//------------------------------//
// Chapter 03: Since We've No Place To Go... 
// Story: The Equestrian Survival Guide 
// by Gherkin 
//------------------------------//


CHAPTER THREE: SINCE WE'VE NO PLACE TO GO...


"Shit, you did all the research on this?"

The Lone Wanderer snapped her attention away from scanning the horizon, and towards The Courier. He decided that they were going to take a break in the small settlement of Novac, and had engrossed himself in a copy of Moira's book. The town itself was a mess, apparently having been hit hard by the Legion during the battle at the dam. She had noticed an uncharacteristic look of sadness upon his face when they first laid eyes upon the war-torn town. He even stopped to silently pay his respects as they passed the body of an NCR Ranger, who he called Andy. 

"Yeah, mostly," she answered, looking back into the motel room from the balcony. He was sprawled out on the rotting bed, book in one hand and a bottle of Nuka-Cola in the other.

"Good job," he commented, not looking up. "Bet it wasn't easy doing half of this stuff." Closing the book, he sat up, before pausing for a moment. He glanced back at the book, before looking up at Christina.

"Something wrong?" she wondered, raising an eyebrow.

The Courier inspected the book once again, before asking, "Are you sure this is the first time your friend's book has been brought over to the Mojave?" 

She nodded, with an inquisitive look.

"Funny," he continued. "I could swear to God I've seen some copies laying around the desert before..." He trailed off, before shrugging.

"It was a bit of a hit back in the Capital," she told him. "Maybe someone made their way over here with a copy. It's been four years or so, after all." She glanced out of the window again. "Do you want to get moving? I don't wanna take too long with this."

He nodded and downed the rest of the soda before getting to his feet. He grabbed his dusty black hat from the bedside table and put it on, while slotting his Ranger Sequoia back into the holster strapped to his leg. "Yep, let's get a move on. It's a long walk down the highway, but, if we make good time, I know somewhere we can camp for the night." He grabbed his rifle and walked through the door, into the heat of the Mojave sun. He paused for a second, suddenly feeling mournful as he looked down at the town from the balcony. Ghouls, the followers of Jason Bright, were dotted all around town, helping the survivors of the Legion attack, but The Courier couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as he saw the once peaceful town left in ruins.

"You ready?" Christina asked, tapping him on the shoulder as she stepped past. "Like you said, we want to make good time."

"Yeah, okay," he replied weakly, tearing his eyes away from the wreckage. "C'mon." He followed her as she made her way down the stairs and into the parking lot, heading towards the highway that ran past the town. As they walked past the large, novelty dinosaur, she noticed another man slumped against the fence. His arm was in a cast, and he wore the same NCR beret that Boone did. He looked up as they approached, and seemed to recognise The Courier. 

"Hey," he called out, getting to his feet.

The Courier tipped his hat and replied, "Manny. How ya doing, pal?"

The former First Recon sniper glanced down at his broken arm, and shrugged. "Eh, a little worse for wear, but I'll be fine. What about you?" he asked. "We ain't really talked much since that whole REPCONN business. Who's your friend?"

"Christina," the Lone Wanderer answered, holding out her hand. Manny shook it and gave her a smile.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said to her, before looking back at him. "So... you two a thing, or..."

The two of them looked at each other quickly before they both adamantly denied the implication. "No, God no," The Courier insisted. "We're just travelling together for a while. Jesus, you don't just ask something like that all blunt like."

Manny nodded, smirking. "Ah, yeah, I remember now. You had a thing for that caravan lady." He was forced to step back as The Courier suddenly approached him threateningly.

"Shut it."

"To be fair, it was pretty obvious last night," Christina piped up. He wheeled around and glared at her, and she had to keep herself from giggling.

The sniper chuckled slightly, before sighing and looking at his cast again. "Yeah, the Legion did a pretty big number on us. Might not have been so bad if Boone were here, though." He paused, then looked at them questioningly. "Where is he, anyway? Last I heard he was helping out with caravan escorts up at the Mojave Outpost."

Christina looked up at her companion for advice, but found that he too did not know what to say. She turned back to Manny, trying to think of the best way to break the grim news. "Manny... You see, Boone is-"

"On a day off!" The Courier quickly interrupted, forcing a smile. Manny looked at him quizzically, but he kept on talking. "Yep, no need for any First Recon soldiers on caravan duty today."

Manny wore a look of suspicion, but if he didn't believe The Courier's story, he didn't show it. "Oh, okay then. Be nice if he could come up here for a few days," he thought aloud, almost wishfully. He snapped back to reality, and looked at the two of them. "Alright then. I guess you two are off on your way. See you."

"Bye," Christina said to him, smiling warmly. She gave a little wave before they disappeared from sight, heading down the ramp onto the highway. Satisfied that no one else was around, she shot a glare up at The Courier. "A day off? Are you for real?"

"I didn't see you coming up with anything better," he justified. "Besides, I wasn't exactly gonna tell him that his best friend had up and vanished right in front of my eyes, was I?"

She gave an annoyed sigh, and kicked a nearby rock in frustration. She watched as it skipped across the highway and out of sight. "Shit, I guess you're right." Another frustrated groan escaped her lips. "Damn it, I knew something was going to mess up this whole expedition. I knew it was going too well."

"Murphy's law in effect, huh?" The Courier commented, glancing over at her. 

She looked up and shrugged, a dejected look upon her face. "Yeah, I guess. I'm just worried about Moira. She's not really used to living out in the wasteland proper. In fact, she barely exists outside her store."

He raised an eyebrow. "And yet, she wrote a book about surviving in the wild."

"Head researcher, hello?" she pointed out, clicking her finger.

"Well, you can handle yourself, for sure," he admitted. "You more than proved that back in the thick of it. Not something they teach you back in the vault, huh?" He paused, as if he was remembering something. "Well, not most of them, at least."

The wanderer gave him a quizzical look, but decided not to ask. "So, how far's this place we can camp?"

"A few miles," he answered. "It's more than just a safe bit of land though. More of a rest stop, or trading post. Nothing much, but good enough to stop for the night, and to get something to eat."

Huh. Okay then. "Sounds pretty good," she admitted. "Let's not waste any time, then."


***


Snow.

It was something Moira had only read about in old pre-war books about weather and other such things. Tiny flakes of crystalline water, numerous enough to blanket the earth in a layer of white, wintery goodness. Still, not even those old, rotting books could properly describe to Moira how magical it looked in person. As she gazed out over the empire before her, she couldn't help but feel in awe.

"Oh, isn't it just wonderful?" she gushed, looking over to Boone, and the same pegasus guard from before. He had escorted them up to their new accommodation, but had been ordered by the prince to watch over them. Not something that the sniper was particularly happy about, but he could understand their motives.

"It is pretty impressive," he agreed, looking down at the Crystal Empire, tinted through his sunglasses. "Not something you see out in the wastes, that's for sure."

"Can you just imagine? It's like this all year round!"

"Not all year round, ma'am," the guard interrupted. "The empire has its own magically controlled climate, separate from the frozen tundras beyond." He trotted up next to them, and pointed at the city outside. "It's winter now, but in a few months the sun will be shining and foals will be having water fights in the streets."

The revelation only seemed to amaze Moira even more. "Oh, wow!" she gasped. "That really is, well, magical!" She chuckled at her own little joke, and Boone found himself rolling his eyes. Sighing, he turned to the guard.

"So, Private, when are we going to be able to leave?" 

Private Sentry looked up at him, and shook his head. "Not for the forseeable future, I'm afraid," he told him. "Like Prince Shining Armor said, your very presence here is something unheard of in Equestria. The prince and princess need some time to talk to the Royal Sisters to figure out how to deal with your problem, and you can't leave the castle until everything's sorted out." He moved away from the window, and back over to his original position. "However, I have been instructed to answer any request the two of you may have." 

Boone eyed the orange Pegasus for a second, before replying, "A little privacy might be good right now."

Flash paused briefly, but quickly nodded. "As you wish. I'll be outside if you need me." He shot a quick glance at Moira, who was still entranced by the snow outside, before trotting out of the luxurious bedroom.

Boone waited for the door to swing closed before sighing, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Shit," he muttered, sitting down on the edge of one of the beds. "What the hell are we gonna do?"

The shopkeeper tore herself away from the spectacle outside and looked over towards him. "Relax, what's got you so worked up?"

"I don't know, maybe the fact that we're stuck in this crazy place until these things say we can leave," he snapped, before sighing. "Aren't you at least a little worried about how we might get home?"

She smiled sweetly and sat down next to him. "Well, yeah, of course. But it's not like we'd be doing any better on our own, right? Everything's out of our control, so what's the point in losing sleep over it?" She noticed that her argument wasn't quite convincing him, and continued. "Besides, they did kind of save our lives, remember? I don't know about you, but being nice and safe and warm up in here sure beats freezing my keister off out there."

The sniper shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you've got a point," he finally relented. "Just not exactly a fan of sitting around on my ass, waiting for something to happen."

"Like I said, sometimes we don't have a say in the matter." She gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Come on, this will be fun anyway! Just think, we're the first human beings ever to make contact with alien life! Don't you think that's exciting?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Just didn't expect 'alien life' to take the form of some sort of pre-war kid's toy." He groaned and got to his feet, making his way over to the window and staring out of it. "It is pretty beautiful, huh?"

Moira bounded off the bed and over next to him. "Uh huh! Just imagine what people back home will think when we tell them about this!"

He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "I imagine that they'll think that we're crazy."

Her ecstatic demeanor deflated slightly. "Yeah, that's too bad. People are so close minded."

"Yeah, something like that." He turned towards her. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get some sleep." By Christ, I think I need it.


***


"Shining Armor, I hope you understand the ramifications of this discovery of yours."

Princess Celestia closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. Oh, how things can change in the blink of an eye. Just this morning she had been bored out of her mind, holding court and listening to the waves of dull and uninteresting propositions from the nobles of Canterlot. That is, until she received word of the imminent arrival of the rulers of the Crystal Empire.

The younger prince and princess before her both nodded in tandem. "Of course, ma'am," Shining responded. "I explained the ramifications to the aliens themselves. For the time being, they're staying in the Crystal Palace."

Celestia pondered on her options for a moment, looking over at her sister beside her. The mare of the moon's face bore no expression, instead giving off an aura of cold calculation. She could tell, however, that Luna was just as confused and conflicted as she was. She just preferred not to show it. Likely because it was a sign of weakness, or something of that nature.

"Well," Celestia finally spoke, breaking the prolonged silence. "There is no doubt in my mind that the presence of these two... extraterrestrials-" My word, just the mere use of that word makes me feel like this is some sort of science-fiction tale. "-could be a great boon to us all. A wealth of knowledge can be gained through learning about their culture and history."

"But you're worried about the public finding out too soon?" Princess Cadance wondered. 

She nodded. "Exactly. What with my sister's return, Discord's brief chaotic reign, and the changeling attempt at invasion, the ponies of Equestria may not take too kindly to a number of unknown creatures having appeared, seemingly out of nowhere."

"That raises another perplexing question," Princess Luna cut in, drawing the attention of all present. "Just how, exactly, did these creatures find themselves in Equestria in the first place?"

Shining Armor looked over at his wife for a second, before turning back to the two sisters. "That's just the thing. We have no idea. A squad of my soldiers found them both freezing to death out in the frozen wastes on a regular patrol."

Luna huffed and contorted her face in thought. "This does not bode well, I fear." She sighed for a second, then looked towards Cadance. "How have they behaved so far?"

"Friendly enough," she answered. "I don't know how they can speak Equestrian, but it has definitely made things a lot easier."

"That is also confusing," Celestia commented. "My most major concern, however, is what their true intentions are, and their reasons for being here."

Shining Armor stepped forward. "I think they only want to return home. I don't think they ever intended to end up here in the first place."

"That may be the case, but we should all maintain caution, so that we are prepared for any eventuality." She got to her hooves and stretched, flexing her wings before folding then once again. "Well, unless you have nothing else to add, I think it's time we conclude this meeting."

Shining thought for a second, before remembering something. "There is one thing," he told her. "The male one. He's part of some sort of military. He responded with name and rank when I asked who he was, plus he had, well, a sort of military feel to him."

"Soldiers always have an eye for spotting other soldiers, Shiny?" his wife commented, smirking towards him.

He glanced at her and chuckled slightly. "Heh, something like that."

Princess Celestia nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Shining Armor. Now, if that is all, I believe you should return to the Empire at once. Make sure they are both comfortable. My sister and I will contact you soon."

Luna spoke just as they went to turn and leave. "Before you go, I must ask. Are we the only ponies you have revealed this information to?"

Shining looked towards Cadance briefly, before addressing the princess. "Other than the guards at the palace, yes."

"No one else? Not even your sister?"

"No, ma'am." He paused. "Why? Do you think we should tell Twilight?"

Luna mused for a second. "No. At least not for the time being."

The princes cleared his throat and nodded. "Very well." He nodded to the two of them, before he and Cadance left the Canterlot Castle throne room.

Cadance looked over towards her husband as the throne room doors swung shut behind them, and noticed his tired expression. "Are you okay, Shiny?"

He lazily looked over towards her, and yawned. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired, I guess. Don't think I'll be getting much sleep for the next few days either."

She moved towards him, brushing her side against his and nuzzling him gently. "Don't work yourself too hard, my love," she said to him softly. "Just tell me if you need some rest, I'll gladly handle all of this."

"Thanks," he replied, simply yet genuinely. The two of them shared a small but intimate kiss, before setting off towards the train station. "Come on," he announced. "We've got work to do."