-- Stranger in Paradise=-=-=-=-=
Canterlot, Equestria
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Six months after Twilight’s disappearance
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Canterlot was experiencing one of the most beautiful days in a decade. Everypony was enjoying the blue sky and warm weather. Well, everypony minus one. A certain white, alicorn princess of the day was sitting on her balcony, depressed.
Princess Celestia sighed for what seemed to be the fiftieth time in the span of a half-hour. Her normally magically-flowing mane barely moved even with the wind pushing it, plus it was slightly monochrome. Day Court had been disbanded until further notice, as it had been when… when Twi…
Golden tears started streaking the princess’ face as she shuddered in sadness. Not a day has gone by when she didn't regret being there to protect her most faithful student. She sighed again, this one being particularly long.
She stood up and was about to head back into her chambers to sigh some more when she was interrupted midstep by a bright flash of light and a loud bang. She turned her head upwards and saw a white ball with a purple tail streak across the sky. Celestia flew up into the air just in time to see it land in the Everfree Forest.
There was another loud band and a gradient dome of light formed then disappeared just as quickly in the area where the… thing landed.
Without even alerting her guards, she rocketed towards the crash site.
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Inner Depths, Everfree Forest
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The lavender unicorn groaned as she woke up. Getting to her hooves, she winced and cursed as she put pressure on her bandaged front left hoof. She moved her remaining eye back and forth to take in her surroundings. She sighed in relief when she recognized the thick trees of the Everfree Forest.
“Home…” Twilight said, which quickly turned to cheering. “I’m… I’m home. Woohoo! Take that Wasteland, you icy cunt! I’m FINALLY HOME! WOO!”
Completely disregarding her current situation, Twilight started hopping in circles, not even caring that she was in a crater. After several minutes of cheerful bouncing, she stopped to take inventory.
“Hmm… Let’s see here…”
She laid out everything she had on her person in front of her, including her armor.
Mental Inventory Checklist
1) 1 – .45 Auto Submachine Gun (unmodified)
2) 15.3 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, all filled to capacity minus one, including current in weapon
3) 3.58 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, +P, most filled to capacity
4) 4.24 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, Hollow Point, most filled to capacity
5) 1 – 9mm pistol (Extended Magazine modification)
6) 38.4 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, including current in weapon, most filled to capacity
7) 4.2 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, +P, most filled to capacity
8) 6.5 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, Hollow Point, six filled to capacity, one filled to half capacity
9) Broad Machete
10) Combat Knife
11) 20 – Weapon repair kits
12) 1 – Set of Lightweight Leather Armor
13) 1 – Set of Hunters’ Sniper Division dog tags
14) 4 – Antivenom
15) 20 – Doctor’s Bags
16) 34 – Purified Water
17) 14 – Rad-X
18) 2 – RadAway
19) 3 – Stealth Boys
20) 75 – Stimpacks
21) 18 – Super Stimpacks
22) 5 – Bottles of Vodka
23) 15 – Bottles of Whiskey
24) 26 – Bobby Pins
25) 1 – Screwdriver
26) 1 – Box of Premium Cuban Cigars
27) 1 – Engraved Cigar Lighter
28) 1 – New York Wasteland map
29) 1 – Wasteland Survival Guide, signed
30) 1 – Unremoved eye patch
31) 1 – Irremovable Pipboy 4000
Nodding in satisfaction, Twilight put on her armor and her friend’s dog tags. She opened the side pocket of her armor and levitated everything, excluding her weapons and a single bottle of vodka, into the pocket, once again thankful for that expansion charm Celestia taught her.
She opened the bottle and raised it to the heavens and exclaimed, “To survival and home!”
She downed half of it in one go and wiped her mouth with a hoof, then let out a rather unladylike belch. With a satisfied sigh, she equipped her primary weapon: the SMG, put her pistol in its holster, her machete in its sheath, her combat knife in the sheath attached to her leg, and teleported out of the crater.
She appeared a few meters away from the edge of the crater. With a quick look around, she gathered her bearings. Without even taking a single step forward, Twilight got a hostile marker on her radar. With a groan, She went into VATS to access the situation.
A hydra? …Screw it, I have some time to kill, something else now too. Heh…
Twilight chuckled and readied her primary. Not five seconds later, the hydra’s heads appeared over the tree line, all of them glaring at her. She glared back, not even flinching.
With a smirk, Twilight yelled at the hydra. “Your mother was a gecko! And your father was fish!”
The hydra reeled back at the yell, then roared at her once it registered the insult. Twilight just smiled and aimed her SMG.
She pulled the trigger and fired.
The SMG jerked upwards from the recoil, which was exactly what she wanted. A line of holes formed along the neck of one of the segments, finishing right between the eyes of one of the heads, killing that segment.
One down. Twilight jumped out of the way of the even angrier heads. Six more to go.
Twilight jumped onto its tail and ran up onto its back. The hydra couldn’t even feel her, which was apparent as the heads were looking around in confusion. She levitated both her SMG and her secondary weapon: the 9mm, aimed them at different heads, and fired. Two heads collapsed with a dull thud.
Three down, four left.
Right as the remaining heads turned towards her, she teleported back to the edge of the crater, aimed her SMG, whistled, then quickly fired, killing another head.
She managed to take down one more before the last ones saw her. They roared again and charged.
Perfect.
Twilight teleported out of the way at the last second, causing the hydra to fall into the crater. She appeared right front of the last two heads, then fired and killed one of the heads. When she aimed her SMG at the last, still living head, it whimpered.
Twilight smirked and said, “Hasta la Vista, baby.”
She pulled the trigger and killed the final head.
After the final head died, she sighed and said, “Well that was eas-”
She cut herself off by slapping a hoof over her mouth, before warily glancing up at the sky and smiling sheepishly.
“That didn't count, right?”
As usual she got no response.
With a huff, Twilight placed her SMG on her back and headed towards Canterlot Mountain, the city looking as gorgeous as ever in the midday sun.
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It had only been a few hours since she started walking, but she thought she would’ve reached the foot of the mountain by now. She stopped, and muttered,
“I wonder…”
She brought up her Pipboy’s HUD and went to the Radio section to find…
“Epic! I still got radio!”
With a hum, she tuned the radio to Radio New York, placed the ear bud in her uninjured ear and listened to the broadcast while she walked.
Well ladies and gents, I have a very special guest here with us at the studio today. That guest is Sergeant Tyson of the Hunters’ Sniper Division. Welcome to the show, Sergeant.
Thanks, Arthur. It’s a pleasure.
Twilight tripped on nothing when she heard his voice. He sounded manlier on the radio.
The pleasure’s all mine. Now then, word has been spreading around the New York Wastes that for the past six years, you have been travelling with a rather… interesting companion. Is this correct?
One hundred percent correct. She was a Corporal for the Sniper division and was my spotter for a good part of that time. After I was given temporary leave to train her, we travelled for a fairly large portion of those six years. I took her to the best places that the Wasteland had to offer: what was left of the Empire State Building, Times Square, even Central Park!
Central Park? That place is infested with Deathclaws. How’d you two make it out of there alive?
We disabled the legs of any Deathclaw we came across, then finished them off as we walked backwards.
Huh… Well there’s your Tip of the Day for you folks: If you come across a Deathclaw, take out the legs. Why the legs, may I ask?
Because when you take out the legs, the Deathclaw’s speed is lowered to a brisk jog.
Well now, how ‘bout that… Anyway folks, we’ll cut to a break, so be sure to stay tuned for the second part of the interview…
The gentle strumming of a guitar began, and Twilight smiled widely when she realized what song was playing, then she started singing softly along,
Love me tender.
Love me sweet.
Never let me go.
You, have made my life, complete.
And I love you so…
Love me tender.
Love me true.
All my dreams, fulfilled.
Oh my darling,
I love you.
And I always will.
Love me tender.
Love me long.
Take me, to your heart…
For it’s there that I belong.
And will never part.
Love me tender.
Love me true.
All my dreams, fulfilled.
For my darling,
I love you.
And I always will.
Love me tender.
Love me dear.
Tell me, you are, mine…
I’ll be yours, through all the years.
‘Til the, end of, time…
Love me tender.
Love me true.
All my dreams, fulfilled.
For my darling,
I love you.
And I always will…
As the song ended, Twilight sighed happily, turned off the radio, and placed the ear bud back in its place. She checked her HUD, and found several hostiles and one friendly behind her.
She sighed and readied her SMG for the impending battle. The rustling of bushes in the distance alerted her all too easily. She almost pulled the trigger, but was surprised to find that the hostiles were wearing golden armor.
The golden armor of the Royal Guard.
They surrounded her, spears out. Twilight rolled her eyes and thought. If the Guard are the hostiles, then that friendly must be-
“Twily!”
“Oof!”
Twilight was almost shoved to the ground by the force of her brother hugging her. She stood there, shocked, before reciprocating the hug, wrapping her right hoof around her BBBFF. The guards around them looked confused and felt awkward. Shining Armor smiled and released his now returned sister.
“Twily, we’ve missed…” His voice faded as his took in her appearance. “Twily… What… What happened to you?”
His face turned into an expression of shock and concern as his mind tried to register his sister’s appearance. Apparently, a torn ear, a missing eye, a horn missing its tip, a bandaged leg, and wearing leather armor while carrying strange weapons must not be ‘in’ yet.
Twilight looked at herself and turned three-sixty to get a better look at what her brother was seeing. As she turned around, she heard a gasp come from Shining. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Your… your Cutie Mark…”
Twilight’s good ear fell back when he mentioned that. Her head lowered as the memory assaulted her mind. She jerked up in surprise when she heard him growl like a rabid animal.
“When I get my hooves on whoever did this to you…”
She intervened before he could get any further. “Brother, look me in the eye, not at my wounds, but in the eye.”
He did.
“I Pinkie Pie Promise that I’ll explain everything I can later. Right now, we need to gather up my friends, Spike, and the Princesses. I've got a lot to talk about…”