//------------------------------// // Divided // Story: Past Problems // by SteelyThePally //------------------------------// "Wake up, my dear paladin! Thought that you could hide from me?" The crazed woman held her ripper closer and closer from Jason's neck, the paladin waking up in seconds. "What... HOLY SHIT!" Jason struggled to take the offending knife off his neck, punching the psychopath in the head. Celestia fell to the ground, her remaining hand on her face. The Wanderer finally got out of his sleeping bag, his sharp weapon ready to strike. But suddenly, a voice said: "Oh, my head... Mr. Miller, what was that?" "Ah, you ask me? You should be telling me why you were trying to slice my throat seconds ago!" Celestia then lifted her hand to her head, screaming in agony. 'Kill him, Celestia. Wasn't that your objective?' A devilish voice echoed through her mind. "No, I'm not who you think I am!" She tried to fight back, Jason staring worried at her. 'Great, now she is suffering from double personality. My life is horrible.' Jason thought, lifting both hands to his face. He gave Dogmeat an annoyed look, considering that it could have stopped her surprise attack. Storing both sleeping bags into the Pip-Boy, The Wanderer made his way back to the Citadel, his plasma rifle ready to be used. Meanwhile, at the Citadel.... "That's it, Rainbow, I'm going out to find Jay!" Twilight stood up, power armor covering her body and a laser rifle in her hands. "Calm the heck down, Twi. He's awesome and incredibly tough! Have you read his combat record?" "No?!?" Twilight stared at her friend, worry and confusion in her eyes. "145 Enclave soldiers, 6 vertibirds and 34 officers." "How the hell do you know that?" "I've hacked his terminal. Really amusing. Not like everypony's, talking about their personal problems and worries." Rainbow chuckled as her friend stared at the young paladin's terminal, a peculiar green light in the monitor. "Dash, you hacked all of the Citadel's terminals?" The rainbow-haired girl nodded, a soft smile in her face. "Who taught you? And are you crazy? What if the Elder discover this?" "Jay taught me, and Owyn is too old to care about the terminals. Chill out, Twilight." As her friend left the room, Twilight laid on her bed, trying to think in anything that didn't involve her boyfriend. But that gave her an idea: talk with the princess of night, Luna Capital Wasteland's presumed center, somewhere near Super-Duper Mart "It's very easy to use those firearms, Mr. Miller. I'm hoping that we won't use them. I don't like to hurt other ponies, or cause their deaths. It's totally against our culture. Things were more peaceful back there..." Celestia put the 10mm submachine that Jason had given her on her waist. It didn't seemed to be the best idea for The Wanderer at first place, but his armor was bullet-proof, so any firearm based attack would be useless. While on high-alert, Dogmeat barked angrily, giving Jason knowledge of a possible attack. Stopping his walk, The Wanderer looked around, trying to find the possible threat. In a matter of seconds, an entire squadron of Talon mercenaries. They opened heavy fire upon the trio, the bullets ricocheting in Jason's chest. But when Jason looked back to see where the princess was, he found nothing than his dog rushing to attack the mercs. Before a plasma shot could reduce a mercenary to a poll of green goo, or one of them could get their necks mutilated, a figure clad in combat armor unleashed a deadly barrage of bullets on them, ripping their arms, legs and even heads. The mercs gone down with ease, being caught off guard because of the princess. She turned her stare to the paladin, emptying another clip on him. "Now, you're going to die, Jason!" She threw the weapon on the ground, rushing at him, a ripper in her remaining hand. Raising her arm, she was ready to deliver a blow that would cut Jason in a half. But the paladin dodged, punching her in the neck. Celestia fell immobile to the ground, sand being lifted due to her weight. "Ah, now, I'm going to carry the body of a psychopath in my arms. How lovely am I being." The Wanderer muttered to himself, lifting Celestia's body without any difficulty. Now being unable to defend himself, he ordered Dogmeat to keep on high-alert. Luckily to the young paladin, he was mere kilometers far from his faction base. Jason walked further into the ruins of Washington D.C, the Potomac river border's way more cleaner now after the battle for Project Purity. Before the Brotherhood could emerge victorious, the area was ravaged by ferocious firefights between raiders and Super-Mutants. Now, only the decaying corpses remained, Patrols of the Brotherhood Of Steel searched for any Super-Mutants that could have survived their past attacks. They saluted the Paladin Captain, Jason barely returning their gesture due to the unconscious body that he carried in his arms. Within minutes, he and his dog reached the Citadel. The snipers and guards at the entrance stared at him shocked and worried. In his arms, laid the person who managed to skin his arm, break his leg, and deform his face. Ignoring the strange glances, The Wanderer entered the Laboratory, Elder Lyons nearly jumping on him: "Paladin Miller! Are you crazy? You just brought someone who could slice our throats when sleeping!" Owyn folded his arms, while his faithful soldier dropped the body. "Relax, Lyons. Have you guys got a isolation room? She's suffering from double personality, so expect hearing some insane babbles about killing me and even some agonized questions. And how do you know that she was the one that tortured me?" "Your friends are a trustful source of information. Bring her to an empty room, Jason. If you want, question her. You're allowed to follow your path..." Jason gave Owyn a short nod before bringing Celestia to A ring. At the aforementioned section of the Citadel, Rainbow intercepted her friend, if not choking him: "Jay, are you crazy? You've just brought the crazy mar- woman that removed my eye!" "Jesus, why everybody is in a bad mood today? Rainbow, she's suffering from double personality. Maybe she could 'win' the battle against her twisted and insane side. Maybe.,," The Wanderer entered the empty room that was closer to his squadron's, tying Celestia's remaining hand with ropes. "Okay, you'll end screwing everything here. Go talk to Twi after you're done with this. She's very worried." Rainbow left the room, Jason giving her a sarcastic look. Tying even Celestia's legs, he looked at the unconscious woman, Leaving her body alone, Jason departed to his squad's room, but was assaulted by Twilight on the way. His beloved girl jumped on him, pinning The Wanderer to the ground. Giving him a long kiss, the purple-haired girl let go of her boyfriend only to catch her breath. "Hey, Twi, get off me! Heh, I see how much you were worried now!" Jason blushed when he noticed how ridiculous they were in that position, quickly getting back on his feet. Twilight hugged him again, feeling his warm breath on her neck. The couple returned to the room where Celestia was due to to Twilight's wish to see her mentor again. Jason himself only wanted to rest after the not-so delightful morning that he had. Celestia was awake, a happy smile on her face as her eyes met with her faithful student. "Twilight, my faithful student. It's so good to see you here!" Celestia tried to hug her, but was unable to do so because of her bonds. "Mr. Miller, why have you done this?" Jason only sighed annoyed in response. "Because some hours ago, you killed an entire Talon Company squad, and tried to rip me in a half." The Wanderer looked away, keeping his anger and stress at bay, but the memories of his torture came back to torment him. He left the room without muttering a word, slamming the door with such strength that the windows broke into nothing more than minuscule pieces of shattered glass. This worried Twilight even more, considering everything that he passed through in his life. "Don't worry, princess. He's been under pressure these days..." "I'm the reason to his stress. I know that... everything that I've done to you and your friends..." Tears watered Celestia's eyes, guilt flooding her emotions. Eventually, what looked like to be only the result of spending days with someone who held a ferocious hatred and anger turned out to be depressive sobs. Now Celestia was drowning in a helpless sorrow. Having tortured a stranger and favorite subjects. Twilight felt like if she was experiencing Celestia's sorrow. This lead her mind to remember of all the lives that she took. Was she doing what Jason always said? Killing for survival? Jason walked in his squad's room. His head ached terribly, memories of his torture now being mixed with his father's death. He wanted to scream in agony, but no sound came from his mouth. For a moment, he was carried away by his thoughts, falling asleep in a matter of seconds... "My son?" A familiar voice called the hallucinating young paladin, who examined the area where he was, which looked like a dead space with a blue aura illuminating it. Seeing his father in the distance, Jason ran to his direction, only to see James disappearing, leaving smoke behind. The Wanderer tried to understand what really was happening, but had his attention diverted as his father appeared not far from where he was. Reaching his position again, Jason screamed in frustration, his deceased father leaving nothing more than a trail of smoke, who ended in his next location. This eventually led Jason to numerous failed catches, causing him to slowly lose his mind. Finally, he reached an apparition of his father that didn't disappeared, hugging his beloved dad. "Dad, I missed you..." Jason babbled insanely, the hallucination barely returning the fond gesture. Suddenly, more and more hallucinations filled the place. But those weren't his good memories. They were his friends in the moment that they were tortured. They all launched paranoid stares at the now scared and frightened paladin. Rarity mumbled strange words, her arm still spouting blood. Twilight had a her back arched due to the strong blow that she received in the stomach, and coughed blood violently. Pinkie's face was deformed, but smiled at The Wanderer, striking even more fear in his heart, flesh stretching horribly. Applejack was full of scratches and bruises in her face, a clear expression of sadness and suffering being exposed. Rainbow was holding her eyeball, vital liquid still dripping from her empty socket. And Fluttershy was completely serious, her chin bleeding uncontrollably. Jason was unable to move, as fear flooded his heart once more. Suddenly, his attention was diverted to a enormous orb of light that descended from the sky. The light died, revealing Celestia, her combat armor stained with Jason's blood. This sight rendered The Wanderer unable to move, the crazed woman nearing him as she slowly and wisely walked through the strange dimension. His knife was in her hand, blood dripping from it's edge. When the psychopath finally reached him, she raised her arm, ready to strike. But before he could feel the weapon cutting through his flesh, he returned back to reality. He was in the same position from when he fell asleep and experienced the nightmare, but was sweating heavily. Defeated by his emotions, he sat down on the ground, leaning his back against the wall. Lifting both hands to his face, he whispered: "What is happening to me?" Then, sobs took over his voice, and sorrow dominated his heart and soul. 3 hours later... Twilight had searched for her boyfriend in nearly every place possible. Returning to the squadron's room, she found him writing on a small piece of paper. The Wanderer barely noticed her presence, looking at her over his shoulder. "Jay, you need to help me! Celestia just got crazy!" Jason got up from the chair, grabbing his plasma rifle. He passed at Twilight's side with an impenetrable look in his dark brown eyes. Reaching the room where Celestia was being held, he was greeted by her insane words: "You! You pathetic human! You mad..." Her phrase was cut off by a strong butt strike from his rifle, nearly knocking her unconscious. "Jay! Are you crazy! What did you just do to her?" Twilight asked, struggling to keep calm. "Just watch." Jason replied coldly, silencing his stressed girlfriend. As if his words were magic, the tied woman began to talk to herself: "No! I won't kill Mr.Miller nor my subjects! You won't win this battle!" Suddenly, her insane inner personality defeated her, Celestia only lowering her head. She then started to sob, managing to speak between them: "Please, free me from... this suffering... I can't take it anymore... Take me to somewhere isolated..." The Wanderer understood immediately what she said, but Twilight was too stressed to use her mind. Freeing the once Sun-raiser from her bonds, Jason announced as soon as Luna entered the room: "Okay, so, I'm taking Celestia to somewhere isolated, just as she asked. Anyone going with me?" Two arms timidly were raised. It was completely against their wishes, but they hadn't any choice other than following their the princess desire. They prepared themselves for a new night time adventure, not certain about the near future...