//------------------------------// // Day 7 part 3 // Story: Dark Wanderings // by ed2481 //------------------------------// Day 7 part 3 Edited by TacoTown “Trouble?” Shining asked softly, his eyes cold as stone. “My sister is covered in new scars, blood, gore, dust, a ratty piece of armor, and worst of all she seems to have lost an eye and a foreleg. WHAT DO YOU THINK?!” Shining shouted, his blue mane bristling as he let go of Twilight and began to stalk towards Ethan. Cassandra caught her husband’s eye for a half second and understanding passed between them. Cassandra stepped away, leaving Ethan to deal with the enraged unicorn. “I’d think that I’m the reason that she’s lasted as long as she has.” Ethan replied calmly while looking into the unicorn’s eyes. Suddenly he found himself picked up in a very tight magical field as Shining Armor took another steps towards him. “Shining, st-” Twilight began. “Stay out of this Twily.” Shining commanded coldly before turning back to Ethan. “You took my sister’s innocence from her; I’m going to make you regret that.” He growled at Ethan. “You think I fucked her?” Ethan asked in confusion. Shining let out a roar and threw Ethan to the ground in an angry burst of magic. “Do you really think I’m into that stuff? Not that she isn’t hot, I’ve been staring at her ass this whole time.” Ethan said with a chuckle (Twilight wasn’t sure whether he was joking or not) causing Shining to physically charge him. Meanwhile, the rest of the Brotherhood members in the courtyard gathered around to watch. Ethan jumped to his feet and dodged to the side as Shinning thundered past. “Shut up you asshole!” Shining Armor yelled as he rounded on Ethan and sent out a bolt of TK that slammed into Ethan and sent him flying until he rebounded off of a magical shield. “Well, I’d say that asshole is a little harsh, I mean I did pull a bullet out of your sister’s gorgeous flank, so I’d say I get some credit for that.” Ethan replied as his bones cracked back into place. “I don’t give a damn, I’m going to make you pay!” Shining shouted as he created a tightening ring of magical shields around Ethan who rolled his eyes as the glowing magical edges closed in on him. “So I saved your sister from bleeding out, gave her a place to stay, taught her how to survive, kept her from going insane more than once, replaced the limb and eye she lost, and in return you attack me.” Ethan said with a small sigh. “Oh well, I can wig it.” He added with a grin as he pulled out a small grenade and dropped it at his feet. Twilight gasped in horror while Cassandra’s lips twitched into a small smile. Inside the circle of shields Ethan was obscured by a bright blue flash and a loud buzzing noise. Shining’s shields flicked out much to the unicorn’s confusion and Ethan came striding out with a grin “H, ho, how?” Shining asked in confusion. “Most invisible shields work on principles of electricity or energy manipulation, and pulse grenades work by disrupting energy and electricity. That’s why they work so well on soldiers wearing powerarmor along with robots.” Ethan said, then glanced over at Twilight whose mouth was open in surprise. “You forgot I was smart, didn’t you?” He asked her before turning back to Shining. “So your fields can’t affect me for the next ten minutes or so until the effects of the grenade wear off.” Ethan said with an elegant little bow in Shining’s direction. “I don’t need my shields to punish you.” Shining stated coldly as he drew his sword and began to walk towards Ethan purposely. “I’m not into that either…” Ethan said, pulling his blade of the west off of his back. “You think you can beat me in a sword fight? I’ve been training since I was sixteen!” Shining Armor scoffed at Ethan as he slashed his sword out vertically, only to find it blocked by Ethan, who simply flicked his enormous blade and smacked the sword away. “Well I’m twenty something, I’ve been using this thing for around three years, and I just blocked your slash.” Ethan said with a smirk as he closed in on Shining and drove him back with a massive overhand blow that the unicorn barely managed to block. “I’ve seen better form from a recruit on his first day!” Shining shouted back as he sent his sword stabbing towards Ethan. It slid easily into Ethan’s chest, somehow managing not to hit anything important. Ethan looked down at it nonchalantly before casually pulling it out and looking at the blade while his chest closed. Shining just stood there staring at him. Without warning, Ethan’s boot lashed out and landed a light kick against the unicorn’s chest, sending him tumbling backwards. “Let me explain something to you Shining. I’ve watched lots of people I care about die, my father, my friend Jericho (he may have been kind of a dick but he was still my friend), my cowboy friend Paulson, and a whole slew of others. This is the Wasteland, people die. I do my goddammed best to keep it from happening, but it does. And do you know what I get in return for the most part? I get more assholes and bastards trying to fucking kill them!” Ethan shouted as he strode over to Shining who had regained his feet. “Do you realize how hard it is to keep on doing what I do? Do you realize that I occasionally wake up in the middle of the night sweating and screaming as I see my father’s corpse again? Or when I see the faces of the men I’ve killed staring back at me with their sightless eyes?” Ethan asked as Shining shot a bolt of force at him, but Ethan didn’t stop, pause, or show any sign that he’d just been hit with enough force to send two men flying. He just strode on, his eyes locked on Shining’s. The blue orbs that had been filled with wildness before were now full of a grief that Twilight found herself drawn to like a moth to a flame. “I could’ve just stood back when people needed me. When the supermutants were terrorizing Big Town I didn’t need to do anything to help those people, but I did, and I’d do it again. Even worse I could’ve been actively evil; I could’ve blown up the town of Megaton, (I bet it would’ve been one hell of a lightshow). But no. instead I broke Burke’s nose and threw him the hell out of my town!” Ethan was standing right in front of the unicorn, now looking straight into his eyes. “So let me tell you with perfect clarity, when I saw your sister lying on the ground crying out for help I could’ve just left her there to be eaten. Did I? Hell no, I killed each and every one of those degenerates and then saved her life. Then I-” “Oh shut up!” Shining shouted interrupting Ethan while propelling him backwards with a blast of force. “No matter what your excuse is, or how bad you feel about it my sister is still missing an eye and a leg. What could you have been thinking? One of the first rule that any soldier learns is that you DON’T take civilians into a combat zone, and my sister is definitely a civilian!” Shining shouted as he walked towards Ethan who had already regained his feet. “Because-” “Both of you STOP IT!” Twilight shouted, cutting Ethan off. Twilight sent out a tiny blast of force, just enough to separate the two fighters. She walked between them and turned to stare at Shining Armor. “Twily, wh-” “Be quiet.” Twilight told him severely before turning back to Ethan, who was wearing a small smirk. Twilight frowned for a second before smashing her metal leg into his knee, causing Ethan to give her an amused look. “You hit a knee guard Sparky.” Ethan told her with a grin. “Ethan, shut up for a few seconds.” Twilight said. “Sure thing Sparky, my lips are sealed. So about your ass…” Ethan replied with a chuckle. Twilight let out a groan before turning back to her brother. “Shiny, you need to calm down.” Twilight said simply. “Calm down? Why would I need to calm down? This idiot got you hurt Twily, you’re missing an eye!” Shining shouted. “I hadn’t noticed.” Twilight said dryly. “Twily you’re obviously mentally unstable at the moment, let me take care of this guy and then I can get Luna to take us home.” Shining said gently while he placed a hoof comfortingly on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight shrugged him off and let out a tiny groan. “Shiny I’m not insane, this isn’t one of my episodes; now listen to what I have to say.” Twilight said calmly, Shining was about to say something, but Twilight stuck her (nonmetallic) hoof in his mouth before he could start. “Ethan has been busting his ass to save my life since I got here. He taught me how to survive, he held me when I was scared, and he healed me when I was broken. The reason that I’m missing an arm and a leg is because an assassin came after us. Ethan did his best, but it wasn’t enough and I ended up getting hurt. I don’t blame him for it, besides I made him take me with him.” Twilight told her brother. “You wanted to travel with this idiot?” Shining asked in surprise as his head turned to look at Ethan who was whistling softly to himself. “Yeah, call me crazy Shiny but he really is a great guy once you get to know him.” Twilight said with a sigh. “Twilight, he’s a moron!” Shining shot back gesturing at Ethan with a hoof. In the background Cassandra shook her head with a tiny smile on her face; Shining’s view of Ethan was the same view that had gotten many killed. “Back to the point, he’s saved me more times than I even want to think about and I was the one who wanted to travel with him. So if you’re going to be angry with anyone, it should be me.” Twilight told her brother simply. “You’re using that one?” Ethan asked from behind her. “Isn’t that saying kind of clichéd?” “Not helping Ethan.” Twilight said in an annoyed tone. “Twily, I’m not going to listen to you, you’ve obviously been damaged by this place and it’s going to take a lot of time before you’re thinking clearly again. I’m going to kill this guy, and then I’m going to get you home.” Shining said, pushing past his sister and shooting a bolt of magic at Ethan. *** “So, who’s got money on Ethan?” Veronica asked from off to the side. “Five hundred caps.” Sarah said without hesitation. *** Shining ran forward and tackled Ethan, who had just regained his feet after being hit by a wave of energy strong enough to vaporize a changeling practically unharmed. They went down in a spinning heap and Ethan ended up on top. Ethan quickly sent a trio of punches into Shining’s jaw, stunning the unicorn soldier momentarily. Shining recovered rapidly and slammed his hoof into Ethan’s armored chest, his magically enhanced horseshoes creating small dents in the metal and throwing Ethan off of him. Twilight was about to intervene when Cassandra came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Just let them fight, they’re men. It’s how they solve their problems.” Cassandra said, drawing Twilight away towards the other spectators. Shining charged Ethan before turning to buck him in the crotch. Ethan artfully avoided the blow and returned the gesture, kicking Shining in his (armored) stallionhood. The unicorn gasped in pain as the blow reverberated around his equipment and Ethan followed up the kick by grabbing the unicorn by the shoulder and throwing him to the ground several feet away. However, Shining wasn’t done yet and as he staggered back to his hooves he sent out a flurry of energy towards Ethan. The bolts caught Ethan in the shoulder, and there was a slight sizzling sound as it tried to eat its way through the reinforced leather of the duster. Ethan shrugged off the blow and took out his battered 10mm pistol (he didn’t want to kill the unicorn, for some reason he doubted Twilight would like that). He sent out a withering hail of lead that bounced off of the shield that appeared in front of Shining’s body. Shining let out a yell of furry and charged towards Ethan, who jumped backwards and sent out another flurry of shots that were easily deflected by Shining. The unicorn’s hoof swept up and impacted against Ethan’s chest with a resounding clunk, and Ethan stumbled backwards. The unicorn pushed his advantage with another swing, but Ethan grabbed the hoof mid stroke and used it to get under the unicorn’s guard. Ethan then let fly a flurry of blows that knocked the unicorn backwards. Shining roared in rage as he began to charge his horn, preparing a spell capable of killing a dragon. Ethan sensed the fact that he was about to be on the receiving end of something extremely painful and grabbed a buffout bottle from his pocket, and quickly ate three of the pills. Shining released the beam of magic seconds after he’d taken the pills, and braced himself for the oncoming pain. But the pain never came, instead Twilight appeared in front of Ethan, her horn and eyes blazing purple. Twilight absorbed the beam with a simple (to someone of her level) spell and then locked her eyes on Shining. “Enough!” She shouted, with enough power flowing through her voice that she almost rivaled Luna. She grabbed Shining and Ethan in her purple magic and levitated them till they were facing each other. “Now you two will be friends. Or at the very least stop trying to kill each other, or so help me I’ll find a way to bring Celestia here and I’ll explain to her how her Captain of the Guard wanted to kill the one who protected her student!” Twilight told them both sternly, while directing most of it at Shining. “Twily, put me down so I can end this idiot!” Shining shouted while he struggled impotently against her bonds. “Shiny, would you tell me why you won’t stop trying to kill Ethan?” Twilight asked. “Because he got you hurt!” Shining shouted. “Oh, I get it now!” Ethan said, and Twilight turned to look at him. “What do you get?” She asked in confusion. “Your brother is angry at himself Sparky, he feels guilty that he wasn’t here to protect you himself.” Ethan explained simply. “Shiny, is this true?” Twilight asked, turning to her brother who had sunk his head in shame. “Yeah, yeah it is Twily.” He said softly Twilight released Ethan from her magic and he landed on the ground with a thump. Before he could protest the treatment Cassandra interrupted him with a firm kiss and a hard look. Twilight put Shining down much more gracefully and swept him into a hug. “Shining, you didn’t bring me here. There’s nothing that you have to feel guilty about.” Twilight said softly. “Twilight, I have a lot to feel guilty about.” Shining said miserably. “Like what?” Twilight asked in confusion. “Well let’s see, I wasn’t there to protect you from Nightmare Moon, or help you handle an invasion of parasprites, or against the dragon. Then there’s the time when you had to fight a hydra by yourself, I also wasn’t there to help you against Discord and I wasn’t there to help you through your mental breakdown. But worst of all was the wedding. First I allowed myself to be brainwashed by that shallow imitation, then I didn’t believe you when you pointed out what should’ve been obvious, and after that I was completely useless throughout the entire invasion until the end while you and your friends did my job!” Shining exclaimed, slumping. “I can’t protect either of the women that I care the most about Twilight. I also managed to betray Cadence, the mare who I’d do anything for!” Shining shouted before he broke down in his sister’s forelegs. “Alright people, nothing to see here, come back later!” Cassandra said menacingly while she eyed the Brotherhood soldiers who were watching the event with interest. The Brotherhood members let out a tiny groan before they went back to what they were doing before and gave the two unicorns their space. “Shiny…” Twilight said softly as she gripped her brother tighter as his body was rocked by waves of grief. “I had sex with their queen Twily, I still don’t feel clean. I don’t deserve Cadence.” Shining told her. “Cadence doesn’t blame you Shiny, you know that.” Twilight reassured her brother. “I know and that makes it worse!” Shining said. “I know how to deal with anger, what I don’t know how to deal with is acceptance!” *** “I feel like they’re getting sidetracked…” Ethan told Cassandra quietly. “Shush, let them solve their problems.” His wife told him putting her finger on his lips to silence him. *** “Why is there a crying unicorn in the courtyard Reginald?” Elder Lyons asked as he looked down at the commotion from his vantage point on the wall. “I believe I heard something about a family reunion.” Rothchild said with a shrug. “Hmm… Reginald, do you remember when we didn’t have odd things happening in the courtyard every two days?” Lyons asked with a sigh. “Possibly, my mind is beginning to get fuzzy in my old age.” Rothchild replied with a chuckle. The two old men shared a laugh while things in the courtyard began to calm down slightly. *** “Sorry Twily, I’ve been holding that in for a while.” Shining said with a slightly embarrassed cough. “It’s fine Shiny, but you really need to talk to Cadence about this before the foal comes.” Twilight said, and Shining sighed. “Yeah. You know, I kind of wish that we’d taken things a bit slower now.” Shining replied. “Are you two done yet?” Ethan asked, walking up to Twilight. “Because Cassandra and I haven’t seen each other for a week and we would usually already be-” “Yes, we’re done.” Twilight said, stopping Ethan from saying whatever he’d been about to say. “Good. I’m glad that he’s not trying to kill me. Not that I was worried, but I already have a synthetic self-repairing assassin after me. I don’t really need an angry magical unicorn helping her.” Ethan replied with a grin. “You have a what chasing you?” Shining asked in surprise. “Really dangerous psychotic bitch who can heal herself.” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Oh, and she’s the one who took your sister’s eye and leg. So if you want someone to be angry at, use her.” Ethan told Shining. “Ethan I just finished talking him down, how about we focus on something else for now?” Twilight asked changing the subject. “Well then I’m off to have sex with my woman.” Ethan told her with a grin. “Don’t worry Sparky; I’m sure that when you get back home you can do that too.” He told her before strutting up to Cassandra and sweeping her off her feet. “What did he mean by that? Do you have a stallion that you have your eyes on?” Shining asked Twilight. “Dammit Ethan!” She shouted at Ethan who let out a loud chuckle as he walked towards the door. “No Twily, seriously. What did he mean?” Shining asked again turning to give his sister an interrogative eye. “Well uh, I uh, umm…” Twilight elaborated. “Twily, I just spent the last fifteen minutes pouring my heart out; I’d say that the least I deserve is the name of the pony you’ve got your eye on.” Shining said with a slight chuckle. “Celestia.” Twilight said quietly. “What?” “Celestia.” Twilight said a little louder. “I still can’t hear you.” Shining said, cocking his head to the side as he tried to decode her words. “Princess Celestia!” Twilight all but shouted. Shining’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Her brother looked at her incomprehensibly. “You want to have sex with Princess Celestia.” Shining said flatly. “Umm, yes.” Twilight replied. “My sister is a fillyfooler, and she wants to fuck Princess Celestia. I need a nap.” Shining moaned. *** “So did you actually mean anything when you said that Twilight had a nice ass?” Cassandra asked as she lay beside Ethan in the bed. “Nope, it was just something to annoy the hell out of her brother.” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “Good, I’d hate to think that I was competing for your affections with a horse.” Cassandra replied dryly. “Cassie, you know you’re the only girl I look at.” Ethan told her, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Damn right I am.” Cassandra replied with a chuckle. “So Ethan, I’ve been thinking…” “Always a dangerous activity.” “…We’ve been married for around three years, give or take a month of two. Right?” Cassandra asked. “Yes…” Ethan said waiting for her to continue. “When are we having kids?” Cassandra asked, rolling over on her elbows so she could look into Ethan’s blue eyes. A slightly scared look crossed Ethan’s face. “What made you think about…kids?” Ethan asked slowly. “Ethan, we’re both in our latish twenties. That’s old for parents in the Wasteland as it is, and honestly I spend a lot of time worrying that one of us is going to die.” Cassandra said with a sigh. Ethan rolled over and wrapped her in a hug, pressing himself against her comfortingly. “Neither one of us is going to die anytime soon.” He told her reassuringly. “Ethan, we need to have children.” Cassandra said firmly. “Alright Cassie, we’ll have kids. How about once we finish killing whoever’s been jerking us around we go back to Vegas and work on that?” Ethan asked with a grin. “Want to start now?” Cassandra asked with a smirk. “You know me so well.” Ethan replied. *** Shining Armor lay in his bed asleep, trying to summon Princess Luna with his mind. After what felt like an hour (actually four hours) she appeared. Shining was standing on a flat dusty plane, and Princess Luna materialized unexpectedly in front of him. “Shining Armor, it is good to see you alive and well!” Luna exclaimed, stepping towards him with a smile. “I’d say that ‘well’ is relative at this point, but yeah I’m alive.” Shining replied with a slight sigh. “Things are not going smoothly I take it?” Luna asked with concern. “No, they aren’t.” Shining replied grimly. “What’s happened?” Luna asked. Shining briefly summarized the events of the last two days (skipping his break down of course). “She lost a limb and an eye?” Luna asked in horror. “Yes, you can see why I’m not doing well.” Shining replied. Luna closed her eyes and her horn began to glow, then it died unexpectedly. “Shit!” Luna exclaimed eloquently, leaving Shining gaping in open mouthed surprise. “I can’t teleport things from where you are to Equestria, someone’s still blocking me!” Luna explained with a very angry look on her face. “Who could possibly block you? You’re a god!” Shining asked. “Someone who is also a god.” Luna answered dryly as if it should be obvious. “The real question is, what do they want Twilight there for in the first place?” Luna said with a grim expression. “I don’t know Luna, but I’m going to find out if it kills me.” Shining said grimly. “Report back if you make any progress, I’ll continue to look for a way around from my end, dismissed.” Luna replied, vanishing. *** Cassandra awoke screaming, her body covered in sweat. In the dim light of his pipboy she could faintly make out the outline of Ethan’s face and the concern in his sad blue eyes. “Which one?” He asked quietly. “Cottonwood Cove.” She replied with a shiver as Ethan pulled her into an embrace. “That’s a bad one.” He said as he stroked her red hair. “I didn’t think about the prisoners, I didn’t know that they were there!” She told him, almost as if she was confessing a sin. “I know Cassie, I know.” Ethan replied softly. “Dammit! I should be over this by now!” Cassandra exclaimed angrily and she beat one of her fits against Ethan’s chest in anger. “Cassie, if you got over it you wouldn’t be the woman that I love.” Ethan told her and she looked up at him with almost invisible tears welling up in her eyes. “You aren’t perfect Cassie, far from it, but then no one in the Wasteland is. We’ve all got our personal baggage and it’s what we do with that baggage that separates us from those we fight.” Ethan added with a grin as he kissed her forehead. “Ethan, when did you get so preachy?” Cassandra asked with a smirk while she dried her eyes. “I don’t know; would you like me to talk simply? Cause I do that stuff good to.” Ethan said with a simple smile crossing his face and a dull look entering his eyes. “Oh shut up.” *** Twilight Sparkle slept soundly without having anything significant happen to her… well that’s not exactly true. She did spend a little time picturing Celestia and… but that’s not really relevant.