Chapter 01: Alpha and Omega

The Capital Wasteland
19th October 2277

It seemed, for the first time in two hundred years, Washington DC was peaceful, if only for a few hours. There were no raiders, no mutants. The harsh post-apocalyptic wasteland was quiet. Nothing saw fit to disturb them as they paid their respects.

The mood in and around the run-aground ship was quiet and somber. The thriving community that had bloomed out of the wreck was silent, having abandoned their businesses for a while, to pay tribute to one of the greatest minds they had ever known. They all gathered on the shoreline by the destroyed boat, standing silently above a small grave, a makeshift crucifix planted above it.

Some travelers had even come from other settlements, if not to bid him farewell, then to console his loved ones. One such traveler stood there, her bright red hair flapping in the wind, soothing the girl next to her as she sobbed quietly.

It was a normal morning when she first walked into her store. Bright, yet naive, like all the Vault types. She remembered laughing slightly when the newcomer expressed her amazement in awe, saying that she "couldn't even see the ceiling in the main room." The storekeeper wasn't sure why, but she had taken a liking to her, so she offered the wanderer an armoured vault jumpsuit. She still wore it, even to this day. Perhaps as one last memory of the life she left behind.

They had become good friends after that day. She went on to help their town, and the rest of the Capital Wasteland, in so many ways, both big and small. One of the first things she did, fresh out of her underground vault, was disarm the dormant bomb that lay in the middle of town. The storekeeper kind of felt bad for the people that worshipped it as a god, but hey, they didn’t realize, and what they didn’t know wouldn’t kill them.

She remembered one time when the wanderer had come into her store, telling her how she had ventured into an old Vault, just to find a violin for an old lady. She always had stories of her travels every time she returned to what had become her new home. They tuned into Agatha's station later that night, just to listen.

Of course, then there were the bad times. The wanderer had stumbled into the town, her face stained with tears. When asked what was wrong, she just embraced her friend, and cried. She cried all night long. It was only in the morning did she finally tell the storekeeper about her father, and how he died. She made a pledge to herself that day, to personally kill all of the Enclave personnel responsible for it, and she wasn't lying.

Here they were, a few weeks later. She had meant what she said. The lone wanderer had just strolled into the Enclave’s main fort, at Adams Air Force Base, and completely destroyed it with an orbital strike. Reduced it to nothing but rubble and ash. The only evidence left that there was ever an Enclave on the east coast was through a few scattered camps, who were slowly dying out.

Unfortunately, there had been some sacrifices along the way. James was one such sacrifice, having taken his own life in an effort to stop the Enclave's Colonel Autumn from taking the water purifier at the Jefferson Memorial. When the Brotherhood of Steel retook Project Purity, they found his body dumped on a beach, however they thought it best to leave the funeral until his daughter had regained consciousness and settled her business with the remnants of the US government.

“He was a good man, and he died protecting the things he loved,” the reverend, Father Clifford, spoke, coming to the end of his speech. “Now, I believe his daughter would like to read us a passage from the Holy Bible. His favourite, if I’m not mistaken.”

Moira Brown gave her friend a squeeze on the shoulder. The Lone Wanderer looked at her and smiled, wiping tears from her eyes, before stepping forward from the crowd onto the podium. The brunette girl took a few deep breaths before beginning.

“Revelations, 21:6,” she began, looking out into the crowd. “And he said to me, “It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is the athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”” She stopped for a second, before addressing the mourners once more. “As Father Clifford said, that was my father, and my mother’s, favourite Bible passage. It inspired him, drove him to continue with his work, to make sure that we have the privilege we have today. The privilege of clean drinking water.”

The crowd was silent as they waited for James’ daughter to continue.

The Lone Wanderer took a deep breath and carried on. “But he did not die in vain. As I am sure you are all aware, the Brotherhood of Steel retook Project Purity, and are distributing water to settlements throughout the wasteland. The Enclave have been reduced to nothing more than a fragment of what they once were. Also, during my travels, I came across a way to return life to the surrounding countryside in only a few mere decades.”

She sighed, remembering her adventure in Oasis, and convincing Harold to spread his life around the rest of the Capital Wasteland. “I am not at liberty to discuss how or where I managed to do this, through respect for the people that helped me achieve it, however I can reassure you that, in about twenty to thirty years, Washington will be well on its way to being back to it’s pre-War glory.” There were a few patters of applause from the audience. “It may take some work, but, if the settlements of the Capital band together, we can make it a much better place. And that, I am sure, is what my father would have wanted.”

The crowd started to applaud politely as she made her way down from the podium, back to her friend. Moira gave the wanderer a hug, before watching solemnly as James’ casket was slowly lowered into the grave. Tears started to well up again in the Lone Wanderer’s eyes as she silently bid farewell to her father for the last time. There were a few moments of silence as the grave began to be filled in, before most of the crowd started to disperse.

“Hey,” Moira whispered to her friend. “You okay?”

The Lone Wanderer sniffed and looked at her friend. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You did well,” the shopkeeper told her, giving her a small hug. “I’m sure he’d be proud of you.”

The wanderer sighed. “Maybe. I can’t help but feel I let him down. He left me in that vault so I’d be safe, you know?”

“Let him down? Nonsense!” Both of them started to walk back towards the main entrance of Rivet City. “Look around. You’ve become a hero for these people. You’ve made so many lives better. Of course he’d be proud of you.”

The Lone Wanderer smiled modestly and chuckled. “Stop it, Moira. I’m not that good.”

Moira grinned. “Sure you are! I mean, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to get my book written and published!”

The two of them were interrupted as someone tapped Moira's friend on the shoulder. They turned around to see a young man, clad in a leather jacket, and hair styled in a greaser-style quiff.

"Hey," he said simply, addressing the wanderer. "Look, I just wanted to apologise. Properly, I mean. For all the shit I gave you when we were kids." He paused and looked back at the grave for a moment. "Your dad was a great guy."

She smiled, and clapped him on the shoulder. "It's okay, Butch. And thank you. I mean it."

"Yeah, don't mention it," he replied sheepishly, stepping past them. "Anyway, guess I'll be getting back to the Rudder."

"You know, Butch, you could come travelling with me, instead of holing up in that bar all day."

"Sorry, but no. I know I said you were pretty cool for saving the Vault and all, but I've got a reputation to keep," he called back, his trademark bravado kicking in. "You're too much of a saint for me to be seen hanging with, y'know?"

She chuckled, and rolled her eyes. "Uh huh. Alright then, tough guy. See you." He gave her a wave, then turned and walked away.

Still smiling, the wanderer turned back to her friend. “You give me too much credit when it comes to your book, Moira."

"Don't be so modest!" the shopkeeper insisted. "It wouldn't have been possible without you!"

The Lone Wanderer smiled sheepishly. "Maybe. Hey, who knows, maybe one day people all across the entire wasteland will be reading it.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Moira told her. “One day.”

***

"Hey hey, folks, Three Dog here with your regular scheduled GNR news broadcast!

"Now, as you all know, the Capital Wasteland has been getting progressively better over the past few years, helped in no small part by the hero from Vault 101 and the Brotherhood of Steel. Raider and Frankenstein attacks are at a record low, while fresh food and water consumption are at a record high! Why, yours truly ate, for the very first time, a carrot the other day! Heh, ain't life grand?

"That's not what ol' Three Dog wanted to talk to you about though. Do you remember our little book club, from way back? The one I said you had to join? We only ever read one book, but that's 'cause it was the only one worth reading. That's right, the Wasteland Survival Guide, from Moira Brown of Megaton.

"It seems as though Miss Brown is gonna be leaving us for a while, folks. She, along with some guys from the Brotherhood of Steel and that kid from Vault 101, are going on a cross-country tour, handing out free copies of her book to families across the country. According to Brotherhood reports, she's ending her little trip in the prestigious city of New Vegas, way out west, before heading back home. Three Dog wouldn't mind a little vacation himself, but the Good Fight is just too important. Don't worry, children, I ain't goin' nowhere.

"Well, that's it for the news today, folks! This is Three Dog, wishing Moira a safe journey.

"And now, some music..."

***

Megaton
15th December 2281

“Jeez, Christina, for the last time, you weren’t abducted by aliens!”

Moira hurried around her shop, the Craterside Supply, laughing as the Lone Wanderer, Christina Mills, attempted to tell her the story of her latest exploits. Even the bodyguard, who seldom smiled or even said anything at all, was getting a bit of a chuckle out of the whole situation.

“I’m telling you Moira, I was up there! In a real alien spaceship!” The wanderer cried, desperately trying to convince her friend. “There were even others who went through the same thing!”

The shopkeeper crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? And where are they now?”

Her friend paused. “Well, they’re still up there, but I’m telling you, they’re real!”

Moira scoffed, and grabbed a broom. “Yeah, yeah. And just who were these plucky little companions of yours?" she asked sarcastically as she began sweeping. "A little girl, maybe? Ooh, how about a cowboy, or an ancient samurai perhaps?"

Christina raised a finger. “Well, actually...”

Her friend cut her off, smiling and putting the broom away. "Oh, it's okay Christina. We all experiment with Jet at some point or another, whether we do so intentionally or otherwise."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the store’s door creaking open. Lucas Simms, the town’s sheriff, stepped inside. “Good morning, Moira,” he said to her warmly, tipping his hat. “And to you, Christina.”

“Morning sheriff!” Moira called out cheerily. “Kinda busy here, but I guess I can talk for a bit. What do you need?”

The sheriff of Megaton stepped up the counter, pulling out a bag of bottle caps. “Just a few clips of ammo for my rifle. Me and my boy are going out hunting later.”

The storekeeper ducked underneath the counter, emerging a few seconds later with a handful of .32 calibre clips. “Sure thing! Here you go.”

“Thanks. You packed yet?”

Moira turned and pointed at her half-packed luggage, which was scattered in a messy pile on the other side of the room. “Almost. I still have a few copies that need to be put into boxes. Boy, when the west coast gets a hold of my guide, we’ll really be back on track with rebuilding humanity!”

Lucas chuckled. “Yeah, I bet we will.” He turned to the Lone Wanderer. “When are those Brotherhood of Steel types showing up?”

“A few hours,” Christina answered. “First stop’s the Commonwealth, then Texas, then we hop on over to the NCR on the west coast before stopping off for a tour of the Mojave on the way back. Still going to have to walk from California to Nevada though, apparently. Brotherhood have commitments here, but hopefully we'll be able to find a caravan to take us.” She paused for a second. "Hope it isn't too far."

“The Mojave.” Simms nodded. “People have been telling stories of that place. Say there’s still a bright, shining city in the middle of the desert.”

The Lone Wanderer shrugged. “Yeah, well, we'll just have to tell you all about it when we get home, won't we, sheriff?"

Lucas chuckled and nodded, smiling. "I guess you will. Have a safe and pleasant journey, the both of you." He pulled a few caps out of the bag on the counter and pushed them over to her, before picking up the bullets and stowing them in his pocket. He tipped his hat to the both of them before stepping back outside.

Moira pulled open a drawer underneath the counter and slid Lucas’ bottle caps into it. She paused for a second, then muttered, "Eh, on second thought, might need them." She opened the drawer again, grabbing a small cloth bag and putting the caps inside.

"You better hurry up and finish packing, Moira," Christina warned. "You know how the Brotherhood have a knack for arriving ahead of time."

"Don't you worry, I've got it handled," she reassured her. "Besides, I'm almost done. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

The Lone Wanderer chuckled, picking up a piece of cloth and unholstering the scoped handgun strapped to her leg. "Whatever you say. I'll just be over here, polishing the Blackhawk. I'll stay out of your way."

The two remained in silence for a few minutes, preoccupied with their respective tasks, until Moira spoke up. "So, how've you been?" she asked, looking across to her friend. "Y'know, besides your little, uh, extraterrestrial experience."

Christina shot a glare towards her, before relaxing. "I've been alright, I suppose. Everything's gone pretty quiet, as I'm sure you know."

Moira nodded, shoving more copies of her book into her luggage. "And how's Dogmeat? The poor fella's getting old now, isn't he?"

For a moment, Christina stopped. She put the gun down and closed her eyes for a second, reminiscing about her adventures with her trusty canine companion. Then, she turned around to face her friend, putting on a smile. "Yeah, he is. Too old to be going off, running around with me, that's for sure. He's staying with Manya while we're gone." Satisfied with her work, and needing something to distract her from her memories, she picked up her gun and checked the scope, before loading it again and slipping it back into its holster.

"That's probably a good idea," Moira commented. "Poor Manya hasn't been the same since Nathan passed away, has she?"

The wanderer shook her head. "No, she hasn't. Guess having the old boy around to keep her company will do them both some good."

The two of them were quickly interrupted by a sharp, brisk knocking at the door of the shop. Smirking, and raising an eyebrow, Christina turned to her friend. "What did I warn you about, Moira?"

The shopkeeper replied," Yeah, well, lucky I just finished up, huh?" She stuck out her tongue playfully.

Giggling slightly and rolling her eyes, the Lone Wanderer turned and opened the door. Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face as she came face to face with an old friend.

"Sarah!" she exclaimed, bouncing forward to hug the Sentinel. An impressive feat, considering she was clad almost head-to-toe in full Brotherhood power armour. Taken aback by the sudden display of affection, the fair-haired woman awkwardly tried to return the favour.

"Ah!" Christina suddenly yelped, trying to push away as Sarah hugged back. "Can't breathe..."

Lyons chuckled, and released her friend. "Heh, that's why hugs in power armour don't quite work, Chrissie," she told her. "Gotta remember that you could snap a super mutant's neck as if it were wafer thin in one of these things."

Her friend went to reply, but ended up catching her breath. “Well, you know I was never one for power armour,” she managed to gasp, chuckling slightly. Two Brotherhood soldiers, one to either side of Sarah, moved past the both of them and inside as Moira came to the door.

“Everything’s just behind the counter!” she called back to them, before looking up at Sentinel Lyons and beaming. “Hi!” she exclaimed, holding out a hand. “Moira Brown.”

“Sentinel Sarah Lyons, of the Brotherhood of Steel,” she replied, with an air of formality. Christina smirked and rolled her eyes, before hopping back into the shop to pick up her rifle, the Xuanlong. “I read your book, by the way,” she continued. “I have to say, I was very impressed. You’ll be helping lots of people with these new copies.”

Moira smiled modestly as the three of them started to walk away from the shop. “Ah, it was nothing. Besides, I couldn’t have done it without Christina.”

“What have I said about giving me too much credit, Moira?” the wanderer called across to her with a smile on her face. “Give yourself some for a change.” Her friend went to retort, but she cut her off with a hug. “Hey, you finally did it. Everyone across America is going to read your book.”

The three of them were interrupted by a loud, cheerful yap, and the sudden sight of large blue heeler bounding towards them. Christina grinned with glee, and kneeled down to be face-to-face with her canine companion. “Dogmeat!” she exclaimed, giggling as the aging pup reared up and licked her face excitedly. “I see getting old still hasn’t made you lose any of your get-up-and-go, huh?”

Tail wagging back and forth, Dogmeat hopped down and barked happily. His tongue lolled out to one side as Moira patted him gently.

“You gonna be okay while I’m gone, buddy?” the Lone Wanderer asked, scratching him behind the ears. They drooped, and he gave a small whimper. “Aw, don’t worry,” she reassured him, kissing him on the nose. “I’ll be back before you know it.” She leaned forward and hugged her canine friend earnestly, before standing back up. “Okay, guys, let’s get going. The vertibirds will be waiting for us”

Moira beamed. “West coast, here we come!”

***

Mojave Outpost
12th March 2282

“Caravan, citizen, piligrim, or...?”

Moira paused. “Uh... caravan, I guess.” Huh, these NCR types sure don’t mess around. Everything here was so organised. Ever since the two of them had made it to California, it was as if they’d stepped back into the Old World. A proper government, who could have thought? She was having doubts about just how much people around here even needed her guide. According to some of the people with their caravan, though, there were some that could use some tips on basic survival, so it wouldn’t go completely to waste.

“Okay then,” the soldier behind the desk muttered, signing off a few forms. “Should have a squad ready to escort you by tomorrow.” He stamped the forms, and handed them back to her.

Christina cut in. “Sorry, but why do we need an escort, uh...”

“Major Knight,” he answered her unspoken question. “And escorts are required for each caravan because there are still a few pockets of Legion spies left out there, ready to ambush. No doubt you heard about the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, last week. Legion’s wounded, but not quite dead.”

“Shit, you guys don’t mess around,” she offhandedly commented.

Knight shrugged. “Just be glad we can even move caravans through here at all. Place was locked down until the battle, ‘cause the threat was so high.”

“No shit?”

He shook his head. “If you need somewhere to sleep, head on over to the barracks next door. There’s a bar, and a few spare beds I’m sure Lacey wouldn’t mind letting you use.”

Moira turned to her friend, who shrugged. “Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Thanks!”

“Not the best place to go if you want peace and quiet though,” he warned. “One of our guys is throwing a celebratory party over there at the moment.”

“Celebratory? What, for the battle?” The Lone Wanderer was puzzled. “But you said that was a week ago.”

“He’s a pretty strange guy. This is the third celebratory party.”

Okay... well, that’s more than a little weird. “Alright then. Well, I guess we’ll head on over there anyway,” she told him. “It’s been a long day, and we could both use a drink.”

Knight nodded. “Alright then. Have a good night.”

“We will!” Moira replied cheerfully as they pushed open the door, stepping out into the evening sun. I think the Mojave is going to be an exciting place! she thought to herself.

The two friends started to make their way towards the outpost barracks. Knight hadn’t been lying; the two could hear drunken shouts and cheers, as well as music, blasting from inside the small building. “What do you make of this guy, throwing the party?” Christina wondered. “Seems pretty weird to me.”

“Hey, if he’s happy...” Moira pointed out. Her friend shrugged.

The wanderer went to push open the door to the barracks, but paused as a slurred, booming voice suddenly echoed from within.

“Hey, baby! What do I have to do, to make you love me too?”

She cast a confused glance towards her friend, before pushing open the door and stepping inside. The bar adjacent to the barracks was absolutely packed with NCR soldiers, drinking and celebrating their victory. Almost everyone was whooping and cheering, but the most ruckus came from a couple in the middle of the room. A red-haired woman in a dusty old jacket, and a taller man sporting a desperado-style hat and an old duster. Both of them were quite obviously drunk, and seemed to be singing along to a song blasting from a nearby radio. The man was even using the half empty bottle of whiskey in his hand to imitate a microphone. It was a spectacle that was amusing to watch. He had even got some of the soldiers to sing along with him.

Christina, tearing herself away from the couple, forced her way towards the bar. The bartender, who she assumed to be the Lacey that Knight mentioned, was looking on at the display in disbelief, but turned her attention to the two as they approached.

“Hey,” she called out above all the noise. “You from that caravan that just came in?”

The Lone Wanderer nodded, and Lacey chuckled. “Kinda overwhelming, ain’t it?” Lacey said, glancing over at the drunken partygoers as they sang along. “Can I get you anything?”

“Just an ice-cold Nuka, if you have one,” she requested.

“Sure do.” She ducked underneath the bar and handed the bottle of soda to the wanderer. Christina thanked her, and dropped a few caps on the table, before turning her attention back to the singing couple.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh-ee,” the woman sang, surprisingly in key for someone barely able to stand. “Baby, you ain’t movin me...”

“She’s not usually like this when drunk,” a gruff voice made Christina jump and snap her attention to the man now standing beside her. “At least, that’s what he tells me,” the man, sporting a red beret and sunglasses, told her, pointing to the woman’s friend. “Apparently she’s more... violent. Guess this is a welcome change.”

“Huh. Good to know, I guess.”

“You from that caravan that just came in?” he suddenly asked. She nodded, and he held out his hand. “Craig Boone, First Recon. I’m part of the squad that’s going to be escorting you tomorrow.” Christina smiled, and shook it. “And I guess he will be too, if his hangover’s bearable enough.”

She looked back at the pair, and chuckled. “With the way he’s drinking? It’ll be a miracle if he’s not dead by alcohol poisoning in the morning.”

“You’ve never seen him drink.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So, he the one who threw this party? The guy next door told me it was the third one.”

Moira took a swig of her own Nuka-Cola. “Seems he has a knack for it, huh?”

“Yep, you’re right,” Boone confirmed, nodding. “Don’t let looks deceive you though. This is the guy who almost single-handedly tipped the war in our favour. Hell, some soldiers were even calling him the “saviour of the NCR” at one point.”

“Must have a bit of an ego, then,” the wanderer pointed out.

“He has his moments,” he agreed. “Got the skills to back most of it up, though.”

Moira tapped her friend on the shoulder. “So this guy is a hero to the people or something? Sounds kinda like you, Christina!”

She grimaced, but Moira continued to beam. “Please, don’t compare me to...” She took a glance back, and saw him drunkenly kissing the woman he’d been signing with. “...that.” Sighing, she looked back at Boone. “This guy got a name?”

The sniper shook his head. “Not one that I know. Doesn’t really share it with anyone.”

“So what do you call him?” Moira wondered.

“The Courier.”

***

Nevada State Route 164, east of Nipton
The next day

The baking heat of the midday sun did little to deter Moira as they walked away from their first stop on their tour of the Mojave. The town of Nipton was just starting to get back on its feet after a devastating attack, so every copy of her guide was a blessing to the town’s new residents. The caravan, which consisted of a few mercenaries in addition to the two friends, was being escorted by a decidedly small squad, comprised of Boone and his courier friend alongside a couple of privates. Not the best protection, Christina found herself thinking, but, hopefully, we shouldn’t have too much trouble.

“Ah, shit,” she heard The Courier mutter. Turning to look at him, she saw him groaning, lifting his sunglasses to rub his eyes.

She smirked and moved closer to him as the caravan continued down the road as it curved to the left. “All that drink catching up with you, Mr. Courier?” she commented.

He readjusted his glasses and glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow. “Heh, hardly,” he scoffed. “And it’s just The Courier. What, you think I’m some sort of lightweight? No, this place is a prime spot for an ambush. We should keep our eyes peeled.”

“How do you figure that?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “What, apart from the fact that we’re flanked on both sides by steep cliffs, or that there are plenty of burnt out cars to hide mines in?” He warily eyed the wreck of an old world vehicle as they continued to walk. “I’ve walked this road before. Shit, just a couple of months ago, but feels like years. Back then it was Vipers and Jackals, nothin’ really to worry about. Now, we’ve got pockets of Caesar’s Legion. The main force might have retreated at the Dam, but these sons of bitches left shouldn’t be underestimated.”

“You think there’s a high chance of us being attacked?” she wondered.

“Wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t, lady,” he murmured, reaching into a satchel bag and pulling out a strange device. “Plus, this fuckin’ thing has been acting up,” he muttered to himself, inspecting it.

Christina edged closer. “What is that thing?”

“Hm?” Her voice seemed to snap The Courier out of his thoughts, and he glanced towards her. “This? Just a transportalponder.”

“Transporta-what?”

“Prototype old world technology, much more complicated than any of that Vault stuff you’re used to,” he explained dismissively. She shot him a glare, but he ignored it. “Emphasis on the prototype part. Thing barely works like it’s supposed to.”

The Lone Wanderer inspected the odd device. “And just how is it supposed to work?” she asked skeptically, looking up at him as he groaned and tapped it a few times.

“It’s all really complicated,” he told her, still messing with the device. “I’m sure it’d just bore someone like you.”

Insulted, she went to retort, but shut her mouth, resorting to glaring at him instead. Man, what a dick. Only God knows how a guy like Boone could be friends with him. And he says to keep our eyes peeled, then gets distracted by that hunk of plastic crap? Yeah, this guy's nuts. She glanced over at the sniper, who was listening to Moira drone on about something from her book. From the looks of him, he seemed pretty disinterested.

“What the hell is wrong with this thing?” The Courier murmured under his breath, holding the Transportalponder up towards the sun in an effort to see what the problem was. The bright, blue light emanating from the device flicked on and off intermittently, for no obvious reason. Suddenly, there was a loud, echoing crack, and the device sparked and flew from his hand.

“What the fuck?” he exclaimed loudly, grabbing onto his hand as it started to throb with pain. He glanced around, and saw the caravan mercenaries and NCR soldiers ducking for what little cover was available. For God’s sake. I knew it!

Boone quickly readied his rifle, and scanned the cliffs surrounding them. “Ambush!” he bellowed, but too late. Almost all of the mercenaries and soldiers were cut down in a hail of bullets before they could react. “It’s the goddamn Legion!”

“Moira, get down!” Christina screamed, pulling the Xuanlong rifle out of its holster on her back and ducking down behind the wreck they had just passed. She pulled the magazine out to check it was loaded, before slotting it back into place. Bullets flew past her head, and she dared not to pop her head out for fear of losing it. Instead, she fired a few rounds blindly back in the direction of their attackers in the hope of deterring them.

Growling with annoyance, The Courier dived behind the same car, ducking down next to her. "Don't these assholes know when to give up?" he complained, unsheathing his rifle from its scabbard. "You'd think they would have learned their goddamn lesson after Hoover Dam!"

A ear-splitting scream came from above, and Christina looked up just in time to scamper out of the way of a Legion soldier's lifeless corpse as it tumbled from the cliff, having been brought down effortlessly by Boone as he covered Moira. The wanderer took a brief moment of solace to inspect the attacker. Is that... a football helmet? Were these guys seriously the biggest threat to the Mojave?

A few of the soldiers were advancing upon them, finding safe routes down the cliff in order to get up close and personal. Christina saw one charging towards her friend, machete at the ready, and promptly shot him down with a controlled burst from her rifle, before squatting back down to reload. The rest of the descending soldiers were easy targets for Boone and The Courier. Damn, this guy isn't a bad shot, Christina found herself thinking as she watched him pick off soldiers, one by one.

Only one soldier, a legionnaire, remained, but had closed the gap between himself and Boone as the latter stopped to reload. The Lone Wanderer did not dare to fire, for fear of hitting The Courier's friend. All the two of them could do watch as Boone grappled with the soldier, with Moira standing close by, ramrod stiff out of either shock or fear. The scuffle went on for what seemed like minutes, as Boone parried the legionnaire's wild machete swings with his own. Finally, the First Recon soldier managed to kick the soldier backwards, sending him sprawling to the floor.

Come on, Boone, you got this, The Courier thought, not thinking to shoot the Legion soldier now that he was exposed, having been too caught up in the fight. Boone went to pounce, but the soldier rolled out of the way, and grabbed something that had been lying on the ground nearby.

What is he doing? The Courier thought as the soldier raised the device towards Boone and Moira. Oh shit. "No! Wait!" he cried out. "That's not a..."

He was interrupted by a flash of light. Both he and the Lone Wanderer shielded their eyes from the blinding assault, before it dimmed down. Dreading what he might see, he lowered his arm. As he had predicted, Boone, Moira, and the Legion soldier had disappeared, leaving the Transportalponder behind.

"...gun."

Chapter 02: Strangers in the Night

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CHAPTER TWO: STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

Ugh... what just happened?

Slowly coming to, Moira Brown's eyes fluttered open tentatively. She was lying on her back, staring up at the dark midnight sky. A beautiful array of colours danced between the stars and the clouds, and she couldn't help but feel in awe of the whole display. Golly! That must be a... oh, what was it called? I remember reading about it somewhere. She continued to stare upwards, desperately racking her brains to remember. Aurora borealis! That's it! Boy, I never thought I'd see one of these with my own eyes!

A sudden chill overcame her, and she found herself shivering, even despite the usual warmth her dirty old RobCo jumpsuit provided. Deciding to try and sit up, she planted a hand on the ground in an effort to push herself upwards, but quickly withdrew it when it was met with a biting, icy chill. Confused, she looked downwards, and saw that the ground was blanketed in a soft, bright white layer of snow. Snow? Huh? She shivered again, clamping her hands together and blowing on them to try and keep them warm. I don't think we're in the Mojave anymore, Moira.

She tried to look around, but found that she could not see much. Both Boone and one of the strange soldiers that had attacked them were lying nearby, presumably unconscious. Other than that, there was nothing to see. Frozen tundra surrounded them on all sides. Looking upwards once again, she noticed that the aurora seemed to actually be emanating from something, or somewhere, nearby, but she couldn't tell exactly. Her view was blocked by rolling hills and mountains that seemed to stretch on for miles. She knew for sure, though, that, somehow, that aurora wasn't completely natural.

A sudden cry of pain snapped her from her thoughts, and she turned around to see that both Boone and the soldier had awoken. It was obvious that Boone had done so first, since he had used the window of opportunity to pounce upon the Legionnaire, machete raised. The soldier struggled, desperately trying to push the blade away, but the strength of the First Recon sniper soon overcame him. Boone struck quickly and fatally, delivering a swift chop to his targets neck. He struggled and gasped, hopelessly trying to cling onto life, before succumbing to his wound. His hands and blade stained with the Legionnaire's blood, which was quickly staining the snow beneath them as well, he climbed back onto his feet, stumbling slightly as he regained his balance.

"Hey, you okay?" Moira asked tentatively, stepping towards him as he regained his breath.

He whirled around almost instantly, blade raised again, but paused as he laid eyes upon her. "Oh, it's you," he said, lowering his machete. "Thought it was just me and that bastard." He crouched down and ripped a piece of cloth from the Legionnaire's shirt, and used it to wipe the blood from his blade, before sheathing it. Only then did he allow himself to take in his surroundings. He scanned the surrounding environment, and Moira noticed him shiver slightly, even under his thick armour, which was obviously built to help him survive in harsh environments. Amusingly, to her at least, he didn't bother to remove his sunglasses, despite the fact that it was nearly pitch black.

"Where the hell do you think we are?" he wondered out loud, shivering once again. "Because I don't think we're anywhere near the Mojave, or any kind of NCR territory, for that matter."

"I don't have a clue," she admitted, before pointing up at the aurora borealis above them. "But look up there!" He followed her gaze as she continued. "It looks like the lights are actually coming from somewhere beyond that mountain."

"So you think we should check it out?"

The shopkeeper nodded earnestly, before shivering and sneezing.

He thought for a second, before shrugging. "Guess I don't have any better ideas. Besides, it beats freezing to death out here." With that, the two of them set off trudging through the snow.

It was a long, arduous process that was wholly uncomfortable. Moira tried her best to remain optimistic, focusing on thoughts such as her friends and Christina to keep her going, but soon found herself becoming weak. The harsh arctic wind was unrelenting, and sapped away at the both of them as they pressed on. They had almost reached the base of the mountain when she suddenly collapsed, overcome by the freezing cold as it attacked them relentlessly.

"Goddamn it," Boone growled under his breath, as he noticed her collapse. He didn't have anything on him that could treat hypothermia, or whatever it was that was ailing her. Not the kind of thing that usually plagued soldiers in the Mojave Wasteland. Instead, he resorted to rushing over and picking her up in his arms, intending to carry her unconscious form the rest of the way.

This quickly proved to be a flawed idea, however. Boone tried his best to soldier on valiantly, but quickly found himself weary and prone to collapse in the face of the unforgiving conditions. Having gone as far as he could, and then a bit more, he finally stopped, making sure to carefully lay Moira down, before promptly passing out next to her. Well, shit, he thought, moments before. Never thought I'd go out like this.

The blizzard raged on around them, and the sniper found himself slipping in and out of consciousness often. After what felt like years lying in the freezing snow, he passed out once again, but not before hearing the sound of approaching voices.

"Sir, I think I've found something out here!"

"What is it, Private Sentry?"

There was a brief pause, before the first voice replied, in a quiter and more reserved tone. "I have no idea, sir."

***

"Moira? Moira!"

"Boone? Boone!? Ah, fuck!"

It looked like the attack was over, but, for The Lone Wanderer and The Courier, their troubles had only just begun. The two of them quickly holstered their respective weapons and dashed over to where their friends had been only moments before, but could find no trace of them. All that remained was the Transportalponder, in a pathetic state of disrepair after the scuffle. While Christina fretted over her lost friend, The Courier groaned and bent over to pick up the broken device. "Well, shit."

He brought his attention back to the wanderer as she addressed him. "What the fuck just happened?" she asked, worry etched upon her face.

He stashed the device back in his satchel bag before sighing and lifting his hat, wiping sweat out of his fair-coloured hair. "I got no clue," he admitted, before looking up at her with a scowl on his face. "I told you to keep an eye out!"

"Oh, yeah, because you were doing such a great job too!" she yelled angrily, shooting a death glare at him. "And because of your Trans-whatever-the-hell-it-is, my friend has fucking disappeared!"

He growled and advanced towards her. "My friend too, in case you forgot!" he shouted, before grunting in frustration and turning his back to her. He paused for a second, before continuing his rant. "And, as far as I know, my 'Trans-whatever-the-hell-it-is' can only take the both of them to one place. But first, I need to fix it, and I don't need some Vault dwelling little daddy's girl gettin' in my way while I do so!"

Without thinking, Christina drew her Blackhawk, before leveling it upon The Courier in a fit of rage. "Don't even think about having the fucking audacity to talk that way about my father!" she roared, as he turned to face her once again. "He was a better man than you'll ever fucking know."

Surprised by the sudden outburst, The Courier took a step back and raised his hands. "Relax, don't do it," he told her calmly. "Okay, so that's a sore subject. I'm sorry, okay?" he spoke gently, something he had not displayed to her in the past day or so. She paused for a second, before lowering her gun. "Both of our friends have gone missing," he continued. "And this thing is the only thing that can bring us to them."

Christina sighed, before slotting her gun back into her holster. "So, can you fix it?"

He lowered his hands and stepped towards her. "Yeah. Well, no, actually." She glared at him. "Okay, not me personally, but I know a few people who might be able to help."

"And who might they be?" she inquired, putting a hand on her hip as she watched him begin to check the surrounding corpses for supplies.

"Veronica, and Raul," he told her, helping himself to a few bullets found on one of the NCR soldiers. "She's good with energy weapons and that kind of technology, and he's the best damn repairman I've ever seen. Or repair ghoul, whatever."

She crouched down next to him as he searched. "And you trust these guys?"

He looked up at her and smirked, before nodding. "With my life. It's gonna be a long walk, though," he warned, getting to his feet. "Both of them are up near New Vegas itself."

"I've walked the ruins of D.C. and beyond, I think I can handle it." She took a glance back at the ruined caravan. "We won't have to haul along any books with us, at least. Moira won't be pleased."

"Yeah, that is a shame," he agreed. "You ready then?"

She paused, staring at the caravan and the piles of ruined books strewn across the road, before looking back at him. "Yeah, let's go."

***

This is... strange, to say the least.

Boone groaned and rubbed his eyes again, but what lay before his eyes still did not change. Both he and Moira were being kept in what looked to be some sort of cell, though it was remarkably more well furnished than what he was used to. The two of them had relatively comfortable, well made beds, as well as a desk and even a separate bathroom. Furthermore, the entire room seemed to be made from some sort of crystal. Wherever they were, it had obviously not been affected by the fires of nuclear war.

By far the strangest thing, however, was the fact that their room seemed to be guarded by a horse. A small, bright orange horse, clad in golden armour. With wings. Boone figured he was somehow tripping on chems, but no matter what he did, the horse remained there. He shivered again, and pulled the blanket wrapped around him closer. The room was relatively warm, but he was still feeling the effects of his time out in the frozen wastes.

"Boone, I'm telling you, this stuff's fine!" he heard Moira say, as she sipped on a mug of 'hot chocolate', as they called it. "It really warms you right up! These guys aren't trying to drug us, or anything, silly!"

He glanced over at her, before looking at his own mug sitting on the desk. "If we're not drugged, then how the hell am I seeing a horse with wings standing guard outside?" he reasoned.

"Pegasus, sir," the horse piped up from outside, catching him off guard. "I'm a pegasus pony. And please, I insist you do everything in you power to warm yourself up, since you were out there for a while. The prince and princess will be here shortly to talk with you." He glanced inside through the door's window, but did not receive a response.

Right. Boone took a glance over at the 'hot chocolate' for a few seconds, before relenting. He raised the mug to his mouth and took a cautious sip. It tasted surprisingly good, and did wonders when it came to warming his body up. Seeing no reason not to anymore, he took another few sips then set the cup down.

"Prince and princess, huh?" Moira thought aloud. "Isn't this exciting? I didn't know a place like this existed in the Wasteland! A settlement with royalty and castles and talking ponies and all that stuff! Ooh, I could write a second book about this!"

He looked across to her. "Something tells me that we're not in the Wasteland anymore."

"Good morning, Private Sentry," came another, deeper voice from outside the door. The two of them looked towards it, but could not see anything through the small window.

"Good morning, sir," the guard replied, before presumably addressing someone else present. "Princess."

"Are they both in here?" A more feminine voice asked.

"Yes, ma'am. They haven't said much, to me at least. But they seem to be speaking Equestrian."

"Strange," the first voice mused. "Open the door, I think we'd like to speak with them."

"By your command, sir." The lock on the door clicked as the pegasus guard opened it, and the prince and princess entered, allowing Boone to study them. The prince was a bright white stallion with a deep blue mane, and seemed to have a horn atop his forehead. Unicorns? God, whatever next? The princess was a slightly taller pink mare, with both a horn and wings, and possessed a brilliant purple mane with streaks of pink and gold. Boone, understandably, could not believe his eyes, but had little time to dwell on this as the prince began to speak.

"Uh, good morning," he said rather awkwardly, holding out a hoof to Boone. The sniper eyed it for a second, before taking it and shaking. "I am Prince Shining Armor, of the Crystal Empire, and this is my wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or simply, 'Cadance'." The pink mare merely nodded towards the both of them, smiling warmly. "I hope the room isn't too small. Both of you nearly died out there, and this is all we had."

"Oh, it's fine, really!" Moira insisted, smiling happily at the two of them.

"And, if I may ask, who might you be?" Cadance asked, looking towards the man before her inquisitively.

He held his tongue for a second before answering. "Craig Boone, First Recon Sniper Battalion, New California Republic," he stated simply, with an air of militarism.

"I'm Moira," she shopkeeper chirped from the other side of the room, still smiling happily.

Shining Armor nodded towards her, before looking back to Boone. "You'll have to forgive us. I'm afraid we're not used to... well, I guess you could call this first contact. If you two are alien, that is. There's no record of any life forms like you ever existing on Equis."

"Equis?" Boone raised an eyebrow.

"Our planet," the stallion elaborated. "Don't worry, we will do everything in our power to ensure you are comfortable. The least we could do, seeing as my soldiers found you dying out in the arctic wastes just beyond the empire itself."

Different planet? Christ. I knew The Courier's wacky device was nothing but trouble. Fuck. "Uh, thanks," he said bluntly.

"You're a soldier then, back where you're from?" Shining asked, noting his trademark beret.

"Yeah. Just re-enlisted."

"And how did you end up out in the middle of nowhere?" he continued to wonder.

Moira stood up, and walked closer. When standing at full height, the two ponies had to look up to face the humans eye-to-eye, as they only reached their chest level. "Honestly? We haven't a clue!" she explained. "I don't even know a way to get back. But I'm sure our friends back home are working their butts off trying to find a way to come get us!"

Cadance smiled, and the two of them couldn't help but feel relaxed and safe as she did so. "Well, that's good to know. In the meantime, we'll look into getting you some better accommodation." She nodded to her husband, and the two of them began to leave. "We'll get a room set up, and have guards escort you up when it's ready."

"Thanks!" Moira called to her as she disappeared from sight. Shining Armor, however, paused, and turned back to face Boone.

"Oh, by the way, nopony knows about you two yet, but I'm afraid you're a secret that can't be kept forever," he warned. "The citizens of the empire as well as Equestria as a whole will have to find out at some point, and I'm afraid I don't know how they'll react. Just a heads up." With that, he left, and the pegasus guard pulled the door shut behind him.

Moira, undeterred by the odd turn of events, continued to beam, and took another drink from her own mug. "Well, they seemed real nice, didn't they?"

Chapter 03: Since We've No Place To Go...

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CHAPTER THREE: SINCE WE'VE NO PLACE TO GO...

"Shit, you did all the research on this?"

The Lone Wanderer snapped her attention away from scanning the horizon, and towards The Courier. He decided that they were going to take a break in the small settlement of Novac, and had engrossed himself in a copy of Moira's book. The town itself was a mess, apparently having been hit hard by the Legion during the battle at the dam. She had noticed an uncharacteristic look of sadness upon his face when they first laid eyes upon the war-torn town. He even stopped to silently pay his respects as they passed the body of an NCR Ranger, who he called Andy.

"Yeah, mostly," she answered, looking back into the motel room from the balcony. He was sprawled out on the rotting bed, book in one hand and a bottle of Nuka-Cola in the other.

"Good job," he commented, not looking up. "Bet it wasn't easy doing half of this stuff." Closing the book, he sat up, before pausing for a moment. He glanced back at the book, before looking up at Christina.

"Something wrong?" she wondered, raising an eyebrow.

The Courier inspected the book once again, before asking, "Are you sure this is the first time your friend's book has been brought over to the Mojave?"

She nodded, with an inquisitive look.

"Funny," he continued. "I could swear to God I've seen some copies laying around the desert before..." He trailed off, before shrugging.

"It was a bit of a hit back in the Capital," she told him. "Maybe someone made their way over here with a copy. It's been four years or so, after all." She glanced out of the window again. "Do you want to get moving? I don't wanna take too long with this."

He nodded and downed the rest of the soda before getting to his feet. He grabbed his dusty black hat from the bedside table and put it on, while slotting his Ranger Sequoia back into the holster strapped to his leg. "Yep, let's get a move on. It's a long walk down the highway, but, if we make good time, I know somewhere we can camp for the night." He grabbed his rifle and walked through the door, into the heat of the Mojave sun. He paused for a second, suddenly feeling mournful as he looked down at the town from the balcony. Ghouls, the followers of Jason Bright, were dotted all around town, helping the survivors of the Legion attack, but The Courier couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as he saw the once peaceful town left in ruins.

"You ready?" Christina asked, tapping him on the shoulder as she stepped past. "Like you said, we want to make good time."

"Yeah, okay," he replied weakly, tearing his eyes away from the wreckage. "C'mon." He followed her as she made her way down the stairs and into the parking lot, heading towards the highway that ran past the town. As they walked past the large, novelty dinosaur, she noticed another man slumped against the fence. His arm was in a cast, and he wore the same NCR beret that Boone did. He looked up as they approached, and seemed to recognise The Courier.

"Hey," he called out, getting to his feet.

The Courier tipped his hat and replied, "Manny. How ya doing, pal?"

The former First Recon sniper glanced down at his broken arm, and shrugged. "Eh, a little worse for wear, but I'll be fine. What about you?" he asked. "We ain't really talked much since that whole REPCONN business. Who's your friend?"

"Christina," the Lone Wanderer answered, holding out her hand. Manny shook it and gave her a smile.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said to her, before looking back at him. "So... you two a thing, or..."

The two of them looked at each other quickly before they both adamantly denied the implication. "No, God no," The Courier insisted. "We're just travelling together for a while. Jesus, you don't just ask something like that all blunt like."

Manny nodded, smirking. "Ah, yeah, I remember now. You had a thing for that caravan lady." He was forced to step back as The Courier suddenly approached him threateningly.

"Shut it."

"To be fair, it was pretty obvious last night," Christina piped up. He wheeled around and glared at her, and she had to keep herself from giggling.

The sniper chuckled slightly, before sighing and looking at his cast again. "Yeah, the Legion did a pretty big number on us. Might not have been so bad if Boone were here, though." He paused, then looked at them questioningly. "Where is he, anyway? Last I heard he was helping out with caravan escorts up at the Mojave Outpost."

Christina looked up at her companion for advice, but found that he too did not know what to say. She turned back to Manny, trying to think of the best way to break the grim news. "Manny... You see, Boone is-"

"On a day off!" The Courier quickly interrupted, forcing a smile. Manny looked at him quizzically, but he kept on talking. "Yep, no need for any First Recon soldiers on caravan duty today."

Manny wore a look of suspicion, but if he didn't believe The Courier's story, he didn't show it. "Oh, okay then. Be nice if he could come up here for a few days," he thought aloud, almost wishfully. He snapped back to reality, and looked at the two of them. "Alright then. I guess you two are off on your way. See you."

"Bye," Christina said to him, smiling warmly. She gave a little wave before they disappeared from sight, heading down the ramp onto the highway. Satisfied that no one else was around, she shot a glare up at The Courier. "A day off? Are you for real?"

"I didn't see you coming up with anything better," he justified. "Besides, I wasn't exactly gonna tell him that his best friend had up and vanished right in front of my eyes, was I?"

She gave an annoyed sigh, and kicked a nearby rock in frustration. She watched as it skipped across the highway and out of sight. "Shit, I guess you're right." Another frustrated groan escaped her lips. "Damn it, I knew something was going to mess up this whole expedition. I knew it was going too well."

"Murphy's law in effect, huh?" The Courier commented, glancing over at her.

She looked up and shrugged, a dejected look upon her face. "Yeah, I guess. I'm just worried about Moira. She's not really used to living out in the wasteland proper. In fact, she barely exists outside her store."

He raised an eyebrow. "And yet, she wrote a book about surviving in the wild."

"Head researcher, hello?" she pointed out, clicking her finger.

"Well, you can handle yourself, for sure," he admitted. "You more than proved that back in the thick of it. Not something they teach you back in the vault, huh?" He paused, as if he was remembering something. "Well, not most of them, at least."

The wanderer gave him a quizzical look, but decided not to ask. "So, how far's this place we can camp?"

"A few miles," he answered. "It's more than just a safe bit of land though. More of a rest stop, or trading post. Nothing much, but good enough to stop for the night, and to get something to eat."

Huh. Okay then. "Sounds pretty good," she admitted. "Let's not waste any time, then."

***

Snow.

It was something Moira had only read about in old pre-war books about weather and other such things. Tiny flakes of crystalline water, numerous enough to blanket the earth in a layer of white, wintery goodness. Still, not even those old, rotting books could properly describe to Moira how magical it looked in person. As she gazed out over the empire before her, she couldn't help but feel in awe.

"Oh, isn't it just wonderful?" she gushed, looking over to Boone, and the same pegasus guard from before. He had escorted them up to their new accommodation, but had been ordered by the prince to watch over them. Not something that the sniper was particularly happy about, but he could understand their motives.

"It is pretty impressive," he agreed, looking down at the Crystal Empire, tinted through his sunglasses. "Not something you see out in the wastes, that's for sure."

"Can you just imagine? It's like this all year round!"

"Not all year round, ma'am," the guard interrupted. "The empire has its own magically controlled climate, separate from the frozen tundras beyond." He trotted up next to them, and pointed at the city outside. "It's winter now, but in a few months the sun will be shining and foals will be having water fights in the streets."

The revelation only seemed to amaze Moira even more. "Oh, wow!" she gasped. "That really is, well, magical!" She chuckled at her own little joke, and Boone found himself rolling his eyes. Sighing, he turned to the guard.

"So, Private, when are we going to be able to leave?"

Private Sentry looked up at him, and shook his head. "Not for the forseeable future, I'm afraid," he told him. "Like Prince Shining Armor said, your very presence here is something unheard of in Equestria. The prince and princess need some time to talk to the Royal Sisters to figure out how to deal with your problem, and you can't leave the castle until everything's sorted out." He moved away from the window, and back over to his original position. "However, I have been instructed to answer any request the two of you may have."

Boone eyed the orange Pegasus for a second, before replying, "A little privacy might be good right now."

Flash paused briefly, but quickly nodded. "As you wish. I'll be outside if you need me." He shot a quick glance at Moira, who was still entranced by the snow outside, before trotting out of the luxurious bedroom.

Boone waited for the door to swing closed before sighing, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Shit," he muttered, sitting down on the edge of one of the beds. "What the hell are we gonna do?"

The shopkeeper tore herself away from the spectacle outside and looked over towards him. "Relax, what's got you so worked up?"

"I don't know, maybe the fact that we're stuck in this crazy place until these things say we can leave," he snapped, before sighing. "Aren't you at least a little worried about how we might get home?"

She smiled sweetly and sat down next to him. "Well, yeah, of course. But it's not like we'd be doing any better on our own, right? Everything's out of our control, so what's the point in losing sleep over it?" She noticed that her argument wasn't quite convincing him, and continued. "Besides, they did kind of save our lives, remember? I don't know about you, but being nice and safe and warm up in here sure beats freezing my keister off out there."

The sniper shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you've got a point," he finally relented. "Just not exactly a fan of sitting around on my ass, waiting for something to happen."

"Like I said, sometimes we don't have a say in the matter." She gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Come on, this will be fun anyway! Just think, we're the first human beings ever to make contact with alien life! Don't you think that's exciting?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Just didn't expect 'alien life' to take the form of some sort of pre-war kid's toy." He groaned and got to his feet, making his way over to the window and staring out of it. "It is pretty beautiful, huh?"

Moira bounded off the bed and over next to him. "Uh huh! Just imagine what people back home will think when we tell them about this!"

He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "I imagine that they'll think that we're crazy."

Her ecstatic demeanor deflated slightly. "Yeah, that's too bad. People are so close minded."

"Yeah, something like that." He turned towards her. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get some sleep." By Christ, I think I need it.

***

"Shining Armor, I hope you understand the ramifications of this discovery of yours."

Princess Celestia closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. Oh, how things can change in the blink of an eye. Just this morning she had been bored out of her mind, holding court and listening to the waves of dull and uninteresting propositions from the nobles of Canterlot. That is, until she received word of the imminent arrival of the rulers of the Crystal Empire.

The younger prince and princess before her both nodded in tandem. "Of course, ma'am," Shining responded. "I explained the ramifications to the aliens themselves. For the time being, they're staying in the Crystal Palace."

Celestia pondered on her options for a moment, looking over at her sister beside her. The mare of the moon's face bore no expression, instead giving off an aura of cold calculation. She could tell, however, that Luna was just as confused and conflicted as she was. She just preferred not to show it. Likely because it was a sign of weakness, or something of that nature.

"Well," Celestia finally spoke, breaking the prolonged silence. "There is no doubt in my mind that the presence of these two... extraterrestrials-" My word, just the mere use of that word makes me feel like this is some sort of science-fiction tale. "-could be a great boon to us all. A wealth of knowledge can be gained through learning about their culture and history."

"But you're worried about the public finding out too soon?" Princess Cadance wondered.

She nodded. "Exactly. What with my sister's return, Discord's brief chaotic reign, and the changeling attempt at invasion, the ponies of Equestria may not take too kindly to a number of unknown creatures having appeared, seemingly out of nowhere."

"That raises another perplexing question," Princess Luna cut in, drawing the attention of all present. "Just how, exactly, did these creatures find themselves in Equestria in the first place?"

Shining Armor looked over at his wife for a second, before turning back to the two sisters. "That's just the thing. We have no idea. A squad of my soldiers found them both freezing to death out in the frozen wastes on a regular patrol."

Luna huffed and contorted her face in thought. "This does not bode well, I fear." She sighed for a second, then looked towards Cadance. "How have they behaved so far?"

"Friendly enough," she answered. "I don't know how they can speak Equestrian, but it has definitely made things a lot easier."

"That is also confusing," Celestia commented. "My most major concern, however, is what their true intentions are, and their reasons for being here."

Shining Armor stepped forward. "I think they only want to return home. I don't think they ever intended to end up here in the first place."

"That may be the case, but we should all maintain caution, so that we are prepared for any eventuality." She got to her hooves and stretched, flexing her wings before folding then once again. "Well, unless you have nothing else to add, I think it's time we conclude this meeting."

Shining thought for a second, before remembering something. "There is one thing," he told her. "The male one. He's part of some sort of military. He responded with name and rank when I asked who he was, plus he had, well, a sort of military feel to him."

"Soldiers always have an eye for spotting other soldiers, Shiny?" his wife commented, smirking towards him.

He glanced at her and chuckled slightly. "Heh, something like that."

Princess Celestia nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Shining Armor. Now, if that is all, I believe you should return to the Empire at once. Make sure they are both comfortable. My sister and I will contact you soon."

Luna spoke just as they went to turn and leave. "Before you go, I must ask. Are we the only ponies you have revealed this information to?"

Shining looked towards Cadance briefly, before addressing the princess. "Other than the guards at the palace, yes."

"No one else? Not even your sister?"

"No, ma'am." He paused. "Why? Do you think we should tell Twilight?"

Luna mused for a second. "No. At least not for the time being."

The princes cleared his throat and nodded. "Very well." He nodded to the two of them, before he and Cadance left the Canterlot Castle throne room.

Cadance looked over towards her husband as the throne room doors swung shut behind them, and noticed his tired expression. "Are you okay, Shiny?"

He lazily looked over towards her, and yawned. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired, I guess. Don't think I'll be getting much sleep for the next few days either."

She moved towards him, brushing her side against his and nuzzling him gently. "Don't work yourself too hard, my love," she said to him softly. "Just tell me if you need some rest, I'll gladly handle all of this."

"Thanks," he replied, simply yet genuinely. The two of them shared a small but intimate kiss, before setting off towards the train station. "Come on," he announced. "We've got work to do."

Chapter 04: The Vision of Your Happiness

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CHAPTER FOUR: THE VISION OF YOUR HAPPINESS

Almost every morning, Flash Sentry would wake up early, and motivate himself by galloping laps around the Crystal Palace. He, like many soldiers, was an early riser, and the exercise helped to wake himself up properly, as well as keep him in shape. Any soldier worth his salt keeps himself motivated, and physically able, he always told himself. This morning was no exception. At the crack of dawn, the bright orange pegasus pulled himself out of bed and went about his regular routine. A quick breakfast, glass of water, brush his teeth, then, finally, straight outside to get his legs moving. He quickly found that today, however, he was not alone in his morning exercises.

The sound of clopping hooves against the ground behind him met his ears about ten minutes into his run. Someone else up this early today? Flash didn't look back, not wanting to break the comfortable stride he had settled into, but he soon realised that he didn't need to. The sound got louder and louder, until whoever was with him was mere inches behind.

"On your left," came the voice of Shining Armor, as he galloped past the pegasus, effortlessly moving much faster than him. Flash felt a pang of jealously run through him, but he quickly pushed it back and continued onward. The prince disappeared again, having circled around the palace. Flash pushed forward, still pacing himself.

The clopping sound returned again, and he frowned. Oh, great.

"On your left!"

Shining Armor dashed past him once again. Boy, he's having fun doing this, isn't he? Nevertheless, he kept going, trying his best to ignore the stallion's teasing. If there was one thing Prince Shining Armor was known for, it was that he was a very lighthearted pony, unlike previous captains of the guard, or other members of royalty. Even if it was annoying to be the butt of his jokes sometimes. As he expected, the sound of the prince's hooves beating against the ground returned once again. Flash grit his teeth and scowled.

"Don't say it..." he muttered to himself, trying to gallop faster. "Don't you dare say it."

"On your left!" The burly white unicorn barreled past once again, barely suppressing a snicker as he noticed the private's irritated expression.

Oh, that's it, Flash thought, spreading his wings and leaping forward. Taking to the air gave him a burst of momentum, allowing him to catch up easily to Shining Armor. After a few seconds, the roles had been reversed. The prince glanced behind him and, after a brief expression of surprise, chuckled.

"Nice moves, Private Sentry. Almost didn't think you'd try to do that."

Flash smirked. "Wasn't it you that said, 'a good soldier always makes use of everything that is available to him'?"

Shining chuckled once again. "Yeah, it was, but I pulled it out of some history book I read back in school." He slowed his gallop to a trot, then stopped, catching his breath. Flash did the same, touching down gently and folding his wings in once again. "I only dream of coming up with my own inspirational quotes," he joked.

"It's still an inspirational quote," the pegasus pointed out, smirking. "Even if it's not an original inspirational quote." They both snickered, and caught their breath. After a moment, Flash looked up at him and spoke up, "I haven't seen you running out here before. I'm out here every morning."

Shining Armor groaned. "I've been really slack ever since we re-discovered the Crystal Empire, truth be told. Weighed down by politics and paperwork." He paused and looked out away from the palace, at the empire surrounding it. Crystal ponies were just beginning to wake up and start their days, and a few could be seen leaving their homes. "Sometimes I miss just being captain of the guard, or, heck, just a guard in general." He looked back at Flash. "You know, becoming a royal guard is how I met Princess Cadance."

"No, sir, I didn't know that."

"Don't call me sir," the unicorn insisted, waving his hoof dismissively. "That's one thing I've always hated. Anyway, it was my first posting, matter of fact. 'The new princess needs a personal guard', they said. Well, I guess you could say the rest is history."

The private nodded. "Oh yeah, it was history alright, especially after your wedding." Shining rolled his eyes at the friendly ribbing. "Actually, the changeling invasion is what motivated me to sign up in the first place. I..." He trailed off for a second, but soon continued. "Well, I nearly got killed in the madness. Changelings broke into my house, and took me hostage. The whole thing made me realise I could do something better with myself."

Shining Armor grimaced. "Yeah, that whole business was a mess. If it wasn't for my sister..." He shook his head. "No, I don't want to think about it. The important thing is, everything turned out okay in the end, right? More importantly, we learned from our mistakes."

"Can't disagree with that." Flash nodded and stretched his wings, sighing with content as he did so. "So, ready to go again?"

The prince chuckled. "Only if you're ready to eat my dust again."

"You're on."

Both stallions grinned, and set off once again side by side. Though he would not admit it to anypony, Shining Armor slowed himself slightly so as to avoid lapping Private Sentry again. After a few minutes, however, the two of them noticed something in the corner of their eyes.

"Wait a minute," Flash muttered as they approached the entrance to the palace. "Isn't that one of the humans?"

Sure enough, they saw Boone, having somehow bypassed the guards standing watch outside his room, jogging down the steps at the front of the Crystal Palace. He noticed the two of them as they galloped towards him, and seemed to groan in frustration.

"Sir!" Shining Armor called out, as Flash glanced around for any potential witnesses, though there weren't any. "I'm afraid you're not allowed to be out of your room." Boone glared at him, but did not respond. Shining's horn ignited with a glow of his magic. "Be advised, sir, that I'm able to magically restrain you if you do not co-operate."

"Wait a minute, sir," Flash said gently towards the unicorn, earning a glare. "Let's not jump to conclusions here."

Shining paused, and relented. "Yeah, you're right. Just make sure nopony's around, will you?" He turned back to Boone, who stood there impatiently, with a frustrated expression. "Why are you wondering around, especially this early in the morning?"

"I saw you two running out here," he answered simply. "I've been cooped up in that room for the last couple of days, thought I'd stretch my legs. Even snipers need to keep themselves moving sometimes, believe it or not."

"I told you already, sir," Shining insisted. "Your very presence in the Crystal Empire is very delicate. Some ponies, especially in other parts of Equestria, may not react too well to a creature they've never seen before showing up out of nowhere. It could be dangerous for you and your friend." Boone scoffed, but he continued. "The princess and I are currently discussing with the Royal Sisters back in Canterlot. We're trying to find the best way to break the news of your arrival to our citizens."

The sniper scowled at him. "And what about getting me home?" he shot back.

"I... Well, we're looking for a way to get you home, too," Shining stuttered, having been caught off guard. I need to talk to Cadance about all this. I'm in over my head. He groaned and yawned slightly. Sometimes I miss just being a soldier.

Boone raised an eyebrow, but still remained silent. Shining Armor's attention, however, was soon drawn away from him as Flash tapped him worriedly on the shoulder.

"Uh, not to make you panic, or anything, but we may have a bit of a problem."

"What is it?" The unicorn turned around to where he was pointing, and his heart quickly sank. A few curious crystal ponies had noticed what was going on, and had immediately become interested. "Oh, horseapples. Get inside, quickly."

Flash gulped and glanced up at him. "I think it might be a bit too late for that, sir."

Shocked gasps came from the quickly-forming crowd, and a few even called out to other passers-by to come and look. Damn it, Shining thought to himself, as some ponies started to ask questions. I knew something would go wrong, I just knew it!

"Looks like you won't have to worry about breaking the news anymore, your highness," Boone said, with somewhat of a sarcastic tone. "Maybe now you can focus on getting us home. Surely your magic can do that, right?" With that, he turned and walked up the stairs into the Crystal Palace, leaving the two stallions alone with the confused crowd.

Flash looked towards the unicorn, at a loss for words. "Got any ideas?" he asked. "Looks like the game's up now."

Shining Armor groaned and put a hoof to his face. "Damn it, I got nothing."

"Prince Shining Armor!" one crystal pony called out from the crowd. "Can you tell us who, or what that creature was? And why does it seem to be staying in the Crystal Palace?"

The prince sighed and gritted his teeth, turning to the pegasus beside him. "Private Sentry," he began. "You are going to go inside and make sure our guest returns to his room safely, then I want you to find out how he got out in the first place. Is that clear?"

Flash nodded and gave a salute. "Yes, sir!" He turned and trotted swiftly inside as Shining Armor turned to look at his subjects once again.

Right, now how the heck am I going to handle this?

***

"Well, it's certainly... modest."

The Courier turned to his companion, raising an eyebrow. He and the Lone Wanderer had just arrived at the 188 Trading Post, and the sun was about to set. Just the place where we can stop for the night. "Really? What more could you ask for?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Guess I'm not used to anything better back in the Capital Wasteland." Turning to look up at him, she gave a smirk. "I just thought you swanky Vegas types were all about style."

"You ain't blind, are ya?" he joked, pointing to the city a few miles away. "Trust me, tomorrow you'll learn all about the style we 'fancy Vegas types' are known for."

Christina chuckled. "Oh, I don't doubt that for a minute. I guess I'm looking forward to it." After a moment, she sighed. "Let's not forget what we're actually trying to do though, huh?"

He nodded, leading her towards the makeshift bar that was the centerpiece of the trading post. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to get that piece of crap working again, trust me." He sat down on one of the stools, and offered for her to do the same. "I haven't heard from Veronica in a while, but I think she's currently with the Followers of the Apocalypse-"

"Followers of what?"

"They're humanitarians, doctors, stuff like that," he quickly explained. "Something about not wanting the Great War to be repeated. Anyway, last I heard she was with them at the Old Mormon Fort in Freeside. If she's not, then Arcade should be, and he might be able to help."

She nodded. "I hope so. All of this crap has gotten me worried sick."

The Courier grimaced, and nodded too. "Yeah, I get you. I mean, Boone's a tough and resourceful guy, but the place where this thing takes you..." He tapped on his satchel, where he kept the Transportalponder. "Hell, might be too crazy, even for him."

"You're not exactly helping, you know."

"Oh, uh, sorry," he replied awkwardly, clearing his throat. He tapped on the bar, calling the bartender over to him.

"Welcome," the bartender, Michelle, greeted the both of them. "Can I get you two anything?"

"Whiskey," The Courier told her simply.

She nodded and turned to the Lone Wanderer. "Anything for you?"

Christina yawned. "Just a Nuka." Michelle turned to grab their orders, but was stopped as she called out again. "Actually, scratch that. Got any scotch?"

Michelle smiled. "Sure do. I'll grab them for you now. That'll be twenty caps each, then."

The Courier lazily threw his caps onto the bar as the bottle was placed in front of him. He immediately unscrewed the lid and took a sip, sighing as he felt the familiar burning sensation in the back of his throat. He noticed Christina take a swig from her bottle in the corner of his eye, and smirked. "Didn't take you for the boozing type," he quipped.

She groaned, exhausted from the day's events."I'm usually not. I just have a weak spot for the stuff." She shrugged. "Something passed down from dad, I guess." With a sigh, she took another drink, and the two sat in silence for a few minutes.

She perked up as she heard the sound of the radio behind the bar. Mr. New Vegas had concluded his news segment, and a slow, melodic song had started to play. She gasped, and asked Michelle to turn it up so she could listen.

"What, you recognise this one?" The Courier wondered. "New Vegas Radio got their hands on a bunch of holotapes and vinyls recently; they've been expanding their playlist."

She grinned wistfully. "Oh, I haven't heard this in a long time." She sighed in content, and elaborated. "Dad used to have this one on holotape, back in Vault 101. He'd play it sometimes. One night..." She trailed off, and her smile faded. The Courier noticed tears welling up in her eyes.

"You okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah," she assured. There was a pause, then she continued. "One night, when I was just a little girl, I woke up in the middle of the night and found my dad slumped on the couch." She motioned to her bottle of scotch. "He had a bottle of this in his hands, and he was listening to this while crying his eyes out over mom."

"What happened to your mom?"

"She died having me," Christina answered quietly. "Anyway, I slept in my father's arms on the couch that night. We both dozed off, listening to this together."

He smiled slightly, before taking his hat off and wiping off the dirt and dust. "Sounds like he loved you a lot."

"Yeah," she agreed, as the song came to a close. "Don't know why I shared that. Shit, I barely know you."

He chuckled. "Guess we're united by a common purpose, or something." He took another swig of his whiskey.

"Amen to that." She raised her bottle towards him, wobbling on her stool slightly. "How about a toast? To friends."

He grabbed his whiskey and raised it towards her. "Heh, hell yeah. To friends."

***

Princess Cadance groaned, gazing out of her window at her empire below. "Shiny, this is bad. What did you say to them?"

Shining Armor sighed in frustration. "I told them the truth. That a squad of guards found them out in the tundras. There was no point in lying to them. The real question is how did he managed to slip past the guards standing outside his room? They better not have been slacking off, or so help me..."

His wife turned towards him, and embraced him softly. "Calm down, dear. We'll find a way to sort this out." She put a hoof under his chin and lifted it up so he could look her in the eye. "We always do, don't we?"

He looked at her, and smiled slightly. "Yeah, I suppose so." He gave her a peck on the lips and pulled away. "We'd better get a letter out to the princesses in Canterlot. The cat's been let out of the bag now, so they need to know about it."

"How do you think everypony else will take it?" she wondered, glancing over at him as he looked around for a scroll of parchment and a quill.

He used his magic to levitate a pot of ink onto his desk. "Well, the crystal ponies outside haven't been trying to knock down the doors of the palace, so, hopefully, it should go smoothly."

"Hopefully. But you have to remember that the Crystal Empire was gone for over a millennium, Shiny. The crystal ponies didn't know about any of the other things that have happened in that time."

"Yeah, you have a point," he murmured, pulling some parchment out of a desk drawer. "Still, all we can really do at this point is hope, can't we? Not like we can predict what everypony will say."

She trotted up next to him. "Well, if we set the right example, by welcoming them with open hooves, I imagine the citizens of both the empire and of Equestria will do the same." She smiled down at him. "I know your sister and her friends will."

He chuckled and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Even if nopony else does, they will." His horn lit up, and he used his magic to dip his quill in the ink before putting it down on the parchment. With a tired yawn, he began to write.

Dear Princess Celestia...

Chapter 05: That's Amore

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CHAPTER FIVE: THAT'S AMORE

“Hmm. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this piece of mierda has been shot to hell, boss.”

The Courier sighed and groaned, covering his face with his hand in annoyance. “Yeah, no shit Raul. Why do you think I came to see you in the first place?” Both he and Christina were sitting on the ghoul’s rotting bed as he inspected his Transportalponder. The wanderer beside him looked in his direction and raised an eyebrow, but he ignored it.

“I don't know. Maybe I figured you might just like the company of an old man,” he shot back, a smirk on his face. “I thought I was more to you than just your personal repairman.” He raised the device towards the lone lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, squinting slightly. He mumbled something under his breath in Spanish, and tapped the side of it.

After a few minutes of silence, The Courier finally spoke up. “Well, can you fix it? This is kinda important. Like, ‘both of our best friends gone missing’ important.” He stood up and inspected alongside the former vaquero. “I know this might be a bit beyond even your skills.”

Raul grunted. “Well, you’d be right, boss. Even in all my years, I’ve never been too familiar with energy weapons, let alone something like this.” He put the Transportalponder down onto his desk and pulled open a drawer, rummaging around inside for some spare parts. “I think I have some energy weapon parts somewhere around here... aha, here we go, boss.” He pulled out a few pieces of technology and handed them to his friend. “I’m afraid I don’t have the know-how to do anything with them, though.”

He sighed and cast a glance back at the Lone Wanderer, who looked similarly crestfallen. “Ah, crap. Well, let's hope Veronica or Arcade know what to do. Freeside’s only an hour or two away, I guess.” He picked up his broken device and stashed it away alongside the parts he had been given. “Well, thanks anyway, pal.” He returned to sit on the bed and groaned, wiping sleep from his eyes. He looked over at Christina. “Well, that didn’t work. You okay?”

She sighed and put on a smile, looking up at him. “I’ll be alright, thanks. Hopefully your other friends will know what to do.” With a polite smile, she looked up at the old Mexican ghoul. “Thank you anyway, Mr. Tejada.”

He returned her smile. “The pleasure was all mine, Ms. Mills. It's wonderful to see something good has come from those old pre-War Vaults.” A chuckle escaped his decaying lips as he noted her modest expression. He walked over to his fridge and pulled out a bottle of Nuka Cola, then used the edge of the desk to pop the cap off. “If you’re hungry or thirsty, you’re welcome to have something to eat and drink before you go.”

She took the Courier’s hand as he offered it to her. With a smile, he pulled her to her feet so that they stood side by side. “I appreciate the offer, but I think we ought to be going as quickly as we can.”

“Can’t wait to get to Vegas, right?” The Courier shot a smirk towards her. "Yeah, the place tends to have that effect on people."

"I admit, it's pretty tempting. The bright lights, near unlimited drinks, and the opportunity to gamble all of my hard earned, scavenged caps away." The corners of her lips crept upwards as she smirked back at him in return. "But, like I said, I don't want to waste any time." A thought crossed the wanderer's mind, and her mischievous smile only widened. "If, however, we do end up having to spend another night here, then, yes, we will have some fun on the Strip. All on you, of course."

His cocky smile immediately vanished. "Wait, what? Now, hold on a second, I never said anything about-" He was cut off as Raul giggled to the side of them both.

She nodded smugly. "No ifs or buts. I'm your guest in the Mojave, remember? I do hope you people on the West Coast know how to properly treat your guests." Her mouth twisted into a pout as she continued to tease him. "What would your friend back at the Mojave Outpost think if she found out that you didn't know how to properly treat a lady?"

He let out a frustrated groan and rolled his eyes. "Gah, fine. On one condition: you find something a bit swankier to wear than this." He motioned to her armoured Vault jumpsuit. "Believe it or not, skintight leather isn't really an appropriate style on the New Vegas Strip. Well, unless you wanna go to Gomorrah."

His final comment was ignored. "Okay, it's a deal. But only if we have to wait another night." She held out her hand and he shook it, though not before spitting into his palm first. "Ew," she murmured under her breath, grimacing and wiping her hand across her leg.

"I guess I should let you two lovebirds go," Raul suddenly announced, earning an annoyed glare across the room from his friend.

"We're not going out..."

The ghoul ignored him and addressed the Lone Wanderer. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help to you, Christina. I wish you the best in your quest, though." He gave her a polite nod. "Nonetheless, it was a pleasure meeting you."

She beamed at him. "It was all mine."

The Courier chuckled and tapped her on the shoulder. "Yeah, he's such a refined gentleman, ain't he?" He nodded towards his friend as he turned towards the door to the shack. "Thanks anyway, Raul. It was good seeing you again."

"Yeah, you too, boss." The nod was returned. "Have a safe journey to Vegas, both of you."

He said farewell one last time before stepping out of the rusty old shack and into the hot Mojave sun, his new companion in tow. The door, not without a loud creak, swung shut behind the both of them. Christina sighed beside him, and did a few stretches.

"Well, you were right. That didn't work."

He wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow as they began to make their way towards Freeside, on the outskirts of the New Vegas Strip. "Hey, look up, kid. If there's anyone who will know how to fix this old piece of crap..." He tapped the bag containing the Transportalponder for emphasis. "...it'll be Veronica Santangelo, or Arcade Gannon. And they're both going to be in the same place, at the same time. I bet a hundred caps that, by this time tomorrow, we'll be reunited with Boone and..." There was a pause as he racked his brains. "...your friend."

"Her name's Moira." She rolled her eyes and looked towards him with a raised eyebrow. "And 'kid'? I think you're only a couple of years older than me!"

His familiar smirk found its way onto his lips once again. "Precisely, kid."

Oh, nice job Christina. Now the bastard has something to tease you about. "Ugh, whatever." She was dismayed to see the smirk only widen. "You're fucking unbearable, you know that?"

"Yep, I try."

She chuckled slightly and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Oh, knock it off, Calamity Jane." She flicked the cowboy hat atop his head. He quickly straightened it, giving her a look of mock annoyance. "And please don't tell me you wear those sunglasses at night, too."

"Why not?" The Courier seemed genuinely confused. "Hey, Boone does it too. Why can't I?"

"'Cause it makes you look like a jackass."

"Then I guess I'm gonna look like a jackass. Sorry if I disappointed you." The towers and hotels that marked the New Vegas Strip became visible as they stepped onto the dusty, cracked road outside Raul's shack. It was a few miles away, and would take an hour or two to reach at their current pace. "C'mon, let's get to the Old Mormon Fort."

She gestured for him to take point. "Then, by all means, lead the way."

***

Boone had to admit, he had never seen such a look of unbridled glee on anybody's face before. His newfound friend was positively bursting with excitement as she stood next to him, wearing an elegant dress made by a Crystal Empire tailor rather than the RobCo jumpsuit she usually wore. The same tailor had crafted him a sharp, stylish suit, similar to what he wore on his rare trips to the Strip with The Courier. Or the one he wore when he met Carla.

He shut his eyes and groaned slightly, trying to push the memory out of his head. Though his friend had helped him accept his actions, both with his wife and what happened with the Great Khans at Bitter Springs, some wounds just never properly heal.

"Oh, aren't you excited, Craig?" came the shopkeeper's chipper voice. "We're going to be famous!"

He gave her a slight smile and answered simply, "Sure." Huh, looks like I really let the cat out of the bag. The two of them were waiting in the royal chambers of the prince and princess, waiting for the go-ahead to step out onto the balcony and formally announce their presence to the Crystal Empire, and the rest of Equestria. Naturally, there was a huge crowd outside. Guess I don't want to make the wrong impression.

Both Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were there with them, alongside three other royal looking ponies that he did not recognise, but assumed to be the other rulers of the kingdom. Two of them, the white and blue ones, were talking idly with Cadance, while the smallest one, easily identifiable by her purple coat and the bright pink streak running through her mane, looked up at him curiously. After a few minutes of feeling her eyes upon him, he finally turned to address her. "Can I help you?" His tone was perhaps more blunt than he intended.

An embarrassed blush quickly formed across her cheeks and she coughed awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. The prince, standing next to her, noticed and snickered lightly.

"I told you not to stare at them, Twily," he warned jokingly to the younger princess. "They are our guests, after all."

Her blush only deepened and her eyes widened with sudden worry. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" She looked up towards Boone again. "I'm so, so sorry if I offended you!"

"It's fine," he told her. "I'm gonna guess that you're pretty curious. Don't worry, the whole reason we're up here is to answer any questions about us that you got."

Moira leaned down next to him and nodded earnestly. "Oh, absolutely! In fact, if you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them right now!"

The mare grinned and opened her mouth to talk, but was quickly cut off by the unicorn stallion next to her. "That's really generous of you, ma'am, but my sister here has some very important royal business that she needs to attend to." He gave them both an awkward, sheepish smile and put his hoof around her, turning her around and leading her towards the other princesses. Boone noticed her give her brother a pleading look as they walked away. I guess she would have gotten carried away.

Moira was still bouncing with excitement next to him. "I guess you never expected to end up somewhere like this when you started your little cross-country book club, huh?" he said towards her.

Her ecstatic demeanour briefly became downtrodden. "No, not really. In all this wonderful excitement, I nearly forgot about delivering my survival guide." A thought made her perk up again. "I bet Christina's doing her bit to finish off, though. Hey, maybe both her and your friend will find a way to get here as well!"

He considered the idea. "Hopefully. Might be that's our only way at getting home to the Mojave. Shit, if nothing else, The Courier's a stubborn son of a bitch. He'll find a way."

"Sounds like he has a lot in common with Christina," she told him. "She wouldn't let a tiny thing like us two getting teleported to a different planet or universe stop her."

"Doesn't mean that they can't lend a hand- er, hoof to help," he pointed out, looking over at the white and blue princesses; Celestia and Luna, they had been introduced as. Apparently they raised the sun and the moon, respectively, but that had to be a load of superstitious bullshit.

Moira took hold of his shoulder, making him look at her. "Hey, come on. Give them some credit; they're doing what they can." There was silence as he stared back at her. "You don't trust them, do you?"

She frowned a bit as he did not reply, and simply looked away without a word.

"Listen, Craig, do me a favour." He looked over at her, and found her bearing an uncharacteristically serious expression. "Next time you're up in the room, or when you want to go for a walk or run outside, look at them. Look at every single pony that you see. More specifically, look at the smiles on almost every face you pass."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

She rolled her eyes and flicked the beret on his head, which he readjusted with annoyance. "Don't you see? All of these ponies are happy. Almost every single one you see is always smiling; laughing and having fun with friends and family. It should be obvious since you don't see that kind of look on a person's face out in the Wasteland often at all."

There was a brief pause, and she continued. "And that's the thing, don't you see? This isn't the Wasteland. Here, it isn't an everyday fight for survival. These ponies have the chance to cherish life since they don't have to fight tooth and nail for it in their every waking moment."

Boone considered her words for a moment. "And this relates to my lack of trust for them how, exactly?"

"They've been nothing but welcoming to us the moment they found us. It's all been genuine care. Sure, they kept us out of the public eye for a while, but that was just to make sure everything wasn't too sudden. They could have left us to die in the snow, or just put us out of our misery, but they didn't; they took us in and nursed us back to health. Bottom line? They did a lot to help a couple of creatures that they'd never even seen before. They put a lot of trust in us, so it's only fair that you give yours in return."

With her little rant over, there was a few seconds of silence once again. However, soon enough, the edges of Boone's mouth turned upwards into a smirk. "No offence, but you're pretty wise for someone who runs a general store, fixes pieces of junk for a living, and lives right next door to an undetonated nuclear weapon."

"A deactivated undetonated nuclear weapon."

"My point still stands."

"Indeed it does," came a regal voice from next to both of them. The two looked to the side to see Princess Celestia, smiling at them both warmly. Unlike the average pony, she stood at more or less the same size as the two humans. "Thank you, Ms. Brown," she said to Moira. "Your words are quite humbling, to say the least. And all of them true. If there's one thing that matters most in Equestria, it would be happiness and friendship."

"Technically, that's two things," the shopkeeper couldn't help but point out. Boone noticed Shining Armor shoot her an annoyed glare from across the room.

Celestia only smiled and giggled slightly. "Ah, quite. Very astute, yet again." She turned to Boone. "I am so very sorry that we have not earned your trust, Mr. Boone. Please believe me when I say that I have some of my best ponies working on finding out a way to return you to your home. Though, perhaps..." She absently looked towards the purple alicorn standing next to her brother. "...not all of my best ponies."

"It's fine, really," he replied. "Maybe I've just had the wrong outlook on the whole thing."

The princess nodded. "Perhaps. For now, though, I believe everything is ready for you two to address the crowd."

"Ooh, I'm kinda nervous," Moira admitted, hopping from one leg to the other. "I'm no good with speeches. No good at all."

"Just say whatever comes to mind," Celestia reassured her. "These ponies only want clarification; they want to know who you are, and where you came from." She nodded towards Cadance and Shining Armor, who nodded back and pushed open the doors to the palace balcony. The rest of them followed, taking their places behind the two as the princess began to address the crowd.

"Good afternoon, everypony," she started. Her voice echoed out from the palace, no doubt enhanced by some sort of projection spell. "I trust you have all had a wonderful winter morning. Now, I believe it's best we get down to the reason that, I think, all of you are here for. Yes, two previously unknown creatures are present in the Crystal Empire, and, yes, they are guests within the Crystal Palace."

She stopped talking for a few moments as a few hushed murmurs swept over the crowd. Once they had stopped, she continued. "They call themselves human beings, and, instead of them being a species from an uncharted land on our world, we believe now that they are extraterrestrials from another planet."

There was another wave of whispering and muttering that she let pass over. "Now, I believe that I have talked for long enough. After all, it's only proper that they introduce themselves to us. Without further adieu, please give a warm welcome to both Moira Brown and Craig Boone."

She started to stomp her hooves against the floor, and the crowd below followed suit, creating a cacophony of noise that was near-deafening. Boone found the whole situation quite strange, but nonetheless stepped forward alongside his eccentric companion. She gave some ponies in the crowd a little wave, while he simply nodded curtly.

"Hi, everybody!" Much like Cadance, her voice had been magically amplified. Boone could only assume that his had as well. "Oh, pardon me. Everypony, I mean. Let me just say what an honour it is to be here today. As the princess said, my name is Moira." She nodded towards him.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Craig Boone, with First Recon, in the New California Republic." He cringed inwardly at his awkward and blunt wording.

Moira's smile didn't falter as she looked down at the crowd once again. For someone who's no good at speeches, she seems to be handling this well.

"That's right, my friend Craig here is a soldier. A sniper, to be precise. Anyway, we are both from a planet called Earth. I am from a small town called Megaton, in a place called the Capital Wasteland, while he's from the city of New Vegas, in the Mojave Wasteland."

Confused murmurs were going around the crowd now, which she seemed to pick up on. "Yeah, 'wasteland'. Let me explain that part. You see..."

"There was a war," Boone found himself cutting in. "A big one. The great one. A couple centuries ago, bombs fell from the sky and a lot of people died. The world was twisted, made into a horrible shell of its former self." He paused. "Or, at least, so I'm told. There are no proper records of what happened, exactly. But that's not important. What is important is that, for us, every day is a fight for survival. We have to always be on the lookout, be it for some mutated monster, or a crazy murderer looking to cut our throats just to take what little belongings we have."

The crowd had been stunned into silence. He couldn't figure out whether that was a good or a bad thing. Despite that, he decided to continue anyway. "When we first arrived here, I didn't trust any of the ponies around me, because everything was different. I wasn't used to it. Hell, maybe I was envious that you didn't have to fight for your survival everyday." There was a pause as he stopped to take a breath. "The point is, I know some of you don't trust us, just like I didn't trust you. I don't expect you to. Prince Shining Armor explained to me what happened to the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago. Despite that, I want to assure you that, while we may not have earned your trust, our intentions are nothing but peaceful. Because, as my friend just explained to me, you ponies are nothing but happy. While you may have missed out on a thousand years, and suffered a brief rule under the hoof of a tyrant king, you remain happy." He glanced over at Moira, who wore a warm smile. She nodded for him to continue.

"None of you know the horrors that have become part of an everyday routine for the both of us. And, no matter what, we're never going to change that. The kind of happiness you see everyday here is a rare sight back home. I am not here to take that away from you, and neither is Moira."

Her smile only widened as she stepped forward. "In short, I think we just want to be friends. Thanks for your time; hopefully we'll see you soon." She gave a wave and stepped away from the balcony railing alongside him. After a few seconds of silence, the crowd began to stomp their hooves against the ground, and Boone let out a sigh of relief that he did not realise he had been holding.

Celestia beamed at him as they all stepped back inside once again. "Please forgive me if this sounds forward, but that was surprisingly heartfelt."

He shrugged and gave her a small smile in return. "Like I said before, maybe I was just looking at this whole situation the wrong way."

The two were interrupted as the prince walked up to them. He seemed happy as he looked towards Boone. "Well, that's that then. Thank you for being honest about everything, both of you." He smiled towards Moira as well. "To tell you the truth, I had no idea how tough things were for you back where you came from. Thank you again for telling us."

"It was nothing, really!" she insisted modestly, waving her hand. "I'm just glad that we can finally get to explore some of this place. We can leave the palace, now, right?"

Shining Armor looked up at Princess Celestia, then over to his wife. Both of them nodded silently. "Well, I don't see why not. I mean, you're not exactly one of Equestria's most closely guarded secrets anymore, are you?"

"Excuse me, sir." While they had been talking, Flash Sentry had entered the room. Boone saw him look towards the prince's sister, and smirked when he noticed them both blush as they made eye contact.

Shining looked up at the new arrival. "Oh, good afternoon, Private. Is there something I can do to help you?"

Boone looked on as the pegasus stepped forward and whispered something into the unicorn's ear. His expression immediately changed from content and happy to deadly serious. "I see." He relayed the information quietly to his wife, who went similarly rigid.

"Is there a problem?" the sniper decided to ask, backed up by questioning glances from both Princess Celestia and Luna.

Shining looked towards Cadance, who sighed, gave him a loving peck on the cheek, and nodded for him to continue. "To be honest, it's nothing too worrying. It's just something we thought had been laid to rest."

"What do you mean?" his sister asked.

He seemed reluctant to inform everyone else, but relented after a few seconds. "After you and Cadance defeated King Sombra, Twilight-"

"After Spike and Cadance defeated Sombra," she corrected. "You didn't forget about the crystal statue right outside, did you?"

Her brother chuckled. "Heh, sorry. After Spike and Cadance defeated Sombra, our guard patrols around the edges of the Empire would find areas containing large amounts of ambient dark magic. Enough to give some of our unicorn soldiers a nasty migraine, but nothing particularly dangerous."

"Are we to assume that these pockets of dark magic have returned after a long period of absence?" Luna spoke up.

"That's precisely it. Like I said, it's probably nothing, though. Nonetheless, I have my best soldiers looking it." He smiled over at Flash and nodded. "If the situation worsens, we will, of course, let you know."

Twilight trotted up to him, a look of concern spread across her face. "Just be careful, Shiny, okay?" She put a hoof on his chest, and he drew her into a hug.

"You know me better than that, little sis. Careful's my middle name."

Dark magic, huh? Boone thought to himself, looking on. That doesn't sound too friendly. Still, he said it wasn't too much of a problem. I've got bigger problems right now, anyway. How much trouble could this damn magic be, anyway?

***

The Old Mormon Fort, perhaps the most frequently visited place by both Freeside residents and visitors alike, was, for the first time in a very, very long time, nearly deserted. Beds that would usually be full of sick and injured patients, slowly dying a painful death without much to be done to help them, were now almost completely empty. In the middle of the fort, a woman stood talking to one of her patients. When she noticed two more people enter the fort through the front gates, Julie Farkas quickly dismissed him and went to greet them.

"If it ain't my favourite doctor," The Courier called out as they approached. "How's everything been since Hoover Dam?

She smiled warmly. "Quite well, actually. In no small part thanks to your efforts around Freeside beforehand. Something I've never properly thanked you for." A quiet chuckle escaped her lips as she looked at him. "So, thank you."

"Don't mention it. It's the least I could do."

She gave him a nod. "Still, you helped immensely." After another smile, she looked over at the Lone Wanderer. "So, who's your friend?"

"My name's Christina." She held out a hand towards her, which was quickly taken and shook. "He talked about you before. Julie, right?"

She nodded. "You're a vault dweller, then? I've heard nasty stories of some of those things." She noted the number stitched into her jumpsuit. "I didn't know that there were more than a hundred, either? Where did you come from?"

Christina gave a shrug. "Washington. So, quite far away, as I'm sure you can imagine."

The doctor seemed impressed, but The Courier cut short their conversation. "Julie, you remember Veronica? Used to be part of the Brotherhood of Steel chapter over here." The mention of the group caught Christina's attention. "Is she around?"

"Ah, yes." She pointed towards a tent behind her. "She's with Doctor Gannon at the moment."

Perfect, he thought, moving to step past her. She caught his arm quickly and looked up at him, a thankful smile on her face.

"I don't know what happened with Arcade, but thank you. Ever since he came back from his travels with you, he's become almost a different man. He's more dedicated to his work than ever, yet more friendly and open to everyone around here. It's like a weight on his mind has finally been lifted."

He smiled in return; a small, friendly smile that he did not show very often. "We cleared up a few things. And don't mention it." He nodded, and led Christina towards the tent that had been pointed out.

They poked their heads through the flaps of the tent and found the two that they had been looking for. Arcade was busy explaining something to Veronica, who listened intently. Because of this, neither had noticed the fact that they had visitors.

"You know," The Courier announced, walking up to her and putting his hand on her shoulder. "That labcoat suits you much better than a dusty old scribe robe."

She jumped at the unexpected contact, and quickly twisted round to look at him. An excited grin spread across her face, and she leapt up, pulling him into a quick, friendly hug.

The move took him by surprise, but he simply smiled and hugged back. "What happened to the whole 'leggy brunette' thing?"

"Oh, shut up, mailman." She finally pulled away. "There were mixed reports after Hoover Dam, and you never showed up after. I thought you might have been killed."

The familiar smirk appeared again. "Who, me? It'll take more than a few nutjobs in sports gear to put me in the ground, honey."

"Things have been looking up since the battle last week." Arcade had spun around in his seat, and was looking up at them. "Nice going, by the way. I heard that our old friends fought well."

"And fight well they did," he replied, ignoring Veronica's questioning look. "How about you, Arcade? How are you doing?"

"Quite well, all things considered." His eyebrow raised questioningly as he looked up. "A little bird told me, though, that you passed up on an opportunity for an independent Vegas."

The Courier shrugged. "You of all people should know that there's a fine line between independence and anarchy, my friend. If I'd gone with that opportunity, I think New Vegas would have leaned towards the latter."

Arcade looked unconvinced, but shrugged it off. "It's alright, I suppose. At the very least, gamblers up and down the Strip weren't being tied to any crosses. Aside from taxes, things with the NCR are doing okay, anyway." He finally stood up and shook The Courier's hand. "Now, is this a purely social call, or is there something you need? I notice you've found another friend."

Christina smiled and waved sheepishly as he pulled the Transportalponder, along with the spare parts he had received, from his bag and set them on the table. "I do need something, I'm afraid. You both know a lot about energy weapons and shit, right?"

Arcade readjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose before inspecting the device. "I know a thing or two about energy weapons, but I always thought that shit was your area of expertise." He smirked at his own joke. "But I've never seen something like this before."

"Ooh, shiny." Veronica kneeled down next to him, poking through the parts while eying it keenly. "What is it?"

"Trust me, it's probably better if you don't know. We just need you to get it working again."

Arcade mumbled something under his breath, before looking back up at the two of them. "Well, it's pretty similar in design to what I'm familiar with, but the parts you have aren't compatible. Thankfully, I know where to get some, but it probably won't be ready 'till tomorrow."

Christina giggled and pumped her fist into the air as her new friend rolled his eyes and groaned beside her. "Okay then, Arcade. Whatever it takes." He turned to the Lone Wanderer and pointed a finger. "Not a word."

"My lips are sealed." She smirked smugly. "If we're going to Vegas, though, I have no idea where to find something to wear."

His eyes drifted over to his friends by the table, and an idea formed in his mind. "Veronica," he called out, catching her attention. "Can I have a word with you for a sec?"

"You got a package for me or something?" she replied teasingly, standing back up and joining him as they stepped outside of the tent. "Okay, seriously. What do you need?"

He winced, preparing for her response. "You remember those dresses I found you?"

"Yeah, how could I forget?"

He took a deep breath. "I'm... kinda gonna need to borrow one from you."

***

"You know, I think my ears are still ringing."

The Courier looked down at the Lone Wanderer, who was wearing a simple yet elegant light brown dress. Veronica's overwhelmingly negative response was still echoing in his ears as well. Huh, might have done some permanent damage. "Yeah, she's pretty protective of those things. It suits you, though."

"You think so?" She looked down at herself for what seemed like the millionth time that evening. "I've never really had the chance to wear one. Never saw the need, I guess. I don't know how you managed to convince her, and I'm not gonna ask, but thanks." She wiped some dust off of his light brown suit jacket. "Didn't think I'd be saying this, but that suits you too. You still need to lose the hat and sunglasses, though."

"Never. So, what do you think of Vegas? You've already seen the Lucky 38, but I'm guessing it'll be a bit flashier once the NCR are done renovating it."

She looked up at the neon lights flashing all around them, and seemed in awe for a moment. "It's certainly something, that's for sure."

"Yep, it's definitely something." He chuckled and tapped her shoulder. "So, where do you wanna go?" She shrugged, so he continued. "Well, Gomorrah will just rob you of your caps, so that's a no-go. And, truth be told, the Ultra Luxe is kinda creepy."

"I don't know, it seems quite nice to me. Really refined."

He grimaced and heaved slightly. "You ain't been behind the scenes, trust me."

"I don't see how-"

"Trust. Me."

His stern tone made her give him the benefit of the doubt. "Okay then. That just leaves the Tops, right?"

"Uh huh." The two of them swiftly approached the casino in question. "It's pretty good here actually, so long as you don't bump into any... unsavoury characters."

"I won't ask. We are going to have fun tonight, Courier, with all expenses paid by you, and nothing is going to ruin that."

"You're lucky that you're enjoyable company, you know," he told her. "Not even Cass thought she could get away with making me pay the bill for a night."

She didn't reply, and simply stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. He rolled his eyes and pushed open the door to the casino, beckoning her inside before entering himself.

Both of them were greeted by a doorman, dressed in a business suit and with his jet black hair slicked back. "Ring-a-ding ding, welcome to the Tops." He sounded entirely bored and uninterested. "My name's Frank, and I'm here to make sure everything about your night here is the tops. But first, I'm gonna have to ask you to relinquish any weapons you may have on ya."

While Christina reluctantly pulled off the holster around her leg containing the Blackhawk, The Courier happily unclipped his cowboy holster, with his Ranger Sequoia still slotted inside, and handed it to the doorman. "No problem at all, pal. Here you go"

She frowned at him as they moved past the door and onto the main casino floor. "You seemed a bit eager to give yours up. I feel positively naked without mine."

The smirk appeared again, and he cast a few glances over his shoulder. Once he was satisfied that none of the guards were watching, he slyly pulled one side of his suit jacket, revealing a nickel plated handgun slotted inside a shoulder holster. "That's another thing about the guys here. They're amateurs. If you don't look like you have anything to hide, they won't bother checking."

"And here I was, wondering if they were going to pat us down."

"A Light Shining in Darkness," he elaborated, introducing her to the gun. "It was a gift from a friend. Chambers a forty five round. Not quite as powerful as the ol' Sequoia, but still enough to punch through an old pre-War suit, wouldn't you say?"

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't slightly impressed. "Doesn't seem exactly subtle."

He covered up the gun once again. "And that's why it's for emergencies only." They had reached the main floor, and he stopped. "So, you want to hit the tables or grab a drink first?"

"Why not both? We've got to get the chips from the cashier anyway." There was a pause while she thought. "Wait, that is how it works, right?"

He nodded and smiled. "Now you're speaking my language." Tipping his hat back, he took her hand and led her towards the cashier's desk, nearby the bar. The move took her by surprise slightly, and she pulled her hand away after a few seconds, looking away quickly.

"Good evening to you, sir. And to you, ma'am." The cashier was a lot more enthusiastic than Frank was, of that The Courier was sure. "What'll it be? And will you be paying in caps, the NCR dollar, or Legion currency?"

"Just caps. Give me a thousand chips," he replied, dropping a bulging sack of bottle caps on the desk. "Who even uses NCR or Legion cash, anyway? I just trade any I find for more caps."

The cashier didn't reply, instead silently handing him his chips with a smile. The Courier thanked him and handed half to Christina. Now ready to play at the tables, they both went to turn and get started, but were interrupted by someone from behind them.

"Well, I'll be. Ring-a-ding ding, baby." The voice was familiar to The Courier, who suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He grit his teeth as whoever it was continued. "We really oughta stop meetin' like this, pal."

Slowly, he turned around to face the newcomer. Sure enough, it was who he had suspected. He had the same cocky smile, the same greasy hair, and the same tacky suit.

"Benny."

Chapter 06: Boom Boom

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CHAPTER SIX: BOOM BOOM

Two weeks earlier

“So, we’re just gonna march in there and put a bullet in his skull?”

The Courier glanced over at Boone, a confident smile adorning his face as they both watched the entrance to the Legion’s Fort. “Well, yeah, we are.” He frowned at his friend’s skeptical look. “What? It’s a plan.”

“Doesn't sound like much of a plan to me,” he replied flatly.

“It is totally a plan,” he defended. “Well, mostly. ‘Bout twelve percent of one, at least.” He gave a shrug and went back to spying down at the fort beneath them through the binoculars in his hand. The cocky smile on his face soon narrowed into a calculating grimace as he studied the forces below him.

Similarly, Boone watched the Legion troops in the fort through the scope of his rifle. “So, what does the twelve percent of this plan of yours involve?” He cast a sideways glance towards him for a second, before looking through the scope once again.

“That piece of shit Inculta gave me this back when I was on the Strip." He held up something to Boone; what seemed to be an ordinary Legion Denarius coin hung from a lanyard. "Said it was the 'Mark of Caesar' or some shit, and that I was invited for an audience with him."

He looked at him, suddenly growing suspicious. "And why the hell would that bastard want an audience with you?"

"Christ if I know. Guess they knew about the platinum chip." He groaned and gritted his teeth. "Speaking of which, that slimy fuck Benny still has it. With any luck they tied him up on a cross somewhere in there."

Boone shrugged. "Yeah, well he's your business. I'm gonna be too busy keeping score I'm afraid." He took the time to check the bullets in his pouches and bandolier, carefully counting each one inside.

"Well, we ain't gonna get anything done sitting up here, now are we?" He stowed the binoculars back into his satchel bag and cracked his knuckles, taking a deep breath. He stood up and adjusted the holsters on his leg and across his back. "You ready?"

Boone raised his eyebrow. "I still don't know what we're even doing. When can I start shooting these assholes?"

"If all goes to plan, they should start escorting me up there." He pointed his finger towards a large, lavish tent at the top of the hill. "When we start going up the hill, you're free to start shooting bad guys."

He glanced back at the raft they had used to move up river from Cottonwood Cove. "One last thing. Won't they be expecting the guy guarding the raft to show up with you?"

The Courier rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Nah, I'll just make bullshit excuse about how he had to go back. Hopefully they haven't received word of the cove's sudden increase in radioactivity, or the mysterious deaths of everybody stationed there." He chuckled at his own joke, before nodding to his friend and setting off down the hill.

Well, this is gonna get us both killed. Boone watched his friend through the scope of his rifle as he approached the gates of Caesar's fort. Ah, fuck it. Let's just do it.

As he approached the fort, The Courier tipped back his hat to look up at the soldiers above the gate, who had their rifles trained intently on him.

"What is your business in Caesar's territory, profligate?" one barked at him, pulling back the bolt on his rifle. "Answer, or face death!"

He pulled the coin out of his pocket and held it up by the lanyard. "I carry the mark of Caesar!" he called out in reply. "He has requested an audience with me!"

One of the guards glanced towards the other, his questioning look hidden behind a pair of goggles and a face mask. The other seemed to think for a second. "Where is Cursor Lucullus?" he asked, still keeping him in his sights.

All over Cottonwood Cove. He repressed a smirk and instead answered, "He had important business back at Cottonwood Cove. He has already left back down the river."

The soldiers seemed to buy his lie, if their nods and lowered weapons were anything to go by. The gate before him was lifted by some sort of pulley system, allowing him entrance. He suddenly found the scrutinising eyes of every legionnaire upon him as he stepped inside. One of them approached him, and he resisted the urge to reach for the Sequoia strapped to his leg. This guy must be my escort. Guess he's getting his head blown off first.

The legionnaire's eyes ran up and down the new arrival, judging his every move and mannerism. The Courier looked around awkwardly, before clearing his throat.

"You ain't eyeing me up, are ya, pal?" he joked. "I don't swing that way, I'm afraid."

He didn't dignify the comment with a response. Instead, he inspected the long duster coat that he wore, before turning towards him to speak. "Those who wear the flag of the bear in Caesar's territory typically become corpses within a matter of moments. However, Caesar has requested your audience, and I am not one to disobey. Follow me."

Well, that was fuckin' easy. He nodded and gestured for the soldier to lead on. "Alright then. Lead the way, pal." He cast a discreet glance towards the hill overlooking the fort, and noticed the telltale glint of sunlight reflecting off of his friend's scope. Not just yet, Boone.

"The mark you carry is an exceptional gift," the soldier called back to him, heading towards the hill leading towards the main section of the fort. "Caesar must believe that you can be of great use to his Legion, especially if you represent the New California Republic."

He shrugged, glancing around. "Guess I'm just interested in seeing Caesar's view on this whole conflict," he lied. Okay, here goes nothing. He looked up towards Boone and gave a small but noticeable nod. His hand hovered towards the revolver on his hip as he waited for the first shot.

In the next few seconds, the soldier in front of him suddenly had the side of his head blown open, and he tumbled lifelessly to the ground. In an instant, he had pulled the gun from his holster and had it pointed at another, confused soldier slightly further up the hill. The first bullet left the barrel of his gun, and soon found itself embedded in his head. Chaos erupted all around him; Legion soldiers were running too and fro, diving to take cover from the sniper on the hill. Some did not even notice as The Courier shot dead any who dared to fire either at him or his friend on the hill.

Even as one soldier turned to raise his rifle towards him, Boone shot him dead. There were only two of them left now, with one of them about to fire on him. Without even thinking, The Courier dived to the side towards cover, firing off the last few bullets left in his gun as he did. Miraculously, one of them caught the legionnaire in the shoulder. The both of them were quickly dispatched by Boone as his friend scrambled behind cover.

Well, shit, we’re in the thick of it now. He nodded towards his friend on the hill, who nodded in return and quickly ran down to back him up. Thankful for the quick break in the action, he loaded some more rounds into his Sequoia, listening out for the shouts and battle cries of the legion soldiers as they rushed to investigate the commotion. “Alright you sons of bitches,” he muttered as Boone crouched down next to him, pulling back the bolt on his rifle.

"Guess they know we're both here know," Boone muttered, wiping dirt away from his forehead. "Move up to the tents, I've got you covered."

He nodded and moved forward up the hill as he followed some distance behind. He had only just managed to pull his rifle from the scabbard on his back when three more soldiers came rushing towards them. He shot the first two while Boone took care of the one in the back, who clutched at the wound in his chest as he tumbled down the cliffside.

"Tents ain't much good for cover," he warned the sniper. "Check your corners, and make a beeline for Caesar's fuckin' palace up there." He pointed towards the large, lavish tent that towered above the rest in the middle of the camp.

"From what I hear it's mostly slaves around here. The praetorian guards inside will be the real problem."

He nodded as they moved forward, approaching the bigger tent. "Slaves shouldn't be too much of a problem. Hell, we'll free 'em if we can. Let's just hope we don't have to deal with any Stockholm Syndrome bullshit."

They were interrupted as a bullet tore through the cloth of a tent beside them. In an instant The Courier whipped round, firing a shot straight between his attacker's eyes. There was an audible 'ping' as the empty clip ejected from the rifle. Noticing that there were still two soldiers on him, and that Boone was busy with his own, he dropped the rifle into one hand and drew his revolver, ducking down and shooting them both dead.

"Come on Boone, let's move it!" he barked as his friend finished off their pursuers. He managed to fumble another clip into his rifle as they ran towards the tent, though, thankfully, they were left unopposed. As they approached the entrance, he put his hand out to stop the sniper.

"Hold up. There will definitely be some of those assholes waiting for us," he whispered. "Luckily they left us a parting gift." With a smirk he reached down and plucked an assault carbine from the dead hands of a soldier that Boone had shot previously. He held it at the hip and held down the trigger, spraying the remaining bullets left inside through the tent. The resulting screams from inside indicated he had been somewhat successful in his endeavour.

"Heh, fuckin' morons." He threw the rifle to the side and drew his Sequoia once more. With one hand on the flap of the tent, he nodded towards Boone, who nodded in return. Alright, let's do this. For them both, time seemed to slow down as they burst inside the tent, weapons raised against the Praetorian Guards who rushed to greet them with ballistic fists at the ready. They let loose a hail of bullets, felling every one of the Legion soldiers with a well placed shot. Even Caesar himself stepped forward from his throne, ready to fight them both. He was staggered as the body of a guard who had put himself in the line of fire fell back onto him, and was sent crumpling to the ground as The Courier put a bullet through his knee.

Satisfied that everyone inside the tent had been taken care of, The Courier reached inside his pocket and pulled out the marked coin. "Hey, buddy. I got your invitation." He put the coin between his knuckles and threw a heavy punch at the man on the floor, knocking out one of his teeth.

"Argh!" Caesar cried out in pain, spitting out blood. "Fucking profligate!"

"Brave words from a scumbag about to die.' He punched him again.

Caesar glared back up at him. "I suppose you want some sort of grand, final speech from me, don't you?"

He put his hand under his chin in mock thought. "Hmm, let me think for a sec." When he looked back at Boone, all he received was an indifferent shrug. "Nah, fuck that. We're just gonna kill you."

Fucking finally. Boone raised his rifle, pushing against his head. The Courier, however, put his hand on the barrel and lowered it. "What?"

"Hold up a sec." He knelt down and pulled out a combat knife that was strapped to his boot. Casting a scornful glare towards the injured tyrant, he handed it to Boone. "Take this. For a little... historical propriety."

"You're smarter than you look, pal."

"Thanks. I think." An injured groan from the corner of the room caught The Courier's attention. He decided to investigate as one of Caesar's insults was cut short by his friend shoving the knife into his chest. Here's the slimy little scumbag.

The beaten, battered man in a dirty checkered suit in the corner of the desk looked up as he approached. "Hey," he managed to say, coughing in pain slightly. "You certainly gave those Praetorian bums the big send-off, baby."

"You ain't looking so good, pal." He practically spat the words out. "Oh, and don't flatter yourself. This wasn't some rescue mission."

Benny rolled his eyes. "Shoulda figured. But, seeing as you're here, you are gonna let me go anyway, right?"

There was a pause as he thought for a second. "I don't know. You did kinda shoot me in the head and leave me for dead. Still got the chip?"

"This asshole's got it," Boone called out, pulling the poker chip from one of Caesar's pockets. "Or rather, had it." He looked down into his lifeless eyes and muttered, "Thumbs down, you son of a bitch," before throwing it to his friend.

There was an air of desperation in Benny's voice as The Courier stood up to leave. "Hey, come on, baby. Don't leave me here."

"And why the hell should I let you go, huh?" He turned around to glare at him again.

"You let me loose of these binds and you'll never see me again, pal. I'll be a goddamn ghost." He became more desperate as he didn't receive a response. "Come on, when these wackjobs find out what happened here they'll tie me to a cross for sure."

There was a long pause, as he looked up at The Courier before him. After what seemed like forever, he turned around, with an annoyed, defeated look on his face. "Oh, for the love of God, fine." He kneeled down behind him, and started to untie his bindings. "But you gotta promise me that I'll never see your fucking face ever again."

"Don't you worry, baby." He flashed the annoying, cocky grin that The Courier knew him for. "I never go back on a promise."

***

"You never go back on promises, huh?" Christina eyed the man on the table across from her warily. "Yeah, you're a real trustworthy gentleman."

She and The Courier sat across the table from Benny, who had been acting affable and subsequently bought them drinks. His trademark cocky smile hadn't left his face once, even as her friend told her the story of their last meeting. "What can I say? The Tops was calling out to me, I had to return."

"Like hell you did," The Courier spat, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the beer bottle in his hand out of anger. Christina swore she saw a few visible cracks appear in the glass. "Swank's been doin' a better job then you ever did. I mean, hell, ever since he took over I reckon there's been one hundred percent less stuck-up guido wannabees with no fuckin' fashion sense."

He ignored the last comment and simply shrugged. "Swank? Yeah, the guy's pretty good, I guess. But come on, look at me. I'm the real deal." His attention suddenly turned to Christina, and he attempted to put on a charming smile. "So, who's your lady friend here?"

"Name's Christina," she answered calmly. "But don't bother trying to remember it, since I doubt we're going to be sticking around with you much longer." She took a quiet sip from her own drink, eyeing him suspiciously.

The Chairman leaned back and put his hand on his chest in mock shock. "Oh, baby, I'm wounded. What, you'd rather stick around with this guy?" He looked over at The Courier, who glared back. "No offense, but I doubt he'd even remember your name. Or anything, for that matter, on account of the whole... well, you know." He tapped his forehead.

"I remembered the face of the slimy scumbag who put two bullets in my head, didn't I?" he growled in reply, before taking a swig of his bottle in an attempt to calm himself. "I shoulda returned the goddamn favour back in that tent, you piece of shit."

He took one final sip of his own drink and stood up. "Well, as inviting as that sounds, I'm afraid you ain't gonna get the chance." He gestured to a number of armed guards around the room. "See, if you even so much as sneeze on me, these fellas are gonna turn you into mincemeat. This is my casino again, baby, understand?"

Christina put a hand on her friend's arm as he fumed with anger. "Hey, look, maybe we should just leave. Leave this idiot to his own devices." She stood up swiftly, tugging at him slightly. "Come on, Courier. It's not worth the trouble. We've got more important things to be worrying about, remember?"

After a few seconds, he sighed and relented. "Yeah... yeah, you're right." He slowly stood up, not once taking his eye away from the man across the table from him. "But, mark my words, pal. You ever try to pull any of your crap again, or tie up loose ends, or whatever, then I will end you." He slammed his hands on the table in a sudden outburst of anger. "You get me? I'll put you in the goddamn ground."

Benny's response was to simply roll his eyes. "Uh huh. Run along now, buddy. I hope you and your girlfriend have a... nice evening."

"She's not my fucking girlfriend," he moaned, glaring at him one last time before heading towards the door of the restaurant. Christina shot one last wary glance at the Chairmen around her, before following quickly after him, sighing in frustration. So much for a fun night out in Vegas, huh?

He had stormed out quickly, however, and was now on the other side of the casino, fuming. She went to move closer to him, but found a rough pair of hands clamp down on her shoulders. Alarmed, she turned around to see a huge Chairman thug glaring down at her.

"Ma'am, we have reason to believe you've been cheating at our tables," he grunted. "Please come with us." He nodded to two similar men behind him. Confused, she looked over towards The Courier, who was surrounded by a similar group of apes.

What in God's name? "I haven't even played at the tables," she told them as politely as she could. "You must be mistaking me for someone else."

Her attempt to defuse the situation calmly did not work, however, as he simply grunted, "No mistake. Come with us, now." He started to forcefully push her towards a door marked 'employees only'. The sound of shouting from across the room reached her ears, and she turned to see her friend fighting his aggressors hand to hand. Before she was bundled through the door she saw him knock one to the ground, and managed to shout out, "Hey!"

This Benny guy is a real goddamn asshole, she thought, kicking back at the guard behind her. There was obviously more to this than 'cheating at the tables' after all. The three of them were much bigger and burlier than she was, but she managed to deal some damage, aiming her kicks and jabs low, towards the most sensitive parts. While one crumpled to the floor, doubled over in pain, another grabbed her by the neck and shoved her up against the wall.

"You little bitch," he growled, pulling back a fist to hit her. He never got a chance to swing, however, as a loud bang echoed through the hallway, and he fell over dead. She turned to see The Courier wielding the gun he had shown her earlier. All of the guards that had been escorting her lay dead on the floor, their own blood pooling around them.

He helped her up and she fell onto her knees. "You okay?" She nodded and he seemed to let out a sigh of relief before continuing. "That fuckin' rat asshole. I knew I should have killed him before." The sound of shouts and screams from the main casino made him turn his head. "Come on, we have got to get out of here. That bastard'll get what's coming to him one day, mark my words." He looked at the bodies around them. "One of these scumbags should have a gun, if you wanna take it. Not sure if we're gonna have a fight on our hands or not."

After coughing a few times and getting air back into her lungs, she nodded. "Well, better to have one and not need it, than need one and not have it." She searched the bodies of the guards, and pulled out a nine millimeter pistol. She checked the magazine and made sure there was a round chambered, before looking up at him. "Okay, let's go."

Before they could set off, a Chairman guard burst through the door, gun raised. In an instant, The Courier turned around, dodging the stray bullet that was fired, and ran towards him. He drove his knee up into the man's gut before bringing the butt of his gun down onto the back of his head. As he doubled over in pain, he lowered the barrel of his own gun to the top of his head and pulled the trigger.

Poking his head through the door, he noticed several NCR MP's bursting inside, telling everybody to drop their weapons. Hoping to use the distraction to sneak out undetected, he motioned for Christina to stick close before slowly edging out of the door into the main room. They both crept along, sticking to the wall, praying that nobody's gaze would pass over them.

Fate would prove, however, that they would not be that lucky. As they both neared a back door to the casino itself, they bumped straight into one of the Military Police units, who pointed his rifle at them both. "Drop the weapons, now!" he ordered. "Get on your knees, hands behind your head. You're both under arrest."

Christina muttered something under her breath, before chucking her handgun to the side and complying. The Courier growled, sighed in frustration, and did the same. As the MP moved to handcuff him, he swore under his breath.

"Ah, fuck me."

***

There's more than two of them? What in Celestia's name... Does that mean more are going to show up?

Flash's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden draft of icy wind. Shivering, he nonetheless kept onward, matching the pace of Shining Armor beside him. He had always hated going out on patrols in the frozen tundras. The icy winds and biting cold air always made him painfully cold, down to his bones. Deciding to try and take his mind off the discomfort, he looked up at the prince to his right. "So, what is it that he told you, exactly?"

The unicorn looked down at him, his face obscured by a black scarf and a pair of goggles. He may look like some ridiculous action hero, but at least it keeps him warm. "He told me another one of his kind came here with him, though not by choice. An enemy, that he subsequently killed. Hopefully the corpse hasn't been covered by a fresh blanket of snow yet."

"He killed it?" He seemed surprised. "Does he seem remorseful?"

"Not really." He paused as they continued trudging through the endless snow. "In fact, he didn't seem so in the slightest. When he told me about it, he seemed to even take pride on it."

Flash cast a glance towards the human, who was leading the group of soldiers, wrapped up warm in a long cloak. "Whoever it was, I guess they really didn't get along."

Shining chuckled. "Yeah, I'll say. Maybe he was in some sort of war with a rival soldier? There's some questions that we're gonna have to ask him."

"Damn right." The group continued on for quite a while, travelling behind a mountain that hid the Crystal Empire itself from view. Shining Armor ordered everypony to spread out and search. It was not long before one of the recruits was yelling out to everyone else, saying that he had found something poking out of the snow and the ice.

Sure enough, as the rest moved to investigate, they found a frozen arm poking out. Boone turned to Shining and Flash. "Here he is. One of Caesar's boys." The name didn't mean anything to them, but they both supposed that he would gladly tell them if they asked. That could wait for later, however. They both looked on with curiosity as he crouched down and grabbed the protruding limb. With a grunt, he pulled and heaved, pulling the frozen body out of the snow. A few of the soldiers around him looked visibly repulsed as they laid eyes upon it.

Shining Armor came forward, inspecting the corpse as it lay there. Using his magic, he pulled out the machete that was still sheathed on the soldier's back, taking a look at it before Boone plucked it from his magical grasp. "Well, this guy won't be needing it anymore," he muttered to himself, wiping some blood off the blade with his cloak before lowering it. "Take a look at it, if you want."

"Why'd you kill this guy?" Flash asked the question on everypony's mind, stepping forward.

"'Cause I was on one side of a war and he was on the other. The wrong side, just ask anyone." He looked down at the corpse with contempt. "He and his buddies attacked the caravan I was escorting with my friend. He used some sort of device, and the three of us ended up out here. There's nothing else to say."

Shining turned to his men. "Carry it back to the castle, and get some of the coroners to look at it." The soldiers nodded and began unwrapping a cloth to conceal the body. "No doubt the biological information we can get from him will be very interesting. And certainly better than cutting up you and your friend, huh?" He looked at Boone, chuckling at his own joke. He didn't get a response.

As the soldiers began to pick up the body, Boone's mind began to wander. Huh, I wander what Moira's up to right now.

***

"Your friend sounds like quite the hero, Miss Brown."

Moira chuckled and took another sip of tea, smiling at the soft pink alicorn sat across from her. "Please, call me Moira! And yeah, she really is. Not that my book didn't help a lot of people too!"

Cadance smiled in return. "Heh, indeed. I must say, to live in a world that is as dark as you describe and still find the willpower to be kind and helpful to those you come across is quite a heartwarming thing. Even going out of your way to write a book dedicated to helping those less fortunate, or less skilled."

"Why, thank you!" The shopkeeper beamed. "Like my mom always used to say, if you can make at least one person happy, then that day is a good day."

Another quiet chuckle escaped the princess' lips. "You should meet one of Twilight Sparkle's friends," she told her. "I think the both of you would get along quite well."

Moira's mood became somewhat sombre all of a sudden. "Still, I miss her. Like, a lot. I hope she's out there somewhere, looking for a way to get here too."

"She sounds like a true, true friend," she said reassuringly. "I have no doubt that she is doing everything within her power to find you. And should she, then we'll welcome her with open hooves as well."

A thankful smile spread across the human's face. "Thanks, princess. That helps. You're right, too. Nothing can get in Christina's way." With a gasp, as though she had thought of something suddenly, she sat up. "Ooh! Do you mind if I ask some questions as well?"

Cadance smiled. "Not at all. Please, go ahead."

With a giddy smile, she pulled a notepad from her pocket. "Oh, this is gonna be golden material for my next book!" She grabbed a pen and started scribbling notes.

As the numerous, excited questions began, the princess simply chuckled and rolled her eyes.

Chapter 07: Not a Juvenile Delinquent

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CHAPTER SEVEN: NOT A JUVENILE DELINQUENT

Even after a thousand years, some things never change.

Glimmering Jewel sighed and increased her pace, trotting after the eccentric stallion leading her through the streets of the Crystal Empire. Not even an evil king's curse and a one thousand year banishment could keep this one down, that much was obvious. "Slow down, Quartz!" she called out to the crystal stallion, unable to match his excited pace. "You know I have missed our little adventures as much as you have, but there is no need to rush!"

He laughed heartily and slowed down slightly. "Come now, Glimmer! We have a thousand years to catch up on, after all! We must make up for lost time!" He cast a glance back at her and winked slyly, causing her to giggle and blush. He always was the flirtatious type, yet she knew he had eyes only for her.

I am glad Mother and Father approve of him, at least, the young mare thought, catching up to him and walking side by side. I suppose they know he is the adventurous type, as I am. She smiled and hummed softly as he leaned down and nuzzled her gently.

"Well, are you not you curious?"

The sound of his voice caught her off guard slightly. "Hm? Curious? Of what, exactly?" she wondered, looking up at him.

He gave another, smaller laugh. "Why, of where we are going today, of course! It has been far too long since our last little escapade."

"Indeed. I am sure that you are going to tell me, anyway." She smiled innocently up at him.

"No... I want you to guess!"

A giggle escaped her lips. "Oh, pretty please? Will you not simply tell me?"

He seemed reluctant, wanting to continue his teasing of her. After she pouted up at him, complete with puppy dog eyes, he could not resist. "Oh, fine. Very well." His eager demeanour made it obvious that he did not want to hide it from her for too long anyway. "I thought that we could trek out into the frozen tundras! I have heard that there are hidden treasures out there, left over from the time of the dark King Sombra's reign! Or, at least, something of a like nature."

She raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. I will admit, this is not something that I expected. Still, it sounds somewhat mysterious."

A soft sigh escaped her lips, catching his attention. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "Were you hoping for something else?"

"I..." She paused for a moment, biting her lip. "Well, I was rather hoping that you had found a way to gain an audience with those strange new creatures. The humans, I mean." Trying her best to remain grateful, she smiled reassuringly up at him. "I realise that is an unrealistic goal for you to achieve. They are royal guests, after all." A quick peck on the cheek ensured that he did not feel like he had disappointed her.

He chuckled and blushed slightly, smiling down at her. "Well, we shall see what I can do about that after we are done here. I promise."

"Thank you, Quartz," she replied, brushing up against him again. "You truly are wonderful, I hope you realise."

"I know," he joked, smirking again. "Then again, I am not half as wonderful as you."

She rolled her eyes and giggled again. "Oh, you are quite the flatterer, aren't you?"

"And you wouldn't have me any other way." Came his playful response, as they left the confines of the Crystal Empire proper. The biting cold winds of the blizzard were dampened somewhat by the fact that, as crystal ponies, they had a natural resistance to the cold, but it hit them nonetheless. Quartz shivered a little and pulled a scarf out of his saddlebag, wrapping it around his neck as his companion did the same.

I wonder what kind of riches and treasures that daft colt is all worked up about. She snickered and stuck close to him as they trekked across the tundra, headed towards the base of a frozen mountain. The biting cold winds sapped every step they took, but they were young and full of vigour, so it did little to deter them. Glimmering had to admit, she was no longer used to being out in these tundras again, but she could not say that she did not miss them. With a soft sigh, she leaned slightly against the stallion as they neared their destination.

Quartz's expression of unbridled curiosity only seemed to become even more apparent as they searched around the base of the mountain, eventually stumbling across a mysterious looking cave. It was certainly not natural, of that they were both sure, for the edges were lined with dark crystals that directly contrasted with the rock and stone of the mountain itself. It was certainly dark and foreboding, even intimidating, a fact that made the crystal mare shiver despite her resilience to the cold that surrounded them.

"Are you certain of this, Quartz?" she asked him, stepping towards the cave with some trepidation. "What kind of treasures could possibly be hidden inside this sort of place?"

"I have no idea," he replied, with a giddy smile on his face. "But I do know one thing: I am not going to wait around out here when I could be in there finding out!"

It was obvious that she did not possess the same level of enthusiasm that he did, but there was no denying that it was infectious. A smile crept onto her face as she looked back at him. "Okay then... Well, let us not delay any further, hmm?"

He nuzzled her gently, still grinning. "Now that is what I like to hear, Glimmer."

She nuzzled back, before smiling wider and setting off into the cave with him. Soon enough, they had disappeared into its darkness together, lost to the outside world.

***

"Do all your dates end up with you getting arrested?"

The Courier groaned loudly and leaned his head against the bars of their cell once again. "Oh, were we on a date, huh?" He cast a glance back at her for a moment, before sighing. "Sure, alright. Whatever you want to call it."

A small blush appeared across her face, unnoticed by him, as she clumsily back-pedalled over her words. "I... That's not what I meant. I mean, do you always end up in trouble with the law after a night on the town?" She shuffled back on the dusty cot attached to the wall, leaning back and looking over at him. Her - or rather, Veronica's - dress was dirty and messy, though that came as no surprise seeing as they were forced to spend the night in this foul cell.

"Heh, sometimes. 'Specially with Cass. Man, did me and her fuck up Gomorrah when we went there." He cast his thoughts back to those events, in which he managed to turn the two managers of the place against each other with a single sentence. Heh, Big Sal really was a stupid motherfucker. Had to leave that slimy ballbag Cachino in charge though... Hope he doesn't obsess over another girl like he did Joana. "Anyway, what the hell are we gonna do now? We're stuck in here now. You'd think my reputation would mean something to these pricks."

She sighed and yawned. "We did kinda shoot up the whole casino, if you remember."

"It was self defence, for Christ's sake!"

"You really think that's the way Benny spun the tale?" She pointed out perceptively, raising her eyebrow.

He chuckled slightly and groaned. "Yeah, good point... Fucking cocksucker." He slammed his hand on the bars out of frustration before wincing and grabbing his hand. "Damn..."

With a giggle, she patted the edge of the bed. "Come and sit down. No use getting all worked up when there's nothing we can do about it." She scooted backwards and moved her legs out of his way. "Still, God knows what we're going to do now."

As if by chance, it was at that moment that they both heard the door at the far end of the cell block swing open loudly, letting some light into the poorly lit area. "They're both in here," they heard one of the guards grunt to an unknown visitor. The two of them sat up, curious as to who could be interested in them. They were, as far as they knew, the only people being held in the cell block at the moment. After a few seconds, the cell guard appeared, shoving his key into the rusty lock of their cell and opening it. Once he was done, he stepped aside to reveal what both The Courier and Christina could only describe as a sight for sore eyes.

"You know, I thought you were accustomed to fancy, high-life living up in the Lucky 38," Arcade Gannon pointed out, stepping into the cell. Veronica followed close behind, gazing around the place.

"Ew," she muttered, taking a look at the cot that they were both sat on. "This place doesn't look very fun. I'm guessing no room service either, right?"

The Courier gave them both a genuine smile as he stood up to greet them, accepting a hug with gratitude from the ex-Brotherhood scribe. "Goddamn, am I glad to see you."

"We heard about the... 'disturbance' on the Strip," she told him. "Knew it couldn't be anyone else but you."

Arcade stepped forward and put down the bag that was slung over his shoulder. "Uh huh. So we asked around. Had to grease a few palms, naturally, even with your reputation, but we've secured your release. Both of you, that is." He gave Christina a friendly smile.

He pumped his fist into the air. "Oh, thank Christ. Thought I was going to go mad stuck in here." He looked back at his companion. "Not that I didn't have great company or nothing, but y'know. A caged bird wants to be free, and all that shit." Still smiling, he looked back at Arcade. "What about the Transportalponder?"

He knelt down and pulled the device out of his bag. "We both took a look at it. From what we've seen, I think we've fixed it. It should work now."

"Even better." He took it from his hands and inspected it personally. Everything seemed to be in order, apart from a few scratches thanks to everything that it had been through. "Seems pretty good. Let's just hope it works as well as it looks, huh?" He looked over to Christina, who nodded in agreement.

Veronica smiled proudly and sat on the end of the bed next to the Lone Wanderer. "Don't worry about anything. You know how me and Arcade like to tinker with stuff like that. It'll work great, trust me!"

"When can we get going?" Christina asked them eagerly. The tone in her voice made it obvious that she was itching to find her friend.

"As soon as possible, if you like." Veronica pointed to the bag that the doctor had hauled in with him. "We took the liberty of bringing the armour and guns that you had with you before you left for the Strip. Figured that you'd want to find your friends as quickly as you could."

Christina immediately hopped to her feet and began to rummage through the bag, soon pulling out her armoured vault suit. With a gleeful smile, she hurried over to the tiny, but thankfully walled off, bathroom cubicle in the corner of the room. After a few moments, she emerged again, with Veronica's now worn and tattered dress in hand. "Sorry about this, by the way," she apologised, folding the garment up and giving it to her.

She bit her lip as she looked over her prized possession, but managed to smile. "No, it's okay. I can probably find somebody to repair it anyhow." She handed the wanderer her Blackhawk, which was still slotted into a leg holster. She accepted it with thanks, and grabbed her rifle too.

"You ready to go right now, Christina?" The Courier asked, having already thrown on his armour and duster. "We can stick around for a bit if you really want."

"No," she insisted, putting her rifle into the scabbard slung across her back. "I think we're all ready to go, Courier, don't you?" With a sigh and a deep breath, she turned her attention to Veronica and Arcade. "Thank you both, so, so much. I really don't know how I can repay you for this."

The both of them shook their heads modestly. "You don't have to repay us," Arcade informed her, holding out a hand for her to shake. "Just find your friends, and be safe, okay?"

She nodded as her friend charged up his device. "Don't worry, we will." She took The Courier's hand as he held it out to her, and gave him a quick look. He smiled back at her, before activating it. There was a huge flash of light, one that engulfed the entire room. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it ended. Barring Arcade and Veronica, the cell was now empty.

***

Goddamn, I can't wait to get out of this cold. Boone shivered and pulled his cloak tighter against him, before casting a glance back at the soldiers behind him. They were still hauling the corpse of the dead Legion grunt, helped in no small part by one of their unicorns, who was using a levitation spell to ease some of the weight. Still shivering, he turned his attention to Shining Armor, who was walking alongside him. "So, what's gonna happen to this guy, exactly?"

The prince took a look back at the soldiers as well for a moment, before returning his gaze to the man beside him. "We'll get some of the coroners and scientists back at the palace to take a look at him. I guess Princess Celestia would like to know exactly what makes you humans tick, or something." He shrugged. "I don't know for sure. It's not really my area of expertise, to be honest. A prince I may be, but I'll always be a soldier at heart."

"Yeah, I hear you there." He sighed as his mind drifted back to thinking about his days in First Recon, back before he met The Courier. Everything seemed okay back then, as if he understood the purpose that he had in life. Of course, all of that changed after Bitter Springs, and then the loss of his wife.

With a small grunt, he shook his head. His friend had helped him to move past the mistakes that he had made in his past, or, at least, helped him to come to terms with them. Shining Armor noticed, and looked over at him with some concern.

"You okay?" he asked. "The cold getting to you? It's bad enough even with a full coat of fur, let me tell you."

"No, I'm fine," he assured. "Just... thinking about the past, I guess."

He nodded in understanding. "Missing home? You've got someone to go back to, is that it?" He gave a friendly smile. "Wife, kids?"

At that he tensed up slightly, but forced himself to relax. "Uh, no. A had a wife, before, but she died." Not wanting to lose himself in the past, he unsheathed his rifle and checked that it was properly loaded, and the sights properly aligned, in an effort to distract himself.

The smile on the unicorn's face quickly faded. "Oh, I'm sorry. If I'd known I wouldn't have brought it up."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." He raised the rifle and looked through the scope. Sure enough, everything was in order. "I've come to terms with what happened, I think."

Shining nodded and decided to change the subject. Peering up at the rifle in Boone's hand, he said, "So that's your weapon, right? How does it work?"

He looked down at the prince for a second, before adopting a firing position. "How about I show you?" He aimed towards a rock not too far away, smirking slightly as he looked on with interest. Making sure to keep his aim steady, he squeezed the trigger. Shining flinched as the a loud bang left the barrel of the gun. After trotting towards the rock and noticing the visible mark that the bullet had left, he looked back to Boone.

"Well, that's certainly... interesting," he commented. "It's kind of like a crossbow, except with a lot more kick behind it."

"I guess you could look at it like that," he replied, as the party passed by a mountain that towered above them. To the relief of everyone there, the Crystal Empire itself was now in sight. Thank God, the home stretch. They all kept on trudging in the snow for a few minutes, until Shining stopped suddenly and ordered the rest of his soldiers to halt.

"Sir?" Flash Sentry called out over the roaring winds, having assisted the others with carrying the body.

"There's somepony over there!" he called back, pointing towards the base of the mountain. At first glance Boone could not see anything, however as he squinted he could make out what looked like a stallion, desperately galloping as best as he could through the thick snow. From what he could tell, he looked panicked, even hysterical. He cast a look over to the prince, who gave him a concerned look back, before trotting towards the rambling crystal pony.

"Help!" The stallion was calling out. "Please, guards, you must help me!"

Shining picked up the stallion as he stumbled at his hooves, and looked him in the eye. "What is it? What's wrong?"

He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself, though it did not help much. "My prince - your majesty - please, I need your assistance. My friend, she was taken by the darkness!"

"Taken by the darkness? What do you mean?"

"In that cave!" He pointed towards a dark cave in the side of the mountain. "We came out here to explore... but there is evil in that place! Dark, magical evil!" He looked up at the unicorn with a pleading look in his eye. "Please, your majesty! The evil inside claimed my friend and now she is not herself! She is in dire need of aid!"

Shining looked down at the stallion, then over to the cave that he had mentioned. More pockets of dark magic? They've never corrupted a pony before. He frowned, then looked over at Boone and the rest of his soldiers. "On me!" he barked, before assuring the stallion that everything was going to be alright. With a tired sigh, he set off towards the cave. Well, this just got interesting.

***

"What the hell do you mean, you didn't see them come through here?"

Christina crossed her arms and looked at The Courier, then to the... things he was speaking with. The five of them that he was addressing looked like floating brains in jars, with strange looking computer monitors attached to each one. Somehow, he was holding a proper, civil conversation with them. Well, if you could call it civil, anyway. When they had walked into this place, which he had called the 'Think Tank', she had the urge to pull out her gun and shoot one of them, having mistook them for some sort of robobrain hell-bent on her demise. At the same time, however, something in the back of her mind prevented her from drawing her gun. She still didn't know why that had happened, either.

"I THINK IT'S QUITE A SIMPLE CONCEPT TO GRASP," the leader, who had introduced itself - or himself, Christina still wasn't too sure - as 'Klein' boomed in response. "NO OTHER HUMANS HAVE ENTERED BIG MOUNTAIN SINCE YOU LEFT, APPROXIMATELY FIFTY-SIX DAYS AGO."

Her patience wearing thin, Christina stepped forward. "How in the hell is that possible?" she questioned the floating scientists before her. "I saw, with my own eyes, our friends disappear thanks to that device!" She pointed towards the Transportalponder in The Courier's hand. "And you're saying that they haven't been here?"

"YES, THAT IS WHAT I HAVE INFORMED YOU OF A TOTAL OF THREE TIMES NOW," Klein replied in his usual tone. "TELL ME, DID THE BIG MOUNTAIN TRANSPORTALPONDER INCUR ANY SIGNIFICANT KINETIC FORCE, OR DAMAGE? THAT MAY BE THE SOURCE OF YOUR PROBLEM." He paused for a second. "EITHER THAT, OR YOU ACCIDENTALLY PRESSED THE BUTTON ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE DEVICE."

"Button? There is no-" He paused as he noticed something on the underside of the device. He pulled a small plastic cover away to reveal a small button. "Well, I'll be fucked. Maybe this got accidentally pressed when those bastards shot this thing out of my hand." With a pause, he looked up at Christina and then back down again. "How in the hell did I never notice this before?"

"Because you're an idiot."

"Whatever. What's this button do anyway?" He looked up at the Think Tank again.

"I... DON'T KNOW." The Courier rolled his eyes as Klein turned to converse with his fellow scientists. Naturally, they all starting talking nonsense amongst themselves. Soon enough, however, he turned to face the two once again. "ACCORDING TO MY FELLOW THINK TANKS, IT ACTIVATES A SECRET, EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPE FEATURE THAT CANNOT BE DISCLOSED."

"The fuck? You mean you're not going to tell me what this thing does?" he protested.

"IT IS TOO DANGEROUS. THE PROTOTYPE FEATURE MAKES USE OF EXTREMELY TOP-SECRET DIMENSION HOPPING TECHNOLOGY, THAT MUST NOT BE DISCLOSED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES."

Christina failed to suppress a snigger as he said that. She started to walk away, motioning for The Courier to follow her. After they had left the main chamber, she stopped and turned to face him. "So, what, this thing took Moira and Boone to some sort of alternate world?" she asked in somewhat of a hushed tone, so as to not let the Think Tank hear them. "How is that even remotely possible?"

"You think I have any idea?" He raised an eyebrow, before looking down at the device in his hands. "Well, in the end, I guess there's only way for us to find out."

She looked at it as well, and nodded. "Yeah, you're right." After a deep breath, she held out her hand to him. "Well, I guess now is as good a time as any, right?"

He smirked and took it firmly. "Damn straight. Let's do this." Gripping the Transportalponder tight, he pressed the button on the underside, then pulled the trigger. After a flash of light, the two were gone once again.

Chapter 08: Baby, It's Cold Outside

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CHAPTER EIGHT: BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

Darkness.

Nothing surrounded the two of them but darkness. For a moment The Courier blinked and rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out if something was wrong. "Shit," he muttered. "Did I go blind?" After a pause, he gasped slightly. "Oh fuck, I didn't die did I? If I'm dead, that's some bullshit."

"Don't shit your pants, I can't see anything either," came Christina's voice from somewhere nearby.

Feeling some relief, he fumbled around for a second, eventually finding something to lean on. He couldn't tell what it was, exactly. What's this wall made of? Some sort of smooth rock? he thought to himself, running his hand down it slowly. Ain't like anything I ever seen before.

"Hang on, I got this," they both inadvertently said at once, looking down at their Pip-Boys and switching on the light. Squinting a little, she looked across at him. "Heh, I guess two lights is better than none." For a second a bout of dizziness overcame her and she shook her head in an attempt to dispel it. "Where the hell did we end up, anyway?"

With a groan, he rubbed his eyes and looked around the cave they had found themselves in. Thankfully, there seemed to be a tunnel that led upwards, hopefully towards the exit of wherever they were. "With any luck, the same place Boone and Molly ended up."

"Moira," she corrected, rolling her eyes and sighing as she took in her surroundings as well.

"Oh, yeah," came his sheepish reply. "Sorry 'bout that." Eager to put that awkwardness behind him, he cleared his throat and motioned to the walls of the cave. "What the hell is this stuff, anyway? This ain't like no rock or stone I ever seen before."

She gently ran her hand over the smooth surface of the wall, thinking. "I'm not too sure. Looks like some kind of crystal." With a shrug she looked back at over at him. "I guess it doesn't matter. The important questions are, is there a way out of here? And is that device of yours broken again?"

"That is a good question," he agreed, only now looking down at the Transportalponder gripped in his hand. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, as far as he could see. "Looks right as rain to me. I'll stash it away for safekeeping." He stuffed it back into his bag, before pointing to the tunnel leading out. "Hopefully this leads to the surface."

"Surface of where?"

He chuckled. "Yet another good fuckin' question. One I don't have no answer for right now." The sound of his heavy footsteps echoed around the cave as he walked over to it, peering up through the passage. "Only one way to find out, I guess."

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed, following him as he started to move up the tunnel. Shivering, she pulled her arms around her chest. "Damn, it's cold as hell."

"Tight leather vault suits aren't exactly the best when it comes to keeping warm, girl," he called out to her.

She groaned. "They're not too bad, but it is really damn cold. How on Earth would you know how warm a vault suit keeps you, anyway?"

Another chuckle escaped his lips, with a slight hint of embarrassment. "Heh, that's a long story. Let's just say the gal who runs the Vault 21 hotel really likes vault suits. Even when she's..." He trailed off awkwardly. "Yeah, I think you get the idea."

"Okay then," she replied, clearing her throat. "Anyway, how come you're not cold? That duster of yours doesn't have sleeves, for God's sake."

"Guess I just got a natural resistance to it. I don't feel the cold."

"You live in a desert!" She pointed out, thoroughly confused.

He shrugged with a hint of a smirk on his face. "Eh, details, details. Does it matter? Hopefully it's warmer up on the surface of this place."

"Yeah, wherever this place is anyway," she noted, stretching and sighing as a few bones cracked into place. "I have a feeling we're not in the Mojave any more."

"Yeah, no shit." He crept up the passage, keeping one hand resting on the wall to make sure he did not lose his balance. There was a faint light at the top of the tunnel, but it was still too dark to see anything properly down where they were. I hope this god damn cave doesn't go on for too long, he thought, sighing with annoyance. I've been through enough of these damn things to last me a lifetime. Nevertheless, they pushed onwards and upwards.

Soon enough, they found themselves in a cavern, that happened to be much better lit. Finally they could see more than a few inches in front of them, so they checked their weapons and armour to make sure that they were all in good shape. Satisfied, they turned to each other. "So," Christina began. "What now?" She glanced around for any way to continue, and soon found one on the other side of the cave.

"Let's keep moving," he told her, taking a few steps forward before pausing suddenly. He quickly held his hand up, indicating for her to do the same.

She froze as he instructed. "What is it?" she whispered over to him, her hand hovering near the holster strapped to her leg.

"Quiet," he hissed sharply, perhaps sharper than he intended. There was silence again, before an echo came from somewhere up the passage on the far side, coming closer.

"Voices. Someone's coming," she deduced, confirming their suspicions.

He drew his gun and ducked down behind a tall pile of rocks and crystal nearby, pulling her along with him. "Get down, let's see what we're dealing with first."

With a nod she pulled out her Blackhawk and hunkered down, listening out for the unknown voices once again. After a few seconds, they became clearer and easy to make out. They must have walked down here from somewhere.

"What exactly do you expect to find down here, Quartz?" came one feminine sounding voice. Are there other people down here too? They're speaking English.

Another voice replied to her, this one sounding decidedly more masculine. "Just take a look around, my dear! Come, look at this crystal, it is unlike anything I have ever seen before!"

"By Celestia..." the female murmured. "What is it?"

Confused, and with his Sequoia gripped tight in his hand, The Courier peeked over the rock slowly and quietly, hoping to get a peek at whoever was down here with them. As he laid eyes upon the two crystal ponies, however, he had to stop himself from voicing his surprise and confusion. What the fuck are those things?

Christina popped her head up too, and let out a barely audible gasp that the ponies did not hear. Are those... horses? Horses made out of crystals? She rubbed her eyes to make sure that she was not seeing things, then watched as the mare ran her hoof over a strange type of black crystal embedded in the far wall. Whatever it was, it did not seem too safe, as she quickly drew her hoof back in pain.

"Ow!" she grunted, shaking her hoof a little. "That hurt. Quartz, I do not like the feel of this place." Her gaze returned to her injured hoof, and she yelped in surprise as she saw that a chunk of the crystal she had just touched had somehow spread onto it. She tried to rub it over, but it stuck fast, and even seemed to start spreading up her leg. "Quartz?" She looked to her friend desperately.

The stallion had noticed it too, and looked as worried as she did. "Glimmer, I… I have no idea what is happening!" He gasped as the dark crystal kept spreading, and she fell over in pain.

"What do we do?" Christina whispered to her friend, looking on in horror as the crystal began to corrupt the terrified mare. "We have to do something."

He didn't answer her, instead narrowing his eyes and studying the ponies before him. The stallion was shouting his friend's name, but it didn't look like she could hear him. He noticed her eyes shift in colour, turning a dark red and surrounded by a purple and green haze. She groaned in agony, before lunging towards her friend viciously.

Jesus Christ, what the fuck is going on? He glanced down at the gun in his hand, unsure as to whether or not he should use it. The stallion, Quartz, had scrambled away from the possessed mare, and was still begging for her to come to her senses. Naturally, it had little effect, and she lunged towards him again. "Fuck this," he growled as Quartz ran back up the passage that he had come from. He hopped over the rocks they had hidden behind and into view of the corrupted pony, who suddenly looked at him.

"Stay back," he ordered, pointing his gun at her and scowling. Oblivious to his warning, she lunged forward, making him fire twice. Both shots connected, and sent her sprawling to the floor. Jesus, what a fucking mess, he thought, as he watched her twitch for a moment before going still.

His friend looked on in shock. "Christ, you killed her!" she exclaimed, looking at the mare's body sadly.

"Yeah, well," he sighed and slotted the Sequoia back into his holster. "She wasn't herself. Looked like she was gonna chase after her friend." After inspecting her body, he looked over at the crystals that had corrupted her in the first place. "Just what the hell did those things do to her anyway? They ain't radioactive, far as they can tell. Pip-Boy hasn't started clicking."

She still stared down at the dead mare, sighing a little. "I don't know, but it certainly wasn't natural." The two of them backed away a little from the strange crystal. "I think we should follow that guy and see if he can lead us out of here. I've seen enough of this damn cave to last me a lifetime."

"I hear you there," he agreed, turning around and heading up the passageway the stallion had fled up. "Hopefully the surface of this place isn't too far away."

The two of them continued upwards through the winding twists and turns of the cave's tunnels, listening out for the unmistakable clopping sound of the stallion's hooves as he fled for his life. There seemed to be more light than there was back down where they arrived, something that they were extremely thankful for.

"I think I see an exit," Christina pointed out, peering up towards a source of light while shivering. "I think it's colder up here than it was down there."

He smirked towards her. "Oh, don't you worry none. We'll get you out of here and into some place warm, brew up a hot batch of coffee, maybe get you a blanket to keep you nice and toasty. That sound good?"

"Oh, piss off, you sarcastic prick," she replied, earning a smug laugh from him. Thankfully, she had been correct just before. They had quickly reached the mouth of the cave, and were now looking out at some sort of frozen tundra, stretching out across the landscape as far as the eye could see. What did catch their attention, however, was what looked like some kind of city a fair distance away, dominated by a castle of sorts right in the very centre of it.

"Yep, definitely not the Mojave," he muttered, squinting and stepping forward a bit. "Just where in God's name have we ended up?"

Christina leaned against the wall of the cave, staring down at the strange city as well. "I guess that we should go and find out, huh?" She shivered a little and rubbed her hands together, before checking her Pip-Boy. No map data, no time or date... guess I should have seen that coming."

Frowning, he looked down at his as well. "Damn, you're right... must have come a long way, if not even a pre-war Pip-Boy knows where we are." With a sigh, he looked back out of the cave again, studying the landscape before the two of them. "This whole thing is just fucked. I hope we can use that damn thing to get home again once this is all over."

"I hear you there," she concurred, scanning the horizon for any sign of the stallion that had been fleeing before. After a few seconds, she noticed him not too far away, hanging back behind a large group of other ponies. "Uh, I don't mean to alarm you, but I think we might be about to have some company."

"What, more of those horse things?" He glanced up from his Pip-Boy and followed her gaze, quickly spotting the group heading towards them. One figure in the back, however, caught his eye. He squinted a little, trying to get a clearer view. "Hold on a sec, that don't look like one of 'em... Shit, is that Boone?"

She shrugged, one hand on the grip of her gun. "I can't tell, this snow makes it hard to see. Besides, we don't even know if these guys are going to be friendly or not."

Hostility between them and the ponies was not something they wanted, and The Courier knew it. "Hand off the gun, Christina," he warned, nodding towards the tense stance she had assumed. "Let's see what these guys want first; try and explain everything to them." Despite his cautious advice, the giddy excitement in his voice was apparent, now that he was potentially about to reunite with his friend.

"Yeah, yeah, good idea," came her muttered response, as she reluctantly pulled her hand away from her holster. Tentatively, she stepped out of the shelter of the cave and onto the snow and ice, trudging towards the approaching party. They weren't screaming or yelling any war cries towards them, which she figured was a nice change of pace from what she was used to. Still, she made sure to keep her hands visible and away from any weapons she had on her.

Well, I'll be damned, that's him, she thought, noticing Boone and raising her hands peacefully as the leader of the party reached her. He looked like some sort of fantasy creature; a unicorn, with a two-toned blue mane and some sort of shield tattoo across both flanks. "Boone, right?" She looked towards the sniper, whose usual stoic demeanour had been replaced by one that could only be described as 'mild surprise'.

The unicorn turned to look at him. "You know this person?" he asked, in perfect English. That's weird, Christina thought, furrowing her brow a little. How on Earth can these things speak our language?

Boone gave him a nod. "Yeah, I know her." He looked over her shoulder at his friend heading towards them as well. "And I know him. Guess I was right in thinking they'd come looking for us."

"Us? So Moira's here too?" she asked. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," the unicorn reassured her, backed up by a nod from the sniper. "In fact, she's probably talking my wife's ear off right now." He chuckled a bit to himself, before holding out a hoof. "Anyway, I think some introductions are in order. My name is Shining Armor, Prince of the Crystal Empire." He tilted his head towards the city in the distance.

So, are these things aliens or something? Christina wondered to herself as she took his hoof and shook it tentatively. They certainly don't look like those aliens I saw back on Zeta. "I'm Christina Mills," she replied politely, smiling a little despite the freezing cold.

"Who's your other friend, Craig?" Shining asked, nodding towards The Courier as he looked back towards Boone.

"Just call me The Courier," he piped up, having his hand casually. "Everyone else does, and I prefer it that way." He shrugged and then looked at his friend. "Well, fuck me, this is convenient. What the hell happened to you after that Legion guy tried to shoot you?"

He stepped aside to reveal the corpse that Shining Armor's soldiers were lugging through the snow. "I'd tell you to ask him yourself, but, well... He's not in any condition to be answering questions."

The two of them were interrupted by another voice popping up from behind the prince. "More humans? Did you come from that cave? Did you see what happened to my friend? Glimmering Jewel?" The stallion, Quartz, looked up at The Courier and Christina pleadingly. "I do not know what came over her! That strange crystal... Please, tell me she is all right."

He sighed and looked down at the gun inside his holster. "Listen, pal, I... I don't really know how to put it. She saw us after you ran and tried to attack us." The look in that stallion's eyes wasn't making this any easier for him, but he knew that he couldn't lie to the poor guy. "That crystal changed her somehow. I had to shoot her."

Quartz gasped and instinctively backed away a little. "Shoot her? Then, you mean..?"

"She's dead," Christina said, walking forward gently and kneeling down to match his height. "I'm sorry."

He didn't seem to react much, only closing his eyes and bowing his head slightly even as she put her hand on his back in an effort to provide some comfort. She looked back up at The Courier, who sighed again and turned away. "So, what now?" she asked, looking up at Shining Armor.

After a few seconds of thought, he frowned. "I suppose we better go and find Glimmering Jewel's body, and investigate this crystal you've been talking about."

"All of us, sir?" Flash Sentry inquired, shivering a little and flapping his wings to shake off the snow that had accumulated on them.

The prince shook his head. "No, no. I want you to escort those dragging that corpse, along with our human friends, both new and old, back to the Crystal Palace. No doubt Cadance will want to see them." With a small smile, he turned to Christina. "And no doubt you'll want to be reunited with your friend, right? I won't keep you from her."

"Anything else, sir?"

Shining considered for a moment. "No, thank you. Cadance's birthday is in a couple of days, so we'll have to sort out any final preparations for the ball at the palace..." He shook his head. "But I can sort that out for myself when I return."

The pegasus beside him saluted. "Okay then, sir." He nodded to the humans and to the soldiers hauling the body of the Legion soldier, and began to lead them back to the Crystal Empire in the distance.

The three humans walked together, glad that they could be reunited again. He would never show it, but The Courier had been worried for Boone. After all, he had no idea where he could have ended up. He can take care of himself though, he mused as he trudged through the snow. Still, it's good to have him back. Hopefully, everything's gonna be just fine from now on.

The Equestrian Survival Guide

by Gherkin

Chapter 01: Alpha and Omega

Chapter 02: Strangers in the Night

Chapter 03: Since We've No Place To Go...

Chapter 04: The Vision of Your Happiness

Chapter 05: That's Amore

Chapter 06: Boom Boom

Chapter 07: Not a Juvenile Delinquent

Chapter 08: Baby, It's Cold Outside