Celestia and Luna teleport to the Capital Wasteland, and find the Lone Wanderer, with Twilight. Sequel to 'The Lone Wanderer's Journey'
The Lone Wanderer completed his long and difficult journey. But, in Equestria, Celestia and Luna discover the same spell that Twilight used to travel to the human dimension, thus triggering new problems. But Celestia slowly loses her sanity as time passes. Who will be in charge of the Mane 6? The Lone Wanderer, or the rulers of Equestria?
Sequel to 'The Lone Wanderer's Journey'. Original idea came from Ozone. Thanks man. Alert: Chapter 3 contains gory content. If you dislike reading torture(TORTURE, not rape) and dismemberment, leave now. I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic nor the Fallout series.
Celestia trotted happily with Luna towards her room. Luna herself was still waking, being taken off bed by her sister. Celestia had just found what she needed to examine the human race: a spell.
"Tia, where are we going?" Luna said, laziness in her words.
"Haven't you heard me before? We're going to test a new spell. So, we can see how humanity is."
"But why can't we just leave them alone? I want to sleep..." Luna replied, rubbing her eyes shortly with her hooves.
"Because they are extremely advanced in technology. Who knows what we can find there?" Celestia opened the large door to her room, that was even larger. It had gigantic bookshelves, much like Twilight's library. She gripped one book off the thousands, and put it over a table.
"So, I just need to concentrate and..." Celestia's horn began to lighten up, but Luna cut her sister off:
"Sister, are you sure of this? It doesn't look normal. It says that the caster and anypony at the vicinity will be teleported to the desired dimension. Who will rule Equestria in our place?"
"Of course I am sure of this. And we won't disappear from here. We will be replaced by other 'us' that will keep doing the things that we would do if we wouldn't go to the human plane. So, no worries."
"And the 'going back' part?" Luna asked a question that Celestia pondered about for some time.
"They must be so advanced that they must have dimensional portals. Come on, Luna! What's the problem?" Celestia the began to charge her spell. And after mere seconds, a blinding flash of light filled the room...
The Citadel, 12:23 p.m, a week after the Enclave's defeat.
Jason walked calmly at the Citadel halls. Since he got back to life for the second time and defeated the Enclave, the brothers and sisters of steel stationed there had their spirits lifted. Finally, the Brotherhood Of Steel emerged victorious and was seen as the true defender of the Wastes. Humming a unknown tune, but familiar to himself, he opened the squadron's room, finding Twilight reading a book, relaxing in her bed. Jason neared her and the couple gave each other a long kiss.
"So, what's up, Jasy?" Twilight asked, returning her gaze to the book.
"Want to wander with me at the Wastes? See some of the Sun's light today?" He asked cynically, Twilight staring daggers at him, but smiling shortly after.
"Where are we going?"
"Nowhere. C'mon Twilight! What do you want to do here in the Citadel? Play chess with Kodiak for the 5th thousand time? Hear Rothchild babbling? Or be massacred by Gunny's training? Let's stay some days off, camping." Jason completed his phrase as he got his power armor from under his bed, and quickly dressing in it. Twilight accepted Jason's offer, shuting her book, and dressed in her T-45d. Prepared, The Wanderer called Dogmeat, that was running around the A ring, since it had nothing to do. Jason still had his sleeping bags with him, so camping would be a lot more easier. Leaving the Citadel under the Sun light, they began their walk.
The Wasteland wasn't better, but it was way more safe now that the Brotherhood destroyed most of the Enclave's camps. But it was still the same thing that it was when Jason first left the Vault. Eyebots hovered around transmitting the Enclave's radio bugged message, raiders tried to hunt mole rats, and deathclaws traveling with their babies. Jason avoided the previously mentioned creatures, flashbacks of his adventure at Old Olney, something that he didn't appreciated remembering.
"So, anything new Twi?" Jason asked, breaking the weird silence.
"No, only that when me and you... well..., kissed for the first time, Rainbow, Pinkie and AJ got drunk." She blushed while mentioning their first kiss. The Wanderer replied:
"Twi, you don't need to be embarrassed. Do you love me?" Jason's question made Twilight's cheeks get even more red.
"Y-yes, Jay, I love you."
"Then, there's no problem in saying that we're together." He put his arm around her shoulder, bringing her to his side. The couple kept travelling to the nowherer. The passed by various places in the Wasteland, like the Corvega Factory, Paradise Falls (Though they passed far from there), Big Town and even Megaton. Stopping by, they entered The Wanderer's house. It was familiar to Jason, but to Twilight it was completely new.
"Well, it's not too much. Full of dust, isn't? I haven't been here since I met you girls." The Wanderer stated, taking some dust off his small dinner table. Twilight herself was intrigued with a collection of strange bobbleheads.
"What are those things?" She asked, pointing her finger at his collection.
"Ah, promotional bobbleheads from Vault-Tec. Most of them were in strange places. And when I moved to Megaton, this stand was already here. Some times I wonder if they put this here to mock me, since I came from a Vault." He sighed, and went upstairs. Twilight surprised herself with the big quantity of knives that Jason had on top of his desk and some stimpaks sitting in his chair. Jason took the stimpaks and stored in his Pip-Boy, before continuing their walk.
Outside, they continued their trip heading to the Wasteland's west. Passing under a decaying bridge, the couple and Dogmeat could see the vastness of the west, that ended up in a enormous mountain range. The Sun was already setting in the horizon. The Wanderer stopped, looking around for any threat. Feeling safe, he took the two sleeping bags out of his Pip-Boy and collected wood from a dead tree. Lighting the small campfire, he sat down, Twilight doing the same. Relaxing, Jason gazed at the horizon, zoning out within seconds. Twilight herself was thinking deeply about all the time that she spent in the Wastes. For her, it was both good and horrible. Being with her friends and someone that she loved was one. Witnessing gruesome deaths was another. She couldn't blame herself for what she had done. Twilight even had to admit that she was liking the Wasteland 'lifestyle'.
The Wanderer woke up from his zone out, and looked around at the desert and found a group of raiders. The tribals were harassing two wastelanders, who tried to run away. Since they were armed with melee weapons, the wastelanders had a small chance of surviving their attack. Determined to save them, Jason took his sniper rifle and aimed at the attackers. With military accuracy, he pressed the trigger, the bullet hitting the raider's head, exploding his head in the impact. His followers jumped in shock, as they stared at their friend headless body. The group looked around, trying to find who had killed their presumed leader. Jason pressed the trigger again, ripping one of the raider's arm off. The man fell to the ground, holding what remained of his arm, blood spouting continuously. Noticing that one of the raiders had a grenade in her belt. 'Gotcha!' Jason thought, as the group was launched in the air, legless and armless. Letting a satisfactory sigh escape his lips. Looking back to the small camp that he created, he found Twilight leaning her head towards his shoulder.
The Wanderer's heart was flooded with a warm feeling, as he took off his helmet. Jason turned his glance to the stars, where Twilight was looking all the time. The purple-haired girl held his hand firmly, as the couple melted in their embrace.
Meanwhile, not far from Jason's campsite...
"So, here we are..." Celestia's words were carried away as she examined her surroundings.
"Where the hay we are, Tia?" Luna asked, her eyes focused in a small dead tree.
"Maybe we are in a human desert, far from civilization. But don't worry, we will find a traveler." Celestia tried to convince Luna, who was looking at her new body. The two sisters kept silent as they walked through the dark Wasteland, the Moon's light being their only source of illumination. Luna began to worry about were they where, considering the sight of a small destroyed house. Finally, they found a small orange light being emitted from a campfire. Not sure of who or what was residing at that area, Celestia called:
"Hey, anypony there? We came in peace!"
Jason immediately put his helmet on, but Twilight let her face exposed due to the familiar word. Getting up, The Wanderer took his plasma rifle off his back. But the weapon fell from his grip, as he saw two naked women. Blushing heavily behind his helmet, he examined them: their hair waved even though that no wind was being blown. The woman who appeared to be the oldest had multiple light colors, and the youngest had only a dark blue with white dots that looked like stars.
"Who the hell are you?" Jason asked, stroking Dogmeat's head, ordering it not to growl.
"I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister Princess Luna." Celestia said, Twilight instantly remembering them. However, the girl kept her wish of running and hugging them at bay. "Is this, Twilight Sparkle?" Celestia asked, pointing her finger at the young girl.
"Yes, princess, it is me!" Twilight ran and gave Celestia a crushing hug, said person trying to let go of the embrace.
"Twilight, how did you get to the human dimension? Did you use the same spell?" Celestia finally got herself out of Twilight's tight hug.
"Yes, Princess. I'm so happy to see you here..."
"Okay, so could someone explain me what the heck is happening here?" Jason cut off their conversation, trying to keep his eyes off from the two women bodies.
"I am a princess from Equestria, Celestia, raiser of the Sun. Equestria is home to the ponies. And this is my sister Luna, who raises the Moon" The Wanderer threw his helmet away, as if he wasn't listening well.
"Ah, Twilight said about you two. Considering that she knows you guys, I'll give some protection. Come here." He called the two once princesses to his small campsite. They sat down, Dogmeat keeping a close eye on them. "Please, dress in this armor, please." Jason gave them two combat armors, covering his eyes. Dressing up in the new piece of clothing, Celestia and Luna sat down at the campfire, examining Jason's and Twilight's armors with interest.
"So, what is your name, human?" Celestia asked, receiving a weird glance from The Wanderer.
"Name's Jason Miller."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Miller. We came to your world, or dimension, to check on how well humanity is going."
"How well? Hah, than you should have come here on the pre-war times. Everything is destroyed now."
"What?!? Are you serious?" Celestia's face showed clearly her worries.
"Yep, Let me tell all the story already."
10 Minutes later...
"... and now, America is this damned desert." Jason received shocked stares as he finished his explanation about the Great War.
"So, humanity is now rebuilding itself?" Luna asked, hoping to receive a positive response.
"Well, if chasing fellow survivors, mutilating them, hunting people for money, and seeing even more people being ripped open by mutated animals is rebuilding civilization, then I should get some psychological help."
"Then we are going back to Equestria, and we are taking Twilight." Celestia said, nearing the mentioned person.
"Back? There is no 'going back'. You're stuck in here. Why do you think that Twilight and her friends are with me since last month?" Jason stated, the once Sun-raiser launching a paranoid stare at the young knight. Celestia sat down defeated, Luna staring at her, anger in her eyes.
"Tia, what have you done?" The younger princess asked, while her sister tried to think about a way back.
"You say, human, that there is no way back. But I will find out!" Celestia stared at Jason's brown eyes viciously.
"Really? Good luck." The Wanderer taunted, throwing a 10mm pistol at the challenging woman. She examined the weapon, not knowing it's purpose.
"Sister, we need him. He said that this land is completely hostile. We won't survive a second without help." Luna commented, her sister sighing furiously. "Okay, Mr. MIller. I will follow you. But I will find a way back to Equestria!"
"Go ahead and try. Just remember that your old authority doesn't mean shit here, so don't expect that someone will bow to you." The Wanderer taunted again, throwing his knife up and down. Celestia stared daggers at the calm knight, as he extinguished the fire with a small bottle of dirty water. Laying inside his sleeping bag, Jason meditated about what was going to happen in the future. But Twilight herself was arguing mentally over who she would side with: the love of her life, or the pony that mentored her?
Jason woke up earlier than he thought. 5:20. Twilight and her old friends were still sleeping. 'Great, so now I'm stuck with two women that are crazy to get back to their homeland, and there's no way possible. Jesus, I smell someone going insane.' A quick thought passed through his mind as he got up and examined the surroundings. Jason then tried to leave the campsite to hunt some animals, but a small bottle of vodka made things totally different.
"What... Jay, what are you doing?" Twilight asked the sneaking paladin, who looked back confused.
"Ah, since it's 5 a.m. I decided to search for something to hunt, but, now that you're all awake, we will keep on traveling." The Wanderer replied, Celestia and Luna slowly waking up. After some minutes, they were ready to another trip
"So, now human, are you going to take us back to our homeland?" Celestia asked, this time trying to reason with the armored wanderer.
"How many time I have to say that there is no going back? And stop addressing me as 'human', 'cause you're one too." Jason replied, getting annoyed because of her insistence. Celestia sighed in frustration.
"So, Mr. Miller, I presume that you and Twilight are now from a military organization?" She asked, clearly wanting to know more about humanity's military condition at the moment.
"The Brotherhood Of Steel. Yeah, military in some way. The US Army is gone long ago, my friend." He said, waving his arms cynically. Celestia's patience was depleting because of Jason's ironical behavior.
"And are you high ranked? Or even part of a squadron?" She asked further, trying to reach his relation with Twilight.
"Yeah, I'm a Paladin Captain, and yes I have a squad named 'Equestrian Knights'." Celestia's plans began to work, raising her hope due to the reference to her homeland.
"And who makes part of it?" She asked, Jason slowly understanding her plan.
"Me, Twi, Rainbow, AJ, Pinkie, Rarity and Flutters."
"AHA! I knew it! You are involved with them!" Celestia shouted in her self-proclaimed victory, while Jason only facepalmed himself. 'My sweet Jesus, if raiders and Eden weren't enough.' He thought, continuing his trip back to the Citadel, since the two sisters nearly ruined his camping days. The trip was quiet, while Luna was getting worried over her sister's obsessive behavior and Jason's overly cynical responses. 'Was he lying when he said that there's no going back?' She thought, holding her own hands firmly.
At the Citadel, the small group was received with weird and confused stares. Going directly to his squadron's room, no one muttered a word. At the 'Equestrian Knights' HQ, all members looked in shock at their former rulers, seconds before bowing at her. Jason folded his arms, and sighed bored. He glanced at Twilight, who shrugged and bowed shortly.
"It's been a long time since I saw you my subjects. Now, I am here with you in the human world!" Celestia exclaimed, raising her arms. The Wanderer's squadron stood up to see the slightly insane princess, nodding at her. The once Sun-raiser turned to the young paladin, who was calmly flipping his knife, clearly taunting her. "So, now Mr. Miller, point us to the nearer portal." She said, a paranoid stare in her eyes. Jason turned his eyes to Twilight, scared of her nearly insane face.
"My sweet Jesus Christ, when will you understand that you and your sister are stuck in here?!?" He yelled, the two knights that guarded the Great Hall being able to hear it.
"Okay, so I understand that you want to challenge my authority, don't you Mr. Miller? I WILL FIND A WAY BACK!"
"Really? Let's make a bet then! If you find this fucking portal, my squadron is yours, and you can go back to that damned dimension. If you don't, they keep being my squad!" Jason suggested. Celestia aceepted his challenge, and gave him a firm handshake. This only caused shock and confusion at the fellow girls. They could end finally returning to their homeland, or continue with their new friends that they made at the Capital Wasteland. Twilight herself was witnessing her life going in a violent downhill, as the same question echoed through her head: Staying with the love of her life, or returning to her peaceful dimension?
The Capital Wasteland, 8:23 p.m, somewhere near Evergreen Mills
The Wanderer's squadron and the two sisters observed the raider base from a safe distance. Celestia herself was hoping to find her so wanted portal. Jason himself was waiting to help someone with serious mental breakdown, and eventually kill some raiders. He handed over two assault rifles to the sisters with some ammo. Before they could depart on their crazy trip, Gunny offered to train them in firearms, but they were still initiates at shooting. Celestia ordered them to head to the base's entrance, her new subordinates following every step. The young paladin was hoping that she wouldn't get herself killed, even though he disagreed with her crazy belief. Deep within his heart, Jason wanted to help the insanely-growing princess, but couldn't do it in the exact moment. God knows what Celestia would do to him armed with a weapon...
Night already had taken over the Wastes, making the large group harder to detect due to their dark clothing and armoring. During their sneaky approach, Jason whispered at Luna:
"Hey, you're Luna, right? You've been quiet all the time."
"It's because of me sister's ambition. I'm getting scared. Jason, you have to stop her. She's risking the lives of everypony here." She whispered back, showing that even her was against her own sister.
"Not now, Luna. The right time will come soon..." He let his words get carried away by the night's peaceful silence. But such silence was going to be broken by a massive shootout. With incredible accuracy, Jason shoot one of the guarding raiders that was walking at the makeshift bridge that connected the east surface with the west, his body falling and hitting one of the spears, being horribly impaled. The two sisters stared at the corpse with shock, Luna being more scared than Celestia, whose wish for a portal was fueling her temporary mental toughness. Combat turned out to be more difficult mostly because the area was full of raiders, but their combat and power armor protected the advancing group against the large quantity of bullets.
Taking cover behind the parked trains, Jason and his group tried to fight the raiders that were literally appearing out of nowhere. Luna herself tried to help The Wanderer, but returned to cover after seeing that one of the raiders carried a rocket launcher. The tribal shoot the missile, but thankfully to Luna only sent dirt flying through the air. Rainbow killed the deadly attacker with a well-aimed plasma shot in his head, receiving a friendly smile from the princess of the night. Venturing further into the once functional train station, Jason found a giant cage guarding one of the most fearsome creatures of the Capital Wasteland: a Super-Mutant Behemoth. The totally evolved mutant was not armed, but it's enormous size was enough to spread fear on the group's hearts. Jason himself had seen and killed one, but those were not normal sights. Keeping the gigantic mutant locked inside it's cage, Jason and his squad defeated the small force that remained, then stopped and relaxed for a second.
After 10 minutes, they departed to where Celestia assumed that a portal could be, in reality being Evergreen MIlls bazaar. The place resembled many caves that Jason had explored in the Wasteland, some of them even having connections with the metro tunnels. The dim light that illuminated the cave was enough to alert the raiders about the steel clad figures and the pair of lesser armored sisters. Combat lighted the dark cavern for seconds as bullets, laser and plasma shots flew through the main room's interior. It was almost entirely collapsed, makeshift wooden bridges connecting the various locations. Lights were hung from the ceiling, most of them multicolor, completing the feel of insanity in that place. The raiders stationed there weren't different: some carried human hands in their belts, other carried eyeballs. Jason fired the first shot, bullets ricocheting in his armor. Staggering back, he opened fire at the raiders, most of them turning into nothing more than a pile of ashes.
The remaining raiders were easily killed after the initial assault. Jason then looked around for any valuable object that could involve ammo, medicine or some caps. Problem it is that raiders didn't carry money with them, letting hims slightly frustrated. But even more frustrated was Celestia. The woman walked around the cave viciously in search of a portal. She nearly fell of to her death when the wooden plank that connected the main area with the bar collapsed, leaving only a large but easily accessible gap. The Wanderer himself sat down near his friends, Dogmeat leaning against his knee. The girls themselves were getting tired, since it was nearly 11:00 p.m. But the young paladin kept an close eye on the princess...
The once Sun-raiser lost her sanity completely after searching absolutely everything in the cave. With a paranoid look in her eyes, she confronted the calm paladin who was holding himself not to laugh at her miserable failure.
"You, greedy human, is hiding something from me, aren't you?" She stared at his brown eyes with a devilish look, while The Wanderer only looked away.
"No, I'm not hiding anything. Look, why don't you give up about this, and that bet that we made isn't on anymore?" Jason playfully placed his helmet over Dogmeat's head, the dog desperately trying to remove it.
"Don't you try to get away from something that you promised!" The insane princess shouted, getting the attention of everyone in the vicinity.
"I promised? I didn't promise anything. C'mon, Celestia. Give up, 'cause this is making you look more... terrifying." He replied, letting a long sigh escape from his lips. He made Celestia completely lose her mind.
"Ah, you still want to defy me, human! Let's see if you can get away from this!" Suddenly, she removed a sledgehammer from the ground, and violently swung it against The Wanderer, who incredibly dodged her vicious attack. Not wanting to hurt her, Jason kept his rifle in his back, threatening to attack with his sharp knife. Again, the princess delivered a strong blow, dislodging part of the cave's natural pillars, small rocks falling from the ceiling. Luna tried to stop the fight, but was quickly knocked down by her sister, falling unconscious to the ground. Now the battle was between Jason and the crazed woman. Keeping Dogmeat out of the fight, he tried to hit Celestia in the arm, achieving success in his offensive move. She staggered back, holding her wound, but quickly ignored the sharp pain that nearly paralyzed her right arm.
With a powerful blow, she managed to hit The Wanderer's arm, possibly dislodging his arm's bone. Jason fell to the ground, groaning in pain. He looked up at Celestia, who had a horrid smile in her face. Raising his hand weakly, he tried to stop her next attack. The edge of the hammer hit his head, Jason falling unconscious in seconds. Shocked gasps were heard from the six girls, who couldn't move their eyes off Jason's immobile body, a small trail of blood dripping from his head. They kept silent as Celestia slowly turned to them, her hands painted red from her own blood, The group took some steps back, being guarded by Dogmeat, who growled viciously at the insane woman. Celestia grabbed Jason's body and showed to the terrified girls.
"Now, my sweet subjects, let's see what I can do with you..."
Jason woke up in a dark place, his head aching horribly. He wanted to bring his hands to his head, but noticed that they were tied together behind the wooden chair that he was siting on. The air surrounding his body was thick, making it difficult to breath. The Wanderer then saw that he was in a dark cell, the door's bars being the only things that he could see properly. Blood was still coming out from his wound, but he didn't care as memories from his past moments with Celestia played in his head.
"Jay? Jay! You're awake! Please, you need to stop her! You need to get us out of here!" Fluttershy tried to whisper in a volume that only Jason could hear, but the mad princess appeared in the door, unlocking it with it's key.
"Shut up, idiotic creature!" She exclaimed, throwing a small rock at the shy girl's face, leaving a large bruise in her chin. "Ah, so now my tough human is alive, isn't he?" Celestia said, nearing the young paladin with his own knife.
"Great, now I'm locked up in somewhere else with a crazy bitch. I love my life." Jason cynically commented on his situation, looking down to his legs. He was still in his armor, but his helmet was taken off by obvious reasons.
"Mr. Miller, don't be so frustrated. I just want to know were can I find a portal." Her last sentence made The Wanderer nearly jump off from the chair.
"GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU INSANE BITCH! YOU'RE TRAPPED HERE FOREVER! FOREVER!" Jason shouted in anger, but suddenly a sharp object swept quickly through his face, leaving a large cut, blood dripping from it.
"Quiet now, my little wanderer. I have planned many things to you!" Celestia malevolently, her eyes reflecting the weak light that barely lighted the room. She looked around, various torture tools siting on top of a small table. "Let's see this one, napalm..." Jason's eyes widened, fearing whatever she wanted to do with the highly inflammable substance. He desperately moved his tied arms, failing miserably in his objective of getting off that torture chair. Celestia slowly turned to him, carrying a small bottle of said and feared substance in her hand.
"Let's see how can we change those pretty cheeks of yours..." She poured a small quantity in Jason's left cheek, the young paladin shaking and breathing heavily. Celestia then lighted up a match, dangerously hanging it over his face.
"For Christ's sake, take this thing off me..." With a small swing, she lighted the liquid, flames coming from Jason's soft cheeks, burning it painfully to his teeth. The Wanderer yelled in pain, his agonized screams echoing through the dark halls. He tried to move his hands in order to put the flames down, but was unable to do so because of the ties. He couldn't take the high temperature anymore, and let out another but way more painful scream. The flames finally died, leaving his teeth exposed to the air. Blood came from his horrible wound, filling the space that was once full of skin and muscles with a small pool of vital liquid. Fluttershy couldn't help herself but to look away. The Wanderer's face was completely different now. Celestia laughed devilishly at the damage that she caused. Jason could only groan in pain, trying to remove his ties again, meeting no positive result.
"Ah, you're so pretty now. This is what you get for kissing my loyal subject, fool." She stated, obviously mentioning his relationship with Twilight. The purple-haired girl heard her mentor's mocking, sighing sorrowfully. Jason was now weak due to his new and painful wound, barely understanding what was going on around him. The insane princess, noticing his near-faint, injected a large dose of adrenaline in his chest, his eyes opening quickly.
"You..can rip... me open...you won't...go back to your...damned homeland." He taunted his torturer, his speech being overly cruel due to the large opening in his cheek, Celestia clearly seeing his teeth going up and down as he talked. Jason's eyes were full of hatred and pain, penetrating Celestia's firm and terrorizing stare. She understood that he was still provoking her, and began her new stage of torture. Untying him, she put his hands over the chair's armrest, tying them up again. Putting a wooden plank under his right hand, she removed the knife from her waist, opened small gaps between his fingers and began one of the most dangerous games ever: the knife game. She rapidly moved the knife from gap to gap, as Jason tried to remain strong considering the pain that he was going to receive.
His expectations were right: she intentionally stabbed his ring finger off, blood spouting from it horrendously. The Wanderer couldn't take that anymore. The sharp pain that came from his missing finger was intolerable. He just wanted that she sliced his head off or shot him to death. But she was completely far from that. She then picked a pliers and menacingly fumbled it. "Now, let's pretend that I'm a dentist and that you're my patient." She darkly commented, laughing out loud, spreading fear in his fellow friend's hearts. She then pressed the pliers in one of his teeth, and painfully turning it, it's roots getting ripped, blood flying through the thick air. Removing the tooth with medicinal skill, she gazed at it as if it was a diamond. Jason in response only coughed blood in the ground, augmenting the pool under his feet, the taste of the crimson liquid filling his mouth. Now he really couldn't take it anymore. But suddenly, a scream stopped his cruel torture session:
"JASON!! IF YOU'RE ALIVE, STOP THIS CRAZY MAR- WOMAN!!! PLEASE, SAVE US!!" Rarity. Her voice was enough to spread some hope in his heart. Celestia let go of his tooth, and walked viciously to the cell were the poor girl was imprisoned.
"What did you say, my fellow subject? I said before that you couldn't open that pretty mouth of yours. Now, you're going to be punished." Jason could only hear a sound of metal being lifted from a hard surface, and the gruesome sound of blood dripping on the ground. Rarity yelled in pain, as Jason's wish for revenge grew even more violently. He moved his arms with enough strength to loosen up the ties that held his weak wrists. A small sense of hope flooded his chest, but he knew that Celestia would kill him easily if he tried to sneak up on her, considering his weakness. Waiting some more time, he heard his captor and torturer speak again.
"And you? What are you looking at? Does this gives you awareness of what happens when you look at your master when she doesn't want to?" Another yell of agony and pain was heard, echoing together with Rarity's. After taking care of who interrupted her, Celestia came back to the cell where Jason and Fluttershy were locked, carrying a screwdriver with a bloody eyeball in it's edge. "See, human? This is what happens when they look at me without authorization!" She hovered the eyeball near his face, Jason turning his face to the right, exposing his open wound to the insane princess. Gruesomely, she stabbed his fresh muscle with the screwdriver, viciously turning it inside his face. The Wanderer shouted in pain, nearly getting out off his ties. Celestia noticed that his prisoner was loosing the ties, and put his weak arms behind the chair again, this time tightening the rope that held him still.
Another cruel idea came to Celestia's mind: skinning. Ripping part of his right arm's armor, she picked up a sharp knife, opening a small cut in his neck. Jason managed to withstand the pain, considering the multiple wounds in his face and body. But what the insane Sun-raiser was about to do was something that even the toughest man or woman in the world couldn't withstand. She slowly but deeply cut through his skin, and moved the knife calmly, his skin falling like if it was a piece of cloth, revealing his red muscles. The young paladin groaned in pain, a burning feeling sweeping through his arm, painful warmth concentrating in his exposed red fiber. His finger twitched unconsciously, being colored crimson as the vital liquid covered his missing finger. But suddenly, loud sobs were heard, eventually turning into sorrowful screams. Jason was too weak to understand who was crying, resting his severed face back.
The Wanderer was now fighting bravely against hunger, thirst and pain. But suddenly, a familiar voice whispered:
"Jay! Now! Use the razor behind you! Get out of your ties!" The shy girl tried to lean towards the young paladin, who began to slide the chair back until his hand could reach the razor. Picking it, he tried to cut his rope, slowly loosing it. Hearing Celestia's sledgehammer being swung and hitting someone's body, he quickly cut through the rope that was keeping him in the chair. Getting up, he stumbled, seconds before nearly falling flat in his face. Getting on his feet again, he set Fluttershy free, the frightened girl cowering in the room's corner. Walking in the darkened halls, he finally found his captor, who was on her way to deliver a killing blow over his girlfriend's head.
With vicious strength, he punched the crazed woman in the head, the move being strong enough to make her trip in her own table. Jason crouched to see Celestia, a small trail of blood coming out from her mouth, a devilish grin in her face. This fueled Jason's anger even more, as he punched her again in the face. Completely out of his mind, he got the princess back on her feet, smashing her head against the wall.
"You like that now, you son of a bitch?" He smashed her head once more, strong enough to open a small hole in the decaying structure. Finally, he threw her body on the ground, landing violently on her back, oxygen escaping from her lungs. He stomped her in the stomach, kicking her legs with anger and hatred. But the crazed Sun-raiser wasn't dead: she managed to grab her sledgehammer, and swung it against his leg, breaking his bone. Jason staggered, both hands on his now disabled leg. With incredible resistance, he grabbed one of the various knives that rested on the ground, cutting off one of her arms. Celestia yelled, but was quickly silenced by The Wanderer's severed hand, covering her mouth as he stabbed her in the chest. Letting her last breath, the mad princess closed her eyes, apparently dead. Jason stood up wounded and bleeding, but victorious.
"Is, she... dead?" Twilight weakly asked, but only got Jason's deformed and vicious stare as response
He looked around in the room, finding some of his friends tied to their chairs. He saw what Celestia did to Rarity: cut her forearm. The indigo-haired girl was unconscious, a small quantity of blood still coming out. Rainbow was muttering barely understandable phrases, her left eye socket empty. Twilight was struggling to remain awake, considering the violent blow that she received in her abdomen. Setting them free, he immediately helped Rarity, covering her wound with bandages that were available in the cell. In a matter of seconds, the bandage was painted red.
"Jay, what happened... to you?" Twilight asked worried and scared at the same time, her eyes focused in his burnt cheek.
"That doesn't... matter now, Twi. I need to... get you out... of here." Twilight hugged her boyfriend tight, taking care not to touch his skinned arm. Tears came down from their eyes as they shared their warmth in that dark place.
After looking around, Jason found Dogmeat. The dog was whining, showing it's missing leg. This brought even more sorrow to The Wanderer's soul, whose mind was nearing depression or a mental breakdown. Eventually, he found Applejack, who was left with numerous cuts through her face. And Luna? The sister of the insane woman was left unscathed, but mentally damaged. She stared at Jason with a paranoid look, resembling Celestia's. Setting her free, the woman desperately hugged him, The Wanderer calmly returning her gesture. But at the room's darkest corner, was the last girl: Pinkie. Celestia cut her cheeks widely and terribly sewed it, so when the girls smiled, the smile would be enormous and way more horrid.
"Jay... What... is this on... your face?" The young paladin felt Pinkie's panic in her voice. Celestia was so insane that she managed to let one of the most happy girls in the world turn into a scared and terrified woman. Wanting to save Rarity's live and leaving the location that was a living nightmare. Carrying Dogmeat in his arms and limping due to his broken bone, Jason and his group left the building, who turned out to be Springvale Elementary School, a raider base that The Wanderer managed to clean during his earlier adventures. They then began their desperate trip to the Citadel, trying to save both Rarity's and Dogmeat's life, and give proper treatment to his and the other girls wounds.
But deep inside the decaying school, the body of the psychopath moved, eventually getting on her feet. Incredibly getting back to life, Celestia walked slowly towards the Wasteland, with only one objective: to wipe out the 'Equestrian Knights'....
The crazed princess of Equestria walked slowly through the halls of Springvale's Elementary School. Her insane eyes looked around, eventually finding the missing arm, a strange but devilish smile appeared at her blood-stained face. Not even feeling the pain of losing an arm, she bandaged what remained of it. Grabbing one her numerous knives, Celestia stood up, putting her knife in the waist. Walking to the door, the feared psychopath left the decaying school, searching viciously for her earlier prisoners.
The Citadel's infirmary, 3:00 p.m.
"Jay, that doesn't hurt?" Twilight laid in her bed, still recovering from her broken ribs.
"Not anymore. But when she lightened that napalm, it burnt like hell." Jason replied, turning his horrid wound to his beloved girl.
"I still don't understand why she did all those horrible things." The purple-haired girl turned her stare to Rarity, who was receiving her new robotic arm through surgery.
"Twi, light-headed people always lose their mind in this damned place. How many people I saw that turned into murderers and rapers..."
"But why did you kill her? She was my mentor, Jay..." Twilight's eyes were filled with tears, a sorrowful look in her face.
"She was insane, Twi. If I hadn't done that, she would..."
"Jay, answer me a question: If I lost my sanity, would you kill me?" That question really caught The Wanderer off guard. He struggled to find a proper reply, but the honest and sincere response came in a matter of seconds:
"Yes, I would kill you. But then, I would kill myself, so that we could reunite in the eternal rest. Because, Twi, my life means nothing without you." But that reply really got Twilight. That showed clearly how much Jason loved her more than anything. He held her hand firmly, melting the girl's heart with love. Suddenly, a medic interrupted their passionate moment:
"Paladin Captain Jason Miller, we're ready to execute your surgery." The Wanderer nodded and left Twilight alone, limping due to his broken leg, as she stared passionately at him. After her boyfriend disappeared inside a room, her thoughts returned to her old mentor. How could she do that?
Meanwhile, at the 'Equestrian Knights' room...
"So, how's your eye, Dash?" Applejack asked, while her rainbow-haired searched in her footlocker for her chess table.
"Eye? I lost my left eye, AJ. But don't worry. Those awesome scribes are working to make a robotic eye, so I can see with two eyes again!" Rainbow turned to see her friend, an eye-patch covering her empty eye socket. Suddenly, Applejack's expression turned to be more depressing;
"Rainbow, why Celestia did that to us? She was our ruler, she was so nice and gentle..."
"This is bugging me too, AJ. But now, she isn't Celestia anymore. She's something completely different... Forget about that now. Wanna play some chess?" Rainbow held the chess table in her hand, her friend only nodding in response.
2 days later...
"So, let's walk, Dogmeat. I need to give my mind a rest after all that crap..." Jason said to his follower, who already had it's new robotic leg. The Wanderer himself also received a new finger, and his wound caused by the napalm was now a barely seen scar. But his mind was still being tormented with cruel dreams, one of them making him awake in the bathroom holding a knife to his neck. Leaving the Citadel quietly, The Wanderer ventured further in the Wasteland, the Sun shining brightly over his head.
Jason was deep inside his thoughts while in his trip to nowhere. So deep that he didn't notice a group of wastelanders running in his direction:
"Sir, please, you gotta help us!"
"What is it? Deathclaws?" Jason immediately got back to reality, asking unconsciously the frightened small family.
"No, soldier! There are some raiders destroying our campsite not far from here! Please, just follow the road!" The man that looked to be the father pointed at their camp, black smoke coming out from it. Rushing to save the family's only home, Jason and his dog ran quickly to the camp, finding raiders demolishing the standing tents. With nothing more than three plasma shots and a bite to the neck, the raiders were killed, leaving the campsite in ruins. In a matter of seconds, the family returned, a small sack full of caps and some mole rat meat in their hands, clearly showing their happiness towards the steel clad paladin. With satisfied smiles on their faces, the group of survivors began to reconstruct their only home.
Jason felt that at least a good act was made today. He kept venturing through the Wasteland that made his personality. He only stopped when night fell over the gray skies of Washington D.C and it's surroundings. Using the same and simple strategy to create a campfire, he sat down, cooking the not so good meat that he received from the wastelanders, but that could clearly keep him from starving at night. Taking a bite off the roasted meat, Jason laid in the ground, his thoughts tormenting him again. "Why this always happens with me?"
Stroking Dogmeat's head, Jason tried to think about Twilight, bringing some good memories of their moments together. Relaxing for a minute, he sighed calmly, taking his helmet off, the warm wind of the Capital Wasteland blowing softly in his hair. But suddenly, a voice got his attention, making him nearly spit his heart out:
"Well, well, well. If it isn't our paladin in grey and blue armor, the one who cut my arm off. I've been looking for you!" The Wanderer stood up, quickly taking his knife off his waist. Celestia was there, standing, a menacing ripper in her hands. Jason tried to calm his heart, but before his eyes stood the psychopath that deformed his face and damaged his mental sanity. Knife in hand, Jason said:
"Look, crazy woman, you're not who you think you are! You're out of your mind!" The Wanderer couldn't believe in what he said. He was trying to deal with his torturer!
"Ha! My old self is gone, Mr. Miller. Now, I want to see you dying slowly..." She turned the ripper on, it's blade rotating rapidly. 'Shit, this thing can cut through armor. Where the hell she got that?' Jason thought, holding Dogmeat back so that the dog wouldn't get itself ripped in a half. Gripping his knife with even more strength, he successfully dodged one of her attacks, letting her stumble in his helmet. "Don't try to escape from your problems, human!" Swinging her weapon again, she managed to cut part of the armor's shoulder. Taking some steps back, Jason found the perfect chance for a counter-attack.
Celestia raised her arm for a vertical blow, but when she tried to cut the young paladin in a half, Jason punched the offending arm, poking her head with his shoulder with enough strength to crush her head. The insane princess fell to the ground, no words coming from her mouth. The Wanderer stayed on top of her, his knife ready to put an end to the woman that nearly killed him and his friends. But before he could deliver the killing blow, a terrified voice said:
"No! Please, don't hurt me! Don't kill me!" This made The Wanderer drop his knife from his tight grip. "Please, let me go! I'm defenseless!" Not understanding the situation, Jason asked, anger in his voice:
"Who are you? Answer now!" He let go of the scared woman, who turned her face to see The Wanderer's vicious stare penetrating her eyes.
"I'm princess Celestia! Ruler of Equestria! I came to the human world in peace!" Celestia spoke with such sincerity that Jason let go of her, the woman siting scared on the ground. 'It can't be possible! How could she just, go back to normal?" Jason pondered for a second, and grabbed his knife off the ground, still prepared for any surprise attack.
"I came in peace, human. Me and my sister came here to check on humanity." The young paladin sat down on the opposite side of the campfire, fearing that Celestia was just lying about that. Controlling his anger, he listened to her confused words:
"What happened to my arm... Did I lost it in an accident?" Celestia asked, looking shocked at what remained of her arm, Jason ready to explain everything and to discover if she was telling the truth:
"I cut your arm off. Let me tell eveything, already." He then began to give her a brief explanations about what happened in the past days.
10 minutes later...
"So, here we are. You got insane Celestia. I don't why, but you lost your mind."
"But, how could I do such horrible things? I think that the spell had an unexpected effect... And my subjects? Are they recovering from my atrocities?" Celestia asked, sorrow in her eyes.
"Yeah, they're recovering. Rarity has a new mechanical arm, Rainbow's eye is still in the making, Pinkie's face has been restored, and Twilight's ribs are okay now." A sigh escaped his lips, his mind thinking in nothing more than his girlfriend. As if she could read minds, Celestia asked, teasing him slightly:
"You like her? It looks like that you are in love..."
"Ahn, I'm her boyfriend. I miss her right now..."
"Ah, so you two are together now? Heh, and I thinking that she was scared of having a coltfriend." Jason raised his eyebrows to her, but understood her word use. "So, currently, I bet that you are a military patrol scouting a desert?"
"What?!? No, no. I'm from the Brotherhood Of Steel. Earth pretty fucked up now. It all started when..." The Wanderer boringly began to tell the history of the Great War. Celestia payed attention to his explanation as if it were extremely valuable. After nothing more than 5 minutes, Celestia completely understood why Jason was giving her meat to eat, considering that back in Equestria they were vegetarians. Jason himself wasn't very concerned about her calm behavior, fearing that it was a trap, having his plasma rifle ready for any situation.
Meanwhile, at the Citadel...
"Where's Jay? Have you seen him, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked her shy friend, who was trying to spend some time teaching Angel on how to grab something without smashing it.
"N-no, Twilight. Some guards said that he had left the Citadel many hours ago, and, as you can see, hadn't returned until now." Fluttershy took a look around the Citadel's courtyard, only some knights and paladins returning from their patrol missions. Soon, it was going to be late in the night, much to Twilight's worries. 'Where could he be? Well, maybe relaxing after all those crazy nightmares that he had, or to comm... No! He wouldn't kill himself! C'mon Twilight! What's up with those crazy thoughts?' She shook her head for a second, returning to the squad's room, laying in her bed, trying to escape from her worries.
At the mess hall, Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow were together, Pinkie and Rainbow playing chess, while Rarity tried to get comfortable with her robotic arm. The pair of friends were so concentrated that they haven't heard Rarity's exaggerated opinions about the new limb. In the game, Pinkie's tower threatened Rainbow's king. With a professional move, she toppled the rainbow-haired girl's king, folding her arms, victorious.
"But... how did you do that?!?" Rainbow asked, her jaw dropping incredibly.
"Practice, Dashie, practice."
East of the Capital Wasteland, 11:00 p.m
Jason kept a close eye to every movement that Celestia made, not releasing his knife for a second. This lead to her curiosity:
"Mr. Miller, why are you holding this knife since the moment we met?"
"Because in the moment that we met, you were trying to cut me open. And I'm still doubting of all this calmness of yours, not trying to offend here. Just my instincts, so I'm sure that you won't burn my cheek to the teeth, or skin my arm again." His statement made Celestia look down, feeling guilty of her atrocities. Jason felt slightly bad for her. But still, a flame of hatred and revenge burned deep in his heart...
"So, let's get some sleep. I'll give you this sleeping bag, and just get some rest. I'm gonna take a look around to see if anything poses a threat. Tomorrow, I'll see where we are going." Celestia got herself inside the provided sleeping bag, falling asleep in seconds. Jason himself only watched, extinguishing the campfire with his armored foot. Not sure if the princess was really telling the truth, the young paladin moved his portable 'bed' behind a rock. Still with his knife in hand, he rested, his senses on high alert.
"Wake up, my dear paladin! Thought that you could hide from me?" The crazed woman held her ripper closer and closer from Jason's neck, the paladin waking up in seconds.
"What... HOLY SHIT!" Jason struggled to take the offending knife off his neck, punching the psychopath in the head. Celestia fell to the ground, her remaining hand on her face. The Wanderer finally got out of his sleeping bag, his sharp weapon ready to strike. But suddenly, a voice said:
"Oh, my head... Mr. Miller, what was that?"
"Ah, you ask me? You should be telling me why you were trying to slice my throat seconds ago!" Celestia then lifted her hand to her head, screaming in agony. 'Kill him, Celestia. Wasn't that your objective?' A devilish voice echoed through her mind. "No, I'm not who you think I am!" She tried to fight back, Jason staring worried at her. 'Great, now she is suffering from double personality. My life is horrible.' Jason thought, lifting both hands to his face. He gave Dogmeat an annoyed look, considering that it could have stopped her surprise attack. Storing both sleeping bags into the Pip-Boy, The Wanderer made his way back to the Citadel, his plasma rifle ready to be used.
Meanwhile, at the Citadel....
"That's it, Rainbow, I'm going out to find Jay!" Twilight stood up, power armor covering her body and a laser rifle in her hands.
"Calm the heck down, Twi. He's awesome and incredibly tough! Have you read his combat record?"
"No?!?" Twilight stared at her friend, worry and confusion in her eyes.
"145 Enclave soldiers, 6 vertibirds and 34 officers."
"How the hell do you know that?"
"I've hacked his terminal. Really amusing. Not like everypony's, talking about their personal problems and worries." Rainbow chuckled as her friend stared at the young paladin's terminal, a peculiar green light in the monitor.
"Dash, you hacked all of the Citadel's terminals?" The rainbow-haired girl nodded, a soft smile in her face. "Who taught you? And are you crazy? What if the Elder discover this?"
"Jay taught me, and Owyn is too old to care about the terminals. Chill out, Twilight." As her friend left the room, Twilight laid on her bed, trying to think in anything that didn't involve her boyfriend. But that gave her an idea: talk with the princess of night, Luna
Capital Wasteland's presumed center, somewhere near Super-Duper Mart
"It's very easy to use those firearms, Mr. Miller. I'm hoping that we won't use them. I don't like to hurt other ponies, or cause their deaths. It's totally against our culture. Things were more peaceful back there..." Celestia put the 10mm submachine that Jason had given her on her waist. It didn't seemed to be the best idea for The Wanderer at first place, but his armor was bullet-proof, so any firearm based attack would be useless.
While on high-alert, Dogmeat barked angrily, giving Jason knowledge of a possible attack. Stopping his walk, The Wanderer looked around, trying to find the possible threat. In a matter of seconds, an entire squadron of Talon mercenaries. They opened heavy fire upon the trio, the bullets ricocheting in Jason's chest. But when Jason looked back to see where the princess was, he found nothing than his dog rushing to attack the mercs. Before a plasma shot could reduce a mercenary to a poll of green goo, or one of them could get their necks mutilated, a figure clad in combat armor unleashed a deadly barrage of bullets on them, ripping their arms, legs and even heads. The mercs gone down with ease, being caught off guard because of the princess. She turned her stare to the paladin, emptying another clip on him.
"Now, you're going to die, Jason!" She threw the weapon on the ground, rushing at him, a ripper in her remaining hand. Raising her arm, she was ready to deliver a blow that would cut Jason in a half. But the paladin dodged, punching her in the neck. Celestia fell immobile to the ground, sand being lifted due to her weight. "Ah, now, I'm going to carry the body of a psychopath in my arms. How lovely am I being." The Wanderer muttered to himself, lifting Celestia's body without any difficulty. Now being unable to defend himself, he ordered Dogmeat to keep on high-alert. Luckily to the young paladin, he was mere kilometers far from his faction base.
Jason walked further into the ruins of Washington D.C, the Potomac river border's way more cleaner now after the battle for Project Purity. Before the Brotherhood could emerge victorious, the area was ravaged by ferocious firefights between raiders and Super-Mutants. Now, only the decaying corpses remained, Patrols of the Brotherhood Of Steel searched for any Super-Mutants that could have survived their past attacks. They saluted the Paladin Captain, Jason barely returning their gesture due to the unconscious body that he carried in his arms.
Within minutes, he and his dog reached the Citadel. The snipers and guards at the entrance stared at him shocked and worried. In his arms, laid the person who managed to skin his arm, break his leg, and deform his face. Ignoring the strange glances, The Wanderer entered the Laboratory, Elder Lyons nearly jumping on him:
"Paladin Miller! Are you crazy? You just brought someone who could slice our throats when sleeping!" Owyn folded his arms, while his faithful soldier dropped the body.
"Relax, Lyons. Have you guys got a isolation room? She's suffering from double personality, so expect hearing some insane babbles about killing me and even some agonized questions. And how do you know that she was the one that tortured me?"
"Your friends are a trustful source of information. Bring her to an empty room, Jason. If you want, question her. You're allowed to follow your path..." Jason gave Owyn a short nod before bringing Celestia to A ring.
At the aforementioned section of the Citadel, Rainbow intercepted her friend, if not choking him:
"Jay, are you crazy? You've just brought the crazy mar- woman that removed my eye!"
"Jesus, why everybody is in a bad mood today? Rainbow, she's suffering from double personality. Maybe she could 'win' the battle against her twisted and insane side. Maybe.,," The Wanderer entered the empty room that was closer to his squadron's, tying Celestia's remaining hand with ropes.
"Okay, you'll end screwing everything here. Go talk to Twi after you're done with this. She's very worried." Rainbow left the room, Jason giving her a sarcastic look. Tying even Celestia's legs, he looked at the unconscious woman, Leaving her body alone, Jason departed to his squad's room, but was assaulted by Twilight on the way. His beloved girl jumped on him, pinning The Wanderer to the ground. Giving him a long kiss, the purple-haired girl let go of her boyfriend only to catch her breath.
"Hey, Twi, get off me! Heh, I see how much you were worried now!" Jason blushed when he noticed how ridiculous they were in that position, quickly getting back on his feet. Twilight hugged him again, feeling his warm breath on her neck.
The couple returned to the room where Celestia was due to to Twilight's wish to see her mentor again. Jason himself only wanted to rest after the not-so delightful morning that he had. Celestia was awake, a happy smile on her face as her eyes met with her faithful student.
"Twilight, my faithful student. It's so good to see you here!" Celestia tried to hug her, but was unable to do so because of her bonds. "Mr. Miller, why have you done this?" Jason only sighed annoyed in response.
"Because some hours ago, you killed an entire Talon Company squad, and tried to rip me in a half." The Wanderer looked away, keeping his anger and stress at bay, but the memories of his torture came back to torment him. He left the room without muttering a word, slamming the door with such strength that the windows broke into nothing more than minuscule pieces of shattered glass. This worried Twilight even more, considering everything that he passed through in his life.
"Don't worry, princess. He's been under pressure these days..."
"I'm the reason to his stress. I know that... everything that I've done to you and your friends..." Tears watered Celestia's eyes, guilt flooding her emotions. Eventually, what looked like to be only the result of spending days with someone who held a ferocious hatred and anger turned out to be depressive sobs. Now Celestia was drowning in a helpless sorrow. Having tortured a stranger and favorite subjects. Twilight felt like if she was experiencing Celestia's sorrow. This lead her mind to remember of all the lives that she took. Was she doing what Jason always said? Killing for survival?
Jason walked in his squad's room. His head ached terribly, memories of his torture now being mixed with his father's death. He wanted to scream in agony, but no sound came from his mouth. For a moment, he was carried away by his thoughts, falling asleep in a matter of seconds...
"My son?" A familiar voice called the hallucinating young paladin, who examined the area where he was, which looked like a dead space with a blue aura illuminating it. Seeing his father in the distance, Jason ran to his direction, only to see James disappearing, leaving smoke behind. The Wanderer tried to understand what really was happening, but had his attention diverted as his father appeared not far from where he was. Reaching his position again, Jason screamed in frustration, his deceased father leaving nothing more than a trail of smoke, who ended in his next location. This eventually led Jason to numerous failed catches, causing him to slowly lose his mind.
Finally, he reached an apparition of his father that didn't disappeared, hugging his beloved dad.
"Dad, I missed you..." Jason babbled insanely, the hallucination barely returning the fond gesture. Suddenly, more and more hallucinations filled the place. But those weren't his good memories. They were his friends in the moment that they were tortured. They all launched paranoid stares at the now scared and frightened paladin. Rarity mumbled strange words, her arm still spouting blood. Twilight had a her back arched due to the strong blow that she received in the stomach, and coughed blood violently. Pinkie's face was deformed, but smiled at The Wanderer, striking even more fear in his heart, flesh stretching horribly. Applejack was full of scratches and bruises in her face, a clear expression of sadness and suffering being exposed. Rainbow was holding her eyeball, vital liquid still dripping from her empty socket. And Fluttershy was completely serious, her chin bleeding uncontrollably.
Jason was unable to move, as fear flooded his heart once more. Suddenly, his attention was diverted to a enormous orb of light that descended from the sky. The light died, revealing Celestia, her combat armor stained with Jason's blood. This sight rendered The Wanderer unable to move, the crazed woman nearing him as she slowly and wisely walked through the strange dimension. His knife was in her hand, blood dripping from it's edge. When the psychopath finally reached him, she raised her arm, ready to strike. But before he could feel the weapon cutting through his flesh, he returned back to reality.
He was in the same position from when he fell asleep and experienced the nightmare, but was sweating heavily. Defeated by his emotions, he sat down on the ground, leaning his back against the wall. Lifting both hands to his face, he whispered:
"What is happening to me?" Then, sobs took over his voice, and sorrow dominated his heart and soul.
3 hours later...
Twilight had searched for her boyfriend in nearly every place possible. Returning to the squadron's room, she found him writing on a small piece of paper. The Wanderer barely noticed her presence, looking at her over his shoulder.
"Jay, you need to help me! Celestia just got crazy!" Jason got up from the chair, grabbing his plasma rifle. He passed at Twilight's side with an impenetrable look in his dark brown eyes. Reaching the room where Celestia was being held, he was greeted by her insane words:
"You! You pathetic human! You mad..." Her phrase was cut off by a strong butt strike from his rifle, nearly knocking her unconscious.
"Jay! Are you crazy! What did you just do to her?" Twilight asked, struggling to keep calm.
"Just watch." Jason replied coldly, silencing his stressed girlfriend. As if his words were magic, the tied woman began to talk to herself:
"No! I won't kill Mr.Miller nor my subjects! You won't win this battle!" Suddenly, her insane inner personality defeated her, Celestia only lowering her head. She then started to sob, managing to speak between them:
"Please, free me from... this suffering... I can't take it anymore... Take me to somewhere isolated..." The Wanderer understood immediately what she said, but Twilight was too stressed to use her mind. Freeing the once Sun-raiser from her bonds, Jason announced as soon as Luna entered the room:
"Okay, so, I'm taking Celestia to somewhere isolated, just as she asked. Anyone going with me?" Two arms timidly were raised. It was completely against their wishes, but they hadn't any choice other than following their the princess desire. They prepared themselves for a new night time adventure, not certain about the near future...
The group of four people walked out of the Brotherhood's base, mainly following Jason. Silence was predominating, creating a dark atmosphere around them, the Moon's light shining weakly over their heads. They walked in a slow pace, The Wanderer's eyes focusing on Celestia, ready to knock her out if she lost her mind again. No one broke the thought-provoking silence, their footsteps being the only audible sound. Not even Dogmeat panted as usual: the dog expressed sorrowfulness due to it's owner's earlier hallucination.
They went south, that was the only way to leave Washington D.C without taking too much time. Jason had some ideas of isolated areas, but let Celestia chose were she wanted to go. The Wasteland itself was isolated, but the princess didn't want to stop in the middle of nothing. Twilight herself found the situation awkward, considering that the two princesses and her boyfriend weren't muttering a word. The Wanderer was trying to forget the hallucination that he had earlier, beginning to doubt about his sanity. Celestia kept both hands on her head, her twisted side still tormenting her mind. Luna was barely understanding what was happening mostly because she was following a stranger, and worried about her sister. Suddenly, Twilight broke the silence:
"Okay, let's stop with this weird moment. Where are we going?" Jason turned his head slowly towards her, an annoyed stare penetrating the pitch-black eyelids.
"I don't know. Just keep your mouth shut, okay?"
"Jay, why are you so gloomy those days? Things aren't so bad..."
"Things aren't so bad? Really? Trying to spend some days relaxing with someone that I love and being interrupted by two sisters who were desperate to return to their homeland, being tortured the next day, and now being tormented by hallucinations of my father and this psychopath here? And now, leading her to somewhere so she can probably get crazy again, knock us out again, and finally cut my throat and watch as I drown with my own blood! No, things aren't so bad! After all that your kind princess has thrown me at, things couldn't get worse, could they?" Jason finished his speech, groaning and screaming in grief, memories of his torture playing in his head again, rendering his sanity doubtful. This brought tears to Twilight's eyes, and guilty to Celestia's heart. Now, their walk was going to be way more painful and depressing.
Luna herself wanted to confront Jason, but reflected about his life. During the days that he spent in the Citadel checking on his squad's physical recovery, The Wanderer spent hours and hours talking with her, mainly trying to make her forget about what her sister had done, but eventually telling the story of his journey, and all the horrors that he had witnessed. Both sides were wrong. But, between a skilled paladin and your own crazed sister, decisions are difficult, aren't they?
Celestia took several stops, her twisted and cruel side's voice echoing through her head. Jason did nothing to help, even though his heart told him to do so. He fought against his wish of help, considering that he assisted everyone in need. This made their trip way more slower, Luna and Twilight putting the princess back on her feet numerous times. As time passed, her insane whispers turned out to be desires of suicide. Though Jason still had a burning hatred for her, this worried him. Her death could have unwanted consequences, such as Luna turning on him or Twilight and her friends leaving the once lonely wanderer.
But suddenly, an agonized voice spoke, interrupting their night-time walk:
"I can't take this anymore! You won this battle, but won't be able to commit any other atrocities..." Celestia lifted the sharp knife that she stole from Jason's footlocker before leaving the Citadel to her neck, threatening to end her life. Jason, finally deciding to help her, nearly teleported to her side, kicking the knife away. She glanced at him furiously, shooting at both Luna and Dogmeat with her 10mm submachine. To the dog's luck, the bullet hit it's right foreleg, but immobilized it. And for her sister, the bullets thankfully hit her armored chest, only hitting her unarmored arm. Before running away from them, she shouted:
"Thought that you could stop me, Mr. Miller?"
"You coward! Now you run away, you disgraced bitch!" Jason shouted in response. He wanted to blow her head off, but the wounded dog and woman's necessities were way more important at the moment. Dogmeat whimpered loudly, while the once Moon-raiser yelled in pain. "Twi, give her this! It will numb the pain!" The Wanderer threw a Med-X at her direction while injecting another one on his dog. When the drug finally made effect on Luna, she looked at the fresh wound confused, her stomach doing back flips as she fought against the will of vomiting.
"Come on! We don't have many time left! We need to get that damned psychopath in time before she disappears!" The young paladin shouted, putting his dog back on it's feet.
"But, Jay... Celestia is not a..."
"Twi, look, I'm sorry, but she's not who you think she is anymore. Please..." The girl nodded positively much to Jason's surprise, even though sobs echoed in his ears.
The trio rushed in search of Celestia, being able to see her distant figure in the horizon. Even Dogmeat couldn't reach her, Jason's and Twilight's armors were too heavy to allow proper sprint, and Luna was already worn out. The Wanderer noticed that Celestia gone onto a bridge, barely dodging it's enormous cracks. This bought him some time, sprinting viciously.
At the bridge, Twilight and Luna nearly fell flat on their faces, breathing heavily, while Jason kept an close eye to Celestia's movements. The crazed woman walked in circles, screaming. Even with his hatred for her, Jason got worried when he witnessed Celestia smashing her head against a rusty Corvega. The psychopath fell to he ground, surprisingly conscious. This made Jason remain still, not moving a muscle as her eyes met with the paladin's dark eye-slits. Twilight and Luna reached him seconds after, only to be met at gunpoint.
"Mr. Miller, you won't stop me now... Ahh, get out of my head!!" She let go of the weapon, falling on her knees, her psychopathic side nearly taking over again. This only worried the trio, who stood still. The Wanderer yielded his plasma rifle, ready for any problem.
"I can't take this anymore! I'm sorry Luna... I can't..." Celestia lifted her weapon to her head, threatening to shot. But before she could put an end to her life, an accurate laser shot hit her pistol, reducing it to ashes: Twilight. "No, Twilight... you can't save me from this..." Celestia then ran further on the bridge, forcing Jason to keep his pursuit, his followers on his back. Their sprint was difficult due to the multiple holes and cracks on the bridge, whose Jason avoided swiftly.
Much to their despair, the bridge ended in a collapsed section, the bottom being 30 meters from where they were. Now, Celestia stood up at the very edge, threatening to jump. She turned to see her sister, faithful subject and not-so friendly paladin. This sight made the trio understand clearly what she wanted: suicide.
"Celestia, this doesn't have to end like this! What are you going to do? Kill yourself so that your own sister and subjects mourn you forever?"
"Yes, Jason. Because I am not who I was anymore. I tortured you and my very subjects brutally, not to count my earlier attempts to take your life... I'm not the ruler of Equestria anymore... I am a feared and hated by you, my own sister, and the my loyal subjects..." Tears fell from her eyes. Luna opened her mouth to say, but were carried away as a saddened expression appeared on her face.
"C'mon! You can overcome this! You're strong! Yes, I hated you for days after that torture, and the six ponies that one day loved you now fear you like hell, but this can be fixed! You're running away from your problems! That's not how you're going to fix what you've done!" Jason shouted back, but this only made Celestia take two steps nearer from her death.
"Jason, what I done to you and your friends cannot be fixed... I'm sorry... I must put an end to the nightmare that you are living..." And with a small leap, the once sun-raiser fell from the bridge...
"NO!!!" Jason shouted, launching himself to the edge in order to catch the princess, his hands meeting with her fingers. He managed to get hold of her hand with enormous difficulty, getting the chance to pull her back to safety. But his body began to slide as Celestia pulled his arm down, successfully doing so because of his armor's weight. Fear flooded his chest, his heart beating rapidly.
When only his legs remained on the bridge, The Wanderer kicked the asphalt, his foot sticking to a small gap. This halted their slide to death. Now, Dogmeat held it's owner's foot with abnormal strength, slowly pulling Jason back to safety. But Celestia finally used all of her weight to pull herself down, launching her and the armored paladin into the air. Twilight and Luna just screamed in terror as the two figures fell to their deaths.
The Wanderer tried to scream, but no sound came. A strange silence filled the air, an hallucination of the Angel Of Death hovering right next to him. Finally, the two bodies hit the floor violently, the painful sound of bones breaking echoing in the night, as Luna and Twilight, followed by Dogmeat, rushed to their location...
Seconds later...
Jason surprisingly survived the deadly fall, and so did Celestia. But that had a price: both legs, right arm, and three ribs were broken, and some teeth were spitted out. The Wanderer struggled to remain conscious, the overwhelming pain spreading through his disabled body. He turned his glance to Celestia, who tried to reach the paladin's knife that fell from his waist.
"No... Please... you can... overcome..." Jason said, his words full of sorrow and pain. Pain swooped his body again, Jason groaning painfully.
"Tell Luna... and my subjects... that I'm... sorry..." Celestia's hand got grip of the sharp object, weakly raising it to her neck. Before she could put an end to her life, Jason lifted his arm to stop it, but was unable to restrain her from suicide. And with a quick movement, blood came out from her throat, Celestia gruesomely suffocating with it, as the crimson-red liquid poured on Jason's armor, the paladin crawling to her direction. Coughing violently, the princess finally rested her head on the pile of rubble behind her, her last sigh escaping from her lips, leaving the young man crying uncontrollably.
And then, The Wanderer laid, wounded and depressed, just waiting for Death's cold embrace, his heart beats slowing as he breathed with difficulty, one of the ribs pressing against his lungs. He coughed blood, and looked at the bloodied body of Celestia, a small tear dripping from his eye. He then muttered what sounded like his last words:
"Why? Just... why?" His weak voice echoed in the night, as two figures rushed to help the wounded young paladin, and to see the outcome of Celestia's insanity...
