“You are to wear clothes at all times from now on, except when you bathe.” Twilight stated, glaring at a human who was rubbing her sore head, from the hangover and the whack on the head she got after she woke up.
“I’m sorry okay! I just thought I might be able to get some action if I convinced her to do it. Turns out she doesn’t swing that way…”
‘Whack!’
“Fuck! Stop that!”
Anne had managed to get the princess to stop slapping her after a while when she convinced her to go back to the Empty to see how things were going although things were ‘different’ to say the least. For one there was a large flap flying on top of a flag pole at the top of the dome, a picture of a grouchy looking Twilight with a book resting on her head blazed into the fabric.
“I swear to god I didn’t do that!’ Anne said quickly, putting her arms up to protect her and managed to block the punch before it got to her. “I’m not smart enough to think of that!”
“Of course you aren’t! You keep your brain in a jar!” Twilight yelled, her horn glowing brightly before up above the flag burst into flames, burning away quickly in the inferno.
Twilight stomped her way back into the dome, Anne trying to keep her away from her brain in case she did anything rash to the organ.
But when they got there they found the brain that Anne had fondly started calling Brian floating along in one of the balls with screens, mumming to itself as he looked over a console.
“Ah, so you two didn’t forget about this place hmmm?” The brain asked, screens turning to look at the pair as they entered.
“That is really creepy, having my brain do things without any control from me…” Anne noted pointing at the robot.
“You know how much work you can do just stuck in the one jar that’s bolted to the floor? Since you wouldn’t know I’ll just say it isn’t much.” Brian stated.
“What have you even been working on?” Twilight asks in confusion.
“Well did you really think the Think Tank would be able to do anything on their own? So I took it on myself to help with those projects you wanted done.” He stated.
“Any progress?” Anne asked hopefully, it was annoying only having one hand in the wasteland.
“Yes, but not for you yet.” He said. “We made artificial eyes, although we had to adjust the size to fit the skull of you Twilight, how do you even keep a brain in a skull that filled with eyeball?” He said idly as he looked down at Twilight.
“Wait… So you mean I’ll be able to see fully again?” Twilight asked, eyes going wide.
“Yes. Though we’ll need to put you in an auto-doc to have everything fixed up again. There’s a bit more to it than just putting a ball into the socket, we also need to get to your visual cortex and attach the electrodes to the right parts of your brain and since we only have horse brains to go off it will be a lot of assuming on our part for things to go along fine.”
Twilight gulped nervously, reaching a hoof up to her blind eye and rubbing around the socket.
“Will it hurt..?”
“You won’t feel a thing, well, until the Med-X stops working that is… but during the procedure you’ll be out cold, won’t notice anything.” The brain said. “But one thing we should know before hand is do you want a different color of eye?”
“No, I just want it to look like my other one…” Twilight said with a sigh. “I want to just look normal again…”
“It will hurt once it’s in for a while, you won’t be used to a metal ball in your skull at first but you’ll learn to live with it…”
Twilight groaned softly as she woke up, trying to open her eyes but she couldn’t see anything, just darkness. She slowly remembered what happened, climbing into the auto-doc and for what reason. And with her vision just surrounded by darkness she assumed the worst had happened and started to hyperventilate.
“Hey, you’re awake.” She heard the voice of a tired sounding Anne say from her side.
“I can’t see Anne!” Twilight yelped out in fear, was she going to be fully blind?
“I wouldn’t doubt it, you have a bandage around your face right now.” Anne stated, slowly reaching out and resting a hand on Twilight’s side.
Twilight relaxed slightly at the contact of her friend. “How did it go..?” She asks softly.
“I’m not an eye surgeon but I think it went pretty well.” Anne said looking down at the bed ridden pony. “They removed the old damaged one so I hope you didn’t expect to keep it. They hooked up electrodes to your brain and went around through the inside of your skull and out the back of your eye socket before imputing the new eye and connecting it all up.”
“For someone who doesn’t know about eye surgery you explained it pretty well.” Twilight said with a week chuckle as she relaxed into the pillows of the bed she was laid in.
“Brian explained it to me, mainly cause I was asking what was happening every five minutes so he told me everything to shut me up.”
“You’re the only person I know of who can annoy their own brain…”
It took a while of talking before the princess convinced her friend to take the bandages off her, slowly unwrapping them around her sore head. She expected her vision to be amazing, something special like laser vision or being able to see through walls. She was slightly disappointed when all she saw was what it was like before she lost her eye. The disappointment quickly left although when she remembered she shouldn’t care about any of that and should just be glad she could see full again.
Although it did now feel like her eye was made out of sandpaper and gravel, and when she tried to rub the tender area she was warned by the human that it probably wasn’t the best of ideas.
“You don’t want to damage anything just after it was all hooked up.” Anne explained. “You’re going to sore for a while after everything and I was told that if you have any blood leaking from your ears or your brain feels like it’s melting to come back for a checkup.”
The pony paled at the last point made.
After a few adjustments with the settings on the eyes when they were a bit too sensitive towards light they headed back to the Mojave, Twilight quickly just went to the bathroom and threw up from the pain in her head. But after another day she just wanted to get out of New Vegas and do something.
Anne suggested to go to a radio signal she had found on the airwaves telling people to come to a new casino that was opening up for the first time and people should come to join in the celebration. This left the two of them walking through the Mojave to where the broadcast was coming from to see if it was true since it could be a good break for the two of them, just something fun like a party.
“So… That’s it?” Twilight asks as she looks down at the rusty drainage cover, through the holes at the ladder that lead down into the darkness below.
“Well… That’s where the signal is coming from… It might be just where the signal is broadcast and it’s meant to be leading to another place?” Anne suggested as she hauled the cover off with her one hand.
“I guess we need to go down to find out.” Twilight said with a sigh, starting to climb herself downwards.
After helping Anne up after slipping and falling down the ladder the two looked around to see what was around them. What they didn’t expect was the rusty rundown room with a headless body slumped against a wall with dried blood plastered against the walls and floors around it. There were also writings along the walls such as ‘Left my heart in the Seirra Madre’ and ‘Left for the Seirra Madre.’
“Well. Isn’t this pleasant?” Anne asked trying to remain optimistic as she went over to a staircase that went further downwards. “There’s a door down there, ready for an adventure?”
“I don’t think there’s much choice in this.” Twilight grumbled, she guessed this wasn’t going to be that relaxing anymore.
The metal door opened with a loud hissing sounds as it unsealed itself. The two looked down the rusted halls and at the end was an old style radio, which was loudly playing Seirra Madre advertisements. There wasn’t much else around, just little out coves cast in the walls with destroyed books in them.
“This isn’t what I expected…” Anne said as she went over to the book shelf and knocked them over with her hand, watching as the pages fell apart.
“Well, could have been worse, it’s just this stuff.” Twilight said gong over to the radio in a room that had nothing else besides the object in the middle on a clean wooden table.
A loud hissing sound soon filled the place as they two looked around at vents attached to the ceiling, watching as a clear mist was pumped into the room. The pony was confused at what was happening before she felt herself start to get dizzy and she stumbled slightly before falling to the ground. She heard a similar but heavier thud from her friend before her vision went dark and she saw no more.
You've heard of the Sierra Madre Casino.
We all have, the legend, the curses.
Foolishness about it lying in the middle of the City of the Dead, buried beneath a blood-red cloud.
A bright, shining monument luring treasure hunters to their doom.
The world's most famous stars and entertainers were invited to its Grand Opening. An invitation was a sign of... exclusiveness. The opening was supposed to symbolize a road to a brighter future, not just for the world... but for all who came to its doors.
A chance for anyone to begin again. Except, the Sierra Madre never opened.
The war froze it in time, like a big flashbulb going off. The Grand Opening - one big ending of humanity. It's still out there, in the Wastes, preserved, just waiting for someone to crack it open. But getting to it. That's not the hard part.
It's letting go.
Twilight groaned softly, opening her eyes and was greeted by a dirty brown cobbled floor. A soft breeze was going over through her fur and making her shiver slightly. She slowly lifted her head from the floor and looked around. She was in what looked like the center of an old style town, fountain in the middle with water long gone with golden coins around it.
A light flashed to existence and the still image of a grumpy looking old man hovered over the top of the fountain, glowing faintly blue.
“Are you listening? Good. From now on, when I talk, listen, and follow my instructions.” He stated in a grizzled voice, Twilight getting to her hooves and taking a step back, still feeling dizzy from getting knocked out. She could see a large grand building up on a mountain nearby, lights blazing against its surface and making it look mystical. “Play stupid, play clever, make the mistake of saying ‘no?’ That collar on your neck'll go off and take your head with it.”
Twilight reached up with a hoof, feeling the familiar heavy metal collar around her throat. “Why am I here?” She asked in worry looking back up at the floating old man.
“I brought you here. There are mechanisms in place once the traps across the Mojave are sprung. For now, your sole focus should be the Sierra Madre, and how to get inside. Until then, you won't leave alive. But to get inside, avoid its traps... you'll need to gather the team. As I've found, one cannot do it alone.”
“Around the Villa are four other collars like yours, Collar 8, 9, 12, and 14. Find all four and get them here, to the Fountain. Then, we'll talk more.” He stated.
“Where’s my friend? What did you do with her?” Twilight growled glaring at the hovering image of the man.
“That hairless girl you came in with? She’s Collar 12, if you find her and the other three you might get out of this alive.”