Crossroads

by GammaG3

Chapter 3: Crashed, Crash report, or Crashing?

Gravity suddenly returned.

Like a child, the Courier groaned as he latched himself back onto his seat. The interior shook drastically while dozens of alarms beeped off in distress. The pilot took no notice as he grasped the steering wheel and murmured to himself casually.

He then spotted something in the corner of his eyes and turned to investigate.

“Let’s see here...” The Courier squinted his eyes. “In case of - emergency break glass…”

The Courier read the crimson text printed on the glass shielding that was on the wall next to his seat. His eyelids drooped over his two tired eyes as he raised a fist and bluntly threw it into the glass.

After the brief screeching of fragile plating, the Courier pulled his arm back, boredly gazing into the hole he’d just made. Shards of glass hanged by concaves thinner than string while more fell down like rain drops.

“Ok - I just broke the wall...” he said, angrily shaking his head.

“Where’s my fucking ham?!” He suddenly yelled, slamming his chair. “That one guy always puts holes in the wall, and he gets free food! I do it and I get...”

His eyes caught the faintness of something big within. He reached in and brought out a leather bag. Examining every side of it, he discovered various straps, stitches and pouches all around. He fiddled with a long, white string with a metal ring attached to the end of it before giving a groan of disatisfaction.

“...A bookbag?!” He said with outrage. “What is this, High school?!”

“Get the hell out of here!” With bitter disappointment, he tossed it overhead. He completely ignored the faint, white text (“əʇnɥɔɐɹɐd”) that was printed on it. “Fuck homework…”

He cracked his knuckles while drawing his head closer to the shattered box. “What else is in there?”

His tired eyes bursted open. His face gained a bright smile at the sight of round object that was hidden in the darkness.

“No way…” he shook his head. “It can’t be…”

He easily pulled the rough-surfaced object out between his thumb and index finger. He gazed at it directly in front of his face, then taking a big whiff through his nose. He deeply sighed with pleasure. Two walls of teeth raised in his smile.

“Fuck yeah! A peanut!”

He shook his clenched hands while the muscles at the edges of his grin began to get sore. “And people don’t know what they need for emergencies...”

He flicked the nut into his opened mouth and crunched it away. The wet walls of his mouth alerted him of the jagged sides of the peanut while his tongue was mesmerized by salt and dryness.

Finally, he located the succulent core with a grin and savored it before it was digested away.

“Mmmmmmm.”

He belched. “Ok, now that our crisis has just been averted, let’s try this again...”

He reached forward as much as his seat belt permitted him, and clamped his two eager hands on the awkward steering wheel. With a blink. his dreamy eyes suddenly enamored with determination while catching a quick glance at a now snoring Toaster.

With solid white teeth grinding vigorously, the Courier jerked and twisted the wheel as warm sweat precipitated on his forehead.

“C’moooon!” He growled through his shut teeth.

The roaring rear of the shuttle sputtered for a moment before settling with a clean rumble. The distant green scenery that was within in the view of the Courier began to rotate.

“C’moooooon! Let’s...”

Strands of his black hair erected over his thick head, with the Courier’s head accumulating heat. His body fell to the side but was caught by the leather harnesses that held him in his seat.

“...do...!”

The Courier felt the rushing blood from the rest of his body race to his head. Sweat drops stuck on his body hair clumped together, forming bigger droplets that slid down his skin.

“...a…”

The green scenery and cloud overlays were now completely inverted in the pilot’s eyes.

“...Barrel roll!”

Traces of adrenaline reached the Courier’s arms, prompting him to twist the wheel with more strength and heart. Interior rolled until gravity and body heat return to their normal alignments. When the outside views matched his memory, the Courier jerked the wheel in the opposite direction, ceasing the shuttle’s twist.

“Yes! I did it!” The Courier waved his fists above himself with an open smile. “Now that damn voice can finally SHUT THE FUCK UP!” He yelled while violently shaking his arms.

He returned his hands to the wheel with a loose grip and slouched back in his chair.

“Alright,” he sighed with a clap. “Step one is done, now it’s time for step two...”

He paused and gazed at the white ceiling, stroking his chin with his fingers. ‘Minor’ explosions that echoed from behind did nothing to break the Courier’s trance. He remained oblivious to the fact that the shuttle was not flying.

He clapped his hands again. “Alright, fuck it, step three.”

He leaned forward with an stiff index finger, hovering it above the labyrinth of buttons and smashed controls. His finger followed his scanning eyes, searching for the button that he was intent on finding.

“Aha! The brake!” His eyes shot open when his finger stopped at a particularly bright red button. Shortly after, that enthusiastic expression died down when the Courier discovered the catch.

“Wait a minute...”

He examined the text of a white tag than hanged beneath it. “Out… of… order…”

“Out of order?!” He threw himself backwards, leaning far back onto his chair until he could see an upside-down, dismembered Mister Handy. He shot himself back up.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” He punched another hole in the already-damaged console. “Damnit! How come even in the future, nothing ever works?!”
 
A brief, interesting frame came through the Courier’s eyes when he slumped back into his chair. He leaned forward, hoping to get a better view of what he saw. The shuttle was emerging from a fog of white when he saw something that shook him.

Ignoring the lush, green landscapes and young sky, he focused his attention on a mountain inbound.

 A tall, snow-capped, almost unrealistically narrow, mountain stood in the path of the ship. The eyes of the Courier were more focused on the strange object that was rapidly growing in detail.

It was a city that latched onto the mountainside, reflecting the rays of sunlight with a silver tint. The Courier could be be helped but reminded of Tales of Chivalry when he noticed the unique style of the tall, marble towers. “Are there dragons?”

His mind briefly flashed back to the Lucky 38 which alluded to those structures that stood high and mighty, towering the minuscule buildings below in their marvel.

“Wait a minute…” The Courier squinted his eyes. His enhanced visions revealed to him that the buildings were indeed, medieval fashioned and encrusted with detailed, golden borders.

“No way.” He slowly shook his head while his eyes widened. “I’m in….”

“I’m in the sixties!”

His stared at the immersive city with open eyes and pursed lips. The miniature city continued to grow in size while the engine hollered an unhealthy roar.

His flailed arms suddenly grabbed hold of the steering wheel. The Courier positioned himself behind the wheel as if he was driving his truck. His eyes narrowed into a determined look. He mischieviously smiled.

“Get the hell out of the way, 1864! 2283 is coming through!”

Celestia stepped hoof onto her balcony and immersed herself in the cool dawn. She gazed down with her calm grin at the capital city of Canterlot. Few of her subjects were already up and about, starting their normal days while the rest slept in until the sun rose. Celestia also prepared herself for her daily duties and mentally braced herself for her busy day.

Luna already retired back to her chambers, so now the sun goddess was now about to perform her first task of the day. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated her abnormally large magical energies.

She looked straight ahead into the night-time sky where light barely emanated from the horizons. A chilling wind did nothing to affect her already-flowing mane.

Her long, sharp horn was engulfed in a sun-yellow aura. The faint stars that were once the brightest in the night were now fading away. A warm, golden glow stretched across the sleepy lands. The ponies and guards took no notice to the rising orb that glowed brighter from the distant mountain ranges.

More ponies emerged from their homes as the sun arisen a morning height. The citizens rubbed their sandy eyes, drank at cafes and exchanged greetings and small talk with each other under the comforting blanket of morning.

All seemed to go well for for the princess with the dark sky lighting up and pegasi weather teams starting their routines. And let another day begin… She thought to herself.

The princess’ ears perked up and she stopped her magic. Celestia grew perplexed at whether the faint rumble she was hearing was in her head or not. The ruler spread her wings and braced herself for another dragon attack, but the distant roar continued in a constant beat.

She folded back her magnificent wings and leaned over the guardrails, scanning from pony to pony. She stepped back on the balcony and continued raising the sun after seeing the ponies mind their own business.

But she stopped herself after seeing an earth pony look up at the sky, gazing in every direction to see nothing. As the rumbling got louder,  more ponies were curious of the source. She let go of her magical grip, ceasing the sunrise.

Celestia slowly cocked her head, looking towards several directions of the sky. Her heart began to race as the rumbling grew loud enough that she could distinguish that is was from some sort of flame.

Her search reached the peak when she spotted a low-flying pegasus with her jaws dropped. The loud roars were now coming from above.

Following that pegasus’s stare, princess Celestia looked up. Her usually calm eyes shot open in shock and her jaw trembled in awe, two gestures that were rarely seen from her.

“Mother of me…” she muttered.

Something grey and enormous flew over her tower. Celestia was frightened at the size, which was large enough to blot out the sun. She made it out to be of some spherical shape, but half of it was strangely cut off as if a giant knife caused that condition. Flames ruptured from all across the vessel’s surface with an entire wall of fire sprouting from the rear end.

Princess Celestia’s eyes followed the unidentified flying object as it soared over the city, leaving behind a trail of thick smoke.

Every open eye in Canterlot was now focused on the flaming object that sent chills down spines. The streets were filled with the echoes of several ponies that openly yelled questions and statements that were only left unanswered.

The ponies from ground level lost view of the strange meteor when it descended below the city’s boundaries. Princess Celestia, however, was still able to watch the object from the demesne of her tall tower.

The flames grew more distant as it drifted downwards towards the thick forests. Finally, low booms were heard, marking the landing of the strange object as it plowed hundreds of lush trees down. Instead of  bright inferno, smoke risen from where the mysterious object landed, trailing smoke high into the sky.

Hundreds of ponies dashed to the city borders, hoping to catch a view of where the crash site was. Even the guards found themselves dashing around to get a better look.

Celestia stared at the meteor’s landing zone in awe, realizing that the forests that it landed in happened to be close to a familiar town. She unfurled her wings and bend her knees, keeping narrowed eyes on her target, preparing for flight.

But her ears perked up once again, to which upon she straightened her posture.

She looked down at the ponies who were too busy gazing at where the flying entity touched down.  Familiar rumbles entered her ears. She noted that they sounded like the event that happened only seconds ago, except these sounds were more miniscule. From wherever it was, the air whistled about it like the first one.

Celestia turned her head only to find nothing but the smoke that emanated from the forests. The hums grew louder again, but sounded less electrifying. The noise rose loud enough that she could barely hear her own thoughts. She gazed upwards, expecting to see another enormous half-piece soar across the empty sky.

Instead, the fiery roars grew louder. After looking up to see nothing, she grew confused and shriveled her eyebrows. She felt that she was on the brink of disaster.

*KRRRRRSSSSHH!!*

To the sound of tremendous crashing, Celestia instinctively turned to face the inside of the tower, which contained her bedroom. Her heart skipped a beat and gasped when she saw that there was an intruding object that was considerably big.

There was the nose of something huge and black and white, and where the bed used to be.

The brick walls and plaster ceilings were violently torn apart as the menacing object plowed through effortlessly. It continued with a force that was unstoppable while Celestia stumbled helplessly

“Oh my-”

*Grrgh!*

Without a second to react, the Princess found herself hugging the dark nose against her will. Her whole body harrowed while her head throbbed after being slammed into cold steel. She clenched her eyes shut, enduring the onset pain occurring while the motions of the vessel refused to stop.

“AAAUUGGHH!”

The ponies of Canterlot finally took notice of the second unidentified flying object when the whole bedroom and balcony collapsed from the tower. Grinded stone rocked the tense atmosphere further. Chunks of marble and miscellaneous furnishings rained down into nearby areas.

Civilians screamed as they raced out of harm’s way. The rubble landed on roofs and roads, ending with echoing thuds that irked the ears of everypony in the city.

Their jaws dropped at the sight of Celestia’s tower being destroyed, and even more so at what remained from the smokescreen.

While the whole metal body was dented in and had missing panels, the shiny black and white paint was certainly enough for the ponies to distinguish that it wasn’t any ordinary space rock.

More and more of the cylindrical object was seen. The top of the tower barely stood until the flames appeared, with long fins tearing the supports apart.

The strange vessel took flight and glided over the city, dangerously close to the streets. Celestia slid down from the indented nose as it flew with a concerning roar.

Finally, she no longer felt herself stuck on the nose of the unknown object, but obeying the laws of gravity.

Celestia felt herself unable to move her limbs in the soreness and pain that plagued her body. Her screams were faintly picked up by the ears of ponies that happened to be standing nearby.

Her long cry of agony ended with the cracking of pavement that echoed throughout Canterlot. A cloud of grey dust erupted from the landing site.

The ponies who witnessed the whole ordeal shrieked when the thick cloud materialized. The second falling object flew over in the same general direction as the first, leaving another trail of hazardous smoke.

Instead of some sort of spherical form, the second meteor was in the shape of a giant, white arrow. Even though it appeared to be greatly damaged, the ponies could make out the different parts of an arrow.

But all of that didn’t seem to matter when the dust dispersed.

“Princess Celestia!”

The sun princess laid motionlessly in the small crater that formed in the aftermath. The falling meteors meant nothing to the ponies who crowded themselves around Celestia. They only stood and looked at each other without the slightest clue on what to do next. So much was already happening and the unsettled civilians could only wait for something else to happen.

“Somepony! Please help!”

“Out of the way!” A stallion’s stern voice commanded. “Move aside!”

The crowd gave passage to snow-white stallions uniformed in golden armor. They struggled to push through the crowd that paid no heed to their presence. The guards pushed and wedged themselves through after seeing no place to land for the pegasi. The ponies closest to the Princess stepped back, allowing the guards to assess the situation.

In one of the few occasions, the guards gasped and showed emotion. The fiery roars of the space-arrow grew more distant after passing overhead.

The watching crowd could only wait in suspense as the guards frantically examined the Princess. The guards’ hearts skipped a beat when they failed to see the Princess even take a breath, and they skipped another beat as well when they heard Celestia exhale in a deathly, rasped tone.

“Get a medic!” One of the guards shouted. Another golden-plated pegasi nodded nervously and flew away without a moment to lose. They turned their attentions backed to the downed Alicorn. Without a clue on what to do next, one of the guards bent down and gently cradled her head in his hooves. “Please your highness, stay with us.”

A new thought surfaced in the minds of everypony. Princess Celestia, who protected and ruled over every pony in Equestria for millennia, was now downed. Frightening images then surfaced; that all of Equestria would be thrown back into the dark ages, and all because they were without their faithful leader.

The guards suddenly winced. They could not tell if it was real, but they could not tell if in the corner of their minds that they heard something. Those suspicions proved correct when the voice of a mare was heard above them.

“CELESTIA!”

As soon as the guards picked up on that call, they jumped back. A pony landed by the crater with a heavy stomp, producing another dust cloud. Despair was on the pony’s face, like all that she cared for was suddenly grouped and siphoned away from her.

And she held that face with good reason.

“Princess Luna!” One of the guards called.

The moon princess’s eyes leaked when she caught sight of her fallen sister. She huddled down closer to Celestia and took over the guard’s action. Celestia felt Luna’s slippers holding her head, and could barely muster the energy to crack open her eyes. Luna noticed the sun princess’s grasp to life and looked at her with trembling lips.

Streaks of warm water dripped down onto the stone floor.

“Sister! Please don’t-” She was cut off when Celestia coughed and smiled at her teary face.

“It’s… It’s… okay, Luna,” she rasped in a faint breath. She coughed again, staining the crushed pavement below with a sticky crimson. “I… I will be fine… sister…” She closed her tired eyes and rested her head back into her sister’s hooves. Luna felt some wetness along her forelegs this time.

“S-sister?”

More trails of tears streamed from her eyes. Her calm voice gradually grew into squeaks as if she was a talking mouse. Ponies watched in silence as well, certain that it would take more than first-aid to help.

“Please… don’t do this to me… I’ve already-”

Her night blue ears twitched. She could hear another faint voice and listened carefully.

“-ver here! Hurry up!” A stallion barked. The anxious ponies looked up to see one of the royal guards being followed by a team of medical pegasi. “The princess is wounded, so there is no time to waste!”

Everypony besides Luna took a step back, giving the medical team enough space to make a landing. Two more pegasi arrived with a large stretcher and placed it next to Celestia, who was now breathing weakly. With their utmost care, the pegasi loaded the princess onto the stretcher after examining her with sweat-stricken faces.

“How is my sister?” Luna raced up to the paramedics as they were fastening Celestia to the stretcher. “Is she going to be alright?” Luna asked quickly. “Is she-” She was cut off when one of the paramedics sighed.

“We’re lucky that we made it here just in time,” the paramedics answered, “Even though I’m not certain, Celestia will survive, but we must get her stabilized in a hospital as soon as possible.” The white-gowned pegasi then fluttered their wings and proceeded to take flight with the unconscious princess. Her pastel mane waved to the force of gravity as they ascended.

Luna bit her lip. “Well o-okay, then go! Treat my sister, please!” The pegasi did not take much heed to her words since they were already on their way to Canterlot hospital.

All the ponies around watched in awe as they saw their princess, who was just gravely wounded, be taken to the emergency room, possibly making it a first in a generation. Luna flew up overhead to watch what was happening. Primarily, her sights were on her sister was being unloaded at the hospital.

Distant rumblings caught her attention and she turned to where it originated from.

Two tails of smoke tainted the clear, morning sky. The dark trails emanated from the distant forests, and were not too far apart. Streaks following the crash sites were now missing a considerable amount of trees, but the forest remained thick enough to give poor visibility. Luna wiped her eyes and descended back down to the crowd.

Luna glared at the guards with a new face. She frowned in the same manner that she gave while confronting Discord with her sister. A determined look could be seen from her unmoving eyes as they stared at the bright-white pegasi.

“Your highness,” one of the guards saluted, “what should we do next?” Luna looked up in the sky, staring at the two smoke streams that stood out in the clear morning. She looked back to the guard with an unchanged expression.

“Call my personal guard and ready them for mobilization,” she said with a stern voice. “We will also have to gather some ponies along the way as well.”

“C’moooooon!”

Spike desperately scanned the morning sky using the telescope by Twilight’s bed. Each miniature session of searching from the window ended with a disappointed sigh. “Where are they Twilight? Where are the meteors?”

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. “I told you Spike, you missed them! You got up too late!”

The little dragon stared back into the glass tube. “But there’s gotta be more. There has to be!”

“Nothing happened for the past 10 minutes, so I highly doubt any more meteors are going to crash soon,” Twilight said with a smile. Spike gave a defeated frown and sighed as he stepped away from the telescope, lazily staring at the paneled floor. “I’m sorry but you just slept through when they arrived.”

Spike’s overall body drooped down like a sad puppy. “Aww.”

Twilight took Spike’s place at the telescope and looked into the lenses. Rather than examining the distant smokestacks in the Everfree, she focused on Canterlot itself, which the new change still aweing her.

“How big were the meteors Twilight?” Spike asked with his last ounce of curiosity.

She wiped away more eye dust. “Well, I didn’t get to see the first one,” Twilight explained, “when it crashed, that’s when we both woke up, well, one of us anyways.” Spike rolled his eyes at Twilight’s remark, and crossed his slender arms.

The scholar unicorn looked back into the telescope and frowned upon gazing at the destroyed, castle tower. I hope nopony was hurt, thought the concerned Twilight, that shooting star did a considerable amount of damage on Canterlot castle.

A vague snapshot of the events before replayed in her mind. Like always, she was up early, drafting her daily checklist when a strange roar and earthquake rumbled the entire library. While Spike still slept, she raced outside to see a smokestack in Everfree forest and an arrow-shaped meteor ramming into Canterlot castle then crashing into the very same forest. It was still hard for her to believe that all of that happened in such a short time.

Her trance of memory was broken upon hearing somepony lightly knock on the door.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike trotted down the stairs of the spacious library. “Come in-”

*SLAM!*

With a loud crash, the little door was slammed open, entering a pink earth pony. Her poofy mane and tail was more vibrantly pink than her coat, on which an emblem of three balloons rested by her flank. She hopped in little intervals with her eyes shut and a giddy grin where she then stopped after approaching the smiling Twilight.

“Hello Pinkie Pie, did those shooting stars w-?”

“OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH TWILIGHT! Did you see those shooting stars? Did you? Did you?” A massive grin suddenly grew on Pinkie’s face as she began her rapid banter with a hidden cache of breath.

“Yes, Pinkie Pie, I did get to see one of them,” Twilight managed to squeeze inside of Pinkie’s banter, “but I-”

“I was sleeping when all of a sudden, ‘BOOM!’ and I woke up and was like ‘what was that?’ and then I realized I was hungry. So I ate some cake and went back to bed and then, ‘BOOM!’ it happened again! I ate some more cake and went back to bed and then the Cakes told me what happened and I went outside and saw the smoke coming out of Everfree Forest!”

“Okay Pinkie-”

“And I was like, ‘what are those?’ and then everypony else came outside! Like Miss Cheerilee, Mayor Mare, Daisy, Roseluck, Mr, Waddle, Mrs. Matilda, Carrot-top, Bon-Bon, Colgate, Cranky Doodle, Cherry Punch, Cloudkicker, Berry Frost, Cherry Fizzy, Lyra Heartstrings, Marigold, D-”

Pinkie was abruptly cut off by Twilight’s hoof, but talked into it regardless, practically unfazed.

Twilight gave a friendly little laugh and smile. “Okay Pinkie Pie, I believe I understand what you mean, but I haven’t seen both of the shooting stars either.”

She then paused upon seeing a light yet pale-rose hair protruding from Pinkie Pie’s body. At first she assumed it was just part of Pinkie Pie, but then realized that it was coming from behind her. Twilight peered over to see a banana-yellow, with an obscuring pink mane, pegasus that was hidden behind Pinkie the entire time.

“Oh, hello Fluttershy.” Twilight gave her a curious smile.

Upon hearing the name, Pinkie’s eyes exploded open with excitement. “Fluttershy! There you are!”

The pegasus pony seemed to cringe, but resisted the urge to otherwise. Instead of tucking herself away, she stood up with more confidence in facing her friends.

“Hi Pinkie, Twilight,” Fluttershy said in a humble tone.

 “What were you doing back there, silly filly?” Pinkie giggled childishly. “You should’ve told me that you were hiding behind me the entire time!”

“What are you doing here, Fluttershy?” The librarian asked in a more tame manner.

“Well um, I was t-trying - I need to...” the shy pony murmured, constantly tripping over her words. “I came here wondering what happened earlier.”

Pinkie let out another gasp, whereas neither of the ponies flinched back, already adjusted to their rambunctious friend.

“Ohmygosh, me too Fluttershy!” The party pony hopped with joy. “What a super, duper coincidence we met in Twilight’s library!”

Twilight smiled demurely at her two friends, though opposite characters themselves, as they chatted away like old friends. She admired the beautiful thing known as friendship that was blossoming, until somepony tugged at her tail, only to see Spike pointing towards the door again.

Two more ponies shuffled through the little door, one of which was a light orange earth pony farmer, Applejack, while the other was a cyan pegasus with a bright rainbow mane.

The latter, known as Rainbow Dash, scowled with discontempt, more so behind her. “Oh c’mon, why do you guys have to do this?”

Following the two mares were a pair of stallions that Twilight immediately identified as royal guards upon looking at their armor and stoic expressions. But unlike the ones in Canterlot, their color scheme was a darkened opposite; even their feathered wings were leathered black, like that of a bat. Its was almost resembling alternate-universe villains in those comic books Spike reads so much.

“We do not hold intentions of malice nor obstructing your daily routines,” one of the guards informed, “but we are under orders to take said ponies to the one pony named, ‘Twilight Sparkle’ that resides here.”

The farmer pony, Applejack, pushed her hat out of her eyes and billowed a hoof towards the outside. “That part Ah’ get, but that don’t explain we y’all need all th’ guards around town.”

The two guards exchanged glances and faced the tri-apple cutiemark pony. “I’m afraid we are not at the pleasure to answer that or any more regarding our instructions.”

All the ponies gave each other confounded stares.

“What’s going on, sirs? Why are you bringing my friends here?” Twilight asked as she trotted up to the two batguards. “Why are you sirs here in Ponyville in the first place? Does it have to do anything with that shooting star?”

“We are under direct orders from Her Highness,” he, staring at nopony ahead. “Orders are to relocate the six specified ponies to this location and await for further instruction.” Twilight noticed the other guard had a obscure bruise on his cheek he subtly rubbed.

From ‘Her Highness’? Does that mean Celestia sent them here? Twilight contemplated deeply. But why didn’t she send me a letter beforehand? And these weren’t her normal guards, they were guards of-

“I bid thee all a fair ‘hello’.” A calm, assertive voice of a mare said, “and an apology for all the inconveniences that w...I may have induced, but time is of the essence.”

They all turned to see a majestic alicorn shuffling through the doorway. At first sight, the two guards immediately gave way to her and bowed deeply upon her entrance. “Your Majesty….”

Though not as tall as her sister, the monarch of the night was still a sight to behold. On her hooves, she wore foggy blue slippers sparkled like silver while her jet-black jewelry around her neck gleaned like the night sky. Her brilliant blue mane billowed to an eternal yet invisible wind that gave her the impression of divinity.

“Princess Luna,” Twilight said in shocked awe.

“Hi Princess Luna! Do you remember me from Nightmare Night when I was a big chicken? Do you? Do you?” The hyperactive earth pony hopped incessantly with a delighted smile.

The night princess winced back, but relaxed after remembering how the pony in a chicken costume lead the screaming posse of children, which ended with a happy ending. “Yes….Pinkie Pie, I do quite remember that day, and I am glad we were able to put that behind us.”

She averted her eyes to Twilight. “We….I have called the six of you here today to deal with a new, pressing matter.” Her serious demeanor withered as she whipped her head around, scanning the tall-oaks interior. “There is only five of you.”

Spike raised his little hand. “Umm, there’s six of us here?”

Princess Luna glanced over to the bipedal dragon. “Yes, I am quite aware of that.” She began trotting towards the two, standing guards. “But regardless, we are missing one.”

“What? You mean Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The bat guards gave their full, earnest attention when being glared at by the princess. “Care to explain the absence of the one called, ‘Rarity’?”

The guard with the small bruise on his cheek looked uncomfortably at Luna and stammered. “W-well, you see.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “She continually….insisted that she….takes her time.”

“I see….” Princess Luna stared at the guard inquisitively before piecing together what happened.

A few of the ponies behind her gave a small giggle. “Oh Rarity…”

Luna regained a stern expression. “Very well then, join the other guards in isolating Everfree Forest from the public.” The guards saluted and took their leave.

“Now then,” she turned to the ponies inside, “it is imperative that these ‘shooting stars’ is dealt with as soon as possible.”

All the ponies and dragon glanced to each other, feeling perplexity in her answer. Only more questions were raised, as Twilight stepped forwards to ask the first…. “Why are you here? What are those shooting stars? Did you happen to cast them by accident?” ...few.

Luna raised a hoof, silencing her questioning. “This is no ordinary matter or incident; it seems as though that law by Murphy was correct.” A grave expression grew on her as she stared up at Canterlot through a window. “I did not cast those stars down, nor did I foresee their arrivals; sister would take charge of such events at this time, but she does not manipulate the stars. They were something completely out of my power, and that is what worries me.”

All the ponies listened intently as the atmosphere grew tense. “And from what I have heard from various reports, they were unsettlingly large and had the appearance unlike a normal meteor. Because of what happened at Canterlot, I simply cannot ignore this and must take matters into my own hooves, but not alone.”

“So, um, maybe is was some extr’ magic or somethin’ from the Sun?” Applejack asked, rubbing her mane.

The grim-looking princess shook her head. “If that scenario were to be true, then it would imply Celestia improperly raised the sun, which is highly unlikely.”

Rainbow Dash smacked her hooves together as she idly flew about. “Maybe it’s just Discord causing trouble again!” All the ponies, except Fluttershy, looked to her, agreeing that he would be the likely perpetrator for the recent destruction.

Again, Luna shook her head. “My sister informs me that you succeeded him in reforming his ways, yes?” The ponies all hesitantly nodded. “I would have been able to sense his magic were he to use it, but I can only feel no recent use of it.”

“Oh! Oh! I know! I know!” Pinkie raised her hoof with an elated smile. They all looked to her without serious regard.

“Is it a mailpony and a traveler?” Pinkie’s friends gave an exasperated, friendly sigh at their typical Pinkie Pie; even in such a grim moment, Pinkie Pie is still at her usual antics. “Or maybe aliens.”

She giggled at seeing Spike draw back, much to Twilight’s annoyance at such an idea.

“Aliens would make it awesome!” Rainbow Dash cheered as she banked into a complete circle.

“So, um. what is it then?” Fluttershy finally squeaked in.

Princess Luna stared at the paneled floor of the library and sighed deeply. “To be truthful, I have not the slightest idea.”

“Damnit… just… damnit!” The Lone Wanderer wheezed.

The Wanderer stretched his steel-covered arm in front of himself and slammed against the soft ground. He pressed his hand tightly into the floor, pulling himself closer to his clenched fist. He eased his right arm when his chest made contact with his thumb, and proceeded to throw his left hand in the same notion.

He entered a small hacking fit before gasping, “My… fucking legs…”

Surprisingly, he survived the crash, but at a cost. While the gel layer within his power armor absorbed most of the impact, some of the shock went straight for his legs. Now, they were numb, and trying to move them only produced agonizing pain. His chest was also a victim of the crash, with each gasping breath electrifying his ribs and lungs.

The heavy loads on his back kept swinging him every time he moved, trying to roll him off of his stomach. Through his bullet-proof visor, he set his target on what was a rock, or so he assumed it was, since the only thing present his list of priorities was finding a place to rest.

Through sheer will, he pressed on as he felt blood and sweat soak his hair.
 
“Just a little more…”  He thought to himself.

Finally, after crawling with half of his body in ungodly pain and carrying heavy equipment, he arrived at what his mind automatically labeled as a boulder.

He swung his back, causing his back weights to win over the struggle for balance. He disarmed his backpacks as he turned around and rested himself against the large rest.

He caught his breath after using every ounce of available strength he could spare to get where he was. While his chest and legs tinged with pain, he felt little relief in the fact that he was in a more comfortable position. Without taking note of his surroundings, he dove his hand into the backpack and pulled out a handful of dusty stimpaks..

Using his free hand, the Wanderer unlocked a latch on his legs and chestplate, revealing the blue under-armor underneath. He jabbed the medical needles into the hidden fabric, piercing his pained skin.

With a deep sigh, the Wanderer leaned back as the medicine was being distributed. An ocean of relief swept over him as his tear-jerking pain was being nulled away. He shut his eyes. His racing heart calmed as his body healed.  .

The Wanderer patiently waited for his body to be healed, and instinctively, his idle hand reached behind himself to touch the support. But what he touched wasn’t solid stone.

Huh? What is this stuff?

His fingers made out that the surface consisted of thick, crusty plates that seemed to always hold a gap between. Though he was able to break off a corner, they all were harder than metal if unified. The feeling of confusion was all the Wanderer could feel, especially with deja vu.

But opening his eyes seemed to answer his questions.

What the…?

No gasp escaped his mouth as much as his vision was filled with awe. The Wanderer came from a land where only you could see the dead husks, and here he was, sitting underneath what was a large, healthy tree.

He stared deeply into the high, green leaves that acted as a natural umbrella. Bright light seeped through the thin cracks of the vibrant leaves. The sunlight flickered as the leaves danced with a chime whenever a light breeze dashed through.

His widened eyes relaxed as he set his gazes elsewhere.

Of course, immediately the first thing in sight is the mothership, which was much, much bigger than the Wanderer initially thought, bigger than a few Rivet Cities. The hull was badly damaged, to the point where it could barely even be called a saucer. Electrical fires sprouted on where open wire was exposed. Ugly towers of smoke reached high above.

Instead of focusing on the floating hell from space, he scanned the nearby area in wonder. Fuzzy, green grass coated the hard soil, giving it a little cushioning.

The Wanderer was seated in a surprisingly open area in what appeared to be a forest. Acting as stern walls, leafy trees surrounded the mothership. The brown bark was faded in the shadows,. He gazed at the tall plants, mesmerized by this new encounter with vegetation. His Pipboy was silent from the clicks of radiation that seemed to be ubiquitous, and even went as far to exist in Oasis.

While the trees and grass were vaguely familiar to him, what was above the mothership, however, was something entirely new.
 
He looked up into the vast blue sky with a shade that looked to have been taken straight from a children’s storybook. Though it was rather dark, fresh sunlight lit up the ocean in the air and reached down to the soil. The occasional puffy white cloud floated by nonchalantly. To see a sky that was not tainted by radiation was definitely something to take in.
 
Chirps reached his ears inside the helmet. Looking closer at the trees, he saw little, colorful creatures that sang beautiful songs. They gracefully glided through the air, landing themselves in the openings of the canopies. It was like watching a different type of people, seeing them interact with others, sing together like choruses and enjoying themselves.

Little fuzzy rats sometimes made an appearance. With bushy, brown tails, they scampered all around with speeds and agility that no human in power armor could compete with.

The Lone Wanderer then gently rested his hands on his lap as a smile unconsciously grew on his face. These sights and sounds are what Earth was supposed to be like. A strange feeling was emerging within himself.

He had no desire to draw his pistol at the slightest ruffle in the leaves. His eyes were given permission to wander freely, admiring the lush landscape in an endless cycle. Though he regained control in his legs, he remained seated to admire his environment.

This has got to be a dream… I have to wake up.

He pretty much expected something to jump out at him, guns blazing. No floating bobbleheads mocked his failures either, so he felt more and more strange. His unease for the silence eventually diminished when nobody tried to tell him that he was sleeping.

Between seeing the chirping birds, fuzzy green grass, tall oaks, thick leaves, vibrant blue skies, the bright sunshine and the fluffy squirrels, he felt something he previously never felt before, not even in Vault 101.

...But this is a good dream.

His heart finally calmed. The desire to prepare himself for self-defence disappeared, and he became glad at that loss. The Wanderer stared off into space when he then learned that he had arrived the noble goal that many have fought and died for.

Is this what peace feels like?

*Thump! Thump! Thump!*

“Hmm?”

His silent trance was broken when he heard faint thumping. His mind automatically assumed that it was a raider getting the drop on him, and his muscles shot back to life.

Standing up, he collected his equipment and drew his laser rifle, ready for anything that would try to kill him. No gunshots were heard nor any deathclaws leaped from the bushes. The strange thumping noise continued at a certain distance. The Wanderer trekked over towards the source to investigate.

“What the hell is that?” He asked himself to check on his own voice.

Even though it appeared daytime, it was rather difficult for the Wanderer to see across the forest. After pushing his way through thick bushes, sidestepping from blocking trees and hopping over protruding roots, he found something else.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

It was a ship, or at least he thought it was. After all, what else from Earth could actually make it here with him?

Digging into the ground was a large, rocket-shaped object with a bright-white paintjob. The design reminded him of the Delta IX rocket he has seen in the museum of history, but at the same time, it looked completely alien. What was supposed to be its hull was now an absolute wreck, with some panels being ripped off completely. A few holes that looked to be torn open were noted by the Wanderer.

A broken protectron was laying on the ground nearby, with it’s cranial dome smashed in and body ripped in half. The close proximity and handling of the robot caused the Wanderer’s skin to itch and made him grasp his rifle in a tighter grip.

He shuffled himself in front of what was the black nose of the shuttle, which was now buried in a mound of dirt.

*Thump! Thump! Thump!*

The Wanderer stopped dead in his tracks when the thump noise grew louder. Looking above the nose of the shuttle, he found the source. What appeared to be the sole of a boot was kicking at what the Wanderer assumed as the cockpit window. He stepped back to further his visibility of what seemed to be a person.

*KRSH!*

Fingers coiled themselves around the laser rifle tightly to the sound of glass shattering. With weapon in ready, the Lone Wanderer watched the visor of the ship, where he could see the edges of a long coat swinging around on the inside.

“Finally...” He thought he heard a man’s voice mutter.

Out of nowhere, a dufflebag threw itself from the pilot’s chamber, landing with a ordinary thud across from the Wanderer. He showed little reaction, The Wanderer was already focused on identifying the silhouette that was moving around the inside of the ship.

The Wanderer’s nose twitched at something that smelled… organic.

What the hell is that?

He could swear his nose picked up the scent of roasted brahmin near the ground. A quick glance towards the duffle bag just raised more questions

A strange maple staff with a bronze eagle statue at the tip was protruding from the opening. He also caught the faint mucus glows on what seemed to be a plasma rifle, but much bigger. There was also a faint glow of orange inside with the shape of a cylinder that reminded him of a Tesla Cannon, but this was too small to be one.

Looking back up to the shuttle, he could now see what was the behind of a man trying to climb himself out through the window. He appeared to be protected by leather armor while wearing a dirty longcoat. There was some sort of symbol painted on the back, but from the Wanderer’s view, he could not make it out.

The man’s boot lost its foothold on the bent nose and he lost his balance. The Wanderer acted as the sole audience member for the man’s stunt, watching him tumble down the nose of the shuttle. The colors red, white and blue briefly flashed in his mind as the man rolled towards the soil.

“Oh shit, Oh shit!”

*THUD!*

After plopping himself onto the dirt, he quickly picked himself up. Already onto his feet in the quickest recovery from a fall, he pushed his shaggy, black hair out of his eyes and dusted himself off.

“Here I thought there was a destruction bonus…”

The Wanderer said nothing as he examined the duster the man was wearing, which only piqued his curiosity.

The symbol of the Old World was painted straight onto his back, as if it was trying to display itself to everyone around. “Old World Justice” was stitched in white text above the tri-colored sigil. American history class in Vault 101 was one of the first images the popped into his mind, and second place of doing the pledge of allegiance in class every day, with third place of being a group of sinister soldiers.

Sand-yellow specks scattered across the dusty outfit. His arms and legs were covered in leather latches and straps that appeared to have been worn. A Pipboy was attached onto the man’s right arm, glowing a dry amber.

“Jeez, Toaster is gone, and now this,” the man murmured to himself, “and I didn’t even get to the damn moon! Some assholes…”

Huh? Toaster? Moon? What on Earth is this person talking about?

The power armor-clad Wanderer tilted his head while the weird man remained oblivious to his presence. He continued to mumble nonsense to himself in disdain, where the Wanderer simply listened to the his voice.

Why does this man seem so… familiar?

The strange man looked back up to the smoking ship with hands on his hips in a pride-like pose.

“That’s what I call a landing job!” He praised in an upbeat tone. “Fucking landing. When it says ‘up’ what is up? Move up or pull up on the controls?” He said in an annoyed tone.

“What?” The Wanderer blurted in a quiet tone.

“What the-?!”

The duster-wearing man flinched at the sound of the Wanderer’s voice. He lowered his hands by his belt and glanced behind himself. His blue eyes widened and limbs froze at the sight of the Wanderer, who stared back at him like he caught him sneaking a hand in the cookie jar.

Oh shit.

The two figures started at each other without the slightest on what to do next. It was absolute silence between them, aside from the whistling leaves and crackles of the electrical fires. The first question that ran through both of their minds was, “Friend or Foe?” But that was only the Wanderer’s assumption.

The unarmed man showed no fear in his eyes when confronted with someone covered in T-51b combat power armor with a laser rifle in arms. The eyes of this man suddenly furrowed into anger after he recognized what kind of armor his opponent was wearing, and what kind of people wear it.

And the Wanderer could give a puzzled expression to the duster-wearing man, even though the Wanderer’s face was concealed behind his helmet. The symbol the man wore on his back brought the Wanderer some rather painful memories involving his father, but he suppressed them for the time being.

They watched each other’s movements with extreme caution and perception, ready to draw at something as miniscule as a cough. Sweat slowly condensed on their faces as their itchy trigger fingers flexed.

Finally, both drew their weapons, with the sights leveled at each other almost simultaneously.

The weird man drew two sidearms from his hips: an ivory plated revolver, and a strange energy weapon at what appeared to be a toy gun straight from Captain Cosmos.

The Wanderer had to use the weapon he had direct access to, and aimed his laser rifle between the barrels of the opposing weapons. The silent stalemate ended with both opening their mouths with words being thrown across.
 
“What the fuck are you doing here!?”

“What the fuck are you doing here!?”

Three fillies traversed through the Everfree Forest, taking each step with care and excitement, as if they were exploring a mystical jungle.

The day remained bright and cloudless, giving them ease to navigate their way through the dense forest, both physically and mentally. Besides twigs being bent by hooves, leaves hissing to wind and other animals and faint birdsong acted as the ambient sounds.

“Are you sure this is a good idea Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked with, “Ah mean, Applejack and Big Macintosh are gonna throw a real fit when they find out that I left.” The trio of fillies pushed themselves through a wall of leaves that obstructed their unguided path.

“Heck yeah it is! How could we miss out on a chance like this?” The orange filly leaped over a puddle of mud as if it was a pool of lava. “I mean, did you see those things in the sky? They were like ‘Neeeaaa!’ and then they crashed into Canterlot and went ‘Kabooom!’”  
 
Scootaloo’s two companions stopped themselves at the mud puddle and trotted along the dry borders of it. Applebloom habitually glanced at the way they came. Her heart began to race when she saw that the trail they traveled on was now barely recognizable.

“Yeah, but then there was th’ part when we had to sneak past some of the guards when they told us to not go in,” the yellow filly looked back to her two friends and sped up to match their pace, “so now we’re really gonna get in trouble.”

The pegasus filly rolled her eyes. “Oh would you just relax? It’s gonna be all worth it in the end when we get our cutie marks!” Sweetie Belle and Applebloom’s interests were then raised and they looked at Scootaloo for clarification.

“Why do you think so?” The white filly asked.

Scootaloo stopped and looked back to her friends with excitement on her wings. “Don’t you ponies remember Applejack’s and the other ponies’ stories? They were just minding their business when ‘Wham!’” The orange filly stomped the grassy ground, “Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom came out of nowhere! And from that, they got their cutie marks!”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged quizzical glances. “Won’t that mean we will need a Sonic Rainboom?” The pink-maned unicorn asked, still feeling confused.

“No,” Scootaloo shook her head irritably, “remember what we said yesterday? We said that there were two things that their stories had in common: That the Sonic Rainboom was awesome, and the ponies were totally not expecting it! And I think that this incident totally qualifies as both!” She held her hoof out towards the two pillars of smoke, which acted as the marker for their destination.

Small smiles emerged on the fillies’ faces as they recalled the events yesterday and the Elements’ cutie mark stories. The connections that their de facto leader at the moment made sense. Their ears perked up and gave bigger smiles of understanding.

“Oh yeah, you’re right! That makes much more sense.” Applebloom happily remarked, “Why didn’t Ah think of that sooner?”

“Of course!” Sweetie Belle added, “This just didn’t happen out of nowhere!”

“I agree, this isn’t just some coincidence, especially since we talked about this just yesterday. This is the work of…” Scootaloo said while leaning closer with a plotting grin. “...Destiny!” She proclaimed while waving both of her forelegs in an explosive manner.

“Yeah, let’s go get our cutie marks!” The gray unicorn agreed.

“Then it’s settled!” Scootaloo lifted her hoof above her head, towards the empty space between the three. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders will now officially hunt the crashed object to get our cutie marks! Are we ready?”

“Yeah!” All three cheered and clopped their hooves simultaneously.  

The black smokestacks in the day sky were caught in Applebloom’s sights. “So, um, what exactly are we finding?” She asked, unwittingly slowing the team velocity.

The momentum of the team obtaining their goal was halted as well as their conversation. All three of the fillies idly looked around and gazed at the smokestacks that their journey was headed for.

“Maybe it’s a shooting star?” Suggested Sweetie Belle with uncertainty in her voice. “I’ve never see one up close before.”

“Yeah, maybe it is,” Applebloom agreed moderately, “and ah don’t think anypony has seen one up close.”

Scootaloo shut her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “Ugh, no you guys, that’s too boring!” She groaned in impatience, “It’s something super cool! I know it!”

The remaining Crusaders tilted their heads quizzically. “Well, what do you think it is then?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Well it was really cool, so it’s… it’s...” The orange filly rubbed her chin until her expression exploded from an idea. “...It’s aliens!”

“Aliens?” The two fillies repeated.

“Well how do you know that?” The earth pony asked.

“Well…” Scootaloo’s eyes wandered off momentarily.

“Oh yeah!” She snapped, “The shooting star that crashed into Canterlot looked wicked crazy! It was all black and white, and it had a weird shape, like a spaceship!” She then gasped at another idea. “Guys, alien cutie mark! That would be so awesome! Think about it!”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle took their friend’s word and thought for a moment. Indeed, the concept of not only meeting aliens but getting alien cutie marks was something worth commemorating. They then realized that alien cutie marks would be something very, very unique in Equestria.

“Well oh mah stars, we could be the only ponies to have alien cutie marks!” Applebloom exclaimed in agreement.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Scootaloo turned towards the smokestacks. “Let’s go!”

Fueled by excitement, the trio of fillies raced off to their destination with fame in mind. Sweat began to condense on their colorful coats from the running they were doing. Laughter and friendly taunts were exchanged as their goal approached closer and closer..

The two following Crusaders eventually found themselves running into an immobile object. Bumping into each other, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom fell to the hard soil, feeling dazed from the sudden collision. They looked up to see Scootaloo, who remained stone still.

“Hey, what are you doing Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked in outrage. The standing pegasus said nothing. “Scootaloo?” She asked again, in a softer voice.

The two foals stood onto their hooves and shuffled next to Scootaloo to see what was the matter. Her eyes were wide as dinnerplates as she stared deeply in front of herself.

Their ears folded down. “Scootaloo?” No answer, but her bottom lip then trembled.

“G-guys…” She stammered with fear in her eyes, “...L-l-look.” The frozen filly slowly raised her hoof, barely pointing in the vicinity that was straight across from her.

The remaining Crusaders looked at what she was hinting at, and joined her shocked trance after their heart skipped a beat. Sweat that was not of exercise streaked down their skin.

There was… something way ahead of them. A dark, muscular-looking figure stood tall and strong underneath a large tree, with what appeared to be four legs supporting it. Though it was close to noon, the shadows from the tree inhibited clear visibility. It looked like it had short, little head and thick arms. Its body was more wide than it was tall.

After gulping, the Cutie Mark Crusaders retreated behind a nearby bush, where they then peaked over the low shrub to watch the figure’s every move. So far, it did not flinch at their sudden dive.

“What the heck is that thing?” Whispered Sweetie Belle, whose heart was increasing in tempo.

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo whispered back, drawing her head closer down below cover.

“Does it know we’re here?” Applebloom asked.

“I don’t know…”

The fillies proceeded to keep watch on the strange being, ducking down and jumping back up to see no change. The being simply stood motionless and without reaction to the ruffles of the bush and occasional bird that flew close to it.

“Maybe it’s sleeping,” Scootaloo said, “should we check it out?”

The trio silently debated with each other until they all gave stiff nods. “Okay, let’s be real careful.”

The Crusaders hunched down, being as close to the ground as possible. Their hoofsteps were almost silent, as they took each step with extreme care and fear. As they got closer, the chilling individual seemed to get taller and taller.

They halted their advance when they saw that they were directly behind it, and had to gaze upwards to get an overall view.

The strange being had an iron-grey coat that dully shined whatever stray light that managed to make contact with it. Shuffling around to see its face, they discovered that it balanced on three thick legs. Instead of hooves, metal spheres with a bumpy texture were attached to the ends.

The way that it stood reminded the little ponies on how photographers took photos with large cameras, using a little, wooden stand.

Looking at the grey being in front, the trio took step back in fear as they beheld themselves in front of the hulking individual. They also stepped back because at eye level, all they could see is the being’s knee.

A part of the intimidation factor came from the buff, upper body, which had a very thick torso with shoulder blades that made it seem wider and stronger. Instead of a face, there was a black visor that was shielded by several iron bars on the short head.

Even more muscular than the stumpy legs were the long arms, where one of them had an orange tip protruding at the hoof.

The body of it was rather beaten up, with huge dents all across, like it was dropped from a very tall height. Few skin panels were missing, allowing different colored intestines to hang outside.

The silence became rather unsettling since it hunched over, not taking a single breath in its sleep. The overall being gave an aura of fear, that even one glance would be enough for anypony to simply turn tail and race home.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders gazed at it and shivered. A frightening silence filled the atmosphere as they inched away from it one hoof at a time.

Finally, Applebloom broke the unspoken tension. “Maybe the alien really is sleeping. Go wake it up Scootaloo,” she murmured.

“What? Me?!” The thrill-seeking pegasus whispered in shock, “What should I do?”

“Ah don’t know, just touch it or something!”

“Why should I do it?”

“Maybe because you said that there were aliens, and you wanted to meet them,” argued Applebloom, “Here’s one, so you should be the first one to talk to him.”

“Well… yeah but,” Scootaloo stammered with a louder tone, “but you wanted to wake it up, so you should do it!”

The dixie-accented filly raised her voice to match her friend’s. “Well maybe since this whole thing was your idea, you should be the one to wake it up!”

“Guys! Quiet down,” Sweetie Belle pleaded, halting the argument between the two friends, “we don’t want to wake it up in a very negative way. So how about we all go at once and try to wake it up?”

Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other after hearing the terms.

“Ah guess it’s reasonable, so how about you?”

Scootaloo shrugged.  “Fair enough I guess.”

The menacing appearance made it difficult to approach it, but the three fillies gazed at the strange being and crept up close to it.

When it was within hoof’s range, they all simultaneously reached out slowly and tapped the knee of the alien. Immediately after, they scrambled and stomped back and hid behind an nearing tree.

“Did it… wake up?” Applebloom gasped. The ponies waited for their wild hearts to settle and peeked over when the silence became unbearable.

Both relief and fear washed across them after seeing the alien not move a single muscle. They left the cover of the thick three and faced the alien in awestruck.

“Well,” Sweetie Belle muttered, trying to calm their fears, “maybe it’s in a deep sleep-”

The filly’s words were halted when they looked back to the buff entity. The Cutie Mark Crusaders winced when they realized that the black dash on the being’s face was now glowing red. The arms moved very slowly, as if it was regaining control of a body it lost.

The fillies chattered their teeth and shivered from anxiety, while resisting the temptation to scream. With hammering hearts, they huddled together as they looked on helplessly.

This should’ve been good for them. They wanted to wake the alien up, and they did. They are in direct eye contact and have its full attention, so why did they feel like that they just did something they should’ve never done?

The alien simply stood there, watching the foals just as they watched him. A small whirr whispered from the alien.

“W-when this is over,” Applebloom’s eyes settled on Scootaloo, with shaking legs near ready to collapse, “this is all your fault.”

It spoke in a deep, monotone voice, easily instilling more chills into the fillies’ spines.

“ADDING TARGET TO THREAT MATRIX!”

“What do you mean, ‘What the fuck am I doing here?’ What the fuck are you doing here?!” The Courier asked in an almost mockingly outraged tone.

“Me? It’s not like I wanted to be here, let alone asked!” The Wanderer retorted.  

“Bullshit.”

“You know what? Fine, fine I’ll answer!” He said after deciding to volunteer himself, “I got abducted by aliens, took control of the mothership, got struck by a missile, went through a wormhole and then crashed here. There! That’s my reason! Happy?”

Finishing with a short groan, the Wanderer then awaited for the Courier’s overall response after he seemed to nod and say ‘yes’ at every 3 words. Gradually, both lowered their weapons after seeing how they didn’t try to kill each other.

The Courier set his gazes above the Wanderer, but was obviously not admiring the baby-blue sky. His mouth unconsciously opened as he was partaken in thought. The Wanderer caught this gesture and seized the moment to examine this eccentric person in closer detail.

The Wanderer saw that the Courier wore what appeared to be combat armor underneath his sandy duster. Wrapped around his armor were several bandoliers, supplied with ammo packets and other items that would be needed in a quick moment of combat. He’s certainly not helpless that’s for sure.

Trying not to be rude, he redirected his attention back onto the Courier, who was still contemplating from his previous explanation. The few seconds that passed felt like minutes until he finally looked back to the Wanderer.

“Sure sure sure, I get ya,” he nodded as he holstered his pistols. “Except for the part where you had a bonfire!” His cheeky grin vanished as his voice raised in outrage. “Without me!?”

“What?”

He pointed a trembling arm at where he was staring at earlier. A quick look from the Wanderer showed him the giant smokestack rising up from the mothership. “Oh, that? That’s from the mothersh-”

“How could you start up a bonfire without inviting me?! I mean, c’mon man! You can do better than that! I have marshmallows we could roast and we can sing the Campfire Song Song! How could you say ‘no’ to that!?”

“You barely even know me! We just-” The Wanderer paused himself before accepting defeat. “You know what, I’ll invite you next time, okay?” He said loathingly. “So how about you? What are you doing here?” The Wanderer then asked with a quick shaking of his head.

He gazed at the sky while lightly tapping his chin.

“Hmm, let’s see here…” The eccentric man then drawled on like a child’s banter. “It all started a very long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, with the Think Tank, so they said that I could go to the moon, so I was like, ‘Cool! Okay!’ and then I got into a rocket and blasted off, and had some zero-gravity action shit, then some asshole in a SUSS got in the fucking way, and I teleported outta there, and then ran into some tall stuff for a destruction bonus!” He reached up with his lanky arms and tight fists. “Talk about awesome!”

“Erm… right. I-I see,” the Wanderer said as he (reluctantly) matched the pieces together. Both of their stories seemed to add up and intertwine. The mothership was hit by a missile-shaped object while the other Courier’s space ship ran into a larger entity in space. It explained how their ships crashed, but it didn’t explain how they teleported and got here.

“Hey, where the hell are we?” The other man asked as he gazed around the environment. The Wanderer was a little boggled by the Courier’s legitimate question, but gained a grip on himself.

“Well, to tell you the truth, I have no idea, but I have two theories and their both out-of-whack,” the Wanderer answered, admiring the surrounding vegetation, “there’s the completely impossible odd of us traveling back in time to a prehistoric, or at least pre-war, Earth. Then there’s the more likely chance that we’re stranded on an alien planet.”

Wait… alien planet? Are we really on a new world? The Wanderer thought after hearing his own explanation. His heart hastened as he took in the idea more and more.

Mankind always wondered if they were alone and they dreamed that one day that they would visit their neighbors of the universe. While he was giddy at the very thought, his visible excitement was ultimately downgraded from his encounter with the green people. But optimism still remained at the idea of meeting extraterrestrial life on their own world.

I’m the first man to set foot on another planet…

The only other celestial body humans have traveled to was the moon, but that happened at least three hundred years ago. The Lone Wanderer has done much in his life, but to accomplish an achievement on behalf of all mankind? The senses of honor pride for humanity lit up in his heart where those two traits remained absent for the longest time.

Though the Capital Wasteland may have converted humanity back to savagery, it still felt good to the Wanderer to find another redeeming trait.

It was a little disappointing to him that no one was here to acknowledge this moment in history.

He turned back to the Courier with a hidden smile. “So yeah, the best chance is that we’ve crash-landed on an alien planet.”

The Courier then briefly shook his head. “Oh okay,” he said nonchalantly. The Wanderer’s smile vanished in an instant.

“Wait, that’s your reaction?” The Wanderer’s voice sounded in outrage, “we’ve crashed onto an alien world that’s pretty much filled with alien life! Our chance to meet real aliens! Not to mention, we’re the first humans to travel to another planet, and that’s all you can really say?!”

The long-coated man shrugged casually. “Yeah.”

“Oh forget it.” The Wanderer let out a deep sigh. He could not help but be in dumbstruck towards the man. He just crash-landed onto a new planet, immediately asked him questions and barely acknowledged their location.

“Woah woah woah! What the fuck?!”

The Wanderer abruptly snapped out of his philosophical trance. “What? What is it?!” The armored traveler looked around to see what was causing his new acquaintance's distress.

“Does this count as a plant?!”

The Courier pointed a trembling finger straight towards a thick tree that he could almost touch. Seeing this, the Wanderer strolled up next to him, thinking that he never even seen vegetation before. “Well, this is a tree, so yes, I think it qualifies as-”

Before he could finish his statement, his ears were too busy being filled with the roars of gunshots.

Shielding himself with his arms, he regrasped his laser rifle and flinched back. The sounds of the gun desisted as quickly as they came; the Wanderer peeked through his shut eyelids.

The Courier stood only with a blank expression and his ivory-plated revolver in his hand. Hints of gunpowder made it to the Wanderer’s nose as thin lines of smoke emanated from the short barrel. Facing the luxurious gun was the tree the Courier was referring to earlier, which now had six miniscule holes in the thick bark.

“Alright, I guess it’s safe,” He mumbled as reloaded his revolver.

“What the hell was that for?!” The Wanderer asked while cringing his free hand.

Clicking the hammer of his gun, he looked back at the Wanderer. “Just making sure these things don’t come to life and eat us,” he murmured while scanning his environment.

“Vault 22…” He mumbled with hatred, “those fucking jump-scares...”

“Right, I’ll just assume you’ve never seen a tree before then.” The Wanderer rolled his eyes. “So what do you think we should do now?” Somehow to him, it felt like a mistake to ask him that question.

The Courier gave the Wanderer a quizzical look. “You know, who the hell are you anyway?”

“Me?” The Wanderer paused himself. Should I really say who I am? Could I really trust this person with my real name? What should I say to him? But considering the circumstances... His fingers on his free hand silently snapped from an idea. That’s it! Three Dog you crazy bastard, you finally are helpful. 

“Just call me ‘Wanderer’.”

He raised an eyebrow. “‘Wanderer’ eh?” The Courier then crossed his jacketed arms as a small grin grew on his dirty face. “Then just call me ‘Courier’ if we’re just gonna do nicknames from now on, cuz’ that’s kinda cool.”

The power-armor clad Wanderer nodded. “Alright then, ‘Courier’,” he said, “but back to what I asked earlier: ‘What’s your input now on our situation?’”

The Courier’s expression of mutual distrust suddenly vanished into a chippy smile. “Hey, you got any snowglobes on you?” His tone sounded completely out of context.

The Wanderer cocked his head, returning a puzzling glare. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, snowglobes! Little balls with snow inside and stuff?” He hyperactively gestured and fidgeted with his hands. “I’ll pay ya 50 caps on each!”

“Snowglobes? Why are you talking about them?”

“51 caps?”

“Caps? I..” The Wanderer’s patience was being tried as he held back his urge to scream. “You’re not helping us at all!”

The rambunctious man tilted his head while a cheeky smile grew. “Soooo, that’s a ‘yes’?”

“Oh god, it’s like talking to a child!” The Wanderer thrusted his arms up as he vigorously shook his head. “No! No I don’t have any snowglobes! What is wrong with you?!”

“Jeez if you wanted to say ‘no’ that you should’ve just did,” he said before crossing his arms and sticking his tongue at him.  “You’re a mean one… Mr. Wanderer,” the Courier mumbled in a deep,  singsong.

Before the Wanderer could say anything else, an explosion shook their attention. While the air and earth rumbled, they turned to see a cloud of combusted fire rise below the distant trees. A loud boom and what sounded to be screams of women echoed from afar. They both quickly dispersed into the baby-blue sky, leaving the two travelers stricken in surprise.

“Oooooh, explosion!” The Courier commented like a child as he waved his arms in the air. “About damn time I see the real deal!”

The two shot brief glances at each other, with the Courier holding an even happier expression, which the Wanderer could only grow more puzzled at his acquaintance's antics.

 “C’mon! Let’s check it out!” He gleed before snatching his duffle bag and racing into the forest. “Alright! This chapter finally gets interesting!”

“Wait, what are you-” The Wanderer attempted to ask as he held his hand out in hesitation. “Forget it…” Watching the Courier slowly disappear into the thick trees, he then groaned and ran in after him.

“Shouldn’t we be running away from explosions?” The Wanderer commented in his patterned breathing. Oh screw it, what the hell is causing that in the first place?

He jogged through the eerie forest with the jingles of his heavy gear. The amount of equipment he carried did not affect his pace due to the power armor’s enhancements. Eventually, to the Wanderer’s own surprise, he was able to catch up to the sprinting Courier, who was running at a considerable pace.

“You know, this reminds me of some horror movie holotapes,” the Wanderer said in an attempt of bonding, “like some teenagers running through a strange forest where screams were heard...” What else could he do? It was entirely possible that he was going to be working with him for a while.

“How cliche!”

The Courier looked at the Wanderer with interest in his eyes. “Hey, did those movies have explosions in them?”

“No they did not,” the Wanderer answered with a calm tone.

His expression deflated as he looked ahead with narrowed eyes. “Then those holotapes are not interesting.”

“AAAHHHHH!!!”

“Run! Run!”

“Applejack! Rarity! Rainbow Dash! Anypony! Help!”

The trio of fillies screamed their lungs out as their pursuer persistently followed them, shouting statements in an deep, authoritative voice. They could hear their own heartbeats as they hyperventilated upon each step they took. Sadly no returning calls of aid were heard.

Showing no regard for the mud and dirt they splashed in, they raced towards the way they at least thought they came from.

They relied on Applebloom to lead the way, but she was just as lost herself. Whenever they came across a fork in their path, she only took guesses, with hopes that they would find themselves on a familiar passage and take over from there.

Unfortunately they took stray turn after stray turn, as if they were scrambling in the dark.

Somehow, the monster didn’t quite catch them at this point. Though they didn’t realize, whenever the fillies swerved past a thick tree, the tri-pedal beast had difficulty maneuvering around, giving the little ponies precious time to escape, but the rapid sprints it performed only made up for it. Mud puddles and fallen trees also seemed to delay its chase.

Whenever crimson beams zipped around them, they instinctively ducked as the projectiles were recklessly abandoned. With a low mechanical whirr, red lasers darted overhead very rapidly.

The fillies learned to not get touched by the lights after a close call involving ash and smoke sprouting from the bark of a tree.

Tears dripped from their eyes as they felt themselves lose stamina. It seemed like this was straight out of a horror novel, but felt too real for a dream. Nopony was willing to test the sleep theory, so all they could do was run for the lives.

Even though the monster could talk, it wasn’t interested in talking to them, only attacking. Somehow, it created an explosion earlier from a strange projectile; nearly sending them into pieces.

Regrets surfaced in their minds how they should’ve just listened and didn’t enter the Everfree forest in the first place.

Please no more explosions, please no more explosions... Scootaloo desperately thought, still shaken from the first one. Though she claimed to be a big fan of the pyrotechnic shows, she reevaluated some facts when a long wooden shard jabbed into a nearby tree.

Their small ears barely picked up a small huff that came from behind themselves. The fillies (or anypony in this matter) have never seen anything this creature brought to the table before. The air hummed a low pitch that gradually became louder and louder.

The fillies yelped and stiffened their joints at the sight of the bottle-shaped object zipping. When the red-tipped projectile came into full view, the Cutie Mark Crusaders halted themselves as they watched it propel itself towards a nearby tree.

The missile and tree both vanished into a cloud of intense inferno. The average forest tree disappeared as unsteady shock waves dispersed throughout the forest.

The little ponies stumbled back onto their haunches as they stared at the tree, now torn apart and surrounded by fire. Teeth chattering and legs trembling, they shivered as if a cold chilled their souls.

Knowing that they were still not safe, they turned to see their distant pursuer slowly roll towards them. The Crusaders frantically searched around, but the nearby trees were too thick and dense for them to simply sidestep themselves to safety.

Staring deeply at the monster’s blood red eyes, they huddled together as the dams of the fillies’ eyes burst, allowing warm tears to flood out. Lifetime’s worth of memories flashed into their eyes in moments when they couldn’t deny that this was the end.

“Ah wanna go home!” Applebloom whimpered, struggling to even breathe normally.

“Me too!” Scootaloo tearfully agreed, where then all three bawled, spreading their cries through the labyrinth of a forest. The three-legged menace halted itself before lifting one of its arms and stiffly pointed it towards the trio, making the fillies cringe and clamp their eyes shut.

“HOSTILE DETECTED! COMMENCING NEUTRALIZATION!”

*FZZZT!*

The Cutie Mark Crusaders braced themselves for a barrage of red beams or a flying, exploding thingy, yet just waiting proved to them that those fears were false.

A hollow hope was crafted inside of their minds, that they were not in any danger, or not anymore at the very least. They peeked from their closed eyes to be proven that their minds and ears didn’t deceive them.

The fearsome titan was no longer preoccupied with destroying them, but it was now… dancing? That’s what the Crusaders thought it was doing, why else would it just be spazzing about?

It vibrated its cylindrical arms all around, occasionally swerving them to the side. Thin fingers of electricity continuously tickled the menace. The thick shoulders and torso shook as if it was jigging to a guitar tune. Though their tears did not stop, the fillies lifted themselves up, feeling a little more confident at the strange turn of events.

“Wha-”

Before Sweetie Belle could finish her statement, all three of them yelped and flinched back. Somewhere from the side, crimson beams struck the menace multiple times, but didn’t seem to hold any effect.

*FZZT!*

A strange, faded blue halo was hurled from the same direction, striking the monster with the appearance of heavy impact.

Now wrapped in a blanket of volts, the colossus sputtered and spazzed until it hunched down, staring at the grass as its red face faded away. It became still and quiet as a stone.

The terrifying panic ended with their chasing beast falling into a permanent slumber.

None of them dared to approach the alien’s monolithic husk. They all stood still and braced for any movement from it that would otherwise doom them. A new voice caused them to jump rigid, but listening closely, it didn’t announce itself with such an evil tone.

“You see, that is how you fry robots!” A jocular male boasted. “Not like that stupid laser rifle ya’ got there; doesn’t do shit to sentry bots.”

“I must admit, that certainly is quite a weapon,” another male responded, who sounded more mature. “I’ve never seen anything like it, not discounting the fact that I just crawled out of a mothership-”

“Are you sure you don’t have any snowglobes?”

“Yes! I’m sure!”

“Aww…” He sounded so distraught, but abruptly stated, ”so the search continues!”

“What is it with you and snowglobes? Some secret plot.”

The fillies cringed when he suddenly yelled, “YOU’LL NEVER GET MY ROBOT BLOATFLY!!”

The second voice was clearly confused. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” the first voice trailed off dismissively. “Juuuuuust nothing…”

Walking on two legs, two tall aliens approached the disabled sentry bot, failing to notice the fillies’ helpless presence. One of which wore crusty leather pants, a long-sleeved jacket, a lengthy duster, and a shaggy, black mane on what appeared to be his head. His skin had a slight tint of tan and his limbs were rather lanky.

The latter, unlike the strange adventurer-like person, had no skin exposed. Rather, his entire body was covered at what was steel armor that greatly resembled one of a knight. But not even his eyes were visible as the plates looked more for being it being intimidating than for some decorative purpose.

The fillies remained silent with fear, carefully eyeing these two aliens that they…

Just understood?

Upon realizing that they were actually able to understand these strange creatures, their state of terror was mitigated as they looked on, more out of curiosity than survival instinct. They two aliens were doing… something to that three-legged demon. They were fiddling with its chest?

“Got a missile here,” the knight alien said, juggling the projectile in his hand.

“And some energy cells here,” the other one finished in a normal tone that invoked the other’s curiosity. “What caused this thing to go agro and just rampage through the woods?”

His expression suddenly exploded with fury on top of his voice. “Damn thing probably got a higher destruction score than me!”

The metal-plated alien stood up and frisked the chin of his helmet. He looked down at the razor grass and through the woods where the sentry bot rolled from.

He then shrugged. “I suppose it was just something like a squirrel or molerat that provoked it.”

The duster-wearing alien snapped his head up and duly stared into his companion’s black visor. “Bullshit.”

"What?"

“I said that’s bullshit.” He stood up and thrusted his two fists onto his hips, posing proudly as he stared idly into the thick woods. “I mean, what else do these damn things attack besides us?”

 The knight appeared that he was about to say something, but paused himself and rubbed the chin of his helmet. He then carelessly waved his hands about as he steadied himself on both of his feet. “You know, you kind of creep me out when you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Nevermind,” he mumbled.

While the two aliens fidgeted with the metal monster, the three fillies looked on in silence, with their expressions showing conflicting between confronting and fleeing. To them, these aliens didn’t seem so mean, but they just witnessed their capabilities.

Scootaloo, limbs gone stiff, gestured to her two friends to follow her lead of shuffling away.

*KRICK!*

The line of their shallow escape was shattered when a twig snapped underneath a hoof. Their bones froze in place as the jocular alien, fully alert, instantaneously swerved his head and eyeballed the little ponies.

The air suddenly dropped to stillness; one pair of stern eyes faced off against three pairs of frightened ones, and one-member team was winning.  

This is it, we’re done for, the trio of ponies thought as the alien glared at them in utmost silence. There they stood, first contact between two extraterrestrial species, waiting for the first words between the lifeforms. Somepony, please help, they’re gonna eat us!

The other alien continued to talk idly until he realized his partner’s lack of crazy comments. The knight alien cocked his head at the sight of his unusually focused companion. “Is… something wrong?”

The armored being recoiled back when that stern expression changed to a more troubling one. A soft grin traced along his lips as his eyes shuttered peacefully. “Am I on chems?”

“What?” The knight cocked his head further to the side.

A solemn frown took form with sincere eyes. “Be honest with me here, am I high on something like Jet or Med-X? I really don’t feel so good.”

The fillies could’ve swore that the knight mumbled something as he shuffled over to the identical being. Their ears picked up something along the lines of, “-nt Lookout all over again...”

White eyes and a black visor met in a firm glare when the metal helmet leaned into close to the bare face. It then slowly backed away after briefly scanning the face. The knight-alien straggled back a whole pony’s distance and crossed his arms.

“You don’t seem to be exhibiting any symptoms of excessive drug use,” he said, shaking his head, with a level-headed demeanor, “so I would only assume that you either built up a large tolerance to the effects, or, most likely, not under any chem influence.”

The prodding alien’s expression grew as if he gained enlightenment. “Ooooh, okay, I get it now!” He thumped his fist into an open palm. “So THAT’S the reason why….”

“Why’s what?”

He gave a sheepish smile and ruffled his hair. “Because I’ve got this headache and thought I got spiked, so it would mean that hurts and I got a headache and stuff… and stuff.”

“Right, clearly there’s more ‘stuff’ involved.”

“Like more explosions?!” He giddied.

“Don’t push it.”

“Oh yeah! I totally forgot! How could I forget something so important?” The chippy-mooded alien abruptly snapped his fingers. “Today is still shotgun-brahmin day, so more explosions are welcomed!”

The tone of the armor-clad creature was beginning to sound irritated. “If that is your version of Thanksgiving, then I feel bad for the invitees...”

With regarding the previous comment, the shaggier one’s eyes boredly narrowed with a neutral frown. “Oh yeah, on less important news, look that way; something over there that might interest an egghead like you.”

“What are you talking abou-” He choked on a gasp upon glancing where the stiffened arm pointed. Words failed to fumble from the alien, only inaudible squeaks of astonishment could heard.

The fillies’ hearts throbbed in their ears as their bones shivered submissively. Neither of the trio could speak, fearing that the intimidating alien would only be angered.

But its eyes were not danger red like the other, and it seemed considerate towards them when it slowly unhitched its huge backpack.

Their eyes could not be swayed away as their teeth chattered with uncertainty.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Sweetie Belle managed to squeak in the tiniest of voices. “Is it evil?”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could only briefly avert their attention to Sweetie Belle as their fates ultimately laid in the hands of these two aliens, who stared at them ominously.

Finally, one out the duo of aliens took a step forth that would end the stalemate between two lifeforms.

***

What the? What… are they? The Lone Wanderer was at a lost at words upon seeing what the Courier had just showed him. Are they actually sapient aliens?

He stared at what was the trio of creatures who looked back at him with wide eyes and quivering bodies. Underneath that thick helmet, his concealed mouth opened, but no words fell out; only muffled gasps were what the Wanderer could exhale.

Confounded, the Wanderer forcefully blinked his eyes before carefully eying the trio of animals. Much to the Wanderer’s skepticism, the animals’ skin were vibrantly colored with a fashionably contrasting hair and tail color. They were no taller than his knees. The Wanderer saw an uncanny resemblance of them towards the extinct animal of… horses, if he remembered correctly.

He then realized that that the orange one had folded appendages on her side that looked like wings. The white one had a protrusion in her pink hair that appeared to be a horn. The yellow horsey didn’t have any of those distinguishing traits, but instead, had a red bowtie crested on her rose hair.

Just what are they? 

Looking at the way their equine bodies trembled as well as the combusted tree behind them, it became evident that they were the reason for the sentry bot’s aggression. Poor things, if we hadn’t come along…

He strangled and buried those thoughts. He didn’t want to think about it.

It wasn’t clear to him whether or not they harbored some sapience. They mumbled something to each other, but it could be him. The yellow one had a bowtie, and that was something that didn’t just “appear.” Maybe they’re like the children here.  

The ongoing silence was getting to him; something had to be done.

But he knew he had to be careful about it; the ungulated juveniles looked terrified. Between them nearly getting blown up by a fearsome sentry-bot and his own intimidating power armor, he had to choose his actions wisely.  

The Wanderer wanted to show these horse-like aliens that he had no ill intentions. He finally broke the stalemate by gently unhitching his over-sized backpack and carefully lowering it onto the grass-covered soil. He holstered his laser rifle onto his back to show them he no longer could threaten them.

He took it as a sign of progress when he discovered that the trio of aliens’ eyes followed and analyzed him.

This is it.

He was just about to take the first step towards them…

...And the Courier already beat him to the chase.

Before he could realize it, his slaphappy companion had already shuffled over and stood a shogun range away from the vibrant children.

His alloy-covered fists clenched as the alien children looked up to him with more fear. What the hell is he doing!?

The Courier stared down at them with a straight and severe expression. The little aliens clenched their eyes shut and pulled away when the Courier abruptly bent down, arms resting on his legs, as he beamed at them on their eye level. He peculiarly cocked his head to and fro.

The Wanderer opened his mouth to call out to the Courier, but he restrained himself. If he were to try to berate him or perform a sudden action, the equines would only be frightened even further.

He silently prayed that the Courier had some tactfulness in a time like this.

Silent with a cold demeanor, the Courier slowly turned to gaze at the disabled sentry bot before turning back to the ponies. The sternness of his eyes loosened as a warm grin traced on his lips.

Curious, the equine children cracked their eyes open when he gave a soft chuckle. Instead of backing away, the little ponies gradually regained their posture while wiping their tear-soaked eyes.

“Don’t worry, everything’s alright,” the Courier snickered with a jolly tone.

With feelings of admiration, the Wanderer crossed his arms. “Nice work…”

It seemed that he had underestimated his eccentric partner, watching the ungulated creatures grow more comfortable. He watched as the Courier gave the horses a thumbsup. Upon seeing their eyes filled with awe instead of fear, the Wanderer approached the scene.  

The Courier sorely stood up and posed himself into another prideful stance. He then quietly inhaled a breath that seemed to last for a blue moon. The Wanderer was about to introduce himself…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Everyone surrounding the Courier threw themselves back as if the Courier himself was a human bomb that just detonated with madness. The delicate moment of bonding between two extraterrestrial species was instantly shattered.  

The Wanderer hobbled back with his hand instinctively reaching for his pistol. Upon briefly scanning the area, there was no immediate threat to them. He watched the Courier scream like a mad-man as he clutched his head and rolled on the grass in a fetal position. The Wander then noticed that trio of equine creatures, petrified, didn’t scream, who too shocked or tired to even do so.

The man in power-armor approached the openly suffering man and slowly dropped onto a knee, leaning in close. “Whoa woah woah! Calm down! Calm down! What is wrong?!”

The Wanderer nearly yelled when the Courier suddenly grasped his plated shoulders with ghoulish fingers.

As if from cold Courier’s shoulders shiver in a suffering manner. Finally the Courier looked up at the Wanderer with a pained grimace glaring grimly through the opaque visor. “What’s the matter?”

Through chattering teeth, the Courier’s words warped with fear. “M… my god, I… I think I’m g-going to die.”The mailman gave an ill cough. “I don’t know how much more I can take.”

That sense of crisis in the wasteland returned to the Wanderer. “Hold on, hold on, just relax,” he assured as he seated the Courier onto the earth. “How are you feeling? Is this from some sort of chronic illness that has been with you?”

Question after question the Wanderer asked, but the Courier couldn’t respond in his maelstrom. The wounded man fell onto the forest floor. He eventually mustered the strength to give him an answer after the Wanderer helped him sit up.

“There. Over there.” He intoned with a dark demeanor, raising a stiff arm. “Look.”  

The Wanderer looked over where the Courier’s trembling hand pointed. He grew more complex at what was just the three ponies, who catatonically stared back at him. “I don’t quite understand, what about them brings you worry.”

“...u.”

“What is it? C’mon, just spell it out for me.”

“...cute.”

The Wanderer’s hidden mouth opened, but no words escaped. “...what?”

“...so ...cute.”

Silence fell upon them once again, leaving the crackles of the lingering fires and ambience of nature. The Wanderer abruptly released his grasp on the Courier, making him fall onto the floor with a hard *oof!* and groan.

“.......”

“I mean, just look! They’re so damned cute!”

“.......”

“Oh my gosh, they’re so cute that I don’t think I can take it anymore!” He groaned in agony, hugging his head as he childishly tumbled around. “It feels like my head is going to explode from the overload of cuteness!”

The trio of exotic-colored ponies looked to each other, confounded at this abrupt truth. They then found the courage to grin at the amusing sight of the childish, high-strung alien with the astonishly-petrified knight.

The Wanderer’s metallic fingers clenched into fists. “...Courier?” He said in a low voice.

The manchild snorter, harrumphed and spat. “Yeah?”

“Can I say something?” He was beginning to sound exasperated.

“What’cha got?” He snapped his fingers. “Ooo! Is it a snow globe?”

The Wanderer slowly shook his head. “Courier… I’m going to kill you.”