushion next to him, scooting in close, "Well, I need to make sure... communication and all of that stuff."

She rested her head on Neo's shoulder, watching him do his work. "Can you blame me?"

The hurried pace of his click-clacking stopped with a firm press of the enter key. He glanced at her, watching the mare flutter both lashes at him.

Her delicate nature softened his mood, "Heh," he laid against the marshmallow soft back cushions, "No, I guess not."

He rested his own head atop her own, gazing at the screen together. Big Lot eagerly gamboled around to Adam's side of the couch, "Is it done?! Is it done?!"

Neo laughed, watching the filly hop beside his brother, "It's done."

He sighed nodding, "It's done."

Big Lot sank in the soft material that made up the couch's seats -- eating her hind hooves like enveloping quicksand. She kept herself aloft, grasping ahold of Adam's right shoulder, "Do you think it came out okay? How did you make me sound?"

"I told it as truthfully as possible." Neo stroked Ally's upper foreleg, "That's all."

"Well," he laughed, "except for Adam. He got a personal rocket-laser-turret early on. I promised him that much."

"What!" Big Lot's mouth slacked like a codfish, "aw c'mon! You said you told it truthfully!"

Adam ruffled the blond curls of her mane, "As truthfully as possible."

"I just hope things will get better now," Ally remarked nuzzling her nose into Neo's neck, "now that you've told the story."

Neo kissed her head before answering, "I'm not a writer. Archive records are archive records. If anything, they sound more like boring re-accounts in technical-terms."

"After watching my brother plug it in," Adam tossed both hooves over his head, "they're the best dang technical-term recounts I've ever read!"

Big Lot wrangled herself out of the couch. She hopped to the floor -- brushing off her freed legs, "Well, now that it’s over. I've gotta’ catch a flight to the Border, and you've got to come to the goodbye party!"

Neo jerked his head to the door, "Don't count us out just yet, I've got to close things up here real quick. I'll only be a few minutes more."

He included, "You might as well see if you've got everything you need for your flight."

"Fine," the filly snorted, "but don't be too late! I don't know how long the pilot can sit there."

The filly trotted along to the door, the three home-body couch sitters observing her. Ally spoke up, her voice alone echoing through the quiet room, "Do you two think she'll be fine out there? I mean, Wester and Lucy are with her, but you never know."

Adam's legs swayed off of the high-risen couch, "I trust her... I think she'll do a good job up there."

Ally exhaled a long, tensed breath out, "I'm finally happy to rest a little."

"I think we're all ready for some rest." Neo added.

Adam leapt to the ground, taking a moment to yawn and outstretch his muscles. "I agree, but first we've got a party to attend."

Neo shook his head laughing, "Big Lot's not going to forgive us if we miss it."

Ally sat up, chuckling, "I don't think she'll let the pilot take off unless we attend."

"Alright, then," Neo returned to the terminal, "I think it's finally time to close this. Once and for all."

Author's Note

That's it. The last installment of Fallout Equestria: Brotherhood. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the story. This is my first chronologically narrative-driven work completed to-date. As of today, it took me more than three-and-a-half years to complete. It's been a long journey, and one that has certainly not been easy.

I've learned so much in those years writing the story. I've grown stronger as a person, and as a writer in every way. Sadly, I lacked the constructive criticism and mentoring during the story's early conception. Had I the knowledge then that I possess now, I guarantee it would be a much different work.

Nevertheless, though as rough as the final product is at times -- I'm proud of it. I'm proud of myself for having completed it from beginning to end. Despite the nagging sensation to stop, or the constant remarks from some of my friends to drop it and move on.

There's so much I want to say that the Author's Notes section couldn't contain it all. I'll be recording my final thoughts on the story and more in a few days. Additionally, I'll be posting it on main page for you. Thank you once again so much for all the support through liking, commenting, and favoriting this story. Each click compelled me to finally come to this conclusion.

Thank you so incredibly much, directly from my heart,

• Noakwolf