//------------------------------// // The Wasteland // Story: Thanatos' Creed // by Shadowflash //------------------------------// Chapter 3 The Wasteland Edited by: Gunsmith Eldorado Narlepoax III RainbowBob Pre-read by: Regidar *** Inclement Storm. Pegasus, weather enthusiast, scientist, and very pissed-off stallion. Not only was he the head of the Ponyville Weather Clearing Sector PWCS for short but he was treading on thin ice with the Cloudsdale Executives, due to a lot of rookie mistakes and late pegasi. He would train rookies for hours on end, teaching them the proper technique for destroying clouds, clearing fog, working in teams to create snowfall or create rain, and working together to remove harsh weather relative to the latter. But today was his last chance to prove to Cloudsdale he could run the PWCS properly. However, a certain rainbow-maned pegasus was hindering his progress. He trotted furiously back and forth in his office, tracing around a table in its center. Every now and then, he'd look out the window adjacent to it, hoping the pegasus would fly on in. He would always be let down when nopony was there. "Dammit! Where in Tartarus is that mare?" Inclement yelled, smashing a hoof on the table. "For somepony claiming to be the fastest pegasus in Equestria, she certainly knows how to take her sweet time!" Grunting, he walked out of his office and into a large room filled with six pegasi. The room contained various diagrams of clouds, weather patterns, and team formations for pegasi. It also had a large door at its back end for masses of pegasi to enter. Inclement looked each of them Cloudchaser, Snowball, Raindrops, Flitter, Thunderlane and Storm Striker. He sighed, seeing his lead pegasus would be absent, and in turn slow down the cleanup process. "Alright then, Dash decided it'd be fun to ruin my life, and make all of your jobs harder. You're all on your own in clearing at least six feet of that snow, and clearing some of those clouds," Inclement began to explain, lack of faith apparent in his voice. "We need enough sun to melt the snow, but not too much. Winter isn’t over yet, and I'd prefer we didn't flood Ponyville." The pegasi in front of him nodded. "Good. Cloud, Flitter, Snowball, you clear the east section. I've laid out clouds on your map to move, and where to. Thunderlane, Raindrops and Storm Striker, you take care of the central section. Most of the snow is located there, and the markets still need to be open. Again, clouds are marked on where to be moved too. No storm is planned for tonight, so for Celestia's and Luna's sake, don't kick the damn clouds," Inclement stared over at Storm, who just rolled his eyes. "Now, get your flanks out there, do the job right, and I might be able to keep my damn job," everypony nodded, and immediately left Inclement's sight. He trotted back into his office, sighing and smacking his head against the table. Frustration, anger, and confusion filled him all because of Rainbow Dash. She usually arrives an hour early so she can get started before everypony else. Why is it she chose this day, of all days, to not do so? Inclement started smacking the top of his head with his hoof. Dammit, Rainbow Dash. I'm going to get to the bottom of this, whether you like it or not. Inclement sat up, glaring out the window. The sky was still crisp and clear; and that meant he could travel to her house and see why she hadn't bothered to show up. Growling, he looked around the room for his saddlebags, put them on, and bolted out of his office. *** Darkness. Fear of the dark is truly a fear of the unknown, anxiety of what may lie ahead, and confusion as to why it's there. A light is usually nearby when one encounters it, ready to show what hides in the shadows. But, Dash is nowhere near that light. Dash lay there, upon the bed, simply dreaming away the worries she had just encountered. Thinking about her friends back home was all she had right now. It wasn't enough. Four... A low, barely audible whisper resonated throughout her mind. She jumped up from her sleepy state, only to notice the thick darkness around her. "...H-hello?" she asked, receiving only silence in reply. Not one to be frightened easily, Dash tried adjusting her eyesight. Squinting every now and then would reveal a new object or lengthen her vision. But she could never fully see what was in front of her. All that she knew for certain was that she was on a bed. Nine... Another whisper trickled through her ears, sending a spine-tingling vibration through her body. "Who's there?!" The pegasus sprang up, sitting on her rump and scanning around the shadowy room. Something started to glow at the corner of her eyes. Every time she tried to investigate it, it would stop or move with her eyes. Dash was unsure what it was, but her mind was racing to find a coherent answer. Her heart was beating hard against her chest, making audible thuds in her eardrums. Five... The whisper grew louder, almost a low rasp now. Following it was an echo of other whispers, repeating the numbers. Four, nine, five... Dash looked around the room, frantically trying to find its source. Her mind was rapidly deteriorating into panic from the random numbers being churned into her ears. "Who's there?" she yelled, looking all around her for an answer. Four, nine, five... Eleven, nine, twelve, twelve... Five, fourteen, four... "Aeron, this isn't funny!" Dash yelled for Aeron, but only the whispers responded to her. Her heart was beating against her chest furiously, and she was letting out short, jagged breaths. Suddenly, a flash of of numbers shot across Dash's view. They were all a sickly, bright red colour, nearly blinding her and embedding themselves against her vision. Trying to close her eyes, she found herself unable to look away. "F-four..." She spoke one of the numbers, completely entranced by its glow. Face it, Rainbow Dash... a voice whispered in her right ear, echoing into the left. "... N-nin... Nine..." She was trying to stop herself from repeating the numbers. Her jaw was bouncing left and right, but she couldn't stop herself from speaking. This is your abyss, Rainbow Dash. Face it. Abdhul Alahzred commands it... Face it, Hastur. Face my master's biddings... The voice was the same rasp, sounding confident and commanding. "Fi-... Fiii... Fiiii-nooo! No, stop it! Stop doing this! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" Dash yelled, resisting the numbers and whispers with all her might. Four... "No! Stop talking! Just... get out of here! I don't want to hear those numbers... Please, make it stop!" she yelled again, putting her hooves over her ears. The darkness around her faded, the voices stopped, and the commanding whisper left her ears. The pegasus collapsed onto the bed, whimpering to herself. *** "Make it stop!" Rainbow Dash arose from her sleep, finding herself screaming as she re-entered reality. Looking around her, tears in her eyes, she found that the bed she was sleeping on and everything around her was illuminated. Aeron and Jericho were at the bedside, watching her. She looked over to them, tears visible in her eyes, then started sobbing. Placing her hooves over her head, she wept into the sheets underneath her. Jericho let out a grunt of annoyance and disgust. "Fuck me, kid. Last thing we need is another whiny little bitch," Jericho grunted, crossing his arms. Great... Aeron thought, running a hand through his hair, she probably had a damn nightmare. Probably the Wasteland hitting her hard. I remember when that happened to me, but I knew what I was getting myself into. Rainbow Dash was crying furiously, tears flowing down the sides of her cheeks. Aeron shook his head, looking to Jericho. "I'll handle this. Just go back to reading." "Kid, I'm not going to read. You know I don't want to lea " "Just do it, Jericho. You reading could save our asses one day. What if my eyes get clawed out, and I need you to read a medical textbook when I can’t treat my own wounds? Or how about reading signs in the metro? You know how easy it is to get lost down there," Aeron retaliated immediately. Jericho furrowed his brow in anger. "Fine. But I ain't gonna like it," Jericho left Aeron and Dash alone. "Dash," Aeron leaned down to her, only to get sobs in response. "Dash, look at me," Aeron moved her hooves, only to see the reddened eyes of the weeping pegasus. "Y-yeah...?" she sniffed, wiping some tears from her cheeks. "Dash, I'm going to be very clear, and I don't care how you take this," Aeron leaned closer, his nose almost touching her own. "Never cry in the Wastes. You hear me? You must never, ever cry. There are many rules to living in this fucking hellhole, and that's one of them. Oblige to the rules, and the Wasteland won't be so cruel to you. Go against them and... well, I hope you like being beaten to death by raiders," Dash's eyes widened at his response. She was hoping to be consoled, or at least be cheered up. She didn't expect that. Aeron stood back up, turning away from her. "Dash, if you want to live in our safety, then I suggest you listen to me. By all means, you will listen to me. Whether you want to, or not, you will listen. Got it?" "Y-yeah..." Dash didn't fight it, still a little stunned at him ignoring her feelings. Is he always this ignorant...? Dash wondered, but noticed Aeron speaking again. "I want to teach you a few things, Rainbow Dash. Survival will be easier with us, but you still need to master the skills of a killing machine," Aeron turned around, arms crossed and a frown on his face. "Do you understand, Rainbow Dash?" "I do, but... why're you being such a jerk about this?" she questioned. "Because, it's who I am, and what I made myself to be. Live in the Wastes long enough, you realize crying about your problems just gets you dead," Aeron responded smoothly, rubbing his upper arms. "I just had the worst nightmare of my life, and you don't even care?" Dash yelled, only for Aeron to retaliate. "Don't you dare say that! I've cared for more people in my life than you probably even know, and I lost each and every one of them because I became close to them!" Aeron was yelling, but Dash didn't care. She wanted answers, and was about to demand them when Aeron started again. "I killed my best friend's father, my father was murdered, I lost three companions to the bloodiest of deaths I’ve seen in this wasteland, and to top it off, I have to deal with getting you home. I could have left you out there in the Wastes, or I could’ve had Jericho just eat your flesh, especially when food is scarce. So don't you ever claim I don't fucking care!" Dash was taken aback a little, feeling bad for claiming he didn't care. He is trying to help me... I'm such an idiot... Aeron sighed. "Never mind. Now, I want to teach you a few things about the Wastes, and I want us to forget you ever had a stupid nightmare, and forget we ever argued. Deal?" Dash nodded. "Good. Now, come with me, I have a lot to show you," Aeron gestured for the pegasus to follow, which she did. Jumping off the bed, she followed close behind Aeron, leaving the room and heading off to the elevator. Inside, Aeron pressed a button labeled "B9". Dash cocked her head, seeing that it was the lowest button on the panel, and looked up at Aeron curiously. "It's the ninth floor in the basement," Aeron answered. I don't have a good feeling about this... *** Inclement had been flying from the PWCS to Dash's cloud home for about twenty minutes. He would take a moment to look around and see the pegasi he ordered doing their jobs. Feeling a little relieved, he sped up, flapping his wings faster and pushing himself further. After around five minutes, he arrived to see Rainbow Dash's cloud home. A pool of rainbow was flowing a stream of spectrum into the air, while the rest of the house silently sat against the wind. Sighing, he trotted up to the door, gently rapping his hoof against it. "Hey, Dash! You in there?" he yelled. All that answered was the cool breeze around the house, nothing more. Sighing, he turned the knob, finding it locked. Must've gone out, he thought, and immediately picked himself up, storming off to Ponyville. If she's not there, somepony has probably seen her flying about. Hard to miss the only rainbow-maned pegasus in Ponyville. Descending quickly, he found himself in the center of Ponyville. The market was being cleared of snow by ponies in the town, and a few banners that displayed the words "Town Center" were being repaired. He started to trot around to a small group of ponies. "Excuse me, ladies," Inclement began. All of them turned to him. "Have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere? She's missing out on clearing the town, and I really need her," They all looked to each other for a moment, and then shook their heads. "Sorry, Inclement. We haven't seen her since she brought the storm in yesterday. You could try asking her friends, though. Heck, maybe she's hanging out with them!" the red-maned pony suggested, and Inclement nodded. "Good idea. Thanks," Inclement started trotting away from them, removing himself from the town center. Inclement knew who all of Rainbow Dash's friends were. They had saved the Equestrian kingdom three times, so, it was hard not to know them. He was just outside the town center, and the closest place was Rarity's boutique. Heading in that direction, he could see the large purple-and-white shop. “Hopefully she knows where Dash might be.” Inclement sighed, making his way to the door. Opening the door, he trotted inside. Immediately to his left, he saw a white and purple pony shoot up. It was Rarity, and she was grinning with glee as her blue eyes sparkled in the shop's light. "Welcome! How may I, Rarity, help you today? New suit? Perhaps some more formal apparel?" Rarity's eyes darted to Inclement's saddlebag, and noticed there was a hole in it. "Or, perhaps I can fix that hole in your bag?" Rarity asked, and Inclement shook his head. "No, I'm here to ask if you've seen Rainbow Dash. I can't find her, and it's urgent I find her to help clear some of the snow," Inclement was looking at her with a sternly, and her gleeful mood dropped a little. "No... I haven't seen Rainbow Dash since yesterday. She's probably out practicing stunts, as usual. Did you check the open fields?" Inclement nodded to her question. "When I went to her house, I didn't see her on my way. I kind of assumed she was playing hooky, but she's not at her house. Do you know anywhere she might be?" Rarity shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't know. I've been mostly stuck in here, and I only saw her yesterday before she set out for the storm. Maybe you could try asking some of my other friends, perhaps Twilight or Fluttershy. She usually ‘hangs out’ with them," Inclement nodded and gave her thanks, as he turned around and went out the door. Shooting to the sky, he flew off to the library not too far into the town staying outside of Ponyville and working there for a few years really gives one the layout of the place and within a few minutes he landed outside the Golden Oaks library. Trotting up to it, he was about to knock when the door swung open, which made him fall forward into the library. "Oh! Sorry!" exclaimed a childish voice nearby. Inclement's face was plastered to the library’s solid wood flooring. Lifting his head, he shook it, and looked to where the childish voice came from. It was a young dragon with purple and green scales and piercing emerald eyes, staring at him curiously. "Uhg... it's fine. Is Twilight Sparkle here, kid?" Inclement asked, and the young dragon nodded. "Yup, just upstairs. Now, if you'll excuse me..." The dragon bolted out of the door, darting down the streets of Ponyville. Standing to his hooves, he closed the door behind him, and walked into the library. He gazed up at the stairs to his right, and not wanting to waste time, he trotted up them to find a closed door at the top. Putting hoof to wood, he heard some scuffling of sheets, something that sounded like a box falling, and the sound of a book's pages smacking against the floor. The door opened and Twilight's head poked out, and a nervous smile was spread across her face. Her cheeks looked quite red from what Inclement could see. "Oh, hey, Inclement! Good to uh, see you! So, uhm, anything you need?" she asked shakily. "Well, I was wondering if you've seen Dash. Normally, she arrives quite early for weather clearing, and it's urgent I have her here to help out with today's clearing," he answered. "You mean she was late? That's not like her... Especially for weather duty..." Twilight walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. The two made their way downstairs, into the library's foyer. "Did you check her house, or any open areas? She usually does pra " "Practice, I know. On my way to her house, I passed by a lot of land. She wasn't there and when I arrived at her house, she didn't answer." He let out a sigh after he interrupted her. "Weird... She would never be this late. She usually wants to clear the skies quick and then practice for her duty as a Wonderbolt cadet..." Twilight paced for a moment, thinking to herself. What if she got stuck in that storm last night? This could be my fault! Maybe I’m just over-analyzing... She might just be away, or perhaps just sick... Looking back at Inclement, she gave a small smile. But if she is missing... I’ll need to find her myself. "I'll handle it, Inclement. I know you need her urgently, but if she may be missing, we'll have to wait longer than a day to file any reports on it. I'll get my friends to help out and look around Ponyville. Alright?" Inclement nodded. "Yeah... I really need her. So, the faster you find her, the better. It's my job on the line, and hers too," Twilight gave a nod in agreement. Inclement walked out of the library, closing the door behind him as he left. Looking to the skies, he let out a tired sigh.“Rainbow Dash, for the love of Celestia, if this is a joke, I'm going to fire you myself before the executives do. He shot into the sky, flying off to his post. Twilight sighed as she watched Inclement fly away through the window. Let’s hope we find her. She couldn’t have gotten far. Twilight frowned, looking around her library for a quick moment... *** A dull ding resounded through the elevator as it reached floor B9, and the doors slid open. Aeron and Dash stepped out into a long, metallic-green room. The rusted floor was covered by steel grating, through which she could see the masses of ancient pipes and wires that seemed to meet in the center of the room. Within the room's center were a lot of fake torsos similar to Rarity’s mannequins but looking like Aeron’s upper body which all had two separate targets on them. One for the head, and one for the torso itself. Dash and Aeron stepped out of the elevator and started walking into the room. “Uhm... What’s down here that’s so special?” Dash’s curious gaze slid upward to Aeron’s face. "This is floor B9. Here, we practice firing our weapons to hone in on accuracy and form. Accuracy would concern the head, and more brute force for the body," Aeron walked away from Dash, to the left side of the room, and picked up an odd object. Turning around, he showed it to Dash. Its back end looked similar to his own assault rifle, but the barrel was much larger, kind of like Jericho's shotgun. On top of the gun was a telescope, from what Rainbow Dash could see. "This is a DKS-501 sniper rifle. It fires a .308 round, which roughly translates to 7.62x51 NATO T-65 rounds," Dash stood there numbly, thoroughly confused. Aeron rolled his eyes. "A very lethal round. How about that?" Dash nodded. "Alright... But why are you telling me this?" "Because, you need to learn how to kill. You'll be most useful to us if you master a long-range weapon, like this; since you can fly in the air. And being able to kill someone unsuspectingly will benefit the both of us," Aeron explained simply. Uhg... My suspicions were right... Dash sighed, lowering her head a bit. "Do I really have to learn this? Couldn't we just talk people out of fi " "Yes, you do. No, we can't. People know me too well, and a lot of them want to put a bullet in my damn head. So, unless you want to be shot with me, I highly suggest you try learning how to fire this weapon properly," Aeron gave her a stern, which only resulted in Dash nodding her head. "No point in fighting it anymore. If I have to deal with... Whatever is out there, it's better from a distance. At least blood won't get all over me," Rainbow Dash said. Aeron gave a small chuckle. "There you go. Look at the bright side! Optimism is always a good thing," Aeron continued to chuckle, but she just smiled weakly in return. Aeron knelt down to Dash's level and then held the rifle out to her. Dash looked at it in question, and took it in her hooves. It felt quite lightweight to her, especially for its size. Unsure what to do with it, she held it close to her chest. "Can you sit on your... er, bottom, for me? I want to put you in the correct stance," She nodded to Aeron's request, sitting on her rump. "Left-hand ... Err... Do you write back where you come from?" Aeron asked. "Yeah. Usually we use our mouths. Why?" Dash answered. Aeron sighed. "Which hoof do you use more, for everyday stuff? Left or right?" "Right, mostly." Aeron nodded. He took Dash's right hoof and put it just in front of the trigger guard, supporting the back end of the rifle, and then took her left hoof and put it at the front of the gun, letting its barrel rest on it. After, he lifted it up and pushed its butt into Dash's shoulder. The rifle was extended quite far away from Dash, due to its sheer size. Looking over it, Aeron nodded. "Alright, hold this pose. I gotta make some measurements. Since it's so big on you, I’m going to make it smaller... maybe remove that trigger guard, extend the trigger. Along with that, I have to extend the pistol grip," Aeron reached into one of the many pouches on his armour and pulled out yellow measuring tape. As he took measurements, Dash thought of more questions. "Why are you doing this again? If you're such a jerk, why are you being so nice to me?" Aeron smiled softly. "Because, I can benefit from you, and you can benefit from me. It's simple bartering. In exchange for you getting home, a little Wasteland training and protection, you'll provide me support, teach me about what pegasi can do, and follow my orders." Dash looked at Aeron curiously. On one hoof, he was extorting her. On another, he provided quite a valid point. A favour for a favour. She didn't bother arguing, but just watched Aeron take measurements from the barrel to her shoulder, the pistol grip on the rifle—which she assumed was the piece behind the trigger guard—and measured her arms as well. After a moment writing it down on a sheet of paper, he gently pulled the rifle out of her hooves, and Dash relaxed, holding the thing was actually a bit tiring for her. "I'm going to make some adjustments. It'll take a bit. In the meanti " Before Aeron could finish, a loud growl emitted from her stomach. Blushing, she gave a small smile to him, and he just shook his head. "If you were so hungry, I could've given you something to eat," Aeron smiled softly. "Heh... Didn't really notice... Do you have any apples or something?" she asked hopefully, but Aeron shook his head. "Apples are quite expensive, and take months to grow. But, I do have some beautifully irradiated food," Aeron walked to the left side of the room again, only to a large white box. It looked similar to a refrigerator, but was covered in grime. Opening it, he pulled out a small box, and tossed them to Dash, who caught them respectively. The box was labeled "Fancy Lads Snack Cakes" and decorated in red ribbons, showing the chocolate cakes. Not wanting to waste good food, she bit the box open and pulled out the cakes. She looked them over. They looked quite old, and held a bit of a crusty smell to them. Sniffing them a bit more, Dash could smell rotting chocolate, but preserved enough to keep a bit of its original aroma. Biting in it, a stale taste came to her mouth, followed by a dried up cream filling. They had quite a bad taste, but, something else was also off about them. Almost like a stringy, metallic taste was with them. Swallowing hard, she looked to Aeron. "Why do these taste weird?" Aeron was at a workbench now, fixing up the rifle. "They're irradiated. Do you not know what radiation is, either?" "No, what is it?" Aeron sighed quite audibly. "Radiation is the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles. In laymen terms, that means its just the energy produced from atoms. There's regular radiation, but the advanced form is much stronger," Flipping the rifle over, Aeron continued. "The stronger form can cause very harmful effects to animals and humans. Mutation of cells, cancer, extra limbs on children during birth and such," Dash then put the snack cakes back in the box. "I don't want them, then!" Aeron just chuckled. "You'd need to eat over five hundred boxes of those snack cakes for them to kill you. Same goes for me. The amount that cake has is significant, but it's so minor compared to everything else out here, it's not a problem. Which is why I'm going to create a radiation meter to keep track of your rad levels," Aeron placed the rifle’s barrel into a vice, and grabbed a pipe saw from the workbench, slowly and carefully sawing away at it "Well... What if I do get a high... 'rad' level?" Dash asked, eating the cake once more. "Then it isn't a big problem. We humans developed a means of getting rid of it. It's gross, and it makes you need to use the bathroom immediately after, but it works and can save your life. So, no worries, Dashie," Aeron chuckled at his last comment, slowly sawing away at the rifle. For the next hour, Dash and Aeron sat in silence. Dash had long finished eating her snack cakes, and only progressed to looking over the room. She found it was quite big, and extended far back to an angled platform. On the platform lay a bunch more targets for the torsos behind her. Aeron, however, was busy working away at the rifle. So far, he'd removed the trigger guard and welded a larger piece to the trigger, so Dash had room for her hoof. He also extended the pistol grip, as he said he would, so she could simply pull the trigger into it. On the matter of its barrel length, he shortened it by a quarter of its size. It took a bit of time to take the end-piece off of the barrel, but he welded it back onto the new, shortened rifle. But there was one problem that occurred to Aeron as he was fixing this rifle up: the issue of reloading. He could just use his index finger to press a button and release the magazine from its well, then push another mag in and cock it. However, with Dash's hooves, this produced three problems: without fingers, she couldn’t press the release, grip and insert magazines easily, or pull back the rifle’s charging handle. Aeron, however, figured a way around this. Simply by attaching a hex-nut, her hoof would be able to just smack the side of the rifle, and keep the rifle’s simplistic design normal, making a larger magazine to hold more rounds, and increasing the size of the cocking handle would help her out. The rifle looked perfect, and Aeron solved all the issues that were obvious to him. The only other issue was her armour, but he could worry about that later. DING Aeron and Dash turned to the elevator to see Roy walking in, a smug grin on his horribly disfigured face. He had a cigarette in his mouth, but quickly spit it out and stomped on it. "Well, well, well. Aeron and the little mutated rainbow," he laughed, Dash furrowing her brow. "Hey Roy. Come to see her shoot?" Roy nodded. "Yeah, let's see this little bitch fire a gun. I bet twenty caps she misses her first shot." "Hey! I'm still here, you know!" Dash yelled, making Roy and Aeron laugh. "You're on Roy. Let me just show her how to fire and reload quickly, and teach her some basics." Aeron walked over to Dash, went down to her level, and handed her the rifle. Putting her back into the same position as before, she found it a lot easier to hold, and catered to it quickly. Aeron smiled, then took the gun away from her. "Now, let me show you how to reload, cock and fire," Aeron pressed the larger button on the side of the rifle, showing Dash what he was doing. The magazine fell out and onto the ground. Pulling out another box magazine from a pouch, he put it into the rifle's well, showing Dash which way to put it in. Smacking it in firmly, an audible click was heard. He pulled back on the charging handle and another click resounded as the internal hammer cocked back. He knelt down to the floor, aimed at one of the targets, and squeezed on the trigger. "Why isn't anything happening?" Dash asked. It was true; the gun did not fire off. "Two reasons. One the safety trigger is on, which stops you from firing. Simply hit this," he put the rifle closer to Dash, showing a small switch. "Switch to turn it on and off. Another reason is we're in a closed area, and it'd deafen us all. So..." Aeron stood up and grabbed three pairs of headphones. Dash put them over her ears, having to adjust her ears to allow the headphones to stay upon her head, followed by Aeron and Roy. Aeron went back to her level, and aimed the gun again. Flicking the switch, he placed his finger at the trigger, aimed the rifle at one of the many torsos in the room, and fired. The deafening report filled the room, accompanied by a bright burst of light as a bullet exploded out of the rifle. Looking to the torso Aeron shot, Dash could see he had hit the perfect center of the target's head. Aeron unloaded the gun, ejecting the bullet casing from its chamber, before pulling the magazine out, and replacing the spent cartridge. He handed it and the rifle over to Rainbow Dash. "Your turn," Dash looked at the rifle. The safety was off, so she decided to turn it on for this part. That elicited a smile and a nod from Aeron. Picking up the magazine, she put it into the magwell, and smacked her hoof on its bottom. Although the headphones deadened the sounds around her, she felt the click the rifle made. Place her hoof against the cocking handle, she pulled it back until she felt another click. She went into the stance that Aeron showed her earlier. Looking through the scope, she could see a clear zoom on the small target upon the target's head. Aiming for the middle, Dash flicked the safety off, and pressed her hoof against the trigger, allowing it to fire. Dash was surprised at the force pushed into her shoulder. Thankfully, the rubber butt of the rifle softened the blow for her, but she could still feel a burning sensation in her shoulder. The rainbow-maned pegasus, however, hit the target. "Yeah! Got it!" She smiled with glee, and Roy behind her was just laughing. "Bitch, you ain't got shit. Look again," Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow at Roy, and looked back to the target. She did hit it, but she hit way off center, near the outer red ring. "What?! But, I was aiming at the center!" Dash cried. "Well, fuck. Looks like you're a shit rifleman," Roy insulted, laughing with his croaky voice. Turning around, Dash scowled with anger. "Oh, and what makes you better?! We don't have these dumb things back where I come from!" Roy just laughed. "Oh, fun! The drugged-up mutated offspring of PeeWee Herman's rainbow-colored shit is mad at me! Well, get use to it, you fucking whore." "What'd you call me?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Enough, you two. This is a gun training session, not a fighting session," Aeron stopped them, Roy giving off a soft chuckle. "Whatever, kid," He pulled out another cigarette, lighting it up swiftly, and puffing smoke into the air. "Look, I gotta take care of shit upstairs. You owe me twenty caps," Roy turned around, and walked into the elevator. It closed behind him, and a ding was heard as it left the floor. Aeron looked to Dash, who seemed very disappointed. "Cheer up, Dash. No one learns immediately. Took me years to master weapons." Dash shook her head. "Not that... Why is everyone so mean? What'd I do?" "Dashie, Dashie, Dashie," Aeron mused. "You didn't do anything. But, you're just another creature of the Wastes that will be made fun of and discriminated against. It's how it is. Two-hundred years ago, that never happened. But now, things have changed. Now, would you like to learn why you missed?" Dash nodded, and went back to her original firing stance. Aeron huddled up beside her, and placed a hand on her back to support her. "See, being in a relaxed position will make your shot more accurate, but your breathing also affects your shot. Along with stress and anxiety," Aeron started to explain, placing a hand on Dash's chest. "H-hey! Why’re you touching me?" Dash exclaimed, making Aeron laugh. "Calm down. I'm not going to do anything bad. Just breathe, alright?" Dash nodded, breathing normally. "Take a deep breath," she took in a long breath, allowing the musky air to fill her lungs. "Now aim, and slowly breathe out. This should help you hit the target." Dash took aim directly at the center once more. She flipped the safety off, and placed her hoof at the trigger. Just as she started to breathe out, she fired the butt taking most of the force out of the rifle's kick. Putting the rifle down, she looked at the target. The bullet was near the center, about a white ring away, but it was quite the accomplishment for a second try. "Yes!" the pegasus cheered. Although she normally aimed to be the best at everything, this was still an achievement. "Good job. But, you’re going to need a little more than breathing out a little to get a good shot,” Aeron crouched next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’re too tense. Being tense will completely strain your body and cause your shots to deviate away from the center. I know the position you’re in is a bit uncomfortable, but relax your shoulders a bit,” Dash nodded as Aeron continued to explain. “On top of that, try to only focus on the target. As a sniper, you’re going to be a distance away from the enemy, and you’ll not have to worry about distractions. Also, I saw that your hoof jerked back, rather then slowly pulling back. Jerking too hard will definitely put off your shot,” Aeron then pointed over at the target. “Finally, your targets may be moving. If the target is moving, you want to aim ahead of where it’s going, not on him. Bullets are fast, but not instant. There’s also the matter of them being quite a distance away. The multiple crosshairs on the scope will indicate set meters. I’ll explain that later. Lastly, wind in the Wasteland that will push your shot farther left, right, upwards, or downwards. Can cause you to miss, and you may need to adjust yourself.” As Aeron finished, he stood up, taking in a deep breath. “Now, it’s time to go practice on some real targets,” Dash furrowed her brow. “Do we have to?” Aeron just gave her a plain look. Dash sighed, and nodded. Training on dummies was what she was hoping for, but, hope seemed to falter here. The two made their way to the elevator and Aeron clicked the button labeled "F13". *** Abdul... Abdul, hear me, Abdul. I call your name. Hastur is learning... Hastur is damning you. Hastur... Your being... your goddess... is trying to kill you. Abdul, listen to me, your faithful servant... Let me lure them to my home... Let me fill them with the thoughts of destruction... Please, Abdul... Hear me. Nine... ... Twenty-three, nine, twelve, twelve... ... One, twelve, twelve, fifteen, twenty-three... ... Nine, twenty... Thank you, Abdul. I praise your name in holy damnation, Abdul. I will do your bidding. For you, Abdul. *** Aeron and Rainbow Dash arrived at the top floor, once again heading into the suite. Jericho was still reading away, and Aeron lead Dash through the door that she spotted earlier. Upon going through it, they were standing on a balcony, with a thick stone railing guarding it. The sunset of the Wasteland was presented to her in all its grime-covered glory. Green and grey clouds filled the sky, mixed in with a lot of smoke and fires from below, stacks of smoke filled the air in the distance, attaching themselves to the sick clouds above. The biggest of the clouds was far out to the East, however. Its smoke cloud was quite massive, expelling outwards with constant puffs of black and green hues to the sky. Dash didn’t enjoy the sight. Everything was either a yellow mess of dried soil, burning, or turned to ash. The things that weren't destroyed just littered the landscape with their scrap heaps, and contained an abundance of rubble nearby. “Ready to learn how to kill, Dash?” Aeron leaned the rifle against the stone railing, and looked down to Dash. “Yeah, sure.” Dash said, not really wanting to delay the inevitable. “Good. There’s plenty of things you can kill out in the Wastes. From small radroaches to a mutated queen ant, to a massive behemoth,” Aeron pulled a chair that was leaned up against a wall over to him, sitting down in it. “I want you to learn how to kill starting with a radroach. Not only are they extremely hard to hit from our height, it’ll help you build confidence in killing. Besides, it’s easier to kill a bug than it is to take a person’s life.” Aeron grabbed the rifle and handed it to Dash. Dash took it and took her stance. The railing before her presented a problem, as she couldn’t crouch and be comfortable aiming through its breaks. So, she stood up on her hind legs and rested the rifle’s barrel against the surface surface of the railing. Aeron looked over the railing. “There’s a small group of radroaches down there... But, with a sniper, it’d be a waste of ammo.” Dash looked over at him. “Then why tell me about starting with killing them?” she deadpanned. “Good point. A fault on my part. Well, how about you start with that robobrain in the distance?” Aeron’s finger pointed to the West of Dash. “A robo-what?” Dash asked. “A robobrain. It’s a robot developed to run off of a human brain. All of the brains being "donors", of course. Humans aren’t that stupid to use brains without consent,” Aeron chuckled, still pointing west. Gently turning the rifle and her body, she looked through the scope to see what Aeron was pointing at. Unsure, she raised question. “What’s it look like?” “Look for a thing that’s very cylindrical, has weird tentacle arms, and a dome on its cylindrical body. If you’re lucky, you’ll see its brain,” Aeron answered, Dash scanning the dried wasteland. After a moment of good searching, she found what he was talking about. A green, cylindrical, object was spinning slowly as its tentacle arms gently waved around in swift motions. The dome Aeron mentioned was there, connecting with many wires to its cylinder body. As Aeron had described, a brain was capsuled within it. Aiming carefully at its large body, she readied herself. It may have been in what looked like a frenzy, but Dash had a clear shot for its large body. Flicking off the safety, she placed her hoof near the trigger, and slowly started to breathe in and out. After a few moments of breathing, she fired off a shot. The butt of the rifle smacked gently into her shoulder as the bullet propelled out of the rifle; a loud crack of wind quickly emanated from the bullet, a hazy vapor trail left behind it. Dash’s eyes followed the stream, and she saw a small explosion in the distance going off. “Nice, nice. Too bad it’s only a robot, and quite a weak one at that. It was at a distance at least, but we gotta slowly move you up to the big times. So, continue firing off at the few others in the distance,” Aeron said, crossing his arms and watching. Dash did as she was told, scanning the Wastes for more signs of the robotic life and continued to pluck them off. She spotted one that looked a lot slimmer compared to the robobrain she killed, and it seemed to be fighting off a couple cockroaches, which were one hundred times larger than the regular cockroach. She aimed, and fired off another round. The white light it had for a head blew off completely, and the roaches around it scattered from the flying debris. Continuing her practice, Dash found the more she did it, the more relaxed she became with the gun; although her shoulder was starting to get quite sore. Wanting to take a break, she turned the safety on, and set the gun against the railing. “Uhg... That thing hurts after a while,” Dash sighed. “Yeah. You get used to it. It actually feels good the more you use it. At least with my assault rifle, it does,” Aeron chuckled lightly. “Hey, Aeron...” Aeron stopped chuckling, and looked to Dash. “I wanted to ask you something. About you,” the pegasus was looking to him with questions swimming in her eyes. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?” Aeron held a smile on his face as she prepared her question. “Well... You said the last few companions you had... died. So... I want to know a bit about them. Who they were and what happened,” She was rubbing a hoof against her left forelimb, now, signs of clear nervousness. “Ahh...” Aeron’s smile faded, and he nodded. Dash, tell me, do you know what it’s like to lose your family? No... I still have my Mom and Dad. Why? When I was just born, Dash, my mother died giving birth to me. My father never told me how, exactly, just that it was during birth. I grew up most of my life stuck in a vault that I thought was the best place in the world. Never left it until I was... nineteen, I believe. I left to chase after my father. The man I adored so much. Along the way, I met a lot of interesting people. Colin Moriarty was the first bastard of the Wastes I met. Asked about where my father was to him, and he made me bargain. Either I kill some woman to get him some caps—the currency out here—or I not know where he is at all. What’d you do? I killed her. I went to her house, walked in with the pistol he gave me, and I shot her in the head, taking the caps she had and paid the guy. When I killed her... I felt so bad. I had the same nightmares you had not too long ago, and I couldn’t sleep for days. Constantly I tossed and turned, hearing voices... hearing her screams of anguish and pain. Then something came to me... While I was still awake in the darkening hours of the night, I found myself going to the bar, and met a man named Burke. He intrigued me, calling me all these grand names, saying my intelligence and competence was beyond any of the townsfolk. He then gave me a proposition. One I couldn’t refuse, really. But, I should back up. The town I was in at the time was called “Megaton”. The reason being was because it was settled around an atomic bomb. The bomb was still active, and only needed a little spark... Mister Burke gave me that spark. Swiftly attaching the “fusion pulse charge ” to the bomb, I left the town, and made my way here with Jericho. I told him what I was going to do, and he was the only person who could relate to my struggle at the time. I wanted him safe from what I was going to do... What’s an “atomic bomb”? Also, what’s a “fusion pulse charge”? An atomic bomb is a bomb capable of causing massive destruction across a large radius. This bomb was quite weak compared to the many ICBMs—something similar to the atomic bomb, just stronger—that were held around the Wastes. A fusion pulse charge, on the other hand, activates the energy inside the warhead, making its atoms speed up to amazing speeds, and causing a nuclear reaction. So... what’d you do when you got here? I watched Megaton burn. Every last piece of it. Mister Burke even gave me the honours of hitting the switch, and kaboom. The entire town exploded into nothing but that radioactive cloud you see over to the West. Why would you do that?! How can you be so heartless?! Because... Moriarity took my innocence away from me. He took away the beautiful life I knew in the vault, all in exchange for some bottle caps. He gave me nightmares for having me murder an innocent woman, and I repaid him with what he deserves. A face-melting explosion. Would it be considered heartless then? Yes. Now? No. Not one bit. I don’t regret doing it. It made the nightmares stop. It made the headaches go away. It stopped those... Numbers. Those blasted numbers that constantly attacked me... I couldn’t handle it all, and by destroying that town, I served some sort of being out there, and it stopped those nightmares. I felt so alive. I felt free. Which brings me back to my father. I decided to chase after him, trying to look for him. Jericho not wanting to be my sidekick, I made my way through the Wastes alone. People heard of my deed, and were very angry. They chased after me, and shot at me every chance they had. They didn’t understand, so I killed them all, as well. They may have been evil, or innocent. I don’t care. During my adventures searching for my father, I met a great deal of quirky people. Clover was the first I found. She was a wild and ambitious girl from Paradise Falls; a place that gathers slaves and sells them off to people with enough caps. You sell off... Humans here?! Dash, why do you question this? You’ve seen what the Waste does to innocent women like yourself. Why should this be a surprise? Anyways, Clover was something I had to buy. She was an object and a bodyguard at the time. I kept her close to me, and shared all my feelings with her. She was the loyalest of followers I’ve had, out of the three, excluding Jericho. When an enemy was near, she was ready to rip off its head and shoot down its neck. Crazy, wild, energetic. Even smart, when it came to feelings, too. But... All good things come to an end. Clover was killed by something called a behemoth. I mentioned it before. It’s a massive creature which is a mutant offspring of a human being. The damn things carry fire-hydrants for weapons. They’re usually quite dumb, but, the one we met had a bit higher intelligence than most. This one could throw something called “Mini-nukes”. I assume those do the same thing as the atom bomb did? Close, Dash. It does ten times less than an actual nuke. But, its damage is quite massive and can rip a human apart just as easily. The damn behemoth threw some at us. I told her to get out of the way... But... I watched her explode. Bits of her landing on me. I was quite angry when I saw it. The second friend I held dear to me at the time was now dead. I had to make that behemoth pay, and I killed it. No mercy. Aeron sighed, rubbing his eyes of tears. Dash looked at him curiously, and very worriedly. “Do you want to sto--” “No.” Aeron interjected, “no, I... I need to say all of this. It’s been in my head too long, and I need someone to know. Jericho is great, but... I need someone else to know.” So, as I was saying... I lost her. But, I had to move on. I had to find my father. Continuing my search, I found that he was working on a project to purify the Wasteland’s water sources. It would help rebuild the world we have around us, and would provide a much more supporting ecosystem... A little green wouldn’t hurt this place. I dug through that project, though. Trying to find where he ran off to, and found he went to try and find something called a “G.E.C.K”. Garden of Eden Creation Kit, is what it stands for. It can create new life from nothingness. A lot of the G.E.C.K’s were unstable, and usually resulted in the death of the user. That’s not the point, though. Trying to find him, I stumbled my way through some old Vault-Tec computers. I’ll tell you what a computer is later. But, as I dug through files, the only vault that contained a G.E.C.K was 87. I heard a lot about 87, and how hard it was to get in there. Vault 87 had a lot more information on it than the others, though. So, I went that way instead. How was it hard to get to this ‘Vault’? Isn’t there a door? There is, but as I told you before, radiation is very dangerous at high levels. Vault 87 was littered with it, according to what Vault-Tec computers were updated with. The update was fifty years ago, sure. But, I could imagine the build up if the inhabitants died. So, having to find a new way in, I made my way over to a cave filled with kids. Having to convince my way through, I found the back entrance to the vault. The damn place was crawling with what we call “Super Mutants”. They’re mutated and highly-evolved forms of humans, just very stupid. I’m surprised they know how to fire off their guns without shooting themselves. Enough of that. I made my way through the vault and met up with my second follower. It was a damn intelligent mutant. Who would’ve guessed, huh? The thing wanted to be set free, and he said he could get the G.E.C.K for me. Asking him whether he saw any other person like me, he answered “No.” saying I was the first human to trek through. But, the G.E.C.K was still important to my father’s work, and I released him. He helped me through the vault’s crazed mutants and retrieved the G.E.C.K in a super irradiated section of said vault. Upon leaving, though, I was captured by a group of people called “The Enclave.” Apparently they captured the Purifier, and my father was helping them repair it. Unfortunately for them, I ran off and nabbed the G.E.C.K before they could activate it. By the way, The Enclave is an army devoted to defending a voice on a terminal that they think is the President of the United States of America. Honestly, a bunch of idiots. I broke free of their stupid capture, though. Mostly because the “President” wanted to talk with me. Upon going to his office, I was greeted by the computer screen having to fight a few crazed Enclave units beforehand, mind you and given a stupid device that would kill anything with mutated DNA in its body. Which was about anyone and anything in the Wastes. So, instead, I knew enough about science on how to get the computer to cause itself to explode. Damn thing went insane and I bolted out of there. I met up with the intelligent mutant from before. I never caught his name until that point. Fawkes. Funny name, really. He was quite kind, and saved my life from the Enclave. But, unfortunately, he caught word of what I’ve done. He told me it’d be best I remove my body from his sight before he killed me. Did you kill him? No. But I felt very ashamed... I met a very intelligent being who was a super-enhanced genetic version of humans, and he hated me because I was considered evil. It crushed me deep down, and I couldn’t help but kill anything I saw on my way to Project Purity on the other end of the Wastes, because where the Enclave was located, it was quite far away. After a few days, I stormed into there, killing every Enclave soldier I saw. Idiots never saw me coming when I broke in. I arrived to Project Purity to find my father with a gun at his head. A man named Colonel Autumn was ready to kill him unless I handed over the device. The event plays out still, even today: “Don’t do it, Aeron.” Dad told me. “I suggest you hand over the device immediately. I’m sure you don’t want to lose your precious father.” Colonel Autumn had a damn smirk on his face as his pistol was glued to my father’s head. Not one to waste time, I knew what I had to do. I quickly whipped out my gun and fired it at that son-of-a-bitches gut, and then his chest. I made sure he fell to the ground before he fired off that damn gun. My Dad and I embraced afterwards. I missed him so much... But, even he had heard what I did, and wasn’t one to hold it back... "Megaton destroyed... You... You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" He questioned me... I answered honestly. "Oh, so now the father who walked out on me is going to give me a lecture?" I was angry with how he left me back there. None of this would’ve happened if he stayed home. "What I did can't even compare to such a thing. All those people... You're still my son, and I love you, but I can't begin to tell you how disappointed in you I am.” Those were the last words I heard from my father. A pistol fired off at him, piercing him through the chest. That damn Autumn was alive, and I made sure he died this time. I fired every last bullet I had into his damn face. Trying to help my Dad recover, I was by his side. Holding him, and telling him it’d be alright. He looked at me, his dreary and dying eyes gazed at me with stilled disappointment. He was dying, and he was disappointed in me. I couldn’t stand the sight anymore, and I left him. I left the device, the mutagen killer, and his body there. That was the fourth most important person in my life. He may not have been a follower, but he was still disappointed in what I did... And I made sure to never forget that he’ll always be disappointed. Aeron sighed, tears trying to escape his eyes. Dash was still confused though... He said he lost three “companions”. Not four. “Who was the first, Aeron?” She cocked her head, hoping for an answer. “That’s... something I wish to keep to myself, Dash...” Aeron sniffed, wiping his eyes. For a jerk... He’s really upset over this... She looked out over the depressing Wasteland night had befallen it, and it was littered in creatures and monstrosities she wished to never encounter. But, look at this place. He may have been evil... But, he did it for a reason! He’s not like Sombra, who just enslaved ponies for personal gain. Looking over at Aeron, who was now looking at the dreadful night, she let off a silent sigh. I’m not sure what to think... Letting off a yawn, she rubbed her tired eyes. “Bedtime, then. C’mon.” Aeron stood up, leading Dash back into the suite. There’s still a lot you’ve got to learn, Dash. A lot.