//------------------------------//
// 05 
// Story: Wayward Courier 
// by Speven Dillberg 
//------------------------------//

	“I think he likes them,” Twilight whispered as the human tore through the apple pies.
“It’s like he ain’t eaten in days,” Applejack commented, feeling sorry for him. And not only because she had injured him.
“Those were good,” the human commented, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. The basket was empty.
Twilight just stared for a moment. “You ate them all already?” she asked, stunned. “There was enough there for three ponies!”
“The last time I ate was before I saved your friend,” he replied, now licking his fingers. “Eugh, I think I ate some dirt. Again,” he said, muttering the last part as though hoping she wouldn’t hear it.
“Do ya think you could stop talkin’ gibberish for a moment?” Applejack asked, not happy with being left out of the conversation.
“We’re speaking Zebrican, Applejack, not gibberish,” Twilight admonished as she switched back to Equestrian, a little unhappy with her friend’s lack of sensitivity.
“Sorry, Twi, I just don’t like it when somepony’s havin’ a conversation and Ah can’t understand a word they’re sayin’.” Applejack glared at the human, who noticed and glared right back. “And Ah don’t trust this fella, even if he did save Rainbow.”





The orange didn’t trust me. I could just tell, something about its tone.
I sound crazy, I know. That’s why I’m telling you this, no-one else would even consider what I’m saying to have any truth to it. I talked to my own brain, and this sounds crazy to me! 
What did they look like? Guess I never really told you, huh? Okay, the one with the horn, Twilight Sparkle. She had a purple coat, and her mane and tail were a darker purple. Somehow they had a hot pink stripe running through it. On her flank - Yes I looked at her flank, what of it? Anyway, there was some strange starburst symbol kinda thing there. What colours? Err, the star itself was bright pink, and had six points. There were five stars around it, all white and with five points. I’ll try and draw a picture later.
The other one, the one with the Stetson, her name was Applejack. I know, the names sound stupid to me too. Anyway, she was orange. Her mane and tail were blond. I mean the clean kind of blond you’d see when people were still, y’know, able to bathe on a regular basis. I can’t remember the last time I had a bath. They were both tied up into a ponytail. Yes, a horse with two ponytails, one of them her own actual tail. Sounds fucking stupid, I know. And of course, a Stetson. How she had a Stetson, I still don’t know. Her flank had three apples. Just apples, yes. Nothing special.
The building I was in? There were a fuckton of books on the walls in shelves, so a library. And when I say a fuckton of books, I mean there were probably more intact books there than there are in the Mojave combined.
Did I tell you how tall they were? No? Okay, well, they were about four feet high at the head, maybe a bit taller. What? You’re telling me they’re actually called ponies? I thought that word existed only on their world! Okay, this is some seriously weird shit. You have any idea how that even makes sense? If it makes sense?





“So what do ya plan on doin’ with this fella, anyways?” Applejack asked, taking back the basket.
“He’ll need a place to stay,” Twilight mused. “I don’t have much room here, so...” She turned to her farmer friend expectantly.
“I ain’t lettin’ him stay at the farm, Twi,” Applejack replied.
“But why not?”
“Because there ain’t no tellin’ just what that fella might do. Din’t Rainbow say that he killed a pair of manticores?” She pointed an accusing hoof at the human. “Ah don’t want anythin’ like that anywhere near mah kin!”
“It only killed them because it saw that she was in danger.” Applejack noted the hesitation in her voice.
“If yer so sure, why doncha ask him?”
Twilight turned to the human, who had been watching them the whole time. “Excuse me, mister...” She trailed off awkwardly. “Do you have a name?”
He seemed to laugh at the idea of not having one. “Of course I have a name. For now, though, you can just call me the Courier.”
Twilight was not amused by his answer. “That’s not a name, that’s a job title.”
“A title, yeah. One I’m fond of.” The Courier scratched himself. “After all, it’s what I did for a while. So,” he asked abruptly, “what do I call you, little purple horse?”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am a unicorn.” Twilight replied, unhappy with how the conversation was going. “That’s my friend Applejack. You’re in my home in Ponyville, which is in Equestria.” 
The Courier processed that information slowly. “Well, there goes all hope of being anywhere on Earth,” he said.
“’Earth’? That’s a strange name for a world,” Twilight commented.
“Well I didn’t name it,” the Courier responded harshly, as though being accused of suffering from a lack of imagination. “I just live there.”
“Oooooookay...” Twilight said carefully, a little wary of the perceived aggression. “So where are you from?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“The city of New Vegas, in the Mojave Wasteland,” he answered. “Well, not exactly, but that’s where I live now. Kind of.”
Twilight’s questioning was interrupted by Applejack. “Dangit, Twi, could ya not do that?” the farmer asked indignantly. “And what did he say?”
“He says to call him ‘Courier’, and he’s from somewhere called ‘New Vegas’.”
Applejack looked at her expectantly. “And?” she asked. Twilight blinked in confusion, further aggravating the farmer. “Urgh! I asked you ta ask him why he killed them manticores!”
“Oh, right,” Twilight replied sheepishly. She turned back to the human. “Mr. Courier, why did you kill the manticores?”
“Manti-what nows?” he asked, confused.
“The two things you killed in the Everfree Forest,” Twilight elaborated.
“Oh! Those,” he exclaimed. “Well, the first one, I was pretty sure that it was attacking an intelligent creature, one that came from something resembling civilisation. I had no idea at the time, though.” he explained. “Glad I did. The second one probably heard me trying to talk with your colourful friend.”
Twilight turned back to Applejack. “He says that he killed the first one to protect Rainbow. The second one was self-defense,” she translated to the farmer, hoping that it would help her relax. It didn’t.
“And you believe him?” she asked. “This here alien shows up and kills a pair of manticores like they were nothin’! And you’re happy to let him wander around Ponyville!?” Applejack didn’t care that she was yelling at the top of her lungs. She just wanted the human nowhere near Ponyville.





I couldn’t understand a word that was being said, but I didn’t really need to. The orange one seemed happy to try and run me out of town. I didn’t have much to work with, though. Threatening them was only going to end badly, it always does. I knew I had to talk to her, but there was no way I’d be able to pull that off. Language barriers fucking suck.
Of course, I’m a quick thinker. Wouldn’t be running a casino if I wasn’t. But as is natural in such situations, I needed help. “Twilight,” I asked. Yes, I asked the damn pony for help. “Is there any way you can get your friend there to understand what I’m saying?”
She seemed shocked. Probably doesn’t help that I was looking pretty damn angry. That’s what I was told, anyway. I wouldn’t have a clue, you just don’t notice it yourself. “I-I guess? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” The fact that she was concerned for my safety was one of the reasons I liked her. 
“Probably not, but I’ll risk radiation poisoning and broken ribs if it gets her off my back.” Speaking of radiation poisoning, I could feel the effects of it. It was taking everything I had to not throw up. It also felt like the room was spinning.
“I... I might be able to get her to understand Zebrican with a translation spell.” She was obviously weighing her options. “But it’ll be a one-way thing, and temporary.”
Not a perfect solution, I know, but better than nothing, right? “That’ll have to do.”





“He wants to speak to you. Directly,” Twilight said in response to the farmer’s most recent angry outburst about being left in the dark.
“How is he meant to do that?” Applejack asked, her anger mixing with curiosity.
“If you stay still, I should be able to make it so you can understand what he’s saying,” the unicorn explained. “I’m not sure how long it’ll last, though,” she said, her horn glowing purple.
After a few seconds with nothing seemingly happening, Applejack spoke up. “Well? Ain’t ya doin’ this?”
“I think she already did.” The farmer jumped and turned to the source of the new voice, the human. “Nice hat, by the way,” he said with a nod.
“Thanks?” the orange pony said carefully.
“He can’t understand you,” Twilight said as the Courier looked blankly at them.
“I want you to listen to what I’m going to say,” he said. “Might help you understand why I’m the way I am.” Applejack nodded warily. “Barely two months ago, I was in a battle, the most recent in a long war between the New California Republic and Caesar’s Legion.” Both ponies stared at him; the concept of war, while not alien, was one they found almost impossible to grasp. “Before that, about two hundred years, a war my ancestors fought nearly wiped out all life on the planet. We’re still picking up the pieces,” he said bitterly. “The world I come from, it’s kill or be killed. That’s why I was so ready with threatening you with a weapon before. If you wake up after being attacked, it usually means some very bad things are about to happen.” He scowled. “Last time that happened to me, a bunch of crazy robots pulled out my heart, my spine and my brain,” he said offhandedly. “I’m simply a product of my environment. I’m sure you haven’t gone days without food, water and sleep. I bet you haven’t had to limp for six hours with a knife in your leg because a fight didn’t go as well as it should’ve and he got lucky. And you’ve never walked into a town and seen the streets littered with bodies.” 
Both ponies were on the verge of being sick, the idea of such hardship, pain and all-round wrongness too much for them. How could one being survive so much and still seem so... happy? And having his brain removed! There was no way he should still be alive!
“You have no right to judge me, Miss Applejack. Not until you’ve been through what I have.” He turned away and put a hand to his mouth. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to throw up and pass out in my own vomit.” Both ponies gave a confused stare which quickly turned to shock and horror as he did just that.





Author’s Notes:
A tad late, but eh.
Also, a quick bit of research revealed to me that nausea and vomiting are actual symptoms of radiation poisoning. Also, radiation isn’t as deadly in the Fallout universe as it is in ours.