The Wasteland’s cruel sun already climbed it’s way to the sky’s top as a peculiar group of people walked right under it’s rays. The one known as The Lone Wanderer, Jason, walked with calm and a slight guilty of making the innocent women witness such a violent fight. Yes, it was normal for him. But his heart ached everytime he made someone uncomfortable. Maybe that was a side effect of his kindness. His eyes seemed to find extreme interest on the sand below his feet.
Right behind the Wanderer and his dog, stood six girls, who walked with reluctance and fear. Their mental image of Jason Miller being a good stalli… man simply dissipated from their minds. The scene they saw and the state they found their new friend was terrifying for their innocent eyes. Hours ago, they were in the peaceful and colorful world of Equestria, a place where war and even fights were alien. Now, they were stuck at the Capital Wasteland, a horrendous, dead, brutal land, tormented by conflicts between groups who should be helping each other. If there were someone to throw the guilty upon, it was Twilight.
The once-unicorn walked in front of her friends, her head hanging as low as Jason’s. Sure, the sights of the bleeding corpses and The Wanderer’s wound remained glued on her fragile mind, but something pulled that away. It was her the one responsible for bringing her own friends to this dreaded land. It was her interest who now put herself and her friends to unimaginable danger. Her expression could cast gloom on Pinkie Pie during a party. The air she breathed could suffocate any nearby living soul. Her body could crush the most well-armored member of the Royal Guard. All because of one spell.
Jason threw constant sideway glances at the group. Much to his surprise, the one called Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be the bravest one from her friends, had a clear expression of confusion and tension. He kept taking frequent looks at them, until his eyes met with Twilight’s. His gaze at her violet orbs was so deep that his chest tugged with instant sorrow. Instead of simply going on, The Lone Wanderer stopped briefly before walking by Twilight’s side, not removing his eyes from her, and wrapped his right arm around her shoulder.
Twilight startled for a bit, but calmed herself after looking briefly at Jason’s tall figure.
“Is there anything wrong? Did I scare you back there?” He asked in quick succession.
“I-I… It’s so sudden… I believed that you were a nice stallion and a good friend but you…” She couldn’t complete her sentence, taking a long breath and raising her head on the slightest.
“Yes, I killed them, Twilight. Look at me.” Jason used his finger to raise Twilight’s face to the point where she could stare at him. “Does it look that I’m going to kill you? Do I look like a bad guy?”
“No… but you--” Twilight was cut by the same finger used to higher her face.
“Hey… I know this is a difficult world to live. It sometimes hurts to think that I can’t get out of every single situation I get myself into by simply using words. People here aren’t kind. Aren’t nice. Most of them simply care about themselves.” Jason cleared his throat to speak a bit louder. “I can’t dump you people at the nearby town. I just can’t. Even if it may slow down my progress on my search for dad. Still, this world won’t change just because you are afraid of seeing some blood. Am I trying to turn you into cold-hearted people? I don’t really know. But I’m afraid that blood will be a constant sight for you people.”
Jason finished his sentence with a long sigh, enough to make his conscience play images of his wanderings. His mind was surely hardened from the violence that played before his eyes. Now, his coward self was gone. His fear of pulling the trigger to remove life from another live creature or human disappeared. He was indeed a strong-headed individual. Still, the fear of losing his father was buried deep inside his soul...
“So, I’m sorry to make you people watch all of this violence. I don’t like it. I do it because it’s necessary.” The girls didn’t seem to have bought his ‘It’s necessary’ sentence. "I wish I could at least keep you girls from harm's way. So, are we done with 'Oh, he's a heartless killer' way of thinking?"
They all nodded, with the exception of Pinkie, whose hair re-inflated to it's normal puffy state, her frequent smile back to her porcelain face. 'Even though they all seem to go on with my killing, I'll keep my eye close on that Rainbow one... in fact, I'll keep a close eye on all of them. While that talk about different dimensions and ponies might be child's tale, who knows if they are part of a plan to... No, Jason! Stop being so paranoid! Destiny just gave you the opportunity of making new friends, and having a few more hands to help you! Please, don't throw this away!' Jason finished his mental talk with a long, relieved sigh. They were indeed good opportunities of new friends, and even assistance in his wanderings. He conquered the blonde's confidence. Can he conquest the rest?
Their walk was now eased on the slightest, but enough to kill the atmosphere of fear. However, Jason knew the right thing to do. Turning on his heels and proceeding to walk with his back facing the growing minuscule dot of Rivet City in the background, he said:
"Hey, let's brief things: I'm a nice guy once you girls get to know me better, I won't hurt you, I'll take good care of you and I--" His attempt on easing the situation was cruelly halted by a certain rock placed on a certain place. The Lone Wanderer fell awkwardly on his back, air escaping his lungs upon the contact with the hot sand. All that he could hear was girly giggles.
His cheeks heated up while he got up immediately from his ridiculous fall. The girls still tried to stiffen their laughs, allowing a few fits of laughter escape. If Jason wanted to ease the air around them, then he achieved flawless success. While he angered a bit from being a laughing stock, he couldn't help but to chuckle along.
"See? I ain't bad." He said after refilling his lungs with oxygen from the fall. The Wanderer now created a perfect situation to socialize. "Just because I kill, it doesn't mean that I can't be... goofy."
"That was indeed a hard fall, sugarcube. You alright?" Applejack smiled upon him, probably commenting on the loud 'thud' heard upon his contact with the hard ground.
"Nah, I had worse."
Twilight herself let the barrier of fear and reluctance fall, opening her mouth to comment on Jason's destination:
"So, where are we going, Jason?"
"Rivet City. A large ship, now split in a half, that houses a city." He responded, pointing his finger towards the nearing city-ship.
"You humans created a city inside... a ship?" Twilight's eyebrows raised, not in suspicion, but in plain curiosity.
"Everything to survive. As far as I hear, people who live there carry really good lives. They've got the best team of scientists, too." Jason then dropped his raised arm, removing his knife from the sheath and playfully throwing it up.
"But what exactly are we going to do inside that... thing?" Rarity asked, nearly tiptoeing as they passed through a pile of debris.
"Find my father. Three Dog told me that he headed there."
Silence fell upon them, only broken by Rarity's frequent whines of how dirty the surroundings were, and of course, their own footsteps.
"D-did you lost him?" Fluttershy asked, hiding her face behind her bright pink hair. The voice of the shy young woman was enough to allow him to tell his current goal.
"Well, he kind of left me at the Vault, underground shelters created to shield what was left of humanity during the Great War's nuclear bombardment. He didn't even told me the reason, so I took advantage of the chaos at Vault 101, my past residence, and here I am, a wanderer." Jason smiled weakly. He couldn't smile while talking about James. It simply made his heart ache. The small piece of information about his past was enough to make the girls understand his current condition.
"And now, you are here in this dreadful land, searching for him?" Rarity asked, her voice slowly raising as her feet crushed a Nuka-Cola bottle.
"Yes. I don't feel angry. I felt pretty lonely at first... but then came Dogmeat. And then came you. I have to thank ya for giving me some talking company during my travels." His voice went from gloomy to happy. Indeed, it was good to have new people talking with him. "You know, it's not nice to walk in a land full of psychopath junkies, super-mutants, all kinds of awkward creatures and people."
Jason then ran a hand through his messy hair, throwing some sand off from it and carelessly shrugging as he accidentally pulled some strands. It only helped to let it even more disheveled. Rarity herself didn't seem to care about the bloody sight she had moments ago. Now, she simply cared about how she looked like. She was more than sure that sleeping on a sack was enough to make mane horrible. Her hand gave her scalp frequent taps to keep it from getting messy. She was surely living a nightmare.
As their walk went on, the desert environment turned into the one of a metropolis' outskirts: Bridges and cars surrendering to rust were more frequent, such as the white-hot asphalt. The weigh of their clothing began to take a toll on the journey to the seemingly unreachable ship-city, and sweat already covered their tried faces. The Wanderer himself looked very calm and energetic. Whipping some sweat from her forehead, Twilight ignored for a moment the growing wetness of her own body that made her clothing stick to her, and walked up to Jason:
"Jason... why do we need to wear so many clothes? Couldn't you give us something lighter, or even let us naked?" She then panted quietly while trying to dry her wet forehead in vain, and waited for Jason's reply.
"Never walked in a desert? The more cloth you have covering your body, the better. It keeps you from having sunburns. Also, on side note, I would take quicker steps if I were you." The Lone Wanderer pointed to her feet, showing her the trail of melted rubber left behind by her boots. Her friends seemed to notice the effect, and began taking larger and quicker steps on the sun-hot asphalt. That still wasn't a problem for Pinkie Pie, who bounced happily despite the seemingly hopeless situation.
The situation was utterly uncomfortable to them. Having to follow a young man on his quest, being assaulted constantly by the sun's strong rays, and fearing death at any corner. The situation in which Jason was found was gruesome. The world in which they now walked was destroyed. And the chances of ever seeing their homeland again were diminishing.
Jason himself let a long sigh of relief as he finally reached Rivet City's entrance. A small set of staircases was everything standing on his way to Doctor Li, and possibly, his father. A smile crept on his face as he helped the tired girls go up stairs, with the exception of Pinkie Pie, who went upstairs bouncing. 'That Pinkie girl is pretty random. And she doesn't seem to care about the surroundings. Or she does care, but she's just hiding it. Hiding it very well.' Jason pointed out to himself as
The Wanderer saw a small intercom sticking on a large metal pillar. Going near it, Jason pressed the button and a quite bored voice responded to his call:
"Welcome to Rivet City. Please wait while the bridge extends."
Twilight's eyes widened as she heard the voice suddenly playing through the speaker. It was something that she never saw in her life. It was technologically advanced even for Twilight Sparkle.
"Did that stallion just... talked from inside that thing?" She asked, curiosity in her tired words.
"Nah, he's right there." Jason pointed to the guard standing on the distance. He used the same armor as Rainbow and Applejack, and lazily lowered a lever. His gesture earned a loud metallic sound coming from the ship's higher levels. Something that looked like a makeshift crane rotated, it's cables bringing together a suspicious metal bridge. All of the girls stared at the simple machinery in awe.
The crane finally came to a stop, leaving the path clear for the group to cross the bridge. The structure seemed old, every single step making it cringe or even bounce.
"Let's set something up: keep your voices down, and don't get into any trouble. Just remember that people don't like being stared at. And Rarity... don't comment on their clothes." The fashion designer groaned quietly while rolling her eyes in annoyance.
Upon setting foot on the platform, both guards who protected the main entrance stared surprised at the sight of The Lone Wanderer, giving him full access to the door, even giving him a quiet 'Good luck' and a friendly thumbs-up. A quick turn of the wheel, and the door slammed open.
Inside, a damp and heavy air surrounded them as the door closed itself with a loud sound. Light bulbs emitted a depressing cyan light, being conflicted by a few yellow bulbs. The atmosphere and smell of putrid water was enough to make the group's stomachs to do flips, and a nearly nonexistent sway added to their nausea. Dust seemed to float in the air, as if no one had ever walked there in centuries.
"Huh, I have the slightest of the impression that this place is tilting. Let's find that Li woman fast before I throw my humble dinner up." Jason said quietly, bringing back hunger to the girl's empty bellies.
They hesitantly followed Jason after he opened another heavy door with a small, weakly lightened up sign that read 'Science Lab'. The group didn't go without being noticed: A group of 6 young girls, one of them bouncing happily through the tight halls, led by no one other than the well-know Lone Wanderer, and his dog. Most residents and guards gave them space to pass through, but stared at them nonetheless.
Rainbow, together with Rarity, were getting extremely uncomfortable with the strange scent that filled Rivet City's lifeless and metallic hallways. The rainbow-maned woman quickly passed through her friends, and nudged The Wanderer a bit too hard considering her annoyance. Jason gave her a bored look, sighing heavily and furrowing his eyebrows:
"Yes, rainbow girl?"
"Don't call me 'Rainbow girl'. But, seriously, this place smells like cra--" Her sentence was cut by Jason's elbow hitting her hard on the armored shoulder.
He pointed at a female guard who glared at them suspiciously. Rainbow's face dropped from annoyed to apologetic, her head hanging a bit lower than usual.
"What did I say about keeping your voice down? People here don't like when you comment about how bad their homes are." Jason whispered on her ear in a serious and fatherly tone. He didn't want to get in trouble. Specially with a city's guard.
A few more confusing turns to the left and right were enough to lead them to the laboratory's door. It was like all the others. However, Jason felt confident about opening it. That door may be the last thing separating him from his father. His dirty hands swung the rusty wheel with a abnormal strength, threatening to fall off. With a big smile stamped on his porcelain face, he entered the dimly-lit lab.
The scientists, all clad in snow-white lab coats, diverted their attentions from their experiments and conversations to focus on the young man that abruptly opened their door and stomped inside followed by a quite large group. Their jaws hung in surprise at the sight of the wanderer. The woman whose face resembled Li's took several steps forward to meet with Jason, hoping to find his father. The sight of Li was enough for him.
"Who are you people, and what do you think you're doing by stopping a--" Her eyes widened in realization as she found the screaming similarity of James on Jason's face. He enlarged his smile in response. "Oh my God... are... are you...?"
"Jason Miller, 101, that crazy kid from the Vault. I presume that you're Doctor Madison Li?" Jason replied by crossing his arms and assuming a quizzical expression.
"Yes, you're right! Jesus, you look so much like James..." Madison lifted her hands towards Jason's face and touched his cheeks gently, as if he was a son that just came back from a long and violent war. Jason's eyes rolled from her gesture.
"Yadda yadda. I was told by a certain radio operator that you knew where my dad went. Am I right?" He quickly interrupted Madison by taking her rather cold hands from his face, and deeply looking at her impressed eyes eagerly waiting for a response. Jason was also doing his best to divert all gazes from the confused girls behind him.
"Oh, yes. Three Dog. You've been receiving quite the love from that man. Good work. Now, about James. He hadn't told me exactly were he went."
"What do you mean by this?" The Wanderer lost his relaxed stance and stared down at Doctor Li with a penetrating look, his arms tensing up.
"He just came by, said that he was bringing Project Purity back to life, and left in a hurry to Jefferson's Memorial. Your father is a persistent man. That project's dead by now." She said while her gaze dropped to the floor. One could say that she was utterly worried.
"Wait, slow down. Project Purity? Jefferson's Memorial? What are you talking about, Madison?"
"Your parents and I had a project to purify Potomac River's waters by building a purifier at the Jefferson Memorial. We had the help from these fines scientists around you and the not so trustworthy Brotherhood Of Steel to protect us. Then, Catherine got pregnant, you were born, she died, your father fled with you to Vault 101, and the project halted right there. James' insistence made him leave the Vault to try and activate the project. But there's no way that it will ever get functional."
The Wanderer now stood confused and with a slight feel of being fooled by his own father. It was all too sudden. He wasn't born in the Vault. His father was no ordinary doctor. The painful truth about his mother's death was revealed. He was the reason of her death. His hand climbed it's way to his chest, in a vain attempt to stop the pain coming from deep inside of him. His entire life was a lie.
"Dad lied to me..." He muttered loud enough for Madison to hear his broken voice. The doctor briefly signaled to the scientists to continue with their works, and laid a hand on Jason's leather armored shoulder.
"James tried to keep you from this world. Don't think of him as a bad person. He went too far to change this hellhole."
"O-okay, but now, where did he go?" The Wanderer quickly dried up his eyes with his sleeves and gently stroked Dogmeat's head to maintain calm. He couldn't break right there. No. He wouldn't stop his search.
"If I were you, I would look for him at the Jefferson Memorial. That might either lead you to him, or to any clue regarding his destination. I'm sorry."
"Don't feel sorry for me, Madison. Jefferson Memorial, huh? I better find something there." He coldly said and turned on his heels, with a new goal in mind. And a new fear. What if he found that his father died?
Madison opened her mouth to wish Jason good luck, but he was already gone. Her head hung lower than usual as she returned to her experiments. She needed to take James and Jason out her mind.
The Wanderer closed the laboratory's door furiously, a loud 'clank' echoing through Rivet City's bluish hallways. The girls were all trying to process everything they heard from the conversation of Jason and that mare called 'Madison'. He took a long breath, and continued walking through the tight passages, not being able to stop thinking about his father.
"Jason, is... everything alright?" Twilight asked hesitantly, successfully making him slow down.
"I just don't know, girl... I never thought that my father would lie to me... I don't even know if he's still alive... I shouldn't have left that Vault..." He finished his sentence with another long, thoughtful sigh. "I'm sorry to make you people go through this."
"That's not a problem. I don't even know what we would be doing right now if you hadn't found us." Twilight smiled warmly at him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
Jason returned the smile with one of his own. Even though they didn't seem to like him hours ago, he had acquainted himself very well with them. And he felt like doing something for them.
"Hey, are you people hungry or thirsty?" They didn't respond, except for Rainbow Dash, whose stomach growled loudly.
He grinned as his brown eyes spotted a small sign that read 'Market' right next to a standard door. He sped up his pace to reach it and quickly entered the market area. The sounds of chatter and someone rummaging through a pile of metal objects filled his ears. His eyes scanned the market precisely: a small makeshift tent selling clothes, some barrels burning with fire and a few citizens warming themselves, and a restaurant. Jason knew what to do now.
"Could you people wait here while I buy some food and drinks? I'll be right back. Dogmeat will stay with you girls, so no worries." Dogmeat barked happily as his owner jogged downstairs to the market, and disappeared behind a steel wall.
Now being left by themselves and in the company of a seemingly friendly dog, they all weirdly stared at each other.
"He is... peculiar." Twilight muttered, looking down at Dogmeat, who stopped panting for a second and listened to her words.
"And has got quite the bad taste for clothing. These things are simply dreadful." Rarity replied while glancing at her heavy clothing with pure disgust.
"I think that's not the point, Rares. That 'Jason' guy is pretty suspicious. You saw what he did to those... stallions back there!" Rainbow Dash's voice rang in the group, raising her arms on the slightest.
"Rainbow, what's your problem with him? That 'Jason' hurt himself badly for us! Didn't ya pay attention to his conversation with that 'Madison'? Did ya even heard about what he's doing aroun' here? He's searching for his dad! And he was generous enough to bring us together in his search, instead of leavin' us alone in that scorchin' desert!" Applejack took her pointy seriously, narrowing her eyes towards Rainbow.
A nearby guard heard the conversation, and she instantly knew that it was something about the Lone Wanderer. She took a few steps towards the group and said:
"It isn't nice to intervene in other people's business, but if I were you, rainbow girl, I would pay some respect for the kid. Did you even notice how many bruises he has got? How tired he looks? How skinny he is getting? That guy is only 19 years old, and is on a fucking crazy journey. Judging him just because he killed a bunch of rapist and drugged raiders is ridiculous. Just be glad that 101 was quite generous on slowing down his search for his dad to help you people. This isn't very common around here. You better give that some value."
The guard slowly went back to her post, not even looking back at them. Rainbow herself tried to open her mouth in her defense, but stopped immediately. A shower of guilty fell upon her heart now. What that woman said was right. Spotting Jason coming back with a few boxes and some bottles in hand, she examined him: his face was covered in dirt, dark rings right under his eyes. A scar was set across his lip, followed by what seemed to be burn marks on his neck. His torso wasn't perfect too. Jason's jumpsuit was riddled by cuts revealing parts of his white skin, most of them containing scars. Still, a smirk was spread across his face.
"Well, I got you people some BlamCo Mac and Cheese and these Dandy Boy Apples, since the restaurant's hunter was out to get more food, some purified water and luckily a few bottles of ice-cold Nuka-Cola!" He left the boxes of food over their hands, the objects being stared at by confused eyes. "You can eat them when you feel like doing it."
The girls' eyes shone in unison, a line of drool coming down Pinkie's mouth. They were literally starving, and their throats were dry as the sand that covered most of the Wasteland. As Jason walked to the door leading to the outside, followed by Dogmeat's heavy steps, Twilight came up to him, still carrying the items on her pale hands, and said:
"Umm... thank you, Jason, I don---"
"Don't mention it. You were starving. I could see it. You shouldn't feel ashamed to ask me things." Jason happily smiled upon Twilight and playfully messing her purple hair. It was still new for him, to see someone with that hair color. He found it beautiful in some way.
Twilight was caught off-guard by his rather affectionate gesture. Her heart skipped a beat the second she felt Jason's hand over her head. She didn't protest, though.
And then they left Rivet City through it's rust riddled bridge, towards the fogged structure of Jefferson Memorial. To find James Miller either live... or dead.