> Getting Out of Bed Was the Easiest Part
>  by Paper Mache Man
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: One Hell of a Chem Trip
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Courier Six had seen many things in his years of being alive, from the horrors of the Sierra Madre to the crumbling, desolate wasteland that was the Divide. But nothing, nothing came close to becoming as strange as this. Multi-colored, sentient ponies. He did a quick check to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, by way of stabbing himself with an empty needle. It wasn’t sanitary, but what really was sanitary in this day and age?

Letting out a small hiss of pain as the needle entered his arm, he quickly pulled it out and tossed it. Yup, definitely not dreaming. Peeking down the scope of his Anti-Material rifle, he brought the bright-red reticle to the village of multi-colored equines.

“This is crazy.” Six muttered to himself, sliding his finger off of the trigger, and pressing it into the heavy-metal frame of the rifle. He then observed as one of the equines, a velvet colored coat, with streaks of purple in its hair, stepped out of a treehouse. Literally. As he watched, he noticed that the purple one, (which he dubbed ‘purple’) met up with an orange one, which was oddly enough, wearing one of those cowboy hats. He never really got the appeal of wearing one, you either protect your noggin, or you don’t.

They traveled down a pathway, leading into a market of sorts. It looked like a market to him, so that’s what he was calling it. There was nothing interesting about these ponies, it just looked like they were going to get supplies from the market, and so, he lowered his Anti-Material rifle, and slung it over his back, before bringing his .44 Magnum from the holster on his hip, and looking around his surroundings.

Surrounding the Courier was a lush green part of the forest, atop a large hill, which was an extreme advantage to a sniper, easy pickings for anyone below, if they had the appropriate camouflage, which he did not. His grey Riot Armor stuck out like Caesar in the middle of Camp Mccarran, his helmet’s crimson eye-holes giving the world around him a blood-red tint to it, which he didn’t mind. He loved the helmet, it gave him an intimidating edge in a fight, and let’s be honest, everyone thought he was a ranger, so nobody really fucked with him. Unless they were Legion.

Doing a quick cylinder check on his magnum, all six rounds were loaded into it, and so he stuck it in its holster again, keeping his right hand lingering close to it incase he needed to draw quickly. He stood up from his crouching position and made his way down the hill. Once he was at the base, he did a quick scan of his surroundings, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, stepped on down the premade path, which he presumed was made by the equines, and snaking its way out of the forest. He’s never seen so much shrubbery and green in his life, he tried to take in the beauty of the forest he’s found himself in. Reflecting back on how he found himself in this place, the memory was a little hazy, as if something was blocking him from accessing it, but he did make out bits and pieces, like gunfire, but that was pretty much it. The rest had eluded him.

Quickly finding himself out of the dark embraces of the dark forest, he switched off his low-light vision on his helmet before he burned out his retinas, and slid his hands inside of his duster’s pockets. He wasn’t strictly heading to the town, he didn’t have a reason to, and it’s better to not cause chaos from his presence alone. He was just going to let them do their daily business, his real destination was that big, fuck-all castle sitting on top of that mountain to his east. He was no architect, but he was pretty sure that nothing of that size would be able to withstand its weight, especially since the mountain isn’t holding up the weight of the castle, no, that job was held to its supports, which from this distance looked pretty measly. Well, there was a train station in the town he was observing not 10 minutes ago, so that was a bonus.

If the locals decided to attack him, he had the means to defend himself. After all, he did have his All-American strapped to his back, which was a beast on semi-auto, but on full-auto, it tore through enemies like a bullet through one of those old burned out books.

Quickly stopping himself, he zoned back into his surroundings and found that he had almost walked into the town. That would be bad. Turning to the west, he stepped off of the path and got into a crouch, slinking himself behind a building, and into a dark alleyway.

“What was that one pre-war song..?” Six spoke to himself, “Crazy he calls me? Yeah. This is entirely insane.” He observed quite obviously, before shaking his head, “Get yourself together, dude. You’ve faced worst things such as this. Reaching a hand up, he gripped the pistol-grip of his All-American, and brought it from his back, and into his palms. He let the gun’s weight dig itself into his palms, before he gripped it firmly, and gently pushed the collapsible stock into his shoulder. He then moved from building to building, stopping momentarily whenever he heard the ‘clip-clop’ of hooves against cobblestones.

“God, I could really go for some Moonshine right now.” The human sighed, “Cass always did make good stuff.” He let a small smile grace his lips at reminiscing old memories before he wiped it off as fast as it came.

“No use in dwelling in the past, let’s get to that train station.” He scolded himself, pushing himself through another alley. Once he knew the coast was clear. He made a dash across the street and quickly stopped himself in an alley, peeking left and right to see if anyone saw him. Letting out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding, he slipped back into the cover of the alley. He heard a whistle, and the sound of a steam engine, and scraping metal sound off somewhere in the corner of the city. He knew that was the train station, and that was destination.

Bringing his Pip-Boy 3000 to his face, he switched to the map, before blinking in surprise.

On the interface, was giant, bold, blue words, reading ‘NO SATELLITE CONNECTION.’

Six sighed, and shook his head, switching back to the weapon interface, before switching the display off, and bringing it down from his face, “There goes that.” He spoke, before hearing the sound of groundbreaking, and something bursting through it.

Almost instantly, his mind flicked to Tunnelers as the most possible cause for this. “Fuck.” He hissed, rolling his body to the left, and out of the alley. He pressed the stock of All-American into his shoulder, searching for the cause. Screaming sounded off into the air, he could make out some words like ‘Diamond Dogs!’ or ‘Run for your lives!’ But that was all.

“Diamond Dogs..? Fuck’re those?” He took in a deep breath and quickly made his way to the screaming. Stealth was completely out of the window, now. He had to save these people, or risk having the death of another town on his conscious. Not like he didn’t already have some, the Divide was proof of that. Nothing he did would ever make up for the things he did to those people.

Six sped around the corner of a house, All-American snapped to his shoulder and already having a shot lined up on whatever was around it. One of the equines was being cornered by a bipedal..dog? Fuck it, whatever. Shoot first and ask questions later. He twitched his finger, feeling the carbine slam against his shoulder, accompanying it was a loud shot ringing around the town. He sent off a few more rounds into the dog, watching it’s makeshift armor fail to hold up the sheer force and ballistic trauma, not to mention the round making its way through it. The dog dropped like a sack of bricks, and Six stepped over to the equine, which he could make out that it’s female, by its feminine-like crying and it’s tone of voice, before crouching down, faintly being aware of his helmet’s very imposing appearance.

The mare herself had a beige coat, with a red mane. The tattoo on her ass, which was a rose, let Six know that she was a gardener of sorts.

“You alright ma’am?” He asked, his helmet amplifying his voice, and giving it a robotic-like tint to it.

“Y-Yes, I think so..” The female acknowledged with a nod, before staring up into his visors, and her eyes almost instantly widening. She backed up against the wall of the house, rambling and babbling something about not hurting her.

“Relax.” He spoke simply, “I am not here to hurt you.” He assured, standing up, and looking behind him.

“W-w-who’re y-y-you?” She stuttered, and his vision quickly settled upon her once more. She shrank back in fear, as was to be expected.

“That is not important. Now get inside, it’s about to get messy.” He commanded, and the mare nodded and scrambled into the inside of the building. Six turned around, adjusting his grip on All-American as more of those dog-like bipeds ascended onto him.

“Looks like I'm late to the party." He quipped, raising All-American up. This wasn't going to be much of a fight, anyhow.

He quickly dropped all of them and did a mag check. He pressed in the magazine release and slid the steel magazine out of its cage. He raised it an angle that he could easily see inside of it. Letting out a slight sigh, which sounded a bit more like a groan, he shook his head, "Five." He muttered to himself, slipping the magazine into a pouch under his duster. He brought another, full magazine out into the open air, and clicked it into the carbine. He slammed his palm into the bolt release and felt the bolt slam forward, bringing a new round into the chamber.

"It's safe! You can come out!" He yelled out to the mare, seeing a beige head pop out of the building, followed by the body. She took one glance at the bodies strewn about and froze.

"Y-You ki-killed them!" She stuttered out once more, her gaze flicking to the bodies, then to Six.

"It was necessary." He simply said, looking down at the bodies, "Better them than me. Not like they had much of a choice, anyway." He shrugged, looking back over to the mare.

"Bu-but they were living, breathing beings! You can't just-just kill them!" She yelled, anger taking over her fears.

Courier Six took in a small breath, and turned completely to the mare, "What would have you done in this situation?" He queried, tilting his head to the side.

She instantly shut up, turning into a stuttering mess.

"Exactly my thoughts." He nodded, feeling a small sense of satisfaction, before looking around.

"Stay inside. I'll come to get you when I'm through with these." He ordered, and the mare complied, heading back inside, not wanting to drag this on further.

He became increasingly aware of a noise nagging at the back of his head. It sounded like wings, the pushing of air as they flapped. He looked up into the sky, seeing a shimmer of gold streak overhead. The human let out a grunt, before hearing the distance clashing of steel on steel. A fight was going down, and it wasn't his business to get involved. He was going to kill to save his life, and maybe a few others, but if someone was armed, they could hold their own. Or so he hoped.

Slinking himself into another alleyway, he made his way over to the noise of a fight and witnessed more of those equines, this time dressed in gold armor holding off against those dogs. He figured they must've been this place's military, if not, militia.

The Courier switched out his All-American for something a little more practical for this situation, his AER-9 Laser Rifle. He looked to his left and found he was right next to the window of a house. Convenient, but if anyone was home, they'd surely see him.

Smashing the window open via his AER-9's stock, he climbed inside and scanned the area for stairs, which he found, and ascended. He turned the knob of a door, and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. He moved over to the window of the bedroom and looked outside of it. The battle was in perfect view, and he smiled. A perfect vantage point. He unlocked it and lifted it up, to which he slid the barrel of his Laser Rifle out of it. He got into a stabilizing position, and brought the stock to his shoulder, and simply observed.

The militia looked like they were holding their own against the dogs, but had taken some casualties. These guys didn't even look properly trained. He watched as one of the dogs had it's arm unfortunately caught in the middle of a blade's swing,  and subsequently lopped off. He let out a slight grimace at the howl of pain.

Still, he continued to sit there, watching. He was going to step in if needed, there was no point in letting these equines fall prey to their invaders. He still had many questions, but those were pushed to the back of his mind. Survival first, questions later. Hell, maybe after this was over he could get a stiff drink, but that was a very big if. Six let out a long sigh, this battle was going nowhere, and it looks like the militia was losing ground. He picked up his AER-9, and placed his hand on the handguard, before sighting down it. He always loved how futuristic the sights looked. It was an optic, with the reticle forming a cross that pulsated, every now and then.

Six lined up a shot on one of the dogs, and pulled the trigger back, hearing that familiar cartoony 'pew!' that accompanied it. He watched as the red laser streaked through the air, and struck the dog in the side of the head, burning through its helmet, and through his head with minimal effort. He was dropped instantly, due to his gray matter being fried instantly upon contact with the brain.

The battle stopped upon both sides witnessing the death of their comrade. The dogs and equines looked up to the window he was in, and he gave a small nod and lined up the reticle with another dog. It took very few shots to drop them all. One was struck in the chest, one the head, and one the gut, followed up by another shot to the head.

Six let out a small curse, they knew he was here. That's a stick in his plan. Removing the AER-9 from the windowsill, he quickly turned, and booked it down the stairs, before hearing the door being kicked in.

"Halt!" A voice bellowed out. Six turned his head, watching as a guard was standing in the doorway.

"Well, fuck."
> Chapter 2: Not the First Time Getting Arrested
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Courier Six was not a happy wastelander. In fact, far from it. He had been arrested and is now on the way to that big fuck-all castle he had observed earlier, and now here he was, sitting in the back of a flying chariot, which should not be possible, but he stowed that question for later. They even put him in a cage! Who do they think he is? An ape with an IQ of sub-seventy? Well. To be fair, they probably did.

He grumbled to himself, before flicking his gaze over to the one riding next to him, "So. How's the wife and kids?" He joked, to which he just received a glare and a sharp prod in the side from the butt of a spear.

"Shut it." He(?) spoke and went back to staring forward. Six grumbled once more and rested his head against the bars of the cage.

"So much for small-talk." He uttered with a sigh. He had used his title for so long he even forgot his name, and when inevitably brought to a court, or a dungeon, the first thing they would ask was his name. He knew it all too well. He tried to come up with a name that would stick with him for his time being here, however long that may possibly be.

Eventually, he came up with a first name, but not a last name, as he didn't even need one. John sounded like a cliché, if a bit generic name. But it had a nice ring to it. He felt his hand lingering to the holster on his hip and found it empty. Oh right. They took his weapons. He did have a holdout gun in his boot, a Smith and Wesson model 10, chambered in .38 Special. It was a potent little gun, had quite the kick too, for a .38, and could drop a guy with two hits to the chest, unarmored. He idly itched the part where the firearm was stored. He was going to use it later when the need arose. For now, he just needs to play it dumb, while also playing it smart.

Feigning ignorance was quite easy for him to do. After all, he did have an Intelligence of ten. Or so the Vit-O-Matic Vigor Tester said, he took it with a grain of salt and labeled his intelligence rating somewhere around eight, or a nine.

Letting out a sigh, he felt the chariot land, accompanied by a small 'oomf' as it finally hit the ground, and the cage was hoisted up into the air by way of magic and carried out of the cart. He watched the magic field intensely. Magic shouldn't exist, but lo and behold, here it fucking was. It baffled him, to be straightforward, and Six wanted to know how it worked. Was it some sort of radiation field? Magnets? The human shook his head, and relaxed. More questions for later. The interrogator was going to have a lot of ground to cover once they get their hands, or rather hooves, on him.

He could really go for a drink right now. Sitting up as best he could, he brought his Pip-Boy to his eyes, and flicked to the 'AID' section of the device on his arm, and brought out a bottle of purified water from wherever the ass-end of nowhere the damn thing stored it. It baffled him how it did it, but he just simply accepted it. He lowered the Pip-Boy, after switching off its interface, and uncapped the bottle of water. He downed the thing in a few seconds and stored the empty bottle back in his Pip-Boy.

Courier Six observed as the streets and cities turned into the castle, filled with endless corridors and retina-burning, eye-melting pizazz and flair. He already knew he was gonna hate this place, but he put it up with it, either way. The horned equine descended a flight of stairs, and down into a dark corridor. At-least it was better in terms of how well your eyes took it. Six's cage was set down in a cell, and the door slamming shut. The cage was unlocked remotely, and he crawled himself out of it, "Goodbye, my fruitful friends!" He called after the militia-looking equines trotted off. They gave a snort and rounded the corner.

"Now. What to do with my time, what to do.." Six muttered to himself, scratching the metal chin of his helmet and mask combination. Well, he did have a set of cards. He could play Caravan with himself, and that's exactly what he did.




The sound of hooves trotting up and the sound of a cell door unlocking and sliding inwards made Courier aware of a sudden presence. Looking up, he spotted two of that militia again. This one had wings, and this one had a horn. Great. Sliding his cards into a deck once more, he stuffed it back into the duster's pockets, and stood up, staring down at them.

"The Princesses request your audience, and don't try anything funny, we're authorized to use force." The one on the left spoke. Six just shrugged, "You're authorized to use force, that means so am I. You don't fuck with me, I don't fuck with you." He told them.

They snorted, narrowing his eyes at him, "Well, lead the way my fine gents, wouldn't want to keep the Princesses waiting now should we?" God, fucking with these guys is going to be a blast to do.

The turned tail, and stepped off, with the Courier right behind him. They didn't say a word, and he didn't either. He didn't really want to make conversation right now, he just wanted to get the hell out of here, and maybe with answers, too. He followed the militia up the stairs, and down a few corridors, before they made a sharp right, and brought him before two double doors. Decorated with so much shit. This place would be a prospector's wet dream. Hell, he would honestly give two thousand caps to see a prospector's face when greeting this thing.

The guards opened the door, and pointed at the large throne room, "Head on inside. The Princess will see you now."

Six nodded, "Thank you gents." He smiled under his mask, and stepped on inside, sliding his hands inside of his duster, and stepping on down the red carpet.

The human let out a whistle upon seeing the equine on the throne. A wing, and a horn! She must be an important one around here. He watched as she stepped off the throne, and made her way to him. They both stopped when they were about 5-6 meters from each other.

"Am I to assume you have questions?" The winged-horn equine asked with a tone of voice he couldn't quite describe. It reminded him of a mother in a way, and it took a bit of willpower to not just compliment her on her voice alone.

"Yeah. I've got just one." Six nodded, giving a pause for effect.

"Can you tell me what the absolute fuck is going on here?!"
> Chapter 3: Creative Names? Who Needs Those?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The large, white Equine, to which Six dubbed 'Whitey' as he still didn't know names, stood silent for a moment, before taking in a small breath.

"I cannot explain that, at the current moment." She spoke. Six frowned under his mask, before attempting to calm his nerves. Questions first, anger later.

"What the fuck do you mean you can't explain that?" He asked, staring right up at Whitey. "I just want to know why I'm here, and what the hell you guys are." The human had to refrain himself from jabbing a finger at her, lest he gets a spear run through him. No matter what people say, those spears the Legion have hurt worse than contracting something from a hooker at Gomorrah.

A look of understanding donned Whitey's face, before letting a small smile grace her muzzle, "Oh, well, that. I can explain. Not the 'why I'm here' part, though."

Six sighed, and brought a palm to his helmet, and shook his head, before shoving it back inside of his duster. He looked back up the tall horse, trying his best to look impatient. It didn't work, as he couldn't change the facial features of a mask.

"Well, go on, then. Explain." He spoke in a commanding tone. He heard a few growls from behind him but ignored those. 





After the lecture from the pretty pony princess, which Courier Six now learned that her name was 'Celestia', but would rather be addressed as 'Princess Celestia' when in public. He had a ton of questions.

"Wait- so hold on, you're saying you can use magic? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that just blows everything I know out of the water." Six frowned.

Princess Celestia let out a small giggle, before he watched her horn flare up, and pick up a small, empty cage.

Six stared in dumbstruck amazement, "Holy shit. You aren't lying. Well, I guess if I'm here for good then I better get accustomed to it." He muttered, before looking back at Celestia, "So. From what I've gathered here, your land is named 'Equestria'. And you're called 'Ponies'." He let out a laugh, "Damn, can these names get any more uncreative?"

Princess Celestia cocked her head to the side, "Whatever do you mean?" She questioned.

Six shook his head, "Don't worry about it. You'll figure it out soon enough." He then looked around the area, "So. With that lecture out of the way. I have one more question."

The Princess nodded, "Go ahead."

"Can I have my weapons back, please?" The Courier asked, subconsciously pressing his right hand into his empty holster, where his .44 Magnum used to reside. He always felt a bit naked without all of his firearms, and it annoyed him to no end.

"I am afraid I cannot do that," spoke Princess Celestia. Six let out a sigh of frustration.

"Why not?" He asked, his posture taking a more impatient stance. Six counted all of the guards in the room. Six in total, seven if you count the lady that could blast him to pieces. He still couldn't get over how she controlled the sun, but, their world their laws.

Six watched as the Princess gave a motherly smile, "We still don't know for certain if you're a danger to us all, and we simply cannot give you access to your weapons if the reports in Ponyville are any credible."

This left a bad taste in his mouth. He knew he shouldn't have engaged those dogs. He let out another sigh, "That's what the town is called? Creative." The human quipped. He knew it was the attempt to get his weapons back was a lost cause, so he refrained from pursuing it any further.

"Yes, well, I was not the one who named it, but it was a fitting name, nonetheless." Celestia added with that fucking smile still plastered onto her face. She knew something he didn't, and it was chipping away at him.

Six took in a deep breath, and sighed in defeat, "Well. Can I at-least not stay in that cell? That place gives me the creeps." He shuddered at how cold that place was.

He watched as the Princess stepped over to him, and gave his shoulder a small nuzzle, "I suppose that is fair, after all, you are unarmed. I shall have a servant take you to your room." She spoke, before stepping away from him. This lady was going to be the death of him. Literally, if he didn't play his cards right.

"Alright, that's fair enough, can I go now? I kinda want to get back to playing cards with myself." the Courier queried. He wasn't insane. Or so he'd like to think.

Anyways, with that out of the way, the Princess had sent him on his way and got a servant to accompany him to his room. It seemed all of the janitors, or maids, as the others called them were female. It didn't bother him, any. He wasn't into these ponies anyways.

"So, what are you?" The mare in front of him asked as they traveled down one of the many corridors.

"I'm a human." Six answered simply, his hands still in his duster's pockets.

She had a puzzled expression on her face, to which Six took notice of. She let out a small 'oh' before going quiet. Six didn't mind the quiet. He had spent a long time traveling alone, so he was used to quiet. Up until recently, that is. He now had companions he takes to travel with him. He always favored ED-E over anyone else, though. The little robot was a good companion.

And when the battle of Hoover dam rolled around, he stuck with NCR's side. He helped them take over New Vegas, too. They already had control over the place, might as well turn the entire place over in their hands.

The mare stopped in front of a door, surrounded by other doors all neatly lined up next to each other in rows. They all had numbers on them, too. The number on his door being '104'.

"Well, here's your room, sir." The mare told him, handing a key over to him. Six took the key, and unlocked the door, before opening it.

Turning to the mare, he looked down at her, seeing if she had anything to say.

"Dinner time is around the corner. It's just down the hall to your right, and to your left." She informed, before turning back down the hallway, and trotting off. Six nodded, and shut the door, before locking it once more. He sighed and surveyed the room.

It was a nice place, a bed extending outwards, with two windows on each side of it. Off to his right was a bathroom, and to his left, a closet, and next to the closet was a desk and a chair. Six smiled and stepped over to the desk. He reached both of his palms up to the sides of his helmet and undid the seals on them. It was Riot Gear after-all, it had to be sealed to not have Tear Gas leak into the open spots. He then lifted his helmet and mask combination off of his head, and set it down onto the desk with a clang.

"Alright, now to the shower." He murmured to himself, stepping over to the bathroom, and undoing all of the clamps and straps of his armor under his duster. He then pulled his duster off, folded it on top of the sink, and removed the armor underneath, setting it next to his duster.

Once done, he took a glance at himself in the mirror. He had a sharp jawline, pale blue eyes, with a ragged beard spanning to the ends of his jaw.  His hair was jet-black and long. It's been a while since he had a trim, but a lot of people had long hair in the wasteland. Kind of hard to find a barber in that place.

He took in a deep breath, and shook his head, before stepping into the shower.





After the shower was done, Courier Six cut the water, removed the curtain, and stepped out. He donned his armor, and duster, before hearing a knock on the door.

Grumbling to himself, he stepped out of the bathroom, and stepped over to the door, and unlocked it, looking down at the equine that knocked.

It was the same maid from earlier and looked up at his face in surprise.

"O-Oh, uhm.." She stuttered to find words, and the human raised an eyebrow, realizing that none of the ponies had seen his face. Not many have, to be honest.

"Well?" He asked, slightly impatient.

"I-I'm sorry, but it's Dinner time, and the Princess requested that you come." She then turned, "F-Follow me, sir." And with that, she began down the hallway. Six sighed, and followed after her, slipping his hands back into his Duster's pockets.

He was led to more double doors and was pushed open by the mare, Six in tow. He scanned the surroundings. Princess Celestia was situated at the end of the table, which could easily fit 20 people. Next to her was another one of those winged-horned ponies, this time blue, instead of white, and a flowing mane of stars. She must be another ruler of this place. Great. And to Celestia's left was a white Unicorn, with a blue mane. The maid then turned around and sped off down the hallway.

Six continued walking to the table, eying his surroundings even more. He briefly locked eyes with the white Unicorn, and the unicorn gave a small nod, almost as if acknowledging a silent bond between the two. Six picked a seat that was at the middle of the table and slid into the chair. He slid his hands out of his Duster and folded them on top of the table, right next to the plate that was there.

"Hello, Princess." Six nodded, looking over in her direction.

"Hello.." The Princess then donned a look he couldn't quite place, "I never got your name, did I?"

Six felt like his insides had sunk into the earth, and down into the core. He knew this was coming.

"I'm Courier Six. You may call me Courier if you wish, Princess." The human answered.

Six looked down at his plate, contemplating what to say next before a voice cut through the air. It wasn't imposing in the slightest, but it was a curious one. Curiosity kills.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you?" The voice asked. Six snapped his head to the voice, and frowned, remembering everything he's been through. The Divide, Sierra Madre, Zion.

"That's not really any of your business." The Courier spoke, placing the owner of the voice with the Unicorn that he had locked eyes with earlier. 

"Now, I'm hungry. Princess, what's on the menu?" He questioned, looking over at Celestia, and sitting back. The blue one, however, looked like she had just seen a ghost slaughter everyone she loved.

Catching the peculiar expression, he looked over to the blue one. They both locked eyes, and the look only increased. Odd.

"H-How in Mother's name is you here?"
> Chapter 4: Ain't That a Kick in the Head
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Courier Six instantly shot to his feet, the chair he was sitting on toppling over backward and hitting the ground with a loud bang. Her voice. So familiar, yet, so alien to him.

Placing his palms onto the table, he narrowed his eyes at the blue princess, "How in Caesar's bald head do you fuckin' know me?" He asked accusingly. These two motherfuckers knew something he didn't, and he was going to figure out what it was.

"Courier Six, please, calm down." Celestia pleaded with him, concern plastered onto her face.

"Shut the fuck up! This isn't any of your business!" Six snapped at the Sun Princess.

Everyone at the table, except for Six, was horrified at his outburst. The Unicorn stood up, growling at how he talked to the Princess, ready to subdue him if he tried anything.

The blue one, however, looked like she had just taken a lead pipe to the side of the head by a Fiend doped up on Psycho and Jet. Six still had the occasional headache from when that happened. He was lucky he was wearing a helmet.

"We- I. I can explain," Blue-y spoke slowly, still trying to gain her composure. He could see her taking deep breaths.

"Explain." Six growled, picking up his chair again, and sliding himself back into the seat. He let his left hand remain on the table while his right hand trailed down his thigh, and rest a few inches above his ankle.

"Sister and I-" She began before Six cut them off.

"Wait, you guys are related? I should have known. Sun and Moon and all." He shook his head, "Continue on, don't mind my antics." He nodded.

"Very well." She nodded, "Sister and I have discovered a spell in the archives of our old castle, that allowed us to see through the eyes of any machination."

The human's eyebrow looked like it was going to go through the roof and fly off into orbit. He always wondered what it would be like to send a car up into space.

Six nodded, allowing her to continue.  This was getting stranger by the day. The only thing he could do was go with the flow.

"As we were saying, we discovered a spell that allowed us to see through the eyes of any machination, as you already know. But, no matter how many  times we tried to spy on the Gryphons through their blasted machines, it always put us inside of that little robot of yours." She informed with a smile.

"Wait a minute, so you've been watching me through ED-E the entire time?" Six questioned, pinching the bridge of his nose, "God, you're just like  Ulysses, except less of an asshole." He sighed, shaking his head, before placing the hand back onto the table, "Well. Go on." He waved.

"Yes, well. We-I have seen the things you've done. I am amazed you managed to last that long. That place is worse than Tartarus." She added to herself, which Six caught. He was going to ask what that was later.

"Well. Fuck. Okay." The human shrugged, before sighing, "Enough about this. More on it later, can we please eat, now? I'm hungrier than that one guy I always see hanging outside of towns and cities. Always begging me for water when I had none."

Everyone at the table nodded, and the sound of doors opening garnered everyone's attention. Six turned his head to the source of the noise and watched as two ponies, dressed in chef outfits, stepped over to the table with a large cart, and set everyone's food down onto the plate. Six got fish. A lot of it, while everyone else had a salad.

Curious as to why, he looked up at Celestia, "What's with the fish?" He asked, looking back down at it. Faint memories of Cass swimming to the surface. Pun not intended.

"We thought you might enjoy it. You have the eyes of a predator, so we assumed you ate meat." She smiled that motherly smile, which still ate at  Six. Slimy motherfucker.

Six shrugged, "Well, you're not wrong on that part. Humans are generally omnivorous. I  say 'generally' because there's always that odd-ball in every community that refuses to eat meat, and writes furious letters to other people of the same kind about how killing animals is heartless and that it's a slaughter. Never understood those people." He shook his head, before picking up a fork. He wondered how ponies used utensils, but he just chalked it up to magic and forgot about it.

"Well, let's eat, enough about this." Six smiled and began to eat. As did everyone else.





After the meal was over, and everyone said their goodbyes, Six found himself in his room once more, sitting at his desk. His Helmet had been placed next to the chair, rather than on top of the table, and he was currently tinkering with his Pip-Boy.

"Come on, you piece of junk, work." He grumbled, twisting the knob that controlled the radio frequencies. He managed to snag a frequency, if a bit far away, judging by the static. He tinkered with it more until he got is as clear as he could, which was pretty clear. Well, it was to him. There was music, but it wasn't anything he's ever heard. It was like chirping, with orchestral music in the background, but calling it chirping was an insult.

It was beautiful, it's like a bunch of angels got together, and formed a band. He smiled, and let it play as he pulled out a thick leather book, and a pencil. He flipped it open to a clean page and began writing. It wasn't anything important, just random shit he wrote to keep his half-sane mind going fully insane.

Looking down at his Pip-Boy, he found that the radio station cut out once more, before he shrugged, twisted to a frequency that couldn't possibly hold a station in its lifetime, and looked at the time.

"One-thirty AM? Fuck. I need to sleep." He muttered to himself, shutting the Pip-Boy's display off, and standing up. He opened a drawer, and slipped the book into the compartment, before sliding it back in, and stepping over to his bed. He crawled into it, not bothering using the covers. He never really needed to.

He closed his eyes, feeling a nice wave of comfortability roll over him, and he relaxed even more into the bed. This might be the best sleep he's had in the history of forever.





Becoming briefly aware of the sunlight flitting itself into the windows. He instantly shot up and rubbed his eyes. No dream. That's a first. Taking a quick scan of his surroundings, before he sighed, and slid himself out of bed. He could really go for a shower right now.

So, that's what he did. After a quick shower, a shave, which he admitted he looked a bit better now that he had shaved, and a combing of his hair, he stepped out of the shower and checked the time on his Pip-Boy. Seven AM. More than enough time before breakfast, so he just stepped over to his desk, brought out his deck of cards, and began to play Caravan with himself once more.
> Chapter 5: Guess Who I Saw Today
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sliding the cards back into a deck, Six shuffled them, and stored them back into his duster's pockets, before standing up and reaching next to the chair. He pulled his helmet, and mask combination up from the side of the chair, and fitted it onto his head.

The human secured the seals and straps to his head, he scanned the room, before shrugging inwardly, and slipping himself out from in front of the chair, and pushing it in. Six then began his move to the door, before gripping the knob, and turning it. He pulled it inward, as it was a pull, not a push, and stepped out of the hallway. He looked left and right, seeing no activity in the hallway. Finding it slightly odd, he pursed his lips, before making a mental note of it, and stepping on down the hallway.

He was going to get his weapons back, there was no doubt about it. But it was going to prove more difficult than just thinking about it, for sure, but he needed a plan.

As he padded himself on down the hallways, and the castle's many corridors, he became increasingly aware of the lack of activity inside of the castle. No guards, no servants, nothing.

"Where the fuck is everyone..?" Six asked himself. This much quiet could mean many things, ranging from a special event, or everybody just decided to pull a Vault Dweller and fuck off to places unknown. Courier Six began to wonder to himself. It could possibly be a trick, but he ruled that out rather quickly. For being a completely unknown species, save for what little was showed to them, they were oddly friendly towards him.

A loud whoosh, accompanied by movement out of the corner of his eye, startled him from his thought. He grounded to a halt, and spun around, readying his fists. He scanned his surroundings, having just wandered into a more darker part of the castle. This place was so goddamn confusing.

Reaching his left hand up to his head, he flicked on his low-light vision and looked around once more. Nothing. Maybe he's just being a little jumpy, but he knew something was here, and it was trailing him. Maybe he should turn on thermal? Yeah. He should.

Flicking Thermal Vision on, he swept his eyes across the hallway. A purple-ish blob in the rough shape of an equine was sticking to the ceiling. He looked up at the shape. Ponies had body warmth, didn't they? So why did this one not have any warmth to it at all? Another question to bring up in due time. He decided to feign ignorance, shrugging, and flicking his thermal off, and turning on low-light vision in its place, and turning around, heading back down the way he was going, whilst slipping his hands into his duster.





Six whistled the tune of 'Heartaches By the Number' as he stepped back the way he came. He reached a dead end and was now backtracking back to his room.

It took him a long time, but he eventually found his way back, and while rounding the corner to the hallway that housed his room, he bumped into the same servant as before.

"Oh, fuck. Sorry." He apologized, quickly catching himself before he falls back onto his ass. The mare, however, was not so lucky and flopped downwards onto her own ass.

"I-It's alright." She accepted said an apology before Six reached his hand out, and she took it in her hoof, or rather, the other way around, and helped herself up.

Six lowered his hand and stuck it back into his duster. He assumed what she was here for, probably to get him to breakfast. He looked down at the mare, "I assume you're here to escort me to breakfast?" He asked, raising an eyebrow under his mask.

The mare nodded, "Y-Yes, I am. I-If you'll just follow me.." She then brushed passed him and continuing on down the hallway.

"Alright, then." He shrugged, about-facing, and stepping right on after her. The Courier pondered on possible questions to ask the Princesses. There were too many to count, that if he chose to ask them all, that it would take months to cover them all. Instead, he opted on a few, such as, 'May I please have my weapons back?', and 'You got any alcohol in this place?'.

The two eventually found themselves at the dining hall once more, and Six chose to sit at the same place he did before. He unsealed his helmet and facemask, and slid them off of his head, before placing it under his chair. He then folded his hands onto the table.

"Morning, Princess." He nodded in her direction, taking note at everyone at the table. There was the same Unicorn from yesterday, the two Princesses, and one that gained his attention rather quickly. Another one of those winged-horned ponies, (which he still needed an official name), but with a pink coat, and an ass tattoo of a heart.

He locked eyes with her, and a look of sympathy, if he could call it that. Looked more to him as a look of 'someone please help me out of here, I don't want to be with this guy'. A look he knew all too well, especially in Freeside.

She kept quiet, however, and just nodded at him with a smile. Six shook his head, and sat back into his chair, adjusting his position in the seat so it was more comfortable for him.

"Good morning, Six, I take it you had a good nights' sleep?" Princess Celestia asked him, to which he nodded.

"Yeah, I slept pretty well." Pretty good was such an understatement, that not even 'understatement' could even possibly begin to describe how much of an understatement it was.

"Good." She smiled and nodded to a waiter, and he sped off passed some double doors. possibly going to give out orders.

Six sat forward, and put on his best serious face, looking over at the two sisters, "I want to talk about my weapons." He spoke.

"What about them?" The Solar Princess questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"Don't give me that 'what about them' shit. I want them back, if not, can I at least get one of them back?" The human asked. He didn't want to sound like a beggar, but God forbid, she was making him sound like one. 

"Well, I suppose having one of them back is a fair agreement, you seemed to prove yourself trustworthy so far." She nodded in thought, "I shall escort you to  where they are located after breakfast." The Princess informed.

Six nodded, and muttered something under his breath, before witnessing the food come out in the same way as yesterday. This time, instead of fish, it was an egg sandwich. Three, to be exact. Six smiled, it's been a while since he's had eggs. He looked up at the Princess, and they all received the same meal he did. Talk about boring.





After breakfast was had, Princess Celestia had led him down multiple hallways, and finally to a pair of heavyset, metal doors. She inserted her horn into a circular hole on the right of it, and he watched as it glowed before a mechanical click was heard, and the doors slid open. He just chalked it up to magic and stepped inside after Celestia, and to a table, on the said table were just lines of his weapons. He had way too many, but he knew which the one he wanted to pick out of the pile.

"Here are your weapons, Six, but please take only one." She gave the top of his head a little nuzzle as he stepped past her, "And don't try anything. I'm watching you." She added with a smile.

Six has heard worse threats from fiends. He perused the table, trying to find out the one he wanted in all of this mess, before he found it, and picked it up. It was his AER-9 Laser Rifle,  and the fuckers even had the MFC Cell still inside of it. A disaster waiting to happen when not in use. He smiled and turned to Celestia.

"Alright, I'm ready, let's go." He nodded.

She returned the nod, and lead him out of the room, locking the door back, and leading him back to the dining hall.

"Well, from here I assume you know the way to your room, correct?" She asked. Six nodded, and she continued, "Well, I must attend day court, so I will leave you to your own devices. And please, don't try to hurt anyone. I will know." And with that, she turned around and walked off.

Six watched her pad her way down the hallway opposite to his room, he sighed, and slung the Laser Rifle over his back, and stepped off down the way to his room.

He had a feeling something big was coming, and it wasn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows. When it came, he was going to be ready for it. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched by something a little more sinister than just a few curious ponies.
> Chapter 6: Don't Bring a Knife To a Laser Fight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Courier Six sat on his bed, his AER-9 propped up against the frame, with his helmet resting on the middle of the mattress, with him just staring at the ground. He had been cooped up in this place for hours, doing everything he possibly could to keep his mind occupied. He even resorted to listening to holotapes he picked up across the wasteland, to no avail.

His thoughts began to wander back to his arrival. How did he even get here, anyway? The last thing he remembered was exiting the Lucky 38 and then it just..dropped off. It's almost as if the memory didn't even exist. Something was probably blocking him from remembering that part, but whatever.

Six's concentration his memory was jarred by the sound of a particularly loud explosion topping off outside. He shot to his feet, snagging his AER-9 from the bed, and making his way to the window. He took a look outside and saw the place swarming with insect-like equines.

"What. The. Fuck?" Six raised an eyebrow, before snagging his helmet, and fitting it onto his head. He hastily sealed it and clamped it down, before bringing the stock of his Laser Rifle to his shoulder, and bringing it into a low-ready position.

He then advanced towards the door, opened it, and stepped outside. He took a look left, then right, before speeding off at a jog down the direction the dining hall was in.

As he rounded a corner, two of the insect-looking motherfuckers stopped around 7-8 feet from him, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Having a nice afternoon?" Six asked, sliding his finger around the trigger of his Laser Rifle.

They let out a hiss and charged him, horns down. A sound idea, if he wasn't already ready for them. In the blink of an eye, he snapped the rifle up and sent off two lasers, one making it's way through the head of the one on his right, instantly frying the brain and stopping it dead in its tracks.

The other, however, was granted no such mercy as the laser was sent through its chest, puncturing a lung and severing arteries, but due to instant cauterization, it only managed in dropping him to the ground. Six stepped over to it, and sighed, sending a laser through its head to spare it further agony.

Now, if he remembered correctly,  Princess Celestia would be in the throne room, which is left of the dining hall, down a long hallway, and a sharp right. He quickly sped off, making his way to the throne room. He needed answers.





Having encountered more resistance, which was swiftly dealt with, and a quick MFC change, Six rounded yet another corner and came face-to-face with the throne room. The doors were wide open and in the middle of it was Princess Celestia duking it out with another one of those black motherfuckers, which he just labeled 'cricket-lady'. 

He witnessed in horror as Cricket-lady defeat Celestia, and he growled silently under his breath. She better not be fucking dead, or someone's going inside of a wood chipper.

Raising his AER-9, he brought the sights to his eyes, and pulled back the trigger, hearing the all-too-familiar 'PEW!' accompanying it. The laser struck her in the side, and passed through effortlessly, which caused her to scream in surprise, and pain, and double over onto the ground. 

Ignoring the looks from the massive crowd inside of the throne room, he advanced onto Cricket-lady, and leveled the AER-9's barrel with the top of her head, and began pulling the trigger back.

"Wait!" A feminine voice called out to him, and briefly turning his head, most of his concentration still on Cricket-lady if she tried anything, but he shifted his gaze from her to that pink winged-horse he had seen earlier today.

"This better be good." He growled under his mask,  his voice still has that same robotic tint to it.

"Don't kill her!" She shouted at him. He swore he could see her visibly shudder at the thought of it, but he sighed, and, not after delivering a swift kick to Cricket-lady's side, removed his finger from the trigger, and lowered the rifle. He stepped back from her and witnessed as pink-lady rushed over to the side of that same Unicorn he had seen.

He frowned under his mask as a large blast of pink swept out from the two over them, washing over him, and blasting Cricket-lady into the sky. What was that one Pre-War show, where these group of people always got launched into the sky? What were their names? Was it Team Rocket or something?

The field that washed over him felt too similar to the pacification field at the Big Empty. Way too similar.

Six ponies approached him, two of the ponies that he had observed at the start of this whole escapade being apart of the group. The one leading them the purple horned one he had observed.

She opened her mouth to speak, and Six just sighed, "Don't you  know it's impolite to approach armed people?" He asked, brushing past them. 

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" A raspy voice shouted behind him. He took a glance back at the source and found it was a rainbow-haired Pegasus. Talk about the literal embodiment of this place.

"I'm going back to my room, fuck is it to you?" He shot back, seemingly making her angrier.

"Why I ought-" She was cut off by, much to Six's surprise, Princess Celestia.

"Rainbow, that's enough. Leave him alone. Six, would you please meet me in the gardens after this is over? We have things I'd like to discuss." She smiled, and the rainbow-haired one grumbled something, folded her hooves together, and turned his attention away from him.

"Sure, Princess." He nodded, making his way back. If this society was a little bit like New Vegas. News outlets are going to cover him like it's going out of style. That is one thing he was not looking forward to.





He found himself in his room again, helmet off, and AER-9 against the back of his chair when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." He called out, the door opening and in walked the blue Princess, shutting the door behind her.

"Hello, Six." She greeted with a smile, stepping over to his bed, and taking a seat on it.

"Hello.." Six greeted, realizing he never got a name. Him trailing off must've been warning enough for her.

"Princess Luna, but you may call me Luna if you'd like." She nodded, before Six sat back, and turned his head to her.

"What's with the visit?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. Luna seemed to anticipate this response as she took a brief look out of the window, before speaking.

"I'd like to talk about your stay, here," Luna told him with a soft smile.

"Sure. What'd you have in mind?"
> Chapter 7: Still in the Dark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Luna stood up, and trotted over to the window on the right of the bed, before staring out of it. Courier Six didn't know what she was staring at, but he assumed it to be something of importance.

"We are investigating the Diamond Dog attack in Ponyville, and have come to the conclusion that it somepony instigated it." She spoke, before closing her eyes, "Diamond Dogs usually take slaves to work in their mines, but they never took any." Luna shook her head, before looking over at the Courier.

He remained silent, waiting for her to continue, his hands folded neatly into his lap.

"We believe that you will be extremely useful in finding out who instigated the attack, and with that, we are returning your full arsenal to use at your disposal. Make no mistake, we did not make this decision lightly." She smiled, before stepping over to his door.

Six stood up, "No promises, but I'll try." He nodded. Those dogs were slavers? Say no more, he was going to slaughter them all, as he did with the Legion.

Luna nodded, "We've arranged for you to leave in a week. Goodbye." She then stepped out of the door, shutting it behind her. The human could hear her hoofsteps grow fainter as she walked off down the hallway. He made his way to the window, having a nice, full view of the ballroom, where a party was going on, complete with fireworks and all. He watched as a rainbow streak zipped through the sky, before what looked like a mushroom cloud but rainbow, followed by an intense explosion broke the sky.

It was beautiful, and he just observed as the streak exiting the cloud zipped around the area. He didn't catch to see if it landed, as he turned away and back to his desk. He picked up his helmet and secured it a clip hanging from a bandolier that wrapped around the armor inside of his duster. He then picked up his AER-9, slung it over his back, and checked his Microfusion Cell count. He had around 10, one of them holding a charge of 12, and another of 23, the rest were all fully charged with 24 shots in total.





Courier Six waited for the part to die down and disperse before he stepped out of his room, and down the hallway. He stopped a passing maid, asked for directions to the gardens, and continued on his way.

He found himself admiring the beauty of the gardens as he stepped through it. It was very well kept and had just the right amount of growth to it. Not too little, and not too much. He smiled, before spotting Celestia near a small pond, just sitting down and staring at the water.

Six came up behind her, looking over her, and at his own reflection, "Beautiful place." He commented, kneeling down beside her, and tossing a pebble into the water. He watched it bounce across the lake, leaving a pattern of circles that extended outwards like a child reaching for its mother, before sinking down into its depths.

"Yes, I suppose it is." The Solar Princess sighed, "I'm in a tough spot, Courier, would you mind taking a walk with me?" She asked, looking over at him.

He shook his head, and stood up, watching her do the same. She stepped past him, and down the path, him walking right beside her.

"So, what's up?" He asked, sliding his hands into his Duster's pockets, looking over at the Princess.

"I've just been informed of another Diamond Dog attack. It happened in a small village northwest of here, well out of Diamond Dog territory." She let out a small sigh, before raising her head up a little more.

"This is definitely a coordinated attack, and we're grasping at straws, here." She looked over at him, staring up into his eyes, "Once you arrive at Ponyville, we need you to make friends with the bearers of the Elements of Harmony."

Six let his eyebrow raise, "I'm sorry, Elements of Harmony?" He asked, taking a bemused look.

"They're artifacts meant to keep the peace of this land, and the bearers are the ones wielding them. They're the six you saw when you exited the throne room, earlier today." She informed him.

Courier Six nodded, "Ah, I see. I'll try my best. I don't make promises. The amount of times you break one far outweighs the times you actually keep one." He sighed, shaking his head before they came across a dead end in the garden. They turned around and headed back to the castle.





After they exchanged goodbyes, the Courier was now making his way back to the castle.

"I don't want to set the world on fire.." He sang in a whisper to himself, vaguely remembering parts of the song. Once he was back in the castle, however, he immediately made for his room.

He passed a few servants along the way, and once he came to his room, and stepped inside, and shut the door behind him.

Stepping over to his desk, he brought out a bottle of Whiskey from his duster, and popped the top off, and taking a giant swig. He let the liquid run roughly down his throat, feeling the intense burn that accompanied it.

Removing the bottle from his mouth, he let out a satisfied sigh, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, before setting the bottle down onto the desk.

"Fuck." He cleared his throat, "I needed that." He smiled, taking another swig, before setting the bottle down. He knew it was getting close to dinner time, so he didn't want to get wasted just yet. He capped the bottle, opened a drawer on his desk, and slid it into there, before shutting the drawer.

Now, he just needed to wait until that servant came to take him to dinner. He was going to ask her name. He wouldn't mind becoming friends with her. She seemed nice enough.

Sliding himself into the chair, he pulled out the leather book and flipped it open. Maybe he should consider writing an entry log. That's what he did. He got to writing, writing down everything that he's encountered in this place.

If he ever got back to the Mojave, he'd have quite the story to tell. Not like anybody would believe him anyway. Except for No-Bark, but he's not exactly a sane person, to begin with.

Well, neither is Six.
> Chapter 8: The Sun Comes Over the Tower
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A knock from the bedroom door snapped Courier Six out of his focus. He shut the book, set the pencil down, and dropped both the book and pencil into the drawer, and stood up.

Opening the door to the room, he looked down at the mare, "Hey." He greeted, smiling down at her.

"It's dinner time, sir." She told him, to which Six nodded, and motioned for her to lead the way with his hand. She complied and began to step down the hallway, with Six in tow.

"So, I never really got your name." The Courier spoke to her. She seemed to freeze up for a split second, before continuing on.

"O-Oh, I never really expected you to ask my name." She seemed to be relieved at that fact, before she continued, "It's Water Lilly." She informed before they came across the dining room, "Well, here we are." She opened it for him and walked off to parts unknown.

Six stepped inside of the dining room and sat down at the spot he always did. Everybody was there, so he just folded his hands onto the table, and waited patiently.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" A voice broke his train of thought, and he zoned back in, matching the voice with its owner, the pink winged-horned lady. Six frowned and sighed.

"I'm Courier Six." He nodded, "You?" He asked.

"Oh, well, I'm Princess Cadance." She smiled, "Thanks for saving us at the wedding, earlier."

Courier Six smiled, "No problem. It's not like I had anything better to do." He shrugged, adjusting himself in his seat.

She seemed to smile for a bit, before leaning over and whispering something to the Unicorn. Six just shrugged and waited for their food to come out.





Once dinner was over, Six found himself in his room again, this time staring out of the window and out into the dark streets of the city. It had a charm to it, so he decided to exit his room with his AER-9 on his back, and wander through the corridors in an attempt to find the exit. He did find the exit, after making his way through the gardens and out of a gated off the entrance.

Stepping down one of the many streets, he kept an eye out for a bar, or something similar. He could really go for a nice, cold drink right now. He also kept an eye out for criminals, those dudes can be a pain in the ass to deal with, but he was a bit more well equipped than them, so he had nothing to worry about.

Finding a bar, emboldened with big neon signs that read 'BAR', which he found pretty amusing, he stepped inside, almost immediately recoiling from the smell of alcohol and smoke that hung in the air. He shook his head and continued on through the establishment.

Many turned their heads to stare at him, which he ignored and took a seat at one of the more isolated tables. It only occurred to him at the time that he didn't have any money, so he got up, and left.

Stepping down the street once more, making his way back to the castle, a few voices rang out from the darkness. He quickly pulled his AER-9 from his back, and could just vaguely make out that judging by the tone of one voice, and the other, it was a mugging. Figures.

He traced the voices back to an alleyway and brought the stock of his Laser Rifle to his shoulder. Six used the darkness as a cover and slowly advanced upon the two. A stallion was being cornered by around 4 others, each holding some sort of weapon. He frowned, lining the sights of his rifle up to the head of one of the 4. He pulled the trigger back, hearing the familiar cartoon-y 'Pew!' as the laser exited the barrel, and went clean through his head, frying his brain instantly.

All commotion stopped as they looked around for what had just happened, and another laser was already streaking its way through another's head.

Six smiled, dropping the rest of them effortlessly, before watching the stallion that was being mugged take a look at the bodies, before running off as his life depended on it. He probably gave the poor fucker a form of PTSD, but oh well.





After trekking his way back to the castle, Six wasn't exactly tired, so he just wandered around, trying to figure out something to do. He eventually found himself back into the gardens, staring at an abomination against man. It was a jumbled mess of body parts, looked like something out of a 3rd grader's science project.

"What the fuck are you supposed to be? A failed F.E.V experiment?" Six asked the statue, rubbing his chin, before shrugging and taking a seat at a bench near the statue. Eventually, he found himself growing a bit more tired with each passing minute, and deciding that he'd probably pass out before he made it to his room, decided to sleep on the bench.

Courier Six awoke to a bird pecking at his ear. He quickly sat up, shooing off all of the birds that had gathered around him, and ran a hand down his face, before looking around. He was still in the gardens, so that was a plus, but what wasn't a plus, however,  was that he now had probably missed breakfast, judging by his Pip-Boy's time, which read 10:23 AM.

"Fuck.." He sighed, standing up, and quickly making his way back to the castle. He had a lot of explaining to do, and he was sure that Celestia had found out what had transpired last night. Oh well, he saved that guy, so it wasn't really a big deal to him. Possibly to Celestia, but not really to him. He was also probably going to get one hell of a chewing out for it.

Suddenly, the thought of putting himself as far away from the castle as he could sounded like a good idea. Not like it'd do anything, so he decided to brave it and hope for the best.
> Chapter 9: A Modicum of Importance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle prided herself as a mare of intellectual pursuits, oftentimes spending hours to herself in her study perusing over her vast archive of knowledge tucked away in her library. Of course, she knew all of what was stored here but didn't mind rereading a book or two to really hone in her knowledge of a given subject. But there was one thing that had eluded her these past two days; who was the creature seen with Princess Celestia at her brother's wedding? There were no records, official or unofficial detailing the likes of it.

There were, of course, the Minotaurs, who bore a striking resemblance to the features the creature carried with it, but they were nomadic by nature and shared many of their histories through word of mouth. The sound of hooves busying themselves across the wooden panels lining the floor of the library echoed to all within as Twilight hurried from bookshelf to bookshelf in an attempt to find anything, even fictional, detailing what the creature could be.

"Maybe you should rest, you've been at this all night." The young voice of Spike pointed out behind the mare, to which she momentarily stopped under the 'G' section.

Taking his words into consideration, though very briefly, Twilight brought a hoof to her muzzle, painstakingly scanning every book cover and title.
"I can't stop now, there could be an important discovery at the tip of our hooves!" Twilight protested in earnest, pulling out a seemingly random book and flipping it over to the first page to begin reading.

Indeed, Spike's words were correct as due to the way the mare was orientated, the morning blue sunlight peeked itself through the curtains, casting a piercing ray directly into her eyes. As expected, Twilight recoiled back with a grimace, shutting the book and sliding it back into the correct spot.
"Maybe you're right, I should get some rest." The mare finally conceded with an awkward, if somewhat embarrassed giggle.
And so, with those parting words, she tucked herself in for a morning nap.





Six braved himself, willing himself towards the imposing yet immaculate gates of the castle as the only sound accompanying him on his journey back was the birds, their singsongs floating around the would-be still air of the courtyard.
The guard at the gate gave a nod upon noticing his approach, opening up the door to allow a seamless entry inside of the castle hallways. As the human stepped in, he heard the door slam shut behind him, but he gave him no time to stop and linger on that. He pressed forward, recounting his recent memories of the castle layout to make a straight beeline for Princess Celestia's throne room.

It took a few minutes, and a bit of direction asking but he managed to find himself at the large, ornate doors of the throne room. The engravings upon the door detailing the reverence the ponies held for the Princess.
"I wish for access." Six spoke to the guards on both flanks of the door, to which they nodded. It was almost like they were expecting him. Everything was going to smooth for this. His more paranoid side would rationalize that this may be a trap, but he staved that feeling. At least for now.

The door slowly opened to reveal the big, red carpet stretching out to the foot of the throne, to which the Princess was sitting on with radiant beauty. Looking back on this event, even Six had to admit that this was truly breathtaking were it not for him being in the moment.

With a breath to steel his nerves, the man strode forward, his duster gently trailing behind from the brisk pace he walked. There were two guards on either side of the throne, the amusing fact that the Equestrians loved counting in even numbers was never lost on Six.
"Princess." Six addressed her as he got within earshot of her, that same motherly smile splayed on her muzzle that he grew to know. He could see the guards visibly tense up at him not addressing her in a very formal manner, but it mattered little to him.

"Six." She addressed with equal bluntness, causing the man to shift about on his feet. He just wanted her to get to the point, already. Well, it was time to be blunt. Being blunt was something he was quite good at.
"I assume you've already heard the news?" He asked, giving no hint as to what he was implying. He figured she'd pick up what he was implying, anyways.

Celestia gave a short nod, something that Six picked up quite easily, rising off her haunches and stepping down onto the floor in front of him.
"I know that you were doing it to protect the innocent, and for that, I must commend you, but please consider non-lethal options first." She told the man, yet again causing another reaction. This time he stepped back, scanning her. This wasn't an order. She was pleading with him, though she hid it well, the intention was still there. He never liked considering non-lethal options as all of the enemies, everything he's ever fought would rather kill him.

"I-.." He cut himself short of saying something that the mare would not like. He took in a breath, "I'll keep it in mind." He finally settled on. Celestia seemed content with the answer, flitting past him to head down the carpet. He turned accordingly, watching her make for the exit. He decided to accompany her, still having multiple questions running through his head.

"When will I leave?" Was the first question he asked once they were out of the throne room and well on their way down the hallway. He was unsure where they were heading, but judging by his vague memorization, they were on the way to the observatory. Fitting.

Princess Celestia took a few seconds to respond, "Tomorrow." She informed the man, to which he gave a nod. At least he had something to look forward to. The mare still scared the hell out of him, though he wouldn't admit it to her face. He was glad to be away from her.
She radiated energy that of which he had never felt before. Every time he was within a meter or two from her he'd get the sudden urge to just turn tail and flee. He managed to keep it under wraps, thankfully.

"Understood. I'll start packing my things." He nodded, breaking off from the mare's side and turning back around down the hallway.

"Wait." He could hear the Princesses' motherly tone call after him, causing him to halt mid-stride. He slowly turned around to greet the mare once more, "Yes?" He asked, watching her eyes study him.

"Would you like to accompany me on my trip to the observatory? The view will be plentiful." She offered the human. Well, it certainly gave him more time to think. It couldn't hurt, could it? With a few thoughts weighing some options on whether he should leave or stay, he finally settled on staying with the mare.

"I don't see why not." He shrugged, beginning after her as they continued their walk.





"Wow, you weren't kidding." the Courier nodded once stepping out onto the observatory balcony. The bustling city below, the shimmering sparkling coming off the snow-capped mountaintops that rose high and proud in the distance. The rolling hills of green with occasional farmland and bursts of forests with rivers and lakes neatly intertwined with each other. There was a roll-off of water coming off down one of the mountains, feeding into a larger lake at the foot. It certainly was beautiful.

He could hear Princess Celestia give a light giggle off to his left. Possibly from his amazement. The landscape of this world certainly was a foreign change from the depressing brown and tans of the Mojave. It took a force to not just break down into a laughing, and possibly crying mess. He stepped forward, placing both palms on the edge of the railing, peering off out into the landscape below.

He didn't know what to feel. It was beautiful, breathtaking. He wanted to laugh and he wanted to cry at the same time.
"It's-.." He didn't know how to describe. Beautiful didn't seem to do the view justice, "It's simply amazing." He finally settled on, not satisfied with the word but it was the best he could do.

"It is, isn't it?" The mare at his side spoke, giving a wistful sigh as she peered off into the landscape. Six could tell something was up.

"Princess?" He spoke up, looking over at her, "Is something wrong?" He wasn't sure why the mare was feeling down. This was a moment to reflect. To think. He didn't get a response, just watching as the mare's pupils danced across the landscape. With a sigh of his own and a light shake of his head, he resorted back into looking off.

He needed to plan for the future and what was to come.
> Chapter 10: Those Who Fail to Learn from History
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A knock upon Courier Six's door roused the man from his attention to gathering his things. Giving brief contemplations on whether or not he should answer it, he gave a shrug.
"Come in." He finally called out, hearing the door open up behind him. He continued to gather his stuff, which wasn't many considering he kept everything on his person. He did have a few empty bottles of alcohol lying around, however.

Hoofsteps approached him and judging by the wait and gait of them, it wasn't the princess. Turning around to meet the pony in his room, he was pleasantly surprised to find it was Water Lilly, of all ponies.
"Hey." He greeted the mare, finishing up disposing of the empty bottles. He gave an off-glance towards the window of the room, watching as the sun slowly settled itself below the horizon. He already had an idea of what the mare was going to say before she told him.

"Is it dinner time?" He asked, retreating his glance over to the mare as he awaited the answer. She gave a nod of affirmation and the human let out a sigh, running a hand down his face.
"Tell the princesses I've got things to do. I won't be able to accompany them." He half-lied. In all honesty, he had eaten just an hour prior, in preparation to leave the castle. His wandering spirit didn't like being tethered down to such a building for so long. It made him uneasy.

Water Lilly didn't say anything, giving yet another nod and stepping out. It was odd she didn't say anything, but he paid little mind to it.
Once the door was closed, the Courier sighed, turning back around to take a view out of the window. The sunset certainly was beautiful. It was an amusing thought, that such beauty could be transferred through worlds. He always enjoyed looking at the sunset after a long day in the Mojave, but never gave it much thought that it could be the same anywhere else.

Whatever. He had little time to dawdle and wanted to get a move on. He picked up his AER9 and fed his arm through the sling to rest it over his back, subsequently tidying everything up as last minute preparations. He wasn't quite sure when he would be back but he doubted it anytime soon.
Picking up his helmet, he fitted it onto his skull, securing the seals and moving to make his exit. It was best if he exited during the night as to raise little alarm.





"Why the hell am I even doing this?" The man inquired to himself, not even sure of an answer. He had been growing antsy couped up in that castle, but did it warrant completely leaving the city? He wasn't sure. There was a myriad of possibilities that lay just outside the city. The exiting of the castle had gone rather smoothly, the guards seemed to be quite lax around his presence, something that was painfully obvious. It suited him just fine but he couldn't help but rationalize that was an underlying reason that he wasn't aware of.

Getting out of the city was an entirely different problem he now had the lucky displeasure of solving. Getting into a low crouch, he hid in the shadows of the night, eyeing the guards at the gate. There were two on the post, one was sleeping and the other looked like he took his job seriously. Letting out a light breath, he weighed his options. He could just drop them and slip past unnoticed, but he didn't want to earn the ire of the princesses. That was the last thing he needed.

Well, he did have an empty bottle he was going to save to fill up with water on his trip, but he supposed he could just get another.
Bringing the bottle out from his jacket, he tossed it over in the direction of the two guards. It hit the ground and shattered, the sound piercing the once-still night.
"Hey! Who's there?!" The alert guard snapped, drawing his weapon and advancing on the position of the bottle, but not before waking his buddy.

The Courier couldn't help but let out a light titter upon seeing their reaction. Falling for the oldest trick in the book. He snuck himself up on the post, and while they were distracted, dropping himself over the gate.
His boots made contact with the ground, forcing him into a roll and he began to make his way down the mountain in a full run.

Courier Six let out a breath of relief, sparing a glance back towards the city. There was one hell of a drop waiting for him if he slipped up, so he kept himself careful, sticking to the side of the mountain rather than the ledge. He could see the lights of different towns off in the distance, the closest being the one was escorted from just a few days earlier.

Well, he knew his next destination. Getting there was a different problem, but he was going to cross that bridge when he got there. He still had a long walk down the mountain ahead of him.





The sun began to peek itself above the horizon, and the Courier was nearly down the mountain. It had taken him all night to descend the mountain, but it was a worthwhile one. At the bottom was a valley, with a beautiful lake in the middle of it. There was a hamlet down at the base too, surrounded by a forest. Ponies were beginning to wake up and go about their daily routines. He couldn't afford being spotted, and so he dipped himself into the forest. His heavyset boots crunched against dry leaves and fallen twigs as he moved further into the lush forest. He had never seen so much green in his life, but he managed to keep himself from stopping and admiring the scenery. He was a courier, and as such had learned that he needed to keep himself moving, lest he is killed. He wasn't sure how well that sentiment applied here, but he wasn't one to take chances.

After a few more minutes of walking, his foot suddenly caught itself in a very loose patch of dirt.
"The fuck?" He voiced his protest, attempting to free his foot from the ground. A low rumbling resonated within the ground, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Mining operations? Unlikely. This was a trap. One he would not be able to escape from in time.
Just then, the floor caved in on itself, bringing him down into a deep chasm.
"Oh fuck!" He managed to get out before he was buried in the rubble.





Courier Six awoke with a light gasp, garnering a mouthful of dirt. Upon quickly realizing his predicament, he frantically tried to claw his way out of the dirt. He couldn't die like this. He had been through too much to die buried in a cave in.
Finally finding his out of the pile, he coughed and sputtered, heaving greatly as he attempting to gain his breath.
That was not an ordinary cave in. He had seen quite a few cave-ins when he was at Zion.
Light peeked in through the hole created, casting the dark cave in some light he could use to pick up through his helmet's light amplifying features.

"Fucking-.." He breathed, spotting his laser rifle just a few feet from him. The entire laser unit itself was cracked, wired and circuit boards spilling out through the protective plastic case. It was broken beyond repair. At least he still had his .38 revolver in his boot. Unfortunately, he only had 6 extra rounds on him for it.

Removing the holdout weapon from his boot, he pulled the hammer back, moving towards his laser rifle to salvage what he could out of it. Giving the rifle a brief once-over, the lens was shattered, and the firing mechanism was cracked. The only working part that was able to function correctly was the unit that pulled charge from the microfusion cell. It was worthless in his current state, so he left it.

"Someone sprang trap, find out who." A gruff voice rang out through the chasm, causing Six to scramble into action. Multiple of those Diamond Dogs had flooded into his area, each carrying crude looking spears and some with rag-tag armor likely pieced together from metals they had scrounged from villages.
Giving a curse under his breath, he retreated into the shadows, sticking himself against the cold stone wall. The dogs immediately picked up his scent, one of them pointing in his direction.
"There!" He shouted, causing Six's blood to run cold. They all converged on his position, though some held back. He had seen some of these tactics before from his brief skirmish a couple of days ago.

"You! Come out! We take you to Alpha." The one forward most in the group spoke to him. Finding he had no other option, and that he was easily outnumbered with little ammunition, he complied, raising his hands up and stepping out of the shadows.
"Fine. Lead the way." Six spoke, following the contingent of dogs deeper into the cave.