William "Bill" Davis, also known as the Courier, has been through a lot ever since his presence was known throughout the Mojave. He had been shot in the head twice and left for dead in a shallow grave outside Goodsprings. He fought for his life in the toxic Sierra Madre and came out clean with a stash of gold. He stopped a tribal conflict in Zion by fighting alongside the legendary Burned Man. And he discovered the wonders of old world science and technology at the Big Empty. All the while, he continued helping folks around the wasteland and taking on odd jobs.
As the second battle of Hoover Dam approaches, he receives a message promising to explain why he was given the job to deliver the Platinum Chip in the first place. The message points him to the ruins of the Divide, where he will find the answers. If he wishes to learn the "why" of things, he must walk this journey alone. Or will he?
Twilight Sparkle, the Ponyville librarian, Princess Celestia's prized pupil, and the Element of Magic ends up into the hellhole of the Mojave Wasteland after a freak accident when investigating a strange object in the Everfree Forest. There she encounters the Courier, who is on his way to the Divide. Striking a deal, Twilight accompanies the Courier on his journey and in return, the Courier promises Twilight a safe passage home once his business at the Divide concludes. But somewhere in the Divide, a threat from centuries long past lurks in its ruins, and it's about to rise again and threaten all life in the Mojave.
Rated Mature for violence and profanity. I mean, it's Fallout, what do you expect?
Since the dawn of mankind, when our ancestors discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything, from God, to justice, and to simple psychotic rage.
On October 23, 2077, mankind finally could no longer sustain itself. The Great War came and went, began and ended. It wasn't a war of rifles, or a war of a soldiers. It was the final war; the war of the atomic bomb. Whatever the bombs did not destroy was consumed by the wasteland they had created. But it wasn't what many had predicted, the end of the world. No, it was far from it. For even though man had succeeded in destroying the world, war never changes.
In the early days, thousands were spared from the horrors of the nuclear holocaust by taking shelter in the great underground shelters known as Vaults. On the day nuclear fire rained down from the heavens, the mighty steel doors of the vaults slung shut, sealing and saving the population inside. When they reopened, the inhabitants only had the hell of the wasteland to greet them.
The ones that were once called Vault Dwellers now became people known as Survivalists, establishing new communities and forming tribes in the new world that had emerged from the nuclear holocaust. As decades past, a group of survivalists banded together to form the New California Republic, a society dedicated to old world values of democracy and rule of the old world.
They sent their scouts across the Mojave Wasteland, to return with tales of the city untouched by the bombs, and a great wall expanding across the Colorado. NCR sent its forces to occupy Hoover Dam and restore it in working conditions to provide energy for the entire Mojave. But across the Colorado, another society had arisen from a different flag. It was an army of slaves, forged in the conquest of 87 tribes, Caesar's Legion.
Four years have passed since the NCR held the Dam against the onslaught of the Legion. Despite heavy casualties, the NCR stood victorious. The Legion, however, did not give up just yet. They spent the next four years across the Colorado, gathering strength, preparing themselves for the next battle at Hoover Dam. All the while, the New Vegas Strip stayed open under the control of its mysterious overseer, Mr. House and his army of rehabilitated tribals and police robots.
Four years after Hoover Dam, the Mojave was about to change from the arrival of a single man known as the Courier, who was given a job from the Mojave Express to deliver a package - a platinum chip to the New Vegas Strip. What could have seem to be a simple job turned out to be for the worse himself, leading to his death. After many turns of events, the Courier had miraculously survived and is now fighting for the good and free people of the Mojave Wasteland. As the Second Battle of Hoover Dam slowly approaches, the Courier receives a message, one that will explain the truth about the job he took and his whole past. The truth will be waiting for him in the heart of the Divide. But to find that truth, there was one road that remained in the way, and it was one that the Courier must walk alone.
I ask myself the same questions over and over again, why am I here? How did it come to this? And most importantly, why me? I was once a courier who did his job and got paid fair and square. To me, life in the wasteland was good. The next day, I get robbed and shot two times in the head over a package I was supposed to deliver. I should've died from then and there, but I somehow miraculously survive that whole ordeal. I recovered in less than a week or so before getting back onto my feet and traveling across the wasteland to find that man who robbed me.
During the course of time, I traveled to many places in the Mojave and made some friends and enemies along the way. I've also been to places that were not of this world and saw things that would have broken lesser men. But after weeks and months of going against all odds in the wasteland, I finally made it to New Vegas, taking my revenge on the man who shot me. And now here I was, living in the confinements of the Lucky 38 casino, getting ready to not only decide the fate of New Vegas, but the rest of the Mojave as well.
After everything that has happened, I still do not understand why it has to be me. Why should a mailman, who has no interest in politics and power, decide the future of an entire nation? What did I do back then that has brought me to where I am now? Perhaps one day, it'll all come back to me. Perhaps it will not. Either way, I'll follow the path that's laid out in front of me and decide what's best for the Mojave.
I probably should introduce myself now. My name is William – William “Bill” Davis, but most people just call me Bill. Otherwise, they just address me as the Courier. I was a courier with the Mojave Express, but now I serve as a civilian contractor for the New California Republic.
There's nothing to say much about myself. I'm 25 years old, about 6'3”, and somewhere around 130 lbs. I grew up with a younger sister and was raised by a mother who was a tribal and a father who was a businessman with the NCR. From my mother, I'm good at repairing just about anything, brewing my own stimpaks and chems, and cooking food from just about anything edible. From my father, I was very good at shooting and sneaking around places, followed by being a “renowned smooth talker”.
I support the NCR, if that wasn't obvious for you. There's a lot of good people with good morals with them, and that's why I support them. Even though I don't always agree with their ideals, I believe that with enough time, they'll learn to shape up and help make the world a better place.
So here I was, in my private suite in the Lucky 38 with all my companions, getting ready for the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, and I was still wondering about what my whole purpose in all of this was. In time, the answer would come in full view. For now, I should rest up and prepare for another new day tomorrow.
I checked the time on my Pipboy to see that it was 11:00 p.m. now. By now, everyone was probably asleep so I might as well join with them. Setting the Grognak comic book down on my night desk, I crawled underneath the sheets of my bed and fell fast asleep.
It was nightfall in the land of Equestria. At this time, most ponies would be at home spending time with their families before heading off to bed, preparing for another day tomorrow. But for Twilight Sparkle and her friends, they were up and about for a small assignment Princess Celestia had asked them to do.
Twilight had received a letter from Princess Celestia today, informing that there was some disturbance in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Yesterday night, ponies reported seeing something like a shooting star crashing into the Everfree Forest. Nopony knows what it is for sure, all they know that it could be a meteorite that crashed in the forest. One pony said that it was aliens from the outer world that landed here and are looking to establish contact with the population. So far nopony, has bought it.
Twilight was traveling deeper in the forest with her five friends accompanying her – Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Spike, her young dragon assistant, would have normally tagged along with them. Tonight however, Twilight had decided to let him take the rest of the night off. After all, Spike had been working hard all day long, and the dragon deserved the rest he needed.
All six ponies were equipped with their own personal saddle bags. Each had a canteen of water and a generous amount of snacks, which were a few apples and a paper bag full of cookies provided by Applejack and Pinkie Pie. They also had an emergency medical kit and a blanket with them. Twilight had a map of the Everfree Forest levitating in front of her and a few astronomy books sat in her saddle bag. She lowered her map as they got near their destination.
Looking ahead, they saw a glow of blue light coming from the trees. They all knew, at this point, they had reached their destination.
"This is it girls." Twilight said, putting her map away. "This is where the ponies reported the disturbance coming from."
Fluttershy shook with fear as she hid behind Rarity. She did not want to know what was through those trees. From what she could tell, it was bad news.
"What do you think is?" Rarity asked, squinting her eyes forward to the light.
"No idea." Twilight shrugged. "The only way to find out is to go in there. Everypony ready?"
All except Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
"Alright then, let's move in, nice and slow."
The ponies slowly began to walk forward towards the light, except for Fluttershy, who was quietly trying to crawl away from the scene and run back home. But Rainbow Dash had caught her and pushed her right back into the group to follow along. Rainbow Dash then proceeded to overlook Fluttershy from above, to make sure she didn't try to run away.
"Rainbow Dash, I...I don't think that this is a good idea..."
"Don't be ridiculous," Rainbow whispered back. "I'm sure it's nothing scary or dangerous. Besides, if it were aliens, I'm sure they'll be cool to meet."
"Quiet!" Twilight hushed. "We're nearly there."
As they all walked closer and closer through the trees, the light was growing brighter and brighter until they finally stepped out from the trees and into the middle of the Everfree Forest. There, they saw it.
Pinkie Pie screamed in terror as she saw the source of the bright light in front of them. Fluttershy panicked and ran back, hiding inside a shrub.
"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight yelled, silencing her. "That's not an alien!"
Pinkie, silenced from Twilight's voice, looked closely at the crashed object that was producing the light. Pinkie took the time to relax, knowing that it wasn't an alien.
"Whew! For a moment there I thought that was going to be aliens. I mean, if it were aliens, I would throw them a “Welcome to Equestria” Party!"
Pinkie turned around to the shrub where Fluttershy was hiding in. "It's okay Fluttershy! It's just some weird-"
Pinkie once again screamed in terror as she saw something else that had spooked her. Fluttershy popped out of the shrub and walked over to Pinkie, who was frantically pointing her hoof up towards the trees.
Pinkie just continued pointing her hoof upwards, and as Fluttershy looked up, she too, screamed in horror. Rarity had also shrieked as she looked up to see what could have spooked them. There, up in the trees, was a gigantic eye projected up in the trees, looking down on them. Twilight had rooted to the spot while Applejack stood in front of her friends and went into a combat stance and Rainbow Dash flew up close to the eye, bringing her forehooves up in a fighting position.
Twilight however, wasn't frightened or anything. She looked at the eye projecting in the trees and back at the strange object. She then looked at where it was producing the bright blue light and found that it came from a bright blue orb in the middle of it, projecting the image of the gigantic eye.
"Wait, girls!" Twilight called out, but none of them heard her as three of them were screaming their heads off while the other two were preparing to fight a projection of an eye.
"You wanna get my friends, you'll have to go through me first." Rainbow Dash snarled.
She rocked straight towards the projection of the eye, getting ready to land a hard strike on it.
"QUIET!" Twilight yelled as loud as she could, releasing a bright, flare-like magical burst in the air. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie stopped screaming. Applejack froze while Rainbow Dash turned around in surprise just before crashing into the tree.
"That eye isn't real." Twilight pointed towards the object. "Look, it's like a movie projector used in the theaters."
Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity turned to look at the crashed object projecting the light, then right back at the giant eye projecting up in the trees. Rainbow Dash stuck her head back out from the trees and looked down at the crashed object projecting the light. She flew out of the trees to look back at the giant eye projecting onto the tree, realizing that it was just a projection.
"Oh," Rainbow Dash chuckled. "I knew that."
Twilight rolled her eyes and turned back her focus to the crashed object. The object was some grey, steel cylindrical shaped meteor with three glass-like panels sticking from the sides. The projector was at the top and front of the object, projecting the giant eye up in the trees. This was definitely not a meteorite.
"What do you think it is?" Applejack asked. "One of them meteorites from your book?"
"I... I've never seen anything like this before." Twilight whispered back. "In fact, I don't think this is a meteorite."
Applejack walked close to the crashed object and carefully brought her hoof towards it. She gave it a light tap and she can her a metal clang between her hooves and the object.
"Eyyup," Applejack nodded. "Ain't one of them meteorites at all."
The six friends stared in silence at the crashed object, pondering on what it was and why it had crashed here? Was this some kind of alien ship or alien technology that they did not know of?
"Alright," Twilight said, breaking the silence. "One of you has to go back and get the royal guards here. The rest of us will stay here and see what we can learn about this...thing."
"I'll go." Rainbow Dash volunteered as she gave a determined grin and salute. "You guys stay here and I'll be right back."
Twilight gave a nod as Rainbow Dash flew out of the Everfree to get help. The others took the time to rest for a bit, eat a little bit of the snacks to boost their strength up and drink some water to stay hydrated. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack sat down on the grass to enjoy their snacks while Rarity unrolled the emergency blanket and used it as a picnic blanket for herself on the ground. She didn't like to lie on the grass after all.
Twilight however, took more time to examine the steel object. After all, this was something she has never seen before. For all she knew, this might as well have been some ancient technology from millions of years ago. Whatever it was, this was interesting stuff for the curious unicorn to take a thousand notes on.
On the side of the object, there was an small insignia engraved at the back. It looked to be an image of a flag. It had red and white stripes, and on the top left corner was blue with one large white star in the middle and many other white stars surrounding it.
"This insignia...I've never seen anything like it before. Looks like the symbol for some flag, but it's nothing that I know of."
She then turned her attention to the part of the object where it was projecting the massive eye. Squinting her eyes, she brought herself a little closer to the glowing device. "What are you really?"
She brought her hoof up to the projector and tapped it. Suddenly, another bright blue light erupted from the object and shrouded Twilight her in the light. Twilight was momentarily blinded before she saw that she was trapped inside the light. Twilight rooted to the spot in horror, not knowing what she should do.
All of her friends turned around to see Twilight to be in some kind of danger. Applejack was the first to react by galloping towards Twilight. The others dropped their snacks and followed behind Applejack.
"Twilight!" Applejack cried. "Get away from there!"
"She's going to get taken by the aliens!" Pinkie gasped.
Twilight still remained rooted to the spot in horror as the beam of light engulfed her and within seconds, the beam shot back up into the sky and sent a massive flash of light towards her friends, blinding them momentarily. When everything was cleared up, Twilight was no longer there anymore. She had just vanished in plain sight.
“TWILIGHT!!!!” Her friends screamed in anguish.
I thought the nightmares would have stopped for good. I thought my time at the Sierra Madre was enough to give me something new to fear as I slept. I was wrong. So wrong.
For the past few months, I've been getting the same nightmares over and over again. They've been happening after I recovered at Goodsprings and have been occurring since then. Although each was different, it was always the same terrifying outcome that would wake me up in cold sweat. It was one of those nights where I wished I could just stay up until dawn.
I was standing in a vast and empty desert out in the middle of nowhere at night. There was nothing here – just sand. There were those occasional rock and cactus, but either than that, it was just another wasteland full of sand. Where was I anyway? Death Valley? No, Death Valley is never that close to Vegas.
Wherever I was, it looked like I was on my way to deliver a package because right in my hands, I was holding a compass and a clipboard with some coordinates scribbled down. I could tell I was carrying something important due to the weight in my bag. The coordinates tell me to keep heading north, where my destination was. So without further delay, I kept on trudging towards north until I reached my destination.
There was a strong wind tonight, which roused up a sandstorm that was weighing me down. Like that was going to stop me. I'm a courier for Christ sake! I make deliveries through the dangers and harsh conditions of the wasteland and I always deliver on time. One little sandstorm wasn't going to stop me.
I kept on walking until I had finally broke through of the sandstorm, and there it was, right in front of me, the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life – a populated city. It glowed brightly like the shining oasis of New Vegas in the distance. Music echoed throughout the city whilst people were out on the streets, singing, dancing, and laughing. Everywhere you looked, there was life, and everyone was filled with joy, like there was not a problem in the world. I smiled as I realized where I was: home.
I then heard someone calling out my name from behind. Turning around, I saw that it was a little girl, at least 15 years of age. She wore a simple white sundress and had beautiful sapphire eyes, just like the moon. Her hair was a radiant color of honey gold, like the sun. My smile widened even more as I realized who that girl was. It was my little sister – Emily! Man, was I happy to see her! It felt like forever since we last saw each other, but there she was, smiling and waving at me to come over.
I quickly dropped my bag and ran towards her, my arms outstretched. How I missed my little Emily so much. All I ever wanted to do now was to hold her in my arms and just never let go of her. Her arms opened up for me as I got closer and closer until I finally swept her off her feet and hugged her closed to me. Within the embrace, I felt the warmth of her body as she hugged onto me tightly. I gave a gentle stroke of her hair. It felt very soft and smooth, like it always had been. It gave me assurance that this was all real and that she was really here.
I was about to get a good look at her face when all of a sudden, she vanished from my arms, like she had turned to dust. No more did I felt her warm embrace all over my body. My eyes widened with panic as I immediately began searching around for her. Inside my head, I can hear myself repeatedly screaming, "Where is Emily? Where is Emily?!"
All of a sudden, the sound of gunfire and screaming brought me out of my panicked thoughts. Turning around, I saw that once glorious city now burning as two armies on either side were clashing with each other. The two armies, based on the appearances of each soldiers, seem to resemble those from the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion.
Blood and bodies were everywhere. Everywhere I looked, there was just death and destruction from left to right. Buildings of magnificent stone and glass were blown apart like tissue paper. Various screams of death echoed in the once peaceful night, while I just stood there, shocked and horrified at the sight of the war.
"No..." I shook my head. "No, this can't be! This can't be happening!" I fell to my knees, closed my eyes and covered my ears. "This cannot be real...this cannot be real..."
I had to do something to stop this. I just had to! I couldn't just stand by and watch as more people die. Pulling out my binoculars and looking through, I could see the many citizens trying to escape from the war and among them, I saw Emily. She was on her knees, covering her ears and crying as people ran by her. Some fell dead beside her while others fell wounded, struggling to crawl away before being trampled by the crowd.
“Emily!” I had to get down there and help her! But how? All I had was a machete and a scoped .44 magnum revolver. But regardless of what I had, I still had to go on the offensive. Emily's life was in danger, and I couldn't let anything happen to her.
Picking up my bag, I took out my machete in one hand and my revolver in the other hand and began charging towards the city. I didn't care if I was going to get myself killed rushing in the middle of a battlefield. I had to save Emily.
The city seemed so far away, but I kept moving, no matter what was in my way. As I kept on running, I can hear a loud beeping noise coming from the package inside my bag. It sounded like a bomb collar was about to go off. The beeps grew louder and were more rapid as I got closer to the city. I was just behind the attacking army of the Legion, getting ready to slash and shoot my way through them when all of a sudden, it happened.
The ground beneath me began to shake as if an earthquake was going on. Soon the ground started forming large cracks in the surface before fiery explosions came pouring out from them.
It was as though the world was ending all over again. Looking down, I saw that many cracks were beginning to form around my feet as I got closer to the city. More explosions erupted from left to right, ripping people apart and cutting off everyone's escape. As I stood there, shocked at the destruction before my eyes, I was debating whether to run into the city and save my sister, or run like hell.
The ground beneath started to fall apart, and that was enough to me to turn my back on the city and run like hell. Some hero I was.
I felt myself about to fall through the cracks as they got closer to me. My feet were aching and my lungs were burning, but I still kept on running no matter what. I got back running up the high ground and I did not stop until a loud, deafening explosion and a force of 1000 bighorners threw me up in the air. I barely had time to scream as I soared in the night sky and fell down hard on the ground.
I laid there on the ground for a few minutes, my hands covering the back of my head as the ground continued shaking and explosions echoed around me. After what seemed to be like forever, the ground stopped shaking, giving some sense of relief for me. But when I got back to my feet and turned back to that city, a horrible sight awaited for me.
The city was now replaced with a large mushroom cloud. What was once that glorious city was nothing but a radioactive ruin. Everyone that once lived in that city – my sister, my family, was nothing more than a shadow of the past now.
My eyes shot wide open as I immediately sat up on my bed, gasping for air. It took me a few minutes to calm down and remember exactly where I was. I was still in my private bedroom, in the presidential suite of the Lucky 38. Looking at my Pip-Boy, it was three in the morning.
Giving a relieved sigh, I collapsed back into my pillows and bed sheets, taking deep breaths to calm myself. I heard a slight whimper from Rex the cybernetic dog as he brushed up against my right arm and licked my hand. I turned to face him and returned a gentle stroke on his head. Rex was the King's dog, but I'd still like to consider him as my own pet dog.
"Hey Rex, what are you doing up at this hour, boy?" Rex gave another whimper as he continued to lick my hand. I gave an assuring smile at him. "It's okay, boy. I just had a nightmare, that's all."
I then felt Rex snuggle underneath my arm. His warm, fuzzy face brushing up against mine. I smiled and hugged him close to me. The warmth of his body calming my beating heart.
"Thank you, Rex. You're a good boy." I gave a yawn, settling back underneath the sheets. "I'm going to try and go back to sleep now."
I felt my eyes droop as I drifted off into sleep, but not before hearing the rattle of gunfire and the roaring explosion of an atomic bomb within my mind. Yet I knew there were no sounds around me. Only the silence of a two hundred year old casino.
"...I've got spurs, that Jingle, Jangle, Jingle (Jingle Jangle)..."
I awoken to the sound of my Pip-Boy turning on to Radio New Vegas, which was blaring out "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle". The clock on my Pip-Boy read 8:30 a.m. and it was time to get up, take a bath, and cook up breakfast for everyone.
Rex was already awake when I had awoken and he greeted me by happily licking my face. I chuckled and gently pulled him away from me. "Alright, alright, Rex, I'm awake."
He jumped off the bed while I dressed into my bathrobes and turned off my Pip-Boy radio. "Let me get you some water first, then I'll get you something to eat once I'm done showering."
I filled up his bowl with water from the sink and set it aside for him to drink while I prepped up a warm bath for myself. Once the tub was full of warm water, I took off my bathrobes and slipped into the warm tub, groaning with relief as the heat of the bath helped soothed my already sore muscles.
The bath kinda helped me relaxed after yesterday night, but I still couldn't shake my mind off the nightmare I had yesterday. What was that all about? Was that my past I saw? And did I really just see my sister, Emily? No, it couldn't be.
I had no idea why, but I don't remember much about what happened to my family. Something in my mind convinced me that my parents and Emily were killed by Raiders. At least, that's how I thought they died. I honestly do not remember the slightest of what happened to my entire family. Maybe getting shot in the head two times gave me a bit of amnesia that I can hardly even remember much about them.
But what the hell did I just see in my dreams last night? Could it be what really happened to Emily? Perhaps my parents?
My thoughts were interrupted when ED-E, the eyebot, flew into the bathroom and urgently beeped at me. I nearly jumped out of the bath as he had just all of a sudden flew right in and startled me out of my thoughts. ED-E hovered just above me, while my entire face was covered with soap bubbles after thrashing around.
"Ever heard about knocking, ED-E?" I asked, annoyed, wiping the bubbles off my face. ED-E gave a beep that sounded he was apologizing. I gave a sigh as I got out of the tub and put back on my bathrobes.
"It's alright ED-E, I ain't mad at you buddy." I smiled and gave a light pat at his side. "Now what seems to be the problem?"
<Urgent Beep>
"You've received a message from someone?"
<Affirmative Beep>
Strange. ED-E never got any messages from anyone before. Only times I considered he got a message from someone or something was when someone or something reminded of his past with the Enclave. But those were just old recordings of his creator, some guy named Whitley. The recordings might have been pre-recorded and triggered to play if something was able to remind ED-E about his past. But to receive a message from someone without any form of trigger from his past, this was quite unusual for ED-E.
"...Do you know who it was from?" I asked.
<Negative Beep>
"I see." I grabbed my Pip-Boy off the small coffee table beside the tub and connected a few wires from it to ED-E's hard drive. "Here, I'll download it on my Pip-Boy and give it a listen later. Meanwhile, you want to help me cook up some omelets for everyone?"
<Affirmative Beep>
"Alright then." I slipped my Pip-Boy back onto my wrist and walked back to my bedroom. "Let me get dressed first while you go on and wait in the kitchen."
It was another bright day in the Mojave Wasteland. The geckos were out hunting and radscorpions scuttling about. Often times, many would see the usual caravan group heading to different communities or running into a random stranger for some trading. It seemed that for the first time, ever since the death of Caesar, the Mojave was slightly at peace. Or so did many thought.
Further south from the Nipton Road Pit Stop, just southwest of the Mojave Drive-In, a small Legion slave camp was built near Crescent Canyon. The camp's walls were made of wood and salvaged pieces of a trashed pre-war airplane with some heavy-duty barbed wire at the top. A makeshift guard tower was established in the middle of a camp with a sniper on overwatch duty. Despite being close to the NCR's Mojave Outpost, the camp was well hidden due to the high amount of geckos and radscorpions and dust storms in the area. Inside the camp were a couple of tents, a single campfire, and a few cages to hold captured slaves until the proper men were able to transport them back across the Colorado River. A family of four – a mother, father, brother, and sister – captured just a few days ago, were locked in the cages. The women would most likely become slaves while the males would be forced to be part of Caesar's army or face death by crucifixion. This small camp consisted of at least 60 legionaries, mainly prime legionnaires led by a few veterans and decanus'. All of them were heavily armed with machetes and some of the strongest guns that the Mojave had to offer.
Two legionnaires stood guard at the gate, armed with marksman carbines. Far away with them, a scouting party of legionnaires were returning back to base with more supplies and perhaps another slave.
The scouting party was lead by one decanus and following were five prime legionaries. One of the prime legionaries was carrying a large burlap sack behind him. It would have seemed that they had captured another slave.
"Ave, amicus," the guard saluted. "What news do you bring from last night?"
"The NCR is beginning to set up more checkpoints and patrols north of Nipton." The decanus explained. "It would seem that invading the town of Novac will not be easy. If the NCR patrols and checkpoints don't stop us, then one of the former 1st Reconnaissance snipers will.
"Still, Gaius Magnus ordered us to wait until more men arrive to help stage the attack on the Mojave Outpost, the towns of Primm, Novac, and Goodsprings before sending the slaves across the Colorado after that."
Looking over the decanus' shoulders, one of the guards asked, "And what might be in that sack?"
The prime legionary holding the sack opened it up and dropped whatever he carried onto the ground. The guards were speechless as they saw that it was a living creature. It was...something they had never seen before. Even some of the soldiers in the camp had to stopped doing whatever it was they were doing to take a look at what was brought to their camp.
It was a sort of four-legged animal with a coat of purple. It was almost like a large dog, except that its muzzle was a bit strange and it had hooves. It also had long stripped violet hair with a pointed horn on its forehead. From the appearance of it, the creature was definitely a female. It was currently unconscious and all four of its hooves were bound tightly with rope.
"Is that what I think it is?" The guard asked, bewildered by the appearance of the captive.
"Indeed," the decanus nodded. "It appears to be a horse, an animal that has been extinct for 200 years."
The guard bent down and got a closer look at it. "It looks like something out of a child's storybook. Where did you find it?"
"Last night when we were returning to the camp from Nipton, we saw a strange light flashing at the old drive-in. We headed over to see what it was and by the time got there, we found this...thing."
"Anything else you can tell us?" The guard asked.
"Yes. Apparently, this horse...or whatever it is, can talk. Very intelligent it seems. When we found it, it awoken with fear and was screaming and calling for help. We had no choice but to subdue it." The decanus explained. "It is something we have never seen before or why it can be that intelligent."
"It also carried this bag with it." One of the legionnaires tossed a saddle bag to the guard's feet. The guard picked it up and looked inside to find some books, a map of some sort, an emergency kit and blanket. There was some apples and a paper bag full of something.
"What is this?" The guard asked, holding up the paper bag full of strange food.
"I do not know," the decanus shrugged. "Perhaps this is what it eats. You better not touch them. They could be poisonous."
The guard tossed the bag back at the legionnaire after looking through it. Taking another look at the unconscious creature, the guard asked, "So what should we do with it?"
"Put it in one of the cages." The decanus ordered. "When it awakens, we'll question it and see what we can learn about it."
"Then what happens after that?" The guard asked again.
The decanus thought for a moment before giving his conclusion. "Once we're done questioning, we'll send it across the Colorado to join up with the other slaves in Dry Wells. I believe Gaius Magnus might have some use for it. Otherwise, we may just have to kill it."
Nodding, the guards picked up the unconscious creature and dragged it towards one of the cages.
"...This is your road. When you come, you'll walk it alone."
A set of coordinates followed, and I frowned as it finished. I had just finished breakfast with my friends a while ago and was now back in my room, listening to the message I downloaded off of ED-E.
The message I received was signed off by someone named Ulysses. I don't know who this Ulysses was, but whoever he is, he was calling me to some place called the Divide so that we can have an end to something.
"The Divide?" I muttered to myself. "Well, shit."
The Divide was another deathtrap like the Sierra Madre, but much worse. When I was in Zion Valley, Joshua Graham told me that the Divide was "a gaping wound cut into the Earth, cursed and damned. No place for God-fearing folk". Graham also mentioned that only fools and madmen would dare venture into that land, because all the roads that lead into the same grave. In other words, anyone that marched into that cursed place ended up dead.
The coordinates included in the message lead directly towards an area called Canyon Wreckage. It was just northwest of Primm. I wasn't sure about going, but this sounded like pretty serious business for me. I could also bring my friends along, but the message specifically told me that I must go alone. I suppose it was for the best. I didn't want anything to happen to my friends.
Well, if I'm about to trek across that hellhole of the Divide, this would be the best time to take inventory. A set of pre-war SWAT armor, a scoped hunting rifle, a .45 submachine gun, a scoped .44 magnum revolver, a silenced 10mm pistol for covert uses, and a pulse gun for disabling any hostile robots or automated security that would pose a threat in some areas. Other gadgets I carried were a combat knife, 12 frag grenades, a Stealth Boy, a Codac 9000 camera with plenty of film, a pair of binoculars, and the Big MT Transportalponder for emergency uses. Lastly, I had enough food, water, ammo, medical supplies, and a few books stashed away in my survival pack. I was now ready for another adventure.
Slipping my “lucky shades” over my eyes, I slipped quietly out of my room and into the elevator. I could still hear my friends in the kitchen. Cass was joking around at the table, probably still drunk from last night. Raul and Lily were sharing tales about the old days while Arcade and Veronica were talking about science, medicine, and history alike. Boone didn't really talk a lot at the table.
As the elevator went up to the penthouse floor, I went over the letter I had written in my mind one last time. I can only hope it was enough to let them know that I was going to be gone for a few days, perhaps a week.
Guys,
I've got some important errands to run with the NCR. Might take a few days or a week for me to get back. Until then, our assignment to Hoover Dam will have to wait. If you need anything, you're free to go up to the penthouse and ask the securitrons for whatever services you need. Don't worry about them, they've been reprogrammed to allow anyone to go up the penthouse. Take care of yourselves, and I'll see you all soon.
~ Bill
The elevator doors opened and I was greeted by the face of a securitron patrolling the floor. It let me through and continued on with its patrol. I walked down the steps to a massive terminal – the terminal that once showed the face of Mr. Robert Eden House. It was now a blank, empty screen, a grim reminder of House's demise by my hands.
I'm not proud of what I did, but Mr. House was just another tyrant that had to go. I've worked with him for quite some time, thinking that what he was doing was for the good of the Mojave. Then he gave me another job, one that would ultimately hurt one of my closest friends if I did it, even if it was for the benefit of mankind. That was where I drew the line, and decided to go my separate ways from him.
I really did feel bad for killing Mr. House. I normally would have settled things with words, but there was no reasoning with him, no matter how hard I tried. In the end, he needed to be stopped. To this day, I wondered if I made the right choice to end him, only to tell myself that, yes, it was the right thing.
But there was no time to mope about the past. What's done is done. The reason I came up to the penthouse was not to feel bad about killing House, but to use his large terminal to access more “luxurious parts” of the Lucky 38. More specifically, the penthouse's balcony of the Lucky 38. If I needed to get to Primm in half a day without tiring myself, I'd need to use the Big Mountain Transportalponder. To use that, I'd need to be outside, though I'd prefer not to use it in the middle of the Strip, unless I want everyone freaking out as I disapperg right before their eyes. Hence, the need to access the Lucky 38's balcony, to have some peace and quiet and use the Transportalponder some place where no one could see me.
I accessed the balcony access on House's terminal and was surprised to see that it gave me permission to give access to the balcony. I thought that killing House would disable executive access to the Lucky 38, but I guess with him out off the picture, anything was free to access. I heard the glass windows on the right side of the terminal opening up, letting in the warm breeze of the Mojave Wasteland inside the penthouse. Before I stepped outside, I turned to one of the securitrons standing guard at the terminal.
“Securitron!”
The securitron focused on me before I heard an affirmative beep from it. It gave me confirmation that despite House being out of the picture, these robots were now loyal to me. I guess it was because that House considered me an ally beforehand, which made the securitrons see me as a friend. Even with House dead, I guess that command still works since he wasn't able to order the securitrons to kill me.
“If it isn't our favourite VIP!” Greeted the securitron. “What can I do for you?”
“Go and fetch me an ice cold Nuka Cola, if you'd be so kind.” I responded politely.
Another affirmative beep came from the robot and it sped off to bar nearby. It returned in a short time with a bottle of chilled Nuka Cola in its hands.
“Here you are, a bottle of Nuka Cola, cold as ice.”
“Thank you, securitron.” I nodded. “Resume your regular patrol pattern.”
I took the Nuka Cola, feeling the icy coolness of the bottle gripped in my hand. I pulled off the bottle cap and put it away in my wallet before taking a good sip of the beverage. I stepped outside on the balcony and felt a fresh breeze blowing against me. The sun was shining brightly up in the sky, announcing a start of another new day here in the Mojave Wasteland.
I leaned against the railing and finished off the last of my Nuka Cola while looking at the scenery. I had never been on the outdoor balcony at the Lucky 38, so I didn't expect to find the view more beautiful from up here. You could see the entire Mojave Wasteland from here and man, is it a beauty. It was almost like overlooking Zion Valley from a high spot while having a mug of coffee in your hands, except here I was on the balcony of the tallest casino in the world, sipping on a bottle of ice cold Nuka Cola.
Well, as much as I wanted to enjoy the view, it was about time I get a move on. I needed to get to Primm before nightfall, otherwise it would be more dangerous for me to travel at night. The Transportalponder would teleport me to Big MT, where I can quickly check on some things before having to teleport back to the Mojave Drive-in, the place that's closest enough for me to walk to Primm.
Pulling out my Transportalponder, I raised it up in the air, and like some silly action hero from the back-when times, I yelled “SUNLIGHT!” before disappearing in a bright blue light.
Twilight felt her head throbbing with pain as her eyes slowly began to open. She blinked a few times before she found herself lying on a bed of hay. Checking her surroundings, it appears that she was locked up in a cage. Her hooves felt heavy and as she looked down, all four of them were tied together with rope. She began to panic as she realized the situation she was in. She struggled to free herself, but her hooves were tied up very tightly.
A voice spoke from behind her. “Well, well, look whose waking up?”
She turned to the source of the voice and saw that it was an ape like creature that was talking to her. His entire body was clothed with crimson armor while its facial features were hidden behind a mask. Twilight shrank back in fear by his menacing appearance. She back down further as two more of the creatures, dressed in the same clothes approached him from behind. Suddenly, it was all coming back to her now.
Twilight had stirred awake after what had just happened and found herself lying in the middle of a desert at nighttime. A desert? Since when was the last time was she in a desert? She was supposed to be in the Everfree Forest, not in some sandy desert. Just where in Equestria was she?
"Hey! It's waking up!" A voice whispered loudly.
She looked up and found herself staring at six bipedal creatures that had her surrounded. They wore thick crimson armor and masks over their faces, but whoever they were, they definitely resemble as primates. In their hands, they held strange weapons that seemed to be a hybrid of a crossbow and cannon. Seeing the creatures, made Twilight frozen with fear. She became even more frightened when she saw that they were aiming their weapons at her.
Twilight was instantly on her hooves and she made an attempt to push through these bipeds with her magic and just run for it, but they were already onto her, pinning her down on the ground as she struggled to break free. She screamed at the top of her lungs for help, but the reality was that there was nopony going to rescue her now.
Eventually, one of the biped creatures clamped her mouth shut and as she looked up, she found herself staring at one of them. Its face was masked with a different type of mask, like it was made of crimson bird feathers. In its hands, she was able to see something as the size of a syringe as it bent down in front of her and gently pricked the side of her neck. She struggled even more as something was being injected into her bloodstream, but she couldn't escape from the grip of the bipeds.
In a few seconds, Twilight had ceased her struggling to escape when she all of a sudden felt very woozy, and before she knew it, her whole world went dark.
That was all Twilight could remember, waking up in this desert to being captured by these bipedal creatures. Twilight knew she was no longer in her world, but in another world of different environments and different species. Normally, her usual nerdiness would get her all hyped up with excitement for seeing such a whole new world and perhaps an entirely new species, but given the situation she was in right now, that was a different story.
One of the creatures got near to her cage and bent down for a closer look. "Why do we have this thing captured? Look at it, it's a stupid, defected mongrel. You expect me to believe that it's some extinct animal that talks?"
The bipedal reached behind and pulled out a shorter weapon it carried and aimed it right at Twilight. "Are you understanding what I am saying?" His voice was a slight growl "Unless you want me to believe that you can talk, then you better start talking or I will decorate this entire cage with your brains."
Twilight shook with fear at the threat the biped made. She decided to do what he ordered her to do before she wounded up dead. "M-m-my name is...Twilight Sparkle...I am a pony...or a unicorn, if you want to put it that way..." She then shied herself away from him and softly began to cry. "Please...don't hurt me..."
The bipeds began whispering to each other while Twilight continued crying. She clenched her eyes shut and prepared herself for the inevitable. The one at the front spoke to her, this time, he seemed to be a bit more docile than the one that threatened her.
"Don't worry." He assured. "I won't have you killed right on the spot. I mean, what good of a slave will you be if you wounded up dead."
Slave? Twilight shuddered in terror.
He stuck his hand in the cage and slowly reached it towards Twilight. She tried to back herself up against the cage, but in the end, the creature was able to get his grasp on her. He inflicted no physical harm on her, but he was gently petting her like a dog. She grimaced slightly, feeling as she was being violated by him. In the end, he pulled his hand away from the cage and dropped something at the front. It was a bright, orange carrot.
"Eat up," the biped said. "Gaius Magnus would not want to have a weak slave like you around if you don't eat anything."
Twilight just shook her head. "Please, you're making a mistake. I'm not supposed to be here. Just please, let me go. I won't tell anypony where you are, I promise."
"Oh, but why should I let you go?" Asked the biped. "You're now a property of Caesar's Legion, and there is no way I can let you go. Anyone that is of property of Caesar may never leave. So you might as well enjoy the time you have here before we'll have to ship you across the Colorado later on."
With that, the biped got back up on his feet and departed away from the cage. When Twilight believed that no one was looking, she struggled to free her hooves from the tight rope bound around them, but no there was no avail on freeing herself. It looked like there was no way on freeing herself, until she nearly slapped herself for being so stupid.
Of course! I'm a unicorn, duh! I can just use my magic to get out of this. She thought to herself.
Twilight had learned many magical spells over the years and even the simplest of spells could help get her out of this. She could even teleport herself away from this place as far as she can. Though the problem was that because she did not know where she was or the area around her, she won't be able to teleport to safety. Even if she did try, she might end up in a more dangerous location or worse, in front of one of those bipeds. So there was a bit of a downside for her.
Looking outside her cage, she saw at least sixties of these bipeds dressed in crimson armor and wearing strange masks. There were tents, a few campfires, crates of supplies, and a large wall of junk surrounded the area. Twilight took the guess that she was in some sort of prison camp. In the center of the camp was a makeshift watch tower where one of the bipeds were providing overwatch. Maybe it was best for her to slip out of this place quietly.
Spying a crooked nail sticking at the side of the cage, Twilight used her magic to gently levitate the nail over and slowly began to use it to cut the ropes. After a minute of sawing through the thick rope, the rope snapped, freeing herself at last. Making sure that no one was looking, she teleported herself out of the cage and right in front of it now.
Twilight quickly dived behind cover as the guard in the watch tower nearly spotted her. With the relief knowing that she hadn't been spotted, Twilight was about to sneak her way out of the camp when she was halted by someone whispering behind her. The tone of voice sounded male.
"Pssst, you there. Please, come over here."
Twilight froze, worried that she had been spotted by a guard, but she wasn't. Turning around, she saw that it was more of these bipeds locked in cages. They were much different however. They wore rag like clothing over their bodies and had some cuts and bruises on their arms and legs. There was four of them: two of them looked much older while two more were quite young. Convinced that they were no harm to her, she quietly approached them and made sure she wasn't being watched.
"Please, you've got to let us out!" The older looking biped whispered. "My wife and I, along with our two children were taken by these bastard and been holed up in these cages since then. Get us out of here, please!"
Twilight looked at the biped family locked behind the cages. The male and his wife were locked in one cage, and the children, one boy and girl were locked in another. She instantly felt sympathy for the family, but what can she do to help them? There were more of these hostile bipeds and just her and these other four harmless bipeds that may not be able to do well in a fight.
"I'm really sorry," Twilight replied apologetically. "But I don't think I will be able to help you. I really do not know where I am and I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm sorry. I'd like to help, but I do not what to do."
"Please, you have to help us!" The older female begged. "We don't want to become slaves to these savages." Before Twilight could respond, the female biped reached her arms out of the cage and took Twilight's hooves into her hands. "If you can't save us, then at least help free our children. It's better for them to live freely than die as slaves. Please!"
She looked to the other cage, at the younger bipedal creatures. They looked at her with sadness and fear in their eyes, begging for her to free them. Twilight's heart ached with sympathy. She didn't know who these people were, but she couldn't shake the thought of what the labor these children would be put up with if she didn't free them. Twilight knew she had to help set this family free, but how?
Twilight heaved a deep sigh. "If I am going to help you all, at least let me go and find some help."
The female nodded. "Then Look for the NCR and tell them we're being held captive here."
"NCR?" Twilight asked.
"The New California Republic." The male explained. "They've got soldiers all around the wasteland. Look for people that have a symbol of a two-headed bear on their clothes. They'll know what to do."
Twilight gave it a thought before nodding. "I'll see what I can do. Just stay put and I'll get this so called NCR to come and help."
The female once again took her hooves and shook them. "Thank you, thank you so much! We are forever in your debt."
Twilight gave a small smile of assurance at the family, then prepared to sneak out of the camp. She kept low behind the crates and tents, anywhere away from the opening and the view of the guard tower. Eventually, she made it to what appeared to be the entrance of the camp. Two guards were stationed near the entrance, and as luck would have had it, the two guards moved away from the entrance and went off for a break. This was her chance to escape. She was about to make a run for it when one of the bipeds emerged from one of the tents in front of her, and faced her!
The biped halted as he spotted Twilight while she rooted to the spot in horror. Twilight felt her breath caught in her throat as the two of them continued staring down at each other.
"What the fu-"
The biped never got to finish his words as Twilight used her magic to lift him up in the air and tossed him into the middle of the camp. Without a second thought, Twilight made a run for it as the entire camp scrambled in chaos.
"Damn!"
"What the...?!"
"Rouse yourselves! Wake up! We've got an escaped slave!"
"After her! Don't let her escape!"
Twilight kept running as fast as she could to escape the bipeds. She gave a quick look behind her to see four of them pursuing her. The sand near her legs exploded as the bipeds opened fire onto her. She ran faster and dodged left to right to avoid being hit.
She spotted an area with a bunch of rocky hills where she might be able to lose them from there. Just as she was about to reach the hills, something had struck her in the leg. She cried out in pain as she fell to the ground. She looked at her leg to see a large bleeding hole in her leg. Using her two front hooves, she attempted to crawl towards the hill of rocks when she felt something grab her injured leg. She yelled out in pain as she was being dragged back. She turned to face one of the bipeds raising his weapon and bringing the bottom of it down on her face.
Another blinding flash and there I was, back at the Mojave Drive-In. I had just finished a few things errands at the Big MT and now I was back in the Mojave Wasteland. Looking at my Pip-Boy, it was now 6:35 p.m. and the sun was beginning to set, meaning I needed to get to Primm before it got dark. Shrugging my knapsack back onto my shoulders, I continued down the road towards the town of Primm, while keeping an eye out for Raiders or any Legion hit squad that would be stupid enough to come after me.
As I continued walking down the road, I all of a sudden heard gunshots coming from the west. Normally, I would have just ignored it as it was probably raiders, and I would rather much avoid a fight with them unless they picked a fight with me, but the gunshots sounded like marksman and assault carbines. A bit too odd for raiders to get their hands on such weapons, seeing how they almost never have such good weaponry. Whatever was going on in the west, it might be worth checking out. Besides, you'll never know if it is some damsel in distress or whatever.
Pulling out my rifle, I jogged west towards a hill of rocks to see if I can get a good glimpse of what was going on in the west side. Glancing up ahead, I could see something running towards me. I threw my pack on the ground, yanked out my binoculars and looked through to see what it was. I got a good view of it, and whatever it is, it wasn't human.
It was a four-legged creature with coat of purple. It looked almost like a brahmin, except that its muzzle was in a much strange position and it only had one head. It also had long stripped violet hair and a pointed horn on its forehead. From the looks of the creature, it was definitely female. There was also some sort of star tattooed on both the side of her flanks.
A horse?I thought those things were extinct for two hundred years.
The creature did look like a horse, an animal that had gone extinct for two hundred years after the Great War. I learned about them from pre-war books and I knew what they exactly looked like, but this one was much different than the ones I saw in the books. Asided from that pointed horn on her head, she looked much like a cartoon character from one of those old pre-war kiddie cartoons.
All of a sudden, a shot barked off in the distance and a bullet struck through one of the horse's legs. She cried out in pain, and it did not sounded like an animal in pain. She sounded more like a young women crying out in pain, like she was a human on the inside. I thought horses were supposed make this neighing sound. That's when I realized, what if she wasn't a horse? What if she was actually some alien in disguise?
Well, never mind that, someone had just shot it and I think it would be best that I'd stay down. I looked ahead with my binoculars and saw four men dressed in crimson armor rushing towards her. Legionaries, I should have known.
Four of them – three primes and one decanus, all armed to the teeth with some of the strongest weapons that the Mojave had to offer. I zoomed back in onto the horse who was trying to crawl towards the rocky hills I was hiding at, a small trail of blood was being left behind as it was trying to escape. Eventually, the decanus got close to her and grabbed her wounded leg and dragged her back. She yelled out in pain as she was pulled away from the hill of rocks. The decanus then raised his weapon and brought the butt of it down on to the horse. It was enough to stun the horse for a bit and give the decanus time to tie her up. He must have tied at least twenty-one knots to fully secure her because she wasn't going anywhere.
The horse finally regained her consciousness after a short moment of being stunned and found herself tied up and surrounded by the legionnaires. Through my binoculars, I could see the look of pure terror on her face as she began thrashing around, trying to free herself. What happened next was about to blow me away. Now, I lived long enough in this hostile world to see some crazy shit, but nothing as crazy as this. The horse actually talked, and she spoke very fluent English. Something tells me that she was not from this world and this was enough to prove my point.
"Help!" She cried out. "Somepony, anypony, help me!"
I watched and listened as the legionnaire laughed and landed a hard kick on her head, silencing her. "No one is going to save you now. We're in the middle of nowhere, so don't bother crying out for anyone to save you."
The decanus then grabbed a roll of duct tape from his inventory and grabbing her muzzle, he taped her mouth shut. Her cries of help were now silenced and replaced with her muffled screams. One of the legionnaires grabbed her hair and began dragging her away from the area, probably back to some slave camp they established. Without a second thought, I went prone and pulled my rifle to my shoulder. I used my pack to balance the rifle so I could go for a clean shot.
The legionnaires and the horse (alien?) were getting farther and farther away, but I could still take them out at this range. I had my scope zeroed in on one of them and my finger was ready to sent the .308 round through him. After he's down, I'll take out the rest of them out.
Wait? Why am I even saving her? I thought to myself. She's just a talking animal. Or perhaps an alien. Why should I say something that's not from this world and could be potentially dangerous?
Horse, alien, whatever it was, she was still a sentient being and she was in danger. I couldn't just allow her to be taken away to become a slave to the Legion. No one deserved such fate. I aimed down the scope of the rifle directly at the legionnaire's back and I was this close to send the bullet down the range when all of a sudden, I heard him.
"Stop! Don't shoot yet!" The voice said.
I froze on the spot. The voice was a hushed whisper of an adult male in his forties or so, yet I recognized that voice. That voice, oh, that voice. It had authority and gentleness only I can recognize on my own. This man was the one who taught me how to shoot a gun, hunt and survive, and all the while, love and care for me the same time. He was also the one who gave me the scoped .44 on my 9th birthday.
I turned around and there he was, right in front of my very own eyes. He was the splitting image of myself, but much older. He had dark brown hair like mine's, though it was slightly fading away due to age. This man was none other than Edward Davis, my father.
"D-Dad?" I spoke in a nearly hushed whisper.
I just couldn't believe it with my own eyes. My own father was lying right next to me and he was alive! But it can't be...he died six years ago with my mother and Emily, there was no way he was alive. I wanted to believe that it was just some NCR Ranger who had just found me and was helping me out, but it wasn't. That old duster he wore, the .44 magnum that sat in his holster, it really was my father. He was right there, moving, breathing, alive.
He gave me a gentle smile. "How have you been doing son? It's been a long time since we last saw each other."
"But...you were...you were..."
"I can assure you that I'm alright," my father said. "But let's focus on what's going on right now. It seems you have a little hostage situation going on right now."
"Oh, right!" I took aim and was ready to shoot the legionnaire when Dad clamped his hand on mine. I felt goose bumps all over myself. His hand was touching mine, and it felt so real. I would have thought that he was just a ghost talking to me, but he wasn't. He really was alive.
"No, not yet," he urged. "You'll never get them from this range."
"But Dad, I've got him in my sights! I can take the shot and end this! If you could just let-"
"No!" He said forcefully, but calm at the same time. He then gently released my hand and handed me back my binoculars while also taking out his own. "Look back at the legionnaires and that pony. Tell me how far they are."
I obeyed and looked through my binoculars again. They were a bit far away this time, but the four legionnaires all of a sudden came to a halt when the horse's horn glowed violet and it levitated up a rock. My eyes went wide with surprised as I watched her somehow force the stone against the legionnaire's face. The legionnaire grunted in pain and dropped her back onto the ground. This gave me time to at least calculate how far ahead each of them were. After some calculating, I determined that my targets were at least 150m away from us, including that horse, who was now getting pummeled by the legionnaire for what she did to him. Though the punches he inflicted on her were not serious, I think it was best to deal with him and the rest of the legionnaires as fast as possible before things get worse.
"Targets are at least 150m." I told my father. "No problem Dad, I can just take account of gravity by aiming slightly upwards and take them out from this distance."
Dad shook his head. "It won't work. It might, but did you notice the wind? Tell me, how strong is the wind and what direction is it blowing in? Hold up something like a handkerchief and see for yourself."
I dug into my pockets and found myself holding my sister's bright pink handkerchief, the one thing that I would only remember my sister by, besides a family photo I carried. I held the tip of it and raised it in the air and watched as the wind blew the hankie to the left. The wind was pretty strong, so I knew that what Dad said was true. My bullet wasn't going to hit the legionnaire at this range when the wind is that strong. Most likely that bullet was going to miss him, or worse, hit the horse by mistake.
When I was a young lad, I sometimes went hunting with Dad. We would mainly hunt for geckos or bighorners for meat and hide. This one time, one hunting trip nearly became the death of us. We were trying to reach a nest of deathclaw eggs being guarded by at least two fully grown mother deathclaws. We were joined together with some of my dad's friends, all who were highly skilled hunters. All of us were armed with .308 hunting rifles and our goal was to take out the two of them by shooting them as much as we can until they died, then go grab the eggs before anymore deathclaws showed up. We were well hidden in this abandoned outpost near the nest, so we would be safe from here.
The first mother deathclaw went down without any problem, but the other one was on high alert now, hearing the shots and seeing that one of her own had fallen. She seemed to be walking towards our direction as that where the shots came from. We remained silent, hoping that she would ignore us and go back to guarding her eggs, but she didn't. As she was getting closer to where we were hiding in, I nearly panicked and I just couldn't take it anymore. I took aim and prepared to send a bullet right in between her eyes. Today was a pretty windy day and I didn't bother to think about compensating for wind and gravity. That was where I made my biggest mistake. I fired and the wind sent the bullet off into another direction. And because the mama deathclaw was that close to where we were, she heard my shot and knew exactly where we were.
For a minute there, my whole life flashed entirely through my eyes as it charged towards us, its sharp claws raised at us. Dad and his friends were already firing their rounds on it with their rifles and just as it was about strike our hideout, Dad delivered the coupe de grâce to the big mama and it was all over. For the rest of the day, I didn't bother speaking to either of them. I was just too ashamed of what I just did. I mean, I nearly got us all killed back there. Dad and his friends kept telling me I was not to blame for and that it was just a simple accident that I needed to be aware of next time, so I guess everything was alright in the end. From then on, I mainly hunted when the wind wasn't too rough, but Dad still trained me on sniping techniques such as this so that I wouldn't make the same mistake I made that very day.
Now, here we were again today, reunited and hunting again. It was just like old times, except now we were hunting four slavers while rescuing one unusual hostage. There was also some pretty strong winds which was going to make this very difficult for me.
"The wind's a bit rough, so you can compensate it, or wait it out, but by then, she'll be long gone. It's up to you."
I took aim at the legionnaire, this time, my rifle aimed a bit off to the right due to the wind blowing strongly to my left. I knew for sure that if I fired straight, the bullet will fly right off course, away from my target. If I aim it too far to the right, I may accidentally hit that horse instead. I was adjusting my scope while my dad continued talking with me.
As I was taking careful calculations of the wind speed and the distance of my target, I was noticing that the legionnaire was getting more violent as he continued his lashes against the horse. I was afraid that any minute now, this could all escalate to the worse, where he might decide it was best to kill her than take her back alive.
A little bit more to the right...no too far.
I moved the rifle a bit to the left.
Maybe a bit to the left?...No, it's going to fly off course.
As I aimed the rifle back a bit more to the right, I felt the wind was slightly dying down a bit, but then, I also noticed that the legionnaire was no longer interested in beating her up. I watched as he pulled out a .45 pistol and aimed it at the horse.
"Crap, he's going to shoot her!" Dad pointed out.
I finally made my decision and aimed the sniper rifle slightly near him, his right arm to be exact. I should be able to hit him at center mass from this range. If I managed to hit him, he'll drop dead and that horse will be saved. If I miss, he'll execute her and that's one more innocent life lost to the Mojave. I still don't get what was the reason that I should save her, but then again, she was just someone that needed saving.
"It's now or never, take the shot William!" My father ordered.
I held my breath to steady my aim, my finger curled around the trigger, and without thinking about it any further, I took the shot.
"That will teach you to mess with me." The biped growled as he landed one more punch against Twilight.
Twilight moaned and whimpered as she once more braced for another punch which was delivered much harder than the last one. Though the injuries weren't severe, the punches he delivered were very hard and there were obvious signs of bruising on her face.
After beating her over and over again, the biped had finally stopped and gave a long stare at Twilight before making his next move. Twilight began to panic. What was he going to do? Beat her more? Torture her? Or worse, kill her?
He made his decision. "This is a waste." He simply said. "The way I see it, you're just a talking defect mutt who is of no use to Caesar's Legion. You have no purpose and no honor to show. You're dissolute. You don't deserve to be a slave, so you might as well just die."
Twilight watched as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a shorter weapon and pointed it right at her head. Instantly, Twilight was filled with fear and grief. This was it. Nopony was going to save her and she was going to die right on the spot in this strange world she had just arrived in, never to see her friends or family again. She clenched her eyes shut and whimpered, tears streamed down her cheeks and prepared herself for the inevitable. Just as she thought she was done for, she heard another loud bang from far away, and then felt something warm and sticky splatter all over her. There was a loud shriek of agony as she opened her eyes and to her surprise, saw that the biped had his arm completely torn off. Looking down on herself, she nearly fainted when she saw herself soaked with some of his blood.
The rest of the group was sent into a panic spree. They pulled out their weapons and began firing at whatever had shot their friend. Twilight had her ears pressed flat against her head as the fighting kept going. She watched frightfully as one by one, the bipeds were being killed by some unforeseen forces. The last of the bipeds, frightened of what had just happened made a run for it, but not before getting hit in the back and falling to the ground, dead.
The hunting rifle kicked back against my shoulder like a mule, and I watched as the .308 round flew a bit far off from his heart and instead, tore off his left arm. I watched as he screamed in agony and fell to the ground, clutching the bleeding stump that once held his arm.
"Good shot," I felt Dad pat me on the shoulder. "You took off his arm. Though, shock and blood loss is going to be a slow death for him. My advice is that you get down there as fast you can and just put him out of his misery."
All of a sudden the both of us ducked down behind my survival pack as the three remaining legionnaires opened fire towards us. They knew where we were now. At an instant, I grabbed my rifle and got back into fight.
"Shit, they're onto us! Take out the rest of them before we're dead!"
The strong wind had finally died down and this was now my chance to use V.A.T.S., the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. I didn't know much about Vault-Tec technology, but from what Doc Mitchell told me, it was a type of computer targeting system that sends a special type of information from my Pip-Boy to my brain. This type of information allows me to slow down time for a short moment and it allows me to target any part of my enemy. It does hurt my eyes afterwards, but it sure helped save my butt a few times.
V.A.T.S. slipped in, and time seemed to slow down. I targeted all three legionnaires in the head and the information provided by V.A.T.S. Informed me that I had an 87% chance of hitting them there. Good enough. Three shots barked and only two rounds met their targets. The last one missed the leader of the group, the decanus. He dropped his weapon and made a run for his life. Reality slipped back in and everything was back at normal speed. With careful aiming, I squeeze the trigger just gently and watched as the .308 round flew downrange and struck the fleeing legionnaire the back, piercing through the heart, and back out through the chest. He fell to the ground, twitching, before laying dead.
I was still in attack mode, and I was frozen like that until Dad placed a comforting hand on my shoulder to let me know that it was all over and I can calm down now.
"It's alright, William," Dad assured. "It's done. The slavers are dead and you managed to save a hostage. You did well, son."
Sighing, I pulled my rifle back and relaxed. "Thanks to you, Dad."
"Is the pony alright?"
I looked ahead and saw that the horse seemed to be unharmed. Though it was silently crying, the good news was that she was alright. "She's fine." I nodded.
"You'd better go help her out then." My father said, standing up. "Good job William, I'm very proud of you."
I slung on my knapsack over my shoulder and began walking down to help that horse, as well as scavenge for supplies off the dead legionnaires, minus the one that was still alive. As I was heading down, I turned around to thank my dad once more for the help.
"Hey, thanks Da-"
But he was no longer there with me. He had just simply vanished in thin air. I looked around my surroundings to try and see if I can see him running off in the distance or left any footprints, but there was nothing out here.
I heaved a deep sigh. I mean, who was I kidding? Dad died a long time ago, as did Mom and Emily. I learned to accept the fact that a long time ago, my family had died from a raider attack, and that was that. Still, there was so many questions I wanted to ask my father, like what really did happen to him, to my mother, to Emily. I guess I'll never know.
I trudged downward and started off scavenging for supplies off the bodies. I've gotten a few good items: two assault carbines, a marksman carbine, and a 10mm submachine gun that can be sold off to a merchant later on, some miscellaneous ammo, a few food items, and three bottles of purified water.
That horse was still there, crying her eyes out. I went over to help her when I heard a groan of pain coming from my right. I turned around and saw that the prime legionnaire, the one that got his arm shot off by me, was still alive. Though I couldn't see his face, the skin on his arms and legs were deathly pale and the sand around him was soaked with his blood. I walked over to him and just shook my head at him.
"You should have all left the Mojave alone after Caesar died." I said. “It would have spared you from a fate like this.”
The legionary said nothing. He glared right back at me, his eyes looking right into my soul with fiery rage. Sighing, I pulled out my scoped .44 and decided it was best to end his suffering. I aimed right at his heart, and as I did, I wondered if I should give him a quick death or leave him to bleed to death. After all, he probably deserved to die a slow, painful death, knowing for a fact that he was a murderous slaver, like all of the Legion. Still, father always encouraged me to show mercy to a wounded prey. If I decided to leave him to bleed out, I knew that Dad would have never forgiven me. Mom and Emily as well.
My revolver barked, and the legionary spasmed before laying still. With him finally dead, I reloaded another round into the chamber before holstering the gun away. I then knelt down beside the body and began scavenging whatever supplies he had off of his corpse.
That was when I remember that I had to help that wounded horse. As I walked over, she must have heard me when her ears all of a sudden perked up and she looked directly at me. I froze on the spot. Was she going to attack me? I mean, I had just saw her levitate a single rock and throw it at a Legion soldier with her magical horn. Who knows what else she was capable of.
"It's alright," I raised up my empty hands and approached slowly. "I'm no threat. I'm just someone that wants to help."
She seemed to relax a little bit when I let her know that I was no threat. I knelt down in front of her and began to free her from her bindings. The ropes were a bit too hard for me to untie, so I decided to use my knife and slice the ropes. Seeing me pull out the knife, the horse's eyes went wide with panic. Her horn glowed violet and I began to back away my arms raised in defense.
"Wait! WAIT!" I screamed. "I'm just going to cut your ropes! I'm going to free you!"
The violet glow on her horn died down as she slowly began to calm down once more. Taking a few breaths, I finally risked going into freeing her. I took her tied hooves and began sawing through the ropes until her hooves were finally freed. I carefully removed the duct tape that had clamped her mouth shut without hurting her in the process.
I spent a few seconds looking at her while she as well looked back at me. What the hell was she? Where did she come from? And why is she here? I waited for her to respond to me. When she didn't seem to respond, I took the opportunity to speak to her.
"I saw you got shot back there, are you alright?" I asked.
She eyed her injured leg and spoke. "M-my right hind leg...it hurts."
I gave it a closer look at it. The wound was just a simple bullet wound. Not too serious, but if left untreated, it could be bad.
"Pfft, that's nothing. I've got the right tools that can easily patch this up in a few seconds."
I reached into my pack and pulled a Doctor's Bag. Inside was filled with all types of medical supplies. I then gathered the necessary tools to perform this simple operation – a shot of Med-X, tweezers, cotton and alcohol, a bandage, and finally, a stimpak. First, I had to dull her pain by giving her a shot of Med-X. Then, I had remove the bullet via tweezers..
"Alright," I held out the syringe of Med-X. "I'm going to give you a shot of Med-X to dull the pain, so that I can take the bullet out of your leg, without having you feel too much of the pain. Then, I'm going to sterilize your wound with some alcohol before wrapping it up in a bandage. Finally, I'll give you a stimpak to make things better. It might sting a little, but are you okay with that?”
She nodded and I took her right hind leg. Gently pricking her leg with the Med-X, I took the tweezers and carefully extracted the bullet out of her wound. Once that was done, I took the cotton and soaked it in alcohol and began cleaning her wound. I watched as she closed her eyes and winced from the pain. With her wound sterilized, I took a roll of bandage and wrapped it around her leg. She was healed, but there was one more thing I needed to do to get her back onto her feet, or hooves in this case.
I took the stimpak and gently poked it into her bandaged leg. She let out a tiny 'ow', but later groaned with relief as the healing effects of the stimpak were taking effect.
"There we go!” I smiled proudly. I cleaned the tweezers with alcohol before putting everything back into the doctor's bag. “I hope my doctoring skills paid off for the better. How do you feel? Can you walk now?"
She shakily got back on her hooves without any pain. "I think I can now. It doesn't hurt that much anymore.
"I don't who you are or why you did this for me, but thank you for saving me.”
I smiled and gave a small salute. "Just doing my job, ma'am. So, now that you're alright, can you tell me your name and what you are exactly?"
She nodded. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm a unicorn, but in my world, all of us are referred to as ponies. I guess I can be asking the same thing to you."
"Well, Miss Twilight, my name is William B. Davis, but folks just call me Bill or the Courier." I bowed courteously. "I am a human being, meaning I can walk on two legs and have opposable thumbs. We are kinda similar to primates, yes, but at least we're much smarter and we don't swing on vines or eat bananas every time. Anyways, welcome to the Mojave Wasteland – my world, or what's left of it."
Taking another good look at her, I asked, "You're not from here, are you?"
"No sir," she said. "I'm from Equestria. A land located on planet Earth."
"Earth?" I raised an eyebrow. "You know, this world is also known as Earth, and I have never heard of a place like Equestria until now. I'm guessing your Earth is more different from mine. Tell me, Miss Twilight Sparkle, how did you get here in the first place? More importantly, why did the Legion want to kidnap you?
"Well..." Twilight cleared her throat and began. "My friends and I were investigating a strange disturbance that was going on in the Everfree Forest last night. Something had dropped out of the sky and crashed into the middle of the Everfree and Princess Celestia had assigned my friends and I to investigate what was going on in the forest. We discovered that it was some sort of alien technology because it was unlike something we have seen before. I...well, I might have accidentally messed around with it and I supposed it may have transported me to here, where I was soon captured by these other humans clothed in red."
"So, you were somehow transported here?" She nodded at my question. "Well, if you don't mind me asking, what did this 'alien object' look like?"
"It was a type of steel, cylindrical shaped meteor with three solar panels sticking to the side of it." Twilight explained. "At the top, it had a theater projector that was projecting an image of a large eye."
The way she described it, she was probably talking about a crashed satellite, the one I found at the Mojave Drive-In. I guess that's where the other crashed satellite might have ended up at. I could finally tell Klein about what happened to his other satellite. Though, he and the rest of the Think Tank are going to have a hard time believing me that their missing satellite crashed on an alien planet.
"Well, I think I know what you're talking about. That 'alien technology' you saw was something we call a satellite, a pre-war technology that was used to broadcast information electronically across the world. This type of satellite you saw is a type of teleporter made to transport anyone to a pre-war research facility known as Big Mountain, or because of how some people called it Big MT, you can call it the Big Empty.
"Because there is another one of these satellites here at the Mojave Drive-In, that satellite in your world must have somehow transported you here to the Mojave Wasteland." I gave a light chuckle. "You're lucky you didn't end up at the Big MT because who knows what the Think Tank might have done to you."
"So, is there a way for me to get back home?" She asked.
"To be honest, I'm not even sure." I shrugged. "The Think Tank and I might be able to do something to get you back home using the satellite at the Mojave Drive-In, but because your satellite is in another universe, it may be hard to track it." Twilight's lips formed into a sad frown. "But, don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a way to get you back home."
She lightened up with a smile. "Thanks, I guess."
"I just do what I can to help in a world now run by desperate people." I replied with a smile. "So now that we sorta got to know each other, what's going on between you and the Legion? Why did they want to send you across the Colorado as a slave."
"I...I don't know...They just told me I was going to be a slave and..." Twilight paused and gave a nervous look at me. "...You're not one of them, are you?"
I gave back a disbelieved look at her. "Why the hell would I be part of an empire that murders and enslave innocent lives while at the same time treat women like brahmin? These guys are pigs!" I pointed at the dead legionnaires. "Every single one of them. They don't deserve any forgiveness or mercy for what they've done, and I'm going to make sure of that."
"That's a relief." Twilight breathed. "But anyway, while I was trying to escape, I ran into more humans, a family of four to be exact. They told me to go get the NCR...I think it was the New....New...what was the other word again?"
"You mean the New California Republic?" I helped her answer.
"Yes!" She nodded. "They told me to get the New California Republic, humans with the two-headed bear on their clothes to free them."
"Well say no more," I adjusted my authority sunglasses on my eyes. "I'm a hero in the NCR and I'm sure they would not deny your help, not with me at your side."
"Then we should get going." Twilight said. “That family isn't going to last any longer without help.”
"Damn straight," I turned to the direction of where the Mojave Outpost. "Come along Miss Twilight, I know where we can find the NCR."
So let’s have a little recap, shall we? Here I am, supposing to head off to Primm before nightfall, and now I’m traveling alongside with a pony, a unicorn to be exact. Oh, and apparently, she can talk and her name is Twilight Sparkle.
I ran into Twilight after arriving at the Mojave Drive-In. While walking through the desert, I stumbled to hear her crying for help. Some legionaries were out to capture her and turn her to a slave. I prevented that from happening by taking them out, which was pretty easy. Now, we’re traveling together to go help free a family captured by the Legion, then I go to Primm to get some rest before traversing into some hellhole called the Divide.
But on the bright side, at least I have someone to keep me company, for now.
We continued walking along the dirt roads of the Mojave Wasteland, keeping an eye out for any NCR patrols. I thought about heading towards the Mojave Outpost and getting help, but sure enough, I saw a patrol of at least six NCR troopers heading our way. These guys looked well armed and well trained. They were perfect.
"Patrol up ahead," I pointed put. "Stay behind me, I'll talk to them."
I waved over at the troopers and they approached us. Twilight was hiding behind me as I did the talking.
"You're the Courier that's been doing a lot of good for the NCR." The squad leader greeted, his hand outstretched. "What brings you out here?"
"Nothing much, soldier," I shook his hand. "Just wandering and prospecting, that's all. Say, you boys have some time to spare? I'm going to need your help."
"Are you kidding? We've got a few hours left on our patrol, so yes, we have time. What do you need?”
"Well, I ran into a bit of trouble you see, and I made myself a new friend here that really needs your help." I explained. "She's not from here, but I can assure you, she's harmless."
I stepped aside to revel Twilight to the troopers. She shied herself away from them while the six NCR troopers stared at her in shock and disbelief. Obviously, they had never seen anything like her.
"Twilight, it's alright, they're the good guys." I assured. "Go ahead, talk to them."
She looked up at them and softly said, "Um...hello."
Three of the troopers reeled back in surprise while two of them had their service rifles aimed at her. Twilight flinched away in fear while I leapt in front of her.
"Woah, woah!" I shouted, arms raised in the front of them. "It's alright, she's no harm."
"What the hell is that thing?" The squad leader pointed out.
"That 'thing' is my new friend you're talking to." I said, frowning at the NCR trooper. "But because you asked, she is a horse, a pony to be exact. I know, they've been extinct two hundred years ago, but she's from another world, so technically, she's an alien. Look, the point is, she's harmless and she needs your help. She'll gladly tell you everything if you would just lower your weapons, please.”
The squad leader turned to the two of his men, still pointing their service rifles directly at me. "You heard the man, put down your weapons. Let's hear what this thing has to say."
The troopers obeyed and lowered their service rifles. I gave a nod of thanks and stepped aside. She was trembling, but I assured her that everything was alright now.
"Hello..." she began nervously. "My name is Twilight Sparkle...I take it that you're with the NCR?"
"Yes ma'am," the squad leader nodded. "I'm Sergeant McGee of the New California Republic Army, 5th Battalion, 1st Company. State your business here."
"I...I need your help." Twilight began, this time, she was more confident than before. "I was captured by the Legion and had barely escaped from that camp with my life.” She pointed a hoof up northeast, indicating that was where the camp was. “While I was held captive, I also met four more humans that were also held captive there and they ask for your help. I know it isn't my place to give orders, but I'm going to need your help to rescue those humans."
"We've heard about that place.” McGee said. “The Rangers have been keeping an eye on that place for a few days now. How they're getting more men there, I do not know. But if they're beginning to capture civilians out here, then that means they're also preparing to raid caravans and the surrounding communities around here. Perhaps even try to stage an attack on the Mojave Outpost. That's something we mustn't allow." McGee simply unloading his magazine to check that all his rounds were in there before slotting it back into his gun. "Say no more, we're in."
"Well, that was easy." Twilight sighed with relief.
"The Legion can think they can set camp in our territory, well they can think again." McGee said. "Squad, follow the Courier and Miss Twilight Sparkle here, we've got a camp of legionaries to burn down."
"Lead the way." I gestured to Twilight. She nodded and lead us to the northeast area of the desert, towards Crescent Canyon.
I was just walking alongside with her when she turned to me and said, "Friend? You say that I'm a friend, but we just met each other today. Why's that?"
I shrugged with a smile. "The wasteland is terrible place, lonely too. But sometimes, having a friend by your side can make all the difference out here. Given the current situation you're in, I suppose you need a friend by your side so, why not?"
Twilight gave a small smile. "Thank you, Bill."
[Time: 7:35 p.m.]
"How many are in the camp?" Sergeant McGee asked.
I lowered my binoculars. "I count at least 60 men inside the camp. The captured family is being kept in some cages just center right of the camp. We got a sniper tower in the center with one Legion sniper up there. One thing for sure, I can't be able to identify their leader."
It wasn't that long of a walk, but Twilight and I had finally made it towards the makeshift Legion slave camp near Crescent Canyon. Sergeant McGee and his men were right behind us. We were currently hiding just north from the camp.
"So how do we deal with this camp?" One of the troopers asked. "They've got us all outnumbered."
"Well it's starting to get dark, so most of these legionnaires are going to sleep in their tents." I pointed out. "I've got a spare Stealth Boy I could use to sneak into their camp and set up a few grenade bouquets just above the tents with the most soldiers inside. Once that's done, I'll sneak back over here where I'll take out the sniper and the two guards at the entrance of the camp. When the legionnaires awake from the gunshots and come out to deal with the attack, they'll knock over the grenade bouquets by accident and...boom. With most of them dead, we'll be able to storm into the camp and pick off the remaining legionnaires while freeing the captives at the same time. Other than that, follow my lead, and I promise you that every one of you will survive this."
"Well, unless someone's got a better plan, say it now. Otherwise, let's do this." Sergeant McGee said.
With no response from the rest of Sergeant McGee's troopers, I slipped a Stealth Boy over my right arm, punched in a few buttons, and the stealth field projected all around me, rendering me invisible.
"What the...How did you...?" Twilight stammered.
"I'll explain later," I said. "For now, stay back here with Sergeant McGee and the rest of the NCR troopers."
Knowing where I was, Sergeant McGee placed a hand on my currently invisible shoulder and wished me luck. Though he might not be able to see me, I simply nodded back and made my way towards the Legion slave camp.
Most of the legionnaires in the camp had gone off to bed while some of them stayed awake to eat and keep a watchful eyes on the captives. A veteran decanus, the leader of the camp paced angrily around the camp. Today, was not a good day for him. A slave had just escaped from this camp and it wasn't even human, but some four-legged creature, almost like a brahmin. His men that were sent out to recapture her did not come back, so he believed that they were still out looking for them, otherwise they had been killed by radscorpions or an NCR patrol.
The decanus climbed up to the sniper tower to check on the sniper who was still remaining vigilant throughout the whole day, making sure nothing gets in or out of the camp. The sniper noticed him climbing up and bowed in front of him.
"Have you had luck spotting our men and the escaped slave?" The decanus asked.
"I'm sorry sir, but I wasn't able to find our men or the escaped slave. Perhaps they might have been-"
Before the sniper could get another word out of his mouth, a loud bang echoed in the darkened skies and his head disintegrated into a shower of gore. The decanus got down on his belly when he heard to more shots being fired. Peeking out slightly, he had saw that two of the guards outside the gate had been killed.
Pulling out the sniper's binoculars, the decanus took a look to see who was responsible for doing this and after some adjustments, he saw that it was none other than the Courier, the four-legged creature, and a few NCR troopers with them. He instantly took cover again as he saw that the Courier was aiming a hunting rifle towards his direction.
"Wake up, all of you!" The decanus cried out. "It's the Courier and the NCR! Kill them all!"
The Legion troops near the campfires dropper their food and pulled out their weapons. Some of the ones in the tents however, weren't so lucky. As soon as the legionnaires woke up in their tents, there was all of a sudden some horrified screams and sounds of frantic struggling before large explosions engulfed from a few tents, sending down a shower of sand and dust, destroyed tent parts, burnt up pieces of roll-up beds, and severed limbs in the aftermath of the explosion. The decanus gritted his teeth in anger. The Courier and the NCR had outsmarted him and now, he and his men, and this entire camp was going to burn to the ground.
Not if he had anything to do about it.
I had just made it back to our position right before my Stealth Boy had just worn off. Twilight and the rest of the NCR looked like they had an heart attack as I had all of a sudden appeared right in front of them. Couldn't blame them for getting spooked like that. It's not every day you see someone using a Stealth Boy.
"Jesus Christ," McGee gasped. "Next time, just let us know that you're back instead of scaring us like that. You've got all the traps set up?"
"Yup," I took out my rifle and aimed towards the sniper in the makeshift tower. "Now, it's time to wake this camp up."
All of a sudden, another target appeared in the view of my scope. He was a veteran decanus, probably the leader of the camp.
"Look who showed up near the sniper," an NCR trooper pointed out. "He must be the big cheese running this place."
"Can you take him out from here?" McGee asked.
"I could try, but I can't make any promises." I replied. "After all, the plan was to eliminate the sniper and two guards at the gate. The grenade bouquet traps should cripple most of their forces so the fighting would be much easier."
"Still, are you sure this plan is going to work?" Another NCR soldier asked.
"Trust me," I took aim at the Legion sniper's head and sent the .308 round downrange. The bullet successfully met its target as I concluded my statement. "I'm the Courier. Now, watch as the fun starts."
Through my scope, I watched as the camp's leader dove behind cover before turning back to the two guards at the gate. They were now on full alert before I took the two of them out using V.A.T.S.
The camp leader poked his head out slightly with binoculars in his hand and I guess he must have saw me waving at him. He once more took cover as my other round had barely missed him. And then, it happened.
In about a few seconds after the sniper fire, a few of the tents containing the most legionnaires inside exploded in a wall of a sand. Judging by the large explosion radius, the ones inside the tents were most likely dead. That should pull the plug on the number of Legion troops.
Sergeant McGee was taken aback by the scene. "Holy shit..." Meanwhile, the rest of the troopers were cheering.
“Hoorah!”
“Get some!”
"That was fucking awesome!"
"Hell yeah! You don't fuck with the NCR!"
The rest of the NCR was cheering and patting me on the back. Twilight however, was completely shocked and disgusted at what I had done. "What in the wide, wide world of Equestria was that supposed to be?!"
"The most amazing thing you have ever seen." I replied, wheezing with laughter.
"You just murdered those humans!" Twilight protested. "How is that even funny to you? It's sick!"
"Excuse me?" I turned to face Twilight with a stern look. The sight of it made Twilight step back a little bit. "Are you telling me you would sympathize with these murdering, raping, psychopaths after what they had tried to do to you?"
Twilight's expression immediately changed. "Well...no...that's not to say I'm supporting them...but still, that's just not right. I never knew that you would kill your own kind like that."
"Well, get used to it." I said. "This is war, and that is how people win wars nowadays."
"But was there any other reason to kill them like that?" Twilight protested. "We could have at least talked them out on releasing the prisoners. Wouldn't it have been better to negotiate with them, rather than killing them like that?"
"Look, Sparkle," I growled impatiently. "I don't have the time to argue philosophy with you now, so I'm going to level with you on this. There is no way to negotiate with these megalomaniacs. Try if you want, but these guys are fanatically, devoted to their leader, and they will do whatever it takes to fight in his name. This means they'll continue to terrorize communities, murder and enslave innocents, and other horrendous things that even I can't bring myself to tell you, all for their 'mighty' leader, whose now beyond the grave. That is why we fight and kill these guys, so that we can stop them from causing more harm to the good and free people in a world run by desperate people.
"This is a war Twilight, and sometimes words will never be able to end wars in times like this. You'd have to keep fighting until the job is done, until this war finally ends. You don't like it, fine, but don't try and argue with me on morality. Understand?"
"...I understand." Twilight nodded slowly. "So, now what?"
"We go down there and finish the job," I picked up my .45 SMG. "McGee, two other troopers, and I will fight off the remaining legionnaires while you and the rest of the troopers help free the captives. Stay close to each other and don't let them get a drop on you."
"You heard the man," McGee flicked the safety off of his service rifle. "Marlowe, Zane, you're with me and the Courier. Twilight, stay close to Sal, Kyle, and Li. Let's burn this camp to the ground and save some civvies."
I lead the charge towards the camp, all of us except Twilight were giving their best battle cries. Giving a quick glance over my shoulder, I could tell that Twilight looked frightened as we were slowly getting closer to the camp. She wasn't scared because she was going back into that camp, but because she was going to partake in a bloodbath. I almost felt bad for her because I'm sure she was never meant to see all this death and killing, but like what the Kings would say, "that's life in Freeside for you". But out in the wasteland, I would just simply say, "that's life for you in the Mojave".
"McGee!" I shouted, tearing apart the legionnaires behind cover with my .45 SMG. "Finish off the remaining legionnaires, I'm going to help cover Twilight and the rest of your men!"
"Copy that!" McGee replied as he loaded in another magazine in his gun and rolled behind a crate for cover.
With my submachine gun running dry, I had no time to reload it, so I simply holstered it away and pulled out my scoped .44 magnum revolver. Twilight and one NCR trooper were doing their best to pick the lock and open the cage while the two other NCR troopers laid down covering fire. Some of the legionnaires that were pushed to the back of the camp managed to flank around behind some boxes and they were now charging towards Twilight and the three NCR troopers.
I saw five prime legionnaires rushing up towards them, all of them wielding machetes. Five successful shots to the head instantly did the job done. Another legionary began to rush up at me with his blade, but I managed to grab him and toss him to the ground, finishing him off with a bullet through his skull.
As I began to reload my revolver, I heard someone land behind me and that was when I realized that the veteran decanus, the leader of this camp had came down from the sniper tower and now had the advantage over me. I turned around to see him swing his machete towards me, which I skillfully dodged. Unfortunately for me, he managed to knock the revolver out of my hands, leaving me defenseless.
"Ready to die, degenerate?" The veteran decanus readying his machete towards me.
Spotting a machete on the ground I grabbed it off the ground and began clashing blades with him. Now, I was pretty decent with guns, energy weapons, and sometimes explosive weapons like a Fat Man. But machetes, super sledges, and power fists are a bit out of my league. That wasn't to say I was bad in a sword fight or anything, but sometimes I can never tell if an enemy can be extremely skilled and dangerous when it came to melee weapons, and this decanus was proving to me that he was a force not to be reckoned with. I could probably clash blades with any legionnaire without a problem or even knock a super mutie off his feet with a super sledge, but this guy was probably the best Legion fighter I've ever faced in my life. Heck, he might as well be a legate by then.
This legionnaire was able to dodge, block, and counter my attacks as if it were nothing, but when he strikes back, it is just downright brutal. His attacks against my machete whenever I block was so strong that I was nearly knocked off balance a few times. When he swings his blade, all I see is a blur.
As we continued to clash blades, I was getting more and more exhausted from the fighting. Eventually, he managed to break my defense and I received a deep cut in my right shoulder. Normally, these shoulder pads on my armor would be enough to protect me from anything ranging from a .22 to a 5.56 round, even a machete cut. But this guy's blade somehow manage to cut through my armor like it was bighorner butter and make contact against my shoulder. I screamed in pain, clutching my shoulder tightly as blood began squirting out of my wound.
"Had enough?" The legionnaire taunted.
A deep slash in your shoulder like that and you would immediately die out from massive blood loss. It was a good thing I had stimpaks with me, they may be slow to heal you, but they can still seal up your wounds and make you feel good as new. I reached for a stimpak and jabbed it right into my shoulder. I groaned with complete relief as the healing effects of the stimpak did its work. I felt the cut in my shoulder close back up and it gave me the strength to ready my machete once again for another fight. I was still weakened from that last attack and the healing from the stim, but it didn't matter to me. I was going to take down this son of a bitch no matter what.
"No..." I replied tiredly. "Have you...had enough?"
I rushed up towards him with all my strength and I had managed to knock the machete out of his hands this time. I grinned to myself, thinking that I had the advantage as I was just about to finish him off. However, that slippery bastard managed to dodge my devastating blow I intended on delivering at the top of his head and then he pulls out his 12.7mm pistol and shoots me right in the leg. Fucking cheater.
I gave a pained cry as I fell to the ground holding my bleeding leg. Looking around, I saw that Twilight and the three NCR troopers had successfully freed the family from their cages and escorted them to safety while Sergeant McGee and two other troopers finishing off the remaining legionnaires at the back of the camp.
"Looks like...looks like you've lost..." I chuckled before I was kicked onto the ground by the camp leader. I gave an agonizing cry as he stepped on my wounded leg, causing more blood to come out of my wound. I looked up and saw the barrel of his gun now in front of my face.
"But pathetic though," the veteran decanus laughed. "The 'mighty' Courier couldn't defeat a legionnaire like me, just like the rest of the 'great' republic."
I just lay there, looking down the barrel of his pistol as I awaited for a quick death. Despite where I was, I had to smile a bit because I knew for sure that even if I was killed right on the spot, I still won in the end.
I'm not exactly what you would call a religious person by Joshua Graham standards, but I believe that when people do enough good things before they die, they end up in a better place in the afterlife. I know that up there, waiting for me is a place where there was no more pain and suffering. My parents and my little sister were all waiting for me, and perhaps after a long time, I can finally join them in a place of eternal happiness. Maybe at long last, I can finally get to know the truth about a few things.
All of a sudden, I heard this sort of whirring sound, growing louder and louder as it got closer. It sounded like a chainsaw was coming our way. The decanus was this close to putting a round into my skull when he lowered his gun and turned around to see what was coming. Even with his back changed to me, I could tell that he was all of a sudden frightened because of his sudden change in body language. He dropped his gun and had his arms raised as if he wanted to surrender. The tone of voice sounded scared than his usual taunting bravado he had before.
"N-no!!!" The decanus cried, before he gave a guttural scream as the chainsaw sliced into his chest and lower abdomen. Blood and guts were spraying all over the place that eventually some droplets of blood ended up on my face.
I laid there, completely stunned and disgusted as the legionnaire was continuously being sliced open in a pretty gruesome manner. It went on like this for a couple of seconds until finally, the device stopped and the legionary's body fell right on top of me. Disgusted, I simply pushed the body away and looked up to see who my savior was.
It was none other than the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. She stood in front of me, eyes widened with shock and a horrified expression as though she had seen a ghost. She was levitating a chainsaw and her whole body was covered with blood. Not hers obviously, but the legionnaire's blood. That's when I realized, Twilight Sparkle, for the first time in her life, killed a person.
"Come on!" Twilight urged the family as the NCR soldiers began escorting them to safety. "This way, keep going!"
With the father the last one to exit the camp, Twilight and an NCR trooper by the name of Sal returned back to the camp to see if they can help out any of the troopers or the Courier. Sal all of a sudden pulled Twilight behind cover as he heard a loud cry of pain coming from the Courier. Peeking her head out, Twilight could see that the Courier was laying on the ground, presumed to be wounded by the Legion soldier who was standing in front of him, a gun pointed right at his head.
"We've got to do something, he's going to kill Bill!" Twilight pointed out.
"I'd love to, but I can't." Sal grunted, aiming his service rifle at the legionnaire. "If I shoot him, muscle spasm will cause him to shoot the Courier instead."
Twilight started looking around the camp for anything useful. There had to be something, anything she could use to distract the Legion soldier. She spied what seemed to be a chainsaw used by construction ponies back in her world. It laid beside a pile of fire wood just beside her.
"I have an idea." Twilight said, picking up the chainsaw with her magic.
"What kind of an idea?" Sal asked, but he didn't need to ask any further as Twilight pulled the cord of the chainsaw, starting up the motor and powering up the device.
The chainsaw was heavy to use, but Twilight was able to muster enough strength to lift it up with her magic and walk towards the direction of where the Legion soldier and the Courier were. What she planned on doing was use the chainsaw to startle the legionnaire that he would jump out of the way, giving a chance for the Courier to get out of the way and crawl to safety. It was foolproof plan, or so she thought.
The legionnaire turned around to see Twilight approaching him. He raised his arms in horror as the blade from the chainsaw getting closer to him and uttered a terrified "No!" Twilight thought that the legionnaire would just jump out of the way like she hoped for. But he was rooted to the spot and before she could stop herself, the deed was already done. The razor blade brutally sliced into the legionnaire's body, tearing through his organs and slicing apart his innards. Twilight stood there, stunned, unsure what to do as the blade continuously sawed the man alive. Blood was sprayed all over her while some bits of guts landed in her mane until she finally had the brains to shut off the device before the blade drove any deeper into his body. The legionnaire was already dead when his body fell away from the chainsaw's blade and landed right on top of the Courier.
"I...I didn't mean to..." The violet aura glowing on her horn shut off and the chainsaw fell to the ground. Her eyes began welling up with tears. "I didn't mean to...to do that. I was...I was just going to scare him...that's all."
"Hey, Twi," I slowly got up. "It's alright, it was just a simple accident."
"No it isn't!" She cried. "I just...I just killed someone in cold blood. It wasn't even an accident to start off with..."
"Twilight..." I reached out a hand to comfort her, but she instantly swatted it away.
"Don't touch me," she backed away, sniffling. "Just...don't touch me."
She immediately turned her back on me and ran, brushing aside three of the NCR troopers and the family that she had rescued. One of the troopers dropped his rifle and ran after Twilight.
"Twilight!" I tried to stand up, but the pain in my wounded leg instantly gave way and I fell back on the ground. I gritted my teeth in pain and pounded the ground with a clenched fist. "Goddamn it!"
"Don't move," an NCR trooper knelt down beside me and pulled out a doctor's bag from his bag. "Let me patch you up first."
I resisted at first, but the pain in my leg was too much that I eventually gave up and allowed the NCR soldier to treat my wound. While he was treating my wounded leg, I started to feel bad for Twilight. From what I can tell through her emotion and personality, the world she came from was probably a peaceful place. A place where there was no war, no hatred, and no need to fight for survival. It's a kind of world that a lot of us wish to live forever in. Now, that world of hers was destroyed because of what this wasteland had to offer for her.
The aftermath of the battle was bloody and brutal. There were no NCR casualties and the captured family had managed to been saved without so much as a scratch. All Legion soldiers in the camp were dead, no prisoners had been taken. After their commander fallen, McGee and his men finished clearing the camp of any legionnaires. For once, I actually felt bad for them. Sure, they were evil, but some of these men were just people forced to die under Caesar's name after their town was raided or their tribe was assimilated into the Legion. I'm sure they didn't deserved to have a fate like this, but after how they've become monsters like they are now, there's nothing you can do but put them down. After all, monsters should just die, rather than cause more terror or harm on others.
I was currently being patched up by one of the NCR troopers. My shoulder suffered no damage after I quickly injected a stimpak into my shoulder so that should be fine, but it was best I give it a rest so that it can function better tomorrow. As for my leg, after a shot of Med-X, followed by a careful bullet removal with some tweezers, and a shot from a super stimpak, it was good to go.
"You should be fine," the NCR trooper said as he wrapped my shoulder up with a bandage. "Even though you took a stim, give this shoulder a rest and it should be working just fine by tomorrow. As for your leg, it should be fine after that super stimpak I gave you, but you'd better give it a rest as well."
"Yeah, thanks Doc." I muttered as I gave my shoulders a roll and stretch.
I looked back at where I was and the legionnaire's body was still there. The appearance of his body, well, I would say it was quite disturbing. His chest all the way to his lower abdomen were cut open, revealing what was left of his organs and the sliced remains of his insides. I turned my head to see that the NCR trooper who had ran after Twilight after her outburst had brought her back to the camp. She sat on the crate, sobbing while the NCR trooper was doing his best to comfort her.
I would probably need to have a 'sit-down-and-talk' moment with her, after we leave this camp, but for now, I was going to scavenge for whatever valuables and supplies I can find in this camp. Turning back to the camp, I already noticed that two of the NCR troopers had covered up that body of the sliced open legionnaire with a canvas. I was glad they did that. I did not need to have another good look at that body.
I took whatever I could carry in that camp. There were some supplies left behind, but that was something the NCR could just deal with. By then, I was nearly over encumbered, but I was still able to carry all of this. In one of the tents, I found a saddle bag with the star marking that I found tattooed on both sides of Twilight's flanks. I guessed this bag belonged to her. I was going to have to return it to her when we leave. I began to make my back to the front of the camp when Sergeant McGee stopped me and handed me a pouch of bottle caps.
"We all owe you a huge thanks." McGee said. "Today, you and Twilight had just put a stop to one of the Legion's slave trading routes and without any NCR casualties. You know, the NCR could learn a thing or two from you. Heck, you should probably be the next president of the NCR."
"Thanks," I grinned with some hint of satisfaction. "But politics isn't really my thing. So what happens now?"
"My squad and I need to take the civilians to a safe place. The Mojave Outpost should be no problem for them. A few of my squad members will stay behind and wait for reinforcements to secure the camp by tonight." Sergeant McGee said. "You're welcome to join us back at the Outpost, otherwise you can head off to Primm and stay a night at our base there."
"I'm actually heading to Primm. I've got some errands to do there so I'll be fine there. Take care of yourself out there Sergeant." I extended my hand to him
"You too." He replied, shaking my hand. "And once again, thanks for the help today."
McGee turned his head over to see Twilight Sparkle sitting beside one of his troopers. She seemed to have calmed down by now. "Is she going to be okay?"
"She'll be fine." I said. "I'll just have a talk with her and then things will be alright. Due to her current situation, being stuck here and all, I guess I'll have to look after her for the time being."
"Then I wish the both of you good luck." Sergeant McGee said. "See you around."
With that, Sergeant McGee left. Two of them stayed behind to clean up the mess and wait for reinforcements to secure this place. I walked on over to Twilight, and the trooper looking after her politely excused himself to go help out the rest of his team while I was left to console Twilight.
I sat down right beside her. None of us spoke a word for a while. Her body reeked slightly from the iron smell of blood.
I was the first to speak. "You okay?"
She said nothing back to me. Looking closely at her mane, I noticed that there were bits of guts stuck in her mane. I brought my hand over to her mane and seeing how she was not resisting me, I began to gently brush away the remaining pieces of guts out. After her mane was brushed clear of any guts, I took out my sister's handkerchief and soaked it with some clean water. I gently took her head in my hands and I began cleaning off the blood stuck to her coat. As I was cleaning the blood off of her, I felt my hands began to dampen with her tears as she once more broke down and sobbed. She couldn't hold it in anymore.
I continued to wash off the blood while trying to console her at the same time. "It was a terrible accident, I get it. But if it wasn't for you, we'd probably wouldn't be sitting here, talking right now. In other words, all of us might have died if it weren't for you."
Twilight sniffled and wiped away her tears. "Is this something I'll have to get used to?"
I heaved a deep sigh. "I'm terribly sorry to say this, but yes. But don't worry, you'll get over it soon enough. You, uh, feeling better now?"
"I guess..." her voice sounded a bit uneasy.
After cleaning the blood off of her, I handed her back her bag. "I found it in one of the tents. Is this yours?"
She took the bag with her magic and examined it and its contents before giving a small smile. "Yes, it is. Thank you for finding it."
"Not a problem," I shrugged my knapsack on my shoulders. "So, you ready to get going?"
"Where to?" she jumped back onto her hooves, placing the saddle bag over herself.
"A town called Primm. There's an NCR camp where we can stay for the night." I said. "We should get moving before it gets too dark.
"But uh, before we go, do you mind if you can carry some supplies for me?" I asked as I opened up my bag and pulled out some bottles of water and packaged food. "I'm kind of a bit over encumbered. If you don't want to, that's fine. I can just carry it all the way to Primm."
"No, no, I'd be glad to help you carry some things around." Twilight grabbed a few of the supplies in my hands and stored them away in her saddle bag.
I smiled warmly. "Thanks Twilight. You know, I think you and I might get along just well as traveling companions. Now let's get going, it's starting to get dark.”
It was quite a long walk, I'd say nearly thirty minutes to get to Primm, but we finally made it. Twilight and I were both exhausted. After what we've been through tonight, there was no arguing about it. Nevertheless, we finally made it to the town of Primm, a town that remained independent from the NCR. Primm was pretty empty at night as most folks would have gone back to their homes and warm beds after being cooped up in the Vicky and Vance when the Powder Gangers hit.
The town was also quiet at night sometimes. Occasionally, the town's folks would hear gunfire from the NCR camp southwest of here, some of the usual troopers using the old California Sunset drive-in as a firing range. The town's folks simply ignore it and just go along with their merry ways at home. The folks of Primm still don't like having the NCR around to protect the town, seeing how they already have a sheriff, but at least they still kept a steady relationship to trade supplies with each other once in a while.
"Well Twilight," I turned to her with a grin on my face. "Welcome to Primm. Not as lively at this time of day, but it's a nice town with a lot of good folks.
"To your left is the Mojave Express office. My job as a courier began right here, in this very building." I pointed to the building on my right and gave a nostalgic sigh. "It almost feels like yesterday when I had my first job here.
"To my right is the Vicky and Vance casino and the building we saw with the neon sign of a buffalo, that's the Bison Steve Hotel. Across the street is the NCR camp I was talking about. We'll be staying there for the night."
"Why not stay at the hotel there?" Twilight pointed at the Bison Steve. "I'm sure the beds there are nice."
"Do you really want to stay a night in that hotel?" I asked. "The people haven't exactly cleaned out the bodies of the convicts that ransacked this town a while ago and I'm pretty sure you're going to have a hard time to sleep with all the decomposing bodies in there." Twilight wore a disgusted look on her face as I continued on. "You're welcomed to stay there for the night if you want, but since you're new here, I rather think you should sleep in a tent. Besides, sleeping outdoors is sometimes better than indoors."
"Then I guess sleeping on the ground it is." Twilight sighed.
We crossed the partially collapsed bridge towards the NCR camp across the town. An NCR trooper spotted us and came over to greet us.
"You're the Courier that's been doing a lot of good things around here." He shook my hand. "It's an honor to see a hero of the NCR come visit us." He looked down at Twilight and offered up his hand for her to shake. "And you must be the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, the one that helped the Courier burn down an entire Legion encampment. Word got out on the radio how you both saved that captured family and slaughtered those Legion bastards in that camp they built. A damn good job you did back there. Wish I could've been there to help."
"I really can't take all the credit." Twilight smiled weakly, still remembering that she had just killed someone thirty minutes ago. "Mr. Davis here actually did most of the work."
To cheer her up, I ruffled up her mane, causing her to giggle. "Yeah, but it was you who had to save my sorry ass in the end. I think you're more of a hero than I am today."
"So, what brings you two to Primm?" The trooper asked.
"Oh, I'm just here to do some errands." I replied. "Miss Sparkle here is just tagging along for the time being. You've got a tent or something we can spend the night at?"
The NCR trooper nodded and pointed at a tent behind us. "No one's using that tent anymore, so you two can go ahead and use it. If you're looking to buy or sell something, a merchant is staying here for a few days. He's set up shop over there, near Lieutenant Hayes' tent.
"If you're hungry, our chef is still serving some grub at this hour, near the grill." The trooper continued on. "If your weapons or armor are in need of repair, we've got a repairman on duty that can help you out. And if you just want to improve your aim, we've also got a firing range set up at the abandoned drive-in outside of Primm. Other than that, enjoy your stay around here."
"Thank you, sir." I nodded. "You have a goodnight."
We walked into the center of the camp and set down our bags on the nearest picnic table. Already, I could hear Twilight's stomach give a low rumble.
"You hungry?" I asked.
She gave a nod and sat down on the table. "I guess. After all, I haven't really gotten anything to eat today. Do they serve anything like dandelion sandwiches around here?"
Dandelion sandwiches? What is she talking about? "No...I don't think they have anything like that around here, but I'll see what they've got that can satisfy your appetite."
The chef was dicing up some gecko meat, jalapeño peppers, and banana yucca fruit, putting up perfectly-made gecko kebabs. A few of these shish kebabs were already grilling along side with some squirrel kebabs and damn did they smell delicious! The chef looked up to see that I was nearly drooling all over the place and I quickly regained my composure out of embarrassment.
"You're the Courier everyone's been talking about." The chef smiled. "It's great to see such a friend of the NCR here. Now what can I get for you?"
"I'll have eight gecko kebabs, two squirrel kebabs, and two bottles of Nuka Cola." I ordered. "Also, add two Fancy Lad Snack Cakes with it."
The chef nodded and reached for a large tray and two tin plates, adding four gecko kebabs and one squirrel kebab on each plate, followed by two Nuka Colas and two Fancy Lad Cakes. "There ya' go! Eight gecko kebabs, two squirrels on a stick, two bottles of Nuka Cola, and two Fancy Lad Cakes. That'll be 30 caps. A little discount for all that you've done."
"Done." I reached into my pockets and handed the chef 30 Nuka Cola bottle caps and in return, he gave me my food.
"A pleasure doing business with you. Enjoy, and have a good night my friend."
I walked back to the picnic table with the tray of food in my hands. Twilight was sitting there, reading some of the books I had brought along to read. One of those books in particular was 'The Wasteland Survival Guide'. Other books such as 'Guns and Bullets', 'Duck and Cover!', and 'Dean's Electronics' all sat in a pile with the rest of the books I carried.
I set down the tray of food on the table, nearly scaring Twilight out of her skin when she saw me appear right in front of her. "You know," I began with a mischievous grin. "It's actually a crime to go around people's stuff and taking them without permission."
Twilight gulped in fear. "I, uh...I didn't know. I was only curious on what you were carrying and, uh...well, I couldn't really help myself when I saw those books. They looked interesting enough so I thought about giving them a read...given my current situation here. I-I'm really sorry, Bill. I shouldn't have taken them without your permission. I'll just...hand it back to you now."
Her horn glowed violet and using some magical, levitation spell, she placed the books back into my hands. My mischievous grin soon vanished and was replaced with a comforting smile. I simply handed back the books to her, surprising her quite a bit.
"It's fine, really." I assured. "I have no problem with you looking at whatever I brought along. Though, you really should ask for my permission next time before going through my stuff." I sat down at the table and handed her one plate of gecko kebabs and a squirrel on a stick, along with a Fancy Lad Cake and a bottle of Nuka Cola. "The next time you do that, people aren't going to take it kindly if they catch you doing that. I'm letting you off not because you're curious, but because you're tagging along with me for the time being. In all seriousness, if you need anything, just ask me. You want some medical supplies, I can lend you some as long as you don't rob me completely dry. Want me to carry some stuff around? Well, as long as you don't treat me as a pack brahmin, then we're cool. You got that?"
"I understand." Twilight cracked a nervous smile as she politely took back the books. "Thank you, Bill. I promise that I'll return these books as soon as I can."
"Take as much time as you need to read those books, but maybe you should eat first before you continue on reading." I picked up my squirrel on a stick and bit into it, moaning in delight as the taste of barbequed meat and fresh spices danced around my mouth. As I took another bite of the squirrel, I noticed that Twilight had this terrified and disgusted look on her face.
"Uh, you okay?" I asked.
She pointed at the squirrel kebab in my hands. "Is that a squirrel?"
I looked at the piece of cooked rodent on a stick. "Yes? Why, you don't like it?"
"Bill," she pointed at it once more. "That's meat you're eating."
"So?" I asked, taking another bite of the seasoned, barbequed rodent. "You got a problem with...aw, shit."
I immediately set down the squirrel kebab on my plate and nearly slapped myself on the head as I suddenly remembered that Twilight was an equine and from what I read about on some pre-war books, equines are herbivores and they're supposed to eat stuff like fruits and veggies. I just almost nearly introduced her to cannibalism and that was not the right way to treat a new traveling companion.
"Heh, sorry about that Sparkle," I rubbed the back of my head embarrassingly. "I forgot that you were a herbivore. See, we humans are omnivores, meaning we eat both veggies and meat. That's not to say we're cannibals, it just means we need a source of protein. Nuts, legumes, and grain products are a huge source of protein, but every now and then, having meat in our diet is alright."
"That's a relief," Twilight gave one last uncomfortable look at the plate of meat given to her before pushing it my way. "But just to be sure, are there any humans that only just eat meat, including those sentient enough?"
"Well...There are some people that actually eat nothing but meat. And by those kind of people, I'm talking about cannibals. Out here in the wasteland, when all options of survival are exhausted, people would actually eat their own dog just to survive. It's sickening, but what other choice do they have? Though, there are some people out here that actually go far into eating the flesh of their own kind."
Twilight gave a shocked and disgusted look. "That's awful! Why would someone do such a thing?"
"That what I ask myself sometimes." I shrugged. "Either way, eating the flesh of your own kind is a crime, and anyone caught doing cannibalism out here is going to get a bullet in their eye, no questions asked. In NCR territory, you would be publicly executed if you were caught cannibalizing the flesh of you kind."
"I see." Twilight looked a bit more relieved now. I hope that was enough for her to be alright with me eating meat.
"So, what do you want?" I asked, digging into my knapsack. "That Fancy Lad Cake and the bottle of Nuka Cola ain't going to be your dinner tonight, so how about some 200 year old packaged mashed potatoes or Mac and Cheese. They taste a bit stale, and they're slight irradiated, but they're still good to eat."
"It's fine," Twilight opened up her saddle bag. "I'll just eat the food I brought along. The ones you gave me, I'll save them for later."
"Suit yourself." I said, picking up my squirrel kebab. "In the meantime, more for me."
Minutes flew by and I had already finished up my dinner while Twilight had finished her last apple from her saddle bag. I ripped open the white package and chowed down on my Fancy Lad Cake. It was a bit stale, but it was still delicious. Twilight didn't seem to like it so she just threw it away. She did enjoy the Nuka Cola, so that was fine by me. Soon she reached into her bag and pulled out this brown paper bag full of...something. She opened it and levitated out this sort of round, flat, golden brown pastry with these tiny little dark dots on top of it. My eyes went wide as I realized that it was a chocolate chip cookie. These treats were luxury food items compared to Ruby's radscorpion casserole and the Ultra-Luxe's brahmin wellington. As Twilight bit into her cookie, I nearly drooled all over the place as I can only imagine how delicious that cookie was.
I remembered having a cookie when I was a kid. My father always went on business trips all across California and he always returned with some good stuff for me and my sister from his travels. Usually it was food, other times it was toys or books. After a business trip to Modoc, Dad returned with a wrapped package that carried six chocolate chip cookies that he had purchased from a diner. I remember him telling me that one cookie was worth at least 50 caps, making the entire package of cookies worth 300 caps. He was sure right about it, because when I took a bite of it, I was in heaven for a few seconds. It was so chewy and soft, and the combined taste of sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and bighorner butter all melted in my tongue, making it one of the most sweetest and delicious food items in the world. Even though it has been years since I had my first chocolate chip cookie, I can still never forget its taste.
"Bill?" She waved a hoof in front of me, snapping me out of my trance. "You okay?"
"Huh? Wha? Yeah...I'm alright." I took another sip of Nuka Cola and while Twilight took another bite of her cookie, I just couldn't stand it anymore. I really wanted a cookie so badly. Of course, being the polite gentlemen I was, I decided to ask nicely for one. I pointed at the cookie levitating in her magic. "Twilight, is that a chocolate chip cookie you got?"
She looked at me in confusion. "Uh, yeah...do you want one?" She levitated another one out of the paper bag and handed it over to me.
Her willingness to offer me a cookie took me by surprise. "F-for me?"
"Sure, go ahead." Twilight insisted. "I've got lots of them."
I took the cookie in my hands and felt its smooth and crispy edges. It was almost exactly like the one my dad had given me. Now, came the tasting. I felt hesitant on taking a bite of that cookie. Sure, it looked good to eat, but because this was food made from wherever Twilight came from, I wasn't sure if it was safe to eat. Was it poisonous? Would eating it make me grow a second head?
I shrugged. Eh, it's just a cookie. What can go wrong?
I bit into the cookie, chewing slowly before being my eyes widened with delight and the taste buds from my childhood came back to me. I took a big bite at the cookie before gobbling it up.
"OH MY GOSH, THIS IS AMAZING!" I exclaimed with delight. "JUST LIKE A SHOOTING STAR, THIS MARVELOUS LITTLE TREAT APPEARED RIGHT BEFORE ME! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE!"
My exclamation got the attention of most people in the camp, whom they all stared at me with dumbfounded expressions. Twilight seemed flustered as everyone's eyes were on us, but I didn't really care. I was in heaven with that cookie.
"Uh, take it easy there Bill," Twilight giggled. "It's just a chocolate chip cookie. Besides, I've still got plenty more of them."
I turned to look at Twilight. "Just a chocolate chip...are you kidding me?" She held up the bag of cookies and offered another one for me, which I simply took and snacked down on. "Twilight, these things are a luxury to afford. Cookies around here are very hard to make due to having to find the right ingredients to make it. And if finding the right ingredients aren't hard, you really need to be good at making them. Believe me, I tried making some with the right ingredients and they end up tasting like shit."
"Seriously? Are cookies that valuable around here?" Twilight asked.
"You'd better believe it." I nodded. "If you had food like this, everyone here must think that you're super rich."
I finished up my remaining Nuka Cola and pulled out my wallet to add another bottle cap in it, followed by Twilight's cap after she had finished her Nuka Cola. Closing back up my wallet, I tossed away my Nuka Cola bottle and grabbed myself another cookie. While I ate my third chocolate chip cookie, I noticed Twilight giving me this befuddled look.
"You collect bottle caps?"
"I have to." I said . "Bottle caps are the standard currency around here in the Mojave."
"Bottle caps are really the currency in this world?" she asked.
"Yup." I took one of my pouches completely filled with bottle caps and handed it to Twilight. "Most of the technology that was used to manufacture and paint their surfaces were lost during the Great War from two hundred years ago, making it difficult to counterfeit bottle caps. This made bottle caps rare enough to become the standard currency of the wasteland.
"There are other currencies used in other parts of the wasteland besides bottle caps." I reached into my pockets and handed Twilight a few wards of NCR dollars. "The NCR uses paper money as currency. It's quite similar to the money that was used back in the old days, but now it's pretty much useless around here. At least it's still worth something, so there's a little upside for the NCR's currency. The Legion on the other hand," I tossed over a few Legion denarius and aureus at Twilight's direction. "Made their own currency based on the ancient Romans' denarii and aurei. Despite Caesar's poor relationship with the rest of the wasteland, it's still quite valuable to many traders."
"That's pretty interesting," Twilight nodded as she pulled out a pen and some type of journal and began scribbling down some notes. "I'm sure that when I get back to my world, Princess Celestia will find this all interesting."
I gave a light chuckle at seeing her being all of a sudden so interested about my world. I'd say she and I were almost related in some way, seeing how we always want to learn about something new.
I gave a quick peek on my Pip-Boy to see what the time was now. It was 9:00 p.m. and already a bright moon had risen over the horizon. None of us seemed tired yet so I decided to take the time to get to know Twilight a bit more, and perhaps give her the chance to know more about me and this world.
"Well, since none of us are that tired yet, I suppose you got some questions for me." I said, resting my elbows on the picnic table.
"How'd you know?" Twilight asked.
I nodded to her journal. "Your journal said it all. I'd take it that you're some kind of researcher?"
She blushed slightly. "I guess my eagerness gave that away, hasn't it?"
"Don't worry, I'm like that as well . I'm into history and just about anything else that's interesting." I grinned. "Well, come on then, don't be shy. I'll be glad to answer anything you'd like to know as best as I can."
"Well...okay, I suppose." Twilight flipped to a brand new page and got her pen ready. "What can you tell me about your kind?"
"Well, I'm human, like I mentioned before." I answered. "We've been on this world for quite some time now and over the years, we went from mindless apes swinging from trees and tossing our dung around to becoming doctors, teachers, and astronauts that help change the world every single day."
"I'd take it that you also kill each other every single day?" Twilight added nonchalantly.
I glared back at her sharply. Her face bore an expression of horror and her ears were flatly pressed down. "S-sorry," she softly muttered. "That was wrong of me to say that."
I gave a smile of reassurance. "It's fine, but might I remind you that just because we live in one fucked up world, doesn't mean that all of us our crazy, raving marauders bent on killing each other.
"But you are sorta right in a way." I continued. "Mankind has not always been perfect and I guess it never will for generations to come. Unless of course, some alien entity comes to our world and tells us to stop killing each other.
"Since the beginning of time, our ancestors have been killing each other like it was going out of style. We fought for territory, positions of power, money, religion, the list just keeps going on. To sum it all up, WE love to fight. Truly, it is our greatest blessing, and our most terrifying curse."
"Why?" Twilight asked, confused and shocked from my explanation. "Why would you humans kill each other over all of...this?"
I shrugged and shook my head. "That's a question I ask myself all the time. After all humanity has been through, the wars we have fought, I thought that we were able to learn from our mistakes and learn to trust each other. We could have been living in harmony with the rest of the world, sipping bottles of ice cold Nuka Cola and living the good life, but our human nature has gotten in the way of life.
"Did you know that the Mojave Wasteland, before it was a dry, desolate wasteland as it is right now, was once part of the richest nation in the world known as the United States of America? Two hundred years ago, we didn't need to fight to survive or scavenge for supplies when we have factories that can make millions of whatever people could ever want. With the right amount of paper money, we could easily buy ourselves as much food, water, medicine, and clothing as we wanted to. We didn't had to worry about thieves breaking into our homes when we have ourselves robots that can not only protect us and our families, but help us do our everyday chores. While all of this sounds nice, change eventually came, and with it, came war. And war never changes.
"Hundreds of years ago, most of our little technological wonders had been powered by a fuel known as petroleum. We depended on it so much that it wasn't until later in the middle of the twenty-first century did we realized that we began to run out of it. All the technology we created needed something to power them up and that was where atomic energy came in. Thanks to it, this once, proud nation was able to continue on and prosper.
"However, not every country from across the world had atomic energy, which is why there were some countries that still depended on oil. It was more precious than ever and petroleum rich countries were selling their supplies of oil at a higher price. Soon afterwards, the oil wells ran dry in most parts of the world and the uranium mines were scraped clean. And as I had mentioned before, the changes came slowly at first, and with it, came war.
"While the countries from across the world began fighting over the scraps of petroleum, there was one other part of the world that still had natural resources. Miles and miles away from where we are sitting at right now, there used to be a state known as Alaska, just up north from here. Alaska still had some petroleum left in its soil and this made it an easier target for another superpower nation known as China. With that, came the Great War."
Twilight had probably filled in at least a few pages already after my little brief history lesson before continuing on. "What happened in this Great War?"
"Don't know." I shrugged. "According to some of the Vault archives, China had managed to capture Alaska and has held it captive for over a decade or so. Before and during those times of the Chinese occupation in Alaska, America and China began using their own resources on developing their weapons of war. The Chinese used their resources to create one of the most advanced stealth technology. They created cloaking suits that allowed their recon units to infiltrate and assassinate high value targets without being detected. We Americans also had developed something like that."
I detached the used-up Stealth Boy from my right wrist and handed it over to Twilight. "That right there, is a Stealth Boy. Using some reverse-engineering and atomic energy, the bright minds of the United States were able to create themselves a piece of stealth technology to spy on their Chinese adversaries. Besides the Stealth Boys, the Americans still had the power of the atom at their hand. They built fusion-powered weapons, power combat armor, and sent out robot butlers on the battlefield with flamethrowers and plasma guns. There were some rumors that they had even built a gigantic robot that fired death rays and tossed mini nukes like they were footballs.
"With all these weapons of war, the United States was the one nation that had triumphed over its Chinese enemies in the end and retook Alaska. But even as grand as this victory was, peace would not be easily achieved. China would not simply sulk away in defeat, nor did the United States believed this war would come to an end that easily. A final confrontation was coming between both superpowers and everyone knew that it wasn't going to be pretty."
"What was coming?" Twilight asked, continuing to scribble down notes on her journal.
"The end of humanity was coming.” I replied grimly. “If you want it to make more sense, the end of the world happened."
She nearly dropped her pen as her face now bore a look of sheer terror. "What?"
"Long ago, before the Great War, the United States had took part in one of the most ruthless and atrocious wars known as World War Two. I don't know much about it, but what I do know is that many people died because of the atrocities committed by the enemy. In the end of all that, the United States had invented a weapon known as the nuclear bomb. Fueled with atomic energy, it could easily level one of the biggest cities in the world. Over the years leading up to the Great War, they got bigger, more powerful, and we just kept making more of these awful weapons. They went all the way from simple bombs to long-distance rockets. With weapons like these, we can easily destroy all life on this planet if we wanted to do. And you know what," I looked straight into Twilight's disbelieving eyes. "We actually did it.
"The bombs fell, we believe on October 23, 2077. On that day, nuclear fire rained from the heavens and people ducked and took cover as they were taught to do, hoping that if they hid well and kept still, the merciless radioactive fires would harmlessly pass them." I laughed humorlessly. "Bullshit, all of it. The Duck and Cover tactic proved to be ineffective to save everyone. Hundreds and millions of people were killed in minutes, and billions of more died in the days to come as the radioactive fallout settled across the globe and poisoned the environment."
Twilight was nearly speechless. "Bill...my gosh..."
"Those who have survived became the lucky few who formed the many tribal societies that struggled to survive after the war. However, over a hundred thousand people were fortunate enough to survive the apocalypse by being selected to live in these great underground shelters known as Vaults."
"Vaults?" Twilight ears perked up with interest as she flipped to the next page of her journal and was readied to fill up about two or three pages.
"Built by the Vault-Tec corporation, these shelters could save thousands of lives from the horrors of nuclear devastation while waiting for conditions on the surface to calm down. The vaults had everything that could keep many of its population alive in the decades after the Great War; geothermal power, hydroponic farms for growing food, and water purifiers so powerful you wouldn't think that you were drinking your own urine."
Twilight gave a disgusted look at that last part about the water purifier, but nevertheless, continued on listening to my little history lesson.
"Vault-Tec had made sure that their vaults look homey as possible. Their cafeterias were designed to look like the pre-war dinners back in the old days so folks can still imagine themselves eating a plate of Blamco Mac and Cheese on the side of a road. They had automated medical robots to help treat illnesses and injuries without the need of a doctor every time. There wasn't exactly any good housing left on the surface, but the vaults were able to hold several hundreds of people, and those that held more than a thousand were able to find ways to share beds. Each vault was run by a leader known as the Overseer, folks that had been selected for their exceptional leadership skills and trustworthiness to help keep the peace in the underground community.
"The Vaults were comfortable, but after ten years or so, the vault dwellers would soon emerge from the safety of their underground bunkers and begin rebuilding civilization. Vault-Tec also provided each vault with all the research material they would need to help rebuild the world from how to grow an oasis in a barren wasteland to cooking critters in 101 different ways."
"Sounds like a good deal for humanity." Twilight scribbled down onto her research journal. "After all the destruction that was laid onto them, they were able to learn from their mistakes and begin rebuilding humanity, that sounds like something good humans would do."
"You really think so?" I asked, staring at her with great seriousness. "Did you honestly think that after being cooped up underground for more than a decade changes anything for us?
"Nope! Humanity was still imperfect just the way it was before. If we humans were that good to each other, then the big mushroom cloud two hundred years ago would have never existed. Even with the vaults, humanity was still as crueler than ever. Out of all the many vaults throughout the States, only a few of them opened, while a majority of them were to suddenly malfunction as part of a cruel experiment designed by Vault-Tec to see how far can the human mind can be pushed before it snapped.
"I've seen it all myself and even I can't help but imagine the suffering those poor vault dwellers were going through. I visited one of the vaults just far northeast from here, Vault 11 to be exact. That Vault was designed to offer up a living sacrifice every year in order for the population to survive, when in truth, the didn't even need to sacrifice a single soul in the first place."
"And if you think that's worse, wait until you hear about all the other vaults across the States. All the vaults were to be open after a decade, but try living in some vault for twenty years now, or maybe eighty, perhaps even two hundred. Vault-Tec came up with experiments that only a madman could conceive. Take for example: a thousand men and one woman, and a similar one had a thousand women with just one man. There was even rumors of one vault that only had twenty men and twenty women with one hungry, ferocious panther set loose. Whether or not that's true, it's just another one of Vault-Tec's cruel jokes, and it shows that not only were the vaults never meant to save anyone, but just how far humanity still has to go. For the struggle of survival is a war without end, and war - war never changes."
Twilight was completely stunned silent. Maybe my little brief history lesson on humanity was a bit too dark for her likings. "Maybe we should move on to a lighter topic now, shall we?" I asked.
"That would be much better." Twilight nodded, finishing up on the last few notes in her journal. "And to start it off, I'd like to know more about you."
"About me?" I asked.
"We've only just met today, and I just want to be a bit more comfortable with who I'm sticking around with for the time being." Twilight explained. "It'd be nice to know about who I'm working with and what I'm probably going to get myself into."
"Don't you already know, I'm a courier. A mailman. I help people deliver packages and in return, they pay me back."
"There's got to be more about you." Twilight said. "At least tell me a bit more of yourself."
I gave a sigh. "Well, I'm not one who easily shares his personal life, but what would you like to know?"
"What's that weapon you carry?" Twilight pointed at my holstered sidearm.
"Oh, this?" I pulled out my scoped .44 magnum revolver and twirled it around. "This is my scoped .44 magnum revolver. In other words, it's a gun."
"I know." Twilight said with a hint of disgust. "I've read part of the 'Guns and Bullets' book already. You humans are terrifying with weapons like that."
I gave her a dumbfounded look. "How did you even read through part of Guns and Bullets when you were just reading...never mind. What do you want to know about it?"
"What type of ammunition does it use?" She asked.
"The gun uses .44 magnum rounds, obviously the reason why it's called a .44 magnum revolver. Lots of weapon have various types of ammunition for range, accuracy, and power. My .44 magnum revolver can be fired at a medium-to-long range, making it one of the most reliable and deadliest firearms in the world. With the scope on it, it'll make hitting medium range targets much easier. My hunting rifle," I pulled out my rifle and set it down on the table. "Uses .308 rounds to travel at a high speed and long-distances. The scope attached makes it easier to hit targets at long rage.” I then pulled out my .45 submachine gun to show, and also set it on the table beside my rifle. “My submachine gun uses .45 ACP rounds and can fire lots of bullets at a high rate of fire, becoming one of the most devastating weapons to be used at close range. The short cylinder at the front of the barrel is a compensator that decreases the spread of ammunition and I've equipped this gun to use 50-round drum magazines for increased ammo capacity.
“I've got a couple of more weapons I'd like to share if you're interested.” I pulled out my suppressed 10mm pistol and pulse gun and set it down on the table as well. There was no need to show her my knife, Transportalponder or Codac. “This pistol is quite common in the wasteland, as it was standard-issued for the United States military in the pre-war era. The 10mm pistol uses, obviously, 10mm ammunition, and is perfect for close-to-medium range. The thin, long cylinder you see wrapped around the barrel is a suppressor. It silences gunfire so no one can hear the shots. Perfect for taking out targets quietly when you don't want to be detected. This pistol also comes with 16 round extended magazines and a laser sight for improved accuracy.” I put down my pistol and introduced the pulse gun. “Now this gun, is what many consider an energy weapon. This one uses energy cells rather than bullets. The pulse gun fires energy-based projectiles at enemies, but rather than disintegrate enemies like laser or plasma-based weapons, this gun can fry the circuits of a robot or disable power armor. I'm not always an energy weapons person, but it's always nice to have a weapon like the pulse gun with you.
“I could go on and on with just about every known weapon in the Mojave Wasteland, but that'll take all night, so lets move on with other questions.”
Twilight nodded in agreement as she focused on writing down everything in her journal. While she was writing, I reached for my sister's handkerchief and began polishing my revolver when Twilight asked me the next question. However, it was one question I hoped she never asked. "What can you tell me about your family?"
I looked up at her. "My family?"
"You mentioned that your father gave you the revolver for your birthday, so you must have a family. I'd like to know more about them."
At that point, I felt completely uneasy. "I...I kinda don't want to talk about it."
"What happened?" she asked, her expression changing. "Did something bad happen between you and your family?"
"N-no...absolutely not!" I blurted out, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "I would never hurt my family, nor would they hurt me in return. I loved them more than anything else in the world, so there's no reason why I could ever harm them."
Twilight winced at my sudden volume of voice. "Look, Bill...I'm sorry. I didn't me to-"
I immediately waved it. "Don't apologize. It was wrong for me to explode like that.” I heaved a deep sigh. If she really wanted to know about my family, then I guess there was no harm in telling her about them. Besides, she seems trustworthy. “If you must know, yes, I did have family – a mother, a father, and a little sister."
"What happened to them?" Twilight asked again. "Are they okay?"
From that moment on, my eyes which were once full of bright life, now turned dark and stormy. It was then Twilight realized that I didn't want to talk about it any further. I still told her though.
"They died."
"W-what?" Twilight gasped in shocked
"I'm serious. They've been dead for over five years now. I'm perhaps the last one of my family." I said.
Twilight put a hoof on her chest. "My gosh...Bill, I-I didn't know about that. I'm so sorry..."
"Raiders killed them all." I explained. "At least, that's how I think they died. I guess I was to traumatized to even remember how they died."
"...Did you have any other family members? Cousins? Grandparents?"
"No," I shook my head sadly, but then gave a small smile. "Just my friends though. They're more family than I could ever imagine.
"Remember how I said that it can get pretty lonely out here in the wasteland?" Twilight gave a nod. "Well, having friends are not only important, they can be the best family you've ever had.
"I'm still upset over the loss of my family to this day, but with the help of my friends, I've been able to go through all the troubles I faced without any worry. I'd say that we've become more family than we could imagine. Raul and Lily, although they're not related, both of them are like grandparents I've never had in my life. Arcade and Cassie are like older siblings while Boone and Veronica are the younger siblings. Rex is perhaps the family dog, even if he's with the King. And ED-E, well, let's just say that he's the lovable robot we're all glad to have around. They may call me the big boss around here, but I still look up to them, no matter how old they might be, what their race is, or what differences they have. When you're in my circle, we all become one, big happy family. It's like my mother always said, 'once you make good friends, you have one, big happy family.'"
"That sounds really nice." Twilight said, smiling. "Tell me more about your parents. What were they like?"
"Oh, my parents," I sighed happily, thinking back to all the loving times I spent with them. "They were the best parents any kid could have ever asked for. Out here in the wasteland, it's tough to stay together as a family. Some folks might have a mother who always has to go to work as a prostitute in order to get the caps to take care of her family, or a father who drinks himself into a coma and abuses the family he loves. Not my parents though. They were loving and compassionate human beings. We had always looked out for each other.
"My father, Edward Davis, was a business man in the NCR. He traveled around the wasteland a lot, so he taught me how to survive and fend for myself. My mother, Maria, was a tribal, but not like the ones that go barefoot or speak foreign languages or hunted with stone-tipped spears. Her tribe was more of an advanced tribe, like the New Canaanites."
"New Canaanites?"
"They're a tribe...well, they WERE a tribe that was just like us, but that's something I'll tell you another time. Anyway, back to Mom...she was a doctor and the repairman in our tribe. She was also a damn good cook. She was the one who taught me modern and tribal medicine, as well as preparing and cooking food out in the wastes. Mom also taught me some basic maintenance skills, but it was Dad who practically made me an expert when it came to maintaining guns and putting stuff back together."
"What can you tell me about your mother's tribe?" Twilight asked.
"I don't remember much honestly." I admitted, shrugging sadly. "All I know is that they were from the East and knew quite a lot of things back in the pre-war days. We wore casual clothes and all of us spoke fluent English instead of a made up tribal language. We also knew more science, technology, and advanced medicine than any other tribe we've known. We were pretty friendly and sociable with everyone in the wasteland and outsiders were welcomed in our village, so long as they behaved themselves.
"As a tribe, we still learn how to survive the tribal way. When we want to conserve ammo or stay quiet, we use spears and tomahawks to hunt. When there's no stimpaks to fix up a cut, we brew ourselves healing powder and sprinkle it on our wounds."
"How did your parents meet?" Twilight asked.
"Where did you get off asking a man about his parents?" I chuckled. "Like I said before, my father traveled around a lot as a businessman in the NCR. He travels the wasteland in two different ways – by foot, or by driving his car, a restored Chryslus Highwayman."
"What's a car?"
"You ponies have something like a carriage in your world, right?" Twilight nodded in response. "Well, think of it as a...horseless carriage that's powered by nuclear energy."
"A horseless carriage?" Twilight scribbled in her journal. "Amazing..."
"One day, he was driving out east when his car died all of a sudden. Stranded out in the middle of the wasteland with nightfall approaching, he was soon rescued by my mother and a few members of our tribe that were out hunting. Since our tribe knew more about technology, we also knew how to restore old pre-war cars. So, Mom and a few of the tribals offered to help Dad push his car back to their village and repair it. I remember Dad telling me that it took nearly eight hours to push that car back to the village. By the time they got back, it was almost dawn.
"If I remember correctly, our village was established in an old town that had survived since the Great War. It had a couple of houses, a saloon, a general store, a school, a clinic, a police and fire department, as well as a chop shop for repairing cars. In no time, Dad would be able to get his Chryslus running again and continue his journey. It was going to take a couple of weeks before it was fixed, so Dad stayed at Mom's village for a while. Little did he know, he was soon going to stay there for the rest of his life.
"During his time in our village, Dad did his best to help out around the village while Mom went to fixing his car. It wasn't long before my Dad began to have a crush on my mother, and soon afterwards, Mom had taken notice and started crushing on him. Or she might have already did when they first met out in the wasteland. Every time my Dad came into the repair shop, my Mom would always greet him with a smile and toss around her long, silken hair. I remember Dad telling me about his meetings with Mom, always complementing that 'she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met.'"
Twilight giggled. I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Dad began helping around the car shop since Mom was practically the only one working on his car. I think it was so that he could get closer to her. A month later, Dad finally got the courage to ask Mom out on their first date, which she accepted. Their first date went so well that they decided to spend the night in each others' arms and...well, it's probably best not to go in full detail..."
"Yeah..." Twilight laughed awkwardly.
"Two months later, his car was finished and he can finally head back to NCR. As he was starting up his car, he couldn't help but not leave the village just yet. I already know why. There was no denying the fact that Dad was in love with Mom." I gave a light chuckle. "No...'in love', is too weak. Dad really did love her. In fact, he had offered to take her back to NCR so that they can get married. At the last moment, she accepted the offer and the both of them went back to NCR.
"They stayed there for a couple of years. A few months after they were married, I was born, and for six years, I lived in the NCR to have a better education in a safe environment. Dad continued his job as a businessman while Mom stayed home to take care of me. When I was about 7 years old, I was old enough to be sent off to the NCR military academy or work at the farms.
"See, that's what the average citizen looks forward to – either to become a soldier in a couple of years, or be the man who feeds the soldiers. Mom decided it was best for me to return to her tribe so that I wouldn't have to live that kind of life. I didn't want to become a farmer since I would never be happy shoveling brahmin shit for my entire life, nor did I wanted to become a soldier since there are a lot of dangerous risks in the military. So, we packed our bags, took all the caps we had, and together we left California on Dad's Highwayman. I still remember riding in his car for the first time. I'd seen many pictures of them in the books I've read, but having to ride in one was just a fascinating experience. Something about seeing the whole wasteland flying past before your eyes was what made this car trip very interesting and memorable.
"For the next few years, I became a part of Mom's tribe. Like any normal kid in the wasteland, Dad taught me how to shoot and trading while Mom taught me the many skills I needed to survive out here. Often times, I'd be attending the school at my village or do the usual odd job that Dad asked me to do. Meanwhile, Mom went back to fixing things and caring for the tribe while Dad established a trading business in our village. Since he was still in contact with the NCR, our village became one of NCR's best trading partners. Once I got older, I was soon hired by the NCR to work with them as a courier. Not very exciting, but I loved seeing the world, and delivering people's mail seemed like the best way to see it all.
"So that's about it on my parents. What else do you want to know?"
"What about your sister?" Twilight asked with interest. "When did she come into your life?"
"My little sis?" I let out a content sigh. "She came into our life when I was 10 years old and brought light and warmth. Her name is Emily, by the way."
"What was she like?"
"Emily was the best sister I could ever have. The good kind too. Not the one that will drive you crazy all the time."
Twilight let out a giggle at that remark.
"We always looked out for one another and we stuck together like glue, so I guess you can say Emily was the only best friend I had out here. She's the most kind and caring person I'm proud to call my sister. She would've love to meet you. You and her would be good friends in a heartbeat."
I'd thought back to the time of when I had that stomach flu in which Emily helped take care of me during that terrible time. "When I was 18 years old, I had gotten the worst stomach flu after eating some bad food. It was one of the worst times of my life. My stomach was in knots and every hour or so, I had to run to the bathroom to shit or vomit. It was absolutely disgusting.
"But Emily, who was always so caring like Mom, was the first to take care of me when I was that badly ill. Just like that, she'd sit by my bed to read me a couple of stories, sing me lullabies, and help me take my medicine. No questions asked." I looked up into the night sky with a sad smile. "She really was the best little sister I could ever ask for."
All of a sudden, I felt my eyes began to moisten, which is something that rarely happens to me nowadays. "She wanted to be a doctor. After how she nursed me back to good health, I knew that she'd be a damn, good doctor." I heaved a sad sigh. "She...she could've help made the world a better place..."
Twilight, noticing the sudden my sudden change of expression, asked, "Are you alright, Bill? You seem sad?"
"What?" I quickly rubbed my eyes just to make sure I had no tears. My hands turned out dry, so I was relieved to know that I did not cry. "Y-yeah...yeah, I'm fine. Just dandy!"
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked with concern.
"Yup!" I gave an assuring grin. "Don't you worry about me. I'm fine."
Twilight shrugged. "Alright, if you say so."
"Anything else you want to know about?" I said, changing the subject from that tiny emotional breakdown I had.
"Well, besides being a courier, are you into any other hobbies?" Twilight asked.
"Aside from delivering mail to folks? Of course I have other hobbies." I laughed. "If you must know, I've been a hired gun, doctor, cook, repairman, and an author."
"You write books?" Twilight asked, intrigued.
"Most of them are stories about my adventures out here in the Mojave." I explained. "Places I've been to, the people I've met, stuff like that. None of them that important, but could be interesting for children to read. They're still in the editing process."
"What other books have you written?"
"Well..." I scratched the back of my head before leaning close to her ear, whispering, "Don't tell anyone I said this, but I actually made all those books I was carrying."
"You wrote the Big Book of Science?" Twilight smiled in amazement before it faded into suspicion. "But it's written by a different author..."
"Well, when I said that I made the book, I meant that I 'crafted' it, not wrote it." I explained. "I actually 'copy' the entire book onto a blank book, then sell it for caps afterwards."
Twilight gave me a disgusted look. "Bill! That's plagiarism!"
"Hey, some people need to make a living out here in the wasteland, and since books like these are practically rare out here, I make copies of these books and sell it to those who need them. Besides, how many people do you think would care about plagiarism after a nuclear apocalypse from two hundred years ago?"
"I still don't like the idea of you taking someone's ideas and putting them on a blank book to sell afterwards." Twilight pouted. "But, you got a point. Still, how do you manage to copy all of the information down on one book with just a pen? That would take months to finish a book."
"The Big Empty has everything I need to make copies of the books." I explained. "There are holodisks that contain every major and minor details from books such as 'DC Journal of Internal Medicine'. Book recipes if you want it to sound simple. These 'book recipes' are simply inserted into a terminal that is connected to an automated printing press. Afterwards, throw in a couple of blank books into the machine and watch as a hundred copies of your desired books are printed out in full HD color and print."
"Where do you get the blank books?" Twilight asked.
"Like I said, the Big Empty has everything you need to make it possible, such as a talking book chute that can mulch up destroyed books into clean, pristine blank books. Pretty efficient recycling if you think about it.
"So yeah, that's about my hobbies on writing. Pretty much what any average wastelander would do, so long as the pay is good."
"What about your courier hobby?" Twilight indicated. "Do you still do it?"
"Not much anymore," I shrugged sadly. "Besides, job's too dangerous anyway."
Twilight cocked her head sideways. "How dangerous?"
I brushed my hair to the side to show the two bullet marks left behind. "Dangerous enough to leave two bullet marks on my skull."
Twilight winced slightly at the sight of the bullet marks. "Oh, sorry..."
"Don't get me wrong, I'll still do it for the right causes." I said. "But from now on, I'll be a little more careful about what I'm carrying the next time."
It wasn't until I finally felt the exhaustion creeping in. I got up from my seat and stretched my limbs with a yawn. "Well, I guess that's all we can talk about today. Time to hit the sack."
Twilight gave a light yawn and pulled out her water canteen and toothbrush. "I agree. I'm going to brush up and then get some sleep."
While Twilight went to wash up, I went to do some trading with the merchant. I needed to sell and trade away most of the things that were weighing me down for some more caps and better supplies. In the end, I sold the weapons I scavenged off from the Legion and traded a few food and water supplies for more ammo and extra space in my pack. In total, I got about 3000 caps from selling the weapons, most of them being in good condition, so that was a huge bonus for me. There was still the matter of having to repair my armor, since it was damaged in a fight today, but I could do that in the morning. With my business complete, it was time to go to bed.
As I got near the tent, I could hear the sound of sniffling, like someone was crying. I gently pushed open the tent's flaps and see Twilight sitting on one of the mattresses, sobbing her eyes out.
Great. Now what? I thought to myself.
I approached her slowly and I noticed that she was looking down at a picture frame. Getting, closer, I could see that it was a picture of her with five other ponies and what seemed like a small purple gecko with them.
Kneeling down beside her, I asked, "Family?" She shook her head. "Friends?" She nodded slowly.
"Hey," I whispered. "Don't cry now. I'm sure you'll see them again soon."
"It's not that..." Twilight sniffled. "Even if I get through all of this and return to my home world, what are my friends going to see me as?"
I gave a light laugh as if she were joking. "Why, they're going to see you as Twilight Sparkle! What else?"
"But are they going to see me as the Twilight Sparkle they all know?" Twilight quivered. "By the time I return to Equestria, my friends may no longer see me as a friend...but a monster...a killer..."
She choked out another sob, and I could understand what she was talking about now. "Is this about that legionary you killed today?"
"I didn't mean to..." She began, before stopping herself. "I just...I just wanted to scare him, that's all I wanted to do. I just wanted him to leap out of the way, not stand there to be...to be..."
I sensed that Twilight was about to have another breakdown, so I did something that I would never do to a complete stranger unless I knew him or her long enough to trust them. I wrapped my arms around Twilight and pulled her into a hug. I could tell she was surprised when I embraced her, but eventually, she slowly wrapped her own hooves around me and hugged me for comfort, crying softly on my chest.
"Do not think about it any further, Twilight." I said as I gently stroke her mane. "You saved my life back there. It was a horrible accident, I get it, but if you hadn't done what you had to do, none of us would be alive right now."
"I can still see him," Twilight looked up at me with tear stained cheeks and red eyes. "Getting sliced open and Celestia knows what else I was doing to him. I don't know if I can forget it all. Just how do you manage it?"
"Mange what?" I asked.
"Today, I just watched you kill all those men without a care of the world." Twilight explained. "And I'm sure you've killed more in the past. Now, I'm responsible for the death of somepony..."
"No, you're not." I interrupted.
"...and I feel sick to my stomach because of it. Just how do you manage to cope with all of this? How do you cope with the memories of those you've killed? The knowledge of taking a life?"
I looked around the tent as if making sure no one was listening in on us, before I gently grasped her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm going to lay it on you, Twilight. The truth is you don't. You move on with your life and assure yourself that you did what had to be done. Today qualifies as a 'them-or-you' situation, and that's okay. Be thankful that you survived and continue on living your life. What's done, is done. You can never change what has happened, but you also can't let it get to you."
"You're maybe right," she sniffled and wiped away her tears. "But I don't know if I'm able to do that."
"It ain't easy, but if you don't put any effort on it, your guilt is what's going to end up killing you. And believe me, that's what nearly happened to me." I pulled out my .44 magnum revolver and shook out all of the bullets from the chamber. Twilight then looked on in horror as she saw me shove the empty revolver barrel into my mouth and pulling the trigger, making the empty 'clack' sound whenever a gun has ran out of ammo. I pulled the barrel away from my mouth as I continued. "I was only fifteen years old when I killed my first man. My sister and I were the only ones home while Mom and Dad were out of the village for a couple of days. One night, a raider snuck into our village and broke into our home to steal some valuables. I awoke to hear some screaming coming from my sister's room and I saw that the raider had her pinned to her bed, preparing to rape her. Fortunately, I already had my gun out while the raider just held a rusty kitchen knife in his hands. One peak out of my sister's door and he immediately caught a .44 hollow-point round in his eye. He died in an instant.
"When you hear stories like this, you'd probably expect to hear that I felt proud afterwards when I killed the raider and protected my sister in the process. Well, I felt the exact opposite instead. Shortly after I killed that raider, I sulked into deep depression, feeling sorry for killing the raider. Yes, he was evil, and yes, he tried to hurt my sister, but I was still a kid back then and I had known nothing about taking the life of a human being. I couldn't sleep for days, couldn't eat, couldn't talk with anyone. It got so bad that I was this close to doing what I showed you just now. It took a lot of talking from my Mom and Dad to finally get me to stop pushing a gun into my mouth."
"Seriously?" Twilight asked, forgetting about her grief. "But you look so calm and collected."
"On the outside, maybe." I explained. "But it was still really hard for me back when I was fifteen year old. As I got older, it didn't bother that much, but it's still hard. Having periods of peace and quiet has helped me get through all the hardship. Even having friends such as yourself helped me out greatly."
Smiling, Twilight blushed at the compliment as she waved a hoof in front of her face. "Oh, stop it. We've only just met."
"I hardly shove a gun in my mouth anymore. Each morning, I wake up feeling pretty optimistic about the day ahead. Despite all that has happened in my life, I'm happy to be where I am. It was a long, hard road for me to find peace in life, and it still is. But as long as I think about the bright side of the future, I'll make it one day."
I took her hooves into my hands. "I know that you're worried about what this world may throw at you. I get it. But you don't have to worry a thing about it. Do you know why? Because you've just made a new best friend out here.
"No matter how tough the road may be, I'm there for you. I'll be by your side, protecting you from whatever harm the wasteland throws at you, all the way until we can get you back home. You'll get through this, Twilight. You just got to believe."
I released her hooves and ruffled up her mane, making her giggle again. "Feeling better now?"
Twilight gave a light nod. "A little bit, I guess." She then used her magic to pull me in closer to hug me. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it, buddy." I grinned. "Now you'd better get some sleep. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow. Good night, Twilight."
And with that, I crawled onto my mattress and immediately fell asleep. Man, did I need sleep after all that drama today.
Before going to sleep, Twilight had her emergency blanket taken out of her saddlebag to use. Wrapping herself in the warm blanket, she was about to go to sleep when she noticed William was shivering slightly from the cold.
Seeing how William was able to take care of himself, she'd thought that he wouldn't need the blanket, but the poor thing looked like he was going to freeze to death. Twilight quietly walked over to William and gently laid the emergency blanket over him.
I guess I don't really need that blanket. Twilight thought to herself. Besides, I don't think it's too cold tonight.
The moment she laid the blanket over William, the human tightly wrapped the blanket around himself in his sleep. Twilight giggled softly as she noticed the small smile on William's face as he slept warmly.
"Good night, William." Twilight yawned. "Sleep well. And thanks for everything today."
With that business out of the way, Twilight Sparkle walked on back to her mattress and fell asleep, allowing all of today's troubles to fade away.
When asked how it all started, I always say that it began the day when a lone courier discovered the ruins of the Divide. That lone courier being yours truly. Who's idea was it to establish a settlement in such a harsh environment? Who persuaded everyone else to follow along? I always say that I do not remember. I always lie. It is a safe lie, for there's no proper way to tell the truth. Most of my memory on the Divide was lost when a man in a checkered suit robbed me of a package I was delivering and placed two bullets in my skull, leaving me for dead in a shallow grave just outside of Goodsprings. I survived, of course, but little did I know, my journey to exact revenge on that same man would also lead me to decide the future of the Mojave Wasteland.
But, in fact, it all started that day when a poker chip made of platinum was printed in Sunnyvale, California on October 22, 2077. It wasn't just a fancy poker chip, mind you, but a high-density storage disk which had all the advanced security codes needed to protect a city from a nuclear attack. It was to be delivered to Las Vegas to a man named Robert Edwin House the next day, but unfortunately, it never arrived. On October 23, 2077, humanity was executed in the flames of nuclear fire, the righteous and sinful being called to be rendered according to their deeds. Those who survived hid in underground Vaults built throughout America, and they were saved from judgment day. Two hundred years later, the survivors would emerge from their vaults and begin the long journey of rebuilding civilization, with many efforts ending in vain.
As I traveled across the Mojave, I remembered so many random and unnecessary things from my life, but I don't remember the most important one: my family. I know for a fact that they died four years ago, but I cannot recall how. All I have left to remember them by is through scraps of my fading memory. How I wish I could remember them! The time we've spent together. Our love for each other. I'd sell my soul just to remember it all. I'd do it any day, any time.
And I did.
******
[Somewhere in another universe...]
It was nighttime in the land of Equestria. During this hour, most ponies would be heading off for bed. But for Twilight Sparkle and her friends, it was a different story.
Earlier today, Twilight received a letter from Princess Celestia, informing her that there are rumors of a disturbance reported in the Everfree Forest. Yesterday night, ponies reported seeing something like a shooting star crashing into the forest. Nopony knows what it is for sure. Many believed it was a meteorite that fell from space and crashed into the forest. One pony said that it was aliens from the outer world, and they've landed here to establish contact with Ponyville. So far, no pony has bought that tale. Wanting to keep things under wraps, Princess Celestia had requested Twilight and her friends to go into the forest and investigate the anomaly, to make sure that it wasn't a threat. Once they determined that the anomaly wasn't a threat, the science team from Canterlot would be called in to research the anomaly. Should anything happen, they were to immediately evacuate the forest and let the Royal Guards deal with the threat. For now, any pathway leading into the Everfree Forest was under lockdown by the Royal Guards, and the only ones allowed into the forest were Twilight and her friends.
Twilight was now traveling deeper in the forest with her five friends accompanying her – Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Spike, her young dragon assistant, would have normally tagged along with them on an adventure like this. Tonight however, Twilight had decided to let him take the night off. After all, Spike had been working hard all day long, and the little drake deserved the rest he needed.
All six ponies were equipped with their own personal saddle bags. Each had a canteen of water and a generous amount of snacks, which were a few apples and a paper bag full of cookies. They also had a First Aid kit and an emergency blanket with them, just in case. Twilight had a map of the Everfree Forest levitating in front of her and a few science and astronomy books sat in her saddle bag. She lowered her map as they got near their destination.
Looking ahead, they saw a glow of blue light coming from the trees. They had reached their destination.
"This is it girls," Twilight said, putting her map away. "This is where ponies reported the disturbance coming from."
Fluttershy shook with fear as she hid behind Rarity. She did not want to know what was through those trees. For all she knew, it was bad news.
"What do you think is?" Rarity asked, squinting her eyes forward to the light.
"No idea," Twilight shrugged. "The only way to find out is to go in there. Everypony ready?"
All except Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
"Alright then, let's move in, nice and slow."
The ponies slowly began to walk forward towards the light, except for Fluttershy, who was quietly trying to crawl away from the scene and run back home. But Rainbow Dash had caught her and pushed her right back into the group to follow along. Rainbow Dash then proceeded to overlook Fluttershy from above, to make sure she didn't try to run away.
"Rainbow Dash, I...I don't think that this is a good idea..."
"Don't be ridiculous," Rainbow whispered back. "I'm sure it's nothing scary or dangerous. Besides, if it were aliens, I'm sure they'll be super cool to meet."
"Quiet!" Twilight hushed. "We're nearly there."
As they all walked closer and closer through the trees, the light was growing brighter and brighter until they finally stepped out from the trees and into the middle of the Everfree Forest. There, they saw it.
Pinkie Pie screamed in terror as she saw the source of the bright light in front of them. Fluttershy panicked and ran back, hiding in the shrub.
"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight yelled, silencing her. "That's not an alien!"
Pinkie, silenced from Twilight's voice, looked closely at the crashed object that was producing the light. She relaxed instantly.
"Whew! For a moment there, I thought that there was going to be aliens. I mean, if it were aliens, I would throw them a “Welcome to Equestria” Party!"
Pinkie turned around to the shrub where Fluttershy was hiding in. "It's okay Fluttershy! It's just some weird-"
Pinkie once again screamed as she saw something else that had spooked her. Fluttershy popped out of the shrub and walked over to Pinkie, who was frantically pointing her hoof up towards the trees.
"Um, Pinkie, is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie just continued pointing her hoof upwards, and as Fluttershy looked up, she too, screamed in horror. Rarity had also shrieked when she also looked up to see what could have spooked them. Up in the trees was a gigantic eye, staring widely at them. Twilight had rooted to the spot while Applejack went into a combat stance, preparing to fight the threat. Rainbow Dash flew up close to the eye, bringing her forelegs up in a fighting position.
Twilight however, wasn't frightened or anything. She looked at the eye, then back at the strange object. She examined where it was producing the light and discovered that the object was just projecting the image of an eye.
"Wait, girls!" Twilight called out, but none of them heard her as three of them were screaming their heads off while the other two were preparing to fight a projection of an eye.
"You wanna get my friends, you'll have to go through me first!" Rainbow Dash snarled.
She flew straight towards the projection of the eye, getting ready to land a hard strike on it.
"QUIET!" Twilight yelled as loud as she could, releasing a bright, flare-like magical burst in the air. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie stopped screaming. Applejack froze as Rainbow Dash turned around before crashing into a tree.
"That eye isn't real," Twilight pointed towards the object. "Look, it's like a movie projector used in the theatres."
Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity turned to look at the crashed object projecting the light, then back at the projection of the eye. Rainbow Dash stuck her head out from the leaves and looked down at the crashed object projecting the light. She flew out of the tree to look back at the giant eye projecting into the trees, realizing that it was just a projection.
"Oh," Rainbow Dash chuckled. "I knew that."
Twilight rolled her eyes and turned back her focus to the crashed object. The object was some gray, steel cylindrical shaped meteor with three glass-like panels sticking from the sides. The projector was at the top and front of the object, projecting the giant eye up in the trees. This was definitely not a meteorite.
"What do you think it is?" Applejack asked. "One of them meteorites from your book?"
"I... I've never seen anything like this before," Twilight whispered back. "In fact, I don't think this is a meteorite."
Applejack walked close to the crashed object and carefully brought her hoof towards it. She gave it a light tap and she can hear a metal clang between her hooves and the object.
"Eyyup," Applejack nodded. "Ain't one of them meteorites at all."
The six friends stared in silence at the crashed object, pondering on what it was and why it had crashed here. Could this be some kind of alien ship, or ancient technology from thousands of years ago?
"Alright," Twilight said, breaking the silence. "One of you has to go back and inform the Royal Guards on what we've found. There’s no doubt that they’ll come and investigate the commotion we've caused. Let them know we're alright and that it's safe to send the science team over. The rest of us will stay here and see what more we can uncover."
"I'll go," Rainbow Dash volunteered as she gave a determined grin and salute. "You ladies just sit back and relax."
Twilight gave a satisfied nod as Rainbow Dash flew out of the Everfree to get help. The others took the time to rest and to eat some of the snacks or take a sip of water. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack sat down on the grass to enjoy their snacks while Rarity unrolled the emergency blanket and used it as a picnic blanket for herself. After all, she didn’t want to get her coat dirty.
Twilight took the time to examine the steel object. This was something she has never seen before. Whatever it was, this was interesting stuff for the curious unicorn to take a thousand notes on.
On the side of the object, there was a small insignia engraved at the back. It looked to be the symbol of a flag. It had red and white stripes, and on the top left corner was blue with thirteen white stars – twelve small ones surrounding a larger one.
"This insignia...I've never seen anything like it before. Looks like the symbol of some flag, but it's nothing that I know of."
She turned her attention to the part of the object where it was projecting the bright light. Squinting her eyes, she got closer to the glowing device. "What in Equestria are you?"
She brought her hoof up to the projector and tapped it. Suddenly, a flash of light blinded her, and before she knew it, she was trapped inside the light. Twilight rooted to the spot in horror, not knowing what to do.
All of her friends turned around to see Twilight to be in danger. Applejack was the first to react by galloping towards Twilight. The others dropped their snacks and followed Applejack.
"Twilight!" Applejack cried. "Get away from there!"
"She's going to get taken by the aliens!" Pinkie gasped.
Twilight still remained rooted to the spot as the beam of light engulfed her and within seconds, the beam shot back up into the sky and sent a massive flash of light towards her friends, blinding them. When everything was cleared up, Twilight was no longer there anymore. She had just vanished in plain sight.
“TWILIGHT!!!!” Her friends screamed in anguish.
******
Many people have their own nightmares: whether you're being chased by a pack of deathclaws, or getting dragged off into the toxic cloud by the ghost people, my nightmares are another story.
My nightmares are strange. I'm not even sure if I can even consider them nightmares at all. They feel more like visions of my past, and every night I have these dreams, they become more and more vivid, still holding sway over my conscience even after I wake up – even I still can't understand their meaning. Yet time after time, I wake up with the same heavy feeling, as though I've done something really bad.
The nights I wake up in cold sweat from these nightmares, I would always convince myself that they were just visions composed of the horrors I've witnessed out in the wasteland, and I would return to a dreamless sleep. It's all lies that help me sleep at night. The truth...is much scarier than you think.
******
I was standing in a vast and empty desert out in the middle of nowhere at night. There was nothing out here. Just sand, sand, and – you guessed it, more sand. There was the occasional rock, but other than that, I was smackdab in the middle of nowhere.
Wherever I was, it looked like I was on my way to deliver a package, for in my hands was a compass and a list of coordinates. Something inside my bag gave me the notion that whatever I was carrying inside had to be important. The coordinates tell me to keep heading north, where my destination was. So without further delay, I trudged north until I reached my destination.
A sandstorm was beginning to take place, and each gust of wind seemed like it was about to blow me off my feet. Like that was going to stop me. I'm a courier for Christ sake! I make deliveries through the dangers and harsh conditions of the wasteland and I always deliver on time. One little sandstorm wasn't going to stop me.
I kept on walking until I had finally broken through the sandstorm, and there it was, right in front of me, the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life – a populated city. It glowed brightly like the shining oasis of New Vegas in the distance. Music echoed throughout the city whilst people were out on the streets: singing, dancing, and laughing. Everywhere you looked, there was life, and everyone was filled with joy, like there was not a problem in the world. I smiled as I realized where I was: home.
I then heard someone calling my name from behind. Turning around, I saw that it was a young girl, at least 16 years of age. She wore a simple white sundress and had beautiful brown eyes. Her hair was a radiant color of honey gold, like the sun. Even though I didn't recognize her, for some reason, I felt like I had known her all my life.
Smiling, I dropped my bag on the ground and ran towards her, my arms outstretched. Whoever this girl was, I wanted to hug her and never let go. Her arms opened up as I got closer until finally I swept her off her feet. Within the embrace, I felt the warmth of her body as she hugged onto me tightly. I gave a gentle stroke of her hair. It felt very soft and smooth, and familiar as well. Who was she? A childhood friend? Why did she feel so familiar?
I was about to get a good look at her face when all of a sudden, she vanished from my arms, like she had turned to dust. No more did I feel her warm embrace all over my body. My eyes widened with panic as I immediately began searching around for her.
All of a sudden, the sound of gunfire and screaming brought me out of my panicked thoughts. Turning around, I saw that once glorious city now burning as two armies on either side were clashing with each other. The two armies seem to resemble those from the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion.
Bodies were everywhere. There was death and destruction from left to right. Buildings of magnificent stone and glass were blown apart like tissue paper. Various screams of death echoed in the once peaceful night, while I just stood there, horrified at the scene taking place below me.
"No..." I shook my head. "No, this can't be! This can't be happening!" I fell to my knees. "This cannot be real...this cannot be real..."
I had to do something to stop this. I just had to! I couldn't just stand by and watch as more people die. Pulling out my binoculars and looking through, I could see the many citizens trying to escape from the war and among them, there was that girl I met. She was on her knees, covering her ears and crying as people ran by her. Some fell dead beside her while others fell wounded, struggling to crawl away before being trampled by the crowd.
I had to get down there and help her. I checked my pockets and found the only weapons I was carrying: a switchblade and a 9mm pistol. I highly doubt that they would be enough to fight through whatever army was destroying the city, but I had no choice. I had to get down there and help that young lady.
Slinging the bag over my shoulders, I pulled out my blade in one hand and my pistol in the other, and began charging down towards the city. I didn't care if I was going to get myself killed. I had to save that girl, as if my life depended on it.
The city seemed so far away, but I kept pushing on, no matter what was in my way. As I ran, I could hear this loud beeping coming from the package inside my bag. It sounded like a bomb collar was about to go off. The beeps grew louder and faster as I got closer to the city. I was just behind the attacking army, getting ready to slash and shoot my way through when all of a sudden, it happened.
The ground beneath me began to shake as if an earthquake was happening. Soon the ground started forming large cracks in the surface, with fiery explosions emerging from the cracks themselves. It was as though the world was ending all over again. Looking down, I saw that many cracks were beginning to form around my feet as I got closer to the city. More explosions erupted from left to right, ripping people apart and cutting off everyone's escape. As I stood there, shocked at the destruction before my eyes, I was debating whether to run into the city and save that girl, or run like hell.
The ground beneath started to fall apart, and that was enough to me to turn my back on the city and run like hell. Some hero I was.
I ran and ran as far away as I could. I did not stop until I heard a loud, deafening explosion and a force of 1000 bighorners threw me up in the air. I barely had time to scream as I soared in the night sky and fell hard on the ground.
I laid there on the ground for a few minutes, my hands covering the back of my head as the ground continued shaking. After what seemed like an eternity, the ground stopped shaking, indicating that the worst was over. I got back on my feet and turned towards that city, where a horrible sight awaited before me.
The city was now replaced with a large mushroom cloud, and it didn't seem like anyone made it out alive. What was once a glorious city was now a radioactive ruin. A shadow of the past.
******
My eyes shot open as I sat up on my bed, gasping for air. It took me a few minutes to calm down and remember exactly where I was. I was still in my private bedroom, in the presidential suite of the Lucky 38 casino. Checking my Pip-Boy on the nightstand, the time on its clock read 4:00 AM.
Giving a relieved sigh, I collapsed back into my pillows and bed sheets, taking deep breaths to calm myself. I heard a slight whimper from Rex the cybernetic dog as he brushed up against my right arm and licked my hand. I turned to face him and returned a gentle stroke on his head. Rex may be the King's dog, but I'd still like to consider him as my own dog.
"Hey Rex, what are you doing up at this hour, boy?" Rex gave another whimper as he continued to lick my hand. I gave an assuring smile at him. "It's okay, boy. I just had a nightmare, that's all."
I felt Rex snuggle underneath my arm. His warm, fuzzy face brushing up against mine. I smiled and hugged him close to me, the warmth of his body calming my beating heart.
"Thank you, Rex. You're a good boy," I gave a yawn, settling back underneath the sheets. "I'm going to try and go back to sleep now."
My eyes drooped as I drifted back into slumber, but not before hearing the rattle of gunfire and the roaring explosion of an atomic bomb. Yet I knew there were no such sounds around me. Only the quiet creaking of a two hundred year old casino.
