Anne, Boone and Twilight sat in the presidential suite in the Lucky 38, their building now, their city, and yet they didn’t feel any different.
Anne sat on a couch, looking through her Pipboy while Twilight and Boone sat either side of a table, playing a game of chess together. “So we just need to wait while Yes Man installs himself onto the Lucky Thirty Eight and then we’ll be set?” The pony clarified.
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Anne said, reading through the list of radio signals she was picking up and turned on one of the ones that stood out a fair amount by the name of ‘Happy Trails Expedition Broadcast’
“Howdy.” A jolly sounding man said. “My name is Jed Masterson, and I'm a caravan boss for the Happy Trails Caravan Company. If you're hearing this, I have a job offer for you. Happy Trails is organizing an expedition north into Utah, off the Long Fifteen, and we need people. We're looking for caravan guards, prospectors, couriers. If you're used to humping it across the Wastes straight toward trouble, we want you. If you've got a Pip-Boy, we definitely want you. On the other hand, if you're a greenhorn or a city-slicker spinning tales about your skills, you can kindly go hang. If we like your gumption, we'll pay you square and treat you fair. Find me, Jed Masterson, at the Northern Passage if you're interested. Luck to you.”
The message started to repeat after that.
“Well then, this sounds like a good way to make some caps, being a guard pays kinda well and we need to make some caps.” Anne stated, turning off her Pipboy again.
“Do you think we should do it?” Twilight asked, moving her queen along the board and putting Boone’s king into a checkmate who just grumbled and sat back.
“I think I might stay here, Happy Trails is small, they won’t be able to hire many more guards and they’ll probably use Twilight like a cheap pack Brahmin and you’ll get in because you have a Pipboy with the maps.” He said.
“Alright then, I guess that means you and I are heading out Princess.” Anne said, going to the next room over where she put her things, grabbing her bag along with her weapons and attaching them to her body again.
Twilight followed after her friend, grabbing her things and putting her clothing back on and strapping her two pistols and rifle to her body. “Do you know where the northern passage is?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, it’s on my map.” Anne said tapping her arm.
“Oh, alright then, should we go now?”
“I’ll just grab some food and water then we’ll be set.”
The two friends walked into the cave entrance, pushing the makeshift wooden door open as they did. Inside the passage were other people, a few wearing leather armor with different types of rifles, one wearing a blue jumpsuit with the number 22 printed on his back in yellow and a smaller one on the tag of his neck, a Pipboy on his arm. And the last one was wearing work clothes, overalls with a dusty shirt, satchel bag across his shoulder, dark skinned with a small beard on his face.
Approaching the dark skinned man Anne held out a hand in greeting. “Hello, you must be Jed, I’m Anne and my friend here is Twilight.”
“Hello.”
“Howdy friends, heard my little broadcast did you? Yeah, you look like the types.” He said with a smile, shaking Anne’s offered hand. “But there’s only one position left, I’m afraid only one of you can come.” He said.
“Please? Twilight here can carry a lot of stuff and she’s small so she would be able to pass through narrow places.” Anne protested.
He thought about it for a moment, they could bring the weird mutant and carry a bit more stuff with them but he didn’t know if he had the caps to do that. But then he thought, once they trade the cargo away he will have enough caps to pay them so he gave a single nod. “Alright, she can come.”
“Alright, let’s get going.” Anne said with a large smile.
“Just like that huh? You got guts, I’ll give you that.” He said with a small chuckle. “You sure you want to jump in blind? Ain’t got no questions where we’re going or why?”
Anne shrugged. “This is just to make a little extra on the side, and I’m a courier, I’ve been all over the place.” The woman stated.
“I bet you are, but you gals ain’t going anywhere loaded down like a pack Brahmin.” He stated.
Anne grumbled. “Fine, where I put my things?” She asked.
“Just in this crate over here, we’re hiding it and you can get all your things when we come back.” He said pointing to a large wooden crate.
Anne and Twilight went over to the box, Anne putting her grenade rifle and That Gun into the crate along with ammunition for the guns, the grenades she had and the larger of her medical supplies. Twilight meanwhile put her laser rifle into the box along with the batteries for it.
“This enough?”
“Yeah, I think that will do it.” Jed says with a nod. “But you know we’re not coming back this way for a good long while now right? And you know about the weight limit. I don’t want no whining about ‘oh Mister Masterson, I left my one-of-a-kind plasma cannon back at base, can we go back for it?’ You sure you’re ready now?”
“Yeah. We’re ready.”
“Well, alright then. Let’s get moving. We’ve got a long road ahead of us…”
The group of people sat around a campfire, the sky darkened with clouds gently filling the sky. Everyone was talking, enjoying their food. They all ached from the days from walking, their feet from the work and their backs from having to carry large duffel bags filled with things.
“So Stella, what did you do before you became a guard?” Anne asked with a large grin, a bottle of beer in her hand, taking a sip of it.
“I was a Sheriff once, I got sick of killing those I was meant to protect so I just left.” She said with a shrug, taking a sip of her own beer.
“Why were you killing them?” Twilight asked, sticking with just a bottle of Nuka Cola.
“Well, it was at a Hydroelectric dam, meaning that everyone wants it. It would either be an attacker or a drunk arguing with a shotgun, I just had enough of it before I left.” the woman stated. “What about you Anne? What were you?”
“Well, I got amnesia not that long ago, what I can remember I was a courier for the Mojave Express, I kinda stopped that job though at the moment.” Anne said with a shrug.
“What about you Twilight?
“I was librarian, though I did become a princess not too long ago.” Twilight said sheepishly.
“That why you keep calling her princess isn’t it? I thought you were just doing it to make fun of her.” Stella said.
“Oh I do it because it annoys her.” Anne said with a chuckle. “I think she just doesn’t say anything more about it in case I decide to do anythi-”
Jed cleared his throat loudly to catch the attention of all the others around the campfire. “The paths we're following are slow going, so you might as well keep your ears open and listen to what old Jed has to say.” He said, Twilight knowing he was going to be telling an old campfire story.
“A few decades back, folks in the NCR started to hear about a community in northern Utah called New Canaan. Didn't know much about them, except that they were religious folks. Sent out missionaries to talk to the tribes. We've seen our share of cults, but the New Canaanites, they were honest traders. Good fighters, too. Raiders wouldn't tangle with 'em. But then the Legion appeared in Arizona. I reckon you know all about them. Turns out Caesar's first war chief, the Malpais Legate, was a New Canaanite. Joshua Graham. Legend goes that Graham was the meanest, toughest son of a bitch in the whole damned Legion. The New Canaanites wouldn't talk about him. They were ashamed. Guess I can't blame 'em. Well at Hoover Dam, the Malpais Legate finally met his match. Hanlon and Oliver kicked his New Canaanite butt right back over the river. Caesar had to make an example for the others, to show them that even at the highest level, failure wouldn't be tolerated. He had Graham covered in pitch, lit on fire, and thrown into the Grand Canyon. People say he didn't even scream on the way down. Not long after, some of the slaves and tribals started to talk. Said Graham wasn't dead. Shouldn't have been any surprise. All this talk bothered Caesar, so he forbade anyone from speaking his name. Wanted to erase Joshua Graham from history. He got his wish. Joshua Graham disappeared. And in his place came legends of the Burned Man walking the wastes. Probably just a tribal ghost story. But New Canaan's been silent for a long time. Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe the Malpais Legate is dead. Or maybe Joshua Graham did crawl out of that canyon and finally found his way back home.”
“All right, people. Been a long couple weeks, but here we are. Zion. I know your feet hurt, I know you're tired. But I need everyone's mind on the trail ahead.” Jed stated as they walked out of a passage between two cliff walls, a thin one.
One of the other guards by the name of Stella spoke up. “Ain't the trail ahead worries me, Jed. Those descents we made through that slot canyon back up there? Ain't no way we're getting back out the way we came. And then what?” She said.
“Goddammit Stella, heard you the first time, and the fifteenth too!” Jed exclaimed as the group continued to walk. “The New Canaanites will know a way. And if they don't we got the maps on our friend's Pip-Boy over there.” He stated. “Now enough lollygagging! Get moving and keep an eye out for tribals!”
“Sorry to bother you with reality, ol' Jed. Who cares if we can't get back out the way we come? That's not a problem.” Stella muttered to herself angrily.
Not much longer of walking and Jed holds up a hand. “Shhhhh! Hold on, now.” He said quietly, crouching down slightly. “Could swear I heard something up ahead.”
One of the other guard started to slowly walk forward, looking around but no one was looking at the large rock ledges around them expect Twilight.
Her eyes widened as she saw movement up high, seeing a man wearing almost nothing, and what he did have just looked like different parts of normal clothing. His hair was made up into dreadlocks and paint of different colors covered his body, and his arm was brought back with what looked like an axe in it. Before she could say anything he threw his arm forward and let go of the weapon.
The axe spun in the air before with a sickening splat it hit the guard right on his unprotected head, the sharp part stabbing right through his skull. The body fell to the ground, the hunting rifle firing off in his arms from the twitches of the corpse.
Bullets started hailing down upon them, a guard near the one who just got hit with the axe collapsing as her body was quickly filled with small holes and splattered the ground in blood.
“Goddamn! Ambush! Cover people, watch yourselves!” Jed yelled, everyone quickly trying to get behind a rock or tree in hope it would protect them.
Twilight managed to scramble behind a large rock, pulling Benny’s pistol out and getting it ready.
The one in the blue jumpsuit ran behind a tree, arms covering his head. “I don’t deserve this! My Pipboy don’t even work! Why the fuck you guys hire me!?” He started to cry out.
A woman, with a laser rifle in her arms peeking over a rock near the jumpsuited man growled, firing beams of red light at anywhere she thought she saw movement up hire. “Shut up Ricky! You might as well be waving at them!” She yelled.
Before the man could say anything more an explosion rocked out near him, his arm getting ripped out of its socket and landed yards away.
Twilight looked over at Anne to see she was firing her pistol from behind cover at an up high stone platform where she saw another one of the tribals. The painted man let out a loud yell of pain before he fell forward, falling several feet before landing with a crunch on the ground below.
The pony could see flashes of light come from a push up ahead so she started to shoot at that.
“Enough of this! We’re sitting ducks here!” The woman with the laser rifle yelled before jumping out from cover and running forward, lasers shooting everywhere. “Here I come! I used to be a Sheriff once goddamn-”
She was cut off as her head was reduced to a stump, a bullet quickly ending her life in an instant.
“Stella!” Jed yelled, running over to her body. “Oh no…” He said in shock before another explosion went off, his body flying to the side before his back slammed against a tree with a loud crack.
“Fuck! Twilight, don’t move!” Anne yelled, shooting at anything she saw moving before finally all was quiet.
“A-alright princess… I think we’re clear.” Anne said slightly pained.
When Twilight walked to her friend she could see why she was in pain. Dents were all over her metal armor, a large one on her helmet. Holes were in the thinner parts, Twilight could count close to half a dozen all over her body.
“Anne, you’re hurt!”
“No fucking shit!” Anne hissed, shambling forward. “We need to get out of here.” Anne said. “But we need the duffle bags, there things that we’ll need. Quickly, just grab them and let’s keep going, and grab Stella’s laser rifle, she won’t be needing it anymore.”
“But she was our friend.” Twilight protested.
“Then she would want us to take it. If I were to die I would expect to be looted anyway, so why give the bad guys extra firepower when your friends can have it instead?” Anne said, limping from the two bullets in her left leg as she headed to Jed’s body.
Twilight uncertainly made her way to Stella, trying to avoid looking at her lack of a head and using her magic to pull the weapon from her dead hands along with her duffle bags.
“Anne, let me carry them.” Twilight insisted when she saw her injured friend carrying three bags.
“N-no I got this…”
Twilight used her magic, prying two of the bags from the woman’s grasp and putting them on her back. “No, I do.” The pony said walking.
Anne was in too much pain to say anything, just following after her friend.
Barely after Twilight turned a corner around a large rock she saw another tribal with his arm back there, the axe flying right at her.
She froze in terror, her life flashing before her eyes before at the last moment she was shoved out of the way, the axe which turned out to be made from a lead pipe with two railroad spikes tied on with electronic wire sunk into Anne’s chest, the spikes digging in as far as they could go.
Anne let out a choked sound before collapsing to the ground.
Twilight felt something she hadn’t felt in so long.
Pure rage.
Her horn glowed an intense purple and before the tribal could do anything a beam of searing hot magic fired from her horn, burning a hole as big as her hoof all the way through him.
His eyes went glassy before he fell backwards.
Twilight panted, sweat on her brow as her teeth were clenched together. Blinking a few times she turned to look at her friend, hearing her raspy breathing. “Anne!” Twilight yelled, running over to her companion looking at the growing puddle of blood in horror.
“I-I’m fine Princess… r-really.” Anne croaked out, struggling to stay awake.
“N-no you’re not.” Twilight said with tears in her eyes. “I-I need to take you to help.” Twilight said trying to pick up her friend.
“Aghh!” Anne yelled, clutching her chest before suddenly going silent.
“A-Anne?” Twilight asked, looking scared over her shoulder at the woman laying limply on her.
Anne didn’t say anything, weak breathing the only thing heard.
Twilight started to panic, she needed to find help as quickly as she could.
She started to walk over a rickety wooden rope bridge, being careful not to drop anything as she struggled under the weight.
A loud bang sounded out and one of the plants shattered, falling down till it landed with a splash at the river many stories below her. Looking around she saw another tribal aiming his rifle at her and she thought that this was the end, air hitching in her throat.
Suddenly another person appeared behind him, a club striking upon his head before his body went limp and fell forward.
The new person wore a cap on his head with bird feathers on it, tattoos instead of the white paint the others used.
He ran towards Twilight. “Hoi, the white legs don’t leave survivors often let me tell you.” He said in a thick accent. “Now why don’t you let me take a look at your owner and I can look after her?” He asked, slowly approaching Twilight with his empty hands held up. “Easy girl, easy.”
“I can talk you know.” Twilight said flatly.
The new tribal blinked in confusion. “Oh, well I still want to help your owner.” He said before getting cut off by Twilight again.
“She’s not my owner, she’s my best friend.”
“None of that matters now, the White Legs sometimes poison their weapons, if that axe was then your friend needs the antidote quickly.” He said, making Twilight feel as if there was a lead weight in her gut. “I’ll take you to our camp on the Eastern Virgin, we’ll take care of your friend while you talk with Joshua.”
“Joshua?”
“Joshua Graham.”