Chapter 32
Twilight woke with a small yawn, starching out her back and rubbing her eyes as she sat up and looked around the small metal box they had slept in.
Anne and Boone sat against a wall eating from a box of food each, not really talking that much. When the woman noticed her friend was awake, she smiled, giving the pony a small wave. “Hey Princess, how are you?” The woman asked, reaching into her bag and pulling out a box of Insta-Mash for the pony and held it out. “How did you sleep?”
“Alright, the ground was killing my rump.” She said with a yawn, rubbing her eyes to help her wake up some more.
Grabbing the box with her magic she sat back down with her back against one of the cold metal walls, glad she was still wearing the black makeshift armor Anne made for her and kept her warm somewhat. “What time is it?”
Anne checked her Pip-Boy. “It’s eight fifty two, so almost nine.” She stated before taking another mouthful of her 200 year old box of food, so many preservatives in it that kept it from going moldy or going off.
“Can I have some water as well?” The pony asked, Anne handing her a half drunk bottle with actual clean water in it instead of the dirt filled one she was used to seeing.
“We have a couple of purified bottles, should last if we use it sparingly, maybe see if the Dino-Bite has any when we head back to Novac to tell Manny we did his favor.” She stated.
Twilight opened the bottle of the water and couldn’t help but let out a light moan at the taste of clean crisp water, chugging it down quickly. She didn’t realize how much she missed fresh water, the normally bland and unnoticeable taste of water now seeming like the best thing in her life.
While drinking Twilight realized that water was no longer filling her mouth and she opened her eyes and saw that the bottle was no longer in front of her and was held up by Anne. “Woah there girl, don’t rush it, I just said we don’t have much of this and here you go downing it like whiskey shots.”
“I’m not drinking again after last time.” Twilight said flatly, remembering waking up on top of the metal statue’s head.
“Anyone who drinks says the exact same thing, but when the call of booze arrives you won’t be able to stop us.” Anne said with a bitter chuckle. “Damn, that sounds like I’m an alcoholic…” She stated to herself.
“We always can go to New Vegas, there’s plenty of booze there as long as you’re willing to pay and not lose all your money to gambling.” Boone said taking a small swig from his plastic water bottle to help the disgusting tasting food go down easier but he was used to worse with army rations.
“Well if you’re going to Vegas there isn’t really much else to do besides to get drunk or lose all your money on the tables.” Anne said with a shrug.
“What’s ‘New Vegas’ like? What does it look like?” The pony asked.
Anne turned to Boone, she herself had never actually been there from what she could remember with her muddled mind.
“Well I’ve only went there before I got married, moved to Novac afterwards but from what I did see it’s one of the most populated parts in the wasteland. Freeside, which is around the city and is where the slums are. And then the actual Strip, casinos as far as the eye can see and probably the safest place you’ll find.” He stated.
“We might head there one day, but right now we’re looking for someone and I want to get to him as soon as possible.” Anne stated, standing up with a small tired groan and throwing her finished food box out the window. “You guys ready?”
“Sure, I guess.” Boone said, doing the same as Anne and standing up, grabbing his rifle and putting it onto his back.
“But it’s nice up here…” Twilight protested softly, pouting slightly. “Can’t we stay a little longer?”
“Wouldn’t you much prefer an actual bed? If we go now the sooner we’ll be able to sleep on a mattress instead of the rusty metal we have been lately.” Anne stated, grabbing her bag and putting it on her back along with all her weapons into their holsters. “Would also be nice to get out of this damn armor, it’s starting to smell a bit and needs a good scrub down.”
“You get used to not washing the longer you’re in the Wastes.” Boone stated.
“Then let’s go guys!” Anne said with a smile, Boone heading through the door first and before Anne could follow Twilight stopped her.
“Anne, could I please speak with you… A-alone?” She asked meekly, her heart thumping madly in her chest at what she was going to tell the woman.
“Um, sure.” Anne said confused before looking over her shoulder at Boone. “We’ll meet you down by the lobby.” She said before looking back to Twilight. “Alright, I’m all ears.”
Twilight took a few deep breaths, trying her hardest to calm herself. “W-well… there’s something I need to tell you…” The pony said softly.
“Yes?”
“I-I kind of like you…” She said meekly.
“That’s it? I like you too Prin-”
“No, I don’t mean it like that. I LIKE like you…” Twilight said with a large blush.
Anne’s smile fell away, realizing what her friend was saying. “Oh…” She said, sighing sadly as she sat down against one of the walls. “I’m not doing this because you don’t mean anything to me, but the opposite.” She tried to explain but knew she wasn’t doing well. “The straight truth is I respect you too much to do anything like get together with you Twilight, I’m not the type to get into a relationship.”
“Oh…” Twilight said, hanging her head sadly as she was rejected, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Now, what you’re feeling isn’t really love, it’s puppy love. I saved your life, a few times over and because of that you feel like you love me but it isn’t you just feel as though it is but in reality it’s closer to Stockholm syndrome.”
“Stockholm syndrome?”
“Well, it’s a thing here that in prisons people would be beaten and worse, so when a guard comes along and let’s say offers them a fresh loaf of bread they think that they are the best thing in their lives and think of that as being love but it’s just everything else is so bad that simple kindness seems like an act of affection.” She explained. “You were taken away from your home to a place no one should have to call home, because I was the first to show you kindness you think you have feelings for me.”
“Oh.”
“Besides.” Anne started, going over to Twilight and pulling her into a tight hug. “I think of you more like an annoying sister than anyone I would have a relationship with, I love you, just not in that way.” Anne said softly, gently comforting the pony.
After a few minutes Twilight pulled back from the hug, wiping her nose with the back of her hoof. “W-we should go back to Novac now…” She said.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Anne said giving Twilight a soft smile. “I’m always here for you Twilight, don’t forget that.”
__________________________________
“You have any luck on the ghouls? I’m counting on you.” Manny Vargas said once he turned from looking out of the dino’s mouth to see who came up.
“The ghouls are gone, all clear.” Anne said with a small sigh.
“Really? Unbelievable man, I knew that wasn’t going to be easy. But I had a good feeling about you, looks like you two have been through a lot.” He said looking at Twilight and Anne, Boone waiting downstairs so he didn’t have to talk to Manny again.
“Now… about the man I’m looking for…” Anne said crossing her arms.
“Okay, I’ll tell you everything I know, just like I promised.” He said. “The guy you’re looking for, Benny, was traveling with some members from my old gang, they were going to Boulder City.” He said, telling quite a lot from just that one sentence.
“Any ideas why they went that way?” Twilight asked.
“No clue. I know Benny hadn’t paid up yet, maybe that was where they were supposed to get square.” He said with a shrug.
“Where is Boulder City?”
“It’s straight up route ninety three from here, just keep following the road north.” He said pointing out the mouth at one of the long old roads in front of it.
“Thanks, that’s all we needed to know.” Anne said with a nod. “Thank you.”
“I hope that helps, I owed you.”
____________________________________
Hours later the group found themselves walking down the cracked and worn roads, weeds and dead plants growing through the cracks. Up ahead was the ruins of a town, if you could even call it that, there was barely anything left, only chunks of concrete that were once building with rebar sticking out of them at random angles.
There was a large smooth stone, a NCR trooper stood in front of it and looking solemnly at what was on it. Upon approaching they could read what it said.
‘On this spot in the year 2277, Rangers and Soldiers of the New California Republic turned back the forces of Caesar’s Legion during the battle of Hoover Dam. Over one hundred men and women gave their lives on Nevada soil to defend the local civilians and the principles of the Republic. May this humble stone be an enduring memorial to their valor and sacrifice.’ It read and on the other side was a long list of names along with ranks of all who died.
“Are you here to pay your respects to?” The young trooper asked looking at the group.
“What is this memorial?” Twilight asked.
“It commemorates the battle of Hoover Dam. The Rangers lured the best of Caesar’s Legion into Boulder City, then they blew the whole town up. The NCR still lost a bunch of troops in the fighting though. My older brother sacrificed himself so they could evacuate some of the wounded.” He said sadly.
“We’re sorry to hear that.” Anne said on behalf of the group.
“Don’t worry about it.” He said sadly with a sigh, looking back at the large stone.
The group continued to move on, the rubble in such a way they couldn’t go into the actual ruins of the town until they saw what looked like a door guarded by an NCR wearing a worn green beret instead of the normal helmets, showing that he was a higher rank.
Approaching he held up a hand to stop them. “We got a situation with some Great Khans right now. The brass at McCarren has ordered me to lock down the ruins until it’s been resolved.” He stated.
Anne knew it was the group she was looking for and hoped that Benny was still there with them. “What’s going on in there?”
“One of my patrols was on its way back from Novac when it came under fire from the Great Khans. They radioed for reinforcements but instead of waiting for us they chased the Khans into the ruins where they were caught in a crossfire. No deaths but not all the squad got out. The Khans have Private Ackerman and Private Gibbet as hostages.” He explained.
“We may be able to negotiate a deal with the Great Khans.” Anne said.
“Normally I’d turn you down since I have no idea who you are, but considering that the hostages are good as dead when we attack… Alright, I’m going to give you a chance to talk to the Great Khans, their leader is a man named Jessup. If we hear shooting we’ll be coming in, but it’d probably be too late for you.”
“Alright, we understand.”
“Good luck.” He said before opening the boarded up wooden fence, allowing the group to enter.
Inside was even more ruined than out, rubble in smaller chunks and blown up cars everywhere, behind some of the rubble were NCR troopers with their rifles pointed at a certain building but now were firing.
Guessing that the building with the guns pointed at it was the one they needed to get to Anne held up her arms and shouted. “Hello! Great Khans!? I need to have a word with Jessup, no one has to get hurt here!” She called, Boone grumbling and putting his hands up as well, following Anne as she slowly approached.
As they approached an only partially destroyed building they realized there weren’t many Khans there, each one of them wearing black leather with their hair spiked or shaven, automatic 10mm weapons in their hands but still not much bigger than Anne’s 10mm pistol but could hold more shots and shoot faster.
Hidden from the trooper’s view was a room with two kneeling NCR troopers, their hands bound in front of them and a Khan stood near them with her 10mm pointed at them, able to kill them in an instant if she wanted to.
“He’s inside!” A Khan called at them, pointing at a door but not taking his eyes off where the NCR were hidden in the rubble.
Heading for the door Anne stepped inside followed by her two friends.
Upon entering there were three Khans visible in the small room, lit up by a small battery lamp.
“What the hell?!” One of them exclaimed, looking shocked at seeing Anne, a bandana around his forehead that was spiked into a Mohawk. “You’re that courier Benny wasted back in Goodsprings, you’re supposed to be dead.” He said slightly scared.
“I got better.” Anne said flatly, Twilight looking confused at her friend, why was she meant to be dead and what did wasted mean?
“And here I thought us Great Khans were tough to kill, so what happens now?” He asked.
“Where’s the Platinum Chip?” Anne asks firmly.
“Don’t have it, Benny stole it right before he stabbed us in the back. He’s probably back at the Strip by now laughing at me.” He said angrily.
“Let’s talk about settling things between you and the NCR.” Boone interrupted.
“What’s to negotiate? The NCR backs off, we walk out of here, no one gets hurt.” He stated crossing his arms.
“Free the hostages now and I’ll have the NCR escort you out of their territory.” Anne said.
He sighed tiredly, rubbing his temple. “I can’t believe I’m doing this, but all right, the hostages can go, the NCR better keep their end of the deal though.” He said before reaching into his pocket and throwing something shiny at Anne.
She caught it and looked at it, a silver lighter with a spade from cards on it, looking very good quality. “Here, a souvenir for you. It’s Benny’s lighter, shove it up his ass when you catch up with him.” He said.
Leaving the building they saw the two NCR hostages quickly running away, now freed but the Khans weren’t moving from where they were yet.
Heading back to the officer they first talked to, and when they approached he said. “I’m glad you got my people freed but there’s a new problem. I just got orders to take out the Great Khans, hostages or not.”
“The Khans let the hostages go in exchange for their own freedom.” Twilight said slightly angry.
“My hands are tied, I can’t go against orders… can I?” He said uncertainly.
“If you have any integrity then you’ll honor the deal.” The pony stated.
“You’re right, the Great Khans are free to go.” He said, a few minutes the Khans started to leave, looking uncertainly at the glaring troopers but the officer shook his head and they looked away.
“Fucking finally, Benny is in the Strip, we actually are going to Vegas already Princess, you’ll be able to see it after all.” Anne said with a large grin as they started to walk off.
“That sounds rather exciting, it’s meant to be an important place right?” Twilight asked.
“One of the few places the warheads that killed everything didn’t get.” She said with a smile. “Trust me when I say-… What the hell is that?” Anne started but stopped in place when she saw something approaching them.
As it got closer Twilight knew what it was. The single wheel. The blue paint. The cowboy face on a screen.
“Fancy meeting you here friends!” It said happily in its tinny southern voice.
“Hello Victor… again.”
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Can Varonica join the group and Arcane?
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What you have written is not Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is – as described – "feelings of trust or affection in certain cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim towards the captor." Unless Anne has kidnapped Twilight – in which case murder – then what she's feeling is actually gratitude misunderstood as affection.
5795020 That second .gif scares the shit out of me. I've played faaaar too much Parasite Eve.
Love it, love it, love it! Keep it up!
I started reading this with a less than great impression before, thanks to the grammar. Thankfully that improved (a bit), but as much as I want to like this fic, I can't. Your chapters are short, and even then, I find them way too wordy about things that really don't matter much in the grand scheme of things. To me, these parts of the story make it boring and skippable.
Take chapter 27, for example. When Anne was explaining how laser rifles work to Twilight, I just started skimming the dialogue, not really reading it. It might just be me, but I can't stand it when characters take a long time to explain things.
What I would do instead is summarize parts of said explanation bits, generalizing them. "Anne proceeded to explain to Twilight what she knew of laser based weaponry, of how they were loaded with batteries instead of bullets and how they had little to no recoil in comparison to their lead-spitting cousins. After the alicorn asked why she was being told all of this, the Courier said it was hers and proceeded to explain how a rifle was different to the handguns Twilight was armed with."
Another thing i take some issue with is the descriptions of loot obtained. In some earlier chapters, you were going over most bits of loot they found. I think it's unnecessary for most little things. Finding some med-x or a few bullets is fine, but telling us about all of it isn't needed. For big things, like new, non-throwaway weapons, quest items, or objects that would pique Twilight's interest, I'd say do those if you think it will help with the story. In regards to that third one, the elementary school in Camp Searchlight springs to mind. As for small loot, I would begin leaving it out or summarizing their finds. Instead of 15 med-x and 2 boxes of cram, it could be "a fuckton of med-x and some cram." It doesn't necessarily need to be said unless, perhaps, they were out of something and found more of it or found a lot of a specific thing (all the pool cues the fiends keep in Vault 3, for example).
Either way, I want to like this story. It's funny and charming and I like how Twilight and Anne play off of one another, but I keep getting sucked out of it and the explanation (not exposition) heavy bits are enough to put me off from reading more than a few chapters at a time.
ok, i got to ask, but r u going to be doing any of the DLC in this story? id really like to see Twi take on the Big Empty...shes short enough that no autodoc could make her a Lobodamite but peaceful enough that she wouldnt draw on the Think Tank without a really good reason...
5800252
I was actually planning on going on the Happy Trails DLC very soon, as in the next ten chapters, it all started and ready to go
5800873 finished that one myself some time ago, then i went to Big Empty...just finished that one a few days ago, but i find im in need of a vacation after all that. heard there was a very nice pre-war vacation spot not that far from New Vegas...supposed to be a wonder of the pre-war world...
I wood just like Twilight to use her magic more. like the beams she used on the Changelings in the Canterlot Wedding.
5813947
umhhh you know what you just wrote gave me a picture of a liberty prime....as twillight.....RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
5853652 YES LIKE THAT
"Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, it's my old friends from goodsprings"
'Inside my head' Oh my gosh Victor I hate you! It is so obvious that your following me!
Now I have nothing against that Securitron but I still hate it when he follows me around for that first leg of the story. He's almost as creepy as Yes man.
That whole "I love you too but not in that way" bit... Ugh..? That was shit, dude. I'm sorry, but your dialogue is... 78% terribly unnatural, with the remainder being 5% decent banter and 17%dialogue from the game. Not just in the aforementioned part, but in general.
Think of it this way: how would you actually say something? I write my dialogue, say it out loud to myself, then change it if it sounds stupid or unnatural.
I'ma continue reading, but im starting to lose the will to go on.
Wow, that was actually a pretty sweet way to turn down Twis affection.
5976620
If thou ist goin to complain, begone with thee!