//------------------------------// // Creatures and Conversations // Story: Labyrinth of Madness // by Speven Dillberg //------------------------------// Creatures and Conversations Thomas just stared at the mass of flesh. “This is worse than that giant bloatfly,” he muttered to himself. “Meh. A Fat Man would be handy right now,” Aeron grunted. “More than handy, Aeron,” Rainbow Dash retorted. “Any plans on taking this monstrosity down?” Scarlet asked, readying her anti-material rifle. “Other than shooting at it a lot.” “I literally have nothing. This is the most fucked up thing I’ve seen. And I’ve seen some shit,” Aeron growled. “Let Sparky handle it; just keep it distracted while she does her thing,” Ethan told them with a nod towards the flame wreathed unicorn who was eying the bloated mass of writhing flesh above their heads with a detached and thoughtful look. “Yeah, put our full trust in the magic horse, that plan goes well every time,” Scarlet muttered. “Well, she has managed to simultaneously throw two super mutant behemoths out of the Capitol Dome before, and then there was the bit with the zombie dragon, but now’s really not the time to be talking about that,” Ethan replied before he dodged to the side as a giant fleshy tentacle smashed into the ground where he’d been standing. Scarlet also stepped to the side, calmly avoiding another crushing tentacle. “I don’t think throwing it really far will help.” Her rifle spat out a round, and one of the pony heads on the bloated mass exploded. Suddenly, a thin stream of fire shot out of Twilight’s horn and slashed into the floating monstrosity, eliciting a scream of pain and a blast of the deadly pink gas, along with the disgusting smell of cooked flesh. The fire didn’t seem to have caused much damage, but there was a noticeable burn mark running up the side of the shifting pile of pony meat. A tentacle shot down towards the unicorn, but she vanished before it could hit her, reappearing several feet away. Celestia’s spear then slashed down on the tentacle, cutting through it, and severing it from the main body. The creature swiftly withdrew its tentacles, letting out a nightmarish scream that was like the combined voices of an entire children’s choir being slowly dipped into a vat of acid. “We just going to stand here, Aeron?” Dash asked curiously. “Don’t see any reason to fight it. I don’t want to waste ammo, and you getting too close would be a catastrophe,” Aeron answered. Twilight’s horn lit once more, and another thin stream of fire slashed over the monster, cutting a new line across its bulbous surface and causing it to roar in pain once more. However, the damage still seemed superficial at best. “She’s gone and used Solar Wrath,” Thomas mumbled. “What?” Ethan asked Thomas. “Twilight, focus your magic into my spear,” Celestia said as she held her spear out towards the beast. “Can’t, busy,” Twilight replied in a detached voice as her body teleported away from an incoming tentacle. Another stream of fire slashed out, hitting another part of the monster, and making it scream again. “Twilight, your attacks are doing small amounts of damage. Trust me, focus your magic into the spear.” Celestia did a quick slice as she dodged a tentacle trying to smash into her. “Sunny, let me concentrate, please. Splitting my mind into four parts to do this is hard enough without having to create a fifth one to talk to you,” Twilight replied coldly as she teleported around an incoming tentacle and responded to the the monster’s attack with another blast of fire. “Then trust in your friends to help you in lifting that burden,” Celestia replied, “or have you forgotten everything that friendship can do?” “I haven’t, but I’m doing something, Sunny. Why else would I be using these little streams of fire?” Twilight asked, her voice still detached. “You’re getting him ready for a big blast to take him out at once,” she answered. “Exactly. Now, hush,” Twilight told the alicorn as twin streams of fire erupted from her horn, severing four tentacles as they raced towards the rest of the group. “Sister, I believe that she knows what she’s doing,” Luna told Celestia as she bashed a tentacle out of the way with her flail. “I know, but I fear she won’t have the strength to do what she’s planning.” “Trust her, Sunny. Twilight has a few surprises hidden up her sleeves, or actually under her armour, but you get the idea,” Ethan assured the alicorn as he sliced through one of the thinner tentacles with a slash of his sword before he rolled away from the cloud of pink that burst forth. Scarlet hacked through a tentacle. “Yeah, Cele, this Twilight is definitely not the same one back on your world.” “Personally, I thought the whole robotic eye thing would’ve tipped you off to that,” Ethan added with a chuckle as a tentacle slashed towards him, and he was forced to leap backwards to avoid it. Twilight’s golden fire suddenly got much hotter, and she sent it sweeping out in a wave at the monster. The fire stretched over it, burning as much flesh as possible before quickly dying away. The creature screamed in rage and sent eight tentacles slashing down towards Twilight. The unicorn nimbly avoided the first two, teleported around the next two, and sliced through a third group of two with twin spears of flame. Unfortunately that left two tentacles that she hadn’t accounted for. An arc of red fire flew by, and the tentacles dropped to the ground. Celestia had her spear pointed downwards, it’s tip cherry red with heat. “Are you ready?” she asked the unicorn. “Oh yes, this fucker is dying,” Twilight replied with a quick nod. “How do I channal magic into the spear?” “Think of your magic as a pitcher of water, and the spear as the glass that needs to be filled,” Celestia answered holding out her spear towards the creature. Twilight nodded once, and then her horn began to glow with a blindingly bright light. A gem in the spear began to glow with the same light. A tentacle slashed out towards Twilight, but Ethan’s blade interrupted it, sening the detached tentacle crashing to the ground, releasing a cloud of pink and forcing Ethan to back up rapidly. “Any time now, Sparky,” the man told her. “Is the spear full?” Twilight asked Celestia. “Yes, Twilight. Now think of what you want to do with your mind, and command it to do so.” “What do I want to do?” Twilight asked rhetorically. “Ah yes, I remember now, BURN!” she shouted as she unleashed the pent up magical fire from within the spear. A lance of fire, the base of which was at least twenty feet wide, slashed out of the spear and blasted into the center of the abominable mass of flesh overhead. The creature’s heads screamed as one as it’s center of mass simply evaporated, and every part of the creature that Twilight’s flame had touched before suddenly lit up as fire raced out from within it in a giant explosion of flame and dead flesh. Twilight staggered forward and fell to her knees as her fur and mane returned to normal. “I’m going to go to sleep now. Wake me if we’re about to die,” she ordered before she fell to her side and began to snore. “Want me to carry her?” Aeron asked Ethan, wiping some flesh from his armour. “Nah, I got her; this isn’t the first time, and it’s probably not the last,” Ethan replied as he bent down to scoop up the unicorn. The armour that Twilight had been wearing fell away as he picked her up, revealing a small pair of wings. Celestia’s eyes slightly widened when she saw that, but, she didn’t say anything. “Are those wings?” Luna asked quietly. “Wait, what the fuck?” Thomas asked in surprise. “Yep; she got them a little while ago,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Fucking an alicorn has benefits.” “Wow. If Twilight had wings back where I’m from, she’d be the best marefriend ever!” Dash grinned at the thought. “I wouldn’t recommend trying what you’re thinking. The last time she and Sunny tried that they ended up crashing into a building, a classroom actually...” Ethan told the pegasus with a chuckle. “What? Ew, no. That’s stupid. I meant stunt flying or visiting Cloudsdale, weirdo...” The pegasus rolled her eyes at the pervert. “Whatever,” Scarlet said. “Let’s get out of here and find a place to rest.” Scarlet holstered her bag and rifle on her back. “Er, um, yes, let’s go.” Thomas said as if his mind had suddenly been pulled out of a fantasy. Luna looked at him, but shook her head in disgust as she guessed where his mind had been. “Yeah, we need to find someplace for Princess Sparky here to sleep safely,” Ethan said as he cradled the alicorn in his arms. Oh darn, I was hoping that little beast would kill at least one of you, Kata’s voice bitterly said. The group didn’t respond, instead they ignored the little girl. Well the silent treatment huh? Fine I’ll play along, have a nice night. I need to get the next few rooms ready for your demise anyways. A doorway opened in one of the walls and the group walked through it to find a very bland stone room waiting for them. “Well, I’ll get dinner ready,” Scarlet said as she put down her bag. “Thanks, Kathy,” Ethan told her with a nod as he sat down and rested Twilight’s head on his lap. “Stop calling me that,” Scarlet said in a harsh tone. “Katherine is dead.” “Oh, so you’re a zombie, I didn’t realize that. I guess it was all the healthy, living skin that was confusing me,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Yeah, well maybe I’ll show you her grave to settle your mind.” “Hmm let’s see, you’re the Courier, and you’ve got a large weight on your conscience. You seem to have taken responsibility for the death of all of your family, yeah I’m guessing the Divide. Let me know if i’m wrong,” the man replied casually. A baseball size fireball slammed into the ground next to Ethan, making his Pip-Boy click a little. Scarlet’s right hand was glowing in a sick green aura, but it faded away as she went back to getting their meal ready. “And I’ve struck paydirt,” Ethan said with a nod. “I thought as much beforehand, but that definitely confirmed it.” “And if you wish to be fed, I suggest you drop the subject.” “Keep it going, Ethan. I’d like to see you get hurt,” Aeron laughed. “You do realize that there was nothing that you could’ve done, right?” Ethan asked the woman. Thomas was doing his best to not look at the group, but Luna was eying him worriedly. “Ethan, I advise you follow Scarlet’s warning. Anger increases the power of tainted magic, even if she doesn’t have much radiation flowing in her to power a spell,” Celestia told the man. “She’s got to stop running from it sooner or later,” Ethan replied with a somber look. “Ethan, you don’t get it, do you?” Aeron looked over at Ethan with a plain expression. “Some people don’t want to give up their past. I wouldn’t want to either if some idiot kept asking me about it.” “I’m not asking her to give it up; far from it, actually,” the man replied calmly. “Either way, stop asking about it. You’re worse than a horny deathclaw. And I’ve seen that shit happen; poor girl,” Aeron said with a scowl. “No, how about this, after dinner Scarlet and I will have a little sparring match. If I win then she starts talking about her past, if she wins, I’ll shut up,” Ethan said. “Sunny, would you mind providing the spells to keep our blades from actually cutting each other?” he asked, turning to Celestia. “I can on yours, but Scarlet would just shatter the one on hers.” “That’s fine by me,” Scarlet said. “Or I could use your spear Cele, I know I can’t affect spells on that.” “Works either way for me, I’m hard to kill,” Ethan said with a shrug “I swear, you people are all brutes and no brains. I’m surprised Scarlet even came up with a good plan,” Aeron remarked as he smacked his forehead on a nearby wall. “Says the man too concerned about his ammunition to actually help fight,” Twilight suddenly said from Ethan’s lap. “Unlike you, Twilight, I know how to reserve ammunition. It’s not a damn commodity out in the Wasteland and I don’t need four hundred bullets to kill a super mutant. Takes one shot to kill something,” Aeron grunted, turning around to face her. “You must be doing something wrong. Ethan’s house is full of ammo,” Twilight replied with a yawn as her magic reached out to grab a portion of the MRE to munch on. “Doing something wrong? I’m doing something right if I don’t need to stockpile billions of bullets. That shit weighs you down after a while, too,” Aeron retorted. “Unlike Ethan the idiot over here, I can’t carry four hundred Mini-Nukes. Those are three pounds each.” “Why would you carry around Mini-Nukes in the first place?” Ethan asked. “Fat Men are rare enough as it is, and I only use one occasionally when I want to destroy an army or something,” he added. “You two done comparing dicks over there?” Scarlet asked. “Why bother comparing them? I’m obviously bigger,” Ethan said with a smirk. “What’s with you people and the size of my penis? Honestly, I’m done talking for tonight. I feel stupider each time I even face any of you.” Aeron grunted as he sat down. “Seriously, have any of you figured out anything from living in the Wastes? Or is it a joke to you? I’m surprised you haven’t counted your ammo since we finished fighting random shit.” “32 rounds of normal, 30 AP, and 12 explosive rounds for my AMR, and five clips of 13 rounds for Maria,” Scarlet answered. “And yes, I learned a lot from the Wastes, hence the name Scarlet and the reason why I wear this Desert Ranger armour.” “How about we just eat in silence?” Thomas asked. “I’m getting fucking sick of all this arguing.” “I’m not hungry,” Aeron said as he laid down, skipping out on yet another meal. “You have to eat sooner or later, Aeron.” Dash looked at him worriedly. “Nope. Living off of little to no food helps me ration. You guys can take mine, if you wish.” He yawned, closing his eyes. “So... as much as we may dislike each other, we’re all in agreeance that he’s a prick, right?” Ethan asked the group. “No offence, Dash,” he added. “Shut up, Ethan. You’ll never understand him like I do,” Dash retorted. “Yeah, Vault Boy, I’m getting tired of your name calling,” Scarlet added. “I actually respect Aeron, for your information.” “I don’t see why, he hasn’t done much since we got here,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Want to know what I’ve been doing, Ethan?” Aeron sat up again. “I’ve been planning. Planning on what the fuck we’re going to do. I’ve been observing how you idiots act, and seeing which one of you has any sense of intelligence. Don’t assume I’ve been doing nothing, because I’m being tactical. It’s warfare, not a fucking riot.” “Now was that so hard?” Ethan asked with a smirk. “Ethan, how do you look at yourself sometimes?” Aeron questioned. “You think you’re such a God-damned saint. Honestly, you belittle everyone here, and Twilight backs you up. You two have been nothing but a headache.” “Me, a saint?” Ethan asked with a chuckle. “No, I’m no saint, Aeron, trust me on that. As for belittling everyone, I look at it as more of a way to see how everyone ticks. Makes it simpler to understand how people act if you put them under pressure when it doesn’t matter. I’m sure you know what that’s like.” “I do know what it’s like, but the pressure I’ve faced is so unbearable that you couldn’t compare to it. Don’t try to one-up me on this, because I’m not going to bother explaining it to you.” Aeron went back to laying on the ground, Dash moved over to his side and snuggled up next to his form. “I wasn’t going to ask, actually,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Ethan, who’s going with who during our watches?” Dash asked, changing the topic. “I’ll take the first with whoever wants it,” Ethan said with a shrug “I’ll do it,” Celestia offered. “Good.” Ethan nodded. “Who’s next?’ “I’ll do it,” Thomas said. “I’ll join you, Thomas,” Twilight said with a nod. “Just let me sleep for now, though; magic like what I was throwing around earlier is tiring as all hell,” she said before she curled up next to Ethan. “I’ll go with whoever, I guess,” the pegasus spoke tiredly. “I guess that’s my watch,” Scarlet said as she settled down on the ground with her back against the wall. “So that leaves me with Aeron,” Luna said with a nod towards the sleeping man. “Yeah, you’re stuck with the ‘jolly old saint prick’,” Aeron announced with a quiet yawn as he opened his eyes slightly. “Okay, so, two hour watches sound good to you guys?” Ethan asked. “If you don’t lose your mind ,Vault Boy, sure,” Scarlet muttered before going off to sleep. “Lose? I’ve already lost it,” Ethan said good-naturedly. “Just let us sleep,” Thomas said tiredly as he leaned into Luna’s back, making sure to avoid her mane and tail. Ethan sat next to Celestia as he leaned back against the wall of the room. One of his arms was idly sitting across the alicorn’s back, much to her annoyance, while his hands were occupied with cleaning his sword. “You know, I’m still surprised that I got this sword,” Ethan said, breaking the silence. Celestia glanced at the sword. “Why? Do you have the tendency to lose it in your battles?” “No, it’s just that it’s from a dragon’s hoard. I still don’t know why Jonathan let me take it,” the man replied with a chuckle. “Ah, I understand. Dragons rarely give up anything that’s from their hoard. That sword must be enchanted by ancient Equestrian magic for a dragon to have it.” “Yeah, it can deflect magic, any magic, and never breaks or gets dull. I guess that’s why Sunny wanted it so much,” Ethan said with a smirk. “Your Celestia doesn’t have a weapon of her own?” “Yes, she’s got a sword of her own, but she really wanted this one,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “I see, she was jealous.” Celestia’s own spear slowly began to rotate. “Not exactly jealous, it’s mostly because Jonathan nabbed it right out from under her nose. I guess Nastallion used it against her, and she spent the next few centuries worrying about someone else getting a hold of it and using it against her again,” Ethan mused idly. “Well, I never have to worry about that. My spear doesn’t allow anyone else to bear it, either severely burning their hooves or sending a magical backlash. In a way it acts much like your sword, but with some differences.” “Then how did Sparky use it earlier?” Ethan asked curiously. “I was still holding the spear, Twilight just fed power into it with my permission.” “So where did you get it?” Ethan inquired as he looked at the spear. “For the truth, I don’t know. All I know is that it wasn’t made by a pony or anyone else in Equestria. In fact, the spear and its shield counterpart is the reason I’m an alicorn and not an earth pony anymore.” “Really?” Ethan asked in surprise. “Yes, my sister and I were walking through a forest, and she stumbled down a ditch. I ran after her, and when I got down there we were in front of some sort of ruined temple. I didn’t want to go into it, but Luna, being always the adventures sort, ran into the temple. I hastily ran after her, trying to make sure she wouldn’t get herself hurt.” Celestia stopped for a moment before starting again. “Not far into building, she found two pedestals. One had a dark, obsidian color greatsword, and the other had a shield and this spear. My sister immediately went towards the greatsword, but something happened. Shadows began to engulf her, and I ran towards her to save her, but then ropes made out of light shot forth from the spear and ensnared me. I don’t know what happened next. I passed out, and both of us woke up confused and disoriented. I saw Luna gain a pair of wings, and shortly thereafter I noticed that I gained both a horn on my forehead, and a set of wings on my back. In front of us were the weapons laid out on the ground and we were back on the road we had been walking on.” “Wow, that’s a lot more interesting then what happened to Sparky,” Ethan told her with a thoughtful nod. Celestia remained silent. “So how did she take it when she became an alicorn?” “Well I was in the room next to where she and Sunny were ‘sleeping’ and it was a little before dawn. Suddenly, I heard Sparky start screaming, and not the fun kind of screaming that she’d been doing earlier. So I leapt out of bed, stark naked, and ran into the room to find Sparky standing on the bed freaking out while Sunny tried to calm her down. It took about an hour to do that, and then Luna came in and asked if she’d missed the orgy,” Ethan told her with a chuckle. Celestia shook her head in disbelief. “You’re right, my story was a bit more interesting.” She laid down her spear on the ground and let go of her magical grip on it. She then closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, before slowly releasing it. Her floating mane began to sink, and lost it’s multi-colored look as it slowly turned bright pink. “Much better,” she said to herself. “Wait, your hair’s naturally pink?” Ethan asked in confusion. “Yes, before Luna and I found the Elements of Harmony, our mane style stayed the same when we became alicorns.” “Heh, I don’t think that I’ve ever seen my Sunny’s mane like that, I wonder if it’s the same...” Ethan said before he trailed off. “This only happens when my magic is strained to it’s limits, and I’ve been using it nonstop since I got here. Better to recover now, before I burn out when the time is critical.” “Makes sense,” Ethan agreed with a nod before he changed topics. “Sunny, do you consider yourself a good judge of character?” he asked her. “Yes.” “Well then, what do you think of me?” Celestia turned her head so her eyes were staring into Ethan’s. “You’ve been through many trials, some of which have left heavy scars in your heart. You hide those scars with laughter, saying they’re nothing. While you let many of your problems go, some still trouble your mind. You still wonder if many of your choices were the right ones, and if there was another way in solving them. In all, a person with a troubled soul but a noble heart.” “So... do you think I’m a good person?” he asked her softly. “The question is, do you think that? An Old Man told me one can have the intentions to be good, but can end up evil. One can be evil, but end up good.” “That sounds like one smart old bastard,” Ethan told her with a small chuckle as he began to press buttons on his Pip-Boy, stopping on a picture of a woman with two children standing in front of a very tall building. One boy, and one girl. The girl was punching the boy in the shoulder and the boy was shooting her a glare; the mother seemed to be shaking her head in mock despair at the pair’s antics. “Yes, he was,” Celestia said before she saw the picture on Ethan’s Pip-Boy. “Your family?” “Yep, they keep me going,” the man said with a chuckle. “Family, they’re there to help lift the heavy burdens of life.” Celestia then glanced towards Scarlet. “She reminds me so much of my wife,” Ethan said, catching Celestia’s glance. “Before she went to the Divide and made peace with it, or as much of a peace as she could anyways,” he added with a slight shake of his head. “Would you mind to tell me what happened in this Divide? Scarlet wouldn’t go too deep in explaining it to me.” “I can’t tell you what happened to Katherine over there, but I can tell you what happened with Cassandra,” Ethan replied, looking to the alicorn for confirmation. “Anything to help Scarlet...Katherine ease the pain in her heart.” “It’s a long story, but I’ll try and shorten it as much as I can without losing details,” Ethan told her before he took a breath. “The Divide was the best chance that humanity had of pulling its act together. The people really believed that if they worked hard enough then they could change the world, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, and that it’s common enough in Equestria, but in the Wasteland that’s a rare commodity. To find an entire region of people like that is... well it’s next to impossible. The fact that there wasn’t very much radiation, and that the bombs hadn’t landed anywhere near it helped of course. Cassandra was the woman who found it for the NCR, and introduced the two nations,” Ethan stopped for a second to gather his thoughts. Things were going well for her, she’d found a place where there was hope, hope for a better tomorrow, hope that things could change. And then she delivered what she thought was a simple package, and the entire place exploded in a nuclear firestorm the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the Great War. It split the ground and turned the once lush landscape into a barren wasteland. The people who escaped the initial blast were either turned into horrifying ghouls full of an insatiable hunger for revenge, or they were eaten by the Tunnelers and deathclaws. And it was all her fault,” Ethan finished grimly. Sorrow filled Celestia eyes. “That’s...that’s devastating.” She looked back at Scarlet. “Yeah, it ate away at Cassie until she went back and settled it, with the help of a tough old bastard named Ulysses,” Ethan replied. “Then something must still be eating at her. For Scarlet keeps going back there in her dreams.” “Which is why I keep forcing her to think about it. If Cassie hadn’t gone back... Well I think that she would’ve eventually killed herself,” he said with a shake of his head. “I don’t see Scarlet doing that anytime soon. There’s something in her world she still holds on to, though she never shows what it is.” “I’d be willing to bet you this sword that it’s someone she loved, someone named Jason if what I heard last night when she was talking to Twilight is correct,” Ethan told her. “Hmm, maybe. Thank you, Ethan. If you would, allow me to talk to Scarlet about this.” “I’m just doing my job, Sunny, keeping people around me safe while being as irritating as humanly possible,” Ethan told her with a smirk. “ Oh, and Sunny, call her Katherine, trust me, it’ll help,” he added solemnly. “When the time is right, I will. Now I think we should wake Thomas and Twilight for their shift.” “Yeah, probably a good idea,” Ethan said with a nod as he rose to his feet. Thomas eyed the little alicorn warily. “How did you do that?” “Do what?” Twilight asked curiously as she suppressed a yawn. “Burst into flames. The only other time I’ve seen that is with the Knights, and they needed their armour and a pass phrase.” “Oh, well there are certain perks to being an alicorn,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Although it happened once or twice before when I was under pressure or when someone that I cared about was in danger,” Twilight explained. “And that’s another thing. Those wings.” Thomas resisted the urge to reach out and stroke them. “There’s only three where I come from, and last I checked Cadance wasn’t exactly that powerful compared to Celestia or Luna.” Twilight stretched out one of her wings for the man to stroke before replying. “Apparently, Tia was going to make me an alicorn eventually anyways, but once we started seeing each other... Well, Tia wanted me to stay fairly young looking for the next hundred years or so, so she changed me earlier than she’d originally planned to,” the alicorn replied. “As for Cadance, well she is an alicorn, but an alicorn’s power depends on how powerful of a unicorn they were beforehand. Cadance is great with emotions, probably the best actually, but when you compare us magically pound for pound, I far outweigh her.” “The Cadance I met was born that way, wings and horn,” Thomas replied. “And Shiny was more powerful than you with his armour on.” “I think I’m explaining this badly...” Twilight said before she stopped for a second. “My Cadance was born an alicorn too, but her specialty lies in emotions, my being a unicorn who was magically gifted transferred when I became an alicorn. Sorry, I haven’t had to explain this type of thing before,” Twilight apologized. “So you were always more powerful?” he asked. Twilight nodded. “Ah, makes sense. You’d be terrifying in a suit of Knight armour.” “You’ve mentioned that before; what exactly is it?” Twilight asked curiously as she turned her robotic eye on the man. “I mean I know you said that it amplifies the power of the unicorn wearing it, but that doesn’t tell me the how part.” “Do I look like I know anything about magic?” “To be honest no, no offence, but if it makes unicorns as strong as you seem to think that it does, then even the basic idea behind it could lead to an entirely new way of making armour,” Twilight replied with an eager grin at the thought of learning something new. Thomas sighed. “I remember Clarion Call mentioning something about it acting as an amplifier. Coupled with the shock-absorbing spells and the weight-reduction one, it was probably more protective than that suit of T-51b Veronica was wearing.” “YOU MADE MAGICAL POWER ARMOUR?!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly as she jumped to her hooves. “That innovation would solve so many problems for the Guard and Equestria in general! In fact, if I could recreate it then I wouldn’t have to worry about buying a new suit of armour every few days after it inevitably gets destroyed!” she said with a grin. “Heh, good luck. Shiny was the head of the project, and it took them three months to figure it out.” “Wait, my brother invented it?” Twilight asked in surprise. “I mean Shiny’s not stupid, not by a long shot, but I’ve never thought of him as technically skilled enough to pull that kind of thing off,” Twilight said with a slight frown. “He was head of the project, that means he probably just said what he wanted and made sure it happened. Probably provided the funding too,” Thomas added “That sounds like him,” Twilight said with a nod and a small loving smile. “He might not know how to do something, but he can sure as hell make people that do, do it. Even if it hasn’t been done before.” “The reason he had it made wasn’t exactly noble, though.” “Oh, what was it?” Twilight asked. “I guess your brother’s wedding was nearly ruined by Changelings too?” When the mare nodded, he continued. “Well, he took it hard; wanted revenge. When something of mine got stolen by the Changelings, he only saw a chance. Had to put a bullet in his leg to get him to see reason.” “My Shining probably would’ve done something similar, if it wasn’t for the sex curse anyways...” Twilight said before trailing off. “I don’t wanna know,” Thomas muttered. “The armour and the Knights were a good thing, though. Kinda accidentally started a war when I was there the first time.” “How bad was it?” Twilight asked the man. “Griffons got involved, at least three hundred dead ponies, Diamond Dog leadership was destroyed. Lost a Knight too.” Thomas sighed. “Wasn’t as bad as Hoover Dam though.” “That’s a lot of dead ponies,” Twilight said sadly before she shook her head and quickly changed the subject. “I’ve heard about the Hoover Dam, or at least Cassandra’s version of it anyways,” Twilight said with a nod. “She said it wasn’t too bad in the end.” “A thousand dead troopers, about fifty dead Paladins, over ten thousand dead legionnaires, and to top it all off, half the generators on the Legion half of the dam got heavily damaged in the fighting.” Twilight let out a low whistle. “That’s an impressively high number, Thomas, although the Kill Death Ratio seems to have been good for your troopers at least,” she said sympathetically. “I’d killed Caesar and put down at least eighty of his soldiers myself before the battle even started. And that’s a thousand families who’ll never see their loved ones again.” He sighed sadly. “You just can’t win.” Twilight draped one of her, admittedly short, wings around the man and pulled herself closer to him. “That’s the Wasteland, Thomas; you do what you can because you have to, and if you don’t then you and the people you care about die,” she said with a sad nod of her head. “And even then, people still die and you’re left there picking up the pieces.” “I’m sick of doing that. I... I just want it to stop. I didn’t want to take part in their damn war, but I got dragged in. I tried to do my best, but... it wasn’t enough.” “Thomas, if you’re sick of it then leave. Take the people you care about with you, and then forget about the rest,” Twilight told him. “Of course, you’re not going to do that, so there’s nothing you can do except keep fighting,” she added. “I am this close to alcoholism,” he said angrily, holding his thumb and forefinger a hairbreadth apart. “I have to put up with so much crap every fucking day. Boone rejoined 1st Recon, Veronica went east with the Wanderer, Arcade’s too busy helping the Followers, Raul’s defending towns, Rex is with the King, I don’t even know where ED-E is, Cass is running a caravan company, and last I heard, Lily disappeared from Jacobstown. All the people I care about are either too busy, or they left.” “All of them, Thomas?” Twilight asked as she eyed him critically. “Why do you think I sleep around so much? It helps. Keeps away the pain, but it’s not enough anymore. Last week I was staring down the barrel of my own fucking gun!” he yelled. “I... I’ve had enough,” he muttered sadly. “Thomas, I think that you’re forgetting about someone, or somepony actually. And if you can’t see it then you’re fucking blind,” Twilight said. “I want to stay in Equestria, I do. But the NCR will tear Vegas apart with their stupid politics. I have to stay there. Their well-being is more important than mine,” he finished, looking at the ground. Twilight let out a sigh. “Thomas, you’re missing the point, or you’re doing that thing that Ethan does sometimes when he doesn’t want to talk about something,” she told him with a slightly annoyed look. “Ask Luna for help,” she said slowly. “She has enough demons to deal with. She doesn’t need me adding to it all.” “And I suppose that you committing suicide and her never seeing you again would certainly help her fight those demons,” Twilight said flatly. “So, what? Just leave everything I’ve tried to do for the people of Vegas?” he asked angrily. “Why are they separate ideas?” Twilight asked him. “Ask Luna for help dealing with Vegas and the NCR. If nothing else, she’s at least a thousand years older than you and her political advice would be invaluable. She might even have enough spare ponies to help you with some of the more dangerous parts of your job. Trust me, the people of the Wasteland take magical ponies surprisingly well once they get used to them.” “That’s the last thing I want to do. I don’t need help with this,” he growled. Over the years Twilight had learned many things from Ethan. Tact wasn’t one of them. “Says the near alcoholic who’s considering suicide as he drowns under the pressure of a job too big for one man to handle alone,” Twilight told him. “Fine, you’re right, I need help,” he replied angrily. “But am I likely to get it? That’s why I haven’t asked.” “How can you possibly think that Luna, or hell Celestia, would deny you help?” Twilight asked a little angrily. “They’re the most compassionate ponies in Equestria, and if you explain things to them I’m sure they’d be more than happy to give you help! Hell, I’m sure that most ponies would volunteer, let alone those two!” she exclaimed. “Celestia wants practically nothing to do with me. Because of me, ponies died. She tolerates me, and she only does it because Luna likes me.” “Well then once we get out of here I’ll have to meet this Celestia of yours, and kick her flank across the floor for being such an inconsiderate bitch,” Twilight told the man with a chuckle. “Good luck with that,” he muttered darkly. “She may put on a smiling, gentle face for everyone, but I’ve seen her mad.” Twilight sighed. “Look Thomas, I was kidding. It would probably break several dozen laws of the universe, most of which I still haven’t finished memorizing since I got these wings,” she said with a shake of her head. “Regardless, that still leaves Luna, and I know that you said that she’s busy, but do you really think that she’d deny you help if you asked?” “I don’t know, okay? And I don’t want to push my problems onto her.” “Thomas, I can’t tell you what to do, I’ve been doing too much of that since I got these wings anyways, but I can tell you this. That alicorn lying on the ground over there cares very deeply about you. It might not be love yet, and if you keep acting like you are now then it never will be, but at the moment she’d do almost anything to keep you safe and happy,” Twilight told him softly, before she added, “Goddesses, I’m getting preachy...” “Maybe you’re right, but I don’t know if it’s really love or something else. Still...” Thomas sighed. “I’ll talk to her about it. See what she says.” “Don’t wait too long, Thomas; you never know when one of you could die, especially in a fucked up place like this,” Twilight told him. The pair sat in silence for a while longer, until Thomas began to chuckle. “God damn it,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head. “Hmm?” Twilight asked curiously. “I was always trying to help the people I travelled with, and here I am getting that help myself.” “Heh, well I guess when you’re always looking for others to help, it’s hard to realise when you need help yourself,” Twilight told him with a slight chuckle and a smile before she yawned loudly. “Let’s go wake up the next shift, I’m tired as hell.” Scarlet had her back on a the wall, looking at the work she was doing with her hands. In one hand she held her gladius, all clean of blood from the ghoul monster. In her other hand a sharpening stone was being ground across sideways on the edge of the gladius, making a scraping noise that bounced around in the room. “Whatcha doing?” Rainbow yawned, sitting down on her haunches next to Scarlet. Scarlet gave a deadpan look at the pegasus. “I’m making sure my blade doesn’t run dull. I thought that was pretty obvious.” “Sheesh. Making casual conversation.” The pegasus rolled her eyes. “How’s life?” “Hard and harsh.” “In what way? The fact we’re stuck here, or because of whatever you did beforehand?” Dash asked. “In general. Life is always hard harsh no matter what you do. The only thing you can do is keeping pushing to live another day. Which I’ve been doing ever since I ran away from home.” “Yeah...” Dash rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. “Why’d you run away?” “Have a mother who didn’t care about if you live or die, and have no father figure for thirteen years, you’d get sick of home too.” “I don’t know that feeling too much. My parents always loved me... Even if I was a brat sometimes.” Dash giggled softly, but, quickly stopped herself. “That’s because your mother wasn’t a whore, and your father wasn’t just a one time thing with her. I was an accident in her life.” “How would you be an accident? Isn’t having a foa— err, a child a good thing?” The pegasus raised a brow. Scarlet stopped sharpening her blade, and a dark shadow covered her face. “You would think that, but only more pain comes with it...” She lifted her face out of the shadows and resumed sharpening her blade. “Besides, my mother wasn’t the kind of woman who wanted a family anyways. All she cared about was sex, drugs, alcohol, and caps.” “That sounds awful. I’d leave too if I lived in those conditions...” Rainbow Dash’s ears folded down for a moment, before she looked back over at Scarlet. “What about now, though?” “I don’t know; I haven’t checked in on her since I left. Though I doubt she cares. Probably thought I died the moment I disappeared in her life.” Rainbow Dash sighed. “I don’t understand... I guess it’s different being surrounded by ‘sunshine and rainbows’, as Aeron calls it.” “Yeah, saw that a bit when I was in your world. Though I don’t hold it against you. Celestia worked extremely hard to keep it like that, and you’ve eaten and gotten used to the fruit of her hard labor.” “Well, I send friendship reports to Celestia, at least. Update her and stuff... I think when this is all over, if it ever is, I’m going to talk to her again.” Dash smiled softly. “I still remember when she watched my second Sonic Rainboom. Was the best day of my life. Well, second best.” “Sonic Rainboom?” Scarlet asked as the unfamiliar term rattled in her brain . “It was said to be a legend. It’s just an explosion of colours that’s caused by reaching mach speeds. Only few Pegasi performed it, and I’m glad to be one of them.” Dash smiled brightly. “I did it when I was a filly, then again when I was a bit older after I’d met Twilight and the girls. Then Twilight’s brother got married, and I did it a third time! It was awesome.” The laws of physics were screaming blasphemy in Scarlet’s head. “Well, that sounds interesting to see. Too bad my version of Dash didn’t do one when I was in Equestria.” “Sucks. It’s really awesome! I’d do it here, but, y’know... impossible with this place. Who knows what’s up in that darkness?” The pegasus shivered slightly. “Yeah...” Scarlet said as she craned her head up, stretching some sore muscles. “So, what’s your story with Aeron?” “In general? Or do you have a specific question?” Dash responded. “In general. Not asking much; I’m not like Vault Boy over there who wants to know everything about you.” She said the last part with a hard tone in her voice. “Well... he’s... he’s something. Really something. I mean...” Dash stopped for a moment, to think of the right words, “Well... to be blunt, he’s stupid and smart. Not egghead smart, but he holds these really weird standards and plans that just work. He’s also stupid because he’d rather die than waste ammo, too. But, like...” Dash sighed for a moment. “He’s my ‘hero’ for lack of a better word. He could have left me for dead, to be raped, killed, raped again and then eaten by raiders, but instead, he saved my life. He brought me on an adventure through the Wasteland - Dunwich building, Point Lookout, a vault or two - and got me home. In return, I left a little present. I did a Sonic Rainboom for him. I think that was the first time the skies were blue.” Dash smiled softly, before it faded. “Well, that’s quite an adventure. You two must’ve become close friends near the end of it.” “I’m still not sure... He considers me as a ‘companion’, but I’ve never heard him call me a ‘friend’. He only had one friend, and even that I’m still fuzzy about. He only explained it to me briefly.” Dash sighed. “As Celestia would’ve stated, you two might have never stated that you’ve became friends but something did form between you two, which is plain to everyone who looks closely at the interaction between the two of you. But I won’t bother you too much on that subject.” Scarlet put the sharpening stone away in her bag and strapped her gladius back on her side. “I think you’re right... I feel like I should just approach Aeron about this. I consider him a friend - a trusted friend. We’ve been through a lot together. I had his back and he had mine...” Dash smiled again, brushing a hoof through her mane. “Heck, I even remember the first time he realized I could move and sit on clouds. It was easier to snipe that way, too. Well, once I got a better scope.” “Yeah, you wouldn’t believe what I had to go through to get a good scope for this rifle,” Scarlet said as she placed a hand on her AMR. She then gave an admiring glance at Dash. “So you’ve sniped huh? Figures, flying at fast speeds must’ve given you some sharp eyes.” “Yeah, I could see quite a lot from far away. Aeron was surprised when I took out a super mutant from... what was it...? 1,400 yards? Yeah.” Dash smiled, looking over Scarlet’s rifle. “What kind of rifle is that? I never saw one like it when I was in the Wastes,” she questioned. Scarlet picked up the rifle to give the pegasus a better look at it. “This here is an anti-material rifle. It fires a fifty caliber bullet at a range of about 2,000 yards, though with the scope I have only about 600 yards for an accurate shot. I don’t know why you wouldn’t have found it out East. Maybe the Old World only distributed it to military bases on the West Coast. Still, this is one rifle that you don’t want to find yourself at the end of its barrel.” A smirk formed on Scarlet’s lips. “There are many headless people and creatures out in the Wasteland because of this gun.” “Too bad I can’t use it. Aeron made my sniper himself. Well... he adjusted it accordingly. I’d have to agree with you on the Old World thing. Maybe the West Coast received them due to the invasion from the West. That’s what Aeron would say, anyways.” Dash shrugged, still admiring the rifle. “Probably, after all that’s where China was anyways.” Scarlet put the rifle back down on the ground and stood up, stretching her arms up and slightly arching her back. “Hrm... I wonder what Twilight is doing right now...” Dash put her face into her hooves, sighing deeply. Scarlet eyes widened slightly. “Wow... am I the only woman who doesn't swing that way? No offence.” “Heh... I guess. I don’t know, I just didn’t like stallions much. I just can’t imagine how worried Twilight is... seeing as I’m gone... again... a month after returning home.” The pegasus started smacking her head on the floor in despair. “Hey, at least you’ll still have her no matter how long you two remain apart. Keep on fighting and you’ll see her again.” Dash took in a breath, trying not to panic too much. “Yeah, you’re right. She’s probably worried like hell, but I know we’ll see each other soon enough.” A cute sentiment. If a bit stupid. Kata’s voice rang nearby. Scarlet ignored Kata’s voice. “How about we get the last shift going, and get some sleep for the last few hours?” “Good idea. Who’s turn? Luna and Aeron’s?” Dash asked, standing up. “Yep, I’m guessing you’re good at getting Aeron up. I’ll get Luna up since her magic can’t harm me.” Scarlet picked up her things and began to head towards Luna. Dash made her way to Aeron, gently shaking him. He woke up in a flash, glaring at her for a moment, then sighed in relief. “Your turn, Aeron.” He nodded to her, and stood up, stretching his arms. Scarlet, on the other hand, grabbed the front part of Luna’s mane and gave a hard yank. Her Pip-Boy clicking like crazy. Luna instantly woke up and glared harshly at Scarlet. “What purpose did that serve?” she asked angrily. “That was for bashing my head against a table. Though I still owe you for saving my life.” Scarlet walked away and sat down next to Celestia, bowing her head with closed eyes. Aeron was sitting down, looking over his rifle and removing the bullets from each of the magazines, counting them out individually. Silence crept over him as he ignored Luna during this time. “Is this how the night will progress?” she asked. “Complete silence?” “What’s the point of talking when everyone here is dense?” Aeron muttered, silently counting. “Insensitive, yes, foolish, definitely in some cases, but dense?” Luna asked, shooting the man a look. “You fail to give them the credit they deserve.” “Credit? Fine, I’ll give Scarlet credit for being clever. You, credit for not being stupid. Dash, credit for being a good companion. Everyone else? No,” Aeron grunted. “Is that so? Ethan and Thomas are capable warriors, as are Celestia and Twilight. After all, that mare disposed of that abomination all by herself. And is that all Rainbow Dash is to you, a ‘companion’, as you put it?” “They use brute strength to overwhelm something. That alone will get them killed one day. On top of that, they spend their time talking about the stupidest shit. No one likes Ethan’s prying, Thomas is busy getting an erection, and the others? Well, y’know.” Aeron sighed. “While I will concede to both Ethan’s lack of tact and Thomas’s... promiscuity,” Luna said that word uncomfortably, “I feel I must defend Thomas. He is quite capable of being underhanded and cunning, skilled in subterfuge and stealth. He just hasn’t had an opportunity to display such skills.” “Whatever the case may be, he hasn’t shown it. As for Dash... she still hasn’t earned the right of being called a ‘friend’, as you would call it.” Aeron sighed. “There are criteria for such a thing?” Luna asked amusedly. “Pray tell, what are they?” “Efficiency, trust, loyalty, studiousness, and skill in combat,” Aeron stated simply. “Well from what I can say of the Rainbow Dash from my world, she is most of those things. If she applied herself she could easily be a formidable warrior. I see no reason for her to be any different,” she said, casting an eye to the sleeping pegasus. “You just don’t get it. You really don’t.” Aeron started to push the rounds back into their magazines and reloaded a full one into his assault rifle. “Perhaps I don’t, but I could easily say the same for you. You value people as tools, which is all well and good until a point.” Luna drew herself up and stood up to stretch her legs. "If you treat them as a tool, they will likely do something to make you regret doing such a thing.” “Aren’t friends just people who ‘help’ you anyways? What’s the difference if I bother calling her a friend over a companion? It’s not that big of a deal. Had this same talk with Celestia,” Aeron grumbled. “Because friends enrich your life. Surely you cannot deny that Rainbow Dash did that?” “She did change a lot back in the Wastes. I’ll give her that. For once after years of green, irradiated skies, and nothing but smoke - it was clear.” Aeron smiled at the thought - a gentle smile. “Then wouldn’t it be right to call her a friend?” Luna asked, smiling at him. “It’s just...” Aeron sighed. “I’ve been alone all my life. The only real ‘friend’ I’ve had was a girl named Amata. We did just about everything together when I grew up in a vault. If she needed help, I’d help her. Vice versa. She showed every aspect of what I believe to be a friend. I don’t want to admit Rainbow Dash is my friend... mostly...” Aeron stopped, not speaking another word. “You are afraid that by doing so you will dishonour Amata?” “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I can’t.” Aeron brushed some dirt off of his armour. “And don’t tell Ethan about this, either. Kid picks his nose too much as is.” “I am quite capable of keeping a secret, if that is what you want. At least you had the benefit of a friend in your youth.” Aeron nodded. “Yeah... but I feel like talking about the others right now. Mostly Thomas.” Luna sighed. “What of him? He has secrets that I have promised to keep, so don’t be surprised if I refuse to answer a question.” “I’ve been watching everyone here. You two are the most bi—” He stopped, thinking of Ethan for a moment. “Okay, second most bizarre pair. Anyways, I’ve been watching and he looks at you in an... odd manner.” “After you have shared a bed with someone, it is hard to look at them as you once did,” Luna answered. “Well that’s fucking weird,” Aeron stated bluntly. “I mean, I’ve heard of fucked up shit, but, that’s really topping it.” “In your world, maybe, but in Equestria interspecies relations are just something that happens. The only reason anything happened between Thomas and I was due to alcohol. At the time I had no feelings for him, except as a friend.” “Sheesh. How is Thomas in the sack, then? Please you well enough?” Aeron joked. “He is quite well-endowed,” Luna responded, smiling slightly. “Well, I’m not a man to care for women - or men - much, but I guess that’s good.” Aeron smiled slightly before continuing. “How is he in the ‘planning’ department? He hasn’t done much here, to be honest.” “Like I said, he has had little opportunity. Give him half an hour, a list of your resources and access to what he might need and he can find a way to bring death to over a hundred in a matter of seconds.” Luna nodded as she remembered that. “Failing that, he will fall back to simply killing whatever he must to get the job done.” “Hrm. Simplistic, but at least he accounts for resources.” Aeron gave a nod of approval.“He’s talked— Well, I overheard him talking about it... Anyways, he’s talked about New Vegas a lot. How does he run that? Do you know?” “Quite simply, he doesn’t,” the alicorn stated. “He gave most of the governing power to the New California Republic. He instead acts as a spokesman and occasional vigilante for the people of the city.” “New California Republic? Elaborate.” Aeron folded his hands in front of him. “Unfortunately, I don’t know much myself. What I do know is that they are simply the biggest post-War civilisation, according to Thomas.” “Hmm...” Aeron tapped his chin for a moment. “Wonder if they exist in my ‘universe’? Would be interesting to see how they operate. What else does Thomas provide for his region?” “He runs one of the casinos that his city is famous for; the Lucky 38, I think,” Luna responded. “Other than that, he hasn’t been very forthcoming with information.” “So, you have nothing on the subject of his little ‘nation’ going on?” He raised a brow. “Other than fragments of a plan to take over should the Republic overstep the bounds of rational thinking, no.” “Well, perhaps I should discuss it next night with him. I’d like to know more about it, personally.” Aeron smiled softly and stretched his arms. “So, we talked a bit about you two fooling around, but how close are you? Combat wise and ... ‘friendship’ wise.” “In terms of combat, we are quite different. He prefers to take a cautious approach, removing himself from close quarters situations if he can. I prefer to be as close as possible. It’s only polite to let whomever you’re fighting know what killed them,” she explained. “That being said, we are both skilled in fighting from range and up close. As for our relationship...” Luna sighed and looked at the ground. “I am unsure. Both of my own feelings and of his. There is also the fact that he is not only mortal, but the poor way his body interacts with magic in my universe.” “Radiation, right?” Aeron questioned. Luna nodded. “So, you’re both unsure how you feel about each other, can kill each other at any moment, but consider each other friends?” “There is little he could do to hurt me physically,” Luna corrected. “While my sister and I can be killed, it is not an easy task. We would have to be severely weakened first.” “How much can he hurt you psychologically?” Luna turned and glared at him. “I was afraid you would catch that, but yes, he could quite easily hurt me emotionally. It pains me to hear of some of his... exploits,” she finished, spitting the word out. “How so? It’s not like you experience the dangers of the Wastes.” Aeron moved closer to her. “I do not mean anything of that sort. I’m referring to... his rampant promiscuity,” she said angrily. “Wait, wait, wait, hold the non-existent phone...” Aeron laughed softly. “Are you worried about him screwing someone?” “I do not have to worry about him doing so, I know he does,” she said unhappily. “So, you’re jealous?” he chuckled. “What if I am? It’s not your place to judge.” Luna shot a venomous look at him. “I’ve seen guys have sex with ghouls and corpses. Never would I expect a talking horse to want to bone a guy. The concept is hilarious.” Aeron couldn’t keep himself from having a chuckle-fit. Luna just continued to glare angrily. Aww, how cute. You made him laugh. “Oh boy, here we go. Let’s get Kata’s opinion on this.” Aeron looked up to the non-existent ceiling. “Hey, lady, what do you think of horses having sex with humans?” If both parties are capable of giving consent, then there shouldn’t be a— wait, why am I even talking about this? Kata asked. “Because, you’re sadistic and I find this to be your style of ‘amusing’,” Aeron chuckled. I came here for a reason. Your next challenge begins now. “What!?” Luna yelled, standing up. Suddenly, her legs gave out and she fell over. Just stay still, it’ll make this easier for me. “To do what?” Aeron asked cautiously. Isn’t it more fun when it’s a surprise? When she didn’t get an answer, the voice sighed. Fine, have it your way. “What have you done to me?” Luna demanded. Nothing, yet, Kata replied maliciously. “If I wake up with stallion parts I will destroy you!” the alicorn yelled. You people keep giving me such great ideas! Kata said with a chuckle. Unfortunately, you won’t have to suffer through that indignity, instead you’re going to have a little... ‘out of body experience’, so to speak. Now, all this yelling is making it hard to concentrate. Luna felt her eyelids grow heavy as weariness unlike anything she had ever felt assaulted her. “You...” That was all she could manage before she lost consciousness. “Hrm. This is—” Aeron flopped onto his back in an instant - as if he was knocked out by a behemoth.