//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two: Unfortunate Circumstances 
// Story: My Little Fallout: New Vegas 
// by Sepulcher 
//------------------------------//

My Little Fallout: New Vegas

Chapter Two: Unfortunate Circumstances




As I shook Twilight's hoof, I noticed several more things that my quick look-over missed. Like the fact that she had a horn on her head.

I dropped her hoof in surprise. "Why... why is there a horn on your head?"

Twilight giggled. "That's because I'm a unicorn, silly. You act like you've never seen... a unicorn... before..." She trailed off, realizing what she had said.

"As long as it's not a mutation, I'm fine with it. What does it do?" I asked.

"It allows me to use magic," said Twilight. Her horn began to glow purple and several of the crumpled and worn books that were spread along the table floated into the air, hovering in place.

"Holy fuck!" I yelled. "You can levitate things?!"

Twilight smiled and dropped the books back down. "That's not all I can do!" she said before disappearing in a small flash of light. Before I could jump backward in surprise, I felt something nudge my leg. I whipped around to see Twilight standing behind me.

"D—Did... did you just teleport?!" I exclaimed. "That's fucking incredible!"

Twilight's face grew a bit red from my praise. "It's nothing special..."

Well I'll be damned. A pony—err... unicorn... that can teleport and levitate stuff. Not only that, she's modest too!

"Don't sell yourself short, Twilight," I said, stealing Doc Mitchell's words. "No person or thing is capable of doing what you can do."

"Thank you, Courier," said Twilight. A slight frown appeared on her face as she thought about something. "You said that you were 'shot'. What does that mean?"

Of course, I thought, mentally smacking myself. How would a sentient pony know what a gun is? If their technology is at the same level as ours, their weapons would be completely different. They don't even have fingers, for crying out loud!

"In the Mojave Wasteland, we have things called 'guns'. These guns fire small projectiles called 'bullets'. These bullets fly faster than the speed of sound and they are used to kill people. I was shot by a gun at point blank range. In the head."

Twilight's eyes grew wide once again and a look of revulsion was plastered on her face. "Kill people?! Why do people here kill each other?!"

I looked at Twilight, confused. Was her world really that idyllic? Her expression told me 'Yes'.

"Well... for food, water, weapons, and other basic supplies," I explained. My voice grew ragged. "And then there are those that kill for fun. Pleasure. Sport." I exhaled slowly. "This world is pretty fucked up. I don't know where you came from, but it seems to me that it was a much better place than this—" I motioned out the window, "—wasteland."

Twilight jumped up on the table to look outside, as she was too short to see without a height increase. "Oh sweet Celestia," she muttered. 

I looked outside at the run-down town in front of me. It was not a pretty sight.

"There are many worse things out there in the wastes, Twilight Sparkle. Pockets of radiation, mutants, raiders. The whole Mojave is dangerous. There is one place, however, that stand as a beacon of light and hope in this hellhole." I pointed to the Lucky 38 Casino in the far distance, the tallest structure in the Mojave. "New Vegas. One of the last, if not the last, cities in Nevada. That's where I was supposed to deliver the stupid poker chip."

Twilight was silent for a long time. Finally, she asked, "Is your whole world like this? Ruined and dying?"

I nodded grimly. "As far as I know, yes. Killing is just another task of surviving here."

Twilight stepped off of the table, her posture downcast. "I know that this isn't where I belong. It's so annoying, knowing things without knowing why I know them!"

"Tell me about it. I know all the things I've done, except without knowing who I am. It's very strange," I replied.

Twilight looked up at me with her oversized eyes. "Well... what happens now?" she asked.

"I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to go to New Vegas and find the son-of-a-bitch that shot me. And then... I'm going to take my revenge," I said with venomously.

"What about me?" asked Twilight.

"Uh," I responded eloquently. "You could come with me... if you want to, that is..."

Twilight glanced back out the window. "I don't know how to survive out there," Twilight said dejectedly. "I'd only hold you back..."

"Oh no you don't!" I snapped. "Don't you start wallowing in self-pity on me! Your magical talents alone are more helpful than anything I can do."

She looked at me with tears flowing down her cheeks. "You... you really mean that?"

"Of course," I responded. "I'm just a courier. Sure, I've been around the Mojave, but that doesn't hold a candle to being able to teleport and levitate shit!"

Twilight glanced at her hooves, embarrassed. "Well... I don't have anywhere else to go... and if I can actually be of use... then sure."

I stuck out my hand out this time. Twilight placed her hoof in it once again. "I think that this will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship, Twilight Sparkle," I said as we shook.

"What do we do first?" asked Twilight.

I glanced down, realizing that I was wearing nothing but boxers. I glanced at Doc Mitchell, who was still passed out. "I don't know about you, but I'm not going out there in my underwear," I remarked as I shook the elderly doctor in an attempt to wake him up.

The doctor was being stubborn, so I gently slapped him on the cheek a few times and said, "C'mon, doc! Wakey-wakey."

Doc Mitchell still didn't move. I was starting to grow worried at this point. In a flash of comprehension, I realized that I hadn't checked his pulse. My hand flew to the doctor's neck.

No pulse. Doc Mitchell was dead.

"Oh shit," I said quietly.

Twilight trotted over. "What's wrong?" she asked.

I stared at the lifeless doctor. "He's... he's dead. He must have had a heart attack instead of fainting," I said emotionlessly. "I never even said thanks for saving my life."

Twilight was visibly shaking. "I... I killed him!" she sobbed. "I scared him to death!"

I grasped Twilight's shoulder. "Now is not the time for remorse. We need to gather what supplies we can, and quickly."

"Why?" sniffed Twilight.

I didn't want to explain right then and there, but I had no choice if I wanted her assistance. "First rule of the wasteland: If you kill someone, their stuff is yours. Second rule of the wasteland: There is no second rule."

I saw a look of horror on Twilight's face. Sighing, I said, "I didn't make the rules, but you can't choose to not live by them."

"I-I... I understand. It's necessary. But that still doesn't mean that I like it," said Twilight.

I nodded. "I don't like it either, but that's life." I thought for a second. "Start grabbing everything and anything that looks like food or water. We'll need to stock up here, since we won't be going to into the town."

"Why won't we go into the town?" asked Twilight.

I grimaced. "How do you think they're going to react when they find out that the doctors dead? They 're going to give us a taste of 'Wasteland Justice'." I noticed the confused look that Twilight wore. "They'll kill us for killing him," I elaborated. "Start collecting foodstuffs, please."

Nodding, Twilight galloped into the next room over, leaving me alone.

"Well," I said to myself. "Time to scavenge."

\\\\\

Ten minutes later, Twilight and I were standing over a large pile of supplies. I had raided the doctor's wardrobe and found an old Vault 21 suit, which is what I was currently wearing. I had also found a Pip-Boy, which I wore on my left wrist. I wasn't sure how to use it, but I knew that they were extremely useful.

Twilight had done a good job of gathering food: there was around three or four pounds of Pre-War foodstuffs, along with a bunch of fresh vegetables. 

For medicine, I had gathered twelve Stimpacks, two syringes of Med-X, and the doctor's medical bag, which was full of other miscellaneous medical supplies and instruments. During my search for medicine, I found a long, sharp knife along with a Laser Pistol, which had only thirty-odd energy cells of ammunition left.

"Good job. Now all we need is something to hold it all," I said, wondering what had happened to my old pack. Thankfully, I had Twilight.

"Is this big enough?" she asked as she levitated my old backpack from a different room.

"My pack!" I exclaimed happily. I reached over and grabbed it out of the air. I quickly searched it and found several more useful items.

My nine millimetre pistol, forty-two bullets for it, several bottles of water, and...

I pulled out a crumpled and faded note. It was the package delivery instructions for my most recent courier job. I quickly read over it.

Mojave Express... that's in Primm. I guess that's our first stop.

"What's on the letter?" asked Twilight. "You don't seem to be too happy about it..."

I stared at the piece of paper as I crumpled it in my hand. "That piece of paper got me shot," I replied. Shaking my anger off, I started packing everything into my backpack. I had it custom made several years ago to hold much more than what we had gathered.

I strapped the 9mm Pistol to my right side, along with two spare clips. I attached the knife to my left side. I turned to Twilight as I shouldered my pack. "Are you ready?"

Twilight gave me a level look. "No. But we should go anyways."

I chuckled wryly. Together, Twilight and I opened the door to the wasteland.