//------------------------------// // Day 7 part 1 // Story: Dark Wanderings // by ed2481 //------------------------------// Now edited by the awsome TacoTown Day 6 part 1 “So where are we going now?” Twilight asked as the two sat together in the Brotherhood’s kitchen, quietly munching on some sugar bombs. “We’re going to Vault 87, that’s got to be where Dominus is hiding. Once we’re done with him we can focus on killing Supertramp.” Ethan replied with a shrug as he shoveled another spoonful of two century old cereal into his mouth. “Vault 87?” Twilight asked in confusion. “Yeah, the place is dark, dangerous, and absolutely full of supermutants and the stuff that turns people into them.” Ethan said with a small chuckle. “When you put it that way I’m surprised that it isn’t a tourist destination.” Twilight said dryly. “The cool place is Little Lamplight, god I love those kids.” Ethan said with a wistful smile. “Kids?” Twilight asked uncertainly. “Yeah, they’re a bunch of kids who live in this really big cavern right next to the vault; they’re so damn fun to be around.” Ethan replied with a smile. “So let me get this straight, a group of children are living next to a place full of giant green monsters, and no one is worried about this?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Well yeah…” Ethan said trailing off with a shrug. “Nothing about that picture seams wrong to you?” Twilight asked. “Nope; typical Wasteland.” Ethan replied. “Ethan, I’m seriously debating hitting you.” Twilight informed him with a sigh. “Hey don’t blame me, I’ve tried to get them to move, but the little bastards are just that damned determined to stay there.” Ethan replied with a shrug. “The longer I’m here the more I start to wonder how your ancestors ever got down from the trees without falling to their deaths.” Twilight said with a sigh. “The other bodies softened our landing.” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “Wait. How did you know we evolved from monkeys?” Ethan asked. “I was up late last night and got some reading done, although I hate those monitors. They really make my eye hurt.” Twilight replied gently touching her normal eye with her metal hoof. “Yeah, I can see that. They drive me crazy too.” Ethan replied getting up from the table and clearing away his dish. “Time to go?” Twilight asked. “Yep, we have a lot of ground to cover today.” Ethan replied as he casually began to do a few last minute checks on his equipment. “Ethan, shouldn’t you be wearing more than just that duster? I mean, last time you kind of got your ass handed to you.” Twilight asked while she looked at her friend in concern. “Don’t worry Sparky, I always keep some nice Ranger armor here.” Ethan said pulling his duster open to reveal the metal plates that made up the riot gear. “Wouldn’t it be safer if you wore your power armor?” Twilight asked as she looked at the riot gear, unimpressed. “Well, yeah. But it makes life boring.” Ethan replied with a shrug. “We’re going out to kill an extremely powerful supermutant, and you’re worried about things being boring?” Twilight asked in annoyance. “Sparky, when you’ve been doing this as long as I have you need to find something that you work towards. For my wife that’s keeping her city running to make up for the Divide. For me that’s killing every last son of a bitch that threatens the safety of the Wasteland, along with keeping things interesting.” Ethan replied with a shrug as he headed out into the hallway “Ethan, that’s terribly unhealthy for your mind.” Twilight said as she followed him. “Weren’t you the one who has periodic mental breakdowns?” Ethan replied with a chuckle at the look that came over Twilight’s face. “Ethan, I admit to my problem (and I fully expect to have one at some point during my time here). You on the other hand seem blissfully unaware of the fact that you’re a ticking time bomb!” Twilight said exasperatedly. “Look Sparky. I appreciate your attempts to help me, I really do. But I usually work out my issues in the bedroom, and no offense but you’re not my type. Plus, Cassandra would castrate me.” Ethan told her with a chuckle as Twilight let out an exasperated snort. “Besides Sparky, I’m just waiting for you to come to the realization that everywhere you go when you get home you’ll get stares.” Ethan added but Twilight just chuckled. “Ethan, I’m probably the most powerful unicorn mage that’s been alive in over a thousand years. A simple illusion spell wouldn’t be that hard for me to cast if I had to, but I doubt that I’ll need to. The ponies of Equestria are pretty used to odd things happening, and I doubt that a cyborg will get more out of them then a raised eyebrow.” Twilight replied with another chuckle. “What I’m more concerned about is my brother; he’s a little overprotective when it comes to me.” Twilight said with a sigh. “I’m sure he’ll be fine Sparky. You mentioned that he was in the army earlier, he’s probably used to soldiers getting hurt.” Ethan reassured her with a shrug as he took the stairs down. “Ethan, where are we going? The entrance is that way.” Twilight said, pointing at the door that led to the courtyard. “Yeah, and I’m sure that Supertramp is watching that door with a rifle. We’re using the secret escape tunnel that I found a few years back.” Ethan told her with a shrug as they walked down another flight of stairs. “So after all the years of the Brotherhood living here they never found it?” Twilight asked. “Nope, I don’t know why, but it might be because of the raw sewage smell…” Ethan told her with a chuckle. “I’m not going to enjoy this am I?” Twilight asked resignedly. “Probably not, but maybe you’ll find a sudden love of two century old sewage.” Ethan replied, giving her a smile. Twilight then slammed her metal leg into his knee. *** “Ethan, this is ridicules!” Twilight said as the scent of the sewer rose up into her sensitive nostrils. The sewers were surprisingly spacious, easily giving Ethan more than enough headroom to move around easily. They were currently standing on the side of the sewer canal, next to a ladder that led down from some of the deepest parts of the Citadel subbasement. Inside the canal the two century old sewage sat stagnantly, occasionally shifting as some small creatures searched its depths for food. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Sparky.” Ethan said as he began to walk away from her, leaving the unicorn with no choice but to follow him or return to the surface. “How can you not smell it?” Twilight asked in annoyance as she caught up to him. “Years of practice Sparky. Plus, I’ve smelled way worse things than raw sewage.” Ethan told her with a shrug. “Such as?” Twilight asked, hoping that the conversation would distract her from the little ponies in her nose who were screaming at the ponies in her brain for relief. “Well, I smelled an alien sewer; that was much worse.” Ethan said. “Although I did find a kick ass army coat so that made up for it.” He added with a chuckle. “You’re impossible.” Twilight said with a shake of her head. They kept on walking for several minutes, jumping from one topic to the next at random until Ethan suddenly ground to a halt and turned to confront the water next to them. It seemed to be bubbling, and Twilight caught dark movements issuing from within. Ethan took his 12.7 off of his hip and unloaded the clip into the water, which shrieked as the bubbling grew more intense. Twilight wondered what could possibly stand up to that kind of punishment and looked over the edge to get a better look. “Sparky get back!” Ethan shouted but it was too late. A long sinuous limb streaked out of the water and grabbed Twilight in its clutches, wrapping around the purple mare and pulling her under the water before she could release a scream. Ethan unhooked his blade of the west and was about to dive in after her when the water suddenly exploded in a flash of purple and Twilight was thrown out of the water with the force of a small explosion. Ethan grabbed her out of the air as bits of long tendrils showered the side of the canal around them. Ethan set Twilight down on the ground beside him where she immediately began to puke up two century old sewage, along with her breakfast. “You okay Sparky?” Ethan asked his smaller companion who unexpectedly started to laugh as she shook herself off and a wave of purple magic swept over her. “What’s funny?” Ethan asked, not seeing the joke. “I’m sorry Ethan. I’m just thinking about what Rarity’s reaction to seeing me like this would be; I think she would have a heart attack.” Twilight answered with another chuckle. “I have got to meet this pony; she sounds like she’d love me.” Ethan said with a wide grin as he patted Twilight on the back. “Goddesses I need a bath, magic just isn’t enough at this point.” Twilight said, giving herself a sniff and wrinkling her nose in disgust. “So that’s what that purple light was.” Ethan remarked as they set off again. “Yes, it’s a spell designed to purify you without water… I think I need a stronger spell.” Twilight replied. “I still have no idea what controls those damn tentacles.” Ethan said with a slight scowl. “Whatever it is, I think we may have annoyed it. Goddesses I’m tired of the Wasteland…” Twilight said with a long sigh. “Don’t worry Sparky. Once we’re done with Dominus we should be able to rest for a bit before taking down Supertramp.” Ethan told her. “Speaking of which, do you have a plan for that? Because nothing that you did last time seemed to help much.” Twilight asked. “I was thinking of luring her to a factory of some kind and kicking her into a vat of liquid iron.” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “Really?” Twilight asked. “Hey, it worked for John Connor.” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Who?” Twilight asked puzzling over the unfamiliar name. “Guy from a vid, he had this awesome robot from the future who came to help protect him from this other robot from the future. Cassandra showed it to me; she said she found it when she was doing something for the Think Tank.” Ethan replied. “The who?” Twilight asked “They were scientific geniuses before the war who preserved their brains in tubes.” Ethan answered. “Only humans Ethan, only humans…” Twilight said, trailing off with a sigh. *** After two hours of walking through sewers, they arrived in a metro station that Twilight’s pipboy identified as the Northwest Seneca Station. Then they walked west for another hour until they came to a cheery looking sign proclaiming that the Lamplight Caverns were straight ahead. A few minutes of walking later brought them to a cavern decorated with dozens of small light bulbs that sparkled happily in the wasteland sunlight, clearly not giving a fuck about how depressing their surroundings were. Ethan led the way into the caverns, followed by Twilight, and they walked till they came up to a wood and metal barricade where a teenager wearing a lumpy brown coat and a hat greeted them. “Hey look, it’s the fucking mungo. What’s up you cock sucking moron?” The teenager shouted down to them (he had yet to see Twilight because she was being shielded by Ethan’s bulk). “Not much you snot-nosed little bitch.” Ethan called up to him with a grin on his face. “Go fuck yourself asshole.” The teen shouted back. “I would, but I’m busy fucking your mother!” Ethan replied causing the teen to burst into laughter. “Well then come on in you dipshit!” The teen called back while he jumped down from the barricade, and the gate opened allowing Ethan and Twilight to advance. “No fucking way, is that a motherfucking unicorn?” The teen asked pointing at Twilight. “Damn skippy it is!” Ethan replied with a wide grin. “Sparky, this is Mayor MacCready, toughest little asshole in the Wasteland.” Ethan said introducing them. “Well fuck me in the ass and call me Suzy, it’s an honest to god unicorn!” MacCready said excitedly, with a look of almost childlike innocence washing over his face. “Not that I would be into that kind of thing, unicorns are for whiny bitches.” He added as the look vanished from his face. Twilight turned to look at Ethan with a raised eyebrow. Ethan nodded with a smirk. MacCready suddenly found himself hanging upside down in the air, with his body held aloft in a stream of purple magic. “Whiny bitches huh?” Twilight asked with a smirk as the adolescent dangled helplessly, flailing his arms in confusion. “Put me down, put me down, put me DOWN you cunt!” MacCready shouted, but Twilight simply began to move him up and down in the air and his face suddenly gained a greenish hue. “You really shouldn’t antagonize a magical talking unicorn; I’ve heard that they have quite the temper.” Ethan called to MacCready as he whirled in the air. “Mungo make this crazy bitch stop!” MacCready shouted at Ethan who only laughed and said. “I’d suggest being nice.” “I’m sorry miss unicorn; would you please put me down?” MacCready shouted to Twilight who gently placed him on the ground. “So MacCready, what have we learned?” Ethan asked MacCready condescendingly. Instead of answering, MacCready jumped forward and kicked Ethan in the balls, sending him tumbling to the ground. “That I should pick my targets better, asshole.” MacCready replied with a grin as Ethan gingerly held his crotch. Despite herself Twilight began to laugh, as did MacCready, and eventually so did Ethan.